Chapter 1 Is it Peace and Safety In spite of the rapid increase of crime and violence on every hand; in spite of the most gigantic preparations for war that the world has ever seen; in spite of the increasing worldliness of the church, the pulpit and the religious press continue to talk of peace and safety, of a millennium in which there shall be no war, and in which the world will be converted. In the midst of violence and crime, it seems a strange proceeding to talk of peace and safety. In the presence of the greatest possible preparations for war, it seems rather incongruous to announce the speedy approach of a time when there shall be no war. In the face of the increasing worldliness of the church, and the loss of her power of godliness, the prospect does not appear very flattering for the conversion of the world to Christ. Yet under these very circumstances, in these very times, these very things are preached. But is such preaching, the preaching of the truth? Is it so that through the practice of violence and crime there is to be developed an era of peace and safety for those safety for those who commit these things as well as for those who do not? Is it true that by these immense preparations for war, by this constant readiness for war, and this increasing jealousy and warlike spirit amongst nations, there is to be brought about a time when all nations shall voluntarily lay down their arms and make no more preparation for war, and when there shall nevermore be either jealousy or warlike spirit? Is it a fact that through a world-loving church seeking for worldly power and worldly favor, there shall flow such a flood of divine grace that it shall irresistibly overwhelm the world? Such results from such causes or by such means, are moral impossibilities. Then why is it that from one end of Christendom to the other the pulpits ring with it? Is it because the Scriptures say that this shall be? Let us see. There are certain scriptures quoted to prove that these things are so. Let us read them. “I will declare the decree; the Lord has said unto me, “You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.” (Psalm 2:7-8) There, does not that say that the world shall be converted? Well does it? Plainly it does not. It says that the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth shall be given to the Son of God. But it does not say that this shall be by conversion nor for conversion. Before the conversion of the heathen or the uttermost parts of the earth can be found in that scripture it has to be put into it by the one who wants to find it there. And that is not the best way to interpret Scripture. It is not the best way to read into Scripture what we want there, rather than to read the Scripture to find what really is there. But it may be asked, Is not conversion the necessary con clusion from the text? It is not, because the next verse shows the contrary: “You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2:9) That is certainly anything else then their conversion. This is shown further by the remaining verses: “Be wise now therefore, O you kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.” (Psalm 2:10-12) This shows that the time is coming when the Son will be angry, and his wrath will be kindled; and that now men must make their peace with him, that they be not broken and dashed in pieces when his wrath shall be kindled, for that is to be done with the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth when they are given to him. This is confirmed by another scripture in which this wrath is spoken of. Revelation 6:16 speaks of “the wrath of the Lamb.” And when that wrath is revealed, “...the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17) It is certain therefore that the second psalm does not teach the conversion of the world; nor will it allow any such teach ing to be read into it. Another scripture quoted in proof of the conversion of the world is, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15) But this text is much the same as the other. It does not say that these kingdoms become his by conversion nor for con version. It is evident that this text bears the same meaning as that in the second psalm. Read the two together: I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. These two texts certainly speak of the same time and the same event, and we have seen that these heathen are given him to be dashed in pieces. And that this is the same with “the kingdoms of the world,” is evident from the context. The whole verse reads, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15) “The seventh angel” here spoken of, is the seventh of the seven trumpet angels recorded in Revelation chapters 8 to 11. And each of the last three trumpets is accompanied by woe: “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” (Revelation 8:13) There were three trumpets yet to sound and there were to be three woes because of the three trumpets. This is further shown: “The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe comes quickly.” (Revelation 11:14) Then follows the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the announcement that the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. Now as the sev enth trumpet is accompanied by the third woe, and as it is un der the seventh trumpet that the kingdoms of this world be come the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, it is certain therefore that it is in the midst of a time of woe that the king doms of this world do become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. This is further shown by verse 18: “And the nations were angry [precisely the attitude of the nations at this moment], and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which corrupt [margin] the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) The time of reward of the saints, etc., is at the coming of the Lord, for he says, “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Revelation 22:12) Then it is that his wrath is kindled and the angry nations are given him, and in the midst of a time of woe they are dashed in pieces, and destroyed because they corrupt the earth. This is confirmed by the prophecy in Daniel 2:31-45. There was a great image seen, with head of gold, breast and arms of silver, sides of brass, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. Then a stone was seen to smite the image upon his feet, “...and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-f loors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them.” (Daniel 2:34-35) And in explanation of this the Word says: “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Daniel 2:44) It is evident that in none of these texts is the conversion of the world, nor a millennium of peace, spoken of at all nor even suggested. Instead of the nations being at peace, they are “angry;” instead of there being safety on the earth there is “woe;” instead of the conversion of the world there is to be destruction that shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. And yet in the face of these plain declarations of the word of God, and of the events that mark their fulfillment, men will preach directly the opposite. But even this is shown by the word of God as that which will be at this time. In the last verse of 1 Thessalonians 4, the coming of the Lord is spoken of. Then in the first verses of the fifth chapter it is said: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, “Peace and safety;” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1) This shows that at the time when destruction is impending there will be men saying, “Peace and safety,” and then sudden destruction comes upon them. Therefore if there is any one thing that men should disbelieve, it is the preaching of peace and safety, the preaching of a millennium of peace and the conversion of the world. The very preaching of it is evidence of its falsity, because the word of God says that then “destruc tion will come.” Chapter 2 In the Last Days Undoubtedly the one text of Scripture that is oftenest referred to as proof of the millennium and the conversion of the world, is that one which speaks of the nations beating their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks. There are two places in the Bible where these words are used: Isaiah 2:2-4, and Micah 4:1-5. These are almost precisely alike, except that where one uses the word “nations” the other uses “people,” and the statement in Micah is a little longer than that in Isaiah: “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.” (Micah 4:1-5) Now let us examine this closely and see what it teaches. When is this scripture to apply? “In the last days.” Who is it that shall say these things? “Many nations [Isaiah: “Many people”] shall come and say;” etc. Exactly! • In the last days then many people shall say that “the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” • In the last days many people shall say, “The nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks.” • In the last days many people shall say that “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” • In the last days many people shall say, “Peace and safety,” because “they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid.” • And, too, they will say that “the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” All these things many people will say in the last days. But what says the Lord? “In that day, says the Lord, will I assemble her that halts, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.” (Micah 4:6-7) This shows that at the very time, in that day, when “many people” are saying all those things, there will be some who will be “driven out,” “afflicted,” and “cast off,” and that these will be a “remnant.” And it is this “remnant” which the Lord says he will gather and over whom he will reign in Mount Zion forever. This is clearly against the idea of the conversion and gath ering of all the world, for if that were true then there would be no “remnant” at all, nor would there be any that were “cast off ” or “driven out” or “afflicted.” How could there be any afflicted or driven out when every man could sit under his vine and under his fig-tree, with none to make afraid, and when none should ever learn war any more? Plainly there could not be. Therefore the text does not at all teach that there shall be a millennium of peace and safety and the conversion of the world. It only teaches that in the last days many nations or people will say so, and will say that the Lord has said it; while the Lord himself says that “in that day” there will be a rem- nant, who will be cast off, driven out, and afflicted, and that this remnant he will gather, and will reign over them in Mount Zion forever. That this is the true explanation of the text we have the whole Bible on this subject in proof. Let us follow this “remnant” and see what further is said about it. “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. ...[there] shall be deliverance.in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” (Joel 2:30-32) “Therefore wait upon me, says the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them my indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” (Zephaniah 3:8) Can it be possible that the Lord is going to assemble a con verted world to pour upon such a people all his fierce anger? Not at all. The word of God knows no such thing as the con version of the world, that is all. “I will also leave in the midst of you an aff licted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.” (Zephaniah 3:12) This is precisely what the Lord says in Micah 4, while many people are saying “peace and safety,” and that the world shall be converted. This is further shown by the next verse. It speaks of this afflicted and poor people as the “remnant of Is rael,” saying, “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” (Zephaniah 3:13) This whole connection shows that the time here spoken of is the same as that in Micah 4, and that the remnant here referred to is the same as the remnant there referred to, and that this remnant will be poor and afflicted, cast off and driven out. This is confirmed by another reference to this remnant: “The dragon was was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:17) The dragon is said, in verse 9, to be “the devil,” “Satan.” The “woman” is the church of God. The devil is wroth with the church of God, and goes to make war with the remnant of her seed. The devil works through earthly powers and agencies. In stirring up kings, and people, and nations to oppress the church he has ever endeavored to destroy her. This is continued even to the end, in a war with the remnant of Israel, the last of the church of God. Says the Lord by Daniel, speaking of that great power that so long wore out the saints of the Most High: “I beheld, and the same horn 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.” (Daniel 7:21-22) Here then is the story of the remnant. It is the last of the church. The people who compose it keep “the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The devil, through the powers of earth, makes war upon them. By this they are “cast off ” “driven out,” and become an afflicted, and poor people. But there is deliverance in the remnant who the Lord calls, for, “In that day, says the Lord, will I assemble her that halted, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.” (Micah 4:6-7) “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” (Revelation 15:2) Those who got this victory are they who kept “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” and these are the remnant, who are driven out and afflicted, but whom the Lord gathers, and over whom he reigns in Mount Zion forever. Yet at the very time when the devil is thus making war upon the poor, afflicted, but loyal remnant of the church of Christ, the popular pulpit, and the worldly church, will sing of peace and safety and the conversion of the world, and will think that because the world finds it to its interest to ally itself with the already too willing church, therefore the world is be coming converted, and a millennium of peace will reign on the earth! Yes, says the prophet, “From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yes, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” (Isaiah 24:16-17) Right here the reader may with profit read carefully the whole of the second chapter of Isaiah: “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come you, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Therefore you have forsaken your people the house of Jacob, because they are replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man bows down, and the great man humbles himself: therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, and hide 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 upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 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 arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isaiah 2:1-22) There is another line of scriptures that also prove positively that this promise of peace and safety, and of beating swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning-hooks, is only the saying of “many people” and not of the Lord at all. Notice, the time at which the prophet says that many people will say these things, is “in the last days.” Now what does the Lord say shall be the condition of things in the last days? This: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) This is what God says there will be, in the last days; and this is exactly what now is, as any one can see who will look. Nor is there promise of these bad men growing better and better, until all shall be converted and there be left none wicked on the earth. On the contrary, this word says “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13) And in the face of these plain positive declarations of the word of God, pulpit and platform, priests and people, will declare that the world is growing better, that everything pros pers and is on the highway to the millennium. It is too, but not such a millennium as they are looking for and preaching, but one of destruction and devastation. Again, says the Lord by the prophet Joel, “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overf low; for their wickedness is great.” (Joel 3:13) When is the harvest? “The harvest is the end of the world.” (Matthew 13:39) Who holds the sickle to reap withal? “I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in your sickle, and reap; for the time is come for you to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” (Revelation 14:14-16) This is the time, and the event, that is spoken of by Joel: “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” (Joel 3:13) The harvest is the end of the world. And when that time comes, the word of God says, “Their wickedness is great.” Therefore any preaching that promises a reign of righteousness on this earth before the end of the world, is contrary to the word of God. What further says the Lord, of this time? This: “Proclaim this among the Gentiles [nations]; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause your mighty ones to come down, O Lord.” (Joel 3:9-11) Then he continues: “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wicked ness is great.” (Joel 3:13) Therefore the word of God is plain that the promises of peace and of the increase of righteousness, that will be heard in the last days, are only the words of many people, and not the word of God; of a people too, who are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,” and who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof; and from whom it is the duty of all who fear God, to turn away. TheMillennium01.jpg We are now living in the last days, in the very time when many people are saying all these things that are directly contrary to the word of God. And not only that, but they are said contrary to that word, in the very presence of the evil times and events that the word of God shows shall be. From such turn away, for whoever trusts in such promises of peace and safety, and follows in the way of such words, shall not know peace. “For the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” (Isaiah 13:6) “Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” (Joel 2:12-13) Chapter 3 The World Will Not Be Converted By those who believe in a millennium of peace and safety and the conversion of the world, it is arguedBsomewhat as follows: “The Bible says that the devil is to be bound a thousand years and shall deceive the nations no more till the thousand years are finished.” Therefore, Satan being bound, and unable to deceive anybody, the gospel having no opposition, and having a thousand years to work untrammeled, in the very nature of the case all will accept the blessedness of the gospel, and the world must become converted. That appears very plausible, but is it true? We think not, and that for many reason which the Scriptures show, some of which we shall give. It is true that the devil is to be bound a thousand years. It is true that he is to have no power to deceive till the thousand years shall be fulfilled. And it is just as certainly true that when the thousand years are expired he does have power to deceive the nations. And he does deceive them, to that extent that he gathers them to battle against the City of God, and fire comes down out of Heaven and devours them. Let us read the scripture on this: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season... And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:1-3,7-9) That is a straightforward story. It needs no addition. It says plainly that Satan does not deceive the nations for a thousand years, and then when the thousand years are expired he does deceive them, even the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea, and fire devours them. Now it seems rather incongruous to claim that the world will all be converted during the thousand years, only to be deceived by the devil and devoured by fire as soon as the thousand years are over. It seems hardly reasonable that the Lord would give over to the devil and destruction, the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, when they had all become converted. If it should be claimed that these who are destroyed are only the ones who would not yield to the gospel, and would not be converted, then what becomes of the doctrine of the world’s conversion? For the number of the deceived and de stroyed is made up of the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth, and the number is as the sand of the sea. At that rate the number of the converted could hardly embrace the world. No; neither this text that speaks directly of the millennium —müle-annum, a thousand years—nor any other in all the Bible gives any hint of the conversion of the world. A thou sand years, a millennium of peace and safety and the destruction of all evil, is a myth. The doctrine of the conversion of the world is a fraud, and the preaching of it a deception and a snare. “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord has said, You shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.” (Jeremiah 23:16-17) Could this time be better described than it is in these words? • Those that despise the Lord are increasing on every hand; • Those who walk after the imagination of their own heart are multiplying in the church as well as in the world; • Evil men and seducers are growing worse and more abundant; • And when anyone proclaims the word of God, that the Lord comes to judge them for their evil ways, then a chorus of voices can be heard all around, saying to them that despise the Lord: “The Lord has said, You shall have peace.” “Don’t be troubled, the Lord is not coming yet. The world is only in its infancy. The gospel has only got a fair start. The world must be converted before the Lord comes,” etc., etc. • And when the word of the Lord is preached that “de struction comes,” and “fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth,” then the same deceptive song is heard: “No evil shall come upon you. For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard his word? Who has marked his word and heard it?” “Don’t be disturbed. Nobody can tell whether the coming of the Lord is nigh or not. It may be a thousand years, may be ten thousand years yet. Nobody can tell anything about it.” “No evil shall come upon you.” This say they, but what does the Lord say? “Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart; in the latter days you shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.” (Jeremiah 23:19-22) The wicked, and those that despise the Lord and walk in their own evil way, they will comfort with the hope of the soon-coming millennium of peace and safety, and the conversion of the world. And then, as the wickedness increases, those who promise and preach such things will invoke the power of the State to compel the wicked to act as though they were righteous, and so to help bring in the millennium and convert the world. They will comfort the wicked with the promise of a time when they can all be converted and become servants of God, without forsaking the world, or denying themselves, or taking up the cross. A time in which the way to life will be so broad that none can get out of it, and the way to destruction so narrow that no one can get into it. But such a time will never be in this world. Christ said, “Enter in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there; Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) And he never gave any intimation that the order would ever be reversed, and the way become so broad that the world would find it. But he did say, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (Luke 13:24) They will seek, but will not strive. They will go in the way to destruction because the way to life is so strait. And, “When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are. ...depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.” (Luke 13:25,27) When the door of salvation closes there will be “many” working iniquity. Yes, says the Saviour, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endures unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13) “The Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith [not all flock to the faith], giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1) “When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) All these scriptures and all others that we might quote, show that the word of God contemplates no such thing as a millennium of peace and safety, nor the conversion of the world. And to those who preach, or promise, or prophesy these things, the Bible says that they. “...speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord... I sent them not, nor commanded them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:16,32) As we said before, so say we now again, If there is any one thing about the preaching of the present day that should be disbelieved, it is the preaching of peace and safety, and the conversion of the world. Chapter 4 When Does the Millennium Begin? Having conclusively shown what the millennium is not--that it is not a time in which the world will be converted--we now propose to show by the Scriptures what it is. The word millennium means a thousand years. Properly speaking, any period of a thousand years is a millennium, it matters not where, nor in what connection, the period may occur. But as there is in the Bible a period of a thousand years definitely measured off, which by perversion has been made to promise great things to the earth, to this period has been appropriated exclusively the phrase, the millennium. So that when this expression is used with no qualification, it is always understood to mean the thousand years referred to in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, during which Satan is deprived of power to deceive the nations. When, then, does the millennium begin? At the resurrection of the righteous dead. The Scriptures is perfectly plain on this subject: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4-6) Here it is said that: • certain ones lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years; • they are the blessed and holy; • on them the second death has no power; • this is the first resurrection; and • the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. It is certain therefore that the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked are a thousand years apart. It is certain that the resurrection of those upon whom the second death has no power, is a thousand years before the resur rection of those upon whom the second death has power. As this is definitely named the first resurrection; and as the rest of the dead--those who have no part in the first resurrec tion-- live not till the thousand years are finished, it assuredly follows that the second resurrection is a thousand years after the first. And as only the righteous--the blessed and holy--have part in the first resurrection; and as those who live not again till the thousand years are finished are consumed in the lake of fire, there can be no shadow of doubt that there are to be two resurrections--the resurrection of the righteous only, and of the wicked only--and that the two resurrections are a thou sand years apart. The Saviour said: “The hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28-29) Here is shown “the resurrection of life,” and “the resurrection of damnation;” clearly two resurrections, though this text does not of itself show how far apart they are. The text in Revelation tells that they are a thousand years apart. True, this is the only text that does tell it, but that makes nothing against the truth of it. What the Lord says once is just as true as though it were said fifty times. We know that the common idea of the resurrection of the dead is that when the end of the world comes, all the dead will be called up together, both righteous and wicked, and then judgment passed upon each case. But these texts, and many others that might be given, show that such a view is a mistaken one. The truth is that the righteous are raised first, and they are made immortal “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;” and before they are raised to immortality, they are “accounted worthy” of such a resurrection (Luke 20:35-36). The evidence of the Scripture is positive therefore that the millennium begins at the time of the resurrection of the righteous dead. Now when is it that this resurrection takes place? At the last trump. For, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51) But when is it that this trumpet sounds, that awakes the righteous dead? At the coming of the Lord in his glory. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Thus the millennium begins at the resurrection of the righteous dead, and the resurrection of the righteous dead is at the coming of the Lord. Therefore the millennium begins at the coming of the Lord Jesus in his glory. This is confirmed by Revelation 20:4, which we notice again: “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.” (Revelation 20:4) What is the antecedent of the pronouns “they” and “them” in this sentence? The antecedent is not in the twentieth chap ter, for the first three verses refer to the binding of Satan. From verse eleven to the end of the nineteenth chapter, the coming of the Lord and the destruction of the nations are de scribed, so we are compelled to go yet further back. We read the first verse of the nineteenth chapter, and there we find it: “And after these things [after the judgment of great Babylon] I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven, saying, Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God.” (Revelation 19:1) Now we may read again the verse from chapter 20: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:4) Now when is it that judgment is given to these? At the coming of the Lord. For, says the Scripture, “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come.” (1 Corinthians 4:5) And in Daniel 7, of the Papacy it is said: “I beheld, and the same horn 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.” (Daniel 7:21-22) This shows that judgment is given to the saints of God, at the coming of the Lord in his glorious kingdom; and we have found that this is at, and by, their resurrection from the dead. Again says the Saviour, “You shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:14) “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Revelation 22:12) Therefore, as judgment is given to the saints at their resur rection, and that at the coming of the Lord; and as their resur rection is the first resurrection, and that is the beginning of the millennium, it is proven as plainly as anything can be proven that the millennium begins at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Then where do the righteous spend the millennium? Let us follow them from their resurrection, and see where they go. First we have just read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, that when the Lord comes and the trump of God is sounded, the dead in Christ arise, and then those who are alive are caught up together with him to meet the Lord in the air. Here at the first step we find them taken away from the earth, and caught up to the Lord Jesus “in the air.” Secondly, we have read in Revelation 19:1 of a great voice of much people in Heaven, saying, “Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God.” Thirdly, we read: “I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9) And this throne was set in Heaven (Revelation 4:2). Therefore it is certain that the multitude of the righteous, who are raised in the first resurrection of the millennium, who are caught up to meet him in the air, to whom judgment is given, and who reign with Christ a thousand years, it is certain that these are taken to Heaven, to the presence of the throne of God, and that there they worship him and the Lamb; it is cer tain that they spend the millennium in Heaven, and that there is where they are priests of God and of Christ, and where they reign with Christ the thousand years. This is confirmed by another view. In Revelation 20:4 it is said that in this great company there are those who had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark in their foreheads, nor in their hands, and that they with the others reigned with Christ a thousand years. Now we read of these same ones, thus: “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” (Revelation 15:2) And this sea of glass is before the throne of God in Heaven, for says the Scripture, “I was in the Spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in Heaven, and one sat on the throne... And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal.” (Revelation 4:2,6) Again, these are said to have “the harps of God,” as they stand on that crystal sea. And then we read of the same company: “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” (Revelation 14:1-2) This shows that those who did not worship the beast, nor his image, nor receive his mark, but got a victory over all, were taken to Heaven. And these were only a part of that “much people” whose voices were heard there, to whom judgment was given, who were raised at the beginning of the millennium, and who reigned with Christ during the millennium --the thousand years. From all these texts, the conclusion is clear and positive that all the righteous people from this world are taken to Heaven by the Lord Jesus, at the beginning of the millennium, and that they spend the millennium in Heaven itself in the presence of God and the Lamb. Therefore any preaching that promises a millennium before the coming of Christ in his glory, is contrary to Scripture. And any preaching that promises a millennium of peace and joy on this earth, even after the coming of Christ, is also contrary to the Scripture. This last statement we shall make plain in the next chapter by showing what the millennium will be on the earth. Chapter 5 Who Shall Stand When He Appears? We showed by the plain reading and evidence of Scripture that the millennium begins at the second coming of Christ and the consequent resurrection of the righteous dead. We showed that when the righteous are raised by the Lord Jesus at his coming, they are then taken to Heaven, where judgment is given unto them, and where they reign with Christ a thousand years, that is, during the millennium; while the rest of the dead--the wicked--live not again till the thousand years--the millennium--are finished. We then stated the legitimate conclusion, that any preaching that promises a millennium before the second coming of Christ, is contrary to Scripture. We further stated that any preaching that promises a millennium of peace and joy on this earth even after the second coming of Christ, is likewise contrary to Scripture. This we shall now prove by scriptures so abundant that to doubt it will be but to doubt the truth of the Bible. Let us read again from Thessalonians: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) This shows as clearly as language can that all the righteous, both dead and living, are taken away from the earth when the Lord comes, that is, at the beginning of the millennium. They are “caught up together,” “in the clouds,” “to meet the Lord in the air;” and they are not found upon earth again till after the thousand years are finished. As therefore the righteous, whether dead or living, are all taken away from the earth when the Lord comes, the question fairly presents itself, What becomes of the wicked on the earth when the Lord comes? The answer is not far to seek, and it is clear and explicit. “To you who are troubled rest with us, 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 Thessalonians 1:7-8) The vengeance of the Lord on the wicked is destruction. For says Christ, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-27) As the flood destroyed all who in the days of Noah obeyed not the Lord; and as the days of Noah were so shall the days of the Son of man be; it is certain that when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, it will be the de struction of every soul of man that stands in wickedness. “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even so shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” (Luke 17:28-30) But were they not warned in the days of Noah? Oh yes! they all had ample warning. Noah preached to them all about it. The trouble was not that they could not know about it, but that they would not know. They would not believe what was told them. It was thus also in Sodom, they would receive nothing, and believe nothing, about the destruction that hung over their guilty city. They could have escaped, had they believed and obeyed; but they would not believe, nor obey, and the fire and brimstone from heaven destroyed them all; and even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Christ sends a message to the world, that his coming is at the doors, and that this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. This message will make ready a people prepared for the Lord. But it will be believed by but a few, compared to earth’s millions. For instead of believing it and acting accordingly, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” (2 Peter 3:3-6) There is where lies the difficulty, not that they are ignorant of these things, but that they are willingly ignorant. It is told them but they will not know nor believe. Again we read of the coming of the Lord, and the destruc tion of the wicked on the earth at his coming, “I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords... And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” (Revelation 19:11-16,19-21) The beast here spoken of is the same as the “little horn” of Daniel 7; it is the “man of sin,” “the mystery of iniquity,” “the son of perdition,” named by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8, of which he says, “That Wicked shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8) And the “army” here referred to as following the King of kings and Lord of lords is the same as that mentioned in Joel: “...a great people and a strong; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations... The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining; And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executes his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:2,10-11) And all these refer to the same time and people, that Paul mentions in the text before quoted, “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 Thessalonians 1:7-8) Speaking of this same time, Revelation says: “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:14-17) This corresponds exactly to the pouring out of the last of the seven last plagues when the voice of God announces the end of the world: “The seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; 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.” (Revelation 16:17-18,20) Joel speaks of the same time, saying, “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” (Joel 3:16) Jeremiah also, tells of this time and what shall be to the wicked when the day of the Lord comes: “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 has a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, says the Lord. Thus says 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.” (Jeremiah 25:30-33) They shall not be lamented, for there are none left to lament them. They shall not be gathered nor buried, because there are none left to gather or bury them. All are destroyed as at the flood, and as at the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. These scriptures certainly show as plainly as the scriptures can, that at the coming of the Lord, that is to say, at the begin ning of the thousand years, all the living wicked upon the earth are slain. And right here is where the views set forth in the Prophetic Conference, lately held at Chicago, are utterly at fault and ter ribly misleading. There it was preached, according to the Scripture, that the coming of the Lord will be before the mil lennium, which is true. It was likewise preached according to the Scripture, that wickedness will increase, that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,” until the coming of the Lord, which is also true. And then, contrary to all Scripture, it was preached that when the Lord comes, the conversion of the world will begin in reality, and will be accomplished during the thousand years! That is to say, Men will mock at the law of God, and de spise the gospel of Christ, and grow worse and worse at it, till the Lord Jesus comes in the glory of his Father and all the holy angels with him, and then they all become willing to be converted! Even then, they are so slow about it that it takes a thousand years to accomplish it. Such doctrine will never do. The Scripture is wholly against it, not only when speaking directly upon the subject, but also when showing the very consciousness of men when they realize the presence of the divine. The most righteous of men have always been smitten with fear at the appearance of an angel of God, and needed to be reassured by the words of the angel, “Fear not.” How much more terrible then to the wicked would such an appearance be. The wicked Belshazzar in the midst of his lascivious feast, was filled with dread and alarm at the sight of only the fingers of a man’s hand writing on the wall. And what will be done by the wicked of this world when the heaven is torn asunder and there is revealed the face of Him that sits on the throne, is shown by a text already quoted, but we will repeat it: “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” (Revelation 6:14-16) The fact is, that the wicked would rather have a mountain on them than to be obliged to stand in the presence of Christ when he appears in his glory. To the wicked in that day a fall ing mountain will be counted a refuge if it will only hide them from the penetrating gaze of the righteous Son of God. “Our God is a consuming fire,” and such will he be in that day to ever soul of man who does not have grace whereby they may serve him with reverence and godly fear ( Hebrews 12:28-29). Nothing can live in the presence of God, except it be imbued with life from God, and made like unto him in His glory. In that great day when Christ shall appear in his glory, every one who is righteous will be imbued with immortality, in the twinkling of an eye, and made like him (Philippians 3:2021; 1 John 3:2); and every one who is wicked will be destroyed with the brightness of his glory, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and shall not be lamented neither gathered nor buried. “I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live.” (Ezekiel 18:32) As therefore the righteous, both living and dead, are all taken away from the earth, and the wicked are all slain upon the earth, when the Lord comes, and as the wicked live not again till the thousand years are finished, it would reasonably follow that the earth would then be left without inhabitants. That is exactly what the Scripture declares, but the proof of it will come in the next chapter. Chapter 6 What Is the Millennium? We have seen by the Scriptures that at the second coming of Christ, and the consequent resurrection of the righteous dead: 1. The thousand years--the millennium--begins (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6); 2. All the living wicked on the earth are slain (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 19:11-21; 16:14-17; Jeremiah 25:30-33); 3. None of the wicked live any more until the thousand years are finished (Revelation 20:5, 7-9); Therefore the conclusion certainly follows that the earth is left utterly desolate, and without a human inhabitant during the whole millennium. That this is not only the certain conclusion from correct premises, but is also the positive showing of all the Scripture on the subject, it is the purpose of this article to show. God said of Babylon: “For I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, says the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 14:22-23) This word everybody knows has been fulfilled to perfection. Babylon has lain for ages a ruin, a desolation, and an astonishment. It has been swept with “the besom of destruction.” And thus says the Lord: “This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:26-27) The ruin and desolation of ancient Babylon lie today as a mighty object lesson teaching the inhabitants of the world what this earth is yet to be, and that during the millennium. Again we read: “Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the in- habitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord has spoken this word... 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 removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 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.” (Isaiah 24:1-3,19-22) The Revised Version reads, “after many days they shall be punished,” which is really the correct idea, for the Hebrew word is the same one just before translated “punish.” Thus Isaiah 24:19-22 is identical with Revelation 16:17-21 and 20:5, 7-9, and shows the desolation of the earth, and the punishment of the living wicked when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with his mighty angels taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The prisoners shall be gathered together in the pit (of death) for they live not till the thousand years are finished; “and after many days, shall they be punished,” after the thousand years, for “...when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:7-9) It is certain therefore that this earth is to be utterly empty and utterly spoiled of all human inhabitants during the millennium. This time of ruin, of wasteness, and of desolation is “the great day of the Lord,” so often spoken of in the Bible. Although the great day of the Lord is somewhat more than exactly a thousand years in length, yet the millennium is the greater part of that great day. The great day of the Lord begins about a year before the coming of Christ, that is, about a year before the one thousand years proper begin. It begins with the outpouring of the first vial of the wrath of God, that is, the first of the seven last plagues, for the wine of the wrath of God is the seven last plagues ( Revelation 14:9, 10; 15:1; 16:1-21). And at the last of the seven last plagues the great voice of God is heard saying, “It is done.” Then Christ comes, the earth is made desolate, and is left empty for the thousand years; then follows the resurrection and destruction of the wicked upon the burning earth. So that the great day of the Lord begins a short season before, and continues a short season after, the exact period of the one thousand years. Therefore as the millennium is the greater part of the great day of the Lord, whatever is said of the condition of the earth in the great day of the Lord, describes the condition of the earth during the millennium. Of this time Joel exclaims, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord comes, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains.” (Joel 2:1-2) Then he speaks of “...a great people and a strong; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them... And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executes his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:2-3,11) This is identical with Revelation 19:11-21, and this army is the same as “the armies which were in Heaven,” and which “upon white horses” follow the King of kings and Lord of lords when he comes in his glory taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is certain, then, that the second coming of the Lord introduces a time of darkness and gloominess, and of clouds and thick darkness upon the earth. This is further shown by Zephaniah: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hastes greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land... I will utterly consume all things from off the land, says the Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, says the Lord.” (Zephaniah 1:14-18,2-3) As the result of all this, the condition of the earth is as seen and described by Jeremiah: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus has the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall f lee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks; every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.” (Jeremiah 4:23-29) These scriptures certainly show that at the second coming of Christ, the earth will be swept with the besom of destruction, made empty, and left utterly desolate with not a man to dwell therein. More passages might be quoted to the same effect, but as suredly it is not necessary. If these passages do not make that point clear, what could make it so? If the Lord wanted to de clare to men that at his second coming to this world, he would make the earth waste, and desolate, and empty, and leave it utterly without a man to dwell in it, how would it be possible for him to tell it more plainly or more strongly than he has told it in the texts cited? Compare: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light,” (Jeremiah 4:23) with “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2) At the end of the world, that is, at the second coming of Christ, the earth is to be brought back to the waste, formless, and void condition in which it stood at the beginning, ere ever light shone on it. And so it will remain for a thousand years, and such is the millennium upon the earth. Such in reality is the “millennium” to which the pulpit of these last days is looking as a time of peace and safety, as the time of its triumph in the conversion of the world; and with the hope of which it is deluding both itself and the world, for such a hope is like a spider’s web.