Obadiah Tillotson

"Having made these general remarks on the book of Revelation, I am now prepared to state, that it is evident that Rev. 20 : 11-15 was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army."
 

(On the Second Coming)
"Jesus truly received honor and glory from the Father when he was transfigured; and so he did when he was baptised of John in Jordan; also, at the grave of Lazarus, and in various other instances. But, Jesus did not come to reward every man according to his works at the transfiguration. Nor did the kingdom of God or of heaven come with power then. Evidently Jesus came, not in person, but in his kingdom, at the destruction of Jerusalem, by the Roman army, A. D. 70, and began to reward every man according to his works. But let no one hastily conclude that I have said that the day of judgment is past. I have said no such thing. My view of the subject is that Jesus established his kingdom, and began to judge the world at the destruction of Jerusalem, and that he will continue to reign and judge mankind, until he has subdued all things unto himself, and God is all in all. And then there will be no judgment, for, as God, who is holy, is to be all in all, there will be no sinners, and no occasion for any judgment.

That Jesus came the second time at the destruction of Jerusalem, is rendered doubly certain by what we read (Matt. 24: Mark 13: and Luke 21:). Jesus had been speaking (Matt. 24 : 2), of the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, declaring that there should not be left one stone upon another, that should not be thrown down. And, as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples went to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ? Or, as it should be rendered — end of this, the Jewish age.

For, says Dr. Clarke, the phrase " this world," both in Hebrew and Greek, is constantly used to point out the Jewish age in distinction from the Christian age or days of the Messiah, which are as constantly termed " the world to come." The disciples asked two questions — 1st. When Jerusalem should be destroyed. And, 2nd. What signs would precede its destruction, by which they could be warned of its approach. These questions are recorded by Mark and Luke thus:

When shall these things be ? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled ? Both questions evidently relate to the destruction of Jerusalem. And Jesus proceeds to speak of the signs which should precede its destruction, all of which came to pass before the city and temple were destroyed by the Roman army under Titus." (pp. 94-95)

(On the Book of Revelation)
"Before calling your attention particularly to this passage of Scripture, I wish to make some general remarks on the Book of Revelation.

1. — This book should be the last (perhaps excepting the book of Daniel), in the whole compass of God's Word, on which we should rest our faith. Its language is highly figurative, and well adapted to the age in which it was written; but other parts of the Bible appear to have been designed more particularly for our use, as we can with much less difficulty and more certainty get at their true meaning. The great and good Dr. Adam Clarke, says, " I do not understand the book." Com.  p. 965.

2. — The book of Revelation was written before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army. This is rendered certain by what we read (Rev. 11 : 8), " And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." But, Universalists are not alone in saying that the book of Revelation was written before the destruction of Jerusalem. This the ancient commentators, Andreas and Arethas affirm. And, this is the opinion of Hentenius, Harduin, Grotius, Lightfoot, Hammond, Bishop Newton, Kuinoel, Lucke, a late German critic by the name of Hug, and that justly celebrated scholar, Professor Stuart.

3. — The book of Revelation relates to things which were shortly to come to pass at the time it was written. Hence we read (Rev. 1: 1), " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." (Verse 3) — " The time is at hand." Similar expressions have been thrown into the book, in various places, from the commencement to the close. Rev. 22 : 20, we read — " Surely I come quickly."

Having made these general remarks on the book of Revelation, I am now prepared to state, that it is evident that Rev. 20 : 11-15 was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army. The Jewish dispensation, called here the " earth and heaven," then "fled away," or came to an end, and the New Jerusalem, or Gospel kingdom was established in the earth.

1. — This Scripture was to be fulfilled when Jesus should judge men according to their works. And when was this ? Matt. 16 : 27, 28, informs us — " For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels ; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."

2. — At this judgment those whose names were in the book of life, were saved. And we read (Dan. 12: 1), "And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time ; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." And (Matthew 24: 15-21), " When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the holy place," or, as it reads (Luke 21 : 20), " When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh," and, says Matt., " then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. . . For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." And, as evidence that we are correct in this view of the subject, we read (Dan. 12: 7), "And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished."

3. — The words — " And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them," are explained by passages in the Old Testament. We read (Isa. 28 : 14—18), " Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation : he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."

We also read (Amos 9 : 1-10), language similar to Rev. 20 : 13 — "I saw the Lord standing upon the altar : and he said, smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake : and cut them in the head, all of them ; and I will slay the last of them with the sword : he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell, thence shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down : and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. . . . Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel ? saith the Lord. . . . Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth ; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us."

4. — The lake of fire into which death and hell, and those not found written in the book of life were cast, was in Jerusalem. We accordingly read (Isa. 31 : 9), that the Lord's " fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem." And, Ezekiel 22 : lf-22. — " And, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace ; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore. I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to rnelt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you." Accordingly, it was at the time of a great Jewish feast that Jerusalem was destroyed, when the Jews were gathered into the city from all parts of the world, and there they were melted, in that lake of fire.

5. —I am now prepared to speak of the second death, which is the last resort of those who believe in the annihilation of the wicked. This cannot refer to a death in the future world, for in that case it would be the third death, instead of the second. Or, did it refer to a death in another state of existence, as men are raised from one death, so they may be from another, and even from a hundred should there be so many. But, the first death was the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who destroyed the city and burned the first temple, carrying the Jews captive into a land of strangers.

We read (Leviticus 26: 39), "And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them." Ezekiel 33 : 10, 11. — " Therefore, O thou Son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, Thus speak ye, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; . . . turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel ?" The house of Israel were already in a state of moral death, and this moral death was the cause which would produce their national death. And, in process of time they died a national death. They lost their religious privileges, and their existence as a nation, and pined away in their iniquities, in the laud of their enemies.

That the restoration of the Jews to their own land, after the Babylonish captivity, is represented as bringing them out of their graves, is certain. We read (Ezekiel 37: 11-14), "Then said he unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; . . . Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O ray people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live ; and I shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord."

According to this prophecy, Jerusalem was rebuilt under Cyrus, the Jews entered their own land, and once more lived as a nation. But, when Jesus was on earth, that nation had again become corrupt, and was about to be destroyed. Accordingly he said to the Jews (John 8 : 24), " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." They were already morally dead, and this moral death would cause them to die another national death. Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, as recorded Matt. 24 : Mark 13 : and Luke 21: and, in the year of our Lord 70, Jerusalem was again destroyed, and the city and temple were burned to ashes. This is the second death. It was a national death, like the first. And, those who had part in the first resurrection, who heard the voice of the Son of God in the Gospel, and arose from moral death, believed and observed what Jesus said in relation to the signs which should precede the destruction of the city, and made their escape out of it before it was laid in ruins. Hence, on such, the second death had no power.

But, are the Jews to remain in this second death forever ?

Let Paul answer (Rom. 11 : 23-27.) —"And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graded in : for God is able to graff them in again. . . . For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits), that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come iii. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."

The phrase second death, is used only four times in the Bible ; and it is never found, excepting in the highly figurative book of Revelation. It occurs, Rev. 2:11; and 20 : 6, 14 ; and 81: 8.

But, what is to be the fate of death ? The Bible answers. Isa. 25: 8. — " He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces." 1 Cor. 15 : 26, 55.— " The last enemy, death, shall be destroyed. . . . O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?:' Rev. 21: 4. —" And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away."  (The Destiny of Mankind, Or, What Do the Scriptures Teach Respecting p. 61-77)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Thomas Whittemore
"REV. O. H. TILLOTSON was born in the flourishing town of Orford, N. H., on the 9th day of May, 1816. His mother made a profession of religion, and became connected with the Orthodox church in that town, when he was quite young; and, being a very devoted woman, endeavored to train up her children strictly iu the belief of her creed. His becoming a Universalist is in no way to be attributed to his good mother, as she was unwearied in her efforts to instil into his young mind the obnoxious doctrine, that a large portion of the human family will be indescribably wretched, world without end. While Mr. Tillotson remained at home, be was engaged in agricultured pursuits during the summer, and attended school in the winter. But, at the age of seventeen, by the advice of friends in whom he had confidence, and with the consent of his honored father, he left that happy home, where were the kindest of parents, five fond brothers and four loving sisters, and went to Montpelier, Vt., to serve an apprenticeship at the business of printing. And this, as those well know who have pursued a similar course, was to him a trying event. To be the first to leave a family circle so largo and pleasant as that in which he had spent so many happy hours, was no easy task. He was determined, however, if possible, to fit himself for usefulness in the world ; and, knowing that, as a family, his parents, brothers and sisters, could not always live together, he concluded that it was his duty to leave them.

Before he left home, he had heard of infidels; but, not being acquainted with any of that class, and never having seen their writings he was entirely ignorant of their opinions and mode of argument. In this condition, he had not been long at Montpelier, before he was induced by a friend to read the " Ago of Reason," the well-known work of Thomas Paine. The perusal caused him to become quite sceptical, and set him to inquiring for arguments with which to oppose Christianity. From this he resorted to various infidel writings,— those of Voltaire, Volney, Taylor, and others; and, by such means, he became greatly bewildered with the atheistical delusion. At length, however, he was led to reflect upon his condition, the utter worthlessness of his opinions, and the deplorable effects which their triumph would produce in the world. The first inquiry with him was, " If the doctrine which I advocate be true, then what and where am I?" And the only answer which he could give was, " I am the offspring of chance ; and, like all my kindred, was created for no purpose, and am to be tossed about upon the tempestuous sea of life for a short season, and then sink into the ocean of oblivion, to know and be known no more forever. This is my fate, and that of all mankind ! " The inquiry then arose with him : " Of what valve are these opinions, either to myself or the world ? Do they tend to enlarge the field of thought ? Are they ennobling or strengthening to man? or chastening to the feelings? Can they cheer the desponding? or bind up the broken-hearted? " And he could only say, with sad disappointment, " No! They tend rather to blunt the intellect, and give it narrow bounds. They debase the mind, and cause it to grow weaker and weaker, by removing all upon which it leans for support. They harden and demoralize the feelings. They sink the desponding, and tear open afresh the wounds of the broken-hearted." The question arose with him, in this crisis, " What would be the effects of a triumph of my opinions in the world ? What shall I have gained to myself and others, if I accomplish my object, and convince those around me that what I believe is really true? " And he could not say that the consequences would bo desirable, but the very reverse. His opinions never afforded him any consolation, and he had no reason to suppose that they would console others. And, judging from the past, what might he expect, if they became prevalent! A voice from France answered the question in a startling manner: "Expect anarchy, blood and death, in their most horrid forms!" The lives of the most distinguished infidels who ever lived answered it, by licentiousness and discontent. And so did their deaths, by doubt and despair.

Such reflections as these led him to conclude that he might be in an error. Indeed, it appeared to be quite probable. What, then, should he do * It took but a short time for him to decide this question, He resolved that he would immediately give up his old guides, Paine, Voltaire, Volney, Taylor and others, and follow new ones. The first work which he read, upon the other side of the question, -was " Christianity against Infidelity," by Rev. T. B. Thayer. He here found proofs of the truth of Christianity which ho little expected to find. This work is truly a valuable one, and clearly and logically written, and should be carefully read by every infidel in the world. He next took that little volume entitled " An Argument for Christianity," by Rev. I. D. Williamson. This he found to be beautifully written, and full of convincing argument. After reading Williamson's book, he took Watson's "Apology for the Bible," in reply to Paine's " Age of Reason." Having carefully perused this, he next read Leslie's " Short and Easy Method with the Deists." And BO convincing and unanswerable was this, as to lead him to the following reflection : — "I have rejected Christianity, because that, in order to believe it, I must admit the truth of miracles, which I cannot do. favor of Christianity, we must give credit to a greater miracle, if we suppose it to be false, than any in which we are required to believe, if we admit its truth." Reasoning thus, he was induced to receive the Christian religion as true ; and his faith in it has been growing stronger, and his hopes brighter, from that time to the present.

When but twenty-two years of ago, Mr. Tillotson began to preach the gospel of a world's redemption ; and he has made this his constant care and labor, having preached nearly every Sabbath since that time. He has steadily pursued the calling, and now it is his life to preach the gospel. He has labored in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. That he has had good success is evident from the fact that he has frequently been invited to return to his old fields of labor. The societies in Woodstock, Vt., and Claremont, N. II., have, at times, been particularly anxious to reengage him. It is now three years since he removed to Worcester, the heart of Massachusetts; and here his labors have been abundantly blessed. Tho society has nearly doubled in numbers since he went there; they have enlarged and repaired their house of worship, and are united and strong.

Mr. Tillotson has had some four or five public discussions, since he entered the ministry, all of which have been satisfactory to the friends of truth. Ho knows how to wield the sword of the spirit. He fears no warfare for the truth's sake, as his controversies at Worcester will prove; but, naturally, he is a son of peace. As a preacher he is sound, inclining to be argumentative and doctrinal, and is a very valuable pastor in a place with a population like that in Worcester. He lays strong hold of eternal life. The bitter cup of infidelity he once drank to the dregs; he enjoys therefore more fully the waters of life. Christianity is specially precious to him. He feels it to be no unimportant part of his mission to warn the young against infidelity, and show to them the proofs and triumphs of Christianity. He is in the vigor of his days, with a strong constitution, and great mental activity ; and should his life be spared, he will accomplish great good for the cause of Christ." (The Universalist Pulpit: Containing Sermons pp. 135-140)