{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52712/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52712","id":"gutenberg_52712","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52712","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Prophecies","Category: History - European","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Second Advent"],"text":"Transcribed from the [1878] (second) Hatchards edition by David Price,\nemail ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                            THE TWO TREATIES;\n\n\n                                   OR,\n                           HOPE FOR JERUSALEM.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                AN ADDRESS\n                                  BY THE\n                           REV. E. HOARE, M.A.\n\n  _Vicar of Trinity_; _Tunbridge Wells_, _and Hon. Canon of Canterbury_.\n\n                            [SECOND EDITION.]\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                          HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY.\n\n                             TUNBRIDGE WELLS:\n                   HENRY S. COLBRAN, 9, CALVERLEY ROAD,\n                           NEAR THE TOWN HALL.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO TREATIES.\n\n\nWE meet to-day under a sense of profound thanksgiving.  With the rest of\nthe nation we have been praying for a righteous peace; and now we trust\nthat through God\u2019s great, and abounding, mercy, such a peace has been\nsecured.  In all probability very few persons are altogether satisfied.\nThere are very few who would not wish to have some of the conditions\nchanged.  But in the midst of so many conflicting interests it was not to\nbe expected that any one nation should have its own way in every point;\nso that we have to be most heartily thankful to God that the Congress has\ndispersed without a conflict; that England is not involved in war; and\nthat Europe is free to devote its energies to the extension of commerce,\nand the promotion of goodwill amongst mankind.  May God bless the peace\nthat has been established, and enable his people in a thankful spirit to\navail themselves of it for the circulation of his Word, the spread of his\nGospel, the promotion of his kingdom, and the glory of his name!\n\nBut thanksgiving is not the only duty of the day, for the two treaties\nnow concluded involve consequences of such great importance that they\nought to awaken in all our minds the deepest interest, and the most\nearnest expectation.  To the student of the Prophetic Scriptures they\nassume an importance altogether unequalled by any event in modern\nhistory; I might almost say; by any event since the Siege of Jerusalem.\nWe are taught in many places of Scripture that the people of God will not\nbe taken by surprise by the great events of the latter days; but that\nthere will be certain predicted signs which may be understood beforehand\nby those who study them.  Thus in Matthew xxiv. our Lord teaches us that\nthere will be such signs as will indicate the nearness of his return as\ndistinctly as the budding of the fig tree assures us of the approach of\nsummer.  When we see the fig tree budding in spring we know that summer\nis at hand, and so when we see these predicted signs we are to conclude\nwithout a doubt that the great deliverance is near.  Nor are we to wait\nuntil the signs are fully developed, or have passed into the region of\nhistory, but we are to look out for their beginnings, as our Lord said,\n\u201cwhen these things begin to come to pass then look up, and lift up your\nheads, for your redemption draweth nigh.\u201d  Now I cannot help believing\nthat the conclusion of these two treaties is at all events amongst the\nbeginnings.  I believe that the fig tree is beginning to bud, and that,\nif it be, it is high time for us to be looking out for the summer.  Let\nus endeavour then to consider, first, what we actually see; and secondly,\nwhat we may anticipate as the not improbable consequence of the great\nevents that have taken place.\n\n\n\n\nI.  First then, WHAT DO WE SEE?\n\n\nDo we not see the complete, and, as far as man can judge, the final\noverthrow of the uncontrolled dominion of the Ottoman Empire?  The result\nof the Berlin treaty is that, although the form is preserved, the\ndominant power of the Ottoman Empire is at an end.\n\nLook first at Europe as re-arranged by the treaty of Berlin.  If you\ncompare the new map of Turkey in Europe with the map before the\ncommencement of the war you will find that it is not one third of the\nsize.  Montenegro, Servia, and Roumania are no longer tributary States;\nBulgaria north of the Balkans is independent of Turkey; Bosnia and\nHerzegovina are virtually transferred to Austria; and a considerable\nportion of Thessaly is handed over to Greece.  Then again the position of\nthe remnant that is left is entirely changed.  The New Roumelia is to\nhave an independent administration.  The remainder of Thessaly, Thrace,\nMacedonia, and Crete, are all to be placed under constitutional\ngovernment, to be arranged with the concurrence of the great powers of\nEurope.  The power to oppress is therefore at an end, and as far as man\ncan judge, for ever.  The Ottoman was let loose from the Euphrates as a\nscourge on Apostate Christendom.  He has done his work, though not for\nGod\u2019s glory, and is now laid aside by the same hand that raised him up.\nHe was appointed for a given time, and a given work, but now that time is\nexpired, that work is done, and he is wasting under his predicted doom.\n\nBut how is it in Asia?  Let the treaty between the Porte and England\nanswer the question.  In that treaty, and in the letter of the Secretary\nof State explaining its object, there is the clear recognition of the\ncomplete defencelessness of the Turkish Empire.  The treaty was made\nbecause there was no power of self defence left in the Ottoman, or in\nother words, because the Euphratean flood was almost dry.\n\nThe very existence of the treaty is therefore a proof that the power of\nself-support is gone.  But that is not all, or nearly so.  According to\nthe treaty, England makes itself responsible for a complete reform in\nTurkish administration.  Turkey in Asia is henceforth to be governed, if\nnot as an English protectorate, at all events under English counsel.  Is\nit possible to imagine a greater proof of Turkish decay?  If there were\nany life left, would the haughty Turk submit to such conditions?  If he\ndid not know that he was helpless, would he ever have consented to such\nterms?  The conditions of the treaty are a self-evident proof of his loss\nof power.  But that is not all; for is it possible to suppose that\nEngland will be responsible for the continuation of Turkish misrule?  Is\nit likely that England will hold those treaty powers, and not use them?\nIs it to be supposed for one moment that we have undertaken the\nresponsibilities, and are now going to look on as passive spectators on\nall the corruptions of the past misgovernment?  But if England secures a\ncomplete reform the days of the misrule of Turkish Pashas are numbered.\nThe death warrant of the whole system is signed and sealed, and the fault\nwill rest with England if Turkey in Asia is not in a very short time\nvirtually free.\n\nNow these are the indisputable facts of the case; the undoubted results\nof the two treaties; and the remarkable fact is that these results are\nexactly such as the students of prophecy have been predicting for many\nyears.  From one prophecy they have foretold for years that there must be\na decay of the Ottoman Empire simultaneous with the loss of the temporal\npower of the Pope, {7a} and now we see their words come true.  From\nanother prophecy they have believed that the decay of the Ottoman power\nis represented in symbol by the drying up of the Euphratean flood, so\nthat the Ottoman must recede from his conquests just as the waters of a\nflood recede from the land over which there has been an overflow, {7b}\nand this is the process which we are now witnessing.  From Europe the\nwaters are almost, if not entirely, gone, so that Europe is practically\ndry.  And as for Asia, the waters there have become so shallow that the\nEnglishman, we hope, will walk through them and scarcely wet his feet.  I\nam well aware that some people have felt a difficulty in applying the\nsymbol of the Euphratean overflow to the Ottoman invasion, and I am quite\nprepared to acknowledge that there is a great uncertainty about the\ninterpretation of all symbolic prophecies; but one thing we must all\nadmit, that if we are right in our interpretation of the symbol, we see\nin these two treaties the most remarkable fulfilment of the prophecy.  We\nsee the drying up going on in our own days and under our own eyes; so\nthat we have this day a fresh evidence conspicuous before the world of\nthe divine inspiration of God\u2019s holy word, of the truth of the prophetic\nscriptures, and of the sovereignty of God over the mightiest nations of\nthe world.  Sceptics may doubt, and infidels may scoff; but we see that\nGod\u2019s word is from himself.  What he has predicted, that is coming to\npass, and, though the time appointed has been long, we see in the great\nfacts of our own day that the word of God\u2019s prophecy is true.\n\n\n\n\nII.  We may proceed then to consider WHAT WE MAY ANTICIPATE AS THE\nPROBABLE CONSEQUENCE OF ALL THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE.\n\n\nWhen our Lord spoke those words referred to in St. Matthew, he was\nclearly speaking of the second Advent; but the events which we are now\nwitnessing are not the same as those described in that chapter, and\ntherefore we cannot regard them as the predicted signs of that glorious\nappearing.  But there is another great event foretold in prophecy, which\nmany of us believe must take place before the Advent, and for that event\nI cannot but hope that these two treaties will rapidly prepare the way.\nI mean the return of the Jews and the ten tribes to Palestine.\n\nIf we turn to the prophecy respecting the drying up of the Euphrates in\nRev. xvi. 12, we find that it will be dried up in order that \u201cthe way of\nthe kings of the East may be prepared.\u201d  That expression \u201cthe kings of\nthe East\u201d does not mean the kings now reigning in the East, but it does\nmean the kings who are to come up from the East.  So that the full\nmeaning of the text would be given if we were to render it \u201cthat the way\nof the kings might be prepared from the East!\u201d  The persons referred to\nare kings by birthright, though they are far away in the East instead of\nin their own home; but when the Euphrates is dried up a way will be made\nfor their return.  Who then are those kings?  And what nation is it that\nGod has chosen to royalty?  Turn to Exod. xix. 6, and there you read of\nIsrael, \u201cYe shall be unto me a kingdom of priests;\u201d the meaning of which\nexpression is explained by St. Peter\u2019s quotation of it, in which he\nsubstitutes the words \u201cA royal priesthood.\u201d  Surely then it is not\naltogether unreasonable to believe that the priests of that royal\npriesthood may be the kings referred to, and that a way will be prepared\nfor their return by the drying up of the Euphrates, or the wasting of the\nTurkish power.\n\nThe same conclusion may be drawn from the words of our blessed Saviour in\nLuke xxi. 24, \u201cJerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the\ntimes of the Gentiles be fulfilled.\u201d  Those words most clearly teach us\nthat Jerusalem is to be trodden down for a time, but they no less clearly\nimply that it will be for a time only, and that it will be restored when\nthe times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  By whom then is Jerusalem now\ntrodden down?  Who is it that is at the present day treading down the\ncaptive city?  There can be no doubt as to the answer.  It is the Turk\nthat is the treader down of Jerusalem.  It is the Ottoman power that\nholds it under foot.  It is the Euphratean flood that has overwhelmed it;\nand if so, is it not an obvious conclusion that the fall of Turkey is\nlikely to be the rise of Jerusalem, and that Turkish decay is the\nharbinger of the Jew\u2019s prosperity?  When therefore we see the waste of\nTurkey, and witness the receding of the waters, we see in that waste the\nbudding of the fig tree; and, as believers in God\u2019s word, we are taught\nby the prophetic Scriptures to look out for the outburst of the summer in\nall its glory on Palestine.\n\nBut now turn to the treaty with Turkey, and see how it bears on the\nprospects of Israel.  Look at it well, and consider whether it may not be\nregarded as the budding of the Jewish fig tree.\n\nAccording to that treaty Turkey in Asia is placed under what approaches\nto an English protectorate, and one of the principal covenants is that\nEngland shall in future have a voice in its government.  Now think for a\nmoment of the vast importance of that part of Turkey in Asia now called\nSyria, and consider whether there is any plot of land on the face of the\nglobe that is of more importance to the commerce of the world.  On the\nS.W. it reaches down to the isthmus of Suez, through which the traffic\nbetween the Eastern and Western hemispheres is now passing like the sand\nthrough the narrow neck of an hour glass.  The result is that any\npowerful nation holding Syria would have the power of interrupting the\ngreater part of the trade of the world.  Then on the East and North East\nit is bounded by the valley of the Euphrates, which is almost certain\nbefore long to become the line of Railroad from Europe to India.  That\ncountry therefore, though not much above 400 miles from North to South,\ncommands the two great highways between the Eastern and Western\nhemispheres.  Any powerful nation holding Syria will command both those\ncommunications between Europe and the East.  Can we then believe it\npossible that England, now having the right of interference, will leave\nthat most important country to the miserable maladministration of six\nTurkish Pashas?  Can we doubt for a moment that the first object of this\nCountry will be to secure for Syria a Government so firm, so just, and so\ntrustworthy, that it may give security to life and property?  Is it not\nnext to certain that those who have made this treaty will do their utmost\nto secure through its means an efficient administration for a district of\nsuch vast importance?  But if they succeed, what will be the effect of\nsuch a government?  Will it not immediately attract thither both capital\nand enterprise?  As things are now, nothing can prosper, because there is\nno security.  If people grow a crop they cannot be confident that they\nwill ever enjoy the fruit.  If it is not plundered by the Bedouin, it is\ntoo often seized by the Pasha.  So that one of our Missionaries\nwrites\u2014\u201cThe inhabitants of Palestine are becoming poorer every year.\nThis is especially the case with the cultivators of the soil, who mostly\nsuffer the burden of a cruel and grasping system of taxation, now doubled\non account of the Russian war.\u201d  But if there were a good government all\nwould be changed.  Then he that planted the vineyard might eat the fruit\nthereof, and he that tilled the soil might calculate on the produce of\nhis labour.  And this is the change that we may expect to see very\nquickly brought about by England.  This I trust before many months are\npassed will be the blessed result of our country\u2019s use of her new treaty\nrights.\n\nBut we have not yet done with Syria, for there is this peculiar interest\nattached to it, that it is the very country which God gave to Abraham.\nThe boundaries are almost exactly the same.  Take the map of Syria, and\ncompare it with the promise originally given to Abraham.  Look at\nIsrael\u2019s title deeds as recorded in Gen. xv. 18.\u2014\u201cUnto thy seed have I\ngiven this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river\nEuphrates.\u201d  And see how this title deed was afterwards ratified through\nMoses; (Deut. xi. 24.) the only difference being that he draws his line\nfrom East to West, instead of from North East to South West, and so\nspeaks of the Mediterranean as the Western boundary.  \u201cEvery place\nwhereon the soles of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the\nwilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto\nthe uttermost Sea shall your coast be.\u201d  That most important district is\ntherefore the very district given by God to the seed of Abraham more than\n3000 years ago.  It belongs therefore to the house of Israel.  It is\ntheir own, and why should they not return?  People say they would not\nreturn if they could, and I have no doubt that of a great number that is\nperfectly true.  I have no doubt that it would be with many Jews in\nrespect of Palestine, just as it is with thousands of Gentiles in respect\nof eternal life.  How many are there who have life and restoration\noffered them in Christ Jesus, but who are altogether indifferent to the\noffer?  So doubtless it will be with multitudes of the house of Israel\nwhen the Jubilee trumpet is blown.  The return may be proclaimed as that\nfrom Babylon was proclaimed in the edict of Cyrus, but none will respond\nbut those whose spirit God will have raised.  But how many are there in\nRussia, in Poland, in Hungary, in Roumania, in Arabia, and amongst God\u2019s\nhidden ones throughout the world, who look on Palestine as the long lost\nhome of their fathers, and who are crying and sighing for the recovery of\nJerusalem!  And why should not they hasten there as soon as Palestine is\nsafe?  They have all that is required, the capital and the enterprise.\nThey hold the title deeds of Palestine, and they are only strangers\namongst the people where they are scattered.  What then is there to delay\ntheir return as soon as a righteous government is established?  It is of\nno use for them to go there now.  If they were to take their silver and\ntheir gold with them now the probability is that they would soon lose it\nthrough either plunder or taxation.  But let England put forth her power,\nand establish with a strong hand a Government that may be trusted, and\nbefore many months are passed we may see the fulfilment of the prophecy\nrecorded in Isaiah lx. 8, 9.\u2014\u201cWho are these that fly as a cloud, and as\nthe doves to their windows?  Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the\nships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and\ntheir gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy\nOne of Israel, for he hath glorified thee.\u201d\n\nBut if such should be the case, how wonderful are the times in which we\nlive!  It is 2600 years since that prophecy was given by God through\nIsaiah, but hitherto there has not been a sign of its fulfilment.  How\nmarvellous it would be if we, or even our children, should actually\nwitness its accomplishment!\n\nIt is 2500 years since Israel was outcast, and 1800 years since Judah was\ndispersed.  During those periods, the four great predicted empires have\nrisen and fallen; but there has been no movement yet for the restoration\nof the Jews.  On the day of the Ascension the Apostles asked when the\nkingdom should be restored to Israel, and the Lord Jesus answered that it\nwas not for them to know the time.  Ever since that day believers have\nbeen waiting for it, assured that it would be, but unable to calculate\nthe date; but now, not only do we seem to be on the verge of the return,\nfor it is perfectly clear that the way is likely to be opened for it as\nit has never been since the dispersion, but it seems not improbable that\nour own dear country may be God\u2019s chosen instrument in its\naccomplishment.  It seems indeed not impossible that England, and\nEngland\u2019s Queen, may be the persons referred to in that other prophecy,\nIsaiah xlix. 22, \u201cBehold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set\nup my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their\narms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.  And kings\nshall be thy nursing fathers, and their Queens thy nursing mothers.\u201d\n\nBut we must look farther still, and the eye must reach even beyond the\nreturn of Israel.  There are many ready to say that they do not care much\nwhether the Jews are restored or not, for it will make very little\ndifference to them.  But we must remember that the return of the Jews\nwill be but the beginning of the end, for there are far greater blessings\nbeyond.  We must never forget the promise in Psalm cii. 16, \u201cWhen the\nLord shall build up Zion He shall appear in His glory.\u201d  There cannot be\na doubt that the return of the Jews and the coming of the Lord are most\nintimately connected in the Word of God.  Every thing therefore that\naffects the Jews affects more or less our hope of seeing HIM.  When we\nsee them in Palestine we may begin to look out for his appearing.  When\nthey are in Zion we may hope that HE will soon come there to reign.  Oh!\nwhat a summer will that be, \u201cwhen the Sun of Righteousness shall arise\nwith healing in His wings,\u201d when \u201cthe sun shall be ashamed, and the moon\nconfounded, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and before\nhis ancients gloriously!\u201d  What a multitude of overpowering thoughts are\npresented to us if we trust we see in our own day even though it be\nnothing more than what we think may prove to be the first budding of the\nJewish fig tree!  It may be only the first budding, and there may still\nbe a great deal to follow before we gather the fruit. {15}  But if there\nis a bud at all there is enough in it to fill our hearts with holy hope,\nand to remind us of the words of our Lord\u2014\u201cWhen these things begin to\ncome to pass then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption\ndraweth nigh.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n               HENRY S. COLBRAN, PRINTER, TUNBRIDGE WELLS.\n\n\n\n\nBY THE SAME AUTHOR.\n\n\nROME, TURKEY, & JERUSALEM.\n\n  17th Thousand.  16mo. cloth, 1s. 6d.; paper cover, 1s.\n\nPALESTINE & RUSSIA.\n\n  5th Thousand.  16mo. cloth.  1s. 6d.; paper cover, 1s.\n\n\n\n_JUST PUBLISHED_.\n\n\nREDEMPTION.\n\n  A Companion Volume to _Sanctification_.\n\n  In square fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d.\n\nSANCTIFICATION.\n\n  Third edition.  In square fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d.\n\nDOCTRINE OF THE LORD\u2019S SUPPER,\n\n  As Taught by the Church of England.  Fcap. 8vo. sewed, 6d.\n\n\n\nALSO\n\n\nCONFORMITY TO THE WORLD.\n\n  New Edition, revised.  16mo. cloth., 1s. 6d.: paper cover, 1s.\n\nINSPIRATION: ITS NATURE AND EXTENT.\n\n  New Edition, revised.  16mo. cloth, 1s. 6d.; paper cover, 1s.\n\nTHE COMMUNION AND COMMUNICANT.\n\n  New Cheap Edition, revised and enlarged.\n\n  18mo. sewed, 3d.; or 2s. 6d. per dozen.\n\nBAPTISM,\n\n  As Taught in the Bible and Prayer-book.\n\n  Sixth Edition.  Fcap. 8vo. sewed, 4d.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nBY THE LATE MRS. E. HOARE.\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN MOTHER;\n\n  OR,\n\n  NOTES FOR MOTHERS\u2019 MEETINGS.\n\n  Second Edition. 1s.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{7a}  See Faber on the Prophecies.\n\n{7b}  See Rome, Turkey, and Jerusalem.\n\n{15} See Palestine and Russia.","title":"The Two Treaties; or, Hope for Jerusalem","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":3974}