

Transcribed from the November 1914 Chas. J. Thynne edition by David
Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org





                               ROME, TURKEY
                                   AND
                                JERUSALEM.


                          BY THE REV. E. HOARE,

               SOMETIME VICAR OF TRINITY, TUNBRIDGE WELLS,
                    AND HONORARY CANON OF CANTERBURY.

                                * * * * *

                              _NEW EDITION_.
                          (_Fourth Impression_.)

                                * * * * *

                              EDITED BY THE
                        REV. J. H. TOWNSEND, D.D.,

           LATE VICAR OF ST. MARK’S, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, AUTHOR OF
          “EDWARD HOARE, M.A., A RECORD OF HIS LIFE.”  &c., &c.

                                * * * * *

                                * * * * *

                                 LONDON:
                             CHAS. J. THYNNE,
                    GREAT QUEEN STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.
                           _November_, _1914_.




CONTENTS.

                              PAGE
ROME:—
   THE OUTLINE                   1
   THE CONSUMPTION              18
TURKEY:—
   THE EUPHRATES                36
   THE FROGS                    54
   THE ADVENT                   69
JERUSALEM                       89

                                * * * * *

                               NEW EDITION.

First Impression       December,       1912.
Second,,              April,          1913.
Third,,               June,           1913.
Fourth „               November,       1914.




FOREWORD TO FOURTH IMPRESSION.


Those of us who have been watching political events from the prophetical
standpoint, have seen during the last thirty years the steady drying up
of that overflowing river which once flooded Europe.  Turkey’s fate we
knew to be certain, but there were fluctuations so we had to be patient.

Two years ago when writing the Foreword and notes to the first reprint of
this little book, I drew attention to the “amazing collapse” of Turkey’s
power “during the last few months.”  Half a year later it seemed as if
only a thread of littoral would be left to Turkey in Europe; then came a
certain apparent return of vigour as when the ebbing tide sends back a
wave that seems to claim once more part of the dominion it had lost; just
in the same way Turkey regained some of the territory wrested from it
during the Balkan War, and we who were watching wondered for how long
this would be.

One year and a half has passed and now it really seems as if the clock
had struck.  Only a few days ago the daily papers told the world that
Turkey, deluded, or bribed, or both, had thrown in her lot with Germany.
In a leading article dated Nov. 2, “The Times” summed up the matter
thus—“Whatever may be the immediate consequences of Turkish intervention,
there is a general consensus of opinion throughout the world that it
means the end of Turkey.”  Bible students grasped the situation at once
recognizing the immense significance of the event, and on the same day at
the C.M.S. Anniversary at Exeter I pointed out the overwhelming
importance of this intelligence, in connection with Missionary work, the
future of the Jewish Nation and our Lord’s Return.  I have heard from
Jerusalem of the keen excitement of the Jews there, and of the hope often
expressed that England would take action on their behalf.  The secular
press in many quarters is already suggesting that the Allies at the
conclusion of the War might well establish the Jews in Palestine as a
buffer-state; this is exactly what some of us have for many years pointed
out, from the study of prophecy, as a likely solution of the near Eastern
question.  Perhaps, it may be so—God’s promises unfold very quickly when
the time for their appearance is ripe.  Our business is to watch and
pray, giving the Lord no rest till He establish and until He make
Jerusalem a praise on the earth, and above all constantly sending forth
the cry of His waiting Church—“even so, come Lord Jesus.”

                                                                  J. H. T.

_November 20th_, _1914_.




FORWARD


It is now thirty-six years since these remarkable sermons were preached
by the late Canon Hoare.  Published at the time, they had a very large
circulation and passed through several editions.  An earnest desire
having been manifested for their re-issue with the addition of some
footnotes bringing them up to date, I have consented to undertake that
simple office.  With happy memories of work under the beloved Vicar long
ago (1877–81) there is, to me, something indescribable in being permitted
once more in this unexpected way to unite with one who now within the
Veil walks not by faith but by sight and who instead of knowing but in
part now _knows_ even as also he is known.

It is a great tribute to the sagacity of the preacher, his deep knowledge
of Scripture, and his keen prophetic instincts, that these sermons need
no alteration, and only the necessary additions demanded by the history
of passing years.

The advance has been all along the exact lines which he as a diligent
student of the prophetic Scriptures was able to lay down.  “The wise
shall understand” (Daniel xii. 10) is a promise which we see here
strikingly fulfilled.

Could the venerable preacher have seen the extraordinary developments
that have taken place in Jerusalem and the Holy Land during the last few
years, or the amazing collapse of the Mohammedan power which Europe has
witnessed in the past few months, how his heart would have rejoiced at
the fulfilment of Scriptural predictions, and how earnestly would he have
proclaimed afresh His Master’s Words—“When ye shall see these things,
know that He is nigh, even at the doors.”

                                                         _December_, 1912.



PUBLISHER’S NOTE.


It is a source of pleasure to the Editor, the Publisher, and all those
interested in the re-issue of this book, to know that a further edition
is so soon called for, and to receive so many testimonies to its
usefulness as a Guide to the Prophecies of Holy Writ.

                                                          _April_, _1913_.




ROME.


I.
THE OUTLINE.


It is impossible to imagine anything more delightful than the prospect of
the promised return of our most blessed Saviour.  How do the father and
the mother feel when they welcome their long-absent son from India?  How
will many an English wife feel when she welcomes her husband from the
Arctic Expedition?  And how must the Church of God feel when, after her
long night of toil and difficulty, she stands face to face before Him
whom her soul loveth, and enters into the full enjoyment of the promise,
‘So shall we ever be with the Lord?’  There will be no tears then, for
there will be no sorrow; no death then, for there will be no more curse;
no sin then, for we shall see Him as He is, and shall be like Him.  Then
will be the time of resurrection, when all the firstborn of God shall
awake to a life without decay and without corruption; and then the time
of reunion, when the whole company of God’s elect shall stand together
before the Lord, never again to shed a tear over each other’s grave; and
then will be the time when those who have loved and longed after Him, as
they have journeyed on alone in their pilgrimage, will find themselves on
the right hand of His throne, and hear His delightful words, ‘Come, ye
blessed children of my Father: inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world!’

No wonder then that the people of God are waiting with anxious hearts for
the Advent; and no wonder that many are ready to say, ‘Lord, how long?’
and to ask, What hope is there of His quick return?  Have we, or have we
not, any reason to look out for it soon?  To this inquiry I would
endeavour to draw your attention this morning; and in doing so, I do not
intend to examine into what are usually called ‘the signs of the times,’
but to study the great prophetic sketch of the world’s history as given
to us by the prophet Daniel.  This may be termed the backbone of
prophecy, and almost all the great prophecies of Holy Scripture fit into
it at some point or other; so that, if we wish to understand them, we
must begin by studying it.  I fear I may not interest those who aim
simply to have their hearts warmed by the ministry.  But they must
remember that the real study of God’s Word requires work, and that work,
though it lays the best possible foundation for feeling, does not at the
time excite it.  To-day, then, we are to work, and I hope the Lord may so
bless His Word, that through work we may be led to feel.

Our business, then, is to endeavour to discover whether the great
prophetic sketch of history, given through the prophet Daniel, encourages
the blessed hope that the coming of the Lord may be near.  Daniel gives a
prophecy of the history of political power from his own day till the time
when ‘the Ancient of Days shall sit,’ and describes a succession of
events which must take place in the interval.  It is clear that our
business is to ascertain how many of these events have taken place, or,
in other words, how far we have advanced in the series.

In the study of our subject we have the advantage of looking at two sides
of the picture, for it has pleased God to give us the same series as seen
in two different aspects.  In the second and seventh chapters you will
find predictions of the same events under different figures.  In the
second chapter the prophecy is given as a vision to a proud, idolatrous
monarch.  So the different kingdoms about to arise appear to him as the
several parts of a mighty image, with himself as the head of gold.  It
was given in just such a shape as should coincide with his idolatry and
his pride.  Whereas, in the seventh chapter, the vision is given to one
of God’s people, and he sees in all this glory nothing better than a
series of wild beasts coming up one after another to devour.  How
different is the estimate of the world from that of God!  The world
regards Babylon as the head of gold, the summit of glory and greatness,
while God looks on it as a savage beast, to be dreaded by His saints!
The same difference of character may be observed in the visions of the
coming of the Lord.  To the great king it appeared as a triumphant
kingdom, to the captive prophet as a manifestation of the Son of man.
The one saw a kingdom, the other a person; the one, the overthrow of
power, the other, the advent of the Lord of Glory.

But now let us look at the series.  In both prophecies there is a
description of four kingdoms which should in succession be supreme in
political power, and which should fill up an interval between Daniel and
the Advent.

1.  There is the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s image, the same as the
lion in the vision of Daniel.  The most precious of metals corresponding
to the king of beasts.

2.  There is next the breast and arms of silver, corresponding to the
bear of Daniel.

3.  After that the belly and thighs of brass, representing the same
nation as the leopard of the prophet.

4.  And following them is the last kingdom of the four, represented to
Nebuchadnezzar as the ‘legs of iron, and the feet, part of iron and part
of clay,’ and to Daniel as a beast, ‘dreadful and terrible, and strong
exceedingly.’

It is interesting to observe how the same iron character is attributed to
this last power in both visions.  In the one we read of it, chap. ii. 40,
‘The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all things,
shall it break in pieces and bruise.’  And in the other, chap. vii. 7, it
is said to be ‘strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth: it
devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of
it.’

Such is the series of kingdoms that were to hold the chief political
power of the world, and fill up the whole interval between the date of
the prophecy and the advent of the Lord.  Now the remarkable, and I
believe I may say the indisputable, fact, is that, according to the
prophecy, all these four kingdoms have arisen.  They have followed each
other exactly as it was predicted.  Babylon was the head of gold, or the
lion.  The Medes and Persians were the breast of silver, or the bear.
Greece, always called ‘the brazen armed,’ in classic poetry, was the
belly and the thighs of brass, or the leopard.  And then the mighty power
of Rome, far exceeding all the others in its terrible strength, with the
legs of iron in the royal image, and the teeth of iron in the prophetic
beast.  Thus far there is an agreement almost unanimous among the
students of prophetic Scripture; and the conclusion certainly is, that we
have already been a long time under the last of the four successive
empires of the world.  So far then as those four empires are concerned,
we are encouraged to entertain the strong hope that, as we have reached
the last kingdom in the succession, we may begin hopefully to look out
for the end.  We have passed the last station on the