Page images
PDF
EPUB

Apocalypse, especially in that part of it which treats of the destruction of Jerusalem. Whether our Lord, in foretelling the signs that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, mentioned earthquakes in the literal or metaphorical sense, we will not tarry here to inquire, because those convulsions are probably spoken of in both senses by the revelator. How sublime is the metaphor that opens under the sixth seal.

"And I beheld when he had

opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake;

*

*

*

*

* and the chief captains, and the

mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains," &c.; vi. 12, 15. In chapter viii. 5, the tumults are described by voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake: and again, in xi. 13, where the revelator winds up that portion of the Apocalypse which seems to treat of the destruction of Jerusalem, he says, "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand." In the next place our Lord mentioned Fearful sights and signs in heaven. Is not this the language of the Apocalypse also? The sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair; the moon turns to blood; the stars fall from heaven like the figs from a tree shaken by a mighty wind, and the heavens depart as a scroll when it is rolled together. If it be alleged that this language was metaphorical, whereas the Saviour intended fearful sights in a literal view, we reply that it is no more certain that the language of the Saviour is to be construed strictly to the letter than the language of the revelator.

The persecution of the Christians is represented by our Lord as one of the signs that denoted the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. This was a thing so continually occurring, from the beginning of our Lord's ministry until all the apostles were dead, and even for centuries afterward, that it gives no definite indication. But this much may be relied upon, that immediately pre

ceding the fall of the Jews, it was a season of very violent persecution of the church, not only in Judea, but throughout all parts of the Roman empire. And nothing is more plain than that the Apocalypse was written in the time of a great persecution. The churches are exhorted to have patience, to hold fast their faith, to prepare for trials; they are told that they shall be cast into prison, but are encouraged to be "faithful unto death." The martyrs under the altar, who were slain for the word of God, and the testimony they held, cry unto God for vengeance, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood, on them that dwell on the earth?" Does not this show that the deaths of these Jewish-Christian martyrs, whose souls were represented as lying in the temple, under the altar, were not yet avenged? But they were to be avenged by the destruction of the Jews. Our Lord said that upon that generation should be visited all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily, I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. And that the destruction of the city is referred to among the judgments seems evident from the Redeemer's lamentation, which immediately followed: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee," &c., &c.; Matt. xxiii. 34-37. If, then, the blood of the Jewish-Christian martyrs was unavenged when the Apocalypse was written, must it not have been written before the lamented city fell?

We might mention other signs which were pointed out by our Lord as presaging the destruction of Jerusalem, but we have no more room to devote to this topic, and we have already considered the principal. Now, if all the signs named by our Lord as marking the approach of the destruction of Jerusalem are referred to in the Apocalypse, and restated and reäffirmed in the

peculiar style of that book, as marking an event still future, but close at hand, are we not led with a high degree of probability to the conclusion, that the Apocalypse was written before the fall of Jerusalem? And let it be added, that all these signs are found in that part of the Apocalypse which is supposed to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, by those who believe the book to have been written previously to that event.

3. But there is another very strong argument in favor of our position, built on the agreement of the language of the Apocalypse on the one side, and that of all the other books of the New Testament on the other, in respect to the time and circumstances of our Lord's coming. In the Apocalypse we are told, even in the very first verse of it, that the things foretold were "shortly to come to pass." Again, verse 3, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear, the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand." See also ii. 16; iii. 11, and xi. 14. But at the close of the book, as well as at the beginning, the Christians were warned again, that the old dispensation would very speedily pass away; that the New Jerusalem was about to come down from God out of heaven, and that the coming of the Son of man was about to take place. "Behold I come quickly; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book;" xxii. 7. "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand;" verse 10. "And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every Again, verse 20,

man according as his work shall be ;" verse 12.

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen." A person well versed in the language of the New Testament respecting the coming of Christ cannot fail to be impressed with its agreement with that of the Apocalypse. There are two facts to be observed here: 1st. The immediateness of the coming of Christ; and, 2d, the rewarding of men according to their works in connection with it. "I come quickly; and my re

[ocr errors]

ward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." When our Lord foretold his coming to destroy the Jews, he said, For the Son of man shall come in the glory of the Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom;" Matt. xvi. 27, 28. It seems difficult to entertain a doubt that the Lord refers to the same coming in the Apocalypse, (for the words are represented as coming from the mouth of Jesus,) which Matthew here describes. The event was nearer when the Apocalypse was written than when our Lord was on earth. The language in the Apocalypse, therefore, differs so much from that given by Matthew as the event was nearer when the revelator wrote. In addition to the quotations from Matthew, see Mark viii. 38, and ix. 1; Luke ix. 26, 27; and John xxi. 21, 22.

If we examine the epistles, we shall find a language somewhat different from that of our Lord, because the event of his coming was much nearer than when he spoke. Jesus said it shall come in this generation; James said, "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh ;" v. 8. The writer to the Hebrews said to his brethren, "Ye see the day approaching." Peter, who wrote his 2d Epistle still later, bears testimony that his brethren were "looking for and hasting unto the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat;" iii. 12. This was the passing away of the old heaven and earth, to give place to the new heaven and new earth, which John saw, as it were, coming down from God out of heaven. Some became tired in waiting for the coming of Christ, and the scoffers said, "Where is the promise of his coming?" The apostles found it necessary, therefore, to exhort Christians to patience. "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the

earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh;" James v. 7, 8. The time of the coming of the Lord is also represented as the end of the world, or age; 1 Cor. x. 11. “The end of all things ;" 1 Pet. iv. 7. To this the revelator agrees; for if we follow him carefully, we shall find, that after he has described, in his peculiar manner, what we take to be the wonders and signs that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, and as he approaches the great catastrophe of the Jews, he introduces a mighty angel, bearing the marks of the Son of man, who put one foot on the sea, and the other on the land, and lifting up his hand to heaven, swore by Him that liveth forever and ever, "that there should be time no longer;" x. 6. Does not this exactly agree with the general language of the New Testament concerning the destruction of Jerusalem ? Do we read of any other event in the New Testament to which this can so well apply? To what shall we apply it, if not to that event?

66

Having thus looked at the time of Christ's coming at the destruction of the Jews, let us look, in the next place, at the circumstances attending it. With what pomp, with what circumstance, did the revelator describe the coming of Christ? We will listen : Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him ;" i. 7. This is precisely as our Lord himself described his coming to overthrow the Jews. "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." Can we resist the conviction that the revelator spoke of the same event with our Lord? If the revelator's description does not refer to the coming of Christ at the destruction of Jerusalem, to what event does it refer? Observe, there are three points of

« PreviousContinue »