Midnight Cry - Volume 01, Number 20

              VOLVBIIE I." NEW- YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1842. 20.
4 Write the vision, and make H plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will wot tarry."
BY MUM \. RIMES. DAILY- NOiS ® PARK- ROW. PE1CE TWO CENTS.
THE
HEAR BOTH SIDES.
The following artic'e is published on a sheet with an
ornamental border, that it may be suspended where it
will catch every eye, and make Christ seem to say " the
end is a great way off." Its author is the same ** B "
alluded to in our paper last Monday. Pie advises every
bod^ to stay away from our meetings. We advise our
readers to read his article, and see if deserves the title
lie has given it.
JUILLERISif REFUTED.
" BUT THB END IB NOT YET."
There has scarce been a period of the Christian
Church, from the days of the Apostles to the present
time, in which she has not heen agitated and distressed
by the teachings and doctrines of false prophets. It is
well known, that the whole of Europe was in a state of
convulsion during the tenth century, in consequence of
the prevalent belief, that at the close of that century
Christ would appear in person to judge the world. But
the time passed, and the world still continued to exist,
and move on aa before. Since that period, in almost
every age, prophets have arisen in Europe, who have
predicted a speedy dissolution of the world ; but the re
spective times which they have assigned as the consum
mation of all things here below, have passed away, and
it requires no proof to show, that all their beautiful the
ories have fallen to the ground. Another prophet has
recently arisen in our own country the immortal MILLEK.
* who informs us that ail the great and learned scholars
who ha^ re written in - relation to the prophecies, bav$
been mistaken, and that It has fallen to his lot alone to
discover the truth. According to his theory, the world
will cope to- aii end in 1843; Christ will then appear to
reign with the saints for a thousand years on the earth,
tftf|' iill. purified ' toy fire. » . jpijtM wicked will, be easjL,
into the bottomless pit As we think tliat his views are
calcu'ated to have an injurious tendency, we have been
induced to present in this form as brief a refutation as
possible of his doctrines, in order that it may be accessi
ble to all classes. We therefore give the following
reasons why we believe the world will not be destroyed
in 1843.
* I. There are many predictions in the Scriptures which
ham ncvrr oeen fuljiUed.
The following are unfulfilled predictions in relation to
the glory of the millennial state, showing conclusively
that there must he u time when Christianity will be more
npiiersally established than it now is, before the end. of
the world. God's promise to Abraham," Gen. xxviii. 14,
11 And" in Ihee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of
the earth It blessed." Nuni xir. 21, " But as truly as
ii live, all the rtrth shall be filled with the glory of the
fjijtj.*' pg . ii. % t « Ask of me and I shall give thee the
heathen lor thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts uf
ttw earth for thy possession." xxii. 27, " All the ends
nf lie world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord ;
irti all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before
Ijieg/* ixvii 7, " All the ends of the earth shall fear
;| ioi ixxii, 11, " Yea, all kings shall fajl down before
Mm; all nations shall serve him.' WIsa* ii. 4. 18, 19,
** Ail he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke
jfoitiy people; and they shall beat their swords into
and their spears into pruning- hooks ; na-tifffl
" not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they war any . more. And tne idols ne sna ^ utterly
! Abolish/" And they shall go into the holes of the rocks,
fancT into the eitei of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and
Iftir the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake
the earth. 1* *! 6, 9, " The wolf also shall
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down
kid; and the ca f, and the young Jion, and the
together; and a little child shall lead them
not hurt nor destroy, in all my holy mountain :
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
! the. waters cover the sea." lii. 10, " Ail the ends of '* <'
the earth shall see the salvation of our God." Jer. xvi
19, " The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends
of the earth." Joel ii. 28, ** And it shall come to pass
afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.''
Zerh. ix. 10, " And his dominion shall be from sea
even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the
earth." xiv. 9,. " And the Lord shall be King over all
the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name
one " Matt. xxiv. 14, * And this gospel of the king
dom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness un
to all nations; and then shall the end come." Rev. xi.
15, " And the, seventh angel sounded ; and there were
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ;
and he shall reigri forever and ever."
The following are unfulfilled predictions in relation to
the Jews: Is. Ix. 15, '* Whereas thou hast been forsa
ken and hdted, so that no man went through thee, I will
make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many genera
tions." Jxii 12, " And they shall call them, The holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be
j called, Sought out, A city not forsaken." Ixv. 10, " And
! I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people : and
the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor
the voice of crying." Jer. xxxi. 10, " He that scattered
j Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth
i his flock." Ez. xxxvii. 25 27, " And they shall dwell
j in the land that I have given Jacob my servant, wherein
| your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein,
even they, and their children, and their children's child
ren, forever; and my seravnt David ehall be their prince
forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with
them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and
will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.
My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be
their God, and they shail be my people. xxxix. 28, 29,
( k Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God,
which caused them to be led into captivity among the
heathen : but I have gathered them into their own land,
and have left none of them any more there. Neither
will I hide my face anymore from them: for I have
poured out my Spirit ppon the house of Israel, said the
Lord God" Hos. in. 4, 5, '' For the children of Israel
shall abide many days without a king, and without a
prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image,
j and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward
shall the children of fsrael return and seek the Lord their
God, and David their king ; and shall fear the Lord and
his goodness in the latter days. Amos ix. 14, 15, " And
I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel,
and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine there-of;
they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of
them. And I will, plant them upon their land, and they
shall no moreps pulled up out of their land which I have
given them, said the Lord thy God." Rom. xi. 25,
" Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the ful
ness of the Gentiles be come in."
II. The different prophetic numbers mentioned in the
Scriptures, do not terminate at suck periods a* to bring the \
end of the world in 1843.
The first number which we shall notice is the 2300
days. This is mentioned in Dan. viii. 14, " Unto two
thousand and three hundred days ; then shall the sanc
tuary be cleansed." This Mr. Miller considers as refer
ring to the end of the world. He says the word sanctuary
means the Christian church, and the 2300 days repre
sent 2300 years. He dates the commencement of tUis
period with the commencement of the 70 weeks men
tioned in Dan. ix. 24, B. 0. 457 ; which will bring its
termination in 1843. But there is no " satisfactory evi
dence to show that the 70 weeks and the 2300 days run
parallel with each other, and that the former is the key
to the latter. The 2300 days are found in Dan. viii. 14,
and the 70 weeks in Dan. ix, 24 ; and the vision respect
ing the former was in the third year of Belshazzar, and
the latter in the first year of Darius, some fifteen years
apart."* We see. then, that there is no authority for
placing the beginnings of these two periods at the same
time. There is another objection to this interpretation.
This number cannot properly be considered as represent-
* Kev; H. Moms,
ing years ; although we are willing to grant that many
of the prophetic numbers may be so understood. The
original word which is translated days, means literally,
evening- mornings ; so that the passage might he trans
lated, " Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings
and mornings ;" referring to the practice of the Jews, of
offering up a sacrifice both morning and evening. Con-sequenily,
most commentators consider the number
either as being literal days, or as referring to the number
of sacrifices : which would make one half as many days
or 1150. This period they consider as referring to the
persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes.
We shall now examine the 1260 days, mentioned both
in Daniel and Revelations. This is the same as the 42
months, and the time, times, and the dividing of time.
We are ready to agree with Mr. Miller that this number
represents 1260 years, and that it denotes the continu
ance of Papacy. We disagree with him as to the time
of dating the commencement of this period. We do not
see why A. D. 538 " is the proper period to begin the
reckoning of the 1260 years. The principal argument is,
that then the Papacy arose ; the emperor Justinian de
clared the Pope head of all the churches. But history
informs us that the churches did not, after this, for along
time, acknowledge his supremacy; that it was contested
by the bishop of Constantinople, who assumed the title of
Supreme Pontiff in 583 ; which was confirmed by a
council then in session in that city, and that it was re
tained by his successors until 606. In that year, the
profligate Emperor Phocas, to gratify the inordinate am
bition of Boniface III, Bishop of Rome, the successor of
Gregory, deprived the Bishop of Constantinople of the
title, and conferred it upon Boniface ; at the same time
declaring the Chuich of Rome to be the head of all other
churches. This is the most propable date of the estab
lishment of the Papal supremacy over the churches.
But it was not until the middle of the 8th century, A. D.
756, that the Pope became a temporal prmoe, and was
: lothed with civil power."* In commenting upon this
jassage, the leaped and excellent Mr. Scott says :
" From carefully comparing what different expositors
iave, stated concerning this * little horn,' and the time at
which the predicted term of 1260 yeare began, with the
prophecies themselves, I am led to conclude that * the
ittle horn'was in existence for a considerable time before
was possessed either of ecclesiastical or temporal
dominion. That he sprang up soon after the empire was
divided into ten kingdoms. That though the Bishop of
lome, even then, nay, before, made arrogant claims ;
yet, « the litfle horn' was comparatively harmless, till by
he decree of Phocas he was constituted ' Universal
3ishop and Supreme Hea£ of the Church,' A. D 606."
3ut, Mr. Miller says that the fulfillment of the prophecy
shows his computation to be correct: for, in A. D. 1798,
he termination of the 1260 years, according to his cal
culation, Berthier invaded Italy, and destroyed the civil
> ower of the Pope. It is true that the civil power of the
3ope was, for a time, suspended, but since that period he
lasbeen restored to his throne, and is now wielding civil
power, at least over his own dominions. His ecclesias
tical power, no one will dispute, has been but little di
minished.
There are two other prophetic numbers which we
hsve not yet examined; the 1290 and the 1335 days,
which Mr. Miller supposes commenced A. D. 508 The
first, therefore, will end in A. D 1798, with the 1260
days, and the latter will continue until A. D. 1843, the
end of the world. But it is evident that if the date of
the commencement of the 1260 years be not A. D. 538,
the termination of all the numbers will be altered; for
if the termination of the 1260 years be altered, the ter
mination of the 1290 years will also be altered, for they
must end at the same time; consequently, the com
mencement of the 1290 years will be altered, and,
therefore, . the commencement of the 1335 years will also
be altered, for these numbers must begin at the same
time. Consequently, the termination of the 1335 years
will be altered ; that is, the world will not come to an*
end in 1843. Mr. Scott, in speaking of these three num
bers, says, " The 1290 days must be calculated from the
* Rev. H. Morris.