“Isaiah, ver. 25—33. And there shall be upon every high "mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of "water" (the copious effusions and reviving influences of the Holy Spirit upon the Church) in the day of the great slaughter, "when the towers' (the established temporal kingdoms of the "earth) fall.' "Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the "Sun, and the light of the Sun shall be seven-fold, as the light "of seven days; in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach "of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.' "Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning "with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are "full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire. And "his breath as an overflowing stream shall reach to the midst "of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity; and "there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people' (the spirit "of violence, of St. John, and the setting themselves up to reign, of Ezra) 'causing them to err.' 86 "Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy solem"nity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with "a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty "One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice "to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm "with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a "devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones. "For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian' (the "enemy of the ancient Church, a name for Antichrist,) 'be "beaten down, which smote with a rod' (of iron): and in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the "Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps,' "(the rejoicings of the Church,) and in battles of shaking will "he fight with it. For Tophet is ordained of old; for the king" (the infidel king of Daniel, the eighth head of the empire, of St. John,) 'it is prepared, he hath made it deep "and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood: the "breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle " it.' "Upon which particular description of that desired consum"mation which the Church now holds, in almost immediate prospect, we may remark, that Isaiah appears to have seen "with the same spirit as the other prophets, the two personali"ties of Antichrist forming as it were but one character; for "there can be but little doubt that the smiting of the rod " refers, at least in part, to the acts of Antichrist as seventh "head; who was during the last thirty years a rod of iron, in "the hand of God, to break in pieces the papal nations; and "who is here spoken of apparently as the same person whose "destruction is yet to come at the battle of Armageddon. And "it may be that the prophet unfolds the mystery of the true "character of Antichrist, where he says, Rejoice not thou, "whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is "broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cock"atrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent,' shewing "like St. John, when he describes the infidel Antichrist under "the symbol of the septimo-octave head, that he has a two"fold character; his last form springing out of a preceding "form. And it is probable that it is of Antichrist, viz., of his (6 past invasion of Egypt as seventh head, or of his future in"vasion of it as eighth head, or of both united in one view, "that Isaiah speaks, when he says, (chap. xix. 4,) The Egyp"tians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a "fierce King shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of " hosts.' "The prophecy of Daniel thus proceeds to speak of those " events which shall follow, and be immediately connected with, "the battle of Armageddon. 66 Chap. xii. verse 1. And 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 (6 was since there was a nation, even to that same time: and "at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that "shall be found written in the book.' "Several prophecies, which have formerly been noticed, "shew that the great conversion of the Jews will be by the "manifestation of Christ at the period of the battle of Armageddon; of whose miraculous conversion that of St. Paul "was considered by Mede to have been a type. The standing "up of the archangel Michael in their behalf refers to their "restoration as a nation, or to the re-establishment of their "civil polity; nations being represented in the early part of "this prophecy as under the guardianship of particular angels. "The time of trouble succeeding to the battle of Armageddon "is that during which we are told by the prophet Zechariah,* "as is confirmed by other prophets,† that the discord amongst “ the nations shall be universal; in which the Jews also shall "fight at Jerusalem,' and in which St. John informs us that "the remnant,' or those of the nations of the western empire "who may not have been present at the battle of Armageddon, "shall also be slain with the sword of him that sat upon the "horse, which sword proceedeth out of his mouth;' or by the " righteous indignation of his law, executed, in this case, by "the northern armies. And if that which is about to take "place be indeed the great manifestation of the holiness of "God, and of his long-delayed wrath, how hardly shall the " righteous be saved in these times of trouble, and where shall "the ungodly and the sinner appear? "When it is said to Daniel, in reference to this period of "trouble, at that time thy people shall be delivered,' 'every "one that shall be found written in the book;' as referring to "the Jews, it seems to imply, as is apparently intimated by "other passages of Scripture, that not all of that nation then * Chap. ix. 13-15; x. 5—7; and xiv. 13, 14. Obadiah, verse 18. Isaiah iv. 2-4. Micah v. 4-9. Isaiah xi. 14. 66 "living will be immediately admitted to the great privileges "prepared for them, but that there will be an election ac66 cording to grace, and that their wickedness and hardheart"edness will be purged out from amongst them by many and severe trials before they are re-settled in their own land. "But this passage is equally applicable to us Gentiles, who "should watch and pray, that in the awful and trying days "here described, we may be found to have faith in Christ, "and to be amongst the number of those who are ' written "in the Lamb's book of life.' And hence the importance of "that previous warning and exhortation, which is, through the "apostle John, addressed by Christ to his Gentile Church, at "the period when the sixth angel pours out his Vial:—' Be"hold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his "shame.' Blessed is he that has renounced his own righte"ousness, and is clothed with the perfect righteousness of "Christ, with which he may appear with boldness in the pre"sence of God, and who, when Christ saith, 'Surely I come quickly,' is able to reply with the apostle, 'Even so; come, "Lord Jesus.'"* * See "Combined View of the Prophecies of Daniel, Ezra, and St. John." 2nd edition, 1815, revised in 1826, pp. 483-507. Extract from "A Minute Interpretation of the fourteenth chapter of the Apocalypse," relative to the period of the seventh Vial. "Having brought the history of the Church to a close, with "the interpretation of the fourteenth chapter of the Apoca"lypse, it remains to be observed, with respect to our present "position in prophetic history, and our future expectations, "that now, upon the theatre of Italy, is about to be solved "that interesting problem, formerly discussed,* whether the imperial tyrannical reigns of Rome and Austria will be for "any space of time contemporary, that is, whether the last Anti"christ who must shortly be raised to the throne of Rome "by the development of the present continental revolution, "will be so with the consent of, or in opposition to Austria. "The time of the destruction of all the kingdoms of the world "is involved in this question; for, as the attack made by the emperors of Austria and Russia upon Antichrist, thus mani"fested in his last form, is described in Dan. xi. 40, as almost "the immediate precursor of the battle of Armageddon, if "there be no period after his rise during which he will reign " in Rome in friendship with Austria, that final act is even now "almost close at hand. If, from the prophetic civil history, we "turn to the ecclesiastical, we shall be confirmed in the idea "that the battle of Armageddon is not far distant; for I can "have but little hesitation in saying that the movement now "manifesting itself in the Church, distinguished as it is by the "characteristics of prayer for the nation, in reference to the present awful crisis of our affairs, and by the act of the sepa 66 * See Combined View, edit. 1826, pp. 486, 487. |