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 ELEMENTS 
 
 PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION 
 
 L 
 
 THE REV. J. W. BROOKS. 
 
 VICAR OF CLAREBRO', RETFORD. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 ORRIN ROGERS, 67 SOUTH SECOND STREET. 
 
 E. G. Dorsey, rrioter. 
 
 1841. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PACE 
 
 On the Use and Importance of Prophecy, .... 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Covenant of Promise, --.-.. 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Voice of the Church, 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 On the Interpretation of Prophecy, - - - - - 83 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 On the Second Advent of Christ, - - - - - 118 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Kingdom of Christ, ■ - 133 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Judgment, .------- 150 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Restoration of Israel, and the New Jerusalem Dispensation, 180 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 On Daniel and the Apocalypse, . _ . - . 219 
 
jy CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 On Time Mystically Expressed, . .... 241 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 On the Antichrist, ' - - - - - - - 254 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Ten Kingdoms— the Name of the Beast— the Two Witnesses— 
 
 the Prophetical Dates, ------ 302 
 
 Appendix, 
 
REV. EDWARD BICKERSTETH, 
 
 RECTOR OF WATTON, HERTS. 
 
 Dear Christian Friend, 
 
 The feelings of my heart, combined with the circumstances 
 of the case, prompt me to inscribe this volume to you, who are 
 instrumentally the cause of its appearance, and to whom I am 
 indebted for many suggestions afforded me during its progress. 
 I may indeed truly assert, that I should not have entered on 
 the work but at your solicitation; and had you not urged on 
 me the undertaking, as a duty which I owed to the Church of 
 Christ. Not that I would have any infer from this, that you 
 fully accord with all that the book contains: for though I 
 believe that we have been led into the same views in the 
 general, and I trust by tho guidance of the Spirit of God; yet 
 am I bound to acknowledge that there ^re in the latter chapters 
 some particulars, concerning which you either differ- or are 
 disposed to hesitate. 
 
 In regard to the topics of the two latter chapters, I would 
 state farther, in the way of apology for their appearance, that 
 had I not been in a measure compelled to treat of them, by the 
 course which was previously laid down for me, I should not 
 have entered upon them at all. I have several times, in the 
 course of this volume, drawn the attention of the reader to the 
 circumstance, that Prophecy may be divided into two principal 
 portions; viz. that which, in the main, is delivered in plain and 
 literal terms, and that which is involved in symbols and mys- 
 tical expressions. As regards the former portion, my mind is, 
 in the general, fully persuaded; and as I consider it as plain 
 
 VOL. II. — 1 
 
^/^ DEDICATION. 
 
 to be understood, and as susceptible of demonstration, as any- 
 other subject of divine revelation, so I have not hesitated to 
 treat it with the same degree of confidence and decision that 
 I should discuss the doctrine oi justification. In regard, how- 
 ever, to the other portion, the meaning of which, independent 
 of its application, is not always so apparent, I confess my own 
 mind is not on several points decidedly made up; and I have 
 therefore felt reluctant to commit myself on topics, which I 
 do not clearly and convincingly see my way in. Much injury 
 has been done to the cause of prophetical interpretation by 
 writers publishing their views too hastily; insomuch that some 
 have no sooner caught a glimpse of what they have imagined 
 to be the correct meaning of a passage, than they have imme- 
 diately given it to the world, and have almost as quickly been 
 led to recall or to modify their statements. I have seen, how- 
 ever, that a work of the description which I have been induced 
 to undertake would be exceedingly defective, did it not 
 comprehend both classes of Prophecy; and I have therefore 
 resolved at least to prepare for the student such infoi-mation 
 concerning the latter class as I possessed, or was within my 
 reach; preferring on these points rather to assume the func- 
 tions of the historian than of the expositor. If indeed I must 
 speak the truth, there is a lamentable want among professing 
 Christians of ordinary information on all subjects connected 
 with Prophecy; the consciousness of which deters many from 
 entering seriously upon its investigation; and it has conse- 
 quently been a special object with me throughout, that the 
 laborious minister, who is prevented by his numerous avoca- 
 tions from reading many works, may have at hand something 
 like a summary of the history of prophetical interpretation, 
 together with the principles brought into view, on which all 
 prophetical interpretation should proceed. 
 
 It is almost superfluous, after the above statement, to add, 
 that I am greatly indebted for many things, both in the way 
 of exposition and of information, to the writings of others. If 
 I have not always quoted their works by name, it has been 
 because I have omitted in many instances to take extracts; 
 and my recollection sometimes fails to supply me even with 
 the name of the author to whotn I stand indebted. I have 
 occasionally also been obliged to take authorities at second 
 hand, from the want of access, in a country town, to the origi- 
 nal authors: though I trust that I have in no case done this 
 where the matter quoted is of fundamental importance to the 
 argument in hand. At the same time, however, that I make 
 these acknowledgments, I feel myself equally called upon to 
 declare, in regard to the first class of prophecies to which I 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 Vll 
 
 have alluded, that my opinions have been formed almost 
 entirely upon a careful and independent study of the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 In referrins; to the works of contemporary writers, I have 
 occasionally felt it a duty to the reader to speak of their works, 
 or of particular points in their works, in the language of ani- 
 madversion. But I nevertheless most freely acknowledge, 
 that I by no means consider myself entitled to act the censor; 
 and there is scarcely one of those, whose writings may fall 
 under observation, to whom I am not disposed to acknowledge 
 my inferiority. 
 
 I ought likewise to apologize for some inadvertencies and 
 repetitions which will be found in the work. These must be 
 placed to the account of the large demands whicli have been 
 made upon my time from other quarters during its progress, 
 and which have frequently not only distracted my attention, 
 but drawn largely, I fear, upon your patience and that of the 
 much respected publisliers of the work. And after all, my 
 dear friend, I cannot but feel, that you have entrusted this 
 important work to very feeble hands; and that the reader will 
 not only speedily discover this, but marvel that you have not 
 rather undertaken it yourself. Had I been aware, indeed, 
 before I was well advanced in it, that your "Practical Remarks 
 on the Prophecies" would have been so greatly enlarged as they 
 liave been subsequently in your "Practical Guide/' I should 
 altogether have declined the undertaking, and have urged you 
 instead to have still more largely extended that publication; 
 which I am persuaded would have been far more acceptable 
 and instructive to the religious public, than any thing that can 
 be advanced by me. 
 
 Such, however, as the work is, I now send it forth to the 
 Christian Church, humbly thanking our blessed Master who 
 has enabled me to bring it to a conclusion. It is an encouraging 
 circumstance to me to know, that the little volume publislied 
 under the title of AbJieVs Essays, of which you have first 
 betrayed me to be the Author, has been owned of the Lord in 
 directing serious attention to the solemn truths of prophecy;* 
 and it is still farther encouraging to find the numbers daily 
 increasing of able and pious ministers, who, from your 
 writings and those of others, are becoming sensible of the 
 duty of investigating this important branch of Scripture, and 
 are beginning to be persuaded of the pre-millennial advent of 
 our Lord. I earnestly beseech him still more ai)undantly to 
 bless our mutual labours, to the setting forth of his glory, and 
 
 * One or two«ections of the above mentioned work have necessarily been 
 repeated, with some alteraticjn, in this volume. 
 
viii DEDICATION. 
 
 to the leading many of his children, who are now slumbering 
 in respect to his approach, to arise and trim their lamps, "and 
 to stand with their loins girt and their lights burning, and 
 tiiemselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he 
 will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and 
 knocketh they may open unto him immediately. Blessed 
 are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find 
 watching!" (Lukexii.) 
 
 Believe me to be, my dear Christian Friend and Brother in 
 the Lord, yours affectionately in the faith and hope of Christ's 
 speedy appearing, 
 
 J. W. Brooks. 
 
 Retford, October, 1836. 
 
ON PROPHECY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE USE AND IMPORTANCE OF PROPHECY. 
 
 It excites a painful feeling in the writer of this volume, 
 when he reflects, that circumstances rentier it necessary, that a 
 work on Prophecy, intended more especially for the use of 
 Christiati readers, needs to be commenced with arguments on 
 the importance and advantage of taking heed thereto. One 
 would suppose it were enough for any who acknowledge the 
 Bible to be a revelation from Jehovah, merely to remind 
 them of tlie Apostle's declaration — "All Scripture is profita- 
 ble;" and that then, without caring for the obloquy cast upon 
 the study, and the seeming obscui'ity in which prophecy is 
 involved, they would, like JNIary, "diligently keep" all these 
 sayings of the Spirit, ''and ponder them in their hearts." Such, 
 however, is the prejudice and misapprehension which Satan 
 has contrived to raise up against this portion of the word of 
 God, that, like those who in the early ages pleaded for Chris- 
 tianity itself, we must no,w adopt the tone and language of 
 apologists. 
 
 1. It must surely be regarded as a most alarming symptom, 
 connected with the signs of these alarming times, tiiat profes- 
 sors of serious religion should rccpiire to have the practical use 
 of any portion of Scripture demonstrated to tliem, before 
 they will give it serious attention; if they will even do it then. 
 For is it not affronting to the Deity to suppose, that he would 
 reveal any thing to his church not calculated to edify it, or 
 which individual members of it may wilfully neglect, without 
 serious detriment to their souls? Let us only imagine, that 
 the Lord were now personally to manifest himself in an assem- 
 bly of Christians, and were to converse with them on those 
 things revealed in the prophets: should we not be inclined to 
 conclude of that man, who should make light of his discourse 
 1* 
 
10 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 because he got upon the subject of prophecy, — or who should 
 even betray, by indifference or inattention, that he took not a 
 lively interest in it, — that he was an tinbeliever, and had not 
 had the love of God shed abroad in his heart by that Holy 
 Ghost who spake by the prophets? Now we might, possibly, be 
 wrong in concluding to so great an extent as this; for marvel- 
 lous indeed is the power of prejudice even in good men: but 
 we could not avoid concluding of such a one, that he was 
 under the influence of some strange delusion, and was ob- 
 noxious to the rebuke of being "s/oro of heart to believe all 
 that the prophets have spoken." The application must be 
 obvious, to those at least who acknowledge the 7vritte?i word to 
 be equally the word of God, as if he were now visible on earth 
 declaring it.* 
 
 2. It may, however, be probably objected by some, that 
 they do not question the authority and profitableness of all 
 Scripture in the general; but they conceive prophecy to be 
 comparatively of less importance and less profitable than other 
 doctrines, which they therefore deem it better chiefly to 
 regard. From the present circumstances of the church of 
 Christ, there is a something which appears plausible in this 
 objection; but it will be found, nevertheless, upon examina- 
 tion, opposed to that practical deference and subjection to the 
 word of God, which the believer must avow it to be his duty 
 to yield, and therefore mischievous in principle. Those who 
 have any experimental acquaintance with divine things must 
 be aw^are how impossible it is, in the first place, for any man 
 to judge of the practical tendency of a doctrine, until he has 
 first heartily embraced it, or experienced somewhat of its 
 power. Till then, he either regards it with Indifference, or is 
 decidedly opposed to it, as dangerous and liable to abuse. 
 ISIany conceive the doctrine of justification by faith without 
 the preferable course is to keep it in the back ground, and 
 the works of the law to be unfavourable to holiness, and that 
 to insist on moral duties. Many imagine further, that to 
 preach the need of the Holy Spirit's aid, for every good 
 thought, and word, and work, is calculated to paralyze human 
 
 * As a proof that we might be wrong in concluding altogether against the 
 piety of Mich, note the prejudice and unbelief exhibited in regard to truths of 
 fundamental importance, by men whose election of God we cannot question. 
 The necessity for the death of Jesus was not understood by any of his disciples 
 before the event; and Peter in particular, is rebuked, as speaking after Satan, 
 and not of God, in this matter (Matt. xiv. 23). Thomas was wonderfully 
 sceptical, in regard to the resurrection from the dead. All the di.sciples, even 
 after the outpouring of the Spirit, were prejudiced in .some measure against 
 the calling of the Gentiles; whilst numbers of sincere persons had their minds 
 warped in regard to the important doctrine of justification by faith. These 
 things ought at least to make us slow to judge our brethren. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. jj 
 
 exertion, and to weaken the motives to personal diligence. 
 And how much greater a number cannot conceive of the 
 doctrine of electioti, "that it doth, in godly persons, greatly 
 establisli and confirm the faith of eternal salvation, and fer- 
 vently kindle their love towards God,"* To admit the pro- 
 priety, therefore, of ministers judging for themselves what is 
 comparatively important in the case of prophecy, is to admit the 
 principle in every other case; whereas numbers of those who 
 have been disposed to think this in regard to prophecy, would 
 contend, in the instances just enumerated, that it is a minister's 
 duty "to declare the ichole coimsel of God." 
 
 There are circumstances, however, which appear not only 
 to render the question of the practical utility and comparative 
 importance of prophecy in a measure capable of demonstration; 
 but which even seem to bespeak its s///?e/"/or importance. First, 
 may be instanced, the comparative hulk of the prophetic scrip- 
 tures: for if we regard tlie number of books directly propheti- 
 cal, together with the copious prophetical passages in other 
 books, especially the Psalms, the declared typical character of 
 much scripture history, (1 Cor. x. II.) of the ceremonial law, 
 of the tabernacle service, (Epistle to Hebrews, passim,) all 
 which, as they were adumbrations of things to come, partook of 
 a prophetical complexion; the natural and unprejudiced con- 
 clusion would be, that the subject is of very great importance. 
 Secondly, we may notice, tliat as the prophets, under the 
 Mosaical dispensation, interwove with their instructions con- 
 tinual warnings and admonitions of future events; so, under 
 the New Testamet dispensation, the incidental reference to the 
 future is of continual occurrence; and there is really no doc- 
 trine in the New Testament supported by so many indepen- 
 dent passages practically applying it, as may be adduced from 
 the gospels and epistles in behalf of those views, which form 
 the great sum and substance of prophetical truth;t and perhaps 
 there is no better mode of estimating the practical tendency of 
 a doctrine, than by a reference to the frequency with which 
 the Holy Ghost has himself jiractically applied it. Intimately 
 connected with this latter circumstance is the manner in vvhich 
 we find, from the scriptures, the church has actually been sus- 
 tained, in the midst of fiery trials, by the hope derived from 
 prophecy: which is indeed one very important use and intent 
 of it. For example: the whole cloud of witnesses, mentioned 
 in Heb. xi., who at various periods bore testimony to the 
 truth, loere tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might 
 
 * See Article xvii. of the Church of England. 
 
 t See this poiat proved at large, with the practical proofs adduced, in the 
 Investigator, or Monthly E.xposiior on Prophecy, vol. i. pages 21, 07, and 237, 
 
12 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 obtain a better resurrection; which hope both animated and sup- 
 ported them, (Heb. xi. 10, 14, IG, 39.) And the hope derived 
 from prophecy of things to come sustained the primitive Chris- 
 tians, and likewise the Refc^-mers, in some of their severest 
 trials both of body and mind. 
 
 3. But there is another plausible objection must now be 
 met. For it is by some conceded, that fulfilled prophecy may 
 be useful: it is Bfrt only unfulfdled prophecy they consider 
 dangerous, and its study to be consequently avoided. The 
 intelligent reader will at once perceive, that even this dogma 
 would still divert us from the cordial reception and serious 
 consideration of s. portion of God's word: but not only so, it 
 betrays a great want of acquaintance witli the intent and use 
 of prophecy. For the believer derives but little advantage 
 ivom fiilfdled prophecy, so far as he is himself personalli/ con- 
 cerned. Its chief use to him is a weapon agqinst the infidel 
 and sceptic: and it has proved mighty in this respect (particu- 
 larly of late in the hands of Mr. Keith*) as an evidence of the 
 truth of Christianity. The believer wants not this evidence 
 to convince him: it will afford him, indeed, an exalted notion 
 of the prescience of that God whom he already adores; and 
 it is further useful to assist him to a right apprehension of that 
 which is z/?j-fullilled, and to increase his confidence in its accom- 
 plishment; but he is more concerned to keej) his eye continu- 
 ally fixed upon the latter, on the i-ight understanding of which 
 does the correctness of his views in regard to the expectations 
 and destinies of the church entirely depend. Thus the apos- 
 tles appealed continually to the fulfilled prophecies, to con- 
 vince those who were not persuaded that Jesus was the Christ; 
 but the attention of believers in him is constantly directed to 
 the hope of his coming again in glory, and to the circum- 
 stances which are to precede and accompany that event. 
 
 But let us suppose an ingenuous inquirer were induced im- 
 plicitly to adopt the notion, that it were unsafe to give heed 
 to other than fulfilled prophecy; in what perplexity would he 
 find himself immediately involved! For how is he, in the 
 first place, to ascertain what is fulfilled and what unfulfilled, 
 without studying bolhPt Propliecies containing warnings 
 must, according to this system, not be studiously considered 
 until the danger be overpast in regard to which the warning is 
 given; whereby the purport and use of such prophecies would 
 be manifestly frustrated. And unless the mind were become 
 
 • See the Evidence of Prophecy, by the Rev. A. Keith. 
 
 t The absurdity is the more apparent in the present day, when a rare of 
 interpreters is springing? up, (as the Rev. S. R. Maitiand, the Rev. \V. Biir^Wi, 
 &c.) who ar;,Mie of many large portions of prophecy, supposed bv the majority 
 of commcntalors to be fulfilledj that they are yet unaecomplishcd. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 13 
 
 familiar with them, it would not be possible to recognise the 
 events as the accomplishment of prophecy when they did come 
 to pass: the want of which familiarity with their prophets 
 prevented the Jews, during our Lord's ministry on earth, 
 from perceiving and understanding the peculiar signs of their 
 own times, and exposed them to the severe rebuke and awful 
 charge of hypockisy!* ^Many, indeed, who allow that it is 
 proper to study fulfilled propiiecy, do not intend to go the full 
 extent of the admission they make: viz. they do not approve 
 of making the application of it to their oxvn times, even though 
 the things predicted be accomplishing before their eyes. They 
 have no objection to consider prophecies which they presume 
 to have been accomplished some two or three centuries, or 
 two or three thousand years back; but when they come 
 to be urged with those things that apparently belong to the 
 age in which we live, they deprecate the presumption of such 
 a use of prophecy as warmly, as if some one had aflected to 
 offer them an oracular interpretation of what was unfulfilled. 
 
 Various other instances, which illustrate the duty and the 
 practical advantages of taking heed to unfuliilled propiiecy, 
 will come before us in tbe course of this volume: one or two, 
 however, of a remarkable and decisive character, may in this 
 place be brought forward. The first is contained in Jeremiah 
 xxvii. wherein is a prophecy concerning the dominion and 
 greatness given for a time to the king of Babylon; insomuch 
 that all nations should serve him and his son's son; after 
 which he should suffer a reverse, and all nations should serve 
 themselves of him. Now, on the conviction from the inspired 
 word, that only those nations should enjoy quiet who would at 
 once peaceably submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon, 
 the prophet exhorts his countrymen at once to go and be sub- 
 ject to him, warning them of the fatal consequences if they 
 should rather listen to those who prophesied peace. This 'was 
 unfulfilled prophecy: and can we conceive it possible for a prac- 
 tical application of scripture to be more bold, and at the same 
 time more unpalatable, than that made by Jeremiah? Was it 
 not calculated to expose him to the reproach of being an indis- 
 creet and unsober visionary, alarmist and fanatic? was not its 
 tendency such as might plausibly be questioned by worldly 
 
 ♦ Why of hypocrisy? It would be well if all religions professors would 
 seriously consider what appears to be the ground of this charge. They were 
 persons /Jro/eisifl"^ godliness to M'honi it was spoken. Now they did lake so 
 much interest in worldly matters, as to think it worth their while to notice the 
 signs of the heavens, and to judge from them what sort of weather was 
 likely to follow; but though affecting to esteem heavenly things of far more 
 importance, theyl)elrayed, by the very circumstance of neglecting prophecy^ that 
 they were not really in earnest about them. See Matt. xvi. 3. 
 
14 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 men, and suited to bring on the propliet (as indeed it did) the 
 suspicion of being a traitor in the pay of the king of Babylon? 
 What instance can be pointed to in modern times, even among 
 abuses of the study, (which have undoubtedly occurred), more 
 fitted to prejudice men against prophecy than this? Yet where 
 can we turn for a more decided proof of the peril of those who 
 despise or disparage unfulfilled prophecy. 
 
 The above instance is taken from the more literal prophe- 
 cies; the next shall be from those which, b}'^ the generality of 
 commentators, are declared to bevelled in symbol or allegory; 
 of which the most prominent and copious is the Apocalypse of 
 St. John. Could it be lawful in any instance to neglect pro- 
 phecy, we should surely find some intimations of it in connec- 
 tion with such a book as this. We might expect to find it 
 open with a warning of the danger of misappreiiending or mis- 
 applying it, or even of meddling with it at all until fulfilled. 
 But instead of this we have, at its opening, first, an express 
 encouragement for minislers to bring it before their people; 
 {blessed is he that readeth) — secondly, a blessing pronounced 
 also on those who attejid io him when he does so; {and they 
 that HEAR the words of this prophecy) — thirdly, a blessing on the 
 devout bearing it in mind, {a?id that keep those things zchich are 
 written therein,) (Rev. i. 3.) And the book concludes by de- 
 claring that he is accursed who keeps this prophecy, or any 
 part of it, back: for such is the scope of the words — "If any 
 man shall take away from the icords of the book of this pro- 
 phecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, 
 and out of the holy city, and from the things which are writ- 
 ten in this book," (Rev. xxii. 19.) How different is this from 
 the admonitions of the danger of looking at prophecy, put forth 
 so frequently in an authoritative tone, by those who ought 
 rather diligently to exhort their hearers "to hearken to it, and 
 to keep the words," &c. Where do we meet with one single 
 warning of the kind in Scripture? Had it been needful to 
 have clogged the subject with such restrictions, doubtless the 
 Holy Spirit would have done it, and not have left it to fallible 
 human beings, who are commonly the victims, more or less, 
 of prejudice, to prescribe to us what portions of God's word 
 are profitable, and what are not. On the contrary, we have 
 seen declared the blessedness of those who take heed to pro- 
 phecy, and the hypocrisy and danger of those who may 
 neglect it. 
 
 4. The same may be said concerning the requirements for 
 the study of prophecy, which are so often insisted on. Such 
 learning, such reading, and such various qualifications and 
 endowments of mind and spirit, are prescribed, as to make 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^5 
 
 modest men (the men least in danger) shrink back from the 
 study in despair. Thus it is to many believers absohitely shut 
 up; wliilst tlie persons wlio bind tlicsc heavy burdens on 
 others, arc not in general laborious and diligent inquirers 
 themselves: on the contrary, they neither enter on the study, 
 nor suffer them to enter that are disposed. It is freely admit- 
 ted, that some students of prophecy have betrayed great inso- 
 briety, dogmatism, and the like. It is evident also that Daniel 
 and St. John, who enjoyed such remarkable revelations, 
 were men much in the Spirit and in communion with 
 God; men professing much love and lowliness of mind, and 
 who sought the Lord in this matter by prayer and fasting. 
 These are the requisites to be brought to the study; but they 
 are requisites within the attainment of all who believe in the 
 power and promises of God, and the riches of the fulness of 
 the grace of Christ; and they are requisites equally needed for 
 the study or perusal of every part of God's word, if only our 
 desire is to profit by it. As much dogmatism and extrava- 
 gance is to be met with in the setting forth what are called 
 the doctrines oi grace, especially of clecliov, as can possibly be 
 complained of in regard io prophecy; but we do not find those, 
 wdio object against prophecy on tliis account, warn us on the 
 same ground against the other doctrines. 
 
 Neither must it be concluded, that the truth may not be with 
 men, because they do not come up to our notions of a be- 
 coming temper or spirituality of mind: for this were to make 
 the measure of piety, or the Christian attainments of men, the 
 criterion of the things they teach, instead of testing them by 
 the scriptures of God; and it would set us upon judging and 
 surmising concerning each other; when we ougiU rather to be 
 inquiring, what is written. God has, undoubtedly, spoken im- 
 portant truths by the moutbs of men whom we consider desti- 
 tute of grace, as Balaam and Caiaphas; and by men of weak 
 faith also and ungracious temper, as Jonah: and why may not 
 like-minded persons be even now made the instruments of 
 throwing light upon his word? 
 
 If the reader of these remarks happen to be a minister of 
 the word of God, he is affectionately entreated to consider his 
 responsibility; how he is bound, as a faithful minister, to 
 deliver the zchole counsel of God; and especially, in regard to 
 the Apocalypse, not to take away from or add to it, (Rev. xxii. 
 18.) And is it not to 'Hake away from the words of this pro- 
 phecy," yea, to take away all the words of it, when ministers 
 systematically abstain from bringing forward its contents? An 
 idea prevails vyith some who do not deprecate prophetical in- 
 vestigation in the abstract, that it is suited only for i\\Q private 
 
1(5 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 study of ministers, and that it were improper to make it, in its 
 regular turn with other scripture, the subject of their pulpit 
 expositions. Now it is certainly not for men, before they 
 have arrived at some conviction in regard to prophetic truth, to 
 utter their crudities before the church; but the Lord neverthe- 
 less commands "that every scribe instructed unto the kingdom 
 of heaven should bring forth out of his treasure things new 
 and old:" (Matt, xxiii. 52.) and this is said with respect to 
 subjects decidedly of a prophetical character; as may be seen 
 by the context. So again, what ministers have been been told 
 in darkness, they are to speak in light; and what they hear in 
 the ear, they are to preach upon the housetops, (Matt. x. 27.) 
 It is a leaven of popery to suppose that any class of men are, 
 by the mere circumstances of birth, rank, wealth, office or 
 education, privileged to monopolize any portion of the word 
 of God. 
 
 It must be admitted, therefore, that that system which de- 
 prives prophecy of the degree of importance, (whatsoever it 
 may be,) which the scriptures assign to it, must be so far 
 wrong: and whatsoever is wrong in doctrine must be, to that 
 extent, mischievous in practice, however plausible. It may 
 be that individuals are, notwithstanding, saved; but its perni- 
 cious effects upon the generality of hearers, and to a great 
 degree upon those who pre in the main believers, is incalcula- 
 ble. Faith is, in a measure, deprived of its food; though 
 faith, it is true, regards the past and present as well as the 
 future, (Heb. xi. 1, 3:) but hope never can be called into 
 action but by the consideration of things future; and it there- 
 fore ceases to be an active principle in the heart, so soon as 
 futurity is withdrawn from its contemplation. Who can say, 
 for example, how far that lukcu-armness, which is admitted to 
 exist among professors of the present day, may not be owing, 
 in a great degree, to the want of realizing belief and hope in 
 the testimony of God concerning the impending advent of the 
 Lord Jesus — the morning star and great sun of prophecy? 
 For the passions and affections will necessarily be languid, if 
 they be moved at all, by hare assent to a thing, even though 
 the thing itself be of the greatest moment; whereas a full per- 
 suasion of the reality of an interesting object, excites the most 
 lively and vigorous emotions. Those writers or preachers 
 who put off the advent of the Lord Jesus to a remote period, 
 do at least speak directly contrary to the scope and tenor of 
 the New Testament, which every where keeps it in view.* 
 Their arguments for so doing, if good for anything, will be 
 good until doomsday itself arrive; and the Church, according 
 * See, OQ this point, the Invcdigalor on Prophecy, vol. i. p. 18. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPflETICAL INTERPRETATION. 17 
 
 to them, will be as wrong in taking up this hope and expecta- 
 tion eagerly on the very evening before the actual event itself, 
 as it is ?70w! Such arguments do indeed lead men to cry, 
 ♦'Where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Pet. iii. 4,) and 
 therefore their tendency is to expose them to the perdition of 
 the ungodly. 
 
 In the meanwhile the signs of the times in which we live, 
 cry to us with the voice of a trumpet to be ready ourselves, 
 and to warn our hearers likewise. Satan has had no small 
 hand in raising up the existing prejudice and indifierence in 
 regard to prophecy. He well knows its practical tendency, if 
 zee do not: He can tell that his time is but short, even if Chris- 
 tians will not be "wise to know the times and seasons:" — and 
 therefore to divert us from the consideration thereof, trans- 
 formed into an angel of light he urges men, on the one hand, 
 to some extravagance calculated to bring odium on the hope of 
 the Lord's appearing; or he presents to them, on the other 
 hand, some unscriptural conceit, which deadens or paralyzes 
 the mind in regard to it, so that they practically neglect it 
 altogether. The great water floods are evidently arising and 
 increasing fast upon us; and the Church is rapidly passing into 
 the dark and cloudy day of tribulation. In the opinion of all 
 thinking and intelligent men, some awful and portentous crisis 
 is at hand; and how is the true Church to be comforted in the 
 midst of it, or guided through it, but by taking heed to the 
 more sure word of prophecv; which is specially a light in- 
 tended for a dark time, until the day dawn and the day star 
 arise in our hearts.* ''The lion hath roared: who rcill not fear? 
 — The Loud God hath spoken: who can but prophecy?" Amos 
 iii. S. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 THE COVENANT OF PROMISE. 
 
 The chief object of all prophecy appears to be to prepare 
 the Church for the advent of Messiah; the manifestation of 
 whose salvation and kingdom and glory, together with the 
 various circumstances immediately connected with these mat- 
 
 *'2 Peter i. 19. TJie context shows that Peter had in his mind the "fiery 
 trial," which is what I apprehend him to mean by the dark lime. 2 Peter iii. 
 b and 12. 
 
 VOL. II. — 3 
 
jg ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 ters, are the most prominent features of the prophetic page. 
 Unless, therefore, we have in the outset a right apprehension 
 of them, it is most probable that we shall fail to adopt correct 
 principles of interpreting the prophecies which concern them. 
 In order, however, to arrive at a proper apprehension of these 
 things, it will be useful just to glance at the history of man's 
 apostacy. 
 
 By permitting man to fall at various periods into a state of 
 disobedience and rebellion, and to experience the misery and 
 darkness consequent on sucli a state, the Lord would apparently 
 teach every order of intelligent beings, — the thrones and prin- 
 cipalities and powers in heavenly places, as well as the whole 
 human race, — that the strength of the creature, both moral 
 and intellectual, is derived immediately from the Creator; and 
 that the creature, therefore, cannot stand for one single mo- 
 ment upright, but through the power of Almighty God. No 
 natural or local circumstances, however advantageous, — no 
 external means of grace, however imposing, — no inward ta- 
 lents or endowments, however dazzling, will avail of them- 
 selves to keep the creature erect, if he trust to them: he must 
 look up throughout to God; he must learn that he is sustained 
 in all respects by Him; he must know that "in Him he lives, 
 and moves, and has his being;" or he will certainly apos- 
 tatize. 
 
 To say nothing of the condition of the a?igels who left their 
 first estate and fell, how various have been the trials vouch- 
 safed to ma?!. He has been placed in a condition of nobility 
 and innocence, and has fallen! He has witnessed the terrors 
 of Mount Sinai and the glory of the Shecinah, and had the 
 Lord speaking to him daily by his Spirit in his prophets, and 
 has fallen! He has been now for nearly two thousand years 
 under a dispensation, which was ushered in with the most 
 striking spiritual gifts and endowments, and yet he has been 
 continually apostatizing; insomuch that we cannot place our 
 finger on one single spot on the globe, where we are assured 
 Christianity was enjoyed during the first three centuries in its 
 purity, without perceiving at the same time the most lamenta- 
 ble historical proof connected with it, that man has fallen: and 
 the prophetical account of the close of this dispensation shows, 
 that, with the exception of a very small remnant — an election 
 upheld by grace — this fall will become universal and most 
 signal! Man is further destined, in the dispensation which is 
 approaching, to enjoy a combination of all the advantages 
 hitherto experienced from the foundation of the world, to- 
 gether with an unparalleled degree of splendour, power, and 
 prosperity; and we know that he is also destined in the end 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. jg 
 
 to fall! And then only will that great moral lesson be com- 
 pleted, which the Lord is thus practically, through every age, 
 teaching to his creatures; that they may know throughout the 
 eternity that remains, that God is all in all. 
 
 Another great and important matter has however been gra- 
 dually unfolding, parallel with the development of the apostacy 
 of the creature; and that is the great plan oi redemption through 
 the Messiah, and of the ultimate restoration of man, and of the 
 world from all the disastrous effects of the curse. If the earth 
 has been filled ever since the fall with violence, and deceit, 
 and misery, arising from tlie influence of those unrighteous 
 principles which the darkened mind of man has supposed to 
 conduct to personal happiness; the word of prophecy has held 
 out to the expectation of those, who have been brought to un- 
 derstand the cause of their misery, not only a way of obtaining 
 the pardon of their sin, but the prospect of a time when the 
 creature shall be redeemed from the bondage of corruption, 
 and from the vanity to which, through sin, he is subjected; 
 when wars shall cease in all the earth; when Satan, the great 
 deceiver of the nations, shall be restrained and ultimately 
 destroyed; and a reign shall ensue of righteousness, and peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost. In this period, even those on 
 whom death has passed, shall be restored to life in a spiritual 
 and heavenly body, which no longer will be the seat of sin, 
 but in every respect a handmaid to the Spirit; until which 
 
 period the dead rest fium their labours. 
 
 Various indistinct intimations of these tilings, prior to the 
 giving of the Law, might be pointed to: as the promise to 
 Eve that the Seed of the woman should bruise the Serpent's 
 head, which avowedly has reference to the final destruction of 
 the devil and his works; the prophecy of Enoch, which wc 
 know from St. Jude, (v. IS.) foretold "the coming of the Lord 
 with myriads of his Saints;" the manner in which the faithful 
 dead are spoken of, as being "gathered to their people," 
 (doubtless to be reserved to stand in their lot at the end of 
 days,) whilst the living were threatened, if rebellious, to be 
 "cut off from their people." But instead of dwelling upon 
 these and other similar intimations, it will be more satisfactory 
 to pass at once to the terms of the Covenant made with 
 Abraham, and amplified with Isaac and Jacob. 
 
 And here the reader is requested to bear in mind that the 
 Covenant made with x\braham is what is called the "New 
 Covenant" and the "Covenant of Promise:" for unless he be 
 clear in this matter also, he will be unable to understand "the 
 hope of his calling" in Christ Jesus, as set forth in the word 
 of prophecy. It is the more needful to premise thus much, 
 
20 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 seeing that many, even pious Christians, have but a vague 
 notion of the nature of the covenant of grace. They seem not 
 to understand that there is any document in existence, other 
 than the whole of the New Testament; in which they suppose 
 it to be throughout diffused, intermingled with the naiTative 
 and moral precepts which also there abound: so that if any 
 would obtain more definite ideas of it, they must, by a divine 
 chemistry, decompose and separate the whole, and laboriously 
 collect the scattered particles they want. But St. Paul puts 
 the matter in a very clear and simple point of view, by inform- 
 ing us, that it is the covenant made with Abraham which we 
 are now under: for this covenant (he argues) the law, that was 
 four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it 
 should make the promise of none effect. (Gal. iii. 17.) So 
 that the instrument was in reality drawn up, and formally 
 signed and sealed in the days of the great Father of the faith- 
 ful; though, like other testaments, it was not published and 
 fully acted upon, till after the death of the Testator. (Heb. ix. 
 15 — 17.) And thus it is evident that it is in relation to the 
 period of its coming into force, not, to the period of its being 
 given, that it is called the Neiv Co\-s3nani — being in reality an 
 older Covenant than that given through Moses. 
 
 This covenant which, as before observed, was first made 
 with Abraham, and afterwards confirmed and amplified with 
 Isaac and Jacob, is to be found in the following places in the 
 book of Genesis: viz. chapters xii. i— Sj xiii. 14 — 17; xv. 
 4 — 21; xvii. 4 — 16; xxii. 15 — IS; xxvi. 3, 4; xxviii. 13 — 15.* 
 There can be no reasonable doubt, since it is this covenant 
 which St. Paul refers to, that it contains the substance of all 
 those blessings afterwards enlarged upon by the prophets and 
 apostles. The whole, however, appears reducible to three dis- 
 tinct heads, on each of which it will be necessary to offer a 
 few observations. 
 
 1. The first is the promised seed. If we consult Galatians 
 iii. 10, we must feel persuaded, that this has principally a 
 reference to Christ, who is pre-eminently the Seed in which 
 all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. (Gen. xxii. IS.) 
 For though the promise appears primarily to relate to Isaac, 
 
 * That it is one and the same covenant made with all three is evident from 
 the terms of it. God says to Abraham, "I will establish my covenant between 
 me and thee, and thy seed after Ihcc:" and afterwards more expressly he says, 
 "But my covenant will I establish with Isaac" &c. (chap. xvii. 21.) Then to 
 Isaac he declares, "I will bless thcc, &c. and perform the oath which I sware 
 unto Abraham thy father, (xxvi. 3.) Afterwards Isaac, in his prophetic 
 blessing of Jrtcoft .says, "God Almighty give thcc the ble.ssing of Abraham;" 
 and God confirms this by reiterating the same promises at Bethel, and de- 
 claring, "I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have .spoken of 
 (xxviii. 12—15.) 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. o^ 
 
 yet is it afterwards renewed to Isaac himself, and subsequently 
 to Jacob, in similar terms: ''and in thy seed shall all the nations 
 of the earth be blessed." (Gen. xxvi. 4; xxviii. 14.) and as it 
 would be absurd, on the one hand, to suppose that the seed of 
 Jacob could mean Isaac his father; so, on the other hand, in 
 reference to Jacob's poster ily, there appears to be none eminently 
 the child of promise, excepting Christ. 
 
 But, beside this reference to Christ as the seed, the posterity 
 of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are likewise spoken of in this 
 covenant in a more general sense. First, they are expressly 
 designated to Abraham, when God says, "I will establish my 
 covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their 
 generations, and I will be their God. (Gen. xvii. 7, S.) Se- 
 condly, it is implied in the promise, that God will multiply 
 his seed as the stars of the heaven, as the sand upon the sea- 
 shore, and as the dust of the earth, (Gen. xv. 5; xvii. 2, 4; 
 xxii. 17; xxviii. 14; xxxv. 11:) which places evince that mul- 
 titudes are contemplated, and not the one individual Christ. 
 And, thirdly, it is evident in that the apostle declares: viz. that 
 all who are mystically meryibers of Christ are accounted as the 
 seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal. iii. 29.) 
 
 2. The second particular of this covenant is the inheritance 
 promised. The locality of this inheritance is more immediately 
 Palestine, in its fullest extent, "from tlie river of Egypt to 
 the great river Euphrates." (Gen. xv. IS — 21.) Now it is 
 important to notice who are the parlies who shall inherit this 
 land, according to the full meaning of the terms of the grant. 
 jNIany are wont to limit the promise to the posterity of Abra- 
 ham, who were led into Canaan by Joshua. Such an interpre- 
 tation, however, will not, for many reasons, answer to the 
 terms of the covenant. The promise of the land is, in the first 
 instance, to Abraham and Igaac and Jacob, personally and in- 
 dividually. To Abraham the Lord said, ^'I am the Lord, that 
 brought thee out of Uz of the Chaldees, to give thee — ihi^ land 
 — to inherit it." (Gen. xv. 7.) *'And I will give it unto thee, 
 AND tothi/seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, 
 all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession." (Gen. 
 xvii. and xiii. 14, 15.) To Isaac the ])romise is similar: "Unto 
 thee AND to thy seed I will give all these countries." (Gen. 
 xxvi. 3.) And so to Jacob: "The land ivhereon thou liest — to 
 thee will I give it — AND to ihy seed." (Gen. xxviii. 13.) "The 
 land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, 
 AND to thy seed after thee will I give the land." (Gen. xxxv. 
 12.) When the Lord afterwards appeared to JVIoses, he refer- 
 red to the land^as specially granted to all three of these fathers, 
 together with their seed: "And I appeared unto Abraham, 
 2* 
 
22 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty: 
 but by my name Jehovah was I not known unto them; and 
 I liave established my covenant with them, — to give them 
 the land of Canaan, — the land of their pilgrimage wherein they 
 7L'ere strangers." (Exod. vi. 3, 4.) It is difficult to conceive 
 language more explicit and precise, to signify that these patri- 
 archs were severally themselves to inherit that land as possessors 
 and not as pilgrims, than the passages which are here brought 
 forward. Had Abraham received the promise in the first 
 instance without any mention of his seed, and the promise had 
 been referred to ever after as relating to his seed, without 
 mention being again made of him, it might then more plausibly 
 have been inferred, that the original grant never contemplated 
 any other possessors; but the careful repetition to each of the 
 patriarchs of his own name, together zvilh his posterity — "/o 
 thee and to thy seed" — puts it beyond a reasonable question. No 
 lawyer would ever think of interpreting such a title deed to 
 their exclusion, otherwise than by arguing from the fact, that 
 they had all died without ever having received the promise, 
 and therefore the inheritance was not apparently designed for 
 them. This, however, is made a ground of argument in scrip- 
 ture, that they are to inherit the land; only it is by means 
 of a resurrection. For as Abraham was, we are assured, per- 
 suaded, that God would have raised up Isaac from the dead, 
 and have restored him, had he actually sacrificed him on Mount 
 Moriah, (Heb. xi. 17 — 19;) so it appears from the scriptures, 
 that he and the other patriarchs looked forward to the day of 
 Christ, as the period when these promises should ultimately 
 be fulfilled, (John viii. 56; Heb. xi. 10, 11;) and with Daniel 
 they enjoyed the assurance, that they should stand in their lot 
 at the end of days. 
 
 The circumstance that they are spoken of as pilgrims ajid 
 strangers, in respect to this very land, is of itself wortliy of par- 
 ticular remark, considering that the land is nevertheless so 
 expressly promised to them. Wiien Isaac sends Jacob to 
 Padan Aram he uses these words: ''And God Almighty bless 
 thee, &c., and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and 
 to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land where- 
 in thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham." This 
 same Jacob afterwards declares himself before Pharaoh to be 
 only a pilgrim: "The days of my pilgrimage are one hundred 
 and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of 
 my life been, and have not attained unto the days of tlie years 
 of the life of my fathers, in the days of their pilgrimage." 
 (Gen. xlvii. 9.) The Lord, speaking of them to Moses, says 
 (as we have seen) that he established his covenant with them, 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 93 
 
 to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, 
 wherein they were strangers. (Exodus vi. 4.) Steplien no- 
 tices that though God promised to give the land to Abraham 
 for a possession, and to his seed after him, yet that he gave him 
 none inheritance in it — no, not so much as to set his foot on. 
 (Acts vii. 4, 5.) And how docs St. Paul argue from all this? 
 Why, "that these all died in faith, not having received the 
 promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded 
 of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were 
 strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such 
 things declare plainly that they seek a country." (Hebrews 
 xi. 13, 14.) His words before Agrippa plainly evince his ex- 
 pectation to have been that this promise should be fulfilled to 
 the patriarchs, by a resurrection: "And now I stand and am 
 judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto ouy fathers; 
 unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God 
 day and night, hope to come, — for which hope's sake, king 
 Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought 
 a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the JeadV^ 
 (Acts xxvii. G-S.) Here the promise to the fathers, and the 
 resurrection from the dead are both evidently in the mind of 
 the Apostle, as connected together: and what was tliis promise 
 to the fathers? There is no express mention to them of a re- 
 surrection; and though several things are included in the pro- 
 mise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; yet is there not one of 
 them which requires a resurrection from the dead to fulfil it, 
 excepting the promise of the land. It was this, therefore, 
 which must have led Paul to couple the promise to the fathers 
 with the resurrection from the dead. 
 
 There are not wanting plain and explicit references to the 
 subject in the New Testament. To give an example or two, 
 Zacharias prophesied at the circumcision of John the Baptist, 
 that Jesus was raised up 'Ho perform the mercy to* our fathers, 
 and to remember his holy covenant, the' oath which he sn-are to 
 vur father Abraham," &c. And that the performance'of this 
 mercy to them respects the resurrection is evident from Matt. 
 viii. 11. "Many shall come from the east and the west, and 
 shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom 
 of heaven:" which kingdom will hereafter be shown to be the 
 kingdom of Christ. It was this kingdom, concerning which 
 the disciples asked him, after his resurrection, "Whether he 
 would at that time restore it unto Israel," (Acts i. G.) But it 
 
 * In our version the word "promised"" is supplied, which, though giving a 
 good sen^e in itself, diverts attention from the resurrection. It is not merely 
 the mercy promised to tlie fathers that Jesus came to perform; but more direct- 
 ly to perlorni tlrt; mercy to them, which ia due lime he will effect. 
 
24 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 would be anticipating the subject of a future chapter, to enlarge 
 upon this point here. 
 
 It may nevertheless be objected to this view, that the pos- 
 session of Palestine, by the posterity of Israel, from the time of 
 Joshua until the captivity, and again till their final dispersion, 
 is a fulfilment of the promise. Now it is plain, if a correct 
 vievv has been taken of the sentiments of St. Paul and others, 
 that they did not consider this as a fulfilment of the original 
 promise; but there are further considerations which require 
 notice on this head. First, it must be observed that the in- 
 heritance of the land under Joshua is expressly promised to 
 Abraham, in the first instance, as a token and pledge that he 
 should inherit it, — for he asks: "Lord God, whereby shall I 
 know that I shall inherit it?" That is, he requires a sign or 
 token in the way of assurance; then the Lord directs him to 
 take an heifer of three years old, a she goat, &c., and divide 
 them; and after they are disposed in order, according to the 
 form of entering into solemn covenant, a horror of great dark- 
 ness comes on Abraham, and the Lord informs him that his 
 seed should be a stranger in a land not theirs, and that after- 
 wards God would judge that nation and bring them out with 
 great substance; that in the meanwhile Abraham should go to 
 his fathers in peace; but in the fourth generation his posterity 
 should come hither uQ-ain. And after this is seen the burning 
 lamp, the symbol of the Lord's presence, passing between 
 those pieces; and it is immediately added, — that in the same 
 day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying, "Unto 
 thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto 
 the great river, the river Euphrates," &c. (Genesis xv.) 
 This is the frequent manner of God, (as will be shown more 
 at large in the fourth chapter of this volume) to grant a sort of 
 inchoate fulfilment or prelibation of a promise, as the token and 
 pledge of a more complete one. Thus he promises to Sarah a 
 child at a '^set time appointed," (Gen. xvii. 21; xxi. 2,) as the 
 pledge that in her seed all nations should be blessed: whilst yet 
 we see that the chief burden of the promise is sustained and car- 
 ried forward to a seed yet to come; in tiiat the promise is 
 afterwards renewed to Jacob, the son of that seed given as a 
 pledge to Sarah, that in his seed should all nations be blessed. 
 So that the birth of /^aac would be an event for believers after- 
 ward to look back upon, and encourage themselves from it in 
 regard to the future. And in like manner the possession of 
 Canaan under Joshua would serve in the way of retrospect for 
 the faithful in after ages to strengthen tlicmsclves in tbe per- 
 suasion, that there remaineth still a rest for the people of God; 
 even as the Lord subsequently holds out to them, by his Spi- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 25 
 
 rit in the Apostle.* And as the great deliverance of the peo- 
 ple from Egypt and their occupation of Canaan under Joshua, 
 were hut as an antcpast of that greater deliverance and suhse- 
 quent occupation which Israel shall hereafter experience; so, 
 consistently with this appointment, it is intimated that the 
 time would arrive when this former deliverance should 7H1 
 longer be reverted to, or come into mind, being forgotten or 
 cast aside, like all other mere types and shadows. For the 
 prophet twice declares: ^'Behold the days come, saith the 
 Lord, that it shall no more be said. The Lord liveth, that 
 brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 
 but. The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel 
 from the land of the north and from all the lands whither he 
 had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land 
 that I gave unto their Fathers."! 
 
 Now it is the general character of a merely inchoate fulfil- 
 ment, that in some eminent particulars it falls short of the 
 terms of the promise. For example, the land in the present 
 instance is covenanted from the river of Egypt to the great 
 river Euphrates; which the Israelites did at no time, under 
 Joshua, possess. Nor did they ever at any other period possess 
 it to this extent, unless indeed we except a short period under 
 Solomon: though this does not answer to the terms of the 
 grant, since the territory surrounding Judea v/as not held ab- 
 solutely by displacing the Canaanitish or other heathen inhabi- 
 tants, but by subjecting them to tribute.^ Again, it is promis- 
 ed — "To thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever: (Gen. 
 xiii. 15.) And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, 
 all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.^' (Gen. xv. 
 8.) Now it would be trifling with the verity of God, who 
 declares that not one jot or tittle shall pass away of all that he 
 liath spoken, to allege that a merely temporary, and limited, 
 and constantly interrupted'occupation of the land, like that of 
 Israel from the time of Joshua to Titus Vespasian, could j^os- 
 sibly be the accomplishment of the promise here made in its 
 proper and complete sense. It must, therefore, have a respect 
 to that future occupation, of which the prophet Amos says: — 
 ''They shall no more be pulled up out of the land." (Chap. 
 ix. 15.) 
 
 * See the argument of the Apo5.tle. Heb. iv. 8, 9, &c. 
 
 + See Jer. xvi. 14, 15, and xxiii. 7, 8. The parallel micht be carricJ out 
 further; lor the circumstance that Isaac was a child of promise, is declared to 
 be typical of all believers; and the horror of great darkness which Abraham 
 experienced, as it indicated the affliction which his posterity was to experience 
 just prior to their deliverance in Egypt, so was it further significant of the 
 time of Jacob's trouble, that "great tribulation" to be experienced by the 
 Church just before the time of its final deliverance. 
 
 t See Joshua xvi. 10; xvii. 13. and 1 Kings iv. 21, 21; ix. 20, 21. 
 
26 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 In discussing, however, this promise, as made to the seed of 
 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it must again be borne in mind, 
 that Christ is pre-eminently the seed. Consequently the pro- 
 mise of the inheritance must respect him, as well as Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, and the other children of the promise: for 
 indeed "all the promises of God are in him yea, and in him 
 Amen." We consequently find, that the land of Palestine is 
 specially called "L7ima?iuel's land," in connexion with the pro- 
 mise to Israel, that a virgin should conceive and bear a child 
 to be called Immanuel.* We shall, indeed, upon more close 
 investigation, find a length and breadth in this part of the cove- 
 nant, beyond what we have yet noticed. For the promise of 
 Palestine, in the extent already pointed out, is after all, but as 
 a splendid enclosure within a much more vast inheritance — a 
 sayictiim sancloriim, standing in relation to the whole world, 
 like 'as Goshen did to the rest of Egypt. For the Apostle 
 says, "that the promise to Abraham was, that he should be heir 
 of the zi'0)-ld,'' (Rom. iv. 13;) and this cannot, apparently, be 
 gathered out of the original grant, excepting from the fact, 
 that he should be the father of many fiations, and that out of 
 him should come that companij of kings who should be rulers 
 ewer all other nations; (Gen. xvii. 4; xxxv. 11;) just as it is 
 interpreted by the Psalmist, that they should be "princes in all 
 the earth." (Psalm xlv. 16.) In the x^petition of these pro- 
 mises to Sarah, the reading of the Septuagint and Vulgate is 
 remarkable. The English is — "And I will bless her, and give 
 thee a son also of her; (mark the word 'a/so' here, as showing 
 that this is not the seed primarily intended,) yea, I will bless 
 her, and she shall be [a mother'] of nations; kings of people shall 
 be of HER," (Gen. xvii. 6.) But the Septuagint understand 
 the latter part of the verse as relating, not to Sarah, but to the 
 
 oeeCtj viz. KoW ivMyttTCe ATTO [to TiKVOv] Kit iTTcLl m iBv>i, Kit ^AC-iXili; idvm l^ 
 
 ATTor arovrut — "And I will bless him, and he shall be for the 
 nations (or Gentiles) and kings of nations (or Gentiles) shall 
 be of him." Grounded, therefore, on this portion of the 
 covenant was the expectation, in regard to Christ, that he should 
 ''rise to reign over the Gentiles," (Rom. xv. 12;) thus also 
 expressed by the Psalmist — "Arise, God, judge the earth; 
 for thou shalt inherit all nations." Psalm Ixxxii. 8. 
 
 3. The third particular of the covenant yet remains to be 
 considered. 
 
 The great and only real source of happiness to the creature 
 is the enjoijment of God himself Without this, none can be 
 truly blessed; and the more open and unclouded is the mani- 
 
 * Compare Isaiah vii. 11, and viii. 8. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 27 
 
 festation of the Deity to the spiritual man, the more abundant 
 is the blessedness enjoyed. That the immediate enjoyment of 
 God forms part of the happiness promised to Abraham and 
 his seed, may therefore be inferred from the mere fact that 
 God blesses him, and declares, that "in blessing he will bless 
 him;" (Gen. xxii. 17;) for the possession of the world, and of 
 a countless offspring, and the having a numerous company of 
 kings proceed out of his loins, were, in itself, a vajuty, unless 
 the enjoyment of God accompany the gift. 
 
 But we are not left to deduce so important a conclusion from 
 inference only. The Lord expressly declares, "fear not, 
 Abraham, / am thy shield, and thy exceeding great re- 
 ward!" (Gen. XV. L) And again: "I will establish my cove- 
 nant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their 
 generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, 
 and thy seed after thee: — and 1 will be their God," (Gen. xvii. 
 7, S.) "Behold, I am zvilh thee, and will keep thee in all places 
 whithersoever thou goest," (Gen, xxviii. 15;) "and thy seed 
 shall possess the gate of his enemies." (Gen. xxii. 17.) In 
 these promises is comprehended all spiritual blessings. Here 
 is protection against enemies, in that God is "to be with" his 
 people, and "to compass them about as with a shield;" — here 
 is the assurance of victory over all their enemies, "that they 
 may serve without fear before him;" — here is their present 
 and final bliss, in the enjoyment of God as their exceeding — 
 EXCEEDING great reward! 
 
 These things necessarily imply the personal sanctification of 
 the people of God: for "without holiness no man shall see the 
 Lord;" nor can God walk with any, or prove a reward to 
 them, until there be in them a certain meetness of spirit, to 
 enable them to delight in God. But these things may be more 
 directly inferred from the ex^^ress terms of the covenant. When 
 Lsaac prays, in the behalf of Jacob: "God give thee the blessing 
 of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed after thee, that thou 
 mayest inherit the land," it is inferable that this blessing is 
 needful, in its spiritual bearing, to enable any to be made meet 
 to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light; and 
 that, except they are thus blessed, they cannot inherit the land.* 
 
 ♦ The same thing is, implied in the apostolic command, "Children obey your 
 parents in the Lord, for this is rie;ht. Honour thy father and thy mother, 
 (which is the first commandment with promise), that it maybe well with thee, 
 n7id Ihou maycsl live lo7ig on the carlh,'' or land, (Ephes. vi. 1, 2.) The apostle 
 here points out the connection between the obedience of faith and the possession 
 of the land. That he refers to the promise to Abraham in the words, "that 
 thou mayest live long; on the earth," is evident, first, in that length of days was 
 by no means enjoyed by the most holy of the primitive Christians, whether 
 old or young; ami, secondly, in that the Jews were immediately about to be 
 ejected from that land. 
 
28 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 So it is to be inferred from the rite of circumcision then esta- 
 blished. For we know, from other scriptures, that "circum- 
 cision is of the heart,'' (Rom. ii. 29;) and therefore that, in 
 its original institution, it was not designed merely as a seal, but 
 as a perpetual sign and admonition, that they should "circum- 
 cise the foreskin of the heart." (Deut. x. 16.) In this light 
 it seems to be, that Abraham is assured, "that the uncircumcised 
 shall he cut o^ from his people," (Gen. xvii. 14;) for as we 
 do not find this sentence to have been fulfilled either by the ma- 
 gistrates, or by divine judgments, on Israel after the flesh, it 
 must have had a reference to their being excluded or cut off 
 from that general assembly of the saints and church of the 
 first-born, whose names are written in heaven. 
 
 And tJiis part of the covenant must likewise have a reference, 
 as all the rest has, to the seed, "which is Christ." Does God 
 covenant to be the God of Abraham and his sded? — so Jesus 
 speaks of him expressly to his disciples as "JIfy God and your 
 God." (John xx. 17.) He it is whom the Lord specially 
 covenants to be with, and to keep him in all his ways, lest at 
 any time he dash his foot against a stone. (Psalm xci.) He it 
 is who comes as the seed of the woman, to bruise the serpent's 
 head, and "to speak with his enemies in the gate." And he 
 it is, most pre-eminently, who proves a blessing to others, (Gen. 
 xii. 2, 3,) and through whom the blessing flows to all families 
 of the earth. Believers in general prove a blessing, as being 
 the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, and in that 
 out of their belly flow rivers of living water; but all that they 
 have, which is gracious and profitable, they have received out of 
 Christ's fiihiess; and the pardon of sin, and all direct spiritual 
 aid, can only proceed to them through him. 
 
 Now that the view here taken of the covenant throughout 
 is not strained; but that the Spirit of God did in subsequent 
 ages explicate and set it forth to his church agreeably with 
 this interpretation, will be evident by an appeal to th? pro- 
 phets; for they constantly couple the time of great deliverance 
 and redemption with a return of Israel to Palestine, a regene- 
 ration of their hearts, a renewal of the earth, and the fact that 
 the tabernacle of God shall be with men. For the present two 
 or three quotations must suffice, which plainly and unequivo- 
 cally treat of the New Covenant; which covenant it has been 
 shewn, can be no other than this covenant of promise to 
 Abraham. 
 
 Deut. xxx. 3 — G, affords an instance that the possession of 
 the land ultimately intended was to be accompanied by the 
 circumcision of the heart, and therefore no occupation of the 
 land hitherto enjoyed can be the one intended. "Then the 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 29 
 
 Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion 
 upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, 
 whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of 
 thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from 
 thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence 
 will he fetch thee: and the Lord thy God will bring thee into 
 the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: 
 and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 
 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the 
 heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine 
 heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." 
 
 Jeremiah, in chapters xxx. and xxxi., descants at length on 
 the return of Israel to their land, their possessing it, and its 
 great fertility at that time; and then at verses 31 — 34 declares, 
 *'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 1 will make a 
 new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of 
 Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their 
 fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them 
 out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, 
 although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this 
 shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; 
 After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their 
 inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their 
 God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no 
 more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, 
 saying, Know tlie Lord: for they shall all know me, from the 
 least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I 
 will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no 
 more." 
 
 In the following chapter (xxxii.) the same is repeated with 
 some circumstances of enlargement as to the spiritual bless- 
 ings of "the everlasting covenant," which again can only be 
 that made with Abraham. * "Behold, I will gather them out 
 of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, 
 and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them 
 again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: 
 and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I 
 will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me 
 for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after 
 them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that 
 I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will 
 put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not dcjjart from me." 
 
 Ezekiel shews the same in chap. xi. 17 — 20, "Therefore say 
 thus: Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from 
 the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye 
 have been sc^tered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 
 
 VOL. II. — 3 
 
30 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION; 
 
 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the 
 detestable things thereof, and all the abominations thereof from 
 thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new 
 spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their 
 flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may 
 walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: 
 and they shall be my people, and I will be their God." 
 
 And again the same prophet, in chap, xxxvi. 24 — 28, has 
 much to the same purport. — "For I will take you from among 
 the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring 
 you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water 
 upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and 
 from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will 
 I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will 
 take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you 
 an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and 
 cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judg- 
 ments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I 
 gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be 
 your God." After which follows a promise (v. 35,) that the 
 land shall become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and 
 desolate and ruined cities become fenced, and inhabited. 
 
 That the preceding extracts refer to the Christian covenant 
 is evident from the circumstance, that some of them are brought 
 forward by the apostle when arguing that the covenant of works 
 is superseded. See Heb. viii. and x. This covenant, there- 
 fore, is not to be arbitrarily divided or limited by us; we are 
 not at liberty to select those only of its particulars, which may 
 commend themselves to our minds; but it must be received in 
 that circumstantial fulness in which we find it to be understood 
 and dilated upon by the prophets. 
 
 At the same time, however, that the terms of the covenant 
 are insisted on, I cannot but admit that there is a difficulty, in 
 my apprehension, in clearly distinguishing m all cases between 
 what relates to Israel after the flcsli, who shall then be nation- 
 ally restored; and what relates to the spiritual Israel, who will 
 rise from the dead at that time. Most of the passages just now 
 cited, relate evidently to Israel, after the flesh, who shall then 
 be alive; because their hearts are only then to be regenerated: 
 whereas the departed saints of the Israclitish nation, and all 
 that election from among the Gentiles, ''who shall be account- 
 ed worthy to obtain that world, atid the resurrection from the 
 dead,'" have had their hearts prcviousl}^ sanctified by the Holy 
 Spirit. Some are of opinion that the saints will not be min- 
 gled at all with men, in the flesh in the resurrection; or, at 
 least, that they will only be occasionalbj manifested to them, 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 3^ 
 
 and therefore will not be continually dwelling on the earth. I 
 know of no decided Scripture authority for the opinion; whilst 
 yet, I confess that, judging by the reason of the tiling, there 
 appears some degree of plausibility in it. In the mean while 
 it is evident, from the terms of the covenant we have reviewed, 
 that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are again to dwell in the re- 
 newed earth; and as they will be of the resurrection, there 
 seems no just reason why the rest of those who sleep in Jesus 
 should not dwell on it likewise. It is also evident from Gal. 
 iii. 29. Rom. iv. IG. Ephes. ii. 11 — 22, and iii. G, that the 
 elect Gentiles are made partakers of the covenant of promise, 
 witbout any distinction of nation, or any limitation as to its 
 provisions. And it is further evident, from Psalm xxxvii. 9, 
 11, 22, 29, 34, and Matt. v. 5, that the meek shall inherit the 
 earth, — a promise that seems especially to regard those, who 
 in all times have, for the Lord's sake, been followers of peace. 
 I conclude, therefore, that the resurrection saints will undoubt- 
 edly dwell on earth, and "have power over the nations;" (Rev. 
 ii. 2G.) though they will probably be nearer to God, and con- 
 tinually behold his glory, in a manner that will not be enjoyed 
 to the same extent by men of flesh and blood. But these 
 subordinate details must be left till the Lord's advent, when 
 all difficulties and obscurities will be cleared up. ISIost of 
 them arise from our little failh, and our inabilit}'^, through in- 
 veterate prejudices, to apprehend in many instances what is 
 plainly revealed. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 It will perhaps be admitted by all Christian readers, that the 
 prophets certainly speak of a time of restitution of all things; 
 seeing that the Apostle Peter has plainly declared they do. 
 Acts iii. 19 — 21. And it will perhaps be further conceded by 
 the generality, that the passages of scripture, brought forward 
 in the previous chapter, do, at first view, seem to wear the 
 aspect there contended for. And yet, because this system of 
 interpretation does not fall in with the pre-conceived opinions 
 of many, and has been directly contradicted in latter times by 
 excellent and^able Christians, therefore a question will arise in 
 the minds of some, whether after all, the view here given be 
 
32 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, 
 
 not more plausible than just, and a mere modern innovation on 
 the generally received and supposed orthodox method of inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 In this respect it appears of moment to inquire into the 
 opinions and the system of interpretation maintained at differ- 
 ent periods by the Church of God, and to notice also the 
 circumstances which have at any time tended materially to 
 warp or prejudice its judgment. For the voice of the mystical 
 members of Christ's body is surely the voice of "the Spirit 
 and the Bride;" and that voice will not therefore pass un- 
 heeded by those who desire to understand the voice of God 
 himself. And it is the more needful to insist on this point, 
 seeing that men have at all times been disposed to disparage 
 the voice of the Church, when its sound has happened to be in 
 opposition to their own opinions; and instead of showing a 
 becoming diffidence of going counter to that voice, except for 
 weighty and constraining reasons, have betrayed an utter 
 recklessness of it altogether, as if our pious forefathers had 
 been given up to follow cunningly-devised fables. The opi- 
 nions of the orthodox Jeinsh writers have been in this manner 
 cast aside, and confounded with the rubbish of anti-christian 
 rabbins; as if, because a man were an Israelite, he could not 
 possibly have been guided into the truth of God, and the 
 Church before Christ had been absolutely without direction 
 from above. The sentiments of the primitive fathers of the 
 Christian Church have been in like manner at once discarded, 
 whenever they have seemed to contradict more modern theo- 
 ries. And, in the present day, there is a growing disposition 
 to treat the views maintained by the fathers of the Reforma- 
 tion — views which in some particulars have been substantially 
 coincided in by the whole protestant body, as the result of 
 ingenious prejudice and antipathy against their papal enemies. 
 
 First, for the sake of perspicuity, the subject of inquiry may 
 be divided into seven different periods; the first comprehend- 
 ing the voice of the Jewish Church; the second, from the time 
 of the Apostles to Constantino, embracing the history of the 
 purest period of the Christian Church; the third from Con- 
 stantino to Jerome, and that period of twilight, or neither light 
 nor darkness, which preceded the passing of the Church into 
 the night of popery; the fourth, what arc usually called the 
 dark ages: viz. from Justinian to the Reformation; the fifth, 
 the first century of the Reformation; the sixth and seventh, 
 the two centuries after the Reformation, which brings us down 
 into our own times. 
 
 1. The Jewish testimony up to the time of Christ is but 
 scanty, as regards any point, if we except the writers of the 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 33 
 
 Old Testament; to quote whom would be considered a begging 
 the question; since our object is rather to bring forward the 
 expositions of uninspired writers, to prove the correctness of 
 the view which has already been taken of passages quoted from 
 the Scriptures. Little, however, as we have on this point, it 
 is quite enough to sanction the interpretation here given. 
 
 The first is from the Targums. * The Babylonian Targum 
 on Gen. xlix. 10 says: "Christ shall come, whose is the king- 
 dom, and him shall the nations serve." How this was under- 
 stood by the Church will further appear presently. The Jeru- 
 salem Targum on the same Scripture says: "The king Christ 
 shall come, whose is the kingdom, and all nations shall be 
 subject unto him." 
 
 Rabbi Eliezer, the great, is supposed to have lived just after 
 the second temple was built. He, referring to Hosea's pro- 
 phecy, (Chap. xiv. S.) applies it to the pious Jews who seemed 
 likely to die without seeing the glory of Israel, saying: "As 
 I live, saith Jehovali, I will raise you up, in the time to come, 
 in the resurrectio?i of the dead; and I will gather you with alt 
 Israer'i 
 
 The Sadducees are related to have asked Rabbi Gamaliel, 
 the preceptor of St. Paul, whence he would prove that 
 God would raise the dead. Nor could he silence them 
 till he brought against them Deut. xi. 21, '< Which land 
 the Lord sware that he would give to your fathers.'" The 
 Rabbi argued, that as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had it not, 
 and God cannot lie, therefore they must be raised from the 
 dead to inherit it.J 
 
 The period in which the writer of the Book of Wisdom 
 lived is doubtful; but certainly he must have been a Jew of 
 high antiquity. § In chap. ii. 7, 8, he says of the dead, "In 
 the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro 
 like sparks among the stubble: they shall judge the ?iatio?is, and 
 
 * The Tarsuviswere pa.raphrase:^ of the law, supposed to have been first 
 used in Ezra's time; (See Nehemiah viii. 7 — d.^ but there is no- authentic 
 icr'dtcn paraphrase or Targum before the lime ot Onkelos and Jonatlian, who 
 are supposetl to have lived about thirty 3'ears before Christ. Writers indeed 
 differ about the antiquity of the Targums, some making them later, and some 
 earlier. The Jerjtiafem Targum is supposed to be a fragment of a much more 
 ancient paraphrase. These Targums may be seen in Buxtorfs Hebrew Bible. 
 Basil xvi. 10. 
 
 + See his Capiltda, ch?i\>. xxxiv. 
 
 t Rabbi Sirnai, though of later date, argues the same from Exodus vi. 4, in- 
 sisting that 'the law asserts in this place the resurrection from the dead — to 
 wit, when it is said; A7id,also J have established my covenant vith them, to give 
 them CoMoan, &c. for (he adds) it is not said to i/om, but to them? He only, 
 however, follows herein the earlier commentators. See this whole testimony 
 in Mede's Works, Book iv. Ep. 4.3. Also the Gemara Sanhedrim, cap. ii. 
 
 § Grotius supposes him to have lived between the time of Ezra and Simon 
 the Just. » 
 
 3* 
 
34 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 have dominion over the peoples, (Vtdg.) and their Lord shall 
 reign for ever." But whosoever this writer was, he likewise 
 only gives the current opinion of expositors of his own age.* 
 The sentiments of the writer of the book of Tobit are to 
 the same purport. After describing the first captivity, and the 
 return from it, together with the rebuilding of the temple, ho 
 says: "Then shall they again go forth into a captivity, by far 
 the greatest they ever were in. But the blessed and holy God 
 shall remember them, and gather them from the four quarters 
 of the world. Then shall Jerusalem, the holy city, be restored 
 with a beautiful and excellent structure, as also the temple 
 shall be built with a famous structure, which shall not be de- 
 stroyed nor demolished for ever, as the prophets have said. 
 Then shall the Gentiles be converted to worship the Lord, &c. 
 The horn also of his people shall be exalted before all nations, 
 and the seed of Israel shall celebrate and glorify his great 
 name."t However some passages in this book may prove, 
 that it is not entitled to be admitted into the inspired canon; it 
 nevertheless shows what were the religious sentiments preva- 
 lent at a very remote period of antiquity. Good critics (as 
 Dr. Gray) have contended, that it was written in Chaldaic 
 during, or soon after, the first captivity, and the early chapters 
 even prior to that time. 
 
 Besides the foregoing statements, which are mostly advanced 
 as the direct exposition of scripture texts, there are likewise 
 various traditions of the early Jewish church, which are entitled 
 to attention from the general respect shown to them in all ages: 
 though they cannot be urged in the light of direct testimony. 
 Among these is the commonly received opinion, that the 
 world was to last, in its present state, during 6000 years; and 
 that in the seventh millennary it was to be renewed, and all 
 the promises of God made to the fathers accomplished at that 
 time. This tradition, however, does not appear to rest upon 
 any foundation, derived from the word of God, that is of a 
 character sufficiently evident to satisfy a rigid inquirer; whilst 
 yet it is remarkable how very generally it has been entertained, 
 by the Jews, the primitive fathers, and the reformers. They 
 seem to have deduced it chiefly in an analogical way from the 
 fact of God's having created the world in six days, and ap- 
 pointing the seventh for a sabbath; and also from the appoint- 
 ment of the sabbatical and jubilean years. But no direct testi- 
 mony of scripture is brought for it (that I am aware of), 
 
 * See Mede to Mcddus, Book iv. Ep. 20. 
 
 + See chap. xiv. according to the ancknt Constantinopolitan copy, written 
 originally in Chaldee, and published by Paulus Fagius. The corruption of 
 the ordinary Greek and Latiii copies will be noticed presently. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 35 
 
 nearer to the mark than Isaiah ii. 11, advanced by Rabbi 
 Ketina, from more ancient authority: "And the I^ord alone 
 shall be exalted in that day."* Nevertheless, so generally 
 was it believed, that, immediately after the destruction of the 
 temple by Titus, when the Christians urged upon the Jews 
 that JNIessiah must certainly have appeared, since the sceptre 
 had now passed away, and the oblation and sacrifice were ceased, 
 the latter deemed it quite sufiicient in reply, to point to the 
 fact, that the world was not yet 6000 years old.t It was not, 
 liowever, agreed among them in which of the seven millenna- 
 ries of the world, Messiah would come. Some thought it 
 would be the beginning of the fifth, some of the seventh, and 
 some the latter end of the sixth.J Cut the most general one 
 was, that the world was to be 2000 years void of the law, 2000 
 wider the laze, and 2000 under Messiah; which opinion was 
 again pressed on them by the christians to prove, that in this 
 case Messiah must be, by their own showing, already come.§ 
 This latter opinion is called, by the Jews, "a tradition of the 
 house of Elias," an eminent Rabbi, who lived before the birth 
 of Christ. The same also taught, that in the seventh millenna- 
 ry the earth would be renewed, and the righteous dead raised; 
 that these should not again be turned to dust, and that the just, 
 then alive, should mount up with wings as the eagle; so that 
 in that day they would not need to fear, though the mountains 
 (quoting Psalm xlvi. 3.) should be cast into the midst of the 
 sea. II 
 
 Now these traditions, though, as before observed, they are 
 not sufficient for direct testimony, as to the view of the Jewish 
 Church, respecting the covenant of promise; are, nevertheless, 
 of use, as indicating i?idireclly what the general voice and ex- 
 pectation of the Church was, without which these traditions 
 could not have been so generally received. 
 
 To return, however, to» the former testimonies; whatever 
 blindness might have happened to Israel, at the time of their 
 casting off, surely the Church was not blinded throughciut the 
 zvhole period, from the return from Babylon to the first advent 
 of Messiah! This were as greatly to undervalue the voice of 
 the Church, as the Papists are wont to overrate it: and it would 
 be difficult to say on what ground the voice of the Church, at 
 a7iy period, unless confirmed by miracles, ought to be entitled 
 
 * See the Talmud, under the head Rosch Haschana. 
 
 t See Pezron's Antiq. eh. iv. 37. 
 
 t See these various opinions in Rabbi Asche. 
 
 § See the Talmud, under head Shaiiedrhn, and also Harodu Zara. I am 
 chiefly indebted lor the authorities in this matter to Bishop Clayton's inquiry, 
 and Ramundus Martinus, to whom he also refers. 
 
 II See this passage at large in Mede, book iv. 951. 
 
36 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 to regard. One thing we may, at least, assume, that such in- 
 terpretations of Scripture, as the Church in the time of our 
 Lord and the apostles was wont to entertain, would be correct- 
 ed or exploded; for it is quite irreconcileable with all reasona- 
 ble notions to suppose, that our Lord would constantly observe 
 his pious followers to speak and hope erroneously, on this or 
 any other point, yet never disabuse them or their false conceits; 
 the more especially as he did continually attack the false 
 opinions of the Pharisees and Sadducees. We have, therefore, 
 to inquire next into the views entertained by CJiristians on this 
 head, in the age of the apostles, and in the two centuries im- 
 mediately succeeding. 
 
 2. So far then, as the testimony of the christian fathers, 
 from the time of the apostles down to the time of Origen, is 
 concerned, we have ample proof, in such of their writings as 
 have come down to us, that it is similar to that of the Jewish 
 Church; only more explicit, as might be expected. 
 
 The first who may be noticed is Barnabas* who in Abp. 
 Wake's collection of the Apocryphal Epistles, speaks as if he 
 were Barnabas the apostle. This is questionable; but there is 
 no doubt that he was of very high antiquity, and that his 
 epistle was read in the Churches at a very early period. These 
 epistles, however, have been so corrupted in later times, that 
 notwithstanding the purification they have undergone, through 
 subsequent critics, it is necessary to receive with some caution 
 the statements they contain. The passage, however, to which 
 the appeal will now be made, is probably as free from serious 
 objection, allowing for somewhat of obscurity in it, as any 
 which the book contains. For, as will hereafter be shown, the 
 sentiments of the fathers on the point in question were, at a 
 later period, most industriously distorted and falsified. 
 
 Barnabas, then, has been speaking of tlie covenant with 
 Abraham, as having superseded the Mosaic covenant; and he 
 inquires whether God has/<///?//a/ the covenant which he sware 
 to the fathers. He then argues that it is so far fulfilled, that 
 God has sent Christ, who is to be the covenant pledge for the 
 remainder of it; quoting Isaiah xlii. 6: "I will give thee for a 
 covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles;" and Isaiah 
 
 * Dr. Hamilton of Strathblane.in a work of his against the students of Pro- 
 phecy, has rashly stated that the principles of MilJennarianism were opposed 
 and rejected, by almost every father of tlie church, with the exception of Bar- 
 nabas, Clement, &c. &c. Now the fact is, that the numerous fathers mentioned 
 by the doctor, as exceptions to his rule, are almost the whole of those whose 
 works have been preserved down to the time of Origen. The doctor may be 
 safely challenged to adduce one single passage in any father, during that pe- 
 riod, opposing or rejecting the view; the utmost that can be said of any is, that 
 they do not mention the subject; when they do advert to it, they support and 
 maintain the view that has here been given. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 37 
 
 Ixi, 21: "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath 
 anointed me to proclaim the acceptaljje year of the Lord, and 
 the day of reslitiilion.''^ He then goes on: "Furthermore it is 
 written concerning the Sabbath, — 'Sanctify the Sabbath of the 
 Lord with pure hands and with a clean iieart.' x\nd elsewhere 
 he saith: 'If thy children shall keep my Sabbaths, then will I 
 put my MEKCY on them;' (alluding to the mercy promised to 
 Abraham;) and even in the beginning of creation he makes 
 mention of the Sabbath; 'And God made, in six days, the 
 works of his hands, and he finished them on the seventh day, 
 and he rested on the seventh day, and sanctified it.' Consider, 
 my children, what that signifies: — ^ He finished them in six 
 days.' The meaning is this: that in six thousand years, the 
 Lord will bring all things to an end. For with him one day 
 is a thousand years, as Himself testifieth, saying: 'Behold this 
 day shall be as a thousand years:' therefore, children, in six 
 days, (i. e. in 6000 years) shall all things be accomplished. 
 And what is that he saith, — ^He rested the seventh day?' He 
 meaneth, that when his Son shall come, and abolish the Wick- 
 ed One, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun and moon 
 and stars, then he shall gloriously rest in the seventh day. He 
 adds, lastly: 'Thou shalt sanctify it with clean hands and a 
 pure heart, [alluding here to circumcision being of the heart.] 
 Wherefore we are greatly deceived if we imagine, that any 
 can now sanctify the day which God hath made holy, without 
 having a heart pure in all things. Behold, therefore, he will 
 then truly sanctify it with blessed rest, when we have received 
 the righteous promise; — when iniquity shall be no more, all 
 things being reneiced by the Lord; and shall then be able to 
 sanctify it, being ourselves holy." See Section xiv. xv. Epis- 
 tle of Barnabas. 
 
 The next testimony is, that of Papias. Euscbius and Je- 
 rome, though opposed to his sentiments, both acknowledge 
 him to have been a disciple of John and companion of Poly- 
 carp.* The former disparages Papias, as being illiterate, and 
 a man of weak judgment, when he has to deal with his testi- 
 mony on this point; but he speaks of him as being eloquent and 
 learned in the scriptures, when he adverts to him on another oc- 
 casion. But to this I shall presently refer again; in the mean 
 while we have nothing to do in the present instance with the 
 judgment of Papias, but only with his veracity; for his evi- 
 dence respects, not what he thought himself, but what he 
 heard from others: t and all have given him credit for being an 
 
 * Eusebii Hist. lib. iii. and Hieron. Ep. xxi.x. 19. 
 
 tHe stales ''tlyit what he relates are the very words of the clder.s, Andrew, 
 Peter, Philip, Thomas, James, John, Matthew, Aristio, and John the Presby- 
 ter, as related to him by those of whom he constantly made the inquiry;" and 
 he pledges himself to the "truth and fidelity of what he reports." 
 
38 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 eminently piow5 and godly man; one proof oi which, and also of 
 his wisdom and understanding is, that hy the immediate suc- 
 cessors of the apostles he was considered qualified to be made 
 bishop of Hierapolis. The works of Papias himself are not 
 known to exist; * but Eusebius quotes from them the follow- 
 ing passage: "Other things also the same writer, (Papias) has 
 set forth, as having come down to him by unwritten tradition 
 — some new parables and discourses of the Saviour, and certain 
 other things somewhat fabulous. Among these he says that 
 there will be a certain thousand years after the resurrection of 
 the dead, when the kingdom of Christ shall he established corporeally 
 on this earth." Hist. lib. iii. sect. 39. 
 
 We next come to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, the contem- 
 porary of Papias and disciple of John. His testimony might 
 be considered ambiguous, were it not that Irenseus, whom we 
 shall presently bring forward, speaks of his sentiments on this 
 subject in a manner that shews clearly, that he must have inter- 
 preted certain passages of scripture conformably with what has 
 been exhibited. We may be assured therefore, what was the 
 drift and meaning of Polycarp in such passages as the follow- 
 ing in his epistle to the Philippians: "If we please [the Lord] 
 in this present world, we shall also be made partakers of that 
 which is to come, according as he hath promised us, that he will 
 raise us from the dead; and that if we walk worthy of him, we 
 shall also reign together zvith him.^' — "Who of you are ignorant 
 of the Judgtnent of God? Do we not know that the saints shall 
 judge the world, as Paul teaches?" — "The God and Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. grant unto yoit a lot and portion 
 among his saints, and us with you, and to all who are under 
 the heavens, who shall believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 in his Father who raised him from the dead." "Whosoever 
 perverts the oracles of God to his own lusts, and says there 
 shall neither be any resurrection nor judgment, he is the first- 
 born of Satan." 
 
 Justyn Martyr is the next. He was born a. d. 89, and suf- 
 fered 'a. D. 163;t and must, therefore, have been arrived at 
 man's estate before the death of Papias and Polycarp. Several 
 of his works are extant, in which we have ample proof of the 
 opinions which were held by the church in his days. In his 
 Dialogue with Trypho, he says: "I, and all that are orthodox 
 Christians, are acquainted with the resurrection of the body 
 and the thousand years in Jerusalem, that shall be re-edified, 
 adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, and 
 
 * They consisted of five books, called Aoym KupiAKoiv i^n-yna-i; a narrative of 
 the sayings of our Lord. 
 
 t Some have placed his martyrdom as early as a. d. 146. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 39 
 
 Others declare. For Isaiah saith of this thousand years, (chap. 
 Ixv. 17,) 'Behold 1 create new heavens and a new earth, and 
 the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind; but 
 be ye glad and rejoice in those which I create: for behold I 
 create Jerusalem to triumph, and my people to rejoice, &c.' — 
 JNIoreover, a certain man among us, whose name is John, being 
 one of the twelve apostles of Christ, in that revelation which 
 was shewn to him prophesied, that those who believe in our 
 Christ shall fulfil a thousand years at Jerusalem; and after that 
 the general, and, in a word, the everlasting resurrection, and 
 last judgment of all together. Whereof also our Lord spake 
 when he said, that therein they shall neither marry, nor be 
 given in marriage, but shall be equal with the angels, being 
 made the sons of the resurrection of God.'^ 
 
 It will be seen, in the preceding extracts, that Justyn speaks 
 of the opinion as being generally maintained by the orthodox. 
 In the following passage he unceremoniously classes those who 
 dissented from it among heretics: for he introduces the previous 
 remarks, by saying: "I confessed to thee before, that I and 
 many others are of this opinion, &.c. And on the contrary, I 
 have signified unto thee, that many, even those Christians who 
 fulloio 7} ot godly and pure doctrine, do not acknowledge this: for 
 I have demonstrated to thee, that these are indeed called Chris- 
 tians, but are Atheists andungodly /iere/JC5, who altogether teach 
 blasphemous, atheistical and unsound things."* 
 
 The testimony of Irenseus is equally full and explicit with 
 that of Justyn. He succeeded Pothinus as Bishop of Lyons, 
 about A. D. 171, and was martyred in a. d. 202 or 20S.t He 
 wrote, among other works, five books upon the Heresies of his 
 times, which books are still extant. He speaks of St. John 
 the apostle as having lived to the times of Trajan, of Poly- 
 carp as a hearer of St. John, and of himself as a hearer of 
 Poly carp, t 
 
 The sentiments of Irenxus on the question before. us, are 
 
 * The genuineness of this passage will be considered in the fourth section 
 of this chapter. 
 
 t See Cave's Lives of the Fathers. 
 
 t In an epistle to Florinus, he says: — 'When I vas very young, I saw you 
 in the Lower Asia with Polycarp. I can remember circumstances of that 
 time better than those which have happened more recently; for the things 
 which we learn in childhood grow up with the soul, and unite themselves to 
 it; insomuch that I can tell the place in which the blessed Polycarp sat and 
 taught, and his going out and coming in, the manner of his Hie, the form of 
 his person, and the discourses he made to the people; and how he related his 
 conversation with John, and others who had seen the Lord; and how he re- 
 lated their sayings, and the things which he heard of them concerning the 
 Lord, both concerning his miracles and doctrine, as he had received them 
 from the eye-witnesses of t/ic Lord of Life: all of which Polycarp related 
 agreeable to the Scriptures,' &c. 
 
40 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, 
 
 principally to be found in the twelve last chapters of his fifth 
 book against Heresies, one or two extracts from which here 
 follows. In the 32nd chapter, having noticed that certain 
 lieretical opinions on the subject, arise from ignorance of the 
 arrangements of God, and of the mystery of the resurrection 
 and kingdom of the just; therefore (he says) it becomes need- 
 ful to speak of them. Then he proceeds: — "For it is fitting 
 that the just, rising at the appearing of God, should in the re- 
 newed state receive the promise of inheritance which God 
 cove?ianted to the fathers, and should reign in it; and that then 
 should come the final judgment. For in the same condition 
 in which they have laboured and been afflicted, and been tried 
 by suffering in all sorts of ways, it is but just that in it they 
 should receive the fruits of their suffering, so that where, for 
 the love of God, they suffered death, there they should be 
 brought to life again; and where they endured, bondage, there 
 also they should reign. For God is rich in all things, and all 
 things are of him: and therefore I say it is becoming, that the 
 creature being restored to its original beauty, should without 
 any impediment or drawback be subject to the righteous. This 
 the apostle makes manifest in the epistle to the Romans: 'For 
 the expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation 
 of the sons of God, &c. for the creature itself also shall be de- 
 livered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liber- 
 ty of the children of God.' The promise likewise of God 
 which he made to Abraham decidedly confirms this: for he says, 
 *Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou 
 art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; 
 for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to 
 thy seed for ever,' (Gen. xiii. 14, 15.) And again, 'Arise, 
 walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth 
 of it, for I will give it unto thee,' (ver. 17.) For Abraham 
 received no inheritance in it, — not even a foot-breadth, but al- 
 ways was a stranger and a sojourner in it. And when Sarah 
 his wife died, and the children of Heth offered to give him a 
 piece of land for a burial place, he imuld 7iot accept if, but pur- 
 chased it for four hundred pieces of silver, from Ephron the 
 son of Zohar the Hittite; staying himself on the promise of 
 God, and being unwilling to seem to accept from man what 
 God had promised to give him, saying to him, *To thy seed 
 will I give this land, from the great river of Egypt to the great 
 river Euphrates.' Thus, therefore, as God promised to him 
 the inheritance of the earth, and he received it not during the 
 whole time he lived in it, it is necessary that he should receive 
 it, together with his seed, that is, with such of them as fear 
 God, and believe in him — in the resurreclio7i of thejust.^' Ire- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 4 J 
 
 naeus then goes on to show, tliat Christ and the church are also 
 of the true seed, and partakers of the promises, and concludes 
 the chapter as follows: "Thus, therefore, those who are of 
 faith are hlesscd with faithful Ahraham; and the same are the 
 children of Ahraham. For God repeatedly promised the in- 
 heritance of the land to Ahraham and his seed; and as neither 
 Ahraham nor his seed — that is, not those who are justified by- 
 faith — have enjoyed any inheritance in it, they icill undoubtedly 
 receive it at the resurrection of the just. For true and unchange- 
 able is God: wherefore also he said, 'Blessed are the meek, 
 for they shall inherit the earth.' " 
 
 In the 34th chapter he supports his statements by numerous 
 quotations from the prophets, &c. As it is a matter of great 
 interest and importance to the student of prophecy, to know 
 what was the method of expounding or applying the propheti- 
 cal scriptures in times so near to the apostles, a brief extract is 
 given as a specimen: "Isaiah plainly declares similar happiness 
 at the resurrection of the just; thus saying, 'Thy dead men 
 shall arise, and those in the tombs shall rise, and they shall 
 rejoice who are in the earth. For thy dew is salvation to them,' 
 (xxvi. 19.) Ezekiel says the same; 'Behold, I will open your 
 graves, and lead you forth from your tombs, in order that I 
 may lead forth from their sepulchres my people, and I will 
 put the Spirit in you, and ye shall know that I am the Lord,' 
 (xxxvii. 12, 14.) And again the same saith: 'These things 
 saith the Lord, \Vhen I shall have gathered Israel from the 
 nations among whom they are scattered, then shall they dwell 
 in their land, tliat I have given to my servant Jacob. And 
 they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and 
 plant vineyards,' &c. (chap, xxviii. 25, 2G.)" Then follow 
 Jer. xxiii. 7, 8; Isa. xxx. 25, 26; Iviii. 14; Luke xii. 27, 30; 
 Rev. XX. 6; Isa. vi. 11; Daiiiel vii. 27; Jeremiah xxxi. 10 — 15; 
 Isaiah xxxi. 9; xxxii. 1; liv. 11 — 14, and Ixv. IS — 28, in the 
 order here placed, and applied to the same doctrine. 
 
 The next father of any eminence whose sentiments on this 
 head can be ascertained, is Tertullian, bishop of Carthage, who 
 wrote his famous 'Apology,' about a. d. ISO. In his third 
 book against Marcion, chap. xxiv. he says: "For we also con- 
 fess, that a kingdom is promised us on earth: before that ia 
 heaven, but in another state, viz. after the resurrection, for it 
 •will be for a thousand years in a city of divine workmanship, 
 viz. Jerusalem brought doiimfrom heaven: and this city Ezekiel 
 knew, and the apostle John saw, &c.'* This we say is the city 
 
 * There follows here a passage concerning a vision of a city, which Ter- 
 tullian asserts w^s acknowledged by the Romans to have been seen in Judea. 
 But my object is not to bring forward the extraneous matter iutroduced by the 
 VOL. II. 1 
 
42 
 
 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 provided of God to receive the saints in the resurrection, 
 Avherein to refresh them with an abundance of all spiritual 
 good things, in recompense of those which in the world we 
 have either despised or lost. For it is both just and worthy 
 of God, that his servants should there triumph and rejoice, 
 where they have been afflicted for his Name's sake. This is 
 the manner of the heavenly kingdom." 
 
 Besides the testimony above adduced, Tertullian mentions 
 it as a custom of his times for Christians to pray, "that they 
 might have part in the first resurrection." And Cyprian, who 
 flourished about A. d. 220, informs us, that the thi'-st for mar- 
 tyrdom which existed among Christians arose from their sup- 
 posing, that those who suffered for Christ would obtain a more 
 distinguished lot in his kingdom. From which we may 
 perceive how highly practical that doctrine was, which could 
 inake men even court death, and take joyfully the spoiling 
 of their goods, and to suffer torture, not obtaining deliverance, 
 that they might obtain a better resurrection. Heb. xi. 
 
 3. Having brought forward these eminent testimonies from 
 those fathers of the two first centuries who are known to us, or 
 rather whose words have come down to us; the next step in 
 the inquiry will be into the voice of the Church from Origen to 
 Jerome inclusive; for with Origen a new era commenced in 
 the history of prophetic interpretation; and Jerome and Au- 
 gustine were almost thd; last of the fathers of any eminence 
 who preceded the authoritative establishment of the papacy. 
 Origen flourished about the middle of the third century: 
 Jerome died about a. d. 420; and the papacy was (as many 
 suppose) firmly established by Justinian in 533: and in the 
 century that intervened between Jerome and this period, there 
 arose no one on the side of genuine Christianity who may not 
 be considered a feeble follower of that father; whilst during 
 the whole of that same century those idolatrous practices and 
 deviations from the true faith, which led on to the maturing of 
 the papal apostacy, had been rapidly spreading and acquiring 
 strength. 
 
 As the system of interpretation, which now commenced 
 with Origen, greatly affected the sense of holy writ, and be- 
 came so popular in the end as insensibly to carry away with it 
 the majority of Christians, it must of course be viewed as 
 having greatly affected tJw voice of the Church; and it conse- 
 quently becomes an important question, how far the system of 
 
 fathers into their writings, and which was the fruit merely of their own indi- 
 vidual judgment; but to exhibit that system oi expounding and applying scrip- 
 ture, which seems to have been as yet handed down uninterruptedly among 
 them. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 43 
 
 Origen was compatible with the mind of the Spirit, as exhibited 
 in the holy scriptures. 
 
 It is liicewisc important to observe, that up to the time of 
 Origen, and also in his time, the system of exposition which 
 characterised the two first centuries, was still prevalent. Ow- 
 ing, however, to the great influence of the learning and talents 
 of Origen, his allegorizing system soon began to obtain with 
 many; insomuch that Nepos, a pious and talented bishop of 
 Egypt, was ])rompted to write a book, entitled 'The Repre- 
 hensions of Allcoorizcrs,' which was specially directed against 
 those who now began to explain the JNIillennium figuratively. 
 After the death of Nepos, Dionysius, a zealous disciple of Ori- 
 gen, became bishop of Alexandria; and perceiving that the 
 views of Nepos overthrew the principle of his master's system, 
 he laboured to refute them; and of his success in drawing over 
 one Coracion, with certain of his followers, in the villages of 
 Arsenoita, Eusebius preserves the account, (lib. vii. c. 22 — 24.) 
 But he relates also, tbat Dionysius, in the pursuit of his 
 object, was led to question tlie canonical authority of the 
 Apocalypse; from which a fair inference may be drawn, that 
 he found himself hard pressed by passages in that book. 
 INIosheim, in his Ecclesiastical History, observes, "that long 
 before this controversy an opinion had prevailed, that Christ 
 was to come and reign a thousand years among men, before 
 the entire and final dissolution of this world;" — "that this 
 opinion had hitherto met with ?io opposition;" — "and that now 
 its credit began to decline principally through the influence 
 and authority of Origen, who opposed it with the greatest 
 warmtb, because it was incompalible with some of his favourite 
 sentiments." (vol. i. p. 2S4.) 
 
 In regard to the system of interpretation struck out by 
 Origen, and which was adopted with modifications and varie- 
 ties by so many others, the best way of briefly conveying an 
 idea of its general character, and of shewing, that the opinion 
 here expressed of it is not that of an individual writer, will be to 
 bring forward two or three instances, displaying the manner in 
 which it has been reprobated by eminent expositors in subse- 
 quent times. Jerome, who had himself, though unconsciously, 
 in a measure imbibed the leaven of it, docs nevertheless condemn 
 it; but his opinion may be shewn by a reference to Luther's, 
 who says, in his Annotations on Deuteronomy, "That which 
 I have so often insisted on elsewhere, I here once more repeat; 
 viz. that the Christian should direct his first eflorts toward 
 understanding the literal sense (as it is called) of scripture, 
 which alone is the substance of faith and of Christian theology; 
 — which alone will sustain him in the hour of trouble and 
 
44 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 temptation; — and which will triumph over sin, death, and the 
 gates of hell, to the praise and glory of God. The allegorical 
 sense is commonly uncertain, and hy no means safe to build 
 our faith upon; for it usually depends on human opinion and 
 conjecture only, on which, if a man lean, he will find it no 
 better than the Egyptian reed. Therefore, Origen, Jerome, 
 and similar of the fathers, are to be avoided, with the whole of 
 that Alexandrian school, which, according to Eusebius and 
 Jerome, formerly abounded in this species of interpretation. 
 For later writers t/nhappilij follozvi/ig their too much praised and 
 prevailing example, it has come to pass, that meu make just 
 what they please of the Scriptures, until some accommodate 
 the word of God to the most extravagant absurdities; and, as 
 Jerome complains of his own times, they extract a sense from 
 Scripture repugnant to its meaning: of which offence, however, 
 Jerome himself was also guilty." Ann. in DeUt. cap. i. fo. 55. 
 Dr. Mosheim observes: "After the encomiums we have given 
 to Origen, &:c., it is not without deep concern we are obliged 
 to add, that he also, by an unhappy method, opened a secure 
 retreat for all sorts of errors, wliich a wild and irregular imagi- 
 nation could bring forth." And after noticing that he aban- 
 doned the literal sense, and divided the hidden sense into moral 
 and mystical, or spiritual, he adds: "A prodigious number of 
 interpreters, both in this and the succeeding ages, followed the 
 method of Origen, though with some variations; nor could the 
 few, who explained the sacred writings with judgment and a 
 true spirit of criticism, oppose with any success the torrent of 
 allegory that was overflowing the Church." Ch. Hist. cent, 
 iii. part 2. sect. 5. G. Milner, in his Church History, says 
 somewhat similar: — "No man, not altogether unsound and 
 hypocritical, ever injured the Church of Christ mo7'e thayi Origen 
 did. From the fanciful mode of allegory, introduced by him, 
 and uncontrolled by scriptural rule and order, there arose a 
 vitiated method of commenting on the sacred pages; which 
 has been succeeded by the contrary extreme, — viz. a contempt of 
 types and figures altogether. And in a simHar way his fanci- 
 ful ideas o{ letter and spirit tended to remove from men's minds 
 all just conceptions of genuine spirituality. A thick mist for 
 ages pervaded the Christian world, supported and strengthened 
 by his allegorical manner of interpretation. The learned alone 
 were considered as guides implicitly to be followed; and the 
 vulgar, when the literal sense was hissed off the stage, had no- 
 thing to do but to follow their authority, wherever it might 
 lead them. Vol. i. page 4G9. 
 
 A very considerable number, however, of Christians, de- 
 cidedly the majority, did nevertheless continue, sometime after 
 Origen, to maintain the millennarian view. So difficult indeed 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 45 
 
 is it to depart consistently, and all at once, from a beaten track, 
 that even Origen himself is now and then betrayed into state- 
 ments, which arc only reconcileablc on the millcnnarian sys- 
 tem of interpretation. Take, for example, the following pas- 
 sage against Cclsus, (lib. iii.) — "We do not deny the purging 
 lire of the destruction of wickedness, and the renovation of all 
 things." And again, in his thirteenth Homily on Jeremiah, 
 he says: ''If any man shall preserve the washing of the Holy 
 Spirit, &.C. he shall have his part in the first Resurrectio?i; but if 
 any man be saved in the second resurrection only, it is the sinner 
 that needeth the baptism by fire. Wherefore, seeing these 
 things are so, let us lay the Scriptures to heart, and make them 
 the rule of our lives; that so, being cleansed from the defile- 
 ment of sin before w^e depart, we may be raised up uitli the 
 saints, and have our lot icith Christ JesusJ' 
 
 Of those fathers from Origen to Jerome who dccidedlij took 
 the millcnnarian view, the most eminent was Laclanlius, who 
 flourished in the time of Constantino the Great, about a. d. 310. 
 He was considered the most learned of the Latin fathers, and 
 his works abound with testimonies to the matter in hand. A 
 specimen is here given from his book, De Drcinis Institulioni- 
 bus; which example is selected in preference, because there 
 will, by-and-by, be a further use for it. Speaking of the 
 coming of God to judge the world he says: "But when he 
 shall do that, and shall restore the just that have been from the 
 beginning unto life, he shall converse among men a thousand 
 years, and rule them with a most righteous government. This 
 the Sibyl elsewhere proclaims, saying. Hear me, ye men, 
 the eternal king doth reign, &c. Then they that shall be alive 
 in their bodies shall not die, but by the space of those thousand 
 years shall generate an infinite multitude, and their oflfspring 
 shall be holy and dear to God. And they that shall be raised 
 from the dead shall be over the living as judges. And the 
 Gentiles shall not be uilcrbj extinguished; but some shall be 
 left for the \-ictory of God, that thc}"^ may be triumphed over 
 by the just, and reduced to perpetual servitude. About the 
 same time the prince of devils, the forger of all evil, shall be 
 bound witii chains, and shall be in custody all the thousand 
 years of the heavenly empire, under which righteousness shall 
 reign over the world." Chap. xxiv. 
 
 Methodius, bishop of Olympus, who suflered martyrdom, un- 
 der Decius about a. d. 312, says, in his book on the resurrec- 
 tion, written against Origen,* "It is to be expected that at the 
 
 » The book is not known to be extant, but the passage here quoted is cited, 
 with others, by PkocIus in Epiphanius. See the Paris Edition of the Works 
 of Methodius, by Combesis, 1G14. 
 
 4* 
 
46 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, 
 
 conflagration the creation shall suffer a vehement commotion, 
 as if it were about to die; whereby it shall be renovated., and 
 not perish; to the end that we, then also renovated, may dwell 
 in the renewed world, free from sorrow. Thus it is said in 
 Psalm civ: 'Thou wilt send forth thy Sj/irit, and they shall be 
 created, and thou wilt renew the face of the earth,' &c. For 
 seeing that after this world there shall be an earth, of necessity 
 there must be inhabitants; and these shall die no more, but be 
 as angels, irreversibly in an incorruptible state, doing all most 
 excellent things." 
 
 Epiphanius, who flourished about A. D. 365, mentions the 
 doctrine being held by many In his time, and speaks favoura- 
 bly of it himself Quoting the words of Paulinus, bishop of 
 Antioch, concerning one Vitalius, whom he highly commends 
 for his piet}'^, orthodoxy, and learning, he says: "Moreover 
 others have afiirmed that the venerable man should say, that in 
 the first resurrection we shall accomplish a certain mlllennary 
 of years," &c. ; on which Epiphanius observes: "And that in- 
 deed this mlllennary term is written of, In the Apocalypse of 
 John, and is received of very many of them that are godly, is 
 manifest." Lib. ill. 2. 
 
 But the most important testlm.ony. In regard to the preva- 
 lence of this doctrine during the fourth century is, the counte- 
 nance given to It by the council of Nice, called by Constantino 
 the great, A. D. 325. 'This council, 6esic/es their definition of 
 faith and canons ecclesiastical, set forth certain Si^TUTrma-u; or 
 forms of ecclesiastical doctrines. Some of these are recorded by 
 Gelaslus Cyzlcenus, (Hist. Act. Con. NIc.) among which Is the 
 following, on the last clause of the Nicene Creed, "J look for 
 the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." — 
 "The world was made inferior (^;/)stxs/ioc) through foreknow- 
 ledge: for God saw that man would sin; therefore we expect 
 new heavens and a new earth, according to the holy scrip- 
 tures, at the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. And as Daniel says: (Chap. vll. 18.) Thesaints of the 
 Most High shall take the kingdom. And there shall be a pure 
 and holy land, the land of the living and not of the dead; 
 which David forseeing with the eye of faith exclaims: / 
 believe to see the goodness of the Lord iti the la?id of the living, — 
 the land of the meek and humble. Blessed, saith Christ, (Matt. 
 V. 5.) are the meek, for they shall ifiheril the earth. And the 
 prophet saith: (Isaiah xxvi. 6.) ^'The feet of the meek and hum- 
 ble shall tread upon it." Thus the majority of the Church must, 
 at the period of this council, have still held to the primitive 
 method of interpretation.* 
 * Diipin, in his Ecclesiastical History, whilst be admits the existence of the 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 47 
 
 Later in the period from Origen to Jerome, now under con- 
 sideration, there is evidence that millcnnarian opinions were 
 held by Gregory oi' Nyssa, and by Paiilinus, bishop of Antioch. 
 And Jerome informs us, that it was liiicwise heUI by Victori- 
 nus, bisliop of Pettaw, by Apollinaris, bishop of Bituria. Au- 
 gustine however and Jerome himself now demand attention, 
 and with the mention of these, the account of this period shall 
 be closed. These eminent men were contemporaries; Jerome 
 dying in A. d. 420, Augustine in 4 30. Aui>usli>ic \hus expresses 
 himself on this point, in his remarks on Rev. xx. G. "Those 
 who have supposed from these words, that there shall be a first 
 corporal resurrection, have been moved among other things 
 chiefly by the number of the thousand years; as if there ought 
 to be, among the saints, a sabbalism, as it were, in a holy vaca- 
 tion, after their six thousand years of trouble. Which opinion 
 w^ould indeed be tolerable, if it should be believed {hat spiritual 
 delights should redound to the saints in that sabbath, by the 
 presence of the Lord; for we also were ourselves formerly 
 (aliquando) of that opinion." De Civ. Dei. Lib. xx. c. 7. Now, 
 if Augustine had been formerly of that opinion, it is jjlain that 
 he must first have received it as tlie most plain and obvious 
 view of the subject; and that he was not induced to look shy 
 
 twenty canons of the council of Nice, contained in Gelasius, questions the 
 '«ds,'" related by him as of that council, to be genuine. He says: "Neither 
 Ruftin, nor Socrates, nor Theodoret, nor any other ancient historian, has 
 either seen or known these ads. St. Jerome says, that he had read the acts of 
 the council of Nice; but he means by this form of expression, the canons and 
 subscriptions. The acts which Gelasius attributes to Dalmasius, were made 
 subsequent to the council, and taken out of Eusebius, Theodoret, Socrates, 
 and other historians." There is no need to enter into the reasons which 
 Dupin, who was a Roman Catholic, had for controverting the testimony of 
 Gelasius: the reader is requested only to observe, that so far as the point in 
 hand is concerned, it is not affected by the doubt which he endeavours 
 to cast upon it. For, suppose it to be true, that Gehasius compiled these 
 things from the sources named;* and suppose, as another Romish historian has 
 asserted, "that he was a compiler without method, collecting at random all he 
 could find;" it shakes the credit of Gelasius, asan original and discitet writer, 
 but the tater in dale any of the authorities are, which may be pirated by Gela- 
 sius, the more useful they are in the present instance; for they prove the pre- 
 valence of the doctrine at so much later a period. There is reason however 
 to question, whether the ii-i.TuTraTw, &c. be not different from what Dupin 
 means by the 'acts;' and greater reason still to question, whether Jerome, 
 when he mentions acts, did not fully understand his own form of expression, 
 and mean acts. Certainly more has come down to us, as authentic, of ilic pro- 
 ceedings of that couhcii, than the rules for ecclesiastical discipline, contained 
 in the twenty canons acknow-ledged by Dupin. For the drawing up these 
 canons was the last thing the council did; the first business that occupied them, 
 and for which they specially assembled, being the Arian controversy, which 
 produced the Creed, known by the name of the Niccne creed; and another 
 thing we know to have been debaicd by them was.— the time for keeping 
 Easter. (See Cave's Lives of the Fathers.) And though Dupin, and others 
 after him, may contend against the authenticity of the acts; yet Lindanus, 
 who is of the same church, as eloquently contends /or it. (Panopl. lib. 2. c. G.) 
 
48 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 at it, till he was given to understand that some held it carnally. 
 And for this 'on diC there appears to be no trace but in Euse- 
 bius, from whom Ludovicus Vives declares Augustine had it. 
 Eusebius was prejudiced against the doctrine, for reasons which 
 will be presently considered. 
 
 We finally come to Jerome. He was a vehement adversary 
 of the doctrine; but whatever his own prejudices may have 
 been, he nevertheless lets fall a very important admission as to 
 the number of divines who continued to hold it, in his days. 
 In his commentary on Jeremiah xix. 10, he says, <'that he durst 
 not cotidemn the doctrine, because many ecclesiastical persons 
 and martyrs affirmed tlie same." 
 
 Thus the sentiments of the earlier fathers were not so en- 
 tirely corrupted, during this period, but that a very considera- 
 ble number of Christians, and among them, as we have seen, 
 many very eminent ecclesiastics, still maintained the same; 
 whilst the adversaries of it make very important concessions.* 
 
 4. We next have to consider the voice of the Church, dur- 
 ing that long period of darkness which elapsed from the time 
 of Jerome to the Reformation; a period which is important 
 and interesting, as regai-ds prophecij, not from its supplying us 
 with evidence in behalf of the primitive mode of interpreta- 
 tion; but from its showing how that evidence, which previously 
 existed, has been tampered with and thrust aside. 
 
 We have already seen', that a new character was given to 
 the system of Scripture exposition, in the time of Origen; and 
 that this new allegorizing system very materially affected the 
 prophecies. But another circumstance occurred in the century 
 following, which shortly after began to exercise a far more 
 considerable influence upon the interpretation of prophecy; an 
 influence which kept gradually but rapidly increasing, till in 
 the age of Jerome, and downward through the papal ages, it 
 prompted men to resort to various wicked artifices, in order to 
 get rid of the primitive inillennarian doctrine. This event 
 was the conversion of the Romcm emperor to the Christian faith. '\ 
 It was the uniform and co/istanl opinion of the church, previous 
 to this period, that Rome would become the seat of Anti- 
 
 * The reader will find copious quotations from the fathers on this subject in 
 the works of Merte, Dr. Homes his contcmporaiy, Dr. Whitby and Dr. Bur- 
 nett. If he cannot obtain the larger vvorks, he will likewise find much of 
 them extracted in a modern little treatise, 'Thoughts on Miliennarinnism,' by 
 the Rev. W. W. Pym, and in some other writers. I have thought it needful, 
 however, in thi? instance, to refer to the works of the fathers theni'selves, and 
 to adduce, in some instances, passages which are more directly applicible to 
 the particular point in hand, than those which are to be met with in the above 
 writers. 
 
 t The date of Constantine's conversion is variously placed at a. d. 306, 312, 
 326 and Xil. Gibbon is disposed to date it from the the Milan edict, in favour 
 of Christianity, tomewhcre between a. d. 306 and 312. Vol. iii. chap. xx. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 49 
 
 CHRIST; that the empire would, by a revolution, be first divided 
 into ten kingdoms, that then Anticlirist would be revealed and 
 prosper for a time, and that, after the reigning power should 
 liave suffered a signal discomfiture, the dominion should be 
 altogether taken from "the eternal city."* Such a notion 
 could not be palatable to the Roman emperor, if known to 
 him'; and the less so if it was furllier understood, tliat some, in 
 times of pagan persecution, had already mused in their hearts, 
 whether the emperor himself for tiie time being were not per- 
 sonally the antichrist. These things must have been very per- 
 plexing to those ecclesiastics, now mingling with the court, 
 who were of a compliant and secular spirit: which may be 
 judged of, when we find an honest and bold, and godly man, 
 like Lactantius, now expressing himself with avowed reluclaiKe 
 on these topics. He says: "The Roman power which now 
 governs the world — (my mind dreads to declare it; yet I must 
 speak it, because it will surely come to pass!) the Roman 
 power will be taken airaij from the earth, and the empire will 
 return into Asia, and the east will again have the chief domin- 
 ion, and the west will be in subjection." De Instit. cap. xv. 
 
 The convenient explication, however, was soon afterwards 
 discovered, and adopted by many, that Antichrist was Paga?i 
 Rome, and that from the date of Constantine's conversion the 
 viilleimium commenced. And though the advocates of such 
 an opinion were obliged to maintain, that Satan icas boimd 
 during the time of the rancorous dissensions and persecutions 
 which arose in the Church on the Arian controversy; and not- 
 withstanding those daily other evils, temptations and deceits 
 constantly experienced during the supposed thousand years, 
 and of which Satan must necessarily have been the author; yet 
 able men were found to maintain such an interpretation! yea, 
 even protestant writers, such asGrotiusand his followers, have, 
 at a much later period, a'dopted the opinion; notwithstanding 
 the immensely greater improbability with which theijlvAve had 
 to contend, viz., that of considering the darkest period"of papal 
 history, the one of greatest light and glory to the Church! 
 
 Among those who in the reign of Constantine may be justly 
 suspected of time-serving, was Eusebius the historian, bishop 
 of Pamphy lia, who I)oasts of his conversation with that monarch ; 
 and as from him appears to have originally sprung the obloquy 
 which was cast upon the Chiliusts, (as they were now called,) 
 it is necessary to bring him first in order under notice. He 
 does not directly attack the doctrine itself; but raises questions 
 on the canonical authority of the Apocalypse, and on the sup- 
 
 ♦ See Jerome's Commentary on Daniel vii. wherein he declares the uniform 
 testimony of tne-father.s on this head, and was persuaded of it himself. 
 
50 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 posed author of the millennarian doctrine. His statements, 
 however, on this head are contradictory and absurd; for in one 
 place he seems to attribute the invention of it to the heretic 
 Cerinthus, and to insinuate that the early upholders of tlie doc- 
 trine were Ebionites;* but in another place he distinctly says 
 that Papias was its author, and that by the generality, {ttkuttci;) 
 of ecclesiastics following it was afterwards received, owing to 
 the antiquity of the man. (lib. iii. sect. 39.) Now Papias was 
 no ancient to his oivii generation; and though Irenaeus, in the 
 age immediately following, speaks of him as having declared 
 certain things on this subject, which he heard from the apos- 
 tle John; yet he by no means intimates that he adopted the 
 doctrine from him; nor could Irenaus indeed be moved 
 by the cmtiquity of a man who flourished only about fifty years 
 before him. Neither is there a shadow of evidence that any 
 orthodox ecclesiastics in the first two centuries did otherwise 
 than hold it. Moreover, when Eusebius is speaking of the 
 Millennarian doctrine of Papias, he calls him, (as we have be- 
 fore noticed,) a manof very weak intellect, and supposes therefore 
 that he must have misconceived the doctrine; but when he refers 
 to him in another part of his works for other objects, he can 
 admit him to have "enjoyed great fame and celebrity," and to 
 have been "a man most eloquent in all things, and skilful in 
 the Scriptures." Hist, of Euseb. iii. 32. 
 
 Further, it is not a little matter that Eusebius, besides having 
 disparaged the authority of the Apocalypse, and insinuated that 
 it was perhaps the work of Cerinthus the Ebionite, was de- 
 cidedly tainted with the Avian heresy, which renders his views 
 liable to suspicion on this point in more respects than the one 
 named. The Magdeburgensian centuriators thus treat of him: 
 "Being now about to say some iew things concerning the doc- 
 trine of Eusebius, we first give this admonition, that Jerome 
 every where holds him forth, suspected of the error of Arian- 
 ism. For in his apology against Rufiinus he says of Eusebius, 
 'that he was indeed a most learned man, but not a Catholic; 
 [i. e. according to the usages of the word in those times, not 
 orthodox,] and throughout six of his books did continually de- 
 clare that Origen was of the same faith with him, — i. e. of the 
 Arian falsehood." Hist. Eccles. cap. x. sect. 3. ]?ishop 
 Jeremy Taylor in his 'Liberty of Prophesying,' not only says 
 of him, that he entertained Arian sentiments; but that he is 
 not clear of a suspicion of having endeavoured to corrupt and 
 
 * For a learned and able refutation of Eusebius on this point, shewing that 
 Cerinthus actually never did hold the true millennarian doctrine, and that the 
 carnal notions really held b}' him were not held by Justvn, Irenocus, &c. see 
 Medes' Works. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 5^ 
 
 falsify the Nicene Creed, (fol. ed. p. 954,) which will account 
 for what Scultetus says of him, that though immediately after 
 the council of Nice he seemed to have returned to his right 
 mind, he never did cordlalhj hclicve the co-equality of Christ 
 with the Fatlier. Now a man who can be disingenuous enough 
 to insinuate that Origen v/as of the same faith with him; who 
 can go about to falsify a document of such importance as the 
 Nicene Creed; and who can apparently veer round in his opi- 
 nions on an important doctrine, and yet in heart remain of the 
 same opinion still; may justly be suspected of having been 
 influenced in his change of sentiments by the opinion of the 
 emperor, who, in the council of Nice, took decidedly against 
 Arius. And yet, it is on the credit and judgment of such a 
 man, that the whole weight of an objection, insignificant in 
 itself, is rested,* 
 
 When the Christian bishop of Rome came, in progress of 
 time, to be elevated to the high rank which he attained under 
 the papacy, the inconvenience of explaining Rome to be the 
 capital city of the Antichrist, and the 'Babylon' and 'Harlot' of 
 the Apocalypse, was more sensibly felt than ever: because it 
 could not be asserted without giving occasion for the very ob- 
 vious conclusion, that the bishop of Rome would some day 
 apostatize, together with the church in general over which he 
 was the head. Accordingly, from the time of Justinian, ef- 
 forts were both openly and clandestinely made to get rid of 
 the doctrine altogether, by removing or corrupting the evi- 
 dence in its favour, or by affixing to it the stigma of heresy. 
 Pope Damasus endeavoured peremptorily to put it down by a 
 decree. And some works of the Fathers, which were in fa- 
 vour of it, (such as the works of Papias, the Treatise of Nepos 
 already adverted to, several of the more direct works of Ire- 
 naeus on the subject, Tertuilian's treatise on Paraclise,i and va- 
 rious others,) were successfully suppressed; and in regard to 
 those which could not be so well withdrawn, a system-of in- 
 terpolating, or otherwise altering the text, commenced, which 
 in some instances has affected only a portion of the manuscript 
 copies that have come down to us, and in other instances the 
 entire of them. 
 
 * The reader wlio wishes to see other authorities in proof of the Arianism 
 of Eusebins, may consult — 'The Resurrection Revealed,' by Dr. Homes. See 
 ihe revised edition of 1833, p. 37; also the works of Le Clerc and Mosheim. 
 
 t Some of these treatises, by showing that the saints are not perfectly glori- 
 fied at death, but wait for the time when the Lord shall take to him his great 
 power and reign, were found also to conflict against the growing heresy of the 
 invocation of saints and ansels, so profitable to the Romish church in after 
 times: and Bellarmine admits (dc Beat. Sand. Ord. Diaput.) that the notion 
 of the saints goii*g immediately to heaven on their death, was the foundation 
 of it. 
 
52 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 A specimen shall be given first from the works of Justyn 
 Martyr. That passage in his Dialogue with Trypho, which 
 has already been in part adduced (see sect. 2.) was originally 
 as follows: "I am not such a wretch, Trypho, as to say one 
 thing and mean another. I have before confessed to thee, 
 that I and many others are of this opinion: [viz. that Jerusalem 
 shall be rebuilt, and the saints enjoy a happy life on earth with 
 Christ:] so that we hold it to be thoroughly proved that it will 
 come to pass. But I have also signified unto thee, on the other 
 hand, that many — even those of that race of Christians 7vhofollozu 
 not godly and pure doctri?ie — do not acknowledge it. For 1 have 
 demonstrated to thee, that these are indeed called Christians; 
 but are atheists and impious heretics, because that in all things 
 they teach what is blasphemous, and ungodly, and unsound, 
 &c. If, therefore, you fall in with certain who are called Chris- 
 tians who confess not this [truth,] but dare to blaspheme the 
 God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in that they say there 
 is no resurrection of the dead, but that, immediately they die, 
 their souls are received up into heaven,* avoid them, and 
 
 * The condition of separate spirits, between the period of death and the 
 resurrection, has so important a bearing upon the Millennarian doctrine, that 
 I must be excused if I here notice it more at large. I have shown, in another 
 work, {AbdicVs Essays, p. 93.) that the believer enjoys at death a conscious 
 blessedness, which renders it better for him to depart and be Avith Christ, than 
 to remain in the body; but 'it is equally clear from scripture and from the 
 fathers, that the believer does not at death "ascend into the heavens," any 
 more than did David; (Acts ii. 34.) or than Christ did between his death and 
 resurrection; who went to paradise, and had not even after his resurrection yet 
 ascended unto the Father. John xx. 17. It is very plain, from the testimony 
 of Justyn, that in the primitive church they held those not to be Christians, 
 who maintained that souls are received up into heaven immediately after 
 death. Irenaeus ranks them, in his work against Heresies, (lib. v.) as among 
 the heretical; and the testimony of the church is uniform on this point, (if we 
 except some questionable passages in Cyprian) down into Popish times: and 
 it was indeed the general opinion of the Greek and Latin churches, down to 
 the Council of Florence, held under Pope Eugenins IV. in hW. A passage 
 from bishop Taylor's 'Liberty of Prophesying,' (sect, viii.) will set this matter 
 in a clear light. When shewing how doctrines of antiquity were sometimes 
 contradicted in subsequent ages by councils, or by some ecclesiastic of power 
 or popularity, he says, "That is a plain recession from antiquity, which was 
 determined "by the council of Florence — piorum animaspurgatas, t^c. mox in 
 caelum rccipi ct inlueri dare ipsum Demi irinum et unmn sicuti est; {that the 
 souls of the pious, being purified, are immediately at death received into heaven ^ 
 and behold clearly the triune God just as he is:) for those who please to try may 
 see it dogmatically resolved to the contrary by Justyn Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, 
 Chrysostome, Theodoret, Arethas Cfrsariensis, Euthymius, who may answer 
 for the Greek church. And it is plain that it was the opinion of the Greek 
 church, by that great difficulty the Romans had of bringing the Greeks to sub- 
 scribe to the Florentine Council, where the Latins acted their master-piece of 
 ■wit and stratagem,— the greatest that hath been till the famous and super-poli- 
 tic Council of Trent. And for the Latin church, Tcrtullian, Ambrose, Austin, 
 Hilary, Prudentius, Lactantius, Victorinus, and Bernard, are known to be of 
 opinion, that the souls of the saints are in abditis reccptaculis ct e.rlcrioribus 
 atriis, where they expect the resurrection ol their bodies and the glorification 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 53 
 
 esteem them not Christians. But I and whatsoever Christians 
 are orthodox {ofiicxva^uivu) in all things, do know that there 
 will be a resurrection of the flesh, and a thousand years in the 
 city of Jerusalem, built, adorned, and enlarged, according as 
 Ezekiel, Isaiah, and other prophets have promised." Now the 
 above passage, had it been left untouched, must have remained 
 so signal and obvious a testimony to the orthodox faith in his 
 days, that the Romish church must at once have been con- 
 victed of having departed from the primitive belief in this 
 matter. Accordingly, the passage in italics has been altered, 
 and the first ^nol' omitted. Thus it appears in the pr'mted 
 copies of Justyn, and thus it was in most of the manuscripts 
 extant in the seventeenth century; but not in all. For Dr. N. 
 
 of their souls; and though they all believe them to be happy, yet that they 
 enjoy not the beatific vision before the resurrection." 
 
 The stratagem employed by the Romanists, to which bishop Taylor alludes, 
 is, I suppose, the fact recorded in the History of this Council by Creighton, 
 who wrote in 1G()0, and in Geddes' Jntrodiictory Discourse to Vargas's Letters; 
 who state, that the pope first inveigled the patriarch of Constantinople, and 
 some of his clergy, to meet him at a Council at Ferrara, which he then 
 adroitly adjourned to Florence: and when the Greek ecclesiastics pleaded ina- 
 bility to bear the charges, he actually defrayed all their expenses himself The 
 patriarch died at Florence, and the Greek church (according to Gaspar Pence- 
 rus)not only disowned the acts of the clergy present, but excommunicated 
 them, and denied them Christian burial. 
 
 The early Reformers maintained the primitive faith on this point, plainly 
 perceiving that the object of the Papists was to help forward the doctrine of 
 pursatof)/ and invocation of saints. Thus Tyndal, disputing with the Papists, 
 says: "If the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the 
 angels be"? and then, what cause is there of the resurrection!" p. 3-24, Works 
 by Fox. And afterwards, in reply to JVIore, who objects against Luther, that 
 his doctrine on this point encouraged the sinner to continue iu sin, seeing it so 
 long postponed the ultimate judgment, Tyndal says: "Christ and his apostles 
 taught no other, but warned to look for Chrisfs coining again every hour; which 
 coming again, because ye believe it will never be, therefore have ye feigned 
 that other merchandize." 
 
 Calvin also, in his Psijchopann%chia, replies thus to another objection against 
 this doctrine: "I answer that Christ is our Hea.d, rohose kingdom and' glorij 
 have not yet appeared. If the members were to go before the head, the order of 
 things would be inverted and preposterous. But we shall follow 00 r Prince 
 then, when he shall come in the glory of his Father, and sit upon the throne of 
 his majesty." p. 55. 
 
 It is greatly to be lamented that the Protestant church of a later period 
 should have fallen into the errors of the Papists oa this subject, (abating the 
 distinct acknowledgment of purgatory; errors, the adopiiun of which has 
 done more than any other thing perhaps, towards witlidrawing from the 
 Church the lively expectation of Christ's Advent. 
 
 I am indebted for what concerns the Council of Florence in the above state- 
 ment, f excepting the extract from Bishop Taylor,) to an anonymous work 
 entitlecl — "An historical view of the Controversy concerning an intermediate 
 slate, i^c. between death and the resurrection;''' a work written with no great 
 honesty in behalf of the extreme opinion that the soul is in a state of uncon- 
 sciousness and perishes at death: for the view which the fathers maintained 
 on this particular point is carefully kept back. The reader who desires to see 
 more of the te.*timony of the fathers may consult the learned work of Dr. 
 Burnett, De statu, Morluorum ct Rcsurgcnlium. 
 VOL. II. — 5 
 
54 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Homes, in his work on the Resurrection, testifies to having 
 seen some without it. Fortunately, however, the omission of 
 the word, (though in that single sentence it alters the meaning, 
 and makes some deniers of this truth followers nevertheless of 
 **godly and pure doctrine,") has the effect of giving to the 
 whole passage so forced, abrupt and obscure an aspect, that 
 none can read it with attention without perceiving how contra- 
 dictory it is.* For how could any be followers, in the estima- 
 tion of Justyn, oi pure doctrine, and persons oi sound judgment., 
 who received not this, which he says, all who are orthodux re- 
 ceived? And how can that next sentence: "for f have before 
 demonstrated to thee, that these are indeed called Christians, hut are 
 really atheists," &c. apply (as it evidently does, if the ?iot be 
 omitted) to followers of that which is godhj and purel 
 
 There is apparently another suppression. Justyn alludes 
 twice in this passage to his having before expressed his belief 
 on this point, and also demonstrated the ungodliness of those 
 who denied it: but the place in his writings where such a pas- 
 sage occurs, is not to be found. The author of "Eruvin," 
 (p. 190 — 193.) supposes, and with great probability, that the 
 de?iiers of the doctrine, whom he speaks of as having pointed 
 out, are the heretics mentioned in a passage immediately pre- 
 vious: but there is no mention in that passage of the things 
 concerning which Trypho puts the question, and to which 
 Justyn replies: — *'I told you before, that I and many others 
 (as indeed you well know) believe that these things will take 
 place; and I also stated," &c. The probability then is, that his 
 sentiments were so plainly expressed in that instance, that they 
 could not be made to speak a contrary opinion, merely by 
 the eliding some convenient monosyllable; and therefore the 
 passage has been got rid of entire. At any rate it must be 
 viewed as a particular providence, that, owing to circumstances 
 which we cannot now trace, the sentiments of Justyn should 
 have been preserved to such an extent as they have been: an 
 extent still sufficient clearly to demonstrate the voice of the 
 church to have been millenarian in the earliest Christian 
 times.t 
 
 * The extract just given from Justyn is as lilerally translated from the 
 Greek as I can give it; two parenthetical sentences only being left out, that in 
 no way affect the argiiment< The translator into Latin of the Parisian edition 
 of Justyn's works, labours hard to give a sense which may comport with the 
 omission of the word not; but it is in several instancesnot justified by the 
 Greek. It is amusing also to observCj how puzzled the translator is, in his 
 notes, to account for obscurUics which appear in his translation; and how 
 astonished he is at the harshness of Ireiucus, for going further than Juslyn 
 apparently does in this matter, and condemning those as heretics who were not 
 millenarians; whereas they actually both do the same thing. 
 
 t It was apparently with a fraudulent intention that a book, entitled "Glues- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 55 
 
 It may appear surprising, that the work of Iremcus should 
 have come down to us in the condition it has. Some of his 
 writings, which are more directly on this subject, are lost 
 altogether; and much of the original (Ircck is gone from that 
 which we possess: but still there is in his hook "on Heresies" 
 matter as clear and tangible to the point, as any that may have 
 been suppressed in Justyn. The fact, however, is, that this 
 work actually was consigned to darkness, during the long 
 period of papal supremacy, and was supposed to be lost, the 
 same as his other works; but at the era of the Reformation, a 
 copy of it was discovered by Erasmus, and given to the world. 
 And herein the providence of God is again remarkable; for 
 had a decided Protestant, or a Millenarian, have found and 
 published it, somewhat of suspicion might have attached to the 
 circumstance, so far as the passages which affect this question 
 are concerned; but Erasmus continued in communion with the 
 Romish church, and yet had that thirst for literature, and that 
 looseness in his opinions in many points of popish doctrine and 
 practice, that he could do things without a scruple, which a 
 more rigid or more consistent Papist would not have resolved 
 upon. 
 
 A slur, however, is thrown upon Irenseus, in consequence 
 of a passage in his book, said to be a tradition handed down by 
 Papias, — a passage which is made use of by the opposers of 
 millenarian doctrine, at once to impugn the judgment both of 
 Irenaeus and Papias himself. It is as follows: — 
 
 "The elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, have 
 mentioned, that they themselves heard of him, after what man- 
 ner the Lord was wont to teach concerning those times, [i. e. 
 of the Millennium,] and to say: *The day shall come when 
 vines shall be produced each with ten thousand branches, and 
 in each branch ten thousand shoots, and on every shoot ten 
 thousand sprigs, and on every sprig ten thousand bunches, and 
 on every bunch ten thousand grapes, and every grape being 
 
 tions and Answers to the Orthodox," was during the dark ages incorporated 
 with the works of Justyn, and imputed to him as its author. But critics of 
 later times have so far done justice to him, that in most instances the work is 
 now separated from the writings of Justyn; the circumstance that the author, 
 whoever he was, advocates the Nestorian heresy, being too flagrant an ana- 
 chronism to pass witii any wiio are at lilierty to think at all. It is but justice, 
 however, to the anonymous author of this work, to observe, that there are 
 marks in it which lead to a justifiable suspicion of its having been greatly cor- 
 rupted. The form in which it is presented tif questions and answers on inde- 
 pendent subjects, afforded an easy opportunity, and therefore a great tempta- 
 tion, in tiiose times, to interpolate any thing; and the circumstance that some 
 of the objectionable passages are written in a feeble and irrational style, whilst 
 others e-xhibit great penetration into the meaning of Scripture, shew that the 
 opportunity has not been lost. 
 
56 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION; 
 
 pressed shall yield twenty-five metretae of wine. And when 
 one shall have laid hold of a bunch, another shall cry out, / 
 am a better bimch, take me; by me bless the Lord. In like man- 
 ner also that a corn of wheat should yield ten thousand ears, 
 and every ear should have ten thousand corns, and every corn 
 ten pounds of fine clean flour; moreover also that the other 
 kinds of fruit and seeds and herbs should in a like manner 
 according to their nature do the same. And that all animals 
 living on the fruits of the earth, should become peaceable, and 
 one in harmony with another, being subject to men with all 
 subjection.' Moreover, Papias also, an ancient, 'vho was an 
 hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp, bears further 
 testimony to these things, writing in his fourth book; for there 
 are five books which he composed, and he (the Lord,) added 
 saying, Jsi'ozii these thi?igs are nwrthij of belief ti?ito the believing. 
 And when Judas the traitor did not believe, and asked. How 
 then are such things to be efiected, the Lord answered, They 
 shall see who shall come to those days. 
 
 On this passage it is first of all to be remarked, that the 
 works both of Polycarp and Papias have been withdrawn from 
 the light; so that it cannot be proved to be genuine, neither 
 corrected, from their actual writings: nor have we the Greek, 
 in this instance, of Irenseus. A recent author, in a learned 
 and ver}'^ able work on the parables,* surmises that in the ori- 
 ginal, tlie word translated decern milliaw&s /^upiug; (vol. i. p. 296,) 
 in which case the meaning is not of necessity to be understood 
 definitely as ten thousand, but in that indefinite sense, in which 
 we adopt it from the Greek and use it, when we say myriads.^ 
 This is a highly probable conjecture, and takes away from the 
 passage that appearance of absurdity which has excited the 
 profane scoff of Doctors Whitby and Middleton.J When we 
 
 * See an Exposition of the Parables, and of other parts of the Gospels, by 
 Edward Grcsu-ell, B. D., Fellow of C. C.C. Oxford. 
 
 + Jude V. 14, would be more in the spirit of the original, if the word [xv^i^z 
 were retained in the translation, and rendered, "Behold the Lord comcth with 
 myriads of his saints'." The original is literally ''with his holy myriads," and 
 at the least it should be rendered "with ten thousands of his saints," in the 
 plural; as the definite term tcnthousand, in the singular, conveys an idea quite 
 foreign from the original. 
 
 + The latter of these writers furnishes an instance that the art of interpola- 
 ting and corrupting the text of an author, when the subject belbre us is con- 
 cerned, has not been confined to papal times. In "Dr. Middleton's Inquiry, 
 &c." page 20, he represents Justyn Martyr as saying: "that all the saints 
 should be raised in the flesh, and reign with Christ in Jerusalem, enlarged 
 and beautified in a wonderful manner for their reception, in ike enjoyment of 
 all sensval pleasures, for 1000 years before the general resurrection." On 
 which Bishop Newton observes: "But in the original there is no such clause 
 as that, in the enjoyment of all sensual pleasures; it is an addition and interpo- 
 lation of the doctor's own, in order to depreciate the venerable father. And 
 he could not possibly have made it by mistake; he must have done it designed- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 57 
 
 are informed by the word of God, that the land of Canaan, 
 even in the present deteriorated world, has produced vines of 
 such an amazing magnitude, that a single cluster of their grapes 
 was obliged to be borne between two men on a staff,* (Num- 
 bers xiii. 23.) we may readily conceive, that in that renewed 
 state of the earth, in which the prophets declare "that the 
 mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills flow with 
 milk," (Joel iii. IS.) the increased productiveness will be so 
 prodigious, that were our Lord now to declare it in the most 
 precise and definite terms, it would exercise the faith of many 
 a believer. And even supposing the original to agree with the 
 Latin translation which we possess of Irenaeus, and that we 
 are disposed to view it merely as an hyperbole; is it more ex- 
 travagant than that made use of by St. John in regard to the 
 actions of Christ, ''that if they were all written, he supposes 
 that even the world itself could not contain the books that 
 should be written?" John xxi. 25. 
 
 Having mentioned that the above saying, attributed to our 
 Lord by Irensus, was also said by him to have been recorded 
 by Papias, this opportunity may be taken of mentioning 
 that passage in Eusebius, already referred to, (page Gl.) in 
 which he speaks of Papias as a man ''most eloquent in all 
 things and skilful in the scriptures," has been omitted in many 
 manuscript copies, and consequently is not to be found in 
 some printed editions of his works which have been copied 
 from such manuscripts; but it is to be found in the more an- 
 cient manuscripts, and in the more accurate printed copies, 
 and, consequently, there can be no probable reason assigned 
 for its omission in any; excepting, that as it was a testimony 
 in favour of that venerable father, so it appeared to be in 
 favour of the doctrine which he has handed down. 
 
 We come next to TertuJlian, whose testimony it has been 
 attempted to weaken, by casting upon him the slur of Monta- 
 vism, he having been a follower of Montanus. But what is 
 Montanism? According to some, it is an error comprehend- 
 ing every species of indefinable theological evil, that the iina- 
 gination of man can apprehend; but, according to others, it 
 was more immediately the heresy of "commanding to abstain 
 from meats," as being unlawful to be eaten. Now Bishop 
 
 ly; for he has cited the original as far as to that clause, and there stopping 
 short has concealed the rest, with an "&c." Vol. ii. page 370. 
 
 Dr. Archibald Maclaine, likewise, the translator ot Mosheim's Ecclesiasti- 
 cal History, makes hiin apparently give to the anti-millenarian work of Dio- 
 nysius, written against Nepos, the title of ''learned and judicious;" words which 
 have no existence in the original, and which the translator certainly did not 
 add from his actiml knowledge of the book of Dionysius itself. 
 
 ♦ But .see note in Pictorial Bible on this verse. 
 5* 
 
58 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Taylor, in his Liberty of Prophecying, brings forward this 
 identical case of Montanus, in order to illustrate a point which 
 he has in hand; viz. to show the obscure and very unsatisfac- 
 tory grounds of accusation, against some who were considered 
 heretics. He says: "This is remarkable in the case of Mon- 
 tanus, the scene of whose heresy lay within the first three 
 hundred years, though it was represented in the catalogues af- 
 terwards; and possibly the mistake co?iceniifig it is to be put 
 upon the score of Epiphanius, by whom Montanus and his 
 followers were put into the catalogue of heretics for command- 
 ing abstinence from meats, as if they were unclean, and of 
 themselves unlawful. Now the truth was, Moiitanus said no 
 such thi?}g; but commanded frequent abstinence, enjoined dry 
 diet and an ascetic table, 7wt for conscience sake, but for disci- 
 pline: and yet, because he did this with too much rigor and 
 strictness of mandate, the primitive church disliked him, as 
 being too 7iear the error of those, who by a Judaical su]>ersti- 
 tion, abstained from meats as from uncleanness, &c. They 
 therefore reprehended Montanus for urging such abstinencies 
 with too much earnestness, though but in the way of disci- 
 pline: for that it was no more, Tertullian, who was himself a 
 Montanist, and knew best the opinions of his own sect, testi- 
 fies. And yet Epiphanius, reporting the errors of Montanus, 
 commends that which Montanus truly and really taught, and 
 which the primitive church condemned in him, and therefore 
 represents that heresy in another sense; and affixes that to 
 Montanus which Epiphanius believed a heresy, and yet which 
 Montanus did ?iot teach." Sect. ii. IS. In regard to other 
 errors imputed to Montanus, Lee in his History of Montanism, 
 (chap, vii., as republished by Dr. Hick,) shews that he was 
 grossly aspersed and misrepresented; and the eminent John 
 Wesley observes in his Journal 15th Aug. 1750: "13y reflect- 
 ing on an old book whicii I had read in this journey — (The 
 General Delusion of Christians, ^-c. ) I was fully convinced of 
 what I had long suspected, that the Montanists in the second 
 and third centuries were real scriptural Christians.'' It is 
 farther worthy of remark, that the apologies of the Montanists, 
 (excepting what is contained favourable to them in Tertullian,) 
 have not been permitted to come down to us; and after the 
 evidence above adduced we may well pause before we brand 
 them with the name of heretics. And as for Tertullian, Cy- 
 prian it is said never passed a day without reading some por- 
 tion of his works; which, at least, shews the great estimation 
 in which he was held: and whatever were his errors, we know 
 that he at least drew after him the fairest portion of the Chris- 
 tian church. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 59 
 
 As Tertullian has been charged with holding the liercsy of 
 ISlontanisni, so Lactantius was also accused in the dark ages, 
 by the adversaries of millenarian doctrine, of holding the 
 heresy of the Mainchees; of whicii, liowcver, he has been 
 most satisfactorily cleared by Dr. Lardner, in his Credibilili/ of 
 the Gospel, vol. vii. He has also been charged with hokling 
 sentiments on the prophetical point in hand, most incompati- 
 ble with his piety and talents, viz. "that the saints shall, in the 
 millennium, have a great enjoyment of carnal and corporeal 
 pleasures." The accusation, however, rests in this instance, 
 not upon any corruption of the text of his works, but on a 
 false representation of his opinions given by Jci-ome. The 
 words of Lactantius are as follow: — "Tiicn they whicli shall 
 be alive in their bodies [meaning those persons who shall re- 
 main in the flesh, and unchanged at the coming of the Lord] 
 shall not die, but shall generate for the space of those thousand 
 years an infinite multitude; and their offspring shall be holy 
 and dear to God. But those that shall be raised from the dead 
 [here distinguishing the resurrection saints] shall rule over them 
 that are alive in tiie manner of judges." The same doctrine 
 is set forth by Irenasus, and we will therefore hope, in justice 
 to the character of Jerome, that he did not understand the sen- 
 timents of Lactantius; whilst the opponents of the doctrine ia 
 later limes have blindly reiterated the charge from Jerome, 
 without ever candidly quoting the real opinions of Lactantius.* 
 
 The learned Joseph JNIede asserts, (!)ut I have not discover- 
 ed his authority for it,) that the writings of A'ictorinus and 
 Sulpicius, who maintained millenarian ojiinions, were author- 
 itatively suppressed by Pope Damascus. Works, p. 664. And 
 it is but reasonable to suppose, that, when the power of the 
 popes became more absolute, they would exercise it more ty- 
 rannically and effectually i"or the suppression of these opinions. 
 It was but to affix the imputation of heresy, and their writings 
 •were immediately seized, and either destroyed, or in some 
 other way abstracted from public view: which ' sufficiently 
 accounts for the paucity of evidence, either on one side the 
 question or the otlier, during the middle and dark ages of the 
 church. For these opinions were not controverted b}^ fair 
 and open discussion, but were arbitrarily put down. And thus 
 it happens that in regard to some of those sects which were 
 persecuted in those ages (as the Leonists, the Paulicians^ &c.) 
 
 ♦ Mr. Mede indeed states, "that Jerome was a chief champion to cry down 
 this opinion, and a most unequal rclalcr of the opinions of his adversaries;" 
 and he adds, '-What credit he deserves in this instance may appear by some 
 fragments of those authors still rcmainini^, whom he charged wiih an opinion 
 directly contrary toAhot tckick they trprcssly affrmed.'' See his Works, fulio, p. 
 
(50 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 scarcely any more has come down to us than that they were a 
 numerous body of Christians, who were held in detestation by 
 the popes on account of their obstinate dissent from the doc- 
 trines of the church of Rome. Now and then indeed, the 
 evidence of what was entertained privately, as it were, by 
 Christians, peeps out, even by the admission of Roman Catho- 
 lics themselves. Thus Lorinus the Jesuit, speaks, in his com- 
 mentary, of one Tully Crispold, whom he considers a pious 
 man; "but he marvels to find kim, in his manuscript annotations 
 on the scriptures, which were in the library of the monastery 
 to which Lorinus belonged, expressing himself as expecting 
 Jerusalem to be restored on earth with sacrifices, in the way 
 of commemoration, and expecting also the apostles to be then 
 existing on earth, and Christ appearing, at least occasionally, 
 (saltern aluiiiando) and communing with them," &c. So, like- 
 wise, though great pains had been taken to instil into the minds 
 of the people that antichrist had already appeared, and was now 
 engulphed in the lake of fire, it appears nevertheless from 
 Baronius, Sabellicus, and Platina, all Roman Catholic authors, 
 that in the year HOG a very general opinion prevailed, that 
 Antichrist was about to appear. Pope Pascal II. was first in- 
 formed of it at Florence, and contented himself at the time 
 with reproving the bishop, and treating the whole with deri- 
 sion; though Baronius asserts that it was an opinion entertained 
 by men of no ordinary stamp; instancing Norbert a man of 
 first eminence for piety and talents. Pascal, however, was 
 presently after annoyed by finding the opinion in various other 
 places during his journey; which was the more confirmed (as 
 Sabellicus states) by the extraordinary natural phenomena and 
 heavenly signs which then appeared.* 
 
 In this manner was the doctrine of the millennium, and all 
 that inimcdiately concerned the revelation of Antichrist (so 
 immediately connected with it,) corrupted, misrepresented, 
 slandered, or suppressed. On which Bishop Newton, in his 
 xxvlh Dissertation on the Prophecies, has some observations 
 so pertinent and judicious, that they will serve admirably for 
 a conclusion to this section. He says, "In short the doctrine 
 of the millennium was generally believed in the three first and 
 purest ages; and this belief, as the learned Dodwell has justly 
 observed, was one principal cause of the fortitude of the 
 primitive Christians; they even coveted martyrdom, in hopes 
 of being partakers of the privileges and glories of the martyrs 
 in the first resurrection.! 
 
 ♦ See more in Mede, lib. iii. p. 887. 
 
 + Jam in millcnnii regno primani fore resurrcctionemcorponim crcdiderunt 
 primaevi Christiaiii. Et ut ju.storurr) propriam cam crcdiderunt resurrectionem, 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. (JJ 
 
 "Afterwards this doctrine grew into disrepute for various 
 reasons. Some both Jewish and Ciiristian writers have debased 
 it with a mixture of fables; they liave described the kingdom 
 more like a sensual than a spiritual kingdom, and thereby they 
 have not only exposed themselves, hut, (what is infinitely 
 worse) the doctrine itself to contempt and ridicule. It hath 
 suflered by the misrepresentations of its enemies, as well as by 
 the indiscretions of its friends; many, like Jerome, have 
 charged the millenarians with absurd and impious opinions 
 which they never held; and rather than they would admit the 
 truth of the doctrine, they have not scrupled to call into ques- 
 tion the genuineness of the book of the Revelation.* It hath 
 been abused even to worse purposes; it hath been made an en- 
 gine of faction; and turbulent fanatics, under the pretence of 
 saints, have aspired to dominion, and disturbed the peace of 
 civil society. Besides, wherever the influence and authority 
 of the church of Rome have extended, she hath endeavoured 
 by all means to discredit this doctrine; and indeed not without 
 sulHcient reason, tiiis kingdom of Christ being founded on the 
 ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist. No wonder therefore 
 that this doctrine lay depressed for many ages; but it sprang 
 up again at the Reformation, and will flourish together with 
 the study of the Revelation. All the danger is, on one side, 
 of pruning and lopping it too short; and, on the other, of suf- 
 fering it to grow too wild and luxuriant. Great caution, 
 soberness, and judgment are required to keep the middle course. 
 We should neither, with some, interpret it into an allegory, 
 nor depart from the literal sense of scripture without absolute 
 necessity for so doing. Neither should we, with others, indulge 
 an extravagant fancy, nor explain too cUriously the manner and 
 circumstances of this future state. It is safest and best faith- 
 fully to adhere to the words of scripture, or to fair deductions 
 from scripture; and to rest contented with the general account, 
 till time shall accomplish and eclaircise all the particulars." 
 
 5. When Bishop Newton asserts, and truly asserts, that the 
 doctrine of the millennium was revived at the Reformation, 
 something must nevertheless be oficred in the way of explana- 
 
 ita mnrt yrum in ea portionem longe esse prEecipuara. Here cum ita crederen- 
 tur, dicinequit quantum niarlyrcs illiut :i;tatis martyrii studio inHammarint. 
 [The primitive Christians believed that the first resurrection of their bodies 
 would take place in the kingdom of the millennium. And as they considered 
 that resurrection to be peculiar to the just, so they conceived the martyrs 
 would enjoy the principal share of its glory. Since these opinions were en- 
 tertained, it is impossible to say how many were inflamed with the desire of 
 martyrdom.] Dodwelli Di.ssert. Cyprian, xii. De Martyrum fortitudine, sect. 
 20, 21. 
 
 * See Mede's Works, b. 5. chap. 5. D. Hieronymi Pronunciata de Dograate 
 millennariurum, p. 897. 
 
go ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 tion, lest the reader should, in some respects, misapprehend 
 his statement. 
 
 So far as regards the belief in the period of "the thoiisaj^d 
 years" triumph of the church, mentioned in the Apocalypse, it 
 does not appear that the earlier reformers did generally main- 
 tain it: for the papacy had succeeded, by mis-representing the 
 fathers, and by imputing to them the carnalities of Cerinthus, 
 in making the words chiliast and niiUe?niari/, an effectual object 
 of terror.* The attention however which was given at this 
 period to the pure word of God, and the beams of divine truth 
 ■which now, in consequence re-illumined the christian church, 
 necessarily brought the essentials of prophetical doctrine, con- 
 tained in the covenants of promise, before the view of the 
 saints of God: and it is a remarkable fact, therefore, that whilst 
 the single tenet of the thousand years was, by the generality, 
 carefully avoided, all the important truths connected there- 
 with, — as the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to set up a 
 glorious kingdom on earth, in which all the saints should par- 
 take, the dead being raised and the living changed; the literal 
 restoration of the Jews, to the literal Canaan, the earth being 
 then renewed and Jerusalem rebuilt; and the previous mani- 
 festation and destruction of antichrist; — were almost univer- 
 sally entertained by the reformers. 
 
 In consequence of their partial misapprehension of the sub- 
 ject, as regards the thousand years, it often happens, that the 
 earlier reformers warmly deprecate chlliasm in one page of 
 their writings, whilst in another they will avow what, in the 
 present day, would generally be considered decided millena- 
 rian doctrine. An instance shall be given from the works of 
 Bishop Jeremy Taylor, who though a writer of a somewhat 
 later period, very well serves to illustrate the point in hand. 
 In section ii. of his "Liberty of Prophecying," he observes 
 "that the doctrine of the millenaries was in the best ages 
 esteemed no heresy, but true catholic doctrine: though since then 
 it hath had justice done it, and hath suffered a just condemna- 
 tion!'' Yet in his Sermon on 1 Cor. xv. 23. he decidedly 
 argues from these words, "every man in his own order," &c., 
 that there is to be a resurrection of the just, prior in time to 
 the resurrection of the wicked and to take place at the advent 
 of Christ; and that though this place speaks directly and ex- 
 plicitly only of the resurrection oi' the just, (i. e. of "those that 
 are Christ's,") yet, because it also says, there shall be an order 
 
 * The reader will pardon my explaining here, for the benefit of the un- 
 learned, that chiliad is a Greek word, signifying one who believed in the Ihou- 
 sa7id years of Rev. xx. 4. as yet future; and riiillciinary,ox niillenarian, is a 
 latin word (or rather compounded of latin and greek) of similar import. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. (J3 
 
 for "every man," and yet every man does not belong to 
 Christ, therefore, indirectly, it likewise implies "the more 
 ujHversal resurrection unto judgment, wherein the wicked also 
 shall rise to condemnation." Now to admit a distinction in 
 the resurrection to the extent here conceded, is to admit a car- 
 dinal point of millenarian doctrine, such as it is fully under- 
 stood in the present day cannot be maintained, without leading 
 to the reception of the remainder. And how are we, there- 
 fore, to account for the apparent contradiction in so acute a 
 reasoner as Bishop Taylor, between the language of this ser- 
 mon and the words which have been quoted from the former 
 work? It will explain itself by the fact, that in the fifth sec- 
 tion of that work he ranks Origen among the decided mille- 
 narians, as indeed some others have likewise done. He adduces 
 no proof oi it; but it is doubtless because Origen lets drop his 
 expectation of the renovation of all things in the seventh mille- 
 nary of the world. 
 
 In regard to the national restoration of the Jercs, a belief of this 
 important feature of prophecy was retained, even during the 
 period of the decline of millenarian doctrine, by many of those 
 ecclesiastical men who had become prejudiced on other points. 
 But though this tenet also, cannot be consistently held by those, 
 who deny the resurrection of the saints to a reign on earth; 
 yet it is not so immediately discernible, that to hold the one 
 opinion is, of necessity, indirectly to admit the other: to which 
 circumstance it is perhaps owing, that this portion of divine 
 truth has had the good fortune to escape the odium attached to 
 other millenarian tenets, and never to have been controverted, 
 at any time, by any considerable party in the church. Lori- 
 nus, the Jesuit, noticed before, says (in his comment on Acts 
 i. 6.) that Cyprian, Jerome, Chrysostom, Theophilus, Alexan- 
 drinus, Augustine and Bedc, understood this place to refer to 
 that literal restoration of the Jews, mentioned in scripture; 
 though these fathers are either neutral or opposed, as regards 
 other tenets.* Cornelius Alapide, another popish writer, men- 
 tions, in addition to those enumerated above, Hugo and Lyra, 
 as likewise holding it. Dean Prideaux, who was anti-millena- 
 rian, both as regards the thousand years and the personal reign, 
 maintained, nevertheless, the literal restoration of the Jews; 
 
 * It may here be observed, that Lorinus has himself the wit to perceive the 
 tendency of such an opinion. For he says, in the same place, that "he could 
 tolerate thi.> error in the disciples of Christ, but noit/tcn (at the period when he 
 was writing:) because it leads to the heresy of chiliasm, wliich Pope Damascus 
 had condemned in Appollinaris." It is not, therefore, because he can disprove 
 this opinion, that ^le will not tolerate it; but becau.se millenarian tenets had 
 been condemned by the pope. Perhaps it is the testimony of Lorinus, on which 
 Mcde states that Pope Damascus condemned these opinions. See page 71. 
 
Q4 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 and cites as authorities the farther testimony of Hilary, Am- 
 brose, Aquinas, Scotus and Cajetan, of those who were his 
 predecessors; and among more modern writers and contem- 
 poraries, Peter Martyr, Grinaeus, Beza, Pareus, and Dr. Wil- 
 let. * Similar evidence is to be found in Rivet and Zanchy, 
 on Hosea, and in many others; but sufficient has been adduced 
 amply to prove, what the Voice of the Church has been, in 
 regard to this point, in all ages; which is farther important, as 
 illustrating likewise, in a striking manner, how the promises 
 made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must have been understood 
 by this "cloud of witnesses."! 
 
 Next, in regard to the expectation of a future glorious king- 
 dom of God on the renewed earth, and the reign of Christ and 
 his saints therein; which are most important and principal fea- 
 tures of the millenarian view of prophecy, quite independent 
 of the single question of the thousand years; let us observe the 
 testimony of the early reformers on this point. 
 
 The quotations given at page 65, (see Note,) sufficiently tes- 
 tify of Tyndal, Luther and Calvin, that they, at least, looked 
 for the reward of the righteous to be given at the Lord's 
 advent, and denied that they had, as yet, been made partakers 
 of the promise. This is important, if not as proving their 
 expectation of a personal reign of Christ on earth, yet as show- 
 ing that they postponed, the time of the manifestation of the 
 kingdom of Christ until his appearing; in opposition to the 
 modern dogma which has so generally obtained, that the be- 
 liever enters into his rest immediately at death. And it appears 
 strictly in harmony with the reasoning of St. Paul in Heb. xi. 
 compared with 1 Thess. iv. For in the former place, lest any 
 should suppose that the Jewish saints are now with their Lord 
 in the enjoyment of the kingdom promised, (in which case it 
 were plain, that the saints now on earth would for the present 
 be excluded from it,) he prevents such a conclusion by assert- 
 ing, that "these a//" (instancing by name Noah, Abraham, 
 Moses, David, and others) "having obtained a good report (that 
 is, home witness, iuaf,Tvf»,eivTii) through faith, received 7iot the pro- 
 
 * See his Inaugural Oration. Prideaiix was of the next century; but his tes- 
 timony on this point belongs to the icholc period of the history of the church. 
 
 t Mention maybe made likewise of the eminent Dr. J. Owen, because his 
 works abound with passages which are taken in a spiritual sense, in opposition 
 to the literal acceptation of them by millcnarians. In the headings, however, 
 to Powell's Concordance, which, with the preface are attributed to Dr. Owen, 
 it is admitted, "that the Jews, being restored to the faith of Clirist, shall be 
 formed into a state, and have judges and counsellors over them as formerly; 
 the Lord Christ himself being their king, who shall then also be acknowledged 
 over all the earth,'' "that Jerusalem shall be rebuilt, and after the full resto- 
 ration of the Jews shall never be destroyed, nor infested with enemies any- 
 more;" "that a little before the time of the call and conversion of the Jews, 
 there shall be great wars, confusion, and desolation throughout all the earth." 
 
ELExMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 55 
 
 mise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they 
 without us should not be made perfect." And in the latter 
 place, lest it should be supposed that those saints only who 
 shall be alive at the commencement of the JNIillennium are to 
 enjoy the promise of the kingdom, (in which case it were 
 plain, that the departed saints, both Jewish and Gentile, would 
 all be excluded,) he assures us, ''that those which shall be alive 
 and remain at tlie coming of the Lord shall not prevctit them 
 which are asleep, (v. 15.) but that the Lord will then raise 
 them up, and bring them with him. 
 
 But there exists more explicit evidence of the general voice 
 of the Church on this point, at the time of the Reformation. 
 In the Catechism published in tiie reign of King Edward VI. 
 which IJurnet declares in his History (vol. iii. book 4.) that 
 Cranmer owned to be his; and which Catechism, whosoever 
 was the author of it,* was sanctioned by certain chief ecclesi- 
 astics of that day,t there are the following passages: — 
 
 "2. How is that petition, 77;?/ kingdom come, to be understood? 
 
 '^Ans. We ask that his kingdom may come, because that 
 as yet we see not all things subject to Christ; we see not yet 
 how the stone is cut out of the mountain without human help, 
 which breaks into pieces and reduces to nothing the image 
 described by Daniel: or how the only rock, which is Christ, 
 doth possess and obtain the empire of the whole world, given 
 him of the Father. As yet Antichrist is not slain; whence 
 it is that we desire and pray, that at length it may come to 
 pass and be fulfilled; and that Christ alone may reign with his 
 saints, according to the divine promises; and that he may live 
 and have dominion in the world, according to the decrees of 
 the holy gospel, and not according to the traditions and laws 
 of men, and the wills of the tyrants of the world." 
 
 **Q. The Sacred Scriptyre calls the end of the world the 
 consummation and perfection of the mystery of Christ, and 
 the renovation of all things: for thus the apostle Peter speaks, 
 in his second epistle, chap. iii. 'We expect now heavens and 
 a new earth, according to God's promise, wherein dwclleth 
 righteousness.' And it seems agreeaiile to reason, that the 
 corruption, mutability and sin, to which the whole world is 
 subject, should at least cease. Now by what means or circum- 
 stances those things shall be brought to pass, I desire to know 
 of thee? 
 
 * Neale states it to have been drawn up by Poynet, afterwards bishop of 
 Winchester; but without giving his authority. Hist. Purit. vol. i. p. (53. 
 
 t This is evident from the King's Letter, prefixed to the Latin edition ol 
 1553. "Cum brevis et explicata Catechisrai ratio, a pio quodam ct crudito viro 
 conscripta, nobisiad cognoscendum olferretur, ejus pertractationem et diligen- 
 tem inquisitionem quibusdam cpiscopis et aliiscrudUis commissimus, &c." " 
 VOL. II. — G 
 
55 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 "Arts. I will declare, as well as I can, the same apostle 
 attesting. The heavens, in the manner of a stormy tempest, 
 shall pass away, and the elements, estuating, shall be dissolved, 
 and the earth and the works therein shall be burnt. As if the 
 Apostle should say. The world, like as we see in the refining 
 of gold, shall be wholly purged with fire, and shall be brought 
 to its utmost perfection; which the little world man, imitating, 
 shall likewise be freed from corruption and change. And so, 
 for man's sake, for whose use the great world was created, 
 being at length renovated, it shall put on a face that shall be 
 far more pleasant and beautiful."* 
 
 Next may be instanced the views of Bishop Latimer. Hav- 
 ing spoken, in his third Sermon on the Lord's Prayer, of a 
 future parliame?it differing from the parliaments of this world: 
 "A parliament in which Christ shall bear the rule, and not 
 men; and which the righteous pray for whenthey say, 'Thy 
 kingdom come,'' because they know that therein reformation of 
 all things shall be had:" he presently after has these words, 
 *'Let us therefore have a desire that this day may come quickly ; 
 let us hasten God forward; let us cry unto him day and night, 
 ^Most merciful Father, thy kingdom come.' St. Paul saith, 'The 
 Lord will not come till the swerving from the faith cometh,' 
 (2 Thess. ii. 3.) which thing is already done and past: Antichrist 
 is already known throughout all the world. Wherefore the 
 day is not far off. Let us beware, for it will one day fall on our 
 heads. St. Peter saith, 'The end of all things draweth very 
 near.' St. Peter said so at his time: how much more shall tee 
 say so? for it is a long time since St. Peter spake these words. 
 The world was ordained to endure (as all learned men affirm, 
 and prove it with Scripture) six thousand years. Now of that 
 number there be passed 5552 years; so there is no more left 
 but 448 years. And, furthermore, those days shall he shortened; 
 it shall not be full six thousand years; the days shall be "short- 
 ened for the elect's sake." Therefore all those excellent and 
 learned men, which, without doubt, God hath sent into this 
 
 * There are some expressions in the Catechism apparently opposed to the 
 personal and visible reign of Christ, whicli precede the extracts above given. 
 In answer to the inquiry, "Why Christ went to Heaven? it is said, "The chief 
 cause thereof was to pluck out of us that false opinion which sometime de- 
 ceived the apostles themselves; that Christ should in earth visibly reign as 
 kings and rulHing princes of this world." The true explanation however of 
 this is, not tiiat they did not expect Christ to come 'personally, but that they 
 expected his rule to be one of peace and righteousness, "according to the de- 
 crees of the holy Gospel, and not according to the traditions and laws of men, 
 and the wills of tyrants of the world," as declared in the previous answer of 
 the Catechism." (See thispointdiscussed in the Investigator, vol. i. page 171.) 
 The Catechism likewise speaks of the impossibility of Christ's bodily presence 
 being every where on earth; but on the subject of the mode of Christ's mani- 
 festation, the ablest Millennarian writers have dilfered, as indeed might have 
 been expected. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. (57 
 
 world in theselatterdays to give the world warning,all those men 
 do gather out of Scripture, that the last day cannot he far off." 
 
 Another extract is added from his sermon for the second 
 Sunday in Advent. Having ohscrvcd again, tliat the days 
 before the Advent will be shortened, "so that pcradventure, 
 (saith he) it mat/ come in my days, old as I am, or in our chil- 
 dren's days;" he proceeds: ''There will be great alterations at 
 that day; there will be hurly burly, like as ye see when a 
 man dieth, &c. There will he such alterations of the earth and 
 the elements, they will lose their former nature, and be endued 
 with another nature. And then shall they see the Son of Man 
 come in a cloud with power and great glory. Certain it is that 
 he shall come to judge; but we cannot tell the time when he 
 shall come." Then quoting 1 Thcss. iv. to shew that the liv- 
 ing saints shall be "rapt up into the air, and so meet Christ our 
 Saviour;" he adds, "AH those, I say, who be content to strive 
 and fight with sin, these shall in such wise be taken up into 
 the air and meet with Christ, and so shall come dozen uith him 
 acrai?}.'' — "I pray God, that we may be of the number of those, 
 which shall hear this joyful and most comfortable voice of 
 Christ our Saviour, when he will say, Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, possess the kingdom which is prepared for you before 
 the foundation of the world was laid." — "That man or that 
 woman that saith these words, Thy ki?iirdo7n come, with a faith- 
 ful heart, no doubt desireth in very deed, that God will come 
 to judgment, and amend all things in this world, and put down 
 Satan, that old serpent, under our feet." 
 
 The martyr, Bradford, on Rom. viii. expresses the same 
 expectation. "This renovation of all things the prophets do 
 seem to promise, when they promise nero heavens and a new 
 earth. For a new earth seemeth to require no less renovation 
 of earthly things, than ne;*v heavens do of heavenly things. 
 But these things the apostle doth plainly affirm, that Christ 
 will restore, even whatsoever be in heaven arid in earth; (Col. 
 i.) Therefore metbinks it is the duty of a godly mind simply 
 to acknowledge, and thereof to boast in the I^ord, that in our 
 resurrection all things shall be so repaired to eternity, as for 
 our sin they were made subject to corruption. The ancient 
 writers out of 2 Pet. iii. have as it were agreed to tiiis sentence, 
 that the shape of this world shall pass away, through the burn- 
 ing of earthly fire, as it was drowned with the flowing of earthly 
 waters. These be St. Augustine's words, &.c. — Therefore it 
 is the part of a godly man, and of one that hangeth in all 
 things upon the word of God, to learn out of this place, that 
 whatsoever cc^rruption, death or grief, he sccth in any thing, 
 
(58 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 whatsoever it be, that (I say) he ascribe that wholly unto his 
 sins, and thereby provoke himself to true repentance. Now 
 as soon as that repentance compelleth him to go to Christ, let 
 him think thus: But this my Saviour and my Head, Jesus 
 Christ, died for my sins, and therewith, as he took away death, 
 so hath he taken away all the corruption and labour of all 
 things, and will restore them in his time, wheresoever they be, 
 in heaven or in earth. Now every creature travaileth and 
 groaneth with us; but we being restored, they also shall be 
 restored: there shall be new heavens, new earth, and all things 
 new."* 
 
 Combining the different extracts which have been here given, 
 it will be seen, first, that the Reformers come back decidedly 
 to that important j)oint, the looking for the speedy revelation 
 in glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, — a point of doctrine which 
 we constantly find pressed upon the church in' the writings of 
 the apostles, and the postponement of which (by the interven- 
 tion of an indefinite period of glory in heaven, or by applying 
 to the condition of the believer in the separate state those pro- 
 mises which relate only to the time of the Advent,) has greatly 
 tended to darken the view of the church in regard to prophecy, 
 and to deaden its hope in the resurrection. It will be 
 seen also, that the Reformers do viriually set forth the Mille- 
 narian hope in this matter: for if they looked not for a thousand 
 years of glory to the church on a renewed earth, in company 
 with their Saviour, they did certainly expect such a glory for 
 an indefinite period; and they preached it as immediately at 
 hand, and made, (as may be seen from the short extracts given,) 
 a practical heart-stirring use of it. 
 
 There is another important tenet which was urnversalli/ re- 
 ceived by Protestants soon after the Reformation: viz., that 
 Antichrist had not disappeared at the accession of Constantine; 
 but on the contrary, that he then only began to be developed, 
 and was manifested in full grown maturity in the papacy, 
 which afterwards sprung up. So general has become the ap- 
 plication to the pope, or to the papal system, of the scriptures 
 relative to Antichrist, that it is superfluous to enter into the 
 proof of it: there are few works on prophecy written by Pro- 
 testants, from the period of Luther's declaring the pope to be 
 Antichrist, which he did in the year 1520, down to the com- 
 mencement of the present century, which do not thus treat the 
 subject,! And this doctrine likewise proved of great practical 
 
 * See Richmond's Fathers of the English Church, vol. vi. p. fi08. 
 
 tSome few considered Mahomet, to be Antichrist. This will be noticed 
 hereafter, M'hen we come to treat more particularly of those features of pro- 
 phecy, which are in this historical sketch necessarily but slightly touched 
 upon. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. (59 
 
 advantage to the Reformers, For they were encouraged to 
 bear up against the abuse and contumely heaped upon them by 
 the Papists, by insisting that Home was Babylon, and the 
 pope Antichrist, and that God's people were to come out of 
 her; and even at the stake they were supported by the expec- 
 tation, that he was shortly to be destroyed, and the kingdom 
 of God to be made manifest: * for they couj)led — as necessarily 
 it must be coupled — the destruction of Antichrist, with the re- 
 velation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven. 
 
 Before closing the history of this century, it must be farther 
 observed, (in justification of the statement of Bishop Newton, 
 that pure Millenarian doctrine was likewise revived and enter- 
 tained at the time of the Reformation;) that it certainly was 
 then revived; but, as it appears to be the common device of 
 Satan, to bring reproach upon a doctrine which he dreads, by 
 inducing some to profess it who walk not orderly, or by urging 
 those who, in other respects are godly, into some extrava- 
 gance; so, in this instance, the fanatical sect of the Aiiabaptids, 
 which arose on the continent and quickly sjDread into England, 
 having embraced millenarian views, but coupled with much 
 error and carnal absurdity, brought the doctrine into great 
 disrepute. It was apparently on this account, that so many 
 stood aloof and alarmed, in regard to the single tenet of the thou- 
 sand years; whilst in the same articles which accompanied the 
 Catechism drawn up in the reign of Edward VI. and of which 
 mention has been made, one was directly pointed against the 
 MUletiarians. But whatever were the circumstances which, 
 in 1553, led to the adoption of this article, only nine years 
 afterwards it was wilhdrazvn, together with two others, which 
 reduced the total number from forty-two to thirty-nine, with 
 scarcely any alteration in the doctrinal matter of those which 
 remain. The withdrawal of this articJe must have arisen 
 either from the increase of millenarian principles at this 
 time; or at least from the conviction that they were not to be 
 confounded with the extravagances of Cerinthus or of IVIunzer.t 
 
 6. We have seen what the voice of the church was during 
 the sixteenth century, or era of the Reformation: — a voice 
 giving not altogether an uncertain sound, though not so clear 
 and distinct as in the first three centuries of Christianity; nor, 
 
 ♦ The reader will find some strikins: testimonies, that the Reformers held 
 the papacy to he Antichrist, in the appendix to Mr. Cuninjjhame's tract, ''The 
 Churcli of Rome the Apostacy, &c.;" likewise in his "Strictures on the Rev. 
 S. R. Maiiland's four pamphlets on prophecy." 
 
 t It does not appear that the arguments or discussion which took place at the 
 time the articles m question were withdrawn, have ever transpired. All we 
 know is, that they^were struck out with the red lead pencil used always by 
 Archbishop Parker. See Strype's Annals, c. xxviii. p. '268, aud Bennett's 
 History of the ihiriy-nine Articles. 
 6* 
 
70 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 as it afterwards sounded out at a more advanced period of the 
 Reformation. At the latter end, indeed, of this century, seve- 
 ral individuals of eminence are known to us as having profess- 
 ed millenarian sentiments on prophecy; among whom may 
 be named John Piscator, Alphonsus Conrade, Carolus Gallus, 
 Tycho Brahe, Dr. F. Kelt, Abraham Fleming, Hugh Brough- 
 ton, and Anthony JMarten. In the seventeenth century, how- 
 ever, there arose a constellation of learned students of prophecy ; 
 and, with the careful study of prophecy, millenarian doctrine 
 shone out again once more with clearness and with splendour. 
 The absurdity maintained by Grotius, Prideaux, Whitby, 
 Hammond, and some others, that the Millennium commenced 
 with the conversion of Constantine, was at length fairly driven 
 out of the field and exploded:* so that the rc/wle church has, by 
 means of the flood of light then poured upon .prophecy, since 
 become millenarian in the literal sense of the term; there 
 being very few in the present day who do not look forward to 
 a millenniumA A remarkable revolution has indeed been 
 effected in this matter since the era of the Reformation; the 
 anti-millenarians of the present day, being now persons who 
 are ardently looking forward for a period of rest and glory to 
 the church, which is to last a thousand years; whilst they 
 deny the resurrection of the saints to participate in it, the 
 restoration of the Jew^, and the appearing of the great God 
 and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Whereas the anti-millenarians of 
 the former period rejected solely the expectation of the thou- 
 sand years, but held all the latter tenets. Even such anti- 
 millenarians as Bishop Taylor, and Dr. Whitby, who were of 
 a later period, held sentiments which would now be deemed of 
 a millenarian complexion; which has been already shewn in 
 regard to the former; (see page 78,) and may be seen, as 
 respects the latter, by a reference to his Commentary on 2 Tim. 
 iv. S.J 
 
 The essentials, however, of millenarian doctrine were 
 doomed to undergo much opposition, and even persecution, in 
 
 * Archbishop Usher, and some few after him, made the Millennium to com- 
 mence with the period of Christ's first advent; so that Satan, according to 
 them, must have been bound during the period cf pagan persecution, and 
 during those days of which St. John says, — "Now are there many Antichrists." 
 From the manner, however, in which Archbishop Usher altL>r"wards concur- 
 red in much which was submitted to him by Mcde and others, (as may be 
 seen from his communications published in Mede's works,) we must conclude 
 that he afterwards renounced this opinion and became Millenarian. 
 
 tit cannot be said, there are -none but what do; except on the principle, that 
 there is no rule without an exception; for there will ever be found individuals, 
 yea, and learned individuals, ready to adopt eccentric or extravagant opinions. 
 "Thus Professor Lee, in his recently published work on the Apocalypse, has in 
 our day revived the exploded doctrine of Grotius in regard to the thousand 
 years. 
 
 t A reprint of it appears in the Investigator, vol. iv. p. 178. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPPvETATION. 
 
 71 
 
 this century; and some curious facts remain to be recorded, 
 affcctini); the history of prophecy during this period. The cir- 
 cumstances which principally gave rise to them were, the con- 
 duct of those fanatics who were called fifik monarchy men; and 
 the jealousy of the dominant parlij. The turbulence and extra- 
 vagance of the former, who were all of them millenarians,* 
 caused many timid persons to shrink from the doctrine alto- 
 gether; some fearing the reproach of being confounded with 
 them, and others inconsiderately concluding that there was 
 some necessary connexion between millenarianism and sedi- 
 tion: and thus by neglecting the study of prophecy altogether, 
 or by seeking some allegorical (or, as it is improperly termed, 
 some spiritual) meaning for portions of God's word, which 
 were previously understood in their literal sense, they yielded 
 up that very advantage to Satan which he sought. On the 
 other hand, the conduct of the high church party caused this 
 doctrine to be at last maintained principally among the puri- 
 tans and the dissenters, properly so called; insomuch that to 
 hold millenarian doctrine at all, was at length suilicient to ex- 
 pose a man to the imputation of being a dissenter, and to ex- 
 cite against him the suspicion of disloyalty. 
 
 Thus JNIede says, in regard to this point, "that papists and 
 episcopal men are loath that we should expect a better time 
 than under them;" — alluding to the millenarian expectation 
 of new heavens and a new earth, wherein should dwell 
 righteousness. On the other hand, Dr. Prideaux, one of the 
 most moderate of the episcopalians, when endeavouring to 
 prove that the thousand years commenced with Constantine, 
 says, ^^'VhQ dissenters here object, &c." by which he means the 
 millenariafis. And, again, insisting that the first resurrection, 
 described in Rev. xx., is to be understood figuratively, he says, 
 "Neither do those things move us, which the dissenters object; 
 viz. that souls are here taken synechdochically for souls and 
 bodies united." 
 
 Considerable light has recently been thrown upon the senti- 
 ments, in this matter, of the majority of the Aimous Assembly 
 
 * They were caWet] fifth monarchij men from the circumstance, that they un- 
 derstood that kinj^dom mentioned by Daniel, as succeedin<? to the four great 
 monarchies or empires, set (orlh, first by the colossal image, (Dan.'ii. 31-15.) 
 and secondly by ihe four beasts, (Dan. vii. 17, 18.) of the'kingdom of Christ 
 and Iiis saints to be established on earth. In this ^e^pect their views were or- 
 thodox; for almost all interpreters of prophecy maintain the same opinion. 
 The peculiarity of their views, however, consisted in this; that they expected 
 the destruction of every thing anti-christian, to be effected by the immediate 
 agency of the living saints; and for this purpose, they contended that all 
 power, both civil and military, must necessarily be put into their hands. With 
 truly spiritual and excellent men, such as Tillin<:hart, who continually ex- 
 horted their hearers to patience, such a notion was harmless; but when adopt- 
 ed by the unsanctified fanatic, who was for anticipating the time and seizing 
 the power, it proved itself a mischievous and very troublesome opinion. 
 
72 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 of Divines, held at Westminster in 1643, by the publication in 
 Scotland of the Journal and Letters written at that time by 
 Principal Baillie, himself a determined anti-niillenarian, and 
 therefore not likely to be disposed to exaggerate the numbers 
 or respectability of the parties who maintained it. In his let- 
 ter, No. 117, he says, "Send me the rest of Forbes: I like the 
 book very well, and the man mucli better for the book's sake. 
 1 marvel I can find nothing in it against the millenaries. I 
 cannot think the author a millenary. I cannot dream why 
 he should have omitted an error so famous in antiquity, and so 
 troublesome among i/s; for the most of the chief divines 
 HERE, [meaning the Assembly] not only Independents, but 
 others, such as Twisse, Marshall, Palmer, and many more, 
 are express CJdliasts.'"*' In this extract two things are evident: 
 First, that the independents of that day were generally mille- 
 naries or chiliasts; which may plainly be inferred from the 
 expression — "not only independents;" as if the person to whom 
 he wrote would take for granted that they were so. And, 
 secondly, it is evident, that tlie majority of eminent divines there, 
 besides the Independenls, were also mil'lenarian; as is clear from 
 his saying, "most of the chief divines here, such as Twisse, 
 (the prolocutor,) Marshall, Palmer, and many ?nore, are express 
 Chiliasts," Besides the three above mentioned, the following 
 members of that assembly are known likewise by their pub- 
 lished writings or sentiments, to have been millenarian: viz. 
 Simeon Ash, of St. Bride's; W. Bridge, A. M.; Jeremiah Bur- 
 roughs, A. M.; J. Carlyl, A.M.; T. Goodwin, D.D.; W. Gouge, 
 D. D.; J. Langley, Prebendary of Gloucester; and Peter Sterry, 
 of London; which is a considerable number when it is remem- 
 Ijered, how few divines commit themselves in print, compared 
 with the number of those who never publish iheir sentiments; 
 and of how many the works are no longer extant. Among the 
 formularies framed by that assembly, and adopted i)y the Church 
 of Scotland, is the "Directory for Public Worsliip;" in which 
 it is prescribed that ministers should pra}' — "For the propaga- 
 tion of the gospel, and kingdom of Christ, to all nations; for 
 the conversion of the Jev;s; the fulness of the Gentiles; the 
 fall of antichrist; and the hastening of the second coming of 
 our Lord." In the Shorter Catecliism is the Asseml)ly's Ex- 
 position of the Lord's Prayer; and on the words, "Thy king- 
 dom come" we have as follows: "In the second petition we 
 pray, that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, and that the 
 kingdom of grace ma}'- be advanced; ourselves and others 
 brought into it; and that the kingdom of glory maybe hastened:" 
 
 * I am indebted, for being directed to this work, to a short but able Treatise, 
 by the Rev^. W. Anderson of Glasgow, called "A Letter tu the Author of Mil- 
 lenarianism Indefensible." 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 73 
 
 which is explained in the corresponding clause of the Larger 
 Catechism thus; "We pray, that Christ would hasten the 
 time of His second coming and our reigning uith him forever.'^ 
 When it is admitted hy an opponent of the doctrine, that the 
 majority of the chief divines of that assemhiy were millenarian, 
 it cannot reasonably be questioned that the above sentences 
 were intended to be understood in a millenarian sense; and 
 indeed it is difficult to reconcile them with any other. 
 
 What has been adduced above may suffice for the Purilan 
 and JVon -conformist divines, and for the Independents; as regards 
 the Baptists (not the Anabaptists, from whom the Baptists have 
 been ])roperly distinguished,*) we have, in addition to the 
 sentiments of the eminent John IJunyan, and some other indi- 
 vidual Baptists of piety and talent, the explicit testimony of 
 the Baptist confession of faith, which is preserved in Crosby's 
 history of that sect." We believe that there will be an order 
 in the resurrection; Christ is the first fruits, and then next, or 
 after, they that are Christ's at his coming; then, or afterwards, 
 cometh the end. Concerning the kingdom and reign of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as we do believe that he is now in heaven 
 at his Father's right hand: so we do believe, that, at the time 
 appointed of the Father, he shall come again in power and 
 great glory, and that at, or after, his coming the second time, 
 he will not only raise the dead, and judge and restore the 
 world, but will also take to himself his kingdom, and will, 
 according to the scriptures, reign on the throne of his father 
 David, on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, for ever."t 
 
 It must not be concluded by the reader, that all episcopa- 
 lians were anti-millenarian: on the contrary, they numbered 
 in their ranks some able theologians and interpreters, who 
 took, what I will venture to call llie orthodox view of prophecy. 
 Nevertheless, to hold millpnarian views exposed a man to re- 
 proach; which was at one period carried to so great an extent, 
 that liishop Newton states, "it was esteemed a mark. that a 
 man was a pi/ritan, and a certain obstacle to his preferment, to 
 preach that tiie i)ope was Antichrist." Vol. ii. p. 400. In 
 the mean time, the overbearing manner in which direct 
 millcnarianism was put down by the dominant party, may 
 be judged of from the following extract from Ephraim 
 
 • Bishop Burnet, .^peaking of the Anabaptists, says: "Some of them set up a 
 fantastical unintelligible way of talking of religion, which they turned a]l into 
 allegories: these being joined in the common name of Anabaptist a with the 
 other, (the Baptists,) brought them also under an ill character." Vol. ii. 
 book i. 
 
 t Further extracts, of an interesting character to the student of prophecy, 
 will be found in the Dialogues on Prophecy, vol. ii. p. "JtJT, and in a small 
 work by Mr. Co.t, a baptist minister, at Woolwich, entitled "A Milleuarian's 
 Answer of the Hope that is in Him.'' 
 
74 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Huel's preface to his commentary on Daniel; which is only 
 a specimen of the reasons assigned for the tardy or post- 
 humous publication of several works which appeared about 
 that period. The preface or epistle dedicatory is signed by 
 Simeon Ash, Samuel Clarke, and William Overton, eminent 
 divines; and they state, as an apology for its not having been 
 published by Huet, — <'that indeed such was the iniquity and 
 injuriousness of those times, that fezo zvorks of this nature zcere 
 suffered to see the light; especially if they spake any thing freely 
 of those opinions which were so much disliked and cried down 
 hij the prelalical party, as this doth concerning the g'orious call- 
 ing and conversion of the Jews, which was a principal objec- 
 tion made against it. But the Lord in mercy having sent us 
 a parliament,* whose first study and care was, to relieve the 
 oppressed, and release the imprisoned; this also hath at length 
 obtained its manumission, (principally by the endeavours and 
 favour of that truly noble and heroical patriot, the earl of 
 Manchester,) and is now come abroad into the world; and, 
 as we hope, will prove very serviceable." The same spirit of 
 persecution against these doctrines passed over to the conti- 
 nent, and exhibited itself there, at a later period of this cen- 
 tury, in the suppression of numerous works; among which 
 may be instanced the "Scriptural Exposition and Demonstra- 
 tion of the Millcnarian Reign, &c." by Dr. J. W. Peterson, 
 professor at Rostoch in 1677, and afterwards superintendent of 
 Lunenburg; for which publication he was cited before the 
 consistory of Zell and deposed, and his work withdrawn; and 
 likewise a work of S. P. Klettwich, intitled, "The answer 
 which has been demanded to two curious questions, viz. — 
 'How long the present world will continue — i. e. whether it 
 will continue for GOOO years?' and if not, 'Whether before the 
 end and total consummation of this world, a previous, difTerent, 
 better, and more happy world and times are to be lioped for;"' 
 which work was suppressed by the consistory of Leipsic. 
 
 We may close the account of this century by giving, for the 
 guidance of the student of prophecy, some other names of 
 those, who are known by their sentiments, published within 
 this period, to have been millenarian, viz. : X>oc7ors W. Alabas- 
 ter, W. Allen, T. Burnet, D. Cressener, W. Hakewell, G. 
 Hicks, N. Homes, J. Mather, W. Potter: and the following 
 divines and laymen, abroad and of this country: T. Adams, 
 W. Alleine, J. Archer, E. Bagshaw, T. Beverley, W, Burton, 
 M. Gary, J. Cocceius, W. Deusbery, J. Durant, W. Erbery, 
 G. Foster, T. Gale, G. Hammon, S. Hartlib, E. Huet, J. 
 
 * The preface is dated IG13, — the year in which the assembly of divines met 
 at Westminster. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 75 
 
 Hussey, P. de Launay, R. Maton, J. Mede, W. Medley, R. 
 JVtercer, C. S. Nuncius, A. Pea;aniLKs, S. Petto, J. Ranew, W. 
 Sherwin and J. Tillinghast. This list is necessarily very de- 
 fective; nor is it to be understood that all, who are therein 
 enumerated, are equally niillenarian in degree; for some of 
 them contend only for a premillennial resurrection; whilst a 
 few, still conceiving the millennium to be past, look for the 
 appearing and kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be estab- 
 lished upon a renewed earth. 
 
 7. Tiie history of the voice of the church during the 
 eighteenth century, may be speedily dismissed; for, alas, it 
 became weak and feeble on most points connected with the. 
 doctrines of genuine Christianity. Yet there are two or three 
 facts worthy of particular remark. 
 
 The first is, that wherever we look around and find true 
 piety prevailing, there likewise we may perceive millenarian 
 doctrine springing up and accompanying it. 
 
 In Germany, so long back as the latter end of the sixteenth 
 century, Simon Menno, originally a popish priest, but after- 
 wards the founder of a sect called the ISIennonites, succeeded 
 in bringing back from their extravagances great numbers of the 
 German anabaptists, and setting before them the true principles 
 of primitive millenarianism; and this sect continued through 
 the next and greater part of the following century to exhibit 
 much real piety; and they are stated by Mosheim in his time 
 to have maintained the ''ancient hypothesis of a visible and 
 glorious church of Christ upon earth," (vol. v. p. 497.) 
 
 In the English Encyclopedia, under the article *Cocceiits,^ 
 we are told "that he was the founder of a sect called Cocceians; 
 who held, among other singular opinions, that of a visible 
 reign of Christ in this world, after a general conversion of the 
 Jews and all other people to the true christian faith, as laid 
 down in the voluminous works of Cocceius. " This was no 
 other than the eminent John Cocceius, professor of tlicology 
 at Bremen, — a man continually quoted and applauded by Vi- 
 tringa for his piety, learning, and ability as an expositor of 
 prophecy. The Rev. H. Ilorne, speaking in his "Introduc- 
 tion, &c. ," of his commentaries, says, "that they abound with 
 valuable illustrations, and will amply repay the trouble of pe- 
 rusal ;" and Robinson says of him, that it passed into a proverb, 
 "that Grotius finds Christ no zchere in the Old Testament, Coc- 
 ceius everyzL'here.'^ lie died in 1G9.9, and his followers were 
 known chiefly in the beginning of the eighteenth century. 
 
 The Pietists of Germany, at the same time that, like the Pu- 
 ritans of the former century in England, and the J\Iclliodists of 
 this present century, they derived a name of reproach founded 
 
76 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 upon their strictness in the things of God — a reproach which 
 may truly be said to have been accompanied by the Spirit of 
 glory, and of God resting on them (1 Pet. iv. 14.) — were also 
 in general Mlllenarians, as may plainly be seen, without enter- 
 ing into other proofs, in a work entitled "Useful Information 
 respecting Pietism; or a Statement of the real Faith and 
 Doctrine of the so called Pietists,'' written by the same Klett- 
 wich, whose Millenarian work was suppressed by the consis- 
 tory of Leipsic. 
 
 Among the Mystics, both of England and the Continent, the 
 same doctrine pretty generally prevailed, which I take on the 
 testimony of the Rev. T. Hartley, Rector of Winnick, North- 
 ampton, himself a mystic. The proofs of it are contained in 
 his work called "Paradise Restored, or a Testimony to the 
 Doctrine of the blessed Millennium," published in 1764.t 
 
 * It must be admitted, however, that the mystics held this doctrine with very 
 different degrees of prominency; for indeed their peculiar views led them 
 more to consider the mystery of inward grace or spiritual life in the soul. 
 Among the mystics have been numbered Bishop Taylor, whose views have 
 already been brought forward, Bishop Kenn, Fenelon, archbishop of Cambray; 
 Law, the author of the "Serious Call," and AUeine, the author of the "Alarm 
 to the Unconverted." From the Life and Letters of AUeine a specimen is 
 here added of his sentiments. It is contained in a letter, written whilst he was 
 in prison, for preaching the gospel in his own house, after he had been ejected 
 from his living at Taunton, by the act of uniformity. It is addressed to his 
 faithful flock in that town, and is throughout touching and beautiful; but the 
 necessity of being brief, induces me to give only a few passages which afibrd 
 an evidence of the practical tendency of the expectation of the Saviour's ad- 
 vent, and of thepropermode of handling the subject. — "But now, my brethren, 
 I shall not so much call upon you to remember the resurrection of Christ, as 
 the return of Christ: Behold, he comclh in the clouds, and every eye shall see 
 him — your eyes and mine eyes — and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn be- 
 cause of him. But u-e shall lift up our heads, because the day of our redemp- 
 tion draweth nigh. This is the day I look for, and wait for, and have laid up 
 all my hopes in. If the Lord return not, I profess myself undone: my preach- 
 ing is vain, and my suffering is vain, and the bottom in which I have entrusted 
 all my hopes is for ever miscarried. But I know whom I have trusted: we 
 are built upon the foundation of his sure word, »S:c. and how fully doth that 
 "word assure us, that this sa,me Jesus that is gone up into heaven shall so return. 
 Oh, how sure is the thing! How near is the lime! How glorious will his ap- 
 pearing be! — What generous cordials hath he left us in his parting sermons 
 and his last prayer; and yet of all the rest these words are the sweetest, I will 
 come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am there ye may be also. — 
 And wi/^ he comel Tremble, then, ye sinners; but triumph, ye sa"ints! Clap 
 your hands, all ye that look for the consolation of Israel. O children of the 
 Most High, how will yon forget your travail, and be melted into joy! This is 
 he in whom you have' believed; whom not having seen, ye have lov^ed. — O my 
 soul, look out and long! O my brethren, be you as the mother of Sisera, 
 looking out at the windows, and watching at the lattice, saying. Why arc his 
 chariot rvheels so long in coming? Though the time till ye shall see him be 
 very short, yet love and longing make it seem tedious. My beloved, comfort 
 your hearts with these words: look upon these things as the greatest realities, 
 and let your affections be answerable to your expectations. J would not have 
 told you these things unless I had believed them; it is for this hope tliat I am 
 bound with this chain. The blessing of the Holy Trinity be upon you, &c." 
 (Letter xxvii. in an old and scarce work, printed iC72.) 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 77 
 
 Next may be mentioned the sect of the Jansenists^ existing 
 in the bosom of tlie Roman Catholic church in France, but 
 holding sentiments which approximate to evangelical Protes- 
 tantism. The editor of a periodical published in Paris, in 
 1831, called The fFatchmcm, speaking of a society of women 
 still existing there, who were followers of the Janscnists, ob- 
 serves: "But what is very remarkable in the history of this 
 little body, consisting of about a hundred persons, is, that they 
 have received and cherished, from their ancestors, an indubit- 
 able persuasion of Christ's second coming to establish his per- 
 sonal reign upon earth. And so evidently do they hold this 
 doctrine to be revealed in the scriptures, that when they heard 
 of the gospel being preached by a valuable and Aiithful Swiss 
 minister now in Paris, they declined to hear him, because 
 they were informed that he did not believe in the visible and 
 personal reign of Christ upon earth." 
 
 Finally may be instanced the Methodists, some of the chief 
 leaders among whom, as John Wesley himself, and Fletcher of 
 Madeley, held millenarian views, and doubtless, therefore, 
 they were responded to in this matter by their followers in 
 general. The proof of the prophetical views of the latter may 
 be seen in a highly interesting letter, written by him to John 
 Wesley;* and those of Wesley himself are contained in his 
 exposition of the Apocalypse, appended to his commentary on 
 the New Testament. 
 
 In bringing forward these various bodies of religious pro- 
 fessors, it must be admitted, that, among some of them, the 
 truth of the gospel was more or less disfigured by extravagan- 
 ces, (or at least it appears to us, in this day, to have been so, 
 though it may arise from the misrepresentation of enemies;) 
 but we cannot but admit, at the same time, that a serious spirit 
 of piety, and considerable scriptural attainments, and learning, 
 and ability, have appeared among them. 
 
 A second circumstance worthy of remark in this century, is 
 the decay of vital godliness among the different denominations 
 o{ dissenters, strictly so called; and with it a growing neglect of 
 the great truths of prophecy. For it cannot i^e denied, that, in 
 order to attain to any thing like a tolerable apprehension of the 
 prophetical portion of the oracles of God, it is at least neces- 
 sary to study them, and to become familiar with the text itself. 
 And where the natural taste of individuals is not for study, 
 and it has not been superinduced by the artificial habits of a 
 scholastic education, there is a great disinclination to the labour 
 of entering upon the careful investigation of prophecy, which 
 
 * See his Worlfs, _vol. ix. p. 308; it is likewise reprinted in vol. ii. p. '162. of 
 the Morning Watch. 
 VOL. II. 7 
 
78 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 is only to be overcome by the stimulus which true piety sup- 
 plies: and indeed we would put it to the consciences of some 
 pious persons in modern times, whether the apprehension of 
 the labour of studying prophecy, has not so prevailed over 
 them, as effectually to prejudice their minds against the sub- 
 ject? 
 
 That I may not seem to judge the condition of the dissent- 
 ing congregations through a prejudiced medium, I would refer 
 to the fact, that an annual sermon was, about the middle of this 
 century appointed to be preached at Great Eastcheap, exclu- 
 sively on prophecy, for the purpose of preventing the subject 
 from sinking altogether into oblivion. Various sermons 
 preached on this occasion by the eminent Dr. John Gill, a de- 
 cided millenarian, are in existence; in which he deplores, not 
 only the neglect of prophecy, but the decay of genuine piety. 
 In his discourse (for example) on Isaiah xxi.ll, 12, he ob- 
 serves, — "A sleepy frame of spirit has seized us; both nmiisters 
 and churches are asleep; and being so, the enemy is busy in 
 sowing the tares of errors and heresies , and which will grow up 
 and spread yet more and more. Coldness and indifference in 
 spiritual things, a want of affection to God, to Christ, his peo- 
 ple, truths and ordinances, may easily be observed; the first 
 love is left, and because iniquity abounds the love of many 
 waxes cold." — "If it should be asked, What time it is with us? 
 (the text is on the question. Watchman, what of the 7iight?) as a 
 faithful watchman I will give you the best account I can. I 
 take it we are in the Sardian Church state, — we are in the de- 
 clifie of that state; for there are many things said of that 
 church which agree with us; as that we have a ?iame, that we 
 live, and are dead — the name of the reformed churches — but 
 without the life and power of true religion; and there are few, 
 and but a few, names among us, which have not defiled their 
 garments with false doctrine or superstitious worship." 
 
 The frequency with which Dr. Gill was himself called upon 
 to preach this annual sermon,* seems to indicate the dearth of 
 ministers who took heed to prophecy at all; and the very fee- 
 ble character of two or three of those productions which have 
 reached us, betra}? that this branch of theology was, indeed, at 
 a low ebb. Even the sermons of Dr. Gill himself are very 
 superficial and inferior to the other works of that learned ex- 
 positor on this subject; perhaps arising from the conviction, 
 that the want of information among his hearers in general on 
 these occasions, did not impose on him the necessity of careful 
 composition or elaborate investigation. 
 
 The last circumstance to be noticed is, the gradual increase 
 * He preached it seven years successively. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 79 
 
 during this period of sound prophetical knowledge among 
 members of the Church of England. Several works of great 
 critical research and learning appeared in this century; and 
 with but few excejitions of any eminence, they are directly or 
 indirectly of a millenarian character. The annual Lectures 
 appointed to be preached on prophecy by Bisliop Warburton, 
 for which an endowment was left by him, doubtless contributed 
 to the production of numerous able works on prophecy; though 
 the range which the writers of them took was necessarily limit- 
 ed. The lecture was founded for the purpose of proving <'The 
 truth of revealed religion in general, and of the Christian in 
 particular, from the completion of the prophecies of the Old 
 and New Testament, which relate to the Christian church, and 
 especially to the apostacy of papal Rome." 
 
 It is not intended to be insinuated, that a greater degree of 
 piety existed in the Church of England at this time than among 
 the dissenting congregations: the cause of prophetical studies 
 being cultivated among them is, perhaps, to be traced to the 
 circumstance of the superior education of the clergy, generally 
 speaking, predisposing them, in a measure, to subjects which 
 aflbrded scope for their learning and erudition. Many, how- 
 ever, of the publications of this century, proceeded from 
 churchmen, whose piety of spirit cannot be questioned; though 
 it would be invidious to particularize individuals, one way or 
 the other. 
 
 The following additional writers to those mentioned are 
 among the number of those whose sentiments were millenarian 
 to a greater or less extent, both in the establishment and out of 
 it, both at home and abroad; and whose works therefore tend 
 farther to evince what ihe Voice of the Church was in this cen- 
 tury. Bishops Clayton, Horsley, Newton, and Newcome;* 
 Doclors P. Allix, G. Frank, S. Glass, J. E. Grabe, S. Hopkins, 
 (of Rhode Island, N. A.) J. Knight, F. Lee, S. Rudd, and E. 
 Wells; among the divines of lesser degree, T. Adanls, (of 
 Winteringham,) R. ]5eere, J. A. Bengelius, C. Daubuz, R. 
 Iteming, J. Ilallet, R. Ilort, R. Ingram, P. Juricu,J. B. Kop- 
 pius, C^ G. Koch, P. Lancaster, A. Pirie, R. Roach, J. 1). 
 Scha-ffer, A. Toplady, E. Winchester; and among the laity 
 Sir I. Newton, and II. Dodwell, and E. King, Esqs. 
 
 VII. We now arrive at the consideration of the Voice of 
 the Church in our own times. A remarkable impetus has been 
 given to the investigation of prophecy by the striking events 
 
 * There are likewise many thin?;s in the wrilinj^s of Bi-^hops Hopkins, 
 Hurd, Lowth, Sherlock, and others, which, though tliey do not entitle lliem to 
 be ranked araongf millenarian writers, are nevertheless wholly incompatible 
 with the views of modern anti-millenarians. 
 
§0 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 which have accompanied and succeeded to the French revolu- 
 tion; an event which, though occurring at the latter end of the 
 preceding century, belongs more properly, so far as the con- 
 sideration of its influence on prophecy is concerned, to the 
 present. Many have concluded it to be that great earthquake 
 or revolution mentioned in the Apocalypse, in regard to whicii 
 Sir Isaac Newton predicted, that when it should occur, a flood 
 of light would be thereby cast on prophecy: and the events 
 which are now daily transpiring and deepening in interest, both 
 in Great Britain, and on the Continent, have tended consider- 
 ably to awaken in men's minds the expectation, that some most 
 important crisis is at hand; which expectation is not weakened, 
 in the judgment of the intelligent observer, by the circum- 
 stance, that there has likewise been a great revival of true 
 piety, among all denominations of Christians, and that unparal- 
 leled exertions are being made towards prom'oling the spread 
 of the gospel, both at home and abroad. For it is to be rea- 
 sonably expected, if we be approaching to the termination of 
 a dispensation, that the Lord would previously effectually call 
 out his elect remnant, and gather them from the four winds; 
 in the same manner that before the break up of the Jewish 
 dispensation we perceive, that there was a considerable elec- 
 tion of grace from among them, insomuch that a great com- 
 pany of the priests wa^ obedient to the faith.* 
 
 The voice of the Church at this time, so far as the students 
 of prophecy and the writers thereon are concerned, has become 
 very unequivocally nu7/e/mrm??. It cannot be denied, even by 
 those who are still unfriendly to the doctrine, that the attention 
 of Christians has been greatly excited of late towards the Ad- 
 vent of the Lord Jesus Christ; insomuch that the circum- 
 stances of the church resembles much that of the virgins in 
 the parable, awakened by the cry: ''Behold the Bridegroom 
 Cometh,'' and arising and shaking themselves from slumber. 
 With the exception of Mr. Faber,t there is scarcely to be 
 found a writer on prophecy of any eminence in the present 
 century, who is not looking for the pre-millennial advent of 
 Christ; and all the periodicals which have arisen, that have 
 been exclusively or chiefly devoted to prophetical subjects, (as 
 the Jewish Expositor, the Morning Watch, the Christian He- 
 rald, the Investigator, the Christian Witness, the Christian 
 
 * Compare Rom. xi. 5, and Acts vi. 7. 
 
 t Mr. Faber's sentiments, in earlier editions of his work now entitled IVie 
 Sacred Calcjidur, laid him open to be pressed with millenarian conclusions: 
 liis latter work is essentially diflerent in various important conclusions: and 
 is a very unsatisfactory and contradictory work, though entitled to respect, 
 from the'learning and piety of its author. For a review of it, see the Inves- 
 tigator, vol. iv. page 21)3. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. Qj 
 
 Record, the Watchman, the Expositor of Prophecy,) advocate 
 primitive millenarianism. And it is further remarkable, that 
 in ahnost all the instances of works issuing from the press in 
 this century, directly pointed against milJenarian doctrine, the 
 writers themselves have honestly avowed, that they have not 
 made prophecy their study, and are so far incompetent to treat 
 the subject in a satisfactory manner. 
 
 Another phenomenon to be noticed, in regard to the present 
 centur}' is, tliat since attention has been drawn to tlie expected 
 advent of Christ, it has betrayed the fact, that a complete re- 
 volution has taken place in regard to the parties entertaining 
 niillenarian doctrine. The advocates of it are now almost ex- 
 clusively to be found within the pale of the established church; 
 whilst the dissenters, who were formerly the conservatives of 
 the doctrine, are now almost universally either opposed, or 
 entirely indifferent to it. Some yi'i/; eminent exceptions may 
 be mentioned: for example, Robert Hall, formerly of Leices- 
 ter, who, towards the latter end of his life, was brought decid- 
 edly to subscribe to the millenarian interpretation of prophe- 
 cy; I\fr. Cox and Mr. Tyso, both baptist ministers;* William 
 Thorpe, author of an acute and very seasonable work entitled 
 "The destinies of the British Empire, and the duties of British 
 Christians at the present crisis;" and ISIr. Anderson, of Glas- 
 gow, already mentioned.! Mr. Cuninghame, an able and dis- 
 tinguished writer, who has advocated these views now for a 
 lengthened period, and Mr. Begg, are likewise to be numbered 
 among the dissenters who have powerfully pleaded this cause. 
 The genuine truths of prophecy, however, and even the 
 study of prophecy itself, has sufiered very materially in the 
 present century: at first from the intemperance of some of its 
 advocates, which was met with corresponding heat and dog- 
 matism by some of its opponents; and secondly, and most ma- 
 terially, from the circumstance, that most of those carried away 
 by the Irvingite error and delusion entertain, or formerly did 
 entertain, millenarian opinions. If the importance of any 
 doctrine may be judged of from the efforts of Satan to prejudice 
 or put it down, then assuredly that which holds up to the view 
 of the church, the hope of the speedy advent of the Lord Jesus, 
 must be eminently calculated to promote personal holiness and 
 
 ♦ Mr. Cox has been noticed before; Mr. Tyso is pastor of a con^rejjation at 
 Wallingford, and has published an able and original work called "an Enquiry 
 after Prophetic truth, relative to the restoration of the Jews and the millen- 
 nium, 1831, 8vo." He is likewise the author of several pieces in the Investi- 
 gator of Prophecy. 
 
 + Mr. Anderson isaulhor of "an Apolog;y for the Millennial doctrine, in the 
 form in which itjvas entertained by the primitive church;" two parts of which 
 have appeared. 
 
§2 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 watchfulness; for no doctrine has the great enemy endeavoured 
 more to bring reproach upon. Besides the efforts which have 
 been used to put it down and extinguish it altogether, both by- 
 papists and by men of ultra views among the protestants, we 
 have found it charged by Eusebius with the carnalities of Cerin- 
 thus; by Jerome, it has been confounded with Jewish fables; 
 the conduct of the anabaptists and fifth monarchy men has 
 brought on it the reproach of having a seditious tendency; 
 whilst the conduct of the Irvingites has induced many to ap- 
 prehend that it necessarily leads to the delusion and extrava- 
 gance manifested in their tenets of unknown tongues, im- 
 mediate inspiration, and an exclusive separating spirit.* It 
 is, however, now recovering from the shock; and it must not 
 be omitted to be stated, that numerous writers have appeared 
 to support and still continue to advocate the millenarian view 
 of prophecy, whose writings are distinguished for christian 
 meekness, sound judgment and great talent. We have only to 
 mention the names, among the clergy, of Bickersteth, Burgh, 
 Fry, Girdlestone, Hales,t Hoare, Hooper, Hawtrey, Marsh, the 
 Maitlands of Brighton and Gloucester, Madden, M'Neil, Noel, 
 Pym, Sirr, Sabin and Stuart; and among the laity, Frere, 
 Habershon, Viscount Mandeville, T. P. Piatt, Granville Penn 
 and Wood, in order to satisfy the unprejudiced reader.J 
 
 It has been objected of late to the study of prophecy, that it 
 has a tendency to lead 'to miUenana?i opinions, which, in the 
 minds of such objectors, constitute of themselves a species of 
 delusion. The writer of this volume fully admits that the study 
 of prophecy Aas this tendency; and that, in proportion as men 
 enter deeply into it, will they become liable to fall into the 
 millenarian view. But he is fully persuaded that the mille- 
 narian system of interpretation is the onhj true keyio the under- 
 standing of the prophecies, and indeed to the unfolding of the 
 sense of many other portions of holy writ, which may not 
 strictly be termed prophetical. It is this conviction, together 
 with a deep sense of the vast practical importance of the doc- 
 trine, more especially at the present crisis, that has induced 
 him to enter upon the inquiry, which he has here brought to a 
 conclusion; and he trusts it has now been satisfactorily demon- 
 
 * The fall of Mr. Irving is greatlj- to be deplored, for previous to it, when he 
 was pursuing the path of a rational cliristian expositor, his powerful mind threw 
 much light on prophecy; and his earlier works are still valuable to the student. 
 
 t See his work on Chronology. 
 
 t The writer of this volume does not coincide with all the opinions of all 
 these writers; they are mentioned as having rendered valuable service to the 
 cause of prophecy, to the millenarian view of it in particular. Numerous 
 other publications have issued from the press on this subject, and are continu- 
 ally appearing: but for these the reader is referred to the Didiunarii of Writers 
 on Prophecy, published in the fourth volume of the Investigator, and also sepa- 
 rately. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. §3 
 
 strated to be the trulh of God, both from Scripture, (as shown in 
 the former chapter,) and also from tlic concurrent testimony, 
 here brought forward, oi the voice of the Church. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE INTERPRETATION OF PROPUECY. 
 
 Having noticed what appears to be the principal design and 
 aim of all prophecy, and confirmed it by a reference to the 
 terms of the Coveimnt of Promise, and to the ]\dce of the Church 
 in the best periods of its history; the next step will be to in- 
 quire into the principles of interpretation, as regards the terms, 
 and style, and structure in which prophecy is conveyed to us. 
 
 This matter is likewise of fundamental importance, and 
 much has been written upon it by the generality of expositors; 
 whilst yet it is remarkable, how very few have subsequently 
 proceeded in their interpretations throughout upon a consistent 
 scriptural principle. Most writers on this subject appear to 
 have caught in the first instance, some particular view of a part 
 or the wliole of the prophetic word, and then to have laid down 
 canons of interpretation, which shall f;ill in with and support 
 their previously conceived system. JMr. Faber's rules, for 
 example, much as he is looked up to by many as an interpreter, 
 are almost all of them formed upon an arbitrary principle, 
 without even a reference to scripture to support them; and 
 though some of them are what one's reason may be disposed 
 to acquiesce in, others of them ought to be viewed with hesi- 
 tation until they are proved from the word of God. It is the 
 same with all others, whose works I have had opportunity to 
 peruse, if they have entered at any length into interpretation: 
 however speciously they may set out, there is generally some- 
 thing introduced for which there is no warrant, evidently for 
 the purpose of subserving some particular view of prophecy; 
 though, in many instances, the expositor afterwards loses sight 
 of the origin of his canon, and refers to it as to a scriptural 
 axiom, when perhaps there is not a shadow of authority for it 
 in the word of God. 
 
 The best collection of rules with which I am acquainted are 
 those of the eminent Vitringa.* They have the advantage of 
 
 * The reader will find a Translation of them in the Investigator, Vol. IV 
 pp. 153—176. * 
 
84 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 having been in general composed for the purpose of illustrating 
 a series of lectures on the interpretation of prophecy, which 
 were publicly delivered by him to the students of theology, 
 and in which he was necessarily led to regard the whole 
 scheme and structure of prophecy, rather than any particular 
 portion of it. But even these will be found in numerous in- 
 stances of an arbitrary character; and the reader, who is 
 acquainted with his works in general, will likewise discover, 
 that many of them are collected thence, and have a special re- 
 gard to portions of God's word which he had already interpreted. 
 
 Such being the case, I should have been tempted to have 
 passed over this portion of our subject, from a conviction of 
 the arduousness of the path which lies before me; were it not 
 that the present state of prophetical investigation appears im- 
 peratively to require some notice of it. There is a tendency 
 in the human mind to run into extremes on almost every ques- 
 tion that needs the exercise of judgment and patient inquiry. 
 The forsaking the plain path of literal interpretation, which is 
 as the polar star of the expositor, has been the means of many 
 having been carried away into an excess of allegory and meta- 
 phor; the perception of which absurdities has led others, in 
 attempting to regain the proper track, to fall into a system of 
 ultra-literalism, equally calculated to mislead. These two ex- 
 tremes are as the Scylla and Charybdis, which the expositor of 
 prophecy has carefully to steer between. 
 
 I shall limit myself, therefore, to the notice of a few princi- 
 ples of interpretation, to which we are directed by the word of 
 God; in doing which my object is not to prepare the student 
 for any particular theory subsequently to be advanced; (for 
 that is not the object of the present publication;) but to prevent 
 him from being misled by the specious objections, which are 
 by writers and readers of every shade of opinion brought for- 
 ward at times against an interpretation, which does not fall in 
 with their views or prejudices: so that he may at least not 
 hastily conclude that an interpretation is wrong, or a conclu- 
 sion unjustifiable, if there be warrant for the principle on which 
 it is grounded in the holy scriptures. At the same time the 
 reader must be apprized, that what is about to be advanced on 
 this head conveys but a very imperfect notion of all that may 
 be gathered of a like character by a diligent and careful study 
 of the word of God: to commend him to which, — so that he 
 may see the great importance of exploring the mine of scrip- 
 ture for himself, and obtaining thence principles of interpreta- 
 tion which shall be useful to him, not only as regards prophecy, 
 but other subjects likewise, — is one further inducement to my 
 entering on tliis point. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. §5 
 
 I. I shall begin first with a broad canon, laid down as a 
 grand fundamental by St. Peter, when he is exhorting us to 
 take heed unto prophecy, as unto a light that shineth in a dark 
 place, &c. — ^^Knozn/ig this^ first (he adds) that ?w propheaj of I he 
 scripture is of any private interpretation: for the prophecy came 
 not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake 
 as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter i. 19 — 21. 
 
 Great pains have been taken, by means of hypercriticisms, 
 to make this passage seem to utter an uncertain sound; whereby 
 it has been almost entirely deprived of its practical utility. 
 But the plain and obvious sense of it, as presented to us in our 
 English translation, appears to me to correspond best with the 
 Greek, and with the evident scope and intent of the passage 
 itself; viz. that no prophecy is to be explained as limited to 
 the individual circumstances and interests of any one man or 
 nation prophesied of, nor to any one generation only of the 
 church; but that it has a reference to Christ, in himself, or in 
 his members generally, and to the affairs of the kingdom of 
 God, and the powers opposed to it. A prophecy may appear, 
 from its peculiar phraseology and the circumstances under 
 which it is given, to have a merely individual or local concern; 
 but the very circumstance that those who uttered it "were 
 moved by the Holy Gliost," ought, when duly considered, to 
 lead us to conclude, that it must have some relation, remote or 
 otherwise, to the general concerns of the church; "the spirit 
 of prophecy" having always for its object to bear testimony 
 to the things of Christ. This is evident, from Rev. xix. 10, 
 where the angel claims brotherhood with John, on account of 
 the testimony to Jesus, which he (the angel) had given by the 
 spirit of propheaj; which is the more remarkable, seeing that 
 declaration occurs on the close of the setting forth the destruc- 
 tion of the great anti-chrisjian polity, and the final triumph of 
 the saints,* and which are thus indirectly declared to be part 
 of the testimon}' of Jesus. 
 
 In order to illustrate the force of this prophetical-canon, we 
 may turn to the epistles to tlie seven churclics of Asia. Rev. 
 ii. and iii. These are generally admitted to contain in them 
 prophetical matter, as may at once be seen by a reference to 
 them. For to Ephesus it is foretold, that her candlestick 
 ♦ Bishop Hard has remarked, but without restin^j his observation on any 
 tangible scripture authority, "that prophecy, in general, haih its ultimate 
 accomplishment in the history and dispensation of Jesus," and that though the 
 ■immediate object was some other, yet it never loses sight of that in which it 
 ■was ultimately to find its repose." Vol. i. p. 41, G2. Mr. Faber makes use of 
 2 Peter i. 20. to a certain extent, translating it thus: — "Now no prophecy is of 
 its own insulated interpretation;'' by which he appears to mean, that every 
 prophecy is part and parcel of that general scheme which concerns the Church, 
 and is not to be interpreted independently and exclusively of the whole. 
 
86 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 should be removed; (ii. 5.) to Smyrna, that they should en- 
 dure a tribulation often days; (ii. 10.) to Thyatira, that the false 
 prophetess, Jezebel, and those who committed adultery with her, 
 should be cast into tribulation; (ii. 22, 23.) to Sardis, that the 
 Lord would come on her as a thief; (iii. 3.) to Philadelphia, 
 that the synagogue of Satan should come and worship before 
 her feet, and also that she should be kept from that hour of 
 tribulation which was coming on all the world. Nevertheless, 
 Bishop Halifax, in his Warburtonian Lectures, (p. 233.) en- 
 tirely discountenances the idea of there being anything of a 
 generally prophetical character in this portion of the Apoca- 
 lypse; as also do some others: and we must, therefore, accord- 
 ing to these, view the prophetical matter cited above, as limited 
 to the local circumstances of the churches, and seek for no 
 other fulfilment than such as may be pointed to in the histori- 
 cal events of that period, when these churches existed. This, 
 then, is to give to the prophetical matter, clearly contained in 
 the epistles to them, 2i private interprelalion; forbidding entirely 
 all notion of these churches sustaining any typical character; or 
 that there can be any ultimate and more ample fulfilment of 
 what is foretold of them, to be accomplished in the general 
 history of the church.* Without offering any interpretation 
 of the epistles to these churches, these things are thrown out 
 to illustrate the canon of interpretation now before us. 
 
 The apostolic canon, just cited, is of very extensive use, and 
 necessarily leads to the admission of the principle of a two-fold 
 sense, or of a two-fold application, to be looked for in the gene- 
 rality of prophecy. The majority of expositors have indeed 
 already advocated the principle of a two-fold sense of prophe- 
 cy, to be looked for in certain instances; t but I am not aware 
 of any who take their warrant for so doing from this precept of 
 St. Peter, or who advance any clear and satisfactory scripture 
 foundation for it as a general rule. 
 
 1. The common sense view of the matter might direct us 
 to look for a farther fulfilment, when a prophecy, in its prima- 
 ry application to events, does not receive an adequate accom- 
 
 *Mr. Frere, likewise considers the expression — "ihe things which are," 
 (Rev. i. 19.) to relate to the condition of those Churches, as they existed in 
 the time of St. John; and seems to view the Epistles to them as having only 
 for their object, "the suppoit and comfort of these Churches, during the period 
 of Pagan persecution." That they had this object primarilij in view, there 
 can be little doubt; but that this was their vUiviale scope and object, there is 
 abundant reason to question, independent of the rule now under consideration. 
 
 t Vitringa says (speaking of the double sense) this was the mode of inter- 
 pretation the ancient interpreters and those of the middle ages have in every 
 instance chosen; as also most of those eminent men who aided the Reforma- 
 tion, as Luther, Brentius, Pellican, Bibliander, Bugcnhagius, Snoius; and, in 
 the last age, Cocceius and Altingius." De Canon. Verb. Proph. recta Expos, 
 c. ii. and c. xii. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. §7 
 
 plishmenl; for it is contradictory to the solemn affirmation of 
 Jesus, to suppose that one jot or one tittle shall in any wise 
 pass from the law or the prophets, but that all shall be fulfil- 
 led.* JNIatt. V. 17, IS. Let us, however, turn to Isaiah xlv. 
 where we have a prophecy, which those ultra literalists who 
 follow the method of Grotius consider as referring to the power 
 which Cyrus exercised, in behalf of the Jews, on their return 
 from Babylonish captivity; and though the historical details 
 are greatly deficient, as to any proof of the adequate fulfilment 
 of numerous particulars, it is attributed merely to an inflated 
 and hyperbolical style adopted by the prophets, which carried 
 them out beyond the literal matter of fact. Thus is the cliurch 
 at large deprived of the use of this prophecy: saving that mea- 
 gre application of it, which consists in the evidence to be de- 
 rived therefrom to the truth of God in other things, contained 
 in other prophecies, which it is imagined do concern the church 
 in general.! A reference to the actions of Cyrus in this chap- 
 ter cannot be disputed, seeing that he is mentioned by name in 
 it; but it happens likewise that verse 23 is twice quoted by St. 
 Paul, as having a reference — not to that limited and imperfect 
 state of prosperity which ensued to the Church, on its return 
 from Babylon; (if indeed that part of the prophecy could then 
 be said to have been fulfilled at all,) but to a period when 
 "every knee shall bow before the Lord, and every one give ac- 
 count of himself to God."l Compare Rom. xiv. 11, 12, and 
 Phil. ii. 10: the words, "for it is written," in the former of 
 which places, evidently sliow that it is quoted from some por- 
 tions of God's word; and there is no other, that I am aware of, 
 from which it could be derived. 
 
 By the same rule, then, we shall be justified, when we con- 
 sider the prophecy respecting Babylon, in Jeremiah 1. and li. 
 in assigning to it a two-fold sense; the one referring to the 
 taking of Babylon by the Afedes, therein. explicitly mentioned, 
 (li. 11, 2S;) the other referring to the destruction of the ipysti- 
 cal Babylon of the Apocalypse; at which time we may expect 
 
 ♦ So far as regards the practice of the ancient Church, Bishop Lowth ob- 
 serves: "It seems to have been a maxim in interpreting prophecy, received 
 among the Jews before the time of Christ, that wherever they perceived an 
 imperfect completion of prophecy in an historical event, which iio way answer- 
 ed to the lofty expressions and extensive promises, which the natural sense of 
 the text imparled, therethey supposed the times of the Messiah to be ultimate- 
 ly intended." 
 
 + Daubuz, when speaking of the expositions of Grotius, calls them "sneaking 
 and mean interpretations of the holy prophecies, which are, on that very score 
 of their meanness, to be rejected." On the Revel, page 15. 
 
 t The manner in which this verse of the prophecy is applied by St. Paul 
 will throw additional light on the promise to the "Church of Philadelphia, 
 (Rev. jii. 9.) and justify the inference, that the Epistles to those Churches are 
 those of a general prophetical character. 
 
gg ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Israel will be made the Lord's "battle-axe and weapon of war," 
 (v. 19.,) and "the slain of all the earth to fall;" with many 
 other circumstances, which either were not accomplished at 
 all, at the taking of that city by the JVIedes in the time of Cy- 
 rus, or which were but very inadequately fulfilled. 
 
 (2.) The next class of prophecies which may be noticed, are 
 those in which the fulfilment is inadequate, not so much from 
 the historical event exhibitino; but a slight and very imperfect 
 sketch, with much evident omission of detail when compared 
 with the prophetical description; but when the events ful- 
 filled correspond in magnitude with what is predicted, whilst 
 other features of the prophecy have not received a shadow of 
 fulfilment. Thus, in Zechariahxii. 9-14, we have an instance 
 of a prophecy fulfilled only in one single circumstance, at its 
 primary accomplishment. The prophecy relates to the de- 
 struction of the nations which shall come against Jerusalem, and 
 the. spirit of supplication and penitence which shall be mani- 
 fested by Israel; who shall then look on him zohom they have 
 pierced, and mour7i. Now verse 10. is pointed to by St. John 
 (chap. xix. 37.) as fulfilled at the crucifixion; and so it was 
 most literally, so far as the piercing Jesus then took place; but 
 there was no national mourning then of the Jews, neither any 
 destruction of the nations coming against Jerusalem. This 
 prophecy therefore does not so much regard a twofold seiise, as 
 a twofold periW; and tlie piercing Jesus must consequently be 
 regarded as but an inchoate fulfilment, whereby he is already 
 pointed out to the church, as the Shepherd of Israel and the 
 equal of God, mentioned in the 13th chapter of Zechariah, 
 who was to be smitten. And notwithstanding the long gap 
 between the fulfilment of the one part of the prophecy and the 
 other, we must nevertheless look for a period when Israel 
 shall nationally look on him and mourn, and inquiring, ''What 
 are these wounds in thine hands?" be informed, that they are 
 "those with which he was wounded in the house of his 
 friends," (v. 6.) when "he came to his own, and his own re- 
 ceived him not." John i. 11. 
 
 Joel ii. 28, is likewise another instance of inchoate fulfil- 
 ment; the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, therein mentioned, 
 having been declared by St. Peter to have been accomplished 
 on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 16 — 21.) But instead of the 
 Lord "in those days and at that time," bringing again the cap- 
 tivity of Judah and Jerusalem, and taking vengeance on the 
 nations, (Joel iii. 1 — 17.) Judah loe?^ into captivity, and the 
 Gentiles have trodden down Jerusalem unto this day.* 
 
 ♦ The expression "aftenoard," in Joel ii. 28,— "And it shall come to pass 
 "afterward^' (nn« Heb. [Arru. nroMTo. Sept.) that I will pour out my spirit," — 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL LNTEPvPRETATION. gQ 
 
 (3.) In like manner a key will be found to the understand- 
 ing tliose prophecies, in which the first and second advents of 
 the Lord Jesus are involved. In most instances tiicy apparent- 
 ly refer to a twofold period only, and the particulars which 
 apply to each may be readily separated. Thus JNIr. Mode, on 
 Isaiah ix. observes: "That the old prophets (for the most part) 
 speak of the coming of Christ indefinitely and in general, with- 
 out tliat distinction oi first and second coming, whicli the gospel 
 out of Daniel hath more clearly taught us; and so consequently 
 they spake of the things of Christ's coming indefinitely and al- 
 together, which we, who are now more fully informed by a 
 revelation of the gospel of a/ic(yi</(/coming, must apply each of 
 them to its proper time; those things which befit the state of 
 unto it; and such tilings as befit the state of 
 and what befits both alike 
 may be applied unto both." (Works, fol. 755.) In some in- 
 stances, liowever, the context would lead one, from the inade- 
 quate fulfilment of the particulars relating to the first advent, 
 to expect a repelUioJi and more complete accomplishment of them 
 at the second advent. 
 
 An example may be found in Psalm ii. where, besides the 
 ^^privale interpretation" of it to the family of David, which was 
 probably understood in his days, we have apparently a tv/ofold 
 reference to the times of the ^lessiah. For it is quoted. Acts 
 iv. 25, as having received a fulfilment in the gathering of Herod 
 and Pilate against Jesus. But the scope of tliat Psalm points (as 
 do most of tlie prophecies,) to a period of judgment on the 
 ungodly coa/t/io/i therein described, for which there was no pre- 
 cedent in the times of the apostle. For the judgment which fell 
 on the Jews by the instrumentality of Titus is inadequate, see- 
 ing it was inflicted, not on both the parties who formed this 
 monstrous coalition, but by,one of the parties on the other. So 
 that what was then transacted was but a partial fulfilment of 
 
 the context of which would lead one to expect this oiitpourins; after the gieat 
 day of the destruction of the northern army and other enemies of Israel, has 
 induced many interpreters to view the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of 
 Pentecost, as only an inchoate cjfusion, and that we may expect another in the 
 great and terrible day of the Lord: so that while he poui-s out of the viab of his 
 "wrath on his enemies, he will shed abundantly from the vials of his mercy 
 on his church. This expectation is thought to be further justified from verse 
 23, and from Zech. x. 1, where mention is made of a '-former and latter rain;" 
 to which St. James is supposed to refer, chap. v. 7, and to allude to a second 
 effusion of the Spirit. I oiler no opinion on this expectation: I would. only 
 further point out to the reader, as worthy of observation, that when St. Peter 
 quotes this, he changes the expression "aftcncard" to '-lasf days," without any 
 Avarrant cither from the Hebrew or Greek texts; though doubtless he was 
 moved by the Spirit so to do. And again it should be remarked, that St. Paul 
 quotes Joel ii. 32;(see Rom. x. 13.) as applicable to his generation; showing 
 that «we event of tjie prophecy being fulfilled, believers might lake it as a token 
 to call on the Lord for salvation, iii the fullest sense, at all times. 
 VOL. II. — S 
 
90 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 their taking counsel against the Lord, and of their machinations 
 being frustrated, or overruled for good. It remains therefore 
 to be more fully accomplished at the second advent of Christ. 
 
 Malachi iv. 5. presents us with an instance in which a two- 
 fold fulfilment of a part of the prophecy is clearly to be expect- 
 ed, at the same time that a portion of it will only receive one ful- 
 filment. — "Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before 
 the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord," The 
 context shows that this great and dreadful day of the Lord is 
 one, wherein the wrath of the Lord shall burn like an oven 
 against all the proud and wicked, who shall be burnt up as 
 stubble, and the righteous shall tread them down as ashes 
 under the soles of their feet. Verse 5 we know, from our 
 Saviour's testimony, received a primary fulfilment in John 
 the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah; and, 
 judging from JVIatt. xvii. 11, — "Elias truly shall first come and 
 restore all things," spoken by our Lord before he passed on 
 to speak of John the Baptist — a coming of the actual Elijah is 
 still to be expected. For it would be contradictory in our 
 Lord to speak of it as a thing ft/ 1 lire ("Elias truly shall first 
 come,") and as of a thing past, ("But I say unto you, that Elias 
 is come already,") in the same breath. Certainly the fathers of 
 the primitive Christian Church, down to the time of Jerome, 
 looked for a coming of the actual Elijah; and under any view 
 of the prophecy, the scope of it already pointed out was not 
 fulfilled; neither was there any resiitution of all things, as stated 
 by our Lord there should be, in his mention of Elijah quoted 
 above, 
 
 2. Another important principle of interpretation, intimately 
 connected with the canon of the apostle, and indeed flowing 
 from it, comes next to be noticed. There is evidently, from 
 what has already been instanced from the prophecies, espe- 
 cially from Joel and Zechariah, a period arriving, when the 
 affairs of the church of Christ shall be brought to a grand crisis. 
 Previous to it, the carnal enmity of all mere professors will be 
 made manifest by a universal spirit of apostacy, in which 
 the form of godliness shall alone be seen, and none shall be 
 valiant for the truth; (see 2 Tim. iii. and numerous places in 
 the Old Testament:) and this will bring on a period of great 
 tribulation and peril to the church, and to the Jews in particu- 
 lar; but out of it there will be a marvellous deliverance and ex- 
 altation of the Lord's people, with a great destruction of his 
 enemies, accompanied, or immediately followed, by the re- 
 surrection from the dead and the commencement of the millen- 
 nial dispensation. 
 
 Now this CRISIS is continually regarded in the prophecies: I 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPPvETATION. QJ 
 
 may indeed with safety assert, tliat it is alu-ays regarded when 
 judgment and vengeance are spoken of.* For tills rule of St. 
 Peter, in order to be applicable to every generation of the 
 church during its time state, necessarily requires the period of 
 judgment to be so far procrastinated, as that the last generation 
 of believers shall be able to make practical use of it: otherwise, 
 it would still be to that generation of the church of private or 
 limited interpretation, excluding them from any direct con- 
 cern in it. This will be found a useful clue to the right under- 
 standing of the Psalms; in which the constant allusions to the 
 actions and spirit of the ungodly, — to their triumphing for a 
 time, and to their punishment at last, — however they may pri- 
 marily refer to the spirit of insubordination exhibited in David's 
 time, have a more direct reference to the proceedings of the 
 ungodly in the latter days, to the complaints thereupon of 
 Christ in his members, and to the rising up at lengh of Jeho- 
 vah to avenge them, and to set them at liberty from him that 
 puffeth at them. 
 
 Another proof of crisis being regarded in prophecy, is the 
 circumstance of a promise, which apparently has respect to 
 something that has been afterwards fulfilled, being nevertlieless 
 sustained and carried forward beyond the period of fulfilment, 
 even though we can find no circumstances from which we can 
 clearly and expressly infer that the fulfilment was inadequate. 
 An instance may be taken from Psalm xcv.: "Forty years long 
 was I grieved with this generation, and said. It is a people that 
 do err in their hearts, and they have not known my ways: 
 unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter 
 into my rest." This appears clearly to refer in the context 
 to that generation of Israelites whose carcasses fell in the wil- 
 derness, they not being permitted to sec the promised land; 
 and this circumstance decielcdly fixes the primary application 
 of the rest spoken of to the land of Canaan. But to limit the 
 application of it to Canaan would be to make the prediction of 
 "private interpretation;" and accordingly we find the apostle 
 still applying it in his days to the generation in which he lived; 
 and he argues, that as the psalmist had done the same to the 
 men of his generation, so long after the rest into which they 
 were led by Joshua, therefore there must yet "remain a rest 
 to the people of God. Heb. iii. 
 
 But it is not only matter of a (\\vQc\\y prophetical character 
 
 * This looking of ail prophecy toward crisis has not been unobserved in this 
 particular by Bishop Lowth, who, on Isa. x. 20, observes, 'that it is usual with 
 the prophets, when they foretel some extraordinary event in or near their own 
 times, to carry their views farther, and point at some g:reat deliverance which 
 God shall vouchsafe to his people in the latter ages of the world.' 
 
92 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 that it is thus deferred to the period of crisis. I may go far- 
 ther and say, that almost every object of religious interest is 
 deferred as to its fulness and completeness to the same time. 
 Is it rest? — it remaineth (as we have seen,) and is to be ulti- 
 mately bestowed on us "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed 
 from heaven with his mighty angels." 2 Thess. i. 7. Is it 
 grace? — though given now, still, as to its consummation, "it is 
 to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. 
 i. 13. Is it salvaiion? in numerous instances it is described as 
 "ready to be revealed ui the last lime.'' 1 Peter i. 5. And to 
 the same crisis, allusion is repeatedly made by the use of the 
 phrase ^Hhat day:" and it is highly probable that every portion 
 of scripture shall at that period possess a peculiar utility; so 
 that things which appear now really to be of private applica- 
 tion, and to respect local or temporary peculiarities, will then 
 acquire a more immediate practical character,' and it shall be 
 found then that '^all scripture is profitable." See for instances 
 of this. Matt. vii. 22; Luke x. 12, xxi. 34; 2 Thess. i. 10; 
 2 Tim. i. 2, IS, iv. 8. And if we are now passing into that 
 crisis, (which all things seem manifestly to indicate,) how im- 
 portant it is that the people of God should diligently study his 
 word, and specially take heed unto prophecy! 
 
 3. There is yet another principle of interpretation, which 
 must be mentioned, as connected with the great rule now 
 under consideration: and that is the fulfilment of certain cir- 
 cumstances of a prophecy as a sign and pledge of the fulfilment 
 of the remainder. Thus in the prophecies which have already 
 been noticed, the incipient accomplishment of a part is a token 
 and assurance to us of the remainder being fulfilled at the time 
 of crisis; and those which have been fulfilled primarily in an 
 accommodated sense, or by circumstances inadequate to the 
 express terms of the prophecy, afford us a pledge of a more 
 complete accomplishment ultimately in a sense that can have 
 no imperfect, contracted, or private application. In this view, 
 the piercing of Jesus, and the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit, 
 are signs and pledges of the future fulfilment of all that is fore- 
 told in Zech. xii. and Joel ii. iii. The coming of John Baptist 
 in the spirit and power of Elijah, is a pledge of some other 
 great fore-runner as the herald of Christ's second advent; and 
 the enjoyment of Canaan by the Israelites, is a pledge of the 
 rest that remaineth for the people of God. In the latter in- 
 stance it appears clearly ])redicted as such, as I have endea- 
 voured to prove at page 23; the covenant then made with 
 Abraham being intended as the assurance for himself, (see Ileb. 
 vi. \C), 17,) for it had in it all the solemnity of an oath; and 
 the subsequent affliction of his posterity in a strange land, and 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 93 
 
 their ultimate possession of Canaan ''in ihc fourth generation," 
 being designed as a pledge for the church at large. 
 
 In like manner it has been shewn, (jiage 24) that the pro- 
 mise to Sarah of a seed born in a miraculous manner, and at a 
 set lime, is a sign and pledge of the promised seed of the 
 woman ultimately intended; since the promise is sustained and 
 carried forward after the birtii of Isaac. And so the promises 
 made to the seed of David, which were primarily fulfilled in 
 Solomon, are sustained and carried forward by the Spirit after 
 the death of Solomon; (see Jer. xxxiii. 19 — 22, &c.) whence 
 the ancient church evidently appropriated them to JNIessiah, 
 and addressed him, when he appeared, as the seed of David. 
 See JNIatt. xii. 23, xxi. 9, xxii. 42, &c. 
 
 4. I am aware that the principle which has been contended 
 for is open to the objection, that in some instances the inter- 
 pretations suggested would seem to make a three fold MCAment. 
 For, in the last mentioned case, the private and limited ful- 
 filment to the seed of David was in Solomon, who was a sign 
 and pledge of the "greater than Solomon;" and yet when the 
 predictions concerning David's seed came to be in the second 
 place fulfilled in what Mede calls the magnalia of prophecy, 
 they have only an inchoate fulfilment in Christ; there being 
 many things mixed up with the promises (such as that Christ 
 should sit on the throne of his father David,) which have even 
 yet not come to pass; so that we must take what was fulfilled 
 in Christ only as an earnest of a future complete accomplish- 
 ment of all that remains. I would here then, in respect to 
 such an objection, beg the reader to observe, that I am not 
 contending for so much as a two-fold fulfilment in some in- 
 instances; nor would I liniit the principle to a /zi-o-fold fulfil- 
 ment only, even in those instances in which more than one 
 fulfilment is to be sought fo?. 
 
 The great thing to be observed is, that no prophecy is of 
 private intcrprelalion. If therefore a prophecy seems at orice to 
 refer to that crisis or to those circumstances which must appeal 
 to the hope and expectations of every generation of the church 
 in its time state, I see no need, if there have Iieen no inchoate 
 or primary fulfilment, to insist on one.* Whereas on the 
 other hand, as the Spirit of God has not limited us to a two-fold 
 fulfilment, but only warned us against that which savours of a 
 
 ♦ 2 Peter iii. is a case in point; the prophetical matter contained in which, 
 refers, in tke first instance, to the crisis which has been spoken of"; and there- 
 lure no double fulfilment need be looked for. This is no exception to the rule 
 that no prophecy is of private interpretation; but to the applicatiun 0^ lhdi\ xxk\& 
 to a tioo-JdldfulfUihent of prophecy in all instances. 
 7* 
 
94 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 private interpretation, I see no reason to limit the principle 
 out of deference to any system or axiom of man with which it 
 may conflict. God hath held up manifold types of Christ, in 
 his characters of prophet, priest and king, as signs and pledges 
 to the church: what prevents him from setting forth manifold 
 fulfilments of more open prophecy, or parts of it, for the same 
 purpose? 
 
 It is indeed the very character of the Lord's dealings with 
 his people, to multiply signs and tokens for their comfort or 
 assurance. See, for instance, in regard to the captivity and 
 deliverance of Israel. They first undergo affliction in Egypt, 
 the sign of which to Ahraham, when it is foretold, is the hor- 
 ror of great darkness, (Gen. xv. 12.) Without insisting on 
 the intermediate short periods of bondage to the Philistines 
 and others, we may pass next to the Babylonish captivity, of 
 which they were apprised by many signs and types pointed to 
 by Jeremiah and others: among others may be mentioned the 
 death of Hananiah (Jer. xxviii. 12-17.) within a specified 
 time; which not only operated as a punishment upon him for 
 his falsehood, but would prove a signal to the survivors of the 
 certainty that Nebuchadnezzar would prevail.* Then, thirdly, 
 we have the captivity and dispersion now endured by the 
 Jews, of which those two previously experienced were only 
 types; and which present dispersion will endure till the crisis 
 arrives, or, in other words, till the times of the Gentiles are 
 fulfilled. In like manner, the Lord has set forth their deliver- 
 ance. First there was the prediction of the Exodus from the 
 Egyptian house of bondage, (Gen. xv. 14-16.) and when the 
 time of deliverance arrived, God gives to Moses, among other 
 signs, this prophetical one, as a token that the whole was of 
 God; viz. that when the people were brought forth, they 
 should worship God in the mount Iloreb; (Exod. iii. 12.) and 
 many signs and wonders did God work by jNIoses, for the as- 
 surance of the people, most of which were first predicted, tliough 
 the space between the prediction and the fulfihrient was very 
 brief. Now this Exodus is a pledge of another deliverance, 
 not yet fulfilled, so signal in its character, that the former will 
 no longer be spoken of, (Jer. xvi. 14, 15.) but in the mean- 
 while there was the deliverance from Babylon, which the 
 church of a former generation was likewise encouraged to 
 hope for, on the strength of the deliverance from Egypt, 
 
 * Another sign is given to a remnant who persisted afterwards in going into 
 Egypt, To assure them, that they should nevertheless be consumed, which 
 was then predicted, they are informed, that the king of Egypt should presently 
 be delivered into the hands of his enemies. See Jer. xliv. :29, 30. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPflETICAL INTERPRETATION, 95 
 
 (Isaiah Ixiii. 10 — 12;*) and this deliverance, when it occurred, 
 became a further pledge and token of the ultimate transcen- 
 dent one. 
 
 Isaiah xxxvii, andxxxviii. contain likewise express propheti- 
 cal signs of the great deliverance; the one sign more imme- 
 diately for Ilczekiah, consisting of the shadow of the sun-dial 
 of Ahaz returning backward, wiiich could only be known to a 
 few individuals, the other being for the whole nation, and of 
 such a character therefore, that none could fail of observing 
 its accomplishment, viz. that tliey should cat that year such as 
 groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of 
 the same; and in the third year they were to sow, and reap, 
 and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof, (xxxvii. 30.) 
 And this is further connected historically with a great deliver- 
 ance from the Assyrians, (v. 36, 38.) 
 
 A two-fold sign is also given in Isaiah vii. — ix. of a remark- 
 able character, which is not always clearly seen by interpre- 
 ters. It is in connection with the eminent promise that a 
 virgin should conceive and bear a son, whose name sliould be 
 called Lnmamiel, (vii. 14. ) who is also expressly given as a si^7i; 
 but to the generations intervening before his birth, and espe- 
 cially to the generation of Ahaz, the son of the prophetess, just 
 then about to be born, is given as a sign; (viii. 1 — 4.) who is 
 evidently not the same child, as that previously promised, for- 
 asmuch as he was not named Immanuel, (viii. 3.) neither was 
 Palestine "his land." viii. 8. 
 
 In Isaiah xlii. the first and second advents of Christ (at least 
 various circumstances to transpire at the two different advents) 
 are described; and in the 9th verse, the Lord, in the antici- 
 patory manner in wiiich the Apostle notes, "that he calleth the 
 things which are not as though they were," (Rom. iv. 17.) 
 speaks of the former thins^ as already passed, and to be taken 
 as a pledge of the new things, which he then proceeds to de- 
 clare to them. 
 
 6. Enough, I trust, has now been advanced to prove the 
 existence of the two-fold principle of interpretation; exam- 
 ples of which might be multiplied to a wearisome extent.! I 
 
 * I say not, that this place of Isaiah refers j)rincipally to the deliverance 
 from Babylon; the context shows the contrary— but the generation which 
 lived between the period of Isaiah and the Babylonish captivity would have 
 been justified in so applying it. 
 
 t Some have pointed out a two-fold sense in other portions of Scripture, 
 besides ;7/-o/Vicc?/, hut to these the rule of the Apostle does not apply, and there- 
 fore I am not called upon to notice them. For example: Daubuz in his Com- 
 mentary on the Apocalypse instances Deut. xxv. 4. Thou s/iall vol muzzle 
 the ox, vfioi he trcfiilctk out the corn; the limited interpretation of which St. 
 Paul scouts, as iP God took care for oxen; and insists that it was written to 
 
96 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 would only add to the exception, which has been previously- 
 mentioned, that when a prophecy comprehends a period of 
 time, reaching continuously from some event of early occur- 
 rence, down to "the end" or crisis, the application of the two-fold 
 fulfilment is of necessity excluded. Thus the vision of the 
 great image (Dan. ii.) begins apparently with Nebuchadnezzar, 
 who is the head of gold, and reaches down to the time of the 
 second advent, when the little stone is to smite the image on 
 its feet; in which case it would be impracticable for there to 
 be two fuldlments, unless both were transpiring at the same 
 time. I see not, however, any obvious necessity for exclud- 
 ing a prophecy, or certain features of it, from the application 
 of this principle, merely from the circumstance of its being a 
 chro?iological prophecy, provided there be space allowed for the 
 double fulfilment. Thus some have contended for a two-fold 
 fulfilment of portions of Daniel and the Apocalypse; the one, 
 in a period of time, understood mystically of a day for a year, 
 and the other to be accomplished in time, according to the 
 literal acceptation of the terms by which it is designated. I 
 must not be understood as advocating or approving the prin- 
 ciple, I only observe that I perceive no scriptural ground of 
 objection to it.* 
 
 show to the Church at larpe the care they ought to take of those M'ho labour 
 in the word and doctrine. See 1 Cor. ix. 9. and 1 Tim. v. 18. (page 15.) 
 
 Bishop Warburton notices also an instance somewhat more to our point, in 
 Acts XV. in which both senses are exhibited, or practically applied, at the same 
 time. — "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." By the vision 
 of Peter, to which it relates, the Bishop justly observes, that there is first 
 shown in the literal sense, that the distinction of clean and unclean meats 
 was now abolished; and in the mystical sense, that the middle wall of parti- 
 tion between Jew and Gentile is now broken down. (Div. Leg. vol. v. p. 314.) 
 And he afterwards deprecates our disregarding this typical and secondary 
 sense, because fanatical men have yielded to fancy and imagined it never ex- 
 isted; "we may as well (he adds) say, that the ancient Egyptians did not write 
 in hieroglyphics, because Kircher, in endeavouring to explain them, has given 
 nothing hut his own visions." 
 
 * Mr. Faber gives us the following arbitrary canon in his Sacred Calendar 
 of Prophecy, — "No single link of a chronological chain of prophecy is capa- 
 ble of receiving its accomplishment in more than a single event or person." 
 (Pref) This is very questionable; for "the Son of Perdition," spoken of in 
 Psalm cix., was primarily fulfilled in Judas Iscariot; (John xvii. 12; Acts i. 
 16 — 20;) and yet the man of sin, of 2 Thess. ii. 3, is declared also to be the 
 Son of Perdition, and has a very conspicuous niche given to him liy Mr. Fa- 
 ber in the great chronological prophecy treated of by him. What indeed are 
 7.wZffite<Z projiliecies in general, but the circumstantials which link on to some 
 larger prophecy, and must fall into some place in its chronological course? 
 Even Mr. Faber himself only six pages onward states, "that the greatest part 
 of the several oracles, which respect the last ages, may, by the instrumentality 
 of marks, which in their own proper texture they themselves will be found to 
 furnish, be mutually linked together in a perfectly abstract synchronical con- 
 nection." 
 
 Mr. Cuninghamc adopts a somewhat similar principle with Mr. Faber, but 
 with a further modification. He admits the principle of a primary and iiUi- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 97 
 
 II. We may now pass on lo notice another principle to be 
 observed in the interpretation of pro])hecy; and that is, the 
 adherence to the literal sigmfication of the words of the text, in 
 all cases; unless there be some intimation in the text or con- 
 text, or some warrant from the general use of particular phrases 
 to the contrary.* 
 
 viate, a typical and antihjpical fulfilment, as applicable to the discursive pro- 
 phecies ol' Isaiah, Jeremiah, &c.; but does not allow it in the symbolical and 
 chronological predictions of Daniel and John; and with regard to the former, 
 he says, that no two occur in one and the same dispcnxation. Thus he in- 
 stances the first and second Adam: David and Solomon of the Levitical dis- 
 pensation, and Christ the true David and Prince of peace; Meichizedec of 
 the patriarchal age, and of tlie coming age; Babylon, Sodom, Esypt, the As- 
 syrian, and Amalek of the Old Testament, and the same of the new economy, 
 (p. 48, Appx. to church of Rome, the Apostasy.) The following dilhcnlly, 
 however, is here created by Mr. Cuninghame. To make the two Adams, 
 Davids, and Solomons of d/Jfcrcnl dispensations, it is clear that he does not 
 consider Christ as having appeared in the end of the Jevish dispensation, 
 (see Heb. ix. 2G) but in the beginning of the Christian dispensation. But we 
 have seen that there are two sons of perdition, the one a type of the other, 
 which Mr. Cuninghame himself indirectly admits; (p. 48) when he acknow- 
 ledges that the man of sin of St. Paul takes his ?^«w(c from Judas, and argues 
 thai as the one was not an avowed enemy, but betrayed with a ki.ss, so the 
 other; which is certainly constituting Judas into a type of the latter. If there- 
 fore this be so, then there is type and antilypc of the son of perdition, accord- 
 ing to Mr. C.'s own interpretation, in the same dispensation. And if Mr. C. 
 Avill argue, in order to escape from this dilemma, that Christ appeared in the 
 end of the Jewish dispensation, then we have the two Davids in the Levitical 
 dispensation. Nor do I see the force of Mr. C.'s objection to double types and 
 fulfilments in chronological and symtiolical prophecies, if they exist in the 
 di'^cursive: unless, as I have intimated, there be not time to enact the same 
 thing twice over. 
 
 * When I speak of understanding words in their literal sense, deference to 
 a modern writer of great learning and talents compels me to explain myself, 
 in order to avoid mistake. The Rev. S. R. Maitland of Gloster, when con- 
 tending that the word day in the prophecies of Daniel always signifies a day, 
 argues thus, "Undoubtedly the beasts which Daniel saw were emhleviatical; 
 but nothing can be more literal than the language in which he has described 
 tiiem: let it only be admitted (and I cannot conceive why it should not,) that 
 by the word day he means day, a.s»much as by the word goat he mcan& goat, 
 and ail farther arguments on my part would be needless." (Second inquirj', 
 &c. p. 3.) To me this appears only sophistry, when applied as it is ,Io dis- 
 prove the symbolical meaning of the word day. It may be fully admitted that 
 (/</// signifies (/fl?/, as much as goat signifies goat; yet if the word goat may 
 nevertheless emblematically signify a kingdovi, — so that a reader of prophecy, 
 aware of this circumstance, attaches to the word, when he meets with it in "a 
 certain prophecy, the notion of a kingdom, and dismisses the primary signifi- 
 cation of the word goat, — what reason is there why the word day may not in 
 like manner emblematically signify a year, so that the reader, who concludes 
 that it is to have this signification in a certain prophecy, shall be justified in 
 associating the notion of a year with it, and dismissing its primary significa- 
 tion of </«)/. I say this without any reference in this place to the material 
 question, which yet remains, whether the word 'day' is ever used in an em- 
 blematical or enigmatical sense for a larger revolution of time: I only wish it 
 to be understood, that when I speak of the literal sense of a prophecy or of a 
 phrase, I mean, that I understand the words in the primary signification 
 thereof, and not in any mystical, enigmatical, or .>;ymboiical sense; excepting 
 such ordinary, fig\irative, or tropical use of them, as would not afl'ect the ob- 
 vious sense of them at the time they are spoken. 
 
98 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Very important considerations are involved in this matter. 
 It seems to be a device of Satan, when he cannot hope to lead 
 men altogether from the faith of scripture, to become *'an 
 angel of light," and in that character to lead them to some 
 subtlety in the way of the interpretation or application of 
 scripture, which virtually renders it useless: and among these 
 modes, is that of, setting the ingenuity to work to find out 
 wiiat is called a spiritual meaning, in sentences and expres- 
 sions where the Hoi}' Ghost probably never intended it. Such 
 interpretations may be justifiable in the way of an accommo- 
 dated and secondary sense, provided they be not allowed in 
 any way to interfere with or to supersede the literal;* but if 
 they be allowed to become unwarrantably the primary sense, 
 they then have practically the effect of drawing off our atten- 
 tion from the real instruction which the Holy Spirit designs 
 to give us, and thus of rendering void the word of God. And 
 if once the principle is conceded, that men may discard the 
 literal sense, and that it is the sign of superior spirituality of 
 mind to fetch out from the words of scripture some recondite 
 or mystical signification, where are we to draw the line, and 
 how is it possible to lay down any rules to prevent the wit 
 and ingenuity of men from running into extravagance? The 
 Israelite, who, before the coming of Christ, should have im- 
 posed a spiritual meaning on those passages of prophecy which 
 foretel, that he should be born of a virgin, that he should ride 
 on an ass, that he should be spit upon, and put to death, would 
 as effectually have diverted attention from the truth contained 
 in those words, as the Cabbalists do, who make the sense to 
 depend on the combination of particular words, letters and 
 numbers. And so likewise if men are to spiritualize the 
 things which regard Christ's second coming, what should hin- 
 der us from adopting at once tlie allegorical style of Origen, 
 which is nevertheless so generally spoken against? For all is 
 in such case reduced to uncertainty; it depends upon the live- 
 liness or the dulness of the expositor's imagination; and so 
 
 * Our Lord himself appears to countenance such a use of scripture in those 
 words — '•^And herein is that saying true, une sowethand another rcapcth;''' (John 
 jv. 37;) at least, if it be true that our Lord did really refer, as is supposed, to 
 Micah vi. 15, — "thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap;" and not to some 
 proverb current among the Jews and not recorded in the scriptures. The 
 primary meaning of Micah vi. 15, is dctcrmineil by the context to be a chas- 
 tisement which the Lord should bring upon the people, who, when they 
 should depart from his commandments and do iniquity, should sow their 
 fields, but not reap them. Our Lord's application of the words is to his dis- 
 ciples, who entered into the ministerial labours of their predecessors, the pro- 
 phets and others; — "other men having laboured and they having entered into 
 their labours." This is evidently employed only in the way of accommodation- 
 as showing that one may sow and another reap in more senses than one, and 
 under very different circumstances. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. QQ 
 
 long as he offers not a sense plainly repugnant to the doctrines 
 of the word of God in general, there appears no sufficient rea- 
 son why the followers of Origen and the Jewish Cabbalists, 
 should not be just as much admired. 
 
 The propriety of adhering to the literal sense is not so much 
 to be insisted on from any explicit canon of scripture, that I 
 am aware of, as from evidence forced upon us by the fulfil- 
 ment of scripture, the reason and consistency of the thing 
 itself, and the pernicious consequences of a contrary principle 
 being admitted. These evils have been already adverted to. 
 The propriety of the thing is self-evident, in that in all cases 
 we give a man credit for using language capable of being un- 
 derstood, unless he gives us some intimation to the contrary; 
 and there is no reason therefore why we should deal otherwise 
 with prophecy. The usage of scripture is the only point, 
 therefore, that remains to be established; and this it will be 
 found does in general most decidedly confirm the principle of 
 literal interpretation. 
 
 The Lord's dealings with his people Israel will afford us a 
 comprehensive example in the way of illustration. In Deu- 
 teronomy XXX. 1 — 4, it is written — "And it shall come to pass, 
 Avhen all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and 
 the curse which 1 have set before thee, and thou shalt call 
 them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy 
 God hath driven thee, &c. that then the Lord thy God will 
 turn thy captivity, and have compassion on thee, and will re- 
 turn and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord 
 thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine have been driven 
 out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence will the 
 Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee, 
 and bring thee into the land," &c. This relates, first, to the 
 deliverance and blessing which the Lord should vouchsafe to 
 Israel whilst planting them'in Canaan; including the whole 
 train of his "marvellous acts" toward them; secondly, to the 
 evil which should come upon them on their apostasy;, thirdly, 
 to an ultimate deliverance, yet to come, on their repentance. 
 Now let us turn to Joshua xxiii. 14, 15, and we find Joshua 
 at a later period thus speaking: "And behold this day I am 
 going the way of all the earth; and ye know in all your hearts, 
 and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the 
 good things, which the Lord your God spake concerning you; 
 all are come to pass, and ?iot one thing hath failed thereof. 
 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are 
 come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so 
 shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have 
 destroyed youYi-om off this good land, which the Lord your 
 
100 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 God hath given you; when ye shall have transgressed," &c. 
 Here we see that the good had been fulfilled — literally fulfilled — 
 7iot ojie thing had failed thereof: a consistent analogy would con- 
 sequently require us to expect the evil to be fulfilled in like 
 manner, whensoever the people should transgress in the way 
 predicted. Now Jeremiah wrote at a period when that evil had 
 in a measure been fulfilled, — so far at least as that the people 
 had been driven out, and Jerusalem laid waste; and no one 
 questions that it was most literally fulfilled, — and that since the 
 destruction of their second temple by Titus, the whole of the 
 plagues mentioned by Moses have been most exactly accom- 
 plished. But Jeremiah says, (chap, xxxii. 42, 44,) "For thus 
 saith the Lord: Like as I have brought all this great evil upon 
 this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have 
 promised them," &c. ; "for I will cause their captivity to re- 
 turn saith the Lord." The conclusion appears irresistible, that 
 as the first blessing hath been literally fulfilled, and then like- 
 Avise the evil, so the ultimate blessing is to be literally fulfilled 
 also; whilst the fulfilment of the two former parts, in the literal 
 manner it has been accomplished, evinces that it would have 
 been most unreasonable and unalogical to have expected any 
 other from the language of the predictions, than such an ac- 
 complishment as should correspond with the plain and obvious 
 sense of the words.* 
 
 A like sense may be shown to attach to the generality of 
 the prophecies, concerning the first advent of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Already it has been noticed that his being born of a 
 virgin, his riding on an ass, his being spit upon, and put to 
 death, have been most precisely accomplished; so likewise, 
 might be adduced, his being born in Bethlehem, a fact which 
 the whole Sanhedrim interpreted to Herod, evidently on the 
 literal principle. (Matt. ii. 5.) Again, his being betrayed by 
 one of his followers; the piercing his hands and his feet; the 
 parting his garments, and casting lots for his vesture; his being 
 numbered with transgressors, and having his grave with the 
 rich, and a multitude of other circumstances; were most lite- 
 rally accomplished: and why should it be supposed therefore, 
 and insisted on by some modern expositors of prophecy, that 
 the circumstances relating to the second advent, and which for 
 the most part are to be found combined in the same prophecies 
 which relate to the first advent, are to be fulfilled on a different 
 principle? 
 
 * Mr. Keith, in his very interesting work on " The Evidences from Prophe- 
 at,'''' has brought forward numerous instances of exceedingly literal fulfilment 
 of predictions, respecting other nations; though in several instances he pushes 
 even the literal principle to a fanciful extent. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 101 
 
 2. Having, however, stated the principle, the next thing is 
 to guard against the abuse of it. There are various exceptions 
 and qualifications of ihc rule, to he discerned by a careful pe- 
 rusal of Scripture, which clearly evince that the literal principle 
 may be carried to excess. 
 
 Some have thought that it is quite a sufficient restriction of 
 the rule of literal interpretation to say, that it is only to be 
 qualified by those exceptions which are obvious to common 
 sense; so that it requires no reasoning upon the subject, but 
 merely the exercise of a plain understanding.* Much might 
 be conceded to this view of the matter, were the Scriptures 
 originally written in Englisli, and with a reference to English 
 idioms and habits of thinking and expression; because many 
 things are plain and readily understood by us, though couched 
 in a measure in tropes and figures which a stranger would, 
 nevertheless, be entirely at a loss for, until he became acquaint- 
 ed with our habits and idioms. Doubtless, therefore, many 
 things were clearly understood by the Jews, owing to their 
 familiarity with the figures and expressions used, which are not 
 so obvious to the common sense of those whose language and 
 habits are so entirely difierent; and, therefore, they require to 
 be studied and carefully observed. 
 
 (1.) First may be instanced tropical expressions. Such as 
 are, strictly speaking, tropes, are too evidently so to require any 
 consideration. The class of words, therefore, more particu- 
 larly demanding attention, are those which may raise a question 
 in the mind of the English reader, whether they are to be un- 
 derstood in a literal sense, or as si/mbols; but which would not, 
 I conceive, have raised any question of the kind in the minds 
 of those to whom the prophecies were delivered. When we 
 read of the fatness o{ the olive tree, no one of ordinary under- 
 standing would doubt its sen^e; and the promises 'Ho plant'^ 
 the Jews in their own land, and to ''build'^ them,t are as plainly 
 understood as if mention were made of planting trees or build- 
 ing houses. But not so to res, when mention is made of dark- 
 ening the sun and moon, or casting down the stars, &c. Yet 
 •when Joseph's dream came to be related, the envy which im- 
 mediately expressed itself in his brethren, and the observations 
 made by his father, show that it was readily understood; 
 Xhc sun being taken to represent the head of the family; the 
 moon, his bride or wife, and the stars his sons. In like manner, 
 
 ♦See a controversy on the subject of the literal interpretation, carried on 
 in "the Investigator of Prophecy," between a writer signing himself Trinita- 
 rius, and others. 
 
 t See 2 Sam. vii. JO; 1 Chron. xvii. 9; Jer. xxiv. 6; xxxi. 28; xxxii. 41; xlii. 
 10; Amos ix. 15. 
 VOL. II. — 9 
 
102 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the sun may be applied to Christ, as the head by whom the 
 whole family in heaven and earth is named, (Ephes. iii. 15.) 
 and the great "Sun of righteousness;" the moon to the Church, 
 which is his bride; (Rev. xxi. 2.) and the stars to his apostles 
 and prophets, or to the sons of the Church, who, like the pa- 
 triarchs, are to be made princes in all the earth. (Psalm xlv. 
 16.) And thus they are further applied to the visible types of 
 these things: the sun e. g. to the regal power, in a kingdom 
 the moon to the visible Church, commonly identified and asso- 
 ciated with the regal power; and the stars to the nobles, or men 
 of influence, both in Church and State. In this sense the 
 symbols are employed, wliether the worship established in the 
 kingdom to which they refer, be a corrupt superstition, or a 
 pure religion. Thus in Isaiah xiii. 9 — 13, 17, they refer to 
 the ruling powers, and nobles, and idols of Babylon; in Ezekiel 
 xxxii. 7, 8, 11, to the same powers of Egypt; and in Isaiah 
 xxxiv. 2, 5, to the powers of Idimiea: and I doubt not, there- 
 fore, that Matt. xxiv. 29, and Luke xxi. 25, though occurring 
 in a prophecy which is, in the main, literally set forth, refer 
 nevertheless to the powers in Church and State, which shall be 
 existing in those kingdoms that shall be brought within the 
 vortex of the great whirlwind of tribulation mentioned therein. 
 These expressions, therefore, are apparently to be viewed not 
 so much as symbols, .^trictly speaking, as expressions which 
 have become tropical from their frequent and familiar use. 
 
 Various other phrases fall under this rule; diS mountain, hill, 
 sea, waves, waters, floods, trees, the virgin of Israel, the daughter 
 of my people, &c.; without the understanding of which, in the 
 first instance, we cannot arrive at a right apprehension of many 
 passages in the prophets and many of the psalms, in which 
 they are frequently used. 
 
 (2.) Sometimes we meet with sentences, immediately fol- 
 lowing the use of these figures, which sentences are evidently 
 designed to explain the trope preceding. These are exceedingly 
 valuable, not only as throwing light on that particular passage 
 in which they occur; but as fixing the sense likewise of those 
 expressions, upon an authority which must carry^conviction, and 
 thus enable us to interpret other passages in which they are 
 likewise used. A few instances of these exegetical sentences 
 will serve to illustrate this point. 
 
 In Psalm xlvi. 1 — 3, we have: "God is our refuge and 
 strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we 
 not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the momi- 
 lains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the -waters 
 thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with 
 the swelling thereof." Now this is explained in the sixth 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. IQ3 
 
 verse: "The healhen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He 
 uttered his voice, the earlh melted." F'rom which it appears 
 tliat ■mountains are kingdoms, and the lieathen the ungodly or 
 wicked portion of mankind who are the means of shaking and 
 disturbing the kingdoms of the eartli. Psalm Ixv. 7. contains 
 another instance: "Which stilletli the noise of the seas — the 
 noise of their xvuves — and [or rather cvcn^ the tumult of the 
 people." This is doubly exegetical; for the seas in the first 
 clause is explained in the second clause by zcavcs; and in the 
 third clause the '^noise of the reaves" is shown to be the lumiilt 
 of the people." In Isaiah Ixv. 5. we have: "the abundance of 
 the sea shall be converted unto thee, — the forces of the Gentiles 
 shall come unto thee;" the latter of which clauses is evidently 
 the interpretation of the former. So Isaiah xliv, 3, "I will 
 pour zcalcr upon him that is thirsty," is explained in the same 
 verse by, "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed." Isaiah xxxiv. 
 1. is also in the one part exegetical of the other, though neither 
 part is obscure: "Come near ye nations to hear — and hearken 
 ye people:" and again, "let the earth hear, and all that is therein, 
 the Txorld, and all things that come forth of it." And as the 
 nations are here explained to be '^ihe people,"* so in Psalm 
 Ixxxv. 8, "His people" is distinguished from "7/ie people," and 
 explained to be "the saints;" for He will speak peace unto his 
 people, and [or even^ to his saints. "'f 
 
 Sometimes the explanation of particular tropes and figures 
 is not to be met with in the same connexion, nor even in the 
 same book. Thus in Luke xi. 20. the expression, "If I with 
 the finger of God east out devils," might excite inquiry in the 
 mind of an English reader; but we find a precise explanation 
 of it in JNIatt. xii. 28, where we have the parallel passage, 
 "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God;" thus evincing 
 how difierently two Jews might express the same thing, and 
 yet both be literally correct 'according to their own habits of 
 thinking. And this further shows how justifiable it is, if we 
 
 * The Septnagint has this rather different: "Come near, ye imtions, (or 
 Gentiles, tbvx) and hear, ye rulers: let the earth hear, and those in. it, — the 
 hatjilablc earth, [oiKovfAivn] and the people wliich is in it." 
 
 tTlie word and in our translation appears frequently to require the sense 
 of eren, which is giving to the Hebrew -| no greater latitude than is constantly 
 allowed to the Greek xoi.and the Latin ct, the former of which is sometimes 
 so translated in the New Testament, and seems to require it in other places. 
 An instance occurs, in Numbers xxiv. 18, of an exegetical clause, in which 
 the translators have not rendered -i by and, but by also, — "And Edovi shall be 
 a possession, Scir also shall be a possession." A reader, however, unacquaint- 
 ed with the fact, that Seir and Edom are the same, (Gen. xxxi. 3, xxxvi. 8,) 
 vould conclude from the word also, that two different countries were intended. 
 It would certainly be nearer the sense if rendered, "And Edom shall be a 
 possession, even 6'#ir shall be a possession." 
 
104 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 find the interpretation of a piirase in one part of scripture, to 
 apply it to the like phrase in another part of scripture. 
 
 (3.) Another class of tropes or tigurative words are those, 
 the sense of vvhicii cannot be fixed by explanatory sentences, 
 (as in the former instances,) but from their being connected 
 with the Levitical ceremonial, which was typical; and there- 
 fore when words are used, which represent things connected 
 typically with that ceremonial, it may be made a question 
 whether they are to be understood literally or figuratively; 
 and this may commonly be determined by the context and 
 scope of the passage. For example, when our Lord warned 
 his disciples "to take heed and beware of the leaven of the 
 Pharisees and Sadducees," (Matt. xvi. 6,) he was supposed in 
 the first instance to use the expression literally; (verses 7, 
 11,) which exposed them to rebuke for not understanding it 
 in its mystical sense. This shows that the ultra-literal rule of 
 qualifying only by the dictates of common sense is not suffi- 
 cient; there must be a spiritual sense, to enable men to under- 
 stand spiritual things, and to compare them with spiritual. 
 (1 Cor. ii. 11 — 15.) It is apparently on this principle, viz. 
 the typical meaning of the Levitical dispensation, that St. 
 John applies those words as prophetical of what should happen. 
 to our Lord — "A bone of him shall not be broken." (John 
 xix. 36.) No man I think, from the bare inductions of natu- 
 ral sense, would have fetched such a meaning out of Exodus 
 xii. 46. Neither do I wonder that John ii. 19, "Destroy this 
 temple, and in three days I will raise it up," should have been 
 so little understood till after the resurrection of Jesus; for the 
 circumstances under which it was spoken would naturalhj 
 have led to the conclusion that it referred to the great temple 
 at Jerusalem, and not to that temple or tabernacle which St. 
 Paul mystically speaks of, 1 Cor. vi. 19. and 2 Cor. v. 1.* 
 How likewise was Mary to conclude, by the dictates of com- 
 mon sense, of such a saying as this: "Yea a sword shall pierce 
 through thy own soul also?" (ch. ii. 35.) Ordinary sense 
 would rather lead to the conclusion, in this instance, that 
 Mary was really and literally to suffer death by the sword. 
 An acquaintance, however, with such scriptures as Psalm Ivii. 
 4, Ixiv. 3; Prov. xii. 18, and xxv. 18, (portions of scripture 
 committed to memory by the pious Jews,) would suggest to 
 Mary that a different sense might be intended; and knowing 
 
 * I must refer the reader, for a full explanation of the phrases — Mount 
 Zion, holy mountain — house of God, temple, &c. to Abdiel's Essays, pages 42, 
 51 to 5.3, and 131. They are phrases quite necessary to be understood in their 
 scriptural sense, in order to a right apprehension of the true meaning of scrip- 
 ture in many places. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. jQG 
 
 this, the words concerning Christ, that he should he "for a 
 sign that should be spoken against," would give occasion fur 
 her "to ponder in her heart" whether that which concerned 
 herself was not, that the reproaches of them that reproached 
 him should pierce and afilict her. 
 
 These things show that there are difficulties to be encoun- 
 tered, arising from the terms in which prophecies are express- 
 ed; (to say nothing of the more directly symbolical proj)he- 
 cies of Daniel and St. John;) and to pass these difficulties by, 
 as of no moment, or to conclude that they have no existence, 
 is not the rigiU way to arrive at correct interpretation of 
 prophecy. They are, however, I believe, all of them to be 
 understood by a careful, and devout, and patient study and 
 comparison of God's word. 
 
 (•1.) It must further be observed, that whilst words in 
 general are used in tlie scriptures in so literal a sense, that an 
 argument is sometimes raised on this ground alone;* there are 
 other words which are frequently, though not always, used in 
 a restricted sense; and an argument therefore drawn from 
 these, as if used invariably in an ///^restricted sense, would not 
 be just: though it is not unfrequently done, particularly of 
 late, on the prophecies. For example, the word all, does not 
 necessarily mean absolutely the whole of the subject of which 
 it is predicated, but must be qualified by its usage in other 
 instances, and its scope, therefore, and context in any particu- 
 lar case. Thus, in Mark i. 5, it is written — '<And there went 
 out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, 
 and were all baptized of him, (S:c." A very specious argument 
 might be raised from the meaning of the word all, in the latter 
 clause of the sentence, as to its comprehensive signification in 
 the former part; and yet we know that all the land of Judea, 
 and all they of Jerusalem, w;ere not baptized of John, neither 
 did all go out to him. And this, it is to be observed, cannot 
 be clearly gathered from the context of Mark i. 5; but from a 
 careful comparing oi other scriptures, such as Luke vii. 29, 30. 
 So in the prophets: Isaiah says, *'By fire and by his sword 
 ^vill the Lord j)lead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord 
 shall be 77iani/." This would seem to imply an utter destruc- 
 tion; but in verse 19 we read — "I will send those that escape 
 of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, Ja- 
 van," &c. 
 
 We have another very remarkable instance, in which even 
 
 * Mr. Halilane, in his treatise 'On Ike Verbal Inspiration of the IMy Scrip- 
 tvres,' has given examples of this: for instance, when the apostle (Gal. iii. l(i) 
 (haws an imporiaiit conclu.sion from the word "st-'e^," — being used in the 
 singular, and not in ihi: pi mat number, (p. 13b.) 
 9' 
 
IQQ ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the apostle argues for the most extensive signification of the 
 word. Quoting Psalm viii. — "Thou hast put all things in 
 subjection under his feet," he reasons; "For in that he put all 
 in suijjection under him, he left jwlh'uig that is not put under 
 him; but now we see not yet all things put under him." (Heb. 
 ii. 8.) And yet in 1 Cor. xv. 27, he makes this exception: 
 "But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest 
 that He is excepted which did put all things under him." 
 This shews that an assertion evidently incongruous with and 
 destructive of some grand truth contains within itself the 
 exception to the rule. 
 
 The case is not altered by a change in the terms or expres- 
 sions used. In Jeremiah xliv. 14, we read "that none of the 
 remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to 
 sojourn there, shall escape or remain, &c." Yet, at the end of 
 the verse, it is added, ^hione shall return but such as shall 
 escape." Verse 27 appears, in the first instance, still more 
 sweeping: "Behold I will watch over them for evil, and not 
 for good; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of 
 Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, 
 until there be an end of them." Nevertheless, it is afterwards 
 intimated — "Yet a small immher that escape the szrord shall 
 return, &.c." In John iii. 32 — "And no man hath received 
 his testimony," is af):erwards apparently contradicted by — 
 "He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that 
 God is true;" which is, however, no real contradiction to 
 those accustomed to Jewish idiom, any more than — "He came 
 to his own, and his own received him not,'' qualified again by 
 an intimation in the next verse, that some did receive him, — 
 "But as majiy as received him, to them gave he power to be- 
 come the sons of God." (John i. 11, 12.) So in Acts ii. 5, 
 it is stated, that there were dwelling at Jerusalem, devout 
 men, out of every nation under heaven;" which, nevertheless, 
 could not be the case if the phrase under heaven, is to be taken 
 in its fullest extent; but it appears rather to have respect to 
 the nations comprehending the /loma/i earth or world:* (See 
 Luke ii. 1.) Luke iv. 5, seems to require a similar limitation. 
 
 The phrases for ever, and for ever and ever, are likewise 
 susceptible of great limitation according to the circumstances 
 and connexion in which they are mentioned. An able writer 
 in "The Investigator of Prophecy," has traced this limitation 
 to the following classes of circumstances: — First, when applied 
 to the existence of man; in which case the phrase signifies 
 
 ♦ The word heaven is sometimes used as if synonymons with earth: e. g. — 
 "If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts i^i heaven, from thence 
 will the Lord thy God fetch thee," &c. Deut. xxx, 4. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 101 
 
 only the duration of liis life upon earth. (See Exod. xxi. 6.) 
 The second is limited to the duration of Jerusalem and the 
 temple. (See 1 Kings ix. 3.) The third class refers to the 
 Levitical law, certain ordinances of which are called ^'statutes 
 for ever." For the numerous proofs adduced, and the argu- 
 ments of the writer thereon, I must refer to the work itself.* 
 I only observe further, on this point, how injudicious it is 
 hastily to reject an interpretation, because it may appear at 
 first view to be opposed by some expression, without waiting 
 to inquire wiiether there may not be suflicient reason to limit 
 or qualify that expression. Unless we thus qualify scripture 
 by scrij)ture, we shall often be compelled to reject scripture 
 itself. The Jews when it was intimated to them that the Soa 
 of Man must be "lifted up," answered, "We have heard out of 
 the law that Christ abideth for ever." (John xii. 34.) This 
 was a seeming difficulty, but perfectly reconcileable if only all 
 scripture were taken into the account. So we find that the 
 world is to be dissolved, (2 Peter iii.) to which it may be 
 objected, we have heard out of the law "that the earth abideth 
 forever." (Eccles. i. 4.) But this is no real contradiction; 
 neither is the circumstance that Christ's kingdom is sometimes 
 spoken of as "/o?- ever;" and yet, in 1 Cor. xv. 24, as to be 
 delivered up to the Father. All that is required, in regard to 
 the word of God, is time and a patient consideration; when it 
 will be found, in proportion as we become better acquainted 
 with the ^vords thereof, ''that they are all plain to him that 
 understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge." (Prov. 
 viii. y.) 
 
 III. I shall in the third place throw together a {qw miscel- 
 laneous observations referring to principles of interpretatiou 
 which are deducible from the word of God. 
 
 1. The first I may term the irferentud or deductive. An 
 esteemed and venerable Christian writci", who however has 
 candidly avowed his superficial acquaintance with prophetical 
 subjects, has hazarded the following observation: — '.'Attempt- 
 ing to establish it [viz. the doctrine of the premillennial advent] 
 on inferences and deductions, is building on the sand, and not on 
 the rock of truth. Whatever is an object of faith is always 
 plainly revealed in the inspired word of God."t This is only 
 one among the numerous lamentable evidences which exist of 
 good men, and scriptural men in the main, being on some 
 points so under the influence of prejudice, as to be led to de- 
 
 * Sec the Letters of Trinitarius, (a writer already referred to,) Investiga- 
 tor, vol. i. p. 198, and also a paper ou the word euui in the same publication, 
 vol. iii. p. 3-21. I 
 
 t Sober Views of the Millennium, by the Rev. T. Jones, of Creaton, p. 26. 
 
108 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 nounce or disparage principles which are decidedly sanctioned 
 by the word of God. Such is the case in regard to inferences 
 and deductions: they are employed by the spirit of God to 
 establish some very important points of doctrine on certain 
 occasions; and how shall we therefore presume to make light 
 of them?* 
 
 We have recently had one instance before us in the case of 
 St. Paul, arguing as to the extent and character of Christ's 
 authority in his millennial kingdom, viz., "that when he (the 
 Spirit) saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest that 
 he is excepted, which did put all things under hi'n. What is 
 this but an inference and deduction, drawn from the conside- 
 ration, that he that delegates a power must still be greater than 
 he to whom it is delegated? 
 
 Another instance is, where our Lord proves to the Saddu- 
 cees the important doctrine of the resurrection, from the fact 
 that God said to Moses in the bush, "I am the God of Abra- 
 ham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." This is 
 an inference or deduction, to the effect, that as it would be 
 contrary to the majesty and dignity of Jehovah to be the God 
 of those whom death would effectually destroy, so they must 
 be presumed as living unto God, and as eventually to be re- 
 stored to life in the iDody. (Malt. xxii. 31, 32.) And this is 
 an argument which the Sadducees were evidently rebukeable 
 for not considering. ' 
 
 A third instance may be taken from the epistle to the He- 
 brews, relative to that rest which remaincth to the people of 
 God. The argunrait by which the apostle urges it on those 
 to whom he writes, is the circiirnstance, that in the Psalms the 
 Lord (as has been noticed, page 121,) warns his people not to 
 harden their heart, and reminds them of that generation with 
 whom he was grieved in the wilderness for forty years, and 
 "unto whom he sware in his wrath, that they should not enter 
 into his rest." (Psalm xcv. 7 — 11.) From the fact that a 
 practical use is made of this "after so long a time," the apostle 
 infers, that it could have no reference to the Sabbath rest insti- 
 tuted at creation, nor to the rest of Canaan into which they 
 were led by Joshua; but to some future rest which must still 
 remain to God's people. (See Ileb. chap. iii. and iv. ) 
 
 One other may be noticed in Matthew v. 12. "Rejoice and 
 be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven: for so 
 
 * I must tiolbe understood as yieldina: to Mr. Jones, that we have nothing 
 hut inferences and deductions to ofl'er lor the doctrine of the picmillennial ad- 
 vent; neither am I proposing now fully to meet his objection in all its bearings. 
 I apply myself at present only to the principle^ of iuferences and deductions in 
 the abstract. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. JQQ 
 
 persecuted they the prophets u-hich xvere before you." This is given 
 as a reason for rejoicing, in acldilion to the assurance that there 
 is a reward for the persecuted in heaven. But there is no 
 ohvious comfort in the statement, unless we resort to the prin- 
 ciple o( inference and deduction. Then the consideration, that 
 God should have permitted the wicked to jiersecute and trouble 
 the riglUcous, leads to the necessary inference, that there must 
 be a day in reserve of righteous retribution, when the Lord 
 will recompense tribulation to them that trouble his people, 
 and to them that are troubled he will recompense rest, when 
 the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, — evidently that 
 ''rest that remaineth." (Rom. ii. 5— 10; 2 Thess. i. 6.) The 
 persecutions, therefore, which the righteous endure for righte- 
 ousness sake, are to be taken as "a manifest token of the 
 righteous judgment of God;" being "an evident token of per- 
 dition" to the ungodly, but to the saints a token "of salvation, 
 and that of God." (2 Thess. i. 5; Phil. i. 28.) 
 
 It is remarkable, that all the four instances here adduced 
 contain arguments which have a reference to the rest which 
 remaincth to the people of God; the resurrection which is to 
 introduce the saints to the enjoyment of it; the judgment of 
 the wicked and recompense of the righteous therein, and the 
 extent of the power delegated to "that man whom God hath 
 ordained to judge the world." (Acts xvii. 3L) 
 
 These, however, are not the only class of topics in respect 
 to which arguments are employed in the way of inference or 
 induction: many others occur in the scriptures; I shall content 
 myself with referring to two or three of a less obvious charac- 
 ter, from which, nevertheless, very important conclusions are 
 drawn. The superiority of the man over the woman, and the 
 consequent propriety of the subjection of the latter, is insisted 
 on by the apostle (1 Tim. ii. 11 — 14) from the circumstances 
 ''that Adam was first formed, then Eve; and that Adam was 
 not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the trans- 
 gression." The incongruity of polygamy, and especially of 
 divorce, with the order and law of nature, is asserted by our 
 Saviour on the ground that God in the first instance made man 
 a male and a female, for which cause the man was to cleave to his 
 wife, (Matt. xix. 3 — S;) and that divorce, however it might 
 have been winked at, on account of the harilness of the heart 
 of the Jews, was a departure from the order constituted of 
 God ''at the beginning," and from which therefore the mind 
 of God was to be inferred. So the duty of setting apart a 
 seventh portion of our time for rest from labour and for the 
 worsliip of God, is declared from the fact of the work of crea- 
 tion having bfeen effected in six days, and God's having rested 
 
no ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 on the seventh day and hallowed it.* And, once more, it is 
 intimated to the people by Moses, that they ought to abstain 
 from makino; jrraven images or other representations of the 
 Deity, on this deductive and inferential ground, that wlien the 
 Lord spake unto them in Horeb, they saw no similitude, hut 
 only heard a voice. (Deut. iv. 12 — IG.) 
 
 Now from these examples it is most evident, that the prin- 
 ciple of arguing from inferences and deductions in regard to 
 the doctrines of God is most legitimate, scriptural, and im- 
 portant. 
 
 2. Another principle to be noticed in regard ^o prophecy, 
 is, that it does not require the terms of it to be precisely those 
 o( direct prediction. It may be truly said, that when verbs are 
 in the future tense they signify no other than future: but the 
 reverse does not hold good: there are other forms of the verb 
 which have a future signification, though to an English ear the 
 idiom may appear strange. We may take first for an example 
 the whole of Psalm cxvii. — ^'■O praise the Lord, all ye ?iulio?is, 
 (or Ge?itiles: praise him all ye people. For his merciful kindness 
 is great toward us; and the truth of the Lord endureth forever: 
 Praise ye the Lord.'" There is nothing in the first aspect of 
 this psalm, which to an ordinary reader would appear propheti- 
 cal; it seems to contain only an exhortation of the Psalmist 
 to the nations, to render the praise due to God in consideration 
 of his mercy and tru'lh. Nevertheless, it is quoted by St. 
 Paul, in Romans xv. 11, to convince the Jews that they ought 
 not to be prejudiced against the calling of the Gentiles, seeing 
 that it is here declared that they should praise him. Every 
 instance, therefore, in which the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of 
 his prophets, thus calls on any imperatively to any act, is a 
 declaration and assurance that they shall do so; and as a first 
 fruits from the Gentiles was given as a token and earnest in 
 St. Paul's time, so may we be assured that the time shall arrive 
 when all the Gentiles shall turn to the Lord, and the whole 
 earth shall be filled with his glory and praise. fF/ic« that time 
 shall be, is declared in another similar prophecy, quoted by 
 St. Paul, on the same occasion: "Rejoice ye Gentiles with his 
 people." Rom. xv. 10. For this is taken from the song of 
 Moses, in Deut. xxxii. 43, and the connection is as follows: 
 "Rejoice, ye nations, with his people: for He u-ill avenge the 
 blood of his servants, and rcill render vengeance to his adversaries, 
 and mil be merciful unto his land a?id to his people.' ' (Compare 
 Rev. xviii. 20, and xix. 5.) 
 
 • See this lars^fily insisted on by the eminent Dr. John Owen, in his "Trea- 
 tise on the Sabbath." 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, m 
 
 Another instance is Isaiah Ixv. 1, 2. "I am sought of them 
 that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me 
 not: I said, Behold me! Behold mc! unto a nation that was not 
 called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day, 
 unto a rebellious people," &c. This is partly in the present 
 and partly in the past tenses; as if some of the particulars of 
 it, (I am sought, — I am found,) had reference to the period in 
 which the prophecy was delivered, and the other particulars 
 (I said, Behold me! &c. — -I have spread out my hands, &.c.) 
 referred to events gone by; the whole being rather in the 
 style of narrative than prophecy. But the whole is quoted 
 also by the apostle, (Rom. x. 20, 21.) as referring to the re- 
 ception of the Gentiles to be the Lord's people, and the casting 
 off Israel, as witnessed in his days. 
 
 These will serve as a specimen whereby to judge of various 
 passages, which may otherwise be lightly passed over; espe- 
 cially those which are couched in the form of prayer and im- 
 precation. Psalm Ixxx. will serve as a specimen of the former; 
 Lamentations i. 22. affords an example of the latter; or Psalms 
 cix, and Ixix. — concerning the son of perdition, and the apos- 
 tate Jews — so often a stumbling-block to the English reader; 
 being viewed as a burst of tbe revengeful disposition of the 
 Psalmist, instead of remembering that he spake as he was 
 moved by the Spirit of God, and prophesied. (Compare Acts 
 i. 20; also Matthew xxiii. 38; and Romans xi. S — 10.) 
 
 3. There is another important principle to be noticed in the 
 structure of prophecy, and indeed in the structure of the his- 
 torical parts of scripture equally, viz. that the facts related or 
 dwelt upon are not always mentioned in their proper chro- 
 nological order; but a deviation takes place without any notice 
 or intimation thereof to the reader. 
 
 There are three modes of, deviating from the regular order. 
 The first is by prolepsh, when facts are related before some other 
 events mentioned, which events they rcaUy folloic in the order 
 of time. The second is by what has been called episode, inter- 
 rupting the regular course of the narrative. The third is in 
 the way of appendix of particulars, after the narrative is com- 
 pleted. A specimen or two from the historical portions of 
 scripture will best serve to convince the reader, and to prepare 
 him to expect the like in prophecy. 
 
 In Genesis x. 5, 20, 31, the division of the earth ^^aflcr 
 their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations,' 'is alluded 
 to in the way of anticijiation ; and not till chap. xi. have we the 
 regular account of that division. 
 
 In Genesis .^xxviii. 1 — 5, Judah is described as taking Shuah 
 to be his concubine, and has by her Er, Onan, and Shelah. 
 
112 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Versea 6 — 10, Er and Onan are severally described as grown 
 to man's estate, and married to Tamar, and both slain of the 
 Lord for their wickedness. Verses 11 — 24: after this a suf- 
 ficient time elapses for Shelah the younger son of Judah to be 
 grown up; and Tamar continues sometime after his arriving at 
 manhood, without his being given to her in marriage. And 
 finally, (verses 24 — 30,) Tamar has two sons, twins, by her 
 father-in-law Judah. Yet, in the preceding chapter, (xxxvii. 
 2,) Joseph is stated to be only seventeen years of age; and in 
 chap. xli. 46, only thirty years of age. The whole, therefore, 
 of chap, xxxviii. if it be viewed as occurring in regular chro- 
 nological order, must have taken place within a less period 
 than thirleeti years, which is quite impossible, and therefore it 
 must be considered as an historical episode. 
 
 In Genesis i. 27, we have the account of the creation of 
 ■woman in the regular order of narrative: "So.God created man 
 in his own image; in the image of God created he him, male 
 and female created he them." In chap. ii. 18 — 25, the history 
 of creation being concluded, there is appended a separate no- 
 tice of the particulars of the creation of the woman, and of the 
 cause thereof. 
 
 The same principle exists in the historical parts of the New 
 Testament. In Matt, xxvii. 52, 53, we have the relation of 
 many of the saints coming out of their graves after the resur- 
 rection of Jesus. Bat it is mentioned in connexion with his 
 crucifixion, and before the resurrection of Jesus has been de- 
 scribed; which is not till chap, xxxviii. 
 
 John i. 6 — 18, contains a summary sketch or glance at the 
 Avhole history of the ministry of Christ, from his coming into 
 the world (v. 9) to his being rejected by his own, (v. 11;) and 
 then it takes up particulars and proceeds more minutely: just 
 as a painter first makes a sketch of his subject, and afterwards 
 makes out a more detailed delineation. 
 
 It may be reasonably concluded, therefore, that the same 
 principle applies to prophecy, when it contains lengthened de- 
 scription; though, from the comparative uncertainty which 
 hangs over that portion of it which is unfulfilled, it is difficult, 
 in many instances, to determine it. Daniel vii. however, evi- 
 dently sets forth the general outline of the prophecy of the four 
 beasts first, and then returns, and in the way of interpretation, 
 goes through the whole again, and fills up details.* In Reve- 
 
 * There is a remarkable instance in the historical part of Daniel, of chro- 
 nological irregularity in the narrative. In chapter i. 1. Nebuchadnezzar is 
 called King of IJahi/lon, and /Arce years of his reign are said to elapse (See 
 verses 5, IH.) before Daniel stood before him. Yet chapter ii. states, that in 
 the .s(?co?uZ year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar he had the dream of the great 
 image, which was interpreted to him by Daniel. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, n^ 
 
 lation xi. there is an evident prolepsis: verse 7 describing "the 
 beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, as makino; war 
 on the two witnesses;'' whereas we have no account of any 
 7cild beast (a-;.;!:/) till chapter xiii, and not of the beast of the 
 bottomless pit, till chapter xvii.* Verses G and 14 of Rev. xii. 
 when compared, show the former to be a prolepsis; for there it 
 is said, the woman "Jlcd into the wilderness;'' whereas in verse 
 14 she receives two wings of an eagle "that she miirlit fly into 
 the wilderness." IMany portions of Rev. xvii. partake of the 
 same character; and the whole of that chapter, and of the re- 
 maining chapters (and probably portions of former chapters) 
 appear to be an appendix, in which particular subjects of the 
 previous delineation are painted out, as it were, more in detail. 
 
 4. A few further observations appear necessary, in the con- 
 clusion of this chapter, concerning the alleged obscurity of 
 prophecy. 
 
 There is a danger, as has been already intimated, in going to 
 an extreme, and concluding obscurity to exist where none is 
 intended; and likewise in sui)posing that it exists to a greater 
 degree than it does where it really is intended. Much of the 
 imagined obscurity exists in ourselves, and not in the prophecy; 
 the medium through which we view divine things is often so 
 darkened and so distorted by carnal prejudices, as entirely to 
 prevent us from recognising the truth, though it be placed before 
 us in the clearest and most undisguised language. What, for 
 instance, could be more plain than those predictions of our 
 Saviour, so often repeated to his disciples, of his future suffer- 
 ings, and which he desired them to let sink down into their 
 ears? Take this for example: — "The Son of man shall be de- 
 livered into the hands of men." This is spoken openly, 
 without any parable or figure, and yet "they understood not 
 this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it 
 not." (Luke ix. 44,' 45.) And thus it happens now, that in 
 matters equally plain, men fancy some obscure or allegorical 
 sense, merely because the obvious sense shocks and contradicts 
 their pre-conceived notions of wliat it ought to be. 
 
 In regard to the tropes, metaphors, and symbols, likewise, of 
 Scripture, some persons seem to conclude of them, that there 
 can be no fixed and settled rule for their interpretation; but 
 that they were left to the taste and imagination of the prophet, 
 independent of any control from the Spirit, and are conse- 
 
 * Some indeed have considered the bcasis, mentioned in chapter vi. 8. to have 
 a reference to the ten and two-horned beasts; in wliich case the bcasis there, 
 would be mentioned in the way of anticipation. But they are called "beasts 
 of the earth" whereqs there is only one beast of the earth afterwards described; 
 the others are from the sea, and fi-om the bottomless pit. 
 VOL. II. — 10 
 
114 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 quently, in many instances, superfluous embellishments, or 
 words used in the looseness and with the latitude of poetical 
 figures. This is not only a great mistake, but it contains in it 
 likewise a most dangerous principle. For if we are left at 
 liberty, in the perusal of the word of God, to lower the terms 
 in which the mind of the Spirit is conveyed to us, and to con- 
 clude that one jot o;- tittle can be superfluous, where are we to 
 draw the line? It must, in that case, not only have been left 
 to the taste and style of the prophets, but it must likewise be 
 left to the taste and style of every reader; so that the amount 
 of signiflcancy and of literal accuracy in every part of the 
 Scriptures will depend upon the imagination and notions of 
 every man, thus making it to each individual of "private in- 
 terpretation." With regard to tropes and figurative expres- 
 sions, we have seen already that they are often explained; and 
 with regard to symbols, we have seen that iri some instances 
 they may be viewed from their frequent and familiar use, as 
 only tropical expressions. In these instances it is evident, that, 
 however they may serve to embellish, they are like the polish- 
 ed corners of tlic temple, which add strength and compactness 
 to the edifice likewise. And as respects the other symbols or 
 hieroglyphics of Scripture, Bishop Hurd has justly observed, 
 that they are "not vague uncertain things, but fixed and con- 
 stant analogies, detern^iinable in their own nature, or from the 
 steady use that was made of them;" (Vol. ii. p. 90.) and I 
 doubt not but that they may be reduced to as certain principles 
 of interpretation, as the generality of ivo)-ds, in any language. 
 Whilst however it must be contended that prophecy is not 
 that dark and unintelligible thing which many are disposed to 
 conclude of it; but, on the contrary, that it is rather to be 
 viewed as a ^'li[^ht shining in a dark place," in order to dispel 
 the darkness; (2 Peter i. 19.) it seems to be going quite as 
 inucli into the extreme to insist, that there is no obscurity in 
 prophecy whatsoever: and this they do indirectly assert, who 
 allege that it can be at once understood, and its meaning 
 determined. Enough has been already brought forward to 
 prove, that there are at least certain peculiarities and idioms, 
 contained in the very structure of prophecy, which must serve 
 to obscure it in a measure to the superficial reader; and this 
 afibrds otic proof, if there be no otlier, that the patience and 
 diligence of the wise in heart must be exercised in the careful 
 consideration and investigation of these things. Nor has any 
 thing like the whole been brought forward of what might be 
 adduced relative to this point alone. Bishop Chandler has 
 observed, in regard to the genius of the Hebrew original of the 
 prophecies, "that many tilings arc there left, to be supplied 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 1]5 
 
 by the quickness of the reader's apprehension, which are with 
 us expressed by proper words and repetitions; particles dis- 
 junctive and adversative, significative marks of connection, 
 and of transition from one subject to another are often omit- 
 ted; dialogues arc carried on, objections answered, and com- 
 parisons made, without notice in the discourse."* These 
 things may, indeed, be determined by careful observation, 
 from the context, or by a comparison of the doubtful place 
 with parallel ones; but it is absurd to suppose the meaning in 
 all cases to be so plain as that the poor man, and "he that 
 occupieth the place of the unlearned," shall be equally enabled 
 with the learned to discover.! The education, habits, asso- 
 ciations, and, in numerous instances, the intellectual deficien- 
 ces of multitudes in the humbler classes, disqualify them from 
 making such observations of themselves. They may be ena- 
 bled with tolerable acuteness and good sense to perceive the 
 existence and propriety of sucli things, when pointed out to 
 them by others; but for the discovery, they must lean upon 
 those "helps" in the Church, which God has ever raised up, 
 and appointed for this purpose, not only as regards prophecy, 
 but the general doctrines of divine revelation likewise. (1 
 Cor. xii. 2S.) What poor man, for example, can determine a 
 question o{ crilicism for himself? They are indeed dependent, 
 in every line they read of God's word, upon the learned: for 
 they must rely upon the traiislalion given to them; and if that 
 be incorrect, they have no means of rectifying it but by 
 resorting to other learned men, on whose testimony they must 
 again be dependent. 
 
 But there are likewise obscurities which prove and exercise 
 the understanding of the most learned and intelligent. It 
 must be evident to any one who will consider the character of 
 the greater portion of the ]orophccies of Daniel and St. John, 
 that the general style and structure of them is different from 
 that of most other prophecies; and so likewise, are large 
 portions of the prophet Zechariah, and much of Ezckiel. 
 Notwithstanding the sentences of interpretation occasionally 
 inserted in St. John, or given at greater length in Daniel, they 
 still do not convey a meaning to the reader so obvious, as that 
 the prophecy can be at once comprehended, without diligent 
 and careful investigation and comparison. 
 
 It is clearhj the purpose of God, that, in some instances, 
 prophecies should nol be understood until the time of tiie end: 
 of this we have the direct testimony of God himself, in Dan. 
 
 * Defence of C,hrislianity from the prophecies. Introduction, page 11. 
 t This is, nevertheless, what has been concluded by the writer in the Inves- 
 tifralor before alluded to, signed Trinitarivs. 
 
11(5 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 xli. 4. 9. It may be questioned also, in regard to the matters 
 here said to be "sealed up," whether at the time of the end the 
 wise shall be enabled to look back, and to see that they have 
 been previously fulfilled; or if at the time when the said pro- 
 phecy is about to be fulfilled, the meaning of it shall be first 
 opened to the church. But in either case, there must be a 
 something in the terms of the prophecy calculated to raise 
 doubt and hesitation, as to the precise interpretation to be 
 given them, or the special application to be made of them; 
 otherwise I see no reason why Daniel should not have under- 
 stood it at the time, just as well as the generation which is 
 destined to understand it. Let us suppose, for example, that 
 when Daniel hears "the time, times, and a half" declared, 
 (chap. xii. 7,) in regard to which it is, apparently, that he 
 says, "I heard, but I understood not," — that he doubted 
 whether he was to understand three years and a half, according 
 to the measure and meaning of a time in reference to Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, (see chap. iv. 24;) or whether he was to under- 
 stand the time here symbolically, according to the direction 
 given in one instance to his contemporary Ezekiel, (chap. iv. 
 G;) tliis alone would create that precise degree of hesitation in 
 the mind, which would prevent him from deciding with posi- 
 tiveness on the meaning of the prophecy. I insist not that 
 this u'us the cause of Daniel's want of understanding it, though 
 it appears to me not improbable: it is instanced only in the 
 way of illustration of those obscurities, which were probably 
 designed to rest upon portions of the prophetic word.* 
 
 Nor does it appear that a prophecy, if it be delivered under 
 circumstances, or in language, calculated to cast a veil of 
 obscurity over it, must necessarily be understood, even when 
 fulfilled, or in course of fulfilment, with such clearness and 
 force of demonstration, as to excite a general conviction of one 
 only signification. It is plainly declared that "«o»e of the 
 wicked shall understand:" but if the circumstances were to be 
 such as must produce general conviction, then the meaning 
 must be as obvious to the wicked as to the righteous. It 
 seems, however, to be one method whereby the Lord takes 
 the wise of this world in their own craftiness, that whilst they 
 are despising what appears to them only foolishness, they are 
 often themselves unconsciously helping forward the fulfilment. 
 (Compare Acts iii. 17, IS. and 1 Cor. ii. 8.) Neither, I take 
 it, will a prophecy that is couched in symbol appear so clear 
 to the zriic after its fulfilment, as to come home to them with 
 
 • Psalm cii. 18. and 1 Peter i. 10— 1'2, appear to refer to prophecies intended 
 to be understood by the seneration for which they were especially delivered, 
 and not to have been understood by tiiat generation which lirst enjoyed ihem. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. JJ^ 
 
 the same de2;rce of conviction, as if it were in the undisguised 
 language of liistory; and it is calcuhitcd to prevent that una- 
 nimity on this sul)ject among the wise, if wc incautiously lead 
 them to expect too much in this respect from prophecy. When 
 it is said tliat the four heasts of Daniel vii. are four kingdoms, 
 it still needs much skill in the interpretation of prophecy, to 
 apply all the various minutiae of those symbols to demonstrate 
 the kingdoms intended; and in the instance of the Little Horn 
 of the same vision, there will always be a latitude of applica- 
 tion arising from the obscurity of the symbol itself, and from 
 the likeness which some of the features of it that are described 
 bear to various powers which have already appeared. 
 
 A passage in Bishop Sherlock's Dissertations on Prophecy, 
 places tlie last-mentioned point in a clear point of view. "It 
 will be asked, How comes it to pass, that many of the pro- 
 phecies are still dark and obscure, and that it requires much 
 learning and sagacity, to show even now the connexion be- 
 tween some prophecies and the events? In answer to this 
 question, we must observe, that the obscurity of prophecy 
 does not arise from hence, that it is a relation or description of 
 something future; for it is as easy to speak of things future, 
 plainly and intelligibly, as it is of things past or present. The 
 same language serves in both cases with little variation. He 
 who says, The river n-ill overjlorii its banks next year, speaks as 
 plainly as he who says. It did overjlow its banks last year. It is 
 not therefore of the nature of prophecy to be obscure; for it 
 may easily be made as plain as history, when he who gives it 
 thinks fit. On the other hand, a figurative and dark descrip- 
 tion of a future event will be figurative and dark still, even 
 when the event happens, and consequently will have all the 
 obscurity of a figuratively dark description, as well after as 
 before the event. You may observe, then, that the most 
 literal prophecies have received the greatest confirmation and 
 the most light from the event: for the difficulty, in thi's case, 
 not lying in the darkness or obscurity of the expression, but 
 in the seeming impossibility of the thing foretold, such seem- 
 ing impossibility the event fully clears: but no event can 
 make a figurative or metaphorical expression to be a plain or 
 a literal one. I have said thus much to show what sort of 
 clearness and evidence we ought to expect from prophecies 
 after their accomplishment. It is a great prejudice against this 
 argument [from prophecy] when men come to it expecting 
 more from it than it will yield. This they are led to by hear- 
 ing it often said, that prophecy, honxver dark and obscure at first y 
 grows wonderfully plain in the accomplishment: which in some 
 10* 
 
118 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 cases is in fact true; but is not, cannot be, so in all cases." 
 (Diss. ii. p. 3G, 41.) 
 
 Tiius we may conclude, that things which are enigmatically 
 described, though seen and understood by the wise, are never- 
 theless ''seen in an enigma darkly." And whatever question 
 may arise, as to the plainness and literal distinctness of pro- 
 phecy, one thing at least is evident from experience, that 
 some portions of the prophetic word never have been clearly 
 seen, or the signification generally agreed in. It matters not 
 indeed, as regards the practical result, that things might have 
 been known: if God has even suffered the prejudices of men to 
 prevail, so that they have proved as a veil to the understand- 
 ing, they have operated as effectually in obscuring prophecy, 
 as if he had mystified the word itself. Take, for example, the 
 number of the beast. The early church never pronounced 
 upon it with any confidence. The interpretation given to it 
 by Ircnsus was advanced only as a modest suggestion in com- 
 pany with two other words; and the multitude of interpreta- 
 tions whicli have arisen since, some of them not wanting in 
 plausibility, have prepared the way, even if a better interpre- 
 tation is hereafter to arise, to induce good men to ponder it 
 well before they decide as to its merits. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST. 
 
 It may already have been concluded, from the testimonies 
 adduced in the third chapter, drawn from the writings of the 
 early Fatlicrs and the Reformers, thai the second advent of Christ 
 was a doctrine held very prominently by them, and urged as 
 the great object of hope and expectation on the believei'. In 
 the present chapter it is proposed to bring this topic more 
 expressly before the reader, and afterwards to disabuse him of 
 certain modern prejudices and misapprehensions respecting 
 the Judgment of the Kingdom of Christ, which, if he be under 
 their influence, will very greatly embarrass the right appre- 
 hension of the Prophecies. 
 
 1. No doubt will, it is assumed, arise in the mind of the 
 Christian, in regard to the hope of the Jewish Church: it is 
 well known that prior to the first advent of the Lord, the 
 coming of the Messiah formed the chief and almost only 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. HQ 
 
 ground of expectation to the pious Israelite, which expecta- 
 tion had indeed extended beyond the people of Israel, and 
 prevailed among many of the Gentiles. So intimately was 
 the advent of the Christ bound up with the important events 
 which he was to accomplish, that it became difficult for the 
 Jewish mind to separate the one from the other, and some of 
 the very names which he familiarly bore among them when 
 they spake of him, were indicative of the importance which 
 they attached to that event, and the intensity w^ith which they 
 expected it, as mp the one zcailed for, Nan and o iiX'-'M''^"^^y he that 
 Cometh.* 
 
 While however it will be conceded, that this was t!ie grand 
 object of hope to the church prior to ihc first advent, many are 
 disposed to conclude, that, that advent having taken place, the 
 coming of Christ ceases to be an object of such pre-eminent 
 importance and interest, excepting in the retrospect; and some 
 are even inclined to place the second advent among the non- 
 essential truths of Christianity, which they presume may be 
 neglected or lightly esteemed, without danger or detriment to 
 the believer. Owing to this, and to the opinion that a long 
 and indefinite period is to elapse before that advent can under 
 any circumstances take place, it has come to pass, that it is not 
 by the generality of pious men now pressed upon the notice 
 of their hearers with any earnestness, but is, comparatively- 
 speaking, thrown into the back ground. A reference however 
 to scripture will show, that, in thus doing, the church has 
 departed from the apostolical mode of treating the subject. 
 
 To cite passages from the Old Testament, in proof of this, 
 may appear to some inconclusive, arising from the impression 
 that they were all fulfilled at the Jint advent of Christ. I shall 
 waive therefore the mass of evidence to be derived from this 
 source; excepting to observe, — that it would be very difficult 
 to select any one entire prophecy from the Old Testament, 
 supposed to relate to this event, which was in all its jmncipal 
 particulars accomplished at our Lord's first coming. So far 
 indeed as any importance may be attached to the general ex- 
 pectation of the Israelitish church before that period, scarcely 
 any of the things which they looked for and mused upon were 
 fulfilled at the first advent; — the events which then came to 
 pass, though declared beforehand in the scriptures, were not 
 expected by the generality, but took even the most pious of 
 them by surprise; — whilst the apostles themselves do constantly 
 carry forward and sustain the expectations previously enter- 
 tained, directing the mind of the Christian church to the second 
 
 * See Dr. Lamb, on the Hebrcir Ilicroslnphus. 
 
ion ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 advent as the great event which was to be the consummation 
 of the believer's hope. 
 
 In the first epistle to the Thessalonians, chap, iv., the apostle 
 brings a very interesting subject before their notice; viz. the 
 special consolation with which he would have them comfort 
 one another, when afflicted by the bereavement of dear friends 
 and relatives in Christ. He declares that he would not have 
 them ignorant concerning the state of such, and sorrow for 
 their departure as those persons sorrow who never hope to see 
 their deceased friends again, (v. 13.) Now would be the 
 time, if it were consistent with the mind of the Holy Spirit, 
 for the apostle, who here speaks expressly "by the word of 
 the Lord," (v. 15.) to dwell upon the blessedness of those that 
 sleep in Jesus in the separate state; to comfort their friends 
 with the assurance that they are now in glory; and to encour- 
 age the survivors to hope, that they shall pl-esently be with 
 their friends in heaven. But there is not a word of the kind! 
 He teaches them, that they shall again see their friends here; — 
 he reminds them that the resurrection of Jesus is the pledge of 
 theirs; — and he tells them that when the Lord comes he will 
 bring them with him. — "For the Lord himself shall descend 
 from heaven with a shout," &c. Thus he brings the second 
 advent to bear upon events of such common occurrence and 
 touching interest to tli^e Christian; and I am persuaded, that, 
 where it is thus realized and practically applied in such cases, 
 the consolation it affords is far superior to that which can be 
 derived from any other consideration which the wisdom and 
 ingenuity of man can substitute in its place.* 
 
 We arc favoured in the New Testament with the hope en- 
 tertained by two of the apostles, personally and individually 
 in the prospect of death; constituting what may be termed thei 
 experience on the occasion; and it is remarkably to the point in 
 hand. St. Paul says, "I am now ready to be offered, and the 
 time of my departure is at ha7id. I have fought a good fight, I 
 have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth 
 there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
 Lord, the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day." (2 Tim. 
 iv. f) — 8.) St. Peter, when admonished by the Lord, "that 
 he must shortly put off his fleshly tabernacle," thinks it proper 
 to write an epistle to tlie faithful, the whole burden of which 
 
 • It will not be denied by tlie writer of these pages that there is an interme- 
 dinic stale, in which the separate spirits of believers are in a condition of 
 blcs^cd rest and consciousness; enjoying also the presence of Christ, as declared 
 in 2 Cor. v. 8, and Phil. i.23. This point he haseneleavonred to vindicate from 
 llie errors of some modern Millenarians in the work called "Al)dicVs Essays," 
 where he has al.so set forth the doctrine oU/ic Resurrection. See the note like- 
 wise at page 52 of this volume. 
 
 leir 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. X21 
 
 is to confirm tliem in the expectation, that these present hea- 
 vens and earth shall be dissolved, as those in tlie days of 
 Noah were, and again be siicceedetl by new heavens and a new 
 earth; that he had followed no cunningly devised fables, when 
 he made known to them the power and coming; of the Lord; 
 but had had a visible specimen of it, when he beheld the trans- 
 figuration on the mount; and that apostate men would arise in 
 the last days, treating the promise of his coming with scoff. 
 He finally confirms all by the testimony of St. Paul, who (he 
 says) iti all his epistles makes mention of these things. 
 
 In like manner St. Peter, in his first epistle had directed the 
 hope of believers in general to the same object of expectation: 
 "When the Chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a 
 crown of glory that fadeth not away." (chap. v. 4.) And 
 so, in like manner, do the other apostles. St. James encour- 
 ages not those to whom he writes with the hope of reward at 
 death; but exhorts them to be patient until the coming of the 
 Lord. (James v. 7.) And St. John declares, "We know that 
 when he shall appear we shall be like him." (1 John iii. 2.) 
 
 Now these things are consistent, if the great hope of deli- 
 verance and salvation were deferred, as insisted on, till the 
 second appearing of Jesus; and if that were the object chiefly 
 held out to view. We shall in that case not only perceive it 
 laid down in tl.e New Testament as a doctrine of the apostles, 
 but we shall find the primitive church in general impressed 
 with this view of the subject; and either speaking, or spoken 
 of, as looking forward with eagerness to this event. Other 
 marks of grace will be discernible; but this mark in particular, 
 at a time when it is presumed the hopes of the church were 
 bound up in the doctrine of the second advent of Christ, and 
 not in the rest entered into immediately after death, would 
 then be an essential one. .The want of it would imply either 
 very gross ignorance of the prevailing tenets of the church, or 
 very great unbelief of those which were perceived." This 
 feature, however, pre-eminently marks the character of the 
 scripture saints, as shall now be evinced by a few passages from 
 the epistles of St. Paul. 
 
 In Romans viii. 19, the earnest expectation of the creature 
 is said by him to be rcaiting for the manifestation of the sons of 
 God; and those, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, are 
 groaning within themselves and -aaiting for the redemption of 
 the body, (verse 23.) He thanks God for the Corinthians, be- 
 cause they came behind in no gift, rvaiting for the coming of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ; (1 Cor. i. 7:) which words are so connected 
 as to shew, ihat the proper and practical tendency of those 
 gifts, and the best evidence of completeness in the Spirit, con- 
 
lOO ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 sisted in the mind's being led to be habitually looking for the 
 Lord Jesus from heaven. So of the Thessalonians therefore 
 the apostle writes, "that they turned from idols to serve the 
 livinu- and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven." 
 (I Thess. i. 9, 10.) To the Philippians he writes: "For our 
 conversation is in heaven, />om whence also zee look for the Sa- 
 viour, the Lord Jesus Chri<l; who shall change our vile body, 
 that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according 
 to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto 
 himself" (chap. iii. 20, 21.) And as the hope of a glorious 
 resurrection is here declared to be the great benefit that he 
 looked for from his Redeemer's coming, so he declares, that 
 the whole powers of his mind and heart were placed on this 
 one thing: — viz. to know Christ, and the poiver of his resurrec- 
 tion, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conform- 
 able to his death, if by ajiy means he miffht attain unto the resur- 
 rection of the dead." In his second Epistle to Timothy the 
 apostle makes the loving the appearance of Christ so decidedly a 
 mark of grace, that he appears to limit the reward of righteous- 
 ness to those only who partake of this desire: "A crown (he 
 says) which the Lord shall give me at that day; and not to me 
 only; but unto all them also that love his appearing." (chap. iv. 
 8.) Hebrews ix. 28 seems to make the same distinction and 
 limitation: "Christ wa? once offered to bear the sins of many; 
 and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, 
 without sin, unto salvation. Finally, "the Spirit and the Bride 
 say. Come;" (Rev. xxii. 17,) that is, the Church of Christ, 
 which is the Lamb's Wife, moved by the Holy Ghost which 
 dwelleth in her, longs for the presence of her absent Lord; 
 the ardent desire of her soul being summed up in that single 
 and emphatic expression — COME. 
 
 2. But however clearly apparent it may be, that the doctrine 
 of the Second Advent is prominently set forth in scripture and 
 pressed upon the believer,* yet do many Christian ministers 
 prefer to urge the uncertainty of life, and the probability of 
 death, as being in their estimation better calculated to excite 
 the believer to watchfulness, and to arouse the ungodly to 
 calling upon the Lord. Now it will commonly be found, 
 \yhcrf; trutli is in the abstract thus assented to, and yet is prac- 
 tically set aside, either that it is not, after all, cordially believed, 
 or that there is something erroneous mixed up with it, which 
 neutralizes it, and deprives it of its power. That defect is 
 believed to be, in the present instance, a mistake in regard to 
 
 • Oihcr instances will be found in Col. iii. 4; 1 The.ss. ii. 19; iii. 13; 2 Thess. 
 
 n ' L'^'"'"- '■'■ ''^' '"•■' - 'l'''»- i^- I. 2; Titus ii. 11—13; Heb. x. 3G, 37; 1 
 Pclcr 1. 13, and 1 John ii. !28. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^03 
 
 the imagined period at which the advent of Christ may be ex- 
 pected. For if it be admitted, that the church is to expect a 
 second advent of Jesus, and that advent is nevertheless sup- 
 posed to be postponed until a thousand years shall have elapsed, 
 or to some remote period, it so completely removes the exist- 
 ing generation of believers from any immediate interest in the 
 event, that it at once ceases to exercise upon them a practical 
 influence. It will be useful therefore to inquire, what is revealed 
 in scripture in regard to the time of the advent.* 
 
 (1.) It will be obvious to those who carefully peruse the 
 scriptures, that this important event is spoken of as if it were 
 impe7iditig. For example — "The Lord is at hnnd.^' (Piiil. iv. 
 5.) <'The Coming of the Lord dran-eth ?iear." (James v. S.) 
 "The end of all things is at ha?id." (1 Peter, iv. 7.) Again St. 
 Paul speaks of himself and others, as if it were probable that 
 the generation in which he lived might be alive at the coming 
 of the Lord: "For this we say unto you by the word of the 
 Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of 
 the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep." (1 Thess. 
 iv. 15.) "Then zve, which are alive and remain, shaW be caught 
 up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the 
 air." (v. 17.) So again, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall 
 all be changed," (1 Cor. xv. 51,) would leave the impression 
 that a part of that generation should remain to the coming 
 of the Lord. The same conclusion might be drawn from Pe- 
 ter's mode of stating the doctrine: "Nevertheless we look for 
 new heavens and a new earth; &c." — "wherefore beloved, 
 seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be 
 found oi liim in peace, &c." (2 Peter iii. 13, 14,) and there 
 are other similar passages which might be adduced. 
 
 To this it may be objected, that the Apostle Paul does ne- 
 vertheless warn the Tiiessalonians, Avhom he had more espe- 
 cially enjoined to watchfulness for the Lord, that notwith- 
 standing what he had led them to expect concerning the 
 nearness of that day, there was a falling away from the faith 
 previously to take place, and "the Man of Sin was to be re- 
 vealed." (2 Thess. ii. 2, 3.) It is true that this interposes a 
 certain event, which must first trans])ire, before they could ex- 
 
 ♦ The inquiry is here waived into the comparative practical tendency of 
 preaching the advent of Christ as an impending event, and dcalhas an impend- 
 ing event; under the impression, that it will be sufficient for those, who humbly 
 desire to take their standard of doctrine from God's word, simply to demon- 
 strate to them, what is "the mind of the Spirit" on this head. Bui should any 
 be disposed nevertheless to think, that looking for rfca/A must be more practical 
 than looking for Jesus, they will do well to read some very forcible remarks on 
 this subject in the Appendix to Anderson's Apology for Millennial Doctrine. 
 Part i. pages 79—83. 
 
194 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 pect the Lord; but though this had a tendency to lead them to 
 postpone the advent for awhile, yet was it for so short a 
 period, as to affect their general expectation in only a very 
 small degree. For, first, the early Christian Church did not 
 understand the time, times and a half oi^ antichrist, of more than 
 12G0 natural days; and, secondly, they were led to expect by 
 the apostle, even in this same place, that the mystery of ini- 
 quity was already at work (verse 7) preparatory to his revela- 
 tion; and by another apostle they were led to conclude, that 
 the spirit of antichrist was already come into the world, (1 
 John iv. 3,) and that indeed already tliere were '<many anti- 
 christs, whereby they might know that it was the last time." 
 (chap. ii. 18.) 
 
 Now it is of no use to argue, as some are wont, that the 
 apostles must nevertheless have been persuaded themselves, 
 that the Lord would not come till after an interval of 1800 
 years, because the event has proved that he has not come: it 
 may reasonably be questioned, whether the apostles were not 
 themselves, from the words put into their mouths by the Holy 
 Ghost, to expect the time of the advent to be very near; and, 
 like the prophets of old, they probably "searched zvhat mantier 
 of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." 
 (I Peter i. 11.) Be that however as it may: let it be granted, 
 for argument sake, that St. Paul and the other apostles knew 
 privately that a period* of 1260 years was to intervene, — yea, 
 and that, after that, another period of a 1000 years was to in- 
 tervene; — the language which they nevertheless made use of 
 only the more clearly shews, that it was expressly the mind 
 of the Holy Spirit, that in their public ministrations in the 
 church they should keep the minds of God's people in a state 
 of expectation, arising from the uncertainty of the event; — 
 not an uncertainty which left the church at liberty to wait a 
 thousand years, before it should be needful to consider the 
 probability of the advent being near; but an uncertainty, which 
 led them to question whether the event were not even then 
 imminent; and to stand in constant readiness, with their loins 
 girt and their lights burning; and looking at the things of this 
 life with that comparative deadness and indifference which they 
 must feel, who thought that all was about to be dissolved and 
 a new and heavenly state to be introduced.* 
 
 * It should be noticed in pa.^^sing, with respect to the language of the apos- 
 tles, that when they speak of the prospect of their departure, (as in the two 
 instances given at page 120,) they speak individvnlly, as of a revelation made 
 to and concerning themselves personally and exclusively. Their language then 
 is, "For the time of my departure is at'hand." "Knowing that shortly /must 
 put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me." 
 But when ihuy speak of what concerns the whole congregation of believers, 
 
ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. J25 
 
 (2.) But the fact is sometimes pointed to, that the church 
 has at various periods been mistaken in its expectation of the 
 near approach of the Lord; — that the most pious men have 
 been deceived; — and therefore that it is a hope very delusive 
 in itself and dangerous to entertain; — and that on this account 
 the safer method, and the more creditable, is to urge the ap- 
 proach of death instead. This is a mode of viewing the sub- 
 ject which many in the present day entertain; and it is highly 
 important, therefore, that on a point which is itself so practi- 
 cal in its tendency, and which so materially affects the right 
 interpretation and application of prophecy, the fallacy of the 
 objection here adverted to should be demonstrated. 
 
 In the abstract then it is evident, from the Scriptures that 
 have been brought forward, that the mind of the Spirit is — to 
 preach the advent of Christ, rather than to preach the approach 
 of death; and to preach it, as if so uncertain when the event 
 should come to pass, that we ought always to be expecting it, 
 if not day by day, at least within the period of some three or 
 four years. And therefore any scheme of prophetical inter- 
 pretation, which postpones to a remote period the coming of 
 the Son of Man, is contrary to the whole drift and tenor of 
 God's word, and ought not to be heeded by the Church. As 
 Mr. Faber says of another principle, "it bears upon its very 
 front the stigma of error." It may be that the advent is in 
 the meanwhile postponed; we see in fact that it has been de- 
 layed, beyond what was in former days expected: neverthe- 
 less, it is not the will of God, so far as that will is revealed in 
 the Scriptures, that the church should therefore settle down into 
 the conclusion, that it is an event not to be immediately or 
 quickly expected: on the contrary, we are admonished to con- 
 clude, that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as 
 some men count slackness, Jout that he is long-suflering toward 
 the vessels of his wrath; and that this long-suffering proves 
 salvation toward the vessels of his mercy, who are during tli^ 
 period of delay being gathered together until the number of 
 the elect shall be complete. (2 Pet. iii.) 
 
 But, secondly, the mistakes of the church in various ages 
 may be regarded in a very different point of view. I consider it 
 rather as a practical evidence, that God has in all ages overruled 
 error even, for the benefit of lus church, and thus accomplished 
 by his providence, that his people should be kept continually 
 
 it is in ihe first person plural— "Hx- shall not sleep" — "JFe which are alive 
 and remain." From which it would seem that they viewed the church as a 
 corporate body, which never as it were deceases, albeit some of its members 
 may depart; but it is considered as existing in all generations, and therefore 
 \\p to the time of«the coming of the Lord, and into the very crisis of those 
 awful events which will accompany his advent. 
 VOL. II. — II 
 
|.)(5 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 watchful; though he was at the same time waiting, with a 
 merciful reluctance to strike, not being willing that any should 
 perish, but that all should come to repentance. P'or if he can 
 overrule the zvrath of man (which we know "worketh not the 
 rit'^htcousness of God,") so that it shall nevertheless praise 
 him, by advancing his purposes; there is surely no inconsis- 
 tency in concluding that he will much more turn to good ac- 
 count those mistakes and failings of men, which savour not of 
 malicious wickedness. Nothing can be permitted by him, but 
 for a wise and beneficent purpose. 
 
 When therefore mankind were in error in regard to the 
 supposed chronology of the world, (which was the case in the 
 early ages of Christianity, so that the primitive fathers sup- 
 posed the 6000 years were just expiring, and the seventh mil- 
 lenary was at hand;) it was overruled to keep believers in 
 the Lord more watchful.* In like manner, when this period 
 passed over, and chronology was in some measure adjusted, a 
 general impression prevailed that the advent must be at hand, 
 from that break up of the Roman empire, which it was sup- 
 posed was immediately to precede the Lord's coming. At 
 page 61 it has been shewn, that in the twelfth century a general 
 opinion prevailed that Antichrist was about to appear; and it 
 must be remembered that in the primitive church the revela- 
 tion of Antichrist was supposed to be immediately preparatory 
 to the coming of Jesus Christ, and the only event which hin- 
 dered it. At the Reformation we have seen that the Protest- 
 ant divines were generally animated by the expectation that 
 the advent was near at hand: and in the extract from Latimer 
 given at page 67 it is evident he thought it might happen in 
 his days. They considered the millennium to be passed, and 
 that only about 450 years remained to the end of the sixth 
 millenary; and these days they also expected to be shortened; 
 thus bringing the matter within the probability of happening 
 in their own day and generation. When subsequently a new 
 interpretation of the 1260 days was advanced, and they were 
 concluded to be years, yet this had not the effect of postponing 
 the probability of those great events immediately coming to 
 pass, which were to usher in the advent: for this interpretation 
 
 ♦ Laclanlius says— "Fortasse quispiam nunc requirct, quando ista, qufP 
 (liximus, sinl I'utura? Jam siipcrius ostendi completis annorum sex millibus 
 mutaiioncm istam fieri oportere." And again — "Non ampliiis quam ducento- 
 rum videtur annorum.'' And this period, which seemed to remain, they con- 
 sidered would bc"s/i.orlcncd lor the elect's sake;" so that though they considered 
 there were iwo or three centuries to elapse before the expiration of the sixth 
 millenary, they knew not how soon Antichrist might precede, and the rapture 
 of the saints. Mr. Greswell refers to numerous passages, in which this cxpcc- 
 talion IS declared, in the first vol. of his work on the parables. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 127 
 
 did not obtain until the 1260 years were at the same time sup- 
 posed to be nearly run out; so that practically it did not ma- 
 terially damp the expectation maintained. Other instances 
 might be cited nearer to our own limes: but these are sufficient 
 to shew what has been the general expectation, kept alive by 
 various causes, among the people of God. 
 
 Among the various mistakes upon the subject, some have 
 been rashly led to fix the event to a certain year, or even a 
 certain day; a mode of interpretation which does not appear 
 to have any warrant in the word of God; but the contrary. 
 For though abundant is revealed concerning the signs which 
 shall precede that event, whereby the believer may know 
 that his redemption draweth nigh; (Luke xxi. 28;) yet of the 
 day and hour of his coming it is not given to any man to 
 know. (Matt. xxiv. 3G.) And even in the Apocalypse, which 
 is by some supposed to be a subsequent specification of the 
 times, the advent is nevertheless spoken of as to take place 
 suddenly, and as a thief cometh. 
 
 Granting then that many have been deceived by such calcu- 
 lations; and granting likewise, that the whole church has 
 been repeatedly in error on this point, and have indulged in 
 delusive expectations; there is at all events notiiing in the 
 objection drawn from previous mistakes on this point, which 
 will not apply with equal strength to the expectation of the 
 advent, let it be entertained at any period vohalsoever. If there 
 be any force in the argument, it will be as forcible on the very 
 day previous to our Lord's actual coming, as it is now; and 
 there will be just as much reason then as now for deprecating 
 the hope of his speedy appearing. 
 
 But if the posture of mind which waits and watches and 
 expects and looks out for the coming of the Lord, or for the 
 events which usher it in, may be thus proved to be justitiable, 
 (even though it may be mistaken as to the time,) because it 
 has the countenance of Scripture; not so that state of mind 
 which would deliberately postpone his coming to a remote 
 period, or which would defer those previous judgments which 
 he has threatened. As it is declared to be the error of the 
 sensual and infidel scoffer, to treat the subject with derision, 
 and to say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Peter 
 iii. 3, 4.) so is it declared to be the spirit of the evil servant to 
 say in the heart, "My Lord delayeth his coming." Matt. xxiv. 48. 
 They are also expressly reproved and tiueatened, who say — 
 "The days are prolonged and every vision faileth;" — "The 
 vision is for many days to come, and he prophesied of the 
 times that are far off." (Ezck. xxi. 22, 27.) 
 
 Far be it from the writer of these lines to insist, that all 
 
198 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 who defer the advent until after the millennium must be evil 
 servants or infidel professors: he is thoroughly persuaded of 
 the contrary of some. But he verily believes them to be in 
 oreat error in this matter, and encouraging all who hear their 
 sentiments to sit careless and indifferent in regard to an event, 
 which they ought to be looking for and loving; and to be con- 
 firming multitudesin a false and fatal security, in regard to 
 the character of the events which are coming on the earth. 
 He is persuaded likewise, that they speak not in this matter 
 after the oracles of God; and it is for them therefore to con- 
 sider, not only if they be not depriving themselves and others 
 of the influence of a doctrine which has a most powerful effect 
 in keeping men dead to the world and near to God; but if they 
 are not likewise exposing tiiemselves to the danger of rebuke 
 from the Lord. 
 
 (3.) There is another view relative to this point, which has 
 been the means also of leading numbers practically to disown 
 this doctrine: viz. the apprehension that in some of the most 
 eminent texts, which bear upon this subject, a spiritual or pro- 
 vidential coming is spoken of, and not a personal one. It is 
 not intended here to insist that no such thing as a spiritual or 
 providential coming is mentioned in the word of God; neither 
 will the mode in which the Lord may personally manifest 
 himself be here discussed: but it is submitted to the reader, 
 that there ought at least to be some criterio?i by which it may 
 be determined, when a personal advent — in other words, the 
 proper seco?id advent of Christ — is really intended. By the 
 method pursued by some of spiritualizing passages which speak 
 of it, there is scarcely a text left in which such will admit, that 
 it really is foretold; and thus the hope of it is as effectually 
 neutralized, as if there were no revelation on the subject. 
 Matthew xxiv. 30, for example, is explained by these to relate 
 to the Lord's coming invisibly to destroy Jerusalem; which 
 event, together with the captivity of the people, is likewise 
 supposed to be the great tribulation therein spoken of. Unfor- 
 tunately iiowcver for this interpretation, it is "after the tribu- 
 lation of tliose days" that the advent here spoken of is declared 
 to happen; and in the midst of troubles, which (if Luke xxi. 
 be compared,) follow the termination of the times of the 
 Gentiles. Further, it is at a period in which we may rather 
 expect the restoration of the Jews, than their overthrozo and 
 scaltcriTi<r. 
 
 Besides this, however, it may be laid down with tolerable 
 safety as a criterion, that when the original word, by which 
 the coming of the Lord is expressed, is Tntpova-ict, parousia, it has 
 reference to his actual epiphany and personal revelation. When 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, jgg 
 
 the word v;t=/"=" is used, it may be questio?ied how far it express- 
 es a figurative coming; because that expression is applied to 
 the coming of tilings without life, liut the word m^ouo-tn. does 
 not appear to be in the New Testament ever so applied, unless 
 it be in one instance which will presently be noticed. And 
 even were this the case, the word Tapci/s-w, as applied io persons, 
 appears always to have reference to the actual persotial presence 
 or arrival of that person. 
 
 The following are all the passages in which the word ^xpcva-ta. 
 is used; the word which represents it in our English transla- 
 tion being put in italics. (1) IVIatthew xxiv. 3, What shall be 
 the sign of thy coming, &c. (2) v. 27. For as the lightning 
 Cometh (£?5i;;^sTa/) out of the east, &:c., so shall also the coming of 
 the Son of man be. (3) v. 27. But as the days of Noah, so 
 shall the coming of the Son of man be. (4) v. 39. They were 
 eating and drinking, and knew not until the flood came (^xflsy) 
 and took them all away. — So shall the coming of the Son of 
 man be. (5) 1 Corinthians xv. 23. Afterwards they that are 
 Christ's at his coming. (6) Ibid xvi. 17. I am glad of the 
 coming of Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus, &c. (7)2 
 Cor. vii. 6, 7. God comforted us by the coming of Titus; and 
 not by his coming only: but, &c. (8) Ibid x. 10. But his 
 bodily presence is weak, &c. (9) Phil. i. 26. That your re- 
 joicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me, by my 
 coming to you again. (10) Ibid ii. 12. Wherefore, my beloved, 
 as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now 
 much more in my absence, &c. (11) 1 Thess. ii. 19. Are not 
 even ye [our rejoicing] in the presence of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ at his coming? (12) Ibid iii.lS. At the coming of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. (13.) Ibid iv. 15. We 
 which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord. (14) 
 Ibid V. 23. I pray God yiour whole spirit and soul and body 
 be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord. (15) 2 
 Thess. ii. 1. We beseech you brethren by the coming of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. 
 (16) V. 8, 9. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom 
 the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall 
 destroy with the brightness (the epiphany) of his coming: even 
 him whose coming is after the working of Satan, &c. (17) 
 James v. 7. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the comi?ig 
 of the Lord, (18) v. 8. The coining of the Lord draweth 
 nigh. (19) 2 Peter i. 16. We have not followed cunningly- 
 devised fables, when we made known to you the power and 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (20) Ibid iii. 4. Where is 
 the promise of his coming. (21) v. 12. Looking for and hasting 
 to the coming of the day of God; &c. (22) 1 John ii. 28, 
 11* 
 
1 on ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 That when he shall appear we may have confidence, and not 
 be ashamed before him at his coming. 
 
 In reo-ard to the above passages it may be noticed, first, that 
 in the examples Nos. 2 and 4 the verb ipx'-'M'^' is used to denote 
 the comino- of the lightrnng and of the JJood, and that in both 
 those instances the coming of Christ therein mentioned is dis- 
 tinguished by the expression 7rafou<nit. Secondly, that the only 
 instance in which this latter word seems applied in the New 
 Testament with reference to any other than a person, is 2 Peter 
 iii. 12, example No. 21: which is in the original npccrJ^oKwru.; rnv 
 ^apova-iAv cT»c T51/ ens -^/Aifct;. Supposing our translation to be the true 
 readino-, it will not affect the inference, that the word Trcufova-M 
 when applied to persons signifies their actual presence; but it is 
 evidently susceptible, agreeable to the rules of Greek syntax, 
 of another reading, by understanding T^c^^s/iac to be in the 
 Genitive, as denoting time, by a preposition 'understood, (see 
 Parkhurst,) and not as governed by Trcifovo-iav. It will then be 
 ''Looki?ig for and hastetii?ig to the presence [of Christ] m the 
 day of God, when the heavens," &c. Thirdly, examples Nos. 
 6 to 10 are so unequivocal as to render it not at all a question, 
 that the personal presence of the parties spoken of is intended. 
 Nos. 5, 11, 12, 13, 20 and 21 will be equally clear, if the con- 
 text be taken into account; for of what other than the personal 
 coming can the Spirit be speaking, when he declares it to be 
 to raise the dead, as in' example 13, or attended by his saints, 
 as in example 12? The remaining examples must be judged 
 of therefore by analogy, from the use of the word in other 
 instances. There can be no suflFicient reason assigned, why 
 Nos. 14, 15, 16 (for example) which occur in the Epistles to 
 the Thessalonians, should not be the same as Nos. 11 and 12, 
 occurring in the same Epistles, and which are unequivocal from 
 their evident sense. Nor does there appear to the writer any 
 sufficient reason for disputing any of the others. It may be 
 proper finally to observe, that if this word when applied to 
 Christ signifies a personal coming or presence, then by parity 
 of reasoning it must signify the same in 2 Thess, ii. 9, which 
 must refer to a personal manifestation and coming of ''that 
 Wicked one;" and not merely to the system of anti-christian 
 principles of which he is the head or leader. 
 
 (4.) In the last place I would remark, in regard to the time 
 of the advent, that if those great events be considered, which 
 are acknowledged, or may be independently proved, to be pre- 
 millcnnial, the coming of the Lord will be found declared 
 somewhere or other in Scripture as synchronous with them, 
 and therefore likewise pre-millennial. When I speak of events, 
 I mean not the order of them, nor do I allude to circumstances 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^3^ 
 
 which may be considered rather as stihordinate details of the 
 kingdom of Christ. Interpreters of prophecy may be mista- 
 ken and (lifler among themselves witli regard to some of these 
 particulars; and tliere arc others of them on vhich it were 
 presumptuous to speak with confidence until events shall enable 
 us to judge of them more clearly. The matters I refer to are 
 events which must in themselves be taken into account by 
 the student of prophecy, and which force themselves on his 
 attention; although he may not be able to speak with precision 
 of every particular of those events. 
 
 For example, there is the destruction of antichrist, which is 
 to be effected (as has been seen in 2 Thess. ii. 8.] by the bright- 
 ness, or epiphany, of the Lord's coming or purotisia. Either 
 therefore the Lord's glorious epiphany is previous to the mil- 
 lennium, in order to accomplish this, or antichrist continues 
 throughout the millennium, contraiy to all proper notions of 
 that blessed period. The same thing is shewn in Daniel vii. 
 20 — 22: the Little Horn, which is admitted to be antichrist, 
 prevails against the saints, "Until the Ancient of days conies, 
 and judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, and the 
 time comes that the saints possess the kingdom." 
 
 If again we regard the dales of Daniel: whether they be 
 considered as having a mystical signification, or to be under- 
 stood literally, they are admitted by all to terminate before 
 the millennium.* But it is expressly declared to Daniel — "Go 
 thou thy way till the end be, for thou shalt rest, and stand in 
 thy lot at the end of the days." So that at the end of those 
 days which are to elapse before the millennium, Daniel is to rise 
 from the dead, in order to have his part or lot in the glory then 
 to be revealed. And if a resurrection is then to take place, of 
 course Christ must then appear; for when the saints are raised 
 and caught up it is expressly declared to be at the coming of 
 the Lord. Compare 1 Cor. xv. 23, and 1 Thess. iv. 14 — 17. 
 
 Again, if we regard the restoration of the Jews, it is written, — 
 "Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to 
 favour her, yea, the set time is come: for thy servants take 
 pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the 
 heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all tiie kings of 
 the earth thy glory. Wheji the Lord shall build up Zion, he 
 shall appear in his glonj.^' Now the restoration of the Jews 
 
 editions of his work did likewise make all the dates pre-millennial; but in the 
 latter edition of it, in order, apparently, to avoid the conclusions on this head 
 to which his own reasonings would force him, he makes one of these periods 
 very absurdly extend through the Millennium and reach to the final casting of 
 Satan into the lartvc of fire. See a Review of Faber in the Investigator, Vol. 
 iv. where his numerous contradictions and fallacies are set forth. 
 
TOO ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 and the rebuilding of Zion must be at the commencement of 
 the millennium; for it would be contrary to every thing pre- 
 dicted of the millennial state to suppose, that any people shall 
 be existino- who do not recognise the Lord. But then, at this 
 building of Zion, the Lord shall appear in his glory; therefore 
 the Lord shall appear at the restoration of the Jews; as it is 
 written, "There shall come out of Zion, the Deliverer, and 
 shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Rorn. xii. 2G. 
 
 But some may deny a literal restoration of the Jews, as 
 Jezi'S, at (uuj jjeriod; and imagine that the building of Zion, 
 spoken of in the Psalm, refers to a future glorious triumph of 
 the Church. In this case, however, we must equally place 
 the event at the beginning of the millennium: for what sort of 
 a millennium would that be, in which the spiritual Zion, the 
 Church of the living God, should still remain trampled in the 
 dust? Such a notion will not comport with any view of the 
 millennium at present entertained by christians. It clearly 
 follows, therefore, whichsoever view we take, that the Lord 
 appears in his ^lon/ at the hegi?ini7ig of the millemnum. 
 
 This view is farther confirmed by a consideration of the 
 Feast of Taber?iaclcs, the antitype of which is to be enjoyed at 
 the filial restoration of the Jews, when every man shall sit 
 under his own vine and under his own fig tree. In Zechariah 
 chap. xiv. there is described a great warfare against the na- 
 tions, which combine together and come up against Jerusalem; 
 and every one of the nations that continues after that warfare, 
 is required to go up from year to 2jear to worship the King the 
 Lord of Hosts, and keep the feast of Tabernacles, (v. 16.) 
 This description of their going up, and annually, and to keep 
 this festival, shows that the transaction takes place oti earth. 
 There is afterwards a punishment described, which shall fall 
 upon those nations which neglect to go up, — viz. that they 
 shall have no rain. And because in the land of Egypt it 
 never rains, a peculiar and distinct plague is threatened, if that 
 nation go not up; which again proves it to be a state on earth. 
 (v. 17 — 19.) 'Now previous to this, during that very warfare, 
 from the dire effects of which these nations escape, the Lord 
 appears, and "his feet stand upon the Mount of Olives." (v. 
 14.) And not only is the Lord declared to come; but — "all 
 the saints with Thee." v. 15. 
 
 One more passage shall here be adduced, as corroborating 
 what has been stated concerning the resurrection of Daniel; 
 viz. that which relates to the marriage of the Lamb; and as this 
 event is no other than the union of the Lord with his glorified 
 church, who has now put on her glorious apparel, and made 
 herself ready; so the resurrection of the saints must necessa- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 133 
 
 rily have taken place, and also the transfiguration of the living 
 saints, and the coming of the Lord Jesus. But the marriage 
 of the Lamb's wife is in Rev. xix. intimately connected with 
 the period of the final judgment on Babylon, (see verses I — S, 
 and their connection with the previous chapter, and apparently 
 takes place immediately after the judgment on tlie great whore, 
 hni precedes the judgment on the infidel confederacy that burns 
 the whore: (see verses 11 — 21.) The armies on white horses, 
 and in fine linen white and clean, are probably, if we compare 
 verse 8, these same risen saints, who receive ^Hhe hco-edged 
 sword" — 'Ho execute vengeance upon the heathen and punish- 
 ments on the jjcople, to bind their kings with chains, and their 
 nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment 
 written: this honour have all his saints. — Praise ye the Lord."* 
 But be this as it may, it again makes the resurrection of the 
 saints premillennial; and if their resurrection, so also the 
 advent of their Lord. 
 
 The same may be proved from a consideration of what is 
 revealed concerning the kingdom of God. But this is an ex- 
 tensive subject, and occupies so prominent a place in scripture, 
 and involves so many other important considerations, that it 
 will aflbrd ample matter for a distinct chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 Having treated of the coming of Christ, our attention is next 
 directed to tiie great objects of that second advent: viz. the 
 Kingdom and Judgment of Christ which will then be estab- 
 lished. 
 
 The Kingdom of Christ will with propriety first come under 
 consideration; in regard to which the notion of many is, that 
 it signifies the present visible Christian church, or the Chris- 
 tian religion in the hearts of God's people, or both; and its 
 setting up and establishment in the earth is supposed to be 
 commensurate with the establishment of Christianity, and to 
 have been manifested to the world ever since. This view is 
 not altogether devoid of truth, as will presently be shown; but 
 
 ♦ Compare Psalm cxlix. from which this is quoted, especially the sentences 
 in Italics, with vers??s 5, 15, 18, of Rev. xix. 
 
134 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 it is nevertheless in the main erroneous, inasmuch as it mis- 
 takes the means for the end, and suhstitutes what may be con- 
 sidered as ihc preparatio?i for the kingdom, (or the establishment 
 and mcmifestation of it. But the reader's patience must be drawn 
 upon, whilst this matter is examined step by step. 
 
 1, It will be evident to any one who reads the scriptures of 
 the New Testament, that John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus 
 both make mention of a kingdom which was approaching, or 
 at hand; and that they speak of it, not as a new notion or 
 doctrine introduced by them for the first time, but as an object 
 of expectation familiar to the Jews, and which they would 
 readily understand without the need of Jesus or of John 
 explaining to them what they particularly meant by it.* 
 
 That the Jewish mind was prepossessed with this notion of 
 a king and a kingdom may be shown, first from the exclama- 
 tion of Nathanael, when brought to believe in Jesus as the 
 Messiah, — "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the Ki7ig 
 of Israel." (John i. 49.) When the Lord fed the five thou- 
 sand in the wilderness, the whole multitude would have taken 
 him by force, and made him King, had he not withdrawn from 
 them. (John vi. 15.) When he rode triumphantly into Je- 
 rusalem on the ass, the populace shouted, "Blessed be the 
 King that cometh in the name of the Lord." (Mark xi. 10.) 
 "Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in 
 the name of tlie Lord." (Luke xix. 3S.) And this indeed is 
 declared by St. Matthew (xxi. 4, 5,) to have been done in ful- 
 filment of an ancient Jewish prophecy which, among others, 
 gave rise to or confirmed this expectation: — "Rejoice greatly, 
 daughter of Zion, shout, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, 
 thy King cometh unto thee, &c. (Zech. ix. 9.) Nor was this 
 expectation confined to the inhabitants of Palestine alone: 
 when the Magi came from the East to Jerusalem at the time 
 of the birth of our Lord, their first inquiry was, "Where is he 
 that is born King of the Jews." (Matt. ii. 2.) 
 
 It is almost superfluous to show from the Old Testament 
 Scriptures, how very general this expectation was in the Israel- 
 itish church prior to the advent of Christ; for there is scarcely 
 any one prophecy, in which it may not be discovered. It 
 probably liad its first distinct on^i/i from the promise to Sarah, 
 of the seed who was to be w sSvn over the Gentiles, and froni whom 
 "•kings of nations should arise;"t even as declared by St. Paul, 
 
 • See Matt. iii. 2; iv. 17, 23; v. 3, 10; vi. 10, 33. Mark i. 14. Luke iv. 43. 
 These texts are sutficient for the point in hand: many others might be 
 adduced. 
 
 t See this treated of at page 26, where, for Gen. xvii. 6, read Gen. xvii. 16; 
 
 and fur ew.c^ no-ay read tu>.cyiic-it. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^35 
 
 that he was "to rise to reign over the Gentiles;" (Rom. xv. 
 12.) and the Psalmist also states, "Instead of thy fathers shall 
 be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes- in all the 
 earth." (Psalm xlv. 16.) The same expectation was again 
 raised by Balaam in the time of Moses: "Tiiere shall come a 
 star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel," &c. 
 (Numb. xxiv. 17.) The last words of David (2 Sam. xxiii.) 
 were on the same subject; and in numerous other places the 
 king or the kingdom are spoken of.* 
 
 It is however quite iiolorious that the Jews did, in the time 
 of our Saviour, look for a king who should in an illustrious 
 and glorious manner inherit the throne of David, reign over 
 Israel, and obtain dominion and possession over all nations. 
 It is indeed objected to them, by many who interpret the word 
 of God, that they mistook the promises of scripture in this 
 respect, and putting a carnal sense upon various passages which 
 relate to spiritual things, looked only for a temporal kingdom. 
 This objection is however itself founded in mistake, in more 
 respects than one, and does great injustice to the theology and 
 views entertained by the orthodox portion of the Jewish 
 church. The grosser Jews did undoubtedly overlook those 
 exhortations to righteousness and those intimations of the ne- 
 cessity of conformity to God, which are constantly mixed up 
 by the prophets with their predictions of the times of the 
 Messiah; and even the most holy portion of the nation had, at 
 the period of our Lord's ministry, lost sight of the prophecies 
 which relate to the suffering and humiliation of the Messiah, 
 and were most unwilling to have their attention drawn to 
 them; but these things are independent of what relates to the 
 throne, and visible glory, and power of his kingdom. It is 
 not, as some suppose, that they mistook or perverted those 
 passages, imposing a sense. upon them which comported with 
 their own views of earthly dominion; nor is it that they were 
 unable to perceive the true meaning of passages which are now 
 thought to be so plain and unquestionable to us. The fact is, 
 they overlooked passages which were really of the nature here 
 alluded to; but most of those perversions imputed to them are 
 tiot perversions; they understood them in their appropriate and 
 harmonious sense, though not perhaps in their /i/// sense; and 
 the wonder is, riot that they should thus have understood 
 them; but that any among ourselves should understand them 
 
 ♦ The following additional places may be mentioned: viz. Numb, xxiii. 21; 
 xxiy. 7. 1 Sam. ii. 10. Psalm ii. 6; xxi. 1; xiv. 7—10; Ixxii. ex; cxlv. 1; 
 cxlix. 2. Isaiah vi. 5; ix; xi; xxv. 8; xxviii. 5; xxxii. 1; xlii. 1; xlix. 6; lii; 
 liii; Jer. xxiii. 5, G; xxx; xxxi; xxxiii. Ezek. xvii. 22; xxix. 21; xxxvii. 24; 
 Ix. 1. Dan. ii. 44; vii. 13, 14; ix. 24 — 27. Hosea iii. 5; Micah iv. v.; Zech. 
 iii. 8; ivr. 12; xiv. 1, 16. Mai. iii. 1, 
 
136 
 
 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 otherwise; seeing that their primary and most obvious sense 
 is so plainly accordant with the Jewish expectations. And 
 another remarkable circumstance is, that our Lord should 
 never give them any hint of their mistake, in regard to these 
 expectations. He did indeed press upon them the need of 
 being inwardly regenerated and sanctified, before they could 
 see or enter into this kingdom; but many of his allusions to 
 the kingdom were calculated to confirm them in their mistake, 
 had it been one;* and even at the very last, when he was about 
 to leave them, and his disciples put the question to him, 
 "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to 
 Israel?" he does not tell them, "Ye have been all along de- 
 ceived in this matter;" but gives a reply, which, 'while it ad- 
 monishes them, that they were not to know the time, would 
 nevertheless strengthen their expectation in the general. — "It 
 is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the 
 Father hath put in his own power." Acts i. 6, 7. 
 
 Another instance in which the Jews are misrepresented in 
 this matter, is in their alleged expectation of a temporal king- 
 dom. If by temporal is meant a kingdom that was not to be 
 spiritual in its nature, it is to be feared that too many were in 
 error in this respect, as before stated; but if by temporal is 
 meant, that it was to be a kingdom of only limited duration, 
 and subject to subluna:]:-y changes, like other secular kingdoms, 
 this certainly was not their expectation; for they looked for "a 
 kingdom which could not be moved," (Hebrews xii. 28.) and 
 the duration of which should be "for ever and ever." Dan. 
 ii. 44; vii. 27. And the spiritual portion of the Jews would 
 likewise fully understand, that it was to be heaveyihj in its 
 nature and character; the phrase kingdom of heaven and kingdom 
 of God having been well understood and frequently made use 
 of by their Rabbins. 
 
 \. We have next to make inquiry into the different forms 
 made use of in the scriptures to express this kingdom, which 
 are principally three; viz. "the kingdom of God,^^ "the king- 
 dom of Christ,'^ and the "kingdom of heaven." "The kingdom 
 of the Father" is so evidently the same as "the kingdom of 
 God," and "the kingdom of the Son of man" the same as "the 
 kingdom of Christ,''' that it will not be necessary to consider 
 them separately. The other three expressions, when spoken 
 with reference to a future kingdom, or the kingdom proclaimed 
 by John the Baptist, Jesus, and the apostles, may equally be 
 shown to signify one and the same. 
 
 • See for example Matt, xix. 28; xx, 23. Mark x. 37— 40, and Luke xxii, 
 29-30. » 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 137 
 
 For example: that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom 
 of God are the same, is evident from a comparison of those 
 passages in St. Matthevv's gospel which mention the former, 
 with the parallel places in Mark and Luke. For the phrase 
 ''kingdom of heaven'' is peculiar to Matthew, being never 
 met with in any other part of God's word; unless we except 
 one passage, viz. 2 Tim. iv. IS. wiiere the apostle speaks of 
 the Lord's ^'heavenly kingdom," which can have no other sig- 
 nification. Thus where Matthew has, "Blessed are the poor 
 in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom o( heave?i;'' (v. 3.) Luke has, 
 "Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,'' (vi. 
 20.) And where Matthew has, "It is given unto you to know 
 the mysteries of the kingdom oi heaven." (xiii. IL) Mark has, 
 "Unto you is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 
 God." (iv. IL) Matthew indeed does himself use the two 
 phrases indiscriminately in the following passage: "Verily I 
 say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven. And again I say unto you it is easier for a 
 camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man 
 to enter into the kingdom of God." (xix. 23, 24.) 
 
 The formulas "kingdom of God," and "kingdom of Christ," 
 may be shewn to be the same by a similar process. In his 
 narrative of the transfiguration St. Matthew relates that Jesus 
 said: "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here 
 which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man 
 coming in his kingdom:" (xvi. 28.) which latter sentence St. 
 Luke has, "till they see the kingdom of God come with pow- 
 er," (ix. 27.) In the parable of the tares St. Matthew says, 
 "that at the end of the world the Son of Mm shall send forth 
 his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things 
 that offend;" and immediately he adds, — "then shall the 
 righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their 
 Father;" (xiii. 41, 43.) thus making the kingdom of the Fa- 
 ther and of the Son of Man the same; even as St. Paul calls it, 
 "the kingdom of Christ and of God." (Ephes. v. 5.) And it 
 is further to be noted, that the parable of the tares, in which 
 the two formulas just mentioned of the kingdom are used, is 
 introduced by the use of the third formula, — "The kingdom of 
 heaven is likened, ",&c. v. 24. 
 
 In regard to the mea7nng of these different expressions, "the 
 kingdom of heaven" is most frequently used by St. Matthew 
 in the plural number '» 0us-tKu-ji Tf,v cv^itvav the kingdom of the hea- 
 vens. This is no other than a Jewish phrase to signify the 
 kingdom of the God of heaven: the phrases heavens and God 
 being both usef4 by Daniel in this connection and sense. Thus 
 he forewarns Nebuchadnezzar, — "Seven times shall pass over 
 
 VOL. II. 12 
 
iQg ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom 
 of nien; Sec. and whereas they commanded to leave the stump 
 of the tree root, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after 
 that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule." ii. 25, 
 26. In this passage the Most High and the heavens are evi- 
 dently used as interchangeable terms. The phrase therefore 
 of St. Matthew — kingdom of heaven — is precisely equivalent, 
 and must have an ultimate reference, as also the phrase king- 
 dom of God, to the sovereignty and government of the Most 
 High. 
 
 The kingdom of the Son of Man is the same thing: for this 
 glorious sovereignty is to be administered by him; "that in 
 the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather 
 together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, 
 and which are on earth; even in him." Ephes. i. 10. Thus 
 Jesus declared, "All power is, given unto me in heaven and in 
 earth:" (Matt, xxviii. 18.) and he assured his disciples, "I 
 appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed 
 unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table, in my king- 
 dom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 
 Luke xxii. 29, 30. In this kingdom Jesus will act the part of 
 Joseph in Egypt, who was a type of him: for as Pharaoh made 
 Joseph ruler over all the land of Egypt, "only in the throne 
 being greater than hjm," (Gen. xli. 39 — 44.) so hath God 
 "put all things under Christ's feet; but when he saith. All 
 things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted 
 which did put all things under him." 1 Cor. xv. 27. And as 
 Joseph brought every thing in the land into subjection to 
 Pharaoh, and surrendered them up to him; (Gen. xlvii. 23.) 
 so "when all things shall be subdued to Christ, then shall the 
 Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under 
 him, that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28. 
 
 This kingdom of Christ can be no other than that described 
 by Daniel, (chap. 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 lan- 
 guages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting 
 dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that 
 which shall not be destroyed." And the participation of the 
 .saints in this kingdom is declared in the further setting forth 
 of the matter at verse 27: "And the kingdom and dominion 
 and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven 
 shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, 
 whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^39 
 
 shall serve and obey him." In which two places observe, 
 that the kingdom appointed to the Son of Man in verse 13, 
 is called the kingdom of the Most High in verse 28, and <'all 
 dominions serve and obey Him." Observe, secondly, that as 
 the Son of Man comes in the clouds of heaven to receive this 
 kingdom, it must be a visible and personal inauguration that 
 takes place, and at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.* And 
 thirdly, it should be observed, that the surrendering up the 
 kingdom to God by the Son, at "the end" of the period 
 during which he reigns, is no lermincUion of this heavenly 
 kingdom; it will be an everlasting dominion, passing only into 
 a still more glorious and perfect state. t 
 
 3. A very important part of this inquiry is respecting the 
 time when this kingdom was to commence; or rather, when 
 the power of it was to be made manifest: for if this can be 
 proved, it will with many determine, in a great measure, what 
 is really to be the nature and visible character of the kingdom 
 itself. For if it shall appear, that it was to be manifested 
 under this present dispensation, then it will be evident that 
 the kingdom was to be nothing more than the propagation of 
 Christ's religion, or his ruling in the hearts of his people, or 
 the usual sovereignty of God manifested in his providential 
 government; but if, on the contrary, it shall appear, that it 
 was 7}ot in its primary sense to be manifested under this dis- 
 pensation, and has vol been manifested, then it determines that 
 its character will necessarily be something far more exalted 
 and different from what has been hitherto witnessed. Though 
 a passage or two, therefore, have already appeared which bear 
 upon this point, I must still beg the farther patience of the 
 reader whilst I enter into it more minutely. 
 
 First then, with regard to the kingdom of God being his now 
 reigning by his power and 'providence,— over-ruling so much 
 
 * Nothint^ can do greater violence to Scripture, than to attempt to interpret 
 the Cuming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, of the destruction of 
 Jerusalem! The dominion over a/^ ?(fl/fo?w 10 be given to Christ was not in 
 any way made more manifest by thai event, than it was previously. The 
 coming in the clouds is obviously the same as that in Acts i. 9 — 12. 
 
 t I do not apprehend that the majesty of Christ will be diminished, but on 
 the contrary increased, at the end of the millennium, notwithstanding it is said 
 that he then delivers up the kingdom, and lays down all power and authority. 
 It will, I apprehend, be like the surrender up of the crown, or the keys, onlv 
 to have them returned with increase of honour and glory, by means of the God- 
 head shining forth with still greater effulgence; for he said— "I and the Father 
 are One." So of the saints it is said, in one place, "They lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years," which is what all allow 10 be the millennial 
 period, however they may differ in their views as to the parties who reign, 
 and the manner oC their reigning. But in the description of that more perfect 
 state which apparently succeeds, it is said "they shall reign for ever and ever." 
 Rev. xxii. 5. 
 
140 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 of the wrath of ungodly men as he suffers to escape, and re- 
 strainin"- the remainder of it. Psalm Ixxvi. 10. Many lay 
 stress upon this; pointing to the fact, that the Jews unconsci- 
 ously obeyed God and fulfilled his will, even when they crucified 
 the Lord of glory. Now it is admitted, as beyond dispute, 
 by those who believe the scriptures and know any thing of 
 God that **he is the Governor among the nations;" (Psalm 
 xxii. 28.) "and he doeth according to his will in the army of 
 heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can 
 stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou?" Dan. iv. 
 35. But a very important consideration here presents itself. 
 The kingdom concerning which we are inquiring is a kingdom 
 which is the subject of promise. It was at least the subject of 
 promise, as also its king, in the days of Abraham, Moses and 
 Daniel. But this overruling and invisible government of God 
 has existed from the creation of the world, and never can be 
 said to have had a beginning in any generation since. To make 
 that the subject of promise therefore, which was alread}^ en- 
 joyed, would be absurd. Things are sometimes spoken of in 
 prophetic language as done, which are yet future; but never 
 are they spoken of as future, if they are already performed: 
 unless it can be shewn that they are the subject of promise in 
 some more extensive and complete sense than that in which they 
 are already existing. Now it would be no extension of this over- 
 ruling and invisible government of God, to say, that hereafter 
 he should possess «// nations; for that he already does. It can 
 only be increased or extended by some visible marnfestaliofi of 
 it to mankind, in such manner as that all shall see and acknow- 
 ledge it. And whatever manifestation of it, or establishment 
 of it in the world, may be supposed by any to have already 
 taken place, — if only it can be shewn, that at or subsequent to 
 that time there was still mention made of this kingdom as the 
 subject of promise, and that it was regarded as future, there is 
 proof that the kingdom did not yet exist in that eminent and 
 special sense intended in the promise.* 
 
 As we must exclude, therefore, on this ground, that reigning 
 of God by his providence, which was exercised by him from 
 the beginning; seeing that during this reigning there was still 
 a kingdom spoken of; so in like manner must the whole period 
 from Daniel to the first Advent of Jesus be excluded, on the 
 further ground, that the kingdom is promised in Daniel to the 
 Son of Alan, and it was impossible therefore that Jesus could 
 have reigned as man, before he was made man. 
 
 • Sec the scripture argument, derived from things being still spoken of as 
 future, treated of at page 91, in the chapter "on the Interprciaiion of Pro- 
 phecy." 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 141 
 
 That the kingdom and glory to be manifested, are specially 
 assigned to him as man, is evident from other Scripture testi- 
 monies. In Corintliians the Apostle says of him, "that God 
 had put all things under his feet;" (I Cor. xv. 27.) which 
 saying is indeed a quotation (as is likewise Psalm ii. 5 — S,) 
 from Psalm viii. wherein he is thus spoken of, — "What is man 
 that thou art mindful of him? or the So?i of Mtui that thou 
 visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower [or, for a little 
 while lower] than the angels: thou crownedst him with glory 
 and honour, and didst set him over the works of thine hand. 
 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet." Thus 
 Jesus declared, "that authority was given him to execute 
 judgmeTit also; because he was the So7i of Mafi." John v. 27. 
 And St. Paul affirms, "that God hath given to him (on account 
 of his obedience and humiliation in the flesh) a Name, which 
 is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things 
 under the earth." Phil. iii. 9 — 11. He who thought it not 
 robbery to be equal with God, must have previously possessed 
 that sovereignty of the universe which has been mentioned; 
 but this kingdom is the reward of the righteous obedience and 
 humiliation of the JNIessiah; in consequence of which the 
 Father hath determined for awhile to manifest his own glory 
 in Hur, and to put all things under him: He only being ex- 
 cepted who thus puts all things under Him. 1 Cor. xv. 27, 28. 
 
 A more prevalent notion is, that the kingdom was establish- 
 ed at the birth of Jesus. Now the best proof to the contrary 
 of this is, that our Lord himself teaches his disciples to pray, 
 "Thy kingdom come;" which were inconsistent and contradic- 
 tory iiad it already arrived: and, further, he spoke a parable, 
 the express object of which was to correct the views of those, 
 who thought that his kingdom siiould immediately appear. 
 Luke xix. 11. 
 
 The parable just adverted to, in which the Lord compares 
 himself to a nobleman, who had first to go into a far country, 
 and to receive his kingdom, and then to return, (in the same 
 manner, that great men of the nations subjected to the Roman 
 emj)ire, sometimes went up to Rome to be inaugurated and to 
 receive the diadem, then went back to their own country and 
 exercised the authority.) is suflicient to show, that this king- 
 dom did not commence (at least v/as not made manifest) at his 
 asceiision. He is undoubtedly seated down at the right hand 
 of God, wielding that power in behalf of his people, which it 
 has been already observed Jehovah has exercised from the be- 
 ginning; but thi^ is not that special kingdom in which he is to 
 be made manifest as King of kings and Lord of lords, and 
 12* 
 
I JO ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 when all the kingdoms of this world shall become the king- 
 doms of our Lord and of his Christ, It was this latter sove- 
 reignty which the disciples inquired about on the very day of 
 his ascension, — saying, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore 
 the kingdom to Israel?" and to which he replied, that it was 
 not for Uiem to know the times and the seasons, &c.; but that 
 they were to be witnesses of him to the uttermost parts of the 
 earth: (Acts i. G — 9) just as in another place he declares, that 
 "the Gospel of the kingdom must first be preached in all na- 
 tions as a teslimo/u/ to them." Matt. xxiv. 14. In the Apoca- 
 lypse, the Lord clearly distinguishes between that throne on 
 which he is now seated, and the throne on which he shall be 
 hereafter manifested; when he says — "To him that overcometh 
 will I grant to sit with me in rmj throne; even as I also over- 
 came, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. 
 iii. 21. 
 
 And if the Lord Jesus has not yet been manifested in that 
 glory which he is to exhibit, when he shall take to "himself his 
 great power and reign," (Rev. xi. 17,) so neither have the 
 saints as yet been made participators of that power and reigned 
 with him. The saints in heaven have not, (i. e. if it be the 
 departed saints who arc represented in Rev, v. 9, 10,) for they 
 are described as singing, — "Thou hast made us unto our God 
 kings and priests, and yve shall reign on the earth." The saints 
 on earth have not; for the Apostle exclaims — "Would to God 
 that ye did reign, that we also might reign with you" 1 Cor. 
 iv. 8. No, — they are exhorted "to walk worthy of God, who 
 had called them to his kingdom and glory;" — "to walk, so as 
 that they might be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God 
 for which they suffered;" — they are called "heirs of the king- 
 dom, which (it is still said) God hath promised to them that 
 love him;" — they are admonished that the "unrighteous shall 
 7iol inlierit the kingdom of God;" — they are assured that they 
 shall be "preserved nnlo his heavenly kingdom," "and that to 
 them an entrance shall be administered i?ito it:"* all which 
 passages, when viewed together, plainly bespeak, that the 
 kingdom was considered as not yet come, at the time when 
 the Apostles wrote these things. Indeed all notion of believers 
 during tliis present dispensation enjoying this kingdom is ex- 
 cluded by tliat single tleclai'ation — ^'Jlesh and blood cannot in- 
 herit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. xv. 50, 53. 
 
 It ap])ears indeed highly derogatory to the promises of God 
 and to all just notions of the sovereignty which Christ is to 
 
 ♦ 1 Thess. ii. 12; 2 Thess. i. 5: James ii. 5; I Cor. vi. 9, 10; 2 Tim. iv. 18; 3 
 Peter i. 11, 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^43 
 
 enjoy in the world, to call this the period of his kingdom. 
 What nation acknowledged him, throughout the time when 
 he and his apostles sojourned upon earth? Even the Jews did 
 not acknowledge him: "He came to his own, and his own 
 received him not:" (John i. 11.) — they declared that they 
 would nol have this man to reign over them; and insisting that 
 they had no king hut Csesar, (John xix. 15) "they crucified 
 the I^ord of glory!" lie was indeed nothing more than "a 
 servant of rulers." Isaiah xlix. 7. 
 
 The same question nearly may be asked even now: at least 
 we may safely inquire. Where is the nation in which the 
 Lord's "glory is openli/ shewed in the sin-ht of the heathen," 
 and the whole people do manifestl}^ submit to his rule? Isaiah 
 says again, of the adversaries of the Lord, — "Thou never 
 barest rule over them;" (chap. Ixiii. 19) and if it was true in 
 Isaiah's time, how can it be said in our own time, that the 
 Lord bares rule over his adversaries, in such sense as to com- 
 port with the testimony of Scripture concerning Messiah's 
 promised reign. By far the largest part of the world is still 
 heathen in name: and over that part even, which surnames 
 itself with the name of Christ, he cannot be said to bear rule. 
 In our own country, for example, where religion prevails per- 
 haps as much as in any other, our laws are rarely framed and 
 administered in the fear of Christ: to say nothing of the great 
 mass of individuals, who openly gainsay his divinity, his 
 power, or his precepts, or who scoff at and oppose his people, 
 or who in some way or other betray, evidently, that they do 
 not submit to his yoke. I repeat, it is derogatory to the 
 Lord to call this his dominion over the nations! There is no 
 king among men but would consider it quite incompatible 
 with his honour, to allow any to live in defiance of his laws, or 
 in habitual rebellion. The question therefore may even in 
 this way be determined, 'by noticing whether the prince of 
 light, or the prince of darkness have most adherents, in the 
 world, and whose principles chiefly prevail. No. doubt will 
 then remain that Satan is "the prince of this world," and has 
 a kingdom in it which is wholly at variance with Christ's. 
 The Lord does indeed get himself glory, by "enduring with 
 much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction;" 
 (Rom. ix. 22) but, "We see not as yet all things put under 
 him;" (Heb. ii. 8) and even his condition on the throne of 
 his Father is one of * ^expectation, till his enemies be made his 
 footstool," and it shall be said, "Rule ihou in the midst of 
 thine enemies." Psalm ex. 1, 2; Heb. x. 13. Then shall the 
 rod of his strength come forth out of Zion; and with it he 
 will dash hTs enemies to pieces like a potter's vessel; then 
 
14-t ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 . shall he have the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
 heaven: (Dan. vii. 27) then "a// kings shall fall down before 
 him, and all nations shall serve him;" (Psalm Ixxii. 11) "all 
 the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, 
 and uU the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him:" 
 Psalm xxii. 27. "As I live saith the Lord every knee shall 
 bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." Isaiah xlv. 
 23; Rom. xiv. 11. ' 
 
 4. There is still a question remains: viz. at what period is 
 the kingdom of Christ to be manifested? — the consideration of 
 which will further tend to clear this matter, and to prove that 
 the kingdom is still future, in that sense in which it is the 
 subject of promise. Now this period is evidently the secofid 
 advent of our Lord. 
 
 Jesus himself tells us, "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;" (Matt. xxv. 31.) and further 
 on he adds — "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 beginning of the world." (ver. 34.) 
 From these scriptures it is evident, that Jesus will be then 
 personally on the throne of his glory; and that the saints will 
 only then receive the kingdom. 
 
 The texts just instanced will also serve to determine the 
 sense of two others, and to fix the period of time mentioned 
 in them. The one is Matt. xix. 28. "Verily I say unto you, 
 That ye which have followed me, — in the regeneration, when 
 the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, — ye also 
 shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel." The sitting of the Son of man on the throne of his 
 glory must be the same in both places; and therefore as the 
 first is at this time of the advent, and the latter at the time of 
 the regeneration, so the regeneration here spoken of must be at 
 the advent; and can be no other than that mentioned in 
 Romans viii. 18 — 23, when the earth shall be renewed, and the 
 creature delivered, &c. 
 
 The other passage is Matt. xiii. 43. "Then shall the righte- 
 ous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." 
 The context shows that the anrrels are sent forth at this time 
 "to gather out of the Lord's kingdom all things that offend;" 
 (ver. 13.) and the context shows in the former instance, that 
 the angels come with our Lord when he sits on the throne of 
 his glory; that a separation is made of the sheep and goats, in 
 the same manner as in this instance of the wheat and tares; 
 that as the goals are bid to depart into everlasting fire, so the 
 tares arc bound up in bundles for the burning; and that as the 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^45 
 
 righteous are in the former instance invited to come and 
 "inherit the kingdom," so in this latter instance they "shine 
 forth as the sun" in it. Both places refer to the same period; 
 and this, (as we have seen by the former parallelism,) is at the 
 regeneration, or millennial era, when the earth shall be renew- 
 ed and yield its increase;* the same period again as that in 
 Romans viii. IS — 23, viz. "the manifesldlion of the sons of 
 God," when the creature itself shall be delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children 
 of God. 
 
 The Lord further connects the period of the advent with his 
 kingdom, first in Luke xii. 32 — 36, when he declares to his 
 disciples, that it is the good pleasure of their heavenly Father 
 to give them the kingdom; and then exhorts them to sit loosely 
 to the things of this world, that they may be as men that zvail 
 for their Lord, zvhen he zcill return from the rveddivg. Secondly, 
 in Luke xxi. 25 — 31, he describes the signs which shall ter- 
 minate the times of the Gentiles, and usher in the coming of 
 the Son of man with power and great glory; (ver. 27.) and 
 when they see these signs begin to come to pass, they are to 
 understand that "their redemption and the kingdom of God are 
 nigh at hand. Ver. 28, 3 L 
 
 The apostles in like manner connect the advent with the 
 kingdom, an instance or two of which connection will suffice. — 
 
 In 2 Tim. iv. 1, St. Paul gives Timothy a solemn charge 
 before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who (he says) shall 
 judge the quick and dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 
 thus making the judgment of the quick (or living) and of the 
 dead, together with the appearing and kingdom of Christ, to 
 commence or transpire at the same period. The mention of 
 the judgment of quick and dead in this connexion, however it 
 may prove that the kingchm is necessarily future, will with 
 some appear to postpone it to a period subsequent to the mil- 
 lennium. This however only betrays, that their notions of 
 the judgment are not according to the general tenor of the scrip- 
 tures (as will hereafter be seen;) and that they must seek for 
 some more just and comprehensive view of that important 
 subject. For the present, it must suffice to bring forward one 
 other passage from St. Paul. — 
 
 In I Cor. XV. it is revealed, that there is an order in the 
 resurrection, viz. 1st. "Christ, the first fruits;" (ver. 23.)'with 
 whom may be included that "handful" as it were of saints, 
 
 * To conclude ihat the judgment described in the parable of the tares is not 
 before the millet^nium, is to suppose that the tares will grow with the wheat, 
 to the great annoyance of the servants of the Lord, throughout the millen- 
 nium. 
 
14G ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 who came out of their graves afler the resurrection of Christ, 
 (Matt, xxvii. 52, 53,) and who together constituted the sheaf 
 of the first fruits of the harvest, (Lev. xxiii. 10.) 2nd. "They 
 that at the coming of Christ belong to him;" (ver. 23.) in 
 which must be included the dead in Christ, who are to rise 
 first, and the living or quick, who shall be "caught up together 
 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." The 
 1st Thess, iv. 15 — 17, where this is made mention of, evidently 
 relates to the same period spoken of in 1 Cor. xv. for here also 
 it is said, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;'' 
 and in Thessalonians it is declared to be, when the Lord shall 
 descend, ''witli the voice of the archangel and the trump of 
 God." But, 3dly, it is stated, "Then cometh the end," or, as 
 it is in the original, "then the end," (ver. 24.) The three 
 periods or epochs in this order of the resurrection are thus 
 distinctly marked "Christ, the first fruits;" — "afterward they 
 that are Christ's, at his comitig;" — "//<en the end." And what 
 is this end? It is declared to be the period "when he shall 
 have delivered i/p the kitigdom to God, even the Father; when 
 he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power." 
 Now there must be some period of time, during which the 
 Lord shall reign, and the saints possess the kingdom with him: 
 we have seen that this 'period cannot be in this present dispen- 
 sation; but that it is to be at the Lord's advent; and we here 
 see tiiat after the advent, which closes this dispensation, is to 
 follow the end when he shall have reigned. The interval there- 
 fore must be betzveen the advent and that end when he resigns 
 the kingdom unto God, who shall then be all in all. And 
 this corresponds with what is revealed in Daniel vii.; where 
 "the thrones are cast down," that is placed or set down (m^»crrtv, 
 Sept.) and judgment is given to the saints," and they take away 
 his dominion, to consume and destroy it to the end;'^ at which 
 period of the expiration of the fourtli kingdom it is, that the 
 kingdom of the Son of man is first spoken of as a kingdom. 
 Compare verses S, 9, and 21 — 27. It also corresponds with 
 Rev. XX. 4. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, 
 and judgment was given unto them, &c. and they lived and 
 reigned with Christ a thousand years:" after which the rest of 
 the dead live, (v. 5.) and the books are again opened, and a 
 judgment occurs, not of the saints, nor by the saints, but upon 
 those only whose names arc not found in the book of life, (ver. 
 12, 15.) 
 
 5. It remains only to notice a few of those passages, which 
 may appear, at the first glance, to a person whose mind is pre- 
 possessed with the notion of the kingdom being this present 
 
ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 147 
 
 Christian dispensation, somewhat irreconcileable with what has 
 been stated. 
 
 It has been admitted already, that there is in the expression 
 kingdom of heaven, or kingdom of God, a reference sometimes 
 only to the circumstances of the religion of Christ. The pas- 
 sages of Scripture in which the kingdom is mentioned may 
 consequently be divided into three classes. First, those which 
 are so expressly referable to the future glorious kingdom, (as 
 has been the case with most of those already adduced,) that 
 they do not obviously bear any other sense. Secondly, those 
 not immediately applicable to the circumstances of the future 
 glorious kingdom, and which must therefore be limited to the 
 religion; as for example, Matt. xi. 15; xxi. 43. Luke xii. 34. 
 The third class (and that a numerous class) may be referred to 
 either, or to both; as INIatt. vi. 33. The second class, how- 
 ever, ought not to be considered as contradictory to the others, 
 nor in any way nugatory of them. The Christian religion, 
 with its ordinances, and doctrines, and that invisible spiritual 
 aid promised to the believer, is to be considered only as a 
 means to an end. The publication of these things is that 
 ^'gospel of the kingdom," by which men are instructed, warned, 
 or exhorted, in regard to the only mode by which they can 
 ultimately attain to the glories of the kingdom.* 
 
 But there are, among the class of texts just adverted to, 
 some which speak of the kingdom of God as being at hand, 
 (Matt. iii. 2.) as come nigh to them, (Luke x. IL) and as come 
 unto and upoti them, (Matt. xii. 2S, Luke xi. 20,) and this 
 during the time of our Lord's ministry. But these may again 
 be explained upon the same principle that is to be applied to 
 the remaining texts of that class. (See page 123.) But besides 
 this it must be observed that there are many things which are 
 in their fulness and final consummation yet future, whilst yet 
 they are frequently spoken of as already enjoyed. I will here 
 instance the adoption, which is not made manifest until the 
 body is redeemed from death, as declared in Rom. viii. 23; 
 whilst yet, in verse 15, wc are said to have received the spirit 
 of adoption. What is said of the redemption of the body 
 shows us further that redemption is in its completion a thing 
 
 ♦ This beingan admitted sense of the phrase kingdom of heaven, independent 
 of its principal signification, it is to be expected that the use of the phrase in 
 such a sense will sometimes occur in the writings of the Jewish Rabbius. 
 Schoettgen and Wetslein instance some of these: but Koppe, in his Excursus 
 on the Kingdom of God, (translated and published in the Investigator, vol. ii.) 
 cites instances also from their writings in which the phrase, as used by them, 
 can only refer to the future glorious kingdom expected hy them, and shows 
 also how the fofmer passages have been misunderstood by Schoettgen and 
 Wetstein. 
 
148 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 future; even as in Ephesians iv. 30. we are said to be sealed 
 by the Spirit unto the day of redemption. And yet again, in 
 Ephes. i. 7. it is said, in reference to Christ, <'in whom we 
 have redemption through his blood." Once more, saka(io?i is 
 spoken of as a thing future in the following places, Rom. xiii. 
 11. 1 Thes. V. S. Heb. ix. 2S. 1 Pet. i. 5. ; and yet in the fol- 
 lowing it is spoken, of as already arrived and received, Luke ii. 
 30; xfx. 9. Rom. xi. 11. 2 Cor. vi. 2. Tit. ii. 11. Now the 
 latter texts cannot contradict the former; they must therefore 
 refer to the "giving knowledge of salvation," or to the receiv- 
 ing the grace whereby we are led to embrace the hope of sal- 
 vation, and to become meet for it. And those texts, therefore, 
 which speak of the kingdom as already at hand, or as being 
 come, have precisely the same relation, as in the above exam- 
 ples concerning redemption and salvation, to the other texts 
 which postpone it to a future time. 
 
 There are however some three or four particular texts yet to 
 be noticed, which seem to oppose a difficulty in the way of 
 this view of the subject. — 
 
 There is first the saying of the thief upon the cross — ''Lord 
 remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom;" (Luke 
 xxiii. 42.) which conveys an impression, that Jesus entered 
 into his kingdom after his death. It ought not, under any 
 view of it, to be considered as a contradiction to those texts, 
 which plainly declare that his kingdom shall be at his appear- 
 ing; but the fact is, that the original is, "when thou comest m 
 («v) thy kingdom:" so that this text, when properly translated 
 is strongly confirmatory of the view here taken. 
 
 The next is Luke xvii. 20, 21 — "The kingdom of God 
 cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, La here! 
 or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is -uithin you." 
 The ordinary interpretation given by commentators is, — tbat 
 the kingdom of God ivilhin them, must signify the dominion 
 of grace in the heart: which interpretation would not so offend 
 against the general tenor of the word of God, if it were not 
 sought to force a similar sense, by virtue of the supposed 
 meaning of this place, on all texts where mention is made of 
 the kingdom. Many difficulties would thence arise: to instance 
 one, — it would imply, that Joseph of Arimathea, who was still 
 waiti?ig for the kingdom (Mark xv. 43.) was zdlhout this inward 
 grace, whilst the Pliarisees possessed it. Certainly Joseph could 
 not have been waiting for the kingdom in that spirit of faith 
 and patience, which the mention of him seems to imply, unless 
 the kingdom of God has been xmlhin him in a spiritual sense. 
 Other commentators would therefore interpret it, "The king- 
 dom, of God is amo?ig you." But it docs not appear that the 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 149 
 
 word rendered within (c/tsc) is ever used by Greek writers of 
 the Old or New Testaments in the sense contended for, and it 
 is extremely doubtful if profane writers so use it.* And if 
 this v:ere the sense of it, how again could Joseph of Arimathea 
 be said to be n-ailing for the kingdom, seeing it was already 
 among them. In the spiritual sense then, the kingdom com- 
 eth not with observation; for the Spirit is like the wind, "we 
 cannot see from whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth." 
 But in regard to the manifest alion of the kingdom, our Lord 
 has himself described the signs, by which we maij observe its 
 approach, and know that the kingdom of God draweth nigh. 
 And he clearly shews that it was not manifested in his days, 
 since (as before has been stated) he spake a parable for the 
 express purpose of correcting the erroneous notions of some, 
 who thought that it was about immediately to appear. 
 
 Another text brought forward as an objection by some is 
 John xviii. 36. "jSIy kingdom is not of this world." On this 
 Koppe, whose Excursus on this subject has before been ad- 
 verted to, observes: — "In fine, John xviii. 30, I cannot see to 
 signify any thing but this (which we learn from the whole 
 tenor of the life and doctrines of Jesus,) that the kingdom of 
 Christ would not be like the kingdom of men; that is, espe- 
 cially, it would not be established by human power, nor by 
 the might of human armies. This was the only thing that 
 was required to be stated by the Roman governor to deliver 
 him from the fear that Jesus might in any degree assail the 
 authority of the Roman empire." In addition to this obser- 
 vation it may be stated here, that throughout what has been 
 advanced concerning the kingdom of God appearing in power 
 and glory in the earth, "it is the iwrld to come whereof we 
 speak," and not the world as it now is. 
 
 There is however a texf which at first view opposes a more 
 formidable objection to the doctrine here advocated; viz. 
 Mark ix. 1. "There be some standing here which shall not 
 taste of death, until they see the kingdom of God come uith 
 power." St. Matthew has it, "till they see the Son of Man 
 comitig in his kingdom." xvi. 2S. Certainly these expres- 
 sions — "the kingdom of God coming with pon-er,'' and "the 
 Son of Man coming in his kingdom," are as strongly descrip- 
 tive of the majestij of that kingdom, as they well can be; and 
 seeing that this demonstration of the power of it was to he 
 beheld by some of those then standing by, and that it must be 
 superior to that already witnessed by them, (such as the cast- 
 
 ♦ See this pomt ably treated by a writer signed E, in the Investigator, vol. 
 1. page 99. 
 
 VOL. II. — 13 
 
150 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 ing out devils, raising the dead, &c.) there seems to be nothing 
 to which it can at all answer during the life time of any of that 
 generation, but the destruction of Jerusalem, or the pentecostal 
 effusion of the Spirit; both of which have consequently been 
 called the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, in 
 reference to this place. It happens however, in this instance, 
 that the co7itext is entirely overlooked. In all three of the 
 gospels in which this declaration of our Lord is recorded,* it 
 is immediately followed, without any other matter interven- 
 ing, by the narrative that Jesus, a few days after this saying, 
 took Peter, James and John up into the mount, and was trans- 
 figured before them, and that Moses and Elijah appeared with 
 him in glory. JNow the connection of this narrative with the 
 previous saying, in all three instances, — made more strikingly 
 so in St. Luke by his introduction of it; "and it came to pass 
 about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter,-' &c. — 
 might lead to the conclusion, that this transfiguration was an 
 exhibition, in the way of pattern, to the Apostles of the power 
 and majesty which Jesus should display, when he should come 
 in the glory of his kingdom: but it is put beyond reasonable 
 question that it is so, by Peter who was one of the three wit- 
 nesses to it; for he tells us in his 2d Epistle — <'We have not 
 followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto 
 you the poicer and comwg of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 
 eije-wilnesses of his majesty;" and he then proceeds to point to 
 tifiis transaction, and to the voice of the Father which came 
 from out of the excellent glory, which they also heard when 
 they were with him in the holy mount. 2 Peter i. 16 — IS. This 
 shews therefore, that our Lord did not allude, in his declara- 
 tion (Mark ix. 1,) to the period when his power and coming 
 should commence; but to that visible specimen and earnest of it, 
 which he here gave them. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 A more serious objection will seem, in the minds of many, 
 to lie against the doctrine of the Kingdom just propounded, 
 arising from the numerous Scriptures which set forth Christ 
 
 * Malt. xvi. xvii. Mark ix. and Luke ii. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 15^ 
 
 as comina; to jud^e the world at his second advent. The 
 seeming difficulty however again consists in the circumstance 
 of our having lost sight of the statements on the subject con- 
 tained in the word of God; which, when viewed in the gene- 
 ral, will be found decidedly to support and confirm what has 
 been advanced. 
 
 The single idea entertained of the judgment by most per 
 sons is, that it will be a great assize, at which the Lord Jesus 
 will preside, and all mankind be put upon their trial. But the 
 characteristics of a judge, as given in the Scriptures, are as 
 follows: to rule and govern as a king; to deliver and avenge his 
 people; and to protect and defend them from their enemies: whence 
 it follows, that the judgment of Christ must consist, not only 
 in vengeance and punishment, but also in government and rule, 
 and that the Lord must consequently act the King, in this his 
 character of Judge. 
 
 1. In proof of this, the instances may be pointed to of all 
 those, who in ancient times were raised up by the Lord and 
 made judges over Israel, — as Gideon, Sampson, Jephtha and 
 others. In this character they were all of them types of the 
 Lord Jesus, the great Judge; and it would appear that, having 
 avenged the people on their enemies, they exercised rule and 
 authority over the nation, during the period that they conti- 
 nued to judge it. And when the nation afterwards demanded 
 a king, it was not so much a change in the nature of the office 
 which they desired, as a more complete and fixed state of it; 
 for they were unwilling any longer to be dependent on the 
 Lord Jehovah, cither to fight their battles, or to raise them up 
 Saviours; but they cried, "We will have a king over us, that 
 we also may be like all the nations: and that our king may 
 judge us, and fight our battles." Thus the king was still to 
 be the Judge: just as St. 'Paul, (Rom. xiv. 9.) speaking of our 
 all standing before the judgment seat of Christ, says — "that to 
 this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that lie might 
 be Lord both of the dead and living,'^ the same thing as in 
 parallel places is described as his being the "Judge both of 
 quick and dead." Compare Acts x. 42. 2 Tim. iv. 1. 1 Pet. 
 iv. 5. 
 
 The chief prophecies which relate to Christ as a Judge, and 
 to the judgment he will execute, will further demonstrate, that 
 princely rule and government are to be the special character- 
 istics of his judgment, and that it will be a continued office 
 among or over the nations. A few passages will serve to place 
 this matter, as it is hoped, in a clear point of view. 
 
 In Psalm* Ixxii. 1 — 4, it is written — "Give the King thy 
 judgments, God, and thy righteousness unto the King's Son. 
 
15'> ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 He shall judge thy jDCople with righteousness, and thy poor 
 with juc/<rmt'nts. The mountains shall bring peace to the 
 people, and the little hills, by righteousness. For he shall 
 judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the 
 needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.'' Here the par- 
 ties, whom it is said he shall principally j;/c/o-e zvith judgme?its, 
 are the poor and fieedy — the very persons to whom the Lord 
 declares, in so many places, he will look with mercy, and 
 whose Saviour it is his glory especially to be called. The 
 notion therefore of their being visited with judgments in the 
 way of wrath is excluded: his judgments are to save them 
 from oppressors, and then to govern them in righteousness; 
 though even they will have to stand before his judgment seat, 
 and give account of themselves to God. 
 
 The following sentences from the Psalms are nearly of a 
 similar character, one with the other, — "Arise, God, judge 
 the earth; for thou shalt inherit all nations." Psalm Ixxxii. 8. 
 '•For lie (the Lord) cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: 
 he shall judge {he zvorld with righteousness and the people with 
 his truth." Psalm xcvi. 13. "For the Lord cometh io judge 
 the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the u-orld, and the 
 people with equity." Psalm xcviii. 9. "He shall judge the 
 XKorld in righteousness; He shall minister judgment to the people 
 in uprightness." Psaljn ix. 8. "0, let the natio?is be glad 
 and sing for joy! for thou shall judge the people righteously, 
 and govern the fiations upon earth." Psalm Ixvii. 4. In these 
 passages is unanimously declared a righteous government upon 
 earth. It is over the nations that the judgment is to be insti- 
 tuted, and it is to the 7iations (or "peoples" — the original is 
 plural) that it is to be "ministered." This implies that they 
 will be existing as nations at the time when the judgment shall 
 be exercised among them; and their being called upon to 
 rejoice shews, that it will prove a blessing to them, and not, as 
 is commonly supposed, a punishment. In some of these sen- 
 tences indeed, the latter clauses, which are explanatory of the 
 former, or inductions of them, clearly point out what the nature 
 of the judgment is to be. For example, in Psalm Ixxxii, "to 
 judge the earth" is explained by inheriting all natioiis. In 
 Psalm ix. "to judge the world in righteousness, is to administer 
 judgment to the peoples {y=Lw, Sept.) In Psalm Ixvii. "to judge 
 the peoples" (again plural in the original) is to govern the na- 
 tions (or gentiles) upon earth." These things are made still 
 more apparent by other prophets. Both Micah and Isaiah 
 declare of him, that "He shall judge among many peoples, and 
 rebuke strong nations afar oflT;" (Micah iv. 3. Isaiah ii. 4.) and 
 the fact which immediately follows in both prophets, — that 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 153 
 
 they are to beat their swords into ploughshares, and their 
 spears into pruning hooks, and not learn war any more, whilst 
 it prov'es tlie continuation of his judgment, and that it is in the 
 t'ar/A, manifests likewise the peaceful blessings that accompany 
 his judgment, Jeremiah also declares, (xxiii, 5.) "Behold! a 
 king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment ayid 
 justice in the eaiih." The whole of the testimony here brought 
 forward to prove, that the judgment of Christ is, principally, 
 his reigjiing upon the earth, — first, delivering his people from 
 their enemies, then ruling them, and likewise the nations, with 
 holy statutes or judgments, — may be summed up in one pas- 
 sage in Isaiah xxiii. 22. "The Lord is our Judge, — the Lord 
 is our Lawgiver, — the Lord is our King, — He will save 
 us!'-' 
 
 (2.) Another point connected with this subject, and which 
 will further tend to clear and prove the view here taken, is, 
 the participation of the saints in the Judgment spoken of; for 
 if the ^'Judge of Israel," and "the King of Israel," are in the 
 person of Christ one and the same office, it follows that those 
 who are to be "kings and priests" with him, and who are "to 
 sit in his throne," are in like mSinner judges; and the scriptures 
 will speak o( their rule in the same manner that they speak of 
 Christ's rule, — viz. as being a judgment. There is however 
 abundant evidence to this point. 
 
 First, Enoch prophesied, "Behold the Lord cometh with 
 myriads of his saints, to execute judgment upon all." Jude 14, 
 15. David says, "that to execute the judgment written is an 
 honour which all the saints are to have." Psalm cxlix. 5 — 9. 
 In the vision which Daniel had of the kingdom of our Lord, 
 we have already seen, in the former chapter, that he saw the 
 thrones placed down, and jxidgment was given to the saints of 
 the Most liigli;" — "and the time came that the saints possessed 
 the kingdom." Dan. vii. And St. Paul declares explicitly, 
 "that the saints ?,\\^\\ judge the world." 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3. 
 
 It has indeed been asserted hy some, that the word sahits in 
 these places, and in one or two similar to them in Zechariah, 
 Thessalonians, &c. signifies, not sanctified hinnan beings, but 
 the holy and elect angels, who are to attend Christ when he 
 comes to sit on th6 throne of his glory. This is quite incon- 
 sistent with the doctrine of scripture in other places: "Know 
 ye not (saith the apostle) that the 6rt/?i/s shall judge the world?" 
 1 Cor. vi. 2. The context shews us, whom he means by the 
 saints; for he adds, — "and if the world shall be judged by you, 
 are ye unwortliy to judge the smallest matters." Yea, he goes 
 further, and adds, — "Know ye not that ye shall judge a7?i^e/s?" 
 thus showing, that instead of the saints, who come with Christ 
 13* 
 
1 54 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 to rule, and who have judgment given to them, being the 
 angels, the angels themselves are the subjects of that judgment. 
 For as Christ our head is exalted above the thrones and prin- 
 cipalities and powers in heavenly places, (Ephes. i, 20 — 23) 
 so must the members of Christ necessarily be likewise; unless 
 there be a schism in the body when glorified: but no, we are 
 again assured, "that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with 
 Christ, (if so be that we suffer with him,) that we may be also 
 glorified together. Rom. viii. 17. It may be further shown, 
 from Matt. xix. 28, that the saints who are to ju-^ge are not 
 angels; for there the Lord promises to his aposiles in par- 
 ticular, "that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall 
 sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Indeed the 
 angels are declared to be ''mi?nstering spirits, sent forth to 
 minister to those, who are the heirs of salvation." Heb. i. 14. 
 The passage in 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, is so convincing, as to the 
 participation of the saints in the judgment, that most commen- 
 tators are compelled to admit, that the saints will, i/i some 7vay 
 or other, be joined with Christ in the judgment. But, in rvhat 
 way? — If the judgment is to be nothing more than a kind of 
 trial, in which rewards and punishments are to be determined 
 by the Lord, the saints will themselves (as before stated) have 
 to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, and give account 
 of the deeds done in the body; and then the secrets of all 
 hearts shall be revealed, and every one shall be rewarded ac- 
 cording to his works." Rom. xiv. 10 — 12; 2 Cor, v. 10. It 
 is therefore considered by some, that the saints will be first 
 tried and acquitted, and then will take their seat on the bench 
 (as it were) and become assessors in the judgment on the 
 wicked. It is humbly conceived, however, that if the persons 
 disposed to this opinion would but follow out their own hypo- 
 thesis to those necessary consequences to which it must lead, 
 they would at once be convinced of its absurdity. For how 
 shall the saints be assessors at the trial of the wicked? Is it 
 for them to determine the innocence or guilt, or the amoimt of 
 the guilt, of the parties? or is it for them to award the punish- 
 ment? Surely Christ needs neither counsel nor advice in this 
 matter; nor would it be in the power of the saints at this junc- 
 ture to give it. But if we understand the judgment to include 
 also rule and authority to be delegated to the saints, in the 
 kingdom of Christ, then these things are perfectly reconcile- 
 able: nor can a consistent exposition be given of Luke xix. 
 17 — 19, in which one of the faithful servants is declared to be 
 ruler over ten cities and another over five cities, &c., but upon 
 the principle of interpretation here advocated. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 155 
 
 (3.) Little need be said to prove, that a Judgment of this 
 description has never yet appeared amono; the nations. The 
 history of mankind is little else than a history of despotism, 
 tyranny and oppression on the one hand, and which has often 
 been met by sedition and rebellion on the other hand. Those 
 possessing power have constantly abused it for selfish and am- 
 bitious ends; and the very men who have clamoured the most 
 loudly against its exercise, have in turn, when possessed of it 
 themselves, shewn themselves equally incapable of ruling in 
 righteousness. The great desideratum with nations has ever 
 been good government; and it continues to be the desire of all 
 nations still. A David may at times have risen up, and exhi- 
 bited for a brief space, and within a limited sphere, something 
 like a feeble and very defective type of the king of righteous- 
 ness; but the eftect has been only to make the next generation 
 of mankind more keenly sensible of the general injustice and 
 oppressiveness of power, when lodged in the hands of apostate 
 man; and to cause those who have believed in God to cry — 
 ^'Arise, God; judge the earth.'^ And in these latter days, — 
 in which we witness such prodigious efforts, raised up by the 
 Lord, toward calling men into his heavenly kingdom, and pre- 
 paring them for his rule of righteousness, — we witness also a 
 new effort made by man to rule himself; which consists in a 
 crusade against kings and those who are elevated to rank and 
 dignity in the world, and an attempt to procure for the people 
 such a power and mastery over their rulers, as that the former 
 may govern the latter, instead of being governed by them. 
 The experience of those states, which have hitherto lived under 
 democracies, does not warrant the expectation, that such a 
 means of regenerating mankind will prove effectual: for whilst 
 they have indeed escaped the rod of one tyrant, it has been 
 only either to place themselves under the despotism of many 
 tyrants, or to be continually torn by intestine broils and strife. 
 The experience of a neighbouring country (France) evinces, 
 that the dominion of the many in place of the few is like 
 breaking the rod of the serpent onl}^ to have come forth from 
 his root the cockatrice, and his fruit a fiery flying serpent, — 
 or (as the Septuagint has it) broods of vipers. Isaiah xiv. 29. 
 
 Li this matter likewise, (viz. that the reign of righteousness 
 has not yet commenced,) we have the express testimony of our 
 Lord; so far, at least, as his declining to take on himself the 
 office of the judge is concerned. For not only did he withdraw, 
 when the people were about to take him and make him king; 
 (John vi. 15.) but he refused to judge in tlic case of the woman 
 taken in adultery; (John viii. 3.) and he rebuked ^another, who 
 wished him to act as arbitrator in his cause, with, — "Man, who 
 
irf ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 made me a judge or a divider over you." Luke xii. 14. And 
 thou<>;h he asserts most explicitly in St. John's gospel, "that 
 the Father hath committed all judgment (or sovereignty) to 
 the Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they 
 honour the Father;" (v. 22.) yet he as expressly tells Nicode- 
 mus, in the same gospel, (iii. 17.) "that God sent not his Son 
 into the world to judge* the world." That is, (as I apprehend 
 it,) he was deceived in respect to the immediate ohject of our 
 Lord's coming at that time; which was to lay down his own 
 life, a ransom for many, that through him all that believe might 
 obtain eternal salvation; and not to take to himself his great 
 power and reign. 
 
 And if the Son of Man came not at this time to be ministered 
 unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many, 
 still less is this the period when those who are. chosen by him 
 expressly to be ministers are appointed judges over the world. 
 They are indeed able to be judges among each other; and in 
 that place of scripture already adverted to, viz. 1 Cor. vi. 1 — 3, 
 are rebuked for not judging their own matters. But in regard 
 to that judgment which is the subject of promise to them, the 
 Lord warns them: "Ye know that they which are accounted 
 to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their 
 great ones exercise authority upon them: but so shall it not be 
 among you." (Mark. i. 42.) And the context in this place 
 will, if duly considered, serve to fix the meaning of Luke, 
 xxii. 29, 30, which was spoken on the same occasion. In 
 Mark's Gospel it appears, that the strife, as to which should be 
 accounted greatest in the kingdom of God, originated from the 
 request of the sons of Zebedee to sit, the one on the right 
 hand and the other on the left hand of Christ, when he should 
 come in his glory; which roused the indignation of the ten; 
 and the Lord put an end to it by admonishing them, that as he 
 had come now to minister, "and was among them as he that 
 serveth," so they were now not to look to be greater than their 
 Lord, but were to i)e made partakers of his sufierings. He 
 then however encourages them with a promise in regard to the 
 future; that as they were now to be with him in his tempta- 
 tions, so they were hereafter to have authority and glory; for 
 "I appoint unto you, (saith he) a kingdom, as my Father liath 
 appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in 
 my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
 
 * Our Irnnslation is — "to cnndann;'''' but the verb is xuvoe which is to exercise 
 the function of judgment, either to acquit or condemn; and also (in various 
 instances given in Lexicons I'rom the New Testament,) to rule, and exercise 
 authority. The word KAntufivo) is that generally used in the New Testament 
 when condemnation alone is intended. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 157 
 
 Israel." This place is, by those who spiritualize (or rather 
 allegorize) the scriptures, interpreted of the authority which 
 the apostles exercised in the church, which (they say) being 
 the spiritual Israel, is therefore the twelve tribes; and the 
 eating and drinking at the Lord's table, is explained of tlie ad- 
 ministration of tlie Sacrament of the Lord's supper. But how 
 clearly tlie context disproves this, both in Mark and Luke, — 
 "Their great ones exercise authority upon them; but so shall 
 it ?iot be among you." But, surely, to sit on thrones judging 
 the twelve tribes would be exercising lordship among each 
 other, contrary to our Lord's direction. So, the kingdom ap- 
 pointed, in which they are to be elevated to thrones, is evi- 
 dently to follow the time of temptation; for only "if we suffer 
 with him, we shall also reio-n wit li him." 2 Tim. ii. 12. There- 
 fore to place them upon thrones, during the time of their tri- 
 bulation and temptation, is quite irreconcileable with all that 
 the scripture says on the kingdom. The apostle Paul did not 
 account thus; for he writes to tiie Thessalonians, — "We our- 
 selves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience 
 and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure; 
 which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, 
 that ye may be counted worthy of the Uingdom of God, for 
 which ye also suffer." 2 Thess. i. 4, 5. Well would it be, for 
 the ministers of the Lord in particular, if they would bear 
 more continually in mind, that they are now to be servants 
 and not rulers. There is a great proneness, even in many ex- 
 cellent and good men, to carry themselves as lords, rather than 
 ministers, in the heritage of Christ, and to assume authority 
 even in the world. But we must prophesy in sackcloth, and 
 patiently wait for the blessed time, when — "Behold, a king 
 shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment;" 
 (Isa. xxxii. I.) when God v^ill also make the commonest offi- 
 cers in his kingdom peace, and his exactors righteousness; — 
 when violence shall no more be heard in their land, wasting 
 nor destruction within their borders. Isa. Ix. 17, IS. 
 
 2. There is another important feature of the judgment yet 
 remains to be considered, and that is tlie vengeance of the Lord 
 upon his own and his people's enemies: for all this, and the 
 gathering out of his kingdom every thing that offends and does 
 iniquity, is, in my apprehension of it, included in the judg- 
 ment. The period of judgment must consequently compre- 
 hend those tremendous visitations or vials of wrath, which 
 precede the millennium, the whole time of the saints rule on 
 earth, and that fmal visitation of the wicked which occurs at 
 the expiration t)f tlie millennium. This is the time of Gentile 
 ascendancy: that the period (as I hope hereafter to show) of 
 
158 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 IsraeVs domination. This is the day of depression and of tri- 
 bulation among the saints: that is to be the period of their 
 supremacy and triumph. 
 
 It is indeed objected against such a view of the subject, that 
 the judgment is called in scripture "the day of the Lord," 
 "that great (/a?/," and even *'the /iOi«- of his judgment," which 
 expressions are considered incompatible with its duration 
 through upwards of a thousand years. This would not be a 
 sufficient objection, even were we to understand the terms day 
 and hour in their restricted sense of a period of twenty-four 
 hours, and of a twenty-fourth part of the same; for it is evident 
 from the context, in most instances where these expressions 
 occur relative to the judgment, that a particular feature only of 
 the judgment is spoken of — viz. the crisis when the divine 
 wrath will be poured out: just as has been shown in the former 
 chapter, the reference to the kingdom is sometimes to the cir- 
 cumstances connected with the progress of Christianity, and 
 not to the future glory of the kingdom. And truly that period, 
 when plague, pestilence, famine, the sword, and fire, shall fall 
 upon the ungodly, may be with propriety distinguished as 
 "that great day" — ^^"the dark and cloudy day," — seeing it is to 
 put an effectual check to the ungodly tyranny of man, and to 
 usher in a glorious period of righteousness and peace. 
 
 The expressions, day and hour, however, have not that limited 
 meaning, cither in the scriptures or among ourselves, as is here 
 attempted to be imposed upon them. They are doubtless 
 used in the restricted sense at times; but this is readily deter- 
 mined by the context. But on the other hand, any period of 
 time, during which events of a uniform character take place, 
 are called the day thereof. Thus in Gen. ii. 4, the zchole period 
 of creation is called a day. In Psalm xcv. the forty years 
 wandering in the wilderness is called "the day of temptation." 
 And in 2 Cor. vi. 2. the period of the divine mercy under the 
 gospel is called "the day of salvation." So the word Jiuiir has 
 the same extensive signification, on which account our trans- 
 lators often render (ag^) it by the word seaso??, as in John v. 35. 
 2 Cor. vii. 8. Philemon v. 15. In the first instance it signi- 
 fies the whole period of John the Baptist's ministry; in the 
 second, the time which elapsed between the reception by the 
 Corinthians of the two epistles of. St. Paul to them; and in the 
 third instance, the whole term of the desertion of Onesimus 
 from his master Philemon. In 1 John ii. IS. it is translated 
 time, and relates to the whole period from the time of John to 
 the second advent. 
 
 For a more clai)orate discussion, however, of these terms, I 
 must refer the reader to AbdiePs Essays, page S3; and here 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTEPvPRETATION. J 59 
 
 content myself with remarking further, in regard to the judg- 
 ment, that if the seven vials, in which is filled up the wrath of 
 God, are a portion of that judgment, the description of one of 
 them plainly indicates, that it cannot take place in a period of 
 twenty-four hours; for under the sixth vial, the Euphrates is 
 dried up, that the way of the kings of the east may be pre- 
 pared; and three spirits are seen to go forth from out of the 
 mouths of the dragon, and beast, and false prophet, to the 
 kings of the earth and of the zi-hole u-orhl^ to gather them together 
 to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. xvi. 
 12 — 14. Now without insisting on any particular interpreta- 
 tion of the Euphrates, the armies of the kings of the whole 
 world cannot be gathered together in one day of twenty-four 
 hours; — to say nothing of tlie previous work of preparation, 
 here said to be eifected by the spirits of devils working mi- 
 racles. 
 
 (2.) It only remains tb.erefore for me now to instance some 
 of the more striking passages of scripture which relate to the 
 vengeance or zcrath, so frequently made mention of as forming 
 part of the judgment, 
 
 Isaiah xxxiv. commences by solemnly inviting the attention 
 of all flesh: "Come near, ye nations, to hear, and hearken ye 
 people; let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the zcorh/, and 
 all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the 
 Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: 
 he hath utterly destroyed them: he hath delivered them to the 
 slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink 
 shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be 
 melted with their blood." At verse 5, it continues — "Behold 
 it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my 
 curse to judgment. The word of the Lord Is filled zcith blood,'' 
 "for the Lord hath a great 'sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great 
 slaughter in the land of Idumea, &:c. — their land shall be soaked 
 with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness; for it is the day 
 of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the 
 controversy of Zion." Then, after dwelling upon the manner 
 in which the land shall be desolated, the prophecy bursts forth, 
 in the next chapter, into a rapturous description of the way in 
 which ihc earth shall afterwards be renewed for the righteous. 
 
 In the preceding passage it will be perceived, that the judg- 
 ment, therein spoken of, falls on Idumea (or Edom,*) of which 
 Bozrah was the capital. These names, with other characteris- 
 tics of the prophecy, serve to identify and connect it with 
 
 * Both the anciept and modern Jews, and after them, various Christian ex- 
 positors, interpret Edbm to be Rome. Mr. Scott considers it a mystical name 
 for all the enemies of the church. 
 
150 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 another prophecy in chapter Ixiii. 1 — 5, which informs U3 
 also, who is to be the great actor in the tribulation: "Who is 
 this that Cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Boz- 
 RAH? this, that is glorious in his apparel, travailing in the 
 •Mcatness of his strength?" (Anszcer:) "I, that speak in righte- 
 ousness, mighty to save." "Wherefore art thou red in thine 
 apparel, and thy garmejits like him that treadeth the uine-faiV^ 
 (A?iS7cer:) "I have trodden the zcitie-press alone; and of the 
 people there was none with me. For I will tread them in mine 
 anger, and trample them in my fury; afid iJieir blood shall be 
 sprinkled t/pon my garments; and I will stain all my raiment. 
 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my 
 
 REDEEMED is COVie.'^ 
 
 Those expositors who have constantly endeavoured to turn 
 every thing in prophecy to the circumstanc.es of our Lord's 
 first advent, take advantage here, from the mention of its being 
 "the year of the redeemed,^' to apply the whole to Christ's 
 shedding his own blood as an alo?iement for his people. The 
 expressions however are such as to shew that a very different 
 event must be intended. He comes in his ^'glorious apparel," 
 and he travails in the "greatness of his strength;" whereas, at 
 his first advent, tiiere was no beauty in him, and in his travail 
 his soul was poured out like water. He here ''treads the peo- 
 ple in fury;" then he Was trodden underfoot of men. He here 
 sprinkles his garments with their blood; then his ow?i blood 
 was poured out unto death.* Another prophecy, however, 
 will clearly point out, by an identity of certain leading ex- 
 pressions, to what event reference is here made by the Spirit 
 in Isaiah. 
 
 In Rev. xiv. we have a description of "the vine of the earthy 
 which is cast into the great ici7ie-press of the wrath of God; and 
 the wine-press is trodden without the city, and blood comes out of 
 the wine-press even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a 
 thousand and six hundred furlongs:" and in chap. xix. one is 
 introduced, "clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name 
 is called The Word of God, &c., and he treadeth the wine-press 
 of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath 
 on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of 
 
 * Mr. Scoft in this instance forms a bright exception to these commentators, 
 He says. "These verses contain a prophetical representation of tlie victories of 
 Christ over the enemies of his church; for of him the passage must be inter- 
 preted, nor can so much as an accommodation of it to any other be admitted. 
 But it is remarkable, that many have understood it of the sufferinjis of Christ, 
 and of his being covered with his own blood: though nothing can be more evi- 
 dent, than that he is represented by the prophet, as covered with the blood of 
 his enemies, and as a mightv Conqueror and Avenger, and not as a Lamb slain 
 for a .sacrihce. {See in Loco.) 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. KJJ 
 
 KINGS, AND Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in 
 the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls 
 that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves to- 
 gether unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the 
 flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses, «^'C." 
 
 The mention of the foivls of heaven, called to a great supper^ 
 further connects this subject with a prophecy in Ezekicl xxxix. 
 concerning the destruction of Gog and Magog, the slaughter 
 of whose armies will be so great as to require seven months 
 to bury the dead. At verse 17 are these words: "And thou, 
 Son of man, thus saith the Lord God; speak unto every feathered 
 foii'l, and to every beast of the field. Assemble yourselves 
 and come, gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that 
 I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains 
 of Israel, that ye may eat Jlcsh a?id drink blood. Ye shall eat 
 the flesh of the mighly, and drink the blood of the princes of 
 the earth; — ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, 
 with mighty men, and with all men o/'ttYrr, saith the Lord God. 
 And — I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the 
 heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my 
 hand that I have laid upon them." 
 
 The wine-press, and mention of the gathering of the mighty 
 ones, &c. connect both these last prophecies with Joel 9, iii. 
 14. "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, 
 wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let 
 them come up: beat your ploughshares into swords, and your 
 pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 
 Assemble yourselves and come, all ye heathen, and gather your- 
 selves together round about: thither cause the mighty ones to 
 come down,* Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come 
 up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I set to judge 
 all the heathe?i round about* Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest 
 is ripe: Come, get you down, for the press is full,t the fats 
 overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, 
 in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in 
 the valley of decision." Such is the description of the prepa- 
 tion for vengeance; it terminates in verse 17, by declaring; 
 "then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers 
 pass through her any more;" and it goes on to describe the 
 regeneration of the earth. 
 
 1 shall close this series of prophecies by a reference to one 
 more, which is connected with them by similar expressions 
 relative to the vintage, &c. in Jeremiah xxv. Mr. Begg has 
 
 ♦ The Septiia^int renders tliis last clause, "Let the meek man be a warrior.'' 
 t The harvest and vmlage both appear combined here, as in Rev. xiv. 14 — 2<). 
 VOL. II. — 14 
 
159 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 an interesting exposition of it in his 'Connected View of tlie 
 Redeemer's Advent,' &c. According to liim, the prophet de- 
 clares the relative order of a series of desolating judgments, from 
 before the time of the publication of the prophecy, till the final 
 destruction of antichrist, under the figure of a wi7ie-aip, which 
 the prophet is directed to present to the nations in succession. 
 He maintains that the order of succession is designed, not only 
 from the rotation in which the nations are mentioned, but from 
 the circumstance of the same nations being in some instances 
 made to drink tzvice, as in the case of Edum, under its own 
 name in v. 21, and under the name of Dedan in v. 23. The 
 names Buz (or despised) and Zimri (or my zoine, or my field,) he 
 conceives to be mystic appellations of Israel. The king of 
 Sheshach, who is to drink last, he infers from Jer. li. 45. to be 
 mystic Babylon, showing that though Jeremiah in chap. li. 
 speaks of the literal Babylon in some places, yet that the gene- 
 ral terms of the prophecy, both there and in chap. xxv. can 
 only accord with the mystic Babylon.* I conceive, however, 
 that Sheshach cannot mean here that Babylon which is repre- 
 sented in the apocalypse as the harlot, and which is destroyed 
 by the Beast that wages war with her; but rather that Beast, 
 who is the destroyer, and who is the last antichristian power 
 
 * The passage in Jeremiah li. 41, quoted by Mr. Begg as explanatory of the 
 Idn.g of Sheshach, is as follows: "How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise 
 of the whole earth surprised! — how is Babylon become an astonishment among 
 the nations." Mr. Bcgg seems to consider the last sentence as exegetical of 
 the former, in which opinion I entirely agree with him, and should be satisfied 
 there to leave the matter. It may be useful, however, to the reader, as this 
 name has given occasion to much discussion, to notice the opinions of learned 
 men on the subject, which opinions may be classified under three heads. — 
 
 Jerome gives a cabalistic account of" it, after the Jewish manner, by substi- 
 tuting other letters, of equal numerical value, till out of them he makes Babel: 
 and is quoted as authority for this signification of the word Sheshach, by many 
 subsequent writers, who enter not into his mode of deriving it. The second 
 class includes those who say, (as Mr. Scott does,) '-that it evidently means 
 Babylon, though it is not certain on what account it is so called." This view 
 is not more satisfactory, as to the origin of the term, than that of Jerome. 
 The learned Selden appears to me to have given the true solution, and is fol- 
 lowed by Calmet and some others. He says that Scsach was the name of one 
 of the Babylonian deities, in honour of whom there was a feast which lasted 
 five days, called Saccca, like the SaMmalia among the Romans after Saturn. 
 The authority he gives for it is a fragment preserved by Athena^us, from 
 Berosus the Chaldean. (See his work, De diis Syris, ch. x'iii.) Thus the 
 prophet calls it in the first instance by the name of" one of its tutelar deities; 
 just as in chap. i. 2. he calls it by the names of other of its gods. 'Babylon is 
 taken, Del is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are con- 
 founded, her images are broken in pieces.' A writer in the 'Morning Watch,' 
 (vol. iii. p. 78.) to whom I am indebted for the above reference to Selden, 
 thinks that the name Mc.sAocA, given to Michael, was after this same deity; 
 which is probable, if we compare Daniel i. 7. with Daniel iv. 8. by which it 
 plainly appears that Daniel received his new surname after the name of their 
 God, Del. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. IQ^ 
 
 destroyed by the immediate interposition of Christ himself.* 
 This appears the more j)robable from the fact, that after the 
 enumeration of the various parties who are to drink of it in 
 succession, the next parties, and the last before Sheshach, are 
 all the nations of the world; which agrees with the intimation 
 given in the prophecies I have just cited from Ezekiel and 
 Joel, of the vengeance that is to be poured out upon 'all the 
 heathen,or Gentile nations.' — ''And all the kings of the north, 
 far and near, one with another; a7id all the kingdoms of the 
 world, zvhich are upon the face of the earth; and the king of 
 Sheshach shall drink after them." v. 26. This matter, however, 
 will come before us more particularly, when we treat of Israel 
 and of antichrist. In the mean while, it may be well to con- 
 firm the general view of the judgment of wrath, set forth in 
 the previously-cited prophecies, by a few other passages from 
 the twenty-fifth cliapter of Jeremiah now before us. After 
 alluding, in verse 2S, to the refusal of some to take the cup, 
 (which can be no other than tlieir determination to shut their 
 eyes to the coming judgments, and to cry peace when a sword 
 is coming,) the prophecy continues — "For lo, I begin to 
 bring evil on the citij which is called by my name, and should ye 
 be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will 
 call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the 
 Lord. The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice 
 from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habi- 
 tation; (see Joel iii. 16.) he shall give a shout as they ih&t tread 
 the grapes (or ivine-press) against all the inhabitants of the earth. 
 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord 
 hath a controversy with the nations; he will plead with all flesh; 
 he will give them that are wicked to the sword. Thus saith 
 the Lord of hosts: Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to 
 nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the 
 coasts of the earth; and the slain of the Lord shall be ^i that 
 day from one end of the earth, even unto the other. end of the 
 earth," &c. 
 
 The similitude used in verse 32, of "a great n-hirlwirid," 
 leads me finally to observe that the reader will frequently find 
 the suddenness, fierceness and rapidity of these judgments 
 couched under this figure of a u-hirhcind in the prophets. — 
 "He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living 
 and in his wrath. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth 
 THE vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the 
 wicked: so that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for 
 the righteous; verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth." 
 
 ♦ Compare Rev. xvii. 11 — 18, and xix. 11 — 21. 
 
1(54 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 See Psalm Ixviii. 9—11. Proverbs i. 23 — 33. Isaiah xvii. 12 
 
 14; xl. 18 — 24; xli. 14 — 16; Ixvi. 15, 16. Jeremiah xxiii. 
 
 19, 20, and xxx. 23, 24; and especially read the grand 
 description of the destruction of antichrist, and the threshing of 
 the heathen in anger, who come out as a whirlwind to destroy 
 the people of God, contained in Habakkuk, chap. iii. 
 
 It belongs to this portion of our subject again to notice, that 
 the saints are apparently to participate in this infliction of the 
 judgment upon their enemies, as well as in the reign and 
 dominion of Christ which follow. Thus David says, in the 
 before-quoted passage: "Let the saints be joyful in glory; let 
 them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God 
 be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to 
 execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishment upon the 
 people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with 
 fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment nrilten. This 
 HONOUR HAVE ALL HIS SAINTS. Praise JQ the Lord." Psalm 
 cxlix. Malachi says of the saints in that day: "Ye shall tread 
 down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your 
 feet;" (Mai. iv. 3.) and David again, "that the righteous 
 shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked." Psalm Iviii. 
 10. The overthrow of the Canaanilish kings by the Israelites 
 under Joshua, and their putting their feet upon their necks, 
 &c., is a striking type of this event. It has been already 
 shown that they are to exercise dominion: the promise made 
 in Rev. ii. 26, 27, to him that overcometh combines the two 
 things; — "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, even as I received of my Father." See 
 also chap. iii. 21. 
 
 (3.) I cannot conclude this section of the chapter on the 
 Judgment, without calling the attention of the serious reader, 
 and more especially if he be a minister of God's word, to the 
 great importance of maintaining and difiusing correct views on 
 this awfully interesting subject. Multitudes of professors of 
 religion are at this time under a delusion in regard to the 
 nature of those events which are impending over the church 
 of Christ. The generality are agreed that a great crisis is at 
 hand, and likewise that we are on the eve of the Millennium; 
 but the party just alluded to are disposed to think, that this 
 period of prosperity to the church is to arrive without any 
 previous season of tribulation; — that we are to glide into it, as 
 it were, by the instrumentality of our various institutions for 
 evangelizing the heathen; by means of which there will be a 
 gradually increasing diflusion of scriptural light, until the 
 whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 155 
 
 the waters cover the sea. Isaiah xi. 9. Among this class of 
 persons are many who consider and who denominate those as 
 unfounded complainers and gloomy alarmists, who now lift up 
 their voice like a trumpet in Zion, and shew the people their 
 transgressions, and the vengeance of God which they provoke. 
 They love those flattering representations of the times, which 
 set forth only what is good and encouraging in tlic church of 
 God; and would fain persuade themselves that the spirit of 
 apostacy, infidelity, and ungodliness, is limited to a compara- 
 tively small section of mankind, who are daily diminishing, 
 or likelv to diminisl), through tlie influence of the increasing 
 number of the righteous. I fear that many of these would 
 have considered the prophets who testified of the coming 
 wrath in their days, as similar complainers and alarmists. 
 They would have instanced, as a set-off" against the gloomy 
 views of those who foretold the Babylonish captivity, the 
 remarkable revival of religion in the days of king Hezekiah, 
 and again in the days of Josiah,* (that is, had they lived in 
 those days,) and they would have turned a deaf ear to the 
 assurance, that for all this the Lord's anger was not turned 
 away. 2 Kings xxiii. 26, 27. So, had they lived in Palestine 
 in the period previous to the second dispersion, and the days 
 of vengeance foretold by our Lord, it would have been suffi- 
 cient, in order to have assured themselves it could not be at 
 hand, to have pointed to the wonderful spread of the gospel in 
 those days among the heathen, and in their own land to ''the 
 greatly multiplied number of the disciples, and the great 
 company of the priests who were obedient to the faith." 
 Acts vi. 7. 
 
 As regards, however, the kingdom of Christ, which is the 
 millennial kingdom, the testimony of scripture is most abun- 
 dant to the fact, that it is to be ushered in by desolating 
 judgments; and that the universal prevalence of religion, 
 hereafter to be enjoyed, is not to be effected by any increased 
 impetus given to the present means of evangelizing the nations; 
 hut by a stupendous display of the divine wrath upon all the 
 apostate and ungodly. t For it is "when t!ie judgments of the 
 Lord are in the earth, that the inhabitants of the world will 
 learn righteousness;" (Isaiah xxvi. 9.) and though "when the 
 
 * See the account of both revivals in 2 Chron. xxx; xxxi. and xxxiv. xxxv. 
 
 + The reader will find the scriptural view to be taken of the present Mis- 
 sionary exertions, discussed at large in "The Investigator of Prophecy," Vol. 
 i. p. 117: where it is shewn, first, that the effects now resulting are very 
 dinerent iVom those which shall be produced by the means employed at the 
 oeneral conversion of the heathen; and, .secondly, that the object of the Lord 
 in raising up the present agency, is to call out and complete the elect remnant, 
 who are to be gathered from the four winds. 
 14* 
 
1(36 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Lord's hand is lifted up they will not see" at the first, "yet 
 thev SHALL see;" (v. 11.) and though they "refuse to take the 
 cup" that is in the hand of the Lord, yet shall they be com- 
 j)elled "to wring out the dregs thereof, and drink them." The 
 passages which have been brought forward in this chapter con- 
 cernino- the Judgment, all give evidence to the fact I am here 
 asserting, of a tribulation previous to the millennium; for the 
 context in almost every instance demonstrates, that the ven- 
 geance is immediately followed by a great manifestation of the 
 glory of the Lord. 
 
 The Song of Moses and the Lamb, sung by those who have 
 obtained the victory over the Beast, &c,.(see Rev. xv. ) at the 
 time when the last vials of wrath are about to be poured out, 
 and evidently in anticipation of their efiects, strikingly con- 
 firms the fact, that those judgments will be the great means of 
 leading men to the acknowledgment and worship of God, and . 
 that they are introductory to the manifestation of his glory, — 
 "Who shall not fear thee, Lord, and glorify thy ?iamel for 
 thou only art holy, for all 7ialio?is shall come and worship before 
 thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." (v. 4.) 
 
 It may be seriously asked therefore, — Is the state of mind 
 which looks with complacency at the supposed increasing pros- 
 perity of religion,* and overlooks the corresponding increase 
 of blasphemy, apostacy and ungodliness, the state best calcu- 
 lated to profit others or be benefited itself, in times like those 
 we live in? 
 
 In the first place, it is failing in our duty towards the unbe- 
 lieving and ungodly portion of mankind, who have had the 
 gospel proclaimed among them, but who have despised it. On 
 these the vengeance will principally, though perhaps not pri- 
 marily fall. For the Lord may probably make use of these in 
 the first instance to inflict judgments upon others; (for they 
 are his sicord. Psalm xvii. 13.) but when he is "revealed from 
 heaven with his mighty angels," it will be "in flaming fire 
 taking vengeance on them tiiat know not God, and that obey 
 not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:" (2 Thess. i. 7, 8.) 
 *'For Knoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, 
 saying, Behold the Lord comcth with ten thousand [or myriads, 
 Grk.] of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to con- 
 vince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly 
 deeds which they have ungodlily committed, and of all their 
 hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 
 Judc 14, 15. It is the duty of all to call upon these "to fear 
 
 * See this point likewise discussed in The Investigator, in tlie article referred 
 to in the last note. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 1(57 
 
 God and give glory to Him, for the hour of his Judgment is 
 come;" (Rev. xiv. 7.) but more especially is it the duty of 
 God's ministers. They are placed as watchmen in Israel to 
 discern the signs of the times, and to look out whether it be a 
 sword coming or peace; and if it be a sn-ord coming, and the 
 watchman "blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; 
 if the sword come and take away any person from among 
 them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but — his blood will 1 
 require at the watchman's hand." Ezek. xxxiii. 6. 
 
 This posture of mind is likewise greatly suited to confirm 
 those in their lethargy and supineness, who are wont to trust 
 in the righteousness of others; — who, though they know that 
 they are not closely walking with God themselves, rely, as re- 
 gards national judgments, on the persuasion, that there must 
 be many more than ten righteous persons in the land to redeem 
 it from the threatened wrath; — and who have need to be re- 
 minded, as respects the last tribulation, "that though Noah, 
 Daniel, and Job were in the land, as I live, saith the Lord God, 
 they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall deliver 
 but their own souls by their righteousness." (Ezek. xiv. 20.) 
 As regards England as a nation, the following observation of 
 Mr. Cuninghame appears very just. — "I know not that we are 
 warranted in expecting, that a?iy of the nations, which have 
 enjoyed and abused the full light of the gospel, will be spared 
 from the destruction which is to overwhelm the papal Roman 
 empire. The wicked in prolestant countries, and particularly 
 in our own highly favoured nation, are much more inexcusable 
 than those who live amid popish darkness and superstition." 
 (On the Apoc. 3d edit. p. 469.) 
 
 Again, persons of this turn of mind are likewise helping on 
 the delusion of those, who fancy that the Christian community 
 is, in spiritual things and* in good works, "rich and increased 
 with goods, and in need of nothing," (Rev. iii. 17.) byt whose 
 works are not perfect before God, — -who strengthen not the 
 things that remain that are read}^ to die, (Ibid, v. 2.) and on 
 whom the Lord "will come as a thief, and they shall not know 
 what hour he will come upon them.'' (v. 3.) And as regards 
 themselves, even though they be in the main partakers of 
 divine grace, they are not likely to be arming themselves with 
 the mind of Christ for suffering and self-denial. 1 Peter iv. 1. 
 The Lord took great pains to warn his disciples of the suflering 
 and humiliation which both he and they had first to undergo; 
 and this he commonly did when they were disposed to be lifted 
 up by the ])rescnt success of his gospel. And the correspond- 
 ing duty of ministers now is — to lead tlie people of God rather 
 '•to gird up the loins of their mind" to meet a time of great 
 
158 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 siftin"- and trial, and to take unto them the whole armour of 
 Godjihat they may be able to withstand in the evil day, and 
 having done all to stand. Ephes. vi. 13. And one of the most 
 important sources of consolation, when we are fallen on evil 
 times, is "the hope of the grace which is to be brought to us 
 at the revelation of Jesus Christ;" (1 Peter i. 13.) for which 
 reason Paul bids us to take for a "helmet the hope of salva- 
 tion;" and David exclaims, "I had fainted, unless I had believed 
 to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."* 
 
 3. We are now brought to an interesting point in the inquiry 
 concerning the Judgment, viz. what is to become of the truly 
 righteous during those fearful desolations which will come upon 
 the earth? The sentiments of Archbishop Usher on this sub- 
 ject, delivered by him in the immediate prospect of death, are 
 so much to the point, and so interesting in themselves, that I 
 will here give them.t This veteran observed: <"The greatest 
 stroke upon the Reformed Churches is yet to come; and the 
 time of the utter ruin of the See of Rome, shall be when she 
 thinks herself most secure.' One presuming to ask him, what 
 his present apprehensions were concerning a very great perse- 
 cution, he answered; 'that a very great persecutiofi would fall 
 upon all the Protestant Churches of Europe;' adding, 'I tell 
 you, all you have yet seen hath been but the beginning of sor- 
 rows to what is yet to c6me upon the Protestant Churches of 
 Christ, which will ere long fall under a sharper persecution 
 than ever. Therefore (said he) look ye he 7iot found i?i the outer 
 court, but a worshipper in the temple, before the altar. For 
 Christ will measure all that profess his name, and call them- 
 selves his people; and the outward worshippers he will leave 
 out to be trodden down of the Gentiles. The oute?- court is the 
 formal Christians, whose religion consists in performing the 
 outward duties of Christianity, without having an inward 
 power of life and faith uniting them to Clirist; and these God 
 will leave to be trodden down and swept away of the Gentiles. 
 But the worshi])pers within the temple, and before the altar, 
 God will hide in the hollow of his hand, and under the shadow 
 of his wings. And this shall be one great difference between 
 the last and all the other preceding persecutions. For in the 
 former, the most eminent and spiritual ministers and Christians 
 did generally suffer most, and were most violently fallen upon. 
 
 ♦ See the application made of this text by the Council of Nice, in the early 
 part of thi.s vol. 
 
 + They are taken from the end of an excellent char^re, bearing on these 
 topics, recently delivered at the annual Vi.silalion of the Clergy at Cambridge 
 by life Archdeacon of Ely, and published by Hatchards under the title of The 
 Time oj Ike End. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. jQg 
 
 But in this last persecution, these shall be preserved by God, 
 as a seed to partake of that glory wiiich shall immediately fol- 
 low and come upon the Church, as soon as this storm shall be 
 over. For as it shall be the sharpest, so shall it he the shortest 
 persecution of them all, and shall only take away the gross 
 hypocrites and formal professors; but the true spiritual believer 
 shall be preserved till the calamity be over.' " 
 
 I do not feel called upon here to insist on the correctness of 
 the Archbishop's interpretation of the Temple and Outer Court, 
 &c. of Rev. xi.: the point which is chiefly of importance in it 
 is, that he had concluded, that in the last great tribulation true 
 believers would be safe, whilst those who had only a name to 
 live, together with the more manifestly ungodly, would be 
 overwhelmed by the storm. This conclusion is evidently de- 
 rived by the venerable prelate from tlie testimony of scripture, 
 which afibrds abundant proof of the safety of the righteous. 
 But there is another point likewise intimated in the scripture 
 to which the archbishop does not refer, and that is — the very 
 critical situation of some at that time, who are in the main be- 
 lievers, but who, owing to want of watchfulness and to worldly 
 conformity and to negligent walking, will likewise be over- 
 taken b}^ the whirlwind, and severely punished. St. Paul 
 clearly alludes to something of this kind in 1 Cor. iii. 12 — 15: 
 "Now if any man build upon this foundation (i. e. Jesus Christ) 
 gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, — every man's 
 work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, 
 because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every 
 mafi's work of zchat sort it is. If any man's work abide which 
 he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any 
 man's work be burned he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall 
 be saved: yet — so as by fire." 
 
 It may here be necessary to observe, that the term fre is 
 often used in the scriptures to signify judgments effected by 
 the sxvord, and tribulation and persecution of various kinds. 
 There seems to be no room for questioning the literal nature 
 of that conflagration or judgment by fire described in 2 Peter 
 iii.; and it appears difficult to explain the flaming fire of ven- 
 geance mentioned in 2 Thess. i. 8, of any otiier than of literal 
 fire. But there are other passages of scripture in which the 
 expression fre appears, with equal conclusiveness, to be used 
 in the figurative sense. For instance, in Luke xii. 49, Jesus 
 says, "I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if 
 it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized 
 with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." The 
 parallel plac« to this, as will be seen by the context of each, is 
 Matt. X. 34, — "I came not to send peace, but a sn-ord," &c., 
 
170 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 ■ and the mention of the baptism in connexion with it leads us 
 to what John the Baptist said of Jesus — "He shall baptize you 
 with the Holy Ghost and zvilh fire; whose fan is in his hand, 
 and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat 
 into the garner; but he will burn itp the chaff' with unquench- 
 able yZre/' This fire of purgation serves to prove and purify 
 the people of God, and to destroy the hypocrite and unbeliever; 
 and is (as I apprehend it) that baptism which our Lord warned 
 the sons of Zebedee they must be made partakers of; at the same 
 time that it has a reference to that day or crisis of tribulation 
 mentioned by St. Paul, which is to prove every man's work.* 
 
 Anotlicr striking instance of the figurative use of this expres- 
 sion is in Deut. ix. 3, where Moses thus assures the people of 
 Israel previous to their entering Canaan under Joshua, — "Un- 
 derstand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which 
 goeth over before thee: as a consuming ^re he shall destroy 
 them (thine enemies,) and he shall bring them down before 
 thy face." In the same way we are most probably to under- 
 stand Isaiah iv. 4, and Zeph. iii, 8. 
 
 This fiery trial, then, or season of tribulation, will be appa- 
 rently witnessed by the righteous, and it will be cut short for 
 their sakes; but they will be saved out of it. In what manner 
 I am not prepared to say; but that there will be deliverance 
 in some manner or other, is evident. Thus David says of the 
 righteous, "that in the floods of great watersi they shall not come 
 nigh unto him." Psalm xxxii. 6. So again — "In the time of 
 trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion — in the secret of his 
 tabernacle he shall hide me." Psalm xxvii. 5. Psalm xxxvii. 
 contains many similar assurances, especially verses 34, 38 — 40. 
 "Wait on the Lord, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: 
 when the wicked are cut off' thou shalt see it. The transgres- 
 sors shall be destroyed together; the end of the wicked shall 
 be cut off: but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, he 
 is their strength in the time of trouble; and the Lord shall help 
 them and deliver them," &c. So again in Psalm xlv. "God is 
 our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; there- 
 fore will we not fear, though the earth be removed and though 
 the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the 
 waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains (or 
 kingdoms) shake with the swelling thereof." Isaiah foretels 
 the same concerning the Lord's people: "They shall dwell in 
 
 • The parties whose work is proved are apparently the ministers of the 
 gospel; and their 7/;or/; seems to be those who have been \e6. hy thevi to the 
 right foundatioii; but not built up truly and consistentlv in all the holy will 
 and doctrine of the Lord. 
 
 t See this expression explained in reference to tribulation, "on the interpre- 
 tation of prophecy," page 102. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 171 
 
 a peaceable habitation, and in sure chcellings, and in quiet resting 
 places, when it siiall iiail coming down on the forest, and the 
 city shall be low in a low place. Chap, xxxii. 18, 19. And 
 in chap. xxvi. he exhorts them: "Come, my people, enter thou 
 into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: /aWe thyself 
 as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over- 
 past. For behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish 
 the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity," &c. Joel (iii. 
 16.) after describing the time of trouble, adds: "The Lord 
 shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and 
 the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his 
 people, and the strength of the children of Israel." And Ze- 
 phaniah ii. 3. exhorts: "Seek yc the Lord, all ye meek of the 
 earth, which have wrought his judgment: seek righteousness, 
 seek meekness: — it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the 
 Lord's anger." 
 
 These are some of the texts containing direct testimony: if 
 we regard the types of this crisis of judgment we arrive at a 
 similar conclusion. The deliverance of the faithful at the time 
 of the floods of great waters, and at the fiery trial, is set forth 
 by the deliverance of Noah at the flood, and of Lot at Sodom. 
 The Exodus from Egypt typifies that still greater Exodus 
 which is to come. The escape of the Christians to Pella, at 
 the destruction of Jerusalem; the gathering the wheat into the 
 barn, previous to the burning of the tares; the reaping the 
 earth previous to the vintage (Rev. xiv.); and various other 
 places, set forth the same event: and finally it is intimated in 
 that exhortation of our Lord, '■^ Watch ye therefore, and pray 
 always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these 
 things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of 
 Man." Luke xxi. 3G. 
 
 (2.) Connected with tire salvation of the righteous at the 
 time of these judgments is another fact; viz. that there will 
 apparently be an election saved likewise from out of the nations 
 who are engaged in the war of Armageddon. Most of these 
 will be Israelites (who will be treated of in the next chapter;) 
 but there will be also Gentiles saved; and who though pre- 
 viously unafi'ected by the fear of God, will be among those 
 "inhabitants of the earth who will learn righteousness." 
 Isaiah xxvi. 9. And besides these, it appears that there will 
 remain unconverted heathen nations, called by the prophet 
 "Tarshish, Pul and Lud that draw the bow, Tubal and Javan, 
 and the isles afar ofl, that have not heard the fame of the Lord, 
 neither have seen his glory." Isaiah Ixvi. 19. These will 
 not, apparently, be immediately involved in the great tribula- 
 tion and warfare hitherto considered. 
 
1-0 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Ao-ainst this view of the subject two objections present 
 theniselves: first, that the destruction of the inhabitants of the 
 world is represented in some places of scripture as entire; and, 
 secondly, that the world is to be btmil up at the coming of the 
 Lord, which must therefore necessarily consume its inhabitants 
 likewise. 
 
 In regard to the former objection, there have already been 
 l)rought before the reader, when considering the principles of 
 interpreting prophecy, (page 105,) certain passages which 
 prove that the term all is sometimes used in scripture in a 
 restricted sense, as may be ascertained by some oiher expres- 
 sions in the context which qualify the word. One of these 
 instances is exactly apposite to the point in hand, viz. Isaiah 
 Ixvi. and I must here beg leave to refer to it again. At verses 
 15, 16, it is written, "For behold the Lord will come with^re, 
 and with his chariots like awhirlwind, to render his anger with 
 fury, and his rebukes with^ames of fire; for hy fire, and by his 
 sword, will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the 
 Lord shall be many." Whether the expression fre is here to 
 be understood literally or figuratively, one thing is plain, that 
 all flesh are said to be pleaded with by it, showing indeed "that 
 the fire will try every man's work." And yet, at verse 19, it 
 is those that escape oi them that the Lord sends to Pul and Lud, 
 &c. : thus showing likewise, that the destruction is not utter. 
 To the above instance may be added one or two others. In 
 Isaiah xxiv. 6. we read, "Therefore the inhabitants of the earth 
 are btmied, am]— few men left.'' This at first, speaking as the 
 context does of the ungodliness oi all the dwellers upon earth, 
 looks as if the whole were to be consumed; but the term few 
 is a saving clause. So in Zechariah xiv. "«// nations" are first 
 described as gathered against Jerusalem to battle, (ver. 2.) 
 then as smitten with a plague which consumes them, (ver. 12 — 
 15); but afterwards there is mention of every one that is left 
 of all the nations that came against Jerusalem. These exam- 
 ples, with those already adduced, are, it is hoped, sufficient to 
 show that there will nevertheless be an election of men in the 
 flesh. 
 
 (3.) The conflagration still remains to be considered. Some of 
 the passages above cited serve to throw a measure of light upon 
 it; but I candidly confess that it is to me one of those things 
 which St. Peter says are "hard to be understood." I want 
 clear light upon the subject, and am sensible that, in my own 
 rase, there is yet much scripture relating to it that needs to be 
 carefully considered. Consequently what I advance on this 
 head is more for the purpose of exhibiting to the reader '/hat 
 may be said upon the sul)ject, than as being in all respects satis- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 173 
 
 factory to my own mind. It is then I think clear, tliat tlierc 
 is to be a literal conflagration: and it is equally clear that it 
 will be premillennial: for, according to 2 Pet. iii.it is to be the 
 means of renovating the earth, and producing the new heavens 
 and the new earth, to be enjoyed during that period; which 
 was the opinion generally entertained by the millenariaii 
 fathers and by the reformers.* It is nevertheless questioned 
 what will be the process of this burning, (viz. whether all at 
 once, or by gradual eruptions of volcanic matter,) and to what 
 extent it will take place. Some have considered that only the 
 city and immediate territory of Rome was to be burned; 
 among whom are many Jewish writers, who ground their 
 opinion on Isaiah xxxiv. G — 10, interpreting Idumea as mys- 
 tically signifying Rome. The object of this fiery visitation 
 however is evidently very remote from that of renewing or 
 regenerating that territory: it is to set it forth, after the exam- 
 ples of Sodom and Gomorrah, as an awful memorial to the 
 people who shall dwell in the flesh during the millennium; for 
 which purpose it is to lie waste, and its smoke continually to 
 ascend. Others conceive that the whole of what they call the 
 pj-ophetic earth, meaning the Roman empire in its utmost limits, 
 will be visited with fire. And others again think it is to be 
 confined to the region of Palestine in its utmost limits. All 
 these different hypotheses seem to arise from the difficulty of 
 conceiving how there shall be men and animals left surviving, 
 notwithstanding the burning; — a difficulty which we may safely 
 leave with our God to unravel in due time. It would have 
 been quite as difficult to have conceived in the days of Noah, — 
 when navigation was as yet unknown, and none had ever con- 
 structed a ship or boat, — how men and animals could be saved 
 from a universal deluge. And yet the Lord marvellously ac- 
 complished it, and doubtl&ss he will again show, that nothing 
 is too hard for him. 
 
 4. There remains one other point for consideration, a'nd that 
 is, the judgment according tozcorks which will take place upon the 
 righteous. 
 
 (1.) It is questionable again as regards this matter, where 
 and at what period, this judgment will take place: and this is 
 
 * Some have argued that the conllnsration cannot be until the annihilation 
 of the world, on the frround that the action of fire would render the soil unfit 
 for the use of man. This is arsruiiig in ignorance of the real facts of the case 
 even at present; for unfruitful land is now often pared and burned to produce 
 a soil; and the soil formed by triturated lava is excellent. But the proper 
 reply to this objection is, first, that there is no suflicient proof that the earth 
 wiU ever be dcslroijcd, but only rcnarcd; and secondly, that Peter declares that 
 renewal will be by the dissolving of its elements through fervent heat. There 
 is a very able essay on this subject in Dr. Holmes's "Jicsurrcction Revealed." 
 See the Appendix to the revised edition, p. 301. 
 VOL. II. 15 
 
174 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 another of the po'inls which I feel myself unable at present to 
 treat of with full confidence. Some conceive that the righteous 
 will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air previous to the 
 vials of wrath being poured out; and that whilst (here they will 
 be judged according to their works, and then descend with the 
 Lord. This period, however, of their translation appears to 
 be too early to be consistent with their coming out of the tri- 
 bulation itself; for t'liere are numerous passages, especially in 
 the Psalms, which plainly evince that the church passes into 
 deep waters in those days, and cries to the Lord from out of 
 them. The opinion, however, does not seem altogether erro- 
 neous; for if we allow that there are to be different stages afid 
 gradations in these judgments (as, for example, those which 
 involve the fall of Babylon and the cities of the nations, and 
 those which cflcct the destruction of the infidel Beast, which 
 is first made the chief instrument of destroying Babylon;*) 
 we may then readily understand how the saints may be impli- 
 cated in the first portion of them, and yet be caught up pre- 
 vious to the battle of Armageddon. It is whilst they are in 
 the air with Christ, that according to Mr. Cuninghame, and 
 others, they are to be marshalled "in their various orders and 
 degrees of glory and dominion."! Audit is after this judg- 
 ment of works, (as I apprehend,) wheresoever it take place, 
 that the saints come fo^th '"with the praises of God in their 
 mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute the 
 judgment written;" (see page 163.) and they form most pro- 
 bably those "armies in heaven," which, when Christ comes 
 forth "in righteousness to judge and make rear," — "with a sharp 
 sword going out of his mouth, that with it he should smite the 
 nations," — "follow him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, 
 white and clean." Rev. xix. 11 — 15. 
 
 (2.) It is however of vast importance for the mind of the 
 believer to be persuaded, that he is himself to undergo a judg- 
 ment. However we may hesitate as to the where and when, 
 we have no ground for questioning the actual fact itself; though 
 it has nevertheless come to pass, that the fact is questioned, 
 and considered by some to be at variance with the doctrines 
 
 * Compare Rev. .wii. 1-3, 13, witli verses 16, 17, and note also verses 20, 21, 
 of chap. xix. 
 
 + If I correctly understand the ob.-^crvations which Mr. Cuninghame has 
 made on this subject in two or three places of his recent edition of the Apoca- 
 lypse, he considers that the church will be involved in the tribulation, and yet 
 be caught up out of the midst of it. (Seepages 54, 359, 491, and their context.) 
 I concur with him in the main, but do not clearly see how he can consider the 
 ncj-t event which the church has now to look for is the translation of the saints. 
 For this supposes the fiery trial to the saints to be already past; which I cannot 
 think to be the case, but rather look for that event as the next in order which 
 is to befall the church. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. X75 
 
 of grace. But it is as plainly declared in the scriptures, that God 
 will render to every mem. accouding to his deeds, as it is insisted, 
 that by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. Both 
 truths are declared by the same Apostle, and in the same Epis- 
 tle (Rom. ii. 5, G, and iii. 20.) Our Lord tells us, "that when 
 the Son of JNIan shall come in the glory of his Father with his 
 angels, then he shall reward every man accordi/iq to his works." 
 IVIalt. xvi. 27. He sets forth a distinction of reward in the 
 parable of the pounds, where one of the faitliful has authority 
 assigned him over ten cities, and another over five cities; (Luke 
 xix. 17, 19) in which place there seems to be an allusion also 
 to the precise ?tatiire of the respective glory of the saints, 
 which will consist in dominion and authority over the nations. 
 And the Lord further distinguislies between a prophet's (or 
 minister's) reward, and a righteous man's reward; shewing also 
 that it is possible for any disciple to receive both the one and 
 the other; (Matt. x. 41) and that every thing done for him, — 
 even to the giving a cup of cold water to a disciple, because 
 he belongs to Christ, — shall have its proportionate reward. 
 In like manner St. Paul teaches us, "that he wiiich sowcth 
 sparingly, shall reap also sj>ari/n>h/; and he which soweth boun- 
 tifully, shall reap also butnitifiilli/;" (2 Cor. ix. 6) and that 
 "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap:" (Gal. vi. 7) 
 nothing of which can be literally true, unless there shall be a 
 distinction hereafter in the judgment according to works: and 
 then we can understand how a man may be continually "lay- 
 ing up for himself treasure in heaven;" (Matt. vi. 20;) — why 
 he should be exhorted to be always ahounding in the work of 
 the Lord; viz. forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in 
 vain in the Lord; (1 Cor. xv. 38) — and why again we should 
 be admonished "to look to ourselves, that we lose not those 
 things which we have wrought, but that, we receive a full re- 
 ward. 2 John S. 
 
 It is objected by some, that the parable of the Labourers in 
 the ^"ineyard is opposed to this doctrine; who all receive er/^w/ 
 wages, whether employed from the first hour or the eleventh. 
 Matt. XX. I apprehend that this parable chiefly respects the 
 self-righteous spirit of the p^iarisees, who were jealous, both 
 because those who had been j)reviously as publicans and sin- 
 ners, and likewise the Gentiles who had been ignorant of God, 
 were, by the Gospel of Christ and the grace of the Lord, put 
 upon the same level with themselves, who had "borne the 
 burden and heat" of the Mosaical dispensation. But be that 
 as it may, there is nothing in this doclrine whicli really con- 
 flicts with thaf of justification by faith. It will readily be admit- 
 ted, that none arc accounted righteous before God on account of 
 
276 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 any merits or works of their own; and that whether they have 
 yielded thirty fold or a hundred fold, all are equally justified 
 freely, who are effectually called by the Spirit, at whatsoever 
 period of life that call may have taken place. It will also be 
 freclv admitted, that the good works which they have wrought, 
 and all the fruits of holiness they have exhibited, are not strictly 
 their own, but are produced by the operation of the Spirit of 
 God; and therefore that as the pon-e?- is his, so also the glonj; — 
 yea, it will be at once conceded, that so far as we are concern- 
 ed, we find the flesh continually hindering and defiling what 
 is good, and our best righteousness but as filthy rags, needing 
 the blood of sprinkling. To reward those works therefore 
 which are the fruits of God's power in us, is only another act 
 of nieraj in the Lord; which agrees with the words of the 
 Psalmist — "God hath spoken once; twice haye I heard this; 
 that poii-er belongetii unto God: also that unto thee, Lord, 
 belongeth mercy; — -for lhoure?uIerest unto every ma7i according 
 to his work." Psalm. Ixii. 11, 12. The word accordirig — "ac- 
 cording to his work" or works, which occurs in several other 
 places not yet quoted, clearly intimates that the reward, though 
 of mercy, is nevertheless apportioned to the work wrought. 
 
 It matters not, then, in this view of the subject, at what 
 period men are called by the grace of God; — whether it be in 
 infancy, or at the elexl^enth hour, both are accepted, both are 
 justified, and that freely, fully, and equally, through the 
 precious blood of Christ, and they will condemn every tongue 
 that riseth up in judgment against them. But do the self- 
 denial, and devoted ness, and temper of the man, when he is 
 called, signify nothing? Is there to be no difference between 
 him who has fought a good fight, (2 Tim. iv. 7.) and him who 
 is ^'scarcely saved, so as by fire?" — between the man who 
 builds upon the only foundation, ''gold, silver, precious stones, 
 and him who builds wood, hay, stubble?" Yes: we are assur- 
 ed, as before noticed, that though the latter be saved "he 
 shall suffer Ions," (1 Cor. iii. 15.) whereas the former will 
 "receive a reward;" (ver. 14.) which statement appears to me 
 incapable of rational explanation, except on the princij)le that 
 some shall be great, and some least in the kingdom of God. 
 Matt. V. 19. 
 
 (o.) The maivKr in which this part of the judgment will be 
 conducted comes next under consideration. I conceive from 
 what St. Paul says of "the day that is to try every thing by 
 fire," which we have seen has reference to the period of tribu- 
 lation, that many a "prophet" will suffer loss at that time, by 
 many of his flock, in whom he has gloried, not being armed 
 with the mind of Christ to endure suffering, and therelore not 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 177 
 
 really possessing the Spiril of Christ; (see Rom. viii. 9.) so 
 that when affliction or persecution arisetli for the word's sake, 
 they are proved to have no root in themselves, and immedi- 
 ately they are ofl'ended. ^Nlark iv. 17. And this renders it a 
 matter of such great importance to the 77ihiislers of God, that 
 they should, as before observed, endeavour to prepare their 
 hearers to be partakers of the siifferirigs of Christ, knowing 
 "that if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him; if 
 we deny him he also will deny us, (2 Tim, ii. 12.) They 
 cannot be wrong in taking to them the whole armour of God, 
 and preparing to withstand in the evil day, even though no 
 evil day overtake them; — they cannot err in xcatching for 
 Christ; for whether he come in the second watch, or come in 
 the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants." 
 Luke xii. 3S. But, if they should be found 7iot watching, and 
 vTiprepared, for the evil da}', then they may perhaps fall away 
 altogetlier; — their minister will certainly suficr loss; — and 
 well for him after all will it be. if tlieir blood be not laid at his 
 door! 
 
 But it may be that they also may be saved, yet so as by fire; 
 for ''many shall also be purified, and made white and tried," 
 &c. (Dan. xii. 10.) — being overtaken by the affliction in differ- 
 ent degrees; so that by their portion of sufiering, their works 
 will be in some degree made manifest. The warnings and 
 threatenings delivered to the seven churches of Asia, if 
 viewed as referring to the crisis of trouble (see page 90.) are 
 remarkable in this point of view.* Some are- to be tried by 
 tribulation only ten days, (Rev. ii. 10.) Some are to be cast 
 into great tril)ulation except they repent, (ver. 22.) by which 
 means, saith the Lord, "all the churches shall know that I am 
 he which searchelh tlie reins and hearts; and I will give unto 
 every one of you accordisc to your works;" And some he 
 threatens, that because they do not watch, he will come upon 
 them "as a thief, and they shall not know what hour he will 
 come upon them." Rev. iii. 3. On the other hand the Lord 
 promises to some, that he will "put on them no other burden" 
 than that they have experienced, (Rev. ii. 24.) and to others, 
 that he will keep them from the hour of temptation, which 
 shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell on the 
 
 * Whatever prophetical reference or accommodation to intermediate pe- 
 riods may he made of Rer. ii. and iii. (which lam not goingto dispute,) [con- 
 ceive that the messages to the seven cluirches of Asia are specially intended 
 to .set forth the circumstances of the whole professing Church of Christ in the 
 last day.s, which, in its different sections, denominations, and classes of pro- 
 fessors, will assume all the different aspects therein described; and that the 
 admonitions aifd projniscs conlained in the messages to them, are especially 
 intended for the benefit and direction of believers, in those days. 
 15* 
 
178 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 earth, (Rev. iii. 10.) These judge themselves, and therefore 
 escape being judged of God. 1 Cor. xi. 31. 
 
 It is manifest, however, that the preceding rule of judgment 
 cannot apply to thousands whose lot has fallen in times of 
 quiet to the church, and who nevertheless have not brought 
 forth fruit abundantly, and have been supine and lukewarm, 
 not to say carnal in spirit. And though it might determine, 
 in regard to those living in times of tribulation, the measure 
 in which they miglit receive chastening, or be exempted from 
 it, it would be quite inadequate as a rule for determining the 
 measure of reward. This can only be done (so far as I can 
 perceive) "in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men 
 by Jesus Clirist:" (Rom, ii. 16.) for then "he will both bring 
 to light the hidden things of darkness," — those actions which 
 though perpetrated in secret, have not escaped his all-seeing 
 eye; and then will He "make manifest the 'counsels of the 
 hearts," — those inward motives and principles which have led 
 men to perform various actions; yea, those inward workings 
 of sin, probably, which have been habili/ally entertained, 
 though the actual commission of the sin has been prevented. 
 
 1 Cor. iv. 5. The apostle plainly declares this in other scrip- 
 tures, and includes himself as one, who expected to have the 
 secrets of his own heart made manifest. To the Romans he 
 declares — ^^fVe shall all^ stand before the judgment-seat of 
 Christ;" and in the two following verses he takes occasion, 
 from the scripture which saith, "Every knee shall bow to me, 
 and every tongue shall confess to God," to conclude — "So 
 then, everij one of us shall give account of himself unto God!" 
 Rom. xiv. 10 — 12. To the Corinthians also he declares, that 
 he labours continually to be accepted of God, from a convic- 
 tion, that "tre must all appear before the judgment seat of 
 Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his 
 body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad.'' 
 
 2 Cor. V. 9, 10. And thus in Jeremiah it is declared; I the 
 Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to every 
 MAN according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his 
 doings." Jer. xvii. 10. And Solomon saith, "that God shall 
 hv'mgcvery n-ork into judgment, with every secret thing, whether 
 it behoof/, or whether it be evil." Eccles. xii. 14. 
 
 It is also urged against this view of the subject, that it is 
 incompatible with the future happiness of God's people to 
 have the secrets of their hearts exposed; and that it is written: 
 "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? — it is 
 God that justifieth." Rom. viii. 33. Yes — it is God that 
 jnstifu'th: or they must altogether perish from his presence, 
 lie will suffer none to condemn them if he has previously jus- 
 
tified Ihcni in the Sj)irit; (1 Cor. vi. 11.) but it must never- 
 theless be remembered, that only those who are walking after 
 the Spirit have the assurance that tliey are delivered from 
 condemnation. Rom. viii. 1. "Without holiness no man 
 shall sec the Lord;" (Ileb. xii. 14.) and well would it be for 
 multitudes of heartless worldly professors, who are evangeliz- 
 ed in head and not sanctified in spirit, did they only keep in 
 view that they must give account to a holy and jealous God, 
 who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, and that '*for 
 every idle word which men shall speak, of the same shall they 
 give account in the day of judgment." JVIatt. xii. 36. 
 
 In regard however to tlie ultimate hapjmiess of the saints, I 
 conceive that they themselves, when delivered from their 
 present infirmities and prejudices, will have so clear a view of 
 the manifestation of the holiness and glory of God in all he 
 docs, that they will with humility and cheerfulness acquiesce 
 in tiie reward, though they themselves may suffer loss, and 
 begin with shame to take the lowest place. And it may be 
 asked, n-ho and ichul is the very best Christian of the present 
 day, that he should hope to enjoy an immunity, which neither 
 prophets nor apostles have enjoyed before him? The failings 
 of Abraham, Closes, David and others have been published 
 through the world, and made notorious as the noon-day sun; 
 and Peter's denial of his master is as universally known as the 
 gospel which contains the account of it. Who then are we, 
 that we should expect exemption? But the secrets of the 
 heart cannot be hid; for at that time "we shall know even as 
 we are known." 1 Cor. xiii. 12. And indeed were there no 
 direct exposure of the secret deeds and thoughts of men in 
 that day; — were the Lord only silently to distinguish among 
 us and divide us; yet that very distinction itself would, in 
 effect, amount to the same thing. We could not help conclud- 
 ing of him, who would be made to take a lower place than 
 man's judgment would assign him, that there was some reason 
 for it, though secret to us; only we should be left, in that case, 
 to the darkness of surmise. But the Lord will choose "to be 
 justified when he speaks, and clear when he judges." Psalm 
 li. 4. Thus, then, some men's sins are open beforehand, 
 going beforehand to judgment: and some they follow after. 
 Likewise the good works of some are manifest beforehand; 
 and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. 1 Tim. v. 24, 25. 
 
 We may well therefore exclaim, "What manner of persons 
 ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness!" 
 Greatly to be considered is that exhortation of St. John: "And 
 now little children abide in him, that when he shall appear, 
 we may have confidence, and not be ashamed hQiovc him, at his 
 
180 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 comiii"-." 1 John ii. 2S. If however we do abide in him, and 
 his word abides in us, we need not fear as to the result: it is 
 our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom; and 
 through grace he will "present us holy, and unblameable, and 
 unreproveable'^ in his sight," Col. i. 23. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL, AND THE NEW JERUSALEM 
 DISPENSATION. 
 
 It has in these latter days been made a qliestion, whether 
 the posterity of Abraham, according to the flesh, shall be re- 
 stored in tlieir national character, as Jews or Israelites, to the 
 land of their forefathers; or whether the numerous promises 
 of Scripture, which have given rise to such an expectation, are 
 not rather to be understood in a mystical sense, as having re- 
 ference only to their ultimate conversion to the Christian 
 faith, and their absorption into the Gentile Church. I view it 
 as a modern question,t because with scarcely any exception 
 the eminent fathers and expositors of the church have inter- 
 preted these promises as having respect to a literal or national 
 restoration; and it was not till men, who v\'ere prejudiced 
 against the millenarian principle of interpreting prophecy, 
 came to see how the doctrine of a literal restoration could be 
 successfully pressed against their views, that they apj)lied their 
 learning and ingenuity to the task of spinlitalizifig, or rather 
 allegorizifi^, those passages of the word of God which in this 
 respect conflict with their opinions. 
 
 Something has been already said upon this subject at pages 
 G3 and G4 of this work; and a variety of ancient authors^'are 
 there cited who have maintained in all ages the hope of a na- 
 tional restoration, though in other matters they had departed 
 from the literal principle of exposition. It were easy to add 
 to their number; but I shall content myself with bringing for- 
 ward the testimony of Dr. Whitby, whose evidence on this 
 head, as he was opposed to the millenarian system, is the less 
 
 * In Dr. Snycr Rudd's Essay on the Millonninm, piiMishcd in 1731, lie 
 enilca\ours tobhevv that many of llie sauus will be rebuked, at the LorJ'.s 
 coniiii<;. 
 
 t Paul Riirgcnsis denied their actual restoration. See Addit. to Nic de 
 Lyra on Dent. 27 and Levitic. 2G. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. IgJ 
 
 open to suspicion. On Romans xi., speaking of the liope of 
 the conversion and restoration of the Jews, he says, "It hath 
 been the constant doctrine of the Church of Christ, owned by 
 the Greek and Latin fathers, and by all commeatators I have 
 met with on this phice."* 
 
 The bearing of this subject upon the wliole word of God, 
 involving as it does tlie principle of interpretation by which the 
 meaning of other important topics is to be ascertained, gives 
 it a. claim to the very serious regard of all who humbly desire 
 to understand the whole counsel of God. For it is obvious, 
 that unless some very decided and undeniable canon can be 
 adduced for a contrary principle of expounding certain passages, 
 common sense and common consistency will lead us to con- 
 clude, that the same analogy prevails throughout. 
 
 Besides this however, the question becomes of great interest 
 and importance from the manner in which many other pro- 
 phetical events are interwoven or connected with the restora- 
 tion of Israel. The careful investigator of prophecy will 
 discover that it has a bearing upon the Kingdom of Christ, the 
 Judgment, the Resurrection, tlie Advent, and the future glory 
 of tlie Church; and that it is absolutely necessary to be decided 
 as to the nature of that restoration promised to Israel, before 
 we can with any degree of confidence determine the real 
 character of these events, or come to any satisfactory conclusion 
 as to the times and seasons. Into the principle points there- 
 fore connected with this question we must now inquire. 
 
 1. Two things have been already brought forward in this 
 work, which to my own mind would be decisive of the ques- 
 tion. The one is, that the land of Palestine has been cove- 
 nanted by the Lord to the patriarchs and to their posterity, to 
 an extent and under circumstances far beyond anything which 
 has been hitherto experienced; and we know ''that the gifts 
 and calling of God are without repentance," or change of pur- 
 pose, — a declaration made by the apostle with express reference 
 to the question of Jewish restoration. Rom. xi. 29. The 
 other is, that those things which have been predicted concern- 
 ing the chastisement and suflerings of Israel, and also concern- 
 ing some of {he ffood things which the Lord hath spoken con- 
 cerning them, have been most literally accomplished; and we 
 are consequently bound to conclude, (without, as just observed, 
 there be decided evidence to the contrary in the text,) that the 
 
 * The reader who is fond of aulhorilics may nevertheless add to those men- 
 tioned at page Gl, the names of Cyril, Gennadius, Haymo, Origcn, Photius, 
 Primasius, Theodoret and Theophylact. Even such men as Erasmus held 
 this opinion. Sp also Poole, Guyse, Locke, and Samuel Clarke. And among 
 writers of the present age, opposed to the prcmillennial advent, there may be 
 instanced Doddridge, Faber, Scott, Simeon, (5Lc. 
 
X82 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 blessings still in reserve for them, when their warfare shall be 
 accomplished, will have a similar literal fulfilment."* 
 
 The first sight of the matter would indeed seem to indicate, 
 that some of the blessings promised to Israel must have respect 
 to them especially in their national character; "and which, (as 
 JNIr. Begg has justly observed,!) from their very nature can by 
 no means be applied to any Gentile race. For example, how 
 can all those allusions in the promises to a gathering andrehirfi 
 from a previous ejectment and scaiieriiig among the nations 
 refer to Gentiles? What again have the allusions to the two 
 kingdoms of Judah and Epliraim, — to their re-establishment 
 and final incorporation, — to do with the concerns of the Gen- 
 tile church?± And how can promises, which respect the future 
 extension of their territory, and the exact specification of its 
 limits and boundaries and divisions and allotmenfs, be applied to 
 any inheritance of the saints in the supernal heaven, without 
 losing sight of those very details on which the correctness of 
 an intei'pretation principally depend? 
 
 Some writers however have concluded, that the promises of 
 national restoration to the Jews were fulfilled at the time of 
 their return from the Babylonish captivity, when the city was 
 rebuilt and the second temple erected. It is not denied that a 
 portion of Israel did then return to the land of their fathers; 
 but an examination of some of the texts bearing on this subject 
 will demonstrate, that certain circumstances in those prophe- 
 cies received no accomplishment at all at that period; — that 
 those particulars, which are pointed to as fulfilled, were only 
 very inadequately fulfilled, v/hen compared with the terms of 
 the prophecy; — and that the events which followed that resto- 
 ration do not at all correspond with those which it is predicted 
 shall accompany or immediately ensue on the restoration here 
 contended for, as yet to come to pass. 
 
 (L) Tiie first to which attention is requested is Deut. xxx. 
 Mr. Begg, in the work before noticed, says on this chapter; — 
 "The prediction is most extensive. It embraces the whole 
 period of Israel's history till tlie present and future times," 
 &c. The Babylonish captivity is not however overlooked. It 
 is foretold in a preceding part of this remarkable prophetic 
 narrative in terms sufliciently distinctive: "The Lord shall 
 bring thee and thi/ king, which thou shalt set over thee, unto a 
 
 * The reader is requested to refer bnck to page 99. 
 
 t See his "Connected View, &c. of the Redeemer's Advent," p. 27. 
 
 t Some modern expositors have indeed discovered that the two tribes are a 
 type of established churclies; and the /c/i tribes of the dissenting congregations. 
 We apprehend the Dissenters themselves will never assent to a general appli- 
 cation of this interpretation; for the Vohinlary Principle discussion might iix 
 that case very soon be settled. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^§3 
 
 nation wliich neither thou nor thy fathers liave known." 
 (xxviii. 36.) This tlien clearly refers to that captivity when, 
 "in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, 
 came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and 
 besieged it; and the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into 
 his hand." Dan. i. 1, 2. 2 Chronicles xxxvi. G. 2 Kings xxiv. 
 14, &c. This part of the prediction had at that time its com- 
 plete fulfilment; while it cannot at all apply to the captivity 
 which afterwards followed their overtlirow by the Romans; 
 for they had then no king to be carried captive. 
 
 But we have also another distinctive mark by which the 
 prediction in the above verse is fixed to the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity, and by which it is also rendered inapplicable to that 
 which they afterwards suffered. They, together with their 
 king, were at this time to be carried only into "a nation;" 
 while the restoration promised in the conclusion of the predic- 
 tion must refer to their subsequent dispersion, which is after- 
 wards predicted, (xxviii. G4.) For it is a restoration ''from 
 all the nations," — "from the utmost parts of heaven, (p. 29.) 
 See also Jeremiah xvi. 11, 15. to the same purpose. 
 
 I would further observe, that the expression "if a?i7/ of thine 
 be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thejice will 
 the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch 
 thee," &.C. implies that the return will not be of a part of Is- 
 rael, but of all; — not one will be left behind. It is not, by any 
 commentator that I know of, asserted, that the whole of Israel 
 returned after the Babylonish captivity: they only contend for 
 apart; but insist that that part may be considered as sufiicient 
 to justify its being viewed as the whole nation, forasmuch as 
 the rest might have returned if they would. See also Isaiah 
 xliii. 5 — 7, where cveri/ one of his, the Lord's sons and daugh- 
 ters, are to be brought frOm far, and from the ends of the 
 earth. 
 
 But, farther than this, it is said, that after the return, spoken 
 of in this propliecy, to the land of their fathers, the Lord "will 
 do them good, and mullipbi them above thy fathers." On this 
 subject jNlr. Hirschfield, missionary to the Jews, says* — "The 
 Jews never afterwards became so numerous as they had been 
 under David and Solomon; though in the restoration they were 
 to be "multiplied above their fathers." In connection with 
 this passage, and in reference to the great increase of the Jewish 
 people, consider the language of Ilosea i. 10, 11. — "The num- 
 ber of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, 
 
 ♦ See his '-Strictures on the past History and future prospects of the Jews." 
 page 31. 
 
184 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTEP.PRETATION. 
 
 which cannot be measured nor numbered," " &c. To which 
 place may be added Isaiah xlix. 20. — "The children which 
 thou shall have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in 
 thine ears, The place is too slrait for me: give place to me that 
 I mail dzcell.'^ — And see likewise Jeremiah xxxiii. 22. 
 
 Mr. Hirschfeld further notices the sixth verse of this pro- 
 phecy, where it is -said — "And the Lord thy God shall circum- 
 cise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy 
 God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest 
 live;" and remarks on it, that this circumcision of heart was 
 certainly no characteristic of the nation in Stephen's time, 
 since he addresses them: "Ye stiff-necked and uncirciimcised in 
 heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost." Acts 
 vii. 5L 
 
 The next prophecy which I shall note is Lsaiah xi. 11 — 16. 
 The former verses are allowed to be descriptive of the millen- 
 7iiian, or at least of the period of the glorious rest of the 
 church, when "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb," &c. (v. 6.) 
 "and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
 the waters cover the sea;" (verse 9.) a period which certainly 
 has never yet been witnessed. "And it shall come to pass in 
 that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second 
 TIME, to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left, 
 from Assyria, Egypt,' Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, 
 &c. and from the islands of the sea;''"' and he shall set up an 
 ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel 
 and the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth, 
 &c." — "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the 
 Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his 
 hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seveii streams, and 
 make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway 
 for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria; 
 like as it -was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the 
 land of Egypt." In this remarkable passage I need only briefly 
 point to two circumstances, which the words marked in italics 
 and capitals will have already prepared tlie reader for. First, 
 we can entertain no reasonable question whether the return 
 from Babylon be meant: that was only the first time the Lord 
 set his hand to recover his people; whereas this is expressly 
 stated to be "the second time." Secondly, it is attended by a 
 miraculous drying up of the streams of the Egyptian river and 
 sea by a mighty wind;t and that we may not hesitate as to its 
 literality, we are assured that it is to be in like manner that the 
 same sea and the river Jordan were dried up when the people 
 
 * Mr. Scott says — "All the regions separated front Asia are generally meant; 
 and here the British isles are included." 
 t A similar prophecy is contained in Isaiah xxvii. 12. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. Ig5 
 
 came out of Egypt. Mr. Scott says on this place — "I presume 
 not to prophesy from the prophecies; but the lilcrul restoration 
 both of Israel and Judah is clearly predicted," 
 
 In Jeremiah xxiii. 1 — S, there is a propiiecy in which men- 
 tion is made of a gathering of the flock of the Lord, &c., from 
 the norlh country, and from all counlries whither they were 
 driven, (v. 5, 8.) They are assured that they shall "/ear ;jo 
 more'^ but Israel and Judah shall dwell sa/e/y." (v. 4, G,) and 
 this particular restoration and salvation is to be accompanied 
 by a manifestation to tlicm of the Redeemer — the "Righteous 
 liRANCii," who shall reign and prosper, (v. 5.) A writer in the 
 Investigator of Prophecy (vol. iv. p. 225.) pertinently observes, 
 that to get rid of tiie force of this prophecy with reference to 
 io a future literal restoration of Israel it must be shewn that 
 the BRANCH was manifested to Israel and Judah, at the time of 
 the return from Babylon; and that that return was from the 
 norlh country and from all otiier countries, whither they have 
 been driven. If this cannot be done it must be shewn, that in 
 the time of Christ, when the Branch did appear, there was a 
 return from captivity of the character above mentioned; that 
 the Branch then ^'reigned" over the house of Israel; and that 
 Israel continued from that time to dwell safely and in their ori'w 
 land. 
 
 Another prophecy of Jeremiah (chap, xxxi.) may next be 
 appealed to. lie prophesietl just when they were filling up 
 that measure of their iniquity which brought upon them wrath 
 to the uttermost, and lived into the period of the Babylonish 
 captivity itself. At verses 5, G, however he says: "Thou 
 shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samai-ia: the 
 planters shall plant and sliall eat thejn as common things. 
 For there shall be a day that tiie watchmen upon the mount 
 Epkraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion, unto the 
 Lord our God." Now Israel did not, at the first return, plant 
 vines at Samaria: the ])co|)le vvlio inhabited there- were 
 Cutheans, under Sanballat, and were hostile to the Jews, (See 
 Nehemiah ii. iv. vi.) And as tlic people who inhabited the 
 territory of Ephraim were thus inimical to the Jews, so neither 
 did they ever encourage any to go up to Zion; but on the con- 
 trary, they built a temple on Mount Gerizim, in opposition to 
 the temple at Jerusalem. To this rivalry of the two places the 
 woman of Samaria apparently alludes, John iv, 20, And as 
 the circumstances just adverted to prove that the prophecy 
 refers to some future period; so the planting vines at Samaria 
 plainly bespeak that it is of a literal character. Moreover, at 
 verse 12 it is said: — "They shall come and sing in the height 
 
 VOL. II. — it) 
 
186 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 of Zion," &.C. — "and, they shall not sorrow any more at all:" 
 whereas their sorrows and troubles have been more abundant 
 since their return from Babylon than ever they were before; 
 and they have even yet a tribulation to go through, which will 
 be without a parallel in the history of the world. See Daniel 
 xii. 1. 
 
 I pass over, for the present, various prophecies contained in 
 Ezekiel from chapters xxviii. to xxxix. — the four last of these 
 especially, as the repetition of similar testimony will, I con- 
 ceive, be unnecessary after what has been adduced. I will only 
 here farther observe, that the division of the land, and the de- 
 scription of the cities and temple given in chapters xl, to xlviii. 
 are quite different, as is universally admitted, from any thing 
 which was accomplished after the return from Babylon; and 
 therefore in the judgment of most it remains to be yet ful- 
 filled. And there is another circumstance likewise worthy of 
 notice, in regard to the temple, &c. described in Ezekiel, viz. 
 that no individual has as yet been enabled to produce any thing 
 like a consistent interpretation of it upon the mystical or sym- 
 bolical principle. There are somethings in that long descrip- 
 tion which appear to invite a mystical interpretation; but there 
 are others which can in no wise be thus explained, and which 
 commentators are consequently obliged to pass slightly over, 
 or to leave them as they find tiiem. The reader who wishes 
 to see how completely all commentators have been at fault on 
 this matter, need only turn to Mr. Scott's introductory obser- 
 vations on the fortieth chapter, and his subsequent treatment 
 of particulars. We shall have occasion however to return to 
 this subject presently. 
 
 Passing on to Hosea iii. 4, 5, we have the following pro- 
 phecy — "For the children of Israel shall abide many days 
 without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, 
 and without an image, and without an ephod, and without 
 teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and 
 seek the Lord their God and David their king; and shall fear 
 the Lord and his goodness in the laller days." There are two 
 points of considerable importance in this passage: viz. L The 
 condition of Israel during the time of their affliction related 
 therein. 2. The period of their deliverance from it. In 
 regard to the first jjoint it will be easy to shew that it was 7}ot 
 their condition during the Babylonish captivity; and in regard 
 to the second, that the period named is not that of their return 
 from Babylon. 
 
 First then as regards their allliction: tliey are to abide many 
 days without a sacrifice, image, ephod, or leraphim. Mr. Scott, 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^§7 
 
 after rightly explaining their abiding without a sacrifice, thus 
 proceeds: "They have also remained without an image, 
 ephod, or teraphim, — without any of those idolatrous observan- 
 ces and apparatus, to which they were so generally attached 
 when this prophecy was uttered." Notwithstanding the 
 opinion of that able commentator, the sense here attached to 
 the words is manifestly inconsistent with scripture. For the 
 prophecy regards, not Judah in particular, but Israel in the 
 general; and it is declared of them, when they should be scat- 
 tered among the nations — "There ye shall serve gods, theicork 
 of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor 
 smell. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God 
 thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and 
 with all thy soul." Deut. iv. 28, 29; see also Deut. xxviii. 
 36, 6 4, and Jcr. xvi. 13. The termination of this affliction is 
 evidently the same; — viz. their seeking the Lord: but the 
 affliction itself is so manifestly contradictory to Mr. Scott's 
 interpretation, that we are compelled to seek a meaning of the 
 terms image, ephod, and teraphim more according with the 
 description of their condition in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah. 
 Jerome and Grotius render the word naj^n by altar, instead of 
 image, and they contend that the word teraphim, (as does Cal- 
 vin) is one of a middle nature, and may signify the cherubim 
 from whence came the answer of God. The Septuagint ver- 
 sion renders the passage — ovh oi/toc fius-wa-TJi/Jwu, ouSi hpaTua.;, ouifi efxxav 
 or, in some copies, J'y,\a,o-ia,; — which is literally, without an altar, 
 without a priesthood, and without manifestations. This consists 
 with tlieir being without a sacrifice; all which is spoken of in 
 scripture as a judicial infliction; whereas to be without idola- 
 trous worship is no affliction, but on the contrary, to he given 
 up to it, is the mark of God's great anger. See Rom. i. But 
 the house of Israel was n(5t, strictly speaking, in this plight 
 during the Babylonish captivity. They were indeed renioved 
 from their tetnple and altar; but they had prophets among 
 them, as Daniel, Ezekiel, Obadiah, and Jeremiah into a con- 
 siderable part of it; and veiy extraordinary manifestations of 
 God in visions to the two former of these prophets; as also of 
 his power and mercy toward them shewed by his dealings 
 with Esther, Mordecai, Daniel, &c. by whose means he pro- 
 tected them and caused them to enjoy much favour, and their 
 religion greatly to increase. It was not till after the return 
 from Babylon that those who remained in captivity lost 
 entirely those advantages here named; so that the best of 
 them, who practise not idolatry, are without any manifestation 
 of God's beit>g among them; and the generality of the ten 
 
188 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 tribes have fallen into the idolatrous practices of the heathen 
 round about them.* 
 
 But, secondly, the time when they shall return and seek 
 the Lord and fear him is the latter days. Now there is no 
 commentator of note who considers that the latter days can 
 apply to any period earlier than the commencement of the 
 Christian Dispensation: whereas the return from the captivity 
 was upwards of five hundred years prior to that period: and 
 when the period did arrive, instead of its being marked by the 
 national conversio?i of the Jews, they cast off their fear in their 
 national capacity, and were again cast out of their land by the 
 Lord.t Many learned commentators, however, conceive that 
 by latter days is to be understood the period of the end of the 
 Gentile disjiensation; and the context of scripture and connec- 
 tion of events bears them out in most instances. 
 
 (2.) I shall only at present add to the specimen now given 
 from the Old Testament, of prophecies which concern a future 
 literal restoration of Israel; that the New Testament is not silent 
 on this important and interesting matter. 
 
 In Matthew xxiii., where the Lord foretels the wrath which 
 should come upon the Jews for the righteous blood they had 
 shed, (v. 35) he is evidently speaking of them in their national 
 character; and he adds — "liehold your house is left unto you 
 desolate. For I say uinto you. Ye shall not see me henceforth, 
 till ye shall say. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord." Their Ao?/se is here used to designate them in their 
 national character, even as they are often called "the house of 
 Judah," and "the house of Israel," &c. Some say the Lord 
 merely alludes in the threat here instanced to his providential 
 coming to destroy Jerusalem: but how did this fulfd his word? 
 If this were the comin<r he meant, the house of Judah did in- 
 deed feel him at this time; but what discernment had they of 
 him? Wlien did they nationally recognise him, and declare 
 him blessed? These things have therefore to be fulfilled at his 
 second advent. 
 
 In Acts i. 6, 7, the disciples of the Lord inquire of him: 
 "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 
 The Rev. A. M'Caul, Missionary to the Jews, has, in a work 
 
 * It can hardly be said that they were without a prince during that time; 
 I'or Jehoial<ini was raised to a throne whilst in that captivity. 2 Kin2:s xxv. 27. 
 And of Jechonia.s came Salathiel, a prince; and ol' him came Zorobabel, 
 another prince. See Matthew i. 12. 
 
 t Mr. Scott says on this place— "Let it be recollected that this prediction 
 follows that of the calling of the Gentiles. (Note ii. 18—20).'' I cannot find 
 however anything in chapter ii., or his note on it, referred to above, to justify 
 the remark. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^§9 
 
 recently published,* fully established the fact, that the term 
 Israel and Gentiles are in the New Testament commonly used 
 in the same distinctive sense as they are employed in the Old 
 Testament; though I do not agree with the excellent author in 
 the extent to which he endeavours to ajjply his principle of 
 arguing. It is sufficient however here to assert, that our Lord 
 could liave understood his disciples at this time in no other 
 than in a literal sense, and that his reply is calculated to con- 
 firm their expectation of the national supremacy of the literal 
 Israel at some future period; though he does not gratify their 
 curiosity as to the time. 
 
 Romans xi. is very clear and decisive on both points. It 
 begins by declaring, that <*God hath not cast away his people;" 
 and the fact to wiiich Paul a|)peals, as proof that all are not 
 cast oir, viz. — that he himself is an Israelite of the seed of 
 Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin, siievvs, that he is s))eaking 
 of Israel, not in an}' mystical sense, but in the literal national 
 sense. And after proceeding to shew, that even at that time 
 there was still an ^'electio?i of grace" from among them, (v. 5) 
 and that the rest were "blinded," and had "fallen" and were 
 "cast away;" (v. 7, 12, 15) he goes on to insist that they should 
 be grafTcd into the vine again; speaking of them still in their 
 distinct national character, as the ''natural branches," (v. 21 — 
 24) and admonishing the Gentiles, as Gentiles (v. 13,) not to 
 boast against them; intimating that there was also to come a 
 time of iTJection to the Gentiles, if they should cease to walk 
 by faith; (v. 20, 22) and that when the election or "fulness" 
 from among the Gentiles should be complete, then "there 
 should come out of Zion the Deliverer, and turn away ungod- 
 liness from Jacob." (v. 26, 27.) On this passage we will hear 
 Mr. M'Caul. — "In Romr xi. 26, 27, the apostle proves the 
 future national conversion of Israel by a citation from the 59th 
 chapter of Isaiah — "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." Now the 
 manner and object of this citation proves two things — First, 
 that this passage of the prophet refers to the literal Israel. 
 Second, that it refers to a time yet to come. But what is the 
 immediate context? — "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, &c. 
 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish 
 first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and gold with 
 them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy 
 
 * "New Te«;lament evidence to prove that the Jews are to be restored to the 
 Lind of Israel." Lond. Wertheim. 12mo. pp. 2G. 
 16* 
 
190 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee, &c. Violence 
 shall no more be heard within thy land, wasting nor destruc- 
 tion within thy borders." To separate this whole 60th chapter 
 from the preceding verses [quoted from it] is impossible; but 
 if it be connected with them, then it refers, according to the 
 apostles, to some fu.ture period of the literal Israel's history, 
 and predicts their restoration to their own land." p. 17. 
 
 Some have thought, especially Mr. Jose])h Mede, that 1 
 Tim. i. IG. also proves tliis point: '*Howbeit for this cause I 
 obtained mercy, that in mejirst Jesus Christ might show forth 
 all long-suffering for a pallcrn (or type, uTroTUTra^a-iv) to them which 
 should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting;" and they 
 endeavour to show, that the sudden conversion of the apostle 
 on his way to Damascus, and his subsequently becoming a 
 most successful minister of the gospel to the 'Gentiles, is the 
 type of the manner in which all Israel shall hereafter be con- 
 verted, — viz. by the shining forth of the Lord from heaven, — 
 and of their afterwards becoming a great blessing to the Gen- 
 tile world. I am desirous, however, not to mix up doubtful 
 matter in an argum.ent of such great importance; and therefore 
 I leave this, and some other passages of the New Testament: 
 otherwise, much more might be said upon this subject. 
 
 2. Much of the weight of the argument, or rather evidence, 
 for the future literal restoration of Israel, depends upon the 
 two-fold fact, that the ten tribes of Israel were not restored at 
 the time of the return of Judah from captivity; and that they 
 continue in existence in some portion of the globe, under such 
 circumstances as that they can again, in the piovidence of God, 
 be recognized and approved in their national character. This 
 portion of the subject will therefore require separate conside- 
 ration. 
 
 (I.) The fact that the restoration of the whole house of Israel, 
 ' — including both Kphraim and Judah, or tlie ten tribes and the 
 two tribes, — is foretold in tiie j)rophets, has already come be- 
 fore the reader in some of the prophecies already adduced, and 
 therefore needs no farther evidence in this place.* I proceed, 
 therefore, to the objections, the strength of all which may be 
 found in two or three articles by a very able writer in vol. iv. 
 of the Investigator of Prophecy, under the signature T. K. 
 
 The first that I shall notice is derived from the prophecy 
 contained in the 5pth and 5 1st chapters of Jeremiah. He ob- 
 serves, that the return of the ten tribes is foretold in chapter 1. 
 4, 17, and 33; and that it is in connection with the capture of 
 
 * The reader however may, if he please, refer in nddition to Jer. iii. 18 — 
 'Z'.V. .\x.<. 3; Ezckicl xxxix. Of), 40. and Hnsoa i. II; and ihcre arc a fow oilier 
 texts wliicli will rc()iure to he noticed in llic arc^unient which follows. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. JQ^ 
 
 the literal Babylon by Cyrus. He maintains, therefore, that 
 the prediction was then fully accomplished, and that the re- 
 conciliation between the two houses, which it is then declared 
 should take ])lace, was also then fulfilled, so that wc hear not 
 afterwards of any schism. 
 
 In answer to this, two or three things may be briefly but 
 decisively urged.. First, the prophecy concerning Babylon is 
 not to be limited to the Babylon existing in the lime of Cyrus; 
 various circumstances connected witli the prophecy manifest 
 the contrary, among which one connected with Israel will be 
 sufficient for our present purpose: viz. that at verses 19 — 24, 
 there is a reference to Israel, as the Lord's ^'haltle-axe and icea- 
 pofis of zLHir/' which is made instrumental in the vengeance on 
 Babylon; and it may be asked, Was Israel made a neapon of 
 war in the Lord's hand in the time of Cyrus, or in any way 
 instrumental in inflicting that vengeance? It may further be 
 asked. Were the Lord's people called out of Babylon, and 
 afforded an opportunity of escape, previous to the attack by 
 the Medes, — as it is distinctly intimated in both chapters they 
 should be at the overthrow of Babylon, which is there princi- 
 pally intended? (1. 8; li. 45.) Besides, this Babylon was not 
 destroyed by Cyrus, in the manner stated in verses 13 and 2G; 
 for the conquest and change of dynasty cannot be considered as 
 ^^aii end'' of tliat city. And as to the Israelites who were of 
 the ten tribes, the main body of them would not be affected by 
 the conquest of Babylon by the kings of the JNIedes, (li. 11.) 
 seeing that they were actually in previous captivity to the 
 Medes themselves; for they were placed in ''Halah and Habor 
 by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." (2 
 Kings xvii. 6; xviii. 11.) 
 
 (2.) But there is historical evidence brought forward by this 
 writer from Josephus and Philo to show that there actually 
 were, between the period of the return from Babylon aiul the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, vast numbers of the ten 
 tribes in .ludea, and large colonies of them in other places; 
 and that Jerusalem was continually visited by deputies from 
 them with offerings. Other writers contend that a sufficiency 
 of individuals of the ten tribes returned with the Jews under 
 Zorobaljel, to constitute it virtually a return of the captivity of 
 the nation. Whilst T. K. observes, in regard to the previous 
 jealousy between the tribes: "So entirely do these feelings 
 appear to have ceased, that the writer of the Maccabees gives 
 to the united population the name of Israel — a name which I 
 suppose wouUl be the very last he would have employed, if 
 any portion of the former jealousy remained," p. 32. 
 
 This latter circumstance would be anything but satisfactory, 
 
192 
 
 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 ill the u-ay of proof, even supposing there were no contrary 
 evidence; for the Jews have an equal right to be denominated 
 Israel, with the members of the ten tribes. But the simple 
 reply, and a completely sufficient one, is to be found in Ezra 
 i, 5, vi. 17 — 21, and viii. 35. In the two latter places he calls 
 them all Israel, and speaks of an offering of twelve he-goats, 
 according to the number of the tribes of Israel; which has 
 caused some to conclude that all the tribes were there present. 
 But in the former of these three places the same Ezra calls the 
 whole company that returned "Judah and Betijami.i.^' Further, 
 although Josephus speaks of the number of the ten tribes who 
 came up to Jerusalem, and that "many of them came, on the 
 decree of Artaxerxes, with their effects to Babylon, desiring 
 to return;" he nevertheless adds, that the main body abode 
 still in Media; and therefore (he says) "there are two tribes 
 living in Asia and Europe in subjection to the Romans; but 
 the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates to this time." (Antiq. 
 lib. ii. c. 5. sect. 2.) As to the Israelites (or Jeivs, for they 
 were probably in most instances of the latter,) who came up 
 to Jerusalem for devout purposes, (Acts ii. 5.) there were 
 many in Hezekiah's time, who came up gladly to the Passover 
 from out of the tribes of Asher, JManasseh, and Zebulun, whilst 
 yet the main body of the nation laughed to scorn the deputies 
 sent to them by the king of Judah. 2 Chron. xxx. 10, 11. 
 
 There are yet, however, two or three important testimonies 
 to be derived from scripture, which will tend to put this mat- 
 ter beyond a question. The first is, that the prophet Zecha- 
 riah, who prophesied after the return from Babylon, does 
 nevertheless foretell a future restoration of "the house of 
 Judah and the house of Joseph," concerning whom the Lord 
 thus speaks by him. — "I will bring them again to place 
 them;-' — "and they of Ephraim (or Joseph,) shall be like a 
 mighty man, &c." — "I will hiss for them and gather them, 
 &c." — "I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, 
 and gather them out of Assyria, and I will bring them into the 
 land of Gilcad and Lebanon, and place shall not be found for 
 them. And he shall pass through the sea with affliction,* and 
 shall smite the waves of the sea, and all the deeps of the river 
 shall dry up, &c." How exactly this corresponds with the 
 prophecies already considered, and how irreconcileable is it all 
 with the return from Babylon! 
 
 Secondly, as regards those Israelites of the ten tribes who 
 accompanied the Jews on their return from Babylon,! the case 
 
 ♦ Jeromr- Arias, and the Septuaginl have it not, "through tlie sea with 
 (iJjlictKm,'" hut— 'by a strait of the sea." 
 
 t The nmiibcr couUl not have been very great, seeing that the vhole multi- 
 tude only, amounted to about fifty thousand. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. ^93 
 
 is exactly provided for in Ezekiel xxxvii. At verses IG, 17, 
 the prophet is directed to take one stick and write upon it, 
 "For JuDAH, and for the children of Israel Ins companions.''' 
 Here we have Judah and his companions of the house of 
 Israel, as they attaclied themselves to him duringthe captivity, 
 and, as it is admitted, they came up with him from Bahylon. 
 But the prophet is next directed to take another stick, and 
 write upon it, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for 
 all the house of Israel his companions,'' and join them one to 
 another in one stick. The Lord then goes on to declare the 
 meaning of this: "Behold 1 will take the children of Israel 
 from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will 
 gather them on everij side, and bring them into their own la?id: 
 and 1 will make them one nation in the land upon the moun- 
 tains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and 
 they shall no more be tivo nations, neither shall they be 
 divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall 
 they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with 
 their detestable things, nor with atiy of their transgressions, 
 &c." (verses 21 — 23.) This is very contrary to the charges 
 of abomination and wickedness which Christ brought against 
 them in his days. But the prophet goes on to declare, "that 
 they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my 
 servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall 
 dwell therein, even they and their prince, and their children, 
 and their children's children for ever, and my servant David 
 shall be their prince for ever." Ver. 25. And then the pro- 
 phecy goes on to say, "that the Lord's sanctuari/ shall be with 
 them for evermore," and also his "tabernacle;" whereas we 
 know that they have all of them been now, for nearly ISOO 
 years without sanctuary or tabernacle at all. On the foregoing 
 verses just quoted, the author of an animated and pertinent 
 tract, on this subject says: "What do you think they (the 
 people of Israel) understood when they read these ^vords? 
 what could they understand? Do you think that when they 
 read of "their own land, the mountains of Israel," or, (as it is 
 called in v. 25,) "llie land that I have given to Jacob my ser- 
 vant, wherein your fathers have dwelt," they understood 
 either heaven or the Gcnlile church, in neither of which their 
 fathers had ever dwelt?' They knew that this prophecy had 
 been given long after the division between Judah and 
 Ephraim; and when had it ever been fulfilled? In what pos- 
 sible sense could it be said, that the house of Israel and the 
 house of Judah had been re-united, and formed "o^f nation in 
 
 * See Acts ii. 34. 
 
194 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the land'' under ^'one king?'' Read the whole chapter, and 
 say how they could possibly understand less than that the 
 kino-dom of Israel should be restored in the plain and obvious 
 sense of the words?"* 
 
 This portion of the subject may be closed by finally ob- 
 serving, that as the king they are to be made one nation under, 
 is here (as also in other places,!) declared to be of the house 
 of David, all application of these prophecies to the circum- 
 stances of the kingdom of Israel under the princes who ruled 
 from the time of the return from the captivity to Titus, is 
 again forbidden: for the Maccabees were Asmoneans, who 
 ruled to the exclusion of David; and they were tributary 
 princes; whereas Jerusalem is under David "to serve herself 
 of those whom she has served." 
 
 (3.) But if the ten tribes are to be restored in sucii wise as 
 that they may be identified, the interesting question arises — 
 Where are thei/? They are declared by Jerome (see on Dan. 
 xi.) to have been existing in or near the places where they 
 were originally located in his time, which enables us to keep 
 them in sight down into the ffth century.J Mr. Hirschfeld, 
 who has been before quoted, says, that tliey were still on the 
 banks of the Euphrates, in Persia, and its neighbouring pro- 
 vinces down into the eleventh century, ''since they had their 
 heads of the captivity, and most flourishing academies; and 
 though considerably weakened by persecution, yet travellers 
 of that nation discovered many synagogues of their brethren 
 in the 12lh and 14th centuries." He therefore concludes 
 them to be still there. § Be this as it may, they have latterly 
 disappeared from the observation of the more civilized portion 
 of mankind; and it has become a subject of very interesting 
 inquiry, with the Christian traveller, the missionary, and the 
 student of prophecy, to ascertain their present place or places 
 of existence. 
 
 The hypotheses and conjectures on this head may be resolv- 
 ed into two classes. The first is that which supposes certain 
 nations and tribes of men, who are at present, as regards the 
 mass of them, entirely unconscious of the matter, to have 
 
 * "The Future Destiny of Israel," by a Clersvrnan of the Church of Eng- 
 land. 1830 —p. 7. 
 
 t Jer. XX.X. 1 — 9; Ezck. xxxiv.; Ilosea iii. 1 — 5; Zcch. xii. 10, &c. 
 
 t Jerome died about a. d. 4"20. 
 
 § Mr. Hirschfeld gives no authorities for his statements, and I am unac- 
 quainted with his source of information in this particular; otherwise than 
 that synagogues of Jews have been found there without any dispute. But the 
 question is, whether they were of the ten tribes, or of Judah and Benjamin: 
 the term Israelite has been almost merged for a long period in that of Jc7i', 
 which is applied by some to all, indiscriminately, without question as to 
 tribe. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. J 95 
 
 originally descended from the Israelites. In the year 1650 
 Thomas Thorowt^ood, a member of the assembly of divines, 
 published a work called "Jeros in America, or probabilities that 
 the Americans are Jews.'" Sir William Penn at a later period 
 has expressed the same opinion; and it has more recently been 
 revived in a series of papers that appeared in the Jewish 
 Expositor, under the title of "The Star in the West," and 
 also in a late publication by Mrs. Barbai'a Ann Simon, called 
 <'The Hope of Israel." Some plausible grounds are given 
 for the opinion, derived chiefly from their customs and super- 
 stitions. 
 
 I have myself likewise, in a paper published in the Jewish 
 Expositor, vol. xiii. p. 125, under the signature Abdiel, en- 
 deavoured to demonstrate, by a series of facts, that the Welcli 
 or ancient Britons have a Jewish origin; which is therein 
 proved by the similarity of language, names, ancient customs, 
 superstition, and other circumstances.* 
 
 The same affinity might perhaps be claimed for the Irish, 
 and perhaps for many others. But, however plausible, and 
 even convincing, such hypotheses may be, as establishing the 
 origin of a nation, it appears to me that the evidence of the 
 identity of any people with the ten tribes must be of a cliarac- 
 ter more immediately obvious, being sustained by tradition 
 among themselves, and supported perhaps by genealogical 
 tables. This brings us to the second class of evidence. 
 
 The Jews of Cochin, on the coast of Malabar, have been 
 supposed to be of the ten tribes. Bryant, speaking of them, 
 says, "they came there, according to Hamilton, as early as the 
 captivity under Nebuchadnezzar." But Dr. Buchanan, who 
 visited them in 1806, considers them to be Jews of the tribe 
 of Benjamin, who came there after the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem by Titus. They arejn number about one thousand, about 
 one-half of whom are white and the other half black. Mr. 
 Joseph Wolfl^, the eminent Jewish missionary, who has since 
 visited them, makes a distinction between the white Jews and 
 the black Jews, which may tend to reconcile both these 
 accounts: and he is decidedly of opinion that the Beni-Israel 
 around and at Bombay are of the ten tribes. Page 194.t 
 
 * It may be interesting also to some to notice here, in reference to the 
 American Indians, that the Welch may claim the honour of having discover- 
 ed America at an earlier period than Columbus; as appears from a passage 
 concerning an adventurer of the name of Madoc, (which is the same as Mor- 
 (iccai and Mcrodoch) in Lloyd's History of Cambria. He traces various 
 British names given to places' and objects in America; and if this be so, it is 
 just possible that some of the customs alluded to among the Indians were 
 derived intermediately from the Welch. 
 
 t It is from the journal of this enterprising traveller, for 1831 — 4, recently 
 published, to which this and subsequent references arc made. 
 
19(3 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Another race of people worthy of note are the Afghans or 
 Aff(rhans in Persia; though the accounts respecting them are 
 in some measure conflicting. We learn from 2 Kings xvii. 6, 
 and xviii. 11, (as before has been noticed) that some of the ten 
 tribes were anciently placed down at Halah and Habor. Mr. 
 Wolff in his recent journey to Persia and ancient Media, was 
 informed by the Jews of Bokhara and Balk in Toorkestaun, 
 both of them cities Which he visited, that they are the ancient 
 Ilabor and Halah; but that the Jews lost their written 
 accounts of this matter in the time of Jenghis Khan. This 
 account was corroborated by the Mussulman mullahs; who 
 told him further, that the first name of Balk was Ha?iahj 
 and afterwards Halah, and that it had been built by a son 
 of Adam. This seems to decide, so far as tradition can do it, 
 that this is the region in which the ten tribes were formerly 
 located. 
 
 In regard to the inhabitants of this region, Mr. Wolff ob- 
 tained further accounts. He states that the same Jews of 
 Bokhara informed him, that they emigrated from Babylon to 
 Persia, and settled at Sabzawar,' two days' journey from 
 Meshed; and that before the time of Jenghis Khan they were 
 carried to Balk and Samarcand. When Samarcand fell into 
 ruins a great number of them went to Bokhara; and there, they 
 say, they found mamj rvho had originally come from Babylon, 
 and of whom maruj had emigrated to China, which they call 
 Tsheen Patsheen; and that these took their genealogies nith them. 
 Pages 187 and 194. 
 
 Meshed having been named above, as connected with that 
 district, it will next be useful to inquire what account Mr. 
 Wolff gives of the Jews of this place; and what were their 
 opinions also of the Affghans. Mr. Wolff says that the Jews 
 of Meshed have not the Talmud; that they keep themselves 
 entirely secluded from their neighbours, and never intermarry 
 with them, nor even with the Jews of Yazd, on account of the 
 bad character of the latter; that they have no hatred towards 
 Jesus Christ, neither have those of Toorkestaun and Khoros- 
 saun; which caused Mr. Wolff to infer, that they were of the 
 ten tribes who had no share in the crucifixion. Page 159. 
 He further states that these Jews believe the Affghans to be 
 descendants of the Jews; an admission which we may be 
 quite sure a Jew would be slow to make in regard to those 
 who arc living as Gentiles, unless he had strong and irresisti- 
 ble reasons for so concluding. And he adds, that Aga Levi, 
 one of these Jews, informed him that the tribes of Benjamin, 
 Simeon, and Joseph were carried to Candahar, where they lost 
 their books, and then turned Mahommedans. Page 134. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. J 97 
 
 On the other hand, Tvlr. Wolff has some (/o?/6/5 respecting the 
 Affghans; First, because they have not the Jewish physiogno- 
 my; secondly, because there existed a contrary tradition, 
 that they were descended from the Copts; thirdly, because he 
 could only trace one word in their language which was strictly 
 Hebrew, viz. iin or, light, (p. 231.) He confesses, however, 
 that there were two tribes of this people — the Yoitssuf Szeye 
 and the Khaib-aree, "which cannot be looked upon without 
 astonishment. They are the only two tribes having a Jewish 
 countenance: their customs are quite patriarchal; and they are 
 the most hospitable of the Affghans,"* (p. 242.) Mr. Wolff 
 also believes, and gives the positive proof of documents on the 
 subject, that the proper names of the Affghans in general are 
 in numerous instances Jewish. They have many Hebrew 
 names in their genealogy in tracing themselves up to Affghana 
 their ancestor. This Affghana, according to an ancient Per- 
 sian manuscript, is the son of one Inniah or Jeremiah, and 
 before him all is regularly Hebrew up to Abraham, (p. 241-2.) 
 
 The opposing testimony to Mr. Wolff, as regards their lan- 
 guage, is of high authority. Sir William Jones says, that the 
 best Persian historians declare them to be descended from the 
 Jevvs;t and that their families are distinguished by the names 
 of the Jewish tribes: although, since their conversion to Is- 
 lamism, they studiously conceal their origin. — "The Pushtoo 
 language (he adds) ofivhich I haze seen a dictio?iary, has a mani- 
 fest resemblance to the Chaldaic.^^ And he notices the fact, that 
 the Apocryphal Ezra speaks of a portion of the ten tribes who 
 separated from the rest, and settled in a district which he calls 
 Arsareth, and that there was then a considerable district under 
 the dominion of the Affghans, which they called Hazareth or 
 Hazaret. J Captain S. Riley of Nusseerabad, a letter from whom 
 is likewise inserted in ^le Journal (p. 227,) believes the Aff- 
 ghans to be of Jewish descent; on account of the great number 
 of Hebrew proper names in their appellatives, and their dialect 
 still retaining the genitive sign of the Chaldee, and other marks 
 of cognate affinity. The missionaries Carey and Marshman 
 state "that in the Pushtoo or Affghan language there are more 
 
 * Mr. Wolff also instances some remarkaMe customs observed in another 
 tribe of them, which he calls the Kaffie Seeah Poosh: viz. in their sacrifices 
 they sprinkle the blood of the victim (a sheep or a cow) on an idol which is 
 silting on a horse, and the meat they give to men. They have a throne of 
 stone, in which are some words taken irorn the Pentateuch of Moses. They 
 distinguish between clean and unclean animals, — mice, dogs, and fish being of 
 the latter: and women after childbirth are separated from them for three days, 
 and considered unclean. (See Lev. .Kii. 2 — 0.) Page 246. 
 
 t In Burnes' Travels to Bokhara he states, that they look like Jews, and that 
 the younger bl-oiher marries the widow of the elder. Vol. i. p. 164. 
 
 t Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 336. 
 VOL. II. — 17 
 
198 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Hebrew words than in that of any other nation:"* and they 
 quote a learned Aflghan as saying, "that his nation are Beni 
 Israel, but not Yahood" — that is to say, sons of Israel, but not 
 Jews, 
 
 The most reasonable conclusion therefore is, that ISIr. WoliT 
 is mistaken in regard to their language. He did not under- 
 stand it, but merely picked up a few words as he travelled, 
 whicli were given to him in answer to his inquiries, as the 
 names of objects tov>^hich he probably pointed. This afforded 
 him no opportunity of judging of the inflexions of the words 
 as they come under regimen; which is the point to which 
 Captain Riley speaks: nor is a column or two of words acci- 
 dentally assorted, to be put in competition with the didionarij 
 which Sir William Jones declares he inspected. Neither does 
 it account for the admitted fact of the number of Hebrew ap- 
 pellatives. 
 
 Other places have been named, in which it is supposed the 
 descendants of the ten tribes have existed; as the kingdom of 
 Cashmere in Hindostan, and the interior of Africa; both men- 
 tioned by Easnage in his History of the Jews.t I do not how- 
 ever wish to enter into conjectural matter, excepting with 
 regard to one instance; which is based upon a hint contained 
 in scripture, and therefore entitled to consideration. I must 
 preface it, however, witji the observation, that the fact of the 
 existence of the ten tribes having in later years become in- 
 volved in considerable obscurity, is no argument against the 
 literal fulfilment of the prophetic word respecting them, but a 
 very striking confirmation of its Jiteral certainty and truth: 
 since the scriptures themselves speak of them as if removed 
 from observation previous to their restoration. They are 
 called in the first instance <'o?//c«.s/s of Israel," as distinguished 
 from the ^'■dhperaed oi Judah," (Isa. xi. 12.) and on tlieir res- 
 
 * See a note in Mr. Bickersteth'.s "Guide to Prophecy," p. 5L 
 t Bernier, in iiis description of Hindoostan, gives ground to conclude that 
 Cashmere was anciently possessed by either Jews, or the posterity of the ten 
 tribes, and that they apostatized. Mr. Wolfi" could find none there on his 
 recent visit, but picked up traditionary accounts that many of them had emi- 
 grated into Tartary. And Basnage quotes the opinions of travellers, as to there 
 being large colonics of the ten tribes in Tartary; and also that there existed 
 in the vri<j/)/i„ii,-hoiirl of Persia, secured by mountains which surrounded them, 
 and ind(|i(iii|iiit ol the Persian power, a race of Jews, who were in their habits 
 very like Tin tars, iiaving flocks and dwelling in tents. (Bk. vi. ch. 2, 3, &c.") 
 Mr. Habcrshon, in his recently published "Dissertation on the Prophecies, 
 .speaking of the Tc7i Tribes, says, "Various communications have lately been 
 made to the world, through Jews who have visited the Leipsic fair, as well as 
 by means of an Oriental Geographical Society cstablislied at Calcutta, that a 
 people exist in the interior of Asia, whose usages, physiognomy, and oilier 
 characteristics, prove them to belong to the Hebrew nation.'' Page 181. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. J 99 
 
 me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a 
 captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up 
 these? Behold I was left alone: these, where had they been? 
 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold 1 will lift up mine hand to the 
 Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people, and theij shall 
 bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried 
 on their shoulders?''' (Isaiah xlix. 21, 22.) 
 
 In Isaiah, however, chap. xvi. 3, 4, the prophet thus ad- 
 dresses J\Ioab:* *'Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy 
 shadow as the night in the midst of the noon-day; hide the out- 
 casts; bewray not him that wanderelh. Let mine outcasts dzcell 
 with TiiEE, Moab; — be thou a covert to them from the face of the 
 spoiler,'' — immediately connected with which words are ex- 
 pressions which seem to imply, that thus it shall be, until that 
 determined be poured out upon the desolator, and the spoiler 
 shall cease from out of the land. — "For the extortioner is at 
 an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out 
 of the land; and in mercy shall the throne be established, and 
 HE shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judg- 
 ing, seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness." It would 
 follow from this that tlie territory of Moab affords a covert for 
 the ten tribes; and Mr. Keith in treating on Dan. xi. 41, — 
 "these [countries] shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and 
 Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon," — shews that 
 there is to this day, in the possession of the Arabs, a district 
 called Karak, and also Moab, which never has been conquered 
 by the Turkish arms; but that the Porte is indeed itself 
 compelled to pay tribute to the Arabs of those parts, in order 
 to obtain permission for the caravans to pass by their territory 
 unmolested. And within this district is that part of Arabia 
 Petrea, the inhabitants of which are so exceedingly jealous of 
 strangers penetrating into tlieir defiles, and rocks and hills, that 
 none have both successfully penetrated and fully discovered 
 that singular region.! 
 
 3. Tliere are other points worthy of notice in regard to the 
 restoration, some of which are likewise somewhat involved in 
 obscurity, from the circumstance that the different texts which 
 
 ♦ In regard to Monh, I consider tlie prophecy here cited has respect to the 
 territory and geographical circumstances of the country, whatever the inha- 
 bitants in possession of it may be called. At the same time it mus-t not be 
 forgotten that the captivity of' Moab is to return. (Deut. ii. 9. Jer. xlviii. 47; 
 xlix. 6.) 
 
 t Mr. Keith does not make these remarks with any reference to the ten 
 tribes. Particulars will be found in his work on the Evidence of Prophecy; 
 and the circumstance of Moab being a convert for the Ten Tribes is more 
 largely handlotl in the Investigator, vol. iv. p. 312. Egypt is also there men- 
 tioned, as being a country from whence thev will in numbers proceed. See 
 Lowth on Isaiah xix. 18—25. 
 
200 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 treat of them have never yet been sufficiently considered, 
 compared one with the other, and adjusted into their exact 
 situations in the prophetic narrative. For example, there are 
 passages which seem to declare that their repentance does not 
 ensue until after their return, (or at least the return of a portion 
 of them — which I hold to be the more probable opinion, and 
 that these will be of Juchih,) and that the nations have come up 
 to besiege them. The Fathers of antiquity, who at least were 
 acquainted with the earlier traditions of the church on the 
 subject, thought that they would be restored in an unconverted 
 state, by means of human policy, and that they would be the 
 first to declare for Anlichrist, who would march against Jerusa- 
 lem and easily conquer it, and then cajole them by flatteries 
 and impose upon them by spurious miracles. They farther 
 supi)0sed, that Antichrist will, in the first instance, rebuild the 
 city and temple of Jerusalem, and that the Jews will deceive 
 themselves with the hope, that the kingdom of Israel will be 
 restored by his means to its former splendour.* 
 
 Certain it is, from the word of God, "that Zion shall be 
 redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness; 
 and the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners 
 shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be con- 
 sumed." (Isa. i. 27, 2S.) And this is to be at the very pe- 
 riod when *'the Lord shall restore her judges as at the first, 
 and her counsellors as at the beginning; and afterrcards she 
 shall be called, "The City of Righteousness, the Faithful 
 City." (v. 26.) And it shall come to pass, that he that is left 
 in Zion, and he that remainelh in Jerusalem, shall be called 
 holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem; 
 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daugh- 
 ters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from 
 the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of 
 burning." Isaiah iv. 3, 4. This cannot refer to cither of the 
 two sieges of Jerusalem which have already occurred; for 
 there were none left remaining and xvritten among the living in 
 Jerusalem on those occasions; nor was the judgment followed 
 (as in this case it is declared it shall be) by the Lord creating 
 upo.i every dwelling place of JNIount Zion, and upon her 
 
 ♦ See Aretas in Apoc. ix. 14; Lactam, lib. vii. cap. 17: Cyril Hieros. 
 Catech. 15. § 7; Tlieodoret in Daniel xi. Jerome Epist. ad Aglas. diisest. 
 OEcirnen. in 2 Tliess. ii. Ephraiin Syrus de Anticliri.sto. Hippolytus de 
 Consiini. p. 12. Suip. Scv. 2 Dial. 
 
 John V. 43, has been supposed by some to be a prophetical denunciation of 
 onr Lord to the Jews, that in the last days, because they now rejected Christ, 
 there should arise one who should glorify himself aiid whom they should 
 receive. "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if anotkcr 
 shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." — See Dr. Hiklrop on Anti- 
 christ, p. 120. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 901 
 
 assemblies, "a cloud and smoke by day, and tbe shining of a 
 flaming fire by night." (verse 5.) But these scriptures seem 
 to point to a time when there shall be a siege: and Zcchariah 
 xiv. 1, 2, decides it: "Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and 
 thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee; for I will 
 gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall 
 be taken and the houses rifled; and the women ravished; and 
 half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of 
 the people shall not be cut ciff from the citij." In Isaiah x. is a 
 prophecy concerning some signal enemy of the Lord's people, 
 under the title of 71ie Assyrian. JNIost expositors consider it 
 the same as the wilful king of Daniel xi, and the Antichrist of 
 the last days; be this as it may, the whole scope of the pro- 
 phecy indicates, as well as particular sentences of it, that it 
 chiefly refers to a period yet to come. It seems that the 
 hypocritical portion of the nation shall lean upon this person- 
 age; and that the Lord by his means shall afflict them, but 
 ultimately turn his hand against him. The expression in 
 verse 20, — ''And it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
 remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of 
 Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; 
 but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in 
 truth," — seems to justify the opinion of the Fathers before 
 mentioned, that they shall be seduced by the Antichrist. And 
 the probability is, that some political movement will take 
 place, in accordance with the liberal spirit of the age, which 
 shall reinstate the Jews (i. e. the two tribes) in their own land; 
 and that though there will be among them a people afflicted 
 for their sin and poor in spirit, whom the Lord will deliver as 
 an election out of the midst of them; yet the "strange chikU'en 
 shall dissemble with him," and they shall trust in princes, and 
 lean upon tlie arm of flesh, and possibly again on Egypt, and 
 these are "the rebels^' whom the Lord shall consume from out 
 of the midst of them, and purely purge away the dross and 
 tin of the nation. 
 
 I consider the following texts perfectly reconcileable with 
 the view here taken; viz. — Ezekiel xi. 14 — 21;xx. 33— 44; 
 xxxvi. 16 — 38; Zephaniah iii. 8 — 13; Zechariah xil. 1 — 4j 
 and a careful consideration of them will well repay the student 
 of prophecy. The only part of them difficult to reconcile is, 
 verse 34, 35, of Ezck. xx., where the Lord says, he will ''bring 
 them out from the countries in which they are scattered, with 
 a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury 
 poured out: and I will bring you into the zcildcrncss of the 
 people, and trliere will I plead with you face to face; &c." but 
 17* 
 
202 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 this I conceive may belong to a later period of their deliver- 
 ance, which I will next proceed to notice. 
 
 There is, as was observed in the last chapter, an intimate 
 connexion between the restoration of Israel, and that tremen- 
 dous series o( Judgments by which the Lord will contend with 
 and overthrow all nations. It comprehends two principal 
 future epochs, with probably only a very short period between 
 them. In the former the Jews themselves will be overtaken 
 by affliction and will dreadfully suffer. To the first of these 
 acts in the great drama I apprehend Jeremiah xxx. refers, 
 when, after declaring that the Lord will bring again the capti- 
 vity of Israel and Judah, (v. 3. 4.) he adds— "For thus saith 
 the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling of fear, and 
 not of peace. Ask ye now, and see, whether a tnan doth tra- 
 vail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands 
 on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces turned into 
 paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it 
 is even the time of Jacob's trouble: but he shall be saved out 
 of it." V. 5 — 7. This is probably the commencement, — the 
 first stage, (as just observed) in the' tribulation mentioned by 
 Daniel xii. 1; who says, "At that time shall Michael stand up, 
 the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: 
 and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since 
 there was a nation, even, to that same time: and at that time 
 thy people sliall be delivered, every one that shall be found 
 written in the book."* 
 
 But having thus purified them, and as it would appear from 
 other scriptures appeared to them, (Zech. xiv. 4) the Lord will 
 go forth against those nations which have congregated against 
 Jerusalem, t and a most signal and awful destruction will ensue; 
 which, though accompanied by miraculous circumstances, will 
 also be in part accomplished by the instrumentality of Israel 
 and Judah themselves. And now it is I apprehend that a 
 portion of the ten tribes will be brought out of Moab and 
 Ammon, and other places, and start into existence, so that a 
 nation will be born in a day; the Lord as it were going up be- 
 fore them.it "In that day the Lord will make Jerusalem a cup 
 of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall 
 be in the siege both against Judah and Jerusalem; and in that 
 day will I make Jerusalem a burdetisome stone for all people: all 
 
 ♦ Mr. Cuninghame says, (p. 499) "There are passages of the prophetic 
 word which unequivocally indicate to us, that the political resuscitation of 
 Israel in the flesh is to be (he event, which shall in a peculiar manner stir up 
 the enmity of the powers of the world and give occasion to the mighty con- 
 federacy which shall be broken at Armageddon." 
 
 t Ezek. xxxix. Joel iii.2 — 14. 
 
 t Isaiah lii. G— 12. Hosea i. 7. Micah ii. 12, 13. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 2Q3 
 
 that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though 
 all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." 
 Zech. xii. 2, 3. <'In that day (saitli the Lord) will I make 
 the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, 
 and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the 
 people round about, &c. The Lord also will save the tents* of 
 Judah first." V. G, 7. *'And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them, (the 
 nations gathered round Jerusalem,) and they shall lay hold every 
 one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up 
 against the hand of his neighbour: and Judah also shall fight 
 at Jerusalem." Zech. xiv. 13,14. "And the remnant of Jacob 
 shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a 
 lion among the beasts of the forests, as a young lion among 
 the flocks of sheep, &:c. Mic. v. 8. "Turn you to the strong 
 hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to-day do I declare that I 
 will render double unto thee, when 1 have bent Judah for me; 
 filled the bow with Ephraim, (as arrows) and raised up thy 
 sons, Zion, against thy sons, Greece:" (Zech. ix. 12) "for 
 the Lord hath made Judah his goodly horse in the battle," and 
 his "bailie bow;" (x. 3, 4) and of Lsrael he says, "Thou art my 
 battle-axe and weapojis ofzcar; for with thee will I break in pieces 
 the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms." Jer. li. 20. 
 *Arise, and thresh, daughter of Zion; for I will make thine 
 horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat 
 in pieces many people, and I will consecrate their gain unto the 
 Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." 
 Micah iv. 13. 
 
 It were easy to oppress the reader with passages of this de- 
 scription: let him, if he wishes for more, read Isaiah xxxiv. 
 xli. 14 — 16; lix. 16—21. Ezekiel xxviii. 24—26. Haggai 
 ii. 21—23. Obadiah 17, >8. 
 
 After this consumption decreed upon the Gentiles, and the 
 Lord hath recompensed them upon their own pate for the con- 
 troversies of the nations, there will apparently take place the 
 gathering out of all nations of the rest of Israel or Judah, who 
 have not previously been induced to come up. — -"For I know 
 
 * I quote lliis next line merely to take the opportunity of observing, that I do 
 not untlerstand it. I at first took up the interpretation I have somewhere met 
 with, that this deliverance was to be in behalf of J(u/«A, in preference to Israel; 
 but the reason p;iven for it in the Scripture is, — that the house of David (who 
 was of Judak) and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, do not magnify 
 themselves against Judah. The key to it is possibly verse 5. — "And the 
 governors of Judah shall say in their heart, 7Vtc inhabitants op Jerusalem 
 shall be viij strength, in the Lord of hosts their God;" that is, independently of 
 these, who are ar portion of Judah cncamjicd in the vicinity, or in the open 
 towns and un walled villages. See E/^ekiel xxxviii. 11. 
 
204 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 their works and their thoughts; (saith the Lord:) it shall come 
 that I will gather all nations and tongues (the context is, when 
 he shall "plead by fire and by his sword with all flesh;") and 
 they shall come and see my glory. And I will set a sign 
 amongst them; and I will send those that escape of them unto 
 the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud that draw the bow, to 
 Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off that have not heard my 
 fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my 
 glory among the Gentiles; and they shall bring all your 
 brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations, upon 
 horses and in chariots, and in litters, (or coaches, margin) and 
 upon mules and upon swift beasts, &c. Isaiah Ixvi. 18 — 20. 
 At this juncture it is, I apprehend, that the tongue of the 
 Egyptian sea will be destroyed, and a passage made both in 
 the Euphrates and in the Nile;" "and there shall be an high- 
 way for the remnant of his people zohich shall be left:" — the 
 context shews that this isafterihe battle. Isaiah xi. 15. Zech. 
 X. 11. And then "the nations shall see and be confounded at 
 all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, 
 their ears shall be deaf: they shall lick the dust like a serpent, 
 they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth, 
 they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear be- 
 cause of thee." JNIicah vii. 17. "The sons also of them that 
 afflictfcd thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that 
 despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy 
 feet; and they shall call thee, The City of the Lord, The Zion 
 of the Holy One of Israel." See also Isaiah xlix. 23, and 
 Rev. iii. 9. 
 
 Of one thing, in conclusion, I must advertise the Reader; 
 viz. that what I have advanced under this section of the sub- 
 ject, is offered more in the way of suggestion and inquiry, 
 than in the confidence of demonstration. The grand features, 
 which stand out in the whole chapter, of a future literal resto- 
 ration and purification botli of Judah and Ephraim, together 
 with tremendous judgments and destruction to be poured out 
 upon the gentile nations, none can well mistake. The adjust- 
 ment of details and circumstantials are necessarily a matter of 
 perplexity and difficulty previous to the event. I trust, how- 
 ever, that more able and more diligent students of God's word 
 will yet be raised up to pursue this deeply interesting subject, 
 and through the blessing of God more clearly to unravel and 
 adjust its various particulars,* We may be quite certain that 
 every little of what God hath spoken will be found strictly 
 
 ♦ Amonpr the texts which I find it difficult properly to place are Jer. xxxi. 
 SI— 33, and xxxii. 36—41. But 1 presume they refer to the second stage in 
 the gathering of Israel. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 205 
 
 reconcileable and most exactly according with all the other 
 minutiae of his revelation. "All the words of his mouth are 
 in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them; 
 they are all plain Io him that laidcrslamleth, and right to them 
 that find knoicleclqc.'' Proverbs viii. S, 9. 
 
 In the mean while there are practical considerations which 
 must force themselves upon the attention of all who believe 
 the word of God in this matter. It is evident that all nations, 
 not excepting our own highly favoured and privileged country, 
 will be brought within the vortex of tliis tremendous ''whirl- 
 wind;" and when the Lord shall no longer keep silence, but 
 arise to shake terribly the earth, we may truly ask: — "Who 
 shall live when God doeth this?" "Who may abide the day 
 of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he 
 is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap." Numb. xxiv. 
 23. ]Mal. iii. 2. There are some however, "who shall be 
 accoui^ted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to 
 pass, and to stand before the Son of JNIan." Luke xxi. 36. 
 Those who — as the context of the latter place informs us — 
 suffer not that day to come upon them luiaicares through sur- 
 feiting and cares of this life, but are watchful and pray always; 
 (verses 34 — 36.) those ''who sigh and cry for all the abomina- 
 tions that are done in the midst of their church and nation;" 
 (Ezek. ix. 4.) those "who fear the Lord and speak often one 
 to another;" (Mai. ii. 16.) — on those the Lord will set a mark, 
 and they need not fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity 
 of their heels compt^sseth them about;" (Psalm xlix. 5.) for 
 "they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts in that day when 
 I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth 
 his own son that serveth him." Mai. ii. 17. 
 
 W^e are also admonished by this subject of what we owe 
 toward Israel. It is well worthy of note, \\ow jealous the Lord 
 is in behalf of this people; insomuch, that though he makes 
 use of a nation as his rod to chastise Israel, yet has h(5 it in 
 readiness to avenge himself on that same nation, if ' they take 
 occasion therefrom to shew contempt or malignity against 
 them. In Isa. xlvii. 6, he rebukes and threatens the Chal- 
 deans — because "I was wroth with my people, I have polluted 
 mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst 
 shew iJiem no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily 
 laid the yoke." — "Therefore shall evil come upon thee," &c. 
 ver. 11. So in Zech. i. 15, the Lord says, "I am very sore 
 displeased with the heathen that are at ease, [the context indi- 
 cates that they are easy in regard to the oppression and desti- 
 tute condition of Israel;] for I was but a little displeased, and 
 they helped forward the affliction." The prophet then has an 
 
206 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 assurance, on the one hand, that the Lord will yet comfort 
 Zion, and will yet choose Jerusalem, (ver. 17;) and then he 
 sees four horns, which are explained to be symbols of the four 
 powers that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem; and 
 he sees four carpenters, who come to fray them, and to cast 
 out the horns of the gentiles, which lifted up their horn over 
 the land of Judah, to scatter it. Ver. 16—24. This should 
 lead us to fear, lest we should be involved in those judgments 
 which will fall upon the nations, when the Lord holds his con- 
 troversy with them for these things. We may not be able to 
 avert vengeance from the nation; but we can at least act, indi- 
 vidually, as Rahab did; who, foreseeing the wrath that was 
 coming on her own people, and moved by fear, conciliated the 
 Lord in good time, by shewing kindness to his people. And 
 they appear to be now thrown in our way, and brought as it 
 were to every man's door, (for where is the nation that has 
 not Jews scattered among them?) on purpose to put to tiie test 
 our bowels of compassion towards them. And if, on the one 
 hand, there is need to fear the jealousy of the Lord if we de- 
 spise or neglect them, we may, on the other hand, be assured 
 of his favour, if, out of love to Him, we do them good. In 
 regard to Israel, it is still, '^Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and 
 cursed is he that curseth thee." Numb. xxiv. 9. And with 
 the exhortation to "pnay for the peace of Jerusalem, w^e have 
 the gracious assurance — they shall prosper that love 
 THEE." Psalm cxxii. 6. 
 
 4. There still remains a point for consideration which must 
 be the subject of another section, viz. — what will be the glory 
 of the new Jerusalem dispensation; and what participation 
 will the saints who are already gathered to their fathers have 
 in it. 
 
 (1.) It is evident from a multitude of scriptures, that the 
 glory of Israel will now be pre-eminent; and that all that has 
 been excellent and holy in every preceding dispensation to 
 mankind will be concentrated in this, with a very great in- 
 crease of it. 
 
 To them shall come the first dominion among the nations, 
 (Mic. iv. 8) and the whole forces of the Gentiles will then 
 flow to Zion, (Isa. Ix. 5, 7) and she shall clothe herself with 
 them as a bride putteth on her attire, (Isa. xlix. IS) and kings 
 shall be nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers to her, 
 (ibid. V. 23.) Then shall be realized, in the fullest sense of 
 the term, a?i universal empire; and that which has been the de- 
 sire of all nations (viz. righteous and secure government, see 
 p. 155) shall then be enjoyed; for her counsellors and judges 
 and princes will be righteous, and all her minor officers and 
 
ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. QQ? 
 
 exactors peace and righteousness; (Isa. xxxii. 1, Ix. 17; Jer. 
 XXX. 21,) and all things will be consecrated to Jehovah; so 
 that from the very pots used in their domestic aflairs, to the 
 bells wiiich tinkle on their horses, it shall be "hulitiess to the 
 Lord.'' Zech. xii. 20. Their kingdom is one that cannot be 
 moved; (Heb. xii. 28.) and in it there shall be stability and 
 strength of salvation. Isa. xxxiii. G. 
 
 And as they shall have universal empire, so also will they 
 obtain another great desideratum among the humble followers 
 of God, viz. coTifonnitij in church [^oveniment — Jerusalem will 
 be as a city that is at unity in itself; and all the nations shall 
 come up to the mountain of the Lord's house to worship; (Isa, 
 ii. 2; JNIicah iv. 2; Zech. viii. 23;) — and of Israel will the 
 Lord take for priests and Levites, and make them the minis- 
 ters among all nations, (Isa. Ixi. G; Ixvi. 21.) "And in that 
 day there shall be one Lord, and his name one." Zech. 
 xiv. 9. 
 
 And as they have been put to rebuke, and have been a pro- 
 verb and a hiss among all: so the Lord will "get them fame in 
 every land where they have been put to shame." Zeph. iii. 19. 
 "All that see them shall acknowledge that they are the seed 
 whom the Lord hath blessed;" (Isa. Ixi. 9) and he will make 
 them a blessing, — yea "shozccrs of blessing" to the nations; 
 (Ezek. xxxv. 26; Zech. viii. 13) so that the receiving of them 
 shall indeed prove as life from the dead. Rom. xi. 15. 
 
 It has been stated in the previous section, from Zech. xiv. 
 4, 5, that the Lord will personulhj appear again at this time: 
 this is further evident from Rom. xi. 2G, where St. Paul, 
 speaking of the restoration and conversion of the Jews says, 
 "And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written — There 
 shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away un- 
 godliness from Jacob: for tjiis is my covenant with them when 
 I take away their sins." The quotation is from Isaiah lix. 20, 
 and the connexion is, the great previous deliverance experi- 
 enced "when the enemy comes in like a flood;" and' the "fury 
 to his adversaries and recompense to his enemies, which the 
 Lord now repays." Verse 17, 19. "When the Lord shall 
 build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory." Psalm cii. 16. 
 And then shall he himself be governor among the nations, and 
 King over all the earth. Psalm xxii. 28. Jer. xxx. 9. Ezek. 
 xxxiv. 24; xxxvii. 24, 25. 
 
 It is not, as I apprehend, until this complete restoration or 
 conversion of Israel, confirmed i)y the decree and secured by 
 the mighty deliverance of the Great King, that the land will 
 be finally divi^led, and that city and temple built which is to 
 remain. The previous proceedings have apparently been un- 
 
208 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 authorized and self-willed, not to say rebellious, and in depen- 
 dance on the counsel and assistance of apostate men. It is not 
 till after the tribulation that they receive the divine fiat to 
 build houses and inhabit them, and to plant vineyards and eat 
 the fruit thereof. Isaiah xliv. 26; Ixv. 21. Ezek. xxviii. 26. 
 Then will they inherit the land (as the Rev. T. Scott admits, 
 in his "Restoration of Israel") to the utmost limits of the 
 grants made to the patriarchs." 
 
 Its great boundaries will be the Mediterranean, the Nile, 
 and the Euphrates, including Philistia, Moab, Amnion, Arabia, 
 Idumea, Goshen, and other places not before possessed, (Gen. 
 XV. 13 — 21. Exod. xxiii. 31. Deut. xi. 22.*) The division is 
 altogether different from that made by Joshua, or that enjoyed 
 after the return from the captivity. And as the land is thus 
 extended, so also will it be renewed — probably by the operation 
 oi fire, so that it will bring forth abundantly.'! And in it will 
 be rebuilt the city and temple of Jerusalem, promises of which 
 are contained in Jer. xxx. 18,21; xxxi. 38 — 40; xxxiii. 10, 
 11. Zech. xii. 6, &c. ; and also in Ezekiel, of which place there 
 will be occasion to speak presently. Tlie temple descril)ed by 
 Ezekiel is evidently not like that built by Solomon; for Solo- 
 mon's was contained in a square of 60 cubits, whereas Ezekiel's 
 will cover a square of 500 cubits. 
 
 Some have supposed that there will be literally a restoration 
 of sacrifices, (as Mr. Tyso, Mr. Begg, and tlie editor of the 
 Morning Watch;) and there is very much in Ezekiel's account 
 of the matter which can scarcely be explained but upon this 
 hypothesis: nor does there, when it is duly considered, appear 
 anything inconsistent with the truths of the gospel, that those 
 sacrifices, which before the Lord's coming set forth his pre- 
 cious bloodshedding prospeclivehj, should after the Jews are re- 
 stored set it forth relrospeclivcly, in the same manner as it is 
 even now actually set forth in the Lord's Supper: "for as oft 
 as we eat of tiiat bread and drink of that cup, we do show forth 
 the Lord's death till he come." Nevertheless, there are great 
 difficulties in the way of this hypothesis; for not only is there 
 much in the Epistle to the Galatians and Hebrews, which ap- 
 pears incompatible with it, — so that the resumption of sacrifices 
 would look like a return to the "beggarly elements" from 
 
 • See for further particulars, Home's Introduction, vol. iii. t). 4—6. The 
 Egyptian name for the Nile is simply P/uaro, ovlhc river. (Modem Traveller, 
 vol. i. p. C.) 
 
 t Isaiah xxix. 17; xxxv. 1—9; li. 3, IG; liv. 11— IH; Iv. 12, 13; Ix. 17; Ixv. 
 17, 25. Ezek. xxxiv. 2(5, 27; xxxvi. 37. Joel iii. 18. Amos. ix. 13. Other great 
 physical means will then apparently be brought into operation to produce the 
 miraculous drying up of the rivers, the bursting forth of a new river at Jeru- 
 salem, the rending of the rocks, &c. (Zech. xiv.) 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 299 
 
 which the church has been delivered; but many things in 
 Ezekiel's own description of the matter appear inexplicabie on 
 this ground. For example, it is admitted that the temple de- 
 scribed by him, in which these sacrifices were to be ofiered, 
 was not erected in his days, nor indeed ever yet has been. 
 Yet the prophet was required to show the whole pattern of the 
 house, with its forms and ordinances, to the people of his own 
 day, in order that they might keep the whole furm and ordi- 
 7iances thereof and do them. Chap, xliii. 10, 11, And Ezekiel 
 was himself commanded to take the seed of Zadoc, and with 
 them officiate in the offerings and sacrifices. Ver. IS — 27. But 
 we are nowhere informed that either he or they did so: and if 
 it be supposed to refer to Ezekiel and the sons of Zadoc in 
 their resurrection state, there are directions which seem in- 
 compatible with that condition; — as for example, verse IS. 
 
 (2.) We have further to inquire, as regards this point, how 
 far the literal restoration of Judah and Israel, if accompanied 
 by the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by his 
 bringing the saints with him, — in other words, by the resur- 
 rection of the saints which sleep, and the transformation of the 
 living saints, — is reconcilable with that event. This is a ques- 
 tion which likewise involves some difficulty, arising from the 
 incredulousness and prejudice of our minds in regard to details. 
 I do not however see any real difficulty in the matter. For as 
 to the mere objection against an intercourse between men in 
 the flesh, and men risen from the dead, on account of its being 
 derogatory to the glory and happiness of the latter, it scarcely 
 needs any remark, seeing that angel.'^- have frequently com- 
 muned with men, and are made ministering spirits to them, 
 (Heb. i. 14.) whilst yet we cannot conceive that it subtracts in 
 any degree from their hapj)iness, but rather adds to it. And 
 as therefore we have seen, irf the second chapter of this work, 
 that there are distinct promises that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 
 and the cloud of witnesses who have obtained a good report 
 through faith, are to inherit the land, and the city which God 
 hath prepared for them, and which hath the foundations which 
 cannot be moved, (Heb. xi. 9, 10, IG.) there is no reasonable 
 ground to question that these promises will be made good to 
 them in the resurrection: which we have also seen was the 
 opinion of the Jewish and of the ancient Ciiristian church. 
 
 At the same time, however, I do not conceive, that the lot 
 will be the same of what I call the saints of tlie resurrection 
 portion of the church, and tliat portion of Israel which is re- 
 deemed in the Jlesh; and which redemption I hold will most 
 probably be sub^efjitent in time to the resurrection of the saints, 
 and the rapture of the living saints to meet the Lord in the 
 
 VOL. II. 18 
 
210 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 air; seeing that the Lord descends upon the Mount of Olives 
 prior to the final gathering of Israel from all corners of the 
 earth; and that a resurrection of many of them that sleep in 
 the dust is mentioned as in immediate connexion with the un- 
 paralleled tribulation.* Zech. xiv. Dan. xii. 2. The very cir- 
 cumstance that the former are possessed of spiritual bodies, — 
 yea oi glorified bodies (Phil. iii. 21) — at once points out a mani- 
 fest distinction. But when we farther take into consideration 
 the promise made to the apostles, that they should, in the re- 
 generation, sit at the table of Christ, and also sit on thrones 
 judging the twelve tribes of Israel, (Luke xxii. 30, 31, and 
 compare Matt. xix. 28,) it appears that there is to be a dis- 
 tinguishing glory put upon some by a nearness to the person 
 of Christ, and by a dominion also over others. And seeing 
 that in one place the reward given to the faithful servants of 
 Christ is likened to the having authority over ten cities and 
 five cities, (Luke xix. 17, 19,) it would appear that a pre- 
 eminent judgment or dominion over the whole world will 
 probably be given to all the saints who are then raised; which 
 agrees with what is written in various scriptures on this head. 
 Compare Rev. ii. 26. 27; iii. 21; vi. 2; xx. 4. Dan. vii. 22, 
 27. I do not consider, however, that either Jesus or the saints 
 will alzvays be manifested to the world in their glorified bodies; 
 but only at certain times, and perhaps only at Jerusalem, 
 whither the nations will go up to worship; and none will have 
 a right to enter tha-e, but what are made holy, (Isaiah Hi. 1; 
 xxi. 27; xxii. 14.) It was only at times that the kings of Israel 
 sat in the gate in their royal apparel to give judgment: and 
 
 ♦ I am happy to concur in this matter with Mr. Cuninghame, who has 
 given so much attention to the study of prophecy, and who discusses it in gene- 
 ral with so much ability. He says, in the last edition of his work on the 
 Apocalypse: ''When I published the former editions of this work, not having 
 seen the distinction in lime between the advent of our Lord in the air, and his 
 descent to the earth in the day of Armageddon, I conceived that the restora- 
 tion of Judah was to precede {he Advent. I now believe that this restoration 
 is to begin just, at the rapture of the saints; and that they are to be led through 
 the wilderness as formerly by "the pillar of a cloud by day, and of fire by night, 
 without knowing their conductor as the crucified Nazarene." Page 402. 
 
 Though the adjustment of the farts which I have been led to make is in 
 some slight degree different from that of this eminent writer, I will neverthe- 
 less add a further extract for the information of the reader:" — "That the Lord 
 himself is to lead Israel through the ?ri/fZc?7ics.s, and plead with them face to 
 face, appears evident from Micah ii. 12, 13; and vii. 15 — 17, compared with 
 Ezekiel xx. 33— ."H: yet from Zech. xii. 10. it is apparent that the discovery of 
 the crucified Jesus of Nazareth, as their conductor and guide, belongs to a 
 later period. That the appearance also described in the last passage is a dif- 
 ferent one from the former is manifest for two reasons; first, it is in another 
 place, viz. Jerusalem; whereas the former was in the wilderness. Ezek. xx. 
 55. Secondly, it is at a later period; viz. after their restoration to their own 
 land, and when the confederacy of the nations shall have come against Jeru- 
 salem; whereas the former was before the restoration." 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. Oil 
 
 only at limes that the glory of the Lord was visibly seen over 
 the tabernacle or filling the temple. 
 
 I beg however to advertise tiie reader in this matter, in the 
 same way that I did in respect to a portion of the last section; 
 viz. — that I offer these things by no means with a decided con- 
 viction that I clearly seethe proper adjustment and exj^lication 
 of all the particulars; but as suggestions offered by the scrip- 
 tures themselves, and whicli seem to bear the aspect which is 
 here given to them. There is however one other considera- 
 tion which may serve to throw liglit upon the subject, and 
 which is a point that has been greatly overlooked by many of 
 those who have endeavoured to explain the last chapters of 
 Ezekiel: — it is — that there are actually two cities there de- 
 scribed, though often confounded as one; — and the more ex- 
 cellent one of them remarkably accords with the description in 
 Rev. xxi. and xxii., and is presumed to be that in which the 
 Lord and the saints will be more immediately manifested. I 
 take not on me to decide this matter, but will present to the 
 reader the words of Mr. Begg, who has written on the subject 
 very ably in his work on the Advent. 
 
 "But in this division [of the lands] is to be noticed another 
 and most remarkable circumstance. Besides the ancient city 
 of Jerusalem which is to be rebuilt, and in which the sanc- 
 tuary of the Lord is to be re-erected, particular mention is here 
 made of another cilij of nearly ten miles square, separated by 
 the portion of the Levites, twenty miles in breadth, from that 
 in which the sanctuary is placed: *'And the five thousand that 
 are left in the breadtli, over against the five and twenty thou- 
 sand, shall be a profane place for The Citv, for dwelling and 
 for suburbs, arid the city shall be in the midst thereof Ezek. 
 xlviii. 15. The measurement of this city with its suburbs fol- 
 low, and it is added, — "And the residue in length, over against 
 the oblation of the holy portion, shall be ten thousand eastward 
 and ten thousand westward, and it shall be over against the 
 oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be 
 for food unto them that serve The City. And they that serve 
 the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel." Ezek. xlviii. 
 15 — 19. These three compartments, into which the holy ob- 
 lation is divided, consisting of two of ten thousand reeds each 
 in breadth, and one of five thousand, all being of equal length, 
 render it in the whole a square ofjfly miles: "All the oblation 
 shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thou- 
 sand; ye shall offer the Holy Oblation four square with the 
 possession of tlie city." Ver. 20. 
 
 "This remaj-kable allotment offered to the Lord, it is to be 
 observed, is situated nearly in the centre of the different por- 
 
212 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 tions of all the tribes of Israel, "between the border of Judah 
 and the border of Benjamin," and it is said "shall be for The 
 Princk." After describing the boundaries of the remaining 
 five tribes of Israel (the relative situation of which is also dif- 
 ferent from what they were formerly,) and again adverting to 
 the measurements of this remarkable city, with the number 
 and names of its gates, tlie prophecy closes by declaring of it, 
 that "The na7ne of The City from that day shall be called, 
 The Lord is there." " 
 
 In another chapter the same author continues: " "And I, 
 John, saw the holy city. New Jerusalem, comiug down from 
 God OUT of heavefi prepared as a bride adorned for her hus- 
 band." This celestial city is designed as the residence of 
 Christ and the redeemed, and comes down out of heaven 
 where it is previously '^prepared," and where it is now ^'re- 
 served'" for this purpose.* "And I heard'," continues the 
 apostle, "a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the taber- 
 nacle of God is WITH MEN, a?}d He rciU dwell with them, 
 and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with 
 them and be their God." Ver. 3. This we apprehend is that 
 second city seen in vision by Ezekiel, in the holy oblation 
 oiSered to the Lord in the new division of the holy land. He 
 calls it 'Hhe Most Holy place" and mord frequently "The City.'^ 
 
 "There are many coincidences in the account given of it by 
 John with that of Ezekiel. Of the names of its gates the pro- 
 phet says, "And the gates of the city shall be after the names 
 of the tribes of Israel;" and he particularizes the respective situ- 
 ations of the different gates by name. Ver. 31 — 34. The new 
 Jerusalem, as seen by the apostle has also tzcclve gates, "and 
 names written thereon, which are the names of the tzcelve tribes 
 of the children of Israel." Rev. xxi. 12. The arrarti^ement of 
 these gates is also precisely the same with that given by Eze- 
 kiel, viz. " on the east three gates, &c." Ver. 13. This city 
 has an attendance enjoyed by no other; for "they that serve the 
 city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel;" and a portion 
 of the holy oblation is allotted for their maintenance.! Verse 
 IS, 19. Of the nezv river (before referred to) Ezekiel says, 
 upon the bank thereof, on this side and that side, shall grow 
 all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the 
 
 * The expressions "prepared^' "reserved" plainly have reference, where the 
 apostle uses them, and also in the four last chapters of Revelation, to the saints, 
 who are also the house and city of God. So that it is the inhabitants of the city 
 whom St. John, (as I take it) sees descend; though he afterwards proceeds to 
 describe the fabric of their habitation. 
 
 t A parallel to this feature seems to have been intended by Mr. Begg, but 
 accidentally omitted; unless he views the fruit of the trees being given for 
 mcat^ iu the next parallel, to apply to this also. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 213 
 
 fruit thereof be consumed; it shall bring forth new fruit, ac- 
 cording to his montlis, because their waters they issued from 
 the sanctuary. And the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and 
 the leaf thereof for medicine. Ezek. xlvii. 12. So John also 
 narrates of the New Jerusalem, that in the midst of the street 
 of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life 
 (not one tree merely, since it grew "on either side of the river," 
 but many trees of one species,) which bare twelve manner of 
 fruits, and yielded her fruit everij month, and the leaves of the 
 tree were for the healing of the nations." Rev. xxii. 2. How 
 striking is the coincidence! 
 
 "That the apostle miglit h.ave a full view of the wonderful 
 city, there came unto him an angel who carried him away "in 
 the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed him that 
 great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from 
 God; and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even 
 like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, and had a zcall great atid 
 high, and had twelve gates," (v. 10 — 12.) A similar coinci- 
 dence exists in their ditferent accounts of the measitremetUs of 
 the city they severally describe. In all the works we have 
 seen which treat of this point, a great discrepancy is indeed 
 supposed to exist between the statement of the prophet and 
 that of the apostle. But this mistake has arisen from an over- 
 sight of the fact, that while the one states the circitmferefice, the 
 other informs us of the square measurement. Ezekiel says, 
 "It was round about eighteen thousand measures" of tlie angel's 
 reed, was in length "six great cubits" of twenty-two inches 
 each. Being a square, each "stV/e" was "four thousand and five 
 hundred measures" of the reed. Ezek. xxxviii. 32. But John, 
 in his measurements, does not specify its length or breadth, but 
 having mentioned that it is square, he gives the measurement 
 accordingly. "And the cjty \\Q\h four-square, and the length 
 is as large as the breadth. And he (the angel) measured the city 
 with the reed, /u-eZ-je thousand furlongs. The length and ^ the 
 breadth and the height of it are equal." Rev. xxi. 16, 17. It 
 was not the length, or breadth, or height, which the angel 
 measured. These indeed he declares to be "■equal,^' but the 
 12,000 furlongs, instead of being the dimensions of each or 
 an]) of its sides, as is commonly supposed, are "the measure- 
 ment of the city" — 'four-square.^^ We consider this, there- 
 fore, as neither the length nor the breadth, but as the measure- 
 ment of the area of the city; and reckoning by the Jewish 
 furlong of two hundred and sixty-six two-fifth cubits, as stated 
 by Maimonides, on extracting the square of the measurement 
 of the circumference of the city given by Ezekiel, we obtain 
 a view by which the statements of the prophet and apostle 
 IS* 
 
214 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 are found to correspond very nearly, — and which would pro- 
 bably correspond exactly, if the standard of Maimonides were 
 perfectly accurate, — thus confirming the view of their identity." 
 Page 160. 
 
 To this temple JVIr. Begg finally refers Rev. xxi. 7. Ezek. 
 xxxvii. 25 — 27, 1 Peter i. 4, Rev. iii. 12; and he thus concludes 
 the chapter — <'Much confusion has resulted from applying to 
 the inhabitants of the new earth the character of the citizens of 
 the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven unto it. 
 The distinction is obvious. While in the new earth Isaiah 
 predicts there shall be both sin and death, the apostle John 
 declares the exclusion of both from the holy city. Again, from 
 the account of the descent of the new Jerusalem being placed 
 in John's vision after that of the final resurrection and judg- 
 ment, it has been supposed by some to be the place of blessed- 
 ness after the millennium. But the order of insertion is of 
 itself no criterion of the order of time. The apostle gives in 
 succession different views; and when he has carried forward, 
 his narrative of one class or series of events, he returns to 
 take up another, or to explain pairticular parts which would 
 have occupied too much space in the narrative itself. The 
 whole book is constructed on this principle; and thus (as re- 
 spects the order of the chapters,) long after the announcement 
 of the kingdoms of th^is world having become the kingdom of 
 our Lord and of his Christ, we have again brought before us 
 the existence and success of antichrist. But, in all such cases, 
 keys are given for the elucidation of the prophecy, and for 
 determining the relative period of the several parts. In the 
 case before us, the new Jerusalem descends to the neio earth, 
 and this is connected with the millennmm by the prediction of 
 the prophet Isaiah. Its relation to time and the things of time 
 is farther evident from the fact, that the kings of the earth do 
 bring their glory and honour into it: "it must therefore be 
 upon the earth, that they may have access unto it; and it must 
 have- a reference to this world while the relation subsists be- 
 tween kings and their subjects." Page 1G2. 
 
 There is much in the last passage extracted which appears 
 just; especially as it refers to the order of the insertion of an 
 event in the Apocalypse not being any criterion of tlie order of 
 time in which it will be fulfilled. But this is not the whole of 
 the dilficulty which attends the interpretation of the two last 
 chapters of the Apocalypse. There are internal indices which 
 seem to point to a later period of time for the fulfilment of 
 what they describe; (i. e. down to verse 5 of chap, xxii.) 
 though some of these Mr. Begg gets over by means of his 
 system of interpretation, which confines the promise, that 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 215 
 
 there shall be no more death, and the statement, that the apostle 
 saw no temple therein, to the condition of the inhabitants of 
 "the city" as distin<j;iiishcd from those of ancient Jerusalem, 
 whicii is to be rebuilt "on its own heap," or ancient site. Jer. 
 XXX. IS. Still, it does not account for another circumstance; 
 viz, that in the new heavens and new earth which are at that 
 time created, there is "no more sea;" (Rev. xxi. L) whereas 
 the sea is existing up to the latest period of the previous 
 chapter; since it gives up the dead which were in it, at the 
 judgment therein described.* Verse 13. "Moreover, those who 
 sit on the thrones in chapter xx. 4, live and reign with Christ 
 a thousand years; whereas it is said of those in the New Jeru- 
 salem of chapters xxi. and xxii. "and they shall reign forever 
 and ever." It is very evident also, from 1 Cor. xv. 2 1 — 28, 
 that the state which immediately follows "the first resurrec- 
 tion" is one which is only introductory to a more complete 
 and still more glorious one, wherein God shall be all in all. 
 This I have before adverted to at page 139; and if I enter not 
 here into a more particular description of that ultimate state of 
 glory, it is because 1 think there is scarcely any thing revealed 
 concerning it, from which an accurate judgment can be formed 
 of details by us who live under the present dispensation. It 
 has been the manner of God, under every distinct dispensa- 
 tion, to give additional revelation calculated to throw light 
 upon the existing and succeeding one. Thus an immense and 
 accumulative light kept growing up by means of the prophets 
 from the time of Moses, until the return from Babylon; and a 
 great further illumination of the church took place from the 
 time of Christ until John received the Apocalypse; and I 
 doubt not, but when the next dispensation is introduced, there 
 will still be an increase of revelation, which will throw further 
 light upon the millennial, and ultimate states. Indeed Joel ii. 
 28, has yet to be farther accomplished: "I will pour out my 
 Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall 
 propiiesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men 
 shall see visions;" and the whole nature of a dispensation, in 
 
 * It makes no difference as regards this point, whether the expression sea 
 is to be understood as a symbol or literally. There seems to be no reason for 
 interprclinj- it symbolically in the one place, and literally in the other: both 
 must be alike; and in that case there is apparently a marked distinction be- 
 tween the stale described in the one chapter and the other. Dr. Whitby, 
 whose sentiments on some points of prophecy are singular, views the whole as 
 figurative. He considers Rev. x.xi. 1 — 5, as'parallel with Isaiah Ixv. 17, and 
 xliii. 18, 19; and as the new heavens and new earth mentioned in the latter 
 
 f)Iaces are contemporary, as he as>umes, with the conversion of the Jews, so 
 le concludes Rev. xxi. to refer to the same thing, and that it must be before 
 the conjlagralion of the world, since that event would reduce the Jewish na- 
 tion to asiies. Chap. ii. sect. 3. 
 
216 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 which the saints will continually have personal access to Christ, 
 must necessarily be one of increasing knowledge and illumi- 
 nation. 
 
 It must nevertheless be observed, on the other hand, that 
 there are passages in Rev. chaps, xxi. and xxii. which seem to 
 forbid the viewing those chapters as setting forth events poste- 
 rior in time to the state which commences at the millennium. 
 For example, chapter xix. opens with the shout of triumph 
 sent up on account of the judgment on the great whore; (verses 
 1 — 4.) and this is responded to by a voice from the throne, 
 calling on the saints to praise God and to rejoice, because the 
 marriage of the Lamb had come and Ids wife had made herself 
 ready. Verses 5 — 9. Then comes the description in verses 11 — 
 20 of the treading of the wine-press, the overthrow of the 
 nations, and capture of the last anti-christian beast. This ac- 
 cords with what has been previously said, that the rapture of 
 the saints (or marriage of the Lamb) will probably take place 
 prior to the Armageddon warfare, but after the final judgment 
 brought upon the anti-christian ecclesiastical power described 
 in the Revelation. Yet the new Jerusalem, which the apostle 
 sees descending from God out of heaven, is described in chapter 
 xxi. as no other than the Lamb's wife made ready and prepared 
 for the nuptials, (see verses 2, 9.) which must be the same sub- 
 ject as that declared in verses 17 — 19 of chapter xix. There 
 are expositors who conclude, that the saints will be caught up 
 to meet the Lord, and remain in tlie air with the Lord during 
 the whole of the millennial dispensation; only occasionally 
 manifesting themselves; and that they will fulfil a similar 
 office to the saints of the millennial dispensation, which the 
 angels are now actively fulfilling to the saints under this. 
 There does not however appear any sufficient warrant for this 
 conclusion, though I do not dispute that it may be so; but as 
 it is the duty of a writer on prophecy not to speak with con- 
 fidence on subjects which he cannot clearly demonstrate, I 
 therefore leave this, and the other matters just touched upon, 
 in uncertainty, not having myself light to enable me to do more 
 than name them. 
 
 There is one point however that remains to be more fully 
 noticed, on wliich there is abundant and clear light vouchsafed; 
 viz. the participation of those saints in the Jerusalem glory 
 who have been previously called out from among the Gentiles. 
 Human nature is ever prone to carry us into extremes; and 
 whilst some have gone to the one extreme of denying any res- 
 toration of the Jexi's, and any Jerusalem glory on earth; others 
 have proceeded to the opposite extreme of excluding the 
 Gentiles from that glory. There will doubtless be a distinction 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 217 
 
 between Israel and tne other nations, so far as regards that 
 portion of mankind who are jiartakers of flesh and blood during 
 the millennium; but none whatsoever, excepting as to the de- 
 gree, in those wiio arc. the children of the resurrection. What- 
 soever Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are substantially to be made 
 partakers of, the same will all that liave walked in faith be 
 made joint heirs of, whether Jew or Gentile. The Rev. A. 
 McCaul, has endeavoured to shew, and with some success, in 
 his "New Testament Evidence," before alluded to, that the 
 term Israel is always to be limited to the Uleral Israel, where 
 its meaning can be ascertained by the context; and he thei-efore 
 contends that the only questionable place (viz. Gal. vi. 16, 
 where "the Israel of God" is mentioned) ought, by the rules 
 of sound criticism, to be interpreted after the same analogy, 
 and not of what is called the spiritual Israel. But it does ap- 
 pear to me that the question is, in this case, whether the 
 national distinction of Jew and Gentile is recognised in the 
 New Testament; for this cannot reasonably be disputed; but 
 whether the promises of the glory made to Abraham are ex- 
 clusively to belong to those who are nationally descendants of 
 Abraham, or whether all believers will not be partakers with 
 them. 
 
 Now this does not depend upon the word Israel, but upon 
 very explicit statements in favour of the Gentiles. They 
 are declared to be made partakers "ztith them of the root and 
 fatness of the olive tree." Romans xi. 17. Nothing can be 
 more plain than what St. Paul advances in Romans and Gala- 
 tians. He declares in Romans iv. that the promise to Abra- 
 ham that he should be heir of the world, was not to either him 
 or his seed through the Law, but through the righteousness of 
 faith; and that it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the 
 end the promise might b^ sure to all the seed: not to that only 
 which is of the laxr, but to that also which is of the faith of 
 Abraham, who is the father of us all;" (verses 13 — .16;) and 
 thus he is the father, not of the circumcision only^ but of those 
 also "who walk in the steps of \.\va\. faith of our father Abra- 
 ham, which he had being uncircumcised." Verse 12. In 
 chapter ix. he distinctly declares, that they are not all children 
 which are by the Jlcsh descended from Abraham; "but the 
 children of the promise are counted for the seed." Verse 7. 
 So in Galatians he declares — "Know ye therefore, that they 
 which are o( faith, the same are the children of Abraham, iii. 7. 
 "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus," 
 &c. ''there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor 
 female; for^e are all one in Christ Jesus; and if j/e be Christ^s, 
 then are ye Abraham's seed and heiks according to the promise." 
 
218 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Verses 26 — 29. Again, he states in Epnesians, "that it is now 
 revealed, that the Gefitiles should be fellow heirs, and of the 
 same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." 
 Ephesians iii. 5, 6. So in Ephesians ii. he declares, that the 
 Gentiles, though formerly "aliens from the commoniueallh of 
 Israel and strangers from the covenajils of promise,^' are now 
 *'jvo LONGER strangers ami foreigners, but fellow citizens 
 with the saints, antlof the household of God." 
 
 It is endeavoured to evade the force of these texts by assert- 
 ing, that they refer only to the promises of salvation in the 
 general, and of the heavenly glory. But this is asserted with- 
 out the slightest testimony of scripture on which to build it; 
 and those who should sit down to attempt to discriminate 
 between the promises of scripture which belong to the risen 
 Gentile, and those which belong to the risen Jew, and to bring 
 proof of such distinction, would indeed find 'themselves in- 
 volved in an inextricable labyrinth. The Gentiles will beyond 
 question be made partakers of all those promises which the 
 apostle to' the Gentiles holds out to them; and also of those 
 contained in the epistles of Christ to the seven Gentile churches 
 of the Apocalypse; and these are the same as those which relate 
 to the Jew. Thus many who were not then apparently children 
 of the kingdom, were to come (our Lord declared) from the 
 east and the west, and the north and the south, and sit down 
 with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God.* 
 
 Moreover it is important also to observe, in regard to those 
 who in the millennium shall be partakers of the resurrection, 
 that to whatever vicissitudes men in the flesh may, during that 
 period or after it, be subject, they cannot affect those who shall 
 rise from the dead, or who being alive, shall have their vile 
 body changed at the appearing of Christ. These cannot be 
 hurt of the second death; (Rev. ii, 11.) on them it hath no 
 power; (Rev. xx. 6.) "They which shall be accounted worthy 
 to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither 
 marry nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any 
 more: for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children 
 of God, bei?7g the children of the resurrection.'' Luke xx.^ 35, 36. 
 
 Surely these promises are worth defending: the hope of them 
 will make many an affliction appear light, and animate us amid 
 surrounding judgments and distress of nations with perplexity 
 to endure to the end. 
 
 * The reader will find this subject more fully treated, as also the First Re- 
 surrection, and the condition of the saints therein, in "Abdiel's Essays," 
 before referred to. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. OJO 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ON DANIEL AND THE APOCALYPSE. 
 
 In passing to the consideration of The Antichrist, a sub- 
 ject which already has been slightly touched upon or alluded to 
 at pages 49, 51, and 69 of this volume, — we have to quit in a 
 great measure the paths of clear and explicit prophecy, and 
 enter into the obscurer regions of symbol and enigma. 
 
 And here I would once more request the reader to bear in 
 mind, that the whole of prophecy may be resolved into two 
 principal portions, viz. — that which sets forth things which 
 shall be hereafter in such literal terms or ordinary and familiar 
 tropes, that we can be at no loss to discover the plain meaning, 
 by attending only to the general analogy of Scripture; and that 
 which sets forth future events in acknowledged figures, sym- 
 bols, allegories, types, and other adumbrations. The former 
 I would call demonslrable prophecy; not because the latter is 
 incapable of demonstration, but because the means ov principles 
 of demonstration lie, in the former instance, more obviously 
 before us, and are, as it were, naked and open to the eyes of 
 every believer; whereas the latter are of a more involved and 
 intricate character, and their meaning and application is in 
 many instances only to be determined by a careful and labo- 
 rious investigation and comparison of the various books of 
 Scripture; such as Daniel seems to have prosecuted when he 
 tells us, "that he understood by books the number of the years, 
 whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, 
 &c." ix. 2. And as the latter class of prophecies are avowedly 
 in some instances sealed (Jr shut up, so as that they should not 
 be understood by the church until the period when they should 
 be needed, (Dan. xii. 4, 9;) and as in every instance they are 
 couched in such terms as to shroud their general purport or 
 particular application from all who are not aided by divine 
 wisdom; (Dan. xii. 10,) it follows that, in the one case, they 
 could not be understood, even by the church, until the time ap- 
 pointed of the Father; and that in tlie other case tliere must 
 always remain a degree of obscurity about the matter, even 
 after the fulfilment. This requires the interpreter to advance 
 his exposition with a comparative degree of diffidence; and it 
 must, in numerous instances, from the different measure of 
 talent, of learning, of industry and of prejudice also, in really 
 good^men,'give scope for a measure of discrepancy also in their 
 
2O0 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPPvETATION. 
 
 several interpretations.* And this appears to be among the 
 means, whereby, in the providence of God, this department of 
 prophecy is more especially hidden from the ungodly and 
 worldly, who are too incurious and careless humbly to examine 
 for themselves, and who take occasion from the mistakes or 
 differences of Christians to discard the whole, either with pro- 
 fane derision, or with equally profane contempt. 
 
 I consider, therefore, that what I have advanced in the for- 
 mer chapters of this volume is susceptible of that demonstra- 
 tion which enables me to offer it with a full persuasion and 
 confidence, that it is in the main correct; saving those passages 
 or topics regarding which I have apprised the reader, as I have 
 proceeded, that I speak of them with hesitation. But for the 
 reasons just assigned, — and from the further circumstance, that 
 my own mind is not convinced in regard to ami interpretation 
 as yet offered of the whole apocalypse (however I may concur 
 in certain parts and particulars) — I approach this part of the 
 subject with much greater diffidence. 
 
 It might be concluded by some, and indeed is concluded, 
 that as there is so much difference of opinion among the best 
 expositors in regard to the truths contained in this portion of 
 prophecy, that the better way would be to leave it alone alto- 
 gether, and wait until it please God to cast more light upon it. 
 This, however, is a conclusion which cannot be too strongly 
 deprecated. Lettuig the subject alone is what, in the great ma- 
 jority of instances, has occasioned that lamentable ignorance in 
 regard to prophecy, which has been one great source of the 
 numerous unsound and superficial and merely imitative expo- 
 sitions that have at difl'erent times made their appearance in 
 the world. Many of these publications would never have 
 been endured, nor ever indeed have been written, had the 
 Christian church been sufficiently acquainted with the subject 
 to have detected the grossest errors; but the fact is, that the 
 majority of Christians in the present day are not even ac- 
 quainted with the text of the Apocalypse, nor with the relative 
 position of the subjects contained therein; but when their re- 
 gular reading of the scriptures leads them to that book, they 
 turn back and begin again. And this is the more remarkable, 
 considering that the Lord, as if foreseeing the contempt with 
 which this portion of his revelation would be treated by carnal 
 men, has in a very especial manner commended both '.his and 
 the prophecies of Daniel to our attention. Thus (apparently 
 referring to Dan. viii. 13, ix. 27, xi. 31, and xii. 11,) he says, 
 
 ♦ The reader is requested to refer again to what has been said on this head 
 at page 113, and particularly to the extract from Bishop Sherlock, at page 117. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 221 
 
 "Whoso readeth, let him undersla?icl;" (Matt. xxiv. 15;) and 
 he commences the Ajiocalypse with the promise of a special 
 blessing "to him that readeth and them that hear, and that keep 
 the words of that prophecy," as has been in a former place ob- 
 served. Page 14. 
 
 But, besides this, to leave alone these portions of divine re- 
 velation, would be to abandon all idea of successful inquiry 
 into that important topic comprehended in prophecy — Anti- 
 christ. For, as before remarked, the light which we possess 
 concerning it is chiefly derived from hence. I have not, in- 
 deed, any intention of entering into a regular exposition of 
 these books; for neither would the space which this volume 
 affords be sufficient, nor am I prepared by the needful pre- 
 vious light or conviction for the undertaking; but it will be 
 very desirable to set before the reader some information re- 
 specting certain topics contained in them; and on some par- 
 ticular points, I may likewise take the opportunity of stating 
 what a])pears to me to amount to a demonstration; and in 
 others, what commends itself as wearing tiie ajipearance of a 
 high probability. It will be useful, however, in the first in- 
 stance, to make a (ew particular observations on the books 
 themselves. 
 
 1. The authenticity, and, by consequence, the inspiration of 
 the book of Daniel, was questioned by Porphyry, an enemy 
 to the Christian faith, in the third century, on the ground that 
 a portion of the prophecies contained therein was so exact a 
 description of the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes, (whom we 
 shall have to notice again presently,) that the writer must have 
 lived subsequent to the event. The Jews, likewise, have en- 
 deavoured to disparage the book of Daniel, from the circum- 
 stance of their finding themselves so pressed by Christians with 
 certain portions of it, when they would deny that Messiah has 
 already appeared, or that he was to be cut off. They do not, 
 however, question the authenticity of the book; th.ey only, in 
 some instances, remove it from its proper and ancient situation 
 among the prophets, and assign it a place among that class of 
 the sacred writings, which they call Hagiugrapha. These cir- 
 cumstances, however, unsupported as the objections in both 
 instances are by any shadow of proof, are in themselves cor- 
 roborative of the impiratioii of Daniel, when once the authen- 
 ticity of the book is established; in regard to which it is only 
 needful to advance one single and very notorious fact: — viz. 
 that the book of Daniel was translated into (ireek, and pre- 
 served i)y the Egyptians in what is called the Septuagint ver- 
 sion, long before the time of Antiochus — a fact which the Jews 
 do not venture to deny. 
 
 VOL. II. — 19 
 
222 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 And as the authenticity of Daniel has been questioned, so 
 likewise has that of the Apocalypse by the abettors of certain 
 systems, as has been shown in a former chapter. Page 43. It 
 may be sufficient, however, in this instance to adduce the tes- 
 timony of one of the Fathers, — viz. Irenseus, who declares that 
 the revelation given to John was seen by him ''not long ago, 
 almost in the very age itself of Irenaeus, about the end of Do- 
 mitian's reign."* Lib. v. cap. xxx. The doubt which was 
 cast upon the work for a time tended, indeed, in the end to 
 establish its canonical authority with a more full and complete 
 testimony than it would in all probability have otnerwise en- 
 joyed; witness the "Observations" made on the work by the 
 great Sir Isaac Newton. His well known caution, learning, 
 judgment, and powerful abilities render whatsoever he ad- 
 vances, as the result of his historical research, of the very first 
 authority; and he declares, "that he does not find any other 
 book of the New Testament so strongly attested or commented 
 upon so early as this." 
 
 In regard to the general contents of these two books, the 
 opinion of the learned Joseph Mede appears to be correct so 
 far as it goes, viz. — that Daniel is apocalypsis coiilracta, and the 
 apocalypse Dafiiel expUcata; in that what is shown to Daniel 
 in the sketch or summary form, he considers is presented to 
 John in the details. But it appears to me that we may go far- 
 ther than this, and say that the very details themselves lie for 
 the most part scattered in the other prophets; and I consider 
 therefore that it is a very important c/ero to the right interpre- 
 tation of St. John, to view the Revelation given to him as ad- 
 justing those scattered and discursive prophecies, and assigning 
 to them their true position in the great prophetical history or 
 picture. Let the reader compare, for example — 
 
 EZEKIEL i. AND REVELATION iv. &C. 
 
 EzEKiEL sees "four living creatures'' John sees "four beasts full of eyes, be- 
 — "and their wings were full of eyes fore and behind," ver. G. 
 round about them four." ver. b, 18. 
 
 "As for the likenesses of their faces, "And the first beast was like a lion, 
 
 they four had the face of a 7iian and and the second like a calf, the third 
 
 the face of a lion on the right side, and had a face as a man, ancl the fourth 
 
 they four had the face of an ox on the was like a flying eagle.'" ver. 7. 
 left side, they four also had the face of 
 an eagle.'" ver. 10. 
 
 * Dr. Lardner assigns the date of the versions of the Apocalypse to some- 
 where between a.d. 95 and 97. Vol. vi. p. G38. Some interesting matter con- 
 nected with this point will be found in a Review of Dr. Tilloch's Dissertation 
 on the Apocalypse, contained in The Investigalor, vol. i. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 223 
 
 "Their appearance was like burning 
 coals of fire, and like the appearance 
 of lamps;''' — "and out of the fire went 
 forth lightning;^- (ver. 11)— "and when 
 they went I heard the noise of their 
 wings, like the noise of great waters, 
 as the vuice of the Almighty, the voice 
 of speech, ''' &c. ver. 24. 
 
 "Their wings were stretched up- 
 ward, two wings of every one were 
 joined one to another, and two covered 
 t/ieir bodies." ver. 11. "Every one had 
 two Avhich covered on this side, and 
 every one had two which covered on 
 that side, their bodies.''* ver. 23. 
 
 "And above the firmament that was 
 over their heads was the likeness of a 
 throne, as the appearance of a sapphire 
 stone; and upon the likeness of the 
 throne was the likeness as the appear- 
 ance of a man above upon it." ver. 26. 
 
 "And I saw as the colour of amber, 
 as the appearance oifire, &c. from his 
 loins upward and downward." ver. 27. 
 
 "And it had brightness round about: 
 as the appearance of the bow that was 
 in the cloud in the day of rain, so was 
 the appearance of the brightness rojmci 
 about.^' ver. 28. 
 
 "The likeness of the firmament'" 
 {above which was the throne, ver. 26) 
 "was as the terrible crystal, &c. ver. 
 22. 
 
 "And when I looked, behold, a hand 
 was sent unto rne; and lo, a roll of a 
 book was therein." ch. ii. 9. 
 
 "And it was written within and 
 without; and there was written therein 
 lamentations, and moiirnins, and woe." 
 ch. ii. 10. 
 
 "Then did I eat it, and it was in my 
 viouth as honey for siccetncss." ch. iii. 3. 
 
 But afterward "I went in bitterness, 
 in the heat of my spirit." ch. iii. 10. 
 
 The beasts were "in the midst of the 
 throne, and round about the throne;" 
 (ver. 6.) "and out of the throne pro- 
 ceeded lightnings and thunderings, and 
 voices;" "and there' were seven lamps 
 of fire burning before the throne." ver. 
 
 "And the four beasts had each of 
 them si.x vings about them." ver. 8. 
 
 "And, behold, a ^Arowe was set in 
 heaven, and one sat on the throne." 
 ver. 2. 
 
 "And he that sat was to look upon 
 like a^'«.';;7e?-and a. sardine stone." ver. 
 3. In chap. x. 1., of the same person- 
 age it is said, "his face was as it were 
 the sun, and his feet (or legs) as pillars 
 of fire. 
 
 "And there was a rainbow round 
 about the throne, in sight like unto an 
 emerald." (ver. 3.) "And I saw an- 
 other mighty angel come down from 
 heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a 
 rainboio was upon his head." ch.x.i. 
 
 What is in Ezekiel called a firma- 
 ment which is above the throne, is in the 
 Revelation, described as "asraof glass 
 like unto crystal," which is '^before the 
 throne." ver. 5. 
 
 "Andthe voice, &c. said. Go and 
 take the little book which is open in the 
 hand of the angel, &c.'/ ch. x. 8. 
 
 The account of this book, in the 
 Rev. ch. X. is placed immediately be- 
 tween the recital of the first and third 
 woes. See chaps, ix. and xi. 
 
 "And I — ate it up; and it was in my 
 mouth snieet as honey. ^^ ch. x. 10. 
 
 "And as soon as I had eaten it my 
 belly was bitter." {Ibid.) 
 
 * In verse 6, Ezekiei speaks as if they had four wings only; but he there 
 speaks probably of those which covered their bodies, and were joined to each 
 other; for they had also two stretched up, with which they flew. 
 
224 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 A remarkable correspondency has already been pointed out 
 between the city of Ezekiel, chap, xlviii. and that of Rev. 
 chap. xxi. (see page 209.) Joel iii. Isaiah xiv. ; Jer. 1. and 
 li. may likewise be profitabl}^ compared with other portions of 
 the Apocalypse, which establish this connection between the 
 other prophecies and those of St. John in a manner that forces 
 the conviction upo-n us, that there is a designed relationship 
 between them. And if this be admitted, then various impor- 
 tant results will flow from it. For example, Sir Isaac Newton 
 has said of the Revelation; "He that would understand the old 
 prophets must begin with this." But may we not rather say 
 that tbe careful study and comparison of both are absolutely 
 necessary to the explaining of each other? It will, I think, be 
 found, that if important minutiae and particulars are given to 
 John, together with an occasional disj)osition of facts calculated 
 to throw light upon passages contained in the old prophecies; 
 so likewise are there many particulars given at times in the 
 old prophets which are of great use toward better determining 
 the meaning of St. John, and which will afford aid also towards 
 fixing the order and time of events. 
 
 To give an instance connected with the parallel just placed 
 before the reader. First: the four beasts or living creatures 
 described in Rev. iv. may be demonstrated to be an emblem 
 of the Church; (whether the church militant or glorified need 
 not here be inquired into:) for they sing, — "Thou hast re- 
 deemed us I)y thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and 
 people and nation; &c." Chap. v. 9. The vision of Ezekiel 
 therefore must have some reference or connexion with the 
 Church. Secondly: if there be a designed relation between 
 the visions, what is set forth in Ezekiel could not have been 
 accomplished prior to the time of St. John, seeing that the 
 invitation to the latter in chap. iv. 1. is, "Come up hither — I 
 will shew thee things which must be hereafter.''^ Thirdly: the 
 description which introduces the vision of Ezekiel, chap. i. 4 — 
 "And I looked, and behold a wfdrhiind came out of the north, 
 a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself, and a brightness was 
 about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, 
 out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came 
 the likeness o( four living creatures; — seems to point to some 
 connexion between the proceedings of the church of God and 
 that awful period of tribulation so frequently set forth in Scrip- 
 ture as a whirlwind. See page 163. 
 
 But if there be a connexion between the prophecies of the 
 Apocalypse and those of Ezekiel, still more evident is the re- 
 lationship between the former and the prophecies of Dariiel. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 225 
 
 The four beasts described in Dan. vii. coming out of the sea, 
 like a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a non-descript with ten horns, 
 obviously refers to Rev. xiii. 11, where apparently the last of 
 these four beasts, the non-descript animal, is seen rising out of 
 the sea, with seven heads* and ten horns. And his diversity 
 from all other animals apparently consists in a monstrous com- 
 bination of the likeness of the previous three; for he is like 
 unto a leopard, and he has the feet of a hear and the mouth of a 
 lion, (verse 29.) These four beasts are explained by Daniel 
 (verses 17, 23) to be four ki/i^-doms; and it is very important 
 in fixing the meaning of the visions of Daniel and St. John to 
 ascertain, what four kingdoms or empires they symbolize. 
 
 In this there is a pretty universal agreement among com- 
 mentators, both ancient and modern, protestant and papal, that 
 they are the Assyrian, JNIedo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman. 
 The fourth monarchy is declared by the writer of the book of 
 Esdras to be Rome; and JNIede asserts it to have been the 
 opinion of the Jews both before and after the time of Christ. 
 Alcasar, Ribera, Caspar, Sanctius, and Cornelius A Lapide (or 
 Alapide,) together with Baronius and Bellarmine, all Roman 
 Catholic writers, admit Babylon to signify pagan Rome; and 
 the intimate connexion between the Beast and the Babylonian 
 
 * Some suppose the seven heads described in Rev. xiii. 1, to be made up of 
 the head of the lion, bear, and non-descript beast, together with the four heads 
 of the leopard. Dan. vii. 6. Bengel, however, says, "that the ancient fathers 
 understood by the seven heads, so many ages or moiiarchies of the icoiid from 
 its beginning to its end." I do not remember to have met with the enumera- 
 tion of these seven: the Jews reckoned there would be iiinc from the beginning 
 to the end. There existed in the time of Dr. Homes, the contemporary of 
 Mede, a manuscript Taigum, mentioned by him, which in Esther, chap. i. 
 makes the computation thus: "The first monarchy was of God; second under 
 Nimrod; third under Pharaoh; fourth under Solomon; fifth under Nebuchad- 
 nezzar; sixth under the Medes» and Persians; seventh under Alexander the 
 Great; eighth under Julius Caesar; the ninth, -the kingdom of Messiah, or 
 Christ." This is apparently the same Targum as that mentioned, by Jacob 
 Colerusin the preface to the Hebrew Bible of Hutter. Omitting the fust in this 
 enumeration, and the very doubtful one under Solomon, which appears to have 
 been inserted by Jewish vanity, and the list is useful as marking the agreement 
 in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, with the designation and order of succession given 
 by ancient Christian chronologists. In a very scarce tract by Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, published in 163G, "discovering all the empires and kingdoms of the 
 world, as they flourisht respectively under the foure imperiall monarchies; 
 faithfully composed out of the most improved authoiirs, and exactly digested 
 according to the supputation of the best chronoiogers," he thus places them, 
 1. As.syrian, 2. Persian, 3. Greek, 4. Roman. 
 
 1 would take this opportunity of observing, that the seven beads explained 
 to be mountains in Rev. xvii. i), cannot be the same as the seven ki/i^^s of verse 
 10, as many expositors conclude. For of the former it is said, "the seven heads 
 are seven mountains on which the woman siltc/h, indicating, that at the time 
 intended in the vision, the woman or city is placed upon them all at once: 
 whereas of the-kings, five are fallen, one only is present, and one yet to qomQ. 
 19* 
 
226 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Harlot of the Apocalypse is suflicient to identify tiiem as being 
 of the same empire.* 
 
 A modern Spanish Roman Catholic writer, whose name is 
 supposed to be Lacunza, but whose work is published under 
 the Jewish name of Ben Ezra, has attempted to shake this 
 opinion; on the ground that the four empires were not "infe- 
 rior" the one to the other, particularly the second to the first, 
 as it is intimated in Dan. ii. they should be.t But wliatever 
 seeming difficulties may attend a portion of the exposition, it 
 is impossible to withstand the general tradition on this head 
 that has existed in the church, together with the historical tes- 
 timony mentioned in the note on the last page; to which may 
 be added an observation of Mr. Faber's. — Speaking in his 
 Sacred Calendar of the mode of reckoning the four empires 
 symbolized by the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his 
 dream, he says — "Such a mode of reckoning, &c. is admirably 
 illustrated by the famous astronomical canon of Ptolemy. As 
 the good spirit of God employs the four successive empires of 
 Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome in the capacity of the 
 great Calendar of Prophecy; so Ptolemy has employed the 
 very four same empires in the construction of his invaluable 
 canon; because the several lines of their sovereigns so begin 
 and end, when the one line is engrafted on the other line, as 
 to form a single unbroken series from Nabonassar to Augustus 
 Csesar." Vol. ii. p. 9. 
 
 But we may go further than the coincidence between inter- 
 preters and historians. The question appears to be susceptible 
 of actual demonstration. There can be no doubt that the Ba- 
 bylonian empire is ihejirst; for Daniel (ii. 38.) is precise upon 
 the point to Nebuchadnezzar, in vvhose crown and government 
 that empire was headed up: "Thou art this head of gold. "J 
 Again, of the woman, who is seen by John sitting upon the 
 
 * Many testimonies as to Rome being the fourth empire may be found in 
 Mede's works, in Dr. Cressener's Demonstrations, &c. and Dr. More's Mys- 
 tery of Iniquity. 
 
 + The successive inferiority of the one kingdom to the other is considered 
 by Dr. N. Homes to refer to their respective treatment of the Jews. See the 
 Resurrection Revealed, revised edition, p. 141. 
 
 t I have unceremoniously referred to this vision as prophetic, though some 
 expositors would make the first six chapters of the book of Daniel hislorical, 
 and only the last six iirojthrHrdl. But there appears to be no room to question 
 this vision. Some cxiiomicis consider the vision of the Tree alsti, in chap. iv. 
 to be prophetical. (Ser I lulincs's "Time of the End.") The visions may in- 
 deed be introduced throuirli the medium of historical narrative, but this by no 
 means invalidates their propiietical sense, or renders them of private interpre- 
 tation. The same may be said of the Epistles to the Seven Churches. (Rev. 
 ii. and iii.) A very able treatise on the prophetical sense of these Epistles 
 was published in 1H33, by the Rev. H. Girdlestone, which abounds with valu- 
 able critical and historical information. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPPvETATION. 227 
 
 ten-liorned beast, (which corresponds, as we have seen, with 
 the fourth beast of Daniel,) it is declared to the apostle — "'And 
 the woman which thou sawcst is thai i^rcal city, rchich kkigneth 
 over the kings of the earlh.^' Rev. xvii. IS. The expression 
 reigneth marks it to be the then present time that is alluded to; 
 and it may safely be asked, what city reigned over the world 
 in St. John's time, excepting Rome! Certainly not the literal 
 Babi/lo/i, though the woman is here so called.* 
 
 Having, then, the first and last, the only question that re- 
 mains concerns the intermediate two, or the second and third 
 empires; and these seem to be determined by the vision of the 
 Ram and He Goat of Daniel viii. which is thus explained by 
 the angel: "The ram which thou sawest, having two horns, are 
 the ki//gs of Media and Persia; and the rough goat is the kifig 
 of Graecia; and the great horn that is between his e3'es is the 
 first ki/ig.'^'f And there is a correspondency in certain features 
 of these two emblems, sulFicient to warrant their identification 
 with the second and third empires of chaps, ii. and vii. For 
 the third is in chap. ii. represented by the two arms and breast 
 of the image; in chap. vii. by the two sides of the bear, who 
 raises itself up on one side, (i. e. one side becomes more 
 elevated than the other;) and the Medio-Persian Ram has "two 
 horns, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came 
 up last." And as the third beast has four wings of a fowl, and 
 four heads, and dominion was given to it;" so "the goat waxed 
 very great, and when he was strong the great horn was broken; 
 
 * Tlie Roman Catholics, who insist that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, 
 maybe pressed with a further dcnwnstration here; for Peter saj's, in his 1st 
 Epistle, chap. v. 13, "The church that is alBa'^i/toii, elected together with you, 
 saluteth you;" in which case, he must here designate Rome by its mystic 
 name of Babylon. Lightfoot, however, says, (in Hor. ad I Cor. p. 270) — 
 "James, Peter, a^id John went io the circumcision, and we can shew the diocese 
 of each of them. James had Palestine and Syxia; Peter Babylon and Assy- 
 ria, (evidently understanding this verse literally;) and John the Helenists, 
 Earticularly in Asia and farther on." Mr. Rabett, however, affirms that Ba- 
 ylon was deslroyed many ages before the time the Apocalypse was given. (P. 
 194.) But this, "though it is true to such extent as to rob it of all title to the 
 appellation "Great Babylon," is questionable to that extent which would de- 
 prive it altogether of its claim to be considered the metropolitan city of As- 
 syria. 
 
 t I have marked three of the terms in the above quotation in italics, for the 
 purpose of pointing out how clearly they make manifest that these Beasts in 
 Dan. vii. and viii. do not symbolize one individual king only, but kingdoms, 
 comprehending a succession of kings. We have the kings o{ Media and Per- 
 sia, in the plural, represented by the Ram. And though the Goat is described 
 as being "the /.•/««' of Grwcia," as if only one individual king wereintended; yet 
 a further explanation declares the horn between the Goal's eyes to represent the 
 first king— thus plainly implying a succession of (hem. Mr. Faber, therefore, 
 has no warrant to limit the expression in Daniel, "Thou art this head of gold," 
 to the life of Uie individual Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
228 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 and for it came u^t four notable ones toward the four winds of 
 heaven."* 
 
 2. It were vain to attempt to enumerate the different views 
 which have been taken of the Apocalypse as a whole. Gro- 
 tius, Wetstein, and some other learned men, refer all to the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish wars, and the civil wars 
 of the Romans.! Rpsenmuller, Eichorn, and some other Ger- 
 man divines, consider it a prophecy of what should happen to 
 the Christian church to the end of the world, in the way of 
 false teaching, persecution, &c. ; Christianity being finally vic- 
 torious. The latter divides it into three parts: the first, from 
 chap. i. to xii. 17, relating to the triumph of Christianity over 
 Judaism, from xii. IS, to xx. 10, to its triumph over heathen- 
 ism; and the remainder to its final triumph over the world, 
 and to the happiness of the life to come. And whilst some 
 have principally viewed the Pagan persecutions only, others 
 have applied it all, or mainly, to the Papal persecutions or 
 apostacy; a third class considers the whole as future, and looks 
 forward to the rise of an hfulel power, in which all will be 
 accomplished; and a fourth class combines all tliree views, and 
 alleges all three powers to be set forth therein. We shall have 
 occasion presently to revert to some of these. Some again 
 interpret it all of civil and ecclesiastical affairs, in an historical 
 and emblematical manner; and others make the application of 
 the whole to invisible or spiritual things only. Some consider 
 
 * It would not be right, on this important point, to pass by another argu- 
 ment, which is by some considered as an equally clear demonstration that the 
 beast of Rev. xvii. is Rome. The seven heads are explained to be seven moun- 
 tains, on which the woman, or city, sitteth. (v. 0.) This is by many supposed 
 to be only another figure, in explanation of the former figure; but by these it 
 is considered absurd to suppose a symbol interpreted by a symbol, and there- 
 fore the mountains are understood lUcratli/ as seven kills, on which the city is 
 built. There are many well-known allusions in the Latin poets, quite irre- 
 spective of prophecy, to "the seven-hilled city," which have been quoted br 
 writers on this subject. Thus — 
 
 Hanc Remus et Frater; sic fortis Etrnria crevit 
 Scilicet et rerum facta est pulchci rima J?o7na 
 Septemque una sibi muro circumdedit arces. — Virg. 
 
 Sed, quPB de scptem totum circumspicit orbem 
 Montibus, Imperii Roma Deum que locus. — Ovid. 
 
 Dumque suis victrix scptcvi de moTitihus orbem 
 Prospiciet domitum Martia Roma legar. — Ibid. 
 
 Diis, quibus scptem placuere colles — Horack. 
 
 Seplcm urbs alfa juf^is, tnti qufcporsidct orbi, 
 Fceminias timuit territa Marte minas.— Propertils. 
 
 ViRo. See Georg. lib. ii. v. 6, 7, 8.— Ovid. Trist. Lib. 1, El. v. C9, 70.— Ibid 
 Lib. iii. El. vii. v. b\, 5-3.— Prop. Lib. iii. El. xi. 57, 58. 
 
 t There is a good synopsis of the views of Wetstein in the preface to Ailain 
 Clarke's quarto ediiioti of the Bible. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 229 
 
 it a revelation entirely affecting the Gentiles, pointing to the 
 fact of its being all addressed to the seven Gentile churches of 
 Asia; and many of these consider Daniel as concerning chiefly 
 the Jews, because he was shewn what would befall his own 
 people in the latter days. On the other hand, some, who are 
 led away by system to the opposite extreme, can see nothing 
 but Israel after the flesh in the Apocalypse, and consider the 
 Jew as the master key to the whole. 
 
 The above are some of the views and systems of interpreta- 
 tion, and there are several others, one of which may not be 
 be passed over: viz. that of the republican dissenters of the 
 present age, who can see in Daniel and St. John only the de- 
 struction of all church establishments, and the subversion of 
 all thrones, to be succeeded by a millennium consisting of the 
 universal prevalence of those principles, which the Lord per- 
 mits, and makes use of instrumentally, in pouring out the vials 
 of his wrath.* There can be liltle doubt, — and the considera- 
 tion gives a most awful character to the signs of the present 
 times, — that all which our heavenly father hath not planted 
 will be rooted up, and eveiy thing which offends will be 
 gathered out of his kingdom; and it is to be apprehended, from 
 the word of God, that every throne not established and main- 
 tained in righteousness will be overthrown: but to suppose 
 that the agency, which the Lord shall employ in order to 
 effect it, is permanently to occupy its place, is as absurd as to 
 suppose, that when the Lord made use of the Philistines or 
 Chaldeans wherewith to chastise Israel, he intended ultimately 
 
 * A specimen of these views will be found in the Illustrations of Prophecy, 
 vol. i. page 26—28. Dr. Towers, Clarke, (author of Prophetic Records) Vint 
 and Jones are among the principal writers of this school. Whiston bore the 
 same way in a former age. A short quotation or two from the "Illustrations 
 of Prophecy," which is the mrwiufacture of Towers and Vint, will serve to 
 demonstrate its tendency. "There are few countries in Europe in which the 
 subsistence and comforts of the mass of the people are not materially atiected, 
 and in which they are not rendered more scanty and precarious, by the crowds 
 of horses which are unnecessarily kept; and which are maintained in conse- 
 quence oi the nature of the siibsisting ^over7ime7ils,{he ])reva.\ex\ce of false ideas, 
 and the extreme inequality which exists helxoeen the different rajds of society" 
 (vol. ii. p. 90.) "It surely is no very improbable supposition (now that the 
 spirit of political inquiry has arisen in Europe, and the minds of men are 
 turned with so much eagerness to the examination of the nature, and the com- 
 parative advantages, of the dilierent governments,) that the time is not far 
 distant, when genuine Christians will in general view the existinji Sflvcrnmcnts 
 of the European, continent as decidedly antichrislian; and when many (^( them 
 will take an active part in substituting in their place political institutions 
 which do not violate the laws of the gospel." "Of the abuses that exist in the 
 •world a large part arise from the tyranny of the rich over the ])oor, and from 
 the extraac inci/uniily of co7iditio?is, an evil which is aggravated and engen- 
 dered, by the maxims and constitutions of the existing gover7ime/ds." (page 22t).) 
 At page 245 th<re is an apology for and panegyric in behalf of Bonaparte, 
 which is too long to be quoted here. The unrestricted liberty of conscience 
 granted by hira constitutes him a saint in the eyes of Mr. Vint. 
 
230 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 to establish them in their place. These writers lose sight of 
 two important truths; viz. that the agency whereby these 
 things are to be effected is of an infidel character, (as will be 
 shewn hereafter;) and it is greatly to be feared that many of 
 those who exultingly take this view have insensibly imbibed 
 some of the more specious of infidel principles, derived from 
 their communion with Socinians; for *'a little leaven leavens 
 the whole lump. " The other fact lost sight of is, that although 
 existing thrones and ecclesiastical establishments will be over- 
 turned, it will not be for the purpose of introducing a millen- 
 nium of republicanism and schism, — so that men may every 
 where govern themselves and walk in religion and politics 
 according to what is right in their own eyes; but they will be 
 shaken and removed in order to set up in their place a universal 
 ciiurch and monarchy, — a union of church a,nd state in the 
 most extensive and complete sense of the term. It will be a 
 church and empire which, in every respect, as regards disci- 
 pline and polity, will be the reverse of the6eaz< ic/e«/ of modern 
 liberals. For ''thus saith the Lord, God; remove the diadem, 
 and take off the crown: this shall not be the same; exalt him 
 that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, over- 
 turn, overturn, and it shall be no more, until HE come xvhose 
 RIGHT it is; and I will give it Him." Ezek. xxi. 26, 27. 
 Nothing can be more absolute than the manner of this king- 
 dom, as shadowed forth by the type of Christ, Joseph; who 
 had all things put under him, (he only excepted who did put 
 all things under him: compare Gen. xli. 40. and 1 Cor. xv. 27.) 
 and who used his authority in bringing the whole empire — 
 the inhabitants, their money,, their cattle, and their lands — 
 into the possession and under the most entire subjection of 
 Pharaoh. The reign of Solomon, another type, was likewise 
 exceedingly absolute; (I Kings xii. 4.) and it has been shewn 
 at pages 153 and 205 that the people of God will, in subjection 
 to Christ, be partakers of his power, and rule the nations with 
 a rod of iron.* 
 
 * It is not all dissenters, who liave written upon prophecy, that take up the 
 views I have here deprecated. The names of Cuninghame, Thorpe, Ander- 
 son, Cox, and Tyso, stand out in striking contrast to the majority of- this 
 school. Some ofthe.se doubtless entertain strong sentiments on the subject of 
 ecclesiastical establishments and church government and authority under the 
 present dispensation. Mr. Anderson, indeed, carries his principles in this 
 respect to an extent which I have not yet met with in any dissenter; but he 
 manifests an admirable candour and desire of truth throughout; whilst his 
 views, in regard to the authority and connexion of church and state during the 
 Millennium, are so apposite in the way of illustration of the case in hand, that 
 I cannot forbear giving a quotation from Part ii. of his "Apology for Millen- 
 nial Doctrine." At page 41, he lays down the following proposition. "In the 
 days of the Stone [i. e. the Km<rdmn of the Stone, Dan. ii. 34, 35.] the Church, 
 in addition to the power which she at present exercises over the conscience, 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 931 
 
 Seeing however what discordant views have been taken of 
 the Apocalypse at different periods, and even by different 
 writers in the same age, some are disposed to abandon the 
 study of the book altogether, on the assumption that to arrive 
 at a correct understanding of it is impossible; whilst others are 
 led to infer from these discrepancies, that none of the interpre- 
 tations as yet advocated contain any truth, but that the whole 
 fulfilment must be yet future, and will be so striking when it 
 
 shall be invested with all that power over the bodies of men and their external 
 circumstances, which is at present exercised by the kings of the earth.'' He 
 then proceeds to explain: — "In that time there will be no division of power into 
 civil and ecclesiastic, for the lehole shall be ecclesiastic. Not only will the whole 
 be conducted by churchmen, which magistrates may be, and in some happy 
 cases are, at present; but the magistracy itself shall be of the church, acknow- 
 ledging no other head than Christ, and no other interests than those of his 
 royalty." Then after a long quotation from Tiliinghast in support of his 
 view, he thus continues: — 
 
 '"Let it be primarily observed then, that the matter of dispute which lies 
 between us and our opponents is not, whether in the days of the Stone and 
 Mountain Christ shall have a spiritual dominion over the hearts of men. 
 Whoever may represent this to be the state of the controversy does it either 
 most ignorantly or slanderously. We are second in zeal to no part}' in advo- 
 cating the internal holiness and deeply-toned spirituality of the millennial 
 kingdom; — all the denial lies with the opposite party, who will not believe, that, 
 in addition to this reign over the heart, the Redeemer shall be put in posses- 
 sion of the external government of the world, administered by his church. We 
 maintain, that under the approaching dispensation he shall exercise «iZ power; 
 they maintain that he shall continue to put forth only a part of power. Be- 
 side the power he now has in the Church, ve claim for him the administration 
 of the Slate— that all law be consolidated, and made Church law; they refuse 
 this claim, and plead on behalf of the kings of this world, that matters should 
 be permitted to continue as at present — the Church having one government 
 administered by the power and in the name of God; the State with another, 
 separate and distinct, administered by the power and in the name of the Wil- 
 liams, the Philips, the Ferdinands, "and the Miguels of this earth: only, say 
 they, let there be such good agreement between the two parties, (kings and 
 parliaments and magistrates being personally Christian men,) that the power 
 of the State shall never be exercTsed to the detriment of the Cmirch, but rather 
 for the protection of her members in the civil rights of conscience. The sup- 
 position of a case, and a statement of the different ways in which it. would be 
 dealt with according to the two systems, will more distinctly illustrate wherein 
 we and our opponents disagree. Suppose that in millennial times a man were 
 to contest the doctrine of Mc roi/alli/ of Christ; according to the system of our 
 opponents, he would be dealt with only as a heretic or infidel, in the Avay of 
 excommunication from the Church, while his civil privileges remained entire; 
 but according to our system, the Church being invested with all power, and 
 being, in fact, the Stale, he would be dealt with as being guilty of treason, by 
 being cut oflT from the midst of the people. This is evidently carrying the 
 matter much further than even the most zealous advocates of ecclesiastical 
 establishments are at the present day disposed to proceed. They stop short of 
 this conclusion, in which their fundamental principle involves them, if con- 
 sistently prosecuted to a termination. It is among my brethren, however, of the 
 Dissenting communion, that the strongest objections will be made to our rep- 
 resentations of the external power of the Church; for I know that with some 
 of them the very beau ideal of millennial glory is, that all State establishments 
 of religion shaft be prostrated to the dust, so as to rid the spiritual institution 
 of all secular contamination." 
 
232 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 does take place as to leave no question on the minds of any 
 that it is the true one. Both these conclusions are apparently 
 erroneous. The first is decidedly so, seeing that it is opposed 
 to the testimony of the Holy Ghost, who declares the blessed- 
 ness of those who read and who hear the words of this prophecy. 
 Rev. i. 3. And as regards the second, — "Show me the ques- 
 tion (says Bishop Hurd) in religion, or even in common morals, 
 about which learned men have not disagreed; nay — show me 
 a single text of Scripture, though ever so plain and precise, 
 which the perverseness or ingenuity of interpreters has not 
 drawn into different and often contrary meanings? What then 
 shall we conclude — That there is no truth in religion? — no cer- 
 tainty in morals? — no authority in sacred Scripture? If such 
 conclusions as these be carried to their utmost length, in what 
 else can they terminate, but absolute universal scepticism?" 
 Vol. ii. page 60. 
 
 It has already been shewn (p. 116) that some of the prophe- 
 cies are not likely to appear more plain and convincing to 
 sceptical minds, after they are fulfilled, than they were before, 
 seeing that the very design of the Spirit has been to veil them 
 in symbol and enigma. Morever, that discrepancy is not so 
 great as is alleged: the more eminent commentators do in 
 general agree in their interpretation of certain principal fea- 
 tures of prophec}'; and in regard to almost all of.them, though 
 we may not be able to follow the general thread of their inter- 
 pretation, yet, as Sir Isaac Newton says, in his work on the 
 Apocalypse — "there is scarce one of note, who hath not made 
 some discovery worth knowing:" (p. 253) there is at least 
 something in the works of those, who are not mere copyists, 
 calculated to furnish a help or a hint in some point or other. 
 
 The principle however, like every other, may be carried too 
 far. The Rev. II. Girdlestone, in his able and erudite work 
 on the Epistles to the seven Churches, says of the discordance 
 of commentators on the Apocalypse, — "They disagree like the 
 clocks of a great city, in the minutes, not in the hour: their 
 disagreement is less than their agreement. He that under- 
 stands our common Christianity knows, that with an almost 
 infinite variety of opinions upon secondary and minor points, 
 there is almost an universal consent on first principles." Pref. 
 X. But surely it is something more than a difference on mi- 
 nute and secondary points when one expositor assumes almost 
 the entire Apocalypse to be fulfilled, and another considers the 
 whole to be future. On no fundamental ])rinciple scarcely can 
 we concur with Wetstein (for example); wjio refers the whole, 
 as has been stated, to the earliest jjeriod of Cliristianity. He 
 makes the Millennium to consist of a period oi forhj years only; 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 033 
 
 on which hypothesis it neither agrees with literal time, nor 
 with any admitted principle of interpreting symbolical time; 
 and he must of necessity refer the seals, the trumpets, the vials, 
 the Antichrist, and every other prominent feature, to events 
 and persons which the great majority of commentators entirely 
 reject. 
 
 It is not improbable, however, that the generality of inter- 
 pretations may be in a greater or less degree reconciled. It 
 would appear from the controversies which have taken place 
 upon some features of the Apocalypse, that the very structure 
 of it was such as designedly to present in some instances an 
 ambiguous aspect, so as to render an application of parts of it 
 to more events and periods than one justifiable in certain in- 
 stances. Let any one read, for example, the discussions which 
 have taken place, whether the number of the beast, (Rev. xiii. 
 IS,) belong to tlie ten-horned beast or the two-horned beast; 
 and he will be perplexed to know, amid the plausible argu- 
 ments for both opinions, to which he is to ascribe it: though 
 this is a point which is really independent of historical events, 
 and is to be determined rather upon abstract and critical 
 grounds. The same may in a measure be said in regard to 
 other points;* and it is the opinion of many able commenta- 
 tors, that the whole prophecy is so constructed as to be easily 
 applicable to the struggles of Christianity with Paganism at an 
 early period, with Popery at a later period, and with Infi- 
 delity in the last days; whilst others can see these three 
 periods of trial distinctly and separaldij shadowed forth. Mr. 
 Habershon, in his recently published "Dissertation on the 
 Prophetic Scri])tures," shews that many of the discrepancies 
 of interpreters with regard to f/a/t,'5 may be reconciled on 
 Scriptural principles; and it may consequently be hoped, that 
 in proportion as the principles of interpretation are more 
 attended to, and become more understood, many apparent 
 difficulties and discrepancies may be removed. The great 
 point for the student of prophecy to attend to is to become well 
 acquainted with tlie text and facts of prophecy, both as con- 
 tained in the Apocalypse and other prophets likewise; and 
 then he will be at least prepared to detect false and irrecon- 
 cileable interpretations on the one hand; and to discover analo- 
 gies and parallelisms, which offer a key to interpretation, on 
 the other, 
 
 3. This leads to a few remarks respecting the proper mode 
 of studying the Apocalypse. The first thing is, to be satisfied 
 
 * Bengelias, for example, considers the woe in Rev. xiv. 9 — 11, applicable 
 to two ditFerent subjects; and this he infers on abstract principles. 
 VOL. II.— 20 
 
934 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 of the literal meaning of the words of the text; which should 
 be carefully examined in the Greek, (if the student be ac- 
 quainted with it,) and determined beforehand, and not in the 
 course of his interpretation, when he is liable to be warped by 
 his system, and induced to force a signification on a word 
 which is not obvious, and which he would not otherwise have 
 resorted to. The second thing is to search for synchronisms 
 and parallelisms and such other indices in the work itself as 
 are calculated to throw light on the order, connection, and 
 period of the visions. This is a most important preliminary 
 work, and may be pursued by the reader who is acquainted 
 only with the English, with considerable success and profit. 
 The eminent Joseph Mede would not venture on the interpre- 
 tation of any of the visions, till by the demonstration of his 
 synchronisms he had fixed the order and series of them; and 
 he has left us a work on this subject alone; which, though the 
 further investigation and research of succeeding students have 
 shown that it cannot be followed in all particulars, is never- 
 theless deservedly held in estimation by students of prophecy. 
 An inquiry of this sort into the internal marks and notices of 
 the work is altogether distinct from interpretation, though a 
 most valuable and necessary preparatory aid to it, and what no 
 sound and judicious expositor would wilfully neglect. Bishop 
 • Hurd, who has been before quoted, observes, in regard to the 
 order and period of the visions, which is there to be ascer- 
 tained: "The knowledge of this order is a great restraint on 
 the fancy of the expositor; who is not now at liberty to apply 
 the prophecies to events of any time to which they appear to 
 suit, but to events only falling within that time to which they 
 belong in the course of this predetermined method. And if to 
 this restriction, which of itself is considerable, we add another, 
 which arises from the necessity of applying, not one, but many 
 prophecies (which are thus shown to synchronize with each 
 other) to the same time, we can hardly conceive how an inter- 
 pretation should keep clear of these impediments, and make 
 its way through so many interfering checks, unless it be the 
 true one." On Proph. vol. ii. 130. 
 
 A third step (or it may be made the seco?id step with equal 
 advantage) is to examine by a careful comparison of scripture 
 the meaning of the various symbols, metaphors, and figurative 
 expressions, by which the precise signification is veiled more 
 or less in enigma; and where a symbol or hieroglyphic is fairly 
 susceptible of more than one interpretation, it is to be carefully 
 marked down. Sometimes a clear and explicit interpretation 
 of a figure or symbol is to be met with in one part of scripture; 
 from which it would seem unwarrantable to deviate, when the 
 
ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 335 
 
 same symbol is met with in other parts without the interpre- 
 tation; and sometimes, though no explicit interpretation is to 
 be met with, yet will something be found likened to the same 
 thing, in the way of similitude, which is elsewhere used abso- 
 lutely as a hieroglyphic or symbol, or wiiich, indeed, from the 
 frequency of its use, may in some instances be viewed as a 
 tropical expression.* In this manner the figurative language 
 of scripture may be reduced to rule, and a dictionary might be 
 constructed on such principles as would enable the student at 
 once to proceed to the preliminary task of translating, as it 
 were, the symbols, and by this means so paraphrasing the text 
 as to throw considerable light and clearness upon the meaning 
 of the prophecy, and so afford a greater additional safeguard to 
 erroneous interpretation. 
 
 Such a dictionary is still a desideratum, constructed upon the 
 rigid principle of scriptural analogy. There are many valua- 
 ble observations upon symbolical language to be found in the 
 writings of Mede, More, Daubuz, Hurd, Faber, Cuninghame, 
 and Frere.t Some of these have given sufficient of a diction- 
 ary to enable them to interpret that portion of the prophecies 
 which they have taken in hand; but their explanations are in 
 many instances fanciful and arbitrary, and adopted with an 
 evident view to the interpretation which is previously resolved 
 upon in their own minds: so that the meaning of the symbol 
 is determined b}^ the interpretation, and not the interpretation 
 by the meaning of the symbol. To give an instance: Mr. 
 Frere, in his "Combined View," gives us the following, in the 
 chapter headed "Symbolical Dictionary." "77?e third part of 
 the Earth — the Eastern Roman Empire, of which Constantino- 
 ple was the capitol, being that portion which fell to Constan- 
 tine on the division of the empire by Constantine the Great 
 among his three sons." (p.'Sl.) ''The great River Euphrates — 
 The Turkish Empire, which first arose in the neighbourhood 
 of that river." (p. ,81.) Now the references in support of these 
 explanations are, in the first instance, to Rev. viii. 7 — 12, ix. 
 15 — IS, xii. 4; and, in the latter, to Rev. ix. 11, xvi. 12; 
 which are nothing more than places in which the same expres- 
 sions occur, without the slightest evidence that the meaning 
 which Mr. Frere affixes to them is the true one. J These are 
 passages to which the key is rather to be applied, than that 
 
 * See the observations and instances illustrative of this point, at pages 101 
 and 103 of this volume. 
 
 t Schoettgen may also be consulted with advantage, and likewise Glass's 
 Philolngia Sacra. 
 
 t Mr. Faber, aud some other commentators, understand by (he third part of 
 the earth, the whole of the Roman empire, both eastern and u-estern; but on no 
 better ground. 
 
236 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 they are the key itself. When he tells us (p. 82.) "that stars 
 are the apostles, hishops, ministers, &c. of the church of 
 Christ," and refers us to Rev. i. 20. it is satisfactory, because 
 it a])pears a plain scriptural authority for the interpretation: 
 nor is it meant to be asserted in this place, that Mr. Frere has 
 assigned erroneous significations to the two former expressions; 
 but that no reader, unacquainted with the profane history of 
 the matter, and with the application of it made by Mr. Frere, 
 could possibly have discovered that the third part of the earth 
 was the eastern Roman empire, and the river Euphrates the 
 Turkish empire. If they can be afterwards made to appear so, 
 it can only be b}^ a proof derived from the sijstem of interpreta- 
 tion of the author, aiid not from any abstract principles of 
 scripture, which can be judged of and produce conviction in- 
 dependently of the interpretation. Numerous instances of the 
 same sort might be given from Mr. Faber, who far exceeds 
 Mr. Frere in the arbitrary character of his explanation of the 
 symbols. 
 
 The most copious and learned dictionary of symbols is that 
 compiled chiefly from the writings of Daubuz by the editor of 
 the abridged edition, the Rev. P. Lancaster. It is defective, 
 however, as frequently basing the authority for the explanation 
 on the writings of heathens: for it seems contrary to every 
 just notion of divine co'nsistency to suppose that a prophetical 
 revelation of the Holy Spirit cannot be properly understood 
 without the study of authors whose writings must familiarize 
 us with things, which the same Holy Spirit admonishes us 
 against. The utmost that can be said for the writings of such 
 authors is, that they afibrd collateral proof, in confirmation of 
 an argument, and may be adduced for critical uses; but to base 
 upon them any portion of the interpretation of divine revela- 
 tion appears altogether at variance with Christian principle.* 
 For this reason Mr, Faber's whole system of interpretation 
 seems to offend, and has been justly censured by Mr. Cuning- 
 hame. For he goes still farther, inasmuch as it is actually ne- 
 
 * The heathen writers who have been resorted to by the learned for the 
 illustration of symbols are the Egyptian Horapollo and Manetho who was a 
 priest of Heliopolis about 2.58 B. C. There is a Greek translation of the 
 Treatise of the former on Hieroglyphics still existing; of the latter only some 
 fragments remain of an historical work, written by him at the command of 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus. But chiefly the Oneirocritica by Achmet, an Arabian 
 writer, has been quoted. Bishop Hurd supposes that tiie Israelites derived 
 their knowledge of symbols and hieroglyphic writing from the Egyptians, 
 during the period of their bondage with ihem; (vol. ii. p. 85.) a notion not at 
 all improbable. But it docs not therefore justify the bringing the Egyptian 
 superstitions prominently forward. It is enough to look for the i)rinciplcs and 
 materials for interpreting scripture to the scriptures themselves; and to avail 
 ourselves of the derived knowledge of the Israelites only to thai extent, for 
 which we find a sanction in the word of God. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 037 
 
 cessary to become acquainted with the principles of the heathen 
 mythologij before we can be enabled to judge of the accuracy of 
 his statements: which is j)lainly opposed to the spirit of the 
 divine injunctions in Exod. xxiii. 13. and J)eut. xii. 3; by 
 which tile children of Israel were required so to abolish idola- 
 try, as not even to take the names of the heathen gods into 
 tiieir mouths, but to endeavour to root out every trace of 
 them. 
 
 ]\Ir. Faber has, nevertheless, some valuable matter in his 
 first chapter, on the figurative and symbolical language of pro- 
 phecy; though even here, the bias of system, aided by a vigor- 
 ous imagination, have led him into some statements which 
 cannot be borne out. We meet with much, for example, in 
 regard to symbols, concerning zoological consistency or ano- 
 maly; but this in symbols is of no force. They are often 
 of such a character as to do violence to all consistency; — wit- 
 ness a sword out of a man's mouth; stars falling to the earth; 
 a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. 
 Attention to consistency of figure and illustration may be 
 needful in the exposition of a parable; (though here also it has 
 its limits;) but not in hieroglyphic symbols.* The principle 
 of homogeneity, however, in the use of symbols, which is con- 
 tended for both by Mr. Faber and Mr. Cuninghame, (though 
 departed from by the former in his interpretation,) appears to 
 be one entitled to the serious regard of the student. By this 
 l)rinciple it is contended that all symbols of the same class 
 should have congruous and consistent interpretations; unless 
 there be some notation in the text itself directing us to make 
 an exception in some particular instance. Thus in regard to 
 the four horses of the first four seals, if the first is to be inter- 
 preted as a kingdom, the remaining three must be interpreted 
 in like manner. And thus in the four metals of the image of 
 Daniel, it appears incongruous to interpret the three latter 
 kingdoms as existing through a succession of monarchs; and 
 the first (as Mr. Faber does) of the limited reign, or rather of 
 
 * Mr. Faber is very unhappy in his illustrations of this consistency, in the 
 observations which he makes regarding zoological propriety. He says that 
 the lion and the leopard of Dan. vii. are furnished with icjh^s instead qt' horns; 
 because though horns may be with propriety ascribed to a he goat, they 
 cannot to the above named animals; and that when a bear is employed as a 
 symbol, horns and wings being alike incongruous, "no resource is left to the 
 framer of the hieroglyphic, save to represent the two constituent kingdoms of 
 the bear by his two sides, the one appearing more elevated than the other," 
 (vol. i. p. 59.) Now, without insisting that 'v:ings to a leopard or a lion are as 
 preposterous in strict physiology as horns, it happens that we have actually 
 described to us by St. John a ien horned beast, which monster is a combination 
 of the lio7i, the leopard, and the bear, the identical three animals excepted to 
 by Mr. Faber, (Rev. xiii. 1, 2.) 
 20* 
 
238 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the duration of the life, of one monarch only. This violation 
 of consistency or homogeneity is still more apparent when he 
 proceeds to the interpretation of the four beasts of Dan. vii. 
 
 There are also some valuable observations in Mr. Frere's 
 Symbolical Diciio?mrij, among which the following is selected, 
 as worthy of consideration. — ''We must distinguish, in the 
 Revelation of St. John, between that which makes a part of 
 the machinery of the prophecy, and that which belongs to the 
 prophecy itself. Coyimentators, from not adverting to this 
 distinction, have interpreted the silence of half cm hour, which 
 immediately precedes the sounding of the seven trumpets, as 
 if it were symbolical; whereas it is only part of the machinery, 
 or a pause in the representation," (p. 97.) A writer in the 
 Investigator, (vol. iii. p. 144,) puts the same matter in a forci- 
 ble manner: "As the whole time of the visi-ons seen by the 
 apostle was clearly the space of a single day, so prophetic ititer- 
 vals of time are never 'represented as passing in the vision, but 
 are simply stated for the information of the church; when, for 
 the very purpose of avoiding incongruity, there is a change 
 from vision to narrative, and then to vision again. (See chap. 
 ix. 10, xi. 1, 2, 3, 9, xii. 6, 14, xiii. 5, xx. 7 — 9.) The silence 
 therefore of chap. viii. 1. is single and peculiar, being unlike 
 all other times mentioned, which are prophetic statements for 
 our information. It is an absolute pause in the course of the 
 visions themselves, — a pause as of half an hour, in visions that 
 lasted at the most for a single day, perhaps for only part of a 
 day. If then, instead of reading the book, we enter into the 
 spirit of the record, the mark of the close and recommencement 
 of the visions would be as striking, as if our eye in reading 
 met with a blank of half a page. — "We can conceive no other 
 reason for which such a pause should be made; a rest in the 
 prophetic actions being never so denoted, but b}^ some voice 
 (as chap. xi. 12) implying an interval of time." In a note this 
 writer adds — "The above view of the silence in heaven, as a 
 pause in the vision before commencing afresh, and not a pro- 
 phetic period, (which are always annotmced, and not seen to 
 pass in the vision,) is strongly confirmed by the indefinite term 
 Uh/A.ia>ftov, "about the space of half an hour," in contrast with all 
 the projilietic periods, which are definite; to denote that it was 
 the ])rophet'.s estimate of an interval for which he had no cer- 
 tain measure." 
 
 Before the subject of symbolical language in the general is 
 dismissed, it will be proper to observe, that in the Apocalypse, 
 as in Daniel, besides those passages of a literal character which 
 are interwoven with all figurative j)roj)hccy, and without which 
 they could have no definite meaning, — there is disposed 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 039 
 
 throughout tlie book a complete series of explanatory indices, 
 whicii, like buoys and lighthouses at sea, are intended to afibrd 
 us special intimation of our bearings. 
 
 Some of these shall be instanced for the information of the 
 reader, the literal expository matter being marked in italic 
 letters. 
 
 "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches^ Chap, 
 i. 20. 
 
 "There were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, 
 u-hich are the seven Spirits of God.^' Chap. iv. 5. 
 
 "In the midst of the elders stood a lamb, as it had been slain, 
 having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits 
 of God.'' Chap. V. 6. See also Zech. iii. D, and iv. 16. 
 
 "The four-and-twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, 
 having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of 
 odours, uhich are the prayers of saints." Chap. v. 8. 
 
 "What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and 
 whence came they?" — "These are theij rchich came out of the* 
 great tribi/lation, &.C." Chap. vii. 13 — 16. 
 
 "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, &c." — 
 These are the tzoo olive trees and the tico candlesticks, sta?iding be- 
 fore the God of the earth." Chap. xl. 3, 4. The reference is 
 evidently to Zech. iv. 2, 3, and 11 — 14, where matter explana- 
 tory of the symbols is to be found. 
 
 "Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, 
 which spiritualhj is called Sodom and Egijpt., &c." Chap, xi. S. 
 
 "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the 
 beast, ybr it is the nnmher of a man, and his ?iumber is 666." 
 Chap. xiii. 18. 
 
 "I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the 
 dragon, beast, and false prophet" — For they are the spirits of 
 devils, zcorking miracles, Stc. Chap. xvi. 13, 14. 
 
 "The seven heads «?-e seveti mountains on u-hich the u-oman 
 sitteth." Chap. xvii. 9. 
 
 "The ten horns which thou sawest — are ten kings." Chap, 
 xvii. 12. 
 
 "The waters which thou sawest, where the whore silteth, 
 are peoples, multitudes, and 7iations, and tongues." Chap. xvii. 
 15. 
 
 "The woman which thou sawest is that great city, trhich 
 reigneth over the kings of the earth." Chap. xvii. IS. 
 
 "To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine 
 
 * The ankle exists in the original; and it is important to notice it, for some 
 think the allusion in this passage is to the great tribulation spoken of in Dan. 
 xii. 1. and Matt. xxiv. 21. 
 
240 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 linen, &ic.— for the fine line?! is the righteousness of saints.'^ Chap- 
 xix. S, 
 
 "I am of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: — 
 "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. '* Chap. xix. 
 10. 
 
 '•The dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan.^^ 
 Chap. XX. 2. 
 
 '^Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." Chap. xiii. 
 10. 
 
 "Here is the patience of the saints." Chap. xiv. 12. 
 
 "This is thefrst resurrectio?!." Chap. xx. 5. 
 
 "This is the second death." Chap. xx. 14. 
 
 The four last of the above instances, it will be perceived, 
 are not so much the interpretation o[ symbols as of the whole of 
 a vision, or part of a vision. They are like the descriptive 
 titles under a picture, announcing to us the subject of it. Two 
 others of the examples, viz. the number of the beast, and the 
 seven heads which are mountains, are still explained in an 
 enigma; but this is especially announced to the reader by — 
 "Here is zcisdom. Let him that hath understanding count, 
 &c." — "Here is the mind that hath uisdom." 
 
 In this manner then, viz. by determining the verbal meaning 
 of the text, by studying the synchronisms and parallel passages, 
 and by ascertaining the meaning of the symbols, the student 
 may be prepared for the interpretation of the n-hole, or parts of 
 the apocalypse. And let it not be thought that to be able 
 satisfactorily to determine the meaning even of a part, though 
 it be only one single feature or circumstance of a vision, is 
 unimportant. Mr. Frere has remarked that a correct view of 
 the general system and outline of the apocalypse, solves at 
 once many of the minor questions; and that it is consequently 
 much more profitable to endeavour to obtain a correct view of 
 it as a whole, than to consider only detached portions.^* Mr. 
 Cuninghame also considers himself entitled to demand from 
 an expositor the interpretation of the whole, or, at least, an 
 outline and a diagram giving a synoptical view of the arrange- 
 ment of the entire prophecy, before he will entertain any 
 exposition of a detached part, however plausible. There can 
 be no doubt that superior advantage will lie, where Mr. Frere 
 has justly placed it, in a study of the whole; but in a large 
 and complicated prophecy, like that of the Apocalypse, it 
 appears to be important if we can obtain a sure and fixed 
 interpretation of only one incident of it. The stone which 
 
 ♦ See his exposition in th-e Investigator, New Series, vol. i. p. 81; where he 
 illustrates his point by shewins; that a correct interpretation ol' the epistles to 
 tlie seven churches serves to fix the meaning of Rev. xx. 4—6. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 241 
 
 the French discovered in 179S near Rosetta, on which was 
 an inscription in hieroglyphic and in the Egyptian and Greek 
 languages, would he an important step, if it should ever he 
 properly and clearly deciphered, towards the solution of all 
 the hieroglyphic writings; and why should not similar results 
 follow, in regard to the visions of St. John, if only we could 
 obtain a clue for further developement by the unequivocal 
 signification being determined of any one part? 
 
 The reader may be further assured, that should he be en- 
 abled to make no discovery of importance, and apparently but 
 little progress towards understanding the interpretations of 
 others, he will nevertheless derive much personal edification 
 by studying the Apocalypse in connexion with the prophecies 
 of the Old Testament; so true is it that a blessing rests upon 
 <'him that readeth, and on them that hear the words of this 
 prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ON TIME MYSTICALLY EXPRESSED. 
 
 There is one point connected with the symbolical language 
 of Daniel and St. John, which it may be convenient more 
 particularly to discuss in this place, before proceeding to the 
 consideration of the Antichrist, as being intimatel}' connected 
 with the controversies on that subject; viz. the denotation of 
 time by mystical or figurative expressions. JMost of the popu- 
 lar treatises on prophecy, particularly those which have ob- 
 tained since the Reformation, are based upon the principle, 
 that the dales, which are for the most part used in these two 
 prophecies, are couched in enigmatical terms; but this opinion 
 has been by the Roman Catholics in former years vehemently 
 opposed, and is in the present day impugned by some Pro- 
 testant writers of considerable learning, talents, and piety. 
 If their objections to this mode of interpreting prophecy be 
 valid, and periods of time arc always to be Utcralli/ understood, 
 unless there be an express intimation to the contrary, — then 
 must those treatises and expositions, to which allusion has just 
 been made, be discarded, since the interpretations which they 
 offer must of necessity be ap])lied to wrong persons and things. 
 It is impossible, for example, that the Papacy can be viewed 
 
242 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 as Antichrist, if it can be shewn that the term of his duration 
 was to be for no longer a period than 12G0 natural days; but if 
 the days, months, and times of Scripture may be proved to 
 be susceptible of a more extended signification, then such an 
 interpretation appears necessary as will at least include the 
 mystical view of the dates. Into this subject, therefore, some 
 inquiry must now be made. 
 
 The question resolves itself into two principal heads: first, 
 whether time may be viewed at all as symbolically or enig- 
 matically expressed; and secondly, if it may be so viewed, 
 what ])ortion of time do the terms given signif3\ 
 
 1. The examination of the first point will pretty well deter- 
 mine the second; but in proceeding to it, some excellent re- 
 marks of Daubuz, in regard to- time expressed symbolically, it 
 will be useful to keep in view. He says — "It is not to be 
 expected that we should give philosophical demonstrations of 
 these matters; they will not bear it." — "There is no efficient 
 cause in the symbols, upon which alone philosophical reason- 
 ings and demonstrations are grounded." — Affinity and simili- 
 tude are the principles they go upon." — "But if we may call 
 that a demonstration which fully proves the truth of the pro- 
 position by such arguments as are proper to the subject matter, 
 then we may have demonstration even in this matter." Page 
 53. 
 
 We may now turn to a passage in numbers xiv. 33, 34 — 
 "And your children shall wander in the wilderness forhj 
 YEARS, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be 
 wasted in the wilderness: after the immher of the days in which 
 ye searched the land — fortij days, each day for a year — shall ye 
 bear your iniquities— ^/br/?/ years; and ye shall know my 
 breach of promise." Here it is clear that a limited period of 
 forty days, which were occupied by a certain transaction, is 
 taken as the ground-work for determining a more extended 
 period of forty years, which is the appointed time for another 
 event. It is not to the present purpose to inquire what re- 
 lationship there is between the searching of the land and the 
 wandering in the wilderness, that the one should be in some 
 sort erected into the type of the other; or at least that its term 
 or period should be adopted as the miniature scale by which 
 the latter should be measured. I confess I do not see it; but 
 the Lord inserts nothing in the Scriptures in vain; and as it 
 would have been sufficient, were there no significancy intended 
 by this circumstance, simply to have declared that the Israel- 
 ites should wander forty years, without any reference to the 
 forty days of searching the land, it does appear to me that 
 occasion is here taken obliquely to bring before the Church 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 243 
 
 the principle, that smaller revolutions of time may be viewed 
 in certain instances as representing larger measures, into which 
 they may be expanded. 
 
 Another instance is to be found in Ezekiel iv. 4 — 9, wherein 
 the prophet is ordered to lie on his left side 390 days to denote 
 the years of the iniquity of the house of Israel, and also to eat 
 vile bread and drink water by measure for 390 days, and then 
 to lie upon his right side 40 days, to denote the years of the 
 iniquity of Judah: ''I have appointed thee (saith the Lord) 
 each day for a year." Here it is equally plain, that a certain 
 number of days are appointed to represent or prefigure the 
 same number of years; so that, as Ezekiel was, in his pro- 
 ceedings in other respects, a sign to the house of Israel, (see 
 ver. 3, and compare chap. xii. 6, 11,) so were the days likewise 
 a sign, and in this instance a symbolical expression for a like 
 number of years. 
 
 The Rev. S. R. Maitland, of Gloucester, who is the most 
 able advocate of the system of interpretation which views time 
 as always literally expressed, and to whose opinions and wri- 
 tings I shall consequently have frequent occasion to refer in 
 this chapter, has, in attempting to make the subject more 
 literal than it really is, somewhat mystified the question. He 
 considers this latter passage no warrant for the mode of reckon- 
 ing which translates the Hebrew word day (ev) by the English 
 word year. He seems to consider that it would not constitute 
 a warrant for this mode of interpretation, unless the prophet, 
 when directed to lie forty days, had actually lied for forty 
 years.* But the question is not respecting the translation of a 
 word, but the interpretation of a si^n or symbol. No man 
 would be justified in translating the word leasts (irn in Daniel 
 vii. 3) by kings or kiiigdoms; but we have divine warrant for 
 viewing the expression a's a symbol, which in prophetical lan- 
 guage may, in certain circumstances, but not in all circum- 
 stances, be interpreted as kingdoms, (Dan. vii. 17, 23;) and 
 there appears to be no just reason why the word day may not 
 be used in a similar manner.t The observation of Daubuz is 
 to the point in hand — ajfinity and similitude are the principles 
 upon which these interpretations frequently proceed; — and 
 when we can obtain no express direction in a particular pas- 
 sage for the interpretation of a word, a siffjicient warrant may 
 be obtained by a careful observation of other passages. It may 
 be designedly withheld in the former instance, in order that 
 
 ♦ See "An Enquiry into the Grounds on which the prophetic Period of 
 Daniel and St. John has been supposed to consist of 12()0 years." p. 19. 
 
 t See the remarks already addressed to Mr. Maitland's view of this subject 
 in the note at pa^e 97. 
 
244 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the sense may not be too obvious, so that the wicked might 
 understand; (Dan. xii. 10;) yea — in order that it may in some 
 instances be sealed up and hidden for a season from the wise; 
 (Dan. xii. 9;) but the principle of interpretation lies neverthe- 
 less inserted somewhere in the scriptures: not always in explicit 
 terms, but under circumstances which, when duly considered, 
 constitute a justifiable precedent. 
 
 Another circumstance to be considered is, that time cannot 
 be conveniently represented by a visible symbol; for where 
 events and circumstances which occur in time are represented 
 by visible symbols, to introduce distinct symbols shadowing 
 forth duration would inevitably lead to confusion; as they 
 would be liable to be mistaken for some of the adjuncts of the 
 other symbols, or as additional circumstances connected with 
 the events set forth in like manner. We have indeed an in- 
 stance in Genesis xl. 12, 26 and xii. 26, in which three branches 
 represent three days, and /Aree6a5A;e/s represent three days; and 
 seven kine and seven ears of corn represent as many years. But 
 these are not strictly "visible symbols for periods of time;" 
 though they are spoken of by Mr. Maitland as having this sig- 
 nification. (Second Inquiry, p. 2.) The branches and baskets, 
 &c. are, in their primary signification, symbols of the occupa- 
 tions of the butler and baker of Pharaoh, and the fat kine and 
 ears of corn denote plenlij, and the ill-favoured kine and ears 
 denote a season of scarcity. That which represents diiratioTi of 
 time in them is the 7iumber of each, — the three and the seven: 
 though why the three branches and baskets should represent 
 daijs, and the seven kine and ears should represent years, is not 
 at all obvious; nor would it, I think, have been understood by 
 Joseph without a special interpretation vouchsafed to him by 
 the Spirit of God.* And then, how inconvenient it would be 
 to represent larger intervals of time in this manner. What 
 should we do, if, instead of /rro witnesses, prophesying for 1260 
 days, we had 1260, or rather 2520 witnesses, to consider the 
 meaning of? — or if, instead of the one little horn of the goat, 
 we had 2300 horns? Besides the difiiculty which the prophet 
 who saw the vision would experience of readily counting 
 them, we might be led to multiply the number of the king- 
 doms or powers intended; which, as before observed, would 
 lead to confusion. 
 
 The mode therefore generally taken in the prophecies of 
 Daniel and St. John is to declare numbers by a voice, — even 
 
 ♦ It is possible ihat there may be some afllnity between the mystical num- 
 bers Ihrcc and seven, which bears a corresponding relationship to the smallest 
 and larp;est natural revolutions of time, comprehended in a «iay and a year. 
 But I advance this entirely as conjecture. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 245 
 
 though the numbers themselves may in some instances be ac- 
 tually represented. Thus the apostle in the concluding chap- 
 ter of his visions says, "And I, John, sazo these things and heard 
 them," Thus likewise, although he sees a multitude of sealed 
 ones, and a multitude of horsemen, yet he '^hears the 7ittmber'' of 
 them declared to him, (Rev. vii. 4, ix. 16, 17;) and so in other 
 instances, the period of the duration of the things symbolized 
 is expressed by a voice declaring it. Rev. xi. 2, 3, xii. 6, xiii. 
 15, &c. So also in Dan. viii. 13, 14, after the action o( the 
 vision has been exhibited to the prophet, one saint speaks to 
 another saint for the purpose of eliciting the time of the vision; 
 and he hears the reply — "unto 2300 days." 
 
 And here it is important to observe two things. First, the 
 nature of the case requires, that, in general, the declaration of 
 the time or duration of an event should be kept separate from 
 the description of the event itself, and form an appendix to the 
 vision. For the want of observing this, some hypercritical 
 remarks have appeared on both sides the question in dispute. 
 For in regard to some of the terms used it is contended, that 
 they occur in the explanatory parts of a vision, and therefore 
 must be as literally expressed as the other portions of the expla- 
 nation. But though they do not occur in that portion of a 
 vision which describes its action, yet are they not a portion of 
 the explanation. Thus in Dan. vii. there is no hint as to time 
 in the description of the vision, either b}' symbol or otherwise, 
 and therefore the addition of the time, occurring at the end of 
 the explanatory part, cannot be called an explanation of a 
 symbol which had not been previously given or declared. In 
 the vision of chap. viii. the 2300 days therein mentioned are 
 immediately annexed to the vision, and the explanation follows 
 after; but no explanation is given of the time. And what is 
 still more remarkable, the period mentioned in Dan. vii. occurs 
 again in chap. xii. together with other numbers; and there 
 both vision and numbers are to be "closed up and sealed till the 
 time of the end." V'erse 9. From this it is apparent, that the 
 visions could not be fully understood by the generations inter- 
 vening before the time of the end; and this sealing the visions 
 seems to be principally effected by casting the veil of mystery 
 over the expressions in which time was denoted. Even Daniel 
 says, "he Jieard but understood not:" but could this have been 
 the case had he not been left in doubt in regard to the mystical 
 signification of the terms?* 
 
 * A friend, who has written several able articles in the Investigator, under 
 
 the signature oj" E., has suggested to me an important observation, which I do 
 
 not remember to have met with; viz. the fact that Ezekiel and Daniel were 
 
 both children of the captivity, and therefore many who were made acquainted 
 
 VOL. II. — 21 
 
246 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 The other thing which it is important to observe is, that if 
 it be not generally convenient to express time mystically by 
 visible symbols, there remains no other apparent method of 
 concealing, than, as Mr. Cuninghame justly observes, "by 
 couching the number of years under the veil of another divi- 
 sion or revolution of time than that of years."* It is the over- 
 looking this circumstance that causes the fact of time being 
 symbolically expressed to be overlooked likewise. We at 
 once perceive that there is no natural relation between a wild 
 beast and a kingdom, and therefore are immediately led to 
 consider it as a symbol ; and so of other symbols. But there is a 
 natural relation between the symbols by which time is desig- 
 nated and the actual period intended, (as between a day and a 
 year;) so that the attention is not immediately directed to the 
 fact of its being a symbol, because there is an obvious and con- 
 sistent sense in the symbol itself, without seeking for another. 
 But for this cause it is the more likely to be a means of veiling 
 or concealing from generations the meaning of a vision. And 
 though the terms in which time is expressed are not so ob- 
 viously symbolical; yet are there various considerations which 
 will lead a careful and reflecting reader to discover or suspect 
 that they are to be so understood. There is an excellent re- 
 mark in Daubuz concerning the analogy which may be ex- 
 pected between the symbols and descriptive expressions of 
 scripture, which will serve, in some measure, further to illus- 
 trate this point. "It would be monstrous and indecorous (he 
 observes) to describe a beast ravaging during the space of 1260 
 years; or a witness, which is a man, prophesying so long; or a 
 womati dwelling in the wilderness so many years. Therefore, 
 that the duration of the events may be represented in terms 
 suitable to the symbols of the visions, it is reasonable to expect, that 
 the symbols of duration be also drawn in miniature, or in a 
 proportionable arithmetic to the symbols of the event, which 
 arc also drawn in miniature. So that as a lion, a leopard, a bear, 
 may represent vast empires, and a woman the whole church, 
 and the like, it is more proportionable to the nature of those 
 things that are thus used for symbols to express their acts by 
 such short measures of time, as bear the same proportion to 
 the duration of that great event which is represented by such 
 small matters." — "If, therefore, it is proper in the symbolical 
 language to represent the extent of things in miniature, why 
 
 with the visions of Daniel, and also Daniel himself, must have Wen familiar 
 ■with the circumstance of Ezekiel's having so recently been Jymg for 430 days 
 o:i his side, to typify thereby 430 years. 
 
 * Strictures on Mr. Maitland's Pamphlet, p. 14. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 247 
 
 shall we think it improper to represent their duration in a pro- 
 portionable manner, by revolutions of time shorter in propor- 
 tion than the event represented," Pages 56, 57. As a farther 
 illustration of this he notices that locusts, whose natural term of 
 life is only Jive months, are consequently represented in the 
 symbol in the Apocalypse, as lasting only for that period. 
 And this attention to the symmetry and proportion of the 
 allegory may be sustained when there is no intention of veiling 
 the time, farther than the event itself is veiled. For it would 
 appear monstrous (assuming for a moment that a mojith signifies 
 mystically thirty years) to represent locusts as living for one 
 hundred and fifty years. Whereas when the millennium 
 comes to be spoken of, and the terms of the allegory involve 
 no such inconsistency, the thousand years are mentioned 
 literally. 
 
 2. Passing on now to the second head of inquiry, viz. what 
 periods of time the terms given generally signify when mysti- 
 cally expressed, it would appear from the two passages already 
 quoted from Numbers and Ezekiel, that a day in both those 
 places is the term given to prefigure a ijear. And this would 
 lead us to the natural conclusion, that the same proportion is to 
 be observed in all symbolical or mystical terms. Thus the 
 expression in Dan. vii. 25. "a time and times and the dividing 
 of time," (or "a time, times and a half," as in chapter xii. 7. 
 and Rev. xii. 14.) forasmuch as it is generally admitted, that 
 the literal meaning of a tiryie is a year, — may signify, mysti- 
 cally, if calculated by lunar time, a period of 1260 years. And 
 it is remarkable, that this period is reiterated in the scriptures 
 in seven different places, and under three different forms of 
 expression, as 42 months, and 1260 days. See, beside the 
 three places just quoted, Rev. xi. 2, 3; xii. 6; xiii. 5. 
 
 Some have considered that a time means mystically a cen- 
 tury of years; but any other measure than that of a day for a 
 year would introduce great perplexity into that relationship, 
 which so evidently exists in the different terms cited above to 
 each other. The month is an easy and natural division of a 
 time into periods of 30 years, and the day into periods of one 
 year. But suppose we adopt the hypothesis of a time signify- 
 ing a century, then we must understand by a month the incon- 
 venient fractional period of eight years and four months; and 
 by a day, three months, one week, two days and one third. 
 Nothing is more forbidding, and less corresponding with the 
 general simplicity of scripture, than the chronological system of 
 Bengelius, who adopts various arbitrary and fanciful measures 
 of time, and-exhibits them in intricate fractional numbers.* 
 * As to terms, he has, besides those enumerated, a chronos, a half chronos, 
 
248 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 But an appeal may be made in this matter to symbolical 
 prophecies which are unquestionably fulfilled; and by ascer- 
 taining the manner in which the terms expressing time have 
 actually been interpreted by the event, we shall be justified in 
 concluding the same principle to exist in other prophecies. 
 That which is most to the point, and which has therefore been 
 latterly the most vehemently assailed by the advocates of the 
 system which views time as always literally expressed, is the 
 prophecy of the seventij u-eeks in Daniel ix. These have been 
 proved by the event to signify a space of 490 years, as all 
 commentators of any note, both ancient and modern, have 
 agreed;* and if this be the case, and the original expression 
 does really mean literally a week of days, there is decisive 
 proof of the manner in which time may be understood in the 
 book of Daniel. 
 
 But there are ojections preferred against such a conclusion; 
 the most forcible of which, and indeed the only one worthy of 
 any consideration, is that advanced by Mr. Maitland, who 
 alleges that the original expression (o^p^tf) being "seventy 
 sevetis'' means according to the general usage of the Hebrew 
 writers seventy sevens of yecvs and not of days; and that to 
 sustain the argument which is built on this passage it ought to 
 have been written ''weeks of days.'' (Enquiry, &c. page 5 — 13.) 
 Some exceptions, however, of great importance to the argu- 
 ment, are made by Mr. Maitland himself. He admits that the 
 Feast of Weeks is mentioned eight times in the scriptures as 
 ''the feast of seve7is:" that the word weeks in Daniel x. 2, 3, 
 where the prophet says he was sick three weeks, is also an ex- 
 ception; that in Lev. xii. 5, a woman after the birth of a 
 
 and a non-chronos, a short time (distinct from "a time") the number of the 
 beast, and an Aion or Mvum. And a day he makes lOQij days; a month 15|-^ 
 year?, and a year 190|j years. (See Introduction to his Exposition of the 
 Apocalypse by Dr. Robertson.) 
 
 * It is remarkable, in regard to the prophecy of the seventy weeks, that there 
 appears to be a similar relation between that period and the duration of a pre- 
 vious event, as between the forty years wandering in the wilderness and the 
 forty days of the searching by the spies. Daniel informs us "that in the first year 
 of Darius he understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word 
 of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that lie would accomplish seventy 
 years in the desolations of Jerusalem." "And I set (he continues) my face unto 
 the Lord God to seek by prayer," &c. And, first, we may ask, what was there 
 \.o prevent his understanding Jeremiah from the first, butsome hesitation in his 
 mind, whether he were to understand the period literally or mysticallyl for 
 Jeremiah xxv. 11, 12, and xxix. 10. are both plainly enough expressed. But, 
 secondly, it is said, that, when he understood this number, he still set his face 
 to seek; as if he conceived that there was some mystical relation to be found in 
 the period notwithstanding. And then, thirdly, it is revealed to him, that 
 seventy weeks are determined; which is a period of seventy years multiplied 
 bv seven. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 249 
 
 female is to be unclean two sevens or weeks. These exceptions 
 appear quite sufficient to outweigh the objection in its fullest 
 extent; as they prove, beyond a question, that there is no need 
 for the expression in the Hebrew, ''sevens of days," in order to 
 convey the sense of our English word weeks. And the circum- 
 stance that the word sevens is used to express the Feast of 
 Weeks, which was an ecclesiastical period, and connected with 
 the Levitical ceremonial, renders the term sevens more likely 
 to be adopted for a prophetical date, where a mystical signifi- 
 cation was intended. 
 
 And as Mr. Maitland, by the exceptions he has himself 
 allowed, has destroyed the force of his own statement, in re- 
 gard to sevens, standing alone, signifying weeks of years rather 
 than of days; so Mr. Cuninghame meets him on the remaining 
 portion of his argument, and challenges the proof of the word 
 j?i3c and its plural forms ever signifying in the scriptures a seven 
 or sevens of years. Mr. Cuninghame admits, indeed, that 
 the Rabbinical use of the word is in Mr. Maitland's favour; 
 but he insists that the scriptural use of it is the direct con- 
 trary, and that in all other places where the word stands alo7ie 
 in the scriptures it signifies a week or weeks of days, and in 
 no case whatever a week of years, ("Strictures, &c.'* p. 6.) In 
 Mr. Maitland's "Reply" to Mr. Cuninghame there is really 
 no answer to this: Mr. M. still asserts indeed, "that the word 
 used in Daniel, and translated 'week'' properly means 'a seven' 
 — that is 'a seven' of any thing, and not (as our word iceek) 
 exclusively a seven of days — and that therefore that word may 
 mean *a seven' of years without any reference to days, or any 
 pretence of mystical interpretation." (p. 20.) No instance 
 however is given by him of its ever having that signification 
 in the scriptures; and therefore how does the case really stand? 
 Mr. Maitland expects to find the annunciation of time, in the 
 prophecy before us, to accord with "the custom of the. writers 
 of the scriptures." If then in Dan. ix. 24. it did signify years 
 it would actually be a solitary exception to their custom, and at 
 variance with the use of the word in other places. 
 
 The most then that can be saicj, in regard to the prophecy 
 of the seventy weeks is, that tfie Jew who was not familiar 
 with the scripture use of words, but only with the profane or 
 Rabbinical use of Plebrew, might, and probably would in the 
 first instance, understand by the passage in question severity 
 sevens of years. But the Jew. who was versed in scripture, 
 and accustomed to mark carefully the peculiarities which men 
 who wrote and spake by the Holy Ghost had adopted, would 
 in the first fnstance understand by the expression seventy sevens 
 of DAYS. We are not sufficiently acquainted with the history 
 21* 
 
250 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 of the period that intervened between the captivity and the 
 comino- of Messiah; but the probability is, that an expectation 
 would be entertained of an immediate appearance of the Christ, 
 and that though it failed, yet that with every fresh decree in 
 favour of the Jews, or commandment to restore and build Je- 
 rusalem, (Dan. ix. 25.) their hopes would again revive;* but 
 that when Jerusalem was finally restored and their polity again 
 settled, and yet Messiah appeared not, they would then be 
 forced upon the profane use of the term: or, from its being 
 found connected with the usage of the Levitical ceremonial, 
 they might suspect a mystical sense to be included in the 
 scriptural use of it. See the observations on the Levitical 
 ceremonial already brought forward at page 104. But taking 
 the whole of the circumstance into consideration, and the pe- 
 culiar character of the various passages which have been brought 
 forward, it does appear to me that the Holy Spirit in using the 
 word jjuB- in other places to signify a seven of days, and in 
 making the remarkable use in Numbers and Ezekiel of r/ays as 
 the representatives of years, did thus designedly but quietly 
 insert the principle by which the church of a future age should 
 be guided into a right apprehension of the mystical pro- 
 phecies.t 
 
 3. It may be well, before we pass on, just to notice the opi- 
 nions entertained by the ancient church on this subject. It is 
 evident that Josephus did not understand what we may term 
 the year-day system; for he applies the vision of the little horn 
 of the goat tc Antiochus, as having taken place in the literal 
 space of time (Antiq. b. x. ch. 11. § 7; b. xii. ch. 17. § 6.) 
 And Irenaius likewise thought that Antichrist, when he ap- 
 peared, would only reign three and a half years, and that he 
 
 * There appear to have been four decrees in their favour. — 
 
 Isl, of Cyrus, - - - e. c. 53G. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22. 
 
 2nd, of Darius Hystaspes, - 518. Ezra vi. 1—12. 
 
 3d, of the 7th year of Artaxerxes, 457. Ezra vii. 11 — 2G. 
 
 4th, of the 20lh year of Artaxerxes, 444. Neh. ii. 1—8. 
 
 t I have laid no stress upon the expre.ssion "2300 days'' in the vision of the 
 Ram and He-Goat, in Dan. viii. 14. which is in the original "2300 evenings — 
 mornings'^ (See Margin), though some have considered that the peculiarity of 
 this form of expression, and also of the phrase "lime, liinea, &.C." is a sufficient 
 indication that they are to be understood mystically. But this supposition 
 brings little or nothing in the way oi evidence to the point contended for. — 
 
 Nor have I, on the other hand, taken notice of an objection to the expression 
 "time, times, &c." being understood mystically, brought from the fact of the 
 "seven times"' of chap. iv. 23. having been literally fulfilled by Nebuchadnez- 
 zar's having been removed for seven years from the sovereignly of his empire: 
 for the relation of an historical fact in literal terms is no reason why those 
 same terms should not in some other instance be mystically u.sed. It inay as 
 reasonably be said that dm/s cannot have a mystical meaning in chap. xii. 
 because they have a literal "meaning in chap. i. The utmost tiiat can be said 
 is, that chap. iv. 23. shows that the phrase "lime and times" cannot have an 
 exclusively mystical sense. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 251 
 
 would be destroyed by the Lord from heaven, bringing to the 
 just the kingdom. (B. v. ch. 30.) The same opinion was 
 likewise entertained by others of the Fathers, Nevertheless, 
 they were not without a notion that greater periods of time 
 might be comprehended under the terms commonly used to 
 signify smaller periods. Thus Josephus speaks of an interval 
 of 600 years, which he calls the great year. (Antiq. b. i. ch. 
 3. § 9.) Lacetantius makes an extension of the term day in a 
 manner still more "to the point: "Ssepe diximus, minora et 
 exigua magnorum figuras et pracmonslrationes esse; et hunc 
 diem nostrum, qui ortu solis occasuque finitur, diei magni spe- 
 ciem gercre, quern circuitus annorum mille determinat." (De 
 Institut. lib. vii. cap. 14.) And Justin Martyr, at an earlier 
 period, in his Dialogue with Trypho, understands by "a time" 
 a century; and conceived therefore that the Antichrist might 
 reign 350 years. (P. 250, edit. Colon.) Vitringa informs us 
 that Techonius, who is supposed to have written about a. d. 
 390, reckoned the three and a half times in like manner. (In 
 Apoc. p. 4G4. ) Wiiilst Theodoret interprets the seven times 
 of Dan. iv. 13, of periods of six mo/iths, as meaning so many 
 winters and so many summers distinct from each other, and 
 refers to previous interpreters to support his view. Com. on 
 Dan. iv. 13. Cyprian is declared by Pontius to have intended 
 a year by a day in that place where, speaking of the forewarn- 
 ing which he had of his martyrdom, he says: "I understood 
 that the sentence of my passion was come; I began to intreat 
 that I might have a reprieve but for otieday, WW I could dispose 
 my aflairs in a legal manner." Vit. D. Cyp. per Pont, Diacon. 
 Daubuz also instances a similar mode of interpreting the term 
 day in the acts of the martyrdom of St. Sadoth and others, (in 
 Coll. Theod. Ruinart.) who were Persians, where there is this 
 passage: "Now in that he said — I ascended yesterday, but thou 
 shalt ascend to-day: this signified, that he had suffered martyr- 
 dom the Tjear before, and that I should suffer it and die //u's 
 year."* 
 
 The fact, however, that the earliest Fathers, such as Justin 
 and Irenaeus, differ in their views of time in this instance, 
 evinces that they had no apostolic tradition on the subject; and 
 
 * It does not appear whether, in the two latter instances, the viewsof the 
 parties are derived I'rom the Scriptures, or from heathenish rules for interpret- 
 ing dreams and visions: for little account can be taken of the proof fetclied 
 by the same learned author from Diodorus and Plutarch, who assert ihat/owr 
 months or a scaaon was called a year; nor even of the fact that the Egyptians 
 called adayayert;-. (Daubuz, p. 55.) Mr. Holmes, the Chancellor of Cashel, 
 in his work on*'The time of the End," asserts what is more to the purpose, 
 that days for years was the usual ancient Chaldaic mode of reckoning; but he 
 gives no authority for the assertion. 
 
252 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 therefore their opinions, inasmuch as they concern only their 
 own private judgment, are of little consequence. If Daniel 
 heard but understood not, why should it be supposed that these 
 fathers understood? This part of prophecy was necessarily 
 < 'closed up and sealed" from them; unless it can be shewn that 
 they lived in that period specially intended by "the time of 
 the end." 
 
 It was not till after the period of the Reformation, and the 
 application of the prophecies concerning Antichrist to the pa- 
 pacy, that the principles of interpreting time mystically began 
 to assume a more consistent and systematic form. The earlier 
 Reformers appear to have adopted the principle of interpreting 
 a time as a ccnturi/. Vitringa informs us that the Waldenses 
 did so, and were consequently, in a late period of their suffer- 
 ings, led to hope for their speedy termination, ffom the per- 
 suasion that the antichristian power that opposed them could 
 only last altogether 350 years. Bengelius asserts that the 
 Wickliffites and Hussites did the same; and that T. Purvajus, 
 an Englishman, composed from the .Lectures of Wickliffe an 
 Exposition, in which he reckons the thousand years to have 
 ended in 1033, and adds to this 350 years for Antichrist. Int. 
 to Apoc. p. 300. But after this the year-day hypothesis began 
 to obtain. Joseph Mede was one of the principal champions 
 of that system, and he was'followed by Homes, Peganius, More, 
 and numerous others, till it came generally to prevail among 
 protestant writers. Not but what there are eminent excep- 
 tions: Vitringa set aside both the year-day and the common 
 day. Bengelius deprecates the year-day as the key of inter- 
 pretation to some passages of scripture, adopts it in regard to 
 another, and makes it a period of about half a common year in 
 a third place.* And some expositors imagine duration of time 
 to be signified where it apparently is never intended: for ex- 
 ample, Mede considers the measuring of the temple and its 
 courts in Rev. xi. to have a reference to time; and Bengelius, 
 and also many others, imagine the same in the number of the 
 beast of Rev. xiii. Daubuz, on the other hand, considers of 
 some places, which are generally sup])osed to express time 
 mystically, that they do not relate to duration; — as the terms, 
 ^for an hour, a day, a month, and a year," Rev. ix. 15; which 
 he thinks should be translated, "«< an hour, &;c." as being only 
 an emphatical expression to shew tiie sudden concurrence of 
 "the four angels" to execute their common design. P. 51. 
 
 In the mean while, as we approach toward the great catas- 
 trophe, when time shall be no longer, the Lord appears to be 
 
 * See papjes 147, 258, and 212 of the Introduction to the Interpretation of the 
 Apocalypse translated by Robertson. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 253 
 
 casting much increased light upon these important topics;* so 
 that though the fancies and vagaries of men who give too much 
 rein to the imagination will never be reconciled, yet many 
 apparent discrepancies will be brought to liarmonize with the 
 general plan and scope of prophecy. J\Ir. G. Habershon, in a 
 recently published Dissertation on the Prophetic Scriptures, 
 has demonstrated that there exists in the word of God a prin- 
 ciple of double commencement and termination in regard to 
 some of the chronological periods; and by analogy he success- 
 fully shows that some of the conflicting epochs in the writings 
 of eminent commentators may be brought to concur. Another 
 important principle to be kept in view is, the high probability, 
 that there may be a mystical fulfilment of some of the dates 
 and facts connected with the chronological prophecies, and a 
 literal fulfilment likewise; (see the note, page 9G;) for though 
 the proof, that time must always be restricted to the literal ac- 
 ceptation of the terms in whicli it is expressed, would neces- 
 sarily shut out the principle of interpreting it mystically; yet 
 the proof, that we may justifiably view it on some occasions as 
 expressing duration in a mystical or symbolical sense, does not 
 necessarily shut out the literal: for that may be held in com- 
 bination with it, and a two-fold fulfilment maintained. Some 
 indeed have already maintained this. In a published letter of 
 the Rev. John Fletcher of Madeley to the Rev. John Wesley, 
 written on these subjects, he says: "It is worth observation, 
 that as the tyranny of Antichrist will last 1260 years; so his 
 last ragi?ig, or that tribulation which will be so uncommon, 
 shall last also 1260 common days, and not prophetical ones; 
 'because, for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened,' 
 according to our Lord's merciful promise. This observation 
 will cast a great light upon all those numbers, and prevent 
 many objections." But this subject will more properly come 
 before us in the next chapter. 
 
 * Mr. Cuninghame has recently published a work in which he endeavours 
 to confirm the great periods of Daniel upon the year-day system, by a remark- 
 able concurrence, in the chief of them, of the principal astronomical cycles. 
 The correctness however of his inductions has been ably combated by Mr. 
 Frere in the volumes of the Jnvcsli<(ator, and compels that degree of hesita- 
 tion in regard to them, which has prevented me from bringing them forward 
 here. 
 
254 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ON THE ANTICHRIST. 
 
 On no subject of prophecy has there been more difference of 
 opinion among expositors of all ages than concerning the An- 
 tichrist, and the principal circumstances and events connected 
 with him. It is indeed chiefly to this subject, that, in some 
 periods of the church, the difficulties of commentators seem to 
 have been confined: for as regards the coming of Christ, the 
 manifestation of his kingdom, the restoration of the Jews, the 
 resurrection of the saints, the regeneration of the world, &c. 
 there has been at times, more especially during the two first 
 centuries, a tolerable agreement among orthodox writers. This 
 has doubtless arisen in great measure from the fact of the prin- 
 cipal prophecies which concern Antichrist being veiled (as 
 noticed in a former chapter) in symbolical and figurative lan- 
 guage; by which the Lord has designedly kept back from ages 
 and generations a clear apprehension of many things connected 
 with his developement; and from the farther fact (as I appre- 
 hend,) that the actings or manifestations of Antichrist belong 
 to different periods of the church, in the course of which he 
 assumes different aspects, and comes forth to view in connection 
 with different persons and principles. Thus it has happened, 
 that whilst some particulars concerning him have been fulfilled, 
 — if not in a plefiari/, yet certainly in a. primary, sense, — others, 
 which have had reference to different circumstances and times, 
 or which at least wait for a more exact accomplishment, have 
 been wrested by interpreters, and forced in all their particulars 
 into an accommodation with events to which they do not pro- 
 perly, or at least do not entirely, belong. 
 
 Some writers of the present day have been led, from the 
 controversies and discrepancies to which this state of things 
 has given rise, to conclude that nothing has as yet been accom- 
 plished, and that the whole therefore of the prophecies in Da- 
 niel and St. John relates to things future. And some of these 
 writers have given indication of a considerable disposition to 
 return back to the opinions of the primitive fathers, who in 
 like manner are supposed to have considered the accomplish- 
 ment of the whole to be future in their days, and to have 
 maintained a unison of sentiment on these matters which could 
 only have been the result of apostolical traditions prevalent 
 among them. Both these conclusions I apprehend to be in a 
 measure erroneous. For though many things remain yet to 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 255 
 
 be fulfilled, far more, I am inclined to think, than the gene- 
 rality of commentators suppose; yet much, I am persuaded, 
 has been accomplished already, as will presently be shown: and 
 though in some particulars the early fathers agreed concerning 
 Antichrist, (in regard to which it is but fair to conclude that 
 there was apostolical tradition prevalent among them, and de- 
 ferred to as such,) yet on many other points they betray a 
 great variety of sentiments, which shows that they must have 
 been greatly in the dark in regard to them. Some of these 
 have already been adverted to in the two former chapters; c. g. 
 their opinions concerning the fourth empire of Daniel, and 
 also concerning the time or duration of the visions; and other 
 opinions will be noticed as they fall incidentally under obser- 
 vation in the course of the inquiry into this branch of the 
 subject. 
 
 I. There are some preliminary particulars which require to 
 be noticed, before proceeding to the application of those scrip- 
 tures which bear upon the subject. 
 
 1. It will be useful to make mention, in the first place, of 
 the principal prophecies which have been supposed more espe- 
 cially to relate to Antichrist. 
 
 The Apocalypse, then, appears chiefly devoted to the de- 
 scription of the origin and actings of Antichrist, and of the 
 judgments finally poured out upon him: but more particularly 
 chapters xi. xiii. and xvii. have reference to the Antichristian 
 powers themselves. Other portions, however, are interpreted 
 by different commentators as setting forth the same things. 
 For example, some have thought that the epislles to the seven 
 churches contain, under the address to each, a description of 
 the prevailing apostacy and corruptions which were to charac- 
 terize seven diflerent ages through which the church was to 
 pass;'^ numerous commentators have considered the four first 
 seals (at least the latter of these seals) as referring to the same; 
 and some are disposed to view some of the circumstances of 
 chap. ix. as intimately connected with the beast of chaps, xi. 
 and xvii. 
 
 The principal matters in Daniel which relate to it are the 
 Little Horn, which arises out of the ten-horned beast, in chap, 
 vii; the little horn also which arises out of one of the four 
 horns of the He-Goat, in chap, viii; and all that is said about 
 the "vile" and ''wilful" person in chap, xi: though in regard 
 to the latter, there is a considerable difference of opinion, 
 whether the "vile person" of verse 21, is the same as "the king 
 who does according to his will," of verse 36; some conceiving 
 
 * Brightman" Mede, More, Sir J. Newton, Gill, Vitringa, Cuninghame and 
 Girdlestone, have inclined to this opinion. 
 
256 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, 
 
 the description of the Antichrist to commence only with the 
 latter verse. 
 
 Isaiah xiv. concerning Lucifer the son of the morning, other- 
 wise termed in this prophecy the Assyrian. Dr. Whitley says 
 of it — "The entire passage is prophetical, and is called by the 
 prophet himself hiifD Mashal, a parabolic or figurative prophecy, 
 and was so understood by the Chaldee paraphrast and by the 
 Syriac and Vulgate versions." P. 273. Mr. Begg considers 
 the prophecy concerning the "cruel lord" of chap. xix. into 
 whose hands the Egyptians are given over, to be the Anti- 
 christ also: but this has not been generally considered so. 
 
 Habakkuk ii. contains a description of him in the "proud 
 (or boasting, ostentatious) man," that enlargeth his desire as 
 death a?id hell* and gathereth unto him all nations. Moreover, 
 the vision is for "the end" or "appointed time:" and the next 
 chapter follows with a glorious description of the shining forth 
 of the Lord, and wounding "the head out (or over) the house 
 of the wicked." 
 
 All that relates to Gog and Magog, in Ezekiel xxxviii. and 
 xxxix. were by the fathers in general referred to Antichrist. 
 So were numerous passages in the Psalms, especially Psalm 
 cix. Likewise in the epistles of St. Paul, 2 Thessalonians ii. 
 3—10. 
 
 Other scriptures abound with references to the subject, or to 
 the congregation or agents of Antichrist; more particularly 1 
 Tim. iv. 1 — 3, 2 Tim. iii. 1 — 9, and various places in the 
 epistles of Peter, John, and Jude. 
 
 2. The next thing to be noticed is the name Antichrist, con- 
 cerning the meaning of which, in the first place, commentators 
 differ. For as the Greek preposition avrt signifies in composi- 
 tion both contrariety or oppositio?i to, and a?iswerablefiess or cor- 
 respondency to; so, whilst some have taken it to signify an 
 opponent, others have viewed it as denoting rather an imitator. 
 
 Both acceptations of the word however appear to be per- 
 fectly reconcileable. He comes as 'O avrm/^svoc — the opposer; 
 (2 Thess. ii. 4.) and ofiug-nc — the liar, "who denieth the Father 
 and the Son." 1 John ii. 22. On the other hand, whilst 
 there is a marked contrast, there is a striking correspondency 
 between the Antichrist and Christ: wherefore Hippolytus says, 
 in his work De Antichristo, "the deceiver wishes in every way 
 to appear like the Son of God;" and he then proceeds to show 
 that he comes as a prophet, a priest, a king, a shepherd, a lamb, 
 "the bright and morning star," Lucifer, — but all spurious. 
 And thus our Lord himself leads us to expect that many false 
 
 * See verse 5, and compare Rev. vi. 8. and xx. 13. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 357 
 
 Christs should arise, and should come in his name, saying, "I 
 am Christ," and should deceive many; (Matt. xxiv. 5 with 
 24) all which appear to be, like the "many Antichrists" of St. 
 John, types of the hues and shades of character which he who 
 is more eminently to be the Antichrist shall assume. 
 
 Other names are given to him in tlie scriptures besides that 
 of Antichrist; as ''the man of sin," — "the son of perdition," — 
 "the false prophet," and some others which have already been 
 incidentally mentioned. Andreas, Ephraim Syrus, and others 
 of the early Christian writers, commonly denominate him "the 
 beast" and "the dragon." 
 
 3. From the various names which are given to him, his 
 character and the nature of the offices he will assume, may be 
 pretty clearly inferred: but in regard to three of those offices, 
 viz. prophet, priest, and king, — in which he more particularly 
 mimics the character of the Lord Jesus, a few observations 
 may be needful; the more especially as some have concluded 
 that he will be altogether void of religious profession. There 
 is no need to show that he is to be a king: that is universally 
 concurred in; and the fact that he is described so repeatedly 
 as a horn, (which is a type of a king and a kingdom,) and "the 
 head over the wicked," and "the king that doeth according to 
 his will," sufficiently bespeaks it. That he is to be a priest 
 likewise may be inferred from Psalm cix. which is applied in 
 Acts i. 20. to Judas Iscariot, who was a type of Antichrist, and 
 is therefore called "the son of perdition." He was clearly an 
 apostle of Christ, though he proved a deceiver and betrayer of 
 his trust; and the words of the Psalm — "and let another take 
 his ojfice,'' are quoted by St. Peter from the Septuagint, as re- 
 ferring to his ministerial office — "and his bishopric let another 
 take." And next, as respects his being a prophet, it is remark- 
 able that St. John, thougii he brings before our view a ten- 
 horned beast, which evidently corresponds with the ten-horned 
 beast of Daniel, does not afterwards proceed, as in Dan. vii., to 
 describe a little horn springing up from among the ten horns, 
 but describes instead of it a second beast with tzco horns,* 
 which he afterwards calls ^ 'the false prophet." Compare Rev. 
 xiii. 12 — 17, with xix. 20. Thus he affi^cts the Melchizedec 
 character of our Lord, and appears as a priest upon a throne. 
 
 4. The fathers were unanimous in their opinion, that the 
 Antichrist was to be d^ person; nor has the Greek church, which 
 in most respects has maintained the sentiments of the fathers 
 
 * The horns are like those of a tamb, showing that its power is derived from 
 Christ //(£' Lamb, being in fact an usurpation of his name and prerogative; 
 and for his nanTc and church he affects to exercise it. He comes in sheep's 
 clothing, but is inwardly a ravening wolf. 
 VOL. II. — 22 
 
258 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 on this point, ever made a question of it.* But though the 
 fathers were agreed as to the Antichrist being a person, very- 
 different were their sentiments as to the jiaUire of his person. 
 Hippolytus, who traces the particulars in which he will mimic 
 Christ, supposes he will really be the devil himself, who will 
 assume the appeara?ice of flesh, but not be really so, and boast 
 himself to be born of a virgin. Others, as Lactantius, Sulpi- 
 tius, and Bede, suppose that he will be the soti of the devil, and 
 that his mother will be a harlot. Hilary conceives that the 
 devil will actually become mcartiale, as the Word was in the 
 man Christ Jesus. Jerome inclined to the same opinion, so 
 far, at least, as that Satan would dwell in some one of the hu- 
 man race, by whom he would be miyouy.ivo;, or acted upon. 
 Whilst Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Theodoret thought he 
 would be a real man, but the agent of Satan. Most, however, 
 of those who thought he would appear as man, (whether he 
 were to be Satan incarnate or not,) concluded likewise that he 
 would appear as a Jew, or actually be a Jew, of the tribe of 
 Dan.f Most of those who held any of the above opinions 
 considered that there was authority for them in the scriptures, 
 however slender; as, for example, in regard to his being Satan 
 incarnate, the fact was instanced that Satan entered into Judas 
 Iscariot; — that he was to be Satan himself, was supposed to 
 be confirmed by the fact, that the Lord said in reference to 
 him, "Is not one of yoii a devill" and also by the expression 
 KXT^ (vi^yitxvTn Xa.TAva. in 2 Thess. ii. 9; and the fact that the tribe 
 of Dan is omitted in the enumeration of the twelve tribes in 
 Rev. vii. was a foundation for concluding him to be a Jew of 
 that family. J 
 
 The circumstance, however, that the Antichrist is viewed 
 as a person, does not exclude the idea of a vast political and 
 ecclesiastical power, comprehending multitudes of apostates: 
 for we cannot conceive of any large number of persons, com- 
 bining together for a work either of mischief or of good, or 
 brought by overruling circumstances into such a combination, 
 without having a head over them; — let them call him king, 
 president, leader, or what they will. It is doubtless by means 
 of numerous evil agents, imbibing his principles and in reality 
 
 * The very titles of Antichrist, as read in the Greeii, would necessarily 
 convey the notion of personality. — o ctvnp^^pia-To;, o atv6/>ai5roc t«c a/unprta.!, o vw, tmc 
 et7rai\it!t;, o 'if'iu-T-'Th?, o Apva/uivo^, o avojuo;, &C. 
 
 + See Hilary, Chrysostome, Theophylact, Theodoret, Ambrose, and Jerome 
 on 2 Thess. ii. Jerome also on Isaiah xvii. and Dan. xi. Lactantins lib. xvi. 
 cap. 18. Sulpitius, Dialogue ii. Bede in Apoc. vii. and xiii. also Aretas, Pri- 
 masius, Rupert, Elaimo, &c. 
 
 t There is a portion for Dan in the division of the land, Ezekiel xlviii. 1 
 and 32; and he is the first tribe enumerated in the division. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 259 
 
 constituting his power, that Antichrist will prevail: the means 
 by which he, in the first instance, imposes on some of these, 
 and then they upon others, is a distinct consideration. Dr. 
 Hildrop, to whom is attributed an able treatise "on Anti- 
 christ" and <'on the three last evils," justly observes, <*that 
 as Christ has his 7)ii/slical as well as natural body, so has Anti- 
 christ his; and thus Christ and Antichrist may both be indi- 
 viduals, whilst the church of the one and the synagogue of the 
 other are the mystical body." Neither does the notion of a 
 personal Antichrist exclude a succession of men, who may all, 
 in turn, become head over the empire of Antichrist, and be 
 animated by the same or similar principles and spirit. 
 
 5. Another point of considerable importance in the inquiry 
 is, whether all the passages of scripture which have been men- 
 tioned, as having a reference to the Antichrist, refer to one and 
 the same power, or to (lijferefit powers and individual heads 
 over them. Mr. Faber would limit "the Antichrist" to those 
 scriptures only which contain that expression, and such as 
 evidently, from their contexts, treat of the same things: and 
 though this appears to be carrying the principle of discrimina- 
 tion too far, it has at least conducted Mr. FalDcr to the conclu- 
 sion, that the last great apostacy, which is to be headed up by 
 Antichrist, is to be of a Socino-infidel character, which appears 
 to be the truth. 
 
 It is very clear, however, if the scriptures concerning Anti- 
 christ be duly weighed, that more than 07ie Ai^lichrislian power 
 is revealed tlierein. The beast of Rev. xiii. having teii horns, 
 is manifestly distinct from the beast described in the same 
 chapter, having l-a-o horns, however they may play into each 
 other's hands. The beast of Rev. xvii. on which the harlot 
 sits, is equally distinct from the harlot who has her seat upon 
 him; for though they likewise appear to be in the first instance 
 in alliance, yet afterwards the power of the beast is turned 
 against her, and she is consumed by him. 
 
 In regard likewise to other powers, there is evidently a dif- 
 ference in the means by which they receive condign punish- 
 ishment; and if their eiid be different, it necessarily follows 
 that there must be some distinction in the powers themselves. 
 As this matter is of considerable importance to the student of 
 prophecy, the end of some of them shall be noticed. 
 
 First, hy fire. — The harlot of Rev. xvii. has her flesh eaten 
 and is burned with fire. (V. 16.) The beast of Daniel vii. 
 and the beast and false prophet mentioned in Rev. xix. are 
 likewise both judged by fire: but there is a distinction to be 
 noticed even, in these three. The harlot is burned by the ten 
 kings who comprise the beast of Rev. xvii. And the beast of 
 
260 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Dan. vii. is first slain, and when dead his body is destroyed, and 
 given to the burning flame; whereas the beast and false prophet 
 of Rev. xix. are take/i captive, and then cast alive into a lake of 
 fire burning with brimstone.* 
 
 Secondly, by the sivord. — The remnant, who are with the 
 beast of Rev. xix. are said to be slain with the sword. And 
 the end of Gog, in Ezekiel xxxviii. is, that the Lord calls for 
 a sword against him, throughout all his mountains; — every 
 man's sword shall be against his brother. And the Lord 
 pleads against him with pestilence and blood, and rains upon 
 him AND upon his bands, and on the many people with him (so 
 that Gog himself appears distinct from his bands and confede- 
 rates) an overflowing rain and great hailstones, ^re aiid brim- 
 stone, (verses 21 — 23) "and I will turn thee back, and thou shalt 
 fall uj)on the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy hands and 
 the people with thee, and I will give thee to the ravenous 
 birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 
 Thou shalt fall upon the open field, for I have spoken it." 
 Chap, xxxix. 2. One or two remarks may be made here. 
 First, the sword, in the latter instance, appears to be literally 
 the sword of carnal warfare; for each mail's sword is against 
 his brother. Whereas the sword, in the former instance, is 
 that "which proceeds out of the mouth of Christ," which is 
 evidently a symbol. Secondly, the destruction of Gog and 
 his bands, mentioned in Ezekiel, is apparently different from 
 the destruction of Gog mentioned in Rev. xx. In the latter 
 instance fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours 
 them, apparently while they are compassing about the beloved 
 city (v. 9); whereas in Ezekiel, though fire and brimstone is 
 indeed rained on them, yet they are devoured by the birds of 
 the air and the beasts of the field, and that upon the mountains 
 of Israel. Even if the latter description be figurative, it must 
 be very different from that of Rev. xx. 
 
 Thirdly, b}^ means which are manifestly superhuman. — 
 For example, "the Wicked One" of 2 Thess. ii. S. is to be 
 consumed with the spirit of the Lord's mouth, and destroyed 
 with the brightness of his coming." A consumption or wast- 
 ing is here first decreed, similar to that of the little horn of 
 Dan. vii. 26. and it is to be accomplished by the Spirit of the 
 Lord's mouth, whatever may be intended by that expression: 
 it niay be the same as "the sword out of his mouth," in Rev. 
 
 * The fire by which the beast of Dan. vii. is destroyed is probably the "fiery 
 stream" which issued and came forth from before the ancient of days. The 
 Uikc of fire, of Rev^. xix. may be the same as this stream: "For Tophet is. or- 
 dained of old; yea for the kinj,' (of Babylon) it is prepared — the breath of the 
 Lord, like a strcavi of brimstone, doth kindle it." Isaiah xxx. 33. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 261 
 
 xix. 2L* But the final destruction of the wicked one is to be 
 by the brightness or shining forth of the Lord from heaven — 
 <T^i7nt]fini'}'r>f(:-rxfi\j7i:tiavrr.v-, the epiphany of his coining.! 
 
 Again, the little horn, or "king of fierce countenance," of 
 Dan. viii. 23. is ''broken without hand." V. 25. This at the 
 least intimates that his destruction will not be effected by the 
 hand of man. Some have inferred from it, that as "a house 
 not made with hands," "a stone cut out of a mountain without 
 hands," and "circumcision without hand," signify a spiritual 
 house, kingdom, and circumcision, so the same is to be under- 
 stood here, and that it implies tlie conversion to God of the power 
 spoken of} Some again have concluded it to be equivalent 
 with Dan. xi, 45. "Yet he shall come to his end, and none 
 shall help him;" and therefore that the same person or power 
 is predicated of in both places. There appears however a mate- 
 rial difference, in saying that a man shall be "broken without 
 hand;" and that "no hand shall help him." He might be 
 broken by the hand of man, whilst yet no hand should come 
 to his relief But these things are left with the reader: it is to 
 the circumstance of there being different modes of punishment 
 and destruction declared, that his attention is principally di- 
 rected, as being important toward obtaining correct views 
 respecting Antichrist; though it is not intended at present to 
 distinguish between all these diff"erent powers, and to assign to 
 each prophecy its distinct and proper person. 
 
 II. We may now pass to consider the fulfdment of these 
 prophecies. 
 
 L There were few of the older commentators who did not 
 suppose the little horn of the He-Goat in Dan. viii. to have 
 been fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes. It has already been 
 shown that Josephus mentions this opinion, (b. x. c. 14. b. xii, 
 c. 7.) which looks as if it^were current among the Jews pre- 
 vious to the comingof our Lord. From Jerome's commentary 
 on Daniel it may be seen, that most of the Christian, fathers 
 held the same. 
 
 At a later period many of the fathers began to entertain the 
 opinion that the little horn of Dan. vii. was likewise fulfilled 
 in Antiochus, which appears to have arisen from the circum- 
 stance that Porphyry, for the purpose of denying the inspira- 
 tion of the book of Daniel, declared that the book had been 
 
 * The reader would do well to compare and consider in connection with 
 this exprosyun Isaiah xi. 4. Hosea vi. 5. Malachi iv. G. Ephes. vi. 17. and Rev. 
 xix. 21. which are probably intended to explain each other. 
 
 t It has already been fhown, at page 129, that the word Trapzva-tn. is used only 
 in respect to the personal coming ot'the Lord. 
 
 t Mr. Faber4:onsiders that this expression implies the conversion of the Ma- 
 hommedans. 
 
252 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 written subsequent to the times of Antiochus, and was in reality 
 a Ais/on/ of his exploits. The same remark he applied to the 
 latter verses of Dan. xi. Jerome contends against him, and 
 shows that in regard to the latter chapter, he had falsified some 
 facts, and stated others on no historic evidence. At the same 
 time both Jerome and Theodoret acknowledge Antiochus to 
 have been a type of the Antichrist; and in process of time the 
 typical character of Antiochus was lost sight of, and many held 
 that his proceedings were the j^roper accomplishment of the 
 prophecies of Daniel.* Even so late down as the period of 
 the Reformation this opinion was held by Grotius and Eras- 
 mus. 
 
 The opinion of the fathers concerning Antiochus previous to 
 Porphyry, and of many subsequent to him, who, like Jerome, 
 held that Dan. vii. and xi, related to the future Antichrist, is 
 important as showing, that at this early period it was not con- 
 sidered that all the prophecies which have been enumerated 
 referred to one individual; but that at least the main subject of 
 Dan. viii. might be separately applied. 
 
 2. Typical fulfilments of parts of these prophecies have been 
 frequently supposed to have taken place. Calmet states that 
 some things were applied to Nebuchadnezzar and Cambyses. 
 Herod, Judas Iscariot, and Simon Magus were considered 
 types lay others. Most of the emperors, in whose reigns per- 
 secution arose against the church, were either supposed to be 
 Antichrist himself or types of him. Lightfoot states, (Chron. 
 p. 104) that when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about "him 
 that letteth," some understood it of the Emperor Claudius, in 
 whose reign St. Paul is supposed to have written this. Then 
 Nero was thought to be the Antichrist, long after whose death 
 a notion prevailed that he would rise from the dead before the 
 end, and complete all that yet remained to be fulfilled concern- 
 ing Antichrist. t In like manner also Domitian, Marcus Au- 
 relius, Severus, Decius, Gallus, Dioclesian, Julian, were all 
 taken to be either Antichrist himself or his immediate fore- 
 runner;J and various other circumstances led different fathers 
 in the early ages to suppose that his coming must be nigh at 
 hand.§ 
 
 * Mr. Frere, in his Three Letters on Prophecy, brings forward much inter- 
 esting matter from the fathers respecting Antiochus, and refers to Aquiponia- 
 nus for a list of those early writers who imagined Antiochus to be treated of 
 in Dan. xi. and other places. Mr. Frere argues against the interpretation 
 which applied any part to Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
 t See Victoria in Apoc. Ambrose and Chry-sostom in 2 Thess. ii. Jerome 
 on Dan. xi. 
 
 t See Euseb. Hist. lib. v. c. 1; lib. vi. c. 6. 
 
 § For testimonials to this effect, see Calinet's dictionary, under the article 
 Anlickrist. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 263 
 
 Besides this there was scriptural ground to lead the early 
 Christians to conclude, that the rudiments of that apostacy, 
 which was to lead on to the manifestation of the Antichrist, 
 were already germinatint; and hcginning to devclope them- 
 selves in their days. How plainly St. Paul declares this; 
 "And now ye know what withholdeth tiiat he might be re- 
 vealed in his time. For the myslenj of iniquity doth already 
 work: only he who now letteth (or hindereth his revelation) 
 will let, until he be taken out of the way." 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7. 
 St. John goes further, and says: ''And as ye have heard that 
 Antichrist shall come, even ?iOcv are there rnaiiy Antichrists, 
 whereby we know that it is the last time." 1 John ii. 18. 
 "And this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard 
 that it should come; and even 71010 already is it i?i the icorld.'^ 
 Ibid. iv. 3. St. Paul appears also to describe the "many Anti- 
 christs" of the last days, in 2 Tim. iii; for though he speaks 
 of them as to arise especially in the last days, and to be one of 
 the signs of those times, yet the whole context shows, that 
 such persons were already apparent in the church; and he 
 gives Timothy express directions to avoid such. V. 6. Thus 
 Cyprian was led to call all heretics the precursors of that one 
 and special Antichrist which is to come at the last end of the 
 world.* And it appears to have been with a view to St. 
 John's description of Antichrist in his first epistle that Hilary 
 augured, from the great progress of Aria?iism in his days, that 
 the revelation of Antichrist was at hand. Cont. Arian. 
 
 3. Nevertheless, however the Antichrist might have existed 
 in embryo in the days of the early fathers, and however they 
 might have considered various individuals to have represented 
 him in type, they looked forward at- the same time for the 
 manifestation of a person who was yet to be revealed; who 
 was to arrive at a climax of wickedness and impiety, such as 
 had never yet been exhibited on earth; and who was also to 
 deceive and coerce, and by various arts draw after him the 
 great multitude of mankind. So convinced indeed were the 
 bishops of Rome, even after the times of Constantino, tiiat the 
 Antichrist was yet to come, and that he was to appear in the 
 Roman empire, that in order to evade the awkward inference, 
 that he would probably prove to be some apostate emperor or 
 bishop of Rome, they gradually (as has been before stated) fell 
 into the conceit that the millermiiim commenced with Constan- 
 tine; and then maintained, to reconcile this figment with the 
 non-appearance of the Antichrist, that he was not to be revealed 
 until the thousand years were expired; — an opinion which 
 
 ♦ See him quoted to this effect in the Rev. E. Bickerstelh's "Practical Guide 
 to the Prophecies," p. 88, 4th ed. 
 
264 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 was not only contrary to scripture and to all previous antiquity, 
 but which has been one great means of darkening the counsel 
 of God, so far as it is revealed in the page of prophecy. The 
 Greek church, at the same time that they held the coming of 
 Antichrist to be future, have not departed from the opinion 
 that the thousand years follozo his manifestation. The Romish 
 church have universally adopted the error just noticed, and do, 
 to this day, consider the coming of Antichrist to be future: 
 though it was not until the council of Florence, in 1439, that 
 they avowedly and formally contradicted the expectation of 
 his coming previous to the millennium. 
 
 IIL The next application of these prophecies which demands 
 attention, is that which refers them, or any considerable por- 
 tion of them, to the Pope — viewed not as one single indivi- 
 dual, living only during the term of the natural life of man, 
 but as the ecclesiastical head of the Roman empire, and there- 
 fore as consisting of the succession of popes under whom the 
 papal system grew to its height of blasphemy and impiety, 
 
 1. Various circumstances had been paving the way for the 
 ascendancy of this great apostacy. The heresies which dis- 
 figured the very first ages of Christianity, and to which St. 
 Paul and St. John allude, may be accounted as one circum- 
 stance, growing and increasing as they did with the spread of 
 Christianity, and insinuating themselves like an evil leaven, 
 more or less, throughout'all sections of the visible church. To 
 this may be added the flagrant corruptions, ambition, worldly- 
 mindedness, and disorders, which grew up after the Roman 
 empire became nominally Christian. Next may be instanced 
 the abominable superstitions which pervaded almost the whole 
 mass of the church, insomuch that Gibbon declares "the Chris- 
 tians of the seventh century had insensibly relapsed into a 
 semblance of paganism." Vol. ix. p. 261. Lastly may be 
 noticed the dissolution of the Roman empire by the irruption 
 of the barbarian nations, and the division of the territory into 
 separate states and kingdoms by the conquerors; whereby it 
 came to pass, that space was given for the aggrandisement of 
 the Roman pontitTs by the possession of temporal dominion. 
 
 2. Various instances have been adduced, by protestant in- 
 terpreters of j)rophecy, of individuals who, during the early 
 periods of the rise and increase of the papal tyranny and super- 
 stition, denounced or deplored the antichristian or apostate 
 spirit which prevailed. The declaration of Gregory the 
 Great, so early as the sixth century, has been alleged for this 
 ))oint; viz. "that whosoever styled hiniself vtihersal bishop 
 proved himself to be the fore-rwwer of Antichrist." Opera, 
 lib. vi. Ep. 30. Arnulph, bishop of Orleans, is said to have 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 355 
 
 expressed himself as follows concerning the pope, in a council 
 held at Rheims in the tenth century: "What think ye, reve- 
 rend fathers, of tills man, elevated on a lofty throne, and glit- 
 tering in gold and purple? Whom do ye account him to be? 
 Surely, if destitute of charity, and elated with the pride of 
 science alone, he is Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, 
 and shewing himself that he is God." Baronius in Annales 
 992. Clarke in his "Prophetic Records" gives the following 
 in inverted commas; but his work is throughout defective from 
 the want of references. — "There were numbers of persons in 
 the communion of Rome, who declared plainly, and icitiwut 
 reserve, that the pope was Antichrist. In the proceedings of 
 the council of Rheims held in 991 it appears that Gonthier 
 bishop of Cologne and Tergand archbishop of Treves were 
 among this number. The clergy of Liege, according to Aven- 
 tin, (lib. iv.) and Frederick I. called Barbarossa, in the twelfth 
 century, as well as Frederick II. in the thirteenth century, with 
 Everard bishop of Saltzburg, Darsilius of Padua, Petrarch, and 
 several others, have all been pointed out as having designated 
 the bishop of Rome as the real Antichrist, baptizing him, as it 
 were, with this name, and applying to him all the characters 
 in the Apocalypse with a degree of force and accuracy not to 
 be exceeded." Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux in the twelfth 
 century, is likewise instanced as having then declared that the 
 beast of the Apocalypse occupied the chair of St. Peter; 
 (Epist. 125) and Joachim abbot of Calabria advanced similar 
 statements about the same period.* 
 
 Some of the preceding testimonies have been called in 
 question by the Rev. S. R. Maitland of Gloster; and there is 
 doubtless a character of exaggeration in the use that has been 
 made of them.t Genebrand however and Baronius, Roman 
 Catholic writers, call the4;enth century an iron, a leaden, and an 
 unhappy age: "Chiefly unhappy (says the latter) in that for 
 almost 150 years the popes totally degenerated from the virtue 
 of their ancestors, being more like npostates than apostles.'' 
 Proph. Records, p. 32. Of the twelfth and thirteenth centu- 
 ries, Vitringa, who is a sober and careful witness, declares, that 
 the language of pious men in general was, that the pope was 
 Antichrist and the church of Rome Babylon. In Apoc. p. 749. 
 The Rev. H. Girdlestone, in his "Analytical Comment on the 
 
 ♦ Roe:er de Hovendon Annales. Edit. Franc. ICOl. p. 681. Cave. H. L. vol. 
 ii. p. 278. 
 
 t It is easy for a man, when searching for such testimony, and finding only 
 five or six instances, to say "that there were nmnbcrs of persons— among whom 
 were these five or six." Or first to instance these six and then add, "anrf several 
 others.^'' But wne may reasonably question if the others would not have been 
 mentioned if known. 
 
266 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 ■first part of the Revelation," asserts, "that some spiritual men 
 of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the most eminent of 
 whom were Peter John Olive and Hubert de Casali, denounced 
 the gross body of the church of Rome as the Babylon of the 
 Apocalypse. And it is notorious that in the times of the Re- 
 formation the opinion that the pope was Antichrist became 
 general and decided among protestants. Mr. Cuninghame 
 quotes the testimony of Cranmer when about to be committed 
 to the flames: "As for the Pope, I refuse him as Christ's ene- 
 my and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine." Ridley also, 
 in his farewell letter written just before he suffered niartyrdom, 
 declared: "The see of Rome is the seat of Satan, and the bishop 
 of the same, that maintaineth the abominations thereof, is Anti- 
 christ himself indeed. And for the same cause this see at this 
 day is the same which St. John called in his Revelation, Ba- 
 bylon, &c. " Luther, Melancthon, Zuinglius, Calvin, and Knox, 
 have all declared the same;* and similar testimonies are in- 
 stanced by Mr. Cuninghame from Latimer and Hooper; and 
 by Mr. Bickersteth from numerous writers. 
 
 3. To go into all the circumstances in the history of the 
 papacy, which have been supposed by interpreters to corres- 
 pond with the scripture delineations of Antichrist, would re- 
 quire a much larger volume than the one now before the reader; 
 a slight sketch however of some of its more prominent fea- 
 tures will be necessary. 
 
 (1.) There are some exter/ial features which are remarkable. 
 First, Dan. vii. leads us to expect that before the little Anti- 
 christian horn three of the ten horns, or kingdoms, of the 
 beast should be plucked up or subdued. And history testifies, 
 that when the western Roman empire was divided into ten 
 kingdoms,! the pope became possessed of three of them, viz. 
 Ravenna, Lombardy, and Rome, which were plucked up before 
 him and for him by the French monarch. And in token of 
 this circumstance the pope now wears three crowns upon his 
 mitre; and in farther commemoration of it a piece of mosaic 
 work was made for his palace in which St. Peter is repre- 
 sented with three keys in his lap, signifying that they are the 
 three keys of this part of his patrimony. Newton on Dan. p. 
 86— SS. 
 
 Another feature is, that in Rev. xvii. the ten horned beast 
 is represented as of a scarlet colour, and the woman who is 
 seated upon it is "arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and 
 decked with gold and precious stones and pearls." Verse 3, 
 4. The pontifical cope, worn on the eve of St. Peter, is made 
 
 * "Strictures on the Rev. S. R. Maitland's four pamphlets." 
 t Of the ten kingdoms I shall treat more particularly presently. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 0(57 
 
 of fine red or scarlet stuff. The cardinals are clothed in scar- 
 let. Eight men in long scarlet robes bear the "Sedia Gcstoria',^' 
 and the palfrey whereon the pope rides is covered with scarlet 
 cloth. There is a profusion of gold and jewellery and costly 
 stones likewise displayed: the cope already alluded to is fastened 
 with a hook or buckle of gold, called pectoral, enriched with 
 precious stones, which alone is estimated at more than 50,000 
 crowns. 
 
 A farther illustration of the gold and precious stones exhi- 
 bited on him will lead us to anotiier singular coincidence. It 
 is said in Rev. xiii. that the dragoti gave to this beast his power 
 and his seat and great authority; and the pope has actually 
 adopted the dragon as part of his armorial bearings. For pope 
 Gregory removed the cross from the top of the papal tiara or 
 triple crown, made by pope Julius II. and replaced it by a 
 brilliant emerald supported by two golden dragons, and caused 
 his own arms to be quartered therewith, and then his name and 
 title in diamonds;* so that the dragon became at once his crest 
 and his supporters; thus significantly, though unconsciously 
 on his part, seemed to point out, on whose authority he leaned 
 and gloried. 
 
 Those who see in the /zco-horned beast of Rev. xiii. an em- 
 blem of the secular and spiritual, or ecclesiastical, power of the 
 pope, point to the farther circumstance of the pope causing to 
 be carried before him upon state occasions livo swords as the 
 mark of his two-fold sovereignty and dominion. Habershon, 
 p. 315. And it is farther remarkable, that as the two horns 
 of this beast are "like a lamb," whilst yet "he spake as a dra- 
 gon;" so, whilst the popes have inounted the dragon as their 
 crest, they have also assumed as the device upon their banner 
 a lamb passanl. 
 
 I am aware that some c^f these things are merely symbols or 
 emblems in the word of prophecy, and are therefore significant 
 oi other things; but so are they significant emblems also in the 
 instance of the popes, and apparently shadow forth the very 
 same circumstances and cliaracteristics which are designed in 
 scripture; so that mystically and literally there is a resem- 
 blance. And it is diflicult to explain the singular coincidence 
 of these circumstantials in the graphical delineations of Anti- 
 christ with the outward aspect and insignia of the popes, and 
 at the same time to bear in remembrance the overruling pro- 
 vidence of God even in the minutest matters, without coming 
 to the conclusion, either that he permitted this coincidence for 
 
 * See Rabett "on the Number of the Beasf," who informs us, (p. 202, 203,) 
 that there is aiv engraving of this crest in the Voyages of the Sieur A. de la 
 Motraye, vol. i. chap. ii. p. 32, plate iv. 
 
268 ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the purpose o^ delud'mg his church; or, which is most agreeable 
 to reason and piety, that he designed by these outward marks 
 that his church should be enabled to identify the papacy, as 
 the little horn, the false prophet, and the harlot of the scrip- 
 tures. Had the Romish churcli but kept the word of God 
 continually before her, a recollection that these things are de- 
 scribed therein would have led her, upon every principle of 
 good taste and of discretion, to have avoided them, that there 
 might at least be no external semblance betwixt herself and the 
 Antichrist; but having shut up the scriptures, and especially 
 the Apocalypse, she has been led in her pride and infatuation 
 to decorate herself with his very badges and livery, blindly 
 mistaking them for the garments of Messiah. 
 
 (2.) Passing, however, now to the actings and spiritual 
 characteristics of Antichrist, a few circumstances must be 
 noticed. And the first which presents itself is the blasphemy 
 and pride described of him. This characteristic indeed belongs, 
 more or less, to all the different persons described; so that it 
 is no wonder if commentators have been led to infer, that they 
 are one and the same; and it may well be questioned whether 
 each antichristian power that has appeared or shall appear has 
 not exhibited a primary or a typical fulfilment of every pro- 
 phecy relating to Antichrist. 
 
 Dan. vii. has "I beheld then because of the voice oi the great 
 words zvhich the horn spake;" — the horn that had eyes and a 
 mouth that spake verij great things; — "whose look was more 
 stout than his fellows;" — "he shall speak great words agai7ist the 
 Most High." V. 11, 20,25. 
 
 Rev. xiii. has — "There was given unto him a mouth speak- 
 ing great things and blasphemies;" — "and he opened his mouth in 
 blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his taber- 
 nacle, and them that dwell in heaven." V. 5, 6. 
 
 Dan. xi. 36, has — "He shall exalt himself and magtiify him- 
 self against every god, and shall speak marvellous things against 
 the God of gods." 
 
 Dan. viii. has — "He magnified hi7nsclf even to the Prince of 
 the host;" — "He shall magnify himself in his heart," — "and 
 shall stand tip against the Prince of pri?ices." V. 11, 25. 
 
 And 2 Thcss. ii. 4. has — "Who opposeth and exalteth himself 
 above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he, 
 as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is 
 God." 
 
 It may be observed in the above five passages, that the 
 speaking blasphemy is only expressed in the first three of 
 them, though it is implied in the two last. Whilst the self- 
 exaltation and inflation of heart are described in the three last. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 0(59 
 
 and only to be inferred in the two first. And there is also a 
 climax observable in his exaltation: for he magnifies himself 
 against the God of gods, — and even to the Prince of the host, 
 and he opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, 
 and exhibits himself that he is God.* 
 
 A few instances must suffice of the pope's magiiifijitig him- 
 self in the manner above stated, liut first it may be necessary 
 to observe that some, in reference to 2 Thess. ii. 4. distinguish 
 between those "who are called God," or have the title of God, 
 and him who is God by nature.! For in Psalm Ixxxii. 6, the 
 Lord doth himself give to the riders of the people the title of 
 gods, which is confirmed by our Lord in John x. 34, 35 — "Is 
 it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called 
 them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scrip- 
 ture cannot be broken, &c," 1 Cor. viii. 5. seems to allude 
 to the same thing, when it speaks of gods on earth; and it ap- 
 pears evident that assumption of power and authority over all 
 kings and judges of the earth must be included in the term "all 
 that is called God." 
 
 Pope Innocent III. then, in whose reign the inquisition was 
 founded, writes: "Christ hath set one man over the world; 
 him whom he hath appointed his vicar on earth: and as to 
 Christ is bent every knee in heaven, in earth, and under the 
 earth, so shall obedience and service be paid to his vicar by 
 all, that there may be one fold and one shepherd." And 
 Gregory VII. in his epistle says: — The Roman pontiff by 
 right is imixersal. In him alorie is the right of making laws. 
 Let all kings kiss the feet of the pope. His name alone shall 
 
 * Some have inferred, that because he speakx against God, and magTiifie? 
 himself against him, therefore the Pope cannot be intended; forasmuch as he 
 has ever acknowledged God and professed to act only in his name. But this 
 arises from a misapprehension in some particuiSrs of the character of Anti- 
 christ, and also of the nature of blasphemy. "For it was not an enemy that 
 reproached me; then I could have borne it: "neither was it he that hated me, that 
 did magnify himself against mc; then I ^vou]d have hid myself from him." 
 No, it is a professed friend, whose horn of power assumes the character of a 
 lamb, being in fact exercised in the name of the Lamb; and though war is in 
 his heart and he speaks like a dragon, and his words are in reality "drawn 
 swords," yet are they "smoother than butter" and ".softer than oil," having a 
 plausible semblance of piety and regard for the interests of God. See Psalm 
 Iv. 13, 21, which throughout relates" apparently to the Antichrist; and its pri- 
 mary fulfilment in Judas Iscariot shows, as already has been noticed, that what 
 is stated is perfectly consistent with tiie Antichrist not being an opc?i enemy. 
 And Christ was accused of hlasphcmij by the Jews, not because he denied the 
 Father.but because he was supposed by them to have unwarrantably magnified 
 iiimself to an equality with God. Comp. John v. 18; and x. 33. Arid the Jews 
 are also accused of having blasphemed the name of God, because their conduct, 
 as professors of his religion, was calculated to bring that name into reproach. 
 Rom. ii. 2^1. 
 
 t See, for example, Mr. Cuninghame in answer to Mr, Burgh, page 18 of 
 Appendix. 
 
 VOL, II. — 23 
 
270 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 be heard in all the churches: it is the only name in the world. 
 It is his right to depose kings. His sentence is not to be re- 
 pealed by any one: it is to be repealed by himself alone. He 
 is to he Judged by 7io7ie."* 
 
 ''The pope, (says Mr. Keith,) assumed a prerogative and 
 exercised a power, such as no race of kings ever claimed; and, 
 exall'wg himself above a//, maintained an unparalleled ascendency, 
 and prospered during a period which scarcely any dynasty on 
 earth ever equalled.'^ — "In the ninth century pope Nicholas 
 maintained that he was not liable to the judgment of any man. 
 Pope John claimed the obedience of princes as his due, and 
 threatened them with excommunication. In the eleventh cen- 
 tury Leo IX. sanctioned the opinion, that it is very unbe- 
 coming that those should be subject to an earthly empire, whom 
 the divine majesty had set over an heavenly. He defended 
 alike the spiritual authority and the temporal 'sovereignty of 
 the popes. Gregory VII. thundered out a terrible excommu- 
 nication against the emperor Henry IV. in which he anathe- 
 matized him and all his adherents, declared him to have for- 
 feited the kingdoms of Germany and Italy, together with all 
 regal dignity; forbade all Christians to obey him; bestowed 
 the kingdom of Germany on Radulphus, elected by the princes 
 of Germany; and finally exhorted all of them to take up arms 
 against Henry, and to divest him of his dominions." Signs of 
 the Times, p. 103. 
 
 Various instances are well known of the unparalleled inso- 
 lence of the popes towards kings and judges of the earth. 
 Our own king John was forced to resign his crown into his 
 hands, and to do homage to him, and to receive it as a gift 
 from the holy see; and the pope's legate, who retained pos- 
 session of it for five days, trampled under his feet the money 
 which, in token of his .vassalage, was given him by the king. 
 The emperor Henry IV. was made to wait three days at the 
 gates of the fortress of Canusium, bareheaded and barefooted, 
 witii nothing but a coarse cloth over him, before Ilildebrand 
 (Gregory VII.) would grant him absolution. At the com- 
 mand of another pope, the English Henry II. walked bare- 
 footed to do penance at the tomb of Becket. Pope Celestin 
 dashed with his foot the crown from the head of Henry VI; 
 and Pope Alexander is said to have trod on the neck of the 
 emperor Frederick I: though this latter circumstance is not so 
 well authenticated. Keith, p. 110. The bull of the pope, in 
 which tlie deposition of Queen Elizabeth was pronounced, was 
 couched in these terms: "Him alo?ie (the pope) hath God con- 
 
 * See these two instances quoted bv Mr. Habershon, in his "Dissertation," 
 &c. p. 317. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 271 
 
 stituted prince over all nations and over all kingdoms, to root 
 out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to 
 build, and to plant, &c." Camd, Hist. 1570. 
 
 But farther than this, "he opposeth and exalteth himself 
 above all that is called God;" which word all must include 
 the proper deity of the triune Jehovah himself, who alone is 
 of right "called (iod." And this is farther evitlent from its 
 being declared next, "that he as God, sitteth in the temple of 
 God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. ii. 4. Surely 
 he e.xalts himself above the authority of God, who supersedes 
 his word, and imposes his own will in its stead, — who takes 
 away one of the commandments from the decalogue, and in- 
 sists upon the worship of the images of saints; — who shuts up 
 the Holy Scriptures, by which alone God's word and will can 
 be known and followed; — who withholds the cup from the 
 laity, which Jesus desired "all" to drink of;* — who forbids 
 marriage to the priesthood, which God hath declared to be 
 honourable in all:f who commands to abstain from meats, 
 which God hatli created to be received witli thanksgiving of 
 them which believe and know the truth. In which two latter 
 circumstances he is a striking exemplification of that apostate 
 spirit mentioned in 1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3, and which likewise is 
 applied to Antichrist. 
 
 Various instances are also adduced by writers on this sub- 
 ject of the blasphemous flattery and adulation which has been 
 addressed to the popes, and which flatteries have been ap- 
 proved, encouraged, and rewarded in the writers of the church 
 of Rome, and the style of which is even adopted in the lan- 
 guage of public decretals and acts of council. The Rev. R. 
 Rabett has a pithy collection of them in his work upon the 
 number of the Beast, as — '<The countenance of thy Divine Ma- 
 jesty;" — "All power is delivered by tlie Lord to thee alone, 
 both in heave?) and upon the earth;" — "Another God upon 
 earth;" — '<0 Pope, thou art not God nor man — but betwixt 
 them both thou art."J Mr. Keith has a similar collection, 
 
 ♦ One of the most disgusting instances of the pride of the Popes is men- 
 tioned by Mr. Edward Wright, in the narrative of his travels in Italy, and of 
 which he was an eye-witness; viz. that at the ceremony of the coronation of 
 the Pope, he sucks the sacramental wine Ikrov.oh a lube, not deigning to touch 
 with his lips the chalice uiil of which the other priests and bishops have to 
 drink. Vol. i. p. 191. London, 1730. 
 
 + Some commentators consider the statement in Dan. xi. 37. concerning the 
 wilful king, that he shall not regard the desire of women, to be the same as that 
 of Paul in 1 Tim. iv. 3, that he ?\\o\\\A forbid to marry. 
 
 t Mr. Rabett mentions also having himself seen" a beautifully enamelled 
 tablet, apparently executed when Popery was in its zenith, which represented 
 a Trinity of persons — consisting of the Holy Ghost, in the likeness of a dove; 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, in the likeness of a man; and the Pope with his triple 
 crown and the keys of St. Peter; and then the following words in Latin under- 
 
272 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 from which the following may be added: "Our Lord God the 
 Pope;" (which is the common style of "his holiness" in 
 Italy;) — "the power of the pope is greater than all created 
 power, and extends to things celestial, terrestrial and infernal;" 
 — "the pope doth whatsoever he listeth, even things unlawful, 
 and is more iha?i God!"* And in regard to the sitting as God 
 in the temple of God, the same ]Mr. Wright, already quoted, 
 confirms as an eye-witness, what has been often before declared 
 by other writers, that at the inauguration of a new pope, at 
 which he was pi-esent, the pope sate 071 the great altar, and re- 
 ceived the adoration of the cardinals, who kissed hie foot, hand, 
 and cheek."t 
 
 (3.) The next conspicuous feature in the Antichrist is that 
 of the jjerseculioii of the saints. "The same horn made war 
 with the saints and prevailed against them." Dan. vii. 21. 
 "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and 
 to overcome them." Rev. xiii. 7. "I saw the woman drunken 
 with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the Lamb 
 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." On this head 
 the short summary of Mr. Scott of the cruelties of the papacy, 
 brought forward by Mr. Bickcrstcth in his recently published 
 "Remarks on the progress of Popery," is sufficiently to the 
 point, without enlarging further. "No computation can reach 
 the numbers who have been put to death in different ways on 
 account of their maintaining the profession of the gospel and 
 opposing the corruptions of the church of Rome. A million 
 of poor Waldenses perished in France. Nine hundred thou- 
 sand orthodox Christians were slain in less than thirty years 
 after the institution of the order of the Jesuits. The Duke of 
 Alva boasted of having put thirty-six thousand to death in the 
 
 neath, "Holy Trinity, One Gorf, whether we invoke Thee, whether we adore 
 Thee, we pi'aise Thee; we glorify Thee, O Blessed Trinity, under the name 
 of the One God/' P. 288. 
 
 * Mr. Rabett refers, for authorities to the titles he cites, to Orat. Puccii. in 
 Sess. !). Concil. Lateram. sub Leo X. ap. Sur. ipso limine;— Orat. Marcell. in 
 4 Sess. Concil. Lateram. sub Jul. II. ap. sur. — Clement. Prcem. in Gloss, prop, 
 fin. The reader will find most of these likewise in Bishop Newton's work on 
 the Prophecies; who refers to Bishop Jewell's Apology, Downham's Trea- 
 tise cle Anllc/irislo, Poole's English Annotations, and Barrow's Treatise of the 
 Pope's Supremacy. 
 
 t This account is corroborated by Dr. Conyers Middleton, who observes 
 that Caligula was the first sovereign of Pagan Rome who offered his foot to be 
 ki.5sed by any; which raised a general indignation in the empire. 
 
 Mr. Burgh objects, in regard to the phrase "sitteth in the temple of God," 
 that to suit the views of Mr. Cuninghame and other similar interpreters, it is 
 degraded into a Jiguralive sitting, inasmuch as the Pope does not alvays sit 
 there. Mr. Cuninghame in reply argues, that it is not more figurative than 
 the phrase, "William IV. now sits on the throne of Britain," whereas at the 
 time he was writing it was not literally so; and never indeed but on particular 
 occasions. P. 31, Answer to Burgh, Appendix. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 373 
 
 Netherlands by the hands of the common executioner during 
 the space of a few years. The inquisition destroyed by various 
 tortures one hundred and fifty thousand witliin thirty years. 
 These are a few specimens, and but a /etc, of those which his- 
 tory has recorded; but the total amount will never be known 
 till the earth sliall disclose her blood and no more cover her 
 slain," p. 2G. So the learned Dr. John Owen in his "Ser- 
 mons," sets down in the same summary manner the persecu- 
 tions of the papacy, thus concluding: "What I pray you hath 
 been their main business for seven hundred years and upwards, 
 even almost ever since the IMan of Sin was enthroned? How 
 have they earned the titles 'eldest son of the church,' — 'catho- 
 lic and most christian king?' hatli it not been bv 'the blood of 
 the saints?' " P. 328. 
 
 (4.) One point more shall suffice, which is added chiefly 
 on account of the emphasis that has been laid on it by others; 
 for it belongs not to the description of the little horn, neither 
 to that of the beast of the Apocalypse. It is, that in his estate 
 the wilful king shall honour the god of forces. Dan. xi. 3S. 
 The original word Mahuzzim, used in this place for the god of 
 forces, is translated in the margin of our bibles gods protectors; 
 and the word Mahuzzim itself is retained in the Vulgate, and 
 some other versions. The word Mahoz, in the singular, is 
 translated as a defender, deliverer, strength, rock of defence, &c. in 
 the following places: Psalm xxi. 2, 5; xxvii. 1; xxviii. 8; 
 xxxvii. 39. Commentators give different explanations of this 
 word, and of course make different applications of it: that 
 which refers it to i\\e palroti saints among the Roman Catholics 
 seems best to agree with the meaning of the term as translated 
 in the various passages of Scripture just referred to. There 
 is scarcely a city, town or village in the Romish dominions, 
 which is not placed undei»the special pro^ec/ion of some canon- 
 ized saint; and these with their relics vvere honoured with the 
 titles of towers, 7valls, bulwarks, fortresses, in other words, J\la- 
 huzzim; and were and are prayed to and adored even to this 
 day, gcnvfexions being made before their pictures and images, 
 and luminaries and incense being offered before them.* 
 
 The "doctrines of devils," (or doclrines concerning demons) 
 mentioned in 1 Tim. iv. 1, is interpreted by ]\Iede and others 
 to have a like signification: demons being among the pagans 
 the spirits of departed heroes supposed to be deified, and there- 
 fore answering to the spirits of departed saints among the 
 papists. Mr. Keith and others have largely shown that these 
 have been "honoured with gold and silver, and with precious 
 
 * See for ample 7)rcofs of this, Mcdch Works, page 673, and Sir Isaac New- 
 ton's Observations on Daniel, chap. xiv. 
 23* 
 
274 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 stones and pleasant things;" (Dan. xi. 38.) The riches of the 
 shrine of Thomas a Becket were such, that the gold alone, when 
 it was broken down, filled two large chests which eight strong 
 men could scarcely carry out of the church. And the throng 
 of strangers who brought offerings to the altar of St. Paul at 
 Rome was so great, that Gibbon relates, that two priests stood 
 night and day with rakes in their hands to collect without 
 counting the heaps of gold and silver poured upon it.* And 
 to this day whatsoever is costly and precious and pleasant, from 
 jewels of great price to the embroidered petticoat, are devoted 
 to decorate the shrines or images of departed sainis. Surely 
 here is "that great city that was clothed in fine linen and pur- 
 ple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones." 
 Rev. xviii. 
 
 (4.) "What a mystery,! (says Mr. Bickersteth) there is in 
 Popery! Look at some of its pretensions and realities. It 
 boasts of purity, sanctity, universality, and apostolicity, and 
 yet has practised the most horrible wickedness that this world 
 has ever seen. mystery of mysteries! The shepherd is 
 the wolf devouring the flock. The servant of Jesus Christ, 
 claiming to be his only true follower, sets aside his Master's 
 laws, tramples upon his word, and exalts his own inventions 
 above them. The follower of that lowly One, who washed 
 his disciples' feet, requij-es emperors and kings to kiss his feet 
 and do him homage. He styles himself servant of servants, 
 and yet claims a direct, supreme, spiritual power; and thereby, 
 indirectly, (as Bellarmine says,) a certain, and that a supreme, 
 power in temporal things. In profession he owns God and 
 Jesus Christ, humility and justice, truth and love; and yet, 
 under this pretence, has masked the very utmost pride, injus- 
 tice, falsehood, wickedness and cruelty, — dispensing with the 
 laws of God, murdering men, women, and children, who have 
 followed their conscience and the word of God rather than his 
 blasphemous decrees! horrible scheme of satanic religion! 
 What mysteries it comprehends! To forbid meats as an act 
 of piety, though God himself has commanded them to be re- 
 ceived with thanksgiving; — to make it praiseworthy devotion 
 to worship images, which God has called idolatry; — to make 
 it a part of merit before God to adore saints and angels, which 
 God has foretold as beguiling us of our reward; — to make it a 
 part of religion to contrive rebellion against kings, whom God 
 
 * See Burnett's Hist. Ref. p. 244; Gibbon, vol. xii. p. 311, and Keith's Signs 
 of the Times, vol. i. p. 133, &c. 
 
 I Mr. Irving considered that the word "Mystery" emblazoned on the fore- 
 head of the Babylonish Harlot, (Rev. xvii.) was designed to identify her with 
 "the mystery" of iniquity of 3nd Thess. ii. See "Babylon Foredoomed," p. 
 403. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 275 
 
 has called us to honour; — and a proof of zeal for God to per- 
 petrate the most atrocious cruelties that ever man perpetrated 
 on his fellow-men; — for the greatest of sinners to promise to 
 forgive sin; — to pretend to be the very fountain of all peace, 
 harmlessness, spotlessness, and purity, and yet to be full of all 
 wickedness, and stir up wars and ruin countries, and destroy 
 innumerable multitudes; — to pretend to be the vicar of Christ, 
 and instead of being meek, to be clothed with pride; instead 
 of preaching, never to preach; instead of being a sufferer, to 
 sit in all the pomp and glory of this world, reign over the 
 earth, and wear his triple crown, full of precious stones and 
 diamonds." Prog. Poper}', p. 19. 
 
 Certainly when we look at this picture and look at those 
 delineations of Antichrist which are contained in the Scrip- 
 tures, it seems wonderful how any can resist the conclusion 
 that we have a lively imitation of it in the papacy. To deny 
 that these can apply to the papacy, and to conclude that that 
 power has not been contemplated by the Holy Ghost in any of 
 the passages which have been referred to, and that the cloud 
 of interpreters who have so applied them have been mistaken, 
 — seems to be irreconcileable with the ordinary principles of 
 reasoning and just induction. Nevertheless some eminent 
 men have judged contrary. Zanchius and Grotius have both 
 deprecated the making out the pope to be Antichrist. Ham- 
 mond has done the same; and Archbishop Sheldon in a public 
 disputation at Oxford, undertook to oppugn the common 
 notions respecting Antichrist, and to evince the error of ap- 
 plying that prophetic name and character to the pope or bishop 
 of Rome,* Thorndyke in his work on the Revelation has 
 also denied it; but he goes with Grotius and Hammond, not 
 only in this particular, but in the limiting prophecy to a pri- 
 mary literal application,. Recently, through the writings of 
 Mr. Mailland of Gloucester and Mr. Burgh of Dublin, many 
 have begun seriously to question, whether the pope be the 
 Antichrist; though it is to be feared, that the difficulties which 
 the prophetical system of some of these writers remove out of 
 the way of superficial readers, — by making all these prophecies 
 relate only to the future, and by leading us to expect that, 
 when fulfilled, the agreement of the accomplishment with the 
 prophecy will be so striking and conspicuous that none will be 
 able to question it, — is a great inducement to many to receive 
 their views, who would fain be spared the trouble of reading 
 history and of studying and comparing prophecy, and who 
 now are satisfied to wait supinely for events which are to 
 
 * See Whitley's "Scheme, &c, of Prophecy," p. 10. 
 
276 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 speak with sufficient plainness for themselves. Mr. Faber 
 would at first view seem to countenance the statement of these 
 writers; for he says "The donation of the name of Antichrist 
 to the pope is purely gratuitous. It rests upon no certain 
 warrant of scripture, and indeed it may rather be said to con- 
 tradict it. The predicted Anticlirist is an infidel and an athe- 
 ist." Vol. ii. p. 209.* But Mr. Faber does in reality be- 
 long to a very different class of writers: his objection being 
 merely to the name of Antichrist, and to the application of 
 Dan. xi. and 1 John ii. 22 to the pope. For he himself ap- 
 plies the Little Horn of Daniel vii. to the pope, as also various 
 parts of the Apocalypse, which other writers have been wont 
 to include among the prophecies which describe the Anti- 
 christ.! 
 
 That which is most to be feared, and most jealously to be 
 watched, is the tendency of all writers, however pious and 
 able, to carry out their own views to an extreme. Some of 
 
 * He quotes Bishop Horsley's Letters on Isaiah xviii. (pp. 105, lOG) to the 
 same effect. 
 
 t The following is a brief summary of Mr. Paber's explanation and appli- 
 cation of Daniel vii. Vol. ii. p. 93, &c. 
 The Little Horn 
 
 1. is diverse from the rest of the ten 
 horns, (v. 21.) 
 
 has three of the ten horns plucked 
 up before him, (vv. 8, 20, 24.) 
 
 has eyes like the eyes of a man, (v. 
 8.) 
 
 has a mouth speakmg great things, 
 and a look more stout than his fel- 
 lows, (v. 20.) 
 
 5. speaks great words against (or be- 
 side) the Most High, (v. 2.5.) 
 
 6. thinks to chan^'e times and laws, 
 (V. 25.) 
 
 7. persecutes the saints, (v. 21, 25.) 
 
 8. has 1260 years limited for his reign, 
 
 The Pofe 
 
 1. possessed a spiritual power at first, 
 whereas theirs was temporal: after- 
 wards it was ecclesiastical and spi- 
 ritual as well as civil and temporal. 
 
 2. The Herulo- Turing ic, the Ostro- 
 goUiic, and the Lombardic, were 
 seated in Italy and in the presence 
 of the pope; and they were plucked 
 up for him. 
 
 3. claims a universal episcopacy or 
 overseers/lip. 
 
 4. "has anathematized all who have 
 dared to oppose him; has laid whole 
 kingdoms under an interdict; has 
 excommunicated kings and empe- 
 rors; has absolved their subjects 
 from their allegiance; has affected 
 greater authority, even in temporal 
 matters, than sovereign princes; 
 and has pronounced that the do- 
 minion of the whole earth rightfully 
 belongs to him." 
 
 5. is styled Our Lord God the Pope, 
 &c.. &.C. 
 
 G. institutes new modes of worship, 
 articles of faith, and rules of prac- 
 tice; and reverses at pleasure the 
 laws of God and man. 
 
 7. from age to age has persecuted those 
 who protested against the idolatries 
 of the papacy. 
 
 8. has domineered through twelve 
 centuries. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 277 
 
 those who refer these prophecies to the papacy have doubtless 
 greatly strained certain portions of them in order to force them 
 to apply; and have also, with the same ohject in view, exag- 
 gerated some of the fads connected with the history of the 
 papacy. Every departure from truth must prove evil in the 
 end. But whilst there is no need to go to the length of bi- 
 shops Hurd and Warburton, and to conclude that the whole 
 design and intent of prophecy was to give its voice and suiTrage 
 in favour of /;roto/a??//.ym, strictly so called; yet tliere is the 
 opposite extreme to which some have been urged, of extenuat- 
 ing and palliating the enormities and blasphemies of popery, 
 for the sake of proving that the prophecies do not speak of the 
 papacy; and thus are such writers actually playing into the 
 hands of the enemies of God and his Christ. It is one thing 
 to say that the features of the harlot, with all their bloatedness 
 and deformity, do not seem in all respects to answer to these 
 depicted in the word of God; (which is the prudent limit 
 within which some of this school have confined their remarks:) 
 it is another thing to make comparatively light of her pro- 
 ceedings — to deny her antichristian character, her apostacy, 
 her idolatry, her persecution of the saints of God, which have 
 nevertheless been in part or in whole denied by others. jNIr. 
 Cuninghame justly observes, that the proceedings of such 
 '.vriters are calculated "to fill their disciples with a spirit of 
 lukewarmness and indifference to the protestant cause;" and 
 they certainly appear to be preparing the way for the re- 
 ascendancy of her spiritual domination. I will close this point 
 with an extract from j\Ir. Bickersteth's "Practical Guide to the 
 Prophecies," which is expressed with his usual good sense and 
 piety.* — 
 
 "It has been noticed already, that some modern writers of 
 prophecy (whose powers qf mind, established piety, and acute- 
 ness of remark, are such as to entitle their works to conside- 
 ration,) have endeavoured to set aside the Protestant applica- 
 tion of the jNIan of Sin to Popery, and of Babylon to Papal 
 Rome. The author has read some of these works, he hopes 
 not without edification, from their practical character; nor 
 
 * It may be well to observe here, that some, in their zeal to overthrow the 
 application of these prophecies to popery, have declared that they suit as well 
 the c/iurck of England; which is viewed by many of late, especially among 
 dissenters, as the Babylon and Harlot of the Apocalypse. It is sufficient to 
 observe, in reply, that if the doctrines and practices of the church of England 
 are spiritual fornication, she is just the reverse of endeavouring to make others 
 partake of her fornication; being more obnoxious to the charge of supineness, 
 in respect to propagating her sentiments and in regard to making proselytes, 
 than with zealotry or bigotry. Neither has she been "drunk v:itk the blood of 
 the saints:" forTimong all her sins and defects, it is difficult to find an instance 
 of persecution unto blood. 
 
278 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 without increase of caution in the views which he holds; but 
 with no conviction that they have overturned the great mass 
 of argument by which the Protestant Church had established 
 that application. When we consider how explicitly our God 
 has begun and closed the book of Revelation with a blessing, 
 promised to those who read and hear the words of that pro- 
 phecy, (Rev. i. 3; xxii. 7.) it is surely improbable that the 
 general result to which Protestant writers have, for several 
 centuries, with a great unanimity, come, should be erroneous. 
 The expressions of the Apostle, (twice also repeated, Rev. i. 
 1; xxii. 6.) lead us to think, that what he foretold would be- 
 gin shortly to come to pass. God greatly honoured this view as 
 a mighty means of confirming the Reformers, supporting them 
 at the stake, and thereby extending the blessed Reformation. 
 Cressener (in his valuable works) has shown that Roman Ca- 
 tholic writers themselves furnish many testiitionies strength- 
 ening the Protestant application of leading parts of these pro- 
 phecies to Rome. As it is very improbable that the church 
 should be left to struggle through eighteen centuries of conflict, 
 darkness, and sorrow, without such a lamp as the Revelation 
 giving a light on its path, (yet allowedly a feeble light, shining 
 in a dark place, 2 Peter i. 19) so, in point of fact, devoted 
 Christians, from age to age, during these centuries, have found 
 great support and comfort from the rays of light which this 
 book shed on their course. 
 
 It is, however, an advantage to be led to reconsider the 
 ground on which the Protestant interpretation rests, and fresh 
 light will be thrown, not only on fulfilled, but also on unful- 
 filled prophecy. In this vievv the works of such writers may 
 be eminently useful. But whatever farther fulfilments may 
 take place in the close of this mystery of iniquity, and in its 
 final destruction, the past fulfilment, in several leading particu- 
 lars, has been such as to satisfy a large body of the Reformed 
 phurch of Christ." p. 94. 
 
 IV. It is a question, however, deserving of serious regard, 
 whether any part of the prophecies concerning antichrist have 
 been fulfilled by the false prophet Mahomet, and by the blas- 
 phemous and wicked apostacy of which he was the author. 
 
 1. It is remarkable that Sulpitius Severus, so early as the 
 fifth century, speaks o[ tzco antichrists which should arise — one 
 from the east and one from the zvest; (2 Dial, de Vita Mart. 
 Cap. 14.) which seems to lay a sort of traditional foundation 
 for the expectation of tzuo persons or powers who should 
 answer in a greater or less degree to the descriptions given in 
 the scriptures of the great adversary or adversaries of God. 
 Prosper advances something of the same kind (De promiss. p. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 279 
 
 65.) but he grounds it rather upon the mention of Behemoth 
 and Leviathan in Job xl. xli. the former arising from the earth, 
 the other from tlie deep or sea. 
 
 Since the period, liowevcr, of the Reformation, many have 
 considered, and with great probability, not only that such 
 signal adversaries of the Lord Jesus, as Mahomet and his sys- 
 tem, were not likely to have been passed over, but that they 
 are certainly set forth in the prophecies. Some would entirely 
 exclude tiie pope, and make all the prophecies concerning 
 antichrist to relate to JMahomct. Among these the first with 
 whom I am acquainted was Graserus,* who had many follow- 
 ers, and in later times Dr. J. Whitley of Gahvay.t Otiiers 
 whose minds were struck with tlie remarkable coincidence 
 between the acts and events attending the rise and progress 
 both of Mahomet and the pope, were led to conceive that both 
 of them might have been intended in the prophecies relating 
 to antichrist. One of the earliest of these is Dr. N. Homes, 
 who draws a parallel on Daniel vii. between the pope and 
 Mahomet, and traces the coincidence in various particulars. J 
 A far more numerous class of interpreters, excluding JNIaho- 
 met from the prophecies which have hitherto been adduced as 
 relating to antichrist, apply to him, and to the Saracens and 
 
 * See his works — "Expositio Visionis Danielis," 1614, and "Historia Anti- 
 christi," &c. 1618. 
 
 t "The Scheme and Completion of Prophecy," by this writer, has been 
 more than once alluded to in this volume. It is an able work; but abounding 
 in absurdities; and here maybe seen, interwoven with it throughout, what 
 has been not long since hinted at— a constant endeavour to palliate and justify 
 the abominations of jiopery. Yea, the opinions of those protestants who view 
 popery as antichrist are roundly attributed to a bigoifcd, a controversial, a 
 schismalical and a selfish, spirit; and protestants are exhorted to cease from 
 controversy with Rome, and to unite with her against the common enemy and 
 antichrist — Mahomet. Could a Jesuit say morel 
 
 t See his work "The Resurrection Revealed," 1654. Revised Ed. 1833, 
 page 148. His language is, "That the ansiccrs to those, who understand by 
 the antichrist Mahoynet, are not to him sutHcient, any more than the arguments 
 of those who make it only Rome. But (he says,) I would propose tliis expe- 
 dient to the learned; viz. to consider the Turk and the pope to be the main in- 
 tegrals of antichrist. For upon an exact review of what has been said on both 
 sides touchmg the little horn, it would appear that all may be accommodated 
 to either, though perhaps more appositely to the Turk. And if they that make 
 it a Roman horn may be led thereunto from the fear of omitting anything that 
 foretels the ruin of the Roman antichrist; so must we be jealous of waiving 
 anything that threatens the ruin of the JMahometan anticlirist. For with me I 
 confess it is a rule, which diligent observation, as I have gone through the 
 scriptures, has irresistibly engrafted into my reason, — that all the scriptures 
 touching the great restoration of the church, &c. do more immediately and 
 directly look toward the Jews: consequentially and inclusively only upon the 
 Gentiles: and therefore they do necessarily more directly threaten the ruin of 
 the Mahometan Turkish antichrist, who is their more immediate and cruel 
 enemy, inhaliiting all their borders; and next they extend to the Roman anti- 
 christ, taking him in under the general notion of a grand enemy to the con- 
 version both of Jews and Gentiles unto Christ, and of the glorious reformation 
 of the church, &c. 
 
280 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Turks, Rev. ix. in which is described the ascent of the Lo- 
 custs from the bottomless pit, having a king over them whose 
 name is Abaddon and Apolhjon — the Destroyer. This chap- 
 ter is indeed almost universally applied to the Mahometans. 
 
 Of late years, however, some eminent Expositors have ap- 
 plied the little horn of the he-goat in Daniel viii. exclusively 
 to Mahomet; and thus they separate and distinguish between 
 the little horn of the fourth beast in Dan. vii. making the one 
 the western antichrist or the papacy, and the other the eastern 
 antichrist or Mahometanism. There is an able treatise on this 
 subject in Mr. King's "Morsels of Criticism," published in 
 1788. Mr. Whitaker took the same view in 1795; he has 
 been followed by Mr. Faber, Mr. Frere, Mr. Keith and others. 
 Mr. Faber was the means of Mr. Scott's adopting that view 
 in the later editions of his Commentary; though he is not dis- 
 posed to apply it exclusively to Mahomet. On the one hand 
 he observes, '<It appears to me unaccountable, on mature 
 reflection, that there should be in these concise, yet most 
 comprehensive, prophecies of Daniel, so many repeated and 
 particular predictions of the papal delusions in the west, and 
 not a hint of the Mahomedan delusion in the east, the progress 
 and efiects of which have been most extensively mischievous; 
 and are specially and separately noted as such by John, Rev. 
 ix." (Note on verses 9 — 12.) But on the other hand he 
 says — *']No doubt the character here given of this 'little horn,' 
 and the prediction of his exploits, as expositors have copiously 
 shewn in a variety of circumstances, do accord to those of the 
 Roman antichrist: but do they accord to him exclusively? 
 Probably the more any sober-minded man studies the history 
 of Mahometanism, the fuller will be his conviction, that the 
 features of the two delusions, as of tuin sisters, are far more 
 alike than it is generally supposed." On verses 23 — 25. The 
 idea of the txcin sisters is somewhat akin to another figure of 
 speech of Dr. Prideaux on the same subject, who, being struck 
 with the coincidence of the rising up of the Mahomedan apos- 
 tacy at the same time with the pope being constituted bishop 
 of bishops, exclaimed, that antichrist had at that time set both 
 his feet on Christendom together, the one in the east, the other 
 in the west.* In Faber, vol. i. p. 256. 
 
 * Sir Isaac Newton, and Bishop Newton, and after them Mr. Cnninghame 
 and some others, suppose the Little Horn of the Goat to denote the Roman 
 empire in the east. Mr. Keith expounds Dan. xi. 31. of the standing up of the 
 Roman power in the east, and in this manner endeavours to account for the 
 supposed breaking off of the regular narrative at this verse. "The eras of the 
 Seleucida? and of the Ptolemies, or Lagidoe, are well known in history and 
 highly useful in chronology, and from the time of the formation of their king- 
 doms the line of prophetic history is traced down in regular narrative, till 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. OgJ 
 
 2. There are some obvious considerations which seem at 
 once to evince, that tlie horn of Daniel viii. cannot be the 
 same power as that of Daniel vii. 
 
 First, It seems unaccountable that the vision of chapter vii. 
 describing the rise of a little horn should be immediately fol- 
 lowed by that of chapter viii. describing also the rise of a little 
 horn, without any reference at all to the fact (if it be so) of its 
 being the same power already delineated. 
 
 Secondly, The horn of chapter vii. arises out of the fourth 
 beast. But the horn of chapter viii. arises from out of one of 
 the four horns which proceeded from the broken horn of the 
 goat; and tliis corresponds with the third beast, or the Leopard, 
 of Daniel vii. Moreover, it appears strange to speak of the 
 latter little horn, as arising out of one of the foi/r horns, if it 
 were out of an empire which comprehended them all, — that is 
 to say, as out of a principaHtij, instead of out of the kingdom 
 or empire which included tliat principality. If indeed the 
 pope had had his principal scat in that principality, or first had 
 been exalted therein to universal jurisdiction, there would have 
 been great reason for it: but this not being the case, it is clear 
 that some other power must be intended. 
 
 Thirdly, As the rise of the horns appears to be territorially 
 different, so does their end, as already noticed: the one being 
 "slain and his body given to the flame;" the other being 
 "broken without hand." 
 
 3, There are other points which correspond well with the 
 character and proceedings of jNIahomet and his successors. 
 
 (L) The little horn of the goat was to be a king of fierce 
 countenance, and understanding dark sentences: Mahomet 
 declared himself both king and prophet; and the Koran 
 abounds with dark and enigmatical sentences, and with inflat- 
 ed hyperbole, in which 'the Mahometans boast, and call it 
 sublime. 
 
 (2.) The horn was to wax great toward the south and 
 toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. This was pre- 
 cisely the direction of the JNIahomcdan conquests; and "so 
 remarkably (says Mr. Habershon) have these territorial limits 
 been observed, that whenever the Turkish armies have 
 attempted to force their barriers and to penetrate into the 
 kingdoms of the west, they have uniformly been unsuccessful. 
 
 the Romans attained the ascendancy in the east, and established their antho- 
 rity within the boundaries of the liingdom that had been Alexander's, thus 
 connecting; these great empires, the Grecian — from which the kings of Syria 
 and Egypt took their rise, — and the Roman, — by which their kingdoms were 
 finally subverted." Vol. i. p. 51. Luther understood Dan. viii. of the papal 
 powers, without any limitation. 
 VOL. II. — 24 
 
282 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 For a long period after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 
 they were the terror of Europe, and threatened to overrun its 
 fairest provinces; and it has called forth the best energies of 
 the most powerful emperors of Germany and other monarchs 
 to withstand them. In like manner when the combined armies 
 of Western Europe, under the most gallant leaders, and with 
 an enthusiasm almost more than human, poured like a torrent 
 upon the plains of Asia, and at eight or ten different limes en- 
 gaged in crusades to dispossess the Mahomedan power of the 
 holy land, they were equally unsuccessful; and the myriads 
 that embarked in these chivalrous expeditions vvenl almost to 
 certain destruction, either from famine or slaughter or disease. 
 Thus accurately has the scene of this vision been confined 
 within its allotted bounds!" P. 278. 
 
 (3.) By this horn '<the place of the sanctuary" of the Prince 
 of the Host (explained in verse 25 to be the Prince of princes) 
 is "cast down;" and Jerusalem has now been trodden under 
 foot by the Mahomedan power for nearly 1200 years. 
 
 (4.) "He shall deslroy zoo?iderfulli/;" and hence in Rev. ix. 
 (as just now has been noticed,) he is called Abaddon and 
 ApoUijon, which signify the Destroyer. Nothing is more re- 
 markable, of a political character, in the whole history of Ma- 
 hometanism, than its desolating character. Not only has it 
 laid waste various provinces in the ordinary course of war, 
 and shed the blood of myriads of the apostatized people of 
 God; but even now, throughout its own empire, "■destruction 
 and misery are in its paths." The fairest tracts of territory 
 go out of cultivation and become no better than deserts; cities 
 are forsaken of their inhabitants; and the population is con- 
 tinually on the decrease. 
 
 (5.) He "stands up against the Prince of princes." What 
 the pope does only in an indirect manner, (for he professes the 
 truth in regard to the person of Christ,) Mahomet has done 
 openly. He puts aside the authority of the Lord Jesus; and 
 he denies that God is a Father and has a son; thus answering 
 in a most literal manner the character of Antichrist in 1 John 
 ii. 22 — "Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the 
 Christ? — He is Antichrist that denielh the Father and the Son.'' 
 
 (G.) "Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in 
 his hand," — "and by fraud ''^ shall destroy many." Gibbon 
 says of him, "The use oi fraud and per fid i/, of cruelty and in- 
 justice, was often subservient to the propagation of the faith." 
 — "In the support of truth, the arts of frai/d andfidion may be 
 deemed less criminal: and he would have started at the foul- 
 
 ♦ Our Translation has "by wacc" but the Septuaginl and the Arabic have 
 by "fraud?' 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 283 
 
 ness of the means, had he not been satisfied of the importance 
 and justice of the end." Vol. ix. 322, 323. 
 
 These are some of the points of resemblance; there are 
 others, which, if not so immediately obvious, can nevertheless 
 be applied to Mahomet and his successors with as much plau- 
 sibility as they can be applied to the pope and his successors. 
 
 4. It only remains to name a few of those particulars in 
 which, according to the opinion of some, Mahomet is even/ 
 where intended in the prophecies concerning Antichrist; — 
 i. e. either exclusively, or jointly with the pope, as has been 
 shewn. 
 
 First, he is considered to be ^Hhe Assyria?!," because he pos- 
 sesses the literal Babylon and Assyria within his empire: 
 whence Euphrates is also considered as the symbol of the 
 Turkish empire in the Apocalypse.* Secondly, he showed 
 himself to be a "Lawless One," or "Man of Sin," who legal- 
 ised by precept and by example fornication and adultery, and 
 enjoined in numerous instances rebellion and massacre. Third- 
 ly, he magnified himself against God, and against all that is 
 called God, by openly exalting himself over the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as a greater prophet than he; and he likewise called 
 himself the Paraclete or Comforter. Fourth, he plucked up 
 three horns; viz. Egypt, Syria, and Africa, — supposed to be 
 pointed out by Dan. xi. 42, 43, — "The land of Egypt shall not 
 escape; the Ethiopians and Lybians shall be at his steps."! 
 Fifth, the number of his name, when written in Greek, 
 (MctswsTK,) is found to contain 666. 
 
 5. There are some points likewise in which his coming and 
 proceedings agree with the expectations of certain of the 
 fathers concerning Antichrist. For example, that he should 
 come in Chxnmcision; — that he should rise up at the period of 
 the dismemberment of the Roman empire; — that he should be 
 a destroyer of idols, and yet be himself the object of idolatrous 
 worship. Thus Mahomet wept over the grave of his' mother, 
 because as an idolatress she could not be savcd;J ' (thus shew- 
 ing, as some have concluded, that he did not regard the God 
 of his fathers; Dan. xi. 37,) and he was so greatly the idol of 
 
 * Some try to make out, and have considerable authority for so doing, that 
 Gog and Magog are the Turks and Saracens: others consider them to be the 
 Russians. 
 
 t Jerome said that the Antichrist was to subdue Egypt, Africa and Ethio- 
 pia; meaning by the latter the Arabian Ethiopia of Genesis ii. 
 
 t Nicholas de Lyra and Paulus Burgensis, who wrote about the beginning 
 of the sixteenth century, thought the Mahometan persecution would be the 
 longest wliicli the chui-ch would sulfer, and the Aniichristian (which they 
 considered altogether dilFerent) would be the .shortest; and for this reason: viz. 
 that Mahomet was not idolatrous, therefore that God would the longer endure 
 with him. 
 
284 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 iiis companions, that they collected his hair, his spittle, and 
 the refuse water from his lustrations, as objects of their vene- 
 ration.* 
 
 V. The last form of Antichrist, which yet remains to be 
 noticed, is that of hifidelitij. The conviction that those scrip- 
 tures which speak of the Antichrist have not in all respects 
 been satisfactorily fulfilled in any one power that has already 
 appeared, has led writers at difierent periods to apply (as we 
 have seen) some things to the Papacy, and some to Mahome- 
 tanism; whilst other things they consider not to have been yet 
 accomplished in either of those powers, but to have respect to 
 events which are yet future. And whilst certain writers have 
 inferred, from the defectiveness in the interpretation thus aris- 
 ing, that nothing has been fulfilled which regards the Anti- 
 christ, but that we must fall back in all respects upon the 
 expectations entertained by the primitive fathers of Christiani- 
 ty; others — being instructed by the remarkable events which 
 have transpired in later years, and by those signs of the times 
 which bespeak that we are entered upon the last days, — have 
 been gradually led to separate and distinguish between what 
 may be termed the several jihases of antichristianism, and to 
 apply different portions of prophecy to distinct powers. 
 
 1. The French Revolution, from its extraordinary character 
 and the awfully important consequences to which it has given 
 rise, has justly been considered to have formed a new epoch in 
 the history both of the church and world; and hence many 
 have been led to date the rising up of the Infidel Antichrist from 
 that period;! though others (as Mr. Faber,) trace the workings 
 of infidelity in their avowed and manifest character up to an 
 earlier period. Certain it is, that as the mystery of iniquity, 
 or the principles which led to the usurpation and apostacy of 
 the bishops of Rome, was at work at a much earlier period 
 than the age of Justinian or Phocas, though it has been sup- 
 posed to have been made manifest or revealed as the Anti- 
 christ only from the date of some imperial decree which in- 
 vested it with power and authority; so has the leaven of 
 infidelity been gradually pervading the mass of European 
 society, more especially in France, for a considerable period 
 previous to its any where assuming a national character in a 
 previously christianized nation. 
 
 Mr. Kett, who published his work called "History the in- 
 
 * For the proofs of these latter points, see the work of Dr. "Whitley pre- 
 viously referred to. 
 
 + Mr. Irving, for example, considers the French Revolution to be "the 
 death-throe — the last gasp and termination of life — to ihe papal beast of 42 
 months, and the first breath and act of life to another beast— the beast from 
 the bottomless pit." 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 285 
 
 terpreter of prophecy," was among the first of those who 
 marked out any particular portion of prophecy as applicable to 
 the infidel Antichrist; — viz. L)an. xi. — from the 36th verse. 
 At the same time he considered chapters vii. viii. and xi. of 
 Daniel as referable, in the general, to Popery, INIahometanism, 
 or Infidelity. JSIr. Faber has since more carefully distin- 
 guislied that which Mr. Kelt has applied indiscriminately, and 
 refers Dan. vii. to the Papacy, Dan. viii. to Mahometanism, 
 and Dan. xi. from the 36th verse to Infidelity. Mr. Frere has 
 followed in the same track, with the exception that he com- 
 mences his interpretation of the infidel Antichrist from verse 
 21 of Dan. xi. which he applies to Najioleon. He has been 
 followed in these particulars by Mr. Cooper and by Mr. Ir- 
 ving. Mr. Keith finds Mahometanism, Popery, and Infidelity 
 successively described in the second, third, and fourth seals of 
 Rev. vi.* 
 
 Various other modifications of the views of former interpre- 
 ters have appeared, as the increasing light which events have 
 shed upon the predictions of the prophets have caused them to 
 be better understood; and notwithstanding the apparent dis- 
 crepancies of interpreters in our own times, the persuasion 
 may be reasonably entertained, that the Lord is gradually un- 
 folding to his church this interesting portion of his word, — by 
 giving to one servant to see some one feature of it; to a second, 
 another feature; and to a tliird to correct or point out the in- 
 consistencies only of certain interpretations: for in no instance 
 does the Spirit appear to have vouchsafed light sufficient to 
 anv one expositor to enable him to interpret with clearness 
 and correctness the whole of prophecy; though it is probable, 
 as Sir Isaac Newton has remarked, that there is no writer of 
 any note but has added something to the common treasury. 
 
 2. It is important, hqwever, since we are now living in 
 times, the signs of which bespeak that we must be hastening 
 to the last great crisis of events, and consequently to the last 
 actings of the Antichrist, to direct the attention of the reader 
 
 * It has beea questioned by some, whether tlie expectation ol" an infidel 
 Antichrist be founded in truth, and if the Scriptures which are supposed to 
 give countenance to this opinion do more than describe the last desperate pro- 
 ceediniTs of popery. It is not improbable but that there may be a great identi- 
 fication of popery with infidelity, seeing that the priests of the church of Rome 
 are. by the confession of Blanco White, formerly a prophet of their own, in 
 general infidels at heart, though not avowedly so. Certain it is, likewise, that 
 deistical principles have very extensively infected many of the countries of 
 the continent whicli are professedly Roman Catholic,— as France, Spain, 
 Saxony, Bavaria, Italy, &c. But however these principles may be ready for 
 explosion, and to bring about that state of things which will exist before the 
 last catastrophe, insomuch that popery may after all be considered as the parent 
 of infidelity; '5'et it will be shewn presently that the difference is decided be- 
 tween the ieign of infidelity and the tyranny of the papacy. 
 
28G ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 to some farther particulars calculated to inform him respecting 
 the character of that awful apostacy, and to prepare him for it. 
 For many, it is feared, are now helping it forward, and are 
 more or less under the influence of that "strong delusion" by 
 which it will be accompanied, who ought rather to be warning 
 men of their great danger, and leading them to be jealous of 
 every thing which appears like an approximation to its spirit 
 or principles. 
 
 (I.) It is necessary, then, to observe, that the Antichristian 
 power, set forth as the Beast of the Apocalypse, correspond- 
 ing \vith the fourth beast of Daniel vii. is presented to us under 
 three aspects — so different in some of their characteristics, as to 
 lead to the necessary conclusion that they must refer to differ- 
 ent periods of action; whilst at the same time there is a suffi- 
 cient identity between all three to make it apparent, that it 
 m.ust be the same power throughout, only metamorphosed. 
 They resemble indeed the transmutations of an insect, from 
 the worm to the chrysalis, and from the clirysalis to the fly; 
 which continues the same insect still, though it assumes difier- 
 ent forms and functions. 
 
 The first of these forms is that of the "great red dragon, 
 having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his 
 head," described Rev. xii. 3. This has been by the generality 
 of modern interpreters explained to be the Roman Empire in 
 its Pagan state, animated by the spirit of "that old serpent, 
 which is the Devil, and Satan:" (v. 9.) for the dragon is a sym- 
 bol appropriated in Scripture to idolatrous empires.* 
 
 In chap. xiii. the Apostle sees another vision: "a beast rise 
 up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon 
 his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blas- 
 phemy." This beast is evidently the nondescript animal, or 
 fourth beast, seen by Daniel, (chap, vii.) combining in his ap- 
 pearance the leopard, the bear, and the lion, which constituted 
 the three first beasts — "and the Dragon gave to him his power, 
 and his seat, and great authority." V. 2. The seven heads 
 a?id ten horns sufficiently identify the power here described to 
 be the same as the dragon: it is indeed the dragon abdicating, 
 as it were, in favour of this beast, and transferring, or delegat- 
 ing to him his authority. 
 
 In chapter xvii. 3, we have presented to us "a scarlet- 
 coloured beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads 
 and tefi hortis." On this beast is seated a A«r/o/, arrayed also 
 in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and pre- 
 cious stones, &c. The seven heads and ten horns again serve to 
 identify this with the former beast and the dragon; whilst, at 
 the same time, there are various circumstances which shew 
 
 ♦ See Psalm kxiv. 13, 14. Isa. xxvii. 1; li. 9. Jcr. li. 3-1. Ezek. xxix. 3. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 987 
 
 that it makes its appearance under a different aspect. It is 
 declared in verse 8 to be the beast "that icas, and is not, and 
 shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition." 
 And again, as "the beast that was, and is not, and ijtt is.'^ It 
 is clear from these statements, tliat the beast that u-as, is the 
 beast from the sea of Rev. xiii., who has now passed away, but 
 who is to reascend and come again into life and power; and it 
 is equally clear that this reascension is to be from the holtom- 
 less pit, and not from the sea.* 
 
 Some have thought, and with considerable probability, that 
 Rev. xiii. 3, alludes to this fact of his death and revival — "And 
 I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his 
 deadly wound was healed: and all the world uv?u!ercd after the 
 beast." The expression o( wo/iderme/it seems, indeed, decidedly 
 to fix it to Rev. xvii. 8 — "And they that dwell on the earth 
 shall zconder, (whose names were not written in the book of 
 life from the foundation of the world,) when they behold the 
 beast that was, and is not, and yet is." 
 
 The different aspect of the beast of Rev. xvii. is farther set 
 forth by two or three other circumstances. The one is, that 
 * Some would make the expression bottomless pit to be the same with the 
 sea, on the ground that the Greek word a^vo-a-oi is, by profane writers, used iu 
 the same sense with Saxars-*. It is contended also, that it is used in this sense 
 by the writers of the Sepiuagint version; though all the instances adduced are 
 ambiguous. But what is here contended for is, that in the Apocalypse, where 
 the word is used as a symbol, it must necessarily be distinct from fldxao-j-*; for 
 the use of symbols is precise and definite. It only occurs indeed in two other 
 places of the New Testament besides the Apocalypse— viz. Luke viii. 31, and 
 Rom. X. 37 — and in both of these it is apparently distinct from 6a\5ti7o-a. The 
 one is where the devils entreat not to be cast out into the deep, or pit; the 
 other is where Paul contrasts the deep with the height of heaven; which, in 
 the Syriac version, (as I learn from Mr. Cuninghame) is rendered by the 
 word Sviy sheol, which signifies Kadcs. In the Apocalypse, however, the mean- 
 ing is fixed by another circumstance. In chap. ix. 1, 2, where it fii;st occurs, 
 (and is used as a symbol, the locusts being said to arise out of it,) to <^fiaf is used 
 with it, in order more precisely to point out, that it is the pit of the deep that i.s 
 meant; and having received this signification, to <;>/««/) is afterwards dropped, 
 (see v. 11,) and afiuj-a-og is used by itself, evidently with the same signification 
 as if it were to <?pa/! t«c a/iua-a-a; Avhich is plainly the view of our Translators, 
 who uniformly translate it afterwards "i/te bottomless pitP The impropriety 
 of considering the expression the same as fiotxaa-s-a will be apparent from the 
 evident absurdity which would arise were we to translate some of th6 places 
 where the word i^utr^a occurs by our word sea: c. g. "I saw an angel, &c. 
 having the key of the sea, and he laid hold on the dragon and cast him into the 
 sea,ands/n(</a';K «;;,"&c. Rev. xxi. 1 — 3. At the same time, if tliispointshould 
 be considered as still open to criticism, it would not aflcct the main position; 
 which is, that The beast of Rev. xiii. has deceased, and is revived in chap, 
 xvii., and that he reappears under circumstances wjiich give him a different 
 aspect. 
 
288 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the croivns which were on the heads of the dragon, and which 
 were removed in the instance of the beast of chap. xiii. to the 
 ten horns, have now aUogether disappeared. Another is, that 
 power is given to the beast of the sea to make war with the 
 saints, and to overcome them; (v. 7. ) whereas the beast of the 
 pit makes war against the Lamb, and is overcome; because he 
 is Lord of lords, &c., and they that are with him are called, 
 and chosen, and faithful, V, 14. A third is, that the charac- 
 teristic of blasphemy, which was witnessed upon the heads of 
 the beast of chap, xiii., so that he "opened his mouth in blas- 
 phemy," (v. 6,) is now transferred to the whole body, which 
 is "full of names of blasphemy." Chap. xvii. 3. These are 
 points which may be determined quite irrespective of the ap- 
 plication of them to any particular power. 
 
 We may proceed another step with certainty; viz. to ascer- 
 tain what we are to understand, in the general, 'by the symbol 
 of the beast. It sets fourth the political strength and resources 
 of some mighty empire: the proof of which is manifest. For 
 the angel says to John, "Come hither; I will shew thee the 
 judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many zoaters;" 
 (chap. xvii. 1,) which waters are explained, in verse 15, to be 
 '^peoples, multitudes, natio?is, and tongues,'' which are, as it were, 
 the materiel of an empire. But when John is taken into the 
 wilderness to see this whore, she is represented, not as sitting 
 on ma?iy zuaiers, hut as sitting on a beast: wherefore the beast is 
 only another symbol for the "peoples, multitudes, nations, and 
 tongues." 
 
 Here also I would observe, that the remarkable expression 
 used in describing this beast, — viz. "that was, and is not, and 
 yet is," and "which shall ascend," — seems to imply, that at 
 the time of the judgment described in chap. xvii. the beast had 
 existed in that form of principles and of political circumstances, 
 in regard to which he is said to arise out of the sea; that then 
 an interval comes in which, as an organized power or empire, 
 he may be said ?iot to exist; whilst yet the political dements, 
 though scattered, are actually existing at the time when this 
 vision commences, and are only awaiting some crisis to be re- 
 organized; and this reorganization will proceed from princi- 
 ples or circumstances which have their origin from the bottom- 
 less pit — whatsoever may be intended by that symbol. ■'■ 
 
 * It is very important to observe the time of the re-appearance of the beast. 
 The text of Rev. xvii. 8. says, "The beast that thou sawestw«s, and is not, and 
 shall ascend, &c." — f^ikMi uvai2:iivuv is about to ascend. If the period by which 
 the time is to be adjusted be that of the Apostle's seeing the vision, (as some 
 commentators argue in regard to verse 10.) then we not only must conclude 
 that in the days of St. John five kings were fallen, but that the beast of the sea 
 likewise had already appeared and ceased to exist. This is manifestly not 
 true. The only other period from which the time can be dated is that of the 
 judgment, which is the subject of the vision. So that when the judgment com- 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 289 
 
 (2.) We must now notice the power in combination or 
 alliance with the beast. This is described in chapter xvii. as 
 a harlot sitting upon the beast. 
 
 It is remarkable, that though John is specially invited to 
 see the judgment of "the great 7cAo?-e," — apparently as being 
 some character who has been previously exhibited under that 
 title, — yet this, the time of her judgment, is the first mention 
 made of her under that name; and we must therefore seek for 
 the power here designated under some other name or descrip- 
 tion. A comparison of Rev. xiv. 8 and 19, in which '^Great 
 Babylon'^ is mentioned, will immediately evince, that the Great 
 City and the Great JVhore are one and identical. Indeed, verse 
 IS especially declares — "And the zvoman which thou sawest is 
 that great cily which reigneth over the kings of the earth." 
 This two-fold sj^mbol is intended to set forth an ecclesiastical 
 power. The apostate church, or great city, Babylon, is con- 
 trasted in the Apocalypse with "the holy city, New Jerusa- 
 lem;" and the harlot is contrasted with "the bride, the Lamb's 
 wife." Moreover, awhore and an aduUress are familiar images 
 in the prophets to signify apostate Israel and Judah; and forni- 
 cation and adultery are expressions frequently used to signify 
 apostacy and idolatry. 
 
 But there is likewise reason to conclude that the whore and 
 the false prophet are intimately related. For not only is the 
 mention of the false prophet dropped, when that of the whore 
 is brought before us; but they answer exactly in certain cha- 
 racteristics. One of them is remarkable. The woman is 
 seated on the beast, which is emblematical of her being upheld 
 by the power and wielding the resources of that beast, so that 
 his heads and horns are either vassal or tributary states, or 
 powers which are in some way or other made subservient to 
 her. This is evident fro/ii its being declared, chap, xviii. 7, 
 that she sits as a queen; and in chap. xvii. IS, that she reigneth 
 over the kings of the earth. Allowing, therefore, that the 
 woman or city represents a church, it is a church in close alli- 
 ance with the state; yea, which hath altogether usurped and 
 engrossed the powers of the state. But the two-horned beast 
 of chap. xiii. likewise "exercises all the pon-er of the first beast 
 
 mences, and not till then, may it be said, "The beast u-as, and is not, and is 
 abaut to ascend out of the bottomless pit." 
 
 Some modern Expositors have argued that the Roman empire cannot be 
 that which is intended by the fourth lieast of Daniel, because it ceased to exist 
 during the wars which arose out of the French Revolution, the Emperor of 
 Germany having indeed formally renounced the title. This, however, in- 
 stead of being a circumstance adverse to such an interpretation, materially 
 strengthens h,''since there was to be an interval, during which it might be said 
 of the fourth empire — "it was, and is not.^' 
 
290 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 before him," (v. 12); and it is difficult to conceive how two 
 difl'erent powers can exercise a// the power of a certain empii-e, 
 and not be one and the same.* Moreover, they are both per- 
 secutors; for the one causes all that will not worship the image 
 of the beast to be killed, (chap. xiii. 15); and the other is 
 drunk with the blood of the saints, &c. (chap. xvii. 6.) 
 
 I must here add what I conceive to be very important to a 
 right understanding of the vision of chap. xvii. or "the. judg- 
 ment of the great whore." I consider the woman to be re- 
 presented at the opening of the vision as seated on the beast, 
 only to shew the position in which she is left at the termina- 
 tion of the reign of the first beast; not as shewing that she 
 continues to exercise the same influence during the career of 
 the second beast. It is exhibited for the purpose of identifica- 
 tion, that we may know that she who is here judged is the 
 same that has previously reigned. 
 
 (3.) The object I have had in view, in leading the reader to 
 the preceding consideration of these chapters of the Apoca- 
 lypse, is to enable him clearly to discern, that supposing popery, 
 as the generality of commentators have concluded, is in its 
 combined political and ecclesiastical characters represented by 
 the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth of chap, 
 xiii., and by the harlot of chap, xvii., yet that there is another 
 antichristian power in ejxistence, whose career is subsequent to 
 the reign of the harlot; and the first of whose acts, like a true 
 wild beast, is to turn and rend her, with whom he has been, 
 under a former aspect, in alliance. — I mean the beast from the 
 bottomless pit. This power ma]j he popery become infidel, 
 and thus, as it were, arise out of it; but it has nevertheless its 
 own peculiar aspect or form. 
 
 Nothing is more remarkable, in the history of prophetical 
 interpretation, than the manner in which most commentators 
 
 * As my object is principally to give information, I ought not to pass over a 
 view which is taken by some, who conceive that the designation in chap. xiii. 
 14 — "the beast which had a wound by the sword and did live" — shews that the 
 second beast arises during the time of the beast from the bottomless pit, and 
 not during the time of the beast from the sea; and if so, that the period in 
 which the false prophet obtains all the power of the first beast is subsequent to 
 the destruction of the harlot. And this is strengthened by the fact, that the 
 false prophet is apparently surviving at the battle of Armageddon, and is 
 taken captive with the beast, and cast into tiie lake of fire. Chap. xix. 20. At 
 the same time, this latter fact is reconcileable according to the former view. 
 For though I take the false prophet and harlot to be one, I nevertheless con- 
 sider, because diflerent symbols are used, that ditierent circumstances of the 
 same subject are designated. Suppose (for example and by way of argument 
 only) that the harlot represents the Romish church as regards her temporali- 
 ties and political power, and the false prophet symbolizes the ministers and 
 members of that church: she may" be completely stripped of her temporalities, 
 and overthrown as an ecclesiastical establishment, whilst yet a bigotied popery 
 may continue to exist, as we know is the case in Ireland and in France. 
 
ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 291 
 
 who applied the Antichrist to the papacy, have perverted and 
 misapplied the mention of the ten horns of the beast, or ten kings, 
 mentioned in chapter xvii. The n;eneral interpretation is, that 
 they agree and give their power to the beast for the purpose 
 of maintaining the supremacy and dominion of the harlot, and 
 that they are the kings who commit fornication with her. 
 But the contrary is most plainly and explicitly declared. They 
 receive powers, as kings only for ''one hoiir^' with the beast 
 (which is apparently the short space during which the judg- 
 ment of the whore takes place,*) for the express purpose of 
 consuming her; for they are said to hate the whore, and to 
 make her desolate and naked, and to eat her flesh, and burn 
 her with fire.t And those kings who have committed forni- 
 cation with her, instead of being the same as those who now 
 judge her, are described "as bewailing her and lamenting for 
 her, when they see the smoke of her burning, s/a/?^//?^)- afar off 
 for the fear of her torment,^' (ch. xviii. 9, 10.) and are evidently 
 afraid of being themselves involved in her judgn:icnt. 
 
 It is not therefore of consequence to my argument that the 
 reader should agree with me respecting the identity of the 
 harlot with the two-horned beast, and some other minor par- 
 ticulars. The great point for consideration, and in regard to 
 which both sides have apparently erred, is, that soine of those 
 (for it is not all) who apply the beast of Rev. xiii. to the 
 papacy, have lost sight of the fact, that, however this may be 
 correct, a strong antichristian power arises up, toward the end, 
 who is made the instrument o( judgment on the harlot, and 
 who makes war against the Lamb, but is triumphantly over- 
 thrown; (see chap. xvii. 14. and xix. 11 — 21.) And that some 
 again have, on the other hand, looking only at this last con- 
 federacy, endeavoured to bend to it and concentrate in it all 
 that is antichristian; overlooking the important fact, that its 
 first actings are directed against son^.e previoiisly existing Sinii- 
 
 * See the expression one hour, in verses 10, 17, and 19, of chapter xix. 
 
 + Mr. Faber is guilt^^ of garblins: the text in this matter, iu a most extra- 
 ordinary way. In order to make out that they support the papacy, he quotes 
 it thus — "The ten horns which thou sawest are the ten kings, which have 
 received no kingdom as yet, but in one hour receive power coiijunclivdy with 
 the wild beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength 
 unto the wild beast. These shall make war with the Lamb. For God hath 
 put into their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree and to give their kingdom 
 unto the wild beast, until the word of God shall be fulfilled. And ihe woman 
 whom thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the 
 earth. Rev. xvii.'' The Mth, 15th, and IGth verses, in which it is said, that 
 the ten horns shall hate the whore, and burn her, are omitted; and the words 
 ^Hhe" and "conjundivelif are inserted, though not in the text, for the purpose 
 of bearing out the assertion that these kings are the same as those mentioned 
 in Daniel, andlhat they all conjunctively "concurred in acknowledging the 
 spiritual supremacy of ihe Latin Patriarch." Vol. i. p. 118. 
 
292 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 christian power, which has already run its race, and become 
 ripe for judgment: and such are at least bound to shew what 
 tliat power is, which has thus been previously existing, and 
 which has both ruled over and corrupted the Roman earth.* — 
 Moreover, it appears to be a legitimate conclusion, (if the 
 Roman empire hath now disappeared, and that it is the fourth 
 empire of Daniel vii.) that the "little horn" of that chapter 
 must likewise have appeared. — For though that empire may 
 revive (as I apprehend it will,) yet must those events have 
 transpired which are foretold as to occur during that period of 
 its existence which has already passed. 
 
 3. We must now proceed to inquire what are the particular 
 principles by which this last form of Antichristianism is in- 
 fluenced; and these I take to be infidel and republican. 
 This is first to be gathered from certain peculiarities and cir- 
 cumstantials to be carefully noticed in these visions. 
 
 (L) The ivjldelily is plainly indicated by the direct and 
 open warfare with "the Lamb," which is made by those kings 
 who constitute the political and military strength of the beast. 
 The beast being said to ascend out of the bottomless jnt is also 
 by some supposed to intimate, that it has its origin in infidel 
 principles; and though this is not conclusive, yet is it difficult 
 to give a more consistent explanation of the symbol. The 
 increase of blasphemy pgainst God is also remarkably indi- 
 cated by the beast being described as '■^ftill of 7iames of blas- 
 phe77iy." The first beast had "upon his heads the name of 
 blasphemy;" but in the instance of the beast from the pit the 
 bodij is filled with blasphemy; from whicli may be inferred 
 that instead of being uttered so immediately by those who 
 constitute the headship, it has spread itself downwards, and 
 pervaded the mass of the population. 
 
 The republica?nsm is to be inferred, First, from the signifi- 
 cant circumstance already named, that the cronm, which was 
 first on the seven heads and then on the ten horns, has now 
 
 * The view of Bengelius is remarkable. He says — "The three following 
 positions are agreeable to truth — 1st. The Beast rising out of the sea is the 
 Hildchrand Pripacy; and Balnjlon is the city or state of Rome, and conse- 
 quently, in and along wilh that, the Church of Borne, now so degenerated 
 from her ancient purity. The difference between them is great, seeing many 
 Catholics are zealous for the Church of Rome and its plausible pre-eminence, 
 who yet bear no good will to the Papacy. 2ndly. The Bear rising out of the 
 bottomless pit, is that singular Antichrist so called — an individual under Avhich 
 the Papal power, which owes its growth to so many important innovations, 
 will be more mischievous than ever. .3rdly. Not only against those who wor- 
 ship the beast out of the bottomless pit, biit also against them who before that 
 time worship the beast out of the sea, is that threatening pronounced which 
 is the greatest in all the scriptures, and which shall resound powerfully from 
 the mouth of the third angel. Rev. xiv. 9—11." Robertson's Translation. 
 Pref. xxix. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 293 
 
 altogether disappeared. Secondly, from what is said in verses 
 10 and 11: "there arc seven kings, &c." — "and the beast that 
 was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven and 
 goeth into perdition." For if these kings signify (as the 
 generality of commentators infer,) seven different forms of 
 government, or seven dillerent headships, it shews that the 
 beast — which is the whole mass of "peoples, multitudes, &c." 
 — has now become the head; that is to say, that the sovereignty 
 is now in the people, and not in some one individual.* The 
 notion of the beast being democratical or republican is farther 
 sustained by his being represented as of scarlet colour, scarlet 
 being an emblem of sovereignty, and thus again pointing out 
 that the sovereignty is in the people. And it is farther worthy 
 of remark, that the ten horns or kings only receive power as 
 kings one hour with the beast; as if they were not really and 
 strictly kings. Their giving their kingdoms to the beast, and 
 receiving power with tlie beast, looks as if they will not be- 
 come revolutionized merely as distinct kingdoms; but as if 
 they will combine together in one vast republic, so that the em- 
 pire will again rise up in its undivided state. 
 
 Another circumstance to be noted likewise is, that in that 
 "great earthquake, (or convulsion,) such as was not since men 
 were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great," 
 not only is the great city Babylon divided thereby, but *'the 
 
 * I have said "(/" these kings signify, &c." because I am not quite satisfied 
 in my own mind with the interpretation commonly given. The ordinary 
 view is, that the phrase "and there are seven kings," is intended as a farther 
 explanation of the seven heads of verse 9; viz. that they are seven mountains, 
 and also seven kings. Bishop Newton, Daubuz, and many others conse- 
 quently introduce 'Hkcif into the translation — "and they are seven kings." 
 The original, which is K:ti li:t.(rtK(7<: iTna il<nv, gives no direct sanction to this 
 reading, though it will bear it. There is also some little obscurity about the 
 mention of the eighth king or head, which is greatly increased by the criti- 
 cisms of expositors. Bengelius,»speaking of the characteristics of a true ex- 
 position of the Apocalypse says— "It must give a reason why the two last of 
 the seven heads of the Beast are called, not the sixth and seventh, but the one 
 and the other king." (p. 271.) I confess I am not one of "seven men who can 
 render a reason" in this instance, neither can I even give an explanation of 
 what he means; for he appears to create a difficulty where none exists. Mr. 
 Faber considers the eighth king to be Ike same as the seventh; "for the wild 
 beast (he says) has in truth no more than seven heads." (vol. iii. p. 181.^ But 
 this is to read "the eighth is the seventh," instead of "of the .seven;" wnich is 
 to pass by the obvious distinctions of scripture. Farther, I am not fully satis- 
 fied with the usual interpretation which makes the seven mountains and kings, 
 seven forms of government; seeing that this is not the meaning of these symbols 
 when used separately in scripture: for kings and mountains hoih signify king- 
 doms. (See p. 137.) I agree, however, with Mr. Ilabershon (if they are to be 
 interpreted of forms of government) that the eighth being "of the seven" 
 will in this case signify the revival of one of the previously existing forms of 
 government— e. g. a dictatorship, or a republic, &c. Whatsoever is repre- 
 sented by these seven kings, they are seven things which follow each other in 
 succession; foi^it is said/"five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet 
 come." 
 
 VOL. II. — 25 
 
294 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 cities of the nations fell." So that if the city Babylon repre- 
 sent a dominant church, which being united to the state has 
 altogether usurped the power over the kingdoms which con- 
 stitute the beast, "the cities of the nations" (or Gentiles) will 
 be the established churches of all other kingdoms, whether in 
 communion with her or not; and which are, by the effects of 
 this mighty revolution, to be subverted or overthrown. 
 
 (2.) Though what has been stated from the Apocalypse, 
 concerning the infidelity and republicanism of the last form of 
 Antichrist, appears to be drawn b}' legitimate inferences from 
 the symbols and structure thereof, yet should 1 be slow to 
 receive it in this sense were it not that the whole view here 
 taken of the Antichrist is borne out b}' other portions of scrip- 
 ture, a i^ew of which must be brought- forward. 
 
 And first some passages shall be adduced from the Psalms, 
 which allude to some great commotion of the populace of the 
 nations in the crisis of the last times, and in which mention is 
 made of their injidelity and their use of the tongue, shewing 
 that the beast himself becomes "the mouth speaking great 
 things," and uttering blasphemies. 
 
 Psalm X. refers entirely to the last apostacy, as is evident 
 from verse 1, which places it in the troublous times; and from 
 the three last verses, which shew the Lord in the sequel to 
 have become king for .ever and ever, to have destroyed the 
 heathen, and to have judged his people. The mouth of the 
 wicked, spoken of herein, is said to be full of cursing, deceit, 
 and fraud; under their tongue is mischief and vanity; (v. 17.) 
 and they contemn God and say in their heart, God will not 
 require it, (v. 11 — 16) thus betraying that they disbelieve the 
 judgment. Psalm xii. speaks also of the period when the Lord 
 will arise on account of the oppression of the poor, and set him 
 in safety from him that puffeth at him. (v. 5.) It shews that 
 at this period the xilesl men will be exalted, and the wicked 
 shall consequently walk on every side; — and that licentious- 
 ness in the use of the tongue will be gloried in; for they shall 
 say, "with our tongue will ice prevail, our lips are our own, 
 who is Lord over us?" — thus also insisting on the sovereignty 
 of the people, and despising government. Psalms xiv. and 
 liii. I may mention together, because nearly alike. St. Paul, 
 in his Epistle to the Romans quotes some sentences from them 
 to prove the general apostasy of the heart of man; but as the 
 former of these Psalms speaks of the time when God shall 
 give salvation to Isrnel out of Zion and turn the captivity of 
 his people; and the latter, of the time when the wicked shall 
 encamp against God, but when he will scatter their bones and 
 put them to shame; it is plain that they chiefly relate to this 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 295 
 
 last apostacy. They are described, then, herein as of an in- 
 fidel — yea, even of an alheislicul — character, saying, 'There is 
 no God,' none of them underslandinjr or seeking after God, 
 their nwulh being full of cursing and bitterness, their throat 
 being an open sepulchre, with tlieir tongues have they deceived, 
 the poison of asps is under their lips. Psalm lii. begins with 
 thus rebuking these: "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, 
 mighty man! The goodness of God endureth continually;'* 
 (intimating that the providerice of God has been denied.) — 
 "Thy tongue deviseth mischief, like a sharp razor working 
 deceitfully." Then at verse 5 it declares, that God will "root 
 them out of the land of the living; and that the righteous shall 
 see it and laugh." Psalm Ixxv. remarkably coincides with 
 what we have considered in the Apocalypse. We have the 
 dissolution of the frame work of the social system, and of all 
 established institutions in verse 3; — the fools dealing foolishly 
 and lifting up their horn on high, supposing that promotion 
 and power comes from them instead of from God, in ver. 4 to 
 7; — the treading the wine-press, or the pouring out the last vial 
 on them, and ihe frai/ing of their ^^horns" verses S — 10 (see 
 also Zech. i. 21;) and all this is at the time when the '^horns^' 
 of the righteous shall be exalted, and Messiah shall receive the 
 congregation of the saints to himself, (verses 2 and 10.) Psalm 
 xciv. is a call upon God to put an end to this tyranny; declaring 
 that the wiokprt now triumph, that they uttor ond epeak hard 
 things, and boast themselves. Here also atheism is plainly 
 charged upon them, in that they are reminded, that he that 
 formed the ear doth himself hear, and he that formed the eye 
 doth assuredly see. And it is farther intimated, that the Lord 
 shall rise up against them and bring upon them their own 
 iniquity, cutting them off in their own wickedness. And 
 finally Psalm cxx. begins with, "What shall be given unto 
 thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongi/e?'' — (an 
 evident prosopopaia for the persons using the tongue,) showing 
 how instrumental the tongue is in this apostacy, and in bring- 
 ing on the war of Armageddon; for "they are for war." But 
 there is reserved for them ''sharp arrows of the mighty with 
 coals of juniper." 
 
 I must next turn to the important prophecy of our Lord in 
 Matt. xxiv. and its parallel in Luke xxi. At verse 21 of 
 Matthew's account of it we are informed of a great tribula- 
 tion, "such as was not since the beginning of the world to this 
 time, nor ever shall be." The parallel place in Luke's ac- 
 count (verses 23, 24) shews that this tril)uhition began with 
 the siege of Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian, and continues 
 through the whole time of Gentile domination, or, in other 
 
296 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 words, during "the times of the Gentiles." For speaking of 
 Jerusalem being compassed with armies, he says, "These be 
 the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may 
 be fulfilled, &c. For there shall be great distress in the land, 
 and wrath upon this people; and they 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."* That which however is 
 chiefly important to observe is, that the passing away of this 
 tribulation shall likewise prove its acme to the Jews (as will 
 appear from Dan. xiii. 1) and likewise a time of unheard-of 
 tribulation to the Gentiles, whose times are then run out. 
 Matthew speaks of it as immediately uflcr the tribulation of 
 those days (v. 29,) and Mark has it, "But in those days, after 
 that tribulation." The character of it is thus described by 
 the Evangelists. St. Luke says — "And there shall be signs 
 in the sun and in the moon and in the stars." Matthew and 
 Mark inform us what those signs are: "the stm shall be dark- 
 ened, and the moon shall not give her light, and tlie stars shall 
 fall from heaven." To this St. Luke adds, that there shall be 
 upon the earth disti'ess of nations with perplexity; the sea and 
 the reaves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for 
 
 * I would here take the opportunity of ohservins;, lest the expression — "This 
 gencroMon s,\\z.\[ not pass avva.| till all be fulfilled" — should prove a stumbling 
 block to the reader, that 1 con.-iLlci ilic wuid -yina or generation to have re- 
 spect to the Jevnsh iialio7i; that being the mode in which our Lord applies the 
 term, calling them "a iiw/j^Z generation," "an evil generation," "an adulteroiis 
 generation," &c. And tlie precise same phrase, which in Matt. xvii. 17 is 
 translated "a;?cn'e;-.sc generation, is in Phil. ii. 5, rendered "a perverse na- 
 tion.'^ I conceive our Lord to mean therefore, that the Jews would continue 
 a people, and remain ?i perverse nation also, during the whole "limes of the 
 Gentiles;" which has been fulfilled in a most extraordinary manner. Dr. 
 Adam Clarke has some excellent remarks in his Commentary on this place, 
 which are to the above ef!ect. He says; "This gencrolion shall not pass, 
 i jfi's* uvTH, this race, i. e. the Jcv's shall not cease from being a distinct people 
 till all the counsels of God relative to them and the Gentiles shall he fulfilled. 
 — Some translate « ytvi^ auryi, this generation, meaning the persons who were 
 then living, that they shonld not die before these signs, &:c. took place; but 
 though this was true, as to the calamities that fell upon the Jews, and the de- 
 struction of their government, temple, &c.; yet as our Lord mentions Jeru- 
 salem continuing to be under the power of the Gentiles, till the fulness of the 
 Gentiles should come in, (i. e.) till all the nations of the world should receive 
 the gospel of Christ, after which the Jews themselves should be converted 
 unto God, (Rom. xi. 25,) I think it more proper not to restrain its meaning to 
 the few years which preceded the destruction of Jerusalem; but to understand 
 it of the care taken by divine Providence to preserve them as a distinct people, 
 and yet to keep them out of their own land and from their temple service." 
 Some, however, instead of >i -yivitt uwrn with the aspirate, read « yina a.v^x with- 
 out the asp\ra.\c, when the rendering of the verse will be, ^^That generation 
 shall not pass away, &c." meaning, that the signs which constitute the tribu- 
 lation of those days should all take place during the lifetime of that genera- 
 tion of men who shall be then existing. See on this subject, Investigator, vol. 
 i. p. 5G, and vol. iv. p. 341. Also Abdiel's Essays, p. 130. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 297 
 
 lookinjj; after those things which are coming on the earth." 
 Then all three conclude, "for the powers of heaven shall be 
 shaken," I have already had an opportunity (see pages 101, 
 102) of shewing that the sun is, in prophetical language, a 
 symbol of the regal power, the moon of ecclesiastical, and the 
 stars o( the aristocracy or nobles both in church and state, and 
 (he heavens the combination of them all: likewise that the sea 
 and the zvaves are symbols which signify the multitude of the 
 people; even as we have just now seen, that "the icalers" on 
 which the whore sitteth are peoples, and multitudes, and na- 
 tions, and tongues.* We have therefore set forth in this pro- 
 phecy of our Lord, the darkening (i. e, the diminishing or ac- 
 tual putting out) of the regal and ecclesiastical powers, and the 
 fall of the aristocracy; and this is to be eflected apparently by 
 the insurrection of the people against their rulers, — "the sea 
 and the waves ruaring,'' — that is, the populace being in a state 
 of commotion and wrath, and thus shaking the political hea- 
 vens. 
 
 This is likewise borne out by the Psalms: as for example in 
 Psalm xlvi. we have, "God is our refuge and strength, a very 
 present help in trouble: therefore will we not fear, though the 
 earth be removed, and though the mountains (i. e. established 
 and settled governments) be carried into the midst of the sea; 
 though the zvalers thereof rour and be troubled; though the 
 7Jiounlalns shake W'lih ihc swelling thereof. " V. 1 — 3. This 
 in the sixth verse is thus explained: "The heathen raged, the 
 kirigdunis were moved, He uttered his voice, — the earth 
 melted.'* In Psalm Ixv. 7, it is also said of God, that "he 
 stilleth the noise of the seas, the 7ioise of their reaves, and (or rather 
 eve?i) the tumult of the people." Isa. v, 29, 30, foretels that "the 
 Lord will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, &c. And 
 in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the 
 sea; and if one look unto* the land, behold darkness and sorrow 
 ("on earth distress with perplexity") and the light is darkened 
 in the heavens thereof.^' Isa. xvii. 12 — 14 is strikingly applica- 
 ble to this point, — "woe to the multitude of niafiy people, which 
 make a noise like the ?wise of the seas; and to the rushing of 
 nations, that make a noise like the rushing of mighti/ waters. 
 The nations shall rush like the rushing of mighty waters: but 
 God shall rebuke them and they shall flee afar off, and shall 
 be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and 
 like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. And, behold, at 
 evening time, trouble; and before the morning he is not. 
 This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them 
 
 • See this subject also set lonh at large in Abdiel's Es.say.s, p. 139. 
 25* 
 
298 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 that rob us." The whole falls in likewise with the description 
 of that awful earthquake in Rev. xi. 17 — 19, which shews also 
 that the events spoken of usher in the first resurrection. — "We 
 give thee thanks, Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, 
 and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great 
 power and hast reigned. And the natio7is icere angry; and thy 
 wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be 
 judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants 
 the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear tliy name 
 both small and great; and shouldcst destroy them which destroy 
 the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and 
 there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament, and there 
 were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earth- 
 quake, and great hail.'' 
 
 (3.) It needs but few remarks in order to point out that 
 "the signs of the times" are awfully corresponding with the 
 state of things here described. Since the French revolution 
 we have seen the thrones of the continental kingdoms shaken 
 to their foundations, and a republican spirit has pervaded the 
 whole mass of the ten kingdoms of the papal beast, and is now 
 ready to burst forth, like an eruption of volcanic matter, and 
 overwhelm them all. We have seen France, Belgium, Italy, 
 Poland, and other places, affected by the revolutionary spirit, 
 the chief incitement to which is the democratic virus. In 
 Spain the struggle is chiefly between republicans and the dis- 
 ciples of ultra-despotism and intolerance. In Portugal Don 
 Pedro was obliged to affect the liberal, and to make large con- 
 cessions to the popular spirit, before he had any prospect of 
 success. We already, indeed, see in that country and in Spain, 
 what has been previously witnessed in France, viz. the tem- 
 poralities of the papal ecclesiastical establishments taken from 
 them; thus shewing that the ten kingdoms thereof are begin- 
 ning to make the whore "desolate and naked, and to eat her 
 flesh, &c." Rev. xvii. 16. Nor is royalty alone the object 
 of present attack: the nobles of every rank are likewise aimed 
 at. They have been temporarily extinguished in France, and 
 they have more recently been despoiled of their hereditary 
 honours, and the cry of '^Doim with the Lords!" in our country 
 is becoming very plain and unequivocal. Still more clearly 
 has the hoarse croak of war against the prelates, and against all 
 established churches, been heard; and I fear it will, ere long, 
 be as distinctly heard assailing all that appears to be associated 
 with or to plead for the authority of divine Revelation. 
 When the war against the Lamb commences with the outworks 
 of religion, the attack upon the citadel itself may reasonably 
 be expected. And as thus Europe is threatened with the 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 299 
 
 darkening of her sun and moon, and the putting out of her 
 stars, so do we clearly see that instrumentality in motion, 
 which is to effect their temporary destruction — "the sea and 
 the waves roaring." The perilous condition of rulers, govern- 
 ments and nobles arises from the revolutionary and levelling 
 spirit which exists among the people; which democratic spirit 
 has been greatly fed and strengthened by the large concessions 
 which are continually making to it. For numbers of men, 
 whose principles, from their rank and station in society, must 
 be opposed to it, are nevertheless found flattering this spirit 
 and crouching to it, as being apparently tlie surest path to po- 
 litical power; and are actually promoting their own destruc- 
 tion by means of a spurious and infidel liberalism. 
 
 I need not enlarge by pointing out the increase of hifidelily, 
 as exhibited in its public features. Complete toleration is 
 now given to publications of the most blaspliemous and atro- 
 cious character; and tliose who pander to the public appetite 
 find, that ihcij are the most successful, who are the most bold 
 to "speak against dignities," and to revile what is sacred in 
 religion. Both in this country indeed, and on the continent, 
 there are places opened in the larger towns, upon the Sabbath 
 day, in which infidelity and blasphemy are set forth, and prin- 
 ciples are avowedly broached which are subversive of the 
 present order of things. 
 
 (4.) There is one other circumstance connected with the 
 character and actings of this last form of Antichrist, as revealed 
 in the scriptures, which must not be passed over: viz. that the 
 last apostacy, out of which he will be matured, will be greatly 
 aided and brought about by professors of Christianity who are 
 heretics and schismatics. I feel reluctant to enter on this point, 
 as seeming to reflect on those among whom I believe there are 
 yet many people of the Lord. But I must not allow myself, 
 in a work which professes to place before the reader the ele- 
 ments of prophetical interpretation, to neglect a point of so 
 great importance; and I would fain hope it may prove of use 
 to those who are indeed the Lord's people among them. The 
 character of Dissent is, alas! within these few years, become 
 fearfully identified, in its political actings, with the papal beast 
 on the one hand, and with the liberal-infidel beast on the 
 other; and if the scriptural view which is now about to be 
 brought forward should be the means of startling some, and 
 leading them to get up from about the tents of those wicked 
 men and touch nothing of theirs, lest they be consumed in all 
 their sins, I shall have reason to be thankful. 
 
 The first portion to which I would draw attention is the 
 second epistle of Peter, beginning chapter ii. to verses 3, 4 of 
 
300 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 chapter iii. In this passage, false prophets are spoken of, who 
 are privily to bring in damnable heresies, ^'denying the Lord 
 that bought them." Ch. ii. 1. They are described as moved 
 by covetousness, (v. 3 and 14,) in which respect they "follow 
 the way of Balaam, who loved the 2cages of unrighteousness.'' 
 Ver. 15. They are farther described as "walking in the lust 
 of uncleanness, and despismg government," — <'presumptous are 
 they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities." 
 Ver. 10. They speak great su-cUing nords of vanity, (ver. 18;) 
 they make great talk about liberty, but are themselves the ser- 
 vants of corruption, (ver. 19;) and especially they turn to scoff 
 the promise of the second advent of the Lord. Chap. iii. 3, 4. 
 That they are to appear in the "last days" is also declared, 
 chap. iii. 3, and is further apparent from its being said, chap, 
 ii. 3, that Xhe'ir judgment, now of a long time, "lingereth not." 
 Now whoever will attentively compare the. epistle of St. 
 Jude will see, that he speaks of precisely the same persons.* 
 And he declares of them, "These be they who separate them- 
 selves, sensual, having not the Spirit." Ver. 19. So that as 
 Peter describes them to be heretics, Jude shews them to be 
 schismatics; — persons who refuse to submit themselves to every 
 ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, (1 Peter ii. 13.) — men 
 who prefer their own self-willed notions, and despise the au- 
 thority of the Lord that bought them. Jude likewise describes 
 them as "denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus 
 Christ;" — as perishing in "the gainsaying of Core," (or Ko- 
 rah,) who rebelled against the ministers of the Lord's appoint- 
 
 * This will be evident from the following particulars: — 
 
 Pkter says — 
 
 1. In the last days shall come secffers, 
 (chap. iii. 3.) who walk after the 
 flesh, in the lust of uncleanness, 
 (chap. ii. 10.) 
 
 2. They follow the way of Balaam, 
 &c. ver. l.'j. 
 
 ^>. They despise government, and are 
 not afraid to speak evil of digni- 
 ties: — whereas angels bring not rail- 
 ing accu.sation. (ver. 10, 11.) 
 
 4. They, as natural brute beasts, speak 
 evil of the things they understand 
 not. (ver. 12,) 
 
 fj. They are wells wiihinU water, 
 clouds that are carried with a tem- 
 pest, to whom the mist of darkness 
 is reserved for ever. (ver. 17.) 
 
 And other parallelisms may be found, leading to the conclusion that Jude 
 must have written from the epistle it.self of Peter. 
 
 JuDK says — 
 
 1. The apostles told you before, that 
 there should be mockers in the last 
 time, who should walk after iheir 
 ungodly lusts, (ver. 17, 18.) 
 
 2. They run greedily after the error 
 of Balaam, (ver. 11.) 
 
 3. They despise dominion, and speak 
 evil of dignities: whereas Michael 
 the archangel durst not bring a rail- 
 ing accusation against the devil, 
 (ver. 8, 9.) 
 
 4. They speak evil of those things^ 
 which they knownot,and what they 
 know naturally, as brute beasts, in 
 those things "they corrupt them- 
 selves, (ver. 10.) 
 
 5. They are clouds without water, 
 cariied about of winds; to whom is 
 reserved the blackness of darkness 
 forever, (ver. 12, 13.) 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 30I 
 
 ment, (Numbers xvi.) — and as "raging waves of the sea, foaming 
 out their own shaiTie;" which, taken with their speaking evil 
 of dignities, conlirms what has been said of "//je sea and the 
 waves roari?ig;^' and he says that (hey are "mnrmiirers, com- 
 plaincrs, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth 
 speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admi- 
 ration because of advantage. Ver. 13 and 16. Jude also 
 brings these into the crisis of the last times, b}' farther telling 
 us, that the Lord conieth with myriads of his saints, to exe- 
 cute judgment on them. Ver. 14, 15. 
 
 If we turn next to St. John, we shall find allusion to what 
 are apparently the same men, and tiicy are especially by him 
 declared to be limbs or members of the Atilichnst. In his first 
 Epistle, chap. ii. 22, he says — "He is Antichrist that denieth 
 the Father and the Son;" which is evidently akin to the heresy 
 of those who de?n/ (as Peter has it) the Lord that bought them, 
 and (as Jude has it) who de?)y the only Lord God, and our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Again he declares of them — "As ye have heard 
 that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Anti- 
 christs; whereby we know that it is the last time. They icent 
 out from us, but tiiey were not of us; for if they had been of us 
 they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went 
 out, that they might be made manifest, that they were not all 
 of us." Ver. IS, 19. Here it is evident that they are sepa- 
 ratists; they are also declared to be false prophets, deceivers, and 
 seducers, in like manner as Peter and Jude describe them. See 
 1st epi. ii. 26; iv. 1; 2nd epi. v. 7. 
 
 St. Paul likewise seems to speak of the same parties in 2 
 Tim. iii. 1 — 5, where he describes the sort of men who sliall 
 come in the last days and produce the perilous times thereof. 
 They are covetous, proud, blasphemers, heady, high-minded, com- 
 bined with various other.characteristics described by him: and 
 especially "having a form of godliness and denying the power 
 thereof." They are likened to Jannes and Jambres who 
 withstood Moses, (v. S,) as "evil men and seducers, who wax 
 worse and worse, deceiving and beitig deceived," (v. 13;) and 
 he is admonished that the lime will come when men will not 
 endure sound doctrine; "but after their own lusts shall they heap 
 to themselves teachers, having itching ears;" (iv. 3) which sen- 
 tence is evidently pointed at the animus which produces dissent 
 and schism.* 
 
 * The Reader is referred to an exposition at length of this passage of the 
 epistle to Timothy, contained in "Abdiel's Essays," page '201; and to an admi- 
 rable paper in the "Investisator of Prophecy," vol. i. on the typical character 
 of the rebellion of Korah, Dalhan, nnd Abiram. Dr. Hildrop also in his work 
 on Antichrist? seems to think that Dissenters will be the chief means of bring- 
 ing in the Antichrist. 
 
302 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 The special duties in regard to these men, which are re- 
 quired of those who fear God, are earnestly to contend for the 
 faith, (Jude 3,) to take special heed unto prophecy, (2 Peter i. 
 19, and iii. 2) to continue in the diligent study of the scrip- 
 tures, (2 Tiin, iii. 13 — 17,) and to "turn away" from those 
 who are seduced by this spirit of Antichrist; (ibid. iii. 5, and 
 2 John 10,) yet "of some to have compassion, making a dif- 
 ference; and otiiers to save with fear, pulling them out of the 
 fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Jude 
 22,23.* 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE TEN kingdoms; THE NAME OF THE BEAST; THE TWO 
 
 witnesses; — the prophetical dates. 
 
 There are a fevv important features connected with the 
 prophecies concerning Antichrist, as contained in Daniel and 
 St. John, which were not dwelt upon in the former chapter, 
 in order that the main subject of inquiry might not be inter- 
 rupted: tlicy cannot however be passed over wiiliout a more 
 distinct notice, and it is purposed therefore to advert to them 
 in the present chapter. The first to which the attention of the 
 reader is requested is — 
 
 THE TEN kingdoms. 
 
 I. The fourth beast of Daniel vii., it will be recollected, is 
 represented to the prophet as having ten hortis, (v. 7;) which 
 horns are explained to be <'ten kings that shall arise," (v. 24;) 
 
 * I have not taken notice of the particulars in Daniel vii. viii. and xi. and 
 other prophecies brought forward in the previous sections of this chapter which 
 may be considered to apply specially, or else in a secondary sense, to infidel 
 antichristianism. For as particular features of the prophecies seem more 
 especially to suit popery, or Mahometanism, though a sort of family likeness 
 may be traced in all; so is it in regard to the infidel Antichrist; some portions 
 appear intended for it more especially, though a certain similitude will doubt- 
 less be found in many others. When, e. g. at the French revolution, the 
 Christian Era was abolished, and weeks were changed to Decades, we seem 
 to see the horn that thinks to change times and laws. At that time also we 
 especially see "a moulh opened in blasphemy," and the majesiy of the people 
 exalted '-above every thing that is called God and that is worshipped," as is 
 stated of the Man of Sin. And various similar points of resemblance may no 
 doubt be traced. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 303 
 
 and from a comparison of verses 17 and 23 it will be seen that 
 the word king is used synonymously for kingdom. The beast 
 of Rev. xiii. is likewise represented as having seven heads and 
 ten horns, and upon his horns ten crorcns, (v. 1:) on which 
 beast, with some alterations in his aspect, the harlot, as we 
 have seen, of chap. xvii. is represented sitting "as a queen;" 
 and in this chapter again, the ten horns are explained to be ten 
 kings who had received no kingdom as yet. V. 12. 
 
 1. From these premises the early Christian fathers concluded, 
 that, as the Roman empire in its entire slate corresponded to 
 the fourth beast of Daniel, so it was to be broken up into ten 
 different states; and (what is of still greater importance to 
 observe,) they concluded, that, however the mystery of ini- 
 quity were already working, yet that Antichrist would not be 
 manifested to the church in those decided characteristics 
 whereby he should be known, until after this partition of the 
 empire. They concluded indeed, tiiat, as Antichrist was him- 
 self to obtain the dominion and exalt himself above all that is 
 called God and that is worshipped, so the withholding cause 
 mentioned in 2 Thess. ii. 6, which prevented the man of sin 
 from being revealed, was no other than the continuance of the 
 Roman empire in its integrity. 
 
 As regards the expected division of the empire into ten 
 kingdoms, Jerome, upon Daniel vii., declares it to have been 
 the opinion of all ecclesiastical writers before his time. And 
 abundant testimony may be adduced, that they likewise con- 
 sidered the Empire in its entire state, (or, in other words, the 
 supreme power of the emperors,) to have been ihal u-hich uilh- 
 held. Thus Tertullian, asking this question, Who is it that 
 'Hellclh?'' answers — "Who but the Roman State? the division 
 of which, when it is scattered among ten kings, shall bring in 
 Antichrist, and then shaH that wicked one be revealed." De 
 Resur. Carnis, Cap. xxiv. Chrysostom, in his fourth Homily 
 on 2 Thess. ii. says of the same words — ^'Thul is ihe Roman 
 Empire: when that is taken away, then /?e(the antichrist) shall 
 come." Many others might be instanced; but I come down 
 again to the times of Jerome, because it was in the latter period 
 of his life* that those irruptions of the barbarian nations into 
 the Roman Empire took place, which finally terminated in its 
 entire conquest and dismemberment. And that he held the 
 opinion just stated, and considered that he now beheld that 
 very event come to pass which was to bring in the manifesta- 
 tion of Antichrist, is evident from the following passage in his 
 epistle to Gcrontia, written when Rome was taken by Alaric: 
 "He who hindered is taken out of the way, and we consider 
 ♦ He died about a. d. 420. 
 
304 ELEMENTS OF FROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 not that antichrist is at hand, whom the Lord shall consume 
 with the spirit of his mouth."* Certainly it is from the period 
 of the bi caking up of the empire by the Gothic and Vandalic 
 powers that we may trace the great advance of Papal usurpa- 
 tions, and the recognition and establishment of some of the 
 most marked features of it by authoritative decrees. 
 
 2. With regard to the number of kingdoms into which the 
 empire of the Beast was to be divided, some interpreters con- 
 sider liiat the number tefi is to be understood in a figurative or 
 tropical sense, as signifying an indefinite or large number; 
 which meaning it undoubtedly has in some places of scripture; 
 e. g. Gen. xxxi. 7. Numbers xiv. 22. Neh. iv. 12. Job xix. 3; 
 Zech. viii. 23. Such was the view taken by Dr. W. Fulke, 
 in 1557, as may be seen in his exposition of the New Testa- 
 ment on 2 Thess. ii. 6; and Mr. Cuninghame, in the present 
 day, lays it down as the chief principle which he regards, and 
 all that can be reasonably required of an Expositor to prove; 
 though he proceeds nevertheless to shew, that these kingdoms 
 have actually been about ten in number. The principal objec- 
 tion to viewing the number /ew in this instance, as an indefinite 
 but large number, is the circumstance that such a mode of in- 
 terpretation violates the principle of homogeneity. For if the 
 ten horns are to be explained on this principle, why should 
 there not be a mystical interpretation given to the number 
 seven in the seven heads of the beast? Besides which, the fact 
 that the little horn, which arises in the midst of the ten, plucks 
 up three of them, seems clearly to indicate that the numeral 
 ten is not to be understood in a mystical, but in a literal sense. 
 
 3. Most interpreters, therefore, look for ten kingdoms 
 exactly, and seek them in the western empire, which they 
 consider to be more properly Rome, but some discrepancy 
 exists in the lists which they have brought forward, arising 
 principally from their fixing on different periods at which the 
 enumeration ought to be dated. Mede and Whiston, for ex- 
 ample, date the final division of the empire from a. d. 456, 
 Dr. Allix places it in a. d. 4S6, Mr. Faber fixes on a. d. 568,t 
 and Bishop Newton dates from the beginning of the eighth 
 century. J The principle of territorial division, which supposes 
 
 * Sec more to tliis effect in Mede and Bishop Newton. 
 
 t Ml. P'aher fixes on ihi.s date air^ being that of the establishment of the last 
 of the ten Gothic horns; the Lombards having then settled themselves in 
 Pannonia. But Mr. Cuninghame, in his "Critical Examination of Faber," 
 &c. KuccLSsfully shews that he errs in this respect by 42 years, and that the 
 true date of their establishment is a. d. 526. 
 
 t The Rev. S. R. Maitiand lays considerable stress upon this circumstance, 
 as an argument against the application of the prophecy to those kingdoms 
 into which the western empire was divided at the period which has been 
 named; and observes: — "Let the reader only look at the various lists which 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 395 
 
 the ten kingdoms, as at first divided, to continue througli all 
 their political mutations, appears to be the correct mode of 
 proceeding in this matter. Sir Isaac Newton advocates this 
 principle in reference to the four 6t'«A/i' of Daniel vii., (Obs. on 
 Dan. p. 13.) on tlic ground that the lives of the three first 
 beasts are said to be prolonged for a season and time, (Dan. 
 vii, 12.) after their dommioji is taken away. And so likewise 
 the gold, the silver, and the brass, in the image of Dan. ii. are 
 said to be broken together with tlie iron and clay: (v. 35.) 
 therefore they must be viewed as having still existed accord- 
 ing to the ancient territorial boundaries of those empires.* 
 Bishop Newton and Bishop Hard both follow this principle, 
 in their interpretation of the image and the four beasts; and 
 Mr. Frere, who likewise adopts it, extends its application to 
 the ten kingdoms.! (Comb. View, p. 160.) On no other prin- 
 
 have been made by learned men, and I think he will have no doubt, that if 
 the number mentioned by Daniel had been nine or eleven, the right number 
 would have been found among those petty kingdoms, whose unsettled state 
 renders it so easy to enumerate them variously.'' Enquiry, &c. p. 41. The 
 same argument might be applied with equal force to the tribes of Israel, 
 which yet are always spoken of as twelve, notwithstanding their temporary 
 changes. Sometimes we find, in the holy scriptures, in the enumeration of 
 these tribes, Joseph divided into Ephraim and Manasseh, and thus made ttuo 
 of; sometimes Dan is omitted, and sometimes Levi; so that in </a5 instance the 
 lists do not agree, and had the number been eleven or tkirteen it might have 
 been found. There are great discrepancies also among interpreters in the 
 enumeration of the four kingdoms which comprised the four horns which 
 arose when the great horn of the goat was broken, Dan. viii. 8. Certainly a 
 fifth might, in this instance, be found, were it needful; and yet we know that 
 the goat was Greece, from the text itself; and that the partition must be dated 
 from the death of Alexander. This objection therefore has no weight in re- 
 ference to the ten kingdoms. 
 
 * It may be well here to make another obseryalion respecting the image of 
 Daniel ii. Some writers consider the ^'toes" of that image to symbolize the 
 same ten kingdoms as the ten horns of the fourth beast of chap, vii; to which 
 it is objected, that in such case the ten kingdoms should be divided among 
 the eastern and western empires* supposed to besymbolized by the two legs, 
 and not that the ten toes shoiild be all on one foot. It appears, however, ques- 
 tionable to me, whether the Holy Spirit has here intended us to lobk for an 
 enumeration oi ten kingdoms in the toes, any more than for ten kingdoms in 
 the second empire, symbolized by the breast and arms of silver, because those 
 arms must have had <e?i //i^ers appended to them. The numeral ten is not 
 mentioned in the vision, but'only "the toes" of the image indefinitely; and the 
 object of their mention appears to be merely to shew to the church tiie charac- 
 ter of the fourth empire in the last days of its existence, just before it is pounded 
 to pieces by the little stone; viz. that though there will remain the strength of 
 trojj. in it, yet that there will likewise be found a principle of 7/»crtZue.ss and 
 disunion in the kingdoms which comprise it, so that though they may combine 
 together for certain political ends, they cannot cordially cohere. 
 
 t Mr. Frere makes the following remark relative to the four beasts, as an 
 additional argument for applying the principle of territorial division, viz. 
 "that because the kingdom of Babylon formed the first beast, and Asia Minor 
 with Upper Asia formed together part of the third beast, therefore these three 
 provinces are <tfcidedly excluded from the second beast, and are represented as 
 VOL. 11.-26 
 
306 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION, 
 
 ciple can the prophecy be successfully applied to Papal times. 
 For the kingdom of the Heruli, in Italy, which has been num- 
 bered among the te7i, was overthrown within twenty years 
 after its establishment. That of the Visigoths in Spain is con- 
 sidered to have ended in 714: the kingdom of the Angles, in 
 Britain, was broken by the Danish and Norman conquests;* 
 and indeed tlie Franks or French may be considered as the 
 only people of Europe whose succession from the original 
 conquerors of the western empire has not been interrupted. 
 
 4. In the mean while, however the application of this parti- 
 tion of the empire into ten kingdoms may seem to want 
 exactness, as applied to the condition of papal Rome at some 
 particular periods, there are two or three remarkable facts 
 which must not be lost sight of by the student of prophecy, 
 and which are far more difficult to account for, if we reject 
 this application, than are the discrepancies already noticed. 
 First, there did occur, just previous to or about the period 
 from which the most respectable expositors have dated the 
 revelation of the papal Antichrist, a disruption of the Roman 
 empire, which was divided into several petty kingdoms. 
 Secondly, the number of these kingdoms has been enumerated 
 at ten, in the general, by writers whose prejudices would na- 
 turally have led them to dispute the fact, and by writers also 
 who have had no eye to prophecy. x\mong the former class 
 may be named the Roman Catholic expositors; as Calmet, who 
 on Rev. xiii. 1, admits that the Roman empire was by the in- 
 cursions of the northern nations dismembered into ten king- 
 doms: and he refers to the testimony on this point of Beren- 
 gaud, Bossuet, and Du Pin. Bishop Walmesley likewise, 
 
 three ribs in the mouth of the bear, or flesh that he had seized to devour; the 
 representation pointing out, that these three provinces would be overrun and 
 subdued by the Modes and Persians." Page 138. 
 
 * A consideration of considerable interest to the inhabitants of this country 
 is, whether Britain can witii propriety be at all considered as one of the ten 
 horns of the western Roman empire. A series of prophetical papers, evidently 
 written by an able hand, appeared in the Christian Guardian for 1830, the 
 author of which contends for its exclusion principally on the ground that 
 England was only subdued by the Romans a. d. 78, and was abandoned by them 
 about the time of Thcodosius, and that the western or proper Roman empire, 
 as left by Theodosius to Hoiiorius, never exercised any dominion in the 
 island. Page 135. It is surprising that Mr. Faber did not likewise exclude 
 Britain; for he says — "In regard to the Anglo Saxon horn, I conceive, on 
 every just principle of consistency, that we have no prophetic concern save 
 with Hengist's original kingdom of Kent. The common idea, that the seven 
 kingdoms of the Heptarchy constitute jointly the sini;le Anglo Saxon horn, 
 strikes upon my own apprehensions as intolerable." Sac. Cal. vol. i. p. 152. 
 And yet the awkwardness does not seem to occur to Mr. Faber, that on this 
 view, in all the transactions of this country with the papacy as a horn of the 
 Papal beast, the guilt was incurred, and the judgment was con.scquently pro- 
 voked, on the inhabitants ol Kent only, and not on Britain in general. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL LXTERPRETATION. 397 
 
 (the Roman Catliolic author of a modern treatise on Prophecy 
 under the assumed name of Sio;nor Pastorini,) admits that the 
 ten horns on the head of the Roman heast is the dividing of 
 the western empire by the ten barbarous nations that invaded 
 it in the fifth century. P. 132. Among the latter class is 
 Procopius, (largely quoted from by Bishop Walmesley, and 
 whom Dr. Worthington calls '*half christian, half heathen;") 
 JNIachiavel, who was also a papist, (Hist. Hor. Lib. i.) and 
 Gibbon, who will not be suspected of leaning to the protestant 
 system of interpretation. The third iact is that three of these 
 kingdoms became the immediate temporal possessions or pa- 
 trimony of the popes; even as it was foretold in Daniel, that 
 before the little horn three of the ten should be plucked up 
 by the roots. 
 
 5. The three horns thus plucked up are with tolerable una- 
 nimity declared to be Rome, Lombardy, and Ravenna, which 
 have now formed the papal territories for more than a thou- 
 sand years; though some few interpreters consider these now 
 as forming only one kingdom, or horn, and look out for nine 
 others in addition. The following table, which is taken from 
 an interesting and forcible "Treatise on the 1260 days of 
 Daniel and St. John, &c." by the Rev. W. Digby, will shew 
 how far the more eminent writers concur in regard to the re- 
 maining seven. The dash intimates the instances in which 
 they are not unanimous. — 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 tj 
 
 s 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Names 
 of the 
 
 1 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 .2i 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 3 
 
 Kingdoms. 
 
 ^ 
 
 •^ 
 
 g 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Si 
 
 fo 
 
 
 1 
 
 Vandals . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 . () 
 
 2 
 
 Suevi . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 Alans . . . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Burgundians . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 7 
 
 5 Franks . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 7 
 
 6 jVisigoths . . 
 
 7 lAnglo-Saxons 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 7 
 
 To the above may be added, with as little discrepancy as to 
 specific designation, only substituting in some instances the 
 modern names of those kingdoms, the lists presented by Bi- 
 shop Chandler, Daubuz, Dr. Allix, and Messrs. Cuninghame, 
 Frere, and Habershon.* 
 
 * I must not pass over the enumeration of those who have looked for the 
 ten kingdoms in both legs of the image. In I^IO, Eberard, bishop of Saltz- 
 
308 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 THE NAME AND NUMBER OP THE BEAST. 
 
 II. The next particular which comes before us is, The name 
 and number of the heast, mentioned in Rev. xiii. 18; and which 
 has perhaps been more discussed and controverted, and still 
 remains in greater uncertainty, than any other prophetical 
 problem. 
 
 1. The first point necessary to be determined is, to which 
 of the hvo beasts in tliat chapter does the name belong, the len- 
 horned beast, or the /zco-horned beast. Great names are arrayed 
 on both sides the question;* but the following arguments, 
 the substance of which may be found in Dr. A. Clarke's Com- 
 mentary on this place, appear to have some cogency. First, 
 that in Rev. xv. 2, mention is made of them that had gotten 
 the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over the 
 7mmber of his name: and which is supposed to indicate two 
 distinct anti-christian powers, — viz. the beast, and also the 
 number of his name, or the second beast. Secondlij, from a 
 comparison of this latter passage with Rev. xix. 20. In the 
 latter the words are-:-<'And the beast was taken, and with 
 him the false prophet, that wrought miracles before him, with 
 whicli he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, 
 and them that worship his image." Here nothing is said of 
 the number of his name, so particularly mentioned in chap. xv. 
 2, whilst in that chapter nothing is mentioned oi the false pro- 
 phet; the reason of which is assumed to be, that what is termed 
 in one passage the mimber of his name, is in its parallel one 
 called the false prophet; and consequently that it is this beast 
 which is numbered. + Thirdly, "the number of the beast'' 
 being in chap. xiii. 18. explained to be "the number of a 
 ma?}," is thought to add the last degree of certainty to the 
 
 burg, in the diet at Ralisbon said. — "Reges decern pariter exisUint, qui orbem 
 terra, Romatnim quondam imperiiim, non ad regendum, sed ad consumen- 
 dum partiti sunt. Decern conma, id quod D'Aurelio Augu.stino incredibile 
 visum est,— Turci, Grscci, jEgypti, Afri, Hispani, Galli, Angli, Gerraani, 
 Siculi, Itali,— Romanas provincias possident, &c." (apud Aventin ex Catalog. 
 Test. Lib. xvi.) And at the time of the Reformation, the following have been 
 numbered, viz. — 1 Italy and Germany, 2 France, 3 Spain, 4 England and Ire- 
 land, 5 Scotland, G Hungary, 7 Poland and Lithuania, 8 Denmark with Swe- 
 den and Norway, !) Portugal, 10 the Greek empire devolved on the Ottomans. 
 
 * Lord Napier, Winston, Bp. Newton, Faber, &c. assign it to ihe firs/ beast: 
 Dr. H. More, Pyle, Kershaw, Galloway, Bichcno, Dr. Hales, &c. refer it to 
 the second. Dr.'^. Gill, Reader, and Clarke think it belongs to bot/i.—See Dr. 
 A. Clarke's Comm. in toco. 
 
 t This argument is not altogether conclusive: for the false prophet is said 
 (Rev. xix. 20) by his miracles to deceive them that had received the mark of 
 /hi: /icas/, meaning evidenUy of the Jirs/ beast; and it is probable, as will pre- 
 sently be shown, that this warA is no other than the identical nuvihcr oi the 
 beast, seeing that the nuviber itself is not mentioned. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 399 
 
 matter: because the ten-horned beast is never called, or spoken 
 of, other than as a beast; whereas the two-horned beast is 
 styled the false prophet, which gives to it the character of a 
 man. 
 
 2. The next point is, what are we to understand by the 
 name and number of the name of the beast. Some interpreters 
 have treated this matter as if the name were one thing, and the 
 number altogether different and distinct from it. Learned 
 commentators however (as Grotius, Cressener, Daubuz, New- 
 ton, Clarke, and oihers,) have abundantly shewn, that in St. 
 John's time it was customary for every heathen god to have a 
 particular fraternity or society belonging to him; and the mode 
 of admitting into these societies was, by giving them some 
 hieroglyphic mark in their hands or foreheads, which was 
 rendered sacred to that particular god: as, for example, an 
 ivy-leaf io shew that they belonged to Bacchus; or, by mark- 
 ing them with the letters of the name of that god, which were 
 commonly transposed; or with the numeral cyphers which the 
 letters of their name numbered. Thus the name of Jupiter, as 
 'H ao;^-*,, or the beginning of things, was signified by the number 
 717, &c.; the name of the sun, as m;, good, by the number 60S.* 
 And Barnabas in his Epistle (cap. vii.) says, the Christians 
 first wrote the name of Jesus by a cypher or abbreviation, thus 
 iHT, which, he says, expresses the number 318; the t being 
 placed for the cross, and the m for Jesus. The object was to 
 conceal the name, so that none but those initiated into their 
 mysteries might understand its meaning; and this might easily 
 be effected by means of the sum of the numerals. 
 
 Thus tlien the number of the beast is declared in Rev. xiii. 
 IS, to be x^'^ — which is evidently propounded as a mystery; 
 and the mind that hath wisdom is invited to count or explain 
 it. And it has a threefold character. For, first, it is the 
 mark, or charagma, of the beast, which is imprinted on the 
 forehead or in {he right hand of his subjects; (v. 16) which is 
 wiiat led me, in the note on the last page, to observe that the 
 number is not mentioned in chap. xix. 20, seeing that ihemark 
 is mentioned. t For, secondly, the mark is the tiutiiber, these 
 three letters being three cyphers. And, thirdly, under the 
 number expressed by these three cyphers, viz. G66, is com- 
 prised the name-X 
 
 * Numerous examples are to be found in Mariianus Capella. lib. ii. 
 
 t Yerse 17 appears to be explicit on this point — "And that no man might 
 buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the numbeF 
 of his name; which if compared with verse 1(> du not seem to mean three dis- 
 tinct things, but one thing; each term being expletive of the former. 
 
 t It must b? borne in mind that the Arabian characters for numerals were 
 not introduced till about the tenth century; so that in the apostle's time there 
 20* 
 
310 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 3. Passing on then to the interpretation of this number, the 
 early Fathers seem never to have thought of any other mode 
 than that of bringing forward some word, the value of the nu- 
 meral letters of which, when added together, makes 666. 
 Those of them who lived nearest to the times of the apostles, 
 seem to have taken the Greek language as the basis of the cal- 
 culation, all the letters of which have a numeral signification; 
 but afterwards it came to be disputed whether the enumeration 
 should be in Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, or Latin. Those who 
 adopt the Hebreio do it on account of the Hebraisms contained 
 in the Apocalypse, and more particularly on account of the 
 express allusion to words in "the Hebrew tongue," as Abaddon 
 and Annageddon. Rev. ix. 11; xvi. 16. Those who advocate 
 the Syriac do it on the ground, that Syriac was the vernacular 
 tongue of Palestine, as is supposed. The Latin seems to be 
 sustained by no argument beyond its being the prevalent lan- 
 guage of the Roman empire. The Greek claims the decided 
 preference; first, from the circumstance of the Apocalypse 
 having been written in that language; and, secondly, from the 
 fact that the Greek has ever been the standard of reference 
 among critics, so far as the New Testament is concerned, 
 throughout the Christian Church. Moreover, there are refer- 
 ences equally express in the Apocalypse to the signification of 
 words in the Greek tongue, (if that be considered of moment;) 
 as Apollyon, Rev. ix. 11.' 
 
 Other modes of interpreting the number of the beast have 
 been suggested in later periods of the Church.* Many have 
 supposed it to have a reference to time, comprehending a pe- 
 riod of 666 years. In the year 1213, Pope Innocent III. ex- 
 horted the Christians to the recovery of the holy land, in the 
 hope they should be more successful since the 666 years from 
 the rise of Mahomet were then run out; thus taking the Sara- 
 cens to be the beast. In 1481 Joannes Viterbiensis, who took 
 the Turks to be the beast, gave Sextus IV. great hope on simi- 
 
 was no other means of expressing; a number but by letters as cj'phers, or by 
 writing it in full, — as six hundred three score and six. Grotius and Mill have 
 affirmed, that the original MSS. of the apostles were not written with cypher 
 letters, or abbreviations, and that they were not used till after the third or 
 fourth century. This is however a palpable oversight; for in the times of 
 Irena:^us he accounts for the circumstance that some MSS. had GIG instead of 
 6G6, by supposing, that, by mistake, I had been substituted for S, and thus that 
 it had been written ;^/s-' instead of >^s-'. Moreover he states that the latter 
 reading was found in all the best MSS. and that it was the same in the time 
 of St. John. Lib. v. cap. 30. And this 1 consider all that need be said in order 
 completely to refute the system of Archbishop Laud, now revived by Profes- 
 sor Lee, &c. who adopt this exploded number G16 on the authority merely 
 of the Codices of Petavius, a French Jesuit. 
 
 ♦ Some of the early Fathers also distinguished between the viark of the 
 Beast and his nvmher; and accounted the mark to be circumcision, which to- 
 gether with the burdensome obligations of the Mosaic ritual they thought 
 Antichrist would restore. See Montague's "Appello Cojsarem." 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 31 J 
 
 lar ground. Luther afterwards expounded the duration of the 
 papacy as 666 years, beginning; with Pope Hildebrand: and so 
 likewise did Bibliander and Capellus.* Their system how- 
 ever has been sufliciently disproved by the event. 
 
 Mr. Francis Potter, a clergyman of Somersetshire, published 
 in 1642 a treatise on this number, which has been greatly 
 eulogized by Mede and Dr. H. More. The principle of it is, 
 the extracting the square root of the number, (which he makes 
 25,) and then tracing a number of far-fetched coincidences in 
 the papal system, combining with the number 25. The num- 
 ber 25 however is not strictly the root of 666, leaving as it 
 does a residue of 41: the number 26 would have been nearer 
 as a root, since the difierence would then only have been 10. 
 But this system has likewise fallen into neglect, and almost all 
 modern expositors now seek for some word or sentence, the 
 numerical value of the letters of which corresponds with the 
 number 666. 
 
 4. Numerous are the words and phrases brought forward, 
 which claim to be the proper solution. First may be named 
 three, which are mentioned by Irenasus, viz. — v.-jxvbxt, Actnivc;, and 
 Tiirrtv, which are selected by him from various others which 
 are not named; so that numerous guesses must have been ad- 
 vanced at that early period. The former he dismisses as 
 scarcely worthy of notice: the two last he regards with some 
 complacency. He sccma to give the preference to the word 
 ruruv, because it has six letters only, and in each syllable three 
 letters;t and because none of the kings of the Roman Empire 
 
 * For more of this matter the preface to Bengelius may be consulted, (p. 
 302) who himself makes considerable use of the number 666, as a chronological 
 notation, in the arrangement of his periods. , 
 
 t The numerical value of the Greek, Hebrew, and Roman letters is as fol- 
 lows: — 
 
 Heisrew. Rom.\n-. 
 
 N - 1 S — 30 J _ 1 
 
 2 — 2 n _ 40 . V — 5 
 
 J — 3 J — 50 X — 10 
 
 T — 4 0—60 L — 50 
 
 ,T _ 5 y — 70 C — 100 
 
 1 _ 6 B — 80 D — 500 
 
 , _ 7 X — 00 M — 1000 
 
 n — H |i — KM) The re- 
 
 a — T — 200 maining 
 
 These, when used as cyphers, < — 10 c — 300 letters have 
 
 have always a dash above them; : — 20 n — 100 no numeri- 
 
 when the dash is beneath it adds cal value. 
 
 three cyphers to their value: as 
 
 a = l.<f ^ 1000. 
 
 
 Gref.k. 
 
 
 y — 1 
 
 , — 10 
 
 p — 100 
 
 a — 2 
 
 >i — 20 
 
 <r — 200 
 
 ^-3 
 
 X — 30 
 
 T — 300 
 
 <r — 4 
 
 fx — 40 
 
 V — 400 
 
 i — 5 
 
 V — 50 
 
 9 - 500 
 
 r — 6 
 
 ^ — GO 
 
 X - G'^O 
 
 c — ~ 
 
 — 70 . 
 
 4 — 700 
 
 «""— 8 
 
 TT— 80 
 
 « — 800 
 
 5 — 9 
 
 S — 90 
 
 ' — 000 
 
312 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 had borne the name of XsiTai-,* and for various other unsatisfac- 
 tory reasons. Whereas in regard to ActTmo^, he says, <'it is very 
 likely to be the true one, because they were Lalitis who then 
 reigned. "t By his thus readily applying the name to the 
 Roman Empire, he seems to consider it as generally under- 
 stood, that that was the kingdom symbolized by the beast of 
 the Apocalypse; but he at the same time affects to deprecate 
 the application of this number to it, and even the inquiry it- 
 self, until the kingdom should first be broken up and divided 
 into ten; and his whole proceeding in regard to it looks as if 
 he had been influenced by the prudential consideration, not 
 needlessly to provoke the wrath of the powers that be, upon a 
 subject that was involved in so much obscurity. 
 
 This word Laleinos, has been since adopted by some of the 
 most eminent commentators in difierent ages; but the papists 
 having been pressed by it, as a proof that the Latin Church is 
 the apostacy described in the Apocalypse, Bellarmine objected 
 that it was incorrect to write the word Laieinos with the dip- 
 thong 6/, and that it ought rather to be written Latinos, Pas- 
 sages from Hesiod, Polybius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 
 Strabo, Plutarch, Dio Cassius, Photius and the Byzantine his- 
 torians have been alleged, wliich adopt the latter orthography. 
 The Rev. R. Rabett, however, in his recent treatise on the 
 number of the beast, has ably vindicated the reading of Ire- 
 naeus: in regard to which he argues, that the question is not 
 whether the parties just enumerated used the s;, but whether 
 that mode of writing the circumflexed 1 among the ancient 
 Greeks or Romans, in the names of men, was genuine orthog- 
 raphy in the time of Irenaeus. In proof of this he produces an 
 overwhelming mass of evidence.^ Besides this, the authority 
 
 * Wetstein appears to adopt this word for a reason directly opposite to that 
 of Irenaeus, viz. because it is a name that had been borne by some of the sove- 
 reigns of Rome; for he applies the whole vision to the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem by Titus, whom he makes the same as Teitan; and the same as Tcita 
 also, in order to adapt it to the possibility of GIG being the correct number. 
 
 t His words are, a-^twvoc nomen habet sexcentorum sexaginta sex numerum; 
 et valde verisimile est, quoniam novissimum regnum hoc habet vocabiiiuni; 
 Latini enim sunt qui nunc regnant." Lib. v. c. 30. 
 
 + Scaliger asserts that the Greeks always write the letter iol.a with the dip- 
 thong «, when they pronounce it before an v, as Avtws/voc, 2'//Ss/vof, and Aarswo?: 
 "Mffli, therefore, (saith he,) which custom hath established, not only is no fault 
 to write it so, but it would appear necessary lo make it .s«." Animad. ad Chron. 
 Euseb. 100. Mr. Rabett farther cites examples of the < being written tt before 
 other letters; as in the instance of Eusebius, "wlio writes the name of Irenaeus, 
 E/pvotioc; with various other examples from Varro, Plautus, and Lucilius; and 
 quotes Scapula, declaring the practice to have been common in (he time of 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 3^3 
 
 of Ennius (lib. vi. 20) has been quoted, by Dr. H. More and 
 Bishop Newton, who uses the identical Luk-itios; and Irentous 
 himself must be considered as no mean authority, seeing that 
 he writes both tuthv and xaTwvoc with tlic dipthong, and without 
 any intimation that he is deviating from the ordinary usage. 
 
 JMany solutions of this number, by the ancients, are pre- 
 served in the Commentary of Arethas of Cappadocia, among 
 which the follovving are examples: vnMrm, the victor; — annot o^yoi, 
 the xvicked guide; — *A>t6».c /iKcijkf:oi, truly hurling; — ttxmi /3«jrxavoc, the 
 old enchanter, or slanderer; — afjivo? aSuoc, the unjust lamb; — >.«,«7rsT/f, 
 that which is lucid, in the sense of Lucifer. Primasius also 
 gives from Hippolytus, apoi/^s for otpvoufAM, I deny, or apostatize. 
 From Ticonius the same Primasius gives avTs^oc, and llujiertus 
 yevTHfinor, which, though they make the number, I confess I see 
 not the point of: fissc u/ui itti yj.m, J am God upon earth, is easier to 
 be understood. 
 
 Various of the Roman Emperors were supposed to be Anti- 
 christ, and the names of some of these answered to the num- 
 ber: as OxjKTTt'.; for Llpius Trajanus. Bossuet makes it out to be 
 Dioclesian, whose name was at first Diodes, and which on re- 
 signing his empire to Maximian he resumed again. To make 
 the number GdQ, the letters which are Roman numerals must 
 alone be counted; and it must be written thus; dioclcs avg\s- 
 tvs. Julian the apostate has been also made to suit this num- 
 ber by a little twisting and humouring his names; as may be 
 seen, together with the two previous examples, in Calmet. 
 
 Numerous epithets, besides that of Lateinos, have been 
 brought forward to suit the papal empire, or church, and in 
 various languages. The names of some of the bishops or 
 popes have suited; as Linus Secundus, who is supposed to have 
 been the second Bishop of Rome. He is adduced on account 
 of the following sentence in the Sibylline Oracles, (Lib. viii.): 
 A/i-oc stt/Tov oxe/T=t/, which by many was supposed to point at him. 
 Silvester Secundus was brought forward by Caspar Heunisch, 
 (mentioned by Bengelius;) which name, together v^^ith Liinis 
 Secutidus, must be calculated by the Roman numerals. Bene- 
 dict the Ninth came in for the same honour; but it is written 
 
 Cicero. He also brinj^.s forwanl numerous instances of Greek inscriptions 
 from the medals of the Roman Emperors, in the Thesaurus rci Anliquaricc 
 of Hubert Goltzius, and from the Voijage to the Chcrsoncsus, &c. of the Sieur 
 A. de la Motraye. It may be here added, as affording testimony at the same 
 time to the use of the dipthong, and to the mode of calculating names, that 
 Jerome asserts in regard to the word ^aSpac for ^/d/jac, a name given by the 
 Persians to the sun, that it must be written /Au^fxc, and not fxu9fix(, otherwise its 
 letters will not give 3G5, the number of the days of the solar revolution. 
 
314 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 in Greek, fini^tx-To;. The former of these two was fixed on from 
 the circumstance of his living at the distance of about a mille?i- 
 nary of years from the nativity of Christ; and the latter, from 
 his living at about the same distance of time from the suffering 
 of Christ. Passing from the mention of particular individuals, 
 Osiander was, I believe, the first who sought for the number 
 of the beast in n^cn, Romilh, or Roman; and he has been fol- 
 lowed by Daubuz,* and some few other eminent expositors. 
 Piscator, Brightman, and others, have hnnxni-ti iT=iKi>t.a.jhe Italian 
 Church; and Dr. A. Clarke, » Aarm /ictcnkua., the Latin kingdom. 
 Seebachius was, I believe, the first that fixed upon Ludovicus, 
 on account of France being considered the principal of the 
 kingdoms of the beast; but many others have adopted this 
 name. A^roraTJi? has been applied to the papacy by Mr. Faber, 
 Archdeacon Wrangham, &c. ^n-xTnttrKo? for 7rrL7riTx.o? has also this 
 number; and so have the following sentences' in Hebrew -'S^a 
 iiiw\^pr\ 1DON Abinu Kadersha Papa — '^Our Holy Father the Pope:'^ 
 TvSj? ifip ni.T' 01N Elian, Adonai, Jehovah, Kadosch; — ^Hhe Most High, 
 Lord, holy God." 
 
 * Daubuz brings forward as many circumstantials to favour his adoption 
 of the word Roman, as Mr. Rabett does in behalf of the epithet Lateinos. The 
 latter instances the facts, that the Latin language has been canonized by the 
 Council of Trent and adopted for the use of the whole Church, instead of the 
 Italian, which is the vernacular tongue of Italy; — that they allow of no exer- 
 cise of religion but in Latin; — that the Pope still considers himself the head of 
 the Latins, and that the Church and Empire is distinguished by the adopted 
 epithet oi Roman. This latter point, however, rather belongs to Daubuz: the 
 heads, he says, are still Roman; and the language is Roman, both in the East 
 and West: "For the Latin is really the Roman, and the modern Greek is called 
 Roman by themselves, and they call themselves Rovian, and are so called by 
 the Eastern nations.-' So that, as to the thing, or notion of the name, he finds 
 it Roman. 
 
 t This word is opposed by Mr. Rabett, with several formidable arguments. 
 But that which appears entirely destructive of its pretensions is, that it is 
 written A;rorstT»c, instead of A^ros-TaTx?: and the episemon r' he asserts is not a 
 contraction of (tt, but is derived from the double rr, or F, written r, and that 
 it has no other power but the detonation of number, any more than two other 
 characters used as numerals, viz. K:nr7ra and a-a-vTrt. These are never met with 
 other than as numerals and in calculations; and Mr. R. therefore contends, 
 that had it been customary for the Greeks to make use of an episemon asalefter, 
 we should meet with examples of the other two in words; and if, on the other 
 hand, it were usual to make use of any of the numerous stenographical con- 
 tractions of the letters of the Greek alphabet for numerals, we should meet with 
 other instances besides that of r. The accidental circumstance of resem- 
 blance between the contraction s^ and the episemon s" has misled those who 
 have adopted this word, which is like using in English the cypher 0, for the letter 
 0. If, therefore, it be really wriuen <rr, the number is 1168. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 3^5 
 
 The papists however have not been remiss in turning round 
 upon the protestants; for they apply to the latter the term 
 a^Tos-ATxc, and Feuardentius hesitates between \uc,utTn* and J\Iar- 
 thi Luther, which he writes Ma^tiv A^vrip (Annot. in Iren.) and 
 the same is found in Calmet, made out in Hebrew, nnSiS 
 Luther A 
 
 Mr. Rabctt, in his treatise before alluded to, has narrowed 
 the grounds of discussion on this subject, by pointing out the 
 terms of the proposition as contained in the scriptures. 1st. He 
 considers that the name must be written and calculated in 
 Greek; 2. That it must form the proper "name of a man;" 
 3. That the name must contain the number 666 and no other. 
 To which may be added, 4thl)^ That as the beast is the sym- 
 bol of a kingdom, so it should be the name of a kingdom also. 
 If these principles of interpretation be followed, they will 
 sweep away all the examples adduced excepting Lateinos; which 
 has the farther advantage of having been hit upon previous to 
 the event having given that peculiar plausibility to it which it 
 now enjoys, and by an individual whose prejudices evidently 
 
 * As the word Mits^s-r/c must be regarded with complacency by those who 
 consider Mahomet to have been the Antichrist, it will be proper here to state 
 the objection to it, which is principally on account of the Orthography. The 
 Romish bishop Walmsley adopts it as written above, on the authority, as he 
 says, of Euthymius, Zonares, and Cedrenus; and considers that it will be 
 some future Turkish antichrist who will adopt the name of Mahomet. Mr. 
 Faber however has shown that the authorities of the bishop are a daring fa- 
 brication of his own, as they all write the word differently from each other, and 
 from him; thus Mw^oufA.rT — Cedrenus. 
 
 Moo^fA^ — Zonaras. 
 Mcei/msS — Euthyniius. 
 The latter also writes it as Zonaras. The following are additional' instances 
 of different modes of writing it Adduced by Mr. Faber — 
 MaujUiS — Nicetas. 
 Mix/uiTx; — Chalcocondylas. 
 Ma-x^/uiiT — Cantacuzenus. 
 Mixif^iT — Ducas Michael. 
 Mit;tsw/<8T>tc — Joannes Cananus. 
 In none of the above instances is it MnofAinc, and Mr. Rabett farther con- 
 tends that this is not a nroper Greek termination, as it should be either t«? 
 or Txf. 
 
 t Some other examples might be brought forward, but they are hot of a 
 character to claim the serious attention of the reader. Some have found it in 
 the names or titles of Napoleon; Mr. Croly makes it out in the Inquisition, 
 The name fixed upon by Vitringa must not be passed by, being the more ex- 
 traordinary frpm such a writer. It is c3|"»3in Adoiiikain, because he is said in 
 Ezra ii. 13 to have had six hundred and sixty-six children or descendants. 
 
316 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 lead him rather to reject than to entertain it. But having thus 
 brought before the reader that information which 1 have 
 gleaned upon the subject, I must leave him to form his own 
 conclusions. 
 
 THE TWO WITNESSES. 
 
 III. The two Witnesses mentioned in Rev. xi. are involved 
 at present in as much uncertainty and obscurity as the name of 
 the beast, and have given rise to nearly as many interpretations 
 and conjectures. 
 
 1. The first point questioned is the number of the witnesses. 
 
 (1.) Some understand it literally that there are only to be 
 two; and consequently they look only for hoo individuals. Of 
 those who have been thus fixed upon may be instanced Enoch 
 and Noah, — Enoch and Elijah, — Moses and Aaron, — Moses 
 and Christ, Caleb and Joshua, — Elijah and Elisha, — Ezra and 
 Nehemiah, — Joshua and Zorobabel, — Elijah and John the 
 Evangelist. 
 
 The opinion that Enoch and Elijah would return again to 
 earth, and be actually put to death, seems to have been founded 
 on the circumstance that neither of them have seen death, and 
 on the promise in Malachi and by our Lord, that Elijah should 
 again come. (Mai. iv. 5. Matt. xvii. 11.) Many of the early 
 fathers fixed on these two, as the two witnesses of Rev. xi. 
 and they have been followed by some of the popish writers.* 
 
 Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, 
 have been fixed upon as having been eminent witnesses for 
 God during times of the rebellion or apostacy of God's people: 
 Ezra and Nehemiah, with Joshua and Zorobabel, as having 
 witnessed during a period of great depression of the church 
 immediately preceding a revival: all which circumstances are 
 supposed to be indicated by the context of Rev. xi. though, in 
 regard to Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Zorobabel and 
 
 ♦Amonj^the Fathers who entertained this opinion were Hippolytus, Ter- 
 tuUian, Cyprian, Ephraim Syrus, Ambrose, and St. Jerome; also Augustine, 
 Prosper, Gregory, Damascon and Aretas. See Dr. Hildrop on Amichrist, 
 p. 175. 
 
 The belief that Elijah was personally to appear again was almost universal 
 among the early Fathers, (as may be seen in the treatise on this subject, of 
 Dr. John Alsted, translated by Burton,) for many held it who did not account 
 him to be one of the two witnesses. The expectation was grounded upon our 
 Lord's words — "Elias truly shall Jirst come and restore all things;" which words 
 are concluded to be independent of the accommodation of the words of Mala- 
 chi immediately after by our Lord to John the Baptist, which was considered 
 only as a typical accomplishment. Moreover the SrptKasinl reading of Mala- 
 chi'iv. 5 is "Behold I will send you Elijah the TiMilc," which they considered 
 as distinguishing it to be that prophet who is to come in propria persona, and 
 not by his spirit in another. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 3^7 
 
 Joshua, more circumstantial marks of resemblance have been 
 pointed out.* 
 
 It is evident that, with the exception of Enoch and Elijah, 
 these pairs have been viewed as types of the two witnesses, 
 rather than that their personal coming was looked for in order 
 to witness again. To the case, however, of Enoch and E^lijah 
 may be added that of Elijah and St. John the Evangelist, 
 whose expected re-appearance rests upon peculiar ground. 
 The instance of Elijah need not be again largely entered upon; 
 it is evident from 2 Kings xi. 1 — II. that he did not die, but 
 was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind; and we have also 
 seen from Mai. iv. 5, that there is a foundation for the ex- 
 pectation of his return. John the Evangelist is supposed to 
 have been removed from the earth in some similar extraordi- 
 nary manner, first from what is said on John xxi. 21, 22, of a 
 rumour among tlie disciples that John was not to die, which is 
 corrected by John himself thus — "Yet Jesus said not unto him. 
 He shall not die; but. If I will that he tarry till I come, what is 
 that to thee;" and, secondly, from there being no authentic-ac- 
 counts of the death of John. From this therefore it is con- 
 cluded, that he is still miraculously preserved, and will re- 
 appear in the flesh, and be actually put to death, and then rise 
 again. This is supposed to be farther confirmed by the verse 
 which immediately introduces the account of the two wit- 
 nesses. Rev. X. 11, and which is viewed as a kind of text, of 
 which that description in chapter xi. is explanatory — viz. 
 ''Thou (John) must prophecy again before many peoples and 
 nations and tongues and kings. t 
 * The following points of resemblance are noticed by Daubiiz:- 
 
 Moses and Aaron. 
 
 Elijah and Elisha. 
 
 Have power over wa- Clothed in sackcloth and 
 ters to turn them into prophesying. Compare v. 3 
 blood, and to smite the and 2 Kings i. 8 and ri. 12, 
 earth with all plagues as 13, which shews that Elisha 
 often as they will. Com- w'3s clad as Elijah. 
 pare Rev. xi. G and Ex. Fire devoureth their ene- 
 IV. 9 and vii. 17, &c. |mies. Compare v. 5 and 1 
 
 Zorobabel and Joshua. 
 
 These are the two 
 olive trees, and the two 
 candlesticks standing be- 
 fore the God of the whole 
 earth. Compare v. 4 
 with Zech.iv. 3, 11. 14. 
 
 Clothed in sackcloth. 
 
 Compare v. 3 and Zech. 
 iii. 3. 
 
 If any man will hurtjKings xviii. 38, 40; 2 Kings 1 
 them, &c. Compare v. i. 10—14 and vi. 17. 
 5 and Numb. xvi. 3, 35. Have power over waters, 
 &c. Compare v. 6 with 2 
 King? ii. 8, 14. 
 
 Have power to shut hea- 
 ven, that it rain not. Com- 
 pare V. 6 with 1 Kings xvii. 
 and xviii. 1. 
 
 Taken up into heaven in a 
 cloud: true of Elijah. Com- 
 pare V. 12 and 2 Kings ii. 11. 
 t This view is ably discussed in a work called Paradise Regained, published 
 in 17G4. The Author interprets the period of their prophesying literally. 
 VOL. II. — 27 
 
318 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 There have been individuals adduced in pairs from among 
 those saints who liave been eminently witnesses for God sub- 
 sequent to the period of scripture history: the most remark- 
 able of which are John Huss and Jerome of Prague. The 
 circumstance that the testimony of any of the foregoing has 
 not suited, as regards lime, to the particular period to which the 
 prophecy in Rev. xi, is applied, is not considered as militating 
 against the propriety of viewing them as witnesses; for on the 
 ground that Abel though dead is said ijet to speak; (Heb. xi. 4.) 
 so is their testimony supposed to continue and exist in other 
 times than the period of their actual life, and to be heard in 
 Huss and Jerome, or any other. 
 
 (2.) The more general mode, however, among modern in- 
 terpreters is to consider the numeral iiuo, according to the view 
 of Mede, as being itself symbolical of a small but competent 
 number of witnesses. 1 Kings xvii. 12. Isaiah vii. 12. and 
 Hosea vi. 2. are considered a sufficient warrant for considering 
 two as a small but indefinite number; and Deut. xvii. 6. and 
 2 Cor. xiii. 1. for their's being a sufficient or competent tes- 
 timony.* Mr. Cuninghame, therefore, who considers them 
 to be "a small number of faithful men, a truly spiritual church, 
 that should witness for the truth, &c.," concludes that they are 
 to be found wheresoever there are persons testifying for- the 
 truth of God against the surrounding ungodliness or supersti- 
 tion. Others have rather comprehended alike indefinite num- 
 ber of witnesses under the more formal and precise notion of 
 two chitrdies or communities. Thus Dr. N. Homes considers 
 them to be the Jewish and Gentile churches, principally on the 
 ground that Rom. xi. 17, 24 likens the Jewish church to an 
 olive-tree, and Rev. i. 20 explains a can(Ucstick to be likewise 
 the symbol of a church, and the people of Israel are emphati- 
 cally declared in Isaiali xliii. 10, to be God's zoil7iesses. The 
 Gentile church is supposed to be designated, from the circum- 
 stance of her being likewise alluded to in Rom. xi. as a wild 
 olive-tree; and because in Zech. iv. 2 only o?ie candlestick is 
 seen, when the Jewish church alone was witnessing, yet two 
 candlesticks are named in Rev. xi.t Sir Isaac Newton con- 
 
 * The circumstance of our Lord's ordaining his witnesses to go forth two 
 and two, as when he sent out the seventy, may also be considered a foundation 
 for the number kco being named. 
 
 t See the whole subject treated and the Jewish testimony even in Christian 
 times pointed out at length, in the Appendix to Dr. Home's "Resurrection Re- 
 vealed," revised edition, p. 31(5. The same subject is also discussed by a 
 writer in the Investigator, vol. ii. p. 137, under the signature C. S. He con- 
 siders the Jewish witness to have been in the first instance more especially the 
 two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who remained faithful to their king when 
 the ten tribes revolted; and who continued to serve at the Tabernacle of wit- 
 ness, when the ten tribes lapsed into idolatry. They are nevertheless spoken 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 3^9 
 
 sidered the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia (Rev. xi.) 
 to be tijpes of the two witnesses, who were more immediately- 
 set forth by the 144,000 sealed ones, whom he takes to be 
 derived from the hco icings of the woman, i. e. from the eastern 
 and western empires. IVlany other expositors, as More and 
 Fleming, and also Mr. Faber of the present day, consider the 
 two churches of the Albigcnscs and VValdenses to be intended 
 by the two witnesses.* 
 
 (3.) There remains one other view, which in a measure sets 
 aside the number two, and regards the testimony only. Such 
 is the view of a writer in the Investigator under the signature 
 of H. S. L., who applies the whole subject to tlie standing 
 rninistri/ of the n-ord or gospel during the Gentile dispensation. 
 This view is ably and scripturally supported, and its analogy 
 with the references in Rev. xi. to Elijah and John the Baptist 
 are pointed out. (Vol. i. p. 323. Vol. iii. p. 217 and 311.) 
 
 Others who regard the testimony make it rather the zoritten 
 word, and discover the number two also in the Old and New 
 Testaments. Brightman is one of the earliest who took this 
 view; though he included in it the body of Protestant Chris- 
 tians, as being the preachers and proclaimers of the testimony 
 contained in them. Vitringa inclines to unite in like manner 
 the two Testaments, or covenants, with the testimony of the 
 Waldenses; and considers the rccr/also, with which the temple 
 and altar were measured, to be therf//e of the Law and Gospel. 
 Mr. Frere and Mr. Irving have in our own times considered it 
 to be the two Testaments or covenants only, as contained in the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 2. The next point upon which great difference has neces- 
 sarily existed has respect to the period of the death and resur- 
 rection of the witnesses. This of course relates only to those 
 who consider their deatli and resurrection to have already 
 occurred,! and to have continued three days and a half, or 
 
 of as o?(<,' tribe, Benjamin being absorbed by Judah; and thus the Gentile is in 
 like manner viewed as incorporated into the Jewish church, and become as 
 Benjamin, i. e. "Son of my right hand." 
 
 * The Rev. S. R. Maitland has very strenuously endeavoured to overthrow 
 the latter opinion in an elaborate work called "Facts and Documents illus- 
 trative of the History, Doctrine, and Rites of the Ancient Albigenses and 
 Waldenses;" which has called forth a reply by the Rev. J. King of Hull, and 
 a rejoinder by Mr. Maitland. The documents are too long to give even an 
 abridged view of them here. Mr. M.'s oliject however is to show that the 
 Albigenses were nothing hulhcreiicat fanalics, and that the Waldenses, though 
 true Christians, were not sufhciently "ancient to answer Mr. Faber's views as 
 to chronology. These points are ably controverted by Mr. King: which has 
 the best of the argument it would be unfair to state without going more largely 
 into the discussion. 
 
 ■t Among those who consider the slaying of the witnesses to be yet future 
 are Bishops *Newton and Horsley, Archdeacon Woodhouse, Dr.Gill, and 
 Messrs. Scolt, Keith, &c. 
 
320 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 rather (understanding the time symbolically) three years and a 
 half. 
 
 The death of John Huss and Jerome of Prague is necessa- 
 rily dated A. d. 1415. The view of another writer in the In- 
 vestigator, under the signature of E., (which view I shall pre- 
 sently notice more particularly) dates the slaughter of the 
 witnesses in a. d. 1514, at the chief session of the Lateran 
 general council; and their resurrection at the protestation of 
 Luther in 1517; just three years and a half afterwards. Bright- 
 man considers that the scriptures were reduced to a dead letter 
 by the council of Trent, A. d. 154(), and that the German 
 Protestant churches were soon after silenced by the dissolu- 
 tion of the Smalcaldic league by the Emperor Charles V. in 
 1547. Mr. Cuninghame adopts the latter event mentioned by 
 Brightman, though he does not exactly date from it; for he 
 considers the death of the witnesses to have been effected by 
 the promulgation of the doctrines of the Interim, presented 
 and read in the diet 15th May, 1548; and their resurrection to 
 have taken place in 1551, in the latter end of which year 
 Prince Maurice suddenly took arms for the relief of the Pro- 
 testants, and made such a rapid progress that the emperor fled 
 with the utmost consternation, and likewise the members of 
 the council of Trent, which was thereby broken up.* He 
 considers their ascension into the symbolical heaven of govern- 
 ment to be fulfilled by the treaty of peace signed at Passau in 
 1552.t 
 
 Mr. Faber formerly held with Mr. Cuninghame in adopting 
 the events just instanced, as prefigured by the death and resur- 
 rection of the witnesses, but he has since abandoned them, 
 and taken up a view once entertained by Dr. Gill, and sub- 
 sequently rejected by that writer. According to this, the 
 
 * Amono^ the quotations from history whereby Mr. Cuninghame supports 
 his view of the cliaracter of this period is the following striking one from 
 Fra Paoli Sarpi, the Catholic historian of the council of Trent; who, speaking 
 of the Protestant ministers and doctors restored to the churches and schools 
 at this lime, says: "Although it might have been thought that there remained 
 very few of the doctors and preachers, (who had taken refuge under the pro- 
 tection of princes,) and that banishments and persecutions had almost exter- 
 minated them; yet, as if llictj had been again raised from the dead, a sufficient 
 number were found to supply all the places." (Tom. i. p. 612.) 
 
 t Some date their death from the battle of Muhlburg, April 1547, when the 
 Elector of Saxony and Landgrave of Hesse, the two Protestant champions, 
 were taken prisoners, — to December 1550, when they defeated and took the 
 duke of Mecklenburgh prisoner at Magdeburg. The dates selected by Mr. 
 Cuninghame are by no means satisfactory; for, if the Interim be dated from, 
 it ought to terminate with the treaty of Pas.sau, August 2, 1552, which is above 
 four years after. And if ittermiiiate with the standing up of Prince Mau- 
 rice, at the end of 1551, it ought to commence with the overthrow of the 
 princes of the Smalcaldic confederacy in 1547, which again is about four 
 years. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 39I 
 
 Vallenses and Albigenses, having after many centuries of 
 bloody persecution, in which they separately and jointly bore 
 a faithful testimony, were forbidden to exercise their religion, 
 by a decree of the French king dated 31st Jan. 1G8G; by which 
 decree also their pastors were banished and their places of 
 worship commanded to be destroyed. In this slate they con- 
 tinued during the space of three years and a half, when an 
 intrepid body of them under Henri Arnaud secretl)' crossed 
 the lake of Geneva, Aug. 16, 16S9, and recovered their pos- 
 sessions. Their ascension he dates in June 4, 1690, when the 
 duke issued an edict recognising their independence.* 
 
 The persecution of the protestanls by Mary queen of Eng- 
 land, commencing about the year 1553, and tlie more horrible 
 effusion of their blood in France, commencing with the mas- 
 sacre of St. Bartholomew in 1752, have both been remarked 
 to have extended over a period of about three and a half years. 
 But 1 pass over particulars, and just note in conclusion, that 
 those who now consider the Old and New Testaments to be 
 the Witnesses, refer their death to the suppression of Chris- 
 tianity in France in 1793, when the Scriptures were first 
 dragged through the cities and towns and then burnt by the 
 common hangman, and their resurrection to the law passed 
 about three years and a half afterwards for the regulation of 
 public worship.t 
 
 * Some discrepancy also exists among; writers in their selection of the par- 
 ticulars connected with these events. For Cressenerand Jurieu date the three 
 and a half years from the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Lloyd 
 and Whiston from the actual destruction of the protestants by the Duke "of 
 Savoy in Dec. 1080, until June 4, 1690, when he re-established them. Mr. 
 Whiston i-tates that Bishop Lloyd gave this application, or rather interpreta- 
 tion, of the subject before the event look place. ~ Both in regard to this view, 
 and to that pointed out in the preceding note in reference toMr. Cuninghame, 
 it will be observed, that the one party date xhe ascension into heaven from that 
 event which the other party considers as the resurrection. 
 
 T Having more than once mentioned the editor of the "Illustrations of Pro- 
 phecy," and his republican sentiments, I cannot altogether pass by his view of 
 the Witnesses. He considers that ihey are two classes of witnesses. He en- 
 tirely denies that both are religious, but only one, and the other civil, witness- 
 ing against and opposing "the tyiannics of princes and priests," and "bearing 
 testimony against civd a's well as religious tyranny." But in reality he makes 
 them only one, for having largely insisted on those who were political wit- 
 nesses, he asks, what has become of the religious witnesses? and replies — 
 "Wherever //Ta/o?« is established on a foundation sufficiently broad, there 
 religious as well as civil rights will be secured." Vol. i. p. 10!). The religious 
 witness is therefore absorbed in the political, which is thus made to appear as 
 the more valuable testimony ot the two. The allusions to Moses and Aaron, 
 and to Joshua and Zerubbabel, already noticed as existing in the prophecy, 
 are pressed and distorted into this view: — "Moses emancipated the people 
 from a civil despot; Aaron's object was to preserve their religious indepen- 
 dence inviolate;" and so it was with Joshua and Zerubbabel. P. 101. Their 
 being compag?d also to a candlestick is to shew, "that they enlighten the public 
 mind on the rights of conscience and on the rights of citizens." The promoters 
 of the French Revolution were the witnesses who prophesied — i. e. they bore 
 27* 
 
322 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 3. Considering the view taken by the Rev. E. B. Elliot, in 
 the papers in the Investigator under the signature E, as deci- 
 dedly the most complete and precise of any hitherto advanced 
 by those who consider the death and resurrection of the wit- 
 nesses to have already taken place, I proceed to lay a brief out- 
 line of it before the reader. 
 
 He considers that the period selected for their death ought 
 to be that at which, by cormnon consent of historians, the voice 
 of anti-papal testimony was most effectually silenced throughout 
 Europe; and the papacy, supported by the ten-horned beast, 
 was most triumphant against it; which consideration he thinks 
 a decisive objection against any solution which refers for the 
 fulfilment to events subsequent to the Reformation, — the par- 
 tial suppression of that testimony in 1547, by the dissolution 
 of the Smalcaldic confederacy being in no wise comparable to 
 the death-like silence that existed just before' the protest of 
 Luther?* Bost's Histoire t/e VEglise des Frtres is quoted to 
 shew, that in 1489 the deputies sent by the Bohemian churches 
 to search throughout Europe for faithful teachers and reform- 
 ers of the Church, with whom they were desirous of making 
 common cause, returned unsuccessful. Vol. i. p. lOG. In the 
 year 1510 the Bohemians and Hussites were themselves all 
 but silenced by a persecuting decree of the diet and king 
 Wladislas against them,; and Miiner is quoted as testimony 
 "that the sixteenth century opened with a prospect of all 
 others the most gloomy in the eyes of every true Christian." — 
 "The Waldenses were too feeble to molest the Popedom; and 
 the Hussites, divided among themselves, and worn out by a 
 long series of contentions, zvere at length reduced to silence.'' 
 
 testimony against error and coriuplions in an eminent degree and in the most 
 public manner. He considers farther, "that the three and a half days of their 
 death answers to three and a h<i\{\\maT prophetical months, or 105 days, which 
 he counts as years; and he dates this period from the revocation of the Edict 
 of Nantes in 1G85 to the French Revolution, which 105 years was the period 
 during which liberty of .speech was, with more than usual rigour, subjected to 
 all the shackles of despotism, &c." P. 113. The French Revolution was 
 therefore their resurrection; and the invitation or command from Louis XVI. 
 to the Tiers Etat to assist in the national deliberations, from which they had 
 been long prohibited, was the voice from the throne saying, "Come up 
 hither."— ! ! ! 
 
 * It is indeed one of the serious objections to the view taken by Mr. Cun- 
 inghame, that in the very year 1547 is to be dated the accession of Edward to 
 the throne of England; — an event which was the occasion, in another part of 
 Europe, of reviving the hopes of the people of God, and of giving free course 
 to their testimony for the truth. Mr. C. himself considers this event as the 
 falling "in the same hour" of a tenth part of the cily; not perceiving that it 
 militates against that temporary triumph of Babylon and suppression of the 
 truth, which the terms of the prophecy seem to require. The fall of the city 
 appears to be the immediate effect of their resurrection and ascension; with 
 which the phrase — "the same hour" — is evidently connected. It must there- 
 fore fellow on or accompany their ascension, and not accompany their death. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 323 
 
 And Mosheim says — *'The commotions previously excited by 
 the Waldenses, Albigenses, and more recently by the Bohe- 
 mians, were enlireltj suppressed, and had yielded to the united 
 powers of counsel and the sword." The language of Mr. 
 Cuninghame himself, who, with another object in view, de- 
 lineates the character of this period, is remarkable to the 
 point, — "At the commencement of the 15th century Europe 
 reposed in iht deep sleep of spiritual death under the iron yoke 
 of the Papacy. That haughty power, like the Assyrian of the 
 prophet, said in the plenitude of its insolence, 'My hand hath 
 found as a nest the riches of the people; as one gathereth eggs 
 that are left have I gathered all the earth, and there was none 
 that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.' " 3rd 
 Edition, p. 139. 
 
 The sudden transition from this stillness of death, as by an 
 unexpected resurrection unto life, is also strikingly described. 
 Mr. Cuninghame continues the passage just quoted as follows; 
 — "But the deep wisdom of God is manifested in choosing <the 
 base things of the world, and things which are despised, and 
 things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are. — 
 Suddenly, in one of the universities of Germany, tlie voice of 
 an obscure monk was heard, the sound of wliich rapidl}^ filled 
 Saxony, Germany, and Europe itself, shaking the very foun- 
 dations of the papal power, and arousing men from the lethargy 
 of ages.* It was in the year 1517, that the Reformation began 
 by tlie preaching of Luther, &c." The writer of the article 
 On the Reformation in the Encyclopaedia Britannica is farther 
 quoted as strikingly depicting the previous state of depression 
 and sudden change from it at this time: — ^'Every thing was 
 quiet., every heretic exterminated, and the whole Christian world 
 supinely acquiesced in the enormous absurdities inculcated by 
 the Romish church, when — in 1517 the empire of superstition 
 received its first attack from Luther.'^ 
 
 Mr. Elliot points to the dates of the commencement and 
 termination of this period, which have been already alluded 
 to: viz. from the decrees of the iiinlh and chief session of the fflh 
 Lateran general Council, held A. D. 1514, (which, as it were, 
 put tiie finishing stroke to the life of the witnesses, and sealed 
 them up in death, t) to the protestation of Luther in 1517, just 
 
 * He refers to Hume's Hist, of Eng. c. xxix. observing, that "this infidel, 
 when he reluctantly bears testimony in favour of the cause of truth, is an un- 
 exceptionable witness." 
 
 t Mr, Cuninghame (in an article published in the Investigator, vol. iii. p. 
 28L) objects against this view, that by making the Laieran Council slay the 
 witnesses, he kills thctn by the ecclesiastical power, which is the second beast or 
 False PropJict; whereas from Rev. xi. 7. it is indisputable that they are slain 
 by the first beast, or secular power. Mr. C. considers this a "fimdamc7ital 
 
324 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 three and a half years after, when he first posted his theses 
 against indulgences, &c, on the walls of Wittenberg; and which 
 spread through the whole of Germany in the short space of 
 fifteen days. Thus is the period in question marked, both at 
 its commencement and termination, by distinct and notable 
 acts, and consequences resulting from those acts, corresponding 
 respectively to the symbols of the death and resurrection of 
 the witnesses. 
 
 Some other circumstances connected with this Council are 
 noticed which must not be passed over. (1) It was the last 
 ge?ieral council of the holy Roman Empire; for the Protestants 
 declined to attend that summoned some years after at Trent. 
 The French king did not at first acknowledge it, but gave in 
 his adhesion in Dec. 1513. (2) It was held at Rome, the prin- 
 cipal place of concourse of the Empire, "The street of the 
 great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, &c." 
 (3) "They of {or fro?n) the people {ik tc<v Kcta,v) and tongues and 
 nations shall see their dead bodies, &c.: wliich points, accord- 
 ing to Mr. Elliott, to a council or convention of deputies from the 
 several states of Christendom. That these beheld the dead 
 bodies of the witnesses he considers proved by the fact that 
 the Bohemian brethren were invited to the Council's session, 
 held May 5, 1514, with proinise of safe conduct, but — 7iot one 
 appeared: "throughout tl^e length and breadth of Christendom 
 they were silenced; they were deadl'''' It was only left for the 
 Council to guard against their revival, by passing a decree in 
 which the inquisitions were stimulated to proceed zealously 
 against all heretics, "and especially against suck as might relapse, 
 from whom every hope of pardon was witiiheld."* (4) It is 
 written — "They that dwell on the earth shall rejoice over them, 
 and make merry, and send <rfls one to another, &c. ;" and Mr. 
 Elliott further shews that "the assembled princes and ]M-elatcs 
 separated from the Council with complacency and confidence, 
 and mutual congratulations on {he peace, unity, and purify, of the 
 apostolical Church."! But — "Scarcely (says the same histo- 
 
 objection;'" but if rightly considered it is no objection at all. For the ecclesias- 
 tical power did not really kill, but only condemned, and handed the victim 
 over to the secular power. And this is just what the two-horned beast does — 
 "he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him," and "causes that as 
 many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Rev. 
 xiii. 12, l.'j. It was indeed the uniled act of the princes and prelates assem- 
 bled. Thus Herod and Pontius Pilate are declared to have killed Christ, as 
 being the secular arm; whilst yet the Council is declared to have been his be- 
 trayers and murderers. Compare Acts iv. 10. and 27. with chap. vii. 52. 
 Besides this Mr. Elliot does in reality refer the silencing of the witnesses to 
 the effect of the crusades carried on against them previous to the decree of the 
 Lateran Council; the acts of which in that session altcst their silence, and put 
 the finishing stroke to it. 
 ♦ Waddington's History of the Church, p. 661. t Ibid. p. 663. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 335 
 
 rian) had the departing prelates concluded their mutual 
 congratulations, when Luther commenced in the school of 
 Wittenberg his public preaching against the most revolting 
 corruptions of the Church.* 
 
 The ascension of the witnesses into heaven (i. e. into "politi- 
 cal eminence") was fulfilled, as this writer concludes, in April 
 1529, "in the very presence and sight of their assembled ene- 
 mies at the diet of Spires;" when "the princes of Hesse and 
 Saxony, and many other princes and imperial cities of the 
 empire, assumed to themselves the illustrious name of Pro- 
 testants, including in it, by its Latin etymology, the very 
 character of witnesses." This last sentence is from Mr. 
 Cuninghame's work, p. 140. The tenth part of the city which 
 then fell, Mr. E. inclines to apply to the now fully organized 
 schism of the Protestant body; but if it be preferred to under- 
 stand it of one of the ten kingdoms, then he points to the case 
 of England. 
 
 (2.) Such is the view of this able and intelligent writer;t 
 and if we are bound by any abstract evidence from the struc- 
 ture of the Apocalypse to consider the death of the witnesses 
 as part, it would be difficult to find a beter key to the inter- 
 pretation: certainly none has been offered which so well seems 
 to fit most of the intricate wards of the prophecy. But there 
 are nevertheless some weighty objections in the way of receiv- 
 ing it as 3. full and complete accomplishment of Rev. xi. — 
 
 First, it does not appear to me to answer fully to the sym- 
 bols of the prophecy; which objection I shall more fully notice 
 in the next section, when I place before the Reader the ele- 
 ments for another interpretation. 
 
 Secondly, I am not satisfied with the exposition which 
 makes the words of Rev. xi. 7, "u-hen they shall havejxnished 
 their testimony, the beasty &c. shall kill them," to require the 
 following paraphrase, which Mr. E. is obliged to give to them: 
 ''JVhe7i they shall have thus entered on their witnessing, and whilst 
 engaged in still fulfdling it, the beast, &c." I do not here dis- 
 pute the critical evidence adduced by this able writer to prove 
 that the expression (iT=tvTe>.s3-a.a-/T)tv /xa^y/Kstvai/Tw will bear such a 
 sense;t for, admitting that it may bear this sense, my objection 
 
 ♦ Mr. Cuninghame has more recently objected, that Mr. E. kills the Wit- 
 nesses previous to A. D. 1514, — that all his evidence goes to shew that they 
 were silenced previous to that time; — and that there is nothing in the proceed- 
 ings of the Council relative to their absence; — whilst the date of the Bull 
 mentioned by Mr. E. is 1511 and not 1514. (Investigator Vol. iii. p. 504.) 
 
 t For the whole view of Mr. Elliott, together with the strictures of Mr. 
 Cuninghame on it, and a reply and rejoinder which followed, see the Investi- 
 gator, vol. iii_. pages 185, 281, 440, 504. 
 
 t Such a sense, or a meaning nearly equivalent to it, is supported by the 
 high authority of Grotius, Mede, Dr. H. More, Daubuz, Bishop Newton, and 
 
326 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 would equally remain, being grounded on the general context 
 of the passage, and the analogy of Scripture, The idea of 
 two prophets being interrupted in their career by death, and 
 after lying dead for three and a half days, being raised from 
 that state, and then resiwmig their lestimoni/, and going on with 
 their work, is unanalogous to any thing in scripture, and con- 
 trary to all that is suggested to us by the word of God. It is 
 when believers have "finished their course," — when they have 
 ''fought a good fight," — when they have ''done that which 
 their Father hath given them to do," that their hour comes. 
 Perfectly consistent, therefore, is it, when these prophets have 
 witnessed a good confession, and they are now ready to be 
 offered up, that they should be perfected through death; and 
 have done with all further testimony, so far as that testimony is 
 to be given in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. 
 
 Thirdly, I can still less reconcile with the congruity of the 
 symbols the notion of two prophets continuing to prophesy in 
 sackcloth after they are translated to the heavens. What Mr. 
 Cuninghame says, and what Mr. E. coincides in, viz. that they 
 sympathise with those members who still continue to testify on 
 earth in circumstances of depression, may be true in itself; for 
 it is true of Christ, who is touched with the sense of the in- 
 firmities of his people. But surely it were absurd to speak of 
 Christ as being still in a state of humiliation and depression, 
 which clothing of sackcloth indicates. When he ascended up 
 on high, he entered into his glory, sitting down at the right 
 hand of the majesty of God. It was a triumph; and a triumph 
 and sackcloth appear quite incongruous.* 
 
 other competent scholars, with many others who have followed them; but there 
 are not wanting eminent names on the other side of the question. Mr. E. 
 himself admits that there can be no doubt that the natural and legitimate ren- 
 dering of the Greek phrase is that which is given in our translation; and Mr. 
 Faber, whose competency to judge cannot be disputed, not being able to re- 
 ceive this version, submitted it, he says, to "a gentleman (Mr. Tate) who is 
 deservedly acknowledged to be one of the first Greek scholars of the age:" 
 whose reply is as follows: — "The laws of grammar inexorably forbid that orav 
 riKivanri should be rendered, when they shall be about to finish:" the phrase can 
 only mean "whe7i they shall have finished." It is true indeed, that the aorists 
 subjunctive, constructed with <3Tav,bear a future sense, but then it is the future 
 past {shall hare) not the future perfect, (shall be about.) No instance can be 
 produced from any Greek author, in which an aorisl subjunctive constructed 
 with oTuv ever bears the sense of the future perfect." I am aware that this 
 does not fully meet the sense given by Mr. Elliott, excepting as Mr. Tate in- 
 sists that the phrase cfflw 07ily mean, 'when they shall have finished.' At the 
 same time, what Mr. Faber'insinuates in regard to Mcdc (vol. iii. p. 77) that 
 he would not have sought to deviate from the authorized translation but to 
 serve a tiirn, is not just in his case: for though he notices that it 7na>/ be rendered 
 "when they shall be about [o finish their testimony,^'' he does not adopt it. 
 
 * Mr. Scott deems the two' things so incongruous that he says: "Now if the 
 witnesses were slain at any of the times which different expositors fix upon, 
 it inevitably follows that they prophesied one, two, or three hundred days in 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 327 
 
 Fourthly, the beast who kills the witnesses is *'thc beast 
 that ascendelh {to av:i^:iiyiv) out of the bottomless pit." I have 
 endeavoured to shew in the last chapter, (p. 286, 288.) that 
 this is the beast under his last aspect, after he has rise?! again as 
 it were froni the dead. This perfectly agrees with Rev. xvii. 
 8, — "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall 
 ascend (^saaw ava.3i;vi/v) out of the bottomless pit." I believe the 
 time intended to be indicated as present, in reference to the ac- 
 tion and circumstances of that vision, is 7iot the time rvhen the 
 apostle sees the vision, but the time of the judgment of the 
 GREAT WHORE, which is the title or subject-matter of the vi- 
 sion, as expressed in verse 1. It cannot refer to the time of 
 the apostle, for how could it then be said that the beast "u-as 
 and is not?" It is equally plain to me, that the phrase teas, and 
 is not, and shall ascend, has reference to three independent and 
 successive periods of time, viz. the period when tiie beast reus, 
 or did exist, — the interregnum, or period when he is not, — and 
 the period when he shall ascend out ofthej/it, and finally termi- 
 nate his career. It is exceedingly important to ascertain in 
 which of these three periods the witnesses are killed: the ex- 
 pression in chap. xi. 7 — "the beast that ascendeth out of the bot- 
 tomless pit," evinces it to be under the last period; which ex- 
 pression is altogether anticipatory, since no beast at all has 
 been mentioned previous to this verse. Persuaded, then, that 
 the beast had not reascended from the pit at the time limited 
 by Mr. Elliott for the death of the witnesses, I hesitate to con- 
 cur in his view, unless it may be regarded in the light of a 
 primary fulfilment, which is yet to be succeeded by a more 
 precise and complete one. For indeed some have thought it 
 not improbable (as has been shewn at page 251*) that all the 
 times which have been mystically fulfilled, will likewise have 
 a literal accomplishment: 
 
 4. In regard to any fttture fulfilment of the death of the wit- 
 nesses, I must now, in conclusion, recall the reader's attention 
 to the terms of the prophecy, which I have just hinted I do 
 not consider to have been fulfilled; and endeavour to point out 
 the principles on which an expositor ought to proceed in the 
 interpretation of that prophecy. 
 
 First, there is an obvious reference in the prophecy to Ze- 
 chariah iv. 14, inasmuch as we are told "These are the two 
 
 sackcloth less than the predicted period: except any will say that they prophe- 
 sied in sackcloth after their resurrection and ascension into heaven.'' 
 
 * So in Brown's Bible on Rev. xi. he says— "Whatever murder of Christ's 
 witnesses may have been effected during' the whole rci^n of Antichrist or 
 whatever particular persecutions of about three and a half years' continuance 
 have taken place, I suppose the general slaughter here intended is future. 
 
328 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 olive-trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God 
 of the earth;" and the two olive trees are there declared to be 
 "the two anointed oties, that stand by the Lord of the whole 
 earth." Secondly, these two anoi?ited ones are evidently, from 
 the context, Joshua and Zerubbabel, the priest and the prince, 
 who stand on the right and left of the candlestick, as guardians 
 and supporters to it; which candlestick is shewn by Rev. i. 20 
 to be the church of God.* This is also clearly to be inferred 
 from this chapter itself. — For when the prophet asks, What 
 are these, my Lord? the answer has reference to the house or 
 temple about to be built, and of which he is assured Zerubba- 
 bel shall both lay the foundation and bring forth the top-stone. 
 The reader need not be informed that the material temple brings 
 before us the same formal idea as a candlestick, being the type 
 of Christ's mystical body the church, (Ephes. ii. 19 — 22.) 
 There is a connection with the same type or symbol in Rev. 
 xi. which opens with a command to the apostle to rise and 
 measure the temple of God, (v. 1. and compare Zech. ii, 1, 2); 
 immediately after the mention of which is introduced the two 
 witnesses, which are explained to be the two olive-trees and two 
 candlesticks. 
 
 Another important circumstance to be noticed in the pro- 
 phecy of Zechariah is, that the two witnesses there mentioned, 
 viz. Joshua and Zerubbabel, are together a type of the Lord 
 Jesus, in his two-^fold character of priest and king, or royal 
 priest after the order of Melchizedec. He is at once the true 
 candlestick and the o\iYe-branch,\ who builds up and supplies 
 
 * In Rev. i. 20, there are seven candlesticks, answering to each of the seven 
 Gentile communities mentioned in the two following chapters. In Zech. iv. 
 there is but one candlestick, or lamp-sconce, but it has seven lamps upon it. 
 The number seven, signifying fulness and completeness, is regarded in both 
 instances; and it is remarkable that the figure described by the position of 
 these churches, if it be outlined, describes the branches of a candlestick of not 
 an unusual shape; Sardis being the centre, Pergamos and Laodicea being at 
 the two extreme verges of the ellipsis which they form, and the other four 
 churches at nearly regular distances within: thus— 
 
 t The nlivc-tree.s are called indilferently ^'ccs or branches. Compare verses 
 11 and 12, 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 329 
 
 and gives light to his Church, which is his own body. That he 
 is the person eminently intended, and in this character, is evi- 
 dent from chap. vi. 11 — 14, where the prophet is directed to 
 take silver and gold and make tu-o crou-ns, one for the priest 
 and one for the prince, and to set them upon the head of 
 Joshua, and to speak unto him and sa}-, "liehold the man 
 whose name is the branch, and Ik shall grow up out of his 
 place and shall build the temple of the Lord, even He shall build 
 the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall 
 sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest tipon his 
 throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both: 
 and the crowns shall be for a memorial in the temple of the 
 Lord." It is remarkable that Joshua the priest is selected as 
 the one on whom both crowns are placed, and through him it 
 is promised that the Branch shall build; and yet it was Zcrub- 
 babel, the prince who, in chap. iv. 6 — 10, was to be the builder 
 of the house; not, indeed, by his might or power, but "by my 
 Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." V. 6. The apparent reason, 
 therefore, for placing both crowns on one only of these two is, 
 that it may be understood that both together were a type of 
 Jesus, who unites in his person the two offices of priest and 
 king; and though Joshua is thus crowned and addressed as the 
 type, yet Zerubbabel is not excluded, for it is declared that the 
 counsel of peace shall be between them both. In the same 
 manner, though they are two olive branches viewed in their 
 separate characters, yet they are a type of one branch only, 
 who is transcendenlly called the branch. 
 
 The formal notion, therefore, presented to us, of the wit- 
 nesses, (and without a distinct reference to which no interpre- 
 tation of Rev. xi. appears complete,) is that of ihe priest and 
 prince, as types of our great Melchizedec. These are to be 
 viewed as endowed withr power by him to sustain rule and 
 govern in his Church, as his representatives, "until he come 
 whose right it is." Included, Jiowever, in this notion, and 
 distinctly brought before us by other types, are the whole 
 Church of Christ, who are his temple, (1 Cor. iii. 16 — 17), 
 who are a royal priesthood, (see the whole of 1 Pet. ii. 4 — 9,) 
 and who are hereafter to be manifested in glory, as those who 
 are md,(\c kings and priests un{o God," (Rev. i. G; v. 10; xx. 6.) 
 This notion, therefore, embraces all the chief features which 
 have been mentioned as brought forward by different exposi- 
 tors. It includes the spiritual worshippers of God, who in 
 every age have looked to Christ as their priest and king: it 
 includes tlie notion of the priesthood and standing ministry of 
 the GospeH (in which view the holy Scriptures, or Old and 
 New Testaments as some call them, are virtually comprchend- 
 
 VOL. II.— 2S 
 
330 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 ed:) it includes the notion of the Jewish and Gentile Churches, 
 as more expressly typified by the reference to the olive-tree in 
 Romans xi.: only they must be considered as churches or po- 
 lities, which consist of an intimate union of the civil and 
 ecclesiastical powers, — or church and state in the best sense of 
 the term.* And they are beyond question the truest witnesses 
 for Christ, who "fear God and honour the king."t 
 
 That the union of the prince with (he priesthood, as a wit- 
 ness for God, is justifiable, may be farther confirmed by the 
 way in which princes are spoken of in other parts of scripture. 
 They are 'Hhe Lord's anointed;'' and to lift a hand against them 
 in that character, or even to speak evil of them, is considered 
 a grievous offence. (1 Sam. xxiv. 6, 10; xxvi. 9, 16. 2 Sam. i. 
 14; xix. 21.) Even Cyrus, a Gentile king, apparently un- 
 converted to the true faith, is nevertheless declared to be, in 
 his regal office, the Lord's anointed. (Isa. xlv. i.) They are 
 also olive-trees; for David says, "I am like a green olive-tree in 
 the house of God:" (Psal. lii. 8,) which saying, though it may 
 refer ultimately to JVIessiah, must nevertheless be true, in the 
 first place, of David himself, as the type. As to their prophe- 
 sying, this is no more, I apprehend, than their zvit?iessing; and 
 Daubuz, quoting Isa. Iv. 4: "I have given thee au-itness to the 
 people, a leader and commander to the people," the latter 
 clause of the sentence^ being explanatory of the former, ob- 
 serves that a witness has rea-al power; and that "a witness of 
 God is a fleputy with divine power and authority, an ordinance 
 of God endued with a regal power; which title supposes a re- 
 sistance to all other human power setting up itself against 
 God's." This he confirms by St. Paul's words, Rom. xiii. 5, 
 6. J Besides this, however, it is worthy of remark, that all 
 
 * Only one candlestick is seen in Zech. iv., wliilst there are two olive-trees: 
 for there existed then only the Jewish church; but that church was pre-emi- 
 nently a national church, protected, fostered, and upheld by the prince, when 
 that prince was one who feared God. Hence therefore the Jewish church 
 alone required the tu^o oliv-e-trees to symbolize it fully. In Rev. i. ii. and iii. 
 we have the type of the Gentile church, set forth firs't by the seven candle- 
 sticks, and then by seven selected communilies of Asia Minor; and hence, 
 apparently, is the reason why, in Rev. xi. two candlesticks are introduced. 
 
 + I must not be nnderstood as meaning to justify the abuse of power in 
 princes, corruplion.s in the priesthood, nor abuses in the established Church. 
 Offences will come, owing to the fallen nature of man, and woe to him by 
 whom the offence cometh. But it does not justify our speaking evil of digni- 
 ties, or refusing to submit ourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
 sake. As well might children refuse to obey their parents, and servants their 
 masters, unless all be "good and gentle." The true national witness for Goil 
 is in Church and State; and though the beast from the pit is made the instru- 
 ment of vengeance for their abuse of power, yet are his ^;r/w«/'to infidel, and 
 opposed to the majesty of God. 
 
 + Daubuz is the only commentator I am acquainted with, who directly ap- 
 proximates to the view here taken. We liave seen in a former note, (page 
 317,) that he fixes on Joshua and Zerubbabel, Moses and Aaron, Elijah and 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 331 
 
 the kings of Israel, previous to the schism which caused the 
 ten tribes to draw o(T, were propliets. The Psalms witness for 
 David's being so; the Canticles, &.c. for Solomo?i. And as to 
 the^/-i/ king of Israel, "It became a proverb: Saul also among 
 the projj/icts," (1 Sam. x. 12; xix. 24.) 
 
 The above is not offered as a formal exposition of the whole 
 prophecy, but only as the ground-work or elements for an in- 
 terpretation: the remaining particulars it will not be diflicult 
 to make out, and those already noticed may be followed out to 
 a much greater extent. 
 
 The signs of the times tend to confirm this view. I have 
 endeavoured to shew in the former chapter that tlie last form 
 of Antichrist is to be republican and infidel, and that we have 
 strong indications in the present day of the increasing preva- 
 lence of those principles: the obscuration of the symbolical 
 sun and moon, together with the falling of the stars, amounts 
 to the same thing as the death of the witnesses. When they 
 shall be killed, their enemies will rejoice, "because these two 
 prophets tormented ihem that dwelt on the earth." This is 
 already the loud complaint of infidel and revolutionary men; 
 viz. that kings and priests have been and are the greatest evils 
 to society, — a torment and scourge to men. And especially 
 that power which the state has exercised (answering to the fire 
 proceeding out of the mouth of the witnesses, and devouring 
 their enemies, v. 5,) — a power of inflicting cajoital punishment 
 for treason, and dealing severely with blasphemy and sacrilege, 
 — is aimed at and railed against by the seditious and levelling 
 spirit of the present day; and nothing has caused greater exulta- 
 tion among men of revolutionary principles, than when a mo- 
 narch has been dethroned or depressed. 
 
 It would be easy to point to past events of a character suffi- 
 cient to make out as good an accomplishment of the death of 
 these two witnesses, as any of those already pointed to,* (un- 
 
 £lisha, as types of the witnesses; and of these pairs he says— "One of these 
 stood for the ecclesiastical or religious government, and the other for the civil 
 state." He has a difHculty, however, in proving this in the case of Elijah and 
 Elisha, and rests it on the circumstance that lie could not have been priest or 
 Levilc, from the fact of his being found at the plough, when Elijah chose him 
 for his companion, (I Kings xix. 19,) for neither priest nor Levile could have 
 land. (p. 503.) He should have said, When Elijah chose him for his suc- 
 cessor, rather than companion; for these two cannot be viewed as pairs, in the 
 same way as the other couples. He observes of Joshua and Zerubbabel, that 
 they are called '■(ke anointed ones" i. e. (he says) "//tc supreme governors in 
 Church and Slate;" and "that in the case of the two witnesses in Rev. xi. 3, 
 the word Juo-ai, I will give, implies power and authority." On their being 
 called olive-trees, he says, "Which type plainly signified, that those two heads 
 did maintain the nation of the captive Jews, both as to their ecclesiastical and 
 civil state; as the olive-trees, which afford oil, do maintain the light in the 
 lamps, the sijMolof government." 
 
 * Both church and king were overthrown in England in the time of our 
 
332 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 less that of Mr. Elliott be excepted;) but though these things 
 have been permitted by the providence of God, as specimens 
 of the coming wrath, I consider they have been of too partial 
 a character to answer to the scope of the prophecy. I expect 
 that the beast from the pit will overthrow all kings and all 
 churches within the range of his dominion; previous to which 
 they will be in a state of depression and humiliation cor- 
 responding to their prophesying in sackcloth. Already is the 
 war against them covertly begun; of which wc have unequivo- 
 cal demonstrations in our own country; not to mention the 
 fact, that we have already ceased to be, in a natiOi.al point of 
 view, a Protestant country; and that so far as one branch of the 
 legislature is concerned, she is already unchristianized ; (I allude 
 to the bills to remove disabilities from Roman Catholics and from 
 Jews;) and the inco?ivenienci/ of maintaining a church establish- 
 ment, now already complained of, will be experienced in a 
 tenfold degree, should the latter bill ever pass into a law. And 
 
 .it is worthy of note, that that warning in Proverbs xxiv. 21, 
 has a special reference to the spirit and the circumstances of 
 the last days: "Fret not thyself because of evil duers, neither 
 be thou envious at the wicked; for there shall be no reward to 
 the evil man; the candle of the zncked shaU be put out. INI}' 
 son, fear thou the Lord and the king; and meddle not with them 
 that are given to change,: for their calamity shall rise suddenly, 
 a7id ztjho knouelh the ruin of them bolhV (Compare Psalm xxxvii.) 
 But — the triumphing of the wicked will be short. In the 
 midst of their rage against the Lord and against his anointed, 
 he will laugh them to scorn. Though the powers in league 
 with the beast make war with the Lamb, yet the Lamb shall 
 overcome them; for — He is Lord of lords and King of 
 KINGS, and they tiiat are with him are called, and chosen, and 
 
 faithful. Rev. xvii. 14. 
 
 THE CHRONOLOGICAL PROPHECIES. 
 
 1. That which has been the most perplexing, perhaps, of all 
 to the student of prophecy, has been the great discrepancy 
 among interpreters in regard to the dates fixed upon for the 
 commencement of those prophecies which are supposed to be 
 of long continuance, the different applications of portions of 
 them, and the consequent want of agreement as regards the 
 time at which they are to be finally accomplished.* A work 
 
 Charles I., and both have been overthrown in France in the time of Louis 
 XVI. 
 
 * Some, as Mr. Faber, &c. think that Daniel and the Apocalypse contain 
 periods of time, running on in a regular chronological series from the time of 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 333 
 
 of the description now before the reader would not be com- 
 plete, were it to take 710 notice of (his matter, but at the same 
 time it would be an endless and futile labour to attempt to give 
 a history of all the varying schemes of those who have fixed 
 upon particular years for the period of the coming of Anti- 
 christ, of the second advent of the Lord Jesus, of the expira- 
 tion of the times of the Gentiles, the destruction of Babylon, 
 the cleansing the sanctuary, or any other of tliose notable 
 events contained in the prophetic portion of God's word. 
 They are for the most part refuted by the event; and the au- 
 thors of the respective systems advocated are either fallen into 
 oblivion, or are only referred to on account of the value at- 
 tached to those intrinsic principles of interpretation which 
 exist in their writings, and which are still useful in i-espect to 
 certain parliculars of prophecy, independent of the system 
 which they may have respectively advocated as a whole.* 
 
 Great however as have been the different opinions on these 
 points, they ought not to be allowed to weigh with the dis- 
 creet and scriptural inquirer, so as to prejudice him against all 
 examination of the systems of former interpreters; still less 
 ought they to lead to the conclusion that lliese dates are in no 
 wise to be understood. They are inserted in the prophecies 
 by the Autlior of those prophecies himself; and we cannot 
 reasonably question that they are intended, like all other por- 
 tions of scripture, to be of service to the Church of God at 
 some particular period of its history; and therefore for any to 
 set their faces upon principle against all attempts to interpret 
 them, would be to encourage the Church of Christ to despise 
 
 ibe prophecy, or some previous event supposed to be alluded to, down to the 
 end of lime; to which calendar all ihe events of these prophecies are to be 
 referred and placed in their chronolo;2:ical order or place. But others, as 
 Daubuz, think there is no perpetual line of time or chronological series; but 
 that we find therein only .some special events whose duration is specified; and 
 that we must therefore expect to find several intermediate spaces of time, which 
 arc not determined by any symbol. 
 
 * The reader who has a desire for entering into these discrepancies will find 
 the folhnving Ibrmidablearray of different dates brought forward by Calmet (a 
 Roman Catholic writer) which have been assigned by difierent exposit(jrs for 
 the rising of Antichrist. Arnand de Villeneuve 1326. Francis Melet 1530 or 
 1540, John of Paris 15G0, Cardinal de Cnsa 1730 or 1734, Peter D'Aillc 1789, 
 Jerora Cardan 1800, and John Pico of Mirandolo 1994. Bcngel also notices 
 the following years, as being period.s which were immedialoly preceded by a 
 great expectation that the world would come to an end; (but thi'^ expectation 
 existed without any adequate cause,) viz. 1288, 1388, 1488, 1588, and 1GG6. 
 Pref. p. 311. The Rev. S. R. Maitland gives us the following dates which 
 liave been fixed upon for the termination of the 12(10 vears of Dan. vii. viz. 
 1G.50, 1G.55, 1G70, 168G, 1G91, 1G97, 171G, 173G, &c. Reply to Cuninghame, p. 
 113. And in his "Reply to a Review in the Morning Waich" he adduces 
 various instances from modern writers, who differ from each other in regard 
 to important cjevents which thev fix the accomplishment of as follows: 1843, 
 18GG. 1873, 18S8, 1917, 1920,2000. 
 38* 
 
334 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 one of the great beacons which her Lord has given to her. It 
 has been shown, in a former chapter, that they were evidently 
 intended to be sealed up from certain ages and generations of 
 the Ciiurch: they are as clearly to be opened and understood 
 in the generation for which they are written. Whether that 
 is yet "a generation to come,'' or they have been already 
 opened, or are now opening, may admit of question; though I 
 am decidedly of opinion, notwithstanding the diversity of ex- 
 positions, that the Lord has been opening them to the Church 
 ever since the era of the Protestant Reformation, — since which 
 period it is that the mindsof Christians have been mo'-e intensely 
 turned upon prophecy, and these different interpretations have 
 appeared. This is no more than what might have been ex- 
 pected from human nature, and the character of the events to 
 which the prophecies are supposed to relate. The Reforma- 
 tion necessarily opened men's eyes in a great .measure to the 
 past; and it was accompanied and succeeded by events of no 
 ordinary character, bearing upon tlie future destinies of the 
 Church. This is still more remarkably the case in respect to 
 the French Revolution; and when therefore we consider the 
 proneness of mankind to magnify the importance of the times 
 in which they tliemselvcs live, and of believers more espe- 
 cially to anticipate that crisis of events which they are desiring, 
 it is no wonder if they have misplaced circumstances which, 
 after all, may prove decidedly to belong to the great chain of 
 incidents ultimately to be embraced in a sound and proper in- 
 terpretation. The nature of the case would farther lead one 
 to expect, in regard to events extending over a large period of 
 history, some of the more important of which are crowded 
 into the latter times of it, that whilst some interpreters might 
 be led too eagerly to adopt an event as predicted in the word 
 of God, or to misplace one really predicted, in order to make 
 it comply with an erroneous chronological system; other in- 
 terpreters would more carefully compare anci examine events 
 with the prophecy, and by the principles of a judicious criti- 
 cism be led to reject some events, and more correctly to define 
 llie features of others, and to fix thein to their right places. 
 In this undertaking it is evident that the more modern inter- 
 preters must have a decided advantage; inasmuch as they not 
 only avail themselves of the criticisms and discoveries of their 
 earlier brethren, but are likewise warned by tlieir errors, and 
 are materially assisted by that greater developcment of events 
 which the lapse of time is continually producing. 
 
 One farther argument, in reference to the discrepancy in the 
 periods assigned, may be noticed in this place, viz. that there 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 335 
 
 exists much difference of ojMnion in regard to a period which 
 all learned men agree lias long since been fulfilled. I allude 
 to the piophec}- ol" the Scvenli/ IVec/cs, which was to be dated 
 from tlie going forth of a certain decree to rebuild Jerusalem. 
 But, as has been already noticed, (p. 320,) there were four de- 
 crees; and those who lived during the time whilst the 490 
 years were running out, could not a priori be certain ichich of 
 the four commandments issued by the kings of Persia it was 
 to be dated from, thougii they might justly have assumed that 
 it must be from one of them; and any difference of opinion, 
 thei'efore, arising from all four periods having been fixed upon, 
 would be no sufficient reason for discarding every one of the 
 hypotbeses built thereon, as if all must be equally erroneous. 
 The two first decrees by Cyrus and Darius appeared the most 
 likely to be the real ones: but the first passed away forti/six 
 years before Christ, and the latter hcenlij-eighl years before, and 
 yet he appeared not. It was between the period of the expi- 
 ration of the second and third edicts that his birth took place; 
 and it now appears, that it is from the third, issued in the 
 seventh year of Artaxerxes, that it was really to be calculated, 
 and not from that of the ln-ejitieth year of Artaxerxes; so that 
 even during the life of our Saviour, the period was not eluci- 
 dated with absolute exactness. Yea, it is not without diffi- 
 culty even now: as may be seen by the various attempts (no- 
 ticed by Dr. Prideaux) for reconciling the expiration of this 
 period with the circumstances of the death of Christ.* 
 
 If then this perplexity occur in a prophecy which all admit 
 to have been fulfilled, how much more ought we patiently to 
 wait the result of the hypotheses concerning f)eriods not yet 
 fully accomplished. Even writers of history are not fully 
 agreed as to the dates of some important events. Take the 
 Prolesta7it Reforriialion foy example, which has been variously 
 dated from the time of Wickliffe, Luther, Henry VIII, the 
 Smalcaldic League, Edward VI, &c. But were it to be ad- 
 vanced as an argument drawn from this discrepancy, that no 
 Reformation had actually taken place at all, we should at once 
 reject the argument as absurd. 
 
 2. Passing on to the chronological periods themselves, that 
 which is of principal importance is the 1260 years — mentioned 
 by Daniel and St. John, under various forms of expression, no 
 
 * These are of such a character, that a modern writer on prophecy has 
 imagined each week to be a Jubilee of years; and that Messiah, instead of 
 being cut off at the end of the (J9 weeks, cuts off his enemies. See an article 
 by Maramensis, \x\v. vol. ii.p. 121. Another writer has adopted the expedient 
 of separating; the 69 weeks from the one remaining week by a hiatus of up- 
 wards of 18(Hl,years! 
 
336 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 less than seve?i times.* This period relates to the manifesta- 
 tion and duration of the Little Horn, which, it has been al- 
 ready shewn (p. 276, &c. ) is, by the generality of modern 
 interpreters understood to be the papacy. A similar concur- 
 rence will be found to exist among the more eminent exposi- 
 tors of the present day, in fixing the period of this rise to the 
 year of our Lord 533. t Mr. Cuninghame, who ably vindicates 
 this date, adopts it f5r the following reasons. He first lays 
 down as a proposition, that the conimencenie?it of the 1260 years 
 is to he marked by the givifig the saints a?id times arid laws (of the 
 church) into the hands of the little horn, (On the Apoc. 3rd edi- 
 tion, p. 256.) And he next adopts the axiom of Mr. Faber, 
 that the giving tlic saints into the hands of the papacy must be 
 by some formal act of the secular power of the empire, consti- 
 tuting the pope to be the head of the church. He therefore 
 fixes upon the year 533, in which, in the reign of the emperor 
 Justinian, by an act of the secular government of the empire, 
 the Roman Pontiff was thus acknowledged. The emperor first 
 issued a decree defining his own faith, especially in the article 
 that the virgin Mary was the mother of God, (thus publicly 
 avouching the principles of demonolatry ;) and he required all 
 his subjects to conform to it under penalty to the disobedient, 
 and to their children, of the confiscation of their property. 
 He then submits this edict to the pope, and in the epistle which 
 accompanies it he styles' him, the acknoiiiedged head of all the 
 churches, and all the holy priests of God, and desires his approba- 
 tion of what he had done. This was given by the pope in the 
 following year; and consequently we have here, in the view 
 of those interpreters who adopt this date, the civil power 
 usurping the authority of Christ, and issuing blasphemous 
 things against God; and the two-horned beast of Rev. xiii. 
 now rising up out of the earth, (answering also to the little 
 horn of the ten-horned beast in Dan. vii.) is evidently prepared 
 to play into his hands and to cause men to worship the beast. 
 The epistle of the pope in reply bears date March 534; and 
 immediately after this, Justinian, in an edict addressed to the 
 proefect of Africa, invokes the virgin Mary, thus giving public 
 
 * It is mentioned as three limd; and a half, i2mo7iihs, and 12G0 days, which, 
 calculating by lunar time, will all agree. See Dan. vii. 25, and Rev. xi. 2, 3; 
 xii. (), 14, and xiii. 5. Mr. Habershon notices that three distinct events are 
 mentioned in connection with these three iorms of expression; viz. the first 
 having respect to popery as it appears under the actual dominion of the pope 
 himself; — ihe second to ihc tyrannical dotninions of the ten papal kingdom.s; — 
 the third to the depressed condition of the church of Christ. 
 
 t The names of Cuninghame, Frere, Irving, Keith, Habershon, and many 
 others have sanctioned this date. Mr. Faber likewise adopted it in the former 
 editions of his Sacred Calendar, but has abandoned it in the last edition, for a 
 reason which will presently be noticed. 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 337 
 
 evidence that the faith of the head of the empire, to which all 
 his subjects were required to conform, was not only blasphe- 
 mous but denionolatrous. Finally, all tlie preceding acts of 
 Justinian for establishing a secular and ecclesiastical supremacy 
 in the church (including also a letter to the patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, in which the above titles were likewise given to 
 the pope,) were inserted in the volume of the Civil Law, pub- 
 lished by Justinian, which became the basis of the jurispru- 
 dence of all the kingdoms of the western empire.* 
 
 At the termination of the 1260 years of the tyranny of the 
 Little Horn the ancient of days sits, and the judgment com- 
 mences which consumes and destroys him: and 12G0 years 
 from A. D. 533 brings us down to the French Revolution 
 1792-3. From which circumstance, as Mr. Cuninghame de- 
 cidedly considers this to have been the period when judgment 
 commenced upon the papal power, he adduces it as an argu- 
 ment a posteriori for adopting the year 533 as that of the rise 
 of the beast: maintaining that argument backward from the 
 period of the break-up of his power, so manifestly occurring 
 at that time, we are necessarilv brought back to the time of 
 
 T • • - O 
 
 Justinian. 
 
 Tiiere is likewise another event wdiich leads to the same 
 date: the ihrce li7nes a?id a half are with a high degree of pro- 
 bability supposed to be a moiety of seven times, which seven 
 times are further supposed to be "the times of the Gentiles," 
 i. e. the limes of Gentile domination over Israel. Mr. Cun- 
 inghame dates this fro.m b. c. 72S, when Israel became tribu- 
 tary to Assyria, and were very soon after led into captivity, 
 and when the Assyria-Babylonian empire likewise began to 
 obtain that universal sovereignty which is ascribed to it in the 
 vision. The bisecting point of the seven times, dated from 
 728 B. c. is A. D. 533.t . 
 
 * Mr. Cuninghame, who notices these matters (Crit. Examination of Faber, 
 p. 90.) slates also that the previous edicts of Gratian and Valentin'ian the iii. 
 on which Mr. Faber lays emphasis, are not to be found in that volume; a dis- 
 tinction which he thinks of a very prominent character between the two Ibrmer 
 edicts and that of Justinian, as to their becoming the settled and ultimate law 
 of the empire. 
 
 + It has already been observed that Mr. Faber formerly advocated the view 
 of Mr. Cuninghame, (which Mr. Cuninghame, indeed, in some measure de- 
 rived from him,) but. that in a subsequent edition of his work he has departed 
 from it. He has adopted instead, the period of the ten Gothic kingdoms una- 
 nimously recognizing the papal supremacy. The abandonment of the year 
 533 by Mr. Faber, appears to be in consequence of its being necessary to adapt 
 the 1200 years, with the other parts of his exposition, to a new principle 
 adopted in his scheme; the object of which is evidently to prevent his readers 
 from coming to the conclusion (which was inevitable in his former editions,) 
 that the second advent of Christ is premillennial. But he is singularly incon- 
 sistent in marhtalning his new views: he considers that the point of time, from 
 which the 1200 years are to be calculated, is the completion of the great demo- 
 
338 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 It is important however to observe, in regard to the epistle 
 of Justinian, in which he constitutes the pope the head of the 
 church, that certain passages of it, particularly those which 
 are to the point in hand, are called in question by Comber, in 
 his work on the "Forgeries of the Councils," p. 251, who 
 declares them to be spurious. His reasonings, however, are 
 by no means conclusive. For he argues on the improbahililij 
 of the emperor's having thus constituted the pope head of all 
 the churches (including of course those of the eastern empire;) 
 whereas it appears from other documents, as the Novels of 
 Justinian, (nov. 131, ch. 2.) that he really did consider the 
 pope pre-eminent, however plausible the reasoning of Comber 
 may be in the abstract.* 
 
 3. In reference to the chronological system of Mr. Cuning- 
 hame, viewed as a whole, it has been urged against it that he 
 departs from what is supposed (b)' those who make the objec- 
 tion) to be the obvious order and structure of the Apocalypse 
 in the arrangement of the Seals, Trumpets and Vials. Thus 
 
 nolatrous apostacy of the Christian church, and the removal of that particular 
 impedivient ichich hindered the manifestation of the Man of Sin. This impedi- 
 ment he considers was "the coercing power of the coercing law of the Roman 
 empire." The first step in the progress of its removal he states was the Em- 
 peror Constantine's withdrawing his presence from Rome, and constituting 
 Byzantium the capital of his empire — "by which he gave the Roman bishop 
 space for expansion: whilst the ample immunities and privileges which he 
 received from succeeding em[^erors were plainly no other than a removal of 
 the coercing power, so far as it was exercised by the imperial head." He then 
 shews, that certain of these privileges and immunities were conferred by the 
 edict of Gratian and Valeniinian II. a. d. 378; that then followed another edict 
 of Theodosius II. and Valentinian III. a. d. 445; and next he comes down to 
 the identical decree of Justinian, 533, constituting the pope head of all the 
 churches, and directing that all ecclesiastical business should be laid before 
 him; and declares, " Thus v-as the coercing poicer removed, so far as it was exer- 
 cised by the head of the empire.''' Sac. Cal. vol. i. p. 153, and a Review of Faber 
 in the Investigator, vol. iv. p. 303. He attempts nevertheless to carry the 
 period down to a later date, by showing that all the ten kingdoms of the West- 
 ern empire did not as yet submit to the Pope's authority. The insufficiency 
 and inconsistency of his reasons for this may be seen in the same Review, and 
 in Mr. Cuninghame's Critical Examination. 
 
 It is also now objected by Mr. Faber, that the decree of Justinian in regard 
 to the western Empire, which was the seat of the papacy, had no more autho- 
 rity than a piece of waste paper; forasmuch as that emperor had no power 
 over it at the time of its promulgation. Mr. Habershon however says,— "The 
 Empire of the West being extinguished, he, as sole remaining emptror of the 
 Roman vwrld — as conqueror (by means of his generals Belisarius and Narses) 
 of the Arian nations of the West, &c. — was undoubtedly the legitimate autho- 
 rity for regulating the ecclcsins/iii/l nnirrrns of the whole empire.''^ P. 21. And 
 Mr. Faber admits above, win n |niisning another point, that Justinian did 
 constitute the pope head of nil Ihr i-luirckcs, and direct that all ecclesiastical bu- 
 siness should he laid before him, &c." 
 
 * The whole reasoning of Comber may be seen in Mr. Bickersteth's "Prac- 
 tical Guide," or in the Investigator, vol. iv. A searching reply to it may like- 
 wise be found in the preface to Mr. Cuninghame's last published work — "The 
 Fulness of the Times," &c. to which works the reader who desires to inves- 
 tigate this matter is referred. 
 
ELEMENTS OP PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 339 
 
 the writer of the series of interesting and able Essays on Pro- 
 phecy in the Christian Guardian for 1830, which already have 
 been adverted to, says — <'VVe shrink from all interpretations 
 which tell us that although St. John, according lo the ordinary 
 meaning of his language, represents the opening of the seventh 
 seal to be the signal for the sounding of the seven trumpets, — 
 yet that in fact these trumpets began to sound many centuries 
 before the opening of the seventh, or even of the sixth seal." 
 (p. 369.) Certainly the view which appears, at first sight, to 
 present itself to the reader of the Apocalypse is, that the 
 seventh seal contains, the seven trumpets, which do not begin 
 to sound until the seventh seal is opened; and that the seventh 
 trumpet, in like manner, contains the seven vials, which are 
 none of them poured out until the seventh trumpet has sounded. 
 This principle is followed by JMede, Newton, Whiston, Faber 
 and others, excepting that in the diagrams to some of the later 
 editions of Mode he makes six of the vials to be poured out 
 during the sounding of the sixth trumpet, and the seventh vial 
 only at the sounding of the seventh. Mr. Cuninghame, however, 
 makes the series of the trumpets begin, (so far as the chrono- 
 logical order of tliem is concerned,) and four of them to have 
 sounded, between the opening of the second and third seals; 
 and he fixes the opening of the sixth seal and the sounding of 
 the seventh trumpet to a. d. 1792. Mr. Frere also deviates 
 from the principle just adverted to, and makes the Seals and 
 Trumpets run nearl}^ in two parallel streams; the first seal and 
 trumpet beginning in the fourth century, and the last begin- 
 ning each of thcni in 1792, at which time also he dates the 
 effusion of the first vial. Weighty reasons are adduced by 
 both these writers for deviating froni what appears to be the 
 obvious construction; which reasons ought not to be discarded 
 without due consideration. At the same time the order con- 
 tended for by the writer in the Christian Guardian appears the 
 most natural and free from complexity, and he consequently 
 proposes to read the entire Apocalypse "consecutively as one 
 harmonious whole, and as a connected and well-arranged nar- 
 rative, only broken by one or two episodes, which are intro- 
 duced for the most necessary purposes." He accordingly 
 advances an interpretation of the book conformable with this 
 proposition, for the particulars of which I must refer to that 
 volume of the periodical before named. 
 
 \. One other circumstance affecting the arrangement and 
 interpretation of the chronological projjhecies remains to be 
 noticed, and that of considerable importance. It is contained 
 in the dissertation of Mr. Ilabershon on the "Prophetic Scrip- 
 tures." His principal proceeding is, to examine into the 
 
340 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 peculiarities of those chronological periods mentioned in the 
 Old Testament, which are avowedly fulfilled. In the first of 
 those which he examines, viz. the sojournincr of the children 
 of Israel and their affliction in Egypt, — he discovers the fol- 
 lowing particulars: viz. first, that two durations are assigned to 
 it;* secondly, that their commencement is at separate periods; 
 but, thirdly, that they have one common termination; fourthly, 
 that the exact time of their commencement could not have 
 been known with certainty until after the deliverance from 
 Egypt; and lastly, that the period of commencement was in 
 neither instance from the time when the prophecy was given. 
 The Babylonish captivity of seventy years is also shown to 
 have been a lu-ofuld period, viz. from the captivity of Judah in 
 Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar to the decree of Cyrus, b. c. 606 
 to 536; and from the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar to the decree of Darius Hystaspes, b. 'c. 5SS to 518.1 
 There are other chronological periods noticed in the work, 
 with their respective peculiarities; but the two just instanced 
 are the most important, and afford a sufficient specimen of the 
 whole. It will be evident to the judicious student of the word 
 of God, that what w^e find to be the character of the fulfilled 
 periods of God's word may, by a just analogy, be transferred 
 to the unfulfilled; and that if, as regards the last of the in- 
 stances above cited, in ap event whicli is unquestionably a type 
 of the Church's spiritual deliverance from Babylon, there were 
 clearly two commencements and two terminations of the pre- 
 dicted period of captivity, there can be no hesitation in apply- 
 ing the above principles to its a?ililijpe, viz. to that more re- 
 markable deliverance of the same people which is yet to take 
 place from their last and heaviest captivity. Indeed it may be 
 that all the unfulfilled periods will be found to partake more or 
 less of the peculiarities of those which are fulfilled; and if this 
 be the case, then Mr. Habershon will iiave been led to furnish 
 the church with a principle of interpretation by which many 
 of the conflicting dates and epochs adduced by different exposi- 
 tors may after all be reconciled; and it will be found, (as with 
 many other truths of divine revelation, when they come to be 
 understood,) that what appears now to be perplexed and con- 
 tradictory, only requires the right clue to be found, in order 
 to digest and arrange them in their proper places. J 
 
 * In Gen. xv. 12 — 14, and Acts vii. (">, 7, it is declared to be 400 years; in 
 Exodus and Gal. iii. 17, it is declared to be 430 years. The former period is 
 dated from b. c. 1921, and the latter b. c. 1891, and both terminate b. c. 1491. 
 
 t The reconcilement of the^e two periods may be seen in Prideaux's Con- 
 nections, Vol. i. p. 254. 
 
 t Whiston has lon<? since conjectured that the 1290 and 1335 years men- 
 tioned in Daniel xii. have a different commencement from the 1260 years, and 
 
ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 341 
 
 5. In conclusion, it must not be forgotten that there are two 
 methods by which it has pleased God to make known to his 
 Church, when he purposes to accomplish a prophecy. The 
 one is by assigning an event as the epoch from which a certain 
 period of time is to be reckoned, (as in the instances just con- 
 sidered,) which time is to elapse before that which is more 
 especially the subject of promise is to come to pass. The other 
 is by a delineation of certain characleristics, — moral, political, 
 and otherwise, — which shall signalize the time, when the thing 
 foretold is about to be accomplished. These characteristics 
 are abundantly scattered throughout the old and New Testa- 
 ments: and as they are within the observation and comprehen- 
 sion of every individual, learned or unlearned, who can but 
 read the word of God, or hearken when it is read; so doubt- 
 less all will be rebuked who do not give heed to the signs of 
 the times, and are not by them led to trim their lamps and 
 gird up their loins, and be found in the posture of watchfulness 
 for their Lord. The limits of the present volume do not per- 
 mit my entering upon the direct exposition of any of those 
 prophecies which bear directly on the characteristics of our 
 Lord's advent being at hand.* All I can say in this place is, 
 that I am most firmly persuaded that we are living in that 
 awful period designated in Scripture as the last time, and the last 
 days. Every succeeding year serves to increase the evidence 
 on this head, and to give clearness and precision and intensity 
 to those signs which already have been noticed by commen- 
 tators. Even worldly men are so affected by some of the 
 signs of our times, as to feel seriously persuaded that some 
 tremendous crisis is at hand. It therefore more especially be- 
 hoves the professing people of God to be upon the watch- 
 tower, and to observe what is passing around them, and be 
 prepared for the future, that that day may not overtake them 
 as a thief in the night. 
 
 The signs of the times, though they will not inforni us of 
 the day and the hour, and perhaps not of the year, of our 
 
 therefore are iiulcpendent periods; and also that there are two independent 
 periods of TJOO years. But iiis conjectures are not rested on any scriptural 
 basis. Mr. Fuijer also maives, in the last edition ol' his work, the 1-290 years 
 and the I'.Vio years to be distinct periods; but instead of their following each 
 other by successive intervals, as they apparently do in the Scriptures, he dates 
 the 1290 years from a. d. 70, the 1260 years fr, m a. d. C04, and the 1335' years 
 from 18(il. and to terminate a. d. 3199! Mr. Haberhhon has at least the credit 
 of scriptural analogy for what he advances; ihouph, how far he makes a cor- 
 rect use of it, in his application of the subject to the unfulfilled prophecies, is 
 another c|iu."siion. His work, however, will be found in many respects well 
 worthy of perusal, and is among itie best modern treatises on prophecy. 
 
 * The Reader who is desirous of information on these points will find seve- 
 ral of them noticed in the "Essays of AUliel," page 121 — 144. 
 VOL. II. — 29 
 
342 ELEMENTS OF PROPHETICAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Lord's advent, will nevertheless afford an unequivocal demon- 
 stration that it is at hand. Not that I would be thought to 
 undervalue the chronological marks: they are perhaps the most 
 valuable notices when correctly understood, and will doubtless 
 serve to fix the period with greater precision, though perhaps 
 not with the exactness which some expect. The more pro- 
 phecy is studied us a ivholc, with the rest of Scripture, the 
 more will it serve to confirm the faith and animate the hope of 
 the believer. Each fresh discovery of its meaning, each fresh 
 or more complete accomplishment of its promises, yea even 
 the rectification of formerly-indulged errors, will tend greatly 
 to encourage and establish him. I have adverted with dis- 
 approbation more than once in the course of this volume to 
 the work of an able writer on the subject; I am happy how- 
 ever in being able to illustrate my last remark by a quotation 
 from his work which I admire and approve: — 
 
 "Time, which wears out and destroys almost every thing 
 else, only contributes to stamp the value and to augment the 
 influence of tlie benefits of Propliecy. Like wine, it improves 
 by age, and acquires with it not merely ripeness and maturity, 
 but also excellence and strength. It is therefore from this cir- 
 cumstance alone possessed of amazing powers: it is a motion 
 continually accelerated: it is a weight perpetually descending, 
 and therefore constantly increasing its force and impulse as it 
 descends." (Whitley's Scheme of Prophecy, p. 52.) 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 I. 
 
 In reference to Note 1, on page 227, respecting the meaning 
 of the term Babylon in 1 Peter v. 13, (which the Reader is 
 requested to turn to, and again peruse,) I have since received 
 an interesting communication from the Rev. R. Rabett, in re- 
 ply to some queries which I forwarded to him respecting his 
 assertion, that Babylon was destroyed many ages before the 
 Apocalypse was given, and which reply I have his permission 
 , to make use of. 
 
 "My reasons for affirming, that the literal '-Babylon the 
 Great,'' on the Euphrates, was destroyed many ages before St. 
 John wrote his Revelation, are founded upon the inspired tes- 
 timony of Daniel concerning Belsliazzar, the king of Babylon, 
 in his interpretation of the hand-writing upon the plaister of 
 the wall of the king's palace. "And this is the writing that 
 was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the 
 interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy 
 kingdom, and finished it.. ..Peres; thy kingdom is divided, 
 
 and GIVEN to the Medes and Persians In that 7iight was 
 
 Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain; and Darius, the 
 Median, took the kingdom, being about threescore and two 
 years old. "...."Daniel prospered in the Reis^n of Darius, 
 (the Median,) and in the Reign of Cyrus, ihe Persian." Thus 
 were the words of this, and a collateral prophecy of Jeremiah, 
 fulfilled in respect of the downfall of Babylon the Great. Jere- 
 miah foretels the suddenness of the event in these words.* 
 "Flee out of the midst oF Babylon, and deliver every man his 
 soul; be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the Time of 
 the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense 
 ....Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed; for her 
 judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the 
 skies. The Lord hath raised up the spi7'it of the Medes; for 
 His device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is 
 the vengeance of Ilis temple. Set up the standard upon the 
 wall of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up tiic watch- 
 men, prepare the ambushes; for the Lord hath both devised 
 and DONE that which he spake against the inhabitants of 
 Babylon, thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant 
 in treasures, thine end is come." So that as Cyrus, the 
 Persian, (vvliom the Lord called by name, ''for Jacob his ser- 
 vant's sake, and Israel his elect,") suddenly diverted the course 
 *Jer. li. G, 8, 11— 18. 
 
344 APPENDIX. 
 
 of the River Euphrates, even in one night, and marched his 
 troops through the dry bed of the river into the city of Baby- 
 lon, and took possession of it; so did Darius the Median 
 take away the gates, and pull down the broad walls of Great 
 Babylon, according to the word of the Lord by Jeremiah the 
 Prophet, saying,* "The broad walls of Babylon shall be ut- 
 terly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire;" 
 and so trul}^ was this prediction fulfilled, that Babylon was 
 never after that period the seat of supreme goveriunent under 
 a Babylonian or Chaldean monarch. And when Alexander 
 the Great, who was not a Median but a Macedonian monarch, 
 purposed to restore the city of Babylon to its pristine state of 
 grandeur and magnificence, that it might once more become 
 the seat of supreme government, he died; the Lord so watching 
 over his own sacred word which he had spoken by his servant* 
 Isaiah, saying,t "Come down, and sit in the 'dust, O virgin 
 daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, 
 
 daughter of the Chaldea7is....Sh thou silent, and get thee 
 into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt 
 no more be called, the ladt op kingdoms." As the Lord 
 frustrated the attempts of Julian the Apostate for rebuilding 
 the temple of Jerusalem, by causing balls of fire to come up 
 out of the earth, which destroyed the workmen and their 
 work; so the Lord frus,trated by death Alexander's attempts 
 to rebuild Babylon. And as of the former building it was said, 
 "There shall not be left one stone upon another, which shall 
 not be thrown down," and of the latterj.... "They shall not 
 take a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou 
 shalt be desolate for ever;" so has it come to pass. In a 
 word; from the time of Cyrus and Darius the term "Great," 
 (which the title of "7%e Lady of kingdoms''^ imports,) could 
 never more be literally applied to the city or kingdom of 
 Babylon of the Chaldees, according to the word of the Lord 
 — "Thou shalt no more be called. The Lady of Kingdoms." 
 
 1 am aware that the kingdom or province of Babylonia, under 
 the Selucidae, was continued from Alexander's time till within 
 about Q^S years of the Christian era, after which it became a 
 Roman province: but Strabo and Pliny both concur in testi- 
 fying that Babylon, in their time, was only a ^^grcat desert,'" 
 and a '^desolale wilderness,'' and the latter historian lived about 
 the time of St. Peter, The name of Babylon in 1 Peter v, 13, 
 seems to me to be incoherently placed, because the words, 
 "Church that is," are in Italics; but as the name of Babylon is 
 there found, some local meaning must be assigned to it. St. 
 John wrote his Revelation "in tlic isle that is called Patmos," 
 and has only mentioned the name of the island, and not any 
 
 * Jcr. li. 58 . + Isaiah xlvii. 1, 5. t Jeremiah li. 26. 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 particular torcn therein, it being properly a barren island, or 
 without a town of note, and it is possible that, from the desert, 
 desolate, and u-ilderness-slale of Babijlon in St. Peter's time, the 
 Apostle miglit, in his travels through (he province, merely append 
 the name of Babylon to his first epistle, in order to identify 
 the part of llie rvorld in ichicJi he then xdus with certain believers 
 of his company, fellow-labourers and fellow-travellers; the 
 name of Babylon being put for the whole province, to wit, 
 Babylonia, which would comprehend the ruins of the old city 
 if that were necessary. And as Peter's 1st epistle is addressed, 
 not to any particular church or city or country, but in general 
 terms ^'to the strangers scattered ihroughotit^' the countries of 
 "Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia;" so he 
 might possibly use the name Babylon, (or Babylonia) in the 
 same genera/ sen.se in which he addressed the united brethren 
 that were resident in those countries which he had specified, 
 as well as *'/« the ivorld.^' But after all, I have no objection 
 to Peter's 1st Epistle being siihscrihed from the literal Baby- 
 lon, or from Babylon on the Delta, or from Sclucia, the modern 
 Babylon, or from the country or province called Babylonia: 
 though in a mystical or spiritual sense I could hardly admit 
 that Rome was meant by IBabylon; for Irenseus and Eusebius 
 have both informed us that Linus, Anaclet and Clement were, 
 in succession the three first bishops of Rome, which would 
 exclude both Peter and Paul from such episcopal ofBce in 
 Rome. I think it wisely ordered that we should know much 
 less about Peter's pretended patrimony, seat, chair, &c. than 
 any other of the Apostles, because of the idolatry of Papal 
 Romanists, and tiiat they glor)^ so much in Rome as the resi- 
 dence of Peter, whom they have denominated the prince of 
 the Apostles, For my own part I do not admire the subscrip- 
 tion of St. Peter to his first Epistle, though it may be quite 
 correct: there is to me an ambiguity aloout it; but as I do not 
 wish to plunge into deep waters, which seem to me unfathom- 
 able, I must leave the subject as I found it. Yet if you want 
 authorities for the plausibility of sueh an argument as that 
 ^^Peter ivas at Rome'''' when he subscribed his 1st Epistle, 
 you may see some small ground for it in Dr. Adam Clarke's 
 quotations in his Commentary on the 1st Epistle of Peter v. 
 13, and also in his Preface to that Epistle, (not that the Doctor 
 himself favours the opinion,) in which is exhibited the four 
 leading opinions of the learned concerning the supposed situa- 
 tion of the Babylon mentioned by Peter; but perhaps you 
 have already seen it. — Cave (as quoted by Dr. Clarke) in his 
 life of St.* Peter, says, that Jerome concludes his article 
 of St. Peter, saying, '■'■He reus buried at Rome, in the Vati- 
 carij near the triumphal way; and is in veneration all over 
 
346 APPENDIX. 
 
 the worldf but I believe this is a traditional account, and 
 the best and only one which Romanists possess. I have no 
 objection to the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom at 
 Rome; but early history is, I believe, very silent upon the 
 subject of Peter^s apostolical viinistratioiis at Ro7ne: how- 
 ever, I have nothing better to tell you now." 
 
 Since the receipt of the above I have met with the following 
 very important admission contained in the Roman Catholic 
 Bishop Walmsley's exposition of the Apocalypse, published 
 under the name of Sig. Pastorini: — 
 
 "This same ]Voman is further said to carry on her forehead 
 the following inscription: A mystery: Babylon the great, the 
 mother of the fornications, arid the abominations of the earth. V. 5. 
 Here is a mysterij, or an enigma to be unravelled, viz. Babylon 
 the great, the fornicatio?is, and the abominations of the earth. 
 The reader, we apprehend, is already prepared in great mea- 
 sure for the solving of this enigma. Babylon the great, is the 
 great imperial city of Pagan Rome. And she is the Woman, 
 as we have just shewn, who is the mother of the fornications and 
 abominations of the earth. This is the explanation of the pro- 
 posed mystery. But to make it more clear, that by Babylon the 
 great is here meant idolatrous Rome, we appeal to the angePs 
 words: The rcoman which thou sazoest is the great city ivhich hath 
 kingdom over the kings of the earth, (v. 18) which, as we have 
 before observed, plainly points out the great ancient city of 
 Rome, that domineered over the greatest part of the kingdoms 
 of the then known world. The woman therefore is the image 
 of that city, and in the inscription on her forehead she is styled 
 Babylon the great: consequently Babylon the great is here the 
 same with the city of Rome. In the primitive ages this figu- 
 rative name of Babylon was frequently given to heathen Rome 
 by the Christians, on account of the resemblance of the charac- 
 ters of those two cities, for their idolatry and for their op- 
 pressing — one the Jews; the other the Christians. St. Peter 
 dates his first letter from Babylon (1 Pet. v. 13,) that is, from 
 Rome, as St. Jerome and Eusebius tell us. "The appellation 
 of Babylon (said Tertullian) is used by St. John for the city of 
 Rome, because she resembles ancient Babylon, in the extent 
 of her walls; in her haughtiness; on account of her dominion; 
 and in persecuting the saints," (lib. adv. Jud.) St. Austin 
 also says, "Rome is a second Babylon, and a daughter of the 
 ancient Babylon," (de Civ. lib. xxii. c. IS.) Babylon the great 
 is therefore sufficiently distinguished." P. 127. 
 
 II. 
 
 On the supposed existence of the Ten Tribes, Mr. Wolff's 
 mention of the black and white Jews of Cochin, (p. 195), from 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 not beinj; sufficiently explicit, is calculated to lead to erroneous 
 conclusions. He merel}^ gives the traditions of these two 
 classes of Jews, as mentioned by themselves. The white 
 Jews do not claim to have come into India earlier than soon 
 after the destruction of the second temple, or about the year 68 
 of the Christian era. They say the black Jews are merely 
 converts to Judaism from among the Hindoos; which Mr. 
 Wolff tiiinks probable, as converts are now frequent, and the 
 features and manners of the black Jews are Hindoo. They 
 are little better than slaves to the white Jews. The black 
 Jews, however, say for themselves, that they became converts 
 in the time of Estlier, JNIordecai and Ahasuerus; and that they 
 were already in India as Jezcs, when the white Jews came. 
 The white Jews deny this. Journal 473 — 748. 
 
 As regards the Jews supposed to be in China, (p. 273), the 
 following extract from a Christian missionary in that country, 
 inserted in the Record of July 4, 1836, relates to them: — 
 
 "There is also a colony of Jews in China, at Kae-foong-foo, 
 of whom Mr. Davis, in his work on the Ciiinese, gives some 
 interesting particulars. They are said to have readied China 
 as early as 200 years before Christ: the Chinese call them 'the 
 sect that plucks out the sinew.' There is a place reserved in 
 their synagogue for its chief, who never enters there except 
 with profound respect. They say that their ancestors came 
 from a kingdom of the west, called the kingdom of Juda, 
 which Joshua conquered after having departed from Egypt 
 and passed the Red Sea and the wilderness: that the number 
 of Jews who migrated from Egypt was about 600,000 men. 
 They say their alphabet has twenty-seven letters, but they 
 commonly make use of only twenty-two, which accords with 
 the declaration of St. Jerome, that the Hebrew has twenty-two 
 letters, of which five are double. When they read the Bible 
 in their synagogue they cover their facc-with a transparent veil, 
 in memory of Moses, who descended from the mountain with 
 his face covered, and who thus pui)lishcd the Decalogue and 
 the lavv of God to his people. They read a section every sab- 
 bath day. Thus the Jews of China, like the Jews of Europe, 
 read all the law in the course of the year." 
 
 The following is Mr. Cuninghame's opinion, published in 
 his recent work on "The Fulness of the 'i'imes," Pref. p. xxii. 
 
 "We have lately seen in the public ]iapcrs, frequent mention 
 of the Tribes of Caucasus, who have issued a declaration of in- 
 dependence, addressed to all the courts of Europe, and are at 
 war with Russia, and are reported to have repeatedly beaten 
 her armies.^ They in that document describe themselves as 
 being yo</r millions in number, divided into "many tribes, lan- 
 guages and creeds, with various customs, traditions and creeds." 
 
348 APPENDIX. 
 
 "The chief chosen by each body during war is implicitly 
 obeyed, and our princes and our elders govern according to 
 the custom of each place with greater authority than in the 
 great states around us." Now it appears to me probable, that 
 Ephraim and a portion of the Ten Tribes may be found among 
 this people. That Ephraim is in some country north of Judea, 
 and a country of mountains, appears to be certain from the 
 language of Jeremiah, Go and proclaim these words towards the 
 7iorth, and say, Return thou backsliding Israel; — they shall come 
 together out of the land of the north. — Behold I ziill bring them 
 from the north country. Jer. iii. 12, IS; xxxi. S. It is also 
 said, For there shall be a. day that the icatchman upon the mount 
 Ephraim shall cry, Arise ije, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our 
 God. The land of the north is a description exactly suiting to 
 the countries between the Euxine and the Caspian, which are 
 nearly due north of Judea, but by no means the regions to the 
 east of the Caspian. Moreover, I am led to expect that, in this 
 text, mount Ephraim does not mean the mountain of that name 
 in the land of Canaan, which was given to Ephraim, but some 
 mountainous country where Ephraim now dwells; for imme- 
 diately after these words the prophet proceeds to predict their 
 return into the land of their fathers. The region of Caucasus 
 is the immediate vicinity of the ancient Colchis or Colchos of 
 the Greeks, which seems to be the n'^n, properly Culach, of 2 
 Kings xvii. G. and i^^n' Chabor is perhaps the Iberia of the 
 Greeks which adjoined Colchos. The river Gozan may be 
 the Phasis which traverses Colchos. In some of the modern 
 maps it bears the name of the Fasz or Kioni. It is rather more 
 than a year since I iirst communicated these ideas to some of 
 my friends, and since that time the Circassian tribes have been 
 rising in importance in the public mind, and have been repeat- 
 edly mentioned in parliament. I shall just add, that what is 
 now stated is offered simply as a conjecture, in order to direct 
 the attention of tiiose who are observing the signs of the times 
 to that quarter. From what is said in the declaration of inde- 
 pendence of the Circassians, they appear to be Mahomedans; 
 but as they also admit that they arc divided into many tribes, 
 languages and creeds, some among them may, as it is said of 
 Ephraim, be joined to their idols. The account given of 
 these tril)cs in the Encyclopaedia is, that they are Pagans, but 
 use circumcision. I shall further observe, that it is apparent 
 from Deut. xxxiii. 17, that the military prowess of Ephraim and 
 Manasseh is to act a conspicuous part in the events of the last 
 times; and if there be any truth in the conjecture now offered, 
 I have no doubt but events will soon speak with an unequivo- 
 cal voice." 
 
^