Chapter 2

that included Palestine. The island of Cyprus is given over entirely--surely the way of the kings of the East is being grandly prepared.

Why did not the Congress hand over to England's protection Turkey in Europe? For reasons good and sufficient. Turkey in Europe will be the cause of much strife, of several wars, and of strange alliances; hence it would not have done for Israel-England to be mixed up with it. Constantinople alone, of European Turkey, England will keep. Israel is to be much preserved from war, until the great battle of Armageddon comes on. Against that time she will have to husband her strength and resources. It is marvellous now to think that what the Congress settled as belonging to England, none dispute--all is peace. But Russia's share and Austria's are in arms. Servia, Greece, Roumania, and all the Turkish provinces rebel and are in a state of disquietude, that portends war and strife again in a few years. But England will have nothing to do with it, excepting that Russia and Austria, with the consent of Germany, Italy, and France, are to set a precedent for England, which in a few years she will need. It is plain that if Russia and Austria can force by arms the conditions of the Berlin Congress, England will be at liberty to do the same without any interference even from France. The Congress handed over to England's keeping Turkey. England, then, can make Turkey do her bidding by force of arms sustained by the very precedent already set. Thus will Israel-England open up Palestine for Christian settlement. The Mahommedans will murmur and resist to have the holy places taken from them, but no matter; England, when the time comes, will enforce it. It is just here that Turkey and England will dispute, and in each dispute England will find a reason for drawing the lines a little tighter around poor Turkey.

The contestants on one side at the great battle of Armageddon, you remember, are the dragon, the beast, and Anti-Christ. Now what people is represented by the term dragon? We answer, the Pagan nations and authorities, just as the Chinese have on their standards to-day a dragon, as we have the eagle. The Mahommedans, Hindoos, Brahmins, Buddhists, and all Pagan idolaters, are summed up in the word dragon. At present, England is tolerant with the subjects and adherents of these different worshippers and religions; but the time will come when she will no longer tolerate the same; thus will they arraign themselves against her in the battle of Armageddon. This will come to pass as the gradual destruction of Mormonism in our country. This system has been fortified by law; now laws are being arraigned against it. It is now only tolerated, and in a short time it will be wiped out of existence.

The final battle referred to in the text is to occur at a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon, the literal meaning of which is at the mount of Megido. In olden times there was a city called Megiddon; it stood in what is now called the great plain of Esdraelon--a plain that lies midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean. It was also called Jezreel. The prophet Hosea speaks of this place, battle, and time, all by this one word. Referring to the time when the children of Judah and of Israel are gathered together under one head in their own land, he says, "For great shall be the day of Jezreel" (Hos. i. 11). It is spoken of in the Scriptures and history as the valley of Jehoshaphat, because here Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, gained a great victory; for here the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel, as He will in the coming battle. Joel iii. 12 says, referring to this coming struggle, "Let the heathen be waked up and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about."

There is one name given to this time and battle that is very significant and striking. Have you ever noticed it? If not, let me call your attention to it. It is called "That great day of God Almighty," by John in the chapter of the text. The day of the Lord of hosts by Isaiah. Ezek. xxx. 3: "Howl ye! Woe worth the day! For the day of the Lord is near: it shall be the time of the heathen." And Joel says, "Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." By the prophets Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi, and apostles Paul and Peter, it is called the day of the Lord.

You ask if this battle may not have taken place. We answer, No. Of such a battle we have no record. Again, it will be the end of the war--the final overthrow of Paganism, the beast, and Anti-Christ. Malachi says, "Behold I will send you the prophet Elijah before the coming of that great and dreadful day of the Lord." Elijah has not yet been a witness. At the time of this great battle nature is to take a wonderful part. As when Christ was on the cross, the sun darkened, the rocks rent, the mountains shook, so in connection with this battle there shall be some strange wonders--earthquakes, thundering, lightning, hail and fire. The Mount of Olives will divide; the valley of the Dead Sea will fill with water and join to the Mediterranean; Jerusalem will become a seaport; an appointed centre from which, being central to all the world, will go forth the ships of the Lord. The city of Jerusalem, between this time and that, will be considerably enlarged, then it will divide into three parts. At the time of this dividing John says, "That the cities of the nations are to fall"--London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, St. Petersburg, and many others--that all may turn to Jerusalem, the capital appointed of Heaven.

If you wish to know more of the particulars of this day, read the prophets, study what John the Revelator says under the sixth vial and sixth seal. With awful grandeur and with terrible majesty have the sacred writers set forth this day and time.

That this day will come, who will deny? Look at the world ripening for this day. Here, in our own land, as well as others, the forces are maturing, the agents are at work. Many of the events of the past year we were permitted to forecast by looking into the future through the prophets, and onward yet we look. And the events coming are neither less in number, merit, or force, than those passed. Keep the events of prophecy in their proper order lest they confuse you. The Jews and Ten Lost Tribes are to be found and possess Palestine before this battle. Anti-Christ is to appear. The two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, are to appear. And Jesus, our beloved Master, will not come till the world is settled long in perpetual peace--till the house is prepared for the bride, then shall He come. But with lightning speed events are crowding on along the ages. The accumulative forces of centuries are pressing hard upon time present. The time of the end is near--not the end of time, but the time appointed of God in which certain great things are to be accomplished. Eighteen hundred years ago John cried out, "Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year" (Rev. ix. 14).

The Turkish Power originated on the banks of the Euphrates. It first was divided into four Sultanies--namely, Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus and Cesarea. These are typified under four angels. Their time was to be 396 years and a fraction--an hour, day, month, and year. Thus, taking a day for a year, 365 for the year, thirty for the month, one for the day, and we have 396. So from the taking of Bagdad by the Turks in 1057, which was the overthrow of the Saracens, until the capture of Constantinople in 1453, which overthrew the Greek Empire, we have just 396 years. And the time for the drying up of Turkey is at hand; and so it comes to pass.

Dear friends, how wonderful are the dealings of our God! Can we shut our eyes to His Divine revelation? Let us be wise in the day of grace, taking heed to the sure Word of prophecy, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. The world indeed is dark, and all confusion. But His Word shows unto us order in all this confusion, blessed be His name. More next Sunday evening.

ARMAGEDDON AND THE PYRAMID. DISCOURSE XIV.

THE FORCES IN THE BATTLE--TIME OF ITS OCCURRENCE--MISTAKES OF ADVENTISTS--A CHURCH "STRIKE" WANTED--THE HARD TIMES AFTER 1882--HISTORY OF THE WORLD TILL 1935--HINE'S THEORY.

"These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful."--Rev. xviii. 14.

Last Sunday evening we considered the subject of the great battle of Armageddon. This evening we will take up the same subject for further consideration. This battle, we learn, is to be very terrible, such a one as the world has not had. Fearful as some of the wars of the past have been, this will overshadow them all in skill, fierceness, number, slaughter, devastation, and wide-spread ruin. It will, in some respects, be like one of the wars of olden times. For in this struggle God is again to take a direct part, as He did for His people Israel and Judah in times of old. Again shall the forces of nature do battle for God and His people; again they shall be full of instinctive revenge. Hear us, and believe us, Denis Kearney, Providence will then "pool the issues" of the _called_, the _chosen_, and the _faithful_. The called are the Jews, the chosen are Israelites, and the faithful embrace all of every nation who believe in Christ. Then many will wade in pools of blood and perish. The birds of prey are to hold high carnival on the dead bodies of the slain. The spirit of Satan, that now worketh in the children of disobedience, will pool the issues of hell and death in the hosts of the _dragon_, _beast_, and _false prophet_. For though these three powers are diverse in their aims, professions, and intents, yet we learn from many passages of the Divine Book that they will join hands and agree upon a common policy, federating together that they may contend with the called, the chosen, and the faithful. "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Rev. xvi. 13, 14). Here indeed will be a pooling of the issues, a pooling that will divide the whole world into two forces or parties.

Now the canvass has begun, preparations are going on, party lines are being drawn, powers are concentrating, and men are rallying under their respective standards, getting the world ripe and ready for the coming generations, into whose hands the destinies of that day will be cast. Few of us now living can personally take part in that final battle, excepting as we do so by impressing the unborn millions with our ideas. Like as David prepared the material for the building of the temple, and his son Solomon carried forward the same, so the work of this generation is simply preparatory, and that of the coming will be executive.

Several wars will take place before that of Armageddon, which in their nature will be fierce and terrible. Still these will all be preparatory--leading on to the day of decision and the battle final. On this point many err, and their error has a pernicious influence on the Church and the world. They interpret the preparatory signs as if they were final; hence the end with such is too near. A sincere anxiety takes possession of their soul, which utterly unfits them to judge aright the signs of the times and tokens of Providence. Thus were a portion of the Advent Church thrown into confusion the 8th of last July because they had fixed upon the seventh as the time for the ending of the world. And human folly and haste will repeat itself again on the 10th of April next, because another portion of the Advent brethren have fixed upon the 9th of April as the time of the end. It is a wonder the first did not take the 4th of July instead of the seventh, for then a stranger might think the end was nigh in some of our cities; or why didn't the other party select the 1st of April, for no doubt it would have proved a more propitious day? But thus it is, and will be again before the appointed time of Heaven comes. Man is a creature of haste and sudden impulse, especially so in his religious experience. Kings and nations, Churches and sects, have laboured hard in times past to force the issues of Providence and give speed and certainty to times and events.

The prophecies affecting our days are clear; so much so, that he who runs may read, if need be. But an impatient activity urges men on, bedazzling their eyes, which at once unnerves and unfits them for reading or judging. "In your patience possess ye your souls," said the blessed Master to His disciples of old, and not less through them unto us.

"Order is Heaven's first law," it has been said; and surely order pervades the prophecies. But the pulpits in general over-ride this order, and are not slow to malign such men as Edward Hine, of London, England, when the fact is, that his theory of the prophecies and mode of interpretation are vastly more natural, responsive, and reasonable than the ill-adjusted, unnatural, and non-responsive system of current theology. A person is under obligation to use that key for the unlocking of prophecy which fits the best, and that responds to providential events the most natural, without regard to the antiquated systems and mode of Church, sect, or college theology. Hine's theory, as it is called sometimes, is as much superior to the old system of interpretation, as the railway Pullman car is to the ricketty old stage coach.

The Anglo-Saxon Israel theory neither destroys or introduces any new principle, but discovers and applies that which had been long hidden. The introduction of steam and electricity did not destroy or produce any new principle, but simply discovered and applied, in an improved form, that which had been in the world from Adam down till now.

As men in science, mechanics, and practical life, throw overboard men and things of the past, so should we in theology, Church life, and experience, when we can do better. Reverence for persons, and respect for ideas, should not enslave us. Let us move on, doing better and better. We do not care to believe all the theology of a Martin Luther. When we can make an advance on men, or theories, we should do so. Bacon and Newton are now in part rejected, without intending, or in fact doing them any dishonour or disrespect. So are Calvin and Wesley, on the same principle, by every good theologian. If a theory be advanced that opens up the Scriptures, and especially the prophecies, better than those before existing, let the pulpit accept it, throwing aside its mawkishness and age-intrenched stupidity. I have no hesitation to say, after over twenty-five years of experience with preachers and pulpit, that the majority of preachers are lazy and indifferent in study. For this reason many of them are deterred from examining any new theory. Many have said to me, and written to me, that if they accepted the Lost Tribe theory it would destroy nearly all their old sermons, and necessitate the making of new ones--a work they were not willing to undertake. It will, therefore, be a long time before the pulpit is reformed. In these days there are many strikes. While in Canada, on my vacation, I agreed to lecture for a Church choir on the prophet Jeremiah's visit to Ireland. But some preachers banded together and stopped it; and, in consequence of it, the choir struck and refused to sing the following Sunday. Passing by this strike, I really wish the laymen would strike and call the pulpit to an account and rouse it from its lethargy, and demand that it should untrammel itself and be free and equal to the age and demand. I have met with miserly persons who didn't believe in beautiful churches, or the missionary cause, or any cause indeed that wanted money. They would argue for plainness, and so on. The secret of their peculiar ideas on these matters was to be found in their stinginess and their love of money. They advocated such theories because it saved them from contributing. Like a man I met with on my vacation tour who said that he saved forty dollars a year by pretending to be angry with the minister or some of the deacons when they came round collecting money. Some ministers, no doubt the majority of them, talk about holding on to the old landmarks and being orthodox for the very reason that to make a move implies labour, which they are not willing to give, hence they prate about orthodoxy and landmarks as a pretext to cover over their indifference. He is the most orthodox who searches after the truth and keeps up with the age. "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good," says Paul. These pretended followers of Paul say: "Prove nothing, hold fast what you have got."

It is as plain as A, B, C, that the Bible teaches the return of the Jews and Ten Lost Tribes of Israel to the land of Palestine. Also, that after they are settled in this land Anti-Christ appears. The dragon and beast are already in existence, but Anti-Christ is not; the spirit of Anti-Christ is. When Israel and Judah are settled and prosperous in the old fatherland, then is to come on the battle of Armageddon. Thank Heaven! that though the struggle will be awful, it will be final, and victory will turn on the Lord's side. Then will be set up a kingdom that shall endure in abiding peace and prosperity for at least a thousand years. The world will nestle in regaling plenty and great assurance. This kingdom is to be set up in the latter days of the four kingdoms spoken of by Daniel. By this we understand that these kingdoms will have their day, and by succession, after a time, run out. These kingdoms--namely, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome--are now disappearing. Rome, politically, is gone, Persia will soon be absorbed, also Greece. Babylon, being continued in the Empire of Russia, has yet a glorious future before it for the next fifty years or so, then she will disappear to rise no more. The cry will go forth, "Babylon is fallen." In Nebuchadnezzar's image you will remember that the stone cut out of the mountain began to destroy the metallic image upward, hence these kingdoms will disappear in reverse order to their origin. First Rome, which has gone; next Greece, which is nearly gone; then Persia, and then Russia. The new kingdom will fill the world. Already it foreshadows the outlines of possession by its immense territory of to-day. Then a scion of the House of David shall be enthroned in Jerusalem. All the other great capitals will have been destroyed. It is surprisingly grand to read of that day, king and kingdom. Let me read to you a few verses from Jeremiah, chapter xxiii.: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: the Lord our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the House of Israel out of the North country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land." The words, "that day," are often used, and if we desire to know when that day is, we have data in the great fact that it is the other side of Armageddon, and Armageddon is the other side of the settlement of Israel and Judah in Palestine.

I wish, just here, to correct many of you, as well as some of the public journals. Of late I have frequently seen it stated in the papers that I predicted the end of the world in 1882. And many persons have actually asked if I did really think so. The truth of the matter is, in my sermons on the Great Pyramid I pointed out to you the remarkable fact that the Grand Gallery was 1,882 inches long. Beginning with the birth of the Saviour, these inches stand for years. This gallery suddenly ends, excepting that it is continued in a narrow passage, the narrowest in the whole building, for fifty-three inches. Then comes the King's Chamber, which before you enter, you pass under a portcullis in the form of an olive leaf. In this chamber all is equal, quiet, and central. Now, what I believe this pillar of witness in Egypt teaches (see Isa.