DAY OF, is that important period which shall terminate the
present dispensation of grace toward the fallen race of Adam, put an end
to time, and introduce the eternal destinies of men and angels, Acts
xvi, 31; 1 Cor. xv, 24–26; 1 Thess. iv, 14–17; Matt. xxv, 31–46. It is
in reference to this solemn period that the Apostle Peter says, “The
heavens and the earth which now exist are by the word of God reserved in
store unto fire, against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly
men,” 2 Peter iii, 7. Several eminent commentators understand this
prophecy as a prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem. In support of
their interpretation, they appeal to the ancient Jewish prophecies,
where, as they contend, the revolutions in the political state of
empires and nations are foretold in the same forms of expression with
those introduced in Peter’s prediction. The following are the prophecies
to which they appeal:--Isaiah xxxiv, 4, where the destruction of Idumea
is foretold under the figures of dissolving the host of heaven, and of
rolling the heaven together as a scroll, and of the falling down of all
their host as the leaf falleth off from the vine. Ezekiel xxxii, 7,
where the destruction of Egypt is described by the figures of covering
the heaven, and making the stars thereof dark; and of covering the sun
with a cloud, and of hindering the moon from giving her light. In Joel
ii, 10, the invasion of Judea by foreign armies is thus foretold: “The
earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and
the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” And
in verses 30, 31, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is thus
predicted: “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood,
and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord
come.” God, threatening the Jews, is introduced saying, “In that day I
will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in
the clear day,” Amos viii, 9. The overthrow of Judaism and Heathenism is
thus foretold: “Yet once and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and
the sea and the dry land,” Haggai ii, 6. Lastly: our Lord, in his
prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, has the following expressions:
“After the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of heaven shall be shaken,” Matt. xxiv, 29.
Now it is remarkable that, in these prophecies, none of the prophets
have spoken, as Peter has done, of the entire destruction of this
mundane system, nor of the destruction of any part thereof. They mention
only the rolling of the heavens together as a scroll, the obscuring of
the light of the sun and of the moon, the shaking of the heavens and the
earth, and the falling down of the stars: whereas Peter speaks of the
utter destruction of all the parts of this mundane system by fire. This
difference affords room for believing that the events foretold by the
prophets are different in their nature from those foretold by the
Apostle; and that they are to be figuratively understood, while those
predicted by the Apostle are to be understood literally. To this
conclusion, likewise, the phraseology of the prophets, compared with
that of the Apostle, evidently leads: for the prophetic phraseology,
literally interpreted, exhibits impossibilities; such as the rolling of
the heavens together as a scroll; the turning of the moon into blood,
and the falling down of the stars from heaven as the leaf of a tree. Not
so the apostolic phraseology: for the burning of the heavens, or
atmosphere, and its passing away with a great noise; and the burning of
the earth and the works thereon, together with the burning and melting
of the elements, that is, the constituent parts of which this
terraqueous globe is composed; are all things possible, and therefore
may be literally understood; while the things mentioned by the prophets
can only be taken figuratively. This, however, is not all. There are
things in the Apostle’s prophecy which show that he intended it to be
taken literally. As, 1. He begins with an account of the perishing of
the old world, to demonstrate against the scoffers the possibility of
the perishing of the present heavens and earth. But that example would
not have suited his purpose; unless, by the burning of the present
heavens and earth, he had meant the destruction of the material fabric.
Wherefore, the opposition stated in this prophecy between the perishing
of the old world by water, and the perishing of the present world by
fire, shows that the latter is to be as real a destruction of the
material fabric as the former was. 2. The circumstance of the present
heavens and earth being treasured up and kept, ever since the first
deluge, from all after deluges, in order to their being destroyed by
fire at the day of judgment, shows, we think, that the Apostle is
speaking of a real, and not of a metaphorical, destruction of the
heavens and earth. 3. This appears, likewise, from the Apostle’s
foretelling that, after the present heavens and earth are burned, new
heavens and a new earth are to appear, in which the righteous are for
ever to dwell. 4. The time fixed by the Apostle for the burning of the
heavens and the earth, namely, the day of judgment and punishment of
ungodly men, shows that the Apostle is speaking, not of the destruction
of a single city or nation during the subsistence of the world, but of
the earth itself, with all the wicked who have dwelt thereon. These
circumstances persuade us that this prophecy, as well as the one
recorded, 2 Thess. i, 9, is not to be interpreted metaphorically of the
destruction of Jerusalem; but should be understood literally of the
general judgment, and of the destruction of our mundane system.
But “it is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the
judgment.” These two events are inseparably linked together in the
divine decree, and they reciprocally reflect importance on each other.
Death is, indeed, the terror of our nature. Men may contrive to keep it
from their thoughts, but they cannot think of it without fearful
apprehensions of its consequences. It was justly to be dreaded by man in
his state of innocence; and to the unrenewed man it ever was, and ever
will be, a just object of abhorrence. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which
has brought life and immortality to light, is the only sovereign
antidote against this universal evil. To the believer in Christ, its
rough aspect is smoothed, and its terrors cease to be alarming. To him
it is the messenger of peace; its sting is plucked out; its dark valley
is the road to perfect bliss and life immortal. To him, “to live is
Christ, and to die is gain,” Phil. i, 21. To die! speaking properly, he
cannot die. He has already died in Christ, and with him: his “life is
hid with Christ in God,” Romans vi, 8; Col. iii, 3.
With this conquest of the fear of death is nearly allied another
glorious privilege resulting from union with the Redeemer; that, when he
shall appear, we may have confidence, and “not be ashamed before him at
his coming,” 1 John ii, 28. Were death all that we have to dread, death
might be braved. But after death there is a judgment; a judgment
attended with circumstances so tremendous as to shake the hearts of the
boldest of the sons of nature. Then “men shall seek death, and shall not
find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them,” Rev.
ix, 6. Then shall come indeed an awful day; a day to which all that have
preceded it are intended to be subservient; when the Lord shall appear
in the united splendour of creating, of governing, and of judicial
majesty, to finish his purposes respecting man and earth, and to
pronounce the final, irreversible sentence, “It is done!” Rev. xxi, 6.
Nothing of terror or magnificence hitherto beheld,--no glory of the
rising sun after a night of darkness and of storm,--no convulsions of
the earth,--no wide irruption of waters,--no flaming comet dragging its
burning train over half the heaven, can convey to us an adequate
conception of that day of terrible brightness and irresistible
devastation. Creation then shall be uncreated. “The heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat;
the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up,” 2
Peter iii, 10. The Lord shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, 2
Thess. i, 7, 8, arrayed in all the glory of his Godhead, and attended by
his mighty angels, Matt. xvi, 27; xxv, 31. All that are in the grave
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, John v, 28, 29. Earth and
sea shall give up the dead which are in them. All that ever lived shall
appear before him, Rev. xx, 12, 13. The judgment shall sit; and the
books shall be opened, Dan. vii, 10. The eye of Omniscience detects
every concealment by which they would screen from observation
themselves, or their iniquity. The last reluctant sinner is finally
separated from the congregation of the righteous, Psalm i, 5; and
inflexible justice, so often disregarded, derided, and defied, gives
forth their eternal doom! But to the saints this shall be a day of glory
and honour. They shall be publicly acknowledged by God as his people;
publicly justified from the slanders of the world; invested with
immortal bodies; presented by Christ to the Father; and admitted into
the highest felicity in the immediate presence of God for ever. These
are the elevating, the transporting views, which made the Apostle Paul
speak with so much desire and earnest expectation of the “day of
Christ.”
JUSTICE is in Scripture taken for that essential perfection in God,
whereby he is infinitely righteous and just, both in himself and in all
his proceedings with his creatures, Psalm lxxxix, 14. 2. That political
virtue which renders to every man his due; and is first, distributive,
which concerns princes, magistrates, &c, Job xxix, 14; secondly,
communicative, which concerns all persons in their dealings one with
another, Gen. xviii, 19.
present dispensation of grace toward the fallen race of Adam, put an end
to time, and introduce the eternal destinies of men and angels, Acts
xvi, 31; 1 Cor. xv, 24–26; 1 Thess. iv, 14–17; Matt. xxv, 31–46. It is
in reference to this solemn period that the Apostle Peter says, “The
heavens and the earth which now exist are by the word of God reserved in
store unto fire, against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly
men,” 2 Peter iii, 7. Several eminent commentators understand this
prophecy as a prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem. In support of
their interpretation, they appeal to the ancient Jewish prophecies,
where, as they contend, the revolutions in the political state of
empires and nations are foretold in the same forms of expression with
those introduced in Peter’s prediction. The following are the prophecies
to which they appeal:--Isaiah xxxiv, 4, where the destruction of Idumea
is foretold under the figures of dissolving the host of heaven, and of
rolling the heaven together as a scroll, and of the falling down of all
their host as the leaf falleth off from the vine. Ezekiel xxxii, 7,
where the destruction of Egypt is described by the figures of covering
the heaven, and making the stars thereof dark; and of covering the sun
with a cloud, and of hindering the moon from giving her light. In Joel
ii, 10, the invasion of Judea by foreign armies is thus foretold: “The
earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and
the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” And
in verses 30, 31, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is thus
predicted: “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood,
and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord
come.” God, threatening the Jews, is introduced saying, “In that day I
will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in
the clear day,” Amos viii, 9. The overthrow of Judaism and Heathenism is
thus foretold: “Yet once and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and
the sea and the dry land,” Haggai ii, 6. Lastly: our Lord, in his
prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, has the following expressions:
“After the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of heaven shall be shaken,” Matt. xxiv, 29.
Now it is remarkable that, in these prophecies, none of the prophets
have spoken, as Peter has done, of the entire destruction of this
mundane system, nor of the destruction of any part thereof. They mention
only the rolling of the heavens together as a scroll, the obscuring of
the light of the sun and of the moon, the shaking of the heavens and the
earth, and the falling down of the stars: whereas Peter speaks of the
utter destruction of all the parts of this mundane system by fire. This
difference affords room for believing that the events foretold by the
prophets are different in their nature from those foretold by the
Apostle; and that they are to be figuratively understood, while those
predicted by the Apostle are to be understood literally. To this
conclusion, likewise, the phraseology of the prophets, compared with
that of the Apostle, evidently leads: for the prophetic phraseology,
literally interpreted, exhibits impossibilities; such as the rolling of
the heavens together as a scroll; the turning of the moon into blood,
and the falling down of the stars from heaven as the leaf of a tree. Not
so the apostolic phraseology: for the burning of the heavens, or
atmosphere, and its passing away with a great noise; and the burning of
the earth and the works thereon, together with the burning and melting
of the elements, that is, the constituent parts of which this
terraqueous globe is composed; are all things possible, and therefore
may be literally understood; while the things mentioned by the prophets
can only be taken figuratively. This, however, is not all. There are
things in the Apostle’s prophecy which show that he intended it to be
taken literally. As, 1. He begins with an account of the perishing of
the old world, to demonstrate against the scoffers the possibility of
the perishing of the present heavens and earth. But that example would
not have suited his purpose; unless, by the burning of the present
heavens and earth, he had meant the destruction of the material fabric.
Wherefore, the opposition stated in this prophecy between the perishing
of the old world by water, and the perishing of the present world by
fire, shows that the latter is to be as real a destruction of the
material fabric as the former was. 2. The circumstance of the present
heavens and earth being treasured up and kept, ever since the first
deluge, from all after deluges, in order to their being destroyed by
fire at the day of judgment, shows, we think, that the Apostle is
speaking of a real, and not of a metaphorical, destruction of the
heavens and earth. 3. This appears, likewise, from the Apostle’s
foretelling that, after the present heavens and earth are burned, new
heavens and a new earth are to appear, in which the righteous are for
ever to dwell. 4. The time fixed by the Apostle for the burning of the
heavens and the earth, namely, the day of judgment and punishment of
ungodly men, shows that the Apostle is speaking, not of the destruction
of a single city or nation during the subsistence of the world, but of
the earth itself, with all the wicked who have dwelt thereon. These
circumstances persuade us that this prophecy, as well as the one
recorded, 2 Thess. i, 9, is not to be interpreted metaphorically of the
destruction of Jerusalem; but should be understood literally of the
general judgment, and of the destruction of our mundane system.
But “it is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the
judgment.” These two events are inseparably linked together in the
divine decree, and they reciprocally reflect importance on each other.
Death is, indeed, the terror of our nature. Men may contrive to keep it
from their thoughts, but they cannot think of it without fearful
apprehensions of its consequences. It was justly to be dreaded by man in
his state of innocence; and to the unrenewed man it ever was, and ever
will be, a just object of abhorrence. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which
has brought life and immortality to light, is the only sovereign
antidote against this universal evil. To the believer in Christ, its
rough aspect is smoothed, and its terrors cease to be alarming. To him
it is the messenger of peace; its sting is plucked out; its dark valley
is the road to perfect bliss and life immortal. To him, “to live is
Christ, and to die is gain,” Phil. i, 21. To die! speaking properly, he
cannot die. He has already died in Christ, and with him: his “life is
hid with Christ in God,” Romans vi, 8; Col. iii, 3.
With this conquest of the fear of death is nearly allied another
glorious privilege resulting from union with the Redeemer; that, when he
shall appear, we may have confidence, and “not be ashamed before him at
his coming,” 1 John ii, 28. Were death all that we have to dread, death
might be braved. But after death there is a judgment; a judgment
attended with circumstances so tremendous as to shake the hearts of the
boldest of the sons of nature. Then “men shall seek death, and shall not
find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them,” Rev.
ix, 6. Then shall come indeed an awful day; a day to which all that have
preceded it are intended to be subservient; when the Lord shall appear
in the united splendour of creating, of governing, and of judicial
majesty, to finish his purposes respecting man and earth, and to
pronounce the final, irreversible sentence, “It is done!” Rev. xxi, 6.
Nothing of terror or magnificence hitherto beheld,--no glory of the
rising sun after a night of darkness and of storm,--no convulsions of
the earth,--no wide irruption of waters,--no flaming comet dragging its
burning train over half the heaven, can convey to us an adequate
conception of that day of terrible brightness and irresistible
devastation. Creation then shall be uncreated. “The heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat;
the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up,” 2
Peter iii, 10. The Lord shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, 2
Thess. i, 7, 8, arrayed in all the glory of his Godhead, and attended by
his mighty angels, Matt. xvi, 27; xxv, 31. All that are in the grave
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, John v, 28, 29. Earth and
sea shall give up the dead which are in them. All that ever lived shall
appear before him, Rev. xx, 12, 13. The judgment shall sit; and the
books shall be opened, Dan. vii, 10. The eye of Omniscience detects
every concealment by which they would screen from observation
themselves, or their iniquity. The last reluctant sinner is finally
separated from the congregation of the righteous, Psalm i, 5; and
inflexible justice, so often disregarded, derided, and defied, gives
forth their eternal doom! But to the saints this shall be a day of glory
and honour. They shall be publicly acknowledged by God as his people;
publicly justified from the slanders of the world; invested with
immortal bodies; presented by Christ to the Father; and admitted into
the highest felicity in the immediate presence of God for ever. These
are the elevating, the transporting views, which made the Apostle Paul
speak with so much desire and earnest expectation of the “day of
Christ.”
JUSTICE is in Scripture taken for that essential perfection in God,
whereby he is infinitely righteous and just, both in himself and in all
his proceedings with his creatures, Psalm lxxxix, 14. 2. That political
virtue which renders to every man his due; and is first, distributive,
which concerns princes, magistrates, &c, Job xxix, 14; secondly,
communicative, which concerns all persons in their dealings one with
another, Gen. xviii, 19.