BRITISH-ISRAEL

Southland Times, Issue 22490, 26 January 1935, Page 7

BRITISH-ISRAEL

EXPOSITORY COLUMN. No. 35. (By Historicus.) . CHRONOLOGICAL PROPHECY. In the 26th chapter of Leviticus, Moses foretold that if Israel refused to obey the Law which God had given her in the wilderness, God would punish her “seven times” for her transgressions. This expression, “seven times, occurs several times in that chapter, and needs explanation. The system 1 am about to explain was not devised by British-Israel people, nor by ignorant men. It is indeed one of the very strongest proofs that the main propositions of British-Israel are true. The Seven Times. Long ago learned expositors were pondering over the various passages of Bible prophecy which appear to speak of dates and time-limits for the events foretold. They came to the conclusion that in Daniel and the Revelation, the periods spoken of by the. prophets as so many “days” were in reality so many “years.” The year-day system, as it is called, dates from Wicklif, so it is not of yesterday. It is the work of a long series of learned Protestant divines who would nowadays be called Fundamentalists. None of them were BritishIsrael believers. Most of them lived long before such a belief was known. Dr. Grattan Guinness. One of the greatest of these expositors was Dr. Grattan Guinness. He came to the conclusion, and established it on scientific principles, that the “seven times” of Moses did not mean seven occasions of chastisement, since Israel and Judah transgressed far more often than that, but signified an agelong period of punishment for Israel. He fixed the length of the period at 2,520 years. He concluded that a “day” in prophecy meant a year; that the prophetic “year” consisted of 360 “days,” i.e., of 360 years; that this period of 360 years is a “time”; and that therefore “seven times” equals 2,520 years. Long before him the year-day system had produced very striking results, but Guinness’ qualifications as astronomer, mathematician, and theologian, together with his profound historical knowledge, enabled him, under God, to put the study of chronological prophecy on a really scientific basis, so that it could not well be overthrown—nor has it been. Different Kinds of Years. Guinness showed that in chronological prophecy, the Holy Spirit reckons in three kinds of years—the solar year of 365 days and a fraction, the lunar year of 354 days and a fraction, and the prophetic year of 360 days. He showed also that these three kinds of reckonings could all be made from a series of initial dates, the reason for this being that an event usually came to pass, not all at once and finally, but in definite and recognisable stages. For example, we know that the captivities of Israel and Judah both took place by instalments and not all at once.

The initial dates being various, and the kinds of reckoning being three, an immense variety of terminal dates will naturally be reached under Guinness’ elaborate system. I have not space to direct you to all of these, nor is it to my purpose to do so when writing just on British-Israel. Suffice it to say that no important date in connection with the rise and decline of the papal and Mohammedan Powers is out of the reckoning, while the outstanding dates in the rise and progress of Israel and Judah in the last 150 years are all there in the most wonderful way. Those which concern Israel and Judah are the ones I deal with to-day and next week. To those who may want to know more about this enthralling subject I would recommend Guinness’ two books, “The Approaching End of the Age” written about 1878, and “Light for the Last Days” written about 1893 not long before his death.

Apply Seven Times to Manasseh, and What?

In the first captivity of Israel in 740 B.C. (Ussher’s date), one of the tribes and a principal sufferer was Manasseh. A week or two ago I showed in this column why we British-Israel people believe Manasseh to be the United States. One further very strong reason for thinking so is now to be given. Add 2,520 years to Ussher’s date for the captivity of Manasseh, and we arrive at 1781 A.D. In that year the Declaration of Independence was signed by Britain and America. That year was the starting-point of America’s career as a great nation, separate from Britain. It is a striking fact that exactly “seven times” (if Guiness’ period be right) occurs between the captivity of Manasseh and the Declaration of Independence. Apply it to Ephraim, and what?

Let us apply the period now to Ephraim. That tribe went captive to Assyria with the rest of the ten tribes under Sargon in the year. 720 B.C. (Ussher’s date). “Seven times” later, 2,520 years, brings us to 1801, the year in which the Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland was passed. At that epoch, too, Britain overthrew Napoleon, started many missionary societies, and began her career as a -prosperous, beneficent world-Power. From the comparatively insignificant islandpeople which they were in the 18th century, the English have become the foremost and most widespread nation of the world. Can This be Explained Away? I have therefore to conclude the first part of my dealing with the chronological prophecies about Israel by asking the reader to bear in mind, and to demolish if possible, the following remarkable fact. After the “seven times” period of 2,520 years has concluded, we would expect to find a time of prosperity to start for Manasseh and Ephraim. Do we find that this is so? Not exactly, but we do find a very remarkable thing. We do find that “seven times” (2,520 years) after Manasseh and Ephraim entered the cloud of Divine punishment, America and England emerge front a cloud, and acquire each a national place in the sun. I submit that the coincidence is too striking to be just coincidence. Ephraim and Manasseh entered the cloud, ana are long since lost sight of under these names. If two nations emerge from a cloud exactly “seven times” later, and if these two nations answer in all respects to what Ephraim and Manasseh were to be as foretold by the prophets of the Bible, then these two nations must surely be Ephraim and Manasseh, whatever names the world may. now know them by. No other conclusion is compatible with Divine omnipotence and omniscience.