Time and place...history and prophecy… may our Savior who died so we could live, who died and sent 'Another Comforter' to come to us, bless us through that Comforter with understanding of His truth! Please Savior- open our hearts and minds to only Your truth through Your love, by Your grace.
*******
(((Please Note-
This edition of Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith- is from the 1912 edition.
Here's a bit of history-
The response of history to the voice of prophecy. A verse-by-verse study of the Bible books of Daniel and The Revelation, first published as separate books in 1867 (Revelation) and 1873 (Daniel). Revised several times by the author before his death in 1903, with editorial additions in this text. The original book was almost 800 pages…
Pasted from
Obviously from the following it's clear that there were EDITORIAL additions in this text… written in 1867, 1873…. Revised 1903 and finished with editions to it in 1911 for the 1912 edition..))))
Continuing on…
'At this point it may be profitable to take a glance at the progress of the Sunday-law movement in this country during the recent past. (((Remember this particular edition to this book is the year 1912)))) The following are some of the more prominent of the events which mark its advancement.
1890. - Breckenridge Sunday bill for the District of Columbia introduced in Congress. (January 6.)
1892. - Congress orders the gates of the Chicago World's Fair closed on Sunday, and decides that Sunday is the Sabbath Of the Decalogue. (July 19.)
1900. - Congress makes the appropriation of $5,000,000 for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, conditional upon Sunday closing of the gates "during the whole duration of the fair." (March 1.)
1904. - A Sunday bill for the District of Columbia passed the House of Representatives. (April 6.)
1906. - Congress makes the appropriation of $250,000 for the Jamestown Exposition, conditional upon Sunday closing. (June 29.)
1906. - Wadsworth District Sunday bill passes House of Representatives. (June 11.)
1908. - Samuel Gompers officially announces that the Arnerican Federation of Labor not only is in favor of Sunday rest, but that it has "done as much, if not more, than any other
p 620 -- organized body of men and women, to enforce the observance of the Sunday rest-day." (September 14.)
1907-8. - Ten bills for Sunday observance introduced during the first session of the sixtieth Congress. (December 5 to May 1.)
1908. - Johnston District Sunday bill, passed by the Senate. (May 15.)
1909. - Johnston District Sunday bill reintroduced in the Senate. (March 22.)
1910. - Johnston District Sunday bill reintroduced in Senate. (January 17.)
- Johnston District Sunday bill passes Senate. (January 27.)
- Johnston District Sunday bill introduced in the House. (January 28.)
1911. - Johnston District Sunday bill introduced in special session of Congress. (April 6.)
- Favorably reported by the Senate District Committee. (May 22.)
- Mann bill, "For the Observance of Sunday in Post-Offices," introduced in House of Representatives. (May 16.)
All this is exclusive of Sunday legislation in the states of the union, and in other countries. During the year 1910 there was such legislation or agitation over the same, in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the countries of Canada, England, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland.
Most of the state governments have in their constitutions or in their adopted "Bill of Rights," provisions guaranteeing the fullest religious liberty; and the inconsistency of legislating on religious questions, under these circumstances, is at once seen; while the treachery of oppressing people for opinion's sake, in such states, is keenly felt. Every conceivable invention is therefore resorted to, to make it appear that it is not, religious persecution at all, but only the question of obedience to civil law. One of these inventions is that Sunday is only a civil institution, and its enforcement only a police regulation, a civil requirement necessary for the public good. But this is
p 621 -- impossible; for every one knows that Sunday in its origin, history, and very nature, is a religious institution. No claims in its behalf would ever have been heard of, but for its religious basis. Hence any enactment to enforce it by pains and penalties is religious legislation and religious oppression.
But if there is a law for it, should not that law be obeyed until repealed? Every law that does not trench upon the domain of conscience, if it becomes unacceptable to the people, should nevertheless be obeyed till it can be changed or repealed. But Sunday laws interfere with the conscience of the observer of another day, and for that reason cannot "bear upon all alike." And no true Christian can make his obedience to God depend upon the permission of his fellow men. It may be said again, In a country like the United States, do not majorities rule? and must not their decisions be obeyed? And the answer again is, Yes, in everything but questions of conscience, but never there. "Render ... unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Men may legislate to guard the mutual rights of all members of society, but no further; and in this they will never infringe upon the rights of any one's conscience; for a "good" conscience (I Peter 3:21) will never invade the rights of others, like the polygamy of the Mormons, or the human sacrifices of the heathen.
The founders of the American republic never intended that any trouble should arise, through the laws of the land, over any question of conscience but they permitted the evil principle of religious laws to remain in their political structure, a principle sure to spring to life at the first opportunity. In the further development of religious truth, it is now found that these laws forbid men to render obedience to what the Bible requires of them, and thus conflict with their unalienable rights. Such laws, therefore, the Christian cannot regard, and the government, to be true to its professed principles, should wipe them off the statute-books wherever found. But this the religio-political clergy will not permit; and the nation is doomed; for it will thus put itself in line with the religious despotisms of the past; and the cry will go up from God's suffering children,
p 622 -- "It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law." Ps. 119:126.
While, according to the prophecy, the "image" can be looked for ONLY in the United States, the worship of the beast will prevail in other countries also; for all the world is to wonder after the beast.
Some one may now say, As you expect this movement to carry, you must look for a period of religious persecution in the United States; nay, more, you must take the position that all the saints of God are to be put to death; for the image is to cause that all who will not worship it shall be killed.
A period of persecution has been for about fifty years expected and predicted. It has now begun, and is thus demonstrating the correctness of the application of the prophecy as set forth in this work; but it does not by any means follow that all, and we do not think that even many, will be put to death, though a decree to that effect will be promulgated; for, as the prophet elsewhere declares, God does not abandon his people to defeat in this dire conflict, but grants them a complete victory over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name. Rev. 15:2. We further read respecting this earthly power, that he causeth all to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads; yet chapter 20:4 speaks of the people of God as those who DO NOT receive the mark, NOR worship the image. If, then, he could "cause" all to receive the mark, and yet all not actually receive it, in like manner his causing all to be put to death who will not worship the image does not necessarily signify that their lives are actually to be taken.
But how can this be? Answer: It evidently comes under that rule of interpretation in accordance with which verbs of action sometimes signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question, and not the actual performance of the thing specified. The late George Bush, Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature in New York City University, makes this matter plain. In his notes on Ex. 7:11 he says: "It is a canon of interpretation of frequent use in the exposition of the sacred writings that verbs of action sometimes
p 623 -- signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question. Thus in Eze. 24:13: 'I have purified thee, and thou wast not purged;' i.e., I have endeavored, used means, been at pains, to purify thee. John 5:44: 'How can ye believe which receive honor one of another?' i.e., endeavor to receive. Rom. 2:4: 'The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance;' i.e., endeavors, or tends, to lead thee. Arnos 9:3: ' Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea;' i.e., though they aim to be hid. I Cor. 10:33: ' I please all men;' i.e., endeavor to please. Gal. 5:4: ' Whosoever of you are justified by the law;' i.e., seek or endeavor to be justified. Ps. 69:4: ' They that destroy me are mighty;' i. e., that endeavor to destroy me; English, ' That would destroy me.' Acts 7:26: 'And set them at one again;' i.e., wished and endeavored; English, ' Would have set them.' "
So in the passage before us. He causes all to receive a mark, and all who will not worship the image to be killed; that is, he wills, purposes, and ENDEAVORS to do this. He makes such an enactment; passes such a law, but is not able to execute it; for God interposes in behalf of his people; and then those who have kept. the word of Christ's patience are kept from falling in this hour of temptation, according to Rev. 3:10; then those who have made God their refuge are kept from all evil, and no plague comes nigh their dwelling, according to Ps. 91:9, 10; then all who are found written in the book are delivered, according to Dan. 12:1; and, being victors over the beast and his image, they are redeemed from among men, and raise a song of triumph before the throne of God, according to Rev. 14:2-4.
The objector may further say, You are altogether too credulous in supposing that the masses of our people, many of whom are either indifferent or wholly opposed to the claims of religion, can be so far brought to favor the religious observance of Sunday that a general law can be promulgated in its behalf.
We answer, The prophecy MUST be fulfilled and if the prophecy requires such a revolution, it will be accomplished.
To receive the mark of the beast in the forehead is, we understand, to give the assent of the mind and judgment to his
p 624 -- authority in the adoption of that institution which constitutes the mark. By parity of reasoning, to receive it in the hand would be to signify allegiance by some outward act.
VERSE 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
*******
And tomorrow we will continue with the number of the beast- all by our Savior's grace!
So far we have to comprehend that all this came to pass, all this to deal with the Sunday law was underway and in a HUGE manner! This wasn't subtle suppositions being put forth. These weren't mere ideas being shot out for consideration. LAWS were being made! Punishments for breaking said laws occurred!
Yet something happened to put a stop to it all.
For now we will continue on, forever keeping in mind that history cannot be changed and is necessary for our learning.
Please, Savior keep us in YOU always in all things! Bless us!
In YOUR LOVE.
*******
(((Please Note-
This edition of Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith- is from the 1912 edition.
Here's a bit of history-
The response of history to the voice of prophecy. A verse-by-verse study of the Bible books of Daniel and The Revelation, first published as separate books in 1867 (Revelation) and 1873 (Daniel). Revised several times by the author before his death in 1903, with editorial additions in this text. The original book was almost 800 pages…
Pasted from
Obviously from the following it's clear that there were EDITORIAL additions in this text… written in 1867, 1873…. Revised 1903 and finished with editions to it in 1911 for the 1912 edition..))))
Continuing on…
'At this point it may be profitable to take a glance at the progress of the Sunday-law movement in this country during the recent past. (((Remember this particular edition to this book is the year 1912)))) The following are some of the more prominent of the events which mark its advancement.
1890. - Breckenridge Sunday bill for the District of Columbia introduced in Congress. (January 6.)
1892. - Congress orders the gates of the Chicago World's Fair closed on Sunday, and decides that Sunday is the Sabbath Of the Decalogue. (July 19.)
1900. - Congress makes the appropriation of $5,000,000 for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, conditional upon Sunday closing of the gates "during the whole duration of the fair." (March 1.)
1904. - A Sunday bill for the District of Columbia passed the House of Representatives. (April 6.)
1906. - Congress makes the appropriation of $250,000 for the Jamestown Exposition, conditional upon Sunday closing. (June 29.)
1906. - Wadsworth District Sunday bill passes House of Representatives. (June 11.)
1908. - Samuel Gompers officially announces that the Arnerican Federation of Labor not only is in favor of Sunday rest, but that it has "done as much, if not more, than any other
p 620 -- organized body of men and women, to enforce the observance of the Sunday rest-day." (September 14.)
1907-8. - Ten bills for Sunday observance introduced during the first session of the sixtieth Congress. (December 5 to May 1.)
1908. - Johnston District Sunday bill, passed by the Senate. (May 15.)
1909. - Johnston District Sunday bill reintroduced in the Senate. (March 22.)
1910. - Johnston District Sunday bill reintroduced in Senate. (January 17.)
- Johnston District Sunday bill passes Senate. (January 27.)
- Johnston District Sunday bill introduced in the House. (January 28.)
1911. - Johnston District Sunday bill introduced in special session of Congress. (April 6.)
- Favorably reported by the Senate District Committee. (May 22.)
- Mann bill, "For the Observance of Sunday in Post-Offices," introduced in House of Representatives. (May 16.)
All this is exclusive of Sunday legislation in the states of the union, and in other countries. During the year 1910 there was such legislation or agitation over the same, in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the countries of Canada, England, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland.
Most of the state governments have in their constitutions or in their adopted "Bill of Rights," provisions guaranteeing the fullest religious liberty; and the inconsistency of legislating on religious questions, under these circumstances, is at once seen; while the treachery of oppressing people for opinion's sake, in such states, is keenly felt. Every conceivable invention is therefore resorted to, to make it appear that it is not, religious persecution at all, but only the question of obedience to civil law. One of these inventions is that Sunday is only a civil institution, and its enforcement only a police regulation, a civil requirement necessary for the public good. But this is
p 621 -- impossible; for every one knows that Sunday in its origin, history, and very nature, is a religious institution. No claims in its behalf would ever have been heard of, but for its religious basis. Hence any enactment to enforce it by pains and penalties is religious legislation and religious oppression.
But if there is a law for it, should not that law be obeyed until repealed? Every law that does not trench upon the domain of conscience, if it becomes unacceptable to the people, should nevertheless be obeyed till it can be changed or repealed. But Sunday laws interfere with the conscience of the observer of another day, and for that reason cannot "bear upon all alike." And no true Christian can make his obedience to God depend upon the permission of his fellow men. It may be said again, In a country like the United States, do not majorities rule? and must not their decisions be obeyed? And the answer again is, Yes, in everything but questions of conscience, but never there. "Render ... unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Men may legislate to guard the mutual rights of all members of society, but no further; and in this they will never infringe upon the rights of any one's conscience; for a "good" conscience (I Peter 3:21) will never invade the rights of others, like the polygamy of the Mormons, or the human sacrifices of the heathen.
The founders of the American republic never intended that any trouble should arise, through the laws of the land, over any question of conscience but they permitted the evil principle of religious laws to remain in their political structure, a principle sure to spring to life at the first opportunity. In the further development of religious truth, it is now found that these laws forbid men to render obedience to what the Bible requires of them, and thus conflict with their unalienable rights. Such laws, therefore, the Christian cannot regard, and the government, to be true to its professed principles, should wipe them off the statute-books wherever found. But this the religio-political clergy will not permit; and the nation is doomed; for it will thus put itself in line with the religious despotisms of the past; and the cry will go up from God's suffering children,
p 622 -- "It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law." Ps. 119:126.
While, according to the prophecy, the "image" can be looked for ONLY in the United States, the worship of the beast will prevail in other countries also; for all the world is to wonder after the beast.
Some one may now say, As you expect this movement to carry, you must look for a period of religious persecution in the United States; nay, more, you must take the position that all the saints of God are to be put to death; for the image is to cause that all who will not worship it shall be killed.
A period of persecution has been for about fifty years expected and predicted. It has now begun, and is thus demonstrating the correctness of the application of the prophecy as set forth in this work; but it does not by any means follow that all, and we do not think that even many, will be put to death, though a decree to that effect will be promulgated; for, as the prophet elsewhere declares, God does not abandon his people to defeat in this dire conflict, but grants them a complete victory over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name. Rev. 15:2. We further read respecting this earthly power, that he causeth all to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads; yet chapter 20:4 speaks of the people of God as those who DO NOT receive the mark, NOR worship the image. If, then, he could "cause" all to receive the mark, and yet all not actually receive it, in like manner his causing all to be put to death who will not worship the image does not necessarily signify that their lives are actually to be taken.
But how can this be? Answer: It evidently comes under that rule of interpretation in accordance with which verbs of action sometimes signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question, and not the actual performance of the thing specified. The late George Bush, Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature in New York City University, makes this matter plain. In his notes on Ex. 7:11 he says: "It is a canon of interpretation of frequent use in the exposition of the sacred writings that verbs of action sometimes
p 623 -- signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question. Thus in Eze. 24:13: 'I have purified thee, and thou wast not purged;' i.e., I have endeavored, used means, been at pains, to purify thee. John 5:44: 'How can ye believe which receive honor one of another?' i.e., endeavor to receive. Rom. 2:4: 'The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance;' i.e., endeavors, or tends, to lead thee. Arnos 9:3: ' Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea;' i.e., though they aim to be hid. I Cor. 10:33: ' I please all men;' i.e., endeavor to please. Gal. 5:4: ' Whosoever of you are justified by the law;' i.e., seek or endeavor to be justified. Ps. 69:4: ' They that destroy me are mighty;' i. e., that endeavor to destroy me; English, ' That would destroy me.' Acts 7:26: 'And set them at one again;' i.e., wished and endeavored; English, ' Would have set them.' "
So in the passage before us. He causes all to receive a mark, and all who will not worship the image to be killed; that is, he wills, purposes, and ENDEAVORS to do this. He makes such an enactment; passes such a law, but is not able to execute it; for God interposes in behalf of his people; and then those who have kept. the word of Christ's patience are kept from falling in this hour of temptation, according to Rev. 3:10; then those who have made God their refuge are kept from all evil, and no plague comes nigh their dwelling, according to Ps. 91:9, 10; then all who are found written in the book are delivered, according to Dan. 12:1; and, being victors over the beast and his image, they are redeemed from among men, and raise a song of triumph before the throne of God, according to Rev. 14:2-4.
The objector may further say, You are altogether too credulous in supposing that the masses of our people, many of whom are either indifferent or wholly opposed to the claims of religion, can be so far brought to favor the religious observance of Sunday that a general law can be promulgated in its behalf.
We answer, The prophecy MUST be fulfilled and if the prophecy requires such a revolution, it will be accomplished.
To receive the mark of the beast in the forehead is, we understand, to give the assent of the mind and judgment to his
p 624 -- authority in the adoption of that institution which constitutes the mark. By parity of reasoning, to receive it in the hand would be to signify allegiance by some outward act.
VERSE 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
*******
And tomorrow we will continue with the number of the beast- all by our Savior's grace!
So far we have to comprehend that all this came to pass, all this to deal with the Sunday law was underway and in a HUGE manner! This wasn't subtle suppositions being put forth. These weren't mere ideas being shot out for consideration. LAWS were being made! Punishments for breaking said laws occurred!
Yet something happened to put a stop to it all.
For now we will continue on, forever keeping in mind that history cannot be changed and is necessary for our learning.
Please, Savior keep us in YOU always in all things! Bless us!
In YOUR LOVE.
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