CHAPTER VII PROPHECY WITH some English theologians prophecy has always been a favourite study. It was a subject of jest for Voltaire that the discoverer of the law of gravitation should have written a commentary on the Apocalypse. On the other hand, the wisdom of Calvin has been commended that he abstained from any interpretation of the visions of St John. The study of prophecy in England received a fresh impulse by the events of the French Revolution. The series of rapid changes in government and society, and the convulsions that affected all European nations, seemed a clear unfolding of the drama of the world's history as seen by Daniel and the seer of Patmos. The interpretations were often ingenious, sometimes amusing, and are now mainly valuable as lessons of warning to future interpreters. Even sober writers found in the prophetic books what neither God nor the prophets intended to be in them, and they were so certain of the train of events which were in progress, that they themselves became prophets, even fixing the dates of the things which were shortly to come to pass. If the subject were not too serious, it might be amusing to dwell on the vagaries of interpreters of prophecy. The orthodox Protestant generally found the little horn, the man of sin, the Antichrist and the Apocalyptic harlot to be the Church of Rome. Sometimes they represented the persecuting powers, Pagan, Papal and Mohammedan. That the Pope was writers, was believed by some before the Reformation. Gregory the Great said that he who assumed the title of universal Bishop would be the Antichrist. This was done by his successor Boniface III. The Bishop of Orleans, at the Council of Rheims, in the tenth century asked if the Pope were not the Antichrist sitting in the temple of God as God. St Bernard called the Pope the Antichrist, the little horn, the first beast. The cave in the abyss which the angel opened was found by some writers to be the rise of Mohammedanism, as the Koran originated in a cave. The second beast was Jacobinism, or the infidel power under the name of Reason. Under this power men were to cease to believe the Mosaic record of the creation.1 In 1807 John Martin Butt illuminated the past, the present, and the future. In the Revelation of St John, he found the flight of James II and the advent of the Prince of Orange. The Church of Philadelphia was the Church of England, whose prosperity is seen in the erection of St Paul's Cathedral, the foundation of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the victories of the Duke of Marlborough. Edward Evanson, who left the Church of England and became a Unitarian, thought the Unitarians were the two witnesses or the small number of rational Christians.2 About the year 1803 two writers simultaneously discovered, though by different methods, that Napoleon was the beast of the Apocalypse. The method of the one was to add together all the Emperors from the time of Julius Cæsar, and add to the number that of all the Popes from Linus to Pius VII. The sum total was 665, which left for Napoleon the number 666. The other writer made 666 out of the name Buonaparte by a little variation in the spelling.3 The likeness of Napoleon to the Apocalyptic beast almost deprived the Pope of his long established reputation as the great Antichrist. In 1814 James Hatley Frere sent to the press A Comparative View of Prophecy.' He said in that 1 See Henry Kett, 'History the Interpreter of Prophecy.' See the Prophetic Mirror' by L. Mayer 1803, England's Triumph over Buonaparte and his Armada, foretold 1700 years book Napoleon would leave France for Italy, and before the book was published, which was in 1815, what was only an interpretation of prophecy had become an accomplished fact. The great image of Daniel related to the history of the world, and the vision of the four beasts to the history of the Church. Corresponding to this, the sealed book of St John was the secular history of the Roman Empire, and the open book the history of the Church. The seven seals are the history of the Western Empire, and the trumpets of the Eastern. The little opened book is a complete history of the Church. The little horn having eyes is the Papacy, which made war with the saints for 1200 years. The destruction of the Papacy commenced in 1792. Many things set forth in Daniel happened long ago, but the chief events of which he spoke belonged to the present time, and were of such transcendent importance as to be the subject of prophecy in the ages long past. Everything led up to Napoleon, He is the infidel power that was to arise in the last days. Louis XVI is thus described in Daniel xi, 20 'There shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of his kingdom, but within a few days he shall be destroyed neither in anger nor in battle.' By his oppressive taxation he raised strong opposition, and was basely murdered by his traitorous subjects. The verses following speak of Napoleon as 'a vile person,' who shall stand up, but 'to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.' That Napoleon was 'vile' is proved by his being the son of a lawyer in Corsica. Prophecy has no double meaning, and Napoleon alone was in.the mind of Daniel as the chief person in the fourth or Roman Empire, which was the great enemy of the Church. After his league with the Pope he worked deceitfully. He was against the Holy Covenant, that is, Great Britain. But the ships of Chittim, that is the British navy, shall come against him. It shall 'do great exploits,' which was fulfilled in the victories of Nelson. The stone cut out of the mountain began to smite the Western Empire in 1792. Since that time the nations of Europe have been breaking in pieces. the seven trumpets and the seven vials. This is shown in The reign of Christ writers, was believed by some before the Reformation. Gregory the Great said that he who assumed the title of universal Bishop would be the Antichrist. This was done by his successor Boniface III. The Bishop of Orleans, at the Council of Rheims, in the tenth century asked if the Pope were not the Antichrist sitting in the temple of God as God. St Bernard called the Pope the Antichrist, the little horn, the first beast. The cave in the abyss which the angel opened was found by some writers to be the rise of Mohammedanism, as the Koran originated in a cave. The second beast was Jacobinism, or the infidel power under the name of Reason. Under this power men were to cease to believe the Mosaic record of the creation.1 In 1807 John Martin Butt illuminated the past, the present, and the future. In the Revelation of St John, he found the flight of James II and the advent of the Prince of Orange. The Church of Philadelphia was the Church of England, whose prosperity is seen in the erection of St Paul's Cathedral, the foundation of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the victories of the Duke of Marlborough. Edward Evanson, who left the Church of England and became a Unitarian, thought the Unitarians were the two witnesses or the small number of rational Christians.2 About the year 1803 two writers simultaneously discovered, though by different methods, that Napoleon was the beast of the Apocalypse. The method of the one was to add together all the Emperors from the time of Julius Cæsar, and add to the number that of all the Popes from Linus to Pius VII. The sum total was 665, which left for Napoleon the number 666. The other writer made 666 out of the name Buonaparte by a little variation in the spelling.3 The likeness of Napoleon to the Apocalyptic beast almost deprived the Pope of his long established reputation as the great Antichrist. In 1814 James Hatley Frere sent to the press A Comparative View of Prophecy.' He said in that 1 See Henry Kett, 'History the Interpreter of Prophecy.' 2 Reflections on the State of Religion. See the Prophetic Mirror' by L. Mayer 1803, England's Triumph over Buonaparte and his Armada, foretold 1700 years book Napoleon would leave France for Italy, and before the book was published, which was in 1815, what was only an interpretation of prophecy had become an accomplished fact. The great image of Daniel related to the history of the world, and the vision of the four beasts to the history of the Church. Corresponding to this, the sealed book of St John was the secular history of the Roman Empire, and the open book the history of the Church. The seven seals are the history of the Western Empire, and the trumpets of the Eastern. The little opened book is a complete history of the Church. The little horn having eyes is the Papacy, which made war with the saints for 1200 years. The destruction of the Papacy commenced in 1792. Many things set forth in Daniel happened long ago, but the chief events of which he spoke belonged to the present time, and were of such transcendent importance as to be the subject of prophecy in the ages long past. Everything led up to Napoleon, He is the infidel power that was to arise in the last days. Louis XVI is thus described in Daniel xi, 20 'There shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of his kingdom, but within a few days he shall be destroyed neither in anger nor in battle.' By his oppressive taxation he raised strong opposition, and was basely murdered by his traitorous subjects. The verses following speak of Napoleon as 'a vile person,' who shall stand up, but ' to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.' That Napoleon was 'vile' is proved by his being the son of a lawyer in Corsica. Prophecy has no double meaning, and Napoleon alone was in.the mind of Daniel as the chief person in the fourth or Roman Empire, which was the great enemy of the Church. After his league with the Pope he worked deceitfully. He was against the Holy Covenant, that is, Great Britain. But the ships of Chittim, that is the British navy, shall come against him. It shall do great exploits,' which was fulfilled in the victories of Nelson. The stone cut out of the mountain began to smite the Western Empire in 1792. Since that time the nations of Europe have been breaking in pieces. the seven trumpets and the seven vials. This is shown in The reign of Christ. |