The story of the ages from creation to redemption

Preface

The * 'Story of the Ages," with the accompanying ' 'Historic and Prophetic Diagram of the World," treats of subjects that reach back before sin entered any part of the creation of God. Then follows briefly the history of the rebellion and fall of Satan in heaven ; the disobedience of our first parents in Eden ; and the course of sin down through the ages to the end of this world, when sin and sinners will be destroyed, the righteous redeemed, and the earth again made new.

While each chapter is complete in itself, each is also closely connected with the one before it, and with the one following it,, thus making an unbroken chain, which, link by link, and chapter by chapter, tells the story of creation, the plan of salvation, and the joys of redemption.

In writing this work, the author has confined his evidence to the Word of God, as found in the Bible ; to history, which records the fulfillment of Bible prophecy; and to true science,, which is in harmony with God and nature.

The author gratefully acknowledges the valuable assistance of Mrs. Anna L. Colcord, of Washington, D. C, in the preparation of this work for the press.

The Author.

- CONTENTS

PAGE

An Appeal to the Reader 8

Value of Ob ject-Lessons 9

First Cover Described 10

A Glimpse of the Whole Chart in Brief 11

Eternity of the Past 11

Time Line 11

Historic Diagram 12

Symbols of Daniel and Revelation 12

The Law of God 13

Plan of Salvation 13

Tabernacle and Law 13

Prophetic Periods 14

The Eastern Question 14

Origin of Sunday 14

Image of the Papacy 14

The Ten Kingdoms 14

Symbols of Revelation ,15

The Millennium 15

Eternity of the Future 15

Description of the Chart in Detail 16

Immensity of Space 16

Our Solar System 17

Center of the Universe : 18

Bible Astronomy 18

God Over All 19

The Three Heavens 19

Grandeur of the Heavens 20

Other Worlds Inhabited 20

French Scientist Says, All Planets Inhabited 23

Personality of God ." 23

Man Created in God's Image 24

God's Habitation or Dwelling Place 25

The Character of God 26

Love Manifested in Creation 26

PAGE

The Moral Law of God: A Transcript op His Character. 27

The Seal of God 31

The Moral Principle in the Sabbath 31

DroNE Plan of the Ages; or, God's Eternal Purpose. ... 33

The Plan of Salvation in Eternity 33

Creation of the Universe and its Inhabitants 36

All Life From God 37

The Entrance of Sin Into the Universe 39

The Creation of Our World 42

The Literal Week 45

The Temptation and Fall 48

The Plan of Salvation in Action 52

History of the World From Creation to the Flood 54

Bible Description of the Flood 61

After the Flood 63

Chaldean Description of the Flood 64

Another Deluge Tablet 66

Tower of Babel 67

The Origin of Nations 69

The Law of God From Creation to Sinai 70

The Sabbath Reform in Egypt 71

The Law Given on Mt. Sinai 74

The New or Second Covenant .\ 80

The Ceremonial and Moral Law Contrasted 82

What Men Have Said of the Moral Law 83

What Men Have Said of the Ceremonial Law 84

The Law and the Gospel." 85

The Theocracy of Israel; or, the Kingdom of God on Earth 88

The Babylonian Empire 90

Daniel, The Prophet 92

Babylon 92

PAGE

Rome 97

Rome Divided 98

Babylon 99

Rome .102

Rome Divided 103

Three Kingdoms Plucked Up 105

The Little Horn 106

The Ram, He-Goat, and Little Horn of Daniel 8 109

Grecia Divided Ill

The Little Horn , . 112

The Sanctuary and Its Cleansing. . . . .. 113

A Great Prophetic Period; or, The Twenty-Three Hundred Days of Daniel 8 :14 , 117

The Seventy Weeks 119

The Holy Spirit and His Work .125

The Third Person of the Godhead 126

The Personality of the Holy Spirit 126

The Holy Spirit Divine 127

The Trinity 127

The Power and Work of the Holy Spirit 128

The Holy Spirit and the Creation of the Universe '. 129

Spurgeon on The Creation of the Universe . 130

The Holy Spirit Everywhere Present . .130

Angels and Their Work 131

The Holy Spirit in the Plan of Salvation 132

The Holy Spirit in the Old Dispensation 133

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit , 133

Announcement of the Birth of John and of Christ . .133 The Holy Spirit's Connection With the Life of

Christ , 134

The Holy Spirit and the Baptism of Christ 134

The Holy Spirit Christ's Representative on Earth.. 135

The Holy Spirit in the General Resurrection 136

The Crucifixion of Christ ';.» 142

Christ the Central Figure 146

The Ascension 147

The Early Rain; or, The Day of Pentecost 148

PAGE

The Great Red Dragon 150

Development of the Papacy 156

The Edict of Milan 157

The Two- Horned Beast; or, The United States in Prophecy 160

The Three Messages of Rev. 14 :6-12 163

The Second Message 164

The Third Message 166

Sabbath Reform in the Last Days 168

The Supreme Court Decision of 1892 174

The Mark of the Beast 177

Sunday, Ancient and Modern 179

Mohammedanism ; or, The Saracens and Turks .181

The Latter Rain 185

Spurgeon on The Latter Rain 187

Signs of His Coming ' 188

Falling of the Stars 190

The Parable of the Fig Tree 192

The Last Generation 192

The Second Coming of Christ 193

First Resurrection .193

An Anceent Belief. 193

A Prominent New Testament Doctrine 194

Manner of His Coming 194

Testimony of Eminent Divines 195

The Parting of the Heavens 197

The Millennium 199

The Earth Desolate 200

The Binding of Satan 200

The Day of Judgment 201

The Books of Record 203

The Second Resurrection 205

The Earth Made New 207

The New Jerusalem 208

The Twelve Foundations 209

The Tree and The River of Life 211

Conclusion 212

AN APPEAL TO THE READER WITHOUT EXCUSE

"We are drawing near to the day of God. The decisions of eternity are upon us. The Master standeth at the door. The day of the Lord is not an uncertain object in the dim and distant future; but it is, to him who reads aright the page of prophecy and history, a vivid reality, even now throwing the beams of its approaching glory and the light of its consuming fires upon a slumbering world. It comes not without a numerous array of precursors and heralds ; yet it will come to many suddenly and unexpectedly. With what real and unfeigned surprise will multitudes awake to their condition, as the terrible realities of this coming day burst upon them. So different from what they expected ! So contrary to all their plans ! So fatal to all that they had hoped for or believed! What astonishment, what amazement, what terror, will seize them! At once they find themselves in the unrelaxing grasp of eternity, its irrevocable decisions upon them, and they among the lost! And how many, in the agony of their despair, will put the question to their own souls, Why should I be found in this condition? And what would be their reply to such a question"? Should the Judge of all meet them with the solemn inquiry why they had not made preparation for that day, what answer would they return? What excuse would they render?

"Would they say that signs should have been given of so momentous an event, some strange phenomena in nature to mark the approach of the end? The answer would be, Such signs were given. The sun was to. be darkened, the moon withdraw her shining, the stars fall from heaven, and strange sights appear above, and strange convulsions to be felt below. And ere probation closed, while yet you could have escaped the coming wrath, the land was full of Bibles containing these predictions, and full of histories recording their fulfillment. Did you care to trouble yourselves to compare the two? And again they would stand speechless and condemned."

— Selected.

The reader is earnestly invited to study well the following pages of prophecy and history. For it will be helpful in making that preparation which will enable him to be among those who will be ready when that great day shall come with all its glorious realities. J. e. w.

from

Creation to Redemption

VALUE OF OBJECT LESSONS

' 'Pictured truth is powerful. "—Rev. Robert F. Y. Pierce.

A diagram is an illustrative outline or drawing, by means of which facts and ideas may be conveyed to the mind, through the sense of sight, in the clearest, quickest, and most comprehensive manner.

The value of pictures and drawings, as a means of education and information, is now generally recognized. This is an age of pictures. The first page of a daily newspaper, or even an ordinary postcard is hardly considered complete today without some striking cartoon or illustrative picture.

The eye is the first avenue to the mind. Ideas and facts 1 can, therefore, be flashed into the mind more easily, more quickly, and often with more lasting effect, through the medium of the eye, than would be possible for them to be through the spoken word. Great scenes, as the havoc of war, the destruction of cities, and the results of terrible storms, and devastating floods, can all be graphically transmitted to the mind, by this means, in a moment of time. So, likewise, great truths and important lessons are quickly and easily grasped by the mind, through the aid of illustrative diagrams, pictures of life, and symbolic representations.

Jesus, the great Teacher, recognized this fact, and frequently made use of this means to instruct the people. Much of His teaching while on earth was done by the use of parables, illustrations, and object lessons, thus bringing to the mind, through the eye, or through objects familiar to the eye, the important lessons of truth He wished the people to learn. The few words He stooped and wrote upon the sand had more effect upon the unfortunate woman's accusers than perhaps many more spoken words would have had. "Behold the lilies of the field!" exclaimed Jesus, again directing the people's minds, through the sense of sight, to the picturesque scene before them, from which He taught the beautiful lesson of God's care for His children.

The Holy Spirit also indorses this means of instruction, directing the ancient prophet to "WRITE THE VISION, AND MAKE IT PLAIN UPON TABLES, THAT HE MAY EUN THAT READETH IT." Hab. 2:2. And the same Spirit, in inspiring the writing of the books of Daniel and Revelation, made use of this medium when it represented the great nations of the earth by symbolic beasts of various descriptions.

In the " Historic and Prophetic Diagram of the World" the author, by means of grouping together on one chart the great historic outlines and prophetic symbols of the Bible, has endeavored to present, at one view, God's plan of the ages, and the 1 entire history of the world. It is intended, therefore, as an aid to a correct, intelligent, and comprehensive understanding of the Bible, a means by which even those least familiar with the Scriptures may grasp, with ease, its wonderful truths.

TO UNDERSTAND THIS DIAGRAM, OR CHART, MEANS TO UNDERSTAND THE GREAT ESSENTIALS OF HISTORY AND PROPHECY, LAW AND GOSPEL, TIME AND ETERNITY.

FIRST COVER

In connection with the study of the diagram it will be interesting to the reader to take a glance at the first cover page of the book. Here, in still briefer form than on the diagram, is given an outline of the history of the World from creation to redemption. Beginning with creation, and Adam and Eve in Eden, is traced, in rapid succession, the great nations of the world, as pictured by the three leading prophets of the Bible — Moses, Daniel, and John — culminating with the new Jerusalem, the metropolis of that kingdom which is to supplant all other kingdoms, in the earth made new.

A GLIMPSE OF THE WHOLE CHART IN BRIEF

Extending* back, not only to Eden, but to before Creation itself, and coming down the stream of world's events, past our own time, and still on into the future, even to the final close* of this world's history, the chart gives, in a clear, concise, and comprehensive manner, by means of colored diagrams, the leading outlines of Scripture prophecies and their historical fulfillment covering this great and eventful period of time.

By means of the figures 1 to 30, running from left to right at the top and bottom of the chart, and of the letters of the alphabet extending from the top to the bottom at either end of the chart, any event, date, fact or symbol represented on the chart may be readily and definitely located. The dotted parallel lines running across and up and down the chart, connect corresponding figures and letters, as from E to E (left to right), or 1 to 1 (top to bottom).

The ten colored illustrations at the top of the chart, on line A, extending from left to right, from A to A, between 1 and 30, show some of the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in all ages of the world.

ETERNITY OF THE PAST

The yellow space at the left of the chart, extending from the "View of the Universe" to the bottom between C and Z, represents the eternity of the past, before this world was created. Line 1 shows that Satan sinned and fell before the history of this world began. The narrow black line 3, running up and down from B to Z, dividing the yellow space from the main body of the chart, is the Creation Line.

THE TIME LINE The black line extending across the chart from P to P, is the Time Line, and constitutes the backbone of the chart. From this is found the dates of the most important events of the world's history.

On line 0, between 3 and 14, or from Creation to the Christian Era, the A. M. — Anno Mundi — dates of the most important events are given according to the year of the world. Going back on line Q, from 14 to 3, the same events appear, but Avith the B. C. dates indicated.

Continuing jon line Q from 14 to 27, which brings us down this side of the birth of Christ, are found the greatest historical events that have occurred from that time to the present.

As seen by the dates on line 0, between 3 and 8, the history of the first three thousand years is very much condensed, owing to the fact that but comparatively little is known of that period of the world.

The Time Line P is divided into thousand year periods, by short, red bars extending above and below it at certain intervals. The end of the first thousand year period is where the red bar extends above the Time Line P, between 4 and 5, to the figure 1000; the second thousand year period ends at the red bar on the Time Line, just to the right of line 6 ; and the third period of one thousand years ends where the red bar is connected with the Time Line to the left of line 8.

From this point on, the scale of the chart is very much increased, and continues at about the same proportion, to the second coming of Christ, indicated by line 27. The fourth thousand year period extends from 8 to 14, or to A. D. 1. The end of the fifth thousand year period will be found where the red bar is connected with the Time Line at line 22, and the sixth thousand year period continues from this point down to the present, where it is almost finished.

HISTORIC DIAGRAM The Historic Diagram in red and yellow, on lines R and S below the Time Line, begins at creation and continues on through to the second coming of Christ, at line 27, or to the millennium period. This diagram indicates the length of time from creation to the flood, between lines 3 and 6, — 1656 years; and the duration of the leading nations of the world since that time, chief of which are the four great universal monarchies, — Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The dates of the rise and fall of these nations are readily determined by a comparison of the Historic Line with the Time Line.

SYMBOLS OF DANIEL AND THE REVELATION Under the Historic Diagram, on lines T and U, between 8 and 27, in chronological order, appear the prophetic beast symbols of the Scriptures, with their prominent characteristics brought to view. These beasts represent the great nations

A GLIMPSE OF THE CHART 13

of the earth as they appear upon the stage of action, assuming the sovereignty of the world and the character of a universal power.

Beginning at creation, in a green colored diagram, extending from T and 3 diagonally down to Z and 8, a number of patriarchs are given who were contemporary with each other, showing how readily the facts of creation and events that •occurred during the first twenty-five hundred years of the world's history, were carried by word of mouth from Adam to Moses, through only five men, bringing us within less than fifteen hundred years of the birth of Christ. It also shows that the lives of three men, — Adam, Methuselah, and Shem, — spanned more than half the time from creation to the beginning of the Christian era.

THE LAW OF GOD

The Blue Diagram C, extending from the extreme left to the right, or from C to C, represents the law of God. This diagram illustrates the eternal duration of the moral law of God. It also shows the existence of this eternal law in the eternity of the past, the law Oral, the law Written, the law Magnified, the law Honored, and the law Eternal in the ages to come, through all of which shines the justice and righteousness of the Eternal Giver of the law.

Line B shows the Sabbath in eternity, the Sabbath given to man in Eden, three of the great Sabbath reform movements of history, and the Sabbath in eternity to come.

PLAN OF SALVATION

On line D, extending from the extreme left to line 27, is a diagram which illustrates the plan of salvation as devised in eternity. Rom. 16 :25, R. V. This shows how it will close with the three-fold message of Rev. 14 :6-10, as shown between lines 25 and 27, and C and 1. These together close the gospel to this world, — a gospel which, from the first, has been founded on God's Word.

TABERNACLE AND LAW

On lines J and M, from 4 to 9, is an illustration of the Tabernacle. Above it is the ark of gold and the two tables of stone, on which appear the graven words of the law, — the ten commandments.

PROPHETIC PERIODS On line P, from 11 to 25, is a colored diagram of the 2300 symbolic days, or literal years, of .the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel, beginning at 457 B. C, on line 11, and ending at A. D. 1844, on line 25.

THE EASTERN QUESTION On line I, 22 to 27, is another diagram in red, showing the rise of Mohammedanism and the development of the Turkish empire, which is about to come to its end, ' ' and none shall help him.' ,

On line J, 18 to 27, is an illustration in red, cone-shaped,, representing the rise and fall of the Papacy in the third and fourth centuries, its loss of power, and its final restoration for a short period near the end.

ORIGIN OF SUNDAY

The history of Sunday is traced by means of a red line,. beginning just above the Time Line, at the intersection of N and 7. This diagram, starting shortly after the flood, and continuing to N, 17, indicates that Sunday was only a pagan or heathen festival day dedicated to the sun and connected with sun worship, until some time after the beginning" of the Christian era. At line 17 the diagram is elevated to K, 19, showing that Constantine and the Catholic bishops exalted this heathen day of worship to a Christian Sabbath, about theyear A. D. 321. From that time it is brought down to the present, showing it to be the final bond of union, which will bring together Catholicism and Protestantism, — the ''beast" and the- "image to the beast." (See lines 26 and 27, and I to M.) It is thus shown to be the symbol of that religion founded upon idolatry and based only on man's word.

IMAGE OF THE PAPACY

The territory of the United States, in blue, is found on

line L, between 24 and 27. In this territory from 25 to 27, is-

shown in red, the rise of the image of the Papacy in the last

days.

THE TEN KINGDOMS

Rome was divided into ten kingdoms, between the years A. D. 351 and 476. This, together with the rise of the Papacy, before which three of these kingdoms were "plucked up," is clearly represented by a new and forcible diagram on line S,. between 17 and 20.

A GLIMPSE OF THE CHART 15

SYMBOLS OF REVELATION

Following in their proper places on the right of the chart, below the Historic Diagram, on lines T and U, extending from 15 to 18 and from 20 to 27, are the prophetic symbols of Revelation. They represent Rome, the Papacy, the woe trumpets, and the United States. Below, on lines X and Y, between 19 and 27, are engravings of the three angels of Rev. 14:6-10, ' 'flying in the midst of heaven," and a specially engraved representation of the second coming of Christ, accompanied by the angelic hosts of heaven.

THE MILLENNIUM

The millennium, or the one thousand years between the first and second resurrections, is represented by the red space between lines 27 and 29, extending from C to Z. At the end of this period the wicked are raised to receive their reward, after which the earth is dissolved by fire, preparatory to its re-creation and restoration to its final Edenic beauty.

ETERNITY OF THE FUTURE

The yellow space on the right of the chart, line 30, extending from C to Z, stands for the eternity of the future, and represents the glorious reign of righteousness, when the whole universe will be free from sin and sinners, and the utmost part of the creation of God will be resplendent with His glory, — "When the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."

DESCRIPTION OF THE CHART IN DETAIL

The yellow space on the left of the chart, extending from C to Z, stands not only for the eternity of the past, but for an infinite and eternally open universal space in which floats the wonderful creation of God. A few features of this wonderful creation are here briefly set forth.

IMMENSITY OF SPACE

The earth on which we dwell is but a mere speck, a grain of sand on the seashore, a drop in the infinite ocean of space, when compared with the wonderful universe of which we are a part. As stated by Camille Flammarion, in his " Wonders of the Heavens," pages 17 and 18, universal space is a vast "expanse without limits, without shores, illimited, infinite,'' and has "neither dome, nor vaults, nor limits of any kind," and is "void in every direction."

In order that the mind may get some conception of this shoreless ocean of space, we give the following illustration from the same author :

"Allow me then, by a figure of speech, to tell you that we will place ourselves on a ray of light and be carried away on its rapid course.

"Taking the earth as our starting-point, we will go in a straight line to any point of the heavens. We start. At the end of the first second, we have already traversed 186,000 miles; at the end of the second, 372,000. We continue. Ten seconds, a minute, ten minutes have elapsed, — 111,600,000 miles have been passed. Passing, during an hour, a day, a week, without ever slackening our pace, — during whole months, and even a year, the time which we have traversed is already so long, that expressed in miles, the number of measurement exceeds our faculty of comprehension, and indicates nothing to our mind : they would be trillions, and millions of millions. But we will not interrupt our flight. Carried on without stopping by the same rapidity of 186,000 miles each second, let us penetrate the expanse in a straight line for whole years, fifty years, even a century. . . . Where are we? For a long time we have gone beyond the last starry regions which are seen from the earth, the last that the telescope has visited; for a long time we travel in other regions, unknown and unexplored. No mind is capable of following the road passed over; thousands of millions joined to thousands of millions express nothing: at the sight of this prodigious expanse the imagination is arrested, humbled. . . . We should be able to guide ourselves in any part of space, left, right, forward, backward, above, below, in every direction; and when after centuries employed in this giddy course, we should stop ourselves fascinated, or in despair before the immensity eternally open, eternally renewed; we should again understand that our secular flights had not measured for us the smallest part of space, and that we were not more advanced than at our starting-point. In truth, it is the infinite which surrounds us, as we before expressed it, or the infinite number of worlds. We should be able to float for eternity without ever finding anything before us but an eternally open infinite."

In this infinite space, the unfathomable extent of which, as just shown, we are but faintly able to comprehend, is found the wonderful creation of God.

While the wisest astronomers of modern times, with the most powerful, up-to-date telescopes, have revealed many things pertaining to this vast creation, yet we have reason to believe that there is no more comparison between what has been revealed and what actually exists, than there is between the finite and the infinite mind.

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

Our sun, nine hundred thousand miles in diameter, or three hundred and fifty-two thousand times larger than the earth, is the center of our solar system. Around the sun are revolving eight planets, of which the earth is* one.

It is now a well demonstrated fact, that our sun, with its accompanying planets, is only one of a great number of suns with like planets revolving around each of them. It is also a fact that groups of these suns, with their planetary systems 1 , similar to our own, revolve around other larger suns, and that groups of these larger groups revolve around still larger suns, and so on, until the whole created universe throughout the immensity of space REVOLVES AROUND ONE CENTRAL POINT, THE THRONE OF GOD. This thought of the construction of the universe has been thus expressed by another: "From satellite neighborhoods we have risen to planet neighborhoods; and now, from these, we have evidently risen to grand solar neighborhoods, where orbed suns go grandly wheeling about suns, carrying with them in inseparable union their glittering retinues."

CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

The idea of God being in the center of the universe is both beautiful and consistent. In speaking of this, an eloquent writer has said:

"But is there not something . . . which invites us to believe that that which would be so fitting and beautiful is also triumphantly actual, namely, that at the center of this august totality of revolving orbs and firmaments — at once the center of gravity, the center of motion, and the center of government to all — is that better country, even the heavenly, where reigns in glory everlasting the Supreme Father and Emperor of Nature, the capital of creation ; the one spot that has no motion, but basks in majestic and perfect repose while beholding the ponderous materialism which it ballasts in course of circulation about it? All hail, central heaven! All hail, innermost Sun Palace and Celestial Alhambra ! All hail, believers ' Last Home!"

Another writer, while speaking of the wonderful privileges that are to be enjoyed by those that shall be redeemed from the earth, brings out this same thought as follows,—

"All the treasures of the Universe will be open to the study of God's redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar, — worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe, and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul. With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unf alien beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God's handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation,— SUNS AND STARS AND SYS- TEMS, ALL IN THEIR APPOINTED ORDER CIRCLING THE THRONE OF THE DEITY.

BIBLE ASTRONOMY.

The following Scriptures plainly tell us who it was that created all these systems of worlds and suns, and holds them in balance as they are revolving around the throne of God :

Isaiah 40 :26 says : ' ' Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number : He calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth." "Praise ye the Lord. . . . Praise ye Him, all His angels; praise ye Him ; all His hosts. Praise ye Him, sun and moon : praise Him, all ye stars of light, . . . for He commanded, and they were created." Ps. 148:1-5. "The heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament showeth His handiwork." Ps. 19:1. "Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone: Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host." Neh. 9:6. The Psalmist, in speaking of the sun, says: "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His circuit unto the ends of it." Ps. 19 :6.