The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated/Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII.
REVIEW OF THE COMMON OPINIONS RESPECTING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD.
The last judgment and the second coming of the Lord, are spoken of in the Scriptures as coeval events. They are referred to in several places in the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Revelation; but in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, they are treated of at greater length and with more discrimination and detail than in any other portions of the Divine Word. That wonderful narrative was delivered by the Lord to His disciples upon the mount of Olives. He having said unto them concerning the temple, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down," "they came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?"[1] It is to be observed that the inquiry was made "privately," and that the answer was given to the disciples only. These were remarkable occurrences, intended to suggest that the information involved in the discourse did not so much belong to the outer publicity of the world, as to the inner experience of the Church. The prediction about the temple, and the inquiry respecting its fulfilment, are the key to the whole subject. The temple, it is well known, was a type of the Church, and doubtless its destruction by the enemies of the religion which it represented, was a symbol of the ruin which would be brought upon the Church by a perversion of its principles. However much, therefore, the Lord's discourse may seem to treat of the calamities which were about to overtake Jerusalem, there lay behind the whole narrative a distinct reference to some other disasters, by which the Church was to be destroyed. That was the primary subject respecting which the Lord intended to speak; the other was simply the figure and vehicle selected for its communication. And here we may notice that other point about which the disciples inquired, namely. When shall be "the end of the world?" This phrase in their language did not mean that wreck of the physical creation which it signifies in ours. This may be plain from the circumstance of the Apostle saying, "now once in the end of the world hath Christ ap peared."[2] Here it is certain that "the end of the world" did not mean what the terms are commonly understood to signify; but the termination of a period in the history of the Church, or the consummation of the age. If, then, this fact be connected with what has been indicated respecting the temple, we shall at once perceive the relation of each point to the other. Thus the destruction of the temple referred to the termination of the internal life of the Church; and the end of the world to the consummation of those external things, by which the Church was represented among mankind. These, it seems to us, were the events involved in the disciples' inquiries, and to which the Lord's discourse is the recorded answer.
The chapter is generally considered as a double prophecy, which means that it treats of two events under one description. Thus that the literal form of it refers to a display of the Divine power, together with the judgment and destruction brought upon Jerusalem and Judea, when those parts were invaded by Titus, the Roman general, about forty years after the prediction was delivered; and, that "the end of the world "' denotes the termination of the Jewish economy. The fulfilment of the predictions, so far as they related to the calamities which befel the Jewish people, is considered to be complete. The history of the Jewish wars, by Josephus (who, though living near the time of the Lord's ministration in the world, does not appear to have known anything of His person or predictions), is generally viewed as an historical testimony to this fulfilment; and, indeed, to be an undesigned commentary in which the prophetical narrative is wonderfully illustrated.[3] Some have thought that the calamities endured by the Jews at that time included all that the prophecy intended, and thence infer "the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ to be a past event." This, however, is not a view of the subject commonly accepted, and, therefore, we shall not attempt its refutation; nor is it our purpose to dwell upon those points of Jewish history in which the prophecy may have received some external fulfilment. No doubt the Lord, in His answer to the disciples[4] inquiry, did refer to that terrible invasion by which the Jewish policy was subverted and overthrown; but we feel assured that that was not the primary object of His teaching in the discourse before us. This, indeed, is no uncommon idea respecting it; for, as it has been said, the narrative is popularly accepted as containing a description of two events, so similar in their general character as to admit of being described in the same words, and thus affording a very special instance of that which Biblical students have designated double prophecy. On this, however, we need not dwell, since it would divert attention, from our more serious point.
The view generally supposed to lie behind the literal, or historical, interpretation to which we have adverted is, that the Lord Jesus Christ will make a second personal advent into the natural world; that He will appear in the clouds with remarkable attendants and phenomena; that every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; that He will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other; judge and bless them; and that He will cut asunder the faithless, and appoint them their portion with the hypocrites, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is supposed that the material world will be the scene of those events, and the phrase "end of the world" is interpreted to mean the dissolution of the universe and all that it contains. Some, indeed, do not think this latter catastrophe will follow immediately after the other purposes of His advent are completed, because they suppose that the Lord will reign a thousand years upon the earth. These are called millenarians.[5] Christians in general have been so long accustomed to receive the above views as the correct interpretation of the Lord's teachings, that we shall not wonder if any should be startled when their accuracy is called in question. The influence of traditional opinions on theological subjects is not always favourable to the clearest sight or to the greatest freedom; and any difficulties surrounding them, which reason may discover, are summarily disposed of by the assertion that they are holy mysteries to be implicitly received in faith. But there is a class of minds rising up in all the Churches by which this course is felt to be unsatisfactory and distasteful. The common course is to assume, that "the Fathers" have done for us all the requisite thinking on those important subjects, and that our duty is simply to accept as a finality that on which they have decided. Thus prejudices have been formed, inquiry has been hindered, and progressive thought has been brought to a stand-still. With this we confess we have no sympathy. We do not think that teachers in past ages of the Church have extracted from the Word all that it is important for us to know; nor can we believe that the treasures of its spiritual instruction will ever be exhausted. The Word is God in His revelation; and, not only will the prospect of its wonderful contents become wider as the mind of society advances, but the mistakes of our predecessors concerning it will be relinquished as piety becomes enlightened.
It is very manifest that the last judgment and the second coming of the Lord are events in the Divine Providence, described in a figurative style. This is a characteristic of all prophecy. But the doctrines commonly held upon those subjects, as indicated above, are founded upon what is supposed to be the literal sense of the predictions. The natural world is contemplated as the scene of those marvellous occurrences. The Lord coming as the Son of man, is not distinguished from His coming as the Son of God; and His coming into the natural world is insisted upon as an event referred to in the narrative, notwithstanding the many instances recorded in the Scriptures (of which we shall speak hereafter) in which a Divine coming is predicted, and in the fulfilment of which no personal appearance was displayed. The wars, pestilences, famines, and earthquakes, which are spoken of as the direct precursors of such an advent, are interpreted to mean physical calamities; but of these there have been a great many instances during the history of the Christian Church, and yet none have been immediately followed by the expected coming. Surely these facts are calculated to suggest some doubts as to the soundness of such interpretations. False prophets have risen up and deceived many, iniquity has abounded, and the love of many has waxed cold, and still the expected advent has been delayed. May not, then, the calamities predicted refer more directly to the tribulations of men's spiritual life, and to their connection with the Church, than to their bodily sufferings and to their circumstances in the world? Such at least is our opinion.
It is written, that "immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken;"[6] but who, remembering the prophecy of Joel,[7] delivered in very similar language, with the apostle Peter's interpretation, and his application of it to the events of Pentecost, can for a moment regard the terms of this prophecy in any other than a figurative sense? The sun, moon, and stars referred to are not those natural lights which the terms commonly express, but those spiritual luminaries in the mind of the Church which refer to the Lord, to faith in Him, and knowledge concerning Him. "The Lord is a sun," and this sun is darkened when obscure doctrines prevail respecting Him. "The moon" is faith derived from Him; but this moon cannot give her light when that sun has ceased to shine. "The stars"' are spiritual knowledge of various kinds, and these are said to fall from heaven when they are separated from heavenly teaching. Hence those things which are "immediately" to follow the calamities related, are not to be understood of natural phenomena in the world, but of spiritual occurrences in the Church. This is a view of the prediction which we think is adapted to commend itself to the acceptance of all sober thought; while the literal fulfilment of it does not seem necessary to the purpose of the Divine coming, or possible in the nature of things. Of course, by this latter observation we do not mean to question the omnipotence of God, but as we believe the omnipotence of God to be an orderly activity of His wisdom, we cannot suppose that He has created the universe with so much beauty in its appearance, with so much harmony in its operations, and with so much use in its existence, for the purpose of ultimately destroying it. We believe He has created it to be preserved, and not to be ruined or destroyed.
Again, it is said that "all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven."[8] The original words rendered "of the earth" properly mean of the land; that is, in a strictly literal sense, the land of Judæa. This fact, then, confines the event and the observers of it to a small locality. And if the Jewish tribes are to be the only mourners and spectators of the occurrence, where is the universality of the judgment? and if the judgment is to be universal, why are terms employed in the description which imply a limit? Why should all be represented as mourning, when some are to hear the gracious invitation, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world"? If "the tribes" mentioned meant all mankind, and that they are to see the Son of man coming in the clouds, at what elevation must His coming be displayed in order that His advent may be seen? Would not the height required for seeing Him, only a few score miles in every direction, necessarily place Him beyond the reach of our present power of vision? Could a man be distinguished at a height of five miles from the earth? We know that upon the top of a mountain much less than that height, he cannot be seen, even as a spot or a line. But, supposing such difficulties to be overcome, how are those to see Him who reside at the antipodes of the place of His appearing? indeed, how are any to experience the sight who may dwell ninety degrees beyond the place of such an advent? The thing cannot be accomplished by any possibility that is known to men.
But we may be told that objections of this kind need not be pressed, because they are sufficiently answered by supposing that all men will be gathered together in the land; and thus within a locality capable of seeing Him. This, however, only suggests matter for new embarrassments. The "elect" are the only parties who are to be called "from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other;"[9] but orthodoxy requires that all mankind who have lived, up to the period of this advent, shall become the subjects of the great assize. This idea is thought to be stated in the Revelation, where it is written that "the dead, small and great, stand before God;" and that "they were judged every man according to their works."[10] And also in the following narrative, "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;" and to those on the left hand, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."[11] Now, supposing this to be a description of the judgment which is to take place upon all men who have existed since the commencement of the race, a very remarkable difficulty at once occurs. It has been calculated that the number of persons who have lived on this earth since the creation, has been 36,627,843,275,075,855, a number inconceivably great;[12] but, supposing each person to be allowed a single square yard of space on which to stand, there would not be room enough on the surface of the whole earth for such a multitude to assemble, and this difficulty is being increased every day; the total number of inhabitants is about 1,283 millions, and one soul passes into the spiritual world every second; this adds every day 87,761 persons for whom space has to be provided, but for which the surface of the habitable world is not sufficient. Those who interpret the narrative in such a way as to create this difficulty, may not have seen it, but there it is, and it is for them to deal with it. Some may try to evade this difficulty by supposing that the judgment will be executed only upon a certain number at once, for whom there may be room, and that this will go on, successively, until that process has been completed upon all: but, surely, they will not contend that this is a scriptural representation of the subject; hence we need not stop to investigate a notion the consequences of which entail indescribable labour upon the Almighty; we therefore pass on.
The Lord in speaking of His second coming said, "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." This certainly is a symbolical description of the event. It does not announce the personal coming of the Son of man, but the appearance of His sign; and what is that? It cannot mean the exhibition of some natural phenomena in the sky, for the sky is not the heaven about which the Scriptures treat; and every one who will carefully reflect upon the subject must see that what are called the "clouds of heaven" are not the vapours of the earth. If some extraordinary display in the atmosphere had been the sign referred to, surely the word "heaven," which is a term expressing a purely spiritual idea, would not have been employed to indicate the scene of it. The terms of God's Revelation have been selected with precision, and whatever literal meaning men may attach to them, it is plain that they were intended to be the exponents of spiritual thought. The objects of nature are commonly made use of to signify things belonging to spiritual life, but so far as we have observed, the converse of this has never been adopted; spiritual things are never made use of to signify natural phenomena.[13] It is, therefore, a mistake to suppose that the sign spoken of as appearing in heaven, is some remarkable display in the atmosphere of the earth.
In the following verse it is written, "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Here again it seems plain that the whole statement is figurative of what is intended to be a spiritual occurrence. Who does not see that this must be the character of a narrative which speaks of angels going forth "with a great sound of a trumpet"? Whether the angels here referred to be considered as a race of intelligent beings more exalted than men, or as the spirits of just men made perfect, it seems plain that, in either case, they are separated from all visible connection with the natural world. It is clear that by the trumpet, the great sound of which is to arouse the attention of mankind, cannot be meant that musical instrument which the word naturally suggests to our minds. Certainly both the instrument and its sound must have been employed as the symbols of some spiritual phenomena. What else than a Spiritual idea can be the character of a statement which speaks of the Lord gathering together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other? It is to be noticed, that they are to be gathered from the ends of heaven, and not from the ends of the earth; thereby clearly placing the scene of the transaction out of the natural world. Besides it is only the elect who are contemplated as recognising the angelic music; if, however, the occurrence is to take place among mankind on earth, how are the non-elect to be prevented from attending to the trumpet's voice? The hearing of sounds does not depend upon the virtues nor the vices of mankind: the bad as well as the good can hear, and both kinds at the Lord's coming are to be subject to the judgment. Conjecture may attempt to answer those inquiries; but it is with the literal interpretation of the terms of the narrative, and not with the glosses for defending it, with which we have now to do. Again, who, knowing anything about the great variety of points from which the wind blows, cannot see that neither the number nor the winds themselves can be naturally meant? Men do not live in the winds; the winds are not literally four; why then speak of gathering men from those sources if some other ideas were not intended to be conveyed by the terms? What those other ideas are we shall speak of in another place. Our purpose now is simply to show that the narrative is not to be understood in a literal sense, and that great embarrassments necessarily result from such an interpretation. Commentators tell us, that the "four winds" mean the four quarters of the globe, east, west, north, and south; and that the sentence, "from one end of heaven to the other," denotes from all parts of the earth. Thus the four winds are turned into so many geographical localities, and the heaven is changed into the earth! This, certainly, concedes the figurative character of the narrative, though it is not a very satisfactory explanation of the symbols. It converts the terms expressive of spiritual thought into natural ideas; and this, so far as we have observed, is not the scriptural method of conveying revelation to the world. On the contrary, the Apostle informs us that "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made."[14] Surely the natural "heaven" is employed in Scripture to signify a spiritual idea; and there can be no doubt that the natural "winds" are made use of for a similar purpose. In the original tongue both spirits and winds are expressed by the same word; thus, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit."[15]
But surely it cannot require much argument to convince those who will think in freedom upon the subject, that the description of the Lord's coming in the clouds of heaven, with angels and the sound of a trumpet, and gathering mankind from the four winds, is purely figurative of some spiritual events in connection with the Lord's Church and the souls of men. And this being so, the common opinion upon the subject requires a careful revision, because it is founded upon a merely natural interpretation of terms which plainly have a spiritual significance.
In the Revelation, the Lord is spoken of as coming to judgment upon a white horse, with eyes like a flame of fire, having many crowns upon His head, being clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and the armies of heaven following Him upon white horses.[16] But it is easy to see that this was never intended to be understood as a literal description of the Lord's advent to effect His judgment. The special surroundings of the narrative, the style, and the general structure of the whole book, may, indeed, in some measure account for this. We see no more reason for accepting the idea of the Lord's coming upon a natural cloud than we do for His coming upon a natural horse. Upon what reasonable ground can it be supposed that the angels who, in the one case, are spoken of as attending the Lord's advent, with a great sound of a trumpet, are to be literally thought of; and that the description of the armies of heaven, who, in the other case, are to attend His coming upon white horses, is not to be so understood? The questions cannot be satisfactorily replied to, and no distinctions can be drawn which are not of a purely arbitrary character. The fact is, that they are both symbolical narratives, and neither of them refers to events of which the natural world is to be the scene.
Although it is true that the Lord said "I will come again," the reflecting will see that this does not necessarily imply a personal coming, and a second sojourn amongst mankind in the world. By the work which He accomplished at His first advent. He can now come into the world with His benefits and blessings, in a way more influential than before. It must be admitted that He did for mankind at His first coming all that it was possible or necessary for Him to do by means of a personal appearing. If He did not, how can it be supposed that His work was completed? and, if it were completed, where is the necessity for another personal advent? He has come once in person, and He came also for judgment. This He has expressly told us; and, therefore, we conclude He must have accomplished all the work which came within the purpose of such an advent, and that another of the same kind is not to be expected. His promise to come again when troubles should set in upon the Church, when false Christs and false prophets would arise, and deceive, if it were possible, the very elect; when it would become doubtful whether faith could be found in the earth, refers, so far as men in the world are concerned, to His re-coming into their minds by opening the interior truths of His word for their perception and acceptance. Hence, in connection with those remarkable predictions, it is expressly written, that the Son of man shall be revealed.[17]
Besides, the Lord, in order to come personally into the world, took upon Himself a natural humanity. The humanity in which He was then seen by the common sight of His contemporaries, was taken from a human mother. That humanity, considered in itself, was not Divine, nor do we see how, by any subtleization or process of absorption, it could be taken up into the infinitude of the Divine nature. The Lord, during the whole period of His sojourn in the world, was engaged in putting off His natural humanity, and putting on another within it from Himself: and this is that Divine Humanity in which He now is, and in which He must ever be approachcd by those who love Him. It was this Divine Humanity which was revealed to the spiritual sight of the three disciples upon the Mount of Transfiguration, which was seen by His followers after His resurrection, and at the period of His ascension. This Divine Humanity is not adapted to the ordinary sight of men in the world, and none were permitted to behold it but those who had followed Him, and in some measure believed what He had taught. From the time of His resurrection, He was never seen by the natural eyes of any one; the reason being because He then no longer possessed a natural but a Divine Humanity. The work was finished for the doing of which the natural humanity was provided; and provision was then made for a new or more spiritual intercourse with men, through the assumption of a Humanity that is Divine; and, therefore, He cannot reappear in the world of men without a re-incarnation, or in some other way reassuming a natural humanity, about which nothing is written in the Word; consequeutly, any future manifestations which He may make will not be to the natural eyes, but to the spiritual experience of mankind. Hence it appears to us that the promise of His coming ought to be understood as a coming to the spirits, and not to the bodies, of mankind; a coming to the perceptions of their minds, rather than to the sight of their eyes; and thus as a coming into the mental world by some enlightened teachings of His Word, and not as a corporeal appearing upon the clouds of the sky.
But what were the views entertained by the Apostles upon this subject? To answer this question correctly, we must not forget that the truths of Christianity which they finally adopted were gradually communicated to them. It was here a little, and there a little, and as they were capable of accepting them. The justice of this remark is clearly evident. The Lord laid down the principle of it when He said unto them, "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now;"[18] and it is important to notice with what frequency they were at fault in rightly comprehending the teachings of their Divine Master. We are aware that this is delicate ground on which to step; but the opinions of men, not the facts of the case, have made it so. No one can carefully read what is written in the Word on this subject, without being satisfied with the truth of this remark. We will select a few instances, for the purpose of confirming it. The Lord frequently recognised the Apostles' imperfect apprehension of that which He had taught them. When He said unto them, "The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after that He is killed, He shall rise again the third day;" it is mmediately added, "They understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask Him."[19] Upon another occasion, when He treated of His passion more at large than He had previously done, we read that "they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken."[20] Surely these are striking evidences that the disciples were not at this time fully enlightened upon some of the most conspicuous subjects of their Master's history and teachings. The reason was because they were not able to bear it.
But it may be observed, we ought not to expect from them a complete understanding of those things, until they were gifted with that Spirit which was to guide them into all truth. This is a very proper conclusion. The promise of this gift is generally considered to have been fulfilled upon the day of Pentecost; when, no doubt, a more enlightening influence was poured out upon them than that which they had previously experienced. Before this, the Lord had breathed on them, and said unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."[21] But, notwithstanding those advantages, it is evident that they still continued in much obscurity upon many points of great spiritual interest; and it is important to remark that they do not state any principle or propound any doctrine that the Lord Jesus Christ had not Himself previously announced. They frequently repeat some of the general sentiments which He had delivered concerning His passion and some other subjects; but they do not present any explanations concerning them, to show that they understood them better then than at the time when it was said of them, "they understood none of these things." Moreover, we find some of the disciples disputing about the duty of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, and Peter was gifted with a vision as a means for terminating the strife.[22] Paul, who was born out of due time, and who tells us that he was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles,[23] declares that they saw through a glass darkly; that they knew but in part, and prophesied but in part, and that they looked forward to a period when that which was more perfect should come.[24] About these facts there can be no reasonable dispute; and who can doubt that the more perfect period contemplated was that of the second coming of the Lord? But how did they understand that event? Let us turn our attention to this inquiry.
It is well known that the disciples commonly interpreted the Lord's teachings respecting the future glory of His kingdom as referring to a reinstatement of the Jewish monarchy in its former glory. Several instances of such interpretation are recorded. The application of James and John to obtain specific appointments in His kingdom, afford a very conspicuous instance;[25] for the other ten were indignant at this attempt to forestall them in the dignities they were all expecting. But notwithstanding the explanation which the Lord gave upon the subject, we find that the old idea still adhered to them; for in the interview which they had with the Lord just previous to His ascension, and which they seem to have regarded as a fulfilment of the promise of His coming, they said unto Him, "Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" The reply is deserving of particular remembrance: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power."[26] This perfectly agrees with what the Lord had taught upon the same general subject on another occasion, namely, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."[27] Notwithstanding those forcible statements, we find instances in the epistles of the Apostles, in which they speak of the Lord's coming as an event near at hand, and to be expected in their own time.
Doubts, indeed, may be raised as to whether that is the actual meaning of the terms they use; it may be said that prophetical language frequently speaks of things distant as if they were present; and so it may; but it does not appear that the Apostles were prophesying in the case before us; it seems plain that they are stating their impressions concerning the Lord's declarations on the subject. At all events, the structure of their language and the effect of it upon those to whom it was originally addressed, show very clearly that they thonght the second coming was a phenomenon about to be realized in their own time. This is no special opinion of ours; it is a conclusion at which some of the most distinguished commentators have arrived.
It may, however, be useful to notice a few of the evidences on which the conclusion rests. Jesus plainly taught that certain calamities would prevail as a prelude to the event. The Apostle declares that it would not come except there came a falling away first.[28] It is also spoken of as the "last times" and "days." John writes, "Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."[29] Peter also said, "The end of all things is at hand;"[30] and that scoffers should come in the last days, saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation;" and then he goes on to say that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and exhorts the people to all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God.[31] James, likewise, contemplated the event as being near, for he said, "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord—for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Behold, the Judge standeth before the door."[32] Paul to the Philippians said, "The Lord is at hand;"[33] and to the Hebrews, "Exhort one another; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching."[34] To the Romans, also, he said, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand."[35] But his epistles to the Thessalonians are remarkable both for the frequency and strength of observations tending to show that he considered the Lord's coming as an event nigh at hand. "Ye," says he, "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven."[36] "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?"[37] "The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end He may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."[38] "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief;"[39] and yet the Lord expressly says that such would be the manner of His coming. "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."[40] "The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ."[41] To Timothy, also, Paul writes, "I give thee charge that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ."[42]
This array of passages, which could easily be extended, seems to show with great certainty that the impressions and expectations of the Apostles concerning the Lord's second coming were such as led them to speak of that event as about to occur within the limits of their own age. Indeed, Paul leaves no room for hesitation on this point, for he plainly says, "We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."[43] Dr. Doddridge tells us that this passage "hath been interpreted by many as an intimation that the Apostles expected to be found alive at the day of judgment; and on that interpretation, some have urged it as an instance of their entertaining, at least for a while, mistaken notions on that head, as if the day of the Lord were nearly appearing." Dr. Macknight informs us that Grotius, Locke, and others, have taken this view of the case. So also did Whiston. And surely that is the unforced meaning of the passage, notwithstanding the feeble arguments which have been employed for the purpose of refuting it. Some of the Thessalonians to whom it was addressed appear so to have understood it, and they ought to be credited with a fair interpretation. We find that they discontinued their ordinary employment, "working not at all,"[44] in expectation of the event. Dr. A. Clarke notices this circumstance as a reason for the Apostle's writing this second epistle. He remarks: "It appears that the person who carried the first epistic returned speedily to Corinth, and gave the Apostle a particular account of the state of the Thessalonian Church; and, among other things, informed him that many were in expectation of the speedy arrival of the day of judgment, and that they inferred from his epistle already sent, chap. iv. 15, 17, and v. 4, 6, that it was to take place while the Apostle and themselves should be yet alive. And it appears probable, from some parts of this epistle, that he was informed, also, that some, expecting this sudden appearance of the Lord Jesus, had given up their secular concerns as inconsistent with a due preparation for such an important and awful event; see chap. iii. 6—13. To correct such a misapprehension, St. Paul would feel himself constrained to write immediately, and this is a sufficient reason why these epistles should appear to have been written at so short a distance from each other."[45] There is then both critical and practical evidence to show that the language of the Apostles respecting the second coming of the Lord, very fairly admits of the interpretation that we have given it. There can be no reasonable doubt that they all so spoke of the event as to imply that they expected its occurrence within the period of their own lifetime in the world.
But is not such a view detrimental to the authority of the Apostles? Certainly not. The Lord had said to them, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man;" it was one of those many things which He had to say, but which they could not bear, and about which He had very plainly said unto them, "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons." To say then, that they were not clearly acquainted with the time and nature of the Lord's coming to judgment, is simply to repeat what the Lord Himself has said upon the subject. It was information not essential to give efficacy to the mission on which they were employed: they were the Apostles of the first advent; when, therefore, they spoke of the second, it could only have been from some general impression gathered from what the Lord Himself had declared upon the subject. This, indeed, is very strikingly illustrated in the case of Paul's language to the Thessalonians. He introduces the statement which we last considered with these remarkable terms: Now "this I say unto you by the word of the Lord:"[46] which means that this is not any new revelation upon the subject, but that which the Lord had spoken concerning it while He was in the world, and which had been recorded by the evangelists. The Master of the household had delivered the prediction, and the servants reproduced it from general recollection, with acknowledgment. The words, indeed, are not cited, but a paraphrase is given. The words of Matthew are, "The Son of man shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."[47] Those of the Apostle are, "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."[48] Here, as in the original prediction, the Lord's coming is declared, the attendant angels, the trumpet, and the clouds are plainly spoken of. The gathering together of the elect in the Lord's narrative, is put by the Apostle as "the dead in Christ rising first;" and the circumstance of the elect being gathered from the winds, in the former, is spoken of in the latter, as meeting the Lord im the air. It is, therefore, most plain that the Apostle, when writing to the Thessalonians, was not delivering to them original information on the point, but simply stating, in his own way, that which, he had been informed the Lord had said upon the subject. He was not present when the discourse was delivered, and every one knows how terms suffer and become changed by traditional handling: this being so, the figurative character of the Lord's description is not at all disturbed by the Apostle's paraphrase; and, consequently, any effort to construe it naturally, is to do violence to its proper signification, and to create in the imagination the idea of phenomena which appal reason, defy philosophy, and which never can be realized.
As, then, it is most true that the Lord's description of His second coming to judgment is given in purely figurative language, and as the opinions which are commonly entertained upon this subject are drawn from that description, interpreted in a merely literal sense, it follows that such interpreters have not perceived its true signification. What that is we shall endeavour to discuss and elucidate in another chapter. In the meantime we may observe, that in our view of the case the prediction was never designed to receive any literal fulfilment on the plane of our natural earth, and that the actual scene of the occurrence was to be the world of spirits. It will not, on this account be any less real, because we view the world of spirits, not as a mist or a vapour, but as a substantial and enduring reality. Still, although we believe that the second coming of the Lord and the execution of His judgment will take place there, we also believe that the evidence that they have actually occurred will in due time be made manifest in the world of men; and that it will be found in the great changes which will take place in men's thoughts and actions in regard to spiritual things, and especially in the provision of materials for securing the freedom and enlarging the intellect of the Church. At all events, we affectionately urge upon the reader a careful remembrance of the facts, arguments, criticisms, and suggestions which have now been adverted to. They have been put forth in no other spirit than that of the love of truth, and in the humble hope of exciting the attention of those who will look at the subjects with intelligence and candour.
- ↑ Matt. xxiv. 2, 3. Mark xiii. 3 informs us that the disciples present on the occasion were Peter, James, John, and Andrew.
- ↑ Heb, ix. 26.
- ↑ See Dr. A. Clarke's Commentary.
- ↑ Townley on the second advent.
- ↑ See Evans's Sketch.
- ↑ Matt. xxiv. 29.
- ↑ Joel ii. 28.
- ↑ Matt. xxiv. 30.
- ↑ Matt. xxiv. 31.
- ↑ Rev. xx. 12, 13.
- ↑ Matt. xxv. 31-34, 41.
- ↑ The Population of the Earth.—A professor of the University of Berlin has recently published the result of his researches as to the population of the earth, according to which Europe contains 272 millions; Asia, 720 millions; Africa, 89 millions; America, 200 millions; and Polynesia, 2 millions—making a grand total of 1,283 millions of inhabitants. As in places where deaths are accurately registered the annual mortality is, at least, one in forty, the number of deaths must be about 32 millions every year, which gives 87,761 per day, 3653 per hour, and 61 per minute, so that every second witnesses the extinction of one human life. Another calculator states that the number of persons who had lived on the earth since the creation, is 36,627,843,275,075,855.
3,097,600 square yards in a mile.
200,000,000 square miles on the surface of the earth.
619,520,000,000,000
36,627,834,275,075,85 5, persons who have lived.619,520,000,000,000 square yards for their occupation.
36,008,314,275,075,855 more persons than there is space for.
"For the benefit of those who discuss the subject of population, war, pestilence, famine, etc., it may be well to mention that the number of human beings at the end of the hundredth generation, commencing from a single pair, doubling in each generation (say in thirty years) and allowing for each man, woman, and child an average space of four feet in height, and one foot square, would form a vertical column having for its base the whole surface of the earth and sea spread out into a plain, and for its height 3674 times the sun's distance from the earth. The number of human beings thus piled one on the other would amount to 460,790,000,000,000."—Sir John Herschel, in the Fortnightly Review, 1865. These figures may appear somewhat discrepant from the argument, adopted in chapter vii., in which it is contended that inhabitants from this earth only, could never become numerically adequate to supply the purposes of infinite love; but it is not really so, for what is the greatest array of figures to that which is infinite?
- ↑ Moses was shown the pattern of the tabernacle in a vision on the mount (Exod. xxv. 40; Heb. viii. 5); but this was not the expression of one thing to signify another, but the actual pattern of the thing intended.
- ↑ Rom. i. 20.
- ↑ John iii. 8.
- ↑ Rev. xix. 11-14.
- ↑ Luke xvii. 30.
- ↑ John xvi. 12.
- ↑ Mark ix. 31, 32.
- ↑ Luke xviii. 34.
- ↑ John xx. 22.
- ↑ Acts x. 11; xi. 5.
- ↑ 2 Cor. xi. 5.
- ↑ 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 12.
- ↑ Mark x. 35-37.
- ↑ Acts i. 6, 7.
- ↑ Matt. xxiv. 36.
- ↑ 2 Thess. ii. 3.
- ↑ 1 John ii. 18.
- ↑ 1 Pet. iv. 7.
- ↑ 2 Pet. iii. 3, 4, 10, 12.
- ↑ Jas. v. 7—9.
- ↑ Phil. iv. 5.
- ↑ Heb. x. 25.
- ↑ Rom. xiii. 12.
- ↑ 1 Thess. i. 9, 10.
- ↑ 1 Thess. ii. 19.
- ↑ 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13.
- ↑ 1 Thess. v. 4.
- ↑ 1 Thess. v. 23.
- ↑ 2 Thess. iii. 5.
- ↑ 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14.
- ↑ 1 Thess. iv. 15.
- ↑ 2 Thess. iii. 11.
- ↑ Preface to the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians.
- ↑ 1 Thess. iv. 15.
- ↑ Matt. xxiv. 30, 31.
- ↑ 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.