Page images
PDF
EPUB

152

Visions of Antichrist compared.

[LECT.

people;" while of the little horn of the fourth beast it was declared, that the saints of the Most High "shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of times"." And this would seem to strengthen the supposition of Bishop Horsley,a supposition formed during the height of the revolutionary tempest, and the outbreak of infidelity, toward the close of the last century, that "the wilful king" described in the chapter before us, the last of Daniel's prophecies, is "the Antichristian power in its plenitude and perfection,"-" the genuine Antichrist, St. Paul's man of sin, in the utmost height and horror of the character," "formed by a strange confederacy between the two little horns," described in the former visions, "a coalition of the two in one government, extending over the whole tract of the ancient Roman empire'." Such a combination of the powers of evil, joining their forces for the last great struggle against the powers of heaven, will seem no strange supposition to those who have studied well the word of Prophecy, and have also traced, in the history of the warfare of truth, the workings of "the mystery of iniquity," under the various forms which human wilfulness will assume,-Infidelity leaguing itself even with Mahometan imposture, or seeking to revive the strength, while it would wield, for its own purposes, the power which has taken possession of the long established seat of dominion in Western Europe, the capital of ancient Rome.

If still, while these visions are yet unfulfilled, obscurity hangs over them, we must be content to

[blocks in formation]

"Antichrist in the French Convention." British Maga

Letters to the Author of zine, vol. v. p. 134.

v.]

Trial of Faith and Patience.

153

wait, in faith and patience, as prophets did of old, abiding the time which shall at length clear up the mystery. Twenty years had well-nigh passed since the former vision, revealed to Daniel, had left him "astonished" at its hidden import which "none understood;" and now, when it seemed as though its meaning were to be unfolded, darkness still rested upon it. "I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel : for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." Meanwhile these disclosures, though still veiled in mystery, were to serve a moral purpose: like the events which they foretold, they were to try men's spirits, and reward the spiritually wise by deeper insight into their meaning. "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand 5." Faith, and patience too, would be called into exercise; for, beyond the mystic period described as "a time, times, and an half”-i. e. as it would appear, three years and a half, or a thousand two hundred and sixty days-the time of trial was to extend to a thousand two hundred and ninety days, from the time that the daily sacrifice was to be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up o.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

154

Obscurity in regard to

LECT.

It cannot be doubted, I think, that the events here referred to are the same which are described, whether in regard to the type or to the antitype, in the preceding prophecy; and if so, we have here a strong confirmation of the objection already urged against the application of that passage to the destruction of Jerusalem'. Interpreters, who differ widely on other points, seem agreed in referring the passage before us to the times of Antichrist. The dating of the periods here marked from the destruction of Jerusalem has been rendered impossible by time: twelve hundred and ninety years, taking the days as prophetic years, have long since expired, and the vision has not yet come to its close.

Into the question concerning these periods, their commencement and their termination, I shall not enter at present, especially as they will come before us again in the visions of the Revelation; I would only repeat the sound and valuable remark which I have before quoted from Bishop Horsley, that "the times of prophecy are certainly the last things that will be understood." And while it is our duty to watch the openings of prophetic events, and with this view "to be reverently attentive to the prophetic dates," it seems expressly forbidden us to foreknow the times and the seasons: and therefore to undertake the task, is to expose ourselves not merely to the risk, but to the certainty of failure. For one thing, at least, the prophecy seems to prepare us,—namely, an apparent tarrying of the vision. Beyond the two periods already mentioned, a further period is marked, extending five and forty days beside.

"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to

Vid. sup. pp. 106, 107.

v.]

the disclosures of Prophecy.

155

the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." What should take place at the end of those days was not further revealed, save as it was implied in the promise which assured to the "man greatly beloved" his own share in the happiness and glory of that blessed and holy consummation. "But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days

[ocr errors]

And may we, warned by the visions of Prophecy, and its fearful delineations of the manifold spirit of evil, so keep ourselves amid the perils of the latter days, and so faithfully watch and wait for the end, that, "purified and made white" in the day of trial, we may have our lot with "the people of the saints of the Most High" in the great day of recompense.

[blocks in formation]

LECTURE VI.'

REV. V. 8-10.

"And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”

HAVING now considered, in order, the several visions in the book of Daniel which concern the Church of Christ and the power of Antichrist, we may proceed to that which must be regarded as the main subject of our inquiry-viz. the visions of a kindred character which are contained in the Revelation of St. John. Had this latter Divine book alone entered into our view, it would have been not less important to examine, as preliminary to it, the earlier disclosures of prophecy made to the "man greatly beloved," whose visions, in the general character of their imagery, as well as the prophetic periods-one in particular-marked out in them, re-appear, in so

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »