They who advocate the “temporal millennium,” and they who adopt what is known as the theory of the Age to Come, agree in asserting that there will be no general destruction of the nations before the close of the one thousand years of Rev. 20. Both classes teach that that period will be one of peace and great prosperity to the nations of the earth. Only in this they disagree: the first hold that the millennium is before the second advent, and the latter that the advent is at its commencement. So far as our present investigation is concerned we must oppose them together. We believe that the destruction of the nations takes place at the commencement of the day of the Lord, at the beginning of the thousand years of Rev. 20. A few points, easily proved by the Scriptures, will make this plain to every mind.
1. Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, after discoursing of the second coming of Christ, adds, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Thus he connects the second advent with the coming of the day of the Lord. Of course the second advent cannot be at the close of that day.
2. A warning is given, as quoted from the prophecy of Joel, and all the inhabitants of the land are called to tremble—not because the day of the Lord is nearly ended, but—because “the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Also, “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” Joel 1:15; 2:1. Now as that destruction takes place when the day of the Lord comes, and the second advent is at the same time, of course the destruction takes place at the second advent.
3. The destruction of the nations is at the time of a great battle, as shown in Jer. 25, and this is said to be “the battle of the great day of God Almighty.” And when this is near, the Saviour says, “Behold, I come as a thief!” Rev. 16:13, 15.
4. Just before the Son of man comes to reap the harvest of the earth, a solemn warning is given, with the awful announcement that they who do not heed it “shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” Rev. 14:9–14. This shows that there is wrath without mercy in the destruction of that day. And thus says the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, concerning the “wine cup of his fury,” which all the nations of the earth will be caused to drink: “And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.” Jer. 25:28. It will be then too late to refuse, for when the Son of man leaves his Father’s throne, preparatory to his coming to the earth, his priesthood will end and probation will close. Again, under the opening of the sixth seal, the wicked who try to hide themselves, say to the rocks and mountains, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:16, 17. But this seal is opened before the second advent, and before the thousand years of Rev. 20, which proves that “the great day of his wrath” is that great millennial day, the same as the great and terrible day of the Lord, so often spoken of by the prophets.
5. The voice of God is heard from Heaven in the midst of these terrible scenes. In Heb. 12:25, 26, it is said that as the voice of God was once heard on earth (on mount Sinai), when his voice shook the earth, so it will once be heard from Heaven, when it will “shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” Now as the voice of God is to be heard from Heaven but once, and the heavens and the earth are to be shaken but once, and that by the voice of God, we know that the voice and the shaking are related to each other as cause and effect. Therefore if in any prophecy we read of the voice of God being heard from Heaven, we know that the heavens and earth will be shaken, even though no reference be made to that shaking. And, also, if we read in any prophecy that these are shaken, we know that the shaking is produced by the voice of God from Heaven.
Under the sixth plague the nations are gathered to the battle of the great day, and then Jesus says, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth.” Under the seventh, the last, the great battle is fought, and under this the voice of God is heard from Heaven. Rev. 16:12–21. In Rev. 19 it is shown that the battle is fought when the Lord comes, for then he overcomes and vanquishes his enemies. Therefore the voice of God is heard from Heaven just as Jesus is about to appear at his advent. When the Saviour instructed his disciples concerning his coming, he said, “And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matt. 24:29, 30. These Scriptures clearly prove that the voice of God is heard, and the heavens and earth are shaken immediately preceding the advent of the Saviour.
But Jeremiah, when he foretold the utter destruction of “all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth,” said, “The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.” Jer. 25:26, 30.
“The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together,” under the opening of the sixth seal, just before the advent. Rev. 6:12–17, and “all the tribes of the earth mourn,” when they see the sign of his coming. And more might be added; but this is fully sufficient to show that the destruction of the nations takes place when Christ comes, and not a long time afterward.
In Dan. 2:44, it is said that the kingdom of God shall break in pieces all these kingdoms; and in other scriptures it is shown that Christ destroys them. As Nebuchadnezzar, in Dan. 2, represented the kingdom of Babylon, so Christ represents the kingdom of God in which he is ruler. What he does the kingdom is said to do. It is also said that the kingdoms are “broken to pieces together.” Dan. 2:35. And “the beast,” which represents the papal hierarchy, together with “the kings of the earth and their armies,” are overcome by the Son of God. Rev. 19:19, 20. But of the beast, called the man of sin, it is said, “Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8.
The kingdoms and nations of the earth, and all his enemies, even to the uttermost parts of the earth, are given to Jesus, put under his feet by his Father, when he ceases to sit as a priest at his Father’s right hand. He then returns to the earth and dashes them in pieces as a potter’s vessel. The giving of them to him constitutes him King of the kings and Lord of the lords of the earth. In Rev. 11:15, under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the third woe, it is said, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” That this reaches to the close of the present dispensation none can deny. Also it precedes the second advent. The seventh trumpet is not “the last trumpet” of which Paul speaks in 1 Cor. 15, which awakes the dead to life. This is the seventh angel’s trumpet, or “the voice of the seventh angel.” Rev. 10:7. That is the voice of the Son of God, or the voice of the archangel and the trump of God; John 5:27–29; 1 Thess. 4:16.
Rev. 11:15 is sometimes misquoted, and thereby a wrong interpretation given to it. In a book called “Adventism,” by William Sheldon, it is thus rendered: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” The title of the book gives the reader to understand that that rendering is according to the faith of “Adventists.” But we are Adventists, and we repudiate that rendering as being unscriptural. It does violence to the grammatical construction of the sentence, because it supplies the ellipsis by introducing a new element, not found in the text nor context. It contradicts Dan. 2, which says that the kingdom of God breaks in pieces and destroys the kingdoms of this world. The above rendering transforms these kingdoms into the kingdom of God. Here is a difference, wide enough and plain enough for every one to see.
The old “temporal millennium” theory represented the stone of Dan. 2 as rolling over the earth, increasing in size like a rolling snowball, until it had absorbed all the kingdoms of the world and converted them into the kingdom of God. The above construction of Rev. 11:15, published as “Adventism,” is identical with that. It represents the kingdoms as being transformed into the kingdom of God, instead of being destroyed by it.
The context itself should have corrected that rendering. Verse 18 of Rev. 11 says, “And ‘the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come.’” Also, this trumpet ushers in “the third woe.” And upon whom can the woe come if not upon the wicked nations of the earth? The truth on this subject is not difficult to find. False theories either put far off the destruction of the nations when it is impending, or pervert the testimony to mean a blessing instead of the infliction of punishment; they help on the cry of “peace and safety,” and thus lull the world to sleep, and so that day will come upon them as a thief. “The wise shall understand.” May the Lord give us true wisdom, that which is from above, that we may be the children of the light, and be ready and waiting for the Lord “when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” To the unprepared he will come “in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thess. 1:7–10. How different the fate of the two parties! And all to be determined and fixed by our actions in the short period of our probation. That our probation—the probation of all—is short and will soon close, will appear as we further examine this subject.
J. H. WAGGONER.
The European Horizon.
By A Berliner-Resident; Dudley Marvin Canright
NOTWITHSTANDING all the fine talk about peace and the abolition of war, the facts in the case are anything but flattering. Here are some facts about the present state of things in Germany:—
THE CONSOLIDATION OF GERMANY.
BY A BERLINER-RESIDENT.
One does not need to live long in any part of Germany to discover that in no one section is much love wasted upon any other. The unity of Germany is a poetic sentiment, a military necessity, and a political form; but it is yet far from being a practical reality in the thoughts, the affections, and the habits of the people, and a new generation must grow up before the German Empire can have the coherence of personal and domestic feeling, and the vitality of a true national organism. Old traditions, jealousies, rivalries, threaten to mar the unity which the momentary enthusiasm of the victory over France had pronounced to be the voice of princes and peoples alike. Hence it is the constant care of the Chancellor to secure that unity of institutions, of aims, and of ideas which will educate the rising generation to unity of feeling and of action. On the one hand, the smaller States have a dread of the overshadowing power of Prussia, and on the other hand, conservative Prussians fear to lose their proud, independent nationality in the overshadowing growth of the German Empire. The other day, for instance, I asked a member of the Prussian Parliament, the Landtag, whether Bismarck had been in the House. “Oh, no!” he answered, with a sneer, “he has his pet Reichstag (the German Parliament) here now, and he never deigns to look in upon us, except when he is personally attacked.” There is a good deal of jealousy between the two bodies, though many gentlemen are members of both, and the Imperial Government studies to avoid friction with the internal administration of Prussia, and of the other component States. But it is one thing for a number of States which are organized throughout upon the same principle of elective popular institutions, to work in harmony under one general government, to which all are subordinate alike, as in the United States, and another thing for kingdoms and duchies with hereditary rulers and parliaments variously constituted, with diversities of religion, of customs, of interests, and to some extent even of language—for these to coalesce without friction under a supreme government in which the imperial headship is to be hereditary in the royal line of the most powerful, the most ambitious, the most domineering member of the Empire. Apart from the personal jealousies of princes, and the rivalries of parliaments, there is an element of friction in the popular constitution of the Reichstag, through universal suffrage, which threatens the old-fashioned institutions and methods of individual States.
Here in Berlin the Landtag is a little disposed to look upon the Reichstag as a set of scalliwags, and the sorry lot of “clericals” and of “social democrats” sent up to this new Parliament gives warrant to this feeling. Said a Berlin professor the other day, “The Southern Germans hate Prussia, because they have to learn so much from her”—a remark which indicates no very amicable feeling on either side.
The hardest lesson which South Germany has learned from Prussia was the necessity of adopting her stringent, compulsory, universal military system. The Post-office, the Mint, the Navy, the Civil Code, have already been imperialized, and are in a fair way toward that smoothness and uniformity of action which are so important to the realization of unity.
Something has already been done toward imperializing the army, and the government now calls upon the Parliament of the Empire for a military law which shall increase the standing army in time of peace, and give greater strength and efficiency to the mobilized forces in time of war. It is proposed, as an offset, to reduce the term of obligatory service from three years to two, with a liability to be called out for twelve years; but at the same time, the yearly ratio of recruits to the standing army is to be increased by 40,000, with a corresponding increase in the number of officers; the salaries of non-commissioned officers are to be advanced, and indeed the whole scale of expenditure is to be raised in proportion to the general advance in cost of living—the total sum for extras being 14,000,000 thalers. It is estimated that the proposed change of organization will add about one-sixth to the permanent strength of the German army (170,000 recruits yearly), and will keep up its efficiency to the highest point which science and experience have attained—a war footing of 1,800,000; but the cost of the department of war, estimated at 113,000,000 thalers will be nearly one-half of the whole yearly budget of the empire. For philanthropists and taxpayers the prospect from such a bill is far from encouraging. Count Moltke argues that the measure is one of pressing necessity, and in the interest of peace. In his speech for the bill, he said that Germany may be called upon for half a century to defend, by force of arms, the unity she had won in half a year. He disclaimed any thought of aggression, or of annexation, on the part of Germany; yet recognized the fact that Belgium, Holland, and other neighbors are jealous of her and are fortifying themselves against her; that France, though held in check by her civil and military leaders, is burning with a popular fever of revenge, which may at any time kindle into a flame of war; and, moreover, that from her geographical position, Germany must be prepared to be attacked upon two sides at once. Count Moltke would place no dependence upon militia, and he strongly urged that a really formidable army, always prepared for war, is the surest guaranty of peace. But he overlooked the fact that the very existence of such an army may also be a provocative to war; by-and-by its officers grow restive under inaction, and the nation grows restive under taxes that yield no visible fruit. Count Moltke hopes that some future happier generation may be able to relax this armed vigilance over peace, “but no such prospect dawns upon us;” and so this enormous provision for war will pass. At one point, however, the Parliament may use its discretion. In the Bill of the government there is no limit of time;—this stupendous war-power is to be committed to the ministry indefinitely; but Parliament talks of a term of two or three years, and by that time the taxpayers may be heard from! Already one-half the army is furnished with the new Mauser weapon, said to be so much more formidable than the needle-gun.
The necessity for consolidating the Empire by military strength grows out of the untiring hostility of the Ultramontanes to German unity. They are constantly intriguing to separate Bavaria from the Empire, and to create complications with France and Austria which would result in war. It is rumored, indeed, that the Ultramontanes in Parliament have tried to make a compromise with the Government by offering to vote for the military law if Prussia will suspend her ecclesiastical laws. But on the issue between Prussia and the Ultramontanes there can be no compromise; and the King's letter to Earl Russell shows that he is fully committed to carry out the struggle till the Ultramontanes188shall declare their submission to the State.
That letter is the clearest and justest statement of the issue which has yet been put before the public.
The law making civil marriage obligatory has finally passed both Houses of the Prussian Parliament, and will take effect immediately. It might be styled an act of emancipation from clerical power.
The same paper contains the following ironical remarks about the evidences of peaceful arbitration of national quarrels:—
The latest English argument in favor of the settlement of international differences by peaceful means is called the Superb. She is an iron-built broadside ship, of 9,800 tons displacement, and 8,000 horse-power. To begin with, she costs £418,000, (multiply by 5 and add the gold premium to appreciate the figure), and to keep her will cost at least 20 per cent of the investment. This argument will be clinched this fall by another of like nature to be named the Fury. She is to cost a matter of £30,000 more than the Superb. She is to carry four “Woolwich Infants,” that is to say, thirty-ton guns, which throw projectiles, each of which is heavy enough to ballast an ordinary coasting sloop. Other European powers are by no means backward in preparing for the brotherhood of man, each after its own peculiar way. Germany, for instance, has just decided, after a long parliamentary debate, to keep up her military establishment; France estimates the army expenses for the year at about $100,000,000, not counting the navy, which is a third as much more. At least it is something to say that we are the only first-class power that dares to think seriously of reducing its military force.
(Concluded on Page 191.)
(Continued from page 187.)
D. M. CANRIGHT.
Duties and Dangers of Our Time.
By James White
It should not be expected that in a single article all the dangers and duties of our time would be noticed. We will call attention to some of the most important. And right here we will state that, as the already wide fields of labor are still opening to new fields, new responsibilities and duties devolve upon our people. And as the work increases in interest and importance, new dangers will beset the paths of the inexperienced and unconsecrated.
1. We have a world-wide message. The cause is one, on the Atlantic, or on the Pacific, in America, or in Europe. All should feel an interest in the great unit cause. While the boundaries of State Conferences may serve a good local purpose, they are not designed to shut up the interests and liberalities of the brethren of any State within the bounds of their Conference. Michigan has set a good example. She has more experienced ministerial talent on the Pacific Coast than at home, besides furnishing two of her best young men, one for Ohio, and the other for Indiana. And besides doing her share in the other charitable enterprises to advance the cause, she puts $1,000 or $1,500 into the General Conference treasury annually. The brethren in the several Conferences have local duties; and besides these they have important duties for the general advancement of the cause.
2. The cause of the third message, from its very commencement, has demanded sacrifices on the part of our people. It has been the duty of some to give their lives to the work of teaching the word. To do this successfully has required excessive toil, and patient, persevering, wearing labor. Our most successful ministers have put two years of wear into one. Here is a sacrifice that cannot be estimated by dollars and cents. And then add to this the privations of home, and the many unpleasant circumstances incident to an itinerant life, and the cup of blessed sacrifice for Christ and his cause seems quite full.
And the precious duty of sacrifice is just as imperative upon the rank and file of the church, in all her membership, as upon her ministers.
The same Heaven, the same palms of victory and crowns of glory, await both the membership and the ministry. And the same voice, full of love and benevolence, will soon thrill the heart of both the faithful minister and the faithful layman. “Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Ps. 50 : 5. The cause demands sacrifice of means just now. Here is a chance for all our brethren to have a part. Our people have been too slow to see the importance of new and broader plans for the extension of the work, constantly calling for new and greater sacrifices. This discourages our leading men from venturing out in those things which they know should be done, and we find ourselves to-day far behind the opening providence of God. But right here we must call attention to a danger that has threatened to empty the treasury, and greatly hinder the cause. It is a disposition on the part of young and inexperienced laborers to receive liberally for their feeble and imperfect services. There is a class of men who connect themselves with the cause who do not seem to regard it their duty to economize and sacrifice for the cause. They get their eye upon the treasury, and admire the unparalleled liberality of our people.
These should understand that one cause at least of the willing sacrifices of our people is the unparalleled sacrifices of those who were first in the cause, and the care they have had to be true to those who have had confidence in them. There is a class of laborers among us who, if they could have their own way, would so appropriate the funds sacredly dedicated to the Lord for the advancement of his cause as to break down our system of benevolence, and dry up the free-will offerings of our people. Our leading men, and all our ministers and laborers, must take a course to preserve and increase the confidence of our people everywhere.
We highly approve of the general course pursued by the President of the General Conference last season. “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” And it is just as true that an amount of hire is worthy of the accomplishment of a corresponding amount of good. The general rule may have exceptions where all the circumstances are taken into the account. And we wish to notice in particular those who are commencing the work in other languages. Brethren Matteson and Lee set these men a good example. And why should they not have the same spirit of sacrifice which those had who commenced the work in the English language twenty-five years since? When we call for means to publish in the languages of the Danes, Swedes, French, and Germans, we expect that means will be used with that economy, and those who connect themselves with the work will manifest that spirit of sacrifice which characterized the efforts of the pioneers in the cause.
3. One of the most important duties of our time for those especially who have had but little experience in the work, is to seek counsel of God, and also of those who are trusted with important offices. And one of the greatest dangers of such is in taking responsibilities readily and hastily, without prayer, and counsel with the proper persons. The General Conference Committee, two of whom are members of the Committee on Publications, or some person or persons whom they may appoint, should know beforehand what matter is to be translated into other languages. This is a matter of too grave importance to be left to men who have newly come to the faith.
4. We must give no license to that accusing spirit that charges us with denial of our faith in laying broad plans for the extension and accomplishment of the work. What a trick of Satan to lead our people to reserve their property to be consumed in the fires of the last day, rather than to use a portion of it to facilitate the closing work! If the work is to close in five or ten years, we should have $300,000 invested in the publishing work instead of $100,000. And we should have school buildings going up at three points at least, instead of one. How very consistent with our faith in the soon coming of our Lord to be using a small portion of our means to prepare men and women for the work, and to send our publications in the different languages everywhere.
5. We must humbly go before the public with our message in a manner to give the idea that we, at least, regard it as one of vast magnitude and importance. Very much as we give the impression, will it be received by the people. Some of our laborers are so fearful of appearing like the world and the popular churches that they shrink back to a position of inefficiency. The California tent is up in Oakland, the “Athens of California.” It is a city of schools, wealth, and popularity. Yet the brethren are having a good hearing. They seize hold of every lawful opportunity to advertise. They are getting brief articles through three daily papers. We have issued one number of a small sheet called “The Tent Meeting.” The battle is going well. With all such efforts and advantages there must be corresponding prayer and the spirit of true humility. The people must be reached where they are. The world must be warned, and a people gathered out of it for the Lord at his coming. J. W.
The Camp-Meetings.
By James White
THE season of camp-meetings has come. These have become important and exceedingly interesting meetings with Seventh-day Adventists. With our people they are a necessity. Our churches are scattered and small, and our people do not enjoy regular preaching. Our ministers do not locate. They “go into all the world, and preach the gospel,” and raise up new churches. Our people should appear before the Lord in general convocation at least once a year, to hear the gospel, to mingle their prayers and words of exhortation and songs of praise in God's great, natural temples.
We should be happy to meet old and new friends at these general meetings of thrilling interest. But more local duties on the Pacific Coast compel us to decline the invitations of the General Conference Committee.
God greatly blessed us in our efforts to establish the camp-meetings in the several State Conferences. And it would be comparatively an easy task to attend them to what it was before they were organized, when they were an experiment, held in doubt by many of our people.
But the wide field of labor is still opening, and there is no time to rest down here, and enjoy the fruits of our labors. We must press out into new fields, and with faith, hope, and courage in the Lord, battle for truth and victory until the work shall close.
God bless the General Conference Committee. The responsibility of the oversight of the camp-meetings rests upon them, and we trust they will have the hearty co-operation and support of all our people.
Their labors and cares at our camp-meetings are very great, and all true friends of the cause should regard it their duty to do all in their power to lighten their burdens, and encourage them in the work. The amount of labor which the Lord helps them to perform during the camp-meeting season is astonishing. But time and toil are telling upon them, as they have upon others. And while they are crowding two years into one, cheerfully, joyfully, in view of the great work to be done, and the reward to be given, let us, brethren, encourage them, and make their work as light as possible, by acting well the part assigned to each of us.
Turn out to the camp-meetings, brethren, far and near. Some write that more would attend if certain ones of the old hands would be present. This is all a mistake, brethren. Turn out, and get all others out you can. The Lord will meet with you by his Spirit. Your camp-meetings last year, under the supervision of Elders Butler and Haskell, were productive of more good than at any previous season. The Lord, the Lord of hosts, will meet with you. Let there be a general turnout to the camp-meetings.
Be earnest to be on the ground, and all ready to attend the first religious service held, and remain till the very last service is closed. Take your children with you, if possible, in expectation of seeing them converted. Induce all your friends you possibly can to spend a week on consecrated ground, to consider holy subjects. Let the camp-meetings this year be a success. God will help all who are anxious to help themselves.
J. W.
Paradise.
By John Nevins Andrews
(Concluded.)
“To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23, 43.
But was not the thief admitted into Paradise the day of the crucifixion? So it is generally understood. Yet he was not to be there till Christ was there himself. He prayed to be remembered, when Christ should come, not into, but in [Gr. en] his kingdom. His prayer does, therefore, plainly refer, not to his entrance into Heaven, but to his second advent. And our Lord’s promise related to himself as well as to the thief, “To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” But we have the direct testimony, 1. Of Christ himself; 2. Of Peter; 3. Of Paul, that he was not in Paradise till he had first spent a period of time in hades. In other words, the testimony of these important witnesses shows that our Lord must be raised from the dead before he could pass from hades to Paradise. It is certain that the thief could not get there before our Lord himself.
The difficulty in reconciling our Lord’s promise to the thief with his own declaration concerning himself, made three days later, lies in the use of the word “to-day.” Did our Lord promise to take the penitent thief on the very day of the crucifixion to the place where the tree of life grows (compare Rev. 2:7, and 22:14), a place which contains also the river of life and the throne of God, and then three days afterward tell Mary that he had not yet been to the house of his Father?
Our Lord did not contradict in his declaration to Mary what he had promised to the thief; nor do the apostles while exactly sustaining his words in the one case contradict them in the other. We only seek to harmonize all the testimony. And lest the careless reader should suppose that all the difficulty is found on the side of those who deny that death is the door to Paradise, it may be well to state the difficulty on both sides.
1. Our difficulty lies in reconciling the “to-day” of the promise with his own testimony the third day afterward, that this promise was then unfulfilled.
2. But those who hold death as the gate to endless joys, have quite as difficult a task to accomplish. They insist that the word, “to-day,” makes it certain that Christ and the thief were in Paradise the very day of the crucifixion. It is, therefore, for them to reconcile this with his words spoken the third day afterward, that he had not yet been with his Father; and also to show how his soul could be in hades and Paradise at the same time; and still further, to meet Paul’s statement, that he did not ascend till after he had descended; and that the two successive acts were performed by the same person. These are far more formidable difficulties to solve than lie in our way from our Lord’s use of “to-day.” Our friends on the other side seem to think the difficulty all rests upon us for disposal. The truth is, the real difficulty is with them, and they cannot give any reasonable solution of it.
But what are we to do with the “to-day” of the promise? We have seen what our friends who think the sleep of the dead a great heresy are able to do with it. If they place Paradise in hades beneath, they locate it in a land of unconsciousness. If they locate it in Heaven above, they have the positive testimony of the Bible to show that Jesus did not enter it till he was raised from the dead. Indeed, David, 1000 years after his death, had not entered it, for the good reason that he was still asleep. Acts 2:34; 13:36. If we cannot solve the difficulty in this text, we certainly cannot make a worse failure than our friends on the other side. They claim that to give proper weight to the “to-day” of the promise, Christ and the thief must each have entered Paradise the day that the promise was made. Yet to maintain this view, they involve themselves in the contradiction of the plainest facts. This of itself is a sufficient demonstration that the truth is not found on that side. We freely admit that the word “to-day” seems most naturally to qualify the time of entering Paradise rather than to emphasize the time of the utterance, but we cannot so use this one word as to involve our Lord in a self-contradiction. The following propositions may be considered as offering a more just and reasonable view of the subject than is presented by the other side:—
1. The adverb, “to-day,” in view of the facts above stated, necessarily relates in this case to the time of the utterance, and not to the time of the fulfillment of the promise.
To this it is objected that the punctuation forbids such an interpretation; and also that there was no need of using the “to-day” to qualify the time of the utterance. But the punctuation is of comparatively recent origin, and not, therefore, entitled to any decisive weight in settling the interpretation of this text. And that it is proper to thus use the adverb, the circumstances strongly indicate. Jesus was dying as a malefactor. He could, with the utmost propriety, emphasize the time of the promise, so utterly unlike the coming glory was his complete humiliation and abasement. That it is sometimes the wisdom of God to thus emphasize the time of the utterance rather than the time of the accomplishment, is evident from Zech. 9:12: “Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope; EVEN TO-DAY DO I DECLARE that I will render double unto thee.” This interpretation of the passage involves no absurdity, and does not cause one part of the record to clash with another.
2. But we have in the words of Moses a remarkable parallel to the words of our Lord, “Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” Thus we read, Deut. 9:1, “Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself.” It is true that in the one case the term used in our English version is “to-day,” and in the other it is “this day.” But there is really no difference in their meaning, and what is more, the word σήμερον (semeron), rendered “to-day” in our Lord’s promise to the thief is the very word used for “this day” in the Septuagint, i. e., the Greek Old Testament. So the words of Moses are a fair parallel to the words of Christ.
It is easy to prove that Israel did not pass over Jordan that day on which Moses addressed them. But it was at least several days after this before Moses died. And after his death the people mourned for him thirty days. Then after quite a number of days, sufficient for Joshua to assume command, and to send over the spies, and to receive their report, the people crossed the Jordan. It is likely that two months elapsed after Moses said, “Thou art to pass over Jordan this day,” before they actually passed it. See Deut. 34; Josh. 1:2. The proof is palpable that Israel did not pass over Jordan on the day that Moses made this promise, and it is equally evident that Moses did not expect them to pass over it on that day. But the proof that Christ did not enter Paradise the day of his death is equally explicit and direct. Our friends who regard death as the door of Paradise, think us almost infidels because in view of this direct and palpable evidence that Christ did not enter Paradise by dying, we take our stand that the “to-day” of the promise to the thief cannot be interpreted as they interpret it. Yet here is a parallel from the words of Moses which they are compelled to treat precisely as we do the words to the thief.189
But what is the proper explanation of these words of Moses? Two facts may be adduced as shedding light upon this expression of Moses. 1. It had become a certainty that the people he had so long led should actually pass over the Jordan. 2. This was to take place in a very short time. These two facts which may be expressed in one sentence, “It is this day a certainty that thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and that in a short time,” form the justification of Moses in the use of this language. And so of our Lord’s words to the thief. It was by the act of the thief under such extraordinary circumstances, rendered certain that day, that he should have part with Christ in Paradise. And may I not add that when on the third day afterward Christ left hades, and many saints arose with him, this penitent man may have been numbered with them, and so formed one of that throng that ascended with our triumphant Lord? See Matt. 27:52, 53; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 4:8, margin. Such to my mind is the proper interpretation of these various texts. I submit to candid, thoughtful students of the Bible whether this is not a reasonable explanation of these words of our Lord to the dying penitent.
The Paradise of God shall in due time receive all the saints. Our Lord has gone thither before them as the forerunner. He is preparing the place for his people. When he has prepared the place for their reception, and when they have accomplished their preparation for the place, he shall return to take them thither. With him they shall ascend to the house of his Father. John 13:36; 14:1–3. Within the gates of the New Jerusalem they shall find the tree of life in the Paradise of God. Rev. 2:7; 22:1–5, 14. Here in the third Heaven where Paul heard the unspeakable words of joy, shall they behold the city prepared for Abraham and his seed, and each shall find a mansion prepared expressly for himself. Here with their own eyes shall they behold the things which God hath prepared for those that love him. Here shall they eat of the tree of life, and drink of the river that issues out of the throne of God. Here they shall eat the marriage supper. Here they shall sit with Christ on thrones of judgment during the thousand years. And when the New Jerusalem shall take its place as the metropolis of the glorified new earth, they shall take the kingdom under the whole heaven as their own inheritance, and from Sabbath to Sabbath shall congregate from the face of the whole earth to celebrate, in Paradise, the praise of their Creator. J. N. A.