back to the Dark Ages, to the utter ruin of both church and state. Those who do not know these things may treat them as incredible, but if they will investigate, they may understand. But God will care for the faithful; they need not fear. Those in danger are the persecutors, not the persecuted. . NOTE 2. PAGE 233.—The wisdom of God was shown in His choice of the time for Christ's advent to the world. By His coming at so late a period, ample opportunity was given for the witness of prophecy to His mission. A line of inspired predictions, spanning many centuries, pointed to the events connected with His appearance in the form of humanity. God designed that the fulfilment of these prophecies should strengthen the faith of the believers in Christ. Had the Saviour come much earlier than He did, this advantage would not have been so great. And it was in God's providence that Christ should come when the Roman power held sway. The Jews, because of their apostasy from God, had come under the dominion of a heathen nation. Though they still had a measure of authority, yet even the Sanhedrim could not pass judgment in a case involving capital punishment. Controlled by bigotry and tradition, the Jews were most cruel and unrelenting. Their hatred of Christ was intense. Had they possessed supreme power, the jealous priests and rulers would quickly have made way with such a rival. The Saviour's work among men would have been cut short, and we should have had no record of His life and ministry. And there would have been no cross of Christ upon Calvary. Crucifixion was a Roman method of punishment. Had the Jews possessed independent power, they would have put Christ to death by stoning, on the false charge of breaking the law of God. This would not have fulfilled the prophecy that as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up. Again, had Christ's coming been longer deferred, the Jews could not have brought about His death by crucifixion. Their power was steadily declining, and they would not have had sufficient influence with the Roman authorities to secure His condemnation. The Roman power was the instrument in God's hand to prevent the light of the world from going out in darkness. According to the plan of God, the cross was uplifted in the sight of all nations, tongues, and peoples, calling their attention to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. Soon after the crucifixion of Christ, the use of the cross in Judea was discontinued. The scenes that took place at the Saviour's death, the intense malignity of the priests, and the rage of the people, the convulsions of nature and the supernatural darkness, struck such terror to the Romans that the cross as an instrument of death soon fell into disuse. At the destruction of Jerusalem, crucifixion was revived for a time; but it was now the Jews themselves who were the victims. The same doom which they had pronounced upon Christ, now came upon them. Multitudes perished in this manner. Crosses were planted upon Calvary as thickly as forest trees. Christ's coming at the time and in the manner He did, was a direct and complete fulfilment of prophecy. The evidence of this, given to the world through the witness of the apostles and their associates, is one of the strongest proofs of the Christian faith. We were not eye-witnesses of the life of Jesus, but we have the testimony of His disciples; and by faith we see through their eyes, and hear through their ears, and our faith with theirs grasps the evidence given. The apostles accepted Christ upon the witness of prophecy, which was confirmed to them as they themselves saw and handled the Word of life. We also have the testimony of the prophets of the Old Testament, and we have also the witness of apostles and believers in the New. The prophets pointed to a Saviour to come; the apostles tell of a Saviour who has come in exact fulfilment of prophecy. Thus the chain of evidence is full and complete. It is sufficient to convince all who are willing to believe. God has given men ample testimony to establish their faith in His power, in the divine mission of His Son, and in the authority and work of the Holy Spirit. NOTE 3. PAGE 631.-The omens which are to precede Christ's second coming are many (Luke 21: 25-27); but Matt. 24: 29, 30 presents three specific signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, as follows:— *For fuller treatment of this subject, see "The Lord's Day, the Test of the Ages," Bible Students' Library, No. 134; and "The Rights of the People," Religious Liberty Library, No. 32. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." The days here mentioned are the 1260 prophetic days, or years, of tribulation of God's people, covering the Dark Ages, and foretold in Dan. 7:25; 11:33-35; and Rev. 12:6, 13-16. These days began in A. D. 538 when the bishop of Rome was made, by decree of Justinian and by the overthrow of opposing Arian powers, “Head over All the Holy Churches" and "True and Effective Corrector of Heretics." They continued to 1798, when Pius VI. was taken prisoner by General Berthier, and the power of the Papacy over the governments of Europe was broken. The tribulation, the active persecution, did not continue the whole period. The Lord shortened the tribulation for "the elect's sake." Two important things occurred to break the power of this persecution: (1) The increasing influence of the Reformation over Europe, enlightening rulers in regard to true Christianity; and (2) the opening of the New World to the oppressed of all nations. The rulers of Europe saw their best and most conscientious subjects leaving them for America, and saw that toleration was necessary if they retained them. The first ruler of influence to move in this respect was Maria Theresa, empress of Austria, who in 1776 abolished torture in the hereditary states, followed by the decree of toleration by her son, the Emperor Joseph II., June 22, 1781. In 1776 the United Colonies of America were declared to be free and independent states; and thus was opened a refuge for the oppressed of all nations. "The earth helped the woman." Rev. 12:16. The darkening of the sun was to occur “in those days, after that tribulation" (Mark 13:24), “immediately after the tribulation" (Matt. 24:29). As the tribulation ceased about 1776, and the days ended in 1798, we are shut up to the brief period of twenty-two years for the first of these signs to occur. Therefore, however many darkenings of the sun may have occurred in the past, or may occur in the future, this prophecy is not affected thereby. The prophecy points to a darkening of the sun that must have taken place between 1776 and 1798, nearer to the former date than the latter. In fulfilment of our Lord's prediction, May 19, 1780, occurred a most remarkable darkening of the sun, extending over the eastern portion of North America, and noted by many scholars and writers. It is referred to in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, which, after giving the date of the event, says, "The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is unknown.' Cattle returned home, fowls went to roost, and men and women wailed and wept, believing the day of Judgment had come. The following night, although the moon was at the full, it was so dark that, in the words of one writer, "a sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eye, was equally invisible with the blackest velvet." At times, when the moon did appear, it was red as blood. See Rev. 6: 12. The last of this series was that of the falling of the stars, or meteors, more graphically described in Rev. 6:13. This was fulfilled in the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833, which was visible to the eye on the greater part of the earth's surface. The following diagram will assist to an understanding of the prophecy:Beginning of Days 538 A. D. End Shortening of Tribulation of Days 1798 These are specific signs to the last generation of men living upon the earth before Christ comes. They do not reveal the day and hour of His coming, but they testify with threefold assurance that "when ye see all these things, know ye that He is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation [to which these * For testimonials to these events, see "Matthew 2, or Second Coming of Christ," Bible Students' Library, No. 58. Matt. things come as signs] shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." 24:32-36, R. V. Christ's coming is at the door. NOTE 4. PAGE 751.—It is well known that the punctuation of the Bible is not the work of the inspired writers. Indeed, punctuation is but a m.odern art, the comma in its present form having been invented in 1490 by a printer of Venice. We are therefore at liberty to change the punctuation of Scripture as the sense may require. In Luke 23:43, place the comma after "to-day," and give the direct instead of the inverted form of the verb, and the text reads, “Verily I say unto thee to-day, Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." There is now no lack of harmony between this text and Christ's later statement, that He had not yet ascended to His Father. NOTE 5. PAGE 788. It is worthy of note that six of the eight times that "the first day of the week" is mentioned in the New Testament refer to the same day, the day on which our Lord rose from the dead. The passages which mention it are as follows: Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20: 1, 19. Strange it is that these passages referring to the day of our Lord's resurrection, are cited as proof of a Sunday-sabbath, or Lord's day. The following considerations will clearly show that they furnish no evidence of first-day sacredness: 1. It is not said in these passages, nor in the context of any of them, nor, in fact, anywhere in the Word, that Sunday is the Sabbath, the Lord's day, a sacred day, or that it would ever take the place of the Sabbath of the Lord. Surely of him who would observe the Sunday as a holy day, or in honor of the resurrection, the Lord could well inquire as of old, "Who hath required this at your hand?" 2. It is said by Biblical scholars that Matthew wrote his Gospel from seven to thirty years after the resurrection; Mark, his Gospel, thirty years; Luke his, thirty-two years; and John about sixty years afterward. But not one of them designates the day by any other term than "first day of the week," while the day before is uniformly called by the sacred name "the Sabbath." Surely Inspiration knew no change of the Sabbath. 3. That the day was not celebrated in honor of a risen Christ is evident from the fact that the disciples "believed not" that He was risen, even when told by Mary. Mark 16:11. Neither did the disciples believe the story of the two who saw Jesus at Emmaus. Verses 12, 13. And when our Lord appeared to the eleven, "they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit" (Luke 24:37), and our Lord "upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen" (Mark 16:14). Certainly the disciples were not met together to celebrate the resurrection of One whom they did not believe to have arisen. 4. It will be noticed that this day was not regarded by the disciples as a holy day. Two of them journeyed to Emmaus, a village about eight miles from Jerusalem, spending thus a considerable portion of the day. Returning to Jerusalem at the very close of that day, they found the disciples gathered together, not for the purpose of a religious meeting, but at their own common abode in Jerusalem, with the doors shut for "fear of the Jews." Compare John 20: 19; Acts 1:13. 5. Jesus did not use a serial day of a week in rising from the dead, as He did in resting from creation, nor did He use the whole of a day. Why should a whole day of a week be set apart as its memorial? God has given to the world a more fitting and everlasting memorial of His resurrection, namely, the power of a new life in His believing children. Rom. 6:6. Neither the life nor teaching of Christ or His apostles, furnishes any ground for Sunday sacredness. In two other places is the first day of the week mentioned in the New Testament; namely, Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor. 16:2. The former refers to the only religious meeting specifically held on that day, evidently because of the noted miracle then wrought. That meeting was held on the evening preceding the day, and lasted till daylight; and that Sunday was spent in physical labor by both Paul and his companions. The second text refers to a business transaction, at home. "Let every one of you lay by him in store," not in a public collection, not in a general contribution box, but "lay aside and preserve at home" (Syriac). The conclusion is inevitable to a Bible student that Sunday "sacredness" is wholly of tradition and not of the Word. |