"The Age to Come"
BY JOSEPH MARSH
ROCHESTER, N. Y., PUBLISHED AT THE ADVENT HARBINGER OFFICE 1851
RESTORATION OF THE EARTH
to a state of great fertility ~~ especially the land of Palestine. As that seems to be the highly favored spot
to which the eye of the prophet has been especially directed, our thoughts are turned in the same
direction.
Isa. xxx.19-26. "For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. * * Then shall he give the rain of thy
seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and
plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise, and the young asses that
ear the ground, shall eat clean provender which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters, in the
day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light
of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord
bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound."
Though the glorious fulfillment of these precious promises will be specially realized in the restoration of
Palestine to its Eden state, doubtless the whole earth will be greatly benefitted thereby; for the sun and the
moon will shed their seven-fold brightness and life-invigorating influence over the world, which will so
change the seasons as to cause the earth to "yield her increase," and plenty to fill the globe.
Isa. xxxv. 1, 2. "The wilderness, and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice,
and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of
Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord,
and the excellency of our God."
Isa. li. 3. "For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he shall comfort all her waste places, and he will make her
wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving and the voice of melody."
Isa. lv. 13. "Instead of the thorn shalt come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the
myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name for an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off."
Ezek. xxxiv. 26, 27. "And I will make them, and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will
cause the shower to come down in his season: there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field
shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall
know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand
of those that served themselves of them."
Ezek. xxxvi. 34, 35. "And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that
passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden: and the
waste, and desolate, and ruined cities, are become fenced, and are inhabitated."
Hos. ii. 21, 22. "And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens,
and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall
hear Jezreel."
Amos. ix. 13. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the
treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall
melt."
Glorious, indeed, will be the change which these sure and precious prophecies contemplate. Now, the
earth is groaning under the curse. Every thing that springs from it for the sustenance of man and beast, is,
more or less, cut down by frost, blasted by mildew, or stung or devoured by insects. But not so in the
Age to come. For
"No chilling winds, or poisonous breath,
Shall reach that healthful shore."
And the canker worm will not spread his ravages there. Now, the terrible famine not unfrequently spreads
devastation, misery and death, in its train; but then, no portion of the inhabitants of the globe will lack, or
suffer want. All will be equally free then to possess the lot of their inheritance, without the fear of being
dispossessed by another. For
"They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat," or reap the
fruit of their labors. Isa. lxv. 22
Happy change! Glorious Restitution! May it soon take place! But this is not all the glory of the Age to
come. The Restitution would not be perfect, were it to stop here. There must be a . . .