"Wherefore shut thou up the vision, for it shall be for many days." - viii. 26.

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” — xii. 4.

"And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. . . . But go thou thy way till the end be, for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."-xii. 8, 9, 13.

How striking is the contrast between this and the language to John: "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand." Yet Daniel prophesied only about 600 years before John; a priority quite unimportant in estimating the remoteness of events thousands of years off. How could the difference between 2,000 and 2,600 years, or between 3,000 and 3,600, make events immediate to the Apostle, which were very remote from the Prophet? But some may perhaps say, "A thousand years are with the Lord as one day; so that events at the distance of 2,000 years would be only two day's off, and hence might be spoken of as close at hand." Yes, with the Lord; but not with men, for whom the Scriptures were written. Besides, according to this calculation, events at the distance of two days from John, would have been at the distance of only about two days and a half from Daniel. The difference would be simply that between day after to-morrow morning and day after to-morrow evening.

Is it not also strange, that Rev. xxii. 11 has been so often applied, as an important proof-text, to the eternal

condition of men, when it is evident from the connection, that it refers to the brief period then intervening before Christ's Second Coming?

So far as our present argument is concerned, it obviously makes no difference, whether the Book of Revelation was written in the time of Nero, or in that of Domitian.

VI. In passages guarding against or exposing certain errors, all implying a general expectation of this kind. Of these errors, we notice the following:

1. Too immediate an anticipation of these events.

2 Thess. ii. 1, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, (2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (4) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (5) Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (6) And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. (7) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [hindereth] will let [hinder], until he be taken out of the way. (8) And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (9) Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, (10) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11)

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (12) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (13) But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth: (14) Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (15) Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. (16) Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, (17) Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”

The original in v. 2, for "is at hand," is évéotnkev, is instant or already present, — a word differing essentially in its force from those which our Translators have elsewhere rendered "is at hand." It is unfortunate that they have not observed the distinction; for the Apostle everywhere teaches that the day of Christ is at hand, but nowhere that it is already present. This preterite is used elsewhere in the New Testament only in the participle, where it occurs five times, and always with the translation, in our version, "present." The practical character of the latter part of the extract shows that the man of sin,” “the son of perdition," the "Wicked,” to be "revealed," was not the Pope, but some enemy to the faith, or hostile power, which would arise in the times of the Thessalonians themselves, the same apparently with the "Antichrist," whom the Apostle John, at a subsequent period, recognized as having already come.

66

The agitation among the Thessalonians, which the

Apostle seeks to allay, shows that they had been taught to expect the speedy coming of Christ. Nay, it had been perhaps produced in no small measure by the rousing language of the previous letter of the Apostle himself.

1 Thess. v. 1, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (2) For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (4) But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (5) Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (6) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others ; but let us watch and be sober.

Nay, more; even this second epistle (which some strangely suppose to have been written for the express purpose of warning the Thessalonians not to expect the Second Coming of Christ in their day, and of predicting the Papal apostacy) implies throughout that the coming of Christ is near, though, it is true, not already present. Thus, “And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven," i. 7. By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him," ii. 1. "The mystery of iniquity doth already work," ii. 7." The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ," iii. 5.

2. A disbelief in the certainty, or in the nearness, of these events, from their having been so long deferred.

2 Pet. iii. 1," This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: (2) That ye may be mindful of the words

which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: (3) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, (4) And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (5) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: (6) Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: (7) But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (8) But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

66

"(10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (11) Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (12) Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (13) Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (14) Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (15) And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom