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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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enmt f * f ° ? t ^ eajr ' y Christians- to W ; « iyf f ^ J ^ ffW . llome' proiAecies o cjUj<y and' wickedness . * « € Jf pould not foresee th apostacy of the church We cannot blina ourertdves to the sad fad ; . Why then should we propagate their eitfor I It cannot be any other than the history of * his own church , which none but Christ can foretell .
Haying trespassed at so great a length , 1 will only add for the present , that if , as former commentators think , the seven trumpets are contained under and form the description of the events of tike seventh seal : then ,
according to our interpretation , as the sixth seal is scarcely opened at present , the trumpets must denote events as yet buried in the womb of futurity , and conjecture , as to their moaning , would be futile and absurd . But is
it not possible that the manuscripts may have been deranged ; and once misplaced , who was to restore order to the pages of prophecy ? With respect to what is future , the attempt must always be vain ; but wkh respect
to the past , we may &urely , by a careful attention to history and a judicious comparison of the different parts of the prophecy , endeavour to effect a consistent arrangement . Now in this part of the Revelation there are very stuong appearances of disturbance and confusion . The seventh chapter , in
jvhich is coritaiti ^ d the conc l usion of th £ sixth 90 $ ) , perhaps predicts the restoration wd conversion of the Jews and tite MiHeAium , or some state of ffe&eral happiness ; but ail th *» must of course be merely conjectural , an 4 in fcuch eased it is wiser to confess our
ignorance . Tfee eighth chapter comxnene&i with the opening of the seveath seal * under which we have $ ix of the trumpets , eh . viii . and ix . Then conjesieh . % l . } the <* ngie £ with the litife f >| jtea book , apparently a change to a » entirely iww subject ; then the rod
« h ? mefe $ urij ? g the temple , * the | wq mttNgfteg ^ the earthquake and fall of f 6 a tenth mutt < rf the city , oil seemingly introduced wifchwi regularity or cDHnfetfiag * . And then , ' ver * li w ? return to the sevfertfb trumpet , after
* Meh , ch . xl * cwv&v the * Wfrtory of * toe ? woman aftd ^ H 4 , wjbicb ffam HHWiqr cireumstmowB , * e $ tm di ^ ilnia | e ) y ^^ mected % vith the tvvo tritoesw 9 , J ^> ttld theteforjp Ml ^ e m mg $ *® ^««* terite tea * x ; hftpter should not
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follow immediately after the firskyerse of the eighth chapter , which wo ^| d n ^ ake a consisten t aad truly suDliioae finish to the seven spais v . h ^ oid whea he had opened the seventh sesil , t ^ Cfe was silence in heaven about . the space of lialf an hoiir . A » d I sasr another mighty angel come down from ^ ie % * ven , clothed witli a cloud ; and a rain ^
bow was upon his head , and has face was as it were the sun , and his feet a § pillars of fire / ' &c . &c . John thea eats the little open book , that fe , he studies it , and , as might be expepte ^ from its being an opea book , he i %
directed to prophesy morp general Lv ^ upon which he has the vision of the seven trumpets , ch . viii . & , to the end ch . ix . and xi . 14 , to the end , which relate to events not strictly dependent upon those variations of sentiments among Christians denoted b y tl ^ seals . After the trumpets , follow * a more minute description of the rise of Antichrist , in ch . xi . 1—13 and ? th ^
twelfth and subsequent chapters . Such great transpositions must npt however , be hastily and unadvisedly attempted , nor must we hazard any fash conjectures respecting , fatuxe events , kaowing , as Sit Isaac Newfpn ¦
observes , " That the folly p i ^^ t preters has ^ been to ioretell tinaes apd things by this prophecy , * $ if God de * signed to make them propfye $ 3 . By thi ^ raslu ^ ess they Jaaye not o ^ ly £ X posecl fcaemselves , but brought t $ e prophecy also in 4 o contempt . The design
of God was much otherwise . ; He g&v this and the prophecies of the ^ JUji Testament , not tq gratify men's xmjriotdties , by enabling them to foreknow thiugd , but that , after they were fulfilled * they might be interpreted by the everat , ^ wid fas own proyide ^ ioe , not
the interpreters , be t | ius in ^ m ^ eaw ^ thereby to the world . " Hw ^ g ^ hii * thrown out the idea of a new *» rincjiT pie of explanation , vi ? ., th ^ tt ^ iae Me ^ velat ^ oii predicts general i ev olution of character ki mankind , rather t £ ia £
f ^ articul ^ r eveote , I shall reet ^ for m present . ¦ ¦ Ifc however , I dp n ^ t fio ^ 4 uat lhave by this letter WQ ^ rj ^ l | | # peprare of rasjmess , I shtijl ^ Mh ^ Wy > hereat ter , venUm * $ <* request yow w-» ertion of a few moc ^ re ? nfti ? k 6 : r _ ¦ . t - . ' . • - ? K . K . K » - $
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 475, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/19/
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