Part 22

“Let philosophers know, who number thousands of years, ages since the beginning of the world, that the 6000th year is not yet concluded or ended. But that number being fulfilled, of necessity there must be an end, and the state of human things must be transformed into that which is better.”—_Lactantius, B. of Divine Inst., A. D. 310._

Thomas Burnet (Theory of Earth, Lon. 1697) states “that it was the received opinion of the primitive church from the days of the apostles to the council of Nice, that this earth would continue 6000 years, when the resurrection of the just, and conflagration of the earth, would usher in the millennium and reign of Christ on earth.”

“God’s blessing the Sabbath day, and resting on it from all his works, was a type of that glorious rest that the saints shall have when the six days of this world are fully ended.... He will finish the toil and travail of his saints, with the burden of the beasts and the curse of the ground, and bring all into rest for a thousand years.... None ever saw this world as it was in its first creation but Adam and his wife, neither will any see it until the manifestation of the children of God; _i.e._, until the redemption or resurrection of the saints.”—_John Bunyan’s Works, vol. 6, pp. 301, 329._

“I expect with Paul a reparation of _all_ the evils caused by sin, for which he represents the creatures as groaning and travailing.”—_John Calvin, in his __“__Institutes.__”_

The reformation of the earth “never was, nor yet shall be, till the righteous King and Judge appear for the restoration of all things.”—_John Knox._

“The groans of nature in this nether world, Which heaven has heard for ages, have an end. Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung, Whose fire was kindled at the prophet’s lamp, The time of rest, the promised Sabbath, comes: Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course Over a sinful world; and what remains Of this tempestuous state of human things, Is merely as the working of a sea Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest; For HE, whose car the winds are, and the clouds The dust that waits upon his sultry march, When sin hath moved him, and his wrath is hot, Shall visit earth in mercy; shall descend, Propitious, in his chariot paved with love; And what his storms have blasted and defaced For man’s _revolt_, shall with a smile _repair_.” _Cowper’s Task._

The above are only a few of many extracts which might be made, showing the faith of the church in past ages; but which are of no weight, only as they are in accordance with the harmony of scriptural testimony.

When man sinned, this earth was cursed for his sake. The Lord said to him, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Gen. 3:17-19.

Such was the curse to which the whole creation was subjected because man sinned. “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,” Rom. 8:20. And this hope is for a removal of the curse thus inflicted, and a restoration of all things to their original condition.

As the earth was subjected to the curse at the time when man was made subject to death, the removal of the former would naturally be expected at the epoch of the fulfillment of the promise to the just: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death I will be thy plagues; O grave I will be thy destruction,” Hos. 13:14. And thus Paul testifies: “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God, ... Because the creature itself, also, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,” Rom. 8:19, 21-23.

The removal of the curse removes also its consequences. Thus it is promised: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree,” Isa. 55:13. “The inhabitant shall not say I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity,” Isa. 33:24. “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people will he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it,” Isa. 25:8. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,” Isa. 65:17. “And there shall be no more curse,” Rev. 22:3. “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody,” Isa. 51:3.

The removal of the curse is called “the regeneration” (Matt. 19:28), “the times of refreshing,” and of “restitution;” which Peter places at the advent of Christ: “whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution(10) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began,” Acts 3:21. He also places it at “the perdition of ungodly men,” which must synchronize with the epoch when the beast “goeth into perdition” (17:11), and “the remnant” are “slain with the sword,” (19:21); “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2 Thess. 1:7, 8. Says Peter: “The heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word [‘whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished’ v.6] are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men.... But the day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up.... Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,” _i.e._, “righteous persons”—_Horsely_, 2 Pet. 3:7-13. This harmonizes with the day that “cometh that shall burn as an oven,” when “all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly” shall be burned up, and become “ashes under the soles” of those on whom “shall the Sun of righteousness arise,” (Mal. 4:1-3); which must be the time intervening between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked. This also harmonizes with the testimony of our Saviour, that when, “in the end of this world,” He “shall send forth his angels and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; ... _then_ shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” Matt. 13:40-43.

The earth being cleansed, and all things made new, it will have been prepared for the “dwelling” of “righteous persons” (2 Pet. 3:13), who,—having “put on incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:53), and been “caught up ... in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17), where, constituting “the bride,” “the Lamb’s wife,” they were “called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb” (19:7-9),—will descend from heaven to take possession. Thus John writes, that one of the angels said to him: “Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” 21:9, 10.

“Lo, what a glorious sight appears To our believing eyes: The earth and seas are passed away, And the old rolling skies!

From the third heaven where God resides, That holy, happy place, The New Jerusalem comes down Adorned with shining grace.

Attending angels shout for joy, And the bright armies sing, Mortals, behold the sacred seat Of your descending King.”—_Watts._

The Kingdom given to the Saints at the resurrection of the just.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given for them: and I saw the persons of those beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those, who had not worshipped the wild beast, nor his image, nor had received the mark on their forehead, or on their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ the thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Happy and holy is he, who bath part in the first resurrection: on such, the second death hath no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him a thousand years!” Rev. 20:4-6.

“Thrones” are symbols of power. As the saints are to reign with Christ on the renewed earth, in obedience to the invitation: “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” (Matt. 25:34); their being inducted into the kingdom is symbolized by their being seated on thrones. Thus they sing in the “new song,” addressed to Christ: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,” 5:9, 10. In the first chapter, also, all who ascribe praises to “Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” also add: “and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father,” 1:5, 6.

All the saints being thus exalted to kingly and priestly dignity, symbolizes the exalted rank they are to hold in the new creation—the symbols of their station being taken from the most exalted offices known on earth. Thus God said to ancient Israel: “Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation,” (Ex. 19:6); and the Christian church is addressed as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,” 1 Pet. 2:9.

The time when the saints shall reign on the earth is in connection with the destruction of the “little horn” of Daniel’s “fourth beast,” which, as he saw, “made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom,” Dan. 7:21, 22. “The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever,” _Ib._ v. 18. “And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him,” _Ib._ v. 27. “And they shall reign forever and ever,” 22:5. Thus the Saviour said: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,” Luke 12:32.

Those who receive the kingdom are symbolized by the souls of martyrs, &c., living again and reigning with Christ. The symbol includes, with the martyred saints, those who had stood aloof from the worship of the beast and his image, and those who had not received his mark; who are shown by a parallel scripture to represent all who are redeemed to God “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,” 5:9, 10. Some of these were symbolized, under the fifth seal, as crying from under the altar in anticipation of this day, 6:9. Now, with “their fellow servants,” they receive their reward.

The souls of the departed living again, can only symbolize those who