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OF THAT DAY AND HOUR KNOWETH NO

MAN, &c.

Let us read the whole verse: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Mark xiii. 32. If this is any objection, the passage must mean that no man ever shall know until the end comes. But that such is not its meaning, is proved as follows: 1. The text reads knoweth. If Christ had meant to say never shall know, why did he not use the future tense ?

2. Such an interpretation makes Christ contradict himself; for he has just said, "When ye see all these things, [the signs he had just given them,] know that it is nigh, even at the doors."

For our

3. It proves that Christ himself will never know any thing about it till he finds himself here!! Lord says, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven, NEITHER THE SON." If the objector is now afraid to follow out his principles, let him acknowledge he is mistaken in his interpretation; for, if this text proves that no man ever shall know, it equally proves that the "Son" shall never know until he actually finds himself here. Nor can he escape from the difficulty by saying, "Christ did not know it as man," for it is the "Son of Man" that is to appear "in the clouds of heaven."

Wesley said, "But of that day—the day of Judgment—knoweth no man,—not while our Lord was on the earth. Yet it might be afterward revealed to St. John consistently with this." Or it might have been given to Daniel in such a way as to be sealed then, and to remain sealed till the Providence of God unseals it near the time for the end.

IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW THE TIMES OR SEASONS, &c.

Let us read the context. "When they, therefore, were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to

Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath

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put in his own power. Now observe,

1. It says it is not for you, living at this time, to know. It does not say it is not for men to know.

2. It does not say times or seasons which the Father intends shall never be known; but which he hath put in his own power to make known by a further revelation, or by the events of his Providence. The time is sealed or hidden until He unseals it. Those living at the time may know, because the Father will then give them the means of knowing; but it is not for me to tell you now; the Father hath put it in his own power.

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Now turn over to Rev. i. 1. "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. This additional revelation given by the Father, in connexion with the occurrence in due time of events all ordered by Him, is the key to unlock the visions of Daniel, which the Father put in his own power to furnish.

And now, dear reader, let me entreat you to follow the example of the prophets of old, and search diligently what manner of time the Spirit doth signify. Many tell us the end of the world is at hand. Possibly they are correct; and, if they are, how unspeakably important that we all should know it. If there is only a possibility of their being correct, we should run to our Bibles, and search them, as we have never before, to see whether it is so. How much more, when the great and the learned, having applied themselves to discover some mistake in the arguments, have been unable to discover any; nay, further, when the attempts to confute them, thus far made, have only placed the arguments in a clearer light, and made them appear doubly strong.

For myself, I have been unable as yet to find the least shadow of an objection to the belief, that the 2300 days terminate sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. In respect to the meaning

of the word sanctuary—whether it means the earth or Mount Zion, I am still undecided. If it means the earth, the conclusion seems unavoidable that the world will end as soon as the 2300 days expire. If, however, it means Mount Zion, a question occurs, whether the 1335 days are a part of the 2300 days, or whether they constitute a distinct prophetic period. If they belong to the 2300, they terminate with them, and be it observed that at the end of the 1335 days, will be the resurrection. If, however, they do not belong to the 2300, when do they begin and when terminate? Any one must perceive that the 1260 are a part of the 1290 days; also that the 1335 days commence with the 1290. Only one question remains,—did the 1260 and the 1290 commence together, or did they terminate together? That the 1260 terminated in 1798, no unprejudiced person, it seems to me, can doubt. And if the 1290 also terminated then, (having commenced thirty years before the 1260,) then the conclusion seems irresistible that the 1335 terminate about this time—being now forty-five years since 1798, which is the excess of 1335 over 1290. If, however, as is possible, the 1260, 1290, and 1335 days all commence at the same time, the 1260 having terminated in 1798, and the 1290 in 1828, then we are still within thirty years of the end. And this, it would seem with our present light, is the utmost limit to which time can extend, while there are many reasons for believing that but a few days more will close the scene.

Perchance you are a professor of religion, and yet, strange to say, setting in the seat of the scornful, and joining with an infidel church in the infidel cry, "Where is the promise of his coming?"—or, "The prophecies cannot be understood before their accomplishment," or, "The time has been purposely concealed." Why not honor God by believing his revelation?

Let me seriously ask, whether Christians living in the last days have not peculiar duties to perform? One told me lately he had practical duties to perform, without diving into the prophecies. And is it not a

practical duty to listen when God speaks, to read what God writes, to receive with thankfulness what God communicates, and to be his mouthpiece to an impenitent world, declaring the day of vengeance at hand? Was it sufficient for Jonah to threaten judgments to the Ninevites? Was he not commanded to limit their time of probation to forty days? If we are in the last days, the most important practical duty we can perform is to proclaim "the hour of his judgment is come." "If the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; BUT HIS BLOOD WILL I REQUIRE AT THE WATCHMAN'S HAND.

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Paraphrase of Daniel XI. and XII.

BY

S. BLISS.

Before the communication made by Gabriel to Daniel, as recorded in these chapters, Daniel says in the 10th chapter:— In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto nie Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long; [extending to the end of the world;] and he understood the thing, and had [more perfect] understanding of the vision [of the 2300 days.]

In those days, I Daniel was mourning three full weeks [inquiring and searching diligently, that I might know more fully, what, and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in me did signify, when it testified of the time of the sufferings of Christ, and the time of the glory that should follow, in the vision had in the third year of Belshazzar, with its explanation in the first year of Darius. See 1 Peter i. 10 -12. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four-and-twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. **** And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright; for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for [because] thy words [for understanding were heard.] ⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕ Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many [2300] days. ⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕ But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth; and there is none

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