Samuel Hopkins · 45 of 48

Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 3

This battle, by which the wicked will be destroyed, and the reign of Christ and his church on earth introduced, is frequently brought into view and predicted in the book of Psalms. The following predictions of this kind are worthy to be observed:—“Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shall break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” There is reference to this prediction and promise in the following words of Christ: “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to pieces, even as I received of my Father.” The followers of Christ are said to do what he does for them, and in their behalf in destroying their enemies, as they are engaged in the same cause, and are with him in these works of vengeance, and they who have overcome, and have arrived to heaven, will be with him in a peculiar manner, when he shall come forth to fight this great battle, and dash the nations of the world into pieces, as a potter’s vessel is broken. Therefore, there is again reference to those words in the second Psalm, when Christ is represented as riding forth to the battle there described, followed by the armies in heaven, comprehending all who shall then have overcome. “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron: And he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” This is certainly the same with the battle of that great day of Almighty God, mentioned in the sixteenth chapter, as has been shown; and is predicted in the words now quoted from the second Psalm.—There is a prediction of the same battle described in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation, in the following words: “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty; with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness, and righteousness: And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies, whereby the people fall under thee.” In the next Psalm, the prosperity of the church is predicted, which will take place in the Millennium; and the battle by which it will be introduced and effected is also described. “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth, he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder, he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will he exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The twenty first Psalm contains a prediction of Christ, and foretells the destruction of the wicked, as introducing his reign on earth, and the prosperity and joy of the church. “Tlune hand shall find out all thine enemies, thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: The Lord shall swallow them up m his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men: For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings, against the face of them. Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: So shall we sing and praise thy power.”

That the wicked shall be cut off and destroyed from the earth, that the saints may inherit it, is foretold throughout the thirty seventh Psalm. “Evil doers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shalt exalt thee to inherit the earth; When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. The transgressors shall be destroyed together; the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord,” &c.

The same thing is brought into view in the seventy fifth, seventy sixth, and ninety seventh Psalms. “God is the judge, he putteth down one, and setteth up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. In Judah is God known, his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. The stout hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: And none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. He shall cut off the spirit of princes: He is terrible to the kings of the earth.” “The Lord reigneth, let the people rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: The earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord; at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols.—Worship him all ye gods.” This battle is brought into view, and foretold in the 110th Psalm. “The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath, (i.e. in the great day of battle.) He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound me heads over many countries.”

In the prophecy of Isaiah, this battle, as it has been explained, is often brought into view, as connected with the prosperity of the church of Christ on earth, and introductory to it: Some instances of this will be mentioned. In the five first verses of the second chapter there is a prophecy of the happy state of the church in the last days, that is, in the Millennium In the four next verses is a description of the corruption, worldliness and idolatry of the visible church. and consequently of the world in general, as the reason of the displeasure with them, and his punishing them. And from verse 10, to the end of the chapter, the manifestation of his displeasure in his fighting against them and punishing them is described. “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up. and he shall be brought low. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”

The eleventh chapter contains a prediction of the Millennium, and of the slaughter of the wicked of the earth, which shall make way for it. “with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth: And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” These last words are parallel with those in the Revelation, by which this battle, and the effect of it, are expressed “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him who sat on the horse, which sword proceedeth out of his mouth.”

In the thirteenth chapter is a prediction of the same thing: “Howl, ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Behold, the day of the Lord Cometh, cruel both with wrath, and fierce anger, to lay the earth desolate: And he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. And will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and 1 will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” What is said in this chapter has reference to ancient Babylon, and the destruction of that, and of other nations in order to the deliverance and restoration of Israel. But it evidently has chief reference to the destruction of spiritual Babylon, and all the wicked in the world, in order to the deliverance and prosperity of the true, spiritual Israel of God, and will be most completely fulfilled in the latter, of which the former are types and shadows: As those prophecies which have a primary respect to the type, do generally, it not always, look forward to the antitype; and have their lull and chief accomplishment in that, and the events which relate to it.

The twenty fourth chapter is wholly on this subject, and describes the battle of that great day of God Almighty, and tie slaughter of the wicked, in clear and striking language in consequence of which the church and people of God shall spread and prosper. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. The earth shall be utterly emptied; for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away: The world languisheth and fadeth away: The haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth is also defiled under the inhabitants thereof because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they who dwell therein are desolate: Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men left. The city of confusion is broken down: Every house is shut up, that no man may remain. In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. When thus it shall be, in the midst of the earth, among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning of grapes, when the vintage is done. They shall lift up the voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord,” &c.

Upon this prophecy it may be observed, that it is a prediction of great calamities on the inhabitants of the world in general, as a punishment for their sins, by which the earth is defiled; they having transgressed the laws of God, changed his ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. They have broken the covenant of grace and peace made with Noah and his children, which, if it had been strictly observed, would have transmitted blessings, both holiness and happiness, to all mankind, to the end of the world. By violating this covenant, corruption and iniquity, and all the idolatry and abominations which have taken place, or ever will be practised among men, have been introduced. And by breaking the everlasting covenant made with Abraham, and transgressing the laws, and changing the ordinances, which have been given and published by Moses, and the Prophets, by Jesus Christ, and his Apostles, which, had they been observed, would have preserved the church uncorrupt, and spread true religion and holiness over the whole earth; by disregarding and violating all these, the world is filled with wickedness, which will continue and increase, until mankind in general shall be ripe for that punishment, which God will inflict in those calamities and judgments, which will destroy and sweep from the earth the greatest part of the inhabitants; so that there will be but comparatively few men left, like the few olives which remain on the tree, after it is shaken, and the scattering grapes, which hang on the vine, alter the vintage is over. Those who shall be left when the battle is over, will lift up their voice, and sing for the majesty of the Lord. They will behold the terrible works of God, in which they will see his terrible majesty, and tremble, submit, approve, and adore, and praise and pray. And then the Millennium will begin.

The prophecy goes on, and the same events, as to substance, and this battle, and the consequence of it, are described in oilier words: “Fear and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be moved like a cottage, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.” This battle is described in the Revelation, in the same figurative language: “And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” This prediction respects the great men and kings of the earth, who exalt themselves in pride and wickedness, and tyrannize over men, and describes their overthrow in this battle. They shall be taken as prisoners, be punished for their pride and tyranny, and shut up that they may do no more mischief. Thus God “will cut off the spirit of princes, and be terrible to the kings of the earth.” And it is here said, that the Millennium shall follow upon this, in the reign of Christ and his church, “When the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed.” That is, then there shall be such spiritual light and glory in the flourishing of the kingdom of Christ on earth, and so superior to all the light and glory of the natural world, as that the latter shall be utterly eclipsed, and appear to be worthy of no regard, compared with the former.

The three next chapters are a continuation of prophecy of the same event, viz. the judgments which are to be inflicted on the false and degenerate professors of religion, and the world of mankind in general, previous to the prosperity of the church and kingdom of Christ in the world, which will be evident to the careful judicious reader; and that the predictions contained in them, coincide with those which have been mentioned. It is needless to transcribe any particular passage here, except the following: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: The earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” This must be a great and dreadful day of battle, punishment and vengeance, which shall tall on the inhabitants of the earth in general, when all the blood which has been, and shall be shed, from the beginning of the world to that day, shall be required at their hands. There is no reason to think, that this punishment has yet been inflicted; but it will doubtless be executed by the battle of that great day of God Almighty, mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Revelation; and more particularly described in the fourteenth and nineteenth chapters, which have been considered; and in the foregoing prophecies of Isaiah, which have been now mentioned. The words which follow those transcribed above, are, “In that day, the Lord with his sore, great, and strong sword, shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” The same event is here predicted, of which there is a prophecy in the twentieth chapter of the Revelation, viz. of the dragon that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, being laid hold of, and bound and cast into the bottomless pit. And the same consequence of this with Inspect to the church is here foretold, as is described there, viz. the prosperity of it, by the special favour and presence of God. “In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment: Lest any hurt it, 1 will keep it night and day.” While the battle is going on, and God is punishing the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, his people will be hid as in a secret chamber; but when it is over, they will become as a flourishing, fruitful vineyard, producing abundance of red wine, in consequence of the peculiar favour and care of Jesus Christ, and the abundance of heavenly divine influences.

The thirty fourth and thirty fifth chapters of Isaiah contain a prophecy of the Millennium, and of the day of battle which will precede it, which will consist in the punishment of the world, for their iniquity. “Come near, ye nations, to hear, and hearken, ye people: Let the earth hear, and all that is therein: the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies. He hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion Strengthen ye the weak hands, confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not: Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert,” &c. “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

In the forty first chapter of Isaiah, God, speaking to the church, and promising the good things and prosperity which were in store for it in the days of the Millennium, says, “Behold, all they that are incensed against thee, shall be ashamed and confounded: They shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shall not find them that contended with thee: They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. Behold, I will make thee a new, sharp threshing instrument, having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.”

In the forty second chapter, God makes promises to his church, which are to be accomplished in their fulness, in the days of the Millennium, and speaks of the war and battle in which he will destroy his enemies, to open the way for the good things which was to be done for the church. “The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: He shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace, I have been still, and refrained myself: Now will I cry like a travailing woman, I will destroy and devour at once. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”

The fifty ninth and sixtieth chapters are wholly on this subject of the Millennium. In the fourteen first verses of the fifty ninth chapter, the great degree of wickedness of the world of mankind is described. And then God is represented as greatly displeased, and rising to battle, to punish men for their evil deeds. “And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor: Therefore, his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness, it. sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breast-plate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” And to this battle, this work of judgment and vengeance, succeeds the day of light and salvation to the church: Those who are left, shall repent and humble themselves, and “fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that turn from transgression in Jacob.” It will be then said to the church, “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” The prophecy of the Millennium goes on through the sixtieth, sixty first, and sixty second chapters.

There is a parallel representation of this battle in the sixty third chapter, as executed by the same person, who is exhibited in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation, riding forth to make war in righteousness, and fighting this same battle, in which the wicked then on earth will be slain. “who is this that cometh from Edom, with died garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him who treadeth in the wine fat? I have trodden the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with me: For I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and the blood shalt he sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold: Therefore, mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.”

The same thing is predicted in the sixty sixth chapter: “A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord who rendereth recompense to his enemies. And the hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies. For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire, and by his sword, will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many.” These predictions of the slaughter and destruction of the wicked are here intermixed with promises of salvation and prosperity to the church: “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye who love her: Rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations: That ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb.”

A passage in the tenth chapter of Jeremiah seems to refer to the same event. The folly, idolatry, and great wickedness of the people and nations of the earth, is mentioned and described in the first part of the chapter, upon which the following prediction is uttered: “But Jehovah is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under those heavens.”

In the first part of the twenty fifth chapter, there is a prophecy of the captivity of the Jews, and of other adjacent nations, by Nebuchadnezzar; and when their captivity during seventy years should be ended, Jeremiah foretells the ruin of Babylon, and the land of the Chaldeans. And the evil that was coming on the nations of the earth, which should attend the destruction of Babylon, is represented by ordering Jeremiah to take the wine cup of wrath, and cause all the nations of the earth to drink of it. And as the destruction of ancient Babylon, and the judgments which came on many other nations, was an eminent type of yet greater and more remarkable destruction of spiritual Babylon, and of all the nations of the earth, which will attend that, the prophecy is carried on beyond the type, and looks forward to the antitype, which is common in scripture prophecy; and expressions are used which cannot be applied to the former, to the type, in their full extent and meaning, but to the latter, the antitype, and therefore the prophecy is accomplished but in part, and m a lower degree in the former; but fully and most completely in the latter: Therefore, the prophet goes on, and uses expressions towards the close of the prophecy, which refer chiefly to the battle in which antichrist and the nations of the earth will fall. Such are the following: “Therefore, prophesy thou against them all those words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation, he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth: For the Lord hath a controversy with the nations: He will plead with all flesh, he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day, from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth: They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” The prophet goes on to predict the evil that should come on the shepherds, and the principal of the flock, by whom are meant the kings and great men among the nations, who are to be brought down and destroyed in the battle, which is agreeable to the forementioned prophecy in Isaiah, and to the representation of the same battle in the Revelation.