Summary.

Summary.Man has ever sought to rob Christ of His glory. He has long since done his best to obliterate His name and His work from the Revelation which had been written in the stars of light. When He humbled Himself, and came as the promised Seed of the woman, men“saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him.”And these werereligiousmen. It was religious men, not the common rabble, whom the Old Serpent made use of to wound Him in the heel. The Devil could not touch Him himself; he must use them as his instruments; and it was onlyreligiousmen that could be so used.It was the“chief priests and scribes,”men learned in the Scriptures, whose very knowledge of the Word was used to compass His death amongst the babes at Bethlehem (Matt. ii. 4-6).[pg 172]It was the same priests and scribes who were used to put Him to death, and give the long-prophesied wound in the heel.Religion without Christ is enmity against God! Knowledge of the Scriptures where the heart is not subject to Christ, and where Christ is not seen in them, is powerless and lifeless. It is true of the Scriptures, as it will be of the heavenly Jerusalem—“the Lamb is the light thereof”(Rev. xxi. 23).The Church of Rome has been used of the great enemy to rob the Lamb of God of His promised glory.Jerome, in his Latin translation of the Bible (405a.d.), wrote“ipse,”He, in Gen. iii. 15, as the“bruiser of the serpent's head.”And, in spite of the fact thatJeromehimself so quotes it in his commentary, and that it ismasculinein all the other ancient translations of the Bible, Rome has first corruptedJerome'sVulgate by changing the“e”into“a,”and putting“ipsa”(she) instead of“ipse”(He); then she has so translated this corruption and perpetuated this perversion in various languages! So that in all her versions, in her pictures and statues, in the decree of Pope Pius IX., which promulgated the dogma of the“immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary,”this lie of the Old Serpent has been foisted on unnumbered thousands of deluded souls, who have thereby been deceived into putting Mary in the place of Jesus; the“co-Redemptress”in the place of the Redeemer; the creature in the place of the Creator; the woman in the place of the woman's Seed;—until the outcome is reached by emblazoning, in huge gilt[pg 173]letters, on the outside of a large church in Rathmines, Dublin,“MARIÆ PECCATORUM REFUGIUM,”to Mary the Refuge of Sinners!So complete has been the success of the subtlety of the Serpent, that he has beguiled thousands of Protestants to unite in circulating thesecorrupted versions as the Word of God, thus giving currency to the Devil's lie. This is done on the plea of expediency, in order that these versions might come to many as Protestant truth instead of Popish error; but thus misleading those who were seeking for light, while confirming Papists in their darkness.But through all the“wisdom of the Serpent”we can detect his lie. It is very thinly veiled, and the Old Serpent has not succeeded in blinding the eyes which the Spirit of God has opened. True, we see in all Rome's pictures and statues the foot of Mary, on the Serpent's head, but the foot is notcoming down, nor is the headcrushed! Rather is the woman's foot resting on its head; and the woman herself supported by the Serpent.The whole system of Mary-anity is thus seen to be the outcome of the Serpent's wisdom in opposition to the true Christ-ianity.How different are the primeval star-pictures of the heavens. There, the club is lifted up, the foot is coming down, yea, the foot is actually planted upon the enemy, treading the Scorpion under foot.Rome may corrupt the words of the Book, but she cannot touch the stars of heaven! The Devil[pg 174]himself cannot move them from their places. He may choose and use his servants and agents for corrupting the Scriptures written in the Book, but he cannot change the Revelation of the stars.There,—no woman's foot is seen upon the Serpent's head! There,—no woman usurps the place of the all-glorious Redeemer!InOphiuchuswe seeHimin dread conflict with the Serpent, and we seeHisfoot upon the Scorpion's heart (Scorpio). We seeHim, the Risen Lamb (Aries), bindingCetus, the great Monster of the Deep; we seeHimin the gloriousOrion, whose foot is coming down on the enemy's head (Lepus); we seeHimin the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Leo), about to tread down that Old Serpent (Hydra) the Devil; we seeHimin the mightyHercules, who has his foot on the head of theDragon(Draco), and his up-lifted club about to inflict the long-threatened blow; we seeHimcrowned inCepheus, with all His enemies subdued, and His right foot planted upon the Polar Star!True, we do see awomanin this heavenly and Divine revelation; for there are four women. Two are connected with theRedeemer, and two with theRedeemed. The Redeemer is seen in the one (Virgo) as the“promised Seed”; in the other (Coma), He is seen as the child born, the Son given. The Redeemed are represented in one as a captivechained(Andromeda), with no power to wage conflict with an enemy, but a prey to every foe; in the other (Cassiopeia),[pg 175]she isenthroned, with no necessity for conflict. For with one hand she waves the palm of a victory which another (Perseus) has wrought on her behalf, while with her right hand she is preparing and making herself ready for“the marriage of the Lamb.”Thus pure and undefiled is this primeval fountain of Divine truth. Thus harmonious is it with the written Word of God. And He who gave them both to enlighten a dark world which lieth in the power of this wicked one, has filled both with one subject—“The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.”These are set forth by the Holy Spirit in a double sevenfold expansion of the prophetic promise of Gen. iii. 15, giving seven steps in His humiliation and seven in His glorification (Phil. ii. 5-1176).CHRIST JESUS,1. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery (a thing to be grasped at and held) to be equal with God;2. But made Himself of no reputation (Gr.emptied Himself),3. And took upon Him the form of a servant,4. And was made in the likeness of men:5. And being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself.6. And became obedient unto death,7. Even the death of the cross.[pg 176]WHEREFORE1. God also hath highly exalted Him,2. And given Him a name which is above every name:3. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,4. Of things in heaven,5. And things on earth,6. And things under the earth;7. And that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Amen.“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,Thou who alone art worthy! It was thineBy ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth;And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since,And overpaid its value with Thy blood.Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and in their heartsThy title is engraven with a penDipp'd in the fountain of eternal love.Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and Thy delayGives courage to their foes, who, could they seeThe dawn of Thy last advent, long desired,Would creep into the bowels of the hills,And flee for safety to the falling rocks.”“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,Due to Thy last and most effectual work,Thy Word fulfilled, the conquest of a world.”(Cowper.)[pg 177]“For Signs And For Seasons.”We have seen the great truths which are taught from the position, and forms, and names of the heavenly bodies. There are also truths to be learnt from theirmotions.When God created them and set them in the firmament of heaven, He said, in Gen. i. 14—“Let them be for signs and for seasons.”Here the word“signs”isothoth(אֹתֹת, plural of אוֹת,oth, from the root אֳתֳת,to come). Hence,a sign of somethingorsome One to come. In Jer. x. 2 Jehovah says,“And be not dismayedat the signs(וּמֵאתוֹת) of the heavens, for the heathen are dismayed at them.”The word“seasons”does not denote merely what we call the four seasons of the year, butcyclesof time. It is מוֹעֵד,appointed time(from the verb יָעַד,to point out,appoint). It occurs three more times in Genesis, each time in connection with the promised Seed—Gen. xvii. 21,“Atthisset timein the next year”;Gen. xviii. 14,“At the time appointedI will return”; andGen. xxi. 2,“At the set timeof which God had spoken.”[pg 178]Gen. i. 14 is therefore,“They (the sun, moon, and stars) shall be for signs (things to come) and for cycles (appointed times).”Here, then, we have a distinct declaration from God, that the heavens contain not only a Revelation concerningthings to comein the“Signs,”but also concerningappointed timesin the wondrous movements of the sun, and moon, and stars.The motions of the sun and moon are so arranged that at the end of a given interval of time they return into almost precisely the same position, with regard to each other and to the earth, as they held at the beginning of that interval.“Almost precisely,”but not quite precisely. There will be a slight outstanding difference, which will gradually increase in successive intervals, and finally destroy the possibility of the combination recurring, or else lead to combinations of a different character.Thus the daily difference between the movement of the sun and of the stars leads the sun back very nearly to conjunction with the same star as it was twelve months earlier, and gives us the cycle of the year. The slight difference in the sun's position relative to the stars at the end of the year, finally leads the sun back to the same star at the same time of the year,viz., at the spring equinox, and gives us the great precessional cycle of 25,800 years.So, too, with eclipses. Since the circumstances of any given eclipse are reproduced almost exactly 18 years and 11 days later, this period is called anEclipse Cycle, to which the ancient astronomers gave[pg 179]the name ofSaros;77and eclipses separated from each other by an exact cycle, and, therefore, corresponding closely in their conditions, are spoken of as being one and the same eclipse. EachSaroscontains, on the average, about 70 ± eclipses. Of these, on the average, 42 ± are solar and 28 ± are lunar. Since theSarosis 11 days (or, more correctly, 10.96 days) longer than 18 years, the successive recurrences of each eclipse fall 11 days later in the year each time, and in 33Sariwill have travelled on through the year and come round very nearly to the original date.But as theSarosdoes not reproduce the conditions of an eclipse with absolute exactness, and as the difference increases with every successive return, a time comes when the return of theSarosfails to bring about an eclipse at all. If the eclipse be a solar one before this takes place, a new eclipse begins to form a month later in the year than the old one, and becomes the first eclipse of a new series.This is the history of one such eclipse: On May 15 (Julian), 850a.d., there was a (new) eclipse of the sun, and it occurred as apartialeclipse. On August 20 (Julian), 1012a.d., this new eclipse becametotal. From that time it has been anannulareclipse, the latitude of the central shadow gradually shifting southward from the north, until on December 17 (Julian), 1210, it had reached N. Lat. 24°. It turned northward again after 1210, until March 14 (Julian), 1355, when it fell in N. Lat. 43°. Then it turned south,[pg 180]and has moved steadily in that direction, until on March 18 (Greg.), 1950, its last appearance as an annular eclipse will take place. On May 22 (Greg.), 2058, it will fall so far from the node that a new eclipse will follow it on June 21. It will make three more appearances as an ever-diminishing partial eclipse, and be last seen on June 24 (Greg.), 2112. Its total life-history, therefore, will have been 1,262 years and 36 days, and will have occupied 70Sari.In the above life-history of an eclipse78there is not the slightest difficulty as to its identification. TheSarosshows no break, and no interruption; nor does the character of the eclipse suffer any abrupt change. The district over which it is visible moves in a slow and orderly fashion from occurrence to occurrence over the earth's surface.Now the important point is this, that if we take the prophetic reckoning of 360 days to the year, we have the following significant Biblical numbers:—In the first place, we already have the 70 ±Saridivided into two portions of 33 + 37.A perfect cycle is accomplished in 33Sari, or 595 years, when the eclipse, by a series of unbroken[pg 181]Sari, has accomplished a passage through the year of 360 days; or, if we reckon only the whole numbers,i.e., the 18 completed years, we have for the 33Sarithe period of 594 years, while the remaining portion of 37Sarimakes 666 years (37 x 18) ; and the whole 70 ±Sarimakes 1,260 years (594 + 666).79We have then the following figures:—18 x 33 = 594 years.18 x 37 = 666 years.18 x 70 = 1260 years.Independently of this, we also know that 1,260 years is a soli-lunar cycle, so exact that its epact, or difference, is only 6 hours!There must, therefore, be something significant in these numbers,e.g., 70; in the number 1,260, with its divisions, not into two equal parts, but into 594 and 666; as also in its double, 2,520.There must be something to be learned in the occurrence and repetition of these heavenly cycles, which for nearly 6,000 years have been constantly repeated in the heavens, especially when we find these same numbers very prominently presented in the Word of God in connection with the fulfilment of prophecy.We have the great“seven times”(2,520) connected with the duration of Israel's punishment, and of the Gentiles' power. We have in Daniel and the[pg 182]Apocalypse the half of this great period presented as“days”(1,260), as“months”(42), and as“times,”or years (3-½).Futurists believe that these“days”and“months,”etc.,interpret for usthe purposes and counsels of God as connected with“the time of the end,”and as meaning literal“days”and“months,”etc.Historicists take these terms and themselvesinterpret the numbers, in the sense of a“day”being put for ayear, and they believe that these“1,260 days”will be fulfilled as 1,260years.One party boldly and ungraciously charges the other with teaching“The Fallacies of Futurism”; while the other might well retort with a reference to theHeresies of Historicism.But is there any necessity for the existence of two hostile camps? Is it not possible that there may be what we may call alongfulfilment in years? And is it not more than probable that in the time of the end, the crisis, there will also be ashortand literal fulfilment in days?We firmly believe that there will be this literal andshortfulfilment. We believe that when God says“days,”He meansdays; and that when He says“42 months,”He meansmonths, and not 1,260 years. In all of the passages referred to by historicists in support of what is called“the year-day theory,”the Holy Spirit uses these words“days”and“years”in the sense of days and years. In the two particular instances of Israel's wanderings (Num. xiv. 34), and Ezekiel's prophesying (Ezek. iv. 6), He chooses to[pg 183]take thenumberof days as denoting thesame numberof years; but He does not tell us that we are to do the same in other cases! He only asserts His sovereignty by thus acting, while we only show our presumption in taking His sovereign act as a general principle.But while fully believing in theshortfulfilment, we are quite prepared to admit that there may be alongfulfilmentas well; and that, owing to the wondrous harmony, and marvellous correspondence, and infinite wisdom of all the works and ways of God, there may be a fulfilment, or rather a“filment,”if we may coin the word, in years, which will be only a foreshadowing of the literalful-filment afterwards to take place indays.If historicists will allow us this liberty as tointerpretation, and permit us to believe that God means what He says, we will give them some remarkable evidence in support of their views, by way ofapplication. In other words, if they will allow us tointerpret“days”as meaning days, we will gladly allow them, and be at one with them, inapplyingthem to years. So that while we believe theinterpretationto mean“days,”and to teach ashortfulfilment at the time of the end, we will thankfully admit anapplicationwhich shall take these days as foreshowing alongfulfilment in years.Inapplying, then, these significant numbers (42, 70, 594, 666, 1,260, and 2,520) to years, from what point or date shall we begin to reckon the“times of the Gentiles”(Luke xxi. 24)? That there are such definite“times”the words of the Lord Jesus show,[pg 184]when He says,“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”(Luke xxi. 24). That there are“seven times”of Gentile dominion is more than intimated by the symbolic episode in the life of Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in Dan. iv.; and that there are“seven times”of Israel's punishment is clearly stated in Lev. xxvi. 18.“Seven times,”according to the Historicist school of interpreters, are equal to 2,520 years.Instead of asking where they begin, let us first note the fact that it isdurationwhich is emphasised in the Scriptures rather thanchronology; and look at the duration of these years independently of, and before we attempt to fix, their beginning and ending.In Daniel ii. and vii. it is shown first to Nebuchadnezzar in a“dream,”and afterwards to God's servant the prophet in a“vision,”that Israel was to be put on one side and become“Lo-Ammi”(not My people), while government was to be put into the hands of the Gentiles. Jerusalem was the central point of both these great and solemn facts. That is to say, during 2,520 years, while Jerusalem should remain in the power of the Gentiles, Israel could be“no more a nation”in possession of their land and city.We know, as a matter of fact, that to-day Jerusalem is in the hands of the Turks, and that it is still“trodden down of the Gentiles.”If we ask how long it shall continue to be“trodden down”? how long it will be before Israel shall again possess their city and their land?—the answer brings us at once to the heart of our subject.[pg 185]In seeking to determine both duration and chronology, it is necessary to plant our feet on sure ground. To do this, let us take a point on which all are agreed.There isonedate which is universally accepted; and concerning which the evidence is unquestioned.Abu Obeida, the Mahommedan General, laid siege to Jerusalem towards the close of 636a.d.The city was then occupied by the Romans, who held out for four months. When they capitulated, the PatriarchSophroniusobtained a clause in the treaty giving security to the inhabitants, and requiring the ratification ofOmarhimself.Omar, who had therefore to be sent for, arrived some six months afterwards, and the delay caused the actual delivering up of the city to take place early in the autumn ofa.d.637.80The yeara.d.636-7 is therefore the accepted date of the passing over of Jerusalem from the Romans to the Turks.Omarseems to have stayed in the city only about ten days, during which he must have given his instructions for the erection of the Mosque on the site of the Temple. This Mosque, therefore, stands as the sign and the symbol of the treading down of Jerusalem, and while it remains, those times of treading down cannot be considered as fulfilled.How steady was Israel's decadence from Nebuchadnezzar toOmar! Nothing would exceed that darkest moment in Israel's history, when Israel was[pg 186]well nigh obliterated in the mighty struggles of her enemies who fought over her inheritance. ThusOmarbecomes the great central point of the 2,520 years, whether reckoned asLunar,Zodiacal, orSolar, dividing them equally into two portions of 1,260 years.81Having thus fixed the central date, which already points forward to the end, let us go back and find the starting point, that we may the better understand the end.When Daniel was explaining to Nebuchadnezzar his mysterious dream, he said,“Thou art this head[pg 187]of gold”! (Dan. ii. 38). This moment is popularly, but erroneously, supposed to mark the commencement of the Babylonian kingdom—the first of these four great Gentile powers.But Daniel spoke of whatalreadyexisted, and wasexplaining the thencondition of things. He said,“Godhathgiven thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory”(Dan. ii. 37). The kingdom of Babylon had already been in existence for more than thirty years, for its king had destroyed Jerusalem and burnt the Temple with fire, and brought away many captives, amongst whom was Daniel and his companions. The opening words of the book make this very clear.The monumental history of Babylon, as now dug up, shows that before this it had been sometimes tributary to, and sometimes almost independent of, Assyria. Ina.m.3352, after a severe struggle with Assurbanipal, the Assyrian king, Babylon was once more subdued, and its king setting fire to his palace perished in the flames. After that there was peace for twenty-two years, during which time Kandalanu governed Babylon in succession to Sumas-sum-ukin, a son of Assurbanipal.Ina.m.3375 (i.e.b.c.627),82another revolt broke out, and the Assyrian king sent a general of great ability to quell it. His name was Nabu-pal-user (which meansNebo protects his son). He put down[pg 188]the rebellion with so much skill that Assurbanipal made him governor of Babylon. He shortly afterwards, ina.m.3376, himself rebelled, and made himself King of Babylon. Associating with him his son Nebuchadnezzar, they commenced a campaign against Assurbanipal, which ended in the fall of Nineveh and the complete subjugation of Assyria. The kingdom of Babylon, thus commencing inb.c.625,83became the first great Gentile kingdom as foretold in Daniel.There is practically no question, now, as to this date.The actualdurationof the three kingdoms that followed—Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, may not perhaps be so accurately determined. Their total duration is known, because it is fixed by a known date at the other end, but it might introduce controversial matter if we attempted to assign to them their exact relative duration. Probably they were, roughly:—Babylon about 90 years; Medo-Persia about 200 years; Greece about 304 years.We believe these to be fairly proportionate,84but whether they are or not, their total amount must have been 594 years, because the undisputed date of the battle ofActiumby which Augustus became the head of the Roman Empire, was Septemberb.c.31.[pg 189]From this date Jerusalem passed permanently under the power of Rome until the Mahommedan conquest ina.d.636-7.We have, therefore,three fixed dates, and these decide for us thedurationof the intervening periods; dividing them into the two great Eclipse Cycles of 594 years and 666 years!Jerusalem under the Gentiles.Babylon (the 1st Kingdom) commencedb.c.625.Battle of Actium, ending the possession of the 3rd Kingdom,b.c.31.Durationof the three Kingdoms, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, together (1st Eclipse Cycle), 594 years.Rome (the 4th Kingdom) became the possessor of Jerusalem,b.c.31.Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem, ending the possession of Rome,a.d.636.Durationof Rome's possession of Jerusalem (2nd Eclipse Cycle), 66685years.First half of“the times of the gentiles”, 1260 years.Date of Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem,a.d.636-7.Second half of“the times of the gentiles”andDurationof Mahommedan possession of Jerusalem,a.d.1260, and 1260 years.End and“fulness”of“the times of the Gentiles”,a.d.1896-7, and 2520 years.[pg 190]From this it appears that 1896-7a.d.would mark the fulfilment, and complete the duration, of“times of the Gentiles.”The above reckoning has the following advantages over all previous historicist interpretations:—1.Controverteddates are excluded.2. Thewholeperiod of 2520 years is dealt with, instead of only the latter half (1260), as is usually the case.3. It confines these“times”to the one place where the Lord Himself put them,viz.,“JERUSALEM.”He said,“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”These“times,”therefore, are confined to Jerusalem. This“treading down”is confined to Jerusalem. It is not the city of Rome that is to be trodden down for 1260 years. Why, then, should these“times”be separated from what is characteristic of theirduration, and applied to Rome, papal or imperial? Why should historicists search for some act of emperors or popes in the early part of the seventh century in order to add it to 1260, so as to find some terminal date in or near our own times!86We claim that the Lord Himself has joined these“times of the Gentiles”with the city of“Jerusalem,”and we say,“What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”(Matt. xix. 6).[pg 191]When Jesus spoke of thistreading down, it looks as though it were then still future; for He said,“Jerusalemshall betrodden down,”etc., The occupation of Jerusalem by Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, was for purposes ofgovernmentrather than for a wanton treading down. Government on the earth was committed unto them. But when Jerusalem passed from the government of the Roman Empire into the hands of the Turks, it could then be said, in a very special sense, to be“trodden down.”For of any government worthy of the name there has been none; and of desolation and desecration the city has been full. Under the feeble rule of the Turks, all the Gentiles seem to have combined in laying waste the holy city.Though Jews are returning thither in ever-increasing numbers, they are only strangers there. They have as yet no independent position, nor can they make any treaties. But when these“times”shall end, it means that they will have a position of sufficient independence to be able to make a treaty or league with the coming Prince (Dan. ix. 27); and then the course of events will bring on another treading down of 1260 literal“days”which will thus have had a fore-shadowing fulfilment in years! This is written in Rev. xi. 2. And to save us from any misunderstanding, the time is given, not in days, but in“months.”The angel, after directing John to measure the Temple of God and the altar, adds,“but the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure[pg 192]it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”This refers to a future treading down, which will be limited to the brief period of“forty two”literal“months,”during the time of the coming Prince; and“in the midst”of the last week, when he shall break His covenant with the Jews,87set up the“abomination of desolation”(Dan ix. 27; which is still future in Matt. xxiv. 15), and“tread down the holy city.”We now desire to specially emphasize the fact that all these dates, and their termination in a rapidly approaching fulfilment, referonly to Jerusalem, and the Gentiles, and the Jews! They refer only to the end of the Gentile possession of Jerusalem, and to the settlement of the Jews in their own city and land.These“times and seasons”have nothing whatever to do with“the Church of God”(1 Thess. v. 1). The mystical Body of Christ, whenever its members are complete,“will be taken up to meet the Lord—the Head of the Body—in the air, so to be ever with the Lord”(1 Thess. iv. 15-17). This glorious event has nothing to do with any earthly sign or circumstance, so far as the members of this mystical Body are concerned.[pg 193]Therefore we are not dealing here with the coming of the Lord; either for His saints, or with them. We are not referring to what is commonly and erroneously called“the end of the world.”We are merely pointing out that the end of Gentile dominionover Jerusalemis drawing near! And we cannot close our eyes to the marvellous manner in which the veil is being removed from Jewish hearts: to the change which has come over the Jewish nation in its attitude towards Christ and Christianity, chiefly, under God, through the unparalleled circulation of more than a quarter of a million copies of a new translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, by the late Isaac Salkinson, published by the Trinitarian Bible Society, and freely distributed by the Mildmay Mission to the Jews: to the Palestine literature which has sprung up amongst the Jews in recent years: to the persecutions in various countries which are stirring their nest, and setting the nation in motion: to the organized emigration to Argentina, which its promoters avowedly speak of as“a nursery ground for Palestine”(Daily Graphic, March 10th, 1892): to the railways completed and in course of construction in the Holy Land: to the numerous Societies and their branches which have permeated the whole nation, which, while having various names, have only one object—“the colonisation of Palestine.”When we put these events side by side with the teaching of the heavens as to the“cycles”or appointed times, we are merely showing how[pg 194]wonderfully they agree with what is written in the Book, and witnessed to by great and uncontested historic dates.Nor are we absolutely naming a definite year or day even for these Palestine events. After all, they can be only approximate, for man has so misused every gift that God has ever given him, that even with such wondrous heavenly time-keepers he cannot really tell you what year it is! And, besides this loss of reckoning, there is confusion as to the commencement of thea.d.era, which makes absolute accuracy between thea.m.,b.c., anda.d.dates impossible.Added to this, there is another point to be borne in mind,viz., that when the“times of the Gentiles”shall end, Jewish independence neednot be either immediate or complete!For when Nebuchadnezzar began his kingdom of Babylon ina.m.3376 (b.c.625), the Jews, though in their land and city, were not independent. Nebuchadnezzar went to and fro to Jerusalem, and put down and set up whom he would; and it was not till some thirty years afterwards that he destroyed the City and Temple and made the people captives.So, likewise, in the time of the end, there may be anepanodos. There may be a similar period of possession without independence, a quasi-independence guaranteed by the Great Powers; and, for ought we know, it may be that, in order to gaincomplete[pg 195]independence, they may ultimately make that fatal league with the coming Prince.So that while we name the dates 1896-7 as being significant, we are not“fixing dates”in the ordinary sense of the term, but merely pointing out some of“the signs of the times,”concerning which we ought not to be ignorant.Thetrue interpretationwill in any case still remain, and will surely be literally fulfilled in its own time. The Word of God will be vindicated; its prophetic truth will be verified; God Himself will be glorified; and His people saved with an everlasting salvation.Meanwhile the members of His Body will“wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come”(1 Thess. i. 10). They will live“looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people (r.v., a people for His own possession) zealous of good works”(Titus ii. 13, 14). They will“look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,”from heaven, believing that there is no hope either for“the Jew, the Gentile, or the Church of God,”or for a groaning creation, until“the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God[pg 196]hath spoken by the mouth of ALL HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN”(Acts iii. 19-21).“The world is sick, and yet not unto death;There is for it a day of health in store;From lips of love there comes the healing breath,—The breath of Him who all its sickness bore,And bids it rise to strength and beauty evermore.Evil still reigns; and deep within we feelThe fever, and the palsy, and the painOf life's perpetual heartaches, that revealThe rooted poison, which, from heart and brain,We labour to extract, but labour all in vain.Our skill avails not; ages come and go,Yet bring with them no respite and no cure;The hidden wound, the sigh of pent-up woe,The sting we smother, but must still endure,The worthless remedies which no relief procure,—All these cry out for something more divine,Which the worst woes of earth may not withstand;Medicine that cannot fail—the oil and wine,The balm and myrrh, growth of no earthly land,And the all-skilful touch of the great Healer's hand.Man needs a prophet: Heavenly Prophet, speak,And teach him what he is too proud to hear.Man needs a priest: True Priest, Thy silence break,And speak the words of pardon in his ear.Man needs a king: O King, at length in peace appear.”[pg 199]

Man has ever sought to rob Christ of His glory. He has long since done his best to obliterate His name and His work from the Revelation which had been written in the stars of light. When He humbled Himself, and came as the promised Seed of the woman, men“saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him.”And these werereligiousmen. It was religious men, not the common rabble, whom the Old Serpent made use of to wound Him in the heel. The Devil could not touch Him himself; he must use them as his instruments; and it was onlyreligiousmen that could be so used.

It was the“chief priests and scribes,”men learned in the Scriptures, whose very knowledge of the Word was used to compass His death amongst the babes at Bethlehem (Matt. ii. 4-6).

It was the same priests and scribes who were used to put Him to death, and give the long-prophesied wound in the heel.

Religion without Christ is enmity against God! Knowledge of the Scriptures where the heart is not subject to Christ, and where Christ is not seen in them, is powerless and lifeless. It is true of the Scriptures, as it will be of the heavenly Jerusalem—“the Lamb is the light thereof”(Rev. xxi. 23).

The Church of Rome has been used of the great enemy to rob the Lamb of God of His promised glory.Jerome, in his Latin translation of the Bible (405a.d.), wrote“ipse,”He, in Gen. iii. 15, as the“bruiser of the serpent's head.”And, in spite of the fact thatJeromehimself so quotes it in his commentary, and that it ismasculinein all the other ancient translations of the Bible, Rome has first corruptedJerome'sVulgate by changing the“e”into“a,”and putting“ipsa”(she) instead of“ipse”(He); then she has so translated this corruption and perpetuated this perversion in various languages! So that in all her versions, in her pictures and statues, in the decree of Pope Pius IX., which promulgated the dogma of the“immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary,”this lie of the Old Serpent has been foisted on unnumbered thousands of deluded souls, who have thereby been deceived into putting Mary in the place of Jesus; the“co-Redemptress”in the place of the Redeemer; the creature in the place of the Creator; the woman in the place of the woman's Seed;—until the outcome is reached by emblazoning, in huge gilt[pg 173]letters, on the outside of a large church in Rathmines, Dublin,“MARIÆ PECCATORUM REFUGIUM,”to Mary the Refuge of Sinners!

So complete has been the success of the subtlety of the Serpent, that he has beguiled thousands of Protestants to unite in circulating thesecorrupted versions as the Word of God, thus giving currency to the Devil's lie. This is done on the plea of expediency, in order that these versions might come to many as Protestant truth instead of Popish error; but thus misleading those who were seeking for light, while confirming Papists in their darkness.

But through all the“wisdom of the Serpent”we can detect his lie. It is very thinly veiled, and the Old Serpent has not succeeded in blinding the eyes which the Spirit of God has opened. True, we see in all Rome's pictures and statues the foot of Mary, on the Serpent's head, but the foot is notcoming down, nor is the headcrushed! Rather is the woman's foot resting on its head; and the woman herself supported by the Serpent.

The whole system of Mary-anity is thus seen to be the outcome of the Serpent's wisdom in opposition to the true Christ-ianity.

How different are the primeval star-pictures of the heavens. There, the club is lifted up, the foot is coming down, yea, the foot is actually planted upon the enemy, treading the Scorpion under foot.

Rome may corrupt the words of the Book, but she cannot touch the stars of heaven! The Devil[pg 174]himself cannot move them from their places. He may choose and use his servants and agents for corrupting the Scriptures written in the Book, but he cannot change the Revelation of the stars.

There,—no woman's foot is seen upon the Serpent's head! There,—no woman usurps the place of the all-glorious Redeemer!

InOphiuchuswe seeHimin dread conflict with the Serpent, and we seeHisfoot upon the Scorpion's heart (Scorpio). We seeHim, the Risen Lamb (Aries), bindingCetus, the great Monster of the Deep; we seeHimin the gloriousOrion, whose foot is coming down on the enemy's head (Lepus); we seeHimin the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Leo), about to tread down that Old Serpent (Hydra) the Devil; we seeHimin the mightyHercules, who has his foot on the head of theDragon(Draco), and his up-lifted club about to inflict the long-threatened blow; we seeHimcrowned inCepheus, with all His enemies subdued, and His right foot planted upon the Polar Star!

True, we do see awomanin this heavenly and Divine revelation; for there are four women. Two are connected with theRedeemer, and two with theRedeemed. The Redeemer is seen in the one (Virgo) as the“promised Seed”; in the other (Coma), He is seen as the child born, the Son given. The Redeemed are represented in one as a captivechained(Andromeda), with no power to wage conflict with an enemy, but a prey to every foe; in the other (Cassiopeia),[pg 175]she isenthroned, with no necessity for conflict. For with one hand she waves the palm of a victory which another (Perseus) has wrought on her behalf, while with her right hand she is preparing and making herself ready for“the marriage of the Lamb.”

Thus pure and undefiled is this primeval fountain of Divine truth. Thus harmonious is it with the written Word of God. And He who gave them both to enlighten a dark world which lieth in the power of this wicked one, has filled both with one subject—“The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.”

These are set forth by the Holy Spirit in a double sevenfold expansion of the prophetic promise of Gen. iii. 15, giving seven steps in His humiliation and seven in His glorification (Phil. ii. 5-1176).

CHRIST JESUS,1. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery (a thing to be grasped at and held) to be equal with God;2. But made Himself of no reputation (Gr.emptied Himself),3. And took upon Him the form of a servant,4. And was made in the likeness of men:5. And being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself.6. And became obedient unto death,7. Even the death of the cross.[pg 176]WHEREFORE1. God also hath highly exalted Him,2. And given Him a name which is above every name:3. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,4. Of things in heaven,5. And things on earth,6. And things under the earth;7. And that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Amen.“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,Thou who alone art worthy! It was thineBy ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth;And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since,And overpaid its value with Thy blood.Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and in their heartsThy title is engraven with a penDipp'd in the fountain of eternal love.Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and Thy delayGives courage to their foes, who, could they seeThe dawn of Thy last advent, long desired,Would creep into the bowels of the hills,And flee for safety to the falling rocks.”“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,Due to Thy last and most effectual work,Thy Word fulfilled, the conquest of a world.”(Cowper.)

CHRIST JESUS,

1. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery (a thing to be grasped at and held) to be equal with God;

2. But made Himself of no reputation (Gr.emptied Himself),

3. And took upon Him the form of a servant,

4. And was made in the likeness of men:

5. And being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself.

6. And became obedient unto death,

7. Even the death of the cross.

WHEREFORE

1. God also hath highly exalted Him,

2. And given Him a name which is above every name:

3. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

4. Of things in heaven,

5. And things on earth,

6. And things under the earth;

7. And that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,Thou who alone art worthy! It was thineBy ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth;And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since,And overpaid its value with Thy blood.Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and in their heartsThy title is engraven with a penDipp'd in the fountain of eternal love.Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and Thy delayGives courage to their foes, who, could they seeThe dawn of Thy last advent, long desired,Would creep into the bowels of the hills,And flee for safety to the falling rocks.”

“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,

Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,

Thou who alone art worthy! It was thine

By ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth;

And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since,

And overpaid its value with Thy blood.

Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and in their hearts

Thy title is engraven with a pen

Dipp'd in the fountain of eternal love.

Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and Thy delay

Gives courage to their foes, who, could they see

The dawn of Thy last advent, long desired,

Would creep into the bowels of the hills,

And flee for safety to the falling rocks.”

“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,Due to Thy last and most effectual work,Thy Word fulfilled, the conquest of a world.”

“Come, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,

Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,

Due to Thy last and most effectual work,

Thy Word fulfilled, the conquest of a world.”

(Cowper.)

“For Signs And For Seasons.”We have seen the great truths which are taught from the position, and forms, and names of the heavenly bodies. There are also truths to be learnt from theirmotions.When God created them and set them in the firmament of heaven, He said, in Gen. i. 14—“Let them be for signs and for seasons.”Here the word“signs”isothoth(אֹתֹת, plural of אוֹת,oth, from the root אֳתֳת,to come). Hence,a sign of somethingorsome One to come. In Jer. x. 2 Jehovah says,“And be not dismayedat the signs(וּמֵאתוֹת) of the heavens, for the heathen are dismayed at them.”The word“seasons”does not denote merely what we call the four seasons of the year, butcyclesof time. It is מוֹעֵד,appointed time(from the verb יָעַד,to point out,appoint). It occurs three more times in Genesis, each time in connection with the promised Seed—Gen. xvii. 21,“Atthisset timein the next year”;Gen. xviii. 14,“At the time appointedI will return”; andGen. xxi. 2,“At the set timeof which God had spoken.”[pg 178]Gen. i. 14 is therefore,“They (the sun, moon, and stars) shall be for signs (things to come) and for cycles (appointed times).”Here, then, we have a distinct declaration from God, that the heavens contain not only a Revelation concerningthings to comein the“Signs,”but also concerningappointed timesin the wondrous movements of the sun, and moon, and stars.The motions of the sun and moon are so arranged that at the end of a given interval of time they return into almost precisely the same position, with regard to each other and to the earth, as they held at the beginning of that interval.“Almost precisely,”but not quite precisely. There will be a slight outstanding difference, which will gradually increase in successive intervals, and finally destroy the possibility of the combination recurring, or else lead to combinations of a different character.Thus the daily difference between the movement of the sun and of the stars leads the sun back very nearly to conjunction with the same star as it was twelve months earlier, and gives us the cycle of the year. The slight difference in the sun's position relative to the stars at the end of the year, finally leads the sun back to the same star at the same time of the year,viz., at the spring equinox, and gives us the great precessional cycle of 25,800 years.So, too, with eclipses. Since the circumstances of any given eclipse are reproduced almost exactly 18 years and 11 days later, this period is called anEclipse Cycle, to which the ancient astronomers gave[pg 179]the name ofSaros;77and eclipses separated from each other by an exact cycle, and, therefore, corresponding closely in their conditions, are spoken of as being one and the same eclipse. EachSaroscontains, on the average, about 70 ± eclipses. Of these, on the average, 42 ± are solar and 28 ± are lunar. Since theSarosis 11 days (or, more correctly, 10.96 days) longer than 18 years, the successive recurrences of each eclipse fall 11 days later in the year each time, and in 33Sariwill have travelled on through the year and come round very nearly to the original date.But as theSarosdoes not reproduce the conditions of an eclipse with absolute exactness, and as the difference increases with every successive return, a time comes when the return of theSarosfails to bring about an eclipse at all. If the eclipse be a solar one before this takes place, a new eclipse begins to form a month later in the year than the old one, and becomes the first eclipse of a new series.This is the history of one such eclipse: On May 15 (Julian), 850a.d., there was a (new) eclipse of the sun, and it occurred as apartialeclipse. On August 20 (Julian), 1012a.d., this new eclipse becametotal. From that time it has been anannulareclipse, the latitude of the central shadow gradually shifting southward from the north, until on December 17 (Julian), 1210, it had reached N. Lat. 24°. It turned northward again after 1210, until March 14 (Julian), 1355, when it fell in N. Lat. 43°. Then it turned south,[pg 180]and has moved steadily in that direction, until on March 18 (Greg.), 1950, its last appearance as an annular eclipse will take place. On May 22 (Greg.), 2058, it will fall so far from the node that a new eclipse will follow it on June 21. It will make three more appearances as an ever-diminishing partial eclipse, and be last seen on June 24 (Greg.), 2112. Its total life-history, therefore, will have been 1,262 years and 36 days, and will have occupied 70Sari.In the above life-history of an eclipse78there is not the slightest difficulty as to its identification. TheSarosshows no break, and no interruption; nor does the character of the eclipse suffer any abrupt change. The district over which it is visible moves in a slow and orderly fashion from occurrence to occurrence over the earth's surface.Now the important point is this, that if we take the prophetic reckoning of 360 days to the year, we have the following significant Biblical numbers:—In the first place, we already have the 70 ±Saridivided into two portions of 33 + 37.A perfect cycle is accomplished in 33Sari, or 595 years, when the eclipse, by a series of unbroken[pg 181]Sari, has accomplished a passage through the year of 360 days; or, if we reckon only the whole numbers,i.e., the 18 completed years, we have for the 33Sarithe period of 594 years, while the remaining portion of 37Sarimakes 666 years (37 x 18) ; and the whole 70 ±Sarimakes 1,260 years (594 + 666).79We have then the following figures:—18 x 33 = 594 years.18 x 37 = 666 years.18 x 70 = 1260 years.Independently of this, we also know that 1,260 years is a soli-lunar cycle, so exact that its epact, or difference, is only 6 hours!There must, therefore, be something significant in these numbers,e.g., 70; in the number 1,260, with its divisions, not into two equal parts, but into 594 and 666; as also in its double, 2,520.There must be something to be learned in the occurrence and repetition of these heavenly cycles, which for nearly 6,000 years have been constantly repeated in the heavens, especially when we find these same numbers very prominently presented in the Word of God in connection with the fulfilment of prophecy.We have the great“seven times”(2,520) connected with the duration of Israel's punishment, and of the Gentiles' power. We have in Daniel and the[pg 182]Apocalypse the half of this great period presented as“days”(1,260), as“months”(42), and as“times,”or years (3-½).Futurists believe that these“days”and“months,”etc.,interpret for usthe purposes and counsels of God as connected with“the time of the end,”and as meaning literal“days”and“months,”etc.Historicists take these terms and themselvesinterpret the numbers, in the sense of a“day”being put for ayear, and they believe that these“1,260 days”will be fulfilled as 1,260years.One party boldly and ungraciously charges the other with teaching“The Fallacies of Futurism”; while the other might well retort with a reference to theHeresies of Historicism.But is there any necessity for the existence of two hostile camps? Is it not possible that there may be what we may call alongfulfilment in years? And is it not more than probable that in the time of the end, the crisis, there will also be ashortand literal fulfilment in days?We firmly believe that there will be this literal andshortfulfilment. We believe that when God says“days,”He meansdays; and that when He says“42 months,”He meansmonths, and not 1,260 years. In all of the passages referred to by historicists in support of what is called“the year-day theory,”the Holy Spirit uses these words“days”and“years”in the sense of days and years. In the two particular instances of Israel's wanderings (Num. xiv. 34), and Ezekiel's prophesying (Ezek. iv. 6), He chooses to[pg 183]take thenumberof days as denoting thesame numberof years; but He does not tell us that we are to do the same in other cases! He only asserts His sovereignty by thus acting, while we only show our presumption in taking His sovereign act as a general principle.But while fully believing in theshortfulfilment, we are quite prepared to admit that there may be alongfulfilmentas well; and that, owing to the wondrous harmony, and marvellous correspondence, and infinite wisdom of all the works and ways of God, there may be a fulfilment, or rather a“filment,”if we may coin the word, in years, which will be only a foreshadowing of the literalful-filment afterwards to take place indays.If historicists will allow us this liberty as tointerpretation, and permit us to believe that God means what He says, we will give them some remarkable evidence in support of their views, by way ofapplication. In other words, if they will allow us tointerpret“days”as meaning days, we will gladly allow them, and be at one with them, inapplyingthem to years. So that while we believe theinterpretationto mean“days,”and to teach ashortfulfilment at the time of the end, we will thankfully admit anapplicationwhich shall take these days as foreshowing alongfulfilment in years.Inapplying, then, these significant numbers (42, 70, 594, 666, 1,260, and 2,520) to years, from what point or date shall we begin to reckon the“times of the Gentiles”(Luke xxi. 24)? That there are such definite“times”the words of the Lord Jesus show,[pg 184]when He says,“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”(Luke xxi. 24). That there are“seven times”of Gentile dominion is more than intimated by the symbolic episode in the life of Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in Dan. iv.; and that there are“seven times”of Israel's punishment is clearly stated in Lev. xxvi. 18.“Seven times,”according to the Historicist school of interpreters, are equal to 2,520 years.Instead of asking where they begin, let us first note the fact that it isdurationwhich is emphasised in the Scriptures rather thanchronology; and look at the duration of these years independently of, and before we attempt to fix, their beginning and ending.In Daniel ii. and vii. it is shown first to Nebuchadnezzar in a“dream,”and afterwards to God's servant the prophet in a“vision,”that Israel was to be put on one side and become“Lo-Ammi”(not My people), while government was to be put into the hands of the Gentiles. Jerusalem was the central point of both these great and solemn facts. That is to say, during 2,520 years, while Jerusalem should remain in the power of the Gentiles, Israel could be“no more a nation”in possession of their land and city.We know, as a matter of fact, that to-day Jerusalem is in the hands of the Turks, and that it is still“trodden down of the Gentiles.”If we ask how long it shall continue to be“trodden down”? how long it will be before Israel shall again possess their city and their land?—the answer brings us at once to the heart of our subject.[pg 185]In seeking to determine both duration and chronology, it is necessary to plant our feet on sure ground. To do this, let us take a point on which all are agreed.There isonedate which is universally accepted; and concerning which the evidence is unquestioned.Abu Obeida, the Mahommedan General, laid siege to Jerusalem towards the close of 636a.d.The city was then occupied by the Romans, who held out for four months. When they capitulated, the PatriarchSophroniusobtained a clause in the treaty giving security to the inhabitants, and requiring the ratification ofOmarhimself.Omar, who had therefore to be sent for, arrived some six months afterwards, and the delay caused the actual delivering up of the city to take place early in the autumn ofa.d.637.80The yeara.d.636-7 is therefore the accepted date of the passing over of Jerusalem from the Romans to the Turks.Omarseems to have stayed in the city only about ten days, during which he must have given his instructions for the erection of the Mosque on the site of the Temple. This Mosque, therefore, stands as the sign and the symbol of the treading down of Jerusalem, and while it remains, those times of treading down cannot be considered as fulfilled.How steady was Israel's decadence from Nebuchadnezzar toOmar! Nothing would exceed that darkest moment in Israel's history, when Israel was[pg 186]well nigh obliterated in the mighty struggles of her enemies who fought over her inheritance. ThusOmarbecomes the great central point of the 2,520 years, whether reckoned asLunar,Zodiacal, orSolar, dividing them equally into two portions of 1,260 years.81Having thus fixed the central date, which already points forward to the end, let us go back and find the starting point, that we may the better understand the end.When Daniel was explaining to Nebuchadnezzar his mysterious dream, he said,“Thou art this head[pg 187]of gold”! (Dan. ii. 38). This moment is popularly, but erroneously, supposed to mark the commencement of the Babylonian kingdom—the first of these four great Gentile powers.But Daniel spoke of whatalreadyexisted, and wasexplaining the thencondition of things. He said,“Godhathgiven thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory”(Dan. ii. 37). The kingdom of Babylon had already been in existence for more than thirty years, for its king had destroyed Jerusalem and burnt the Temple with fire, and brought away many captives, amongst whom was Daniel and his companions. The opening words of the book make this very clear.The monumental history of Babylon, as now dug up, shows that before this it had been sometimes tributary to, and sometimes almost independent of, Assyria. Ina.m.3352, after a severe struggle with Assurbanipal, the Assyrian king, Babylon was once more subdued, and its king setting fire to his palace perished in the flames. After that there was peace for twenty-two years, during which time Kandalanu governed Babylon in succession to Sumas-sum-ukin, a son of Assurbanipal.Ina.m.3375 (i.e.b.c.627),82another revolt broke out, and the Assyrian king sent a general of great ability to quell it. His name was Nabu-pal-user (which meansNebo protects his son). He put down[pg 188]the rebellion with so much skill that Assurbanipal made him governor of Babylon. He shortly afterwards, ina.m.3376, himself rebelled, and made himself King of Babylon. Associating with him his son Nebuchadnezzar, they commenced a campaign against Assurbanipal, which ended in the fall of Nineveh and the complete subjugation of Assyria. The kingdom of Babylon, thus commencing inb.c.625,83became the first great Gentile kingdom as foretold in Daniel.There is practically no question, now, as to this date.The actualdurationof the three kingdoms that followed—Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, may not perhaps be so accurately determined. Their total duration is known, because it is fixed by a known date at the other end, but it might introduce controversial matter if we attempted to assign to them their exact relative duration. Probably they were, roughly:—Babylon about 90 years; Medo-Persia about 200 years; Greece about 304 years.We believe these to be fairly proportionate,84but whether they are or not, their total amount must have been 594 years, because the undisputed date of the battle ofActiumby which Augustus became the head of the Roman Empire, was Septemberb.c.31.[pg 189]From this date Jerusalem passed permanently under the power of Rome until the Mahommedan conquest ina.d.636-7.We have, therefore,three fixed dates, and these decide for us thedurationof the intervening periods; dividing them into the two great Eclipse Cycles of 594 years and 666 years!Jerusalem under the Gentiles.Babylon (the 1st Kingdom) commencedb.c.625.Battle of Actium, ending the possession of the 3rd Kingdom,b.c.31.Durationof the three Kingdoms, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, together (1st Eclipse Cycle), 594 years.Rome (the 4th Kingdom) became the possessor of Jerusalem,b.c.31.Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem, ending the possession of Rome,a.d.636.Durationof Rome's possession of Jerusalem (2nd Eclipse Cycle), 66685years.First half of“the times of the gentiles”, 1260 years.Date of Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem,a.d.636-7.Second half of“the times of the gentiles”andDurationof Mahommedan possession of Jerusalem,a.d.1260, and 1260 years.End and“fulness”of“the times of the Gentiles”,a.d.1896-7, and 2520 years.[pg 190]From this it appears that 1896-7a.d.would mark the fulfilment, and complete the duration, of“times of the Gentiles.”The above reckoning has the following advantages over all previous historicist interpretations:—1.Controverteddates are excluded.2. Thewholeperiod of 2520 years is dealt with, instead of only the latter half (1260), as is usually the case.3. It confines these“times”to the one place where the Lord Himself put them,viz.,“JERUSALEM.”He said,“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”These“times,”therefore, are confined to Jerusalem. This“treading down”is confined to Jerusalem. It is not the city of Rome that is to be trodden down for 1260 years. Why, then, should these“times”be separated from what is characteristic of theirduration, and applied to Rome, papal or imperial? Why should historicists search for some act of emperors or popes in the early part of the seventh century in order to add it to 1260, so as to find some terminal date in or near our own times!86We claim that the Lord Himself has joined these“times of the Gentiles”with the city of“Jerusalem,”and we say,“What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”(Matt. xix. 6).[pg 191]When Jesus spoke of thistreading down, it looks as though it were then still future; for He said,“Jerusalemshall betrodden down,”etc., The occupation of Jerusalem by Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, was for purposes ofgovernmentrather than for a wanton treading down. Government on the earth was committed unto them. But when Jerusalem passed from the government of the Roman Empire into the hands of the Turks, it could then be said, in a very special sense, to be“trodden down.”For of any government worthy of the name there has been none; and of desolation and desecration the city has been full. Under the feeble rule of the Turks, all the Gentiles seem to have combined in laying waste the holy city.Though Jews are returning thither in ever-increasing numbers, they are only strangers there. They have as yet no independent position, nor can they make any treaties. But when these“times”shall end, it means that they will have a position of sufficient independence to be able to make a treaty or league with the coming Prince (Dan. ix. 27); and then the course of events will bring on another treading down of 1260 literal“days”which will thus have had a fore-shadowing fulfilment in years! This is written in Rev. xi. 2. And to save us from any misunderstanding, the time is given, not in days, but in“months.”The angel, after directing John to measure the Temple of God and the altar, adds,“but the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure[pg 192]it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”This refers to a future treading down, which will be limited to the brief period of“forty two”literal“months,”during the time of the coming Prince; and“in the midst”of the last week, when he shall break His covenant with the Jews,87set up the“abomination of desolation”(Dan ix. 27; which is still future in Matt. xxiv. 15), and“tread down the holy city.”We now desire to specially emphasize the fact that all these dates, and their termination in a rapidly approaching fulfilment, referonly to Jerusalem, and the Gentiles, and the Jews! They refer only to the end of the Gentile possession of Jerusalem, and to the settlement of the Jews in their own city and land.These“times and seasons”have nothing whatever to do with“the Church of God”(1 Thess. v. 1). The mystical Body of Christ, whenever its members are complete,“will be taken up to meet the Lord—the Head of the Body—in the air, so to be ever with the Lord”(1 Thess. iv. 15-17). This glorious event has nothing to do with any earthly sign or circumstance, so far as the members of this mystical Body are concerned.[pg 193]Therefore we are not dealing here with the coming of the Lord; either for His saints, or with them. We are not referring to what is commonly and erroneously called“the end of the world.”We are merely pointing out that the end of Gentile dominionover Jerusalemis drawing near! And we cannot close our eyes to the marvellous manner in which the veil is being removed from Jewish hearts: to the change which has come over the Jewish nation in its attitude towards Christ and Christianity, chiefly, under God, through the unparalleled circulation of more than a quarter of a million copies of a new translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, by the late Isaac Salkinson, published by the Trinitarian Bible Society, and freely distributed by the Mildmay Mission to the Jews: to the Palestine literature which has sprung up amongst the Jews in recent years: to the persecutions in various countries which are stirring their nest, and setting the nation in motion: to the organized emigration to Argentina, which its promoters avowedly speak of as“a nursery ground for Palestine”(Daily Graphic, March 10th, 1892): to the railways completed and in course of construction in the Holy Land: to the numerous Societies and their branches which have permeated the whole nation, which, while having various names, have only one object—“the colonisation of Palestine.”When we put these events side by side with the teaching of the heavens as to the“cycles”or appointed times, we are merely showing how[pg 194]wonderfully they agree with what is written in the Book, and witnessed to by great and uncontested historic dates.Nor are we absolutely naming a definite year or day even for these Palestine events. After all, they can be only approximate, for man has so misused every gift that God has ever given him, that even with such wondrous heavenly time-keepers he cannot really tell you what year it is! And, besides this loss of reckoning, there is confusion as to the commencement of thea.d.era, which makes absolute accuracy between thea.m.,b.c., anda.d.dates impossible.Added to this, there is another point to be borne in mind,viz., that when the“times of the Gentiles”shall end, Jewish independence neednot be either immediate or complete!For when Nebuchadnezzar began his kingdom of Babylon ina.m.3376 (b.c.625), the Jews, though in their land and city, were not independent. Nebuchadnezzar went to and fro to Jerusalem, and put down and set up whom he would; and it was not till some thirty years afterwards that he destroyed the City and Temple and made the people captives.So, likewise, in the time of the end, there may be anepanodos. There may be a similar period of possession without independence, a quasi-independence guaranteed by the Great Powers; and, for ought we know, it may be that, in order to gaincomplete[pg 195]independence, they may ultimately make that fatal league with the coming Prince.So that while we name the dates 1896-7 as being significant, we are not“fixing dates”in the ordinary sense of the term, but merely pointing out some of“the signs of the times,”concerning which we ought not to be ignorant.Thetrue interpretationwill in any case still remain, and will surely be literally fulfilled in its own time. The Word of God will be vindicated; its prophetic truth will be verified; God Himself will be glorified; and His people saved with an everlasting salvation.Meanwhile the members of His Body will“wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come”(1 Thess. i. 10). They will live“looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people (r.v., a people for His own possession) zealous of good works”(Titus ii. 13, 14). They will“look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,”from heaven, believing that there is no hope either for“the Jew, the Gentile, or the Church of God,”or for a groaning creation, until“the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God[pg 196]hath spoken by the mouth of ALL HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN”(Acts iii. 19-21).“The world is sick, and yet not unto death;There is for it a day of health in store;From lips of love there comes the healing breath,—The breath of Him who all its sickness bore,And bids it rise to strength and beauty evermore.Evil still reigns; and deep within we feelThe fever, and the palsy, and the painOf life's perpetual heartaches, that revealThe rooted poison, which, from heart and brain,We labour to extract, but labour all in vain.Our skill avails not; ages come and go,Yet bring with them no respite and no cure;The hidden wound, the sigh of pent-up woe,The sting we smother, but must still endure,The worthless remedies which no relief procure,—All these cry out for something more divine,Which the worst woes of earth may not withstand;Medicine that cannot fail—the oil and wine,The balm and myrrh, growth of no earthly land,And the all-skilful touch of the great Healer's hand.Man needs a prophet: Heavenly Prophet, speak,And teach him what he is too proud to hear.Man needs a priest: True Priest, Thy silence break,And speak the words of pardon in his ear.Man needs a king: O King, at length in peace appear.”

We have seen the great truths which are taught from the position, and forms, and names of the heavenly bodies. There are also truths to be learnt from theirmotions.

When God created them and set them in the firmament of heaven, He said, in Gen. i. 14—

“Let them be for signs and for seasons.”

Here the word“signs”isothoth(אֹתֹת, plural of אוֹת,oth, from the root אֳתֳת,to come). Hence,a sign of somethingorsome One to come. In Jer. x. 2 Jehovah says,“And be not dismayedat the signs(וּמֵאתוֹת) of the heavens, for the heathen are dismayed at them.”The word“seasons”does not denote merely what we call the four seasons of the year, butcyclesof time. It is מוֹעֵד,appointed time(from the verb יָעַד,to point out,appoint). It occurs three more times in Genesis, each time in connection with the promised Seed—

Gen. xvii. 21,“Atthisset timein the next year”;

Gen. xviii. 14,“At the time appointedI will return”; and

Gen. xxi. 2,“At the set timeof which God had spoken.”

Gen. i. 14 is therefore,“They (the sun, moon, and stars) shall be for signs (things to come) and for cycles (appointed times).”

Here, then, we have a distinct declaration from God, that the heavens contain not only a Revelation concerningthings to comein the“Signs,”but also concerningappointed timesin the wondrous movements of the sun, and moon, and stars.

The motions of the sun and moon are so arranged that at the end of a given interval of time they return into almost precisely the same position, with regard to each other and to the earth, as they held at the beginning of that interval.“Almost precisely,”but not quite precisely. There will be a slight outstanding difference, which will gradually increase in successive intervals, and finally destroy the possibility of the combination recurring, or else lead to combinations of a different character.

Thus the daily difference between the movement of the sun and of the stars leads the sun back very nearly to conjunction with the same star as it was twelve months earlier, and gives us the cycle of the year. The slight difference in the sun's position relative to the stars at the end of the year, finally leads the sun back to the same star at the same time of the year,viz., at the spring equinox, and gives us the great precessional cycle of 25,800 years.

So, too, with eclipses. Since the circumstances of any given eclipse are reproduced almost exactly 18 years and 11 days later, this period is called anEclipse Cycle, to which the ancient astronomers gave[pg 179]the name ofSaros;77and eclipses separated from each other by an exact cycle, and, therefore, corresponding closely in their conditions, are spoken of as being one and the same eclipse. EachSaroscontains, on the average, about 70 ± eclipses. Of these, on the average, 42 ± are solar and 28 ± are lunar. Since theSarosis 11 days (or, more correctly, 10.96 days) longer than 18 years, the successive recurrences of each eclipse fall 11 days later in the year each time, and in 33Sariwill have travelled on through the year and come round very nearly to the original date.

But as theSarosdoes not reproduce the conditions of an eclipse with absolute exactness, and as the difference increases with every successive return, a time comes when the return of theSarosfails to bring about an eclipse at all. If the eclipse be a solar one before this takes place, a new eclipse begins to form a month later in the year than the old one, and becomes the first eclipse of a new series.

This is the history of one such eclipse: On May 15 (Julian), 850a.d., there was a (new) eclipse of the sun, and it occurred as apartialeclipse. On August 20 (Julian), 1012a.d., this new eclipse becametotal. From that time it has been anannulareclipse, the latitude of the central shadow gradually shifting southward from the north, until on December 17 (Julian), 1210, it had reached N. Lat. 24°. It turned northward again after 1210, until March 14 (Julian), 1355, when it fell in N. Lat. 43°. Then it turned south,[pg 180]and has moved steadily in that direction, until on March 18 (Greg.), 1950, its last appearance as an annular eclipse will take place. On May 22 (Greg.), 2058, it will fall so far from the node that a new eclipse will follow it on June 21. It will make three more appearances as an ever-diminishing partial eclipse, and be last seen on June 24 (Greg.), 2112. Its total life-history, therefore, will have been 1,262 years and 36 days, and will have occupied 70Sari.

In the above life-history of an eclipse78there is not the slightest difficulty as to its identification. TheSarosshows no break, and no interruption; nor does the character of the eclipse suffer any abrupt change. The district over which it is visible moves in a slow and orderly fashion from occurrence to occurrence over the earth's surface.

Now the important point is this, that if we take the prophetic reckoning of 360 days to the year, we have the following significant Biblical numbers:—

In the first place, we already have the 70 ±Saridivided into two portions of 33 + 37.

A perfect cycle is accomplished in 33Sari, or 595 years, when the eclipse, by a series of unbroken[pg 181]Sari, has accomplished a passage through the year of 360 days; or, if we reckon only the whole numbers,i.e., the 18 completed years, we have for the 33Sarithe period of 594 years, while the remaining portion of 37Sarimakes 666 years (37 x 18) ; and the whole 70 ±Sarimakes 1,260 years (594 + 666).79

We have then the following figures:—

18 x 33 = 594 years.18 x 37 = 666 years.18 x 70 = 1260 years.

18 x 33 = 594 years.

18 x 37 = 666 years.

18 x 70 = 1260 years.

Independently of this, we also know that 1,260 years is a soli-lunar cycle, so exact that its epact, or difference, is only 6 hours!

There must, therefore, be something significant in these numbers,e.g., 70; in the number 1,260, with its divisions, not into two equal parts, but into 594 and 666; as also in its double, 2,520.

There must be something to be learned in the occurrence and repetition of these heavenly cycles, which for nearly 6,000 years have been constantly repeated in the heavens, especially when we find these same numbers very prominently presented in the Word of God in connection with the fulfilment of prophecy.

We have the great“seven times”(2,520) connected with the duration of Israel's punishment, and of the Gentiles' power. We have in Daniel and the[pg 182]Apocalypse the half of this great period presented as“days”(1,260), as“months”(42), and as“times,”or years (3-½).

Futurists believe that these“days”and“months,”etc.,interpret for usthe purposes and counsels of God as connected with“the time of the end,”and as meaning literal“days”and“months,”etc.

Historicists take these terms and themselvesinterpret the numbers, in the sense of a“day”being put for ayear, and they believe that these“1,260 days”will be fulfilled as 1,260years.

One party boldly and ungraciously charges the other with teaching“The Fallacies of Futurism”; while the other might well retort with a reference to theHeresies of Historicism.

But is there any necessity for the existence of two hostile camps? Is it not possible that there may be what we may call alongfulfilment in years? And is it not more than probable that in the time of the end, the crisis, there will also be ashortand literal fulfilment in days?

We firmly believe that there will be this literal andshortfulfilment. We believe that when God says“days,”He meansdays; and that when He says“42 months,”He meansmonths, and not 1,260 years. In all of the passages referred to by historicists in support of what is called“the year-day theory,”the Holy Spirit uses these words“days”and“years”in the sense of days and years. In the two particular instances of Israel's wanderings (Num. xiv. 34), and Ezekiel's prophesying (Ezek. iv. 6), He chooses to[pg 183]take thenumberof days as denoting thesame numberof years; but He does not tell us that we are to do the same in other cases! He only asserts His sovereignty by thus acting, while we only show our presumption in taking His sovereign act as a general principle.

But while fully believing in theshortfulfilment, we are quite prepared to admit that there may be alongfulfilmentas well; and that, owing to the wondrous harmony, and marvellous correspondence, and infinite wisdom of all the works and ways of God, there may be a fulfilment, or rather a“filment,”if we may coin the word, in years, which will be only a foreshadowing of the literalful-filment afterwards to take place indays.

If historicists will allow us this liberty as tointerpretation, and permit us to believe that God means what He says, we will give them some remarkable evidence in support of their views, by way ofapplication. In other words, if they will allow us tointerpret“days”as meaning days, we will gladly allow them, and be at one with them, inapplyingthem to years. So that while we believe theinterpretationto mean“days,”and to teach ashortfulfilment at the time of the end, we will thankfully admit anapplicationwhich shall take these days as foreshowing alongfulfilment in years.

Inapplying, then, these significant numbers (42, 70, 594, 666, 1,260, and 2,520) to years, from what point or date shall we begin to reckon the“times of the Gentiles”(Luke xxi. 24)? That there are such definite“times”the words of the Lord Jesus show,[pg 184]when He says,“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”(Luke xxi. 24). That there are“seven times”of Gentile dominion is more than intimated by the symbolic episode in the life of Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in Dan. iv.; and that there are“seven times”of Israel's punishment is clearly stated in Lev. xxvi. 18.“Seven times,”according to the Historicist school of interpreters, are equal to 2,520 years.

Instead of asking where they begin, let us first note the fact that it isdurationwhich is emphasised in the Scriptures rather thanchronology; and look at the duration of these years independently of, and before we attempt to fix, their beginning and ending.

In Daniel ii. and vii. it is shown first to Nebuchadnezzar in a“dream,”and afterwards to God's servant the prophet in a“vision,”that Israel was to be put on one side and become“Lo-Ammi”(not My people), while government was to be put into the hands of the Gentiles. Jerusalem was the central point of both these great and solemn facts. That is to say, during 2,520 years, while Jerusalem should remain in the power of the Gentiles, Israel could be“no more a nation”in possession of their land and city.

We know, as a matter of fact, that to-day Jerusalem is in the hands of the Turks, and that it is still“trodden down of the Gentiles.”

If we ask how long it shall continue to be“trodden down”? how long it will be before Israel shall again possess their city and their land?—the answer brings us at once to the heart of our subject.

In seeking to determine both duration and chronology, it is necessary to plant our feet on sure ground. To do this, let us take a point on which all are agreed.

There isonedate which is universally accepted; and concerning which the evidence is unquestioned.

Abu Obeida, the Mahommedan General, laid siege to Jerusalem towards the close of 636a.d.The city was then occupied by the Romans, who held out for four months. When they capitulated, the PatriarchSophroniusobtained a clause in the treaty giving security to the inhabitants, and requiring the ratification ofOmarhimself.Omar, who had therefore to be sent for, arrived some six months afterwards, and the delay caused the actual delivering up of the city to take place early in the autumn ofa.d.637.80

The yeara.d.636-7 is therefore the accepted date of the passing over of Jerusalem from the Romans to the Turks.

Omarseems to have stayed in the city only about ten days, during which he must have given his instructions for the erection of the Mosque on the site of the Temple. This Mosque, therefore, stands as the sign and the symbol of the treading down of Jerusalem, and while it remains, those times of treading down cannot be considered as fulfilled.

How steady was Israel's decadence from Nebuchadnezzar toOmar! Nothing would exceed that darkest moment in Israel's history, when Israel was[pg 186]well nigh obliterated in the mighty struggles of her enemies who fought over her inheritance. ThusOmarbecomes the great central point of the 2,520 years, whether reckoned asLunar,Zodiacal, orSolar, dividing them equally into two portions of 1,260 years.81

Having thus fixed the central date, which already points forward to the end, let us go back and find the starting point, that we may the better understand the end.

When Daniel was explaining to Nebuchadnezzar his mysterious dream, he said,“Thou art this head[pg 187]of gold”! (Dan. ii. 38). This moment is popularly, but erroneously, supposed to mark the commencement of the Babylonian kingdom—the first of these four great Gentile powers.

But Daniel spoke of whatalreadyexisted, and wasexplaining the thencondition of things. He said,“Godhathgiven thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory”(Dan. ii. 37). The kingdom of Babylon had already been in existence for more than thirty years, for its king had destroyed Jerusalem and burnt the Temple with fire, and brought away many captives, amongst whom was Daniel and his companions. The opening words of the book make this very clear.

The monumental history of Babylon, as now dug up, shows that before this it had been sometimes tributary to, and sometimes almost independent of, Assyria. Ina.m.3352, after a severe struggle with Assurbanipal, the Assyrian king, Babylon was once more subdued, and its king setting fire to his palace perished in the flames. After that there was peace for twenty-two years, during which time Kandalanu governed Babylon in succession to Sumas-sum-ukin, a son of Assurbanipal.

Ina.m.3375 (i.e.b.c.627),82another revolt broke out, and the Assyrian king sent a general of great ability to quell it. His name was Nabu-pal-user (which meansNebo protects his son). He put down[pg 188]the rebellion with so much skill that Assurbanipal made him governor of Babylon. He shortly afterwards, ina.m.3376, himself rebelled, and made himself King of Babylon. Associating with him his son Nebuchadnezzar, they commenced a campaign against Assurbanipal, which ended in the fall of Nineveh and the complete subjugation of Assyria. The kingdom of Babylon, thus commencing inb.c.625,83became the first great Gentile kingdom as foretold in Daniel.

There is practically no question, now, as to this date.

The actualdurationof the three kingdoms that followed—Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, may not perhaps be so accurately determined. Their total duration is known, because it is fixed by a known date at the other end, but it might introduce controversial matter if we attempted to assign to them their exact relative duration. Probably they were, roughly:—Babylon about 90 years; Medo-Persia about 200 years; Greece about 304 years.

We believe these to be fairly proportionate,84but whether they are or not, their total amount must have been 594 years, because the undisputed date of the battle ofActiumby which Augustus became the head of the Roman Empire, was Septemberb.c.31.[pg 189]From this date Jerusalem passed permanently under the power of Rome until the Mahommedan conquest ina.d.636-7.

We have, therefore,three fixed dates, and these decide for us thedurationof the intervening periods; dividing them into the two great Eclipse Cycles of 594 years and 666 years!

Jerusalem under the Gentiles.Babylon (the 1st Kingdom) commencedb.c.625.Battle of Actium, ending the possession of the 3rd Kingdom,b.c.31.Durationof the three Kingdoms, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, together (1st Eclipse Cycle), 594 years.Rome (the 4th Kingdom) became the possessor of Jerusalem,b.c.31.Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem, ending the possession of Rome,a.d.636.Durationof Rome's possession of Jerusalem (2nd Eclipse Cycle), 66685years.First half of“the times of the gentiles”, 1260 years.Date of Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem,a.d.636-7.Second half of“the times of the gentiles”andDurationof Mahommedan possession of Jerusalem,a.d.1260, and 1260 years.End and“fulness”of“the times of the Gentiles”,a.d.1896-7, and 2520 years.

Jerusalem under the Gentiles.

Babylon (the 1st Kingdom) commencedb.c.625.

Battle of Actium, ending the possession of the 3rd Kingdom,b.c.31.

Durationof the three Kingdoms, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, together (1st Eclipse Cycle), 594 years.

Rome (the 4th Kingdom) became the possessor of Jerusalem,b.c.31.

Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem, ending the possession of Rome,a.d.636.

Durationof Rome's possession of Jerusalem (2nd Eclipse Cycle), 66685years.

First half of“the times of the gentiles”, 1260 years.

Date of Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem,a.d.636-7.

Second half of“the times of the gentiles”andDurationof Mahommedan possession of Jerusalem,a.d.1260, and 1260 years.

End and“fulness”of“the times of the Gentiles”,a.d.1896-7, and 2520 years.

From this it appears that 1896-7a.d.would mark the fulfilment, and complete the duration, of“times of the Gentiles.”

The above reckoning has the following advantages over all previous historicist interpretations:—

1.Controverteddates are excluded.

2. Thewholeperiod of 2520 years is dealt with, instead of only the latter half (1260), as is usually the case.

3. It confines these“times”to the one place where the Lord Himself put them,viz.,“JERUSALEM.”He said,“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

These“times,”therefore, are confined to Jerusalem. This“treading down”is confined to Jerusalem. It is not the city of Rome that is to be trodden down for 1260 years. Why, then, should these“times”be separated from what is characteristic of theirduration, and applied to Rome, papal or imperial? Why should historicists search for some act of emperors or popes in the early part of the seventh century in order to add it to 1260, so as to find some terminal date in or near our own times!86

We claim that the Lord Himself has joined these“times of the Gentiles”with the city of“Jerusalem,”and we say,“What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”(Matt. xix. 6).

When Jesus spoke of thistreading down, it looks as though it were then still future; for He said,“Jerusalemshall betrodden down,”etc., The occupation of Jerusalem by Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, was for purposes ofgovernmentrather than for a wanton treading down. Government on the earth was committed unto them. But when Jerusalem passed from the government of the Roman Empire into the hands of the Turks, it could then be said, in a very special sense, to be“trodden down.”For of any government worthy of the name there has been none; and of desolation and desecration the city has been full. Under the feeble rule of the Turks, all the Gentiles seem to have combined in laying waste the holy city.

Though Jews are returning thither in ever-increasing numbers, they are only strangers there. They have as yet no independent position, nor can they make any treaties. But when these“times”shall end, it means that they will have a position of sufficient independence to be able to make a treaty or league with the coming Prince (Dan. ix. 27); and then the course of events will bring on another treading down of 1260 literal“days”which will thus have had a fore-shadowing fulfilment in years! This is written in Rev. xi. 2. And to save us from any misunderstanding, the time is given, not in days, but in“months.”

The angel, after directing John to measure the Temple of God and the altar, adds,“but the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure[pg 192]it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”

This refers to a future treading down, which will be limited to the brief period of“forty two”literal“months,”during the time of the coming Prince; and“in the midst”of the last week, when he shall break His covenant with the Jews,87set up the“abomination of desolation”(Dan ix. 27; which is still future in Matt. xxiv. 15), and“tread down the holy city.”

We now desire to specially emphasize the fact that all these dates, and their termination in a rapidly approaching fulfilment, referonly to Jerusalem, and the Gentiles, and the Jews! They refer only to the end of the Gentile possession of Jerusalem, and to the settlement of the Jews in their own city and land.

These“times and seasons”have nothing whatever to do with“the Church of God”(1 Thess. v. 1). The mystical Body of Christ, whenever its members are complete,“will be taken up to meet the Lord—the Head of the Body—in the air, so to be ever with the Lord”(1 Thess. iv. 15-17). This glorious event has nothing to do with any earthly sign or circumstance, so far as the members of this mystical Body are concerned.

Therefore we are not dealing here with the coming of the Lord; either for His saints, or with them. We are not referring to what is commonly and erroneously called“the end of the world.”We are merely pointing out that the end of Gentile dominionover Jerusalemis drawing near! And we cannot close our eyes to the marvellous manner in which the veil is being removed from Jewish hearts: to the change which has come over the Jewish nation in its attitude towards Christ and Christianity, chiefly, under God, through the unparalleled circulation of more than a quarter of a million copies of a new translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, by the late Isaac Salkinson, published by the Trinitarian Bible Society, and freely distributed by the Mildmay Mission to the Jews: to the Palestine literature which has sprung up amongst the Jews in recent years: to the persecutions in various countries which are stirring their nest, and setting the nation in motion: to the organized emigration to Argentina, which its promoters avowedly speak of as“a nursery ground for Palestine”(Daily Graphic, March 10th, 1892): to the railways completed and in course of construction in the Holy Land: to the numerous Societies and their branches which have permeated the whole nation, which, while having various names, have only one object—“the colonisation of Palestine.”

When we put these events side by side with the teaching of the heavens as to the“cycles”or appointed times, we are merely showing how[pg 194]wonderfully they agree with what is written in the Book, and witnessed to by great and uncontested historic dates.

Nor are we absolutely naming a definite year or day even for these Palestine events. After all, they can be only approximate, for man has so misused every gift that God has ever given him, that even with such wondrous heavenly time-keepers he cannot really tell you what year it is! And, besides this loss of reckoning, there is confusion as to the commencement of thea.d.era, which makes absolute accuracy between thea.m.,b.c., anda.d.dates impossible.

Added to this, there is another point to be borne in mind,viz., that when the“times of the Gentiles”shall end, Jewish independence neednot be either immediate or complete!

For when Nebuchadnezzar began his kingdom of Babylon ina.m.3376 (b.c.625), the Jews, though in their land and city, were not independent. Nebuchadnezzar went to and fro to Jerusalem, and put down and set up whom he would; and it was not till some thirty years afterwards that he destroyed the City and Temple and made the people captives.

So, likewise, in the time of the end, there may be anepanodos. There may be a similar period of possession without independence, a quasi-independence guaranteed by the Great Powers; and, for ought we know, it may be that, in order to gaincomplete[pg 195]independence, they may ultimately make that fatal league with the coming Prince.

So that while we name the dates 1896-7 as being significant, we are not“fixing dates”in the ordinary sense of the term, but merely pointing out some of“the signs of the times,”concerning which we ought not to be ignorant.

Thetrue interpretationwill in any case still remain, and will surely be literally fulfilled in its own time. The Word of God will be vindicated; its prophetic truth will be verified; God Himself will be glorified; and His people saved with an everlasting salvation.

Meanwhile the members of His Body will“wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come”(1 Thess. i. 10). They will live“looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people (r.v., a people for His own possession) zealous of good works”(Titus ii. 13, 14). They will“look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,”from heaven, believing that there is no hope either for“the Jew, the Gentile, or the Church of God,”or for a groaning creation, until“the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God[pg 196]hath spoken by the mouth of ALL HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN”(Acts iii. 19-21).

“The world is sick, and yet not unto death;There is for it a day of health in store;From lips of love there comes the healing breath,—The breath of Him who all its sickness bore,And bids it rise to strength and beauty evermore.Evil still reigns; and deep within we feelThe fever, and the palsy, and the painOf life's perpetual heartaches, that revealThe rooted poison, which, from heart and brain,We labour to extract, but labour all in vain.Our skill avails not; ages come and go,Yet bring with them no respite and no cure;The hidden wound, the sigh of pent-up woe,The sting we smother, but must still endure,The worthless remedies which no relief procure,—All these cry out for something more divine,Which the worst woes of earth may not withstand;Medicine that cannot fail—the oil and wine,The balm and myrrh, growth of no earthly land,And the all-skilful touch of the great Healer's hand.Man needs a prophet: Heavenly Prophet, speak,And teach him what he is too proud to hear.Man needs a priest: True Priest, Thy silence break,And speak the words of pardon in his ear.Man needs a king: O King, at length in peace appear.”

“The world is sick, and yet not unto death;

There is for it a day of health in store;

From lips of love there comes the healing breath,—

The breath of Him who all its sickness bore,

And bids it rise to strength and beauty evermore.

Evil still reigns; and deep within we feelThe fever, and the palsy, and the painOf life's perpetual heartaches, that revealThe rooted poison, which, from heart and brain,We labour to extract, but labour all in vain.

Evil still reigns; and deep within we feel

The fever, and the palsy, and the pain

Of life's perpetual heartaches, that reveal

The rooted poison, which, from heart and brain,

We labour to extract, but labour all in vain.

Our skill avails not; ages come and go,Yet bring with them no respite and no cure;The hidden wound, the sigh of pent-up woe,The sting we smother, but must still endure,The worthless remedies which no relief procure,—

Our skill avails not; ages come and go,

Yet bring with them no respite and no cure;

The hidden wound, the sigh of pent-up woe,

The sting we smother, but must still endure,

The worthless remedies which no relief procure,—

All these cry out for something more divine,Which the worst woes of earth may not withstand;Medicine that cannot fail—the oil and wine,The balm and myrrh, growth of no earthly land,And the all-skilful touch of the great Healer's hand.

All these cry out for something more divine,

Which the worst woes of earth may not withstand;

Medicine that cannot fail—the oil and wine,

The balm and myrrh, growth of no earthly land,

And the all-skilful touch of the great Healer's hand.

Man needs a prophet: Heavenly Prophet, speak,And teach him what he is too proud to hear.Man needs a priest: True Priest, Thy silence break,And speak the words of pardon in his ear.Man needs a king: O King, at length in peace appear.”

Man needs a prophet: Heavenly Prophet, speak,

And teach him what he is too proud to hear.

Man needs a priest: True Priest, Thy silence break,

And speak the words of pardon in his ear.

Man needs a king: O King, at length in peace appear.”

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