sons: "this is the last time,"*"these last days," &c. And, for our more particular warning, the last season of the holy almanac is divided into subdivisions, as it were months. The first is of 450 years, during the unity of the fourth empire; the second is of 300 years, after the division of the Roman empire into ten kingdoms; the third is of 1260 years, during the usurpation of the power of the ten in the hands of one, diverse from the ten. The times of these subdivisions are not proportioned to each other, like so many months of thirty days each; but they are subdivisions of the sea7 son, made by the prophetic almanac: and every student of the Bible knows, while he reads, that we are living in the last month of the last season, and in the latter part of the month. It is all in the holy almanac, as plain as noon-day, that we live in the last time, toward the very close of the last season, and of the four seasons. And when the new year opens, it is not the old year renewed and repeated; but it is one eternal spring day. The season, which is to succeed this fourth season, is one of endless duration in glory, immortality, and eternal life. If the holy astronomer does not make this matter plain in the calendar, to every careful reader of his heavenly almanac, no words of mine can. Now the beast of the Apocalypse answers to the fourth season of the holy almanac, and its last month, or wicked horn, to the false prophet of the Apocalypse, which beast and prophet, season and month, terminate together, just as autumn and November terminate together, whether we read in Dan. vii. or in Rev. xix.; and when these two are passed away together, then comes the millennium of the Apocalypse, and also the fifth and endless monarchy of the prophet Daniel; and these two in their commencement perfectly synchronize, and that in Daniel never terminates. The millennium, then, belongs to the eternal state. 2. Synchronism of the Millennium with St. Paul's prophecy of the Lord's coming in the overthrow of the man of sin. St. Paul foretells the course of events from his day to the coming of the Lord in the end of time, by delineating the apostasy, the obstacle in the way of the revelation of the man of sin; the removal of that obstacle, and the display and reign of "that Wicked, whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming." By "that Wicked" we understand the false prophet, or wicked horn, and his destruction is in the lake with the beast, at the final coming of the Lord: as seen in Rev. xix. 20, and in Dan. vii. 7—11 and + Heb. i. 2. + 2 Thess. ii. * 1 John ii. 18. 23-27. "Daniel's wicked horn is St. Paul's man of sin, as the church from her infancy interpreted it."* 3. Synchronism of the Millennium with the seventh trumpet.-Mede. At the sound of the seventh trumpet, the days of the slain witnesses, and of the beast which arose and slew them, and of the nations of this world, all run out together; and the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, the time of the dead that they should be judged, and of the saints that they should receive their reward, small and great, comes gloriously in. The reign of Christ is often mentioned in the Apoca- ! lypse, of whose advent the choir of angels and presbyters around the throne are wont to sing in triumph over the fall of the beast and of Babylon.‡ This is the eternal state. 4. Synchronism of the New Jerusalem with the seventh trumpet.-Mede. The Lamb's marriage and kingdom follow close on the destruction of Babylon, with which the seventh trumpet begins to sound. The New Jerusalem is the bride, and therefore herself comes contemporary with the seventh trumpet, when God will "reward his servants the prophets, and the saints, and them that fear his name, small and great, and will destroy them that destroy the earth." This is the kingdom in which Christ will judge the quick and dead at his appearing. The new creation of Isaiah must be taken for the new creation of John; and these may well be supposed to synchronize with that "world to come" of Paul, and again with that of Peter, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ** What forbids? Common sense requires us to understand, that when this heaven and earth are folded up and changed, and the world to come is manifested by the word of God, the new heavens and earth and Jerusalem at once appear together: for to suppose heavens without an earth, or earth without heavens, or a city without an earth, is monstrous; and likewise to suppose a city without inhabitants, a city rich, compact, perfectly built and full of glory, beauty and joy, but empty of inhabitants, is monstrous. And hence the resurrection of the dead synchronizes to perfection with the coming of the Lord in the end of this world to make all things new, from heaven to earth and to Jerusalem, "the city of the great King." Therefore, all these events synchronize one with another, and with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, when "there should be time no longer, but the mystery of God should be finished,"++ * Mede, p. Rev. xix. 1-7. ** Isa. Ixv. 17. Rev. xxi. Heb. i. 12. ii. 5. 2 Pet. iii. 13. †† Rev. x. 6, 7. "and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged."* That which follows is the millennium, and it belongs to the eternal world. 5. Synchronism of the times of the Gentiles with the royal image. "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. — And then shall they see the Son of man coming with power and great glory. When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand."+ "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Jerusalem has been under the yoke of the Gentiles from the days of Daniel, and deliverance is promised in that kingdom of "life from the dead" which Christ will bring with him, and the God of heaven will set up and forever establish in the utter destruction of the king's image, and the kingdoms of time, by the stone taken from the mountain without hands,$ in Christ's second coming. A DISCURSION. The millennium is the hope of this world, and the vision of the world to come; the sabbath, not of time and sense, but the sabbath which remains for the holy people beyond the waters of Jordan. It is a period in which the resurrection children reign with Christ on heavenly thrones; is not the reign of the natural seed of Abraham in this world. Its period must embrace the descent of the New Jerusalem, the beloved city," for that is the name of the saints' camp, which the enemy surround; and it must embrace the perdition of the beast and false prophet, (which is not their mortal remains, but their true followers and supporters;) for when, in the end of the thousand years, Satan is cast into the lake of fire, he finds them already there, and so follows them to perdition. And these are not cut off until the Lord comes in the end of the world, as we have seen in our first and second synchronisms. Again, the strong man armed keeps his house, until a stronger than he comes, and seizes, binds, and confines him; then he spoils not only his goods, but his old rookery of sin and of death, at one blow, and slays his ministers; and in the new city, which he will bring with him, he will give all his saints a place, whose glory it is that they have not wor shipped the beast nor his image. Of course their reign is not contemporary with the beast, but subsequent to his destruction following the last trumpet, and all trumpets; the last vial, and all vials; the fall of Babylon and the battle of Armageddon, in which all flesh appears to be slain, and the wicked to be sent to his own place. In this connection, the millennium succeeds, when the kingdom which smote the royal image, and dashed its plastic metals to primitive dust, itself becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth: and in that mountain nothing shall be found to hurt or to destroy, saith the Lord.* It is in the destruction of Babylon, under the blast of the seventh trumpet, that the kingdom of this world is taken and overthrown by our Lord; and while the angelic host rejoice and sing, "Hallelujah; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth;" they add also, Let us rejoice and be glad, and give glory to him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride hath made herself ready.† The New Jerusalem is that bride. She is prepared before the binding of Satan, even when Babylon falls: unless Satan is bound before that event occurs. The beloved city is the Lamb's wife; the same which in Isaiah the Lord says he will rejoice in and exult over.‡ "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." "For the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married for as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy GOD rejoice over thee. Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."|| Delightful as this theme is, and full of rich interest, regard for your patience commands me to draw to a close; and I confess my obedience is the more cheerful, for that if what I have said does not carry conviction to your mind and joy to your heart, nothing I can say will. The particular millennium seen by John, Rev. xx., is neither of this world, nor in this world; but is in the resurrection of the dead; and so, likewise, is the general millennium, the seventh day of eternal rest, which remains for the holy people in the land of promise, which land God sware unto Abraham to give it forever to him, and to his seed, which is Christ. All peo Is. lxv. 25. † Rev. xix. 6. Is. lxv. 19. ple and ages and nations, from Adam in Eden to this era of Babylon the great, have cherished the gospel, and the hope of this future bliss, not for their posterity, but for themselves. Divine revelation has unfolded it to every successive age of mankind, as their own, if they would take hold of it by faith, to be enjoyed hereafter, in the restitution of all things, which are spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began. Upon no other theme have they all with united voice spoken in harmonious accents of joyful hope and praise; but upon this they have descanted with untiring repetitions, describing its peace and holiness, its perfect beauty and fertility and thrilling joys, and chief over all its everlasting King of glory, majesty, power, and authority. Of no other than this have all the prophets testified; and of this they have testified by promises, by visions, by dreams, by types, by allegories, by metaphors, by parables, by many symbols dark and obscure, and by the open gospel, proclaiming, with angel's voice, "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come;" and repeating in plain terms, "that the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Now it suffereth violence, and those who are resolved to have it, take it by force: but not so in the millennium; no force is able to take it, after the Son of man has once risen up and shut to the door. To knock then will be wholly in vain. To call and cry aloud will be of no avail: Depart, (from within, will be heard ;) I never knew you. To assault with all Gog's host and Satan's rage will not move one of the pearly gates on its golden hinges, to open for admission. to the impenitent, faithless, aspiring soul. Faith alone has the knowledge of the way, and the key of the gate; and faith is a grace peculiar to time; it belongs not to the millennium. Parallel of Ezekiel's Prophecy with the events of the Millennium. I should have done, but something is here not to be overlooked, in a subject unfathomable as the mystery of the millennium. No view yet taken of it explicates the doctrine from palpable objections to my limited understanding; however, I cheerfully submit to the holy word in this matter, as in the matter of the divine decrees, and of man's free agency. Great truths are often incapable of being embraced together in the same human view, being only seen in opposite positions; but not therefore annihilating, or counteracting one another. Both stand in their infinite proportions suited together perfectly, notwithstanding their contradiction appa * Rev. xiv. 7. |