Abraham Lincoln, in the history of our country, was so chosen and led of G.o.d. The politicians, and statesmen, and generals, and many of the people were against him at first; but the Lord was with him, so he marched on to victory, the country following in the wake. And though dead, not forgotten, the country and the civilised world are marching on after him, and now they have nearly overtaken him. Lincoln's ideas and the country's are nearly equal. A man led of G.o.d is generally a good distance behind, and the people led by such a man are equally as far behind him as he is behind G.o.d. But this nation and Abraham Lincoln are now one, and in those things in which they once were divided they are a unit, with more than the honoured Lincoln; for they are a unit with G.o.d and providence. Thus follows the English nation in the wake of Disraeli, and the world is coming on behind, and the day will come when all will be a unit. It does not shock our idea of human honesty much when we learn that this crownless king played a double game with Russia and Turkey. It is intensely Jewish, but if it were only Jewish, then it would be very detestable; it is more, it is Divine in part. "Had the princes of this world known, they would not have crucified the Prince of Glory." Had the princes of the late Berlin Congress known the double game being played by one of the quietest of their number, they would not have done as they did. Turkey in Asia was given over to England's protection, aye, yes, that included Palestine. The island of Cyprus is given over entirely-surely the way of the kings of the East is being grandly prepared.

Why did not the Congress hand over to England's protection Turkey in Europe? For reasons good and sufficient. Turkey in Europe will be the cause of much strife, of several wars, and of strange alliances; hence it would not have done for Israel-England to be mixed up with it.

Constantinople alone, of European Turkey, England will keep. Israel is to be much preserved from war, until the great battle of Armageddon comes on. Against that time she will have to husband her strength and resources. It is marvellous now to think that what the Congress settled as belonging to England, none dispute-all is peace. But Russia's share and Austria's are in arms. Servia, Greece, Roumania, and all the Turkish provinces rebel and are in a state of disquietude, that portends war and strife again in a few years. But England will have nothing to do with it, excepting that Russia and Austria, with the consent of Germany, Italy, and France, are to set a precedent for England, which in a few years she will need. It is plain that if Russia and Austria can force by arms the conditions of the Berlin Congress, England will be at liberty to do the same without any interference even from France. The Congress handed over to England's keeping Turkey. England, then, can make Turkey do her bidding by force of arms sustained by the very precedent already set. Thus will Israel-England open up Palestine for Christian settlement. The Mahommedans will murmur and resist to have the holy places taken from them, but no matter; England, when the time comes, will enforce it. It is just here that Turkey and England will dispute, and in each dispute England will find a reason for drawing the lines a little tighter around poor Turkey.

The contestants on one side at the great battle of Armageddon, you remember, are the dragon, the beast, and Anti-Christ. Now what people is represented by the term dragon? We answer, the Pagan nations and authorities, just as the Chinese have on their standards to-day a dragon, as we have the eagle. The Mahommedans, Hindoos, Brahmins, Buddhists, and all Pagan idolaters, are summed up in the word dragon. At present, England is tolerant with the subjects and adherents of these different worshippers and religions; but the time will come when she will no longer tolerate the same; thus will they arraign themselves against her in the battle of Armageddon. This will come to pa.s.s as the gradual destruction of Mormonism in our country. This system has been fortified by law; now laws are being arraigned against it. It is now only tolerated, and in a short time it will be wiped out of existence.

The final battle referred to in the text is to occur at a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon, the literal meaning of which is at the mount of Megido. In olden times there was a city called Megiddon; it stood in what is now called the great plain of Esdraelon-a plain that lies midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean. It was also called Jezreel. The prophet Hosea speaks of this place, battle, and time, all by this one word. Referring to the time when the children of Judah and of Israel are gathered together under one head in their own land, he says, "For great shall be the day of Jezreel" (Hos. i. 11). It is spoken of in the Scriptures and history as the valley of Jehoshaphat, because here Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, gained a great victory; for here the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel, as He will in the coming battle. Joel iii. 12 says, referring to this coming struggle, "Let the heathen be waked up and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about."

There is one name given to this time and battle that is very significant and striking. Have you ever noticed it? If not, let me call your attention to it. It is called "That great day of G.o.d Almighty," by John in the chapter of the text. The day of the Lord of hosts by Isaiah.

Ezek. x.x.x. 3: "Howl ye! Woe worth the day! For the day of the Lord is near: it shall be the time of the heathen." And Joel says, "Mult.i.tudes, mult.i.tudes, in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." By the prophets Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi, and apostles Paul and Peter, it is called the day of the Lord.

You ask if this battle may not have taken place. We answer, No. Of such a battle we have no record. Again, it will be the end of the war-the final overthrow of Paganism, the beast, and Anti-Christ. Malachi says, "Behold I will send you the prophet Elijah before the coming of that great and dreadful day of the Lord." Elijah has not yet been a witness.

At the time of this great battle nature is to take a wonderful part. As when Christ was on the cross, the sun darkened, the rocks rent, the mountains shook, so in connection with this battle there shall be some strange wonders-earthquakes, thundering, lightning, hail and fire. The Mount of Olives will divide; the valley of the Dead Sea will fill with water and join to the Mediterranean; Jerusalem will become a seaport; an appointed centre from which, being central to all the world, will go forth the ships of the Lord. The city of Jerusalem, between this time and that, will be considerably enlarged, then it will divide into three parts. At the time of this dividing John says, "That the cities of the nations are to fall"-London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, St. Petersburg, and many others-that all may turn to Jerusalem, the capital appointed of Heaven.

If you wish to know more of the particulars of this day, read the prophets, study what John the Revelator says under the sixth vial and sixth seal. With awful grandeur and with terrible majesty have the sacred writers set forth this day and time.

That this day will come, who will deny? Look at the world ripening for this day. Here, in our own land, as well as others, the forces are maturing, the agents are at work. Many of the events of the past year we were permitted to forecast by looking into the future through the prophets, and onward yet we look. And the events coming are neither less in number, merit, or force, than those pa.s.sed. Keep the events of prophecy in their proper order lest they confuse you. The Jews and Ten Lost Tribes are to be found and possess Palestine before this battle.

Anti-Christ is to appear. The two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, are to appear. And Jesus, our beloved Master, will not come till the world is settled long in perpetual peace-till the house is prepared for the bride, then shall He come. But with lightning speed events are crowding on along the ages. The acc.u.mulative forces of centuries are pressing hard upon time present. The time of the end is near-not the end of time, but the time appointed of G.o.d in which certain great things are to be accomplished. Eighteen hundred years ago John cried out, "Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year" (Rev. ix. 14).

The Turkish Power originated on the banks of the Euphrates. It first was divided into four Sultanies-namely, Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus and Cesarea.

These are typified under four angels. Their time was to be 396 years and a fraction-an hour, day, month, and year. Thus, taking a day for a year, 365 for the year, thirty for the month, one for the day, and we have 396.

So from the taking of Bagdad by the Turks in 1057, which was the overthrow of the Saracens, until the capture of Constantinople in 1453, which overthrew the Greek Empire, we have just 396 years. And the time for the drying up of Turkey is at hand; and so it comes to pa.s.s.

Dear friends, how wonderful are the dealings of our G.o.d! Can we shut our eyes to His Divine revelation? Let us be wise in the day of grace, taking heed to the sure Word of prophecy, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. The world indeed is dark, and all confusion. But His Word shows unto us order in all this confusion, blessed be His name. More next Sunday evening.

ARMAGEDDON AND THE PYRAMID.

DISCOURSE XIV.

THE FORCES IN THE BATTLE-TIME OF ITS OCCURRENCE-MISTAKES OF ADVENTISTS-A CHURCH "STRIKE" WANTED-THE HARD TIMES AFTER 1882-HISTORY OF THE WORLD TILL 1935-HINE'S THEORY.

"These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful."-Rev. xviii. 14.

Last Sunday evening we considered the subject of the great battle of Armageddon. This evening we will take up the same subject for further consideration. This battle, we learn, is to be very terrible, such a one as the world has not had. Fearful as some of the wars of the past have been, this will overshadow them all in skill, fierceness, number, slaughter, devastation, and wide-spread ruin. It will, in some respects, be like one of the wars of olden times. For in this struggle G.o.d is again to take a direct part, as He did for His people Israel and Judah in times of old. Again shall the forces of nature do battle for G.o.d and His people; again they shall be full of instinctive revenge. Hear us, and believe us, Denis Kearney, Providence will then "pool the issues" of the _called_, the _chosen_, and the _faithful_. The called are the Jews, the chosen are Israelites, and the faithful embrace all of every nation who believe in Christ. Then many will wade in pools of blood and perish.

The birds of prey are to hold high carnival on the dead bodies of the slain. The spirit of Satan, that now worketh in the children of disobedience, will pool the issues of h.e.l.l and death in the hosts of the _dragon_, _beast_, and _false prophet_. For though these three powers are diverse in their aims, professions, and intents, yet we learn from many pa.s.sages of the Divine Book that they will join hands and agree upon a common policy, federating together that they may contend with the called, the chosen, and the faithful. "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of G.o.d Almighty" (Rev. xvi. 13, 14). Here indeed will be a pooling of the issues, a pooling that will divide the whole world into two forces or parties.

Now the canva.s.s has begun, preparations are going on, party lines are being drawn, powers are concentrating, and men are rallying under their respective standards, getting the world ripe and ready for the coming generations, into whose hands the destinies of that day will be cast.

Few of us now living can personally take part in that final battle, excepting as we do so by impressing the unborn millions with our ideas.

Like as David prepared the material for the building of the temple, and his son Solomon carried forward the same, so the work of this generation is simply preparatory, and that of the coming will be executive.

Several wars will take place before that of Armageddon, which in their nature will be fierce and terrible. Still these will all be preparatory-leading on to the day of decision and the battle final. On this point many err, and their error has a pernicious influence on the Church and the world. They interpret the preparatory signs as if they were final; hence the end with such is too near. A sincere anxiety takes possession of their soul, which utterly unfits them to judge aright the signs of the times and tokens of Providence. Thus were a portion of the Advent Church thrown into confusion the 8th of last July because they had fixed upon the seventh as the time for the ending of the world. And human folly and haste will repeat itself again on the 10th of April next, because another portion of the Advent brethren have fixed upon the 9th of April as the time of the end. It is a wonder the first did not take the 4th of July instead of the seventh, for then a stranger might think the end was nigh in some of our cities; or why didn't the other party select the 1st of April, for no doubt it would have proved a more propitious day? But thus it is, and will be again before the appointed time of Heaven comes. Man is a creature of haste and sudden impulse, especially so in his religious experience. Kings and nations, Churches and sects, have laboured hard in times past to force the issues of Providence and give speed and certainty to times and events.

The prophecies affecting our days are clear; so much so, that he who runs may read, if need be. But an impatient activity urges men on, bedazzling their eyes, which at once unnerves and unfits them for reading or judging. "In your patience possess ye your souls," said the blessed Master to His disciples of old, and not less through them unto us.

"Order is Heaven's first law," it has been said; and surely order pervades the prophecies. But the pulpits in general over-ride this order, and are not slow to malign such men as Edward Hine, of London, England, when the fact is, that his theory of the prophecies and mode of interpretation are vastly more natural, responsive, and reasonable than the ill-adjusted, unnatural, and non-responsive system of current theology. A person is under obligation to use that key for the unlocking of prophecy which fits the best, and that responds to providential events the most natural, without regard to the antiquated systems and mode of Church, sect, or college theology. Hine's theory, as it is called sometimes, is as much superior to the old system of interpretation, as the railway Pullman car is to the ricketty old stage coach.

The Anglo-Saxon Israel theory neither destroys or introduces any new principle, but discovers and applies that which had been long hidden.

The introduction of steam and electricity did not destroy or produce any new principle, but simply discovered and applied, in an improved form, that which had been in the world from Adam down till now.

As men in science, mechanics, and practical life, throw overboard men and things of the past, so should we in theology, Church life, and experience, when we can do better. Reverence for persons, and respect for ideas, should not enslave us. Let us move on, doing better and better. We do not care to believe all the theology of a Martin Luther.

When we can make an advance on men, or theories, we should do so. Bacon and Newton are now in part rejected, without intending, or in fact doing them any dishonour or disrespect. So are Calvin and Wesley, on the same principle, by every good theologian. If a theory be advanced that opens up the Scriptures, and especially the prophecies, better than those before existing, let the pulpit accept it, throwing aside its mawkishness and age-intrenched stupidity. I have no hesitation to say, after over twenty-five years of experience with preachers and pulpit, that the majority of preachers are lazy and indifferent in study. For this reason many of them are deterred from examining any new theory. Many have said to me, and written to me, that if they accepted the Lost Tribe theory it would destroy nearly all their old sermons, and necessitate the making of new ones-a work they were not willing to undertake. It will, therefore, be a long time before the pulpit is reformed. In these days there are many strikes. While in Canada, on my vacation, I agreed to lecture for a Church choir on the prophet Jeremiah's visit to Ireland. But some preachers banded together and stopped it; and, in consequence of it, the choir struck and refused to sing the following Sunday. Pa.s.sing by this strike, I really wish the laymen would strike and call the pulpit to an account and rouse it from its lethargy, and demand that it should untrammel itself and be free and equal to the age and demand. I have met with miserly persons who didn't believe in beautiful churches, or the missionary cause, or any cause indeed that wanted money. They would argue for plainness, and so on. The secret of their peculiar ideas on these matters was to be found in their stinginess and their love of money. They advocated such theories because it saved them from contributing. Like a man I met with on my vacation tour who said that he saved forty dollars a year by pretending to be angry with the minister or some of the deacons when they came round collecting money. Some ministers, no doubt the majority of them, talk about holding on to the old landmarks and being orthodox for the very reason that to make a move implies labour, which they are not willing to give, hence they prate about orthodoxy and landmarks as a pretext to cover over their indifference. He is the most orthodox who searches after the truth and keeps up with the age. "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good,"

says Paul. These pretended followers of Paul say: "Prove nothing, hold fast what you have got."

It is as plain as A, B, C, that the Bible teaches the return of the Jews and Ten Lost Tribes of Israel to the land of Palestine. Also, that after they are settled in this land Anti-Christ appears. The dragon and beast are already in existence, but Anti-Christ is not; the spirit of Anti-Christ is. When Israel and Judah are settled and prosperous in the old fatherland, then is to come on the battle of Armageddon. Thank Heaven! that though the struggle will be awful, it will be final, and victory will turn on the Lord's side. Then will be set up a kingdom that shall endure in abiding peace and prosperity for at least a thousand years. The world will nestle in regaling plenty and great a.s.surance.

This kingdom is to be set up in the latter days of the four kingdoms spoken of by Daniel. By this we understand that these kingdoms will have their day, and by succession, after a time, run out. These kingdoms-namely, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome-are now disappearing.

Rome, politically, is gone, Persia will soon be absorbed, also Greece.

Babylon, being continued in the Empire of Russia, has yet a glorious future before it for the next fifty years or so, then she will disappear to rise no more. The cry will go forth, "Babylon is fallen." In Nebuchadnezzar's image you will remember that the stone cut out of the mountain began to destroy the metallic image upward, hence these kingdoms will disappear in reverse order to their origin. First Rome, which has gone; next Greece, which is nearly gone; then Persia, and then Russia.

The new kingdom will fill the world. Already it foreshadows the outlines of possession by its immense territory of to-day. Then a scion of the House of David shall be enthroned in Jerusalem. All the other great capitals will have been destroyed. It is surprisingly grand to read of that day, king and kingdom. Let me read to you a few verses from Jeremiah, chapter xxiii.: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: the Lord our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the House of Israel out of the North country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land." The words, "that day," are often used, and if we desire to know when that day is, we have data in the great fact that it is the other side of Armageddon, and Armageddon is the other side of the settlement of Israel and Judah in Palestine.

I wish, just here, to correct many of you, as well as some of the public journals. Of late I have frequently seen it stated in the papers that I predicted the end of the world in 1882. And many persons have actually asked if I did really think so. The truth of the matter is, in my sermons on the Great Pyramid I pointed out to you the remarkable fact that the Grand Gallery was 1,882 inches long. Beginning with the birth of the Saviour, these inches stand for years. This gallery suddenly ends, excepting that it is continued in a narrow pa.s.sage, the narrowest in the whole building, for fifty-three inches. Then comes the King's Chamber, which before you enter, you pa.s.s under a portcullis in the form of an olive leaf. In this chamber all is equal, quiet, and central.

Now, what I believe this pillar of witness in Egypt teaches (see Isa.

xix. 19) is, that in 1882 the whole world will enter upon a time of great trouble, war, pestilence, and famine, and for fifty-three years these troubles will continue more or less. Then about 1935 will occur the battle of Armageddon, which will be the finishing touch, the end of wars.

I arrive at this, when I follow the teachings of the Pyramid, by adding 1882 and 53, which gives me 1935. Even then the world will not end, but only begin the millennium morn, which will last for a thousand years or more.

Now corresponding to these facts are the events of Providence. As when Spring is nigh we know by certain signs, so we know from the Scriptures, Providence, and Pyramidal teaching, where we stand and the season we are in. "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" said Jesus to the proud and critical Pharisees and learned and doubting Sadducees. These parties affected to be specially wise and discriminating in their knowledge of the times and seasons, and interpreting the prophets and writings of Moses. Yet their conduct betrayed their ignorance, for they saw not the end of that grand old prophetic age, nor the fading symbolism of the temple, nor the departing glory and decay of their nation. They knew not the fulness of the time in which they lived, though it bulged out like a mountain. They did not know that _one time hath ended_, another _time begun_, for they still dated their doc.u.ments 4032 of the world, when it was the year of our Lord and their Lord 32.

The antediluvians stand condemned because they were willingly ignorant of the Providential tokens and signs of the times. They set at naught the teachings and warnings of Noah, and in exulting pride they rejected the idea of a special Providence. Their faith, like many in this day, was planted and nourished by the laws of nature, and the a.n.a.logous continuance of the same, not accepting the doctrine of a Divine Providence. They cried aloud, "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."

Do you, like the Jews of old, demand more signs, when those given you are not understood, or, if understood, they are undervalued? The prophets have been lavish in portraying the calamities of the _last days_, or the times into which we are entering. For the words _last days_ are the few years preceding the battle of Armageddon. The calamities of these days are of four kinds: First, social disorders; second, religious feuds and wars; third, wonderful political disturbances; fourth, temporal or physical disasters. Of the social condition of these last days, Paul instructs us: "This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." Then he groups together nineteen immoral attributes of the social state of these last days: "Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient (to parents especially), unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce despisers, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than G.o.d, formal in religion" (2 Timothy iii.). What, we ask, will be the state of society when the social condition becomes such?

The religious feuds and persecutions of the last days we can but faintly conceive. It was terrible when the beast, two hundred years ago, held sway. The Inquisition, the rack, the stake, and all the horrors of a wise age will be brought to bear. For in these days to come, the beast will be joined by Anti-Christ, who will burn with rage, and vent his displeasure on Christ's followers. Also the barbarism and savage disposition of the Pagans will be let loose. Then will the dragon tear and destroy. This will, indeed, be a day or time of visitation. The political disturbances will be terrible. Nation against nation plotting and deceiving; internal strife and outward dangers. These are of a kind to appal one in reading them. Then come the temporal or physical evils.

These are to be a horrible train of ills in the form of pestilence, famine, and earthquakes. The plague of yellow fever is as nought to some of the scourges that will then go forth. Gibbon, the historian, tells of a plague that swept away two-thirds of Europe and Asia. At that time the dead lay unburied by thousands. In Constantinople, for three months, five and even ten thousand persons died daily. The famines in India and China give us some idea of those yet to come. Of the earthquakes, such as have been will be repeated in increasing terror, violence, and destruction. To all these shall be added fire from heaven, hail, whirlwinds, and floods. These are times that will try men's souls. Read the prophets for yourselves, and range yourselves on the Lord's side.

WONDERS OF THE FUTURE.

DISCOURSE XIV.

PURPOSE OF THE FLOOD-THE ABRAHAMIC CURRENT-RENDING MOUNT OLIVET-FORMER EARTHQUAKES-BOUNDARIES OF PALESTINE-DAN AND GAD TO GUARD THE "GATES"-GAD THE SCOTCHMAN-THE FUTURE JERUSALEM-THE DEAD SEA AND MEDITERRANEAN TO BE JOINED-MISTAKE OF SPIRITUALISING EVERYTHING.

"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the East: and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the East and toward the West, and there shall be a very great valley; and half the mountain shall remove toward the North, and half of it toward the South."-Zech. xiv. 4.

Some four thousand years ago the earth was washed with the regenerating waters of a terrible flood. Millions were suddenly cut off, with their handiwork and antediluvian civilisation. The swelling floods subsided, and the G.o.d-avenging waters retired to their appointed place. The earth again stood forth in virgin strength, lonely, bare, and citiless, but with a potency and promise inviting and grand. Across these swelling floods one craft had been safely borne; in it was stored the seed-stock of a new world of man and beast. The destruction had been complete and terrible. If we credit Dr. Gurney and others who have written on this subject, the population far exceeded the inhabitants of to-day. But whether they did or did not, we know that many must have perished, and civilisation must have been hurled back to a primitive beginning. No doubt the present seas and oceans cover over the ruins of that age.

Eliphaz, the Temanite, when addressing Job, said: "Hast thou marked the old way, which wicked men have trodden, which were cut down out of time?

_whose foundation was overflown with a flood_?" Now is it not reasonable to suppose that in this and every other great change in nature G.o.d has a purpose-a design agreeable with His own exalted character? He is too wise to err, and too good to be unkind. The flood came for the same reason that He only gave Adam one wife. And what was that reason? It was that He might fill the world with a G.o.dly seed. "And did not He make one? Yet had He the residue of the Spirit. And wherefore one? That He might seek a G.o.dly seed" (Mal. ii. 15). The same Spirit which made one Eve could have made twenty, for the residue of the Spirit was with Him.

It was in the interest of morality and G.o.dliness that the flood came.

When this design began to fail of being accomplished by the increased wickedness of the post-diluvians, then G.o.d called Abram, and through Abraham and his seed designed that this purpose should flow on and be fulfilled. Through this Abrahamic channel flow all the purposes of a Divine Providence in this world. Through his seed all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. The children of Abraham are the appointed and Divinely authorised agents of G.o.d. Through them, as primary, he has, and is, and will evangelise the world. Abraham stands to the generations of earth as the Gulf-stream to Europe and the isles of the sea. This Gulf-stream is our largest river; being the longest, broadest, and deepest. Its bottom and banks are cold water. Compressed by the straits of Florida, it rushes forth to warm and replenish the earth and isles of the sea. So the forces of a Divine Providence compressed in Abraham go forth to bless mankind. The Gulf-stream is water in water, and Abraham's seed are men among men. Providence is at once clear and intelligible, and history is at once plain, reasonable, and harmonious, when interpreted in harmony with the Abrahamic covenant. The scattering and returning of Israel and Judah to Palestine, and the intervening history, from the time of dispersion to the Return, is clear as noon-day. Their location, oppression, prosperity, and victories, have long been foretold by prophets inspired of G.o.d.

Through all the changes in nature G.o.d has a design. He prepared the world for Adam and his seed, and He did so by some wonderful upheaving and overturning; this scientists will admit. This world, in its present shape and condition, indicates fierce and protracted struggles. The outlines of strange and sublime revolutions are imprinted on her rock-ribbed bosom. Look at her cloud-capped mountains, her snow-crowned peaks, her wild and rocky wastes, her barren plains and sandy deserts, her fruitful hills and luxuriant valleys, her mighty oceans and swelling seas, her inland lakes and rolling rivers; these tell us of a time long ago-of the time when the Mighty One went forth to work a work, to build a house and make a home for His creature, man. And as it was necessary in the preparatory stage to tune nature to the coming man, so all along through the history of the centuries we find nature holding a subordinate relation to man. The world is not run on one principle and man on another, but both are permeated by a Divine force and led on to a Divine end. All things are ours, and we are Christ's, and Christ is G.o.d's; this is the established order of subordination. Most certainly it cannot be unscientific in the Author of nature to make the same His messenger for good or evil. It is not unscientific to throw a line from the sh.o.r.e to a ship in distress, even though thrown from the mouth of a cannon, nor is it counted unscientific to use that same cannon in war to destroy men.

The earthquake spoken of in the text is, indeed, a small affair in comparison to some that have occurred in this world; and if the same G.o.d be living now as then, surely He can rend in twain the little mountain of Olivet. And if we grant to the infidel scientist of to-day the fact that there is no G.o.d, still the thing prophesied of is neither unreasonable or impossible, because what has been may be again; and as the demand in this case is small in comparison to what has been, surely this thing may come to pa.s.s. In times past Providence and the wants of the Church have been timely aided by convulsions in nature, and if they were only so accidentally, why then accidentally they may all agree again. To the scientist, especially the geologist, there can be no great difficulty in crediting the miracles of the text when we think of the successive revolutions that have taken place. Fires, and floods, and earthquakes, have done sublime service in the past, whether we credit the same to Nature or to G.o.d. That an earthquake, or any peculiar expression of nature, should be timed to meet a special condition of the Church or the special purposes of a Providence, is not strange. In such an event there really is no more wonder than that a man should set an alarm on his clock to go off at three minutes past four in the morning. Some men can swallow big things if you will only allow them to make out the author to be Nature. But whether we attribute the things past to Nature or to G.o.d, we know that wonderful things have happened.

Seismology, the science of earthquakes, is by no means void of interest.