CHAPTER VII. THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN. A further universal judgment upon the Earth-Matthew xxiv. predicts this The Second Vision of the Sixth Seal refers to it-The 24th chap. of Isaiah describes it-Other predictions of it-Analogous to the preceding dispensations of the Deity-Sodom and Gomorrah-The Red Sea-The DelugeThe guilt of the world greater now than when those judgments overwhelmed them-The general rejection of Christianity-The Anti-Christian despotisms of Europe-Babylon the Great-Signs of the Times not unfavourable to this theory. That the Battle of Armageddon is not the last infliction of divine wrath that awaits our guilty world is abundantly evident. Numerous passages of Prophecy expressly mention a period of judgment, subsequent to that visitation, and of far wider extent. The 24th chap. of Matthew, after referring to the results of that awful conflict, under the image of the eclipse, or fall of the heavenly bodies, speaks of some universal and terrible destruction, styled "the revealing of the Son of Man," which should resemble the deluge of Noah, and overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Sixth Seal, after relating in the sublimest style, the overthrow of all Temporal and Spiritual Power throughout the earth, and the consternation and despair which should fill every breast, proceeds to describe, under the figure of "four angels holding the winds," and thus "hurting the earth, the sea, and the trees," —a universal and final destruction of mankind, from which none should escape save those who were sealed in their foreheads." 66 : In addition to these clear and explict statements of Revelation, the same truth may be inferred from those numerous passages of Holy Writ, which, without any specific mention of time, do yet unquestionably point to some desolating judgment, far more general, and still more terrible, than even that tremendous conflict. Such are the following: "Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, and leave them neither root nor branch."-Mal. iv. 1. "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground."-Jer. xxv. 32, 33. "For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth."-Isaiah xxviii. 22. It is obvious that the destruction of Armageddon, confined as it is to one locality, and embracing only the martial hosts who encamp upon that fatal field, can never fulfil the general and unqualified language of these and similar predictions. Besides, they speak of a progressive calamity which passes from nation to nation. It is, therefore, manifest, that something more general and more terrible than that fearful overthrow, is yet in reserve for guilty man. The novelty of the present theory and its awful importance, must be my excuse in proceeding now at some length, to establish, if possible, the opinion, that the conflict of Armageddon, issuing in the overthrow of all present Governments, both Civil and Spiritual, and thus occasioning terror and dismay throughout the earth, will speedily be followed by a general destruction of the human race, by some infliction of divine wrath, from which none will be exempted, but the real children of God. In this attempt, I shall confine myself to three of the principal passages which describe this event, viz. :-Matt. xxiv. 30-42; Rev. vii. 1-4; Isaiah xxiv.. : I. THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."-Matt. xxiv. 30-42. The event to which this prophecy refers, unquestionably occurs soon after the previous mentioned signs in the heavenly bodies, which I have already shewn denotes the results of Armageddon. The opinion of many Expositors, that it was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem, cannot be reconciled with the concomitant event,-the mission of the angels to gather together the elect of God from one end of the earth to the other. Another more general opinion, which refers the coming of the Son of Man to the period of general judgment, is equally untenable. The signs in the sun, moon, and stars, we have already seen, denote the results of the battle of Armageddon, and this advent of Christ is said immediately to succeed it," THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of Man." To interpret this language, therefore, as referring to an event occurring at least a thousand years after, is manifestly unfair. The representation, too, in ver. 40, "Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left," is altogether. inconsistent with the period of the day of judgment, which will summon ALL, without any exception, to the tribunal of justice, instead of one being taken and the other left. If, therefore, in this remarkable prophecy, we are to understand words in their obvious sense, "the coming of the Son of Man," or, "the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed," denotes a period shortly subsequent to that overthrow of all Temporal and Spiritual power throughout the world, which is uniformly ascribed to the battle of Armageddon. With reference to the nature of this advent of the Son of Man, it is well known, that two opposite opinions divide the Church,―that of a figurative and that of a personal coming. That the same language is employed in cases which do not denote a real and visible coming, is acknowledged on both sides. Isaiah xix. 1, and Rev. ii. 5, are unquestionable proofs of this statement. It may, therefore, signify a figurative coming here. There are, however, certain illustrations of this advent, employed by the Saviour in the immediate context, which have placed the matter beyond all doubt, as far as my own judgment is concerned. A few verses previous we read, "for as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be; for wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." These illustrations of the Messiah's advent, especially the latter, appear to me to fully demonstrate its figurative nature. It argues the universality of His appearance, from the nature and design of that event. The sense of the passage is, "the coming of the Son of Man shall be as universally perceived as the lightning of heaven, because it will consist in the general manifestation of His wrath upon the guilty wherever they exist. As the eagle scenteth the prey from afar, and is guided thither by the force of instinct, wherever it is found, so will 'the wrath of the Lamb' discover the moral carcase, and consume it in that great day." I can conceive of no other meaning attaching to these illustrations of the advent of Christ; and its correctness is placed beyond all doubt, by the connexion in which the latter image occurs in another place (Luke xvii. 37.) It there forms the answer of our Lord to His disciples, when, on His saying, "Then shall be two men in one bed, the one shall be taken and the other left;" they inquire, "Where, Lord?" Since, therefore, the same image, the same language is employed by Christ to illustrate His coming in the clouds of Heaven, and also some universal judgment upon a guilty world, the inference appears too obvious to admit of doubt, that both events are identical. Further illustrations of the coming of the Son of Man, supply still more decisive evidence of its judicial and figurative nature. I refer to the deluge, and the destruction of the cities of the plain. These dreadful visitations, the former only of which occurs in Matthew, but both of them in Luke xvii. 25-30, are described in all their fearful characters of sudden, total, and overwhelming destruction,-as illustrative of "the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed." The conclusion, therefore, which seems naturally to follow is, that the coming of the Son of Man, here means what we know it does |