Chapter XI: Part 11

When Israel first entered the wilderness, God entered into a _covenant_ with them (Ex. 19:3-8), in consequence of which he said to Moses, “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them,” (Ex. 25:8)—the pattern of which was shown Moses in the mount; and when completed “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34), and there “the Lord talked with Moses,” Ex. 33:9. Thus did God dwell among them while they were in a probationary state; but he indicated a more intimate connection with them, by promising, if they were obedient to his statutes in all things, that “I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people,” Lev. 26:11, 12. This promise was not fulfilled to the Jews, because of their sins; but Paul quotes it (2 Cor. 6:16), and applies it as a promise still to be made good to the church of Christ. Thus, the “Word” that “was God,” who was made flesh and tabernacled among us at his incarnation, is again to come and dwell with us in his human tabernacle, as at his first advent. Then will God enter into a new covenant with his people, as he has said: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more,” Jer. 31:31-34.

As the saints, before the resurrection of “the rest of the dead,” “reign with Christ 1000 years,” (20:4); it follows that during that period the tabernacle of God is with men, when he dwells among them, which is an additional evidence that “the restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21) is at the commencement of the millennium.

This is a tearless state—all tears being then wiped from every eye. Isaiah predicted, when “He will swallow up death in victory,” that “the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces: and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation,” Isa. 25:8, 9. The commencement of the tearless state is thus placed by Isaiah at the resurrection, and at the appearance of Christ; which is confirmed by Paul, in his inspired commentary on the same, who affirms that at the last trump, “when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory,” 1 Cor. 15:54. This state was also promised to the entire company “which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,” Rev. 7:14-17.

There shall then “be no more death”—for that “last enemy shall be destroyed” (1 Cor. 15:26), and there shall be nothing to “hurt nor destroy, in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” Death will have been swallowed up in victory, (Isa. 25:8)—the redeemed having been ransomed “from the power of the grave,” Hos. 13:14. “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection,” Luke 20:36.

After the destruction of death, there shall be “neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” This was to be when “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away,” Isa. 35:10. And one of these songs was to be: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,” Rev. 5:9,10.

Then, everything which distinguishes the present world from that, will have passed away; for all things will be created anew. These words, uttered by Him who is the “Alpha and Omega,” are no rhetorical flourishes, nor mere figures of speech, but contain the exact and literal truth, and are not to be set aside as unmeaning figures. For He who sat upon the throne has declared: “These words are true and faithful.” Faithful is He who hath promised, and he will surely make good his words—bestowing on the righteous the inheritance of all things; and on the wicked, their fearful doom.

The New Jerusalem.

“And there came to me one of the seven angels, who had the seven
bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying,
Come, I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he
carried me away in spirit to a vast and high mountain, and shewed
me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone,
like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; having a wall vast and
high, and having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and
names written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve
tribes of the sons of Israel. On the east, three gates; on the
north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west,
three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and
on them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And
he, who talked with me, had a golden measuring-reed to measure the
city, and its gates, and its wall. And the city lieth square, and
the length is as much as the breadth: and he measured the city
with the measuring-reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length, and
the breadth, and the height of it are equal. And he measured its
wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of
a man, that is, of the angel. And the structure of its wall was
jasper: and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. And the
foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind
of precious stone. The first foundation was a jasper; the second,
a sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the
fifth, a sardonyx; the sixth, a sardius; the seventh, a
chrysolite; the eighth, a beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a
chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was
of one pearl; and the wide street of the city was pure gold, like
transparent glass.” Rev. 21:9-21.

“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. In the midst of
its wide street, and on each side of the river, was the tree of
life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit monthly,
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there will be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the
Lamb will be in it; and his servants will serve him: and they will
see his face; and his name will be on their foreheads. And there
will be no night there; and they have no need of the light of a
lamp, nor of the light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them
light: and they will reign forever and ever.” Rev. 22:1-5.

Objects of great interest, of which only a passing glance was permitted in previous visions, are again and again presented, until their relative glory is sufficiently manifested. Thus the new earth was considered worthy of being the subject of a special vision; and now the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, although before referred to, is again made the subject of a special vision, under the symbol of a city, explained to be the bride.

The descent of the city, to harmonize with corresponding scriptures, has been shown to be at the commencement of the millennium, when those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb descend from the clouds of heaven, to receive “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you ... ready to be revealed in the last time,” 1 Pet. 4:5.

“The glory of the Lord,” which is the light of the city, is explained to be “the Lamb” (21:23), which “is the light thereof.” “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” “That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” John 1:4, 9. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9), so that as the Holy Shekineh illumined the pathway of ancient Israel, the nations of the redeemed will walk in the light of His glory.

The gates of the city correspond with the number of the tribes of Israel; and the “names of the apostles” are in its foundations. Thus Paul affirms that the “fellow citizens” of “the household of God” are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, Eph. 2:20.

The dimensions of the city are in length equal to the breadth—and 1500 miles in circumference, or 375 miles square. The length is in all parts equal; and so is the breadth, and the height,—the latter being 216 feet.

Its splendor is fully equal to all that inspiration has recorded respecting those on whom the Lord will have “everlasting kindness;” and to whom he saith: “O thou afflicted, tossed with the tempest, and not comforted! behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee,” Isa. 54:11-14. “Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation; I the Lord will hasten it in his time,” Isa. 60:11-22.

O scenes surpassing fable, and yet true, Scenes of accomplish’d bliss! which who can see, Though but in distant prospect, and not feel His soul refresh’d with foretaste of the joy? Rivers of gladness water all the Earth, And clothe all climes with beauty. The reproach Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field Laughs with abundance; and the land, once lean, Or fertile only in its own disgrace, Exults to see its thistly curse repeal’d. The various seasons woven into one, And that one season an eternal spring, The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence; For there is none to covet: all are full. The lion, and the libbard, and the bear, Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon Together, or all gambol in the shade Of the same grove, and drink one common stream. Antipathies are none. No foe to man Lurks in the serpent now: the mother sees, And smiles to see, her infant’s playful hand Stretch’d forth to dally with the crested worm, To stroke his azure neck, or to receive The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue. All creatures worship man, and all mankind One Lord, one Father. Error has no place; That creeping pestilence is driv’n away: The breath of Heav’n has chas’d it. In the heart No passion touches a discordant string, But all is harmony and love. Disease Is not: the pure and uncontaminate blood Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age. One song employs all nations; and all cry, “Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!” The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain-tops From distant mountains catch the flying joy; Till, nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round. Behold the measure of the promise fill’d! See Salem built, the labor of a God! Bright as a sun the sacred city shines: All kingdoms and all princes of the Earth Flock to that light; the glory of all lands Flows into her; unbounded is her joy, And endless her increase. Thy rams are there, Nebaioth, and the flocks of Kedar there: The looms of Ormus, and the mines of Ind, And Saba’s spicy groves, pay tribute there. Praise is in all her gates; upon her walls, And in her streets, and in her spacious courts, Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there Kneels with the native of the farthest west; And Æthiopia spreads abroad the hand, And worships. Her report has travel’d forth Into all lands. From ev’ry clime they come To see thy beauty, and to share thy joy, O Sion! an assembly such as Earth Saw never, such as Heav’n stoops down to see. Thus Heav’nward all things tend. For all were once Perfect, and all must be at length restor’d, So God has greatly purpos’d: who would else In his dishonor’d works himself endure Dishonor, and be wrong’d without redress. Haste then, and wheel away a shatter’d world, Ye slow-revolving seasons! we would see (A sight to which our eyes are strangers yet) A world that does not dread and hate his laws, And suffer for its crime; would learn how fair The creature is, that God pronounces good, How pleasant in itself what pleases him.—_Cowper._

Final Admonitions.

“And he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the
Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to
shew his servants the things, which must shortly take place. And
behold, I come quickly: happy is he, who keepeth the words of the
prophecy of this book. And I John saw and heard these things. And
when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet
of the angel who shewed me these things. And he saith to me, See
thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and one of thy brethren
the prophets, and one of those, who keep the words of this book:
worship God. And he saith to me, Seal not up the words of the
prophecy of this book: for the season is near. He, who is unjust,
let him be unjust still: and he, who is filthy, let him be filthy
still: and he, who is righteous, let him perform righteousness
still: and he, who is holy, let him be holy still. Behold, I come
quickly; and my reward is with me, to give each one as his work
shall be. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the end. Happy are those, who do his
commandments, that they may have the privilege of the tree of
life, and may enter through the gates into the city. For without
are the Sodomites, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the
murderers, and the idolaters, and whoever loveth and practiseth
falsehood. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify to you these
things in the congregations. I am the root and the offspring of
David, the bright morning-star. And the Spirit and the bride say,
Come! And let him, who heareth, say, Come! And let him, who
thirsteth, come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life
freely.

“I testify to every one, who heareth the words of the prophecy of
this book, If any one shall add to these things, God will add to
him the plagues written in this book: and if any one shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take
away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, and
from the things written in this book. He, who testifieth these
things, saith, Surely I come quickly. So be it, come, O Lord
Jesus!

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.” Rev.
22:6-21.

With the representation of the city, the symbols of the Apocalypse are terminated. What follows are the words of Christ. The import of these is guarded by his declaration that they are “true and faithful.” There is a reality and definiteness in them, which will not admit of their being added to, or taken from. So that any attempt to fritter away their meaning, will be followed by the curses written in the book, and a loss of the blessings therein promised.

The command not to seal this prophecy, is in contrast with the close of Daniel’s prophecy, which was “closed up and sealed till the time of the end,” Dan. 12:9. The Apocalypse, as its name imports, being an “unveiling” of the obscurities of Daniel, the seal from the former was removed—the time of the end, in that sense, being equivalent to the last days, or the gospel dispensation.

The time was “at hand,” when the great series of predicted events was to commence. As he that was unjust was to be unjust still, and he that was righteous was thus to remain, it follows that the visions therein recorded, continue down to the close of probation; and that the new earth is one of everlasting reward, wherein is to be fulfilled the promise: “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth,” Matt. 5:3.

In this connection the Saviour answers the question, which so perplexed the Pharisees: If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Matt. 22:45. Being the Root from whence David sprang, and in his humanity David’s offspring, he was both his Lord and son.

The invitation appended is one of the most endearing that it is possible to conceive of, and the threats are the most terrific. These are given for the admonition of all; and yet how many will turn away from the study of the book, which commences with a blessing on him “that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein,” (1:3); and closes with an invitation for all to come and “take of the water of life freely.” It is no mystical record, and there is nothing equivocal in its predictions. Neither is it to be fulfilled in the distant future; for “He which testifieth these things saith: Surely I come quickly.” And shall not every one who loves his Lord respond, “Even so; come, Lord Jesus.”

“The Church has waited long
Her absent Lord to see;
And still in loneliness she waits,
A friendless stranger she.
Age after age has gone,
Sun after sun has set,
And still, in weeds of widowhood,
She weeps, a mourner yet.”

“The whole creation groans, And waits to hear that voice That shall restore her comeliness, And make her wastes rejoice. Come, Lord, and wipe away The curse, the sin, the stain, And make this blighted world of ours Thine own fair world again. Come, then, Lord Jesus, come!”

_Rev. H. A. Bonar_, (_Eng._)

THE OLD EARTH.

Old Mother EARTH is wan and pale,
Her face is wrinkled sore;
Her locks are blanched, her heart is cold,
Her garments stiff with gore;
With furrowed brow and dim sad eyes,
With trembling steps and slow,
She marks the course that first she trod
Six thousand years ago!

The Earth is old, the Earth is cold,
She shivers and complains;
How many Winters fierce and chill
Have racked her limbs with pains!
Drear tempests, lightning, flood and flame
Have scarred her visage so,
That scarce we deem she shone so fair,
Six thousand years ago!

Yet comely was the youthful Earth,
And lightly tripped along
To music from a starry choir,
Whose sweet celestial song
Through Nature’s temple echoed wild,
And soft as streamlets flow,
Where sister spheres replied with her,
Six thousand years ago!

And many happy children there
Upon her breast reclined,
The young Earth smiled with aspect fair,
The heavens were bright and kind;
The azure cope above her head
In love seemed bending low,
O happy was the youthful Earth,
Six thousand years ago!

Alas! those children of the Earth
With hate began to burn,
And Murder stained her beauteous robe,
And bade the young Earth mourn.
And ages, heavy ages, still
Have bowed with gathering woe
The form of her whose life was joy,
Six thousand years ago!

Old Earth! drear Earth! thy tender heart
Bewails thy chosen ones;
Thou look’st upon the myriad graves
That hide their gathered bones;
For them, by day and night, thy tears
Unceasingly must flow;
Death chilled the fountain-head of life
Six thousand years ago!

Old Earth! old Earth! above thy head
The heavens are dark and chill,
The sun looks coldly on thee now,
The stars shine pale and still;
No more the heavenly symphonies
Through listening ether flow,
Which swelled upon creation’s ear,
Six thousand years ago!

Weep not in bitter grief, O Earth!
Weep not in hopelessness!
From out the heavens “a still small voice”
Whispers returning peace.
Thy tears are precious in the sight
Of ONE who marks their flow,
Who purposes of mercy formed,
Six thousand years ago!

Thy days of grief are numbered all,
Their sum will soon be told:
The joy of youth, the smile of God,
Shall bless thee as of old;
Shall shed a purer, holier light
Upon thy peaceful brow,
Than beamed upon thy morning hour
Six thousand years ago!

Thy chosen ones shall live again,
A countless, tearless throng,
To wake creation’s voice anew,
And swell the choral song.
Go, Earth! go wipe thy falling tears,
Forget thy heavy woe:
Hope died not with thy first-born sons,
Six thousand years ago!

KNICKERBOCKER.

FOOTNOTES

1 The first Advent was, according to the best-settled chronological
data, about four thousand one hundred and twenty years from
creation.

2 See margin of Whiting’s Testament. Lord has it, “when he can be
ready to sound.”

3 The constitutional language was, “By the authority of the senate,
and consent of the soldiers.”—_Gibbon_, vol. I., p. 44.

4 This is given on the authority of the London Quarterly Journal of
Prophecy, for 1852, p. 330, which states that the edict will be
found in the “Theodosian Code, XVII. to XX.”

5 “Ubi cogniti fuerint illius hæresis sectatores, ne receptaculum iis
quisquam in terra sua præbere præsumat: sed nec in venditione aut
emptione aliqua cum iis omnino commercium habeatur.”—_Hard._, vi.
ii. 1597.

6 The following philological law or canon of criticism is universally
admitted, and all dictionaries, grammars, and translations, are
formed in accordance with it:

“Every word not specially explained or defined in a particular
sense, by any standard writer of any particular age and country, is
to be taken and applied in the current or commonly received
signification of that country and age in which the writer lived and
wrote.”—_Campbell._

7 This possession by demons is similar to the mode by which pretended
spirits claim that they communicate through mediums. One of them,
purporting to be the spirit of a departed son of Adin Ballou, in
answer to the question, by his father, “Can you describe how you are
able to write through a medium?” says, “I feel as though I enter
into her for the time being, or as if my spirit entered into her. I
am disencumbered of my spiritual form, and take hers. More than one
spirit can enter the medium at once. The mediums all go into the
trance by means of several spirits entering the body at one
time.”—_Spiritual Telegraph, May 8, 1852._

8 The word is _demon_ or _demons_ in all the instances referred to.

9 Necromancy is derived from the Greek words _nekros_, dead, and
_mantis_, a diviner. The Greek, _Necromantia_, is defined: “The
revealing future events by communication with the dead; necromancy.”
And Nekromantis: “One who reveals future events by communication
with the dead; a necromancer.”

10 This is in the Syriac, “Until the fulness of the time of all
things.” Irenæus says, “Till the time of the exhibition or disposal
of all things;” and Œcumenius, “Till the time of all things does
come to an end;” and we have the suffrage of Thesychius and
Phavorinus, that “ἀποκατάστασις is τελειωσις, ‘the consummation’ of
a thing.”—_Whitby._