NOTES

UPON

REASONS FROM PROPHESY,

&c. &c. &c.

Note a.

Bishop Newton very justly observes that to fix the period exactly when we are to consider the Papal power arose, and from which the " time, times and half a time," (also the 1290 and 1335 days,) mentioned by Daniel, and the forty and two months mentioned in the Apocalypse, are to be reckoned, is a matter of some niceness and difficulty. He apprehends we must see their conclusion, (the conclusion of the 1260, 1290 and 1335 days,) before we can precisely ascertain their beginning, and considers it to have been a great mistake of some very learned men, that they should have dated the commencement of this period too early; observing such is the capital error of Mr Mede's scheme, and what hath led him, and others who have followed his example, into subsequent errors; and what

the event hath plainly refuted. He then goes on to say :— "If the reign of Antichrist had begun, as Mr Mede reckons, "about the year 456, its end would have fallen out about "the year 1716. The truth is, these 1260 years are not "to be reckoned from the beginning of these corruptions, "from the rise of this tyranny, for "the mystery of iniquity

began to work" even in the days of the apostles; but "from their full growth and establishment in the world. "Of the little horn, who was "to wear out the saints of the "Most High, and to change times and laws," it is said "that "they should be given into his hand," which can "imply no less than the most absolute power and authority over them," until a time, times and the dividing of time." "In like manner the holy city, the true church of Christ, was to be "trodden under foot,” which is the lowest "state of subjection; the two witnesses were not only to "prophecy, but to "prophecy in sackcloth," that is in

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mourning and affliction; the woman, the Church was "to abide "in the wilderness," that is in a forlorn and "desolate condition; and "power was given to the beast," "not merely "to continue," as the word in the original "is translated, but to practice and prosper, and to do

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according to his will; and all for this same period of "1260 years. These 1260 years, therefore, of the reign "of antichrist, are not to be computed from his birth, or "infancy, or youth; but from his coming to maturity, "from his coming to the throne; and in my opinion their "beginning cannot be fixed consistent with the truth of "history, either sooner or later than the eight century. "Several memorable events happened in that century. "the year 727 the Pope and people of Rome revolted from "the exarch of Ravenna, and shook off their allegiance to "the Greek Emperor. In the year 755 the Pope obtained

In

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"the exarchate of Ravenna for himself, and thenceforwards "acted as an absolute temporal prince. In the year 774 "the Pope, by the assistance of Charles the great, became possessed of the kingdom of the Lombards. In the year "787 the worship of images was fully established, and "the supremacy of the Pope acknowledged by the second "council of Nice. From one or other of these transactions "it is probable that the beginning of the reign of Anti"christ is to be dated. What appears to be most probable is, that it is to be dated from the year 727, when " Rome "and the Roman dukedom came from the Greeks to the "Roman pontiff." Hereby he became in some measure a "horn or temporal prince, though his power was not fully "established till some years afterwards: and before he was 66 a horn at all he could not answer the character of the "little horn. If then the beginning of the 1260 years of the

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reign of Antichrist is to be dated from the year 727, their "end will fall near the year 2000 after Christ; and at the "end of the six thousandth year of the world; according "to a very early tradition of Jews and Christians, and even "of Heathens, great changes and revolutions are expected "both in the natural and in the moral world; and "there "remaineth," according to the words of the Apostle, (Hebrews iv. 9.) a sabbatism or holy rest to the people

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"of God."

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It is an unboubted fact, that every thousandth year of the duration of the world is connected with some extraordinary alteration, as to the state of the church, which I shall here briefly note :-

About 1000.-Birth of Noah and his preaching of righ

teousness.

2000.-Birth of Abraham, from whose days to the

days of Solomon, no temple was built for divine worship,

3000-Solomon builds his temple.

4000.-The coming of our Saviour Jesus-Christ. 5000.-Dissensions from the Church of Rome, and the revival of true religion; for about

this time history informs us, the Church of Rome did begin to persecute and to use cruelty in general against all who dared to withstand her doctrine, till the time of Berengarius, whom Pope Nicholas the second compelled, by force, to recant in the year 1509.

Another Millennium is now drawing fast towards its close; what events it may bring in its train, we know not : whatever they may be it would be well, meanwhile, for us all, not only to bear in mind, but to endeavour to act up to the words of our Saviour, (Luke xxi. 36.) "Watch ye "therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, "and to stand before the SON OF MAN."

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After having adverted to the sober reasoning of Bishop Newton, and introduced a few remarks as to the millennial changes in the Church, perhaps it may not be uninteresting to some readers to know what has been more recently said about fixing the periods upon which the visions of Daniel and of Saint John have a bearing. The Reverend Edward Irving, in a discourse on the prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse, published in 1828, brings forward a variety of arguments to prove that the papal power was fully established in the year 533, and hence he makes it out that the fall of the papacy would happen in the year 1793, that

some remarkable event would take place 30 years subsequently, or in the year 1823; perhaps some alteration in the course of judgment, some recussion or increase of it, or something worthy to be noted; and he concludes that in 1868 the blessed reign of Christ, or the Millennium, shall commence; prior to which last period the Jews will be restored, but when no man knoweth. Our author, as well as Mr. Irving, seems to have trodden in nearly the same steps as Mr. Mede, and hence the results at which both arrive, would appear to be erroneous, did not a question arise as to whether we ought not to consider the increased zeal which has been manifested in the cause of Christ within the last half century, by the established Clergy of Great Britain and Ireland, as a sign of a change in the times and, if not visibly, certainly typically, demonstrating the fall of antichrist. The various historical facts which Mr. Irving brings forward, particularly those which relate to the events which occurred in France in 1793, are highly interesting, and make out his case almost to the letter; but then, there is, in what he says, much that may be considered as fanciful, and for which the imaginative more than the reasoning faculties are called into action. His book however, ("Babylon and Infidelity "foredoomed of God,") is one of much interest, and well worthy the perusal of the serious reader.

I must admit that I have extended this note to a length which I certainly did not intend when I commenced writing it, and must add that if the points were followed up, it would of itself occupy more space than is generally allowed for elucidating any particular text. I cannot conclude it, however, perhaps better than in the words of Bishop Newton, who, when speaking of "the common