A few words before we conclude as to dates. Of the many prophecies in Scripture regarding a period of 1,260 days, or years, if these apply in a great measure to the duration of Antichrist, the only difficulty is to fix upon a starting point for the 1,260 years. Of late years we believe the opinion has been gaining ground among students of prophecy that symbolical prophecies have a double fulfilment-one a literal one and the other antitypical: for instance, Balaam's prophecy," there shall come a star out of Jacob," was doubly fulfilled; our Saviour, the antitype, was born into the world, and at the same time his star appeared to the wise men. Let us apply this example to Antichristian prophecy: we have first the literal, personal Antichrist, whose reign is to extend 1,260 literal days, or three and a-half years; with him however we are not now concerned. The question then remains, what may we consider the antitypical Antichrist? We venture to suggest that one solution of the difficulty may be found in Islam. When we consider the rise, progress, and nature of Islam, and its effect on the Christian world, especially on the early Churches of Asia and Africa, it would indeed be remarkable if it found no place in prophetical Scripture, and it can scarcely be better described in one word than as Antichristian. Here at all events we have a starting-point clear and distinct; whether we be right or wrong in assuming it, is another matter. The Mohammedan era began July, 621; 1,260 years bring us down to the middle of 1881, and who will undertake to say, that, by that time, Islam as a power may not have ceased to exist? And its extinction as a faith will speedily follow its decay as a political entity: the dry bones of Mohammedanism undergo no re-vivification. We may perhaps then see many people go and say "Come ye 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." F. E. HASTINGS. N.B.-The Editor is by no means committed to all that is stated in the two preceding papers, which, however, seem at the present crisis very interesting and suggestive; and the day of "the new covenant with the nation of Israel is surely not far off, which assures for their Remnant such a change of heart as shall prepare them to become the kingdom of the "stone." See the promises of that new covenant in Jeremiah xxxi. :— "27. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. "28. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord. “31. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah : "32. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord : "33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. "34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. "35. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: "36. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. “37. Thus saith the Lord: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. "38. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. "39. And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. "40. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever." THE ROMANCE OF MISSIONS IN THE LAND OF ARARAT. A BOOK thus entitled has been written by an American Missionary Friend, MISS MARIA WEST, who had spent fifteen years of life and labour in Armenia, and had since returned to her own country to recruit her health. She has meanwhile exercised her gifts, of very fascinating description, in the production of a volume which she has called the "ROMANCE OF MISSIONS," and in which, wherever you open it, you feel at once in the midst of the circle or circumstances delineated. It is a happy art thus to present missionary material, and an art too little cultivated. The Oriental background is, of course, favourable to such presentation. The book is dedicated to the Ministering Women of America and England. It is procurable at Messrs. Nisbet's, Berners Street, and will well repay perusal. This Missionary Friend is now once again in London, desiring very much to obtain funds for the erection of a Mission Hall in Smyrna-the place of her present labours. We must let her speak for herself : "In the ancient city of Smyrna, whence the candlestick has been so long removed, are 10,000 Armenians to be evangelized and prepared for evangelizing, throughout Asia Minor, and the East; the door for this now opens widely; the occupation of CYPRUS, and the possible protectorate of ENGLAND, is powerfully affecting the Armenian mind. Hitherto, Christian labour in SMYRNA has been less fruitful than in many other places; but during the last year, the place of Protestant worship has proved too small for all who came to hear the Word of God; Greeks, Turks, and even Jews, have assembled with Armenians, to listen to the Gospel in a common tongue, and have often stood without, because there was no room within; this place has lately been abandoned, and only an old dilapidated house could be secured in its stead, for the coming winter; it affords better air and more room, as well as for a day-school now established, with every prospect of success, in which ENGLISH is taught as the secondary language; a reading-room is opened for young men, and evening classes held by the native preacher. A plain substantial building is now needed for the prosecution of this work, and with an attractive place of worship attached, many more of all classes and races might attend, and a central and admirable site for these buildings can, it is thought, be obtained, for which immediate steps would need to be taken. "Miss West hopes that some friends who are praying for the coming of Christ's kingdom will be willing to assist to build this house of the Lord in Smyrna. 66 Owing to the stagnation of trade, the American Board, under whose auspices this Mission work has been carried on, is sorely crippled for want of funds the help therefore is sought of Christians in Great Britain." N.B.-The "Romance of Missions," above referred to, affords ample evidence of the nature and success of past labours among the Armenians. Contributions for this object may be sent to the Bank of Messrs. Ransom & Co., No. 1, Pall Mall East, directed to Miss West. FOR LONDON BIBLE AND DOMESTIC FEMALE MISSIONS. Money received between August 10th and Sept. 10th, 1878. GENERAL FUND. Brought forward £195 3 0 2 0 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 0 ..100 0 0 A Widow, Tasmania C. A. Carried forward £ s. d. 50 2 0 0 0 15 0 2 10 0 2 10 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 10 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 ..£195 3 0 Sale, Mrs. M. D. L. :: I.-COW CROSS, E.C.- LONG ALLEY-By Miss Brown- OLD STREET :: Mrs. Grove III.-ISLINGTON, No. 3, N.- IV. HACKNEY WICK, E.- Carried forward ..£87 10 0 Examined and certified by me, as duly entered in the books of the Mission, JAMES WADDELL (of J. WADDELL & CO.), Fellow of the Institute of Accountants, Mansion House Chambers, 11, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. Received for the Mission and Bible-women Nurses, with thanks :-Parcels of clothing, pillows, old linen, &c., from Mrs. Harker, Anonymous, Mrs. Penfold, Mrs. Harrold Capper; Mrs. Sowerby; the Misses Dibben; books from Baroness de Breidenback and Anonymous; ear trumpet from C. M.; clothing, jam, &c., from Mrs. Hannyngton; bed rest, &c., from Mrs. Man; old boots from Miss Poole; hospital letters from Miss Bell, Mrs. Jenks, Mrs. Hetherington, and Miss Rose Scott; flowers and text holders from Mrs. Brightwen, Miss Huish, Miss E. Huish, Miss Whitehouse, Miss Esdaile, and Anonymous. Contributions to the LONDON BIBLE AND DOMESTIC FEMALE MISSIONS can be received by the Honorary Secretary, Mrs. Ranyard, 13, Hunter-street, Brunswick-square, London, W.C.: by Lord Kinnaird, addressed to the Bank of Messrs. Ransom and Co., No. 1, Pall-mall East; also by Messrs. Barclay, Bevan, and Co., 54 Lombard-street; and by Messrs. Nisbet and Co., Berners-street. Money Orders should be made payable at the Post-office, Burtoncrescent, W.C., in the name of Ellen Ranyard, and cheques crossed Ransom and Co. |