LEAVING for a while the empire of Persia, we turn our attention to that instrument by which this empire was subverted, and upon its ruins another, a third, kingdom erected, which bore rule over all the earth. God had declared by the mouth of the Prophet two hundred and seventy-two years before it happened, that it should be so; and we can look back and from the faithful record of the historian, trace the steps by which it was accomplished.
Alexander the great was born at Pella in Macedonia, B. c. 356. To this prince and Darius the Persian, will our remarks chiefly be confined, since it was between these two as principal actors on the stage, that the empire of the world for the second time exchanged hands. Of the history of the Greeks therefore, their gradual growth, their wars with the Persians, &c., previous to Alexander’s time, we need not particularly speak further than this:
“Philip, king of Macedon the father of Alexander, having overthrown the Thebans and Athenians, in a great battle at Chæronea, made himself thereby in a manner lord of all Greece; and therefore calling together at Corinth an assembly of all the Grecian cities and States, he there caused himself to be chosen captain-general of all Greece for the carrying on of a war against the Persians, and made every city to be taxed at a certain number of men, which each of them was to send and maintain in this expedition.” But being slain by one of his guards the next year, just as he was ready to set forward, Alexander his son succeeded him in the kingdom, being then twenty years old. He soon called the general council of all Greece to meet again at Corinth, and there prevailed with them to be chosen also the successor of his father in the same general command which they had conferred on him before his death, for a war against the Persians.
“It hardly seems necessary to refer to authorities merely as such, for the facts stated in this and previous articles under this head, since they are such as no person, having the least acquaintance with history would ever think of contesting. We would say however that our references are chiefly, “Rollin’s Ancient History,” “Butler’s Sketches of Universal History,” and “Connection of the History of the Old and New Testament,” by Dean Prideaux, in each of which the reader may find the facts and particulars connected with the great events here briefly glanced at, related in full.
Having by the next Spring gotten together his forces, which according to the highest account amounted to no more than thirty thousand foot, and five thousand horse, he commenced, with this small number, his daring career against the throne of Persia. His progress perhaps cannot be better shown than in the following brief synopsis of his course, given by Rollin:
“Alexander set out from Macedonia, which is part of Turkey in Europe, and crossed the Hellespont, or the Strait of the Dardanelles. He crossed Asia Minor, (Natolia,) where he fought two battles, the first at the pass of the river Granicus, and the second near the city of Issus. After this second battle he entered Syria and Palestine; went into Egypt, where he built Alexandria on one of the arms of the Nile; advanced as far as Libya, to the temple of Jupiter Ammon; whence he returned back; arrived at Tyre, and from thence marched towards the Euphrates. He crossed that river, then the Tigris, and gained the celebrated victory of Arbela, possessed himself of Babylon, the capital of Babylonia, and Eebatana, the chief city of Media. From thence he passed into Hyrcania, to the sea which goes by that name, otherwise called the Caspian sea, and entered Parthia, Drangiana, and the country of Paropamisus. He afterwards went into Bactriana and Sogdiana; advanced as far as the river Iaxarthes, called by Q. Curtius, the Tanais, the farther side of which is inhabited by the Scythians, whose country forms a part of great Tartary.
“Alexander, after having gone through various countries, crossed the river Indus, entered India which lies on this side the Ganges and forms part of the Grand Mogul’s empire, and advanced very near the river Ganges, which he also intended to pass, had not his army refused to follow him. He therefore contented himself with marching to view the ocean, and went down the river Indus to its mouth.
“From Macedonia to the Ganges, which river Alexander nearly approached, is computed at least eleven hundred leagues. Add to this the various turnings in Alexander’s marches; first, from the extremity of Cilicia, where the battle of Issus was fought, to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya; and his returning from thence to Tyre, a journey of three hundred leagues at least, and as much space at least for the windings of his route in different places; we shall find that Alexander, in less than eight years, marched his army upwards of seventeen hundred leagues, [or more than fifty-one hundred miles,] without including his return to Babylon.”
Ptolemy the Egyptian astronomer begins the reign of Alexander over the East with the building of Alexandria, B. c. 332; but it was not till the battle of Arbela, the year following, that he became, according to Prideaux, “absolute lord of that empire to the utmost extent in which it was ever possessed by the Persian kings.” On the eve of this engagement, Darius sent ten of his chief relations to sue for peace for which he had twice sought in vain before; and upon their presenting their conditions, to Alexander he replied, “Tell your sovereign . . . that the world will not permit two suns, nor two sovereigns! Let him therefore choose, either to surrender to-day, or to fight to-morrow.” Such was the indomitable pride and haughtiness by which he was governed. Having assembled his general officers and requested them to represent to the soldiers that they were to fight on this occasion not for Phœnicia or Egypt only, but for all Asia, and that the whole empire hung upon the issue, he led them against the army of Darius and gave him an irreparable overthrow. Darius hereon fled towards Media, and was shortly after traitorously slain by his attendants.
Thus ended the reign of Darius, and with it the Persian empire after it had continued from the taking of Babylon by Cyrus two hundred and seven years.
Alexander, after his conquests in the far East, mentioned above by Rollin, returned to Babylon. While he remained there, which was nearly the space of a year, he gave himself up to the pleasures and luxuries of the place, and especially to drinking till at length he drank himself into a fever of which in a few days after, he died. B. c. 323. After his death, he having left no heir, great confusion arose about the succession. The governments of the empire were at length divided among the chief commanders of the army, who took at first the name of governors, but finally that of kings. Soon after they were settled in their provinces, they warred among themselves, till, after some years, all were destroyed but four: Cassander, who had Macedon and Greece in the west, Lysimachus who had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosphorus, in the north, Ptolemy who had Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Palestine, and Cœle-Syria, in the south, and Seleucus, who had Syria and all the rest of Alexander’s dominions in the east.
We pause again to look at the symbols by which God had foreshown these events. In the great image, there was, succeeding the breast and arms of silver, the belly and sides of brass, corresponding to which the Prophet told king Nebuchadnezzar that after another kingdom had arisen inferior to him, there should arise another third kingdom of brass, which should bear rule over all the earth. The kingdom of Alexander was more extensive than any that had preceded it.
In the second series, of Dan. vii, after the Prophet had seen the bear pass away, he beheld an extraordinary leopard rise in its stead. The beast had four wings of a fowl, and four heads. Verse 6. On this verse, Scott has the following note: “This was the emblem of the Grecian or Macedonian empire, which for the time was the most renowned in the world. It was erected by Alexander the great on the ruins of the Persian monarchy, and it continued in four divisions under his successors. The leopard being exceedingly fierce and swift, represented the kingdom, and especially Alexander its founder; but the swiftness of the quadruped was not an adequate emblem of the rapidity with which he made his conquests, as he subdued nations more speedily than others could march their armies through them. The leopard had therefore four wings of a fowl upon his back. When Alexander died, his kingdom was after many contests among his captains, divided into four parts, Egypt, Syria, Macedonia and Thrace, with some regions of Asia Minor. These were the four heads of this third beast, and under them dominion was given to it, until it was gradually reduced by the next beast.”
Again, in the third series of symbols, [chap. viii,] as Daniel was considering the ram, he saw a he-goat come from the west on the face of the whole earth, with that swiftness that he touched not the ground; and he had a notable horn between his eyes. He ran into the ram in the fury of his power, smote him cast him down and stamped upon him. He waxed great, his horn was broken, and in its stead came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven. This goat is explained in verse 21, to be Grecia, and the great horn, the first king, or Alexander. And whereas, that being broken, four stood up in its place, as shown the Prophet, in fulfillment hereof, that division took place in the kingdom on the death of Alexander, which has been already noticed.
With the following extracts from Prideaux, we take our leave of this he-goat of the west:
“Alexander was not stayed by the death of Darius from still pursuing after the traitor Bessus; but finding at length that he was gotten too far before him29to be overtaken, he returned again into Parthia; and there having regulated his affairs in the army, as well as in the province, he marched into Hyrcania, and received that country under his subjection. After that he subdued the Mardans, Arians, Drangians, Aracausians, and several other nations, over which he flew with victory swifter than others can travel, often with his horse pursuing his enemies upon the spur whole days and nights, and sometimes making long marches for several days one after the other, as once he did in the pursuit of Darius, of near forty miles a day, for eleven days together. So that, by the speed of his marches, he came upon his enemy before they were aware of him, and conquered them before they could be in a posture to resist him; which exactly agree with the description given of him in the prophecies of Daniel some ages before; he being in them set forth under the similitude of a panther, or leopard, with four wings; for he was impetuous and fierce in his warlike expeditions, as a panther after his prey, and came on upon his enemies with that speed as if he flew with a double pair of wings. And to this purpose he is, in another place of those prophecies, compared to a he-goat, coming from the west with that swiftness upon the king of Media and Persia, that he seemed as if his feet did not touch the ground. And his actions, as well in this comparison as the former, fully verify the prophecy.”
Again he says, “Never had any man a greater run of success than he had for twelve years and a half together; (for so long he reigned from the death of his father;) in that time he subjected to him all the nations and countries that lay from the Adriatic sea to the Ganges, the greater part of the then known habitable world. And although most of his actions were carried on with a furious and extravagant rashness, yet none of them failed of success. His first attempt upon the Persians in passing the Granicus with only thirty-five thousand men against an army above five times as many guarding the banks of the river on the other side, was what no man else that was well in his wits would have run upon, and yet he succeded in it; and this success creating a panic fear of him through all the Persian empire, made way for all the other victories which he afterwards obtained; for no army after that, though twenty times the number of his, (as was that of Arbela) would take courage enough to stand before him. He was a man of some virtues, but these were obscured by much greater vices. Vain-glory was his predominant folly, and that which chiefly steered him through all his actions.”
In reference to his death, M. Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, thus speaks: “At thirty-three years of age, in the midst of the grandest designs that ever man formed, and flushed with the surest hopes of success, he died, before he had leisure to settle his affairs on a solid foundation; leaving behind him a weak brother, and children very young, all incapable of supporting the weight of such a power. But the circumstance which proved most fatal to his family and empire, was his having taught the generals who survived him to breathe nothing but ambition and war. He foresaw the prodigious lengths they would go after his death. To curb their ambitious views, and for fear of mistaking in his conjectures, he did not dare to name his successor, or the guardian of his children. He only foretold that his friends would solemnize his obsequies with bloody battles; and he expired in the flower of his age, full of the sad images of the confusion which would follow his death.”
Thus fell this haughty monarch who rose up like a colossus and bestrode the world. And here we leave him till we shall behold him risen again in the resurrection of the unjust.
The history of Alexander's successors, till the reduction of the empire by another power, would involve an extended commentary on a great portion of the eleventh of Daniel. And as this has already been given in the second volume of Prophetic Expositions, by J. Litch, quoted chiefly from Bishop Newton, we refer the reader to that, and pass on to the fourth and last great empire ever to flourish in the drama of this world's history.
And here we would leave with the reader a few suggestions. Daniel as we have seen lived two hundred years and over, previous to the events last mentioned. How did he know that a kingdom would succeed the Babylonian composed of two divisions, and that the more powerful of these divisions would come up last? How did he know that this kingdom would in turn be overthrown by another from the west? How did he know that the conquests of this third kingdom would be accomplished with such speed? It is usual for kings to provide carefully for a successor, that the crown may be safely preserved to their own posterity; how did Daniel know that this king would die without a successor? And how did he know that the empire would thereon be divided into just four parts? Answer: he had his knowledge from that God who rules in the kingdoms of men, and appointeth over them whomsoever he will. Dan. v, 21. From the same source and upon the same authority he has set forth some facts and uttered some prophecies, which have their application in our own day, and concern our own selves, as we shall by and by see. None but an Omniscient mind could have foreseen and inspired the Prophet thus accurately to write of the events of the future: none but an Omniscient mind did; and let us remember continually, while tracing out the fulfillments of his word, that with no less certainty, and no less accuracy, will those things in which we personally, and the whole world have now an interest, be brought to their fulfillment. Every accomplished prophecy is like a record graven in eternal rock, that the Lord Omnipotent reigneth. And while he reigneth, let his saints rejoice.
(To be Continued)
UNITY AND GIFTS OF THE CHURCH. No. 1.
By James White
"And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." Eph. iv, 11-16.
It may be thought, by reading the caption of this article, that we have undertaken two subjects at once. But we regard the unity and the gifts of the church as being so closely connected, one dependent on the other, that we introduce them as one subject.
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are given "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith," &c. The object of these callings and gifts, is here most plainly stated. And not until the object for which they were given shall be fully accomplished, will they be laid aside. While conversing with a certain minister on this subject some time since, he stated that the gift of prophecy was not in the church, that it ceased about 1800 years ago. We then quoted the above words of Paul to the Ephesians, to which he replied, that it was all fulfilled, and that the gifts ceased with the apostles. "But, sir, you profess to be an evangelist, or a pastor, or teacher do you not?" "Certainly," was the reply; "Then, according to your view of this subject, your calling ran out about 1800 years since." What did he say in reply? He was silent for this reason: he had nothing to say.
Nothing is plainer from the Sacred Page than that these callings of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit run parallel.
Read the following list, and if any have ceased, please tell us which. "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 1 Cor. xii, 28. Have all ceased? Then our religious teachers are not moving under the authority of heaven. Their commission run out 18 centuries ago. But if these teachers of God's word are moving out under the high commission given by the Head of the church, "Go teach," &c., then why not expect the manifestation of all the gifts when the church shall stand forth in the order of God?
It is the opinion of many that the working of miracles, signs and wonders, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, were designed only for the week (seven years) of confirming the covenant, by the ministry of Christ, three and a half years, and by those who heard him three and a half years. This view makes all the gifts cease at the close of that week, A. D. 34. But we hear Paul, A. D. 59, twenty five years later, saying, "Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all the gift of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet, earnestly the best gifts." 1 Cor. xii, 29-31.
Were these gifts needed in Paul's day? they are needed now. Were they necessary to guide and sustain the early church? how much more necessary in the perilous times of the last days. Were the gifts necessary to preserve the unity and purity of that church, which had received the pure doctrines of the gospel from Christ, and had been baptized with the Holy Spirit on the day of pentecost? how much more are they needed in the work of bringing out a people on to holy, apostolic ground, and in preparing them to be translated to heaven, as were Enoch and Elijah.
J. W.
IDLE WORDS.
By George Washington Amadon
How full the world is of them! and how much the remnant indulge in this sinful habit. How often we hear brethren and sisters exclaim, "My stars!" "For pity's sake!" "Goodness!" "My soul!" etc., etc., little realizing that "for every idle (unmeaning) word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." And the judgment has already commenced at the house of God,
O let us each mind the words of our Saviour, to "let our yea be yea, and our nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil." Do not the superadded expressions above, and a fearful list of worse extravagances in speech, come under this head? The son of thunder says, "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
G. W. A.
KINDNESS.
By J. Clarke
Who ever repented of kindness? Who was ever made worse by it? What earthly balm can bring repose to the aching head and anxious heart, like reminiscences of kindness bestowed or received? Be kind to the young, for they will reflect back the image of your kindness in after years. Be kind to the middle-aged, for this will invigorate their energies for the conflict of life. Be kind to the aged, for their sands are almost run out, and their way is often dreary, desolate and dark, amid the night of sin and death.
Be kind to the evil, it may win them from the paths of sin, it cannot harm them. Be kind to the good, it will greatly cheer them. Be kind to all, to young and old, rich and poor, bond and free; for this will soften thine own heart, and greatly mitigate thy pains and woes. J. CLARKE.
Motives and Christ-Like Suffering
Look well to your motives.
A Christ-like sufferer is an honor to religion.
OLIVE M. PATTEN
By Olive M. Patten
From Sister Patten
BRO. SMITH : I have had some sense of my wretchedness and poverty for a few months past, and still earnestly desire to feel the rebuke and chastening of the Lord as deeply as I should. I want to be zealous and repent while Jesus intercedes, that all my sins may go beforehand to judgment. It seems to me there is a very strait gate, and narrow way to pass here, and we must make thorough work or we never shall go through.
Are not many of us, who say we believe the message to the Laodiceans is to us, still sliding along too easy, without laying it to heart, without feeling the importance of it as we should? It is true the message has done something for us, but has it been felt as deeply as it should have been? Has it produced the thorough reform that it calls for? Where is the31zeal, the deep earnestness of soul that such a rebuke from our dear Saviour demands? Truly we are on the enchanted ground. The spirit of the world, a lukewarm, indifferent spirit, has so long bound us that it needs a mighty effort to escape. O that our whole being may be stirred to take hold of the work in earnest now, to make a perfect consecration of all to God, to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. We must obtain victory over impatience, pride, self-will, and every wrong word and action; for only he that hath clean hands and a pure heart will be able to stand.
O that we may fully understand and heed the counsel of the faithful Witness, and never rest till we do possess the true riches there offered, the gold tried in the fire, till we are clothed in white raiment, and have anointed our eyes with eye-salve that we may see. Has not Jesus long waited at the door of our hearts for admission? If any of us longer disregard the Saviour's knock, and his precious promise that if we open the door he will come in and sup with us and we with him, if we do not "clear away all the rubbish," and speedily give him the whole heart, we have reason to fear that he will wait no longer; that while the faithful sup with him, while they overcome and sit with him on his throne, we shall be left among the filthy, outside of the city.
At times I feel such a lack of that deep earnestness of soul that this time demands, that I would exhort myself as well as others, to awake, arise, and gird on the armor anew. We have had faithful exhortations to heed the Saviour's call and let him in, and I believe the whole-hearted will humble themselves greatly, will make strait paths for their feet now, and will soon move forward mighty in God; while those who are indifferent to such calls from the word and Spirit of God, will be left, will be spued out of the Lord's mouth. Why do we dally here? Why are we so stupid and slow to overcome, when our eternal destiny must be decided and fixed by the efforts we make while probation lingers? Soon he that is holy will be holy still, and he that is filthy will be filthy still. A short work will the Lord make upon the earth. O my soul, haste thee, linger not, "escape for thy life . . . lest thou be consumed." The scenes of this dark earth will soon be over. Have thy whole interest for the kingdom, thy treasure there.
A few lines from sister Chamberlain's letter express exactly what I want to say. "We shall soon hear the voice of God saying as unto Moses of old, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward; and when the whole church moves, we shall see mighty works done in the name of the Lord. To bring this great move about, each one has something to do. We must set our own house in order." How forcible are the Saviour's words now, [Luke xiii, 24-27.] "Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able." It seems as though the prophets were speaking directly to us. Joel ii, 12, 13. "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God." Zeph. ii, 2, 3. "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment, seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." We learn from Lev. xxiii, 27-30, that in the day of atonement, every one that would not afflict his soul should be cut off from among his people. Will it not be so in this day of atonement? "He that endureth to the end shall be saved." "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." In the strength of the Lord, I mean to be in earnest now, for I long for a part among the faithful.
Yours hoping to be one of the overcomers.
OLIVE M. PATTEN
Grotos, Mass., Oct., 1857.
LETTERS.
By J. A. Wilcox
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another."
From Bro. Wilcox.
BRO. SMITH: Since writing to you last, myself and companion were very much interested one morning while reading Eze. vii, and were led to believe that most, if not all, the chapter applies from 1844, down to the closing up scenes of this world's career, which I firmly believe will very soon be all fulfilled. The morning is come unto thee, says verse 7. O thou that dwellest in the land, the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now I will shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. Verses 7, 8.
The day of trouble spoken of in verse 7, I believe without a doubt refers to the same time prophesied of in Dan., when there shall be a "time of trouble such as never was, since there was a nation." "And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Chap. xii, 1. There are sound reasons for believing this, as we may shortly see. The Lord says by the Prophet, Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee, &c. The word, shortly, in this verse, signifies that the time is near, very near, when all will be accomplished, or his (God's) fury, or anger will be poured out. The time is come, the day draweth near; let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, (here follows the reason) for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive; for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof which shall not return, neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. Verses 12, 13. These scriptures are to be fulfilled, as it looks to me; but a short time in the future, which John saw. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.
Verse 15 reads, "The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within. He that is in the field shall die with the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him."
Verse 14 shows that when these calamities are upon the world, the trumpet had previously been blown, or warning been given of these judgments "to make all ready." Thus it reads: "They (God's messengers) have blown the trumpet even to make all ready, but none goeth to the battle; (here follows the reason;) for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof."
When will this time be, when none go to the battle? It will be when God's wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. This is the answer we get from the last part of the verse quoted above. Well, what is the wrath of God? We will let him be his own interpreter, "And I saw another sign in heaven great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God." Rev. xv, 1. The definition of verse 16 is very plain; any child that has come to the years of understanding can comprehend it. The description of this awfully solemn scene, and the withering effect of the seven last plagues upon all the wicked and all earthly things, may be learned from Rev. xvi. And will not some of those who suffer the seven last plagues repent of their evil deeds, and seek to God for mercy? No. Why not? Because the wrath is to be poured out without mixture. Rev. xiv, 9, 10.
Another sound reason is, the fact that we are informed that they repented not to give him glory. Rev. xvi, 9, 11, 21. It is everlastingly too late then, for the third and last message of mercy has closed up its work for all mankind, sweet mercy no longer pleads for the guilty sinner and unmingled wrath now falls grievously upon the heads of the wicked. The next great and sublime scene in this chain of prophecy is the Son of man on the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth. Rev. xiv, 15.
We will now return to Eze. vii. Verse 16 reads, "But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valley, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity." Who are these that escape, and what will they escape? Undoubtedly they are the remnant of God's people, down here in the last days, who will indeed mourn for their iniquity and sins, when they fully realize their poor, blind, miserable wretched, lukewarm state, as described by the faithful and true Witness, to the last stage of the church. Rev. iii, 15-22.
I ask again, What are they (the remnant) going to escape? It is what is mentioned in the preceding verse: the sword, famine and pestilence. Said Jesus, Watch ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke xxi, 36. Verse 23 reads, "Make a chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes." We have only to read a little in the newspapers of the day to learn that the wickedness of the wicked is very great, and that all manner of crimes are increasing rapidly; thus showing, if it is not now, that the land will soon be full of bloody crimes.
Verse 19 plainly shows that their gold and silver is the stumbling-block of their iniquity, and that in the day of the wrath of the Lord, their gold and their silver will not be able to deliver them. It needs but little argument to prove this, for deliverance is found in Michael, the great prince. Dan. xii, 7. Well, what is the chain spoken of in verse 23, if it is not the present truth, which God has commanded to be made? It looks to me as though it must be the truth proclaimed so clear and powerful that it will bind the hearts of God's people, whoever they are and wherever they may be, firmly together in the unity of the faith and Spirit, that they may be able to stand against all the delusions of these last days, and pass safely through the time of trouble. Ps. xci, 4.
For the present I leave these very interesting and important subjects to others much more capable than myself, hoping that if any brother or sister has clearer light on these or any other subjects connected with this or any other chapter, they will bring it out in the Review, as this is one of the many ways to let our light shine before the world.
Your brother in Christ striving for eternal life.
J. A. WILCOX.
New York, Nov. 1st, 1857.
NOTE. The view that Eze. vii has an application in some particulars in our own days is not new.—Ed.
