Chapter 17 . Heralds of the Morning
One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible is that of Christ ' s second coming to complete the great work of redemption . To God ' s pilgrim people , so long left to sojourn in " the region and shadow of death ," a precious , joy-inspiring hope is given in the promise of His appearing , who is " the resurrection and the life ," to " bring home again His banished ." The doctrine of the second advent is the very keynote of the Sacred Scriptures . From the day when the first pair turned their sorrowing steps from Eden , the children of faith have waited the coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer ' s power and bring them again to the lost Paradise .
Holy men of old looked forward to the advent of the Messiah in glory , as the consummation of their hope . Enoch , only the seventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden , he who for three centuries on earth walked with his God , was permitted to behold from afar the coming of the Deliverer . " Behold ," he declared , " the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints , to execute judgment upon all ." Jude 14 , 15 . The patriarch Job in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken trust : " I know that my Redeemer liveth , and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : . . . in my flesh shall I see God : whom I shall see for myself , and mine eyes shall behold , and not another ." Job 19:25-27 .
The coming of Christ to usher in the reign of righteousness has inspired the most sublime and impassioned utterances of the sacred writers . The poets and prophets of the Bible have dwelt upon it in words glowing with celestial fire . The psalmist sang of the power and majesty of Israel ' s King : " Out of Zion , the perfection of beauty , God hath shined . Our God shall come , and shall not keep silence . . . . He shall call to the heavens from above , and to the earth , that He may judge His people ." Psalm 50:2-4 . " Let the heavens rejoice , and let the earth be glad . . . before the Lord : for He cometh , for He cometh to judge the earth : He shall judge the world with righteousness , and the people with His truth ." Psalm 96:11-13 .
Said the prophet Isaiah : " Awake and sing , ye that dwell in dust : for thy dew is as the dew of herbs , and the earth shall cast out the dead ." " Thy dead men shall live , together with my dead body shall they arise ." " He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth : for the Lord hath spoken it . And it shall be said in that day , Lo , this is our God ; we have waited for Him , and He will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for Him , we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation ." Isaiah 26:19 ; 25:8 , 9 .
And Habakkuk , rapt in holy vision , beheld His appearing . " God came from Teman , and the Holy One from Mount Paran . His glory covered the heavens , and the earth was full of His praise . And His brightness was as the light ." " He stood , and measured the earth : He beheld , and drove
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