By James H. Brookes
NO MILLENNIUM TILL CHRIST COMES. -
PART 3
In entering upon the direct proofs that it is
unscriptural, and, therefore, contrary to the will of God and hurtful to the
Church, to expect the Millennium before the personal coming of our Lord, there
are two modes of presenting the truth. The first is to quote a vast number of
texts both from the Old and New Testaments, which conclusively show that, during
the entire continuance of the present dispensation, sorrow and suffering, and
conflict with foes within and without will be the portion of the saints, and
that the dispensation will pass away in a series of terrific judgments, instead
of being merged in the blessings of universal righteousness and peace. This,
however, would leave no space for comments, without protracting the argument to
an unprofitable length. The second mode is to offer fewer passages from the
Scriptures with brief remarks, simply to call the attention of the reader to the
precise form of statement contained in God’s word. On the whole it seems
preferable to pursue the latter course, though it is difficult to determine what
to select from such a mass of testimony.
(1). Confining our attention for the present to the
Old Testament, we find recorded in the second chapter of Daniel a remarkable
dream of the king of Babylon, which the prophet of God recalled to the mind of
the monarch, and then interpreted a-s follows: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold
a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before
thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his
breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs [or sides, as the margin
renders it] of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image
upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the
iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,
and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried
them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image
became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
“This is the dream; and we will tell the
interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for
the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power and strength, and glory. And
wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of
heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all.
Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior
to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the
earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron
breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these,
shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes,
part of potter’s clay [or, earthern-ware, as Tregelles thinks it means], and
part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the
strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom
shall be partly strong, and partly broken [or, brittle]. And whereas thou sawest
iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men:
but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which
shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but
it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the
silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come
to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof
sure.”
There is no dispute concerning the meaning of the
various parts of the image here described. Post-millenarians insist no less
strenuously than pre-millenarians that they signify the Babylonian,
Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. Of course no allusion is made in this
statement to those rationalistic, or rather grossly irrational writers who
argue, in the very face of the explicit testimony of our Lord, that Daniel was
not the author of the book which bears his name, or who assert, in the very face
of both our Lord and the Apostles, that his prophecy reaches no further than the
time of the Maccabees. Even Gibbon could say, whether with or without a sneer,
God knoweth, “The four empires are clearly delineated; and the invincible armies
of the Romans described with as much clearness in the prophecies of Daniel, as
in the histories of Justin and Diodorus.” Indeed it is apparent to the most
casual reader, that we have in this book a symbolical history in prophetic
outline of what our Lord calls “The times of the Gentiles,” (Luke xxi: 34).
At the beginning of the Babylonian captivity,
Israel, having proved to be utterly unworthy of the exalted trust committed to
it as a faithful witness for God on the earth, was rejected; and the government
that might have been wielded by a holy and happy Theocracy passed into the hands
of the Gentiles. Lo-Ammi, not my people, was written on the banner of the
Hebrews, and from that time it must trail in the dust, “until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled.” It pleased the Holy Ghost to reveal the character and
course of this Gentile dominion, down to the very close of the present
dispensation, and this is what, we have in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision. It is a fact
so remarkable it can not be explained except on the ground of divine
inspiration, that a captive Jew, living six hundred years before Christ, boldly
and repeatedly asserted that there were to be only four universal monarchies
until He come, whose right it is to rule. Nor need we resort to human authority
to confirm the truth of the prediction, for in the word of God the four
monarchies are distinctly designated, and that word is sufficient, without
adding the testimony of profane history.
“Thou,” said Daniel, addressing the king of
Babylon, “art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom
inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over
all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron.” Babylon, then,
is the first great Gentile kingdom acting in relation to Israel, according to
the divine declaration in Jeremiah, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel—I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by
my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed
meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have
I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him and his son, and
his son’s son, until the very time of his land come,” (Jer. xxvii; 5-7).
“And after thee shall arise another kingdom
inferior to thee.” In the inspired account of the capture of Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar it is said, “them that had escaped from the sword carried he away
to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the
kingdom of Persia.” To this it is added, “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All
the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me,” (2 Chron.
xxxvi: 20, 23). Again, in the prophecy of Daniel, we find that the mysterious
and awful hand which appeared upon the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, in the midst
of his impious feast, wrote the doom of Babylon in the words, “Peres; thy
kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians,” (Dan. v: 28). Again,
when the course of Gentile dominion was presented under a different symbol, it
was said to the prophet, “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the
kings of Media and Persia,” (Dan. viii: 20). There can be no doubt, therefore,
that the second great monarchy is the Medo-Persian, answering to the breast and
arms of silver in the vision of the image.
“And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the
great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken,
whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation,
but not in his power,”. (Dan. viii: 21, 22). “Behold, there shall stand up yet
three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by
his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of
Grecia. And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion,
and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be
broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven,” (Dan. xi: 2-4).
Here, then, it is plain, we have “another third kingdom of brass, which shall
bear rule over all the earth.”
The fourth kingdom, although accurately described,
is not directly named in the Old Testament, but is constantly brought to view in
the New Testament, as more directly concerned with the events of the last days.
For example we read that at the birth of Jesus, “there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed,” (Luke ii: 1); and that the
ministry of His great forerunner began “in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea,” (Luke iii: 1). We find
that our Lord commanded to pay tribute to Caesar; and wherever the Apostles
journeyed, carrying the glad tidings of an instant salvation through faith in a
crucified and risen Christ, they came into contact with the emblems of Roman
authority and power. We have no difficulty, therefore, in determining what is
meant by the fourth kingdom, strong as iron, without resorting to uninspired
history. The Sacred Scriptures themselves inform us that the four kingdoms were
the Babylonian, Medo- Persian, Grecian, and Roman; and besides these there will
be no other world-wide monarchies until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Men of boundless ambition, and wonderful military genius, and powerful
resources, like Charlemagne and Napoleon, have endeavored to establish kingdoms
equal to these in extent and duration, but their efforts have been baffled, and
the sceptre of universal empire has ever been wrested from their grasp. “All
flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass
wither- eth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord
endureth forever.” (1 Pet. i: 24, 25).
Each of these kingdoms is represented as following
the one that goes before, not by annihilating, but by incorporating it; thus
transmitting a regular succession of rule, and amid all the changes that occur,
having direct relation to Jerusalem. Whether the Babylonian, Medo- Persian,
Grecian, or Roman power exists, God takes care that the sacred city shall be in
subjection, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. The kingdoms are also
represented as deteriorating in splendor, or in the arbitrary character of the
authority exercised, while increasing in strength; and the last form in which
the last or Roman empire appears is symbolized by iron mixed with clay. That it
appears as divided is seen by the two feet and ten toes, and is rendered certain
by the vision of the Roman beast in the seventh chapter, where the ten horns are
declared to be ten kings or kingdoms.
It is important to observe that “in the days of
these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” It is
generally supposed that the stone cut out without hands refers to the first
advent of Christ, and to the setting up of His kingdom in the hearts of His
people, as it is called, and to the gradual, victorious spread of the gospel
until all the kingdoms of the earth shall be brought within the pale of the
Christian Church. The slightest examination, however, will be enough to convince
the unprejudiced reader that this view is wholly untenable.
In the first place, it is plainly declared that the
last, or Roman empire, shall be divided, when the God of heaven shall set up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed; but every child knows that the Roman
empire was not divided when Jesus was born and the gospel began its blessed
career. On the other hand it was then at the zenith of its glory and grandeur,
nor was it divided till centuries afterwards, nor has it ever been divided into
ten kingdoms, as symbolized by the ten toes of the second chapter, and the ten
horns of the beast in the seventh chapter. It is difficult to find any two,
among writers who imagine that it has been divided, agreeing in their
classification of the ten kingdoms; and this, for the very obvious reason, that
no such division has taken place, and for the additional reason that they
confine their attention wholly to the map of Europe. Rome had an eastern as well
as a western domain, and after awhile, an eastern as well as a western capital;
and these writers ought to perceive that the two legs and two feet of the image
clearly symbolize both portions of the immense empire. But whatever may be the
speculations of men, the prophet distinctly informs us that “in the days of
these kings,” or in other words, when the whole of what was once the mighty
Roman dominion is divided into ten kingdoms, shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom; and with one blow shall the entire Gentile, or world power, commencing
with Nebuchadnezzar, be broken to pieces, like a shattered image. It can not be,
therefore, that the prediction concerning the stone was fulfilled at the birth
of the Saviour, and hence the lesson of the image, instead of teaching the
gradual growth of the Church culminating in a spiritual Millennium, teaches
directly the reverse.
In the second place, if it was the design of the
Holy Spirit to show that a sudden and swift destruction shall overtake the
Gentile powers, terminating as we may hereafter see, in the supremacy of the
Antichrist, it must be admitted that more suitable language could not have been
employed, than when it is said, a stone shall smite the image, and break it to
pieces, and make it like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, so that the
wind will carry it away, and no place can be found for it. But if it was the
purpose of the Spirit to illustrate a gradual spread of the gospel and the
gentle conversion of the nations through faith in Jesus, it would be difficult
to conceive of language more utterly inappropriate, or more directly calculated
to mislead the humble reader. Think of it for a moment. A stone, cut out without
hands, or as it is in the margin, which was not in hands, smote the image upon
his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces; and then were the
iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together,
and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried
them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image
became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. In no proper sense can it
be said that the meek and lowly Saviour attacked and destroyed the Roman empire,
but it is certainly true that the Roman empire, through its representative,
attacked and crucified Him. In no proper sense can it be said that His disciples
were directed to attack it, but, on the contrary, they were commanded to be
subject to it, even though a Nero held the reins of government. But the words of
the prophet clearly imply that a stone fell in an instant with terrific force
upon the image, grinding it to powder, and surely such language can not denote
the mild and peaceable progress of the truth for centuries throughout the earth.
This mysterious stone is frequently brought to view
in the word of God. Thus we find it as far back as the days of Jacob, when the
dying patriarch is led to see in Joseph a type of the coming Messiah, and adds
the significant words, “From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel,” (Gen.
xlix: 24). The sweet Psalmist of Israel celebrates this wondrous stone in the
well-known language, quoted six times in the New Testament, “The stone which the
builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s
doing; it is marvellous in our eyes,” (Ps. cxviii: 22, 23). Isaiah continues the
prophecy by saying, “He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling
and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel,” (Isa. viii: 14); and,
“Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious
corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the
hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding place,” (Isa. xxviii: 16, 17).
In the application of the same figure to Himself,
our Lord, after reminding the Jews of the Scripture concerning the rejection of
the stone by the builders, declares, “Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall
be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder,” (Matt,
xxi: 44). The Apostle Peter connects the same Scripture with the risen Christ,
saying, “This is the stone which was set at naught by you builders, which is
become the head of the corner,” (Acts iv: ii). Again he writes in his first
epistle, “Unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed,” (1 Pet. ii: 7, 8). In very
different terms does he write to believers in Jesus, when he says, “To whom
coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and
precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ,” (1 Pet. ii: 4, 5).
Here then we have the relation which this Stone
sustains to the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church of God, as the three great
divisions of the human family recognized in the Sacred Scriptures, as it is
written, “Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to
the Church of God,” (1 Cor. x: 32). To the Church, the stone is inexpressibly
precious as the sure foundation of a heavenly hope; to the Jew it is a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offence; and upon the Gentile dominion, which will prove
to be more utterly apostate than ancient Israel, it will fall with destructive
energy, grinding it to powder, and making it as the chaff' of the summer
threshing floors which the wind carrieth away.
The moral character of that dominion as
independent, and even defiant, of God in its character, course, and
consummation, is not only plainly declared in many portions of the inspired
word, but it is strikingly illustrated in the four chapters of Daniel which
follow the one now engaging our attention. If any are disposed to ask why we
find at the end of the second chapter such a remarkable break in the prophecy,
which is not resumed until the seventh chapter; and why the interval is filled
with the personal actings of heathen kings, that seem at first sight devoid of
interest and instruction to us; and why this part of the book, embracing the
dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the vision of the beast with ten horns, is written
in the Chaldee instead of the Hebrew language; the only reply is, that God is
setting forth in those actings the characteristic features of the Gentile power,
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
In the third chapter, we have its idolatry
delineated in the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plain of Dura,
and which as a masterly stroke of State policy he required all his subjects to
worship. In the fourth chapter we have the result of its brutal forgetfulness of
God represented in the degradation of Babylon’s proud monarch, who was reduced
to the level of the beasts. In the fifth chapter we have its gross impiety
rehearsed in the wild revelry of Belshazzar, when he “brought the golden vessels
that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem;
and the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, drank in them.” In
the sixth chapter we have its daring self-exaltation typified in the blasphemous
decree of Darius forbidding prayer to be offered to any being except to himself.
Thus do these four chapters announce to those who have ears to hear, that there
is to be a wider and still wider departure from God during the period of Gentile
dominion, until “that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped; so that he
as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” This man
of sin, who crowns the increasing iniquity of weary centuries with the arrogant
assumption of divine prerogatives, is not to' be converted, but consumed with
the breath of the Lord, and destroyed by the brightness of His personal
appearing. This image, standing as the representative of the four great world
powers during the entire period of Israel’s rejection, is not to be changed or
moulded into the likeness of Christ, but the stone shall fall upon it, grinding
it to powder, according to the Saviour’s prediction, or making it as the chaff
of the summer threshing floors, according to the word of the prophet. As it has
been shown that this did not occur at the birth of Jesus, and as it will not
occur, therefore, before His second advent, when the Gentile dominion, lifting
its haughty head against His rightful authority, shall be broken to pieces; the
conclusion is unavoidable that no Millennium can gladden the sight of suffering
humanity until He shall come again.
(2). The same conclusion is much more briefly
reached by an examination of the seventh chapter of Daniel, where the four
mighty Gentile powers are symbolized by four great beasts coming up from the
sea, diverse one from another. The fourth beast, says the prophet, was “dreadful
and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured
and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was
diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I
considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn,
before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and
behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great
things. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, [or rather, set up, according
to Tregelles and the best authorities,] and the Ancient of days did sit. . . . I
saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near
before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed,” (Dan. vii: 7-14).
Such was the vision which grieved and troubled
Daniel, and he eagerly sought its interpretation. The reply was, “These great
beasts, which are four, are four kings, [or kingdoms, as the twenty- third verse
states], which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High
[most high places, according to Tregelles] shall take the kingdom, and possess
the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I would know the truth of the
fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose
teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head,
and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn
that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more
stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints,
and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was
given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints
possessed the kingdom. Thus he said; The fourth beast shall be the fourth
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour
the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten
horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise
after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three
kings. And be shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out
the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they [that
is, the times and laws] shall be given into his hand until a time and times and
the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his
dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 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 shall serve and obey him.” (Dan. vii:
17-27).
The word “horn,” it is well known, is the usual
Scriptural symbol of power, and it is the generally received opinion among
Protestants that the “little horn,” described in the vision, is the symbol of
Popes or of the Roman Catholic Church. It may be shown hereafter that this
opinion can not be correct, but admitting for the present that it is true, it is
obvious that the Popes or the Roman Catholic Church will continue to flourish
and triumph even until the coming of Christ; for it is said, “The same horn made
war with the saints, and prevailed against them until the Ancient of days came,
and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that
the saints possessed the kingdom.” We know precisely when that time is, for we
read in a preceding verse, “one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of
heaven, and came to the Ancient of days,” and “there was given him dominion, and
glory, and a kingdom.” The coming of the Son of Man clearly refers to His second
advent, and we have almost the same language in the solemn testimony of the Lord
Himself, when He said at His trial before the high priest, “Hereafter shall ye
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds
of heaven,” (Matt, xxvi: 64). If, therefore. Popery, or whatever power is
symbolized by the “little horn,” shall make war with the saints, and prevail
against them, and speak great words against the Most High, and wear out the
saints of the Most High
until the Son of Man shall come in the clouds of heaven, it is perfectly
certain that the Millennium can not intervene before that illustrious event.
Hence it follows that the expectation of the victorious progress of the truth,
and the constant enlargement of the Christian Church, until all nations shall be
converted, is not only an idle dream, but a dangerous delusion blinding the
minds of believers to the perils that are closing in about them.
(3). In the fourteenth chapter of Zechariah it is
written, “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 off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those
nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in
that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and
the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward
the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall
remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to
the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto
Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah; and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with
thee. . . . And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the
hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be King over
all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one,” (Zech.
xiv: 2-9).
That this entire scene refers to the second coming
of Christ is too apparent to admit of a reasonable doubt. Dr. Henderson, in his
Commentary on the Minor Prophets, acknowledges that it is literal, and then,
with a recklessness of assertion absolutely amazing, insists that the prophecy
which describes the capture of Jerusalem was fulfilled when the city was taken
by Titus, although it is expressly stated that only half of the city shall go
forth into captivity; that
then, or at that time, the Lord shall go forth and fight against those
nations; that His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives; that
the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst; and that the Lord my God shall
come, and all the saints with Him, as Dr. Henderson shows upon the authority of
nearly forty manuscripts and all the versions, we ought to read, instead of
with thee,, as in our English Bibles. “That this period,” he writes, “is
that of the Millennium, or the thousand years, the circumstances of which are
described Rev. xx: 3-7, I can not entertain a doubt.” Again he writes, “for the
application of this part of the prophecy, compare the parallel prediction of our
Lord himself. Matt, xxiv: 30, 31, where those whom Zechariah designates holy
ones, are called his angels.” And yet he is rash enough to add, “that a future
personal and pre-millennial advent of the Redeemer is here taught, I can not
find.”
Dr. T. V. Moore, although a post-millennialist,
writes with far better judgment in his Commentary on Haggai, Zechariah, and
Malachi, “the chapter seems to refer to facts distinct from those predicted in
the last chapter, probably the last great events of the present dispensation,
that are described in other prophecies in terms of such fearful grandeur. It
seems to point to that last great struggle of the powers of evil with the
Church, which is to be ended by the coming of Christ in great power, and the
complete establishment of his kingdom of glory.” He is entirely mistaken in
supposing that the Church has anything to do with the future seige and sack of
Jerusalem, but he is correct in referring the scene to the last great events of
the present dispensation. The force of his testimony is much weakened, however,
by the remarkable statement, “it is impossible for us to take this whole passage
literally, for God can not literally place his feet on the Mount of Olives; but
how far it must be taken as figurative, we can not tell.”
Why, it may be asked, can not God literally place
His feet on the Mount of Olives? It is certain that the Blessed One whom Thomas
addressed as “My Lord and my God,” and whom every Christian in the world
delights to honor as “the true God and eternal life,” did literally place His
feet on the Mount of Olives, when He was down here in human flesh; and it is
equally certain that He not only can, but that He will literally place them
there again; for it was on the Mount of Olives the two men in white apparel said
to the wondering disciples, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto
Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s
journey,” (Acts i: 11, 12).
As Dr. Moore well says, “it is evident that no
events have yet occurred in history to which these predictions are applicable
without much forcing, and it seems most natural to interpret the first verses of
the chapter as we interpret the rest.” But if this is so, it is equally evident
that there can be no Millennium previous to the second advent of Christ which is
here clearly asserted, for not only is there no intimation of a long period of
millennial blessedness in the preceding part of the prophecy, but directly the
reverse is taught. The inspired writer announces a series of judgments which
shall continue down to the time when there will be a partial restoration of the
Jews to their own country, “and it shall come to pass, that in all the land,
saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall
be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will
refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall
call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they
shall say. The Lord is my God,” (Zech. xiii: 8, 9).
Then, in connection with these judgments and with
the repentance of the remnant, immediately occurs the prediction of the
gathering of all nations against Jerusalem, and the coming of the Lord with all
His saints, and the description of the blessedness that shall follow, of which
even Henderson is forced to say, “that this period is that of the Millennium, or
the thousand years, the circumstances of which are described Rev. xx: 3-7, I can
not entertain a doubt.” There are scores upon scores of prophecies in the Old
Testament which fully sustain the conclusion reached by an examination of the
three passages that have now been considered. Whether these prophecies are
explained as referring to the people of Israel or to the Church of the present
dispensation, the reader is challenged to find one verse that proclaims the
future reign of righteousness, until the whole scene is swept of its accumulated
iniquities by appalling judgments that usher in the coming of the Lord with His
risen and changed saints.
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