Midnight Cry - Volume 01, Number 13

              THE NIGHT CRY!
VOLUME L NEW- YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1842. NUMBER 13.
* Write, the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision i* yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not We ;
though it tarry, wait for it ; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
If IflSHUji T. HUES.
EVIDENCE,
FROM SCRIPTURE AND HISTORY, OF THE
SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
ABOUT THE YEAR 1843.
EXHIBITED IN A COURSE OF LECTURES.
BY WILLIAM MILLER.
INTRODUCTION.
IN presenting these Lectures to the public, the wri
ter is only complying with the solicitations of some of
his friends, who have requested that his views on the
prophecies of Daniel and John might be made public,
rhe reader is therefore requested to give the subject a
careful and candid perusal, and compare every part
with the standard of Divine Truth ; for if the expla
nation the writer has given to the Scriptures under
consideration should prove correct, the reader will
readily ^ perceive that it concerns us all, and becomes
doubly important to us, because we live on the eve of
one of the most important events ever revealed to man
by the wisdom of God the judgment of the great
day.
in order that the reader may have an understanding
of my of studying the prophecies, by which I
have come to the following result, I have thought pro
per to Mve some of the rules of interpretation which I
have | lopted to understand prophecy.
Prophetical Scripture is very much of it communi
cated to us by figures and highly and richly adorned
metaphors; by which I mean that figures, such as
beasts, birds, air, or wind, water, fire, candlesticks,
tamps, mountains, islands, & e., are used to represent
things prophesied of- r- such as kingdoms, warriors,
pMtieijIes, pf oplif " judgment, churches, word of God,
large and smaller governments. It is metaphorical
also, showing some peculiar quality of the thing pro
phesied of, by the most prominent feature or quality
of the figure used, as beasts if a lion, powrer and rule ;
if a leopard, celerity ; if a bear, voracious ; an ox, sub
missive ; a man, proud and independent. Fire denotes
justice and judgment in its figure; in the metaphor,
denotes tho purifying or consuming up the dross or
wickedness; as fire has a cleansing quality, so will
the justice or judgments of God. " For when thy
judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the
^ ofid wll learn righteousness." Therefore almost
ml tha figures used in prophecy have their literal
tod Metaphorical meaning; as beasts denote, lite-rallyi
a kingdofl!, so metaphorically good or bad, as
the case itoay Be f to be understood by the subject in
connection.
To understand tie literal meaning of figures used
in prophecy, I have jrartued the following method :
I find the, word " beast " used in a figurative sense ; I
take my concordance, trace the word, and in Daniel
' til. 17, it is explained to mean " kings or kingdoms."
Aftin, I come across the words," bird or fowl, 11 and
in Isa. xlvi. 11, it is used, meaning a conqueror or
warrior, - Cyrus. Also, in Ezekiel xxxix. 4 9, de-armies
or conquerors. Again, the words " air
i^ tfftfirf, 51 as used in Rev. ix. 2, and 16, 17, to under-wMeh
I turn to Eph. ii. 2, and 4 14, and there
leant flat it is used as a figure to denote the theories
of worldly men or vain philosophy. Again, " water
or rivers ? are used as figures in Rev. xvii. 15, and
explained to mean " people or nations." " Rivers "
of course mean the nation or people living on the
river mentioned,^ as in Rev. xvi. 12. " Fire " is often
ttsed in a figurative sense; explained in Num. xxi.
' 4?,. £ 8, Dent, xxxii. 23, Psal. Ixxviii, 21, Heb. xii.
;$&, to mean justice and judgment.
DAILY- NO- 36 PARK- ROW.
As prophecy is a language somewhat different from
other parts of Scripture, owing to its having been
revealed in vision, and that highly figurative, yet God
in his wisdom has so interwoven the several prophe
cies, that the events foretold are not all told by one
prophet, and although they lived and prophesied in
different ages of the world, yet they tell us the same
things ; so you take away one, and a link will be want
ing. There is a general connection through the
whole ; like a well- regulated community they all move
in unison, speaking the same things, observing the
same rules, so that a Bible ^ reader may almost with
propriety suppose, let him read in what prophecy he
may, that he is reading the same prophet, the same
author. This will appear evident to any one who will
compare scripture with scripture. For example, see
Dan. xii. 1, Matt, xxiv. 21, Isa. xlvii. 8, Zeph. ii. 15,
Rev. xviii. 7. There never was a book written that
has a better connection arid harmony than the Bible,
and yet it has the appearance of a great store- house
full of all the precious commodities heart could desire,
thrown in promiscuously; therefore, the biblical stu
dent must select and bring together every part of the
subject he wishes to investigate, from every part of
the Bible ; then let every word have its own Scripture
meaning, every sentence its proper bearing, and have
no contradiction, and your theory will and must of ne
cessity be correct. Truth is one undeviating path,
that grows brighter and brighter the more it is trodden ;
it needs no plausible arguments nor pompous dress to
make it more bright, for the more naked and simple
the fact, the stronger the truth appears.
Let it be noticed that God has revealed to his pro
phets the same events in divers figures and at differ
ent times, as he has to Daniel in the second, seventh,
and eighth chapters concerning the four kingdoms ;
or to Peter, ( see Acts x. 16 :) also Isaiah and John.
Then, to get the whole truth, all those visions or pro
phecies must be concentrated and brought together,
that have reference to the subject which we wish to
investigate; and when combined, let every word and
sentence have its proper bearing and force in the gran a
whole, and the theory or system, as I have before
shown, must be correct. I have likewise noticed that
in those events, visions, and prophecies which have
had their fulfilment, every word and every particular
have had an exact and literal accomplishment, and that
no two events have ever happened, that I can learn,
which will exactly apply to or fulfil the same prophecy.
Take, for instance, the prophecies concerning the
birth, life, and crucifixion of our Savior, and in his
history we find a literal fulfilment; yet in the birth,
life or death of any other individual it would be in vain
to find a parallel. Again, take the prophecies which
have been admitted, by Protestants at least, to apply to
Cyrus, Alexander, Julius Caesar, destruction of Jeru
salem, and the church of Rome, and I have never
been able to trace even a resemblance to the prophe
cies in question in any historical events except the true
ones. If this is true, may we not suppose that the
unfulfilled prophecies in their accomplishments will be
equally as evident and literal I
There are two important points to which all prophe
cy seems to centre, like a cluster of grapes upon its
stem the first and second coming of Christ; the first
coming to proclaim the gospel, set up his kingdom,
suffer for sinners, and bring in an everlasting righ
teousness. His second coming, to wlpch the%, rdent
faith and pious hope of the tried and tempted child of
God centres, is for complete redemption from sin, for
the justification and glorification promised to all those
who look for his appearing, the destruction of the
wicked and mystical Babylon, the abomination of the
whole earth.
His first coming was as a man, his human nature
being only visible, his Godhead known only in his
miracles. His second coming will be as 0od, his di-
PRICE TWO CENTS.
vine Godhead and power being most visible. He
comes first, like t* he " first man of the earth, earthy;"
his second coming is " the Lord from heaven." Hie
first coming was literally according to the prophecies.
And so we may safely infer will be his second appear
ance, according to the Scriptures. At his advent his
forerunner was spoken of " one crying in the wil
derness ;" the manner of his birth " a child born of
a virgin ;" the place where " Bethlehem of Judea; n
the time of his death " when seventy weeks should
be fulfilled;" for what he should suffer " to make
an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the
vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."
The star that appeared, the stripes he received, the
miracles he performed, the tauntings of his foes all
were literally fulfilled. Then, why not suppose that
all the prophecies concerning his second coming will
be as litdrally accomplished as the former ? Can any
man show a single reason why t hey will not ? If this be
true, we can obtain much light by reading the Scrip
tures. We are there informed of the manner of his
second coming " suddenly, in the clouds, in like
manner as he ascended ;" the majesty of his coming
" on a great white throne, with power and great glory,
and all his saints with him ;" the object of his coming
" as the Ancient of days, to send his angels into the
four winds of heaven, gather his elect, raise the righ-jteous
dead, change the righteous living, chain Satan^
destroy anti- Christ, the wicked, and all those who de
stroy the earth, judge, justify and glorify his people5
' cleanse his church, present her to his Father, live and
reign with her on the new heavens and new earth,"
the form of the old having passed away.
The time when these things shall take place is also
specified by some of the prophets; v unto 2300 days,
( meaning years,) then shall the sanctuary be cleansed;
after the anti- Christian beast has reigned her " time,
times, and a half;" after the two witnesses have pro
phesied " a thousand two hundred and threescore
days, clothed in sackcloth ;" aftet the church captivity
In the wilderness, " forty- two months;" after the
" gospel shall be preached in all the world for a wit
ness, then shall the end come." The signs of the
times are also given, when we may know he is near,
even at the door. When there are many " lo here's
and lo there's ;" when the way of truth is evil spoken
of; when many seducers are abroad in the land;
when scoffers disbelieve in his coming, and say %
" Where is the promise of his coming?" when this
wise and foolish virgins are called to trim their lampa,
and the voice of the friend of tke bridegroom is, " Be
hold, he cometh ;" when the city of the nations is di
vided into three parts; when too power of the holy
people is scattered, and the kings of the east come up
to battle; when there is a time of trouble, such as
never was before, and the church in her Laodicean
state; when the seventh seal opens, the seventh vial
is poured out, the last wo pronounced by'the angel
flying through the midst of heaven, and the seventh and
last trumpet sounds; then will the mystery of God
be finished, and the door of mercy be closed forever;
then shall we be brought to the last point, his second
coming.
Again, prophecy is sometimes typical; that is,
partly fulfilled in the type, but completely only in . the
antitype. Such was the prophecy concerning fsaac ?
partly fulfilled in him, wholly so in Christ; likewise
concerning Israel, partly fulfilled in them at a nation,
but never fully accomplished until the Ma! redemption
of spiritual Israel. Likewise the prophecies concern
ing the Jewish captivity in Babylon^ and their return,
are only partly accomplished ii roe history of past
events. The description of tbdffe tWngs in the pro
phets is so august and magnilcetit, thai if Only ap^ li*
cable to the literal captilitj¥ f ihe Jew* and tkeit - ftfr
turn, the