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studies in the scriptures the path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day series ii the time is at hand digital edition times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the lord and he shall send jesus christ whom the heavens must retain until the times tion of of all restituthings which god hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief acts 3 19 ­ 21 1 thess 5:4 2009

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copyright 1889 watch tower bible tract society brooklyn n.y u.s.a written in 1888 by pastor russell

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to the king of kings and lord of lords in the interest of his consecrated saints waiting for the adoption and of all that in every place call upon the lord the household of faith and of the groaning creation travailing and waiting for the manifestation of the sons of god this work is dedicated to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in god wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fulness of the times he might gather together in one all things under christ eph 3:4,5,9;1:8-10 n b this volume can also be supplied in the german swedish danonoerwgian french and greek languages.

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5 the time is at hand the authors foreword he first edition of this volume was given to the public in a.d 1889 since then one edition after another has gone forth in various languages until now more than one million and a half copies are in the hands of the people these figures are astonishing when we consider how few people today have any faith in the bible as a divine revelation and how few of those who do have faith in the bible have an appreciation of prophecy and of chronology especially of bible chronology and the bibles history of the world the author and the publishers have great cause for rejoicing in the evidence continually coming to hand that this volume has proven very helpful to the people of god in every land in the study of the bible in collating the message of the lords word under various headings and classifications assistful to the student especially have we heard of many being blessed in their study of the manner of the second advent in the scriptural proof set forth in this volume that our lord will never again come to this earth as a man having fulfilled completely his mission as a human being when he by the grace of god tasted death for every man at calvary the texts brought to the attention of the reader proving that now our lord is the glorified one at the fathers right hand and is soon to become king of the world have been assistful to many as their letters testify this volume makes no claim to infallibility and no claim of any direct inspiration from god in the interpretation of his word on the contrary it does claim that the divine revelation is the bible its endeavor has been to collate the bible evidences and to offer suggestions in respect to their significance dealing t

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6 foreword with subjects so difficult that they are rarely touched by others it is not to be considered strange if some of the suggestions made in this volume have not been fulfilled with absolute accuracy to the very letter but the author the publishers and the thousands of readers of this volume are not ashamed of its presentations and are still handing it forth to all who have an interest in bible study as most interesting and most helpful in an understanding of the lords word the bible chronology herein presented shows that the six great thousand-year days beginning with adam are ended and that the great seventh day the thousand years of christs reign began in 1873 the events of these 43 years which this volume claims as the beginning of the millennium we still find fully corroborating bible prophecies as herein set forth during these 43 years nearly all the inventions of our day have been accomplished the sewing machine one of the first began to reach its perfection 43 years ago since then we have all kinds of farming machinery and tools and workshop store factory and home conveniences in abundance and cheap through human invention these are shortening the hours of labor and doing away with the sweat of face which the bible declares to be identified with the curse it is entirely safe to say that in these 43 years the world has increased its riches one thousandfold and when we remember that behind the 43 years lies a total of six thousand years of human endeavor it seems almost a miracle that the world should accomplish one thousand times more in the past 43 years than in the six thousand years preceding surely this well attests the claim of this volume that we have entered the great seventh day and that what we are already experiencing as a race are only the foregleams of the much greater blessings still to come when the sun of righteousness shall arise with

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foreword 7 healing in his beams and scatter all the darkness ignorance and superstition of the world this volume sets forth what its author has been preaching for over forty years that the times of the gentiles chronologically ended in the fall of a.d 1914 the expression times of the gentiles in bible usage signifies the years or period of time in which the gentile nations of the world were to be permitted to have control following the taking away of the typical kingdom from natural israel and filling the hiatus between that event and the establishment of gods kingdom in the hands of messiah whose right it is `ezekiel 21:27 we could not of course know in 1889 whether the date 1914 so clearly marked in the bible as the end of the gentile lease of power or permission to rule the world would mean that they would be fully out of power at that time or whether their lease expiring their eviction would begin the latter we perceive to be the lords program and promptly in august 1914 the gentile kingdoms referred to in the prophecy began the present great struggle which according to the bible will culminate in the complete overthrow of all human government opening the way for the full establishment of the kingdom of gods dear son we are not able to see behind the veil we are not able to know the things progressing under the direction of our glorious lord and the members of his church already glorified our thought is that somehow the lord is taking a hand in the affairs of the world now as he did not do in times past we do know that the great time of trouble which has begun very closely corresponds to the divine declaration respecting the time and conditions of the establishment of messiahs kingdom the lord himself informs us that at the time he shall take to himself his great power and reign the nations will be mad and

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8 foreword the divine wrath will come a little later on the time will come for the judging of the dead and the giving of the reward to gods servants small and great leading on finally to the destruction of the incorrigible who would exercise a corrupt influence upon the earth `revelation 21:8 all over the world people knew of the expectations of bible students in respect to the year a.d 1914 and when so stupendous a war as the present one broke loose when the winds of strife began to blow with such fury and destruction thousands remembered what they had heard and read respecting the end of the gentile times thousands today have come to fully appreciate the times in which we are living the influence is very helpful and inspiring a realization that we are in the day of the lord and that very soon all of his saints will be gathered to him by the resurrection change has a stimulating and encouraging influence upon bible students separating them from the world and its fears and ambitions and fixing their eyes upon the crown of life which the lord has in reservation for them that love him most the author acknowledges that in this book he presents the thought that the lords saints might expect to be with him in glory at the ending of the gentile times this was a natural mistake to fall into but the lord overruled it for the blessing of his people the thought that the church would all be gathered to glory before october 1914 certainly did have a very stimulating and sanctifying effect upon thousands all of whom accordingly can praise the lord even for the mistake many indeed can express themselves as being thankful to the lord that the culmination of the churchs hopes was not reached at the time we expected and that we as the lords people have further opportunities of perfecting holiness and of being participators with our master in the further presentation of his

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foreword 9 message to his people our mistake was evidently not in respect to the ending of the times of the gentiles we drew a false conclusion however not authorized by the word of the lord we saw in the bible certain parallels between the jewish age and the gospel age we should have noted that these parallels follow the nominal systems to destruction in both cases and do not indicate the time of the glorification of the new creation this explanation will help the reader as he studies the time is at hand we have no doubt that the great blessings which have come to many of us in the past will continue to go through the volume to thousands of others so with it go the prayers of the author charles t russell brooklyn n.y october 1 1916

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10 contents study i page 13 special times and seasons divinely appointed the times and seasons of divine appointment why not more plainly stated in due time revealed earnest desire to know the times and seasons commendable mistakes of adventists the real object of time prophecies our present position the object of succeeding chapters study ii page 33 bible chronology chronology necessary to an understanding of prophecy-indispensable data furnished in the bible from the creation of adam to a.d 1873 was six thousand years a statement of bible chronology in great periods its examination in detail from creation to the day the flood was dried up to the abrahamic covenant to the giving of the law to the division of canaan among the tribes the period of the judges the period of the kings the period of the desolation to a.d 1873 wherein this chronology differs from that of bishop usher noted in our english bibles the true date of our lords birth study iii page 63 the fulfillment of time prophecy at the first advent of christ `dan 9:23-27 the seventy weeks of daniels prophecy events foretold to transpire within that time the time of messiahs advent indicated and a principle established by the manner in which it is indicated a key to other time prophecies the time of messiahs crucifixion indicated ­ the special favor to israel as a nation cut short in righteousness but continued individually anointing the most holy trouble poured upon the desolate one.

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contents 11 study iv page 73 the times of the gentiles what are gentile times their beginning their length their end a.d 1914 attendant events events to follow literal and symbolic time a remarkable type present indications gods kingdom to overthrow gentile rule therefore organized before it ends before a.d 1914 why opposed by gentile kingdoms how and why all will finally accept it joyfully the desire of all nations shall come study v page 103 the manner of our lords return and appearing harmony of the manner of our lords second advent with other features of the divine plan how and when the church shall see him how and when the glory of the lord shall be so revealed that all flesh shall see it together statements apparently conflicting shown to be harmonious he comes as a thief not with outward show and yet with a shout with voices and with the sound of the great trumpet he shall be revealed in flaming fire taking vengeance and yet he shall so come in like manner as he went away importance of prophetic time in this connection shown harmony of present indications study vi page 173 earths great jubilee the times of restitution of all things foretold by moses the date of their beginning indicated they cannot begin until the great restorer has come evidence from the law corroborative testimony from the prophets logical conclusions drawn from these as separately and unitedly considered harmony of present indications study vii page 201 the parallel dispensations the jewish age a type of the gospel age remarkable parallelism or correspondency between the two dispensations yet they are distinct ­superiority of the christian epoch the antitype fleshly and spiritual israel contrasted prominent parallels examined time parallels specially noticed period of fleshly israels favor time of their cutting off from favor the period of disfavor shown from

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12 contents prophecy to be equal to the period of favor apostolic testimony that their period of disfavor is the period for the high calling of spiritual israel the length of the gospel age thus shown indirectly but clearly harmony of the bible chronology jubilee testimony gentile times and other prophecies with the lessons of these parallels unanswerable conclusive and satisfying study viii page 249 elias shall first come how this important prophecy stands related to the second advent a partial and typical fulfillment in john the baptist the real fulfillment ­the vision on the holy mount remarkable correspondencies between elijah the type and the antitypical elijah the time is at hand the outlook elijahs successor elisha study ix page 267 the man of sin antichrist antichrist must be developed revealed and smitten before the day of the lord a contrary view of this subject considered prophetic delineation antichrists birth his rapid development the historic picture and the bible description agree his kingdom a counterfeit his head and mouth notable his great swelling words of blasphemy his blasphemous teachings his wearing out of the saints of the most high his millennial reign antichrist smitten with the sword of the spirit his final struggle and end study x page 363 the time is at hand nothing intervenes the establishment of christs kingdom the work now in progress the testimony of prophecy concurs the worldlywise see much the watching saints see more distinctly the importance to all of open eyes in the right direction.

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13 study i special times and seasons divinely appointed the times and seasons of divine appointment why not more plainly stated in due time revealed earnest desire to know the times and seasons commendable mistakes of adventists the real object of time prophecies our present position the object of succeeding chapters s in the plan of the ages we endeavored to set forth the prominent outlines of the divine arrangement for human salvation from a purely scriptural standpoint so it is the purpose of this volume to show on the same authority that the various features of that plan have definitely appointed times and seasons for their accomplishment that so far as that plan has progressed each succeeding feature of it has been accomplished exactly on time and that the time is now at hand for its culmination in the blessing of all the families of the earth `gen 28:14 `gal 3:16 during the long centuries of the gospel age the church as instructed by her lord has prayed thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven but like drowsy children because the time was long many have almost forgotten the import of the words that now seem to die upon their lips to all such whose hearts are still loyal to the lord we call in the words of the apostle paul it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed the night is far spent the [millennial day is at hand yea it is even at the doors the kingdom of heaven is now at hand not in its mere embryotic or incipient stage as at our a

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