8
1
8
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(115-116)
2.iON'S
WATCH
TOWER
AI,LEGHENY,
FA
7
:30
p.
m.,
in
Bible
House
Chapel.
Friends
will
be
cordially
welcomed;
but
we
advise
that
on
such
occasions
each
should
so
far
as
pos8.ible
avoid
absence
from
his
usual
meeting.
If
unfermented
wine
eannot
be
procured,
"fruit
of
the
vine"
can
be
made
by
stewing
raisins.
If
regular
unleavened
bread
can-
not
be
secured
from
some
Jewish
baker
or
family,
biscuit
would
be
the
best
substitute.
We
hope
that
each
little
gathering
will
appoint
one
of
its
members
to
send
us
a
postal
card
report
of
the
number
attend
ing
and
the
interest
manifested.
YOLo
XXIII
ALLEGHENY,
PA.,
APRIL
15,1902
GREAT
VOICES
IN
HEAVEN
No.8
"And
the
seventh
angel
sounded
j
and
there
were
great
voices
in
heaven,
saying,
The
kingdom
of
this
world
is
become
tM
kIngdom
of
our
Lord
and
of
his
Christ
j
and
he
shall
reIgn
for
ever
and
ever."-Rev.
11:
15.
R,
V.
We
are
not
surprised
that
it
is
difficult
for
the
Lord's
people,
and
imposslbie
for
the
world,
to
recoglllze
clearly
and
distinctly
the
fulfilment
of
prophecy
at
the
time
of
its
ful
filment.
It
has
ever
been
thus.
Looking
back
to
the
first
advent
of
our
Lord,
where
many
prophecies
converged
and
met
fulfilment,
we
notice
with
what
dIfficulty
even
the
"Israel
Ites
inueeu"
were
then
enabled
to
grasp
the
reality
of
their
fulfilment.
We
remember
how
the
Lord's
brethren
and
his
disciples,
although
in
close
contact
with
the
Master,
hearing
hun
who
"spake
as
never
man
spake,"
and
seeing
miracles
PCI
formed
~lJ('h
ati
had
never
been
performed
betore,
WEre,
IH'verthelesti,
"slow
to
believe
all
the
thingR
written
[pon
eernmg
the
Messiah]
in
the
law
and
the
prophets"-slow
to
re,dize
thl'
fulfilment
of
the~e
preuletiom,.
Even
John
the
Baptist,
who
realized
that
he
had
been
specially
commiSSIOned
of
God
to
UO
the
work
of
a
forerunner,
to
Introduce
Messiah,
and
who
had
been
given
the
token
that
the
one
upon
whom
he
should
see
the
dove
descend,
he
might
know
to
be
the
real
Messiah,-after
he
had
borne
this
witness
to
Jesus,
saying,
"Behold
the
Lamb
of
God
which
taketh
away
the
sin
of
the
world"-after
all
this,
was
not
thoroughly
convinced
of
the
fulfilment
of
either
his
own
prophecies
or
the
propheCIes
of
others;
and
while
languish
Ing
in
prison
sent
messengers
to
our
Lord
inquiring,
"Art
thou
he
that
should
come,
or
look
we
for
another~"
Jesus
offered
him
no
new
demonstration,
but
merely
pointed
out
that
the
Scriptures
were
being
fulfilled
by
him
day
by
day,
<lemonstratmg
that
he
was
the
very
Christ.
Indeed,
we
see
clearly
that
all
prophecies
were
written
with
the
diVIne
intention
that
they
should
be
so
obscured
as
to
be
unintelligible
except
to
a
particular
class
for
whom
their
informatIOn
was
Intenneti;
anti
to
be
made
known
to
these
only
through
the
gui<lance
and
interpretation
of
the
holy
::)ymit.
It
is
in
perfect
accord
with
this
that
we
find
that
our
Lor<l's
teachIngs
at
his
first
advent
were
spoken
In
parables
and
dark
sayings;
that
hearing.
IllS
hearers
might
not
under
stand-except
the
few,
the
"Israelites
indeed,"
the
chosen,
t11e
eleet.
'1'0
these
onr
Lord
so
explainen
his
course;
saying,
HI;
nto
you
It
IS
givpn
to
know
the
mystery
of
the
kingdom
of
God;
bnt
lJlltO
them
that
are
WIthout
[to
ontsiners]
all
thes,'
tlllngs
are
done
in
parables
[and
nark
sayIngs];
.
.
.
.
that
hearlIlg
they
may
hear
and
not
nnderstanrl."
(Mark
4:11,
1:2)
And
these
rho<;en
"Tsraelitps
in<1ceti"
neede<1
spf'ri~l
111
-trndIOn
el-en
after
IIls
resurrection;
for
we
read
that
he
P'\l'lalIll'd
unto
them
the
Senpturrs;
saying,
"Thus
it
is
writ
It'll
and
thus
It
behooved
the
~on
of
Man
to
suffer
an<1
to
,ntl:r
into
IllS
glory."
~llIlIlarly
It
wa<;
with
uIfficulty,
and
onl!-
undl'r
the
gllIdance
of
the
~pprlally
in<;truete(l
apoRtles,
t
h
If
the
prinlltiv<'
church
learned
of
the
partial
fulfilment
of
J
<,,'1's
prophet'
y
l!l
the
Pf'Jltel'ostal
blesslllg;
amI,
later
Oil,
\It'l'e
taught
respectJn~
the
fulfilment
of
other
prophecies
t
III
oll~h
the
wIdl'nIll~
of
the
message
of
reconcIhatlon
and
IOlllt
Ill'irshJp
in
the
kIng-nom,
so
as
to
include
such
Gentiles
as
woul'l
('ome
unto
the
Lonl
through
faIth
and
obedience.
'1'hesp
things
l.eing
ObVIOusly
true,
we
are
not
to
wonder
that
th,'
fulfilment
of
prophecies
now,
in
the
end
of
the
(iospel
al!:e,
in
its
harvest
time,
should
be
similarly
obscure,
and
leqUIre
elucidatIOn,
anti
then
he
comprehensIble
only
to
the
true
spiritual
Israelites,
now
keenly
awake,
and
seeking
to
know
amI
to
til)
the
Lord's
good
pleasure.
In
the
Mtllen
n
tal
Dal~n
series,
we
have
callen
attf'ntlon
to
many
of
these
pl'ophptic
fulfllmmts
now
transpiring
i-to
the
end
of
the
H,OOO
years
of
the
reign
of
evil,
and
to
the
opening
of
the
~eventh
thommnd,
or
perIOn
of
rest
and
blessing
i-to
the
great
antItypical
Jubilpe,
a
thousann
years
long,
in
whose
begin
mng
we
are
now
living,
and
whose
trumpets
of
Juhilee
announcement
are
now
antitypieally
being
blown
in
the
pro('!umation
of
the
restitution
of
all
thIngs
which
Go<1
hath
spoken
hy
the
mouths
of
all
thf'
holy
prophets
(Acts
3
:21)
;
~
to
the
"Times
of
the
Gentiles"
whose
full
enn
WIll
be
with
a
i!reat
time-
of
trouble.
political.
('('('le~iastical,
social,
witness
ing
the
full
establishment
of
Christ's
kingdom
upon
tho
ruins
of
present
institutions
;-to
the
close
of
the
2,300
days
of
Daniel's
prophecy,
and
the
cleansing
of
God's
antltypical
temple,
the
true
church,
from
the
defilement
of
the
dark
ages,
as
now
being
due
;-to
the
end
of
the
1,335
days
of
Darnel's
prophecy
which
were
to
bring
in
the
present
"harvest"
time,
whIch,
as
foretold,
has
brought,
and
is
bringing
to
God's
peo
ple
great
joy
and
blessmgs
through
an
expanded
view
of
the
divine
plan
of
salvation,
enabling
them
to
appreciate
better
the
heights
and
depths
and
lengths
and
breadths
of
the
love
of
God,
whIch
manifests
itself
in
the
divine
plan
;-to
the
completion
of
the
parallels
between
fleshly
Israel,
the
type,
and
spiritual
Israel,
the
anti
type,
by
which
we
see
that
we
are
now
in
the
"harvest"
of
the
present
age,
and
can
know
what
to
expect
in
its
remaining
years
if
we
look
back
at
the
closing
years
of
the
Jewish
harvest,
the
type.
As
our
Lord
Jesus
said
to
some
of
his
faithful
ones
when
explaining
the
prophecies
,lue
at
the
first
advent,
so,
also,
might
now
be
applied,
to
some
of
God's
people,
the
Master's
words,-"Oh,
slow
of
heart
to
beheve
all
that
the
prophets
have
spoken."
Our
text
is
another
prophecy
which
we
believe
applies
in
this
harvest
time,
ann
which,
consequently,
has
a
be
ginning
of
its
fulfilment
now.
As
already
pointed
out
in
these
columns,
we,
in
common
with
almost
all
expositors,
recognize
that
the
seven
trumpets
of
Revelation
are
symbolical
and
not
lIteral-indeed
that
this
entire
book
is
a
book
of
symhols,
and
that
so
far
it
has
been
symbolically
fulfilled.
Christian
people
in
general
understand
that
five
of
these
trumpets
have
already
"sounded"
and
are
in
the
past
i-we
would
say
six.
It
is
admitted
that
those
that
have
already
"sounded"
have
not
been
literal
blasts
of
a
bugle
on
the
air,
but
dIvine
decrees
and
their
fulfilments;
and
we
esteem
that
it
is
reasonable
to
expect
that
the
seventh
trumpet
will
be
similar
in
this
respect
to
the
preceding
six.
But
literal
thmgs
are
so
much
more
easily
received
by
the
natural
man
that,
eyen
though
absurd,
they
commend
themselves
as
instead
of
the
truth,-until
our
minds
are
guided
of
the
holy
splTit
mto
the
proper
channel
by
"comparing
spiritual
things
with
spiritual"-by
comparing
the
seventh
trumpet
with
the
pre
('(',Eng
six
trumpets,
ano
not
with
a
natural
hlast
upon
the
au.
80
firmly
entrenchen
is
the
error
that
many
advanc,><l
(,hri~tians,
BIble
students
and
mimsters
arc
really
expecting
-om!'
day
to
IlPar
what
I~
someftml'"
dpno!nlllatp,!
"(:ahI'Il'l
~
horn."
shrIll
enough
and
loud
enough
to
awakpn
the
rle:uL
It
J:'I
hoth
proper
and
Ill'ce~~ary
j
hat
Wl'
eXf'rpi~p
g'l'ea
t
1':\
tJ('T!<'l'
With
ChrIstIan
hrethIen,
who
thus
dIsplay
then
1Il
fantile
<1l'wloIJIIlent
of
knowlpdge
in
r~'sl'ert
to
spJntual
thinl!:s,
v..-hJle
we
point
out
to
them
that
this
seventh
trUlnpet-'''rlll'
La"t
Trumpet"-"The
Trump
of
God,"
is
as
much
symboljl~
.1
s
w('re
its
l'n'd!'<'('shor"
and
mal
k~
a
lllw'll
!arl!:cr
and
nlll)"
1J111'0liant
Ju!lIlnlt'lIt
than
,1Il~-
'Jf
them.
Ii"
fulfilment
extPII<[h
thllHlgh
a
period
of
1,000
years;
ItS
events
mark
an<l
coin"j(le
WIth
all
the
yanous
features
of
the
Mlllf'nmal
r('Ign
of
Chnst,
I
h
heQ'IllllIng,
we
ull<lerstand,
was
in
1&78_.
ann
its
ternuna
tion
WIll
he
a
thonsan<1
years
future
from
that
<late.
It
WIll
be
"sounning"
for
all
that
time-dnring
which
its
events
will
be
III
process
of
accomplishment.
What
the
events
represented
by
this
Seventh
Trumpet
are,
is
hriefly
explainen
in
the
verses
following
our
tpxt
(17,
18).
The
first
feature
of
this
Trumpet
is
the
announce
mAut
of
Christ's
kingdom
in
the
earth-the
assumption
of
his
great
office,
the
beginning
of
his
reign.
This,
as
we
have
already
shown
from
other
Scriptures,
was
chronologically
due
to
begin
in
1878.
The
results
of
this
assumption
of
au
thorIty
by
Messiah
follow
in
due
course
as
narrated.
(1)
"The
nations
were
angry
and
thy
wrath
is
come."
The
lay
ing
of
judgment
to
the
line
and
justice
to
the
plummet,
and
the
sweeping
away
of
the
refuge
of
lies,
an
early
feature
in
Ollr
Lord's
reign,
as
described
in
the
prophecy
of
Isaiah
(IRa.
28:
17),
will
necessarily
result
in
great
commotion
in
the
af
fairs
of
the
"present
evil
world;"
bf'cause
its
social,
fin:mcin
I.
political
and
religiouR
conditions
and
arrangemf'nts
will
not
sfjuure
with
the
Lord's
line
ann
plummet
of
rightf'onsnf'ss.
t2992]
(115-116) 7:30 p. m., in Bible House Chapel. Friends will be cordially welcomed; but we advise that on such occasions each should so far as possible avoid absence from his usual meeting. If unfermented wine eannot be procured, “fruit of the vine” can be made by stewing raisins. If regular unleavened bread can ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGIEENY, Pa not be secured from some Jewish baker or family, biscuit would be the best substitute. We hope that each little gathering will appoint one of its members to send us a postal card report of the number attending and the interest manifested. Vou. XXII ALLEGHENY, PA., APRIL 15, 1902 No. 8 GREAT VOICES IN HEAVEN “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of this world ig become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”—Rev. 11:15. We are not surprised that it is difficult for the Lord’s people, and impossibie for the world, to recognize clearly and distinctly the fulfilment of prophecy at the time of its fulfilment. It has ever been thus. Looking back to the first advent of our Lord, where many prophecies converged and met fulfilment, we notice with what difficulty even the “Israelites indeed” were then enabled to grasp the reality of their fulfilment. We remember how the Lord’s brethren and his disciples, although in close contact with the Master, hearing him who “spake as never man spake,” and seeing miracles performed such as had never been performed betore, were, nevertheless, “slow to believe all the things written [concerning the Messiah] in the law and the prophets”--slow to realize the fulfilment of these predictions. Tiven John the Baptist, who realized that he had been specially commissioned of God to do the work of a forerunner, to introduce Messiah, and who had been given the token that the one upon whom he should see the dove descend, he might know to be the real Messiah,—after he had borne this witness to Jesus, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world”—after all this, was not thoroughly convinced of the fulfilment of either his own prophecies or the prophecies of others; and while languishing in prison sent messengers to our Lord inquiring, “Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?” Jesus offered him no new demonstration, but merely pointed out that the Scriptures were being fulfilled by him day by day,— demonstrating that he was the very Christ. Indeed, we see clearly that all prophecies were written with the divine intention that they should be so obseured as to be unintelligible except to a particular class for whom their information was intended; and to be made known to these only through the guidance and interpretation of the holy Spirit. It is in perfect accord with this that we find that our Lord’s teachings at his first advent were spoken in parables and dark sayings; that hearing, his hearers might not understand—except the few, the “Israelites indeed,” the chosen, the elect. ‘Tio these our Lord so explained his course; saying, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are without [to outsiders] all these things are done in parables [and dark sayings]; .... that hearing they may hear and not understand.” (Mark 4:11, 12) And these chosen ‘“Tsraelites indeed” needed special in-truction even after his resurrection; for we read that he explained unto them the Scriptures; saying, ‘Thus it is written and thus it behooved the Son of Man to suffer and to énter into lis glory.” Similarly it was with difficulty, and only under the guimance of the specially instructed apostles, thar the primitive chureh learned of the partial fulfilment of Juels prophecy im the Pentecostal blessing; and, later on, were taught respecting the fulfilment of other prophecies through the widening of the message of reconcilation and jot heirship in the kingdom, so as to inelude such Gentiles as would eome unto the Lord through faith and obedience. These things heing obviously true, we are not to wonder that the fulfilment of prophecies now, in the end of the (Gospel ave, in its harvest time, should be similarly obscure, and 1equire elucidation, and then be comprehensible only to the true spiritual Israelites, now keenly awake, and seeking to know and to do the Lord’s good pleasure. In the Mullennial Dawn series, we have called attention to many of these prophetic fulfilments now transpiring;—to the end of the 6,000 years of the reign of evil, and to the opening of the seventh thousand, or period of rest and blessing;—-to the great antitypical Jubilee, a thousand years long, in whose beginning we are now living, and whose trumpets of Jubilee announcement are now antitypically being blown in the proclamation of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets (Acts 3:21); —-to the “Times of the Gentiles” whose full end will be with a great time of trouble, political, ecclesiastical, social, witnessing the full establishment of Christ’s kingdom upon the R.V. ruins of present institutions;—to the close of the 2,300 days of Daniel’s prophecy, and the cleansing of God’s antitypical temple, the true church, from the defilement of the dark ages, as now being due;—to the end of the 1,335 days of Daniel’s prophecy which were to bring in the present “harvest” time, which, as foretold, has brought, and is bringing to God’s people great joy and blessings through an expanded view of the divine plan of salvation, enabling them to appreciate better the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of the love of God, which manifests itself in the divine plan;—to the completion of the parallels between fleshly Israel, the type, and spiritual Israel, the antitype, by which we see that we are now in the “harvest” of the present age, and can know what to expect in its remaining years if we look back at the closing years of the Jewish harvest, the type. As our Lord Jesus said to some of his faithful ones when explaining the prophecies due at the first advent, so, also, might now be applied, to some of God’s people, the Master’s words,—"Oh, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” Our text is another prophecy which we believe applies in this harvest time, and which, consequently, has a beginning of its fulfilment now. As already pointed out in these columns, we, in common with almost all expositors, recognize that the seven trumpets of Revelation are symbolical and not literali—indeed that this entire book is a book of symbols, and that so far it has been symbolically fulfilled. Christian people in general understand that five of these trumpets have already “sounded” and are in the past;—we would say six, It is admitted that those that have already “sounded” have not been literal blasts of a bugle on the air, but divine decrees and their fulfilments; and we esteem that it is reasonable to expect that the seventh trumpet will be similar in this respect to the preceding six. But literal things are so much more easily received by the natural man that, even though absurd, they commend themselves as instead of the truth,—until our minds are guided of the holy spirit into the proper channel by “comparing spiritual things with spiritual”’—by comparing the seventh trumpet with the preceeding six trumpets, and not with a natural blast upon the air, So firmly entrenched is the error that many advanced Christians, Bible students and ministers are really expeeting some day to hear what 13 sometimes denominated “Gabricl s horn.” shrill enough and loud enough to awaken the dead. It as hoth proper and necessary that we exercise great putience with Christian brethren, who thus display their imfantile development of knowledge in respect to spiritual thinys, while we point out to them that this seventh trumpet-——‘The Last Trumpet’——"The Trump of God,” is as much symbole as were ifs predecessors and marks a much larger and moe mpportant fulfilment than anv of them. 11s fulfilment extends through a period of 1,000 years; its events mark and coincide with all the various features of the Millennial reign of Christ. its beginning, we understand, was in 1578, and its termination will be a thousand years future from that date. It will be “sounding” for all that time—during which its events will be im process of accomplishment. What the events represented by this Seventh Trumpet are, is briefly explained in the verses following our text (17, 18). The first feature of this Trumpet is the announccment of Christ’s kingdom in the earth—the assumption of his great office, the beginning of his reign. This, as we have already shown from other Scriptures, was chronologically due to begin in 1878. The results of this assumption of authority by Messiah follow in due course as narrated. (1) “The nations were angry and thy wrath is come.” The laying of judgment to the line and justice to the plummet, and the sweeping away of the refuge of lies, an early feature in our Lord’s reign, as described in the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa. 28:17), will necessarily result in great commotion in the affairs of the “present evil world;” because its social, financial, political and religious conditions and arrangements will not square with the Lord’s line and plummet of righteousness. [2992]
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