Midnight Cry - Volume 01, Number 24

              THE NIGHT CRY!
VOLUME I. NEW- YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1842. NUMBER
* Write the vision, and make it 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 Ije
though it tarry, * wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
BY JOSHUA V. HUES. DAILY- NO- 36 PARK- ROW. PRICE TWO CENTS.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1842.
BETTERS TO E. F. HATFIELD.
NO. V.
HONORED SIR, Is Antiochus Epiphanes the hero of
Daniel's prophecy 1 This now seems to be the main ques-
I tion. If he was, our conclusions fail. If he was not, I
I think they are irresistably confirmed.
Let us enter on the inquiry, with the closing words of
the- vision ( which you apply to him) fully in our view.
' Shut thou up the vision, for it shall be for MANY
days." It was so grand and extensive that it over
whelmed him. " He fainted, and was sick certain days,"
after seeing it. The fact that the vision was " shut up,"
explains a little seeming obscurity in it, which ceases
to be obscure when we compare it with other parts of ( he
Book, and the test of Scripture, and with a more enlarged
? iewof the facts. This is exactly as might have been
eipected from the language of Christ, ( Dan. xii. 9,) " Go
thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed,
till the time of the end," and the words of Gabriel, ( Dan.
xii. 4,) " Shut up the words and seal the book, even to the
time of the end." WJiat follows, in Gabriel's language,
Might be better rendered as it is in the French, ( auquel
flusieurs le parcourrout et auquel la connoissance sera
tugmentee,) " when many shall run all over it, ( or all
through it,) [ i. e. the prophecy,] and to them knowledge
shall be increased."
This teaches us to study Daniel, instead of Jewish his
torians, who wrote before the time of the end, while the
msion was shut up. Josephus may declare that the
f ision related to Antiochus, but he could not know it, for
he did not live at the time of the end.
We yesterday looked at three great lines of prophecy
which reach to Christ's coming. The commencement of
the 8th chapter is remarkable. The previous one, which
reaches to " THE JUDGMENT." begins thus, " In the
f IRST year of Belshazzar, Daniel had a dream," & c.
Then turning to the 8th chapter, we read: " In the
^ HlRDyear of the reign of king Belshazzar, a vision
ippeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, AFTER that
Which appeared unto me at the FIRST." Did Daniel
i| ie this striking language, merely to inform his readers
tpat the third year is later in time than the first 1 Cer-tainly
not. It is after in resemblance as ddl created
man after his likeness.
This view of it is strikingly corroborated by the trans
lation in the old Doway Bible, which shows how the
Catholics have understood this vision from the earliest
i| p § . The first verse is there rendered thus ; " In the
year of Baltasser, the king, a vision appeared to me
saw in my vision, after that which I had seen in
: l| i iefsumng," $ c. In the marginal note it is said,
4 Daniel Tiereinsinuateth that this vision was in explica-ef
some part of the former, ( chap. 7,) where four
monarchies are mentioned." But do we find the four
in this vision 1 We do, all but the Babylon-aiiot
Daniel certainly needed no revelation about
which was just then tottering to its fall. But you
we do not find the other three monarchies here, and
for proof The angel gives it. Hear him : " The
which thou sawest, having two horns, are the kings
of Media and Persia, and the rough goat is the king of
Ifli^ eMu1* That * king" is here put for kingdom, is evi-dent
from the sense, but, beside that, we have positive
proof tint the angel uses the word to mean the SOVE
REIGNTY of an empire, extending through a long suc
cession of consuls, emperors, and kings. In Dan vii. 17,
it is said : " These four beasts are four KINGS which
shall arise." and in the 23d verse, the same angel says,
" the fourth beast shall be the fourth KINGDOM." As
the third power is declared to be Greece, we have only to
remember that Rome conquered Greece, and became the
mistress of the world, see Luke ii. 1, to know that the
empire of Rome, extending through hundreds of years, is
spoken of as one of the four kings. Now we understand
what the angel means by king, let us hear him further.
Angel. " A king of fierce countenance, and under-s'anding
dark sentences, shall stand up."
Bible Student.— I remember Moses prophesied very
much like that, when he described the nation which
should subdue the Israelites, and my reference Bible di
rects me to his language to illustrate yours. ( Deut. 28 :
49,50.) " The Lord shall bring against thee a nation
from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle
flieth a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand,
a nation of fierce countenance." We all know that means
the Roman power.
Angel " And his power shall be mighty, but not by
his own power."
Bible Student. I remember that the mighty Roman
generals, confessedly, derived their power from the peo
ple. In the three former dominions, the people were
treated as if created only for the glory of the monarch.
Angel.— u And he shall destroy wonderfully and shall
prosper and practice."
Bible Student.— No power ever so wonderfully " de
voured the whole earth," to use an angel's language
as the Roman power. It was founded by two deserted
children, who became leaders of banditti, and, by along se
ries of astonishing successes, " broke in pieces and
bruised" all other nations.
Angel.— " And shall destroy the mighty and the holy
people."
Bible Student.— Moses said that same nation of fierce
countenance should " besiege," and " distress" the Jews,
till they should be " destroyed." The Roman power
fulfilled this prediction ; and they have destroyed Chris
tians more wonderfully than any other power, both as
Rome pagan and Rome papal.
Angel — " And through his policy also, he shall cause
craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall magnify himself
in his heart, and by peace, [ or prosperity,] shall destroy
many."
Bible Student. Paul, in his epistle to the Thessalo-nians,
speaks of a power which he calls the Man of Sin,
" who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is
called God or that is worshipped." Popery has " made
craft prosper" by Jesuitism, and by its prosperity has
destroyed many.
Angel.— « He shall also stand up against the PRINCE
of princes."
Bible Student.— In the French Bible, published by the
American Bible Society, I read your words, " Seigneur
des seigneurs," that is, Lord of lords. iVo dominion
could stand up against Christ, the Lord of lords, except
the Roman. But how does this power end 1
Angel. " He shall be broken without hand."
Bible Student.— Daniel could easily understand that,
for you told him before, that the fourth power was " bro
ken in pieces" by the stone " cut out of the mountain
without hands." We have an additional clue, however,
for Paul describes the end of the Man of Sin which shall
be consumed ' by the brightness of Christ's coming."
In all this there is no difficulty. Rome strikingly fulfils
the whole. But you apply all this language to Antiochus.
Let us consider a few of the many absurdities and difficul
ties you thus run into, in order to avoid the natural con-j
nection of the visions which lead us directly to the second
I coming of the " Prince of princes."
First Absurdity.— The four dynasties, dominions, or
sovereignties, which succeeded Alexander's dominion,
1 orGrecia are represented, each by its appropriate horn,
i one for Egypt, one for Syria, one for Macedonia, and
] one for Thrace and Bythinia. Now Antiochus Epiphanes
| was but one of twenty- six individuals, who constituted
I the Syrian horn. Could he, at the same time, be another
I remarkable horn I
I Second Absurdity. The angel told Daniel, " At the
time of THE END shall be the vision. ... I will make
; thee know what shall be in the LAST END of the indig-
| nation, for at the time appointed, THE END shall be." Dr.
Scott properly inquires, " in what sense could the persecu
tions of Atitiochus be called the last end of the indignation,
seeing the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans was
to follow, and all the calamities of the Jews to this day !"
We shall not come to the last end of the indignation till
the fourth power is " broken without hand," and Christ's
everlasting kingdom is set up. Does not the angei identify
this vision with the end of the world 1
Third Absurdity.- The Medo- Persian power is simply
called " GREAT," ( verse 4.) This power, the Bible tells
us, ** reigned from India to Ethiopia, over a hundred and
seven and twenty provinces." This was succeeded by the
Grecian power, which is called " VERY GREAT,"
( verse 8.) Of course, it was stronger, or more extensive,
tkan even the Persian. Then comes the power in question,
which is " EXCEEDING ORE AT." Here we
I might closd the discussion on this point, for you will not
j pretend that the power of Antiochus, was exceedingly
I great ! above that of Alexander, the Conqueror of the
I world ! Rollin gives us the following item in his history :
" He was OBLIGED to furnish the Romans, by the articles of
the peace concluded between them, 1000 talents annually,
and the twelve years of this tribute end exactly with his
life. He reigned but eleven years." Surely there need be
no question which power was EXCEEDING GREAT,
that which was OBILGED to PAY TRIBUTE, or that which
exacted it.
Let us give the degrees of comparison, according to the
angel's rules, and thus compare truth with error. How
easy and natural is the following gradation :
Great. Very Great. Exceeding Great,
PERSIA, GREECE, ROME.
How absuid and ludicrous is the following !
Great. Very Great. Exceeding Great.
PERS. A, GREECE, ANTIOCHUS,
Fourth Absurdity.— The power in question was " lit
tle" at first, but it waxed or grew t* exceeding great,
toward the SOUTH and toward the EAST, and toward the
pleasant land." What can this describe but the conquer
ing marches of a mighty power 1 Rome was almost
directly north- west from Jerusalem, and its conquests in
Asia and Africa were of course towards the east and
south; but where were Antiochus' conquests 1 Did he
rise up from a small beginning and conquer vast coun
tries to the east and south of him 1 Let two items from