{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_27177/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_27177","id":"gutenberg_27177","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27177","summary":null,"tags":["Anglo-Israelism","Category: History - American","Category: History - British","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Lost tribes of Israel"],"text":"credit\n\n\n\nTranscribed from the 1880 Robert Banks edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n                            LONDON: PRINTED BY\n             ROBERT BANKS, RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.\n\n                          [Picture: Book cover]\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   THE\n                             LOST TEN TRIBES,\n                                   AND\n                                  1882.\n\n\n                                    BY\n                         REV. JOSEPH WILD, D.D.,\n                  PASTOR OF UNION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,\n                              BROOKLYN, N.Y.\n\n                                 LONDON:\n             ROBERT BANKS, RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET.  E.C.\n                                  1880.\n\n                [Picture: Great seal of the United States]\n\nThis device of the great Seal was adopted by act of the Continental\nCongress, on June 20th, 1782, and re-adopted by the New Congress,\nSeptember 15th, 1789.  The act provided for an _obverse_ and a _reverse_,\nas set forth in this plate; the _reverse_ is not used.  This is a plate\nof the first and original Seal, which, by use, has been worn out.  The\none now in use is the second; it differs from the first that, by an\naccident, seven arrows were left out of the eagle's talon.\n\n                          _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_.\n\n                      Price 2s., post free 2s. 3d.,\n                           THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL\n                                AND JUDAH.\n                       WITH A PORTRAIT OF DR. WILD.\n\n   PHILO-ISRAEL says:--\"We recommend most strongly that all our friends\n should obtain the book.  Once in their hands, we know they will read it\n                               to the end.\"\n\n            LONDON: ROBERT BANKS, RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe following Discourses are presented to the public in book form,\nagreeable to the request of numerous friends.  I have selected twenty\nfrom one hundred and thirty which I have given to my own congregation\nduring the past three years.  I have tried to have them lean one against\nanother, to the end that the argument might be continuous and somewhat\ncomplete.  The reader will remember, however, that the vast subject of\nwhich they treat, cannot be fairly and completely presented in such a\nvolume as this.  Also, it should be borne in mind that the language,\nstyle, and structure, are sermonic.  Pulpit literature, in these things,\nis peculiar and distinctively characteristic.\n\nWhen I first entered the ministry, I made up my mind that I would try and\nthoroughly understand the Scriptures.  I soon found that a large portion\nwas of a prophetic nature.  I set to work according to the usual method,\nbut to my sorrow I soon discovered that the method and rules in general\nuse for Scripture exegesis, among what they called orthodox authors, were\nvery defective and unsatisfactory.  The fact was forced upon me that the\ntrue method, or key of interpretation, was not in use.  I was always\npersuaded that the Bible was a unit, and that the principles contained in\nsuch a unit were beautifully related; and because of such a faith, I\nwondered more and more as I grew older why we had not a better key of\ninterpretation.  Men spiritualised at random, without any kind of rule,\nexcept their own fancy.  In this manner they expounded the material\nhistory of the Old Testament.  The whole arrangement was a Babel.\n\nI had faintly discerned that the Scriptures made a distinction between\nthe House of Israel and the House of Judah, and that the prophecies\nbelonging to one could not, in fairness, be applied to the other; and\nthat some prophecies applied to both.  It always seemed strange to me,\nthat the people which God said He had chosen for Himself, should not be\nknown.  The Jews were always known, but where was \"Israel, His\ninheritance?\"  Again, I could see no point in the Lord swearing so\npositively about David's seed and throne lasting to the end of time.\nTaking them in a typical sense, they were about the poorest types that\ncould have been selected, because of the shortness of their existence,\naccording to the general mode of interpretation.  Just at this point of\nmy experience I came across a book, entitled \"Our Israelitish Origin,\" by\nthe late John Wilson, the reading of which confirmed me in my\nconvictions, and aided me to a better knowledge of the good Book of\nProvidence.\n\nAfter some twenty years of experience, I began to teach the principles of\ninterpretation embodied in these discourses.  Some three years ago I\nbegan to give a series of sermons on the Ten Lost Tribes.  I soon found\nmy own congregation, as well as the public, were interested and profited\nwith the same, as was manifest from the large and constant attendance\nthereon.  By personal interviews and letters, I have been gratified to\nlearn that many have been savingly and truly converted to God through\nthese Discourses.  Especially has this been the case with those who were\ninfidel in faith and action towards God and His Word.  I have received\nhundreds of letters thanking me that the key of interpretation presented\nhad made the Bible an interesting and easily understood book.  The\ninterest created gave rise to numerous requests for copies of my sermons.\nThe notice by the public press now and again intensified the interest and\nincreased the demand.  To meet this desire I made arrangements with the\neditor and proprietor of a weekly paper called the _Champion_ to publish\nmy evening Discourses.  At once the arrangement was found to be\nprofitable to him, agreeable to me and admirably suited to the public.\nSo for more than a year the _Champion_ has been my faithful messenger on\nthis line, and will continue to be.  It is a weekly paper, published at\n132, Nassau Street, New York; price one dollar per year.  I am not\npersonally interested more than this.  With its politics and other matter\nI have nothing to do; but for the sermonic matter I hold myself\nresponsible.  I feel free to express my pleasure in the wonderful\nincrease of its circulation.  I am glad it goes all over the States, the\nDominion of Canada, and is in goodly demand in Great Britain.\n\nAfter I had been preaching on this subject for some time, I made,\nfortunately, the acquaintance of a name-sake of mine, Mr. Joseph Wild, of\nBay Ridge, near Brooklyn.  On this subject I found him remarkably well\nposted.  He had lots of books, pamphlets, papers, and maps on the matter,\nany or all of which he gave me liberty to use.  Through him my attention\nwas called to the valuable writings of our English brethren on this\npoint, Edward Hine, Rev. Mr. Glover, M.A., Rev. Mr. Grimaldi, M.A.,\nPhilo-Israel, and a host of others, whose writings have helped me very\nmuch.  Our English friends have now a vast store of this kind of\nliterature; while, so far as I know, we have no home production.  This is\none reason I feel satisfied in sending forth this volume.\n\nFor years I have been greatly interested in Pyramidology, in the\nteachings of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh in Egypt.  Twenty years ago I had\nconfidence to lecture frequently on the subject, and a few years since it\nwas in my mind to publish a small work on it.  The necessity of such work\nwas wisely and competently taken out of my hands, however, by the\nappearance of a book entitled, \"The Stone Miracle,\" by Rev. Dr. Seiss, of\nPhiladelphia.  This is a book admirably suited to beginners on this line\nof study.  And if one wants to go further and be specially informed on\nPyramidology, why let them get \"Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid,\" a\nwork by Professor Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer-Royal of Scotland.  To this\nman God has given a fine mind and a large heart for a special place and\nwork.  But what pleases me above all, is that this Pyramid, being the\n_Lord's Pillar_, and _His Witness_, should so finely tally with the\nScriptures and Providence; that the teachings of this monument are in\nharmony with the principles of interpretation, as applied to the\nprophecies in these Discourses.\n\nBy several small engravings I have sought to aid the mind of the reader\nthrough the eye.  In the Royal Arms of England there is considerable of\nhistory; the position of the lions, unicorn, crown, and indeed all\nconnected with it is significantly expressive.  In these things, the\naccidental grouping, so far as man was concerned, were as much under\nDivine supervision as the blundering of the Jews in the crucifying of\nJesus.  So, Divinely considered, they Divinely reveal.  We know not the\nmind of our fathers in the matter of selecting and composing the items\nthat make up the great seal, but we know the mind of Providence.\n\nThe plate of the ragged old stone, called Jacob's pillow, is not very\ndistinct, but it is the best we could do.  As it is, it will aid the\nreader in forming a better idea.  The stone in shape is an oblong square,\nabout 32 inches long, 13 broad, and 11 inches deep.  At each end is an\niron ring, much worn and rusted.  It is a bluish steel-like colour, mixed\nwith some veins of red.  It has been in its present resting place 583\nyears.\n\nThe main idea I wish to convey in this book, is that God is conducting\nHis Providence through His ancient chosen people, Israel, whom I believe\nare found in the Saxon race.  And His throne on earth, through which flow\nthe purposes of Providence, is David's throne, which I believe to be at\npresent the English throne.  Queen Victoria (and God bless her) I believe\nto be of David's seed.  The United States fulfils the _role_ of the Tribe\nof Manasseh.  Therefore, to understand the prophecies, Providence, and\nthe present movement of nations, as well as the future lot and destiny of\neach, we must read the Scriptures in this light.  God has made the\nchildren of Israel and throne of David His executive, in time, on earth.\nThey are His executive for civilisation, evangelisation, order, and\nconquest.  Through them God will conquer the world to an universal peace.\nAs Moses was to God, so is Israel.  Moses being a Divine executor, was to\nthe people a god--so is Israel to all mankind.  Spiritual Israel will\ncome through literal Israel.\n\nI have expressed myself freely, and shall cheerfully grant reviewers,\ncritics, and readers, the same privilege.  I send forth this book with a\npure desire that it may do good.  Amen, so mote it be.\n\n                                                              JOSEPH WILD.\n\nBrooklyn, May 1st, 1879.\n\n\n\n\nKEY DISTINCTIONS.\nDISCOURSE I.\n\n\n    \"We have a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye\n    take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the\n    day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.  Knowing this first,\n    that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private\n    interpretation.\"--2 Peter i. 19, 20.\n\nI am about to give you a few Discourses on Prophecy, and in doing so I\ndesire, in the first place, to point out to you a few very important\ndistinctions included in the prophecies.  Suppose the Bible to be a great\npalace, with its royalty, royal children, servants, and subjects.  You\ndesire to go through it and view it intelligently, and to understand all\nabout its inhabitants and laws of government; now to do so, you must have\nkeys, and you must learn who is who, their place, authority, and work.\nIf not so qualified, you could not pass from room to room, and you might\nconfound the King with some servant, and visitors might be mistaken for\nthe children of the household.  Thus your ideas would be considerably\nmixed; you would be guilty of talking about the King, when you really\nmeant some servant, and of prophesying for the royal children in the name\nof the visitors.  The years would come and go, but events would not\nhappen as you had prophesied.  Each generation would take your report and\nfollow in your footsteps, thus confusion and disappointment would keep\npace with the passing generations.\n\nWhat is here made a matter of supposition, has been a solemn fact on the\nline of human experience.  Men have studied the Bible and Providence in\nthis ignorant and confused way.  Theologians have thrown aside all\nrestraints, and well-defined limitations and distinctions of the Bible in\ntheir assumed liberty of expounding and spiritualising the same.  No\nmatter to them that there is a God-revealed distinction between Judah and\nIsrael, Manasseh and Ephraim, Samaritans and Gentiles, and the throne of\nDavid and the throne of the heathen.  Writers and speakers are guilty of\nusing the words Judah and Israel in a synonymous sense, though the words\nstand for different people, history, and prophecies, soon after the\ndescendants of Jacob settled in Palestine.  To aid you in seeing this\nhistorical confusion and folly, let me call your attention to them\nseparately.\n\n\n\nJUDAH.\n\n\nWhat does this word stand for in the Bible?  In the _first_ place it is\nthe name of the fourth son of Jacob.  In the _second_ place it was the\nname of his direct descendants or Tribe.  In the _third_ place it became\nthe name of the portion of the country occupied by this Tribe in the\nPromised Land.  In the _fourth_ place it became the name of a kingdom and\ngovernment; this fourth name included the Tribe of Benjamin and their\nterritory.  In the _fifth_ place it became the name of the whole country\nof Palestine, and is now often so used.  To-day this word stands for\nthose we call Jews, who, as they allow among themselves, represent and\nonly include Judah and Levi.\n\nOn the death of Solomon the country and Tribes finally separated into two\nHouses, kingdoms, and governments.  Nine Tribes went with Jeroboam, and\nthree with Rehoboam--namely, Judah, Levi, and Benjamin.  The nine-tribed\nHouse was called Israel, the three-tribed House Judah.  This separation\nwas about 975 B.C. (1 Kings xii.).  From that day to this these two\nHouses have never been united; but they are to be, as scores of\nstatements to that effect are in the good Book (Hosea i. 11).  About 580\nB.C. the House of Judah was taken captive into Babylon, remaining 70\nyears, then they returned to their own land and remained till the year of\nour Lord 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed and they were scattered.\n\nProphecies referring to the Jews are numerous and in striking contrast to\nthose that refer to Israel.  1. The Jews were to be a scattered people.\n2. A specially persecuted people.  3. To be without a nationality.  4. To\nbe without government.  5. Not to be owners of landed property, though\nthey will have money, until toward the latter days.  6. They were to be a\nproverb.  7. They were to be few in number.  8. They are to retain a\nspecial type of features.  9. They were to be repeatedly robbed.  10.\nThey were to reject Christ.  11. To retain the Mosaic service till\nreturned to their own land.  12. They are to keep their name, and many\nsuch distinctions, none of which should be applied to Israel.  All these\nthings have been and are fulfilled, or fulfilling, and though men are\nwonderfully given to spiritualising, few, if any, venture to spiritualise\nJudah's curses.  Men and ministers calling themselves Gentiles, are rude\nenough to spiritualise the blessings of Judah, and stealing them, apply\nthem to themselves.\n\n\n\nISRAEL.\n\n\n1. A name given to Jacob after wrestling with the Angel.  2. A term\napplied sometimes to all the descendants of Jacob.  3. In a spiritual\nsense, those who believe in Christ.  4. A name that covered and included\nthe nine Tribes which went with Jeroboam and formed the kingdom of\nIsrael.  They remained a distinct kingdom, and till now a nationality.\nFrom 975 to 725 B.C. they had some 19 kings.  They were finally carried\ncaptive into Assyria by Shalmanezer (2 Kings xvii.).  From that captivity\nthey have never returned; as a body they never can, only representatives,\nas stated in Jer. iii. 14, \"One of a city, and two of a family.\"\n\nNow prophecy points out that it was Israel that was to be lost for a\nwhile, and come to light in the latter day.  They are known in the\nScriptures in contradistinction from others by such terms as the\nfollowing: \"_All Israel_,\" \"_All the House of Israel wholly_,\" \"_The\nHouse of Israel_,\" \"_Men of Israel_,\" and God calls them His \"_Servants_,\n_Witnesses_, _Chosen People_, _Inheritance_, and _Seed_.\"  The lot,\ncourse, and providential portion of this people are very marked from any\nother, especially from the Jew, with whom they are so often confounded.\nThe history of the two peoples have been wide apart and as different as\nthey well could be.\n\n1.  They were to be _lost_.  2.  They were to be _divorced_ from the\nMosaic law.  3. They were to lose their _name_.  4. They were to lose\ntheir _language_.  5. They were to _possess_ the isles of the sea, coasts\nof the earth, waste and desolate places, to inherit the portion of the\nGentiles, their seed, land, and cities. 6.  They are to be great and\nsuccessful _colonisers_.  7. Before them other people are to _die out_.\n8. They are to be a _head_ nation.  9. To be a _company_ of nations.  10.\nTo be _great_ in war on land or sea.  11. To be _lenders_ of money.  12.\nTo have a _monarchy_.  13. To be _keepers_ of the Sabbath.  14. To have\nDavid's _throne_ and seed ruling over them.  15. They are to _possess_\nPalestine, and invite their brethren of Judah to return.  And thus I\nmight repeat some sixty positive marks and distinctions setting forth\nIsrael; and yet men wilfully persist in confounding them with the Jews,\nor looking for this great and favoured people of the Lord among the\nlowest of human kind, Indians, Africans, and so on.\n\n\n\nSAMARITANS.\n\n\nThe Samaritans were not Jews or Israelites, strictly speaking.  They of\ncourse became Jewish in their customs and worship.  Originally they were\nAssyrians.  When the nine Tribes were carried captive, they were brought\nand put in their place.  \"And the King of Assyria brought men from\nBabylon and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from\nSepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the\nchildren of Israel\" (2 Kings xvii. 24).  The Jews and the Samaritans\nnever wholly mixed; one was always distasteful to the other.  They never\nwere taken captive, and to this day they live in and about Mount Scychar,\nnumbering between three and four hundreds.\n\n\n\nBENJAMIN.\n\n\nThe Tribe of Benjamin has a singular and special place in the history of\nIsrael and Judah.  Neither the Old or New Testament can be well\nunderstood unless one understands the place of this Tribe in Providence.\nThey were always counted one of the Ten Tribes, and reckoned with them in\nthe prophetic visions.  They were only loaned to Judah about 800 years.\nRead 1 Kings xi.  They were to be a light for David in Jerusalem.  God,\nforeseeing that the Jews would reject Christ, kept back this one Tribe to\nbe in readiness to receive Him, and so they did.  At the destruction of\nJerusalem they escaped, and after centuries of wanderings turn up as the\nproud and haughty Normans.  Finally they unite with the other Tribes\nunder William the Conqueror.  A proper insight into the work and mission\nof Benjamin will greatly aid one in interpreting the New Testament.  He\nwas set apart as a missionary Tribe, and at once set to work to spread\nthe Gospel of Jesus.  Most of the disciples were Benjaminites.  Then,\nafter 800 years of fellowship with Judah, they were cut loose and sent\nafter their brethren of the House of Israel.  It was needful that the\nLion and the Unicorn should unite.\n\n\n\nMANASSEH AND EPHRAIM.\n\n\nThe history of these two representative characters is worth your careful\nstudy.  The whole of the circumstances of Jacob blessing them must be\naccepted as Divinely directed.  Manasseh was to be a great people, and so\nI believe he is.  In the United States I find this promise literally\nfulfilled.  This is the Key to the settlement of this land; to the\nagitations of the Pilgrims and Puritans in England.  The mission, work,\nand place of the United States may be found in the prophecies relating to\nthis Tribe.  Let anyone examine the great seal of the United States, and\nstudy its design, and surprise will fill the mind that facts, Providence,\nand prophecies do so wonderfully agree.  Take the obverse side.  Here you\nhave an eagle with outstretched wings; the bird is perfect, not double\nheaded and deformed, as in other cases where the eagle has been or is the\nnational bird.  The striped escutcheon on its breast, in its beak a\nscroll, inscribed with a motto, \"_E pluribus Unum_\"--one out of many, as\nManasseh was, and as the country is building up a grand nationality and\noneness out of all nations nearly.  Over the head of the eagle there is a\n_glory_--the parting of clouds by light; in the opening appear 13 stars,\nforming a constellation argent, on an azure field.  In the dexter or\nright talon is an olive branch, a symbol of peace; in the sinister or\nleft talon is a bundle of 13 arrows.  But it is on the reverse side of\nthe great seal that we have a wonder.  Here we have an unfinished\nPyramid; a portion of the top is gone, exactly the same as the Great\nPyramid in Egypt is at this day--anticipating this very day (Isa. xix.\n19): \"In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord.  And it shall be\nfor a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of\nEgypt.\"  Now it is somewhat singular that the Congress of 1782 should\nhave adopted so remarkable a sign, one that would witness to God and tell\nof their origin.  The reverse side is the under side, and shows from\nwhence the nation came, and on what it is built.  In the zenith--that is,\nabove the top of the Pyramid--is a triangle surrounded by a glory; and in\nthe centre is an all-seeing eye.  Over the eye we have _Annuit Coeptis_,\nwhich means, \"_He prospers our beginning_.\"  On the base of the Pyramid\nwe have in letters, 1776, and underneath the following motto--\"_Novus\nordo seclorum_,\" meaning a \"New era in the ages.\"  The suggestion of the\nitems upon the great seal was from Sir John Prestwich, Bart., an\nEnglishman.  He gave the suggestions to the American Minister, John\nAdams, and thus the same were conveyed to Congress and adopted.\n\nWe have in the facts of the great seal a series of coincidents that\nconnect this country with the Tribe of Manasseh.  When the Tribes\nmarched, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh went together on the West side\nof the ark, for their homes were Westward.  On their battalion banner was\nthe figure of a youth, denoting activity, with the motto, \"The cloud of\nJehovah rest on them, even when they go forth out of the camp.\"  Here we\nhave the origin of the cloud on the seal.  And when we remember that\nManasseh was brought up at the foot of the Pyramid, and could see it from\nhis palace home at Memphis, then we get a cue to the figure of the\nPyramid on the seal. {23}\n\n\n\nPYRAMID.\n\n\nThe Pyramid is a wonderful witness for God and His people.  This building\nin Egypt has stood for 4,000 years; finished and complete, it stood for\nabout 3,000 before anybody ventured to find a way into it.  Then, at a\ngreat cost of men, money, and time, a way was forced in by an Arab chief.\nThere surely is something remarkable that the only thing found in it\nshould be a stone trough, and more singular to my mind, that the Ark of\nthe Covenant and this stone trough should be of equal capacity; and the\nlaver in which the priest washed his feet in the temple was exactly of\nthe same size.  And Solomon's molten sea contained just as much water as\nwould fill the King's Chamber in which this trough was found.  Can any\nman know these things and believe them to be accidental?  Verily not.\nThey do most assuredly pledge a God and Providence.\n\n\n\nEPHRAIM.\n\n\nThis word is not only the name of Joseph's son and the Tribe, but it is\nused quite frequently in a generic sense, and stands for the Ten Tribes\nand Manasseh.  To Reuben by birthright was the lead politically, but it\nwas taken from him and given to Joseph, and so to Ephraim.  From Judah\ncame the Chief Ruler--that is, Christ; but the birthright was Joseph's (1\nChron. v. 1).\n\n\n\nTHRONE OF DAVID.\n\n\nTo this throne God pledged under oath a perpetuity.  Also He pledged that\nsome one of David's seed should always be on it.  The throne and seed are\npledged an unconditional existence.  This being so, it follows that they\nmust be now in existence, and that finally all thrones will be swallowed\nup by this one.  Queen Victoria is of David, and the English throne is\nDavid's.  Hence all the promises and prophecies referring to David's\nthrone may be found on this line.  For prophecy not being of private\ninterpretation such facts may be proven.\n\n\n\nGENTILES.\n\n\nThe word Gentile generally embraces all those nations and people outside\nof the Twelve Tribes.  Keeping these few distinctions in mind, you will\nbe enabled to read the Bible interestingly and with the proper\nunderstanding.  Prophetic evidence is a strong kind of proof.  Study the\nWord on this line and you will find Providence and history lending\nglorious confirmation to the same.\n\n\n\n\nISRAEL AND THE GATES.\nDISCOURSE II.\n\n\nISRAEL--HOW THE GATES OF HIS ENEMIES ARE TO BE GIVEN HIM--BY THIS SIGN\nLOST ISRAEL MAY BE KNOWN--THE GIVING WILL CORRESPOND TO THE\nMULTIPLYING--THE PROMISE, IN THIS DAY, IS RAPIDLY FULFILLING--ENGLAND,\nDISRAELI AND \"TANCRED,\" AND RUSSIA.\n\n    \"That in blessing I will bless thee; and in multiplying, I will\n    multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is\n    upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his\n    enemies.\"--Gen. xxii. 17.\n\nUnder a Divine oath was this prophetic promise made to Abraham.  At the\ntime it was given Abraham had, by command, offered his only son Isaac,\nwhich offering, to all human appearance, would leave the old patriarch\nagain childless; but his faith staggered not, for human incompetence does\nnot circumscribe the bounds of Divine sufficience.  The God who commanded\nAbraham to offer, recalled the command at a certain stage of the\nfulfilment, counting the faith of Abraham for righteousness.  In\nAbraham's faith Isaac was really sacrificed; hence the Divine approval:\n\"By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this\nthing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I\nwill bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars\nof the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed\nshall possess the gate of his enemies.\"  An oath with men in this day\ndoes not mean much in the way of confirmation, but not so with God's\noath.  An oath ought to be sacred, and should be the end of doubt and\nstrife.  God made a promise to Abraham, and because He could swear by no\ngreater, He sware by Himself.  And Abraham lived to see the promise begin\nto fulfil, and to-day the heirs of Abraham may look and see the same\npromise fulfilling, for, as Paul says in Heb. vi. 17: \"Wherein God,\nwilling more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the\nimmutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath.\"\n\nWho are the heirs of promise?  For to them belong many and precious\npromises, both spiritual and temporal.  Spiritually, they are to lead and\nbe responsible for the evangelisation of the world.  Temporally, they are\nto be a numerous seed, a powerful people.  They are to occupy the ends of\nthe earth, the uttermost parts of the earth, the coasts of the earth, the\nwaste and the desolate places of the earth, the isles of the sea, the\nheathen, as an inheritance.  They are to inherit the Gentiles, and make\nthe desolate cities to be inhabited; they are to be the chief of nations;\nthey are to be a company of nations; they are to be a great people; they\nare to possess the gates of their enemies.  Surely such a people should\nbe found, for all these things make it impossible for them to be hid in a\ncorner.  One cannot help saying with the Psalmist: \"Blessed is the nation\nwhose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own\ninheritance.\"\n\nIn the English Court of Chancery are vast sums of money, large fortunes\nwaiting for heirs.  The court frequently advertises for them, and many in\nevery land respond and are eager to prove their claims; they are anxious\nto be known and accepted as the descendants and lawful heirs of certain\ntestators.  It is oftentimes difficult to establish their claims and\nprove satisfactorily their identity.  The court demands that the\nevidences of heirship be very definite.  In this they are right.  But we\nventure to say that even the English Court of Chancery would not turn\naway a claimant who had all the distinct marks and abounding evidence of\nidentity that mark and characterise the children of Abraham, especially\nso in the latter day, for then these characteristics are to be clearer\nand fuller.\n\nThe Jews are known; they have been known all down the centuries; they\nhave not been able to hide themselves.  In keeping with the Word of God\nthey have fulfilled up to the present time the prophecies attaching to\nthem.  In all the world they are estimated to number some nine millions.\nThe Jews include the children of Judah and Levi; these Two Tribes only.\nThe Jews themselves consent to this statement, and allow that the\ndescendants of Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher,\nNaphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin, are lost, but not extinct.  They are in\nthe world, for God has not cast away His people for ever.  If the Two\nTribes give us nine millions, how many should we expect the Ten Tribes to\nfurnish?  Most certainly not less than forty-five millions.  To the Ten\nTribes the special promises of fruitfulness were given.  To the Ten\nTribes belong a greater portion of prophecy; and in the history of the\nworld more is allotted to Israel than to Judah.  Indeed, the world's\nhistory pivots on the Ten Lost Tribes.\n\nI believe you know the God-revealed distinction between the words Israel\nand Judah.  You know that they have a distinct history.  Their place and\nwork, promises and blessings, chastisements and rebukes, are as distinct\nand different as silver and gold.\n\nThe spiritual heirs of Abraham are all who are embraced in the saving and\natoning covenant of grace in Christ.  I do not say all who believe, for\nthere will be more in heaven without faith than those with--namely, all\nthose who have died before the years of responsibility, with many of the\nPagan world who, never having heard of a Saviour, have therefore never\ndenied Him.  In a spiritual sense, they are children.  I believe in this\nmatter with Paul, who says, when writing to the Romans, chap. ii.: \"There\nis no respect of persons with God; for as many as have sinned without law\nshall also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law\nshall be judged by the law.  For when the Gentiles, which have not the\nlaw, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the\nlaw, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in\ntheir hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts\nthe meanwhile accusing, or else excusing one another.\"  Thus, under the\nlaw which governs the Pagan, I presume many will be saved and many lost,\njust as under the law of the Gospel.  In Abraham all nations were to be\nblessed, spiritually.  In this sense Abraham's seed embraces persons of\nevery age, clime, and race.\n\nBut who are the seed of Abraham according to the flesh?  We answer, the\ndescendants of the Twelve Tribes.  Now to the natural seed the Bible\nassigns a distinct work and place.  This natural seed is divided in the\nBible, the word Israel standing generally for the Ten Tribes, and Judah\nfor Two Tribes.  These divisions have separate paths appointed them to\nwalk in through the centuries.  \"All the House of Israel wholly,\" \"the\nwhole House of Israel,\" \"all the House of Israel,\" have a special work.\nThe Ten Tribes are especially called in the Scriptures the seed of\nAbraham.  Sometimes \"My chosen,\" again \"Mine inheritance,\" and \"My\nservant.\"  God, in referring to them in their scattered state, and of His\ngathering them together, says (Isa. xli. 8): \"But thou, Israel, art My\nservant, Jacob, whom I have chosen; the seed of Abraham My friend--thou\nwhom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the\nchief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art My servant; I have chosen\nthee and not cast thee away.\"  The Ten Tribes are sometimes designated by\nthe word Jacob.  If we once get a clear idea who the seed are, then we\ncan search among the people of the earth to find them, because in the\nlatter day they were to be so different from other people, and distinctly\nmarked, we will have no great difficulty in finding them.  Of the special\nmarks, one was they were to possess the gates of their enemies.  The\nmultitudinous seed and other characteristics we will pass by for the\npresent.\n\nThis seed were to possess the gates of their enemies; of this we are\nassured by the oath of God.  The word gate here, you will admit, is used\nin a generic sense.  It means a place of prominence, a position of\nstrength, a strategetic point, as the entrance into a city.  Remembering\nthat in olden times the cities were walled around, the gate was an\nimportant point of defence; or, as the narrow entrance into a bay, like\nthe entrance into New York Bay or port, the Narrows we call them.  Here\nthe cities of New York and Brooklyn could best and first be defended.\nAgain, a gate in the general vernacular means any stronghold: a tower, an\nisland, a mountain pass.  Now, of this seed it is plainly stated that\nthey shall possess the gates of their enemies.\n\nThe text would be very finely illustrated if we supposed that Mexico held\nGovernor's Island, in the middle of our bay, and defiantly dictated to us\ndoctrines of trade, politics, and religion.  As arrogant and as impudent\nas this would seem, yet such is the case with this seed of Abraham and\nother nations.  Believing that the Saxon race are the Ten Lost Tribes, it\nthen follows that the English nation is the chief representative of these\nTribes, and that they should be in possession of the gates of their\nenemies.  Are they?  We answer, yes.  And every year confirms and makes\nmore clear the answer.  This you say is a theory.  Grant it.  You know\nthat in science a theory is formed and then applied.  If you form a\ntheory about the tides or formation of the planets, or this world, your\ntheory with others is applied to known facts to see if it will fit them,\nto see if it will account for them, and to see if it is in harmony with\nthe same.  Now science accepts that theory which applies best, that which\naccounts for facts the most reasonably, and harmonises the most\nnaturally.  Such theory is then the science of the day, and will be so\naccepted and so taught until it is supplanted by a better.  Try, then,\nthe theory I have advanced by these rules.\n\nTake the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, between\nEngland and France, nearer to the French shore than England; the\ninhabitants, being a majority of them French, speaking French.  Yet when\nFrance was England's greatest and most dangerous enemy, England held\nthen, as now, the gates of her enemies.  Properly speaking, and adjudged\nby any human rule, they belong to France--as naturally as the island of\nHeligoland, at the month of the Elbe, belongs to Germany.  Gibraltar,\nMalta, Cyprus, Suez Canal, Island of Perim in the Straits of Babelmandeb\nin the Red Sea, and Socotra, in the same sea; also Aden in the Red Sea,\ncovering Arabia; Peshawur, the very entrance of or from India into\nAfghanistan.  In and around the vast empire of India you have Bombay,\nCalcutta, Madras, with many similar strongholds; Rangoon, on the Irawady\nriver, commanding and even menacing Burmah.  The vast empire of China is\ncarefully guarded and held in check by such gates as Singapore, Malacca,\nPenang, Hong Kong and Cowloon.  Sarawak in Borneo, and Labuan off the\ncoasts, are such gates.  Africa is being gradually gobbled up; her\nstrongholds and vast areas of country are falling into the hands of\nEngland; the coasts are fast coming under British rule.  Recently England\nhas come into possession of three gates--namely, the island of Socotra,\nnear the Red Sea, the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, and the\nSublime Porte, the lofty gateway, Constantinople.  And it is now rumoured\nthat England is negotiating with Portugal for Delogoa Bay in\nSouth-eastern Africa; price, three million dollars.  But this people are\nnot satisfied with all these gates.  They want--and they will get what\nthey want in a very short time, thank Heaven; not what they\ndeserve!--they want the famous Khyber Pass.  This pass is a narrow road\nbetween mountain rocks that rise over two thousand feet at the lowest\npoint.  It is some twenty-eight miles long, while for twenty-two miles\nthe average width is only 150 feet.  The Eastern end the English already\nhold, called the Peshawur Pass.\n\nAfghanistan is a country in Asia.  It is about the size of England, 460\nmiles from North to South, and 430 from East to West.  On the North it is\nbounded by Turkestan, East by India, South by Beloochistan, and West by\nPersia.  The population numbers about 7,000,000.  They are as wild as the\ncountry is broken and irregular.  They are chiefly agriculturists.  The\ncountry is rich in minerals and timber.  In time past they have seldom\nbeen at peace, being very generally at war among themselves.  Afghan is a\nPersian word, and means that which is wrapped around--no doubt having\nreference to the mountain chain that hems in the whole land.  The people\nthemselves, however, name their country Vilayet, which means the land of\nour ancestors.  They claim that in their country lived Adam and his\nchildren, also Noah and his.  They say they had in their possession once\nthe ark of the covenant, but they have lost it.  While it was with them,\nif they took it into battle, victory was sure to be theirs.  At the\npresent time they have Noah's ark.  It is embedded in the ground, with a\nportion protruding out, which pilgrims to the top of Dera Ismael\nKhan--that is, the sacred mountain of Israel--are permitted to see and\ntouch.  Many have supposed the Afghans to be the Ten Lost Tribes.  It has\nbeen the folly of many of the learned, in time past, to hunt for, and\nactually expect to find, the chosen of God in some out-of-the-way place;\nto find them few, poor, and deluded--the poorer, the fewer, and the more\nwretched, the better.  Hence, the wild Indians of the continent, the\nbushmen of Africa, the aborigines of Australia, the Laplanders of the\nNorth, and many such have been chosen of men--though not of God.\n\nThe Afghan country, no doubt, once had intercourse with Palestine.\nDuring Solomon's reign many Jews left the land as merchants.  Solomon\nbuilt store cities in Hamath, Tadmor in the wilderness, and many others.\nThese store cities were on the great highway which he made through the\ndesert, so as to bring the trade of Dedan and Sheba to Jerusalem.  That\nHebrew names are given to the mountains, places, rivers, and persons, no\none can deny; but such does not prove them to be the Lost Tribes--it\nshows away back Jewish influence and intercourse.  They do not speak the\nHebrew, but two languages called the Pukhtu and Pushtu.  In either\nlanguage there are few, if any, traces of the Hebrew.  No doubt the Lost\nTribes, after being scattered into Central Asia, when taken captive about\n725 B.C., wandered, some of them into Afghan, and probably for a time\nsettled there, and gave names to the country.  The Afghans themselves\nwent into the country from India, and as the Tribes moved Westward they\nleft the Afghans in possession.\n\nThe Afghan country comes now into great importance because it is on the\nhighway of the march of Israelitish civilisation and progress.  England\nwants it; and I predict she shall get it.  Russia wants it, and at\npresent seems to have the upper hand; but Russia or England, or the\nworld, can avail nothing against the purposes of Jehovah.  The gates are\npromised to Israel, therefore she will get them.  The English have\nalready an army of 35,000 men in the Peshawur Valley.  Russia is\ngathering a force, and ere long the two countries will be brought face to\nface.  The end of the whole muddle will be that England will take charge\nof Afghan.  Thirty-three years ago Disraeli wrote his novel called\n\"Tancred.\"  In this novel he makes the Queen of England the Empress of\nIndia, and one of her favourite officers is made Earl Beaconsfield; so\nfar fancy has become fact.  But in that same novel the future of the\npresent strife has been set forth.  It has been very finely put by the\nLondon _Spectator_:--\n\n\"There is a story going about, founded, we believe, on good authority,\nthat when some one quoted 'Tancred,' two or three months ago, in Lord\nBeaconsfield's presence, the Prime Minister remarked: 'Ah!  I perceive\nyou have been reading \"Tancred.\"  That is a work to which I refer more\nand more every year--not for amusement, but for instruction.'  And if\nanyone will take the trouble just now to refresh his memory of 'Tancred,'\nhe will see how much Lord Beaconsfield has borrowed from it in relation\nto his policy.  Turn, for instance, to this passage: 'If I were an Arab\nin race as well as in religion,' said Tancred, 'I would not pass my life\nin schemes to govern mere mountain tribes.'  'I'll tell you,' said the\nEmir, springing from his divan, and flinging the tube of his nargileh to\nthe other end of the tent, 'the game is in our own hands if we have\nenergy.  There is a combination which would entirely change the whole\nface of the world and bring back empire to the East.  Though you are not\nthe brother to the Queen of the English, you are, nevertheless, a great\nEnglish prince, and the Queen will listen to what you say, especially if\nyou talk to her as you talk to me, and say such fine things in such a\nbeautiful voice.  Nobody ever opened my mind like you.  You will\nmagnetise the Queen as you have magnetised me.  Go back to England and\narrange this.  You see, gloss over it as they may, one thing is clear, it\nis finished with England . . . Let the Queen of the English collect a\ngreat fleet, let her stow away all her treasure, bullion, plate, and\nprecious arms; be accompanied by all her court and chief people, and\ntransfer the seat of her empire from London to Delhi.  There she will\nfind an immense empire ready-made, a first-rate army, and a large\nrevenue.  In the meantime I will arrange with Mehemet Ali.  He shall have\nBagdad and Mesopotamia, and pour the Bedouin cavalry into Persia.  I will\ntake care of Syria and Asia Minor.  The only way to manage the Afghans is\nby Persia and by the Arabs.  We will acknowledge the Empress of India as\nour suzerain, and secure for her the Levantine coast.  If she like, she\nshall have Alexandria, as she now has Malta.  It could be arranged.  Your\nQueen is young.  She has an _avenir_.  Aberdeen and Sir Robert Peel will\nnever give her this advice; their habits are formed.  They are too old,\ntwo _ruses_.  But you see! the greatest empire that ever existed; besides\nwhich she gets rid of the embarrassment of her chambers! and quite\npracticable!  For the only difficult part, the conquest of India, which\nbaffled Alexander, is all done.'  Who can avoid seeing that Lord\nBeaconsfield has been quite recently referring to this passage--'not,' as\nhe said, 'for amusement, but for instruction?'  These are all the ideas\nof his recent policy in germ--especially the treatment of the British\nEmpire as having its centre of gravity in the far East--the use of the\nIndian Army for conquest to be made in Western Asia--the acquisition of\nthe Levantine coast for Great Britain--the active alliance between the\nBritish power and the Mohammedan power--and last, not least, the getting\nrid, to a great extent at least, by the help of Indian leverage, of 'the\nembarrassment of the chambers.'  For the last eight months, at least,\nEnglish policy has evidently been borrowed from 'Tancred.'  The monarch,\nfor anything we know, has been 'magnetised.'  The Cabinet assuredly have.\nLord Derby and Lord Carnarvon have been treated much as the Emir in\n'Tancred' would have treated 'Aberdeen and Sir Robert Peel'--thrown aside\nas two 'ruses.'\"\n\nEngland has indeed adopted an Oriental policy, and forward she must go to\nexecute Jehovah's purpose.  Russia is preparing on a gigantic scale.  In\nPrussia the most flourishing branch of trade among the Germans at present\nis the manufacturing of arms for Russia.  Though the late war be over,\nstill Russia is buying ships, and fitting them out in this country.  She\nfeels bitterly her defeat through English diplomacy: England taking\nCyprus, assuming protection over Asiatic Turkey, and making Russia yield\nback to Turkey 30,700 geographical miles which was contained in the\noriginal Treaty of San Stefano.  The following from the Government organ\nof Russia will give you some idea of her chagrin.\n\nThe St. Petersburg _Golos_ says that the Treaty of Berlin has produced an\nalmost crushing impression on the Russian public.  \"It is felt that\nRussia has not attained her object; that she has been deceived by her\nfriends, and that she has foolishly helped her enemies with her victories\n. . .  What is the reason of our failure?  One-half per cent. of our\npopulation have perished in the war, hundreds of millions have been\nexpended, and yet the Eastern Question is not solved and the Treaty of\nBerlin is merely a truce.  The last war has clearly shown all our\nnational peculiarities as well as our moral and material strength . . .\nAll the military requirements which depended on the inbred qualities of\nthe Russian soldier were brilliantly carried out; but where knowledge and\npreparation were demanded we were not equal to the task.  It was probably\nfor this reason that we felt so much hurt on reading of the boldness of\nLord Beaconsfield, who doubtless reckoned on the superior culture of\nEnglishmen to that of Russians.  All classes of Russian society are\nresponsible for this.  We do not estimate culture and knowledge at their\ntrue value.  Most of us say that mental work does not bring money, and\nthat culture is a means of corruption . . . In Western Europe, on the\nother hand, people have arrived by hard experience at the conviction that\nintelligence, capacity, culture, and energy, bring men to the front, and\ngive them peace at home and power abroad.  It is the knowledge of how to\nmake the best possible use of their energy and abilities that has enabled\nthe English to derive success from our victories and sacrifices.  May\nthis be a lesson to us.\"\n\nBut enough; one knows the end ere they begin, for the Word of God is\ntrue.  We do not argue that the English are so much smarter than other\npeople; no, but we account for their success because they are the\nexecutive nation of Divine Providence.  It falls to the lot of those who\ndo not believe this theory to account for their success without allowing\nthem to be smarter.\n\n\n\n\nISRAEL AND TERRITORY.\nDISCOURSE III.\n\n\nPROMISES TO ISRAEL--MATERIAL NATURE--LOCATION OF THE TRIBES IN CHRIST'S\nDAY--GOD'S PROVIDENCE--BRITISH AND AMERICAN RULE--LIFE FROM THE\nDEAD--TEACHING THE NATIONS PEACEFUL ARBITRATION--ENGLAND AND\nRUSSIA--AFGHANISTAN FALLS TO ANGLO-ISRAEL--GOD'S POLITICAL\nGEOGRAPHY--ANGLO-SAXON EVANGELISATION--RUSSIA OPPOSING IT--BRITISH AND\nRUSSIAN OUTPOSTS IN CONTACT--WAIL OF JUDAH--EARTH'S GIRDLE.\n\n    \"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the\n    curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and\n    strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand\n    and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make\n    the desolate cities to be inhabited.\"--Isa. liv. 2, 3.\n\nIn the writings of the prophets the feminine gender is often used when\nspeaking of the House of Israel, and the masculine when denoting the\nHouse of Judah.  Quite frequently Israel is spoken of as a divorced\nwoman, as being cast off, and as being barren.  Judah remaining faithful\nto the throne of David and the temple service, and abiding in the land\nmuch longer than Israel, is presented as one married.  So you will\nunderstand Jeremiah iii. 8, when he says: \"And I saw, when for all the\ncauses whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away,\nand given her a bill of divorce.\"  Again, Isaiah l. 1: \"Thus saith the\nLord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement whom I have put\naway?\"  Yet, though Israel was divorced, forsaken, cast off, and\ndesolate, she was to have more children than married Judah.  So the verse\npreceding the text says: \"Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break\nforth into singing, and cry aloud thou that didst not travail with child;\nfor more are the children of the desolate than the children of the\nmarried wife, saith the Lord.\"  Then come the words of the text bidding\nher enlarge the place of her tent, or dwelling-place, to stretch forth\nher curtains, so as to cover over the new-gotten habitations.  To spare\nnot--that is, to be not tardy, or slow--in lengthening out her\ncords--that is, her influence--and strengthen her stakes--that is, her\nauthority; but to break forth on every hand where there is an opening,\nand inherit the seed of the Gentiles, and make the languishing and\npoverty-stricken cities of the nations to be inhabited; in this conquest\nto go on and fear not.\n\nThese exhortations are given, and promises are made to Israel after she\nhad left Palestine.  No one can say truthfully that they have yet been\nfulfilled in no degree or sense, unless they find such fulfilment in the\nconquests of the Saxon race.  These predictions cannot apply to the Jews,\nfor they are few, nationless, and without a government.  Touching the\npast history of both Judah and Israel in Palestine, we shall find it to\nbe barren of victories, territory, acquisition, and number, in comparison\nto other nations.  They have never occupied the land given to Abraham in\nfulness.  In Solomon's time they bare rule only over a part of it.  The\nGentiles and heathens have occupied it more and longer than the sons of\nAbraham.  But what failed to be accomplished in the past, is held grandly\nin reserve for this day, the next few years.  God will remember His\npromise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.  He will remember it to\nfulfil it, in spite of hell or earth.\n\nWe have been blind and guilty in the past, unconscious of our origin, and\nas a natural consequence, ignorant of our place and special work.  In\ninterpreting the Word of God we have been lavish in spiritualising, and\ngreedy in materialising, overlooking the fact that nine-tenths of the Old\nTestament is a material history about one people, and that through them\nGod's special providence was to flow to all other nations; and the New\nTestament plants the life and prosperity of the Gentile world upon the\ncourse and progress of Israel.  God said to Abraham, \"In thee shall all\nthe families of the earth be blessed:\" and more, \"and in thy seed shall\nall the nations of the earth be blessed.\"  Israel, being scattered and\ncast off, became a blessing to the world.  They gave to the surrounding\nnations the only true idea of God, for in their lowest condition and\nidolatry they preserved the name and knowledge of Jehovah, and Christ\nsent His disciples after them through one of their own Tribe--namely,\nBenjamin--telling them not to go into the way of the Gentiles, nor into\nthe cities of the Samaritans, \"but go rather to the lost sheep of the\nHouse of Israel.\"  To these sheep Christ declares He was sent.  Where\nwere these sheep?  They were scattered about in Central Asia--in\nScriptural language in Cappadocia, Galatia, Pamphylia, Lydia, Bithynia,\nand round about Illyricum.  From these very regions came the Saxons: from\nhere they spread abroad North and West, being the most Christian of any\npeople on the face of the earth then, as well as now.  Their reception of\nthe Gospel gave them power over the surrounding nations, to whom they\nwere, as it had been foretold, witnesses for Jesus and providence in a\nvery special manner.  What then, we say with Paul, will be the blessing\nof Israel--recognized and fully restored to God's favour?  If so much\ngood was carried and bestowed upon the Gentile nations because Israel was\nscattered, how much, and what are the blessings in store for those\nnations when Israel and Judah be restored?  Paul compares it to a\nresurrection--like as when the barrenness and desolation of a Winter is\nsupplanted by the fruits and beauties of Summer.  \"If the casting away of\nthem be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them\nbe, but life from the dead?\" (Rom. xi. 15).\n\nIt is reasonable to suppose that this world is subject to the providence\nof God.  Such a supposition is grandly sustained by the laws and\noperations of nature without, and the experience and intuitions of the\nmind within; and I believe this providence to be all-comprehensive,\nbounding, and cognising all things, past, present, and future, both small\nand great; claiming the ages for its measure, the universe for the field\nof its operations, and the Infinite as the source of power.  \"The Lord\nJehovah reigns, let the earth rejoice.\"  Let me persuade you to\nthoroughly believe in the precision, the intimacy, and the completeness\nof this providence.  This doctrine we need to fully learn and accept.\n\"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,\" and it is He\n\"who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out\nheaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,\nand weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.\"  Aye,\nand more, yet closer still does this providence approach us in our\naffairs.  \"By Him kings reign and princes decree judgment.  He bringeth\nthe princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.\"\nEven closer yet, for without His permission a sparrow cannot fall to the\nground; and so intimate is He with us, that He knoweth the number of the\nhairs of the head.  Now all this kind of Bible instruction is intended to\nteach the nearness of God to us, and His interest and intimacy with\nnations and nature.  Let us not think for a moment that nations can rush\nto war and be outside this circle of providence.  Let us study to know\nGod's mind, His plans and purposes with the nations; for rest satisfied\nthat His plan will finally be accepted by men and nations, and His\npurposes will prevail.  Kings may plan, diplomatists may diplomatise,\nscientists may analyse, theologians may teach and preach their isms, and\npoliticians may make platforms and construct rings, yet none, nor all\ncombined, can stay the hand of God.  \"He doeth according to His will in\nthe armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.\"  He can\ninitiate, permit, modify, and destroy.  Once we truly recognise the\nsovereignty of God over us, conceit will lie dead at the feet of\nhumility.\n\nThe Church at large has but a slender hold upon this great doctrine.\nThey look upon the great movement of wars and strife, rising and falling\nof nations, as looks the country stranger upon a railway engine the first\ntime, the whirling wheels, the steam and smoke and burnished boiler rivet\nhis attention so completely, that he sees not the driver in his car.  So\nmen are dazed with the show of pomp of courts and councils, with the\nharangues of legislators and march of regiments, that they discern not\nthe master hand behind that directs all.  \"Verily, Thou art a God that\nhidest Thyself.\"  No, no, friends; English bravery, nor American\ningenuity will not account for all that England has done on the line of\nvictories, and the marvellous and rapid growth of these United States.\nAs God said long ago through Moses, so He could say to-day--for heavenly\ncounsel was given to the children of Israel on entering the Promised\nLand, with a design of suppressing their pride and enabling them to form\na correct idea of their success in driving the strong and greater nations\nof Canaanites and Philistines--\"Speak not thou in thine heart, after that\nthe Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee saying: For my\nrighteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land; but for\nthe wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before\nthee.  Not for thy righteousness, or the uprightness of thine heart, dost\nthou go to possess the land, but for the wickedness of those nations the\nLord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, that He may perform\nthe word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and\nJacob.  Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this\ngood land to possess it for thy righteousness, for thou art a\nstiff-necked people\" (Deut. ix. 4).\n\nBy the same rule and for the very same reason that Israel conquered\nPalestine, does England go on from conquest to conquest.  And because God\nremembered to perform His promises made to the patriarchs upon their\nseed, America was opened for the Puritans, who are without doubt the\ndescendants and representatives of Manasseh, of whom God said \"he should\nbe a people, a great people.\"\n\nThe rule of England and America over other people, is to be as life from\nthe dead--that is, whatsoever country England conquers and rules, it is\nbetter for the people, and the country, and the world.  They give to the\npeople a liberty that they would not have given to themselves; they\ndevelop the resources of the country as never before, and by trade and\ncommerce bless the people and cause them to be a blessing unto others.\nAnd better still, they make known to the conquered ones, in due time, the\nriches of faith in Christ.  So we have no hesitation in saying, a thing\npatent to every unprejudiced observer, that the aborigines of the\nconquered colonies of Great Britain are treated better by their\nconquerors than they ever treated themselves.  The Africans, in the\nconquered colonies of Africa, are better off under British rule than\nthose colonies or portions unconquered are.  The hosts of India enjoy\nmore, fare better in every grace and virtue in all that goes to adorn and\ndevelop mankind, under the British government and protection than they\never did or would under self-government.  So the French, Germans,\nItalians, Russians, Spaniards, and the numerous progeny of emigrants to\nthis country, fare better in every way with Manasseh, than they did in\ntheir own lands.  Of course, both in England's rule and America's, there\nare many defects; but taking all in all, the good will out-weigh the bad;\nand more so as the years roll on.\n\nTrue, an arbitrary purpose and an individualism is seen on the surface,\nyet under it all there is the hand of God.  The farmer is free as to what\nhe sows, but the Divine, without interfering with his freedom, regulates\nthe harvest to plenty or famine.  The Saxon people, England and America,\nstand in a new light to the world by the teachings of the Bible.  Being\nIsrael or the Ten Lost Tribes, they become at once the chosen agents of\nGod for the glorious purpose of evangelising the whole world, and\nfinally, by reducing the whole earth to the plane of universal liberty\nand peace.\n\nIt was necessary that these two nations should first be taught the art of\nmediation, for the ends of peace; that they should learn and show to the\nworld that national disputes and grievances can be settled without an\nappeal to the sword.  Hence we have, and what is much better, the world\nhas, Geneva and Alabama and the fish bounty treaty of Canada and the\nUnited States.  Not all the press did on either side, nor all the carping\nand blustering of individuals, could prevent the happy consummation of\nboth these treaties.  To God be praise, for they are prophetic harbingers\nof a better day coming.\n\nNo hand nor power, nor combination of powers, can stop the onward march\nof Israel to her God-ordained goal.  Her future is to spread on the right\nhand and on the left.  Island after island, colony after colony, will\nfall into her hands for mutual benefit.  Russia may contest this march,\nand will, for she is as much the appointed agent of contest from Heaven\nas England is to advance.  In a few years she will try to take the place\nof England among the nations, as she has just done in Afghan.  Russia\npromised, no doubt, that she would and could protect the Ameer against\nEngland, but the bargain was outside of the aims of Providence, hence it\ncould not be sustained.  It is ordained of Heaven that Afghan fall into\nthe hands of England, if England be Israel.\n\nAgainst this fate-like division of the world Russia is going to contend\nand fight whenever she gets a chance.  It would pay Russia and many other\ncountries to read that \"When the Most High divided to the nations their\ninheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the\npeople according to the children of Israel\" (Deut. xxxii. 8).  These\nbounds God will maintain wherever they run; whatever country they cut in\ntwo, no matter, the earth must finally conform to this Divine geography.\nThis purpose is strongly set forth by Isaiah xliv. 7: \"And who, as I,\nshall call and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me, since I\nappointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming and shall\ncome.\"  This same sturdy fact is taught by Paul when speaking to the\nAthenians, telling them that God \"hath made of one blood all nations of\nmen to dwell on the face of the earth, _and hath determined the times\nbefore appointed_, _and the bounds of their habitations_.\"  National\ndestinies are not so much things of chance, or prizes for the sword, as\nmany think.  God promised to David, when both Israel and Judah were\nprosperously settled in Palestine under David's reign, that He would\nappoint a place for His people Israel, and plant them there, and they\nshould not be moved, neither should the wicked afflict them, as aforetime\n(2 Sam. vii. 10.)  This promise God has kept.  He has given them the\nBritish Isles, where none can afflict them, as they were wont to do when\nIsrael was scattered in Asia and Europe.  God has found Manasseh a home\nin this land of blessings and rich acres.\n\nEngland, by a necessity, was forced to find new countries to provide for\nher multiplying population.  Then she is forced to enter other nations as\na missionary.  She, with Manasseh, is chiefly responsible for the\nevangelisation of the world, and of course they are at work all over the\nworld, for England and the United States send out more missionaries than\nall the world beside.  Russia needs no land for colonisation, for now her\ninhabitants number only thirty-four to the square mile, while England\nnumbers 889.  If we take in all the territory under Russia and England,\neven then England has more to the square mile than Russia.  Russia\ncomprises about 8,000,000 square miles, and England, with her late\nadditions, leaving out the United States, numbers about 9,000,000.\nJoining Ephraim and Manasseh together, they own one-fourth of the whole\nworld--namely, about 13,000,000 square miles; the whole earth numbers\n51,340,800 square miles.  Besides, Russia is not a missionary country.\nShe neither sends any, nor accepts any, being at present the only nation\nclosed to missionary operation and toleration.  The past few years Russia\nhas gained rapidly in territorial power.  With the conquest of Bokhara\nand portions of Turkestan, or Independent Tartary, she has added some\n800,000 square miles.\n\nAt the beginning of the last century the Russian advance forts were 2,500\nmiles distant from those of England.  At the close of the century the\ndistance was 2,000.  Then in 1810 it was reduced to 1,000.  And since\n1855 it has been reduced to 400.  And now, of course, they want it\nreduced to nothing by getting control of Afghan.\n\nHow wonderfully clear are the fulfilling events of the prophecy.  This\nking of the North is to become a strong king, who, when Israel and Judah\nare settled in Palestine, will have spirit and power to attack them.  So\nhe is ripening, growing, and gathering power ready.  Russia now comprises\nnine crowns, eight of which are crowns of conquest.  Russia's one grand\ndesire is to possess Palestine, especially Jerusalem.  The Crimean war\nwas waged for rights and extended privileges in this holy city.  To-day\nRussian pilgrims swarm thither by the thousands every year.  A few years\nago she built outside the Jaffa gate what she called an hospice, which\nwas designed to be nothing more nor less than a fort.  It is in a\nposition commanding the whole city, and is a place of great strength.\nOften she has tried to possess the city and land.  By-and-bye she will be\npermitted by Providence to pour her troops into this \"land of unwalled\nvillages,\" and when having nearly achieved the ambitious plan of ages,\nand nearly realised her one great national idea, she will perish, to rise\nno more, \"on the mountains of Israel.\"  Her history is set forth by\nEzekiel xxxviii. and xxxix. chapters.\n\nPalestine and Jerusalem have borne undeniable evidence for prophecy and\nProvidence.  The whole land and the Book have been wonderfully agreed\nduring the past eighteen centuries.  How significant and telling the\nwailings and lamentations of the devout Jews, who crowd under the walls\nof the mosque of Omar, the site of the ancient temple.  Here, each\nreturning Sabbath, groups of Jews may be heard dolefully crying: \"_Ali\nbene_, _Ali bene_; _bene bethka_; _bekarob_, _bimheira_, _bimheira_;\n_beyamenue_, _bekarob_,\" which, being interpreted, means, \"Lord build,\nLord build; build Thy house speedily, in haste, in haste; even in our day\nbuild Thy house speedily.\"  Yes, mourning brethren of Judah, the time is\ncoming when the house shall be built and the voice of wailing no more\nheard in the streets.\n\nCan any student or inquirer after the truth fail to see that in our day a\nprophecy is being fulfilled?  Can any one shut their eyes to the\nwonderful fact that Israel is breaking forth on the left and on the\nright?  God has long ago said that Israel were the people of His\ninheritance, and that Jacob was the lot of His inheritance, or His\ngirdle, or cord, as the word lot means.  Then, if you turn your attention\nto Great Britain and her colonies, including Manasseh, you will see this\ngirdle or measuring line around the earth.  Let me aid you by pointing\nthe same out for you.  Look at the Eastern hemisphere circle, enclosing\nthe Gentile nations.  Begin with Great Britain; pass on to the Channel\nIslands, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, West Coast African Colonies, St.\nHelena, Cape Colonies, Mauritius, Seychelles, Perim, Aden, Ceylon, India,\nBurmah, Straits Settlements, Labuan, Australian Colonies, Hong Kong, and\nthe Dominion of Canada.  In the Western hemisphere commence the circle\nwith Canada and United States, Fiji Islands, New Zealand, Falkland\nIslands, British Guiana, British Honduras, West India Islands, and\nNewfoundland.  Do we not plainly see that Israel is possessing \"the isles\nof the sea,\" \"coasts of the earth,\" \"waste and desolate places?\"  These\nthings are not hid in a corner; they proclaim the intentions of God, an\nover-ruling Providence; and who and where the Lost Tribes are.  A miracle\nand prophecy are fulfilling before our eyes.\n\n\n\n\nISRAEL AND POPULATION.\nDISCOURSE IV.\n\n\nPROPHETIC LATTER DAYS--OUR BEARINGS IN THE AGES--UNWISE\nIMPATIENCE--ISRAEL TO BE ALWAYS A NATION--HER EMPIRE--HISTORIC CAREER OF\nAND FUTURE OF ENGLAND, AMERICA, AND JUDAH--RELATIVE INCREASE OF\nPOPULATION--THE INFIDEL SAXON--JEWISH, BRITISH, AND AMERICAN INTERESTS\nONE--A FULL END OF ALL NATIONS BUT ISRAEL--FAMINE HENCEFORTH ONLY FOR THE\nHEATHEN--ARBITRATION TO BE ENFORCED BY ISRAEL--AMERICAN\nABSORBTION--STARTLING FIGURES OF FUTURE POPULATION--THE BALANCE OF POWER.\n\n    \"Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the\n    sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shall come to pass\n    that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people,\n    there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living\n    God.\"--Hosea i. 10.\n\nA period of time is frequently referred to in the Scriptures as being the\n\"latter days.\"  It is, therefore, very important for the prophetic\nstudent, and the Church of Christ at large, that the time of days spoken\nof should be known.  For connected with these days are a number of\nprophecies waiting fulfilment, and they are of such a nature that their\nfulfilment may easily be discerned.  In breadth and scope they cover much\nterritory and include many people.  They cannot be hid in a corner, for\nthe parts are so numerous and the interests so great.  The fulfilment of\nthese prophecies will make a radical and fundamental change in Church and\nState.\n\nI take it for granted we are now entering into the time of the latter\ndays--a time that precedes by a natural consequence the millennium.  It\nis, therefore, unwise on the part of any person to claim that Christ may\ncome any day, and that His millennial reign may be begun at any moment.\nIt is but fair that we should carefully consider our bearings in the\ncircle of Providence and our position in the ages.  The story and work of\nredemption are grand, full of interest and thrilling incidents; still we\nmust take things in their order.  Some stories we read are very\nfascinating.  The plot culminates, the characters and incidents converge\ntoward and centre in the hero.  At such a point we are often carried away\nwith our sympathy for the hero; we become anxious for him, and desires to\nknow the issues, and so are tempted to skip a few pages and get at the\nend unwisely and unlawfully.  Thus I think many are carried away by a\nloving desire for the millennium; they become anxious for the return of\nthe Hero of redemption; they skip a few pages of Providence, and come to\nthe end too soon.\n\nThese days are preparative, and in such a preparative stage we are\nwarranted to look for the fulfilment of certain prophecies; for\nprophecies, indeed, of such a nature and character that no Bible student\nneed be mistaken as to the time, place, and conditions of fulfilment.  We\nhave called your attention to one of these prophecies, and pointed out to\nyou how the same was literally fulfilling before the eyes of all.  God,\nin olden times, made promises to Abraham, the patriarchs, and their seed.\nThese promises were nothing more nor less than prophecies.  He attested\nthe same by His own oath.  He called to witness the sun, moon, stars,\nsea, night, day, the seasons, seedtime and harvest.  These He called His\nordinances.  These ordinances may depart from before Him, but the seed of\nIsrael should not cease to be a nation.  They were not only to be a\nnation, but a company of nations.  To this end, in the latter days, they\nwere to come in possession of the isles of the sea, the coasts of the\nearth, waste and desolate places; to inherit the seed of the Gentiles,\nand cause their desolate cities to be filled.  They were to possess and\nrule over the heathen.  In the latter days they were to possess Edom and\nEsau--that is, Turkey--and so come in possession of their own land,\nPalestine.  Now I call you to witness, and ask you if these things are\nso?  Before your eyes, before mine, before the eyes of all the world, God\nis fulfilling His promises made to the fathers.\n\nThe very exceptions to the sweeping and comprehensive possessions of the\nseed of Jacob are pyramidal witnesses to the same.  The House of Judah\nwas to become homeless, without a nation and without a government, after\nthey left Palestine; but to be a people known by the race feature, and by\ntheir unwavering adherence, attachment, and fidelity to the Mosaic\nworship.  This exception all can see, and none can truthfully deny.  They\nhave had money and men enough to buy and rule a nation, but as yet they\nhave none.  Their talent, their ability, and their money, have been the\nchief factor in the rule, prosperity, and greatness of many nations in\nthe past as well as now.  And the second conception is not less grand and\nconclusive.  Let any one inquire what was to be the portion of the Tribe\nof Manasseh, and they will find that Manasseh was to be a distinct\npeople, a great people; for so said the dying patriarch Jacob.  Now such\na people, a great people, we hold Manasseh to be at this day in the\npeople of the United States.  Some sixty colonies England has overrun,\nestablished, or conquered, and she is busy at work yet conquering and\ngathering in.  But is it not remarkable that she has never lost one of\nthe many save the United States?  Will any one give an earthly reason for\nthis marvellous exception?  I presume no one can.  There is, however, a\nDivine reason.  Moses, when giving his prophetic benediction to the\nTribes of Israel, gives us an insight into this question.  Speaking of\nJoseph and the wonderful blessing in store for his sons Ephraim and\nManasseh, he says: \"His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and\nhis horns are like the horns of unicorns; and with them he shall push the\npeople together to the ends of the earth; _and they are the ten thousands\nof Ephraim_, _and they are the thousands of Manasseh_\" (Deut, xxxiii.\n17).  And further light is thrown on this subject when we notice what\nIsaiah says in the forty-ninth chapter.  The children of Israel, when\nsettled in some Isles, would lose a portion of themselves, and still the\n\"children which thou shalt have _after thou hast lost the other_, shall\nsay again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me, give place to me\nthat I may dwell.\"  The simple and natural interpretation of such a\npassage is, that the Isles referred to were the British Isles.  The\nchildren lost refer to Manasseh, the Pilgrims, and Puritans who came from\nEngland.  And the cry for more room after they have left, shall lead\nEngland to look for lands in which to colonise her surplus population,\nall of which she has done and is doing.\n\nSurely in these things there is something more than chance.  Yes, there\nis a divine purpose fulfilled.  Seeing, then, that God will put the land\ninto Israel's hand, there will run another blessing parallel with\nthis--namely, a peculiar increase of the seed, or children of Israel, so\nthat they may occupy and control these lands.  These two prophecies are\nto be fulfilling on a parallel line at the same time.  Are they so\nfulfilling?  We answer, Yes; and the answer all the world may verify, for\nthe facts are of such a nature that if they are not so fulfilling it can\nbe very easily disproved.\n\nThe prophet tells us in the text that the children of Israel are to be\nnumerous--to be numerous in an extraordinary degree--so much so that it\nshall appear partly miraculous when such increase is compared to other\npeople or judged by the common methods of reasoning.  Hosea had three\nchildren; the first a son.  He called him Jezreel.  This son was set for\na witness that God would cause to cease the House of Israel in\nPalestine--that Israel should cease to be a nation for a time.  This idea\nIsaiah points out under the type of an abandoned wife.  God styles\nHimself the Husband of Israel, and that He had given the wife a bill of\ndivorcement.  Thus the two prophets agree, and history ratifies both.\n\nHosea's second child he calls Lo-Ruhamah.  She was set for a witness that\nGod would take away His mercy from the House of Israel for a time, and\nthat God would utterly take them away out of the land.  So He did; for a\nfew years after this we find the children of Israel were carried captive\ninto Assyria by Shalmaneser, and the Assyrians were brought and put in\ntheir place.  And from these Assyrians, who were planted in the cities\nand country left by the children of Israel, we get the Samaritans, who\nwere, as you see, not Jews nor Israelites by generation--they were\nmanufactured Jews only.  \"And the Lord removed Israel out of His sight,\nas He had said by all His servants the prophets.  So was Israel carried\naway out of their own land to Assyria unto this day\" (2 Kings xvii. 23).\nDuring this captivity, which is even in force till now, barren Israel,\nthe divorced one, was to have more children than the married one--namely,\nJudah.\n\nWe find that the third child born to Hosea is called Lo-ammi, meaning,\n\"Ye are not My people.\"  This child pro-figured the casting out of the\nJews; that they would refuse to accept God in Christ, and He therefore\nwould reject them.  Thus the Jews became wanderers from their own land.\nAnd the land rests in desolation, enjoying her Sabbath of rest, while her\nsons and daughters are being chastised and trained for their return.\n\nThe time will come when God will call Israel to Him, and have mercy upon\nher, when the divorced one shall be restored to her husband.  \"And it\nshall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me Ishi, and\nshalt call me no more Baali\" (Hos. ii. 16).  Now Ishi means husband, and\nBaali stands for Lord.  Saxons have been looked upon as being infidels by\nthe rest of the world.  The Mohammedans and Buddhists never reckoned the\nSaxons as being the sons of God; and Catholic Europe and Greek Russia\nhave looked upon England as infidel and heretical.  And the Saxons\nthemselves never went so far in their knowledge as to know who they were,\ntheir origin and work.  But the prophet says: \"It shall come to pass that\nin the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, there it\nshall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.\"  And the\ntime will come when Lo-Ruhamah shall become Ru-hamah, which means to have\nobtained mercy.  And Lo-Ammi shall become Ammi, which means that this is\nMy people.  And Jezreel, which was a sign of dispersion, shall be the\nsign of gathering.  \"Then shall the children of Judah and the children of\nIsrael be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they\nshall come up out of the land; _for great shall be the day of Jezreel_.\"\nThen the Jews (Ammi) will call the Saxons their sister, long lost, but\nfound at last.  The Saxons (Ru-hamah) will call the Jews their brother,\nthose whom in the past they have hated and persecuted; and thought\nthemselves far removed from Jewish blood.  Now they both will acknowledge\na common generation, and Abraham their father.  And one with his eyes\nhalf open can see this part of the prophecy fulfilling.  The Jews,\nEngland, and United States, from this and henceforth, are one in\ninterest, policy, and destiny.\n\nThese being the latter days, let us look for the signs of the multiplying\nof the seed so that they be as the sea sands God promised to Abraham,\nsaying: \"That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will\nmultiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon\nthe sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies\" (Gen.\nxxii. 17).  Old Jacob foretold that Joseph would be a fruitful bough,\nwhose branches would run over the wall--that is, colonise.  This increase\nis to be seen in two ways.  Let me direct your attention to one of these\nways, in a special manner, because it is so singular and unique, so\ndistinct and discernable.  In Jeremiah xxx. 10, 11, we find a remarkable\nstatement: \"Fear not, O Israel, for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to\nsave thee.  Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have\nscattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will\ncorrect thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.\"\nThat Israel has been punished and corrected no one will deny who is\nacquainted with her history and sojourn from the time she was carried\ncaptive to this day.  But has the other part of the saying been\nfulfilled?  We answer, Yes--as the law of colonisation has progressed.\nThe Ancient Britons are no more; Saxon Israel has entirely supplanted\nthem, just as Manasseh in the United States is supplanting the aborigines\nor Indians.  They perish and disappear like snow before the rising sun.\nNot all we can do on the line of legislation, philanthropy, and religion,\nis sufficient to stay the ravages of this long-ago declared decree of\nHeaven.  Go to Canada, and you find they are perishing; in Newfoundland\nthey are entirely gone, and in every other province they are fast\ndisappearing, save such as are saved by incorporation, by marriage, and\nsalt stayed by the power of Christianity; but both these remedies are\nonly temporal--they perish in spite of all in the heated atmosphere of\nIsrael's civilisation.  Some few tribes may hold their own and seem to\nincrease, but such does not invalidate the evidence of the decree.  For\nthey have perished in such numbers, and so uniformly, when in contact\nwith Israel, that history proclaims the decree fulfilled.\n\nThe native inhabitants of Van Dieman, called Tasmanians, have entirely\nbecome extinct.  The Maories of New Zealand are rapidly diminishing.\nFifty years ago they were 200,000 strong; now only about 50,000.  In a\nfew more years they will be gone.  The same is true in all the other\nAustralian provinces.  The same is true of many isles of the sea, also of\nthe African colonies.  In these things, so exceptional, we can surely\nsay, with the magicians of old who contended against Moses, \"This is the\nfinger of God.\"  Thus we see Israel increasing, by the law of diminution\ngoing on among the Gentiles.  Israel in the latter day was to be blessed\nwith plenty in the orchards, stall, and field: \"For I will lay no more\nfamine upon you, saith the Lord.\"  The past year we learn that some\n10,000,000 of Chinese perished in famine.  India, in one part, has been\ngreatly reduced in number by the same scourge.  This country will be\npartly protected from the operation of this law--for no doubt a large\nportion are from Abraham.  \"But unto the sons of the concubines, which\nAbraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son,\nwhile he yet lived, Eastward, unto the East country\" (Gen. xxv. 6).  This\nsame scourge does not follow the colonising of other nations.  It did not\nfollow Spain, nor the Dutch, nor France.\n\nIf you turn to the prophets, you will soon learn how they are to increase\nin the latter days--not by a comparison on the line of diminution only,\nbut in and from themselves.  \"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that\nI will sow the House of Israel and the House of Judah with the seed of\nman and beast\" (Jer. xxxi. 27).  Have these days come?  We again say,\nYes; and these kind of prophecies are being fulfilled in this day in so\nspecial a manner as to make certain the times we live in.  Through\nIsrael, Judah, and Manasseh, the earth is to find the equilibrium of\npeace.  The Jews will furnish the money, for in the increasing\nascendancy, and multiplying power, and authority of England and America,\nthe Jews will draw closer to them and invest more and more their money\nwith them, because of greater security and profit.  The balance of power\nand even compulsion will be in the hands of England and America, to force\narbitration on disputing nations, and they will do so, having set the\nprecedents themselves in the Alabama and fish treaties.  At present, many\nwill refuse this idea, and point to the famous Monroe doctrine.  Now that\ndoctrine has had its time, nearly; and it has served a good purpose for\nthe country.  The mercantile growth, and general producing power of this\ncountry, will cause us to abandon our selfish protection policy; for of\nall other people on the face of the earth we will want free trade; for we\nwill have the greatest surplus of mercantile and agricultural\nproductions, and in a short time our very position and ability will push\naway all competitors.  Once our mercantile and agricultural interests are\ncast in other nations, we will then have an interest in their wars and\npeace, and will be led to interfere.\n\nThe chief way in which the balance of power will fall into English and\nAmerican hands is in the fulfilling of the blessings of the text: the\nmultiplying of this people, first by natural increase, and second by\nincorporation and absorption.  Look at this law of absorption; how\nvigorous and sure!  If you turn into a field of grass fowls, pigs,\nhorses, and cows, you get chicken-meat, pork, horseflesh, and beef.  The\nindividualism in each creature absorbs and converts the same field of\ngrass into themselves.  So into this country are coming people of every\nnation and race, but the individualism of Manasseh will in due time make\nthem all Manassehites.  The children of the Russians, Poles, Spanish, and\nso on, become American in taste, manners, and sympathies.  They are being\ngrafted into the tree of Manasseh.\n\nBut look at the law of increase naturally.  Take the population of\nseveral countries as given in the last census, and carefully note the\nrelative increase, and how long it takes each nation to double its\nnumber.  Russia, eighty-six millions, doubles every 100 years; Germany,\nforty-two millions, doubles every 100 years; Turkey, forty-seven\nmillions, doubles every 550 years; Austria, thirty-seven millions,\ndoubles every 100 years; France, thirty-six millions, doubles every 140\nyears; Great Britain, thirty-three millions, doubles every 55 years;\nUnited States, forty millions, doubles every 25 years; Italy,\ntwenty-seven millions, doubles every 125 years; Egypt, seventeen\nmillions, doubles every 150 years; Spain, sixteen millions, doubles every\n112 years; English colonies, ten millions, doubles every 25 years.  Now\nmake a calculation for 100 years, from 1878 to 1978, and see how these\ncountries stand in population and their relative position.  Russia will\nhave one hundred and seventy-two millions; Germany, eighty-four; Turkey,\nfifty-six; Austria, seventy-four; France, fifty-nine; Great Britain, one\nhundred and thirty-seven; Italy, forty-one; Egypt, twenty-nine; Spain,\ntwenty-eight; United States, six hundred and forty; and the English\ncolonies, one hundred and sixty--and that is not reckoning the natives in\nthe colonies, only the descendants of the English.  Of course, in a\ncountry like India, the natives will be a considerable number, and they\nmight properly be reckoned in with the colonial items, and so swell the\nnumber of Israel's power.\n\nNow these figures show a wonderful conclusion.  In simple language, we\nfind that in 1978, the English-speaking race, or Israelites, will number\n937 millions, while all of Russia, Germany, Turkey, Austria, France,\nItaly, Egypt, and Spain, will only number 543 millions.  Where then, we\nask, will be the balance of power?  And why should this certain law come\ninto operation at this time, if it be not the blessing foretold by the\nprophets?  And can we not see that these are the latter days, and that\nGod is fulfilling His promises to Israel?\n\nThe blood of Abraham and the faith of Abraham have been wonderfully\npreserved and projected down through the centuries with telling effect.\nAnd on this line the Darwinian theory of election is very true, for the\nsurvival of the fittest is the proclaimed law of Heaven.  There is power\nin land possession and there is power in number, and if these two factors\nmaintain their force for one hundred years, then we infer of certainty\nthat the sceptre of rule and destiny of the world will be in the hands of\nIsrael, unless the laws of nature are reversed, and the promises of God\nfail.  The Word of God cannot fail or return unto Him void; it must\naccomplish that whereunto He sent it and prosper in things designed, or\nas Jeremiah xxiii. 20 says: \"The anger of the Lord shall not return until\nHe has executed and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in\nthe latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.\"\n\n\n\n\nISRAEL AND LANGUAGE.\nDISCOURSE V.\n\n\nLATTER DAY PROPHETIC PROMISES--TIME OF ISRAEL'S REVIVAL--PYRAMID\nTESTIMONY--BRITISH ISLAND POPULATION IN 1882--AFFINITY BETWEEN ENGLISH\nAND HEBREW--CELL OF THE HONEYBEE--ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE--LION OF\nLANGUAGES--FOREIGN TESTIMONY--ALL TONGUES INDIGENOUS BUT ENGLISH--THE\nPRE-MILLENNIAL TOKENS.\n\n    \"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may\n    all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one\n    consent.\"--Zephaniah iii. 9.\n\nIn the last two discourses we called your attention to two prophecies\nthat are now fulfilling; they are on parallel lines of time and\nterritory.  The first had reference to the rapid accumulation of the\nlands of the earth by Israel.  Accepting the Anglo-Saxons as being the\nchildren and descendants of Jacob, it naturally follows that the\nprophetic blessings and promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their\nheirs, should find a fulfilment in these, the latter days, and that such\nfulfilment should be found in the English nation, among the Jews, and in\nthe United States.  It is easy to see and believe that the curses\nprophetically pronounced on Judah and Israel have been fulfilled,\nespecially on the House of Judah.  The promises to the House of Israel\nare now being grandly realised.  England is in possession of the isles of\nthe sea, the coasts of the earth, the waste and desolate places, the\nheathen is her inheritance, and she is inheriting the seed of the\nGentiles, and causing their desolate cities to be inhabited.  From the\ntaking of Jamaica, by General Penn, in 1655, to the peaceful cession of\nCyprus, the course of this little island nation has been onward and\nupward.  And if her conquests and progress are not amenable to prophecy,\nfor an interpretation, then the wonder is still greater.  The facts are\nwith us, and must be accounted for some way.  The second had reference to\nthe multitudinous seed of Israel in the latter days.  Till two hundred\nyears ago the Anglo-Saxons were not in this respect distinct from other\nraces; indeed, for centuries they were distinct rather for their weakness\nin multiplying power and number.  Many other races have exceeded them in\nthis particular.  But no sooner do we come abreast of the latter day time\nthan we find the laws of centuries changed.  In thermal science it is an\naxiom that heat expands all bodies, and of course that cold contracts\nthem.  But to this general rule there is one beautiful and benevolent\nexception: it is in water; for if we start with water at thirty-two\ndegrees, we find the remarkable phenomenon of cold expanding all below\nthirty-two, and heat expanding all above.  If we take water at 212\ndegrees and withdraw it from the heat, it will continue to contract till\nwe reach thirty-two; then the law is reversed, and the water expands.\nNow the reversion of this law, at this particular point, is wonderfully\nexpressive of Divine forethought and benevolence.  By such a change ice\nis made to float in water, and so save our lakes, streams, and wells from\nbeing frozen solid.  As this exception is to thermal science, so is the\nlaw of reproduction to Israel in this day.  This people, who have been\nbehind other races, now, at an appointed time, step to the front.  The\nlaw seems to be reversed, and that too for a benevolent purpose--for the\nvery purpose that they might be able to fulfil the mission assigned them\nin these last days, to occupy the new lands and evangelise the world.\nOne prophecy seems to call for the other, for what would be the use of\nthe lands without the people, or the people without the lands?  It is an\namazing fact that Queen Victoria should bear rule over one-third of the\npopulation of the whole earth, and that Israel, including Manasseh,\nshould own one-fourth of the land.\n\nBut this amazing fact is made reasonable when we accept the Queen as\nbeing of the seed of David, and an heir to the promises attaching to\nDavid's throne, and when we accept the Anglo-Saxons as being the Ten Lost\nTribes of Israel.  Then prophecy, Providence, and facts, are a\ntrinity--they are one sublime whole.  God, speaking through Moses, said\nHe would punish to reform Israel for seven times--and seven times\nprophetically understood, means 2,520 years.  If we allow that Israel\nwere carried captive in the year 725 before Christ, then Israel would\ncome into freedom, or be reformed, about 1795; because if we add 725 to\n1,795, we get 2,520.  Up to this point they were to be robbed of their\nchildren and to be few in number (see Lev. xxvi. 22).  In the year 1795\nIsrael were to be relieved from these curses; and about this time this\nspecial law of reproduction came into operation; or, if we take the\nlamentations of Hosea vi. 1-3: \"Come and let us return unto the Lord, for\nHe hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us\nup; after two days will He revive us; in the third day He will raise us\nup, and we shall live in His sight.  Then shall we know if we follow on\nto know the Lord.  His going forth is prepared as the morning, and He\nshall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the\nearth.\"  By this passage, our day and the special providences of this\nperiod are mournfully and graphically referred to.  Here a day stands for\na thousand years, \"for a day with the Lord is as a thousand years;\" so\nthat when two thousand years should have passed by, Ephraim, who stands\nfor Israel, was to be revived and blessed with fruitfulness sometime\nduring the third day, or thousand years.  In ancient time a day was\ncounted when it had a majority--that is, when it had passed the half.\nThe prophet here says we were to be revived, or raised up, on the third\nday.  So, if you again take these three thousand-year days, you will find\nthat two of them are to be completely passed, and during the third we\nwere to be raised.  The number we have given, 2,520, exactly meets the\ninterpretation--2,000 complete, and 520 make a majority for the third day\nby the twenty over the half.  These prophetic figures tally well with the\nexisting state of things.  About the beginning of this century England\nassumed to lead the world.  It is a remarkable coincidence that, in the\nlast century, the question of how to multiply the population was a\nsubject of debate and legislation in the British Parliament.  But what\nlegislation failed to do, God in His providence did at the appointed\ntime.\n\nIt is a curious fact, and well worth noticing, that the famous witness of\nthe Lord of hosts in Egypt, the Great Pyramid, forecasts what the number\nof Israel and Judah would be in the year 1882.  As Israel is symbolised\nin the Grand Gallery, it is found that the cubic contents of the same, in\ninches, is about 36,000,000; thus by some this is interpreted to mean\nthat inches stand for individuals, and if so, then England proper will\nhave this number in 1880.  Whether this is a true interpretation or not,\nwe all know that these figures will be about right.  The Queen's Chamber\nof the Pyramid symbolises the number and condition of the Jews.\n\nFrom these two prophecies, so sublimely fulfilling, let me invite your\nattention to another that is now maturing.  It, too, is parallel with the\nother two.  We refer to the peculiar growth, power, and progress of the\nEnglish language.  After Israel went into captivity, they were to lose\ntheir language and take or form another.  \"For with stammering lips and\nanother tongue will He speak to this people\" (Isa. xxviii. 11).  We will\nall agree that the English language is not the Hebrew; and if we are\nIsraelites, then indeed God is speaking to us in another tongue, for few\nof us read His Word in Hebrew.  It is read to the millions in the\nEnglish; hence the millions hear God speak to them in another tongue than\nthat of Hebrew.  Between the English and Hebrew languages there is an\nintimate relation, especially back a few years, before the English had\ngrown so much.  The Hebrew was a very limited language; not numbering\nmore than 7,000 words.  The English is now said to number about 80,000.\nThe most lavish writer does not use over 10,000; the common average is\nabout 3,000.  In the English we have not less than 1,000 Hebrew roots.\nThis, comparing the languages a few years back, is a large percentage.\nIn names of persons and places the Hebrew is very prominent in England.\n\nI take it for a fact that language is of Divine origin.  Men have written\non the origin of language from every standpoint; the majority of them\ntrying to account for its existence without allowing so noble a source.\nThe first man, Adam, I believe, could talk as easily and naturally as he\ncould see, and hear, and taste.  Speech was a part of his endowment.\nThere is nothing more wonderful in a man talking than a bird singing,\nsave that speech is a higher order of utterance.  Dumb nature performs\nmarvels every day as mighty and wonderful as man's talking.  The\nhoney-bee builds its cells, ignorant of the fact that such construction\nis the solution of a problem which had troubled men for centuries to\nsolve.  At what point shall certain lines meet so as to give the most\nroom with the least material and have the greatest strength in the\nbuilding?  This problem is said to have been worked out by a Mr.\nMcLaughland, a noted Scotch mathematician, who arrived at his conclusion\nby laborious and careful fluxionary calculation.  To his surprise, and to\nthe surprise of the world, such lines and such a building were found in\nthe common bee cell.  Now I hold that the same Creator who gave to the\nbee the mathematical instinct could endow man with the instinct of\nspeech.  Even to animal instinct we find a certain variation and\npermitted latitude in what is called adaptive instinct.  So in man we\nfind this same instinct of adaptation in a higher sense.  The instinct\ncomes into play when we suppose a number of persons separated from\nothers, each living in different quarters of the globe.  In such a\ncondition, though of the same language when first separated, they would\nnot remain so long--that is, in the primitive state of society.  Thus,\namong the tribes of Africa, at this day, languages are widening and\nvarying from a once common centre.  So Israel in captivity would lose the\nHebrew gradually.  The language of the people among whom they settled was\nthe Sanskrit, from which a score of languages have come--the German,\nFrench, and Italian, Saxon and others.  The Saxon of to-day, compared\nwith the Saxon of 2,000 years ago, is very different; so much so that for\nus to learn and speak it would be equal to learning a new language.  Thus\nthe English language is a thing of growth.  In the year 1362 the Saxon\nwas made the court language of England.  From that time onward its growth\nhas been wonderful.\n\nThe prophetic outlines and Divine place of this language may be seen in\nthe germal foundations, which give unto it such vigour, tenacity, and\ncapabilities of expansion.  All the features of this language go to show\nthat it is destined to be the medium of a world's intercourse, and that\nit very suitably belongs to Israel, in whose hand will be the destiny of\nthe world.  It is the lion of languages.  It will grow anywhere, and by\nreason of its tenacity when once it gets a foothold it abides.  It is\npeculiarly suited to the humanities of every race, clime, and condition;\nthere is no limit to its expansive adaptability.  It is in a special\nmanner voracious in the destruction of other languages; wherever it goes,\nit sounds the death-knell of all the rest.\n\nSoon as this language entered Britain, it began its work of destruction.\nBefore it has disappeared the real British, the Cymric or Welsh, Erse or\nIrish, the Gaelic of Scotland, and the Manx of the Isle of Man.  The\nBritish Keltic is entirely gone; the rest are entirely local.  Beside\nthese it ousted from the island the Norse, the Norman-French, and several\nother tongues that tried to transplant themselves on English soil.  It is\nat work in every part of the globe, planting itself and displacing\nothers.  A few years ago French was the language best suited for a\ntraveller on the Continent.  But this has changed.  Now the English is by\nfar superior.  And why is it that the English is supplanting all others?\nTo answer such a question in a scientific way, one cannot do better than\nquote from the great and learned German philologist, Prof. Grimm, of\nBerlin.  He says of it: \"It has a thorough power of expression, such as\nno other language ever possessed.  It may truly be called a\nworld-language, for no other can compare with it in richness,\nreasonableness, and solidity of texture.\"  But perhaps the most definite\nand distinct testimony given by a foreigner touching the future ubiquity\nof the Anglo-Saxon race and language, is that put forward by Provost\nParadol, a learned Frenchman.  He says \"that neither Russia nor united\nGermany, supposing that they should attain the highest fortune, can\npretend to impede that current of things, nor prevent that solution,\nrelatively near at hand, of the long rivalry of European races for the\nultimate colonisation and domination of the universe.  The world will not\nbe Russian, nor German, nor French, alas! nor Spanish.\"  He concludes\nthat it will be Anglo-Saxon.\n\nA British poet has presented in poetry the special features of several of\nthe European languages, which we give:--\n\n    \"Greek's a harp we love to hear;\n    Latin is a trumpet clear;\n    Spanish like an organ swells;\n    Italian rings its bridal bells;\n    France, with many a frolic mien,\n    Tunes her sprightly violin;\n    Loud the German rolls his drum\n    When Russia's clashing cymbals come;\n    But British sons may well rejoice,\n    For English is the human voice.\"\n\nThere are eight languages in the bounds of Christian civilisation that\nmay be accounted powerful, because they are the tongues of vigorous\npeople; they are the English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Italian,\nPortuguese, and Scandinavian.  But of these all are indigenous, except\nthe English, so that they die if transplanted.  Look at this country and\nbehold what a cemetery it is for languages.  Once the French had strong\nhold and promised to abide here; but it is now nearly gone, even from the\nstate of Louisiana and Canada, the last places of retreat.\n\nIf we take note of the population according to these several languages,\nwe shall see the prophetic future of the English.  It is spoken by about\nninety millions, Russian seventy-five, German fifty-six, French forty,\nSpanish thirty-eight, Italian twenty-nine, Portuguese fourteen, and\nScandinavian nine.  Within the control of the governments of these\nlanguages we find England to have rule over 255,000,000 people, who do\nnot as yet speak English, and we find that the other seven have only\nseventy-five millions outside of themselves.  Here is an important\ndifference.  If we look at them by territorial limits, leaving out\nRussia, we find the English language to own 13,382,686 square miles,\nGermany 449,684, French 571,578, Spanish 4,694,811, Italian 114,466,\nPortuguese 4,028,311, and Scandinavian 1,308,830.  The aggregate number\nof square miles possessed by these six languages, is 11,167,620, which\naltogether, you see, own 2,215,066 miles square less than the English.\nThe balance itself is more than Germany, France, and Spain put together.\nThe English language is divided only into two governments, but the other\nsix are divided into twenty-six, all of which governments are bitter one\ntoward the other; each trying to supplant one another, while England and\nthe United States are at peace, and will ever remain so.  In one hundred\nyears from now the English language will be spoken by a thousand million\npeople.  Thus we need no stretch of fancy to see that what the prophet\nspeaks of in the text will be accomplished in due time.\n\nThis language will soon be universal; by common consent it will become\nthe language of the world.  All the changes going on among nations\nforecast its ubiquity.  China, by an imperial decree, has just added to\nher language 700 English words.  Her sons by the thousand are with us,\nand by the thousand they are learning our mother tongue.  The Japanese,\ntill a few years ago, carried on their foreign correspondence through the\nDutch, but now they have changed to the English.  Besides, in the 50,000\nschools in Japan English is being taught.  If science has an answer for\nthis strange phenomenon, so have we.  Ours is, that it is the will of\nHeaven.  Confusion of tongues came at Babel as a punishment.  By this\nmeans Heaven scattered the unwilling descendants of Noah.  When Noah came\nforth from the Ark, God bade him multiply and replenish the earth--that\nis, fill it up.  Babel, however, was built as a monument of\ncentralisation, for the builders gave as a reason for building it, \"Lest\nwe be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth.\"  By a confusion of\ntongues they were scattered.  Since then we have had some 1,500 distinct\nlanguages, and some 3,500 colloquials, or say 5,000 different forms of\nspeech.  At the present time 600 of the primary are dead, so that there\nare about 900 languages now spoken on all the earth, with about 2,500\ncolloquials.\n\nWhen these means have answered their end--namely, to make us occupy all\nparts of the earth--then they will die out.  It then follows that as the\nworld fills, languages must disappear.  So they do.  The English and\nGerman were the last languages to come into existence.  No new ones are\nnow being made.  Alphabets are increasing, because missionaries are\nreducing spoken languages among the heathen into a written form.  The\nBible is translated into two hundred different tongues.  This itself will\nonly lead the millions back to English.  All ship papers are now made out\nin English excepting the French, and no doubt they will soon have to\nfollow in the wake.\n\nThe day of Pentecost foreshowed the universality of some language.\nPentecost was a type, and the English is the antitype.  The strangers\nfrom Phrygia, Pamphylia, Libya, Pontus, and Cappadocia, mingled with the\nParthians, Medes, Elamites, Cretes, and Arabians.  They all heard the\nGospel in their own tongue.  The different tongues make a wall of\ndivision, making them strangers one with another; but the Holy Ghost took\naway this wall, and they were all face to face, able to understand one\nanother.  The same power that here multiplied the gift of tongues--giving\nto some several--surely could give to Adam one.  Away with a faith that\ncannot give God credit with being the Author of language.\n\nNo sooner do we see England in guardian possession of Syria than the idea\nenters into the scheme of reform of extending the English language.  The\nBoard of Directors of the Syrian Protestant College at Beyrout have shown\ntheir appreciation of the new era of British influence by a recent vote,\nwhich is to the effect that on January 1, 1879, all instruction in the\ncollege shall be through the English language.  The Arabic will only be\ntaught as any other dead language.  This remarkable action shows that\nBritish influence in Syria is hereafter to be more than simply\ndiplomatic; it is to be an all-pervading and controlling power, affecting\nevery interest of Society.  Truly another Pentecostal day is drawing\nnigh--a day when all the world shall hear the Gospel in the language of\nIsrael.  In all these things we see the lively tokens and pre-millennial\nagencies hastening on the day of the Lord.\n\n\n\n\nISRAEL AND GENTILE FULNESS.\nDISCOURSE VI.\n\n\nMEANING OF GENTILE FULNESS--BLESSINGS THROUGH JUDAH AND EPHRAIM--BEST\nRELIGION--JEWS OUTWITTED--WHY BENJAMIN WAS KEPT AT JERUSALEM--FRENCH\nPROTESTANTISM--GENTILE FULNESS CONTEMPORARY WITH TO-DAY--WHAT IT\nIS--EXCEPTIONAL TURKEY.\n\n    \"Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the\n    diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their\n    fulness.\"--Rom. ii. 12.\n\nPaul, the author of this epistle to the Romans, tells us that he was an\nIsraelite of the seed of Abraham and of the Tribe of Benjamin.  The fact\nso conveyed it is necessary that we keep in mind, if we would interpret\naright this epistle.  He introduces to our notice three parties: the\nJews, who include at this time the Tribes of Judah and Levi; the\nIsraelites, who embraced the Tribe of Benjamin and the other nine Tribes\nthat had been in captivity for about eight hundred years--the whole\ntogether are generally known as the Ten Lost Tribes.  In the third party\nwe have the Gentiles.  This word Gentile usually denotes and includes the\nnon-Jewish nations and people.  The Hebrew word _goyim_, in early Bible\nhistory, was equivalent to our word nation.  It finally began to denote\nany people who were not of the sacred seed of Abraham.  The Greek word so\nrendered is _ethnos_, which means a multitude or nation.  In the New\nTestament another word is sometimes used in a more limited sense--namely,\n_hellenes_, which is translated Greeks.  Ignorance of these three\nparties, their place in Providence, and relation one to the other, has\ngiven rise to much needless controversy and division in the domain of\ntheology.  Men have argued for an election and a reprobation, laying\ngreat stress on the 9th, 10th, and 11th chapters of Romans, that is in no\nwise taught.  The election Paul deals with is a literal one, having\nreference to a distinct people, whom God has elected for a special work\nin this world.  This people God calls \"His people,\" \"His inheritance,\"\n\"His chosen,\" \"His witnesses,\" \"His servants.\"  \"This people have I\nformed for Myself; they shall shew forth My praise\" (Isa. xliii. 21).\nHence exclaims the Psalmist, \"Blessed is the nation whose God is the\nLord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.\"\n\nIt will be evident to any careful Bible reader that God called Abraham\nfrom Ur, in Chaldea, from his own kindred, for a special design.  Through\nAbraham's seed Jehovah designed that blessings, temporal and spiritual,\nshould flow to all nations.  He selected this seed for His own training,\ninstruction, and culture, to the end that they might train, instruct, and\nevangelise the rest of mankind.  Through Judah was to come spiritual\nblessings, because from Him was the Messiah; and through Ephraim, as\nrepresentative of the Ten Tribes, was to come temporal blessings.  And\nthis in the past has been the order of providential procedure; it is the\npresent order, and it is to be the future.  Look and verify this\nstatement and order by an examination of the nations of the earth at this\ntime, by asking yourselves the question: What form of religion among the\nmany on earth is best suited to develop man, to conserve his truest\ninterest, and crown him with the greatest measure of peace, plenty,\nliberty, and security?  Surely to this question there can be but one\nanswer--it is the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  And it is evident\nthat Christ came of the Tribe of Judah.  If we seek among the nations for\nthe best form of civilisation and the best government, we shall find the\nsame to be in the bounds of Israel and Manasseh--England and America.\nHere we shall find individualism the best developed, and liberty the\nfullest grown.  In this conclusion the intelligent of every other nation\nwill concur.  We assume no risk in making this statement.  Thus, without\ndoubt, the world at large is greatly indebted to the religion of Jesus,\nwho was of Judah, and to the Anglo-Saxons, for the best and purest forms\nof political organisations or governments.  The Anglo-Saxons being the\nTen Lost Tribes, it therefore follows that God has carried out the design\nincluded in Abraham's call, and the promise made that in his seed should\nall the nations of the earth be blessed.  To us it seems to have been a\nroundabout way.  Had Israel been obedient to God in Palestine, and had\nJudah received Jesus as the true Messiah, the state of the nations most\ncertainly would have been very different to what it is now.  Still,\nthrough all, and for all, the purpose of heaven has been carried forward.\n\nIn studying Providence it is always well to remember that God is not\ndependent on the harmonious co-operation of His creatures for the\naccomplishment of His purpose.  He can gain His ends either through our\nhate or love, resistance or co-operation.  When the Jews had crucified\nChrist, they naturally thought they had cut short His career and cut off\nHis influence; for so it would appear by all human reasoning.  Even the\ndisciples did not see how He could be the Messiah and Deliverer of Israel\nwhen He allowed Himself to be crucified.  The hope of Israel was buried\nwith the dead Christ.  They had hoped that it had been He who should have\nredeemed Israel; but this hope was then dead.  But by His resurrection\nthey saw through the secret of Providence, and they saw that God was\nfaithful in devising a way of escape, and able to bring to pass His own\nglorious purpose.  So Peter voices their experience when he says,\n\"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according\nto His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the\nresurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.\"  The Jews soon found out\nthey had made a mistake in crucifying Jesus; for the risen Christ was\nmightier than the teaching Jesus.  They had crushed a seed to the earth\nwhich sprang forth in renewed beauty and grace; whose death was life and\nwhose loss was gain.  In common parlance they had been outwitted.  They\nslew a man and He rose a God.  They in wrath offered a sacrifice once and\nfor all, even for the very sin in which they were then indulging.  They\nunknowingly abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light.\nThe critical and unbelieving Sadducees, who denied another life than\nthis, gave aid in proving another and a better; for Christ risen\ncondemned their unbelief.  The proud and ritualistic Pharisee, who loved\nthe temple and its gorgeous ceremony, destroyed one and made the other of\nnone avail, for in the planted death of Jesus they laid the foundation of\nanother and grander temple--one composed of living stones--and made the\ntemple service meaningless; for the anti-type had swallowed up the type;\nthe real, the ideal.  In all this they had reasoned on a human plan,\nwhich is not high enough to wholly overlook and explore the kingdom of\nGod.  Paul, in 1 Cor. ii. 7, makes this matter plain: \"But we speak the\nwisdom of God in a mystery; even the hidden wisdom which God ordained\nbefore the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world\nknew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of\nglory.\"  Jesus committed His life to the wave-tide of their rage, and was\nfloated to death and victory.  On the man side there was purpose and\nhate, and for this they were responsible; and on the Divine side we have\nwisdom and love working out the salvation of a lost race.\n\nJesus came to His own and they did not receive Him.  Who were His own?\nWe answer, the Jews; for He was of Judah.  But if His own did not receive\nHim, we ask, who did?  The answer is, that Israel received Him.  The\nIsraelites in the land at that time were the Tribe of Benjamin.  They had\nbeen providentially selected for this work nearly a thousand years\nbefore.  This one Tribe of Benjamin has a very peculiar history; and it\nyou will study it over, it will greatly serve to confirm your faith in\nthe Divine inspiration of the Bible and the unity and forethought of\nProvidence.  The original theocracy of Israel consisted of Twelve Tribes.\nThis theocracy was divided under Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor.\nTen Tribes seceded, and formed a kingdom, which is ever after called the\nkingdom of Israel; their first king was Jeroboam.  But it is very\nsingular to notice, that one of these Ten Tribes is lent to the kingdom\nof Judah, and this one Tribe is Benjamin.  In this was the Divine\nprovision for the time of Christ.  We find in the first book of Kings,\neleventh chapter, that Solomon displeased the Lord by his wicked ways,\nand the Lord said: \"Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not\nkept My covenant and My statutes which I have commanded thee, I will\nsurely rend the kingdom from thee, and I will give it to thy servant\n(Jeroboam was Solomon's servant at that time); notwithstanding in thy\ndays I will not do it, for David thy father's sake; but I will rend it\nout of the hands of thy son.  Howbeit I will not rend away all the\nkingdom, but will give one Tribe to thy son, for David My servant's sake,\nand for Jerusalem's sake, which I have chosen.\"  All the kingdom\nevidently meant the Ten Tribes.  The same truth Ahijah, the Shilonite,\ntaught when he rent his new garment into twelve pieces, and gave to\nJeroboam ten.  \"And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces; for thus\nsaith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of\nthe hands of Solomon and will give Ten Tribes to thee.\"  Then comes in\nthe reserve clause again: \"But he shall have one Tribe for My servant\nDavid's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out\nof all the Tribes of Israel.\"  And the reason for the reservation of this\nTribe is clearly expressed in verse 36: \"And unto his son will I give one\nTribe, that David My servant may always have a light before Me in\nJerusalem.\"  Now it is plain why this Tribe was an exception.  The city\nof Jerusalem, God says, He has chosen out of all the cities of Israel,\nbecause to this city would the Messiah come.  And beautifully agreeing\nwith the forethought is the fact that when the Tribes had their lots\nassigned them in Palestine, the city of Jerusalem fell in the portion of\nBenjamin.\n\nThe Tribe then were owners of the city, and they received Christ.  The\ndisciples and first followers and converts were chiefly from this Tribe\nof Benjamin.  After this Tribe received Christ, then their work was done\nin Jerusalem.  So they were to separate from the kingdom of Judah, and\nseek out their own brethren and unite with them.  The time of their\nseparation had been foretold by the prophet, and pointed out by the\nSaviour.  The time of their departure would be coincident with the siege\nand destruction of their beloved city.  So cried Jeremiah down through\nthe centuries, \"Oh, ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee\nout of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up\na sign of fire in Beth-haccerem, for evil appeareth out of the North and\ngreat destruction \"(Jer. vi. 1).  If any of you are mindful to examine\nhistory, you will find that war came, that the destruction was terrible,\nand more, you will find that the Benjaminites escaped.  These points\nprofane historians thoroughly confirm.  Having fulfilled their\nGod-appointed mission with the kingdom of Judah and in Jerusalem, Heaven\ngave them to be light-bearers to the whole world; first to specially find\ntheir own brethren of the House of Israel, and carry them the Gospel, and\nthey would carry it unto all the earth.  Thus the Saviour said, \"Go not\nin the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye\nnot.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.\"  Peter in\nhis epistle tells where these lost sheep were scattered.  Agreeable to\nthe Saviour's command they went forth, and preached as they went, and so\ncarried the Gospel of Jesus with them.  As a Tribe they finally settled\nin Normandy, and gave to France her Protestantism, which, from that day\nto this, Catholicism has not been able entirely to uproot, though it has\nmade several desperate attempts.  They finally, however, as a Tribe,\nunder the Norman conquest, entered England and united with the other nine\nTribes.  Their advent, and the way they came, is very graphically\nsymbolised in the unicorn on the royal arms of England.  The unicorn is\nlooking Westward, and is attached to the crown by a chain--showing that\nit came from the East.\n\nWith these facts in one's mind, read those difficult passages in Romans,\nand all will be plain.  Take, for instance, Romans xi. 17: \"And if some\nof the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert\ngrafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of\nthe olive tree.\"  Here it is manifest that we have three parties\nmentioned.  The branches broken off mean Judah and Levi, the wild olive\nstands for the Gentiles, the people in among whom they were grafted, or\nroot of whose fatness they were partakers, mean the Israelites.  The hope\nof Jewish restoration is nicely set forth in verse 24: \"For if thou wert\ncut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted\ncontrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these,\nwhich be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree.\"\nAgain, the wild olive stands for the Gentiles, the good olive tree for\nIsrael, the branches broken off, but which may be grafted in again, for\nthe Jews.  Thus to this theory of interpretation the whole Bible responds\neasily and reasonably.  With this kind of interpretation one need not\ntwist and distort the sacred Word in order to understand it.  I trust the\nday is near when men will expound the sacred Scriptures by the rules of\ncommon sense.\n\nThe calamity that happened to the nine Tribes of Israel in been carried\ncaptive has been turned into good by our heavenly Father--into good for\nthem and all the world.  \"Therefore the Lord removed Israel out of His\nsight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets.  So was Israel\ncarried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day\" (2 Kings\nxvii. 23).  Keeping back the Tribe of Benjamin is a marvel of goodness.\nAnd with Paul we may exclaim: \"Now if the fall of them be the riches of\nthe world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how\nmuch more their fulness.\"  If Israel had been able to contribute so much\nof Christianity to the world, and evolve in her imperfect state such an\nequitable form of government, what will her contribution be when\ngathered, restored, and once again put into a theocratic relation to God?\n\"For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what\nshall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?\"  This people who\nhave been scattered among the Gentiles God is collecting out from among\nthem for His own glorious purpose and work.  Thus scattered they have\nbeen a mystery--a mystery among the Gentiles.  Paul to the Colossians\nsays: \"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of\nthis mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of\nglory.\"\n\nWhen will the fulness of the text take place?  We answer.  Before long.\nThe fulness here stands over against the Gentile fulness.  In the three\nlast discourses we called your attention to Israel's maturing fulness in\nland, people, and language.  And now, if you will consider the state of\nthe Gentile nations, it will be apparent to you that the time of Gentile\nfulness is now present.  These Gentile nations are now overflowing.  Take\nChina with her teeming millions, and ask why she has not peopled the\nworld? for surely she could have done so long ago.  But she barred her\nown doors by making it unlawful for any of her subjects to leave the\nflowery kingdom--forbidding heaven to such as should die outside.  Now,\nhowever, she must permit emigration or perish by famine.  Take the\ncountries of Europe, and is it not strange that Israel's fulness of land,\npeople, and language is made the fuller by these nations contributing\ntowards the same?  The fulness of the Gentiles is made to flow into the\nfulness of Israel.  These countries, outside of Israel-England, have no\ncolonies to send their overflow to; hence, they are filling up the domain\nof Israel and so hastening on her fulness.  The French, Germans,\nItalians, and Spaniards forsake their land and language, thus adding to\nIsrael's fulness; for they chiefly settle down within the bounds of\nIsrael.  To this Gentile fulness there was to be one strange\nexception--that was in the Turkish nation.  This nation is set forth by\nthe prophet under the figure of the River Euphrates.  In their first\nappearance they were to be very numerous.  In the eleventh century they\nbegan to invade Europe.  The historian Gibbon, speaking of them, says:\n\"Myriads of Turkish horsemen overspread the whole Greek empire, until at\nlast Constantinople fell into their hands.\"  From 1453 till now have they\nheld this grand capital.  John, in Rev. ix., pictures this invasion, and\nspeaks of the number of horsemen.  He speaks of them as having power in\ntheir mouths and tails.  This language is very expressive when we\nremember the Moslem's war-cry, which was \"The sword of Mahomet and of\nGod.\"  And in one of the first of their great battles they lost their\nstandard; but, not long baffled, the commander-in-chief cut off the tail\nof his beautiful steed, and, putting it on the end of a pole, hoisted it\nas a standard.  This ensign they long used.  This kingdom, however, is to\ndry up--that is, to disappear gradually, as a river dries up.  All this\nis taking place.  Turkey sends emigrants nowhere.  They are literally\ndying out.  In number they are fewer each year.  Turkey will pass away\nfor want of Turks.  Her territory will be taken away from her gradually.\nHow remarkable the dealings of Providence with men and nations!\n\nUp to the point of Gentile fulness, Israel was to be partly blind, for\nGod's plans, through Israel, were to remain a mystery for a time.  \"For I\nwould not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye\nshould be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened\nto Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.\"  Our idea is\nthat the Gentile fulness is now in, and if so, it is natural, then, that\nIsrael should be found, and about this time have her eyes opened.  Up to\nthis time of fulness, Jerusalem was to be trodden down.  \"And they shall\nfall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations;\nand Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of\nthe Gentiles be fulfilled\" (Luke xxi. 23).  Now, the Jews did fall by the\nedge of the sword, as the Saviour foretold; they were carried captive\ninto all nations; Jerusalem has been trodden under foot.  Thus, then, do\nwe see three parts of His prophecy literally fulfilled; and so surely\nwill the fourth part be, which is, that in connection with Gentile\nfulness this treading shall cease, and proud, imperial Salem shall lift\nher head once more free from tyrant hands and heathen tramping, to become\nthe city of God and His chosen ones.\n\nWhen Moses was sent to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, he was\nequipped with miraculous power that he might convince Pharaoh and the\nEgyptians what was the will of Jehovah; but not more so than are the\nprophetic students of this day; for the presence of the Divine gleams\nforth all around in the miracles of prophecy now so wonderfully\nfulfilling in this our day.\n\n\n\n\nDREAM IMAGE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.\nDISCOURSE VII.\n\n\nFUTURE HISTORY OF THE WORLD--THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PAPACY\nCOMMENCED--IRELAND TO BE FREE AND INDEPENDENT OF ENGLAND AND ROME--FUTURE\nGLORY OF BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES.\n\n    \"Thou, O King, sawest and beheld a great image.  This great image\n    whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form\n    thereof was terrible.\"--Dan. ii. 31.\n\nAbout 2,500 years ago the kingdom of Babylon was strong, great, and\nprosperous.  The king of this vast empire is known in history as\nNebuchadnezzar.  His reign had been marked with great victories over the\nsurrounding nations.  The mighty Empire of Assyria he had conquered;\nEgypt he had wasted and almost destroyed; Palestine he had reduced to\nstrange and pitiable desolation, having carried the Jewish inhabitants\ncaptive into the region of Babylon.  Among these captives we find Daniel,\nthe prophet of Judah.  In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's\nconsolidated reign, as king over Babylon and Assyria, he dreamed a dream\nwhich gave him much anxiety of mind and troubled him very much.  This\ndream he could not remember nor explain, save that it had left a terrible\nimpression on his mind.  The wise men were confounded, for they could\nneither declare the vision or its meaning.  The king, in his rage,\ndecreed them all to death.  At this point appears Daniel, one of the\ncaptives of Judah.  Moved of God, he presents himself before the king and\nmakes known to him the vision and interpretation.\n\nThe king had seen a great metallic image, excellent in brightness and\nterrible in form.  It was a human figure of massive proportions, standing\nerect with outstretched arms, and of a mixed and strange composition.\nThe head was of fine gold.  The breast and arms were of silver.  The\nbelly and thighs of brass.  The legs of iron, the feet part of iron and\npart of clay.  While the king was gazing on this monstrous figure with\nintense interest, his attention was arrested by the appearance of a small\nstone--this stone was alone; there appeared no hands handling it or\nmoving it.  It was cut out of the mountain without hands.  In this stone\nthere appears to be a good deal of the supernatural.  At once this little\nstone assaults the image, beginning at the feet.  The battle is surely\nunequal; the battle continues, and during the struggle the stone actually\ngrows; the image falls to pieces--the feet, thigh, breast, and head--and\nvictory is with the stone.  By the time the image is wholly destroyed the\nstone has become a mountain; or, as Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, \"Thou\nsawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image\nupon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.  Then\nwas the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to\npieces together, and became like the chaff of the Summer\nthreshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found\nfor them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and\nfilled the whole earth.\"\n\nIn this vision and interpretation we have a line of history laid bare so\nclearly that we need not err.  The beginning is the time and kingdom of\nNebuchadnezzar.  The image stands for four great earthly monarchies,\nextending down through the centuries even to this time and day--and a\nlittle further; for these monarchies are not yet wholly destroyed, and\nthe stone-kingdom does not yet fill the world.  Of this fifth, or stone\nkingdom, there is to be no end by conquest, or decay, or succession.\nDaniel says that this kingdom shall not be left to other people--that is,\nit shall never be succeeded.\n\nThe peculiar features of the stone-kingdom make it interesting to\nascertain what kingdom, monarchy, and people stand for it; for such\nkingdom, though small at the beginning, is to grow, prosper, and continue\nto the end of time.  Guided by the Scriptures and history, let us look\nfor these four earthly monarchies; and the better to accomplish our task,\nlet us stretch the giant figure on his back; then his head of gold will\nrest in Babylon, his silver breast and arms will take in Media and\nPersia, his belly and thighs will take in Greece, and his legs and feet\nwill take in Rome.  Thus, then, the gold head stood for Babylon, and is\nnow in this day represented and found in Russia--for Russia is a\ncontinuation of Babylon.  The _Czar_ is on the line of Nebuchadne_zzar_.\nThis gold-headed kingdom will be the last destroyed--the destruction\nbegins at the feet.  Russia, therefore, has yet a lease of life and\nprosperity; but, finally, she too will yield the contests and disappear\nbefore the stone-kingdom.  The gold stands for work and endurance, as the\nhead is significant of supremacy; but the stone will finally destroy it.\n\nThe silver, next in value and endurance, of which were the arms and\nbreast, stands for Persia.  Centuries ago Persia was the great Power of\nthe earth.  At one time it would seem as if she never would decay or ever\nhave a rival; but her day came, and she has dwindled down to the little\nkingdom and monarchy--the Persia of to-day.  Her power is gone, she is\nconsumptive, and will soon disappear as a separate kingdom.  The present\nvisit of the King of Persia to the Czar at St. Petersburg is not without\nmeaning.  The gold head of Russia will need the assistance of the arms of\nPersia by-and-bye.\n\nThe brass parts stand well and appropriately for ancient Greece--an\nEmpire once so gigantic and powerful, a people so polished and learned,\nbut long ago their time, and work, and place were marked out.  And now\nthe time is nearly gone and the work done, hence they will soon\ndisappear.  The present little kingdom of Greece is all that is left.\nBrass is in itself corrosive, so the Greek Empire has gradually eaten\nitself away.  What sublime lessons the prophets of old taught us!\n\nThe iron and clay, of which were the legs and feet, stand for the great\nRoman Empire, which in its day was so solid and grand with its law and\norder, its soldiers and statesmen.  This Empire that tried the hopeless\nexperiment of mixing clay and iron--that is, Church and State as\ninaugurated by Constantine.  This nation that tried to fuse together\nPaganism and Christianity.  This nation that tried to stand on two equal\nfeet, and to encompass the whole of man, body and spirit.  Well might\nDaniel say of this brittle Empire that it should be partly strong and\npartly weak.  In conscience and the empire of the soul Christ alone is\nKing.  No wonder that the Roman Empire has disappeared.  The iron part is\nnow entirely gone.  The Pope and the Church of Rome foolishly arrogate to\nthemselves to be this kingdom.  They still try and believe in mixing the\niron and clay--they yet claim authority in the spirit realm.  Obedience\nto Christ and the Pope cannot be on the spiritual or clay side.  No man\ncan supremely serve two masters.  On the iron side no man can be loyal to\nhis country and the Pope at the same time.  No man can serve two masters\nat the same time, both of which claim and demand supremacy.  These things\ncannot be mixed.  \"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay,\nthey shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not\ncleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.\"\n\nHow true the prophetic utterances of the prophet!  The Catholics and\nProtestants do not mix easily, not socially, not politically, nor\neducationally.  How are we to mix freely with those who think we are\nheretics and damnable?  How can we socially mix with a people so lordly\nin their claims and deficient in character as many are--a people who,\nwhen true to their profession, must be our secret or open enemies--who\nsink their manhood and parental claims, so as to depend upon the priest\nfor forgiveness and on him for instruction?  Thus, at the priest's\ncommand, the coming generations are divided and embittered in the fact of\nseparate schools for Catholics and Protestants.  These men of clay and\nlordly air, claim rights superior to the State, despising the State\nprovision for education.  Daniel said, \"The dream is certain, and the\ninterpretation thereof sure.\"  If so, as sure as the iron part has\ndisappeared, so will the clay.\n\nNow a clearer view, a purer faith and greater liberty are dawning upon\nour Catholic friends, which is making many of them feel too manly and\nnoble to be longer slaves to priest or Pope.  Bereft of temporal power,\nthey henceforth will have to win and fight their way, as others, on the\npurity of their doctrines and practice.  In such a strife we can but wish\nthem, and all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, great success.\n\nThus in the short outline of these four kingdoms we see enough to show us\nthat God has kept His word.  How marvellous are His ways! how complete\nHis work!\n\nLet us now look at this stone kingdom.  This fifth kingdom is as much\nmaterial and political as the other four, and stands for a king, country,\nand people.  It does not come into existence until the image is perfect.\nFor it is while Nebuchadnezzar was looking at the image he saw the stone\ncut out of the mountain--its growth was gradual.  Its work was to destroy\nthis image and fill the world.  As these kingdoms became weaker and\nsmaller, it would become stronger and larger.\n\nWhat king, country, and people respond to this kingdom?  The answer is as\neasy as to find the other, if we keep our minds free from prejudice and\nopen to truth.\n\nFirst, this kingdom was of Divine origin.  Second, it was small at first.\nThird, the more it fights the more it grows.  Fourth, it breaks in pieces\nthis image, beginning at the feet.  It is in fact the sworn enemy of all\nthe four kingdoms.  Fifth, it is to fill the world and thus become a\nuniversal kingdom and monarchy.  In this latter sense it will be a fit\ntype of the kingdom of Christ.\n\nJust such a kingdom as this did God repeatedly promise to Abraham and his\ndescendants.  David's throne and seed royal are to be established before\nHim for ever.  He promised to David's throne perpetuity, and that David's\nseed should always be on the throne--not in a spiritual sense as some\nthink--but naturally and actually in this world.\n\nGod promised to Israel, as a people and a kingdom, such pre-eminence in\norigin, power, and growth.  The answer, then, is simple and\nplain--England, as representing the Lost Tribes of Israel, and Queen\nVictoria being a direct descendant from David.  For she came of James\nVI., of Scotland--he from Bruce and Duncan, and Malcolm, and Kenneth, and\nKenneth through the kings of Argyleshire, Alpin, and Donald, and Fergus.\nThen through the long line of Irish Kings from Earca to Heremon, of Tara,\nand he married Tea Tephi, the daughter of Zedekiah, who, through Jeremiah\nthe prophet, had been hid from the destroying vengeance of\nNebuchadnezzar.  He killed all her brothers and kindred, and put out the\neyes of Zedekiah and took him a captive to Babylon, where he died.\n\nLook also at the British nation, learned as they are, yet no historian\ncan tell who the English were originally.  Sharon Turner, the best and\nmost trustworthy on the origin of the Saxons, fails to solve the\nquestion.  He traces them into Central Asia, but there he stops.  They\nhere form part of the Aryan race, speaking the Sanscrit language, from\nwhich came the Greek and Latin.  And from this place and people came\nforth the Goths and their language, and also the Saxons and their\nlanguage came to view here.  The German and Saxon both seem to have come\nforth from the Aryan stock.\n\nThe very place the Saxons came from is the very place where the Lost\nTribes were carried captive to by the King of Assyria, about 725 years\nbefore Christ, as we read in the second book of Kings, seventeenth\nchapter.  Take the very word Saxon.  This word comes from the Sanscrit:\nSaka Suna.  Saka means era, epoch, or date, and Suna means void, without.\nHence the word Saxon means a people whose origin is unknown--void of\ndate.  True, Nebuchadnezzar saw no hands cutting the little stone out\nfrom the mountain.  The origin of the English nation is hid because God\ncast away His people for a time--not for ever.  It is this view of the\nstone kingdom that corresponds to the prophets, to history, especially to\nthe English history.\n\nThe very island itself is insignificant, and no doubt was once joined to\nthe continent of Europe.  The formation on both sides of the English\nChannel--that is, on the French and English coasts, are the same--namely,\nchalk.  The ocean in time past washed through a passage, and thus\nprepared a place for exiled Israel to rest in, and renew their strength.\n\nWhy should this small island and a few and scattered people become so\npowerful, so as to sweep the sea, and dictate on land, constantly engaged\nin war, and though small, winning victory upon victory, and like the\nstone, growing stronger and stronger, after fighting the whole of Europe,\ngiving liberties in religion that oftentimes imperilled her safety at\nhome, opening her ports to all the world, and venturing to compete in\ntrade with all nations?\n\nHow came they to take India, a country of so vast an extent, so powerful,\nrich, and chivalrous a country, at that time composed of sixteen separate\nand powerful nations, speaking thirty-six different languages, and\nnumbering in population some 200,000,000?\n\nWith all her faults, still to her the world owes much.  She has stood for\nliberty in person and conscience.  The world has little to-day which\nennobles men and nations but what she has produced or aided in producing.\n\nThe right foot of the image stands for France, while the left signifies\nSpain.  On these two feet long stood Rome, as all know.  When these two\nfeet were broken, then soon followed the downfall of Rome as an empire,\nand as they are conquered for Jesus, so will the empire of Rome, as a\nChurch, fall.\n\nIn the year 1346 took place the battle of Cressey, led by Edward III.\nThen the little stone fell on the right foot, and since then it has\nfallen on that same foot victoriously 218 times.  On the left foot,\nSpain, thirty-five times.  All this time this stone has been growing.  In\n1665 the English, under General Penn, took Jamaica, and every four years\nsince they have added a colony.  Now that little stone bears rule over\nfifty-five colonies, one empire, namely, India, and one dominion, Canada.\nAnd yet, mighty as England was, she could not subdue the American\nprovinces, feeble and scattered colonists as they were.  Then they sought\nto fight against Providence.  Old Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph,\nEphraim, and Manasseh, and then predicted their destiny, saying of\nManasseh, \"He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but\ntruly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall\nbecome a multitude of nations.\"  So they are; and so Manasseh is a great\npeople in the American nation.\n\nThis stone cut out of the mountain has much to do and destroy; it is\nstill watching the head of gold.  Israel and Babylon are still face to\nface.  Greece will first disappear, although England is trying to revive\nit.  Next, Persia will go, then Babylon, or head of gold.  Russia will\nhave grown to giant-like proportions, and will finally measure swords\nwith England.  The stone will win.  England will then move her royal\nresidence and throne to Jerusalem.  Every country and province may then\nbe independent, like Canada, but federated to the central government.\nIreland will then be free, yes, doubly free--free from Rome and free from\nEngland as a State, but still federated to the central government.  It is\nthus this stone will fill the earth.  America will federate, the central\ngovernment will be destroyed.  State rights increase.  These are some of\nthe things suggested and taught by this vision.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE HORN AND TURKEY.\nDISCOURSE VIII.\n\n\nTHE TURKS THE ISHMAELITES--ENGLAND AND RUSSIA TO PARTITION THE MAHOMMEDAN\nEMPIRE--WHY ENGLAND SYMPATHISES WITH TURKEY.\n\n    \"And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed\n    exceeding great, toward the South, and toward the East, and toward\n    the pleasant land.\"--Daniel viii. 9.\n\nNebuchadnezzar had a dream, in which he saw a great metallic image of\nhuman form.  The head of gold stood for Babylon; the silver arms and\nbreast for Persia; the brass belly and thighs for Greece; the iron legs\nand feet of iron and clay for Rome.  To all this we find history has\nfaithfully and beautifully responded.\n\nA few years after this we find that Daniel has a dream, which is\ninterpreted to him by an angel.  From it we learn that the ten toes\nsymbolised ten kingdoms which were to arise out of the Roman Empire.\n\nIn the chapter from which we take our text, we are introduced into the\nsecrets of a vision which Daniel had.  The place of the vision is on the\nbanks of the River Ulai, in the province of Elam, and in the gorgeous\npalace of Shushan--a place and palace made famous and familiar to us by\nthe doings of King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther.  In other words, the scene\nis changed from the palace of Babylon to the palace of Persia.\n\nIn this vision, Pesia is typified by a ram, the two horns of which\nrepresented Persia and Media, for they formed one Empire at this time,\nunder the powerful rule and reign of Cyrus, who, coming from the East,\npushed his conquests \"Westward, and Northward, and Southward.\"  \"The two\nhorns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came\nup last.\"  From history we know that Media conquered Persia, and we know,\nalso, that finally Persia gained ascendancy, so that the higher came up\nlast, and is even in existence to-day as the small kingdom of Persia; but\nMedia has long since disappeared.\n\nWhile the seer Daniel was considering, behold an he-goat came from the\nWest.  This goat had a notable horn between his eyes.  Horn generally\nsymbolises power; here it symbolises a king of peculiar power, Daniel\ntells us.  Goat-like, it bounded over the earth rapidly, pushing and\ngoring its adversaries.  Can any one at all acquainted with history fail\nto see how fitly and grandly this description of the goat forecasts the\norigin and progress of the Greek Empire?\n\nSubstitute Alexander the Great for the notable horn, and you at once mate\nhistory and this vision.  Surely God has not left Himself without\nwitnesses.  \"Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of\nGod.\"  So we may freely say unto the historians and students of history,\nTruly, in these things we see the finger of God.\n\nCould any historian describe more faithfully and accurately the\ninvasions, conquests, and victories of Alexander the Great, especially\nhis assault on the Persians?  How marvellous and simple the description\nby Daniel: \"And he came to the ram that had two horns (Persia), which I\nhad seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his\npower; and I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with\ncholer against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there\nwas no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the\nground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the\nram out of his hand.\"\n\nAnd with the same majestic simplicity we have the downfall of Alexander\nand the division of his Empire described.  Listen!  \"Therefore the\nhe-goat waxed very great; and when he was strong the great horn was\nbroken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of\nheaven.\"\n\nTo fully understand the sacred writer here, you must call to mind a\nlittle of history, more and better, for all knowledge only aids us the\nbetter and better to read the Bible.\n\nWhat beast save the goat could characterise Alexander and his reign?  He\nwas the son of Philip of Macedon, born 356 B.C., and died in 323.  He\nbegan his reign at twenty years of age, and closed it in twelve years and\neight months.  No man in the same time ever fought so many battles, won\nso many victories, and subdued so many people.  No man, before or since,\never ruled over so many people and such a kingdom.  Queen Victoria is in\nthese things his only rival.  But with his sudden death the fruits of his\nvictories are re-distributed.  His Empire was divided into four parts;\nthe four Diadochi were his successors.  What lessons may men and nations\nlearn by studying the prophecies!\n\n\"For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of\nGod spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost;\" and unto this sure word\nof prophecy we do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a\ndark place.  \"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of\nany private interpretation\" (2 Peter i. 20).  As naturally as nature\nresponds to the seasons, so will providence to prophecy.  We can discern\nSpring-time, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.  The garden will reveal to us\nWinter as distinct from Summer, so in interpreting prophecy we must\nalways look for an agreement between providence and the world.  As\nnaturally as the goat symbolises Alexander, so will providence in natural\nhistory respond.  Winter, with its winds, storms, and frost; with its\nleafless trees and desolate gardens, proclaim, beyond a doubt, which\nseason of the four is bearing rule.  Such a thing cannot be of private\ninterpretation; and prophecy, when fulfilled, is as easy seen, and is not\nof private interpretation.  A man is as foolish in forging prophecy as\none would be in trying to forge Winter by putting artificial leaves on\ntrees, and flowers on bushes.  The thing is easily known if we exercise\nour reason.  In this line of thought we are sorry to note that men have\nmore faith than reason; hence the blunderings of prophetic writers, and\nthe leaders of Adventism and Millenarianism.  Prophecy unfulfilled\ncommands and demands our faith--much more faith than reason, for it is\nimpossible to see how some things can come to pass, but if they are\nsubjects of prophecy they surely will, whether we understand them or not.\nA prophecy fulfilled, however, appeals more to reason than faith, for if\nfulfilled, it can readily be demonstrated.\n\nAs naturally as the female and male birds know each other and mate\ntogether, so will events and prophecy.  This kind of argument Isaiah\nuses: \"Seek ye out the Book of the Lord and read; no one of these shall\nfail, none shall want her mate, for My mouth it hath commanded, and His\nSpirit it hath gathered them\" (Isa. xxxiv. 16).  I charge you to beware\nof prophetic dentists who put false teeth in the mouth of prophecy; who\nby their haste and impatience forestall prophecy and weaken men's faith\ninstead of strengthening it.  Prophetic evidence is very strong evidence,\nboth for the Christian and the infidel.\n\nSome will fail to be convinced when prophecy is fulfilled.  Jew-like,\nthey will blind their eyes and shut their ears to the evidences and voice\nof fulfilled prophecy.  The entire career of our Lord Jesus Christ was\nforetold and mapped out by the Old Testament writers.  Moses declared His\nfamily; Micah the place of His birth; Isaiah the virginity of His mother;\nZechariah His triumphant entry into Jerusalem; David His life,\nresurrection, and ascension, with many other kinds of evidence of a\ndetailed and general character; yet the Jews, who claimed to be well\nversed in the Old Testament, rejected Christ.  Keep these things in mind\nwhile we now consider the text more directly.\n\nYou remember that out of the goat kingdom there came up four notable\nones, and out of one them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding\ngreat toward the South, East, and pleasant land, or land of Palestine.\nNow this horn is not to be confounded with the little horn of the fourth\nkingdom spoken of in chapter vii., for that horn might justly be called\nthe eleventh toe horn, as it comes into existence after the ten-toe\nkingdoms.  The little horn of the text is explained in verse 23 to be a\nking of fierce countenance.  He was to appear in the latter time.  It\nwill be interesting for us to ascertain what king, people, and country\nthis little horn stands for.  Daniel has given us a very vivid picture of\nthe king.  He is to be of fierce countenance, to understand dark\nsentences, to stand up in power and might, not however in his own power;\nhe will claim to be appointed and authorised of God, and will pretend to\nrule in God's name; he will destroy wonderfully even the mighty of the\nworld and the holy people; he will be very prosperous and practical,\ngiving a great impetus to trade.  By means of his prosperity he will\nbecome proud and strong, and will destroy many.  He will actually stand\nup in place of Jesus--Prince of princes.  But finally he will be broken\nwithout a hand.  Thus, you see, Daniel gives us twelve special features\nof his person and reign.  Without doubt the mate of these descriptions\nwill be found on the person of Mahommed, and his successors in religion\nMahommedanism, and in people and country the Turks and Turkey.\n\nMahommed had his religion and himself recognised about the year 622 at\nMecca.  From that time and place he went forth to waste and to destroy.\nAs his religion prevailed, so he subdued the country or territory.  He\nunited in himself the rights and prerogatives of king, priest, and\nprophet, making it obligatory upon his followers to prepare a way and\nenforce his religion by the sword.  He was indeed a king of fierce\ncountenance.  Thus sprang Mahommedanism and the Turkish nation into\nexistence.  As a people, they are chiefly the descendants of Esau and\nIshmael.  If one desires to know the history and final destiny of this\npeople, let him study the prophetic utterances concerning Esau and\nIshmael.  They are the descendants of Abraham, and so they very naturally\nfall into the prophetic line.\n\nThe Hungarians came from this family through Lot.  The Poles and Magyars\nare from Moab and Ammon.  These things being so, it is no wonder the\nHungarians and Turks should sympathise, nor that England should have a\nliking for Turks, England being the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.  Alliance\nand sympathy between England and Turkey has a deeper root and meaning\nthan some are willing to admit.  Turkey, however, as a distinct empire,\nis nearly at an end.  The recognition of the Ten Lost Tribes, and their\nrestoration with the Jews to Palestine, is connected with the downfall of\nTurkey.  \"Saviours are to come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of\nEsau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's\" (Obad.).\n\nHow clearly speaks Obadiah again when he says, \"How are the things of\nEsau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!  All the men of\nthy confederacy have brought thee even to the border; the men that were\nat peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they\nthat eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee; there is none\nunderstanding in him.  Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even\ndestroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the Mount of\nEsau?\"\n\nThese are the latter times of the king of fierce countenance.  Hear\nDaniel inquiring of the angel in this vision, \"How long shall be the\nvision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of\ndesolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under\nfoot?  And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days.\"\nThese days are generally allowed to stand for years.  If so, Jerusalem\nwas destroyed 70 A.D.  The time Daniel saw this vision was about 490\nB.C.; take 70 from this leaves 420.  From 2,300 take 420, and we have\n1,880.  \"Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.\"  What means this?  It\nmeans Jerusalem will recur back again into the hands of the Jews and\nIsrael.  Christ said that the Jews \"should fall by the edge of the sword,\nand be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden\ndown of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled\" (Luke\nxxi. 24).\n\nNow we know the Jews did fall by the sword when the Romans took\nJerusalem.  Second, we know they were scattered among the nations.\nThird, Jerusalem has been trodden under foot--so much so, that Christians\nhave not been permitted to stand on Mount Zion, where now stands the\nMosque of Omar.  And this is the city of the great King.  This is Mount\nZion, from which is yet to go forth the law.  This is Jerusalem that God\npromises to yet again make the chief place of the earth.  \"Arise, shine,\nfor the light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.\"\nWhen, we ask, will the fulness of the Gentiles come in?  We answer, Soon.\nThink of what God has taught us in His Word.  We, as the Lost Tribes,\nhave indeed been ignorant of our origin and destiny.  \"For I would not,\nbrethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be\nwise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel,\nuntil the fulness of the Gentiles be come in\" (Rom. xi. 25).  This time\nis nicely pointed out by John in Rev. xi. 2: \"But the court which is\nwithout the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto\nthe Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two\nmonths;\" or, as explained in the following verse, a thousand two hundred\nand three-score days.  Accepting a day for a year again, and we have\n1,260 years.  Taking Mahommed power to date from 622, or about, then 622\nand 1,260 make 1,882.  Now just as sure as Jerusalem is now trodden under\nfoot, as certainly will it be free.\n\n\"Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful\ngarments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more\ncome into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.  Shake thyself from the\ndust; arise and sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of\nthy neck, O captive daughter of Zion\" (Isa. lii. 1, 2).\n\nEngland is appointed of God to take possession of Palestine and restore\nJerusalem.  God has told us through Isaiah that He will lay vengeance\nupon Edom by the hand of Israel.  The many days of the vision of Daniel\nare now gone; the time is nearly up.\n\n\"For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I\nwill not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,\nand the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth; and the Gentiles shall\nsee thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory.\"  It is the duty of the\nwatchmen of Zion to discern the signs of the times and become obedient\nunto heavenly instruction.  \"Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not\nsilence, and give Him no rest till He establish, and till He make\nJerusalem a praise in the earth\" (Isa. lxii. 1, 2, 6, 7).\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE HORN AND ANTI-CHRIST.\nDISCOURSE IX.\n\n\nPROPHETIC WONDERS--TWENTY MARKS OF THE MONSTER--THE BERLIN\nCONGRESS--ANTI-CHRISTS MANY--MISTAKES BY WRITERS.\n\n    \"I considered the horns, and behold! there came up among them another\n    little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked\n    up by the roots; and behold! in this horn were eyes like the eyes of\n    man, and a mouth speaking great things.\"--Daniel vii. 8.\n\nIn the visions and dream recorded by Daniel in this chapter we have the\nsame subject matter as that contained in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar of\nthe metallic image.  In this the subject is carried further into the\nfuture, bringing to view some new items of interest, under different\nsymbols and more of detail.  The four kingdoms of the metallic image are\nin this dream presented by the symbolism of four beasts.  Babylon by a\nlion which had eagle's wings, setting forth the strength and swiftness of\nthe same.  Persia by a bear raised up on one side.  Persia at this time\nwas composed of Media as well, but the one-sided position of the bear\ndenotes the dying out of Media and the continuance of Persia.  The same\nidea is conveyed in the eighth chapter and third verse: \"The ram had two\nhorns, and one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.\"\nMedia was a kingdom before Persia, but Persia was to survive Media; all\nthis history confirms.  After the Medo-Persian Empire declined, Persia\nsurviving, held on to Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt--that is, when the bear\nwas raised up on one side, it held in its mouth three ribs, and was\nstrong for a time.\n\nThe Macedonian Empire Daniel saw under the type of a leopard, which had\non its back four wings of a fowl; the beast also had four heads.  Babylon\nwas represented by two wings, but it is very fitting that Alexander and\nhis empire should have four wings, for no conqueror ever flew so fast\nover the earth as this same monarch.  In the metallic image he is\nrepresented by brass, in this by a leopard, and in the one we noticed in\nDiscourse VII., by the goat.  How wonderfully appropriate are these\nsymbolisms.  The four heads of this leopard stand for the four kingdoms\ninto which the Macedonian Empire was divided on the death of\nAlexander--namely, first, Egypt under Ptolemy; second, Syria under\nAntigonus; third, Asia Minor under Lysimachus; fourth, Greece under\nCassandar.  These four kings were the four leading generals of Alexander.\n\nThe fourth beast of this vision is a nondescript; for among all the\nanimal creation there could not be found one that could suitably\nrepresent Rome.  But one was made for the purpose, combining in itself\nall that is fierce and terrible.  \"And behold a fourth beast, dreadful\nand terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it\ndevoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of\nit; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it\nhad ten horns.\"  Its teeth were of iron and its claws of brass.  What a\nmonster!  The other beasts faithfully represented their respective\nkingdoms, and so did this.  What a record!  What a counterpart we have in\nhistory of this beast!  \"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the\nstreets of Askelon,\" lest the Pagan rejoice, and the heathen mock at us,\nand the infidel triumph over us.  Blot out from Time's record the 24th of\nAugust, 1572.  Let not our children learn the name of St. Bartholomew,\nfor fear they should despise Christianity.  Quench the flames of\nSmithfield, destroy the Inquisition, and divorce Christianity from such a\nkingdom, from such a beast.  Thank heaven! the beast is dying; its teeth\nare worn to the very gum by the gnawings of centuries; its claws are not\nnow sharp, so it cannot now crush the innocent, as in days gone by, nor\ntear with its brass claw the weak.  Though the beast is growing old and\nweaker, yet let us remember that its death struggle is yet to come.  The\nbeast has been wounded, but this shall only serve to intensify its rage.\nTo be forewarned is to be forearmed, if we are wise.\n\nThis beast, Daniel tells us, had ten horns, and these horns are ten\nkings--that is, kingdoms--that shall arise.  Just here we may reasonably\nask whether these ten kingdoms are yet in existence, and the answer is,\nNo.  Some of them may be; of course they are in existence, as was General\nGrant before the war, but not yet distinct or assigned their special work\nand place.  The time, however, for them all to appear is near at hand.\nOf this we may rest satisfied, when once they are all in existence we\nwill have no difficulty in knowing them.  Prophecy unfulfilled is always\nmore difficult to interpret than when it is fulfilling or fulfilled.  We\nhave no doubt but some of these horns are in existence, and from what we\ncan glean from prophecy and history, some are not yet in their proper\nplace.\n\nThe special province of prophecy is to prepare us for what is coming.\nSearching into prophecy enables us to forecast the future with tolerable\ncertainty, just as the scientists can tolerably forecast the weather by\nstudying the laws, forces, and inclinations of nature.  So the Christian\nstudent, by studying prophecy, Providence, and history, and comparing\nthem, can know much of what is coining.  On the Divine side all prophecy\nis certain, but on the human it can only be approximated.  Prophecy\nfurnishes the strongest kind of evidence in favour of the existence of\nGod--inspiration of the Scriptures and Providence.  The Lord Himself\ncalls our attention to this kind of evidence frequently in the Bible.\n\"Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons,\nsaid the King of Jacob.  Let them bring them forth and show us what shall\nhappen; let them show the former things what they be, that we may\nconsider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for\nto come\" (Isa. xli. 21, 22).\n\nProphecy does not interfere with the coming to pass of an event, or\nsuppress man's freedom no more than the man at Washington, who gives us\nthe weather probabilities, makes the weather or regulates nature.  Even\nwhen men know the sequence of a thing they oftentimes persist in doing\nit.  The soldiers who wrangled at the cross about the dividing of the\ngarments of the crucified One, thought little and cared less for\nprophecy; but when they came to the Saviour's vest, they fell into the\nline of prophecy, for at once they cast lots for that, all of which had\nbeen fore-written for hundreds of years.  Run and tell that young man\nthat the place he is entering is the way of death.  Tell him that the air\nis foul, that the furniture and painted humanity are all gotten up to\ndeceive.  Tell him that in a few years he will repent ever having seen\nsuch a place.  And what is your reward?  It is that you are laughed at\nand esteemed as one that interferes, and told to mind your own business.\nThe young man is free and self-confident.  Look in a few years for that\nsame young man and you shall find him a terrible example of fulfilled\nprophecy.  Diseased, worn, weak, and weary, he cries in the anguish of\nsoul for his folly.  \"And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy\nbody are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart\ndespised reproof?\" (Prov. v. 11, 12).\n\nThe famous European Congress which met in Berlin, we foresaw would meet,\nnear three years ago, and told you the conditions under which it would be\ncalled.  In the dark days of the past did we not repeat to you our faith,\nas fostered from prophecy, that England could not go to war?  Many of\nyou, and persons in different parts of the country, advised me by letter\nwhen the telegraph despatches came crowding and threatening, that I had\nso said.  The intention was to break my faith, or at least to remind me\nthat I had not spoken correctly.  What now? who is right?  This Congress\ncompleted a prophetic period.  After it was over new scenery appeared and\na new act came upon the stage.  But more of this by-and-bye.\n\nAmong the results of this Congress will be an enlargement of England's\npower over Turkey and Egypt.  For England must possess Constantinople,\nbecause to Israel it is promised that he shall possess the gates of his\nenemies, and this is one of the finest gates in the world.  Palestine\nwill come into the hands of England, and be opened up for the return of\nthe Jews, who, when the time comes will go in multitudes, and the Lost\nTribes representatively.  \"I will take you one of a city, and two of a\nfamily, and I will bring you to Zion\" (Jer. iii. 14).  In a few years men\nwill understand why, in this country, as well as in England, people are\nhunting up their genealogy, and by tradition, history, and heraldry,\ntrying to ascertain of what family they are.  The re-settlement of\nPalestine by God's chosen people, the Lost Tribes, no one can deny who\nreads and believes the Bible.  Hanging upon the fulfilment of this great\nfact are many other prophecies and events, which are of great interest to\nthe Church and the world.\n\n1st.  The ten-toed kingdom must be formed.  These kings are to form an\nalliance with the beast, or Church of Rome, as representative of this\nbeast.  \"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have\nreceived no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the\nbeast.  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto\nthe beast\" (Rev. xvii. 12).  Thus strengthened, the beast will make war\nwith the saints, or chosen, but it will be her final struggle, for in\nstruggling she will die.  These ten kings will forsake her.\n\n2nd.  Anti-Christ has to appear after the settlement of Palestine.\nAnti-Christ is represented by the other little horn spoken of in the\ntext.  This little horn is to come forth from one of the ten horns.  He,\ntoo, will ally with the beast.  The subject of Anti-Christ is a very\ninteresting one; on it men have written and speculated much and wildly.\nIn studying a subject of this kind, we should first ascertain the\nScripture teachings on it, then look for the preparative signs in the\nChurch and world, and finally, for the counterpart, which, once in\nexistence, no one can fail to recognise.  The time, person, and work of\nAnti-Christ have been very clearly set forth in the Old and New\nTestaments, especially by Isaiah, in the fourteenth chapter and twelfth\nto sixteenth verses; by Daniel in the seventh and eleventh chapters,\nunder the symbolism of this little horn; by Paul in second Thessalonians,\nsecond chapter and first to twelfth verses; also by John in Revelation,\nthirteenth chapter and nineteenth chapter and twentieth verse, besides\nmany other references.\n\nOf Anti-Christ the early Christian fathers had different views.  1st.\nSome thought that he would be Satan assuming the appearance of a man.\n2nd. Some thought he would be a hybrid, the offspring of Satan by a\nharlot; of this opinion were Lactantius and Sulspitius.  3rd. Hilary,\nJerome, and others thought he would be Satan incarnated.  4th.\nChrysostom, Theopolact, and Theodoret thought he would be a real man\nunder the influence of the devil.  This latter view we accept as being\nthe nearest to the Scripture teaching.  In the Scriptures he goes by the\nnames of Lucifer, man of sin, son of perdition, and that wicked one.  Now\nall these names are indicative of some special feature of his character.\nMan of sin points out the intensity of the person in wickedness.  As some\ntime ago a man was called \"the wickedest man in New York,\" so Anti-Christ\nwill be called the man of sin, having been the greatest sinner of human\nkind.\n\nFrom the Scriptures we find that he will be characterised by some twenty\npeculiarities.  These we will just enumerate: a cunning seducer, a vile\nimposter, a bold blasphemer, a great tyrant, a wonderful organiser and\ndiplomatist; hence he will readily make alliances with other kings and\nstrengthen himself; a pretentious and hypocritical Communist, dividing\nhis lands, money, and treasure among the people; he will be very\nambitious and aspiring, doing or being anything so he may gain his point;\nhe will be very self-willed; he will be very boastful, speaking great\nwords; he will be very cruel, not heeding the plea of woman; he will be\nvery sacrilegious, sitting in the temple of God--that is, the new temple,\nbuilt by the returned Jews--and actually claim to be God; he will be a\nscientific spiritualist, able to work miracles, even to bring fire down\nfrom the clouds; he will be very powerful by his alliance, apparent\ngenerosity, and scientific deception; he will be a great liar, making\ntreaties and breaking them whenever it suits him; he will be very wicked,\nguilty of all manner of crime; his reign will be short as a king, only\nabout three-and-a-half years.  Before this he will have been a man of\npower and position.  He will suddenly be destroyed in the time of a\nfearful uprising of the people; he will remain unburied in the streets of\nJerusalem for a time, then, finally, his remains will be burnt up.  These\nand many other facts inspiration furnish us beforehand of this most\nwonderful character.\n\nAgainst this person our Saviour warned the Jews and all the Church, but\nespecially the Jews, and He did so for special reasons, which will appear\nhereafter in this discourse.  Christ said, \"I am come in My Father's\nname, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him\nye shall receive.\"  At the time of Anti-Christ's death there will be\nraging a fearful war, and coincident with this war there will be another\nSaint Bartholomew massacre in several of the ten-toed kingdoms.  The\nbeast and Anti-Christ are to be destroyed about the same time.  It will\nbe the last plot of the Jesuits, who are hounding to death poor Leo.\nXIII.  A glimpse of that time the Saviour showed to His disciples, when\nHe said: \"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the\nbeginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be; and except\nthose days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for\nthe elect's sake those days shall be shortened.  Then, if any man shall\nsay unto you, Lo! here is Christ, or there, believe it not; for there\nshall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs\nand wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the\nvery elect.  Behold!  I have told you before\" (Matt. xxiv. 21-25).\n\nWhat a warning the Saviour gave the Jews, but how little have they and\nthe Church heeded it!  In the second century appeared the famous Bar\nCochebas, with his thousands of followers, who in his final struggle was\nslain with some sixty thousand of his adherents.  Also, think of\nAntiochus Epiphanes and his terrible delusions, the thousands and tens of\nthousands who flocked to his standard.  So marvellous was this delusion,\nthat many have actually made him out to be Anti-Christ, but those who\nthus reason take the shadow for the substance, and do violence to all\ntrue Scripture exegesis.  Antiochus Epiphanes could not be Anti-Christ,\nfor he was out of time, and meets but few of the special conditions of\nAnti-Christ.  History records the appearance of not less than twenty-five\nAnti-Christs, or persons who have claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews.\nHow unbelief exposes a man or a people!\n\nSome have laboured to make it appear that Mahommed was Anti-Christ, but\nwith all his badness, he is not bad enough to be Anti-Christ.  He reviled\nnot God, he never sat in His temple, he did not die in Jerusalem.  He had\nan honourable burial.\n\nSome have tried to prove that Romanism and the Pope were Anti-Christ, but\nthis cannot be, you will see at a glance.  The beast has its own\ncharacter; that was long ago written out by the prophets, and up to the\npresent time it has filled in the outlines with a marvellous minuteness.\nIn these things many good and wise men have erred in making prophecies\nfit certain persons, and nations, and times, instead of waiting for these\nthings to fit on to prophecy.  Let us not be prophetic forgers.  Let no\none deceive you in these matters.  Adventism, Millerism, Shakerism,\nSpiritualism, are untimely excesses.  As systems they are, as yet, out of\nplace.  This subject of Anti-Christ, as to who he will be, and when he\nwill appear, I shall be obliged to leave for next Sunday evening, as my\ntime is up.  May the good Lord guide us into the ways of truth and peace.\n\n\n\n\nANTI-CHRIST AND LITTLE HORN.\nDISCOURSE X.\n\n\nSECOND DISCOURSE OF THE MONSTER--WHO HE WILL BE AND HIS NAME--HOW HE WILL\nOBTAIN POWER--TROUBLE FOR GERMANY, FRANCE, AND\nRUSSIA--COMMUNISM--ROMANISM--SHAKERS--MATTHIAS, WEST--CHESTER PROPHET.\n\n    \"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come,\n    except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be\n    revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself\n    above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as\n    God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is\n    God.\"--2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.\n\nWe may reasonably ask why Paul gave the Thessalonians this caution, and\nthe answer will appear at once if we read his first epistle to this\npeople.  There you will find Paul writing to them about the second coming\nof Christ, which writing the Thessalonians had evidently misunderstood,\nand this misunderstanding was working mischief among them.  They had\nfalse hopes and expectations.  Their faith, instead of exciting them to\nholy activity in Church and State, had begun to paralyse all their\nefforts.  \"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that _we_\nwhich are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent\nthem which are asleep; for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven\nwith a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God;\nand the dead in Christ shall rise first (that is, before Christ\ndescends); then _we_ which are alive and remain shall be caught up\ntogether with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so\nshall _we_ ever be with the Lord\" (1 Thess. iv. 15-17).  It was the\nfrequent use of the pronoun \"we\" that had confused them--_we_ who remain,\n_we_ who are alive.  The Thessalonians had inferred from this that the\nsecond coming of Christ would take place in their day.  Hence, to correct\nthis impression Paul thus writes in his second epistle.  The two verses\npreceding the text show us Paul's intent.  \"Now we beseech you, brethren,\nby the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together\nunto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by\nspirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ\nis at hand.\"  Then comes in the text, \"Let no man deceive you,\" &c.\n\nIn reasoning on such important subjects as Anti-Christ, resurrection, and\nsecond coming of Christ, we should always be mindful of the Scriptural\norder.  When we sit down to take dinner, we follow the order that custom\nhas prescribed, soup, fish, meats, and dessert.  Children, however, if\nlet alone, would reverse this order by beginning with the dessert first.\nSo with many Christians, they reverse the order of things as laid down in\nthe Bible.  They make Christ to come before Anti-Christ, and Anti-Christ\nto come before the Jews and Ten Lost Tribes are gathered together again\nand settled after their first estate in Palestine.  The Millerites could\nneither have deceived themselves nor others had they taken knowledge of\nthe relation of things.  The Jews and Lost Tribes had not been gathered\ntogether then, the temple had not been built in Jerusalem, as described\nin the last chapter of Ezekiel, neither had Anti-Christ appeared.  But\nsuch was the folly of men then, and not less now than then.  Four-fifths\nof the prophecies of the Bible refer to the history of Judah and Israel\nin their own land, their captivity and return in the latter day.  Still\nmen take one-fifth and confuse themselves and everybody else.  They have\nbrought the prophets and prophecy into bad repute by ignorantly or\nwilfully interpreting the same.\n\nWe freely avow now that the prophecy fulfilling at present is the finding\nof the Lost Ten Tribes, then their union with the Jews, then their\nrestoration to Palestine, then after being settled there for some time,\nthe Jews, as Jews, having built their new temple, and having established\nthe Mosaic temple service again, and the Lost Tribes as Christians, then\nand there we may look for Anti-Christ--not before.  Not for the sake of\nboasting, and yet without fear, we freely invite ministers or laymen\nanywhere to disprove these facts, and to such we will respond cheerfully\nif asked for farther proof.  The Lost Tribes, we believe, are come to\nlight, and may be found in the Saxon race chiefly as represented in this\ncountry and Great Britain.  If this be so, then we may look for the\npreparatory signs in Providence and nations, and thank Heaven, these are\nat hand and in accord with the Divine Word.\n\nIn Nebuchadnezzar's metallic image we saw Rome symbolised by the legs,\ncomposed of iron and clay.  We saw, also, that the little stone cut out\nof the mountain began its destructive assault on the image, by striking\nthe feet; these it would first break, so Rome politically has\ndisappeared.  The ten toes, however, symbolised ten kings or kingdoms\nthat were to arise in the latter day, or at the time of the end.  These\nten kingdoms are also symbolised in Daniel's dream by ten horns that came\nout of the head of the nondescript animal that stood for Rome.  It is out\nof one of these ten horns that another little horn grows, having eyes\nlike a man and a mouth speaking great things--that is, Anti-Christ.  It\nis at once plain, then, that ere Anti-Christ can appear, these ten\nkingdoms must be formed.  How, when, and where will these ten kingdoms be\nformed?  The clay part of Rome is still alive, and is designated by\nDaniel, and by John in Revelation, under the name of beast; and here you\nneed to be careful, for the word beast is sometimes given to Anti-Christ,\nso as not to confound it with the word beast when it stands for the\nRomish Church.  They will be formed out of Spain, Italy, France, and part\nof Austria.  Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon in Austria, are to be\nfree--that is, the Poles, Magyars, and Hungarians.  The setting up of\nthese ten kingdoms will begin in France by a revolution.\n\nBy the doctrine of infallibility, these countries are claimed by Rome,\nand wedded to her, and this doctrine of infallibility makes a divorce\nimpossible.  Rome waits only her time to reclaim her supposed own.  And\nthis doctrine of infallibility will make it a holy war, hence good and\ntrue Catholics everywhere will be obliged to sustain the same by their\nmoney, or presence, or prayers.  This, to many of our Catholic friends,\nwill sound strange.  But this they know, if such an emergency ever does\narise--they cannot well fight against the infallible Church--between\ncommands and duties, they will readily prefer the Pope and Church to king\nand country.\n\nThe Jesuits are now, and have long been, preparing for such an event:\nthey expect it.  By their plottings and intrigues they will again, as\nmany times before, involve the Church in war.  They are busy sowing the\nseeds of discord.  In past time both the Church itself and nations have\nbanished these crafty fellows from their pale and country.  The United\nStates alone, of the nations of the earth, is the only one that has not\nso done.  But even among us they are plotting and manoeuvring to such an\nextent that it will not be long before America will be tested and tried\non this same subject.\n\nAmong the preparatory signs of the coming of Anti-Christ we have\nCommunism, which is destined to spread.  In Europe it will unsettle every\nthrone but one--that is, Israel, England.  We fear that neither the\nChurch nor State comprehend the terrible power that is thus quietly\norganising in this and other lands.  It is this uprising of the\nCommunists and intriguing of the Jesuits in our own land, that will call\nGeneral Grant once more to the front, as we pointed out to you months\nago.  The recent European Congress resulted in patching up a temporary\npeace between Russia, England, and Turkey.  A place will be provided for\nthe Duke of Edinburgh, who, having married the Czar's daughter, will\nenable the two Powers to agree.  He may not be the first prince, still he\nand his seed are to find a kingdom in that place.  Russia will be willing\nfor England to have Constantinople, and exercise a provisional\nprotectorate over Turkey, with a view of strengthening his daughter's\nchances.  England will thus come peaceably in possession of Palestine.\n\nGermany, being tied to both the Russian and English thrones by blood and\nmarriage, will also freely consent.  Besides, Germany is going to pass\nthrough a severe trial.  The old Emperor will soon die, and also\nBismarck, then a new prince will advise the new king, new counsel, and\nnew blood, near and on the throne.  Germany will become a prey to\ninternal strife, fanned by the discontented Catholics of the Empire, that\nnumber some 15,000,000, and weakened by the Communistic elements.  Not\nmuch longer can Germany bear the strain of her immense army and enormous\ntaxes in consequence.\n\nRussia also will have all she can do to stay the desire for reform, and\nthe claims of the Nihilists or Communists.  Thus will Providence prepare\nHis people's way back to Palestine.\n\nIf God promises once He does so fifty times, that He will restore Israel\nand Judah to their own land.  To this one thing all Providence is\nconcentrating, and this is the key that unseals prophecy and Providence.\n\"And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to\nreturn, and will build them as at the first\" (Jer. xxxiii. 7).  They will\nform a free province, electing their own rulers and governors.  They will\nbe quite democratic, doing away with all titles, being the children of\nthe Lord.  \"And the nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor\nshall proceed from the midst of them\" (Jer. xxx. 21); or, as stated by\nIsaiah, chap, i, verse 26, \"And I will restore thy judges as at the\nfirst, and thy counsellors as at the beginning; afterward thou shalt be\ncalled, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.\"  Thus they will be\na free province, managing their own affairs under the patronage and\nprotection of England.  Now it is this freedom that will open the door\nand prepare the way for Anti-Christ.  He will be elected governor because\nof his supposed superiority in manners, science, and benevolence.  He\nwill appear as a lamb at first, according to John, but once in power his\ntrue character will appear.  He will be a great scientist, and in the\neyes and faith of the multitude He will be able to work miracles--to\nbring, scientifically, fire down from heaven.  So clever will he be that\nhe will deceive some of the very elect.\n\nBefore his election he will have been a man of great power and influence.\nOnce in power he will contrive to centre all power and interests in\nhimself.  He will pander to the Communists--to the Romish Church--to the\nscientific infidels of the day.  In this feature he will draw heavily\nupon the Germans, and create quite a sympathy in England and this\ncountry.  \"For some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and\nto purge, and to make them white even to the time of the end\" (Dan. xi.\n35).\n\nThe Scriptures having pointed out the special features of his character,\nwe see that many of these features are already in the world.  This is\nAnti-Christ.  This is the spirit of Anti-Christ.  And when God withdraws\nHis restraining power, Anti-Christ will embody all these forces and\ncharacteristics in himself.  And all men having these features, will\nsympathise with him, and aid him.  God alone is now keeping back and down\nthis spirit of Anti-Christ until His own chosen time.  \"And now ye know\nwhat withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time; for the mystery\nof iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he\nbe taken out of the way (that is, till God withdraws Himself), and then\nshall that wicked be revealed.\"\n\nAnti-Christ means one opposed to Christ.  Also it means one opposed to\nChrist, and yet desires to be Christ--who wishes to be received as\nChrist.  And when the time comes, he will be received by many.  The Jews\nwill be looking for, and expecting the coming of, their Messiah, hence\nmany of these will be deceived.  Many radical Adventists and Millenarians\nwill accept him, because they are in haste in their expectations: many of\nthese will follow him.  Indeed, the whole world seems ripe to furnish him\na quota.  But who will he be?  Answer: He will be a French Jew, who will\nintermarry into the Bonaparte family.  His title will be Napoleon I. of\nPalestine.  This word Napoleon, resolved into Greek equivalents, is equal\nto Apollyon, and as a number stands for 666.  \"Here is wisdom.  Let him\nthat hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the\nnumber of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six\" (Rev.\nviii. 18).\n\nChrist, when warning the Jews of Anti-Christ, said, \"I am come in My\nFather's name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own\nname, him ye will receive.\"  Here, and in other discourses, we have to\ncontent ourselves at many points with mere statements, for to defend\nevery point would take too long a time, and would not suit our purpose.\nIt is our desire in all these discourses to incite you to study, to teach\nyou to examine for yourselves; to prepare you against being unduly led\naway by Adventism, Communism, or Infidelity; to give you an interest in\nProvidence and history.  Do you ask if any will be led away by such a\nfalse pretender?  We answer, Yes--unless humanity undergoes some radical\nchange.  Take a few instances:--\n\nOur Shaker friends believed in Mother Ann Lee.  This woman in 1770, while\nliving in Manchester, England, pretended to have a special revelation\nfrom Heaven, making known unto her that she was the female side of\nChrist--as Jesus was the revelation of the male side.  As Eve was taken\nout of Adam, the female principle separated from the male, so she was\nseparated from Christ.  This, and much that is curious, do these sincere,\nhonest, and industrious people believe.\n\nTake another example, nearer home, and of which some of you are\ncognizant, having known the pretender and many of his duped followers.\nWe refer to Matthias, the prophet of Westchester County.  This pretended\nlord began his labours in Albany, N.Y., in 1830.  First he taught himself\nto be God's high priest, then the Saviour, then he claimed to be God.  On\nbeing asked where he was from, he would answer: \"I am a traveller, and my\nlegal residence is Zion Hill, Westchester County, New York State.  I am a\nJewish teacher and priest of the Most High God, saying and doing all that\nI do, under oath, by virtue of my having subscribed to all the covenants\nthat God hath made with man from the beginning up to this time.  I am\nchief high priest of the Jews of the Order of Melchizedec, being the last\nchosen of the twelve apostles, and the first in the resurrection which is\nat the end of 2,300 years from the birth of Mahommed, which terminates in\n1830.  I am now denouncing judgment on the Gentiles, and that judgment is\nto be executed in this age.\"\n\nHe appeared in fine pontifical robes, with a rule six feet long in his\nright hand; with this he was to measure off God's holy city.  In his left\nhand he had a two-edged sword.  Underneath his pontifical robe he had a\nrich olive broadcloth cloak, lined and faced with silk and velvet;\nbesides, he wore a brown frock coat, with several stars on each breast,\nwith a splendid gold star on the left.  His belt was of white cloth,\nfastened by a golden clasp, and surmounted with an eagle.  He wore a\ncocked hat of black beaver, trimmed with green, the rear angle being\nsurmounted by the golden symbol of glory.\n\nHe moved from Albany to New York, and here succeeded most wonderfully,\nwinning over some of the finest families of Fifth Avenue, and the richest\nand best merchants of this city.  His followers furnished him with plenty\nof money, carriages, a mansion in the city, and one in the country.\nFinally he was accused and detected of the worst crimes, and at last was\nsent to Sing Sing.  While in jail he issued the following proclamation:\n\"As I live, there shall be no more sowing in the earth until I, the\ntwelfth and last of the apostles, am delivered out of the house of\nbondage.\"  For fear of this proclamation many of the farmers refused to\nsow, and they set to work to deliver him, and succeeded.  He left the\njail, and may be living yet to read what we now state to you.\n\nIt is really wonderful how easily men are deceived in religious matters.\nLet us study the Word, ask God's guidance in knowing and doing His will.\nTime is gone.  I have said but little, much more might be said.  In my\nnext discourse I will introduce you to two old men who will visit\nAnti-Christ.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO WITNESSES.\nDISCOURSE XI.\n\n\nTROUBLOUS TIMES--APPEARANCE OF THE WITNESSES--WHO ARE THEY?--HOW THEY CAN\nBE IDENTIFIED--THEIR MISSION, WORK, AND SUFFERING--THE TIME AND\nCIRCUMSTANCES OF CHRIST'S COMING.\n\n    \"And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy\n    a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in\n    sackcloth.\"--Rev. ii. 3.\n\nWe will all agree that the person and work of Anti-Christ are yet in the\nfuture.  For while Anti-Christ is ruling in Jerusalem, and battling with\nthe saints of the Most High, having conquered and plucked up by the roots\nthree of the ten-horned kingdoms by his victories and cunning craft, and\nhis alliance with the beast or the Church of Rome, he will become proud,\nblasphemous, and arrogant, and will at once try to force the people to\nworship the beast.  He will claim to be the promised Jewish Messiah.  He\nwill enter the new Jewish Temple and actually sit enthroned as God\nincarnated, commanding the people to worship him.  He will be so received\nby the Jews, some of the Israelites and the Romish Church, by the\nCommunists and scientific infidels, and by \"such as do wickedly against\nthe covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries,\" men of understanding shall\nfall; indeed, Christianity will seem to be about destroyed.\n\nRussia will aid by her influence his pretensions with a secret purpose to\ntake the spoils and gain her long-desired object, Jerusalem and\nPalestine.  England will stand aloof for a time, waiting an opportunity\nto interfere.  Then will be a time to try men's faith--to test the\nChurch.  England and America will stand alone as representing freedom and\nreligious liberty.  \"And then shall many be offended and shall betray one\nanother, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall arise\nand deceive many; and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many\nshall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end shall be saved.\"\nThis is the time when Communism, infidelity, and Romish Jesuitism will\ncombine against God and liberty, and, thank heaven, this is the time\nappointed when they all will be destroyed.  Then the kingdoms of this\nworld will be given to the saints of the Most High.  The struggle will be\nfierce, long, and terrible, but victory will be on the Lord's side.\n\nIn the very midst of these awful times there will appear two famous\npersons as witnesses for Jesus: one who will specially appear to the\nJews, the other to Israel, and both testify for God and Jesus.  These two\nwitnesses will turn the tide of battle, confront Anti-Christ and his\nhost, and give to the world new views of God and Providence.\n\nThese two old men, or witnesses, will be endowed with miraculous power to\nbring fire down from heaven, or turn the water streams into blood, and\nsmite the earth with all manner of plagues, as often as they will.  Their\npresence and power will cast a gloom o'er the nations of the earth, and\nAnti-Christ and his allies.  They will finally be slain in the streets of\nJerusalem.  At the time of their death a great feast will be held to\ncommemorate the victories of Anti-Christ, and to inaugurate the setting\nup of an image of him in the temple.  So in the city there will be\npeoples, kindreds, and tongues of many nations.  And they will see the\ndead bodies of the two witnesses lying exposed and unburied in the\nstreets for three days and a-half, for Anti-Christ will not suffer them\nto be buried.  On the wings of the wind, by the telegraph and by signals,\nthe news of their death will spread rapidly abroad to all the nations of\nthe earth.  Infidelity, and Communism, and the Jesuits will be\nemboldened.  Feasting and rejoicing will be the order of the day.  \"And\nthey that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry,\nand shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented\nthem that dwelt upon the earth.\"  That will be the merry wake for you--a\nwake that will suddenly end, and that too, before the corpses are buried.\nThe victories will be cut short and the rejoicing checked.\n\nThe spirit of life from God shall enter into the two exposed and\ncorrupting bodies, and they shall stand upon their feet to defy\nAnti-Christ and his host, and laugh at the pains of death.  Great fear\nwill fall upon them who saw the dead so raised.  This time the telegraphs\nwill be muffled, and the news is kept back from the nations as much as\npossible; but astonishment ends not here, for over the destroying and now\nidolatrous city of Jerusalem hangs a peculiar cloud, and voices peal as\nthunder through the air, to call the attention of the multitudes.  And\nwhen every eye is skyward, the cloud moves and opens, as a chariot of\nfire and glory, and rising in majesty and composure up above roofs,\ntemples, and pinnacles, will be seen the two witnesses of Christ; they\nenter in and are borne heavenward.  \"And they ascended up to heaven in a\ncloud, and their enemies beheld them.\"  Then, while the multitude are\nwrapt in wonder and all amazement, the pinnacles sway to and fro, the\nhouses rock, the earth trembles, the walls of the city fall, and Olivet\ncleaves in twain.  Then Anti-Christ is slain with many of his followers,\nand the remnant fear unto repentance.  \"And the same hour there was a\ngreat earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell, and in the\nearthquake were slain of men seven thousand, and the remnant were\naffrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.  And the seventh angel\nsounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of\nthis world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He\nshall reign for ever and ever.\"\n\nThese are some of the wonders yet to come.  Then how say some that\nAnti-Christ has already been?  The witnesses have not yet appeared: they\nhave not yet wrought their miracles.  The Lost Ten Tribes and the\nscattered Jews have not yet been gathered from all countries whither the\nLord God hath scattered them, and placed in their own land, to go out no\nmore, to be plucked up no more.  Jerusalem is yet being trodden under\nfoot, the land is comparatively desolate, no temple yet adorns the city,\nnor priest, nor Levite, attend at the altar.  Pshaw! upon the Biblical\ninterpreters of this day, who wilfully or ignorantly careen through the\nline of prophecies, despising the order established by God.  They are\nlike the girl with her novel, who cannot wait to read through the book,\nand take events in their order, but she turns to the last leaf to find\nthe destiny of her hero.  So men, borne by passion and choice, skip by\nseveral of the prophecies, and harp everlastingly on the last--the coming\nof the blessed Jesus--\"He whom the heavens must receive until the times\nof restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all\nHis holy prophets since the world began\" (Acts iii. 21).  The world is\nnot yet ready for Christ; it is yet too much upside down, too much\nconfused.  But God is in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.  It\ndoes not now look like God; so God and Christ, Providence and the Church,\nmust work on till the house is in order for His return.  \"_Hon dei\nouranon men dexasthai archri chronon apokataseos panton_,\" whom, indeed,\nheaven must retain until the time of restoration of all things.  If\nthings are not now restored or reconciled, or in order, why, then, Christ\ncannot come.  He will not come to put them in order; this He has left for\nand with the Church to do, and has promised to be with His Church to the\nend.\n\nA few Sunday evenings ago, a brother kindly asked me where the Church\nwould be while Anti-Christ was reigning.  I simply said anywhere and\neverywhere, wherever it happened to be.  He thought the Church would be\ntaken away by Christ; he referred me to several passages.  I said, Come\nnext Sunday evening, as those passages will be partly considered in my\nnext sermon.  He replied that he might be taken up by that time.  All\nright, I said, then we will excuse you.  Now, in the name of common\nsense, why have men, and why do men, down through the centuries, and now,\nentertain such views?  Because every Bible reader must see that there are\nmany prophecies that must be fulfilled before Christ can come--one of\nwhich is the appearance of the two witnesses of the text.  They will be\nspecially sent and commissioned to testify for Christ, as against\nAnti-Christ.\n\nLet us now ascertain who these two witnesses are, or are to be.  I find\non examining the subject all manner of views set forth.  And, as is often\nthe case in studying a subject of this kind, I find few that agree--so\nmuch so, that at last I found relief in turning from what men said and\nthought to what God in His Holy Word had written and said.\n\nFirst.  They are two men.  Second.  They are sent to Jerusalem which,\nbecause of the wickedness of the city at the time of their visit, will be\ncalled Sodom and Egypt; but, lest we should mistake the place from these\nnames, John adds: \"Where also our Lord was crucified.\"  So Isaiah i. 10\nsays: \"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the\nlaw of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.\"  This fixes safely the place.\nBesides, the place is pointed out from the fact that they oppose\nAnti-Christ, who at that time we know will be at Jerusalem.  Third.  They\nare sent.  You ask where they are sent from?  The answer is, From heaven,\nfrom standing before the God of the whole earth.  Fourth.  Who sends\nthem?  We answer, Jesus--because the Book of the Revelation is \"the\nRevelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto John.\"  Fifth.  What were\nthey sent for?  In the first place they were to be special witnesses for\nJesus, for He calls them His two witnesses.  In the second place, they\nwere to prophesy, to be prophets in the fullest sense, to forecast the\nfuture, to interpret past and present; to work miracles; to assume\ncontrol in directing State affairs.  Sixth.  It is worth your careful\nnotice to note that they are not constituted witnesses by being sent;\nthey are sent because they are witnesses.  They are not then to be\nendowed with miraculous power; \"these have power\" in the present tense.\nThese facts, if nicely considered, will at once suggest the persons.\n\nWhoever they are, they must have gone from earth to heaven with their\nbodies, two persons who have escaped death, for their death takes place\nin Jerusalem.  They must have been prophets before they left earth for\nheaven the first time.  And in the third place, they must at some time\nand place have been special witnesses for Christ.  In fact, they are two\nanointed ones, or, in other words, they are two persons who have been set\napart and prepared for the very visit spoken of in the text.\n\nDaniel, when speaking of them, and the visit spoken of in the text, calls\none \"the Ancient of Days;\" the other one was \"like the Son of Man.\"  He\nrepresents these two persons as sitting in judgment on Anti-Christ, and\nthe seven horns, or kingdoms.  \"And the ten horns that were in his head\nand of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that\nhorn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look\nwas more stout than his fellows (this is Anti-Christ).  I beheld, and the\nsame horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the\nAncient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most\nHigh, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom\" (Dan. vii.\n20).\n\nMany interpret \"the Ancient of Days\" and the \"one like the Son of Man\" to\nbe Christ.  They stagger not at the fact that there are two persons, and\nthat they are introduced one to another, and that the Ancient of Days\nseems to be the greatest.  It is nothing to such interpreters that there\nare two persons; these they make one.  The one looking like the Son of\nMan they make out to be the Son of God, although Daniel says he only\nlooked like Him.  The judgment spoken of by Daniel they make out to be\nthe general judgment, when, in fact, Daniel tells on what and where they\nsat in judgment--namely, at Jerusalem.  About Anti-Christ--and that\nAnti-Christ is soon destroyed after this--and \"as concerning the rest of\nthe beasts (that is, the seven horns), they had their dominion taken\naway; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.\"  The\nvision and scene of the whole chapter belongs to this world, and the\nkingdom of the saints here spoken of is as much material and political as\nthe other.  The difference is, the rulers and people are Christians, they\nare called saints.\n\nEvery throne should be double-kinged; that is God's purpose, that is\nHeaven's plan.  Christ wants no earthly throne excepting that way.  As\nthe Creator is Lord of lords and King of kings, so Christ after His\nresurrection assumed His Father's place, and stands to us as God to the\nJews of old.  All power was given to Him in heaven and in earth,\ntherefore, He, Christ, has long since begun His reign, and He must\ncontinue to reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet.  When\nDavid was king over Israel and Judah, so was God.  We repeat, every\nthrone should be double-kinged.\n\nTo this end will come these two witnesses.  Who will they be?  We answer,\nMoses and Elijah: these are the two brave old men now living and waiting\nto fulfil their mission.  For hundreds of years they have been anointed.\nMoses is \"the Ancient of Days;\" the \"one like the Son of Man\" is Elijah\nthe Tishbite.  This interpretation chimes in with the Divine Word,\nwithout twisting and distorting to make both ends meet.\n\nWe said these two were to be human: so they are.  They being sent from\nheaven, we said they must have passed by death with their bodies; so they\ndid.  They were to be prophets; so they are, two of the grandest prophets\nof all.  They were to have power over fire and water; so they had when\nthey lived on earth.  The bloody stream of the Nile gives witness for\nMoses.  The parched land and time of drought speaks of Elijah in Ahab's\ntime.  They both called fire down on them who sought to hurt them.  They\nwere to be special witnesses of Christ; so they were on the Mount of\nTransfiguration.  These two olive trees stood one on each side of the\ngolden candlestick, Jesus; Peter, James, and John, testify to having seen\nMoses and Elijah.  These two old veterans know Christ well, hence they\nwill be sent to testify for Him against Anti-Christ.  Moses is a Jew.  He\nwill appeal unto the Jews, who will be found in the new temple,\nperforming according to the old Mosaic law.  He will change and lead his\npeople from Anti-Christ to Christ.  Elijah is an Israelite.  He will\nspecially bear testimony to the Israelite, his long-lost, but then\nrestored, brethren.\n\nMore next Sunday evening on these two Christian heroes.\n\n\n\n\nMOSES AND ELIJAH.\nDISCOURSE XII.\n\n\nMORE ABOUT THE TWO WITNESSES--MORMONISM--GOD RULING AMONG THE\nNATIONS--CAREER OF THE TWO WITNESSES--ANTI-CHRIST--THE THRONE AND HOUSE\nOF DAVID.\n\n    \"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in\n    heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of\n    our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and\n    ever.\"--Rev. ii. 15.\n\nLast Sabbath evening we called your attention to two special witnesses\nwho are at a given time to appear at Jerusalem for a specific purpose.\nAt the time of their appearance Anti-Christ will be reigning with great\npower and pomp.  He will have succeeded in persuading the Jews and many\nothers that he is the promised Jewish Messiah; this claim he will be able\nto sustain and confirm in the eyes of the multitude, from the very fact\nthat he will, to all appearance, work miracles.  Nor need we query that\nsuch a thing can take place.  Look at some of the facts of our own day,\nand see how pliable human nature is.  There are millions of people who\nsincerely believe that Leo XIII. is God's vicegerent, and that he is\ninfallible.  Take into account the Mormonism of this day, and see how\nterrible a thing in the name of Christianity can be established and\nmaintained.  Aye, in the nineteenth century, and in the United States of\nAmerica.  Or look in upon the Spiritualists and consider their claims and\npretensions.  Thousands upon thousands of them are persuaded that they\nare _en rapport_ with heaven and in communication with spirits and\nspirit-land.  Then you will not be surprised at the pretensions, claims,\nand success of Anti-Christ.  In our calm and unprejudiced consideration\nof these organisations, we are bound to admit that they have done more,\nand owe more for their success, to deception and error, than to truth and\nopenness.  Each in its turn has been caught in the act of deceiving, and\nhas been frequently exposed, but of what avail?  Truly but little.  We do\nnot mean that in these systems there is no good, for surely there is, but\nthat the errors and deceptions are of so glaring a kind, that we wonder\nthat anybody of common sense can be so easily led astray.\n\nWith these facts before us, can we wonder any longer that Anti-Christ\nshall be so successful?  The very occasion and peculiar times and\nincidents of the reign of Anti-Christ will call for some special\nmanifestations on the part of the Divine One that shall soberly and\nclearly confront the hollow and hypocritical pretensions of that age.\nHence the appearance of the two witnesses--Moses the Ancient of Days, and\nElijah the Tishbite, who will look like the Son of God.\n\nAllow us to submit further evidence in proof that the two witnesses of\nJohn in Rev. xi. are none other than Moses and Elijah: for many passages\nof Holy Writ are sealed to the understanding till we comprehend who the\ntwo witnesses are, their mission and work.  We will notice the\nattributive features of these witnesses as they are related by John in\nthis chapter--that is, Rev. xi.\n\nIn the first place, there are two persons or individualities; this\nappears plainly from the tenor of the whole record.  They are spoken of\nas \"they, them, their mouth, their feet, as dying and being resurrected.\"\nBut, strange to say, after all this plainness of speech, men have become\nso accustomed to spiritualise and generalise that Anti-Christ stood for\nRome, and naturally enough, having generalised Anti-Christ, they must do\nthe same with the two witnesses; hence they found them in the Churches of\nthe Waldenses and Albigenses.  In such an interpretation nearly all the\nattributive features of these witnesses are ignored.  Such as that they\nhad power to work miracles, to lie unburied in the streets of Jerusalem\nfor three days and a half.  Some have laboured to prove that the Old and\nNew Testaments were these witnesses, others that they were symbolised by\nthe law and Gospel.  Again, some that the two sacraments, baptism and the\nLord's supper, were these two witnesses, and so on almost without end.\nThese instances will suffice for our present purpose; for surely any of\nyou reading God's own Word need not so blunder.\n\nIn the second place, Jesus calls them His two witnesses.  Now, in what\nsense were they His? for such they are now.  Not that they will be His\nwhen they appear, but they will appear to oppose Anti-Christ at Jerusalem\nbecause they are sent.  The prophets are all witnesses; for, as Peter\nsays, \"To Him give all the prophets witness.\"  The apostles were\nwitnesses, and all believers are witnesses for Jesus; yet these two are\nso in a special and pre-eminent sense.  Let any one read the account of\nthe transfiguration of Jesus and the circumstances attendant thereon, and\nall will be plain.  Moses and Elias (another spelling for Elijah) we find\nwere present, as well as Peter, James, and John.  When Christ was\ntransfigured, \"Behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias\" (Matt,\nxvii. 3).  These two persons talked with Jesus, \"and spake of His decease\nwhich He should accomplish at Jerusalem.\"  Thus, then, they were special\nwitnesses for Christ, and so they will come again and witness for Him in\nthe time appointed.\n\nThe number of days we must take in a literal sense; here the 1,260 days\nand 3.5 days are the days appointed for their work and death.  It is well\nto remember that many of the prophetic numbers contain a double prophecy.\nThus 1,260 here may be coincident with the treading down of Jerusalem by\nMahommedanism.  But whether it is or not, does not vitiate the literal\nquantity when applied to these two witnesses.  In the third place, they\nare called two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before the God\nof the whole earth.  The figurative meaning will be found by finding some\npassage where two trees are mentioned in the interpretation given--such a\npassage by Zechariah iv.  Here the prophet saw two olive trees and asked\nof the angel the meaning; and the angel said, \"Knowest thou not what\nthese be?\"  And I said, \"No, my Lord.\"  Then said he, \"_These are two\nanointed ones_ that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.\"  The simple\nmeaning is, that the two olive trees mean two persons, who are in heaven\nat present, but are anointed--that is, set apart, selected for some\ndistinct work for God.\n\nMoses and Elijah evidently were anointed and specially selected, for it\nis probable they both escaped death.  The wonder connected with the\ndisappearance of Moses and the translation of Elijah now finds some\nmeasure of explanation.  None doubt the translation of Elijah.  John the\nBaptist was not Elias, except he was to go before Christ in the spirit\nand power of Elias; in this sense John stood for Elias.  John the Baptist\nprepared the way of Christ the first time, so will Elias for Christ's\nsecond coming.  The record of Moses's departure from this world is as\nmysterious as it is dramatic.  But, certainly, neither the mysterious nor\nthe dramatic have any meaning excepting we allow something Divinely\nspecial.  To die as other people, would mean nothing on the line of\nspecialities; but he did not so die.  He went from the people alive; no\none saw him die or dead.  He went up into Mount Horeb and never returned.\nSo, so far as the people were concerned, he was to them a dead man, for\nhe went from them no more to return.  The word death in Hebrew has not\nless than six meanings, one of which is simply to disappear.  This is the\nmeaning that we must attach to the death of Moses.  Neither his grave nor\nbody have ever been found.\n\nThere is a peculiar passage in the book of Jude where \"Michael the\narchangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of\nMoses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The\nLord rebuke thee.\"  Now, Satan then had power over death in some way\nDivinely permitted.  Paul says (Heb. ii. 14), speaking of Christ,\n\"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also\nHimself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might\ndestroy him _that had the power of death_--that is, the devil.\"  When God\nwas translating Moses, passing him by death, Satan fought with Michael,\nwho was God's messenger, to inflict the sting of death on Moses, and\nalthough Michael carried Moses on by death into the presence of God,\nSatan durst not bring a railing accusation against him.\n\nJude, in his epistle, probably quoted from one of the now lost books of\nRevelation, which was entitled, \"The Ascension or Assumption of Moses the\nservant of God.\"  The Church father, Origen, makes mention of this work,\nbut, like the book and prophecies of Enoch, from which Jude makes a\nquotation, it has been lost, they having served their purpose.  The\nfairest and most generous interpretation, then, is, that Moses did not\ndie the ordinary death, but disappeared, was, in fact, translated,\nanointed, and set apart for a special work in connection with his own\npeople, the Jews, in the days of the coming Anti-Christ.  Thus, without\nany trouble, he could appear with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.\nAnd it is worthy of note that before he disappeared in Horeb--the sacred\nwriter is mindful to tell us \"Moses was an hundred and twenty years old\nwhen he died--_his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated_\" (Deut.\nxxiv. 7).  But, supposing Moses died naturally, there is nothing\nunreasonable or irregular in concluding that God resurrected him as a\nmortal for future use.  True, he will die again as a witness; so there\nare in heaven now eight persons who have died twice in this\nworld--namely:\n\nThe child raised by Elijah (1 Kings xvii. 21).\nThe child of Elisha (2 Kings iv. 35).\nThe Moabite soldier who came to life on touching the bones of Elisha (2\nKings xiii. 21).\nThe daughter of Jairus (Luke viii. 55).\nThe widow's son at Nain (Luke vii. 15).\nLazarus of Bethany (John xi. 44).\nDorcas or Tabitha by Peter (Acts ix. 40).\nEutychus by Paul (Acts xx. 10).\n\nAnti-Christ will be a great electrician; electricity by that time will be\na fearful power in the hands of science.  Edison with his genius and\nmarvellous discoveries, and others of like gifts, will have perfected the\nuse of this agent in a wonderful degree.  Anti-Christ will make use of\nthis power to cower his enemies and bring them in fear-subjection.  He\nwill bring fire down from heaven.  The two witnesses, however, will be\nclothed with Divine power; they will be able to bring fire by a simple\ncommand--this they both understood and used when on earth.\n\nMoses called fire down upon the 250 rebellious Korahthites, as we read in\nNumbers xvi.  Ahab, the King of Israel, thought to punish and compel the\nobedience of Elijah; but God gave fire from heaven in answer to the\nprophet's prayer.  So when Ahaziah sent a captain and fifty men to bring\nElijah into the king's presence, they found him sitting on the top of a\nhill and commanded him to come down.  \"And Elijah answered and said to\nthe captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from\nheaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.  And there came down fire from\nheaven, and consumed him and his fifty\" (2 Kings i. 10).  Thus will these\ntwo anointed ones be able to contend with Anti-Christ and all the powers\nof scientific infidels.  \"If any man hurt these two witnesses, by the\nvery means used so shall they be killed.\"\n\n\"These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their\nprophecy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood.\"  To whom\nwould these gifts and attributes apply better than to Elijah, who in the\ndays of the wicked King Ahab sealed the heavens against rain for three\nyears and a half? and to Moses, who, when contending with Pharaoh, turned\nthe sweet flowing Nile into a stream of blood?  What two prophets had\nsuch a wide range of prophetic energy and liberty as Moses and Elijah?\nNone.  Well may the Revelator say, then, of them, that they can smite the\nearth with all manner of plagues as often as they will.\n\nBy awful and sublime manifestations the world shall see that God rules in\nthe heaven and on the earth.  They shall learn that Anti-Christ is a\nfalse Christ.  Then shall fear and repentance fall upon the people.  The\nJews shall be convinced, and converted, and persuaded by the appearance\nof their beloved Moses.  They shall know of a truth that the Messiah has\nbeen, and is waiting to come again.  Referring to that time the prophet\nZechariah calls it a time of trembling, the time of a terrible siege.\nBut he tells us that \"The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first,\nthat the glory of the House of David, and the glory of the inhabitants of\nJerusalem, do not magnify themselves against Judah.\"  Thus we learn that\nthe Jews, who have been so long despised and bereft of a king, country,\nand government, shall see through the great mystery of Providence first.\nThe House of David is found in the royal family of England.  The Jews,\nseeing this, will invite, in concert with all the inhabitants of\nJerusalem, the English Government to take charge of their affairs.\n\n\"Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered\ntogether and appoint themselves one _head_\" (Hosea i. 2).  The Jews will\nthen be Christians.  \"For they shall look upon Him whom they have\npierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son.\"\n\nAt this time the whole world will be amazed and confounded at the\ndestruction of Anti-Christ and his host.  The Jews, the House of David,\nand the Lost Tribes, Israel, the Saxons, will hold a council in\nJerusalem.  David's house, which God selected, and throne, both of which\nthe Almighty promised perpetuity to, shall be found and recognised in the\nEnglish throne and royal family.  The Saxon race shall distinctively\nappear as long-lost Israel.  So that the Jews, and David's House, and\nIsrael, will unite and acknowledge Christ as Lord and Master.  They will\nmake known to America, who stands for Manasseh, and all the colonies, the\ndecision of the said council; all parties will see, and accept, and\nfederate for the world's conquest and peace.\n\nThis federation of the ancient people, the literal seed of Abraham, will\ncause jealousies and alliances on the part or rest of the world,\nexcepting some portions of France, Austria, and Prussia.  The beast,\ndragon, and Anti-Christ's force, that will survive the shock of the two\nwitnesses, will all unite for an onslaught upon England, but especially\nPalestine.  Russia, though nominally Christian, will join the beast or\nRomish Church.  The dragon means the Pagan portion of the world.  Thus\nwill be inaugurated the battle of Armageddon, the issues of which we are\npermitted to know through Revelation.  Then will the kingdoms of this\nworld become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.\n\nWith many, and to many, these things are but as dreams; they are\nchimerical.  But one thing is certain: the history of the Church and\nProvidence in the future are appallingly grand.  Providence was grand in\nleading forth His people of old from Egypt.  But He will be no less grand\nwhen He shall set His hand a second time to recover His people as He has\npromised to do.\n\n\"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a\nrighteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute\njudgment and justice in the earth.  In His days Judah shall be saved, and\nIsrael shall dwell safely, and this is His name whereby He shall be\ncalled, The Lord our Righteousness.\"  (That is, the ruler of God's\nchoice--a king, then, in fact, by Divine right.)  \"Therefore, behold, the\ndays come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth,\nwhich brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but,\nThe Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the House of\nIsrael out of the North country, and from all countries whither I had\ndriven them, and they shall dwell in their own land\" (Jer. xxiii. 68).\n\nGod has now one of the seed of David on the throne, and He has a Jew\ndoing her bidding, executing her decrees over and for Israel.  For though\nIsrael were to be numerous and powerful, yet to David's seed belongs the\nthrone.\n\nThe recent Congress was but a forerunner of the one yet to come.  The\ncrownless king, Disraeli, who forced the Congress, is, perhaps, an\nunconscious instrument in the hands of Providence.  But whether he be or\nnot, he is hastening on the day with lightning speed.  Forth from the\nrecent Congress he goes, having once again linked the destinies of\nEngland to the Continent, which has been so strangely severed, till\nRussia, Italy, Austria, France, and Spain might each test the other, and\neach find their appointed place.  Now, again, England pledges herself a\nContinental Power--nay, more--an Asiatic Power.  She will come forth from\nthe Congress the virtual ruler of Turkey, the owner of Palestine.\n\n\n\n\nBATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.\nDISCOURSE XIII.\n\n\nTHE COMBATANTS ON BOTH SIDES--WHO \"THE KINGS OF THE EAST\" ARE--THE GREAT\nNAPOLEONIC IDEA--DISRAELI, LINCOLN AND GRANT--ENGLAND'S POLICY IN\nTURKEY--FUTURE WARS AND INTRIGUES--THE GREAT BATTLE-FIELD--GATHERING OF\nTHE NATIONS--EARTHQUAKES--JERUSALEM A SEAPORT.\n\n    \"And He gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew\n    tongue Armageddon.\"--Rev. xvi. 16.\n\nChristian students and prophetic writers are generally agreed on three\nthings touching this great event.  First, that there is to be such a\ndecisive battle fought.  Second, that it will take place in some part of\nPalestine.  Third, that this great struggle will be final, the end of\nwar, the beginning of the Millennium morn.\n\nIn the Scriptures the contestants are pointed out, as they rally under\nthe standards of the _dragon_, the beast, and _Anti-Christ_ on one side,\nand on the other, under the standard of David, will be the _called_, the\n_chosen_, and the _faithful_; or, in other words, the Ten Lost Tribes as\nfound chiefly in the Saxon race, with all who sincerely believe on the\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\nIn another sermon we pointed out to you the plain fact of the existence\nof David's throne and David's seed as found and seen specially in the\nthrone of England.  We there see how faithfully God has kept His promise\nto David and His people.  For God frequently told David that his throne\nshould be established unto all generations, and of David's seed there\nshould never be wanting a man to sit thereon.  It is the permanence, the\ngrandeur, and progressive character of this throne and people that make\nit a fitting type of Christ and His Church.  Nay, more, it is on this\nthrone that Christ now sits, so far as this world goes; and it is through\nthis people that He reigns, and He will and must reign until He has\nconquered a universal peace.  It is a delusion too long entertained by\nthe Church to think that David's throne and seed have not now, nor for\ncenturies had, an existence.  It is a delusion that we should not\nentertain for a moment to think that the Ten Tribes of Israel are lost\nfor ever, or that their work or mission is fulfilled.  As surely as the\nTwo Tribes, Judah and Levi, now exist, fulfilling and filling in the\noutlines of prophetic history, so surely are Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun,\nIssachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh in\nexistence, answering the purpose of an all-seeing Providence.\n\nWho are the kings of the East spoken of in the Scriptures?  We answer,\nThey are the royal ones of the House of David.  The word king, both in\nHebrew and Greek, means such.  This seed God chose, and made them royal\nby that very selection.  They have been away from their own land,\nPalestine, wandering and dwelling in the West.  But God in Providence is\npreparing a way for their return.  In connection with the pouring out of\nthe sixth vial upon the great river of the Euphrates, or upon Turkey, as\nmost writers agree, the waters are to dry up--that is, Turkey is to\ndecay, to be absorbed.  And why?  \"That the way of the kings of the East\nmight be prepared\" (Rev. xvi. 12).\n\nThese kings have been away from the East, and their return is assured,\nand the preparation for such return is to be seen at this time and in\nconnection with the decay of Turkey.  If Turkey, as symbolised by the\nriver Euphrates, is drying up, then these kings must be advancing\nEastward; and so they are.\n\nThe crownless king, Disraeli, who, like many other men God has raised up,\nis for these times an index finger pointing out the way of Providence.\nHe is a receptive agent of Divine force, to the intent that he may\ninterpret a Divine purpose.  He may know, or he may not know, that he is\nso directed of heaven.  The prophets of old were seldom permitted to\ninterpret or understand their own prophecies.  If they asked, like\nDaniel, the meaning, they were told to \"go their way,\" for oftentimes the\nwords were \"closed up and sealed until the time of the end.\"  No wonder\nthis man, against all England nearly, and to the amazement of all the\nworld, proclaims the Queen of England the Empress of India, for the way\nof the kings of the East must be prepared.\n\nNapoleon Bonoparte's grand idea was to prepare the way of the kings of\nthe East and make himself and his descendants these kings.  \"Conquer\nEngland and the world is ours,\" he said.  But when his secret and\nwell-prepared assault on England was revealed and frustrated by a chain\nof providential events, he hit upon another plan to get possession of\nPalestine.  Seventy years ago he invited all the leading Jews of the\nworld to a secret council in Paris; he wished them to aid him in getting\npossession of Palestine.  He pretended to want their return.  He gave\nthem certain privileges and laboured to procure more from the other\nnations; he did much for the Jews in enlarging their liberties and taking\naway from them the curse of society.  The one idea that is distinctly\nNapoleonic, is to possess Palestine.  The late Napoleon had his idea, and\nin his day this idea had become a part of France; so much so, that France\nthought herself to be then and now the real protector of Palestine.  It\nwas for this idea that she allied with England and Turkey in the Crimean\nwar.  It was to keep Russia back from possessing the holy places.  Not\ntill France was weakened could England advance on her way East rapidly;\nso Germany was used to destroy her prestige and cause her to stand aside\ntill England proceeds on her way homeward.\n\nIt was a comely sight, some five years ago, to see two Jews closeted\ntogether making a secret bargain--one had power, the other had money.\nThe man of power asked the man of money to lend him twenty million\ndollars; it was done.  At once the man of power purchases with this\ntwenty millions part of his fatherland back again--the Suez Canal.  This\nvery canal is on the boundary of the land of Palestine as given to\nAbraham centuries ago.  By this very route the old patriarch entered the\nPromised Land.  It was fitting, indeed, that this should be the first\npiece purchased back.  No one knew save those directly interested.\nEngland murmured and France protested, but the thing was done.  Poor\nFrance, bleeding and divided, could do but little; for Disraeli and\nRothschild had done the work.  The way of the kings of the East must be\nprepared.  So on they go.  A man who executes a Divine purpose is always\nstrong.  Abraham Lincoln, in the history of our country, was so chosen\nand led of God.  The politicians, and statesmen, and generals, and many\nof the people were against him at first; but the Lord was with him, so he\nmarched on to victory, the country following in the wake.  And though\ndead, not forgotten, the country and the civilised world are marching on\nafter him, and now they have nearly overtaken him.  Lincoln's ideas and\nthe country's are nearly equal.  A man led of God is generally a good\ndistance behind, and the people led by such a man are equally as far\nbehind him as he is behind God.  But this nation and Abraham Lincoln are\nnow one, and in those things in which they once were divided they are a\nunit, with more than the honoured Lincoln; for they are a unit with God\nand providence.  Thus follows the English nation in the wake of Disraeli,\nand the world is coming on behind, and the day will come when all will be\na unit.  It does not shock our idea of human honesty much when we learn\nthat this crownless king played a double game with Russia and Turkey.  It\nis intensely Jewish, but if it were only Jewish, then it would be very\ndetestable; it is more, it is Divine in part.  \"Had the princes of this\nworld known, they would not have crucified the Prince of Glory.\"  Had the\nprinces of the late Berlin Congress known the double game being played by\none of the quietest of their number, they would not have done as they\ndid.  Turkey in Asia was given over to England's protection, aye, yes,\nthat included Palestine.  The island of Cyprus is given over\nentirely--surely the way of the kings of the East is being grandly\nprepared.\n\nWhy did not the Congress hand over to England's protection Turkey in\nEurope?  For reasons good and sufficient.  Turkey in Europe will be the\ncause of much strife, of several wars, and of strange alliances; hence it\nwould not have done for Israel-England to be mixed up with it.\nConstantinople alone, of European Turkey, England will keep.  Israel is\nto be much preserved from war, until the great battle of Armageddon comes\non.  Against that time she will have to husband her strength and\nresources.  It is marvellous now to think that what the Congress settled\nas belonging to England, none dispute--all is peace.  But Russia's share\nand Austria's are in arms.  Servia, Greece, Roumania, and all the Turkish\nprovinces rebel and are in a state of disquietude, that portends war and\nstrife again in a few years.  But England will have nothing to do with\nit, excepting that Russia and Austria, with the consent of Germany,\nItaly, and France, are to set a precedent for England, which in a few\nyears she will need.  It is plain that if Russia and Austria can force by\narms the conditions of the Berlin Congress, England will be at liberty to\ndo the same without any interference even from France.  The Congress\nhanded over to England's keeping Turkey.  England, then, can make Turkey\ndo her bidding by force of arms sustained by the very precedent already\nset.  Thus will Israel-England open up Palestine for Christian\nsettlement.  The Mahommedans will murmur and resist to have the holy\nplaces taken from them, but no matter; England, when the time comes, will\nenforce it.  It is just here that Turkey and England will dispute, and in\neach dispute England will find a reason for drawing the lines a little\ntighter around poor Turkey.\n\nThe contestants on one side at the great battle of Armageddon, you\nremember, are the dragon, the beast, and Anti-Christ.  Now what people is\nrepresented by the term dragon?  We answer, the Pagan nations and\nauthorities, just as the Chinese have on their standards to-day a dragon,\nas we have the eagle.  The Mahommedans, Hindoos, Brahmins, Buddhists, and\nall Pagan idolaters, are summed up in the word dragon.  At present,\nEngland is tolerant with the subjects and adherents of these different\nworshippers and religions; but the time will come when she will no longer\ntolerate the same; thus will they arraign themselves against her in the\nbattle of Armageddon.  This will come to pass as the gradual destruction\nof Mormonism in our country.  This system has been fortified by law; now\nlaws are being arraigned against it.  It is now only tolerated, and in a\nshort time it will be wiped out of existence.\n\nThe final battle referred to in the text is to occur at a place called in\nthe Hebrew tongue Armageddon, the literal meaning of which is at the\nmount of Megido.  In olden times there was a city called Megiddon; it\nstood in what is now called the great plain of Esdraelon--a plain that\nlies midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean.  It was\nalso called Jezreel.  The prophet Hosea speaks of this place, battle, and\ntime, all by this one word.  Referring to the time when the children of\nJudah and of Israel are gathered together under one head in their own\nland, he says, \"For great shall be the day of Jezreel\" (Hos. i. 11).  It\nis spoken of in the Scriptures and history as the valley of Jehoshaphat,\nbecause here Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, gained a great victory; for\nhere the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel, as He will in the\ncoming battle.  Joel iii. 12 says, referring to this coming struggle,\n\"Let the heathen be waked up and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for\nthere will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.\"\n\nThere is one name given to this time and battle that is very significant\nand striking.  Have you ever noticed it?  If not, let me call your\nattention to it.  It is called \"That great day of God Almighty,\" by John\nin the chapter of the text.  The day of the Lord of hosts by Isaiah.\nEzek. xxx. 3: \"Howl ye!  Woe worth the day!  For the day of the Lord is\nnear: it shall be the time of the heathen.\"  And Joel says, \"Multitudes,\nmultitudes, in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in\nthe valley of decision.\"  By the prophets Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah,\nZechariah, Malachi, and apostles Paul and Peter, it is called the day of\nthe Lord.\n\nYou ask if this battle may not have taken place.  We answer, No.  Of such\na battle we have no record.  Again, it will be the end of the war--the\nfinal overthrow of Paganism, the beast, and Anti-Christ.  Malachi says,\n\"Behold I will send you the prophet Elijah before the coming of that\ngreat and dreadful day of the Lord.\"  Elijah has not yet been a witness.\nAt the time of this great battle nature is to take a wonderful part.  As\nwhen Christ was on the cross, the sun darkened, the rocks rent, the\nmountains shook, so in connection with this battle there shall be some\nstrange wonders--earthquakes, thundering, lightning, hail and fire.  The\nMount of Olives will divide; the valley of the Dead Sea will fill with\nwater and join to the Mediterranean; Jerusalem will become a seaport; an\nappointed centre from which, being central to all the world, will go\nforth the ships of the Lord.  The city of Jerusalem, between this time\nand that, will be considerably enlarged, then it will divide into three\nparts.  At the time of this dividing John says, \"That the cities of the\nnations are to fall\"--London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, St. Petersburg, and\nmany others--that all may turn to Jerusalem, the capital appointed of\nHeaven.\n\nIf you wish to know more of the particulars of this day, read the\nprophets, study what John the Revelator says under the sixth vial and\nsixth seal.  With awful grandeur and with terrible majesty have the\nsacred writers set forth this day and time.\n\nThat this day will come, who will deny?  Look at the world ripening for\nthis day.  Here, in our own land, as well as others, the forces are\nmaturing, the agents are at work.  Many of the events of the past year we\nwere permitted to forecast by looking into the future through the\nprophets, and onward yet we look.  And the events coming are neither less\nin number, merit, or force, than those passed.  Keep the events of\nprophecy in their proper order lest they confuse you.  The Jews and Ten\nLost Tribes are to be found and possess Palestine before this battle.\nAnti-Christ is to appear.  The two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, are to\nappear.  And Jesus, our beloved Master, will not come till the world is\nsettled long in perpetual peace--till the house is prepared for the\nbride, then shall He come.  But with lightning speed events are crowding\non along the ages.  The accumulative forces of centuries are pressing\nhard upon time present.  The time of the end is near--not the end of\ntime, but the time appointed of God in which certain great things are to\nbe accomplished.  Eighteen hundred years ago John cried out, \"Loose the\nfour angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.  And the four\nangels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a\nmonth, and a year\" (Rev. ix. 14).\n\nThe Turkish Power originated on the banks of the Euphrates.  It first was\ndivided into four Sultanies--namely, Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus and\nCesarea.  These are typified under four angels.  Their time was to be 396\nyears and a fraction--an hour, day, month, and year.  Thus, taking a day\nfor a year, 365 for the year, thirty for the month, one for the day, and\nwe have 396.  So from the taking of Bagdad by the Turks in 1057, which\nwas the overthrow of the Saracens, until the capture of Constantinople in\n1453, which overthrew the Greek Empire, we have just 396 years.  And the\ntime for the drying up of Turkey is at hand; and so it comes to pass.\n\nDear friends, how wonderful are the dealings of our God!  Can we shut our\neyes to His Divine revelation?  Let us be wise in the day of grace,\ntaking heed to the sure Word of prophecy, as unto a light that shineth in\na dark place.  The world indeed is dark, and all confusion.  But His Word\nshows unto us order in all this confusion, blessed be His name.  More\nnext Sunday evening.\n\n\n\n\nARMAGEDDON AND THE PYRAMID.\nDISCOURSE XIV.\n\n\nTHE FORCES IN THE BATTLE--TIME OF ITS OCCURRENCE--MISTAKES OF\nADVENTISTS--A CHURCH \"STRIKE\" WANTED--THE HARD TIMES AFTER 1882--HISTORY\nOF THE WORLD TILL 1935--HINE'S THEORY.\n\n    \"These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome\n    them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that are\n    with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.\"--Rev. xviii. 14.\n\nLast Sunday evening we considered the subject of the great battle of\nArmageddon.  This evening we will take up the same subject for further\nconsideration.  This battle, we learn, is to be very terrible, such a one\nas the world has not had.  Fearful as some of the wars of the past have\nbeen, this will overshadow them all in skill, fierceness, number,\nslaughter, devastation, and wide-spread ruin.  It will, in some respects,\nbe like one of the wars of olden times.  For in this struggle God is\nagain to take a direct part, as He did for His people Israel and Judah in\ntimes of old.  Again shall the forces of nature do battle for God and His\npeople; again they shall be full of instinctive revenge.  Hear us, and\nbelieve us, Denis Kearney, Providence will then \"pool the issues\" of the\n_called_, the _chosen_, and the _faithful_.  The called are the Jews, the\nchosen are Israelites, and the faithful embrace all of every nation who\nbelieve in Christ.  Then many will wade in pools of blood and perish.\nThe birds of prey are to hold high carnival on the dead bodies of the\nslain.  The spirit of Satan, that now worketh in the children of\ndisobedience, will pool the issues of hell and death in the hosts of the\n_dragon_, _beast_, and _false prophet_.  For though these three powers\nare diverse in their aims, professions, and intents, yet we learn from\nmany passages of the Divine Book that they will join hands and agree upon\na common policy, federating together that they may contend with the\ncalled, the chosen, and the faithful.  \"And I saw three unclean spirits\nlike frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of\nthe beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  For they are the\nspirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the\nearth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great\nday of God Almighty\" (Rev. xvi. 13, 14).  Here indeed will be a pooling\nof the issues, a pooling that will divide the whole world into two forces\nor parties.\n\nNow the canvass has begun, preparations are going on, party lines are\nbeing drawn, powers are concentrating, and men are rallying under their\nrespective standards, getting the world ripe and ready for the coming\ngenerations, into whose hands the destinies of that day will be cast.\nFew of us now living can personally take part in that final battle,\nexcepting as we do so by impressing the unborn millions with our ideas.\nLike as David prepared the material for the building of the temple, and\nhis son Solomon carried forward the same, so the work of this generation\nis simply preparatory, and that of the coming will be executive.\n\nSeveral wars will take place before that of Armageddon, which in their\nnature will be fierce and terrible.  Still these will all be\npreparatory--leading on to the day of decision and the battle final.  On\nthis point many err, and their error has a pernicious influence on the\nChurch and the world.  They interpret the preparatory signs as if they\nwere final; hence the end with such is too near.  A sincere anxiety takes\npossession of their soul, which utterly unfits them to judge aright the\nsigns of the times and tokens of Providence.  Thus were a portion of the\nAdvent Church thrown into confusion the 8th of last July because they had\nfixed upon the seventh as the time for the ending of the world.  And\nhuman folly and haste will repeat itself again on the 10th of April next,\nbecause another portion of the Advent brethren have fixed upon the 9th of\nApril as the time of the end.  It is a wonder the first did not take the\n4th of July instead of the seventh, for then a stranger might think the\nend was nigh in some of our cities; or why didn't the other party select\nthe 1st of April, for no doubt it would have proved a more propitious\nday?  But thus it is, and will be again before the appointed time of\nHeaven comes.  Man is a creature of haste and sudden impulse, especially\nso in his religious experience.  Kings and nations, Churches and sects,\nhave laboured hard in times past to force the issues of Providence and\ngive speed and certainty to times and events.\n\nThe prophecies affecting our days are clear; so much so, that he who runs\nmay read, if need be.  But an impatient activity urges men on, bedazzling\ntheir eyes, which at once unnerves and unfits them for reading or\njudging.  \"In your patience possess ye your souls,\" said the blessed\nMaster to His disciples of old, and not less through them unto us.\n\n\"Order is Heaven's first law,\" it has been said; and surely order\npervades the prophecies.  But the pulpits in general over-ride this\norder, and are not slow to malign such men as Edward Hine, of London,\nEngland, when the fact is, that his theory of the prophecies and mode of\ninterpretation are vastly more natural, responsive, and reasonable than\nthe ill-adjusted, unnatural, and non-responsive system of current\ntheology.  A person is under obligation to use that key for the unlocking\nof prophecy which fits the best, and that responds to providential events\nthe most natural, without regard to the antiquated systems and mode of\nChurch, sect, or college theology.  Hine's theory, as it is called\nsometimes, is as much superior to the old system of interpretation, as\nthe railway Pullman car is to the ricketty old stage coach.\n\nThe Anglo-Saxon Israel theory neither destroys or introduces any new\nprinciple, but discovers and applies that which had been long hidden.\nThe introduction of steam and electricity did not destroy or produce any\nnew principle, but simply discovered and applied, in an improved form,\nthat which had been in the world from Adam down till now.\n\nAs men in science, mechanics, and practical life, throw overboard men and\nthings of the past, so should we in theology, Church life, and\nexperience, when we can do better.  Reverence for persons, and respect\nfor ideas, should not enslave us.  Let us move on, doing better and\nbetter.  We do not care to believe all the theology of a Martin Luther.\nWhen we can make an advance on men, or theories, we should do so.  Bacon\nand Newton are now in part rejected, without intending, or in fact doing\nthem any dishonour or disrespect.  So are Calvin and Wesley, on the same\nprinciple, by every good theologian.  If a theory be advanced that opens\nup the Scriptures, and especially the prophecies, better than those\nbefore existing, let the pulpit accept it, throwing aside its mawkishness\nand age-intrenched stupidity.  I have no hesitation to say, after over\ntwenty-five years of experience with preachers and pulpit, that the\nmajority of preachers are lazy and indifferent in study.  For this reason\nmany of them are deterred from examining any new theory.  Many have said\nto me, and written to me, that if they accepted the Lost Tribe theory it\nwould destroy nearly all their old sermons, and necessitate the making of\nnew ones--a work they were not willing to undertake.  It will, therefore,\nbe a long time before the pulpit is reformed.  In these days there are\nmany strikes.  While in Canada, on my vacation, I agreed to lecture for a\nChurch choir on the prophet Jeremiah's visit to Ireland.  But some\npreachers banded together and stopped it; and, in consequence of it, the\nchoir struck and refused to sing the following Sunday.  Passing by this\nstrike, I really wish the laymen would strike and call the pulpit to an\naccount and rouse it from its lethargy, and demand that it should\nuntrammel itself and be free and equal to the age and demand.  I have met\nwith miserly persons who didn't believe in beautiful churches, or the\nmissionary cause, or any cause indeed that wanted money.  They would\nargue for plainness, and so on.  The secret of their peculiar ideas on\nthese matters was to be found in their stinginess and their love of\nmoney.  They advocated such theories because it saved them from\ncontributing.  Like a man I met with on my vacation tour who said that he\nsaved forty dollars a year by pretending to be angry with the minister or\nsome of the deacons when they came round collecting money.  Some\nministers, no doubt the majority of them, talk about holding on to the\nold landmarks and being orthodox for the very reason that to make a move\nimplies labour, which they are not willing to give, hence they prate\nabout orthodoxy and landmarks as a pretext to cover over their\nindifference.  He is the most orthodox who searches after the truth and\nkeeps up with the age.  \"Prove all things, hold fast that which is good,\"\nsays Paul.  These pretended followers of Paul say: \"Prove nothing, hold\nfast what you have got.\"\n\nIt is as plain as A, B, C, that the Bible teaches the return of the Jews\nand Ten Lost Tribes of Israel to the land of Palestine.  Also, that after\nthey are settled in this land Anti-Christ appears.  The dragon and beast\nare already in existence, but Anti-Christ is not; the spirit of\nAnti-Christ is.  When Israel and Judah are settled and prosperous in the\nold fatherland, then is to come on the battle of Armageddon.  Thank\nHeaven! that though the struggle will be awful, it will be final, and\nvictory will turn on the Lord's side.  Then will be set up a kingdom that\nshall endure in abiding peace and prosperity for at least a thousand\nyears.  The world will nestle in regaling plenty and great assurance.\nThis kingdom is to be set up in the latter days of the four kingdoms\nspoken of by Daniel.  By this we understand that these kingdoms will have\ntheir day, and by succession, after a time, run out.  These\nkingdoms--namely, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome--are now\ndisappearing.  Rome, politically, is gone, Persia will soon be absorbed,\nalso Greece.  Babylon, being continued in the Empire of Russia, has yet a\nglorious future before it for the next fifty years or so, then she will\ndisappear to rise no more.  The cry will go forth, \"Babylon is fallen.\"\nIn Nebuchadnezzar's image you will remember that the stone cut out of the\nmountain began to destroy the metallic image upward, hence these kingdoms\nwill disappear in reverse order to their origin.  First Rome, which has\ngone; next Greece, which is nearly gone; then Persia, and then Russia.\nThe new kingdom will fill the world.  Already it foreshadows the outlines\nof possession by its immense territory of to-day.  Then a scion of the\nHouse of David shall be enthroned in Jerusalem.  All the other great\ncapitals will have been destroyed.  It is surprisingly grand to read of\nthat day, king and kingdom.  Let me read to you a few verses from\nJeremiah, chapter xxiii.: \"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I\nwill raise unto David a righteous branch, and a King shall reign and\nprosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.  In His\ndays Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His\nname whereby He shall be called: the Lord our Righteousness.  Therefore,\nbehold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The\nLord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of\nEgypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of\nthe House of Israel out of the North country, and from all countries\nwhither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.\"  The\nwords, \"that day,\" are often used, and if we desire to know when that day\nis, we have data in the great fact that it is the other side of\nArmageddon, and Armageddon is the other side of the settlement of Israel\nand Judah in Palestine.\n\nI wish, just here, to correct many of you, as well as some of the public\njournals.  Of late I have frequently seen it stated in the papers that I\npredicted the end of the world in 1882.  And many persons have actually\nasked if I did really think so.  The truth of the matter is, in my\nsermons on the Great Pyramid I pointed out to you the remarkable fact\nthat the Grand Gallery was 1,882 inches long.  Beginning with the birth\nof the Saviour, these inches stand for years.  This gallery suddenly\nends, excepting that it is continued in a narrow passage, the narrowest\nin the whole building, for fifty-three inches.  Then comes the King's\nChamber, which before you enter, you pass under a portcullis in the form\nof an olive leaf.  In this chamber all is equal, quiet, and central.\nNow, what I believe this pillar of witness in Egypt teaches (see Isa.\nxix. 19) is, that in 1882 the whole world will enter upon a time of great\ntrouble, war, pestilence, and famine, and for fifty-three years these\ntroubles will continue more or less.  Then about 1935 will occur the\nbattle of Armageddon, which will be the finishing touch, the end of wars.\nI arrive at this, when I follow the teachings of the Pyramid, by adding\n1882 and 53, which gives me 1935.  Even then the world will not end, but\nonly begin the millennium morn, which will last for a thousand years or\nmore.\n\nNow corresponding to these facts are the events of Providence.  As when\nSpring is nigh we know by certain signs, so we know from the Scriptures,\nProvidence, and Pyramidal teaching, where we stand and the season we are\nin.  \"O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not\ndiscern the signs of the times?\" said Jesus to the proud and critical\nPharisees and learned and doubting Sadducees.  These parties affected to\nbe specially wise and discriminating in their knowledge of the times and\nseasons, and interpreting the prophets and writings of Moses.  Yet their\nconduct betrayed their ignorance, for they saw not the end of that grand\nold prophetic age, nor the fading symbolism of the temple, nor the\ndeparting glory and decay of their nation.  They knew not the fulness of\nthe time in which they lived, though it bulged out like a mountain.  They\ndid not know that _one time hath ended_, another _time begun_, for they\nstill dated their documents 4032 of the world, when it was the year of\nour Lord and their Lord 32.\n\nThe antediluvians stand condemned because they were willingly ignorant of\nthe Providential tokens and signs of the times.  They set at naught the\nteachings and warnings of Noah, and in exulting pride they rejected the\nidea of a special Providence.  Their faith, like many in this day, was\nplanted and nourished by the laws of nature, and the analogous\ncontinuance of the same, not accepting the doctrine of a Divine\nProvidence.  They cried aloud, \"Where is the promise of His coming?  For\nsince the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the\nbeginning of the creation.\"\n\nDo you, like the Jews of old, demand more signs, when those given you are\nnot understood, or, if understood, they are undervalued?  The prophets\nhave been lavish in portraying the calamities of the _last days_, or the\ntimes into which we are entering.  For the words _last days_ are the few\nyears preceding the battle of Armageddon.  The calamities of these days\nare of four kinds: First, social disorders; second, religious feuds and\nwars; third, wonderful political disturbances; fourth, temporal or\nphysical disasters.  Of the social condition of these last days, Paul\ninstructs us: \"This know, also, that in the last days perilous times\nshall come.\"  Then he groups together nineteen immoral attributes of the\nsocial state of these last days: \"Men shall be lovers of their own\nselves, covetous, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient (to parents\nespecially), unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce\nbreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce despisers, traitors, heady,\nhigh-minded, lovers of pleasure more than God, formal in religion\" (2\nTimothy iii.).  What, we ask, will be the state of society when the\nsocial condition becomes such?\n\nThe religious feuds and persecutions of the last days we can but faintly\nconceive.  It was terrible when the beast, two hundred years ago, held\nsway.  The Inquisition, the rack, the stake, and all the horrors of a\nwise age will be brought to bear.  For in these days to come, the beast\nwill be joined by Anti-Christ, who will burn with rage, and vent his\ndispleasure on Christ's followers.  Also the barbarism and savage\ndisposition of the Pagans will be let loose.  Then will the dragon tear\nand destroy.  This will, indeed, be a day or time of visitation.  The\npolitical disturbances will be terrible.  Nation against nation plotting\nand deceiving; internal strife and outward dangers.  These are of a kind\nto appal one in reading them.  Then come the temporal or physical evils.\nThese are to be a horrible train of ills in the form of pestilence,\nfamine, and earthquakes.  The plague of yellow fever is as nought to some\nof the scourges that will then go forth.  Gibbon, the historian, tells of\na plague that swept away two-thirds of Europe and Asia.  At that time the\ndead lay unburied by thousands.  In Constantinople, for three months,\nfive and even ten thousand persons died daily.  The famines in India and\nChina give us some idea of those yet to come.  Of the earthquakes, such\nas have been will be repeated in increasing terror, violence, and\ndestruction.  To all these shall be added fire from heaven, hail,\nwhirlwinds, and floods.  These are times that will try men's souls.  Read\nthe prophets for yourselves, and range yourselves on the Lord's side.\n\n\n\n\nWONDERS OF THE FUTURE.\nDISCOURSE XIV.\n\n\nPURPOSE OF THE FLOOD--THE ABRAHAMIC CURRENT--RENDING MOUNT OLIVET--FORMER\nEARTHQUAKES--BOUNDARIES OF PALESTINE--DAN AND GAD TO GUARD THE\n\"GATES\"--GAD THE SCOTCHMAN--THE FUTURE JERUSALEM--THE DEAD SEA AND\nMEDITERRANEAN TO BE JOINED--MISTAKE OF SPIRITUALISING EVERYTHING.\n\n    \"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which\n    is before Jerusalem on the East: and the Mount of Olives shall cleave\n    in the midst thereof toward the East and toward the West, and there\n    shall be a very great valley; and half the mountain shall remove\n    toward the North, and half of it toward the South.\"--Zech. xiv. 4.\n\nSome four thousand years ago the earth was washed with the regenerating\nwaters of a terrible flood.  Millions were suddenly cut off, with their\nhandiwork and antediluvian civilisation.  The swelling floods subsided,\nand the God-avenging waters retired to their appointed place.  The earth\nagain stood forth in virgin strength, lonely, bare, and citiless, but\nwith a potency and promise inviting and grand.  Across these swelling\nfloods one craft had been safely borne; in it was stored the seed-stock\nof a new world of man and beast.  The destruction had been complete and\nterrible.  If we credit Dr. Gurney and others who have written on this\nsubject, the population far exceeded the inhabitants of to-day.  But\nwhether they did or did not, we know that many must have perished, and\ncivilisation must have been hurled back to a primitive beginning.  No\ndoubt the present seas and oceans cover over the ruins of that age.\nEliphaz, the Temanite, when addressing Job, said: \"Hast thou marked the\nold way, which wicked men have trodden, which were cut down out of time?\n_whose foundation was overflown with a flood_?\"  Now is it not reasonable\nto suppose that in this and every other great change in nature God has a\npurpose--a design agreeable with His own exalted character?  He is too\nwise to err, and too good to be unkind.  The flood came for the same\nreason that He only gave Adam one wife.  And what was that reason?  It\nwas that He might fill the world with a godly seed.  \"And did not He make\none?  Yet had He the residue of the Spirit.  And wherefore one?  That He\nmight seek a godly seed\" (Mal. ii. 15).  The same Spirit which made one\nEve could have made twenty, for the residue of the Spirit was with Him.\nIt was in the interest of morality and godliness that the flood came.\n\nWhen this design began to fail of being accomplished by the increased\nwickedness of the post-diluvians, then God called Abram, and through\nAbraham and his seed designed that this purpose should flow on and be\nfulfilled.  Through this Abrahamic channel flow all the purposes of a\nDivine Providence in this world.  Through his seed all the nations of the\nearth are to be blessed.  The children of Abraham are the appointed and\nDivinely authorised agents of God.  Through them, as primary, he has, and\nis, and will evangelise the world.  Abraham stands to the generations of\nearth as the Gulf-stream to Europe and the isles of the sea.  This\nGulf-stream is our largest river; being the longest, broadest, and\ndeepest.  Its bottom and banks are cold water.  Compressed by the straits\nof Florida, it rushes forth to warm and replenish the earth and isles of\nthe sea.  So the forces of a Divine Providence compressed in Abraham go\nforth to bless mankind.  The Gulf-stream is water in water, and Abraham's\nseed are men among men.  Providence is at once clear and intelligible,\nand history is at once plain, reasonable, and harmonious, when\ninterpreted in harmony with the Abrahamic covenant.  The scattering and\nreturning of Israel and Judah to Palestine, and the intervening history,\nfrom the time of dispersion to the Return, is clear as noon-day.  Their\nlocation, oppression, prosperity, and victories, have long been foretold\nby prophets inspired of God.\n\nThrough all the changes in nature God has a design.  He prepared the\nworld for Adam and his seed, and He did so by some wonderful upheaving\nand overturning; this scientists will admit.  This world, in its present\nshape and condition, indicates fierce and protracted struggles.  The\noutlines of strange and sublime revolutions are imprinted on her\nrock-ribbed bosom.  Look at her cloud-capped mountains, her snow-crowned\npeaks, her wild and rocky wastes, her barren plains and sandy deserts,\nher fruitful hills and luxuriant valleys, her mighty oceans and swelling\nseas, her inland lakes and rolling rivers; these tell us of a time long\nago--of the time when the Mighty One went forth to work a work, to build\na house and make a home for His creature, man.  And as it was necessary\nin the preparatory stage to tune nature to the coming man, so all along\nthrough the history of the centuries we find nature holding a subordinate\nrelation to man.  The world is not run on one principle and man on\nanother, but both are permeated by a Divine force and led on to a Divine\nend.  All things are ours, and we are Christ's, and Christ is God's; this\nis the established order of subordination.  Most certainly it cannot be\nunscientific in the Author of nature to make the same His messenger for\ngood or evil.  It is not unscientific to throw a line from the shore to a\nship in distress, even though thrown from the mouth of a cannon, nor is\nit counted unscientific to use that same cannon in war to destroy men.\n\nThe earthquake spoken of in the text is, indeed, a small affair in\ncomparison to some that have occurred in this world; and if the same God\nbe living now as then, surely He can rend in twain the little mountain of\nOlivet.  And if we grant to the infidel scientist of to-day the fact that\nthere is no God, still the thing prophesied of is neither unreasonable or\nimpossible, because what has been may be again; and as the demand in this\ncase is small in comparison to what has been, surely this thing may come\nto pass.  In times past Providence and the wants of the Church have been\ntimely aided by convulsions in nature, and if they were only so\naccidentally, why then accidentally they may all agree again.  To the\nscientist, especially the geologist, there can be no great difficulty in\ncrediting the miracles of the text when we think of the successive\nrevolutions that have taken place.  Fires, and floods, and earthquakes,\nhave done sublime service in the past, whether we credit the same to\nNature or to God.  That an earthquake, or any peculiar expression of\nnature, should be timed to meet a special condition of the Church or the\nspecial purposes of a Providence, is not strange.  In such an event there\nreally is no more wonder than that a man should set an alarm on his clock\nto go off at three minutes past four in the morning.  Some men can\nswallow big things if you will only allow them to make out the author to\nbe Nature.  But whether we attribute the things past to Nature or to God,\nwe know that wonderful things have happened.\n\nSeismology, the science of earthquakes, is by no means void of interest.\nThe earthquake catalogue of the British Association takes notice of, and\nrecords the occurrence of, over 6,000 that happened between 1606 B.C. and\n1842 A.D.  Some of these have been terrible in force, destruction, and\nextent, oftentimes changing the whole face of a country, its climate, and\nriver courses.  The great earthquake of 1783 in Calabria, probably caused\nthe death of 100,000 people; it was felt over a great part of Europe.\nThe city of Lisbon was visited on the morning of November 1st, 1755, with\nan earthquake so severe that in a few minutes 60,000 persons perished,\nand most of the city was destroyed and buried beneath the water of the\nbay some 600 feet.\n\nThe country given to Abraham embraces all of what we call Syria.  It is\ncentral, and specially adapted for the future purposes of God through\nAbraham's seed.  Beginning with the North-west corner, the boundaries\nwill be Mount Taurus, river Euphrates, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red\nSea, River Nile, and Mediterranean, enclosing Syria, Arabia Deserts,\nArabia Felix and Arabia Petroea.  Thus it will be seen that the Abrahamic\ninheritance is surrounded by water, except at two points--namely, the\nNorth-west land boundary, which is between the Euphrates and the\nMediterranean Sea.  The entrance is through the mountain range of Taurus,\nand forms a natural gate or mountain pass from Europe and Asia into\nPalestine.  Here, when the Tribes are resettled in the land of Palestine,\nthis gate will be in the allotment of Dan.  Our Irish brethren will again\nbe in the North-west, where they will have to fight and defend the land\nand the truth, as in days of old, for their brethren.  The fact is, \"Dan\nshall judge his people as one of the Tribes of Israel,\" said old Jacob.\nThe judge in olden times sat in the gate.  So will Dan sit.  Moses said\nthat Dan was a lion's whelp.  Among Israel it is customary to put lions\nas guards at gateways.  The Southwest corner, between the Mediterranean\nand the Sea of Suez, forms the other land boundary.  Through this gate\nwill come the teeming millions of Africa.  At this gate will be the Tribe\nof Gad--that is, a portion of the Scotch, the lowlanders.  The Tribes\nwill be hemmed in one by another so that they cannot enlarge their\nterritory; but Gad can, for a vast country opens up beyond the gate.  It\nis barren; still the desert is to blossom as a rose.  Of Gad it was said\nby Moses, \"Blessed be He that enlargeth Gad; he dwelleth as a lion and\nteareth the arm with the crown of the head.  And he provided the first\npart for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he\nseated.\"  You remember that Sinai is in this portion.  What sight and\nforesight Jacob and Moses had!  The land as thus bounded would be 600\nmiles broad from the Red Sea to the River Euphrates, and 1,390 between\nthe Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and from the Mediterranean to the Arabian\nSea, 1,600.  These boundaries you will glean by taking note of the\nseveral promises to Abraham and his seed, as recorded in Gen. xv. 10, and\nExod. xxiii. 31, and Deut. xi. 24.  The land so promised and given\nspecially to Abraham and his seed, the descendants of Abraham never yet\noccupied, no, not half of it, even in the palmy days of King Solomon.\nWill it ever be?  We answer, Yes, as sure as the seasons and night and\nday.  He is faithful that has promised, and will do it.\n\nThis remarkable peninsula will be the theatre of the future glory of\nIsrael and Judah.  As finely described by the Rev. A. B. Grimaldi, it\nwill be found to be most exactly and suitably placed to enable them to\nfulfil their high destiny to all nations, and become the centre of all\nlands, the praise and beauty of the whole earth.  This land has, in fact,\na central position for communication, commerce, and all other advantages\nof civilisation not enjoyed by any other portion of land in the whole\nworld; while the peculiar geographical formation is such that it has an\nimmense seaboard, and is therefore fitted for vaster commercial and naval\noperations than have ever yet been seen, commanding, as it does, the\nthree most important seas and the two largest rivers of the whole world.\n\nThis land, as laid out by Ezekiel, will be divided into thirteen\nlongitudinal strips, sixty miles long, and twenty broad.  In the very\ncentre will be a portion, some fifty miles square, which will be divided\nand apportioned to what is called the holy oblation--namely, in the very\nmiddle will be the temple, a mile square, or larger than ever the whole\ncity of Jerusalem has yet been.  Then the city will be ten miles square.\nOn one side will be a portion for the priests; on another, a portion for\nthe Levites; and on the other two sides, the prince's or king's portion.\nThis portion, which will be on the East and West sides, will be sixty\nmiles long by ten broad, or some 600 miles square.  But it is clear he\nwill need it, for he will not be supported by taxes.  He will have to\njudge the land.  He cannot take any more land.  He will have to support\nhis own family.  No public grant to his children.  He will have to be\nliberal with the temple.  He will have sixty miles of sea coast to defend\nand sixty miles of land frontier to protect, and thus cover some of the\nweaker tribes.  The city will have 720 square miles as a suburb, in which\nto raise supplies specially for itself.  It will in reality be in two\nparts--one called by the prophets the profane; here will the commercial\nbusiness be done.  The other part will be sacred.  Into it strangers will\nnot enter; it will be holy--a quiet habitation.  \"There the glorious Lord\nwill be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no\ngaily with oars, neither shall gallant ships pass thereby.\"  The city\nproper will be some thirty miles North of the present city of Jerusalem.\n\n\n\n\nNINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN.\nDISCOURSE XVI.\n\n\n\"SIGNS OF THE TIMES\"--THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM--FORCES OF RUSSIA AND\nENGLAND--PRESENT LOCALITY OF ANCIENT NATIONS--ORIGIN OF AMERICAN\nREPUBLICANISM--FEDERATION OF THE NATIONS COMING--EVOLUTION AND\nDEVOLUTION.\n\n    \"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred\n    and five and thirty days.\"--Daniel xii. 12.\n\nSo according to the prophet Daniel there is a time to come in which it\nwill be blessed to live.  The prophecies of Daniel are generally of a\nmaterial character--that is, they have special reference to this world\npolitically, and to this end he had direct and special reference to\ncertain kingdoms in existence at the time of writing, as well as others\nthat were to come into being.  Of all the prophets he concerns himself\nthe most with positive data of the rise and fall of nations.  The figures\nof the data used, we freely confess, are difficult to understand and\ninterpret.  The Church and times are greatly in need of some man\ncompetent on this point.  All prophetic students know the diversity and\nconfusion in this department of theology.  Of all the difficult\ndepartments of theology none exceed the numerical.  The numerical\nsymbolism of the Bible is as yet but little understood.  True, indeed, we\nare improving.  Aided by Providence, we are enabled to interpret some\ndates by data--that is, certain events occurring locate us and point out\nthe prophetic period we are in.  Like the captain who is unable by his\ncertain and usual modes of calculating to find his whereabouts, does so\nby currents, the Gulf-stream, islands, colour of waters, &c., did we know\nthe exact quantity of Daniel's two thousand and three hundred days, his\ntimes, time, and half a time, his seventy weeks, his thousand two hundred\nand ninety days, and the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days,\nthen we could deal with the prophecies with a definitiveness to which as\nyet we are strangers.\n\nThe times, however, are peculiarly interesting from the very fact that\nthe Church is waking up to the importance of prophetic study.  \"Coming\nevents cast their shadows before,\" is a trite but true saying, and here\nas true as anywhere.  Men feel in their fears and hopes the pressure of\nprophecy.  The Church is remarkably anxious and unrest.  Governments are\nsuspicious and confused.  The populace are restless and threatening.\nIndeed, everything conspires in Church, State, and people, to forecast\nthe future.  A thunderstorm is felt before it is seen or heard.  It\nshadows the mind, thrills the nerves, and pains the rheumatic limbs.\nMany in 1858 felt war coming in our own country.  Many were at a loss to\ninterpret their fears.  Some, however, interpreted the signs of the time\nand sounded an alarm.\n\nThe few years to come are pregnant with angry forces.  Men are busy in\nRussia, Germany, France, England, and America, sowing the winds, and the\nharvest will surely be whirlwinds.  But, beyond all, the sky is clear.\nWar ceases, commerce revives, the nations accept a settled peace, science\nand religion join hand in hand to prepare the wastes and woes of war.\nThe beast is overcome, Anti-Christ is slain, and the dragon is banished\nfrom the earth.  Jerusalem again rises in splendour from the grave of\ndesolation.  Again Canaan will become the glory of all lands, and\nJerusalem the glory of Canaan.  Here, again, after centuries of\nwandering, shall the throne of David find rest, and on it one of David's\nseed, chosen and anointed of God, accepted of men, and served by the\nnations.  Crowned and imperial Salem shall become the home of her\nlong-captive sons and daughters.  Israel and Judah shall meet together,\nand shall be one stick, one people, having one head, one throne, one\ncity, one Lord, even Jesus.  \"Therefore, they shall come and sing in the\nheight of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for\nwheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of\nthe herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not\nsorrow any more at all\" (Jeremiah xxxi. 12).\n\nNo one can read the prophecies that find their fulfilment after the\nbattle of Armageddon--or, as the prophets have it, \"after those\ndays\"--without being ravished with delight.  Israel in her palmy days,\nand Judah in her glory!  A nation called of God, and ruled by God through\nDavid or Solomon; how inviting!  When Heaven was their Defence and\nProvider; when the fidelity of men to God was enough of defence, and the\nmorality of a people was a rich manure giving an abundant harvest in\nfield, stall, and orchard; then we see the true position of a nation, its\ngrandeur and prosperity.  I am convinced that morality has a more\nintimate relation with the forces and wealth of nature than we are in the\nhabit of believing.  God can give increased measure to the harvest,\nfruitfulness to the vine, plenty in the orchard, increase in the stall,\nand addition to the household.  Time upon time are these blessings\npromised by the prophets to Israel and Judah in the latter day.\n\nTake notice of a few statements of the prophets responding to those\ntimes--the times that will ensue after the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and\nthe Jews are again possessed of, and settled in, Palestine.  Jeremiah, in\nthe 30th chapter and 31st, refers to those times: \"For lo, the days come,\nsaith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of My people,\nIsrael and Judah, saith the Lord; and I will cause them to return to the\nland that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it\"--referring\nto this time and the battle of Armageddon, in which Israel will be tested\nas we have before shown.  \"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is\nlike it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved\nout of it.\"  Now, we ask, why will it be specially a time of trouble?  We\nanswer, Because of the strength of the combined forces that will be\narrayed against Israel--that is, England.  The forces, as set forth in\nthe Scriptures, are _thirteen on one side_, _led by Russia_, and _four on\nthe other_, which will be _led by England_.  The _thirteen_ are: 1st,\nGog; 2nd, Magog; 3rd, Rosh; 4th, Meshech; 5th, Tubal; 6th, Persia; 7th,\nEthiopia; 8th, Libya; 9th, Gomer; 10th, Togarmah; 11th, the Beast; 12th,\nthe Dragon; and 13th, Anti-Christ.  The _four_ are: 1st, Sheba; 2nd,\nDedan; 3rd, Merchants of Tarshish with all their young lions; 4th, the\nJews and Israelites settled in Palestine, that will not be led astray by\nAnti-Christ.\n\nTo understand the prophets when forecasting the future, we must keep in\nmind that in speaking of a nation's destiny in the future, they would\nspeak of it by the name it had at that time, if such a nation had an\nexistence at that time.  But in course of time, such nations would change\ntheir name, and sometimes locality; in such a case they must be found.\nFor instance, if one desires to know the destiny of Turkey, he will find\nit set forth by the prophets under the name of Edom and Esau.  Moab and\nAmmon are found in the Poles and Hungarians; they were the sons of Lot.\nIn all parts of the world the children of Abraham have an attachment for\neach other.  Thus India was peopled at first by the descendants of\nAbraham; hence they will mix with, and accept English rule sooner than\nany other people.  \"But unto the sons of the concubines which Abraham\nhad, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he\nyet lived, Eastward, unto the East country\" (Gen. xxv. 6).  If we trace\nback the origin of a people to their head or founder, we will better\nunderstand their peculiarities and national idiosyncrasies.  Study\nIshmael to understand the Arabs, Esau to understand the Turks, Ammon and\nMoab to understand the Poles and Hungarians.  Study the character and\ncondition of Manasseh in Egypt, as being brought up in a palace, and\nbeing the lawful heir, but deprived of his birthright by a Providence\nwhich he could not understand, and you have at once a key to the Pilgrim\ncharacter, and the characteristics of a real American--why he hates\ntitles, kings, and aristocracies.  But he forgets not the place of his\nyouth when he had the great seal made; for on the reverse of the great\nseal of the United States you will have the figure of a Pyramid crowned\nwith the All-seeing eye.  No Tribe but the Tribe of Manasseh could say,\nor did say, \"We are a great people.\"  Yet so this Tribe said to Joshua\n(see Josh. xvii.).  So we often say, \"We are a great people.\"\n\nRachel and Leah, the two wives of Jacob, are the real source of the\nseparation of the Ten Tribes of Israel from Judah.  Each wife sought to\nhave her son as a leader.  Thus between Judah and Joseph began the spirit\nof rivalry.  Ephraim took up the cause of Rachel.  David and Saul's\nbitterness lies here.  David stood for Leah, and Saul for Rachel.  The\ndescendants of the North of Ireland, being from the Tribe of Dan, have\never been distinct from the rest of the Irish in features, enterprise,\nspirit and religion; for the others are the Canaanites of old, the\nPhilistines.\n\nWho do the thirteen enemies stand for to-day?  Let me answer you briefly.\nGog stands for the Caucasians or mountain tribes of Caucasus.  Magog\ncovers the inhabitants and country North of the Caucasian mountains, and\nthey are known as Tartars.  Rosh, or Roosh, means the real Russians.\nTheir ruler is called by the Prophet Ezekiel _Nasi Roosh_.  We translate\nit the chief prince of Meshech.  This portion, or people of Russia, are\nthe old Babylonians, hence the hate and rivalry between England and that\nnation.  Meshech means the Muscovites, who made Moscow what it is.  Tubal\nis found in the Siberians.  Meshech and Tubal are generally mentioned\ntogether in the Scriptures, and, strange to say, they are found together\nin history to-day.  Moscow is the capital of Meshech, for though to the\nworld St. Petersburgh seems to be, yet every imperial document is signed\nand dated Moscow.  Tobolski is the capital of Tubal or Siberia.  Persia\nstill retains its ancient name, and will be easily recognised.  Also the\nsame with Ethiopia.  Libya takes in a portion of the African race.  Gomer\nstands for the Germans in part, for those who descended from Gomer.  From\nthis word Gomer is Gomeron, Gemren, and the country Germia, hence,\nGermany and Germans.  Togarmah includes the people of Independent\nTartary.  The Dragon includes China.  The Beast, the Jesuits and their\nfollowers, which will take in France, Spain, Italy, and South America;\nand at first divide even England, especially Ireland, and the United\nStates.  Anti-Christ will be chiefly sustained by the Jews, who will have\nbeen settled in Palestine.\n\nThe four opposing forces led by England: Sheba represents India, who is\nalready training for this time of battle.  Dedan embraces Arabia,\nespecially that part occupied by the Sultan of Muscat.  Merchants of\nTarshish and all the young lions, means England and her colonies, in\nwhich is embraced the United States.  Manasseh will have to stretch out a\nhelping hand to Jacob in the time of his trouble, for she cannot allow\nliberty to be enslaved, and freedom of worship and conscience to be\ntrampled under foot.  The plague will come here sooner than we think, by\na civil and internal division among ourselves, which will force us to\ntake part.  The Jews that are not carried away with Anti-Christ will join\nwith their brethren of Israel.  The called, the chosen, and the faithful,\nwill be one party, and they will be on the Lord's side.\n\nIf during the late Turkish war we could have had our despatches agreeable\nto ancient names of people and country, they would have sounded queer.\nInstead of reading of the Russians passing the Caucasus, and moving upon\nErzeroum by way of Kars, we should have read: Rapid advance of the\nBabylonians under the chief prince of Meshech.  Successful passage of the\nPison.  The whole land of Havilah occupied.  The men of Togarmah rally at\nGihon.  Fierce fighting in Eden.  The invaders defeated in the mountains\nof Ararat.  For according to ancient names of people and country, such\nwas the fact.  It is comforting to all God's people to know from His Word\nthat there is a time of peace; that there is a golden age in the near\nfuture.  Dr. McKay has the Christian idea in his poem:\n\n    \"There is a good time coming, boys,\n    Wait a little longer;\n    Let us aid it all we can,\n    Every woman, every man,\n    The good time coming.\"\n\nWhen will the 1,335 days of years, spoken of in the text, end?  We\nanswer, About the year 1957.  And why that year?  Because these days\nevidently date there, beginning from the time the daily sacrifice is\ntaken away and the city trodden under foot.  The little goat horn of\nDaniel viii. 9 stands, we have before shown you, for Turkey.  \"And out of\none of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great toward\nthe South, and toward the East, and toward the pleasant land.\"  It stands\nfor Mahommedanism, which was to overturn Christianity for a given period,\na time, times, and a half time, or in figures, 1260.  Now Mahommed was\naccepted and crowned at Mecca in the year 622.  If we add 1260 and 622,\nwe have 1882--a time that is very plainly pointed out in the Pyramid.\nDaniel says, \"Seventy weeks are determined upon Thy people and upon Thy\nholy city,\" Jerusalem.  These weeks put into prophetic years make 490,\nwhich, of course, brings us to the time when Jerusalem was destroyed by\nTitus.  Daniel asked how long the vision concerning the daily sacrifice\nand transgression of desolation to give the sanctuary and people to be\ntrodden down?  The answer was, Unto 2,300 days, taking a day for a year.\nJerusalem was destroyed in the year 70.  Take this from 490 and we have\n420.  Now these 420 years taken from 2,300 will bring 1880.  Then the\nsanctuary is to be cleansed--that is, Jerusalem will be in the possession\nof England.  She now is.\n\nFrom about 1880, or 1882, England will possess Jerusalem.  In the twelfth\nchapter of Daniel, eleventh verse, we find thirty days added to the\n1,200, making 1,290; these added thirty years denote the time England\nwill have to contend for her right to Palestine.  It will finally be\nacknowledged, however, by all nations.  In 1935 the battle of Armageddon\nwill end, but Palestine will not be fully settled down to a peaceful\npossession till 1957.  Then the government will be fully established and\nacknowledged all over the world.  The kings and Gentile nations will have\ngone up to Jerusalem and given in their adherence.  Then all the world\nwill be federated to David's throne.  The year 1957 I arrive at by the\nsame rule as the other--1,335 when added to 622, makes 1,957.  \"Blessed,\"\nsays Daniel, \"are they who see that time.\"\n\nThe world is to undergo some marvellous changes these next few\nyears--mechanically, politically, socially, and morally; the telephone,\nthe phonograph, the microphone, the telemachole and coming improvements\nwill transform our modes of labour and learning beyond our present\nconception.  God times inventions and improvements to the advancement of\nHis kingdom.\n\nI do not regard inventions as mere accidents, but as the outcoming of a\nDivine intent through human agencies.  Watts and Wesley both did good\nservice for the Church and the world.  Edison and others of kindred minds\nare scientific prophets.  \"The earth is the Lord's and the fulness\nthereof.\"  All is made subservient to the progress of the kingdom of\nheaven.  The doctrine of the evolution of man as taught by Darwin is\nneither complimentary to man or God; but the doctrine of devolution is.\nMan is a developing creature; a creature who takes centuries to grow in.\nThe devolution of God is through man by means of all the increasing\nfacilities and agencies that make man stronger, wiser, and better.  The\nsecret powers and forces of nature are revealed to man in the ratio of\nhis ability to apply them, on the same scale as we instruct our children.\n\nIn the latter days, or the period spoken of by Daniel, nature will be\nDivinely prompted with an impulse of generosity not now known, for then\nmen will be wise enough, strong enough, and good enough, to use the same\nand not abuse.  The prophetic teachings glow with promises of regaling\nplenty, peace and good will in those days.  \"I will multiply upon you man\nand beasts; and they shall increase and bring fruit; and I will settle\nyou after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your\nbeginnings; and ye shall know that I am the Lord\" (Ezek. xxxvi. 11).\nAgain: \"I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the\nfield, that ye receive no more reproach of famine, among the heathen.\"  I\nsubmit and believe that all this God will do by what men are pleased to\ncall natural law.  The Divine will not rudely break in upon His own\nestablished laws.\n\nSin impairs the energy and growth of man, and so infringes upon Nature.\nAs man frees himself from the bondage and sequences of sin, he will rise\nhigher and higher in his command and authority over Nature's forces.\nThree several times the earth has been cursed, which curse is gradually\nremoved as man returns unto his God in loving and obedient service.  \"And\nnow art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to\nreceive thy brother's blood from thy hand.  When thou tillest the ground,\nit shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength\" (Gen. iv. 11).  The\nsecret of a world's wealth and peace lies here, and it were well if\nreformers and agitators understood this.  For they work best who work in\nharmony with God and His laws.\n\n                        [Picture: Pyramid picture]\n\n    \"In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the\n    land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord; and it\n    shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the\n    land of Egypt.\"--Isaiah xix. 19.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STONE WITNESS. {159}\nDISCOURSE XVII.\n\n\nTHE GREAT PYRAMID--WHO JOB WAS--WHO BUILT THE PYRAMID--WHAT IT WAS BUILT\nFOR--AN EPITOME OF THE EARTH--THE HISTORY OF MAN CONTAINED IN IT, PAST\nAND FUTURE--SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE, ETC., ETC.\n\nThe wonderful discourses of the Rev. Dr. Wild, of Brooklyn, were\ncontinued last Sunday evening, before a thronged congregation in Elm\nPlace Church.  Under the organ gallery, behind the pulpit, was a\nrepresentation of the Pyramid, or as the learned doctor terms it, \"the\nstone Bible,\" its massive rectangular dark stone foundation and some of\nthe most interesting of its interior passages, chambers, and mysteries.\nAll eyes were fastened in scrutiny upon it, well knowing that some\nrevelation of unusual Christian interest would be made by the Doctor from\nit as soon as his lecture commenced.  The preliminary exercises of\nsinging by a well-trained choir and prayer were therefore impatiently\nlistened to by many whose thoughts were concentrated on the wonders of\nthe Pyramid and its astounding confirmation of the prophetic Scriptures.\nDr. Wild read a lesson from Job xxxviii., remarking that the author of\nthat book was also the engineering director or architectural author of\nthe Pyramid and identical with Shem and Melchisedec.  The book of Job is\nthe oldest book in the world by 200 or 300 years.  Shem, or Job, was\nninety-eight years old when he entered the ark, and he lived thirty years\nafter Abraham, with whom therefore he shook hands, as well as with\nMethuselah, who shook hands with Adam.  Only one man, therefore, stood\nbetween Adam and Shem, and only two, or not quite two, between Adam and\nAbraham.  The book of Berosus, of Babylon, is the only one that compares\nwith Job in antiquity.  This was the age of tradition before Moses\ncompiled the first portions of it.  In the days of Abraham, Shem was the\npatriarch, or oldest, of his family; and it was therefore to him he did\nhomage, according to the patriarchal custom, under the name of\nMelchisedec, when returning from the slaughter of the kings.  Shem had\nbrought with him from the days before the flood much of the knowledge and\nwisdom which had been accumulated in the earth during the 2,000 years\nprevious to that event, and which was swept away when only eight persons\nwere saved in the ark.  We have been told that the human race has\ngradually improved, and that our ancestors in far off ages were monkeys,\nor something of that sort, but the remains of the ruins and knowledge of\nantiquity show everything the reverse of this to be the truth.  Look at\nthat Pyramid.  We could not build it to-day, with all our boasted\nscience.  It will bear in every respect the closest scientific scrutiny.\nOur greatest scientists are only beginning to comprehend the depths of\nits mysteries, yet it is over 4,000 years old.  The capstone on top of it\nis a Pyramid in itself, in miniature, unlike anything of the kind or any\nother building on the earth.  The reverend gentleman then continued to\nread from Job xxxviii., and shew that the writer of it was master of\nastronomical and geographical science and the builder of the Pyramid,\nwhich is a miniature of the measurement of the earth and indicates the\nhistory of the human race.  After this preliminary dissertation he took\nfor his text Isaiah xxviii. 29: \"This also cometh forth from the Lord of\nhosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.\"\n\nThe Bible is a growing book, being more read and better understood as the\nyears pass by; and as men shall increase in knowledge and power, so the\nBible will gain in influence and authority.  Opposition to its teaching,\nand vaunting denial of its authority, shall be made subservient to its\ninterests by goading on the Church to a wiser and more noble defence and\nexposition of the same.  No theology can levy upon the well-defined facts\nof science in confirmation of the sublime teachings of inspiration.  The\nChristian student need not hold himself in timid dread for fear the\nscientist will discover aught in the realms of nature that will\ncontradict the Word of God: for as sure as God is the Author of both, so\nsurely shall we find an agreement between revelation and science at every\npoint truly understood--increased light means increased evidence.\nNations and men, nature and Providence, are united witnesses for God, and\nthe Scriptures, and the more we know of the past, the better shall we\nunderstand the present and forecast the future.  Let us recognise the\nfuture.  Let us recognise the important difference between the Bible\nsubjectively and objectively--that is, between what the Bible really is\nand what men think it is.  Let us be free enough, bold enough, and wise\nenough, to claim the Bible itself.  Let us unyoke it from tradition,\nwhich claims to be superior, or even equal.  Let us divorce it from\ncouncils, from creeds, from sects and denominations; let us lift it up\nout of the ecclesiastical rut of ages.  Let us with a commendable pride\ncount ourselves worthy and able to formulate our own creeds, make our own\nprayers and confessions, accounting that the liberties of our fathers\nhave been bequeathed to their children, and that the same God who gave\nthem liberty and power is no less gracious to us, their offsprings.\nTraditions, councils, creeds, and degrees are worth much unto us as aids\nto a higher life, and a nobler civilisation.  The Christian fathers, the\nLuthers, Calvins, Knoxes, Wesleys, and others, were our servants, as we\nwill be the servants of coming generations.  They worked grandly, they\nwrought well, they procured for us a goodly heritage; to them we are\nindebted.  Yet it was not their purpose nor the design of Providence to\nenslave us, or to stereotype the Church for the ages to come.  Increased\nlight is increased evidence, enabling us the better to understand the\nWord of God.  When a publisher has stereotyped a book, he is naturally\nloath to make any change or correction; so Churches who have stereotyped\nthe Bible are very unwilling to change, to receive light.  Hence, they\nare sometimes found opposing the march of a better civilisation, proving\nand sustaining all manner of institutions and tyrannies: the torturing\nand terrible Inquisition of Spain, the punishment and hanging of supposed\nwitches by England and New England, the bondage and slavery of the South.\nSo, to prove their creeds and systems correct, they each have a mode of\ntheir own, Catholic, Episcopalian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist,\n&c.  _So also_, theologians have often been impatient to reconcile the\nScriptures with history, even to suggest mistakes in the sacred record.\nInstance Daniel being made the THIRD RULER.  _They supposed it meant\nsecond_, but later researches show that Babylon had two rulers at that\ntime--namely, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar--so Daniel was made a third.\nSee the remains of Borsippia, near Babylon (Dan. v. 29).  Now we know\nthat both Daniel and Berosus, the old Babylonian historians, were right,\nand the Bible was right in using the word third.  God in His revelation\nhas always been equal to man's need.  Tradition--Abraham saw Shem, for\nShem lived some thirty years after Abraham's death.  Shem, and\nMelchisedek, and Job, are likely the same person.  Certainly, Shem and\nMelchisedek are the same, and by Egyptian historians called Philitis.\nThis Philitis was the builder of the Great Pyramid.  Now Shem saw\nMethuselah and Methuselah Adam.  Thus, then, tradition would be\nsufficient.  As tradition failed, the written Word began.  There is\nlittle doubt now but that _Shem_, called also Melchisedek, was the\nbuilder of the Pyramid, being instructed of God, as his father Noah had\nbeen in building the ark, and as Moses with the tabernacle, and Solomon\nwith the temple, as the prophet in the text and context shows that the\nwisdom of the man is often the gift of God.  _See Moses also_.  \"And the\nLord spake unto Moses, saying: See, I have called by name Bezaleel, the\nson of Uri, the son of Hur, of the Tribe of Judah; and I have filled him\nwith the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in\nknowledge, and in all manner of workmanship: to devise cunning works, to\nwork in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to\nset them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.\nAnd, behold, I have given him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the Tribe\nof Dan; and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom\nthat they may make all that I have commanded thee\" (Exodus xxxi. 1-6).\n\nLet us look at this building, for it is a special revelation for these\ntimes.  For this precise and scientific day God has provided.  Science\nand the Bible are interlocked in this building; they agree, they testify\nfor the same God, yet they witness to the same Christ, the Providence and\nhistory of His chosen people.  This stone book could not be read till\nnow; it even takes the most precise scientific men of the day to read it.\nFor thousands of years there has been no one in the court of the world\nable to question and interpret this witness of the Lord in Egypt.  The\nscientists have been asking for some other revelation than the Bible, for\nthe supernatural in a scientific form, for something beyond man, for\nsomething all could see, for something that would answer to pure science,\nfor something that could be seen, handled, measured, tested, and amenable\nto mathematics; something superhuman, for something in which the human\nand the Divine blend.  Thank Heaven, all they ask is granted in this\nstone monument.  Here we have science forecast for thousands of years;\nhere we have the grandest of problems in science solved, and the\nsublimest phenomena of religion and science crystalised, symbolising and\nteaching the most marvellous facts in religion, sociology, and astronomy.\nIt is not a tomb, nor granary, nor temple, but a pillar and witness unto\nthe Lord of hosts.  Think of a few facts.  1. Its location, the centre of\nthe land surface of the whole earth.  Hence the best zero point on earth\nfor meridianal and latitudinal calculations.  Central to clime--here is\nno rust, moss, nor frosts to destroy, nor earthquake--a well-chosen spot\nfor such a pillar.  2. Its form and size--symbolising the earth quantity\nin its weight of five millions of tons--the freight of 1,250 of the\nlargest steamers leaving New York.  Its shape, or inclination from base\nto apex, the same as from the pole to the equator.  To express this the\nbuilder sloped in ten feet for every nine in height.  On this building\nthe sun can shine upon the whole of it twice a year without a shadow.\nThis building is the most correctly orient of any structure on the earth.\nIt is the highest, largest, and oldest building on earth, rising to the\nheight of 486 feet and a fraction, which height if multiplied by ten nine\ntimes gives the distance of the earth from the sun; or pile a thousand\nmillion pyramids one on the other, and the last would touch the sun.  As\nit stood perfect it was the circle squared; for the height is the radius\nof a circle, whose circumference, if divided into four equal parts, each\npart would equal one of the surface sides of the base--closer in\napproximation than Walli's Indivisibles, or Newton's Fluxions, or\nLiebnitz's Calculus.  The door of entrance was some forty-nine feet from\nits base, and 300 inches East of the centre, so as at once to express the\ntilt of the earth's axis from the plane of its orbit, and by its height\nfrom the ground express the Precession of the Equinoxes.  What a witness\noutwardly, when complete, of polished marble, covering some thirteen and\na half acres, within and without clean and free from idolatrous marks.\nBut God foretold the place and purpose of this huge pile through the\nprophet Isaiah (xix. 19, 20): \"In that day shall there be an altar to the\nLord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border\nthereof to the Lord.  And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto\nthe Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt.\"  Here we see the _altar and\npillar_ are _one_ and the same, and a scientific fact is expressed when\nthe prophet says it shall be in the midst and on the border.  The\nposition of the Pyramid is such, being at the sector point of Upper and\nLower Egypt, thus being on the border of both, yet in the midst.  The\nsector point of the arm is where the wrist joins the hand.  The spreading\nhand represents Lower, and the arm Upper Egypt.  (See on frontispiece the\nsector plate.)\n\nMay we ask what the pillar and witness--the Pyramid--has to say on the\nJewish question, for it has not left this fact unnoticed?  At the\njunction of the first ascending passage with the Grand Gallery, on the\nleft-hand side, or East, there is a horizontal passage-way leading to\nwhat is called the Queen's Chamber.  This chamber is on the twenty-fifth\ncourse of masonry.  Now, it is allowed, the Grand Gallery expresses the\ntime of Christ's advent and fulness of time--enlarged liberty.  The\nascending passage being only four feet high, men were cramped in passing\nup, but on reaching the Grand Gallery they were free, for it is\ntwenty-eight feet high.\n\nThe passage to the Queen's Chamber is only four feet, and is it not\nstrange that it is altogether Jewish?  This low horizontal passage\nterminates in a grand Sabbatic room, which symbolises the Jewish\nSabbath-week, feasts, and time periods.\n\nFrom this passage we learn that the Jews rejected Christ, and went off by\nthemselves, refusing the liberty of Christ.  So as truly as the coming of\nChrist had been forecast in this Pyramid, so had His rejection by the\nJews.\n\nThe very mortar in this chamber is mixed with salt.  The chamber is\nseven-sided.  The last seventh of the passage-way sinks down, giving more\nroom to move in.  Salt was an article used freely with the Jews in\nsacrificing.  Seven was a sacred number.  The sinking of the last seventh\npart of the passageway floor may mean the enlarging privilege of the Jews\nin this latter day.  Of the civilised nations, only Russia and Spain\nforbid them citizenship.  Even Turkey admits them now as citizens.\n\nThe Jews have been represented as being blind in part.  The passage-way\nand chamber have been difficult to explore because of foul air, there\nbeing no ventilating tubes as in the King's Chamber.\n\nBut, strange to say, a gentleman exploring this chamber a short time ago,\nfound two tubes by an accident in striking the side wall with a hammer.\nThe tubes had been left entirely closed over with a thin unbroken scale.\nThese tubes extended inward through the masonry, and into the stones\nforming the walls of the room, all nicely cut, but for about one inch\nthey were not cut through into the room itself.  Thus the whole was\ndesigned is evident.  This thin scale no doubt symbolises the condition\nof the Jew.  His eyes are now open, the time of his wandering nearly\nspent, as told by this Pyramid.\n\nThe curses foretold upon the Jews have been terribly fulfilled.  So shall\nthe blessings foretold now in reserve.  It was foretold that he would\nreject Christ; so he did.  But it is also foretold that he will yet look\nupon Him whom he pierced, and mourn and repent, and accept the true\nMessiah.  Lo-ruhamah represents Lost Israel; Lo-Ammi represents cursed\nJudah; Ruhamah represents Israel found; Ammi represents the curse removed\nfrom the Jews.  So now we must say, as the prophet Hosea long ago\ninstructed us--we Saxons--\"Say ye unto your brother, Ammi,\" and you Jews,\n\"say to your sisters, Ruhamah.\"\n\nWe have esteemed the Jews as cursed; we will soon esteem them blest.  The\nJews have never thought we were their brethren, the descendants of\nAbraham.  But God is revealing in this latter day His own great plan; and\nChrist will be the Saviour of both.\n\n\"In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.\nTherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more\nsay, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of\nEgypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up, and which led the seed of\nthe House of Israel out of the North country, and from all countries\nwhither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land\" (Jer.\nxxiii. 6-8).\n\nGlorious times are near at hand for the Church and the world.  Great\nthings hath God promised, all of which He will in His own good time bring\nto pass.\n\nThe very dimensions of the doorway are of thrilling import, expressing in\nsquare inches the time of the Adamic world, which, when added to other\nfigures, forecast the time of the end, or the 6,000 years, and point out\nthe date of the beginning of the Millennium morn, or Sabbath of the\nearth--the period spoken of by Daniel when he says, \"Blessed is he that\nwaiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty\ndays.\"  This period we approximated in our last Discourse, and made it\nout to be about 1,957.  The door-way in square inches is 1,949; take\nthese inches for years, and we have, before the building of the Pyramid,\nof years 1949 A.M., time of building 2170 B.C., and length of Grand\nGallery, 1,882, and we get a total of 6,001.  This is indeed a close\napproximation.\n\n\n\n\nSIGNS AND WONDERS.\nDISCOURSE XVIII.\n\n\nTHE STONE PROPHET IS THE WILDERNESS--NO WAR FOR FOUR YEARS--THE GREAT\nSTRUGGLE TO COMMENCE IN 1882--PRUSSIA ANCIENT ASSYRIA--ENGLAND, GERMANY,\nAND EGYPT TO BE ALLIES--THE FUTURE HISTORY OF THE WORLD--THE PHILISTINES\nTHE SOUTHERN IRISH--WHO THEIR GREAT ANCESTOR WAS, ETC.\n\n    \"The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is His name.  Great in\n    counsel, and mighty in work; for Thine eyes are open upon all the\n    ways of the sons of men; to give every one according to his ways, and\n    according to the fruit of his doings; which has set signs and wonders\n    in the land of Egypt, even unto this day.\"--Jer. xxxii. 18-20.\n\nEgypt is intimately connected with Palestine in providential history,\nboth past, present, and future.  No student can have a proper knowledge\nof the Jewish and Israelitish nation unless he be familiar with the early\ncivilisation and power of Egypt.  From this land went forth the Caphtorim\nto settle Palestine, led forth by the great and good Melchisedek, after\nhe had built the Pyramid.  Under his reign they first settled Palestine,\nbuilt and made Jerusalem their capital.  On the death of Melchisedek they\nlost their allegiance to God, they became an idolatrous people, and were\nrejected by Jehovah as His special agents.  They are known in after\nhistory under the name of Philistines, which simply means the followers\nor subjects of Philitis--a name which the early historians of Egypt gave\nto the builder of the Pyramid, which was none other person than\nMelchisedek.  By the Israelites they were driven out of Palestine, and\nfinally settled in the South of Ireland, as Irish historians allow.\n\nAnother member of the family of Shem was called--namely, Abraham, from\nwhom came God's chosen people--Israel and the Jews.  They also had to\nsojourn in Egypt, and they, too, were sent to Palestine, and graffed on\nto the purpose of God, where the Philistines had been broken off.\n\n\"Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the\nPhilistines from Caphtor?\" (Amos ix. 7).\n\nEgypt has played a noble part in the providence of God through\nMelchisedek, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses.  Even the blessed Jesus is said\nto be called from this land.  \"Out of Egypt have I called My Son.\"  The\nEgyptians gave to the world the first translation of the Hebrew Bible,\nand it was for centuries the stronghold of Christianity after the\ndestruction of Jerusalem.  The best of the Christian fathers were\nEgyptians, and in the coming struggle, the great war, which will begin\nabout 1882, again Egypt will become conspicuous with England and Prussia.\nFor the Prussians are the Assyrians as the English art the Lost Tribes of\nIsrael.  Bismarck may manoeuvre as he please, and be as pro-Russian as\nDr. Storrs, yet when the time comes he and his people will fall in with\nthe providential purpose, and become an ally with Israel-England; and\ntimid and bankrupt Egypt will then come forth to take her place once more\namong the nations of the earth as an independent Power.  Hear what the\nprophet Isaiah says in chap. xix.: \"And the Lord shall smite Egypt, He\nshall smite and heal it, and they shall return even to the Lord, and He\nshall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.  In that day shall there\nbe a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians shall come into\nEgypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with\nthe Assyrians.  In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with\nAssyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts\nshall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of\nMy hands, and Israel Mine inheritance.\"\n\n\"_In that day_\" refers to this day, now at hand.  To this the Great\nPyramid is witness.  For in verses 19 and 20 of this chapter we read: \"In\n_that day_ shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land\nof Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.  And IT shall\nbe for a SIGN and for a WITNESS unto the Lord of hosts in the land of\nEgypt.\"\n\nThe word translated pillar is from the Hebrew word Matzaybhah, and means\na large structure--some monument that is pre-eminent.  The Hebrew word\nAmmood is translated pillar also, and corresponds to the English word\npillar much better.\n\nThe word _altar_, in Hebrew, means lion, carrying with it the same\nmeaning as pre-eminence.  And is not this Pyramid preeminent? and is it\nnot the lion of monuments, pre-eminent as being the oldest, pre-eminent\nas being the highest, pre-eminent as being the largest, pre-eminent in\nlocation--being _central_ to all the land surface of the earth,\npre-eminent in construction, unlike any other buildings, except such as\nhave been modelled after it, pre-eminent in orientation--that is, being\nexactly East, North, West and South.\n\nPerfect orientation men in past ages and countries have tried to express\nin temples, churches, observatories, and monuments, yet none have\nsucceeded so well as the Pyramid builders.\n\nThe famous Uranibourg Observatory, built by aid of the European\nGovernments, under the skilful supervision of the learned Tycho Brahe,\nwas found to be five minutes of a degree askew in its orientation when\nfinished.\n\nA few years ago our Government determined to have one perfect point of\norientation, fixing upon Mount Agamenticus in the State of Maine.  They,\nat a great cost, and time, and labour, concluded their work, and found\nthey were in error somewhere about the four-hundredth part of a second;\nalthough they tried to solve the problem by three distinct\nprocesses--namely, differences of zenith distance, absolute zenith\ndistances, and by transits in prime vertical.\n\nHow then came these ancient architects so early in the world's history\nand progress to build so skilfully?  How were they able some 4,000 years\nago to find the poles, and determine the latitude and longitude so\nprecisely?  Answer, ye godless scientists, and tell us how these\nmonkey-men were so skilled.  How did they know without your instruments\nand instruction which parallel of latitude to choose so as to be on that\nline which would mark the half-way of the world's surface between the\nequator and the poles?\n\nAnd why did they lay bare and make smooth the lime-stone table rock on\nwhich they built close to its Northern edge?  Why press so closely to the\nbrink of the hill on the North side when there was plenty of room on the\nSouth side?\n\nTruly this witness of God is against you.  In this building are \"signs\nand wonders\" even to this day, and as surely also are the eyes of Jehovah\nopen upon all the ways of the children of men.\n\nKnow ye not that the accumulated forces and results of centuries have\nbeen bequeathed to the present generation as a legal heritage for culture\nand profit?\n\nHappily for us God has not left Himself without witnesses.  Long before\nGod made bare His arm through Moses, and wrought miracles to convince\nPharaoh and the Egyptians, He had wrought one miracle, a miracle which\nwould cover the ages; not to be seen by a few only, or last for a day,\nbut to be seen by the millions and last for centuries.\n\nIn this Pyramid we have a valuable inheritance.  Its finish, its beauty,\nits magnitude provokes our criticism, and yet must command our\nadmiration.  This watchman on the walls of time, this sentinel in charge\nof the secrets and treasures of the sires of long ago, this prophet in\nthe wilderness in rugged garb, proclaiming the will of Heaven, as then\nmade known, and now manifest, this Daniel who can interpret for us the\nfuture, this mile-stone of the ages, we do revere.\n\nBy it we are enabled to adjust our chronological dates, rectify history\nin some of its most important points, and judge more correctly of the\nattainments of our ancestors; nay, more and better, to form a truer\nestimate of ourselves and discern the finger of God in the manipulations\nof men, and an overruling Providence in the rise and fall of nations.\n\nThese signs and wonders confirm God's Word, for they prove inspiration a\nfact; inspiration of a kind and in the very manner demanded by the\nunbelieving scientists.  Here is a building superhuman, and of course in\npart supernatural, like the Bible.  In this building the human and the\nDivine blend.\n\nIf any deny this, it remains with them to account for it, and show how a\npeople so far back in the world's history could be so wise and learned;\nhow they could embody so much of the sciences.  One thing is certain, if\nthe Divine had nothing to do with this building, then we are left to the\nconclusion that man was much superior to what the Darwinian theory\nadmits.  If void of the Divine, then the development theory is destroyed.\nIf we admit the Divine, then it follows that inspiration is a fact.\n\nThe building is there, and it was there in the day of Egypt's oldest\nhistorians.  It has been counted as one of the seven wonders of the\nworld.\n\nIt did not embody the ideas of the Egyptians in science, astronomy,\nmeteorology, or religion.  As their historians allow, it was built by\nforeigners which they hated.\n\nNothing idolatrous was carved on it, within or without.  It was a witness\npure and clean.  The Egyptians proclaimed and believed the earth to be\nsquare--this building proclaimed the earth round.  The builders bevelled\nthe face of the rock in a ratio of eight inches to the mile--the very\nquantity that science to-day admits to be the curviture of the earth--and\naccepts in surveying.  It was their knowledge of this fact that kept the\nbuilding sound, without the cracking of a joint, through centuries,\nthough so high.  The Egyptians did not use the sacred amma, or cubit,\nwhich is about twenty-five of our inches.  They used a profane cubit, as\nSir Isaac Newton shows.\n\nThis sacred cubit was a well and easily established proportion of the\nearth's diameter--the very standard now used by the English Government in\nsurveying.\n\nThe stones of the Pyramid were twelve feet long, eight feet broad, and\nfive deep, making twenty-five total.  The building itself was a\nfive-faced figure.  The Egyptians hated five.  No wonder that Moses\nharnessed the Israelites in fives as they left Egypt, or that he should\ndivide his book into five parts.\n\nNo wonder that the Queen's Chamber should be on the twenty-fifth course\nof masonry, and the King's Chamber on the fiftieth course, which is the\nyear of jubilee, or deliverance--which year, as indicated in the Pyramid,\nis the year 1935.\n\nThe Egyptians calculated from the moon in their chronology.  But this\nbuilding takes its calculations from the sun circle.  The Egyptian year\nwas 354 days, with an intercalary month of thirty-three days added every\nthree years.\n\nThe year embodied in the Pyramid was 365 days, five hours, forty-eight\nminutes, forty-seven and seven-tenths seconds.  If a person took a rod of\na cubit length, and measured one of the base sides of the Pyramid, he\nwould find this twenty-five inch measure to be contained as often as\nthere are days in the year, with the same fraction in inches as the\nhours, minutes, and seconds.\n\nIs it impious to ask how these builders knew the solar year so\ncompletely?  They knew the sun's circle of 448 years, which completes a\ncircle of time without any excess or deficiency.  This they ran into\nweights and measures as God's religion does.\n\nThe Pyramid, having four sides, would divide this circle into four parts,\nwhich make 112 pounds, or a hundred-weight; or, if multiplied by five,\nthe faces of the Pyramid, 448 would give 2,240, or a ton.\n\nIn the descending and ascending passages a person must stoop to pass\nthrough them, but when the Grand Gallery is reached, they can stand\nupright, for this gallery enlarges seven times the proportions of the\nothers.  The first passages are only four feet high; this is\ntwenty-eight.\n\nThe first ascending passage is 1,542 inches in length--the time, taking\ninches for years, from the exodus of Israel from Egypt to Christ.\n\nChrist brings enlarged liberty.  He was symbolised by the ton--the end of\nweight scale.  \"When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His\nSon.\"\n\nAgain, thirty-three inches in this gallery is an open sepulchre with\nfifty-six empty graves in miniature, carved out, telling, again, by a\nstrange coincident, the life years of the Saviour and His resurrection;\nalso the number of those who rose immediately after.  For \"the graves\nwere opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out\nof the graves after His resurrection\" (Matt. xxvii. 52).\n\nAnother remarkable feature is, that at the end of this gallery, the wall\nbulges forward about four inches, as if it were going to fall in.  This\ngallery, on the floor is 1,882 inches; on the roof, 1,878 inches.  This\nexplains to us our very times.  The shadow of war--Russia and England\nappearing as if they would fight every day.  But they know not the\ncounsels of God, nor His sublime purpose.  Surely, as the text declares,\n\"Our God is great in counsel and mighty in work; and His eyes are open\nupon all the ways of the sons of men.\"  More next Sunday evening, God\nwilling, about His own marvellous witnesses.  Let us praise and adore\nHim.\n\n    \"_And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles_, _in the\n    midst of many people as a_ LION _among the beasts of the forest_, _as\n    a_ YOUNG LION _among the flocks of sheep_: _who_, _if he go through_,\n    _both treadeth down and teareth in pieces_, _and none can\n    deliver_.\"--Micah v. 7.\n\n              [Picture: Coat of Arms with Lion and Unicorn]\n\n    \"_His glory is like the firstling of his bullock_, _and his horns\n    like the_ HORNS OF UNICORNS: _with them he shall push the people\n    together to the_ ENDS _of the_ EARTH.\"--Deut. xxxiii. 17.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THRONE OF DAVID.\nDISCOURSE XIX.\n\n\nENGLAND'S PROPHECY FULFILLED IN THE BERLIN CONGRESS--THE HARP OF TARA THE\nHARP OF ISRAEL--THE FUTURE EUROPEAN ALLIANCES--ROYAL SUCCESSION OF THE\nHOUSE OF ISRAEL.\n\n    \"I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more,\n    until He comes whose right it is; and I will give it Him.\"--Ezekiel\n    xxi. 27.\n\nThe closing of the famous European Congress will now freely permit us to\ncanvass the work and results of the same, and to compare the sequences\nwith the teachings of the prophets and intentions of Providence.  The\nresults of the Congress have taken the world by surprise.  The very fact\nthat one should have been held under the enforced conditions of the\ncrownless king, Disraeli, was a wonder in itself.  But the wonder is not\nconfined to the meeting and work of the Congress, for outside of, and in\nspite of the Congress, a treaty has been made which converts wonder into\namazement.  Back in the middle of last May (1878), England and Turkey\nformed an alliance, offensive and defensive.  Nay, more, for Turkey cedes\nto England the fruitful and strategic island of Cyprus.  What a triangle\nof strongholds--Cyprus, Malta, and Gibraltar!  Shades of Bonaparte!\nWhere is France in these days?  She is renewing her strength, and is\nwisely standing aside so as not to oppose Providence.  In all this there\nis nothing new or strange to the prophetic student.  For long ago it was\nwritten of Israel that she should be a company of nations, and possess\nthe gates of her enemies.\n\nIt is not by might, nor power of human origin, that these events must be\njudged, or that they come to pass.  But surely by the Spirit of God.\n\"There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth it\nunderstanding.\"  Here Job gives us the key to unlock the mysteries of the\ncrownless king and his success.  The apothegm of Bonaparte is as false as\nhe was unsuccessful--namely, that Providence is always on the side of the\nstrongest battalions.  In Israel, in time of old, this was seldom true.\nIn fact, it was not true in the experience and campaigns of Bonaparte.\nThe logic of such a faith has been the ruin of lovely France more than\nonce, and will be again.  For it must needs be that France break her\nalliance with England, though now they are friends.  France in a few\nyears will ally with the Beast, the Roman Church, in its last struggle\nfor rule and supremacy; and she will join hands with Anti-Christ.  France\nwill repeat the follies of '93.  She will again seek to dethrone\nReligion, and enthrone Reason.  Her Marats, Desmoulens, Herberts,\nClootzes, and Robespierres are at hand ready to overturn.  And the Church\nof her choice is patiently waiting to re-enact the scenes of blood and\nterror of St. Bartholomew.  Her time of opportunity will appear to have\ncome in a few years.  Bismarck and Kaiser William will be out of the way,\nand Germany will languish for want of two equal successors.  And France\nwill not forget to pay back the debt of revenge she owes to Germany, and\nseek to reclaim her prestige in councils, and especially to restore her\nlost influence over Egypt, Turkey, and the Mediterranean.\n\nLast year it would not have been so easy to see how France and England\nwere to become once again enemies.  This Cyprus wedge has cleft open a\nlittle farther the dark and mysterious way.\n\nLast Monday we received the astounding telegram of the treaty between\nEngland and Turkey.  It evidently was a surprise, we have no doubt, even\nto Rev. Dr. Storrs, and the _New York Herald_, as well as to many others\nwho could see nothing but defeat and shame for Israel-England.  From Dr.\nStorrs we have not heard what he now thinks of his child of promise,\nRussia.  From the _Herald_ we did hear, for, by the way, the _Herald_ is\none of our morning papers.  By an editorial of a column and a half the\n_Herald_ struggled nobly to wriggle out of the tight corner in which its\nsympathies for Russia had crowded it.  We like and admire the _Herald_,\nbecause of its tact and ingenuity in getting news first from any part of\nthe world.  Still this time she was behind time.  Two years ago, from\nthis pulpit, we announced the exciting facts of the past week.  Last\nSunday evening we closed our discourse in these words: \"Now, again,\nEngland pledges herself a Continental Power, nay, more, an Asiatic Power.\nShe will come forth from the Congress the virtual ruler of Turkey, the\nowner of Palestine.\"\n\nIf the Saxons be the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel--and most certainly they\nrespond to all the features that were to distinctly mark them when found,\nas written in the Bible--then the English throne is a continuation of\nDavid's throne, and the seed on it must be the seed of David, and the\ninference is clear--namely, that all the blessings attaching by holy\npromise to David's throne must belong to England.  This is the key that\nunravels and makes plain the marvellous and sublime history of the\nEnglish nation and throne.  We know many scout the idea of the Lost\nTribes ever being found, although over thirty times God declares by the\nprophets that they must return; surely before they return they must be\nfound.  God has not cast away His people for ever.  No, no.  He declares\nIsrael to be His inheritance, and that this people He had formed for\nHimself.\n\nThe Two Tribes forming the Jews of to-day are said by the best\ncalculation to number about nine millions.  If, then, the Two Tribes\nnumber nine millions, how many ought we to expect the Ten Tribes to\nnumber?  If the Two Tribes have stood and survived the shock and\npersecution of centuries when known, and therefore open to assault, is it\nnot reasonable to suppose that the Ten Tribes will be in existence, a\nnumerous and powerful people, for they have been hid, and thus have they\nevaded the persecution that a knowledge of their nationality would have\nentailed upon them from the Gentile and Pagan nations?\n\nSome, indeed, persist in looking for God's chosen seed--His people, His\ninheritance--among the bushmen of Africa, the Indians of America; indeed\nwherever they can find a people mean, and few, and very low in the scale\nof civilisation.  They overlook the fact that Israel, not the Jews, were\nto be the most powerful and prolific people on the face of the earth, to\nbe as sands of the sea, as the stars of heaven.  Especially were these\npromises to be true in the latter day--for then God promises to multiply\nthem, men, beasts, and the fruits of the field.  This is one of the signs\nof the times, and it is a remarkable one.  See our harvest, see our\ncattle, and see the Saxon race--doubling, at least, every forty years.\nNo other nation is doubling at that rate.  Germany comes the nearest, and\nboth in Prussia and Austria they only double every one hundred years.  In\none hundred years from to-day the Saxons will control the world for peace\nand Christ.\n\nTo this end God is overturning, and will overturn until the whole world\nshall be federated around one throne, and that throne is David's--the\nonly throne God ever directly established, and the only one He has\npromised perpetuity to.  God has a land--Palestine.  He has a\npeople--Israel.  He has a throne--David's, and for that throne He has a\nseed, just as the seed of Levi was selected for Temple service.\n\nThis kingdom is the fifth kingdom, to be set up in the latter days of\nthose kings, says Daniel.  The kingdom was never to be left unto other\npeople.  It is typified by the stone cut out of the mountain that is to\nfill the world.  Why then stand amazed at the cession of Cyprus to\nEngland, if she be Israel.  To her was promised the isles of the sea, the\ncoasts of the earth, the waste and desolate places--the heathen and\nuttermost parts of the earth, as a possession.  Already out of the\nfifty-one million square miles which composes the earth, England,\nincluding the United States, now owns about fourteen millions, or say\none-fourth.  She bears rule over one-third of the people of the earth;\nshe adds a colony every four years on an average.  At the present rate it\nwill not be long before the kingdoms of this world will be given to the\nsaints of the Most High.  It is no marvel in the light and instruction of\nprophecy that this throne and people should be so stable and prosperous.\n\nTurn your attention to the founding of this throne of David.  You will\nfind the throne and seed unconditionally federated, the place and measure\nof prosperity conditioned on the obedience of the people and throne to\nGod.  \"The Lord has sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it;\nof _the fruit of thy body_ will I set upon thy throne\" (Psalm cxxxii.\n11).  Again, \"I have sworn unto David, thy seed I will _establish for\never_, and build up thy throne to _all_ generations\" (Psalm lxxxix. 3,\n4).  This promise is to all generations--not a part, nor simply for sixty\nyears.  For the kingdom was rent in twain when Rehoboam, the grandson of\nDavid, began to reign.  The throne of David would be about the poorest\ntype of Christ's throne and rule, and reign, if we can only see it in\nPalestine.  There it was soon divided, very corrupt.  \"If ye can break My\ncovenant of the day and night in their season, then may also My covenant\nbe broken with David My servant, that he should not have a son to reign\nupon his throne . . . Thus saith the Lord: If My covenant be not with day\nand night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and\nearth, then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David My servant, so\nthat I will not take any of _his seed_ to be rulers over the seed of\nAbraham\" (Jer. xxxiii. 25, 26).  Let anybody of the same mind read the\nseventh chapter of the second book of Samuel, and they will see that God\npromised to David that his house and kingdom should be established for\never, and that God would set up the seed of David after him.  Well might\nDavid exclaim when he sat before the Lord, \"Who am I, O Lord God, and\nwhat is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?  And this was yet a\nsmall thing in Thy sight, O Lord God; but Thou hast spoken also of Thy\n_servant's house for a great while yet to come_.\"  It is a pity men will\nnot take and interpret the Bible by the rules of common sense.\n\nDavid at this time was king over all the Tribes and was at peace, and\nsettled and prospered.  But God told him that \"He would appoint a place\nfor _My people Israel_, and will plant them that they may dwell in a\nplace of their own and move no more.\"  This promise was to Israel.  If\nthe promises of the multitudinous seed were to be fulfilled to Israel,\nthen it would be necessary to find them another place, for Palestine\nwouldn't hold them.  So God has planted them.  God never promised to find\nthe Jews another country; Palestine is specially reserved for them.  They\nhave been without country, king, or government.  In the year 725 B.C. the\nJews and Israelites were separated, and since that time they have never\nbeen united.  But the day is coming, says the prophet, when they shall\ndwell together and appoint one head over them.  The Israelites are only\nto return to Palestine representatively (Jer. iii. 14).\n\nWhen Nebuchadnezzar carried the Jews captive, he took the king, Zedekiah,\nwith him, and destroyed all his family, and all the real royal seed of\nDavid.  Zedekiah died in Babylon.  He placed upon the throne of David,\nGedaliah.  Now Gedaliah was not of the seed royal: but God was displeased\nand permitted the crown to go to others.  Ezekiel was taken captive to\nBabylon in the reign of Jehoiachim, the father of Zedekiah.  The prophecy\nof the text was written in Babylon, and refers to Zedekiah, whom Ezekiel\ncalls the \"wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, iniquity shall\nhave an end.  Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem and take off the\ncrown, this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him\nthat is high.  I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no\nmore until He comes whose right it is; and I will give it to Him.\"\n\nNow all this is plain if we keep in mind that Zedekiah was the last\nprince of the House of David that ever reigned in Palestine.  God removed\nthe diadem.  But in the course of time a lawful heir of the seed of David\nshall appear, and the throne and the seed will be established again in\nJerusalem.  It is to this end Providence is overturning Turkey to make\nway for this seed royal.  But where is this seed royal?  Answer: It is on\nthe English throne.  Listen carefully to the following:\n\nJeremiah tells us that with him he had the daughters of Zedekiah, who had\nby some means escaped the destroying edicts of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer.\nxliii. 6).  And from Jer. xliv. 14, we learn that they visited Egypt, and\nfrom Jer. xliv. 28, we learn that a small number escaped.  Now Jeremiah,\nbeing the only prophet in Judah at that time, had a right to take charge\nof the royal seed.  He could not stay in Egypt, nor in Palestine, nor\nwould he go to Babylon.  Where, then, did the prophet go?  He no doubt\ntook ship with the Danites, and sailed for Cornwall, in England, for this\nplace was called Tarshish.  We learn from Ezekiel the ships of Dan traded\nin tin, and other things.  History and tradition both agree that there\nlanded on the coast of Ireland in the North, a divine man and a princess.\nGod had promised to Jeremiah his life wherever he went.  \"But thy life\nwill I give thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest\" (Jer. xlv.\n5).\n\n                         [Picture: Jacob's Stone]\n\nThe North of Ireland had been settled with the Tribe of Dan; they at once\nunderstood who their visitor was.  They called him Olam Folla, meaning a\nDivine man or teacher.  The princess was called Tea Tephi, the beautiful\none from the East.  This princess was married to Heremon, of Ulster, the\nking of Lothair Croffin, for such was the name of the city of Tara.  This\nword Tara is Arat spelled backward.  The Hebrew reads from right to left;\nEnglish left to right.  Lothair Croffin was changed into Tara at the time\nof the wedding.  Tara means law.  Thus began the seed of David to take\nroot, and from there it spread over all Ireland, then to Scotland, thence\nto England, and Jacob's Stone in Westminster Abbey marks the journey of\nDavid's throne, and has always kept with the seed, and they have been\nalways crowned on it.  Ezekiel's riddle is at once solved.  The tender\ntwigs were Zedekiah's daughters.  One of these twigs was planted by the\ngreat waters in a land of traffic.  Our Episcopalian friends intended by\ntheir beautiful service to aid the members of their communion to read in\norder, and through the Bible, or a given portion of each chapter, once\nper year.  But strange to say, this 17th chapter of Ezekiel, they have\nleft out both of the Old and New Lectionary.  It is itself a riddle, why\nthis should so happen, that the only two chapters of the Bible left out\nor proscribed are the 17th and 21st of Ezekiel.  Surely blindness in part\nhas happened to Israel, and what we esteemed as accidental in the\nincreased light of Revelation, stands to view as the ordered purposes of\nan all-seeing God.\n\nThe royal standard of England has nine lions on it and a unicorn.  Let\nanyone set this standard before him as a map, the right hand will\nrepresent East, the top North, left West, the bottom South.  The unicorn\ncomes from the East, it has a chain round its neck.  So the Tribe of\nBenjamin came that way, and, as Normans, were finally attached to the\nthrone.  The big lion comes from the West, so it did from Ireland to\nScotland and London.  On the top we have a crown, and on the top of this\nwe have a lion.  On the first quarter are three lions, second quarter\none, on the third a stringed harp with an angel's head, and on the fourth\nthree lions, the total of lions nine, and an unicorn.  The fact is, this\nstandard, had we time, teaches a world of history, and with the Psalmist\nwe may say: \"Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee; that it may\nbe displayed because of the truth\" (Psalm lx. 4).  The genealogy and\ndescent of Queen Victoria from Zedekiah we will furnish you.  This\ngenealogy has been got up by the faithful and very persevering labours of\nRev. F. R. A. Glover, M.A., and Rev. A. B. Grimaldi, M.A., two\nEpiscopalian clergymen of England.  The chart is supposed to be as near\nperfect as any such thing can be.  If any of you find any defect be kind\nenough and let me know.  In the following genealogy those who reigned\nhave K. prefixed--the dates after private names refer to their birth and\ndeath, those after Sovereign's names to their accession and death.\n\n\n\nADAM TO VICTORIA.\nGENERATIONS.\n\n\n1.  Adam (B.C. 4000-3070), Eve.\n\n2.  Seth (B.C. 3873-2978).\n\n3.  Enos (B.C. 3765-2860).\n\n4.  Cainan (B.C. 3675-2765).\n\n5.  Mahalaleel (B.C. 3605-2710).\n\n6.  Jared (B.C. 3540-2578).\n\n7.  Enoch (B.C. 3378-3013).\n\n8.  Methuselah (B.C. 3313-2344).\n\n9.  Lamech (B.C. 3126-2344).\n\n10.  Noah (B.C. 2944-2006), Naamah.\n\n11.  Shem (B.C. 2442-2158).\n\n12.  Arphaxad (B.C. 2342-1904).\n\n13.  Salah (B.C. 2307-2126).\n\n14..  Heber (B.C. 2277-2187).\n\n15.  Peleg (B.C. 2243-2004).\n\n16.  Reu (B.C. 2213-2026).\n\n17.  Serug (B.C. 2181-2049).\n\n18.  Nahor (B.C. 2052-2003).\n\n19.  Terah (B.C. 2122-2083), Amtheta.\n\n20.  Abraham (B.C. 1992-1817), Sarah.\n\n21.  Isaac (B.C. 1896-1716), Rebekah.\n\n22.  Jacob (B.C. 1837-1690), Leah.\n\n23.  Judah (b. B.C. 1753), Tamar.\n\n24.  Hezron.\n\n25.  Aram.\n\n26.  Aminadab.\n\n27.  Naashon.\n\n28.  Salmon.\n\n29.  Boaz (B.C. 1312), Ruth.\n\n30.  Obed.\n\n31.  Jesse.\n\n\n\nKINGS OF ISRAEL.\n\n\n32.  K. David (B.C. 1085-1015), Bathsheba.\n\n33.  K. Solomon (B.C. 1033-975), Naamah.\n\n34.  K. Rehoboam (B.C. b. 1016, d. 958), Maacah.\n\n35.  K. Abijam (B.C. 958-955).\n\n36.  K. Asa (B.C. 955-914), Azubah.\n\n37.  K. Jehoshaphat (B.C. 914-889).\n\n38.  K. Jehoram (B.C. 889-885), Athaliah.\n\n39.  K. Ahaziah (B.C. 906-884), Zibiah.\n\n40.  K. Joash (B.C. 885-839), Jehoaddan.\n\n41.  K. Amaziah (B.C. b. 864, d. 810), Jecholiah.\n\n42.  K. Uzziah (B.C. b. 826, d. 758), Jerushah.\n\n43.  K. Jotham (B.C. b. 783, d. 742).\n\n44.  K. Ahaz (B.C. b. 787, d. 726), Abi.\n\n45.  K. Hezekiah (B.C. b. 751, d. 698), Hephzibah.\n\n46.  K. Manasseh (B.C. b. 710, d. 643), Meshullemeth.\n\n47.  K. Amon (B.C. b. 621, d. 641), Jedediah.\n\n48.  K. Josiah (B.C. b. 649, d. 610), Hamutah.\n\n49.  K. Zedekiah (B.C. 599-578).\n\n\n\nKINGS OF IRELAND.\n\n\n50.  K. Heremon fl. (B.C. 580), Q. T. Tephi.  She was Zedekiah's\ndaughter.  Reigned 15 years.\n\n51.  K. Irial Faidh (reigned 10 years).\n\n52.  K. Eithriall (reigned 20 years).\n\n53.  Follian.\n\n54.  K. Tighernmas (reigned 50 years).\n\n55.  Eanbotha.\n\n56.  Smoirguil.\n\n57.  K. Fiachadh Labhriane (reigned 24 years).\n\n58.  K. Aongus Ollmuchaidh (reigned 27 years).\n\n59.  Maoin.\n\n60.  K. Rotheachta (reigned 25 years).\n\n61.  Dein.\n\n62.  K. Siorna Saoghalach (reigned 21 years).\n\n63.  Oliolla Olchaoin.\n\n64.  K. Giallchadh (reigned 9 years).\n\n65.  K. Aodhain Glas (reigned 20 years).\n\n66.  K. Simeon Breac (reigned 6 years).\n\n67.  K. Muireadach Bolgrach (reigned 4 years).\n\n68.  K. Fiachadh Tolgrach (reigned 7 years).\n\n69.  K. Duach Laidhrach (reigned 10 years).\n\n70.  Eochaidh Buaigllcry.\n\n71.  K. Ugaine More the Great (reigned 30 years).\n\n72.  R. Cobhthach Coalbreag (reigned 30 years).\n\n73.  Meilage.\n\n74.  K. Jaran Gleofathach (reigned 7 years).\n\n75.  K. Conla Cruaidh Cealgach (reigned 4 years).\n\n76.  K. Oiloilla Caisfhiaclach (reigned 25 years).\n\n77.  K. Eochaidh Foltlenthan (reigned 11 years).\n\n78.  K. Aongus Tuirmheach Teamharch (reigned 30 years).\n\n79.  K. Eana Aighneach (reigned 28 years).\n\n80.  Labhra Luirc.\n\n81.  Blathuchta.\n\n82.  Easamhuin Eamhna.\n\n83.  Roighnein Ruadh.\n\n84.  Finlogha.\n\n85.  Fian.\n\n86.  K. Eodchaidh Feidhlioch (reigned 12 years).\n\n87.  Fineamhnas.\n\n88.  K. Lughaidh Raidhdearg.\n\n89.  K. Criomhthan Niadhnar (reigned 16 years).\n\n90.  Fearaidhach Fion Feachtnuigh.\n\n91.  K. Fiachadh Fionoluidh (reigned 20 years).\n\n92.  K. Tuathal Teachtmar (reigned 30 years).\n\n93.  K. Conn Ceadchathach (reigned 20 years).\n\n94.  K. Art Aonfhir (reigned 30 years).\n\n95.  K. Cormc Usada (reigned 40 years).\n\n96.  K. Caibre Liffeachair (reigned 27 years).\n\n97.  K. Fiachadh Sreabthuine (reigned 30 years).\n\n98.  K. Muireadhach Tireach (reigned 30 years).\n\n99.  K. Eochaidh Moigmeodhin (reigned 7 years).\n\n100.  K. Nail of the Nine Hostages.\n\n101.  Eogan.\n\n102.  K. Murireadhach.\n\n103.  Earca.\n\n\n\nKINGS OF ARGYLESHIRE.\n\n\n104.  K. Feargus More Mac Earca (A.D. 487).\n\n105.  K. Dongard (d. 457).\n\n106.  K. Conrad (d. 535).\n\n107.  K. Aidan (d. 604).\n\n108.  K. Eugene IV. (d. 622).\n\n109.  K. Donald IV. (d. 650).\n\n110.  Dongard.\n\n111.  K. Eugene V. (d. A.D. 692).\n\n112.  Findan.\n\n113.  K. Eugene VII. (d. A.D. 721), Spondan.\n\n114.  K. Etfinus (d. A.D. 761), Fergina.\n\n115.  K. Achaius (d. A.D. 819), Fergusia.\n\n116.  K. Alpin (d. A.D. 834).\n\n\n\nSOVEREIGNS OF SCOTLAND.\n\n\n117.  K. Kenneth II. (d. A.D. 854).\n\n118.  K. Constantin II. (d. A.D. 774).\n\n119.  K. Donald VI. (d. A.D. 903).\n\n120.  K. Malcolm I. (d. A.D. 958).\n\n121.  K. Kenneth III. (d. A.D. 994).\n\n122.  K. Malcolm II. (d. A.D. 1003).\n\n123.  Beatrix m. Thane Albanach.\n\n124.  K. Dunkan I. (d. A.D. 1040).\n\n125.  K. Malcolm III. Canmore (A.D. 1055-1093), Margaret of England.\n\n126.  K. David I. (d. A.D. 1153), Maud of Northumberland.\n\n127.  Prince Henry (d. A.D. 1152), Adama of Surrey.\n\n128.  Earl David (d. A.D. 1219), Maud of Chester.\n\n129.  Isobel m. Robert Bruce III.\n\n130.  Robert Bruce IV. m. Isobel of Gloucester.\n\n131.  Robert Bruce V. m. Martha of Carrick.\n\n132.  King Robert I. Bruce (A.D. 1305-1329), Mary of Burke.\n\n133.  Margery Bruce m. Walter Stewart (I.).\n\n134.  K. Robert II. (d. A.D. 1390), Euphemia of Ross (d. A.D. 1376).\n\n135.  K. Robert III. (d. A.D. 1406), Arabella Drummond (d. A.D. 1401).\n\n136.  K. James I. (A.D. 1424-1437), Joan Beaufort.\n\n137.  K. James II. (d. A.D. 1360), Margaret of Gueldres (d. A.D. 1463).\n\n138.  K. James III. (d. A.D. 1488), Margaret of Denmark (d. A.D. 1484).\n\n139.  K. James IV. (d. A.D. 1543), Margaret of England (d. A.D. 1539).\n\n140.  K. James V. (d. A.D. 1542), Mary of Lorraine (d. A.D. 1560).\n\n141.  Q. Mary (d. A.D. 1587), Lord Henry Darnley.\n\n\n\nSOVEREIGNS OF GREAT BRITAIN.\n\n\n142.  K. James VI. and I. (A.D. 1603-1625), Ann of Denmark.\n\n143.  Princess Elizabeth (1596-1613), K. Frederick of Bohemia.\n\n144.  Princess Sophia m. Duke Ernest of Brunswick.\n\n145.  K. George I. (1698-1727), Sophia Dorothea Zelle (1667-1726).\n\n146.  K. George II. (1727-1760), Princess Caroline of Auspach\n(1683-1737).\n\n147.  Prince Frederick of Wales (1707-1751), Princess Augusta of\nSaxe-Gotha.\n\n148.  K. George III. (1760-1830), Princess Sophia of Mecklenburgh\nStrelitz (1744-1818).\n\n149.  Duke Edward of Kent (1767-1820), Princess Victoria of Leiningen.\n\n150.  Q. Victoria (b. 1819, cr. 1838), Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg.\n\nThus do we see how God has kept His word to David, and with this view,\nEnglish and American history are at once understandable.  The future is\nassuring and grand.  God will assuredly overturn till His throne once\nmore is planted in Jerusalem.\n\n\n\n\nJEREMIAH AND ST. PATRICK.\nDiscourse XX.\n\n\nTHE PROPHET'S COMMISSION--HIS LIFE--THE TRIBES IN HIS DAY--LANDING OF\nJEREMIAH IN IRELAND--WHAT HE BROUGHT WITH HIM--COLONISATION OF\nIRELAND--JEREMIAH THE FOUNDER OF THE ANCIENT IRISH GOVERNMENT AND\nRELIGION--TEA TEPHI AND HEREMON--THE ANCIENT IRISH FLAG--THE HARP AND\nLION--SEASON OF IRELAND'S HISTORICAL PRESTIGE--CAUSES OF HER DECLINE--ST.\nPATRICK A BENJAMITE--HOW ROME DESTROYED JEREMIAH'S MEMORY AMONG THE\nIRISH--DESTRUCTION OF TARA--ULSTER NEVER CONQUERED--IRISH\nINDEPENDENCE--ARK OF THE COVENANT--RUINS OF TARA.\n\n    \"See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the\n    kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw\n    down, to build, and to plant.\"--Jer. i. 10.\n\nIn these words we have set forth the Divine commission given to the\nprophet Jeremiah.  Never before, or since, was such a commission given to\nmortal man.  It is not that Jeremiah is constituted a prophet for his own\npeople, or over his own nation, and country, but he was Divinely\nappointed and set over the nations and kingdoms of the earth, with an\nauthority \"to root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down.\"  Surely he\nwas rightly named, for the word Jeremiah means the exalted, or appointed\none of the Lord.  By common consent, the Jews gave him the first place\nand name among the prophets.  Up to the time of the Babylonian captivity\nhe was second, Isaiah being first.  But after the captivity, on the\nre-arrangement of the holy canon, his name was put first, and ever after\nhe was regarded and accepted as the patron saint of Judea.  He was born\nof a priestly family, about 641 B.C., in the priestly town of Anathoth,\nwhich was situated a few miles North of Jerusalem, in the territory of\nBenjamin.  His work and commission awaited him, because they antedated\nhis birth, for he says (chap. i. 4), \"Then the word of the Lord came unto\nme, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before\nthou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee\na _prophet unto the nations_.\"  Jeremiah's life-work, extent, and\ndevotion, can only find a parallel in the majesty and compass of his\ncommission.  It is the extent of this commission that I wish you would\nspecially notice, for it is neither tribal nor national in its\nlimitations.  He was ordained a prophet unto the nations.  Hear the voice\nof his wailing (chapter xv. 10), \"Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast\nborne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the _whole earth_.\"\n\nConsistent with the vastness of this commission is the recorded fact that\nhe was forbidden to marry in his own land, for \"the Word of the Lord came\nunto me, saying, Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have\nsons and daughters in this place\" (Jeremiah xvi. 2).  The claims of a\nwife and cares of a family could only have been harshly fitted on to such\na work and commission.  Indeed, every peculiar fact in the life of\nJeremiah may be best accounted for by taking into consideration the\ngreatness of his commission.  To discard this is simply to invite\nconfusion, and yet, strange to say, many prefer confusion rather than\nadmit that he performed the _role_ assigned him of Heaven.  For this very\nreason writers, even Jewish historians, are at a loss to account for the\nlatter half of the prophet's life.  They do not seem to know where he\nspent his last days; they know not the time, manner, nor place of his\ndeath.  And why, you ask?  We answer, Because they selfishly and\npersistently limited his life and labours to his own land.  They have not\nbeen willing to allow that he was set as a prophet over nations and\nkingdoms.  Then again, they have been willing to allow him to be a puller\ndown and destroyer, but not a builder and planter.  To grant that he was\na builder and planter, would have obliged them to have found the place of\nhis building and the objects of his planting.  These they well knew could\nnot be found in Palestine, and they were as loath as many are unwilling\nto-day to permit Jeremiah to leave his own land.  A man who would be\nequal to the Bible must be large-hearted, generous, and free, not\nfettered and bound by the errors of youthful training, the selfishness of\nsectarianism, the bigotry of orthodoxy, or the indifference of\ninfidelity, but seek the truth, no matter from whence, or what it upsets\nor overturns of preconceived ideas.  The command is, \"Prove all things,\nand hold fast that which is good.\"  To hear some people talk and lament,\nyou would think that the command was, Prove nothing, but hold hard on to\nwhat you have got.\n\nTry now, and reasonably and patiently follow me while I trace the\nwanderings of Jeremiah to Old Ireland.  You will be surprised to find how\nintimate Irishology and theology are.\n\nIreland and the Tribe of Dan have a peculiar history, which history only\ncan be made plain by reference to the Bible.  Ireland has had much to\nundergo, yet of it God says, \"To the islands He will repay recompense: so\nshall they fear the name of the Lord from the West.\"\n\nIreland's first name was Scuite's Land, or the Island of the Wanderers.\nHer second name was Scotia Major, and Scotland was Scotia Minor, and\nEngland was Tarshish, and Dannoii and Baratamac, or Land of Tin.  Yar in\nEirin means the land of the setting sun.  Hibernia is an Hebrew word, and\nmeans from beyond the river of waters.\n\nTwo colonies settled in Ireland; the first, the Phoenicians, who were the\nPhilistines or ancient Canaanites; the second settlers were the Tuath de\nDanan, meaning the Tribe of Dan.  The words are Hebrew, yet in Irish.\nFor further information let any one read \"Pinnock's Catechism on\nIreland.\"  The Phoenicians were a sea-faring people; pressed by Israel,\nEgypt, and Assyria, they finally left Canaan, and settled in Ireland.  We\nfind nine-tenths of Irish historians agreeing on this.  Then the\nmonuments teach the same--ancient inscriptions, one of which written was,\n\"We are Canaanites who have fled from Joshua, the son of Nun, the\nrobber.\"  The people who show tourists the seven churches of\nGlendenlough, say they are Hittites and Hivites.  Again, ruins of Baal\ntemples, Cromlechs, round towers, go to confirm the same.  Customs--Baal\nfires, on May eve, in Irish Ninna-baal-tinne; funeral wakes, or cup of\nconsolation, forbidden to Israel when they sought to copy after the\nPhilistines.  \"Neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to\ndrink for father or mother\" (Jer. xvi. 7).  The Irish language came from\nthe Phoenician, the alphabet of both being composed of sixteen letters\noriginally, the only alphabet in the world so agreeing.  From the Irish\ncame the Gaelic, Welsh, Cornwall, and the Manx from them all.\n\nThe second settlement of Ireland is what puzzles historians of\nto-day--not the old historians, for they, nine out of ten, admit that the\nFormorians, Firbolgs, and Tuath de Danans, were one and the same people.\nThey were a divine folk.  The Tribe of Dan was a sea-faring Tribe,\ntrading from Tyre to Tarshish for tin, and so became acquainted with the\nBritish Isles, and during Ahab's persecution many of them fled; so of the\nSimeonites who settled in Wales.  This shows us why the North and South\nof Ireland should be so distinct to this day in religion, enterprise, and\ngeneral characteristics.  When the Tribe of Dan finally left Palestine,\nthey with the other Nine Tribes went North, settling in Denmark, as in\nthe North of Ireland, leaving their names on rivers, hills, cities, and\nthings.\n\nIt is this that accounts for so many words of an Hebrew origin being\nfound in the Irish language.  General Vallancy has compared thousands and\nfinds them thus related to the Hebrew.  Instance: Jobhan-Moran, Chief\nJustice; Rectaire, Judge; Mur-Ollam, School of the Prophets; Ollam-Folla,\nDivine Teacher; Mergech, a Depository; Tara, Law; Tephi, Prince of the\nEast; Lia-Fail, Stone of Destiny; Eden Gedoulah, Precious Stone.\n\nIf to Irish history we join Bible history, all is plain.  God promised\nDavid repeatedly that he should always have his throne and on it his\nseed.  The permanence of David's throne makes it a fit type of Christ's.\nNow, Jeremiah took charge of Zedekiah's daughter when Nebuchadnezzar took\nthe Jews captive.  He went to Egypt, then escaped, God promising to keep\nhim whithersoever he went.  So he disappears.  No account of his death in\nthe Bible.  He had charge of the ark of the covenant, royal seed and\nJacob's pillow--the stone of Israel.  Irish histories, some twenty of\nwhich we find agree, say that about 585 B.C., a divine man landed in\nUlster, having with him the king's daughter, stone of destiny, and ark,\nand many other wonderful things.  The people of Ulster, of Dan,\nunderstood the old adventurer.  Jeremiah married Tephi, Zedekiah's\ndaughter, to Eoiacaid, who agreed to abandon Baal worship and build a\nschool for the prophets.  So he did.  He then assumed the title of\nHeremon of Tara.  From Tara, which was changed from Lothair Croffin into\nTara.  From Tephi comes our goddess of Liberty, on old coins, sitting on\na lion.  Now, at Tara, Jeremiah buried the ark of the covenant, tables of\nlaw, &c., and instituted the nine-arch degree of Masonry, to keep in mind\nits hiding-place,--so all may understand Jer. iii. 16: \"And it shall come\nto pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,\nsaith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the\nLord; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it;\nneither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.\"  This\nmeans that when the ark is found the ceremony will end; for the ark has\nto be found and go before the Jews when they return to their own land.\nJeremiah was the first Grand Master.  He, too, is the real St.\nPatrick--simply the Patriarchal Saint, which became St. Patriarch, then\nSt. Patrick.  The Roman Church introduced St. Patrick to offset the St.\nPatriarch.\n\nJeremiah well knew where the Tribes of Israel were in his day.  He knew\nthat Judah, Levi, and Benjamin, were in Babylon, filling in the seventy\nyears of captivity, and the small remnant that Nebuchadnezzar left of\nthem in Judah were scattered hither and thither.  The Nine Tribes, or\nIsrael, were settled in Central Asia, and were spreading Northward and\nWestward.  This he knew, as easily as Peter did centuries after, when he\nwrote his epistle to the brethren, scattered abroad in Pontus, Galatia,\nCappadocia, and Asia; or as James, who dedicated his epistle to the\nTwelve Tribes which were scattered abroad; or as the Blessed Master who\ncommissioned and sent His disciples after the lost sheep of the House of\nIsrael.  The place and locality of the Nine Tribes were known to the\nJewish nation in the time of Josephus, the historian, for he speaks of\nthem, and gives them a fraternal letter which the House of Judah sent\nunto the House of Israel.  You are to keep in mind that it is after this\nthe Tribes of Israel are to be lost.  All prophecies after 700 B.C., up\nto this, our day, and till about 1882 A.D., that had reference to Israel,\nplainly mark out the dwelling-place of these Tribes, and yet these\nprophecies not being understood, till these latter days, Israel was as\nactually lost as if there had been no such prophecies.  These prophecies\nwere first sent North, then West, and then to the \"isles of the sea.\"\nThe law of the Gospel of Jesus would be sent to these Tribes; till then\nthe \"isles had to wait for the law.\"  In due time this law was carried to\nthem by the missionary Tribe of Benjamin.  This very thing and time the\nprophet had foretold, for he says: \"Wherefore glorify ye the Lord by the\nUrim; the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the Western\nsea.\"  How true, indeed \"the isles of the sea saw it and feared.\"\nJeremiah knew that the Tribe of Dan were a seafaring people, and in their\ntrading they had become acquainted with Northern Europe and the British\nIsles.  During the persecutions of Ahab thousands of them had left\nPalestine, settling in Denmark--this word Denmark means the circle of\nDan.  In course of time they crossed the sea and took possession of the\nNorth of Ireland, settling in the province of Ulster.  The Tribe of\nSimeon, that had ever cast its lot with Dan, left Palestine and settled\nin Wales.  Read the prophetic benedictions of the patriarch Jacob in the\nlight of these historical facts, and they will stand out in sunlight\nbrightness.  \"Dan shall judge his people as _one_ of the Tribes of\nIsrael.\"  In his _oneness_, all alone he shall go out first, mark out and\nprepare the way of the other Tribes; and the royal seed, the ruling\npower, shall hide itself in him.  \"Dan shall be a serpent by the way; an\nadder in the path that biteth the horses' heels so that his rider shall\nfall backward.\"  Yes, Dan will be hid among the Gentiles.  He will bite\nthem, sting them, frustrating their purposes.  Then exclaims Jacob: \"I\nhave waited for Thy salvation, O Lord.\"  Dan did wait, until the prophet\nJeremiah landed in his midst with Tea Tephi, the daughter of Zedekiah,\nthe royal seed, with the ark of the covenant, the tables of the law, the\nUrim and Thummim, which would enable Dan to judge his people, with the\nstone of Jacob, the pillar witness, which is now in the royal chair in\nWestminster Abbey; and also with the standard of Judah.  Thus the\nprophet, who was the rightful custodian of all these things, carefully\ncared for the same, leaving them in charge of Dan.  All but the stone\nhave been concealed till the latter day.  For on this stone have been\ncrowned all the kings and queens of David's line.\n\nNow just here we must take up history--especially Irish history--for in\nthis matter and at this very point, you will find profane and sacred\nhistories agreeing.  One will beautifully explain the other; nor can\nanybody understand Irish history unless they get the key from sacred\nhistory.  To take this key later writers have been unwilling, and,\ntherefore, they have been unable to solve the problem embodied in this\nrace and nation.  No people on the face of the earth have been less\nunderstood and more misrepresented.  The real allophyllians of\nIreland--that is, the first native settlers--are unknown.  The present\ninhabitants are not autochthonal, no more than we are the first settlers\nof this country.  On one point all old historians are agreed--namely,\nthat Ireland has been settled by two distinct colonies of people; and\nfrom these two colonies came the present Irish race.  These two colonies\nwere distinct in features, manners, customs, enterprise, and religion,\nand after all these centuries have passed away, these differences are\ndiscernable in some degree, especially so in enterprise and religion.\nAnd though, of course, in these latter years, they have become\nconsiderably mixed, yet an appeal on either of these points will mark out\nthe Danite from the Phoenician.  From the loud boasting of the Phoenician\nIrishman in Ireland, when speaking of America, you would think that he\nwould pluck out his eyes and give them for a gift if need be.  Well, a\nfew years ago, Chicago was bitterly scourged with a fire.  The need and\ndistress thus caused appealed to the nations of the earth for help.  The\nresponse was grand and glorious.  Even hateful old John Bull did well.\nBut what did Ireland do?  Take two of her leading cities as an example;\none in the North, the other in the South.  Belfast in the North, of the\nTribe of Dan; Dublin in the South, of the Phoenicians.  Belfast sent\n36,000 dols.; Dublin, 2,000 dols.  Why this difference?  We answer,\nForsooth, the people of Belfast are Danites; they of Dublin are\nPhoenicians.\n\nThe Phoenicians, or Philistines, were the ancient Canaanites.  They took\nearly possession of Ireland.  On this point the old as well as the new\nhistorians generally agree.  But there was another early settlement in\nthe North of Ireland whom the historians called _Tuath de Danan_, which\nsimply means the folks of the Tribe of Dan.  They introduced into the\nIrish language hundreds of Hebrew words, with many customs and legends of\nthe Hebrews.  They were very distinct in their enterprise and religion\nfrom the other settlers.  About the year 580 B.C. there appeared before\nthis people a strange man, whom the historians call _Ollam-Folla_, which\nmeans a divine teacher; the name or title is in Hebrew.  This man,\nwhoever he was, soon wielded great power in their midst.  What he\ncommanded they seemed ready to do.  He very soon inaugurated wonderful\nreforms.  He gave them a parliament, made them give up their idolatrous\ncustoms.  He founded a college to train students to teach and preach his\nreligion.  It was called _Mur-Ollam_, school of the Divine.  Here again\nthe name is Hebrew, although in Irish.  This wonderful man had with him a\nfair young princess, whose name in Hebrew-Irish was _Tea Tephi_, which\nmeans the beautiful one from the East.  This lovely princess was married\nto the governor of Ulster, Heremon.  He resided in the City of Lothair\nCroffin.  In the agreement of the marriage, among many things, he was to\naccept her religion, give her joint authority, and build the Mur-Ollam,\nor college, and sustain it.  Also to change the name of his city from\n_Lothair Croffin_ to _Tara_, which means law; to adopt her standard or\nbanner emblem, the harp and lion, and to be crowned on the wonderful\nstone called in Irish-Hebrew, _Lia-Fail_, which means stone of destiny,\nsometimes called _Eben Gedoulah_, the precious stone.  From this Tea\nTephi we get our female goddess of liberty, who on old coins is seated\nupon a lion with the Davidian harp in her hand.\n\nOur text tells us that Jeremiah was to plant and build up.  Here he\nplanted, and here he did build.  He planted and built a throne, a\ncollege, and a religion.  Turn to Ezekiel, chapter xvi., and read the\nfamous riddle.  Tea Tephi is the tender twig that was cropped off from\nthe high cedar, King Zedekiah, and planted among the merchants by great\nwaters on the mountain of Israel.  She was the tender one that was to\ntake root downward.  To Jeremiah, the Lord said, \"Verily it shall be well\nwith thy remnant.\"  Nay, more, He told him that He would give him his\nlife for a prey whithersoever he went.  And in 2 Kings xix. 30, we read:\n\"And the remnant that is escaped of the House of Judah shall yet again\ntake root downward, and bear fruit upward.  For out of Jerusalem shall go\nforth a remnant and they that escape out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the\nLord of hosts shall do this.\"  And Ezekiel, in his captivity, sent forth\na prophecy referring to the wicked prince, Zedekiah, saying of his throne\nin the name of Jehovah: \"I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it\nshall be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it\nHim.\"  So was this throne overturned, and was never after established in\nJerusalem.  You will notice that there are three overturnings, and as\nScriptural language is emphatic and not superfluous or tautological,\nthese overturnings mean something.  Turn to history, and you will find\nthis throne has been turned over just three times--first, from Jerusalem\nto Ireland; second, through King Fergus to Scotland, and, third, through\nKing James, from Scotland to England.  This throne can never be turned\nover again, for Jerusalem will be incorporated into the British Empire.\nThe throne has turned over till it got home again; hence, as surely as we\nlive, Palestine will go into the hands of England.  The throne, religion,\nand education established by the prophet have ever kept together.  This\nis the secret of Ireland's prestige and marvellous pre-eminence in\ncenturies past.  The college of Armach could boast of 7,000 students at a\ntime.  Missionaries went forth from Ireland through all Europe, teaching\nChristianity, and founding schools.  Few men can compare to Virgilus,\nEregina, Columbanus, and Columba.  In olden times she was known as the\n\"Isle of the Saints.\"  The day of Ireland's weakness and distress came to\nher when she permitted her religion to be corrupted and controlled by\nforeigners; and by these same Italian intriguers she is now impoverished\nand enslaved.  But for this the throne might have remained with her\nto-day, and England and Scotland have been under her.  But when a nation\nloses her religion, she loses the right arm of power, and the ability to\npreserve freedom.\n\nJeremiah was the patron-saint for Ireland for a long time.  Simeon (the\nWelsh) had and have David; and as surely as the Welsh have kept their\nsaint, so surely ought Ireland.  St. Patrick is looked upon by many as a\nmythical person.  I believe, however, that he was a veritable man.  The\nbest authorities make out that he was born at Bonavena, in ancient Gaul,\nnear what is now called Boulogne, some time about 387 A.D.  He is\nreported as having died March 17th, 465, in the county Down.  His\nfather's name was Calpurnius.  Young Calpurnius, or St. Patrick, as he\nwas afterwards called, had a hard life of it in youth.  I believe him to\nhave been a Benjamite, a Christian; for the Benjamites began to fill in\nthat part of France about that period.  This Tribe were by nature\nmissionaries.  This prompted him to desire to redeem his brethren in\nIreland.  In Ulster he began his labours.  From this same Tribe others\nhad visited Ireland.  History mentions four who preceded St. Patrick.\nThe name of St. Paul, by many, is connected with a visit to Ireland.  It\nis very easy to see how Jeremiah, the patron-saint of Judah, would be\ninstalled in such a relation with the Danites after his death.  He was\nthe real sainted patriarch of Ireland.  And by a crafty design of Rome,\nyoung Calpurnius was created sainted patriarch, or St. Patrick, and by\nthis means Rome linked the greater part of the Irish nation on to\nherself.  Anybody honest and familiar with history knows that St. Patrick\nwas a Christian, and in no sense of the word a Roman Catholic.  The fact\nis, Rome began early to covet Ireland.  Once they got possession, it was\nnecessary for them to destroy the influence of Jeremiah.  This they did,\nin part, by substituting the name of St. Patrick in the place of the\nprophet's; and more, they then set to work to destroy even the old and\nfamous capital city of Tara.  In 565 St. Ruadham, along with a _posse_ of\nbishops and chiefs of the South of Ireland, cursed the city, so that\nneither King nor Queen might ever rule or reign therein again.  They\nforced the government, monarchy and people to abandon the place.  From\nthence Tara was deserted, and the harp sounded no more through Tara's\nhalls.  The city thus cursed crumbled to ruins, and remains to this day\nburied, awaiting a glorious resurrection.  Rome caught her prize at last;\nbut neither Rome nor any other power ever enslaved or conquered Ulster.\nBeyond the pale--that is, the dividing line, running from the Boyne to\nthe Shannon--Rome never got, nor never will.  Irishmen clamour for\nindependence, to be free from England, and wonder why they are not.  The\nreason is that God cannot trust liberty to them; for a people that yoke\nthemselves to a foreigner, and give themselves over to be governed in\nspiritual matters, would make a poor effort if trusted with their\ntemporal government.  We all know that if Ireland had been free, she\nwould not long have remained so, for body, as well as soul, she would\nhave committed to the Italians.  Why Irish Catholics should ask for\nfreedom when they so voluntarily bind themselves to a foreigner, I fail\nto see.  As the Protestants of the North have asked, and had granted,\nspiritual freedom in the severance of Church and State, so let the men of\nthe South ask and demand, and stop not short of freedom from Rome.  A\nfree religion is the parent of a free State, and a free State of free\nschool.  A people who are not wise enough to take care of their own\nreligion, are very poorly prepared to be the guardians of liberty.  My\nbelief is that Ireland ought to be free.  She ought to be an independent\nprovince, with responsible government, as other English provinces.  And\nonce she becomes free religiously, it will not be long before she will be\nfree politically.  Substitute Jeremiah for St. Patrick, and the Lord\nJesus for the Pope, then the day of freedom will not long tarry.\n\n    LONDON: PRINTED BY ROBERT BANKS, RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes:\n\n\n{23}  Essay on \"Manasseh and the United States,\" by the author, published\nby Robert Banks, price 2d.\n\n{159}  This Discourse we give to the reader as reported.  In all the\nothers we have excluded the reporter's introduction and personal\nreferences.","title":"The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":63627}