NO MILLENNIUM TILL CHRIST COMES. - PART 1

R. David Brown, previously mentioned as the great post-millennial authority, describes the blessed time for which the whole Church of Christ is longing and laboring under the following heads, the italics being his own: “1. It will be characterized by the universal diffusion of revealed truth. 2. It will be marked by the universal reception of the true religion., and unlimited subjection to the sceptre of Christ. 3. It shall be a time of universal peace. 4. It will be distinguished by much spiritual power and glory. 5. The in-bringing of ‘all Israel’ will signalize that day. 6. The ascendancy of truth and righteousness in human affairs will distinguish that day. 7. It will be characterized by great temporal prosperity.”

Under these headings he arrays passages of Scripture which, for the most part, are appropriate and conclusive in establishing the positions he assumes. They are positions which post-millenarians will no doubt gladly take by the side of their distinguished leader, and since they will be accepted without a moment’s hesitation, as far as they go, by pre-millenarians, happily the two parties are brought together again in harmony. The question is not whether there will be a period of millennial blessedness, but whether it will precede or succeed the personal coming of Christ.

Every other question is subordinate to this, for if our Lord is to come before the time of “the universal diffusion of revealed truth,” the universal reception of the true religion and unlimited subjection to the sceptre of Christ,” the time of “universal peace,” of “much spiritual power and glory,” of the “in-bringing of all Israel,” of “the ascendency of truth and righteousness in human affairs,” of “great temporal prosperity,” as described by Dr. Brown, it is obviously the proper posture of the believer to be continually “looking for that blessed hope.” But if He is to come after the time commonly called the Millennium, it is equally obvious that it is foolish to expect Him now; and all the motives and incentives to Christian life stated in the preceding chapter are instantly stripped of their power.

It is a fact which few will dispute, that those who reject the doctrine of our Lord’s pre-millennial advent do not feel the power of such motives and incentives; but on the other hand they exhibit symptoms of impatience or contempt or weariness, when believers who “love his appearing” tell out the joy excited in their breasts by its anticipation. Yet the restiveness occasioned by the bare mention of the subject should not cause surprise, when we remember that the truth here advocated clouds some of the fairest prospects, and scatters to the winds some of the most fondly cherished expectations of the Church and the world. It is altogether congenial to our nature to think well of ourselves, and, as our political and pulpit orators say, “to have faith in man,” and to watch with admiration the strides of an advancing civilization, and to boast of the important discoveries and wonderful inventions of the age, and to point with triumph to the gorgeous car of human progress as it moves across the face of the earth, carrying light and liberty to the nations, and to be proud of our country, and to be confident that our own religious denomination is to wield an immense influence in converting mankind. Hence when it is asserted that all these appliances will utterly fail to regenerate the race, or to bring about the desired Millennium, it is not strange that the statement should be scouted by the multitude as the proof of a diseased mind. Let those to whom God has been pleased to reveal the truth have patience with the ignorant and deluded, remembering the darkness in which they themselves once walked.

But after all the inquiry remains, what does the word of God teach with regard to the means by which millennial holiness and happiness are to be introduced? It is undoubtedly the common impression that they will be evolved out of the present state of things as manhood follows youth, or as the noon-tide splendor of the sun succeeds the morning that struggled with the early mists.

It is supposed that the world will gradually become better and better, that the Church will gradually increase the number of her converts, and enlarge the range of her influence, that war and intemperance and vice in all its hideous forms will gradually disappear, until at length there will be “the universal diffusion of revealed truth,” “the universal reception of the true religion, and unlimited subjection to the sceptre of Christ,” and “a time of universal peace.” Men find promises of such a blessed period in the Sacred Scriptures, and leap to the conclusion- that they will be fulfilled through the agencies now employed for saving the lost without reading the promises in their connection.

Let us, however, pursue the track marked out by Dr. Brown, and we will see whether he has not put upon the texts he cites a most erroneous construction in order to sustain his views of a Millennium without Christ. We can make the Bible teach anything, even that “there is no God,” (Ps. xiv: i), if we are allowed to take detached statements without regard to the context. The only way to read the holy book is to study it all, and especially to examine any passage that may engage our attention, in the light of its immediate surroundings. The failure to do this has led the author now under review, in quoting his favorite texts, to leave out the important fact that the millennial glory of which he writes is to be introduced by terrible judgments, and not by the gradual success of the gospel as now proclaimed. An examination of the principal passages he cites will make this perfectly clear.

(1.) Under the heading that the Millennium “will be characterized by the universal diffusion of revealed truth,” he brings forward the following texts: “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” (Isa. xi: 9); and “He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations,” (Isa. xxv: 7). With regard to the former of these cheering promises, the prophet after predicting in the preceding chapter the wrath of God against Israel, leaving them, although like the sand of the sea, a little remnant to return, and after stating that “the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled,” introduces the passage quoted by Dr. Brown by declaring that “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked,” (Isa. xi: 4). Then immediately follows the prophecy that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, terminating with the promise that the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. The universal diffusion of revealed truth, therefore, is not the result of the means of grace now employed, but it closely succeeds a well-nigh universal destruction.

With regard to the second passage quoted by Dr. Brown, we find it introduced with these words: “The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited [margin, found wanting]. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously,” (Isa. xxiv: 19-23). This is the mount of which it is said, “In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.” Obviously, however, this blessed time is not preceded by the gradual spread of the gospel, but by the most dreadful judgments, as we learn also from the verses following the promise which describe the enemies of God as trodden down for the dunghill, while He spreads forth His ' hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim.

(2.) Under the next head describing the Millennium as “marked by the universal reception of the true religion, and unlimited subjection to the sceptre of Christ,” the first passage cited is the well-known and oft-quoted text, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession,” (Ps. ii: 8). But what follows in the very next verse? Something seldom heard when the previous text is quoted, although there it stands in immediate connection. “Thou shaft break them with a rod of iron: thou shaft dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” If any can see in breaking them with a rod of iron and in dashing them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, or indeed in the entire Psalm, that represents the desperate struggle of the kings of the earth and the rulers against Jehovah and against His Anointed, only the peaceable triumphs of the gospel and the conversion of sinners through faith in the name of Jesus, it is useless to waste upon them any further arguments.

The next text of any importance in its bearing upon the subject is from the prophet Isaiah when he says, “It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills: and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isa. ii: 3). Without dwelling now upon the fact that this is expressly said to be “the word that Isaiah saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem,” (Isa. ii: 1), and therefore it can not be the Christian Church, it is enough at present to notice that in immediate connection with the prophecy, it is written, “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up: and he shall be brought low. . . . And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isa. ii: 10-19).

So with the next passage quoted: “It shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” (Isa. lxvi: 23). But how is this unlimited subjection to the sceptre of Christ to be brought about.? We are told in the same connection. “For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire,” (Isa. lxvi: 15). “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhoring unto all flesh,” (Isa. lxvi: 24). So with the text from Zechariah: “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one,” (Zech. xiv: 9). But what ushers in this unlimited subjection to the sceptre of Christ? “I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle: and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. . . . And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee” [him], (Zech. xiv: 2-5).

(3.) “It shall be a time of universal peace.” Under this head the first passage quoted is the following: “And he shall judge among nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” (Isa. ii: 4). It is indeed remarkable that Dr. Brown should not have noticed that the very text he brings forward to prove a time of universal peace declares that the Lord shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; that it is ushered in by the announcement of the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners together, and, as already shown, that it is followed by a description of men hurrying into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

In Micah iv: 3, the same promise of universal peace is found in precisely the same language, but there too the prediction is in manifest allusion to God’s dealings with the literal Jerusalem and Zion; there too it is introduced by declaring a time of judgment as preceding it, when Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest; and there too we have a prediction of terrible vengeance on the heathen, for “they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth,” (Mic. iv: 12, 13).

The next proof adduced is the beautiful passage, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fading together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ [or adder’s] den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” (Isa. xi: 6-9). It is of no consequence for the present purpose whether this language is to be understood literally or figuratively, but it is clear that the time of universal peace which it signifies is to be introduced by dreadful judgments, for immediately before it is said, “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” Surely this can not refer to the conversion of sinners, nor to the triumph of the gospel through the agencies now employed.

(4.) “It will be distinguished by much spiritual power and glory.” This point is illustrated by a narrative which Dr. Jonathan Edwards gives of a revival in the little town of Northampton, in New England, and only two texts of Scripture are cited in its support. The first is as follows: “Who hath heard such a thing.? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children,” (Isa. lxvi: 8). The connection clearly shows that the reference is to Jerusalem, and not to the Christian Church; but even if the latter can possibly be meant, the spiritual power and glory will be introduced by appalling judgments, “for, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of Are. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many,” (Isa. lxvi: 15, 16).

The second text quoted declares that “a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.” (Isa. lx: 22). Here also the entire chapter is concerning Jerusalem and Zion in direct contrast with the Gentile nations, but even admitting that it refers to the Christian Church, the striking prophecy is preceded by the declaration, “According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun,” (Isa. lix: 18, 19). There are many other passages which would have suited Dr. Brown’s purpose far better, but of course these will not be noticed, as the only design at present is to follow his track closely.

(5.) “The in-bringing of all Israel will signalize that day.” Here he announces his willingness to rest his argument upon the following passage, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written. There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” (Rom. xi: 26-29). of this Scripture is particularly unhappy for Dr. Brown, for it plainly states that instead of Israel being converted by the gospel they were enemies concerning the gospel; that not upon the principle of the New Testament which offers salvation to all alike without distinction of persons and without regard for lineage, but upon the Old Testament principle, they were beloved for the fathers’ sakes; and that they will be saved as a nation only by the personal appearing of the Saviour, as it is written, “There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”

So with the other quotation which he subsequently gives: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness,” (Zech. xii: 10, ii; xiii: i). Here, for a wonder. Dr. Brown admits that the reference is to literal Jerusalem or Israel, but what is said concerning the method by which “the in-bringing” will be accomplished? “In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. . . . In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem,” (Zech. xii: 3-9). Then, and not before, there shall be poured upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon Him whom they pierced, because He will then appear in person for their deliverance, as it is said in the fourteenth chapter, “His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives,” and “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with him.”

(6.) “The ascendency of truth and righteousness in human affairs will distinguish that day.” Here our author brings forward a number of proof texts, but of all of them it can be asserted that they either obviously allude to Israel, or that, like the rest which have been examined, they are directly connected with the prediction of overwhelming judgments, and not with the gradual progress of the gospel, as the means of bringing in the ascendency of truth and righteousness in human affairs. Let us look, for example, at the first passage cited. “There was given to the Son of Man dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and languages, should serve him. . . . Judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. . . . And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, should be given to the people of the saints of the Most High,” (Dan. vii: 14, 22, 27).

It is very remarkable that Dr. Brown selected these three verses out of the entire chapter to prove the ascendency of truth and righteousness in human affairs without the personal presence of Christ, when lying side by side with them are other verses proving just the opposite; and it is still more remarkable that a fair-minded inquirer after truth took detached statements here and there without the slightest regard for the context, and in one instance actually cut a verse in two, leaving out the part that did not suit his purpose. The first verse he quotes is the fourteenth, but the thirteenth says, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.” Then follows the statement, “And there was given him [not the church, nor truth and righteousness, but there was given Him] dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him.”

The second verse he quotes is the twenty- second, but the twenty-first says, “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;”—then follows the twenty-second, “until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Dr. Brown entirely leaves out the clause, “until the Ancient of days came,” and yet it positively asserts that the power symbolized by “the little horn,” whatever that may be, made war with the saints, and prevailed against them UNTIL the Ancient of days came. If there is to be war with the saints, and prevailing against them UNTIL the Ancient of days comes, (and He is spiritually present with His people always,) then it is certain that there can be no Millennium before His appearing.

The third verse quoted by Dr. Brown is the twenty-seventh, but the twenty-sixth says, “The judgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion, [that of the little horn] to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” Then follows the statement, “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” Thus does he carefully omit all reference to texts that militate against his views, and all mention of the fact that feaiful judgments and the personal coming of Christ, instead of the peaceful and ever advancing progress of the Church, are to usher in the ascendency of truth and righteousness in human affairs. Such, it is painful to add, is a specimen of his dealing with the word of God all through his book.

(7.) “It will be characterized by great temporal prosperity.” Here he very properly deems it unnecessary to quote passages, and therefore it is unnecessary to pursue him further, except to throw out the challenge to all students of the Sacred Scriptures to produce a single promise of great temporal prosperity connected with the Millennium that does not lie embodied, as it were, in the midst of appalling predictions of coming vengeance. If such great temporal prosperity should ensue in the present dispensation and order of things, both the Bible and Christian experience sufficiently show that it would be a time of special temptation and danger to the souls of believers; and the New Testament, at least, would become an unmeaning book, for it is full of consolations and exhortations addressed to the poor, the sorrowful, the suffering, the hated, the persecuted.

The same challenge may be given with regard to any or all of Dr. Brown’s characteristic and distinguishing features of the millennial period. In every instance it can be shown that the bright picture which he paints rests upon the dark background of woes for Christendom and the world at large; and that the very texts which he himself adduces to prove the gradual increase of gospel truth and holiness and happiness, when examined in the light of their connections, demonstrate that a Millennium is impossible before judgment comes. Well might Dr. James W. Alexander say in one of his letters, “Though not quite a millenarian, I was struck with these words of Chalmers to Bickersteth, ‘But without slacking in the least our obligation to keep forward this great [missionary] cause, I look for its conclusive establishment through a widening passage of desolating judgments, with the utter demolition of our present civil and ecclesiastical structures,’” There are thousands of others who would be compelled to adopt the same views with Dr. Chalmers, in his increasing knowledge of God’s word, if the}'^ would sit down to an earnest, independent, and prayerful study of this holy word, without the torpor of indifference, or the influence of prejudice.