ALAS! the earth is faded, and the autumn leaves are sere;
Darker rests the curse upon it, heavier with each passing year.
We should faint along the wayside, and our lives would be most drear,
If there were no cheering promise, that the Saviour would appear.
Soon we'll say, Farewell to tempest; sorrows of the earth, farewell;
Soon the morn will dawn in splendor, when the tried with Christ shall dwell.
Then our hearts will thrill with rapture, former ills ne'er come to mind,
From our eyes God wipes the teardrop, and we endless joys shall find.
Yes, our earth-worn hearts are gladdened, as we look but just ahead,
Where the palm tree waves in beauty, and the flowers their fragrance shed.
Where the glory of the Highest, fills the earth as waves the sea;
When no more the martyr crieth, but is crowned with victory.
L. D. SANTEE.
Princeville, Ill.
CONVERSATIONS ON IMPORTANT SUBJECTS. NO. 7.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
Minister. Well, brethren, we will now proceed again with our conversation. Who can tell where we left off?
Bro. D. You were saying that the health reform was to prepare us to stand during the seven last plagues; that God is now giving us a warning of what is coming, and telling us how to get ready to meet it, and that by living healthfully we should be prepared, by the blessing of God, to stand during the pouring out of the plagues.
Bro. B. Then you think that the saints will be on the earth while the plagues are being poured out?
Min. Oh, yes! this is very plain, as you all see by reading Rev. xvi, 12-15; under the pouring out of the sixth plague, Jesus says, “Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garment.” This certainly shows that Christ has not come when the sixth plague is poured out.
Bro. A. If that is so, it will be a dreadful time for the people of God, certainly.
Min. Very true; but God will deliver his people. I understand Psalm xci, to apply at this time. Let us read it: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” This you will see is just the same as the first plague. “There fell a noisome and grievous sore.” Rev. xvi, 2. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” David says, “Thy law is the truth;” hence this refers to the people who have kept God’s truth. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” This I understand to be when the wicked are falling by the plagues on every hand. “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” Here you see are the plagues spoken of. “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Thus will God save his people during this fearful time. Of that time Daniel says, “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince, which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Dan. xii, 1.
Bro. D. Do we not understand that there will be a great famine, as well as pestilence and war, just before the coming of the Lord? Will not all the fruit and every green herb of the field wither? and does it not say that the seed shall rot in the ground, and that there will be no water to drink?
Bro. A. You know that during the pouring out of the plagues, it says that all the water was turned into blood, and that the sun scorched men with great heat.
Min. Yes, that is all true. In the first chapter of Joel we have a description of that awful time. Look over the chapter and you will see that he says that the palmerworm, the locust, the cankerworm, and caterpillar will come up in great numbers, and devour everything. He says that they have laid the vine waste, and barked the fig-tree and made the branches white. It says the field is wasted; the land mourneth, for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up; the oil languisheth. Then he says that the wheat and barley faileth, because the harvest of the field is perished. Joy is withered away from the sons of men. Farther on he says that the meat is cut off from before our eyes, and the seed is rotten under their clods; the garner is laid desolate. How do the beasts groan, the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture. The fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the rivers of water are dried up, &c.
Bro. B. But how do you know that this applies where you say it does?
Min. Read the connection. The 15th verse says, “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” And again, “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.”
Bro. B. Yes, that does seem to show where it is.
Bro. A. But, if this be so, how will the people of God be fed?
Min. Did I not just read where the Lord said that he would give his angels charge over them, and keep them at this time?
Bro. A. Oh! yes. I had forgotten that.
Bro. D. Do you think that Elijah is the type of the people of God in the last days, who will be translated to Heaven when Christ comes?
Min. I certainly do, and think that there is plenty of evidence to prove it.
Bro. B. I have always thought so, and hence have read his history with much interest.
Min. Let us look at Elijah’s history for a few moments. It is introduced in 1 Kings xvii, where the Lord tells him to prophesy to Ahab that there should be a great dearth in the land. In the eighteenth chapter we have an account of the wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel his wife, and how all Israel had forsaken God, and had become worshipers of Baal. Then at length, verses 17-23, Elijah goes to Ahab and rebukes him for forsaking the commandments of God. Then he exhorts the people to return to God and obey him by keeping all his law. He was a commandment-keeper, and preached the restoration of the commandments of God among his people Israel. In chapter nineteen, Jezebel told Elijah that she had determined to take away his life. Then he arose and fled for his life into the wilderness. Then he sat down under a tree and requested that he might die. As he lay asleep under the juniper tree, behold an angel touched him and said unto him, “Arise and eat.” He looked, “and behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head; and he did eat and drink and laid him down again.” The same thing was repeated again, and he went on the strength of that for forty days. For this, Elijah was translated to Heaven. Just so it will be with the people of God in these last days. The prophets of Israel have forsaken the Lord’s commandments; but, like Elijah, God’s true people will keep them, and teach others to do them. For this they will be persecuted. Rev. xii, 17. They will be driven out of the cities and villages into the wilderness as was Elijah. See Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1. God sent his angel to feed Elijah; so he will send his angels to feed his people during the time of trouble.
Bro. D. But what do you believe God will give them for food at that time?
Min. What did he give Elijah?
Bro. A. He gave him bread and water.
Min. Then if he was a type of the people of God down here, will they not have the same fare?
Bro. A. Well I declare I never saw that point before. That does look as though it was so, I confess.
Bro. D. Yes, that is just what I believe.
Min. Read Isa. xxxiii, and you will see that it applies to the last days, to the coming of Christ. The Lord tells who will be saved at that time, and says to him, verse 16, “He shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks, bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure.” Now Bro. B., if this is so, we have got to come to a pretty plain diet before the Lord comes, haven’t we? even to bread and water.
Bro. B. I begin to believe it.
Bro. A. I suppose we shall be glad to get even that, when others are perishing with hunger and thirst.
Bro. D. Well, brethren, if this is so it is very important that we know it, and be preparing for it, is it not? I believe it with all my heart, and hence it is that I can so freely enter into the health reform.
Bro. A. I confess that there is more to this than I had thought. It makes the health reform look very different to me, indeed.
Sr. C. These things look very plausible, yet there are some things which I cannot understand. I don’t see how they agree with the Bible. Jesus said it was not that which went into the mouth that defileth the man. From this it seems to me that he was not so particular what he ate. Health reformers think that it is a sin to eat certain kinds of food. Paul says that we should eat that which is set before us, asking no questions for conscience’ sake.
Min. But both these declarations must have a limitation, as you yourself will admit. The use of liquor does very certainly defile a man, as we all know; so much so that the Bible says that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. Paul also said, “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. x, 31. This shows that our eating and drinking has something to do with our religion. Again he says, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” By this we see that we should govern our appetites, and not give way to a perverted taste, which simply gratifies the lusts of the flesh.
Bro. D. Let me read what Paul has said of some on this subject. Phil. iii, 18, 19. “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”
Min. Thank you, Bro. D., that is right to the point, as are many others which we might quote.
Sr. C. But if others could be good Christians without the health reform, why could not we?
Min. I am surprised to hear you use that argument. The same is often used against the Sabbath, and many other parts of the truth which you believe as well as we.
Sr. C. Yes, but it was the subject of prophecy that the Sabbath and those other truths should be restored in the last days.
Bro. D. So the health reform is the subject of prophecy. Christ foretold it.
Sr. C. I should like to see it.
Bro. D. Here it is in Luke xxi, 34, 36. Speaking of his second coming, Jesus says, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” Surfeiting means eating to excess. This is addressed to the people of God who should live at that time; a warning to them to beware what they eat and drink. If this does not refer to the health reform, then I can see no meaning in it.
Min. And Christ also said that the wicked should be eating and drinking as they were in the days of Noah; and so that day should come upon them unawares. This is as much as to say that his people will be acting in a different manner.
Sr. C. According to that, then, you think it wrong to eat and drink. How do you think we shall live, I wonder? I don’t believe that the Lord wants us to starve ourselves to death.
Min. Neither do I, Sr. C. The idea is that we should be careful what we eat and drink, and how we do it, lest it lead us into a snare. It simply shows this, that it is not right to eat everything, and to any degree.
Sr. C. I believe that fine flour is better than your graham; and that is why I eat it. This is according to what the Lord has promised: to feed his people with the finest flour.
Min. You have made a little mistake, Sr. C. It does not say the finest of flour, but the finest wheat; Ps. cxlvii, 14. Moreover the eating of fine flour is one of the sins of Babylon in the last days. Rev. xviii.
Bro. B. Well, Sr. C., it is hard to break off all our old habits; but I rather guess we shall have to give it up on the health question. The more I look at it, the more reasonable and important it looks to me.
Bro. A. Yes, I think it about time for us to take hold of this question in earnest, and I think I shall do it.
Bro. E. Come, brethren, let us walk out and have some dinner, and then talk on the matter further.
Min. Yes, come Sr. C., and have a good hygienic dinner, and you will think better of it.
WILLIAM MILLER.
HIS RULES OF INTERPRETATION.
In pursuing his study of the Holy Scriptures, Mr. Miller adopted the following rules of interpretation for arriving at the meaning of the word of God:
I. Every word must have its proper bearing on the subject presented in the Bible. Proof, Matt. v, 18.
II. All Scripture is necessary, and may be understood by a diligent application and study. Proof, 2 Tim. iii, 15-17.
V. Scripture must be its own expositor, since it is a rule of itself. If I depend on a teacher to expound to me, and he should guess at its meaning, or desire to have it go on account of his sectarian creed, or to be thought wise, then his guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom, is my rule, and not the Bible. Proof, Ps. xix, 7-11; cxix, 97-105; Matt. xxiii, 8-10; 1 Cor. ii, 12-16; Eze. xxxiv, 18, 19; Luke xi, 52; Matt. ii, 7, 8.
VII. Visions are always mentioned as such. 2 Cor. xii, 1.
VIII. Figures always have a figurative meaning, and are used much in prophecy to represent future things, times and events,—such as mountains, meaning governments, Dan. ii, 35, 44; beasts, meaning kingdoms, Dan. vii, 8, 17; waters, meaning people, Rev. xvii, 1, 15; day, meaning year, &c. Eze. iv, 6.
IX. Parables are used as comparisons, to illustrate subjects, and must be explained in the same way as figures, by the subject and Bible. Mark iv, 13.
X. Figures sometimes have two or more different significations, as day is used in a figurative sense to represent three different periods of time, namely: first, indefinite, Eccl. vii, 14; second, definite, a day for a year, Eze. iv, 6; and third, a day for a thousand years, 2 Pet. iii, 8.
The right construction will harmonize with the Bible, and make good sense; other constructions will not.
XI. If a word makes good sense as it stands, and does no violence to the simple laws of nature, it is to be understood literally; if not, figuratively. Rev. xii, 1, 2; xvii, 3-7.
XII. To learn the meaning of a figure, trace the word through your Bible, and when you find it explained, substitute the explanation for the word used; and, if it make good sense, you need not look further; if not, look again.
XIII. To know whether we have the true historical event for the fulfillment of a prophecy: If you find every word of the prophecy (after the figures are understood) is literally fulfilled, then you may know that your history is the true event; but if one word lacks a fulfillment, then you must look for another event, or wait its future development; for God takes care that history and prophecy shall agree, so that the true believing children of God may never be ashamed. Ps. xxii, 5; Isa. xiv, 17-19; 1 Pet. ii, 6; Rev. xvii, 17; Acts iii, 18.
XIV. The most important rule of all is, that you must have faith. It must be a faith that requires a sacrifice, and, if tried, would give up the dearest object on earth, the world and all its desires,—character, living, occupation, friends, home, comforts, and worldly honors. If any of these should hinder our believing any part of God's word, it would show our faith to be vain. Nor can we ever believe so long as one of these motives lies lurking in our hearts. We must believe that God will never forfeit his word; and we can have confidence that He who takes notice of the sparrow's fall, and numbers the hairs of our head, will guard the translation of his own word, and throw a barrier around it, and prevent those who sincerely trust in God, and put implicit confidence in his word, from erring far from the truth.
"While thus studying the Scriptures,"—containing the words of his own narrative,—"I became satisfied, if the prophecies which have been fulfilled in the past are any criterion by which to judge of the manner of the fulfillment of those which are future, that the popular views of the spiritual reign of Christ—a temporal millennium before the end of the world, and the Jews' return—are not sustained by the word of God; for I found that all the scriptures on which those favorite theories are based, are as clearly expressed as are those that were literally fulfilled at the first advent, or at any other period in the past. I found it plainly taught in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ will again descend to this earth, coming in the clouds of heaven, in all the glory of his Father, that, at his coming, the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven will be given to him and the saints of the Most High, who will possess it forever, even forever and ever; that, as the old world perished by the deluge, so the earth that now is, is reserved unto fire, to be melted with fervent heat at Christ's coming; after which, according to the promise, it is to become the new earth, wherein the righteous will forever dwell; that, at his coming, the bodies of all the righteous dead will be raised, and all the righteous living be changed from a corruptible to an incorruptible, from a mortal to an immortal state; that they will all be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and will reign with him forever in the regenerated earth; that the controversy with Zion will then be finished, the children be delivered from bondage, and from the power of the tempter, and the saints be all presented to God blameless, without spot or wrinkle in love; that the bodies of the wicked will then all be destroyed, and their spirits be reserved in prison until their resurrection and damnation; and that, when the earth is thus regenerated, the righteous raised, and the wicked destroyed, the kingdom of God will have come, when his will will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven; that the meek will inherit it, and the kingdom become the saints'. I found that the only millennium taught in the word of God is the thousand years which are to intervene between the first resurrection and that of the rest of the dead, as inculcated in the twentieth of Revelation; and that it must necessarily follow the personal coming of Christ and the regeneration of the earth; that, till Christ's coming and the end of the world, the righteous and wicked are to continue together on the earth, and that the horn of the Papacy is to war against the saints until his appearing and kingdom, when it will be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming; so that there can be no conversion of the world before the advent; and that as the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, is located by Peter after the conflagration, and is declared by him to be the same for which we look, according to the promise of Isa. lxv, 17, and in the same that John saw in vision after the passing away of the former heavens and earth; it must necessarily follow that the various portions of scripture that refer to the millennial state must have their fulfillment after the resurrection of all the saints that sleep in Jesus. I also found that the promises respecting Israel's restoration are applied by the apostle to all who are Christ's,—the putting on of Christ constituting them Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
"I was then satisfied, as I saw conclusive evidence to prove the advent personal and pre-millennial, that all the events for which the church look to be fulfilled [in the millennium] before the advent, must be subsequent to it; and that, unless there were other unfulfilled prophecies, the advent of the Lord, instead of being looked for only in the distant future, might be a continually-expected event. In examining the prophecies on that point, I found that only four universal monarchies are anywhere predicted, in the Bible, to precede the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom; that three of those had passed away,—Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia,—and that the fourth—Rome—had already passed into its last state, the state in which it is to be when the stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall smite the image on the feet, and break in pieces all the kingdoms of this world. I was unable to find any prediction of events which presented any clear evidence of their fulfillment before the scenes that usher in the advent. And finding all the signs of the times, and the present condition of the world, to compare harmoniously with the prophetic descriptions of the last days, I was compelled to believe that this world had about reached the limits of the period allotted for its continuance. As I regarded the evidence, I could arrive at no other conclusion.
"Another kind of evidence that vitally affected my mind was the chronology of the Scriptures. I found, on pursuing the study of the Bible, various chronological periods extending, according to my understanding of them, to the coming of the Saviour. I found that predicted events, which had been fulfilled in the past, often occurred within a given time. The one hundred and twenty years to the flood, Gen. vi, 3; the seven days that were to precede it, with forty days of predicted rain, Gen. vii, 4; the four hundred years of the sojourn of Abraham's seed, Gen. xv, 13; the three days of the butler's and baker's dreams, Gen. xl, 12-20; the seven years of Pharaoh's, Gen. xli, 28-54; the forty years in the wilderness, Num. xiv, 34; the three and a half years of famine, 1 Kings xvii, 1; the sixty-five years to the breaking of Ephraim, Isa. vii, 8; the seventy years' captivity, Jer. xxv, 11; Nebuchadnezzar's seven times, Dan. iv, 13-16; and the seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, and the one week, making seventy weeks, determined upon the Jews, Dan. ix, 24-27; the events limited by these times were all once only a matter of prophecy, and were fulfilled in accordance with the predictions.
"When, therefore, I found the 2300 prophetic days, which were to mark the length of the vision from the Persian to the end of the fourth kingdom, the seven times' continuance of the dispersion of God's people, and the 1335 prophetic days to the standing of Daniel in his lot, all evidently extending to the advent, with other prophetic periods, I could but regard them as 'the times before appointed,' which God had revealed 'unto his servants the prophets.' As I was fully convinced that 'all Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable,'—that it came not at any time by the will of man, but was written as holy men were moved by the Holy Ghost, and was written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope,—I could but regard the chronological portions of the Bible as being as much a portion of the word of God, and as much entitled to our serious consideration, as any other portion of the Scriptures.
"I, therefore, felt that, in endeavoring to comprehend what God had in mercy seen fit to reveal to us, I had no right to pass over the prophetic periods. I saw that, as the events predicted to be fulfilled in prophetic days had been extended over about as many literal years; as God, in Num. xiv, 34, and Eze. iv, 4-6, had appointed each day for a year; as the seventy weeks to the Messiah were fulfilled in 490 years, and the 1260 prophetic days of the Papal supremacy in 1260 years; and as these prophetic days extending to the advent were given in connection with symbolic prophecy, I could only regard the time as symbolical, and as standing each day for a year, in accordance with the opinions of all the standard Protestant commentators. If, then, we could obtain any clue to the time of their commencement, I conceived we should be guided to the probable time of their termination; and, as God would not bestow upon us an useless revelation, I regarded them as conducting us to the time when we might confidently look for the coming of the Chiefest of ten thousand, the One altogether lovely.
"From a further study of the Scriptures, I concluded that the seven times of Gentile supremacy must commence when the Jews ceased to be an independent nation, at the captivity of Manasseh, which the best chronologers assigned to B. C. 677; that the 2300 days commenced with the seventy weeks, which the best chronologers dated from B. C. 457; and that the 1335 days, commencing with the taking away of the daily, and the setting up of the abomination that maketh desolate, Dan. xii, 11, were to be dated from the setting up of the Papal supremacy, after the taking away of Pagan abominations, and which, according to the best histories, I could consult, should be dated from about A. D. 508. Reckoning all these prophetic periods from the several dates assigned by the best chronologers for the events from which they should evidently be reckoned, they would all terminate together, about A. D. 1843. I was thus brought, in 1818, at the close of my two years' study of the Scriptures, to the solemn conclusion, that in about twenty-five years from that time all the affairs of our present state would be wound up; that all the pride and power, pomp and vanity, wickedness and oppression, would come to an end; and that, in the place of the kingdoms of this world, the peaceful and long-desired kingdom of the Messiah would be established under the whole heaven; that, in about twenty-five years, the glory of the Lord would be revealed, and all flesh see it together,—the desert bud and blossom as the rose, the fir-tree come up instead of the thorn, and instead of the briar the myrtle-tree,—the curse be removed from off the earth, death be destroyed, reward be given to the servants of God, the prophets and saints, and them who fear his name, and those be destroyed that destroy the earth.
"I need not speak of the joy that filled my heart in view of the delightful prospect, nor of the ardent longings of my soul for a participation in the joys of the redeemed. The Bible was now to me a new book. It was indeed a feast of reason; all that was dark, mystical or obscure, to me, in its teachings, had been dissipated from my mind before the clear light that now dawned from its sacred pages; and oh, how bright and glorious the truth appeared! All the contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found in the word were gone; and, although there were many portions of which I was not satisfied I had a full understanding, yet so much light had emanated from it to the illumination of my before darkened mind, that I felt a delight in studying the Scriptures which I had not before supposed could be derived from its teachings. I commenced their study with no expectation of finding the time of the Saviour's coming, and I could at first hardly believe the result to which I had arrived; but the evidence struck me with such force that I could not resist my convictions. I became nearly settled in my conclusions, and began to wait, and watch, and pray, for my Saviour's coming."