"The Age to Come"
BY JOSEPH MARSH
ROCHESTER, N. Y., PUBLISHED AT THE ADVENT HARBINGER OFFICE 1851
GREAT INCREASE OF POPULATION
during that period; for then, the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea; and at the end of that Age, the nations whom the devil will then deceive, will be found in the four
quarters of the earth, in number "as the sand of the sea," (Rev. xx. 8); neither of which can be, on the
supposition that there will be no increase of population after the great destruction which will take place
near the commencement of that Age.
The wise economy of God required of the sinless pair, before the fall, that they should "be fruitful and
multiply, and replenish the earth," (Gen. i. 28.) This requirement has never been fully complied with; for
the earth has not yet been full of inhabitants. Will the all wise and infinite Creator be defeated in his
plans? No: they will be carried out; not however, in this age of sin and death, ~~ but in the Age to come,
under the government of the second Adam.
This subject is referred to in Psa. xxii. 31. Speaking of the kingdom of God, it is there said:
"They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done
this."
Hence, people will be
in that age; not, however, of the immortal saints, but of mortals, who will be
under the government of Christ and his immortal children. That this will be the case seems clear, from the
fact, that in the millennium will be the "little child," and the 'sucking child', (Isa. xi. 6, 8); and of that time
it is said, "They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of
the Lord, and their offspring with them." (lxv. 23.) And Ezekiel, speaking of the same glorious Age, says:
"They shall dwell therein, even their children, and the children's children forever, and my servant David
shall be their prince forever." (xxxvii. 25.) Hence the original design of God, in creating the earth to be
inhabited, will be perfected. For he "Formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not
in vain, he formed it to be inhabited." Isa. xlv. 18.
The earth is far from being all inhabited now. It must be ~~ or, so far as it is not, it will have been created
in vain. We believe it will be inhabited in the Age to come, as the word of prophecy predicts, not by
wicked, rebellious nations, but by those who shall be willing subjects of the Lord, the King of the whole
earth. Their highest pleasure will be to hear the word of the Lord that shall go forth from Jerusalem, and
bow in humble and cheerful submission to his law, that shall be promulgated from Mount Zion. They will
also go up to Jerusalem, "from year to year, to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and keep the feast of
tabernacles," (Zech. xiv. 16,) and to bring their wealth, glory and honor, into that great emporium and
capital of the world. Isa. lx. 5-9.
Another rich blessing of the Age to come will be the . . .