by Jonathan Edwards, and from his History of Redemption
(Continued from Page 171)
I would show wherein this overthrow of Satan’s kingdom will chiefly consist. I shall mention the particular things in which it will consist, without pretending to determine in what order they shall come to pass, or which shall be accomplished first, or whether they shall be accomplished together.
(1) Heresies, infidelity, and superstition, among those who have been brought up under the light of the gospel, will then be abolished; and particularly deism, which is now so bold and confident in infidelity, shall be driven away, and vanish to nothing. All shall agree in the same great and important doctrines of the gospel; Zech. xiv, 9. “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one.” Then shall be abolished all superstitious modes of worship, and all shall cordially agree in worshipping God in his own way: Jer., xxxii 39. “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them.”
(2) The kingdom of Antichrist shall be utterly overthrown. His dominion has been much brought down already by the vial poured out on his throne in the Reformation; but then it shall be utterly destroyed. Then shall be proclaimed, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen.” When the seventh angel sounds, “the time, times, and half a time, shall be out; and the time shall no longer.” Then shall be accomplished concerning Antichrist the things which are written (Rev., xviii) of the spiritual Babylon, the idolatrous Roman government, that has for so many ages been the great enemy of the Christian Church, first under heathenism, then under popery.—That proud city which lifted herself up to heaven, in her pride and haughtiness; that cruel, bloody city, shall come down to the ground. Then shall that be fulfilled, Isa., xxvi 5. “For he bringeth down them that dwell on high, the lofty city he layeth it low, he layeth it low, even to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust.” She shall be thrown down with violence, like a great millstone cast into the sea, and shall be found no more at all, and shall become a habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Now shall she be stripped of all her glory, and riches, and ornaments, and shall be cast out as an abominable branch, and shall be trodden down as the mire of the streets. All her policy and craft, in which she so abounded, shall not save her. All the strength and wisdom of this great whore shall fail her, and there shall be none to help her. The kings of the earth, who before gave their power and strength to the beast, shall now hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, Rev., xvii, 16.
(3) Satan’s Mahometan kingdom shall be utterly overthrown. The locusts and horsemen in the 9th of Revelation, have their appointed and limited time set them there, and the false prophet shall be taken and destroyed. And then—though Mahometanism has been so vastly propagated in the world, and is upheld by such a great empire—this smoke, which has ascended out of the bottomless pit, shall be utterly scattered before the light of that glorious day, and the Mahometan empire shall fall at the sound of the great trumpet which shall then be blown.
(4) Jewish infidelity shall then be overthrown. However obstinate they have been now for above seventeen hundred years in their rejection of Christ, and however rare have been the instances of individual conversions, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem—but they have, against the plain teachings of their own prophets, continued to approve of the cruelty of their forefathers in crucifying Christ—yet, when this day comes, the thick veil that blinds their eyes shall be removed, 2nd Cor., iii, 16, and divine grace shall melt and renew their hard hearts, “and they shall look on Him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.” Zech., xii, 10, etc. And then shall the house of Israel be saved: the Jews in all their dispersions shall cast away their old infidelity, and shall have their hearts wonderfully changed, and abhor themselves for their past unbelief and obstinacy. They shall flow together to the blessed Jesus, penitently, humbly, and joyfully owning Him as their glorious King and only Saviour, and shall with all their hearts, as with one heart and voice, declare His praises unto other nations. Nothing is more certainly foretold than this national conversion of the Jews, in Rom. xi. There are also many passages of the Old Testament which cannot be interpreted in any other sense, which I cannot now stand to mention. Besides the prophecies of the calling of the Jews, we have a remarkable providential seal of the fulfilment of this great event by a kind of continual miracle, viz. their being preserved a distinct nation in such a dispersed condition for above sixteen hundred years. The world affords nothing else like it. There is undoubtedly a remarkable hand of providence in it. When they shall be called, that ancient people, who alone were God’s people for so long a time, shall be His people again, never to be rejected more. They shall then be gathered into one fold together with the Gentiles; and so also shall the remains of the 10 tribes, wherever they be, and though they have been rejected much longer than the Jews, be brought in with their brethren. The prophecies of Hosea especially seem to hold this forth, that in the future glorious times of the Church, both Judah and Ephraim, or Judah and the 10 tribes, shall be brought in together, and shall be united as one people, as they formerly were under David and Solomon; (Hos. i, 11, etc.)—Though we do not know the time in which this conversion of Israel will come to pass; yet thus much we may determine by Scripture, that it will be before the glory of the Gentile part of the Church shall be fully accomplished; because it is said, that their coming in shall be life from the dead to the Gentiles, (Rom. xi, 112, 15).
(5) Then shall also Satan’s heathenish kingdom be overthrown. Gross heathenism now possesses a great part of the earth, and there are supposed to be more heathens now in the world, than of all other professions taken together. But then the heathen nations shall be enlightened with the glorious gospel. There will be a wonderful spirit of pity towards them, and zeal for their instruction and conversion put into multitudes, and many shall go forth and carry the gospel unto them. Then shall the joyful sound be heard among them, and the Sun of righteousness shall arise with His glorious light shining on those vast regions of the earth that have been covered with heathenish darkness for many thousand years. Many of them doubtless ever since the times of Moses and Abraham, have lain thus in a miserable condition, under the cruel tyranny of the devil, who has all this while blinded and befooled them, domineered over them, and made a prey of them. Now the glad tidings of the gospel shall sound there, and they shall be brought out of darkness into marvellous light. It is promised, that heathenism shall thus be destroyed in many places. God has said, That the gods that have not made these heavens and this earth, shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens, Jer. x, 11, and that He will utterly abolish idols, Isa. ii, 18.—Then shall the many nations of Africa, who now seem to be in a state but little above the beasts, and in many respects much below them, be visited with glorious light, and delivered from all their darkness, and shall become a civil, Christian, understanding, and holy people—Then shall the vast continent of America, which now in great part is covered with barbarous ignorance and cruelty, be everywhere covered with glorious gospel-light and Christian love; and instead of worshipping the devil as now they do, they shall serve God, and praises shall be sung everywhere to the Lord Jesus Christ, the blessed Saviour of the world. So we may expect it will be in that great and populous part of the world, the East Indies, which are now mostly inhabited by the worshippers of the devil. Then the kingdom of Christ will be established in those continents which have been more lately discovered towards the north and south poles, where men differ very little from the wild beasts, except in impiety. The same will be the case with respect to those countries which have never yet been discovered. Thus will be gloriously fulfilled Isa. xxxv, 1. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them: and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” (See also Verses 6, 7).
Universal extent
Having thus shown wherein this overthrow of Satan’s kingdom will consist, I come now to observe its universal extent. The visible kingdom of Satan shall be overthrown, and the kingdom of Christ set up on the ruins of it, everywhere throughout the whole habitable globe. Now shall the promise made to Abraham be fulfilled, That in him and in his seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed; and Christ now shall become the desire of all nations, agreeable to Haggai ii, 7—Now the kingdom of Christ shall in the most strict and literal sense be extended to all nations, and the whole earth. There are many passages of Scripture that can be understood in no other sense. What can be more universal than Isa. xi, 9. “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” As much as to say, As there is no part of the channel or cavity of the sea, but what is covered with water; so there shall be no part of the world of mankind but what shall be covered with the knowledge of God. So it is foretold in Isa. xlv, 22, that all the ends of the earth shall look to Christ, and be saved. And to show that the words are to be understood in the most universal sense, it is said in the next verse, “I have sworn myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”—So the most universal expression is used, Dan. vii, 27. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high God.”
When the devil was cast out of the Roman empire, because that was the highest and principal part of the world, and the other nations that were left were low and mean in comparison, it was represented as Satan’s being cast out of heaven to the earth, Rev. xii, 9; but it is represented that he shall be cast out of the earth too, and shut up in hell, Rev. xx, 1, 2, 3—This is the greatest revolution by far that ever came to pass; therefore it is said in Rev. xvi, 17, 18, that on the pouring out of the seventh vial, “there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great.” And this is the third great dispensation of Providence which is in Scripture compared to Christ’s coming to judgment, Rev. xvi, 15. There, after the sixth vial, and after the devil’s armies were gathered together to their great battle, and just before Christ’s glorious victory over them, it is said, “Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments.” So it is called Christ’s coming, 2nd Thess. ii, 8. Speaking of Antichrist it is said, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.” See also Dan. vii, 13, 14, where Christ’s coming to set up His kingdom on earth, and to destroy Antichrist, is called coming with clouds of heaven. And this is more like Christ’s last coming to judgment, than any of the preceding dispensations which are so called. The dispensation is so much greater and more universal, and so more like the day of judgment, which respects the whole world. The great spiritual resurrection of the Church of God accompanying it, resembles the general resurrection at the end of the world more than any other (See Rev. xx, 4).
Terrible judgments and fearful destruction shall now be executed on God’s enemies. There will doubtless at the introducing of this dispensation be a visible and awful hand of God against blasphemers, deists, obstinate heretics, and other enemies of Christ, terribly destroying them, with remarkable tokens of wrath and vengeance. More especially will this dispensation be attended with terrible judgments on Antichrist; the cruel persecutors who belong to the Church of Rome, shall in a most awful manner be destroyed; which is compared to a casting of Antichrist into the burning flame, Dan. vii, 11, and to casting him alive into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, Rev. xix, 20. Then shall this cruel persecuting Church suffer those judgments from God, which shall be far more dreadful than her persecutions of the saints, agreeable to Rev. xviii, 6, 7,—The judgments which God shall execute on the enemies of the Church, are so great, that they are compared to God’s sending great hailstones from heaven upon them, every one of the weight of a talent, as it is said on the pouring out of the seventh vial, Rev. xvi, 21. “And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God, because of the plague of hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” And now shall be that treading of the wine-press spoken of, Rev. xiv, 19, 20.
This shall put an end to the Church’s suffering state, and shall be attended with their glorious and joyful praises. The Church’s afflicted state has been continued, excepting some short intermissions, from the resurrection of Christ to this time; but now shall a final end be put to her suffering state. Indeed after this, near the end of the world, the Church shall be greatly threatened; but it is said, it shall be but for a little season, Rev. xx, 3, for as the times of the Church’s rest have been but short, before the long day of her afflictions are at an end; so whatever affliction she may suffer after this, will be very short. In every other respect, the day of the Church’s afflictions and persecution shall now come to a final end. The Scriptures, in many places, speak of this time as the end of the suffering state of the Church. So Isa. li, 22. “Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of My fury, thou shalt no more drink it again.” Then shall be proclaimed to the Church, Isa. xl, 1, 2, “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Also Isa. liv, 8, 9, and lx, 20, belong to this time. “The Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” And so Zeph. iii, 15, “The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.” The time before this, had been the Church’s sowing-time, wherein she sowed in tears and in blood; but now is her harvest, wherein she will come again rejoicing, bringing her sheaves with her. Now the time of travail of the woman clothed with the sun is at an end; now she hath brought forth her son: for this glorious setting up of the kingdom of Christ through the world, is what the Church had been in travail for, with such terrible pangs, for so many ages: Isa. xxix 17—”Like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in Thy sight, O Lord.” (See Isa. lx, 20 and lxi, 10, 11). And now the Church shall forget her sorrow, since a man-child is born into the world: now succeed her joyful praise and triumph. Her praises shall then go up to God from all parts of the earth; (as Isa. xlii, 10-12) and praise shall not only fill the earth, but also heaven. The Church on earth, and the Church in heaven, shall both gloriously rejoice and praise God, as with one heart, on that occasion. Without doubt it will be a time of very distinguished joy and praise among the holy prophets and apostles, and the other saints in heaven: Rev. xviii, 20. “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.” See how universal these praises will be in Isa. xliv, 23. “Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel.” See what joyful praises are sung to God on this occasion by the universal Church in heaven and earth, in the beginning of the 19th chapter of Revelation.
(To be Continued).