A dismal sound shall go forth, such as will wither the soul with terrors, such as once chased the Assyrian army, who had closely besieged the city of Samaria in the days of the prophet Elisha. 2 Kings 7, 6. For now the globe shall be encompassed by the destroying angels, such as were seen by king David standing between the earth and the heaven, over the place of the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. 1 Chron. 21, 16. But while this trembling is felt, and this heart withering sound is heard, the wicked on all hands shall be suddenly seen falling to the ground, smote with the pestilence and by the destroying ministers, so that perhaps in one short day the work shall be done by earthquakes, by volcanoes, by storms at sea, by pestilence, and the invisible sword. In this place, I cannot refrain from doing myself the pleasure, and also the reader, of introducing an extract from the Rev. DAVID SIMPSON's Plea for Religion, upon the subject of the destruction of Rome, (though partially introduced before on page 36) at the end of Daniel's time, times, and a half time, which he makes to consist of 1260 years. His method of arriving at such a result is, that a time is a prophetic year, a Jewish year consisting of 360 days only; and that times signify two of those prophetic days, amounting to 720 natural days or years-a time to 360 natural days or years, and a half time to 180 natural days or yearsamounting in all to 1260 days or years, at the end of which Rome papal shall be literally destroyed, which he supposes will not be far from the year A. D. 2000.. This highly esteemed author, after having examined the prophecies relative to Christ, declares that the evidence is sufficient to establish Him the predicted Messiah. He then by a fair, and, indeed, irresistible, conclusion, infers, that if the prophets have pointed out Christ so definitely, that they have therefore as definitely pointed out what shall befal the church, and also the great man of sin in the latter ages. He then notices the visions of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, which point out kingdoms, monarchies, and empires, which were to arise in the earth, and traces their rise and fall along the downward stream of time till the uprising of the little horn, which should so exalt itself against the Jews, and in after years against the Christian church, and makes them apply to the papal powers, which is the fact. He then observes, in reference to his destruction, that not only shall Antichrist be overthrown, but even Rome itself-the place and city where he hath carried on his abominations for so many ages, shall be everlastingly destroyed. "The language of Scripture is extremely strong, and is sufficiently clear and precise. Thus Daniel: I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. Thus, too, St. Paul, where he is probably speaking of Antichrist: The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. And again, in another place in the same epistle, where he is certainly and professedly speaking of Antichrist, he saith: And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Thus, too, St. John: The beast goeth into perdition. Again: Her plagues shall come in one day, and she shall be utterly burnt with fire. The kings of the earth shall bewail her, and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning standing afar off, for fear of her torment, saying, Alas! alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come -in one hour so great riches are come to nought. They shall see the smoke of her burning: And a mighty angel took up a stone, like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And immediately after this, the inhabitants of heaven rejoice, saying, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever. It must be allowed these are very strong expressions, and imply a punishment extremely severe. It is as remarkable also, that all the country about the city of Rome is a kind of bitumen, or pitchy substance. And in the year of our Lord 80, a fire burst out from beneath the ground in the middle of the city, and burnt four of the principal heathen temples, with the sacred buildings of the Capitol. Italy, indeed, is a store house of fire. And when the 1260 years, or time, times, and a half time, shall have elapsed, and the time to cleanse the sanctuary come, Rome itself, imperial Rome, with all its magni ficence, will be absorbed in a lake of fire, and sink into the sea, to rise no more at all forever." Thus far the opinion of Mr. Simpson, which is an awful but rational conclusion. I would here remark, with humble confidence, that when Babylon is thus destroyed, the period will not be the general judgment; because the kings and merchants of the earth are represented as standing far off, and fearing her torments, and bewailing the loss of so great riches, which, it is not reasonable to suppose, they would do, if the judgment were passed by. It is probable this signal mark of vengeance against Rome, or spiritual Babylon, will take place a little sooner than the destruction of sinners in other places, that she may be distinguished as peculiarly obnoxious to the displeasure of the great God above other sinners; and perhaps, too, that others may improve this terrible example during the short respite which may be granted, and repent, for great are the mercies of God if they will lay it to heart. But of the saints in that country, it is said, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not_of her plagues. Rev. 18, 14. And now it may be, that what St. John saw will be accomplished literally with all sinners, -(as was the fact with the ancient Gog and Magog of Syria, the carcases of whose.. army was eaten of the fowls and beasts of the mountains of Israel) except such as shall be destroyed by fire in the country of Rome. 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 together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat of the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. Rev. 19, 17, 18. But in the midst of all this terror and desolation, the heart of the Christian shall not be moved, nor one of their lives shall be lost; for, if at sea, the storm that whelms the wicked in the deep, shall waft the righteous to the shore; or, if in sinking cities that go down to the pit, when the earth opens her mouth to swallow them up, a way shall be made for their escape; or, if the volcanoes shoot their cataracts of fire to the clouds over the heads of the righteous, the same God who was with the three Hebrews in the seven times heated furnace, will withhold the flames till they are escaped. Nor the pestilence, nor the destroying angel's sword, shall hurt them, for who can prevail against those who have in them the seal of the living God, which is holiness of heart. Thus shall be removed from the earth all sinners, and the way prepared for the immediate commencement of the Millennium, the seventh day of the great week from the creation, when the whole church shall rest, and shall take the kingdom and possess it forever. This is the great antetype of all the other Sabbaths-this is that good thing which they in the law, and the prophets shadowed forth. |