HERALD
OF THE
KINGDOM AND AGE TO COME:
A Periodical,
“FAITH ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS.”
BY
JOHN THOMAS, M.D.
1852
KINGDOM AND AGE
TO COME.
“And in their days, even of those kings, the God of heaven shall set up A KINGDOM which shall never perish, and A DOMINION that shall not be left to another people. It shall grind to powder and bring to an end all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand for ever.”—DANIEL.
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OUR
MOTTO.
Though we have changed the sentence expressing the subject of our paper, we have by no means abandoned the thing itself. This would be impossible. Ruin, slavery, and death, are preferable to such a departure from the only thing that sweetens life and makes its evils tolerable. “THE FAITH,” and the contention for the faith “once for all delivered to the Saints,” are the most interesting as well as important subjects of thought and action that can be presented to the human mind. They are the only things upon which we enter with any spirit or energy of mind; for there is no real abiding profit to be derived from any thing else. Abandon the faith then, and cease to contend for it! Let not our readers impute to their friend so evil a thing. We have changed our motto, not as significative of this, but that it may be superseded by another strikingly expressive of “the faith” for which we do earnestly contend.
Our paper is the Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come. A stranger taking it up and casting his eye upon the title would very naturally enquire, “Of what kingdom in this republican country is this paper the Herald?” In the former volume he would see the motto, “Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints”—“What faith is this?” he might add. “What is it about; is there a new question in politics? Are the saints tired of republicanism and going to found a kingdom for themselves? Is this their faith for which the Herald professes to contend? If it be, the sooner our authorities look after them the better; for the greatest revolutions have ever resulted from small beginnings.” Now, to keep these authorities in their proper place, and to give sensitive strangers all the information possible in a few words, we have set forth a new motto that will at once show him for what the Saints are patiently waiting; what is to be the fate of all other kingdoms; and by what power they are to be demolished and expunged for ever. When, therefore, he shall read our new motto, it may strike him, notwithstanding all his admiration of the regenerative influence and potency of republicanism and democracy, that they are not exactly the “sanctified ones” by whose power the Lord of heaven and earth proposes to abolish the existing royalties of the world!
By
comparing the motto with Daniel 2: 44, in the common version, it will be seen
that it differs a little in the reading. Our rendering of the Chaldee is more
literal and accordant with other parts of the same book. The first variation is
in the expression of the time. The common version is not so emphatic as the
original words. “In their days (even) of those kings”
points more precisely to the Toe-divisions of the
The
This
* See what is said about “the latter days” in these references—Daniel 2: 28; 10: 14; Ezekiel 38: 8, 16; Jeremiah 30: 24; Hosea 3: 5.
The
One Head, then, bearing rule over the seven dependent royalties is the Assyrian
Autocrat. At present they are independent. They have no imperial chief who
directs their policy to one common end. Great events must happen to bring them
under his dominion. The probability is, that finding themselves too weak to
contend successfully against the armed and combatant Democracy, the governments
will place themselves under the protectorate of the Assyrian, who will
guarantee to them their existence as kingdoms but without power to form
alliances, or to act in any way in foreign affairs independent of his will.
Whatever turns up among the nations the seven kingdoms will continue to exist
until the Stone-power is revealed. Their thrones are to be cast down, but the
Democracy cannot do it so as to keep them down. The Assyrian will be their
guard. He will be ready to sustain them “until the words of God be
fulfilled.”
“And in their days even of those kings will the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” In the days of which of all these kings we have treated of will God do this? That learned mystifier and perverter of plain truth, Moses Stuart, professor of profane nonsense, which “theologians” term “Sacred Literature,” has the absurdity to aver that the kings referred to are ten kings who preceded Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the Seleucidae, who flourished upwards of 2000 years ago! His words are “the Little Horn—(Daniel 7: 8)—beyond all reasonable doubt symbolises Antiochus Epiphanes.” Having said truly that the Ten Toes and the Ten Horns represent the same kings, he goes on to say, “the ten toes appear to designate in special manner, the ten kings who precede the king symbolised by the Little Horn, whose reign and character correspond well with the symbol of the iron and clay.” “Those kings must of course mean the kings that belong to the fourth dynasty (the Antiochian) although they have not thus far been expressly named, but only by implication.” But seeing that the Fifth, or Stone, kingdom has not yet been set up, how does Professor Stuart make it break the kings of the Antiochian dynasty in pieces? Hear him! “When the Fourth Dynasty is crushed, which virtually comprised all the others, then the whole are represented as being crushed. If the crushing took place, as being necessary to prepare for the coming or ushering in of the fifth kingdom, then it may be well said that this kingdom occasioned the crushing. It is enough, that before the fifth dynasty becomes actually established, the other preceding dynasties are no more. This last circumstance seems very plainly to oppose the idea that the Roman dominion constitutes the fourth dynasty; for this had not reached its acme when Christianity was established”—Commentary on Daniel pages 65, 67-68.
Another professor, y’clep’d of “Sacred History,” differs from Moses Stuart, and avers that the kings in whose days the God of heaven sets up the kingdom are Roman emperors, to wit: Augustus and Tiberius Caesars! But why should we trouble the reader with learned nonsense any more? We will not. We only quote these “authorities” that they may know how blind are they who say they see, and whom the people are wont to look up to as the great and blazing luminaries of the age!
The
The
fourth or Iron Kingdom is symbolised in the seventh of Daniel by “a
Fourth Beast.” The prophet has a vision of it in which it is presented
to him under two aspects. He saw it first as having conquered all before it,
and subsequently divided into Ten Independent Kingdoms, which he terms “horns.”
In its second aspect, he sees it subdivided into Eight governments yet
all one Beast or dominion. These Eight are seven regal and one imperial. He saw
how this change of constitution was produced, namely, by war. Of the ten
Toe, or Horn, kingdoms, the Imperial Power which arises after them, conquers
three, thus reducing the ten to seven. “He shall subdue three kings,”
says the interpreter; a subjugation which makes the victor imperial. This
imperiality originates with Charlemagne, the founder of the “HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE,” which was temporally suspended in 1806, and renewed in the
Austro-Papal in 1815. As such it still exists at this the crisis of its fate,
but even now as the mere satellite of the Assyrian Czar. It is only prevented
from falling to pieces by the support it derives from him. When the house of
Hapsburg loses its dominion, the Imperiality of the Fourth Beast will be
Assyrian, the Head of which will receive the kingdom of the ten kings for one
hour, even until the words of God shall be fulfilled; for they have one mind,
and shall agree to give their power and strength to him until then—Revelation
17: 12-13, 17. Now, it is the kings of these ten divisions of the fourth beast
or kingdom who will be contemporary with the Stone-power; for “they shall
make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall” do to them what is affirmed of
the kingdom in our motto, grind them to powder and bring them to an end, or “overcome
them.” It is “in their days even of those kings” the
In the common version it reads, “the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom * * * and the kingdom shall not be left to other people;” but in our motto this rendering is varied somewhat. There it reads, “he shall set up a kingdom and a dominion.” This distinction evidently obtains in the original Chaldee. The word used there for “kingdom” is malchu, while that for “dominion” is malcuthahh. It is also sustained by parallel testimony as well as by a verbal difference. This may be seen by turning to the reference below—Daniel 7: 13-14, where Daniel tells us that he saw one like the Son of Man to whom there was given “dominion, glory, and a kingdom.” It is true that “dominion” in this text is shahltahn authority or empire, and not malchuthahh; but the reason of that is that the latter is dominion delegated to the saints, which is not left to another people; while the shahltahn is dominion absolute conferred upon the Son of Man. Our motto, then, contains the glorious announcement to the saints of God that he intends to establish in the earth a kingdom and an empire which shall be imperishable; and that they who shall possess them at their institution shall possess them always, for the dominion “shall not be left to another people;” but the saints shall possess it, for “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the Saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him”—Daniel 7: 27.
But while our motto proclaims such “glad tidings” to the Saints, it heralds forth dismay to every son of Adam interested in the continuance of the Fourth Monarchy and in the perpetuity of “all dominions” contemporary with it. Hear this, ye kings of the Roman earth, that your kingdoms are to be ground to powder and to be put an end to! And ye also, O ye rulers of the world, be ye absolutists or constitutional, republican or regal, ye are to have your dominion taken away—Daniel 7: 12, 14; and the Saints whom ye know not—1 John 3: 1, and whom ye have despised, opposed, and prevailed against, are to possess it in your stead. Righteous is God; just and true in all his ways is the King of Saints. The world’s rulers and their people are his enemies and hostile to his sons, therefore according to the measure they have meted out, so will he measure to them again.
Our motto, moreover, announces in part the nature of the Stone-power, or kingdom, which constitutes with all its attributes the subject-matter of “the faith” for which the Saints contend earnestly. And by the way, we would remark, that they have no scriptural right to reckon themselves of the Saints who do not believe in this kingdom according to its true character; nor are they of the Saints in the gospel or higher sense, who though they believe do not become subject to “the law of faith,” that is, to the obedience which it requires. Having stated this much on account of faithfulness, we proceed to say, that our motto declares the kingdom which God is about to set up to be a military power and imperishable, and therefore invincible. The common version says, “it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,” or divisions of the fourth monarchy. The Chaldee phrase is taddik vethahsaiph. The root dahkak signifies to beat or grind small, reduce to powder; hence dak a substantive signifying small dust. We prefer “it shall grind to powder” as the rendering of taddik, rather than “it shall break in pieces,” because that interpretation has been sanctioned by Jesus himself. Referring to our motto he said,
“What is this then that is written, The STONE which the builders rejected, the same is become the Head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you (Chief Priests and Pharisees, verse 45) and given to a people—Daniel 7: 27; 1 Peter 2: 9—bringing forth the fruits thereof—Romans 14: 17. And whosoever shall fall upon this STONE shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder”—Matthew 21: 42-44.
The word in the Greek is likmeesei
“to winnow grain; to scatter like chaff anything broken fine; by implication,
to grind to powder, dash in pieces, destroy.” Such are the words used to
express the nature of the power employed in bringing the royalties of the
But
let us turn from them to the truly wise and great men of
“The
nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them,
and they shall flee afar off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the
mountains before the wind, and like thistledown before the whirlwind”—
Isaiah 17: 13.
Again,
“Then (baydayin, at that very time) were iron, clay (the Feet and Legs) brass, silver, and gold, ground to powder TOGETHER—dahku chakhadah—and they became like chaff of the summer threshing floor; and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them; and THE STONE which smote the Image became A GREAT MOUNTAIN, and filled all the earth”—Daniel 2: 35.
This is a contemporaneous and most
complete grinding to powder. Not a vestige of them remains—not even space to
receive them were their existence possible; for the place previously occupied
by them is taken possession of by the Conqueror whose power is submitted to by
all the earth. The meanest intellect must comprehend what it is to grind metal
to powder. It is a pounding, rasping, violent operation, by which it is broken
down and comminuted into the finest dust; so that the molecular attraction
being completely overcome, it is easily blown away by the wind. This familiar
process, then, reducing hard substances to dust is referred to in our motto to
give the reader some idea of the manner in which the
We
have said that the
If
the reader reflect upon what is to be accomplished he will see the necessity of
a military power arising that shall be stronger than those already in
existence. The work to be done is to overthrow all kingdoms and dominions; to
set up one instead of them, which shall rule over the whole earth; and to put
an end to the study and practice of war. There are in
“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the nations, even punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron: to execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his Saints?”—Psalm 149.
Does it not say also that the Gentile
powers “prevailed against them UNTIL the Ancient of Days came, and judgment
was given to the Saints of the Most High?”—Daniel 7: 21-22. And again, “the
judgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to
destroy it to the end?”—Daniel 7: 26. This is the work of the Saints, to
cooperate with
EDITOR.
* * *
DIFFICULTIES
RESPECTING THE TOE-DIVISIONS OF THE
Brother Thomas:
My Dear Sir—I have some difficulty
in reconciling your interpretation of Daniel
“Thou sawest till that a Stone was cut out without hands, which smote the Image upon his feet that were of iron and clay and brake them to pieces—then was the iron, clay, brass, silver and gold broken to pieces together.”
If then the Stone is to smite and break in pieces the Toe-kingdoms, there is no room for the Autocrat in the premises.
Again—Does the phrase “then was the iron, clay, &c.,” necessarily require as a distinct event, the previous destruction of the ten kingdoms? Does not the adverb of time, “then” demand the instantaneous sequence of the events which follow? In other words, may not the then import simply, “at that very time?” Such an interpretation dispenses with the interposition of Russia, or any extraneous power, before the consummation—and is not this construction further strengthened by the saying—“in the days of these kings”—(in the plural)—shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” Quaere, how can it be in the days of these kings—of the Toe-kingdoms—when they no longer exist—when they are all merged in the Russian autocracy?
In conclusion, may it not be asked, what is the necessity for the reconstruction of Nebuchadnezzar’s Image? Does the harmony and completeness of the figure require it? It seems to me this conclusion is based chiefly, if not alone, upon the words—“then was the iron, the clay, &c., broken to pieces together”—from which it is argued they must all exist contemporaneously. But will they not all be broken to pieces together when “all the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.” Besides, how can they be said to exist together, when they have all been destroyed and merged in the Russian power? Again, the colossal Image, entire, it seems, never did represent one dominion—it was a succession of empires. Why then make it imperative that the antitypal dominions should appear under a single or autocratic rule?
There is a practical question of deep interest to us, in this investigation. It is the question of time. If Russia is to play so conspicuous a part in the world’s history anterior to the glorious coming of our Lord, of course much time must elapse before the end come. If, however, this is a mistake, it may be and would seem, from other premises, already to be—“even at the doors.”
I suggest these thoughts for your consideration, anxious to know the whole truth, and desirous so to construe the scriptures as to harmonise all fair objections. I know the uncertainty of trusting to partial, one-sided views of any subject and presume not therefore to say that you are not entirely correct in the interpretation you have given in Elpis Israel.
You may make your reply to me privately, or through the Herald, as you may think best.
Faithfully and fraternally yours in the Hope of the Promise made to Abraham through the Christ, his Seed, in whom all nations are to be blessed,
Charlottesville, Virginia, December 20, 1851.
Dear Bro. Thomas:
I wish you would publish the article, in the shape of a letter, I wrote to you some twelve months ago, as to the question of time, and proposing some difficulties in the way of your interpretation of Daniel’s Image—particularly as to the necessity of a reconstruction of the Image by the Autocrat. I have been led to think more and more—especially from recent movements—by Kossuth, Mazzini, and others—as well as from what the Bible declares—that this reconstruction is unnecessary to the development of the kingdom, for it is not the Autocrat that is to strike the Toe-kingdoms, but the Stone, in the dream. But I have no time to write more. Adieu. Let me hear from you.
Faithfully and affectionately,
* * *
UNIQUE
INTERPRETATION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S IMAGE.
Who are disqualified for correctly interpreting the Image—One Image therefore One Dominion—The Head of gold coexistent with Nebuchadnezzar and the Stone that smites the Image—The other metallic elements also, and the Clay likewise, coexist at the Second Advent—The Chaldean and Roman Babylonish Dynasties, and their Destroyers—Koresh a type of the Messiah as the conqueror of the Assyrian—The Time of the Image-Empire—How the Latter Days may be known—The Adventual Battle—The Iron Legs of the Image—Where are the Feet?—Interpretation of “the Clay”—The Post-Adventual War—Objections categorically answered.
Much that might be said upon the points brought out in our friend’s epistle interrogatory is anticipated in the preceding article styled “Our Motto.” This was not written in view of his letter, and therefore does not dwell particularly on the difficulties he suggests. They are difficulties not to be glossed over or evaded; but they must be ingenuously and evidentially considered, for they are important, as he truly says, and involve a right understanding of the things represented by the Image.
Though much has been said and written explanatory of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, we have seen no interpretation of it that is satisfactory—that is, that harmonises with the testimony of other prophets in relation to the time of the end, or latter days. This is not to be wondered at; for the nation of the Stone power or kingdom, and how it is to be established, have not been, and as far as we are informed, are scarcely at all understood even now. To give such an explanation as will elucidate all the points of the Image and Daniel’s interpretation of it, Ezekiel’s prophecy of Gog, Isaiah’s of the Assyrian, Daniel’s of the King of the North, and Zechariah’s and Joel’s of the gathering of the nations to battle against Jerusalem, must be understood in addition to a right apprehension of the things of the kingdom of God. A theory that makes the Ten Kings antecedent to Antiochus Epiphanes, as commentators do of the Moses Stuart school; or that construes “these kings” to mean Augustus and Tiberius Caesars; or that imagines the Stone-kingdom consists of all saints ruling with Christ over wild beasts then tamed, as the first Adam did in Eden; or that makes “the church,” in its post-pentecostian and future millennial states, the kingdom, clothed with “latter day glory” by the success of its “ministry” in preaching their theories, which all nations come to receive with unanimity to the full manifestation of their “spiritual reign;” while it proscribes Jesus from the earth, and banishes him and “his everlasting kingdom” afar off “beyond the skies;” and suffers him only to return at the end of their 360,000 years spiritual reign, as some make it, to carry off the mortal bodies of the disembodied ghosts alleged to have been reigning with him in kingdoms of the Milky Way, and to burn up the earth and all the wicked on’t—theories that propound such solemn nonsense as these things, have no explanation of the grand and eventful crisis, in which God has predetermined that the past, the present, and the future of human power and wickedness shall find their consummation, as illustrated in the catastrophe of the Image—no exegesis emanating from them is worthy of a respectful consideration.
ONE IMAGE, ONE DOMINION.
The Image seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the Assyrian, in his dream, was a gigantic statue in the form of a man. It appeared to be composed of four different metals from the head to the feet; the first three of different degrees of preciousness, indicative of the relative inferiority of the things represented; and the fourth, more abundant and useful than its predecessors, but symbolical of superior strength and power. A golden head, silver breast and arms, belly and thigh of brass, legs and the feet of iron, made up the whole image, with the exception of some miry potter’s clay which was mixed up with the iron of the feet and toes. It was ONE IMAGE constructed of several integral parts—parts necessary to the Image and without which it did not exist. If Nebuchadnezzar had seen only the golden head, or the iron legs and feet only, he would not have seen a statue, but merely a fractional part of one. Let this then be well remembered, for it is a point essential to a right interpretation of the matter.
As it was one entire image it represented one entire dominion; and as it was composed of five different substances, a dominion was thereby symbolised as being constituted of as many different political elements. As a whole, it was a great Assyrian dominion, for the Assyrian Dynasty is declared to be represented by the Head of gold. Hence Daniel addressing the king styles him “a king of kings,” that is, an Emperor, and reminding him of the universality of his dominion, says to him, “Thou art this head of gold;” that is, the golden head represents thy dynasty, which was the Assyrian, symbolised in the seventh chapter by a lion stripped of its Ninevite wings, and no longer crouching, but standing erect upon its feet like a man, and possessing a human heart. The golden lion-head was the head of the statue he beheld, answering to the first beast of Daniel’s vision which he saw in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, and which Assyrian Lion is represented to the prophet as a dominion coexistent with the destruction of the Fourth Beast, and the possession of the kingdom by the Son of Man and the Saints—Daniel 7: 12. Let this be noted. It is admitted on all hands that the Head of gold and the First Beast represent the same thing; and that thing is the Assyrian Dominion –the Assyrian under two dynasties, the Ninevite and Babylonish; the Ninevite, the Lion with the eagle’s wings; and the Babylonish, the Lion without wings, as stated above, having very much the appearance of a man. Now mark; this Babylonish Assyrian dominion exists in the latter days, and loses its dominion then; but that its subjects in Assyria continue a people thenceforth for a season and a time, “whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Assyria the work of my hands”—Isaiah 19: 23-25. From these, and many other testimonies that might be adduced, we conclude that the Head of gold represents not one man, but a dynasty contemporary with the latter days—an ancient dynasty, indeed, taking root potentially, but not hereditarily, in Nebuchadnezzar who saw the dream.
But, not only doth the golden, but also the silver, brazen, and iron parts of the statue coexist in the latter days when judgment is given to the Saints. It is admitted that the Four Beasts Daniel saw in the first year of Belshazzar represent the same dominions as the Four Metals of the Image. Now these four beasts do all coexist at the crisis of the Fourth Beast’s destruction: which no world-wise man would aver had yet come to pass. It follows, then, that the gold, the silver, the brass, and the iron, or the dominions they represent, are all contemporarily existent with the setting up of the kingdom of God. But of these coexistent dominions which is ascendant over the rest? Which of them is then “a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven hath given a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and made ruler over all the sons of men,” as he had Nebuchadnezzar before him? It is not Persia, nor Greece, nor Rome; for the head of the Image Empire is neither silver, brass, nor iron: it is then the Assyrian, for he is the Head of Gold, and something else, as we shall see.
THE TWO BABYLONISH DYNASTIES AND THEIR DESTROYERS.
We may remark here in passing, that the first king of the Head was Babylonish, and so will the last king be likewise. The first was literally and typically Head of Babylon’s dominion; a city or metropolis which was the beginning of the Assyrian monarchy, and so named because there the confusion of human speech began: the last of Assyria’s kings is literally and antitypically Head and Feet of the empire of the latter days, figuratively styled the Babylonish; for the dominion he will have then acquired, comprehending all the Iron Kingdom and its divisions, commenced in Rome, the city of confusion, where the one speech of the faith was confounded, and whence the scattering over the modern earth began; and because of many points of similitude also named “great Babylon”—Daniel 4: 30; Revelation 17: 5. The Chaldean Babylon and the Roman Babylon are as type and antitype. When the career of both is finished, the latter as completely as the former, they will both have belonged to “the Assyrian.” We do not say that the Czar’s dominion began in Rome. He is hereditarily descended from Rurik of the family of Russ, of Scandinavian origin, which first appears in history about A. D. 862. Rurik was invited by the Scythians to become their sovereign. He accepted the invitation, and founded the Grand Duchy of Great Russia, whose capital was first at Novgorod and afterwards at Kiew. This was the origin of the Czar and his present dominion. But he is destined to acquire another dominion—the dominion of the Iron monarchy—and this dominion, we say, the modern Babylonish, had its commencement in Rome. It is this hereafter-to-be acquired dominion that will constitute the Autocrat’s dominion the Babylonish.
Perhaps it may be well to add a few more hints under this head. When “the very time of the king of Babylon’s land” had come, that is, when the 70 years allotted to the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach, and Belshazzar, during which all nations were to serve them, were fully accomplished, the time had arrived for the restoration of Israel—Jeremiah 27: 7; 29: 10. There was no disposition on the part of Belshazzar to release them. He imagined himself firmly seated on his throne in “the golden city.”
“He ruled the nations in anger, and opened not the house of his prisoners; but said in his heart, I will ascend unto heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation (Mount Zion) in the sides of the North: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High”—Isaiah 14: 6, 13-17, 19.
But how this
vain-glorious monarch trembled when he saw the hand inscribing the doom of his
dynasty upon the wall! He that drank to the praise of his gods out of the gold
and silver vessels of the temple, and “lifted himself up against the Lord of
heaven,” was seized with the pallor and prostration of extreme fear. But
the Lord whom he had defied had numbered his kingdom and finished it; he had
weighed him in the balances and found him wanting; and had therefore divided
his kingdom to the Medes and Persians. Nor was he long in executing the
sentence he had pronounced; for in that night he was slain—Daniel 5, and “cast
out as an abominable branch—as a carcase trodden under feet.”
Now, let it be observed that the effect of the fall of “the Assyrian,” and the acquisition of supreme power by Koresh, or Cyrus, was a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, saying—
“The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem”—Ezra 1: 2-4.
This Koresh, we doubt not, was a representative man. His name, the part he played in the overthrow of the Assyrian and the restoration of the Jews, and the things which the Lord uttered concerning him, are strongly evidential that he was a typical person. His name Koresh is compounded of the prefix k, pronounced kar, signifying comparison or resemblance, namely, as, as if, like; and the noun yoraish heir. Kah-yoraish “like the heir,” contracted into Koresh, because of certain rules in the pointing with which it would be useless to trouble the reader. It is to be remembered here that about 185 years before the fall of Babylon Jehovah gave the name of LIKE-THE-HEIR to the Persian who overthrew the Assyrian and delivered Israel. He says concerning him,
“For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name; I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me”—Isaiah 45: 4.
He also says of him,
“He is my Shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid”—Isaiah 44: 28.
Then again he styles him “his Anointed,” that is, his Christ—Isaiah 45: 1. Can it be imagined that all these expressions found their full signification in the Persian Conqueror? No, we conclude rather that Jehovah named him Like-the-Heir, because he was to enact a similar part in regard to the first Babylon to that predetermined for Jehovah’s Anointed Shepherd, “the Heir”—Matthew 21: 38; Hebrews 1: 2, in respect to the last. The Persian was therefore officially like him. Each Babylonish dominion, the ancient and the modern, require a destroyer. Cyrus smote the former on the Head; Christ in smiting the latter on the feet will also abolish the head: Cyrus proclaimed the return of Israel; so will Christ “in the day of the great slaughter” when “he shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm,” and “he shall beat down the Assyrian who smote with a rod”—Isaiah 30: 25-26, 30-31: Cyrus laid the foundation of the temple; Christ, “the man whose name is the Branch * * shall build the temple of the Lord”—Zechariah 6: 12: all the kingdoms of the earth were given to Cyrus; so also hereafter the kingdoms of this world are to become Jehovah’s and his Christ’s. These are not accidental analogies. Well, therefore, may the Persian be styled “Like the Heir,” for the work appointed for each to do is as relative as the substance and the shadow.
Lastly, under this head it is important to observe, that Jehovah in his utterances against the ancient Babylon, makes a declaration which has found no accomplishment hitherto. His words are—
“The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed so shall it stand; that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot; THEN shall his yoke depart from off them (Israel) and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations—Isaiah 14: 24-26.
The war by which
the Assyrian was broken by Cyrus was waged in Chaldea and at the gates of
Babylon; and not upon the mountains of Israel; and although the yoke and burden
of the oppressor departed from the Jews, it was only in a limited degree. The
Assyrian to this day is Israel’s greatest tyrant, for there are more Israelites
in his dominions and he treats them more barbarously than any other despot. But
other prophecies show that the breaking referred to occurs in the latter days,
and doth actually come to pass on the mountains of Israel—Ezekiel 38: 8; 39: 4,
17, and that too by “THE HEIR,” who is thenceforth to be Israel’s Prince
for ever, even “in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his
people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.”
THE TIME OF THE IMAGE-EMPIRE.
One Image of divers parts, one dominion of different elements, and that the Assyrian. This is the proposition sustained by the testimonies adduced. But our friend inquires, if the Image represent one dominion at what time does it exist? In reply, we remark that it does not exist now; nor has it at any time hitherto existed as a whole. In the days of Nebuchadnezzar, although a great dominion, his rule did not extend over Asia Minor, Greece, Italy and the West; therefore the Image, which comprehends these, did not represent to him an existing dominion, but only an empire that should “hereafter” exist, of which his dynasty, the Assyrian, should be the Head. But when should this hereafter be? Hear what Daniel saith,
“There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known
to the king what shall be IN THE LATTER DAYS.”
And again,
“Thy thoughts, O king, came into
thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that
revealeth secrets maketh known unto thee what shall come to pass.”
The grand object, then, of the revelation was to make known “what should be in the Latter Days”—what should come to pass then; and only incidentally to inform the king of the divinely purposed existence of certain dominions intermediate between his and that to be established by God in the latter days. After he had gone to bed one night he appears to have been revolving in his mind what would come to pass after his decease. He was the founder of the greatest empire that had hitherto existed, and nothing was more natural than that he should be solicitous to know the fate of it. He could only conjecture. He might suppose it would exist always; and that the dying generations of mankind would be for ever ruled by his successors the kings of Assyria. Poor pagan, what else couldst thou imagine but something like unto this! Thou dist not know that “the Heavens do rule,” and had predetermined a better fate for humanity than this. Thou wert like the Absolutists and Democracy of today, who as vainly and foolishly imagine that their nostrums will become the eternal facts of endless years to come! But “the Heavens” condescended to enlighten thy darkness, O king, for their sakes who should make known to thee the things thou couldst not divine for thyself. Know, then, that thy dynasty, or kings descended from thee, shall not reign over Assyria to the end of its dominion. Its empire will be enlarged, and thy throne shall be occupied by the Medes, Persians, and Macedonians. After these the Romans shall incorporate much of Assyria in their kingdom, which shall be divided; but in the latter days an Assyrian King from the north shall overflow and pass over their territory, and overthrow them. His dominion shall be great; for he shall rule over the West, Asia Minor, Egypt, Libya, Khushistan, Persia and the Land of Israel, besides his own hereditary estate. Then shall Assyria have attained the full extent of its dominion; and like thy grandson, Belshazzar, its Golden Head, will lift “himself against the Lord of heaven,” and “sit upon the Mount of the Congregation in the sides of the north.” But his counsel shall not stand; for though he shall exalt himself against the Prince of princes, he shall be broken in pieces. Thus shall he come to his end, and none shall help him; and Assyria’s dominion shall be no more.
HOW THE LATTER DAYS MAY BE KNOWN.
The Image represents this catastrophe in the latter days. But it may be asked, How are we to know the latter days? By the signs given. Thus, Jehovah saith,
“The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice; afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and the Beloved (Dawid) their king: and shall fear Jehovah and his goodness in the Latter Days”—Hosea 3: 4-5.
Have the Israelites returned and sought David II. their king? No. Then the Latter Days of Hosea are in the future. Again, “I will bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord”—Jeremiah 48: 47; and “Moab shall escape out of the hand of the king of the north”—Daniel 11: 41. This is not yet accomplished; therefore the latter days of Jeremiah are still future. And again, Balaam showed the king of Moab what Israel should do to his people in the latter days. Hear his words. Speaking of Israel he says,
“His kingdom shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom more highly
exalted.”
“I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold the event though it is not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptred chief shall arise out of Israel, who shall smite the princes of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also his enemy shall be his possession; and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the City”—Numbers 24: 7: 25: 14-19.
These are events that have never come to pass yet, therefore the Latter Days of Balaam are still in the future.
In these texts the original words for “in the latter days” are be acharith hay-yamim. They occur in all the passages cited below—Daniel 10: 14—as well as in Daniel 2: 28, the only difference in this place being the difference between Chaldee and Hebrew, as be-acharith yomayya. It is well to observe this, because in Isaiah and Micah the common version renders the words “in the last days.” This phrase is the same as “in the latter days,” being the same in the original, and therefore to be regarded as referring to the same time. Now, Isaiah and Micah both testify in the texts below that in the days under notice—
“The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.”
The meaning of this is thus given by Jeremiah in prophesying the return of Israel from the land of the north, or Assyria;
“It shall be, saith the Lord, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the Name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem”—Jeremiah 3: 14-18.
Still living in their own countries they shall be gathered to Jerusalem as the metropolis and seat of the government then ruling the world.
“Then,” continues Micah, “many people
shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk
in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth THE LAW, and THE WORD of the Lord
from Jerusalem. And he shall rule (veshanplat) many peoples, and he shall cause
to conquer with respect to * strong nations afar off; and they shall
beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into scythes: nation
shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and
none shall make them afraid.”
None of these events have happened yet, therefore the latter days in which they are to occur must still be in the future.
*(So I render vehokiach legoyim; the verb in Hiphil from the obsolete root koach to overcome in war: le insep. Part, with respect to. In the common version it is rebuke; Dr. Boothroyd has it decide among; and Dr. Lowth, work conviction in. Yea, conviction will be wrought in strong nations by the invincible power of the Lord’s hosts, whom he will cause to conquer every foe.)
In Daniel 10: 14, the angel informed the prophet that he had come to make him understand “what should befall Israel in the latter days;” and that he might not suppose that those days were near, he added, “for yet the vision is for many days”—the vision seen as described in the eighth chapter. That he might understand he unfolded to him the premises from which the conclusions of the latter days might be deduced. Hence he began with affairs pertaining to the Ram and Goat, and more particularly outlined the international policy and wars of two of the Goat’s Horns lying north and south of Israel, and by which the Jews suffered much, until they both disappeared for a time in the shadow of the Goat’s Little Horn. He then describes the character of this which he styles THE KING, who delights to honour the Roman god, and divides the land of Israel for gain. Having returned to the subject of the land after this digression about the king and his pontiff, the prophet finds himself “at the time of the end,” which is another phrase for “the latter days.” By this time the two horns of the Goat emerge from the darkness that had overshadowed them for some 1900 years. Daniel is told that the northern or Assyrian Horn would be the conqueror of the time. That he would invade Israel’s land, and encamp against the Holy Mountain. That it would be a great day, so that none should be like it, even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but that he should be saved out of it, and strangers should no more serve themselves of him; but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king whom he would raise up unto them—Jeremiah 30: 7-9. That Michael was he—the Prince that stands up for Israel, who should break the Assyrian, and bring the wonders of the prophecy to the appointed end, of which the greatest would be the resurrection of the dead, when he, Daniel, should stand in his lot at the end of the 1335 days. Such is the catastrophe of the plot on the eve of its accomplishment. It has not been fulfilled, therefore the latter days remain to be revealed.
Lastly, Ezekiel testifies that “in the latter days” a cloud of warriors from the north shall cover the land of Israel. That they shall be marshalled by the Assyrian, whom he styles “Gog of Magog, the Prince of Rosh, Mosc, and Tobl.” That silver Persia, brazen Ethiopia and Libya, &c., iron Gomer, and clayey Togarmah and his bands, shall be confederate with him. But that while he is there making a spoil of Israel, the Stone-Power is revealed in fury and causes him to fall upon the mountains of Israel, so that only one sixth part of his multitude is permitted to escape alive. This is the battle of Armageddon, the smiting of the statue on the feet, by which the Image-empire is dissolved for ever. This has not yet occurred, therefore the latter days of Ezekiel are yet to come.
THE ADVENTUAL BATTLE.
When Nebuchadnezzar saw the Stone smite the Image on the Feet he beheld an action symbolical of the blow that overthrows the Assyrian on the mountains of Israel. That blow is only the commencement of the war between the King of Israel and “the Powers that be.” The unity of the Image-empire is broken by the victory, but its elemental constituents still remain to be subdued. The Image is smitten on the feet, the members by which an union is established between all the Toes and the body of the statue. At present the Toes are indeed in being; but they ere not yet conjoined to the feet. They require to be daubed with some “miry potter’s clay” to connect them to the Iron. This uniting of them, by at best a brittle union, will be, we conceive, the result of the king of the north’s overthrowing many countries—Daniel 11: 40-41, and so establishing his dominion over “Gomer and his bands” who now possess the territory of the Ten Toes. This is smiting the toes; but not, we admit, the feet in the sense of the prophecy. The toes are smitten by the Assyrian, but not to death. They then still exist as kingdoms under reigning kings, but not independent, being like the kings under Nebuchadnezzar, and those of later times under Napoleon, who were kings of kings, as will the Assyrian be before he invades the land of Israel. This previous subjection of the Toes to one imperial chief is necessary to the bringing of all the nations to battle against Jerusalem—Zechariah 14: 2 and to their encampment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat—Joel 3: 12. What could induce ten independent and antagonist powers to go and lay siege to Jerusalem? If a crusade could be got up for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre they might; but then they must appoint over themselves One Head, or they could effect nothing. No. The necessity of the case is that they should all be united as kingdoms of one imperiality, that one policy may actuate them all; so that if “things come into the mind” of their Emperor, “and he conceive a mischievous purpose”—Ezekiel 38: 10, they may cooperate with him to carry his will into effect. This concert of action between the Czar and his kings being established by coming events, when he proclaims his intention to invade Palestine and to take possession of Jerusalem, the movable forces of the kingdoms under his sway will gather to his standard as they did to Napoleon’s when he invaded Russia. He marches them against Israel, and their Protector, Britain and her allies, who are prepared for the combat in the glorious land. He takes Jerusalem, and meets his overthrow at the hand of Jehovah’s Anointed, the Shepherd and Stone of Israel—Genesis 49: 24.
By this unexpected event the Feet are smitten. It is the Stone that smites them; and as their iron is commingled with miry clay, the Feet are dismembered from the Image, which can therefore stand erect no more. The gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay, are all shivered asunder; that is, Assyria, Persia, Greece and Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya, and the Ten kingdoms, no longer constitute one united dominion under the Czar, the Head of the Dragon-empire crushed by the Woman’s Seed—Revelation 20: 2. What then remains? Are the Legs and Toes to retain their dominions? Or are they to be utterly destroyed?
THE IRON LEGS OF THE IMAGE.
The Legs of the Image are not yet conjoined to the Feet. The Legs are visible and so are the Toes; but the iron legs, feet, and toes as one conjunct dominion with its subdivisions, are not yet seen. The Iron kingdom in distinct parts exists; but these parts at their points of opposition require to be tempered together by the plastic clay of the Assyrian potter. The Iron or Roman kingdom was finally divided at the death of Theodosius, A. D. 395, between his sons Arcadius and Honorius; the former of whom ruled in Constantinople over the eastern division or Leg of the Roman empire; and the latter in Rome over the western. Hence they were styled the Emperors of the East and West. The eastern leg was that now possessed by the Sultan; while the western comprehended Italy, Africa, Gaul, Spain, Noricum, Pannonia, and Dalmatia. Noricum included part of Austria and Bavaria, and Pannonia, part of Hungary; these with Dalmatia, Dacia, and Macedonia constituted the ancient Illyricum. But at the division, Dacia and Macedonia were assigned to the East. Britain belonged to the dominion of the Western Emperor, but is no part of the Image, therefore we say no more about it here. The Eastern Leg is entire; but what is the condition of the Western? IT is dwindled down to the attenuated jurisdiction of Austria and the Pope over parts of Italy and Illyricum: still the Austro-Papal dominion, called “the Holy Roman Empire,” is the Western Leg, which in modern times extends into countries not anciently subject to Rome. Now, though the territories of the Two Legs stand side by side, the Leg dominions are essentially antagonistic, having no bond of union between them. But when the Image is complete the same political vitality that energises the one must energise the other. This political union of the Legs into one dominion is indicated by the Toes being distributed on Feet united to both the Legs. If the ten toes were adherent to one foot, and the other had none, the indication would be that the Legs would be independent dominions in the latter days, one of which was sovereign over the toes: but as it is, the Legs will be one conjoint dominion with sovereignty over the ten toes, therefore they are distributed as the decorum of the symbol demands—five on each foot.
WHERE ARE THE FEET OF THE IMAGE?
We see then two separate Legs in existence, eight independent Toes, and two dependent ones, Lombardy and Hungary, whose kingships are vested in the House of Hapsburg; but where are the Feet, for Legs and Toes are not feet? The tibia is the leg bone, the tarsal bones are the toes; but where are the metatarsal which make the foot of the skeleton, and which unite the toes to the leg? Every one is bound to admit that they exist nowhere on the territory of the iron where they must of necessity appear for they are part of iron and part of clay.
INTERPRETATION OF “THE CLAY.”
Now, the proposition we affirm in view of the premises is, that a power must appear upon the territory of the Legs, which shall effect such a change in the political relations of things that the Legs and Toes shall be no longer antagonistic and disjoined, but e pluribus unum, united into one. The power that shall accomplish this is symbolised by the Feet of the Image; and the agent by which it is effected is styled the Potter; as it is written, “thou sawest the feet and toes part of clay of the Potter, and part of iron.” The clay represents the power incarnated in those who “shall mingle themselves with the seed of men;” and the Potter, the Chieftain who shall mould them into a vessel to suit his own views. His people, the wild or semi-barbarous hordes that follow him, will overspread the countries of the old iron kingdom; but this new inundation of barbarians from the north will not be like that of the fifth and sixth centuries. Then they “cleaved to another” people. The Goths, and Vandals, and other savage tribes of the north, melted down and lost their distinctive individuality in the populations of the empire they destroyed, so that now the institutions under which they live, civil and ecclesiastical, are the same: but it shall not be so with the Potter’s clay men. They will mingle themselves with the Iron men, and blend their kingdoms into one clayey dominion, but the union will not last sufficiently long for them to cleave together under a permanently new constitution of things not contemplated in the Image; as it is written, “they shall not cleave one to another even as iron is not mixed with clay.”
But what is to be done with this clay fabric of the potter? Hear the decree!
“To thee, mine Anointed, will I give the nations for thy possession * * * Thou shalt break them in pieces as a potter’s vessel”—Psalm 2: 9.
Keb a vessel from the root kahlah, any thing formed or constructed by a workman. The feet of the image are as a vessel to a potter. Hear also what the prophet saith of the Assyrian who in forming the Feet “ladeth himself with thick clay”—
“Because he transgresseth by wine, a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as the grave (sheol) and as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: shall not all these take up a parable and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth what is not his! How long? And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!”
That this from Habakkuk doth not relate to Belshazzar, but to Belshazzar’s antitype, the Assyrian, of the latter days, is clear; for the Lord saith it belongs to “the end.” The prophet saw the Emperor as he hath described him, covered, so to speak, with thick clay, being invested with nations not a few, and madly bent on conquering more. But notice how the prophet saw in vision his plundering and bloody career arrested!
“Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people (Israel) shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.”
Then shall “THE STONE cry out of the wall,” and “the beam out of the timber shall answer it;” for by the power of the awakened “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Thus “at the end the vision speaks”—Habakkuk 2.
THE POST ADVENTUAL WAR.
The moulding of the Feet out of the iron and the clay is the mission of “our sacred Russia” as it is styled by the Czar. It is this work that is on the eve of its commencement, and when it begins it will progress rapidly to its completion. The formative principle is his power which smites the nations and incorporates their kingdoms into his bipedal ferro aluminous dominion. Gog smitten on the mountains of Israel is the Feet smitten by the Stone; the consequence of which is the breaking of them to pieces. Now, when the Feet are thus broken by the battle of Armageddon what is the condition of the disjoined metals with respect to each other? The brittle bond of union is broken, and the Iron Legs and the toe-kingdoms are disconnected from Persia, Egypt, Khushistan, Libya, &c. Their combined forces will have suffered a great defeat; their power of resistance, however, will not be exhausted. Napoleon lost half a million men in the Russian campaign; yet he was exalted to raise new armies from his kingdoms, and to put off the evil day of his dethronement for about two years: so after the breaking of the Feet of the Image, the pieces will prolong resistance to the Stone. This infatuate resistance is necessary that the Stone may fall on them and grind them to powder. The fragments of the Iron kingdom are especial subjects of prophecy at this crisis, pertaining to their resistance after the battle of Armageddon. It is thus spoken of by John, saying,
“And I saw the Beast, and the Kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against the Faithful and True One that sat on the horse, and against his army”—Revelation 19: 11, 19.
They are met by the white horseman, styled the King of kings, who, attended by his body guards, the saints (termed “the armies of the heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean”) encounters them with “a sharp sword,” even Judah, who smites the enemy because their king is with them—Zechariah 10: 3-6. This post-adventual war is “the breaking to pieces together” of the pieces from the Feet to the Head to the Feet.
“Then (baidayin, at that very time) iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold, were ground to powder together (dahqu kachadah) and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them.”
At that very time and subsequently to the smiting of the Feet. The grinding of the fragments is not accomplished by one blow in an instant. One blow may demolish the form of a statue or a limb of it, by shivering it to pieces; but it requires heavy and oft-repeated blows to reduce the fragments to powder. The post-adventual war is the grinding process in which the metals and the clay are being reduced to dust. The gold, the silver, and the brass, the dynastics of the Lion, the Bear, and the Leopard, or of Assyria, Persia, and Greece, are abolished—“they have their dominion taken away;” yet their nationality continues “a season and a time;” but in respect to the iron and the clay, or the body politic, dynastic, and national, as represented by the Fourth Beast which had “devoured the whole earth,” it is “consumed and destroyed unto the end.” Victorious Israel shall be a third with “Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands,” saith the Lord; but the nationalities of the Iron and the Clay will be utterly broken up and driven away by “the wind,” * the fury of the war waged against them by the Saints and their people.
* (Jeremiah 4: 11-12—In this place an army invading a country swiftly and fiercely, destroying all before them, is expressed by a dry wind, and a full wind.)
The war which begins with the breaking of the Feet to pieces is carried on, on every side, at the same time. This is expressed by the words “at that very time” and “together.” No time will be given for the enemy to rally so as to invade the land. The war will be transferred to the countries to be subdued. The Beast and the False Prophet, the Assyrian’s dominion in the west with the Roman Bishop, whose existence he shall have sustained to the end since Austria shall have given place to the Czar—these are taken and destroyed by extraordinary and signal judgments: the remnant of the iron and the clay, not included in those symbols, as the armies of other states, are slain by the sword of Israel with great slaughter—Revelation 19: 2. The False Prophet lives as Bishop of Rome until THE STONE comes, and sinks him into hell— (The Lago’d Inferno or Hell-lake is near Rome: the real one is beneath her)—with “the Eternal City.” Thus the Assyrian, and “the god of guardian saints,” whom he honours in his kingdom, are utterly destroyed by the brightness of Messiah’s advent. The entire image is no longer an existence being superseded by the dominion of its Destroyer, which becomes as a great mountain filling the whole earth.
OBJECTIONS CATEGORICALLY ANSWERED.
We will conclude this article by answering categorically our friend’s questions, the testimony upon which they are predicated being contained in what has gone before. He enquires, then,
December 23, 1851. EDITOR.
* * *
HERALD
OF THE KINGDOM AND AGE TO COME.
Shall the Herald live, and its editor continue to “preach the word of the kingdom,” or shall it die, and the proclamation be abandoned? The yea or nay of this inquiry will be determined by the developments of 1852. We cannot purchase paper, and pay the printer and binder with promises; nor can we afford to present the public with 200 volumes gratuitously. We should rejoice were we able to publish 20,000 without price, but such is the constitution of things in the world, that not having yet discovered the philosopher’s stone, we find it as impossible even to “preach the word” by the Herald or the living voice, without the needful, as it is for farmers, mechanics, and professionals, to live upon the air. It is true that this is an age of wonderful invention. We do not intend to dispute this; but still we honestly believe, that it is still a desideratum in the economy of life—the existence of an editor and the publication of a paper by the convertibility of oxygen and nitrogen into food, and raiment, money and materials. Though we have discovered the solution of several problems in the word that have nonplussed the brains of greater heads than ours in this and generations past, yet how something is to be evolved out of nothing is a discovery to which we candidly confess we have not the slightest claim. Seeing therefore that we are so helplessly at fault in this department of knowledge, or rather of things unknown, it is evident that if we are to carry on “the good fight of faith” our friends must do something more than form a ring, or take up a safe position on a distant eminence, as spectators of the fight. The warfare in the valley may be a very exciting and interesting scene to them beyond the reach of harm; but it is life or death, victory or defeat, to the combatants below. Are there any of our friends who would adorn their brows with the victor’s crown? They must “fight if they would win.” It is not the spectators of a combat, but the warriors of the fray who show not the white feather, who turn not their backs upon the enemy, that win the prize. Fighting is a painful operation, though an animating one in a good cause. It is painful to the flesh through the wounds inflicted on the character and purse of the Woman’s Seed; but when their spirit, not their blood, is up, they glory in the cost and suffering of the contest, and take joyfully the wreck of their possessions, in doing battle for the truth. Nothing appals them, but the timidity or treachery or ice-heartedness of their fellows. With the sword of the spirit it is pastime and delight to hew Agag in pieces, which of course is far from agreeable to him, or to those whose minds are leavened with the word-neutralising traditions of the Apostasy.
Who then will come to the help of the Lord’s truth against the enemy? If we are to make any abiding impression upon his works it is only by patient perseverance, and sacrifice it can be effected. A subscription of two dollars a year by a believer, worth his hundreds or thousands, towards carrying on the publication of the gospel of the kingdom, make him a hundredfold more a debtor to the truth than before, and convicts him of “covetousness which is idolatry,”—a sin which is as sure to exclude him from the kingdom as murder or adultery—Ephesians 5: 5. Such a pitiable contribution operates thus, because his subscription ends in selfishness. He subscribes just enough to gratify himself; and obtains a hundredfold more than his subscription is worth, both in workmanship and the information given, which he could never elicit for himself. For our own part, we would hide ourselves if possible, rather than enter the Lord’s presence with the charge against us, that, though abundantly able, all we had contributed for the diffusion of the knowledge of his truth was a pittance of two dollars per annum, for which outlay the sole benefit was our own! We know not whose head this cap may fit, or whose toes the shoe may pinch; but one thing we do know, that neither shoe nor cap is ours. Be they theirs to whom they belong. We would not have them as a gift!
What shall we say of those who subscribe, but never pay? The least said of them the better. Perhaps they will repent—who knows? We do not, but will hope the best. They may conclude it is not wrong an editor to pay; if so we shall doubtless be the gainer.
Well, the time is come for our real friends to renew their subscriptions, our terms being payment on receipt of the first number. Let it be remembered that the Herald cost last year $122.95 more than the subscriptions received. Is this to be repeated—yea or nay? If “the Ayes have it” we vanish from the scene, and say “Adieu till the day of doom!”
EDITOR.
* *
*
COPY
OF A LETTER TO LOUIS KOSSUTH ON THE PROSPECTS OF HUNGARY.
M. Louis Kossuth, late Governor of
Hungary, Excellent Sir:
I have taken the liberty of causing to be presented to you a copy of a work intitled “Elpis Israel,” which, it is presumed, cannot fail of being interesting to you seeing that it treats in part of the things which have, and are yet destined to, come upon old and decrepit Europe, and your own unfortunate and suffering country. It is a work reprinted in New York a few weeks since from the London edition, which was almost entirely sold in a month after publication there without the aid of advertisement or review. A copy was sent to Lord Palmerston, who, as you will see on page 26, pronounces the book to be “a very interesting work.”
I would also take this opportunity of remarking to you that I have read your eloquent addresses to the peoples of Britain and of these United States, with that deep feeling of sympathy for the oppressed and hatred of oppression which is an instinct of my nature. But while my soul was melted in its mood, my judgment approved the necessity of the visitation which hath fallen so vengefully on your fatherland. In your address to the people of the United States you inquire, “Was it not manifest that Austria—who had always, through the help of Hungary, strength enough to oppose Russia—would, when she destroyed Hungary with Russian bayonets, no longer be an independent power, but merely the avant garde of the Moscovite?” Again you say, “Had England and France permitted a few ships to come to Ossore, laden with arms for the noble patriots who had asked in vain for weapons, the Hungarians would now have stood a more impregnable barrier against Russia, than all the arts of a miserable and expensive diplomacy.” To this you add, “I hesitate not to avow before God, that we alone—that my own Hungary—could have saved Europe from Russian domination.” Yes, Excellent Sir, in these averments is the philosophy of your national overthrow. Hungary was the strength of Austria, and she could have saved both it and Europe from Russian domination. God, whose administration of human affairs you acknowledge, and to whom “the powers that be” are subjected, saw this distinctly. It was necessary, therefore, that Hungary should be “plucked up by the roots” by “the little” Austro-imperial “horn” of the west, that the execution of his decree, long since revealed in the writings of Israel’s prophets, might not be frustrated. Hungary’s offence before High Heaven hath been this very devotion to the treacherous and blood-stained House of Hapsburg, of which, Excellent Sir, you speak so complacently. The “Holy Roman Empire”—holy indeed! —hath been for over a thousand years the savage destroyer of God’s witnesses upon the earth. Its secular dynastic horn hath been the pillar and support of the Papacy—the blind, infatuated, patron of that cruel, and liberty-hating superstition whose Pontifex Maximus—the spiritual dynastic horn of the empire—is the Pope of Rome. The time hath come for the Almighty to make inquisition for blood, and therefore to pour out upon the House of Hapsburg and its papal prophet, and their conjoint dominion, that righteous retribution which their unparalleled “blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in the heaven”—Revelation 13: 6; and their crimes against humanity, demand. So long as Hungary remained strong and independent, “an impregnable barrier” existed against that inundation from the north which is destined to overshadow the independence of the Austro-papal imperiality of the west. Whom God wills to destroy he first infatuates. This is pre-eminently the case with the Emperor and the Pope. The House of Hapsburg in cursing with the decree of extermination, and, by Russian aid, in “plucking it up by the roots,” (Daniel 7: 8, 24.) hath thrust a dagger into his own vitals, wounding itself with an incurable and deadly wound. It hath bound itself hand and foot, and become helplessly subject to the will of the Autocrat of the north—the Russo-Assyrian of the age. —Isaiah 30: 25, 30-31.
The Bible—the politician’s best manual—reveals, as you find explained in Elpis Israel from page 377 to 388, that the almighty disposer of human events (Daniel 2: 21; 4: 25, 35) hath decreed the subjugation of Europe to the Russian power, whose chief is to become “Emperor of Germany” (“Gogue of the land of Magogue,”) as well as Autocrat of All the Russias, (or “Prince of Ros, Mosc, and Tobl.”) See Ezekiel 38 and 39. All things since February 1848 are rapidly tending to that consummation. France, symbolised in the scriptures by “Frogs,” the old arms of the Franks, (Revelation 16: 13; and Elpis Israel, page 339,) is to complicate every thing. Events soon to happen there will convert papal Germany, &c., and Italy, into “a lake of fire and brimstone”—destructive battle-fields—which will be the wreck of the dominion of Hapsburg and the Pope, and the establishment of the Cossack on the Theiss, the Danube, the Rhine, the Seine, and the Po. Thus the house of Hapsburg will have destroyed itself in destroying Hungary, and Russia will have become your avenger.
Still, however, Hungary and Poland will exist no more. The resuscitation of their dominions and that of Italy is hopeless. The populations of earth are not to be for ever cursed by such governments as the world hath hitherto experienced in all lands. The Bible, to which you appeal, comforts us with the assurance that “all nations shall be blessed in Abraham and his Seed,” (Genesis 12: 2-3; 22: 18; Galatians 3: 8, 16,) and that when this blessedness shall become a fact, “the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of Jehovah, and of his Christ; and He (the Christ) shall reign for ever”—Revelation 11: 15. —Yea, Excellent Sir, and not “the kingdoms” only, but all republics too. The accomplishment of this ancient promise made of God 3500 years ago, will be good news, or gospel, to Hungary and the oppressed of all countries; for it implies the overthrow of Russia, and the fall of all thrones, principalities, and powers that now afflict the world.
Well, Excellent Sir, your “own Hungary” exists no more, and the God of justice wills it, not for the behoof of Austria and its Camarilla, but as a condition necessary to the ultimate benefit of humanity at large. Vain, yet pleasing to those who know not the Divine purpose revealed in the Bible, is the hope you express that “Hungary, free, surrounded by free nations, will be great, glorious, and independent.” Excellent Sir, independent Hungary, the chief of a confederacy of free nations, is an illusion sketched by the fond fancy of its unfortunate children. Providence hath a more exalted blessedness for the peoples than this. Bloody indeed will be the coming combat between the populations and the tyrants; but “the haughty despots,” as you truly style them, will prove too strong for them. Neither Hungary nor her exiled sons can change the current of events that have placed them on these hospitable shores. The freedom of Hungary will be peace, spiritual enlightenment, prosperity, and security, under a Divine Code and Administration. This is the impending freedom and blessedness of all nations, which belong not to this age, but to that which is to come, when all existing governments, the obstacles to their manifestation, shall have been utterly destroyed after the example and by the like agency to that which delivered Israel from Egypt, and planted them in Palestine as in the days of old. The restoration of liberty, then, to Hungary being incompatible with the revealed purpose of the Almighty, there remains no obstacle to the fulfilment of your prediction, which happens to be in harmony with the things noted in the scriptures of truth, as I have already stated them. —“I predict,” saith your Excellency, “and the eternal God hears my prediction—that there can be no freedom for the Continent of Europe, and that the Cossacks from the shores of the Don will water their steeds in the Rhine, unless liberty be restored to Hungary. It is only with Hungarian freedom that the European nations can be free; and the smaller nationalities especially can have no future without us.” Yes, Sir, Poland and Hungary, the ramparts of the west against the embattled north, being levelled with the dust, Europe is unmasked and opened to the invader when he wills to “enter i