Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-02-21
For the HsrmOnt Telegraph
SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.

a SECOND COMING or CHRISTI. ia
AnsVer 20 brother Anglers second letter,
published December 81, 1897. b..
Dear Brother:-It is always painful to
correct the faults of others, especially when
they appear 10 be done through design, or
wilfulness. In your first argument, you
present my rule. ain the prophecy OF
Daniel" days are, Invariably TO be reck-
oned years. You lay great stress on the
word "inUariobiy," pointing your finger Of
scorn: or derision, in every place where
you can bring the word into use. For the
purpose Of ridicule, and TO deceive your
hearers or readers, you bring up the case of
Daniel and his three friends feeding on
pulse three days, &c. Now, my brother,
did you not know that this was historical
fact not prophecy" If you did, then
it was wilful misrepresentation to deceive
your readers, for you well knew, Cor if you
did mol, your writer, Mr.. Brown, did, } that
had met and confuted that argument in
almost every place, and there could be no
expectation in your own mind to deceive
me. Or did you suppose, prophecy meant
book, and therefore you thought meant
in the book Of Daniel days meant years 2
In this too you are mistaken. And now,
my dear brother, let me advise you, when
you undertake the dirty task Of reviewing
others works, you first cast the beam out Of
your own, eye, and learn to distinguish be-
tween history and prophecy. y .@~r.sfi
Your next position is as far from the
truth as the fist. Concerning the forty
daysspoken of BY Moses, Numbers xiv, "a:
Moses, in the SD verse, prophecies, that the
children Of the Jews should wander in the
wilderness forty years. He then brings
in the history Of their searching the land as
figure or tQpe, showing that each day in
that transaction, was a figure Of a year in
their wanderings in the wilderness. Now
brother, if day is used as figure in thi:
place, l see no good reason why il may no
be so used in other places That il isuset
as a figure is evident, from the fact that ]
speaks plain, leach day for year" that is
each day stands for year. This, sir, i
simple and plain, that little child nigh
understand. Nh / .-..
Again, you use the text in Ezekiel 10 tn
same manner, and quote David as layin
on the ground seven. days, bearing the sin
Of Israel seven year,, when David lay o
the ground aud mourned seven days.n-
Was this prophecy, and 6gure7
should call il seven years. But If a histor
cal fact then so many days. lam truly a.
tonished, 10 see so many Of our teachers
ignorant ofthe first principles of revelation
(CaIl this wholesale SANDER If you please
That the inspired writers have used word
in great many cases IN a 6guratiye sens
especially in the prophecies and that year
months, weeks, days, times, hours, an
beasts, birds, mountains, islands, water
and even names Of men and women are U
ed as figures, and explained somewhere
the word of God, so that the Bible studei
need not be deceived But you say Il
same word is,used sometimes as figures
different senses. answer they are.
theword /" day" has three different 6gnr
tive meanings, besides its natural mean;n
tweuiy-four hours, or the time the sun
above the horizon This is the general al
natural sense in which il is used in reIati,
ailhistofical facts; and sometimes in proph
CIV it's used in the same sense. As, in I
Ease Of Joseph's prophecy concerning I
Butler and Baker, three days. But, 5
you, how can we distinguish between Ii
raj and fgurative7 ! answer, the conn
ton win determine; If il is used ia an !
natural sense then we are to look fol
figuratiye sense. Asintbe case Of DAM,
vision, Of the four great kingdoms. ]
question was, how long shall be the !
ion,B &c.7 The answer was, unto 2
DAYS. Al the irst look every man wo
say Al once, unnatural, for four great H
doms 70 rise Up, conquer each other,
over a great share Of the world, and q
be conquered in their turn, IN less q
seven years. Then we look for iigura
meaning. And 6rs, we find day used,
no,lng period q sme, the existence