761. The final period of the Christian church is absolute night, in which the previous churches ended, as can be established from the Lord's prediction about it in the Gospels and in Daniel. A passage from the Gospels states that they would see the abomination of desolation, and there would be great affliction such as had not been since the beginning of the world up to now, and would not be in the future; and that unless those days were shortened, no flesh could be saved; and finally the sun would be darkened, the moon would not give its light, and the stars would fall from the sky (Matt. 24:15, 21, 22, 29). This period is also called night elsewhere in the Gospels, as in Luke:
On that night there will be two in one bed; one will be received, the other left behind. Luke 17:34.
And in John:
I must do the work of Him that sent me. The night will come, when no one will be able to work. John 9:4. [2] Since all light departs in the middle of the night, and the Lord is the true light (John 1:4ff; 8:12; 12:35, 36, 46), He said to the disciples when He went up into heaven:
I am with you until the ending of the age. Matt. 28:20.
Then He leaves them for the new church. There is further proof in Daniel for this final period of the church being absolute night, in which the previous churches ended, in this passage:
Finally upon the bird of abominations desolation, to the point of ending and cutting off; it shall be poured drop by drop upon devastation. Dan. 9:27.
It is clear from the Lord's words in Matt. 24:15 that this is a prediction of the end of the Christian church. It is also clear from this passage of Daniel about the fourth kingdom, that is, the fourth church, represented by the statue Nebuchadnezzar saw:
As you saw iron mixed with common clay, so will people intermingle by means of human seed; but they will not hold together, one with another, just as iron does not with clay. Dan. 2:43.
Human seed there is the truth of the Word.
[3] It is also clear from this passage about the fourth church represented by the fourth beast coming up out of the sea:
I saw in visions of the night, and there was the fourth beast, dreadful and frightening; it will devour the whole earth and trample it and crush it. Dan. 7:7, 23.
This means that it would put an end to all the truth of the church. Then it would be night, because the truth of the church is light. There are many similar predictions about this church in Revelation, especially chapter 16, where it speaks of the bowls of God's wrath being poured out upon the earth. These mean the falsities which will then swamp and destroy the church. There are many similar passages in the Prophets, as for example:
Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, thick darkness and no brilliance? Amos 5:18, 20; Zeph. 1:15.
Also:
On that day Jehovah will look down on the earth, and behold, darkness, and the light will become dim in its ruins. Isa. 5:30; 8:22.
The day of Jehovah is that of the Lord's coming.
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