1841_William Miller Evidence from Scripture and History.pdf

EVIDENCE

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dCRIPTURE AND HISTORY

SECOND COMING OF CHRIST,

ABOUT

THE YEAR 1843;

EXHIBITED

IN A COURSE OF LECTURES.

BOSTON:

1 PUBLISHED BY MOSES A. DOW,

107 HANOVEB STREET.

1841.

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TO ALL THEM

WHO ARE LOOKING FOR THE BLESSED HOPE

AND GLORIOUS APPEARING OF TfIE

GREAT GOD, AND OUR SAVIOR

JESUS CHRIST AT HAND,

TlIIS WORK

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY TIIE EDITOR.

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INTRODUCTION.

In presenting these Lectures to the public, the writer w od J

complying with the solicitations of some of his friends, who have

requested that hi views on the Prophecies of Daniel and John

might be made public. The reader is therefore requested to give

the subject a careful and candid perusal, and compare every part

with the standard of Divine Tmth; for if the explanation the writer

has given to the scriptures under consideration should prove coneet,

the reader will readily perceive that it concern us all, and becoma

doubly important to us, because we live on the eve of one of tbe

most important evenu ever revealed to man by the wisdom of God

-the judgment of the great day

In order that the reader may have an understanding of my man-

ner of studying the Propheeies, by which I have come to the fol-

lowing result, I have thought proper to give some' of the rules of

interpretation which I have adopted to understand prophecy.

Prophetical acripture is very much of it communicated to us by

figures and highly and richly adorned metaphors ; by which I mean

that figuressuch as beasid, bird6, air or m'd, w&r,Jire, candlcsticb,

Lmp, mountains, islands, kc., are used to represent things proph-

esied of-such as kingdoms, warriors, principles, people, judg-

ments, churches, word of God, large and smallergovernmene. ltu

metaphorical also, showing some peculiar quality of the thing proph-

esied of, by the most prominent feature or quality of the figure used,

as beasts-if a h,

For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of tbe

world .sill learn righteotwaem!'

Therefore almost all the figurer

power and rule ; if a leopard, celerity ; if

bear, voracious j an 03, submissive ; aman, proud and independent.

Fire denotes justice and judgment in its figure ; in the metaphor,

denotes the purifying or eocsuming up the dross or wickedness ; M

pre has a cleansingquality, so will the justice or judgments of God.

have pursued the following method : - I find the word "beast"

used in a figwatim rase j I take my concordance, trace the word,

and in Daniel vii. 17, it is explained to mean kings or kingdoms."

Again, I come across the words "bird m fml," and in Isa. dvi

11, it is used, meaning a conqueror or yamor,- Cyms. Also, in

Ezekiel uxix. 4-9, denotes armies or conquerors. Again, the

words " a+ a wind," as used in Rev. ix. 2, and 16, 17, to under-

stand which I turn to Eph. ii. 2, and 4-14,

is used as a figure to denote the theories of worldly men or vain

philosophy. Aey

"to& or riwrs" are used as figures in

Rev. xvii. 15, 11 1s explained to mean "people or nations."

" Riders" of course mean the nation or people living on the river

meationed, as in Rev. xvi. 12. Fire " is often used in a figurative

sense ; explained in Num. xxi. 27-28, hut. hi. B, Psal. luviii

21, Heb. xii. 29, to mean justice and judgment.

As prophecy is a language somewhat direrent &om other parts

of Scripture, owing to its having been revealed in vision, and that

higbly figurative, yet God in his wisdom has a, interwoven the

several prophecies, that the events foretdld are not dl told by cne

prophet, and although they lived and pmphesied in direrent ages of

the world. yet they tell us the same rbign ; so you take away one,

and a link will be wanting. There is a general connection through

the whole ; like a well-regulated communify they all move in uni-

son, speaking tho same things, observing the same rules, so that a

'Bible reader may almost with propriety mppoae, let him read in

what prophecy he may, that ho is reading the same prophet, the

same author. This will appear evident to any one who will com-

pare scripture with eeriptum. For example, see Dan. xii. 1, Matt.

xxiv. 21, Isa. dvii. 8, Zeph. ii. 15, Rev. xviii. 7. There never was

a book written that has a better connection and harmony than the

Bible, and yet it haa he appearance of a great store-house full of

all the precious commodities heart could desire, thrown in promis-

cuously; therefore, the biblical student mnst select and bring to-

gether every part ofthe subject he wishto investigate, from every

part of tbe Bible j then let every word have ita own Scripture mean-

ing, every sentence its proper bearing-, and have no oontradiction,

&d yw theory will and must of necessity be comb Trath ~LI

4 INTSODUCTIOII.

ursd in prophecy have their literal and metaphorical meaning ; aa

bend denote, literally, a kingdom, so metaphorically good or bad,

as the case may be, to be understood by the subject in connection.

To understand the literal meaning of figures used in prophecy, I

and there learn that it

that in those epents, visions, and

prophecies which have had their fulfilment, every word and every

particular has had an exact and literal accomplishment, and that

no tno events have ever happened, that I can learn, which will ex-

acUy apply or fulfil the same prophecy. Take, for instance, rhe

prophecies concerning the birth, life, and crucilixion of our Savior,

and in his history .we find a literal fubent ; yet in the birth, life,

or death of any other individual it would be in vain to find a paral-

lel. Again, lake the prophecies which have been admitted, by

Protegtants at least, to apply to Cyrus, Alexander, Julius Caesar,

destmctionof Jerusalem, and the church of Rome, and I have never

been able to trace even a resembl8nce to the prophecies in question

in any historical events except the true ones. If this is true, may

we not suppose that the unfulfilled prophecies in their accomplish-

menla wiU be equally as evident and literal 1

There are two important points to which all prophecy seems to

centre, like a cluster of grapes upon its stem - the first and second

coming of Christ ; the first coming to proclaim rhe gospel, set up

hi kingdom, suffer for sinners, and bring in an everl~stingright-

eousness. His second coming, to which the ardent faith and pious

hope of the tried and tempted child of God centres, is for complete

redemption from sin, for the justification and glori6cation promised

to all those who look for his appearing, the destruction of the wicked

and mystical Babylon, the abomination of the whole earth.

His 61x1 comingw6s as a man, his human nature being only visible,

his Godbead known only in his miracles. His second coming will

be as God, his divine Godhead and power being most visible. He

fint, like tbe ".bt man 6f tbe earth, earthy ;" bia d

One deviating path, that grows brighter and brighter the mom it

is trodden j it needs no plausible arguments nor pompous dress lo

make it more bright, for the more naked and simple the fact, the

mnger the, truth appears.

Let it be noticed that God has revenled to his prophets the saw

events in divers figures and at diaerent times, as he has to Daniel

in the second, seventh, and ei&th chapters concerning the four

kingdoms j or to Peter, (see Acts I. 16 j) also Isaiah and Job.

Tben, to get the whole truth, all those visions or prophecies must

be concentrated and brought together, that have reference to the

subject wbich we wish to investigate; and when combined, let every

word and sentence have its proper bearing and force in the grand

whole, and the theory or system, as 1have before shown, must be

correct. I have likewise no~iced

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