VoL. XXVI ALLEGHENY, PA., JUNE 15, 1905 No. 12 REMARKABLE CHRONOLOGICAL PARALLELS BY J. Epaap, M.D., AN EMINENT SURGEON, OF SCOTLAND Dear BrotuEr RusseLL:—The Lord has enabled me to see another remarkable confirmation of the Paralle] Dispensations, teaching that 1914 A. D. is the date when Christendom will lose its crown, will be finally overthrown, and when he, “whose right it is,” will take his power and reign. We recognize that the kingdom of fleshly Israel typified Christendom in many respects. Two prominent events, the division of the kingdom into Judah and Israel and its final overthrow as a kingdom, were undoubtedly types, the former of the division of Christendom at the time of the Reformation, the latter of its final overthrow. The remarkable feature which has now come to light is that we have in this a time-parallel. Under Saul, David and Solomon, the typical kingdom was undivided for the space of 120 years. DAwn II., page 50, shows that the whole period of the kings, including these three, was 513 years. The length of time, therefore, from the division of the typical kingdom on the death of Solomon till the removal of the crown from Zedekiah was 513 minus 120, equal to 393 years. The date of the division of Christendom into Papacy and Protestantism was 1521 A.D. Therefore, 393 years later, i. e., in 1914 A. D., we should expect the final overthrow of “Christendom.” The evidence that 1521 A.D. is the date when the split into Papacy and Protestantism occurred is clear. In June, 1520, Luther received from Pope Leo X. the first bull of excommunication, commanding him to confess his faults within sixty days, or be cast out of the church. On 10th December, 1520 (the third month of the year 1521 by the Jewish mode of reckoning), Luther publicly burnt this bull with a copy of the Canon Law, and on 4th January, 1521, the second bull was issued expelling him from the Romish church. Blackie’s Modern Cyclopedia states with regard to this: “From this time Luther formally separated from the Roman church, and many of the principal German nobles, the most eminent scholars, and the University of Wittemberg, publicly declared in favor of the reformed doctrines and discipline. Luther’s bold refusal to recant at the Diet of Worms (17th April, 1521) gave him increased power, while the Edict of Worms and the ban of the Emperor made his cause a political matter.” THE TIME OF THE END MrLenntaL Dawn, Vol. U1, proves from a study of Daniel’s prophecy of the 1260 days that the Time of the End is a period of 115 years, beginning with 1799 and ending with 1914 A.D. Wondering whether there might be a time-parallel here also, I reckoned back 115 years from 606 B. C., and reached the year 721 B.C. as corresponding with the year 1799 A.D. This date I found to be exactly five years before the death of King Hezekiah. Isaiah 38:5 tells us that the date of Hezekiah’s “sickness unto death,” from which he miraculously recovered, was fifteen years prior to his death, and was, therefore, ten years before the date 721 B.C., or, in other words, 125 years before 606 B.C. Reckoning a similar period back from 1914 A.D. brings us to 1789 A.D., the year of the French Revolution, from which Christendom recovered, though it must have seemed to be a “sickness unto death.” We are told that, after his recovery, Hezekiah gave way onee more to his vain-glory and received the Babylonian ambassadors, just as France once more favored Papacy. We also read that he afterwards led water into Jerusalem for the refreshing of the Lord’s people. This seems to shadow forth the founding of the various Bible Societies at the beginning of the last century, mentioned in DAWN I1., page 51. THE SUN-DIAL OF AHAZ What struck me in examining the above was that the year of the French Revolution, typified by Hezekiah’s sickness, was ten years back from the end of the 1260 days of Daniel, the beginning of the Time of the End. Can it be that the sign of the sun-dial given to Hezekiah (Isa. 38:7, 8, 22) should be taken as a, prophecy of this, the ten degrees (or steps, R. V.) representing ten years? Did the sign indicate symbolically that, just as the shadow on the sun-dial, on account of Hezekiah’s repentance, was set back ten steps, so the date of the French Revolution would be set. back ten years, i. e., that after this revolution would break out in 1789 A. D., ten years would require to elapse before the beginning of the Time of the End? The fact that the prophet Isaiah immediately proceeds (ch. 40) to refer to this Time of the End would seem to support this view. THE 2300 DAYS OF DANIEL The year 1846 A. D., which ended the 2300 days of Daniel, has been shown in Dawn, Vol. III., to be the date of the cleansing of the sanctuary. The corresponding date in the typical (179-180) kingdom was 674 B.C. I cannot find this date specified directly in the history of the typical kingdom, but it is significant that at this time the wicked King Manasseh had reigned 42 out of his total 55 years, 674 B.C., therefore, probably corresponds to the date of his repentance and consequent cleansing of the sanctuary. KING JOSIAH The period of the good King Josiah’s activity extended from 651 till 641, and consisted of a cleansing and reforming work. It ended in 641 with the finding of the Book of the Law and the celebration of the Great Passover. The parallel period in the Gospel age was from 1869 till 1879, the period when most of your cleansing and reforming work was done. So far as I can gather, it was about 1869 that you began to inquire into the teaching of the creeds and of the Scriptures, and it was in 1879 that you founded Zion’s Watcu Tower, for the purpose of upholding the doctrine of the ransom in all its fulness against the attacks of Mr. Barbour and others, and of announcing the Great Passover, the resurrection of the “dead in Christ” in the year 1878 A.D. and the passing-over of the feetmembers since that date at the moment of death. THE NUMBER FORTY When we turn back to the early history of the typical kingdom, we find that Saul, David and Solomon each reigned 40 years. It is clear that the reign of Saul represents the Jewish age, that of David the Gospel age, and that of Solomon the illennial age. The fact that the duration of each reign was 40 years indicates that it represented a complete period of testing and sifting. This would appear to be the thought underlying the number 40 in all the instances in which it is used in the Scriptures. For instance, there were the 40 years’ temptation of the children of Israel in the wilderness, Christ’s 40 days’ temptation, etc. They all seem to foreshadow the 40 years of harvest at the end of the Jewish, of the Gospel, and (possibly) of the Millennial ages. THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS It is clear from the Scriptures that Jesus rose on the first day of the week (Mark 16:2), and also that this was “the third day” after his death (Luke 24:21, 46; 1 Cor. 15:4; also Lev. 23:11). It follows that he must have been crucified on a Friday. That this is of importance in estimating the dates of Jesus’ birth and death, is pointed out in DAWN IL, p. 60. Some object to this that Jesus in saying (Matt. 12:40) that he would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, contradicted the statement by the Apostle Paul that he rose on the third day. Those who reason in this way have failed to note that the phrase used by Jesus was purely idiomatic, and implied that he would be in the heart of the earth “till the third day.” The proof of his is to be found in Esther 4:16; 5:1; Gen. 42:17, 18; 2 Chron. 10:5, 12. God is his own interpreter. THE YEAR OF JUBILEE I had always taken it for granted that the year of Jubilee was an ecclesiastical year; but on studying this subject recently, I noticed that the trumpet was to sound on the day of atonement, the 10th day of the 7th month (Lev. 25:9), and presumably, therefore, began on that day. Accordingly, the year of Jubilee was not an ecclesiastical year, i. e., from Spring to Spring, but a civil year from Autumn to Autumn. As every 7th year was a Sabbath year, it follows that the 49th year was a Sabbath year. It would seem as if these were ecclesiastical years. If so, then the Jubilee year began in the middle of the 49th year. But it was called the 50th year! Should one reason from this that it was called the 50th year because it was the 50th civil year? The entrance into Canaan took place in the Springtime at the beginning of an ecclesiastical year. Six months afterwards their 2nd civil year began, while it was still the middle of the 1st ecclesiastical year. Consequently, their 50th civil year began, while it was still the middle of their 49th ecclesiastical year. If this be in the interpretation, it is evident that the land had rest on these occasions, not two years, but only eighteen months. It would seem as if this were a wise provision of the Mosaic Law. It provided that at the beginning of each year of Jubilee, owing to the suspension of work on the land during the previous six months, the restitution of all things was rendered easier of accomplishment; and also after the Jubilee was over, and each had returned to his own land, an opportunity was given to him to prepare the land and get his crop ready for the Spring harvest and the celebration of the Passover and of Pentecost. [3574]
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