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by Uriah Smith
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Title: The United States in the Light of Prophecy
Author: Uriah Smith
Release Date: May 16, 2004 [eBook #12364]
Language: English
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THE UNITED STATES IN THE LIGHT OF PROPHECY;
OR, AN EXPOSITION OF REV. 13:11-17.
BY URIAH SMITH.
1874
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men. REV. 13:13.
Preface.
If we read the signs of the times aright, events are soon to transpire
of such a nature as to preclude the necessity of any apology for the
publication of what is contained in the following pages. The numerous
rays of light now shining from the book of prophecy, seem to find their
focal point in our own times. The present age is illuminated in this
respect above all others. Here we find the most emphatic touches of the
prophetic pencil. The events to transpire, and the agents therein
concerned, are brought out in a vivid and startling light.
The question naturally arises, what part the United States has to act in
these scenes; for it must seem reasonable and probable that a nation
which has arisen so suddenly as ours, made such unparalleled progress,
and attained to such a pinnacle of greatness and power, must be a
subject of divine prophecy, or at least of divine providence.
To this question the following pages undertake to give a brief but
scriptural, and so a reasonable and conclusive answer; and to such only
as do not believe that God ever foretells the history of nations, or
that his providence ever works in their development and decline, can
the subject fail to be one of interest.
That this little treatise is exhaustive of the subject is not claimed;
but some facts are presented which are thought to be worthy of serious
consideration, and enough evidence, we trust, produced in favor of the
position taken to show the reader that the subject is not one of mere
theory, but of the highest practical importance; and so enough to
stimulate thought and lead to further inquiry.
If the position here taken be correct, this subject is to be one of
continually-increasing interest, and information respecting it is
necessary to an understanding of our duties and responsibilities in the
solemn and important times that are upon us. It is in this light that we
especially commend it to the serious consideration of the reader.
U.S.
BATTLE CREEK, Mich., June, 1874.
Contents
Chapter One.
Probabilities Considered, Pp. 9-19
Chapter Two.
A Chain Of Prophecy, 20-30
Chapter Three.
Location Of The Two-horned Beast, 31-40
Chapter Four.
Chronology Of The Two-horned Beast, 41-51
Chapter Five.
The United States Have Arisen In The Exact Manner In Which John
Saw The Two-horned Beast Coming Up, 52-69
Chapter Six.
Character Of The Government Represented By The Two-horned
Beast, 70-78
Chapter Seven.
The Dragon Voice, 79-88
Chapter Eight.
He Doeth Great Wonders, 89-100
Chapter Nine.
An Image To The Beast, 101-111
Chapter Ten.
The Mark Of The Beast, 112-132
Chapter Eleven.
The Beginning Of The End, 133-160
The United States In The Light Of Prophecy.
Chapter One.
Probabilities Considered.
The United States--what are they? Two hundred years ago, this question
could not have been answered; it could not even have been asked. Now it
can be answered by the dwellers in every quarter of the globe. Then a
few small settlements of earnest men, flying from the religious
intolerance of the Old World, dotted a narrow strip of coast line on our
New England border. Now a mighty nation, with a vast expanse of
territory stretching from ocean to ocean, and from regions almost arctic
on the north to regions equally torrid on the south, embracing more
square leagues of habitable land than Rome ruled over in its palmiest
days, here holds a position of independence and glory among the nations
of the earth.
And the sound of this new nation has gone into all the world. It has
reached the toiling millions of Europe; and they are swarming to our
shores to share its blessings. It has gone to the islands of the sea;
and they have sent their contributions. It has reached the Orient, and
opened as with a password the gates of nations long barred against
intercourse with other powers; and China and Japan, turning from their
beaten track of forty centuries, are looking with wonder at the prodigy
arising across the Pacific to the east of them, and catching some of the
impulse which this growing power is imparting to the nations of the
earth.
Less than one hundred years ago, with three millions of people, the
United States became an independent government. It has now a population
of thirty-eight and a half millions of people, and a territory of three
and a half millions of square miles. Russia alone exceeds this nation in
these particulars, having forty millions more of people, and four
millions more square miles of territory. Of all other nations on the
globe whose laws are framed by legislative bodies elected by the people,
Brazil, which has the largest territory, has not quite three millions of
square miles; and France, the most populous, has not probably,
considering her late reverses and misfortunes, a greater number of
inhabitants than our own country. So that in point of territory and
population combined, it will be seen that the United States now stand at
the head of the self-governing powers of the earth.
Occupying a position altogether unique, this government excites equally
the astonishment and admiration of all beholders. The main features of
its history are such as have had no parallel since the distinction of
nations existed among men.
1. No nation ever acquired so vast a territory in so quiet a manner.
2. No nation ever rose to such greatness by so peaceable means.
3. No nation ever advanced so rapidly in all that constitutes national
strength and capital.
4. No nation ever rose to such a pinnacle of power in a space of time so
incredibly short.
5. No nation in so limited a time has developed such unlimited
resources.
6. No nation has ever existed founded on principles of justice so pure
and undefiled.
7. No nation has ever existed in which the conscience of men have been
left so untrammeled and free.
8. In no nation and in no age of the world, have the arts and sciences
so flourished, so many improvements been made, and so great successes
been achieved, as in our own country during the last fifty years.
9. In no nation and in no age has the gospel found such freedom, and the
churches of Christ had such liberty to spread abroad their principles
and develop their strength.
10. No age of the world has seen such an immigration as that which is
now pouring into our borders from all lands the millions who have long
groaned under despotic governments, and who now turn to this broad
territory of freedom as the avenue of hope, the Utopia of the nations.
The most discerning minds have been intuitively impressed with the idea
of the future greatness and power of this government. In view of the
grand results developed and developing, the discovery of America by
Columbus, not four hundred years ago, is set down as the greatest event
of all secular history. The progress of empire to this land was long ago
expected.
Sir Thomas Brown, in 1682, predicted the growth of a power here, which
would rival the European kingdoms in strength and prowess.
In Burnaby's Travels through the middle settlements of North America, in
1759 and 1760, published in 1775, is expressed this sentiment:--
"An idea, strange as it is visionary, has entered into the minds of
the generality of mankind, that empire is traveling westward; and
every one is looking forward with eager and impatient expectation
to that destined moment when America is to give the law to the rest
of the world."
John Adams, Oct. 12, 1775, wrote:---
"Soon after the Reformation, a few people came over into this New
World for conscience' sake. Perhaps this apparently trivial
incident may transfer the great seat of empire to America."
On the day after the Declaration of Independence, he wrote:--
"Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated
in America, and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided
among men."
In 1776, Galiani, a Neapolitan, predicted the gradual decay of European
institutions, to renew themselves in America. In 1778, in reference to
the question as to which was to be the ruling power in the world, Europe
or America, he said:--
"I will wager in favor of America."
Adam Smith of Scotland, in 1776, predicted the transfer of empire to
America.
Governor Pownal, an English statesman, in 1780, while our Revolution was
in progress, predicted that this country would become independent, and
that a civilizing activity beyond what Europe could ever know, would
animate it; and that its commercial and naval power would be found in
every quarter of the globe. Again he said:--
"North America has advanced, and is every day advancing, to growth
of state, with a steady and continually accelerating motion, of
which there never has yet been any example in Europe."
David Hartley wrote from England in 1777:--
"At sea, which has hitherto been our prerogative element, they [the
United States] rise against us at a stupendous rate; and if we
cannot return to our old mutual hospitalities toward each other, a
very few years will show us a most formidable hostile marine,
ready to join hands with any of our enemies."
Count d'Aranda, one of the first of Spanish statesmen, in 1783 thus
wrote of this republic:--
"This Federal Republic is born a pygmy, so to speak. It required
the support and forces of two powers as great as Spain and France
in order to attain independence. A day will come when it will be a
giant, even a colossus formidable in these countries."[1]
[1] These quotations are from an article by Hon. Charles Sumner,
entitled, "Prophetic Voices about America," published in the _Atlantic
Monthly_ of September, 1807.
Of these prophecies, some are now wholly fulfilled, and the rest far on
the road to fulfillment. This infant of yesterday stands forth to-day a
giant, vigorous, active, and courageous, and accepts with dignity its
manifest destiny at the head of powers and civilizations.
Such, in brief, is the answer to the question proposed at the opening of
this chapter. Another question immediately follows: Does the prophetic
pen which has so fully delineated the rise and progress of all the other
great nations of the earth, pass this one by unnoticed? What are the
probabilities in this matter? As the student of prophecy, in common with
all mankind, looks with wonder upon the unparalleled rise and progress
of this nation, he cannot repress the conviction that the hand of
Providence has been at work in this quiet but mighty revolution. And
this conviction he shares in common with others.
Gov. Pownal, from whom a quotation has already been presented, speaking
of the establishment of this country as a free and sovereign power calls
it
"A revolution that has stronger marks of _divine interposition,_
superseding the ordinary course of human affairs than any other
event which this world has experienced."
De Tocqueville, a French writer, speaking of our separation from
England, says:--
"It might seem their folly, but was really their fate, or, rather,
the providence of God, who has doubtless a work for us to do, in
which the massive materiality of the English character would have
been too ponderous a dead weight upon our progress."
Geo. Alfred Townsend, speaking of the misfortunes that have attended the
other governments on this continent (New World and Old, p. 635), says:--
"The history of the United States was separated by a beneficent
Providence far from this wild and cruel history of the rest of the
continent."
Again he says:--
"This hemisphere was laid away for no one race."
If Providence has been thus conspicuously present in our history, we may
look for some mention of this government in that Book which records the
workings of Providence among mankind. On what conditions have other
nations found a place in the prophetic record? First, if they have acted
any prominent part in the world's history; and secondly, and above-all,
if they have had jurisdiction over, or maintained any relations with,
the people of God. And both these conditions are fulfilled in our
government. No nation has ever attracted more attention or excited more
profound wonder, or given promise of greater eminence or influence. And
certainly here, if anywhere on the globe, are to be found a strong array
of Christians, such as are the salt of the earth, and the light of the
world.
With these probabilities in our favor, let us now take a brief survey of
those symbols found in the word of God, which represent earthly
governments. These are found chiefly, if not entirely, in the books of
Daniel and Revelation. In Dan 2, a symbol is introduced in the form of a
great image. In Dan 7, we find a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a great
and terrible nondescript, which, after passing through a new and
remarkable phase, goes into the lake of fire. In Dan. 8, we have a ram,
a he goat, and a horn, little at first, but waxing exceeding great. In
Revelation 9, we have locusts like unto horses. In Rev. 12, we have a
great red dragon. In Rev. 13, we have a blasphemous leopard beast, and a
beast with two horns like a lamb. In Rev. 17, we have a scarlet-colored
beast, upon which a woman sits holding in her hand a golden cup full of
filthiness and abomination.
What governments and what powers are represented by all these? Do any
of them symbolize our own? Some of these certainly represent earthly
kingdoms; for so the prophecies themselves expressly inform us; and in
the application of nearly all of them there is quite a uniform agreement
among expositors. The four-parts of the great image of Dan. 2 represent
four kingdoms, Babylon, or Chaldea, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The
lion of the seventh chapter also represents Babylon; the bear,
Medo-Persia; the leopard, Grecia; and the great and-terrible beast,
Rome. The horn, with human eyes and mouth, which appears in the second
phase of this beast, represents the papacy, and covers its history down
to the time when it was temporarily overthrown by the French in 1798. In
Dan. 8, likewise, the ram represents Medo-Persia, the he goat, Grecia,
and the little horn, Rome. All these have a very clear and definite
application to the governments named; none of them thus far can have any
reference to the United States.
The symbols brought to view in Rev. 9, all are agreed in applying to the
Saracens and Turks. The dragon of Rev. 12, is the acknowledged symbol of
Pagan Rome. The leopard beast of Rev. 13 can be shown to be identical
with the eleventh horn of the fourth beast of Dan. 7, and hence to
symbolize the papacy. The scarlet beast and woman of Rev. 17, as
evidently apply also to Rome under papal rule, the symbols having
especial reference to the distinction between the civil power and the
ecclesiastical, the one being represented by the beast, the other by the
woman seated thereon.
There is one symbol left, and that is the two-horned beast of Rev. 13.
On this there is more difference of opinion; and before seeking for an
application, let us look at the ground covered by those already
examined. Babylon and Medo-Persia covered all the civilized portion of
Asia. Greece covered eastern Europe including Russia. Rome, with the ten
kingdoms into which it was divided, as represented by the ten toes of
the image, the ten horns of the fourth beast of Dan. 7, the ten horns of
the dragon of Rev. 12, and the ten horns of the leopard beast of Rev.
13, covered all Western Europe. In other words, all the civilized
portion of the eastern hemisphere is absorbed by the symbols already
examined, respecting the application of which there is scarcely any room
for doubt.
But there is a mighty nation in this western hemisphere, worthy, as we
have seen, of being mentioned in prophecy, which is not yet brought in;
and there is one symbol remaining, the application of which has not yet
been made. All the symbols but one are applied, and all the available
portions of the eastern hemisphere are covered by the applications. Of
all the symbols mentioned, one, the two-horned beast of Rev. 13, is
left; and of all the countries of the earth respecting which any reason
exists why they should be mentioned in prophecy, the United States alone
are left. Do the two-horned beast and the United States belong together?
If they do, then all the symbols find an application, and all the ground
is covered. If they do not, it follows, first, that the United States
are not represented in prophecy; and, secondly, that the two-horned
beast finds no government to which it can apply. But the first of these
suppositions is not probable; and the second is not possible.
Chapter Two.
A Chain Of Prophecy.
We now enter upon a more particular examination of the second symbol of
Rev. 13, with a view to determine with greater certainty its
application. What is said respecting this symbol, the beast with two
horns like a lamb, is not an isolated and independent prophecy, but is
connected with what precedes; and the symbol itself is but one of a
series. It is proper therefore to briefly examine the preceding symbols,
since if we are able to make a satisfactory application of them, it will
guide us in the interpretation of this.
The line of prophecy of which this forms a part commences with Rev. 12.
The book of Revelation is evidently not a consecutive prophecy of events
to transpire from the beginning to the close of the gospel dispensation,
but is composed of a series of prophetic lines, each taking up its own
class of events, and tracing them through from the days of the prophet
to the end of time. And when one line of prophecy is completed, another
is taken up. That a new series of prophetic events is introduced in Rev.
12, is evident; since in the preceding chapter a line of prophecy is
completed, bringing us down to the great day of God's wrath, the
judgment of the dead, and the eternal reward of those that fear God and
revere his name. No line of prophecy can go farther; and any events to
transpire in probation, subsequently mentioned, must of course belong to
a new series.
Commencing, then, with chapter 12, how far does this line of prophecy
extend? The first symbol introduced, which can be applied to an earthly
government, is the great red dragon. The second is the beast of Rev. 13,
which, having the body of a leopard, we shall call, for brevity's sake,
the leopard beast. To this beast the dragon gives his seat, power, and
great authority. This beast, then, is connected with the dragon, and
belongs to this line of prophecy. The third symbol is the two-horned
beast of Rev. 13. This beast exercises certain power in the presence of
the leopard beast, and causes the earth and them that dwell therein to
worship him. This beast, therefore, is connected with the leopard beast,
and hence belongs to the same line of prophecy. No conclusion is reached
in chapter 13, and hence the prophecy is not there completed. Going
forward into chapter 14, we find a company brought to view who are
redeemed from among men (which can mean nothing else than translation
from among the living at the second coming of Christ); and they sing a
song before the throne which none but themselves can learn. In chapter
15, we have a company presented before us who have gotten the victory
over the beast, his image, the mark, and the number of his name--the
very things brought to view in the concluding portion of Rev. 13. This
company also sing a song, even the song of Moses and the Lamb; and they
sing it while standing upon the sea of glass, as stated in verse 2.
Turning to chapter 4:6, we learn that this sea of glass is "before the
throne." The conclusion, therefore, follows that those who sing before
the throne, in chapter 14, are identical with those who sing on the sea
of glass (before the throne), in chapter 15, inasmuch as they stand in
the same place, and the song they both sing is the first glad song of
actual redemption. But the declarations found in chapter 15 show that
the company introduced in the opening of chapter 14 have been in direct
conflict with the powers brought to view in the closing verses of
chapter 13, and have gotten the victory over them. Being thus connected
with those powers, they form a part of the same line of prophecy. But
here this line of prophecy must end; for this company is spoken of as
redeemed; and no line of prophecy, as already noticed, can go beyond the
eternal state.
The line of prophecy in which the two-horned beast stands, is,
therefore, one which is very clearly defined: it commences with chapter
12, and ends with verse 5 of chapter 14. The student of prophecy finds
it one of vast importance; the humble child of God, one of transcendent
interest. It begins with the church, and ends with the church--the
church, at first in humility, trial, and distress; at last, in victory,
exaltation, and glory. This is the one object which ever appears the
same in all the scenes here described, and whose history is the leading
theme of the prophecy, from first to last. Trampled under the feet of
the three colossal persecuting powers here brought to view, the
followers of Christ for long ages bow their heads to the pitiless storm
of oppression and persecution; but the end repays them all; for John
beholds them at last, the storms all over, their conflicts all ended,
waving palm-branches of victory, and striking on golden harps a song of
everlasting triumph within the precincts of the heavenly land.
We turn then to the inquiry, What power is designated by the great red
dragon of chapter 12? The chapter first speaks of a woman clothed with
the sun, the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars. A woman is the symbol of the church; a lewd woman representing a
corrupt or apostate church, as in Eze. 23:2-4, &c., which refers to the
Jewish church in a state of backsliding, and in Rev. 17:3-6, 15, 18,
which refers to the apostate Romish church; and a virtuous woman
representing the true church, as in the verse under consideration. At
what period in her history could the church be properly represented as
here described? Ans. At the opening of the gospel dispensation, and at
no other time; for then the glory of this dispensation, like the light
of the sun, had just risen upon her; the former dispensation, which,
like the moon, shone with a borrowed light, had just passed and lay
beneath her feet. And twelve inspired apostles, like a crown of twelve
stars, graced the first organization of the gospel church. To this
period these representations can apply, but to no other. The prophet
antedates this period a little by referring to the time when the church
with longing expectation was awaiting the advent into this world of the
glorious Redeemer.
A man child here represented as the offspring of this woman, appears
upon the stage. This child was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,
and was caught up to God and his throne. Verse 5. These declarations are
true of our Lord Jesus Christ, but of no one else. See Ps. 2:7-9; Eph.
1:20, 21; Heb. 8:1; Rev. 3:21. There is therefore no mistaking the
time when the scenes here described took place. We mention these facts
for the purpose of identifying the power symbolized by the dragon; for
the dragon stood before the woman, to devour her child as soon as it
should be born. Who attempted the destruction of our Lord when he
appeared as a babe in Bethlehem? Herod. And who was Herod? A Roman
governor. Rome, which then ruled over all the earth, Luke 2:1, was the
responsible party in this transaction. Rome was the only power which at
this time could be symbolized in prophecy, as its dominion was
universal. It is not without good reason, therefore, that Pagan Rome is
considered among Protestant commentators to be the power indicated by
the great red dragon. And it may be a fact worth mentioning that during
the second, third, fourth, and fifth centuries of the Christian era,
next to the eagle, the dragon was the principal standard of the Roman
legions; and that dragon was painted red.
There is but one objection we need pause to answer before passing to
the'next symbol. Is not the dragon plainly called in verse 9, the devil,
and Satan? How then can it be applied to Pagan Rome? That the term
dragon is primarily applied to the devil, there seems to be no doubt;
but that it should be applied also to some of his chief agents, would
seem to be appropriate and unobjectionable. Now Rome being at this time
pagan, and the supreme empire of the world, was the great, if not almost
the sole, agent in the hands of the devil for carrying out his purposes.
Hence the application of that term to the Roman power.
The next symbol to engage our attention is the leopard beast of chapter
13, to which the dragon gives his seat, his power, and great authority.
It would be sufficient on this point to show to what power the dragon,
Pagan Rome, transferred its seat and gave its power. The seat of any
government is certainly its capital city. The city of Rome was the
dragon's seat. But in A.D. 330, Constantine transferred the seat of
empire from Rome to Constantinople; and Rome was given up to what? To
decay, desolation, and ruin? No; but to become far more celebrated than
it had ever before been, not as the seat of pagan emperors, but as the
city of St. Peter's successors, the seat of a spiritual hierarchy which
was not only to become more powerful than any secular prince, but
through the magic of its fatal sorcery was to exercise dominion over the
kings of the earth. Thus was Rome given to the papacy; and the decree of
Justinian, issued in 533, and carried into effect in 538, constituting
the pope the head of all the churches and the corrector of heretics, was
the investing of the papacy with that power and authority which the
prophet foresaw.
It is very evident, therefore, that this leopard beast is a symbol of
the papacy. But there are other considerations which prove this. This
beast has the body of a leopard, the mouth of a lion, and the feet of a
bear, which shows it to be some power which succeeded those three beasts
of Daniel's prophecy, and retained some of the characteristics of them
all; and that was Rome. But this is not the first, or pagan form of the
Roman government; for that is represented by the dragon; and this is the
form which succeeded that, which was the papal.
But what most clearly shows that this beast represents the papacy, is
its identity with the little horn of the fourth beast of Daniel 7,
which all Protestants agree in applying to the papal power.
1. Their chronology. The little horn arises after the great and terrible
beast, which represents Rome in its first or pagan form, is fully
developed even to the existence of the ten horns, or the division of the
Roman empire into ten parts. Dan. 7:24. The leopard beast succeeds the
dragon which also represents Rome in its pagan form. These powers appear
therefore upon the stage of action at the same time.
2. Their location. The little horn plucked up three horns to make way
for itself. The last of these, the Gothic horn, was plucked up when the
Goths were driven from Rome in 538, and the city was left in the hands
of the little horn, which has ever since held it as the seat of its
power. To the leopard beast also, the dragon gave its seat, the city of
Rome. They therefore occupy the same location.
3. Their character. The little horn is a blasphemous power; for it
speaks great words against the Most High. Dan. 7:25. The leopard beast
also is a blasphemous power; for it bears upon its head the name of
blasphemy; it has a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and he
opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his
tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven. Rev. 13:1, 5, 6.
4. Their work, The little horn by a long and heartless course of
oppression against the saints of the Most High, wears them out; and they
are given into his hand. Dan. 7:25. He makes war against them, and
prevails. Verse 21. The leopard beast also makes war upon the saints,
and overcomes them. Rev. 13:7.
5. The time of their continuance, Power was given to the little horn to
continue a "time and times, and the dividing of time." Dan. 7:25. A
time in Scripture phraseology is one year. Dan, 4:25. (The "seven
times" of Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation, Josephus informs us, were seven
years.) Times, that is two times, the least that can be expressed by the
plural, would be two years more; and the dividing of time, or half a
time, half a year; making in all, three years and a half. To the leopard
beast power was also given to continue forty-two months, which at twelve
months to the year, give us again just three years and a half. And this
being prophetic time, a day for a year (Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6), and
there being accord to Scripture reckoning thirty days to a month, or
three hundred and sixty days to a year (Gen, 7:11, 24; 8:4), we have
in each case twelve hundred and sixty years, for the continuance of the
little horn and the leopard beast.
6. Their overthrow. At the end of the time, times and a half, the
dominion of the little horn was to be taken away. Dan. 7:26. At the end
of the forty-two months, the same length of time, the leopard beast was
also to be slain, politically, with the sword, and go into captivity.
Rev. 13:3, 10.
These are points which prove not merely similarity, but identity. For
whenever two symbols, as in this instance, represent powers that come
upon the stage of action at the same time, occupy the same territory,
maintain the same character, do the same work, continue the same length
of time, and meet the same fate, those two symbols must represent one
and the same power. And in all these particulars there is, as we have
seen, the most exact co-incidence between the little horn of the fourth
beast of Dan. 7, and the leopard beast of Rev. 13; and all are fulfilled
by one power, and that is the papacy. The papacy succeeded to the pagan
form of the Roman empire. It has, ever since it was first established,
occupied the seat of the dragon, the city of Rome, building for itself
such a sanctuary, St, Peter's, as the world nowhere else beholds. It is
a blasphemous power, speaking the most presumptuous words it is possible
for mortal lips to utter against the Most High. It has worn out the
saints, the Religious Encyclopedia estimating that the lives of fifty
millions of Christians have been quenched in blood by its merciless
implements of torture. It has continued a time, times and a half, or
forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty years. Commencing in 538,
when the decree of Justinian in behalf of papal supremacy was first
made effectual by the overthrow of the Goths, the papacy enjoyed a
period of uninterrupted supremacy for just twelve hundred and sixty
years, when its power was temporarily overthrown, and its influence
permanently crippled, by the French in 1798.
Can any one doubt that the papacy is the power in question, and that the
interpretation of this symbol brings us down within seventy-six years of
our own time? We regard the exposition of the prophecy, thus far, as
clear beyond the possibility of refutation; and if this is so, our
future field of inquiry lies within a very narrow compass, as we shall
presently see.
Chapter Three.
Location Of The Two-horned Beast.
Following the leopard, or papal beast of Rev. 13, in consecutive order,
comes the two-horned beast, whose appearance the prophet delineates, and
whose work he describes, in the following language:--
Verse 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth,
and he had two horns like a lamb; and he spake as a dragon. 12. And
he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and
causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first
beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13. And he doeth great
wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth
in the sight of men, 14, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth
by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the
sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the eaith, that
they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a
sword, and did live. 15. And he had power to give life unto the
image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak,
and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast
should be killed. 16. And he causeth all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right
hand, or in their foreheads; 17; and that no man might buy or sell,
save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number
of his name.
These few verses, with an allusion to the same power under the name of
"the false prophet" in Rev. 16:13, and 19; 20, furnish all the
testimony we have respecting the two-horned beast; but brief as it is,
it gives sufficient data for a very certain application of the symbol in
question. As an example of the world of meaning which prophecy can
condense into a single word, the first verse of the foregoing quotation
may be instanced. Here, within a compass of twenty-five words, only four
of which are words of more than one syllable, six grand points are made,
which taken together are sufficient to determine accurately the
application of this symbol. The prophet says first, that it is "another
beast;" secondly, that when his attention was turned to it it was
"coming up;" thirdly, that it came up "out of the earth;" fourthly, that
it had "two horns;" fifthly, that these horns were like those of "a
lamb;" and sixthly, that it spoke, and by speaking revealed its true
character; for the voice was that of "a dragon."
The two-horned beast then is "another beast," in addition to, and
different from, the papal beast which the prophet had just had under
consideration; that is, it symbolizes a power separate and distinct from
that which is denoted by the preceding beast. This which John calls
"another beast" is certainly no part of the first beast; and the power
symbolized by it is likewise no part of that which is intended by that
beast. This is fatal to the claim of those who, to avoid the application
of this symbol to our own government, say that it denotes some phase of
the papacy; for in that case it would be a part of the preceding, or
leopard beast.
To avoid this difficulty, it is claimed that the two-horned beast
represents the religious or ecclesiastical, and the leopard beast the
civil, power of Rome under papal rule; that these symbols correspond to
the beast and woman in Rev. 17, the one representing the civil power,
the other the ecclesiastical. But this claim also falls to the ground
just as soon as it is shown that the leopard beast represents the
religious as well as the civil element of that power. And nothing is
easier than to show this.
Take the first symbol, the dragon. What does it represent? Rome. But
this is not enough; for Rome has presented two great phases to the
world, and the inquirer wants to know which one is intended by this
symbol. The answer then is, Pagan Rome; but just as soon as we add
"Pagan," we introduce a religious element; for paganism is one of the
mightiest systems of false religion ever devised by the arch-enemy of
truth. It was, then, the religious element in the empire that determined
what symbol should be used to represent it; and the dragon represented
Rome while under the control of a particular form of religion.
But the time comes when another symbol is introduced upon the scene--the
leopard beast arises out of the sea. What power is symbolized by this?
The answer is still, Rome. But the dragon symbolized Rome, and why not
let that symbol continue to represent it? Whoever attempts to answer
this question must say that it is because a change had taken place in
the power. What change? Two kinds of changes are conspicuous in the
history of Rome: changes in form of government, and a change in
religion. But this cannot denote any change in the form of government;
for the seven different forms of government that Rome consecutively
assumed are represented by the seven heads of the dragon, and the seven
heads of the leopard beast. The religious change must therefore be alone
denoted by this change of symbols. Paganism and Christianity coalesced,
and the mongrel production was the papacy; and this new religion, and
this alone, made a change in the symbol necessary. Every candid mind
must assent to this; and this assent is an admission of the utter
absurdity of trying to limit this symbol to the civil power alone. So
far from its representing the civil power alone, it is to the
ecclesiastical element that it owes its very existence.
That the leopard beast represents ecclesiastical as well as civil power
is further shown in the arguments already presented to prove that this
beast is identical with the little horn of Daniel's fourth beast, which
symbolizes the papacy in all its components parts and through all its
history. It is the leopard beast alone that is identical with this
little horn, not the leopard beast and the two-horned beast taken
together.
Again, Pagan Rome gave its seat to the papacy. The dragon gave his seat
to the leopard beast. If it takes both the leopard beast and the
two-horned beast to constitute the papacy, the prophet should have said
that the dragon gave his seat and power to these two beasts combined.
The fact that his transfer was to the leopard beast alone, is proof
positive that that beast alone symbolizes the papacy in its entirety.
When, therefore, John calls the two-horned beast "another beast," it is
certain that he does not mean any particular phase, or any part, of the
papal power.
It is claimed by others that the two-horned beast represents England; by
still others, France; and by some, Russia, &c. The first, among many
other fatal objections to all these applications, is, that the territory
occupied by all these powers is already appropriated by preceding
symbols. If the two-homed beast symbolized any of these, it would be a
part of other beasts instead of "another beast," separate and distinct
from all the rest. It is a law of symbols that each one occupies
territory peculiarly its own; that is, the territory which constituted
the original government, was no part of that which had been occupied by
the previous powers. Thus Medo-Persia rose on territory not occupied by
Babylon; and Medo-Persia and Babylon together covered all that portion
of Asia known to ancient civilization. The Grecian or Macedonian kingdom
arose to the west of them, occupying all Eastern Europe, so far as it
was then known to the ancients. Rome arose still to the west, in
territory unoccupied by Grecia. Rome was divided into ten kingdoms; but
though Rome conquered the world, we look for these divisions only to
that territory which had never been included in other kingdoms. We look
not to Eastern Europe; for that was included in the dominion of the
third beast: nor to Asia; for that constituted the empires of the first
and second beasts: but to Western Europe, which territory was unoccupied
till taken by Rome and its divisions.
The ten kingdoms which arose out of the old Roman Empire are enumerated
as follows by Machiavel, indorsed by Bp. Newton, Faber, and Dr. Hales:
1. The Huns. 2. The Ostrogoths. 3. The Visigoths. 4. The Franks. 5. The
Vandals. 6. The Suevi. 7. The Burgundians. 8. The Heruli. 9. The
Anglo-Saxons, and 10. The Lombards. These kingdoms have since been
known, says Scott, as the "ten kingdoms of the western empire," and they
are distinguishable at the present day, some of them even by their
modern names, as Hungary from the Huns, Lombardy, from the Lombards,
France from the Franks, and England from the Anglo-Saxons. These ten
kingdoms being denoted by the ten horns of the leopard beast, it is
evident that all the territory included in these ten kingdoms is to be
considered as belonging to that beast. England is one of these ten
kingdoms; France is another. If therefore we say that either of these is
the one represented by the two-horned beast, we make one of the horns of
the leopard beast constitute the two-horned beast. But this the prophecy
forbids; for while John sees the leopard beast fully developed, with his
horns all complete and distinct, he beholds the two-horned beast coming
up, and calls it "another beast." We are therefore to look for the
government which this beast symbolizes, in some country outside the
territory occupied by the four beasts and the ten horns already referred
to. But these, as we have seen, cover all the available portions of the
eastern continent.
Another consideration pointing to the locality of this power is drawn
from the fact that John saw it arising from the earth. If the sea from
which the leopard beast arose, Rev. 13:1, denotes peoples, nations, and
multitudes, Rev. 17:15, the earth would suggest, by contrast, a new and
previously-unoccupied territory.
Being thus excluded from the eastern continent, and impressed with the
idea of looking to territory not previously known to civilization, we
turn of necessity to the western hemisphere. And this is in full harmony
with the ideas already quoted, and more which might be presented, that
the progress of empire is with the sun around the earth from east to
west. Commencing in Asia, the cradle of the race, it would end on this
continent, which completes the circuit. Bishop Berkley, in his
celebrated poem on America, written more than one hundred years ago, in
the following forcible lines, pointed out the then future position of
America, and its connection with preceding empires.
"Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The four first acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama with the day;
Time's noblest offspring is the last."
By the "four first acts already past," the bishop had undoubted
reference to the four universal kingdoms of Daniel's prophecy. A fifth
great power, the noblest and the last, was, according to his poem, to
arise this side the Atlantic, and here close the drama of time, as the
day here ends its circuit.
To what part of the American continent shall we look for the power in
question? To the most powerful and prominent nation certainly. This is
so self-evident that we need not stop to pass in review the frozen
fragments of humanity on the north of us, nor the weak, superstitious,
semi-barbarous, revolutionary, and uninfluential kingdoms to the south
of us. No; we come to the United States, and here we are held. To this
nation the question of the location of the two-horned beast
undeviatingly leads us.
As an objection to this view, it may occur to some minds that the
two-horned beast exercises all the power of the first beast before him
(Greek [Greek: enopion], literally, before his eyes) and does wonders in
his sight; and how can the United States, separated by an ocean from
European kingdoms, hold such an intimate relation to them? We answer,
Space and time are annihilated by the telegraph. Through the Atlantic
cable (an enterprise which, by the way, owes its origin to the United
States), the lightnings are continually picturing to European beholders
the affairs of America. Any important event occurring here is described
the next hour in the journals of Europe. So far as the transmission of
an account of our proceedings to the people of the Old World is
concerned, it is as if America lay at the mouth of the English Channel.
And the eyes of all Europe are intently watching our movements. Says Mr,
Townsend (New World and Old, p. 583):--
"All the great peoples of Europe are curiously interested and
amazed in the rise of America, and their rulers at present compete
for our friendship. 'Europe,' said the prince Talleyrand, long ago,
'must have an eye on America, and take care not to offer any
pretext for recrimination or retaliation. America is growing every
day. She will become a colossal power, and the time will come when
(discoveries enabling her to communicate more easily with Europe)
she will want to say a word in our affairs, and have a hand in
them.'"
The time has come, and the discoveries have been made to which
Talleyrand referred. It is almost as easy now to communicate with Europe
as with our nearest town. By these things the attention of the world is
drawn still more strongly toward us; and thus whatever the United States
does, it is done in the sight, yes, even before the eyes, of all Europe.
Chapter Four.
Chronology Of The Two-horned Beast.
Having become satisfied where the power symbolized by the two-horned
beast must be located, we now inquire respecting the time when we may
look for its development. At what period in this world's history is the
rise of this power located in the prophecy? On this point, as on the
preceding, the foundation for the conclusions at which we must arrive,
is already laid in the facts elicted in reference to the preceding or
leopard beast. It was at the time when this beast went into captivity,
or was killed (politically) with the sword, verse 10, or (which we
suppose to be the same thing), had one of its heads wounded to death,
verse 3, that John saw the two-horned beast coming up. If the leopard
beast, as we have conclusively proved, signifies the papacy, and the
going into captivity met its fulfillment in the temporary overthrow of
the popedom by the French, in 1798, then we have the time definitely
specified, when we are to look for the rising of this power. The
expression, "coming up," must signify that the power to which it applies
was but newly organized, and was then just rising into prominence and
influence. The power represented by this symbol, must, then, be some
power which in 1798 stood in this position before the world.
That the leopard beast is a symbol of the papacy, there can be no
question; but some may want more evidence that the wounding of one of
its heads, or its going into captivity, was the overthrow of the papacy
in 1798. This can easily be given. A nation being represented by a wild
beast, the government of that nation, that by which it is controlled,
must as a very clear matter of course be considered as answering to the
head of the beast. The seven heads of this beast would therefore denote
seven different governments; but all the heads pertain to one beast, and
hence all these seven different forms of government pertain to one
empire. But only one form of government can exist in a nation at one
time; hence the seven heads must denote seven forms of government to
appear, not simultaneously, but successively. But these heads pertain
alike to the dragon and the leopard beast; from which this one
conclusion only can be drawn: that Rome, during its whole history,
embracing both its pagan and papal phases, would change its government
six times, presenting to the world seven different forms in all. And the
historian records just that number as pertaining to Rome. Rome was first
ruled by Kings; second, by Consuls; third, by Decemvirs; fourth, by
Dictators; fifth, by Triumvirs; sixth, by Emperors; and seventh, by
Popes.
John saw one of these heads wounded, as it were, to death. Which one?
Can we tell? Let it be noticed, first, that it is one of the heads of
the beast which is wounded to death, and not one of the heads of the
dragon; that is, it is some form of government which existed in Rome
after the change of symbols from the dragon to the leopard beast. We
then inquire, How many of the different forms of Roman government
belonged absolutely to the dragon, or existed in Rome while it
maintained its dragonic or pagan form? These same seven heads are again
presented to John in Rev. 17; and the angel there explains that they are
seven kings, or forms of government, verse 10; and he informs John that
five are fallen, and one is; that is, five of these forms of government
were already passed in John's day; and he was living under the sixth.
Under what form did John live? The imperial; it being the cruel decree
of the emperor Domitian which banished him to the isle of Patmos where
this vision was given. Kings, Consuls, Decemvirs, Dictators, and
Triumvirs, were all in the past in John's day. Emperors were then ruling
the Roman world; and the empire was still pagan. Six of these heads,
therefore, Kings, Consuls, Decemvirs, Dictators, Triumvirs, and Emperors
belonged to the dragon; for they all existed while Rome was pagan: and
it was no one of these that was wounded to death; for had it been, John
would have said, I saw one of the heads of the dragon wounded to death.
The wound was inflicted after the empire had so changed in respect to
its religion that it became necessary to represent it by the leopard
beast. But the beast had only seven heads, and if six of them pertain to
the dragon, only one remained to have an existence after this change in
the empire took place. After the Emperors, the sixth and last head that
existed in Rome in its dragonic form, came the Popes, the only head that
existed after the empire had nominally become Christian. The "Exarch of
Ravenna" existed so "short a space," Rev. 17:10, that it has no place in
the general enumeration of the heads of this power.
From these considerations, it is evident that the head which received
the mortal wound, was none other than the papal head. This conclusion
cannot be shaken. We have now only to inquire when the papal head was
wounded to death. It could not certainly be till after its full
development; but after this, the prophecy marked out for it an
uninterrupted rule of 1260 years from its establishment in 538, till the
revolution of 1798. Then the papacy was, for the time being, overthrown.
General Berthier, by order of the French Directory, moved against the
dominions of the pope in January, 1798. February 10, he effected an
entrance into the self styled eternal city, and, on the 15th of the same
month, proclaimed the establishment of the Roman republic. The pope,
after this deprivation of his authority, was conveyed to France as a
prisoner, and died at Valence, Aug. 29, 1799.
This would have been the end of the papacy, had this overthrow been made
permanent. The wound would have proved fatal had it not been healed.
But, though the wound was healed, the scar, so to speak, has ever since
remained. A new pope was elected in 1800, and the papacy was restored,
but only to a partial possession of its former privileges.
Let the reader look carefully at this event. It furnishes a complete
fulfillment of the prophecy; and it is the only event in all Roman
history which does this; for though the first six heads were each, in
turn; exterminated, or gave place to a succeeding head, of no one of
them could it be said that it received a deadly wound, and was afterward
healed. And as this overthrow of the papacy by the French military must
be the wounding of the head mentioned in Rev. 13:3, so, likewise, must
it be the going into captivity, and the killing with the sword,
mentioned in verse 10; for it is an event of the right nature to fulfill
the prophecy, and one which occurred at the right time; namely, at the
end of the time, times, and a half, the forty-two months, or the 1260
years; and no other event can be found answering to the record in these
respects. We are not left, therefore, with any discretionary power in
the application of this prophecy; for God, by his providence, has
marked the era of its accomplishment in as plain a manner as if he had
proclaimed with an audible voice, Behold here the accomplishment of my
prophetic word!
Thus clearly is the exact time indicated in the prophecy when we are to
look far the rise of the two-horned beast; for John, as soon as he
beholds the captivity of the first or leopard beast, says: "And I beheld
another beast coming up." And his use of the present participle,
"coming" up, clearly connects this view with the preceding verse, and
shows it to be an event transpiring simultaneously with the going into
captivity of the previous beast. If he had said, "And I had seen another
beast coming up," it would prove that when he saw it, it was coming up,
but that the time when he beheld it was indefinitely in the past. If he
had said, "And I beheld another beast which had come up," it would prove
that although his attention was called to it at the time when the first
beast went into captivity, yet its rise was still indefinitely in the
past. But when he says, "I beheld another beast _coming up_" it proves
that when he turned his eyes from the captivity of the first beast, he
saw another power right then in the process of rapid development among
the nations of the earth. So, then, about the year 1798, the star of
that power which is symbolized by the two-horned beast must be seen
rising to the zenith of its glory. In view of these considerations, it
is useless to speak of this power as having arisen ages in the past. To
attempt such an application is to show one's self utterly reckless in
regard to the plainest statements of inspiration.
Again, the work of the two-horned beast is plainly located, by verse 12,
this side the captivity of the first beast. It is there stated, in
direct terms, that the two-horned beast causes "the earth and them which
dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was
healed." But worship could not be rendered to a beast whose deadly wound
was healed, till after that healing was accomplished. This brings the
worship unmistakably within the present century.
Says Eld. J. Litch (Restitution, p. 131):--
"The two-horned beast is represented as a power existing and
performing his part after the death and revival of the first
beast."
Mr. Wesley, in his notes on Rev. 14, says of the two-horned beast:--
"He has not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to
appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast."
We find three additional declarations in the book of Revelation which
prove, in a general sense, that the two-horned beast performs his work
with that generation of men who are to behold the closing up of all
earthly scenes, and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and
these will complete the argument on this point.
The first is the message of the third angel, brought to view in the
14th of Revelation. It is not our purpose to enter into an exposition of
the three messages of that chapter. We call the attention of the reader
to only one fact, which must be apparent to all; and that is, that the
third of these messages is the last warning of danger, and the last
offer of mercy, before the close of human probation; for the event which
immediately follows is the appearance of one like the Son of man on a
white cloud, coming to reap the harvest of the earth, verse 14, which
can represent nothing else but the second advent of the Lord from
Heaven. Whatever views, therefore, a person may take of the first and
second messages, and at whatever time he may apply them, it is very
certain that the third and last one covers the closing hours of time,
and reaches down to the second coming of Christ. And what is the burden
of this message? It is a denunciation of the unmingled wrath of God
against these who worship the beast and his image. But this worship of
the beast and his image is the very work which the two-horned beast
endeavors to enforce upon the people. The third message, then, is a
warning against the work of the two-horned beast. And as there would be
no propriety in supposing this warning to be given after that work was
performed; as it could appropriately be given only when the two-horned
beast was about to enforce, and while he was endeavoring to enforce,
that worship; and as the second coming of Christ immediately succeeds
the proclamation of this message, it follows that the duties enjoined by
this message, and the decrees enforced by the two-horned beast,
constitute the last test to be brought to bear upon the world; and hence
the two-homed beast performs his work, not ages in the past, but among
the last generation of men.
The second passage, which shows that the work of the two-horned beast is
performed just before the close of time, is found in Rev. 15:2, which we
have shown to refer to the same company spoken of in chapter 14:1-5.
Here is a company who have gotten the victory over the beast and his
image and the mark and the number of his name; in other words, they have
been in direct conflict with the two-horned beast, which endeavors to
enforce the worship of the beast and the reception of his mark. And
these are "redeemed from among men" (14:4), or are translated from among
the living at the second coming of Christ. 1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess.
4:16,17. This again shows conclusively that it is the last generation
which witnesses the work of this power.
The third passage is Rev. 19:20, which speaks of the two-horned beast
under the title of the false prophet, and mentions a point not given in
Rev. 13, namely, the doom he is to meet. In the battle of the great day,
which takes place in connection with the second coming of Christ, verses
11-19, the false prophet, or two-horned beast, is cast alive into a lake
of fire burning with brimstone; and the word "alive" signifies that
this power will be at that time a living power performing its part in
all its strength and vigor. This power is not to pass off the stage of
action, and be succeeded by another; but is to be a ruling power till
destroyed by the King of kings and Lord of lords, when he comes to dash
the nations in pieces with a rod of iron.
The sum of the argument, then, on this matter of chronology, is this:
That the two-horned beast does not come into the field of this vision
previous to the year 1798; that it performs its work while the last
generation of men is living on the earth; and that it comes up to the
battle of the great day a living power in the full vigor of its
strength.
As it was shown in the argument on the location of the two-horned beast
that we were limited in our application to this western continent, so we
are limited still further by its chronology; for it must not only be
some power which arises this side of the Atlantic, but one which is seen
coming up here at a _particular time_. Taking our stand, then, in the
year 1798, the time indicated in the prophecy, we invite the careful
attention of the reader to this question: What independent power in
either North or South America was at that time "coming up" in a manner
to answer to the conditions of the prophecy? All that part of North
America lying to the north of us was under the dominion of Russia and
Great Britain. Mexico, to the south-west, was a Spanish colony. Passing
to South America, Brazil belonged to Portugal, and most of the other
South American States were under Spanish control. In short, there was
not then a single civilized, independent government in the New World,
except our own United States. No other nation, therefore, can be the one
represented in the prophecy; but this one so far answers to it most
accurately. It has always taken the lead of all European settlements in
this hemisphere. It was "coming up" at the exact time indicated in the
prophecy. Like a lofty monument in a field all its own, stand the United
States on this continent, grand, unique, unexplainable. So far as God's
providence works among the nations for the accomplishment of his
purposes, it is visible in the development of this country as an agent
to fulfill his word. On these two vital points of location and
chronology the arguments which show that our country is the one
represented by the symbol of the two-horned beast are absolutely
conclusive.
Chapter Five.
The United States Have Arisen In The Exact Manner In Which John Saw The
Two-horned Beast Coming Up.
The manner in which the two-horned beast was seen coming up shows,
equally with its location and its chronology, that it is a symbol of
these United States. John says he saw the beast coming up "out of the
earth." And this expression must have been designedly used to point out
the contrast between the rise of this beast, and that of other national
prophetic symbols. The four beasts of Daniel 7, and the leopard beast of
Rev. 13, all arose out of the sea. Says Daniel, The four winds of Heaven
strove upon the great sea, and four beasts came up from the sea. The sea
denotes peoples, nations, and tongues, Rev. 17:15; and the winds denote
political strife and commotion. Jer. 35:32, 33. There was then, in this
scene, the dire commotion of nature's mightiest elements, the wind
above, the waters benneath, the fury of the gale, the roaring and
dashing of the waves, and the tumult of the raging storm; and in the
midst of this war of elements, as if aroused from the depths of the sea
by the fearful commotion, these beasts one after another appeared. In
other words, the governments of which these beasts were symbols owed
their origin to movements among the people which would be well
represented by the sea lashed into foam by the sweeping gale; they arose
by the upheavals of revolution, and through the strife of war.
But when the prophet beholds the rising of the two-horned beast, how
different the scene! No political tempest sweeps the horizon, no armies
clash together like the waves of the sea. He does not behold the
troubled and restless surface of the waters, but a calm and immovable
expanse of earth. And out of this earth, like a plant growing up in a
quiet and sheltered spot, he sees this beast, bearing on his head the
horns of a lamb, those eloquent symbols of youth and innocence, daily
augmenting in bodily proportions, and daily increasing in physical
strength.
Some may here point to the war of the Revolution as an event which
destroys the force of this application; but this furnishes no objection;
for 1. That war was at least fifteen years in the past when the
two-horned beast was introduced into the field of this vision; and 2.
The war of the Revolution was not a war of conquest. It was not waged to
overthrow any other kingdom, and build this government on its ruins, but
only to defend the just rights of the American people. An act of
resistance against continual attempts of injustice and tyranny, cannot
certainly be placed in the same catalogue with wars of aggression and
conquest. The same may be said of the war of 1812. Hence, these
conflicts do not even partake of the nature of objections to the
application here set forth.
The word which John uses to describe the manner in which this beast
comes up is very expressive. It is [Greek: anabainon] (_anabainon_), one
of the prominent definitions of which is, "to grow or spring up as a
plant." And it is a remarkable fact that this very figure has been
chosen by political writers, as the one which best illustrates the rise
of our government. Mr. G.A. Townsend, in his work entitled, "The New
World Compared with the Old," p. 462, says:--
"Since America was discovered, she has been a subject of
revolutionary thought in Europe. The mystery of _her coming forth
from vacancy_, the marvel of her wealth in gold and silver, the
spectacle of her captives led through European capitals, filled the
minds of men with unrest: and unrest is the first stage of
revolution."
On p. 635, he further says:--
"In this web of islands, the West Indies, began the life of both
[North and South] Americas. There Columbus saw land, there Spain
began her baneful and brilliant Western Empire; thence Cortez
departed for Mexico, De Soto for the Mississippi, Balboa for the
Pacific, and Pizarro for Peru. The history of the United States was
separated by a beneficient Providence far from this wild and cruel
history of the rest of the continent, and _like a silent seed, we
grew into empire_; while empire itself, beginning in the South, was
swept by so interminable a hurricane that what of its history we
can ascertain is read by the very lightnings that devastated it.
The growth of English America may be likened to a series of lyrics
sung by separate singers, which, coalescing, at last make a
vigorous chorus, and this, attracting many from afar, swells and is
prolonged, until presently it assumes the dignity and proportions
of epic song."
A writer in the _Dublin Nation_ about the year 1850 spoke of the United
States as a wonderful empire which was "_emerging_," and "_amid the
silence of the earth_ daily adding to its power and pride."
In Martyn's "History of the Great Reformation," Vol. iv, p. 238, is an
extract from an oration of Edward Everett, on the English exiles who
founded this government, in which he says:--
"Did they look for a retired spot, inoffensive from its obscurity,
safe in its remoteness from the haunts of despots, where the little
church of Leyden might enjoy freedom of conscience? Behold the
mighty regions over which in _peaceful conquest--victoria sine
clade_--they have borne the banners of the cross."
We now ask the reader to look at these expressions side by side: "Coming
up out of the earth," "coming forth from vacancy," "emerging amid the
silence of the earth," "like a silent seed we grew into empire," "mighty
regions" secured by "peaceful conquest." The first is from the prophet,
stating what would be when the two-horned beast should arise; the others
are from political writers, telling what has been in the history of our
own government. Can any one fail to see that the last four are exactly
synonymous with the first, and that they record a complete
accomplishment of the prediction? And what is not a little remarkable,
those who have thus recorded the fulfillment have, without any reference
to prophecy, used the very figure which the prophet employed. These men,
therefore, being judges--men of large and cultivated minds, and whose
powers of discernment all will acknowledge to be sufficiently clear--it
is certain that the particular manner in which the United States have
arisen, answers most strikingly to the development of the symbol under
consideration.
We now extend the inquiry a step further: Have the United States "come
up" in a manner to fulfill the prophecy? Has their progress been
sufficiently great and sufficiently rapid to corresponds to that visible
and perceptible growth which John saw in the two-horned beast?
Every person whose reading is ordinarily extensive, has something of an
idea of what the United States are to-day; he likewise has an idea, so
far as words can convey it to his mind, of what they were at the
commencement of their history. The only object, then, in presenting
statistics and testimony on this point, is to show that our rapid growth
has struck mankind with the wonder of a constant miracle.
Said Emile de Girardin, in _La Liberte_ (1868):--
"The population of America, not thinned by any conscription,
multiplies with prodigious rapidity, and the day may before [long
be] seen, when they will number sixty or eighty millions of souls.
This _parvenu_ [one recently risen to notice] is aware of his
importance and destiny. Hear him proudly exclaim, 'America for
Americans!' See him promising his alliance to Russia; and we see
that power which well knows what force is, grasp the hand of this
giant of yesterday.
"In view of his _unparalleled progress and combination_, what are
the little toys with which we vex ourselves in Europe? What is this
needle gun we are anxious to get from Prussia, that we may beat her
next year with it? Had we not better take from America the
principle of liberty she embodies, out of which have come her
citizen pride, her gigantic industry, and her formidable loyalty to
the destinies of her republican land?"
The _Dublin_ (Ireland) _Nation_, already quoted, says:--
"In the east, there is arising a colossal centaur called the
Russian Empire. With a civilized head and front, it has the sinews
of a huge barbaric body. There one man's brain moves 70,000,000.
There all the traditions of the people are of aggression and
conquest in the west. There but two ranks are
distinguishable--serfs and soldiers. There the map of the future
includes Constantinople and Vienna as outposts of St. Petersburg.
"In the west, an opposing and still more wonderful American Empire
is emerging. We islanders have no conception of the extraordinary
events which amid the silence of the earth are daily adding to the
power and pride of this gigantic nation. Within three years,
territories more extensive than these three kingdoms [Great
Britain, Ireland, and Scotland] France and Italy put together,
have been quietly, and in almost 'matter of course' fashion,
annexed to the Union.
"Within seventy years, seventeen new sovereignties, the smallest of
them larger than Great Britain, have peaceably united themselves to
the Federation. No standing army was raised, no national debt sunk,
no great exertion was made, but there they are. And the last mail
brings news of three more great States about to be joined to the
thirty: Minnesota in the north-west, Deseret in the south-west, and
California on the shores of the Pacific. These three States will
cover an area equal to one-half the European continent."
Mitchel, in his School Geography (4th revised edition), p. 101, speaking
of the United States, says:--
"When it is considered that one hundred years ago the inhabitants
numbered but 1,000,000, it presents the most striking instance of
national growth to be found in the history of mankind."
Let us reduce these general statements to the more tangible form of
facts and figures. A short time before the great Reformation in the days
of Martin Luther, not four hundred years ago, this Western Continent was
discovered. The Reformation brought out a large class of persons who
were determined to worship God according to the dictates of their own
consciences. Being fettered and oppressed by the religious intolerance
of the Old World, they sought, in the wilds of America, that measure of
civil and religious freedom which they so much desired. A little more
than two hundred years ago, Dec. 22, 1620, the Mayflower landed one
hundred of these voluntary exiles on the coast of New England. Here,
says Martyn, "New England was born," and this was "its first baby cry, a
prayer and a thanksgiving to the Lord."
Another permanent English settlement was made at Jamestown, Va., in
1607. In process of time other settlements were made, and colonies
organized, which were all subject to the English government till the
declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.
The population of these colonies, according to the _U.S. Magazine_ of
August, 1855, amounted in 1701, to 262,000; in 1749, to 1,046,000; in
1775, to 2,803,000. Then commenced the struggle of the American colonies
against the oppression of the mother country. In 1776, they declared
themselves as, in justice and right, an independent nation. In 1777,
delegates from the thirteen original States, New Hampshire,
Massachussets, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia, in Congress assembled, adopted articles of
confederation. In 1783, the war of the Revolution closed by a treaty of
peace with Great Britain, whereby our independence was acknowledged, and
territory ceded to the extent of 815,615 square miles. In 1787, the
Constitution was framed and ratified by the foregoing thirteen States,
and on the 1st of March, 1789, went into operation. Then the American
ship of State was fairly launched, with less than one million square
miles of territory, and about three millions of souls.
Thus we are brought to the time when, in our interpretation of
Revelation 13, this government is introduced into the prophecy as
"coming up." Our territorial growth since then has been as follows:
Louisiana, acquired from France in 1803, comprising 930,928 square miles
of territory. Florida, from Spain in 1821, with 59,268 square miles.
Texas, admitted to the Union in 1845, with 237,504 square miles. Oregon,
as settled by treaty in 1846, with 380,425 square miles. California, as
conquered from Mexico in 1847, with 649,762 square miles. Arizona (New
Mexico), as acquired from Mexico by treaty in 1854, with 27,500 square
miles. Alaska, as acquired by purchase from Russia in 1867, with 577,390
square miles. This gives a grand total of three million, five hundred
and seventy-eight thousand, three hundred and ninety-two (3,578,392)
square miles of territory, which is about four-ninths of all North
America, and more than one-fifteenth of the whole land surface of the
globe.
And while this expansion has been thus rapidly going forward here, how
has it been with the other leading nations of the globe? Macmillian &
Co., the London publishers, in announcing their "Statesman's Year Book"
for 1867, make an interesting statement of the changes that took place
in Europe during the half century between the years 1817 and 1867. They
say:--
"The half century has extinguished three kingdoms, one grand duchy,
eight duchies, four principalities, one electorate, and four
republics. Three new kingdoms have arisen, and one kingdom has been
transformed into an empire. There are now forty-one States in
Europe against fifty-nine which existed in 1817. Not less
remarkable is the territorial extension of the superior States of
the world. Russia has annexed 567,364 square miles; the United
States, 1,968,009; France, 4,620; Prussia, 29,781; Sardinia,
expanding into Italy, has increased by 83,041; the Indian Empire
has been augmented by 431,616. The principal States that have lost
territory are Turkey, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, and the
Netherlands."
We ask the especial attention of the reader to these particulars. During
the last half century, twenty-one goverments have disappeared
altogether; and only three new ones have arisen. Five have lost instead
of gained in territory. Only five, besides our own, have added to their
domain. And the one which has done the most in this direction has added
only a little over half a million of square miles, while we have added
nearly two millions. Thus the United States government has added over
fourteen hundred thousand square miles of territory more than any other
single nation, and over eight hundred thousand more than have been added
by all the other nations of the earth put together: In view of these
facts, can any one doubt, looking the whole world over, which government
it is that has been, during this time, emphatically, "coming up"?
In point of population, our increase since 1798, according to the census
of the several decades, has been as follows: In 1800, the total number
of inhabitants in the United States was 5,305,925; in 1810, 7,239,814;
in 1820, 9,638,191; in 1830, 12,866,020; in 1840, 17,069,453; in 1850,
23,191,876; in 1860, 31,445,089; in 1870, 38,555,983. These figures are
almost too large for the mind to readily grasp. Perhaps a better idea
can be formed of the rapid increase of population by looking at a few
representative cities. Boston, in 1792, had 18,000 inhabitants; now,
250,000. New York, in 1792, 30,000; now, nearly 1,000,000. Chicago,
about thirty years ago, was a little trading post, with a few huts; but
yet it contained at the time of the great conflagration in October,
1871, nearly 350,000 souls. San Francisco, twenty years ago, was a
barren waste, but contains to-day 170,000 inhabitants.
Our industrial growth has been equally remarkable. In 1792, the United
States had no cotton mill. In 1850, there were 1074, employing 100,000
hands. Only forty-one years ago the first section of the first railroad
in this country, the Baltimore and Ohio, was opened to a distance of
twenty-three miles. We have now 52,000 miles in operation. It was only
thirty-four years ago that the magnetic telegraph was invented. Now the
estimated length of telegraph wire in operation is over 100,000 miles.
In 1833, the first reaper and mower was constructed, and in 1846, the
first sewing machine was completed. Think of the hundreds of thousands
of both of these classes of machines now in use. And there are now more
lines of telegraph and railroad projected and in process of construction
than ever before, and greater facilities and larger plans for
manufactories of all kinds than at any previous point of time. And
should these industries increase in the same geometrical ratio, and time
continue ten years, the figures we now chronicle would then read about
as the records of a century ago now read to us.
And Nature herself, by the physical features she has stamped upon our
country, has seemed to lay it out as a field for national development on
the most magnificent scale. Here we have the largest lakes, the longest
rivers, the mightiest cataracts, the deepest caves, the broadest and
most fertile prairies, and the richest mines of gold and iron and coal
and copper, to be found upon the globe. "When America was discovered,
there were but sixty millions of gold in Europe. California and the
territories round her have produced one thousand millions of dollars in
gold in twenty years. Sixty-one million dollars was the largest annual
gold yield ever made in Australia. California has several times produced
ninety millions of gold in a year." (Townsend, p. 384.) "The area of
workable coal beds in all the world outside the United States is
estimated at 26,000 square miles. That of the United States, not
including Alaska, is estimated at over 200,000 square miles, or _eight
times as large as the available coal area of all the rest of the
globe!_" (American Year Book for 1869, p. 655.) "The iron product and
manufacture of the United States has increased enormously within the
last few years, and the vast beds of iron convenient to coal in various
parts of the Union, are destined to make America the chief source of
supply for the world." "Three mountains of solid iron [in Missouri],
known as Iron Mountain, Pilot Knob, and Shepherd's Mountain, are among
the most remarkable natural curiosities on our continent." (_Id._ p.
654.)
And the people have taken hold to lay out their work on the grand scale
that nature has indicated. Excepting only the Houses of Parliament in
London, our national capitol at Washington is the most spacious and
imposing national edifice in the world. By the unparalleled feat of a
subterranean tunnel two miles out under the bottom of the lake, Chicago
obtains her water. The work of constructing a railroad tunnel across the
Detroit river is already commenced, and the traveler will soon pass, in
his steam palace, under the bed of that river, while the immense
commerce of the lakes is floating upon its bosom over his head. Chicago
is the most extensive grain and lumber market in the world; and
Philadelphia and New York contain the largest and best furnished
printing establishments now in existence. The submarine cable, running
like a thread of light through the depths of the broad Atlantic from the
United States to England, a conception of American genius, is the
greatest achievement in the telegraphic line. The Pacific Railroad, that
iron highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, stands at the head of all
monuments of engineering skill in modern times. Following the first
Atlantic cable, soon came a second almost as a matter of course; and
following the Central Pacific R.R., a northern line is now in process of
rapid construction. And what results are expected to flow from these
mighty enterprises? The _Scientific American_ of Oct. 6, 1866, says:--
"To exaggerate the importance of this transcontinental highway is
almost impossible. To a certain extent it will change the relative
positions of this country, Europe and Asia.... With the completion
of the Pacific Railroad, instead of receiving our goods from India,
China, Japan, and the 'isles of the sea,' by way of London and
Liverpool, we shall bring them direct by way of the Sandwich
Islands and the railroad, and become the carriers to a great extent
for Europe. But this is but a portion of the advantage of this
work. Our western mountains are almost literally mountains of gold
and silver. In them the Arabian fable of Aladdin is realized....
Let the road be completed, and the comforts as well as the
necessaries furnished by Asia, the manufactures of Europe, and the
productions of the States can be brought by the iron horse almost
to the miner's door; and in the production and possession of the
precious metals, the blood of commerce, we shall be the richest
nation on the globe. But the substantial wealth created by the
improvement of the soil and the development of the resources of the
country, is a still more important element in the result of this
vast work."
Thus, with the idea of becoming the carriers of the world, the highway
of the nations, and the richest power on the globe, the American heart
swells with pride, and mounts up with aspirations, to which there is no
limit.
And the extent to which we have come up is further shown by the
influence which we are exerting on other nations. Speaking of America
Mr. Townsend in the work above cited, p. 462, says:--
"Out of her discovery grew the European reformation in religion;
out of our Revolutionary War grew the revolutionary period of
Europe. And out of our rapid development among great States and
happy peoples, has come an immigration more wonderful than that
which invaded Europe from Asia in the latter centuries of the Roman
Empire. When we raised our flag on the Atlantic, Europe sent her
contributions; it appeared on the Pacific, and all orientalism felt
the signal. They are coming in two endless fleets, eastward and
westward, and the highway is swung between the ocean for them to
tread upon. We have lightened Ireland of half her weight, and
Germany is coming by the village load every day. England, herself,
is sending the best of her working men now (1869), and in such
numbers as to dismay her Jack Bunsbys. What is to be the limit of
this mighty immigration?"
Speaking of our influence and standing in the Pacific, the same writer,
p. 608, says:--
"In the Pacific Ocean these four powers [England, France, Holland,
and Russia] are squarely met by the United States, which, without
possessions or the wish for them, has paramount influence in Japan,
the favor of China, the friendly countenance of Russia, and good
feeling with all the great English colonies planted there. The
United States is the only power on the Pacific which has not been
guilty of intrigue, of double-dealing, of envy and of bitterness,
and it has taken the _front rank_ in influence without awakening
the dislike of any of its competitors, possibly excepting those
English who are never magnanimous."
And Hon. Wm. H. Seward, on his return from a late trip around the world,
said, "Americans are now the fashion all over the world."
With one more extract we close the testimony on this point. In the N.Y.
_Independent_ of July 7, 1870, Hon. Schuyler Colfax, then Vice-President
of the United States, glancing briefly at the past history of this
country, said:--
"Wonderful, indeed, has been that history. Springing into life from
under the heel of tyranny, its progress has been onward, with the
firm step of a conqueror. From the rugged clime of New England,
from the banks of the Chesapeake, from the Savannahs of Carolina
and Georgia, the descendants of the Puritans, the Cavalier, and
the Huguenot, swept over the towering Alleghanies, but a century
ago the barrier between civilization on the one side and almost
unbroken barbarism on the other; and banners of the Republic waved
from flagstaff and highland, through the broad valleys of the Ohio,
the Mississippi, and the Missouri. Nor stopped its progress there.
Thence onward poured the tide of American civilization and,
progress, over the vast regions of the Western plains; and from the
snowy crests of the Sierras you look down on American States
fronting the calm Pacific, an empire of themselves in resources and
wealth, but loyal in our darkest hours to the nation whose
authority they acknowledge and in whose glory they proudly share.
"From a territorial area of less than nine hundred thousand square
miles, it has expanded into over three millions and a half--fifteen
times larger than that of Great Britain and France combined--with a
shore-line, including Alaska, equal to the entire circumference of
the earth, and with a domain within these lines far wider than that
of the Romans in their proudest days of conquest and renown. With a
river, lake, and coastwise commerce estimated at over two thousand
millions of dollars per year; with railway traffic of four to six
thousand millions per year, and the annual domestic exchanges of
the country, running up to nearly ten thousand millions per year;
with over two thousand millions of dollars invested in
manufacturing, mechanical, and mining industry; with over five
hundred millions of acres of land in actual occupancy, valued, with
their appurtenances, at over seven thousand millions of dollars,
and producing annually crops valued at over three thousand millions
of dollars; with a realm which, if the density of Belgium's
population were possible, would be vast enough to include all the
present inhabitants of the world; and with equal rights guaranteed
to even the poorest and humblest of our forty millions of people,
we can, with a manly pride akin to that which distinguished the
palmiest days of Rome, claim as the noblest title of the world, 'I
am an American citizen.'"
And how long a time has it taken for this wonderful transformation? In
the language of Edward Everett, "They are but lately dead who saw the
first-born of the pilgrims;" and Mr. Townsend (p. 21) says: "The memory
of one man can swing from that time of primitive government to
this--when thirty-eight millions of people living on two oceans and in
two zones, are represented in Washington, and their consuls and
ambassadors are in every port and metropolis of the globe."
Is this enough? The only objection we can anticipate is that this nation
has progressed too fast and too far--that the government has already
outgrown the symbol. But what shall be thought of those who deny that it
has any place in prophecy at all? No; this prodigy has its place on the
prophetic page; and the path which has thus far led us to the conclusion
that the two-horned beast is the prophetic symbol of the United States,
is hedged in on either side by walls of adamant that reach to heaven. To
make any other application is an utter impossibility. The thought would
be folly, and the attempt, abortion.
Chapter Six.
Character Of The Government Represented By The Two-horned Beast.
Having given us data by which we determine the location, chronology, and
rapid rise of this power, John now proceeds to describe the appearance
of the two-horned beast, and speak of his acts in such a manner as to
clearly indicate his character both apparent and real. Every
specification thus far examined has held the application imperatively to
the United States. We shall find this one no less strong in the same
direction.
This symbol has "two horns like a lamb." To those who have studied the
prophecies of Daniel and John, horns upon a beast are no unfamiliar
features. The ram, Dan. 8:3, had two horns. The he goat that came
against him had, at first, one notable horn between his eyes. This was
broken and four came up in its place toward the four winds of heaven.
From one of these came forth another horn, which waxed exceeding great.
The fourth beast of Daniel 7 had ten horns. Among these, a little horn
with eyes and mouth, far-seeing, crafty, and blasphemous, arose. The
dragon and leopard beast of Rev. 12 and 13, denoting the same as the
fourth beast of Dan. 7, in its two phases, have each the same number of
horns signifying the same thing. And the symbol under consideration has
two horns like a lamb. From the use of the horns on the other symbols,
some facts are apparent which may guide us to an understanding of their
use on this last one.
A horn is used in the Scriptures as a symbol of strength and power, as
in Deut. 33:17, and glory and honor, as in Job 16:15.
A horn is sometimes used to denote a nation as a whole, as the four
horns of the goat, the little horn of Dan. 8, and the ten horns of the
fourth beast of Dan. 7; and sometimes some particular feature of the
government, as the first horn of the goat, which denoted not the nation
as a whole, but the civil power as centered in the first king, Alexander
the Great.
Horns do not always denote division, as in the case of the four horns of
the goat, &c.; for the two horns of the ram denote the _union_ of Media
and Persia in one government.
A horn is not used exclusively to represent civil power; for the little
horn of Daniel's fourth beast, the papacy, was a horn when it plucked up
three other horns, and established itself in 538. But it was then purely
an ecclesiastical power, and so remained for two hundred and seventeen
years from that time, Pepin, in the year 755, making the Roman pontiff a
grant of some rich provinces in Italy, which first constituted him a
temporal monarch. (Goodrich's Hist. of the Church, p. 98. Bower's Hist.
of the Popes, Vol. 2, p. 108.)
With these facts before us, we are prepared to examine into the
significance of the two horns which pertain to this beast. Why does John
say that he has two horns like a lamb? Why not simply two horns? It must
be because these horns possess peculiarities which indicate the
character of the power to which they belong. The horns of a lamb
indicate, first, youthfulness, and secondly, innocence and gentleness.
As a power which has but recently arisen, the United States answer to
the symbol admirably in respect to age; while no other power, as has
already abundantly been proved, can be found to do this. And considered
as an index of power and character, it can be decided what constitutes
the two horns of the government, if it can be ascertained what is the
secret of its strength and power, and what reveals its apparent
character, or constitutes its outward profession. The Hon. J.A. Bingham
gives us the clue to the whole matter when he states that the object of
those who first sought these shores was to found "what the world had not
seen for ages; viz.,--a church without a pope, and a State without a
king." Expressed in other words, this would be a government in which the
church should be free from the civil power, and civil and religious
liberty reign supreme.
And what is the profession of this government in these respects? That
great instrument which our forefathers set forth as their bill of
rights, the Declaration of Independence, contains these words: "We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hapiness." And in
Article IV, Sec. 4, of the Constitution of the United States, we find
these words: "The United States shall guaranty to every State in this
Union a republican form of government." A republican form of government
is one in which the power rests with the people, and the whole machinery
of government is worked by representatives elected by them. And here,
again, we see the fitness between the symbol and the government which is
symbolized; for the horns of the two-horned beast have no crowns upon
them as do the horns of the dragon and leopard beast, showing that the
government which it represents cannot be monarchical, but is one in
which the power is vested in the hands of the people.
This is a sufficient guarantee of civil liberty. What is said respecting
religious freedom? In Art. VI of the Constitution, we read: "No
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office
or public trust under the United States." In Art. I of Amendments of the
Constitution, we read: "Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
In reply to questions as to the design of the Constitution from the
committee of a Baptist society in Virginia, Geo. Washington wrote, Aug.
4, 1789, as follows:--
"If I had the least idea of any difficulty resulting from the
Constitution adopted by the Convention, of which I had the honor to
be President when it was formed, so as to endanger the rights of
any religious denomination, then I never should have attached my
name to that instrument. If I had any idea that the general
government was so administered that the liberty of conscience was
endangered, I pray you be assured that no man would be more willing
than myself to revise and alter that part of it, so as to avoid all
religious persecutions. You can, without doubt, remember that I
have often expressed my opinion, that every man who conducts
himself as a good citizen is accountable alone to God for his
religious faith, and should be protected in worshiping God
according to the dictates of his own conscience."
In 1830, certain memorials for prohibiting the transportation of mails
and the opening of post-offices on Sunday were referred to the
Congressional Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads. The committee
reported unfavorably to the prayer of the memorialists. Their report was
adopted and printed by order of the Senate of the United States, and the
committee discharged from the further consideration of the subject. Of
the Constitution, they say:--
"We look in vain to that instrument for authority to say whether
the first day, or seventh day, or whether any day, has been made
holy by the Almighty."
"The Constitution regards the conscience of the Jew as sacred as
that of the Christian, and gives no more authority to adopt a
measure affecting the conscience of a solitary individual than of a
whole community. That representative who would violate this
principle would lose his delegated character, and forfeit the
confidence of his constituents. If Congress should declare the
first day of the week holy, it would not convince the Jew nor the
Sabbatarian. It would dissatisfy both, and consequently convert
neither....If a solemn act of legislation shall in one point define
the law of God, or point out to the citizen one religious duty, it
may with equal propriety define every part of revelation, and
enforce every religious obligation, even to the forms and
ceremonies of worship, the endowments of the church and support of
the clergy."
"The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternal principle
that man's relation to his God is above human legislation, and his
right of conscience inalienable. Reasoning was not necessary to
establish this truth, we are conscious of it in our own bosom. It
is this consciousness which, in defiance of human laws, has
sustained so many martyrs in tortures and flames. They felt that
their duty to God was superior to human enactments, and that man
could exercise no authority over their consciences. It is an inborn
principle which nothing can eradicate."
"It is also a fact that counter memorials, equally respectable,
oppose the interference of Congress on the ground that it would be
legislating upon a religious subject, and therefore
unconstitutional."
Hon. A.H. Cragin, of New Hamphshire, in a speech in the House of
Representatives, said:--
"When our forefathers reared the magnificent structure of a free
Republic in this western land, they laid its foundations broad and
deep in the eternal principles of right. Its materials were all
quarried from the mountain of truth; and as it rose majestically
before an astonished world, it rejoiced the hearts and hopes of
mankind. Tyrants only cursed the workmen and their workmanship. Its
architecture was new. It had no model in Grecian or Roman history.
It seemed a paragon let down from Heaven to inspire the hopes of
men, and to demonstrate God's favor to the people of the New World.
The builders recognized the rights of human nature as universal.
Liberty, the great first right of man, they claimed for 'all men,'
and claimed it from 'God himself.' Upon this foundation they
erected the temple, and dedicated it to Liberty, Humanity, Justice,
and Equality. Washington was crowned its patron saint. Liberty was
then the national goddess, worshiped by all the people. They sang
of liberty, they harangued for liberty, they prayed for liberty.
Slavery was then hateful. It was denounced by all. The British king
was condemned for foisting it upon the colonies. Southern men were
foremost in entering their protest against it. It was then
everywhere regarded as an evil, and a crime against humanity."
Then the Bible and the Bible alone is the Protestant rule of faith; and
liberty to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience
is the standard of religious freedom in this land. And from the
quotations herewith presented, it is evident that while the government
pledges to all its citizens the largest amount of civil freedom, outside
of license, it has determined to lay upon the people no religious
restrictions, but to guarantee to all liberty to worship God according
to the Protestant principle.
Here, then, are two great principles standing prominently before the
people: _Republicanism_ and _Protestantism_. And what can be more just,
and innocent, and lamb-like, than these? And here, also, is the secret of
our strength and power. Had some Caligula or Nero ruled this land, we
should look in vain for what we behold to-day. Immigration would not
have flowed to our shores, and this country would never have presented
to the world so unparalleled an example of national growth.
Townsend, Old World and New, p. 341, says:--
"And what attached these people to us? In part, undoubtedly, our
zone, and the natural endowments of this portion of the globe. In
part, and of late years, our vindicated national character, and the
safety of our Institutions. _But the magnet in America is, that we
are a republic_. A republican people! Cursed with artificial
government, however glittering, the people of Europe, like the
sick, pine for nature with protection, for open vistas and blue
sky, for independence without ceremony, for adventure in their own
interest,--and here they find it!"
One of these horns may therefore represent the civil republican power of
this government, and the other, the Protestant ecclesiastical. This
application is warranted by the facts already set forth respecting the
horns of the other powers. For (1) the two horns may belong to one
beast, and denote union instead of division, as in the case of the ram,
Daniel 8; and (2) a horn may denote a purely ecclesiastical element, as
the little horn of Daniel's fourth beast; and (3) a horn may denote the
civil power alone, as in the case of the first horn of the Grecian goat.
On the basis of these facts, we have these two elements, Republicanism
and Protestantism here united in one government, and represented by two
horns like the horns of a lamb. And these are nowhere else to be found.
Nor have they appeared since the time when we could consistently look
for the rise of the two-horned beast, in any nation upon the face of the
earth except our own.
And with these horns there is no objection to be found. They are like
those of a lamb, the Bible symbol of purity and innocence. The
principles are all right. The outward appearance is unqualifiedly good.
But, alas for our country! its acts are to give the lie to its
profession. The lamb-like features are first developed; but the dragon
voice is to be heard hereafter.
Chapter Seven.
The Dragon Voice.
From the facts thus far elicited in this argument, we have seen that the
government symbolized by the two-horned beast must be some government
distinct from the powers of the Old World, whether civil or
ecclesiastical; that it must arise this side the Atlantic; that it must
be seen coming into influence and notoriety about the year 1798; that it
must rise in a peaceful manner; that its progress must be so rapid as to
strike the beholder with as much wonder as the perceptible growth of an
animal before his eyes; that it must be a republic; that it must exhibit
before the world, as an index of its character, and the motives by which
it is governed, two great principles in themselves perfectly just, and
innocent, and lamb-like; and that it must perform its work in the
present century.
And we have seen that of these eight specifications, just two things can
be said: first, that they are all perfectly met in the history of the
United States, thus far; and secondly, that they are not met in the
history of any other government on the face of the earth. Behind these
eight lines of defense, therefore, the argument lies impregnably
intrenched.
And the American patriot, he who loves his country, and takes a just
pride in her thus-far glorious record and noble achievements, needs an
argument no less ponderous and immovable, and an array of evidence no
less clear, to enable him to accept the painful conclusion that the
remainder of the prophecy also applies to this government, hitherto the
best the world has ever seen; for the prophet immediately turns to a
part of the picture which is dark with injustice, and marred by
oppression, deception, intolerance, and wrong.
After describing the lamb-like appearance of this symbol, John
immediately adds, "And he spake as a dragon." The dragon, the first link
in this chain of prophecy, was a relentless persecutor of the church of
God. The leopard beast which follows, was likewise a persecuting power,
grinding out for 1260 years the lives of millions of the followers of
Christ. The third actor in the scene, the two-horned beast, speaks like
the first, and thus shows himself to be a dragon at heart; "for out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and actions are framed.
This, then, like the rest, is a persecuting power; and it is for this
reason alone that any of them are mentioned in prophecy. God's care for
the church, his little flock, is what has led him to give a revelation
of his will, and point out the foes with whom they would have to
contend. To his church, all the actions recorded of the dragon and
leopard beast relate; and in reference to the church, therefore, we
conclude that the dragon voice of this power is uttered.
The "speaking" of any government must be the public promulgation of its
will on the part of its law-making and executive powers. Is this nation,
then, to issue unjust and oppressive enactments against the people of
God? Are the fires of persecution, which in other ages have devastated
other lands, to be lighted here also? We would fain believe otherwise;
but notwithstanding the pure intentions of the noble founders of this
government, notwithstanding the worthy motives and objects of thousands
of Christian patriots to-day, we can but take the prophecy as it reads,
and expect nothing less than what it predicts. John heard this power
speak; and the voice was that of a dragon.
Nor is this so improbable an issue as might at first appear. The people
of the United States are not all saints. The masses, notwithstanding all
our gospel light and gospel principles, are still in a position for
Satan to suddenly fire their hearts with the basest of impulses. This
nation, as we have seen, is to exist to the coming of Christ; and the
Bible very fully sets forth the moral condition of the people in the
days that immediately precede that event. Iniquity is to abound, and the
love of many to wax cold. Evil men and seducers are to wax worse and
worse. Scoffers are to arise, saying, Where is the promise of his
coming? The whole land is to be full of violence as it was in the days
of Noah, and full of licentiousness as in the city of Sodom in the days
of Lot. And when the Lord appears, faith will scarcely be found upon the
earth, and those who are ready for his coming will be but a "little
flock." Can the people of God expect to go through this period, and not
suffer persecution? No. This would be contrary to the lessons taught by
all past experience, and just the reverse of what we are warranted by
the word of God to expect. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution." If ever this was true in the history of the
church, we may expect it to be emphatically so when, in the last days,
the world is in its aphelion as related to God, and the wicked touch
their lowest depths of iniquity and sin.
Let, then, a general spirit of persecution arise in this country, and
what is more probable than that it should assume an organized form? Here
the will of the people is law. And let there be a general desire on the
part of the people for certain oppressive enactments against believers
in unpopular doctrines, and what would be more easy and natural than
that such desire should immediately crystallize into systematic action,
and their oppressive measures take the form of law? Then we have just
what the prophecy indicates. Then is heard the voice of the dragon.
And there are elements already in existence which furnish a luxuriant
soil for a baleful crop of future evil. But a few years ago three and a
half millions of human beings were held in our country in a state of
abject bondage, deprived of every vestige of freedom and every trace of
manhood. But why refer to slavery, it may be asked, since it has already
become a thing of the past? Slavery, to be sure, on the ground of
political expediency, has been abolished. For the time being, the
ballots and bayonets of its opponents have outnumbered those of its
partisans. But has this changed the disposition by which it has
heretofore been fostered? Has it converted the South? Have they been
brought to look upon it as an evil which should be given up on account
of its own intrinsic wrong? We would that we could answer these
questions in the affirmative. But there are acts too patent to be
denied, which show that the virus of this great iniquity still rankles
in the body politic; that the system of slavery has been given up by the
people of the South simply as a matter of necessity; that if they had
the power they would re-instate it again though they should rend and
ruin the Republic in their attempt; and hundreds of thousands in the
North would sympathize with them in the movement, and second them in
their efforts. The disease is driven from the surface, but it is not
cured. It may be a source of serious trouble hereafter.
Political corruption is preparing the way for deeper sin. It pervades
all parties. Look at the dishonest means resorted to to obtain office,
the bribery, the deceptions, the ballot-stuffing. Look at the stupendous
revelations of municipal corruption just disclosed in New York city:
millions upon millions stolen directly and barefacedly rom the city
treasury by its corrupt officials. Look at the civil service of this
government. Speaking on this point, _The Nation_ of Nov. 17, 1870,
said:--
"The newspapers are generally believed to exaggerate most of the
abuses they denounce; but we say deliberately, that no denunciation
of the civil service of the United States which has ever appeared
in print has come up as a picture, of selfishness, greed, fraud,
corruption, falsehood, and cruelty, to the accounts which are given
privately by those who have seen the real workings of the machine."
Enumeration is here unnecessary. Enough crops out in every day's history
to show that moral principle, the only guarantee in a government like
ours for justice and honesty, is sadly wanting.
And evil is also threatening from another quarter. Creeping up from the
darkness of the dark ages, a hideous monster is intently watching to
seize the throat of liberty in our land. It thrusts itself up into the
noonday of the ninteenth century, not that it may be benefited by its
light and freedom, but that it may suppress and obscure them. The name
of this monster is Popery; and it has fixed its rapacious and
bloodthirsty eyes on this land, determined to make it its helpless prey.
It already decides the election in some of our largest cities. It
controls the revenues of the most populous State in the Union, and
appropriates annually hundreds of thousands of dollars raised from
Protestant taxes to the support of its own ecclesiastical organizations,
and to the furtherance of its own religious and political ends. It has
reached that measure of influence that it is only by a mighty effort of
Protestant patriotism that measures can now be carried, against which
the Romish element combines its strength. And corrupt and unscrupulous
politicians stand ready to concede to its demands to secure its support,
for the purpose of advancing their own ambitious aims. Rome is in the
field with the basest and most fatal intentions, and with the most
watchful and tireless energy. It is destined to play an important part
in our future troubles; for this is the very beast which the two-horned
beast is to cause the earth and them that dwell therein to worship, and
before whose eyes it is to perform its wonders.
And in our own better Protestant churches there is that which threatens
to lead to most serious evils. On this point one of their own popular
ministers, who is well qualified to speak, may testify. A sermon by
Charles Beecher contains the following statements:--
"Our best, most humble, most devoted servants of Christ are
fostering in their midst what will one day, not long hence, show
itself to be the spawn of the dragon. They shrink from any rude
word against creeds with the same sensitiveness with which those
holy fathers would have shrunk from a rude word against the rising
veneration of saints and martyrs which they were fostering.... The
Protestant evangelical denominations have so tied up one another's
hands, and their own, that, between them all, a man cannot become a
preacher at all, anywhere, without accepting some book besides the
Bible.... And is not the Protestant church apostate? Oh! remember,
the final form of apostasy shall rise, not by crosses, processions,
baubles. We understand all that. Apostasy never comes on the
outside. It develops. It is an apostasy that shall spring into life
within us; an apostasy that shall martyr a man who believes his
Bible ever so holily; yea, who may even believe what the creed
contains, but who may happen to agree with the Westminster Assembly
that, proposed as a test, it is an unwarrantable imposition. That
is the apostasy we have to fear, and is it not already formed?...
Will it be said that our fears are imaginary? Imaginary? Did not
the Rev. John M. Duncan, in the years 1825-6, or thereabouts,
sincerely believe the Bible? Did he not even believe substantially
the confession of faith? And was he not, for daring to say what the
Westminster Assembly said, that, to require the reception of that
creed as a test of ministerial qualification was an unwarrantable
imposition, brought to trial, condemned, excommunicated, and his
pulpit declared vacant? There is nothing imaginary in the statement
that the creed-power is now beginning to prohibit the Bible as
really as Rome did, though in a subtler way.
"Oh! woful day! Oh! unhappy church of Christ! fast rushing round
and round the fatal circle of absorbing ruin!... Daily does every
one see that things are going wrong. With sighs does every true
heart confess that rottenness is somewhere; but, ah! it is hopeless
of reform. We all pass on, and the tide rolls down to night. The
waves of coming conflict which is to convulse Christendom to her
center are beginning to be felt. The deep heavings begin to swell
beneath us. 'All the old signs fail.' 'God answers no more by Urim
and Thummim, nor by dream, nor by prophet.' Men's hearts are
failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are
coming on the earth. Thunders mutter in the distance. Winds moan
across the surging bosom of the deep. All things betide the rising
of that final storm of divine indignation which shall sweep away
the vain refuge of lies."
In addition to this, we have spiritualism, infidelity, socialism, and
free-love, the trades unions, or labor against capital, and communism,
all assiduously spreading their principles among the masses. These are
the very principles that worked among the people, as the exciting cause,
just prior to the terrible French revolution of 1789-1800. Human nature
is the same in all ages, and like causes will surely produce like
results. These causes are now all in active operation; and how soon they
will culminate in a state of anarchy, and a reign of terror as much more
frightful than the French revolution as they are now more widely
extended, no man can say.
Such are some of the elements already at work; such the direction in
which events are moving. And how much further is it necessary that they
should progress in this manner, before an open war-cry of persecution
from the masses, against those whose simple adherence to the Bible shall
put to shame their man-made theology, and whose godly lives shall
condemn their wicked practices, would seem in nowise startling or
incongruous? But some may say, through an all-absorbing faith in the
increasing virtue of the American people, that they do not believe that
the United States will ever raise the hand of persecution against any
class. Very well. This is not a matter over which we need to indulge in
any controversy. No process of reasoning, nor any amount of argument,
can ever show that it will not be so. We think we have shown good ground
for strong probabilities in this direction; and we shall present more
forcible evidence, and speak of more significant movements hereafter. As
we interpret the prophecy, we look upon it as inevitable. But the
decision of the question must be left to time. We can neither help nor
hinder its work. That will soon solve all doubts and correct all errors.
Chapter Eight.
He Doeth Great Wonders.
In further predicting the work of the two-horned beast, the prophet
says: "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,
and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first
beast, whose deadly wound was healed." This language is urged by some to
prove that the two-horned beast must be some power which holds the reins
of government in the very territory occupied by the first beast; for,
otherwise, how could he exercise his power?
If the word "before" denoted precedence in time, and the first beast
passed off the stage of action when the two-horned beast came on, just
as Babylon gave place to Persia, which then exercised all the power of
Babylon before it, there would be some plausibility in the claim. But
the word rendered "before" is [Greek: enopion] (_enopion_) which
means, literally, "in the presence of." And so the language, instead of
proving what is claimed, becomes a most positive proof that these beasts
are distinct and cotemporary powers.
The first beast is in existence, having all its symbolic vitality, at
the very time the two-horned beast is exercising power in his presence.
But this could not be, if his dominion had passed into the hands of the
two-horned beast; for a beast in prophecy ceases to exist when his
dominion is taken away. What caused the change in the symbols from the
lion, representing Babylon, to the bear representing Persia? Simply a
transfer of dominion from Babylon to Persia. And so the prophecy
explains the successive passing away of these beasts, by saying that
their lives were prolonged, but their dominion was taken away; that is,
the territory of the kingdom was not blotted from the map, nor the lives
of the people destroyed ed, but there was a transfer of power from one
nationality to another. So the fact that the leopard beast is spoken of
as still an existing power, when the two-horned beast works in his
presence, is proof that he is, at that time, in possession of all the
dominion that was ever necessary to constitute him a symbol in prophecy.
What power then does the two-horned beast exercise? Not the power which
belongs to, and is in the hands of, the leopard beast, surely; but he
exercises, or essays to exercise, in his presence, power of the same
kind and to the same extent. The power which the first beast exercised
was a terrible power of oppression against the people of God. And this
is a further indication of the character which the two-horned beast is
finally to sustain in this respect.
The latter part of the verse, "And causeth the earth and them which
dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was
healed," is still further proof that the two-horned beast is no phase
nor feature of the papacy; for the first beast is certainly competent to
enforce his own worship in his own country, and from his own subjects.
But it is the two-horned beast which causes the earth (the territory out
of which it arose and over which it rules) and them which dwell therein,
to worship the first beast. This shows that this beast occupies
territory over which the first beast has no jurisdiction.
"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men." That we are living in an age
of wonders none deny. Time was, and that not two score of years ago,
when the bare mention of achievements which now constitute the warp and
woof of every-day life, were considered the wildest chimeras of a
diseased imagination. Now, nothing is too wonderful to be believed, nor
too strange to happen. Go back fifty years, and the world with respect
to those things which tend to domestic convenience and comfort, the
means of illumination, the production and application of heat, and the
performance of various household operations; with respect to methods of
rapid locomotion from place to place, and the transmission of
intelligence from point to point, stood about where it did in the days
of the patriarchs. Suddenly waters of that long stream over whose
drowsy surface scarcely a ripple of improvement had passed for three
thousand years, broke into the white foam of violent agitation. The
world awoke from the slumber and darkness of ages. The divine finger
lifted the seal from the prophetic books, and brought that predicted
period when men should run to and fro, and knowledge should be
increased. Then men bound the elements to their chariots, and reaching
up laid hold upon the very lightning and made it their message-bearer
around the world. Nahum foretold that at a certain time the chariots
should be with flaming torches and run like the lightnings. Who can
behold in the darkness of the night, the locomotive dashing over its
iron track, the fiery glare of its great lidless eye driving the shadows
from its path, and torrents of smoke and sparks and flame pouring from
its burning throat, and not realize that ours are the eyes that are
privileged to look upon a fulfillment of Nahum's prophecy. But when this
should take place, the prophet said that the times would be burdened
with the solemn work of God's preparation.
"Canst thou send lightnings," said God to Job, "that they may go and say
unto thee, Here we are?" If Job were living to day, he could answer,
Yes. It is one of the current sayings of our time that Franklin tamed
the lightning, and Prof. Morse taught it the English language.
So, in every department of the arts and sciences, the advancement that
has been made within the last half century is without precedent in the
world's history. And in all these the United States take the lead. These
facts are not, indeed, to be taken as a fulfillment of the prophecy, but
they show the spirit of the age in which we live, and point to this time
as a period when we may look for wonders of every kind.
The particular wonders to which the prophecy refers are evidently
wrought for the purpose of deceiving the people; for verse 14 reads,
"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles
which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." This identifies the
two-horned beast with the false prophet of Rev. 19:20; for this false
prophet is the power that works miracles before the beast, "with which,"
says John, "he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast,
and them that worshiped his image," the identical work of the two-horned
beast. We can now ascertain by what means the miracles in question are
wrought; for Rev. 16:13, 14, speaks of spirits of devils working
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole
world to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, and
these miracle-working spirits go forth out of the mouths of certain
powers, one of which is this very false prophet, or two-horned beast.
Miracles are of two kinds, true and false, just as we have a true
Christ and false Christs, true and false prophets, and true and false
apostles. By a false miracle, we mean not a pretended miracle, which is
no miracle at all, but a real miracle, a supernatural performance,
wrought for the purpose of deceiving, or of proving a lie. The miracles
of this power are real miracles, but are wrought for the purpose of
deception. The prophecy does not read that he deceived the people by
means of the miracles which he claimed that he was able to perform, or
which he pretended to do; but which he _had power_ to do. They,
therefore, fall far short of the prophecy who suppose that the great
wonders wrought by this power were fulfilled by Napoleon when he told
the Mussulmans that he could command a fiery chariot to come down from
heaven, but never did it, or by the pretended miracles of the Romish
church, which are only shams, mere tricks played off by ungodly and
designing priests upon their ignorant and superstitious dupes.
Miracles, or wonders, such as are to be wrought by the two-horned beast,
and withal, as we think, the very ones referred to in the prophecy, are
mentioned by Paul in 2 Thess. 2:9, 10. Speaking of the second coming of
Christ, he says, "Whose coming is after ([Greek: kata], at the time
of) the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
These are no slight-of-hand performances, but such a working of Satan as
the world has never before seen. To work with all power and signs and
lying wonders, is certainly to do a real and an astounding work, but one
which is designed to prove a lie.
Again, the Saviour, predicting events to occur just before his second
coming, says, "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets,
and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Here, again, are wonders
foretold, wrought for the purpose of deception, so powerful that, were
it possible, even the very elect would be deceived by them.
Thus we have a series of prophecies setting forth the development, in
the last days, of a wonder-working power, manifested to a startling and
unprecedented degree, in the interests of falsehood and error. All refer
to one and the same thing. The earthly government, with which it was to
be especially connected, is that represented by the two-horned beast, or
false prophet. The agency lying back of the outward manifestations was
to be Satanic, the spirits of devils. The prophecy calls for such a work
as this in our own country at the present time. Do we behold anything
like it? Read the answer in the lamentation of the prophet: "Woe to the
inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto
you having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time." Stand aghast, O Earth! Tremble, ye people, but be not deceived.
The huge specter of evil confronts us, as the prophet declared. Satan is
loosed. From the depth of Tartarus, myriads of demons swarm over the
land. The prince of darkness manifests himself as never before, and,
stealing a word from the vocabulary of Heaven to designate his work, he
calls it--_Spiritualism_.
1. Does spiritualism, then, bear these marks of Satanic agency?
1st. The spirits which communicate claim to be the spirits of our
departed friends. But the Bible, in the most explicit terms, assures us
that the dead are wholly inactive and unconscious till the resurrection;
that the dead know not anything; Eccl. 9:5; that every operation of the
mind has ceased; Ps. 146:4; that every emotion of the heart is
suspended; Eccl. 9:6; and that there is neither work, nor device, nor
knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where they lie. Eccl. 9:10.
Whatever intelligence, therefore, comes to us professing to be one of
our dead friends, comes claiming to be what, from the word of God, we
know he is not. But angels of God don't lie; therefore these are not the
good angels. Spirits of devils will lie; this is their work; and these
are the credentials which at the very outset they hand us.
2dly. The doctrines which they teach are from the lowest and foulest
depths of the pit of lies. They deny God. They deny Christ. They deny
the atonement. They deny the Bible. They deny the existence of sin, and
all distinction between right and wrong. They deny the sacredness of the
marriage covenant; and, interspersing their utterances with the most
horrid blasphemies against God and his Son, and everything that is
lovely, and good, and pure, they give the freest license to every
propensity to sin, and to every carnal and fleshly lust. Tell us not
that these things, openly taught under the garb of religion, and backed
up by supernatural sights and sounds, are anything less than Satan's
masterpiece.
2. Spiritualism answers accurately to the prophecy in the exhibition of
great signs and wonders. Among its many achievements, these may be
mentioned: Various articles have been transported from place to place by
spirits alone. Beautiful music has been produced, independent of human
agency, with and without the aid of visible instruments. Many
well-attested cases of healing have been presented. Persons have been
carried through the air by the spirits in the presence of many others.
Tables have been suspended in the air with several persons upon them.
And, finally, spirits have represented themselves in bodily form and
talked with an audible voice. A writer in the _Spiritual Clarion_ speaks
as follows of the manner in which spiritualism has arisen, and the
astounding progress it has made:--
"This revelation has been with a power, a might, that if divested
of its almost universal benevolence, had been a terror to the very
soul; the hair of the very bravest had stood on end, and his
chilled blood had crept back upon his heart at the sights and
sounds of its inexplicable phenomena. It comes with foretokening,
with warning. It has been, from the very first, its own best
prophet, and step by step it has foretold the progress it would
make. It comes, too, most triumphant. No faith before it ever took
so victorious a stand in its infancy. It has swept like a hurricane
of fire through the land, compelling faith from the baffled scoffer
and the most determined doubter."
3. Spiritualism answers to the prophecy in that it had its origin in our
own country, thus connecting its wonders with the work of the two-horned
beast. Commencing in Hydesville, N.Y., in the family of Mr. John D. Fox,
in the latter part of March, 1848, it spread with incredible rapidity
through all the States. The estimates of the number of spiritualists in
this country at the present time, only twenty-six short years from its
commencement, though differing somewhat from each other, are
nevertheless such as to show that the progress of spiritualism has been
without a parallel. Thus, Judge Edmonds puts the number at five or six
millions (5,000,000 or 6,000,000); Hepworth Dixon, three millions
(3,000,000); A.J. Davis, four millions, two hundred and thirty thousand
(4,230,000); Warren Chase, eight millions (8,000,000); and the Roman
Catholic Council at Baltimore, between ten and eleven millions
(10,000,000 to 11,000,000). Of those who have become its devotees,
Judge Edmonds said as long ago as 1853:--
"Besides the undistinguished multitude, there are many now of high
standing and talent ranked among them--doctors, lawyers, and
clergymen, in great numbers, a Protestant bishop, the learned and
reverend president of a college, judges of our higher courts,
members of Congress, foreign ambassadors, and ex-members of the
United States Senate."
This statement was written more than twenty years since; and from that
time to this, the work of the spirits has been steadily progressing, and
spreading among all classes of people.
And from this nation, spiritualism has gone abroad into all the earth.
Queen Victoria is almost an insane devotee of the new philosophy. The
late Emperor and Empress of France, the late Queen of Spain, the Roman
Pontiff, and the Emperor and Grand Dukes of Russia are all said to have
sought to these spirits for knowledge. Thus it is working its way to the
potentates of the earth, and fast preparing to accomplish its real
mission, which is, by deceiving the world with its miracles, to gather
the nations to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.
Here we pause. Let this work go on a little longer, as it has been
going, and as it is still going, and what a scene is before us! Having
seen so much fulfilled, we cannot now draw back and deny the remainder.
And so we look for the onward march of this last great wonder-working
deception, till that is accomplished which in the days of Elijah was a
test between Jehovah and Baal, and fire is brought down from heaven to
earth in the sight of men. Then will be the hour of the power of
darkness, the hour of temptation that is coming upon all the world to
try them that dwell upon the earth. Rev. 3:10. Then all will be swept
from their anchorage by the strong current of delusion, except those
whom it is not possible to deceive--the elect of God.
And still the world sleeps on, while Satan, with lightning fingers and
hellish energy, weaves over them his last fatal snare. It is time some
mighty move was made to waken the world and rouse the church to the
dangers we are in. It is time every honest heart should learn that the
only safeguard against the great deception, whose incipient and even
well-advanced workings we already behold before our eyes, is to make the
truths of God's holy and immutable word our shield and buckler.
Chapter Nine.
An Image To The Beast.
The imposing miracles wrought before the people having riveted upon them
the chains of a fatal deception, leading them to suppose they have
witnessed the great power of God, and must therefore be doing him
service, when they have only been dazed with a mighty display of Satanic
wonders, and are led captive by the devil at his will, they are prepared
to do the further bidding of the two-horned beast, which is to make an
image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live.
Once more we remind the reader of the impregnable strength of the
argument already presented in previous chapters, fixing the application
of this symbol to these United States. This is an established
proposition, and needs no farther support. An exposition of the
remainder of the prophecy will therefore consist chiefly of an effort to
determine what acts are to be performed by this government, and a search
for indications, if any exist, that they are about to be accomplished.
If we shall find evidences springing up on all sides, that this
government is now moving as rapidly as possible in the very direction
marked out by the prophet, though these are not necessary to establish
the application of the symbol to this government, they will serve to
stifle the last excuse of skepticism, and become to the believer an
impressive evidence of our proximity to the end; for the acts ascribed
to this symbol are but few; and while yet in mid career, he is engulfed
in the lake of fire of the last great day.
We may, however, notice in passing, another evidence that the government
symbolized by the two-horned beast is certainly a republic. This is
proved by the language used respecting the formation of the image. It
does not read that this power, as an act of imperial or kingly
authority, makes an image to the beast; but it says to them that dwell
on the earth, that is, the people occupying the territory where it
arises, that _they_ should make an image to the beast. Appeal is made to
the people, showing conclusively that the power is in their hands. But
just as surely as the government symbolized is a republic, so surely is
it none other than the United States of America.
We have seen that the wonder-working Satanic agencies, which are to
perform the foretold miracles, and prepare the people for the next step
in the prophecy, the formation of the image, are already in the field,
and have even now wrought out a work of vast proportion in our country;
and we now hasten forward to the very important inquiry, What will
constitute the image? and what steps are necessary to its formation?
The people are to be called upon to make an image _to_ the beast, which
expression doubtless involves the idea of some deferential action
toward, or concessions to, that power; and the image, when made, is an
image, likeness, or representation _of_ the beast. Verse 15. The beast
from which the image is modeled, is the one which had a wound by a sword
and did live, or the papacy. From this point is seen the collusion of
the two-horned beast with the leopard or papal beast. He does great
wonders in the sight of that beast; he causes men to worship that beast;
he leads them to make an image to that beast; and he causes all to
receive a mark, which is the mark of that beast. These palpable
evidences of co-operation with the papal power, led Eld. J. Litch, about
1842, to write concerning the two-horned beast thus:--
"I think it is a power yet to be developed or made manifest, as an
accomplice of the papacy in subjecting the world."
To understand what would be an image of the papacy, we must first form a
definite idea of what constitutes the papacy itself. Papal supremacy
dates from the time when the decree of Justinian, constituting the pope
the head of the church and the corrector of heretics, was carried into
effect, in 538. The papacy, then, was a church clothed with civil power,
an ecclesiastical body, having authority to punish all dissenters with
confiscation, imprisonment, torture, and death. What would be an image
of the papacy? Another ecclesiastical establishment clothed with similar
power. How could such an image be formed in this country? Let the
Protestant churches in our land be clothed with power to define and
punish heresy, to enforce their dogmas under the pains and penalties of
the civil law, and should we not have an exact representation of the
papacy during the days of its supremacy?
It may be objected that whereas the papal church was comparatively a
unit, and hence could act in harmony in all its departments in enforcing
its dogmas, the Protestant church is so divided as to be unable to agree
in regard to what doctrines shall be made imperative on the people. We
answer, there are certain points which they hold in common, and which
are sufficient to form a basis of co-operation. Chief among these may be
mentioned the doctrine of the conscious state of the dead and the
immortality of the soul, which is both the foundation and superstructure
of spiritualism, and also the doctrine that the first day of the week is
the Christian Sabbath.
It may be objected again that this view makes one of the horns, the
Protestant church, finally constitute the image of the beast. If the
reader supposes that the Protestant church constitutes one of the horns
of the two-horned beast, we reply that this is a conception of his own.
No such idea is here taught. And we mention this objection only because
it has been actually urged as a legitimate consequence of the positions
here taken. And then the question is asked, If the Protestant church
constitutes one horn, may not the Catholic church constitute the other?
Under the shadow of that hypothetical "if," perhaps it might. But
neither the one nor the other performs such an office. In chapter six of
this work, it was shown that the two great principles of Republicanism
and Protestantism were the proper objects to be symbolized by these two
lamb-like horns. But there is the plainest distinction between
Protestantism as an embodiment of the great principle of religions
liberty, and the different religious bodies that have grown up under its
fostering influence; just as plain as there is between Republicanism, or
civil liberty, and the individual who lives in the enjoyment of such
liberty. The supposition, therefore, that the Protestant church is to
furnish the material for the image, involves no violation of the
symbolic harmony of this prophecy.
Let us look a moment at the fitness of the material. We are not
unmindful of the noble service the Protestant churches have rendered to
the world, to humanity, and to religion, by introducing and defending,
so far as they have, the great principles of Protestantism. But they
have made a fatal mistake in stereotyping their doctrines into creeds,
and thus taking the first steps backward toward the spiritual tyranny
of Rome. Thus the good promise they gave of a free religion and an
unfettered conscience is already broken. For, if the right of private
judgment is allowed by the Protestant church, why are men condemned and
expelled from that church for ncwother crime than honestly attempting to
obey the word of God, in some particulars not in accordance with her
creed? This is the beginning of apostasy. Read Chas. Beecher's work,
"The Bible a Sufficient Creed." "Is not the Protestant church," he asks,
"apostate?" Is not the apostasy which we have reason to fear, "already
formed?" But apostasy in principle always leads to corruption in
practice. And so Paul, in 2 Tim. 3:1-5, sets forth the condition of the
professed church of Christ in the last days. A rank growth of twenty
heinous sins, with no redeeming virtues, shows that the fruits of the
Spirit will be choked and rooted out by the works of the flesh. We can
look nowhere else for this picture of Paul's to be fulfilled except to
the Protestant church; for the class of which he speaks maintain a form
of godliness, or the outward services of a true Christian worship.
And is not the church of our day beginning to manifest to an alarming
degree the very characteristics which the apostle has specified? Fifteen
clergymen of the city of Rochester, N.Y., on Sunday, Feb. 5, 1871,
distributed a circular, entitled "A Testimony," to fifteen congregations
of that city. To this circular the Rochester _Democrat_ of Feb. 7 made
reference as follows:--
"The 'Testimony' sets out by stating that the foregoing pastors are
constrained to bear witness to what they 'conceive to be a fact of
our time; viz., That the prevailing standard of piety, among the
professed people of God, is alarmingly low; that a tide of
worldliness is setting in upon us, indicating the rapid approach of
an era, such as is foretold by Paul in his second letter to
Timothy, in the words, "In the last days perilous times shall
come."' These conclusions are reached, not by comparisons with
former times, but by applying the tests found in the Scriptures.
They instance as proof, 'the spirit of lawlessness which prevails.'
The circular then explains how this lawlessness (religious) is
shown. Men have the name of religion, but they obey none of its
injunctions. There is also a growing disposition to practice, in
religious circles, what is agreeable to the natural inclinations,
rather than the duties prescribed by the word of God. The tendency
to adopt worldly amusements, by professed Christians, is further
stated in evidence."
This testimony is very explicit. When men "have the name of religion,
but obey none of its injunctions," they certainly may be said to have a
form of godliness, but to deny the power; and when they "practice in
religious circles what is agreeable to the natural inclinations, rather
than the duties prescribed by the word of God," they may be truthfully
said to be "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." And Rochester
is not an exception in this respect. It is so all over the land, as the
candid everywhere, by a sad array of facts, are compelled to admit.
That the majority of the Christians in our land are still to be found
in connection with these churches is undoubtedly true. But a change in
this respect is also approaching. For Paul exhorts all true Christians,
in his words to Timothy above referred to, to turn away from those who
have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof; and those who
desire to live pure and holy lives, who mourn over the desolations of
their Zion, and sigh for the abominations done in the land, will
certainly heed this injunction of the apostle. There is another prophecy
which also shows that when the spirit of worldliness and apostasy has so
far taken possession of the professed churches of Christ as to place
them beyond the reach of reform, God's true children are every one to be
called out, that they become not partakers of their sins, and so receive
not of their plagues. Rev. 18:4.
From the course which church members are everywhere pursuing, it is
plain to be seen in what direction the Protestant churches are drifting;
and from the declarations of God's word it is evident that all whose
hearts are touched by God's grace and molded by his love will soon come
out from a connection in which, while they can do no good to others,
they will receive only evil to themselves.
And now we ask the reader to consider seriously for a moment what the
state of the religious world will be when this change shall have taken
place. We shall then have an array of proud and popular churches from
whose communion all the good have departed, from whom the Holy Spirit is
withdrawn, and who are in a state of hopeless departure from God. God is
no respecter of persons nor of churches; and if the Protestant churches
apostatize from him, will they not be just as efficient agents in the
hand of the enemy as ever pagans or papists have been? Will they not
then be ready for any desperate measure of bigotry and oppression in
which he may wish to enlist them? After the Jewish church had finally
rejected Christ, how soon they were ready to imbrue their hands in the
blood of his crucifixion. And is it not the testimony of all history,
that just in proportion as any popular and extensive ecclesiastical
organization loses the Spirit and power of God, it clamors for the
support of the civil arm?
Let, now, an ecclesiastical organization be formed by these churches;
let the government legalize such organization, and give it power (a
power which it will not have till the government does grant it) to
enforce upon the people the dogmas which the different denominations can
all adopt as the basis of union, and what do we have? Just what the
prophecy represents: an image to the papal beast, endowed with life by
the two-horned beast, to speak and act with power.
And are there any indications of such a movement? The preliminary
question, that of the grand union of all the churches, is now profoundly
agitating the religious world.
In May, 1869, S.M. Manning, D.D., in a sermon in Broadway Tabernacle,
New York, spoke of the recent efforts to unite all the churches in the
land into co-operation on the common points of their faith, as a
"_prominent and noteworthy sign of the times_"
Dr. Lyman Beecher is quoted as saying:--
"There is a state of society to be formed by an extended
combination of institutions, religious, civil and literary, which
never exists without the co-operation of an educated ministry."
Chas. Beecher, in his sermon at the dedication of the Second
Presbyterian church, Ft. Wayne, Ind., Feb. 22, 1846, said:--
"Thus are the ministry of the evangelical Protestant denominations
not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of
merely human fear, but they live, and move, and breathe, in a state
of things radically corrupt, and appealing every hour to every
baser element of their nature to hush up the truth and bow the knee
to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with
Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do we see
just ahead? Another general council! A world's convention!
Evangelical Alliance and Universal Creed."
The _Banner of Light_ of July 30, 1864, said:--
"A system will be unfolded sooner or later that will embrace in
its folds Church and State; for the object of the two should be one
and the same. The time is rapidly approaching when the world will
be startled by a voice that shall say to every form of oppression
and wrong, 'Thus far shalt thou go and no farther.' Old things are
rapidly passing away in the religious and social, as well as in the
political, world. Behold all things must be formed anew."
The _Church Advocate_, in March, 1870, speaking of the formation of an
"Independent American Catholic Church," a movement now agitated in this
country, said:--
"There is evidently some secret power at work which may be
preparing the world for great events in the near future."
A Mr. Havens, in a speech delivered in New York, a few years ago,
said:--
"For my own part I wait to see the day when a Luther shall spring
up in this country who shall found a great American Catholic
church, instead of a great Roman Catholic church; and who shall
teach men that they can be good Catholics without professing
allegiance to a pontiff on the other side of the Atlantic."
There is every indication that at no distant day such a church will be
seen, not indeed, raised up through the instrumentality of a Luther, but
rather through the operation of the same spirit that inspired a Fernando
Nunez or a Torquemada.
Chapter Ten.
The Mark Of The Beast.
The principal acts ascribed to the two-horned beast, which seem to be
performed with special reference to the papal beast, are, the causing of
men to worship that beast, causing them to make an image to that beast,
and enforcing upon them the mark of the beast. The image, after it is
created and endowed with life, undertakes to enforce the worship of
itself. To avoid confusion, we must keep these parties distinct in our
minds. There are three here brought before us: 1. The papal beast. This
power is designated as "the beast," "the first beast," "the beast which
had the wound by a sword and did live," and, the "beast whose deadly
wound was healed." These expressions all refer to the same power; and
wherever they occur in this prophecy, they have exclusive reference to
the papacy. 2. The two-horned beast. This power, after its introduction
in verse 11, is represented through the remainder of the prophecy by the
pronoun "he;" and wherever this pronoun occurs, down to the 17th verse
(with possibly the exception of the 16th verse, which perhaps may refer
to the image), it refers invariably to the two-horned beast. 3. The
image of the beast. This is, every time, with the exception just
stated, called the image; so that there is no danger of confounding this
with any other agent.
The acts ascribed to the image are speaking and enforcing the worship of
itself under the penalty of death; and this is the only enactment which
the prophecy mentions as enforced under the death penalty. Just what
will constitute this worship, it will perhaps be impossible to determine
till the image itself shall have an existence. It will evidently be some
act or acts by which men will be required to acknowledge the authority
of that image and yield obedience to its mandates.
The mark of the beast is enforced by the two-horned beast either
directly or through the image. The penalty attached to a refusal to
receive this mark is a forfeiture of all social privileges, a
deprivation of the right to buy and sell. The mark is the mark of the
papal beast. Against this worship of the beast and his image, and the
reception of his mark, the third angel's message of Rev. 14:9-12, is a
most solemn and thrilling warning.
Here, then, is the issue before us. Human organizations, controlled and
inspired by the spirit of the dragon, are to command men to do those
acts which are in reality the worshiping of an apostate religious power,
and the receiving of his mark, or lose the rights of citizenship and
become outlaws in the land; and to do that which constitutes the
worship of the image of the beast, or forfeit their lives. On the other
hand, God says by a message, mercifully sent out a little before the
fearful crisis is upon us, Do any of these things, and you "shall drink
of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into
the cup of his indignation." He who refuses to comply with these demands
of earthly powers exposes himself to the severest penalties which human
beings can inflict; and he who does comply, exposes himself to the most
terrible threatening of divine wrath to be found in the word of God. The
question whether we will obey God or man is to be decided by the people
of the present age, under the heaviest pressure, from either side, that
has ever been brought to bear upon any generation.
The worship of the beast and his image, and the reception of his mark,
must be something that involves the greatest offense that can be
committed against God, to call down so severe a denunciation of wrath
against it. This is a work, as was shown in chapter 4, which takes place
in the last days; and as God has given us in his word most abundant
evidence to show when we are in the last days, so that no one need to be
overtaken by the day of the Lord as by a thief, so likewise it must be
that he has given us the means whereby we may determine what this great
latter-day sin is which he has so strongly condemned, that we may avoid
the fearful penalty so sure to follow its commission. God does not so
trifle with human hopes and human destinies as to denounce a most
fearful doom against a certain sin, and then place it out of our power
to understand what that sin is, so that we have no means of guarding
against it.
That we are now living in the last days, the volumes both of revelation
and nature bear ample and harmonious testimony. Evidence on this point
we need not here stop to introduce; for the testimony already presented
in the foregoing chapters of this series, showing that the two-horned
beast is now on the stage of action, is in itself conclusive proof of
this great fact, inasmuch as the power exists and performs its work in
the very closing period of human history. All these things tell us that
the time has now come for the proclamation of the third message of Rev.
14, to be given, and for men to understand the terms which it uses, and
the warning it gives.
We therefore now call attention to the very important inquiry, What
constitutes the mark of the beast? The figure of a mark is borrowed from
an ancient custom. Says Bp. Newton (Dissert on Proph., vol. iii, p.
241):--
"It was customary among the ancients for servants to receive the
mark of their master, and soldiers of their general, and those who
were devoted to any particular deity, of the particular deity to
whom they were devoted. These marks were usually impressed on their
right hand, or on their foreheads, and consisted of some
hieroglyphic character, or of the name expressed in vulgar
letters, or of the name disguised in numerical letters according to
the fancy of the imposer."
Prideaux says that Ptolemy Philopater ordered all the Jews who applied
to be enrolled as citizens of Alexandria to have the form of an ivy leaf
(the badge of his god, Bacchus) impressed upon them with a hot iron,
under pain of death. (Connection B.C. 216.)
The word used for mark in this prophecy is [Greek: charagma]
(_charagma_), and is defined to mean, "a graving, sculpture, a mark cut
in or stamped." It occurs nine times in the New Testament, and with the
single exception of Acts 17:29, refers every time to the mark of the
beast. We are not, of course, to understand in this symbolic prophecy,
that a literal mark is intended; but the giving of the literal mark, as
practiced in ancient times, is used as a figure to illustrate certain
acts that will be performed in the fulfillment of this prophecy. And
from the literal mark as formerly employed, we learn something of its
meaning as used in the prophecy; for between the symbol and the thing
symbolized there must be some resemblance. The mark, as literally used,
signified that the person receiving it was the servant of, acknowledged
the authority of, or professed allegiance to, the person whose mark he
bore. So the mark of the beast, or the papacy, must be some act or
profession by which the authority of that power is acknowledged. What
is it?
It would be naturally looked for in some of the special characteristics
of the papal power. Daniel, describing that power under the symbol of a
little horn, speaks of it as waging a special warfare against God,
wearing out the saints of the Most High, and thinking to change times
and laws. The prophet expressly specifies on this point: "He shall
_think_ to change times and laws." These laws must certainly be the laws
of the Most High. To apply it to human laws, and make the prophecy read,
"And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear
out the saints of the Most High, and think to change human laws," would
be doing evident violence to the language of the prophet. But to apply
it to the laws of God, and let it read, "And he shall speak great words
against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to change the times and laws of the Most High"--then all
is consistent and forcible. The Septuagint reads, [Greek: nomos]
(_nomos_), in the singular, "the law," which more directly suggests the
law of God. So far as human laws are concerned, the papacy has been able
to do more than merely "think" to change them. It has been able to
change them at pleasure. It has annulled the decrees of kings and
emperors, and absolved subjects from allegiance to their rightful
sovereigns. It has thrust its long arm into the affairs of nations, and
brought rulers to its feet in the most abject humility. But the prophet
beholds greater acts of presumption than these. He sees it endeavor to
do, what it was not able to do, but could only think to do; he sees it
attempt an act which no man, nor any combination of men, can ever
accomplish; and that is, to change the laws of the Most High. Bear this
in mind while we look at the testimony of another sacred writer on this
very point.
Paul speaks of the same power in 2 Thess. 2; and he describes it, in the
person of the pope, as the man of sin, and as sitting as God in the
temple of God (that is, the church), and as exalting himself above all
that is called God or that is worshiped. According to this, the pope
sets himself up as the one for all the church to look to for authority,
in the place of God. And now we ask the reader to ponder carefully the
question how he can exalt himself _above_ God. Search through the whole
range of human devices; go to the extent of human effort; by what plan,
by what move, by what claim, could this usurper exalt himself above God?
He might institute any number of ceremonies, he might prescribe any form
of worship, he might exhibit any degree of power; but so long as God had
requirements which the people felt bound to regard in preference to his
own, so long he would not be above God. He might enact a law and teach
the people that they were under as great obligations to that as to the
law of God. Then he would only make himself equal with God. But he is to
do more than this: he is to attempt to raise himself above him. Then he
must promulgate a law which _conflicts_ with the law of God, and demand
obedience to his own in preference to God's. There is no other possible
way in which he could place himself in the position assigned in the
prophecy. But this is simply to change the law of God; and if he can
cause this change to be adopted by the people in place of the original
enactment, then he, the law-changer, is above God, the law-maker. And
this is the very work that Daniel said he should think to do.
Such a work as this, then, the papacy must accomplish according to the
prophecy; and the prophecy cannot fail. And when this is done, what do
the people of the world have? They have two laws demanding from them
obedience: one, the law of God as originally enacted by him, an
embodiment of his will, and expressing his claims upon his creatures;
the other, a revised edition of that law, emanating from the pope of
Rome, and expressing his will. And how is it to be determined which of
these powers the people honor and worship? It is determined by the law
which they keep. If they keep the law of God as given by him, they
worship and obey God. If they keep the law as changed by the papacy,
they worship that power. But further, the prophecy does not say that the
little horn should set aside the law of God and give one entirely
different. This would not be to change the law, but simply to give a new
one. He was only to attempt a change, so that the law as it comes from
God, and the law as it comes from the hands of the papacy, are precisely
alike, excepting the change which the papacy has made therein. They have
many points in common. But none of the precepts which they contain in
common can distinguish a person as the worshiper of either power in
preference to the other. If God's law says, "Thou shalt not kill," and
the law as given by the papacy says the same, no one can tell by a
person's observance of that precept whether he designed to obey God
rather than the pope, or the pope rather than God. But when a precept
that has been changed is the subject of action, then whoever observes
that precept as originally given by God is thereby distinguished as a
worshiper of God; and he who keeps it as changed, is thereby marked as a
follower of the power that made the change. In no other way can the two
classes of worshipers be distinguished. From this conclusion, no candid
mind can dissent; but in this conclusion we have a general answer to the
question before us, "What constitutes the mark of the beast?" THE MARK
OF THE BEAST is THE CHANGE HE HAS MADE IN THE LAW OF GOD.
We now inquire what that change is. By the law of God, we mean the moral
law, the only law in the universe of immutable and perpetual obligation,
the law of which Webster says, defining the terms according to the sense
in which they are almost universally used in Christendom, "The moral law
is summarily contained in the decalogue, written by the finger of God on
two tables of stone, and delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai."
If, now, the reader will compare the ten commandments as found in Roman
Catholic catechisms with those commandments as found in the Bible, he
will see in the catechisms that the second commandment is left out, that
the tenth is divided into two commandments to make up the lack of
leaving out the second, and keep good the number ten, and that the
fourth commandment (called the third in their enumeration) is made to
enjoin the observance of Sunday as the Sabbath, and prescribe that the
day shall be spent in hearing mass devoutly, attending vespers, and
reading moral and pious books. Here are several variations from the
decalogue as found in the Bible. Which of them constitutes the change of
the law intended in the prophecy? or, are they all included in that
change? Let it be borne in mind that, according to the prophecy, he was
to _think_ to change times and laws. This plainly conveys the idea of
_intention_ and _design_, and makes these qualities essential to the
change in question. But respecting the omission of the second
commandment, Catholics argue that it is included in the first, and,
hence, should not be numbered as a separate commandment. And, on the
tenth, they claim that there is so plain a distinction of ideas as to
require two commandments. So they make the coveting of a neighbor's wife
the ninth commandment, and the coveting of his goods the tenth.
In all this they claim that they are giving the commandments exactly as
God intended to have them understood. So, while we may regard them as
errors in their interpretation of the commandments, we cannot set them
down as _intentional changes_. Not so, however, with the fourth
commandment. Respecting this commandment, they do not claim that their
version is like that given by God. They expressly claim a change here,
and also that the change has been made by the church. A few quotations
from standard Catholic works will make this matter plain. In a work
entitled, Treatise of Thirty Controversies, we find these words:--
"The word of God commandeth the seventh day to be the Sabbath of
our Lord, and to be kept holy; you [Protestants], without any
precept of Scripture, change it to the first day of the week, only
authorized by our traditions. Divers English Puritans oppose,
against this point, that the observation of the first day is
proved out of Scripture, where it is said, the first day of the
week. Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10. Have they not spun a
fair thread in quoting these places? If we should produce no better
for purgatory, and prayers for the dead, invocation of the saints,
and the like, they might have good cause, indeed, to laugh us to
scorn; for where is it written that these were Sabbath days in
which those meetings were kept? Or where is it ordained they should
be always observed? Or, which is the sum of all, where is it
decreed that the observation of the first day should abrogate or
abolish the sanctifying of the seventh day, which God commanded
everlastingly to be kept holy? _Not_ one of those is expressed in
the written word of God."
In the "Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion," on the subject of the
third (fourth) commandment, we find these questions and answers:--
"_Ques._ What does God ordain by this commandment?
"_Ans._ He ordains that we sanctify, in a special manner, this day
on which he rested from the labor of creation.
"_Q._ What is this day of rest?
"_A._ The seventh day of the week, or Saturday; for he employed six
days in creation, and rested on the seventh. Gen. 2:2; Heb. 4:1,
&c.
"_Q._ Is it then Saturday we should sanctify in order to obey the
ordinance of God?
"_A._ During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but _the
church,_ instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of
God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanctify the
first, not the seventh, day. Sunday means, and now is, the day of
the Lord."
In "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," we find this testimony:--
"_Ques._ How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts
and holy days?
"_Ans._ By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which
Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict
themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other
feasts commanded by the same church.
"_Q._ How prove you that?
"_A._ Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power
to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin."
In the "Catholic Christian Instructed," again we read:--
"_Ques._ What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday, preferable
to the ancient Sabbath, which was the Saturday?
"_Ans._ We have for it the authority of the Catholic church and
apostolic tradition.
"_Q._ Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for
the Sabbath?
"_A._ The Scripture commands us to hear the church (Matt. 18:17;
Luke 10:16), and to hold fast the traditions of the apostles. 2
Thess. 2:15. But the Scriptures do not in particular mention this
change of the Sabbath."
In the "Doctrinal Catechism," we find further
testimony to the same point:--
"_Ques._ Have you any other way of proving that the church has
power to institute festivals of precept?
"_Ans._ Had she not such power, she could not have done that in
which all modern religionists agree with her--she could not have
substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week,
for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which
there is no scriptural authority."
And finally, W. Lockhart, late B.A. of Oxford, in the Toronto (Cath.)
_Mirror,_ offered the following "challenge" to all the Protestants of
Ireland; a challenge as well calculated for this latitude as that. He
says:--
"I do, therefore, solemnly challenge the Protestants of Ireland to
prove, by plain texts of Scripture, the questions concerning the
obligation of the Christian Sabbath. 1. That Christians may work on
Saturday, the old seventh day. 2. That they are bound to keep holy
the first day, namely, Sunday. 3. That they are not bound to keep
holy the seventh day also."
This is what the papal power claims to have done respecting the fourth
commandment. Catholics plainly acknowledge that there is no scriptural
authority for the change they have made, but that it rests wholly upon
the authority of the church; and they claim it has a token or mark of
the authority of that church; the "_very act of changing the Sabbath
into Sunday_" being set forth as proof of its power in this respect. For
further testimony on this point, the reader is referred to a tract
published at the _Review_ Office, Battle Creek, Mich., entitled, "Who
Changed the Sabbath?" in which are also extracts from Catholic writers,
refuting the arguments usually relied upon to prove the Sunday Sabbath,
and showing that its only authority is the Catholic church.
"But," says one, "I supposed that Christ changed the Sabbath." A great
many suppose so; and it is natural that they should; for they have been
so taught. And while we have no words of denunciation to utter against
any such for so believing, we would have them at once understand that it
is, in reality, one of the most enormous of all errors. We would
therefore remind such persons that, according to the prophecy, the only
change ever to be made in the law of God, was to be made by the little
horn of Dan. 7, and the man of sin of 2 Thess. 2; and the only change
that has been made in it, is the change of the Sabbath. Now, if Christ
made this change, he filled the office of the blasphemous power spoken
of by both Daniel and Paul--a conclusion sufficiently hideous to drive
any Christian from the view which leads thereto.
But why should any one labor to prove that Christ changed the Sabbath?
Whoever does this is performing a thankless task. The pope will not
thank him; for if it is proved that Christ wrought this change, then the
pope is robbed of his badge of authority and power. And no truly
enlightened Protestant will thank him; for if he succeeds, he only shows
that the papacy has not done the work which it was predicted that it
should do, and so that the prophecy has failed, and the Scriptures are
unreliable. The matter had better stand as the propheqy has placed it,
and the claim which the pope unwittingly puts forth, had better be
granted. When a person is charged with any work, and that person steps
forth and confesses that he has done the work, that is usually
considered sufficient to settle the matter. So, when the prophecy
affirms that a certain power shall change the law of God, and that very
power in due time arises, does the work foretold, and then openly claims
that he has done it, what need have we of further evidence? The world
should not forget that the great apostasy foretold by Paul has taken
place; that the man of sin for long ages held almost a monopoly of
Christian teaching in the world; that the mystery of iniquity has cast
the darkness of its shadow and the errors of its doctrines over almost
all Christendom; and out of this era of error and darkness and
corruption, the theology of our day has come. Would it then be anything
strange if there were yet some relics of popery to be discarded ere the
reformation will be complete? A. Campbell (Baptism, p. 15), speaking of
the different Prostestant sects, says:--
"All of them retain in their bosom, in their ecclesiastic
organizations, worship, doctrines, and observances, various relics
of popery. They are at best a reformation of popery, and only
reformations in part. The doctrines and traditions of men yet
impair the power and progress of the gospel in their hands."
The nature of the change which the little horn has attempted to effect
in the law of God is worthy of notice. With true Satanic instinct, he
undertakes to change that commandment which, of all others, is the
fundamental commandment of the law, the one which makes known who the
Law-giver is, and contains his signature of royalty. The fourth
commandment does this; no other one does. Four others, it is true,
contain the word God, and three of them the word Lord, also. But who is
this Lord God of whom they speak? Without the fourth commandment it is
impossible to tell; for idolaters of every grade apply these terms to
the multitudinous objects of their adoration. With the fourth
commandment to point out the Author of the decalogue, the claims of
every false god are annulled at one stroke; for the God who here demands
our worship is not any created being, but the One who created them all.
The maker of the earth and sea, the sun and moon, and all the starry
host, the upholder and governor of the universe, is the One who claims,
and who, from his position, has a right to claim, our supreme regard in
preference to every other object. The commandment which makes known
these facts is therefore the very one we might suppose that power would
undertake to change, which designed to exalt itself above God. God gave
the Sabbath as a memorial of himself, a weekly reminder to the sons of
men, of his work in creating the heavens and the earth, a great barrier
against atheism and idolatry. It is the signature and seal of the law.
This the papacy has torn from its place, and erected in its stead, on
its own authority, an institution designed to serve another purpose.
This change of the fourth commandment must therefore be the change to
which the prophecy points; and Sunday-keeping must be the mark of the
beast! Some who have long been taught to regard this institution with
reverence will perhaps start back with little less than feelings of
horror at this conclusion. We have not space, nor is this perhaps the
place, to enter into an extended argument on the Sabbath question, and
an exposition of the origin and nature of the observance of the first
day of the week. Let us submit this one proposition: If the seventh day
is still the Sabbath enjoined in the fourth commandment; if the
observance of the first day of the week has no foundation whatever in
the Scriptures; if this observance has been brought in as a Christian
institution and designedly put in place of the Sabbath of the decalogue,
by that power which is symbolized by the beast, and placed there as a
badge and token of its power to legislate for the church, is it not
inevitably the mark of the beast? The answer must be in the affirmative.
But all these hypotheses can easily be shown to be certainties, See
History of the Sabbath, and other works on the subject, published at
the _Review_ Office. To these we can only refer the reader, in passing.
It will be said again, then all Sunday-keepers have the mark of the
beast; then all the good of past ages who kept this day had the mark of
the beast; then Luther, Whitefield, the Wesleys, and all who have done a
good and noble work of reformation, had the mark of the beast; then all
the blessings that have been poured upon the reformed churches have been
poured upon those who had the mark of the beast. We answer, _No_! And we
are sorry to say that some professedly religious teachers, though many
times corrected, persist in misrepresenting us on this point. We have
never so held; we have never so taught. Our premises lead to no such
conclusions. Give ear: The mark and worship of the beast are enforced by
the two-horned beast. The receiving of the mark of the beast is a
specific act which the two-horned beast is to cause to be done. The
third message of Rev. 14, is a warning mercifully sent out in advance to
prepare the people for the coming danger. There can therefore be no
worship of the beast, nor reception of his mark, such as is contemplated
in the prophecy, till it is enforced by the two-horned beast. We have
seen that _intention_ was essential to the change which the papacy has
made in the law of God, to constitute it the mark of that power. So
_intention_ is necessary in the adoption of that change to make it on
the part of any individual the reception of that mark. In other words, a
person must adopt the change, knowing it to be the work of the beast,
and receive it on the authority of that power, in opposition to the
requirement of God.
But how with those referred to above who have kept Sunday in the past,
and the majority of those who are keeping it to-day? Do they keep it as
an institution of the papacy? No. Have they decided between this and the
Sabbath of the Lord, understanding the claims of each? No. On what
ground have they kept it, and do they keep it? They suppose they are
keeping a commandment of God. Have such the mark of the beast? By no
means. Their course is attributable to an error unwittingly received
from the church of Rome, not to an act of worship rendered to it.
But how is it to be? The church which is to be prepared for the second
coming of Christ must be entirely free from papal errors and
corruptions. A reform must hence be made on the Sabbath question. The
third angel proclaims the commandments of God, leading men to the true
in the place of the counterfeit. The dragon is stirred, and so controls
the wicked governments of the earth that all authority of human power
shall be exerted to enforce the claims of the man of sin. Then the issue
is fairly before the people. On one hand, they are required to keep the
true Sabbath; on the other, a counterfeit. For refusing to keep the
true, the message denounces the unmingled wrath of God; for refusing the
false, earthly governments threaten them with persecution and death.
With this issue before the people, what does he do who yields to the
human requirement? He virtually says to God, I know your claims, but I
will not yield to them. I know that the power I am required to worship
is anti-Christian; but I yield to save my life. I renounce your
allegiance, and bow to the usurper. The beast is henceforth the object
of my adoration; under his banner, in opposition to your authority, I
henceforth array myself; to him, in defiance of your claims, I
henceforth yield the obedience of my heart and life. Such is the spirit
which will actuate the hearts of the beast-worshipers; a spirit which
insults the God of the universe to his face, and is prevented only by
lack of power from overthrowing his government and annihilating his
throne. Is it any wonder that Jehovah denounces against so Heaven-daring
a course the most terrible threatening that his word contains?
Chapter Eleven.
The Beginning Of The End.
We have now found what, according to the prophecy, is to constitute the
image which the two-horned beast is to cause to be made, and the mark
which it will attempt to enforce. The movement which is to fulfill this
portion of the prophecy, is to be looked for in the popular churches of
our land. First, a union must be effected between these churches, with
some degree of coalition also between these bodies and the beast power,
or Roman Catholicism; and, secondly, steps must be taken to bring the
law of the land to the support of the Sunday Sabbath. These movements
the prophecy calls for. And the line of argument leading to these
conclusions is so direct and well-defined that there is no avoiding
them. They are a clear and logical sequence from the premises given us.
When first the application of Rev. 13:11-17 to the United States was
made, over twenty years ago, these positions respecting a union of the
churches and a grand Sunday movement were taken. But at that time, no
sign appeared above or beneath, at home or abroad, no token was seen, no
indication existed, that such an issue would ever be made. But there
was the prophecy, and that must stand. The United States government had
given abundant evidence, by its location, the time of its rise, the
manner of its rise, and its apparent character, that it was the power
symbolized by the two-horned beast. There could be no mistake in the
conclusion that it was the very nation intended by that symbol. This
being so, it must take the course, and perform the acts, foretold. But
here were predictions which could be fulfilled by nothing less than the
movement above named respecting Church and State, and the enforcement of
the papal Sabbath as the mark of the beast.
To take the position at that time that this government was to pursue
such a policy and engage in such a work, without any apparent
probability in its favor, was no small act of faith. On the other hand,
to deny or ignore it, while admitting the application of the symbol to
this government, would be in accordance with neither Scripture nor
logic. The only course for the humble, confiding student of prophecy to
pursue in such cases, is to take the light as it is given, and believe
the prophecy in all its parts. So the stand was boldly taken; and open
proclamation has been made from that day to this, that such a work would
be seen in these United States. With every review of the argument, new
features of strength have been discovered in the application; and amid a
storm of scornful incredulity, we have watched the progress of events,
and waited the hour, of fulfillment.
Meanwhile, spiritualism has astonished the world with its terrible
progress, and shown itself to be the wonder-working element which was to
exist in connection with this power. This has mightily strengthened the
force of the application. And now, within a few years past, what have we
further seen? No less than the commencement of that very movement
respecting the formation of the image and the enactment of Sunday laws,
which we have so long expected, and which is to complete the prophecy,
and close the scene.
Reference was made in chapter nine to the movement now on foot for a
grand union of all the churches; not a union which arises from the
putting away of error and uniting upon the harmonious principles of
truth, but simply a combination of sects, each retaining its own
particular creed, but confederated for the purpose of carrying out more
extensively the common points of our faith. This movement finds a strong
undercurrent of favor in all the churches. And men are engaged to carry
it through who are not easily turned from their purpose.
And there has suddenly arisen a class of men whose souls are absorbed
with the cognate idea of Sunday reform, and who have dedicated every
energy of their being to the carrying forward of this kindred movement.
The "New York Sabbath Committee" have labored zealously by means of
books, tracts, speeches, and sermons, to create a strong public
sentiment in behalf of Sunday. Making slow progress through moral
suasion, they seek a shorter path to the accomplishment of their
purposes through political power. And why not? Christianity has become
popular, and her professed adherents are numerous. Why not avail
themselves of the power of the ballot to secure their ends? Rev. J.S.
Smart (Methodist), in a published sermon on the "Political Duties of
Christian Men and Ministers," expresses a largely-prevailing sentiment
on this question, when he says:--
"I claim that we have, and ought to have, just as much concern in
the government of this couniry as any other men.... We are the mass
of the people. Virtue in this country is not weak; her ranks are
strong in numbers, and invincible from the righteousness of her
cause--invincible if united. Let not her ranks be broken by party
names."
A "National Association" has been in existence for a number of years,
which has for its object the securing of such amendments to the National
Constitution as shall express the religious views of the majority of the
people, and make it an instrument under which the keeping of Sunday can
be enforced as the Christian Sabbath. This Association already embraces
within its organization a long array of eminent and honorable names:
Governors of our States, Presidents of our colleges, Bishops, Doctors of
Divinity, Doctors of Law, and men who occupy high positions in all the
walks of life.
In the Address issued by the officers of this Association, they say:--
"Men of high standing, in every walk of life, of every section of
the country, and of every shade of political sentiment and
religious belief, have concurred in the measure."
In their appeal, they most earnestly request every lover of his country
to join in forming auxiliary associations, circulate documents, attend
conventions, sign the memorial to Congress, &c., &c.
In their plea for an amended Constitution, they ask the people to
"Consider that God is not once named in our National Constitution.
There is nothing in it which requires an 'oath of God,' as the
Bible styles it (which, after all, is the great bond both of
loyalty in the citizen and of fidel in the magistrate); nothing
which requires the ob of the day of rest and of worship, or which
re its sanctity. If we do not have the mails carried and the
post-offices open on Sunday, it is because we have a
Postmaster-General who respects the day. If our Supreme Courts are
not held, and if Congress does not sit on that day, it is custom,
and not law, that makes it so. Nothing in the Constitution gives
Sunday quiet to the custom house, the navy yard, the barracks, or
any of the departments of government.
"Consider that they fairly express the mind of the great body of
the American people. This is a Christian people. These amendments
agree with the faith, the feelings, and the forms of every
Christian church or sect. The Catholic and the Protestant, the
Unitarian and the Trinitarian, profess and approve all that is here
proposed. Why should their wishes not become law? Why should not
the Constitution be made to suhf and to represent a constituency so
overwhelmingly in the majority?...
"This great majority is becoming daily more conscious not only of
their rights, but of their power. Their number grows, and their
column becomes more solid. They have quietly, steadily opposed
infidelity, until it has, at least, become politically unpopular.
They have asserted the rights of man and the rights of the
government, until the nation's faith has become measurably fixed
and declared on these points. And now that the close of the war
gives us occasion to amend our Constitution, that it may clearly
and fully represent the mind of the people on these points, they
feel that it should also be so amended as to recognize the rights
of God in man and in government. Is it anything but due to their
long patience that they be at length allowed to speak out the great
facts and principles which give to all government its dignity,
stability, and beneficence?"
Thus for several years a movement has been on foot, daily growing in
extent, and importance, and power, to fulfill that portion of the
prophecy of Rev. 13:11-17, which first calls forth the dissent of the
objector, and which appears from every point of view the most improbable
of all the specifications; namely, the erection of the image and the
enforcing of the mark. Beyond this, nothing remains but the sharp
conflict of the people of God with this earthly power, and the eternal
triumph of the overcomer.
An Association, even now national in its character, as already noticed,
and endeavoring, as is appropriate for those who have such objects in
view, to secure their purposes under the sanction of the highest
authority of the land, the National Constitution, already has this
matter in hand. In the interest of this Association there is published,
in Philadelphia, a semi-monthly paper called the _Christian Statesman_,
in advocacy of this movement. Every issue of that paper goes forth
filled with arguments and appeals from some of the ablest pens in our
land, in favor of the desired Constitutional amendment. These are the
very methods, by which, in a country like ours, great revolutions are
brought about; and no movement has ever arisen so suddenly as this to so
high a position in public esteem with certain classes, and taken so
strong a hold upon their hearts.
Says Mr. G.A. Townsend (New World and Old, p. 212):--
"Church and State has several times crept into American politics,
as in the contentions over the Bible in the public schools, the
Anti-Catholic party of 1844, &c. Our people have been wise enough
heretofore to respect the clergy in all religious questions, and to
entertain a wholesome jealousy of them in politics. The latest
_politico-theological movement_ [italics ours] is to insert the
name of the Deity in the Constitution."
The present movements of this National Association and the progress it
has made luay be gathered somewhat from the report of the proceedings of
the Convention held in Cincinnati, Jan. 31, 1872.
From the Report of the Executive Committee it appeared that ten thousand
copies of the proceedings of the Philadelphia Convention have been
gratuitously distributed; that a General Secretary (Rev. D. McAllister)
has been appointed, with a salary of $2,500; and that a long and
elaborate paper by Prof. Taylor Lewis, of Union College, in advocacy of
the ideas and objects of the Association, will soon be published; that
the number of the Executive Committee is recommended to be increased to
twenty-five, besides including all presidents of auxiliary associations;
that $2,177 have been raised the past year by the Association, and that
a balance of over $90 remains in the treasury. Nearly $1,800 were raised
at this Convention.
The Business Committee recommended that the delegates to this Convention
hold meetings in their respective localities to ratify the resolutions
adopted at Cincinnati; that twenty thousand copies of the proceedings of
this Convention be published in tract form; and that the friends of the
Association be urged to form auxiliary associations. All these
recommendations were adopted.
The resolutions passed were as follows:--
"_Resolved_, That it is the right and duty of the United States, as a
nation settled by Christians, a nation with Christian laws and usages,
and with Christianity as its greatest social force, to acknowledge
itself in its written Constitution, to be a Christian nation.
"_Resolved_, That, as the disregard of sound theory always leads to
mischievous practical results, so in this case the failure of our nation
to acknowledge, in its organic laws, its relation to God and his moral
laws, as a Christian nation, has fostered the theory that government has
nothing to do with religion but to let it alone, and that consequently
State laws in favor of the Sabbath, Christian marriage, and the use of
the Bible in the schools, are unconstitutional.
"_Resolved_, That we recognize the necessity of complete harmony between
our written constitution and the actual facts of our national life; and
we maintain that tho true way to eflect this undoubted harmony is not to
expel the Bible and all idea of God and religion from our schools,
abrogate laws enforcing Christian morality, and abolish all devout
observances in connection with government, but to insert an explicit
acknowledgment of God and the Bible in our fundamental law.
"_Resolved_, That the proposed religious amendment, so far from tending
to a union of Church and State, is directly opposed to such union,
inasmuch as it recognizes the nation's own relations to God, and insists
that the nation should acknowledge these relations for itself, and not
through the medium of any church establishment."
Mr. F.E. Abbott, editor of the _Index_, Toledo, O., who was present at
the foregoing Convention, and presented a protest against its aims and
efforts, says of those who stand at the head of the movement:--
"We found them to be so thoroughly sincere and earnest in their
purpose that they did not fear the effect of a decided but
temperate protest. This fact speaks volumes in their praise, as men
of character and convictions. We saw no indication of the artful
management which characterizes most conventions. The leading
men--Rev. D. McAllister, Rev. A.M. Milligan, Prof. Sloane, Prof.
Stoddard, Prof. Wright, Rev. T.P. Stephenson--impressed us as able,
clear-headed, and thoroughly honest men; and we could not but
conceive a great respect for their motives and their intentions. It
is such qualities as these in the leaders of the movement that give
it its most formidable character. They have definite and consistent
ideas; they perceive the logical connection of these ideas, and
advocate them in a very cogent and powerful manner; and they
propose to push them with determination and zeal. Concede their
premises, and it is impossible to deny their conclusions; and since
these premises are axiomatic truths with the great majority of
Protestant Christians, the effect of the vigorous campaign on which
they are entering cannot be small or despicable. The very respect
with which we were compelled to regard them only increases our
sense of the evils which lie germinant in their doctrines; and we
came home with the conviction that religious liberty in America
must do battle for its very existence hereafter. The movement in
which these men are engaged has too many elements of strength to be
contemned by any far-seeing liberal. Blindness or sluggishness
to-day means slavery to-morrow. Radicalism must pass now from
thought to action, or it will deserve the oppression that lies in
wait to overwhelm it."
As to the probability of the success of this movement, there is at
present some difference of opinion. While a very few pass it by with a
slur as a mere temporary sensation of little or no consequence, it is
generally regarded as a work of growing strength and importance, both by
its advocates and opposers. Petitions and remonstrances are both being
circulated with activity, and shrewd observers, who have watched the
movement with a jealous eye, and heretofore hoped it would amount to
nothing, now confess that it "means business." No movement of equal
magnitude of purpose has ever sprung up and become strong, and secured
favor so rapidly as this. Indeed, none of equal magnitude has ever been
sprung upon the American mind, as this aims to remodel the whole
framework of our government, and give to it a strong religious cast--a
thing which the framers of our Constitution were careful to exclude from
it. They not only ask that the Bible, and God, and Christ, shall be
recognized in the Constitution, but that it shall indicate this as "a
Christian nation, and place all Christian laws, institutions, and
usages, in our government on an undeniable legal basis in the
fundamental law of the nation."
Of course, appropriate legislation will be required to carry such
amendments into effect, and somebody will have to decide what are
"Christian laws and institutions." From what we know of such movements
in the past in other countries, and of the temper of the churches of
this, and of human nature when it has power suddenly conferred upon it,
we look for no good from this movement. From a lengthy article in the
Lansing _State Republican_ in reference to the Cincinnati Convention, we
take the following extract:--
"Now there are hundreds and thousands of moral and professedly
Christian people in this nation to-day who do not recognize the
doctrine of the Trinity, do not recognize Jesus Christ the same as
God. And there are hundreds and thousands of men and women who do
not recognize the Bible as the revelation of God. The attempt to
make any such amendment to the Constitution would be regarded by a
large minority, perhaps a majority, of our nation as a palpable
violation of liberty of conscience. Thousands of men, if called
upon to vote for such an amendment, would hesitate to vote against
God, although they may not believe that the amendment was necessary
or that it is right; and such men would either vote affirmatively
or not at all. In every case, such an amendment would be likely to
receive an affirmative vote, which would by no means indicate the
true sentiment of the people. And the same rule would hold good in
relation to the adoption of such an amendment by Congress or by the
Legislatures of three-quarters of the States. Men who make politics
a trade would hesitate to record their names against the proposed
Constitutional Amendment, advocated by the leaders of the great
religious denominations of the land, and indorsed by such men as
Bishop Simpson, Bishop McIlvaine, Bishop Eastburn, President
Finney, Prof. Lewis, Prof. Seelye, Bishop Huntington, Bishop
Kerfoot, Dr. Patterson, Dr. Cuyler, and many other divines who are
the representative men of their respective denominations."
Not only the representative men of the churches are pledged to this
movement, but governors, judges, and many of the most eminent men of the
land are working for it. Who doubts the power of the "representative men
of the denominations" to rally the strength of their denominations to
sustain this work at their call? We utter no prophecy of the future; it
is not needed. Events transpire in these days faster than our minds are
prepared to grasp them. Let us heed the admonition to "watch!" and, with
reliance upon God, prepare for "those things which are coming on the
earth."
But it may be asked how the Sunday question is to be affected by the
proposed Constitutional Amendment. Answer: The object, or, to say the
least, one object of this amendment is to put the Sunday institution on
a legal basis, and compel its observance by the arm of the law. At the
National Convention held in Philadelphia, Jan. 18 and 19, 1871, the
following resolution was among the first offered by the Business
Committee:--
"_Resolved_, That, in view of the controlling power of the
Constitution in shaping State, as well as national, policy, it is
of immediate importance to public morals, and to social order, to
secure such an amendment as will indicate that this is a Christian
nation, and place all Christian laws, institutions, and usages in
our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law
of the nation, specially those which secure a proper oath, and
which protect society against blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, and
polygamy."
By Sabbath-breaking is meant nothing else but Sunday-breaking. In a
convention of the friends of Sunday, assembled Nov. 29, 1870, in New
Concord, Ohio, the Rev. James White is reported to have said: "The
question [of Sunday observance] is closely connected with the National
Reform Movement; for until the government comes to know God and honor
his law, we need not expect to restrain Sabbath-breaking corporations."
Here again the idea of the legal enforcement of Sunday observance stands
uppermost.
Once more: The Philadelphia _Press_ of Dec. 5, 1870, stated that some
Congressmen, including Vice-president Colfax, arrived in Washington by
Sunday trains, Dec. 4, on which the _Christian Statesman_ commented as
follows (we give italics as we find them):--
"1. _Not one of those men ivho thus violated the Sabbath is fit to
hold any official position in a Christian nation_. * *
"He who violates the Sabbath may not steal because the judgment of
society so strongly condemns theft, or because he believes that
honesty is the best policy; but tempt him with the prospect of
concealment, or the prospect of advantage, and there can be no
reason why he who robs God will not rob his neighbor also. For this
reason, the Sabbath law lies at the foundation of morality. Its
observance is an acknowledgment of the sovereign rights of God over
us.
"2. _The sin of these Congressmen is a national sin_, because the
nation hath not said to them in the Constitution, the supreme rule
for our public servants, 'We charge you to serve us in accordance
with the higher law of God.' These Sabbath-breaking railroads,
moreover, are corporations created by the State, and amenable to
it. The State is responsible to God for the conduct of these
creatures which it calls into being. It is bound, therefore, to
restrain them from this as from other crimes, and any violation of
the Sabbath, by any corporation, should work immediate forfeiture
of its charter. And the Constitution of the United States, with
which all State legislation is required to be in harmony, should be
of such a character as to prevent any State from tolerating such
infractions of fundamental moral law.
"3. Give us in the National Constitution the simple acknowledgment
of the law of God as the supreme law of nations, and _all the
results indicated in this note will ultimately be secured_. Let no
one say that the movement does not contemplate sufficiently
practical ends."
From all this, we see the important place the Sabbath question is to
hold in this movement--the important place it even now holds in the
minds of those who are urging it forward. Let the amendment called for
be granted, "and all the results indicated in this note," says the
writer, "will ultimately be secured;" that is, individuals and
corporations will be restrained from violating the Sunday observance.
The acknowledgment of God in the Constitution may do very well as a
banner under which to sail; but the practical bearing of the movement
relates to the compulsory observance of the first day of the week.
Even now the question is agitated why the Jew should be allowed to
follow his business on the first day after having observed the seventh.
The same question is equally pertinent to all seventh-day keepers. A
writer signing himself "American," in the Boston _Herald_ of Dec. 14,
1871, said:--
"The President in his late message in speaking of the Mormon
question, says, 'They shall not be permitted to break the law under
the cloak of religion.' This, undoubtedly, meets the approval of
every American citizen, and I wish to cite a parallel case, and
ask: Why should the Jews of this country be allowed to keep open
their stores on the Sabbath under the cloak of their religion while
I, or any other true American, will be arrested and suffer
punishment if we do the same thing? If there is a provision made
allowing a few to conduct business on the Sabbath, what justice and
equality can there be in any such provision, and why should it not
be stopped at once?"
And this question, we apprehend, will be very summarily decided, when
once the Consitutional Amendment has been secured.
At a Ministerial Association of the M.E. church held in Healdsburg,
Cal., April 26-28, 1870, Rev. Mr. Trefren, of Napa, speaking of S.D.A.
ministers, said, "I predict for them a short race. What we want is law
in the matter." Then, referring to the present movement for a law, he
added, "And we will have it, too; and when we get the power into our
hands, we will show these men what their end will be."
From a work recently published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication,
entitled "The Sabbath," by Chas. Elliott, Professor of Biblical
Literature and Exegesis in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the
North West, Chicago, Ill., we take this paragraph:--
"But it may be asked, Would not the Jew be denied equality of
rights by legislation protecting the Christian Sabbath and ignoring
the Jewish? The answer is, We are not a Jewish but a Christian
nation; therefore, our legislation must be conformed to the
institutions and spirit of Christianity. This is absolutely
necessary from the nature of the case."
There is no mistaking the import of this language: No matter if the Jew
does not secure equal rights with others. We are not a Jewish nation,
but a Christian; and all must be made to conform to what the majority
decide to be Christian institutions. This affects all who observe the
seventh day as much as the Jews. And we apprehend it will not be a
difficult matter to lead the masses, whose prejudices incline them in
this direction, to believe that it is "absolutely necessary" that all
legislation must take such a form, and cause them to act accordingly.
Several years since, Dr. Durbin of the _Christian Advocate and Journal_;
gave his views on this subject as follows:--
"I infer, therefore, that the civil magistrate may not be called
upon to enforce the observance of the Sabbath [Sunday] as required
in the spiritual kingdom of Christ; but when Christianity becomes
the moral and spiritual life of the State, the State is bound
through her magistrates to prevent the open violation of the holy
Sabbath, as a measure of self-preservation. She cannot, without
injuring her own vitality and incurring the divine displeasure, be
recreant to her duty in this matter."
At a meeting held at Saratoga Springs, Aug. 12, 1860, ex-president
Fillmore said that "while he deemed it needful to legislate cautiously
in all matters connected with public morals, and to avoid coercive
measures affecting religion, the right of every citizen to a day of rest
and worship could not be questioned, and laws securing that right should
be enforced."
And the _Christian Statesman_ of Dec. 15, 1871, speaking of the general
disregard of the Sabbath [Sunday] in the arrangements for welcoming the
Grand Duke Alexis, says:--
"How long will it be before the Christian masses of this country
can be roused to enact a law compelling their public servants to
respect the Sabbath?"
A very marked and rapid change is taking place in public opinion
relative to the proposed religious amendment of the Constitution. We
have learned of instances of men who were at first openly hostile to the
movement, now giving their influence for its advancement, and clamoring
loudly for a Sunday law. And some who at first regarded it with
indifference, are now becoming its warm partisans. As a sample of this
change of feeling, the following paragraph from the _Christian Press_ of
Jan, 1872, may be presented. The _Christian Press_ is the organ of the
Western Book and Tract Society, Cincinnati, Ohio, and its editor,
speaking of the National Association above referred to, says:--
"When this Association was formed, while we were prepared to bid it
God speed, we did not then feel that there was any pressing need
for the object sought; and as our mission was specially directed to
the Christianizing, enlightening and elevating, the masses of the
people, we have said little in our columns on the subject, being
assured that if the people are right, it is easy to set the
government right. The late combined efforts, however, of various
classes of our citizens to exclude the Bible from our schools,
repeal our Sabbath laws, and divorce our government entirely from
religion, and thus make it an atheistic government--for every
government must be for God or against him, and must be administered
in the interests of religion and good morals, or in the interests
of irreligion and immorality--have changed our mind, and we are now
prepared to urge the necessity for an explicit acknowledgment in
the National Constitution of the authority of God and the supremacy
of his law, as revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments."
With the anti-Sunday movements of the present day, considering their
associations, and the manner and object in and for which they are
carried forward, we have no sympathy. They aim at utter no-Sabbathism,
freedom from all moral restraint, and all the evils of unbridled
intemperance--ends which we abhor with all the strength of a moral
nature quickened by the most intense religious convictions. And while
the indignation of the batter portion of the community will be aroused
at the want of religious principle and the immorality attending the
popular anti-Sunday movement, a little lack of discrimination, by no
means uncommon, will on account of our opposition to the day, though we
oppose it on entirely different ground, easily associate us with the
class above-mentioned, and subject us to the same odium.
Meanwhile, some see the evils involved in this movement, and raise the
voice of alarm. The _Christian Union_, Jan., 1871, said:
"The friends of the measure are not likely ever to agree among
themselves. The Convention which met in Philadelphia on the 18th
inst. to consider this subject, refused to accept a phraseology
which simply recognizes the Deity, and insisted upon including in
the emendation the name of Jesus Christ as well. A party, in behalf
of the Holy Spirit, which is so conspicuously slighted, will be the
next in order; and then the way will be open for a proposition to
recognize the 'Vicegerent of Christ on earth,' as the true source
of power among the nations! If the proposed amendment is anything
more than a bit of sentimental cant, it is to have a _legal_
effect. It is to alter the status of the non-Christian citizen
before the law. It is to affect the legal oaths and instruments,
the matrimonial contracts, the sumptuary laws, &c., &c., of the
country. This would be an outrage on natural right."
The Janesville (Wis.) _Gazette_, at the close of an article on the
proposed amendment, speaks thus of the effect of the movement, should it
succeed:--
"But independent of the question as to what extent we are a
Christian nation, it may well be doubted whether, if the gentlemen
who are agitating this question should succeed, they would not do
society a very great injury. Such measures are but the initiatory
steps which ultimately lead to _restrictions of religious freedom_,
and to commit the government to measures which are as foreign to
its powers and purposes as would be its action if it should
undertake to determine a disputed question of theology."
The _Weekly Alta Californian_ of San Francisco, March 12, 1870, said:--
"The parties who have been recently holding a convention for the
somewhat novel purpose of procuring an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States recognizing the Deity, do not
fairly state the case when they assert that it is the right of a
Christian people to govern themselves in a Christian manner. If we
are not governing ourselves in a Christian manner, how shall the
doings of our government be designated? The fact is, that the
movement is one to bring about in this country that union of church
and State which all other nations are trying to dissolve."
The N.Y. _Independent_, Feb., 1870, spoke of the movement as having the
same chance of success that a union of church and State would have.
The Champlain _Journal_, speaking of the incorporating the religious
principle into the Constitution, and its effect upon the Jews, said:--
"However slight, it is the entering wedge between church and State.
If we may cut off ever so few persons from the right of citizenship
on account of difference of religious belief, then with equal
justice and propriety may a majority at any time dictate the
adoption of still further articles of belief, until our
Constitution is but the text book of a sect beneath whose
tyrannical sway _all liberty of religious opinion will be
crushed_."
For a union of church and State, strictly so-called, we do not look. In
place of this, we apprehend that what is called "the image," a creation
as strange as it is unique, comes in--not a State controlled by the
church, and the church in turn supported by the State, but an
ecclesiastical establishment empowered to enforce its own decrees by
civil penalties; which, in all its practical bearings, amounts to
exactly the same thing. The direct aim of the movement is undoubtedly a
union of church and State; a result which it will so nearly accomplish
as to secure, by way of compromise, the erection of the image.
Some one may now say, As you expect this movement to carry, you must
look for a period of religious persecution in this country; nay, more,
you must take the position that all the saints of God are to be put to
death; for the image is to cause that all who will not worship it shall
be killed.
There would, perhaps, be some ground for such a conclusion, were we not
elsewhere informed that in this dire conflict God does not abandon his
people to defeat, but grants them a complete victory over the beast, his
image, his mark, and the number of his name. Rev. 15:2. We further read
respecting this earthly power, that he causeth all to receive a mark in
their right hand or their foreheads; yet chapter 20:4, speaks of the
people of God as those who do not receive the mark or worship the image.
If, then, he could "cause" all to receive the mark, and yet all not
actually receive it, in like manner his causing all to be put to death
who will not worship the image does not necessarily signify that their
lives are actually to be taken.
But how can this be? Answer: It evidently comes under that rule of
interpretation in accordance with which verbs of action sometimes
signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question, and
not the actual performance of the thing specified. George Bush,
Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature in New York City University,
makes this matter plain. In his notes on Ex. 7:11, he says:--
"It is a canon of interpretation of frequent use in the exposition
of the sacred writings that verbs of action sometimes signify
merely the _will_ and _endeavor_ to do the action in question. Thus
in Eze. 24:13: 'I have _purified_ thee, and thou wast not purged;'
_i.e._, I have endeavored, used means, been at pains, to purify
thee. John 5:44: 'How can ye believe which _receive_ honor one of
another;' _i.e._, endeavor to receive. Rom. 2:4: 'The goodness of
God _leadeth_ thee to repentance;' _i.e._, endeavors, or tends, to
lead thee. Amos 9:3: 'Though they be _hid_ from my sight in the
bottom of the sea;' _i.e._, though they aim to be hid. 1 Cor.
10:33: 'I _please_ all men;' _i.e._, endeavor to please. Gal. 5:4:
'Whosoever of you are _justified_ by the law;' _i.e._, seek and
endeavor to be justified. Ps. 69:4: 'They that _destroy_ me are
mighty;' _i.e._, that endeavor to destroy me. Eng., 'That _would_
destroy me.' Acts 7:26: 'And _set them at one_ again;' _i.e._,
wished and endeavored. Eng., '_Would_ have set them.'"
So in the passage before us: He causes all to receive a mark, and all
who will not worship the image to be killed; that is, he wills,
purposes, and endeavors, to do this; he makes such an enactment, passes
such a law, but is not able to execute it; for God interposes in behalf
of his people; and then those who have kept the word of Christ's
patience are kept from falling in this hour of temptation, according to
Rev. 3:10; then those who have made God their refuge are kept from all
evil, and no plague comes nigh their dwelling, according to Ps. 91:
9,10; then all who are found written in the book are delivered,
according to Dan. 12:1; and, being victors over the beast and his
image, they are redeemed from among men, and raise a song of triumph
before the throne of God, according to Rev. 14:4; 15:2.
The objector may further say: You are altogether too credulous in
supposing that all the skeptics of our land, the spiritualists, the
German infidels, and the irreligious masses generally, can be so far
brought to favor the religious observance of Sunday that a general law
can be promulgated in its behalf.
We answer: The prophecy must be fulfilled; and if the prophecy requires
such a revolution, it will be accomplished. But we do not know that it
is necessary. Permit us to suggest an idea, which, though it is only
conjecture, may show how enough can be accomplished to fulfill the
prophecy without involving the classes mentioned. This movement, as has
been shown, must originate with the churches of our land, and be carried
forward by them. They wish to enforce certain practices among all the
people; and it would be very natural that, in reference to those points
respecting which they wish to influence the outside masses, they should
see the necessity of first having absolute conformity among all the
evangelical denominations. They could not expect to influence
non-religionists to any great degree on questions respecting which they
were divided among themselves. So, then, let union be had on those views
and practices which the great majority already entertain. To this end
coercion may first be attempted. But here are a few who cannot possibly
attach to the observance of the first day, which the majority wish to
secure, any religious obligation; and would it be anything strange for
the sentence to be given, Let these few factionists be made to conform,
by persuasion if possible, by force, if necessary. Thus the blow may
fall on conscientious commandment-keepers, before the outside masses are
involved in the issue at all. And should events take this not improbable
turn, it would be sufficient to meet the prophecy, and leave no ground
for the objection proposed.
To receive the mark of the beast in the forehead, is, we understand, to
give the assent of the mind and judgment to his authority in the
adoption of that institution which constitutes the mark. By parity of
reasoning, to receive it in the hand would be to signify allegiance by
some outward act.
The number, over which the saints are also to get the victory, is the
number of the papal beast, called also the number of his name, and the
number of a man, and said to be six hundred threescore and six. The pope
wears upon his pontifical crown in jeweled letters, this title:
"_Vicarius Filii Dei_," "Vicegerent of the Son of God;" the numerical
value of which title is just six hundred and sixty-six. The most
plausible supposition we have ever seen on this point is that here we
find the number in question. It is the number of the beast, the papacy;
it is the number of his name; for he adopts it as his distinctive title;
it is the number of a man; for he who bears it is the "man of sin." We
get the victory over it by refusing those institutions and practices
which he sets forth as evidence of his power to sit supreme in the
temple of God, and by adopting which we should acknowledge the validity
of his title, by conceding his right to act for the church in behalf of
the Son of God.
And now, reader, we leave with you this subject. We confidently submit
the argument as one which is invulnerable in all its points. We ask you
to review it carefully. Take in, if thought can comprehend it, the
wonderful phenomenon of our own nation. Consider its location, the time
of its rise, the manner of its rise, its character, Satan's masterpiece
of lying wonders which he has here sprung upon the world, and the
elements which are everywhere working to fulfill in just as accurate a
manner every other specification of the prophecy. Can you doubt the
application. We know not how. Then the last agents to appear in this
world's history are on the stage of action, the close of this
dispensation is at hand, and the Lord cometh speedily to judge the
world. Then an issue of appalling magnitude is before us. It is no less
than this: To yield to unrighteous human enactments soon to be made, and
thus expose ourselves to the unmingled wrath of an insulted Creator, or
to remain loyal to our God and brave the utmost wrath of the dragon and
his infuriated hosts.
In reference to this issue, the third angel now utters his solemn and
vehement warning. To aid in sounding over the land this timely note of
alarm, to impress upon hearts the importance of a right position in the
coming issue, and the necessity of pursuing such a course as will secure
the favor of God in the season of earth's direst extremity, and a share
at last in his glorious salvation, is the object of this effort. And if
with any it shall have this effect, the prayer of the writer will not be
utterly unanswered, nor his labor be wholly lost.
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