The Finished Mystery
author: Charles Taze Russell
edition published: June 17, 2014
language: en; el; he; la
availability: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License online at www.gutenberg.org/license

Studies in the Scriptures

Volume VII

The Finished Mystery

“The Winepress of God's Wrath” and the Fall of Babylon.

By

Charles Taze Russell

(Published Posthumously)

Edited by

C. J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher

850,000 Edition

“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to Heaven, and swore by Him that liveth forever and ever, who created Heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that the time should be no longer delayed; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the Prophets.”—Rev. 10:5-7. “At the end it shall speak and not lie.”—Hab. 2:3.

Copyright 1917

Peoples Pulpit Association

Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A.

International Bible Students Association

Brooklyn, London, Melbourne, Barmen

1918

Contents

[Cover Art]

[Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.]

TO THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS THIS WORK IS DEDICATED

In the Interest of HIS CONSECRATED SAINTS Waiting for the Adoption And of “All That in Every Place Call Upon the Lord” “THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH” And Of The Groaning Creation; Travailing And Waiting for the Manifestation of THE SONS OF GOD

POSTHUMOUS WORK OF PASTOR RUSSELL

His Last Legacy to the Dear Israel of God (Matt 20:9)

“To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.” “Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of the times He might gather together in one all things, under Christ.”

Eph. 3:4, 5, 9; 1:8-10

Publisher's Preface

Since the days of the Apostles, Christian people have been looking for the coming of our Lord Jesus in great power and glory; for He said that He would come again and receive His Church unto Himself. He further pointed out that for some time prior to the completion of the Church He would be present, gathering out from Babylon and from the world the truly consecrated, and that during His presence “the Mystery of God” would be finished.

Through St. John the Lord Jesus revealed the fact that the Church would be developed during seven distinct periods, or epochs; and that for each of these epochs He would have a special angel, or messenger, to serve the other members of the Body. It follows, then, that the messenger to the last, or Laodicean, epoch would declare the Presence of the Lord and the time of the Harvest of the Gospel Age. The great Master laid special emphasis on the importance of the messenger to the seventh, or Laodicean, period of the Church, saying that such an one would be “a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord would make ruler over all His Household, to give them meat in due season.”

Those consecrated Christians who have read and fully appreciated the Truth as contained in the preceding six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES readily see and agree that Charles Taze Russell was the messenger of the Church of Laodicea. In the mind of every one who believes the Bible the evidence set forth in this volume will establish that fact beyond the question of a doubt.

In the light of Divine Prophecy, now being daily fulfilled and made clear to “the watchers,” the following from the pen of Pastor Russell is further proof that he was sent of God to this generation. Long years before the beginning of the trouble now upon the nations he wrote:

“The four exhibitions of the Lord, given to Elijah, represent, we believe, four manifestations in which the Lord is about to reveal Himself to mankind, the first three of which will prepare men for the final one, in which will come the desired blessing to all the families of the earth. These are:”

“(1) The mighty winds rending the very rocks. Blowing winds seem to be used in Scripture for wars. The wars, whose dark clouds have threatened the civilized world so ominously for the past thirty years, have been miraculously hindered to give opportunity for ‘sealing’ the Lord's consecrated people in their foreheads (intellectually) with the Present Truth. We are therefore to expect that when these winds of war shall be let loose, it will mean a cataclysm of warfare which shall divide kingdoms (mountains)—prefigured by the mighty wind shown to Elijah (1 Kings 19:11), which rent the rocks. But God's Kingdom will not follow the epoch of war; the world will not thus be made ready for the Reign of Immanuel. No; a further lesson will be needed and will be given. It is represented in”

“(2) An earthquake. Throughout the Scriptures an earthquake seems always to represent revolution; and it is not unreasonable to expect that an era of general warfare would so arouse the lower classes of Europe and so discontent them with their lot (and especially with the conditions which would follow such a war) that revolution would be the next thing in order. (Rev. 16:18.) But, severe though those revolutionary experiences will be to the world, they are not sufficient to prepare men to hear the voice of God. It will require”

“(3) The fire from heaven—an epoch of Divine judgments and chastisements upon a maddened but unconverted world, wild in anarchy, as other Scriptures show us. The results of their wars, revolutions and anarchy, in the failure of their schemes, will have a humbling effect, and will prepare mankind for God's revelation of Himself in”

“(4) The still small voice. Yes; He who spoke to the winds and the waves of the Sea of Galilee will, in due time, ‘speak peace to the peoples.’ He will speak with authority, commanding the observance of His long neglected Law of Love. ‘And whosoever will not hear that Prophet shall be cut off from among His people.’ (Acts 3:23.)”—THE WATCH TOWER, July 1, 1898, p. 308.

“Looking back to the prophetic testimony respecting the Times of the Gentiles, we perceive that our Lord's words, ‘Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the Times of the Gentiles be filled full,’ give the intimation that the determined times, or years, in which the empire of earth would be in the hands of Gentile governments was a fixed one from the Divine standpoint. And if, as we believe the Scriptures to teach, Gentile domination was provided for up to October, 1914, it would seem but a reasonable interpretation that Divine power would not be exercised to their dethronement until after the time allotted for their reign had ended—October, 1914.”—THE WATCH TOWER, July 1, 1904. p. 198.

In 1879 Charles Taze Russell began the publication of THE WATCH TOWER, of which he was the sole editor as long as he remained on earth. THE WATCH TOWER was, and is, the first and only journal declaring the presence of the Lord Jesus. Pastor Russell being the messenger to the Laodicean Church, and occupying the position of the Lord's special servant to give the Household of Faith meat in due season, it was to be expected that he would bring forth from the Lord's great “Storehouse” the needed spiritual food for the Church, in harmony with God's will. By the Lord's grace he wrote the six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, which writings, aside from the Bible, have gladdened more hearts and thrilled Christians with greater hope and joyful expectation than have any other writings extant. These books have been properly designated “Keys to the Divine Plan of the Ages.” These “keys” have been placed in the hands of thousands of Christian people throughout the world, and have enabled them to unlock the Lord's Treasure-house, the Bible, and there to see some of the “treasures of wisdom” and knowledge of God! Some have been able to use these “keys” more effectually than have others. “God hath set the members in the Body as it hath pleased Him.”

Time and again Pastor Russell said that the Seventh Volume of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES would be written; and it was expected that he would write it. The Scriptures show that the Seventh Volume must be published. Pastor Russell passed from the earth, and the Seventh Volume remained unpublished. In his last moments he said, “Some one else can write the Seventh Volume.” For any one to arrogate to himself the authority to write and publish the Seventh Volume would, we believe, seem presumptuous before the Lord. Whom, then, would the Lord have to write it?

Pastor Russell was a man of unusual modesty. Great men usually are modest. The examination of the contents of this book will disclose the fact that it deals with Revelation and Ezekiel; that the Lord long ago caused to be recorded therein, in symbolic language, a history of the Church, particularly the closing earthly experiences thereof; that therein He set forth that He would uncover the frauds, deceptions and blasphemous teachings and practices of the church nominal—both Catholic and Protestant; that in the last days He would then make bare the unholy alliance between the unrighteous ecclesiastical systems and the corrupt political elements of the earth, which religious systems have prospered and grown fat in the name of Christ; that the Lord pronounces His indignation and wrath against all such Babylonish systems and marks their utter destruction in a Time of Trouble such as the world has never known and will never again know; and that the earthly creature made prominent therein above all others is the messenger of the Laodicean Church—“that wise and faithful servant” of the Lord—CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL. In view of the facts stated, is it at all surprising that the Lord spared him the publication of the Seventh Volume?

But the fact is, he did write it. This book may properly be said to be a posthumous publication of Pastor Russell. Why? Because to him the Lord gave the “key”; to him was given the privilege of making clear to the Church in its last years the “Mystery of God”; to him was granted the privilege of hearing from the hands of the Lord to the Household of Faith “meat in due season” for the special development and sustenance of God's dear little ones. This service he has faithfully performed. This book is chiefly a compilation of things which he wrote and which have been brought together in harmonious style by properly applying the symbols which he explained to the Church.

By his last Will and Testament Pastor Russell designated George H. Fisher, of Scranton, Pa., as one whom he would approve as a member of the Editorial Staff of THE WATCH TOWER—the most important journal published on earth. For many years Brother Fisher has been consecrated to the Lord, a careful student of the Bible in the light of the Message brought from the Lord by the messenger to the Laodicean Church; and for some time he has made a careful and prayerful study of the Book of Ezekiel.

When Pastor Russell was with us he gave direction that the BIBLE STUDENTS MANUAL should be prepared by Clayton J. Woodworth, also of Scranton, Pa. This Manual was published by this Society, and has proven a great blessing to the Household of Faith. The preparation of that Manual required a critical examination of everything Pastor Russell had written; and thus Brother Woodworth was enabled to become more familiar, probably, than any one else with the explanation of the Scriptures which had been given by Brother Russell. In this manner the Lord seemed to have qualified him for some special work. With the “key” which Brother Russell, as the Lord's servant, had placed in his hands, Brother Woodworth, by the Lord's grace, has been enabled to bring together everything that Brother Russell wrote on Revelation, and to explain and harmonize the other parts of that book with the Divine Plan; also, to treat similarly, the Song of Solomon.

It seemed pleasing to the Lord that Brothers C. J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher should prepare the Seventh Volume, under the direction of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY. While both residing in the same city, they have worked separate and apart from each other, not even comparing notes. The reader will be able to judge how fully the work of each harmonizes with that of the other and with the Divine Plan, thus giving further evidence of the Lord's direction in this matter.

Pastor Russell long ago said, in substance, that the Seventh Volume would not be for the development of the Church; that the preceding six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES contain the necessary spiritual food for that purpose. Asked why, then, it would be written, he replied, “It will probably be given to the Church in a time of direst need, for her comfort and encouragement.”

Who amongst the consecrated this side the veil does not realize that the Church is now in that time of “dire need of comfort and encouragement”? The hour of fiery trial and great testings is upon God's people, and there is need for their comfort and encouragement. The Lord has promised “grace sufficient” and help for every time of need for those who love Him and come confidently unto Him. We believe that as the Lord's dear children throughout the earth read the contents of this book and see how wonderfully He has shielded them from the storms of human passion and from the snares of the great Adversary; and that when they see that the unrighteous, wicked systems of Babylon are now crumbling under the mighty hand of God—which bespeaks the early deliverance of the last members of the Body from this vale of tears into the glorious light and liberty of the saints—that then they will be greatly comforted; that then they will take new courage and “gird up the loins of their mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to come unto them quickly;” that with exceeding joy they will lift up their heads, because the hour of deliverance is at hand! To all the truly consecrated who read and appreciate this book we believe that the words of the Master, “THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!” will sound in their ears like clarion notes upon the clear morning air, giving courage and strength to those who are growing weak in faith, and more courage to the stronger ones. We believe that every one who appreciates this volume will have a burning desire to grasp his weapon and go forth to the smiting of the Jordan, giving praise to the Lord for the privilege.

Some will murmur and find fault with this book; some will grow angry, and some will join the persecutors. But, we believe, every saint whose heart is filled with love for God and for His people will rejoice and give praise to the Lord for this further evidence of His blessed favor.

The publisher takes pleasure in presenting this, the Seventh Volume, to the remaining members of the Church, and to all who may read with profit to themselves and to the glory of the Lord Jesus and our Father. As the Lord has sent forth the other six volumes, His blessing has accompanied each. That His blessing may be upon this volume, to the comfort and encouragement of the dear saints in the hour of direst need, is our prayer!

WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY.

Explanatory Note

This posthumous work of Pastor Russell (arranged for use as a textbook) is much condensed, including the extracts from the Pastor's pen, all of which are referred back to his works. The abbreviations used are:

A, B, C, D, E, F. The six preceding volumes of “STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES”
(Citations to E in italic figures refer to old editions, figures in ordinary type to later editions.)
B. S. M. ... “THE BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY.”
H. ... “What Say the Scriptures ABOUT HELL?”
P-D. ... “PHOTO-DRAMA OF CREATION” Scenario.
T. ... “TABERNACLE SHADOWS.”
S. ... “SPIRITISM” Pamphlet.
Z. ... “ZION'S WATCH TOWER,” followed by year and page.

The citations to REVELATION and EZEKIEL refer to the comments herein, as well as to the Bible text.

Other abbreviations used are:

Barnes ... Barnes' “Revelation.”
Brit. ... “Encyclopedia Britannica.”
Buck ... Buck's “Theological Dictionary.”
Coffin ... Coffin's “Story of Liberty.”
Cook ... Cook's “Revelation;” a compendium of the presentations of seventy-two leading commentators on Revelation, in all languages and all ages of the church.
Edgar ... Edgar's “Pyramid Passages.” Vol. II.
McC. ... McClintock and Strong's Encyclopedia.
Mosheim ... Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History.
S. B. D. ... Smith's Bible Dictionary.
Smith ... Smith's “Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation.”
Weym ... Weymouth's New Testament In Modern Speech.

The Revelation Of [St.] John [The Divine] [Words not In Sinaitic MS. are enclosed in brackets. The Sinaitic MS. is the oldest known copy of the Scriptures, having been written, it is believed. In A. D. 331. The “Authorized” Version was made from MSS. none of which were older than the tenth century.]

Revelation 1—The Message For This Day

The Revelation of Jesus Christ.—John the Revelator and the Prophet Habakkuk have foretold that the understanding of this revelation, given in 96 A. D., is set for an appointed time, the end of the age; and that, at this time, now, when the predicted “Faithful and wise servant” would be present with God's people, the vision would be made plain.—Rev. 1:10; Matt. 24:45; Hab. 2:1-3; 1 Pet 1:13.

Which God gave unto Him.—“The declaration that ‘the Son can do nothing of Himself,’ if it were not backed up as it is by a score of other testimonies from the same interested and inspired Teacher, is a contradiction to the common thought of Trinitarians, that the Son is the Father.”—Z. '99-45; John 5:20; 12:49; 17:7,8.

To shew unto His [servants] SAINTS.[^1]—“Our Lord Jesus has promised us that, as the Elder Brother (of the Gospel House of Sons), whatsoever the Father shall make known to Him He in turn will make known to us.”—Z. '99-45.

[^1: Words in Sinaitic MS. which do not appear in “Authorized” Version are printed in capitals.]

The things.—The shifting scenes of Church and State, the history of the Gospel and Millennial Ages.

Which must shortly come to pass.—Which began at once, in St. John's day, and will continue until the completion of all that he foresaw.

And He sent.—He did not come Himself, but acted with the dignity becoming Him who is now the express Image of the Father's person. “Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see.”—Heb. 1:3; 1 Tim. 6:16.

And signified It—“Our Lord's revelation, which God gave Him after He had passed into glory, He sent and signified [signified, told in signs, symbols, etc.] to His Church.”—B. 203.

By His angel.—The “angel” of Rev. 3:14 represented this messenger who appeared to St. John. Our Lord's promise in Luke 12:44 is not limited to activities on this side the veil.

Unto His servant John.—“This simplicity, common to all the Apostles, commends them to us as men of humble mind—the very kind we should expect our Lord to use as special messengers to His people.”—Z. '16-343; Rev. 19:10.

1:2. Who bare record.—Previously, In the Fourth Gospel, and in the three epistles bearing his name.

Of the Word of God.—The Logos. St. John has had more to say of the Logos than had any other Apostle. “In olden times certain kings made addresses to their subjects by proxy, the king sitting behind a screen, while his word, or spokesman, stood before the screen, and addressed the people aloud on subjects whispered to him by the king, who was not seen, and such a speaker was termed the King's logos.”—E. 94-85.

And of the testimony.—The daily words and deeds, during the three and a half years of His ministry.

Of Jesus Christ.—“The Faithful and True Witness.”—Rev. 3:14.

[And of all] WHAT things [that] SOEVER he saw.—St. John's powers of observation were acute. His Gospel contains records of twenty-two events or teachings not mentioned by the other Evangelists.

1:3. Blessed is he.—Singular.

That readeth.—Correctly interprets the symbolisms.

And they.—Plural.

That hear the [words] WORD of this prophecy.—“All who have read and understood even a part of the teachings of the book were blessed as promised. It was an important aid to Luther in deciding that the Papacy, of which he was a conscientious minister, was ‘Antichrist’”—A. 27.

And keep.—Keep the eyes upon, observe (so the Greek Indicates).—Rev. 22:7.

Those things which are written therein.—“There is a blessing upon those who read this revelation, even though they do not understand, and a special blessing upon those who hear and understand the words of this prophecy, and who conform their lives to the things therein written.”—Z. '16-343.

For the time is at hand.—The fulfilments began at once, in St. John's own day.

1:4. John to the seven churches.—Not merely the seven literal congregations mentioned in Verse 11 and elsewhere, but to the epochs of the Church as a whole, from Apostolic days until now.

Which are in Asia.—In the Orient, the East, the early path of the sun. Before the Sun of Righteousness can illuminate the world of mankind, its rays must first have passed through the Church, the first to greet and welcome the New Day.

Grace be unto you.—May favor, unmerited, be your happy portion.

And peace.—The Lord's special legacy to His Church.—John 14:27.

From Him.—Our glorified Lord and Head.—Rev. 1:8.

Which is.—Now self-existent, like the Father.—John 5:26.

And which was.—The Logos, the Father's Agent in the creation of all things (John 1:3), and subsequently, as man's Redeemer, “made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.”—Heb. 2:9.

And which is to come.—In glory and great power at His Second Advent, “until He shall have set judgment in the earth.”—Isa. 42:4.

And from the seven spirits.—Lamps of fire, or eyes. (Rev. 4:5; 5:6.) “In this symbolical picture the eye of the Lord is represented as seven or complete, all-seeing, everywhere, all-knowing. This is our confidence, this is our rejoicing.”—Z. '05-318; Zech. 3:9, 4:10.

Which are before His Throne.—Which are “sent forth into all the earth.”—Rev. 4:5.

1:5. And.—Kai, even. For a similar use of the word see the expression, “God Himself and our Father” (1 Thes. 3:11), which, in the Diaglott, is rendered, “God Himself, even our Father.”

From Jesus Christ the faithful Witness.—“Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.” (1 Tim. 6:13.) Our Lord's admission to Pilate, “I am a King; to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world” (John 18:37), was the direct cause of His death. The accusation set up over His head was, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19; Matt. 27:37.) Similarly faithful admissions may end the earthly careers of the feet-members of His Body.

The First Begotten of the dead.—“The First-Born of the dead ones.” (Diaglott.) (1 Cor. 15:20; Col. 1:18; Acts 26:23.) “This verse clearly teaches what the creeds of Christendom ignore; namely, that our Lord was the first to experience a resurrection to perfection and eternal life in the full sense of the word.”—Z. '16-343; Acts 13:33, 34.

And.—Even.

The Prince.—The King-Elect, now ruling in their hearts.

Of the kings of the earth.—His associate kings, “The kings of the East.” (Rev. 16:12.) “All are to be awakened from the Adamic death, as though from a sleep. They will then be under the care of the Royal Priesthood, whose experience with sin, and whose victory over sin, well fitted them to be helpful toward those over whom they will reign, as Kings as well as Priests. (Rev. 5:10.)”—E. 487, 478.

Unto Him that [loved] LOVETH us.—Our Lord's love for us is ever-present.

And [washed] FREED us from our sins [in] BY His own blood.—“That it was the death of the Man Christ Jesus, His ‘blood,’ that secured our release from sin and death is most unequivocally stated in many Scriptures. See 1 Pet 1:2; Acts 4:12; 20:28; Rev. 5:9; Rom. 5:9; Heb. 13:12.”—E. 458, 446; Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6; Rev. 14:4.

1:6. And hath made us.—And will make us during the Millennial Age.

[Kings and] A KINGDOM, priests.—The work of a priest is that of intervention and of instruction in righteousness. It logically implies subjects and a future work of salvation.—1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10; 20:6; 22:5.

Unto God and His Father.—“Unto the God and Father of Himself.”—Diaglott. Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3.

To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.—“He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth;... and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen.” (Psa. 72:8, 19.) “For ever and ever” is literally “for the ages of the ages.” The Millennium and subsequent ages are the ages of the ages.

1:7. Behold, He cometh with clouds.—“While the clouds of trouble hang heavy and dark, when the mountains—kingdoms of this world—are trembling and falling, when the earth—organized society—is being shaken and disintegrated, some will begin to realize that Jehovah's Anointed is taking to Himself His great power and is beginning His work of laying justice to the line and righteousness to the plummet.”—Z. '16-344; Matt 24:30.

And every eye shall see Him.—“He will not be visible to natural sight, but to the eyes of understanding, as these shall open to an appreciation of the punishments and blessings which will flow to mankind from His Reign. Our King will reveal Himself gradually. Some will discern the new Ruler sooner than will others. But ultimately ‘every eye shall see [Greek, horao, discern] Him.’”—Z. '16-344.

And they also which pierced Him.—“And I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the Jewish people], the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son.”—Zech. 12:10.

And all kindreds of the earth shall [wail because of] BEWAIL Him.—“At the time of our Lord's Second Advent the world will be far from converted to God; for ‘all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.’ Christ comes before the conversion of the world and for the very purpose of converting all mankind.”—Z. '16-344.

Even so, Amen.—We cannot stop the clouds of the Time of Trouble, or the tears of disappointment, and later, of repentance; and we would not if we could. The trouble and the tears are a necessary preparation for the blessings which follow.

1:8. I am THE Alpha and I AM ALSO THE Omega.—Alpha is the first letter, and Omega the last letter, of the Greek alphabet.

The Beginning and the Ending.—“Our Lord's great honor is shown in that He was not only the first of God's creation, but the last. From this we are to understand that the great Jehovah did not directly employ His own power in creating either men or angels; but that He delegated His power to His Only-begotten Son.”—Z. '93-115.

Saith the Lord GOD.—But not the clergy; they will have none of this doctrine.

Which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.—“It is since His resurrection that the message has gone forth—‘All power in Heaven and in earth is given unto Me.’ (Matt 28:18.) Consequently it is only since then that He could be called the Almighty.”—Z. '93-115; Rev. 1:4; 16:5-7.

1:9. I John, who [also] am your brother.—“Instead of adding titles to his name, as Reverend, Bishop, Overseer of all the Churches in Asia Minor, we find John introducing himself as ‘your brother.’”—Z. '01-187.

And companion in tribulation.—“He was sharer with Christ, as a member of His Body, in His afflictions, in His endurance; and the brother of all fellow-disciples, sharers of the same sufferings, and prospectively of the same glory.”—Z. '01-187: Matt. 20:23.

And [In] the kingdom.—Now, while “the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence;” and later, when “the Kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.”—Matt 11:12; Dan. 7:27.

And patience [of] IN Jesus [Christ].—When Saul persecuted the saints, he persecuted Jesus. When St. Paul suffered as a Christian, it was as part of the “dying of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 9:5; 2 Cor. 4:10.) What St. John cheerfully endured was endured by Jesus.

Was in the isle that is called Patmos.—“At the time of this vision St. John was a prisoner, exiled to the Isle of Patmos, a penal colony of those days [a convict quarry]—a rocky, barren island in the Ægean Sea. The crime for which he suffered this banishment was his faithfulness as the Lord's mouthpiece. St. John, the beloved disciple, in some measure, or degree, represented the last living members of the Body of Christ (John 21:20-23)—a class that see with the eyes of their understanding the visions and revelations which the beloved disciple saw in symbol in a trance. If, then, St. John's exile in any degree represents ostracism which the Lord's followers may expect in the close of this Age—a complete isolation from others and a treatment implying that they are prisoners—they may take comfort from the thought that our Lord's favor and revelation to St. John more than offset his persecutions.”—Z. '16-343.

For the Word of God.—“St. John, with remarkable modesty, passes over his previous service for the Truth (Rev. 1:2), which had brought him his persecution, and lightly passes over the persecution itself, merely noting that he was in the island because of his fidelity to the Word of God.”—Z. '01-187.

And for the testimony of Jesus.—As recorded in the Gospel according to St. John and the three Johannean epistles.

1:10. I was in the spirit.—“Visions are not realities, although symbolically representing them. (Dan. 7:1; Matt. 17:9.) The visions granted to St. John, recorded in the Revelation, are in no sense to be understood as realities.”—Z. '16-343; Acts 10:10.

On the Lord's Day.—“According to our understanding of Bible chronology we today are living in the early dawn of this Day of Christ; and it is here, properly enough, that we begin to see the wonderful things of the Divine Character and Plan. But to see and to understand we must be ‘in the spirit.’ Only those who have become New Creatures in Christ can be expected to appreciate spiritual things; and this is the class which the Apostle John represented.”—Z. '16-343.

And heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.—“The fact that its location is mentioned implies that it has a symbolic meaning. It signifies that the beginning of this Message was not in St. John's day, nor in the future, but that the things revealed had already commenced and were already to some extent in the past. As some features of the Revelation show, the voice from behind went back to the time of our Lord's earthly ministry.” (Z. '16-344.) “As John heard a voice behind him and looked in that direction, so we who now are having the realities find that the Message is behind us, and turn and look toward the past to see the fulfilment of the various features of the Divine Plan and to hear and understand the Message given to His people by the risen Lord.”—Z. '05-168.

1:11. Saying, [I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last: and] What thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia.—“There are many reasons for concluding that while the messages were given to the seven churches specified and were applicable to them, they should properly have a still wider application to the whole Church of Christ, the number seven representing completeness, and the order representing different epochs in the history of the Church. To think otherwise would be to attach more importance to those comparatively small churches of Asia Minor than they would seem to have deserved, and would have implied an ignoring of other churches more numerous and more influential; as, for instance, the churches at Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth, Colosse, Philippi, Thessalonica, etc. Furthermore, the details of the messages given to these seven churches apply to and fit historically the one Church of the living God, over every member and branch of which the Lord has a care. This thought, that the seven represented completeness, we find emphasized in the other symbolical representations—in the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars, etc.” (Z. '05-168.) Colosse (Col. 1:2), Miletus (Acts 20:17) and Hierapolis (Col. 4:13) were churches in Asia, not here mentioned. The Asia mentioned is the westernmost province of Asia Minor.

Unto Ephesus.—The Apostolic Age of the Church.

And unto Smyrna.—The Church during the period of persecution by Pagan Rome.

And unto Pergamos.—The Church during the period of the rise of Antichrist.

And unto Thyatira.—The Church during the Dark Ages, the period of Antichrist's glory, and persecution by Papal Rome.

And unto Sardis.—The Church in the dawn of the Reformation.

And unto Philadelphia.—The Church in the period of reformation by sects.

And unto Laodicea.—The Church in the time of the Lord's Second Presence.

1:12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.—“The Apostles saw in symbol what the Lord's people may now see with the eye of faith and understanding. He saw One like a son of man—like a man, like a priest, as implied by the clothes described—walking amongst seven golden candlesticks, caring for them, trimming the wicks, seeing to the supply of oil, etc. Thus our Lord Jesus, our glorified Master, has directed respecting His people's affairs, inspecting and caring for the Church as a light-bearer, a candlestick. Alas, how poor the wicks have sometimes been! How feeble the light that has sometimes shone out! How much trimming has been necessary!”—Z. '16-344.

And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.—“The Golden Candlestick, or Lamp-stand, which stood opposite the Golden Table, and gave light to all in the ‘Holy,’ was of gold—all of one piece hammered out. (Exod. 25:31-37.) It had seven branches, each of which held a lamp, making seven lamps in all—a perfect or complete number. This represented the complete Church, from the Head, Jesus, to and including the last member of the ‘little flock’ that He is taking out from among men, to be partakers of the Divine (gold) nature.”—T. 115; Rev. 1:20; Zech. 4:2; Matt. 5:14-16.

1:13. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks.—“The union, the relationship between them, being supplied by our Redeemer, the antitypical High Priest.”—Z. '16-344.

One like unto the son of man.—“This symbolical picture has precious lessons for us, more valuable than an attempt to describe to our minds the appearance of our Lord as a Spirit Being, ‘dwelling in light which no man can approach unto,’ and which we cannot appreciate until we shall be changed to ‘be like Him and see Him as He is.’—1 John 3:2; 1 Cor. 15:50-53.”—Z. '16-344; Dan. 7:13.

Clothed with a garment down to the foot.—“The glory of Christ was manifested in His own person, in His own ministry, and in that of His Twelve Apostles, His representatives—St. Paul taking the place of Judas; with their death the body of Truth was almost veiled throughout the eighteen centuries intervening, until now.”—Z. '16-344.

And girt about the breast.—The support of the garment at the breast, instead of the neck, left the arms and shoulders uncovered, representing that the early Church was favored with the light of the true Gospel for a considerable time after our Lord and Head had completed His earthly ministry.

With a golden girdle.—Gold is a symbol of the Divine nature; the girdle a symbol of service. (Rev. 15:6.) Throughout the Age the Lord has been serving His Church. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” “I am among you as he that serveth.”—Luke 12:37; 22:27.

1:14. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.—“The head, with its white hair, is not to teach us that our Lord in glory has the form of a man, with white hairs, but merely suggestive and symbolic of knowledge, experience, wisdom.”—Z. '01-188; Matt. 17:2.

And His eyes were as a flame of fire.—“His eyes like a flame of fire tell us in symbol that our Master is all-seeing, omniscient; that He is not deceived by outward forms and ceremonies; but that He can, and does, read every thought and intent of the heart.”—Z. '16-344; Rev. 19:12.

1:15. And His feet like unto fine brass.—“The feet, described as like furnace-refined copper, seem to say that those who belong to the Body of Christ, and whom the Lord would use in His service, ‘the feet’ members of the Body, must, in their contact and dealings with the world, be refined, purified, clean—‘Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord's house.’”—Z. '01-188; Ezek. 1:7.

As if they burned in a furnace.—“In the end of the Age, the feet members of the Body of Christ will be illuminated by the Truth and will shine forth—not like the Head, but as polished brass. We have shining upon us with almost burning brightness the focused rays of Divine inspiration and revelation from the past 6,000 years. How it should consume in us all the dross of selfishness! How it should purify us! How humble it should make us!”—Z. '16-344.

And His voice as the sound of many waters.—“The many waters signify peoples, nations and languages, as elsewhere explained in this book. Thus our Lord, present with His Church, speaks to her and through her by many tongues, in many languages.”—Z. '01-188; Rev. 19:6.

1:16. And He had in His right hand.—“This One whom we thus know, thus recognize, as the Instructor and Caretaker of the candlesticks, we are also to recognize as having in His right hand—in His favor as well as His power—seven stars, the angels, the messengers, of the seven Churches. That they are in His right hand seems to teach us that these should be considered as in some special sense under the Master's guidance, protection and care in the interest of the Churches which they represented.”—Z. '16-345; Jer. 22:24.

Seven stars.—“Apparently the stars represent special ministers, or servants of the Church. In Revelation 12:1 the Church is pictured as a Woman crowned with twelve stars. These stars evidently represent the Twelve Apostles as the special lights of the Church. Similarly, in the picture before us, the seven stars which the Lord holds in His right hand seem to represent special light-bearers in the Church—in each of its seven phases, or stages, of development. It will be noticed that the messages to the various Churches are sent by these stars, messengers, angels, as though our Lord would have us understand that the appropriate message for each appropriate epoch in the Church's experience would be sent by the Lord through a particular star, or messenger, whom He would especially commission as His representative. Our Lord Himself is represented by the great light of the sun; and His special messengers in the Church throughout the entire period of the Gospel Age are consistently enough represented as stars.”—Z. '16-345; Rev. 1:20.

And out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.—“No part of the description could more thoroughly convince us that the description of our Lord given here is symbolic. As a symbolic picture, it speaks to us of the Word of the Lord, the Sword of the Spirit, ‘sharper than any two-edged sword.’ (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12.) It reminds us that our Lord's words are not one-sided, not directed merely against sin in one class, but that His Word is sharp, cutting in every direction; that sin is reproved by Him as much when found in His most earnest followers as when found elsewhere. It assures us that none need attempt to pluck out the mote from his brother's eye without first getting rid of the beam in his own eye; and that if we do not show mercy to those who are our debtors we must not expect mercy from Him who has purposed to extend His mercy toward us. How heart-searching is God's Word when we understand it—not merely as a compendium of rules and regulations, but when we catch the spirit of it! Then we come to see that its requirement is love out of a pure heart; first, to the Heavenly Father; secondly, to our Lord and Head; thirdly, to all His brethren; fourthly, to the world in general, groaning and travailing in pain, waiting for the blessings of the coming Day of Christ; and fifthly, toward our enemies also, sympathetically realizing that they are warped, twisted and blinded through the deceitfulness of sin and through the machinations of the great Adversary.—2 Cor. 4:4.”—Z. '16-345; Rev. 2:12, 16; 19:15, 21; Isa. 11:4.

And His countenance [was as the sun] shineth AS THE SUN in his strength.—“And his face was as it were the sun.”—Rev. 10:1; Acts 26:13.

1:17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.—“So great was the splendor that St. John fell as dead, just as Daniel did in the presence of the mighty One whom he saw, and just as Saul of Tarsus did before the majesty presented to him. (Dan. 10:4-11; Acts 9:3-9.) So it is symbolically with the Christian, when once he gets a glimpse of the glories of the Divine Character. When once we get a true view of Him with whom we have to do, as the great Heart-searcher and Caretaker of His Church, we fall before Him, humbled to the dust, realizing that we are imperfect, that we cannot stand before our Master, that we are unworthy of His blessing.”—Z. '16-344; Ezek. 1:28.

And He laid His right hand upon me.—“As our Lord touched St. John gently, raising him up, so He has spoken to us comfort, peace and love, assuring us that we have a High Priest that can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, One who is able to sympathize and mercifully to assist.”—Z. '16-345.

Saying [unto me, Fear not]; I am the First and the Last.—“We must recognize that our Lord is the One who was the beginning of the creation of God and the end of it, the One by whom are all things, next to the Father in everything pertaining to the affairs of the Universe.—Col. 1:15; Rev. 3:14; John 1:1-3; 1 Cor. 8:6.”—Z. '16-345; Rev. 1:11; 2:8.

1:18. I am He that liveth, and was dead.—“The Lord now liveth, and in order to appreciate this we understand that He was dead for parts of three days—not merely apparently dead, but actually dead—His soul poured out unto death, made an offering for sin.—Isa. 53:10-12.” (Z. '01-189.) “It was because Christ's soul (being) was dead that the Apostles could declare that unless His soul, being, were made alive again by a resurrection there could be no hope in Him as a Savior and a Life-giver.”—Z. '01-122.

And behold, I am alive for evermore, [Amen].—“Death has no more dominion over Him. (Rom. 6:9.) Neither sacrifices of the Mass nor death in any sense or form ever will be needed. His work is perfect. ‘It is finished!’”—Z. '16-345; John 19:30.

And have the keys of [hell] DEATH.—“He has the key, the power over death, in order that those who have not yet gone into the tomb, but who are under the death sentence, may all be ultimately delivered into the full liberty of the sons of God—righteousness and life everlasting.—Rom. 8:21.”—Z. '16-345.

And of [death] HELL.—“These words imply that the Lord's people go to Hades, and that the hope when going down to Hades, to oblivion, is that in due time our great Redeemer shall unlock this figurative prisonhouse of death and bring forth the captives. This is the significance of the statement that He has the keys—He can open; all power is given into His hand. In preaching at His First Advent, He declared this to be the Gospel. (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18.) How full of meaning are these Scriptures when viewed from the proper standpoint; how confusing and absurd when viewed from any other!”—E. 397, 378.

1:19. Write THEREFORE the things which thou hast seen.—John was personally familiar with the first epoch, then already in the past. What he wrote of that epoch (Rev. 2:1-7) serves as a guide to what follows.

And the things which are.—John was writing in the second epoch, already in its persecution era.—Rev. 2:8-11.

And the things which [shall be] MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS hereafter.—The five remaining epochs of the Church, and the Kingdom to follow.

1:20. The mystery of the seven stars.—Every true reformer must go contrary to the current of his times; and, in proportion as he has the Master's spirit, he cannot fail to be, like Him, a man of mystery to his own generation—“a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offense”—to those who have not “ears to hear.”

Which thou sawest in My right hand.—Small wonder that these great reformers seemed almost to have charmed lives!

And the seven golden candlesticks.—“The Candlestick, or Lampstand, represents the nominal, rather than the true Church. This is shown by the fact that in addressing each of these churches the Lord finds fault with the many and approves the faithful few.”—Z. '16-344.

The seven stars.—“The star-light is the Heavenly light, the spiritual enlightenment or instruction. The lamp-light is the earthly light, representing good works, obedience, etc., of those who are exhorted to let their light so shine that it will glorify their Father in Heaven.”—Z. '16-345.

Are the angels of the seven churches.—“The title is borrowed from the Jewish Synagogue, in which the angel, or messenger of the assembly, was the person who presided over and arranged the meetings for worship.” (Cook.)—Mal. 2:7; Hag. 1:13.

And the seven candlesticks [which thou sawest] are the seven churches.—“Alas! The Master evidently found but few good works, little glorifying light shining out from His earthly representatives in many of the seven epochs of the history of the Church.”—Z. '16-344; Rev. 1:12; Zech. 4:2.

Revelation 2—St. Paul, St. John, Arius And Waldo

2:1. [Unto] BY the angel.—The special messenger in the Harvest of the Jewish Age was St. Paul. A Hebrew of the Hebrews (Phil. 3:5), he was a free-born Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-29), highly educated (Acts 22:3), spoke Greek (Acts 21:37) and Hebrew (Acts 22:2), and was presumably a member of the Sanhedrin at the time of St. Stephen's death. (Acts 7:58; 8:1; 26:10.) Chosen before his birth (Gal. 1:15), he was supernaturally inducted into the Body of Christ (Acts 9:1-22) to take the place of Judas (Psa. 109:8; Acts 1:20), was privately instructed in the fullness of the Gospel (Gal. 1:11, 12, 17), was specially commissioned to explain this Gospel to the brethren at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1, 2), did not hesitate to correct the erring Peter (Gal. 2:11), was acknowledged by St. Peter as filled with Heavenly wisdom (2 Pet. 3:15, 16), wrote over half of the books of the New Testament, carried the Gospel into Europe (Acts 16:9), supported himself with his own hands while he preached (Acts 20:32-35), and suffered almost unbelievable hardships of every description—besides having “the care of all the churches.” (2 Cor. 11:24-28.) What a service and honor, here and hereafter, Judas missed by his love of money! St. Paul was beheaded by Nero, A. D. 66.

Of the church [of] IN Ephesus.—The first age of the Church began at Pentecost in the spring of A. D. 33, and ended in the spring of A. D. 73. “It may be proper to mention also what things occurred that show the benignity of that all-gracious Providence, that had deferred their destruction for forty years after their crimes against Christ.” (Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History.) “On the 15th of Nisan, i. e., of April, in the year 73 A. D., the first day of the Easter festival, the same day on which, according to tradition, the God of Israel had led His people out of Egyptian bondage into freedom, the last bulwark of Israel's liberty had fallen, and Israel was delivered into bondage.” (Cornil's History of the People of Israel.) “Masada attained great importance in the war with the Romans.... With the fall of Masada the war came to an end, on the 15th of Nisan, 73.” (The Jewish Encyclopedia.) “The capture of Masada, a Jewish fortress on the southwestern shores of the Dead Sea, put a termination to one of the fiercest struggles recorded in history (73 A. D.)”—Morrison's Jews Under Roman Rule.

“Judea was not entirely subjugated; for three strong fortresses were still in arms: Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada.... The heroes agreed to this proposal (of their leader Eleasar) even with enthusiasm, and on the first day of the great Feast of the Passover (A. D. 73), after slaying their own wives and children, they all perished on their own swords.” (Graetz's History of the Jews, Vol. 2.) “Eleasar accordingly persuaded all his people during that night to kill their wives and children and then themselves, but to burn all their treasures first. The next day the Romans found only 960 dead bodies, whilst but two women and five children hid themselves in caverns and were discovered. The Easter of the year 73, just seven years from the beginning of the great movement and 40 years after Christ's crucifixion, saw this end of the whole tragedy.” (Ewald's History of Israel, Vol. 7, which is entitled “The Apostolic Age,” and which Prof. Ewald makes to end with the year A. D. 73.) Josephus also relates that Masada fell on the 15th of Nisan, April, A. D. 73; but the quotation is too lengthy to be inserted here.

The meaning of the word Ephesus is “permission,” which, understood as “approval,” harmonizes well with the tradition that the meaning is “desirable.” Anything that has approval is desirable.

Write.—St. Paul wrote a third of the New Testament.

These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand.—“In the first chapter we have a description of ‘One like unto a son of man.’ Some one or more of the features of this description are mentioned in connection with each of the successive stages of the Church.”—Z. '16-346; Rev. 1:16, 20.

Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.—“We could not doubt the love and care of our glorified Head even if He had given us no explicit declaration on the subject.” (F. 401; Rev. 1:13; Lev. 24:2-4.)

2:2. I know thy works.—The early Christians “took joyfully the spoiling of their goods” (Heb. 10:34); in “great trial of affliction” they abounded in joy, and in “deep poverty” were liberal “beyond their power.” (2 Cor. 8:2, 3.) They were living epistles, “known and read of all men.”—2 Cor. 8:2, 3.

And thy labor.—Considered as betrayers of the Jewish faith; living in the midst of heathen idolatry, without railways, steamships, automobiles, bicycles, telegraphs, telephones, printing, postal service, electricity, gas, or kerosene—in the midst of densest ignorance and basest morals—the early Christians traversed the seas and lands of the known world, braving floggings, stonings, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness and martyrdom, that they might tell the good news of the coming Kingdom.—2 Cor. 11:24-27.

And thy patience.—Hupomonee. “An endurance of wrong or affliction with contentment, without rebellion of will, with full acquiescence in the Divine Wisdom and Love.”—Z. '01-115.

And how thou canst not bear them which are evil.—“How much earnestness it produced in you! what an apology! what indignation! what earnest desire! what zeal! what a punishment! In everything you proved yourselves to be pure in this matter.” (2 Cor. 7:11, Diaglott.) “Sufficient for such a person is this punishment, which was inflicted by the majority; so that, on the other hand, you ought to forgive and comfort him, lest such an one should be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I entreat you publicly to confirm your love towards him.”—2 Cor. 2:6-8, Diaglott.

And thou hast tried.—Made experiment of, Greek implies.

Them which [say they are] CALL THEMSELVES apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.—“Giving out that himself was some great one,” like the clergy of other times, Simon Magus sought “also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit,” but learned that he had “neither part nor lot in this matter” because his heart was “not right in the sight of God.” (Acts 8:9-24.) Also, there were “certain men which came down from Judea” (Acts 15:1, 2), the “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” in Corinth (2 Cor. 11:12-15); “Hymenaeus and Alexander” (1 Tim. 1:20); “Philetus” (2 Tim. 2:17); those who would “pervert the Gospel of Christ” in Galatia (Gal. 1:7); “Phygellus and Hermogenes.”—2 Tim. 1:15; Acts 20:28-30; Rev. 2:6.

2:3. And [hast borne and] hast patience.—Hupomonee, constant, cheerful endurance.

And ALL AFFLICTIONS AND HAST BORNE for My name's sake [hast labored].—“And hast suffered on account of My name.” (Diaglott.) “As concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” (Acts 28:22.) The natural course is, hatred, slander, then murder. (Matt. 5:21, 22.) It is said that Peter was crucified with head downward (A. D. 70); Andrew was crucified on a cross decussate (X); James was murdered by Herod (A. D. 44), (Acts 12:2); Bartholomew was first flayed alive and then crucified with his head downward; Matthew died a martyr (supposedly); Thomas was impaled on a spear; James the son of Alphaeus was thrown down from the Temple and was then stoned, and his brains dashed out with a club; Simon Zelotes was crucified; Paul beheaded.

And hast not fainted.—“Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Gal. 6:9.) “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”—Heb. 12:3.

2:4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee.—The Lord's nominal people of the Apostolic Age.

Because thou hast left thy first love.—“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.”—Gal. 1:6.

2:5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.—“Call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.”—Heb. 10:32, 33.

And repent, and do the first works.—“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.”—Heb. 10:35.

Or else I will come unto thee [quickly], and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.—The nominal church was in grave danger of being disowned and rejected. “By far the larger proportion were not consecrated to death, not of the Royal Priesthood, but merely Levites, doing the service of the Sanctuary, but not sacrificing.”—T. 118.

2:6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes.—“Conquerors of the people”—the clergy.—Rev. 2:15.

Which I also hate.—When the Lord's people hate the idea of a class that seeks to be “lords over God's heritage” (1 Pet. 5:2, 3), they hate something that the Lord hates.

2:7. He that hath an ear.—To receive and understand the voice of God through His Word.—Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; Rev. 13:9.

Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—“If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept [observed, ‘heard’] My saying, they will keep yours also.”—John 15:20.

To him that overcometh.—See 1 John 2:13, 14.

Will I give to eat of the tree of life.—“All the trees in Eden were trees of life, and the overcomers of the Gospel Age shall have full liberty to partake of ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ when the knowledge will be of benefit to them, and not bring a curse.”—Z. '16-346.

Which is in the [midst of the] Paradise of God.—“Paradise, the garden of God, was applicable as a name to the Garden of Eden, in which our first parents resided while they were still in harmony with God, before their disobedience; and the same term is Scripturally applied as a name to the new earth when restitution blessings shall, during our Lord's Second Presence (the Millennium), have brought it to perfection as the fit abode of those who, under Divine favor, shall then prove worthy of life everlasting. It is this same Paradise of the future on this earth that our Lord referred to when addressing the penitent thief, and that is elsewhere referred to as ‘the third heaven’—‘new heavens and a new earth.’ (2 Cor. 12:2, 4; 2 Pet. 3:13.)”—Z. '01-198.

2:8. And [unto] BY the angel.—The mouthpiece of the Lord to the second epoch of the Church was St. John himself. He was the one whom Jesus specially loved (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7, 20); to him Jesus committed His choicest earthly possession (John 19:26); length of days were implied in the Lord's statement, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” (John 21:22.) He died at Ephesus at the age of 100, four years after writing the Apocalypse. Polycarp, Ignatius and Papias, his disciples, record that he was a tower of strength to the Church when the Roman Emperors Nero, Domitian and Trajan were endeavoring to destroy the hated sect. When all his capacity to work was gone, and he had no strength even to stand, he used to be carried into the Christian assemblies where he would repeat the exhortation, “Little children, love one another.” “The end of the commandment is love” (1 Tim. 1:5); and it is significant that the epoch of the Church especially under St. John's faithful and loving care receive no reproof whatever from the Lord.

Of the church in Smyrna.—Greek, myrrh. The word means “bitter,” and, as applied to the history of the church from A. D. 73 to 325, is peculiarly appropriate. This era comprised persecutions under Nero, when Christian women were soaked with tar and burned as torches to light the path of his chariot; under Domitian, in the year 95, when 40,000 suffered martyrdom; under Trajan in the year 100; under Antoninus; under Severus in the year 127, when beautiful and amiable young women were stripped naked before insulting mobs and gored to death by wild cattle; under Maximinus in A. D. 235; under Decius in 250, when all Christians were driven from their estates; under Valerian in 257; under Aurelian in 274; and under Diocletian in A. D. 303.

Write.—St. John wrote more of the New Testament than any other except St. Paul.

These things saith the First and the Last.—“In no other sense or way could He be the First and the Last than as the only direct creation of the Father, through whom all else was created. Any other view would be in conflict with the Scriptures. (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15; 1 Cor. 8:6; John 1:1-3, Diaglott.)”—Z. '16-346; Rev. 1:11, 17.

Which was dead, and is alive.—This, in itself, must have been a message of comfort and hope to the suffering martyrs.—Rev. 1:18.

2:9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty.—“Some of the most sublime pictures of Christian endurance that the world has ever seen were enacted during the Smyrna period of the Church.”—Z. '16-346.

But thou art rich.—“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich.”—Prov. 10:22; Luke 12:21; 1 Tim. 6:18; James 2:5.

And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not.—“‘They are not all Israel which are of Israel.’ (Rom. 9:6, 7.) ‘He is not a Jew which is a Jew outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart.’”—Z. '99-68.

But are the synagogue of Satan.—“Sold under sin, by our first parent, Adam, his family became ‘slaves of sin’ through the weakness of heredity. (Rom. 5:12, 21; 6:16-23; 7:14; 8:20, 21.) In this captive condition they have been blinded by the god (ruler) of the present evil world (condition) who puts evil before their minds as good, and darkness for light. (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:12; Isa. 5:20.) He has general control; first of the masses through ignorance; and secondly, of the more intelligent through pride, selfishness, etc.”—E. 205, 189.

2:10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.—Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts and torn in pieces by devouring dogs; some were tortured in red-hot iron chairs; the throats of Christian infants were cut; and edicts were published in all places against the Christians, who were exposed, without protection, to the common rage.—Matt. 10:22.

Behold, the Devil.—“It is because there are such beasts as lions, bears and leopards, with known characteristics, that governments were likened to them; and so, it is because there is a Devil, with known characteristics, that the fourth empire is likened to him.” (A. 259.) The Devil used the Roman empire as an instrument.

Shall cast some of you into prison.—Restrain your liberties and opportunities for service.

That ye may be tried.—“Those who have read the history of this period can understand the depths of these words.”—Z. '16-346; Jas. 1:2, 3; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7.

And ye shall have tribulation ten days.—“The ten symbolic days refer to the last and most severe persecution under the Roman Emperors—that of the reign of Diocletian, A. D. 303-313.” (Z. '16-346.) “This persecution continued from February 23, A. D. 303, to June 13, A. D. 313. It began in Nicomedia, and became universal. Some were impaled alive; some had their limbs broken, and were left to expire. Some were roasted by slow fires; some suspended by their feet with their heads downward, and, a fire being placed under them, were suffocated by the smoke. Some had melted lead poured down their throats; the flesh of some was torn off with fingers and toes. Houses filled with Christians were set on fire. Numbers of Christians were tied together and thrown into the sea. Seventeen thousand were slain in one month; and during the continuance of this persecution in Egypt alone 144,000 Christians died by violence, besides 700,000 that died through the fatigues of banishment or the public works to which they were condemned. Coins were struck, and inscriptions set up recording the fact that Christian superstition was now utterly exterminated.”—McC.

Be thou faithful unto death.—“It is required of all consecrators that they shall ‘die daily,’ and that the end, with us as with our Lord and Head, shall be literal death. As it is written: ‘I have said, Ye are gods [elohim—mighty ones], all of you sons of the Highest; yet ye shall die like men, ye shall fall like one of the princes’—not like Prince Adam, convicts; but like Prince Jesus, participators in His death. (Psa. 82:6, 7.)”—F. 444.

And I will give thee a Crown of Life.—“The Apostle James speaks of the same crown and calls it the Crown of Life. (Jas. 1:12.) The Apostle Peter speaking of the same calls it the Crown of Glory. (1 Pet. 5:4.) The thought at the bottom of each of these expressions is the same; namely, the custom in olden times of running races and the giving of a crown to the successful runner at the end of the course. Our reward will be the Crown of Life in the sense that we shall get life on the highest plane, inherent life, immortality. It will be a Crown of Righteousness in the sense that only those who are approved of God as righteous will thus be rewarded and glorified—the righteousness of the Lord fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.”—Z. '03-190; Rev. 3:11; 2 Tim. 2:15; Isa. 62:3; Phil. 3:14.

2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; he that overcometh.—The overcomer of this Gospel Age only.

Shall not be hurt of the Second Death.—His victory is eternal.

2:12. And [to] BY the angel.—The messenger whose testimony was of special value to the Church while the Papacy was rising into power was Arius. He “maintained that the Son of God was totally and essentially distinct from the Father; that He was the first and noblest of those beings whom God had created—the instrument by whose subordinate operation He formed the Universe; and therefore inferior to the Father both in nature and dignity.” (Buck.) “The controversy spread like a flame throughout the empire. Accordingly the first ecumenical council was held at Nice, A. D. 325, consisting of 318 bishops, most of whom were from the East. The gist of the question to be settled by the Council of Nice lay in the argument of Arius: ‘The Father is a father; the Son is a son; therefore the Father must have existed before the Son; therefore once the Son was not; therefore He was made, like all creatures, of a substance that had not previously existed.’ The creed, as finally adopted, condemned the heresy of Arius and fixed the doctrine as it has been held in the church to this day. Of all the bishops only Thomas of Marmarica, and Secundus of Ptolemais, held out against the threat of banishment by the Emperor. Arius was excommunicated and banished, and his books burnt.”—McC.

“From the time the Nicene Creed was promulgated and accepted, A. D. 325, there was practically no more Bible study for over twelve centuries. During all that time Bible study was considered unnecessary, because the Apostolic Bishops had formulated the creeds as proper statements of the Church's faith. To study the Bible would have meant the studying of how to fight against the Emperor and the bishops.” (Z. '15-253.) “As a result of the failure of these bishops to stand by the Word of the Lord, God's people for centuries have been confessing a Divine trinity, which is incomprehensible; and meantime been neglecting the trinity taught by the Bible, which is more reasonable. If the trinity of the creeds was questioned, hands were lifted in horror, and the questioner was told that the subject was a mystery, which he could not possibly understand, but to doubt which would mean his damnation! The mysterious proposition was sometimes stated to be 3 × 1 is 1; but others stated it differently, 1 × 3 is 1. No wonder if some of the more intelligent specimens of our race declared themselves incapable of understanding such mathematics, and too honest to confess and profess what they could not believe!” (B. S. M.) The witness of Arius created a profound impression. “The doctrine was carried, in the fifth century, into Africa, under the Vandals; and into Asia, under the Goths. But it sunk almost at once, when the Vandals were driven out of Africa, and the Goths out of Italy, by the arms of Justinian. However, it revived again in Italy, under the protection of the Lombards, in the seventh century, and was not extinguished till about the end of the eighth. Arianism was revived in the West by Servetus, in 1531, for which he suffered death.”—Buck.

Of the church in Pergamos.—From Purgos, a tower or citadel. “The name was originally given to a remarkable hill, presenting a conical appearance when viewed from the plain, and strongly fortified by nature and art.” (S. B. D.) Concerning the literal city of Pergamos, of which the rising Papacy was the antitype, we read, “The sumptuousness of the princes raised Pergamos to the rank of the first city of Asia as regards splendor. It was a sort of union of a pagan cathedral city, a university town, and a royal residence, embellished during a succession of years by kings who all had a passion for expenditure and ample means of gratifying it.”—McC.

From the witness by Arius in 325 to the witness by the next special messenger of the Church was the long period of 835 years; and during all that time the Papacy was slowly rising, pushing itself higher and higher. “The first ecumenical council of Nice (325), in its sixth canon, makes only an incidental mention of the Roman bishop. The first pope, in the real sense, was Leo I (440-461). The bishops of the African and the Spanish churches submitted to his demands, and he gained an important foothold even in the East. In Gaul, however, he met with a most determined resistance. Gregory I (590-604) saw that the bishops of Rome could not enjoy the ecclesiastical supremacy at which they aimed until they threw off their political dependency. The triumph of the Catholic Church over Arianism in Spain greatly promoted his plans; but he did not as yet actually possess the power of the mediaeval popes. In the seventh and eighth centuries a series of important events gave the popes a high and influential position among the secular governments of the world. The actual power was, however, for several centuries, not commensurate with their claims and aspirations. In 1073, Hildebrand (Gregory VII), after being for about twenty-five years the guide of the Papal policy, boldly set forth the theory of a theocratic rule of the pope over all the nations of the world. The period from Gregory VII onward is an almost continuous conflict between the popes and the secular governments, during which the former, with an iron firmness, endeavored at first to destroy the direct influence of the princes upon the church, and secondly, to subject all secular governments to the church. This conflict was ended by the Concordat of Worms (1122), by which Emperor Henry V, after the precedence of the governments of England and France, surrendered ‘to God, to St. Peter and Paul, and to the Catholic Church, all right of investiture.’” (McC.) The Pergamos (“earthly elevation”) era ended in A. D. 1160, as will be shown.

Write.—Arius' writings were destroyed by Constantine.

These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges.—How the sharp sword, God's Word, wielded by Arius before the Emperor and his brother elders at the Nicean Council, must have cut some of them to the heart when they saw the gentle and aged man (Arius was old at the time the controversy arose) banished into the Balkan mountains, one of the most inhospitable places in the world!—Isa. 11:4, 49:2; Hos. 6:5; Eph. 6:17; 2 Thes. 2:8.

2:13. I know [thy works, and] where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is.—“During this period, the true Christians were tested and proved by the introduction and development of Pagan and Papal ideas. The Pagan priests, unwilling to lose their positions of honor and influence amongst the people, while nominally professing Christianity, brought their former ideas with them into the Christian Church.” (Z. '16-346.) The word seat is rendered throne in Lu. 1:32, and refers to Satan's “hellish parody of the Heavenly Kingdom.”—Cook.

And thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, [even] in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr.—Throughout all the western part of Europe the Bishop of Rome finally came to be called the papa, or pope, or Father of the church. “Whoever denounced this attempt to disobey the direct command of Jesus (Matt. 23:9), received the promised persecution. (2 Tim. 3:12.) This class in Pergamos is commended by our Lord under the symbol of ‘Anti-pas, My faithful martyr.’ In Greek, anti- means against, and papas signifies father.”—Z. '16-347.

Who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.—We can give but a partial list of the popes who served from the condemnation of Arius to the end of the Pergamos epoch; but it will be instructive to those who trust in human ordination and are in sympathy with the efforts of present-day clergy to get some of the special spirit that is supposed to be imparted by the laying on of hands of these “successors of St. Peter,” or those to whom they imparted their “authority.” “Saint” Gregory I, pope 590-604 A. D., was the great-great-grandchild of Pope Felix II. When Phocas murdered Emperor Maurice and ascended the throne, Gregory wrote, “The Almighty has chosen you and put you on the throne. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth leap for joy.” Phocas was not ungrateful and in return established the supremacy of the see of Rome over all the other sees. Gregory was the discoverer of Purgatory, it having been revealed to him by means of “apparitions” and visions. See middle of page 127.

Honorius I, 625-638, has been condemned as having taught a heresy ex cathedra (officially). The interest in this lies in the fact that in 1870 the Vatican Council declared the infallibility of all the popes in their ex cathedra utterances. But the pope who declared Honorius a heretic did it ex cathedra also. Hundreds of “learned” volumes have been written in the effort to make this pretty snarl clear to the Roman clergy. It is clear enough to others. “Saint” Agathon, 678-682, claimed to be a miracle worker. He was the infallible pope who denounced the doctrines taught by infallible Honorius I. “Saint” Nicholas I, 858-867, “tamed kings and tyrants, and ruled the world like a sovereign; to the wicked and unconverted he was a terror.” So says a Catholic historian. John VIII, 872-882, must have seriously offended one of the “brethren” at the Vatican; for that dignitary first tried to poison him, and as the poison did not work quickly enough, he finished the job by breaking John's head with a hammer. Stephen VII, 897-898, was offended because his predecessor had at one time gotten the papal throne away from him. Accordingly, his first act was to cause the body of Pope Formosus to be exhumed, mutilated and thrown into the Tiber. Subsequently one of the “brethren” strangled him.

Christopher, 900-903, boldly deposed his predecessor, Leo V, declaring him unfit to reign, which was doubtless true. Leo died “of grief” in prison less than forty days after he had ascended the throne. He probably had something given him to help his grief along. Christopher himself was murdered by his successor. Sergius III, 904-911, having murdered Christopher, ascended the throne and emulated the kings of earlier days. His concubine Marosia bore him several children. John X, 915-928, and Leo VI, 928-929, were both killed by Marosia, to make room for others in whom she was interested. John XI, 931-936, was the son of Marosia by Pope Sergius III. One of the “brethren” poisoned him. John XII, 956-964, was murdered while in the act of committing adultery. He was of licentious habits, associating with women of every station, and filling the Lateran with the noisy profanity of a brothel. Among his mistresses was Joan, popularly known in history as Pope Joan. She was a brilliant woman and actually exercised the chief influence at Rome during John's pontificate. Benedict VI, 972-973, was strangled or poisoned by one of the “saints.” Boniface VII, 984-985, was elected just after the tumult caused by the death of Benedict VI, but had to leave town to escape a similar fate, on account of licentiousness and cruelty. He remained away eleven years, returned, put Pope John XIV in prison, starved him to death and ascended the throne in his place.

Gregory V, 996-999, was poisoned by one of the “regularly ordained” clergy. Benedict IX, 1033-1045, the boy pope whose parents bought the popedom for him when he was twelve years old, was the worst monster that ever held the papal throne. Some, however, claim that honor for Alexander VI, 1492-1503, who had seven acknowledged bastards and many mistresses. Alexander tried to poison nine cardinals at one sitting so that he could sell their offices for the benefit of his brood; but a stupid servant gave him the wrong glass and he departed this life ahead of time. Benedict's vile conduct caused the Romans to expel him from the city. Silvester III was regularly elected to take his place; but after three months Benedict came back and resumed control. Shortly afterward he sold the popedom to Gregory VI, so that he might be free to marry an Italian princess. At one time there were three popes living in Rome contemporaneously, and the city was filled with brawls and murders. A fourth, Clement II, was elected, but after he had served nine months, a friend of Gregory put something into his food besides the regular seasoning; and he never awoke again. Thereupon Benedict came back and reigned three years longer.

2:14. But I have a few things [against thee].—Against the nominal church of the Pergamos epoch.

Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam.—Balaam was a mouthpiece of the Lord, but unworthy. He desired to curse God's true people, because of the money there was in it, and finally seduced them by fornication (symbolical of union of church and state). The name Balaam means the same as “Nicolaitanes” (conquerors of the people), and refers to the money-loving, power-loving clergy. We have already noted the efforts to obtain worldly power (spiritual fornication) which characterized the Pergamos epoch. Its history also shows that the clergy of that time were quite as fond of money as ever Balaam was. John XX, 1024-1033, tried to sell the Roman primacy over the Eastern church for a pecuniary consideration, but failed to make the sale. “Benedict IX, when a boy of twelve years (A. D. 1033), was elected pope ‘intercedente thesaurorum pecuniae’”; i. e., his relatives provided the collateral necessary to secure the office for him. Gregory VI, who had had great repute for sanctity as a priest, obtained the papal chair (A. D. 1044) by purchase from Benedict IX, “who abdicated to marry a girl of noble family.” “At a council at Lyons, the archbishop and forty-five bishops confessed themselves simoniacal” (guilty of buying and selling church offices). In the reign of Lucien II, 1144-1145, the people, hoping for some relief from an intolerable condition, paraded the streets of Rome with a banner, “Caesar should have the things that are Caesar's and the priest the things that are the priest's.” Lucien thought this was a reflection upon himself, and went out in person to put down the “revolution.” The people stoned him to death.

Who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel.—“Guided by Balaam, King Balac communicated with the leading people of the Midianites, and urged that their wives and daughters should apparently fall in love with the Israelites, and introduce them to the sensuous religious rites practised by Midian. The scheme was successful. Some of the leading wives and daughters of the Midianites attracted some of the leading men of Israel to adultery, and to idol worship and orgies.” (Z. '13-297; Num. 24:14; 25:1; 31:16; 2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11; 1 Cor. 10:8.) The words “cast a stumbling-block” are properly rendered, in Rotherham's translation, “throw a snare.”

To eat.—Appropriate to themselves as truths.

Things sacrificed unto idols.—Doctrines twisted, distorted and mutilated to make them agree with creed-idols.

And to commit fornication.—“Papacy perceived its own great power over the peoples of Europe, all of whom at that time ignorantly and blindly acknowledged the Roman Catholic faith. While the kings of Europe were comparatively weak, the suggestion came, ‘Now it must be God's time for setting up the Messianic Kingdom, because now we have the power.’ The answer of others was, ‘Not so. The Bible teaches that Jesus will set up His own Kingdom at His Second Advent in power and great glory, and that the virgin Church will become His Bride and Joint-heir by the power of the First Resurrection.’ The answer to this was, ‘So once we thought. But we have waited for the coming of Messiah for over 800 years; and now we have the thought that He probably wishes us to set up His Kingdom for Him, and in His name to reign over the kings of the earth.’” (Z. '16-53.) “So these Pagan priests taught the Church to indulge in spiritual fornication, and thus brought upon her the withering blight of God's wrath.”—Z. '16-346.

2:15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, [which thing I hate] IN LIKE MANNER.—“The ‘doctrine of the Nicolaitanes’ (conquerors of the people) seems to be the theory of lordship or headship in the Church. (1 Pet. 5:3.) At their councils there was a bitter fight for supremacy. It was settled only by a division of the Church; the Eastern, or Greek Church, accepting the Patriarch of Constantinople for its head; and the Western, or Papal Church, acknowledging the Bishop—Pope or Father—of Rome.” (Z. '16-346.) “The sins to which Balaam allured Israel were a type of the sins to which the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes now seduce thee.”—Cook.

2:16. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly.—Ere you reach the earthly heights to which you aspire.

And will fight against them.—The unfaithful and unrepentant church nominal.

With the sword of My mouth.—With the Scriptures, in the hands of a faithful servant. Such a servant came at that very time, as we shall see.—2 Thes. 2:8; Heb. 4:12.

2:17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—Not many have had the “hearing ear.” “There's just one here, one there.”

To him that overcometh will I give [to eat] of the hidden manna.—“Manna was the bread which came down from heaven as a life-sustainer for Israel. It represented the living bread, Christ Himself. One peculiarity of the golden pot of manna ‘hidden’ in the Tabernacle, marking it as the same and yet different from that supplied to the Israelites in general, was that it was incorruptible; hence it well illustrates the immortal, incorruptible condition promised to the Church.”—T. 122; Ex. 16:33, 34; Heb. 9:4; John 6:49, 50.

And [will give him] a white stone.—“In ancient times the Greeks and the Romans had a custom of noting and perpetuating friendship by means of a white stone. This stone was divided into halves, and each person inscribed his name on the flat surface, after which the parts of the stone were exchanged. The production of either half was sufficient to insure friendly aid. Thus the divided stone became a mark of identification. There is an individual and personal relationship between the Lord and the overcomers, who may be said to receive the mark of identification—the antitypical white stone—now, in this life. This mark is the sealing of the Holy Spirit.”—Z. '12-315.

And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.—The new name signifies a new relationship to Jehovah.—Gen. 17:5, 15; 32:28.

2:18. And [unto] BY the angel.—The messenger to the fourth epoch of the Church was Peter Waldo. “Peter, an opulent merchant of Lyons, surnamed Valdensis, or Valdisius, from Vaux, or Waldum, a town in the marquisate of Lyons, being extremely zealous for the advancement of true piety and Christian knowledge, employed a certain priest, called Stephanus de Evisa, about the year 1160, in translating, from Latin into French, the four Gospels, with other books of Holy Scripture. But no sooner had he perused these sacred books with a proper degree of attention, than he perceived that the religion which was now taught in the Roman church differed totally from that which was originally inculcated by Christ and His Apostles. Struck with this glaring contradiction between the doctrines of the pontiffs and the truths of the Gospel, and animated with zeal, he abandoned his mercantile vocation, distributed his riches among the poor (whence the Waldenses were called poor men of Lyons), and forming an association with other pious men who had adopted his sentiments and his turn of devotion, he began to assume the quality of a public teacher, and to instruct the multitude in the doctrines and precepts of Christianity.”

“Soon after Peter had assumed the exercise of his ministry, the archbishop of Lyons, and the other rulers of the church in that province, vigorously opposed him. However, their opposition was unsuccessful; for the purity and simplicity of that religion which these good men taught, the spotless innocence that shone forth in their lives and actions, and the noble contempt of riches and honors which was conspicuous in the whole of their conduct and conversation, appeared so engaging to all such as had any sense of true piety, that the number of their followers daily increased. They accordingly formed religious assemblies, first in France, and afterwards in Lombardy; from whence they propagated their sect throughout the other provinces of Europe with incredible rapidity, and with such invincible fortitude that neither fire nor sword, nor the most cruel inventions of merciless persecution, could damp their zeal, or entirely ruin their cause. All they aimed at was to reduce the form of ecclesiastical government, and the manners both of the clergy and the people, to that amiable simplicity and primitive sanctity which characterized the Apostolic ages, and which appear so strongly recommended in the precepts and injunctions of the Divine Author of our holy religion.”

“In consequence of this design, they complained that the Roman church had degenerated from its primitive purity and sanctity. They denied the supremacy of the Roman pontiff, and maintained that the rulers and ministers of the Church were obliged, by their vocation, to imitate the poverty of the Apostles and to procure for themselves a subsistence by the work of their hands. They considered every Christian as, in a certain measure, qualified and authorized to instruct, exhort and confirm the brethren in their Christian course. They at the same time affirmed that confession made to priests was by no means necessary, since the humble offender might acknowledge his sins and testify his repentance to any true believer, and might expect from such the counsel and admonition which his case demanded. They maintained that the power of delivering sinners from the guilt and punishment of their offenses belonged to God alone; and that indulgences in consequence were the criminal invention of sordid avarice. They looked upon the prayers and other ceremonies that were instituted in behalf of the dead, as vain, useless, and absurd, and denied the existence of departed souls in an intermediate state of purification. It is also said that several of the Waldenses denied the obligation of infant baptism. They adopted as the model of their moral discipline Christ's sermon on the mount, which they interpreted and explained in the most rigorous and literal manner; and consequently prohibited and condemned in their society all wars, and suits of law, and all attempts toward the acquisition of wealth.”—Buck.

“Waldo's translation of the four gospels into French was the first appearance of the Scriptures in any modern language. The possession of these books soon discovered to Waldo that the Church was never designed to be dependent on a priesthood, even for the administration of the sacraments; and he became so obnoxious to the church that he was anathematized by the pope. No longer safe in Lyons, Waldo and his friends took refuge in the mountains, and there formed those communities from which the simple doctrines of Christianity flowed out all over Europe. Provence, Languedoc, Flanders, Germany, one after another tasted of the refreshing waters. Waldo traveled in Picardy, teaching his reformation doctrines, hundreds of years before Luther was born. He finally settled in Bohemia, where he died in 1179, the same year in which his tenets were denounced by an ecumenical council. The Waldensian Church was a light on the mountains during the Dark Ages.”—McC.

Of the church in Thyatira.—“Thyatira seems to mean ‘the sweet perfume of sacrifice.’ It was the period of Papal persecution.” (Z. '16-347.) From the time of Peter Waldo's witness in 1160 until the next special messenger to the Church appeared, 1378, was a period of 218 years.

Write.—The first translation of the Bible into a modern language—French—was the work of Waldo.

These things saith the Son of God, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire.—“To watch over His faithful ones as they wandered through the dark valleys or hid in the darker caves of earth.” (Z. '16-347; Rev. 1:14.) His eyes search out every secret thought.—Rev. 2:23.

And His feet are like fine brass.—“To walk by their side as they scaled the rugged mountains or wandered footsore and weary, seeking a place to plant the seeds of Truth.” (Z. '16-347; Rev. 1:15.) His feet “trample to fragments everything impure.”—Cook.

2:19. I know thy works.—The Lord remembers that Peter Waldo was the first to translate His Word into a modern language.

And charity, [and service,] and faith, and [thy] patience, and thy works.—The Lord remembers that Peter Waldo literally “sold all that he had and gave to the [Lord's] poor.”

[And] thy last works to be more than the first.—(Diaglott.) “So general and widespread became the so-called heresy that Innocent III determined to crush it out—‘exterminate the whole pestilential race’ was the language of which he made use. The commission he gave to the authorities was to burn the chief of the Vaudois (Waldenses), to scatter the heretics themselves, confiscating their property, and consigning to perdition every soul who dared to oppose the pope. Joined with ‘His Holiness’ in his relentless persecution of the Waldenses was Dominic, the father of the Inquisition. Such has been the history of the Waldenses all through the ages—subject to untold suffering from persecution; then enjoying, in the quiet valleys of Piedmont, comparative tranquility for a time; then assailed by their ever-relentless foe, the Roman Catholic Church, which has spared no pains, by fire and slaughter, and the horrors of the Inquisition, to put an end to the unfortunate victims of their violence.” (McC.) How evident it is that the followers of Peter Waldo have given a larger witness by their sufferings (their “last works”) than they did by the first works (the translation of the Gospel into French)!

2:20. Notwithstanding I have [a few things] MUCH against thee.—The fourth epoch of the church nominal.

[Because] THAT thou sufferest that woman Jezebel.—The Roman Catholic Church, as shown in parallel below:

“Elijah was persecuted for fidelity to truth and righteousness.”	“The Church was persecuted for fidelity to truth and righteousness.”
“His principal persecutor was Jezebel, the wicked queen of Israel, who is mentioned by name as the type of the enemy of the saints.—Rev. 2:20; 2 Kings 9:7.”	“The principal persecutor was the apostate Church of Rome, which claims to be a ‘queen’ and ruler over Spiritual Israel.—Rev. 18:7.”
“Jezebel's persecuting power was exercised through her husband, Ahab, the king.—1 Kings 21:25.”	“Papacy's persecuting power was exercised through the Roman Empire, to which she was joined.”
“Elijah fled from Jezebel and Ahab into the wilderness, to a place prepared of God, where he was miraculously nourished.—1 Kings 17:5-9.”	“The true Church fled into the symbolic wilderness—or condition of isolation—to her place, prepared of God, where she was sustained.—Rev. 12:6, 16.”
“Elijah was ‘three years and six months’ in the wilderness, and during that time there was no rain, and a great famine was in the land.—James 5:17; 1 Kings 17:7; 18:2.”	“The Church was three and a half symbolic years (a day for a year—1260 literal years) in the wilderness condition, during which there was a spiritual famine because of the lack of Truth—the living water.—Rev. 12:6; 11:3; Amos 8:11.”
“After the three and a half years, 1260 days, when Elijah returned from the wilderness, the errors of Jezebel's priests were manifested, the true God was honored, and copious rains followed.—1 Kings 18:41-45.”	“At the end of the 1260 years the power of the Truth and its witnesses was manifested (A. D. 1799); and since then the Truth has flowed at the rate of millions of Bibles every year, refreshing the world and bringing forth fruit.”—B. 256.

Which [calleth herself] SAITH SHE IS a prophetess.—Claims to be an infallible teacher, but really has no right to teach at all—“I suffer not a woman [a church] to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man [Christ].” (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34; F. 270.) “False prophecy, fornication and idolatry are symbolized by the woman Jezebel.” (Cook.) Jezebel was a prophetess of Baal.—1 Ki. 16:31-33; 21:25.

[To teach and to seduce] AND TEACHETH AND SEDUCETH My servants to commit fornication.—Union of church and state.—Rev. 2:14; 2 Ki. 9:22; 1 Cor. 14:34.

And to eat things sacrificed unto idols.—Reverence the creed-idols set up by the various ecumenical councils.—Rev. 2:14.

2:21. And I gave her space.—Chronos, a “time,” 360 years. As noted in comments on 2:20, the prophetic “time, times and a half a time,” or three and a half times, or three and a half years, or forty and two months, or 1260 days, represent 1260 years. A single chronos or “time,” therefore, represents 360 years.

To repent [of her fornication].—Of her unfaithfulness to the Lord. During all this time “the virgin Church was enduring the hardships of the wilderness; while the apostate Church sat on the throne of her royal paramour.”—Z. '16-347.

And she [repented not] WILL NOT REPENT OF THIS FORNICATION.—The Lord foreknew that after 360 years more of living with the kings of earth, and endeavoring to gain dominion over them, the Roman Catholic Church would be unrepentant. The 360 years from Waldo's message in 1160 ended in 1520. Luther's 95 theses were placed on the church doors at Wittenberg October 31, 1517. “These he proposed not as points fully established, but as subjects of inquiry and disputation. The learned were invited to impugn them, either in person or by writing; and to the whole he subjoined solemn protestations of his high respect for the apostolic see, and of his implicit submission to his authority. No opponent appeared at the time prefixed; the theses spread over Germany with astonishing rapidity, and were read with the greatest eagerness.” (Buck.) Luther was summoned in July, 1518, to appear at Rome within sixty days. He wrote a submissive letter to the pope, requesting a trial in Germany. Meantime the German Emperor died; and the pope, absorbed in the choice of a new emperor, paid little heed to the Luther controversy.

“From the reason just now given, a suspension of proceeding against Luther took place for eighteen months, though perpetual negotiations were carried on. The manner in which these were conducted having given our reformer many opportunities of observing the corruption of the court of Rome, its obstinacy in adhering to established errors, and its indifference about truth, he began in 1520 to utter some doubts with regard to the Divine origin of the papal authority, which he publicly disputed with Eccius, one of his most learned and formidable antagonists. The papal authority being once suspected, Luther proceeded to push on his inquiries and attacks from one doctrine to another, till at last he began to shake the foundations on which the wealth and power of the church were established. Leo then began to perceive that there were no hopes of reclaiming such an incorrigible heretic, and therefore prepared to pronounce the sentence of excommunication against him. The college of cardinals was often assembled, in order to prepare the sentence with due deliberation; and the ablest canonists were consulted how it might be expressed with unexceptionable formality. At last it was issued, on the 15th of June, 1520. Forty-one propositions, extracted out of Luther's works, were therein condemned as heretical, scandalous, and offensive to pious ears; all persons were forbidden to read his writings, upon pain of excommunication; such as had any of them in their custody were commanded to commit them to the flames; he himself, if he did not within sixty days publicly recant his errors, and burn his books, was pronounced an obstinate heretic, excommunicated, and delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh; and all secular princes were required, under pain of incurring the same censure, to seize his person, that he might be punished as his crimes deserved.” (Buck.) With the excommunication of Luther, “the fat was in the fire”; and it was useless for the Roman Catholic Church to try to stem the tide of the Reformation. Her period for repentance ended with the “chronos,” 360 years, June 15, 1520.—See 3d paragraph, page 41.

2:22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed.—Not a bed of ease, but a bed of pain. See Diaglott. There where she sinned she shall suffer.

And them that commit adultery with her.—All the powers that receive her legates or that maintain representatives at the Vatican. Knowing her character, they are equally guilty.

Into great tribulation.—They are getting some now, and will get more soon.

Except they repent of [their] HER deeds.—This teaches that the present situation in Europe is the direct result of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

2:23. And I will kill her children.—“Both Romanists and Protestants now freely own the relationship of mother and daughters, the former continually styling herself the Holy Mother Church, and the latter, with pleased complacency, endorsing the idea.”—D. 28; Isa. 57:3, 4. See p. 111.

With death.—“They shall be as though they had not been.”—Obad. 16.

And all the churches shall know.—When their secrets are laid bare by the unfolding of the deep things of God's Word.

That I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts.—In olden times the mind was supposed to be located in the reins (kidneys); and the prophecy assumes the same position. Thus David says, “My reins also instruct me in the night seasons”; “In the night his song shall be with me.” (Psa. 16:7; 42:8.) “My reins within me are consumed with earnest desire for that day.” (Job 19:27, margin.) The metaphor is appropriate to the theme.—Psa. 7:9; Jer. 11:20; 17:10; 20:12.

And I will give unto every one of you according to your works.—The light of Truth blazes most fiercely against the ecclesiastical organizations whose offenses have been greatest. As for the Papacy, “her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”—Rev. 18:5, 6; Matt. 7:16, 20.

2:24. But unto you I say [and unto] the rest in Thyatira.—Waldenses and others outside of the Papal system.

As many as have not this doctrine.—Spiritual fornication, mixture of church and state, the special subject of the message to Thyatira.

[And] which have not known.—Comprehended, realized, entered into.

The depths of Satan.—Rome, pagan and papal.

As they speak.—“So to say,” i. e., “Satan” is a name applicable to Rome, as describing its characteristics.—Rev. 2:10.

I will put upon you none other burden.—The Lord only requires of His people obedience to the light due.—1 John 1:7.

2:25. But that which ye have already.—The truths described in 2:18.

Hold fast till I come.—Some of the light which shone upon the Waldensians has never been entirely extinguished.

2:26. And he that overcometh.—Effectually resists efforts to entice him into disloyalty to the Lord.

And keepeth My works unto the end.—Continues in the faith (John 6:29; 1 John 3:23), despite the unions of church and state. Christ's works are opposite to Jezebel's.—Rev. 2:22.

To him will I give THE power [over] OF the nations.—How like our God! The sacrificed Christ gets the very prize for which Satan aspired.—Isa. 14:13, 14; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Rev. 3:21; 5:10; Psa. 149:5-9.

2:27. And he shall rule them with a rod of Iron.—“God's Kingdom will not be established by a vote of the people, nor by the vote of the aristocracy and rulers. He ‘whose right it is,’ He who bought it with His own precious blood, will ‘take the Kingdom,’ will ‘take unto Himself His great power and reign.’” (D. 518). “The nations will be ruled by irresistible force—‘every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess’—and obedience will be compulsory.” (D. 636.) “In His day the humble and righteous, and they only, shall flourish. (Isa. 28:17; Rom. 14:11; Psa. 92:12, 13.”—C. 369.) “The only liberty that will be granted to any will be the true and glorious liberty of the sons of God—liberty to do good to themselves and others in any and in every way; but nothing will be allowed to injure or destroy in all that Holy Kingdom. (Isa. 11:9; Rom. 8:21.) Because of its firmness and vigor, it is symbolically called an iron rule.”—A. 302; Rev. 19:15.

As the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers.—“The stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which smites and scatters the Gentile powers, represents the true Church, the Kingdom of God. Not the people, but the governments, are symbolized by the image, and these are to be destroyed that the people may be delivered. Our Lord Jesus came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. (John 3:17.) The stone does not become the mountain until it has smitten the image; and so the Church, in the full sense, will become the Kingdom when ‘the day of the Lord,’ the ‘day of wrath upon the nations,’ will be over.” (A. 255.) “This smiting and breaking properly belongs to the Day of Vengeance, and though the power and rod will still remain throughout the Millennial Age, their use will probably be unnecessary.”—D. 637; Psa. 2:9; Dan. 7:22.

Even as I received of My Father.—The Father (Justice) decrees their unworthiness to continue longer. Their iniquity is come to the full. Four hundred years from October 31, 1517, end Oct. 31, 1917.—Rev. 2:21; Gen. 15:13-16.

2:28. And I will give him the Morning Star.—“I am the bright and morning star.”—Rev. 22:16; Matt. 13:43.

2:29. He that hath an ear.—An ear attuned to the Harp Divine.

Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—Not many are able to appreciate the sweet old “song of Moses and the Lamb” when they hear it.—Rev. 15:3.

Revelation 3—Wycliffe, Luther And Russell

3:1. And [unto] BY the angel.—The next important messenger to the Church was John Wycliffe. “It was in 1378 A. D., the year of the ‘Great Schism of the West,’ when two popes were elected, one in Rome and the other in Avignon, that Wycliffe came out as the great Doctrinal Reformer. Workman, in Dawn of the Reformation, writes: ‘Wycliffe's spiritual earnestness was shocked, his theory destroyed by the spectacle of two popes, each claiming to be the sole head of the Church, each labeling the other as Antichrist. To Wycliffe, the year of the Schism, 1378, was the crucial year of his life. He first urged that both popes should be set aside as having little in common with the Church of the Holy God. From this position of neutrality he quickly passed into one of antagonism to the Papacy itself.’ In his Mediaeval Church History, Archbishop Trench says: ‘The year 1378 marked the turning-point in Wycliffe's career. Hitherto he had concerned himself with matters of mixed ecclesiastical and political import, but henceforth he devoted himself exclusively to doctrinal matters and came out as the Reformer. He began in earnest the translation of the Bible into English, and took the next decisive step by an open attack, forced upon him by his studies of the Bible, against Transubstantiation.’ Wycliffe thus attacked the very bulwark of Antichrist's stronghold, for the doctrine of Transubstantiation, or the sacrifice of the Mass, annulled the true sacrifice of Christ. Because of this, the Papal system became in God's sight the ‘desolating abomination.’ (Dan. 11:31.)”—Edgar.

Of the church in Sardis.—“Sardis is said to mean that which remains, as if it signified something out of which life or virtue had gone. The nominal church during this period had a form of godliness without its power. Sardis was the remains of the true Church, which had been driven into the wilderness; but when the persecution began to subside, her zeal also abated.”—Z. '16-347.

Write.—Wycliffe wrote the first translation of the Bible into English.

These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God.—The seven lamps of fire (Rev. 4:5), or seven eyes sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6); i. e., perfect knowledge.—Rev. 1:4.

And the seven stars.—How each of the Lord's messengers was kept! St. Paul had (supposedly) eight years of liberty after his first imprisonment, planted the Gospel in Spain and revisited the scenes of earlier labors; St. John is said to have been thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped unharmed and died of old age; Arius died a natural death; as did Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles T. Russell, although all had reason to expect martyrdom at the hands of ecclesiasticism. The year that Peter Waldo died, his tenets were condemned by an ecumenical council. “Wycliffe preached unmolested; but the Council of Constance (May 5, 1415) condemned his doctrines, and in 1428 his remains were dug up and burned; the ashes were cast into the adjoining Swift, which, as Wordsworth poetically remarked, conveyed them through the Avon and the Severn into the sea, and thus disseminated them over the world. His doctrines, carried into Bohemia, originated the Hussite movement. The New Testament was published about 1378, and the entire Old Testament was completed shortly before his death.”—McC.

I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest.—Many who admired Wycliffe were not real Christians. A man not willing to go to the stake for his religion has none.

And art dead.—Spiritually.—Luke 9:60.

3:2. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that [are] WERE ready to die.—Many among Wycliffe's admirers lost faith and love, and to that degree died, while others had some spiritual life. These the Lord desired to awaken, to strengthen, to encourage.—Eph. 5:14.

For I have not found thy works perfect before MY God.—Revised Version reads, “For I have found no works of thine fulfilled before My God.”

3:3. Remember [therefore] how thou hast received.—Received the entire Word in the English tongue.

And heard.—Wycliffe was the author of more than 200 works, chiefly tracts, on the Ransom.

And hold fast, and reform.—(Diaglott.) Had Wycliffe's labors been properly appreciated, the Reformation would have been set forward 150 years.

If therefore thou shalt not [watch] REPENT.—Change your course of conduct.

I will come on thee as a thief.—“Many today have the Sardis characteristics. To such this is a warning. Seven times our Lord's Second Coming is described as being thief-like, stealthy. Those who are asleep will be awakened only after His work of destruction has progressed. His presence will be recognized by the sleepers only as the noise of spoiling the Strong Man's House gradually increases.” (Z. '16-347; 1 Thes. 5:2; Matt. 24:43; 2 Pet. 3:10.) “The stealthiness of the thief, not the violence of the robber, is implied in the original.”—Cook.

And thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.—“Failing to realize the fact that spiritual bodies cannot be seen by human eyes without a miracle, some cannot understand how He can be present while ‘all things continue as they were since the beginning of creation.’ (2 Pet. 3:3, 4.) Thus they are unable to understand the signs of the times' revealing His return.”—Z. '16-347.

3:4. BUT thou hast a few names [even] in Sardis which have not defiled their garments.—But have given due heed to the Message of the hour, the Ransom.

And they shall walk with Me In white.—Fully covered by the robe of Christ's righteousness.

For they are worthy.—None who trust in sacrifices of the Mass or in other sacrifices than that of Calvary, can ever be worthy in God's sight.—Matt. 10:37.

3:5. He that overcometh, [the same] THUS.—The test, apparently, was on the question of transubstantiation.

Shall be clothed in white raiment.—“The pictures given of the Heavenly Father represent Him as clothed (Psa. 104:2); and the pictures of our Lord represent Him as clothed. The angels who appeared at the time of our Lord's resurrection are represented as clothed in white. Our Lord said: ‘Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.’ (Rev. 16:15.) The glorified Church is represented, not as taking off the robe of righteousness, but continuing to walk in white raiment, not as now, in a robe of reckoned righteousness, but in a robe of actual righteousness.”—Z. '14-11; Rev. 19:8.

And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life.—“In the book are written the names of all those who have made with the Lord ‘a Covenant by Sacrifice.’ The name of each of these is entered in the Lamb's Book of Life, when he starts to live the new life. If they are faithful, their names will not be blotted out; and they will attain all those glorious things which are promised to those who love Him supremely. (Rev. 3:21.)”—Z. '15-119; Rev. 13:8; Psa. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; Phil. 4:3; Lu. 10:20.

But I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.—“In the end, the overcomers will each be so grandly developed that the Lord will not be ashamed to confess any of them and to say, ‘Here is one of My followers. Here is another. They have walked in My footsteps and have overcome.’ But He will be ashamed of any who are ashamed of Him or of His words. (Luke 9:26.)”—Z. '15-119; Luke 12:8, 9.

3:6. He that hath an ear.—A spiritual ear. “My sheep hear My voice.”—John 10:27.

Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—“Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound.”—Psa. 89:15.

3:7. And [to] BY the angel.—The next messenger to the Church was Martin Luther. “There is considerable similarity between the work begun on Pentecost and that of Luther. The Reformation was, in a sense, the beginning of a new era, a dawning of light where all had been darkness, a new start in the way of Truth.”—Z. '16-347.

Of the church in Philadelphia.—“Philadelphia means brotherly love. This stage of the Church's history began at the Reformation; and there are many still living who possess the characteristics described.” (Z. '16-347.) The exact point of time at which the Philadelphia epoch of the Church began was at midday, October 31, 1517. It was at that hour that Luther nailed his ninety-five theses on the church door at Wittenberg. “Nailing up that paper was the beginning of a great division in the Church; of thrones tumbled into the dust and kings with them; of empires rent asunder; of lands desolated by war; of massacres and horrible outrages against the lives and liberties of men; of thirty years continuous war in Germany; of Paris and the vine-clad valleys of Italy drenched in blood; of fires kindled all over England for the burning of men, women and children; of men hurled headlong from precipices, roasted over slow fires, starving in dungeons, subjected to every form of cruelty—but with all this, the advance of justice, truth and liberty, the beginning of a new era in human affairs.” (Coffin.) “The theses ran through all Germany in fourteen days, for all the world was complaining about the indulgences; and Luther became renowned, because at last somebody had come who took hold of the thing.”—McC.

Write.—Luther wrote the first translation of the Bible into German.

These things saith He that is [holy] TRUE.—The direct reference is to Christ (1 John 5:20); but characteristic of Luther was his great love of truth. When the Papal legate came demanding that he recant, he replied, “I stand by the truth. I will not take it back.”

He that it [true] HOLY.—See Mark 1:24. Luther's special message was “Justification by faith”—real holiness. One of the theses on the door was, “Those who truly repent of their sins have a full remission of guilt and penalty.”

He that hath the key of David.—“All power in Heaven and earth.” (Matt. 28:18; Luke 1:32.) Luther's theses were antagonistic to the system actually ruling all over the world. When a representative came warning that his death would surely follow failure to recant, and asking him where he could go when all had orders not to harbor him, he replied, “I will abide under the cope of heaven.”

[He] AND that openeth.—See Luke 24:32.

And no man [shutteth] SHALL SHUT.—“No doubt all the powers of Satan were exerted to close the door then opened; but ‘He that is true’ had said, ‘which no man can shut.’”—Z. '16-347; Isa. 22:22.

And shutteth and no man [openeth] SHALL OPEN.—The door of opportunity for the Roman Catholic Church to repent swung shut the day Luther was excommunicated. (Rev. 2:21.) “Luther was not in the least disconcerted by this sentence, which he had for some time expected. He renewed his appeal to the general council; declared the pope to be that Antichrist or Man of Sin whose appearance is foretold in the New Testament; declaimed against his tyranny with greater vehemence than ever; and at last having assembled the University he cast the canon law, together with the bull of excommunication, into the flames.”—Buck.

3:8. I know thy works.—A striking feature of Luther's character was his promptness to do whatever he saw to be the Lord's will. When the great test came, Luther said to Erasmus: “You desire to walk upon eggs without crushing them.” Erasmus replied: “I will not be unfaithful to the cause of Christ at least so far as the Age will permit me.” “I will go to Worms,” shouted Luther, “though the devils were combined against me as thick as tiles upon the housetops!”

Behold I have set before thee an open door.—See 1 Cor. 16:9; Acts 14:27.

[And] WHICH no man can shut [it].—“While the Roman pontiff thought everything safe and settled, and all pious and good men were nearly in despair of the religious reformation, so earnestly desired, a certain obscure and inconsiderable monk in Saxony, a province of Germany, suddenly opposed himself single-handed with incredible resolution to the power of Rome. This was Martin Luther.”—Mosheim.

For thou hast a little strength.—“Compared with the mighty hosts of their enemies, the little band of Reformers had but ‘a little strength;’ but they knew that they had the Truth, and they fully trusted the Giver.”—Z. '16-347.

And hast kept My Word.—“Whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.”—1 John 2:5.

And hast not denied My name.—“If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”—2 Tim. 2:12.

3:9. Behold I [will make] HAVE MADE them of the synagogue of Satan.—The opponents of the reformers were already of the synagogue of Satan.—Rev. 2:13.

Which say they are Jews.—Claim to be Israelites indeed, saints.—Rev. 2:9.

And are not, but do lie.—Papacy is one of the two systems of rulership (imperial power being the other) congenitally “spotted like a leopard,” as far as the Truth is concerned.—Dan. 11:27; Rev. 13:2.

Behold I will make them to come.—“All nations whom Thou hast made shall come.”—Psa. 86:9.

And worship before thy feet.—“The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.”—Isa. 60:14; 49:23.

And [to] THOU SHALT know that I have loved thee.—See Eph. 2:7.

3:10. Because thou hast kept the word of My patience.—My patience-enjoining word.—Matt. 10:22; Lu. 8:15.

I also will keep thee.—“As to the Philadelphia stage of the Church, and their being saved from the hour of temptation, we think possibly the Lord meant that some of the Church of that epoch would live over into the present period, and that they would not be subjected to the special trials of this hour. For instance, we think of a very fine old gentleman, who was about ninety years of age at the time we are about to mention. He was pastor of a church. He seemed to receive Present Truth with a great deal of joy and spoke it forth with much zeal. But he was surrounded with so much opposition at home, and in the church to which he was attached as a minister, that he could not seem to trust to his mental judgment. This Scripture which we are considering has rather comforted our mind with respect to him and others like him.”—Z. '15-200.

From the hour of temptation.—“‘The hour of temptation’ has been the Harvest time. The majority of professing Christians of the world—probably more than three-fourths—have lost all faith in the Bible, and fallen into Evolution, Higher Criticism, Christian Science, Theosophy, Spiritism, New Thought, etc. They are not able to stand in this ‘evil day.’” (Z'15-199.) Additionally, “so far as we are able to judge, the same conditions prevail today amongst Bible students which the Apostle pointed out to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus. (Acts 20:28-32.)”—Z. '16-328.

Which shall come upon all the world.—“We believe that this temptation to headiness and strife is spreading gradually in every direction; and the Master assured us that unless these days would be cut short by the establishment of His Kingdom in the hands of the Elect, no flesh would survive.”—Z. '16-327; Rev. 7:1-3; 16:14; Matt. 24:21.

To try them that dwell upon the earth.—“We understand that the spirit of selfishness and ambition, which is driving the nations insanely to war for commercial supremacy, will increase more and more, and will involve everybody.”—Z. '16-327; Rev. 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14.

3:11. [Behold,] I come quickly.—To Smyrna (73-325 A. D.) and Pergamos (325-1160 A. D.) nothing was said about Christ's Second Advent; to Thyatira (1160-1378) the Message was, “Hold fast till I come”; to Sardis (1378-1518) it was, “If therefore thou shalt not reform, I will come on thee as a thief”; to Philadelphia (1518-1874) it was, “Behold, I come quickly.” How evident that these messages to the Churches are epochs drawing nearer and nearer to the climax of history, the Fifth Universal Empire, now come at last!

Hold that fast which thou hast.—“The Miller movement was a separation, as between those who kept the Word of God with patience and those who lost their faith in His Word. The Philadelphia Church, which patiently passed through so severe a trial of their faith, would not be subjected to the later test.”—Z. '15-199.

That no man take thy crown.—“Unfaithfulness may lead to the blotting out of some names and the giving of their crowns to others.” (F. 165.) “It is our expectation that this work of going out and coming in will continue until the last member of the New Creation shall have been found worthy, and all the crowns everlastingly apportioned.”—F. 95; 1 Sam. 16:1; Rev. 2:10.

3:12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar [in] TO the Temple of my God.—“During the Philadelphia period the faithful have either been obliged to come out of the nominal temple or have been cast out. The reward promised such is that each will be a pillar in the eternal Temple—a part which cannot be removed while the structure exists.”—Z. '16-347; Gal. 2:9; 1 Kings 7:21, 22; Jer. 1:18; 1 Cor. 3:17; Eph. 2:19-22.

And he shall [go no more] NOT GO out.—“During their trial state their names were cast out as evil; they were not recognized as Christians. All this is to be reversed. ‘The Lord knoweth them that are His.’”—Z. '16-347.

And I will write upon him the name of My God.—“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads [intellects].”—Rev. 14:1; 22:4.

And the name of the city of My God.—“And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.”—Isa. 62:12; Ezek. 48:35; Jer. 23:6; 33:16.

Which is New Jerusalem.—“Glorious City of Peace! whose foundations, laid in justice, can never be moved, and whose builder and designer is God! It is in the light which will shine from this glorious City (Kingdom) of God that the nations (people) will walk on the Highway of Holiness, up to perfection and to full harmony with God.”—Rev. 21:2, 10, 24; A 295.

Which cometh down out of Heaven from My God.—“A city is a symbol of a kingdom or dominion, and so God's Kingdom is symbolized by the New Jerusalem, the new dominion coming from Heaven to earth. At first it will consist of only the Bride of Christ.”—A. 295; Heb. 12:18-22.

And I will write upon him My new name.—“‘Our Righteousness of Jehovah.’ How appropriate is this name to the work and office of our Lord Jesus! Did He not stand as the Representative of God's righteousness and suffer the penalty of Justice as man's Ransom—that God might be just, and yet be the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus? Surely no name could be more appropriate. (Jer. 33:16; 23:6; T. 102.) And that this name will be appropriate to the glorified Church all can readily see: she not only shares her Lord's sufferings for righteousness, ‘filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ’ (Col. 1:24; 1 Pet. 5:9), but is also promised a share in all the glories of her Lord, as a wife shares her husband's honors and name.”—E. 45, 42; Isa. 9:6; Rev. 2:17; 19:12.

3:13. He that hath an ear.—“Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not?”—Mark 8:18.

Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—“Let these sayings sink down into your ears.”—Luke 9:44.

3:14. And [unto] BY the angel.—The special messenger to the last Age of the Church was Charles T. Russell, born February 16, 1852. He has privately admitted his belief that he was chosen for his great work from before his birth. His mother died when he was nine years old; and at the age of eleven Charles formed a business partnership with his father, himself writing the articles of agreement under which they transacted business. When he was but twelve years of age, his father found him in the store one time at 2 a. m., poring over a concordance, unconscious of the lapse of time. We give some extracts from his autobiography:

“We begin the narrative at the year 1868, when the Editor, having been a consecrated child of God for some years, and a member of the Congregational Church and of the Y. M. C. A., began to be shaken in faith regarding many long accepted doctrines. Brought up a Presbyterian, indoctrinated from the catechism, and being naturally of an inquiring mind, I fell a ready prey to the logic of infidelity, as soon as I began to think for myself. But that which at first threatened to be the utter shipwreck of faith in God and the Bible, was, under God's providence, overruled for good, and merely wrecked my confidence in human creeds and systems of Bible interpretations. I was led gradually to see that though each of the creeds contained some elements of Truth, they were, on the whole, misleading and contradictory of God's Word. Among other theories, I stumbled upon Adventism. Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped into a dusty, dingy hall in Allegheny, Pa., where I had heard that religious services were held, to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches. There, for the first time, I heard something of the views of Second Adventism, by Jonas Wendell, long since deceased. Thus I confess indebtedness to Adventists as well as to other Bible students. Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it was sufficient, under God, to reestablish my wavering faith in the Divine inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the Apostles and the Prophets are indissolubly linked.”

“When in 1872 I came to examine the subject of Restitution from the standpoint of the Ransom-price given by our Lord Jesus for Adam, and consequently for all lost in Adam, it settled the matter of Restitution completely, and gave me the fullest assurance that ALL must come forth from their graves and be brought to a clear knowledge of the Truth and to a full opportunity to gain everlasting life through Christ. The years following, to 1876, were years of continued growth in grace and in knowledge on the part of the handful of Bible students with whom I met in Allegheny. We progressed from our first crude and indefinite ideas of Restitution to clearer understanding of the details; but God's due time for clear light had not yet come. During this time, too, we came to recognize the difference between our Lord as ‘the Man who gave Himself,’ and as the One who would come again, a Spirit Being. We saw that spirit beings can be present and yet invisible to men.... It seems that not long after their 1874 disappointment, a reader of The Herald of the Morning, who had a copy of the Emphatic Diaglott, noticed something in it which he thought peculiar—that in Matthew 24:27, 37, 39, the Greek word parousia, which in our Common Version is rendered ‘coming,’ is in the Diaglott translated ‘presence’—evidently the correct translation of the Greek. This was the clue; and following it, they had been led through prophetic time toward proper views regarding the object and manner of our Lord's Return, and then to the examination of the time when the things indicated in God's Word as related to Christ's parousia should take place. Thus God leads His children often from different starting points of Truth. But where the heart is earnest and trustful, the results must be to draw all together.”

“There were no books or other publications setting forth the time prophecies as then understood. So I paid Mr. Barbour's expenses to come to see me at Philadelphia (where I had business engagements during the summer of 1876), to show me fully and Scripturally, if he could, that the prophecies indicated 1874 as the date at which the Lord's presence and the Harvest began. He came, and the evidence satisfied me. Being a person of positive convictions, and fully consecrated to the Lord, I at once saw that the special times in which we live have an important bearing upon our duty and work as Christ's disciples; that since we are living in the time of the Harvest, the Harvest work should be done; and that Present Truth is the sickle by which the Lord would have us do a reaping work everywhere among His children. I inquired of Mr. Barbour as to what was being done by him and The Herald. He replied that nothing was being done.”—Z. '16-170, 171.

Pastor Russell took the place of Mr. Barbour who became unfaithful and upon whom was fulfilled the prophecies of Matt. 24:48-51 and Zech. 11:15-17.

“In 1877 Pastor Russell called a meeting of all the ministers of Allegheny and Pittsburgh, showed them the Scriptures which indicated our Lord's presence and urged them to investigate and proclaim the message. All of the ministers of the two cities were present; all of the ministers of the two cities refused to believe. In the same year he determined to give up secular work and devote his entire time and fortune to the work indicated in the Scriptures as incident to the close of the Gospel Age and change of dispensation impending. As a means of determining whether his course was in harmony with the Scriptures, and also as a means of demonstrating his own sincerity, he decided to test the Lord's approval as follows: (1) Devote his life to the cause; (2) Invest his fortune in the promulgation of the work; (3) Prohibit collections at all meetings; (4) Depend on unsolicited contributions (wholly voluntary) to continue the work after his fortune was exhausted. In 1881, 1,400,000 copies of Food for Thinking Christians were distributed free at the doors of the Protestant churches in the United States, Canada and Great Britain on three consecutive Sundays, by A. D. T. messenger boys.”—Obituary.

As to his education we quote his own words: “As respects my education in Greek and Hebrew: Not only do I not claim very special knowledge of either language, but I claim that not one minister in a thousand is either a Hebrew or a Greek scholar. To be able to spell out a few Greek words is of no earthly value. Nor is it necessary longer to study these languages in order to have knowledge of the Bible. Our Presbyterian friends have gotten out at great cost Young's Analytical Hebrew, Chaldaic, Greek and English Lexicon Concordance, which any one may procure. And our Methodist friends have issued a similar work—Strong's Analytical Concordance and Lexicon. And there is a still older one entitled Englishman's Hebrew, Chaldaic, Greek and English Lexicon and Concordance. Additionally, Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon is a standard authority. The prices of these are not beyond the reach of the average man. By these works scholarly information respecting the original text of the Bible is obtainable. I have all four of these works and have used them faithfully. Very few college professors, even, would risk to give a critical translation of any text of Scripture without consulting these very works of reference, which are standard. Additionally I remind you of the many translations of the Bible now extant—all of them very good. I have all of these and find them useful in comparison and study of any text—one sometimes giving a thought which another may not. The other day, for curiosity's sake, I counted Bibles in different translations, etc., in my study, and found that I have thirty-two.”—Z. '14-286.

As to his ordination we quote him again: “There are two ordinations proper. One is of God; one of men. The ordination of God is the begetting of the Holy Spirit. If any are preaching without this ordination, they are doing something that they are not authorized to do. There comes, however, another special ordination of those who are called ministers of the Gospel, in which class I count myself. This is ordination by the Church, and is recognized by all denominations everywhere. By some it is considered a mere form, by some it is performed with great ceremony, by others with less ceremony. But to our understanding, each congregation should have those whom it has chosen ordained in a Scriptural way—by the stretching forth of hands—by a vote. Whoever has not been ordained in these two ways is not an ordained minister of the Gospel in the Scriptural sense. First, the Divine ordination is necessary; second, the earthly ordination is necessary. By the grace of God I have both of these.”—Z. '15-358.

As to his doctrines we quote him the third time: “To us the Scriptures clearly teach that the Church is the ‘Temple of the living God’—peculiarly ‘His workmanship’; its construction has been in progress throughout the Gospel Age—ever since Christ became the world's Redeemer and Chief Corner Stone of His Temple, through which, when finished, God's blessing shall come ‘to all people,’ and they find access to Him. (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Eph. 2:20; Gen. 28:14; Gal. 3:29.) That meantime the chiseling, shaping and polishing of consecrated believers in Christ's Atonement for sin progresses; and when the last of these ‘living stones,’ ‘elect and precious,’ shall have been made ready, the great Master Workman will bring all together in the First Resurrection; and the Temple shall be filled with His glory, and be the meeting place between God and men throughout the Millennium. (Rev. 15:6-8; 21:3.) We affirm the pre-existence of Jesus as the mighty Word (Logos)—Spokesman—‘the beginning of the creation of God,’ ‘the First-Born of every creature,’ the active Agent of the Heavenly Father, Jehovah, in all the work of creation. ‘Without Him was not anything made that was made.’ (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15; John 1:3.) We affirm that the Word (Logos) was made flesh—became the Babe of Bethlehem—thus becoming the Man Jesus, ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.’ As we affirm the humanity of Jesus, we equally affirm the Divinity of Christ—‘God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name.’ (Heb. 7:26; Phil. 2:9.)”

“We acknowledge that the personality of the Holy Spirit is the Father and the Son; that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and is manifested in all who receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit and thereby become sons of God. (John 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:3.) We affirm the resurrection of Christ—that He was put to death in flesh but quickened in Spirit. We deny that He was raised in the flesh, and challenge any statement to that effect as being unscriptural. (1 Pet. 3:18; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:8; Acts 26:13-15.) That the basis of Hope, for the Church and the World, lies in the fact that ‘Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man,’ ‘a Ransom for all,’ and will be ‘the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,’ ‘in due time.’ (Heb. 2:9; John 1:9; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6.) That the Hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, ‘see Him as He is,’ be ‘partaker of the Divine nature,’ and share His glory as His joint-heir. (1 John 3:2; John 17:24; Rom. 8:17; 2 Pet. 1:4.) That the present mission of the Church is the perfecting of the saints for the future work of service; to develop in herself every grace; to be God's witness to the world; and to prepare to be kings and priests in the next Age. (Eph. 4:12; Matt. 24:14; Rev. 1:6; 20:6.) That the Hope for the World lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ's Millennial Kingdom—the Restitution of all that was lost in Adam, to all the willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and His glorified Church—when all the wilfully wicked shall be destroyed. (Acts 3:19-23; Isa. 35.)”—B. S. M.

The amount of work that Pastor Russell performed is incredible, and it is doubtful whether it was ever equalled by any other human being. When he was in his twenties he was refused the lease of a property because the owner thought he would surely die before the lease had expired. For fifty years he suffered constantly with sick headaches, due to a fall in his youth, and for twenty-five years had such distressing hemorrhoids that it was impossible for him to rest in the easiest chair; yet in the past forty years he traveled a million miles, delivered 30,000 sermons and table talks—many of them 2-½ hours long—wrote over 50,000 pages (of this size) of advanced Biblical exposition, often dictated 1,000 letters per month, managed every department of a world-wide evangelistic campaign employing 700 speakers, personally compiled the most wonderful Biblical drama ever shown; and with all that, he found time in the course of each year to personally aid thousands with his fatherly counsel. At one time his writings were subjected to an analysis of 20,511 Scripture expositions. These were assembled in Biblical order and disclosed but six points of inquiry, all easily harmonized. No writer, not even excepting the writers of the Bible, have ever had such critical readers. His works have been published in 35 languages. During the last eight days of his life he had appointments in California, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and New York; and though for several days manifestly dying, with cystitis (caused by excessive travel and speaking), he declined to cancel any engagements, and went out of this life October 31, 1916, on a railroad train en route to his Kansas appointment. At the age of 30 he had accumulated a fortune of over $300,000, but died penniless, his own fortune, as well as all the large sums contributed to the cause, having been used up in the Master's service. He was beloved everywhere by those who “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.”—Rev. 14:4. For further particulars of Pastor Russell's service of God's people see Memorial Number of Zions Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence.

Of the church [of the Laodiceans] IN LAODICEA.—It is significant that in the first epoch of the Church there were Nicolaitanes (nikon ton laon), “vanquishers of the people,” a clergy class who succeeded in pulling the wool over the eyes of the common people; but that the last age of the Church is Laodicean (laos dike), “justice for the people.” We find we get along much better without the clergy than we did with them. The Laodicean period of the Church extends from the fall of 1874 to the spring of 1918, three and one-half years of preparation, and forty years of Harvest. “The parallels affected merely the nominal Jewish House there and the nominal Christian House here. Both were rejected because of failure to be in the right condition of heart for the truths that were due to them—both rejected for destruction. The Jewish System was a Church-State affair, paralleled here by the great Church-State systems of Europe, whose destruction began in 1914. Let us remember, however, that the three and a half years of Jesus' ministry were more a time of preparation of the Apostles to be the instruments for the harvesting and a sharpening preparation of the Sickle of Truth for the later work, which began at Pentecost. Prior to Pentecost, there was no ‘garner’ into which to gather the wheat.”

“Jewish And Christian Parallels”

“Jewish-Nominal Church”	Christian-Nominal Church
A. D. 29-33	A. D. 1874-1878
“They knew not the time of their visitation.”
“A. D. 33-36”	A. D. 1878-1881
The Most Holy anointed, Divine favor prolonged for three and a half years to complete the 70 weeks of favor promised to Israel, their rejection being deferred.
“A. D. 36-73”	A. D. 1881-1918
Because of the overspreading of abominations, He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, or utter destruction—until all that God has predetermined shall be accomplished.—Dan. 9:24-27.—Z. '16-264. See pages 594, 595.

The foregoing is Pastor Russell's last expression on the subject of chronology; and we believe that it was designed to be of great value to the Lord's people at this hour. “The Apostles, the Prophets and the angels all desired and sought earnestly to know what time the Spirit of God indicated through the Prophets. And this interest on the part of His children is ever pleasing to God. He called the inquiring Daniel greatly beloved, and answered his inquiry so far as was consistent with His Plan. Such inquiry should not be regarded as an improper prying into the secrets of God. God would have us quickly discern the Truth as it becomes due.” (B. 17.) “Let none, then, of the truly consecrated under-value these prophetic time-evidences, which were designed to guide our words and deeds in the early dawn of the Millennial Day. These prophetic time-proofs were largely God's means of drawing the attention of the writer more carefully to other features of the Divine Plan.”—B. 31.

Daniel “understood by books” (Jeremiah's prophecy) the length of the great captivity of the children of Israel. (Dan. 9:2.) At Christ's First Advent there was but one time-prophecy calling attention to that event (Dan. 9:24-27), yet all the people “were in expectation” of it (Luke 3:15.) In the year 1190 the good monk Joachim declared that the Papal system was Antichrist, that the history of mankind is divided into three ages, and that in the year 1260 the Papacy would give way to a new system in which the whole world would be “one vast monastery.” “In 1260 the Council of Arles pronounced all followers of Joachim heretics.” His application of the correct principle, “a year for a day,” made in the very depths of the Dark Ages, is one of the most pathetic incidents in the history of mankind; but his study of time-prophecy brought him peace and joy of heart. He was an opponent of the prevailing “doctrine of the Trinity.” William Miller, in the year 1829, was privileged to see (approximately) the correct date for the setting up of the abomination of desolation (539 A. D.), and for the beginning of the Time of the End (1799 A. D.) Morton Edgar, author of Pyramid Passages, has found foreshown in the Great Pyramid of Egypt abundant evidence of the accuracy of the Bible chronology of Pastor Russell and the supplements thereto supplied by Dr. John Edgar, deceased. These findings are set forth in his work, Pyramid Passages, Vol. II, of which we recommend sections numbered in the following table. For convenience we give the citations to Pastor Russell's works in which the same items are discussed. The Pyramid is still there, and the measurements can be made by anybody. Pastor Russell's chronology was written before he ever saw the Pyramid.

Date Foreshown	Event	Pastor Russell's Works	Sections of Pyramid Passages
Fall 4127 B. C.	Fall of Adam.	Z 04-343	25-30-58
Fall 3127 B. C.	End of Adam's 1000-year day.	Z 04-343	25-28
Fall 2473 B. C.	Flood.	B 42	24-30
Fall 2021 B. C.	Birth of Isaac.	B 231	45
Spring 1813 B. C.	Death of Jacob.	B 218-232	16-17
Spring 1615 B. C.	Exodus and giving of the Law.	B 42	11
Spring 1575 B. C.	Entrance into Canaan.	B 42	43-46
Fall 626 B. C.	Last Jubilee.	B 185	50
Fall 607 B. C.	Desolation of the Land.	B 51	19-46-48
Fall 455 B. C.	Nehemiah's Commission.	B 67	51-52-53
Fall 2 B. C.	Birth of Christ.	B 54	10-43
Fall 29 A. D.	Baptism of Christ.	B 60	10-24-43-58
Spring 33 A. D.	Death of Christ.	B 61	10-11-14-32-45
Fall 36 A. D.	Conversion of Cornelius.	B 71	51
Spring 1378 A. D.	Wycliffe.	Z 05-185	37
Spring 1521 A. D.	Diet of Worms.	Z 05-180	38
Fall 1846 A. D.	Evangelical Alliance.	C 95-119	14-52
Fall 1874 A. D.	Second Advent of the Lord.	B 173-247	16-32-50
Spring 1878 A. D.	Favor to Jews and sleeping Saints.	C 233	17-28
Fall 1914 A. D.	End of Times of the Gentiles.	B 73	19-48
Fall 2875 A. D.	Restitution completed.	Z 04-344	37
Fall 2914 A. D.	Dominion restored to mankind.	Z 04-343	58

The chronology as it appears in the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES is accurate. The year 1914 brought the end of the Times of the Gentiles, but not the end of the Harvest work. Have the teachings of the Parallels lost their value? Not at all. The point not previously noticed is that the Jewish polity was not to be destroyed in Jerusalem only, but throughout all Judea. Nor does Judea mean all of Palestine. The actual depopulation of the whole of Palestine did not occur until the year 135 A. D. (corresponding to our year 1980), on the ninth day of the month of Ab, the anniversary of the burning of the Temple under Titus. On that day came to an end the insurrection of Bar-Cocheba, the false Messiah, who wrought his own destruction and that of 580,000 of his followers, when he attempted to regain control of Judea and Jerusalem. The struggle was of five years' duration having begun in 130 A. D. “It was the effort, under the leadership of Bar-Cocheba, to regain their independence, that brought about a repetition of scenes enacted under Titus, and resulted actually in the depopulation of Palestine. The whole of Judea was turned into a desert; about 985 towns and villages were laid in ashes; fifty of their fortresses were razed to the ground; even the name of their capital was changed to Ælia Capitolina, and they were forbidden to approach it on pain of death; thousands of those who had escaped death were reduced to slavery, and such as could not be thus disposed of were transported into Egypt.”—McC.

When the Lord gave His wonderful prophecy in which the destinies of nominal Fleshly Israel, nominal Spiritual Israel, and the Israel of God, are set forth, it was in answer to three definite questions: “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy Parousia, and of the end of the Age?” (Matt. 24:3.) The Lord did not ignore their question. He answered it with a reply that sweeps the history of twenty centuries. He showed that the end of Fleshly Israel foreshadowed the end of Spiritual Israel. Fleshly Israel had three ends; the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, the complete subjugation of Judea in A. D. 73, and the actual depopulation of the whole of Palestine in A. D. 135. Which did He mean should be the end that would be a guide to His followers? Not the end in A. D. 70, foreshadowing 1915; for the Harvest of the Gospel Age is still in progress. Not the end in A. D. 135, foreshadowing 1980; for the Harvest is the end. He must have meant the end in Judea, even as He said, “Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” (Matt. 24:16.) See also Matt. 2:22; 3:5; Mark 1:5; Luke 1:5, 65; 3:1; 7:17; Acts 11:29; Rom. 15:31, and especially John 7:1-3 and 1 Thes. 2:14-16.

The data presented in comments on Rev. 2:1 prove that the conquest of Judea was not completed until the day of the Passover, A. D. 73, and in the light of the foregoing Scriptures, prove that the Spring of 1918 will bring upon Christendom a spasm of anguish greater even than that experienced in the Fall of 1914. Reexamine the table of the Parallel Dispensations in STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, Vol. 2, pages 246 and 247; change the 37 to 40, 70 to 73 and 1914 to 1918, and we believe it is correct and will be fulfilled “with great power and glory,” (Mark 13:26.) It was entirely impossible to foresee whether our Lord meant that A. D. 70 or A. D. 73 should serve as our guide to the time when the Jewish polity came to an end, until after October, 1915, had passed. Moreover, we have seen the promised signs, “upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth,” and we have the Lord's words for it that having seen those things “the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand,” “even at the doors,” and our “redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:25-36; Mark 13:27-30.) It is possible that A. D. 1980 marks the regathering of all of Fleshly Israel from their captivity in death. It is just 70 years beyond 1910, the date when Pastor Russell gave his great witness to the Jewish people in the New York Hippodrome. See page 551 (1).

But if the time of nominal Zion's travail (Isa. 66:8) is due to occur in the Spring of 1918, and if we are now but the “one day” (one year) distant from that event which the Prophet mentions, what should be our expectation regarding the experience of the “little flock” meantime? “The symbolic travail, in the above prophecy, is a reference to the great Time of Trouble—the travail that is to come upon the nominal Gospel church, Great ‘Babylon,’ from which some are to be counted worthy to escape. (Luke 21:36.) This is indicated by the preceding verse, which locates the time of this prophecy as synchronous with that wherein is heard ‘a voice of noise [confusion] from the city’ [Babylon], and ‘a voice [of truth and warning] from the Temple’ [the elect Little Flock of consecrated and faithful ones], and ‘a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to His enemies’—in the great Time of Trouble. The travail that is coming is to be upon nominal Zion—‘Christendom,’ ‘Babylon’; and it will be a great and sore affliction—‘a Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a nation.’”

“But the marvelous thing the Prophet here has to record is that a Man-child is to be born out of Zion before this travail comes. This is a striking reference to the fact, elsewhere clearly taught, that the ripe wheat of the Gospel Church is to be separated from the tares, that they are to be exalted and glorified before the burning, the consuming trouble, shall come upon the latter. This Man-child is, therefore, the Little Flock—the true Zion in God's estimation, the Body of Christ; as it is written. ‘There shall come out of Zion [the nominal Gospel Church] the Deliverer [The Christ, Head and Body], and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob [the Fleshly Israel, or Zion].’ (Rom. 11:26.) This is the Man-child that is to bless all the families of the earth. (Gen. 28:14; Gal. 3:16, 29.) The birth of the Man-child is the First Resurrection. Blessed and holy are all they that have part in the First Resurrection. Such are now begotten of God by the Word of Truth, and quickened by the Holy Spirit (Jas. 1:18; Eph. 2:1; Rom. 8:11), and in due time—before the travail—they will be born in the glorious likeness of Christ. The birth of this Man-child began over eighteen hundred years ago with the resurrection of Christ Jesus. There the Head of this Body of Christ came forth; and as surely as the Head has been born, so surely shall the Body come forth. ‘Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy God.’ (Isa. 66:9.) Ah, no! ‘the Man-child, The Christ complete, the Great Deliverer, shall come forth.’”—Z. '94-135.

“But,” says one, “where is the fiery chariot that is to accomplish a cleavage between the Elijah and Elisha classes?” We offer the suggestion that the fiery horses are lurid prophecies; the horsemen are Ezekiel and John, and the chariot is the vehicle in which their Message is brought to the Elijah class. And do the Elijah class take to that vehicle? They do. And why? Because “the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.” (John 10:4.) The separation between the Elijah and Elisha classes will be brought about in a perfectly natural way, by some using the chariot which the Lord provides, and others recognizing it, but not attempting to use it to mount to the skies. And what should we expect such a fiery chariot would do when caught up into the heavens? The answer is prophetic, “The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved;” “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise;” “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree.” (2 Pet. 3:12, 10; Isa. 34:4.) Evidently the circulation of the penny will have something to do with the burning of the tares!—Matt. 13:40-43; Isa. 21:9.

Forty days after Christ's resurrection His ascension occurred. This confirms the hope of the Church's glorification forty years (a year for a day) after the awakening of the sleeping saints in the Spring of 1878. The seven days before the Deluge may represent seven years, from 1914 to 1921, in the midst of which “week of years” the last members of the Messiah pass beyond the veil. The Great Company class shall be cut off at its end—the fact that we see the first half of this week so distinctly marked would lead us to expect three and one-half years more of witnessing by the Great Company class; for it seems to be the Heavenly Father's way to accomplish His work by weeks and half weeks, from the very beginning of creation until now. The covenant with Abraham, 2045 B. C., was half way (2081 years each way) between the fall of Adam, 4127 B. C., and the conversion of Cornelius, A. D. 36. The last observance of a typical jubilee by Israel, 626 B. C., was half way (2500 years each way) from the end of Adam's Day, 3127 B. C., and the beginning of the Times of Restitution, A. D. 1874. The captivity, 606 B. C., marks the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles, half way (2520 years each way) between the end of Adam's 1000-year day, 3127 B. C., and the end of Gentile Times, A. D. 1914. The captivity, 606 B. C., marks a point half way (3520 years each way) between the fall of man, 4127 B. C., and his full restoration to Divine favor, A. D. 2914. Christ's death, A. D. 33, marks a point half way (1845 years each way) between the death of Jacob, 1813 B. C., and the restoration of favor to Israel in 1878 A. D. The death of Christ, A. D. 33, was half way (three and one-half years each way) between His baptism, A. D. 29, and the conversion of Cornelius, A. D. 36.

[Chronological Chart of Revelation]

The awakening of the sleeping saints, A. D. 1878, was just half way (three and one-half years each way) between the beginning of the Times of Restitution in 1874 and the close of the High Calling in 1881. Our proposition is that the glorification of the little Flock in the Spring of 1918 A. D. will be half way (three and one-half years each way) between the close of the Gentile Times and the close of the Heavenly Way, A. D. 1921. The three days' (three years—1918-1921) fruitless search for Elijah (2 Kings 2:17-18) is a confirmation of this view. We shall wait to see; but we shall not be indifferent while we wait, lest peradventure another, more zealous, take the crown we have. The time is not long: but if we have to go on for fifty years, why should we care? We are the Lord's. Let Him do as He will with His own.

[The Seven Messengers To The Church Illustration]

Write.—Pastor Russell was the most prolific writer of Biblical truth that ever lived.—Ezek. 9:2, 3.

These things saith the Amen.—The same word translated “verily” in the Gospels and so often used by our Lord as a solemn prefix to some important announcement.

AND the faithful and true Witness.—Trinitarians witness that Christ and the Father are one in person. Christ Himself witnesses, “It is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.” (John 8:17, 18.) Christ was one, and the Father was one; and one plus one are two. (This lesson in mathematics is for Doctors of Divinity; school children will not need it.)—Rev. 1:5; 19:11.

AND the Beginning of the [creation] CHURCH of God.—Either reading is correct. Our Lord was the Beginning of the New Creation, but, more than that, He was the Beginning of all creation. “He is the Image of the invisible God—First-born of all creation; because by Him were all things created, those in the heavens and those on the earth, visible and invisible—whether thrones, or lordships, or governments, or authorities: all things were created by Him and for Him, and He precedes all things, and in Him all things have been permanently placed. (Col. 1:15-18.) Hear also the word of prophecy concerning the Only-Begotten, not only declaring His coming exaltation as King of earthly kings, but describing Him as already being Jehovah's First-born, saying, ‘I will make Him, My First-born, higher than the kings of the earth.’ (Psa. 89:27.)”—E. 95, 86.

3:15. I know thy works.—“The Laodicean Church has much zeal, but not according to knowledge. She claims that her principal object is to convert sinners, to bring forth spiritual children. The Prophet puts these words into the mouth of nominal Christians when they awake to a knowledge of the situation: ‘We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the earth fallen (become converted).’ (Isa. 26:16-18.)” (Z. '16-347.) The literal city of Laodicea was distinguished for the raven blackness of the fleeces (black sheep) there to be had.

That thou are neither cold.—Making no pretense whatever to be exponents of God's Truth.—Luke 7:36-50.

Nor hot.—Full of warm, loving devotion to Christ.—2 Tim. 3:5; Ezek. 5:6.

I would thou wert cold or hot.—“Ephraim is a cake not turned.”—Hos. 7:8.

3:16. So then.—“The Spring of 1878, corresponding to the date at which our Lord assumed the office of King, rode on the ass, cleansed the Temple of its money-changers, and wept over and gave up to desolation that nominal church or kingdom, marks the date from which the nominal church systems are not the mouth-pieces of God, nor in any degree recognized by Him.”—B. 235.

Because thou art THUS lukewarm and ART neither [cold nor hot] HOT NOR COLD.—“Retaining the forms of worship and faith in a Creator and in a future life, but viewing these chiefly through their own or other men's philosophies and theories, and ignoring the Bible as an infallible teacher of the Divine purposes. These, while retaining the Bible, disbelieve its narratives, especially that of Eden and the fall. Retaining the name of Jesus, and calling Him the Christ and the Savior, they regard Him merely as an excellent though not infallible Exemplar, and reject entirely His Ransom-sacrifice—His cross. Claiming the Fatherhood of God to extend to sinners, they repudiate both the curse and the Mediator.”—C. 167.

[I will spue thee out of My] REFRAIN THY mouth.—She is bidden to hold her peace. She needs to study, not to teach; and so the following verses indicate.—Hos. 5:6; 9:12.

3:17. Because thou sayest I am rich.—I have all the spiritual light that exists in the world. “I have much goods laid up for many years.” (Luke 12:19.) “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”—Rev. 18:7; Hos. 12:8; 1 Cor. 4:8.

And Increased with goods.—“Laodiceans count their numbers and their donations by millions, and say, ‘We are rich as never before.’ Alas, that they do not realize that these are earthly riches of the kind which our Lord declares are no evidence of His favor during this Gospel Age, but rather to the contrary! And they see not the true riches which the Lord admires, and which are the foretaste of His favor and the coming Kingdom wealth.”—Z. '01-56.

And have need of nothing.—“They will not own that they have departed from the right ways of the Lord: in their own estimation they are rich and increased with goods, spiritual as well as temporal, and have need of nothing.”—Mal. 3:7; Z. '92-261.

And knowest not that thou.—Of all others, so the Greek indicates.

Art wretched.—“To our eternal disgrace, the United States leads all civilized countries in homicides—over 8,000 yearly. There are twelve murders in New England to one in London; in California seventy-five to one; in Nevada 245 to one.” (Z. '08-83.) “Each nation feels that theirs is the greatest talent, theirs are the finest guns, theirs the best everything; and it is this feeling of self-sufficiency that led the nations into the present conflict. They think that they are so good and so great that God could not help giving them the victory.”—Z. '15-174.

And miserable.—“How blind we all have been not to have noticed: (1) That the numbers of the heathen in proportion even to the nominally Christian doubled last century; (2) That if we could bring all the heathen up to the standard of our most civilized nation it would mean that God's will would be less done the world over than it is now.”—Z. '08-83.

And poor.—“The Laodicean Church is poor in that she has so little of the Master's Spirit, so little of the Truth and of the Spirit of the Truth.”—Z. '01-56.

And blind.—“She cannot see afar off, cannot see either the High Calling of the Church or the blessed provisions of Restitution for the world in general.”—Z. '98-128.

And naked.—“The clergy, under the name of Higher Criticism and Evolution, are rapidly denuding her, making her naked, taking from her the robe of Christ's righteousness, and leading her to trust, not in the precious blood of the Redeemer, but in an evolutionary process which needs no Savior, which denies that there is, or has been, any sin to make atonement for.”—Z. '01-56.

3:18. I counsel thee.—“Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me into glory.”—Psa. 73:24.

To buy of Me.—“Not until we lay hold by faith upon the exceeding great and precious promises is there any of the ‘gold’ of the ‘Divine nature’ in us. This treasure can be purchased only at the cost of entire consecration, or sacrifice of all that we have, to Christ”—Z. '96-44; Prov. 23:23; Matt. 13:44.

Gold tried in the fire.—“If we would purchase the ‘gold tried in the fire,’ it must be at the cost of faithful and constant submission to the discipline of the Lord in fiery trials. How otherwise can the dross be eliminated? There is no other way. Wherefore, think it not strange; let the fire burn; let the dross be consumed; and see to it, beloved, that in the heat of the flame you remove not the ‘living sacrifice.’”—Z. '96-44; 1 Pet. 4:12.

That thou mayest be rich.—“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.”—2 Cor. 8:9; Prov. 10:22; Lu. 12:21; 1 Tim. 6:18; Jas. 2:5; Rev. 2:9.

And white raiment.—“The robe of Christ's imputed righteousness, which so many are now discarding, to appear before God in their own unrighteousness.”—D. 42; Rev. 19:8.

That thou mayest be clothed.—“A glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.”—Eph. 5:27.

And that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.—“Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”—Rev. 16:15; Matt. 22:11-13; Isa. 47:3.

And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve.—From the Great Physician. (Mark 2:17.) “Complete consecration and submission to the Divine will as expressed in the Scriptures.”—D. 42.

That thou mayest see.—“The ‘master of the house’ or ‘householder’ of the present dispensation is not our Lord, but our Adversary, the Devil—‘the god of this world,’ ‘the prince of the power of the air,’ ‘the prince of this world,’ who now ruleth in the children of disobedience, blinding the minds of all that believe not.”—D. 611; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Psa. 13:3; 19:8; John 9:6, 41.

3:19. As many as I love.—“As many as are honest and at heart loyal to God.”—Z. '92-59.

I rebuke and chasten.—“‘My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him; for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.’—Prov. 3:11, 12; Heb. 12:5-8.”—Z. '96-44; Job 5:17; Jas. 1:12.

Be zealous, therefore, and repent.—“The lawyer who makes legality his test instead of justice; the merchant who is satisfied simply to conform to the code of his trade, whose excuse for any dishonesty is, ‘They all do it’; the ‘gentleman’ or ‘lady’ who puts good form and manners in the place of sincerity and kindliness of heart, and politeness in place of courtesy—all are alike animated by the ecclesiastical conscience. It was this ecclesiastical mind and this ecclesiastical conscience which crucified Jesus Christ (Rt. Rev. Chas. D. Williams, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Michigan.)”—Z. '15-339.

3:20. Behold, I stand at the door.—Some of the Scriptures, which, when understood in their connections and significance, prove that the Lord's Second Advent occurred in the fall of 1874 are as follows: “Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.” (Isa. 40:2; B. 227.) “And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double.” (Jer. 16:18; B. 218.) “Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee.” (Zech. 9:12; B. 224.) “The fourteenth day of the second month, at even, they shall keep it.” (Num. 9:11; Z. '98-68.) “And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins.” (Gen. 25:24; Z. '94-63.) “And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord.” “Wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the Wilderness forty years.”—Acts 7:23, 30, 36; Z. '11-215.

“Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” (Dan. 12:12; C. 83.) “Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement.” (Lev. 25:9; B. 187.) “As long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.” (2 Chron. 36:21; B. 195.) “In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt.” (Isa. 19:19, 20; C. 315.) “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us.” (1 Pet. 3:21; Z. '05-181, Diagram.) “In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, he made a proclamation.” (Ezra 1:1; Z. '05-185.) “This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.” (Ezra 6:15; Z. '05-185.) “This Ezra went up from Babylon.... And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.” (Ezra 7:6-8; Z. '05-185.) “In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king.”—Neh. 2:1; Z. '05-185.

Besides the above Scriptures, time-proofs of the Lord's Return, are the fulfilments of the promised signs: The Gospel has been preached in all the world for a witness: (Matt. 24:14; A. 91); the abomination has been seen in the holy place (Matt. 24:15; D. 572); the flight of the saints from the antitypical “Judea” has occurred (Matt. 24:16; D. 573); the great tribulation has commenced (Matt. 24:21; D. 540); the false Christs are with us (Matt. 24:23; D. 580); the eagles have gathered to the carcase (Matt. 24:28; D. 610); the sun and moon have been darkened (Matt. 24:29; D. 590); the Man of Sin has been revealed (2 Thes. 2:8; T. 86; B. 271); the Elias has come (Mal. 4:5; B. 251); the regathering of the Jews has begun (Jer. 31:8; Z. '06-84); the refining of the sons of Levi progresses (Mal. 3:1-3; Z. '05-378); the true faith was nearly extinct in the earth (Luke 18:8; Z. '06-265); the doctrines of devils are rampant (1 Tim. 4:1; F. 621); the perilous times and all associated evils are here (2 Tim. 3:1-7; Z. '99-99); the Lord God has given the sinners water of gall to drink (Jer. 8:14; C. 158); the mighty angel has roared, “Come out of her” (Rev. 18:4; C. 155); the running to and fro is in evidence (Dan. 12:4; C. 63); the antitypical Josiah has kept the great Passover (2 Chron. 35:19; Z. '05-180); the land shadowed with wings has played its part (Isa. 18:1; Z. '04-230); the watchman has stood upon his tower (Hab. 2:1; C. 89); the wheels within wheels are made clear (Ezek. 1:15); the Prophet has come to the rebellious house (Ezek. 2:3); he has eaten the book of her fate (Ezek. 2:9); the seven years of astonishment are finished (Ezek. 3:15); the sieges of 390 years and 40 years are at an end (Ezek. 4:5, 6); the image of jealousy has been disclosed (Ezek. 8:3); the man with the writer's inkhorn has performed his task (Ezek. 9:2); the removing is at an end (Ezek. 14:21); the sword has been doubled the third time (Ezek. 21:15); the point of the sword has been made bright (Ezek. 21:15); ecclesiasticism has been delivered unto brutish persons (Ezek. 21:31); the desire of the faithful servant's eyes has failed (Ezek. 24:16); the stilled voice is speaking again.—Ezek. 33:22.

The seven thunders have uttered their voices (Rev. 10:3); the seven last plagues have been poured out (Rev. 15:6); the voices of the three signs have been uttered (Exod. 4:3-9; Z. '07-276); the ribband of blue (the Vow) has done its work (Num. 15:38); the tares and wheat have been separated (Matt. 13:30; C. 139); the net has been drawn to the shore and the fish sorted (Matt. 13:48; C. 214); the ambassadors of peace have wept bitterly (Isa. 33:7); the foolish virgins have had their sound sleep (Matt. 25:5; C. 92); the seven seals have been opened (Rev. 8:1); the seven angels have sounded (Rev. 10:7; B. 149); the nations are angry (Rev. 11:18); the winepress of God's wrath has been trodden (Rev. 14:20); the horses and chariot of fire have come for Elijah (2 Kings 2:11); the chariots are running like lightning (Nah. 2:4; C. 272); the mighty angel has flown in the midst of heaven (Rev. 14:6); the false worshippers have been tormented with fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:10); Behemoth and Leviathan have been beheld doing their work (Job 40:15-23; 41:1-34); the secret of the Lord has been shown (Psa. 25:14; Z. '97-255); the Lord is judging His people and gathering His saints (Psa. 50:4, 5; D. 75; B. 164); the lightnings have enlightened the world (Psa. 97:4; A. 171); the hills have melted like wax (Psa. 97:5; D. 551); the banner has been lifted on the high mount (Isa. 13:2; D. 40); the tables are full of vomit (Isa. 28:8; Z. '07-91); the dumb dogs have failed to bark (Isa. 56:10; F. 287); the silver has been cast into the streets (Ezek. 7:19); the nations have all been shaken (Hag. 2:7; D. 528); the rain, floods and winds have come on Christendom (Matt. 7:27; Z. '06-95); the King has come in to see the guests (Matt. 22:11; C. 197); the speechless one has been bound hand and foot and cast out (Matt. 22:13; C. 201); the Master is reckoning with His servants (Matt. 25:19; F. 419); the seas and the waves are roaring (Luke 21:25; D. 551); the 144,000 are standing on the sea of glass singing (Rev. 15:3; C. 237); the Devil has risen up against himself (Mark 3:26; F. 641); the blood, fire and vapor of smoke are here (Acts 2:19; D. 592); the brethren are not in darkness and all others are (1 Thes. 5:4; B. 121); the teachers having itching ears have turned unto fables (2 Tim. 4:3; 4; F. 287; Z. '07-308); the twenty-four elders have cast their crowns before the throne (Rev. 4:10); the predicted scoffing has taken place (2 Pet. 3:3; B. 167); the laborers have received their penny (Matt. 20:8); and these are but 88 of the proofs hastily collected.

And knock.—“The knock, or proclamation of the Lord's Presence, as indicated by the Old Testament prophecies, has been given since 1875 and is still being given.”—Z. '04-124; Lu. 12:36; Cant. 5:2-6.

If any man hear My voice.—“The knock is to be the evidence of the Presence; and the servants are not to know in advance, but are to know at the time of the arrival and that without seeing.”—Z. '04-123.

[And] I WILL BOTH open the door.—When once we give the Lord a welcome to our hearts, how He does open the doors to joys we ne'er before knew!

[I will] AND come in to him.—“If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.”—John 14:23.

And will sup.—Take the evening meal.—Lu. 12:37.

With him.—The Master Himself is feasting on the same joys of the Father's Plan that delight our own hearts.

And he with Me.—“This serving of the servants by the Master should be understood to be an individual work, and not merely a collective service and feast.”—Z. '04-124.

3:21. To him that overcometh.—“Let us not avoid the Gethsemane moment if it come to us in the Lord's providence, but let us also with strong cryings and tears look up to Him who is able to save us out of death by the glorious First Resurrection; and let us remember that if we abide in His love, He is able and willing to bring us off conquerors, yea, more than conquerors through His own merit.”—Z. '06-348.

Will I grant.—If they prove faithful unto death.

To sit with Me.—“With the early Church, the promises of Kingdom honor and joint-heirship with the Master were strong incentives to faithfulness under present trials and persecutions, which they had been forewarned to expect.”—A. 285.

In My Throne.—“God's appointed means of blessing the world and causing the knowledge of the Lord to come to every creature.”—A. 91; 1 Cor. 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26, 27; 22:1.

Even as I also overcame.—“God sent an angel to comfort and minister unto Him; to assure Him still of the Divine favor, and thus to give Him fresh courage, strength of mind and steadiness of nerve to endure all that was before Him, even unto death. The bitterness of the mental conflict was now over, and the light of Heaven shining into His soul chased away the deep gloom that had hung over Him like a funeral pall.”—Z. '06-348.

And am set down with My Father in His Throne.—“The thousand years of the Millennial Reign will constitute but a beginning of the exercise of the glory, honor and immortality of these New Creatures. At its close when the Kingdom shall be delivered up to ‘God, even the Father,’ and to mankind as the glorified agents of the Father to rule the earth, a still larger sphere for the exercise of their glory, honor and immortality will open before the New Creation.”—F. 69; 1 Cor. 15:24-28.

3:22. He that hath an ear.—“Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.”—Matt. 13:16.

Let him hear.—“For verily I say unto you, That many Prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”—Matt. 13:17.

What the Spirit saith unto the churches.—Unto the seven epochs, ending, respectively, in A. D. 73, 325, 1160, 1378, 1518, 1874 and 1918.

Revelation 4—The Author Of The Plan

4:1. After this.—After this first panorama of the seven stages of the Church had passed.

I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven.—It is only as the Lord, who holds the key, opens the door to the understanding of Heavenly things, that we are able to comprehend them.—Matt. 3:16; Ezek. 1:1; Rev. 19:11.

And BEHOLD the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.—See comments on Rev. 1:1; 7:2.

Which said, Come up hither.—Not that St. John went to Heaven at that time; he was merely given a vision of Heavenly things. (Rev. 11:12.) “The seer now obtains a higher spiritual standpoint.”—Cook.

And I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.—The Divine Plan for the permission of evil.

4:2. [And] immediately I was in the spirit.—In a trance condition.—Acts 10:10; Rev. 1:10.

And, behold, a Throne.—The Throne of the Heavenly Father.—Isa. 6:1; Ezek. 1:26-28.

Was set.—Permanently established. The same word as in, “This Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.” (Luke 2:34.) “I am set for the defence of the Gospel.”—Phil. 1:17.

In Heaven.—“Whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.”—Heb. 6:20.

And One.—Jehovah, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:3), the Author of the Divine Plan for the permission of evil, in the recreation of a perfect human race, and in the creation of a race of gods, sons of Himself. “God designed to permit evil, because, having the remedy provided for man's release from its consequences, He saw that the result would be to lead him the more to love and honor his Creator, who is the source and fountain of all goodness, and forever to shun that which brought so much woe and misery.” (A. 124.) “Not only are men benefited to all eternity by the experience gained, and angels by their observation of man's experiences, but all are further advantaged by a fuller acquaintance with God's Character as manifested in His Plan. Had sin not been permitted, the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and of His Church, the reward of which is the Divine nature, would have been impossible.”—A. 135.

Sat on the Throne.—Of the Universe. “All can see the propriety of the Almighty's decision that He shall be recognized as the Center of authority, wisdom, justice, love and power; for this is the truth, and anything else would be untruth and to that extent evil, injurious.”—E. 57, 52; Rev. 7:10; Dan. 7:9.

4:3. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper.—“And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper.” (Rev. 21:18, 19.) “A precious stone, variegated with divers colors, and of a very hard quality; some have been found of a sea-green color.” (Diaglott note.) “The ancient jasper thus appears to have been frequently translucent, but the modern is opaque.” (McC.) The jasper, therefore, is supposed to refer to the modern rare and beautiful green-tinted diamond. The diamond is the hardest substance known, excelling in brilliancy and beautiful play of prismatic colors. The crystals of which it is composed are bounded by eight equal equilateral triangles; twenty-four angles in all, constituting a perfect double pyramid, set base to base. How adorable, how sublime, how perfect is our God! How impossible to describe Him! To know Him aright will require eternity. The jasper seems especially to illustrate His glory, perfection and prescience. (He uses twenty-four elders—prophecies.)

And a sardine stone.—“The sard, which is a superior variety of agate, has long been a favorite stone for the engraver's art. On this stone all the finest works of the most celebrated artists are to be found; and this not without good cause, such is its toughness, facility of working, beauty of color, and the high polish of which it is susceptible, and which it retains longer than any other gem. The sardius is the stone now called the carnelian, from its color, which resembles that of raw flesh. It is supposed to stop hemorrhage when laid on a fresh wound.” (McC.) The sardius seems especially to illustrate God's love, His memory of His creatures, and His purpose of a resurrection for all smitten in Adam and redeemed in Christ. Will God forget to raise any of His blood-bought? “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.”—Isa. 49:15, 16.

And there was a rainbow.—“The rainbow has always been an emblem of peace. It appears on the cloud as the storm passes away. It contrasts beautifully with the tempest that has just been raging. It is seen as the rays of the sun again appear clothing all things with beauty—the more beautiful from the fact that the storm has come. It is a pledge that the war of the elements has ceased, and that God smiles again upon the earth. The appearance of the rainbow around the Throne was a beautiful emblem of the mercy of God, and of the peace that was to pervade the world as the result of the events that were to be disclosed to the vision of John.” (Barnes.) The rainbow is characterized by seven colors—perfection. (Ezek. 1:28.) It represents not only the bow of promise for mankind, but the peace of God. It is His Plan. “From His own vast inherent resources of power and wisdom, springs the peace of God. But not from this source alone is the Divine peace; for peace is the certain concomitant of inherent goodness. God is the impersonation of every virtue and every grace; consequently He has the blessed satisfaction and peace of conscious moral perfection as well as inherent wisdom and power.” (Z. '95-153.) “During the seventh millennium, according to the Divine purpose, it will be the joyful privilege of our Lord Jesus to fully manifest to all creatures in Heaven and in earth the Father's glorious character. Then will the Father rejoice in the grandeur of His finished work and in the everlasting peace and happiness of His family in Heaven and in earth, ‘reunited under one head.’ (Eph. 1:10, Diaglott.)”—Z. '95-155.

Round about the Throne.—Justice is “the habitation of Thy Throne.” (Psa. 89:14.) “God's law is stern Justice, with no allowances, ready to consume as a fire everything blemished. Who cannot see that if God could deal with sinners, and condoning their sins, accept their best endeavors, though imperfect, there would have been no necessity for a Redeemer? And thus, to all eternity, there might be danger of sin on the part of those who had not already dabbled in it. Seeing this, it does not surprise us that God, in the interest of all His holy creatures, as well as for His own pleasure, decides that He will recognize nothing short of perfection in any creature, and makes Justice the foundation of His Throne.”—E. 481, 472.

In sight like unto an emerald.—“The same with the ancient smaragdus; one of the most beautiful of gems, of a bright green color, without any mixture.”—Diaglott. “The emerald, of bright green color, ‘was the most precious gem in the Roman jeweller's list.... The Romans were plentifully supplied with the true emerald. The smaragdus of Nero's age must be restricted to the true emerald, perhaps including the green ruby.’ (King.)”—Nat. Hist. of Precious Stones. The color of the emerald, green, signifies everlastingness. “From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.”—Psa. 90:2; Ezek. 1:28.

4:4. And round about the Throne.—Encompassing it on all sides—always in mind—never out of sight.

[Were] SAW I four and twenty seats.—Thronoi, thrones, places of highest exaltation—the twenty-four angles (viewpoints) of the diamond.—Rev. 4:3,10.

And upon the seats [I saw four and twenty] elders sitting.—Personifications of the testimonies of twenty-four Prophets (Heb. 11:2), who foretold things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Not the Prophets themselves are here referred to. They are not in Heaven. “David is not ascended into the Heavens.” (Acts 2:34.) Daniel still “sleeps in the dust of the earth.” (Dan. 12:2, 13.) None of the Prophets are in Heaven: “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Heb. 11:40.) But from the time that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21), the utterances of Enoch, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Job, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and John the Baptist, have been witnesses before God that there shall be “Times of Refreshing”—“Times of Restitution.”—Acts 3:19-21.

Clothed in white raiment.—All of these men considered themselves unworthy to be God's mouthpieces. Jacob said, “I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies, and of all the truth which Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant.” (Gen. 32:10.) Moses said, “Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exod. 3:11.) David said, “Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?” (2 Sam. 7:18.) Solomon said, “I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.” (1 Kings 3:7.) Isaiah said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” (Isa. 6:5.) Jeremiah said, “Ah, Lord God! behold I cannot speak: for I am a child.” (Jer. 1:6.) Daniel said, “This secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have.” (Dan. 2:30.) And John the Baptist said, “I have need to be baptised of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” (Matt. 3:14.) But the Lord knoweth them that are His (2 Tim. 2:19); and whatever they may think of themselves, if they are God's mouthpieces, they are clean. Isaiah's utterances are spotless in the sight of God—clothed in white raiment.—Isa. 6:6, 7.

And [they] had on their heads crowns of gold.—The glory of God—Love, God's highest attribute. If there are any prophets that do not have something to say about God's loving arrangement for Times of Restitution, then they are not holy. Judged by this standard, how many of the clergy of our day are holy?—Acts 3:19-21.

4:5. And out of the Throne proceeded lightnings.—“How apt is this figure! Truly like lightning flashes in the midst of the gloom and perplexity of this cloudy day, come to men remarkable glimpses of the great principles of Truth and Righteousness. A flash of lightning from the obscured Throne discloses here one error, and there another, and another. It is remarkable that these lightning flashes are continually calling attention to the Word of God, to the Golden Rule. It seems remarkable, too, how often in these days of war and stress worldly men are drawing attention to the prophecies of the Scriptures.”—Z. '16-339; Rev. 8:5; 16:18.

AND VOICES.—“As a result of God's lightning flashes which are enlightening the world, there are ominous mutterings of dissatisfaction, unrest. The lightning flashes are revealing the corruption in the world, the dishonesty in high places; with conflicting ideas, voices, theories and threats, ‘the nations are angry,’ ‘the heathen [Gentiles, peoples] rage,’ and the whole earth trembles from the din of a wordy conflict and from the blows which even now are beginning to arouse the world.”—Z. '16-340.

And thunderings [and voices.]—“We hear the thunder tones of judgment that ‘call the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof’ (Psa. 50:1); we see the whole earth now in the shaking process which will eventuate in the complete overthrow of all existing institutions, systems and governments. Present events indeed speak in trumpet tones.”—Z. '16-340; Ex. 19:16; Rev. 8:5; 11:19; 16:18.

And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the Throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.—Perfect knowledge.—Rev. 1:4; 3:1.

4:6. And before the Throne.—In the earth, and everywhere throughout the Universe.—Rev. 5:6.

There was AS a sea of glass.—“The troubled surface which Daniel and Isaiah beheld (Dan. 7:2, 3; Isa. 57:20) became when seen before the Throne of God, calm and clear; reflecting as from a mirror, every fulfilment of the Divine purposes.” (Cook.) (Rev. 21:18, 21; Ex. 24:10.) The sea (godless conditions about them) has been a means of purifying earth's future priests.—1 Ki. 7:23-26, 38, 39.

Like unto crystal.—Indicating that nothing escapes God's notice; all is transparent. “For centuries skeptics have been disposed to smile incredulously at the words of our Lord, ‘Enter into thy closet; and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.’ (Matt. 6:6.) Now that an electric ray can be passed through opaque substances, such as paper, wood, cloth, leather, aluminium, animal flesh, etc., can these scientists any longer mock at Christians for ‘credulity,’ because we believe that ‘All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do’? (Heb. 4:13.) ‘He that formed the ear shall He not hear? He that formed the eye shall He not see?’ Now we begin to see how it is that ‘There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.’”—Z. '96-27; Ezek. 1:22.

And in the midst of the Throne.—Woven into its very fabric.

And round about the Throne.—Completely encircling and enveloping it.

Were four beasts.—“Living ones” (Diaglott.); the four immortal attributes of Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.—Ezek. 1:5, 6.

Full of eyes before and behind.—Seeing clearly everything that will ever occur in the future, and everything that has ever transpired in the past.—Ezek. 10:4, 12.

4:7. And the first beast.—Justice was the attribute first manifested toward our sinful race. “God has found it necessary to perform the unpleasant duties of discipline; and though all the while His fatherly love was preparing to bless the deceived and fallen ones when the purposes of redemption should restore the repentant to His favor, Love must be veiled while only stern, relentless Justice could be manifested. This has been no happifying duty.”—Z. '95-154.

Was like a lion.—The characteristics of the lion illustrate this attribute: The teeth are of the highest carnivorous type, adapted to seizing and holding firmly. Although occasionally seen abroad during the day, especially in wild and desolate regions, the night (Psa. 30:5) is the period of its greatest activity. The usual pace of a lion is a walk; and, though apparently rather slow, yet he is able to get over a good deal of ground in a short time. As a rule, he kills only when hungry or attacked, and not for the mere pleasure of killing.—Ezek. 1:10; 10:14.

And the second beast.—Power, exhibited in the Flood, was the second of God's attributes manifested to man. “God, the Creator of all things, is also the competent Sustainer of all things. In silent grandeur, from age to age, the whole physical Universe fulfils His will, without a suspicion of disorder or mishap; and the same Power is pledged for its sustenance throughout the eternal future.”—Z. '95-153; Ezek. 1:10.

Like a calf.—With the Hebrews the calf (young ox) was the emblem of Power, the attribute of God with which they were principally acquainted. As an agricultural people, they were brought in frequent contact with it, the strongest of all the domestic animals. They were brought out of Egypt by a “mighty power and a stretched out arm” (Deut. 9:29); and when they sought to make a representation of it, the form selected was a golden calf.—Deut. 9:16-21.

And the third beast.—Love, exhibited in the Father sending His Only-Begotten Son to die that we might live, was the third of God's attributes manifested to man. “Our recovery cost the sacrifice of the dearest treasure of His heart, and the subjection of this Beloved One to the most abject humiliation, ignominy, suffering and death. Ah, did the Father let Him go on that errand of mercy without the slightest sensation of sorrowful emotion? had He no appreciation of the pangs of a father's love when the arrows of death pierced the heart of His beloved Son? When our dear Lord said, ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,’ and again, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt,’ did it touch no sympathetic chord in the heart of the Eternal? Yea, verily.”—Z. '95-154.

Had a face [as] LIKE a man.—The embodiment of love. (A. 174.) “Close your eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and peace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or word; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every other heart, and benevolence marks every act. Think of all the pictures of comparative health and beauty of human form and feature that you have ever seen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing loveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp and glorify every radiant countenance.”—A. 191; Ezek. 1:5.

And the fourth beast.—Wisdom, as exhibited in the Father's Plan, now unfolded before our delighted gaze, is the fourth, and complete, manifestation of God to man. “He is never confused, bewildered, perplexed, anxious or careworn, or in the least fearful that His plans will miscarry or His purposes fail; because all power and wisdom inhere in Him. The scope of His mighty intellect reaches to the utmost bounds of possibility, comprehends all causes and discerns with precision all effects; consequently He knows the end from the beginning, and that, not only upon philosophical principles, but also by intuition. As the Creator of all things and the Originator of all law, He is thoroughly acquainted with all the intricate subtleties of physical, moral and intellectual law, so that no problem could arise, the results of which are not manifest to His mind. ‘God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.’ (1 John 1:5.)”—Z. '95-153.

Was like a flying eagle.—Of all known birds, the eagle flies the highest and with the greatest rapidity. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:9.) The ones attracted to Present Truth are the eagles, the far-sighted ones that “behold the land that is very far off.” (Matt. 24:28; 2 Pet. 1:9; Isa. 33:16, 17; Psa. 103:5.) In the training of its young the eagle manifests wisdom of high order: “‘As an eagle stirreth up her nest’ (she mixes the thorny outside with the downy inside, so that the eaglets will leave it and learn to fly), so God, by His testing providences makes the place of rest one of unrest to us, and thus lures us out to trust ourselves to His care and guidance over untried ways.”—Z. '04-116.

4:8. And the four beasts.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

Had each of them six wings about him.—“Above it stood the seraphims (Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom): each one had six wings, and with twain he did fly. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isa. 6:2, 3.) “The vision of Isaiah is a prophecy of the future, when the ‘glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together’ in the establishment of the Kingdom of God during the Millennium. (Isa. 40:5.) Only from this prophetic standpoint would the words of the seraphim be true; for the whole earth has never yet been filled with the Lord's glory; but on the contrary, the earth is full of sin and violence, and every evil work.” (Z. '98-305.) Six is a symbol of imperfection, and in the light of the foregoing seems to refer to the six thousand years of the permission of evil, the theme of the entire Book of Revelation. For the first two thousand years, from the fall to the covenant with Abraham, God's face was almost entirely hidden from man. For the next two thousand years, until the death of Christ, it was not apparent how the place of God's feet, His footstool, should ever be made glorious. (Isa. 60:13; 66:1.) But since then, for two thousand years, God's Love has been manifest to all, and “the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), to set up the Kingdom, the Golden Age, for which we all so long have prayed. (Matt. 6:10.) The wings operate in pairs.

And they were full of eyes within.—Nothing has transpired, or will ever transpire, without God's knowledge. In the past six thousand years, whether hidden or partially revealed, God's Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom, have been in touch with all of earth's affairs.—Ezek. 10:12.

And they HAVE NO rest [not] day and night.—Not eternal idleness, but eternal work in the interest of others will be our reward. “My Father worketh until now, and I work.” (John 5:17.) “I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work.” (John 9:4.) “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” (Eph. 2:10.) “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do.” (Phil. 2:13.) “We are laborers together with God.” (1 Cor. 3:9.) “Workers together with Him.” (2 Cor. 6:1.) “Who shall change the Body of our humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious Body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.”—Phil. 3:21.

Saying, Holy, holy, holy, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.—The Sinaitic MS. repeats the word “holy” eight times. (See Rev. 4:3.) In the seventh thousand-year Day God will bring all things to perfection through The Christ, yet it is the eighth Day that marks the complete separation from the old order of things. The Jewish child was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 1:59; Phil. 3:5); seven days a sheep was to be with its dam, and on the eighth given to the Lord (Exod. 22:30); the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles was to be a holy convocation unto the Lord. (Lev. 23:36, 39.) In the eighth thousand-year Day of mankind's history on the earth, circumcision of the heart will be complete in all, all the sheep will have been turned over to the Father, and the holy convocation of eternity will have begun, “the grand epoch when there shall be no more sighing, no more crying, no more pain and no more dying, because God's work of creation shall then have been completed so far as this earth is concerned.”—F. 51.

Lord God Almighty.—Jehovah. This scene is located in Heaven, where even the Son Himself is subject unto the Father.—1 Cor. 15:28.

Which was.—The great First Cause.

And is.—The great “I AM.”

And is to come.—And evermore shall be.

4:9. And when those beasts.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

Give.—Shall eternally continue to give, so the Greek indicates.

Glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the Throne.—Their united testimony to the perfection of His character in all its attributes, as they are now doing, since His Wisdom has been unveiled.

Who liveth for ever and ever, AMEN.—And will forever use those attributes in the blessing of all the willing and obedient throughout the Universe.

4:10. The four and twenty elders.—The personifications of the messages of the twenty-four Prophets who foretold the coming Kingdom of God.

Fall down before Him that sat on the Throne.—Unitedly bear witness to His perfect ability to foretell the future.

And worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, AMEN.—Magnify His perfect Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

And cast.—Shall eternally continue to cast, so the Greek indicates.

Their crowns before the Throne, saying.—(1) Enoch was the first of the holy Prophets; and according to the Apostle Jude he prophesied of the coming reign of Christ and His glorious Bride, to judge the world, saying: “The Lord cometh with a myriad of His saints, to execute judgment.” (Jude 14, 15.) That there shall be such a glorious and blessed Judgment Day, full of hope and joy for all the world, the Apostle Paul says is definitely decreed in the counsels of God, “whereof He hath given assurance,” grounds for confident, joyful anticipation, “unto all men.” (Acts 17:31.) When that happy time comes, “the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9), and “the poor of the people will be lifted up” (Psa. 72:2-4, 12-14.) It will be the long-promised poor man's chance.

(2) Jacob was one of the holy Prophets; and in Gen. 49:10 he says, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.” The sceptre means the right to rule, the title to power; and Shiloh means peacemaker. So this prophecy is merely another way of saying that Judah would be the ancestor of the great Lawgiver, the great “Prince of Peace” into whose hands God, in due time, will “give the heathen for an inheritance,” “that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent.”—Psa. 2:8; Zeph. 3:9.

(3) Moses, as a historian, recorded God's original purpose to give man dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28); His declaration to the serpent that the Seed of the woman should bruise its head (Gen. 3:15); the promise to Abraham that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 12:3); that Abraham's inheritance should be an earthly one (Gen. 13:15); and an everlasting one (Gen. 17:8); that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him (Gen. 18:18); that in his Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 22:18); to Isaac, that in his Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 26:4); to Jacob, that in his Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 28:14); to Jacob again, that he should be a joint-heir with Abraham and Isaac of the land of Canaan (Gen. 35:12); by the sacrifices after the day of atonement was typically shown the perfection of mankind in the Millennium (Lev. 1:5); by the glory appearing unto all the people was foretold their future release from sin and death (Lev. 9:23); by the acceptance of a goat as a sin-offering for the people we see blessings of life for the world after the Church's career is finished (Lev. 16:15); and by the sounding of the jubilee trumpet, the proclamation of liberty to the captives and the return of every man to his possession, we see the world's restoration to the image and likeness of God. (Lev. 25:10.) As a Prophet, his declarations show that throughout the Gospel Age God would raise up a great Prophet and Deliverer like unto himself (The Christ), to whom shall all the people give heed in the Millennial Age (Deut. 18:15, 19); and that this great Deliverer then would set before them life, if obedient, and death, if disobedient.—Deut. 30:15.

(4) Samuel, as a historian, recorded Hannah's prophecy, “The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to hell and bringeth up.” (1 Sam. 2:6.) This is one of the first places in the Bible where we are shown that what goes into hell does not necessarily stay there. Another instance, in which Samuel foretold pictorially the coming of the better King, was in the case of the coronation of King Saul. Saul had been selected king, but had an attack of bashfulness; and when they had searched, they found him behind the baggage. The record is, “They ran, and fetched him thence; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among the people? And all the people shouted and said, God save the king.” (1 Sam. 10:17-24.) Saul was God's choice for king; his name means “desired,” and in this he typified Christ, the “desire of all nations.” This incident looks forward to the time when all the people of the world will say of Christ, “Oh! who is like unto our God? Lo! This is our God; this is our King; this is the One we have waited for; He is head and shoulders, as a ruler, above all kings and rulers we have had.”

(5) Job, after the Sabeans had made off with his oxen and asses, after a bolt of lightning had burned up his sheep, after the Chaldeans had stolen his camels and murdered his servants, after a whirlwind had blown down his house and killed all his children, after he was covered with boils from head to foot, after his wife had gone back on him, and after his three remaining friends tried to prove to him that he was a hypocrite, prayed that he might go to hell and stay there until God's wrath should be past, and that then God would remember him in resurrection. (Job 14:13-15.) Job records Elihu's prophetic statement that when the Messenger of the Covenant has returned, death will cease and men not need to go into the tomb. (Job 33:19-30.) Job also describes the steam engine—stationary, railway and marine.

The following is a corrected translation of Job 40:15 to 41:34, with comments thereon from the pen of one of Pastor Russell's followers: “Behold now one with great heat [the stationary steam engine], which I have made to be with thee; he will consume fodder [peat, wood, coal] as do cattle. Behold now his strength is in his loins [boiler plates], and his power is within the parts bent in a circle [boiler shell] of his belly. His tail [smoke stack—opposite the feeding end] will set upright like a cedar; the couplings of his leaping parts [connecting rods, pitmans] will be clamped together. His bones are tubes of copper; his solid bones [grate bars] are as hammered-out bars of iron. He is the greatest of the ways of power. He that made him [the Lord] can make His sword [Word] to approach unto [reveal] him. [Isa. 27:1, 2.] He shall rest under thin shelter [steam jackets] within a covering of fibrous reeds [jute] and clay [mortar]. The willows of the valley [the trees overhead] will enclose him around about Behold [as a pumping engine] he will drink up an overflowing river without much exertion; he will cause the people to trust [that their cellars will keep dry], though a Jordan should rush forth over its border. He will gather it up in his fountains by means of traps and with a perforated nozzle.”

“Thou wilt lengthen out leviathan [the locomotive] with a hook [automatic coupler] or with a snare [coupling-pin] which thou wilt cause his tongue [coupling-link] to drop down. Wilt thou not place a ring [piston] in his nostrils [cylinders] or pierce through his cheeks [piston-ends] with a staff [piston-rod]? Will he make repeated supplication unto thee [to get off the track]? Or will he utter soft tones unto thee [when he screeches with the whistle]? Will he make a covenant with thee, that thou mayest take him for a servant forever [without repairs]? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird [make him whistle at will]? Or wilt thou bind [enslave] him for thy maidens [so that you can take them to a picnic or convention]? Companies [of stockholders] will feast upon him [his earnings]; they will share him among speculators. [Psa. 74:14.] Thou wilt fill his skin with pointed irons [bolts], and his head with a cabin of fishermen [a cab similar to the cabins on fishing vessels]. Place thy hand upon him, be mindful of the conflict [raging within the boiler] and thou wilt add no further questions. Behold, his confidence [boiler] being deceived [not properly supplied with water], shall not at once his mighty form be spread asunder [by an explosion]? There is none so bold that he will stir him up [to run at his very highest possible speed], and none who will then place himself before him [to be run over]. Who will compete with this one and endure [pass him on the track]? Under the whole heaven, none, unless [one like] himself.”

“I will not pass in silence his members, nor the cause of his mighty forces, nor the beauty of his equipment. Who can strip off the facings of his jacket? Who can penetrate between the double lap of his shield [the overlapping sections of the boiler plates]? Who can force open the doors of his shield [the boiler ends]? The circuits of his teeth [rows of rivets] are formidable. His strength depends on courses of shields [sections of plates] closed up tightly with a seal [calked]. They shall join one upon another so that a hiss of air [steam] shall not escape from between them. One to the other shall adhere. They will be welded together that they cannot be sundered. In his sneezing [when he puffs from the cylinders] light will shine, a flood of light pervading the mass of vapors: and his eyes [headlights] will be as the eyelashes of the morning [as rays of light from the rising sun]. Out of his mouth [fire-door] will leap forth flaming torches, and [from the smoke stack] glowing sparks will slip themselves away. From his nostrils [cylinders] will issue forth vapor as from a boiling pot or caldron. His inhaling [forced draft] will vivify burning coals, and a flame will leap forth from his mouth. Within his neck abideth strength, and a desolation will dance with joy [become a prosperous community] at his presence. The separable parts of his body are connected together; all will be made fast upon him; nothing will be shaky. His heart will be indurated similar to a stone, and will be firm as a piece of the lower [rocks]. When at his full speed the most courageous will fear [lest], from accidents, they lose themselves. When dryness exalteth him [or renders him furious], he will not have power to withhold; the curved vault [fire box] being caused to tear away, and also the armor. He will esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The archer cannot make him flee; missiles [of war] will be turned unto him as chaff. The [strokes of a] hammer will be esteemed as chaff; he will rejoice at the poking of the fireman. Hewed [or notched] timbers of the craftsman [ties] are under him; he will spread an embankment [or trench] upon the mire. He will [as a marine engine] cause deep [places] to become as a boiling pot [about his propellers]; he will make the sea to appear like boiling ointment. He will make a path to shine after him; one will think the deep to be growing gray. [Psa. 104:26; Isa. 27:1.] Upon the earth there is not his like—he that is [so] constructed that he can fear nothing. He can oversee [control by his work] all that which is great; he is indeed king over all conceptions of power.”

(6) David foresaw a time when all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Him (Psa. 22:27); that after this dark night of weeping will come a morning of joy (Psa. 30:5); that the meek shall inherit the earth (Psa. 37:11); that those who are now the King's enemies shall be converted and praise Him for ever and ever (Psa. 45:5, 17); that wars shall cease to the ends of the earth and the Lord alone be exalted (Psa. 46:10); that the ignominious shall come forth from the grave and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning (Psa. 49:14); that the Lord will be the confidence of all the ends of the earth (Psa. 65:5); that His saving health will be made known among all nations, that all the nations shall praise Him, and that He will judge and govern them righteously at the time the earth shall yield her increase (Psa. 67:1-7); that the people shall be scattered that delight in war (Psa. 68:30); that peace shall come to the people, that the poor shall be delivered from the oppressor, that the flesh, which, as dried grass is ready to die, shall be given new life and that the fruits of the earth shall shake like a forest (Psa. 72:3, 4, 6, 16); that the poor and needy will be delivered out of the hand of the wicked (Psa. 82:4); that mercy and truth will meet, righteousness and peace kiss each other and truth spring out of the earth when righteousness looks down from Heaven (Psa. 85:10, 11); that all nations the Lord has made shall come and worship before Him and glorify His name (Psa. 86:9); that He will say, Return, to the men He has turned into destruction (Psa. 90:3); that the world shall be established so that it shall not be moved (Psa. 93:1); that the heavens, earth, seas, fields and trees of the wood shall rejoice because the Lord is coming to judge the earth with righteousness and the people with His truth (Psa. 96:11-13); that all the earth shall join in a joyful noise to the Lord, songs of praise, harps, psalms, trumpets and cornets, while the seas, floods and hills clap their hands because He comes to judge the earth (Psa. 98:4-9); and that the foundations of the earth have been laid so that it shall not be removed, but be forever the home of a perfect, happy human race.—Psa. 104:5.

(7) Solomon declared that the upright shall dwell in the land and the perfect shall remain in it (Prov. 2:21); that the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth (Prov. 11:31); and that the earth abideth forever.—Ecclesiastes 1:4.

(8) Isaiah prophesied that in the last days the Lord's Kingdom will be established on the ruins of all earthly kingdoms, and all nations will flow into it to learn His ways, at which time they will beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruninghooks and learn war no more (Isa. 2:2-4); that of the increase of that new Government and of peace there shall be no end (Isa. 9:7); that nothing in the Kingdom will be permitted to hurt or destroy, all evil dispositions of men and animals being done away with, the poor and meek being lifted up and the earth being filled as full with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:4-9); that Christ will become the standard-bearer of the people, that His rest will be glorious and a highway there provided for the remnant of the people (Isa. 11:10-16); that the whole earth shall be at rest and quiet and break forth into singing (Isa. 14:7); that at the time the pillar to the Lord Is recognized in the world, the world will return to the Lord and He will be entreated of them and heal them (Isa. 19:22); that the Lord will make to all people a feast of fat things, doctrines of joy, well refined, will destroy ignorance and superstition, swallow up death in victory and wipe away tears from off all faces; it will cease to be a rebuke to a person to admit that he belongs to the Lord, and all the people will say, Lo, this Is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us, and all the high fortresses will crumble into dust (Isa. 25:6-12); that when the Lord's judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness; that then the trusts shall perish utterly and the dead shall live (Isa. 26:9, 13, 14, 19); that judgment will be laid to the line, the truth sweep away the refuge of lies and the agreement of the preachers on the hell question will be disannulled (Isa. 28:17, 18); that the spiritually deaf shall get their ears open to understand the harmonies of God's Word and the eyes of the blind see out of obscurity and out of darkness, and the crops in the field be so large they will look like a forest (Isa. 29:17, 18); that the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, the ears of them that hear shall hearken and the tongue of the stammerers be ready to speak plainly; that the skyscrapers will be turned over to wild asses, along with the forts; that the people shall dwell in righteousness, quietness and assurance forever (Isa. 32:3, 4, 14, 17, 18); that the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick, because the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.—Isa. 33:24.

Furthermore, he declared that the wilderness and solitary place shall blossom as the rose, the weak hands and feeble knees be strengthened, the fearful be encouraged, the blind have their eyes opened, the deaf have their ears unstopped, the lame made to leap as an hart, the tongue of the dumb made to sing; in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert; an highway shall be there by which the unclean may be cleansed of all their sins amid joy and gladness everlasting (Isa. 35:1-10); that all the crooked and rough places will be straightened out (Isa. 40:4); that rivers will open in unexpected places and the deserts become a forest of useful trees (Isa. 41:18, 19); that all the prisoners in the great prison-house of death shall be brought forth (Isa. 42:7); that the new spiritual powers shall pour down righteousness and the world of mankind eagerly take it in, to their salvation and everlasting joy of heart (Isa. 45:8); that God created the earth not in vain but formed it to be inhabited (Isa. 45:18); that the Lord will establish the earth and cause the people to inherit the once desolate heritages, with the result that they shall be joyful and break forth into singing (Isa. 49:8, 13); that the redeemed of the Lord (all mankind) shall return from the tomb and gain salvation with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads and sorrow and mourning shall flee away (Isa. 51:11); that the feet are beautiful which proclaim good tidings of good and publish salvation because the King has come to reign (Isa. 52:7); that the mountains, hills and trees shall rejoice with verdure, and instead of thorns and briers shall come up fir and myrtles (Isa. 55:12, 13); that the Lord will make this earth (His footstool) glorious; violence, wasting and destruction shall cease, and the people shall all be righteous and dwell in the land forever (Isa. 60:13, 18, 21); that the stumbling stones shall be gathered out of the way, and the standard of Truth be lifted up for the people (Isa. 62:10); that one who dies at a hundred years shall be considered but an infant; that the people who build houses shall build them for themselves and live in them forever among their own vineyards and other works of their hands (Isa. 65:20-22); and that all nations and tongues shall be gathered to see God's glorious character in its true light.—Isa. 66:18.

(9) Jeremiah foretold that in the good times coming mankind should no more walk after the imagination of an evil heart (Jer. 3:17); that the nations of all the earth shall come to the new order of things and cheerfully admit that the teachings of the clergy were chiefly lies and vanity (Jer. 16:19); that the new Shepherds will really feed the Lord's sheep, and they shall no more be dismayed or lacking (Jer. 23:4); that the Lord will give the people a heart to know Him, and they shall return to Him with their whole heart (Jer. 24:7); that the children shall come again from the land of the enemy; that the children shall no longer suffer for the sins of the parents, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know Him from the least even unto the greatest (Jer. 31:16, 29, 34); that the Lord will give the people one heart and one way and make an everlasting covenant with them, and not turn away from them to do them good; and they shall not depart from Him (Jer. 32:39, 40); that mankind will fear and tremble at all the goodness and prosperity Jehovah shall bring to them when He has pardoned all their Iniquities and transgressions (Jer. 33:8, 9); that they shall be at rest and at ease with none to make them afraid (Jer. 46:27); that the Moabites and Elamites shall return to their former estate (Jer. 48:47; 49:39); and that in those days the penitent, together, going and weeping, shall seek the Lord their God and ask the way to Zion, saying, Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall never be forgotten.—Jer. 50:4, 5.

(10) Ezekiel foretold a coming time when the Lord will take away the stony heart out of the people and give them hearts that are warm and tender (Ezek. 11:19); that the Sodomites, the Samaritans and the Jews—who were twice as bad as either of the others—shall all return to their former estate, and the Lord will establish His covenant with them and be pacified towards them (Ezek. 16:55, 61-63); that it will no more be true that the children suffer for the sins of their parents (Ezek. 18:2); that it will not be necessary then for anybody to die (Ezek. 18:31, 32); that the people shall dwell safely and build houses and plant vineyards with confidence (Ezek. 28:26); that the Lord will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and that the people shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods, the shower will come down in its season, there shall be showers of blessing, the trees shall yield their fruit and the earth shall yield its increase and the people shall dwell safely and none shall make them afraid (Ezek. 34:25-28); that the Lord will put His Spirit into the people and cause them to walk in His ways, will increase the corn, multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, and the land that was desolate shall become like the garden of Eden (Ezek. 36:26, 27, 29, 30, 35); that the people shall have one Shepherd and walk in His statutes and do them (Ezek. 37:24); and the Lord will not hide His face from them any more when He has poured out His Spirit upon them.—Ezek. 39:29.

(11) Daniel foretold that the God of Heaven shall set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed, but which shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, and which shall stand forever (Dan. 2:44); and the Kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints of the Most High as an everlasting dominion.—Dan. 7:27.

(12) Hosea prophesied food in abundance for the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven with the creeping things of the ground; and that the Lord will break the bow and sword and the battle out of the earth, and make all to lie down safely; and that it shall come to pass in that Day that Jehovah will hear the new powers of spiritual control and they shall hear the cries of men (Hos. 2:18, 21); that the people shall fear the goodness of the Lord in the latter days (Hos. 3:5); that after the fifth and sixth thousand-year Days are past the people will be raised up and live in the Lord's sight (Hos. 6:2); and He will ransom them from hell and redeem them from death, and destroy hell altogether.—Hos. 13:14.

(13) Joel prophesied that the Lord will cause the pastures to spring, the tree to bear her fruit and the fig tree and the vine to yield their strength, and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.—Joel 2:22, 32.

(14) Amos was the next one of the holy Prophets; and we have an inspired comment on one of his prophecies by the Apostle James in Acts 15:14-18. James says, “Simeon [St Peter] hath declared how God at the first [in the conversion of Cornelius] did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name [the Bride of Christ]. And to this agree the words of the Prophets [Amos 9:11, 12]; as it is written, After this [after the Bride of Christ has been selected], I will return and will build again the tabernacle [the house, royalty or dominion] of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up [re-establish the Kingdom of God on earth]; that the residue of men [all the rest of the world of mankind] might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.”

(15) Obadiah was the next one of the holy Prophets; and in the last verse of his short prophecy he says, “And saviors [it is in the plural and refers not only to Jesus the Head, but to the Church, the members of His Body] shall come up on Mount Zion [come up into the Heavenly phase of the Kingdom], and shall judge the mount of Esau” [judge the world]. “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?”

(16) Jonah was the next one of the holy Prophets; and in the fourth chapter we have an interesting picture of events now transpiring before our eyes. Jonah walked into the city of Nineveh and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” The prophecy was fulfilled in forty literal years. But when Jonah saw that things were not coming out as he expected, he was very angry and said to the Lord, “That is just what I might have expected; for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and I said so before I left my own country.” Jonah went out, sat in the hot sun on the outside of the city, and began to sulk. The Lord took pity on him and caused a gourd to grow up over him, to shelter him from the hot rays of the sun. And Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd. Then the Lord prepared a worm to smite the gourd; and a strong east wind blew up and the gourd withered. Jonah's shade was gone, and he was angrier than ever. The Lord said, “Doest thou well to be angry?” and he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, even unto death.” Then the Lord said, “Jonah, thou hast had pity on the gourd that sprung up in a night and perished in a night; and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?”

We live in a day when a class have been preaching that the world is to be destroyed; and, like Jonah, they have not properly understood their message. The kind of world that is to be destroyed is Satan's world, Satan's empire, arrangement, or order of things—not our literal earth. The word world does not always refer to our literal earth. For instance, when the Apostle James says, “The tongue is a world of iniquity,” he does not mean that we have inside our jaws a little planet that turns over every twenty-four hours, that has spring, summer, fall, winter, snowstorms, rainstorms, and a moon revolving about it, with once in a while a comet and a shower of meteors thrown in for good measure. When they think about the Panama Canal, and the wonderful works of irrigation which are causing the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose, and all the other wonderful achievements of our day, these people are beginning to see that they have made a mistake and are now about where Jonah was when he said, “That is what I might have expected, for I know that Thou art a just God, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” They are now outside the city, and the scorching light of Present Truth is pretty hot. Meantime the church trust is growing up to keep off the heat. We are not to have anything to do with this church federation. “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy.” “Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word and it shall not stand; for God is with us.” (Isa. 8:10, 12.) Pretty soon something will happen to the church trust, and their shade will be gone. Then the Lord will say to them, “Oh, you need not feel so badly! You are not the first people that ever made a mistake. You have made lots of them, to be sure. You have had pity on the church trust which grew up in one year and blew up in another year; and should not I spare the poor world, that as far as their knowledge of right and wrong is concerned do not know the difference between their right hand and their left hand?”

(17) Micah has written of the coming of the Kingdom of God in the earth, accompanied by the rebuking of strong nations afar off; that then they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; that nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree [not the landlord's]; and none [be they doctors, landlords, employers, sheriffs, or undertakers] shall make them afraid; that all people will walk in the name of our God, and that the first dominion [lost by Adam in Eden] will be restored to Christ, the Tower of the Flock.—Micah 4:1-5, 8.

(18) Nahum was the next one of the holy Prophets; and after prophesying in the last verse of the preceding chapter about the coming of the King with His good tidings of peace to the sin-burdened earth, he next tells (Nahum 2:3-6) of an interesting thing that will be a matter of common everyday experience at the time the Kingdom is established. He describes a railway train in motion [not an automobile, as some think], and if we will be at the trouble to put ourselves in the Prophet's place we can see just what he saw in his vision and what he has so interestingly described. First, the Prophet stands looking at the engine coming toward him, and then says, “The shield [the thing ahead of this great warrior—the headlight] is made red [shines brilliantly], the valiant men [the engineer and the fireman] are dyed scarlet [when the flames from the firebox illuminate the interior of the cab at night, as the fireman opens the firedoor to throw in the coal]. The chariots [the railway coaches] shall be with [shall be preceded by locomotives that, at night, have the appearance of] flaming torches, in the Day of Preparation.”

Next the Prophet takes his place in the train and looks out of the window, and, seemingly, “The fir trees shall be terribly shaken [the telegraph poles alongside the track seem to be fairly dancing]. The chariots shall rage in the streets [a railway is merely an elaborate, scientifically constructed street, or highway], they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways [the clanking and bumping of the cars together is one of the significant items of railway travel]. They shall seem like torches [a railway train at night, rushing through a distant field, looks like nothing so much as a vast torch, going at flying speed], they shall run like the lightnings.” Next the Prophet sees the conductor coming for his ticket and says, “He shall recount his worthies [the conductor spends his entire time, almost, counting and recounting his passengers, keeping them checked up, etc.]; they shall stumble in their walk [try walking on a rapidly moving train]; they shall make haste to the wall thereof [to the next city or town] and the coverer [the train shed, the station] shall be prepared [the baggageman, expressman, mail wagon, hotel bus, intending passengers, and friends to meet incoming passengers, will all be there waiting for the train to come]. The gates of the rivers shall be opened [the doors of the cars will be opened and the people will flow out] and the palace [car] shall be dissolved [emptied].”

(19) Habakkuk was the next one of the holy Prophets, and in Hab. 2:14 he says, “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” In places, the water in the Pacific Ocean is seven miles deep. Imagine a condition in which the knowledge of the glory of God is like that in the earth! It will be as impossible for a man not to know about God as it would be for one to be down at the bottom of the ocean without getting wet.

(20) Zephaniah foretold that the Lord will starve all the false gods to death; for all men will worship the one only and true God, even including the heathen we have worried so much about (Zeph. 2:11); that after the present inequitable condition of society has passed away—been devoured, not with literal fire but with the fire of the Lord's jealousy—there will be no more sectarianism, but all the people will be taught the pure Truth and worship the Lord with one consent; the liar and deceiver will no longer be abroad in the land and the people will eat and rest without fear of disaster, dispossession or death.—Zeph. 3:9, 13.

(21) Haggai was the next one of the holy Prophets, and he says in Hag. 2:7, “The desire of all nations shall come.” In Rom. 8:19-22, the Apostle tells us what is the desire of all nations. He says, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain, waiting for the manifestation [showing forth] of the sons of God.” It is in the plural, and means not Jesus only, but all of the Little Flock. The groaning will not be in vain; for in the same passage the Apostle says the outcome will be that the groaning creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into a glorious liberty from sin and every evil thing.

(22) Zechariah prophesied that many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that Day and be His people and He will dwell in the midst of them (Zech. 2:11); that when every man dwells under his own vine and fig tree every man will love his neighbor and his brother (Zech. 3:10); that the coming Kingdom will be a Kingdom of Truth, the people will be God's people and He will be their God in truth and righteousness; the ground shall give its increase and the heaven its dews and the Lord will do well to the people and remove their fears (Zech. 8:3, 8, 12, 15); that the inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts and to pray before the Lord (Zech. 8:21; 22); that the battle bow shall be cut off, that the Lord shall speak peace to the people; corn shall make the young men speak, and new wine (better doctrines) the maids (Zech. 9:10, 17); that the Lord shall be King over all the earth and men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction, but all shall be holiness unto the Lord.—Zech. 14:9, 11, 20.

(23) Malachi foretold that from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same the Lord's name shall be great among all peoples; and in every place heart adoration shall be offered to His name (Mal. 1:11); that the devourer will be rebuked and not be permitted longer to destroy the fruits of the ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field; injurious parasites, germs and microbes will be a thing of the past. Crops will be abundant everywhere (Mal. 3:11); and The Christ, Head and Body, will arise with healing in their beams, nourishing and bringing the willing to perfection with the same care as is given to stall-fed cattle—now receiving more attention than human beings.—Mal. 4:2.

(24) John the Baptist was the next and last of the holy Prophets, for Jesus said, “The Law and the Prophets were until John.” And John, we are told, turned and looked at Jesus, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.”—John 1:29; Matt. 11:9, 11.

4:11. Thou art worthy, O Lord OUR LORD AND GOD.—“The proper view of the matter shows us the Heavenly Father perfect in all the attributes of nobility of character; perfect in Justice, so that the just sentence of His righteous Law cannot be infracted, even by Himself; perfect in wisdom, so that His plan and arrangement, not only with respect to man's creation, but also with respect to man's salvation, the Atonement, etc., were all so complete that no contingency or failure could arise, nor any necessity for change of the Divine Plan; as it is written, ‘I am the same, I change not, saith the Lord,’ and ‘Known unto the Lord are all His works, from the foundation of the world’; perfect also in His Love, than which there could be no greater love possible, and yet that Love is in full balance and accord with the other Divine attributes, so that it could spare the sinner only in harmony with the just program marked out by Divine Wisdom; perfect also in Power, so that all His good purposes, good intentions, just program and loving designs, fully co-ordinated, shall be executed, and bring the originally designed result; as it is written, ‘My Word that goeth forth out of My mouth shall not return to Me void; it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’ (Isa. 55:11; Mal. 3:6; Acts 15:18.)”—E. 37, 34.

To receive glory.—All the glory, Greek.

And honor and power.—“Could this Scripture ever be fulfilled, could the Divine character ever be appreciated by intelligent, honest, just and loving hearts, if in any corner of the Universe there were such orgies and tortures of His creatures as the creeds of the Darker Ages have set forth? Surely not!”—B. S. M.

For Thou has created all things.—The all things, the Universe, Greek. “Across the vista of ages He saw in His purpose the glory of an intelligent creation in His own likeness, established in righteousness and worthy of His gift of eternal life. He therein foresaw the mutual pleasure of the Creator and the creature, and with a peaceful patience He resolved to wait for the glorious consummation.”—Z. '95-154.

And for Thy pleasure they [are and] were created.—“He desired that love should respond to love, admiration to admiration, virtue to virtue, and grace to grace, in the Creator and the creature, as face answers to face in a glass. In this natural attitude of the Creator and the creature generous benevolence and filial gratitude combine in mutual happiness. God is happy in the realization and in the exercise of all the noble traits of His glorious character, which happiness is enhanced by appreciation of the same on the part of His creatures, and by manifestation in them of the same qualities and dispositions of mind and heart. And likewise man must both realize and exercise the noble endowments of his nature and form a character modeled after that of his Heavenly Father and meeting His approval, if he would find that true happiness which consists in the approval of his own conscience and of his Creator and Judge, in whose favor is life, and at whose right hand there are pleasures forevermore.'—Psa. 16:11.”—Z. '95-167.

“Sun of my soul, my Father dear,”
I know no night when Thou are near.
O! may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide Thee from thy servant's eyes.

Shield of my soul, though tempests rage,
And 'gainst me hosts of foes engage,
My refuge and my fortress Thou,
Before Thee every foe must bow.

Thy grace and glory Thou dost give
To those who near Thee ever live;
And no good thing dost Thou withhold
“From sheep which stray not from Thy fold.”

[Hindrances To Christian Progress Illustration]

[The Thinking Public Declines To Endorse The Modern Political Preaching Illustration]

Revelation 5—The Executor Of The Plan

5:1. And I saw in the right hand.—“The Divine Plan, known only to the Father, Jehovah Himself, was kept in His own power—in His own hand—until some one should be proved worthy to know it, and become its executor as Jehovah's honored Agent and Representative.”—E. 39, 36.

Of Him that sat on the Throne.—“He that sits upon the Throne is Jehovah. The scroll in His right hand is His Plan for human redemption, sealed from all until One should be found and proved ‘worthy.’”—Z. '97-150.

A book.—“Not the Bible, but the Divine Plan, with its times and seasons.” (Z. '16-252.) “This was the Mystery, the Secret of the Lord, unknown to any one but Himself—His plan for the salvation of the world.”—Z. '97-256.

Written [within] IN FRONT.—The writing in front is the fulfilment of everything prophesied on the outside. Every word of every prophecy of God's Word is sure of fulfilment. “Seek ye out the book of the Lord, and read; no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate; for My mouth it hath commanded, and His Spirit it hath gathered them.” (Isa. 34:16.) “That scroll contains a record of everything that is happening now, and all that will occur throughout the Millennial Age, down to its very close—down to the time when every creature in Heaven and in earth and those in the sea, shall ascribe praise, honor, glory and dominion to Him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb forever.—Rev. 5:13.” (Z. '09-243.) “Among the Orientals the lines began from the right hand and ran to the left hand; with the Northern and Western nations, from the left to the right hand; but the Greeks sometimes followed both directions alternately.” (McC.)

The Word is plainly written on the outside, where all may read the words, but cannot understand their significance without Divine aid. Meantime, from age to age, the events foretold occur in the manner predicted. The manner of the writing, some of it from left to right and some from right to left, enables the fulfilments to follow the prophecies exactly, item by item, to the last jot and tittle. Write a word on a sheet of paper and then turn the paper over and look at it, holding it in front of a good light. Thus it is with the Word of God. The prophecies look strange until the due time has come for holding them up to the light, and then they become clear. What could be only imperfectly deciphered until the hindering seal is broken is no mystery after the seal is broken, because the book or scroll or chart can be turned about and held to the light. The fulfilments are seen to fit the prophecies. If the lines are not clear, then for some reason we are looking upon that much of the record from the outside and not from the inside.

And on the backside.—“Excepting the bare promise (written on the outside of the scroll) of salvation through the Seed of the woman, nothing could be known of the wonderful scheme for human restitution until the Son of God, having left the glory of the spiritual nature, took our nature and by the sacrifice of Himself redeemed us from death. Then, having His righteousness imputed to us by faith, we are counted worthy to look upon the scroll as He opens the seals one after another.”—Z. '02-332; Ezek. 2:9, 10.

Sealed with seven seals.—“The things that were sealed were not proper to be understood by our Redeemer until He had received the all-power, after His resurrection. The execution of God's Plan was then given into His hands.”—Z. '16-253.

5:2. And I saw a strong angel.—Personification of the Law.

Proclaiming.—In types and shadows, pictures, figures and symbols.

With a loud voice.—From the fall of Adam onward.

Who is worthy.—“The inquiry compassed the period from before Jesus came into the world up to His resurrection from the grave. God had given the most honorable One of all the host of Heaven the first opportunity to prove His worthiness to loose the Scroll of God's great Plan, and to fulfill its provisions. And He did not allow the privilege to go by. He accepted it.”—Z. '16-252.

To open the book.—“The inquiry, ‘Who is worthy to open the book [scroll] and to loose the seals thereof?’ had long been made: for four thousand years, from the giving of the promise that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, it had been the query—Who shall be esteemed, by Jehovah God, to be worthy to perform His gracious purposes, and thus be honored above all others as Servant (Messenger) of the Covenant of Grace?”—Z. '97-150.

And to loose the seals thereof.—“John in the symbol hears the proclamation, ‘Who is worthy to open the Book and to loose the seals?’—who is worthy to have committed to his care the execution of the great Divine Plan, wonderful for its wisdom and love, and its lengths and breadths and depths and heights past human comprehension—that he may open it and execute it?”—Z. '97-256.

5:3. And no man in Heaven.—No angel had been proven worthy. “Which things the angels desire to look into.”—1 Pet. 1:12.

Nor in earth, [neither under the earth].—No man on earth was worthy. “There is none righteous; no, not one; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”—Rom. 3:10, 23.

Was able to open the book.—“In the picture John looked to see who the worthy one might be, but none was found worthy.”—Z. '09-243.

Neither to look thereon.—In the light of this Scripture, who can dare, in his own strength, wisdom or righteousness to interpret the Word of God or take any part in the execution of the Plan?—Heb. 12:18-29.

5:4. And I wept much.—“It seemed to John too bad that God should have some great, wonderful purposes which might come to naught because no one was worthy to be the Divine executor.”—Z. '09-243.

Because no man.—No being in the Universe.

Was found worthy to open and to read the book.—“When silence prevailed, and none was found worthy either in Heaven or on earth (representing the condition of things prior to the First Advent), John began saying to himself: Alas! we may never know God's gracious and wise plans for the welfare of His creatures, because none is found worthy to know or execute them.”—Z. '97-150; John 1:27; Matt. 8:8.

Neither to look thereon.—“So it was that, even our Lord Jesus, prior to the finishing of His sacrifice, as He then declared, did not know all about the Father's plans, times and seasons (Mark 13:32.)”—Z. '97-150.

5:5. And one of the elders.—The deathbed prophecy of Jacob. It is the identification of this elder that enables us to recognize the other twenty-three.—Rev. 4:10.

Saith unto me.—“Judah is a lion's whelp. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”—Gen. 49:9, 10.

Weep not: behold, the Lion.—“The Holy One, and the Just.”—Acts 3:14; 22:14.

Of the tribe of Juda.—“The great prize, for which Israel had been longing for centuries, was won by the Lion of the tribe of Judah. (Heb. 7:14.)”—B. 85.

“For an illustration of latter time assumptions, note the fact that a late pope, upon ascending the throne, took the title of Leo XIII, and shortly after subscribed himself ‘Leo de tribus Juda,’ i. e., ‘The Lion of the tribe of Judah.’”—B. 316.

The Root of David.—“It was not the pre-human Logos, nor yet the man Jesus, that was David's Lord and David's Root; but the resurrected Messiah.”—E. 151, 136; Isa. 11:1; Rom. 15:12; Rev. 22:16.

Hath prevailed to open the book.—“When our Lord Jesus had proven His loyalty to the Heavenly Father by His obedience, ‘even unto the [ignominious] death of the cross,’ then and thereby He did prove Himself worthy of every confidence and trust.”—E. 39, 37.

And to loose the seven seals thereof.—“Great was the favor bestowed upon the Just One of the tribe of Judah, in being permitted to open the seals; and great is the privilege of those who are permitted to look thereon as the seals are opened.”—Z. '02-332; Rev. 5:2; 6:1.

5:6. And I beheld, [and lo,] in the midst of the Throne.—“In the bosom of the Father.”—John 1:18.

And of the four beasts.—“The express image of His person.”—Heb. 1:3.

And in the midst of the elders.—The central theme of all their prophesies.—Rev. 4:10.

Stood a Lamb as it had been slain.—“It was not possible for Him to know the completeness of the Divine Plan until after He had demonstrated His worthiness by His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.”—Z. '06-39; Isa. 53:7; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19.

Having seven horns.—Perfect power. “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth.”—Matt. 28:18; 1 Sam. 2:1, 10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.

And seven eyes.—Perfect wisdom. “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”—Col. 2:3; Zech. 3:9; 4:10; Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 2 Chron. 16:9.

Which are the seven Spirits of God.—Or lamps of fire.—Rev. 4:5.

Sent forth into all the earth.—See Rev. 1:4.

5:7. And He came and took the book.—“To Him was the scroll or book entrusted, that in due time all the wonderful provisions of the Divine Plan might be fully executed in the glorification of the Church and the blessing of all the families of the earth.”—Z. '06-39.

Out of the right hand.—See Rev. 5:1.

Of Him that sat upon the Throne.—Jehovah. If Jesus and His Father are a Trinity, “One in person, equal in glory and power,” how is it that one has to come to the other for something, or how can He come to Himself and take something He already has and give it to Himself?

5:8. And when He had taken the book.—His worthiness to do so having been proven by His resurrection to the Divine nature.

The four beasts.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.—Rev. 4:6, 7.

And four and twenty elders.—Messages of the four and twenty Prophets.—Rev. 4:10.

Fell down before the Lamb.—Gave their joint homage and adoration to the Conqueror of sin and death.

Each having [every one of them harps] A HARP.—Yielding the most exquisite harmony that ever fell on mortal ears.—Rev. 15:1-4; 4:10.

And golden vials.—Incense cups, “spoons,” similar to those used at the Golden Altar.—Ex. 25:29; 30:1-9.

Full of odors.—The sweet fragrance of patient hearts, precious in the Father's memory, pleading for love and wisdom Divine.—Psa. 141:2; Ex. 30:34-38; Lev. 16:12, 13; Lu. 1:9, 10; Acts 10:4.

Which are the prayers of saints.—Every one of which, by the Father's arrangement, has been made in the name of the One here honored.—John 16:23; Eph. 2:19.

5:9. And they sung a new song.—“This means that the Divine Plan as a whole was here made known to Him—for He already had knowledge of much of this—but all things were now given Him.”—Z. '16-253; Psa. 40:3; Rev. 14:3.

Saying, Thou art worthy to take the book.—Worthy of “a name which is above every name.”—Phil. 2:9.

And to open the seals thereof.—Disclose the wonderful method by which the Father will develop the saviors of the world.—Obad. 21.

For thou wast slain.—He had sacrificed His will, but this was not sufficient. “God wished Him to sacrifice not only His will, but actually to lay down His human life. When all His testings were completed at His death on the Cross, God gave Him a name to which all should bow, both in Heaven and in earth.”—Z. '16-252.

And hast redeemed.—“Agorazo. This word signifies to purchase in the open market.”—E. 443, 429; 1 Cor. 6:20; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19.

[Us].—Oldest MS., with evident propriety, omits us, since the Divine attributes and prophecies were not redeemed.—Z. '97-151.

To God.—“What say the Scriptures respecting the sacrifice of Christ, the offering which He made? Do they say that it was made to Satan or to Jehovah God? We answer that in all the types of the Jewish dispensation, which foreshadowed this better sacrifice, which does take away the sins of the world, the offerings were presented to God, at the hands of the priest, who typified our Lord Jesus.”—E. 461, 449.

By Thy blood.—“If the blood of bulls and of goats ... sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal spirit, offered Himself without spot to God.”—Heb. 9:13-15.

Out of every kindred.—“In thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.”—Acts 3:25.

And tongue.—“Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”—Isa. 45:23.

And people.—“The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see His glory.”—Psa. 97:6.

And nation.—“And in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”—Gen. 26:4, 22:18; Rev. 14:6.

5:10. And hast made [us] THEM unto our God [Kings] A KINGDOM.—“It will be the Kingdom of the saints, in that they shall reign and judge and bless the world in conjunction with their Lord, Jesus. (Rom. 8:17, 18.) The Kingdom class proper will consist only of our Lord and His ‘elect’ Little Flock.”—D. 618.

And [priests] PRIESTHOOD.—“The Divine provision for a ‘Royal Priesthood’ implies weakness, imperfection, on the part of some whom the priests are to help, and instruct, and from whom they are to accept sacrifice and offerings for sin, and to whom they are to extend mercy and forgiveness.”—E. 486, 476; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 20:6.

And [we] THEY shall reign.—“But before the Royal Priesthood begin their reign, they must ‘suffer with Him,’ sharing in the antitypical sacrifices. (2 Tim. 2:12.)”—T. 26.

On.—Epi, over.—Rev. 6:16.

The earth.—“The Kingdom and dominion, even the majesty of the Kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and all rulers shall serve and obey Him. (Dan 7:27.)”—D. 618.

5:11. And I beheld.—John beheld this in vision and will behold it in reality.

And I heard.—John heard in the vision, and will hear in the reality.

As it were the voice of many angels.—Besides the angels, the Great Company are in this happy throng. The events to the end of the chapter have their fulfilment in the future.

Round about the Throne.—“In the circuit of Heaven” (Job 22:14), the circle of the Universe.

And the beasts.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.—Rev. 4:6, 7.

And the elders.—The prophecies.—Rev. 4:10.

And the number of them.—“Whose number no man knoweth.”—Rev. 7:9.

Was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.—The number of the Great Company will apparently exceed one hundred millions. Num. 4:46-48 and Ex. 28:1 indicate but one priest to each 2,860 Levites, which would make the number of the Great Company approximate 411,840,000.—T. 118, 119; Dan. 7:10.

5:12. Saying with a loud voice.—The Great Company will be very enthusiastic workers on the other side of the veil, for they really love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30), and need only to be liberated to give full expression to that love.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.—“Our Lord Jesus demonstrated before the Father, before angels, and before His ‘brethren,’ His fidelity to the Father and to the Father's Law, demonstrating that it was not beyond the ability of a perfect being, even under the most adverse conditions.”—E. 134, 120.

To receive power.—The Great Company class humbly realize that their faithfulness and zeal was not sufficient to warrant their own exaltation to power.

And riches.—They realize they did not lay up all the Heavenly treasures they might have done, but hid their talents in earthly pursuits.

And wisdom.—They realize their own unwisdom in seeking the praise of men and that the Christ Company, though apparently fools for Christ's sake, were really the wisest of the wise.

And strength.—They know that they used their own strength for the support and maintenance of institutions which really hindered rather than helped the Bride to make herself ready.

And honor.—They know that, as a class, they sought and obtained the honor that cometh from men, but failed to properly seek the honor that cometh from God only.

And glory.—They know that they failed to meet the high conditions of self-sacrifice, and were therefore unworthy of the high reward.

And blessing.—They feel that the blessings which the Lord gave to them were thoughtlessly appropriated to themselves and their families, with hardly a serious thought about the needs of the Lord's dear family; and that appropriately, the chiefest of all blessings, the privilege of extending God's blessings to the needy world, should go to those who most earnestly “by patient perseverance in well doing (did) seek for glory, honor and immortality.” (Rom. 2:7.) Thus they reverence the Lamb, and His Bride, for they are one.—Rev. 19:7.

5:13. And every creature.—After the destruction of the incorrigible at the end of the Millennial Age (and this, in itself, is a blessing to those who refuse to make a right use of life).

Which is in Heaven.—“Let all the angels of God worship Him.” (Heb. 1:6.) “Worship Him, all ye gods.”—Psa. 97:7.

And on the earth, [and under the earth,].—All mankind.—1 Cor. 15:25.

And such [as are] in the sea.—The class that continues to be “in the sea,” i. e., not under religious restraint, will cease to exist. They no longer are, but even their terminated existence will be to the praise of the One who died for them on Calvary; for they will have had a perfect chance.

And all that are in them.—“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth.”—Phil. 2:10; Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:20.

[Heard I] AND I HEARD THEM saying, THE Blessing.—The myriads of happy beings, on all created planes of intelligence, from the highest to the lowest, in Heaven and earth, acknowledge with joy the source of all their blessings.—Rom. 9:5.

And honor.—By that time all will have come to see what a great honor has been conferred on any creature to receive the unspeakable boon of life on any plane, and will gladly own its fountain.—1 Tim. 6:16.

And glory [and power] OF THE ALMIGHTY.—Each will have come to know the glory of life on his own plane. “There are celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.”—1 Cor. 15:40, 41; Rom. 16:27; 1 Pet. 4:11; 5:11.

Be.—Be ascribed to.

Him that sitteth upon the Throne.—Our Father and Friend.—1 Chron. 29:11.

And unto the Lamb.—Our Redeemer and Brother.

For ever and ever.—“For the Ages of the Ages,” Greek.

5:14. And the four beasts said Amen.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom unitedly declare this to be the happy outcome.

And the [four and twenty] elders fell down and worshipped [Him that liveth for ever and ever].—The prophecies plainly declare that neither men nor devils can in any wise thwart this perfect ending of the Plan which began so strangely and still progresses—the perfection, through suffering, of the Little Flock, the Great Company and, indeed, the world of mankind itself.—Rev. 4:10.

Revelation 6—Six Seals And The Papacy

6:1. And I saw.—“God does not display His plans to satisfy mere idle curiosity. If we would comprehend what is revealed within the scroll we must be sincerely desirous of knowing the details of God's Plan in order to an earnest co-operation with it. Such, and such only, are worthy to know, and such only ever come to see, in the sense of understanding and appreciating, the deep things of God written within the scroll. Such are the righteous for whom the light (Truth) is sown. This worthiness is inquired for not only at the beginning, but all along the path of light. If we are not found worthy by the various tests applied from time to time, we cannot proceed in the path of light; and unless the unfaithful ones arouse themselves to greater diligence and watchfulness, the light that already is in them will become darkness. And how great, how intense must be the darkness of one cast out of light! (Matt. 6:23.)”—Z. '02-332.

When the Lamb opened.—“The opening of the seals has progressed during all the Gospel Age. It has required all of the present Age and will require all of the next Age to complete the Plan. We may suppose that the Lord Jesus was made aware of all its features after His ascension to the presence of Jehovah. The Master declared that as the Father revealed them unto Him, so would He reveal them unto us.”—Z. '16-253; Rev. 5:5-9.

One of the SEVEN seals.—“Each seal as it was loosed permitted the scroll as a whole to open a little wider, and a little wider, thus permitting ‘the mystery of God’ to be a little more clearly discerned.”—Z. '97-257.

And I heard [as it were the noise of thunder].—The roar of a Lion.

One of the four beasts.—Justice, typified by the Lion.—Rev. 4:7.

Saying, AS IT WERE THE NOISE OF THUNDER, Come and see.—Come and see Infinite Justice permitting one of the greatest acts of injustice ever perpetrated.

6:2. And I saw.—John beheld in vision the first strange and wonderful feature of the Divine Plan for the permission of evil as it related to epochs of the Church beyond his own epoch—that of Smyrna.

And behold a white horse.—The doctrines, teachings of the Lord and the Apostles recognized as the one and only rule of faith and practice of God's Church.

And he that sat on him.—The Bishop of Rome, the embryo Pope, the personal representative of Satan.

Had a bow.—“They bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not Me, saith the Lord.”—Jer. 9:3.

And a crown.—Great honor and authority in the Church.

Was given unto him.—“Under the reign of Constantine (who murdered his own son in the same year in which he convened the Council of Nice) the opposition of the empire to Christianity gave way to favor, and the Imperial Pontifex Maximus became the patron of the professed but really apostate Church of Christ; and, taking her by the hand, he assisted her to a place of popularity and splendor from which she was able afterward, as the imperial power grew weak, to put her own representatives upon the religious throne of the world as Chief Religious Ruler—Pontifex Maximus.”—B. 290.

And he went forth conquering, [and to conquer] AND HE CONQUERED.—Thus we see the apparent defeat of Infinite Justice in this first epoch. Apparently, God forsook His Church, having jeopardized all its interests by placing the power in the hands of a self-seeking ecclesiastical system. But worse things are coming!

6:3. And when He had opened the second seal.—Revealing the second period of the history of the Antichrist.

I heard the second beast.—Infinite Power. See Rev. 4:7.

Say, Come and see.—Come and see Infinite Power consenting to a thing apparently in victorious opposition to it.

6:4. And I beheld and lo there went out another horse.—A creed-horse, quite different from the Scriptures which it misrepresented.

That was red.—The color of sin—imperfection. “Though your sins be as scarlet.”—Isa. 1:18.

And power was given to him that sat thereon.—The same rider, the Antichrist.

To take peace from the earth.—To embroil in controversy those who were under religious restraint—in other words, the entire professed church of God.

And that they should kill one another.—Depose and destroy one another as teachers, by inveighing the Roman power against all offenders.

And there was given unto him a great sword.—As the Lord has a great and powerful sword, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17), and as it is represented as coming out of His mouth, so the Papacy has a great and powerful sword, in opposition to the Sword of the Spirit, and it, too, comes out of Papacy's mouth. [The word here is different from Rev. 1:16 and refers to the butcher knife—Gen. 22:6, 10.] “The pope (each pope in his turn) is the head of the false church, which is his body, even as Christ Jesus is the Head of the true Church, which is His Body. Since the head is the representative of the body, and its mouth speaks for the body, we find, as we should expect, this feature of Antichrist prominently referred to in the Scriptures. In Daniel 7:8, 11, 25, and Rev. 13:5, 6, the mouth of Antichrist is brought specially to our notice as a leading characteristic.”—B. 304.

This period, beginning with the year 325 A. D. and extending to the year 539, was the period of formation of creeds. “Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings.” (Josh. 10:24.) Once they were very powerful, but they are quite harmless now. The Lord (Joshua-Savior) has humbled them all by His own Sword of the Spirit in the hands of Pastor Russell.

“Neither Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, nor any ecclesiastical writer before the fifth century, makes mention of an assembly of the Apostles for the purpose of forming a creed. Had the Apostles composed it, it would have been the same in all churches and ages. But it is quite otherwise.” (McC.) So much for the well-known “Apostle's Creed,” which, it is alleged, “comprehends the leading articles of the faith in the triune God.”

But this was not triune enough, so the Nicene Creed improved the matter, A. D. 325:

“We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Only-begotten, that is of the substance of the Father; God of God; Light of Light; very God of very God; begotten, not made; of the same substance with the Father; by whom all things were made, both things in Heaven and things in earth; who for us men and our salvation became flesh, was made man, suffered, and rose again the third day. He ascended into Heaven; He cometh to judge the quick and dead. And in the Holy Ghost. But those that say there was a time when He was not; or that He was not before He was begotten; or that He was made from that which had no being; or who affirm the Son of God to be of any other substance or essence, or created, or variable, or mutable, such persons doth the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematize.”

Fifty-six years later, at the second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381, the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed was put on the market:

“I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose Kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the Prophets. And I believe in the one catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

This did very well until the fourth Ecumenical Council, A. D. 451, when the Chalcedon Creed was worked up. But very little is said about this creed nowadays; for “the two parties in the council were roused to the highest pitch of passion, the proceedings, especially during the early sessions, were very tumultuous, until the lay commissioners and the senators had to urge the bishops to keep order, saying that such vulgar outcries were disgraceful.” However, we give it for what it is worth:

“We confess and with one accord teach one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in the divinity, perfect in the humanity, truly God and truly man, consisting of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, sin only excepted; who was begotten of the Father before all ages, according to the Godhead; and in the last days the same was born, according to the manhood, of Mary the Virgin, Mother of God, for us and for our salvation; who is to be acknowledged one and the same Christ, the Son, the Lord, the Only Begotten in two natures, without mixture, change, division or separation; the difference of natures not being removed by their union, but rather the propriety of each nature being preserved and concurring in one person and in one hypostasis, so that He is not divided into two persons, but the only Son, the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, and one and the same person.”

A merciful oblivion has hidden the name and the date of authorship of the next creed, the Athanasian, the cream of all the creeds; but it was probably manufactured by Satan for use about 539 A. D. By 570 A. D. it had become very famous. “The creed is received in the Greek, Roman and English churches, but is left out of the service of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America.” The nature of this creed may be judged by the following extract from an 1855 issue of the Church of England Quarterly:

“The Athanasian Creed finds few real lovers as a portion of a public service. No one supposes that it was the work of Athanasius. [Athanasius originated the monastery-convent system. He was the Bishop of Alexandria and friend of the Emperor Constantine who caused the banishment of Arius.] No one is now, at least among us, in any danger from the errors it denounces; for no one believes that all the members of the Greek Church are necessarily consigned to everlasting damnation; and thus, every time the creed is read, the officiating minister has solemnly to enunciate what neither he nor any of his hearers believes. It is true that by distinguishing between the creed itself and the damnatory clauses he may save himself, mentally, from declaring a falsehood; but surely this is reason enough for the removal of the creed from our Liturgy. We have had too much in our Church of mental reservations. So far as the doctrine of the Trinity is concerned, it is abundantly insisted on in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.”

It seems almost incredible that any one seriously believed the following amazing statements:

“Whoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith, which faith, except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty. And yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet there are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there be three Gods and three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after other; none is greater or less than another. But the whole three persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.”

“He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of His mother, born in the world. Perfect God and perfect man, or a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood. Who, although He be God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven; He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty. From whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again in their bodies, and shall account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic faith which, except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”

This put an end to the business of creed making, Satan's powers of concocting gibberish to take the place of the Bible having been temporarily quite exhausted. But a thousand years later the “Creed of Pope Pius IV” was issued in the form of a bull in December, 1564. “All bishops, ecclesiastics, and teachers in the Romish church, as well as all converts from Protestantism, publicly profess assent to it.” It follows:

“I, A. B., believe and profess with a firm faith all and every one of the things which are contained in the symbol of faith which is used in the Holy Roman Church; namely, I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there will be no end; and in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified, who spake by the holy prophets; and one holy catholic and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins; and I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. I most firmly admit and embrace apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other constitutions and observances of the same church. I also admit the sacred Scriptures according to the sense which the holy mother church has held and does hold, to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures; nor will I ever take or interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers.”

“I profess, also, that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and for the salvation of mankind, though all are not necessary for every one—namely, baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, and that they confer grace; and of these, baptism, confirmation, and order cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I do also receive and admit the ceremonies of the Catholic Church, received and approved in the solemn administration of all the above-said sacraments. I receive and embrace all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning sin and justification. I profess likewise that in the mass is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist there is truly, really and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I confess, also, that under either kind alone, whole and entire, Christ and a true sacrament is received. I constantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls detained therein are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be honored and invocated, that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated.”

“I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, and of the Mother of God, ever Virgin, and also of the other saints, are to be had and retained, and that due honor and veneration are to be given to them. I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people. I acknowledge the holy catholic and apostolic Roman Church, the mother and mistress of all churches; and I promise and swear true obedience to the Roman bishop, the successor of St. Peter, prince of the apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ. I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and general councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent; and likewise I also condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the Church. This true catholic faith, out of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold, I, A. B., promise, vow, and swear most constantly to hold, and profess the same whole and entire, with God's assistance to the end of my life; and to procure, as far as lies in my power, that the same shall be held, taught, and preached by all who are under me, or are intrusted to my care, by virtue of my office. So help me God, and these holy Gospels of God. Amen.”

The less Bible, the more Creed, and the thicker and blacker the darkness! Bible students will not fail to notice the progressive darkness of these creeds. Incarnation is first mentioned in the third creed, mariolatry in the fourth, and trinity and purgatory in the fifth.

In the Millennial Age the creed-formers will feel like adding a postscript to their work, reading about as follows:

“P. S.—We have had our eyes opened and now see that Jesus was the Alpha, the Beginning of the creation of God, and the Omega, the Last of the Father's direct creation (Rev. 22:13; 1:8); that as the Logos, or Representative of the Father, He was a God (mighty one) but not the God, Jehovah (John 1:1); that all things were made by Him (John 1:3); that Jehovah sent His Son to save mankind (1 John 4:10); that the Logos was made flesh (John 1:14) and in the days of His flesh (Heb. 5:7) became poor (2 Cor. 8:9), lower than the angels (Heb. 2:9), a servant (Phil. 2:7), a man (Phil. 2:8); that while a man He did not have all wisdom (Luke 2:52) but admitted the Father's greater power (John 14:28) and knowledge (Matt. 24:36); that as the Father had previously said that He would give His own personal glory to no one (Isa. 42:8), so Jesus admitted He and the Father were two separate persons (John 8:17, 18); that He admitted He had not the glory of the Father (John 17:5) and expected the same unity between the Church and the Father as existed between Himself and the Father (John 17:21-23); that when He died He was really, truly, completely dead, as dead as though He had never previously existed (1 Cor. 15:3; Rev. 1:18); that God raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:24; Gal. 1:1); highly exalted Him (Phil. 2:9) to Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4); making Him the express image of Himself (Heb. 1:3); but that even since His resurrection our Father is still Jesus' Father and our God is still His God (John 20:17); that a thousand years hence Jesus will still be subject to the Father (1 Cor. 15:28); that to us there is but one God (1 Cor. 8:6) and that every doctrine that confesseth that Jesus Christ when He came in the flesh came as anything more or less than a fleshly being is the spirit of Antichrist which dictated every one of the creeds aforementioned (1 John 4:3).”

6:5. And when He had opened the third seal.—Disclosing the third epoch in the history of Antichrist.

I heard the third beast.—Infinite Love.

Say, Come and see.—Come and see the apparently complete triumph of the powers of darkness and the apparent inaction of Infinite Love in permitting it.

And I beheld, and lo, a black horse.—Complete disregard of the Scriptures by clergy and people alike, and in their place the ugly creeds and bulls of popes and councils.

And he that sat on him.—The same rider, the Antichrist.

Had a pair of balances in his hand.—“Balance joined with symbols denoting the sale of corn and fruits by weight, becomes the symbol of scarcity; bread by weight being a curse in Lev. 26:26 and in Ezek. 4:16, 17.” (McC.) During this period the common people could have in their own tongue only a few words or verses of the Scriptures; and for these they were obliged to pay large sums to the clergy, who alone had the ability to translate from the dead languages, or even to read at all. As the services were in Latin the people were starved spiritually.

6:6. And I heard AS IT WERE a voice.—The voice of the Lord Jesus, the Guardian and Caretaker of the true Church.—Matt. 28:20.

In the midst of the four beasts.—“In the midst of the Throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb.”—Rev. 5:6.

Say, A measure.—“The word chenix denotes a measure containing one wine quart and a twelfth part of a quart.”—Diaglott.

Of wheat.—The true children of the Kingdom.—C. 137.

For a penny.—“A denarius was the day-wages of a laborer in Palestine (Matt. 20:2, 9).” (Diaglott.) These wages, a little more than a quart of wheat for a day's work, show how great was the effort, in those dark and terrible days, to find some “grains of wheat.”—Amos 8:11.

And three measures.—Three chenices, three quarts.

Of barley.—Spiritual adulterers and adulteresses, courting the friendship of the world. (Jas. 4:4.) Barley is the symbol of the adulteress as wheat is the symbol of the virgin.—Num. 5:15; Hos. 3:1, 2.

For a penny.—For a denarius. It was three times as easy to find the faithless as the faithful.

And see thou hurt not the oil.—The supply of the oil, the Holy Spirit of full submission to the will of God was low; the light of the true Church was feeble indeed.

And the wine.—Wine is a symbol of doctrine, true or false, and its accompanying joys. In this case it refers to the true doctrines of the Kingdom. But little knowledge of the coming Kingdom was prevalent then, and the joys of the Church were proportionately small. (See comments on Rev. 2:12-17, synchronous with events of second and third seals.)

Lest it be supposed that the Roman Catholic church is now different from what it once was, and that at present it is holding to the Scriptures, we quote the following from Strength of Will by E. Boyd Barrett, of the Society of the Jesuits, approved by the Roman Catholic censor, Remy Lafort, and approved by John, Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York, November 24th, 1915:

“Catholic ascetics teach us, in this matter, first of all to have a clear and definite view of the object we propose to ourselves—let us suppose that it is to overcome the passion of anger. Now the resolution, ‘not to give way to anger’ would be far too broad and too great. Applying the principle, ‘divide et impera,’ we content ourselves with resolving ‘not to give way to external manifestations of anger.’ But here again, our resolution is too broad and too great. We again apply the principle, ‘divide et impera,’ and resolve ‘not to give way to angry retorts.’ This resolution is pointed, definite and intelligible—it means that cross and peevish remarks must not occur. A time limit may now be added in order to make the resolution still more well-defined: 'Until the last day of this month I will not make an angry retort.' Possibly, it might be advisable to limit this resolution still more, by conditions of place or circumstance, adding ‘in such a place or to such a person, or during such a ceremony.’” Simple! All you have to do is to keep dividing.

6:7. And when He had opened the fourth seal.—Disclosing the history of the Papacy in its fourth stage, the period synchronizing with the Thyatira and Sardis epochs. See Rev. 2:18-29; 3:1-6.

I heard the voice of the fourth beast.—Infinite Wisdom.

Say, Come and see.—Come and see what would seem to be the most unwise thing the Lord could possibly permit to happen to His Church.

6:8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse.—The ghastly and horrible teachings that God's true people must be “exterminated.” “The ghastly green of terror and of death. The word is used of grass in Rev. 8:7; 9:4; Mark 6:39.”—Cook.

And his name that sat on him was Death.—Still the same rider, the Papacy; and an apt description of its chief claim to recognition during the pre-Reformation period.

“Pope Innocent III. first sent missionaries to the districts in which the doctrines had gained foothold, to preach Romanism, work miracles, etc.; but, finding these efforts unavailing, he proclaimed a crusade against them and offered to all who would engage in it the pardon of all sins and an immediate passport to Heaven without passing through purgatory. With full faith in the pope's power to bestow the promised rewards, half a million men—French, German and Italian—rallied around the standard of the cross, for the defence of Catholicism and the extinction of heresy. Then followed a series of battles and sieges covering a space of twenty years. The city of Beziers was stormed and taken in 1209, and the citizens, without regard for age or sex, perished by the sword to the number of sixty thousand, as reported by several historians. The blood of those who fled to churches, and were murdered there by the holy crusaders, drenched the altars and flowed through the streets. It is estimated that one hundred thousand Albigenses fell in one day; and their bodies were heaped together and burned. The clergy thanked God for the work of destruction, and a hymn of praise to God for the glorious victory was composed and sung.”—B. 335.

And Hell followed with him.—All the people killed by the pope went to hell, and he himself went there also; but none of them went to the kind of hell to which the pope thought he was sending them. They went to the Bible hell, which is a place quite different from what is supposed. The average man believes in hell, but thinks few people go there and that nobody knows much about it. The Bible is the only authority on the subject, and no one can know anything about it, aside from the Bible. When we consider Christ's statement that unless a man loves Him more than “father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26), and reflect that probably not one professed Christian in a hundred has reached either this standard or the other one which He set in the same chapter, that “Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33), it should make us willing to consider carefully what is to become of the 9,999 out of every 10,000 of earth's population that do not meet these conditions.

We all know that “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psa. 9:17); but how many of us know that they will be re-turned there; that the passage, correctly translated, reads, “The wicked shall be returned into hell, all the nations that forget God”—showing that there are nations which go into hell once, come out of hell, learn of God, forget Him and are returned there? We may all know (Jude 11) that Korah, or Core, went to hell; but how many of us know that he was accompanied to this place by his house, with all his household goods, and two other establishments similarly equipped? (Num. 16:32, 33.) We may all know that the Sodomites went to hell (Gen. 19), but how many know that they were accompanied by the city in which they lived and that there are other cities there? (Matt. 11:23.) We may all suppose that many heathen warriors of long ago went to hell, but how many of us know that they took with them their weapons of war, and that their swords are there now, under their heads, with what is left of their bones? (Ezek. 32:27.) We may understand that the wealthy go to hell, but how many know that in the same place are sheep, gray hairs, worms, dust, trees and water?—Psa. 49:14; Gen. 44:31; Job 17:13-16; Ezek. 31:16.

We may all know that bad men go to hell, but how many of us know that the Ancient Worthies, Jacob and Hezekiah, fully expected to go there, and that faithful Job prayed to go there? (Gen. 37:35; Job 14:13.) We may all wish to keep out of hell, but how many of us know that David said there is not a man that liveth that shall deliver his soul from its power, and that Solomon says, thou goest there, whosoever thou art? (Psa. 89:48; Eccl. 9:10.) We may think that those who go to hell go there to stay forever, but how many of us know that Samuel said, “The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to hell and bringeth up” out of hell, and that David said, God has the same power to aid those in hell that He has to bless those in Heaven? (1 Sam. 2:6; Psa. 139:8.) We may think that those who go into hell never come out, and that there is no record that any have come out, yet there are at least two persons in history who have been in hell and come out of hell. One is Jonah, who prayed in hell and was delivered from hell (Jonah 2:2), and the other is Christ, whose soul went to hell, but “His soul was not left in hell,” for God raised Him up out of it. (Acts 2:31.) And when Christ came out of hell He brought with Him “The keys of hell” and now has the power and the right to set all its captives free. (Rev. 1:18.) We may suppose that hell is to last forever, but the Prophet speaks of its coming destruction, and John the Revelator says that it is to be made to “deliver up the dead” which are in it, and it, itself, is to be destroyed. (Hosea 13:14; Rev. 20:13.) The last passage cited affords the explanation of the whole subject, for in the margin opposite Rev. 20:13 the translators have explained that the word “hell” means “grave.” Reversely, in the margin opposite 1 Cor. 15:55, the translators have explained that “grave” means “hell.” The terms are interchangeable and the meaning is the same. In every place foregoing in which the citations appear in italic type, the translators have rendered Sheol or Hades by “grave” or “pit” instead of “hell.” In the margins of the old family Bibles, printed before Pastor Russell was born, we are told in seven places, and in both ways, in both the Old Testament and the New, that hell means the grave, and the grave means hell.—Psa. 49:15; 55:15; 86:13; Isa. 14:9; Jonah 2:2; 1 Cor. 15:55; Rev. 20:13.

And power was given unto them.—To his Holiness, the Pope, and all the cardinals, bishops, archbishops, priests, inquisitors, kings and rulers.

Over the fourth part of the earth.—Over Europe, but not over Asia, Africa or America.

To kill with sword, and [with hunger] FAMINE and [with] death.—The destruction of New Creatures by wresting of the Scriptures and their spiritual starvation are here in evidence; but there was also a literal fulfilment. “Human and Satanic ingenuity were taxed to their utmost to invent new and horrible tortures, for both the political and religious opponents of Antichrist; the latter—heretics—being pursued with tenfold fury. Besides the common forms of persecution and death, such as racking, burning, drowning, stabbing, starving and shooting with arrows and guns, fiendish hearts meditated how the most delicate and sensitive parts of the body, capable of the most excruciating pain, could be affected; molten lead was poured into the ears; tongues were cut out and lead poured into the mouths; wheels were arranged with knife blades attached so that the victim could be slowly chopped to pieces; claws and pincers were made red hot and used upon sensitive parts of the body; eyes were gouged out; finger nails were pulled off with red hot irons; holes, by which the victim was tied up, were bored through the heels; some were forced to jump from eminences onto long spikes fixed below, where, quivering with pain, they slowly died. The mouths of some were filled with gunpowder, which, when fired, blew their heads to pieces; others were hammered to pieces on anvils; others, attached to bellows, had air pumped into them until they burst; others were choked to death with mangled pieces of their own bodies; others with urine, excrement, etc., etc.”—B. 346.

And with the beasts of the earth.—The evil governments. “Kings and princes who trembled for the security of their crowns, if they to any extent incurred the pope's displeasure, were sworn to exterminate heresy, and those barons who neglected to aid in the work of persecution forfeited their estates. Kings and princes, therefore, were prompt to comply with the mandates of the Papacy, and the barons and their retainers were at their service, to aid in the work of destruction.”—B. 333.

6:9. And when He had opened the fifth seal.—Disclosing the Reformation in the days of Luther. See Rev. 3:7-13.

I saw under the altar.—Altars were originally made of earth. (Ex. 20:24.) To see under the altar is to see underground, in the tomb, the grave. At the bottom of the brazen altar all the blood of the victim was poured.—Lev. 4:7; 8:15; Heb. 8:5; 13:10; Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6.

The souls.—The beings of those who had died. These souls were not in Heaven.

Of [them] MEN that were slain.—Spiritually beheaded (some of them literally, also).—Rev. 20:4.

For.—Dia, “through” or “by means of.”

The Word of God.—“Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth.” (James 1:18.) It is this Sword of the Spirit that cuts us off from the world.—Heb. 4:12.

And for the testimony.—“And through the testimony”; through the Word of God. The word dia is here used again. It is the Word that does the beheading.

Which they held.—As witnesses in their hearts (Rom. 8:16) and to which they adhered at any cost.

6:10. And they cried with a loud voice.—Not actually, but in the same way that the voice of Abel's blood cried from the ground.—Gen. 4:10.

Saying, How long, O Lord.—How long will it be from this particular time, the Spring of 1518?—Rev. 3:7.

Holy and true.—See Rev. 3:7; 1 John 5:20; Mark 1:24.

[Dost] WILT Thou not judge.—Deliver us from the tomb. The judges of old were deliverers.—Judges 3:9-11.

And avenge our blood.—Cast off from all favor a system of nominal Christianity which is not Christianity at all.

On them that dwell on the earth.—On these that are “Of the earth, earthy.”—Rev. 17:5; 3:10; 8:13; 13:8, 14. “The answer is given by the angel of the waters. See Rev. 16:4-7.” (Cook.) Quite true. The answer is in Vol. III of Scripture Studies.

6:11. And [white robes were] THERE WAS given unto [every one] EACH of them a white robe.—“God's grace cannot admit to heavenly perfection those who have not robes of spotless righteousness. How gracious is the provision of our God in thus presenting us with the Robe which covers all the repented-of blemishes of the past as well as the unintentional and unwitting imperfections of the present!”—Z. '11-342; Rev. 3:4, 5; 19:8.

And it was said unto them.—Not actually, but by the teachings of the parallel dispensations, which show that as Christ was raised from the dead in A. D. 33, the sleeping saints would be raised 1845 years later, in the Spring of 1878. See Rev. 3:14, 20.

That they should rest yet for a little season.—Greek Chronos, 360 years. See Rev. 2:21. This is the item which Pastor Russell had in mind in the following footnote: “When, in a succeeding volume, we examine the wonderful visions of the Revelator, it will be clearly seen that the time here pointed out by the word ‘henceforth,’ as marked by events, synchronizes closely with 1878, as indicated by the prophecies herein noted.” (C. 241.) Luther nailed the proclamation on the church door at Wittenberg Oct 31, 1517, which was already one month into the year 1518, Jewish reckoning. But it took some time for the news to travel to all parts of Europe. Three hundred and sixty years from the Spring of 1518 brings us to the Spring of 1878, when we understand that God's promise made to the sleeping saints was fulfilled. They were raised from the dead, and Babylon was cast off.

Until their fellowservants also.—The other members of the Little Flock, all bond-slaves of Jesus.—Gal. 6:17, Diaglott, footnote.

And their brethren.—Fellow-believers, the Great Company.

That should be killed BY THEM as they were.—Similarly make covenants of consecration to the Lord.—Rev. 6:9.

Should be fulfilled.—Should be filled full, completed in number. “The Gospel age is for the very purpose of calling those who shall participate in the marriage feast. If, therefore, it be true that we are in the end of this Gospel age, it implies that a sufficient number of worthy guests have been found, or, to reverse the proposition, if a sufficient number of worthy guests have now been found, it proves that we are in the close of this age. It was after the wedding had been furnished with a proper number of guests, that ‘the King came in’ and began the inspection of the guests. This, we have elsewhere shown, marks the date April, 1878.”—Z. '98-137.

6:12. And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal.—Disclosing the events leading up to and associated with the Lord's Parousia, presence.

And, [lo,] there was a great earthquake.—Literally, the great Lisbon earthquake, Nov. 1, 1755, which extended over 4,000,000 square miles; shocked all Africa and Western Europe, including Scandinavia and Greenland; slew 90,000 persons in Lisbon and many thousands elsewhere; destroyed every church and convent in the city; caused a tidal wave 60 feet high; split mountains from top to bottom; sunk an immense area to a depth of 600 feet and threw sailors to the decks hundreds of miles at sea. It is believed to be the most severe earthquake shock ever felt on the earth. Symbolically, the American Revolution, 21 years later (the underlying cause of the French Revolution); the most successful and most extraordinary movement upward of the lower strata of human society that had ever been seen in the world up to that time. God has so written Revelation that those who will not accept the symbolical significance of what is expressly declared to be a symbolical book (Rev. 1:1) may find literal fulfillments, and thus lose the light they would otherwise get.

And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.—Literally in the dark day of May 19, 1780, which extended over 320,000 square miles. (D. 587.) Symbolically, the light of the papal heavens (the pope) became darkened when Napoleon fined the Pope ten million dollars, organized the Papal territory into a republic and took the Pope a prisoner to France. (C. 41, 55.) Symbolically, too, the light of the true heavens, the Gospel light, the Truth, and thus Christ Jesus, has become hidden from view of many by the denial of the clergy of our day that we were bought with the precious blood and by the teaching of the theory of Evolution.—D. 590; Joel 2:10, 31.

And the WHOLE moon became as blood.—Literally on May 19, 1780. Symbolically, the creeds (the moon of the papal heavens) have become repugnant, though still hypocritically professed. Symbolically, also the light of the Mosaic Law (the moon of the true heavens) has been made to appear evil by the claims of the clergy that the typical sacrifices were bloody and barbaric.—D. 590, 592.

6:13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth.—Literally, the meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833, covering 11,000,000 square miles. (D. 588.) Symbolically, the bishops and the priestly stars of the papacy fell from their positions of power and influence over the minds and consciences of the people. Symbolically, also, the Protestant pulpit stars make a great display in coming down from spiritual things to the Christian-citizenship-politics level.—D. 595.

Even as a fig tree.—“The fig tree in this prophecy may be understood to signify the Jewish nation. (Matt. 24:32.) If so, it is being signally fulfilled; for not only are thousands of Israelites returning to Palestine, but the Zionist movement, started recently, has assumed such proportions as to justify a Convention of representatives from all parts of the world to meet in Switzerland to put in practical shape the proposal for the reorganization of a Jewish state in Palestine. These buds will thrive, but will bear no perfect fruit before October, 1914—the full end of ‘Gentile Times.’”—D. 604.

[Casteth] CASTING her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.—The immature fruits of the Zionist movement were dashed to the ground by the great war. Thousands of the Jews already in Palestine were deported to Egypt at the breaking out of the war. At this writing the British are besieging Jerusalem and the Turks are driving the Jews into the desert to perish rather than permit them to remain and come under British control. Out of this turmoil Zionism will soon start afresh and the Jews become the actual rulers of their native land.

6:14. And the heaven departed as a scroll.—“The ‘sure word of prophecy’ indicates very clearly that the various Protestant sects will form a coöperative union or federacy, and that Catholicism and Protestantism will affiliate, neither losing its identity. These are the two ends of the ecclesiastical heavens which, as their confusion increases, shall roll together as a scroll (Isaiah 34:4) for their self-protection—as distinct and separate rolls, yet in close proximity to each other.”—D. 258; Psa. 102:26.

When it is rolled together.—“It will be impossible to re-establish the present order, (1) because it has evidently outlived its usefulness, and is inequitable under present conditions; (2) because of the general diffusion of secular knowledge; (3) because the discovery that priestcraft has long blinded and fettered the masses with error and fear will lead to a general disrespect for all religious claims and teachings as of a piece with the discovered frauds; (4) because religious people in general, not discerning that God's time has come for a change of dispensation, will ignore reason, logic, justice and Scripture in defending the present order of things. It will be of little consequence then that the ecclesiastical heavens (the religious powers, Papal and Protestant) will have rolled together as a scroll. (See Isaiah 34:4.) The combined religious power of Christendom will be utterly futile against the rising tide of anarchy when the dread crisis is reached. Before that great army ‘all the host of heaven [the church nominal] shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.’”—D. 551.

And every mountain.—Kingdom.

And [island] HILL.—“Little hills” refer to governments less autocratic than monarchies; but “hills” sometimes refer to the sharpest, highest, most jagged mountain peaks, and then mean the most autocratic of all governments. This is evidently what is meant here.

Were moved out of [their] THE places.—Did not occupy the same position as before with reference to the people. The places were never “theirs,” but belong “to Him whose right it is.” (Z. '05-253.) In recent years Turkey and Persia have been granted parliaments; China, Russia and Portugal have become republics; and other countries have become vast socialist communities.—Rev. 16:20.

6:15. And the kings of the earth.—The aristocracy.

And the great men.—The clergy. (Rev. 18:23, comment.) Rendered “lords” in Mark 6:21. See Job 12:2.

[And the rich men,] and the chief captains, AND THE RICH MEN.—The high military officers. Rendered “high captains” in Mark 6:21. The magnates and financiers.

And the mighty men.—The labor organizers.

And every bondman.—Member of a labor organization.

And every free man.—Other worker (if not a bond-slave of Christ).

Hid themselves in the dens.—See Isa. 2:19-21.

And in the rocks of the mountains.—“As the trouble increases, men will seek, but in vain, for protection in the great rocks and fortresses of society (Free Masonry, Odd Fellowship, and Trades Unions, Guilds, Trusts, and all societies secular and ecclesiastical), and in the mountains (governments) of earth.”—B. 139; Jer. 3:23; Hos. 10:8.

6:16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us.—“The Greek word epi, here used, is generally translated on, but has also the significance of over (Rev. 5:10) and about, and is so translated many times in the common version. The thought is that of protection, not of destruction. The common view of this passage, that it teaches that wicked men will get faith enough to pray for literal mountains to fall, is absurd. The real fulfilment is already beginning: the great, the rich, and no less the poor, are seeking to the mountains and rocks and caves for shelter from the darkening storm of trouble which all see is gathering.”—B. 139; Hos. 10:8.

And hide us from the face.—Of Justice, now about to demand an accounting for our stewardship.

Of Him that sitteth on the Throne.—Jehovah.

And from the wrath of the Lamb.—Whose followers we have falsely professed to be.

6:17. For the great day of [His] THEIR wrath is come.—The wrath of the Father, the Son, and the glorified saints.—Rev. 2:26, 27; Isa. 13:6-19; Zeph. 1:14-18.

And who shall be able to stand.—The answer through the Prophet is, 'He that hath clean hands [an honest life] and a pure heart [a conscience void of offence toward God and man]: he shall ascend into the mountain [Kingdom] of the Lord and stand in the holy place.' (Psa. 24:3, 4; D. 582.) “Oh, what sorrow it gives us at times to behold some not standing well the testing of this hour, some who are developing tendencies of weakness, disloyalty to the cause, ambition for name and fame or position, desire to be greatest, tendencies to lord it over God's heritage, and who, unless recovered, will be surely cut off from membership in the Body, even though, as the Apostle declares, they may be saved so as by fire, as members of the ‘great company.’—1 Cor. 3:15.” (Z. '06-309; Psa. 76:7.) The only ones who will stand are the twelve tribes named in the next chapter.

Revelation 7—Seventh Seal And Great Company

7:1. And after [these things] THIS.—After the events disclosed by the opening of the sixth seal had already been amply fulfilled, but not signifying that further, more elaborate and final fulfilments on an immense scale will not take place later.

I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth.—The Little Flock, commissioned to carry the message of Present Truth to the remotest outposts of civilization. “They shall gather together His Elect from the four winds.”—Matt. 24:31.

Holding the four winds of the earth.—“The winds of the earth referred to here are, of course, symbolic. The thought is that the winds from the four quarters—North, East, South and West—are being held back, and that when the restraint is withdrawn they will rush together, and the result will be a whirlwind. Certain Scriptures tell of a whirlwind that will be raised up from the coasts of the earth. See Jer. 23:19; 25:32, 33; 30:23, 24. We do not understand that this will be a physical whirlwind, but this symbolic expression is used to convey the thought of a severe strife of the powers of the air. These ‘powers of the air,’ or ‘winds,’ are not powers of natural air, but are the powers referred to by St. Paul when he speaks of Satan as ‘the Prince of the power of the air,’ (Eph. 2:2.) Those spirits who have been under the control of Satan—the fallen angels—were to be restrained until the Judgment of the Great Day. (Jude 6.) The letting loose of these winds, or air powers, would seem to show that God will let go His hand of restraint; that He will have to do with the permission of the terrible trouble that will come. This outside influence will exercise a baneful effect upon men, when finally granted the liberty. These fallen spirits have been under restraint for these many centuries, but they have exercised their influence to whatever extent they have had permission. If they had had unlimited power they would have wrecked the world long ago; but they have been restrained. Apparently God will soon cease to restrain the fallen angels, and they will then proceed to vent their fury upon humanity, so that the whole earth will be full of violence, the same as in the days of Noah. The power manifested by the demons when loosed, will, we believe, be with a view to the injury of mankind. We do not know but that many of our readers will have a share in that injury. We have every reason to suppose that, if these fallen angels shall get loose, they will vent their first anger upon the Lord's people.”—Z. '14-166.

That the wind should not blow.—“As soon as the power that is now controlling them shall be removed, we shall have a reign of evil all over the earth. The evil spirits will do all the evil that is in their power, and this will constitute the trial of all the fallen angels—the lifting of the restraints to see whether they will go contrary to the Divine will. All who thus manifest their alliance with evil in any way will become subjects of the Second Death; while others who show their loyalty to God will mark themselves as worthy, presumably, of everlasting life. It may be something in connection with the saints that will constitute the test of these angels. This will be the key, the secret connected with the awful Time of Trouble which the Bible tells us will mark the conclusion of this Age and which will constitute the forerunner or beginning of the New Dispensation.” (Z. '11-359.) THE TEST IS ON.

On the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.—“Symbolically, the earth represents organized society; the sea represents the disorganized masses (Dan. 7:2; Lu. 21:25; Rev. 10:2, 8), and the trees represent the Household of Faith. The letting loose suddenly of the fallen angels will account well for the suddenness of the coming trouble, which everywhere in the Scriptures is one of its particular features—‘in one hour’; ‘suddenly as travail upon a woman’; ‘as it was in the days of Noah,’ and ‘as it was in the days of Lot’”—Z. '11-157.

“There is only one way, so far as we can see, in which these fallen angels can have a trial, their trial consisting in having a fuller opportunity to sin, if they so desire, or an opportunity to show, if they wish, that they are sick of sin and desire to return to harmony with God. We cannot think that God will allow this trial of the angels during the Millennial Reign, for then, nothing shall hurt; nothing shall destroy; Satan will be bound and all evil influences will be restrained. No; it cannot be then. And in order to be tried at all, these fallen angels must have certain liberties granted, to prove them. Otherwise, where would be their trial? Consequently, reasoning along this basis (2 Peter 2:4), we reach the conclusion that the trial of these fallen angels is in the near future—perhaps to some extent already begun. In what way?” (Z. '11-358.) He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!—1 Cor. 6:2.

7:2. And I saw another angel.—The Messenger of the Covenant; our Lord Jesus at His Second Advent.—Mal. 3:1.

Ascending from the east.—“This speaks symbolically of the Sun of Righteousness and its full light of Divine truth and blessing scattering the shadows of sin, ignorance, superstition and death, and healing and restoring the willing and obedient of humanity.”—D. 653; Luke 1:78; Mal. 4:2.

Having the seal of the living God.—The seventh seal.

And He cried with a loud voice.—Pastor Russell was the voice used. Beautiful voice of the Lord: strong, humble, wise, loving, gentle, just, merciful, faithful, self-sacrificing; one of the noblest, grandest characters of all history “I lift my pen, not in defense of any doctrine, creed or dogma, but in defense of a man, in defense of fairness, justice and righteousness. Pastor C. T. Russell, of Brooklyn, N. Y., stands out prominently as a target for the pulpits and religious press of the country today. I believe there is no one more bitterly persecuted, harshly condemned, woefully misrepresented and misunderstood than this fearless, conscientious man of God. No infidel writer, such as Hume, Voltaire or Ingersoll, ever suffered such ruthless attacks as have been made upon Mr. Russell. Whether this persecution and misrepresentation is due to prejudice or ignorance of this man's real character and writing, is not for me to say, but I believe both are elements that play a part in the widespread criticism uttered both from the pulpit and the press. Naturally, men will resent any attack made upon the creed of their persuasion, for they hold to their religious creed and affiliations with more tenacity than they realize, until some strong mind, backed by Scripture proof, begins to uproot their doctrine by showing their inconsistencies and errors. This is what Mr. Russell proceeds to do. As a logician and theologian he is doubtless without a peer today. In his research for Biblical Truth and harmony he is without a parallel in this Age. Without a blemish in his character, with the loftiest ideals of God, and the possibilities of man, he towers like a giant, unmatched. His defects fade into insignificance. He has been too busy spreading Divine Truth, as he honestly sees it, to waste time in frivolous speculation in matters not in some way connected with man's future state, as outlined in ‘The Plan of the Ages.’ Unselfish, liberal and courteous to Christians of all denominations, but fearlessly condemning, in unmeasured terms, the errors and inconsistencies in their creeds, as he sees them, he ranks with immortal benefactors, and is stamping his opinion on the world as no other man has done since the days of the Reformation. Efforts to throttle the press to prevent the publication of his sermons have repeatedly been made. Why this opposition? Why would any one oppose investigation or revelation and searching the Scriptures? Why? What right has any one to prevent free thought, free speech, or the freedom of the press? What manner of men are we? Let men, preachers or what not, beware of blocking the way of such a man. Jesus said, ‘And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it is better that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.’ Mark 9:42. Better be like Gamaliel in the days of the Apostles, when St. Peter and others were on trial. Gamaliel rose up and said, ‘Refrain from these men, and let them alone, for if this work be of men it will come to naught; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, for ye fight against God.’”—Prof. S. A. Ellis.

To the four angels.—The church in the flesh, the Harvest workers.—Matt. 24:31.

To whom it was given.—By completing the Harvest work and thus releasing the restraints on the evil spirits.

To hurt the earth.—Throw order-loving peoples into desperation.

And the sea.—So enrage the masses, not under religious restraint, as to make it impossible to control them.

7:3. Saying, Hurt not the earth.—Do not complete the Harvest work too soon, and thus allow the demons to invade the minds of men until the appointed time. (Many writers claim that this has already happened to the ex-Czar of Russia, to Kaiser Wilhelm and to the chief of modern “evangelists.”)

Neither the sea.—I will see to it that the work of Harvest shall hold in check those not under religious restraint until the work of Harvest is finished and the demons are released, when, maddened by the obsession of the evil spirits, there are no lengths to which the godless will not presume to go. All Bible Students, followers of Pastor Russell, know how urgently he has warned for forty years that this deluge of evil spirits is sure to come.

Nor the trees.—See Rev. 8:7. Have you enjoyed this work thus far? Are you convinced it is of the Lord—prepared under His guidance? Have you carefully and prayerfully read the comments on Rev. 7:1? Then brace yourself for the truth that it is evidently God's purpose soon to allow the minds of many of His little ones to become an open battle ground, upon which the fallen angels shall be judged, and the manner in which we meet the tests will prove our worthiness of crowns at the same time that it proves these disobedient spirits unworthy of life on any plane. This is something with which some but not many are yet familiar. Truly, we know the Apostle in writing of this evil day says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked ones in heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Truly, we know the Lord Jesus, at the First Advent began His ministry with forty days of conflict with the Adversary, who all that time sought to sway His mind (Matt. 4:1-11). Truly, we have reason to believe He must have had other terrible battles when He spent all night in prayer, and especially when He was so depressed in the garden of Gethsemane. But without actual experience it is quite impossible to conceive of the intensity of such struggles as Eph. 6:12 suggests. The base of the brain is seized as in a vise. Interpretations of Scripture, ingenious, but misleading beyond description, are projected into the mind as water might be projected through a hose. Visions may be tried, wonderful illuminations of the mind as by a soft but glorious greenish or yellowish haze. Seductive suggestions may be made, based on circumstances of the environment. Offers of inspiration may be made. The privilege of sleep may be taken away for days at a stretch. All this is with the object of forcing the unfortunate into at least temporary insanity so as to destroy his influence and, if possible, his faith in God. Failing in all other attempts, the mind may be flooded with thoughts that are vile beyond description. THEN REMEMBER THE VOW.

The fact that Jehovah intends some unique experiences for the antitypical Isaac may be judged from the fact that between Isaac's conception (Gen. 17:19 and 18:10) and his birth (Gen. 21:1) occurred the destruction of Sodom (Gen. 18:16 to end of 19th Chap.) and Abraham's denial of Sarah (Gen. 20). But reading the latter account, the child of God is comforted with God's care of His little ones (Gen. 20:3) with the assurance that none of Satan's plans can mature (Gen. 20:18) without the Lord's permission. Isaac was a type of the complete Christ; and if now The Christ is complete, as we believe, and ready to be born into the Kingdom, we should not be surprised at anything that might look like our repudiation at the Father's hands. If He pours the cup, it will only be because He knows that we can drink it, and because He wishes to prove to angels and to men that we are worthy of the honors He is to give us.—Lu. 22:42, 43; 1 Tim. 1:16.

Till we.—You “four angels,” Harvest workers in the flesh, and Myself, the Lord of the Harvest.

Have sealed the servants of our God.—See Rev. 19:20; 14:1. Satan is a diligent student of time prophecy (Luke 12:39); but not having the Holy Spirit he is unable to reach accurate conclusions. Seeing a definite Plan, and a definite time for every important feature of that Plan, his aim has ever been to thwart the purposes of the Almighty. This attempt to destroy the Seed began with the death of Abel and still continues. No doubt Satan believed the Millennial Kingdom was due to be set up in 1915; and no doubt, also, he knew that seven years prior to the time of the setting up of that kingdom the restraints upon the evil spirits would be lifted. Be that as it may, there is evidence that the establishment of the Kingdom in Palestine will probably be in 1925, ten years later than we once calculated. The 70 jubilees, reckoned as 50 years each, expire October, 1925. (B. 186.) Gen. 15:1-16:3, read connectedly, indicates that Abraham's vision as to when he would receive the Kingdom was not granted until ten years after the Covenant was made, or 2035 B. C. The ages of the animals offered aggregated eleven years, which, applied prophetically, on the scale of a year for a day, equal 3960 years, the length of time from the date of the visions to A. D. 1925 (Z. '07-79). It seems conclusive that the hour of Nominal Zion's travail is fixed for the Passover of 1918. (See Rev. 3:14.) That will be 7 years prior to 1925. At that time there is every reason to believe the fallen angels will invade the minds of many of the Nominal Church people, driving them to exceedingly unwise conduct and leading to their destruction at the hands of the enraged masses, who will later be dragged to the same fate. The great war now raging is most certainly the work of evil spirits, and the Kaiser is not the only clever ruler who has been deceived by evil spirits, as history will sometime show.—Lu. 12:56.

If our reasoning is correct, we inquire whether there was any indication of a move on Satan's part 7 years prior to 1915, showing that he expected the restraints to be removed from the evil spirits at that time; and we answer that there was something very definite indicated at that time. In the Vow, advised by Pastor Russell in that year, and in the experiences of many, for and against it, it is plain that the Enemy then attempted to come in like a flood, but was held back—restrained until the sealing work is done. (Matt. 10:25; Luke 22:42-44; Heb. 12:4; Isa. 63:3.) After the demons have been turned loose on the swine class, we shall see what happens. (Matt. 7:6; 8:31-34.) Those now fearful that they might learn something will be terror-stricken then for a different reason.

In their foreheads.—“The storm is held in check until the faithful servants of God are ‘sealed in their foreheads’ (Exod. 13:9; 28:36, 38. Deut. 6:8; Ezek. 9:4-6; Rev. 14:1), i. e., until such are given an intellectual appreciation which will not only comfort them, and shield them, but also be a mark, seal or evidence of their sonship, as indicated by our Lord when He promised that the Holy Spirit should show to the faithful ‘things to come.’ (John 16:13.)” (B. 169.) When the demon test comes, those who have the mark of sonship (Ezek. 9:2-4) will know it and will stand the test, while all others will surely fail. A letter from one of the Bethel workers, written shortly after Pastor Russell's death, says: “About three months ago I asked several questions at the table, the last one being as follows, ‘Since I now see that the Jewish Time of Trouble did not end until the year 73 A. D., as I fully proved to myself by consulting the historians, what then are we to expect in the parallel year 1918?’ Brother Russell put the question to three prominent brethren, all of whom replied that they did not know, but were willing to wait and see. When he called upon me I said, ‘Since the year 73 A. D. saw the complete overthrow of nominal Natural Israel in Palestine, so in the parallel year 1918, I infer we should look for the complete overthrow of nominal Spiritual Israel; i. e., the fall of Babylon. (Rev. 18.)’ Brother Russell replied: ‘Exactly. That is exactly the inference to draw.’” The conclusion of the Church's career comes first. (Rev. 3:14.)

“If you see the ‘door’ of opportunity for sacrifice and service open before you, enter in. But enter quickly; for the night of darkness and of intense opposition to the truth will ere long be upon us and will hinder you from engaging in the service. ‘The morning cometh, and also the night.’ ‘The night cometh in which no man can work.’ When that is true, you may know that ‘the door is shut.’ that all the wise virgins have entered in, that all have been proved, and that all vacancies have been acceptably filled. All the special ‘servants of God’ having by that time been ‘sealed in their foreheads’ (given an intellectual appreciation of God's Plan), the four winds will be loosed and will produce the great ‘whirlwind’ of trouble in the midst of which the remnant of the Elijah class will be ‘changed,’ and exalted to Kingdom glory.”—C. 225.

7:4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed.—“We have every reason to believe that the definite, fixed number of the Elect is that several times stated in Revelation, namely, 144,000 ‘redeemed from amongst men.’” (F. 179; Rev. 14:1.) This is the equivalent of one saint fully developed for each five days of the Age.

And there were sealed 144,000.—On this point one of Pastor Russell's coworkers has well said: “That this is not a symbolical, but an exact number, seems certain from the fact that, in the same chapter reference is made to another company, also spirit-begotten. In the 9th verse we read: ‘I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number.’ It is not probable that this multitude is so great that no one could actually count them, but rather that none can state their number, God having left it indefinite.”

Of all the tribes of the children of Israel.—“As a name, Israel signified ‘The people blessed of the Lord,’ ‘The people of God,’ ‘The Lord's people.’—2 Chron. 7:14.” (D. 654; Gal. 6:16; Rom. 9:6-8.) Each of the saints is reckoned as belonging to one of the twelve tribes of “Israelites indeed,” which tribes bear the names of the twelve patriarchs of natural Israel. In every family each child is beloved for some characteristic peculiarly its own; and in the meaning of the names of the children of Israel we may recognize certain of the qualities which make each overcomer precious in the Father's sight.

7:5. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.—Juda signifies Celebrated, lauded, praised. Nothing is more praiseworthy than justice, noble-mindedness, the doing to everybody as one would wish to be done by. Our Lord was the Just One of the tribe of Juda. All who knew Pastor Russell intimately, recognized that justice was the foundation principle of his character. The mention of the Lord's tribe first shows that there is a Divine order in the arrangement of the names, inasmuch as that order is different from the order of the birth of Jacob's sons. Doubtless the brightest crowns will be worn by those that are wholly without self-love, either in heart or in life.—Gen. 38:12-26; 43:3-10; 44:14, 34; 46:28.

Of the tribe of Reuben [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Reuben's name signifying “See ye, a son, provided in my affliction” or The Pity of God, seems to refer to the five-talented brethren who make their calling and election sure. To be possessed of ability and means to get the fullest enjoyment out of life, and to sacrifice it all gladly, requires a standard of character so high that the Lord expressly states that not many attain it. (1 Cor. 1:26; Gen. 37:21, 22, 29, 30; 42:22, 37.) A taint of love of the world (spiritual uncleanness) is all that prevents from attaining the very highest place.—Gen. 35:22; 49:3, 4; 2 Cor. 7:1.

Of the tribe of Gad [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Gad's name, signifying A troop of children cometh, seems to give the third highest honor to those faithful men and women who have been blessed of God in bringing many of their own descendants into the Divine family. Instances are on record where as many as twelve children in one family have all come into the light of Present Truth and consecrated, as a result of the life and teachings of a noble father and mother. There is a family interest on the part of the Heavenly Father in every family that rightly seeks His face. Not a crown is available for others, so long as even one child of one of the consecrated is ready to run for that crown. “The promise is unto you [first], and to your children [next], and [after that] to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord your God shall call.” (Acts 2:39; 1 Cor. 7:14.) “Of the childhood and life of the patriarch Gad nothing is preserved. At the time of the descent into Egypt, seven sons are ascribed to him, remarkable from the fact that a majority of their names have plural terminations, as if those of families rather than persons.” (McC.)—Gen. 46:16; Num. 26:15-18.

7:6. Of the tribe of Aser [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Aser's name signifies Happy. “And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.” (Gen. 30:13.) Apparently the fourth highest place of honor goes to the happy Christians. Wherever else the long-faced saints go they do not get into the Asher tribe. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say rejoice. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.”—Phil. 4:4; 3:1; 2 Chron. 20:22.

Of the tribe of Nephtalim [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Naphtali's name signifies Great wrestlings, and suggests that the fifth highest place will go to those who have especially sought the face of the Father in prayer. By his birth Naphtali was allied to Dan, the class that goes into the Second Death. (Gen. 35:25; 49:17.) The suggestion is not strained, then, that here is a class that has overcome largely because they have so much appreciated, and have used to such good purpose, the privilege of seeking the Father's face in prayer.—Luke 11:5-13; James 1:5; 3:17.

Of the tribe of Manasses [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Manasseh's name signifies Forgetting, “For God hath made me forget all my toil and all my father's House.” (Gen. 41:51.) The sixth honor apparently refers to a class having naturally very strong human attachments, for the dear ones of their earthly families, and yet love the Lord still more. Great is the love, great the faithfulness of those that hear and heed the Divine proposal: “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's House.”—Psa. 45:10.

7:7. Of the tribe of Simeon [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Simeon signifies Hearing. “Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, He hath therefore given me this son also.” (Gen. 29:33.) This suggests that the seventh place of honor is reserved for those who have been hated in their home circles because of faithfulness to the Word of the Lord. The Lord saw that the beauties of their characters would only shine forth to the best advantage if they were made ready in just such environment. How sweet, how beautiful, is the patient heart developed under such conditions!—Rom. 5:3; Col. 1:11, 12; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12; 5:10; Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12; James 1:12.

Of the tribe of Levi [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Levi's name signifies A joining. “This time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have borne him three sons.” The next honor is apparently reserved for those who have literally sacrificed all their possessions in this world in order that they might be more closely joined to the Lord and His service. Levi had no inheritance in the land, as a tribe, and as an individual the only event recorded in the life of the patriarch is one of destruction of the unfaithful.—Gen. 34:25-29.

Of the tribe of Issachar [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Issachar signifies There is reward, or He brings reward. “God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband.” “Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: and he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear.” (Gen. 30:18; 49:14, 15.) This seems to signify that the next honor goes to the zealous, those who joyfully undertake, in the Lord's name and cause, to work hard for the glory of His name.—1 Cor. 15:58.

7:8. Of the tribe of Zabulon [were sealed] twelve thousand.—Zebulun signifies Habitation or Dwelling. It signifies the blessed satisfaction that comes to those who, like the Master, during their earthly pilgrimages have not known where to lay their heads; but, although they have wrestled with poverty throughout life's little day, have nevertheless held faithfully to the Lord, serving Him, with limited education, strength, talents and opportunities, in hope of finally reaching “The Home where changes never come, nor pain, nor sorrow, toil nor care.” What a homecoming they will have! In the Father's House of many mansions theirs will be the happiest home.

Of the tribe of [Joseph were sealed] BENJAMIN twelve thousand.—Benjamin signified Son of my Sorrow originally, but the name was changed to signify Son of the right hand. The youngest of Jacob's children, he seems in some aspects to typify the Great Company class (Z. '81-1-7), but succeeds in gaining the higher reward, probably because of being the companions of those that occupy more advanced positions in the Body. Thus the humble-minded and faithful servants and companions may and do fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, even though their personal sufferings be slight.—Heb. 10:33.

Of the tribe of [Benjamin were sealed] JOSEPH twelve thousand.—The Sinaitic MS. mentions Joseph last, with peculiar fitness. Joseph was one of the most beautiful characters of the Bible. His name signifies Whom may God increase. He had so many virtues that it is inadvisable to attempt their enumeration, but the story is told at length in Gen. 37-50. He is one of the very few characters named in the Bible about whom nothing uncomplimentary is expressed. He well represents all the other members of the Divine family, all of whom have attained the Divine likeness in their hearts and given expression to that likeness as well as the frailties and weaknesses of the flesh would permit.

It will be noticed that the tribes of Dan and Ephraim are omitted from the foregoing list. Dan evidently represents the class that goes into the Second Death. The name signifies “God hath judged me.” (Gen. 30:6.) We know that all God's judgments are just and look for the reason for Dan's rejection. Jacob prophesied that it would be Dan “that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.” (Gen. 49:17.) Horses are symbols of doctrines. Dan evidently represents a class tampering with doctrines, resulting in the overthrow of the New Creature. A study of the history of the tribe of Dan confirms this. Originally Dan was given one of the choicest parts of Palestine, one of the most fertile and the most secure. It was completely embraced by its two brother tribes Ephraim and Benjamin, while on the south-east and south it joined Judah, and was thus surrounded by the three most powerful states of the whole confederacy. The Danites however failed to conquer the land originally assigned to them (representing the failure of the New Creature to gain the victory over the mind of the flesh) and chose another inheritance to the far north (Judges 18:1-31). This selection of the farthest north resembles Satan's similar choice (Isa. 14:13) and suggests that the Danite New Creatures were led away from their original inheritance by ambition. The context shows an unreasonably high valuation of their own judgment and a wilful interference with the priestly office, and this we may judge has been a frequent offense of those who commit the great sin that lies just beyond the sin of presumption. (Psa. 19:13; 2 Sam. 6:6, 7.) THE TEST IS ON; take heed! take heed!

The half tribe of Ephraim represents the Great Company, mainly to be found in the Nominal Church. They are more or less intoxicated with error (Isa. 28:1, 7), they fear to let go of their idols of creeds and catechisms (Hos. 4:17), they are, in a way, half-baked Christians, not wholly devoted to the Lord—“Ephraim is a cake not turned.” (Hos. 7:8.) From first to last the prophecy of Hosea is eloquent with Jehovah's pleadings to the Great Company class not to miss the great prize of Immortality.

7:9. After this, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude.—When the Apostle tells us in 2 John 8, “Look to yourselves that ye lose not those things which we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward,” he is teaching that a Heavenly reward may be gained that is not as full as if a course more pleasing to the Heavenly Father is pursued.

Instead of teaching that the saved of our race will all be saved to the same thing, the Scriptures show two degrees or kinds of Heavenly salvation, and two degrees or kinds of earthly salvation. In the second chapter of Genesis the stream which went forth from the Garden of Eden was divided into four parts. This is a Scriptural recognition of the fact that from Adam, the original fountain of life, will flow four streams: The Little Flock, who are to sit down with Christ in His Throne; the Great Company, who are to stand before the Throne, having the palms of martyrdom but without the crowns of glory; the Ancient Worthies, the Jewish fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, etc., who are to be made princes in all the earth; and the world of mankind, who will constitute the subjects of the Kingdom over which the Ancient Worthies will rule. The same lesson is taught in the division of the Levites into four camps, each located on a different side of the Tabernacle. (Num. 3:15; F. 128, 129.) It is also taught in the Apostle's statement in 2 Tim. 2:20, that in God's great House there will ultimately be found four classes of vessels to His praise.

The question for the saints is not as to which of the earthly classes may ultimately include them, for they have given up their earthly hopes in exchange for Heavenly hopes. The question is whether they shall be wise virgins, faithful students of the Word, building with the gold, silver and precious stones of Divine Truth instead of foolish virgins (pure of heart) (Matt. 25:2; C. 91; F. 75) who build faith structures with the wood, hay and stubble of human tradition. The Apostle says the fiery trials of life will try every man's work so as by fire, and intimates that those who do not build wisely shall suffer loss—not go into eternal torment, but fail to gain the great reward which otherwise might be theirs. (1 Cor. 3:15; T. 69.) The question is whether as branches in Christ the Vine, to go onward to fruit-bearing, or as other branches, to be principally devoted to leaves (professions), or tendrils (feelers after earthly honors and emoluments). (John 15:2; F. 78, 170.) Christ said of a similar class in His day, “How can ye believe [effectively] which receive honor one of another, and seek not the praise which cometh from God only!” The question is whether we are to be termed children of disobedience (Col. 3:6; Z. '99-140) because, though God's children, we have failed to mortify, or put to death, our earthly and sinful tendencies; whether we are sinners against the covenant we have made with God to lay down our lives in His service (Psa. 1:1; Z. '00-281), whether, like Lot's wife, we look back to the earthly good things we have given up (Gen. 19:26; C. 194), or whether we retain the singleness of heart and purpose, without which the prize of the High Calling cannot be gained.

The question is whether, as babes in Christ, we shall wink at the unscriptural divisions of God's people, into followers of Paul or Apollos, Cephas or Luther, Calvin or Wesley (1 Cor. 3:4; D. 17); whether, like Rahab, we shall be in the citadel of error when it falls, or like Joshua who caused it to fall (Josh. 6:25; Z. '07-267); whether, like the fitches and cummin, we shall easily divest ourselves of the entangling associations of life, represented by the pods from which the fitches and cummin are so easily shaken, or whether we shall be like the “bread-corn” which requires a vast amount of threshing before it will let go of the close-clinging chaff. (Isa. 28:27; Z. '84-1-4.) The question is whether, like the rejected members of Gideon's army, we shall forget our mission, and bury our heads in the waters of truth; or whether, with equal appreciation of its message, we shall remember why the Lord gave it to us, and shall drink of it, with our eyes out over the horizon, seeking to serve, to spend and be spent in the Master's service. (Judg. 7:6; Z. '07-331.) The question is whether, like Caleb and Joshua, we shall retain our confidence in Him who has called us, and bring back true reports of the land we hope ere long to possess, or, whether we shall be of the larger company that through fear and faint-heartedness never enter in. (Num. 13:31; Z. '07-251.) Shall we rejoice to lay down our lives for the Lord's brethren, or shall we, through fear of this sacrificial death, be all our lifetime subject to bondage? (Heb. 2:15; T. 70, 71.) The question is whether we shall be like the servant who hid his Lord's talent in the earth (in earthly enjoyments and pursuits) (Matt. 25:24; Z. '01-61; Z. '06-318), whether we shall be double minded, having some idea of attaining heavenly things and some idea of getting all we can of earthly things (Jas. 1:8; Z. '07-316), whether, like Obadiah, we are merely friendly toward the Truth and those who stand for the Truth, but conceal our interest for fear of the consequences to ourselves and our families.—1 Ki. 18:3; Z. '04-221.

If, in these tests of faith and character, we come off victorious in the Lord's sight, we shall not need to be of those who wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, in the great tribulation with which this Age will close, but shall keep our robes unspotted so that they will not need such a general cleansing. If we have fled to the Lord before the winter time of His disfavor has come upon the man-made systems of our day, we shall be spared the rigors of the flight, of which He said, “Pray that your flight be not in the winter [of 1917-1918 (?)]” (Matt. 20:10; D. 578), and we shall be spared, too, the bitter disappointment of saying at that time, “The Harvest [the time of special favor] is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved” [not saved with the chiefest salvation, with the salvation to which we aspired]. (Jer. 8:20; D. 578.) In the time of Zion's travail these children of God will all be delivered. (Isa. 66:8; Z. '94-135.) Let us be glad of our hope that we shall be of the Man-child delivered before that travail comes. Let us hope we may not be of the lambs (Isa. 34:6; D. 17) or the goats found together in the nominal sheepfolds when the time has come to wind up present ecclesiastical systems. All down the Age, some of God's children have been “turned over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5; T. 69, 71), because they have not lived up to their covenants. The sufferings of the scapegoat class, turned into the wilderness, dying of thirst, hunger, snake-bites, thorns, briars, burrs, fleas or attacks of wild animals, were far greater than those of the Lord's goat, killed sacrificially. (Lev. 16:7-10; T. 60.) Those who withhold from the Lord what they have promised Him suffer far more than those who fight manfully the good fight of faith and lay hold with both hands on the hope set before us.

The Great Company class will say “Alleluia” as soon as they perceive that the Church is complete. (Rev. 19:1; A. 240; F. 128.) But like Rebecca's damsels of old, they must go the same long journey as the Bride class, only to be received as servants in the end. (Gen. 24:61; Psa. 45:14; F. 121, 171.) Shall we enter fully into our inheritance now, while the door is still open to do and dare in the Master's Cause; or shall we be like the class mentioned in Ezekiel 44 that finds the door shut because the start is made too late, and must know that forever the Heavenly Priesthood, the prize of the High Calling, is closed, and that the most that can be then attained is the place as keepers or servants in the Temple? (Ezek. 44:1-14; Z. '05-269.) Let us rejoice if we are heirs of salvation at all; but let us resolve, by God's grace, that we shall, in the words of our text, “Look to ourselves, that we lose not those things that we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward”—all that the Father is pleased to give to those who love Him supremely.

“What we see going on about us seems natural to our minds. The way in which other people spend time and money is a temptation to the Lord's people which must be steadfastly resisted. For us to do what others do, and to devote to the Lord's service only what the world considers a reasonable day's work, would not be fulfilling our Covenant of Sacrifice at all. Those who seek merely to do right, and to put in eight hours or so a day faithfully, after the manner of the world, will be judged from this standpoint; and they will merely obtain a place in the Great Company. They are not fulfilling the conditions of the Covenant of Sacrifice.”—Z. '14-71.

“We do not think we should understand the Scriptures to teach that the Great Company will attain to the same degree of spiritual development as the Little Flock. They fail to display that love and zeal which the Lord has set as the mark for participation in the Royal Priesthood.” (Z. '14-68.) “In determining to sacrifice themselves piecemeal when and how they and their friends might please, is the primary mistake.” (Z. '96-191.) “While the living members of the Bride are being separated from others by the Truth, the ears of this class are dull of hearing and they are slow to believe and slow to act.” (A. 240.) “In one parable the Lord styles this class a wicked and slothful servant. He does not deny him the honor of being a servant, He does not charge him with becoming an enemy. He is counted wicked and slothful because, having undertaken certain responsibilities as a servant, he has failed to manifest the proper spirit of earnest devotion.”—Z. '07-315.

Which no man could number.—“Whose number no man is able to tell (i. e., it is not a foreordained or fixed number—none were called to be of this company.)”—Rev. 5:11.

Of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.—“As the number of the Bride of Christ is to be 144,000, it would be reasonable to think that each number of this class may have 144,000 to look after, as 144,000 x 144,000 equals 20,736,000,000 (twenty billions seven hundred and thirty-six millions), evidently just about the right number to be cared for—144,000 would be quite a host for each individual of the Bride class to look after. So we can see the necessity for the work of the Great Company.”—Question Meeting.

Stood before the Throne.—Not in the Throne, as in the case of the Bride. (A. 214.) “The Scriptures inform us that as that which is begotten of the flesh is flesh, so that which is begotten of the Spirit is spirit. That is to say, that whoever has been begotten of the Holy Spirit has experienced a change of nature so radical that it would be impossible for him to share a resurrection with the world on the human plane.”—Z. '07-316.

And before the Lamb.—“Since their hearts are loyal to the Redeemer, and since they maintain their faith in the precious blood and hold fast and do not deny the same, therefore the Lord Jesus, the Advocate, the Captain of our Salvation, who leads the Very Elect to glory through the steps of willing sacrifice, will lead these to a spiritual blessing—to perfection on a lower plane of spirit-being—because they have trusted in Him and have not denied His name or His work.”—F. 169.

Clothed with white robes.—“They let slip their opportunity for becoming members of the Bride; but they are, nevertheless, virgins, pure in their heart-intentions.”—F. 127; Rev. 7:14.

And palms in their hands.—“The palm is especially the symbol of martyrdom. The palm of martyrdom has become in the language of the Church, a classical and sacramental expression. In the diptychs, the acts of the martyrs, and the martyrologies, we read, ‘He has received the palm of martyrdom’—he has been crowned with the palm of the martyrs.” (McC.) Many of the martyrs of the Dark Ages were undoubtedly of the Great Company.

7:10. And [cried] THEY CRY with a loud voice.—In grand and happy chorus of exultant praise and thanksgiving over their final deliverance.—Rev. 19:1-3.

Saying, Salvation.—Our glorious and unmerited boon of life on so high a plane.

To our God.—Be ascribed to Him as the Author.—Psa. 3:8.

[Which sitteth] upon the Throne.—Jehovah.—Rev. 4:2; 5:13.

And unto the Lamb.—The Tower of the Flock, Christ as the instrument of salvation.—Micah 4:8.

7:11. And all the angels.—The beautiful sons of the morning who shouted for joy in the dawn of earth's creative week 48,000 years ago.—Job 38:7; Lu. 2:9-14; Matt. 4:11; 28:2; F. 51.

Stood round about the Throne.—With eager joy welcoming this new addition to the family of God.

And about the elders.—The prophecies, many of which have pointed out this second and greater company. But notice the exquisite nicety of the Word of God and the Wisdom of our Father! Not all the elders do mention the Great Company, and therefore the designation “four and twenty,” in this instance, is omitted.

And the four beasts.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

And fell before the Throne on their faces.—No wonder such humble characters “always behold the face of the Father.”—Matt. 18:10.

And worshipped God.—There is no self-seeking among the angels. When an angel appeared to Manoah and his wife, and Manoah sought to know his name, he left an everlasting lesson in his reply, “Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?”—Judges 13:2-23.

7:12. Saying, Amen.—So be it! We are not at all jealous. We are delighted to have these new helpers in the Heavenly realm.

Blessing.—The praises and blessings of all who owe their existence to His goodness.

And wisdom.—To continually and forever unfold some new and wonderful features of goodness and grace towards the work of His hands.

And thanksgiving.—From “every creature which is in Heaven and on earth.”—Rev. 5:13.

And honor.—To the Name so long and so unjustly and foully dishonored, by the eternal torment theory.

And power.—Restrained for thousands of years, but now about to be exercised in man's behalf.—Psa. 76:10.

And might.—The ability to accomplish fully all His purposes.—Isa. 55:11.

Be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.—Be ascribed to Jehovah for eternity.—Rev. 5:13,14.

7:13. And one of the elders.—The prophecy of Isaiah 1:10-20.

Answered, saying unto me.—Under symbolism of Sodom because of their identification with spiritual Sodom's work and hopes.—Rev. 11:8.

What are these which are arrayed in white robes.—Who are these of whom it is said, “Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings before mine eyes,” etc.?—Isa. 1:15, 16; Rev. 7:9.

And whence came they.—Why are they figuratively represented as stained with blood?

7:14. And I said unto him, [Sir,] MY LORD, thou knowest.—It is doubtless contained in your prophecy.

And he said unto me.—In Isa. 34:5, 6, “My sword shall be bathed in Heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of My curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs.”—D. 17.

These are they which came out of great tribulation.—“‘The tribulation, the great one’—the twofold article being specially emphatic. See Rev. 3:10; 6:17; Matt. 24:21.” (Cook.) “They are those,” he said, “who have just passed through the great distress.” (Weym.) “The slaughter of this day of vengeance is said to be of the ‘lambs and goats.’ (Isa. 34:6.) The lambs would represent the tribulation saints.” (D. 17.) “The Great Company will pass through a great tribulation, with a view to effecting in them a proper penitence for sin and a proper appreciation of the Divine standard of truth and righteousness. This class, particularly large in the present day, will be delivered over to the Adversary—to suffer in a Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a nation—the great time of trouble with which this Age shall end. Such of them as fail to respond to those tribulations and to seek the Lord will die the Second Death, but such as respond faithfully will be counted as overcomers.” (Z. '07-232.)

“Many such are now being closely bound in with the various bundles of tares for the burning; and not until the fiery trouble of the latter end of the Harvest period shall burn the binding cords of Babylon's bondage shall these be able to make their escape—‘saved so as by fire.’ They must see the utter wreck of Great Babylon and receive some measure of her plagues.” (C. 364.) “Sad disappointments attach to the experiences of this company: it is because they fear the reproaches of Christ that they shirk present privileges and opportunities for walking with Him in white in the ‘sufferings of this present time:’ behold, they not only miss the present joy and rejoicing of those who are faithful, but eventually they must come through still greater sufferings, if they would attain even to a lower place. Although loving the Lord and His people, they are somewhat ashamed of them and hide, as it were, their faces from them, in the presence of the worldly: and behold the Master at His Coming for His ‘Bride’ cannot confess their names in the presence of the Father and the holy angels.” (Z. '97-162.) “These will be helped out of Babylon when she is falling, and will flee in the winter-time, saying in the words of the Prophet, ‘The Harvest is past, the Summer is ended [Winter has come], and we are not saved.’ (Jer. 8:20.)” (D. 578.) “These, surely, we cannot expect to see shielded from the very trouble which the Lord declares they need; and which in special mercy He will inflict for their perfecting.”—Z. '96-191.

And have washed their robes.—Spotted and soiled by contact with the world.—Z. '97-161.

And made them white in the blood of the Lamb.—“Not that their sufferings will wash their robes, but that in their sufferings they will learn to appreciate as never before their relationship to the Lamb of God and to His atoning merit, and by faith will be permitted to apply the same to their own cleansing.”—Z. '07-233; 1 John 1:7.

7:15. Therefore.—Because, in the final test, they suffered martyrdom and cleansed their robes rather than deny the Lord.

Are they before the Throne of God.—“With the world in the next Age, the Lord's power will be represented through the Great Company class, under the Bride. They will be a great police force, looking out for the whole people. They will have enough to do; for God has guaranteed that ‘nothing shall hurt or offend in all His holy Mountain’—Kingdom (Isa. 11:9). That will mean a careful supervision. Yes, indeed! How will they hinder wrong-doing? If a person were about to speak blasphemy or slander, the tongue might be instantly paralyzed. Very easy! A policeman right on the spot!—not waiting until the offender had done the mischief and then punishing him, but fixing him so that he will not get the chance to do it, and punishing him for trying to do so.”—Question Meeting.

And serve Him day and night in His Temple.—“Although they can never be the living Temple of which Christ is the Head (Rev. 3:12; 11:1), we are told they shall be servants in that Temple; and although they shall never sit in the Throne, they are highly privileged to serve ‘before the Throne.’ Grand and glorious privileges will be theirs.”—Z. '97-162; Rev. 22:3.

And He that sitteth on the Throne.—Jehovah.

[Shall dwell among] KNOWETH them.—To be known of the Lord is to be the sure recipient of blessings. Not to be known or recognized of Him is the greatest of all calamities. God keeps a record of His friends (Mal. 3:16) but no record of His enemies; and therein lies their ruin. “I never knew you; depart from Me.”—Matt. 7:23.

7:16. They shall NOT hunger [no more].—Poor things, how hungry they have been! How the light has shone in their poor, hunted, starved faces, as they have listened to Pastor Russell, by the tens of thousands; and yet, when the lecture was over, they have wearily gone back to the “husks,” from a sense of duty to the memory of some man, dead for hundreds of years, who would, if alive today, be a follower of the Reformer, Charles T. Russell, because he followed Christ.

Neither thirst any more.—“The waters of Truth shall no longer be brackish with error, being healed at the very spring by a clearer understanding of the Word of God.”—B. 266.

Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.—During the Harvest time the Lord's people, illuminated with the light of Present Truth, have been shining forth, not with any brilliancy of their own, but with much of the coming splendor of the “Sun of Righteousness.” Coming in contact with them, it has been inevitable that the Great Company class should frequently be singed, unable to answer the Truth, and should feel considerable heat. Their condition has been aptly described by the Prophet, “It shall be a vexation only to understand the report.” (Isa. 28:19.) “As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.”—Amos 5:19.

7:17. For the Lamb.—Jesus Christ, their eternal Friend—“The same yesterday, today, and forever.”—Heb. 13:8.

Which is in the midst of the Throne.—Authority, rulership.—A. 92; Rev. 5:6.

Shall feed them.—Be their shepherd. (John 10:1-28; 21:16.) They will not have immortality. Their lives will always require to be sustained, as in the case of the angels.

And shall lead them unto [living] fountains of waters OF LIFE.—They will not have within them the “well of water springing up unto everlasting life,” as will the Bride class, but may freely take of the “Water of life” which flows forth from the united well-springs of the Fountain and its 144,000 associates.—John 4:14; Rev. 22:1, 17; Ezekiel 47:1-5.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—There will be tears at first that will require wiping away, when they see all they have missed. Nevertheless, “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought into the King's Palace.” (Psa. 45:15.) And it is a good place; there we leave them, to bask in the sunlight of His presence forevermore. We shall know them all, then, even as we shall be known by them.—1 Cor. 13:12.

Revelation 8—Four Preliminary Reformations

8:1. And when He.—The Lord Jesus, whose privilege it is to open them all.—Rev. 6:1.

Had opened the seventh seal.—“The seal of the living God.” (Rev. 7:2.) The opening of the seventh seal is progressive. The opening and unfolding of the Truth goes on as the saints are sealed. By the time the saints are all sealed in their hearts and minds with the Present Truth, the deepest features of the Truth itself will have been disclosed. “The time will undoubtedly come in the near future when the number of the Elect will be complete. Then only such vacancies as might still occur by some falling out would remain.” (Z. '14-68.) “God's people down through this Gospel age have been privileged to know something of the ‘Secret of the Lord’—the Divine Plan. But not until the last seal is broken, does the scroll fly wide open, permitting the ‘Mystery of God’ to be fully disclosed; as it is written: ‘In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the Prophets.’ (Rev. 5:1; 10:7.)”—Z. '97-257.

There was silence.—“Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence.” (Jer. 8:14.) “They (the clergy) somehow realize that neither reason nor Scripture supports their false doctrines, and that the wisest method is to keep silent, in the shadow of old superstitions and under the protection of so-called Christian governments.”—C. 158.

In heaven.—In the nominal ecclesiastical heavens.

About the space of half an hour.—On the scale of a year for a day this would mean but a week, and indicates that, as soon as the full number to complete the Body of Christ have been sealed with the Present Truth, persecution in a public way, and on an unprecedented scale, may be expected to begin almost immediately. (This verse should properly be included in Chapter 7.)

8:2. And I saw.—As the next vision of the grand series. Something never seen until the seventh seal is broken and the Mystery of God finished.

The seven angels.—Instrumentalities suitable for the work to be performed.

Which stood before God.—Featuring the Reformation.

And to them were given seven trumpets.—Bugles with which to blow bugle-blasts of liberty from the oppressions of the papacy, leading up to and including the final blast of “Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”—Lev. 25:10.

8:3. And another angel.—Not the “voice of the Lord,” mentioned in the preceding chapter, but the corporate body—the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which Pastor Russell formed to finish his work. This verse shows that, though Pastor Russell has passed beyond the veil, he is still managing every feature of the Harvest work. “The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is the greatest corporation in the world, because from the time of its organization until now the Lord has used it as His channel through which to make known the Glad Tidings.”-Z. '17-22; Rev. 14:18; 19:17.

Came and stood.—Waited before the Lord, after the Pastor's death, ready to do the Master's will.

At the altar.—The Brazen Altar, the place of sacrifice. (Ex. 38:1-7; Lev. 16:12, 13.) The fire for the sacrifice at the Golden Altar was obtained here and then carried to the Golden Altar where the incense was crumbled in it.

Having a golden censer.—Censers, or fire-pans, were of two forms, with handles and without. In this case the kind with the handle, used only on the Day of Atonement, is the one referred to. The incense was burnt while the high priest held the censer in his hand. Thus, in this prophecy, the great antitypical High Priest identifies Himself with the work of the Society, and places in its care—holds in His hand—the fire-pans, the things that lead us to the place where we sacrifice ourselves. Thus seen, the censer represents teachings, understandings of the Word; for it is our understanding of the Word which leads us to offer up all we have in the Lord's service.—Num. 16:6, 7.

And there was given unto him much incense.—The heart's best endeavors of the faithful fellow-members of the Body.

That he should offer it.—To Jehovah, through the Son.—Rev. 5:8.

With the prayers of all saints.—The Society is the only entity in the world answering to this description. It alone has offered on its behalf the prayers of all the saints, in harmony with the clause of the Vow which reads, “Daily will I remember at the Throne of heavenly grace the general interests of the Harvest work—the dear co-laborers at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and Bethel, and everywhere.”

Upon the golden altar [which was] before the Throne.—The offerings take place “before the Throne,” on this side the veil.—Rev. 1:4; 5:6; Ex. 30:1-10.

8:4. And the smoke.—The fragrant, sweet perfume.

Of the incense.—Life's dearest ties, sacrificed in the Master's cause.

Which came with the prayers of the saints.—In harmony with the Vow of faithfulness.—Psa. 141:2; Luke 1:10; Acts 10:4.

Ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.—“An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.”—Phil. 4:18.

8:5. And the angel.—The Watch Tower Society through its proper representatives.

Took the censer.—The Seventh Volume of Studies in the Scriptures, Divinely provided.

And filled it with fire of the altar.—Coals from the altar signify burning truths; and such the Lord's prophecies always are, when rightly understood.—Isa. 6:5-8. This is a plain intimation of God's purpose to use the Society in further unfoldings of His Truth as it becomes due. “We believe that the Lord will not scatter, but will ‘turn His hand [power] upon the little ones,’ in this dark hour of trial (Zech. 13:7).”—Z. '17-30.

And cast it.—Greek, “Deliberately hurled it.”

Into the earth.—Among order-loving people.—Ezek. 10:2; Luke 12:49.

And there were [voices and] thunderings.—Seven Volumes of “Scripture Studies,” this one being the last of the series. (Rev. 10:3, 4.) Thunders are symbolical of controversy, and this volume may cause some. Particularly is it to be expected that the clergy will thunder against whatever Truth it contains. Thunder is caused by the flashing of lightning through the heavens, opening them up, as it were. Immediately after the flash they come together with an angry roar. Thunder, of itself, never does anybody any harm.—Rev. 16:18.

And voices.—“These voices have been circulated here and there throughout the whole civilized world, not by worldly agents, not through book-sellers, but by those who have themselves been blessed by the light, and who desire to render a service to the Lord and to the Truth, and to lay down their lives for the brethren by taking to them the glorious and encouraging message now due to the Lord's people.” (Z. '02-118.) Voices also symbolize discussion, contention.

And lightnings.—See Rev. 4:5; 11:19; 16:18.

And an earthquake.—“The term earthquake is used to symbolically represent revolution—it is in this sense of the word that it is used throughout the Book of Revelation. What we are to look for then will be a great revolution, the great symbolic earthquake, the great shaking of the present institutions which will overthrow everything that is not of the Lord's establishment and approval. Perhaps the symbolical earthquake will be accompanied by a literal one.”—B. S. M.

8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets.—“We, in common with almost all expositors, recognize that the seven trumpets of Revelation are symbolical and not literal.”—Z. '02-116; Josh. 6:4.

Prepared themselves to sound.—“Christian people in general understand that five of these trumpets have already ‘sounded’ and are in the past—we would say six. It is admitted that those that have already ‘sounded’ have not been literal blasts of a bugle on the air. But literal things are so much more easily received by the natural man that many advanced Christians, Bible students and ministers, are really expecting some day to hear what is sometimes denominated ‘Gabriel's horn,’ shrill enough and loud enough to awaken the dead.” (Z. '02-116.) As thoughtful Christians we should expect that, as this period is that in which the great sects have risen, its history should pay particular attention to them, and thus we find. The Reformation particularly affected “three parts” of the papal dominion, Germany, England and France.—Rev. 8:7-10.

8:7. And the first [angel] sounded.—The movement began, which later developed into the Lutheran General Synod, Lutheran United Synod South, Lutheran General Council, Lutheran Synodical Conference, United Norwegian Lutheran Synod, Ohio Independent Lutheran Synod, Buffalo Lutheran Synod, Hauge's Lutheran Synod, Eleisen's Lutheran Synod, Norwegian Lutheran Synod, Danish in America Lutheran Synod, Icelandic Lutheran Synod, Immanuel Lutheran Synod, Suomai Finnish Lutheran Synod, Finnish National Synod, Finnish Apostolic Synod, Norwegian Free Lutheran Synod, Danish United Lutheran Synod, Church of the Lutheran Brethren and Independent Lutheran Congregations.—1 Cor. 3:3.

And there followed hail.—Sharp, cutting, hard truth, contained in Luther's 95 theses nailed on the church door at Wittenberg.

And fire.—Destructive judgments upon the papacy. Luther sized up the Papal system of “Heads, I win; and tails, you lose” in a few words when he said, “The Romanists have with great dexterity built themselves about with three walls, which have hitherto protected them against reform. In the first place, when the temporal power has pressed them hard, they have affirmed and maintained that the temporal power has no jurisdiction over them—that on the contrary, the spiritual is above the temporal. Secondly, when it is proposed to admonish them from the Holy Scriptures they said, ‘It beseems no one but the pope to interpret the Scriptures,’ and thirdly, when they were threatened with a council, they invented the idea that no one but the pope can call a council.”

Mingled with blood.—Blood is a symbol of death-dealing doctrine, and this teaches that Luther did not get entirely free from error. The following illustrates this point: “There gradually developed a group of radicals who were convinced that Luther had not the courage of his convictions. They proposed to abolish the idolatry of the Mass and all other outward signs of what they deemed the old superstitions. Luther's colleague at Wittenberg, Carlstadt, began denouncing the monastic life, the celibacy of the clergy, the veneration of images; and before the end of 1521 we find the first characteristic outward symptoms of Protestantism. In January 1522, Carlstadt induced the authorities of Wittenberg to publish the first evangelical church ordinance. The service of the Mass was modified, and the laity were to receive the elements in both kinds. Reminders of the old religious usages were to be done away with, and the fast-days were to be no longer observed. These measures led Luther to return to Wittenberg in March, 1522, where he preached a series of sermons attacking the impatience of the radical party. In 1525 the conservative party, which had from the first feared that Luther's teaching would result in sedition, received a new and terrible proof, as it seemed to them, of the noxious influence of the evangelical preachers.”

“The peasant movements which had caused so much anxiety at the diet of Augsburg in 1518, culminated in the Peasant Revolt in which the common man, both in country and town, rose in the name of God's justice to avenge long-standing wrongs and establish his rights. Luther was by no means directly responsible for the civil war which followed, but he had certainly contributed to stir up the ancient discontent. He had asserted that, owing to the habit of foreclosing small mortgages, ‘Any one with a hundred gulden could gobble up a peasant a year.’ The German feudal lords he pronounced hangmen, who knew only how to swindle the poor man. Yet in spite of this harsh talk about princes, Luther relied upon them to forward the reforms in which he was interested. The peasants demanded that the gospel should be taught them as a guide in life, and that each community should be permitted to choose its pastor and depose him if he conducted himself improperly. More radical demands came from the working classes in the towns. The articles of Heilbronn demanded that the property of the Church should be confiscated and used for the community; clergy and nobility alike were to be deprived of all their privileges, so that they could no longer oppress the poor man. The more violent leaders renewed the old cry that the parsons must be slain. Hundreds of castles and monasteries were destroyed by the frantic peasantry, and some of the nobles were murdered with shocking cruelty. Luther, who believed that the peasants were trying to cloak their dreadful sins with excuses from the gospel, exhorted the government to put down the insurrection. ‘Have no pity on the poor folk; stab, smite, throttle, who can.’ The German rulers took Luther's advice with terrible literalness, and avenged themselves upon the peasants, whose lot was apparently worse afterwards than before.”—Brit.

And they were cast upon the earth AND THE THIRD PART OF THE EARTH WAS BURNED UP.—Luther's teaching had the effect of transforming the order-loving German people into anarchists.

And the third part.—The German part.

Of trees.—Trees are symbols of saints. “St. Paul gives us the picture of a tree, the roots of which push down deep into the knowledge of the Divine Plan, while the tree of character grows higher and higher, developing and maturing the rich fruits of the Holy Spirit of God; for instruction is a form of construction.”—Z. '14-312; Isa. 61:3.

Was burnt up.—Hindered from standing alone, and absorbed into the Lutheran system.

And all green grass.—Natural men of independent thought.—Isa. 40:6, 7.

Was burnt up.—Similarly absorbed into the Lutheran system, a welcome substitute for papacy's intolerable yoke.

8:8. And the second [angel] sounded.—The Anglican church movement began.

And as it were a great mountain.—England in the time of Henry VIII. Mountains symbolize kingdoms.—Dan. 2:35; Jer. 51:25.

Burning with fire.—Aflame with another great movement destructive to the papacy.

Was cast into the sea.—Was suddenly thrown into a condition of isolation from the papacy—no longer placed under religious restraint to it.

And the third part of the sea.—The English part.

Became blood.—The much-married Henry VIII., founder of the Anglican Church, and the second great sect-founder, has some slight blemishes on his escutcheon also. “Henry VIII. himself stoutly maintained the headship of the pope, and as is well known, after examining the arguments of Luther, published his defence of the Seven Sacraments in 1521, which won for him from the pope the glorious title of ‘Defender of the faith.’ By 1527 the king had become hopeless of having a male heir by Catherine. He was tired of her, and in love with the black-eyed Anne Boleyn, who refused to be his mistress. The king's agents secured the opinion of a number of prominent universities that his marriage was void, and an assembly of notables, which he summoned in June 1530, warned the pope of the dangers involved in leaving the royal succession in uncertainty. Henry's next move was to bring a charge against the clergy, accusing them of having violated the ancient laws of praemunire in submitting to the authority of papal legates (although he himself had ratified the appointment of Wolsey as legate a latere). The clergy of the province of Canterbury were fined 100,000 pounds and compelled to declare the king their singular protector and only supreme lord, and, as far as that is permitted by the law of Christ, the supreme head of the Church and of the clergy.”

“The following year, 1532, an obedient parliament presented a petition to the king (which had been most carefully elaborated by the king's own advisers) containing twelve charges against the bishops. For the remedy of these abuses parliament turned to the king ‘in whom and by whom the only and sole redress, reformation and remedy herein absolutely rests and remains.’ [These charges were answered by the clergy, but the answer did not suit the king so on the 15th of May, 1532.] The king's most humble subjects, daily orators and bedesmen of the clergy of England, in view of his goodness and fervent Christian zeal and his learning far exceeding that of all other kings that they have read of, agree never to assemble in convocation except at the king's summons, and to enact and promulgate no constitution or ordinances except they receive the royal assent and authority. [Then Henry divorced Catherine and married Anne Boleyn and the English Reformation was officially launched.] The king had now clarified the ancient laws of the realm to his satisfaction, and could proceed to seize such portions of the Church's possessions as he deemed superfluous for the maintenance of religion. [On the 30th of July, 1540, three Lutheran clergymen were burned and three Roman Catholics beheaded, the latter for denying the king's spiritual supremacy. The king's ardent desires that diversities of minds and opinions should be done away with and unity be ‘charitably established’ was further promoted by publishing in 1543 A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man, set forth by the King's Majesty of England, in which the tenets of mediaeval theology, except for denial of the supremacy of the bishop of Rome and the unmistakable assertion of the supremacy of the king, were once more restated. The First Prayer Book of Edward VI was issued in 1549 and was followed in 1552 by the Second Prayer Book and] ‘The foundations of the Anglican church were laid.’”—Brit.

8:9. And the third part.—The English part.

Of the creatures.—The clergy “apostolically” of the Church of Rome, but actually doing business under Henry VIII. Be it noted that they were not counted worthy of being called “men.”

Which were in the sea.—No longer under religious restraint to the papacy.

And had life.—The apostolic succession, from the line of popes, etc., described in Rev. 2:13 comments.

Died.—Were excommunicated by the pope, lost their “apostolic (?) succession.”

And the third part.—The English part.

Of the ships.—Independent bodies of Christian worshippers called Lollards, followers of Wycliffe.—Mark 4:36; 6:48-51; John 6:21.

Were destroyed.—Compelled to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church or lose their lives. “Thus, when the English Reformation of the 16th century commenced, it derived a new impulse from the earlier Lollard movement which it was destined to absorb into itself.”—McC.

8:10. And the third angel sounded.—The Calvinistic movement began, which later developed into the Northern Presbyterian Church, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Welsh Calvinistic Church, United Presbyterian Church, Southern Presbyterian Church, Associate Presbyterian Church, Associate Reformed Southern Presbyterian Church, Reformed Synod Presbyterian Church, Reformed General Synod Presbyterian Church, Reformed Covenanted Presbyterian Church, Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States and Canada, Dutch Reformed Church, German Reformed Church, Christian Reformed Church, Hungarian Reformed Church, and Congregational Church.—1 Cor. 3:3.

And there fell a great star from heaven.—John Calvin tore a large-sized hole in the Catholic firmament when he started the manufacture of a firmament of his own.

Burning as it were a lamp.—The precipitation of the Calvinistic movement in France and Switzerland was as sudden as the Anglican movement had been in England or the Lutheran movement in Germany. In 1533 Francis I, King of France, “anxious to conciliate both German Protestants and anti-papal England, invited some of the reformers to preach in the Louvre,” as an offset to a fierce attack that had but lately been made upon them, caused by the mutilation of a statue of the Virgin. On the festival of All Saints, Cop, the rector of the University of Paris, was to deliver the address, but Jean Cauvin (Calvin) persuaded the rector to read an address which he had written. It was a defence of the new evangelical views and so aroused the Sorbonne that Calvin and Cop were both obliged to flee from Paris. Calvin went to Basle, Switzerland, and in 1536 wrote and published the first great textbook of Protestant theology, Institutes of the Christian Religion. He did his best, but his best was not very good.

And it fell upon the third part.—The French part.

Of the rivers.—Channels of religious instruction.

And upon the fountains of waters.—The Word of God. Although Calvin misunderstood and misapplied them, yet he constantly appealed to the Scriptures as the support for his theories.

8:11. And the name of the star.—Calvin is entitled to the honor of having at one time been a papal star. “He was from the first educated for the Church, and before he was twelve years old was presented to a benefice in the Cathedral of Noyon. Six years after this he was appointed to a cure of souls at Montville, and thus, although not yet twenty, and not even in the minor orders, he was enjoying the titles and revenues of a cure.”—McC.

Is called Wormwood.—What an ideal name for the doctrine which has caused more bitterness against God than any other doctrine ever taught, and for the man who roasted Servetus at the stake.

And the third part of the waters.—Many portions of the Scriptures, misunderstood, misconstrued and misapplied.

Became.—Were made to appear in the eyes of many.

Wormwood.—Bitter as gall. “None now would justify Calvin's course in sentencing Servetus to be burned. Others burned at the stake usually had the fuel piled at their feet. The flames were inhaled with the smoke, and the victim was speedily unconscious to suffering. For Servetus Satanic ingenuity arranged the burning fagots at a distance. He literally roasted alive, in horrible torture, nearly five hours—in the name of God, of Jesus, of Righteousness, Truth, Justice, Love, Christianity and Civilization.” (P. D.)—Jer. 9:15; 23:15; 9-40; Deut. 29:18.

And many men died of the waters.—Lost their manhood, reason and common sense by becoming Calvinists.

Because they were made bitter.—Because the Scriptures were made to appear to teach what actually they do not. “It seems remarkable that only now are we realizing that a man so deficient in the spirit of his Master as to murder his brother, should not be an accepted teacher of the Word of God and its spirit. Only now are Bible students realizing that Brother Calvin was not the inventor of the doctrine of election, but merely of the doctrine that all the non-elect would suffer everlastingly. Now we see that the terms, ‘the elect,’ ‘the very elect,’ are Bible terms! and that those who make their calling and election sure, will be glorified in the First Resurrection. Now we see that the Elect will be associated with Jesus in His Kingdom, which will bless the non-elect—‘all the families of the Earth.’”—P. D.

8:12. And the fourth angel sounded.—The Baptist sectarian movement began, resulting in Baptist Churches North, Baptist Churches South, Baptist Churches Colored, Seventh-Day Baptists, General Baptists, Separate Baptists, United Baptists, Baptist Church of Christ, Primitive Baptist Church, Primitive Colored Baptist Church, Old Two Seed in the Spirit Predestinarian Baptist Church, Church of God and Saints of Christ, Mennonites, Six Principle Baptist Church, Free Baptist Church, Freewill Baptist Church—not forgetting the Selfwill Baptist Church, which also has a large membership, but is not listed.—1 Cor. 3:3.

From an examination of history “It does not appear that the Baptists were formed into any stability (as a sect) until the time of Menno, about the year 1536. About 1644 they began to make a considerable figure in England, and spread themselves into several separate congregations. They separated from the Independents about the year 1638, and set up for themselves under the pastoral care of Mr. Jesse; and, having renounced their former baptism, they sent over one of their number to be immersed by one of the Dutch Anabaptists of Amsterdam, that he might be qualified to baptize his friends in England after the same manner.” (Buck.) “Menno Simons, born in 1492 at Witmarsum in Friesland, at the age of 24 entered the priesthood. Doubts about transubstantiation made him uneasy; some of Luther's tracts fell in his way, and he was comforted by Luther's dictum that salvation does not depend on human dogmata. Hence he began to study the New Testament. The question as to the right age for baptism came up; he found this an open matter in the early church. Then the execution, in March, 1531, at Leeuwarden, of the tailor Sicke Freerks, who had been rebaptized in the previous December at Emden, introduced further questions. Menno was not satisfied with the inconsistent answers which he got from Luther, Bucer and Bullinger; he resolved to rely on Scripture alone, and from this time describes his preaching as evangelical, not sacramental. Anabaptism of the Munster type repelled him. A brother of Menno joined the insurgent followers of Matthyzoon and was killed at Bolsward, April 1535. Blaming the leaders by whom these poor people had been misled, Menno blamed himself for not having shown them a straight course. Accordingly on the 12th of January 1536 he left the Roman communion.”

“Among the so-called Anabaptists were four parties, the favorers of the Munster faction, the Batenburgers, extremists, the Melchiorites and the Obbenites. For a time Menno remained aloof from both Melchior Hofman and Obbe Philipsz. Before the year was out, yielding to the prayer of six or eight persons who had freed themselves from the Munster spell, he agreed to become their minister and was set apart January 1537 to the eldership at Groningen, with imposition of hands by Obbe Philipsz. Menno repudiated the formation of a sect; those who had experienced the ‘new birth’ were to him the true Christian church. His Christology was in the main orthodox though he rejected terms such as Trinity which he could not find in Scripture. Of the introduction of Anabaptist views into England we have no certain knowledge. Fox relates that ‘the registers of London make mention of certain Dutchmen counted for Anabaptists, of whom ten were put to death in sundry places in the realm, anno 1535; other ten repented and were saved’. In 1536 King Henry VIII issued a proclamation concerning faith agreed upon by Convocation, in which the clergy are told to instruct the people that they ought to repute and take ‘The Anabaptists' opinions for detestable heresies and to be utterly condemned.’ Thomas Fuller tells us from Stow's Chronicles that in the year 1538 four Anabaptists, three men and one woman, all Dutch, bare faggots at Paul's Cross, and three days after a man and woman of their sect were burnt in Smithfield. The early English Baptists, while they utterly rejected the baptism of infants, were as yet unpledged to immersion and rarely practiced it.”—Brit.

And the third part of the sun was smitten.—Though not apparently so stated in any confession of faith, it is a prevalent view among Baptists that the Old Testament has been entirely fulfilled. Believing thus they lose the force of a large part of the Gospel Message, typified by the sun.

And the third part of the moon.—Similarly, they do not see the force of the teachings of the Law Dispensation, as in the Tabernacle arrangements, etc., in their application to the Church.

And the third part of the stars.—The teachings of the true light-bearers, the Apostles, cannot be fully appreciated except in connection with the prophecies of the Old Testament.

So as the third part of them was darkened.—If pressed to estimate the relative worth to us as New Creatures of the writings of the Old and New Testaments, we would admit that the writings of the New Testament are worth perhaps twice as much to us as those of the Old Testament because they contain the message addressed to the New Creation, but we want all three thirds of the Word.

And the day.—The Scripture teaching of the coming Millennial Day.

Shone not for a third part of it.—At least a third of the light we get on the subject of the Lord's Millennial Reign is from the Old Testament.

And the night likewise.—The same is true of the world's dark night of sin and death, and the darkest feature of that night—the Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a nation. The Old Testament has much of light and instruction on this subject.

8:13. And I beheld, and heard an [angel] EAGLE.—One of Pastor Russell's humble followers (Matt. 24:28) apprehending correctly the significance of the three woes.

Flying through the midst of heaven.—Beginning with the papal heavens and then in their order of development, the Lutheran heavens, Anglican heavens, Calvinistic heavens and Baptist heavens (and others shortly.)

Saying with a loud voice.—With considerable plainness of speech.

Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.—Great distress and perplexity of mind to all supporters of Satan's Empire.

By reason of the other voices.—Later movements in the ecclesiastical heavens described in Chapters 9 and 10.

Of the three angels, which are yet to sound.—The four great denominations—Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian and Baptist—were formed in swift succession within twenty years from the time Luther nailed the theses on the Wittenberg door. But the work of forming new movements away from papal bondage did not stop there.

“Ye curious minds, who roam abroad,”
And trace creation's wonders o'er,
Confess the footsteps of your God,
“And bow before Him, and adore.”

Revelation 9—Two Ineffective Reformation Woes

9:1. And the fifth angel sounded.—The Wesleyan movement began, leading up to the Methodist Episcopal Church, United American Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, African United Methodist Protestant Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Methodist Protestant Church, Wesleyan Methodist Church, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Congregational Methodist Church, New Congregational Methodist Church, Zion Union Apostolic Church, Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, Free Methodist Church, Reformed Methodist United Episcopal Church, and Independent Methodist Churches.—1 Cor. 3:3.

And I saw a star.—John Wesley became a star in the Anglican heavens in 1728, at which time he was ordained a priest by Bishop Potter.

Fall from heaven unto the earth.—For many years Wesley had no thought of forming a sect; and yet, unconsciously, he began to do so from the time he was ordained. He was then in Oxford University, where “the completeness of his self-devotion to the service of God, combined with his rare moral courage and superior strength of character, caused him to be recognized as the leader of a group of under-graduates which was nicknamed the ‘Holy Club’ by the ungodly of the University, who derided its members for their rigid rules and charitable practices by calling them ‘Methodists.’” (McC.) “He fully accepted the recognized teaching of the Church of England, and publicly appealed to the Prayer-Book and the Thirty-nine articles in justification of the doctrines he preached. Methodism began in a revival of personal religion, and it professed to have but one aim, to spread Scriptural holiness over the land. Its doctrines were in no sense new.” (Brit.) The work in the Western World, particularly in the United States, grew to vast proportions. “The preachers in the South determined upon administration of the sacraments, and a committee was chosen who ordained themselves and others. The Northern preachers opposed this step and for several years the Connexion was on the verge of disruption. Wesley perceived that the Society would disintegrate unless effective measures were speedily taken, and, aided by two presbyters of the Church of England, (one of whom was James Creighton) early in 1784 he ordained Thomas Coke, a presbyter of that Church, as Superintendent.”—Brit.

His brother Charles heartily disapproved of this and wrote the following (which does not, however, appear with his other hymns in the Methodist hymnal):

“So easily are bishops made”
By man or woman's whim;
Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid,
“But who laid hands on him?”

In 1787 the American Conference changed Mr. Coke's title to “Bishop.” Mr. Coke tried to introduce this title into the English Conference of which he was president, but the English Brethren could not accept it, despite his great earnestness in the cause. It must have been a strange sight to see a bright man like Wesley engaging those two presbyters of the Church of England to help him ordain somebody to a higher office than any of them had ever held. But the plan worked. All Methodists believe that Bishop Coke, the first Bishop of the Methodist Church received some “apostolic succession” from the original line described in comments on Rev. 2:13. These brethren have grieved that Pastor Russell did not get his ordination from the same source.

And to him was given the key of the [bottomless] pit OF THE ABYSS.—Wesley was given the key to nothing and to nowhere.

9:2. [And he opened the bottomless pit].—Wesley opened nothing. He did interpret Rom. 8:21 as meaning that the lower animals would go to Heaven, but that was an error. He was honest enough, however, to object to using the word Trinity because he did not find it in the Bible. “Christian Advocates” please note.

And there arose a smoke.—Confusion—a blinding haze.

[Out of] OVER the pit.—In the “air,” the ecclesiastical heavens.

As the smoke of a great furnace.—Methodism was no ordinary smudge.

And the sun.—The true Gospel.

And the air.—The Anglican Church.

Were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.—Methodism damaged the Anglican communion as much as it did the Truth.

9:3. And there came out of the smoke locusts.—An immense number of followers.—Judges 7:12.

Upon the earth.—Among order-loving people.

And unto them was given power.—To attend an old-time Methodist meeting and witness the “getting the power” was to see the sight of a life-time.

As the scorpions of the earth have powers.—“A well-known injurious insect of hot climates, which is shaped very much like a lobster. They are carnivorous in their habits, and move along in a threatening attitude with the tail elevated. The sting, which is situated at the extremity of the tail, has at its base a gland that secretes a poisonous fluid, which is discharged into the wound by two minute orifices at its extremity. The scorpion makes a painful wound in men and beasts which produces fatal results unless speedy remedies be provided such as scarifying the wound or sucking out the poison.”—McC.

9:4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth.—Men of independent thought.—Rev. 8:7.

[Neither any green thing.] Neither any tree.—Saint.—Rev. 8:7.

But [only] those men.—The unconverted.

Which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.—Methodists understand that to be converted from being a sinner means to have the seal of God in one's forehead. All the energies of that church are devoted to gathering in goats to the sheepfold.

9:5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them.—No such sane and merciful sentence as “The wages of sin is death” has any place in Methodist theology. Wesley was born at a time when the original meaning of the word “Hell” had become hidden, and was saturated with the later teachings that it signifies a place of torment. He threw his whole heart into the work of spreading this error throughout the earth.

But that they should be tormented five months.—In symbolic time, 150 years. (Rev. 2:21). Wesley became the first Methodist in 1728. (Rev. 9:1). When the Methodist denomination, with all the others, was cast off from favor in 1878 (Rev. 3:14) its power to torment men by preaching what Presbyterians describe as “Conscious misery, eternal in duration” came to an end legally, and to a large extent actually.—Rev. 9:10.

And their torment.—The torment of those tormented by the tormenting doctrine of torment.

Was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.—See Rev. 9:10.

9:6. And in those days.—Throughout the 150 years of widely prevalent “Methodist hell-fire”.

Shall men seek death.—Would be glad to know that “The wages of sin is death.”—Rom. 6:23.

And shall not find it.—Because all the texts which plainly teach that “All the wicked will God destroy,” were perverted to mean “All the wicked will God immortalize in hell.”

And shall desire to die.—Real men would prefer to die and stay dead rather than forever companion and worship the greatest devil of the Universe.

And death shall flee from them.—They were told that men only seem to die, although touch, hearing, sight and smell all bear eloquent testimony to the contrary.—Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4; Gen. 3:19; Psa. 115:17; Ecc. 9:5; Psa. 37:10, 20; Ecc. 3:19-21; 1 Cor. 15:13, 18; Dan. 12:2.

9:7. And the [shapes] LIKENESSES of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle.—The battle-cry of the old-time Methodist was “All at it, and always at it”.

And on their heads were as it were crowns like gold.—Those born of the spirit, changed from human conditions and made like the Lord, have received the very highest blessing, the “Crown of life”, the Divine nature. Gold is a symbol of Divinity. To receive a crown of gold is to be born of the spirit. All old-time Methodists felt certain that they were “born of the spirit” when converted, no begetting or quickening being necessary. But here is pointed out that these good people had “as-it-were” crowns instead of real ones.

And their faces were as the faces of men.—They were not “Born of the spirit” as they supposed.

9:8. And they had hair as the hair of women.—“If a woman have long hair it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.” (1 Cor. 11:15.) The Church's glory is her wedding robe, the robe of Christ's righteousness. It is to the credit of old-time Methodists that they trusted for salvation in the precious blood of Christ.

And their teeth were as the teeth of lions.—Lions are able to chew and swallow almost anything. When the conference at Baltimore in 1787 turned John Wesley's Superintendent into a Bishop, the Methodist people swallowed it all; and to this day most of them really believe that their clergy are a Divinely appointed institution, despite the fraud perpetrated.—Joel. 1:4-6.

9:9. And they had breastplates.—“Breastplates of righteousness.”—Eph. 6:14.

As it were breastplates of iron.—An iron breastplate would be a good one but an “as-it-were” breastplate would need examination. It was not uncommon for old-time Methodists to deceive themselves into thinking they had not sinned for years. Those who had such breastplates wore the “As-it-were” variety.

And the sound of their wings.—When engaged in “getting the power”.—Rev. 9:3.

Was as the sound of chariots.—The noisiest vehicles known in the Revelator's day.

Of many horses running to battle.—The old-time Methodist hell-fire revival was in days gone by the noisiest place on earth, excepting the camp-meeting. Those good old days have long since gone.

9:10. And they had tails.—Followers—class-leaders.

Like unto scorpions.—The old-time class-leader was an invaluable adjunct of the Methodist Church. Upon him devolved the duty of requiring each probationer to attend the class-meeting and report his spiritual progress weekly, whether he had made any or not. After each report it was the class-leader's duty to squirt in a little more of the poisonous doctrines from the two orifices referred to in comments on Rev. 9:3. From the “heaven” orifice came the doctrine “If you are good you will go to Heaven when you die”—and from the “hell” orifice came the message “If you are bad you will go to hell when you die.” It was all very simple. Everybody was simple in those days.

And [there were] stings.—Revivals in which the attendants were stung, doctrinally and financially.

AND in their tails [and] WAS their power [was] to hurt men five months.—One hundred and fifty years, from Wesley's ordination in 1728 to the casting off of Methodism in 1878.—Rev. 9:5.

9:11. [And] they [had a] HAVE THEIR king [over them].—The same king as exercises general rulership over all the ecclesiastical affairs of this present evil world.

[Which is] the angel of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—“The prince of the power of the air.”—Eph. 2:2.

Whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon.—And he is “a bad one,” sure enough.—2 Cor. 4:4.

But in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.—That is, Destroyer. But in plain English his name is Satan, the Devil. As a means for preventing people from seeing the Truth, Methodism has been as efficient as any of the five systems previously described, or any that follow. All have been sadly misled and deceived by our great and wily Adversary; “Taken captive by him at his will.”—2 Tim. 2:26.

9:12. One woe is past.—Methodism was the first woe of the epoch leading up to and associated with the Time of the End. It was a serious blow to the pretensions of the Papacy, but its days of usefulness have long since passed.

And, behold, there come two woes more [hereafter].—One outlined in the remainder of this chapter and one in Chapter 10. It was the discovery of Methodism as the first woe that led to an identification of the four movements of the Reformation proper which preceded it.—Rev. 8:7-13.

9:13. [And] AFTER THESE THINGS the sixth angel sounded.—The Evangelical-Alliance-Spiritism movement began in 1846-1848 culminating in the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. The following great denominations which comprise 90% of the Protestant Church membership are represented in this council: Baptist (North), Free Baptist, Christian, Congregational, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical Association, Evangelical Synod, Friends, Lutheran General Synod, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal (South), German Evangelical Synod, Colored Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Mennonite, Moravian, Presbyterian, Presbyterian (South), Welsh Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, United Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, Reformed Church in America, Reformed Church in the U. S. A., Reformed Episcopal, Seventh-Day Baptist, United Brethren in Christ, United Evangelical, National Baptist Convention.

[Methodism Illustration]

[Babylon Perplexes The World Illustration]

Although these sects are the only ones now members of the Federal Council, yet, in hatred of the Truth, and darkness in regard to God's Plan, the following are also entitled to membership: Evangelical Adventists, Advent Christians, Seventh-Day Adventists, Church of God, Life and Advent Union, Church of God in Jesus Christ, fifteen kinds of Baptists named in comments on Rev. 8:12, four kinds of Dunkard brethren, the Conservative, Old Order, Progressive and Seventh-Day German varieties, four kinds of Plymouth Brethren, three kinds of River Brethren, the Brethren in Christ, Old Order or Yorker and United Zion's Children, Catholic Apostolic, New Apostolic, Christadelphians, Dowie's Christian Catholic, Christian Union, Church of Christ Scientist, Winnebrenarian Churches of God, Colored Churches of the Living God, Christian Workers for Friendship, Apostolic, Church of Christ in God, Churches of the New Jerusalem, General Convention, General Church, Church Transcendent, Communistic Societies, Shakers, Amana, Churches of Christ, Apostolic Faith Movement, Peniel Missions, Metropolitan Church Association, Hepziba Faith Association, Missionary Christian Association, Heavenly Recruit Church, Apostolic Christian Church, Christian Congregation, Colored Voluntary Missionary Society, Hicksite Friends, Wilburite Friends, Primitive Friends, Friends of the Temple, German Evangelical Protestant, Latter-Day Saints, Reorganized Latter-Day Saints, twenty-one kinds of Lutherans shown in comments on Rev. 8:7, Swedish Evangelical Missionary Covenant. Swedish Evangelical Free Mission, Norwegian Evangelical Free Church, twelve kinds of Mennonites, Bruederhoef, Amish, Old Amish, Conservative Amish, Reformed, General Conference, Church of God in Christ, Old Wisler, Bundes Conference, Defenceless, Brethren in Christ, sixteen kinds of Methodists shown in comments on Rev. 9:1, Union Moravian, Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, Other Pentecostal Associations, twelve kinds of Presbyterians shown in comments on Rev. 8:10, 11, Christian Reformed, Hungarian Reformed, Reformed Catholic, Salvation Army, Schwenkfelders, Social Brethren, Society for Ethical Culture, Spiritualists, Theosophical Society, Old Constitution Brethren, Unitarians, Universalists, etc.

Their “faiths” are quite as varied as their names, but without exception they deny the central truth of the Scriptures (1 John 4:2, 3) that when Jesus Christ came to earth He came as a man only, devoid of immortality or Divinity, that when He died He was as dead as though He never had lived, and that by that death He bought for Adam and his race the Restitution of all things foretold by “the mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began.” (Rev. 4:10.) The common ground upon which they stand is this, their denial of the Ransom, their affirmation of Spiritism, in some form, and their adherence to the principle of Federation. All of these things are condemned in the Scriptures but the Scriptures will never be allowed to stand in the way of those who live by shearing the wool from the sheep. (2 Tim. 4:3, 4; Deut. 18:10, 11; Isa. 8:9-22.) The latter passage is full of the deepest significance at this time.

“Christian Heralds” that refused to publish advertisements of Pastor Russell's books now give space to advertisements of godless, Christless, Buddhist, demoniacal books, glorifying the New Thought system of mind worship, the boot-strap system of religion by which men, by cultivation of the will, lift themselves into money, piety and immortality, and by making assertions to and demands of the alleged “sub-conscious mind” invite and receive the assistance of evil spirits, and finally come under their control. Modern “Christianity” is Buddhism.

“The Rev. Dr. Day, Chancellor of the Syracuse University, recently, in an address to the Y. M. C. A., is reported by the public press to have said: ‘Wouldn't you rather live in America than in Heaven? I would. I'd like to go to Heaven when I can't be here. In fact, I think I'd be rather discontented in Heaven till I got adjusted. You can get anything you want here. You can live under forty odd governments, meet all the nations of the world, eat all the fruits of the world and get any kind of climate that you choose. So America is the beat place to live; but I think when a man can't stay here any longer he ought to steer for Heaven,’” (Z. '08-196.) Having concluded to stay here as long as possible, “Christians” are now flocking by thousands to the purchase of works which will show them how to use spiritism to take advantage of their fellow men. The religious and other periodicals are now filled with advertisements of these books. We quote a few extracts to show their Satanic character:

“It is necessary to control others, to discover their plans. This you may be able to do if you have developed your inner faculties. We show you how to so develop your intuitional nature that you are able to detect the feelings of others; to penetrate their secret motives; and to discover what they try to conceal. The Golden Rule must be followed in controlling others. ‘Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you.’ There comes more and more the power of seeing the future, so that more and more true becomes the old adage that coming events cast their shadows before. Health in time takes the place of disease; for all disease and its consequent suffering is merely the result of the violation of law, whether consciously or unconsciously. There comes a spiritual power which, as it is sent out, is adequate for the healing of others the same as in the days of old.”

“Many omniscient men and women will soon walk the earth. Omniscience and Freedom are the goal of all, and in this Great Age of Light many Egos are approaching the blessed omniscience state.”

“Suddenly it seemed that the top of my head had been lifted, and I became aware of an immense increase of personal consciousness. I became conscious, I say—I know what I am writing—of the vast sky above, and the mighty deeps below, and the wide sweep of present human life, and the long forward and backward stretch of human history. It seemed that I could sense the All. Since that day all is well. Life is deeper, richer, stronger—assured, fearless, and saturated with perennial vital interests.” (What really happened to this man was that he became obsessed by demons.)—Rev. 7:3.

“The strength of these delusions lies in the grave errors mixed with truths long held by Christian people, because of the ‘falling away’ from the pure faith of the Apostolic Church, foretold in the Scriptures. Among these errors none is designed to open the heart and mind to these delusive and destructive theories of today more effectually than the general belief of the first lie—‘Ye shall not surely die.’ (Gen. 3:4.) The general acceptance of it results from a failure to understand the Bible doctrine concerning life and immortality, which were brought to light by our Lord Jesus through His Gospel of salvation from sin by His Ransom-sacrifice. The advocates of these false doctrines are surprisingly alert and active everywhere, especially in the United States, where thought is most active and where liberty often means license. Hundreds of thousands have embraced these errors as new and advanced light. The extent of their success is not fully apparent to many; for their success lies in a still hunt for prey. Their advocates are to be found in almost every congregation of every denomination, and especially among the more cultured; and the ‘angel of light’ feature is seldom neglected. The nominal churches are already permeated, leavened with these false doctrines. The Scriptural prophecy that ‘a thousand shall fall at thy [the true Church's] side, and ten thousand at thy right hand’ (Psalm 91:3-14), is now fulfilled before our eyes.”—Z. '15-343.

And I heard a voice.—William Miller, from A. D. 1829 to 1844.

From [the four horns of] the golden altar which is before God.—“The Golden Altar in the ‘Holy’ would seem to represent the ‘little flock,’ the consecrated Church in the present sacrificing condition.”—T. 120.

9:14. Saying.—By pointing to the near fulfillment of the 2300 days.—Dan. 8:14.

To the sixth angel which had the trumpet.—The Evangelical Alliance-Spiritism movement. The Alliance proper was organized Sept. 2nd, 1846, at the end of the 2800 years. The spiritism feature began January, 1848. The two have been growing towards each other ever since until now they are substantially one and the same thing.

Loose the four angels.—Four errors in the nine fundamental principles of the Evangelical Alliance. We give the erroneous clauses by number: (3) “The unity of the Godhead, and the trinity of persons therein.” See Rev. 6:4; 5:7. (5) “The incarnation of the Son of God.” (8) “The immortality of the soul.” (9) “The Divine institution of the Christian ministry” (i. e., the clergy).

Which are bound.—Hindered from gaining fullest expression.

In the great river Euphrates.—The world of mankind.—B. 209, D. 24.

And the four angels.—The four great errors of trinity, incarnation, immortality and lordship over God's heritage.

Were loosed.—Given greater liberties than ever before.

Which were prepared.—Each sect for itself, and in its own time.

For [an] THE hour.—The hour of judgment, 1918.

[And a day] and [a] month, and [a] year.—Thirteen symbolic months, the 390 years of Protestantism's siege of the Papacy.—Ezek. 4:5.

For to slay.—To make nominal Christians of, to take away the manhood of.

The third part of men.—According to the World Almanac for 1917, the total number of Christians in the world at the beginning of the twentieth century was 571,400,000, of whom one third, 177,800,000, were Protestants.

9:16. And the number of the army of the horsemen.—In round numbers, at the time of identification.

Were two hundred thousand thousand.—Approximately two hundred millions.

[And] I heard the number of them.—Heard, heeded, or noted, the count as given in the World Almanac, as correct. This is a tribute to a journal notorious for its ignoble, unjust and dishonest attacks on Pastor Russell. “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee.” And have you noticed, on the same principle, that nearly all the encyclopedic references herein are to the great standard Protestant works to be found in every capable minister's library? How is it that they do not know these things?

9:17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision.—Horses are symbols of teachings. It is the doctrines a man has been taught that carry him along to do things. “As a man thinketh, so is he.” The man and his beliefs are inseparable.—Joel 2:4. (The four kinds of horses of Zech. 6:1-8 seem to refer to four companies of saved ones. Red, the Ancient Worthies; black, the Little Flock; white, the Great Company; bay, the world of mankind.)

And them that sat [on] UPON them.—The total Protestant church membership.

Having breastplates of fire.—Keeping the doctrine of hell-fire well to the front in their teachings.

And of jacinth.—“The hyacinthus of the Romans is invariably blue and lustrous. This description suggests the blue flame which issues between the fire and the brimstone, represented as ‘smoke’ in verse 18.”—Cook.

And brimstone.—Yes, indeed, plenty of brimstone went along with the hell-fire.—Rev. 14:10.

And the heads.—“The ancient and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail.”—Isa. 9:15. “In a genus of serpents or ophidian reptiles called amphisboena the tail and head are equally obtuse, and the scales on the head so similar to those on the back as to render it difficult to distinguish one extremity from the other. Hence these reptiles have been supposed to have the power of creeping backwards or forwards with equal facility.” (Cook.)—Isa. 29:10-14; John 4:22.

Were as the heads of lions.—Able to swallow the most ridiculous and impossible theories.—1 Chron. 12:8.

And out of their mouths issued fire.—Sermons full of hell-fire.

And smoke.—See Rev. 9:18.

And brimstone.—O yes, surely; plenty of brimstone, to go with the hell-fire.

9:18. By these [three] PLAGUES was the third part of men.—The Protestant third of Christendom.

Killed.—Deprived of reason, manhood and dignity.

By the fire.—The sermons full of hell-fire.

And [by] the smoke.—Smoke is a symbol of confusion. The following is an extract from an article on the brain written by a well-known physician and alienist:

“To illustrate how effectually such conceptions served to block all progress in the science of life we may quote one instance from a ponderous volume in my library with the date 1618 on Physiology and Anatomy by Hilkiah Crooke, Physician and Professor on Anatomy and Chirurgery to His Majesty, James I. Speaking of the origin and growth of hair, he says: ‘The immediate matter of the haires is a sooty, thicke, and earthly vapour, which in the time of the third concoction (distillation) is elevated by the strength of the action of naturall heate, and passeth through the pores of the skin, which heate exiceateth or drieth this moysture of these sootie and thicke vapours, for the vapour being thicke, in his passage leaveth some part of it selfe, to wit, the grossest, in the very outlet, where it is impacted by a succeeding vapour arising where the former did, is protruded and thrust forward, so that they are wrought together in one body. The straightness of the passages of the skin were through the matter of the haires is anoyded, formeth them into a small roundness, even as a wyre receyeth that proportion whereof the whole is, where through it is drawne.’ One great office of the hairs of the head, therefore, Crooke perceived to be to lead off ‘the vapors which otherwise would choke and make smoaky the braine,’ though how hopelessly choked the brains of all bald heads hence would be he does not mention.” A study of the foregoing leads to the conclusion that the various churches must have been founded by bald-headed men, and the smoke being unable to find its way out through their scalps naturally had to come out of their mouths!

And [by] the brimstone.—Yes, indeed; plenty of brimstone.

Which issued out of their mouths.—Especially when an evangelist firm is in town looking for shekels.

9:19. For [their power] THE POWER OF THE HORSES is in their mouth.—Assuredly, assuredly; it certainly is not in the Scriptures.

And in their tails.—Followers, “Workers,” class-leaders.—Isa. 9:15.

For their tails were like unto serpents.—Bright enough to know better.

And had heads.—Wills of their own—unlike the “Beheaded” saints (Rev. 20:4.)

And with them they do hurt.—Damage the cause of Truth.

9:20. And the rest of the men.—Those ordinary “good fellows” (and bad ones too), men of the world who had too much sense to swallow what is taught by any of the sects.

Which were not killed by these THEIR plagues.—Who remained “unconverted” to the mass of errors masquerading in the name of religion.

Yet repented not of the works of their hands.—Failed to turn their money, brains and service over to the nominal church, but continued on in their own way.

That they should not worship devils.—Joining, if they choose, the Masons, Odd Fellows and other secret organisations teaching a debased form of religion.—Lev. 17:7; Deut. 32:17; 1 Cor. 10:20.

And idols of gold, and silver and [brass] COPPER.—Having their affection set upon currency in hand and in the bank.—Psa. 115:1-4; Dan. 5:22, 23.

And stone, and of wood.—Giving their attention to earthly affairs, improvements in real estate, etc.

Which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk.—But are more or less permanent, tangible and fixed.

9:21. Neither repented they of their murders.—Teaching hell-fire keeps nobody from being a murderer or a slanderer.—Rev. 21:8.

Nor their sorceries.—Use of drugs, Greek. Teaching hell-fire keeps nobody from being a drug fiend or pseudo-philosopher.—Rev. 21:8.

Nor of their [fornication] WICKEDNESS.—Teaching hell-fire keeps nobody from being a wicked man.

Nor of their thefts.—Teaching hell-fire keeps nobody from engaging in “high finance.”

Revelation 10—The True Reformation Woe

10:1. And I saw another angel.—“The Messenger of the Covenant,” the Lord Jesus.—Mal. 3:1.

Come down from Heaven.—At the time of the Second Advent, Oct. 1874.—Rev. 3:20.

Clothed with a cloud.—“‘He cometh with clouds;’ and while the clouds of trouble are heavy and dark, when the mountains (kingdoms of this world) are trembling and falling, and the earth (organized society) is being shaken, disintegrated, melted, some will begin to realize what we now proclaim as already at hand—that Jehovah's Anointed is taking to Himself His great power and beginning His work of laying justice to the line and righteousness to the plummet. (Isa. 28:17.)”—B. 138.

And [a rainbow was] THE HAIR upon His head, and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire.—See Rev. 1:14-16; 7:2; 18:1.

10:2. And [He had] HAVING in His hand.—In His power, given to Him by the Father.—Rev. 5:7, 5.

A little book open.—The Present Truth message.—C. 89.

And He set His right foot.—Exerted the strongest power of restraint.

Upon the sea.—The masses not under religious control, who, without the Lord's control of the situation, would have long since swallowed up the present order of things.—Rev. 7:1-3; Luke 21:25; Psa. 46:2, 3.

And His left foot on the earth.—“Throughout the Scriptures, earth, when used symbolically, represents society; seas, the restless, turbulent, dissatisfied masses of the world.”—A. 318.

10:3. And cried with a loud voice.—Pastor Russell was the voice used.—Rev. 7:2.

As when a lion roareth.—Symbolical of Justice.—Rev. 4:7; Amos 3:8.

And when.—In 1881 A. D.

He had cried.—With the first great cry, “Food for Thinking Christians,” 1,400,000 copies given away, free.

Seven thunders.—Seven volumes of “STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES.”—Rev. 8:5.

Uttered their voices.—Were foreseen as necessary to the complete statement of the Plan, and the fulfillment of this and other Scriptures.

10:4. And [when] WHATSOEVER the seven thunders had uttered [their voices], I.—Pastor Russell as a representative of the John class.

Was about to write.—Intended to put on paper at once.

And I heard a voice from Heaven.—The guidance of the Heavenly Father, directing and overruling, knowing that the results would be better if the interest of His little ones were sustained by expectancy throughout the whole time of Harvest, rather than to give them all the light at once.—John 16:12.

Saying [unto me], Seal up [those] WHAT things [which] SOEVER the seven thunders uttered.—Do not immediately disclose their full contents.—Dan. 8:26; 12:4, 9.

And write them not.—Observe how the Lord retarded the publications: Vol. I was published in 1886. “In sending forth this first volume of the MILLENNIAL DAWN, it is but proper that we apologize to the many friends who have waited for it so patiently since promised.” (A. 3.) Volume II was published in 1889, and III in 1891. “Some have urged greater haste in the writing and publishing of the several volumes of this series, and, to a large extent, I have shared the same feelings of impatience; but my observations of the Lord's dealings and leadings and unfoldings of His Plan are gradually convincing me that He has not shared our impatience. Indeed, I can clearly trace His hand in some of the hindrances encountered and can realize by the delay I have been enabled to grasp the subjects more thoroughly, and to present them more fully, than if the work had been hastened more. Not only has this delay worked for my good and yours, but in another way also. It has afforded time for a more thorough digestion of the truths of each volume, and thereby has given to the faithful student the very necessary preparation for that which was to follow. And not only so, but it has also given opportunity for practicing the lessons learned, and for exercising the talents of each in spreading the advancing light before others of God's saints.” (C. 12.) Volume IV was published in 1897, V in 1899, VI in 1904 and VII in 1917. This makes a total lapse of 36 years from the publication of FOOD FOR THINKING CHRISTIANS to the last volume of the SCRIPTURE STUDIES. Meantime the Harvest work grew to a movement of vast proportions; and Volume VII was delayed.

10:5. And the angel which I saw.—The Lord Jesus, since 1874.—Rev. 10:1.

Stand upon the sea and upon the earth.—In control of the masses not under religious restraint as well as order-loving society.

Lifted up His RIGHT hand to Heaven.—The seventh angel was in that hand when He did so.—Rev. 1:16, 20.

10:6. And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever.—By Jehovah, His Father and our Father, His God and our God.—John 20:17.

Who created Heaven, and the things that therein are.—“The heavens declare the glory of God.”—Psa. 19:1-6; Neh. 9:6; Rev. 4:11; 14:7.

And the earth, and the things that therein are, [and the sea, and the things which are therein].—“When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”—Job 38, 39, 40 and 41 chapters.

That there [should be] IS time no longer.—“There shall be no further delay.”—Weym.

10:7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.—Pastor Russell was the seventh angel.—Rev. 3:14.

When he shall begin to sound.—In the autumn of 1881, at which time FOOD FOR THINKING CHRISTIANS was circulated, and the General Call ceased.—Rev. 11:15.

The mystery of God [should be] WAS finished.—“The great unfolding of the Divine mystery we are expressly told was reserved until the close of the Gospel Age.” (Z. '97-255.) “The Plan ceases to be a mystery, because there is no further object in perpetuating its secrecy. The greatness of the mystery, so long kept secret, and the wonderful grace bestowed on those called to fellowship in this mystery (Eph. 3:9), suggest to us that the work to follow its completion must be an immense work, worthy of such great preparations. What may we not expect in blessings upon the world, when the veil of mystery is withdrawn and the showers of blessing descend! It is this for which the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now, waiting for the completion of this mystery, for the manifestation of the Sons of God, the promised ‘Seed’ in whom they shall all be blessed.—Rom. 8:19, 21, 22.” (A. 87.) “While the door stands open, it indicates that any believer who is anxious to enter and ready to comply with the conditions may yet do so, even though the general ‘call’ or invitation to enter is no longer sent out. The opportunity to labor and sacrifice has not yet closed though the general call ceased in 1881.”—C. 213.

As He hath declared to His servants.—The Harvest Workers.

AND the Prophets.—Daniel (12:4-12) and Habakkuk (2:1-3).—Rev. 1:1.

10:8. And the Voice which I heard from Heaven.—The Heavenly Father's voice.—Rev. 10:4.

Spake unto me again.—By His Holy Spirit.

And said.—Through the Bible, His Word, His Voice.

Go take the little book.—“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”—2 Tim. 2:15.

Which is open in the hand of the angel.—The Lord Jesus. Rev. 10:1, 5.

Which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.—See Rev. 10:2, 5.

10:9. And I went unto the angel.—“In coming out of bondage to human traditions, creeds, systems and errors, we are coming directly to our Lord, to be taught and fed by Him, to be strengthened and perfected to do His pleasure, and to stand, and not fall with Babylon.”—C. 167.

And said unto Him.—By my act in obeying His command.—Rev. 18:4.

Give me the little book.—Take me into Your confidence; give me Your Holy Spirit; show me, as promised, the “things to come.”—John 16:13.

And He said unto me, Take it, and eat it up.—“It is absolutely useless for us to pray Lord, Lord, give us the Spirit, if we neglect the Word of Truth which that Spirit has supplied for out filling.”—E. 245, 225; Ezek. 2:8.

And it shall make thy belly bitter.—Lead to self-sacrifice, with its attendant sufferings, but create an appetite for more. “The after effects are always more or less blending of the bitterness of persecution with the sweetness.”—C. 89; Ezek. 2:10; 3:14; Dan. 8:27.

But it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.—“O the blessedness.”—Dan. 12:12; Psa. 19:10; 119:103.

10:10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up.—“Thy words were found and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”—Jer. 15:16.

And it was in my mouth sweet as honey.—“So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll. And it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.”—Ezek. 3:2, 3.

And as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was [bitter] FILLED.—“It satisfies my longings as nothing else could do.”

10:11. And [He said] THEY SAY unto me.—The Scriptures do the saying.

Thou must prophesy again.—Continue to proclaim the Message of Truth Divine.

Before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.—Until it has been fully testified to all.—1 Tim. 2:6. The concluding word of this Scripture suggests that the last witness of the church in the flesh is, like their Lord's as alleged malefactors, before earth's rulers.

Revelation 11—The Time Of The End

11:1. And there was given me.—The John class in the Time of the End.

A reed like unto a rod.—The Lord's Word is both a rod to lean upon, (Isa. 11:4) and a reed with which to measure. (Jer. 1:11-12). The word here tendered “rod” is rendered “staff” in Matt. 10:10; Heb. 11:21.

[And the angel stood, saying], HE SAITH.—It is the “reed” or “rod” itself, the Divine Word, that does the saying.

Rise.—“At the exact ‘time appointed,’ 1799, the end of the 1260 days, the power of the Man of Sin, the great oppressor of the Church, was broken, and his dominion taken away. With one stroke of His mighty hand, God there struck off Zion's fetters, and bade the oppressed go free. And forth came, and are coming, the ‘Sanctuary’ class, the ‘holy people,’ weak, and halt, and lame, and almost naked, and blind, from the dungeon darkness and filth and misery of papal bondage. Poor souls! they had been trying to serve God faithfully in the very midst of the lurid flames of persecution, clinging to the cross of Christ when almost every other truth had been swept away, and courageously endeavoring to emancipate God's ‘Two Witnesses’ (the Old and New Testaments), which had so long been bound, and which had prophesied only under the sackcloth of dead languages.”—C. 122.

And measure the Temple of God.—“That symbolic Temple which is The Christ.” (T. 70.) “The mention of worshippers proves that the measuring is symbolical. To ‘measure’ is to separate for sacred purposes; what is excluded from the measurement is, accordingly, more or less mingled with evil. Hence, in this place, what is measured—the true believer typified—is to be exempted from the Judgments in which what is not measured (ver. 2) is involved.” (Cook). “If the direction be understood figuratively, as applicable to the Christian Church, the work to be done would be to obtain an exact estimate or measurement of what the true Church was—as distinguished from all other bodies of men, and as constituted, and appointed, by the direction of God; such a measurement that its characteristics could be made known; that a church could be organized according to this, and that the accurate description could be transmitted to future times.” (Barnes.)—Ezek. 40:3; Rev. 21:15.

And the altar.—The Golden Altar, within the “Holy”, the true Church, as sacrificers.—Ex. 30:1-10.

And them that worship therein.—The several volumes of Scripture Studies and the booklet Tabernacle Shadows are devoted to the “measurements” herein prophesied.

11:2. But the court which is [without] WITHIN the Temple leave out.—The court here represents the same thing as is represented in the Court of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, the condition of progression toward complete Justification.

And measure it not.—Devote all attention to the higher privileges of the “Holy”. The “Court” was merely provided as a proper approach to the “Holy”. Acceptance of Christ as one's Savior, appreciation of His work at Calvary, and washing one's self in the water of the Word as represented respectively by the First Gate, Brazen Altar, and Laver of the “Court” are not the things to which we are particularly invited; but consecration to God's will, illumination by His Spirit, appropriation of His promises and sacrifice of our all, acceptable to the Father through our great High Priest, represented respectively by the Second Gate or Door, the Candlestick, Table of Shew-bread and Golden Altar of the “Holy”, are the things to which we were called: so that we might pass the Third Gate or Veil, actual death of the body, and finally become a part of The Christ, represented by the Ark of the Covenant, of which our Father is the Head.

For it is given ALSO unto the Gentiles.—With the deliverance of the Little Flock, the condition represented by the “Holy” ceases. This leaves the Great Company still in the “Court” and the special objects of Gentile wrath as their kingdoms fall into ruin. “Being denied the liberty accorded to the Priests, these will have merely the standing of justification, which, if they maintain, will constitute them worthy of eternal life. But that life will not be human life, because they gave that up in order to become Priests. Their failure puts them out of the Holy condition back into the Court condition.” (Z. '11-22.)

“After the establishment of Messiah's Kingdom, this distinction between the Church proper, joint-heirs with Christ, and the larger company of antitypical Levites, will be perpetual, and the services of the two will be different. The former will be a Priesthood corresponding to that of Melchizedek—a Priest upon His Throne. The work of the latter will correspond more to that accomplished by the Levites; namely, teaching the people, etc., as servants of the Priests, from whom they will receive their directions.”—Z. '14-79.

And the Holy City.—The embryo Kingdom of God.

Shall they tread under foot.—“The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”—Matt. 11:12.

Forty and two months.—1260 years from papacy's establishment as a temporal power, 539 A. D. to 1799 A. D.—B. 91, 310; C. 50, 64; Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 12:6, 14; 13:5; Jas. 5:17.

11:3. And I will give power unto My Two Witnesses.—“The Lord refers to the Old and New Testament Scriptures, and faithfully they have borne their testimony to every nation.”—D. 258.

And they shall prophesy.—Teach.

A thousand, two hundred and three score days.—1260 years, from A. D. 539 to 1799.

Clothed in sackcloth.—“Kept covered in dead languages.”—C. 50.

11:4. These are the Two Olive Trees.—Sources of the oil, the holy Spirit.—Zech. 4:1-6; Rom. 11:17.

And the Two Candlesticks.—“The light of the world, during all the darkness of the past.”—D. 652.

Standing before the [God] LORD of the earth.—Jehovah. “The earth is the Lord's.”—Psa. 24:1.

11:5. And if any man will hurt them.—“And if any man desireth to hurt them. The present tense here points to the continued enmity of the world to the Church, during the entire course of the Witnesses' testimony.”—Cook.

Fire proceedeth out of their mouth.—“I will make My words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”—Jer. 5:14.

And devoureth their enemies.—“History supplies the illustrations—the fire that consumed the opponents of Moses (Num. 16:28, 35), and that which came down at the word of Elijah. (2 Kings 1:10, 12)”—Cook.

And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.—“Therefore have I hewed them by the Prophets; and I have slain them by the words of My mouth.”—Hos. 6:5.

11:6. These have power to shut heaven.—The literal heavens and the spiritual heavens.—1 Ki. 17:1.

That it rain not.—That there be no literal showers, or spiritual showers of blessings.

In the days of their prophecy.—Literally in the three and one half years in Elijah's day in which there was no rain (James 5:17) and spiritually in the three and one half times, or 1260 years, from A. D. 539 to 1799 in which the showers of blessing were withheld from the world.—Rev. 2:20.

And have power over waters.—Literal and symbolic.

To turn them into blood.—Literally as when Moses turned the waters of Egypt into blood (Exodus 7:21.) Symbolically during this Harvest time in which the Heavenly Harvest truths have become “bloody”, repulsive, abhorrent, symbolizing death where they should be received as a blessing.—Z. '07-279.

[And] to smite the earth with all plagues.—Literal and symbolic.

As often as they will.—Literally in the plagues which Moses poured out upon the Egyptians (Exodus 7 to 11.) Symbolically in the spiritual plagues, the seven last upon Christendom.—Rev. 16.

11:7. And when they shall have finished their testimony.—In the dead languages, about the time of the end of papacy's power to persecute.

The beast that THEN ascendeth out of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—The government without a foundation; revolutionary France during the “Reign of Terror.”

Shall make war against them.—“In 1793 a decree passed the French Assembly forbidding the Bible; and under that decree the Bibles were gathered and burned, every possible mark of contempt was heaped upon them.”—Smith.

And shall overcome them, and kill them.—“All the institutions of the Bible were abolished; the weekly rest day was blotted out, and every tenth day substituted for mirth and profanity. Baptism and the communion were abolished. The being of God was denied, and death proclaimed an eternal sleep. The Goddess of Reason, in the person of a vile woman, was set up, and publicly worshipped.”—Smith.

11:8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street.—France.

Of the great city.—Christendom, the Old Roman Empire.—Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17:9, 18; 18:2, 10, 16, 18, 19, 21.

Which spiritually is called Sodom.—“‘Remember Lot's wife!’ is our Lord's pointed warning. How intensely forceful it is as a caution to God's people here, in the close of the Gospel Age. When we learn that Babylon is doomed, and hear the Lord's message, ‘Come out of her My people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues,’ it is indeed like the voice of the messengers who hastened Lot and his family out of Sodom, saying, ‘Stay not in all the plain; escape for thy life; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed; look not behind thee.’ (Gen. 19:17). Christendom is ‘that great city [Babylon] which spiritually is called Sodom.’”—D. 607, 608; Rev. 17:5; Isa. 1:9, 10; 3:8, 9; Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 16:48, 41.

And Egypt.—“Egypt is recognized as a symbol or type of the world of mankind, full of vain philosophies, but ignorant of the true Light.”—C. 315; Ezek. 23:3, 4, 8, 27.

Where also [our] THE Lord was crucified.—Catholic France, through its connection with the papacy, is a part of the old Roman Empire, in another part of which our Lord was slain. In another aspect France is identified with the death of the Lord. Anything done to the least of one of the Lord's little ones is counted as done to Himself. When Saul of Tarsus persecuted the Lord's saints, the One who met him in the way said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” (Acts 9:4, 5; 22:7, 8; 26:14, 15.) A plot was laid in France to destroy all the Protestants; and on Aug. 24, 1572, sixty thousand were murdered, and the streets of Paris literally ran with blood. The Protestants were in Paris under a solemn oath of safety, to celebrate the marriage of the king of Navarre. Admiral Coligny, a Protestant of great ability and prominence, was basely murdered in his own house, and his head was sent to his holiness, the Pope, as proof that he was really dead. The “Holy Father of Fathers”, the “Vicar of Christ”, the “Chief Pastor and Teacher”, was so pleased that “bells were rung, and guns were fired, bonfires were set ablaze; and Gregory XIII, attended by cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and a great throng of prelates, marched in procession. A Te Deum was chanted, and the Pope commissioned the painter Vasari to paint the scene of the massacre, and employed an artist to engrave a medal commemorative of the event. The preachers in Rome delivered eloquent orations, and a messenger carried a golden rose to Charles as a present from the Pope.”—Coffin.

11:9. And they of the people.—The Protestant people.

And kindreds and tongues and nations.—Of other parts of Europe.

[Shall] see their dead [bodies] BODY.—“As if though silenced in death they continued witnesses still.” (Cook.) Take note of the horrible effect upon France of their effort to exterminate the Scriptures. “The more deeply the French Revolution is considered, the more manifest is its preeminence above all the strange and terrible things that have come to pass on this earth. Every ancient institution and every time honored custom disappeared in a moment. The whole social and political system went down before the first stroke. Monarchy, nobility and church were swept away almost without resistance. The good things of this world,—birth, rank, wealth, fine clothes and elegant manners,—became worldly perils, and worldly disadvantages. The people waged a war of such extermination with everything established, as to abolish the common forms of address and salutation, and the common mode of reckoning time, abhorred ‘you’ as a sin, and shrank from ‘monsieur’ as an abomination, turned the weeks into decades, and would know the old months no more. The demolished halls of the aristocracy, the rifled sepulchres of royalty, the decapitated king and queen, the little dauphin so sadly done to death, the beggared princes, the slaughtered priests and nobles, the sovereign guillotine, the republican marriages, the Meudon tannery, the couples tied together and thrown into the Loire, and the gloves made of men's and women's skins: these things are most horrible.” (T. H. Gill, The Papal Drama.)—D. 537.

Three days and an half.—See Rev. 11:11.

And [shall not] suffer NOT their dead bodies to be put in [graves] A GRAVE.—On the contrary, this very attempt “served to arouse Christians everywhere to put forth new exertions in behalf of the Bible.”—Smith.

11:10. And they that dwell upon the earth.—The people of France, then infidels, without any hopes except for the present poor earth-life.

[Shall] rejoice over them, and make merry.—Literally fulfilled when the Assembly proscribed the Scriptures.

And [shall] send gifts one to another.—Literally fulfilled, the gifts being expressions of joy over the sudden “liberty,” “a custom usual in times of festivity.”—Neh. 8:10, 12; Esth. 9:19, 22.—Cook.

Because these Two Prophets tormented.—By continuing to proclaim the coming Reign of Christ and His Church.

Them that dwelt on the earth.—The classes whose hopes and destinies are earthly.

11:11. And after three days and an half.—Three years and one half.

The Spirit of life from God entered into Them.—In a symbolic sense They were “raised from the dead.”—Ezek. 37:5, 9, 10, 14.

And They stood upon Their feet.—See Ezek. 37:10. “In 1793, a decree passed the French Assembly suppressing the Bible. Just three years after, a resolution was introduced into the Assembly superseding the decree, and giving toleration to the Scriptures. That resolution lay on the table six months, when it was taken up, and passed without a dissenting vote. Thus, in just three years and a half, the Witnesses ‘stood upon their feet.’”—Smith.

And great fear fell upon them which saw them.—“Nothing but the appalling results of the rejection of the Bible, could have induced France to take her hands off these Witnesses.” (Smith.) “In the light of the foretold character of coming events of this battle, we may regard the French Revolution as only the rumbling of distant thunder, giving warning of an approaching storm; as a slight tremor preceding the general earthquake shock; as the premonitory click of the great clock of the ages, which gives notice to those already awake that the wheels are in motion, and that shortly it will strike the midnight hour which will end the present order of affairs and usher in a new order,—the Year of Jubilee, with its attendant commotion and changes of possession.”—D. 535.

In comments on Rev. 3:14, reasons are given for anticipating the deliverance of the Little Flock about Passover, 1918 [possibly on the Passover day, as a result of activities by the tribe of Dan. (Jer. 8:16.)] There we noted the Lord's use of the half-week principle. In this prophecy, we have the same principle. The French Revolution is Divinely provided as a picture of events now at hand, and we therefore expect three and a half years of proscription of the Truth, from the spring of 1918 to the fall of 1921. This will give the Great Company splendid opportunities for martyrdom and allow another three and a half years, to the spring of 1925, for the world to think the matter over, by which time, doubtless, they will be quite ready to listen to the voice that speaketh from Heaven.—Heb. 12:19.

11:12. And they heard a great voice from Heaven.—The voice last referred to—the Lord Jesus Himself, the “voice,” the “Word,” of the Heavenly Father.

Saying unto them, Come up hither.—“The Two Witnesses of God, the Old and New Testaments, ascended to heaven, the place of honor and power, as the Scriptures symbolically represent the matter.”—Z. '15-199.

And they ascended up to heaven.—“The British and Foreign Bible Society (which has distributed 230,000,000 copies of the Bible) was established in 1803; the New York Bible Society in 1804; the Berlin-Prussian Bible Society in 1805; the Philadelphia Bible Society in 1808; and the American Bible Society (127,000,000 copies distributed) in 1817. Bibles by the million, in over 300 languages, are published yearly and sold at low prices, and many thousands are given away to the poor. It is difficult to estimate the wide influence of this work. Its quiet teaching is the greatest of all levelers and equalizers.”—C. 51.

In a cloud.—In a time of trouble, the French Revolution. The exaltation which the Word of God received as a result of the French Revolution is as nothing compared with the exaltation which awaits it after the “Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a nation.”

And their enemies beheld them.—As the enemies of the Word of God were compelled by the stern logic of events to consent to its restoration in the French time of trouble, so the Lord's enemies, and the enemies of His Church, will be compelled to submit to the Reign of Truth when their forces have been exhausted in the Battle of the great Day of God Almighty.—Luke 19:27; Isa. 54:11-17.

11:13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake.—“In the symbolic language of Revelation, the French Revolution was indeed a ‘great earthquake’—a social shock so great that all ‘Christendom’ trembled until it was over; and that terrible and sudden outburst of a single nation's wrath, only a century ago, may give some idea of the fury of the coming storm, when the wrath of all the angry nations will burst the bands of law and order and cause a reign of universal anarchy. In fact, the French Revolution seems referred to by our Lord in His Revelation to John on Patmos as a prelude to, and an illustration of, the great crisis now approaching.”—D. 531.

The French Revolution lasted ten and a half years, from June 17th, 1789, when the Assembly began its reign, until Napoleon seized the government and caused himself to be appointed First Consul, November 9th, 1799. This coincides well with the thought previously expressed (Rev. 7:3) that all phases of Babylon will not be disposed of until about ten and a half years from the fall of 1914. The Assembly was in control from the first, but did not execute the king until January 21st, 1793, three years and one-half from the time the trouble started. The Assembly continued in control until June 25th, 1795, six years from the time the trouble began, when the government was intrusted to five persons under the name of the Directory. It was on October 4th of the same year that Napoleon cleared the streets of Paris of the mobs, and from that point onward his star began to rise. Some interesting developments in connection with the setting up of the Kingdom may occur in 1920, six years after the great Time of Trouble began. It would not be strange if this were so, when we recall that after forty years wandering in the wilderness the Israelites came into possession of the land of Canaan after a further six years. As these matters are still future we can but wait to see. We anticipate that the “earthquake” will occur early in 1918, and that the “fire” will come in the fall of 1920.—1 Kings 19:11, 12; Z. '98-207, 208.

And the tenth part of the city fell.—The French part of Christendom; one of the ten toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar; one of the ten horns of Daniel's beast and John's dragon.—Dan. 2:41-43; 7:24; Rev. 12:3.

And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand.—“And by the earthquake were destroyed seven thousand names of men.” (Diaglott.) “France made war, in her revolution of 1793-98, on all titles of nobility. It is said by those who have examined the French records, that just seven thousand titles of men were abolished in that revolution.”—Smith.

And the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of Heaven.—“Their God-dishonoring and Heaven-defying work filled France with such scenes of blood, carnage, and horror, as made even the infidels themselves tremble, and stand aghast; and the ‘remnant’ that escaped the horrors of that hour ‘gave glory to God’—not willingly, but the God of Heaven caused this ‘wrath of man to praise Him,’ by causing all the world to see that those who make war on Heaven make graves for themselves; thus glory redounded to God by the very means that wicked men employed to tarnish that glory. For the statistics and many of the foregoing thoughts on the Two Witnesses, we are indebted to an exposition of the subject of The Two Witnesses, by the late George Storrs.” (Smith.) “And here I gratefully mention assistance rendered by Brothers George Stetson and George Storrs, the latter the Editor of The Bible Examiner, both now deceased. The study of the Word of God with these dear brethren led step by step into greener pastures and brighter hopes for the world.”—Pastor Russell's Autobiography. Z. '16-170.

11:14. The second woe is past.—In the narrative of Chapter XI are briefly summed up the three most important events of the Time of the End. Between the French Revolution and the great Time of Trouble occurs a most significant event, which leads up to and is the direct cause of the great Time of Trouble. That event is the second woe. It is described in detail in Rev. 9:14-21. But for this the great Time of Trouble would never have been necessary (Mal. 4:6); but it is necessary now, as necessary as was the Flood in Noah's day, and for the same reason—to rid the earth of the progeny of the evil spirits, the “abominations of the earth.”—Rev. 17:5; 9:13.

And, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.—The third woe is the Reign of the Lord begun, with its attendant upsetting of the present order. The woes are visited upon those interested in maintaining the present order of things, who would like to retain indefinitely the advantages they have obtained. “The battle of this great Day of God Almighty will be the greatest revolution the world has ever seen. Behold, how, even now, the searchlight of general intelligence is discovering the secret springs of political intrigue, financial policies, religious claims, etc., and how all are brought to the bar of judgment, and by men, as well as by God, declared right or wrong as judged by the teachings of the Word of God.”—D. 541.

11:15. And the seventh angel.—Pastor Russell. See Rev. 3:14; 10:7.

Sounded.—“We find the ‘shout,’ the ‘voice of the Archangel’ and ‘the trump of God’ all symbols, and now in process of fulfillment.” (B. 149, 197.) “The ‘great trumpet’ we understand to be the antitypical ‘trumpet of Jubilee,’ as symbolic as the preceding six, none of which ever made any literal sound. It has been symbolically sounding since October, 1874, and will continue to the end of the Millennium.”—D. 601; Rev. 10:7.

And there were great voices in heaven.—“These voices have been uttered, and to some extent heard, in the symbolic heavens, the nominal church. For some years past a ‘volunteer work’ has been steadily progressing amongst the brethren—the work of rendering assistance to the members of the Household of Faith still in Babylon, still in darkness respecting the Lord, His true Character, His true Plan, and respecting the nearness of His Kingdom.”—Z. '02-118.

Saying, The [kingdoms] KINGDOM of this world [are] IS become the [kingdoms] KINGDOM of our Lord, and of His Christ.—“The volunteer matter prepared for this present year (the issues of our journal for February 15 and March 15) had already been prepared before we thought of how wonderfully this year's distribution will agree with the declaration of our text. Here will be a million voices proclaiming throughout the nominal Church (symbolic heavens) the great message of this present time; namely, the Second Presence of our Lord as the reaper of the Harvest of the Gospel Age, gathering the ‘wheat’ into the ‘garner,’ destroying the tares (as tares—not as human beings) and establishing His glorious Kingdom upon a firm foundation of righteousness and equity, for the blessing of every creature.”—Z. '02-119.

And He shall reign for ever and ever. AMEN.—See Rev. 5:13; Dan. 2:44; 7:14, 18, 27.

11:16. And the [four and] twenty-FOUR elders.—The prophecies pertaining to the Kingdom of God.—Rev. 4:10.

Which [sat] SIT before God on their seats.—Rev. 4:4.

Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God.—Rev. 4:10.

11:17. Saying, We give thee thanks.—See Rev. 5:11-13.

O Lord God Almighty.—“Represented in Christ—‘All things are of the Father,’ and ‘all things are by the Son,’ His honored Representative.”—D. 624.

Which art, and wast, and [art to come].—See Rev. 1:4. He is not to come. He has come.

Because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.—“‘Thy God reigneth!’ The oft-repeated prayer of the Church has been answered: the Kingdom of God has indeed come. The dead in Christ are even now risen and exalted with our Lord and Head. And the ‘feet’ members of the Body of Christ, who still tarry in the flesh, catching the inspiration of the glorified throng who have already ascended into the Mount (Kingdom) of God, reflect a measure of that transcendent glory, as did Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai.” (C. 301.) “In describing the events under the Seventh Trumpet, this order is observed:—(1) the power is taken by the Lord as King of Earth, and His Reign begun; (2) as a consequence the great judgment-trouble comes upon the world.”—D. 622; Rev. 19:6; Psa. 99:1.

11:18. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come.—“Although they are called Christian nations, they have not received the Spirit of the Lord; they have not received the spirit of meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, brotherly kindness and love, the fruits of the Holy Spirit; but on the contrary, the spirit which St. Paul says consists of hatred, wrath, strife, murder—works of the flesh and the Devil. For this reason they did not even wait for God's wrath to come, but began to bring it upon themselves nearly two months in advance. They became so angry that they began to destroy each other even before their lease of power had expired.”—Z. '14-328.

And the time of the dead, that they should be judged.—“They cannot be judged without His words, and the vast majority,—‘dead in trespasses and sins,’ blinded and deafened by the Adversary, through sin,—have not thus far been enabled to hear their Redeemer's wonderful words of life. In the Millennial Kingdom the dead world will have the eyes of its understanding opened and its ears unstopped, and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth and reach every member of the dead race, not only those who have not yet gone down into the tomb, but ‘all the families of the earth;’ for, ‘all that are in the grave shall come forth’ for the very purpose of hearing the ‘wonderful words of life,’ and of being judged by them. If they shall accept them heartily they shall, by restitution processes, be brought fully up to life conditions.”—Z. '02-116; Dan. 7:10; Rev. 14:7; 15:4.

And that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy Servants the Prophets.—Who are therefore without their rewards until Christ's Second Advent.—Heb. 11:39, 40.

And to the saints.—“We hold that it is a most reasonable inference, and one in perfect harmony with all the Lord's Plan, that in the spring of 1878 all the holy Apostles and other ‘overcomers’ of the Gospel Age who slept in Jesus were raised spirit beings, like unto their Lord and Master.”—C. 234.

And them that fear Thy name, small and great.—All other classes of believers, past, present and future.

And shouldest destroy them.—The Papal and Protestant sects.

Which destroy the earth.—Corrupt the earth, Greek.—Rev. 19:2.

11:19. And the Temple of God.—The true Church.—1 Cor. 3:16.

Was opened in heaven ABOVE.—Was revealed as in the ascendency over the nominal ecclesiastical heavens.

And there was seen in His Temple.—Clearly revealed to His Church.

The Ark.—The repository of the sacred and hidden things of Revelation and Ezekiel.

Of [His] THE testament of God.—The Secret—“The Finished Mystery.”—Psa. 25:14; Col. 1:27; Rev. 14:17; 16:1, 17.

And there were lightnings, and voices and thunderings.—See Rev. 8:5.

And an earthquake.—See Rev. 8:5; 16:18.

And great hail.—A deluge of Truth in its most compact form.—Isa. 28:17; Rev. 16:21.

“The tidal wave is coming, the Year of Jubilee;”
With shout and song it sweeps along, like billows of the sea,
The jubilee of nations shall ring through earth and sky;
“The dawn of grace draws on apace—'tis coming by and by.”

Revelation 12—The Birth Of Antichrist

12:1. And there appeared a great wonder.—Sign, Greek.—Rev. 1:1.

In heaven.—In the power of spiritual control.—A. 318; Eph. 2:4-6; Phil. 3:20.

A Woman.—The early Church, Nominal Zion, (D. 591), originally a chaste Virgin.—2 Cor. 11:2; Matt. 9:15; 22:2; John 3:29; Eph. 5:25, 32.

Clothed with the sun.—Resplendent in the full, clear light of the unclouded Gospel.—D. 591.

And the moon under her feet.—“The moon under her feet represents that the Law which supports her is nevertheless not the source of her light.”—D. 591.

And upon her head a crown of twelve stars.—“The twelve stars about her head as a crown represent her Divinely appointed and inspired teachers—the Twelve Apostles.” (D. 591.) “Now if God ordained only twelve stars as lights for His Church, as here represented, is it not a great mistake for popes, bishops and clergy to regard themselves as successors of the Apostles,—stars also?”—D. 594.

12:2. And [she] being with child.—As a result of the Mystery of Iniquity which was working within her.—2 Thes. 2:7.

[Cried], AND SHE CRIETH travailing in birth.—Felt the weight of the burden even in apostolic days.—Rev. 2:2.

And pained to be delivered.—Desired to get rid of the loathsome thing from which, by the machinations of Satan, she was at the time suffering. In a sense the birth of the Antichrist from the early Church was a counterfeit of the birth of Christ from the virgin Mary, the one a manifestation of the power of God, the other of Satan.—John 16:21, 22.

12:3. And there appeared another wonder in heaven.—Among the ecclesiastical powers of the same epoch.

And behold a great red dragon.—The Pagan Roman Empire, which had its own religious system. “The Roman Empire had not only conquered the world and given it politics and laws, but, recognizing religious superstitions to be the strongest chains by which to hold and control a people, it had adopted a scheme which had its origin in Babylon, in the time of her greatness as ruler of the world. That plan was, that the emperor should be esteemed the director and ruler in religious as well as in civil affairs. In support of this, it was claimed that the emperor was a demi-god, in some sense descended from their heathen deities. As such he was worshipped and his statues adored; and as such he was styled Pontifex Maximus—i. e., Chief Priest or Greatest Religious Ruler.”—B. 288.

Having seven heads and ten horns.—See Dan. 7:7, 20; Rev. 13:1; 17:3, 9-12; 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11. The Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, was founded in A. D. 395, when Theodosius divided the Roman Empire between his two sons, Honorius and Arcadius, assigning to the latter all the portion lying east of the Adriatic sea. At this time the Roman Empire became the two legs of Nebuchadnezzar's vision. At the time the division was made the five potential races in the East were the Greeks, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Heruli and Vandals. The five potential races in the West were the Franks, Britons, Saxons, Visigoths and Suevi. During the next one hundred and fifty years great migrations and invasions have so confused history that there is great difference of opinion among historians on many important details. It is plain, however, that three of the migratory races disappeared from history, all within a few years of each other, apparently in order to leave Rome and its environs free for the development of the papacy. The Heruli, a race from Germanic territory, disappeared from Italian territory in A. D. 489; the Vandals, a race from the shores of the Baltic (never in control of Rome except on a brief raid, but a great enemy of the papacy) disappeared in A. D. 534; and the Ostrogoths, an Asiatic race, in A. D. 539. The Western Empire itself disappeared in A. D. 476. The matter is treated by Pastor Russell at greater length in C. 76, 77, and all his statements are, of course, correct.

And seven crowns upon his heads.—In the Eastern Empire, corresponding to the present Turkey and the Balkans, and in Lombardy, corresponding to the present Austria, we may see the two horns which remained of the five Eastern powers after the Ostrogoths, Heruli and Vandals disappeared. And in the Visigothic Kingdom, corresponding to Spain; Suevia, corresponding to Portugal; the Kingdom of the Franks, corresponding to France and the Netherlands; Saxonia, corresponding to Germany and Scandinavia; and Britannia, corresponding to Great Britain, we may see the five horns which represented the five western powers. The following explains why Italy is not included in the list:

“The difficulty of Italian history lies in the fact that until modern times the Italians have had no political unity, no independence, no organized existence as a nation. Split up into numerous and mutually hostile communities, they never, through the fourteen centuries which have elapsed since the end of the old Western Empire, shook off the yoke of foreigners completely; they never until lately learned to merge their local and conflicting interests in the common good of undivided Italy. Their history is therefore not the history of a single people, centralizing and absorbing its constituent elements by a process of continued evolution, but a group of cognate populations, exemplifying divers types of constitutional developments.”—Brit.

The foregoing justifies Pastor Russell's thought that the Western Empire should be counted as one of the horns rooted up to make way for the Papacy. As to whether it or the Vandal race should be counted as the third horn, since both were destroyed, is a matter of no great importance to us. The point of greatest interest now is that the Lord is about to destroy the other seven, including the Papacy. All the powers named, except Spain, are already in the great War. Indeed, except South America, which expects to be dragged in, the only countries of the world not now (June, 1917) engaged in the war are Scandinavia, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Abyssinia and Mexico.—Jer. 25:15-38.

12:4. And his tail.—Constantine, last of the Roman emperors to maintain his capital at Rome. “After the senate and people of Rome had ceased to be the sovereigns of the Roman world, and their authority had been vested in the sole person of the emperor, the eternal city could no longer claim to be the rightful throne of the state. That honor could henceforth be conferred upon any place in the Roman world which might suit the convenience of the emperor, or serve more efficiently the interests he had to guard. Furthermore, the empire was now upon its defense. When Constantine, therefore, established a new seat of government at Byzantium, he adopted a policy inaugurated before his day as essential to the preservation of the Roman dominion. He can claim originality only in his choice of the particular point at which that seat was placed, and in his recognition of the fact that his alliance with the Christian church could be best maintained in the new atmosphere. The city was founded by Constantine the Great, through the enlargement of the old town of Byzantium, in A. D. 328, and was inaugurated as a new seat of government on the 11th of May, A. D. 330. To indicate its political dignity, it was named New Rome, while to perpetuate the name of its founder it was styled Constantinople. The chief patriarch of the Greek church still signs himself ‘Archbishop of New Rome.’”—Brit.

[Paganism Attacks the Early Church Illustration]

Drew the third part.—“The Roman Emperor Constantine saw a vision—probably when wide awake—a vision of greater prosperity for himself and his Empire, by a recognition of Christianity as the religion of his Empire instead of paganism, which had previously been recognized. Constantine's influence in Church affairs became great. He proposed the calling of a council of all the bishops, numbering about one thousand. He wanted to know why these apostolic bishops, all inspired with the same Spirit of God, taught so differently. He offered to pay the expenses of all the bishops to the Council of Nice; but the majority, fearing that the Emperor would be under the control of the Roman bishop (not yet claiming to be pope), declined to attend. Only 384 came. But even they were unable to agree. Many held to the Bible teaching, but the mystification thought of trinity had gained a hold on some of the bishops. Thereupon Constantine decided the matter; and the Nicene Creed, backed by the Emperor's power, was declared to be the Christian faith, and anything contrary to it, heresy. Yet be it remembered that only about one-third of the bishops were present at the Council; and that they could not be coerced into substituting ‘mystery’ for the Word of God, until the Emperor lent his influence. Thus was the mystery of trinity enshrined by a heathen emperor, not baptized—not even sprinkled. The history of the persecution of all who would not worship the trinitarian mystery would fill volumes. One sad illustration is familiar to all—the burning of Servetus, by good Brother Calvin's signature to the death warrant. Is it any wonder that with such conditions prevailing for centuries, the Bible ignored and the creeds worshipped, the true teachings of the Bible on many subjects were completely lost sight of? Is it any wonder that, when in the sixteenth century God began to bring the Bible back to the attention of the world, it was burned by the Episcopal bishops in front of St. Paul's Cathedral in London? Is it any wonder that the Christians of that time were persecuted for studying it, and could meet only in secret?”—B. S. M.

Of the stars of heaven.—False stars, “wandering stars,” man-ordained lights of the nominal heavens.—D. 595. There the bishops became substitutes for the true Apostolic stars.

And did cast them to the earth.—Forced them to teach what he told them or else be banished, as was Arius.

And the dragon.—Imperial Rome, represented by Constantine.

Stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered.—The early Christian Church.

For to devour her child.—Absorb it, make it a subordinate feature of the Roman system of government.

As soon as it was born.—As soon as the development of the clergy class and others equally unfaithful to Christ had made it impossible for them to be retained longer in the true Church.

12:5. And she brought forth a man child.—The papacy.—Z. '79-12-2.

Who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.—“In a bull, or edict, Sixtus V declares: ‘The authority given to St. Peter and his successors, by the immense power of the eternal King, excels all the power of earthly kings and princes. It passeth uncontrollable sentence upon them all. And if it find any of them resisting God's ordinance, it takes more severe vengeance on them, casting them down from their thrones, however powerful they may be, and tumbling them down to the lowest parts of the earth as the ministers of aspiring Lucifer.’”

“A bull of Pope Pius V., entitled ‘The damnation and excommunication of Elizabeth, queen of England, and her adherents’ reads as follows: ‘He that reigneth on high, to whom is given all power in heaven and in earth, committed one holy, catholic and apostolic church (out of which there is no salvation) to one alone upon earth, namely, to Peter, the Prince of the apostles, and to Peter's successor, the bishop of Rome, to be governed in fulness of power. Him alone he made prince over all people and all kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, consume, plant and build.’”—B. 311.

And her child was caught up unto God, and [to] UNTO His throne.—“St Bernard affirms that ‘none except God is like the pope, either in heaven or on earth.’ ‘The Emperor Constantine,’ says Pope Nicholas I., ‘conferred the appellation of God on the pope; who, therefore, being God, cannot be judged by man.’ Said Pope Innocent III.—‘The pope holds the place of the true God;’ and the canon law, in the gloss, denominates the pope—‘our Lord God.’ Innocent and Jacobatius state that ‘the pope can do nearly all that God can do,’ while Decius rejects the word nearly, as unnecessary. Jacobatius and Durand assert that ‘none dare say to him any more than to God—Lord, what doest Thou?’”—B. 311.

Pope Martin stated the matter in his own behalf as follows: “All the earth is my diocese, and I am the ordinary of all men, having the authority of the King of all kings upon subjects. I am all in all, and above all, so that God Himself, and I, the vicar of God, have both one consistory, and I am able to do almost all that God can do. In all things that I list my will is to stand for reason, for I am able by the law to dispense above the law, and of wrong to make justice in correcting laws and changing them. Wherefore, if those things that I do be said not to be done of man, but of God—What can you make me but God? Again, if prelates of the church be called and counted of Constance for Gods, I then, being above all prelates, seem by this reason to be above all Gods. Wherefore, no marvel if it be in my power to change time and times, to alter and abrogate laws, to dispense with all things, yea, with the precepts of Christ”—B. 314; Dan. 7:25.

12:6. And the woman.—The true Church of God.

Fled Into the wilderness.—“Error, always more popular than truth, when exalted to influence and power, hunted down, proscribed and made disreputable the truth, and all who held it. This was the time when the true Church (woman) fled into the wilderness—into solitude—an outcast because of her fidelity to the truth, and to the true Lord and Head of the Church.”—B. 329.

Where she hath a place prepared of God.—“The secret place of the Most High.”—Psa. 91:1.

That they.—The antitypical ravens that fed the Elijah class, the unknown, “faithful men” who, in secret, broke the bread of life to those that hungered for righteousness.

Should feed her there.—As Elijah was fed in the wilderness.—Rev. 2:20.

A thousand two hundred and threescore days.—1260 years, from A. D. 539 to 1799.—Rev. 11:2, 3.

12:7. And there was war in heaven.—Between the two ecclesiastical powers, Pagan Rome and Papal Rome.

Michael.—“Who as God,” the Pope.—B. 275; C. 62.

And his angels.—The Bishops. The following is the reply given in the Catholic catechism to the question, “Who are the successors of the Apostles?” Ans. “The bishops who are rightly consecrated, and are in communion with the head of the Church, the Pope.”

[Fought against] TO WAR WITH the dragon.—Attempted to get the temporal power away from the civil rulers.—Rev. 2:12.

And the dragon.—Imperial Rome.—B. 288; Rev. 12:3; 20:2.

Fought and his angels.—Did everything possible to circumscribe the growing power of the papacy, but all in vain.—Rev. 2:12.

12:8. And THEY prevailed not AGAINST HIM, neither was [their place] HE THEN found any more in heaven.—The Papacy came out of the contest victorious. “Paganism, defeated, relinquished all things pertaining to religious affairs and contented itself with social, civic and political affairs,” so stated one of Pastor Russell's coworkers.

12:9. And the great dragon was cast out.—Verses 9 to 12 contain the rejoicings of the Papacy over their triumph.

That old serpent, called the Devil, [and] Satan.—“To this fourth beast, representing Rome, Daniel gives no descriptive name. While the others are described as lion-like, bear-like and leopard-like, the fourth was so ferocious and hideous that none of the beasts of earth could be compared with it. John the Revelator, seeing in vision the same symbolic beast (government), was also at a loss for a name by which to describe it, and finally gives it several. Among others, he called it ‘the Devil.’ He certainly chose an appropriate name; for Rome, when viewed in the light of its bloody persecutions, certainly has been the most devilish of all earthly governments. Even in its change from Rome Pagan to Rome Papal it illustrated one of Satan's chief characteristics; for he also transforms himself to appear as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), as Rome transformed itself from heathenism and claimed to be Christian—the Kingdom of Christ.”—A. 258.

Which deceiveth the whole world.—By intimating that anybody in it except the pope has any right to say anything about how it should be run.

He was cast out into the earth.—We, the Papacy, are in control!

And his angels were cast out with him.—We, the cardinals, etc., have the positions of power once held by the priests of Pagan Rome!

12:10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven.—In the Roman Catholic Church.

Now is come salvation, and strength.—“Cardinal Manning, Papacy's chief representative in England, endorses and draws public attention to the following clause of the Catholic faith: ‘We declare, affirm, define, and pronounce it necessary to salvation, for every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.’ And in a published discourse he represents the pope as saying, ‘I claim to be the Supreme Judge and Director of the consciences of men; of the peasant that tills the field, and the prince that sits on the throne; of the household that lives in the shade of privacy, and the Legislature that makes laws for kingdoms. I am the sole, last, Supreme Judge of what is right and wrong.’”—B. 317.

And the kingdom of our God.—The Papacy really believed that its exaltation to power was the exaltation of the kingdom of God in the earth, and so it was, but not our God.—2 Cor. 4:4.

And the power of His Christ.—The pope really believes he is the Vicar of Christ.

For the accuser of our brethren is cast down.—It seemed to the Papacy that in undermining and supplanting Imperial Rome they had gained a great victory for Christ.

Which accused them before our God day and night.—Pagan Rome truthfully accused the Papacy of lying, simony, murder, adultery, and every crime on the calendar.—Rev. 2:13.

12:11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.—This is the way it looks to Catholics even to this day. “By this sign [the cross] conquer!” was the Crusaders' standard.

And by the word of their testimony.—But not by the testimony of history or of God's Word, both of which show that “their testimony” (i. e., the testimony of the papacy, in the forged decretals and otherwise) was one of continuous lies.—Dan. 11:27.

And they loved not their lives unto the death.—This was the Catholic viewpoint.

12:12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens.—Catholic heavens—popes, bishops and prelates.

And ye that dwell in them.—“The under-priests of Papacy, not parts or members of the church or hierarchy, but called ‘Brothers.’”—B. 303.

Woe to the [inhabiters of] the earth and [of] the sea.—It seemed to the Papacy as though the Millennium, and the great Time of Trouble which the Scriptures everywhere show is to precede it, were just at hand.—Rev. 7:1

For the devil is come down to you.—The papal thought that Pagan Rome was a good representative of the Devil is quite right; and the Scriptures return the compliment.

Having [great] wrath.—Being very greatly angered at Papacy's aggressions. The Papal policy has ever been to crowd the civil powers as far as they could possibly go, then wait until a generation had passed and crowd some more. The horns have always hated the whore.—Rev. 17:16.

Because he knoweth he hath but a short time.—Had Papacy been able to bring it about it would surely, in time, have deprived all the rulers of the world of every particle of civil, social, ecclesiastical and financial power. There has never been any limit to its ambitions or pretensions, and there is none now.

12:13. And when the dragon.—The civil powers of the old Roman Empire, under the control of the Papacy.

Saw that he was cast unto the earth.—Deprived of the superstitious reverence now almost wholly absorbed by the Papacy.

He persecuted.—Not on his own account, but under the orders and instructions and encouragements of the Papacy, and to win Papal approval.

The woman which brought forth the man child.—The true Church. For details of the infamous work of Charles V, Emperor of Germany and King of Spain and the Netherlands, the Duke of Alva, Philip II of Spain, the French kings Francis and Henry, see pages 337-338 of Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II. These are but illustrations of what occurred in all parts of the old Roman world, and were all done at the behest of the Papacy.

12:14. And to the woman.—The true Church.

Were given Two Wings.—The Old and New Testaments.

Of a great eagle.—The eagle is a symbol of wisdom, a fit representative of the Scriptures in which are contained the words of our God. (Rev. 4:7.) “I bare you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto Myself.”—Ex. 19:4; Deut. 32:11-12.

That she might fly into the wilderness.—Separateness from the world; ostracism; represented by Elijah's three and a half years in the wilderness.—Rev. 2:20.

Into her place, where she is nourished.—By Divinely provided means, of which almost no records have been permitted to survive the ravages of papal persecution.

Both for a time, and times, and half a time.—1260 years from A. D. 539 to 1799.—Rev. 11:2, 3.

From.—Safe from.

The face of the Serpent.—Satan himself, the real instigator of all persecutions from the Lord's time even until now.

And the Serpent.—Satan himself, at the close of the 1260 years of Papacy's power to persecute.

Cast out of his mouth water as a flood.—“The strength of the French revolution, to which reference is here had, lay in the fact that it was instigated by many stern truths, regarding priest-craft and king-craft, and regarding the individual rights and liberties of all. Truths regarding human rights were seen and expressed there which cause us surprise when we consider the ignorance, superstition and servility of that day, under which the masses had so long rested. Many of the truths which then swept as a flood over France, deluging it with blood, are now very generally accepted among all civilized peoples.”—C. 65.

After the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.—“Satan's design in instigating the French revolution was to create an alarm throughout Europe, especially the influential class, unfavorable to liberty, and to illustrate in France the theory that, were the superstitions of Rome to be overthrown and liberty to be given full sway, all law and order would speedily end.” This strategy Satan is now about to repeat—this time with success, but his triumph will be short.—C. 66.

And the earth.—The order-loving people of Europe.

Helped the woman.—The true Church.

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood.—“It is a fact of history that the flood of truth which spread over France—arraigning Papacy and its priestcraft, and monarchy and its parasitic aristocracy, as the responsible causes of much of the ignorance, poverty and superstition of the people—was swallowed up, or absorbed by the people of Europe generally (The Roman ‘earth’). And when the rulers of Europe formed what was called ‘The Holy Alliance,’ for the suppression of the liberties of the people and the perpetuation of their own thrones, it was too late to fetter the people; for, having drunk up the flood of waters, they would not submit. It was too late to think of re-establishing Papacy, which had been so terribly humiliated and whose anathemas against liberty and the French had so reacted against itself; so the pope was not even invited to join the ‘Holy Alliance,’ of which before he would have been the recognized head.”—C. 66.

Which the dragon cast out of his mouth.—“This sudden flood of waters (truth) was designed to act as an emetic, to lead to the casting out of the food of liberty, already being received by the people from the Bible, as the result of the Reformation, and thus to force rulers and teachers to oppose the truth through fear of anarchy.”—C. 66.

12:17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman.—The protesting Church of God. This will apply with great force shortly.

And went to make war with the remnant of her seed.—The true saints in the Roman Catholic communion or wherever otherwise found,—always objects of hatred and oppression by ecclesiasticism.—Rev. 13:7.

Which keep the commandments of God.—“The law is fulfilled in us.”—Rom. 8:4.

And have the testimony of [Jesus Christ] GOD.—Have HIS word as the man of their counsel.—Rev. 14:12.

Revelation 13—The Papal And Protestant Beasts

13:1. And [I] HE stood upon the sand of the sea.—The sea represents the masses not under religious restraint. It is this symbolic sea that is to overturn and swallow up all kingdoms of earth in the great Time of Trouble. The proper understanding of the vision is located down at the edge of this sea, near the Time of Trouble.

[Papacy As God Pictures It Illustration]

And I saw a beast.—“This character is very forcibly delineated even in the names applied to it by the inspired writers. Paul calls it ‘That Wicked One,’ ‘The Man of Sin,’ ‘The Mystery of Iniquity,’ ‘The Antichrist,’ and ‘The Son of Perdition;’ the Prophet Daniel calls it ‘The Abomination that maketh desolate’ (Dan. 11:31; 12:11); and our Lord refers to the same character as ‘The Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet’ (Matt. 24:15). This same character was also prefigured by a little horn, or power, out of a terrible beast that Daniel saw in his prophetic vision, which had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and which prospered and made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. (Dan. 7:8, 21.) John also saw and warned the Church against this character, saying, ‘Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come.’ He then advises how to escape Antichrist's influence. (1 John 2:18-27.) These various appellations and brief descriptions indicate a base, subtle, hypocritical, deceptive, tyrannical and cruel character, developed in the midst of the Christian Church; claiming, to the last, peculiar sanctity and authority and power from God.” (B. 271.) “We need not look long to find a character fitting all the requirements perfectly. But when we state that the one and only system whose history fits these prophecies is Papacy, let no one misunderstand us to mean that every Roman Catholic is a man of sin. Popes, bishops and others are at most only parts or members of the Antichrist system, even as all of the Royal Priests are only members of the true Christ.” (B. 277.) Antichrist now finds its expression in the “Christian” governments of the world founded upon its teachings—Christendom.

Rise up out of the sea.—See Rev. 17:15; Psa. 65:7; 93:3, 4; Isa. 57:20. At the time of papacy's birth the masses of the Roman people had ceased to have reverence for the ancient mythology of Pagan Rome. Constantine, a shrewd politician, discerned this and discerned the growing influence of the Christian religion. In adopting it, in forcing the adoption of the Nicene Creed, and in removing his capital from Rome, he gave the papacy its start.

Having TEN HORNS AND seven heads [and ten horns].—See Rev. 12:3; Dan. 7:7, 20; Rev. 17:3, 9-12; 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.

And upon his horns ten crowns.—In this calculation are included the three potential races plucked up to make way for the papacy. (Rev. 12:3; 17:3, 9.) In this picture the location of the crowns upon the horns instead of upon the heads, as in Rev. 12:3, denotes the changed situation after the papacy came into control. The papacy ruled not directly, as did Pagan Rome, but through other powers to which it was joined.

And upon his heads.—The seven kingdoms that still survive: Spain, Portugal, France, England, Germany, Austria, Greece, and their past and present dependencies.

The name of blasphemy.—Every one of these kingdoms falsely claims, or has claimed, to be a part of the Kingdom of God, though actually all part of the one great kingdom ruled by “The god of this world.”—2 Cor. 4:4.

13:2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard.—“The body of the Papal beast was like a Leopard. The Leopard was the third beast seen by Daniel, viz., Grecia. Greece was noted as the center of learning, piety and wisdom (Acts 17:23); so Papacy's chief claim, to be the ruler of all kingdoms, is based on the claim that it is the center of wisdom, learning and piety. Other peculiarities of the Leopard are its activity, vigilance and secretiveness; so with Papacy. Again, a Leopard is spotted irregularly, so too Papacy's policy in various parts of the earth.” (Z. '79-12-2.) “In one place it is liberal, almost white in its professions or appearances; in another quarter black, corrupt, degrading, brutal; and in still other places it has various neutral and tawny shades of correspondence to the natural depravity of the people it rules with its rod of eternal torment and its staff of Purgatory. In Spain, for example, which has been for centuries one of its dark spots—as dark as the general civilization of the people will permit,—the ‘leopard’ has been accustomed to have its way, and is incensed that freedom of worship, or even of thought, should be dreamed of.”—Z. '99-262.

And his feet were as the feet of a bear.—“The bear suggests another of Papacy's peculiarities as an empire, viz., persistency. Like the Bear Empire (Medo-Persia) which would besiege for years, and even turn a river aside to accomplish its ends; so Papacy moves cautiously and gets possession of kingdoms rather by strategy than by battles. The bear hugs its prey to death with its paws.”—Z. '79-12-2.

And his mouth as the mouth of [a lion] LIONS.—“Babylon was celebrated for its splendor and pride—the Lion the king or ruler of all beasts—so Papacy had a mouth of this sort, i. e., it claimed to be the kingdom over all kingdoms by Divine right, the kingdom of God, which was to break in pieces and consume all others—a strong mouth.”—Z. '79-12-2.

And the dragon.—Imperial Rome, represented by Constantine.

Gave him his power.—“Ancient Pagan Rome had only a mere skeleton of sacerdotal power as compared with the complex and elaborate machinery and contrivances of doctrine and practice of Papal Rome, the triumphant successor to their scheme, who now, after centuries of cunning and skill, has its power so intrenched that even today, when its power is outwardly broken and it is shorn of civil dominion, it rules the world and controls kingdoms secretly, under cover, more thoroughly than the Roman emperors ever ruled the kings subordinate to them.”—B. 288.

And his seat.—His place in the city of Rome, by transferring his own headquarters to Byzantium, “New Rome.”—Rev. 12:4.

And great authority.—At the hands of the Roman Emperor Justinian, in A. D. 539.—Rev. 12:3-5.

13:3. And I saw one of his heads.—One of the dragon's heads—Papacy.

As it were wounded to death.—Whenever the Scriptures use the expression “as it were” (as in Rev. 9:7, 9) what seems or appears is not actually the case.

And his deadly wound was healed.—“At the Diet of Augsburg, in 1555, the Religious Peace was concluded. Every prince was to be allowed to choose between the Catholic religion and the Augsburg Confession [of the Reformers]; and the religion of the prince was to be that of the land over which he reigned: that is, each government was to choose the creed for its subjects.”

“In fact, the political circumstances of the time, combined with the fact that even the leaders of the reform were only beginning to get awake to some of the moral and a few of the doctrinal errors of Papacy, lead us to wonder at the rapid strides taken toward the right, rather than to harshly condemn them for not making the cleansing more thorough. But when the Protestant churches united with the state, progress and reform came to a standstill. Soon creeds were formed which were almost as unyielding and opposed to growth in knowledge as the decrees of Rome.”—C. 111.

And all the [world] EARTH wondered after the beast.—The reference is to the symbolic earth, the people, obedient to the ruling powers.—Rev. 17:8.

13:4. And they worshipped the dragon.—“Dragon means civil power, Pagan Rome.”—Z. '79-12-2.

[Which] BECAUSE HE gave THE power unto the beast.—“The people respected the civil power all the more because it had so honored ecclesiastical authority. The various kingdoms (horns) soon learned that their hold over the people was strengthened rather than weakened by allegiance to Papacy, for Papacy in turn recognized them, and commanded the people to recognize those despots as of divine appointment. Thus it is, that to this day, the rulers of Europe claim to rule by Divine right and appointment, and their children after them, no matter how incompetent. For the same reason the Protestant churches of Europe, to gain national favor, protection and assistance, became State churches, and they, as Papacy did, recognize the reigning families as possessed of Divine title to the office and rulership of the people. God's Word, on the contrary, denounces all the governments of earth as beastly, selfish, oppressive, and recognizes only one Kingdom as being of God's appointment, viz., the Kingdom soon to be established in all the earth—Christ and His saints in glory. (Dan. 7:27; Rev. 11:15; 2 Tim. 2:12.) It is in that Kingdom only that the saints have their citizenship, it alone they recognize, and for it pray ‘Thy Kingdom come.’”—Z. '80-1-1.

And they worshipped the beast.—“The following, called The Adoration, is still a part of the ceremony connected with the installation of a new pope: ‘The pope is lifted up by the cardinals and placed by them upon the altar-throne. One of the bishops kneels, and the singing of Te Deum [We praise thee, O God] begins. Meantime the cardinals kiss the feet and hands and face of the pope.’ A coin representing this ceremony, struck in the Papal mint, bears the words, ‘Whom they create, they adore.’”—B. 316.

Saying, Who is like unto the beast.—What other character in history ever made such claims or received such homage?—Rev. 18:18.

AND who is able to make war with him.—“When, in A. D. 455, the city of Rome was invaded and plundered by the Vandals, and all around was distress and desolation, Leo, the bishop of Rome, improved the opportunity for impressing upon all, both barbarians and Romans, his claim of spiritual power. To the rude and superstitious barbarians, already greatly impressed by what they saw about them, of Rome's greatness and wealth, Leo, arrayed in his pontifical robes, exclaimed: ‘Beware! I am the successor of St. Peter, to whom God has given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and against whose church the gates of hell cannot prevail; I am the living representative of divine power on the earth; I am Cæsar, a Christian Cæsar, ruling in love, to whom all Christians owe allegiance; I hold in my hands the curses of hell and the benedictions of Heaven; I absolve all subjects from allegiance to kings; I give and take away, by divine right, all thrones and principalities of Christendom. Beware how you desecrate the patrimony given me by your invisible king; yea, bow down your necks to me and pray that the anger of God may be averted.’”—B. 295.

13:5. And there was given unto him a mouth.—The mouth of Antichrist is one of its leading characteristics.—B. 305; Dan. 7:8, 11, 25.

Speaking great things and blasphemies.—“How evident it must be to the simplest minds that Papacy's great swelling words and boastful claims have, one and all, been blasphemies. The establishment of a counterfeit Kingdom of God was a libel upon God's government, a gross blasphemy, and a misrepresentation of His character and Plan and Word. God's character, i. e., His ‘name,’ was blasphemed in the thousand monstrous edicts, bulls and decretals issued in His name, by the long line of those who claimed, as vice-gerents, to represent His Son by the titles, appropriate only to the Father or to Christ, which they have applied to themselves; and God's Tabernacle, the true Church, was blasphemed by the false system which claimed to take its place.”—B. 306; Dan. 7:8, 20, 25.

And [power] IT was given unto him to [continue] DO WHAT HE WILL.—He still continues, though he can no longer do what he will.

Forty and two months.—1260 days, or a time, times and a half; fulfilled in 1260 literal years from A. D. 539 to 1799 A. D. (Rev. 11:2.) As a secondary fulfilment, we may see the end of the rule of the Kaiser and others of his mouthpieces in 42 literal months from Aug. 1, 1914. But what folly it would be to try to see in the German Kaiser, or any other one man, the foretold Antichrist.—Rev. 11:11.

13:6. And he opened his mouth in [blasphemy] BLASPHEMIES against God.—Misrepresentations of the Divine Character and Plan.

To blaspheme [His name] HIM.—God was blasphemed, or misrepresented by the titles used by the popes, by their claims to the exercise of Divine power on earth (B. 311), by claims that the Pope is God on earth (B. 314), by claims that he is the sole judge of right and wrong (B. 317), by claims that he is infallible (B. 318), by proscribing the Bible (B. 319), by the doctrines of eternal torture and purgatory (B. 323), by masses for the dead and the sale of indulgences (B. 324), and by devilish practices against His saints, too numerous to name.

And His tabernacle.—The church in the wilderness.—Rev. 12:6, 14.

[And] Them that dwell in heaven.—God's Tabernacle is His true Church in the flesh, but, nevertheless, “Our citizenship is in Heaven.” (Phil. 3:20, R. V.) Even here we have been made to “Sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”—Eph. 2:6.

13:7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints.—See Rev. 2:20; Acts 9:32; Rom. 15:25; 1 Cor. 6:1.

And to overcome them.—See Rev. 6:8; Dan. 7:21, 22.

And power was given him over all kindreds, AND PEOPLES, and tongues, and nations.—This has been literally fulfilled, but will have a secondary fulfilment soon, through the beastly governments that are Papacy's living representatives in spirit if not in fact.—Rev. 17:15.

13:8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.—Yield either willing or forced obedience to his mandates; bow the knee in submission.

Whose names are not written in the Book of Life.—“The deception of Papacy was so complete that the world was deceived, and all the church, except the overcomers, whose names were ‘written in Heaven,’ were deceived in the same way, and hastened to unite themselves with, and to worship the Beast, and have it enroll their names on its books. From this has sprung the delusion so common to all Protestants at this day, viz., that their names must be connected with some such earthly system, or they are not the Lord's saints. But the important item is, to have our names recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life; His is the only record of any value.”—Z. '80:1-1; Psa. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; Lu. 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 21:27.

Of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.—“This selection of the Only Begotten to be the Head and Chief of the New Creation—subject to the trials, disciplines, humiliations and other necessary experiences to prove His worthiness—had already been determined upon in the Divine counsel before man was created.”—F. 65; 1 Pet. 1:20; Eph. 1:4; Rev. 5:6; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32.

13:9. If any man have an ear, let him hear.—“Only those whose ears have been circumcised—those who had come to a considerable knowledge of God's Word and who had the hearing of faith—to respect Him and His Word, despite the magnificence, success and power of error, would be able to receive the foregoing statements concerning those who were deceived by Papacy.”—Z. '80-1-1.

13:10. [He that] IF ANY ONE leadeth into captivity [shall go] HE GOETH into captivity.—“The Papal system was one of bondage. All who acknowledge its claims must of necessity render implicit obedience, as unto God; for it claimed to be the kingdom of heaven; and its head, the Pope, to be God's vice-gerent; consequently those who were for, or in favor of such captivity of individual thought, and who would acknowledge the right of that Papal system to limit and define the faith of all, by consenting, became captives.”—Z. '80-1-2.

He that killeth with the sword must be killed by the sword.—“There were some who asserted that Papacy was a usurpation of the titles and power of the true Head and Ruler of the Church, and claimed their rights to the individual liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. Such used the ‘Sword of the Spirit,’ which is the Word of God, in defense of their liberty, and such were put to death by Papacy; it overcame the saints during its 1260 years of power.”—Z. '80-1-2.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.—“This was a severe test of true saintship—Would they go into captivity and join in the usurper's ranks, or would they remain faithful to the true King and wait for the Kingdom which He promised to establish? Those whose names were written in Heaven stuck to the Word, and sealed their testimonies by death.” (Z. '80-1-2.) The same situation now confronts the saints, in the matter of aiding in some way the murderous spirit of the governments which are permeated by Antichrist's spirit.—Rev. 14:12.

13:11. And I beheld another beast.—“If the preceding wild beast represented an ecclesiastical power, as we have just seen, then this beast called another should be understood to represent a similar ecclesiastical or church power. As the first beast had ten horns, or powers, which gave it their strength, so this beast has ‘two horns’ which indicates that two powers or governments will support it. Again, notice that this beast ‘ascended (came gradually) out of the earth,’ while the first came out of the sea. Now, if our definitions be correct—as the coming of Papacy from among the irreligious masses of the Roman Empire was shown by its coming out of the ‘sea’—then the coming of this second beast out of the ‘earth’ should signify that it sprung up among a professedly religious people. The Two-horned Beast is one ecclesiastical system, and the two horns show that it is supported, and its authority recognized by two kingdoms. Remember that to be simply aided or supported by the empire does not make a symbolic ‘Beast’; a ‘Beast’ is a government, and to become a symbolic beast, a church must needs become an element in, or part of the government.”

“There is but one church which this symbol fits perfectly, viz.: The established ‘Church of England and Ireland.’ This system, like the Papal, was a blending of church and state, an ecclesiastical empire. In the year 1200 England became subject to the Pope. In 1531, owing to a dispute between her king, Henry VIII, and the Pope, England withdrew from allegiance to Papacy. The Convocation of its clergy called the same year, in its decrees, declared King Henry VIII to be ‘The one protector of the English Church, its only and Supreme Lord; and as far as might be, by the law of Christ, its Supreme Head.’ Those are the exact sentiments of Papacy; that is exactly the sense in which the Pope is recognized as Christ's vice-gerent. What a glorious representation of the Lord Jesus they had in Henry VIII, who, out of six wives, was divorced from two, beheaded two, and by many is supposed to have poisoned one! He was a worthy rival of some of the Popes as an Anti-christian claimant of headship to the church. The Clerical Convocation which could acknowledge such a head was not far from being as corrupt as Papacy.”

“The proof that the title, ‘head of the church,’ was not an empty honor, appears from the historian's words—‘At the same time it was ordained that no regard should be paid to censures which the Pope might pass on account of this law and that Mass should be said, and sacraments administered as usual. In 1534, all payments made to the apostolic chamber, and dispensations, were abolished; monasteries were subjected to royal government, and exempted from all other; the right to summon Convocations, approve or reject canons (laws or doctrines enacted by the Convocation of clergy), and hear appeals from the Bishops, was vested in the King alone. These matters are but imperfectly understood by people in general, and the same titles—“Supreme head of the church on earth,” etc., are still applied to English sovereigns. It is needless to remark that the Lord Jesus never gave this office to any one, but claims it Himself; and any others who claim it are usurpers. Paul said: “Christ is the Head of the Church,” and that we are to “grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.” Again he repeats that “God gave Him to be the Head over all things in the Church, which is His body.” (Eph. 1:22 and 4:15, and 5:23; Col. 1:18.) It is the church on earth that Paul is speaking of, hence any Pope, Queen, Council, Assembly, Conference, or any other man or company of men, who claim or exercise the powers of the true Head—Jesus—are opposing Him. And all who support such by influence, presence or money, are abettors of evil and supporters of false systems. Now does this system (the English church) fill the picture? The second Beast had two horns; what two kingdoms (horns) supported this church? Bear in mind the distinction between a church supported by a government, as the Presbyterian in Scotland, and a church united in the government, as in England; it is the latter relationship that constitutes a “beast.”’”—Z. '80-1-2; Rev. 13:14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13.

Coming up out of the earth.—“From the visible church of God.”—Cook.

And he had two horns like a lamb.—“Now about the two horns. England, of course, was one of them, and Ireland the other. Let us see. History says that in 1537 the Irish Parliament in Dublin ‘passed the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church, prohibiting intercourse with the court of Rome, and making it treason to refuse the oath of supremacy.’ ‘Henry VIII also took the title of King of Ireland.’ Thus it is seen that the second horn came up within the brief space of five years after the first. The fact that Ireland was not a powerful horn matters not, for it was stronger than some that supported the Papal Beast. What effects result from the disestablishment of the Church in Ireland? From 1538 to 1871 (333 years), the title of the church was ‘The Church of England and Ireland,’ thus recognizing both ‘horns.’ On January 1, 1871 (by action of Parliament and the consent of the Queen, the head of the church) the Irish church was disestablished, or that horn was cast off. So, too, all of the horns which once supported Papacy have broken off from her; the difference being that in the case of Papacy the horns have turned against her, and in the case of the second Beast it casts off the Irish horn of itself, believing it to be a weakness rather than a strength. And it would not be at all remarkable if the other horn (England) would be separated from this Beast. ‘The two horns like a lamb,’ would seem to indicate that this Beast would be peaceably inclined—not aggressive, but merely using the horns for defense.”—Z. '80-1-2.

And, he spake as a dragon.—“‘He spake like a dragon.’ Notice, it is not said he spake like the dragon, but like a dragon. We understand this to mean that its utterances resembled those of a purely civil (dragon) power, and that in its words there would be little to denote that it is an ecclesiastical government.” (Z. '80-1-2.) England's conduct in forcing opium into China is evidence enough of its Satanic character. “China realizes that opium is her great curse; she has passed laws against the growth of the poppy and the manufacture of opium. But she finds that the imports of opium amount to 5,000,000 pounds per year. She cries out again, as in the past, that this Great Kingdom of Christ (?) (Great Britain) will have mercy upon her and cease to insist on this curse being introduced to blight China morally and physically. The young men of heathen China have started a monster petition for the cessation of opium importation. The text of this appeal appeared in the New York Herald, February 17. It recounts that a previous appeal, of similar character, was made without avail to the King's royal grandmother in 1858, when she was the representative of this branch of Christ's Kingdom (?).” (Z. '11-115.) “The False Prophet who causes the dwellers on earth to worship the Beast symbolizes the deification of the world and of the world power, throughout the conflict between the church and Antichrist.”—Cook.

13:12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.—“And the authority of the first Wild Beast—the whole of that authority—he exercises in his presence, and he causes the earth and its inhabitants to worship the first Wild Beast.” (Weym.) “This shows that the second does not take the place of the first beast, but that they exist contemporaneously.” (Z. '80-1-2.) It also shows that the sufferings of the last members of the Body of Christ, under the combination of governments dominated by Great Britain, may be expected to be as great as in Papacy's palmiest days.

And causeth the earth and them which dwell therein.—“We make a distinction between the earth and those who dwell on it. As the earth symbolizes those obedient to and supporting the Beast, so ‘those dwelling on the earth,’ we understand to mean independent Christians who do not support either of these systems.”—Z. '80-1-2.

To worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.—“The Church of England claimed all the powers and authority which Papacy claimed. It claimed to be the Church; it acknowledged and repudiated some of the corruptions complained of by the Reformers, such as the sale of indulgence, transubstantiation, etc., and abandoned these as well as the name Roman, for which they substituted the word Holy, calling it the original ‘Holy Catholic Church.’ It claims the same governmental authority and the same veneration for its decrees as Papacy does for hers. And by establishing a similar system, devoid of some of the grosser Papal errors, it attracted the attention of all to those errors, as being the only possible fault of Papacy. And when some of those errors were shortly after discarded by Papacy, the inference was that both Beast systems were right. People at that day, as now, seemed to think those systems proper and right, if their powers, etc., were properly exercised; but from God's standpoint the systems are abominations, and wrong from the very center. These systems are based upon errors, and like a corrupt tree, ‘cannot bring forth good fruit.’”

“The principal error was in this—the very basis of those systems—their claim to be the ‘Kingdom of God’ in reigning power. That idea, once admitted, justifies their persecution of individuals and nations, forcing them to submit and bow in obedience. Scripture accords these powers to the ‘Kingdom of God’—when ‘the Kingdom is the Lord's and He is the Governor among the nations; all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of nations shall worship before Thee.’ (Ps. 22:27, 28.) He shall ‘dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel.’ (Ps. 2:9.) Unto Him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. (Phil. 2:11.) And if their claim be good, who can object to their carrying out the Scriptural statements? These Antichrists, to make their claim of kingdom power appear true, had simply to take another, viz., to compel obedience, backing up their right to do so by the Scriptures just quoted. And not only was this great evil sanctioned, but their claim, once admitted, that the Kingdom was established and the reign in progress, those who admitted it were hindered from looking for the true Head of the Church to set up the true Kingdom under the whole heavens, which shall break in pieces present imperfect governments, establish righteousness in the earth, and cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess, to the glory of God.”—Z. '80-1-2.

13:13. And he doeth great wonders.—The strongest text of Scripture forewarning against the impending Church Federation is the strongest text of Scripture forewarning against spiritism. (Isa. 8:9-22.) It is not by accident that these warnings are placed together. “We shall not be at all surprised if some later manifestation of the powers of darkness, transformed to appear as the angels of light and progress, shall be much more specious and delusive than anything yet attempted. We do well to remember the Apostle's words,—‘We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with princely powers of darkness, with the spiritual things of the Evil One.’ (Eph. 6:12.) In 1842, six years before ‘modern Spiritism’ began to operate, Edward Bickersteth, a servant of God and student of His Word, wrote,—‘Looking at the signs of the times, and the long neglect and unnatural denial of all angelic ministration or spiritual influence, and at the express predictions of false Christs, and false prophets, who shall show signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the Very Elect, and that when men receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved, for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they shall believe a lie; I cannot but think there is a painful prospect of a sudden recoil and religious revulsion from the present unbelief and misbelief, to an unnatural and undistinguishing credulity.’ Satan is the inspirer and supporter of every Antichrist; and as he led those who had pleasure in error rather than the truth to the organization of the great Antichrist, Papacy, symbolically the ‘beast’ of Rev. 13, and as he is now operating to produce a Protestant ‘image of the beast’ with life, which will cooperate with the chief Antichrist, so in combination with these will be the powers of darkness, the powers of the air, the lying and seducing spirits, operating in some manner or in a variety of ways,—Spiritism, Christian Science, New Thought, Theosophy, Hypnotism, etc.” (S. 32.) “If we gain the right conception of the matter these deceptions are to affect the whole world, including its wise men, and indeed practically everybody.”—Z. '09-123; Deut. 13:1-3; Matt. 24:24, 25; 2 Thes. 2:9-12; Rev. 16:14.

Note the readiness of Christendom to fall into the trap: “In a sermon in which he told of the effect of religious seances and the efforts of certain writers to shatter belief in a future life, the Rev. H. D. C. Maclachlan preached to a large congregation in Seventh Street Christian Church on ‘The New Spiritualism,’ in which he gave scientific proof of a future life and exhorted his hearers to be of good cheer and continue to hope. Mr. Maclachlan spoke in part as follows: ‘There has been no more remarkable change in public opinion than that witnessed within the last few years with regard to that class of facts known as spiritualistic. There was a time when it was not quite respectable to believe in them, but quite recently there has been a change. Ghosts have become respectable; planchette and table rapping are parlor amusements; the popular magazines vie with each other in saying nice things about mediums and their ways. The cause of this change in public opinion has been a similar change in scientific belief. It is not more than thirty years ago that orthodox science refused so much as to investigate the things of which we are speaking. Some twenty-five years ago the Society for Psychical Research was formed in England with such names as Crookes, Myers, Romanes, Eidgwick, Barrett and others on its list of members, and since that day telepathy, table rapping, clairvoyance, clairaudience, telekinesis, apparitions, materializations, mental healing and all the other phenomena which Professor James, of Harvard, aptly calls residual, have been investigated. Mediums have been transferred from back parlors, where all sorts of trickery was possible, to the physical laboratories of the universities. They have been put under conditions of strictest control. Even the traditional darkness has been denied them. And still the wonderful results came. One after another leading scientists entered into these investigations skeptical and contemptuous, but came out of them believers in the facts on the evidence of their own senses.’”—Z. '09-164.

So that he maketh fire come down from heaven.—Fire from heaven was the test by which Elijah proved that Jehovah is the true God, and was the method by which Jehovah accepted the offerings made to Him on the Day of Atonement. (1 Kings 18:38; Lev. 9:24.) In the test at hand the second beast will be able to prove to all except the Elect that his claims to Divine approval are correct. “Our Lord warns us of danger from false Christs ‘then’—that is now. Had it been foretold precisely what form these deceptions would take, this would have somewhat hindered their deceptive power. God permits these deceptions for the very purpose of separating the ‘overcomers’ from all others, and merely guarantees us that the ‘Elect’ will be kept from falling. And yet it is quite possible that some of these trials, siftings and delusions, may come closest upon those possessing the largest degree of the light of Present Truth.” (D. 581; Rev. 7:3.) “The Lord allows the storms to press us more and more so that we will cry unto Him. Then He will hear us and give us the necessary deliverance. These storms may be right inside, in our own person. Whether, therefore, storms financial, political, religious or demoniacal, come his way, the child of God may rest secure and be of good courage. The Lord is both able and willing to care for his interests and bring him off victor.” (Z. '13-150.) As soon as the beast has apparently made out a clear case, perhaps by outward, visible evidences, but surely by evidences from the Scriptures (distorted) of its standing with God, we may expect a very prompt and practical use of the “fire” (Luke 9:54) thus obtained. “The Image, as soon as vitalized, will very promptly use its influence, prestige, power, in every way to punish in the name of the Lord those who in any sense of the word it shall consider to be its opponents. Speedily none will be allowed to buy or sell, in the spiritual marts [or perhaps in any marts], except those who have either the mark or the number of the Beast, or of the Image, either in the right hand of co-operation or in the forehead of public confession. This will mean that the International Bible Students Association and all others not in affiliation with the Alliance will be subjected to radically coercive measures. Truth shall fall in the streets. (Isa. 59:14.) Righteousness will be unable to enter under the stress of the new order of things. For a time it will appear as though a great Christian victory had been won, shared equally by Papacy and Federated-Protestantism—no longer protesting.”—Z. '13-343.

On the earth in the sight of men.—Amongst his own followers and among Christians unattached to either beast.

13:14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth.—The independent Christians just named.

By the means of those miracles.—Signs, the laying on of hands, doctrines of immortality, trinity and claims that none are qualified to understand the Bible aright except those consecrated by the imposition of holy orders by the episcopal succession.—Z. '80-1-2.

Which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.—While the papacy is still alive and active.—Rev. 19:20.

Saying.—By its own example.

To them that dwell on the earth.—Independent Christians.

That they should ALSO make an Image to the beast.—“From the year 1800 to 1846 was a time in which great numbers of new sects arose, whereas before that, they were few and prominent. This gave rise to uneasiness among the older denominations who wondered whereunto this thing would lead. As the Bible came to be read more and more by the masses, occasional individuals would feel free to preach what they thought it taught, regardless of denominational creeds and the views of the older sects. As a consequence, Protestants were fast splitting up into fragments. They began to say, By what means shall we check and stop this disposition to individual thought and opinion relative to the teachings of Scripture? They wanted to stop the very thing God desired; viz., that each individual should be free and independent of restraint, with his faith based, not on the views of others, not on the decisions of Councils or Presbyters, nor in the decision of the Pope, nor in things approved of the head of the English church, but in the Word of God. The question came: How can we restrain these preachers? This was a quandary to all except the Roman and Episcopal churches, since these both claimed the ‘Apostolic Succession,’ and that this, by ordination, conferred upon their ministers special power and authority to preach and to administer the ‘Sacraments’; hence that no others had a right to do so, but were clerical pretenders. Other denominations could not claim this continuation of apostolic power through their preachers, but simply set them apart by prayer, consequently those of one denomination could not object that the preachers of other denominations, as well as all laymen, were not as truly authorized of God to expound the Scriptures as their own clergy.”

“But the example of the Church of England showed what a prestige she had by reason of the voice of authority with which she commanded a reverence for her clergy and her teachings. This teaching by example was not lost. The various denominations felt a necessity for some common Standard of Doctrine which would be supported and upheld by all of them, and thus give prestige to their teachings, and bring the combined influence of all against any further advance in knowledge or the development of any different phase of truth. Thus they would protect themselves by being able to say: The combined opinion of all Protestants is against you; therefore you are heretics, and therefore we will shun you, and not call you Brethren, but use all our influence against you. This was done by the formation of the ‘Evangelical Alliance.’ It was stated to be one of the objects of the Alliance (and we believe the principal one) to ‘Promote between the different Evangelical denominations, an effective co-operation in the efforts to repel common enemies and dangers.’”

[Evangelical Alliance—Church Federation The Image of The Beast Illustration]

“Do not understand us as opposing the Christians represented in that Alliance; we are opposed merely to their attempt to muzzle truth, and to prevent the opening up of any other truths buried by Papacy than those which they had received. It is far from our purpose to say that they intentionally combined against the unfolding of truth, nor would we say this of Papists. But we do say, that by their action they were following Papacy's tactics, and that in that Alliance they did make the Image of the Beast. It has tended to make a separation clear and distinct between the Clergy and the Laity.”

“How much the Image resembles the Papal Beast may be judged from the fact that Papacy acknowledged the Image—owned it as a creditable likeness—by the Pope sending ‘Greetings’ to the last meeting of the Evangelical Alliance. Strange to say, the delegates to the Alliance had so far lost sight of the principles and doctrines which led to the protests against the Papal church (that it was the Harlot church—Antichrist—Man of Sin—mentioned in the Scriptures) that they actually felt flattered by the Pontiff's notice, instead of becoming alarmed and examining how and why he who is ‘The Chief Antichrist’ should feel pleased to greet them as fellows. A prominent Presbyterian minister present at the above named meeting mentioned the ‘Pope's Greeting’ with evident pleasure and satisfaction to the writer.”

“A prominent characteristic of the Beast copied by the Image is the honoring of a special class, the Clergy, with special honors and titles. They are known as Revs., Divines, etc., but Jesus the Divine said: ‘Ye call Me Lord and Master, and ye say well, for so I am.’ ‘Be not ye called Rabbi, neither be ye called Master, for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.’ (Matt. 23:8.) These titles are assumptions fashioned after those of Papacy. When the various denominations began their existence, more full of the spirit of Christ, they claimed no such high-sounding titles. The Reformers were not known as Rev., D. D., etc., but as John Knox, Martin Luther, etc. Unpretentious, like Jesus and the Apostles, they were intent upon serving God, and therefore became the servants (ministers) of the Church. But now the Clergy are far from being servants; they are Lords. They have itching ears, loving the approval of men. As pride and worldliness have come in, vital godliness and power have gradually departed. For the very same reason, they are losing all power to expound the Word of God—the gift of teaching—because ‘God abhorreth the proud, but giveth grace (favor) to the humble.’ We find ministers of all denominations ready to confess their ignorance of the Word. They appeal, for their information, back to the early reformers, and thus confess that they have less light than they. That their light should grow dim, and their spiritual life become dwarfed, is the natural result of their joining the Image, and subscribing to creeds made in the fifteenth century, which, like the shoe of China, will not admit of any growth. It is a shoe a little larger than Papacy put upon its followers, but of the same sort.”

“Papacy established the clerical hierarchy, who lorded it over God's heritage instead of serving their brethren as Jesus explained—‘One is your Master; all ye are brethren,’ and as Paul said: ‘We are to speak the truth in love and grow up into Him in all things who is the Head, even Christ; from whom the whole Body fitly joined together [not by creeds of men, but by love begotten by the one Spirit of Truth] and compacted by that which every joint supplied [every joint is every member, not the clergy only] maketh increase of the Body unto the edifying of itself in love,’ thus coming ‘to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.’ (Eph. 4:15, 16.) As Papacy established the priesthood over the church, so Protestantism has established the same, and there is no opportunity for the Body to edify itself, every joint taking part. True, there is a seeming show of liberty at prayer meetings, etc., but it is only upon the surface, for the ordained pastor is to watch zealously lest anything contrary to the teachings of his church should be expressed, and if so, to silence the audacious member at once, for the church creed is the rule, not the Word of God. If this is not sufficient, they must have a sort of church trial and excommunicate him (‘kill him’). The trial, by the way, gives evidence of another likeness to the Beast, namely, the exaltation of the teachings of the organization above the Word of God, for all such are tried according to ‘the authorities’ of their church.”—Z. '80-1-2.

“The Alliance endeavored to establish a standard of orthodoxy. They saw the power of the Papal argument, that it is the Church, and that all others are heretical. In this sense it was a copy, or image, of the Papal institution. It has been merely an Image without life or power for now more than sixty years.” (Z. '13-342.) “And he told the inhabitants of the earth to erect a statue (possibly a symbol of corrupt public opinion) to the Wild Beast who had received the sword-stroke and yet had recovered.”—Weym.

Which had the wound by a sword, and did live.—Which was smitten by the Sword of the Spirit in the hands of the reformers, but not persistently enough to kill it. (Heb. 4:12.) “It is important to observe that the wound of one of the heads is here ascribed to the whole beast.”—Cook.

13:15. And he had power to give life.—Either “apostolic succession” or its effect. “It may not be known to many how much stress was laid upon the ‘apostolic succession,’ which was supposed to be a virtue transmitted through hundreds of years of Papal corruption, by the laying on of the hands of the Bishop. This, of course, was vested in the Roman church, and also in the English church on account of its being at first rather a secession from Papacy than a reformation. To many minds; even among the clergy, there was a veneration for that ceremony, which neither Papacy nor the English church were averse to promoting.” (Z. '80-1-2.) For the effect of this superstition on the mind of Wesley, see Rev. 9:1, 2. “The Lord's symbolic prophecy tells us that in the close of this Age the Image will receive life, vitality, energy, power. No longer will it stand as a mere Image. It will become as active as the Beast. Moreover, it will not be antagonistic to the Beast, but sympathetic, and cause that all shall either worship the Beast or the Image—all must be in harmony either with Catholicism, or with the Protestant Church Federation as soon as it receives the vitalizing breath.”—Z. '13-343.

Unto the Image of the beast.—“The vitality of the Image is to come from the two-horned Beast; the Church of England. A few years ago the Episcopal Church took an important step toward vitalizing the Church Federation movement. That important step was the recognition of the ministers of the denominations represented in the Evangelical Alliance. Previously no minister not ordained by the laying on of hands of a Catholic or an Episcopalian bishop was allowed to preach from an Episcopalian pulpit. Perhaps this recognition of the Image is all the vitalization the Image needs, but we are inclined to expect more. For years the Episcopalians have proffered reordination to the ministers of the different denominations represented in the Evangelical Alliance. And they still proffer it. We have been inclined to expect that the ministers would finally concede the point and accept a reordination at the hands of an Episcopal bishop. But we are not sure of this. It is possible that, to meet the requirements of the case, some other way will be found by which the Episcopal Church will recognize the Church Federation without obligating the ministers to be reordained. We are waiting for this.” (Z. '13-343.) “If the various ministers of other denominations in considerable numbers accept reordination as ministers at the hands of Episcopalian Bishops, the validity of other ordination will be speedily questioned. The authority of this so-called ‘Apostolic Ordination’ will give seeming right of authority, dignity and power. After the prominent ministers of various denominations submit themselves to such reordination, the ‘lesser lights’ will make a rush for it.”—Z. '10-308.

Canon Henson, of Westminster Abbey, has said: “The logical goal of modern tendencies is not toward Disestablishment, but toward a fuller and worthier Establishment. Why should not the nation draw into its service all the organized Christianity instead of limiting itself to a single denomination? I rejoice to observe a beginning made in this direction by recent legislation, which has recognized for certain civic purposes the status of Nonconformist clergymen.” (Z. '06-6.) The change of name of the “Image of the Beast” to that of “False Prophet” in Rev. 16:13, between the sixth and seventh plagues, indicates it was vitalized prior to the publication of Vol. VII (the 7th plague). Truly it now lives—in the minds of the clergy—but it will grow stronger.

The matter is growing in the minds of those interested, as the following dispatches show: “Washington, Dec. 31, 1916.—In a signed document addressed to the nation, more than fifty prelates and laymen of various denominations representing many sections of the country have united in a warning against what they declare may be a premature peace in Europe which ‘may bring a curse instead of a blessing.’” “Last winter commissions of all American Protestant churches met at Garden City, L. I., for the first time, and adopted a general platform on which it recommended that the World Conference on Faith and Order proceed. Pope Benedict XV. sent a letter to the commissions, assuring them of his ‘deep interest and prayers.’”—Literary Digest, January 13, 1917.

That the image of the beast should both speak.—Thus far he has been significantly “silent” as far as claiming any real power or authority is concerned; but the time for the breaking of the silence is near.—Jer. 8:14-17; Rev. 8:1.

And cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the beast.—“Worship of this symbolic beast and his image is to be the great test or trial upon professing Christians in every province of symbolic Babylon in the end of this Age. And we have the same inspired record as authority for the statement that only those who refuse to render worship to those powerfully influential religious systems (symbolized by the beast and his image) will be counted by the Lord as ‘overcomers’ and be made His joint-heirs as members of His elect Church. (Rev. 20:4.) And there are some the world over who, with a courage not less than that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, declare publicly that the Lord God alone shall have the worship and the service which they can render. The faithful few will be exposed to fiery experiences—boycotted socially, boycotted in business, slandered in every conceivable manner, and often by those of whom they least expect it, who, according to the Lord's declaration, will say ‘all manner of evil against them falsely.’ (Matt. 5:11,12.)”—Z. '99-170.

Should be killed.—“Soon we shall have their ‘Union’ or ‘Confederacy’ (Isa. 8:12), and the bitter fruits of Union in error will speedily manifest themselves in tyranny, as during the Dark Ages.” (Z. '04-212.) “To us the Scriptures indicate that the prosperity of the Federated Protestant ‘Image’ will for a little time be so great, so pronounced, and its arrogance become so great that the sympathy of the masses will be entirely alienated and turned into bitterness.” (Z. '10-309). It may be objected that the Church would have no part in the killing of their fellow worshippers, but ecclesiastics themselves have a better understanding of the ecclesiastical mind and ecclesiastical conscience. The following is from the pen of Rt. Rev. Chas. D. Williams, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Michigan:

“It is an appalling thought that the Church should have had a part in the crime of Calvary, and yet it did, and that the chief part. The ecclesiastical mind is a closed mind—and there is nothing it resents so much as being pried open to receive a new idea. Its settled rule of judgment, its accepted test of truth, is, ‘What is new is never true, and what is true is never new.’ The other characteristic of a perverted religion is the ecclesiastical conscience. It is strikingly illustrated by one Good Friday scene. A procession is sweeping through the streets of Jerusalem, bound for the Governor's Palace. Who compose this procession? They are the religious leaders of the people the prominent divines, the chief ecclesiastics. What is the business they have in mind? They are intent on committing the greatest crime in history. But at Pilate's threshold they stop. Why? Ah, they have stumbled across a canon of the Church. If they should enter a heathen house that Passover morning, they would become ceremonially defiled and unfit to partake of the sacrament.” (Z. '15-339.) “In 1526 Prof. Tyndale, having prepared his MS., published it in Germany, because of the opposition of the English clergy. He imported his New Testaments into London, in whose shops the people began to purchase them. At this same time the Germans were learning something of the New Testament and its different teachings, from Luther and his associates. The Church of England bishops forthwith bought up the entire edition in the shops, and publicly burnt them in front of St Paul's Cathedral, London. They knew that the eighteen Ecumenical Councils had declared to be true Christian faith many things not taught in the Bible, and had omitted many things that are taught therein. They feared that the people, becoming Bible students, would know of these things, and thus would be upset the general belief based in the creeds—and not in the Bible. Then, too, they warned the people against putting any construction upon the Bible that would make it different from the teaching of the so-called ‘Apostolic Bishops’ in the creeds—threatening them with eternal torment. As it was, Tyndale and some of the others interested in the Bible suffered martyrdom, as enemies of the ‘Apostolic Bishops,’ and their creeds and institutions.”—Z. '15-253. Are the clergy divinely ordained?

13:16. And he causeth all, both small and great.—“The great feast which preceded the fall of Babylon would seem to correspond well with the great denominational union expected soon, and the season of rejoicing which will accompany it. The gold and silver vessels of the Lord's house which were profaned may fitly represent not only the precious truths of Divine Revelation, but also the Lord's consecrated people—the golden vessels representing the Little Flock, and the more numerous silver vessels representing the ‘Great Company.’ What may be the character of the defilement and injury of these is of course problematical; but in any case we remember that those consecrated vessels were all highly honored, and restored to the Temple by Cyrus, and likewise we know that not only the truths of Divine Revelation will all be cared for by our Lord, but also that all that are His shall be glorified in the spiritual Temple which He will rear shortly.”—Z. '99-175.

[Rich and] Poor AND RICH.—“So popular will Federated Churchianity become that to even criticize it will be a ‘crime’ worthy of crucifixion in some form—socially and financially, if not physically. Politicians will quickly realize that their bread is buttered on that side, and be ready to enact legislation of any kind desired by the Federation. Mammon-worship will take on new forms temporarily, but power will soon debauch the unregenerate mass and drive out the regenerate faithful who may temporarily be misled by the great ‘Union’ movement in the name of Christ, but without His Spirit or authority.”—Z. '06-6.

Free and bond.—“It is altogether possible, indeed probable we think, that John's course which brought him into conflict with Herod was in some degree typical of the course of the Gospel Church in this present time; and of the course of events that may be expected. If it be a type, Herod would represent civil government, and the unlawful wife would represent the nominal church, which throughout the symbolic Scriptures is represented as a woman, Jezebel, etc. Should it prove to be a type by its fulfilment in antitype, the fulfilment will probably be on something like the following lines: (1) A partial reunion of Church and State. [This has now been accomplished by the Alliance of the United States with Great Britain.] (2) In such case it would become the duty of the true Church, the forerunners and announcers of the Messianic Kingdom, to reprove the civil powers as well as the nominal church systems, and to declare their union unlawful—contrary to the Word of God. (3) The effect of this would pretty surely be to awaken the animosity of both civil and religious powers; but it would draw out specially the animosity and venom of the latter. (4) The church nominal, in her false position would be anxious to stifle the reproofs and to destroy the reprovers, and the effect would be that the civil power would be induced to pass such legislation as would restrain the liberty of the faithful ones and hinder them from public utterances;—as John was hindered by imprisonment. (5) Herodias' daughter (united Protestantism) will become the tool for the destruction of the most loyal servants of God.”—Z. '98-95.

To [receive] GIVE HIM a mark in their right hand or in their [foreheads] FOREHEAD.—By contrast with Ex. 13:9; 28:26-38; Deut. 6:8; Z. '07-265; Rev. 7:3; 14:1; Ezek. 9:4-6. “Consecration to the service of the beast is what is signified here.” (Cook.) (Lev. 19:28.) “All classes of Christians must bow; all must, in some way, give evidence of their support of the Image and consecration to its interests and laws; either a public, open profession of being members of the Alliance, and hence supporters (mark in forehead), or at least a giving of some assistance and influence to the principles of Image organisation—(the right-hand support).” (Z. '80-1-2.) This implies a re-establishment of the inquisition soon—in some form of house-to-house “investigation” or public enrollment.

13:17. [And] That no man might buy or sell.—“The ‘buying and selling,’ like the other features, is symbolic, and refers to dealing in spiritual things. [But it may be literally fulfilled as well in the year of prospective famine now at hand.] None may be recognized as having any right to teach or preach or baptize or administer the emblems of our Lord's death, except those licensed by some orthodox member of the Image, and acts of such persons (‘unlicensed’) are not counted valid.”—Z. '80-1-2.

Save he that had the mark [or the name] of the beast.—Protestants affiliated with the Federal Council of Churches—already “marked,” stamped O. K. by the papacy.

Or his name.—Roman Catholics.

Or the number of his name.—Consent to the principle of clergy rule in matters of faith, order and war (murder.)—Rev. 15:2.

13:18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath [understanding] AN EAR count the number of the beast.—“Here is scope for ingenuity. Let people of shrewd intelligence calculate the number of the Wild Beast; for it indicates a certain man, and his number is 666.”—Weym.

For it is the number of a man.—The Man of Sin, the Papacy.—Rev. 19:20; 2 Thes. 2:3.

[And his number is] Six hundred threescore and six.—In the Greek this number is six hundred (represented by the Greek letter χ), plus sixty (represented by the Greek letter ξ), plus six (represented by the Greek letter ζ). It is not as though it read six plus six plus six.

“The following extract on this point is from a work entitled The Reformation, bearing the date of 1832:”

“‘Mrs. A.,’ said Miss Emmons, ‘I saw a very curious fact the other day; I have dwelt upon it much, and will mention it. A person, lately, was witnessing a ceremony of the Romish Church. As the pope passed him in the procession, splendidly dressed in his pontifical robes, the gentleman's eye rested on these full, blazing letters in front of his mitre (tiara—crown): VICARIVS FILII DEI, the Vicar of the Son of God. His thoughts, with the rapidity of lightning, reverted to Rev. 13:18.’ ‘Will you turn to it?’ said Mrs. A. Alice opened the New Testament, and read: ‘Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.’ She paused, and Miss Emmons said, ‘He took out his pencil, and marking the numerical letters of the inscription on his tablet, it stood 666.’” (Smith.) This explanation was approved by Pastor Russell, and was given by him at a Convention Question Meeting.

V	5
I	1
C	100
A	0
R	0
I	1
V	5
S	0
	——
F	0
I	1
L	50
I	1
I	1
	——
D	500
E	0
I	1
——	——
Total	666

On the pope's crown in the Vatican museum is the recognized and most used title of the pope, VICARIVS FILII DEI (Vicar of the Son of God.) The word VICARIVS is on the top of the threefold crown. The word FILII is on the second circlet; and the words are made from dark, shining precious jewels. The word DEI is on the under part of the threefold crown and is made of 100 diamonds. “The Tiara is a bee-hive shaped, somewhat bulging head-covering, ornamented with three crowns. It is first mentioned by Pope Constantine, in A. D. 715. It first appears on papal coins in the reign of Sergius III., A. D. 911. At this period it was merely a cap of white stuff. The papal coins of the 11th century leave it doubtful whether the ornamental band at the lower edge of the tiara is intended to represent a crown or merely a decoration. It is only in representations dating from the late 13th century that the circlet appears as a regular spiked crown. The second circlet was added by Pope Boniface VIII., A. D. 1303. The third was added under Clement V., A. D. 1311.” (Brit.) The reason for the addition of any of these crowns is unknown, or why the pope should have any crown at all. The words VICARIVS FILII DEI are, it is said, also carved over the entrance to the Vatican.

Gideon's Band.

“Count Me the swords that have come.”
“Lord, thousands on thousands are ready.”
“Lo! these are too many, and with them are some”
Whose hearts and whose hands are not steady.
He whose soul does not burn,
Let him take up his tent and return.

“Count Me the swords that remain.”
“Lord, hundreds on hundreds are daring.”
“These yet are too many for Me to attain”
To the victory I am preparing.
Lead them down to the brink
“Of the waters of Marah to drink.”

“Lord those who remain are but few,”
And the hosts of the foe are appalling,
“And what can a handful such as we do?”
“When ye hear from beyond, My Voice calling,”
Sound the trump! Hold the light!
“Great Midian will melt in your sight!”

Revelation 14—The Five Harvest Messages

14:1. And I looked, and, [lo, a] BEHOLD THE Lamb.—See Rev. 5:6; 13:8; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19.

Stood on the Mount Sion.—The Return of the Lord is here pictured as accomplished the sleeping saints raised, and the full number called. This was all fulfilled in 1878. (Rev. 11:17.) At that time our Lord took unto Himself His great power and began His Reign.

And with Him an hundred forty and four thousand.—See Rev. 7:4.

Having His [Father's] name AND THE NAME OF HIS FATHER.—How beautiful and how true that we have both the Father and the Son in our minds, while trinitarians must necessarily have more or less, and are proportionately confused.

Written in their foreheads.—Isa. 44:5; Rev. 7:3; Ex. 13:9; 28:26-38; Deut. 6:8; Z. '07-265; Ezek. 9:2-6.

14:2. And I heard a voice.—The message of Present Truth from the lips of the Lord's saints on this side of the veil. They are on Mount Zion in the spirit of their minds.

From heaven.—“We are seated with Him in Heavenly places.”—Rev. 13:6.

As the voice of many waters.—A great outpouring of Truth, in many tongues.—Rev. 1:16; 19:6.

And as the voice of [a great] thunder.—Seven thunders, the seven volumes of Scripture Studies.—Rev. 8:5; 10:3, 4.

And [I heard] the voice WHICH I HEARD WAS AS THAT of harpers harping with their Harps.—“The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments constitute what the Lord Himself designates ‘the Harp of God.’ (Rev. 15:2.) And the various testimonies of the Law and the Prophets are the several chords of that Harp, which, when tuned by the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, and swept by the fingers of the devoted servants and searchers after Divine Truth, yields the most enchanting strains that ever fell on mortal ears.”—F. 233; Rev. 5:8.

14:3. And they [sang as it were] SING a new song.—The Lord particularly promised that in this Harvest time, out of His Storehouse would come things new. (Matt. 13:52; 24:45.) “In symbol He pointed out to us the fact that the Message of His grace in the closing days of this Gospel Age would be so different from the commonly accepted message, misnamed the Gospel, that it would properly be termed a new song.”—Z. '00-37; Rev. 5:9; 15:3.

AND IT WAS before the Throne.—While still on earth. Compare Rev. 4:5 and 5:6.

And before the four beasts.—Every declaration of Present Truth has for its object the presentation of one or more of the Divine attributes—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom. All that we do in the service of the Truth is done in their sight.—Rev. 4:7-10.

And BEFORE the elders.—The prophecies. In all that we do we are pointing to the prophecies and fulfilling them. How often it was said of our Lord Jesus, that He said or did this or that “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the mouth of” one of the Prophets.

And no man could learn that song but the 144,000.—“Nothing is more manifest than that it is necessary to be somewhat of an ‘overcomer’ of the world and its spirit which pervades nominal Christendom, ere any would have the courage to sing this song—to declare before men the lengths, breadths, heights and depths of the goodness and grace of the Divine Plan, of which Jesus and His Sacrifice are the center. To all others ‘the fear of man bringeth a snare,’ and stoppeth their mouths from speaking ‘forth the praise of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.’ ‘But the people that do know their God [His Character and Plan] shall be valiant and do exploits,’ and like the Apostles of old will feel and say. ‘Whether it be right to obey God or men, judge ye; but we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard,’—Dan. 11:32; Acts 4:19, 20.”—Z. '00-37.

Which were redeemed from the earth.—Agorazo, acquired at the forum.—E. 443, 429.

14:4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.—“All Bible exponents of the Protestant kind recognize there are two Women especially mentioned in Revelation; the one the true Woman, the Bride class, the other the false Woman; and Protestants in general understand that false Woman to represent the papacy. Then again other Protestants understand that the Scriptures which refer to the mother and daughters refer to the papacy, and these denominational daughters, or systems, which sprang from her, and have more or less of her nature, disposition and characteristics. The Bible proposition is that the Church is a Virgin Church; viz.: not united to the world at all, and that this is the error that was made by the early Church in leaving Christ as the prospective Bridegroom and becoming united with the nation of Rome. This constituted an illicit union; for as the Bride of Christ she had no right whatever to be associated with any earthly dominion; therefore in becoming associated with the Roman Emperor she lost her standing. We are to remember that this word ‘harlotry’ as used in Revelation is merely a symbolical term; there is nothing more than that to be understood. God speaks of some of His children as being in Babylon. Babylon is the name for the mother, the papal system, and the daughters also have the same name. It means confusion, mixture and improper relationship. Now then some are in Babylon and not of Babylon, just the same as the children of Israel were carried captive into Babylon, but they were not Babylonians. And in due time God sent forth the Message to all Natural Israel that if those who had been carried in captivity into Babylon desired to return to the Lord their God, and to the Land of Promise, they might do so. Cyrus gave that decree, you remember, and many of them did return.”

“No one is called out of Babylon until he hears the Lord's voice. So you and I may have been in Babylon for years and not have had any responsibility or any impurity; we were not defiled, because we did not know any better. But He says, ‘Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins.’ That implies that you are not yet partakers of her sins; you are My people, in her, but not yet partakers. I was not responsible for what was in my head from childhood; and God did not hold me responsible; nor you, nor anyone else; but after we come to see the great errors which are taught by Babylon's system then we are responsible. We have said things about our Heavenly Father that we would be ashamed to say about ourselves or of our earthly parents.”

“We have said He created our world of mankind and knew what He was doing, had full power and full wisdom, and intended from the beginning to damn nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand, and to have them roast through all eternity; and that He made fireproof devils to handle them; that He created a great place called hell in which all of this diabolical work was going on. No honorable man would treat a poor rat that way—predestinate the rat before it was born, foreordain it to eternal torture. And now then after we once see that this doctrine is blasphemy against God, after we once see that it was evidently instigated by our great Adversary, the Devil—after we once see what an awful thing it is—if then we wish to uphold earthly systems and give our lives, strength, talents and means, to upholding these diabolical teachings, then we are worse than any others there; we are the worst of them all. What right has any man to stay inside of a denomination and deny the teachings of that denomination? He is branding himself as a fraud, professing to believe what he knows he does not believe, claiming to teach what he knows he should not teach; or, on the other hand, teaching that which he knows is wrong, and professing that which he does not believe at all. The whole matter is wrong; such are defiled by the Women.”

“But those who come out when they see the right and wrong on the question, who take their stand for right, they are delivering their souls from Babylon. ‘Flee out of Babylon, saith the Lord; deliver every man his soul.’ Now no one is responsible to flee out unless he sees that it is Babylon, but the very suggestion that it is Babylon to every honest person means that he should make an investigation, and a thorough one, to know whether or not he is in Babylon. If he says, ‘Well, God's voice says “flee out of Babylon,” and I believe that the system is Babylon, but I do not wish to look into it for fear I find it true,’ that means he is dishonest with himself; he is defiling himself. There is only one way of being thoroughly honest, and that is to be honest.” (Pastor Russell.) “That the words can only be understood spiritually seems to follow from the whole tone of Apocalyptic symbolism:—see the mention of the Bridegroom and the Bride, of the Harlot and her fornications. Elsewhere we have the language of Ps. 45, of the Canticles, of the Book of Hosea, above all of 2 Cor. 11:2:—‘I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.’”—Cook.

[These are they which] THOSE WHO follow The Lamb.—On this side of the veil.

Whithersoever He goeth.—Those who fail to “Walk in the light as He is in the light” find sooner or later that they “walk in darkness” for the light goes on and leaves them.—John 1:6, 7; Prov. 4:18.

These were redeemed from among men.—They are a separate class, “from among” men. “The thought is that of public purchase; and all the other uses of this word agorazo, throughout the New Testament, emphatically support a most commercial signification. We call especial attention to the signification of this word, because the tendency to deny that there was a purchase of our race effected by a price given for man's release from the ‘curse’ is prevalent and a growing one—very subversive of the true faith, once delivered to the saints.”—E. 443, 430.

[Being the first-fruits] FROM THE BEGINNING unto God and [to] IN the Lamb.—“Separated from the entire mass as the best absolutely.—Num. 18:12.” (Cook) Deut. 26:2; Jas. 1:18.

14:5. And in their mouth.—By contrast to the lies of the False Prophet.

Was found no [guile] FALSEHOOD.—They fully and thoroughly believe the doctrines they teach.—Psa. 15:1, 2.

For they are without fault [before the Throne of God].—“Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding Joy.”—Jude 24; Eph. 5:27; Psa. 15:1-5.

14:6. And I saw [another] AN angel.—The Divine Plan of the Ages, Volume I of the Scripture Studies.

Fly in the midst of heaven.—“From one end of heaven to the other” amongst Christian people of all denominations.—Matt. 24:31.

Having the everlasting Gospel.—The same Gospel preached by our Heavenly Father (Gal. 3:8), the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:16), the holy Apostles (Acts 15:13-18), the holy Prophets (Acts 3:19-24) and the holy Angels (Luke 2:10, 13, 14); but entirely overlooked by the clergy.

To preach unto them that dwell on the earth.—To independent Christians.—Rev. 13:13, 14.

And [to] UNTO every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.—All mankind, living and dead.—1 Tim. 2:4-7.

14:7. [Saying] with a loud voice.—By millions of copies circulated earth-wide.

Fear God, and give glory to Him.—Rather than to creeds, sects and clergy.

For the hour of His judgment is come.—The MILLENNIAL DAWN, the dawn of the thousand-year Judgment Day of Christ, is at hand.—Rev. 15:4; 11:18.

And worship Him that made Heaven, and earth, and the sea.—God, our Heavenly Father, the Creator of all things.—Neh. 9:6; Psa. 33:6, 124:8; Acts 14:15; 17:24.

And the fountains of waters.—His Heaven-sent Word.

14:8. And there followed another [angel] A SECOND.—Volume II of Scripture Studies.

Saying, [Babylon is fallen,] is fallen, [that] BABYLON, THE great [city].—Chapters 7 and 9 of Volume II are particularly devoted to this theme. “The name Babylon originally signified God's gate-way; but afterward, in derision, it came to mean mixture or confusion. In the book of Revelation this name is applied specifically to the church nominal, which, from being the gate-way to glory, became a gate-way to error and confusion, a miserable mixture composed chiefly of tares, hypocrites,—a confused mass of worldly profession in which the Lord's jewels are buried, and their true beauty and luster hidden.” (C. 153.) “The name Babylon was applied, not only to the capital city of the Babylonian empire, but also to the empire itself. Babylon, the capital, was the most magnificent, and probably the largest, city of the ancient world. It was built in the ‘form of a square on both sides of the Euphrates river; and, for protection against invaders, it was surrounded by a deep moat filled with water and inclosed within a vast system of double walls, from thirty-two to eighty-five feet thick, and from seventy-five to three hundred feet high. On the summit were low towers, said to have been two hundred and fifty in number, placed along the outer and inner edges of the wall, tower facing tower; and in these walls were a hundred brazen gates, twenty-five on each side, corresponding to the number of streets which intersected each other at right angles. The city was adorned with splendid palaces and temples and the spoils of conquest.’” (D. 23; Jer. 51:8; Rev. 18:2.) “This use of the aorist—in the sense of the ‘prophetic preterite’—expresses the certainty of the fall: see chapters 10:7; 11:18; 18:2; and see on chapter 15:1. The language is taken from Isa. 21:9, the verb denoting the violent fall and overthrow of kingdoms—see Ezek. 30:6; and see on chapter 17:10. With the fall of Babylon, the capital of the ungodly world-kingdom, the Old Testament connects the redemption of the people of God.—Isa. 13:19; 47:1; Jer. 51:1-10.”—Cook.

Because [she made all nations drink of] ALL NATIONS HAVE FALLEN THROUGH the wine of the wrath of her fornication.—“The ruin of all the nations of earth is here attributed directly to the fact that ‘Babylon made all the peoples drunk with the wine [spirit, influence] of her fornication’—worldly affiliation.”—C. 164, 104; Jer. 51:7; Rev. 2:20; 17:2, 5; 18:3; 19:2.

14:9. And [the] ANOTHER, A third angel followed them.—Volume III of the Scripture Studies followed I and II.

Saying with a loud voice.—Proclaiming clearly, in chapters 2, 4 and 6.

If any man worship the beast.—The Papacy.

And his image.—The Evangelical-Alliance-Spiritism combination.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

And receive his mark In his forehead, or in his hand.—See Rev. 13:16, 17.

14:10. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.—The Message of Present Truth.

Which is poured out without mixture.—Different from Babylon's mixed wine.—Isa. 5:20-22.

Into the cup of His indignation.—“The Lord our God hath put us to silence and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.”—Jer. 8:14; Isa. 51:17-20; Jer. 25:26-28; Rev. 18:6; 16:19; Psa. 60:3; 75:8.

And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.—Whoever worships, reverences, human institutions and doctrines more than the Word of the Lord has experienced the torment here specified. Doctrines of hell fire and brimstone have been his portion.—Rev. 9:17-19.

In the presence of the holy angels.—The Harvest workers on this side of the veil.—Matt. 13:39.

And in the presence of the Lamb.—“In the days of the Son of Man;” after the Second Advent has taken place.

14:11. And the smoke of their torment.—“A noun, unlike a verb (or ‘time-word,’ as the Germans call it), does not indicate time. So ‘the smoke of their torment’ may mean that of pain endured once for all, and then at an end. There is nothing in this verse that necessarily implies an eternity of suffering. In a similar way the word ‘punishment’ or ‘correction’ in Matt. 25:46 gives in itself no indication of time. Cp. Gen. 19:28; Jude 7.” (Weym.)

“About endless torment:”

“(a) The doctrine is found nowhere in the Old Testament, nor any hint of it. The expression, in the end of Isaiah, about the fire unquenched and the worms not dying, is plainly of the corpses of men upon the physical earth.”

“(b) The doctrine of endless torment was, as a historical fact, brought back from Babylon by the Rabbis.”

“(c) St Paul accepts nothing of it as far as we can tell, never making the least allusion to the doctrine.”

“(d) The Apocalypse asserts that not only death, but hell shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.”

“(e) The Christian Church has never really held it exclusively till now.”

“(f) Since the Reformation it has been an open question in the English Church.”

“(g) The Church of England, by the deliberate expunging of the 42nd Article, which affirmed endless punishment, has declared it, authoritatively, to be open.”

“(h) It is so, in fact. Neither I nor any others who have denied it can be dispossessed or proceeded against legally, in any way whatsoever.—Rev. Chas. Kingsley, May 9, 1857.”—Z. '11-363.

Ascendeth up for ever and ever.—“The remembrance of the destruction of these systems of deception and error will be lasting, the lesson will never be forgotten—as smoke, which continues to ascend after a destructive fire, is testimony that the fire has done its work.—See also Isa. 34:8-10.”—H. 64; Rev. 19:3.

And they have no rest day or night.—A literal fulfillment of this is expected. (Rev. 7:3.) A few days of it will be enough to satisfy the most ardent lover of the torment system of religion. And it will be a just recompense of reward.

Who worship the beast and his Image.—“All will at once concede that if a literal worshipping of a beast and image were meant in verse 9, then few, if any, in civilized lands are liable to the penalty of verse 11; and if the beast and his image and worship and wine and cup are symbols, so also are the torments and smoke and fire and brimstone.”—H. 64; Rev. 14:9.

And whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.—Of fear, sympathy or worship.

14:12. Here is the patience of the saints.—Their crowning trial.

[Here are they] that keep the commandments of God.—The commandments of God during the Harvest time are to proclaim, “Gather My saints together unto Me;” “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity.”—Psa. 50:5; Jer. 51:6.

And the faith of Jesus.—“He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16.) The Great Company class are our brethren and we ought to show as much interest in them as we do in the Little Flock. The gathering of the full number of the Very Elect would give us no reason to discontinue Harvest work.

14:13. And I heard a voice from Heaven.—The Heavenly Father's Word.

Saying [unto me], Write.—The message found in chapter 9 of Volume III.

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.—“Each member of the Body of Christ must finish his sacrifice in actual death. They are reckoned of God as being already dead, and they are exhorted so also to reckon themselves: ‘Reckon ye yourselves dead indeed unto sin.’ No other dead men can be said to die but this class of dead ones, who must finish their course of sacrifice in actual death.”—C. 241; 1 Thes. 4:16.

From henceforth.—From the spring of 1878.

[Yea,] saith the Spirit.—The Word of God, in Rev. 6:11. “Nowhere in the Scriptures is death represented as in any sense a blessing, except in this one instance; and here it is particularly limited and made applicable to a certain specific time.”—C. 240.

That they may rest from their labors.—“Poor, bruised ‘feet,’ now despised of men, none but yourselves fully appreciate your privileges. None others can appreciate the joy you have in proclaiming Present Truth.” (C. 236.) “One by one the ‘feet’ class will pass from the present condition, in which, though often weary and wounded, they are always rejoicing, to the other side the veil;—‘changed’ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from mortality to immortality, from weakness to power, from dishonor to glory, from human to Heavenly conditions, from animal to spirit bodies.” (C. 237.) “Instead of the Kingdom waiting for the living members to finish their course, the Kingdom work began at once; and the living ones on this side the veil are privileged to know ‘the mysteries of the Kingdom’ and to engage in Kingdom work before their ‘change;’ and as they die (will not fall ‘asleep,’ but) will be ‘changed’ in the moment of death, resurrected as part of the blessed and holy First Resurrection.”—D. 622.

[And] FOR their works do follow them.—“Their work will not cease with this change; for all those who will be counted worthy of that change to glory will be already enlisted in the service of the Kingdom on this side the veil: only the weariness, the labor feature, will cease with the change.” (C. 238.) “We may not be able to judge accurately as to what features of the great work are now being carried on by the Lord and His glorified saints beyond the veil; but we may be sure that they are active participants in the work assigned the members of the same Kingdom class, whose course and service are not yet ended on this side the veil—the Harvest work.”—D. 624; 1 Cor. 15:58.

14:14. [And I looked], and behold a white cloud.—See Rev. 10:1. As the cloud indicates the Time of Trouble, so the white indicates the pure motive back of it.

And upon the cloud [one sat] I SAW ONE SITTING like unto the Son of Man.—“To the Jewish House Jesus presented Himself in three characters—as Bridegroom (John 3:29), Reaper (John 4:35, 38) and King (Matt. 21:5, 9, 4). To the Christian House He presents Himself in the same characters. (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 14:14, 15; 17:14.)”—B. 238.

Having on His head a golden crown.—The Divine nature, Immortality, the highest form of life.—2 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4.

And in His hand a sharp sickle.—“This Harvest, like the Jewish one, is to be first a time of trial and sifting upon the Church, and afterward a time of wrath upon the world, including the nominal Church. That which tried fleshly Israel in the Harvest of their Age was the truth then presented to them. The truth then due was the sickle, and it separated the ‘Israelites indeed’ from the nominal Jewish Church; and of the true wheat there was but a fragment compared to the professors. So also is the Harvest of this Age. The Harvest of the Gospel Age, like that of the Jewish Age, is under the supervision of the Chief Reaper, our Lord Jesus, who must then be present.”—A. 238.

14:15. And another angel.—The Witness to the Lord in the Land of Egypt. (Isa. 19:20.) See pages 309, 311, Vol. III, and observe that Chapter 10, Vol. III, Scripture Studies, is in reality a separate book.

Came out of [the] HIS temple, crying with a loud voice.—Throughout the 66 pages of his testimony.

To Him that sat on the cloud.—To our Present Lord.

Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come [for thee] to reap.—The Great Pyramid confirms the Bible's teaching that the time of Harvest has come.

For the Harvest of the earth is ripe.—“The use of a sickle is to gather wheat, not to ripen it.”

14:16. And He that sat on the cloud.—The Lord Jesus, during His Parousia, overruling and withholding the Time of Trouble.

Thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.—Reading verses 13-16 connectedly, we note that the resurrection of the sleeping saints is recorded, and is immediately followed by the Harvest. This suggests that the Harvest proper began in 1878; and that the three and a half years prior to the spring of 1878 was devoted to preliminary work, but not to Harvest work in the full sense. It was not proper to say “Come out of her, My people,” until Babylon was cast off, in the Spring of 1878.—Rev. 3:14; Matt. 13:30; 24:31.

14:17. And another angel.—Pastor Russell himself, after the harvesting of the saints was finished. (Volumes IV, V, VI are not shown in this strictly Harvest chapter, as they are more used for the upbuilding of the saints than as Harvest instruments. They are, however, shown in Rev. 10:4; 15:8; 16:1-18.)

Came out of the Temple which is in Heaven.—The Church in glory, on the other side of the veil.

He also having a sharp sickle.—The privilege of guiding the work of bringing forth out of the Divine Storehouse all the Master's store of provisions, as needed, and of directing the execution upon the nominal church of the chastisements promised in the Holy Word. “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that He will make him ruler over all that He hath.”—Luke 12:44; Psa. 49:5-9; Isa. 21:1-10.

14:18. And another angel.—The corporate body which Pastor Russell organized to finish his work. See Rev. 8:3-5, which describes the same matter as here narrated.

Came out from the altar.—The place of sacrifice. The Society is maintained by the sacrifices of the saints.

Which had power over fire.—Authority over the publication and distribution of expositions of Ezekiel and John the Revelator, symbolical “coals of fire.”—Isa. 6:6; Ezek. 10:2.

And cried with a loud [cry] VOICE to Him that had the sharp sickle.—What a disappointed cry went up from the whole Church that dear Brother Russell went beyond the veil without writing the Seventh Volume of Scripture Studies, for which we all have looked so long!

Saying, Thrust In Thy sharp sickle.—Oh, that the Lord would wind up the present order of things, in whatever way He might elect!—Joel 3:9-14, 13; Matt. 13:39-43.

And gather the clusters of the vine of the earth.—In the Adventist cluster there are 6 bunches of smaller sects; in the Baptist 15; Brethren (Dunkard) 4; Plymouth Brethren 4; River Brethren 3; Catholic Apostolic 2; Churches of the Living God 3; Churches of the New Jerusalem 2; Disciples of Christ 2; Evangelical Bodies 2; Faith Associations 9; Friends 4; Latter-Day Saints 2; Lutheran 21; Scandinavian Evangelical Bodies 3; Mennonite 13; Methodist 16; Moravian 2; Pentecostal bodies 2; Presbyterian 12; Protestant Episcopal 2; Reformed 4; United Brethren 2.

For her grapes are fully ripe.—All these sects have long ago taken their stand against the Truth and therefore against the Lord. O Lord, judge them with Thy Truth! Thou hast called them the “abominations of the earth” and so they are. Bring their man-made clergy-ridden systems to an end and make their memory to perish from the earth! Amen.—Isa. 65:17; Rev. 17:5; Jer. 6:9-30.

14:19. And the angel thrust in his sickle [into] UPON the earth.—Distributed far and wide among order-loving people the good news that nominal Zion's travail is at hand, and the new and better order of things near.

And gathered the vine of the earth.—Brought together all the sects in virulent opposition to the Message of the Truth.

And cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.—“The fruitage of the True Vine is Love, and is precious to the Father; but the fruitage of the Vine of the Earth is selfishness in various forms, and will be ultimately gathered into the great winepress of the wrath of God in the great Time of Trouble with which this Age will close.” (F. 207; Rev. 19:15.) “While the taking of different names was wrong, it was an evidence of a deeper wrong—of a selfish, party spirit. It was an evidence that those Corinthians who took the party names had never appreciated the oneness of the Body of Christ; that they did not really appreciate that Christ is the only Head, Leader and Standard; and that His is the only name by which His followers should recognize themselves and each other.” (Z. '08-116.)

Many of the clergy are today followers of Darwin and Socrates instead of Moses and Christ And both Darwin and Socrates were mentally unsound. The following is from Dr. Dorland's The Age of Mental Virility: “It is likewise exceptional to find an unusually short nose, such as that possessed by Darwin and Socrates, among men of intellect. Nasal abbreviation is one of the well-known signs of degeneracy, as is also the sessile or otherwise misshapen ear, the sugar-loaf skull, the close-set eyes, and other physiognomic irregularities, including the cretinoid face. The latter, strange to relate, has been noted in certain men of remarkable genius, including Darwin and Carlyle, Rembrandt, Pope and Socrates. I wish to emphasize at this point the assertion that not every individual who chances to possess one of the above mentioned physical peculiarities is to be immediately stamped as a degenerate. It is only when there is a combination of two or more of these traits, especially if this combination has been noted as a family peculiarity, that the suspicion will be awakened; and this may then be confirmed and the condition established by close and careful investigation.” “Socrates,” writes Pedigo, “presented one of the most interesting studies in dual personality and subconscious conditions in all history in his memorable daemon, which he said guided him and inspired him with wisdom.” “Herbert Spencer was the victim of a fixed delusion.”

The clergy are the ones directly responsible for the war in Europe. It was not their province to convince the rulers of those countries that their kingdoms are parts of God's Kingdom of peace, holiness, justice, love and truth—monstrous! They are an entirely unauthorized class—except by themselves; a self-perpetuating fraud. They have brought upon their heads the blood of all the nations of the earth in this world war; and God will require it at their hands. In the spring of 1918, and from that time onward forever, it will be as unsafe to tell the lies that have filled Babylon's exchequers as it will to be a king.—Zech. 13:2-6. “Though controversy and words of passion and arguments will be and are among the weapons used in this battle, especially in the beginning of it, yet it will not end with these. Every prophetic detail indicates that before it ends it will be most sanguinary, a fierce and terrible storm.”—D. 529; Jer. 25:26-38; Isa. 63:1-6; Lam. 1:15.

14:20. And the winepress.—The Seventh Volume of Scripture Studies, the work that will squeeze the juice out of the “Abominations of the earth.” Cook's Revelation, page 709, calls attention to the peculiar fact that this word is both masculine and feminine. This seemingly indicates the Lord's recognition of the co-operation of the sisters, particularly in the closing feature of the Harvest work. Priscilla was such a valuable helper that she was named before her husband in Acts 18:18.

Was trodden without the city.—“In symbolic prophecy a ‘city’ signifies a religious government backed by power and influence. Thus, for instance, the ‘holy city, the new Jerusalem,’ is the symbol used to represent the established Kingdom of God, the overcomers of the Gospel Church exalted and reigning in glory.” (D. 25.) “The treading of the winepress is the last feature of Harvest work. The reaping and gathering is all done first.” (D. 18.) Worldly editors have applied this verse to the great war now raging in Europe; but this expression makes it impossible to so apply it. If the war is the winepress and Christendom the city, it is not being trodden without the city, but right in its midst. This suggests that the Revelator referred to another city; and with propriety; for this chapter is devoted to Harvest work only. What city more appropriate to refer to then than the Bethel, the Divinely appointed center for the Harvest work, the embryo Kingdom of God on earth? See Rev. 19:15.

And blood.—Teachings which though truthful will be death-dealing and seem “bloody” to sectarianism. (“And blood came out of the winepress even unto the horse bridles” is a parenthetical clause. Without this parenthesis the verse reads: “And the winepress was trodden without the city by the distance of a thousand and two hundred furlongs.”)

Came out of the winepress.—The exposition of the prophecies of Ezekiel and the Revelator.

Even unto the horse bridles.—So deep as to strangle and drown the old false doctrinal hobbies so long ridden. Sectarianism will be the universal laughing-stock. See Rev., chapters 8 and 9. “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way.”—Prov. 1:24-31.

By the space of a thousand and [six] TWO hundred furlongs.—This can not be interpreted to refer to the 2100 mile battle line of the world war. A furlong or stadium is not a mile and this is without the city whereas the battle line is within the city. See Rotherham's translation.

A stadium is 606-¾ English ft.; 1200 stadii are, mi., 137.9.

The work on this volume was done in Scranton, Pa. As fast as it was completed it was sent to the Bethel. Half of the work was done at an average distance of 5 blocks from the Lackawanna station, and the other half at a distance of 25 blocks. Blocks in Scranton are 10 to the mile. Hence the average distance to the station is 15 blocks, or, 1.5 mi.

The mileage from Scranton to Hoboken Terminal is shown in time tables as 143.8 and this is the mileage charged to passengers, but in 1911, at an expense of $12,000,000, the Lackawanna Railroad completed its famous cut-off, saving 11 miles of the distance. From the day the cut-off was completed the trainmen have been allowed 11 miles less than the time table shows, or a net distance of 132.8 mi.

Hoboken Ferry to Barclay Street Ferry, New York, is 2.0 mi.

Barclay Street Ferry to Fulton Ferry, New York, is 4,800 feet or 0.9 mi.

Fulton Ferry, New York, to Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, is 2,000 feet or 0.4 mi.

Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, to Bethel, is 1,485 feet or 0.3 mi.

Shortest distance from place where the winepress was trodden by the Feet Members of the Lord, Whose guidance and help alone made this volume possible. (John 6:60, 61; Matt. 20:11.), mi., 137.9

Revelation 15—The Song Of The Saints

15:1. And I saw another sign.—Seemion, the same word used by our Lord when He said, “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man.” The proofs of the Lord's Second Advent are here referred to.

In heaven.—Among God's professed people.

Great and marvelous.—Very different in tone and contents from other Bible “helps.”

Seven angels.—The seven volumes of Studies in the Scriptures.

Having the seven last plagues.—The seven volumes of Studies in the Scriptures together constitute the third and last woe poured out upon papacy.—Rev. 16:1-21; 22:18.

For in them is filled up the wrath of God.—Their united testimony is that the Times of the Gentiles have expired, the Reign of Christ has begun, all earthly potentates—Civil, Social, Ecclesiastical and Financial—must give way to the New Order of things, and will not give way peaceably, but must be ejected.

15:2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass.—The Time of Trouble made transparent. We can see why the Lord permits it, and see the Golden Age of glory, peace and Divine blessing that lies just beyond.

Mingled with fire.—The coming anarchy. “They are the waves of the Red Sea, which appears on fire as the Sun of righteousness arises upon them, on the margin of which the true Israelites sing the song of Moses and the saving Lamb. Standing on its shore are seen those who are delivered from the beasts' sway as the Israelites were in their exodus from the land of Pharaoh. The song of Moses is sung by delivered Israel after the Egyptian plagues: here the hymn of praise is sung by the redeemed before the plagues are renewed and the Church gains its last victory over the antichristian world.”—Cook.

And them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and [over] his image.—Who understand and live in harmony with the knowledge that both Papacy and Protestantism, and the governments under their influence, are of Satanic spirit.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:11; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

[And over his mark,] And over the number of his name.—Who refuse to let any stand for them in the place of Christ.—Rev. 13:14-18.

Stand on the sea of glass.—Not in among the restless and discontented, but on a higher plane.—Heb. 13:5.

Having the harps of THE LORD God.—See Rev. 5:8; 14:2.

“God's Word is that harp, which has long been unstrung,”
And men heard but discordant its notes;
Now as tuned are its chords from Moses to John,
“How grandly sweet melody floats.”

15:3. And [they sing] SINGING the song of Moses.—“Hebrew scholars have remarked on the evidence of the antiquity of the song of Moses, recorded in Exodus 15:1-20, some even noting the fact that a few of the words showed an intermingling of the Egyptian language. It is further authenticated by the reference made to it in the book of Psalms, where the entire matter of the deliverance of the people and the overthrow of their enemies in the sea is graphically described by the sweet singer of Israel. (Psa. 106:7-12.) If it was appropriate, as we all admit that it was, that the Israelites should give glory to God for their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, much more is it appropriate that spiritual Israel should recognize the still greater deliverance from the power of Satan and the thralldom of sin, accomplished for us through the blood of the Lamb of God who died for our sins.”—Z. '07-158; Rev. 14:3.

The Servant of God.—See Ex. 14:31.

And the song of the Lamb.—“They sing in the sense of declaring in harmonious and beautiful cadences the relationship of the types and figures of the Law and the Prophets of the Mosaic Dispensation with the antitypes of these of the Gospel Dispensation; showing that all things written in the Law and in the Prophets are finding glorious fulfilments in the Lamb of God and in the great Plan which the Father is working out through Him.”—Z. '00-310.

Saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty.—“First amongst the great and marvelous works of the Almighty was the sentence of death upon father Adam and his posterity. As we look at this marvelous work, we must concede that it was just (in that it was merited), that it is true (in the sense of not being an unreasonable penalty), true in the sense that it was exactly what God forewarned father Adam the penalty of disobedience would be. ‘Just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints.’ But Jehovah's first great and marvelous work of condemnation was, after four thousand years, followed by another great and marvelous work; viz., the work of redemption. How stupendous this work of the ransoming of all Adam's race of hundreds of millions by the sacrifice of one Man! How great and wonderful indeed this act, and how just and true, and how fully in Harmony with every feature of Divine Justice and Love!—1 Tim. 2:5, 6; Rom. 5:12, 18, 19.”—Z. '00-310.

Just and true are Thy ways.—“As we have viewed the failure of Christendom to adopt the spirit of Christ's teaching, and seen how the knowledge and liberty gained from His teachings were blended with the spirit of evil, selfishness, and as from present foreshadowings we mark the sure approach of anarchy and every evil work, yet realizing its necessity and justice, and having learned also the ends of mercy to be attained eventually by this very means, our hearts exclaim, ‘Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are Thy ways.’” (D. 526; Deut. 32:4; Psa. 145:17.) “As Aaron and the two remaining sons were forbidden to make lamentation for their brethren who were cut off, this signifies that all the faithful of the priests will recognize the justice of the Divine decisions, and will bow to them in humble submission, saying, ‘Just and true are Thy ways.’”—Lev. 10:1-7; Psa. 89:14; Job 36:17; 37:23; Isa. 56:1; T. 40.

Thou King of [saints] THE WORLDS.—The margin renders this “King of nations or ages.” He will be King of all nations by and by. He is King of all ages (worlds) in the sense that the ages are working out His sovereign will.

15:4. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name.—“Here is still another feature to this song, and it is glorious also. It looks forward to the glorious Millennial Age, to the time when, under Divine providence, the knowledge of the Lord, essential to faith, and to any acceptance of His favor and mercy through Christ, shall be extended to every creature. ‘Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.’ (Rom. 14:11.) And while this bowing and confessing may at first be compulsory, yet the Scriptures assure us that ultimately all who will not come into heart harmony with the Lord and with all His gracious arrangements and provisions, shall be cut off from amongst the people,—in the Second Death. (Acts 3:23.) So that ultimately, instead of the Universe being filled with hundreds of millions who to all eternity will wail and gnash their teeth and blaspheme God's holy name in agony—instead of this the time shall come when every tongue in Heaven and in earth shall be heard praising God, and giving honor to Him that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb, forever, for by that time all evildoers shall be cut off. (Rev. 5:13.)”—Z. '00-311; Jer. 10:7.

For Thou only art holy.—“This song continues, and has yet another strain. It declares, ‘Thou only art holy’. All holiness, all perfection, wherever it is found, must proceed from God, the great Fountain of holiness. How strange, then, that any of God's dear people (and we ourselves were once amongst this number) should so misunderstand the Divine Character and Plan as to misrepresent the same as being the very essence of unholiness, injustice, unkindness, inequity, lovelessness, toward the great mass of God's creatures!”—Z. '00-311.

For all nations shall come and worship before Thee.—“There is still another strain in this song; and it is a grand one also, like all the others,—reaching down into the Millennial Age. It declares, ‘All nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.’ ‘All nations’ will include, not only all the nations then living, but all the nations of the dead, just as does the promise which God made to Abraham, saying, ‘In thy Seed [The Christ, Head and Body] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.’ (Gen. 22:18.)”—Z. '00-311.

For [Thy] judgments are made manifest BEFORE THEE.—There was a time when we could not sing this song (Psa. 137). We looked forward with dread to the time when the Lord's judgments would be made manifest. We did not see that the Judgment Day is a day of “assurance to all men.” (Acts 17:31.) We did not see that the first judgment day was against our race (Rom. 5:18), and that no culprit can be on trial twice for the same offence. We did not see that another Judgment Day, favorable to our race, came at the time of our Lord's great victory over death (John 12:31); nor did we see that our own, the Judgment Day of the saints, is here and now. (1 Tim. 5:24; 1 Cor. 11:31; 1 Pet. 4:17.) We did perhaps note, our duty of judging wolves by their greed, dogs by their quarrelsomeness, swine by their interest in earthly things, thorns by their disposition to wound and tear, and thistles by their disposition to scatter seeds that cause trouble (Matt. 7:6, 16, 15); and some of us went beyond and began judging one another (Rom. 14:13; Matt. 7:1). We never wanted the Lord to do it, even though we do know that He will bring every secret thing into judgment. (Prov. 15:3; Ecc. 12:14.) Now we see that the world's Judgment Day is a thousand years long (Psa. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:7, 8); we have learned that a day is not always merely a 24-hour period. (Gen. 2:4; Heb. 3:8; 2 Cor. 6:2.) We see now that our Lord Jesus at the first Advent judged nobody (John 12:47; Luke 12:14), but that God has exalted Him to be the world's Judge (Acts 5:31) a Deliverer (Judges 3:9; Isa. 1:26); that He will have associate judges (1 Cor. 6:2; Rev. 20:6); that His judgments will end war, promote righteousness and aid the poor and needy (Isa. 2:4; 11:4; 26:9), destroy unrighteousness and bring in everlasting peace and joy.—2 Thes. 1:7; Isa. 65:18; 1 Cor. 15:25; 1 Chron. 16:31; Psa. 96:13; Psa. 98:1-9; Psa. 72:1-14.

15:5. And after that I looked, and, [behold].—Another vision of the same thing.

The Temple of the Tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.—Pastor Russell was given a clear, beautiful, complete comprehension of the Plan of God as revealed in the Tabernacle arrangements and sacrifices. (Acts 7:44). This is the foundation of all his works.

15:6. And the seven angels came out of the Temple.—The seven volumes of Scripture Studies, emerged, all in harmony with the teachings of the Tabernacle, from which they proceeded.

Having the seven last plagues.—Though counted as plagues by ecclesiasticism they are in reality blessings, destined to rid the earth of every obnoxious thing, not the least of which are the great whore and harlots, large and small, that have defiled the earth with their unclean doctrines. (Rev. 17:5.) “Suppose that the salaries and ‘livings’ of all ministers, bishops, priests, etc., were cut off, all churches, chapels and cathedrals destroyed, all theological seminaries broken up, and their professors turned to other pursuits, all religious guilds and societies disbanded, including all sectarian organizations—what would be the effect? Who can doubt that it would be a real blessing under the disguise of a great and terrible catastrophe? The effect would be to bring true Christians together as the family of God, and not as sectarian bands; to study God's Word, and not human traditions and creeds formulated in the Dark Ages. The Scriptures seem to indicate that very much of this sort of destruction of present systems must take place before all the ‘wheat,’ the true Church, will be separated from the ‘tares,’ the mere professors.” (Z. '08-119.) “The Church, or company of believers, probationers for coming glory, in its ‘voluntary association,’ was indeed to recognize ‘teachers,’ ‘helps,’ ‘Apostles,’ etc., but not to make them. If they recognize a man ‘mighty in the Scriptures,’ ‘apt to teach,’ they should be careful always, even while rejoicing in and thanking God for such a servant, to require a ‘thus saith the Lord’ for every point of doctrine, and to search the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be so.”—Z. '08-120.

Clothed in pure [and white] BRIGHT linen.—“The ‘Linen Girdle’ indicated a righteous servant: linen—righteousness, girdle—servitude.” (T. 30.) “A different word than in Rev. 19:8. The word here used is suitable as describing priestly attire and refers to ministrations on this side of the veil.”—Cook.

And having their breasts girded with golden girdles.—“The under-priests were robed in linen garments and wore girdles. Their robes represented the righteousness of Jesus, imputed to us, and their girdles represent us as servants of righteousness.” (T. 36.) The Scripture Studies are servants of the Church—righteous servants, clad in the Lord's robe.—Rev. 1:13.

15:7. And one of the four beasts.—Heavenly Wisdom.—Rev. 4:7; Matt. 24:45; Jas. 1:5; 3:17; Ezek. 10:2, 7.

Gave unto the seven angels [seven] golden vials.—The message of Present Truth. “The vial was the shallow bowl in which they drew from the larger goblet.”—Cook; Psa. 79:6; Jer. 10:25; Zeph. 3:8.

Full of the wrath of God.—Against all untruth, injustice and selfishness in organizations, Civil, Social, Ecclesiastical and Financial.

Who liveth for ever and ever, Amen.—Whereas all of those are to pass away.—Rev. 4:9, 10; 10:6.

15:8. And the temple was filled with smoke.—The nominal Church is filled with confusion as the deformities of her errors are made manifest.—Isa. 6:4.

From the glory of God, and from His power.—As revealed in His Word in this Harvest time.—2 Chron. 5:14.

And no man was able to enter into the temple.—No person of mature thought. The large proportion of new members now received in the various denominations is from the Sunday School.—Rev. 9:20.

Till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.—Until the seven volumes of Scripture Studies were written, published and circulated. Shortly afterward the true Temple will be in readiness, wherein men, women and children of all races and ages will find their hearts' hunger satisfied.

“Yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this House with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver [the Great Company class that will be used in connection with its ministrations] is Mine, and the gold [the Little Flock, of which it will be composed] is Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter House shall be greater than the former, [the nominal church], saith the Lord of Hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts.”—Hag. 2:6-9.

Revelation 16—Ecclesiasticism's Seven Plagues

16:1. And I heard a great voice out of the Temple.—Pastor Russell was the voice of the Lord thus used. (Rev. 7:2; 10:3.) He was of the true Temple, and “out of” the nominal temple at the time these plagues were poured out.

Saying to the seven angels.—The seven volumes of Scripture Studies. See Rev. 8:2-5 and 14:17-20. “The plagues upon Egypt were intended in some measure to foreshadow, to illustrate, the plagues with which this Gospel Age will end.” (F. 175.) Pastor Russell walked in the light. When the plagues actually appeared, he no longer held to the explanation published in 1883, before they appeared, and so stated on many occasions.

Go your ways, and pour out the SEVEN vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.—In the prefaces to the several volumes of Scripture Studies such expressions abound as “I send forth this volume with prayers,” “and now it is sent forth in the faith,” etc., etc.

16:2. And the first went, and poured out his vial [upon] INTO the earth.—Volume I was distributed among those already under religious restraint.

And there fell a [noisome and] grievous AND NOISOME sore.—The book seemed to ecclesiastics like an evil and malignant ulcer, a painful, running sore, which eats, corrupts and destroys.

Upon the men which had the mark of the beast.—Roman Catholics.

And upon them which worshipped his image.—Protestants affiliated with the Federal Council of Churches. Rev. 13:11; 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24. Another view of the book, from the standpoint of the clergy, is afforded by the plague of flies (Ex. 8:20-32.) It seemed to them like an old-time Egyptian curse, with which they were quite familiar, namely, one more of the Evangelistic firms already cursing society, and interfering with the regular clergy business. “The Scriptural details are as follows: The arab filled the houses of the Egyptians, they covered the ground, they lighted on the people, the land was laid waste on their account. A biting, insidious creature, which comes like a dart, with great noise, and, rushing with great impetuosity on the skin, sticks to it most tenaciously. They boldly beset cattle, and not only obtain ichor, as other flies, but also suck out blood from beneath, and occasion great pain.”

“They have no proboscis, but, instead, have double sets of teeth, like wasps, which they infix deeply in the skin; they greatly infest the ears of dogs. This genus is most impudently pertinacious in its assaults, spares neither man nor beast, gorges itself to bursting with blood, infusing an irritating venom at the same time. No idea can be formed of their obstinate rapacity. It is in vain to drive them away; they return again in the self-same moment, and their perseverance wearies out the most patient spirit.” (McC.) These flies, flying a short distance into the heavens, do their work around the dunghill of human tradition, but the collections of one of them recently amounted to $400,000 in eight American cities, so the business can be made a money maker by those willing to cater to the demand for sensationalism, and who have no hesitancy in repeating ancient blasphemies against God's holy name.

These flies are called dog-flies, because they infest the ears of dogs; and when it is remembered that the Scriptures refer to the clergy as “dumb dogs” (Isa. 56:10, 11; Phil. 3:2) we can readily see the application. The clergy of an entire city will sit on a platform, facing virtually the whole population, and hear themselves called liars, hypocrites, false-alarms and other villainous names. But because they hope to get a few “converts,” and therefore a few shekels for the “sanctuary,” they will take it all meekly, and prefer to take it rather than humbly admit one item of truth in all Pastor Russell's beautiful writings. After the firm has left town, they frequently bemoan the treatment received and think longingly of the wherewithal taken by the fly that was not satisfied with mere ichor, but wanted the real blood.

At this point it may be well to explain the plagues of frogs and lice. The former seems to represent the Old Theology Quarterly which Pharaoh found everywhere contaminating his kingdom, but which, at the hand of the Lord, suddenly died out completely. The latter seems to represent The Bible Students Monthly. There is no record that the plague of lice was discontinued, and even yet the Egyptians (people of the world) and Pharaoh (the Devil) and his magicians (the clergy) scratch their heads many a time, wondering how to deal with a plague which they cannot duplicate.

16:3. And the second [angel] poured out his vial upon the sea.—Volume II, Scripture Studies seemed to the beast and his image to reach and affect only the discontented, those who never were very subservient to the ruler of this present evil world, or any of his systems.

And it became as the blood of a dead man.—After death the blood separates into a watery liquid, called serum, and a solid substance termed clot. As soon as this separation takes place the clot begins to putrefy or corrupt. Thus it seemed to worshipers of the beast and his image that anybody that would accept the teachings of Volume II would be in a hopeless condition.

And every living soul died in the sea.—To the worshipers of the beast and his image it seemed as though such would be lost and would surely go to hell to be tormented forever. An “evangelist” who held these views called at the home of a lady in Scranton. Entering the hall he saw an elegant picture of Pastor Russell. Instantly he lost control of what mind he had and vehemently said, “I called here as a Christian minister, but I see you have old Russell's picture here. Are you a follower of his?” The lady replied that she was. He then said, “He is in hell, and you will be there too, if you follow him.” Quick as thought the lady reopened the door through which he had just entered, invited him to the porch overlooking the valley; and as he stood there gazing into space she said, “Tell it to the atmosphere,” and left him while she attended to more important duties.

Another picture of the effect of Volume II on the anti-typical Egyptians may be seen from the plague of the murrain (Ex. 9:1-7.) “This consisted in some distemper that resulted in a sudden and dreadful mortality among the cattle in the field, including horses, asses, camels, oxen and sheep. It was, however, confined to the Egyptian cattle, and to those that were in the field; for though the cattle of the Hebrews breathed the same air, drank the same water, and fed in the same pastures, not a creature of theirs died. The Egyptian cattle that survived in the sheds, and were afterwards sent into the fields, were destroyed by the succeeding storm of fire and hail.” (McC.) These creatures were valuable to the Egyptians. They used them for bearing their burdens, for sacrifices and for food. They represent the classes that go to make up the nominal church and support it. Thus it seemed to the worshippers of the Beast and his Image that the only way to prevent the loss of all their live stock would be to keep them securely impounded, allowing them no liberty whatever.

16:4. And the third [angel] poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters.—It seemed to the worshippers of the beast and his image that the teachings of Volume III of the Scripture Studies had contaminated the Scriptures, the Waters of Life, at their very source, by extending the call to people to come out of Babylon while they were busy trying to get people in.

And they became blood.—Seemed repulsive, undesirable, bloody.—Z. '07-279; Ex. 7:20; Rev. 14:20.

Another view of how Volume III appears to the worshipers of the beast and his image is shown by the plague of boils described in Ex. 9:8-12. “The boil was a scab or pustule, which might or might not break out into an ulcerous sore (Lev. 13:18). With this, in one of its worst forms, Job was afflicted (2:7), and by this Hezekiah was brought to the verge of the grave. (2 Kings 20:7; Isa. 38:21.) It was an eruption of a very painful kind accompanied with a burning itch, tending to produce a permanent state of foul and wasteful disease. One form of this disease which seized upon the legs and knees, and was regarded as incurable, was peculiar to Egypt, and was hence called ‘the botch of Egypt.’ (Deut. 28:27, 35.) In the case before us, this eruption had a tendency to break out into larger swellings and became probably the disease called elephantiasis, a disease said to be peculiar to Egypt, or the black leprosy, a disease which also affects cattle.” (McC.) It was “ashes of the furnace,” loyalty to the memory of the bullock, the one perfect Sacrifice for all, Christ Jesus, that caused the boils; and it is particularly noted that the magicians (clergy) could not withstand this plague, the message, “Come out of her, My People.”

16:5. And I heard the angel of the waters.—Volume III, Scripture Studies.

Say, thou art righteous, [O Lord] which art, and wast.—See Rev. 1:4; 15:3; 19:2.

[And shalt be], THE HOLY.—The Lord, the Holy One, was present, at the time Volume III was written.

Because Thou hast judged thus.—Made the beautiful Harvest truths appear “bloody” to those not consecrated.

16:6. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets.—Literally and figuratively.—Matt. 23:34, 35; Rev. 13:15; 18:24.

And thou hast given them blood to drink; [for] THAT WHEREOF they are worthy.—See Rev. 14:20; Isa. 49:26.

16:7. And I heard [another out of] the altar.—The “Altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt” (Isa. 19:19) at the time these plagues are being poured out upon the antitypical Egyptians, is the Great Pyramid, discussed in a separate section of Volume III.

[Say] Saying Even so, Lord God Almighty.—The Lord Jesus.—Rev. 1:8; John 5:22; Matt. 28:18.

True and righteous are Thy judgments.—The teaching of the Great Pyramid is in full accord with the rest of the book. See Rev. 14:15. “It is by no means an addition to the written revelation: that revelation is complete and perfect, and needs no addition. But it is a strong corroborative witness to God's Plan. Isaiah testifies of an altar and pillar in the land of Egypt, which ‘shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt.’ And the context shows that it shall be a witness in the day when the great Savior and Deliverer shall come to set at liberty Sin's captives.”—C. 315.

16:8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun.—Volume IV of Scripture Studies, as soon as published, was sent free to all clergy whose names could be obtained. They are taught, and teach others, that they are important luminaries in the heavens, suns, rivalling in brilliancy and wisdom the Lord Himself, whose place they take in the minds of the people, by setting forth their own views on every subject, rather than the Lord's Word. Volume IV, then, sent to this class, and calling attention to Babylon's fall, seemed to them as the height of all presumption in wickedness.

And power was given unto him to scorch men.—Greek “The Men,” i. e., the worshipers of the beast and his image.

With fire.—Perhaps some of the clergy became a trifle warm as they read Volume IV, as their later conduct seems to suggest. Why they should have disliked Pastor Russell when he told the truth, and proved it, is remarkable.

And men.—Greek “The Men;” the clergy. In Rev. 8:9 the clergy are not so honored.

Were scorched with great heat.—Became warm, indignant at the Pastor's kindly explanation of the whore and the harlots, and the plainly evident application to the Papacy and the Protestant sects.

And blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues.—Misrepresented the name and character of the mighty one, Pastor Russell, to whom the Lord committed the task of presenting to His Church this meat in due season. This misrepresentation burst like a storm after the publication of Volume IV, Studies, and continued until the Pastor's death, yea, and shame to say it, even afterwards, in the columns of such sheets as the New York World and the Brooklyn Eagle. What monuments of infamy these people have reared for themselves! They richly deserve all they will get when the tide turns.

And they repented not to give Him glory.—“One great obstacle to many is the contracted idea generally entertained of the meaning of the word god. They fail to note that the Greek theos (god) does not invariably refer to Jehovah, but signifies a mighty one. In the following texts the word god (theos) is used to refer to others than the one supreme being, Jehovah—viz.:—John 10:34, 35; Acts 7:40, 43; 17:23; 1 Cor. 8:5.”—B. 274.

Another view of how the publication of Volume IV looks to the worshipers of the beast and his image is shown in the plague of hail, described in Ex. 9:13-26. “The character of this and the following plagues must be carefully examined, as the warning seems to indicate an important turning-point. The ruin caused by the hail was evidently far greater than that effected by any of the earlier plagues; for it destroyed men, which those others seem not to have done, and not only men, but beasts and the produce of the earth. In this case Moses, while addressing Pharaoh, openly warns his servants how to save something from the calamity. Pharaoh for the first time acknowledges his wickedness.” (McC.) The appropriateness of these comments to the subject matter of “The Day of Vengeance,” or “The Battle of Armageddon”, (as it is now called) as the latter would appear to the mind of the clergy, is self-evident. Your true clergyman has the greatest abhorrence for any truth that would tend to lessen men's reverence for himself or the systems which he aims to perpetuate.

16:10. And the fifth [angel].—Volume V, of Studies.

Poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast.—Thoroughly and scripturally analyzing the subjects of trinity, human immortality and eternal torment, the foundation of all Papal doctrine, as well as constituting a large part of the stock in trade of the Protestant aggregation.

And his kingdom was full of darkness.—Complete ignorance of the truths on these subjects as taught in the Bible.

And they gnawed their tongues for pain.—“Note the expression of Rev. Samuel T. Carter in a Presbyterian journal—The Evangelist. He says: ‘It must be admitted that if a Church is honest, that which stands in its Confession to its faith. It must be acknowledged that what is contained in its Confession is the faith of any honest church. The Westminster Confession of Faith is still the unquestioned Confession of the Presbyterian Church. Is the Presbyterian Church honest in its zeal for purity first and peace afterward? Be it known, then, to all the world that the Presbyterian Church by its Confession declares that all the heathen perish, that many men are hopelessly lost from all eternity by the decree of God, and that there are infants in hell.... In reality the church does not believe these dreadful doctrines. Then it stands before God and man with a lie in its right hand.’”—Z. '00-148.

16:11 And blasphemed the God of Heaven.—“In token of entire allegiance to the beast.”—Cook.

Because of their pains [and their sores], and repented not [of their deeds].—“The commotion amongst Presbyterians continues—some standing firm for their church creed, others repudiating it and begging to be released from it. Many thus indirectly confess that they have despised it for years, and have realized it to be a lie and a blasphemy against God, and after confessing to this acting and confessing a lie for years they beg to be released without cost or loss either of human or Divine favor, and especially without loss of bread and butter.” (Z. '00-148.) The way in which Volume V, Scripture Studies, appeared to the worshipers of the beast and his image is further illustrated in the plague of locusts, described in Ex. 10:1-11. “This plague has not the unusual nature of the one that preceded it; but it even exceeds it in severity, and so occupies its place in the gradation of the more terrible judgments that form the latter part of the series. Its severity can be well understood by those who have been in Egypt in a part of the country where a plague of locusts has alighted. In this case the plague was greater than any ordinary visitation, since it extended over a far wider space, rather than because it was more intense; for it is impossible to imagine any more complete destruction than that always caused by locusts.” (McC.) With what dismay must the clergy have read the kind words for volume V, which appeared in the columns of the secular press.

16:12. And the sixth [angel].—Volume VI of Studies in the Scriptures.

Poured out his vial upon the great River Euphrates.—Seemed to the worshipers of the beast and his image to be instituting a new and horrible thing, a people's church, in which there is no place for clergy, collections, church edifices, reverence for one day above another, or in fact any of the customs cherished in the nominal church.

And the water thereof was dried up.—“Literal Babylon was built upon the literal river Euphrates, while in the Gospel age mystic or figurative Babylon, which carried away captive Spiritual Israel, is portrayed as sitting upon the mystic Euphrates. In the type, the golden vessels of the Temple were carried away and profaned by literal Babylon: in the antitype, the precious, Divine (golden) truths, pertaining to the service of the true Temple, the Church (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Rev. 3:12), were far removed from their proper places, perverted and misapplied by mystic Babylon. Literal Babylon being built upon the river Euphrates, which materially contributed to its wealth and resources, its overthrow was accomplished by the turning aside of those waters. So mystic Babylon sits upon, is supported by, many waters (peoples, nations), and its fall is predicted, through the turning aside of its supporters and sustainers, the people.” (B. 209; Jer. 50:38, 51:36.) “Ecclesiastical circles in Germany are much exercised at the rapidly increasing desertions from the State Church. Although the process of official separation from the Church is one of the greatest difficulty, delay and expense, it is computed that in Berlin alone considerably over 10,000 persons have severed their connection with the Church during the past year. So great is the number of those who are notifying their intention to terminate their membership that special offices have been opened in Berlin to receive their applications, which now number between 300 and 400 daily. Among the working classes, especially those attached to the Social Democratic party, there exists a bitter hostility to the clergy.”—Z. '09-83.

“A program for a general strike against the Church is the latest plan of action. The ‘No-Creeders’ (Monists) in league with the Socialists, convened mass meetings in Berlin, Brunswick and Saxony, in which every means of incitation was employed in an appeal toward a secession from the State Church. At these meetings over 1,300 persons signed a declaration announcing their intention to secede from the Church. Four thousand more followed, and according to judicial court-records received towards the end of December, 17,000 secessions took place in December up to the 23d, and the day after Christmas 8,000 more announced their intention. The following press reports may serve as a typical illustration of the mode of procedure in such meetings. ‘Without exception, every one who even by vague allusion, ventured to take a stand for his Church was howled down, hissed from the rostrum and subjected to filthy invectives. To illustrate: When a minister ascended the platform, the following was heard, “He looks it!” “Old Sky-pilot!” And from another part of the hall the same evening we heard the following words aimed at the ministers: “Damned Rags!” “Pig-priests!” A gentleman who interrupted was yelled at, “Rous mit the Parson-face!”’”—Z. '14-133.

“Reports in Great Britain show that Baptists, Congregationalists and the various Methodist denominations there are declining in numbers and prestige. The cause of this is not far to see. Christianity has become merely another name for decency and civilization. All doctrines are abandoned as merely speculations. Churches are becoming merely social clubs in which form and ceremony mark the quality. This accounts for the growing unpopularity of those sects which once stood for the highest standards of earnestness and Christian zeal and liberty, non-conformity and simplicity.” (Z. '10-324.) “The pastor of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York City, Rev. Dr. Charles F. Aked, who came to its direction from a London pulpit, in his sermon Sunday said: ‘When I interview my parishioners, and they are among the most representative in the city, I find the spirit of religious depression very unlike the spirit of abounding enterprise in business, in manufacturing, in engineering and construction. There are about 16,000,000 Catholics in continental United States. Now, in our immigration for ninety years back, no less than 15,000,000 were Catholics. If all remained loyal to its tenets they would number 45,000,000 now instead of 16,000,000. The Protestants have lost ground, too, when the filling up of the country is counted. Our own denomination, the Baptists, reflects the general trend. The increase among the Baptists of America has been equal to only one-fourth of the birth rate among us, proving that three out of four of our Baptist population have fallen away from us. The decline of Christianity is universal.’”

“In England, in France, in Spain, Italy and Germany we hear the same cry. Only lately I was talking to an English clergyman. He told me that not merely is there a great falling off in church-goers in England, but that the class of people who frequent churches is becoming inferior.”

“The church is out of touch with the masses. Everything has progressed except Christianity. The pulpit has too many bigots, too many bores, too many hell-fire screechers for the enlightened thought of the day. The church is obliged to accept any applicant for the ministry who is respectable. Even with this latitude, Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist vocations show a remarkable falling off in twenty-five years.” (Z. '08-324.) “Rev. Charles A. Eaton at the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, Cleveland, spoke as follows: ‘In Italy one-third of the people at the very outside, are more or less nominal followers of the Church of Rome; another third, possibly, are more or less sympathetic toward the Church; while another third are out and out continually and completely antagonistic, apparently, not only to the Church of Rome, but to all forms of Christianity. You enter France—the same story is true, only aggravated and multiplied a thousand fold. You enter Great Britain, which I consider to be the last citadel of Christianity in the world, with a people more robust and sane in their religious interests and sympathies than any other people. And what is the condition there? The non-conformist churches of Great Britain last year not only made no progress, but met, according to their statistics, with an absolute loss of 18,000; the Baptist Church of Great Britain last year lost 5,000 people. In the year 1905 there were nearly 7,000 Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Methodist churches that had not one single member unite with them in twelve months. In a recent year in New York city, according to the statement of Dr. Aked, of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, 335 Protestant churches reported a net gain that year of 386 members. That is to say 335 churches gained one member apiece and fifty of them gained two in twelve months. Brethren, I say to you this morning, that the American Church is dying—it is dying! It is dying! Don't forget it.’” (Z. '08-211.)

“A declaration by the Rev. Dr. Charles E. McClellan, pastor of the Fairhill Baptist Church, that ‘Protestantism in the United States is fast decaying and will soon be a thing of the past,’ aroused a storm at the fifty-third session of the North Philadelphia Baptist Association. Doctor McClellan spoke on what he called the decline of Protestantism while making his report as chairman of the missionary committee. ‘The spirit of Protestantism is dying in the United States, and it will soon be a thing of the past,’ he said. ‘Philadelphia, both denominationally and religiously, is going to perdition at a rapid rate. Recently I attended the services in one of our churches, at which I had been invited to speak. I found in attendance nineteen adults and one child. The same condition exists all over the city. We have large, magnificent churches, but small congregations, showing that it is easy to get money, but hard to get men.’”—Z. '10-373.

That the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.—“He must be comparatively blind who cannot see that the wonderful prophecies which speak of the fall of Babylon (Isa. 14:22; Jer. 50 and 51) were not wholly fulfilled by Cyrus the Persian. Much of the prophecy still waits for fulfillment in mystic or symbolic Babylon today. The Kings of the East, or kings from the sunrising, are, we understand, the kings of Christ's Kingdom, who are also priests—the Body of Christ, the Royal Priesthood. ‘Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.’ From this standpoint, Cyrus, who with his army overthrew literal Babylon, was a figure or illustration of Messiah, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Isa. 41:25; 44:28; 45:1-14.)”—Z. '99-174; Rev. 7:2.

16:13. And I saw three unclean spirits.—Denoting demoniacal origin. (Matt. 10:1; Mark 1:26; Luke 4:33.) “The Lord's people must discriminate between doctrines presented to them as truth—they must ‘try the spirits,’ whether they be holy or evil, of God or of the Evil One—the Spirit of Truth or the spirit of error. These both are introduced by prophets, or teachers.”—E. 320, 295.

[Like] AS IT WERE frogs.—Frogs are garrulous, have a very wise look, large mouths, are much puffed up and utter only croakings. In the “distress of nations with perplexity” which has come upon Christendom as a result of her sins, the croakings of the wise now fill the air everywhere. Actually all knees are “weak as water.”—Ezek. 7:17; 21:7. See especially D. i-xvi.

Come out of the mouth of the dragon.—The three fundamental truths of history are man's Fall, Redemption and Restoration. Stated in other language these three truths are the mortal nature of man, the Christ of God and His Millennial Kingdom. Standing opposite to these Satan has placed three great untruths, human immortality, the Antichrist and a certain delusion which is best described as race hatred—in reality murder, the spirit of the very Devil. (1 John 3:15.) It is this last and crowning feature of Satan's work that is mentioned first. The other two errors are the direct cause of this one. The wars of the Old Testament were all intended to illustrate the battlings of the New Creature against the weaknesses of the flesh, and are not in any sense of the word justification for the human butchery practiced during the Christian era in the name of religion, exemplified by the events of St. Bartholomew's Day and by the wicked Inquisition. Nowhere in the New Testament is hatred of other peoples encouraged. Everywhere and always it is forbidden; and yet, under one guise or another it has been encouraged for centuries by the clergy class who should have been teaching the people the message given them by the Prince of Peace.

And out of the mouth of the beast.—The Antichrist doctrine of the Divine right of the clergy was the direct cause of the great war. This frog has been coming out of the mouth of the Papal beast for sixteen centuries. “These false doctrines of the Dark Ages are bearing a terrible fruitage at the present time. Similarly the teaching of eternal torment, misrepresenting and blaspheming God's character, is bearing an evil fruitage. Millions of people are being turned away from faith in a God of Love and from faith in the Bible as His Message by the most monstrous blasphemies of the Dark Ages. I charge the responsibility of all this against the sects and creeds of Christendom. I charge that the ministers, whose eyes are now open to a saner comprehension, have neglected the Bible, have neglected the people, and, instead of helping them out of the darkness, are now leading them into darkness in an opposite direction—into Evolution and Higher Criticism and everything contrary to the Word of God. God is still misrepresented in the world. The creeds of the Dark Ages are still hugged to the bosom in outward pretense, while inwardly they are loathed. A great fraud, a great hypocrisy, you say? I answer, Yes; the most astounding the world has ever known. Two hundred thousand professed ministers of God and of Christ are standing before the world today telling the legends of the Dark Ages and seeking to hinder the people from coming to a knowledge of the Truth, meanwhile receiving the people's money and reverence. Does not such hypocrisy, such blasphemy against God, such deception of the people, such keeping of them in darkness, deserve a great punishment, and is it not nigh?”—B. S. M.

[“Pollute Ye My Holy Name No More” Illustration]

And out of the mouth of the false prophet.—The one cardinal error upon which all protestant (false prophet) sects agree is the doctrine of human immortality, the original lie told in Eden (Gen. 2:17, 3:4). In speaking of it our Lord says, “When he speaketh the lie, he speaketh of his own.” (John 8:44, Diaglott.) Speaking of it again, the Apostle Paul says, of the worshipers of the beast and his image, “They admitted not the love of the Truth that they might be saved. And on this account God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood.” (2 Thes. 2:10, 11.) In each case the Greek gives the definite article. The frog issuing from the false prophet (the image of the beast) is the doctrine of human immortality. These deluded souls actually believe this error, and will be able to prove it to the satisfaction of the dragon, without a doubt. This error lies at the bottom of the doctrines of eternal torment and of the trinity. There is a hint in 1 John 4:1-3 that the cardinal error on which the false prophet will insist is that when Jesus came from the Father He was more than flesh, i. e., had at least an immortal soul.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

“All Christian people credit the book of Revelation to our Lord, as St. John does. (Rev. 1:1.) Therefore we are not responsible for the symbolism used in that book. There are so many ways in which one might be misunderstood, even by good Christian people, that we naturally feel a delicacy about expressing our views. As we proceed to set forth our understanding of the symbols of the Revelation, we wish to state most emphatically that we are saying nothing whatever against godly Christians anywhere, at any time, whether in any church or out of any church. We have nothing to say respecting people. We discuss PRINCIPLES, DOCTRINES, ALWAYS; individuals, NEVER! God has not commissioned us to discuss people; it is ours to discuss His Word.”

“Throughout the Bible, a Beast is the symbol used to represent a government. In Daniel's prophecy the great universal empires of the earth are thus symbolized. Babylon was the Lion, Medo-Persia the Bear, Greece the Leopard, and Rome the Dragon. (Dan. 7:1-8.) The Roman Empire still persists. The Dragon, then, symbolizes the Roman power, represented by the civil power in the world. The Beast is the Papal system of government. The third symbol, the False Prophet, remains to be interpreted. This, we believe, is another name for the system elsewhere called ‘the Image of the Beast.’ (Rev. 13:14.) According to the Scriptures, this Image is a very exact representation of the Beast. The False Prophet, or Image of the Beast, we understand to mean the Protestant Federation of Churches.”

“‘Three unclean spirits like frogs came out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False Prophet.’ In this passage, the spirit is a doctrine—an unclean doctrine—a false doctrine. Each of these systems will utter the same things, and these utterances will have the effect of gathering the kingdoms of earth together to the Battle of Armageddon.”

“The symbolism of Scripture, rightly understood, is very forceful, and there is always a close resemblance between the symbol itself and the thing symbolized. When the Holy Spirit uses a frog to represent certain doctrines or teachings, we may be sure that the application will fit well. While a frog is a small creature, yet it puffs itself up until it almost bursts with the effort to be somebody. A frog has a very wise look, even though it does not know very much. Then a frog croaks whenever it utters a sound.”

“The three most prominent characteristics of a frog, then, are pomposity, an air of superior wisdom and knowledge, and a continual croaking. Applying these characteristics to the picture given in the Divine Word, we learn that from kingly power, from the Catholic Church and from the Federation of Protestant Churches, will go forth the same teachings. The spirit of all will be boastful; an air of superior knowledge and wisdom will be assumed; all will foretell dire results to follow any failure to obey their counsels. However conflicting the creeds, the differences will be ignored in the general proposition that nothing ancient must be disturbed, or investigated, or repudiated.”

“The boasted Divine authority of the Church, and the Divine right of kings aside from the Church, will not be allowed to conflict; for both will be indorsed. Any persons or teachings in conflict with these boastful, unscriptural claims will be branded as everything vile, at the mouths of the frogs, croaking from pulpits and platforms, and through the religious and secular press. The nobler sentiments of some will be strangled by the philosophy of the same evil spirit which spoke through Caiaphas, the high priest, respecting our Lord Jesus. As Caiaphas declared it expedient to commit a crime in violation of justice, both human and Divine, to be rid of Jesus and His teachings, so this frog-like spirit will approve of any and every violation of principle necessary to self-protection.”

“Every true Christian is ashamed to look back upon the pages of history and see what terrible deeds were done in the name of God and justice, and in the name of our Lord Jesus. We are not to think for a moment that these frog spirits, or doctrines, are all bad, but rather that they are doctrines of bombast and pomposity, representing themselves to be very wise and great, and having the backing of centuries. Out of the mouth of the Dragon comes the doctrine of the Divine right of Kings: ‘Do not look back of the curtain of history to see where the kings got that right. Accept the doctrine; for if you do not, and if men look into the matter, there will be a terrible revolution and everything will go down!’”

“The Beast and the False Prophet have similar croakings. The Catholic Church says, ‘Do not look behind! Do not question anything about the Church!’ Protestantism says, also, ‘We are great, we are wise, we know a great deal. Keep quiet! No one will then know that you know nothing.’ All say (croaking), ‘We tell you that if you say anything against present arrangements, terrible things will come to pass.’”

“Political parties are figuring in this. All declare, ‘If any change should come, it will mean terrible disaster!’ Some have the backbone and some have the civil power behind them, but unitedly they croak to the people that if any change is made, it will mean ruin to the present order. In the language of our day, ‘Stand pat!’ is the order in Church and in State; but the people are being moved by fear. It is this croaking of the Beast, the Dragon and the False Prophet that will arouse the kings of earth and gather them together to the Armageddon Battle.”

“The ecclesiastical kings and princes, with their retinue of clergy and faithful adherents, will be gathered in solid phalanx—Protestant and Catholic. The political kings and kaisers, princes, and all in high places, with their henchmen and retainers, will follow in line on the same side. The financial kings and merchant princes, and all whom they can influence by the most gigantic power ever yet exercised in the world, will join the same side, according to this prophecy. They do not realize, however, that they are coming to Armageddon; yet strange to say, this is a part of their very cry, ‘Come together to Armageddon!’”

“Speaking of our day, our Lord declared, ‘Men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.’ (Luke 21:26.) The kings of Europe know not what to do. All sectarianism is being shaken.”

“The croaking of the frog spirits, or doctrines, will gather the kings and princes, financial, political, religious and industrial, into one great army. The spirit of fear, inspired by the croaking, will scourge the passions of otherwise good and reasonable men to fury—desperation. In their blind following of these evil spirits, evil doctrines, they will be ready to sacrifice life and everything on what they mistakenly suppose is the altar of Justice, Truth and Righteousness under a Divine arrangement.”

“Many noble people in this great army will assume an attitude quite contrary to their preference. For a time the wheels of liberty and progress will be turned backward, and mediæval restraints will be considered necessary for self-preservation—for the maintenance of the present order of things and for the prevention of the new order which God has decreed, the due time for which is at hand. Even those who may be God's people do not stop to consider whether it is His will that things should continue as they have been for the past six thousand years. The Bible says that such is not God's will, but that there is to be a great overturning, that a new order is coming in.”

“For a brief time, as we understand the Scriptures, these combined forces of Armageddon will triumph. Free speech, free mails, and other liberties which have come to be the very breath of the masses in our day, will be ruthlessly shut off on the plea of necessity, the glory of God, the commands of the Church, etc. The safety-valve will be sat upon, and thus will cease to annoy earth's kings with the sound of escaping steam; and all will seem to be serene—until the great social explosion described in the Revelation as an earthquake will take place. In symbolic language an earthquake signifies social revolution, and the Scriptural declaration is that none like it ever before occurred. (Rev. 16:18, 19.) Our Lord refers to it in Matt. 24:21.”

“At this juncture, the Scriptures show, Divine Power will step forward, and God will gather the marshaled hosts to Armageddon—to the Mount of Destruction. (Rev. 16:16.) The very thing which they sought to avert by their union, federation, etc., will be the very thing that they will hasten. Other Scriptures tell us that God will be represented by Messiah, and that He will be on the side of the masses. ‘At that time shall Michael [the Godlike One—Messiah] stand up.’ (Dan. 12:1.) He will assume authority. He will take possession of His Kingdom in a manner little looked for by many of those who erroneously have been claiming to be His Kingdom, and authorized by Him to reign in His name and in His stead.”

“Our Lord Jesus declared, ‘His servants ye are unto whom ye render service.’ Some may be rendering service to Satan and to error, who claim to be rendering service to God and to righteousness; and some may serve ignorantly, as did Saul of Tarsus, who ‘verily thought that he did God service,’ in persecuting the Church. The same principle holds true reversely. As an earthly king does not hold himself responsible for the moral character of each soldier who fights his battles, so the Lord does not vouch for the moral character of all who enlist and fight on His side of any question. His servants they are to whom they render service, whatever the motive prompting them.”

“The same principle will apply in the coming Battle of Armageddon. God's side of that battle will be the people's side; and that very nondescript host, the people, will be pitted at the beginning of the battle. Anarchists, Socialists, and hot-headed radicals of every school of reason and unreason, will be in the forefront of that battle. He who has any knowledge of army life knows that a great army is composed of all classes.”

“The masses will be restless under their restraints, but will be conscious of their weakness as compared with the kings and princes, financial, social, religious and political, who will then hold sway. The masses have no sympathy with anarchy. They realize truly that the worst form of government is better than none. The masses will seek relief through the ballot and the peaceful readjustment of earth's affairs for the elimination of evil, for the placing of monopolies and utilities and the supplies of nature in the hands of people for the public good. The crisis will be reached when the hitherto upholders of the law shall become violators of the law and resisters of the will of the majority as expressed by the ballot. Fear for the future will goad the well-meaning masses to desperation, and anarchy will result when Socialism fails.”

“The Lord's saints are not to be in this battle at all. God's consecrated people, longing at heart for Messiah's Kingdom and the glorious Year of Jubilee and Restitution which it will inaugurate, will patiently abide the Lord's time, and wait unmurmuringly for it. Their lamps trimmed and burning, they will not be in darkness respecting the momentous events of the impending battle; but they will be of good courage, knowing the outcome portrayed in the ‘more sure word of prophecy,’ to which they have done well to ‘take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the Day dawn.’—2 Pet. 1:19.”

“The question now arises, Why did not God send His Kingdom sooner? Why is Armageddon necessary? We answer that God has His own times and seasons, and that He has appointed the Great Seventh Thousand-Year Day for the reign of Christ. Divine Wisdom has withheld until our day the great knowledge and skill which is breeding at the same time millionaires and discontents. Had God lifted the veil of ignorance a thousand years sooner, the world would have lined up for Armageddon a thousand years sooner. God did not bring these things before the present time because His Plan has various parts, all of which are converging at the same time. In kindness God veiled the eyes of mankind until the gathering to Armageddon would immediately precede Messiah's taking to Himself His great power and beginning His reign.” (Rev. 11:17, 18.)—D. v-xvi.

16:14. For they are the spirits of devils.—See Eph. 6:12. “We are naturally led by the analogy of the influence of evil spirits as described in the Gospels to compare the effect produced by the demons referred to in this verse, with the instances of possession of which we read elsewhere in the New Testament.”—Cook.

Working miracles.—It is very possible that the strongest “proof” of the immortality of man will yet be obtained by the false prophet through materializations of evil spirits, perhaps first at preachers' meetings, and afterwards in public. We will wait and see. Meantime: the mental invasions indicated in Rev. 7:3 and 2 Thes. 2:11 will surely come, whether the physical materializations come or not.—Rev. 13:13, 14.

“The newspapers far and near are publishing the following item: ‘Fred E. Foskett, a young machinist of Orange, Mass., has attracted the attention of Prof. James, of Harvard, and other leading members of the Boston branch of the American Society of Psychical Research, who gave him tests recently. Foskett poured a quart of alcohol into the basin, lighted it and then washed his hands, bathing them for nearly ten minutes in the burning fluid, washing it up over his arms and to his face—literally bathing himself in blazing alcohol. As soon as they were finished the physicians present examined Foskett, and they could not find the slightest trace of a burn or blister. Foskett then told them that the flames did not give him the slightest sensation of burning, that he felt comfortably warm and pleasant, and nothing more. The second tests were made at the home of Prof. James in Cambridge. A scientist who was there said that Foskett performed all of his experiments of the day before, and then “absolutely and positively dematerialized”. He seemed to dissolve into thin air as we watched, was gone forty-one seconds and then materialized.’”—Z. '09-83; Matt. 24:24; 2 Thes. 2:9.

Which go forth unto the kings of the [earth and of the] whole world, to gather them to the battle of [that] THE great Day of God Almighty.—Of which the present horrible European war is only the preliminary skirmish.—Rev. 17:14; 19:19.

“This battle, which will end with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced. The gathering of the armies is plainly visible from the standpoint of God's Word. The Sword of Truth, already sharpened, is to smite every evil system and custom—civil, social and ecclesiastical. The internal conflict is already fomenting. It will ere long break forth as a consuming fire; and human systems, and errors, which for centuries have fettered truth and oppressed the groaning creation, must melt before it. Yes, truth—and widespread and increasing knowledge of it—is the Sword which is perplexing and wounding the heads over many countries.” (Psa. 110:6; B. 101.) “Not until great Babylon is utterly overthrown and her influence over the world broken—will the great mass of mankind come to realize the true state of the case. Then they will see that the great trouble through which they will have passed was that symbolically termed ‘The battle of the great Day of God Almighty;’ that in proportion as they have aided error and wrong, they have been battling against the law and forces of the new Empire and the new Ruler of earth; and that in proportion as their tongues, and pens, and hands, and influence, and means, were used to support the right and the truth on any subject, they had been to that extent fighting on the Lord's side. And during all the trouble there will be in the world those who will bear witness to its cause, declaring the Lord's presence and the setting up of His Kingdom which is in opposition to the powers of darkness to be the real cause of the trouble and shaking and overturning of society.”—B. 141.

16:15. Behold, I come as a thief.—A thief comes unexpectedly, for the purpose of securing jewels only.—Mal. 3:17; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; Matt. 24:42-44; 1 Thes. 5:2.

Blessed is he that watcheth.—“Because not heedless, careless, indifferent servants of the King, but faithful and earnest ones, the Watchers discern that there are three words of distinctly different signification, used in respect to the Lord's Second Advent; namely, parousia and epiphania and apokalupsis. Parousia is used in respect to the earliest stage of the Second Advent, while apokalupsis relates to the same Advent later.” (Z. '02-86.) “The Greek words apokalupsis and apokalupto signify revealment, uncovering, unveiling (as of a thing previously present but hidden). The name of the last book of the Bible is from the same root—Apocalypse or Revelation.”—Z. '02-92; 1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7; Lu. 17:29, 30.

And keepeth his garments.—Holds fast to his pledge of consecration even unto death.

Lest he walk naked.—As the nominal churches are doing even since the war council at Washington, May 6, 1917.

And they see his shame.—During the apokalupsis epoch now at hand. (Rev. 3:18.) “The exposure to the world that they lack what constitutes the Christian state.”—Cook.—Matt. 5:43, 44.

16:16. And [he] THEY gathered them together.—The three unclean spirits do the gathering.—Rev. 19:19.

Unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue [Armageddon] ARMAGEDON.—“The fact that St. John has employed a word (Har-Magedon), ‘The destruction of their troop,’ not found in connection with any locality or historical event of itself points to a figurative interpretation. (Zech. 12:11.) Nor indeed are we to think of literal warfare.” (Cook.) “The word ‘mountain’ in the term Armageddon—‘Mountain of Megiddo’—seems to have been used because Megiddo was in a mountainous region, though the battles were fought in a valley adjacent. The meaning here is, that there would be, as it were, a decisive battle which would determine the question of the prevalence of true religion on the earth. What we are to expect as the fulfillment of this would seem to be, that there will be some mustering of strength—some rallying of forces—some opposition made to the Kingdom of God in the gospel by the powers here referred to which would be decisive in its character.” (Barnes.) Another view of Volume VI, Scripture Studies, as it appeared to the worshipers of the beast and his image, may be had in the plague of darkness upon the Egyptians described in Ex. 10:21-29. The 3-½ days of terrible darkness over the land of Egypt represent the 3-½ years of the great war and indicate its close shortly after the publication of this final witness of the church. While this plague was still in progress, Moses said to Pharaoh, “I will see thy face again no more.” It is even so; Pastor Russell passed forever out of reach of the antitypical Pharaoh, Satan, in the fall of 1916. But in steadfast belief that “his works do follow him,” we hold that he supervises, by the Lord's arrangement, the work yet to be done. See Rev. 16:1.

16:17. And the seventh [angel].—Volume VII, Scripture Studies.

Poured out his vial [into] UPON the air.—Seemed to the clergy to be directed against the ruling powers. “The terrors of the revelation of Christ will thus appear spread out over the Universe.”—Cook.

And there came a great voice.—An earnest and vigorous setting forth of this prophecy and that of Ezekiel.

Out of the Temple of [Heaven, from the Throne,] GOD.—The true Church.

Saying, it is done.—See title of this book.—Ezek. 9:11.

16:18. And there were [voices, and] thunders.—Seven of them—indicating wide-spread interest in the Scripture Studies. There will probably also be some thundering by the esteemed clergy. If in the past they had thundered less and lightened more, the world would not be in its present predicament.—Rev. 8:5.

And lightnings.—A good lighting up of the dark places of the ecclesiastical firmament.

AND VOICES.—The “voices” of the Great Company, who, after the Little Flock have gone beyond, will display unparalleled energy and faithfulness amid unparalleled difficulty.—Rev. 11:15; 8:5.

And there was a great earthquake.—Social revolution. The same mentioned in Rev. 8:5; 11:19 and 1 Kings 19:11, 12, following the War.

Such as was not since men were upon the earth.—World-wide socialism, an unprecedented and sure-to-fail experiment in government.

So mighty an earthquake, and so great.—The following is from an address given to the Chicago Bankers Club in December, 1916, by Frank A. Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York. “State socialism in Europe may develop problems, the like of which never concerned our minds. We may have to meet collective buying, State aided industries, forms of governmental control of ocean borne commerce and novel factors in international finance. There may come out of the war changes in forms of government that will have profound and world-wide influence.”

16:19. And the great city was divided into three parts.—Christendom is now divided into three parts: Socialistic Russia, Imperial Teutonia, and the Representative Governments of the West; but we think a religious division is coming: The Greek church, the Papacy and the False Prophet Protestant aggregation, all under papal control. Or the city of Rev. 14:20, may be meant.—2 Ki. 2:10, 12, 15.

And the [cities] CITY of the nations fell.—The reference is to Rome, the “city” mentioned in Rev. 17:18. By Rome is meant the Papacy. All other kings have already drunk deeply of the wrath of God and Sheshach's turn has come.—Jer. 25:26; Rev. 14:8.

And great Babylon came in remembrance before God.—“The fall of Babylon will astonish the entire world, so complete is the illusion that Christendom represents the Throne and Government of Messiah among men. And, be it remembered, the vast majority in all the various sects and denominations of Christendom are worldly people who have no conception whatever of the true Church and her cause. Their ambition is to approximate righteousness and a form of godliness, but no more than this seems to them necessary, since they have not been begotten of the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot appreciate things from the divine standpoint.”—Pastor Russell. See Rev. 18:5.

To give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of [His] THE wrath.—The wine of the vine of the earth.—Rev. 14:17-20; Jer. 8:14; Isa. 51:17-20; Jer. 25:26-28; Rev. 18:6.

16:20. And every island fled away.—Even the republics will disappear in the fall of 1920.

And the mountains were not found.—Every kingdom of earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy.

16:21. And there fell upon men.—Greek “The Men,” the worshipers of the beast and his image, i. e., the clergy.

A great hail out of heaven.—Truth, compacted, coming with crushing force. A concluding statement of how the seventh volume of Scripture Studies appears to the worshipers of the beast and his image.—Rev. 11:19; Isa. 28:17; 30:30; Ezek. 13:11; Joshua 10:11.

Every stone about the weight of a talent.—113 lbs. (Mal. 3:10.) Another view of the seventh volume of Scripture Studies, as it appears to the worshipers of the beast and his image, is found in the last of the Egyptian plagues, the death of the first-born, Exodus 11th. and 12th. chapters. As soon as this plague came the Egyptians, from Pharaoh down, were anxious to speed the parting guest, and willing to give up all the jewels of silver (the Great Company) and the jewels of gold (the Little Flock). In connection with the statement that “there was not a house where there was not one dead,” it is admitted that if any sects were overlooked in the lists cited in comments on Rev. 8th and 9th chapters the omission was unintentional and will be corrected in later editions. The three days in which Pharaoh's host pursued the Israelites into the wilderness represent the three years from 1917 to 1920 at which time all of Pharaoh's messengers will be swallowed up in the sea of anarchy. The wheels will come off their chariots—organizations.

And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail.—Apparently, the book will be unpopular for a time. “As soon as Divine restraints upon Satan were released, he moved the Sabeans to steal Job's cattle and to kill his servants; he caused fire to come down from heaven, which not only killed but burned up Job's flocks of sheep; he sent the Chaldeans who stole Job's camels, and finally produced a cyclone which smote the house in which Job's children were feasting together, and destroyed the house and killed its occupants; and he attacked Job's person with disease as soon as granted permission. (Job. 1:9-2:7.)”—S. 80.

For the plague thereof was exceeding great.—Quite a shower.

Revelation 17—The Papacy's Last Stand

17:1. And there came one of the seven angels.—Volume VII, Studies in the Scriptures.

Which had the seven vials.—An explanation of the plagues upon symbolic Babylon.

And talked with me.—The John class, the Church in the flesh.

Saying [unto me] Come hither; I will shew unto thee.—In the 8th, 9th, 16th and 18th chapters of Revelation, and throughout the Book of Ezekiel.—Nahum 3:3, 4.

The judgment of the great whore.—Papacy, the “beast.”—Rev. 19:2.

That sitteth upon many waters.—The peoples of the earth.—Jer. 51:13; Rev. 17:15.

17:2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.—“The kingdoms of Europe today claim to be Christian kingdoms, and announce that their sovereigns reign ‘by the grace of God,’ i. e., through appointment of either Papacy or some of the Protestant sects.”—A. 268; Rev. 18:3; Isa. 1:21; Jer. 2:20-24; 3:6; Ezek. 16:15.

And the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.—“So great an institution as made all nations drunk with her false doctrine must be very prominent, indeed, to those who were made so under the influence of the stupefying draft from her cup.”—Pastor Russell.

With the wine of her fornication.—The mixed doctrines, part truth and part error, that originally led to the union of church and state,—the spiritual harlotry.—Jer. 51:7; Rev. 2:20; 17:5; 18:3; 19:2.

17:3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness.—“All who would get a true view of Babylon must, in spirit, take their position with the true people of God 'in the wilderness'—in the condition of separation from the world and worldly ideas and mere forms of godliness, and in the condition of entire consecration and faithfulness to and dependence upon God alone.”—D. 27.

And I saw a woman.—The Roman Catholic Church.

Sit upon a scarlet colored beast.—Pagan Rome, and its successors.

Full of names of blasphemy.—“From Ferraris' Ecclesiastical Dictionary, a standard Roman Catholic authority, we quote the following condensed outline of papal power as given under the word papa, article 2nd: ‘The pope is of such dignity and highness that he is not simply a man but, as it were, God, and the vicar [representative] of God.... Hence the pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, of earth and of hell. Nay, the pope's excellence and power are not only about heavenly, terrestrial and infernal things, but he is also above angels, and is their superior; so that if it were possible that angels could err from the faith, or entertain sentiments contrary thereto, they could be judged and excommunicated by the pope.... He is of such great dignity and power that he occupies one and the same tribunal with Christ; so that whatsoever the pope does seem to proceed from the mouth of God.... The pope is, as it were, God on earth, the only prince of the faithful of Christ, the greatest king of all kings, possessing the plenitude of power; to whom the government of the earthly and heavenly kingdom is entrusted.’ He further adds: ‘The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, declare or interpret the Divine Law.’ ‘The pope can sometimes counteract the Divine Law by limiting, explaining, etc.’”—B. 310.

Having seven heads and ten horns.—See Rev. 12:3; 13:1: 17:9-12; Dan. 7:7, 20; Rev. 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.

17:4. And the woman was arrayed in purple.—Symbolizing the apostate church's claim to royalty. “I sit a queen and am no widow.”—Rev. 18:7, 12, 16.

And scarlet color.—Symbolizing her claims to share in Christ's work of sacrifice, in the doctrine of the mass.

And decked with gold.—Symbolizing her claim that she includes in her membership all the true Church of God, those who shall ultimately attain the Divine nature.

And precious stones.—Symbolizing her claim that she is the sole custodian of the Lord's precious jewels of truth and character.—1 Cor. 3:12; Mal. 3:17.

And pearls.—Symbolizing her claim that she has sole power over all that the Lord bought by His death.—Matt. 13:45, 46.

Having a golden cup in her hand.—Symbolizing her claim that she is the repository of all Truth Divine.—Jer. 51:7.

Full of abominations and [filthiness] FILTHINESSES of [her] THE fornication OF HER AND OF THE EARTH.—“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad [intoxicated with her errors]. (Jer. 51:7-9.)”—C. 156; Rev. 18:6; Isa. 65:4.

17:5. And upon her forehead [was a name written].—In plain sight of all the spiritually minded. (And how strange it is that everybody does not see it!)

Mystery.—“We have already called attention to the fact that the Church of Christ is called in the Scriptures the ‘Mystery of God,’ because, contrary to expectation, the Church was to be the Messianic Body which, under its Anointed Head, Jesus, shall rule and bless the world. We have also drawn attention to the fact that the Scriptures refer to Babylon as a counterfeit system (mother and daughters—some more and some less corrupt, some better and some poorer counterfeits), and there designated the ‘Mystery of Iniquity.’ We are to remember that it is Satan who in the Scriptures is credited with having ‘deceived the whole world’ on this subject; putting evil for good and good for evil; light for darkness and darkness for light. Satan ‘now worketh in the children of disobedience’ (Isa. 5:20; Eph. 2:2) even as he proffered his cooperation to our Lord Jesus.”—F. 199; 2 Thes. 2:7; Prov. 5:6.

Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.—“Since Papacy, the mother, is not a single individual, but a great religious system, in keeping with the symbol we should expect to see other religious systems answering to the illustration of daughters of similar character. To this description the various Protestant organizations fully correspond. The daughter systems parted from the mother under circumstances of travail, and were born virgins.” (D. 29.) “But some sincere Christians may still be anxiously inquiring,—‘If all Christendom is to be involved in the doom of Babylon, what will become of Protestantism, the result of the Great Reformation?’ This is an important question; but let the reader consider that Protestantism, as it exists today, is not the result of the Great Reformation, but of its decline.”—D. 28; Ezek. 16:44; Hos. 2:2-5; Isa. 1:21; Rev. 18:9; 19:2.

“The claims of apostolic succession and clerical authority are almost as presumptuously set forth by some of the Protestant clergy as by the Papal priesthood. And the right of individual private judgment,—the very fundamental principle of the protest against Papacy, which led to the Great Reformation,—is now almost as strenuously opposed by Protestants as by Papists. Protestants seem to have forgotten,—for they truly ignore,—the very grounds of the original protest, and, as systems, they are fast drifting back toward the open arms of the ‘Holy (?) Mother Church.’ ‘Let us hold out to you our hand affectionately’ (says Pope Leo to Protestants in his famous Encyclical addressed ‘To the Princes and Peoples of the Earth’), ‘and invite you to the unity which never failed the Catholic church, and which never can fail. Long has our common mother called you to her breast.’ The doctrine of ‘the Divine right of kings,’ taught or supported by almost every sect, is the foundation of the old civil system, and has long given authority, dignity and stability to the kingdoms of Europe; and the doctrine of the Divine appointment and authority of the clergy has hindered God's children from progressing in Divine things and bound them by the chains of superstition and ignorance to the veneration and adoration of fallible fellow-beings, and to their doctrines, traditions and interpretations of God's Word. It is this entire order of things that is to fall and pass away in the battle of this great day—the order of things which for centuries has held the people docile under the ruling powers, civil, social and religious. All this has been by God's permission (not by his appointment and approval, as they claim). But though an evil in itself, it has served a good, temporary purpose in preventing anarchy, which is immeasurably worse, because men were not prepared to do better for themselves, and because the time for Christ's Millennial Kingdom had not yet come. Hence God permitted the various delusions to gain credence in order to hold men in check until ‘The Time of the End’—the end of ‘The Times of the Gentiles’ (which expired October 1, 1914).”—D. 33.

17:6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints.—“‘But the blood of Protestants is not called the blood of saints, no more than the blood of thieves, man-killers, and other malefactors, for the shedding of which, by the order of justice, no commonwealth shall answer.’—Rhemish (Catholic) translation, footnote.” (B. 320.) “‘She wore out the saints of the most high God.’ and ‘was drunken with the blood of the saints.’—Rev. 18:24.”—Z. '04-236; Rev. 16:6.

And with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.—Most of these martyrs will doubtless be honored by a place in the Great Company. (See Rev. 7:9.) This Scripture was fulfilled in the Dark Ages, but we are still in the Dark Ages, and will be until this system is destroyed. It takes more than a mere profession of faith to make a Christian. “Jezebel today has daughters—systems termed Protestant—which, nevertheless, copy largely the mother's spirit. It is through the influence of the daughters that the anti-typical Elijah may expect future persecutions, instigated by the mother, accomplished through the daughters, as typically represented in the case of John the Baptist, beheaded by Herod at the instance of Salome, but at the instigation of Herodias—Jezebel.”—Z. '04-237.

And when I saw her.—Discerned her true character.

I wondered with great admiration.—“With great wonder” (Diaglott), that the Lord would permit such an institution to exist.

17:7. And the angel.—Volume VII, Scripture Studies.

Said unto me.—See Revelation, Chapters 4, 5 and 6.

Wherefore dost thou marvel.—This is all quite right and necessary. The Papacy was foreseen and permitted as a part of God's wonderful plan for developing and testing His Church, proving who are worthy to be of the First Resurrection, joint-heirs with Christ.

I will tell thee the mystery of the woman.—The apostate Church of Rome.

And of the beast that carrieth her.—Pagan Rome, now represented in earth's warring governments.

Which hath seven heads and ten horns.—See Rev. 12:3; 13:1. The exposition of the remainder of this chapter was greatly assisted by the following letter: “Your request for my version of what I understood Bro. Russell's expectations to be respecting the fulfillment of the 17th Chapter of Revelation received and after considerable meditation upon the matter I have decided to submit the following: Brother Russell stated that there were three possible fulfillments of this Chapter, and that he did not or would not go on record as to which would be the correct interpretation, for the reason that this Chapter could not be interpreted in a positive way until after its fulfillment. He stated that this Chapter was the key to all of the pictures, or prophecies, of Revelation, which are as yet wrapped in mystery. On various occasions I requested Bro. Russell to give me his idea respecting the three possible fulfillments; but he remained absolutely mum respecting two of the ways, but freely expressed his opinion respecting the third way, which he believed would be the way in which the prophecy would be fulfilled. ‘The beast that thou sawest was, and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition,’ we understand to be the Holy Roman Empire—Church and State, united in power from 799 to 1799. The term ‘Thou sawest’ refers to the thousand-year reign of the Pope, and the term ‘And is not’ refers to the present non-existence of the Empire in power, and the term ‘And shall ascend from the bottomless pit and again go into perdition’ refers to the re-establishment of the Holy Roman Empire in power and its subsequent destruction. The statement ‘When he cometh, he must continue a short space,’ was understood by Bro. Russell to mean that the beast would rule only for a very short time. In answer to a direct question on this point Bro. Russell stated that he did not believe this short space could be interpreted in days, months, or years, but that it simply meant a short time. In the 12th verse, we read that ‘The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.’ This seems to set forth the Papal view respecting the various kings of Europe which at the present time have not received the official anointing by the Pope, and consequently have not as yet received their kingdom. If this is correct, it would then also mean that if the Pope should anoint these kings and declare them to be ruling by Divine right, they thereby would officially receive power as kings, and would rule with the Pope and together with the Pope would constitute the beast again in power.”

“Bro. Russell was anxiously awaiting the settlement of the present world war for the reason that it seemed very probable that the Pope would be the leading figure in bringing about its settlement, and possibly the very basis of the settlement will be the recognition of the Pope as the Holy See. If the Pope receives such recognition, he could in return immediately grant an official anointing of the rulers of the various governments included in the settlement, and they then as stated in Verse 13, will be ‘Of one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.’ If this is to be the fulfillment of this picture, then it will only be a question of time until these same governments will turn upon the Roman Church and ‘Shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.’ (Rev. 17:16.) The foregoing briefly outlines what Bro. Russell seemed to think would be the outcome of the present war. He had certain articles in prospect which, if backed up by fulfilled prophecies, were to be the absolute and irrevocable proof to the world of all of the leading pictures given in the entire book of Revelation. Personally, I think everything seems to be shaping itself towards the fulfillment of the Chapter on the line above specified. If you are making any use of this letter, kindly specify or emphasize the fact that Bro. Russell considered the matter largely as a speculation, and that he positively stated that he would not go on record in the matter for the reason that when he treated the matter he would do so in the light of fulfilled prophecy as the last word and as the unsealing of the entire book, and that he would not attempt to do this until such a time as the interpretation could not be refuted.” That time has evidently now come.

17:8. The beast that thou sawest.—The Antichrist.

Was.—Exercised actual dominion until 1799 A. D.

And is not.—Has not had even a vestige of temporal power since 1870. Since then it has been in oblivion, the “bottomless pit.”

And shall ascend out of the [bottomless pit], ABYSS.—“Private letters from the Vatican, received by Dr. A. Palmieri of the Library of Congress, a recognized writer on ecclesiastical subjects, announce that Pope Benedict XV is about to appoint a commission of four cardinals to renew a movement begun by Pope Leo XIII, and abandoned by Pope Pius X, looking to a reunion of Christianity and the cultivation of friendly relations with the Anglican Church. A public announcement on the subject from Rome is expected soon. Dr. Palmieri said that the new movement, as outlined in his advices, will be directed particularly toward an establishment of the reunion of the Russian church and the Papacy and to a thorough re-examination into the validity of Anglican or Episcopal ordinations, which was settled in the negative in a papal bull ‘Apostolica Sedis,’ by Pope Leo X. The interest of the Pope in the problem of Christian unity is said to have been intensified by the recent progress of the world congress, initiated by the American Episcopal Church.”

“‘The new Pope,’ said Dr. Palmieri, summarizing the information received from Rome, ‘has taken a considerable part in the efforts of neutral nations to establish peace among nations. The Vatican's efforts have been suggested not only by a humanitarian spirit, but by a longing for Christian unity and to end the conflict which long since has divided Christian churches. Efforts of Leo XIII for carrying out the reunion of Christianity were abruptly stopped by Piux X, who aimed at an inner reform of the Catholic clergy and turned all his energies to the crushing of modernism [Higher Criticism and Evolution]. Benedict XV thinks it is time to renew the policy of Leo XIII, also that a re-establishment of a political peace would be the first step toward renewed attempts to stop the splitting of Christianity into a greater number of sects. It seems to the Vatican that the Orthodox Slavs will be very soon called to take a more active part in the life of western nations, either Protestant or Catholic, and that it is necessary to come to an understanding with them to avoid evils produced by religious intolerance. The newly planned commission of cardinals will pay attention to yearnings for unity, which from time to time manifest themselves in the Orthodox church, and to cultivate friendly relations with the Anglican church. One of the most important tasks of the new commission will be a thorough re-examination of the arguments pro and con on the validity of Anglican ordinations. The bull Apostolica Sedis by Leo X has settled in the negative the problem of that validity, but generally theological schools assume a more favorable attitude toward acknowledgment the validity of Anglican orders, and the new commission of cardinals will carefully ponder the reasons set forth by Russian and Anglican divines against the decision of Pope Leo X. The friendship of the Anglican church is appreciated by Rome, for she may be as a link of union between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy.’” (Z. '17-52.) We assume that the foregoing plan of the pope will succeed. “This is the supreme chance for Christianity ‘to assert her authority and guide the world out of the darkness enshrouding it,’ observes The Northwestern Christian Advocate (Methodist, Chicago), and it wonders whether the organized Christianity that ‘failed—ingloriously failed’—in 1914 will again ‘miss her golden opportunity.’” (Literary Digest.) “An old writer has observed that the Beast reappears from the Abyss (see on ch. 11, 7) without his diadems, as though, in this last stage, he would symbolize rather the violence of popular rage than the prescriptive sanctity of monarchical supremacy.”—Cook.

And go into perdition.—Be utterly destroyed at the hands of the masses it has so persistently and outrageously deceived.—Rev. 17:11.

And they that dwell on the earth.—All independent Christians, not entangled in the systems of either the beast or the image. See Rev. 13:13, 14.

Shall wonder.—Be astounded, perplexed and dismayed, “At the reappearance of the beast.”—Cook.

Whose names.—As a class, not as individuals.

Were not written in the Book of Life.—But not necessarily in so-called Church books, kept here on earth, for collection purposes.

From the foundation of the world.—“The book or scroll covenanting life to an elect number was prepared from the foundation of the world. The names in it have been written as the individuals have made consecration of themselves, coming under the terms of the Divine call. In this view of the matter the book or scroll would represent the original Divine purpose—God's intention to have a Church, of which our Lord Jesus would be the Head.—(Rev. 3:5.)”—Z. '99-265.

When they behold the beast that was, and is not, and [yet is] SHALL AGAIN BE PRESENT.—The Papal Empire restored.

17:9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom.—A problem requiring the aid of the Lord.—Rev. 13:18.

The seven heads are seven mountains.—The kingdoms enumerated in Rev. 12:3.

On which the woman sitteth.—Over which she once reigned in plentitude of power. Much of Revelation is written in such a way that both a literal and a symbolical explanation can be made, designed by the Lord to make the understanding of the book impossible to any except the fully consecrated. The following shows the physical explanation of this text which would most appeal to the unconsecrated. But it shows that the Mother of Harlots has her headquarters at Rome. And when we know who the mother is, it is impossible not to recognize the daughters. Rome is called in history the “seven-hilled city.” “The original settlement of Romulus is said to have been limited to the Palatine mount. With this were united before the end of his reign the Capitoline and the Quirinal; Tullus Hostilius added the Caelian, Ancus Martius the Aventine; and finally Servius Tullius included the Esquiline and Viminal, and enclosed the whole seven hills with a stone wall. The growth of the state closely followed that of the city.” (Brit.) It would not be possible to limit this explanation to seven forms of government which have exercised sway over the city of Rome. There have been many such governments. There were seven of them during the nineteenth century alone—the Roman Republic of 1798, the Kingdom of 1805, the Annexation of 1810, the restoration of the temporal power in 1814, the Revolution of 1848, the restoration of the temporal power in 1849, and the Italian occupation in 1870.

17:10. And there are seven kings.—Seven forms of government of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, the devil's own particular pattern of government.

Five are fallen.—(1) The Regal period, from 753 B. C. to 510 B. C. The “Kings” of this period were “not simply either the hereditary and patriarchal chief of a clan, the priestly head of a community bound together by a common sacra, or the elected magistrate of a state, but a mixture of all three.”—Brit.

(2) The Republic, from 509 to 451 B. C. and from 448 to 60 B. C. “It is characteristic of Rome that the change from monarchy to republic should have been made with the least possible disturbance of existing forms. The title of king was retained, though only as that of a priestly officer (rex sacrorum) to whom some of the religious functions of the former kings were transferred. The two annually elected consuls or prætores were regarded as joint heirs of the full kingly authority, and as holding the imperium and the correlative right of taking the auspices, by direct transmission from the founder of the city.” (Brit.) (3) The Decemvirate, a rule of ten men, from 451 to 449 B. C. (4) The Triumvirate, a rule of three men, from 59 to 49 B. C. and from 43 to 28 B. C. (5) The Dictatorship of Cæsar, 48 to 44 B. C. All of these forms of the old Holy Roman Empire have completely passed away.

[And] one is.—The Dragon, still represented in the powers of Europe. (See comments on Rev. 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17; 13:2, 4, 11; 16:13.) The rulership of Papacy during the Dark Ages, both directly in its temporal power, and through the governments which it controlled or influenced, and still influences, was—as has been shown—merely another aspect of the government of Pagan Rome, generally styled the Empire, but in Revelation called the Dragon, and the Devil, and Satan.

And the other.—The final form, of Arbitrator (whatever be the official title).

Is not yet come.—But is due to make its appearance with the close of the war, probably early in the year 1938. (See comments on Rev. 16:17-21; Ex. 10:23.) Pastor Russell foretold the darkness would commence in 1914, and it did!! Egypt's plague of darkness lasted three days (years).

And when he cometh, he must continue a short space.—Probably from the fall of 1917 to the spring or summer of 1918. “The language is indefinite, the words ‘must continue’ alone being emphatic. It is a duration such that by means of it the Church should be exercised in patience.”—Cook.

17:11. And the beast that was.—That once exercised temporal dominion and, through influence of the European governments, once actually ruled the world.

And is not.—Does not now have any temporal dominion.

[Even] he is the eighth.—The eighth horn which took the place of the three plucked up (Rev. 12:3); also the final form of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.

And is of the seven.—“Cometh of the seven,” Greek.—Grew up by the plucking of the three. The Papacy is either the seventh or the eighth form, depending upon how the matter is viewed. If it be viewed as having reigned separately from the Dragon during the Dark Ages (as it did, when it exercised temporal power), in its new guise it will be the eighth form, its separate rulership during the Dark Ages being counted as the seventh. But if it be viewed as having been a co-partner of the Dragon during the Dark Ages, then its forthcoming manifestation will be the seventh form. In any event the eighth form is one of the seven forms; and the regaining of the temporal power this time will be the cause of the Papacy's destruction. See Z. '03-325 for a hint that Benedict XV will never have a successor. (He is personally the eighth pope reigning since 1799. Five of these popes had died prior to 1878. Here is a good secondary fulfilment.)

And goeth into perdition.—“Daniel, representing the saints, says (Dan. 7:11), ‘I watched it then [after its dominion was gone and it was powerless longer to crush the Truth, the power of the holy people], because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke, and I saw that [it obtained no power over the holy saints and the Truth, but it did have another effect] the beast was slain, the body thereof destroyed and given to the burning flame’—general anarchy. The destruction of the remnant of governments in the old Roman Empire, caused by the misleading influence of Papacy's continued bombastic utterances, even after its dominion is gone, is thus shown.”—C. 68; 2 Thes. 2:3.

17:12. And the ten horns which thou sawest.—Three of which were originally plucked up to make room for the growth of the Papacy. See Rev. 12:3; 13:1; 17:3; Dan. 7:7, 8, 20; Rev. 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.

Are ten kings.—The rulers, whether kings, kaisers, presidents or others who have dragged into the slaughter house the descendants of the ten powers originally composing the Roman Empire.

Which have received no kingdom [as yet].—No official sanction as rulers from the counterfeit “king of kings and lord of lords”—the Pope.

But receive power as kings.—“The absence of the diadem indicates that their kingdom is not full, regal power, but as being transient, is represented as if it were royal power.”—Cook.

One hour with the beast.—The “one hour” in this verse (17:12) may signify one year, or thereabouts. The word in the Greek is hora. This is the same word which our Lord used when, in speaking of John the Baptist He said, “He was a burning and a shining light; and you were willing, for a time (hora—one year—the length of John's ministry before his imprisonment) to rejoice in his light.” (John 5:35; Z. '04-60.) In matters that are still future we can only use our best judgment as to the significance to be attached to expressions like this. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”—Rom. 14:5.

17:13. These have one mind.—All are desperately anxious to stop the terrible waste of human life, now that they see what their father, the Devil, has accomplished through their worship and service of himself and his institutions.

And [shall] give their power and strength unto the beast.—Support it in its apparently laudable but actually selfish efforts in trying to stop the European war. “Deposit in his hands all the available means which they possess.”—Cook.

17:14. These shall make war with the Lamb.—Endeavor to suppress the message of Present Truth.—Rev. 16:14; 19:19.

And the Lamb shall overcome them.—Zion need not fear; for God is in the midst of her, and will help her. Her consecration is unto death, and her privilege is to prove her faithfulness: “The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord.”—Matt. 10:24, 25.

“It will probably be in an effort at self-preservation on the part of ‘Great Babylon’—‘Christendom’—when she sees her power in politics, priestcraft and superstition waning, that the work of truth-spreading will be stopped as detrimental to her system. And probably at this juncture the Elijah class, persisting in declaring the Truth to the last, will suffer violence, pass into glory and escape from the severest features of the great Time of Trouble coming—just in the crisis of affairs when men begin to feel that desperate measures must be resorted to, to sustain the tottering structure of Christendom. Although the exact time of the deliverance or ‘change’ of the last members of the Body of Christ is not stated, the approximate time is nevertheless clearly manifest, as shortly after the ‘door’ is shut (Matt. 25:10).”—C. 231.

For He is Lord of lords, and King of kings.—Has the entire situation under perfect control—is the real Pope.—1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 19:16.

And they that are with Him are called.—When they hear, understand and heed the message of complete consecration even unto death (Rev. 19:9). This clause, in the Greek, indicates that these also, as well as the Lamb, shall overcome them.

And chosen.—Elected as soon as they comply with the conditions, provided there are any vacancies.

And faithful.—“The door of opportunity to engage, with Christ our Lord, in the work of the Gospel Age, will be closed when ‘the night cometh wherein no man can work.’ And all who have not previously, by faithful service, developed the necessary character and proved their sympathy, devotion, love and zeal for the Lord and His Truth (Matt. 10:37; Mark 8:38), will then be too late to do so. The closing in of this night will evidently put a stop to any farther labor to disseminate the Truth, which, misunderstood by the public generally, will probably be accused of being the cause of much of the anarchy and confusion then prevailing, instead of being seen in its true light as a foreshadowing of the Divine mind and revelation concerning coming troubles on the world and their true causes.”—C. 210; Rev. 2:10.

17:15. And he saith unto me, [The] THESE waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth.—See Rev. 17:1, 9.

Are BOTH peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.—And not, therefore, literal water or literal hills, or forms of government which have ruled the city of Rome.—Isa. 8:7.

17:16. And the ten horns which thou sawest.—The rulers of Europe and America, and their subjects, descendants of the ten powers which originally composed the old Roman Empire.

[Upon] AND the beast.—The re-established temporal dominion of the pope in Rome and elsewhere. “Of her boastings and threats the following from a Catholic journal of recent date is a fair sample: ‘The Papacy will regain its temporal sovereignty, because it is useful and convenient to the Church. It gives the head executive of the church a fuller liberty and a fuller sway. The Pope can be no king's subject long. It is not in keeping with the divine office to be so. It cramps him and narrows his influence for good. Europe has acknowledged this influence, and will be forced to bow to it in greater times of need than this. Social upheavals, and the red hand of anarchy, will yet crown Leo or his successor with the reality of power which the third circle symbolizes, and which was once recognized universally.’ Yes, as the day of trouble draws on, ecclesiasticism will endeavor to use its power and influence more and more to secure its own political welfare, by its control of the turbulent elements of society; but in the crisis of the near future the lawless element will spurn all conservative influence and break over all restraints, the red hand of Anarchy will do its dreadful work, and Babylon, political and ecclesiastical, shall fall.”—D. 38.

These shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked.—People and governments will have a common hatred for their mutual enemy when the motives which actuate her are clearly revealed.—Ezek. 16:35-44; 23:22, 29; Zech. 1:19.

And shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.—Unite to complete her utter destruction.—Rev. 18:8, 18; Dan. 7:11; C. 68; Gen. 38:24; Ezek. 16:41; Lev. 20:14; 21:9.

17:17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will.—As expressed in His Word.

And to agree.—The European war would stop tomorrow if it were not for the officers holding the men to the task of butchery.

And to give their kingdom unto the beast.—Put their liberties into the hands of the Papacy, as Arbitrator.

Until the words of God shall be fulfilled.—And the travail of nominal Zion shall disclose her true character.

17:18. And the woman which thou sawest.—The Apostate Church, the antitypical Jezebel.

Is that great city.—The “HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.”

Which reigneth over the [kings] KINGDOMS of the earth.—“Expositors of every school generally agree that Rome Pagan, or Rome Papal, or Rome under both aspects, is intended here. In order to repel the application to the Papacy, many Roman expositors also apply what is said of the destruction of Rome, to the future—to Rome again become Pagan: This is the hypothesis, observes Bishop Wordsworth, of Suarez, Viegas, Ribera, Lessius, Menochius, C. à Lapide, and others, particularly Dr. Manning in our own day. Thus Stern writes:—Babylon is really the City of Rome, not only, however, according to the old-heathenish, but also according to the new-heathenish signification of the World's history.”—Cook.

Could there ever come a time when men, the world over, could be more heathenish at heart than now; and does not, therefore, even Papal comment show that this Scripture is ready to be fulfilled?

“Whene'er the storms come down on thee,”
And days of peace all seem to flee;
This thought thy peace again shall bring,
Why should I fear?—the Lord is King.

E'en when the tempest rages high,
And darkest clouds are drawing nigh,
With hands of faith to this, O! cling,—
Why should I fear?—the Lord is King;

Amid the stormy waves of life,
Above the tumult and the strife,
The chimes of hope still sweetly ring,—
“Be not afraid—the Lord is King.”

Revelation 18—The Fall Of Ecclesiasticism

18:1. [And] after these things.—As another view of the Harvest epoch.

I saw another angel.—Messenger, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus.—Mal. 3:1; Rev. 10:1; 14:1.

Come down from Heaven.—In 1874. See Rev. 3:14.

Having great power.—“All power in Heaven and in earth.”—Matt. 28:18.

And the earth was lightened.—See Mal. 4:2; Rev. 7:2.

With His glory.—Some of the glories of the New Day, all discovered since 1874, are adding machines, aeroplanes, aluminum, antiseptic surgery, artificial dyes, automatic couplers, automobiles, barbed wire, bicycles, carborundum, cash registers, celluloid, correspondence schools, cream separators, Darkest Africa, disk ploughs, Divine Plan of the Ages, dynamite, electric railways, electric welding, escalators, fireless cookers, gas engines, harvesting machines, illuminating gas, induction motors, linotypes, match machines, monotypes, motion pictures, North Pole, Panama Canal, Pasteurization, railway signals, Roentgen rays, shoe sewing machines, smokeless powder, South Pole, submarines, radium, sky scrapers, subways, talking machines, telephones, typewriters, vacuum cleaners and wireless telegraphy.—Ezek. 43:2; John 1:9; Matt. 25:31; Titus 2:13.

18:2. And he cried [mightily] with a [strong] MIGHTY voice.—How apt are these Scriptures that refer to Pastor Russell as a “voice”! (Rev. 7:2; 10:3; 16:1.) So modestly are his works written that the author is nowhere manifest, but attention is always and everywhere drawn to the Lord.

Saying, [Babylon the great is] fallen, is BABYLON THE GREAT [fallen].—“The expression, ‘Babylon is fallen,’ indicates that at some time a sudden and utter rejection is to come upon Babylon, when all favor will forever cease, and when judgments will follow—just such a rejection as we have shown was due in 1878.”—C. 155; Isa. 13:19-22; 21:9; Jer. 51:8-13; Rev. 14:8; 16:19.

“In spite of all our wealth, the blight of poverty, with its accompanying sickness, suffering, crime, insanity and vice, continues. The social disease manifested in ‘atrophy and hypertrophy,’ in ‘extremities bleeding at the bottom, bloating at the top, decay in both,’ is a portent of the modern world. The net result of our wonderful civilization is that men have less time now than they have ever had since the world began.”—Current Literature; Z. '11-420.

“Alienists the country over are sounding a solemn note of warning to the American people over the alarming rush in which we live. According to Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, federal pure food and drugs expert, nearly every man and woman at some time in their lives border on insanity. That view is also indorsed by the famous Dr. William A. White, head of the United States government hospital for the insane, who backs up the stand taken recently by Dr. Owen Copp, new head of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. Because of the terrible ravages of drink and drugs, particularly in the United States, thousands of people are rendered so extremely nervous that they are always on the verge of going crazy. The rush and worry of modern life he gives as the causes.”—Z. '11-228.

And is become the habitation of devils.—“The New York World publishes an interview with Bishop Fallows, of the Reformed Episcopal Church, as follows: ‘Telepathy is an established fact. In recent years great strides have been made in the explanation of psychic phenomena and in the years to come the science of communication with the dead will be made a part of the curriculum of great educational institutions. I have called the new science “Immortalism” because it depends for its existence upon the immortality of the soul, in which we all believe, and the preservation of identity beyond the grave.’ Bishop Fallows will be recognized by many as one of the ministers who have recently been taking a great interest in Faith Healing clinics. We have already pointed out that to our understanding these cures are effected by hypnotic influences and that hypnotism is but another form of Spiritism. We believe that through this channel the fallen angels (‘wicked spirits,’ Eph. 6:12) are seeking to break down the human will; and that the results, shortly, will be direful in the extreme, leading to spirit control and every evil work.”—Z. '09-355; Ecc. 9:5; 1 Pet. 3:19; Jude 6; Jer. 51:37-41; Rev. 16:14; Isa. 13:19-22; 34:14.

And the hold of every foul spirit.—Rev. Wm. Sunday has exceptional opportunity for learning, and in his public discourses repeatedly “scores the ministers because they have no faith. He condemns their neglect of Bible study. He says the theological seminaries are turning out infidels. He refers to the large amount of saloon property that belongs to church members. He enumerates all kinds of worldly doings which go on in these denominations. He would have us believe that the moral standard of thousands high in the churches is so low as to almost stagger reason. Now if what Mr. Sunday says about the denominations is true they are not fit places for good, respectable people, to say nothing of true Christians. In fact, if they are only half as bad as he says, then every faithful child of God ought to get out of them as quickly as he can. If they are but one-quarter as bad as Mr. Sunday tells, then the only safety on the part of one who wishes to retain his faith is to get out of such spiritual pest-holes.”—Z. '15-207.

And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.—“How true it is, that the most execrable of society seek and wear the garb of Christian profession and ceremonialism, in some of the various quarters (sects) of Babylon. Of all the defaulters, and deceivers of men and of women, how many are professedly members of Christ's Church! and how many even use their profession as a cloak under which to forward evil schemes! It is well known that a majority of even the most brutal criminals executed die in the Roman Catholic communion. Babylon has contained both the best and the worst, both the cream and the dregs, of the population of the civilized world.” (C. 162.) A parliamentary report of the status of society in England and Wales in 1873 showed that there were then no Jewish criminals, 1 of every 20,000 infidels was a criminal, 1 of every 666 Dissenters was a criminal, 1 of every 72 Church of England, and 1 of every 40 Roman Catholics. (C. 163.) “The great system in which the ‘fowl of heaven’ delight to roost, and which they have grievously befouled (Luke 13:18, 19), and which has in fact become ‘a cage of every unclean and hateful bird,’ is to be hewn down, and shall deceive the world no longer.”—C. 187; Isa. 34:11; Jer. 50:39; Zeph. 2:14.

18:3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.—“The stimulating power is not the spirit of a sound mind, but the delusion of a false doctrine; as the Prophet declares, they are ‘drunken,’ but not with wine. (Isa. 29:9-13.) The people in general have lost their taste and appreciation for the water of life, the Truth; and false teachers warn them against it as poison. The wine of false doctrines now being manufactured at all the Theological Seminaries is the wine of evolution and higher criticism, which does not satisfy the thirst, but increases the confusion of mind. Even Babylon's notables are dissatisfied, famished.—See Amos 8:11.”—Z. '01-349.

And the kings of the earth.—The governments of Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Russia, Spain, Portugal, etc.

Have committed fornication with her.—Joined themselves to the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Greek Catholic Churches.

And the merchants of the earth.—Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Presiding Elders, Reverends, etc.—Rev. 18:11, 15; Isa. 47:15; 23:8; Ezek. 27:36.

Are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.—Supplied partly in cash and partly in left-overs from church fairs, suppers, etc.

18:4. And I heard another voice from heaven.—The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, the corporate body which Pastor Russell personally organized to conduct the Harvest work (Rev. 8:3; 14:18). This voice has been exerted continuously since 1884. “Our thought is that it is the Lord who calls His people out of Babylon; the call to to be recognized especially as a Voice from Heaven. Apparently, the Voice is Present Truth.”—Z. '14-180.

Saying, Come out of her.—“This call applies not only to those in Babylon the Great, but to those in other denominations—mother and daughters. Be not of those who cannot see the errors of Babylon and who, consequently, are not of the called ones. The object of the call to come out is not for people merely to withdraw from a nominal church. No one is called out of Babylon until he sees her true condition. This call to associate with Christ, with Messiah, is given by the Lord through the Prophet when He says, ‘Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a Covenant with Me by sacrifice.’ (Psa. 50:5.) They were to be gathered, not to the Roman or other systems, but to the Lord, to become one with Him.” (Z. '12-277.) “The Lord's call out of Babylon is not in audible one—He merely calls us by the principles of righteousness. He lifts the curtain before the eyes of understanding of His consecrated ones and thus lets them see some of the errors, some of the falsities in which they and others of Babylon are involved—dishonoring the holy name—blaspheming the holy name by misrepresentation of the Divine character and Plan. This is and should be call enough for those who are of the Lord's Spirit, for those who love the Lord and the honor of His name more than they love houses or lands or parents or children or any other creature or thing—yea, more than they love their own lives. Such are sure to respond and to come out of Babylon; others who remain, in spite of seeing the light, fail to be overcomers of the highest class—fail therefore to be in the elect Bride class, and must be counted in with the Great Company, which will come through great tribulation, and will get out of Babylon only when she has been cast as a great millstone into the midst of the sea—in the time of anarchous trouble with which this Age will close.” (Z. '06-343.)

“Baptists think their preachers have no authority. But the Baptists cannot do anything without the consent of the preachers. The preachers hold a power that God did not repose there. God never authorized any men to go and ordain another man to preach the Gospel. God does the ordaining; and it is for the church to decide, according to its best judgment, whom the Lord ordains or calls as a pastor. The people in the Methodist church have almost no liberty, except the privilege of giving money. The bishops control the presiding elders, and under them the presiding elders control the preachers; and so it is all the way down to the class leaders. They have their head or chief amongst them. They have a human head. The General Conference is the highest authority. So the Presbyterian church has a head in the way of a General Assembly which has the deciding of matters.”

“On one occasion I was called upon by a minister of the Reformed church. He wanted to know how I managed my church. I said to him, ‘Brother ——, I have no church.’ He said, ‘You know what I mean.’ I answered, ‘I want you to know what I mean, too. We claim that there is only one Church. If you belong to that Church, you belong to our Church.’ He looked at me in surprise. Then he said, ‘You have an organization; how many members are there?’ I replied, ‘I cannot tell; we do not keep any membership rolls.’ ‘You do not keep any list of the membership?’ ‘No. We do not keep any list; their names are written in Heaven.’ He asked, ‘How do you have your election?’ I said, ‘We announce an election; and any or all of God's people, who are consecrated and are accustomed to meet with this company, or congregation, may have the privilege of expressing their judgment of who would be the Lord's preference for elders and deacons of the congregation.’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘that is simplicity itself.’ I then added, ‘We pay no salaries; there is nothing to make people quarrel. We never take up a collection.’ ‘How do you get the money?’ he asked. I replied, ‘Now, Dr. ——, if I tell you what is the simplest truth you will hardly be able to believe it. When people get interested in this way, they find no basket placed under their nose. But they see there are expenses. They say to themselves, “This hall costs something, and I see that free lunch is served between meetings, for those living at some distance. How can I get a little money into this thing?”’ He looked at me as if he thought, ‘What do you take me for—a greenhorn?’ I said, ‘Now, Dr. ——, I am telling you the plain truth. They do ask me this very question, “How can I get a little money into this cause?”’” (Pastor Russell Question Meeting. Gen. 19:15, 22; Isa. 48:20; 52:11; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Matt. 24:16.)

“The present work of gathering the Lord's saints out of Babylon is represented under various symbolic descriptions,—it is the gathering of the wheat from the tares into the barn (Matt. 13:30): it is the gathering of the good fish into baskets and the casting of the unsuitable fish caught in the Gospel net back into the sea (Matt. 13:47-49); it is the gathering of His jewels (Mal. 3:17); it is the midnight cry to the virgins, which separates the wise from the foolish (Matt. 25:6); and it is the gathering of the ‘Elect’ from all the non-elect of Christendom, from the four winds—from every quarter.” (Matt. 24:31.) (D. 600.) “Lot's wife, after starting to flee as directed, ‘looked back;’ coveting the things behind: and so with some now fleeing from Babylon to the mountain (Kingdom) of the Lord; they are more in sympathy with the things behind than with the things before. Only those will run the race to the finish who set their affections on the things above, and not on the things beneath.” (D. 608.)

“Those who thus flee to the Lord will neither be consumed by fear and dread, nor swallowed up by the projects and false theories—science falsely so called—with which this day abounds. And, withal, they may be in the devouring fire [trouble], witnesses for God and His Plan, and teachers of the people—pointers to the glorious outcome of Jehovah's Plan, lifting up a standard for the people.—Isa. 62:10.” (B. 31.) “The tables of the various sects of Christendom were started as tables of the Lord, and adorned to some extent with food from His storehouse, the Word. But the great Adversary placed upon these tables errors, delusions, doctrines of devils, which have blemished them as a whole; wherefore it is appropriate now to apply to them the words of the Scriptures, ‘Come out from amongst them and be ye separate; touch not the unclean thing.’” (Z. '07-91.) “Our friends, like Abraham's friends, would persuade us of the folly of leaving Babylon, its comforts and associations: they assure us that our opportunities for greatness, etc., will be distinctly lessened by the course of obedience which we take. Nevertheless we, like Abram, go forth taking all of our possessions with us, great or small—nothing must be left behind to be a treasure in Babylon and to attract our hearts thither again. All things must be brought with us so that not our own lives and talents only, but our influence upon others, must all be made to count.” (Z. '01-231) “As to missionary activities (Matt. 23:15), what advantage can accrue to the heathen from giving them the false doctrines of the Adversary? The few who may be reached will have the more to unlearn when the Times of Restitution begin.”—F. 641.

My people.—“We would not be understood as including all Christians as ‘Babylonians.’ Quite to the contrary. As the Lord recognizes some in Babylon as true to Him and addresses them now, saying, ‘Come out of her, My people’ (Rev. 18:4), so do we; and we rejoice to believe that there are today thousands who have not bowed the knee to the Baal of our day—Mammon, Pride and Ambition. Those who will not come out until Babylon falls and they come through the ‘great tribulation’ (Rev. 7:9-14) shall not be accounted worthy to share the Kingdom. Compare Rev. 2:26; 3:21; Matt. 10:37; Mark 8:34, 35; Luke 14:26, 27.” (See Micah 2:10; Jer. 12:7-11; 23:33-40; Jer. 11:14, 15; Prov. 19:27; Matt. 14:28, 29; Hos. 4:6; Isa. 27:12.) “The begetting of spiritual children of God, through the Word of His grace, and their being to some extent cherished, nourished and brought forward by these human sectarian tare systems, is well illustrated by certain insects, the young of which are injected into the backs of their enemies, and there warmed, nourished and developed, up to the time of their complete birth and deliverance, which means, usually, the death of the insect which temporarily carried them about.” (F. 656.) Now the point of deliverance has been reached.

That ye be not partakers of her sins.—“If you fail to obey the Lord through fear of earthly loss, it will prove that these things are more precious to you than His favor, and He will treat you as He treats the hypocrites; you will have a share in their experiences.” (Z. '14-180.) “We do not know but that they may go to the extreme in our day—to kill socially, to kill ecclesiastically, perhaps to kill physically. Nearly all the persecutions that have come to God's people have come from professed Christians, fellow-believers. ‘Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My Name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.’ (Isaiah 66:5.)”—Z. '14-181; Num. 16:26.

And that ye receive not of her plagues.—See Rev. 16:1-21.

18:5. For her sins [have reached] CLEAVED TOGETHER unto Heaven.—Ezekiel has touched on this!—Jer. 51:9; Gen. 11:3, 4; Luke 10:11.

And God hath remembered her iniquities.—By seven plagues; the seven volumes of Studies in the Scriptures.—Rev. 16:1-21. See also bottom of this page.

18:6. Reward her even as she rewarded [you].—A diligent attempt has been made in this direction. Anything overlooked will be inserted in the next edition.—Psa. 137:8; Jer. 50:15, 29; 51:24.

[And] double unto her double according to her works.—Make a double exposition (explaining Revelation and Ezekiel) that will show her up just as she is.

In [the] HER cup which she hath filled.—The Scriptures which she has twisted, distorted and misapplied. “The cup which she has used as a means of seduction shall now be changed into the instrument of her punishment.”—Cook.

Fill to her double.—Greek, “the double.” (Isa. 61:7.) Give her enough light on Ezekiel and Revelation to show her the exit.—Isa. 21:7-10.

18:7. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously.—And to what lengths has not Papacy gone in this direction, with the Protestant sects doing their best to keep the pace!

So much torment and sorrow.—Mourning for the dead, Greek.—Amos. 8:10.

Give her.—“I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened His armoury [Ezekiel and Revelation] and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans ... the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of His Temple.... Recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her.”—Jer. 50:24-29.

For she saith in her heart.—Babylon really believes her prosperity will continue forever. They “shall believe the lie.”—2 Thes. 2:11.

I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.—See Isa. 47:8, 9; D. 43; Zeph. 2:15.

18:8. Therefore.—“Because she will violently struggle for life and power.”—D. 39.

Shall her plagues.—Death, mourning, famine and fire.

Come in one day.—The year of 1918. See Rev. 3:14; 11:11.

Death.—“By the hand of her enemies.”

And mourning.—For the loss of her people.—Rev. 18:7.

And famine.—Literal and symbolic. (Amos. 8:11). “As we call to mind the long train of evils by which Babylon has oppressed and worn out the saints of the most High (the true Zion), and how it is written that God will avenge His own Elect, and that speedily; that, according to their deeds, He will repay recompense to His enemies; that He will render unto Babylon a recompense (Luke 18:7, 8; Isa. 59:18; Jer. 51:6), we begin to realize that some fearful calamity awaits her. The horrible decrees of Papacy,—the reproach and reward of which Protestantism also is incurring by her present compromising association with her,—for the burning, butchering, banishing, imprisoning and torturing of the saints in every conceivable way, executed with such fiendish cruelty in the days of her power by the arm of the State, whose power she demanded and received, await full measure of just retribution.”—D. 39.

And she shall be utterly burned with fire.—Completely destroyed in the anarchy to follow.—Rev. 17:16; Gen. 38:24; Ezek. 16:41; Lev. 20:14; 21:9.

For strong is GOD the Lord [God] who [judgeth] JUDGED her.—“Compare Rev. 17:17, where the event is expressly declared to have been overruled by God.” (Cook.) “And I will punish Bel in Babylon [the God of Babylon,—the Pope]; and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up [he shall repudiate in his extremity the ‘great swelling words’ and blasphemous titles which he has long appropriated to himself—that he is the ‘infallible vicar,’ ‘vice-gerent of Christ,’ ‘another God on earth,’ etc.], and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him. Yea, the wall of Babylon [the civil power that once defended it, and that in a measure does so still] shall fall.... Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire [shall be destroyed]; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire [to prop and save the walls of Babylon], and they shall be weary.—Jer. 51:44, 58.”—D. 40. The people are already getting weary of supporting murderous governments.

18:9. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication [and lived deliciously] with her.—In the illicit unions of Church and State the advantage, from a worldly viewpoint, has been on the side of the Church. She has compelled the State to cleanse her filthy linen while she proceeded to pollute another lot. Far from living deliciously, the horns have really hated the harlot for her impudent, shameless conduct.

Shall [bewail her], WAIL and lament for her.—Not because they loved her, but because she was useful to them in keeping the people in ignorance and subjection.—Jer. 50:46; Ezek. 26:15 to 27:36.

When they shall see the smoke of her burning.—When they witness her confusion and signs of imminent destruction as portrayed in the seventh plague—“the handwriting on the wall.”—Dan. 5:1-9; Rev. 18:18; 19:3.

18:10. Standing afar off for fear of her torment.—Realizing that this is a question of interpretation of the Scriptures and not wishing to get entangled in it any more than absolutely necessary.—Jer. 51:30-33.

Saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city.—Alas, that great religious system that was always eager to affiliate with us and give a religious coloring to even wholesale murder by enticing its young men to enlist under our banners!

For in one hour is thy judgment come.—In the one year 1917-1918.—Rev. 17:12.

18:11. And the merchants of the earth.—Salesmen of religious goods—Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and smaller fry.—Ezek. 27:36; Isa. 23:8; 47:15; Rev. 18:3, 15, 23.

Shall weep and mourn over her.—Saying, in substance, “What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.”—Luke 16:3.

For no man buyeth their merchandise any more.—“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols [all sectarian denominations] out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets [the clergy] and the unclean spirit [their false doctrines] to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass that when any [former clergyman] shall yet prophesy [try to still further mislead the people into giving him reverence and coin], then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth [so enraged will they be when they realize how they have been deceived respecting fears of hell or assurances of Heaven for themselves and other descendants of monkeys, which the preachers have taught them they are]. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets [clergy] shall be ashamed every one of his vision [of the creeds], when he hath prophesied [preached]; neither shall they wear a rough garment [distinctive clothing—collars fastened on backwards, in harmony with their conceptions of religious things, and ties and clothing in mourning to suit] to deceive: But he shall say I am no prophet [no preacher of the gospel at all], I am an husbandman [a farmer]; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. [Ezekiel 34:1-31 shows how poorly they kept the cattle]. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds [marks of rough usage] in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends [by my parishioners].”—Zech. 13:2-6.

18:12. The merchandise of gold.—Truths respecting the Divine nature. There was a time when the nominal church had the custody of these truths, but that privilege passed in 1878.

And of silver.—Truths respecting the Great Company.

And precious stones.—Truths respecting the Lord's jewels.—Mal. 3:17.

And of pearls.—Truths respecting the things purchased by the Lord's death.—Matt. 13:45, 46.

And fine linen.—Truths respecting the righteousness of the Lord's saints.—Rev. 19:8; Rom. 8:4; 2 Pet. 1:9.

And purple.—Truths respecting the Church's expectation of coming royalty.—Rev. 5:10; 20:4; Luke 12:32; 22:29, 30; James 2:5; Mark 10:23; 1 Cor. 4:8; Rev. 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26, 27; Psa. 2:8-12; 49:14; Rom. 8:19; 16:20.

And silk.—Truths respecting the most beautiful of all the fabrics of the loom—grand, beautiful characters made so by the wisdom and mercy of God out of men and women that to start with were only poor worms of earth.

And scarlet.—Truths respecting the Ransom-sacrifice of our Lord. (1 Tim. 2:6; Rom. 14:9; Rom. 5:18, 19; John 1:29; 1 John 2:2.) All these truths have passed away from Babylon, but the errors must go, too.

And all thyine wood.—Errors respecting man's inherent immortality. Thyine wood is a sweet-smelling wood; wood is a symbol of human traditions. The sweetest of all human theories is the declaration that when a man dies he is not dead at all. (1 Cor. 3:12.) Very shortly men will begin to come back from the dead, “the last first” (Matt. 19:30; 20:16); and stories that they have been in some fabulous hell or in Heaven will be at a considerable discount.

And all manner vessels of ivory.—Stories of death-bed repentance and dreams, used to decorate unscriptural doctrines. Ivory was and is used in the harness of horses. It was also used to decorate beds. (Amos 6:4.) Horses symbolize teachings, and beds symbolize creed-beds. The application fits, whichever way the symbol is applied.—Jer. 23:28.

And all manner vessels of most precious wood.—Errors that appeal to the heart of the natural man.—1 Cor. 3:12.

And of brass.—Copper; errors respecting the nature of man, created perfect and to be re-created in the same likeness.—Gen. 1:31; Rev. 21:5.

And Iron, [And marble].—Errors respecting the “iron rule” and when it is to be exercised.—Dan. 2:40; Rev. 2:27.

18:13. And cinnamon, and spice, and odours, and ointments.—Errors respecting the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. These principal spices represent things which go to make up the anointing which we receive to become priests and kings with Christ.

EXODUS 30:23	EXODUS 31:3	ISAIAH 11:2
Holy Anointing Oil	Bezaleel	Christ
Olive oil, an hin	Filled with the Spirit of God.	Spirit of Lord resting upon Him.
Myrrh, 500	Wisdom	Wisdom
Cinnamon, 250	Understanding	Understanding
Calamus, 250	Knowledge	Knowledge
Cassia, 500	Workmanship	Counsel and might

“In the above parallel we find knowledge parallel with calamus and understanding with cinnamon, and of each a like quantity is prescribed. We have the understanding of all the knowledge received of God.”—Z. '07-349.

And frankincense.—Errors respecting the kind of praise proper to offer. Much of the hymn-book theology is bad.

And wine.—Errors respecting our privilege of draining the Lord's cup of sorrow now, that we may drink the cup of joy with Him hereafter.—Matt. 20:22; 26:27.

And oil.—Errors with reference to the anointing of the Royal Priesthood.—Psa. 133:1-3; 1 Pet. 2:5.

And fine flour.—Errors as to why the true wheat are so repeatedly crushed, broken and sifted—until “nothing of earth is seen.”

And wheat.—Errors as to who are the true wheat. A sister on her first service of Truth literature at a church door was asked by the pastor, “What are you doing around here?” Startled, the Sister replied, “I am looking for the wheat.” The pastor replied, with some anger, “Go away! There is no wheat here.”

And beasts.—Cattle; errors as to the nature of sacrifices with which the Lord is pleased.—Psa. 66:15.

And sheep.—Errors as to how to care for the true sheep.

And horses.—Errors as to the kind of doctrines to employ.—Rev. 9:17-19.

And chariots.—Errors in multiplying organizations not authorized in the Scriptures and not in harmony therewith.

And slaves.—Errors respecting what it means to be a servant of the Lord.—Luke 16:13; 2 Tim. 2:24; Matt. 10:24, 25; 23:11.

And souls of men.—Errors respecting what is the soul.—Ezek. 18:4; Isa. 53:12.

18:14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after.—Love of ease, money and praise of men.

Are departed from thee.—Replaced by the conditions affecting the common people. “Every valley [lowly and depressed one] shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill [highly exalted one] shall be made low: and the crooked [doctrines] shall be made straight, and the rough places [where the iron heel of oppression has made a hard path for the weary multitudes to follow] shall be made plain.”—Isa. 40:4.

And all things which were dainty and goodly.—Stained glass windows, soft carpets and upholstery, church suppers, etc.

[Are departed] PERISHED from thee, and [thou shalt] THEY SHALL find them no more at all.—The future of the clergy is that in the Millennial Age they will have to work for a living, like everybody else! Isn't it awful to contemplate? It means an expense of 65c for an alarm clock in every preacher's house in Christendom!

18:15. The merchants of these things.—The salesmen of these goods, the clergy.—Rev. 18:3, 11; Ezek. 27:36; Isa. 23:8; 47:15.

Which were made rich by her.—Who have hitherto made a good living in the profession of the ministry.

Shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing.—Over their lost jobs.

18:16. [And] saying, Alas, alas, that great city.—Babylon, mother and daughters.

That was clothed in fine linen.—Seemed to the worshipers of the beast and his image very righteous.

And purple.—Seemed to be already reigning on the earth.

And scarlet.—Seemed to have been faithful to the blood shed on Calvary.

And decked with gold.—Seemed to have been the repository of Truth Divine.

And precious stones.—Seemed to have included in her membership all the Lord's jewels.

And pearls.—Seemed to be the sure heir of all that the Lord purchased by His death.

18:17. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.—In one short year, 1917-1918, the vast and complicated system of sectarianism reaches its zenith of power, only to be suddenly dashed into oblivion.—Rev. 18:10.

And every shipmaster.—Pilot (sky pilot), Greek.—Ezek. 27:27.

And [all the company in ships] EVERY ONE WHO SAILETH BY THE PLACE.—All the passengers.—Ezek. 27:29.

And sailors.—Mission workers.

And as many as trade by sea.—As many as work the sea, Greek. Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, and others who work solely among the masses not under religious restraint.

Stood afar off.—Realized that the old doctrines and the schemes for raising money would never work again.

18:18. And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning.—Her confusion and destruction by the Lord.

Saying, What city is like unto this great city.—With its millions of adherents, all professedly interested in mission work.

18:19. And they cast dust on their [heads] HEAD.—Did a certain amount of mud-slinging.—Ezek. 27:30; Lam. 2:10.

And cried, weeping and wailing.—And gnashing their teeth, too, no doubt.

Saying, Alas, [alas] that great city.—That wonderful religio-political combination.

Wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea.—All preachers who were strong enough and clever enough to manage people's churches, independent of the sects. Many such “independent” churches have large memberships.

By reason of her costliness.—By reason of the amount of money that can be raised in and for such institutions.

For in one hour is she made desolate.—“To them the fall of Babylon at first is astounding, a perplexity, but will work no real injury, because the reign of Babylon over the earth will be superseded by the reign of the New Jerusalem—the Kingdom of God's dear Son.”—Pastor Russell; Rev. 18:8; 3:14; 11:11.

18:20. Rejoice over her, thou Heaven.—New powers of spiritual control, Christ and His Bride, appointed to take her place.—Jer. 51:48; Phil. 3:20; Rev. 11:19.

And ye [holy] SAINTS AND Apostles.—You who have suffered at her hands.—Matt. 23:34, 35; Rev. 13:15; 18:24.

And Prophets.—The faithful teachers of the Christian church, and also the Prophets of old, who foresaw Mystic Babylon's rise and fall, and knew that it stood between them and the fulfilment of their hopes. “Daniel, who was thinking specially of Israel, and of the fulfilment of God's promises to the fathers, perceived that all that he had heard could not occur in 2300 literal days, especially when Gabriel said to him, ‘But shut thou up the vision, for it will be fulfilled after many days.’ And though he knew not how long each symbolic day would be, he was made sick at heart by the thought of so many evils as were coming upon God's people—though he saw not the change of that name from fleshly to spiritual Israel. We read, ‘And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days.’”—C. 105.

For God hath avenged you on her.—This vengeance of God for the wrongs done to His saints in all ages began in 1878 (Rev. 6:10, 11), and closes with the full end of the Harvest. When the last member of the Great Company class is delivered the system will utterly perish.

18:21. And a mighty angel.—The common people.

Took up a stone like a great millstone.—Temporarily lifted ecclesiasticism to great heights.

And.—Experiencing a sudden conviction of their error in so doing, and of the truly devilish character of the system.

Cast it into the sea.—Overwhelmed it in a flood of anarchy. When this occurs there will be a “great hissing noise” (2 Pet. 3:10, Diaglott), indicating that the millstone will be warm, wrathy, at the moment of disappearance. The effect of throwing a hot stone into water is to disintegrate it completely.—Jer. 51:61-64; Ex. 15:5; Neh. 9:11.

Saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, [And shall be found no more at all.]—“The masses of the people, no longer ignorantly stupid as during the Dark Ages, will awaken to the true situation, and will execute upon Babylon the Great—already repudiated by the Lord—the judgment foretold. She shall be cast like a great millstone into the sea, never to rise again. The sea represents the masses of the people, especially a restless opposition class.” (Z. '13-343.) “The fact is the world has outgrown the redhot and peppery dishes that suited the last generation, and it is quite beyond the power of a very few solemn gentlemen to produce a reaction.”—D. 110; Jer. 51:64.

18:22. And there shall be no more found in her the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters.—Those able to make melody and harmony out of the Scriptures.—Isa. 24:8; Ezek. 26:13.

IT shall be heard no more at all in thee.—Even now Ecclesiasticism is entirely unable to supply any explanation of either Ezekiel or Revelation, or to understand the one that is supplied.

And no craftsman, [of whatsoever craft he be,] shall be found any more in thee; [And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee].—God is the great craftsman. “We are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”—1 Cor. 3:9, 10.

18:23. [And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee;] And the voice of the Bridegroom and of the Bride.—Christ and His true Church.—Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11.

Shall be heard no more at all in thee.—Neither Christ nor His saintly ones have had anything to say in the affairs of the nominal church since 1878; nor have they wished to have. “The rejection of Babylon (‘Christendom’), in 1878, was the rejection of the mass of professors—the ‘host,’ as it is termed by Daniel, to distinguish it from the Sanctuary or Temple class.”—C. 180.

For thy merchants were the great men of the earth.—They said so, themselves. They have attempted to direct everything from prize fights up. Rev. Rainsford even tried to run a beer saloon, but was not able to make it a coin-producer for the church and gave it up.—Isa. 23:8; 47:15; Rev. 18:3, 11, 15; Ezek. 27:21, 36.

For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.—“Consider, again, why Babylon is so named. Evidently, because of her many errors of doctrine, which, mixed with a few elements of Divine Truth, make great confusion, and because of the mixed company brought together by the mixed truths and errors. This sin of holding and teaching error at the sacrifice of truth is one of which every sect of the church nominal is guilty, without exception. Where is the sect in which you can obey the Master's words and let your light shine? We know of none.”—C. 181; Rev. 17:2; 2 Ki. 9:22.

18:24. And in her was found the blood of Prophets.—They are accounted as having slain the Prophets because they refuse to heed them, and to that extent caused them to lay down their lives needlessly!—Rev. 16:6; 17:6.

And of saints.—They are accounted as having slain the saints because they have given no heed to their warnings, and to that extent caused them to die in vain.—Jer. 51:49.

And of all that were slain upon the earth.—The great European war, and other wars, are justly laid at the door of the system that has perpetuated the doctrines of Divine right of clergy and kings; and it is for this reason that God has decreed her sins must be wiped out first with symbolical blood (Rev. 14:20), and afterwards with literal blood in the red sea of anarchy.—Ex. 14:21-28; Isa. 63:1-6.

[The Traveler Inquires The Way To Heaven Illustration]

[Whom Should We Believe—God Or The Clergy? Illustration]

Revelation 19—The Overthrow Of Satan's Empire

19:1. [And] after these things.—After the saints are glorified and present ecclesiastical systems are destroyed.

I heard AS IT WERE a great voice of much people.—The Great Company.—Rev. 7:10.

In heaven.—The only heavenly-minded ones remaining on earth.

Saying, Alleluia; Salvation.—Deliverance from the Papacy and other sects has come at last.

[And glory, and honor,] and power [unto the Lord] OF our God.—It has been accomplished not by human power, but by the Wisdom and Power of God.—Rev. 7:12.

19:2. For true and righteous are Thy judgments.—“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”—1 John 1:5; Rev. 15:3; 16:7.

For He hath judged the great whore.—Has executed the judgments long foretold.

Which did corrupt the earth with her fornication.—Her illicit union with worldly governments.

And hath avenged the blood of [His] HER servants at her hand.—The millions who have perished in the Great War have been the servants of Babylon. The direct cause of their slaughter is the doctrine of the Divine right of the clergy. These have maintained the kings of Europe on their thrones, falsely telling them they are ruling as part of Christ's Kingdom. This position has led to the death of all these millions, and their blood will be required at Babylon's hand.

19:3. And again they said, Alleluia.—The more they think it over, the happier they will become.

And her smoke.—The evidences of her destruction; the remembrance.—Isa. 34:10; Rev. 14:11; 18:9, 18.

Rose up for ever and ever.—Will be recorded in secular history, even as it is recorded in “the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”—1 Pet. 1:23.

19:4. And the [four and] twenty FOUR elders.—The prophecies.—Rev. 4:4, 10.

And the four beasts.—Infinite Power, Justice, Wisdom and Love.—Rev. 4:7.

Fell down and worshipped God that sat on the Throne, saying Amen; Alleluia.—The God, the mighty One, here referred to is the Lord Jesus.—Rev. 5:3.

19:5. And [a voice] VOICES.—The Little Flock, beyond the veil.

Came out of the Throne.—They will be in the Throne at that time.—Rev. 3:21.

Saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants.—Of the Great Company class.—Rev. 7:15; Psa. 134:1-3.

[And] ye that fear Him, [both] small and great.—Your deliverance was wholly due to the Lord. We did what we could to help you, but it was as nothing. To the Lord belongs all the glory for your deliverance and ours.—Rev. 11:18.

19:6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude.—“In the Age to come, when God shall ‘pour out His Spirit upon all flesh,’ as during the present Age He pours it upon His ‘servants and handmaids,’ then indeed all will understand and appreciate the promises now being grasped by the ‘little flock’; and they will rejoice in the obedience and exaltation of the Church, saying, ‘Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to God, for the Marriage of the Lamb is come, and His Wife hath made herself ready.’ They will rejoice in the glorification of the Church, through which blessings will then be flowing to them; and while they will realize that the ‘exceeding great and precious promises’ inherited by the Anointed (Head and Body) are not for them, but have been fulfilled upon us, they will be blessed by the lesson illustrated in the Church; and while they run for the blessings then held out to them, they will profit by the example of the Church and glorify God on her behalf. But this knowledge will not bring covetousness; for under the new order of things their calling to perfect human nature will fully satisfy them, and will seem more desirable to them than a change of nature.”—A. 86.

And as the voice of many waters.—All mankind.—Rev. 17:15.

And as the voice of mighty thunderings.—An overwhelming and complete reaction in favor of the Truth. The “seven thunders” will then be thundering as never before.—Rev. 10:4; 8:5.

Saying, Alleluia: for [the Lord] God OUR LORD THE Omnipotent reigneth.—“Shows Himself to be king by subduing His enemies.” (Cook.) Thoroughly convinced of the greatness of the Lord's power, as all men will be by the end of the Time of Trouble, they will be glad to entrust all their interests to His care.

19:7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him.—“Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.”—Psa. 110:3.

For the Marriage of the Lamb is come.—The marriage of men and women is declared in the Scriptures to be a type of the marriage of Christ and His Church. (Eph. 5:22-23.) It is a recognized principle that the antitype is greater than the sum of all the types. The death of Christ was greater than all the sacrifices throughout the Jewish Age. Now call to mind that the wedding day is the happiest of every human being. Think of all the happiness caused by all the weddings that have ever occurred, and know that the sum total is as nothing compared to the joy that will pervade the Universe when the festal day of eternity takes place, and Christ and His Bride are made one.

And His Wife.—“The Bride represents ‘all who have believed up to the commencement of the Millennium. These alone are the mystical Body of Christ. But after they are completed, at the Second Advent the earth will be peopled by the “nations of the saved” in flesh and blood,—a totally different party from the then glorified Bride.’”—Cook.

Hath made herself ready.—The witnessing to the world during the present Age is quite secondary and incidental to the Church's more important work of making herself ready.—F. 608; T. 115; Matt. 22:1-14; 25:1; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:27; Rev. 21:2, 9; John 3:29; Cant., all; Psa. 45:10-14; Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19; Lu. 12:36.

19:8. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, BRIGHT AND clean and white.—“‘She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needle work’ (Psa. 45:14)—in the simple white robe of her Lord's own furnishing, the robe of His righteousness, upon which she will have wrought, with much carefulness, the beautiful adornments of the Christian graces. And great will be the rejoicing in Heaven and in earth at her abundant entrance into the King's palace.—2 Pet. 1:5-8, 11.”—C. 193.

For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.—Here and there throughout the Scriptures are keys which unlock its mysteries. (Rev. 3:18; Psa. 132:9.) This is the key to several otherwise obscure passages.

19:9. And he.—The faithful and wise Servant to whom the custody of all the things in His Storehouse was especially promised by the Lord of the Harvest.—Luke 12:42-44; Rev. 3:14; 1:1.

Saith unto me, write.—To representatives of the John class, commissioned to write something of encouragement to the Church after he himself had ceased to write.

Blessed are they which are called unto the [marriage] supper of the Lamb.—The Marriage Supper (Lu. 14:15) will be like all the other feasts the Church has had, not of physical food, but of truths Divine. That will be the time when the Lord, the Head of the family, will explain to us every part of every verse in all His Holy Word. We shall have perfect memories then, in which to treasure every word He utters, and perfect bodies, too, in which to perform to the full all God's holy will. We have the will to do it now. We have tried to understand His Word, and tried to help others to understand it; but the best we could do was far from perfect. The Lord, in His love and mercy, has accepted our best endeavors here as evidence of our worthiness for the perfect opportunities that await us. “Ultimately the full number purposed by the great Householder will have been called, accepted, and found worthy through Christ to have a place at that table—to share in that great Feast. (Matt. 22:1-10.) At that feast, we are assured, will be a secondary company, not worthy to be of the Bride class. These may be figuratively styled the bridesmaids, the Great Company class; for after the account of the gathering of the Bride we have the Lord's message to these subsequently delivered from Babylon, saying, ‘Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ You can imagine the honors and joys of that great banquet!”—Z. '14-74.

And he saith unto me, These MY TRUE SAYINGS, are the [true] sayings of God.—

“Ascend, beloved, to His joy;”
Thy festal day has come;
To-night the Lamb doth feast His own,
To-night He with His Bride sits down,
To-night puts on the spousal crown,
“In the great Upper Room.”

19:10. And I fell at his feet to worship him.—“If there come to any of us a thought of doing homage to the Lord's messengers or servants it would be our duty to fully recognize that God alone, however much He may use human instrumentalities in conveying His blessings, is to be honored and reverenced and appreciated as the Author and Giver of every good and perfect gift.—James 1:17.”—Z. '07-105; Rev. 22:8.

And he said unto me, See thou do it not.—But Satan said to the Lord, “All these things will I give thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.” (Matt. 4:9.) When Papacy did this, Satan was true to his promise. By resorting to worldly forms, customs and entertainments all the daughters have followed the example of the mother.

I am thy fellowservant.—“St. John in his humility forgets his own share in imparting the revelation; and the Angel in his humility brings this to light (Acts 10:25, 26).”—Cook; Acts 14:14, 15; Rev. 22:9; Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Tit. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1.

And of [thy] THE brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God.—“Whose servants we both are; of Whose prophetic Spirit we alike partake in this our common ministry; and therefore one of us may not worship the other.”—Cook.

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.—“All Christians, in every age, who can receive and understand prophecy, have this spirit.” (Cook; 1 Cor. 12:13.) However, “The design of prophecy is to bear testimony to Jesus. This is its great and ultimate end. The word prophecy here seems to be used in the large sense in which it is often employed in the New Testament—meaning to make known the divine will, and the primary reference here would seem to be to the preachers and teachers of the New Testament. The sense is, that their grand business is to bear testimony to the Saviour. They are all appointed for this, and therefore should regard themselves as ‘fellow-servants.’ Thus understood, this passage has no direct reference to the prophecies of the Old Testament, and teaches nothing in regard to their design, though it is in fact undoubtedly true that their grand and leading object was to bear testimony to the future Messiah.”—Barnes; Rev. 12:17.

19:11. And I saw heaven opened.—The hidden things of God as recorded in the Seventh Volume of Studies In The Scriptures.—Rev. 11:19.

And behold a white horse.—Teachings which, however unpalatable to Churchianity, are nevertheless the truth.

And He that sat upon him was called Faithful.—“The faithful and true Witness.”—Rev. 3:14.

And True.—“He that is holy, He that is true.”—Rev. 3:7.

And in righteousness He doth judge and make war.—“While the Lord forbids His people to fight with carnal weapons, and while He declares Himself to be a God of peace, a God of order and of love, He also declares Himself to be a God of justice, and shows that sin shall not forever triumph in the world, but that it shall be punished. ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.’ (Rom. 12:19; Deut. 32:35.) And when He rises up to judgment against the nations, taking vengeance upon all the wicked, He declares Himself ‘a man of war’ and ‘mighty in battle,’ and having a ‘great army’ at His command.—Exod. 15:3; Psa. 24:8; 45:3; Isa. 11:4; Joel 2:11.”—D. 549.

19:12. His eyes were [as] a flame of fire.—The Lord's Wisdom sees that the time has come for the destruction of present iniquitous systems.—Rev. 1:14.

And on His head were many crowns.—The right to rule all the kingdoms of the earth.—Ezek. 21:27.

And He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.—This new name is to be also the name of the Church, His Bride. Possibly it has not yet been revealed.—Rev. 2:17; 3:12.

19:13. And He was clothed with a vesture [dipped in] SPRINKLED WITH blood.—A reference to His faithfulness even unto death, and a hint to His Body what to expect shortly.

And His name [is] HATH BEEN called the Word of God.—In this picture He is represented as coming, not as the Messenger of the Covenant, but in apokalupsis, revealment as earth's rightful King.—John 1:1; Rev. 1:2.

19:14. And the armies which were in heaven.—All the armies of Rev. 7:5-8, the Little Flock, whether on this side of the veil or on the other.—Rev. 17:14.

Followed Him.—“The sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow.”—John 10:4, 5.

Upon white horses.—Teachings clean and pure.

Clothed in fine linen, white and clean.—“The righteousness of saints.”—Rev. 19:8.

19:15. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword.—“Our examination, in a preceding volume, of the great difference in character between the Kingdom of God and the beastly kingdoms of earth, prepares us to see also a difference in modes of warfare. The methods of conquest and breaking will be widely different from any which have ever before overthrown nations. He who now takes His great power to reign is shown in symbol as the One whose sword went forth out of His mouth, ‘that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron.’ That sword is the Truth (Eph. 6:17).”—B. 100; Isa. 11:4; 49:2; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:21; Hos. 6:5; Heb. 4:12.

That with it He should smite the nations.—“‘He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips [the force and spirit of His Truth] shall He slay the wicked.’ (Isa. 11:4; Psa. 98:1.) To no human generalship can the honors of the coming victory for truth and righteousness be ascribed. Wild will be the conflict of the angry nations, and world-wide will be the battlefield and the distress of nations; and no human Alexander, Cæsar or Napoleon will be found to bring order out of the dreadful confusion. But in the end it will be known that the grand victory of justice and truth, and the punishment of iniquity with its just deserts, was brought about by the power of the King of kings and Lord of lords.”—D. 19.

And He shall rule them with a rod of iron.—“In this ‘Day of Jehovah,’ the ‘Day of Trouble,’ our Lord takes His great power (hitherto dormant) and reigns, and this it is that will cause the trouble, though the world will not so recognize it for some time. That the saints shall share in this work of breaking to pieces present kingdoms, there can be no doubt. It is written, ‘This honor have all His saints—to execute the judgments written, to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron’—of strength. (Psa. 149:8, 9.) ‘He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they [the empires] be broken to shivers.’”—Rev. 2:26, 27; Psa. 2:8, 9; B. 100.

And He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of THE ANGER OF Almighty God.—The Lord assumes an interest in and responsibility for the complete series of Studies In The Scriptures, the last one of which especially represents the winepress feature (Rev. 14:18-20), but it would be unreasonable to expect that the Lord would miraculously use imperfect tools to do an absolutely perfect work and each must use his judgment as to the value of the interpretations in this book. Additionally, it should be remarked that the language here is more intense than in Rev. 14, indicating the extension of the winepress feature to other than ecclesiastical matters.

19:16. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written.—“The thigh is introduced as the place where the sword (which is not mentioned here, see ver. 15) is usually found, in accordance with Psa. 45:3: ‘Gird Thee with Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Most Mighty.’”—Cook.

King of kings and Lord of lords.—Before the controversy aroused by this book is finished, every person in the world will be convinced that it marks a distinct step by the Lord in His seizure of Satan's Empire.—1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; Dan. 8:25.

19:17. And I saw [an] ANOTHER angel.—The Elijah class after the publication of Volume Seven, Studies in the Scriptures. See Rev. 8:3-5; 14:18.

Standing in the sun.—Resplendent in the light of the Gospel.—Rev. 12:1; Matt. 13:43.

And he cried with a loud voice.—Fearlessly and plainly declaring the Truth.

Saying to all the fowls.—Birds, Greek.—Matt. 24:28.

That fly in the midst of heaven.—First to the “eagles,” the far-sighted ones, the Little Flock, and then, by extension, to all who live, mentally, on any plane above the grossly material.

Come [and gather yourselves] BE GATHERED together unto the GREAT supper of [the great] God.—We should look for applications appropriate to the symbolical book we are studying, even though it develop later, as it will, that these passages will have a literal and terrible fulfilment in a deluge of actual bloodshed, of which the European War is but a preliminary.

19:18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings.—Five of these kings or rulers are enumerated in Rev. 6:4. Doubtless the reader has eaten them, in the symbolical sense. They are there to be eaten.

And the flesh of captains.—Lesser commanders, enumerated in Rev. 8:7-12. No doubt the reader has eaten these also.

And the flesh of mighty men.—Warriors. These warriors are referred to in Rev. 9:7, 9, although there mentioned under the name of locusts. If the reader has not eaten (appropriated, absorbed, digested) the account, the task should be undertaken at once, or something will be missed.

That the Lord made no mistake in selecting the Locust as a symbol of the Methodist system of blindly following leaders is clear from the following extract from the works of a traveller: “While sojourning in Syria I was told that the whole country round Mt. Lebanon was dismayed one year by the news that a vast army of marching locusts was coming from the eastern desert. The governor of the district ordered a regiment of soldiers to aid the people to construct a great rampart of heath bushes to be set on fire as the locusts came up to it, hoping thus to save the gardens of Beyrout. These locusts always hopped straight ahead, deviating neither to the right nor left, and on coming to a house went up its stone walls, over it and down it, as if it were a level place, and in such inconceivable numbers that an American resident described the noise of the great host passing over the roof as like to that of a tremendous hailstorm. At every green leaf on the way each took a bite, and then went on for the next one to take his bite, until in an incredibly short time not a green thing could be seen. When they reached the prepared heaps of heath, and these were set on fire, the locusts marched on without pausing, until in a brief time they put the bonfires completely out. As the sea was not far off everybody hoped that they would take to surf bathing. And so they did. Just as certain injurious political crowds among us can always be always depended upon to march up to the polls and vote the straight ticket, when the vanguard reached the waves, like all good true locusts, in they hopped, followed by all the rest, till the billows seemed to roll only grasshoppers; nor did the scene end until the last of the rear guard had skipped over the heaps of his dead comrades to make his last jump into the blue waters of the Mediterranean.”—Jer. 51:64.

And the flesh of horses.—Did you not see the horses in Rev. 9:17, 18, and did you not eat them, fire, jacinth, brimstone and all?

And of them that sit on them.—Did we not find two hundred millions of these horsemen, and did you not eat them?—See Rev. 9:16.

And the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.—And did we not find all the rest of the men included in Rev. 9:20, 21, and did we not eat them in the same manner? We did, indeed. We ate or appropriated the truth concerning them. It is our eating of these truths that lead to the events next narrated.

19:19. And I saw the beast.—The Papacy restored to power. Weymouth's New Testament in Modern Speech translates this verse as follows, and adds a footnote that the “once for all,” though not expressed in the Greek, is implied in the aorist tense of the verb: “And I saw the Wild Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, all assembled to make war, once for all, against the Rider upon the horse and against His army.”

And the kings of the earth.—Called to the war by demons. (Rev. 16:13-16.) “The kings of the earth set themselves [in opposition], and the rulers [not knowing that they are fighting against the establishment of the Lord's Kingdom], take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, [but] He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.”—Psa. 2:2, 4; D. 52.

And their armies.—Their following, Civil, Social, Ecclesiastical and Financial.

Gathered together to make war.—“The war,” Greek.

Against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.—Although composed of the twelve symbolical tribes (Rev. 19:14; 7:4-8) they are, after all, but one army, all “One in Christ Jesus.” “Let it be seen that the best and the worst of earth's nations are but ‘kingdoms of this world,’ whose lease of power from God is now expired, that they may give place to their ordained successor, the Kingdom of Messiah, the Fifth Universal Empire of earth (Dan. 2:44; 7:14, 17, 27)—and it will do much to establish truth and to overthrow error. But as it is, the actions of Papacy in this regard, sanctioned by the Protestant Reformers, go unquestioned among Christian people. And since they should uphold the Kingdom of Christ, they feel themselves called to the aid of the present falling kingdoms of so-called Christendom—to the side of the kingdoms of this world, and the prince of this world, rather than to the side of the coming true Kingdom of Christ.”—A. 270; Rev. 16:16; 17:13, 14.

19:20. And the beast was taken.—The Papacy was caught. (Jer. 50:43-46.) No doubt the publication of this book has come at a time unfavorable to the schemes of Papacy and will interfere greatly with its efforts at re-establishment—Rev. 17:14.

And with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him.—The Image of the Beast.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

With which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast.—Catholics.

And them that worshipped his image.—Protestants.

These both.—Both of these systems, not the people.

Were cast alive.—While they are still organized and operative.—H. 59.

Into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.—Into the complete and everlasting destruction, of the anarchy (symbolized by fire) of the Time of Trouble. This utter destruction of these systems is the beginning of the annihilation of everything out of harmony with God's righteous arrangements. It was typified by the valley of Gehenna, just outside of Jerusalem. By the aid of brimstone the bodies of specially detestable criminals were there burned with the other refuse of Jerusalem. Standing upon the edge of this valley at night it had the appearance of a lake burning with fire and brimstone. Burning brimstone is the most deadly agent known, and symbolizes utter destructiveness.—Dan. 7:11.

19:21. And the remnant.—The people who are left after their systems are destroyed.

Were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse.—Will, in due time, come into loving and cheerful submission to the truth.—Rev. 19:15; 2 Cor. 10:4.

Which sword proceeded out of His mouth.—All should be able to see that it is not a literal sword that is here referred to.

And all the fowls were filled with their flesh.—See Rev. 19:18.

Revelation 20—The Thousand Years' Reign

20:1. And I saw an Angel come down [from Heaven].—The Messenger of the Covenant at His Second Advent.—Mal. 3:1.

Having the key of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—Only Infinite Wisdom could provide the key to the solution of present difficulties in the earth. Here is a system of superstition and crime two thousand years old, and the praise and service of it ingrained into nearly every human being. All literature is poisoned with it. Public opinion is for it. The educated, the refined, the wealthy, the powerful are all for it and all against any change that would give the lower strata of society a fair chance. To overcome conditions like this is a task for Divinity itself.

And a great chain in His hand.—The TRUTH, as contained in the Seven Volumes of Scripture Studies. This chain of Truth has been forged, link by link, over a period of forty years. Each volume has made it more certain that old systems can never hope to stand against it.

20:2. And He laid hold on the dragon.—The iniquitous system of civil government which has associated with it the principle of holding the masses in subjection by preying upon their fears beyond this life. The subject of special condemnation in this regard, the masterpiece of Satan, is the old Roman Empire, still living in the Papacy and the Church-State governments of Europe. This system is about contemporaneous with the (seven) Times of the Gentiles (2520 years ending in Oct., 1914), which began in the Fall of 607 B. C., or, as we would say, at the beginning of 606, Jewish Time. Rome was already well started on its upward path at that time. “Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, fifth legendary king of Rome, 616-578 B. C., appointed guardian to the sons of Ancus Marcius, he succeeded in supplanting them on the throne on their father's death. He laid out the Circus Maximus, instituted the great games, built the great sewers, and began the construction of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. He removed from Tarquinii in Etruria to Rome by the advice of his wife, the prophetess Tanaquil. Tanaquil was famous for her shrewdness and prophetic gifts, which enabled her to foretell the future greatness of her husband.” (Brit.)

That old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.—“While the name Old Serpent includes Satan, ‘the prince of devils,’ it is here evidently used as a synonym for all the sinful agencies and powers which had their rise in him.” (S. 32.) “Our Lord's declaration that Satan is the great Adversary, not only of God, but of humanity, is by no means a fancy sketch, but the plain truth. Satan alone is the wilful, intelligent plotter and schemer who uses a superhuman intelligence and, so far as permitted, superhuman powers, in opposing righteousness and truth and those who are of the Truth. The inspired record asserts, persistently and consistently, that Satan began the rebellion against the divine law, and seduced our first parents into disobedience, through his own ambition for power; and that since man's fall this same Adversary has been the implacable opponent of God, of righteousness and of truth; and not only the ensnarer of mankind, but the opposer of the great Plan of Atonement which God devised and is prosecuting through Christ. From the Scriptural account it does not appear that Satan had any sympathizers or associate conspirators amongst the angels at the time of his secession and attempt to establish a lordship or dominion of his own in the earth.”—F. 611.

And bound him.—“‘The god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.’ (2 Cor. 4:4.) God wills that all should be so saved from all the train of evils following Adam's sin and curse, that they may come to a knowledge of the Truth. Why does He will this? To the intent that having a clear knowledge of the Truth they may make the very best possible use of the new trial for life secured for them by their Redeemer's Ransom-sacrifice. It is for the carrying out of this, God's will, that the Redeemer will inaugurate His Millennial Kingdom, which will first bind Satan (restrain all outside evil influences) and then release man from his blindness;—as it is written, ‘the eyes of the blind shall be opened.’ (Isa. 35:5.) For the same reason, viz., that the new trial shall be most favorable for man, it is the Divine arrangement that its work shall be done gradually and require a thousand years.” (E. 480, 470.) “The Millennial Day is dawning, with its change of earth's rulership from the control of the ‘prince of this world’ and his faithful, to the control of Him ‘whose right it is’ (by purchase) and His faithful saints. We have seen that though the result of this change will be a great blessing; yet the time of the transfer, while the present prince, the ‘strong man,’ is being bound and his household driven out of power (Matt. 12:29), will be a time of intense trouble.” (C. 341.) “In reference to it Jesus said, ‘No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house.’ (Mark 3:22-27; Luke 11:22.) This effective binding of Satan is accordingly shown to be the first work of the New Dispensation.” (A. 68.) “The Adversary's every deceptive and misleading influence will be restrained—so that evil shall no longer appear to men to be good, nor good appear undesirable, evil. Truth shall no longer appear to men untrue, nor falsehoods be caused to appear true.” (D. 519.) “The words of inspiration give us to understand that Satan's struggles to retain control of mankind will be especially desperate at its close.”—S. 78.

A thousand years.—The Millennial Day, the Day of the Lord's rest, following the six thousand years of evil which ended in 1874. “One Day is with the Lord as a thousand years.” (2 Pet. 3:8; Psa. 90:4.) “It was the claim of the Papacy that the thousand years of Christ's Reign, the Millennium, promised in Scripture to follow Christ's Second Advent, began in the year 800 A. D., under Pope Leo III., who claimed to be the representative of Christ, His vice-gerent, to begin Christ's Reign in His stead. In that year the ‘Papal states’ were ceded to the Church by Emperor Charlemagne. Their ‘Millennium’ ended, it was claimed, in the year 1799, when Napoleon confiscated the territories granted to the Church and took the Pope, Pius VI., a captive to France, where he died. The succeeding freedom from Papal persecution, and the widespread circulation of the Bible in the languages of the people, was declared by the Papal leaders to be the ‘little season’ (Rev. 20:3) to follow the thousand-year Reign of Christ on earth; and they are hoping that soon they will regain their former power and prestige and once more reign supreme, and that their rule will be permanent. This Papal Millennium is known in history as the ‘Dark Ages.’ During those dark centuries millions were tortured, exiled and murdered for refusing to bow to the mandates of the apostate Church, under the leadership of Popes, Bishops and priests. Agents and spies were employed to apprehend and bring to punishment any who were found to express sentiments contrary to the Papal hierarchy, or who failed to bow in abject submission to their authority. Thus were the nations of Europe paganized, and steeped in error and superstition and in reverence for men who falsely claimed to be the special and authorized representatives of God on earth. They presumed to have authority to alter the Laws of God when it seemed advisable to them to do so, and thought to change the time for the Reign of Christ as we have shown.” (Dan. 7:25; Z. '16-181; B. 354.) “‘Those who lived next to the Apostles, and the whole Church for 300 years, understood them [the “Thousand Years”] in the plain literal sense.’ According to Jewish theology, as collected from the Talmud, Messiah is to gather in from the Dispersion all the scattered descendants of the Tribes, to discomfit their foreign oppressors, and from Jerusalem as a centre to rule over the whole earth which is to be a scene of temporal enjoyment and prosperity. Thus R. Salomon writes: ‘It is fixed that the world shall stand for 6000 years, according to the number of the days of the week; but on the seventh Day is the Sabbath, and during the seventh Millennium the world has rest.’”—Cook.

20:3. And cast him into the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—Oblivion. In this instance it signifies Satan's enforced idleness, which will surely be oblivion for him after the busy time he has had during the past six thousand years. How small he will feel when he sees the Lord Jesus undo in one thousand years all that he accomplished in six thousand!

And shut him up, and set a seal upon him.—The Spirit of Truth in the hearts of men; the desire to win the favor of earth's new King, will deprive Satan of all his subjects. All his evil companions, human and angelic, will be destroyed in the Time of Trouble. Alone, idle and humiliated constantly for a thousand years, is a punishment he richly deserves.

That he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.—“Some have become so deluded by the sophistries of Satan, by which he has deceived all nations, that they do not believe that there is a God; others believe in Him as a great and powerful adversary, without love or sympathy, ready and anxious to torment them to all eternity; others are confused by the Babel of conflicting reports that have reached them, concerning the Divine character, and know not what to believe; and, seeking to draw near unto God, are hindered by their fears and by their ignorance.” (E. 19, 18.) “The trial, or judgment, of the overcomers of the Christian Dispensation and of the Dispensation that preceded it, has been much more severe than the trial of the world will be in its judgment day; for these have had to withstand Satan, the prince of this world, with all his wiles and ensnarements, while in the world's judgment day Christ will be reigning, and Satan will be bound, that he may not deceive the nations. These have suffered persecution for righteousness' sake, while then men will be rewarded for righteousness, and punished only for unrighteousness. These have had great stumbling blocks and snares in the way, which will be removed when the world is placed on trial. But though the trial of these two special companies has been much more severe than the trial of the world will be, the rewards are correspondingly greater.”—A. 146.

[And] after that he must be loosed a little season.—To see who are in heart harmony with the Lord's will, and who are governed by other motives. As evil will be bound by the prompt infliction of punishment upon the would-be evil-doer, so we may presume it will be loosed by allowing evil deeds to go temporarily unpunished.—Rev. 20:8.

20:4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them.—The thrones of present earthly kingdoms.—Z. '82-3-6.

And judgment was given unto them.—Judicial sentence was passed upon them as unfit to longer continue. (Z. '82-3-6.) This word is rendered condemnation in Luke 23:40; Jas. 3:1; Jude 4.

And I saw the souls.—Persons, beings.—Z. '82-3-6.

Of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.—“All constituting the Kingdom class are here referred to as beheaded. The Apostle gives us the key, saying. ‘The Head of every man is Christ; the head of the woman is the man; and the Head of Christ is God.’ (1 Cor. 11:3.) As a woman who becomes a wife accepts her husband as the head of the family (loses her name, her individuality, to become his bride), so the Church accepts Christ as her Head, and each member of the Church thus comes into relationship with the Lord as a member of His Body. It is required of every one who would be counted in as a member of the true Church, that he should be not only beheaded (lose his self-will), but that he shall be united to the true Head of the Church and recognize himself as a member of the true Body of Christ—‘the Church of the living God, whose names are written in Heaven.’”—Z. '01-227; Rev. 1:9; 19:10.

And for the word of God.—On account of the Word of God and by means of it. We are “Begotten by the Word of Truth,” and to live in fullest harmony with its every precept, at any cost to the flesh, is the distinguishing peculiarity of the overcoming Church of God. “Only now are Bible students beginning to emerge from under the great cloud of false doctrine which for fifteen hundred years has misrepresented God and the Bible, putting darkness for light. Only now can Bible study be prosecuted in its true spirit, without the fear of man, which brings a snare. Only now is there general education, which permits of Bible study in this true sense. Only now have we the convenient Bible, cheap and in every home. Only now have we more leisure and opportunity for Bible study. Only now have we good light by which to study.”—Z. '13-366.

[And which] IF ANY THEREFORE had not worshipped the beast, neither his image.—See Rev. 13:13-18.

Neither had received his mark upon their [foreheads, or in their hands] FOREHEAD AND ON THEIR HAND.—In years to come millions will be surprised to know that they had these marks of assent and service to Satan's empire. “The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a programme of anarchy. It does not inspire wars and strife, but peace and security. It does not set the mother against her daughter and the father against his son, but promotes the fraternal spirit whereby the race is regarded as one great Brotherhood. It does not seek to drag down and degrade the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. To use a popular phrase, it appeals to ‘the best, all that is good within us.’ It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that the absence of Christ will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to make men so satisfied with this life that they shall be totally indifferent to the life hereafter. It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, mercy, charity and benevolence, teaching men to live for the good of others and to be kind to all. For those who observe its conditions and obey its commands, it promises the development of certain inherent occult powers, the solution of the more recondite problems of man's constitution and the accumulation of esoteric knowledge which is withheld from the multitude. In short, it declares that all who will eat of the forbidden fruit shall ‘be as gods.’ The gospel of Satan is one of works. The Devil's Delusion is that we can be saved by our own works, and justified by our own deeds. Whereas God tells us, ‘By grace are ye saved through faith, ... not of works, lest any man should boast.’ And again, ‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.’—Eph. 2:8, 9; Tit. 3:5.”—Z. '16-42.

[And] they BOTH lived and reigned with Christ.—See Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10.

A thousand years.—“The loss of this hope by our forefathers led on to all the grievous errors from which we are now seeking to escape. Do we not still pray, ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven?’ The Messiah's coming Kingdom is the key to the world's blessing by Restitution back to human perfection in a world-wide Eden.”—Pastor Russell. Observe how many times this period is mentioned in Rev. 20:2-7.

20:5. [But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.]—“These words are not found in the oldest and most reliable Greek MSS., the Sinaitic, Vatican Nos. 1209 and 1160, nor the Syriac MS. However, the repudiation of this clause is not essential to the ‘Plan’ as herein set forth; for the rest of the dead—the world at large—will not live again in the full sense, in the perfect sense that Adam lived before he sinned and came under the sentence ‘dying thou shalt die.’ Perfect life without weakness or dying is the only sense in which God recognizes the word life. From His standpoint all the world has already lost life, is dying, and might now be more properly described as dead than as alive.”—2 Cor. 5:14; Matt. 8:22.

“The word resurrection (Greek, anastasis) signifies raising up. As related to man, it signifies raising up man to that condition from which he fell, to full perfection of manhood—the thing lost through Adam. The process of resurrection will be a gradual one, requiring the entire Age for its full accomplishment; though the mere awakening to a measure of life and consciousness, as at present enjoyed, will of course be a momentary work. And since anything short of perfect life is a condition of partial death, it follows that, although the above words are no part of the inspired record, it would be strictly true to say that the rest of the dead will not live again (will not regain the fulness of life lost) until the thousand years of restitution and blessing are complete.”—A. 288.

This is the First Resurrection.—“It is impossible for the tongue to describe this great honor and dignity.”—1 Cor. 2:9; Pastor Russell.

20:6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection.—“‘We shall be like Him [the glorified “changed” Jesus], for we shall see Him as He is.’ He is a Spirit Being, ‘the express image of the Father's person,’ ‘far above angels, principalities and powers, and every name that is named,’ and hence, far above perfect manhood. If we shall be like Him and share His glory and His nature, it means that we too shall be images of the Father's person, ‘whom no man hath seen nor can see, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto;’ but to whom we can approach and whom we can see as He is, because we have been ‘changed.’ (1 John 3:2; 1 Tim. 6:16, 1:17; Exod. 33:20.) Lest any should misunderstand him, the Apostle guards the above language by adding, ‘As we [the Church] have borne the image of the earthly [one], we shall also bear the image of the Heavenly [One].’ It is not the Apostle's thought that all shall bear the image of the Heavenly One, in this sense, ever. Such was not the design of our Creator. When He made man He designed to have a fleshly, human earthly being, in His own likeness [mentally, morally], to be the lord and ruler of the earth, as the representative of His Heavenly Creator.” (Gen. 1:26-28; Psa. 8:4-7; F. 722.) “If we know how to reproduce the human voice, it gives us a little illustration of how God, with His unlimited Power, can preserve everything recorded by the convolutions of our brain, and of how these could be preserved in the future absolutely—everything by which we could know ourselves in the future.”—Z. '14-315.

On such the Second Death hath no power.—Aside from the Father and the Son, these are the only ones in the Universe that will forever be beyond the possibility of death.—Rev. 2:11; Rom. 2:7; 1 Tim. 6:16.

But they shall be priests.—“The antitypical consecrating of the antitypical priests is confined to the present Gospel Age. It has progressed steadily since our Lord and Forerunner ‘offered up Himself’—and will be complete before this Age has fully ended. And if we fail to be among the priests now, during the time of consecration, we cannot be of them when they begin their service for the people in the Kingdom, when these same priests (now despised of men, but a ‘sweet savor to God’) will have the title of King added, and will, with their Head, Jesus, rule and bless all nations.”—T. 47; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10.

Of God and of Christ.—“No mention is made here of being priests of the Holy Ghost as it would undoubtedly have been mentioned if it had been the third person of the ‘trinity.’”

And shall reign with Him a thousand years.—“The ‘kingdoms of this world,’ even while being crushed by the Kingdom of God, will be quite ignorant of the real cause of their downfall,—until, in the close of this ‘day of wrath,’ the eyes of their understanding shall open, so that they will see that a New Dispensation has dawned, and learn that Immanuel has taken to Himself His great power, and has begun His glorious and righteous Reign.”—C. 129; Rev. 20:4.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.—“It will be for only a little season; for, his heart remaining unchanged, he will soon see a new avenue to the success of his long-cherished ambition. He will see not merely a perfect human pair with power to produce a mighty race destined to live forever, but a race restored to life and vigor. His thought will be, ‘If I can win this mighty race to my standard, my triumph and exaltation will be speedily accomplished.’ Again, therefore, he will figure as a leader, though, as now, unrecognized by men. Doubtless the temptation will again rest upon his old doctrine—that they shall not surely die, even if they do disregard the will of God.”—Z. '94-251.

20:8. And shall go out to deceive all the nations.—“At the close of the Millennial Age there will be a 'harvest' time, for sifting and separating amongst the billions of human beings then living, each of whom will have enjoyed a full opportunity of attaining perfection. The Harvest of the Millennial Age will witness the complete separation of the ‘goats’ from the ‘sheep.’” (D. 644.) “While the blessing of the Lord will provide an abundance for all, nevertheless we may safely assume that the provision will be in the hands of their fellows. It will be the 'sheep' that will be especially interested in, praying for and preparing for, those who are in the great prison-house of death. And by so engaging their time and energy these ‘sheep’ will be manifesting a purpose, a will, in harmony with that of the Creator. (John 5:28, 29.) Any one not interested in that work will be lacking in God's Spirit; and this is what is charged against the goat-class.”—Z. '14-268.

[Which are] in the four [quarters of the earth] CORNERS, Gog.—Proud (Gog means high), Natural Israelites. (1 Chr. 5:3, 4.) “‘Ye [proud and unfaithful Jews] shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God [the earthly phase], and ye yourselves thrust out,’ (Luke 13:28).”—Z. '07-302.

And Magog.—Those who, during the Gospel Age, were nominal Spiritual Israelites, but at heart were never anything but “tares” and always remain such. Magog was the descendant of Japheth. (Gen. 10:2.) Europe was peopled by his descendants, and it was to them that the Gospel call of the Age now ending was by Divine appointment sent. (Acts 16:6, 9.) The Gospel was sent into Europe that it might be demonstrated that God could call and make into Christlike characters representatives of even the most cruel, bloodthirsty, quarrelsome, rapacious people on earth. Such they are. Japan is proof that contact with Europeans will in a generation transform a contented, peace-loving people into a people of unbounded ambition, imbued with the spirit of the very Devil.—Ezek. 38:2; 39:1.

AND to gather them together to battle.—“When at the close of the Millennial Age all the obedient of mankind shall have attained all that was lost in Adam and redeemed by Christ—then all, armed with complete knowledge and experience, and hence fully able to stand the test, will be tested severely (as was Adam), but individually, and only those found in fullest heart-sympathy, as well as in outward harmony, with God and His righteous arrangements, will be permitted to go beyond the Millennium into the everlasting future or ‘world [age] without end.’ All others will be destroyed in the Second Death.” (E. 418, 402.) “We read, regarding that testing, that Satan will endeavor to lead astray all mankind, whose numbers will then be as the sand of the sea for multitude; but that many of them will choose evil and disobedience, with past experience before them, and unhampered by present weaknesses and blinding influences, we do not suppose.”—H. 62.

20:9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth.—“Building upon a supposed weakness in the Divine character, these may be led to try to take advantage of the grace (favor) of God, and to use it as a license for wilful sin.”—H. 62.

And compassed the camp of the saints about.—“Just as in Great Britain, the people have gone to Parliament to protest, so the rebellious faction of mankind will protest against their faithful princes. The separation of the Ancient Worthies from the rest of the world seems to imply that God has some special purpose in respect to them. The term camp itself implies that theirs is only a temporary condition or arrangement, and that God has some better thing in store for them.” (Z. '13-53.) “The noble work of elevating the race by sure and steady steps (under the direction of the unseen spiritual members of the Kingdom) is the high honor to which the Ancient Worthies are appointed, and for which they will come forth prepared soon after the final wreck of the kingdoms of this world.” (A. 291.) “Israel as a nation will be the first among the nations to come into harmony with the new order of things; the earthly Jerusalem will be rebuilt upon her old heaps; and their polity will be restored as in the beginning under princes or judges. (Isa. 1:26; Psa. 45:16; Jer. 30:18.)” (A. 294.) “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets” and Ancient Worthies referred to by our Lord and by the Apostles (Matt. 8:11; Heb. 11:4-40), having passed their trial, will be awakened from death perfect.

“Just as Adam, while perfect, before transgression, could commune direct with the Heavenly powers, so will these Worthies commune, when restored to the same state of perfection.” (D. 619.) “The veil which Moses wore before the people, but laid off when with the Lord in the Mount would seem to typify the earthly phase of his Kingdom, the ‘princes in all the earth,’” (D. 630.) “The friendship of David and Jonathan seems to be suggestive of that beautiful accord which shall exist between the glorified Church and the earthly princes who shall be next to them in the Kingdom of God. Each will be delighted to fill his honored place in the wonderful Plan of God, and will love the other as his own soul.” (Z. '95-291.) “As we consider the heavens, the work of God's hands, and the innumerable worlds therein under preparation for inhabitants, we may reasonably suppose that these Ancient Worthies, who were faithful during the reign of evil, even unto death, will have some further honorable service, not only during the Millennial Age, but subsequently. For various reasons, therefore, we rank them higher in honor than the Great Company.” (Z. '04-313.) “These Ancient Worthies will be unlike the remainder of mankind, not alone in the fact that their trial is past while the trial of the world in general will just be beginning; but they will be unlike them also in the fact that they will have attained the reward of their faithfulness—they will be perfect men. When Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the Ancient Worthies have been resurrected, and shall appear amongst the regathered Israelites, their perfect minds will quickly grasp present-day knowledge and inventions. (John 7:15.) And as Jesus taught the people positively, definitely, clearly, and not doubtfully and in a confused way, as did the scribes, so it will be with the perfected Ancient Worthies, when they appear amongst men.”—D. 625.

“Isa. 11:10 points us to the Millennial Day, and another root of Jesse, as connected with the blessing of the Gentiles. This latter seed seems to be referred to also in Heb. 11:39, 40. The Ancient Worthies shall not only be the princes, the representatives of the spiritual, invisible Kingdom, but also grand ensigns or standards set up before mankind, as illustrations of what all mankind may attain unto.” (Z. '98-312.) “The painful experiences of the Ancient Worthies during the Jewish age will be a store of blessings, instruction and help, by which they, when made subordinate ‘princes’ in the Kingdom, will assist in the restitution work.” (T. 111.) “While the Worthies are not in any sense part of the Sin-Offering, they are nevertheless connected with the cleansing from sin: their ashes (the knowledge and remembrance of their faithfulness unto death), mingled with the water of Truth, and applied with the purgative, cleansing hyssop, is valuable, purifying, sanctifying.” (T. 108.) “The service which the Ancient Worthies will be given will be more than God would ordinarily entrust to a perfect human being. It will be a part of this service to deal with the imperfect, fallen creatures and to help them up out of sin and imperfection. While in one sense of the word this work is desirable, yet it is not what a perfect human being would prefer. These Ancient Worthies will come forth from the tomb perfect; but during the entire Millennium they will be amidst imperfect surroundings.”

“A part of the evidence that the Ancient Worthies will be made sharers of the spirit nature and become members of the Great Company class is built upon the fact that they seem to be represented typically by the tribe of Levi. The fact that this tribe had no inheritance in the land seems to imply that the Ancient Worthies will have no earthly inheritance. Since the Heavenly Father has been pleased to arrange for the Great Company a place on the spirit plane, and since He is operating according to some general principles of righteousness, we are inclined to think that He may have something more for the Ancient Worthies than will come to the remainder of mankind. When Abraham was called upon to offer up his son Isaac, he exhibited a degree of loyalty greater than the Great Company will be called upon to manifest. Furthermore, in Gen. 17:8, God said unto Abraham, ‘And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ Two thousand years later, St. Stephen said that God never gave Abraham so much as a foot of the promised land (Acts 7:6); but he implied that Abraham will yet receive that land and afterward leave it to his posterity. If the land is to be given to Abraham and his coadjutors, and then to be left to his seed and mankind in general, the thought would seem to be implied that the Ancient Worthies will pass to the spirit nature.”—Z. '13-52.

“‘O Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength! [After the Church, the Bride, has been glorified with the Lord, the faithful ones of the fleshly seed of Abraham will begin to come into prominence before the world by reason of the leaders whom God will then raise up for them.] Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah [all who shall then be in covenant relationship with God], Behold! Your God is here!’ [Thus the message now given by ‘the feet’ of Christ—that the Millennial Kingdom is already beginning its rule (Isa. 52:7)—will be taken up by the earthly class when the ‘feet of Him’ have passed beyond the veil.]—Isa. 40:9.”—Z. '92-78.

And the beloved city.—“The ‘beloved city’ is the New Jerusalem, the Church in glory, not the Church in the flesh. The rebellion incited by Satan will be not only against the earthly princes, but also against The Christ.”—Z. '13-53.

And fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them.—They will be instantaneously and mercifully electrocuted, not tormented.

20:10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.—“He is to be destroyed, together with all his angels—his messengers, all who follow his leading and his course.—Matt. 25:41; Heb. 2:14.”—F. 619.

Where the beast and WHERE the false prophet are.—Papacy and the Protestant Church Federation will have been in destruction a thousand years at the time this Scripture is fulfilled.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

And shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.—The Seven Volumes of Scripture Studies are the instruments the Lord is using to bring these iniquitous systems to their end; and so long as these books remain, the torment of these systems will be in evidence. The systems will cease, but the “Seven Plagues” will continue forever.—Rev. 14:11; 19:3.

20:11. And I saw a great white Throne.—“The whiteness of the Throne indicates the purity of the justice and judgment which will be meted out.”—B. S. M.

And Him that sat on it.—“The Throne is Messiah's; it represents His Mediatorial Dominion of earth for a thousand years.”—B. S. M.

From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.—“The heavens and earth which will flee from the presence of the great Immanuel will not be the Heavens of God's Throne, nor the earth which he has given to the children of men. The heavens and earth which will flee away, and for which no place will be found, are, of course, the symbolical ones. The symbolic heavens represent spiritual influences—Ecclesiasticism, Churchianity. Thus interpreted, our text declares that when Messiah assumes control of the world, the result will be that the social system of to-day, as well as present-day ecclesiasticism, will pass out of existence—no place will be found for them.” (B. S. M.) “‘Heaven and earth’: To our Lord's contemporaries the religious and social system under which they lived seemed almost as fixed and as eternal as the earth and sky. Indeed, ‘heaven and earth’ appears to have been a name which they gave to the then-existing order of things in recognition of what they deemed its permanence and fixity.”—Weym.; Rev. 21:1; Dan. 2:35.

20:12. And I saw the dead, [small and] BOTH great AND SMALL stand before [God] THE THRONE.—What a grand privilege is that which awaits “Him whom man despiseth, Him whom the nation abhorreth, a servant of rulers,” “That thou mayest say to the prisoners [the twenty billions in the prison-house of death], Go forth; to them that are in [the] darkness [of the tomb], Show yourselves.” (Isa. 49:7, 9; Rev. 11:18; 19:5). (The dead are standing while they are dead. See Rev. 20:5 comments.)

And the books were opened.—“The books of the Bible will then all be opened—understood. All will then see that the Golden Rules laid down by inspiration through Moses and the Prophets, Jesus and His Apostles, are the very ones which God will require of men in the future and which Messiah will then enable the willing and obedient to comply with by assisting them up out of their sin and degradation.” (B. S. M.) The entire Word of God will not be opened until after the Church is beyond the veil. Much of it (perhaps nearly all) will be opened by the Great Company class during the Time of Trouble, but some of it may wait for the Prophets themselves. Meantime, all that is necessary for salvation and service has been provided.—Dan. 7:10.

And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.—“In the great Day of the world's trial or Judgment another Book of Life will be opened. A record will be made of all who, by obedience, show themselves worthy of everlasting life on the human plane.” (B. S. M.) “The First Book of life is called the Lamb's Book of Life, containing the names of the elect Church, His Bride. This other Book of Life will be the book, or record, of those who shall pass the restitutional trial or judgment satisfactorily.”—Z. '00-239.

And the dead were judged.—“This judgment, or rulership, cannot begin until Christ, whom Jehovah hath appointed to be the Judge or Ruler of the world, has come again—not again in humiliation, but in power and great glory: not again to redeem the world, but to judge [rule] the world in righteousness. A trial can in no case proceed until the judge is on the bench and the court in session at the appointed time.—Matt. 25:31.”—A. 345.

Out of those things which were written in the books.—“It is by the Word of the Lord that men are judged (John 12:48-50); and not by the opinions or precedents of fellow-men in any capacity. Therefore all should imitate the noble Bereans who ‘searched the Scriptures daily’ to see if the things taught them were true. (Acts 17:11.) ‘To the Law and to the Testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’—See 1 Thes. 5:21; Isa. 8:20.”—D. 66.

According to their works.—“The judgment of that time, the test, will not be of faith; for knowledge will be universal, and all the darkness and obscurity created by ignorance and superstition will have passed away. The test at that time will be of works, whereas the tests of the Church at the present time are of faith.”—B. S. M.

20:13. And the sea.—The masses of mankind, not under religious restraint—the condition of the whole world in the time of anarchy due in its full severity in the fall of 1920. See page 178.

Gave up the dead which were in it.—Earth's new Ruler will deal first with those who survive the Time of Trouble, reckoned dead, even though actually having a small measure of life. When the Lord said, “Let the dead bury their dead” (Matt. 8:22), He used the same word to describe both classes. Those under the death sentence are counted by the Lord in the same class with those upon whom the sentence has been already executed. None but God's people have “passed from death unto life.” (1 John 3:14.) All the rest of the world, in God's sight, are dead.

And death.—“From the first, or Adamic death, a resurrection has been provided. All that are in their graves shall come forth. It was in view of God's plan for redeeming the race from that first death that in both the Old and New Testaments it is called a ‘sleep.’”—H. 58.

And hell.—“The dark, secret condition, the grave, which in the present time speaks to us of a hope of future life by God's resurrection power in Christ.”—Z. '10-41.

Delivered up the dead which were in them.—“Thus God tells us through the Prophet, ‘I will ransom them from the power of the grave [Sheol]. I will redeem them from death.... O grave [Sheol] I will be thy destruction.’ (Hos. 13:14.) The first or Adamic death shall no longer have liberty or power over men, as it has had for the past six thousand years; no longer shall any die for Adam's sin. (Rom. 5:12; Jer. 31:29, 30; Ezek. 18:2.)”—Z. '10-41.

And they were judged every man according to their works.—“Since all mankind will not be raised at once, but gradually, during the thousand years, each new group will find an army of helpers in those who will have preceded it. The love and benevolence which men will then show to each other (the brethren of Christ) the King will count as shown to Him. (Rom. 13:10.)”—Z. '10-39.

20:14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.—“The destruction of the first death and Hades commences with the beginning of the Millennial Reign and continues to its close. Hades (the grave) will be destroyed when all the dead in it have heard the Lord's voice and come forth. (John 5:25.) But ‘death’ will still have hold upon these, since every ache and pain and every mental and moral imperfection is a part of the inherited Adamic penalty. The millions awakened will be still under condemnation, still in death; but in proportion as they render obedience to the terms of the New Covenant, progress will be made toward health, perfection and life. On the other hand, those who, after full knowledge, refuse to accept and personally apply the merit of the sacrifice of Christ, will remain under condemnation; because their wills consent to evil, they will progress toward the Second Death. In the case of the obedient, death will be swallowed up of life. In the case of the disobedient, death will be swallowed up of the Second Death. (1 Cor. 15:26, 54, 55; Isa. 25:6-8.)”—H. 66.

AND this is the Second Death; THE LAKE OF FIRE.—“This destruction or death is called the Second Death in contradistinction to the First or Adamic death, and not to signify that everything which goes into it dies a second time. For instance, death (the first or Adamic death), and Hades, the grave, are to be cast into it, which work will require the entire Millennium to accomplish it; and in no sense will they ever have been destroyed before. So also the devil, the beast, and the false prophet, will never have been destroyed before.”—H. 58; Rev. 21:8.

20:15. And whosoever [was] SHALL not BE found written in the Book of Life.—The writing, the judging, is still future.

Was cast into the Lake of Fire.—“The Second Death, during the Millennial Age, is a part of the utter destruction which will include every improper, injurious and useless thing. (Isa. 11:9; Psa. 101:5-8.) But the Second Death, the sentence of that individual trial, will be final: it will never be destroyed. We rejoice that there is no danger of this, but that Divine Justice unites with Divine Wisdom, Love and Power, to bring in everlasting righteousness on a permanent basis.”—H. 67; Rev. 19:20; Psa. 50:22.

“A thousand years, earth's coming glory,”
'Tis the glad Day so long foretold;
'Tis the bright Morn of Zion's glory
Prophets foresaw in times of old.

“What if the clouds do for a moment”
Hide the blue sky where Morn appears?
Soon the glad Sun of Promise given
“Rises to shine a thousand years!”

Revelation 21—The Descending Kingdom

21:1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.—“It may be that this, rather than ‘the Millennium,’ is the name which we ought to give to the Golden Age, of purity and bliss which next awaits the world. The words seem to include a transformation and glorification of our material globe.”—Weym.

“Paradise, the Garden of God, applicable as a name to Eden, where our first parents resided, is Scripturally applied to the new earth when Restitution blessings shall, during the Millennium, have brought it to perfection. This Paradise of the future is referred to by the Apostles as ‘the third heaven,’ and as ‘a new heavens and a new earth.’ (2 Corinthians 12:2; 2 Peter 3:13.) They are not referring to new planets, nor to heavens ranged one above another, as many have supposed, but to the third of three great periods of time, beginning with man's creation and extending into the illimitable future. The first of these periods, termed the first heavens and earth—the old order of things—passed away with the Deluge of Noah's day. The second period, ‘the heavens and the earth which are now,’ the present order of things, are reserved of God to pass away with a great symbolic fire of trouble—revolution, etc.—which will utterly destroy the present spiritual powers and the present social arrangements. (2 Peter 3:6, 7; Galatians 1:4; Zephaniah 3:8, 9.) The third great period is to be a ‘world without end,’ under Divine administration. This will be the third heavens and the third earth, or the new heavens and the new earth, which will differ from the present condition of things in that they will be righteous! whereas the present arrangement is imperfect, unrighteous. The ‘new heavens’ will consist of the new spiritual ruling powers of the future—Christ the Head, and the Church His Body.”—Z. '16-392.

For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.—“The Scriptures show us that in this general rupture the nominal church (including all denominations) will be gradually drawn more and more to the side of the governments and the wealthy, will lose much of its influence over the people, and will finally fall with the governments. Thus the heavens [ecclesiastical rule] being on fire, will pass away with a great hissing.” (A. 333.) Two of the causes that operate to “burn” the present “earth” are declared to be hunger, and the misrule of beastly governments. (Deut. 32:24) In the end all will be glad to see the unclean heavens pass away (Job 15:15) rent in twain (Isa. 64:1) and the new heavens planted (Isa. 51:16) which will be heard in their lightest petition to the God of all grace (Hos. 2:21). “Drop down, ye Heavens from above.”—Isa. 45:8.

And there was no more sea.—“Under the control of the new Heaven—spiritual powers—the reconstructed social order will be so satisfactory, so complete, so thorough, that there will be no more dissatisfied masses. Everything will be reduced to law and order, obliterating the differences of wealth and power as they now exist.”—Z. '16-392.

21:2. And I, [John] saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem.—“The New Jerusalem is not ‘that great city [government] which ruleth over the kings of the earth’ (Revelation 17:18) but is the new Spiritual Government of the Millennial Age. It is not reared by men; but, descends from God out of Heaven. It is for this Kingdom, this Government, that our Lord taught His disciples to pray, ‘Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in Heaven.’”—Z. '16-392; Isa. 52:1; Matt. 5:35; Heb. 11:10, 16; 13:14; Rev. 3:12; 21:10; 11:2; 22:19.

Coming down [from God] out of Heaven, FROM GOD.—“We are not to think of this Holy City as being composed of literal stones, but of ‘living stones’ (1 Peter 2:4-7; Ephesians 2:19-22.) Neither Christ nor the saints in glory can be seen of men. But the whole world will quickly be made aware of the fact that a new Government has been instituted—a government of righteousness and all power.”—Z. '16-392; Heb. 11:10; 12:22; Rev. 3:12; 21:10.

Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.—“This declaration implies its beauty, grandeur and perfection, as a bride's adornment on such an occasion is particular and elaborate to the last degree. Additionally, the statement reminds us that in the government of the future the world's judges are to be the saints selected throughout the Gospel Age and frequently called ‘the Bride, the Lamb's Wife.’”—Z. '16-392; 2 Cor. 11:2; John 3:29; Eph. 5:31, 32.

21:3. And [I heard] a great voice.—The Lord Jesus, the Father's Word.

[Out of heaven] WAS saying, OUT OF THE THRONE, Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men.—“This verse associates this City with the other figure of a symbolic Temple, which the Lord is now preparing, of which the saints will constitute the ‘pillars.’ God will dwell in this Temple, and the world of mankind will approach God in it to receive the Divine blessings, as Israel approached the typical Tabernacle and the Temple in their typical religious services.” (Z. '01-199.) “When we think of the Church as the Temple under construction, it impresses upon us the thought that there is a future work to be accomplished. Why construct a Temple, and then not use it? St. Paul says, the Church is God's workmanship. (Ephesians 2:10.) And His work will be so perfectly accomplished that there will be no need of rectification or alteration beyond the veil,—beautifully illustrated in the erection of Solomon's Temple, of which we read that its stones were prepared at the quarry and then finally assembled for the construction of the Temple, and that they were so perfectly shaped and marked for their various places that they came together without the sound of a hammer.”—Z. '15-189; 2 Cor. 6:16.

And He [will dwell] DWELLETH with them and they shall be His people.—“All mankind will be treated from the standpoint of reconciliation, the Propitiation (price) for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) having been provided at Calvary, and the due time having then come for the manifestation of Divine favor.”—Z. '01-200; Psa. 68:18; Ezek. 37:27; Zech. 8:8.

[And] God Himself shall be with them, [and be their God].—“It will be the Kingdom of God, because God's dear Son and His joint-heir, the Church, will be in absolute accord with the Father, and all that shall be done under their control will fully and completely represent the Divine will respecting men. Nevertheless, it will be a separate Kingdom from that of the remainder of the Universe, as the Apostle Paul indicates. (1 Cor. 15:24, 25, 28.)”—Z. '01-200; Jer. 30:22; 31:33; Ezek. 11:20.

21:4. And [God] HE shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—“The wiping away of tears implies a gradual work, such as we see will be the process of that glorious time. Man will not be exempt from every weakness and trial and difficulty at the beginning, but if he will conform to the Laws of the Kingdom, all cause for distress will gradually pass away, as restitution blessings will lift him out of death into life.”—Z. '01-200; Isa. 25:8; 65:19.

And there shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor crying SHALL BE.—“What a glorious sun-burst of blessing is in these words! What a grand fulfilment will be there of the Apostle's declaration respecting ‘Times of Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began’! The declaration, however, applies to the very end of the Millennial Age, and not in full to any previous time in that Age. (John 5:28, 29.)”—Z. '01-200; 1 Cor. 15:26, 54; Rev. 20:14; Isa. 35:10; 51:11; 65:19.

[Neither shall there be any more pain] For the former things are passed away.—The reign of Satan, sin and death will have ended forever. “To gain a place in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God will be to find the gratification of every desire and ambition of the perfect human heart.”—A. 291.

21:5. And He that sat upon the Throne said, Behold, I make all things new.—“This expression does not relate merely to rocks and trees, etc., but to the great work which our Lord undertook; viz., the regeneration of humanity to the complete perfection contemplated in the original Divine Plan.”—Z. '01-201; Rev. 20:11.

And He said unto me, Write: for these words are [true and] faithful, AND TRUE.—“Present conditions seem so contrary to all this grand Restitution outcome that it cannot be fully believed and trusted by any except those who have learned to walk with the Lord. To all others these things will appear untrue, and God will appear unfaithful, and the matters which we are here discussing will seem ‘idle tales,’ as fables and golden fancies: but to us who believe, these promises are precious.”—1 Pet. 2:7.

21:6. And He [said] SAITH unto me, [It is done.] I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.—“It was the Father's good pleasure that the Blessed One, the Only Begotten of the Father, should accomplish the entire program of redemption and restitution; and be forever the Associate and Representative of the Father, through whom and by whom all things should continue, as He was the one through whom all things were made that were made.”—Z. '01-201; Rev. 1:8; 22:13.

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.—“It is this one who, during the Millennial Age, will extend to all the willing and obedient the Water of Life, everlasting life—the privilege of perpetual existence. But they must thirst for it, must desire it; and this desire must be manifest in obedience to the terms, the laws, upon which it will be supplied freely.”—Z. '01-201; Rev. 22:17; Isa. 55:1; John 7:37.

21:7. He that overcometh shall inherit [all] THESE things.—These earthly things.—Acts 3:21.

And I will be his God, and he shall be My son.—“Those addressed are not the Bride class, selected during the Gospel Age, (1 John 3:2) but the sheep class of Matt. 25—such of mankind as during the Millennial Age become the Lord's sheep and obey His voice. They shall inherit the earth, the purchased possession—which Jesus will restore at the close of the Millennium to all the children of Adam who shall have accepted His gracious favors and been regenerated by Him, and thus become His sons, and He their God—their Father. (Isa. 9:6)”—Z. '01-201; Zech. 8:8; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 8:21.

21:8. But the fearful.—“If any, enlightened by the Truth, and brought to a knowledge of the love of God, and restored to human perfection, become ‘fearful,’ and ‘draw back’ (Heb. 10:38, 39), they, with the unbelievers, will be destroyed from among the people. (Acts 3:23.)”—A. 107.

And unbelieving.—Who will not trust God, after all the marvels of His grace they will have seen and experienced.—Heb. 11:6; Rom. 10:17; John 20:31; John 17:20; 1 Tim. 6:12; Luke 17:5; James 2:17.

And the abominable.—“Those abominable characters among men, who, knowing the truth, yet love unrighteousness.”—H. 60.

And murderers.—Slanderers.—Psa. 141:3; Deut. 5:17; Matt. 5:21, 22; 15:18-20; 1 John 3:15; James 3:2-12; James 4:11; Prov. 4:23, 24; Matt. 12:34-37; Eph. 4:31; Psa. 15:1-3; 19:14; 34:13; 101:5; Prov. 12:19; 16:28; 17:4; 26:20-21; Jer. 20:10; 1 Cor. 10:10; James 1:19; Deut. 32:2.

And whoremongers.—Not at heart faithful to the Lord.

And sorcerers.—Dreamers, theorists, pseudo-philosophers, endeavoring to accredit to themselves the great salvation wrought.—Rev. 22:15.

And idolaters.—“Such as misappropriate and misuse Divine favors, who give to self or any other creature or thing that service and honor which belong to God.”—H. 63.

And all liars.—“All who do not love the Truth and seek it, and at any cost defend and hold it.” (H. 63.) “If something is six inches long, let it be just six inches for six inches.”—Z. '12-147.

Shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.—“The severest punishment inflicted by the Jews upon any criminal. The corpse (after the man had been stoned to death) was thrown out into the Valley of Hinnom (Gay-Hinnom) and was devoured by the worm or the flame.”—Weym.

Which is the Second Death.—“Such company would be repulsive to any honest, upright being. It is hard to tolerate them now, but in the close of the Millennial Judgment, when the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall have given every advantage and opportunity of knowledge and ability, the righteous will be glad when the corrupters of the earth, and all their work and influence, shall be destroyed.”—H. 63.

21:9. And there came [unto me].—To the John class, the Church, on this side of the veil.

One of the seven angels.—The Seventh.

Which had the seven vials full.—They are still full after they are poured out on ecclesiasticism!

Of the seven last plagues.—The Seven volumes of Studies in the Scriptures.

And talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee.—See Lu. 4:21.

The Bride, the Lamb's Wife.—“As a grand lesson of the Divine sovereignty, and as a sublime contradiction to all evolution theories, God elected to call to this place of honor (as ‘the Bride, the Lamb's Wife and Joint-heir’—Rom. 8:17), not angels and cherubs, but some from among the sinners redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. The continued permission of evil is for the purpose of developing these ‘members of the Body of Christ’ and to furnish them the opportunity of sacrificing their little and redeemed all, in the service of Him who bought them with His precious blood; and thus of developing in their hearts His spiritual likeness, that when, at the end of the Age, they are presented by their Lord and Redeemer before the Father, God may see in them ‘the image of His Son.’”—Col. 1:22; Rom. 8:29; E. 412, 395; Rev. 19:7; 21:2.

21:10. And he carried me away in the Spirit.—“God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.”—1 Cor. 2:10; Rev. 1:10; 17:3.

To a great and high mountain.—How similar is the language, recording the experience of the first and greatest Member of the Church, at the beginning of His ministry. Concerning the Lord's third temptation we read: “In this temptation the Lord is taken, not physically, but in the spirit of His mind, up into a high mountain—a very exalted kingdom. Physically He was all this time in the desert near Jerusalem; and as a matter of fact there is neither in that desert nor anywhere in the world a mountain from which all the kingdoms of the world could be viewed except with the mind's eye.”—Z. '06-43.

[St. John's Vision of the Descending Kingdom Illustration]

And shewed me [that great] THE HOLY City, [The holy] Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God.—The city came down from Heaven to earth. If we went up to Heaven, it would not be found there. If Rev. 21 is to be literally interpreted, then the whole surface of Palestine is far from sufficient to hold a city of this size. Besides, its height, length and breadth were to be equal.—Rev. 21:2.

21:11. Having the glory [of] FROM God.—The Church has a foretaste of this glory on this side of the veil.—1 Pet. 4:14.

[And] her light.—“The Lamb is the Light thereof.”—Rev. 21:23; 22:5.

Was like unto a stone most precious.—“The brightness of His [the Father's] glory, and the express image of His person.”—Heb. 1:3.

Even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.—A beautiful green-tinted diamond.—Rev. 4:3.

21:12 And [had] HAVING a wall great and high.—The pictures here are all pictures of the Bride. Nevertheless, the wall, the protection of that Heavenly City, in a special sense represents our Heavenly Father. No picture of the Bride would be complete that did not include Him who dwells within us, who is the Author of the Plan, and the Source of all our joys. Now as to the application of the picture of the wall to the Bride herself, one of Pastor Russell's coworkers has aptly said: “We are like living stones, in the plural—144,000 stones in one, if you will. There was one perfect Stone to begin with, and all the others had to be conformed to the image of that Stone. Men have discovered a way of taking two glasses of different density and fusing them together, so you cannot tell where the point of fusion is. And so, with this Little Flock of 144,000, they are going to be welded together in one—there will be but one mind in that whole 144,000. There is only one thing they have in view, and that is to perform Jehovah's will; and they rejoice in doing His will absolutely.”

And [had] HAVING twelve gates.—The twelve mystical tribes of Israel.—Rev. 7:5-8; Ezek. 48:31-34.

And at the gates twelve angels, and THEIR names written thereon.—The entire Little Flock; twelve thousand of each tribe, each working together, under God's direction, as one angel, or messenger. Doubtless certain special work is reserved for each tribe. All who gain membership in that tribe will be particularly suited to the work to which they will be assigned.

Which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.—Their names, and the characteristics they signify, are given in Rev. 7:5-8.

21:13. On the East.—Toward the Sun-rising, toward the Dawn, toward the Little Flock, specially honored and blessed in their sacrifices on behalf of the Church. The side of the Amramites.—Num. 3:19; F. 128.

Three gates.—The mystical tribe of Joseph, Benjamin and Manasseh—Manasseh taking the place of Dan.—Ezek. 48:32; Rev. 7:5, 7, 8.

AND on the North.—The side of the Merarites, the Great Company.—Num. 3:33; F. 129.

Three gates.—The mystical tribes of Judah, Reuben and Levi.—Ezek. 48:31; Rev. 7:5, 7.

AND on the South.—The side of the Kohathites, the Ancient Worthies.—Num. 4:2; F. 129.

Three gates.—The mystical tribes of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun.—Ezek. 48:33; Rev. 7:7, 8.

And on the West.—The side of the Gershonites, the Restitution classes.—Num. 4:22; F. 129.

Three gates.—The mystical tribes of Gad, Asher and Naphtali.—Ezek. 48:34; Rev. 7:5, 6.

Although the pictures here given are pictures of the Bride, and the gates apply as above shown, nevertheless these gates also represent the Ancient Worthies, who during the Millennial Age will be the earthly representatives of the Church, and, perhaps, exactly 144,000 in number. Additionally, the Ancient Worthies are called “gates” in Isa. 26:2. “The gates or entrances of the City, which are twelve in number, are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is in harmony with what we have learned of the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God that the Ancient Worthies from the various tribes of Israel, selected during the Jewish Age, will be the visible representatives of the Heavenly Kingdom in the earth through whose instrumentality the nations may enter into the blessings of the Kingdom.”—Z. '92-16.

“The city lies open and accessible to all quarters, and to all quarters alike.”—Luke 13:29. Weym.

21:14. And the wall of the City had twelve foundations.—“The Lord himself, is the foundation, ‘Other foundations can no man lay than that is laid—Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 3:11.) He is the great Rock, and St. Peter's confession of Him as such was, therefore, a rock testimonial—a declaration of the foundation principles underlying the Divine Plan. St. Peter disowned any pretension to being the foundation-stone himself and properly classed himself to with all the other ‘living stones’ (Gr. lithos,) of the Church,—though petros, rock, signifies a larger stone than lithos, and all the Apostles as ‘foundation’ stones would in the Divine Plan and order have a larger importance than their brethren.”—F. 220; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20.

And [in] ON them the TWELVE names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb.—“We are entirely out of accord with the views of Papacy, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of the Catholic-Apostolic Church, and of the Mormons, all of whom claim that the number of the Apostles was not limited to twelve, and that there have been successors since their day who spoke and wrote with equal authority with the original Twelve. (2 Cor. 11:13.)” (F. 209.) We still have with us the gift of Apostles, in that we have their teachings in the New Testament, so full and complete as to require no addition; and hence the Twelve Apostles have no successors, and need none, since there are but “Twelve Apostles of the Lamb;” they are the twelve stars; the twelve foundations.'—John 6:70; E. 229, 207.

12:15. And he that talked with me.—Volume VII of Studies in the Scriptures.

Had a [golden] MEASURING reed of gold.—The Divine Word.

To measure the City, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.—Surely, if we can not find the measurement in the Scriptures it is hopeless to look elsewhere.—Zech. 2:1, 2; Rev. 11:1; Ezek. 40:3.

21:16. And the City lieth foursquare, and the length is [as large] as the breadth.—A perfect cube, like the Most Holy of the Tabernacle.

And he measured the City with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.—“The number of ‘buildings’ in the City seems to be indicated by the measures—12,000 times 12,000 furlongs equals 144,000,000 square furlongs. This area contains 144,000 building-lots of one thousand square furlongs each—which circumstance may well signify that the 144,000, faithful ones will reign with Jesus during a thousand years (one square furlong representing a year.”)

The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.—Each view of the City, from any side, presents to view, Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

21:17. And he measured the wall thereof.—Its thickness.

An hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man.—The measure of a man, the Man Christ Jesus, is 1,000. His Day is to be 1,000 years in length. Adam's Day was a thousand years long. The total measure is 144,000, the number of the Elect. We should expect to find the number of those rescued during the Millennium shown somewhere in these measurements; and this we also find. The cubit, in symbolism, is flexible in length, like the word “day.” If we multiply the number of square furlongs in any wall by the 144 measures of a man, i. e., 144,000,000 X 144, the result is 20,736,000,000, the estimated number of the sheep class at the end of the Millennial Age.—Matt. 25:34-40; Z. '05-271.

That is, of the angel.—As interpreted by the angel.

21:18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper.—“The solid fabric of the wall was jasper; and the city itself was made of gold, resembling transparent glass.”—Weym.

And the City was pure gold, like unto clear glass.—Of Divine origin, and made up of those who have the Divine nature.

21:19. And the foundations of the wall of the City were garnished with all manner of precious stones.—Mosaic manufacturers make 15,000 colors; and it is estimated the trained eye can detect a million colors. In selecting and polishing the 144,000 gems and putting them in place in the Temple God is preparing a beautiful harmony of characters in infinite variety that will delight the hearts of all His creatures to all eternity.—1 Chron. 29:2.

The first foundation was jasper.—Likeness to the Father. See comments on Rev. 4:3.

AND the second, sapphire.—Faithfulness. The sapphire of the ancients is the modern lapiz lazuli, or azure stone, a mineral substance valued for decorative purposes in consequence of the fine blue color which it usually presents. It has the appearance of being spotted with gold dust. “The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.” (Job. 28:6.) The brilliant spots in the deep blue matrix invite comparison with the stars in the firmament. The crystals form into units having twelve equal sides. The blue is the color of faithfulness; the gold shows the faithfulness towards God; the star-like appearance shows the faithfulness towards all the Heavenly beings—angels, archangels, and the Great Company; the crystalline formation shows the faithfulness towards the symbolical and actual twelve tribes of Israel which, in the last analysis, include all who shall become heirs of salvation. Those who gain the prize of the High Calling can be trusted.—1 Cor. 4:2; Luke 16:10-12.

AND the third, a chalcedony.—Obedience; Submission. A green quartz, found in the copper mines of Chalcedon. It crystallizes in the twelve-sided and twenty-four-sided forms of cubic crystalline formation. In the twelve sided crystals each side is a surface of five equal sides and angles. The Church's obedience is perfect towards God as indicated in the faces of the crystals, five being a symbol of Divinity. It is operative towards the brethren as in the twelve-faced crystals, and towards both phases of the Kingdom, as in the twenty-four-sided crystals.

The fourth, an emerald.—Deathlessness. One of the most beautiful of gems, of a bright green color, without any mixture, crystallizing in long, hexagonal (six-sided) crystals. The stone loses color when strongly heated. From those originally imperfect (as shown in the six-sided crystals) God is creating a race of deathless ones. Nevertheless, though begotten to the Divine nature, should they cling to the dross of their fleshly natures too determinedly, so great fires may be applied to burn away the dross as will destroy the value of the gem. This gem, too, represents the Church's power to bestow life upon the dead world. The crystals may be broken or split crosswise. The everlasting life for the world, which may be made continuous, is nevertheless susceptible of being broken off at any time for disobedience.

21:20. The fifth, sardonyx.—Humility; Purity; Martyrdom. An ornamental stone much used for seals and cameos. It was considered by ancient oriental authorities that a fine oriental sardonyx should have at least three strata, a black base, a white intermediate center, and a superficial layer of red; these colors typifying the three cardinal virtues—humility, black; chastity, white; modesty or martyrdom, red.

The sixth, sardius.—Loyalty to Christ. A reddish stone much used by the ancients as a gem stone; it has been in all ages the commonest of the stones used by the gem engraver.—Rev. 4:3.

The seventh, chrysolyte.—Heavenly Wisdom. Greek Chrysos, gold, and lithos, stone. The meaning of the term makes it the golden stone. It is a gem of a golden color, lightly tinted with green. It is very transparent. “The wisdom that is from Above is first pure.”—Jas. 3:17.

The eighth, beryl.—Love of the Father. A pellucid gem of a bluish green color, much prized as a gem stone by the ancients. It crystallizes in the hexagonal system, with sixty-six sides of various sizes and shapes. On each of the six principal sides are diamond-shaped marks, alternately five and eight marks to a side, with four marks at the end. The sixty-six sides represent the sixty-six books of the Bible; the two ends represent the Old and New Testaments; the diamond shaped marks represent the Heavenly Father; the three groups of eight each represent the twenty-four prophecies of the kingdom; five is a symbol of Divinity, and four represents Justice, Power, Wisdom and Love.

The ninth, topaz.—Benevolence. It is generally held that the mineral now called topaz was unknown to ancient writers, and that their topaz is our peridot. This is the name applied by jewelers to “noble olivine.” It is a dark, decidedly green-colored mineral. Much mystery for a long time surrounded the locality which yielded most of the peridot for commerce; but it is now identified with the island of St. John in the Red Sea, probably the “Topaz Isle” of the ancients. It crystallizes in twenty-six-sided figures. In some views—i. e., when the Great Company or the classes that are to be destroyed are taken into consideration—the tribes of Israel number thirteen; and when Spiritual and Fleshly Israel are considered separately, the total number is twenty-six. It is not the wish of the Heavenly Father that any of these should perish, and it is the wish of the Church to do all humanly and Divinely possible to save the unworthy from the final consequences of their own willfulness. This spirit will be exercised to the last limit of love.

The tenth, chrysoprasus.—Constant, cheerful endurance. The modern Chrysoberyl is a yellow or green gem stone, remarkable for its hardness, being exceeded in this respect only by the diamond and the jacinth. It is not infrequently cloudy, due to microscopic cavities. The hardness signifies ability to “endure hardness as good soldiers,” and the clouds signify difficulties, troubles, to be overcome.

The eleventh, jacinth.—Unchangeableness. The modern sapphire, next to the diamond in hardness; a beautiful blue stone. Many of the crystals are parti-colored, the blue being distributed in patches in a colorless stone; but by skillful cutting the deep-colored portion may be caused to impart color to the entire gem. This stone crystallizes in the most beautiful and wonderful pattern conceivable, consisting of a six-sided pyramid at either end, separated by three different sets of surfaces of six each and two different sets of surfaces of three each. We may think of the two ends as representing the teachings of the Twelve Apostles, and the twenty-four surfaces between as representing the twenty-four elders (prophecies pertaining to the Kingdom of God). God is unchangeable; although the different operations of His Plan, in different ages, make Him seem changeable to mankind. But the perfected Plan will be the adoration of all His creatures. This gem also shows how God can take characters whose conduct may have been very irregular, and by skillful cutting make them copies of Himself.

The twelfth, an amethyst.—Royalty. A stone of a violet color, bordering on purple, composed of a strong blue and deep red. The name is derived from the Greek a, not, and methyskein, to intoxicate, expressing the old belief that the stone protected its owner from strong drink. It was held that wine drank out of a cup of amethyst would not intoxicate. It crystallizes in double pyramids (base to base) of three sides on each pyramid. Amethyst was Pastor Russell's birth-stone; and behold how perfect its application! He was true blue in his faithfulness, and fully loyal to the blood of Christ, as shown by the red. He has the royalty now, thank God! The cup which he poured never intoxicated with error those who drank its live-giving draughts from the Fountain of all Truth, our Father's Word. The six-sided crystallization represents his Six Volumes of Scripture Studies, and this, the Seventh, a summary of all, represents the stone as a whole. There are over ninety varieties of crystals in nature. Surely, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”

The following is William Miller's dream, as given in The Three Worlds, the first of Pastor Russell's books, long since out of print, where it is told only as a dream. (Jer. 23:28.) It calls to mind a dream of Pastor Russell's, often told in private. In his early youth he dreamed of sleeping in an attic. Suddenly he awoke to see the morning sun, just emerged over the hill-top, blazing directly in his face. He jumped to his feet with a start, thinking that it must be late. In doing so he stumbled over several forms still asleep. He was about to reproach himself for thus rudely awakening them, when he discovered that not one of the sleepers had been disturbed. The application is evident. “The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.” Pastor Russell was awakened by the light of the Sun of the New Day. He tried to waken others, and succeeded with “just one here, one there;” but the great mass are still asleep. However, the Dawn comes on apace. Now for William Miller's dream:

“I dreamed that God, by an unseen hand, had sent me a curiously wrought casket, about ten inches long by six square, made of ebony and pearls curiously inlaid. To the casket there was a key attached. I immediately took the key and opened the casket, when, to my wonder and surprise, I found it filled with all sorts and sizes of jewels—diamonds, precious stones—and gold and silver coin of every dimension and value, beautifully arranged in their several places in the casket; and thus arranged, they reflected a light and glory equalled only by the sun. [These jewels are the beautiful truths which the open casket unfolded to his sight.] I thought it was my duty not to enjoy this wonderful sight alone, although my heart was overjoyed at the brilliancy, beauty and value of its contents. I therefore placed it on a center-table in my room, and gave out the word that all who had a desire might come and see the most glorious and brilliant sight ever seen by man in this life. The people began to come in, at first few in number, but increasing to a crowd. When they first looked into the casket, they would wonder and shout for joy. But when the spectators increased, every one would begin to trouble the jewels, taking them out of the casket and scattering them on the table.”

“I began to think that the owner would require the casket and jewels again at my hand; and that if I suffered them to be scattered, I could never place them in their places in the casket again as before, and felt I should never be able to meet the accountability; for it would be immense. I then began to plead with the people not to handle them, nor take them out of the casket. But the more I pleaded, the more they scattered; and now they seemed to scatter them all over the room, on the floor, and every piece of furniture in the room. I then saw that among the genuine jewels and coin they had scattered an innumerable quantity of spurious jewels and counterfeit coin. I was highly incensed at their base conduct and ingratitude, and reproved and reproached them for it; but the more I reproved, the more they scattered the spurious jewels and false coin among the genuine. I then became vexed in my very soul, and began to use physical force to push them out of the room; but while I was pushing out one, three more would enter, and bring in dirt, shavings, sand, and all manner of rubbish, until they had covered every one of the true jewels, diamonds and coins from sight. They also tore into pieces my casket and scattered it among the rubbish. I thought that no man regarded my sorrow or my anger. I became wholly discouraged and disheartened, and sat down and wept. [When the 1844 time passed, how perfectly was this fullfilled.] While I was thus weeping and mourning for my great loss and accountability, I remembered God, and earnestly prayed that He would send me help.”

“Immediately the door opened and a man entered the room, when the other people all left it. Then he, having a dirt brush in his hand, opened the windows and began to brush the dust and rubbish from the room. I cried to him to forbear; that there were some precious jewels scattered among the rubbish. But he told me to fear not, for he would take care of them. Then while he brushed the dust and rubbish, the false jewels and counterfeit coin, all rose and went out of the window like a cloud and the wind carried them away. In the bustle I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them the rubbish was all gone, and the precious jewels, the diamonds, the gold and the silver coins lay scattered in profusion all over the room. He then placed on the table a casket, much larger and more beautiful than the former, and gathered up the jewels, the diamonds, the coins, by the handful, and cast them into the casket, till not one was left, although some of the diamonds were not bigger than the point of a pin. He then called upon me to come and see. I looked into the casket, but my eyes were dazzled with the sight. The contents shone with ten times their former glory. I thought that they had been scoured in the sand by the feet of those wicked persons who had scattered and trod them in the dust. They were arranged in beautiful order in the casket—every one in its place—without any visible pains on the part of the man [Pastor Russell] who cast them in. I shouted for joy; and that shout awoke me.”

21:21. And the twelve gates were [twelve] pearls; every several gate was of one pearl.—“The peculiar lustre of a pearl is dependent on the fact that the surface is not perfectly smooth, but covered with the irregularly sinuous edges of innumerable layers of inconceivable thinness, deposited one over the other. The distance of these edges from each other varies indefinitely, the pearls of the finest water having them closest. They are always, however, too fine to be detected by the naked eye. The edges make so many steps, so to speak; and the iridescence is produced by the mutual interference of the rays of light reflected from these thousands of angles. For their water, or lustre, as distinguished from iridescence, pearls are indebted to their being composed of thin layers, which allow light to pass through them, while their numerous surfaces disperse and reflect the light in such a manner that it returns and mingles with that which is directly reflected from the exterior. The thinner and more transparent the constituent layers, the more perfect is the lustre. The immediate occasion of the production of a pearl appears to be always the presence of some extraneous substance inside of the shell of the mollusk.” (McC.) The mollusk is the earthly tabernacle; the extraneous substance is the New Mind. The successive layers are the additions made to it, “precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little.”—Isa. 28:13.

And the street of the City was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.—There will be but one street in that City, the street which has been in process of construction throughout the Age. The Prophets tell us of it.—Prov. 16:17; Isa. 40:3; 49:11; 35:8; 62:10-12.

21:22. And I saw no temple therein.—No special place of worship, for the use and benefit of the Little Flock.

[For] BECAUSE the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it.—The Bride's whole life is completely wrapped up in the Father and the Son. Her one consuming wish is to glorify the Lord's dear name. Of what need is any special place of worship for one who can say, “For to me to live is [for] Christ [to live]?”—Phil. 1:21.

21:23. And the City had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine [in] ON it.—“The sun signifies the light of this Gospel Age; the moon signifies the typically reflected light of the Gospel in the Law and the Prophets of the previous Dispensation. The glorified Church will have no need of the light which in the present time she so much enjoys through the Word and the Spirit, and the Law and the Prophets. She will have, instead of these, a much more excellent glory, being, herself, a part of the Sun of Righteousness.” (Z. '01-201.) “‘Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father’—our Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church, of course being included. The Prophet mentions the same Sun of Righteousness, saying, ‘The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His beams.’—Malachi 4:2.”—Z. '16-393.

For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.—“We are not to lose sight of the fact that Christ is the Head of the Church, even as the Father is the head of Christ Jesus. (1 Cor. 11:3.) Hence the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb will always be an inner Temple in this great Temple which God has provided for the world's blessing during Restitution Times.”—Z. '16-393; Isa. 24:23; 60:19, 20; Rev. 21:11; 22:5.

21:24. And the nations [of them which are saved] shall walk [in] BY the light [of it] THEREOF.—“The word ‘nations’ here signifies peoples, and is intended to show that all peoples, not merely the Israelites, will be thus favored under God's Kingdom. The world will not be divided into nationalities as at present.”—Z. '16-394; Isa. 60:3, 5.

And the kings of the earth do bring their glory [and honor] into it.—“When mankind reaches perfection at the close of the Millennial Age, as already shown, they will be admitted into membership in the Kingdom of God and given the entire control of earth as at first designed—each man a sovereign, a king.” (A. 296.) “That Kingdom, in which all will be kings, will be one grand, universal Republic, whose stability and blessed influence will be assured by the perfection of its every citizen, a result now much desired, but an impossibility because of sin.” (Z. '10-39.) “During the Millennial Age the kings will be the Ancient Worthies; but subsequently a New Dispensation will open, under new conditions, in which mankind (perfected) will be granted the privilege of ruling themselves in harmony with the Divine Law.” (Z. '97-304.) In this verse the Ancient Worthies are directly referred to; while in verse 26 the rest of mankind are referred to. Notice the tenses of the verbs “do bring” and “shall bring”—present and future—in the Millennium and after.

21:25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day.—Throughout the long Millennial Day of a thousand years all who will may seek and find salvation through the broad gates of the City of God that will then be wide open. (Isa. 60:11.) Now, “Narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”—Matt. 7:14.

For there shall be no night there.—“The period in which sin is permitted has been a dark Night to humanity, never to be forgotten; but the glorious Day of righteousness and Divine favor, to be ushered in by Messiah, who, as the Sun of Righteousness, shall arise and shine fully and clearly into and upon all, bringing healing and blessing, will more than counterbalance the dreadful night of weeping, sighing, pain, sickness and death, in which the groaning creation has been so long. ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’—Psa. 30:5.” (A. 9.)

The Psalmist explains how the smile of the Father was turned away from mankind. He describes mankind as “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God [by disobedience of His express command] and contemned [set at naught] the counsels of the Most High. Therefore He brought down their heart with labor [each sex with its own peculiar kind]; they fell down, and there was none to help.” (Psa. 107:10-12.) This disobedience brought our entire race into the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psa. 23:4); but the Prophets encouraged us to hope for a watchman who would tell us of the coming of the Day. (Isa. 21:12.) In the Apostle's time he declared the night was far spent, being then more than two-thirds gone. (Rom. 13:12.) The event that is to bring in the Day is the rising of the Sun of Righteousness. (Mal. 4:2.) When here at the First Advent Christ was the light of the world (John 8:12); and the people in His immediate neighborhood saw a great Light, shadowing forth His coming glory. (Isa. 9:2.) He declared that we, too, should be lights in the world. (Matt. 5:14.)—“You in your little corner, and I in mine;” and that in the resurrection all these 144,000 brightly burning candles should be brought together and with Him constitute the Sun of Righteousness that is to heal and bless the world. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.”—Matt. 13:43.

The sun rises quietly, like a thief. (1 Thes. 5:1.) When the Morning comes, the first work is banishing the works of the night. (Ezek. 7:7-12.) Next comes the opening of the spiritually blind eyes of those that have physical sight. (Amos 5:18.) Surely, the best time for a great oculist to open the eyes of the blind is in the day time. (Isa. 35:5.) Now matters are more or less obscured (1 Cor. 13:12); but the time is coming when the blind shall be shown a way of life they have not hitherto known. (Isa. 42:16.) Will the Lord show wonders in the dark? (Psa. 88:10.) He will indeed; and when the nations come forth from the tomb, they will seek Him that turneth the shadow of death into the morning. (Amos 5:8; Isa. 42: 6, 7.) They will seek Him and will find Him. No wonder, then, that the Psalmist, looking down the stream of time to that happy Day, exultingly exclaims, “Then [after full experience with sin and death] they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He hath broken the gates of brass [that stood between them and perfection], and cut the bars of iron asunder [that held them in death's prison house].” (Psa. 107:13-16.) “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.” (Rev. 21:4.) “For there shall be no night there.” “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the Morning.”—Psa. 30:5; Zech. 14:7.

21:26. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.—“This rendering of glory to the Kingdom will continue throughout the entire Millennial Age; for the princes throughout the earth will make known to the peoples that not in their own name or authority do they rule and execute judgment and establish righteousness, but in the name of the glorified Christ, Head and Body, whose representatives they are.”—Z. '16-394.

21:27. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything [that defileth] COMMON.—No one who could or would contaminate others by speech or example, will ever find a place in that City.

Neither whatsoever worketh abomination.—Nor anything tending in the direction of pride or sectarianism.

Or maketh a lie.—Nor anything countenancing the teaching of error for pleasure or profit.—1 John 2:22.

But they which are written in the [Lamb's.] Book of THE Life OF HEAVEN.—“The Lamb's Book of Life we must understand to include only those who attain to the position of joint-heirship with Christ, those whose names are written in Heaven during this Gospel Age and who are faithful to their Covenant. (Psa. 50:5.)”—Z. '16-394; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5, 13:8.

Revelation 22—The River Of Grace And Truth

[The River Of Life Illustration]

22:1. And he showed me a [pure] River of Water of Life, clear as crystal.—“One would think that, even with no knowledge of the symbols of Revelation, no thinking Christian should have any difficulty in realizing that the book portrays trouble for the Church throughout this Gospel Age and the triumphant Millennial Reign at its close.”—Z. '05-170; Ezek. 47:1-12; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8; Psa. 46:4.

Proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb.—“The Scriptures nowhere speak of the River of the Water of Life now. There is none, and can be none until the Heavenly City descends, for the river must flow from the midst of it, from the Throne. Describing the condition of the Lord's saints at the present time very differently, the Lord declares that those who are His have in them a well of water springing up into life eternal.”—Z. '05-172; Ezek. 47:1; Zech. 14:8.

22:2. In the midst of the street of it.—In the midst of the Highway of Holiness.—Rev. 21:21.

And on either side of the River.—Nourished and blessed by the life-giving Waters of Truth.—Ezek. 47:12.

Was there the Tree of Life.—The Christ, Head and Body.

Which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her [fruit] FRUITS every month.—Twelve kinds of fruit, twelve times a year, for a thousand years—a total fruitage of 144,000.

And the leaves of the [tree] TREES were for the healing of the nations.—“The symbolic picture suggests nourishment and healing for the sin-sick, starving world, which then may partake freely of all the blessings and privileges thus symbolized.”—Z. '05-171; Rev. 21:24; Ezek. 47:12.

22:3. And there shall be no [more] curse.—“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it [the removal of the curse] shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isa. 55:13.) “Upon no subject is the testimony of the Scriptures more positive, consistent and conclusive than on this subject of the curse, its effects upon man, the redemption from it, and its ultimate removal.”—E. 421, 405.

But the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.—“A spiritual police force will have humanity under absolute control. Every misdeed will be punished as soon as it is determined upon and before it shall have been put into effect. Likewise, every good act, good word and good thought will bring a blessing of restitution, health, strength—mental, moral, physical.”—Z. '15-267.

And His servants shall serve Him.—Beautiful inheritance of the Great Company class.—Rev. 7:15.

22:4. And they shall see His face.—This will be worth all they will be called upon to endure.—Matt. 5:8.

And His name shall be [in] ON their foreheads.—At present many of this class do not have clear perceptions of the Father's character. All misunderstandings will be cleared up shortly. They only await the departure of the last of the Elijah class, in the spring of 1918.

22:5. And there shall be no MORE night [there].—Doubtless, at first, the Great Company's memories of her dark night will be very keen.—Rev. 7:14; 21:23, 25.

And they need [no] NOT THE LIGHT OF A candle.—Light from the Church in the flesh.

[Neither] AND light of the sun.—The Gospel, through the Word.

For the Lord God [giveth] WILL GIVE them light.—“Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”—Rev. 19:9; 7:16-17; Psa. 84:11.

And they shall reign for ever and ever.—They—Christ and His Bride, in whose blest Heavenly courts the Beloved Bridesmaids will always find their happy station.—Dan. 7:27; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 3:21.

22:6. And he.—The same angel mentioned in Rev. 1:1; 19:9, 10; representing Pastor Russell, beyond the veil.

Said unto me.—The John class, in the flesh.

These sayings are faithful and true.—“There hath not failed one word of all His good promise.”—1 Kings 8:56.

And the Lord God of the [holy] SPIRITS OF THE Prophets.—It is still possible to have the same spirit as filled the Prophets of old, even though the prophecies themselves have ceased to be miraculously uttered or interpreted.—1 Cor. 13:8.

Sent ME His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly be done.—Especially the events of the immediate future.—Rev. 1:1.

22:7. AND behold I come quickly.—See Rev. 16:15; 22:10, 12, 20. Jesus is the speaker.

Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.—The Elijah class, who see its clear import and accept the responsibilities implied.—Rev. 1:3; 3:14.

22:8. And I John saw these things, and heard them.—Understood them.—Rev. 1:3.

And when I had heard and seen, I fell down before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.—“This may signify that in the end of this Gospel Age as the whole Church, the John class, comes to see the unfolding of the Divine Plan, there might be a spirit or disposition amongst them to do too much honor to the one used of the Lord in communicating to them the Divine light now due.”—Z. '05-173; Judges 13:17, 18.

22:9. Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not: [for] I am thy fellow-servant.—“The angel's refusal to accept homage should be a lesson to all ministers (servants—messengers) of God.”—Z. '96-305; Rev. 19:10.

And of thy brethren the Prophets.—Prophets, in the New Testament use of the word, refer to Christian speakers.

And of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.—“God alone should be worshiped: He is the Author of the great Plan and will be the Finisher of it. It is brought to our attention now by Him because it is now ‘due time’ for His people to come to an appreciation of His plans.”—Z. '05-173.

22:10. And he saith unto me, Seal not [the] THESE sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.—“Make no secret,” he added, “of the meaning of the predictions contained in this book; for the time for their fulfillment is now close at hand.”—Weym.

22:11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.—“At the time that the features of this symbolical Revelation shall come to be understood and appreciated by the Lord's people, they may know that the time of the completion is near at hand. We are not to expect that the telling of this Message will have the effect of converting the world. It was not intended to do this and will not do it.”—Z. '05-173; Dan. 12:10.

And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.—“Present Truth, although full of comfort and encouragement to the Church in respect to their dear friends who are out of Christ, has no effect whatever upon those who love sin, who are filthy, who are unrighteous. The unrighteous and the filthy simply ignore this message and are not moved specially by it.”—Z. '05-173.

And he that is righteous, let him [be righteous] WORK RIGHTEOUSNESS still.—“To lovers of righteousness, of truth, the revelations of the Divine Plan now unfolding commend themselves, and intensify their love for righteousness and appreciation of full consecration to the Lord.”—Z. '05-173.

And he that is holy, let him be holy still.—“The word seems to denote development and crystallization of character, immediately preceding the coming of the great Judge of all.” (Weym.) “Love is patient and kind. Love knows neither envy nor jealousy. Love is not forward and self-assertive, nor boastful and conceited. She does not behave unbecomingly, nor seek to aggrandize herself, nor blaze out passionate anger, nor brood over wrongs. She finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, but joyfully sides with the truth. She knows how to be silent. She is full of trust, full of hope, full of patient endurance.”—1 Cor. 13:4-7.—Weym.

22:12. [And] behold, I come quickly.—See Rev. 16:15; 22:7, 10, 20. The Lord Himself becomes the speaker.

And My reward is with Me, to [give] BE GIVEN every man.—Every man in Christ.

According as his work [shall be] IS.—The Church's work is practically finished. The reward is given on the basis of the work already done, in character development and in the natural outgrowth of that development—works.

22:13. I am Alpha and Omega, THE FIRST AND THE LAST, the Beginning and the End, [the First and the Last].—“Our Lord tells us over and over again (See Rev. 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 3:14; 21:6), that He is the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, of the creation of God.”—Z. '93-115.

22:14. Blessed are they that [do His commandments] WASH THEIR ROBES.—The Great Company class.—Rev. 7:14.

That they may have right to the Tree of Life.—Rev. 22:2.

And may enter through the gates into the City.—“Whose Builder and Maker is God.” (Heb. 11:10.) To these dear brethren we would say, The object of your trials is to remove the dross (Ex. 30:7; Mal. 3:2) that you may be fit companions of the Christ. (Ex. 12:8; Heb. 2:17; Rom. 5:3; Col. 1:11.) Do not think it strange. (James 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12; 5:10.) When you get the right viewpoint, you will rejoice in your sufferings. (Deut. 13:3; Psa. 23:4; 119:67.) The trials will not last forever (Psa. 39:1); and in them all you may hear the songs of deliverance. (Psa. 32:6, 7.) There is nothing to turn back to (Heb. 10:38); but there is joy untold to look forward to, and it is nigh.—Rev. 19:9; Psa. 45:14, 15.

22:15. [For] without are dogs.—There will be no clergy class, as such, in the Kingdom.—Isa. 56:10; Phil. 3:2; 2 Tim. 3:8, 9.

And sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolators.—See Rev. 21:8.

And whosoever [loveth and] maketh AND LOVETH a lie.—The old lies will die hard; and some may try to carry them far into the Time of Trouble, on the well-known principle that if a pigeon's brains are removed, and the wound allowed to heal, the bird will no longer seek its food, though it can still swing on a perch and ruffle its feathers and show fight. Ere long, however, the Truth will be so manifest that all must give way before it.

22:16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.—All down the Age the Church has had this Message; all down the Age holy men of God have sought to understand its mysteries; all down the Age it has remained a closed book. But now the Mystery of God is finished; and the object of keeping the book closed is accomplished. God wished the world to know when the time for the complete removal of error and for the establishment of His Kingdom would come; and so He enables the last members of His Church to give the Message.

I am the Root and the Offspring of David.—“According to the flesh, our Lord Jesus was, through His mother, the Son, the Branch, the Offshoot or Offspring of David. It was by virtue of His sacrifice of His undefiled life that He became the ‘Root,’ origin, source of life, and development of David.”—E. 150, 136; Rev. 5:5.

And the bright and morning Star.—“And I will give him the Morning Star.” (Rev. 2:28.) Christ's gift of Himself to the Bride is the greatest of all gifts.—Job. 38:7; Psa. 118:22-25.

22:17. And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come.—“The Gospel Age makes ready the chaste Virgin, the faithful Church, for the coming Bridegroom. And in the end of the Age, when she is made ‘ready’ (Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9), the Bridegroom comes; and they that are ready go in with Him to the Marriage. The Second Adam and the Second Eve become one, and then the glorious work of Restitution begins. In the next Dispensation, the New Heaven and the new earth, the Church will be no longer the espoused Virgin, but the Bride.”—A. 98.

And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come.—“Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.”—Matt. 5:6; Isa. 55:1.

[And] whosoever will, let him take of the Water of Life freely.—“Now the prospective members of the Bride class have the Lord's Spirit in them, ‘a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.’ (John 4:14.) By and by these well-springs brought together in glory with the Lord shall constitute the source of the great River of Life which shall bless and heal all nations. By and by the prophecy will be fulfilled: ‘He that believeth in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’”

22:18. [For] I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.—To all who ever understand it.

If any man shall add unto these things.—As was done in many instances during the Dark Ages, even in this very verse.—Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:5, 6.

God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.—His penalty will be, when he comes forth from the tomb in the Times of Restitution, that he will have to read the Seven Volumes of Scripture Studies, and get the matter straightened out in his own mind.

22:19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy.—Shall seek to nullify or minimize its teachings, now that the time has come for it to be understood.

God shall take away his part [out of the Book] FROM THE TREE of Life.—He will not be a part of the life-giving Tree described in Rev. 22:2; not a part of the Little Flock.

And [out of] the Holy City, [and from the things] which are written in this book.—He will not be one of the Lord's jewels, counted worthy of a place in the New Jerusalem.

22:20. He which testifieth these things TO BE saith, surely I come quickly.—The apokalupsis is at hand! See Rev. 16:15.

[Amen. Even so] come, Lord Jesus.—The union with the Bridegroom draweth nigh.

22:21. The grace of [our] THE Lord Jesus Christ be with [you all] THE SAINTS, Amen.—The first of the saints to whom will be extended the unmerited favor of a raising up out of death to perfection will be the Little Flock; the next class of saints to be reached will be the Great Company; next in order will come forth the Ancient Worthies; and finally the millions and billions of mankind, until at last Adam, himself, shall come forth from the prison-house in which he has lain so long, and may, if he will, receive again by the will of God, as a favor or grace at the hands of Christ, the unspeakable boon of eternal life.

“The sweet persuasion of His voice”
Respects thy sanctity of will,
He giveth day; thou hast thy choice
“To walk in darkness still.”—Whittier.

The Song Of Solomon

The Bridal Anthem

1:1. The song of songs—The harmony of harmonies—the assembling in one beautiful picture of many of the most beautiful figures of the Divine Word.

Which is Solomon's—Type of Christ in glory, as David was a type of Christ in the flesh.

1:2. Let him kiss me—A form of salutation signifying closest fellowship. “Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.” “Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?”

With the kisses—The oft repeated endearments.

Of His Mouth—Of His Word, the Scriptures.

For Thy love—Thy caresses, the repeated assurances of guidance, protection, companionship, love and care.

Is better than wine—Wine is a symbol of doctrine. “They also have erred through wine.” “They are drunken, but not with wine.” “All nations have drunk of the wine.” “I will not henceforth drink of this fruit of the vine.” “Be not drunk with wine.” Although a sound faith is essential, yet of faith, hope and love, the greatest is love; therefore, love is better than wine. The Lord's assurances of love are even more precious to the Bride than the precious doctrines so vital to her happiness.

1:3. Because of the savour—The sweet perfume.

Of Thy good ointments—The Holy Spirit, the holy anointing oil of the priesthood.

Thy name—Christ, which means “Anointed.”

Is as ointment—The holy anointing oil, the Holy Spirit.

Poured forth—At His baptism upon the Head, at Pentecost on the Body.

Therefore—Because of their admiration and appreciation of Christ's Holy Spirit.

Do the virgins—The pure in heart.

Love Thee—Seek fellowship with Thee, aspire to learn of Thee, to cultivate Thy graces, to be near Thee.

1:4. Draw me—“No man can come to Me except the Father draw him.” “All Thine are Mine.”

We will run—Not sit in the seat of the scornful, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but run with patience the race set before us.

After Thee—The Forerunner. The First-born from the dead. The first to pass over the narrow way. The Head, that in all things He might have the preeminence. Not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The King—The Lord Jesus, typified by Solomon. “So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.”

Hath brought me—Even in the present life.

Into His chambers—Into the “Holy,” the spirit-begotten condition, the first heavenly condition; made us to sit down in heavenly places in Christ.

We will be glad—“Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous.”

And rejoice in Thee—“And again I say, Rejoice.”

We will remember—Will meditate upon, think of.

Thy love—Thy caresses, assurances of guidance, protection, companionship, love and care.

More than wine.—More even than the doctrines.

The upright—Those without deceit, guileless, honest.

Love Thee—Seek fellowship with Thee, aspire to learn of Thee, to cultivate Thy graces, to be near Thee.

1:5. I am black—The bride of Moses, Zipporah, type of the Bride of Christ, was an Ethiopian woman—a Gentile.

But comely—“The King's Daughter is all glorious within”; her intentions are pure, spotless in God's sight.

O ye daughters—Professed children.

Of Jerusalem—Of the Kingdom of God. The true Church instinctively recognizes that her detractors are to be found among God's professed people.

As the tents of Kedar—Kedar was one of the children of Ishmael, and the name thus stands for the Ishmaelites, or Bedouins. Their tents are their homes; and though made of black goat's hair and outwardly stained they are often luxurious in the interior, being hung with costly tapestries.

As the curtains—Between the Holy and the Most Holy.

Of Solomon—Of Solomon's Temple. These curtains, or rather a similar curtain which hung in Herod's temple, and which was rent in twain on the day of our Lord's death, was most wonderful, being some thirty feet long, fifteen feet wide and five inches thick.

1:6. Look not upon me—Look not so upon me (Leeser); the Bride kindly expostulates with her critics.

Because I am black—Because I am somewhat black (Leeser); the Bride does not deny her imperfections, but is not disposed to admit that she is altogether worthless.

Because the Sun—The searching light of the true Gospel which exposes every defect.

Hath looked upon me—Judgment must begin at the House of God. The Bride's sins are open beforehand, known to all men. God's Word exposes the weaknesses of almost every noble character whose life is there recorded.

My mother's children—Sitting and speaking against their brother, their own mother's son.

Were angry with me—“Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name's sake,” etc. “The brother shall betray the brother to death.”

They made me—Elected me, appointed me.

The keeper—Class-leader, Sunday-school teacher, etc.

Of the vineyards—Sunday-schools, Christian Endeavor societies, Epworth Leagues, Young People's unions.

But mine own vineyard—The cultivation of the fruits of the Spirit.

Have I not kept—I have been too busy with “church work,” to look after my own best spiritual interests.

1:7. Tell me—The Bride continues.

O Thou—Christ.

Whom my soul loveth—Whom having not seen, we love.

Where Thou feedest—“Wheresoever the carcase is there will the eagles be gathered together.”

Where thou—The Good Shepherd.

Makest Thy flock—The Flock of God.

To rest—My people have forgotten their resting-place.

At noon—Where the grass is long and sweet, and where there are opportunities to draw specially near to the Shepherd. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”

For why should I be—Why should I longer appear to others to be.

As one that turneth aside—As one that goeth astray.

By the flocks—Not in them; for I never was in any other intentionally. I thought these other flocks were yours.

Of Thy companions—Other great teachers; heads of other churches; Antichrist systems.

1:8. If thou know not—The Heavenly One replies.

O thou fairest—The Lord does not taunt her with her self-confessed stains.

Among women—Churches, true and false.

Go thy way forth—There is something for you to do.

By the footsteps—He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him.

Of the flock—Look about you; and when you see those whose lives indicate that they are true sheep, and when they urge you “Come and see,” follow Nathaniel's example.

And feed thy kids—Inquiring ones, newly interested, especially if they manifest any goat-like tendencies.

Beside the shepherds' tents—Take them to the elders' or deacons' homes for further instruction in the right ways of the Lord; or, apply the same principle by bringing the Scripture Studies to their attention, thus introducing them to the teacher who has answered all our hard questions.

1:9. I have compared thee—The Lord continues.

O My Love—“Love one another as I have loved you.”

To a company—144,000.

Of horses—Fond of their Master, quick to do His bidding, easily guided, quiet, faithful, temperate, long-suffering.

In Pharaoh's chariots—The best in the world.

1:10. Thy cheeks are comely—The Lord continues to shower compliments upon His Espoused.

With rows of jewels—Jewels of Divine Truth; the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirit.

Thy neck—The yoke-bearing member. “Take My yoke upon you”; a yoke is built for two—Jesus and one other.

With chains of gold.—The Divine nature. Each act of loyal burden-bearing becomes a link in the golden chain.

1:11. We—My Father and I.

Will make thee borders—“A House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens.”

Of gold—The Divine nature.

With studs of silver—The House will be truly yours; that which is your own.

1:12. While the King—The Bride thus speaks of her Lord.

Sitteth at His table—Breaking the Bread of Life to His Household.

My spikenard—Devotion, as Illustrated by Mary's alabaster box.

Sendeth forth the smell thereof—“Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” At such times the fires of Heavenly love burn fiercest.

1:13. A bundle of myrrh—Wisdom. “In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.”

Is my well-beloved—Christ.

Unto me—“Who of God is made unto us Wisdom.” “We have the mind of Christ.”

He shall lie all night—During this dark time while evil is permitted.

Betwixt my breasts—I will take the Lord into my bosom, “More dear, more intimately nigh than e'en the sweetest earthly tie.”

1:14. My Beloved—Christ, on the other side of the veil.

Is unto me—The Bride, still toiling on this side of the veil.

As a cluster of camphire—A cooling, fragrant shade, a refuge from the fierce heat; “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

In the vineyards of Engedi—Located on the shore of the Dead Sea, in one of the hottest of climates.

1:15. Behold thou art fair.—The Bridegroom speaks again.

My love—My Bride to be.

Behold thou art fair—Beautiful of heart.

Thou hast dove's eyes—Heavenly wisdom—the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

1:16. Behold Thou art fair—“Fairer than the children of men.” The Bride returns the compliment.

My Beloved—“Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Yea pleasant—The disciplines are as nothing compared to the joy of your fellowship.

Also, our bed—The place of our rest; “let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon their beds.”

Is green—Our rest will be everlasting. “They rest from their labors.”

1:17. The beams of our house—The covering over us; “the Head of Christ is God.”

Are cedar—Immortal.

And our rafters—Wainscoting; the environment on all sides.

Of fir—Everlasting. Where changes never come.

2:1. I am the rose—Glorious, beautiful, without a peer.

Of Sharon—(The Plain). Not seeking exaltation.

The lily—Pure, fragrant, exquisite.

Of the valleys—Meek and lowly of heart.

2:2. As the lily—Pure, humble, defenseless; so the Heavenly One responds.

Among thorns—Which scratch, tear and wound.

So is My love—“Continue ye in my love.”

Among the daughters—Nominal church organizations.

2:3. As the apple tree—The Bride thus refers to Christ.

Among the trees—With a fruitage greater in variety, color, flavor, quantity and lasting quality.

Of the wood—Which run largely to leaves, professions.

So is my Beloved—“We love Him because He first loved us.”

Among the sons—The other sons of God with whom we are acquainted.

I sat down—“Come ye yourselves apart, and rest awhile.”

Under His shadow—His protecting love and care.

And His fruit—His perfect fruitage of love.

Was sweet to my taste.—“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!”

2:4. He brought me—Guided me by His Word and providences.

To the banqueting house—To sup with Him and He with me.

And His banner—The banner under which He fought the good fight of faith.

Over me—And under which I also am enlisted.

Was love—Love of the highest order.

2:5. Stay me—Nerve me for the war.

With flagons—The pure doctrines of the Kingdom.

Comfort me—Strengthen me for the conflict.

With apples—Spiritual food; bread from Heaven.

For I am sick of love—Am lovesick, over-sentimental, dreamy, not sufficiently awake to the fact that true love includes service and sacrifice.

2:6. His left hand—His power as illustrated in the guidance of His people into all necessary Truth.

Is under my head—Directing my mental faculties.

And His right hand—His power as illustrated in overruling all things that would harm me.

Doth embrace me—“Secure in His tender embrace, I've nothing to doubt or to fear.”

2:7. I charge you—I must give you this message.

O ye daughters—Professed children; nominal Spiritual Israel.

Of Jerusalem—The Kingdom of God.

By the roes—Which you regard as the loveliest things of earth, as illustrated by the statuary on your estates.

And by the hinds—The things which you regard as most full of grace; therefore typical of your churches, colleges, hospitals, libraries and charitable institutions.

Of the field—The world, the present order of things.

That ye stir not up—Seek not to arouse.

Nor awake my love—To take charge of earth's affairs.

Till He please.—For when He does stand up to assume control, “there will be a Time of Trouble, such as never was,” in which all these beautiful things upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.

2:8. The voice of my Beloved—The Church suddenly recognizes the joyful sound, betokening the Second Presence of her Lord.

Behold He cometh—“At midnight there was a cry raised. Behold, He cometh!”

Leaping upon—Dismembering or changing the form of.

The mountains—The autocratic governments of Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Russia, Turkey, Persia and China.

Skipping upon—Shattering old customs and old political parties, and placing the people more in the ascendency.

The hills—The less autocratic governments of the United States, Mexico, Great Britain, France, etc. “The hills melt like wax at the presence of the Lord.”

2:9. My Beloved is like—In swiftness of movement.

A roe or a young hart—Swiftly leaping from mountain to mountain; preparing the world for His coming Reign.

Behold He standeth—“There standeth One among you whom ye know not.”

Behind our wall.—The wall of our earthly house, unseen by the eye of flesh.

He looketh forth—He looketh in.

At the windows—The windows of the soul, the eyes of the understanding.

Showing Himself—Revealing the fact of His Second Presence.

Through the lattice—Parallels and cross references of Holy Writ.

2:10. My Beloved spake—“Thine ears shall hear a voice behind thee.”

And said unto me—Through the words of the Prophets and the Apostles.

Rise up, My love—“Awake, awake! put on thy strength.”

My fair one—“Put on thy beautiful garments.”

And come away—From earthly to Heavenly conditions.

2:11. For lo, the winter—The time of the burning of the tares; “pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.”

Is past—Will shortly be past.

The rain—The deluge of Truth.

Is over and gone.—The Harvest work is all accomplished: will have been finished at the time here indicated.

2:12. The flowers—Promise of a new fruitage.

Appear on the earth—Among the restitution class.

The time of the singing—The harmonious mating.

Of birds is come—Of Heaven-sent prophecies and their fulfilments. “Search ye out and see; not one of these shall want her mate”; i. e., every word of every prophecy will be fulfilled.

The voice of the turtle—The turtle-dove; “the congregation of Thy poor” is thus described by the Psalmist.

Is heard in our land—The poor begin to take hope; the harbingers of the New Era are about us on every hand.

2:13. The fig tree—The Jewish nation.

Putteth forth—“Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth ... know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh.”

Her green figs—Plans for re-establishment in Palestine.

And the vines—Of the Father's right hand planting.

With the tender grape—Bearing the precious fruitage of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.

Give a good smell—Yield a sweet perfume to the husbandman. “My Father is the Husbandman.”

Arise My Love—“Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.”

My fair one—The queen in gold of Ophir, Daughter of the Great King.

And come away.—“Forget also thine own people and thy father's house.”

2:14. O my Dove—The Bride addresses her unseen Lord.

That art in—Directly in, fully in, guiding, controlling.

The clefts—The apparent fractures or injuries.

Of the rock—The Kingdom; the Stone cut out without hands.

In the secret places—The dark corners of life's experiences, where we halt trembling and afraid.

Of the stairs—The stepping stones by which we ascend to the Heavenly City.

Let me see Thy countenance—“I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness.”

Let me hear Thy voice—“The sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.”

For sweet is Thy voice—“Grace is poured into Thy lips.”

And Thy countenance is comely—“I will that they may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory.”

2:15. Take us the foxes—Take away from us the sly faults, originating in the deceitful mind of the flesh.

The little foxes—Secret beginnings of sin in the mind.

That spoil the vines—That prevent us from yielding the fruitage of love so precious in Thy sight.

For our vines—“I am the Vine; ye are the branches.”

Have tender grapes—Have begun a fruitage, which is ripening beautifully in the Father's sight.

2:16. My Beloved is mine—“The Head can not say to the feet, I have no need of you.”

And I am His—“If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it not of the body?”

He feedeth—Bestows His spiritual favors upon.

The lilies—“The meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way.”

2:17. Until the day break—Until the Messianic Morning has fully dawned.

And the shadows—Of the reign of sin and death.

Flee away—Depart forever.

Turn my Beloved—Continue to hide Thyself from earthly eyes.

And be Thou like—In Thy swiftness of movement.

A roe or a young hart—Leaping from mountain to mountain—kingdom to kingdom.

Upon the mountains—Gentile dominions.

Of Bether—Of divisions, which separate us from Thee and separate Thee from Thy long-promised Reign.

3:1. By night—While I was still in the dark in regard to God's great Plan.

On my bed—My creed bed, the one from which I have now been taken, but in which many others are still left.

I sought Him—Sought intimate fellowship with Him.

Whom my soul loveth—“He that loveth father or mother ... son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

I sought Him—Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom.

But I found Him not—Certainly not; how absurd of me to expect to greet the Bridegroom when I was in bed, sound asleep!

3:2. I will rise now—This creed bed is uncomfortable; it is “shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it.”

And go about the city—Interest myself in the activities of Christendom.

In the streets—Enter into the affairs of its governments.

And in the broad ways—Plunge into its pleasures—“gay white ways,” etc.

I will seek Him—Try to find the place of rest.

Whom my soul loveth—For which my soul longs. “We who have believed do enter into rest.”

I sought Him—Sought rest of heart in all these ways.

But I found Him not—“All that my soul has tried left but an aching void.”

3:3. The watchmen—Of nominal Zion; the clergy.

That go about the city—Christendom, Babylon.

Found me—Drew me under their influence.

To whom I said—Having become deeply interested in the subject of the Lord's promised Return.

Saw ye Him—Have you discerned the fact of the Bridegroom's Presence?

Whom my soul loveth—There was no reply, for the reason that “His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant: they are all dumb dogs; they cannot bark.”

3:4. It was but a little—“He is not far from us.”

That I passed from them—Became unbound, unfettered.

But I found Him—Was made acquainted with the proofs of the Parousia.

Whom my soul loveth—We ought to live for Him who died for us.

I held Him—“Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

And would not let Him go—“I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”

Till I had brought Him—Till I had accompanied Him.

Into my mother's house—The antitypical Sarah tent.

And into the chamber—Heaven itself.

Of her that conceived me—The Sarah Covenant; the Oath-bound Covenant.

3:5. I charge you—I must give you this message.

O ye daughters—Professed children.

Of Jerusalem—The Kingdom of God.

By the roes—Which you regard as the loveliest things of earth, as illustrated by the statuary on your estates.

And by the hinds—The things which you regard as most full of grace; therefore typical of your churches, colleges, hospitals, libraries and charitable institutions.

Of the field—The world, the present order of things.

That ye stir not up—Seek not to arouse.

Nor awake my Love—To take charge of earth's affairs.

Till He please—For when He does stand up to assume control, “there will be a Time of Trouble such as never was,” in which all these beautiful things upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.

3:6. Who is this that cometh—The Lord's professed people thus speak of the evidences of the Lord's Second Presence.

Out of the wilderness—The Time of Trouble having come, they recognize that the long-promised Second Coming of the Lord is an accomplished fact.

Like pillars of smoke—Terrible in majesty, definite, personal, intangible. “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.”

Perfumed with myrrh—Anointed with Wisdom.

And frankincense—Praise to Jehovah.

With all powders—All ingredients of the holy anointing oil, type of the Holy Spirit.

Of the merchant—The apothecary; the Heavenly Father. “God gave not the Spirit by measure unto Him.”

3:7. Behold His bed—The place of His ultimate rest and ours.

Which is Solomon's—Christ's, in glory.

Threescore valiant men—The sixty centuries during which evil has been permitted.

Are about it—Standing between the people of God and the rest which He has promised.

Of the valiant—Invincible, immovable.

Of Israel—Of the people of God. All the centuries belong to God; they are His servants, working out His sovereign will.

3:8. They all hold swords—Since the slaughter of Abel, all the centuries have been filled with bloodshed.

Being expert in war—War has prevailed throughout the earth during all that time.

Every man hath his sword—Every century has its implements of war.

Upon his thigh—Ready for use upon the slightest provocation.

Because of fear—The present world-war is due to mutual fear and distrust.

In the night—The time of the permission of evil; the time for dark motives and dark deeds.

3:9. King Solomon—Christ, in glory.

Made Himself a chariot—Appiryon, palanquin; a magnificent vehicle provided for a queen's reception and her entrance into the royal city, and in which the King goes forth to meet her; typified by the chariot of fire which bore Elijah away from earthly scenes: the magnificent spectacle with which this Age will end.—See page 63.

Of the wood of Lebanon—The saints. The typical temple was built, in part, of cedar and fir timber cut from Mt. Lebanon.

3:10. He made the pillars thereof—The corner posts, just outside the place of greatest honor.

Of silver—The Great Company.

The bottom thereof—The canopy overhead; “that in all things He might have the preeminence.”

Of gold—The Divine nature.

The covering thereof—The seat; the Throne of the Royal Priesthood.

Of purple—Royalty.

The midst thereof—The heart of it.

Being paved with love—Love of the highest order—love for enemies.

For the daughters—The professed children; nominal Spiritual Israel.

Of Jerusalem—The Kingdom of God.

3:11. Go forth—“Come out of her,” out of Babylon.

O ye daughters of Zion—My people; God's people.

And behold King Solomon—Get clear views of Christ.

With the crown—The Crown of Life; the Divine nature.

Wherewith His mother—The Sarah Covenant.

Crowned Him—With glory and honor.

In the day—Pentecost.

Of His espousals—When the antitypical Eliezer was received by the antitypical Rebecca.

And in the day—Now at hand, praise the Lord!

Of the gladness of His heart—When the marriage of the Lamb takes place. “Blessed is he that is called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

4:1. Behold thou art fair—The Lord addresses His Bride anew.

My love—“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.”

Behold thou art fair—“So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.”

Thou hast dove's eyes—The Heavenly wisdom.

Thy hair—Woman's hair was given her for a covering, and it is her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride's covering, and it is her glory.

Is as a flock of goats—Thick, luxuriant.

That appear from Mt. Gilead—The flocks of goats on Mt. Gilead are of unusual size to this day.

4:2. Thy teeth—Masticators, grinders, assimilators of spiritual food.

Are like a flock—In glistening array.

That are even shorn—When the lips are parted.

Which come up from the washing—Cleansing by salivation.

Whereof every one bear twine—Whereof they come forth in pairs.

And none is barren—None is without its mate.

Among them—The teeth are perfect in form and number, illustrating the Bride's ability to feed upon the strong meat which “belongeth to them that are of full age.”

4:3. Thy lips—“O Lord open Thou my lips!” “My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips.”

Are like a thread of scarlet—As the scarlet thread of redemption runs through the Divine Word, so it is with you, and on your lips—the all-absorbing theme of life.

And thy speech is comely—“My speech shall distil as the dew.”

Thy temples are like—Thy mind, the mind of the New Creature, may be properly compared to.

A piece of pomegranate—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the New Mind, which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, brings to perfection the fruitage of love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

Within thy locks—Behind thy veil; concealed by the veil of the flesh.

4:4. Thy neck—Willingness to bear burdens.

Is like the tower of David—David was a type of the Church militant.

Builded for an armory—Designed to accommodate a great number.

Whereon there hang a thousand—“One shall chase a thousand.”

Bucklers of shields of mighty men—“I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”

4:5. Thy two breasts—“The breasts of her consolations, whereof ye may suck and be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.”

Are like two young roes—The Scriptures, the Word of God, quick and powerful.

That are twins—The Old and New Testament Scriptures are identical in origin, spirit and purpose.

Which feed among the lilies—“The meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way.”

4:6. Until the Day—The Millennial Day. The Bride is the speaker.

Break—Has fully dawned.

And the shadows—Of the Valley of the Shadow of Death in which I now walk.

Flee away—Are gone.

I will get me—In spirit.

To the mountain of myrrh—The Kingdom of Wisdom.

And to the hill of frankincense—Praise, heart adoration.

4:7. Thou art all fair—Blameless, faultless. The Lord responds.

My love—His love is commended to us in that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly.”

There is no spot—You have kept your garments unspotted from the world.

In thee—“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us.”

4:8. Come with Me—To our Heavenly inheritance.

From Lebanon—From your present unfinished condition. The typical temple was built, in part, of cedar and fir timbers from Lebanon; but they had to be hewn and finished before they could be used.

My spouse—My espoused Bride.

With Me from Lebanon—You are but following in the path I trod.

Look from the top of Amana—The view from this peak is said to be indescribably grand. Look away to Heaven.

From the top of Shenir—(Peak or pointed.) Look beyond the sharp experiences of the present.

And Hermon—(Rugged or abrupt.) Look beyond the unkind words and deeds you now encounter.

From the lions' dens—You are now in the lions' dens, but look beyond them. Satan goes about as a roaring lion; but no lion shall be there.

From the mountains—Kingdoms of this world. Look beyond them.

Of the leopards—Papacy and those of her spirit. “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard.”

4:9. Thou hast ravished My heart—Taken it away.

My sister, My spouse—The Bride of Christ is His sister. His Father is their Father. His mother, the Sarah covenant, is their mother. “We, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the Promise.”

With one of thine eyes—With thy singleness of vision. “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be light.”—Matt. 6:22.

With one chain of thy neck—With thy one bond of servitude; consecration to the service of the Great King.

4:10. How fair is thy love—How various and beautiful are its forms of expression.

My sister, My spouse—My Father's Daughter, My espoused Bride.

How much better is thy love—The ways in which you show your devotion to me.

Than wine—Than thy doctrines, some of which, in the past, have been badly mixed.

And the smell—The sweet fragrance.

Of thine ointments—The anointing oil; the Holy Spirit.

Than all spices—Than all other virtues.

4:11. Thy lips, O My spouse—My beloved Bride to be.

Drop as the honeycomb—Distil a dropping of pure honey; sweet and helpful words.

And the smell—The sweet perfume.

Of thy garments—The robe of Christ's righteousness.

Is like the smell—The life-giving odors.

Of Lebanon—The cedar and fir trees of Lebanon.

4:12. A garden enclosed—A heart-garden, shut out of sight of all but its owners.

Is My sister, My spouse—My Father's daughter, My espoused Bride.

A spring shut up—“It shall be in you a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.”

A fountain sealed—Sealed with the King's own signet, until the time comes that all the well springs are brought together in the first resurrection, to constitute the fountain from which will flow the River of the Water of Life.

4:13. Thy plants are—The plants in your heart-garden are illustrated by.

An orchard of pomegranates—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits and thus well represents love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

With pleasant fruits—Pleasing characteristics.

Camphire—Rest, trust, confidence.

With spikenard—Fragrant devotion, as illustrated by Mary's alabaster box.

4:14. Spikenard and saffron—Fragrant devotion and long-suffering.

Calamus and cinnamon—Knowledge and understanding.

With all trees of frankincense—Praise, heart adoration.

Myrrh and aloes—Wisdom and patience.

With all chief spices—All the remaining elements of Christian character.

4:15. A fountain—In the midst.

Of gardens—Beautiful, clear, sparkling, life-giving.

A well of living waters—Invigorating the whole world in the New Age. “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.”

And streams from Lebanon—Pure, refreshing.

4:16. Awake O North wind—Storms of adversity. The Bride speaks.

And come thou South—Balmy breezes. “Some days are bright and sweet with praise, some with accepted pain.”

Blow upon my garden—My heart-garden, in which I seek to develop the fruits most pleasing to my Lord.

That the spices thereof—The aroma of good deeds, kind words and noble thoughts.

May flow out—Manifest itself to the Lord and to others.

Let my Beloved—Bridegroom, Christ.

Come into His garden—Come into my heart.

And eat—Appropriate to His use and pleasure.

His pleasant fruits—The fruits of love, which He has cultivated within me.

5:1. I am come—The Lord responds.

Into My garden—I have accepted your invitation to come in and make My abode with you.

My sister, My spouse—My Father's Daughter, My espoused Bride.

I have gathered My myrrh—Wisdom; generally the result of bitter experience. Myrrh means bitter.

With My spice—The fragrant and sweet ingredients of the Holy Spirit.

I have eaten—Accepted, appropriated, consumed.

My honeycomb—The sacrificers themselves.

With My honey—With the sacrifices of praise which they offered.

I have drunk My wine—Taken note of the doctrines you teach.

With My milk—Noticed also the manner and spirit with which you present the milk of the Word to those not so far advanced.

Eat, O friends—The Lord addresses the needy world.

Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved—“He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

5:2. I sleep—“While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” The Foolish Virgin class is here represented as speaking.

But my heart waketh—At heart the Foolish Virgins are loyal to the Lord.

It is the voice of my Beloved—She recognizes the evidences of the Lord's Second Advent.

That knocketh—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

Saying Open to me—“If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him.”

My sister, My love—The Foolish Virgins are children of the same Father, and are also born of the Sarah Covenant, but the Lord does not address them as His spouse.

My dove, My undefiled—The Great Company class are pure in their hearts intentions.

For My head—“As one who has vowed a vow of a Nazarite to separate himself unto Jehovah.”

Is filled with dew—Freshness, vigor. “Thou hast the dew of Thy youth.”

And My locks—“All the days of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head. Till the days be fulfilled in the which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.”

With the drops—Experiences.

Of the night—My consecration to Jehovah has been steadfast throughout the world's dark night of sin.

5:3. I have put off—Temporarily laid aside. The Foolish Virgins reply.

My coat—The wedding robe which You provided.

How shall I—How can I see to.

Put it on—I am in the midst of the dark night of the Time of Trouble.

I have washed my feet—I am a church member, in good and regular standing.

How shall I defile them—Why should I leave my creed bed and obey Your call to come out of Babylon?

5:4. My Beloved—In His great love and pity for me.

Put in His hand—Exerted His mighty power.

By the hole of the door—Rattled the time-lock.

And my bowels—My heart.

Were moved for Him—Was stirred to action, but too late to go in with Him to the wedding.

5:5. I rose up—Roused myself to activity.

To open to my Beloved—Just as the Harvest was past.

And my hands—Holding the keys to the Bible, the Studies.

Dropped with myrrh—Wisdom, gleaned from the Scripture Studies, till then neglected.

With sweet smelling myrrh—A knowledge of all the precious things of Present Truth.

Upon the handles—The lines of prophetical evidence.

Of the lock—The time features of the Lord's Plan.

5:6. I opened to my Beloved—After the Harvest work was finished.

But my Beloved—True to His word.

Had withdrawn Himself—“And they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage.”

And was gone—And the door was shut.

My soul failed when He spake—I lacked the love, faith and hope to obey promptly.

I sought Him—“Many shall strive to enter in but shall not be able when once the Master of the House hath risen up and shut to the door.”

But found Him not—“I am He that shutteth and no man openeth.”

I called Him—“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter in.”

But He gave me no answer—No hope of being His Bride and Joint-heir.

5:7. The watchmen—Watchmen in nominal Zion, the clergy of the nominal church.

That went about the city—Christendom.

Found me—Observed my course in accepting Present Truth and withdrawing from their systems.

They smote me—“With arrows, even bitter words.”

They wounded me—Wounded my reputation.

The keepers—Civil authorities.

Of the walls—The Governments, the bulwarks of Christendom.

Took away my veil from me—Were instigated to destroy me, to cause me to pass into death.

5:8. I charge you—The Foolish Virgin class continues.

O daughters of Jerusalem—O all who profess to love Him.

If ye find my Beloved—If you yourself expect to be of the Bride class.

That ye tell Him—In my behalf.

That I am sick of love—Hungering for His companionship, longing to see His face, despite the fact that I did not open to Him promptly.

5:9. What is thy Beloved—The Lord's professed people, now in nominal Zion, speak.

More than another beloved—Why is Christ any more to you than He is to me?

O thou fairest among women—The Lord's professed people in nominal Zion begin to awake to the fact that the last of the spiritually-minded ones are leaving them.

What is thy Beloved—To you.

More than another beloved—To another.

That thou dost so charge us—We would like to understand the reasons why you are so deeply concerned, and why you persist in saying, “The Harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

5:10. My Beloved is white—“Holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners.” The Foolish Virgin class responds to the Lord's professed people in nominal Zion.

And ruddy—A reference to His pierced side. “He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood.”

The chiefest—The standard-bearer or chieftain.

Among ten thousand—Among ten thousand warriors.

5:11. His head—“God gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is His Body, that in all things He might have the preeminence.”

Is as the most fine gold—“Who only hath immortality.”

His locks are bushy—His consecration is perfect and complete.

And black as a raven—And He remained steadfast in it unto death.

5:12. His eyes—Wisdom.

Are as the eyes of doves—Pure, peaceable, gentle.

By the rivers of waters—By the channels of truth.

Washed with milk—Primary elements of the Truth.

And fitly set—All in perfect harmony.

5:13. His cheeks—His countenance towards me.

Are as a bed of spices—The personification of every virtue and every grace.

As sweet flowers—Towers of perfumes (margin), flowers trained upon trellises; shedding a beauty and fragrance compelling the attention of all.

His lips like lilies—His speech modest, beautiful and sweet. “Never man spake like this Man.”

Dropping sweet smelling myrrh—Distilling Heavenly wisdom. “My speech shall distil as the dew.”

5:14. His hands—As in rolling or unrolling a scroll or parchment.

Are as gold rings—Conform to the shape of the roll. “Thou art worthy to take the roll and to open the seals thereof.”

Set with the beryl—Love of the Father. See page 335.

His belly—The word signifies the whole body, from shoulders to thighs.

Is as bright ivory—A beautiful vision.

Overlaid with sapphires—Faithfulness. See page 334. “And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone.”

5:15. His legs—The members that have been carrying on the work of the Body.

Are as pillars of marble—“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of My God.”

Set upon sockets—Feet, the foot members.

Of fine gold—“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him!”

His countenance—Smile of favor.

Is as Lebanon—Pure, invigorating, refreshing.

Excellent as the cedars—Everlasting life.

5:16. His mouth—His Word. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Is most sweet—“All bare Him witness and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth.”

Yea, He is altogether lovely—It is impossible to describe all His excellencies; He is the sum of all that is to be desired.

This is my Beloved—This is the One I love supremely.

And this is my Friend—“I've found a Friend, O such a Friend!”

O daughters of Jerusalem—O you who are nominally His.

6:1. Whither is thy Beloved gone—After the door is shut, those who have been nominally Christ's begin to give heed to the message of the Foolish Virgins.

O thou fairest among women—O most spiritually-minded amongst us.

Whither is thy Beloved turned aside—We realize that He has entirely withdrawn Himself from us.

That we may seek Him with thee—Show us in the Word how He is now to be found. “All that a man hath will he give for his life.”

6:2. My Beloved—The Foolish Virgin class, now thoroughly aroused to the facts, explain to the Lord's professed children in nominal Zion.

Is gone down—His Second Advent is accomplished.

Into His garden—He has taken His Bride to Himself.

To the beds of spices—To accept from her heart-garden the fragrant and sweet ingredients of the Holy Spirit.

To feed in the gardens—To receive to Himself the precious fruits love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.

And to gather lilies—To take the humble sweet ones home; to gather the wheat class into the Heavenly garner.

6:3. I am my Beloved's—The Great Company can not forget that they are precious in the Lord's sight.

And my Beloved is mine—“Fade, Fade, each earthly joy, Jesus is mine.”

He feedeth among the lilies—“The meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way.”

6:4. Thou art beautiful—At heart. The Lord again addresses His Bride.

O My love—“Love one another as I have loved you.”

As Tirzah—A delight.

Comely as Jerusalem—“The City of the Great King.”

Terrible—In the conquest of evil.

As an army with banners—To an opposing host.

6:5. Turn away thine eyes from Me—Observe the Lord's modesty and humility.

For they have overcome Me—How the Lord delights to express His appreciation of the virtues of His Bride, despite the fact that they are all but feeble reflections of His own!

Thy hair—Righteousness. Woman's hair was given her for a covering, and it is her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride's covering, and it is her glory.

Is as a flock of goats—Thick, luxuriant.

That appear from Mt. Gilead—The flocks of goats on Mt. Gilead are of unusual size to this day.

6:6. Thy teeth—Masticators, grinders, assimilators of spiritual food.

Are as a flock—In glistening array.

Which go up from the washing—Cleansing by salivation.

Whereof every one bear twins—They come forth in pairs.

And there is not one barren—None is without its mate.

Among them—The teeth are perfect in form and number, illustrating the Bride's ability to feed upon the strong meat which “belongeth to them that are of full age.”

6:7. As a piece of pomegranate—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the New Mind, which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, brings to perfection the fruitage of love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

Are thy temples—Thy mind, the mind of the New Creature.

Within thy locks—Behind thy veil; concealed by the veil of the flesh.

6:8. There are threescore queens—Nominal church organizations openly joined to earthly heads.

And fourscore concubines—Even more are secretly violating their pledges of spiritual virginity. Altogether the census shows about 150 sects. See page 160, where all the principal sects are enumerated.

And virgins without number—Foolish Virgins, really pure at heart.

6:9. My dove, My undefiled—The Virgin Bride of Christ.

Is but one—“That they may be one, as We are.”

The only one—To share the glory, honor and immortality of Christ.

Of her mother—The Oath-bound Covenant.

She is the choice one—The specially favored one.

Of her that bore her—The antitypical Sarah.

The daughters—Professed children of God.

Saw her—Discerned her, at the time of the manifestation of the Sons of God.

And blessed her—Called her blessed.

Yea the queens—Those openly affiliated with worldly churches in union with worldly governments.

And the concubines—Those secretly thus affiliated.

And they praised her—Acknowledged, in the end, that her course was right and her exaltation merited.

6:10. Who is she—The Bride.

That looketh forth—Beams resplendent.

As the morning—The Millennial Morning.

Fair—Pure, just, holy, good.

As the moon—“The law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”

Clear—Glorious, light-giving.

As the Sun—“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father.” “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

And terrible—In the conquest of evil.

As an army with banners—To an opposing host.

6:11. I went down—Following the exaltation of the Bride. Christ speaks.

Into the garden of nuts—The heart-gardens of the Foolish Virgin class. A garden of nuts does not as quickly yield its treasures as a garden of spices, to which the Bride's heart garden is likened.

To see the fruits of the valley—Of the class that had not risen with the Bride to the Pisgah heights of faith and hope and love.

And to see whether—As a result of their experiences in the Time of Trouble.

The vine flourished—Their characters had been properly affected.

And the pomegranates budded—To see whether there is promise of the fruits of the Spirit coming to perfection.

6:12. Or ever I was aware—I knew not how it was.

My soul—Filled with love and pity for them.

Made me like the chariots—Swiftly speeding to them to bless and help them in their hour of extremity.

Of Amminadib—Of My willing people, the Bride.

6:13. Return, return—“Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.”

O Shulamite—(Uneven one), you who have been uneven in your love, hope and faith.

Return, return, that We—My Father and I.

May look upon thee—Smile upon thee; bestow blessings. “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the King's palace.”

What will ye see—You who study the matter.

In the Shulamite—The Foolish Virgin class. The answer is that you will see.

As it were the company—The Great Company.

Of two armies—“A great multitude which no man can number.”

7:1. How beautiful are thy feet—“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace.” The Lord again addresses His Bride.

With shoes—“Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.”

O Prince's daughter—Daughter of the King, Jehovah.

The joints—“The whole Body, fitly joined together and compacted with that which every joint supplieth.”

Of thy thighs—(Softness) gentleness, tenderness.

Are like jewels—“They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels.”

The work of the hands—“For we are His workmanship.”

Of a cunning workman—“As for God, His work is perfect.”

7:2. Thy navel—Umbilical cord; by which you are joined to the Oath-bound Covenant, the Sarah Covenant; the cord of faith.

Is like a round goblet—Generous in capacity.

Which wanteth not liquor—Is full of the Divine promises.

Thy belly—Spiritual digestive tract.

Is like a heap of wheat—Solid spiritual food.

Set about with lilies—Flowers of humility.

7:3. Thy two breasts—“The breasts of her consolations, whereof ye may suck and be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.”

Are like two young roes—“The Scriptures, the Word of God, quick and powerful.”

That are twins—The Old and New Testament Scriptures are identical in origin, spirit and purpose.

7:4. Thy neck—Willingness to bear burdens.

Is as a tower of ivory—Purity and strength.

Thine eyes—Wisdom, Heaven-sent.

Like the fishpools in Heshbon—Pure, deep.

By the gate of Bath-Rabbim—Calm and strong.

Thy nose—Scent for spiritual food.

Is as the tower of Lebanon—Lofty, high, noble.

Which looketh toward Damascus—“Visions of beauty rise before us.” “He that lacketh these things is blind and can not see afar off.”

7:5. Thine head upon thee—Thy reasoning faculties.

Is like Carmel—(Crimson.) “Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.”

And the hair of thine head—Thy righteousness. Woman's hair was given for a covering, and her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride's covering, and her glory.

Like purple—Royalty. The robe of Christ's righteousness, which the Bride now wears, will ultimately become the robe of the Queen.

The King is held—Bound, captive.

In the galleries—The happy prison-house of the charms of His Bride.

7:6. How fair—Beautiful at heart. “The King's daughter is all glorious within.”

And how pleasant—When the New Creature is in full control.

Art thou, O beloved—“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

For delights—For one with whom to enjoy the Father's favors and blessings throughout eternity; heirs together of the grace of life.

7:7. This thy stature—The stature of the fulness of Christ.

Is like a palm tree—Tall, upright.

And thy breasts—“The breasts of her consolations.”

To clusters of grapes—Suggestive of food and refreshment for the hungry, when they shall suck and be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.

7:8. I said—The world, in the Messianic Age, is the speaker.

I will go up to the palm tree—“And many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the House of the Lord.”

I will take hold—Lay hold of eternal life.

Of the boughs thereof—The members bending over to lift me out of the miry clay and the horrible pit.

Now also thy breasts—Feeding and helping the famishing world in the New Age.

Shall be as clusters of the vine—Giving life and health.

And the smell of thy nose—Thy scent for spiritual things and the blessed results that follow.

Like apples—Food for the hungry.

7:9. And the roof of thy mouth—Where the praises of Jehovah reverberate.

Like the best wine—The new wine of the Kingdom.

For my Beloved—Christ will then be the world's Beloved, also.

That goeth down sweetly—“I will not henceforth drink this fruit of the vine till I drink it new with you in the Kingdom.”

Causing the lips—“Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust.”

Of those that are asleep—In death.

To speak—Shall the dead arise and praise thee?

7:10. I am my Beloved's—The Bride speaks again.

And His desire is towards me—“So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.”

7:11. Come My beloved—The Lord addresses His Bride after the Time of Trouble.

Let us go forth—On our great mission of love and mercy.

Into the field—Into the world, which needs us so much.

Let us lodge—Take up our temporary dwelling-place.

In the villages—“Have thou authority over ten cities!” “The tabernacle of God is with men.”

7:12. Let us get up early—In the dawn of the New Age.

To the vineyards—The hearts of mankind in general.

Let us see if the vine flourish—If men are beginning to draw nigh to God.

The tender grape appear—If there is promise of an ultimate fruitage pleasing to the Father.

And the pomegranates appear—If there are evidences that love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, are going to abound.

There—When you see with what infinite patience and wisdom and love I cultivate the heart-gardens of men.

Will I give thee—Cause thee to appreciate fully.

My loves—The love with which I have loved thee.

7:13. The mandrakes give a smell—The regeneration of the world is nigh.

And at our gates—The Ancient Worthies are the gates by which the restitution classes will come to the Mediator.

Are all manner of pleasant—Agreeable, attractive, pleasing.

Fruits new and old—The virtues which the Bride cultivated and others especially appropriate to the changed conditions of the New Age.

Which I have laid up—As a part of the much-diversified Plan of the Ages.

For thee, O My beloved—For thy enjoyment.

8:1 O that Thou—My Lord and Head. The Bride addresses her Lord.

Wert as my brother—Not so immeasurably above me in character and station.

That sucked the breasts of my mother—So that we would be on an equality with each other.

When I should find Thee without—Beyond the house of flesh.

I would kiss Thee—Would feel free to express in Thy presence the great love I feel.

Yea I should not—Under such circumstances.

Be despised—By the critics who now blame me for presuming to so high a station as to be Thy Bride.

8:2. I would lead thee and bring thee—But now it is Thou alone that are competent to lead.

Into my mother's house—The antitypical Sarah tent.

Who would instruct me—“They shall be all taught of God.”

I would cause Thee to drink—Accept, appropriate, enjoy.

Of spiced wine—Doctrines flavored with the Holy Spirit.

Of the juice of my pomegranate—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the fruitage of love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

8:3. His left hand—His power as illustrated in the guidance of His people into all necessary truth.

Should be under my head—Directing my mental faculties.

And his right hand—His power as illustrated in overruling all things that would harm me.

Should embrace me—“Secure in His tender embrace, I'd have nothing to doubt or to fear.”

8:4. I charge you—I must give you this message.

O daughters of Jerusalem—Professed children of God.

That ye stir not up—Seek not to arouse.

Nor awake my Love—To take charge of earth's affairs.

Until He please—For when He does stand up to assume control, “there will be a Time of Trouble such as never was,” in which all the earthly organizations upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.

8:5. Who is this—The Heavenly Father thus speaks of the Bride.

That cometh up—That cometh forward into prominence.

From the wilderness—At the end of 1260 years of wilderness hiding and papal supremacy.

Leaning upon her Beloved—Upon her Lord.

I raised thee up—“It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?”

Under the apple tree—Under Christ, the Author and Finisher of your salvation.

There thy mother—The antitypical Sarah.

Brought thee forth—“Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth?”

There she brought thee forth—The Oath-bound Covenant accomplished its end.

That bare thee—From earthly to Heavenly conditions.

8:6. Set me as a seal—Indelibly impressed. The Bride beseeches her Lord.

Upon Thy heart—Thine infinite love.

As a seal upon Thine arm—Thine infinite power.

For love—Such love as I have for Thee.

Is strong as death—“Neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jealousy—The fear that I may not, after all, prove acceptable to You, as Your Bride.

Is cruel as the grave—Sheol, oblivion.

The coals thereof—The weaknesses of my fallen flesh.

Are coals of fire—Burned into my very soul.

Which hath a most vehement flame—These burning thoughts of my imperfections will be with me as long as I am in this tabernacle.

8:7. Many waters—Nor angels nor principalities.

Cannot quench love—The Father reassures the anxious Bride.

Neither can the floods—“Nor things present nor things to come.”

Drown It—Extinguish it.

If a man—The Man whom I have ordained.

Would give all the substance of his House—All His own glorious station with me on the Throne of the Universe.

For love—In exchange for the love you have manifested for Him throughout the dark night of your earthly career.

It would utterly be condemned—Despised by the courts of Heaven.

8:8. We—The Lord and His Bride together speak.

Have a little sister—The Foolish Virgin class, born of the same Father and the same antitypical Sarah, the Oath-bound Covenant.

And she hath no breasts—Is not fully developed.

What shall we do—What will be the Divine arrangement?

For our sister—The Great Company class.

In the day—The close of the Time of Trouble.

When she shall be spoken for—Called to render up her account.

8:9. If she be a wall—Bulwark of truth, on the One Foundation.

We will build upon her—“Other foundation can no man lay.”

A palace of silver—Give her a place with the Great Company class.

And if she be a door—By which men and women have found the Lord and the Truth.

We will inclose her—Give her an environment.

With boards of cedar—Everlasting life.

8:10. I am a wall—The Bride thus refers to herself as having been a staunch defender of the Truth. “Lo, we have left all and followed Thee.” What then shall we have?

And my breasts—Unlike the Foolish Virgins.

Like towers—“Whereof ye may suck and be satisfied milk out and be delighted.”

Then—Because I reached the development of character He desired.

Was I in His eyes—The eyes of the Bridegroom.

As one that found favor—Peace (margin).

8:11. Solomon—Christ.

Had a Vineyard—For growing the fruitage of love.

At Baalhamon—(Lord of the multitude.) A reference to the Messianic Reign, in which Christ will be Lord of all.

He let out the vineyards—Gave the immediate care.

Unto keepers—The Ancient Worthies, “whom Thou mayest make princes in all the earth.”

Every one—Of the keepers.

For the fruit thereof—The kind of fruitage expected.

Was to bring—Present, offer.

A thousand pieces of silver—Yield a rich return of truth and praise from the hearts cultivated.

8:12. My vineyard—The same vineyard.

Which is mine—We are made joint-heirs with Christ.

Is before me—Will take a thousand years to till.

Thou, O Solomon—Christ.

Must have a thousand—Tributes of praise.

And those that kept the fruit thereof—The Ancient Worthies.

Two hundred—A fifth as much, as their portion.

8:13. Thou—The restitution classes, address their Lord.

That dwellest in the gardens—The heart-gardens of the redeemed race.

The companions—The Great Company; the companions that followed the Bride.

Hearken to thy voice—Have entered with joy into the King's palace.

Cause me to hear it—O Lord, I see there is hope to me. I also would be Thine. Show me Thy will.

8:14. Make haste, my Beloved—The restitution classes continue.

And be Thou like—In thy swiftness of movement.

To a roe or to a young hart—Leaping from mountain to mountain, kingdom to kingdom.

Upon the mountains—The various divisions of the Kingdom of God during the Messianic Reign.

Of spices—Good deeds, kind words and noble thoughts. “And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.” “The kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” Amen.

The Heavenly Bridegroom

That He is mine and I am His, Oh! wondrous thought.
I am so poor, so weak, so lowly, can there aught
Of worthiness in me be found, that He should love
And seek me for His Bride? I hear His voice, “My Dove,”
Thou art all fair, My Spouse, there is no spot in thee;
Thy speech is comely, better is thy love to Me
Than wine! Thine eyes as Heshbon's fish-pools, and like flocks
Upon Mount Gilead are thy spiced and flower-decked locks.
The winter's past, My Dove, come, come with Me away,
“Far spent the night, make ready for thy nuptial day!”
My heart responds, “Throughout the many-centuried night”
I've longed for Thee. I've waited for the dawning light;
And I have laid Thee like sweet myrrh upon my breast,
Thine arm beneath my weary head hath brought me rest.
Thou whom my soul doth love, Thy countenance is fair
To see within the secret places of the stair;
Thy head is like fine gold, how beautiful Thy feet!
Thine eyes as doves' eyes, and Thy lips with honey sweet.
I rise, my Lord, I leave my father's house, behold
My Robe of Righteousness, my raiment of wrought gold!
Oh! wealth of love divine, that claims me for Thine own.
Oh! miracle of grace, to seat me on Thy Throne.
Oh! glorious future hopes, Oh! bliss beyond compare,
“Through all eternity Thy love and work to share!”

—G.W.S.

June 25, 1917.

The Book Of The Prophet Ezekiel

Ezekiel 1—God's Character And Plan

1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, at I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.—Christ promised that at His Second Advent He would raise up a “faithful and wise servant,” or “steward,” who should watch and give forth in due season meat for the Household of Faith. This one should be given charge of all the Storehouse, the Word of God, to bring out of it things new and old. (Matt. 24:44-47; Luke 12:42-44.) The Prophet Ezekiel types this servant. As Ezekiel was among the Lord's people, the Hebrews, in captivity in literal Babylon, this servant was among those in captivity in Mystic Babylon, beside the great river Chebar (“Joining”), the stream of commerce which joins the nations, on which Christendom is founded, and from which she draws her support, as did in a literal sense Babylon from her great river, Euphrates. In the early seventies Charles Taze Russell found himself engaged in commerce, but earnestly studying the Word of God, and striving to teach what he found therein. In fulfilment of the Divine promise the Heavenly things were opened to him (Matt. 3:16), and he saw the significance of the visions, prophecies, given in olden times by the Almighty. He was given a crystal-clear understanding of the character of Jehovah.

[Ezekiel's Vision By The River Of Chebar Illustration]

1:2, 3. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, the Word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.—Men do not raise themselves up to become great and honored agents in God's outworking of the Divine Plan of the Ages (Luke 18:14; Eph. 3:11); but now and then throughout the centuries Jehovah Himself (1 Cor. 12:18) has raised up Christian men to carry forward one step or another of His purposes. God made special use of St Paul, St John, Arius, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles T. Russell. The significance of the word Ezekiel is “God is strong,” and epitomizes the faith and the message of Pastor Russell. He shows the power of Jehovah to save His people now (Acts 15:14), and later to save all the willing and obedient of mankind. (Acts 15:17.) As Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, “Contemned of God,” Pastor Russell was born the child of a nominal religious system which is unfaithful to Jehovah. Pastor Russell, by the faithful carrying out of his vow of consecration to Divine service, was accepted as a true priest of the Almighty. He sacrificed himself and all that he had until, in October, 1916, he died penniless, but rich in the things of God. Chosen expressly by God to declare the message of Present Truth to the last, or Laodicean age, of the Church, the hand, power, of Jehovah was upon him.

1:4. And I looked and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it; and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.—As a young man Charles T. Russell was looking intently to see what might be discerned in the Word of God. “Watch,” said the Master. Pastor Russell took for his motto, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me.” (Hab. 2:1) He called his semi-monthly publication, “The Watch Tower”; and, firm in the belief that the Second Advent took place in 1874, he included as a sub-title, “And Herald of Christ's Presence.” The north symbolizes the spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God. (Isa. 14:13; D. 653.) Pastor Russell beheld coming, permitted by God, a great Time of Trouble, a whirlwind of warfare, revolution and anarchy. (Jer. 25:32; Psa. 58:9, 10; D. 528.) It was the cloud accompanying the approach to human affairs of Him for whose Kingdom many have so long prayed. “Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His Throne, a fire goeth before Him and burneth up His enemies round about.” (Psa. 97:2) A conflagration, beginning with world war, is upon the earth, developing into revolution and anarchy. Fire symbolises the last of these misfortunes. (Dan. 7:11) The situation is complicated, infolding, perplexing. None of the national leaders understand the situation. To the poor world, in gross darkness, and lying “in the wicked one,” the cloud is full of darkness (Isa. 60:2), of gloominess (Joel 2:2; Zeph. 1:15); but to those who are taken out of the world and into Christ, it is full of brightness and hope—a white cloud, with a silver lining. In the bright light of the dawning Day of Christ the faces of the Lord's people light up with joy as they see these things coming to pass; for their “deliverance draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28)—the deliverance, too, of the whole world from the kingdom of Satan, the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), into the glorious Kingdom of God, the other side of the trouble. With the understanding of God, His work, plan and purpose, there shone forth the amber, golden glow of the Divine presence, and of the true character, nature and glory of the Almighty God of Love. The Father Himself is supervising the troublous commotion, bruising to heal (Hos. 6:1), and “shortening the days.”—Matt. 24:22.

[One Of The Living Creatures Illustration]

1:5. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.—Out of the contemplation of the cloud of trouble, the worldwide commotion, the destructive anarchy, and of the golden amber glow of God's presence, came a wonderful understanding of something long misunderstood and misrepresented—the character of God. As the vision showed “four living creatures,” so the Divine character was seen by the Laodicean steward to consist of four active principles (Rev. 3:14); Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom. The four have the likeness of a perfect man.

1:6. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.—Each of the four attributes has four characteristics or attributes; and each has the Word of God (wings—Rev. 12:14), in the Old and New Testament, in two different ways of operation (two pairs).

1:7. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.—The feet members of Christ, embodying the Divine attributes on earth, are righteous (straight) in Christ's righteousness, pure, unblemished in God's sight, holy, acceptable, living sacrifices (the calf is a type of unblemished sacrifice); and they shine with the imputed perfection of the Man Christ Jesus.

1:8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they four had their faces and their wings.—The hand is symbolic of power and of execution of purpose. Overshadowed by the Word of God is the Divine power (hand) to execute the thing purposed, operating through human channels, through the power of men. He shows the qualities of the Divine mind through man. Shielded, protected, sustained by the Word (wings)—(Psa. 61:4), the work of the Almighty goes on through “the foolishness of preaching.” (1 Cor. 1:21.) Men and women are “coworkers with God.” (2 Cor. 6:1.) The hands (powers) of man are instruments for the operation of infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

1:9. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went everyone straight forward.—The wings (Psa. 91:4; Rev. 12:14) are perfectly joined together in unity of purpose and action. Straight on to the end ordained of God goes His Word, upholding and strengthening.—Isa. 46:10, 11.

1:10. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.—The character of Jehovah possesses four fundamental attributes, each composed of all the others. The four faces or features of the living creatures represent the four attributes of God, each inseparable from the others, and in each operate each and all of the four. Divine Justice operates in the fulness of Power, Love and Wisdom. In the fall of man into sin, unbending Justice enforced death for disobedience. Love delayed the execution of the sentence upon Adam 930 years (Gen. 5:5), that Wisdom might impress upon the erring human son an indelible lesson of the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7:13) and the extent of the penalty, death, that man, by said experience, might “know evil.” (Gen. 3:5.) Divine power will raise man from the dead, that he may learn to “know good” and experience the fulness of the Father's Love and Wisdom. All who are willing and obedient, who consecrate fully to God's will, shall enjoy “pleasures forevermore” (Psa. 16:11) in the sunshine of Divine favor. The unwilling and disobedient shall suffer the full penalty of Justice in the Second Death (Rev. 21:8), “utter destruction” (2 Thes. 1:9), final and eternal obliteration. (Psa. 37:10.) The face of a man symbolizes the quality of Love, in the character image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27), the God of love. (1 John 4:8.) The ox represents Power (Rev. 4:7); for no animal is stronger, or more patient in the exercise of strength. The majestic lion is God's Justice, roaring its message of death, and executing all that oppose its voice. (Psa. 89:14.) No other creature is so far-sighted, or soars so high as the eagle. The eagle symbolizes Wisdom, far-seeing, ordering all the affairs of the Almighty along the lines of Justice, Power and Love.

1:11. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.—Each pair of wings (Rev. 12:14) symbolizes a separate function of God's Word; one pair to fly with, to carry forward the Plan in the spirit realm, the powers of the air (Eph. 2:2), the other to uphold “all things by the Word” (Heb. 1:3) and to cover and protect.—Psa. 91:4.

1:12. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.—Not with wavering, as darkened minds imagine, proceeds the Divine Word, but “without variableness or shadow of turning.” (Jas. 1:17.) Wheresoever the mind, or Spirit, of Jehovah sends forth His Word, thither straight onward go perfect Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

1:13. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.—God's Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom glow with the light of wisdom. The understanding of God's attributes makes every quality of the Almighty to glow with a wondrous illumination to anyone given to see the “visions of God” first perceived clearly by the Laodicean Servant. “Thy Word is a lamp” (Psa. 119:105), shedding light in the darkness, effecting a personal local illumination. The Word is a lamp to the “feet” members of Christ. (Eph. 1:23.) Up and down, everywhere, throughout all the Divine qualities, wherever manifested, spreads the illumination now shining through the Lamp, the Word.

1:14. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.—In the operation of Divine Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom are sudden gleams of Heavenly wisdom upon great problems, such as now light up the dark clouds of the Time of Trouble.

1:15. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.—The word “cycle,” or “wheel,” is familiar in bicycle, motorcycle, and in cycle as applied to epochs. The Divine attributes operate upon human society, the symbolic earth, in cycles, or ages (Eph. 3:11), and in the mechanisms of ages by which God's Plan is carried forward, His character, or face, is seen.

1:16. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.—Pliny says of the beryl or chrysolithos, “It is a transparent stone with a refulgence like that of gold.” Says Smith's Bible Dictionary, “The ancient chrysolithos, or modern topaz, appears to have a better claim than any other stone to represent the tarshish of the Hebrew Bible.” Gold is symbolic of things Divine. These golden cycles are the Divinely appointed ages in connection with the four attributes of Deity. The Divine operations are not in one simple age, cycle, or manner of operation, but cycle within cycle, age within age, many operations working together “manifold” (Eph. 3:10), like a vast and complicated machine.

1:17. When they went, they went upon their four sides; and they turned not when they went.—Divine Justice conflicts not with Divine Love, nor with Wisdom nor Power, but all qualities are in simultaneous operation. They proceed along lines planned ages ago.—Jas. 1:17.

1:18. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.—“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways (plans) higher than your ways.” (Isa. 55:9.) The Plan of the Ages reveals the lengths, breadths, heights and depths of the purposes of God, and fills the reverent soul with awe. The Plan of God is full of the infinite Wisdom (eyes—Psa. 32:8) of its Author.—B. 305.

1:19. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.—Whenever God's attributes operate they are in accordance with the Divine Plan; sometimes the Divine qualities are exercised towards celestial things and sometimes towards things terrestrial.—1 Cor. 15:40.

1:20. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.—The Spirit, or Power of God, is in all His attributes and in all their operations.

1:21. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.—In whatever direction the Divine Spirit is to act, whether in earthly things or among spirit beings, thither the operations of the Spirit go in the cooperative action of all God's attributes. When an age is finished and one attribute ceases its action, they all cease.

1:22. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.—The firmament in the air or atmosphere (Gen. 1:20), and symbolizes the powers of spiritual control. Above the attributes of God and controlling their operations is the Divine will. The expression of God's will during the time indicated by the vision is the Christ, Head and Body. “All power in Heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18) is given unto Christ, and will be shared by His Bride and Joint-heir. (Rev. 20:4.) “The terrible crystal”—literally “the reverential ice”—suggests the reverence due to the ruling Christ Head and Body, and their own reverential attitude towards the Father. The color is that of ice, clear as crystal, pure, unmixed “truth in the inward parts” (Psa. 51:6), characterizing the new ruling powers in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God.

1:23. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.—Beneath, subject to the direction of the Christ, Head and Church triumphant, are the wings (Word of God—Rev. 12:14). Whenever Divine Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom are in action, the Word of God points straight up to the Father as the Source of every good thing.

1:24. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings.—The sound of the Father's Word is as the voice of great waters (Rev. 1:15), mighty truths, in “the voice of speech,” for the benefit of His children. It is the voice of God, too, when spoken by His people. When Divine Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom operate upon human society, then the Word of God is in full harmony therewith.

1:25. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.—It is through the reigning Christ, Zion, that the voice of Jehovah shall sound forth. “The Lord will roar from Zion.” (Amos 1:2.) “Out of Zion shall go forth the Law.” (Isa. 2:3.) Through The Christ sounds forth the Word of God bespeaking to the world infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

1:26. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a Man above upon it.—“THE HEAD OF CHRIST IS GOD.” (1 Cor. 11:3.) Above the triumphant Christ, Head and Body, is the Throne of Almighty God. “The Son [is] subject to Him that put all things under Him.” (1 Cor. 15:28.) The Throne represents the dominion of God. As the blue sapphire (symbolic of faithfulness), so is the rulership of the Almighty. “God is faithful.” (1 Cor. 1:9.) In the contemplation of the watchers, the faithfulness, unchangeableness of God, is seen shining through the Christ, the firmament, like the soft blue of the sapphire stone. Man is in the image and likeness of God. Reigning over all is One whom men can understand, a Deity whose perfect Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom elicit complete consecration. God is seen to be not a ferocious demon, belying His own command of love, but a just, reasonable, loving God, able to save all the willing and obedient. Jesus, the friend of sinners, was and is the perfect image of the Father.

1:27. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of His loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.—“God dwelleth in light whereto no man can approach.” (1 Tim. 6:16.) Radiant is the Almighty with the golden glow of the Divine nature. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29); only the perfect can stand in His presence; for all dross, not refinable (Mal. 3:2, 3), is consumed by Justice. The essence of the Divine Revelation is Love, the golden light radiating in every direction from Our Father. “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light” (1 John 2:10), in the Divine love-light that surrounds the Throne and pervades the entire spirit realm. This love is the light of the world, to light men unto God.

1:28. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.—The Throne and He that sat thereon were surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow. (Rev. 4:3.) The love spirit finds fruitage in character fruits. So the light of our Father is divisible into the warm red of love, the glowing blue of faithfulness, the brilliant green of immortality, the royal purple of kingship, for those on any plane who are worthy of that honor, etc.—the manifestation of every good character fruit and every good purpose for the blessing of all His creatures. (John 15:8; Gal. 5:22.) The glory of God is not a display of blinding light to terrify men; but it is to do good, to manifest to the uttermost His character of love. When the watchman of the Laodicean age discerned the Divine character and Plan he fell upon his face (Rev. 1:17), in reverential worship and in complete consecration to do the will of his Father in Heaven. There sounded forth and through him, from the pages of God's Word (Isa. 30:21), the voice of the Sublime One who has been speaking to Christendom during this dawn of the Golden Age.

Ezekiel 2—The Rebellious House And The Book

2:1. And He said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.—It is a mark of favor to stand before a king. (Prov. 22:29.) Those who stand before rulers receive commissions, are invested with authority and power.

2:2. And the spirit entered into me when He spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard Him that spake unto me.—“The words which I speak, they are spirit.” (John 6:63.) When the full import of the Word was discerned, Pastor Russell took a firm stand. The spirit, power, influence of God entered into him, never to leave. He stood firmly, before God, before his friends, and before all the hostile hosts of Mystic Babylon the Great.

2:3. And He said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very day.—Pastor Russell's work was largely among professing Christians—not slum work, Christian work among the professedly non-Christians, or a revivalistic work calling to repentance and conversion. This was not the work appropriate to the Harvest of the Christian Age. John the Baptist announced the First Presence of Messiah, and began the harvesting of Jewry, and was not sent to the heathen, but to the Lord's people, the Jews, to acquaint them with the First Advent, expose those withholding the keys of knowledge (Luke 11:52), and warn of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Judea in A. D. 70 and 73. (Matt. 3:7; 24:2.) A like work was to be accomplished in Spiritual Israel, Christendom, after the Lord's Second Advent in 1874. The man raised up, “set upon his feet,” and given wisdom, grace and power for the task, was Pastor Russell.

2:4. For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.—Few things are more trying than a family of impudent children. Forwardness in evil-doing and evil-speaking was one of the characteristics of the Hebrew people. They violated the Word of God and justified the violation. (Matt. 15:5.) By impudent—hard faced—tradition they made void the Word of God. The effrontery of the “Christian” era has been unsurpassed. Possessing greatest light, they have sinned most grievously. The Word said, “He that is begotten of God sinneth not” (1 John 3:9); yet John Tetzel was, and in some countries Roman Catholic priests still are, selling indulgences to commit sin. Professing “Christians” keep Christianity out of their affairs with the phrase, “Business is business.”

2:5. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a Prophet among them.—The work of Ezekiel among the Hebrews in captivity proved a thankless task. He was rejected by both those in captivity and those remaining at Jerusalem under Zedekiah. His following was almost nothing. But he witnessed faithfully, and no Hebrew could say that he had not been cautioned of danger and warned of impending catastrophe. Whether the clergy and people of Christendom wished to heed Pastor Russell or not, they certainly heard his words. (Z. '03-436.) His work was peculiarly prospered. Against difficulties it grew and extended beyond the wildest dreams, until it compassed the civilized world. In the face of the united opposition of Protestant and Romanist clergy, the steward of Almighty God accomplished the most gigantic preaching work ever done by one man. “I cannot open the morning paper without Pastor Russell staring me in the face,” said a prominent minister. In the newspapers, in the theatres, on the bill-boards, in billions of tract pages distributed gratis, in millions of home libraries, in the questions of inquiring church members, it was evident everywhere that a great preacher was faithfully sounding forth a trumpet message. With a voice of many waters, reverberating like thunder throughout the world, spoke Pastor Russell; and ere long “they shall know that there hath been a Prophet [preacher] among them.”

2:6, 7. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak My words, unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.—Fearlessness characterized Ezekiel and Pastor Russell, both outcasts among the “best” people. Pastor Russell was thrust by the church people into a wilderness condition, amid the briers of opposition and reproach. Though the thorns of persecution crowned his head, he was never afraid of words nor of angry looks. (Jer. 1:8-10.) “I would rather see him stoned to death,” said a Wilkes-Barre, Pa. preacher, in answer to a kindly invitation to come and hear Pastor Russell preach. “He ought to be skinned alive, and his hide stretched on a door,” remarked a Chicago “divine” to another “divine,” coming out from one of Pastor Russell's addresses. A scorpion has a great swelling, formidable looking head, but it stings with its tail. (Rev. 9:5, 10.) Ecclesiasticism is made up of organizations whose heads utter boastful, swelling words, but which do injury through their followers. The sting of a scorpion—of the followers of synods and popes—is through poisoned words. Every great reformer has had some turn on him who were very close to him. Not from outside did Pastor Russell suffer most. A few from among his own household, whom he had befriended, helped, pushed, advanced, struck at him to ruin him and destroy his influence and his work. It is characteristic of the scorpion to sting and poison in the dark corners of a man's own home. “Be not afraid, though thou dost dwell among scorpions.”

2:8. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house; open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.—The attitude of the rebellious Christian was not that of God's chosen servant. Never did he rebel against the Divine leading, nor seek to pervert the Word of God. “My flesh is meat (food) indeed.” (Jno. 6:55.) “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4.) Whatever the word or message that came from the Father's lips through the inspired pages of the Bible, the Laodicean steward was to appropriate, assimilate.—Rev. 10:9.

2:9. And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of a book was therein.—The Divine hand sent from God is the Divine power, support, upholding and advancing the interests of whatever is in the hand. “The book therein” is the Divine Plan of the Ages, Present Truth, especially as relating to the impending downfall of Christendom in the end of this Age. Ancient books were written on a continuous sheet, rolled up. The sheet was often written on both sides. The writing outside could be plainly read until covered by the rolling, but that inside was entirely hidden from view. Present Truth, the Divine Plan of the Ages, contains features which are plain to any one who looks at them; such as those relating to the earthly features of God's Plan—the evil in the earth, the clashing interests of rich and poor, and various other elements of the present order of things, the great war, and the approach of a better order of things after the present troubles are over. Present Truth, “the roll of the book,” also contains hidden, deep truths, discernible only to those who have the Holy Spirit. It possesses features impossible for natural men, not anointed with the Spirit, to perceive. “The natural man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them; for they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14.) Many thousands of consecrated Christians are upheld, comforted and rejoiced by the deep things of God, made clear for the first time in centuries by the “roll of the book.”

2:10. And He spread it before me; and it was written within and without; and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.—What an honor to be the person before whom the Almighty would clearly spread out His purposes,—the honor which came to Pastor Russell, and with it a witness work of vast extent and responsibility! The purpose of Present Truth is to inform the Lord's people and the people of the world, as far as they may listen, concerning the significance of the times. All classes profit more or less from the warning of Pastor Russell, as the message goes broadcast throughout the world. It comes with a different significance to Church and to world. To the Church it is a trumpet call of truth (Rev. 10:2-7), to get ready quickly for deliverance, resurrection glory, honor and immortality. To the world, the worldly-minded, the Present Truth is something to be dreaded. (Isa. 28:19.) This world, age, state of affairs, is in process of destruction. The destroying agencies, as portrayed in the Scriptures (1 Kings 19:11, 12; Z. '04-249; Z. '98-207, 208) are world-wide war, then revolutions on an unprecedented scale, and finally universal anarchy—savagery. The significance of anarchy is appreciated by but few. It means an utter absence of government, first the paralysis, and ultimately the ceasing, of the governmental functions which now afford protection, peace and safety to property and life. As matters progress to the climax, as disaster after disaster overtakes human effort, and disintegration descends into the dissolution of law and order, the whole earth will be “filled with violence”. (Gen. 6:11; Micah 6:12); and men's hearts will utterly fail. (Luke 21:26.) Picture the worst revolutions ever known; this trouble will outdo them all. Paint the darkest picture, and none will be as black as the sable pall of this dreadful night, this reign of terror already settling down upon mankind. Truly, “mourning, lamentation and woe” were the burden of God's Prophet Ezekiel, as he foresaw the destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem—and of Pastor Russell, as he foreknew the desolation of a world!

Ezekiel 3—Pastor Russell's Divine Ordination

3:1. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.—The Prophet was to find something. As Ezekiel ate the book in the hand of God, so the “faithful and wise servant” of this day absorbed, assimilated, the Plan of the Ages which was in the power (hand) of the Almighty. Pastor Russell searched diligently to find all that he could of the purposes of God. As he understood, he was to go speak to “the House of Sons” (Heb. 3:6), all the children, sons of God—to nominal Spiritual Israelites.

3:2. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll.—“I never knew any one so willing to do the will of God,” said the private secretary and traveling companion of Pastor Russell. He was eager to learn all he could about the Heavenly Father's will. It was not of himself that he learned and taught the Divine Plan; but God Himself caused him to learn, believe and teach.

3:3. And He said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.—No mere casual scanning of Present Truth would suffice. The man of God was to be filled with the great Message. (Rev. 10:9, 10.) “The sweetest story ever told” (Psa. 19:10; 119:103) brought inexpressible peace. It sweetened the experiences of a life of sacrifice. Whoever eats, assimilates Present Truth, finds every heart question answered, every doubt silenced. He learns “the peace of God that passeth understanding” (Phil. 4:7), and a sweetness as of honey in the promises, plans, and purposes of the Father of Love.

3:4. And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.—From apostolic days to today all to whom the Spirit gives utterance begin to speak (Acts 2:1-18) because constrained to do so, because they “love to tell the story.” To Ezekiel, and to the greatest preacher of modern times, came a readiness of speech, when Jehovah Himself gave them His Spirit, and commanded to “get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.”

3:5. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel.—Present Truth was not to go to the heathen, the drunkards, unbelievers, but to the Christian people of the world, the spiritual House of Israel.

3:6. Not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.—If the Message of Present Truth had been sent to the heathen with its glad tidings for all, they would have turned from devil worship, to worship the true God. (Matt. 11:21, 23.) On two occasions the trumpet sound was heard by “people of a strange speech and of a hard language.” Pastor Russell passed through Japan and India on a round-the-world tour. In Japan the people requested that he stay. It was the message they had longed for. In India the natives heard him gladly. In eastern and southern Africa a believer in Present Truth found his way from Nyassa to the Cape, and many thousands of natives embraced the Truth and were baptised.

3:7. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.—Christendom has never hearkened unto God. They hear and do not. (Jas. 1:22.) They are forgetful hearers of the Word. (Jas. 1:25.) They know their Master's will and do it not. (Luke 12:47.) Because they hear not God, they heed not the Word of God when brought to them by His servants.

3:8. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.—Whatever situation Pastor Russell faced, God made him more than equal to it. This last and most illustrious of the reformers never asked for money; yet he had enough entrusted to him to carry on the work. Champions of Christendom met him on the debating platform; each encounter widened and strengthened the witness for Present Truth. He faced the modern enemies of Reformation with books by tens of millions, and they were unable to combat their power. “To read the Studies in the Scriptures,” admonished a Southern preacher to his flock, “is to believe them.” No argument could be devised to stem the flood of Truth, only a ban on the reading of the books. In innumerable places priestcraft caused the public burning of the books. Practically every home in America, England, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and other Protestant countries was reached by a deluge of free tracts. Such a tracting of the world with billions of pages, was never known. The enemies of Truth were wholly unable to check the spread of knowledge. A further situation faced was the production of the free Photo-Drama of Creation, seen and heard by twelve millions. No answer could be put forth by clerical foes of truth, but baseless, cruel libels on the private life of one of God's noblemen. Audiences by the thousands listened to Bible lectures by Pastor Russell and by hundreds of public speakers, and their voice is still heard all over the world. Stinging assaults of slander were ignored by a man of destiny, who had too much of God's work to do to pay attention to the yelpings of little men—of the D. D.'s of Christendom (Isa. 56:10), who love slumber, but who snarl and bite when disturbed in their dreams of “peace, peace” (Jer. 6:14), social and civic gospels, church unity, and evangelistic raids on the pockets of the masses. Not a situation or a person but was faced victoriously.—Isa. 54:17.

[Pastor Russell in the Critics' Den Illustration]

3:9. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.—The forehead is symbolic of wisdom. A man of high forehead, as was Pastor Russell, is of a high type of intellect. Pastor Russell's mind was made strong against opponents of the Reform which is ushering in the everlasting Kingdom of Messiah. It is impossible for error to withstand truth. (Luke 21:15.) As in apostolic days, believers in Present Truth call themselves “in the Truth” (2 Pet. 1:12), the teachings of the Word of God are termed “the Truth” (1 John 3:19), and those who believe them are known as “Truth people.” (3 John 4.) The mind of Pastor Russell was filled with Truth. Crystal clear, with hard, irresistible logic, the Present Truth, which constituted his wisdom and understanding, was the hardest proposition ecclesiasticism ever encountered. (Isa. 50:7.) The mind of God's steward was as adamant. Adamant is literally, in Hebrew, “a diamond point.” With diamond hardness (Rev. 4:3), the Present Truth cuts its way through all opposition, though the opposing thought be hard as flint. The diamond is the most crystal clear of stones, and represents the truth in irresistible form. It is futile to oppose the mind of any Present Truth believer, for truth is irrefutable. To those who have it, it imparts the mind of an intellectual giant—the mind of Christ, of God. (1 Cor. 2:16.) Their foreheads are made as diamond. In the light of the sun the diamond sparkles with indescribable beauty. It breaks the sunlight up into its component parts and reflects and refracts in prismatic flashes of rainbow colors. The sun is the Gospel of Divine Love and its embodiment, Jesus Christ. The component parts of Christian love are the character fruits. “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” (Galatians 5:22-3.) The minds, wisdom, characters of God's true people are full of manifestations of the shining upon them of the glorious Gospel of the Son of Righteousness—full of the beauty of righteousness. The minds of God's saints are made as the diamond in its excelling hardness and sunlit radiance.

3:10. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart and hear with thine ears.—Like Ezekiel, Pastor Russell was to hold back, pervert, or wrest nothing.

3:11. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.—It was to be a message for the Lord's people in captivity to the king of this world. Satan, bound in Mystic Babylon the Great, the governmental-ecclesiastical-commercial system of Christendom.

3:12. Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place.—Through the begetting of the Holy Spirit we are raised up to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4), to sit with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), in the Spirit-begotten condition. The Spirit raised Pastor Russell up to an understanding and appreciation of Heavenly things. (Matt. 3:16.) At Pentecost the place where the Apostles were sitting was filled with a rushing sound as of a mighty wind, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2.) The mighty rushing sound represented Pastor Russell's receiving a rich endowment of the Spirit of God, to whose leadings he was fully consecrated and to whose influence and guidance he wholly devoted his life. The words of Christ and of God are contained in the Bible, written thousands of years ago, behind in the stream of time. It was in the Word of God, behind him in time (Isa. 30:21), that Pastor Russell perceived the rushing sound, the utterances of the Holy Spirit. The message of the Bible has been perverted by Catholic and Protestant misunderstandings into anything but a glorious and blessed Gospel. It is a thing to be dreaded, if the glory of God is to eternally torment the vast majority of humans. But the Message of Truth sounded forth by Pastor Russell declares the grace of the Gospel which is to reach every man, woman and child (1 Tim. 2:6) with its blessed influence, power, wisdom and love, so that all creation in due time may join in a mighty paeon of praise. “Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from His place.”—Psa. 106:48.

[The Clergy Would Censor The Bible Illustration]

3:13. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.—Many Christian ministers have had glimpses of the Word of God, knowledge of some details of the Plan, some measure of the Holy Spirit; but to Pastor Russell, God's messenger to the last stage of the Church, was given a superabundance of gifts, to set the things of God in order (Isa. 44:7), to proclaim an harmonious understanding of all the Divine purposes for mankind and of some for the angels. (Eph. 3:10.) He heard the full harmony of “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” (Rev. 15:3.) To him the wings (Rev. 12:14), the Word of God, Old Testament and New, sounded their Glad Tidings, a message whose parts “touched one another,” were in complete touch, full harmony. He heard for the first time since Apostolic days the Plan of God, “the noise of the wheels [cycles, ages].” He heard the manifestations of the operation of the Holy Spirit, the “noise of a great rushing,” and was filled with the Spirit in a measure beyond the portion of most Christian men. His patience with the stupid and erring was godlike and his love-lit face was an inspiration.

3:14. So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.—“God hath taken you out of the world” (John 17:16); raised “to sit with Christ in Heavenly places.” (Eph. 2:6.) The Spirit took Pastor Russell away from earthly aims and raised him up to the plane of sacrificing priesthood. He turned from commercial pursuits to devote his life to the Heavenly Message. He tasted the bitter herbs of persecution, of suffering with Christ; and amid ostracism and persecution he lived the life of Christian service. He carried on his work in fervency of spirit; for the power of God was upon him, strengthening him with might in the inner man (Eph. 3:16), and with wisdom to deliver, in the face of the determined opposition of priestcraft, the trumpet message announcing the Presence of Christ—the sound of the Seventh Trumpet, the trump of God.—Rev. 10:7.

3:15. Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat and remained there astonished among them seven days.—Future historians will record, as most remarkable, the mental, moral and spiritual bondage in which professing Christians were held during the Gospel Age, through the machinations of priestcraft, under the king of the age, Satan himself. Pastor Russell came with his message, in a day of supposed enlightenment, to a people bound hand and foot. Tel-abib in Hebrew is “Hill of Grass” (from “Tel,” hill, and “Abib,” sprouting, budding). Abib was another name for Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew sacred year, corresponding to April. In type or symbol a place represents a condition, or a stage in historic development. The “hill of budding,” the beginning of the sacred year, symbolizes the dawn of the Times of Restitution, the “Millennial Dawn.” The Millennium (Rev. 20:3, 4, 7) began in 1874, with the Return of Christ. It was at about that time that Pastor Russell came to his fellow-Christians with the beginning of a better understanding of the Bible, “the vision of God.” It was, as it were, the budding-time of the good promises of God for the blessing of all peoples. The Christian people lived on and by the stream of commercial, social and economic intercourse that feeds and supports Christendom, Babylon.

3:16. And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—In a time prophecy a day in the prophecy usually signifies a year in fulfillment. For seven years after Christ's Return in 1874—until 1881—Pastor Russell, although he knew much of God's Plan, was in some degree in the same condition as other Christians in imperfect understanding of God's Word. In 1881 a former associate, Mr. Barbour, of Rochester, N. Y., who had been a faithful fellow-watcher, developed into the “Evil servant” of Matt. 24:48-61 and Zechariah 11:17, and produced a work on the Hebrew Tabernacle types in opposition to the fundamentals of true Christianity. Pastor Russell desired the truth on the subject. He gave himself up to prayer and study of this matter alone. For days he struggled with the problem and wrestled with God in supplication. At length the matter cleared up. He then wrote “Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices.” of which 1,500,000 copies have since aided Christians to understand the deeper things of the Word and to make complete consecration unto death. This was in 1881, at which time he also published “Food for Thinking Christians,” a work embodying much afterwards expanded into the six volumes of “Studies in the Scriptures.” The same year, 1881, is prophetically marked at the time for the final withdrawal of favor from the churches, a favor which had begun to be withdrawn in 1878—the year in which the clergy were cast off as representatives of the Divine Word, and when Pastor Russell began his work by the publication of 50,000 copies of “Object and Manner of the Lord's Return.” In 1873 the stewardship of the things of God, the teaching of Bible truths, was taken from the clergy, unfaithful to their age-long stewardship, and given to Pastor Russell. In the interim, until 1881, the new steward was setting the things in order, getting the truths of the Bible in logical and Scriptural form for presentation, until the last great item of the Hebrew Tabernacle types, was ready. Then, in 1881, he became God's watchman for all Christendom, and began his gigantic work of witness.

3:17. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me.—The function of watchmanship was not given until 1881. (Jer. 6:17; Isa. 21:6-12.) Faithfulness in individual watching during a trial period of seven years was rewarded by the bestowal of the office of the greatest servant whom the Church of God has had since the Apostle Paul. “Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant.” (Matt. 20:27.) Pastor Russell at all times served the Church in great things and small. No request was too insignificant to get his careful attention. Rich and poor alike were faithfully served in every possible way. This work prior to 1881 was a great work for any ordinary man, but insignificant compared with what was to follow. By 1884 the watchman's work had grown to such proportions as to cause the founding of The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. This is the agency through which God's appointed watchman has delivered his message to Christendom. Pastor Russell paid no attention to the words or opinions of man, however learned or pious, whether men of modern days or the “early fathers” of post-apostolic times. He listened to the word direct from the mouth of God, spoken by holy men of old as moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21.) Ezekiel was raised up shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem to warn the Hebrews of the impending calamity. Pastor Russell's warning to Christendom, coming direct from God, has been of the imminent collapse of the present “Christian” civilization in a welter of war, revolution and anarchy, to be succeeded by the early establishment of the Kingdom of God. In all his warnings he claimed no originality. He said that he could never have written his books himself. It all came from God, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

3:18. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.—Pastor Russell saw and revived the teaching of the Word of God that death is death. “All have sinned.” (Rom. 3:23.) “Death passed upon all.” (Romans 5:12.) “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23.) “There is none righteous.” (Rom. 3:10.) “The dead sleep in the dust.” (Isa. 26:19.) “Their thoughts perish.” (Psa. 146:4.) He taught clearly the Word of God first enunciated to Adam, “Thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17.) Man is not inherently immortal. At death he is dead, unconscious, asleep until the resurrection, not “more alive than ever,” as taught by a blinded and apostate priestcraft. Man, soul and body, is not a being whom God cannot destroy. “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body.” (Matt. 10:28.) To all erring mankind Pastor Russell was directed by God to reiterate the Divine penalty for sin, as death, and not eternal torment. This was a fundamental part of the message both of Ezekiel and of Pastor Russell.

3:19. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.—Pastor Russell faithfully warned the wicked. He published a complete exposition of the Bible statements regarding the Adamic death—3,000,000 copies of a pamphlet, “What Say the Scriptures About Hell,” quoting all Bible passages mentioning Sheol and Hades, the death state. He scarcely ever spoke in public without dwelling on this cardinal tenet, that the dead are dead. To the very best of his ability he taught Christendom the truth. By faithful testimony he delivered himself from liability.

3:20, 21. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.—Another cardinal teaching of God's Word, clearly taught by Pastor Russell, is the nature of the eternal punishment to be visited upon the incorrigible backslider. Clergy, bishops and popes have taught for centuries on this subject an irrational combination of extreme symbolism with gross literalism, as suited their ambition to exercise worldly power and hold the masses in subjection—minds, bodies and pocketbooks. They have interpreted one symbolism symbolically and the next literally. They have said that the “Lake of Fire” and the “torment” are literal, but that the “beast” and the “false prophet” are symbolic (Rev. 19:20), even though it involved the absurdity of a symbolic beast going into a literal lake of fire! Blind and deaf to those who have pointed out the unreasonableness of such foolishness, they have turned savagely upon those that have the Truth. In eighteen centuries they have killed fifty million adherents of Christ, and persecuted innumerable others. It is impossible to compute the number that they will do to death in this, the close of the Gospel-Age Harvest, when governmental protection shall be withdrawn from lovers of truth, except that, this time, they will get all such!

An important feature of Pastor Russell's teaching is that the Scriptural punishment of the incorrigibly wicked is not life in torment but oblivion, annihilation, the “second death” (Rev. 21:8); that every one is, either in this life or after the resurrection, to be brought to a full knowledge of the Truth (1 Tim. 2:4); to receive some measure of the Holy Spirit; that those who incur the extreme penalty for sin will be only those who backslide beyond recovery. In full conformity with Ezekiel's prophecy Pastor Russell taught that “when a righteous man doth commit iniquity, he shall die”—the Second Death.

3:22. And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and He said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.—Ezekiel was impelled by the Holy Spirit to depart from the river Chebar with its teeming activities. Pastor Russell's consecration led him to separate himself from commercial activities and to give his life to the service of God. The hand of the Lord was upon him to do this. The Lord's people, the Hebrews, mingled with the Chaldeans, living in the plain—literally “vale” or “valley.” Pastor Russell turned from ordinary avocations to all the people dwelling in the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psa. 23:4); and in that condition God communed with His true Watchman. Pastor Russell has been known to pass entire nights in prayer, and go about his work the next day as though nothing unusual had taken place.—Rev. 3:14.

3:23. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain; and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.—Continually the vision was before Pastor Russell of the character, plan and work of the Almighty. Daily he renewed his covenant of consecration and daily sought to carry it out.

3:24. Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.—A thought possesses propulsive power, and must result in action unless hindered by an opposing thought. The Spirit, thoughts, words of God were continually entering, from the Bible, into Pastor Russell's mind and setting him into action. All who have set themselves apart to do the will of God and have received the Holy Spirit, are members of Christ, in the House of Sons (Heb. 3:6), the Royal Priesthood. In the consecration of the typical priesthood, the priest shut himself in the Tabernacle for seven days. (Lev. 8:33.) (Seven symbolizes completeness.) So Christ and those in Him abide continually in the antitypical Holy, the spirit-begotten condition. Pastor Russell lived in the Spirit from his consecration to his death.

3:25. But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them.—Each forward step in any branch of knowledge renders institutions based on past partial knowledge functionless; and consequently the adherents and beneficiaries of such institutions oppose the march of events. The clergy, trying to stem the tide of Truth, to uphold an effete ecclesiasticism tottering to its fall, put every restraint upon the influence of Pastor Russell; but the bands upon him served also to bind the tares more tightly into the organization bundles. (Matt. 13:30.) In fulfillment of the prophetic parable the bundles are to be destroyed in the anarchy about to ensue. Church members have been urged to get rid of every scrap of paper bearing the Message of Present Truth; the Truth has been preached against in practically every church in the English, German and Swedish speaking world; people have been warned against reading the Truth; Truth people have been discharged or refused employment; in Europe they have been imprisoned at hard labor; some have been done to death by firing squads; they have been forbidden to hold meetings. Neither Pastor Russell nor his fellow-believers were permitted to utter the Bible Truth before the congregations of ecclesiasticism. It was not to go out among “them,” and his greatest work was the deepening of the spirit of consecration among those of the “House of Sons.”

3:26. And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.—It is impossible to witness spiritual things to the carnally-minded (1 Cor. 3:1; John 16:12). But Pastor Russell never refrained from speaking or publishing the Word of God. The Bible teaches that the service of God must be of a willing heart. It is a privilege which may be accepted or rejected, as the hearer desires. Yet to the worldly, Pastor Russell was as “dumb”, for they would not hear.

Ezekiel 4—The Papal And Protestant Sieges

4:1. Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.—In Ezekiel's days, in Chaldea, a book was a collection of inscribed tiles. The Laodicean servant was to be a writer of books. In many articles and chapters on the kingdoms of this world and their judgment and fall, and that of their ecclesiastical, political and business systems, Pastor Russell portrays Christendom, typically spoken of as Jerusalem. It bore the Lord's name, but was defiled by the evil practices of its inhabitants. (C. 295.) As a type, Jerusalem represents particularly the ecclesiastical phase of Christendom.

4:2. And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it, set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.—Ecclesiasticism was to experience prolonged siege by a class symbolized by Ezekiel. The siege was to be conducted by Truth, encompassing the stronghold of the nominal city of God. Beleaguered ecclesiasticism was to go through experiences like that of a besieged city shut off from its province, shorn of its actual dominion, while nominally retaining it, cut off from the supplies that had flowed from the tributary peoples. In addition to the slow weakening of a close besiegement, it was to withstand occasional assaults, make sorties and go through a period of warfare, with only one possible end, the utter destruction of the city. The besieged city was surrounded on every side with a line of military works, trenches, palisades and forts, collectively called a fort; from which, especially from the principal center of offense, it was continually harassed by wearing-down activities and assaulted by surprise attacks. So ecclesiasticism was to be surrounded and placed on the defensive, by strongly entrenched and fortified enemies. “God is our fortress.” (2 Sam. 22:2.) It was to be done by a class of progressive and liberty-loving Christians in revolt against and attack upon the intolerance, superstition, and tyranny of priestcraft.

Ancient cities were surrounded by high walls, with frequent towers for watchmen, spearmen, bowmen and slingmen. The walls, in emergencies, were lined with such fighters and with throwers of boulders and firebrands. The attack was made upon a weak point in the wall; and an earthen mound or mounds was cast up to furnish an elevation from which to equalize for the besiegers the advantages of the defenders. The walls of ecclesiasticism are its defense of creeds and of formalism and, not least of all, of the civil powers and the men who stand as a bulwark against attack. A “mount” symbolizes a government. (Dan. 2:44, 45.) The nation (mount) was organized, militant Protestantism. The camp is the temporary abiding place of those who are fighting on the Lord's side. (Heb. 13:13.) A battering ram was a device for battering down the wall of a city to make a breach for the attack of the soldiery. Ecclesiasticism has surrounded itself with walls of living stones, soldiers, police and other officers of the civil powers who protect the churches and church people (Isa. 59:10), educators to build up belief in ecclesiasticism, writers to write articles and books, and a host of other adherents and supporters. In the siege of ecclesiasticism the Lord's yeomen have attacked aggressively with books, newspapers, missionaries, lectures and education; seeking to loosen and dislodge some of the living stones surrounding organized error.—Jer. 6:6.

4:3. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.—An iron pan, literally a “thin plate,” was between besieging Protestantism and beleaguered ecclesiasticism. “They were holpen with a little help” (Dan. 11:34). The civil powers were to stand as a wall of iron protecting the Lord's people from the persecuting power of ruling priestcraft. No breaches could be made in the wall. It was a “wall of iron.” “No evil shall befall thee.” (Psa. 91:10.) “Greater is He that is for thee than all these that be against thee.” (2 Kings 6:16.) Iron, as in the iron claws and teeth of the beast of Daniel, symbolizes the agencies of an irresistible power. Turning the face toward or against anything was a mark of favor or of disfavor. (Psa. 104:29.) The Lord's people were resolutely to disfavor established ecclesiasticism and to besiege it from the Reformation to the close of the Harvest. When Ezekiel sees another doing something it usually signifies another than Pastor Russell doing it, but may signify Pastor Russell seeing himself, or the Ezekiel class. The Ezekiel prophecy types and symbolizes Pastor Russell or the Reformer class seeing Pastor Russell or the Reformer class or some member of that class doing the thing typed or symbolized. Here, the Protestant class from the Protestant Reformation down through the Harvest period, is seen systematically and effectually besieging established ecclesiasticism. The house of Israel ordinarily meant the Hebrew nation, the nominal fleshly house of Israel. The Hebrews were divided into the ten tribes (Israel), thoroughly infected with Pagan beliefs and practices, and the two tribes (Judah), holding more closely to Jehovah. In antitype, when both Israel and Judah are mentioned, and the prophecy is intended for an antitypical fulfillment, Israel signifies the Papacy and Judah signifies established Protestantism. Here the sign was to be the whole nominal house of Israel—all professing Christians, Catholics and Protestants.—Z. '05-179.

4:4. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.—In verses 4 to 6 Israel and Judah are included in the same picture, and signify Papacy and established, corrupted Protestantism. The left side was a sign of less favor. Romanism kept on in sin and kept adding, multiplying evil deeds, until iniquity should come to the full (Gen. 15:16). A day in prophecy signifies a year in fulfillment. (Num. 14:34.) Ezekiel here represents the reformer class which had to endure the iniquities of Papacy, both by persecution and by the shame of seeing professed Christians believing grossest error. The iniquity of Papacy, the house of Israel, lay in the fact that the Reformers had shown them insistent proofs of their wrong course, and yet they continued in their own way, heedless of the Divine warnings. Hence less favor has been felt by Jehovah toward them than toward Protestantism.

4:5. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.—Upon the reform element was laid the burden of seeing the dupes of Papal priestcraft continually learning and living error. This was a burden upon conscience, and was repugnant to the enlightened mind of the reform element, known for centuries, in name at least, as Protestant. Priestcraft of the larger division of Christendom was to be under attack for 390 years, during which time the besieging element, the reformers, were to be protected from Papacy by the “iron wall” of the civil powers. This began in 1528 and ends in 1918. The year 1528 is one of the turning points of history. Protestantism in England and in Germany was in the balance. The sudden rise of Charles V of Germany to great power had emboldened Pope Clement to side with Charles. He induced the Emperor to support a measure designed to limit the spread of Protestantism, to be followed by its utter destruction. Under the proposed law no Protestant was to convert a Romanist to the reformed faith, nor would it be allowable for Protestantism to spread to other countries. It meant for all Protestants an end such as the Huguenots came to in France, the suppression of the Renaissance with its “increase of knowledge” (Dan. 12:4), and the end of the prosperous and comparatively enlightened civilization of modern times. The future of the whole world, and of the Divine Plan, was at stake! A general war was barely avoided to destroy Lutheranism. Philip Landgrave of Saxony discovered the plot, took arms, and in 1528 forced indemnity from a Catholic bishop. Other princes of Germany stood with Philip.

To quote from Dr. Peter Bayne, LL. D., the historian (“Martin Luther”), page 486: “These (the princes of the reformed faith) were inflexibly determined that the decree of the majority should not be assented to. Philip of Hesse, John of Saxony, Markgraf George the Pious of Brandenburg-Anspach, the Dukes of Lunenburg and Brunswick, the Prince of Anhalt, and the representatives of Strasburg, Nurnberg and twelve other free cities, entered a solemn protest against the prospective revolution. They were called Protestants! All, to this hour, who claim that Truth shall be unveiled, and that no Pope, or Kaiser, shall congeal the ever-advancing stream of progress and improvement, may take an honorable pride in tracing their spiritual descent to the intrepid Philip and the magnanimous and simple-hearted John.” (p. 481): “How thoroughly is the whole pageant of that war, 1528, erased from the memory of the present generation! And yet the effect of those events is not yet exhausted; nor would it be possible for any one without forming some comprehension of them, to understand how link added itself to link in the evolutionary chain of modern history.”

Thus Germany set up the iron wall of civic defense between the besieging Protestants and beleaguered Papacy. In England, too, the other great empire which has stood as an iron wall between the reform element and Papacy, the break with Rome began to take form in 1528. This was the year when Pope Clement appointed his legates, Correggio and Wolsey, to conduct the divorce trial of Queen Katherine of Aragon, at the behest of Henry VIII. (Rev. 8:8, 9.) As God raised up a willful, stubborn Pharaoh when He purposed to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt, so He raised up the lustful Henry VIII as the agent through whom the break should come between England and Rome. “The natural result” [of Henry's divorce proceedings], says A. F. Pollard, the historian, in his “Henry VIII,” “was the separation of England from Rome.” Thus did Divine wisdom use “the wrath of man to praise Him” and cause the “iron wall” of the civil, military and naval powers of the British Empire, Germany, and of the United States, to stand an impregnable barrier against the persecuting power of Great Babylon. Safe behind the iron wall, the reform element was able to live and grow in its camp and to keep up its siege of Roman Catholic priestcraft.

4:6. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.—The right side signifies less disfavor than to Papacy. The house of Judah represents Protestantism, the Protestant churches. Until 1878, when cast off by the returned and present Messiah, Protestantism enjoyed Divine favor, just as the two tribes, collectively called Judah, did as compared with the idolatrous ten tribes of Israel. After 1874 the Present Truth took the form of a general overhauling of creeds and the announcement of Christ's Second Presence. This was unanimously rejected by the Protestant churches; and organized Protestant ecclesiasticism from 1878 on for forty years became the Judah of this type, besieged on every side by the reform element, under the leadership of the steward of Divine Truth, Pastor Russell. Until 1918, Hebrew reckoning, beginning in the fall of 1917, the civil powers continue as a “wall of iron,” protecting the Lord's people in their witness against error.—Rev. 3:14; B. 66, 91.

4:7. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.—The Ezekiel class, the true Protestant reform class, during the 390 and the 40 years set themselves to the attack upon priestcraft. Pastor Russell seldom spoke without some words of objection to or warning about ecclesiasticism. The arm symbolizes power (E. 50, 47) and the uncovering of the arm is as when a man takes off his coat in attacking a task. The siege was to be carried on with energy. The reform element was to preach continually, not condoning or excusing priestcraft, but directly and pointedly attacking it.

4:8. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.—God bound His true people to this work. The reform element were not to change their attitude, but continually to keep at the attack upon ecclesiastical corruption until the siege should end in 1918. The Hebrew year 1918, begins in October, 1917.

4:9. Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side; three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.—These grains represent different grades of spiritual food, each kind of food to be eaten by the kind of Christian represented by the food. Wheat represents the true Gospel of the Kingdom, as in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-30), and is the food of the Little Flock. Barley among the Hebrews was little esteemed, for it was the price of an adulteress. (Hos. 3:2.) It signifies the spiritual food of a class guilty of spiritual adultery, unhallowed alliance with the world in the bringing forth of “strange” children. (Hos. 5:7.) Beans, lentiles, millet and fitches represent grades of food inferior to wheat (which contains every element to support life) and inferior even to barley. Their continued use as foods, causes physical deficiencies, weaknesses and disease. Lentiles are usually cultivated for fodder. Millet is still inferior. Symbolically it represents Christians who “have no depth of earth.” (Matt. 13:5.) Vetches, sometimes called “tares” or “prickly spelt,” are a very poor food. Their prickly nature suggests a type of hard-to-get-along-with Christians, and the kind of mental, moral and spiritual food that produces them. In with some of the true wheat, in established churchianity, as shown by verse 16, were to be gathered Christians of various degrees of development, each eating the kind of food corresponding to his Christian development, the wheat class assimilating the best of the Divine Word, and so on down to those who absorbed the poorest grade of spiritual provender, some of it food usually regarded as fit only for animals. This was the food the various classes should subsist on, each according to his capacity, from 1528 to 1918, and from 1878 to 1918.

4:10, 11. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.—A shekel was half an ounce; twenty shekels were ten ounces. A hin was a gallon and a half. The sixth part of a hin was one quart. This was the daily ration, a starvation allowance. They were not to feed on it continuously, but on Sundays, or two or three times a week—“from time to time.” The people would, as a class, have a scanty spiritual subsistence during the siege period.

4:12. And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.—Cakes, made of this mixture, were used by the very poor in times of scarcity, depicting the scarcity of spiritual food among the followers of ecclesiasticism. The poor, not having stones or ovens, baked their bread or cakes on heated stones or in the fire, or roasted them by placing them between layers of dung, which burns slowly. Only the dung of animals was used ordinarily. No insult or defilement was greater than to turn a man's house into a receptacle for human excrement. (Deut. 23:12-14.) Our Lord associated human dung with “that which defileth a man.” (Matt. 15:11.) Luther spoke of the “dunghill of Roman decretals.” The human dung signifies human traditions, clerical additions to the Word of God.

4:13. And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.—The spiritual food, poor as the mixture was, was to be thoroughly defiled.

4:14. Then said I, Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.—This typifies the heart desire of the reformer class to keep clear of defiling errors.

4:15. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.—The spiritual food would be unsavory enough.

4:16. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure; and with astonishment.—The type enacted by Ezekiel was intended to depict spiritual conditions in ecclesiasticism, Romish after 1528 A. D. and Protestant after 1878 A. D., in Jerusalem (churchianity), the besieged city, where there would be a famine of the Word of God. As prophecies often have a literal as well as a symbolic fulfillment, this refers also to the straitness of the siege of literal Jerusalem and to the literal scarcity of food in the Time of Trouble upon Christendom, with its high cost of living, food dictators and food tickets.—Lev. 26:26.

4:17. That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.—Like as people on poor food in starvation quantities weaken and die, so Christians weaken and die spiritually on the diet provided by priests and clergy.

Ezekiel 5—The Severed Hair Calamities

5:1. And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.—This is located “after the days of the siege” of Jerusalem, or in antitype after Romanism's and Protestantism's siege is ended in 1918. It had a literal fulfillment in 606 B. C. and is to have a literal and a symbolic fulfillment in and after 1918. It depicts the several kinds of troubles upon Christendom, and the causes provoking them. The shaving of the head represents the affliction of Christendom. (Isaiah 3:17, 20, 24; Jer. 7:29.) The shaving of the beard was part of the ceremonial treatment of a leper (Lev. 14:8, 9), and signifies that after 1918 Christendom will be treated by outraged Justice at a moral leper, unclean with incurable iniquity, the perverseness, which, in the face of continual preaching of the Gospel, led up to the recent wars.

Ezek. 5:2, 12, 16, 17, relate to features of the destruction of literal Jerusalem in 606 B. C. and 70-73 A. D. and of Christendom in 1914 to 1918 A. D. Since in verse 12 a third part of the persons were to suffer death or affliction, the hair in verses 1, 2 and 3 signifies the people in Jerusalem—Christendom. In Samson's case the hair represented his strength; and here the hair cut off signifies that the people who are the strength of Christendom shall be cut off in the brief but terribly eventful period beginning in 1918 A. D. A third part are “burned with fire in the midst of the city.” Fire symbolises destruction. One large part of the adherents of ecclesiasticism win die from pestilence and famine. (Deut. 32:24.) In 5:16, 17 the shafts of hunger are represented as the evil arrows of famine. The staff is that upon which one leans; the staff of bread is the food supply of Christendom. In 1916 there was already a 25 per cent. crop shortage throughout the world, presaging worse conditions to come. In verse 18 the evil beasts sent upon Christendom are the savage “Christian” governments of the world (Deut. 32:24), which, by unheard-of barbarity in war, are bereaving the people by millions and causing bloodshed unparalleled in history.

5:2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.—A third part of the hair was to be smitten with a knife. See 5:12. This represents people not definitely in or under ecclesiasticism, but associated with it, favoring it, and benefiting from it These are to be smitten with the sword drawn for destruction of life in the Time of Trouble. A considerable portion of the people will be separated by the winds of warfare and commotion from all connection with churchianity. These have been connected with, sympathizers with, or beneficiaries from churchianity. This class also will be involved in the bloodshed of the “great tribulation.”—Matt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14.

5:3, 4. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.—To bind in the skirts is a symbol of close affiliation. A few adherents of churchianity will affiliate themselves with those believing Present Truth, but so searching will be the circumstances of the trouble period that none not at heart “in Present Truth” (2 Pet. 1:12) will be able to remain in the protection overshadowing the Lord's people. These few will be separated, and finally become involved in the destruction upon all supporters of, sympathizers with and beneficiaries of churchianity. Not one shall escape; it will be upon “all the house of Israel.” Babylon's conflagration will be hastened by the adherents here described. After 1918 the people supporting churchianity will cease to be its supporters, be destroyed as adherents, by the spiritual pestilence of errors abroad, and by the famine of the Word of God among them. The Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), which is the Word of God, will be wielded in the hands of “Present Truth” believers in such a manner as to cause conscientious supporters of ecclesiasticism to cease to be supporters.

5:5. Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.—God, through the increase of knowledge, the Renaissance, and the dynamic power of belief in the Word of God, has set up Christendom on a pinnacle of power in the midst of the heathen nations or the world.

5:6. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.—God taught Christendom the principles of Justice and gave her His law of Divine, self-sacrificing love—“A new law, that ye love one another.” (John 13:34.) Relatively to the light of Christendom and heathendom, Christendom is far the more wicked; for, having the instructions, exhortations and examples of the Bible, she has both refused them and not walked in them.

5:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in My statutes, neither have kept My judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you.—Christendom under the blessing of God has multiplied in material things and in knowledge more than heathendom, and yet has not only not walked in God's Law of Love, but has not lived up to the standards of righteousness and justice of the heathen. Chinese are more reliable in business engagements than are Christians. Some tribes in Africa are more moral sexually than are whites, and explorers have noted the natural kindness of the negroes of Nyassa and Soudan.

5:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.—Because of Christendom's wickedness against light, God is against this system calling itself by Christ's holy name, and will execute upon it judgment of such unprecedented awfulness as to constitute a lasting lesson to “uncivilized” peoples.

5:9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.—The punishments come because of churchianity's illicit union of church and state, termed spiritual “fornication” (Rev. 17:2); her licensing of liquor, vice and crime; her doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1), such as eternal torment, inherent immortality and Trinity; her desolating abomination in the Romish mass (Matt. 24:15); and her Phariseeism in the face of wilful butchery of millions.

5:10, 11. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely, because thou hast defiled My Sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall Mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.—The Hebrew sanctuary or temple typed the Christian Sanctuary class, the Church of living stones (1 Pet. 2:5), the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 17.) True Christianity, pure in apostolic days, was defiled (2 Chr. 36:14) with practices and doctrines detestable and abominable to God, until now it is termed “the great whore,” (apostate church of Romanism) and the daughters “harlots” (Protestant churches). (Rev. 17:5.) Divine Justice will not spare nor pity, until upon Christendom has been visited all the righteous blood of hundreds of millions of victims of her long centuries of unchristian wars and persecutions.

5:12, 13. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall Mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in My zeal, when I have accomplished My fury in them.—Job hoped for the time when God's wrath should be past. (Job 14:13.) The wrath of God will be over forever when this trouble time is past. (Isa. 10:25.) Divine Justice will be comforted, will rest, having accomplished its sentence of death, with the accompaniments of sickness, sorrow, tears and degradation, mental, moral and physical, upon the human race.

5:14-17. Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it. When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.—Christendom is to be laid waste by war, revolution, anarchy, famine (Luke 21:26), and pestilence, from end to end. Her vaunted and envied eminence will pass, through self-destruction, due to false ideals of honor, into a desolation causing the taunts and reproaches of the heathen, and being to the heathen nations a cause of astonishment and source of instruction. The fury of God's anger against her appears in the expression “in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes.”

Ezekiel 6—Sword—Famine—Pestilence

6:1-4. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.—This chapter relates to the Divine wrath, after 1918 A. D., upon the governments, symbolically called “mountains and hills,” and the rivers, the denominations.

6:5-7. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—All state churches are to be destroyed, literally by the sword, and by the truth about them in the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit. (2 Ki. 23:13-22.) At the tops of the hills and mountains, the governments, are the altars, the centers of the nation's worship. Great sacrifices are made by the masses to maintain these altars.

6:8. Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.—Heathendom will be the safest place on earth in the time of Zion's travail! (Jer. 44:28.)

6:9. And they that escape of you shall remember Me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from Me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.—God has completely broken relations with the churches, which with heart and eye have “departed from Me.”

6:10. And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.—After the trouble is over, the survivors will have a thousand years in which to recognize the hand of God.

6:11. Thus saith the Lord God; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel: for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.—The attitude of the Lord's true people, “the mourners in Zion” (Isa. 61:3), is that of righteous indignation against the abominations of Christendom.

6:12. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish My fury upon them.—In spite of the manifest judgments of God, the devotees of Mystic Babylon, “Christians,” will not turn to God but, while doing reverence and rendering service to their altars and idols, will be overtaken by literal sword, famine and pestilence (Jer. 15:2) and by the spiritual Sword of the Spirit, by starvation from the lack of God's Word, and by pestilential doctrines.—Psa. 91:6, 7.

6:13. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.—In the Roman and Greek churches the idols, images and ikons are literal. There are other idols in all the churches—power, prestige, social position, clerical honor, gold, worldly education, etc. As in the Tabernacle types, zealous, obedient sacrifice caused a “sweet savor” to rise to God, so the same service raises a sweet savor to the idols of Christendom. The “green trees” and “thick oaks” were favorite objects of idolatry (Jer. 2:20; Hos. 4:13), and typed the worship of prominent preachers and other men.—Psalm 37:35.

6:14. So will I stretch out My hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—Christendom is to be made more desolate than the wilderness surrounding Palestine, wiped off the face of the earth, to make way for the New Order of things, “the world to come” (Heb. 2:5), “wherein dwelleth righteousness.”—2 Pet. 3:13.

Ezekiel 7—Dawn Of The Evil Day

7:1-6. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send Mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And Mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity; but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. An end is come, the end is come; it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.—Chapter 7 includes what Ezekiel saw in type and what the Ezekiel class now sees in antitype—the destruction of the symbolic earth (the social order), and the causes therefor; the escape of the remnant who will pass alive through the trouble into the better order of things; the defilement and destruction of God's “ornament,” Christendom; and the binding and destruction of the rule of wicked might. Pastor Russell's mission, in large part, was to advise Christendom of its impending end, in the time of world-wide trouble. It is the Divine judgment upon the nations. They reap as they have sown. In times past God winked at the iniquity of men (Acts 17:30); but now evil shall receive its just recompense in the wrath of long-insulted Justice. It will be a period of unmixed evil upon Christendom, the purpose of which will be to demonstrate to men's certain knowledge that “thy God reigneth.” (Isa. 52:7.) There will be no chance of escaping from destruction, though the nations—as in cases of Germany, the Allies and the United States—earnestly seek in vain for some way of securing peace. The trouble is due to the dawning of the Day of Christ, the Millennium. It is the Day of Vengeance, which began in the world war of 1914 and which will break like a furious morning storm in 1918.—Lam. 4:18.

7:7-9. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out My fury upon thee, and accomplish Mine anger upon thee; and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. And Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.—The chiefest sufferers will be those setting affections on earthly things, earth dwellers and earth lovers. Steep mountain valleys are full of echoing sounds, falling trees, dislodged rocks, avalanches, landslides, waterfalls, or the thunders of local storms. Earth's nations have been resounding for centuries with local wars, seditions, revolutions, famine and pestilence. (A. 318.) These passed away; but the present commotion and impending revolution and anarchy will not cease, but will spread and increase until this order of things is destroyed.

7:10. Behold the Day, behold it is come: the Morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.—“Pride goeth before destruction.” (Prov. 16:18.) Human pride [among kaisers, clergy, labor leaders, and capitalists], has budded, blossomed forth into acts that will bring destruction. The rod is a symbol of authority. Organized authority is perverted from its Divinely appointed function of restraint and punishment of crime into a ruthless rule of might and bloodshed.

7:11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs; neither shall there be wailing for them.—Those who rule by violence shall be utterly rooted out of the earth in the Time of Trouble, unhonored and unwept (Jer. 16:4-6), accursed for the evil they have wrought. The clergy, for whom many would even have died in the past, but who have preached the people into this war and into the world's ruin, will become objects of popular hatred.

7:12. The time is come, the Day draweth near; let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.—The year 1918, with its fearful revolutions and succeeding anarchy, is at the door.

7:13. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.—This indicates the languishing and eventual decline and cessation of business. (Isa. 33:8.) Symbolically, it represents the ceasing of the clergy from “selling” religion and the people from buying. “Success consists in knowing how to be discreetly dishonest” is now a common rule of practice; but the time is at hand when iniquitous practices and precepts will no longer profit any.

7:14. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the Battle; for My wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.—There are other trumpets than the trumpet of Truth. Established error has its trumpet message. Ecclesiasticism, capitalism, and governments together have blown the trumpet of the Divine right of kings, magnates, and clergy, of the civic-betterment gospel and of “preparedness.” Labor leaders have rallied the people to fight for their unions. Trumpet messages will summon the people of the world to yet other strife. But so furious and heart-breaking will be the trouble that none will have the spirit to respond. There is a hint here that conscription will meet with opposition.

7:15. The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.—Worldly people in Christendom, not professors of Christianity, will be pressed into the active fighting of the Time of Trouble and will perish. (Deut. 32:25; Jer. 14:18.) Those in the city refer to the professors of Christianity—church members.

7:16. But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.—There will be survivors of the Time of Trouble who will live on into the Millennium proper. Those of dove-like character will be most likely to survive. The dove has a mournful note. This class will appreciate their iniquity, repent of it and pray for forgiveness and deliverance.—E. 231, 212.

7:17. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.—The hands symbolize power. The people of Christendom will realize their helplessness. The extremity of the situation will weaken the strongest.—Zeph. 1:14; A. 315.

7:18. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.—In mourning for their dead, men's minds and hearts will revolt at the horrors of the calamity. All will realize with shame that by drunkenness with Babylon's mixed teachings (Rev. 17:2) they have brought the trouble on themselves. In grief the Hebrews shaved the head.—Isa. 3:24.

7:19. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed; their sliver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity.—With the demonetization of silver, gold has become as a thing unclean (is losing its purchasing power). All forms of money, bonds, stocks and valuables will be worthless when governments are gone and whole nations are starving. (D. 45.) There was a literal fulfillment of this Scripture in 1898 when in Italy a miller who had publicly thanked the Virgin for dear bread, literally threw gold and silver to a crowd in the streets in a vain endeavor to pacify them. They demanded his life and took it.—Z. '98-331.

7:20. As for the beauty of His ornament, He set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein; therefore have I set it far from them.—“Jerusalem is a crown of glory and a royal diadem”. (Isa. 62:3.) Christianity, the embryonic Kingdom of God, was originally “His ornament,” in the apostolic age of the Church. Literal images were set up by the Hebrews in secret places, and to this day are worshipped by Romanists literally. Romanists and Protestants alike worship the images of world-power, wealth, state-church affiliation, clergy lordship, eternal torment, human immortality and trinity, all alike detestable to a jealous God. The actual ornament of God, His jewel, His diadem, is the true Church, composed mostly of the poor, rich in faith (Jas. 2:5)—of the reform element who since 1878 have been withdrawing from ecclesiasticism and coming to God.

7:21. And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.—The nominal jewel, churchianity, has become the prey of clerical and social anarchists.—D. 550.

7:22. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute My secret place; for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.—The secret place is the condition of consecration, which an apostate clergy pollute by misrepresentations, such as that bravery in battle, suffering in the trenches, devotion to a falling order of things (Hab. 2:13), win a place in Heaven—won only by loyal devotion to God's Word, and by the spirit-begotten alone. “I am the Door. He that entereth in by another way is a robber.”—John 10:1.

7:23. Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.—Bind, unite them together, let the Divinely (!) appointed clergy and the governments for which they stand sponsor, make common cause. (D. 550.) Christendom is full of the beastly crimes of the most barbarous warfare ever known. A city symbolizes a government.

7:24. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.—Macaulay, the English historian, spoke of America as destined to be destroyed by its own Huns and Vandals, the unassimilated, uncivilized elements, especially of the cities. The anarchistic masses will literally live in the houses of the erstwhile rulers and prominent people. The display of power and magnificence of the strong one, Satan, the alleged eternal-torment God, and the devil-worshipers of Christendom shall cease. Literally, the churches, Y. M. C. A.'s, monasteries and convents, supposedly holy, will be defiled by the impious.

7:25. Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.—There shall be no peace with God, or peace among the conflicting elements of society.

7:26. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.—Literally “accident upon accident” will befall the affairs of Christendom. (Jer. 4:29.) The people, wild with perplexity, will seek to the clergy for an understanding of the world-holocaust; but the true Law, the Word of God, has departed from a clergy more learned in church politics and money-raising schemes than in the Bible. The ancients, the “reverends,” college professors and savants do not know what counsel to give to meet the crisis.—Isa. 29:9-14.

7:27. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—Satan shall mourn the downfall of his power, as will the heads of the savage, beastly governments under his control. (Matt. 4:8, 9.) “The exalted one” or prince, Satan's chief representative among men, is the pope; and he, with his princes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and clergy, shall see the desolation due to their work.

“O thou of little faith, who dost thou fear?”
The tempest hath no power when I am near;
Will not the angry waves be still at My command?
Step out, I'll hold thy hand,
“Then, wherefore dost thou fear?”

Ezekiel 8—Molech, The Torment Deity

8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.—Chapters 8 to 24 continue the recital of the sins of Jerusalem, Christendom, and the Divine punishment to be inflicted on her. Chapter 8 refers literally to the temple, and its defilement by the seating of an idol of Baal at the door near the Brazen Altar, by the desecration of its interior with symbols of Egyptian heathenism and by the practicing of heathen worship within the temple. This types the condition of the spiritual Temple of God, “which Temple ye are”, the Church of God, originally pure and holy, but defiled by the clergy with pagan practices. The type refers back to 2 Chronicles 33:1-9, where King Manasseh established heathen worship throughout Palestine, set up a carved image in Solomon's temple and “made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err and to do worse than the heathens whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.” This resulted in Manasseh's overthrow at the hands of the Assyrians. The name Manasseh means “causing forgetfulness.” He typed Satan, the god of this world, who, by his lying deceptions has made professing Christians forget God. Satan's chief “angel of light” is the pope of Rome, ably seconded in keeping the people in the dark by the cardinals, bishops, priests, monks and sisters of apostate Rome and by the bishops and ministers of an apostate Protestantism. These keep “their people” from real Bible study, and encourage them in their forgetfulness of God and their individual obligations to God, the Word of God, to fellow-Christians and to the world. The house is the House of the Sons of God, the consecrated. The elders, chosen by the people, represented all the people. The Protestant clergy continually sat before the Lord's steward, could not pick up a paper that they did not see his sermons in it; but they would not hear his words, and they rejected him and the truths which he so plainly and so kindly stated.

8:2, 3. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.—Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the Ezekiel class is now taken up mentally into the powers of spiritual control, to discern the significance of the evil done by Satan and the clergy. They are brought to Jerusalem the anti-typical, to consider established priestcraft. They are brought to the door of the inner gate, the gate of the altar between the people's court and priest's court—(the same as the Tabernacle court.) They are brought to the antitypical Temple, to the Chord of God, to the Lord's people—“Ye are the Temple of God”. (1 Cor. 3:16.) “I am the Door” (John 10:9.) The Door represents Christ, through whom all that enter must come. The North symbolizes the seat of Divine government, the spiritual phase of the Kingdom. (Isa. 14:13.) The Door, Christ, looks toward, tends toward spiritual things. Those that enter through Christ are expected to look forward from the condition of belief to that of full consecration, the spirit-begotten condition. In the Door, in the very place of Christ, Manasseh, type of the devil, and an apostate clergy set up an idol, an image of the Devil himself. Those who thereafter entered the court had to worship the image, typing that under clergy rule all entering the church, the condition of belief, had to do honor to Satan, whose seat of chief power is at Rome, and whose influence spreads wherever the clergy class is found.

The word “Baal” means “Lord.” The clergy have set themselves as lords over God's heritage (1 Pet. 5:3), the Church. By perversion of the plain meaning of literal Bible statements, they have set up in the place of God the deity of the Devil. This God of Romanism and Protestantism is not one, but three; he inflicts tortures eternal; his favor can be bought for money; he dwells in earthly buildings (Acts 7:48), which are consecrated to him; he teaches the direct opposite of the Word of God—that the dead are alive; he favors spiritual adultery—the union of the church with the governments of this world; he fosters lordship of the clergy class. The clergy's God is plainly not Jehovah, but the ancient deity, hoary with the iniquities of ages—Baal—the Devil himself. God pity the clergy, who have so long deceived themselves and the people with their “carved image, the work of their own hands!” “I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy.” (Zech. 1:14.) “I, Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God.” (Ex. 20:5.) There is little wonder that the literal typical Baal of the Jews and the anti-typical eternal-torment God of the clergy should provoke Jehovah to jealousy.

8:4. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.—The usual place of the Shekinah Light was in the Most Holy between the cherubim above the golden Mercy Seat. It was from this glory that fire came out at times like lightning to consume and destroy iniquitous offenders. (Lev. 10:2.) It bodes ill for the devotees of the eternal-torment god that the glory of Jehovah has come out against them.

8:5, 6. Then said He unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the North. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the North, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from My sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.—It is needless to look for abominations far off when such an abomination has been set up by “impudent children” at the very door of the Church.

8:7. And He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.—In Solomon's temple the court of the priests was surrounded not by a simple wall, but by a row of rooms or chambers where the priests and Levites stayed. The hole in the wall was an opening or window into one of the chambers.

8:8. Then said He unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall, and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.—The wall was the wall of secrecy, misrepresentation and deception, by reason of which the pagan practices and beliefs of various classes of professed Christians were hidden from publicity and consequent popular judgment. A little was known about them, represented by the little hole in the wall. It is the work of the Ezekiel class to dig through the wall and throw the light on these hidden things. The time has come for judgment, and for everything that is done in a chamber to be proclaimed from the housetops. (Luke 12:3.) Once the wall of secrecy is dug through, the door is open to see whatever transpires.

8:9. And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.—The court typifies the condition of faith—tentative justification. The chambers surrounded the court. They symbolize the condition of those who profess faith and justification, but whose lives and beliefs contradict their professions.

8:10. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.—To the Egyptians, artistic portrayals of creatures had a religious significance. All kinds of living creatures were worshipped. Chief of these was the bull Apis, which symbolized life and especially the power of procreation. The devotees of the antitype are never so happy as when giving life to new spiritual offspring. The children thus begotten are mostly tares. But few of them have the life that comes from consecration to the Word of God. The revivalist and the clergy care little for any begotten of the Word of God and do little to help them grow up in Christ. They grow, if at all, like starved, neglected children. As the service of this worship could be conducted only by the regular priests of Egypt, so the antitypical work can be done only by the man-made clergy class of the world (Egypt) and those “ordained” by them. Among the creeping things, objects of worship, was the fly—the evangelist. (Rev. 16:2.) The prince of the flies was Beelzebub. Flies breed in and feed upon the “dung hill of Popish decretals” and other “traditions of men.” They never get far above earthly things, but circulate in the lower strata of the air—ecclesiasticism. They bite and annoy both worldly people and the Lord's people, as did the plague of flies in Egypt, and are specially persistent in the humid condition of a rain—a downpour of Truth. These, like all clergy-approved workers, are looked up to, worshipped by the people of Christendom. Other creeping things that fly signify degrading of forbidden beliefs and practices, attractive, garbed in the cloak of religion, under church auspices, as typed by their flying in the air, ecclesiastical powers; but they are displeasing to God and tending toward death.

8:11. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.—Worshipping the pictured images were the elders, or ancients, appointed by and representing all the people of Jerusalem. Jaazaniah was a Levite, typical of a believer in Christ. The word Shaphan means “sly”, and suggests the slyness of the adherents of wrong beliefs. Jaazaniah means “God is listening,” and signifies the fact that whatever “Christian” sinners may say, God is actually paying attention. The censer was used to carry the fire in which incense was burned. (Rev. 8:3.) It types the bearing of the fiery trials signified by the fire. The devotees of error suffer in its behalf, as Truth people suffer for the Truth. Incense types the heart's best endeavors, here wrongly directed by many professing Christians in the service of Satan, as were Saul's in persecuting Christians. (Acts 22:3, 4.) Tares are often more devoted to their errors than are the Lord's people to the Truth. “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8.) It was unlawful for a Hebrew to burn incense, except as in the regular temple service. It is an abomination for a professing Christian to put forth his heart's best endeavors except in the service of God.

8:12. Then said He unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.—These departures from true Christian belief are carried on “in the dark.” (John 3:19.) Every tare, imitation Christian, has his own peculiar beliefs and practices in “the chamber of his imagery,” his mind. Because God knows how to defer retribution until the Day of Judgment (2 Pet. 2:9), these unwise ones delude themselves that the All-Seeing One does not see. Those not familiar with the Divine Plan of the Ages, seeing the conditions of savage war trending into worse things, apparently have the delusion that the Lord has forsaken the earth.

8:13, 14. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then He brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.—Tammuz means “perfect (tam) by burning” (muz). He was a heathen god whose death was lamented annually by women idolaters. He was the god of fire worship, the same as Molech, to whom children were burned alive. He types the eternal-torment-purgatory God, who perfects (supposedly) by the fires of purgatory. The women weeping for him typify the once-virgin churches, who honor the alleged hell-fire god and lament the ones in the fire. There is a unity of heathen religions with apostate “Christianity” which stamps them all as pagan. The original heathen god was Nimrod, “the mighty hunter” of Gen. 10:8-14, where is related the origin of Babylon and Ninevah. Nimrod led men and women from the true religion of devout Noah into gross sensuality and neglect of the worship of Jehovah. He was beloved by fallen women. For his iniquitous influence, Nimrod was condemned to death by the council of judges; and his dead body was cut into pieces, which were sent to all parts of the inhabited world, with the threat of death to any who practiced his evil ways. Nimrod married his own mother, Semiramis, so that, in a sense, he was his own father and his own son. Here was the origin of the Trinity doctrine.

Nation	Father-Husband	Son	The Woman
Asia		Decius	Cybele
Assyria	Winged bull
Babylonia	Lord of Heaven
Babylonia	Ninus	Tammuz	Queen of Heaven
Chaldea	Bal		Ishtar
Chaldea	Cahna-Bel (Cannibal)	The Seed
Chaldea	Molech		Ashtaroth
Chaldea	Zoroaster	The Seed of the Fire
China		Child	Madonna
Egypt	Apis bull		Cow of Athor
Egypt	Osiris	Horus	Isis
English	The Devil
Greece	Bacchus		Rhea
Greece	Capricornus		Astarte
Greece	Kissos		Mother of gods
Greece	Kronos		Aphrodite
Greece	Orion	Babe	Ceres
Greece	Saturn		Venus
Greece		Plutus	Irene
India	Vishnu	Christina
India		Tsi	Eswara
Italy	Pope		Virgin Mary
Japan		Child	Madonna
Nineveh	Nimrod	Nimrod	Semiramis
Palestine	Baal
Persia	Sun		Moon
Persia	Sun God
Persia		Child	Madonna
Philistia	Dagon
Rome	Jupiter	Jupiter Puer	Fortuna
Scandinavia	Woden	Thor	Frieda
Thibet		Child	Madonna

The practices of Nimrod were continued in secret by Semiramis; and as every caution had to be taken, the things done were veiled in mystery. Each act and person was represented only in symbols known to the initiated. Here originated the various secret societies, with their blood-curdling oaths of secrecy—Masonry, Oddfellowship, Jesuitism, Knights of Malta, and so on. These are lineal descendants of the “mysteries” of pagan sensuality, all of them abominations to God. Semiramis, to further her schemes, pretended that Nimrod, the father-son, had been raised from the dead in the form of the sun, which thus became an object of worship. She represented herself as the moon, which was also adored. This was the original Trinity—Nimrod the father, Nimrod, or Tammuz, the son and Semiramis the mother, the power, or spirit, back of all. As the people multiplied and scattered they took with them this heathen Trinity which appears in various nations in the partial list shown on the preceding page.

These under inspiration of the Devil, put the false seed of the woman—Nimrod, Tammuz, etc.,—in the stead of the true Seed, pushed Jehovah aside, then into the background, and then out altogether. The Devil, through the Pope of Rome, substituted forms of paganism for the simplicity of true Christianity. “Such things are,” says Cardinal Newman, “the very instruments and appendages of demon worship,” but “sanctified by adoption into the church.” Roman Catholicism is a heathen religion. Protestantism also worships Molech, the fire god, Tammuz, the deity of torture, whom popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, clergy, ministers, and laymen unite in honoring and worshipping under the delusion that they are worshipping Jehovah, God of Abraham, the true God of the Bible. However, ignorantly, “they worship devils.”—1 Cor. 10:20.

8:15, 16. Then said He unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.—In the court itself (1 Ki. 6:36), in the very presence of the blood-bought sacrifice, these men were gathered. Only priests and Levites might be in this court. They typified the believers and spirit-begotten ones of the Christian Church. They were divided into about twenty-five courses or sections and served in rotation. These typed the divisions of Christians into about twenty-five principal denominations. In the United States these are Adventists, Baptists, Brethren (Dunkards), Catholics (Greek), Christian, Churches of Christ Scientist, Churches of God, Congregationalists, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical, Friends, German Evangelical Protestant, German Evangelical Synod, Latter Day Saints, Lutherans, Scandinavian Evangelical, Menonites, Moravians, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Protestant Episcopals, Reformed, Salvation Army, and United Brethren. With their backs toward the Temple of the Lord (Jer. 2:27), these treat with contempt and scorn the little company of God's true saints, rich in faith, “the Temple.” To turn the back is a gross insult. Their faces are toward the east. (Jer. 8:2.) All these denominations worship the fire-god, the sun, the heathen god whose identity with paganism appears foregoing.

8:17. Then He said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger; and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.—So lightly do modern Babylonians, apostate religionists, regard their abominable beliefs, that they will not even give consideration to the presentation of the truth about Jehovah and His Divine Plan of the Ages. It is the church—clergy and members—who brought on the barbarous world-war. They could have stood like a rock for peace; but the clergy, with devilish exhortations, urged their fellow-savages to bloodshed. The Divine judgment has gone against them and soon will swallow them up in the earthquake (revolution) and fire (anarchy) of the Time of Trouble. The last clause should read. “They send a stench to My nostrils.”

[Destructive Criticism Of The Bible Illustration]

8:18. Therefore will I also deal in fury; Mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.—The fury of “Christians” in this savage war will be visited upon them in the succeeding revolution and anarchy. When the real Time of Trouble is on, after the war, Christendom will realize the terrible truth that it is the punishment of Divine Justice—and will pray mightily to God. Their prayers cannot be favorably answered (Prov. 1:28) until “the great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14) has finished its work of “bruising to heal.”—Hos. 6:1.

“In the world despised, neglected,”
Deemed its refuse and its dross,
She whose Lord the earth rejected
“Shares His sorrow, bears His loss.”

Ezekiel 9—The Man With The Inkhorn

9:1. He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.—Chapter 9 depicts the slaughter of the idolaters of Jerusalem. It types the literal slaughter of the spiritual idolaters of Christendom in the Time of Trouble, and also their destruction as tares (Matt. 13:40) by the Word of Truth, which will manifest their true condition and cause them to cease the pretense of being Christians. The picture corresponds to the harvesting of wheat and tares by the sickle of Truth (Rev. 14:15), and the burning of the tares. There is a two-fold significance here—those having material charge of Christendom, and those having spiritual charge (D. 527.) The first class comprises the rulers of the great nations; the second class, the feet members of the Little Flock (Luke 12:32)—“All things are yours.” (1 Cor. 3:21); “Inheritors of the Kingdom” (Gal. 5:21); “Given charge of all His goods” (Luke 12:44), the Bible truths. The first class has as weapons the armies and navies. The second has the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

[Seats Free And No Collection Was Never Babylon's Slogan Illustration]

9:2. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the North, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.—The six with earthly weapons are the rulers of the six great nations—Russia, Germany, Austria, France, England and Italy. The six with the Sword of the Spirit symbolize all the Elijah class, the six, with one other, making up the seven, the complete number. These have their commission from “the north,” from the seat of Divine Dominion, from God Himself. Practically all Bible translators and commentators agree that the one with a writer's inkhorn by his side was not one of the six, but a seventh, garbed as a priest, or as a clerk or officer in an army of the East. The linen signifies the imputed righteousness of Christ, (Rev. 19:8.) The writer's inkhorn symbolizes that the seventh man's function was to write. God identified him thus: When The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was at Allegheny, Pa., an open Bible was to be painted on one of the large front window of the office. A sign painter, not in the Truth, painted the open Bible; and without instruction from any one, of his own volition, he painted the Bible as open at Ezekiel, Chapter 9. The man in linen was the Laodicean servant, the Lord's faithful and wise steward, Pastor Russell. When Pastor Russell saw this, he turned pale. Ezekiel seeing the man in linen, types Pastor Russell thereafter seeing himself to be the antitype of that man—one of the most prolific writers of the Age, and the only one to write and publish widely the glad tidings of the actual Second Presence of Christ. The seven men stood beside the brazen altar—there, in connection with God's Plan, based upon the Ransom sacrifice to receive their Divinely appointed commission.

9:3. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side.—One of the four living creatures is here designated a “cherub.” This one was Justice, about to operate upon the iniquities of ecclesiasticism. The threshold of the house refers to the door of the Holy, the condition of the spirit-begotten. “The spirit of glory and of God is upon thee.” (1 Pet. 4:14) The message was to sound forth from the Lord's consecrated people during the Harvest of the Gospel Age, from 1878 to 1918.

9:4. And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.—The center of Christendom is the nations of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. Hither and thither, traveling and preaching for nearly forty years Pastor Russell obeyed this command; and through the printed page of books, tracts and newspapers he went into every corner of the world. “Set a mark”, literally “set a ‘tav’ upon the foreheads.” The “Tav” was the twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and in its earlier form had the shape of a cross (†). The forehead signifies the intellect (Rev. 7:3; 14:1). Pastor Russell's great work was to imprint indelibly in the minds of certain ones the truth about the Cross, the sacrifice of the Christ, Head and Body, and the part of the Church therein. It was the duty of the clerk or officer of an oriental army to mark the people, either for slaughter or to be left untouched. The “mourners in Zion” (Isa. 61:3) are those faithful ones in Christendom that appreciate that conditions are evil in churchianity, perhaps without understanding just how. All these are to be marked in their minds with the knowledge of the Present Truth.

9:5. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity.—After Pastor Russell's writings have reached an individual, the other members of the Elijah class, the “Truth people,” approach him with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. This is to each individual a “savor of life to life, or of death to death.” (2 Cor. 2:14-16.) Those not believing Present Truth will become only the more confirmed in error. (2 Thes. 2:11.) They will be smitten by the Sword of the Spirit, which in them will operate at this time to destroy any pretense of being Christians, and cause them to take their proper stand as worldings—to be destroyed as tares. In this, God's “strange work” (Isa. 28:21), the Word of God will operate seemingly without pity, to separate the people into two classes, in Present Truth or out of it. In a literal sense the rulers of this evil Age will pitilessly carry the Sword throughout the lengths and breadths of Christendom.

9:6. Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My Sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.—Here are depicted the savagery of the revolutions and the anarchy succeeding the great war. Though they are to be literally martyred, the consecrated in Present Truth cannot be hurt of either slaughter weapon; their hopes and their treasures are in Heaven (Matt. 6:20), and no earthly calamity can in any wise work them ill. Symbolically the Sword of the Spirit will do no harm to mature Christians—“men,”—but many young or undeveloped believers, not having the Holy Spirit, regardless of sex, will fall as tares, as will all of the idol worshipers of Christendom. The literal trouble will begin with a revolutionary outburst of anarchy against the churches and the clergy (1 Pet. 4:17), as responsible for the trouble because of having preached the people into the war, in the face of innumerable Scriptures against fighting with carnal weapons (Matt. 5:39, 44; John 18:11; 2 Cor. 10:4) and of those teaching Christians to love one another and to forgive trespasses (Luke 6:27-38), personal or national. (Rom. 12:17-21.) The Sword of the Spirit will begin its work with the sanctuary class, the professing Christians (1 Pet. 4:17). It will begin with “the ancient men”, the representatives of the people—the clergy, doctors of divinity, priests, bishops and other ecclesiastics.

9:7. And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.—Typically the house of God was defiled by a dead body. The Temple, the Body of Christ, the true Church, is defiled by the presence in it of any one who has become spiritually dead. The priests and Levites alone might enter the priests' court; and this types that many professing to be consecrated Christians will lose all claim to being followers of Christ—be slain religiously. So many will thus lose belief that Christendom will be filled with them. Literally the sanctuaries and the streets of Christendom will be filled with the slain of the Time of Trouble.

9:8. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou destroy all the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon Jerusalem?—It will almost seem that none in Christendom will escape alive; and, indeed, “Except those days be shortened, no flesh should be saved.”—Matt. 24:22.

9:9, 10. Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. And as for Me also, Mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have any pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.—On account of the light of the Gospel of Love they possess, both Romanism and Protestantism are guilty to an extraordinary degree before God. Christendom, through its savage wars, is drenched with blood. Churchianity is full of wilful sin. God will seem to have left the social order to its own destruction.

9:11. And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by His side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded me.—Pastor Russell was faithful to his great task of writing and publishing the Truth and imprinting the “tav” of Present Truth in the minds of the spirit-begotten. In October, 1916, he died, and beyond the veil has, ere this, undoubtedly, reported in the presence of Christ that he has done the work he was given to do.

“Faithful when with tears thine eyes were dim,”
Faithful when joys' cup o'erflowed its brim;
Faithful when God seemed to veil His face,
Faithful when He crowned thy work with grace,
Faithful till was fled life's fleeting breath,
“Eager hands were folded still in death.”

Ezekiel 10—Scattering Coals Of Fire

10:1. Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.—Verses 1, 8-11, 12, 14-22 are explained in Chapter 1. The repetition of the symbols of the Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power of God, of the wings (Word of God), of the wheels, and the wondrous light, are assurances that in the anarchous destruction of Christendom, our Father is acting wisely, justly, lovingly and in accordance with His Word and Plan for the good of mankind.—T. 125.

10:2. And He spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.—Ezekiel, typing Pastor Russell, sees himself as acting in the manner here described. He was to go in between the wheels, to do his work in accordance with the Divine Plan, to act under the dictates of the Divine Justice, “the cherub.” The coals of fire are symbolic of the fiery trials, distress, “great tribulation,” with which Christendom will be overwhelmed in the last period of the Time of Trouble, and the prophecies of these events. (Rev. 8:5.) These Divinely permitted troubles have the approval of Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power, as necessary from every viewpoint, and the inevitable retribution of a long-forbearing God. Pastor Russell was to do this work,—“fill his hand,” with all his might, to devote himself wholly to this task. Over the whole world was scattered the warning of impending trouble.—D. 57.

10:3. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.—The cherubim stood by the nominal Temple class—to inquire and visit the offences of Christendom. The house was on their left, the place of disfavor. When no priests were in the Holy, it was filled with a cloud. In 1 Kings 8:10 and in 2 Chron. 5:11-14 the cloud filled the Holy, and the priests were unable to serve there because of it. When the cloud filled the Court, no one could see to serve in it. This types that in the Harvest period, from 1878 to 1918, while Pastor Russell was dispensing as part of the “food in due season” the impending downfall of Christendom, those who had been serving in the believing Court condition—clergy and other church workers—were no longer permitted to do so. It corresponds to the passing of the stewardship from the clergy to Pastor Russell in 1878. This applies also to verse 4, where the presence of the cloud also types the presence of Jehovah to visit punishment for wickedness.—B. 138.

10:4. Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory.—Pastor Russell saw more clearly than any one in this end of the Age the glorious Gospel of God in the Ransom for all (Court and altar).

10:5. And the sound of the cherubim's wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.—Here is indicated the sounding forth of the Word of God through Pastor Russell's proclamation of Present Truth. The inner Court typed the condition of faith and justification, and the outer Court typed the condition of those not fully believing, nor directly serving God. The preaching and writings of Pastor Russell were heard by all classes of believers and unbelievers. It was the voice of Jehovah, represented as almighty to save, that was heard throughout the world.

10:6. And it came to pass that when He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.—In the Divine Plan of the Ages Pastor Russell was to find clearly indicated the great tribulation then close at hand.

10:7. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereof and put it into the hands of him clothed with linen; who took it, and went out.—Justice gave to Pastor Russell the knowledge of impending troubles, to go out and publish to Christendom.

10:8. And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.—The work of witness here depicted is carried out by human beings, under the power and protection of the Word of God.

10:9-11. And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone. And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.—See Chapter 1 for explanation. The leading face in the head was the man's face, typical of Divine Love. This is the dominating attribute of God's character, directing the course of the other three.

10:12. And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels they four had.—Every part of the Divine character, as well as every operation of the Divine attributes and of the human beings through which God acts is full of Wisdom.—B. 305.

10:13. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.—Very emphatic was the Divine directing of the attention toward the wheels—the Divine Plan of the Ages. Pastor Russell always directed the Bible student's mind toward the great Plan.

10:14-22. And every one had four faces; the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubim were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. And when the cherubim went, the wheels went by them: and the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also; for the spirit of the living creature was in them. Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubim. Every one had four faces apiece, and every one had four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearance and themselves: they went every one straight forward.—See explanation of these verses in Chapter 1. (Hos. 9:12) “Yea, woe also to them when I depart from them.”

Ezekiel 11—The Wicked Counsel

11:1. Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the Lord's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah, the son of Azur, and Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.—The east gate types Christ, the entrance to true Christianity. (John 10:9.) At the door of the gate were the leading sects, Jaazaniah, the son of Azur (helper) types the idea that by self-help man can please God. Pelatiah (Jah delivers), the son of Benaiah (Jah is intelligent), types the belief that earthly wisdom will deliver the world from its difficulties. (1 Cor. 1:21.) These were “princes among the people”—very popular ideas.

11:2. Then said He unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city.—These teachings have actuated many of the erroneous beliefs and wicked acts of nominal Christians.

11:3. Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.—Ecclesiasticism's thought is that the Time of Trouble is not near, and the destruction of Christendom is not to be thought of. (1 Thes. 5:3.) “Let us build houses” is an expression implying confidence in the permanence of things as they are. (2 Pet. 3:4.) “This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh” (Jer. 1:13) is a proverb, here applied to the iron sides of the caldron keeping away the fire, or in antitype civil and military powers, protecting from actual anarchy (fire), however hot things may become.

11:4, 5. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak: Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come unto your mind, every one of them.—The false teachings of the clergy are nothing new. Every one of them is the old worship of Nimrod and Baal.

11:6. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.—There never was a war that a clergy did not preach “their people” into it, and multiply the slain. Furthermore, the number is legion of those who would have liked to gain spiritual life, but the clergy have discouraged (John 7:48), and in millions of cases caused their actual death.

11:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.—Another sense in which the Jerusalem Jews used this proverb was that the Jews taken captive into Babylon were worthless, and they in Jerusalem were the valuable flesh remaining. (Mi. 3:3.) God here tells that the only ones to remain in Christendom will be the literally dead, or those who are dead to the claims of Mystic Babylon. These have the best chance of surviving the trouble. The walls, defences, military and police, will be broken down by war and revolution; and nothing can save the adherents of ecclesiasticism from their fate.

11:8. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a Sword upon you, saith the Lord.—The devotees of established priestcraft fear both the literal sword and the Sword of the Spirit. The armies of the nations will be in open revolt against the established powers, religious, political and economic. Also the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, will cut through all pretense and bring about the death of religion in all not begotten of the Holy Spirit.

11:9. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.—Christendom win fall literally into the hands of revolutionists and anarchists, Industrial Workers of the World, Syndicalists, Socialists, unfriendly to established systems, and spiritually into the power of the Word of God in the hands of His “strangers.” (1 Pet. 1:1; 2:11,) a “just recompense of reward.” (Heb. 2:2.)

11:10, 11. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel.—The Jews taken captive out of Jerusalem were tried and slain at Riblah (a bare place) outside of Palestine, typifying that the destroying judgments on Christendom will come upon her after her institutions have gone to pieces, and she is desolated.

11:12. And ye shall know that I am the Lord: for ye have not walked in My statutes, neither executed My judgments, but have done after the manner of the heathen that are round about you.—The people of Christendom will finally appreciate that their distress is a punishment from God, because of not having followed the plain injunctions of the Bible, having mistaught the Word of God, and having lived no better than unbelievers.

11:13. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?—While Pastor Russell's reasonable and Divinely appointed teachings are doing their good work throughout Christendom the idea that human wisdom, Prussian culture, etc., can save the old order of things, will be seen lifeless.

11:14. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Verses 14 to 25 are the message of comfort and hope to those who are now out of harmony with ecclesiasticism.

11:15. Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord: unto us is this land given in possession.—The Jews in captivity were despised by those remaining in the “holy” city, Jerusalem. They type the people of Christendom who honestly own themselves to be of the world and are despised by the “best people,” the educated, religious “holy” Churchianity. “Get you far from the Lord” is the attitude of the tares toward those who do not pretend as much, but who are often much better in God's sight. The “best people” not merely own most of the earth now, but expect to own Heaven too—with the now worldly people forever consigned to a devil-imagined hell of eternal torment.

11:16. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.—God especially favors the honest-hearted, humble-minded, however far they may now be from Him in outward appearance. Christ avoided the Scribes and the Pharisees, but freely associated with the publicans and sinners.

11:17. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.—In the coming Kingdom God will gather first the outcasts from their condition of disfavor, even from the dead, and will give them possession of the earth before the proud-minded ecclesiastics are permitted to return from the dead. This is to have also a literal fulfillment on Fleshly Israel.—Z. '94-76.

11:18. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.—The common people, free from the perverse influence of priestcraft, in Christ's Millennial Kingdom will abolish all the clergy-fostered ideas and practices now so abominable to God.

11:19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.—They will be single-hearted to serve God and do His will alone. (Jer. 32:39.) From having the spirit or mind of natural men they will be given the Holy Spirit, when God “pours out His Spirit upon all flesh.” (A. 333; Z. '03-171.) From being hard-hearted they will become tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God, for Christ's sake will forgive them.—Eph. 4:32.

11:20. That they may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.—They will keep God's Law of Divine love. The “best people,” who now regard themselves as God's people, in the Age to come will learn that God opposes the proud and favors the humble.

11:21. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God.—Those who at heart love established ecclesiasticism are counted as having the heart, mind or will of the author of priestcraft, the Devil. “Ye generation of serpents (devils), how scarcely shall ye escape the condemnation of Gehenna (Second Death).”—Matt. 23:33.

11:22, 23. Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.—God, and Divine favor, has ceased to be in or with Christendom (D. 527), but is upon and with the true Kingdom (mountain) of God (A. 318), toward the east (Zech. 14:4), the antitypical Mount of Olives.—D. 653.

11:24, 25. Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the Lord had shewed me.—These things seen in the Scriptures are now preached and published to the captives in Mystic Babylon.

Ezekiel 12—Christendom's Blind Flight

12:1, 2. The word of the Lord also came unto me saying, Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house.—In Chapter 12:1-16 is depicted the blind flight of Christendom into revolution and anarchy. Pastor Russell and his co-workers once dwelt in the midst of the rebellious nominal house, or church, of God, with eyes blinded and ears made deaf by their spiritual defection.—Matt. 13:13.

12:3. Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: It may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.—He found in the Bible the Truth of God, which exhorts to “come out of her, O My people” (Rev. 18:4); and in obedience, he came out of his church home into a condition of separateness, by every means of publicity (in their sight) drawing the attention to his removal, in the hope that those left behind might turn truly back to God.

12:4. Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.—In their estimation, he did this as one taken by the Evil One.

12:5. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.—He dug through the creeds walls and thus “came out of her.”

12:6. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.—To them he was one not knowing whither he went, with eyes blinded; whereas his action and his publishing of the Truth was but God's way of beseeching Christendom and warning her of her own fate.

12:7. And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.—Pastor Russell and the Truth people did this with their limited power (hand), and laboriously (upon shoulder) made their way with their goods, the precious Truths, “out of her.”

12:8-9. And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?—The nominal church (home) of Spiritual Israel have often inquired of Pastor Russell and of the Truth people, “What doest thou?”

12:10. Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.—The import of the answer concerns the exalted class (prince, exalted one), the lords in Christendom, the clergy, and all professing Christians that are with them.

12:11. Say, I am your sign, like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.—What has been, is a lesson for them; as the Royal Priesthood has done, so shall it be done unto them; they shall move down from their exalted place and go into captivity to the laborite and revolutionary elements. The Jews were literally to go into captivity into ancient Babylon, which they did.

12:12. And the prince that is among them shell bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby; he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.—As to the Jews, their ruler Zedekiah was by night to try to escape from Jerusalem, but he should not see the way. Regarding Christendom's clergy, they shall at the close of their day, abandon Christendom in the time of revolution, to save what they can for themselves, and “get out of her.” They shall find a still more worldly way out of their creed walls and shall be self-blinded to the real condition of society (the earth).

12:13. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.—Like a snare shall revolution, in the guise of freedom for all, come upon them; and, utterly blind to the significance of world events, they shall be forced into revolution and anarchy, and there shall this lordly class come to its end. (Hos. 7:12.) The literal application upon King Zedekiah is of course understood; for he went to Babylon, but never saw it, because his eyes were put out.

12:14. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.—God will scatter in war, tumult and confusion and in error; all that adhere to the clergy class, and all their congregations (bands); and against them shall He direct weapons of war and the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit.

12:15. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.—And they shall appreciate that Jehovah is God, when this has come.

12:16. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—From among them God will leave a few manly believers, who shall escape the sword, the famine, literal and of the Word, and from the pestilential errors; that they, as then faithful members of the Great Company, may explain to the revolutionists and anarchists the Truth about the Divinely forbidden doctrines and deeds of the clergy, and their following.

12:17, 18. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness.—The Lord's people were to eat, drink and live with great economy.

12:19. And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.—They were to say to the people of Christendom: “God says to the clergy and people of nominal Spiritual Israel, the churches: You shall eat your food by measure, and with economy—on the food-ticket plan—and drink your Truth with amazement at the famine; for Christendom is to be desolated of its people, because of the violent wars, and the revolutions and anarchy of the people.”

12:20. And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—The governments (cities) shall be destroyed and the social order desolated in anarchy; and they shall feel the outworkings of Jehovah's purposes upon them.

12:21, 22. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?—Nominal clergy and Christians say concerning the Bible, that this Age will last for thousands of years and that Bible prophecies fail of fulfillment—2 Pet. 3:4.

12:23. Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.—God says that He will make their saying to cease; for close at hand is the Time of Trouble and of the Kingdom of God, and the fulfillment of prophecy.

12:24. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.—There shall be no more, in the churches, delusive theories of the everlasting welfare of Christendom or of evolution, or immortality, or flattering prediction of peace, peace.—Lam. 2:14.

12:25. For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; It shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.—Jehovah's Word shall come to pass promptly, in the present day.—Isa. 55:11.

12:26, 27. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.—The clergy say that Pastor Russell's predictions of early trouble and the setting up of the Kingdom are for hundreds or thousands of years to come, and about things that are far off.—Amos. 6:3.

12:28. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the Word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.—Jehovah says that none of the words spoken through His servant Pastor Russell, shall wait any longer for fulfillment, but the things shall come as spoken.

“Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned,”
And sun and stars forevermore have set,
The things which our weak judgment here has spurned—
The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet—
Will flash before us out of life's dark night,
As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue;
And we shall see how all God's plans were right,
“And how what seemed unkind was love most true.”

Ezekiel 13—The Gaps In The Wall

13:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the Word of the Lord.—God's Word is to write and speak against the preachers of Christendom that say things originating in their own imaginations; let them listen now to the Words of Jehovah.

13:3. Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.—Woe to the foolish preachers, who as blind leaders have seen nothing respecting today's crisis in the Word of God, or in the signs of the times!

13:4. O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.—O Christendom, thy preachers will be like cunning foxes, finding profit in the desolation of their country!

13:5. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the Day of the Lord.—They have not preached God's Truth to fill up the breaches among Christendom's defenders, or to build up the broken-down forsakers of Christendom's moral and spiritual defenses, to enable Christendom to have strength to stand before God in the Time of Trouble.

13:6. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the Word.—They have taken and taught fallacious and delusive theories of evolution, destructive criticism of the Bible, the Divine right of kings and of clergy, and preached their people into savage warfare, saying it was the Word of God, when God has not said it; and they have made others believe their lies.

13:7. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken.—They have misrepresented Jehovah.

13:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God.—Wherefore God is against them.

13:9. And Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.—God will stretch out His hand against these preachers. They shall not be in the Church triumphant (Heb. 12:23), nor shall they be written as members of the spirit-born Great Company; nor shall they enter the Heavenly phase of the Kingdom.

13:10. Because, even because they have seduced My people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar.—Because the clergy have deceived and ruined Christendom (Micah 3:5-7) proclaiming peace when there was no peace (Jer. 6:14); and when one of them would build up a slight wall of workers of earthly, civic, social betterment, the others would bind it together with the binder of self-interest, not with truth (water) or love.

13:11. Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall; there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.—It shall fall; there shall be an overflowing downpour of the water of Truth; and hard truths, great hard facts shall fall upon the wall; and gigantic wars and world wide commotion shall tear to pieces the preachers' earthly-civic-social defense.

13:12. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye daubed it?—Behold, when Christendom's slight defense against the forces of evil, is fallen, it shall be inquired of the clergy, “Where is that worthless, loveless, selfish binder wherewith you inefficiently cemented together its members?”

13:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in My fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in Mine anger, and great hailstones in My fury to consume it.—Therefore God says: I will destroy your defense with a furious storm of war and revolution, with a flood of Truth and great hard facts.

13:14. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—So will I break down your flimsy defenses of selfishness; they shall fall and you shall be buried in their fall.

13:15. Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it.—The defense of Christendom exists no more, neither they that plastered it with showy self-interest.

13:16. To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her when there is no peace.—Namely, the preachers of Christendom who preach peace when there is no peace.

13:17. Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them.—God directs true Christians to set their faces against the man-made churches, which preach things of their own imagining.

13:18. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of My people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?—Woe to the churches (women) that practice superstition (sew amulets about their elbows—an oriental method of incantation), and wear veils of mystery to ensnare men.

13:19. And will ye pollute Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My people that hear your lies?—Shall they continue to profane and prostitute My name among My people, for the price of the spiritual fornication of church-state union (barley was the customary offering for an adulteress) and for the weekly collections offering, to discourage, persecute and kill the godly?

13:20. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.—God will strip the churches of the power of their superstitions, and will let the people go out of the bondage.

13:21. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—Their veil of mystery will He tear away, and deliver His people, the Great Company, out of bondage.

13:22. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.—Wherefore the churches shall no more hold forth delusive hopes.

Ezekiel 14—Insincere Inquirers

14:1. Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.—There will come certain of the clergy of Christendom to the Truth people to listen and inquire.

14:2, 3. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?—God's Word for them will be that these men have insincerely set up in their hearts their idols of gold, power, etc., and with a pretended face-to-face sincerity, have retained their iniquitous stumbling block of love of sin. Should God be inquired of at all by such men?

14:4. Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh, according to the multitude of his idols:—Every man in the nominal church that insincerely clings to his idols and to his love of iniquity, and yet comes to one of God's people, Jehovah will answer not with words, but with the retribution deserved for his idolatry.

14:5. That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols.—God will treat the nominal Christian church in a manner like their own insincere hearts, because by the idols they serve they are all estranged from their love for Him.—2 Thes. 2:11, 12.

14:6. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.—Say first to them: Repent of your evil deeds, turn away from your idols, O Christendom, and resolutely turn your faces unto Him, and from superstition, error, and from practices which are abominable to His standards.

14:7. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from Me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me; I the Lord will answer him by Myself.—Every church member and every one associated with him, who ceases to love God supremely, sets his heart upon other subjects of love or worship, clings to iniquitous practices, and then comes to the Truth people to find what God says, verily Jehovah Himself will answer him—with deeds, not with words merely.

14:8. And I will set My face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—God will thoroughly disfavor that man, and make him an example and a by-word; He will cut him off from a place among His people.

14:9. And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.—And if any preacher—even one of the Truth people—shall get so wrong in heart that he is deceived in what he says (Jer. 20:7), Jehovah will “send him a strong delusion that he should believe a lie,” and will be against him and will destroy him from the midst of His people.

14:10. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him.—Both shall bear the same punishment for their iniquity—the preachers and the man that listens to him.

14:11. That the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be My people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.—Professed Christian people shall stray no longer from Him, nor become unclean spiritually through their wrongdoing, but may truly be God's people, and He their God.

14:12, 13. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, when the land sinneth against Me by trespassing grievously then will I stretch out Mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it.—When a whole country sins against God with grievous, willful sin, then will He exercise His power against it, and cut off the necessary supply of material (Lev. 26:26) and spiritual food—send a famine of food and of the Word of God upon it, and cut off all life from it.

14:14. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.—Though in that country were the three most upright men of history, Noah, Daniel and Job—typing here the Little Flock, the Great Company, and the Household of Faith—they should by their righteousness save but their own lives.

14:15. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts.—God has caused savage governments to overrun Christendom with military and naval forces, and to ruin and desolate it, so that no manly independent man can exist there.

14:16. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.—Though these three classes be in Christendom, they shall deliver no one but themselves; they only shall be delivered, but Christendom shall be desolated.

14:17. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:—God has brought upon Christendom destroying weapons (Lev. 26:25), and the Sword of the Spirit is to go through Christendom and cut off all that can be cut off, and no one shall save aught but himself.

14:18, 19. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast.—God will permit a pestilence, both of literal disease and of pestilential errors in Christendom, in wrath to take away life.

14:20, 21. Though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughters; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem—the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence—to cut off from it man and beast.—Christendom is so corrupt that God is sending upon her His four dreadful punishments—the sword, the famine, the savage government and the pestilence—as His destroyers!

14:22. Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.—There shall be left from the anarchy a few who shall be brought through into the Kingdom as samples of Christendom's pollution. They will live among those who have suffered in Christendom's trouble, and amid the blessed Kingdom influences by contrast the others shall see their continued evil ways and doings. And they will cause everyone to feel satisfied, content, over the trouble God is bringing upon Christendom.

14:23. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.—When the others see their evil ways and doings, they will be content as to the need of the Time of Trouble, for they shall realize that not without good cause shall God have done all that He will do to Christendom.

Ezekiel 15—Fit For Fuel Only

15:1-8. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? Therefore thus saith the Lord God, As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set My face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God.—Ecclesiasticism, which imagines itself to be the true vine (John 15:1) with the sects as branches, is a wild vine (Rev. 14:18), unable to support itself and clinging like a parasite upon others for support. It brings forth no character fruitage, is unfit for any Divine purpose, is slender, half-charred by the assaults of Higher Criticism, and fit only to be destroyed.—Psa. 80:8-16.

Ezekiel 16—Unfaithfulness Of God's People

16:1-5. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou was born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.—Chapter 16 is an amplification of the symbolic description of Babylon the Great (Jerusalem), ecclesiasticism (Rev. 17), as a once virgin but now apostate woman (church). The peoples of whom the church was composed were originally heathen (16:3), in and of the world (field).

16:6-8. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine.—God through Christ loved these people and espoused them, He caused the church to grow beautiful.

16:9-12. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger's skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.—He anointed them with the Holy Spirit (16:9, oil), clothed them with the robe of Christ's righteousness (Matt. 22:11) with the embroidery of character fruits (Psa. 45:14), and gave them precious ornament of Divine (golden) promises, put a jewel (pure, diamond-sparkling Truth—1 Cor. 3:12) on their forehead (minds—Rev. 7:3), golden earrings in their ears (ears to hear Divine things—Gen. 24:22), and a beautiful crown on their head (tentative kingship).—Rev. 2:10.

16:13. Thus was thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.—He gave them the purest and best food from the Word of God (Psa. 147:14); and they became beautiful in the beauty of holiness (Psa. 110:3), and prospered even unto inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.—Col. 1:13.

16:14. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.—They became renowned for their holy, kindly characters; obtainable through sacrificial suffering.—Heb. 2:10.

16:15. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.—The spirit of fornication in a church is the desire to form a union with any world-government (Rev. 18:3); this spirit was manifested to every government.—Isa. 1:21.

16:16. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon; the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.—The high places are the tops of mountains, the rulers of governments; there the church displayed her greatest attractions, and induced the spiritual fornication of governments, to an extent never to be witnessed again.

16:17. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them.—She took the Divine treasures of Truth, and shaped and distorted them into the form of traditions of men.

16:18, 19. And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them; and thou hast set Mine oil and Mine incense before them. My meat also, which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour; and thus it was, saith the Lord God.—The spiritual food of the Word of God was spiced with human errors; such as Divine right of kings and clergy, immortality, Trinity and eternal torment, preached in a way to please the ruling powers and serve their unholy purposes.—Hos. 2:8.

16:20, 21. Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter? That thou hast slain My children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?—The Church gave the children of God, begotten of the Word, to endure doctrines of hell fire (Jer. 7:31) and fiery trials in the warfares of governments.

16:22. And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.—In her pride of place, the church forgot the heathendom from which her members had been raised.

16:23-25. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God.) That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee a high place in every street. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.—Woe, woe, distress, trouble and destruction to such an apostate, who in every conspicuous way (Isa. 57:7) served the interests of the god of this world, made her “virtues” detestable to thoughtful men, and offered herself for state-church union to every government (street), state, city and town!

16:26. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke Me to anger.—She united herself with the most worldly people, great in earthly things.

16:27. Behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.—God has now, since 1878, brought the powers of judgment against the apostate church and caused a famine of the Word of God within church doors. He has given her over to the encroachments of church daughters of aggressive worldliness and doctrines of devils (Philistines)—Christian Science, Theosophy, New Thought, Higher Criticism and Spiritism. Even these churches, founded on doctrines of devils, are ashamed of the worldly, self-debasing ways of the professedly orthodox Church of Christ.

16:28, 29. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.—The Church has even sought union with the forces (Assyrians) destined to overthrow Christendom—Socialism, Communism, Industrial Workers of the World, Trade Unions, Syndicalists, revolutionists, anarchists,—insatiable in her desire for power.

16:30-34. How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman, in that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire, but as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all whores; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms; and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou are contrary.—How despicable is the attitude of the professed church! ... lower even than an harlot! For a harlot has some self-respect and gives herself only for gifts in return; but the “Christian” church has offered inducements to every possible kind and grade of governmental power to enter into Divinely condemned union of church and state.—Hos. 8:9.

16:35-37. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them. Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.—Therefore God will cause the governments, with which the apostate church has made alliance, to hate and burn her with fire.—Rev. 17:16.

16:38-40. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.—By Moses' Law women that broke wedlock were stoned to death; in earlier days they were burned alive; and the guilty men also were killed. (Lev. 20:10, 14, 27.) Ecclesiasticism will be smitten down with the stones of hard facts, and be destroyed in the fires of anarchy, “with the fire of God's Jealousy.” (Zeph. 3:8.) She shall be stripped of her tinsel and gilt (imitation immortality), her purple (imperial) and scarlet (bloody) colors, and of her real and imitation jewels of Truth. The masses, incensed by vain sacrifices and privations of a world-war, will despatch her.

16:41. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.—Her houses (denominations) will be wiped out in the anarchy. She will receive her terrible judgments in the wondering sight of many heathen religions (women).

16:42, 43. So will I make My fury toward thee to rest, and My jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet and will be no more angry. Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted Me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.—Not till ecclesiasticism has perished from the face of the earth will God's fury and jealousy cease its retributions.

16:44, 45. Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. Thou art thy mother's daughter, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.—The Hittites, Amorites, Samaritans and Sodomites were all worshipers of Baal and Astarte, under one name or another, and were adepts in the heathen and immoral beliefs and practices of that religion, typical not of fleshly but of spiritual uncleanness, as explained in foregoing pages. The true Church's father was our Father, her mother the Sarah Covenant of Grace, and her espoused husband, Christ. Ecclesiasticism's parentage, as becometh the “dwellers in the summits,” the proud “best” people, was the proud, self-sufficient one, the Devil (John 8:44.) Romanism and Protestantism are begotten, not by the Word of God, but by the words of pride, of selfishness, of earthly ambition. Her mother was of the Hittites, a commercial people, descendants of Ham, under Divine disapproval; her spiritual mother was the false promises of human tradition, which would barter a Divine promise for an earthly meal; she loves compromise, and knows not principle. “Like mother, like daughter.”

16:46. And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.—Samaria and Sodom were worshipers of Baal. With like parentage, ecclesiasticism is a sister religion with the heathen religions, even acknowledging in many volumes the unity of all religions, herself included. Samaria, the ten apostate tribes, mingled the religion of Jehovah with that of Baal—a fit religious sister of the “nominal church,” which reads the Bible and serves the god of selfishness. Samaria elsewhere types not merely ecclesiasticism's sister, but churchianity herself. Sodom, here named Jerusalem's (ecclesiasticism's) sister religion, is directly identified as churchianity in Rev. 11:8—“The great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” It types professed Christianity in its lowest phase.

16:47. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou was corrupted more than they in all thy ways.—As though the ill-fame of Sodom were not enough, (apostate) Christianity has excelled her in corruption; Sodom's literal depravity was “a very little thing” to ecclesiasticism's ways.

16:48-50. At I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw good.—Sodom's greatest depravity (A. 111, 112) was a result of depraved sexuality in connection with the religion of Baal. “This dreadful ‘consecration’ spread over Phoenicia, Syria, Phrygia, Assyria and Babylonia. Ashtaroth, the Greek Astarte, was its chief object.” Its antitype in the churches was, for national, state or municipal rulers, under guise of advancing religion, to cause their tributary governments to become “Christianized.” Whole nations were thus “Christianized” and baptized—the peoples of savage governments. Through a letting down of the bars of immorality, spiritual and fleshly, this ministered to the beastly propensities of rulers and of others. The clergy, from Pope to class leader, prostituted religion for the pleasure and profit of association with the rich and powerful. Rulers were assured of the “Divine right of kings,” and received homage, as God's representatives. The people were led to believe that death for rulers was entrance to Heaven, and thousands died in the exhilaration—mistaken for religious uplift—of self-sacrifice in their behalf. Ministers of Satan masquerading as angels of light, preached these falsities and millions believed them, and for their own good, and the good of the world which they have corrupted, God is about to take them away.—Z. '95-56.

16:51, 52. Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they; they are more righteous than thou; yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.—As Jerusalem's moral corruption justified Sodom and Samaria, so ecclesiasticism's moral and spiritual depravity have justified those elements in Christendom typed by Samaria and Sodom. The clergy, and their churches, because of pride of being the “best people”, have been more abominable than those of baser sort.—Psa. 119:113; Prov. 6:17; 8:13; 16:18.

16:53-55. When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them. That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.—In the resurrection of the dead, “just and unjust” (Acts 24:15), Jerusalem, in shame, will face Sodom and Samaria, confounded and abased by the fact that her evil practices justified, excused and “comforted” Sodom and Samaria. Likewise ecclesiasticism, the clergy and their following of “best people”, will be in shame over the fact that their iniquity was an incentive to the evil doing of the baser elements of Christendom.

16:56-59. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride. Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.—Among a proud and corrupt “best” people it was a tabooed subject even to mention the depravities of the “worser kind”; but in the last two score years of merciless “muckraking” and publicity of “Christian” criminality in choir lofts, Sunday School rooms, church “studies”, belfries, orphan asylums and convents, “the wickedness was discovered” of clergy and church people, and so widely published that the heathen religions (daughters of Syria and of the Philistines) have come to know about it and to despise so-called “Christianity.” Christendom has despised its vow of consecration to God and the Covenant of Grace, by which “We, as Isaac was, are the children of the Promise.” (Gal. 4:28), and under which she was betrothed to Christ. God will deal with Christendom in like manner as Christendom has dealt with God.

16:60. Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.—Nevertheless, “God is faithful”, (1 Cor. 1:9); and as He made a covenant with the church in the pure and faithful days of her youth, He will remember that covenant, and in the Times of Restitution will make with all people, through the Jews, the New Covenant, everlasting, under which there will be showers of blessing.—Ezek. 34:26.

16:61. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.—When the people of Christendom, come back from the dead to life on the earth they will remember their evil, faithless ways, and experience deepest shame when people of the baser sort are given to them as daughters, to love and cherish in the Lord.—D. 633.

16:62. And I will establish My covenant with thee: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—The coming blessings are not for any faithfulness of Christendom, but because God is faithful.

16:63. That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.—Then the once apostate people, at last returned to “the Bishop and Shepherd of their souls” (1 Pet. 2:25), will realize the fullness of God's eternal goodness and love, and come into the peace of God (Phil. 4:7)—a peace that will be eternal.—A. 111; Z. '94-46.

Ezekiel 17—Parable Of The Eagles

17:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable, unto the house of Israel.—Chapter 17 pictures ecclesiasticism as a king, his partial captivity to the forces destined to destroy him, his turning for support to the forces of worldly wisdom and power, the failure of the attempted alliance, and his final downfall.

17:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar.—The Assyrians (a great eagle) with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers (strong of wing, powerful), which had divers colors (many varieties and phases of appearance) came to Lebanon (the Hebrew kingdom) and took the highest branch of the cedar (carried King Jehoiachim captive). In antitype this signifies: The power destined to destroy Christendom (anarchy, Nihilism, Socialism, and their wisdom expressed in schools of thought tending to destroy respect for Christendom) like an eagle (wise one) with great wings (impressive words) long-winged (far-reaching), full of feathers (full of argument), has quietly made its way into Christendom since 1878 and taken captive the highest ones, many of the leading class of Christendom (the Cedar) with doctrines of Evolution, Socialism, and Higher Criticism, all destructive of the existing order of things.

17:4. He cropped off the top of his twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.—These were taken captive by these systems of thought into a condition where the Heavenly ideals of the church were abandoned for mere trafficking for position and power, and in human, earthly theories and philosophies.

17:5. He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.—The remaining people of ecclesiasticism, more lowly, the seed from whom had once sprung the ruling classes, will be planted in rich, deep soil, well saturated with waters of the great truths of fraternity, equality and liberty.

17:6. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.—The new ecclesiasticism, fostered by revivalists, evangelists, social and civic workers and other earthly reformers, will grow and flourish into a form of ecclesiasticism, low, never far above earthly things, whose numbers (branches) tended toward anarchous systems of thought, and whose roots, fundamental philosophy, will be under the sway of the same.

17:7, 8. There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.—But the new, low-born ecclesiasticism, alarmed at the anarchous trend of thought, shall turn toward another great system of wisdom (an eagle) equally of demoniacal origin; i. e., conservative, worldly wisdom tending to uphold the present unholy state of affairs.

17:9. Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.—The time of God's Kingdom having come, God purposes to uproot the new ecclesiasticism. Its character fruitage, being of the spirit of this world, must be cut off and withered in the fiery trials of this tribulation time. Its promise (leaves) shall wither away, even as it has withered wherever the great war has touched.

17:10. Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the furrows where it grew.—From the east, the direction of the rising Sun of Righteousness comes a wind, a teaching, Present Truth, that shall touch the new ecclesiasticism and wither it in a time when there is “perplexity and distress of nations, men's hearts failing them for fear of the things coming on the earth” (Luke 21:24, 25)—the social order—ecclesiasticism—“the vine.”—Rev. 14:18.

17:11, 12. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the King of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon.—The king of Babylon, Satan, has already come to ecclesiasticism and taken captive the ruling class, the prominent clergy.

17:13. And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him; he hath also taken the mighty of the land.—He holds the chief ones captive by reason of their agreement with his modern, false, religious, social and economic teachings.

17:14. That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.—As a result ecclesiasticism will not be able to rise above earthly things nor lift itself up to combat anarchous systems of thought. If it could do so, it might not be overthrown immediately, but might continue to stand for yet a little while.

17:15. But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?—Ecclesiasticism has rebelled by crying out to the established wisdom of this world (Egypt), relying upon strong, conservative worldly doctrines (horses) and many supporters of the reactionary ideas, to save it from complete overthrow.

17:16. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.—As God lives! In the condition of lawlessness, wherein Satan, the king of anarchy, liveth, who elevated ecclesiasticism to its place of power, there, in anarchy, in the midst of lawless hosts, shall ecclesiasticism perish.

17:17. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons.—Neither shall worldly wisdom, with its mighty following, accomplish anything for ecclesiasticism in its death struggle with anarchy, not even by raising up governmental support (mounts) nor by the united efforts of the strongest elements of this world's might.

17:18, 19. Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely Mine oath that he hath despised, and My covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.—Ecclesiasticism has been faithless to Jehovah and will be faithless to its newly acquired philosophy.

17:20. And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against Me.—Like a snare, a net, shall the Time of Trouble come upon ecclesiasticism; and it shall not escape destruction at the hands of anarchy.

17:21. And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.—Millions that abandon churches and clergy in the trouble shall fall physically by violence, and be slain spiritually by the Sword of the Spirit; and those that escape death shall be scattered in the world-wide commotion (winds) far from the systems they once supported. They shall know that God has spoken truly, when the day of anarchy shall come.

17:22. Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent.—Thus says the Lord God: One of the highest branches of ecclesiasticism is Judaism. I will establish Judaism. I will take, in Judaism, one of its young and tender aspirations—Zionism—and will plant it, establish it at the very pinnacle of the coming Kingdom of God—the Jews ruling, through the resurrected Ancient Worthies—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.—over the earthly phase of that Kingdom.—Psa. 45:16; Heb. 11:10.

17:23. In the mountains of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.—It shall branch above all nations (boughs) and bear character fruit unto life eternal. (John 4:36.) It shall be the desire of all nations (Hag. 2:7) (a goodly cedar). Under it shall dwell in peace all the truly wise ones of earth.

17:24. And all the trees of the field shall knew that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.—All the people (trees) of the world (field) shall know that the Lord has brought down nominal ecclesiasticism and exalted the Ancient Worthies, has dried up “Christianity” and given vitality to Zionism and Judaism.

Ezekiel 18—“The Soul That Sinneth”

18:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?—The Word of God came to be clearly understood by Pastor Russell as to the equity of Jehovah's dealings with man in condemning all to death. Both Jews and Christians have asked, “How is it just to visit the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations?” “Why have the children's teeth been set on edge by the fathers' eating the sour grape of sin?”—H. 59; E. 334, 309.

18:3. As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.—The doubters queried, “Doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?” (18:19.) They complained, “The way of the Lord is not equal” nor just. (18:25.) Pastor Russell, expounding the Word of God, demonstrated clearly that God's way is just (18:25); that man's ways are unequal, unjust (18:29); and that God takes no “pleasure at all that the wicked should die, but rather that he should turn from his ways and live.” (18:23-32.) The time will soon be when the scornful proverb shall no longer possess any force.—H. 46.

18:4. Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die.—In the earthly phase of the thousand-year probationary Kingdom of God the equal justice of God will be manifest, father and son will be treated alike, no one dying for a parent's sin; but each soul that sinneth shall die for his own sin.—E. 354, 331; A. 128.

18:5-9. But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman, and hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; he that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, hath walked in My statutes, and hath kept My judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.—The Father of equal love will beseech each sinner to repent and turn from his transgression, that iniquity, wilful sin, be not his ruin. “Wherefore turn yourselves and live ye.” (Ezek. 18:30, 32.) The days of death from Adamic and parental imperfection will be over; each one will be solely responsible for his own life or death. To clearly explain the changed situation the several cases are presented. If a righteous man continue in a righteous course he shall live eternally.

18:10-13. If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife, hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.—If a man's son is a wilful sinner, “he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.”

18:14-18. Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, that hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, that hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed My Judgments, hath walked in My statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.—If the wicked man have a good, upright son, the good son shall live; but the father shall die.

18:19-23. Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all My statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?—The wicked man who turns to righteousness shall not have his former sins held against him; but he shall live.

18:24-30. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not My ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.—The righteous man who turns to iniquity shall die.

18:31, 32. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.—This will be true of individuals as soon as the last member of the spirit-begotten Body of Christ has died. And it is true now—and has been true since 1878—of the institutions of “this present evil age,” which have been in Divine judgment since 1878. If ecclesiasticism, “the house of Israel,” would cast away all their transgressions, and gain a new heart and a new spirit, they would abide forever; but they will never change their evil ways; their destruction will be their own wilful act—“Why will ye die?”

Ezekiel 19—The Lion's Whelps

19:1. Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel.—Chapter 19 has the form of a dirge. It represents in antitype the downfall, in the Time of Trouble, of ecclesiasticism pictured first, as two roaring lions which are taken captive; and secondly, as a vine destroyed by fire of internal origin. The princes of Israel are the clergy.

19:2. And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.—As the father and the mother of Isaac were Abraham and Sarah, and the spiritual father and mother of the true Church are Jehovah and His Covenant of Grace (Gal. 4:22-28), so the spiritual father and mother of ecclesiasticism, priestcraft, are the Devil and his covenant with death. (Gen. 3:4; Isa. 28:18.) “The Devil goeth about like a roaring lion.” (1 Pet. 5:8.) Their nourishment has been “doctrines of devils.”

19:3. And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.—Ecclesiasticism divided into two classes; one higher, richer, more educated than the other—“one of her whelps.” They learned to devour men, make them their prey.

19:4. The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.—The unbelieving peoples heard them; they, the clergy, were taken in the pit of corrupt doctrine; they were captivated, taken captive, into worldliness, the wisdom of this world, of “Egypt.”

19:5. Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.—Another class of ecclesiasticism was developed, under the same false covenant with death, into a full-fledged lion, an embodiment and child of the eternal torment, trinity, inherent-immortality teachings.

19:6. And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.—This was the popular evangelist well trained in catching men and shekels.

19:7. And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.—The revivalists caught men by thousands, and “the fulness thereof,” great contributions for a few weeks of noisy evangelism.

19:8. Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.—Then the “unconvertible” people, anarchists, Socialists, etc., spread the net of their teachings. The people, indignant at their sufferings from wars and high cost of living, declined further support.

19:9. And they put in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.—Revolution and anarchy will place a complete restraint upon the revivalists, and bring them to their end.

19:10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.—The false covenant-mother of ecclesiasticism is a system of thought, in the very blood; it is part and parcel of the existence of ecclesiasticism. It is “the vine of the earth,” of Rev. 14:19. This system of error was once fruitful in gaining adherents.

19:11. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.—The vine had seeming strong authority for the rulership “of them that bare rule,” the clergy, “lords over God's heritage.” (1 Pet. 5:3.) To a mighty and lofty height did the vine of the earth grow.

19:12. But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.—But in the fury of the world-wide war she will be “cast down to the ground.” The truths arising from the presence of the dawning Sun of Righteousness will dry up the support of her fruit (church members). Her authority—rod—will be broken, withered, and destroyed in anarchy.

19:13. And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.—In a world of hostile doctrines of Socialism and anarchy, in a world-wide drought of the water of the Word of God, the old system of sophistries will soon be in the wilderness condition, in a state of complete ostracism.

19:14. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.—The savage application in the world-wide war of the rod of the Divine authority of rulers will cause revolt, revolution and anarchy to spring up, like a fire, which will bring to an utter end the denominational clusters, the fruit of the vine of the earth.

Ezekiel 20—The Hypocritical Ecclesiastics

20:1. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.—The elders of Israel came to confer with Ezekiel, but he would not be interviewed by them, because of their idolatrous tendencies. The Hebrews had always had such propensities. God had refrained from destroying them in order to preserve His own good name among the heathen peoples; but now He was about to punish them, until the appointed time should come when He would regather them. The destruction of Judaism is here pictured as a fire in a forest. This chapter introduces another group of prophecies against Christendom, ending with Chapter 24. Some of the prominent ecclesiastics will read up or consult Pastor Russell and his writings, and the “Truth people,” ostensibly to learn what they can.

20:2, 3. Then came the Word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to inquire of Me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.—Present Truth will refuse any favorable answer to ecclesiasticism.

20:4. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.—Instead, it will pronounce judgment upon them. It will cause them to realize the abominations in doctrine and in life of professed Christians, as a result of the teachings of the Dark Ages.

20:5. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: in the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up Mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up Mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God.—First viewed as God's people “in the world,” Egypt, God chose them, made Himself known to them, and lifted up for them the hand of His power.—Z. '94-357.

20:6. In the day that I lifted up Mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.—He promised to bring them in the resurrection, if faithful, into the “mansion” prepared for them—Heaven itself, the most glorious condition in God's Universe.

20:7. Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.—God had told them to cast away all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit (2 Cor. 7:1), to do away with the desire of things seen with the fleshly eyes (1 John 2:16), and no longer to defile themselves spiritually with cravings for earthly power. But while professing Christ's name, they rebelled in their heart against God, and would not listen to Him.

20:8. But they rebelled against Me, and would not hearken unto Me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out My fury upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.—Over and over, throughout the Gospel Age, God was indignant enough to bring destruction upon them; but He did not, in order that His name and reputation might not come into disrespect among the worldly people, who were taught by professing Christians that God was with them.

20:9, 10. But I wrought for My name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made Myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.—God's Word views professing Christians also as in the wilderness condition of separateness from and ostracism by the worldly—as “brought forth out of the land of Egypt.”

20:12. Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifieth them.—He gave them the privilege of entering in advance of the world into His sabbath (Millennial) rest—the rest of peace with God by faith, of justification freely given through the blood of the Son of God. The Lord Himself set them apart for His holy service.

20:13. But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness: they walked not in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and My sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.—As a class, professed Christians have rebelled against being in the wilderness condition of separateness from and ostracism by the worldly. They have lived not according to the Law of Divine Love, but have despised the opportunities of the trial period. They have despised the Scriptural doctrine of the Millennium, and have made a common thing of the rest of faith by introducing all kinds of penances, masses, alms, and other deeds whereby to earn the peace with God, freely offered through faith in Jesus' atoning Sacrifice. Often was God indignant enough to destroy them.

20:14. But I wrought for My name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.—But for His own name's sake, not theirs, God refrained from permitting the Time of Trouble to come before the appointed time, that the people of this world might not belittle Him and His protecting power.

20:15, 16. Yet also I lifted up My hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; because they despised My judgments, and walked not in My statutes, but polluted My sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.—Yet the Word of God has made it plain that those in the wilderness condition who have not given their whole heart to God shall not be changed to the spirit nature and brought to the Heavenly plane of being.

20:17-21. Nevertheless Mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness. But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: I am the Lord your God; walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them; and hallow My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, neither kept My judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted My sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.—God did not at once destroy those in the wilderness condition, but gave the same fatherly admonition to those who succeeded them, all in vain.

20:22-24. Nevertheless I withdrew Mine hand, and wrought for My name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. I lifted up Mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, and had polluted My sabbaths, and their eyes, were after their fathers' idols.—God repeated His forbearance, in not scattering them back into the world, nor destroying them.

20:25. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.—At last God gave them up “to their own heart's desires” (Psa. 81:12), to “worship the hosts of heaven,” their own pulpit stars (Acts 7:42), who “changed the truth of God into a lie,” into “human traditions,” and “worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25)—following evil statutes, “customs,” and enduring worldly trials and temptations, bringing them, not life, but death.

20:26. And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord.—God gave them up to doctrinal pollutions, in that they believed in and worshipped the eternal torment god, Moloch, the Devil, and singed, scorched spiritually, with the fear of “the hot place,” all their children, those young in nominal Christianity. (Jer. 32:35.) This caused them to be desolate, deserted, abandoned by the true God, like the heathen without God—though not that God might ultimately destroy them; for in the Times of Restitution they will by contrast appreciate the true God.

20:27-28. Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they have committed a trespass against Me. For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.—The Christian's course was typed by the experience of the Hebrews in the land of Canaan (Isa. 57:5), in the blessedness of Divine favor and in the abundance of God's gifts. When brought into this condition of favor, instead of being thankful and giving their whole hearts to God in devoted consecration, the great mass of professing Christians committed the same abominations that the heathen were guilty of—union of church with worldly power, making the high ones the heads of the church, as the King of England and the Czar of Russia; doing homage to all of earth's great ones (the thick trees); rendering service and obedience (sweet savor) to traditions of men; and preaching (pouring out) strong doctrines, intoxicating wine of their mixed teachings (drink offerings).

20:29. Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.—In verse 29 Ezekiel speaks with contempt of the Hebrew apostasy. He uses a play upon words, not apparent in the English translation. He asks them, “Mah ba” (Where go?), and answers, “Ba-mah” (the high places) is the name to this day. Pastor Russell frequently spoke with contempt—deserved, from the Divine viewpoint—of the “high-place,” nominal church, her clergy and her laity, always going to the “high ones.”

20:30. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?—Again, in the phase of captivity in “Babylon,” the Lord's people were guilty of doctrinal and moral pollution and of illicit union of church and earthly power.

20:31. For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.—God will not even listen to the prayers of such professed Christians.

20:32. And that which cometh into your mind shall not be all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.—Their heart's real desire to become good-fellows in the world's fellowship (Jer. 44:17) shall fail.

20:33. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you.—God began at the appointed time, 1914, to punish the accumulated sins of Christendom “with a mighty hand (power) and with a stretched out arm” (Christ present the Second time, Isa. 53:1), and with fury poured out “a great Time of Trouble such as never was” (Dan. 12:1), and which the Lord declared would never require a repetition.

20:34. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.—But even this tribulation will be done in a Father's love and for the good of His erring children, to cleanse them. Through this trouble God will search out all professed Christians, make them manifestly separate from the openly worldly.—Z. '94-76.

20:35. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.—God will bring them into a wilderness condition of separateness from the world and of ostracism and persecution by the revolutionary and anarchistic masses, and face to face He will plead with the nominal church to forsake evil and idolatry.

20:36. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.—As He did with the Hebrews in their trial time in the Wilderness of Sinai.

20:37. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.—God will cause His people, all those not utterly devoid of the Holy Spirit—“the Great Company” in the churches—to pass under the rod of correction and to resume their fidelity to their vow of consecration.

20:38. And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—He will permit conditions of persecution by Socialists, revolutionists, syndicalists, nihilists and anarchists, against persons professing Christianity (“the religion that got the world into trouble”), such that every person not possessing the Holy Spirit will renounce all pretense of being Christian and will get out of the deplorable condition (country) wherein the true Christians will be. This outcast class, being entirely “of the earth, earthy,” shall not enter the spiritual phase of the Kingdom.

20:39. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto Me: but pollute ye My holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.—Let who will then serve their idols; but they shall no longer associate themselves with God's children, nor falsely bear the name of Christ, nor pollute God's holy name nor His Church with their presence or their practices. “If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him.”

20:40. For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve Me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.—God wounds to heal. In the real “high places,” the Kingdom of God now at hand, planned for man's blessed restitution, all who are truly God's shall serve Him, some in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom, some in the earthly phase. (Mal. 3:3, 4.) There God will accept all comers, “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come ... and whosoever will, let him take of the Water of Life freely” (Rev. 22:17.) There God will accept their offerings of themselves in heartfelt consecration, and the first and best of their offerings and all their possessions, then hallowed by the influences of the Kingdom of Love.

20:41. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.—God will accept their heart's best endeavors (incense), when He gathers His children—His spirit children and His earth children—out from the prison-house of death, and out from the dark shadows of a world-wide heathenism. Then God win be seen to be holy, sanctified, in His children, in the sight of all the Satan-blinded idolaters of earth.

20:42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to your fathers.—God's children, who have not known Him as He is, will know Him then as the God of infinite Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power,—when they shall be established in the Kingdom, in whatever phase they are fitted for—the Kingdom whose earthly phase God promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Ancient Worthies (Psa. 45:16), and whose Heavenly phase He covenanted to give to the spirit class of the Gospel Age.—Heb. 11:40.

20:43. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.—Then those who have not loved the God of Love as they should shall remember their former ways and loathe themselves for the evil done against such Love Divine.

20:44. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for My name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.—They will humbly, thankfully and with fervent gratitude and love know that Jehovah, who is Love (1 John 4:8), dealt with them, for the carrying out of His all holy purposes, and not as Justice might have called for in connection with their ways.

20:45, 46. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field.—The words of Ezekiel return to the impending destruction of Jerusalem—of Christendom. Pastor Russell was to speak, as from the Divine viewpoint (the North) against the multitudes (trees in the forest) in the earthly phase (the south) of the Kingdom of God, already established invisibly by God in 1878-1914. Jerusalem (ecclesiasticism) was in a southerly direction (belonging to the earth, earthy), from the Prophet's point of view.

20:47. And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.—God permitted in 1914 the kindling of the present unquenchable conflagration of war, and of revolution and anarchy to come. Righteous (green tree) and wicked (dry tree) alike are to suffer in the fiery trials of the trouble time. All who are of the earth, earthy (of the south, earthly phase of the Kingdom), but who pretend or claim to be of the spiritual phase, to have the Holy Spirit (look toward the north, the spiritual), are to be burned, as the tares are burned after the gathering of the wheat into the Heavenly garner.—Matt. 13:30.

20:48. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.—All mankind will understand, before the Time of Trouble is over, that “the strange work” is of Jehovah.

20:49. Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?—The people of ecclesiasticism, misled by the clergy, are unable to understand Pastor Russell's teachings regarding the trouble, or to get the Divine viewpoint.

“There are great truths that pitch their shining tents”
Outside our walls, and though but dimly seen
In the gray dawn, they will be manifest
“When the light widens into perfect day.”

Ezekiel 21—The Thrice-Doubled Sword

21:1, 2. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel.—The Lord has drawn the sword against Jerusalem and sharpened and pointed it in fury. (21:1-17.) The king of Babylon (Satan) uses divination as to the route by which to bring the sword against Jerusalem; the Jews deride such a method (21:18-24), but the Hebrew crown is to be overturned. (21:25-57.) The Ammonites (aggressive worldly believers), too, are to be given to the sword.—21:28-32.

21:3. And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.—Jehovah is against Christendom, has drawn against it both the literal weapons of war, in warfare and revolution, and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. (Eph. 6:17.) He will cause both righteous and wicked to die in the Time of Trouble; and by His Word He will bring about conditions such that all wicked professing Christians will abandon all pretense of Christianity, and the righteous will “come out of her” (Rev. 18:4) and be gathered as wheat into the Divine garner—Heaven.

21:4. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.—Cannon, rifle, shot, shell, bomb and torpedo shall be unleashed and turned against all flesh, from those of the earthly (of the south) to those having the Holy Spirit (of the north). The Word of God will be taken out of its sheath of mystery and plainly show the meaning of this trouble, and that it is to be upon all.

21:5. That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth My sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.—All the people shall know that the trouble has come from Jehovah, and that its consummation is a certainty.

21:6. Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.—Pastor Russell and the Truth people have carried a heavy heart burden in this message of the ills coming upon Christendom.

21:7. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighed thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings, because it cometh. And every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.—For the days are near when even the strongest shall falter.

21:8, 9. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished.—Modern weapons of destruction are brought to a hitherto unknown efficiency, as is the Sword of the Spirit in the hands of the “feet” members of Christ.—Isa. 52:7.

21:10. It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should We then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of My Son, as every tree.—The weapons of war will make a frightful slaughter among men; and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, will cause millions to cast off Christianity. It glitters with flashes of enlightenment reflected from the risen Sun of Righteousness, which to its idolatrous enemies are gleamings of trouble and distress. Who could rejoice over the trouble? Not the Lord's people; for it presages the destruction of the power (rod) of all professing to be of the Son of God, together with all their institutions.

21:11. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.—It is given, bright and sharp, to be swung in the hand of skillful slayers.

21:12, 13. Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be upon My people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon My people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God.—The destruction by the weapons of war and by the Word of God shall be upon “My [professed] people,” upon all the clergy (princes). Fear shall take hold of churchianity.

21:14. Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.—Pastor Russell was to give expression to the final wrath of Jehovah. The destruction will be of double severity three times—in war, revolution and anarchy. The Sword of the Spirit was to be wielded by Pastor Russell twice three times, in his six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures. The weapons of destruction will pursue all the great ones of earth, penetrating into all their most secret places. The Sword of the Spirit will search out all the lords of God's heritage (1 Pet. 5:3), the clergy, exposing their inmost ideas contrary to Jehovah and His Plan.

21:15. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.—The point of the sword against ecclesiasticism, revealing its true nature and imminent fall, is the present exposition of the prophecies of Revelation and Ezekiel. The Hebrew says that it is made “lightning brightness.” It is an illumination of the whole Babylonish system, for ages wrapped in the mystery of types and symbolisms. How gladly the clergy would have destroyed these two books of the Bible, had they known what they taught!

21:16. Go thee one way or the other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.—Wheresoever Pastor Russell and the Truth people set their face to go, it is authorized for them by the Lord.

21:17. I will also smite Mine hands together, and I will cause My fury to rest: I the Lord have said it.—God will manifest His anger and cause His fury to rest upon ecclesiasticism.

21:18, 19. And the Word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.—There were two ways that the weapons of war, revolution and anarchy might strike; in either way the blow would come from Satan, the king of anarchy. It was to come from Riblah, the fork of the roads. Riblah means “desolate.” Since 1878 the worldly churches, and since 1914 the worldly governments, have been “left desolate” (Matt. 23:38) and subject, the one to desolation by the Sword of the Spirit, the other to desolation by carnal weapons.

21:20. Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.—The sword might go east of Jordan against the Ammonites (Amos 1:14; Jer. 49:2), or west of Jordan, directly at Jerusalem, first of all. It might strike the Great (Rabbath) Company (Rev. 7:9) of “fellow companions” (Psa. 45:14) (Ammonites), or directly and first strike against churchianity (Judah) and ecclesiasticism proper—“the fenced off,” exclusive, superior, “best” people, hitherto so thoroughly defended from harm.

21:21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.—The forces that will overthrow Christendom are thoroughly under the influence and guidance of evil spirits—as is suggested by the shuffling of arrows named for the two cities, by the consulting of idols (theories), and by the looking in the liver (spiritism), by interpretation. The Devil chooses bitter words (arrows) (Psa. 64:3), consults evil spirits (images), and is guided even in his opposition to Jehovah by his own interpretations of Scripture.—Matt. 4:6; 2 Cor. 11:14.

21:22. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.—The proof from the Scriptures shows that the evil spirits directed that the revolutionary and anarchistic movement should proceed first to the destruction of Christendom. The ex-Czar of Russia was a spiritualist, and maintained mediums for consultation. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, for years prior to the great war, followed the guidance of a demon which spoke to him clairaudiently, urging him to his present course. A surprising number of prominent men consult spirit mediums. The voice of the spirits was for war by every conceivable means, nation against nation, but destined to effect the desolation of ecclesiasticism as well.

21:23. And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but He will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.—In the sight of those that have sworn allegiance to ecclesiasticism's god, the father of lies, this true prediction of the downfall of the nations will seem an erroneous expectation—as it has appeared to all the great ones of Christendom. They have thought that this war would be as other wars. But the end of the Age (world) has come; and ecclesiasticism's iniquities shall no longer go unpunished.

21:24. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.—Universal muck-raking by Socialists, Anarchists, magazine writers, social surveyors and reformers has caused Christendom's forgotten iniquities to be freshly remembered, and her transgressions uncovered, so that there is no department—commercial, financial, political or religious—in which her sinful practices do not appear. These things God has permitted to be made manifest that she may be taken red-handed.

21:25. And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end.—The profane and wicked prince of the Jews was Zedekiah, their last king. (A. 248; Z. '04-343.) The antitype is churchianity's lordly class, the clergy, profaning the holy Temple of God, the Church, the Body of Christ, with doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1), as wicked in the sight of God as were their prototypes, the scribes, doctors and Pharisees, with their hypocritical pretense of holiness. Their time has come—1918—when iniquity in the House of the Sons of God shall have an end.

21:26. Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.—Thus says Almighty God: Remove the mitre (mistranslated “diadem”). The mitre was a band of linen about the forehead, typing the righteousness of Christ, supposed to be in the minds of the clergy, but no more actually in them as a class than in whited sepulchres. (Matt. 23:27.) The king wore a golden crown on his head, held there by a white linen mitre. (A. 248; B. 76, 79; Z. '98-359.) The clergy, the lords of God's heritage, have crowned themselves with the rulership of earth, in the person of the pope and in the general desire of clergymen to rule in the affairs of men, a lordship based upon their supposed righteousness (mitre). This great crisis will not be like the temporary setbacks of ecclesiasticism in past centuries. The lowly, revolutionary, anarchistic masses will exalt themselves to power in the Time of Trouble, and the lofty clergy shall be utterly abased.—Matt. 23:12.

21:27. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.—In warfare, revolution and anarchy Jehovah will triply overthrow Christendom until Christ in great power will take the crown and rule the affairs of earth.—E. 147, 133; A. 248; B. 76, 79; Z. '05-253; H. 61.

21:28. And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering.—Nor will the openly worldly, professing Christian escape, for war, revolution and anarchy are abroad—“the sword is drawn”—to consume the worldly, too.

21:29. While they see vanity unto thee, while they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.—Destruction will come even when the worldly-wise are mistakenly asserting that it will not come nigh them.

21:30. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.—The tribulation shall not be quieted—the sword shall not “return unto his sheath;” for God will condemn the worldly Christian also, in the condition of unbelief wherein they have been.

21:31. And I will pour out Mine indignation upon thee; I will blow against thee in the fire of My wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.—God will pour out His wrath upon the worldly professing Christians. He will blow upon them fiery blasts of war, revolution and anarchy. They shall be delivered into the hands of a revolted soldiery, brutal, destructive, pitiless, skilled in the arts of slaughter, taught by Teutons and Allies to know the utmost efficiency in war. The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, too, will be in the hands of consecrated ones, seemingly but not actually cruel, skilled through Divine power to use it with telling effect.

21:32. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.—Institutions Divinely condemned shall be as fuel for the fires of bloody anarchy and pass into oblivion. The war is the melting-pot of ecclesiasticism.

“Beautiful hands are they that do”
The work of the noble, good and true,
Busy for them the long day through;
Beautiful faces—they that wear
The light of a pleasing spirit there,
It matters little if dark or fair;
And truly beautiful in God's sight,
“Are the precious souls who love the right.”

Ezekiel 22—The Melting Pot Of War

22:1-4. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations, then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; the city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.—In Chapter 22 the various iniquities of Jerusalem are related. (22:1-12.) Their punishment is described under the figure of a melting-pot. (22:13-22.) Christendom, and especially ecclesiasticism, is guilty of bloodshed and of defiling paganism. This, by a natural process, has brought about a situation which could not continue. The present outbreak of evil and trouble, in view of the lofty pretenses of the past, has made paganized Christendom a byword among acknowledgedly pagan peoples.—D. 72.

22:5. Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.—The unbelievers, both in and out of “Christian” countries, scoff at “Christendom”—now defiled of name and “full of tumult.”

22:6. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.—In Christendom all the rulers, in the mania for war, have used every power to promote bloodshed. The spiritual rulers have, by false teachings, destroyed the spiritual hopes of millions.—Luke 11:52.

22:7. In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.—They have dealt unjustly by the classes needing help. Spiritually they have despised our Father and His Covenant of Grace, and oppressed those who are His pilgrims and strangers in the world.—1 Pet. 1:1.

22:8. Thou hast despised Mine holy things, and hast profaned My sabbaths.—They have despised the holy teachings of God's Word, respecting the seventh thousand-year Day of rest, and have attempted justification by works instead of in the rest of faith.

22:9. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.—In the churches are gossipers, evil speakers, assassins of reputation. In them are some that feast at the tables of devils (1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Cor. 10:21), like lords or rulers at the heads of the nations; they long for unhallowed church-state union.

22:10, 11. In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.—They have not only made state-churches in every possible direction, but have been in vast numbers guilty of sexual immorality.

22:12. In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord God.—They have used the gifts of God for evil purposes, even to slay God's holy martyrs; they have even practised extortion upon those close to them. This they have done because they have forgotten the Lord.

22:13. Behold, therefore I have smitten Mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.—God has shown plain signs of anger against ecclesiasticism's hypocrisy and her spirit of murder.

22:14. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.—Her heart must fail her, and her powers weaken, before an abused conscience, in the days when God will deal with her iniquities.

22:15. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.—He will scatter the ecclesiastics and by fiery trials consume the uncleanness out of ecclesiasticism.

22:16. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—She shall be profaned, desecrated and destroyed in the sight of earth's nations.

22:17, 18. 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.—Ecclesiasticism, clergy and laity alike, are to the just and holy God become as the refuse of the baser metals in a fiery furnace of affliction; they are the dross of the Great Company (silver). (Jer. 6:30.) The baser metals type degrees of earthly natures; brass (human perfection), tin (tares, begotten of error), iron (savage worldly power), and lead (sin, iniquity).

22:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.—God will gather the corrupt peoples and the nations of Christendom.

22:20. 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 melt it; so will I gather you in Mine anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.—This great conglomeration of persons of all shades of baseness shall be gathered as into a blast furnace, where God will permit indescribable troubles to afflict them; and there He will leave them.

22:21. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of My wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.—They are to be melted in heart and spirit in the fiery afflictions of His wrath.

22:22. 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.—As the Great Company of God's spirit-begotten children have suffered by the millions, so shall it be with the clergy and laity, who profess Christianity without its spirit.

22:23, 24. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.—Christendom in this Time of Trouble is without the cleansing, refreshing showers of the water of God's Word.

22:25. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.—Among the clergy there is a conspiracy against the Truth. The “Federation of the [so-called] Churches of Christ in America,” like a very devil (roaring lion), will yet tear to pieces the Present Truth people, will put many to death, and cause some weaker ones to lose their spiritual lives. They will take and destroy the literature containing the precious Bible truth. Literally the preachers by preaching the men into war have made widows by the millions.

22:26. Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.—The Roman Catholic priests—and the Protestant clergy—have violated the Law of Divine Love; have polluted God's truths with pagan teachings, have shown no difference between those cleansed by the blood of Christ and those still in their sins, have denied the Bible teaching of the Millennium (Rev. 20:2-7), have hidden the Sabbath rest of justification by faith, and have promoted a money-grabbing system of penances and masses for sin and of collections, which discredits and profanes God's name.

22:27. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.—The ecclesiastics, “wolves in sheeps' clothing” (Matt. 7:15), tear their prey, the Body members of Christ, shed blood in persecution, and destroy spiritual life—all to acquire money to perpetuate their infamous, paganized religion.—Micah 2:9-11.

22:28. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.—The preachers of Protestantism have whitewashed the whole crowd of ecclesiastics, imagining empty doctrines of Evolution and Higher Criticism, and lying to the people by giving their own theories as God's Word.

22:29. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.—The laity of both Romanism and Protestantism have oppressed the poor in spirit, have robbed those needing God's help of what comfort they had, and have wrongfully oppressed the “pilgrims and strangers” (Heb. 11:13) among them.

22:30. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.—God promised not to destroy Sodom if there should be ten righteous men in it; He will seek for even one who is righteous in Christ's righteousness, in ecclesiasticism, to make up the wall of her goat-fold, and stand in the gap, that He should not destroy her; but He will find not one!

22:31. Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.—Therefore ecclesiasticism is doomed to extinction.

Ezekiel 23—Two Apostate Church Systems

23:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.—Chapter 23 describes the church-state unions of the Roman Catholic church, pictured as an unchaste woman, Aholah, and of the Protestant church, her unchaste sister, Aholibah, and the destruction of both in the Time of Trouble by the nations with which they have made unions.—Jer. 3:6-10.

23:3. And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.—Both of these churches have always catered to worldly ideas and people, and even in their youth were guilty of unions of church with state.

23:4. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were Mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.—Their names are significant. Aholah means “her own tent.” God is not in Romanist ecclesiasticism at all; it has its own tabernacle, called (Acts 7:43) “the tabernacle of Moloch.” Satan himself dwells in and actuates the Papal system. Aholibah means “My tent is in her.” God's Tabernacle, the true Church, has been among the Protestants chiefly. In this picture, an unchaste Protestant ecclesiasticism is designated “Jerusalem.” They both have sons—prominent ones—and daughters—sectarian churches.

23:5. And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors.—The Romish church dates back to apostolic days, when she was God's Church [Mine]; but she fell in love with her neighbors, the rulers of that brutal age, and sought temporal power.

23:6. Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.—The leaders and rulers in worldly affairs were apparently faithful (clothed in blue, typical of faithfulness), and seemed desirable and attractive to be associated with. They were men of thought and men of action, riding hobbies of vain philosophies.

23:7. Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.—The Church associated with them for gain of worldly power, set her affections on them, instead of on things Above, and defiled herself with their pagan ideas.

23:8. Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.—Nor did she give up her worldliness when she took up oriental asceticism.

23:9, 10. Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.—The rulers discovered the naked, unprotected condition of Romanism; and by hundreds of thousands poured in from the East, literal Tartars, Vandals, Huns and Turks, and the pagan ideas from the same sources, and slew the sons and daughters of Romanism with the literal sword, as well as her children spiritually. Among the Pagan religions (women) Romanist “Christianity” became a name and a byword; for the invaders had executed the judgment of God upon her.

23:11. And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.—Protestantism began in comparative purity, but later on developed an inordinate love for temporal power. Even more than Papacy she tried in every nation to “run things.”

23:12. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.—She, too, set her affections on popularity with earth's rulers, great and small, conservative, radical and revolutionary.

23:13-17. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way. And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: and as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.—God saw that both churches, Romish and Protestant, were of like tendency to church-state union, especially Protestantism; for she never saw or heard of a great worldly man, even down to the local leaders of the smallest rural communities, that she did not desire their influence and help—particularly their money—and systematically invited them to connect themselves with a church, quite regardless of whether or not they remained worldly. So much did the prominent people in every place crowd into the Protestant churches and try to “boss” things, that the rank and file even of ecclesiastics and of the less prominent supporters of ecclesiasticism grew sick of them.

23:18. So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then My mind was alienated from her, like as My mind was alienated from her sister.—The newspaper writers, Socialists, anarchists and muck-rakers, exposed the worldliness of the Protestant churches; and God Himself, from 1878 on, has been alienated from them.

23:19-21. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.—Protestant ecclesiasticism multiplied her worldly alliances; and the prominent and wealthy, “of the earth, earthy,” filled the churches with tares, worldlings, desirous of profiting by association with prominent people.

23:22. Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side.—Therefore, O Protestantism, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will raise up, in warfare and revolution, the worldly people in you, of whom you are already sick, and bring them against you on every side.

23:23. The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.—The worldly, the worldly-wise (Chaldeans), the officers (Pekod), princes (Shoa), and rulers (Koa), and all the discontented and anarchistic with them shall come against you, riding hobbies destructive to you.

23:24. And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.—They shall war against thy welfare with organizations of their own (chariots), with leaders (riders, mistranslated wagons), with a systematic plan of operation (wheels), and with a great following of revolutionists; and they shall condemn thee by their own perverted ideas of justice.

23:25. And I will set My jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.—Unknown to Protestantism, God's jealousy has been excited by her worldliness; and He will permit the masses to deal with her in fury; they will destroy her spirituality, taking away her ability to discern spiritual things (nose), and to hear (ear) the Word of God. They will force Protestantism's sons and daughters into service in war and revolution; and the remnant will be destroyed in the ensuing anarchy.

23:26. They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.—Protestantism shall be stripped of her robes of self-righteousness and of her imitation jewels—those not truly Christianized; for they will cast off all pretense of religion.

23:27. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.—Being no longer attractive or useful to the ruling powers, she will perforce cease her advances toward the grasping of worldly power.

23:28. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated.—All law-abiding people, and especially Protestant ecclesiasticism, hate and fear the lawless forces destructive of society; but into the cruel hands of such shall they be delivered.

23:29. And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.—These evil forces shall deal hatefully with Protestantism, take away all the results of her work, and strip her completely, because of the ultimate evils wrought by union of church and state.

23:30. I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.—God will do this because Protestantism has sought and made church-state unions, and has been polluted with worldly ideas and practices.

23:31. Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore, will I give her cup into thine hand.—She has walked in the way of Papacy; therefore will God give to her also Papacy's cup of tribulation.—Jer. 25:15.

23:32. Thus saith the Lord God: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.—Protestantism shall drink deep and large the measure of Romanism's cup of trouble; it contains much. As a result of wars and devastation brought on by worldliness, in the face of boasted godliness, Protestantism shall be scorned and derided by the whole world.—Rev. 9.

23:33. Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.—Protestantism shall be intoxicated with the war spirit (Jer. 13:13), and later stupefied with amazement at the ruinous results of her own course, ending in the same cup of trouble, utter ruin, as confronts her sister-church, Catholicism.

23:34. Thou Shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.—Protestantism shall drain the cup of desolation and sorrow and shall suck out the very dregs. (Isa. 30:14.) It shall be broken up in anarchy, and shall lose all the features that made it attractive to this world's governments for purposes of union of church and state.

23:35. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast forgotten Me, and cast Me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.—Because she has forgotten the Lord and cast Him out of her mind, Protestantism shall endure unaided by Him the results of her own evil course.

23:36. The Lord said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Ahollbah? yes, declare unto them their abominations.—In Verses 36 to 49 Romanism and Protestantism are together jointly condemned.

23:37. That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their Idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.—They have both effected church-state unions. They have blood guilt, for wars, and for causing the spiritual death of multitudes. They have given their hearts to idol doctrines. They have caused God's children to endure fiery troubles, and have scorched, scarred and burned their religious lives with the eternal torment theory.

23:38. Moreover this they have done unto Me; they have defiled My Sanctuary In the same day, and have profaned My sabbaths.—They have defiled God's Sanctuary, the Church, with soul-destroying doctrines in the same Day, the Gospel Age. They have derided the Millennium, and have substituted works for the rest of faith, as the basis of justification before God.

23:39. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day Into My Sanctuary to profane it; and lo, thus have they done in the midst of Mine house.—They would slay their people in war and the same day go to worship God, even in the midst of God's Sanctuary, the Little Flock of the true Church.

23:40. And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments.—They sought for union with and sent preachers to prominent men, at heart in a condition far from God; for them they “whitewashed” themselves, made their wisdom (eyes) attractive with worldly philosophies, and adorned themselves with the imitation jewels of courtesy, tact and politeness.

23:41. And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set Mine Incense and Mine oil.—They took their seat upon a stately creed-bed, adapted to worldly, regal purposes, with a table of religious food, teachings, philosophies, not of God, where they gave their hearts' best endeavor and prostituted what measure of the Holy Spirit they had to worldly ends.

23:42. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her; and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.—With the ecclesiasticism of Papacy and Protestantism was the voice of a multitude of worldly church members, thoroughly at ease in apostate Zion. (Amos 6:1.) Among the church members were men of the blackest character (Sabeans, descendants of Ham, disfavored of God), who belonged outside the pale of religion, who adorned themselves with seeming character jewels and crowns of inherent immortality, not of God, but of Plato.

23:43. Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?—It seemed impossible that the churches should unite with such evil men, to gain influence and power.

23:44. Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.—Nevertheless, both Romish and Protestant ecclesiasticism did so.

23:45. And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.—But men with a sense of decency, justice and the fitness of things will condemn both churches, Romish and Protestant, as adulteresses were judged among the Hebrews—stone them to death with hard facts, and by the ravages of revolution and anarchy.

23:46. For thus saith the Lord God, I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.—God will bring up against them a great rabble of people with a keen sense of outraged justice—Socialists, trades-union men, laborites, social democrats, nihilists and anarchists. Also a multitude of God's children, begotten of the Holy Spirit, will rise up against these apostacies.

23:47. And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.—This multitude will down ecclesiasticism with hard facts, and destroy her with material weapons and with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The anarchists will literally slay church members by millions; and the sons of God will by His Holy Word cause them to cease their pretense of being Christians.

23:48. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.—Thus will the Lord cause the desire for the union of churches with worldly power to cease out of human society, that all religious bodies may learn forever to avoid this abominable practice.

23:49. And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.—Thus shall ecclesiasticism's faithless apostasy be recompensed upon her when she suffers the results of the sinfulness of loving other mighty ones than Jehovah, and thus shall she learn the supremacy of God in the affairs of men.

Ezekiel 24—The Boiling Caldron

24:1, 2. Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.—It was in the fall of 1916—a year and seven months before the city was to be smitten in the spring of 1918—that the forces of laborism, revolution and anarchy, began to assert themselves against the established order of things in Christendom—the siege of the city began.

24:3. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it.—Jerusalem is likened to a boiling caldron from which meat is taken; then it is set empty on the fire and the rust burned out. Ezekiel's wife dies; but he suppresses his feelings, and, after the ordinance for a priest, makes no mourning for the dead—a picture of the dumb sorrow of the Hebrews on the destruction of Jerusalem. The prophecy of this chapter was uttered on the same day that the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, “came, he and all his host, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about; and the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.” (2 Kings 25:1, 2.) Its antitype is that on or about November 1, 1916, the date of Pastor Russell's death, ecclesiasticism began to enter upon its life-and-death struggle, materially, with the forces of laborism and anarchy, and religiously with the consecrated children of God, whose work from then on was increasingly to bear witness to the apostasy and imminent destruction of churchianity. Ecclesiasticism, rebellious against her God, is as an organization, like a caldron of brass (copper), typing that many of its members believe the Word of God. It is set amid the fiery troubles of revolution and anarchy. There is water in it, symbolic of what Truth there is in ecclesiasticism.—Jer. 1:13.

24:4. Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulders: fill it with the choice bones.—In it are gathered the great and prominent (good pieces), and also the strong ones (bones) of her flock.

24:5. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.—The social elements will grow hot in the Time of Trouble until the truths in ecclesiasticism make it exceedingly warm for her members. Then the heated, excited, troublous condition will be transmitted, and as the truths warm up, will get all the church members into exceedingly hot water, even the strongest ones.

24:6. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the plot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.—Woe to Christendom, ecclesiasticism, bloody in the blood of soldiers, peasants, workingmen, martyrs and saints, by the millions, and blood guilty for the spiritual hopes of millions, extinguished by her false doctrines. Her rust (R. V.) is in her. Bring out her leading members, one by one, indiscriminately, into captivity to the forces of revolution.

24:7. For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; the poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;—Her infamy of blood is in her very substance. She has not been able to conceal it, but it is exposed to full view in “the top of her rock,” in the kings and the kaisers, her heads in church-state union.

24:8. That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.—The fury of a revolted soldiery and populace will rise up against the heads of the governments, who are also heads of the churches, to take vengeance upon ecclesiasticism's sins.

24:9. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.—Innumerable will be the opponents of churchianity, and blazing hot their wrath.

24:10. Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.—Heap up the fires of discontent and anarchy, consume the tares in Christendom, as tares. Thicken the broth (R. V.), boil it down until the very bones, the strong church members, cease to be such.

24:11. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.—Then ecclesiasticism, the clergy class, with emptied pews, shall sit amid the fiery trouble and be consumed, that their corruption may be done away.

24:12. She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.—She has wearied even the preachers with the dishonesty of preaching things not believed in, and yet they did not cast out her doctrinal corruption, which shall be fuel for the fire of anarchy.

24:13. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused My fury to rest upon thee.—Her corruption was in her desire to become prominent and powerful through the power of earth's great ones. God purged her of these things to some extent through godly preachers and reformers; but she was not purged in heart and quickly reverted to the things Divinely proscribed. Since 1878 God has made no further attempt to reform ecclesiasticism; and she shall not be purged, but the fury of God's jealousy shall rest upon her.

24:14. I the Lord have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.—God Himself has spoken this and will do it. He will not go back, neither spare, nor change His Plan; but in just recompense for her doings shall the Socialists and anarchists condemn her.

24:15, 16. Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.—God took away from Pastor Russell the desire of his eyes, her whom he loved, with a stroke, or “plague” of spiritual error, which completely separated them. By the Mosaic ordinance a priest on the death of father, mother, or wife, was to show no special sign of grief, but was to remain in the Tabernacle, or Temple, and attend as usual to the service of God. Pastor Russell, as a member of the great High Priest and as Christ's representative in the world, the sole steward of the “meat in due season,” suffered deeply, but shed no tears.

24:17. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.—Rather, he made no mourning for her that was to him as dead, but continued in the work of the sacrificing priesthood. He was sustained in his affliction, not by human aid, but by the consolations of his Father's Word.

24:18. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.—He continued his addresses and writings to the Lord's people; his wife became to him as one dead: and he continued uninterruptedly in the work of the ministry.

24:19. And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?—Why was Pastor Russell caused by his Father to endure the fiery trials and ecclesiastical falsehoods in connection with this incident of his life?

24:20, 21. Then I answered them, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane My Sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.—God gives the reason. It was as a picture or parable of what is to happen to Christendom. Until 1878 the nominal church had been in a sense God's sanctuary or Temple; but He was from then on, culminating in 1918, to remove it with a stroke or plague of erroneous doctrines and deeds Divinely permitted. The Church was the strength of Christendom, that about which its life centered, and around which its institutions were built. It was the desire of the eyes of the people, that which all Christians loved. Nevertheless, God was to make manifest the profanation which ecclesiasticism had made of the Christian Church, and to cause the church organizations to become to Him as one dead, an unclean thing, not to be touched, or mourned. And the “children of the church” shall perish by the sword of war, revolution and anarchy, and by the Sword of the Spirit be made to see that they have lost their hope of life on the spirit plane—that “the door is shut.”

24:22. And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.—So universal and dreadful will be the troubles that the dead will literally lie unburied and unwept. There can be no mourning for the dead in a period when the living are overwhelmed by troubles worse than death.

24:23. And your tires shall be upon your heads: and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.—The mourning will be an inner sorrow of a people stupefied by terrible experiences, who pine away and without outward expression sink together into the fellowship of helpless grief.

24:24. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.—Thus the silent sorrow at Pastor Russell's heart was to be a sign to Christendom. The sorrowful experiences of Pastor Russell in this connection shall later on be those of all Christendom; “and when this cometh” they shall know that Jehovah God is supreme, and back of all the judgments of the trouble time.

24:25, 26. Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters. That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?—Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of “Christianity.”

24:27. In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—Pastor Russell's voice has been stilled in death; and his voice is, comparatively speaking, dumb to what it will be. In the time of revolution and anarchy he shall speak, and be no more dumb to those that escape the destruction of that day. Pastor Russell shall “be a sign unto them,” shall tell them the truth about the Divine appointment of the trouble, as they consult his books, scattered to the number of ten million throughout Christendom. His words shall be a sign of hope unto them, enabling them to see the bright side of the cloud and to look forward with anticipation to the glorious Kingdom of God to be established. Then “they shall know the Lord.”

“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,”
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
“Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea.”

Ezekiel 25—Recompense Upon The Tares

25:1, 2. The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them.—Chapter 25 foretells that after the fall of apostate ecclesiasticism in revolution, in 1918, the end of the various discordant non-Christian elements of Christendom, hostile to true Christianity, which will seek to profit by her fall, will come. The Ammonites (25:1-7) and the Moabites (25:8-11), both children of Lot—who was himself a type of the Great Company class—are a type of a class brought into being by their father, the Great Company class (Lot), while he was in a state of drunken stupor from mixed doctrines, through Lot's daughters, type of the worldly churches of the Great Company. The Edomites, descendants of Esau, represent a class who sell their birthright to sonship of God for a mess of pottage, worldly advantage (25:12-14); and the Philistines, a people who migrated from Egypt, and aggressively preyed upon the Jews, type of a class of aggressive, middle-course, professing Christians who prey upon true Christians. The message begins with words against the Ammonites, types of those believing worldlings who were brought into the churches by the more or less faithless Great Company, and who in an aggressive and predatory fashion as Jesuits, persecuting Romish priests, and Protestant clergy and their kind persecuted the true Christians. The Ammonites are described as “fierce marauders, crafty, cruel, predatory.” The Ammonites worshipped Baal, under the name Chemosh, the god of fire and of fornication, type of the eternal-torment-purgatory god, the encourager of the spiritual adultery of church-state union.

25:3. And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against My Sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity.—When God's true Church shall be persecuted in the world-war and revolution, and true Christian faith shall be desolated, and the multitude of those that praise God (Judah, praise) shall go into captivity to the infidel revolutionists, the persecuting, world-loving church members (Ammonites) will he glad of it.

26:4. Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.—God will deliver this class unto the anarchists, to possess them, and make themselves at home with their property, and to make away with their doctrines (milk).

25:5. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—And I will make the lordly clergy class (Rabbah, great) waste and abandoned.

25:6. For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel.—Because they shall rejoice greatly, in their despite against Christianity.

25:7. Behold, therefore I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen: and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—Therefore God will stretch out His hand against them, and deliver them to be despoiled by the infidel anarchists in their midst. He will cut them off as a class, cause them to cease and destroy them, and they shall know that He is God.

25:8. Thus saith the Lord God: Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.—The Moabites (“Seir” should be omitted) were the civilized part of the descendants of Lot, born of incest, of a drunken father, Lot, and worshippers of Baal, while acknowledging Jehovah. They typed a church membership begotten by the mixture of truth and error, by the Great Company class, through their world-loving churches (daughters of Lot), and worshipping the eternal-torment God, imagining him to be Jehovah, and practicing the spiritual harlotry of union of church and state. Moab was “a nation high spirited, wealthy, populous, civilized, and of wide reputation and popularity.” They type a like class.

25:9. Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshi-moth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim.—God will cause this class to be attacked in the anarchy (Beth-jeshimoth, place of desolation), on two grounds, their apostate clergy (Baalmeon, lord of the habitation) and church-state system (Kiriathaim, double city).

25:10. Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.—The anarchists will also overcome the aggressive class (Ammonites).

25:11, 12. And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them.—The professedly Christian “Edomites” (D. 14-19)—nominally believers in God (descendants of Abraham), but worshipping a variety of gods of power, wealth, and worldliness, especially the eternal-torment God—(Josephus says the Edomites worshipped Cese, the destroyer)—will help greatly in pulling down Christianity.

25:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out Mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.—God will stretch His hand against this class (Edom-Idumea) and from end to end they shall fall by the weapons of destruction, and by the Sword of the Spirit.—Isa. 34:5, 6; Jer. 49:7-17.

25:14. And I will lay My vengeance upon Edom by the hand of My people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to Mine anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My vengeance, saith the Lord God.—The Truth people shall declare what God will do to this class in His furious anger.—Isa. 15:1-9; Jer. 48:1-47.

25:15. Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred.—The worldly professing Christians (Philistines, emigrants from Egypt) persecute God's true people, and shall in the revolution despitefully aid in destroying Christianity.—Joel 3:4.

25:16, 17. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will stretch out Mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethim, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay My vengeance upon them.—God will, through the anarchists, stretch out His hand against this class, and will cut off those that carry out persecution and death upon His people (Cherethim, executioners), and all worldly professing Christians as such, including those that border on anarchy (sea coast).

Ezekiel 26—Downfall Of Philosophy

26:1. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Chapter 26 depicts ecclesiasticism in the guise of an elaborate system of philosophy. The name Tyrus signifies “Rock;” and human philosophy, particularly Greek Platonic philosophy, is the real rock foundation of ecclesiastical teachings. Any true ecclesiastic, when driven by the Word of God from his untenable errors, claims sanction for them by reference to the philosophy of Plato and the inherent immortality of man, etc.

26:2. Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste.—This system and its adherents will manifest their essentially non-Christian nature when Christendom (Jerusalem) falls at the hands of the revolutionists in 1918. Philosophy, Higher Criticism, will rejoice that ecclesiasticism, which claimed to be the gateway to God for the people, is broken. They will imagine that the adherents of a Christianity that has failed will turn to philosophy, and that the adherents of philosophy will be increased now that ecclesiasticism is desolated. Human philosophy will seem to be the sole refuge of the people of Christendom.

26:3. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.—Because Christendom has borne the name of Christ and had the oracles of God, therefore God is against philosophy and will cause the many nations of Christendom to come up against established philosophy, as a sea of anarchy, with the discontented masses attacking, wave after wave, endlessly.

26:4. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.—The anarchists shall destroy the walls of defense, composed of the adherents to human philosophy, and shall break down the loftiest and strongest organizations, its towers of defense. God will remove the last vestiges of human adherence to Christendom's system of philosophy.

26:5. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.—In the anarchy, human philosophy shall be utterly abandoned—deprived of all its former supporters, by whole nations of anarchists.

26:6. And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—The religious organizations (daughters) founded on philosophy, which are in the world (field), shall be wiped out; and in the Kingdom their former adherents shall come to know Jehovah as He is.

26:7. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.—Jehovah God declares that against human philosophy (Tyrus) and its systems and adherents, He will array Satan—the king of this evil world, ruler of mystic Babylon, “the gateway to Bel,” to devil worship, king over the kings and other children of disobedience. He shall be permitted to come by God Himself (the North) (Jer. 1:14), with teachings (horses) of anarchy, with institutions based upon such teachings (chariots), with leaders and teachers riding these hobbies (horsemen), with an organised following (companies) and with many people following after anarchy in unorganized mobs (much people).

26:8. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.—With weapons of destruction (swords) anarchy shall seek to destroy the philosophical churches and other religious organizations (daughters) in the world (field) and shall systematically besiege them.

26:9. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.—Anarchy shall make war against their defenders (walls), and with keen, strong, cutting arguments (axes), shall break down philosophy's strongholds (towers).

26:10. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.—Anarchistic teachings (horses) without limit shall fill the air with confusion (dust); philosophy's defenders (walls) shall fear and quake at the tumult (noise) of the leaders and teachers of anarchy (horsemen), and of their systematic plans (wheels) of destruction, and of the anarchistic organizations (chariots), when Anarchy shall pour its forces through the great ones (gates) of Philosophy, for the great ones will become channels (breaches) for the inpouring teachings of anarchy.

26:11. With the hoofs of his horses shall be tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.—With the impact (hoofs) of doctrines (horses) of destruction, anarchy shall beat down all the orderly ways (streets) of philosophy. Anarchy shall destroy the adherents of philosophy with weapons of destruction, and the learned and mighty colleges and universities (garrisons) shall go down in failure and ruin.

26:12. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.—And the anarchists shall spoil the ideals (riches), and stop the teaching (merchandise) of philosophy; they shall break down the defense of philosophy's adherents (walls), and destroy the pleasing philosophical organizations (pleasant houses). They shall engulf the believers (stones) and supporters (timbers) in the rising tide of anarchy.

26:13. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.—And God will cause the noise of philosophy's siren songs, her falsely pleasant teachings (songs) to cease; and the utterance of her melodious books (harps) shall be no more heard forever.

26:14. And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.—Philosophy, falsely so-called, shall be utterly desolated, and shall be built up no more forever; for Jehovah God has spoken it.

26:15. Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?—The world will be full of revolutionary republics (isles), devoid of Christian principles and following man-made ideas; these republics shall be shaken to their foundations, when anarchy begins its dread slaughter of men and of systems.

26:16. Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.—Then shall the rude rulers of the revolutionary, half-anarchistic republics lose their positions of power (thrones), and lay aside their honors (robes), and discard their works of revolution (broidered garments); they shall be filled with dread and with trembling, and shall marvel at the downfall of their socialistic and revolutionary philosophies.

26:17. And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!—They shall lament; for the great systems of human philosophy shall be destroyed, where abode polished cosmopolitan men of the world (seafaring men), the renowned system of thought which was strong among all peoples (in the sea), even in the midst of a world of restless, discontented masses.

26:18. Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.—Now shall the revolutionary republics (isles) tremble in the year of philosophy's downfall; the republics in the midst of the anarchistic peoples (sea) shall be in trouble with the failure of the system of man-made philosophy.

26:19. For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee.—For God will utterly desolate philosophical teachings; when He brings up the sea of anarchy upon them, and engulfs them in the tidal wave.

26:20. When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living.—God will bring human philosophy down to destruction, without an adherent and in disgrace and reproach (into the pit), in order that He may establish His glorious truth in the Kingdom of resurrection and of life.

26:21. I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God.—God will make human philosophy a wasted, desolated thing (a terror); never shall it exist any more; though men and devils should seek to reestablish it, never shall it be found again, saith Jehovah God.

Ezekiel 27—Philosophy's Utter Ruin

27:1. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.—In Chapter 27 Christendom, regarded as an independent system of pagan philosophy, is represented as a gallant ship. Its component parts are represented symbolically (27:4-7), as are its mariners and pilots (27:8-9). In verses 9 to 25 the figure reverts to a mercantile city, and the sources of its articles of trade. It is again pictured as a ship, which is steered by its mariners into an angry sea, and wrecked.—Verses 26 to 36.

27:2. Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus.—The man-made system of Pagan philosophy must fall.

27:3. And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God: O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.—O Christendom, thou that hast the entree to the ears of the peoples (sea), which art a salesman (merchant) of philosophical doctrines for the people of many revolutionary republics, thus says the Lord God: O Christendom, ecclesiasticism, thou hast regarded thy pagan philosophies as perfect, faultless and beautiful.

27:4. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.—Thou, as an independent pagan religious organization or system, belongest among the disobedient children (sea) of the world. Thy philosophers, doctors of divinity, professors and writers, have perfected thy seemingly beautiful philosophy.

27:5. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.—They have made as thy fundamental supporters (boards) believers in everlasting human life (firs, evergreen trees), in high stations in society (Mount Senir, or Hermon, “pointed rock” was in Benjamin, one of the Hebrew tribes, and type of the Great Company). They have taken as the support (masts) of thy seeming righteousness (linen sails) earth's greatest men and the rulers, believers in inherent immortality (cedars), picturing them as from the loftiest, purest sources. (Lebanon, a great mountain range, means “white, snowy.”).

27:6. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.—The prominent tares, leaders (oaks), whom other tares follow and worship, and who are fruitful in producing more tares (Bashan means fruitful), are the mechanism (oars) for making thee move and progress among the people. The company of free-thinkers (Ashurite means freemen) have made thy white (supposedly righteous) seats (ivory signifies dreams—of immediate spirit life when they die) to be the seats (seats of the mighty), of the rowers who work the oars.

27:7. Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.—Thy ensigns, banners, sails, over thee, to be driven by the winds of error, are false righteousness (linen), with innumerable works of self-righteousness (broidered work), and of worldliness (Egypt); thou wast covered with the faithfulness (blue) and royalty (purple) of the worst of earth's pagan peoples (Elishah, descended from Javan, European, the most cruel and ferocious people of earth, as shown by their history, including this furious world-war.)

27:8. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners; thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.—The adherents of the belong-to-a-church or go-to-hell idea (Zidon meant “fortress,” and the idea is the fortress of ecclesiasticism), and the supporters of the falsely comforting refuge of Platonic immortality of the soul (Arvad means refuge, and Platonic heathen philosophy is the refuge of philosophic Christendom) were thy mariners, the ones who “worked” thy oars; thy philosophers (wise ones), from Plato to Nietsche, charted thy evil course, and were the real “sky-pilots” for the rowers to row by.

27:9. The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.—The doctors of divinity (ancients of Gebal) (Psa. 83:7) and the creed builders said enough on both sides of any question for theological authorities (calkers) to keep the people (sea) from getting on the inside, or having any real participation in thy affairs. In the middle of verse 9 the figure changes back to that of the prosperous mercantile city that Tyre was. All the independent religious and philosophical churches and other organizations (ships) of the sea (peoples and nations) with their sky-pilots (mariners) were in thee, O Christendom, thou aggregation of confused and contradictory philosophies, to receive, hold and disseminate thy teachings, doctrines, traditions, fables and philosophies (merchandise).

27:10. They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war; they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.—Believers in the hell-fire superstition (Persians were fire worshippers), and middle-course, conservative worldly men of sin (the people of Lud and Phut were dark-skinned men, living probably west of Egypt, type of worldly compromisers with sin) were in thine army, those that fight the bad fight of error for thee; in thee they hung the shield of credulity (faith) and the helmet of a false salvation; they extolled the loveliness of thy philosophy.

27:11. The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy towers; they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.—The believers in human immortality, thy philosophic refuge (Arvad means “refuge”) with thine army just mentioned were the wall of thy defense and thy watchmen, college professors, economists (the Gammadim are thought to mean watchmen or guards) were in thy watch towers; upon thy walls, in the minds of thy supporters (walls) they hanged their shields of credulity; they have made thy philosophies and sophistries seem perfectly beautiful.

27:12. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.—Thy preachers (merchants, trading in philosophy for gain) were a hard proposition (Tarshish means hard), with an abundant supply of teachings regarded worth while by the world; with worldly truth—silver—with strong earthly authority—iron—with actually worthless philosophies (tin was as the dross of silver) and with downright wicked doctrines (lead symbolized wickedness—Zech. 5:7-8) they taught and preached (traded) in thy preaching places (fairs).

27:13. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.—Believers in Greek philosophy (Javan represented the Greek race), and believers in the most far-fetched and uncouth ideas, such as monkey-born evolution (Tubal and Meshech were the remotest and rudest of nations), were thy preachers (merchants). They sold men into bondage to sin, and presented teachings of human perfection (brass) attainable otherwise than through Christ. Brass should be translated copper, and signifies perfect human nature.—T. 18.

27:14. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.—The representatives of the rudest and crudest ideas (Togarmah) preached in thy churches with doctrines (horses) and with followers of the doctrines and with mixed human and spirit nature ideas (mules).

27:15. The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present, horns of ivory and ebony.—Men of low ideals (Dedan means low) were thy preachers; many revolutionary republics (islands) were thy preaching places; they presented thee with dreams, visions (ivory) of power (horns), good and bad (ebony).

27:16. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and flat linen, and coral, and agate.—Believers in doctrines of lofty self-righteousness (Syria signifies high land) were thy preachers; they traded for gain in philosophies of eternal life (emeralds) without Christ's purchase, with teachings of self-kingship (purple), with works of self-mastery (broidered work), with self-righteousness (linen), with an imitation ransom (red coral), and imitation character jewels (agate).

27:17. Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.—With thine errors were mingled God's Truth to make up thy mixed doctrines. Some of thy preachers were really believers in the Bible (of Judah and Israel), taught the wholesome spiritual Bible truths (wheat), good teachings for the natural man (Pannag means millet), and teachings about Christ's Second Coming (honey), the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit (Rev. 10:9, 10), and the balm of the comfort of the Word of God.—Rom. 15:4.

27:18. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.—Thy preachers (merchants) were among the chiefest of the lofty, self-righteous, lordly ones (Damascus was capital of Syria, the high land), trading in all varieties of thy doctrines and philosophies, especially the mixed doctrines (wine) of earthly prosperity (Helbon, fruitfulness) and in natural human righteousness (white wool).

27:19. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.—Apostate Christians (Dan was the seat of idolatry and types a class once spirit-begotten but fallen away) and Grecian pagans (Javan represented the Greeks) preached in thy church gatherings; lordship, authority (iron), the claim of apostolic authority (cassia, deputyship), and a claimed knowledge of the Bible (calamus) were in thy churches (markets).

27:20. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.—Preachers of low ideals (Dedan, low) preached that thy church organizations (chariots) should be made presentable by being robed in the embroidery of many works, church fairs and suppers, institutional work, and civic and social service (chariot clothes or robes).

27:21. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.—Thy preachers, with claims of consecration, separateness (Arabia, wilderness), and all the powerful right reverends, fathers, and other lords (Kedar, powerful), they traded (exchanged from one church to another) their converts (lambs), old church members (rams), and out-and-out tares (goats).

27:22. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.—The preachers in captivity (Sheba, captivity) to Satan, and those who tremble at Satan's word (Raamah, trembling) set forth a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit (principal spices, Exodus 30:23), all kinds and degrees of self-development of character (precious stones), and the alleged inherent spark of the Divine (!) in man (gold).

27:23. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.—The preachers of New Thought, Theosophy, Christian Science and other phases of Spiritism, self-styled, strong and enlightened (Haran), set up and distinguished (Canneh), and believers in delightful delusions (Eden, delight), are in captivity (Sheba, captivity) to Satan, and really without hope of Kingdom honors (Chilmad, level, plain, without mountains).

27:24. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.—These self-reliance preachers set forth the robes of a counterfeit faithfulness (blue), fruitless works of self-improvement (broidered work), and organizations (chests) offering an imitation righteousness (rich apparel), bound with cords of free-thought love and a delusive hope, and represented as having eternal life (cedar).

27:25. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.—The mighty independent religious sects (ships of Tarshish—Isa. 3:16) did preach of thy philosophies and thou wast richly supported (replenished) and made of great reputation (glorious) among the peoples and nations (seas).

27:26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.—The picture changes back to a gallant ship. Thy strong preachers (rowers) have steered thee into angry seas (anarchy); the doctrines (winds) from the presence of Christ the Sun of Righteousness (east wind) have broken thy power in the midst of a time of anarchy (seas).

27:27. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.—Thy philosophies, thy churches, thy doctrines, thy preachers, thy philosophers, thy Doctors of Divinity (sky-pilots), thy church members, all thy church workers, and all the multitude that come to church, shall fall in the anarchy in the day of thy ruin.

27:28. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.—Those affiliated with thee shall quake at the shoutings and threatenings of thy sky-pilots.

27:29. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land.—All those that work, the influential church members, the preachers, and all the sky-pilots of the anarchistic masses (sea) (Rev. 18:17-18), shall abandon their independent organizations or their heathen religions, and shall try to find more solid ground to stand on than thou wast on.

27:30. And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes.—They shall speak against thee, and cry out with bitterness against thee, they shall show signs of grief.

27:31. And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.—It was a custom in ancient times for those who had suffered great calamities to shave their heads. The Lord promises such an occasion for weeping to Zion, His professed people.—Isa. 3:24.

27:32. And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?—In their bemoaning the downfall of so-called “Christian philosophy” they shall lament over thee, saying, What organization was ever like Christendom, like her who has been destroyed in anarchy?

27:33. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.—When thy philosophies were accepted by the masses, thou didst satisfy many people. Thou didst enrich materially and mentally the rulers and the clergy-lords of society with thy innumerable philosophies and thy doctrines.

27:34. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.—When thou shalt be broken and engulfed in the roaring waves of anarchy, thy doctrines shall cease and all thy supporters shall fall.

27:35. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.—All the people of the revolutionary republics shall marvel at thy fall, and the rulers of that brief era shall be troubled and afraid of meeting thy fate in the anarchy.

27:36. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.—The preachers (merchants) then taking their place among the unbelieving masses shall scoff at thee; thou shalt be a “worn-out and wasted thing” (literal) and never shalt thou exist any more.

O bliss of the purified! bliss of the free!
I plunge in the crimson tide opened for me;
O'er sin and uncleanness exulting I stand,
And point to the print of the nails in His hand.

O bliss of the purified! Jesus is mine;
No longer in dread condemnation I pine;
In conscious salvation, I sing of His grace,
Who lifteth upon me the light of His face.

O Jesus, the crucified! thee will I sing,
My blessed Redeemer, my God and my King;
My soul filled with rapture shall shout o'er the grave,
And triumph o'er death in the “Mighty to save.”

Ezekiel 28—Destruction Of The Devil

28:1. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.—Chapter 28:1-10 depicts the destruction of priestcraft by the sword of revolution and anarchy and by the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

28:2. Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.—To the exalted class, the clergy (prince) of Christendom, as a system of paganized philosophy: Because of thy pride of heart, thou hast said through thy chief representative, the Pope of Rome, I am as a god, I am the vice-gerent of Jehovah, my seat is “upon many waters” (Rev. 17:1), upon “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues” (Rev. 17:15), yet thou art man-made, man-ordained, and not of God, not Divinely ordained, even though thou set thine heart to pose before the people as Divinely ordained.

28:3. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee.—Behold, thou thinkest that thou art wiser than Daniel (Z. '05-280); that through supposed Divine inspiration, the confessional and the universal clergy-spy system, there is nothing in Heaven or earth which thou dost not know.

28:4. With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures.—With thy false philosophy and thy misunderstanding thou hast acquired riches, much gold and silver into thy treasury—many, too, of both Little Flock (gold) and Great Company (silver) into bondage.

28:5. By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick has thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches.—By scientific suppositions of infidel Evolution and Higher Criticism, and by good salesmanship of these worthless goods, thou hast heaped up wealth; and thou hast become proud, because of thy riches of materials, doctrines and membership.

28:6. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.—Therefore Jehovah says, Because thou hast set thyself up in pride to be as God, claiming to represent Him on earth as God's vice-gerent.

28:7. Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.—I will bring upon thee paganized anarchists, strangers to thy theories, the terror of the nations—and also My pilgrims and strangers, the sons of God, those whom thy philosophy dreadest; and the anarchists shall turn their weapons of destruction against thee, and the sons of God shall smite with the Sword of the Spirit thy falsely beautiful philosophy, and shall expose the real pollution of thy wisdom.

28:8. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the sea.—They shall bring thee down to a dishonored oblivion, and materially and religiously thou shalt die the deaths of those slain in the roaring waves of anarchy.

28:9. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.—Though thou sayest to the anarchy that shall slay thee materially and to Him that shall destroy thee religiously, “I represent God!”—yet thou shalt be seen to be man-made and not ordained by God, in the power of the destroyer appointed by Jehovah.

28:10. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.—Thou shalt die the deaths of the wicked by the hand of the anarchists, and be destroyed religiously as one of unclean conscience (uncircumcised) at the hand of the sons of God, My strangers and pilgrims in the earth (1 Pet. 1:1); for Jehovah hath spoken it.

28:11. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Verses 11 to 26 deal with the destruction of the Devil, pictured as the King of Tyrus.

28:12. Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.—Satan, the Devil, the father of lies and king over Christendom's system of pagan philosophy, is by nature the summation of perfection, the personification of Wisdom (Wisdom was one of the cherubs) and by nature perfect in the beauty of holiness.—Z. '03-135.

28:13. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.—Thou wast in the garden of Eden at the fall of man. Every good fruit of character wast thine adornment (Rev. 21:18-21); with this perfection of character endowment thou wast created.

28:14. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the Holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.—Before thy fall thou wast appointed the care-taker (coverer) of the innocent pair in Eden. Thou wast the embodiment of Wisdom (cherub), and endowed with the Holy Spirit (anointed); and I so made thee. Thou wast in high position in the holy heavenly Kingdom of God (Eph. 6:12); thou hast had thy course of life among God's holy angels (Isa. 14:13)—stars, fiery stones.

28:15, 16. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.—By their multitudinous trading in mixed doctrines (merchandise) “for revenue only” thy adherents, demons and clergy, have filled thy following with violence and warfare; and thou hast sinned unto death. Therefore I will cast thee as polluted out of the Kingdom of God (A. 318); and I will destroy thee from amongst My holy angels.

28:17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.—Thou becamest proud because of thine endowment of beauteous character. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy conceited teaching of counterfeit wisdom (brightness); I will humble thee to the dust, and expose thy real character.

28:18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick: therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.—Thou hast defiled the churches of Christendom by thine iniquitous doctrines and the teaching of them. Therefore I will utterly destroy thee with annihilation, and thy following with anarchy, in the sight of all that behold thee, in Heaven and on earth.

28:19. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.—All shall marvel at thy destruction; thou shall become wasted, devastated (a terror), and never shalt thou exist any more.

28:20. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying,—Verses 20 to 26 relate to the destruction of organized Churchianity.

28:21. Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it.—Zidon meant “fortress”; and the fortress of churchianity since the third century A. D. has been the doctrine that, to be saved, men must belong to a church organization. The King of Zidon typed the Devil.

28:22. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.—God says, I am against thee, organized churchianity, and I will be glorified and made holy in thee, only when I have executed retribution and justice upon thee.

28:23. For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—For I will afflict thee with literal and spiritual sickness and death (shed blood).

28:24. And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grievous thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.—The adherents to the church-organization idea have persecuted and dispersed both Jews and Christians, but they shall do so no more.

28:25, 26. Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to My servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.—The Jews shall enjoy God's earthly blessings, and the true Christians His Heavenly blessings, when He has executed justly earned judgments upon the people that have adhered to or taught the belong-to-a-church-or-go-to-hell idea.—Z. '94-76.

Ezekiel 29—The Egyptians A Type

29:1. In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Chapters 29 to 32 are directed against Egypt, its king and people, and against the surrounding peoples. Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, and was known as Mizraim, which meant “Middle Country,” and typed organized, entrenched and enthroned middle-course worldliness. The word Egypt means “that binds or oppresses,” and signifies the bondage of the Lord's people to the oppressive, enslaving spirit of the world—the spirit that slew our Lord (Rev. 11:8), and has enslaved and slain millions of God's saints. Chapter 29:1-7 represents worldliness as a crocodile, the dragon of Revelation 12:3, etc.

29:2. Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt.—This message is against Satan, the Devil, the king of this present evil world, and against all worldliness.

29:3. Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said. My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.—Jehovah says, I am against thee, Satan (Pharaoh means the sun, the god of the sun worshipper, the Devil), the great wicked dragon, also called Pagan Rome (later Papal Rome), that dwells in the midst of the church denominations (rivers, channels of Truth), and says, The church system is mine own, and I (not God) made it for my own purposes.

29:4. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.—God will bind thy utterances (jaws) with a chain (hook means chain or ring) (Rev. 20:1), and will cause thy active worldly church members and other adherents in thy churches (rivers) to adhere to thy protecting doctrines (scales) and will alienate thy churches from thee (corresponds to drying up Euphrates) and from all thy active supporters.

29:5. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.—And I will cause thee to be forsaken (in the wilderness), thee and all thy adherents (fish). Thou shalt fall unprotected into the hands of a cold, cruel world (open fields), not to be established again in power, but to be destroyed by the evil revolutionary governments (beasts) of the world (field), in world-wide revolution, and by wicked criminals, jail birds (fowls) and anarchists.

29:6. And the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.—The worldly people who have been no real support to either Jews or true Christians (Isa. 36:6; Z. '95-144), shall realize that Jehovah is the Lord.

29:7. When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.—When they in their weakness sought some aid of thee, thou didst roughly abuse them; and didst try to destroy them in persecution.

29:8, 9. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.—And worldliness shall be destroyed, and the people shall know Jehovah as He is; because Satan said, The churches are mine.

29:10. Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.—I am against thee and thy churches, and will utterly destroy worldliness from end to end.

29:11, 12. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.—Christendom shall be uninhabited and desolate for forty years after its devastation.

29:13. Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered.—After forty years God will gather into the Kingdom the scattered worldly people.

29:14. And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.—And will bring them back from the dead into their own country, where they shall be insignificant.

29:15. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.—This has been literally fulfilled upon Egypt, which for many centuries has not enjoyed self-government.

29:16. And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.—Neither Jews nor Christians shall ever again look to the worldly people (Egypt), (Isa. 30:1-5) for help; for the sight of the worldly will make them remember Christendom's iniquity.

29:17, 18. And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it.—The forces of anarchy's king, the Devil, will perform a great service in the Divine Plan of the Ages, but there will be nothing in it for the anarchists.

29:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages of his army.—Jehovah will give worldly Christendom to anarchy: and this shall be the material reward of the forces of anarchy.

29:20. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for Me, saith the Lord God.—God will give worldly Christendom to anarchy, for its labor in serving the interests of God's plans against pagan religion masquerading as Christendom, because in doing so anarchy will do its part.

29:21. In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—During the Time of Trouble God will cause the power (T. 42) of the Jews to bud forth in Zionism, and make known the glad tidings of the Kingdom, taught in Studies in the Scriptures.—Isa. 19:1-25.

Ezekiel 30—Pharaoh's Two Arms Broken

30:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of Man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Howl ye, Woe worth the day.—Thus saith Jehovah: Weep, and cry! O woeful day!

30:3. For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.—The day is near, the day of Jehovah, a gloomy day—the time of infidel anarchy!—Joel 1:15; Zeph. 1:7.

30:4. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.—The weapons of anarchy and the Sword of the Spirit shall come against worldly Christendom. Great distress shall be upon non-church members (Ethiopia, black) socialists, laborites and revolutionists, when Christendom's slain shall fall literally and spiritually, when her multitude shall abandon her, and when her foundations—social, economic, moral and religious—shall be broken down in war, revolution and anarchy.

30:5. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.—The worst peoples, darker religiously and morally—the socialists, laborites and revolutionists, in touch with worldly Christendom—shall fall with Christendom by literal weapons and by the Word of God.

30:6. Thus saith the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God.—All supporters of worldly Christendom shall fall; her pride of power shall be humbled; from end to end of Christendom shall they fall.

30:7. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.—Worldly Christendom shall be utterly desolated.

30:8. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.—They shall know that Jehovah permitted anarchy to start in Christendom, and will recognize Him, when they see that all their helpers are destroyed.

30:9. In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.—At the time of Christendom's fall, the message from God shall be borne by independent religious organizations to the too-confident socialists, laborites, and revolutionists that shall make them afraid of anarchy, and great distress shall ensue upon them, as in Christendom's fall.

30:10. Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.—God will make the multitude of adherents to worldly Christendom to cease adhering to her, by the power of revolution and anarchy and their instigator, the Devil.

30:11. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.—Satan and his followers—devils and humans—the most terrible of all the nations—the anarchists—shall destroy Christendom's worldly order of things. They shall attack Christendom with their weapons and fill the land with their slain—as will the Sword of the Spirit with those slain spiritually.

30:12. And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.—God will cause the denominations to become dry of members and of money, will give the order of things over into the power of the wicked anarchists, and will desolate Christendom's order of things and all belonging to it, literally by the power of anarchists, strangers to the existing order of things, and spiritually by the sons of God.

30:13. Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.—God will destroy Christendom's idols of love of gold, power, etc (Jer. 43:12, 13), and will cause these gods to cease among the more prosperous people of Christendom (Noph was the Delta and richer part of Egypt); and there shall be no more an exalted class, a worldly clergy class, in Christendom; but God will put in her fear and failing of heart.

30:14. And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.—God will make the upper classes (Pathros, upper Egypt), desolate, will permit anarchy and destruction to start among them (Zoan, capital of Egypt), and will execute retributive judgments upon the leaders of the upper classes (No, capital of Upper Egypt).

30:15. And I will pour My fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.—God will pour His fury upon Papacy, the strength of worldly Christendom, and will cut off the multitudes that support the upper classes.

30:16. And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.—God will let anarchy start in Christendom. Papacy shall have great distress; the upper classes shall be rent asunder, and the lower classes shall suffer daily distress.

30:17. The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.—The young men who follow Christendom's vain show (Aven, vanity), and her honors (Pi-beseth, very exalted), shall fall by the sword of anarchy; for these things shall come to their end in anarchy.

30:18, 19. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—For the lower classes also (Tehaphnehes, in Lower Egypt), it shall be a dark day when God breaks the bondage imposed by worldly Christendom. Her pompous power shall cease. A cloud of trouble shall cover her, and her churches (daughters) shall be taken and lost in anarchy.

30:20, 21. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.—Ecclesiasticism, Satan's right arm shall be broken, never to be healed. The Lord's time for their punishment has come.

30:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.—God is against Satan, the mighty king of worldliness, and will break also the civil powers, and make him powerless to use his sword.

30:23. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.—God will scatter the worldly people among the anarchists.

30:24. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My Sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.—God will strengthen the civil and philosophic (infidel, anarchistic religions) powers of Anarchy; and anarchy shall both use the Bible (God's Sword) and shall wield the sword of earthly weapons, as His own sword; and this evil order of things, with powers broken down, shall utter its dying groans of distress.

30:25. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.—But this order of things, with powers broken, and the anarchistic state of affairs with strengthened power, shall realize that it is of Jehovah's might, when anarchy grows in power and attacks the existing order of things.

30:26. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—And the worldly peoples scattered everywhere, shall by the fulfillment of this prophecy know that Jehovah rules in the affairs of men.

“Mine eyes can see the glory of the presence of the Lord;”
He is trampling out the winepress where his grapes of wrath are stored;
I see the flaming tempest of His swift descending Sword:
Our King is marching on.

“I can see His coming judgments, as they circle all the earth,”
The signs and groanings promised, to precede a second birth;
I read His righteous sentence, in the crumbling thrones of earth:
“Our King is marching on.”

Ezekiel 31—Christendom Not To Endure

31:1, 2. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?—Chapter 31 represents Christendom as a cedar tree which is cut down. It opens with a message respecting Satan (Pharaoh, the sungod) king of worldly Christendom (Egypt) and her multitudes. What comparison could be made of her greatness!

31:3. Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.—Behold, Satan and his counterfeit Christian system (tree; “Assyrian” should probably read “teashur,” a box-tree), thought of as never to end (cedar, type of man with eternal life), and as a righteous kingdom (Lebanon, a mountain, white, snowy), having as members (branches, like the branches of Christendom) the great, the evil and the good, worldly people, with protecting power (shadowing shroud) and very prominent, with the greatest people at the very top.

31:4. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.—The peoples and the secular truth (waters) made Satan's system great; the great nations and the apparently profound truths of liberty, fraternity and equality, made it prominent, with its roots (plantings) nourished by nations and sects (rivers) and sending out national and denominational influences throughout all the systems of the world.

31:5. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.—Therefore Christendom's prominence was exalted above everything like it in the world; and its mighty members were increased in number and made of far reaching influence, because of the multitude of their people and of their teachings.

31:6. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.—All the jail-birds (fowls) of the powers of spiritual control, made their church organizations (nests) among its members; and under the power of its membership (branches) did all of the governments (beasts) of this world (field) bring forth their progeny; and under its defense (shadow) dwelt all nations.

31:7. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.—Thus was it magnificent in its greatness, and in the extent of its ramifications; for it was rooted in great peoples and in great secular truths.

31:8. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; not any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.—In Christendom's egotism there was nothing equal to her in this age or the next.

31:9. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches; so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.—Christendom felt itself the envy of everything, present and to come.

31:10. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height.—Because of Christendom's self-exaltation and pride.

31:11. I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.—God will deliver Christendom into the power of the god (el, mighty one) of the heathen, the Devil himself; He shall surely deal vengeance to her; He will drive her out of existence.

31:12. And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.—The anarchists, the terror of the nations, will lay her low; upon the kingdoms (mountains), and among the people (valleys) her members (branches) will fall, and be broken off by her seceding denominations; all the people of this order of things will leave her protection, and abandon her.

31:13. Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches.—The jail-birds of ecclesiasticism, and all the revolutionary governments of this state of affairs, shall profit by her ruin and through her members (branches).

31:14. To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water; for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.—No other earthly system may follow her proud example; for all of them are delivered, as systems, into death, to a dishonored place among the lowest in society.

31:15. Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.—In the year 1918, when Christendom shall go down as a system to oblivion, (Sheol) to be succeeded by revolutionary republics, God will cause mourning. He will restrain and defer for a brief period the threatening waves of anarchy. He will cause the nations to mourn for Christendom, and all the man-made systems (trees) of the world (field) to become weak on account of her fall.—E. 392, 372.

31:16. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell (Sheol) with them that descend to the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.—God will cause the nations to shake with gigantic revolutions, when He shall cast worldly Christendom, as an organized system, down to oblivion (as He did the Jews in the Dives parable).

31:17. They also went down into hell (Sheol) with him, unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were in his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.—But they also shall go down to oblivion (Sheol) (E. 392, 372), with Christendom, as well as those that were her power, that dwelt under her defense among the people.

31:18. To whom art thou thus like in glory in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.—Though worldly Christendom is unsurpassed in glory and in greatness among other systems, yet shall she be brought down to be one of the most disesteemed grades of the social order; she shalt be counted as one of the ungodly. The Egyptians practiced circumcision, typical of worldly Christendom's counterfeit ease of conscience through belief in error. This is said of Satan, the god of Christendom and all his multitude.

Ezekiel 32—Christendom's Utter Downfall

32:1, 2. And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.—In Chapter 32 Christendom's destruction is depicted in several ways: as the catching of a sea monster (32:1-6); as the putting out of her light (32:7-8); also, in addition the downfall of her systems (32:9-10) as a worldly system destroyed by anarchy (32:11-16); as the going down of worldly Christendom to oblivion (32:17-21); as the fall into oblivion of the anarchists (32:22-23); of the Eastern mysticism in Christendom (32:24-25); of her worst classes (32:26-28); of the worldly religious people (32:29); of the church organization of ecclesiasticism (32:30), and of Christendom's king, Satan, and all his multitudes. (32:31-32.) The message begins with a lamentation over Satan (Pharaoh), king of worldly Christendom (Egypt), and his visible representatives, the apostate clergy. Among the nations they are as a lion in power and ferocity (lion also symbolizes the Devil); and as a monstrous power (whale) among the peoples (seas); they came with their sects (rivers), and muddied the Truth (waters) with their earthly-minded members, the clergy (feet), and filled their churches (rivers) with worldliness.

32:3. Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out My net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in My net.—God will gradually bring the Time of Trouble upon Christendom like a snare, as a movement toward liberty for the people, through a multitude of progressives, radicals, revolutionists and anarchists; and these shall ensnare her unknowingly in the great tribulation, and bring her up out of favor with the people (out of the sea.)

32:4. Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.—Then God will leave her defenseless against the whole world, and will cause the worst classes (birds) of an apostate Christianity (heavens) to feed upon her, and will cause the evil revolutionary governments (beasts) of the whole earth to fill themselves up with her former members.

32:5. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.—And her prominent members shall die, and of her lesser people a great number.

32:6. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.—The loss of life shall extend to her highest government officials and rulers (mountain); and the churches shall be full of her dead.

32:7, 8. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.—When God shall put out Christendom's light in 1918, He will blind the minds of ecclesiasticism (heaven) (A. 318), and deprive their pulpit stars of wisdom from the true apostolic stars, the Apostles. (D. 591). He will darken the understanding of the Gospel (sun) of Jesus Christ (D. 590) with the cloud of the Time of Trouble; and the light (truth) of the Mosaic Law shall not shine forth in her.

32:9. I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.—God will also trouble the hearts of many other peoples, when He shall visit the same Time of Trouble upon other nations, where the clergy had no sway.

32:10. Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish My Sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.—Yea, He will make many nations to marvel at Christendom's fall; and their rulers shall fear and quake on account of her destruction, when they are threatened with destruction by anarchy. Every moment shall every man of them tremble for his life.

32:11. For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.—The destructive weapons of the Devil, the King of Confusion (Babylon), of Anarchy, shall be turned against worldly Christendom.

32:12. By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.—By the weapons of a mighty, revolted soldiery will God cause their multitudes to fall, even all the terrible men of all Christendom; and the anarchists shall take as their spoil the pomp of the nations, and all the adherents of the nations of Christendom shall cease to support them.

32:13. I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.—God will destroy all of the ferocious governments from beside the great nations (waters); neither shall worldly men trouble the people any more, nor the down-treading oppression of savage governments make them trouble.

32:14. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God.—Then will God give the people peace (deep waters), and make their course to run with quiet smoothness. They shall know the deep things of God, and have the Holy Spirit.

32:15. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.—When God shall have made worldly Christianity desolate, and worldliness shall be destitute of its prosperous worldlings, when He shall have smitten with the great tribulation all that are at home in their worldliness, then, in the better days to come, shall they know Him as He is.

32:16. This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God.—The heathen religions (daughters) shall lament worldly Christendom's downfall, and the downfall of her adherents.

32:17, 18. It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.—These verses depict the mourning for the multitudes of worldly Christians, tares, when they and worldly Christendom and the churches (daughters) of the great powers (nations) are cast down to the disesteemed lower strata of the social order, with those that die a disreputable death (pit).

32:19. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.—Worldly Christendom has imagined herself of unsurpassable desirability, but she shall go down to oblivion, with those regarded as polluted (uncircumcised).

32:20. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.—Her populace shall fall by weapons of destruction, and by the Sword of the Spirit; she is delivered to destruction. They shall draw her as a system, and her adherents, as adherents, away for burial!

32:21. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.—The one strong among Christendom's great men, no longer men of power, and those that helped her shall speak of her downfall, in their fallen condition (Sheol); they shall have fallen from high positions, and be as men outcast and polluted, reduced to lowliness by the might of anarchy, and by the Sword of the Spirit.—E. 392, 372.

32:22, 23. Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.—The revolutionists (Asshur, Assyria, the revolutionary anarchists) in multitudes shall go down to oblivion, dead literally or dead to their order of things.

32:24. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.—There in oblivion shall be buried New Thought, Christian Science, and other forms of Oriental religion or Mysticism (Elam, Persia, home of Mysticism), and the multitude of their believers, ceased then to be mystics; all fallen by the literal sword or by the Sword of the Spirit.

32:25. They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.—The anarchists shall put Mysticism to rest in destruction.

32:26. There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.—There shall be the worst classes of Christendom, the anarchists themselves, in oblivion, all in disrepute, destroyed in the destruction they wrought.

32:27. And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.—And they shall not be mentioned, not even with these great men who have gone down as evil but with some small degree of repute; and with them shall be the end of war (H. 16); but the very memory of the anarchists shall be as of iniquity personified.

32:28. Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.—They shall be thought of as evil only, slain with the sword, and disesteemed by the Word of God.

32:29. There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.—In the general ruin shall be worldly apostate persecuting Christendom, slain by anarchy's weapons and by the Word of God. They shall be polluted, and come to a disreputable end.

32:30. There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.—The great ecclesiastical lords (north) and all the adherents of the belong-to-a-church-or-go-to-hell doctrine (Zidonians, among whom was Jezebel) shall go to oblivion. Though a dreadful terror in their activities, they shall be ashamed; they shall go down, as polluted with iniquity.

32:31. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord God.—Satan (Pharaoh), the god of worldly Christendom, then bound for a thousand years, shall see the fall of these his multitudes, slain by the literal sword, or by the Word of God.

32:32. For I have caused My terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.—Satan and his multitude shall cease to trouble the earth, gone down finally to oblivion, as one polluted with iniquity.

From chapters 25 to 32 Ezekiel prophesied against seven foreign nations (Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt), indicating ALL non-Christian elements.

Ezekiel 33—Why Ecclesiasticism Must Perish

33:1, 2. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman.—A mutual responsibility exists between one of God's watchmen and His people, the one to speak and the other to listen. (33:1-19.) Ezekiel recites his warning of Jerusalem's fall. (33:20-29.) The people listen, but do not believe. (33:30-33.) This chapter repeats the statements of 3:17-21 and 18:5-29 regarding the watchman set to warn the people of Christendom, his message and responsibility, and the responsibility of the Christian people toward the watchman—Pastor Russell, and his message and warning from God. “A man of their coasts” refers to the clergy class appointed and ordained by the people, and set by them as their watchman.

33:3. If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people.—Who of the clergy class have blown the trumpet of Truth and warned “their” people of the impending doom of Christendom?

33:4. Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.—The people who have heard the warning have only themselves to blame.—Isa. 58:1.

33:6. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.—The clergy have an awful responsibility. Faithful watching on their part with their great influence among the people, would have saved tens of millions from physical death, and a host from the religious death that will overtake so many. The outraged people will turn on the clergy, as they did in the French Revolution, and in a frightful carnival will exact full toll for the lives lost in war. Responsibility for the Time of Trouble lies squarely at the door of ecclesiasticism; for had the clergy taken a united stand upon the Word of God against industrial, social, political, moral and religious evils, they could have reformed Christendom and prevented the world war and the ensuing revolution and anarchy. Our Lord said, prophetically, “Upon this generation shall come all the blood—to the blood of Zechariah, whom you will murder between the sanctuary and the altar.” (Matt. 23:35 Diaglott, foot-note.) Josephus says of this man that he boldly accused the clergy of Jerusalem with being the cause of the trouble upon the city. He was tried, accused of inciting anarchy, was found innocent, and was then slain by the clergy class. His fate represents experiences coming upon the Lord's true people shortly.

33:7-9. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood shall I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.—Pastor Russell faithfully taught that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and not eternal torment. He also warned the wicked systems of earth, political, economic and religious, that they should surely perish from the earth, if they did not turn whole-heartedly to Jehovah, the God of infinite Love.

33:10. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?—The nominal Christians of our day were typed by the Hebrews who went to Ezekiel with insincere objections. They have treated Pastor Russell with a seeming but insincere respect. When they inquired into his writing and predictions, based upon the Word of God, they had no sincerity either in their questions or their professions toward him or the Word set forth by him.

33:11-19. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and commiteth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.—God has no pleasure in the destruction of Christendom. If it had turned from its spiritual idolatry and harlotry to obey God it would have been saved from its impending doom. Its destruction is traceable directly to a “small group of willful men,” leaders and guides of the masses; namely the pope, the cardinals, bishops, priests, ministers, revivalists and other religious leaders who have mistaught rulers and people, and by their combination of worldly and religious teachings brought the world into a condition where the social elements are working their mutual destruction. God pity the clergy for what is coming upon them; for the people will surely recognize the part they have signally failed to play in not, by concerted preaching of true godliness, checking the world's mad rush to anarchy and annihilation.

Literally the Scriptures foregoing are an affirmation that any one who kept the Mosaic Law perfectly should enjoy life indefinitely as long as he kept the law. Spiritually it teaches the Christian that if he has turned from sin to serve God, under the spirit of the Divine Law of Love, he shall have life everlasting. (Rom. 8:13, 14.) Symbolically it speaks to this evil state of affairs, or world, especially to that wicked one, ecclesiasticism, and enumerates its iniquities: it has sinned before God: it has broken God's Law of Love and every other Law, and excused the breach by sophistries. Romanism, with which Protestantism has linked hands, teaches the most iniquitous and wicked things.

“A culprit or a witness questioned by a judge, but in an illegal manner (of which the culprit, of course, is the judge) may swear that he knows nothing of the crime about which he is questioned, although he knows it well, meaning mentally, that he knows nothing in such manner as to answer.”—Alphonso Maria de Liguori, Popish theologian, bishop and founder of the order of Redemptorists, 1696-1787.

Again “Saint” Liguori: “He may swear that he knows nothing, when he knows that the person who committed the crime committed it without malice; or if he knows the crime, but secretly, and there has been no scandal. When a crime has been well concealed, the witness and even the criminal, may and even must, swear that the crime has never been committed. The accused may deny his crime under oath, understanding that he has not committed this crime in such a manner as to be obliged to confess it. He who has sworn to keep a secret is not obliged to keep his oath, if any consequential injury to him or to others is thereby caused. If any one has sworn before a judge to keep the truth, he is not obliged to say secret things. (A woman who has really committed adultery may deny it under oath, provided she has been to confess: for then the sin has been pardoned, and has really ceased to exist.) It is right to advise any one to commit a robbery, or a fornication in order to avoid a murder. We may be allowed to conceal the truth, or disguise it under ambiguous or equivocal words or signs, for a just cause, and where there is no necessity to confess the truth.” And Liguori is still a “saint” in the Roman ecclesiasticism, “where Satan's seat is,” and with whom Episcopalians, Church of England men, and Protestants generally, are trying to come together in a church union or federation, destined fortunately to an early decease.

“They are not to be called oaths, but rather perjury, which are in opposition to the welfare of the Romish church.”—The Lateran Council (“infallible”). “If any, either alone or before others, whether asked or of his own accord, or for the purpose of sport, or for any other object, swears that he has not done something else which he has done, or in a different way from that in which he has done it, or any other truth that is added, he does not really lie, nor is he perjured.”—Pope Innocent XI, another of the “saints.” 1611-1689. “A man may swear that he never did such a thing (though he actually did it), meaning within himself that he did not do so on a certain day, or before he was born, or understanding any other such circumstances, while the words which he employs have no such sense as would discover his meaning.” “Promises are not binding, when the person in making them had no intention to bind himself.”—“Saint” Antonio Escobar of Mendoza, a Spanish Casuist and Jesuit, 1589-1699 (“Papacy and Civil Power,” page 607). “I pronounce all Roman Catholic priests, bishops, popes, monks, friars and nuns to be the most deliberate and willful set of liars that ever infested this or any other country, or disgraced the name of religion.”—William Hogan, a prominent southern lawyer, formerly a priest, on page 172 of his book, “Popery.”

Stealing is authorized by Popish ecclesiasticism: “A servant has the right to rob his master, a child his father, and a poor man the rich. The poor man who has concealed the goods and effects of which he has need, may swear that he has nothing.” In Romish theology it is ordinarily a mortal sin to steal two pieces of gold; but, “If any one steal small sums at different times, either from the same or from different persons, not having the intention of stealing large sums, nor of causing a great damage, his sin is not mortal. If several persons steal from the same master, in small quantities, each in such a manner as not to commit a mortal sin, though each knows that all of these little thefts together cause a considerable damage to their master, yet no one of them commits a mortal sin, even when they steal at the same time. A son does not commit a mortal sin when he steals only twenty or thirty pieces of gold from a father who has an income of 150 pieces of gold.”—“Saint” Liguori.

Ecclesiasticism, the dominant power of the Gospel Age, authorizes murder: “A man who has been excommunicated by the Pope may be killed anywhere, because the Pope has an indirect jurisdiction over the whole world, even in temporal things.”—Dens, a Roman Catholic theological authority in his “Theologica Morales.” Pope Gregory VII (alias “Saint” Hildebrand), 1020-1085, pronounced that it was no murder to kill an excommunicated person. “This rule has been for 700 years and continues to be, part of the ecclesiastical law. One of the later popes has declared that the murder of a Protestant is so good a deed that it atones and more than atones for the murder of a Catholic.”—Lord Acton in the London Times, July 26, 1872. Says Dr. Isaac J. Lansing in “Romanism and the Republic;” “Every person who had anything to do with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was a Roman Catholic. John Wilkes Booth was a Roman Catholic; Payne and Atseroth, also Dr. Nudd, who dressed Booth's leg; Garrett, in whose premises he was killed; also Harold was a Roman Catholic; Mrs. Suratt and her son were Roman Catholics; their house was the headquarters for Roman Catholics and for the Jesuit priests. All this was brought out before the military tribunal which condemned some of them to death. When John Suratt fled from Washington he was taken charge of by Jesuits, and under a Jesuit convoy was carried to France.”—Page 272.

“Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics, shall enjoy the same indulgences and be protected by the same privileges as are granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree, further that all who may have dealings with heretics, shall be excommunicated.”—The Lateran Council (composed of candidates for Roman Catholic “saintship.”).

Papacy, the mother of harlots, also permits her clergy to become criminals: “Were even the lives of her ministers debased by crime, they are still within her pale, and therefore lose none of the powers with which her ministry invests them.”—Catechism of the Council of Trent. “A mortal sin is that which kills the soul and deserves hell,” says Archbishop John Hughes, of New York. Papal ecclesiasticism controls the education of the nations under threat of mortal sin: “Catholic electors (voters) in this country, who do not use their electoral (voting) power in behalf of separate (religious public) schools, are guilty of mortal sin. Likewise parents not making the sacrifices necessary to secure such schools, or sending their children to mixed schools. Moreover, the confessor (priest) who would give absolution to such parents, electors or legislators as support mixed schools, to the prejudice of separate schools, would be guilty of a mortal sin.”—Right Reverend Charbonnel, Bishop of Toronto, Canada.

The chastity of an attractive and obedient young nun may hang by the following slender thread: “When a nun receives a precept from her prelate, superior, or confessor, she should immediately execute it, not only to please them, but principally to please God, whose will is known by their command. If then, you receive a command from one who holds the place of God (a man-made priest!) you should observe it as if it came from God Himself. There is more certainty of doing the will of God by obedience to our superiors than by obedience to Jesus Christ should He appear in person and give His command. The nun shall be most certain of not having to render an account of the actions performed through obedience; for these the superior only, who commands them, shall be accountable.”—Liguori, “Saint,” in Popish constellation of fallen stars. According to Cardinal Manning, a bright star in the Roman Catholic heavens (page 89 of his “True Story of the Vatican Council”) the pope is infallible in matters of faith and morals: and the canonizing of “saints” comes under this head. Cardinal Newman on page 84 of his “Via Media,” 1887 edition, asserts concerning the canonizing of “Saints:”

“The infallibility of the church must certainly extend to this solemn and public act, canonization; and that because so serious a matter, affecting the worship of the faithful, the church, that is, the Pope, must be infallible.” One of the persons duly authorized by infallible Romish canonization is “Saint” Bridget, who lived in 1360. This “saint” says: “The Pope is a murderer of souls. He destroys the flock of Christ and fleeces it. More savage is he than Judas, and more unjust than Pilate, and worse and more wicked than Lucifer. He has exchanged all the ten commandments of God for this single one of his own, ‘Give me money, money, money.’ The Pope with his clergy are the forerunners of Antichrist, rather than the servants of Christ. The Pope's court on earth plunders the Heavenly court of Christ. The clergy never read the Book of God; but they are ever studying the book of this world. I once loved priests more than men and even angels. The kiss of those fornicating priests is the kiss of Judas when he betrayed our Lord!”—Montagu, pages 305-6.

An essential factor in the power of this evil one, and an important part of the iniquity of ecclesiasticism is the Romish confessional, which many Episcopal and Protestant ecclesiastics would, if they could, establish in the harlot daughters, the daughter churches, Protestantism. This feature is of Pagan origin. “Auricular confession was enjoined in the Elusinian mysteries, by Zoroaster in Persia, by Buddha in India, and was practiced by the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians, the Mexicans before Cortez, the Peruvians before Pizarro, by the Japanese, the Siamese, and others.” The confessional has made of every priest a spy upon the privacy of the home, the inner secrets of business and the confidential affairs of city, state, province, and nation. Theoretically the confessions are confidential, as Dr. Dens says: “It is not lawful to reveal anything that is told in confession, though it be to avoid the greatest evil that can happen; but actually the secrets of the confessional are revealed.” “De Sanctis,” page 122, says:

“While the penitent arraigns his faults with all the fatuity of a simpleton, what is the confessor doing? Laughing at the simplicity of the penitent: and afterwards in the priestly orgies that follow a morning of great confessions, in the hilarity that flows from wine, amid coarse explosions of laughter, they describe the stupid folly of their penitents; and each priest vies with his fellows in rendering his own penitents more ridiculous than the rest. This breach of faith extends to the highest of Rome's degraded ecclesiasticism.” History records that Pope Pius V, “saint” (1504-1572) “for the punishment of certain offences took advantage of the confessional, which ought to be an inviolable sanctuary.” Pope Sixtus V (1521-1590) told the under clergy that “they could make a report to the Pontiff, without any danger attached to revealing a confession, he giving them absolution for the whole.” Elliott, a former priest, in “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” says, “All our conversation ran upon the stories he [another priest] heard in confession. It is the ordinary discourse of the priests, when they meet, to inform one another of what they have heard in confession. I was often present at such conferences, where the conversation was so indecent that even an honest pagan would have blushed.” “Every day they (the Dominican monks) came and talked most licentiously, relating things that had happened at the Holy office at Perugia, confessions they had heard, etc.”—Scipione Ricca, Bishop of Pistoria, and an Italian reformer, 1741-1810.

Bishop Hugh Latimer, of England (1485-1555), whom the Romish ecclesiasticism caused to be burned at the stake, said: “And so they came to know all the secrets that were in men's hearts, so that neither emperor nor king could say nor do, nor think anything in his heart, but they knew it, and so applied all the purposes and intents of princes to their own commodities. And this was the fruit of their auricular confession.” Finally, from De Sanctis, page 133, etc: “Confession in relation to society may be defined as an universal spydom, organized and complete. Confessors are not content to know the sins of those who confess; but they must learn the regulation and management of the family; and when an ingenuous youth or innocent maiden comes under the fangs of a knavish confessor (and which of them is not a knave?) they do not escape until they have first revealed the secrets of the family circle—without, however, being aware of it.”

“De Sanctis” continues: “Encouragement is given to theft, as to every other crime, by the facility of obtaining pardon, and absolutions are given to robbers, usurers, murderers, without their having made any restitution whatever. They repair to the confessor, present him with a goodly offering for a mass; or, if they are robbers of celebrity, men abounding in wealth, they found a chapelry, a benefice, or something of the kind. At Rome, for instance, every one knows that Pius VII (1742-1823) granted to all who hear confessions in the Holy house Ponterotto, the privilege of absolving from restitution all who have defrauded the Rev. Apostolic Chambers, or the government; and all defraud, and run there to receive absolution. But this is not enough. Leo X (1475-1521), in his bull beginning with ‘Postquam ad Apostulatus’ gives confessors the privilege not only of absolving robbers, but of permitting them to retain in all good conscience, the fruits of their usury, robberies, thefts, etc., on condition that part of the goods be given to the church!”

Ecclesiasticism is a greedy robber: “By confession many families are immersed in poverty; because the grasping confessor, taking advantage of the weak moments of a dying man, has had the will made to the profit of the clergy; and facts of the kind may be reckoned by the million. The grasping cupidity of ecclesiasticism's will-hunters, and the consequent ruin of innocent and helpless families, formed the subject of an indignant remonstrance of the German princes at the Diet of Nuremberg. To such a length was this execrable practice sometimes carried that the last sacraments were denied to the dying man until he consented to make a will in the priest's favor.”

Ecclesiasticism's apostasy, in teachings and in life, has sown the seeds of the fiery harvest of anarchy: “The horrible consequence for religion is that infidelity advances with huge strides, especially in Roman Catholic countries. The enlightenment of the age no longer permits men to believe in the priests blindly, as in the times of ignorance. Free discussion alone could show that the doctrines of the Roman church are not those of the Gospel; discussion, as it would prove their falsehood to a demonstration, would establish the truth. Discussion being prevented, it follows that, seeing clearly the falsehood and iniquity of the Roman doctrines, men believe them, because they are not discussed, to be the doctrines of the Christian religion, and abandon them, and live in indifference and infidelity.” Protestantism, ecclesiasticism, has been an apt follower of Papacy in suppression of discussion. Witness the systematic world-wide ban on any discussion of Present Truth as presented by God's watchman, Pastor Russell! Ecclesiasticism, priestcraft, had for ages supplanted the worship of God with paganism, and in the Gospel Age has insidiously transformed the Gospel of Christ, has tried to destroy liberty and progress and has built up a gigantic system of oppression and destruction of the friends of the Truth. The most ferocious of the popes are made the “saints” of Satan's church. And, says De Sanctis: “In canonizing such men, the Popes have canonized their doctrines; hence it cannot he said that despotism, obscuration [suppression of Truth], oppression of nations, and hatred for any kind of progress, exist through the mal-practice of any one of the popes; they exist by the very system of the Papacy. The corruption of religion ought not to be attributed to abuse of it by the individual, but to the system; therefore the Gospel ought to reign in its purity, and ought to be delivered from this great enemy; and Italy and Rome ought to confer upon the world this great benefit of despoiling the popes of their usurped power.” Why not reform, purge, cleanse ecclesiasticism? As well try to reform cancer. The sole safeguard is the destruction, excision of the germs. Any real reform would cause the prompt dropping out of the system-loving millions who would soon reorganize into another vicious system. The very constitution of ecclesiasticism forbids its ever being other than what the Wall Street Journal denominates, “that international nuisance, the church-state.” Here are some of the articles of Papacy's present, past and future constitution (infallible):

1. All human power is evil, and must therefore be under the Pope. 2. The temporal powers must act unconditionally, in accordance with the orders of the spiritual. 3. The Church is empowered to grant or take away any temporal possession. 4. The Pope has the right to give countries and nations which are non-Catholic to Catholic regents, who can reduce them to slavery. 5. The Pope can make slaves of those Christian subjects whose prince or ruling power is interdicted by the Pope. 6. The laws of the Church concerning the liberty of the Church and the Papal power are based upon Divine inspiration. 7. The Pope has the right to practice the unconditional censure of books. 8. The Pope has the right to annul state laws, treaties, constitutions, etc.; to absolve from obedience thereto, as soon as they seem detrimental to the rights of the Church, or those of the clergy. 9. The Pope possesses the right of admonishing, and if needs be of punishing, the temporal rulers, emperors and kings, as well as of drawing before the spiritual forum any case in which a mortal sin occurs. 10. Without the consent of the Pope no tax or rate of any kind can be levied upon a clergyman or upon any church whatsoever. 11. The Pope has the right to absolve from oaths, and obedience to the persons and the laws of the princes whom he excommunicates. (Note. All Protestants are excommunicated.) 12. The Pope can annul all legal relations of those in ban, especially their marriage. 13. The Pope can release from every obligation, oath, vow, either before or after being made. 14. The execution of Papal commands for the persecution of heretics causes remission of sins. 15. He who kills one that is excommunicated is no murderer in a legal sense.—The Canon Law, by Dr. G. F. von Schulte, Professor of Canonical Law at Prague.

Here the crafty and wicked Mother of Harlots, ecclesiasticism, asserts her infallible right to permit, directly or indirectly, any and every crime possible for depraved humanity to commit.

Protestantism longs for the old-time power of the clergy. It has the spirit, disposition, of spiritual fornication, goes to the limit in its efforts to control affairs through local, state, and national governmental agencies, and now is ready and willing to ally itself with liberty-destroying papal ecclesiasticism. It displays its true nature and its indifference to the good of the people in its willing eagerness to unite in any manner with the force which has for centuries throttled liberty, banished the Word of God, and stifled freedom in blood. Let not the people of Christendom overlook this when the Protestant clergy advocate church union, as they will. What can be done with such an organization as apostate ecclesiasticism? The truly Christian individual's answer must be to obey the Divine command, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers [partners in] of her sins [outlined foregoing, ad nauseam] and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4.) The Lord's people, all that really have the Holy Spirit, will and must “come out of her,” clean away from this unhallowed partnership and federation with iniquity. Ecclesiasticism, however, may rest assured that she will not suffer greatly in loss of members or of persons of wealth and power; for but few of the Lord's people are in her. Each ecclesiastic can be assured that “his people,” the tares, the worldly church members, the Babylonians, the spiritual idolaters and fornicators, the congregation of Molech, will stick by him until the heat of the fiery trials of the time of trouble drives even “the clergy's people” out into the open of worldliness.

Verse 13 shows that, in view of the enormity of ecclesiasticism's iniquity, both Roman and Protestant, their partnership in criminality, and their stubborn and willful persistence in evil, “For his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die.”

33:20. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.—O house of nominal churchianity, the time has come for God to Judge you, to recompense you double, according to your ways!—Rev. 18:6.

33:21. And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.—In 24:25-27, after having cited the skepticism of the Jews as to Ezekiel's message, it was stated that from the time of Jerusalem's fall until the tidings of the fall should arrive, Ezekiel was to be dumb, having no new message to be heard by the people. The intervening prophecies, chapters 26 to 32 are not against the Hebrews, but against the heathen nations. The city fell in the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign, the fourth month, the ninth day (2 Kings 25:2, 3), from which to the coming of the tidings of the city's fall, on the twelfth year, tenth month and fifth day, was one year, five months, twenty-six days. On that momentous day came the tidings, “The city is smitten!” Pastor Russell's voice was stilled in death on October 31, 1916. If an application of Ezekiel's period of dumbness is valid here as a time feature, the tidings, the realization that Christendom is smitten by the onslaughts of revolution, might be expected to flash throughout the world on or about April 27, 1918, a year, five months and twenty-six days after the death of God's great watchman. As in Ezekiel 24:27, this would be a sign, an indication to Christendom of the truth of Pastor Russell's commission from the Almighty.

33:22. Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.—The Lord made good His promise while the news was approaching; and removed Ezekiel's dumbness half a day before, in the evening, before the morning when the tidings arrived. It was on the same day; for in the Hebrew system of time, the evening began the day. This signifies that perhaps half a year prior to the general realization of Christendom's downfall, Pastor Russell, though dead, shall again speak through this, the seventh volume of his Studies in the Scriptures—for this is but the completion of his great work of admonition and warning for the Church and for Christendom.

33:23, 24. Then the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.—After Jerusalem had been sacked and King Zedekiah captured, as related in 2 Kings 25, “the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen.” These (“those inhabiting those wastes of the land of Israel”) imagined that “the land is given to us for an inheritance.” They thought they would be left in undisturbed possession, but certain of them came into further conflict with the Assyrians. Then the land was made utterly desolate. This signifies, in fulfillment, that while the revolution overthrowing ecclesiasticism will make quite a clean sweep, there will still remain some of the more lowly adherents of ecclesiastical systems, who will imagine that they and their ideals are to prosper and spread even to the control of the revolutionary order of things.

33:25, 26. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife; and shall ye possess the land?—But God knows their hearts, and is against them, for their continuance in the evil ways of ecclesiasticism.

33:27. Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.—A sad awakening awaits them. As Jehovah lives, those tares then surviving the ravages of revolution shall be slain by the sword of anarchy, and shall have taken away all pretense of being Christians. Those that have the spirit of earthly ambition shall be given to be destroyed by the savagery of anarchy; and those in the strongholds and in the protected conditions of revolution shall die literally of pestilence and be destroyed religiously by the pestilential teachings of those evil days.

33:28. For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and, the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.—God purposes to utterly desolate this evil order of things and to completely abase the last vestiges of its pride and pomp, and to cause the governments of this Age, even in their changed forms of revolution, to pass away.

33:29. Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate, because of all their abominations which they have committed.—Then at last the people that remain will realize that the war, revolution and anarchy, were the righteous judgments of the Almighty against the spiritual, political and economic abominations of Christendom.

33:30. Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the Word that cometh forth from the Lord.—Reverting to the present time, about contemporary with the realisation that Christendom is smitten, the hypocrisy of professed Christians is spoken against. The tares in their churches (houses) will talk of Pastor Russell and his works and words—they will read this book, and will urge one another to “hear what is the Word that cometh from the Lord.”

33:31. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them; for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.—They will come in numbers, apparently “as My people;” and like all tares, imitation Christians, they will listen respectfully to God's Words urging haste in consecration for the coming Kingdom; but they will not do the things they hear. They will manifest with their mouths great love for God, but will at heart be the self-seekers they always were!

33:32. And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.—To these people, in their insincerity and hypocrisy, Pastor Russell's works will be scarcely a grade higher than an entertainment, a beautiful song, “the song of Moses and the Lamb,” well played on the many-stringed harp, the Bible, but not heeded as of solemn import.

33:33. And when this cometh to pass (lo, it will come), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.—But when the things predicted in the entire sens volumes of the Studies in the Scriptures come to pass, then shall the tares, too late, realize that a great and Divinely ordained preacher “hath been among them.”

“Master, speak! Thy servant heareth,”
Longing for Thy gracious Word,
Longing for Thy voice that cheereth;
Master, let it now be heard.
I am listening, Lord, for Thee;
“What hast Thou to say to me?”

Ezekiel 34—The Unfaithful Shepherds

34:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?—God is against the clergy. Chapter 34 is a burning arraignment of ecclesiasticism. It is to be taken in a dual sense as concerning the clergy's treatment of God's true people, the true Church on the spiritual plane, and of the Jews on the earthly plane, both of whom the self-appointed shepherds, the clergy, have neglected, abused and scattered. (34:1-8, 17-21.) God will judge ecclesiasticism (34:9, 10, 16, 17, 20, 22), and will Himself, through His own agencies, regather and bless His true flock, Jewish and Christian. (34:10, 11-17, 22-31.) The words “shepherd” and “pastor” have the same meaning (D. 62; F. 287). Thus saith Jehovah God to the clergy, from Pope to preachers, Woe—in the revolution and anarchy, from 1918 on—woe to the clergy that selfishly look out for “No. 1,” that seek big salaries, live in tax-free and rent-free parsonages and rectories, that apply to themselves every promise of the Divine Word. Should not the clergy, the pastors, unselfishly feed the flock of God?

34:3. Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.—Ye live on the choicest offerings of the people. Ye “fleece” the sheep of their golden fleece. Them that are fed to fatness with the Word of God, ye kill spiritually if ye can. Ye have literally killed over fifty millions in bloody persecutions. Ye have preached millions into a dreadful death in the trenches. Ye do everything to the sheep but feed them. Did I not command you thrice, “Feed My sheep?”—John 21:17; 1 Pet. 5:2.

34:4. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.—Those weakened by spiritual disease—by the pestilence of false doctrines—ye have not strengthened with the pure Word of God, the Bread of Life. Rather ye have thrown them poisonous, death-dealing doctrines (1 Cor. 10:21) from the “table of devils.” Ye have not healed with the Divine Word of comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-7; Rom. 15:4) those spiritually sick with temporary ailment of the soul. Ye have not bound up, with the strong promises of God, the broken in spirit (Isa. 61:1.) Neither have ye brought back into renewed faithfulness those driven away by your treatment, nor sought to find and bring to renewed relation to God those sheep that have strayed from him in life and doctrine. Rather than feed them, serve and shepherd them, ye have ruled them, lorded over God's heritage (1 Pet. 5:3), as concerns both God's true Christian sheep and His sheep of the Hebrew race.

34:5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.—“My sheep know My voice [of love], and a stranger will they not follow.” (John 10:4, 5.) They were not kept together, cared for and cherished in the bonds of Christian love. There were not among you the true under-shepherds having My Spirit of Divine Love; and you, adulterous priests of Baal, and of Molech—the cruel, fiery-torment God—none having My Spirit could hear or follow. And when they were scattered, they, the inoffensive, unresisting ones, became the prey of every evil government and of every evil employer and corporation. Ye made them cannon-fodder by the thousands for the blood-guilty kaisers, czars, kings and generals of your evil order of things.

34:6. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.—My people wandered homeless and friendless throughout all the nations of this evil world. My flock of Apostles, martyrs, sacrificers, was scattered throughout all human society. Not one of the selfish, idolatrous clergy of either Romanism or Protestantism cared for them, or loved My beloved ones enough to seek after them; but rather ignored them, ostracized them, compelled their silence, drove them out from the churches, and stilled their voices in persecution and in death.

34:7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord.—Ye have done this for centuries; and God permitted you to continue, because the time had not come. But now has come the hour of your judgment, ye popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, preachers, revivalists, and clergy of Baal, of every order and grade. Hear ye the Word of Jehovah.

34:8. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not My flock.—As I live, saith the Living God, surely because My true flock became a prey, and was exploited by every evil ruler and employer, because there was no true shepherd among you, and you clergy did not love and cherish and seek for My beloved flock, but you loved and fed yourselves, and starved My true people with a famine for the hearing of the Word of God.—Amos 8:11.

34:9. Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.—Therefore, ye clergy, hear the Word of the true God, Jehovah.

34:10. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.—Thus saith Jehovah God; Behold, I am against the clergy (H. 12), great and little, high and low; and I will exact from them an accounting for My beloved people; I will take My flock entirely from them. “Come out of her, O My people, and touch not the unclean thing.” (Rev. 18:4; 2 Cor. 6:17.) And I will cause the clergy to cease from feeding or attempting to preach to My flock, or any flock in My name; for in a Time of great Trouble I will deliver My people from the mouths of the clergy (Rev. 9:17-19), that My flock may not furnish them support any more, that My people may not ever again be preached by the clergy into slaughter.

34:11. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out.—Jehovah will ignore the hireling, faithless clergy, and through an agency of His own lowly despised, caluminated, ostracised will patiently, persistently, lovingly search for all His “little ones,” those having His Spirit, and will seek them out.

34:12. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.—As an oriental shepherd, who knows and loves his sheep and is known and loved of them, seeks them out, when they are scattered (John 10:4-15), so will God seek out every one of His beloved ones, and will deliver them out of the condition of loneliness, distress, famine and persecution, where they have been scattered by the apostate clergy in the troublous and dark period of the Gospel Age.

34:13. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.—God himself will bring them together from the various paganized “Christian” denominations, into the joy and peace and love of a condition at one with Himself and with others of like precious faith. Upon the height of the Heavenly Kingdom will He feed them, by rivers of crystal clear Truth, and amid the rejoicing throngs of the Heavenly courts. His chosen people, the Jews, will God bring by the agency of the resurrected Ancient Worthies to Palestine, where He will feed them upon the historic mountains of that hallowed land, in the then great cities of a realized Zionism.

34:14. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.—God will feed His Little Flock, first on Present Truth and then, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb He will appoint their place as Kings and Priests of the Kingdom. He will make them abide forever in the place, the Divine spirit nature, which Christ went to Heaven to prepare. Upon the Word, fresh from the mind of God, shall they feast forever, in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom. To the Jews will be fulfilled these promises in the earthly phase of the Kingdom.

34:15. I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.—God will feed His Flock with Present Truth, and will give them the rest of “the peace that passeth understanding.”—Phil. 4:7.

34:16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.—Not one true sheep shall be lost. God's unerring eye will seek every one, and bring all back, first into the Truth, and then into the Kingdom. He will bind up the broken in spirit and strengthen the spiritually sick. In the latter part of this verse the picture of the shepherds is dropped and a new parable begins, likening the clergy and their strong supporters and “laity” to different classes of sheep and goats (cattle). God purposes in the impending revolution and anarchy to destroy all the fat priests and clergy of all grades—as priests and clergy, at least—and those that, like the Pharisees of old, are sure they will securely stand in the presence of the Lord. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12.) He will feed them with famine and destruction, and with the judgments pronounced in His Word.

34:17. And as for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the goats.—The nominal flock is made up of clergy and laity of sheep and goats. In the flock God discerns the weaker sheep and the stronger rams and the goats—the clergy, class-leaders, etc.,—some of whom are real sheep and some goats, destined to the left side of disfavor. Many of these are even wolves in sheep's clothing.—Matt. 7:15.

34:18. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?—The stronger ones have not helped the weak to feed and grow strong; but, as though it were a small matter, the clergy, have lived on the fat of the land, relatively to their poorer congregations. They have eaten up the good Word of God for themselves, particularly the Romish clergy; and what spiritual food they have given the laity, they have walked all over with muddy feet—mingled it with earthly doctrines, social and civic betterment and traditions of men. They have drunk of the water of Truth (C. 65) coming from the Bible, but have spoiled the waters by mingling it with Evolution and Higher Criticism.

34:19. And as for My flock, they eat that which ye have trodden down with your feet; and they drink that which yet have fouled with your feet.—And the laity, God's flock, whom God commissioned the shepherds to feed with the good Word of God, have eaten and drunk spiritual food polluted by the clergy with doctrines of devils.

34:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.—Therefore God Himself is about to judge and make a manifest difference between the unfaithful, rich in learning and opportunity, and the poorer ones on whom they have imposed.

34:21. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad.—Because the rich, learned and exclusive have shoved aside the weaker ones, and have, by their earthly power, pushed out of the churches all His flock, those not “at ease in Zion.”—Amos 6:1; Isa. 66:5.

34:22. Therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.—Therefore will God Himself save His own in these troublous times, by teaching them Present Truth; and they shall “come out of her” (Rev. 18:4), out of the churches altogether, so that the clergy and the “best” people can no longer exploit them.

34:23. And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My servant David; He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd.—God has established Jesus (David) the Beloved (Jer. 23; 4, 5; John 10:11), and Pastor Russell as a faithful and wise under-shepherd, to bring forth from the Bible Storehouse truths new and old, to feed the sheep.

34:24. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.—Jehovah (not the eternal-torment Molech God) will be their God, and His beloved Son and his under-shepherds shall occupy exalted places among them. In the Times of Restitution the Beloved Christ, Head and body, (David, beloved) will be the true Shepherd to the earthly flock, the Jews.

34:25. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.—With the truly Christian flock God will make a covenant of the peace that passeth understanding (Phil. 4:7); and with the Jews will make the New Covenant through its Mediator, The Christ. He will cause the roaring lion (Isa. 35:9), Satan, to cease from troubling (Job 3:17), and will forever restrain in oblivion the evil governments. His flock shall dwell securely, even in the wilderness condition, until their change come (Job. 14:14), and shall rest in the cooling shadows (Cant. 2:3), in the refreshing truths brought forth from the Storehouse by righteous, strong teachers and leaders among them.

34:26. 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.—The Lord will make the Truth people, His flock, and everything and every condition related to His Kingdom, a blessing to others (Mal. 3:10); they shall be the Seed of Abraham, to bless all the families of the earth. (Gal. 3:8.) God has caused showers of truth to descend upon His flock at their appointed times, down-pours of spiritual blessing in the “Studies in the Scriptures.” At the appointed time of the beginning of returning favor to the Jews, 1878, the latter rains began to fall in Palestine, making that fertile land a fit habitation again for the chosen nation.

34:27. 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.—Thinking, manly men, gathered into Present Truth from the world, yield their fruitage of spirit fruits of character; and the blessed condition in which they are yields its increase of spiritual blessing and food; they are safe in their place, “seated with Christ in the Heavenlies” (Eph. 1:3, 20), where they assuredly know God with heart knowledge. God has broken the bands of the heavy yoke of ecclesiasticism, and delivered them out of the hand of a clergy that lived upon His flock, calling it “their people.” For Fleshly Israel and those who shall become Israelites there shall be the blessings of an earthly Eden, with an abundance of fruitage from trees and soil (A. 192).

34:28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.—God's flock of spirit-begotten ones shall be no more preyed upon by paganized “Christians,” nor persecuted, devoured, destroyed, by the great “beast” of Christendom, the Papacy, with its “Holy Inquisition;” but they shall dwell safely in the hollow of His hand, His power, and none can make afraid those sealed in their foreheads with the Truth.

34:29. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.—God raised up, in 1878, in the First Resurrection of the dead, the Body members of His Son, “the Stem of David,” and previously in 1874, had sent again His Son to feed the flock, to serve them (Luke 12:37), and sup with them (Rev. 3:20) in a feast of fat things spiritual—the Present Truth. Those in the Truth shall never again suffer from famine of the Word of God; nor shall they, when raised up to sit with Christ in power and glory (Matt. 19:28), ever again bear reproach from a paganized “Christian” apostasy.

34:30. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are My people, saith the Lord God.—This is the way that the Lord's Spiritual Flock and both Jews, and nominal Christians, shall come to know of a certainty that Jehovah is with them, that they are His people.

34:31. And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.—This prophecy, this type, this symbolism, refers to the people who constitute God's flock, Jewish and nominal.

Ezekiel 35—Edom A Type

35:1, 2. Moreover the Word of the Lord came onto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it.—Mount Seir and Edom are practically synonymous; for the Edomites inhabited the mountain range region along the east side of the valley, extending from the Dead Sea to the Elamitic or Persian Gulf. What Edom types Pastor Russell makes clear in volume IV of Scripture Studies, pp. 14, 20.

One of the features of the Time of Trouble will be upon the fleshly-minded Christians, tares, who after the fall of ecclesiasticism, will repudiate Christianity, and take their stand as worldings, Edomites—the “people of Mount Seir,” mere tares. These, having assisted in the downfall of ecclesiasticism, will seek to take the place and power of defunct Christendom in an utterly Christless arrangement of things.

35:3. And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out Mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.—The godless nations that will succeed fallen Christendom will also find God against them, and that His power is stretched out against them and will make them, too, most desolate.

35:4. I will lay the cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—God will, through anarchy, lay waste the Socialistic, labor-union, social-democratic and other governments which will emerge as the outcome of the revolutions of Christendom.

35:5. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end.—These economic-political movements—Socialism, labor-unionism, syndicalism, nihilism, and others, but not including anarchy, which will swallow them up—have had a long standing hatred against ecclesiasticism, have spoken and worked against it, and against the social order characteristic of the past age. In the overthrow of ecclesiasticism, the fleshly-minded tares, “Edomites” and the classes mentioned, will turn on the clergy and laity of the churches, as well as upon the Lord's spirit-begotten children—upon any remaining to profess Christianity, whether through adherence to the church systems or through consecration to God—and will slaughter them by thousands.

35:6. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee; since thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.—In gatherings of Socialists, there is no end to the differences of opinion as to what Socialism is and how it is to be worked out in practice. This factional division contains the seeds of the destruction of the short-lived governmental system of Socialism, under whatever name, for a bloody end. They courted revolution and shall receive of the same.

35:7. Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth.—Thus will God cause the brief Socialistic phase of the Time of Trouble to become “most desolate.” Not one person connected with it shall escape the universal anarchy, the last and worst phase of the tribulation.

35:8. And I will fill his mountains with his slain men; in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.—The Socialistic, labor-ridden nations (mountains), shall be filled with the slain; among the upper classes of socialism, and among the more insignificant people (valleys) and in connection with all their channels of Socialistic truth (rivers), the people of that order of things shall be slain. In a sense the Sword of the Spirit, will slay them; it foretells their destruction.

35:9. I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—The Socialistic state shall be utterly destroyed, and its various forms of government (cities) go to oblivion.

35:10. Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there.—The then non-religious Socialists, laborites, etc., will say: “These two systems (nations), Catholic and Protestant, and the condition of things characteristic of them, shall come under the sway of Socialism, and we Socialists, etc., shall rule over and control them”, whereas they will overlook the all-important fact that God has been among these people, and they were called God's people.—“The Lord was there.”

35:11. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy, which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them, when I have judged thee.—Therefore as the Socialists, etc., will turn upon ecclesiasticism and Christianity in anger and fury and with hateful envy, so God will do to the Socialistic laborite order of things. As they aid in smiting down Christianity, so will the anarchists smite them down.

35:12. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies, which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.—The laborites, etc., will learn that God rules in the affairs of men, and that the Almighty will pay attention to their utterances against the nations (mountains) of Christendom (Israel), when, after ecclesiasticism's fall, the laborites shall say, “The nations have been desolated, and are given to us working people to divide up for ourselves.”

35:13. Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me: I have heard them.—The Socialistic and kindred movements, while speaking savagely against capitalism, and covertly against Christianity, have in reality been speaking against an order permitted by God, and in which God was—in the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, in such true Christians as were in the systems. In expressing the determination to lead the world out of the darkness of evil economic, social and political conditions, they unwittingly boast against God by presuming to perform what God previously planned to be done by His faithful Church, and which by any lesser agency is absolutely impossible of accomplishment, God will not pass by unnoticed the words of Socialists, syndicalists, laborites, etc. He will hear them, and remember them for just recompense.

35:14. Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.—When the Times of Restitution of all things come, one of the things not to be restored is the Socialist, laborite movement. When all society rejoices in the new order of things ordained of God, the Socialistic state will have been utterly and forever desolated.

35:15. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do onto thee; thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—As the fleshly-minded apostates from Christianity, siding with the radicals and revolutionaries, will rejoice at the inheritance of desolation that will be Christendom's after 1918, so will God do to the successful revolutionary movement; it shall be utterly desolated, “even all of it.” Not one vestige of it shall survive the ravages of world-wide all-embracing anarchy, in the fall of 1920. (Rev. 11:7-13)

Ezekiel 36—Christendom's Early Restoration

36:1. Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord.—In Chapter 6 is described the iniquities of the nations of Christendom and their doom. Chapter 36 describes the rejoicing of the non-Christian elements over her fall, and God's jealous anger against them. It foretells the early re-peopling of the nations of Christendom, their conversion to true Christianity, and the reason for God's action in behalf of the nations just previously destroyed. Taken literally, it foretells the same good future for His chosen but long-chastised people, the Jews. This is the message to the nations (mountains) of Christendom, as the Word of Jehovah concerning them.

36:2. Thus saith the Lord God; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession.—Because the revolutionists, who shall overthrow the nations of Christendom, shall say against them, “Aha, even the oldest and greatest nations of Christendom are under the control of us revolutionists, Socialists and laborites.”

36:3. Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people.—Thus saith Jehovah God to the nations of Christendom: Because the revolutionists shall have justly made you desolate and overrun you in every direction, so that you might be ruled over by pagan, fleshly-minded, infidel, revolutionary rulers, and because you shall be the subject of flippant discussion among the revolutionaries, and through your fall become infamous among all the heathen peoples of the world, in Europe, America and elsewhere.—Lam. 2:15, 16.

36:4. Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about.—Therefore, ye nations of Christendom, thus saith Jehovah to the nations, great and small, to the religious denominations, to the lowly members of society, to the masses wasted and desolated by war and revolution, to the governments, local and national that shall be abandoned, which shall become the victims of the Socialists, laborites and other revolutionists, who shall hold you in derision for your fall from eminence to desolation.

36:5. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of My jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed My land into their possessions with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.—Therefore, saith God, surely I am jealous over the reflections they cast upon Me, and at the mouths of many prophets have I foretold the destruction by anarchy of the rest of those who falsely profess My name and then help to desolate Christendom—the “Christian” infidels and all the former fleshly-minded Christians (Idumeans) who shall have presumed, with malicious joy, to overthrow the order of things which bears My name—Christendom!

36:6. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I have spoken in My jealousy and in My fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen.—O nations of fallen Christendom, My people, because you shall have borne shame and reproach from the ungodly revolutionists, I will bring My jealous fury to bear upon your destroyers.

36:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I have lifted up Mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.—Jehovah has sworn (lifted the hand) that the Socialists, laborites, etc., shall bear a similar shame and reproach, when their short-lived order of things has in turn been desolated by the anarchists.

36:8. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to My people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.—A branch signifies a person born from another; as, Christ was a Branch of David. Here the branches shooting forth from the mountains are the people of Christendom, slain in revolutions and anarchy, springing forth, rising from the dead, to people Christendom again. But you, O nations, of Christendom, your dead shall rise up from their sleep in the dust of the earth, to the earthly restitution—resurrection; you shall yield proper fruitage as the truly Christian people of Christendom; for they are close at hand to come back in the dust of the earth, in the mire of trenches, fortresses and battle fields. They sleep in death, ready to come, for “All that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth” to resurrection.—John 5:28, 29.

36:9. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown.—Now that the Times of Restitution are at the door, God will be for them and will turn his favor unto them, and they shall be cultivated by truly Christian preachers commissioned by the resurrected Ancient Worthies at Jerusalem, and sown with the seed of the true Gospel of the Kingdom of restitution and blessing for all people.

36:10. And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded.—The dead, fallen by the sword of war, revolution and anarchy, shall come forth from their graves to inhabit the earth. Thus, as they multiplied the dead, will God multiply the living, to the number of all the dead of Christendom, even every one of them; they shall become in His sight, not dead in trespasses and sins, but living, true-blue, manly men for the Christ of divine love. The governments (cities) shall be reestablished; and commerce, transportation, industry and art, wasted by the Time of Trouble, shall be built up again, upon the foundation of the wholly righteous principles of the New Era.

36:11. And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit; and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—God will multiply useful workers in industries, and the invention of labor-saving machinery—the beasts of burden and of the productive arts and trades. They shall increase in numbers and in service to mankind, and shall multiply the productivity of the workers, bringing forth with the busy, happy hum of industry, plenty for all, fruitage abundant for the needs of humanity. God will settle them, establish them in permanent conditions, and will do for them far better than He could do in the former days of Christendom, when the operation of His Spirit energizing mind and spirit in invention, art, industry, commerce and religion, was hindered by apostasy of clergy and rulers. Men shall learn by happy experience how good is Jehovah and how truly He is love, and not the fire-god, eternal-torment Molech, whom they ignorantly worshipped, thinking they did Jehovah service.

36:12. Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even My people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.—God will cause men, perfected by processes of restitution and resurrection, to live in the nations of resurrected Christendom. Men of this highly exalted type shall possess Christendom, when Christ's Kingdom shall be inherited by the kingly men for whom it was prepared from the foundations of the earth. Never more shall the nations of Christendom bereave themselves of men, as they have done in centuries of oppression, misrule and persecution, and especially in the Time of Trouble.

36:13. Thus saith the Lord God; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations.—Because the infidel revolutionists will throw at Christendom the taunt, “Your social order, economic, political and religious, eats up, destroys men, in industry, persecution, war, and revolution, and bereaves the nations of their best men.”

36:14. Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God.—Never shall this be any more, says God.

36:15. Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God.—Neither will God permit men to hear the infidel peoples put Christendom to shame, nor to heap reproach upon her; for Christendom shall be no more a reproach among the heathen, nor shall she cause her nations to fall again.

36:16, 17. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before Me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.—While ecclesiasticism and its adherents control Christendom, they defile it spiritually by their traditions, doctrines and actions. Their spiritual condition is before God as a church polluted, unclean spiritually, unfit to touch, which ought to be “cut off from social privileges and her citizenship among God's people put in abeyance,” as long as the spiritually unclean condition lasts, an uncleanness which may be removed only by a liberal application of “the waters of separation” (Lev. 15:19-31)—the cleansing reformation of the pure, unadulterated, fearlessly preached and applied Word of God, “the water of the Word.”—Eph. 5:26.

36:18. Wherefore I poured My fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it.—The penalty for wilful violation of the Hebraic precepts regarding uncleanness was the final cutting off of the culprit from the Lord's people. Wherefore God shall pour out upon ecclesiasticism His fury in war, revolution, and anarchy, for the lives—physical and religious—taken throughout the lengths and breadths of human society, and for the idolatrous worship of Molech, the eternal-torment God, and of Baal, the god of adulterous church-state union, wherewith she has polluted Christendom.

36:19. And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.—God will scatter the church adherents among the revolutionists, and disperse them throughout a variety of infidel, Socialistic, laborite and other like conditions, judging the ecclesiastics according to their apostasy.

36:20. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of His land.—Wherever these fleshly-minded Christians shall be scattered, they will blaspheme God's holy name, with the reproach that though they had claimed to be Jehovah's people, God had been unable to safeguard them and they had abandoned all pretense of being Christians.

36:21. But I had pity for Mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.—But God will have regard for the prestige of His reputation for justice, power, love and wisdom, which the apostate of Christendom shall impugn during the revolutionary order of things.

36:22. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.—Therefore Jehovah says that what He is about to do, He will not do for their sakes, for they deserve nothing at His hand but the judgments justly visited upon them; but that He will do it for His holy name's reputation, which they have persistently misrepresented and blasphemed.

36:23. And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.—God will make His name sacred, and forever hallowed, among the pagan peoples, the name which apostate Christians have profaned and defamed among them; and God will make the infidel peoples to know of a certainty that He is the all-wise, just, loving and almighty Jehovah, when He finally converts all such to true Christianity.

36:24. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.—God will save His professed people from the faithless, unbelieving condition of the revolutionists and the professedly pagan peoples, and will gather them out of all the evil conditions into which they shall fall, into a condition of genuine conversion and consecration to Himself. How much like God! all will exclaim, who know Jehovah. What an example does the Father set to His children, the sons of God!—Eph. 5:1; Z. '92-63.

36:25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.—Then will Jehovah wash His apostate people with the pure, unpolluted water of the Word of Truth; and from all their filthiness of flesh and spirit, of life and of doctrine, and from their idolatry of Molech and of Baal, will He cleanse them; and they shall be clean.—A. 333; Z. '92-64.

36:26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.—God judges the thoughts and intents of the heart, and He will give His professed people a pure heart to serve Him and to love Him with fullness of consecration. He will take away from them the stony heart (Jer. 31:33), wherewith for sake of earthly emoluments and honor of men, they have resisted Him and hardened their consciences against His Truth. He will put within them a new spirit which they have not known—the spirit of willing service and obedience to Jehovah, the spirit of the truth, the spirit of wisdom, of courage, of a sound mind, and of Divine love.—2 Tim. 1:7; Z. '99-187; A. 310; Z. '03-171.

36:27. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.—God will give them His Holy Spirit and cause them to walk in His “royal law of love” (Jas. 2:8), so that they shall keep that law and do it—Z. '99-138.

36:28. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.—And they shall abide in the condition of Divine favor that the fathers walked in, and truly be God's people; and Jehovah, the God of love—not Molech, nor Baal—shall be their God.

36:29. I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.—God will save the people now constituting His professed, but apostate church, from all their spiritual and fleshly uncleanness. He will call for the wheat, the bread of life, the Word of God, and will give them to feed on this good Word, and will permit no more famine of the Word of God among them.

36:30. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.—God will multiply the fruits of righteousness, and cause the new social order to increase its character fruitage, so that Christians shall receive no more from the heathen the reproach that there is among them a famine of God's Word, and that they fail to practise what they profess.—Amos. 8:11.

36:31. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.—Then, in the abundance of the wonderful and undeserved goodness and love of God, God's professed people shall remember their former evil doctrines, that misrepresented His holy character, and their doings that were not good, especially their grasping for world power and their persecution of the sons of God. Then they shall loathe themselves for their iniquitous doctrines and for their sectarian abominations.

36:32. Not for your own sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.—Be it known, in advance, that Jehovah will do these good things, not for their sakes in any sense; for they merit far different treatment at His hands. They shall be ashamed and utterly confounded at His goodness. Thus, with goodness and with love overflowing will God recompense the evil they have done Him and His true children.

36:33. Thus saith the Lord God; in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.—In the 1,000-year day, the Millennium, the “Times of Restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19-21), when God shall have cleansed those who are now His professed people from their iniquities, He will cause them to abide in new governments of the nations and cities of Christendom (Lu. 19:17), whose wasted arts, manufactures, industries, transportation and commerce shall be built up again.

36:34. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.—Christendom, utterly desolated in war, revolution and anarchy, and lying desolate in the sight of the whole world, shall be cultivated in the arts, sciences, trades and professions, and especially with the true Gospel of the Kingdom.

36:35. 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 inhabited.—And the infidel peoples shall exclaim, “Christendom that was utterly desolated, has become like the Garden of Eden!” For governments, national, city, and local, which were wasted, desolated and ruined, have been replaced by better and permanent (fenced) arrangements brought about by the mighty power of Jehovah's Love.

36:36. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.—Then the unbelieving peoples will come to the realization that the One that shall rebuild ruined Christendom and plant the desolate people with the seed of the glad gospel of the Kingdom is Jehovah. Jehovah has spoken it, and will bring it to pass.

36:37. Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.—God will yet be supplicated by desolated Christendom to do this for them. Then, in answer to their prayers, He will, by awakenings from the dead, increase their numbers with men in multitudes.

36:38. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—Like as vast flocks of sheep and cattle were gathered for sacrifice at the annual feasts at Jerusalem, so shall the devastated nations of Christendom be filled with great crowds of consecrated, holy men, each devoted as a willing thank offering forever to live for God. And they shall know, when God has brought them back from the dead, that He is Jehovah, a God of infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

Hail to the brightness of Zion's glad morning!
Joy to the lands that in darkness have lain!
Hushed be the accents of sorrow and mourning!
Zion, in triumph, begins her glad reign.

See the dead risen from land and from ocean;
Praise to Jehovah ascending on High;
Fall'n are the engines of war and commotion;
Shouts of salvation are rending the sky.

Ezekiel 37—The Valley Of Dry Bones

37:1. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.—Chapter 37:1-14 has a fourfold application: (1) to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Adamic death, into which the Hebrew nation has gone; (2) to the captivity of the Hebrews in literal Babylonia; (3) the captivity of the Hebrews in Mystic Babylon, Christendom; and (4) the dead condition of the hopes of Christendom in and after the Time of Trouble. It is because the Jews were types of the Christians that the blessed fulfilment of this prophecy applies with peculiar force to Christendom in and after the Time of Trouble. The power (hand) of Jehovah was upon Ezekiel to enable him to see and expound this vision for the benefit of the Hebrews and their dead hopes in captivity (2) in literal Babylon, (3) in Mystic Babylon (Christendom) and (1) in the Adamic death. (Z. '99-190; '01-358.) The power of God is now upon His people to understand the application of the vision of dry bones as pertaining to the hopes of (4) the people of Christendom, who, though believers in God, have not the Holy Spirit to illuminate their mental vision, and who will find themselves in the depths (valley) of despair in and after the Time of Trouble.

The condition of the withered hopes of Christendom in the Time of Trouble and death is pictured by the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, 9-14): “I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat [of judgment and death], and will plead [in war, revolution and anarchy] with them there for My people and My heritage Israel [the true Church] whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted My land [into several hundred denominations]. Proclaim ye this among the nations: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak [Belgium, etc.] say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones [the Little Flock, mighty in the power of the Lord] to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen [in Christendom, and out] be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest [of the vine of the earth, (Rev. 14:19) Christendom] is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision [for or against God and His Word] for the Day [of vengeance] of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”—Joel 3:2, 9-15.

Vast will be the slaughter, complete the devastation, heart-rending the ruin and the desolation of the hopes and aspirations of Christendom in the dark and gloomy valley of the Day of Vengeance of Jehovah. It will indeed be a valley—a cast down, humbled, lowly condition, in which the people of proud Christendom will suddenly find themselves, a condition full of the memories of ruined hopes, (bones) (Mal. 4:1.) The valley is full of dried-up hopes (bones): (1) the twelve tribes of Israel in death; (2, 3) the Hebrews in captivity to literal and mystical Babylon; and (4) the hopes of Christendom.

37:2. And caused me to pass by them round about: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.—The hopes of the Hebrews, held out to them in Scripture, were very many, but until the regathering out of literal and mystical Babylon, and from the dead, were and shall be lifeless. Pastor Russell, in Volume IV of Studies in the Scriptures, compassed the entire range of the afflictions and desolated hopes of mankind in war, revolution and anarchy of the great Time of Trouble.

37:3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live! And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest.—“Is there any hope for the scattered people of Israel, that they will ever be restored as a nation? Can the good hopes of Christendom, ruined by war, revolution and anarchy, be revived?” “O Jehovah God, Thou knowest and hast foretold the answer by the mouths of Prophets and Apostles, and Thine own Son!”

37:4. Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.—And God says about the Scriptural hopes of both Jews and of Christendom, whose fall, ignominy and captivity in literal Babylon, in mystic Babylon, in the Adamic death and in the Time of Trouble have caused, and will cause, so great sufferings and so many tears. “Hear the good Word of Jehovah concerning thy ruined hopes.”

37:5. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.—Thus saith Jehovah God about the hopes of Christendom: Behold, in the blessed Times of Restitution, the time for His great love for men to be revealed, He shall cause the people that are left among the Hebrews and in Christendom to talk and pray about their good hopes for the uplift of themselves and all the world to better, higher things. And their hopes shall live again; for God will cause the spirit of life, life-energy, to enter into their hopes and into their dead—those captive in the Adamic death and in the ruin of the great tribulation.—E. 341, 316.

37:6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—God will make their hopes strong; for His Word encourages their realization; and He gives them power, form and substance and protection, and will finally give them vitality, and they shall live, shall become a bright and vital reality. Then with thanksgiving they shall know Him truly as Jehovah.—E. 341, 316.

37:7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.—While Ezekiel was speaking there began “a shaking”—the commotion incident to the fall of Babylon and the transfer of the empire to the Medes and Persians, typifying the coming Time of Trouble. And while Pastor Russell was preaching there began—in 1914—the shaking of Christendom, in wars, revolutions and anarchy, preparatory to the transfer of the rulership from Mystic Babylon, Christendom, to the two-phase, spiritual and natural, Kingdom of God; also the Zionistic hopes of the Jews began to assume definite, connected and Scriptural form. In due time, after the hopes of Christendom shall have been utterly ruined in the trouble, there will be “a noise,” as of the rushing wind of a second Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit “upon all flesh.” It will be upon all Christendom, where men will be awaiting it with prayer and supplication. And behold! all Christendom will be shaken with emotion and with a revival of hope; and all the good hopes of Christendom, whose realization hitherto had been vague and disconnected, will be seen in their proper and Divinely appointed relation (bone to his bone).—Z. '99-191.

37:8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.—As a result of Ezekiel's prophesying among the Hebrews captive in Babylon, hope grew strong and positive, and the protection of Jehovah (skin) was seen to be upon it, but yet there was no vitality to it. The time was not ripe for the fruition of hope. Pastor Russell, too, preached to the Jews about their Zionist hopes, and pointed them to the Hebrew Bible to understand the proper fulfillment of their hopes; and while he was preaching Zionism grew into a strong movement. There is a due time also for Christendom's hopes to be strengthened by the books of Pastor Russell in millions of homes throughout Christendom. The surviving people of Christendom will read the Studies in the Scriptures during and after the time of the ruination of their hopes. But even then something will be lacking—the Spirit, power, to cause the fulfillment of hope.—E. 341, 316.

37:9. Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.—Ezekiel was commissioned to say, as the Word of God Himself, concerning the operation of the Holy Spirit (wind, ruach) or power of God, that the whole power (four winds) of God as concerned the Hebrew nation in captivity in literal Babylon should be exercised to cause the revival of their national and Messianic hopes. “The words that I speak, they are Spirit.” The whole Word of God (four winds, the whole Spirit) foretold the regathering of the willing and obedient of the Hebrews from Babylon to Jerusalem, after seventy years' captivity. Pastor Russell, as Ezekiel's antitype, was commissioned to say to the Hebrews, scattered throughout the world in captivity in Mystic Babylon, Christendom, that the whole Word of God pointed to two great blessings: (1) the revival of their Zionist hope and its realization in the regathering of many Hebrews to Jerusalem, and the founding there of the world-wide Hebrew dominion over the whole world, into which should be gathered, out of Mystic Babylon, all the Hebrews in the world, wherever they might remain; and (2) the regathering of the Hebrews of all ages from the captivity of death—the tomb—to live on earth again in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God, under the invisible spiritual dominion of Christ, Head and Body, and under the visible earthly rulership of the resurrected Ancient Worthies. Beginning in October, 1910, Pastor Russell called the attention of Hebrews by thousands, throughout the world, to the fact that the whole Old Testament foretold this as the legitimate aspiration of the Hebrews. For the Christian people of the world Pastor Russell has a similar message:

(1) For believing Christians having the Holy Spirit, he revived their hopes and pointed out clearly their gathering out from captivity in Mystic Babylon and in death, unto the glorious spirit phase of the Kingdom of God. (2) For the mass of professing Christians, who through some measure of unbelief or of unfaithfulness are not begotten of the Spirit to a change of nature from human to spiritual, He has a Divine message, which in due time will bring strong hope and comfort. As the Time of Trouble progresses, professing Christians by the millions, losing faith, as did the Apostles when, on the arrest of Christ they all forsook Him and fled, will forsake Christianity and all profession of being Christians. They will lose all the hopes they had as Christians. Then Pastor Russell's message will preach to Christendom the necessity of receiving the Holy Spirit in its entirety, in order to realize their hopes; will turn the people to the whole Truth of the Word of God (the four Winds, all the Truth), all the witness of the Spirit for them, that “salvation cometh of the Jew” (John 4:22), and that they must connect themselves with the Ancient Worthies, resurrected and reigning at Jerusalem; for without these Worthies their hopes must remain inactive—through them alone hope can be vitalized. Then Christendom will pray to God, “We submit ourselves wholly to Thee in heartfelt consecration. Come, O Spirit, all the Spirit, in the appointed way, and breathe life into our hopes, that they may live at last!”

37:10. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.—From paying attention to Ezekiel's message, the Hebrews captive in Babylon realized their hopes at the end of the seventy years captivity. As a result of Pastor Russell's teaching, Zionistic hopes have gained new vitality; and in due time the Hebrew dead will come forth from the Adamic death in multitudes. From his teachings to the true Church, captive in Mystic Babylon, Christendom, the Scriptural hopes of the Church were clearly seen, and vitalized for those in Present Truth. From his teachings hope will grow afresh in the hearts of the survivors of desolated Christendom; and as a result of their prayers the dead of Christendom will come forth, an exceeding great army.—E. 341, 316.

37:11. Then He said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.—The dried bones represent all the Hebrews, Fleshly Israel, and all the professing Christians, Spiritual Israel. As outlined foregoing, they say that their hopes are lost, and that they are cut off from Divine favors for their evil course in life.—Isa. 49:14; Z'99-191.

37:12. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, 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.—The various classes mentioned were to be brought up from their condition—dead as to their hopes—and brought, the Hebrews into Palestine; the true Christians, into the Spirit phase of the Kingdom; and the nominal Christians, into a place of favor in the earthly phase of the Kingdom.—Isa. 60:21; Z. '99-196.

37:13, 14. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My 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.—They shall all know that God is the Jehovah of infinite Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power, when the wonderful power of God has thus wrought in them for their blessing.—E. 341, 316; Z. '99-190.

37:15. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.—Verses 15-28 recount the separation of the Hebrews into two distinct kingdoms; Israel, the corrupt ten tribes; and Judah, the less corrupt two tribes. In antitype it represents corrupt Catholicism, the larger branch of Christendom, and Protestantism, the smaller and less corrupt.

37:16, 17. Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel and his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.—By the power of God the two were to be made one nation in the return of the Hebrews from Babylonia, and again will be made one in their return from Mystic Babylon, Christendom, to Palestine. Likewise the denominational divisions of Christian people have been obliterated among those gathered out of Mystic Babylon into Present Truth, as they will yet be in the regathering of the dead of Christendom in the resurrection, and in the unifying influences that will work among the survivors of Christendom's trouble. All these are to have as their Prince forever, the Beloved (David, beloved) of God, The Christ in glory.

37:18. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt Thou not show what Thou meanest by these?—Both Jews and Christians have long inquired what God has signified by this prophecy.

37:19. Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand.—The reuniting of the Hebrews and of the divisions of Christians will be by the power of God, and they shall remain one.

37:20. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.—The uniting of the Hebrews was apparently due to the prophecy of Ezekiel. That to come—of the Hebrews and of the Christians—will be in accordance with the teachings of Pastor Russell.

37:21, 22. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.—In 536 B. C. God regathered the Natural Israelites into Palestine as one nation, and will soon regather them out from all the nations of the world. He will gather true Spiritual Israel into the Heavenly phase of the Kingdom, where they shall ever be one people in mind in Christ, no longer separated as Little Flock, loving Heavenly things, and Great Company, loving the earthly. He will regather nominal Spiritual Israel from the dead and from their hopeless earthly condition, into the earthly phase of the Kingdom, no longer divided as Catholic and Protestant.—Jer. 50:4-6.

37:23. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I will be their God.—God will cleanse them all from everything relating to this present evil age and will save them out of their dwelling-places—the spirit children from their corrupt bodies; the Great Company from their spiritual bondage; the nominal Christians from their sects; and the Jews from their domiciles in all nations; and all classes from the sleep of death. They shall all be truly God's people; and Jehovah, Just, Wise, Loving and Powerful, their God.

37:24. And David My servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have One Shepherd: they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them.—Over them as King shall be Christ Jesus, the Beloved Head of His Body the Church, and the whole Beloved Christ, Head and Body, for all the other classes. Christ Jesus the Head shall be the Shepherd of the Spirit classes; and The Christ, Head and Body, the Shepherd and Pastor of all the others. All classes in Heaven and on earth shall walk in the royal Law of Love.

37:25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children for ever: and My servant David shall be their prince for ever.—The promise to Jacob is to be understood as both spiritual and earthly, a place spiritually typifying a condition. The Jews, living and resurrected dead, shall dwell forever in Palestine, given by God to Jacob, wherein their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, dwelt. The Little Flock and the Great Company will dwell forever in the Heavenly condition, where their great Father dwells. The nominal Christians will dwell in the whole earth, wherein their then Father. The Christ, Head and Body, dwelt in bodies of humiliation and sacrifice. The Christ shall forever be their King.

37:26. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting Covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My Sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.—God will make effective with the Jews the everlasting New Covenant, guaranteeing eternal earthly blessings to the willing and obedient; and the nominal professing Christians will come under the benefits of the Covenant. He will make effective the complete fulfillment of the Covenant of Grace for the Church in the spirit phase of the Kingdom. He will set both classes up in power—the Church as spiritual Kings and Priests unto God; and the Jews as the rulers of the earth. He will multiply their numbers by the resurrection. He will dwell in the spiritual class, making them His Sanctuary to the earthly class.

37:27. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.—God's abode will be in the spiritual class; and they will be God's Temple or Dwelling-place, from which the Law of Love shall proceed for the earthly class.

37:28. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when My Sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.—Then will follow the conversion of the heathen peoples of the earth—“the residue of men, even all the Gentiles.”—Acts 15:17.

Ezekiel 38—Final Overthrow Of Pride

38:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.—The Truth people, the reformers, are to set themselves against the proud, lofty rulers (Gog, high, mountain, D. 554) of the revolutionary republics after the war and the fall of Christendom, and of the ignorant, degraded revolutionists. (Magog was Scythia, a rude, ignorant, degraded people, including the savages of Europe [D. 556], savage by nature and made doubly so in the most barbarous wars of history. Meshech, north of Armenia, and Tubal, south of the Black Sea, and also Spain, represented the remotest and rudest nations of the world.) The prophecy is to have a double fulfillment, for it refers also to the gathering, at the close of the 1,000 years, of Satan, and the deceivable among restored mankind against the camp of the saints.—Rev. 20:7-10.

38:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.—God will be against the rulers of the worst of earth's peoples.

38:4. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.—God will lead them on (Revised Version) and bring them forth to do this deed, them and all their multitude, equipped with every conceivable weapon of destruction.

38:5. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet.—The dark peoples of Africa (descendants of Ham, typical of sinful, degraded peoples), trained and equipped in the European war.

38:6. Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands; and many people with thee.—The remotest peoples of Europe (D. 556) (Gomer was ancestor of the Celts, Scotch, etc.; Togarmah was north of Armenia) and their armies, and a multitude with them; and, a thousand years later, all whose heart attitude answers this description.

38:7. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.—The foregoing and their savage multitudes of revolutionists are to be the vanguard of the evil host. These people symbolize also those after the 1,000 years whose heart condition will be like the actual state of these savages.

38:8. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.—After the career of the Ezekiel class is terminated in the flesh, the nations of Europe (and after the thousand years are finished the hosts of Satan, unbound) shall be called to do their dreadful work. At the close of the turbulent revolutionary era Europe shall come against Palestine, then living in a peace contrasting with their turbulence; and, at the close of the Millennium Satan shall come against the Millennial order of things, abounding in holiness and peace.

38:9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.—They shall make the attack in vast numbers.

38:10. Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought.—At the end of the revolutionary era turbulent Europe and Africa will be obsessed with an idea full of evil for them and for the Hebrews; and at the close of the Millennium Satan and the hosts in sympathy with his deceptions will dream of seizing the established Kingdom of God.

38:11. And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.—They shall say that they will go up against Palestine, against the Hebrews living in unwonted peace in a turbulent world.—D. 553.

38:12. To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.—They will seek to plunder their property, to turn their weapons against once desolate Palestine, against the regathered Hebrews, enjoying some measure of prosperity. In like manner the hosts of Satan will seek to seize the restored Kingdom of God, at the close of the 1,000 years.

38:13. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?—The people surrounding Palestine (D. 556), with their soldiers, will join in the plunder. After the Millennium all classes not in heart harmony with “the camp of the saints,” will seek to capture the Kingdom, to take captive the power of the Little Flock and the Great Company (silver and gold), and the masses of perfect humanity (cattle, etc.).

38:14. Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?—When God's people, the Hebrews, are living peacefully in Palestine, the fact will be well known by revolutionary Europe and Africa. After the Millennium Satan and his former associates, the apostate clergy of Christendom and the Hebrew Pharisees, bound for a thousand years, and loosed for a short time, will behold the prosperity of restored mankind.

38:15. And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army.—Europe's hosts shall come from the countries north (D. 555) of Palestine with many people, riding on horses, motor cars and railroad trains, a vast and mighty army. And a thousand years later, Satan will appear, permitted to come by the spiritual phase of the Kingdom (the north), with many new, lying doctrines (horses) to deceive the people.

38:16. And thou shalt come up against My people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against My land, that the heathen may know Me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.—The revolutionists will come against the Hebrews in the closing years of the Time of Trouble, just at the outbreak of anarchy (D. 555). This invasion will be permitted by God, that the peoples may know that Jehovah is God, when His mighty power shall perform a dreadful work upon these wicked peoples, raised up and set apart (sanctified) for the enhancing of Divine prestige. It will also be to demonstrate the Divine attributes that the Satanic hosts will be permitted later to conspire against “the camp of the saints.”

38:17. Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years, that I would bring thee against them?—Jehovah declares that these evil multitudes, who will shortly organize a crusade against the Jews, will be the ones of whom, thousands of years before, the Hebrew Prophets wrote.

38:18. And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that My fury shall come up in My face.—The Divine wrath of furious retribution will be against these classes.

38:19. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely In that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel.—In jealous love for His beloved people and in jealous destructive (fire) wrath against their assailants (D. 527) has God foretold a world-shaking holocaust of the hosts of evil in the land of Palestine, and a thousand years later of the minions of the Devil.

38:20. So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.—The result will be that the men (fishes, C. 214) not under religious restraint (Z. '86:1), the most execrable of the people of the world (fowls, C. 162), the revolutionary governments (beasts, A. 261), and all the lowest of mankind shall be thrown into revolutionary commotion; and the nations (mountains, A. 318) shall be overthrown in anarchy, together with all the civil powers (walls, D. 40) of the world.

38:21. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother.—God will do His dreadful work of ending this present evil world, and will call for the universal arming of mankind with destroying weapons, so that every man's weapons will be against every other man.

38:22. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.—God will fight miraculously against the hosts of evil with pestilence and death, and will overwhelm them with a flood of Truth—with hard facts, to smite their hearts—and with anarchy, destruction, utter and complete. So also will the Almighty deal with the rebels of a thousand years later.

38:23. Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.—So will God magnify His reputation as the One to be reverenced, and the fame of His power will spread throughout the world.

Ezekiel 39—Death Of Pride's Multitude

39:1. Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.—This has a triple fulfillment: (a) the destruction of the literal armies that will attack the Hebrews at the beginning of the Millennium; (b) the destruction of their pride and their sophistries by the Truth; and (c) at the end of the Millennium the literal annihilation of the hosts that will then be deceived by Satan, and the destruction of their errors by the loyal members of the Kingdom. Jehovah is against these evil leaders and their multitude. The greatest curse of God's people in all times has been pride.—Matt. 5:3; 1 John 3:12; John 8:44; Isa. 14:14; Psa. 119:113; Prov. 6:17; Psa. 101:5; Prov. 8:13; Isa. 2:12; Prov. 16:18; 2 Thes. 2:4; Mal. 3:15; Mark 10:43.

39:2. And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.—Jehovah will lead them on (R. V.), controlled and directed by the spiritual phase of the Kingdom (north) to (a, b) bring a host against restored Israel; and (c) a thousand years later another Satanic multitude against the entire restored Kingdom.

39:3. And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.—God will (a, b) destroy the weapons and the power of the anti-Hebrew crusade; and (b, c) He will also end, in those hosts, their hatred (bow) and their bitter words (arrows).

39:4. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured.—These evil hosts (a, b, c) shall die; and God will give the first one to be disorganized, disrupted and destroyed by the most execrable of mankind (birds and beasts); and He will deliver (b) both it and (c) the second into the power of the spiritual phase of His Kingdom, to be wiped out.

39:5. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.—They shall fall defenseless at the hands of their destroyers.

39:6. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—God will (a, b) send anarchy (fire) among the peoples of the revolutionary republics (isles); and literal miraculous annihilation upon the second uprising of Satan and his deceived followers.

39:7. So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.—Through this miraculous deliverance (a) the Hebrews shall be converted to the Truth, so that they shall never again be a discredit to God's name; and (b, c) all mankind also shall thereby learn fully to know God.

39:8. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.—It shall surely come; it shall be done; thus shall be the day of the end of evil and the final establishment of right, whereof God has spoken in His Word.

39:9. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years.—The regathered Hebrews of Palestine (a) shall be seven years burning and destroying the weapons of war of this evil rabble, (a) The hosts of heaven and of earth (b, c) shall eternally (seven years) recount the lesson of the utter end of Satan's deceptive doctrines, of credulity (shield) of hatred (bows), evil-speaking (arrows) and other evil character-fruits.

39:10. So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.—So numerous will be the weapons of war (a) of those Divinely vanquished armies that the Hebrews will need no other firewood, but will burn the weapons. They shall plunder those that plunder them. The innumerable sophistries (b, c) by which Satan's legions shall seek to grasp the Kingdom power, and their miraculous overthrow, shall forever furnish lessons to help the inheritors of the Kingdom.

39:11. And It shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea; and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it, The valley of Hamon-gog.—God will give (a) the self-exalted anti-Semite crusaders a place of burial in Palestine. In the valley used as a highway east of the Dead Sea, the dead shall be a stench to the passers-by; and there shall they bring the proud (Gog, high, proud ones) hosts to their end, and they shall call it the Valley of Pride's Multitude (Hamon, multitude). Then, and a thousand years later (b, c), the memory of the proud dead shall be offensive to all that recall it.

39:12. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.—For seven months (a) the Hebrews shall be burying the crusaders, that they may cleanse the land defiled by the dead. And then, and after the Millennium (b, c), for many years shall the spiritual members of the Kingdom be neutralizing the sophistries of Satan, that they may thoroughly cleanse the Kingdom of its spiritual defilement.

39:13. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.—Yea (a) all the nations shall bury the dead; and the day of pride's (Gog's) overthrow shall be a celebrated day among them. All the people of the Kingdom (b, c) shall loyally assist in cleansing their beloved Kingdom of the spiritual defilement. It will always be a day to be remembered.—Mal. 4:1.

39:14. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land, to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.—After the seven months (a) men shall be hired regularly to search through the land, in cooperation with any travelers, for any dead remaining on the earth, to thoroughly cleanse the land. And then, and after the thousand years (b, c) spiritual teachers shall be detailed to remove any remaining spiritual defilement, by teaching the Truth.

39:15. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.—Any travelers (a) passing by, that see even a human bone, shall mark it for the buriers to bury in the Valley of Pride's Multitude. And then, and a thousand years later (b, c) any one noticing any vestige of death-dealing error shall mark it for the special teachers to cleanse away with truth.

39:16. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.—There shall (a) be a city there named Multitude (Hamonah, Multitude). Thus shall they cleanse the land; and then (b, c) and beyond the thousand years there shall be a perfect government (city)—not such a government as Satan would establish again, not usurped by the few, Satan and his agents, but a government, under God—of multitudes of restored and perfect men—a Divine Republic, called “Multitude.”

39:17. And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.—God says: (a) When the proud revolutionists shall set themselves in array against His people, to call to the most execrable of men (fowls) and to the revolutionary rulers (beasts); Come to the great destruction of hosts of rebellious humanity, where you, in anarchy, shall destroy these people; symbolically (b, c) a call to the far-sighted spiritual ones (eagles) and the believing ones of earth (beasts—members of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah) to gather themselves to feast upon, to destroy with the weapons of Divine Truth, the evil doctrines (flesh, as the flesh of Jesus symbolizes true doctrines) and the corrupting errors (blood) of Satan.

39:18. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.—They shall (b, c) consume the sophistries of Satan (the mighty), and annihilate the errors of earth's great false teachers and rulers—New Thought doctrines of devils relating to the attainment of perfection, to whatever kind and degree desired—to be as mature leaders (rams), among the sheep, as tender-charactered lambs, as self-willed, self-masters through thought-power (goats), or as perfect human beings (bullocks), all imagining themselves actually, fully developed (fatlings), under the delusions of Satan's fruitful mind (Bashan, fruitful).

39:19. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.—They shall (b, c) with the Truth consume and destroy these false philosophies, until satiated with the glorious witness for God's Truth.

39:20. Thus ye shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.—Thus (b, c) at God's table of spiritual food, His people shall have an abundant feeding upon the truths which shall destroy the errors of the Time of Trouble, the doctrines and the organizations actuated by these doctrines and the rulers, philosophies, teachers and workers in the cause of evil.

39:21. And I will set My glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid upon them.—God will (a, b, c) make Himself renowned among all nations; and they shall realize that He shall have executed judgment upon them, and that it is His hand of Justice that has been laid upon them for their misdeeds.

39:22. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.—Thus shall (a) the Hebrews and (b, c) all professing Christians know Jehovah as their God, from that time on forever.

39:23. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against Me, therefore hid I My face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies; so fell they all by the sword.—The whole world shall know that the Hebrews (a) went into captivity to literal Babylon and to Mystic Babylon, and that the unfaithful professing Christians went into captivity (b) to Mystic Babylon and (c) to Satan's deceptions, because they sinned against God. For this reason He disfavored them and gave them over into the power of their enemies. So shall they fall, by literal weapons of destruction and (b, c) be slain by the Sword of the Spirit.

39:24. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid My face from them.—According to their physical, mental, moral and spiritual pollution, and to their sinfulness, God will recompense and disfavor them.

39:25. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name.—Then when the punishment is over (D. 557), will God (a) release the Hebrews (A. 300) from their captivity in Mystic Babylon and in the tomb, and antitypically that of Christendom. He will show His mercy and love toward all the Hebrews, living and dead (D. 557), and (b, c), toward all of Christendom, the quick and the dead, and will vindicate His reputation for righteousness.

39:26. After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against Me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.—After they (a) have thus (D. 558) endured their shame and the punishment for all their sins, wherein they have erred against the Lord, while the Jews were peacefully dwelling in Palestine (b, c) and the professing Christians in Christendom, and while no one made them afraid, the sure results shall follow.

39:27. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.—In Zionism (a) God shall regather the Jews and (b, c) bring Jews and Christians alike back from the great enemy, death, and by their holy, consecrated lives, He will be hallowed in the regard of the whole world.

39:28. Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.—Then shall they in humble thankfulness appreciate that God is the beloved Jehovah, the Just One, who shall have punished them with captivity among the nations, and then in infinite Wisdom, Power and Love shall have gathered all of them, living and dead, (a) back to their former homes in Palestine (b, c) and in Christendom, and shall have left not one in captivity any more.

39:29. Neither will I hide My face any more from them: for I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.—God will not disfavor them any more: for He will pour out upon them (a) Jews and (b, c) Christians together, His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to abide in them forever.

Great truths are dearly bought. The common truth,
Such as men give and take from day to day,
Comes in the common walk of easy life,
Blown by the careless wind across our way.

Great truths are dearly won; not found by chance,
Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;
But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,
Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.

Not in the general clash of human creeds,
Nor in the merchandise 'twixt church and world,
Is truth's fair treasure found, 'mongst tares and weeds;
Nor her fair banner in their midst unfurled.

Truth springs like harvest from the well-ploughed fields,
Rewarding patient toll, and faith, and zeal.
To those thus seeking her, she ever yields
Her richest treasures for their lasting weal.

Ezekiel 40-48—God's Temple And River Of Truth

This vision of the prophet Ezekiel depicts the established theocratic Kingdom of God on earth, civil and religious, spiritual and earthly. While the Temple is an architectural possibility, as shown in the accompanying illustrations, (and may be erected at Jerusalem), it, in its various parts, surroundings, rites and worshippers, is a type and symbol of “better things to come,” after the wars, revolutions and anarchy of the period from 1914 to 1925 have passed.

The Time of the establishment of the Kingdom in power is indicated as “in the fourteenth year after that the city (Christendom) was smitten”—or thirteen years after 1918, viz., in 1931.—Ezek. 40:1.

Place.—The Temple was seen in the “land of Israel”—in Palestine. As a place types a condition, the land of Israel is typical of the condition of the whole world of mankind; and the city, at the south side of a very high mountain, is symbolic of the established earthly phase (south) of the Divine Government overshadowed by the autocratic (very high) spiritual phase of the Kingdom (mountain).—Ezek. 40:2.

By Whom.—The one who showed the Temple to the Church, the Elijah class, was “the man in linen”—Pastor Russell. The brass (copper) of vs. 3 represents his justification. In his power (hand) were the Divine standards of measurement—the reed (Word of God) and the “line of flax” (linen, righteousness). His standing was in the east gate of the Sanctuary—in Christ (gate). With the Word he measured the Temple (the Church, and the subsidiary classes) and with the standard of perfect Divine righteousness (flax, linen) he measured the progress of the life-giving River of Truth.—Ezek. 40:3; 43:6; 44:4; 47:1-3.

Purpose.—The vision is important. Those that have eyes to see and ears to hear, must set their heart upon all that the Laodicean steward shows them, “for to the intent that I might show them unto thee, art thou brought hither.” (40:4.) The hearers are to declare all that they see, to professing Christians (house of Israel), that they may be ashamed of former beliefs and practices, and in complete consecration seek to conform themselves to all the Divine standards.—Ezek. 43:10-12; 44:4-6; 47:6.

The Measures.—The standards of the Kingdom will be the fulness of the Word of God (the reed of 9 feet of six “great cubits,” each about 18 inches, or of a 15-inch cubit and a handbreadth) (Ezek. 40:3, 5), and the standard of Divine righteousness.—Ezek. 40:3, 47:3.

An interchangeable decimal system of dry and liquid measures is given, symbolic of just and righteous dealing. An ephah (dry measure) equals a bath (liquid measure), and ten of either is a homer or cor. The homer is about 75 gallons and the ephah and the bath, one tenth of a homer, or 7-½ gallons each. (Ezek. 45:10-11).

The measures of volume are to be used chiefly in connection with the sacrifices—so many ephahs of wheat or baths of oil as a meat or drink offering with a bullock, etc.

Symbolisms of Numbers.—Numbers are used as symbols of completeness or perfection, or their opposite. The common conception of the symbolisms of numbers is:

One—Unity, self-sufficiency.

Two—Duality, couples.

Three—That in itself complete, invisible, infinite.

Four—That in which God reveals Himself completely, as the four cherubim, the four-sided altar, and the cubic shaped Most Holy.

Five—Used in connection with ten, completeness in the stage, degree, or power attained or ordained; a symbol of Divinity.

Six—Secular completeness, or completeness according to man; imperfection; also full measure of the Word.—Ezek. 40:5.

Seven—The sum of three and four; religious or Divine completeness or perfection; the covenant number. The half of seven (3-½), the broken number, appears in connection with suffering.

Ten—The natural symbol of perfection, completeness, complete development, a complete and perfect whole.

Twelve—Three times four; the number of the covenant people; completeness of organization; national completeness.

Multiples or powers of these numbers combine or intensify their symbolism.

[Illustration]

Symbolism of Directions.—The north points to spiritual things, the south to earthly things, the east to Christ and His ransom sacrifice. The right is the side of favor, the left of less favor, or of disfavor. Higher elevations represent higher planes of being or of power; lower planes the opposite.

[Figure 1. The Division Of The Land Illustration]

The Land and Its Divisions.—As places typify conditions, the land of Canaan, of the children of Israel, types the whole world of mankind. Its division among the twelve tribes, in equal parts varying in nearness to the central sacred portion, suggests, among restored humanity, twelve conditions or degrees of honor in the Kingdom, each individual being accorded a place befitting his loyalty and love during his trial or judgment period. The meaning of the names of the tribes is suggestive, the names being in order of nearness to the central sacred portion. (See Figure 1.)—See Rev. 7.

To the north of the sacred portion: Judah (praise, Gen. 49:8-12); Reuben (behold a son, Gen. 49:3-4); Ephraim (doubly fruitful, Gen. 48:15-20); Manasseh (causing forgetfulness, Gen. 48:15-20); Naphtali (wrestling, Gen. 49:21); Asher (happy, Gen. 49:20); and at the extreme north, Dan (judge, Gen. 49:16-18).—Ezek. 48:1-7.

To the south of the central sacred portion: Benjamin (son of the right hand, Gen. 49:27); Simeon (hearing, Gen. 49:5-7); Issachar (bearing reward, Gen. 49:14-15); Zebulun (dwelling, Gen. 49:13); and at the extreme south, Gad (seer, lot, fortune, Gen. 49:19). (Ezek. 48:23-29.) The name meanings and Jacob's prophetic blessings are significant of Kingdom conditions.

Figure 1 shows the division of Palestine into the strips assigned to the tribes and the central sacred portion.

The Boundaries of the Land (Ezek. 47:13-21) are through places whose name-meanings are suggestive of Kingdom conditions. On the north side: Hethlon (stronghold), Hamath (defended, walled), Berotha (food), Sibraim (double hill), Hazar-Hatticon (middle court), Hauran (cave district), Hazar-enan (court of the fountains) and Damascus (similitude of burning). On the east side: Gilead (strong, rocky), Israel (ruling with God), and Jordan (descender). On the south side: Tamar (palm), and Kadesh (holy). On the west: the Great Sea (peoples and nations).

The land is to be apportioned by lot, symbolizing that the station of Kingdom honor of individuals in the Times of Restitution is not predestinated but the result of the degree of effort and of consecration. (Ezek. 45:1.) Whatever the honor attained, it cannot be taken away. (Ezek. 46:18.) All are to have an equal chance. (Ezek. 47:14.) Former pagan and heathen persons (strangers) are to have the same chance as God's chosen people, the Jews, as though born to the same honored favor.—Ezek. 47:22-23.

The Holy Offering of Land.—(Figure 2.) The people are not to occupy all the land, but are to devote as a sacred offering, or “oblation,” a central strip across Palestine, 25,000 reeds or about 42.6 miles wide, to sacred and governmental uses. Figure 2 shows the holy offering of land and its divisions. The two ends of the strip will be for the Prince, typing the condition of the Prince, or Ancient Worthy class. The 25,000-reeds-square dimensions of the central section—as powers and multiples of ten and five—combined with the full measure (reed) of the Divine Word as applying to the classes therein represented, suggest the exalted degree of perfection of these classes. The conditions represented are: at the north (spiritual) the Divine nature of the Little Flock (priests); in the middle, the intermediate, lower spirit nature of the Great Company (Levites); at the south, of half the width, of a lesser degree of honor (secular), the perfect human nature of those engaged in the actual government of the world. As in many other types the same antitypes are presented repeatedly in their several phases.—Ezek. 45:1, 4, 7; 48:20.

Land of the Priests.—The northern section, 10,000 reeds wide, of the holy central square, typifies the condition of the Little Flock, of the highest spirit nature, the Divine, (northernmost). This is a “most holy” condition. (Ezek. 48:9-12.) In it, as appertains to the inheritors of the nature of God, will be the Sanctuary—the entire Temple and its courts—typing the spiritual domain of the ruling Christ over all the affairs of the coming Kingdom of Heaven on earth.—Ezek. 44:28; 45:3-4; 48:8-12.

[Figure 2. The Holy Offering Of Land Illustration]

Land of the Levites.—Inferior as to direction, toward the south (toward earthly things), the spiritual condition (land) of the Great Company (Levites) will be, as have been their religious lives—trending from heavenly to earthly throughout the Gospel Age of Divine opportunity. This will be their condition throughout eternity, unchangeable, inalienable—but “holy unto Jehovah.” There will be among them twenty grades of honor—“twenty chambers.”—Ezek. 45:5; 48:13-14.

Secular Land for the City.—At the extreme south (earthly) of the holy square will be a 5,000-reed-wide section which will be “secular for the city.” This represents in miniature the perfect human condition of the visible rulers (city) of the earthly phase of the Kingdom and of all those under that Divine government—the whole world of mankind (Israel). The city will be in the middle of this section, a 4,500-reed square, which, with a border or suburb 250 reeds wide all around, reaches across the secular land, symbolizing the dominance of the coming world government over the human race. (Ezek. 45:6, 7; 48:15-20, 35.) So extraordinary and heart-satisfying will be the methods of and the blessings from the Divine government (city) that it will appropriately be called “The Wonder of Jehovah.”—E. 46, 43.

Land for Sanctuary.—In the center of the priests' land will be the land for the Sanctuary, an area 500 cubits, or 750 feet square, surrounded by a 50-cubit, or 75-foot, border or “suburb.” In this square will be the walls, courts and structures of the sanctuary. It will type again in miniature, in detail, the conditions of all classes in the Kingdom from the Christ (priests) down, as regards their religious relationship to one another and to God.—Ezek. 45:2-3.

Land for the Prince.—Both of the ends of the 25,000-reed-wide offering of land, east and west of the central holy square, will be given to “the Prince,” typing the perfect human condition of the Ancient Worthies, or overcomers before the Gospel Age, who shall be “Princes in all the earth.” As the Prince's land will not be inalienable but may be given away by the Prince, so to certain classes it will be given to share in the perfected condition of the Ancient Worthies.—Ezek. 45:7-8; 46:16-18; 48:21-22.

The Classes.—In the Kingdom there will be several distinct classes, according to opportunity and degree of faithfulness in ages preceding establishment of the Kingdom.

The priests will be the glorified Little Flock, faithful unto death, sons of God, the Righteous One (Zadok, righteous), who during the Gospel Age “kept the charge of God's Sanctuary,” by faithfulness to the Word of God at any cost. They will be “of the Divine nature.”—Ezek. 40:44-46; 43:18-27; 44:15-31; 45:4; 48:10-12.

The antitypical Levites (Great Company), will have spirit nature akin to the angelic, because though during the Gospel Age they were also begotten of the Spirit, sons of God (Zadok, righteous), they “went astray from God, after their idols;” they ministered unto the people before their idols and caused the house of Israel (Christendom) to fall into iniquity. They shall bear their iniquity.—Ezek. 44:10-14; 45:5; 48:13-14.

The Ancient Worthies (the Prince), who in the Jewish Age were faithful unto death amid incredible trials of faith (Heb. 11), will during the 1,000 years be of the perfect human nature, and will be on earth the visible leaders and rulers of mankind.—Ezek. 44:1-3; 45:7-17, 21-25; 46:16-18; 48:21-22.

The servants of the city will be of the perfect human nature, and engaged in the multifarious duties of a world wide government. They will be taken from amongst mankind. Some are spoken of as servants and some as sons of the Ancient Worthies.—Ezek. 48:18-19; 46:16-18.

The people of the Kingdom will be first the resurrected Hebrews, making progress during the 1,000 years toward human perfection, but who in previous ages had not been consecrated to God and had been far astray from Him. (Romans 1.)—Ezek. 43:7-9; 44:6-12, 15, 19, 23-30; 45:6-21; 46:1-3, 9-10; 47:13-14; 48:11, 18-19, 23-29.

The “strangers” will be the resurrected billions of humanity, not Jews, who gaining the heart circumcision of a conscience cleansed by the blood of Jesus, shall be as though born to the same conditions as the Hebrews. None of them shall have part in the direct service of God.—Ezek. 44:9; 47:22-23; Zech. 14:20-21; Numbers 31:47; Joel 3:17; Joshua 9:22-27; Rev. 21:27.

Sanctuary and Outer Court.—The Sanctuary will be the entire enclosure devoted to the Divine service. According to Ezekiel 45:2 the exterior wall is around a square of 500 cubits, and by 42:16-20 it is 500 reeds, or 3,000 cubits square; but the latter is translated “cubits” in the Septuagint, and the former agrees minutely with the internal measurements. About the outer court of 500 cubits square will be a border or suburb 50 cubits wide to separate the Sanctuary from the surrounding land. (Ezek. 42:20.) The outer court types the condition of the Ancient Worthies and of the Hebrews and the world of mankind, the former of actually perfect humanity, and the latter of a perfect heart condition and striving toward human perfection. This court will be at an elevation above the surrounding land and will be reached by seven steps, symbolizing the human perfection, actual or heart, of those that enter the court. It will be surrounded by a wall one reed high and a reed thick. The wall types Christ in the Ancient Worthies, who will constitute the embodiment of the Divinely appointed wall of faith about the Sanctuary. The reed indicates the full measure of the Divine Word as regards the human nature.—Ezek. 40:6, 17-19, 22-23, 27, 34; 42:1, 7-9, 14-20; 43:1-5; 44:1-3, 19; 45:1-2; 46:19-24.

[Figure 3. The Sanctuary Illustration]

[Figure 4. The Temple Illustration]

[Figure 5. Illustration]

[Figure 6. One Of The Outer Court Gates Illustration]

[Figure 7. Section Through Most Holy Across The Sanctuary Illustration]

Inner Court.—The inner court will be an enclosure toward the rear or west of the outer court, 200 cubits wide by 300 deep. It types the spirit-born condition of the Great Company (Levites), and is at an elevation of eight steps, symbolizing by one step the change to spirit nature and by seven steps the perfection of that nature—perfect, though not the highest nature. Its wall represents Christ in the Great Company, and the absence of dimensions for the wall represents that “it doth not yet appear” what the spirit nature is like. Both inner and outer courts will be adorned with colonnades of pillars, probably along the inner border of the pavements, typing those on each plane of being who shall be “pillars in the house of Jehovah.”—Ezekiel 40:27, 28, 34, 37, 39-47; 42:2-4; 43:4-5; 44:17-18, 21, 25-27; 46:19-24.

The Temple.—The Temple building (Figure 4) will be toward the rear and reaching to within 50 cubits of the rear of the inner court. It will be on a platform 60 cubits wide by 100 deep. This types the condition of the Little Flock, born from the dead to the nature of God. It will be elevated one reed above the inner court, representing that the Divine nature is the full measure of the Word of God above any other spirit nature, “far above angels, principalities and powers.” Its infinite height above other natures is indicated by the fact that the number of steps up to it is not stated, for it is an immeasurable, infinite elevation. (41:8-11.) The Temple will be entered by a porch, and will contain “the holy” twenty by forty cubits, and the “Most Holy” or “oracle” twenty cubits square, inside measurement. These rooms type the glorious condition of the Christ, Head and Body, of the nature of God. That the person being shown tills did not enter the Most Holy (Ez. 41:3, 4) suggests that it is not given to know yet “what we shall be,” in that condition where “the glory of Jehovah filled the house.”—Ezek. 41:1-2, 43:5.

Pavements and Open Ways.—The outer and inner courts will not be simple inclosures, as was the Tabernacle court, but each will include a bordering space, or pavement, 50 cubits wide, occupied by gates, buildings, and passage ways, typing conditions and activities in the condition typed by the inclosure. That embraced by the outer court will be the “lower pavement.” (40:17-18.) This will contain the east, north and south gates of the outer court, and four corner courts where the Levites will bake and boil the sacrifices of the people. It will also contain 30 chambers, typing that number of conditions or activities among those resurrected and perfected or progressing toward human perfection. Each of the four corner courts upon the lower pavement will be 30 by 40 cubits in size and will be surrounded by a row of structures under which will be the boiling places for the preparation of their sacrifices to be eaten by the people. (Ezek. 46:21-24.) At the center of the east, north and south lower pavements will be the outer gates, like covered corridors or lobbies extending entirely across the 50-cubit pavement to the outer court proper, as shown in Figure 3.

The corresponding 50-cubit pavement of the inner court is not definitely termed a pavement, but the name is inferred from the designation “lower pavement” for the outer court pavement. It will contain the inner court gate, and buildings for certain activities of the priests and the Levites. The inner court 50-cubit pavement leaves an inner space of 100 cubits square—the inner court proper—facing the Temple and with the brazen altar in the middle. This 100-cubit-wide area will extend west about the Temple platform, surrounding it on the north, west and south, with an open space 20 cubits wide, called “the separate place.” On the upper pavement, flanking the Temple north and south, and of the same length—100 cubits—as the Temple, will be two buildings on each side for the priests, called the “priests' chambers.” These buildings will be separated from each other by a 10-cubit walk along the center line of the upper pavement. The outer of each of the two pairs of “priests' chambers” will be 50 cubits long, half the length of the inner buildings. These are located on the upper pavement. At the rear or west end of the upper pavement will be little square courts, similar to the corner courts of the lower pavement, and used by the priests for boiling and baking the sacrifices eaten by the priests.—Ezek. 40:17-18; 41:10-15; 42:1-14; 45:2; 46:19-24.

The lesser elevation of the plane of these pavements, courts and ways, types the lower plane of Spiritual being of the persons, and their activities type things to be done on that plane.

Chambers and Galleries for Priests.—In the inner court near the north gate will be a chamber (Fig 3, D) with a door looking toward the south, and one near the east gate with its door looking toward the north. These will be for the Priestly singers, the sweet singers in Israel, the Little Flock, singing to God and to the people concerning the Kingdom blessings. These immortal ones will sing the praises of God for His goodness to those in the spirit phase (north) of the Kingdom, and for the blessings flowing from Christ's ransom altar (east gate) through restitution to those in the earthly (south) phase of the Kingdom.—Ezek. 40:44-46.

On the north and on the south pavements of the inner court flanking the Temple will be the two pairs of parallel priests' chambers (Figures 3 and 5), in each pair the inner building 100 cubits long and the outer 50 cubits. They will be three stories high, the top story narrower than the others and leaving galleries facing each other across the 10-cubit way between them, into which their doors will open one on each side of the way. In these chambers, lighted by narrow windows the priests will lay the most holy things, and eat the most holy things, including the meat, sin and trespass offerings of prince and people in the Millennial Age; humanity having been bought by Christ will make the consecration of themselves and their all to Christ, Head and Body. The Christ (priest) will accept their consecrations (lay them in the priests' chambers) and appropriate them to themselves (eat the offerings). In the sacred conditions represented by the priests' chambers the priests will have their feasts of love, as they rejoice over the consecrated efforts of earth's billions in their progress toward human perfection, and thereafter. When the priests come out to the outer court with the people they will change the holy garments they wore in the priest's chambers and put on other garments. The holy garments type the promises and Word of God as concerns the Divine immortal nature, and the other garments will be the Word and covenant of God as respects things concerning the people and their restitution hopes and blessings.—Ezek. 42:1-14; 44:19, 29-30; 46:19 20.

The Temple will be built with double walls all around, except the porch in front (Figures 3, 4 and 5). This will leave a space within the walls termed the “side chambers,” in three stories reached by winding stairs, and reaching up set quite to the top of the Temple inner wall. Each story will be divided into 30 rooms. The second story rooms will be wider than the first, and the third story wider than the second. This will be accomplished by making the thick walls thinner each story up. The floor beams will rest, not in the walls, but on the recessions of thickness with each story. No function is stated by Ezekiel, but the similar side chambers in Solomon's Temple were utilized for keeping Temple treasures and vessels. In antitype the Temple is the Church, the Christ, Head and Body, and in the chambers of memory of the Divine Christ will be stored up not only the character treasures of oil and incense and of gold and silver and precious stones laid up in Heaven during the Gospel Age, but also the like treasures offered by mankind throughout the Millennial Age. Only the priests will have access to these treasures and the Little Flock will forever guard these most precious offerings. The three stories, each wider, suggest the character treasures laid up by those on the three planes, Human, Spirit, and Divine.—Ezek. 41:5-9; 1 Kings 6:5-10; 2 Chron. 3:9.

The Ezekiel Temple represents God's finished work. The Holy does not type the spirit-begotten condition, but rather the memory of it as a Divinely accomplished work—for the experiences of the spirit-begotten condition will never be lost. The Most Holy types the accomplished Divine nature. No furniture appears in either of these sacred chambers, except in the Holy, an altar of a kind of wood not stated—an altar designated as “This is the table that is before Jehovah.” If it is to be the same as is in Solomon's Temple it will be cedar—type of immortality, the Divine nature. No mention is made of offerings at this altar, for the time of the Christ's sacrifice will be past. The interior of both chambers will be sheathed with wood—presumably cedar, type of immortality—up to the narrow windows at the top of the inner wall of the Temple. The interior decorations of palm trees, alternating with two-faced cherubim, with the faces of a lion and of a man, type that the purpose and concern of God's glorious Temple will be the administration of the affairs of perfect righteous men (palm trees) under the joint auspices of Divine Justice and Love. If the two-leaved doors into the Holy and the Most Holy are to be of the same wood as in Solomon's Temple, they will be of olive, type of the peace of God that passeth understanding for those privileged to enter through the door of Christ.—Ezek. 41:13-25.

Back of, or west of the rear of the Temple, and separated from it by the twenty cubits of the separate place will be the western building, a structure of inside dimensions 70 by 90 cubits and with walls 5 cubits thick, making the outside dimensions 80 by 100, or including the 20-cubit separate place, 100 cubits square, indicating the Divine perfection of the class represented by it. This is not connected in any way with the altar or the Holy or Most Holy, and its use is not stated. It answers the description of such a class of beings as the angels.—Ezek. 41:12-13.

Chambers for the Levites.—Certain chambers will be set apart for the activities of the Levites. Near the outer door of the north gate of the inner court (a work done by the spirit phase of the Kingdom) on the upper pavement will be a chamber where the Levite will wash the burnt offerings of the people. In the porch or lobby of the same gate will be four tables of hewn stone, each 1-½ cubits square by a cubit high, on which will be laid the instruments for slaying the sacrifices, and whereon the sacrifices will be slain and their flesh laid out. In the outer court outside the inner court gate and beside the steps leading up to the gate, will be the four more tables for slaying the sacrifices, two on each side of the steps. In antitype, the offerers will make or renew the consecration of themselves, under the various required conditions, and will be accepted by the Great Company (Levites) who will act between the people and the Little Flock (priests). The utter consecration of the persons, typed by the death of the animals, will be supervised and directed by the Great Company, and the offerers will endeavor to conform themselves to the character pattern, suggested by the cut stone of the tables and the resting of the flesh and the slaughter instruments upon the tables. Those offering themselves in heartfelt consecration as an expression of their thankfulness to God (burnt offering) will be cleansed in character by the teachings of the Word of God (washed with water) imparted by the Great Company (Levites).—Ezek. 40:39-43.

Certain of their offerings the people are to eat, figuring their assimilation in their very beings of the consecrations made. This process will not be without fiery trials, ameliorated by the Word of God (hot water), chastenings at the hands of the Great Company (Levites)—typed by the boiling of the sacrifices by the Levites preparatory to their being eaten by the people. This activity of the Great Company is typed in the boiling places at the courts in the corners of the lower pavement.—Ezek. 46:21-24.

Further activities by the Levites of thirty kinds in behalf of or in cooperation with the people, may be typed in the thirty chambers along the lower pavement of the outer court.—Ezek. 40:17-18.

Gates, Doors, Porches, etc.—In the Tabernacle the gate, the door and the veil, all facing the east, typed Christ and in a certain sense those in Him. None might enter these holy entrances except those having to do, as actual or probationary, participants in the sin offering. So in the Ezekiel Temple, in connection with the east gate of the outer and inner courts is pictured the entrance of those in previous ages having to do with the fiery sufferings connected with the sin offering—the Little Flock and the Ancient Worthies. The Little Flock is depicted as the glory of God entering by the east gate of the outer court and the east gate of the inner court, and finally into the Temple (Ezek. 43:1-5), typing the progress of the Christ Body through Christ Jesus, as the way (gate) into imputed human perfection (outer court) through the “change” to the Spirit plane (inner court) and up to the immeasurable exaltation of the nature of God (Temple). After the full entrance of the Body of Christ the outer gate shall be shut, and no one shall enter except the Ancient Worthies, who were privileged to enter their honorable estate by the door of self-sacrifice unto death. (Ezek. 44:1-3.) In the condition of being in Christ, in the mind of Christ, the Ancient Worthies shall “sit”, communing with Christ and with God, assimilating the Word of God (eating), which shall strengthen them for their stupendous task of the government and regeneration of the whole world of mankind.

The eastern gate of the inner court, the way to the Divine nature through sacrifice, will be closed after the entrance of the glory of God, the Body of Christ, in whom God dwells, and no one shall ever enter therein, as pictured in the parable of the foolish virgins. (Z. '05-267; Ezek. 46:1). In this gate, in Christ, at the very inner door of the gate, having met all the conditions qualifying for entrance upon the spirit nature, throughout the Millennium, God's seventh day (the Sabbath), and the day of the New Covenant (new moon), the Ancient Worthies will have their standing. There in intimate communion with the glorified Christ they will make their thankful consecrations of themselves and their vows fulfill (burnt and peace offerings), having their standing in Him Whom they preceded in suffering, and Whom they follow in time and place.—Ezek. 46:1-8, 12.

Entrance at the north or south gates of the inner or outer courts signifies, not participation in, but benefit from the Sin Offering. The gate looking toward the north (spirit phase) types the looking toward the Divinely provided ransom. It will be where the people will present their sacrifices, and figures their consecrations and their acknowledgment of the altar, the blood of Jesus Christ. The gate looking toward the south will look figuratively toward restitution. Those entering it, too, will acknowledge the blood, for in entering it they will face directly toward the altar. On the solemn feast days, the people and the Prince entering the north gate must not go out by the same gate, but by the south gate, and vice versa. This types that every one entering the plane of actual or heart perfection on the human plane must acknowledge that the restitution (south) blessings were brought by the spiritually (north) provided blood of the Redeemer.—Ezek. 40:20-31; 44:4-6; 46:9-10.

The typical importance of the gates, doors and porches is emphasized in Ezekiel 44:5 “Mark well, and behold with thine eyes (of understanding), and hear with thine ears (of spiritual hearing), all that I shall say (write) unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of Jehovah, and the laws thereof, and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the Sanctuary.”

The court gates (Figure 6) will be hallways crossing the 50-cubit pavements. The size will be 50 by 25 cubits. The outer court gate will be entered from a flight of seven steps over the outer threshold through a door. The narrow hallway will be flanked by six little chambers projecting out one cubit into the hallway, three in a side, and will end over an inner threshold in a porch or lobby, frequently translated “arch”, from which an inner door will open into the court. The inner court gate will be of identical but reversed construction, the porch or lobby coming first. The interior will be dimly lighted by narrow windows. The walls along the hallway—the posts—will be adorned with palm trees, reminders, antitypically, that the purpose of the entire sanctuary is to promote the glory of God by the restoration of mankind to perfection (palms). The six little chambers type six conditions to be complied with by those actually or at heart on the perfect human plane, the size of the chambers—one reed square—signifying that each of these conditions embraces the full measure of the Word of God (reed)—perfect requirement in that respect.—Ezek. 40:6-43; 43:1-4; 44:1-5; 46:1-12.

The porch of each gate and of the Temple types Christ, as the resurrection—“I am the resurrection.” In the outer court gates the person entering will pass the little chambers first and the porch afterward, typing that during the Times of Restitution the world of mankind will meet the conditions before being fully resurrected to perfection. In the inner court gates the porch will come first, signifying that the person is first raised to the spirit condition and then is developed. In connection with the Temple porch there will be no little chambers, typing that the Little Flock will have met all the conditions before their exaltation.—Ezek. 40:8-9, 16, 20-22, 24-26, 33-36, 39-43, 48-49; 41:23-26.

The entrance to the Temple will be through a lofty porch, flanked by two great pillars. These pillars will be suggestively named, as in Solomon's Temple, the right one, Jachin (He shall establish) and the left one, Boaz (In it is strength). In these inspiring reminders are seen the mighty strength of The Christ, possessors of all power in Heaven and in earth, with which God through them will establish His Kingdom.—1 Kings 7:13-22.

The priests' chambers on the upper pavement of the Inner court will be entered by a separate gate and separate stairs from the outer court, suggesting that the entree to the love feasts of the Little Flock will be exclusively for them alone. (Ezek. 46:19). The gates of the city will be twelve in number, three on a side, and each named for one of the twelve tribes.—Ezek. 48:31-34.

The Altars.—As the entire Plan of salvation centers about the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, so at the mathematical center of the Ezekiel Temple will be the great brazen altar, with its rites, and offerings, and the blood, typing the ransom and the antitypical sin offering. It will be at the center of both the outer court and of the inner court, and of the priests' land and of the land divided among the tribes, typical of the world. The court gates will all point toward it, and facing it will be the steps, porch, and outer and inner doors of the Temple. The construction and dimensions of the altar are given in Fig. 7. The brazen altar will be 4x12x12 cubits; it will be reached by stairsteps from the east, and will rest upon two borders or “settles,” respectively, 4x14x14 cubits and 2x16x16 cubits, the lower of which will rest upon a bottom or foundation 1x18x18 cubits. The Tabernacle altar was 3x5x5 cubits, the dimensions suggesting incompleteness, as compared with the numerical symbolism of the Ezekiel altar. This altar types the completed work of the Sin Offering and will be seen to be of far greater magnitude and importance than even the eye of faith can now perceive while the suffering work is in process. Its elevation by the bottom and two settles suggests the lofty exaltation of The Christ who participated in the Sin Offering far above the beneficiaries from the blood—the Great Company and the perfected world of humanity. It will be approached by stairs to the height of the base of the altar proper, typing that the evidence of the sacrifices by the offerers will be carried into Heaven itself.—Ezek. 40:44-47; 43:13-27; 45:18-20; 47:1.

The Offerings.—The various offerings typify the following:

A burnt offering will be a thankful prayer to God, acknowledging His mercy, wisdom and love as manifested in the broken Body of the offerer's great Ransomer.

A peace offering will be the fulfilment of a vow or a willing thank offering; the offerer eating the sacrifice will be his appropriation to himself of the consecration; with it he will eat certain things such as unleavened cakes, oil and anointed wafers, signifying his faith in Christ's character which he will copy.

A trespass offering signifies reconsecration in connection with restoration for wrong, with recognition of the offerer's imperfection and the value of the ransom.

A meat offering of fine flour, unleavened cakes, oil, etc., signifies the consecration of the offerer's all, the sample burned on the altar meaning the consecration's approval and acceptance by Jehovah.

The sin offering will be an acknowledgment of past sins and of the application of the merit of the Ransom, with repentance and reconsecration of the offerer.

Defilement and Cleansing.—There will be defilement of individuals and the past defilement of the whole world. The general defilements involving all—referring in part to the typical location of the palace of Solomon and the kings, close to the Temple—are Christendom's defilement of God's holy name by their erroneous teachings about Him and by the lives of those evil clergy and laity who presumed to bear His name; their “whoredoms,” or unhallowed union of church and state; their permitting of prominent persons—clergy and laity—who were dead in trespasses and sins, to assume elevated places in the worship of God; their conjoining the entrance into the Temple class (a church) with entrance into places of influence; their establishing the same wall of living members of the churches as the wall of business and the state; their encouraging unconsecrated persons, not spirit-begotten, to serve in the holy things in the church as teachers and clergy; their breaking their covenant, made solemnly with God in their consecrations; and their not keeping the charge of the Divine Word of truth but hiring paid clergymen to look after it for them. The great mass of the Spirit begotten (Levites) had gone astray from God after their man-made idols of earthly honor, power and wealth; and they had served the evil tendencies of church members in their idol worship. Between the people and the clergy every conceivable abomination in the sight of God had been practiced, and will require cleansing and a wholesome memory of it, to safeguard against future outbreaks and to manifest continual appreciation of the holiness of any service of God.—Ezek. 43:7-9; 44:6-14.

Times for Offerings.—The times of certain offerings, as on the sabbaths and new moons, type that the Jews and the world might not effectively consecrate themselves until the Millennial Age—God's seventh Day and the time of the New Covenant. (Ezek. 44:24; 45:17.) The sacrifices by the prince for all the people on the first month, first day, type the universal consecrations during the first 1,000-year Day of blessing for mankind, when all consciences will be cleansed by the application of Christ's merit. Those on the Seventh day type the same consecration during the Millennium regarded as God's great seventh Sabbatical thousand year Day, when sinners and the simple minded will be cleansed from sin and set right. (Ezek. 45:20.) On the fourteenth day the celebration of the passover memorial, and the seven-day feast thereafter, picture the memorial of the Lamb of God and the feast of thankfulness and consecration for the fulness of the New Covenant forever (Ezek. 45:21-24); that on the fifteenth of the seventh month, and for seven days, type the application of Christ's merit through the Sin Offering and the thankfulness and consecration of the people in the Spirit, eternally thereafter. (Ezek. 45:25.) The sacrifices and worship of prince and people at the east gate, on the sabbaths and the new moons, figure the consecrations and reconsecrations of Ancient Worthies and people throughout the 1,000-year Day of Restitution.—Ezek. 46:1-11.

At any time the Ancient Worthies representing the people also may, of their own free will express their thankfulness and celebrate the fulfilment of their consecration vows, signifying this as their continuing state of mind. (Ezek. 46:12). The daily burnt and meat offering for the nation, morning and evening, signify the continued thankful consecrating of all classes on all planes of being in memory of and through, “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” (Ezek. 46:13-15). Throughout the Millennial Age this Little Flock will necessarily be in contact with defiling and death-dealing error in some, with whom they are intimately connected, in process of restoration to human perfection; by the close of the great seventh Day, before the eighth Day the application of the merit of the Sin Offering will have cleansed or destroyed, all such cases and The Christ will no more have to be in touch with such defilements. (Ezek. 44:25-27). Offerings to cleanse the altar with blood type the memory that the altar class—The Christ, Head and Body—were cleansed by the blood, and that all offerings are sanctified by the blood. (Ezek. 43:18-27). Salt cast upon the offerings types the preserving power of the Word.—Ezek. 43:23-44.

Throughout the Millennium the world of mankind are to regard the perfect human condition toward which they are progressing, as their inalienable possession, “bought by the blood.” No ruler, or other power, is to interfere with this right, nor teach them otherwise. (Ezek. 46:13; 48:29.) The Hebrews, the original beneficiaries, are to welcome the rest of mankind and treat them as of their own number.—Ezek. 47:22-23.

They are to submit loyally to the rulership of The Christ, Head and body, and to that of the Divinely appointed earthly phase of government. (Ezek. 44:24; 45:6.) They are to receive the instructions of the Christ.—Ezek. 44:23.

Through the Ancient Worthies, the rulers of the earthly phase, the people are at heart to consecrate their all, typed by offerings of tenths or multiple thereof. (Ezek. 45:13-25.) To The Christ they are to consecrate their hearts' best endeavors, their firstfruits, and everything which they dedicate by vow or consecration. (Ezek. 44:29-30.) The Great Company they are to love, and to them they must be loyal.—Deut. 14:27-29.

The people must be thoroughly cleansed in conscience. (Ezek. 44:9). They are to put away all their former defilements and abominations and are to worship and serve God throughout the Times of Restitution and thereafter, observing that holy period as a solemn feast to the Lord. (Ezek. 43:6-7; 46:1-3, 9-10; 45:17.) They are to consecrate themselves daily, with thankfulness, with repentance and restitution for sin, and with vows fulfilled.—Ezek. 44:29-30; 45:1, 13-25; 46:19-24; Zech. 14:20-21.

Duties of Prince.—The duties of the ruling Ancient Worthies will be: to remove violence and exploitation, execute judgment and justice and take away all former exactions imposed upon the people. (Ezek. 45:8-9). They are to see that the commercial intercourse of the people is on a just and equal basis for all. (Ezek. 45:10-12). They will receive taxes or offerings from the people, with special attention to the spiritual offerings symbolized by the things offered. (Ezek. 45:13-16). The land they are to keep holy, as they will their own condition of favored perfection, symbolized by the land. (Ezek. 48:21-22). Certain ones for special merit—such as any during the Gospel Age who lived up to their consecrations as mere believers, not being taught the things of the Spirit, and as those through devoted loyalty making special progress during the Millennium—they may cause to have the same honored position as themselves, which will be permanent if the recipients manifest the spirit of sonship, but lasting only to the close of the 1,000 years to those failing to show this spirit. (Ezek. 46:16-17). They will be privileged, as favored participants in the application of the Sin Offering merit, to go in and out of the outer court east gate—as in the place of Christ—and there to feed upon the meat in due season from Christ's bounty. (Ezek. 44:1-3). In all holy things they are to be the leaders of the people. (Ezek. 46:9-10). They are, during the entire Millennial Age—God's sabbath—to make offerings (Ezek. 45:17-25) of thankfulness, praise and recognition of the ransom, directly through the Christ with whom they shall be in intimate relations.—Ezek. 46:1-12.

Duties and Privileges of Levites.—On account of Gospel Age disloyalty the Great Company, while enjoying the Spirit nature (Numb. 18:23-24), will occupy an inferior place as servants—not priests—in the service of God. (Ezek. 44:10-14). Their lower nature on the spirit plane will be inalienable and unchangeable. (Ezek. 48:13-14). Rather than serve in the Temple at all, they are to render service at the various gates, for whatever functions are typed at or by the gates. (Ezek. 44:11). Rather than do the direct service of Jehovah, they will continue as in the Gospel Age when they courted and served the desires and lusts of the people—to serve directly and perpetually the people rather than the direct interests of their God. (Ezek. 44:11-12). They shall not come near to God nor approach to an appreciation of the things of the Divine nature, but they shall do whatever menial services there may be given them by the Little Flock to do. (Ezek. 44:13-14.) It will be their part to receive and make effective the consecrations of the people, to cleanse them with the water of the Word, and to administer the stripes and chastening, many or few, tempered by the water of the Word, whereby the people may thoroughly assimilate (eat) the significance of their consecrations. They may possibly restore the literal sacrifices of animals as object lessons (Z. '05-269).—Ezek. 40:35-43; 46:21-24.

Duties and Privileges of the Priests.—The Little Flock, the Church, will enjoy the nature of God, who Himself, in His nature, will be their inheritance and possession. (Ezek. 44:27-28, Numbers 18:20.) They will serve the Divine purposes in direct and intimate contact with their Father, Jehovah, and will continue to keep the charge of God's holy doctrines and truths, as they faithfully kept it during the Gospel Age. (Ezek. 40:46; 44:15-16; 45:4; 48:10-12.) They will continue having charge of God's house, His Church, His people. (40:44-45; 44:8.) They will be in various grades of honor (houses), as “star differeth from star in glory.” (Ezek. 45:4.) They alone will have the privilege of entering the Divine Temple, or Christ class. (Ezek. 44:15-16.) They will forever regard their blessed condition most holy, most consecrated to Jehovah. (Ezek. 48:12.) They will keep the law of Divine Love in all its manifestations and judge the people according to that exalted standard (Ezek. 44:24, Deut. 17:8-13); teach all mankind to know the pattern of true godliness in all its particulars and to discern between holy and secular, good and evil (Ezek. 43:10-12; 44:23); sanctify and bless humanity according to the Oath-bound Abrahamic Covenant on terms of willing obedience. (Ezek. 44:19, 30; 46:19-20.) These priests will make union with and make fruitful the various covenants and promises (wives) by God, avoiding those not Divinely approved. (Ezek. 44:22; Lev. 21:7, 13-14.) They will receive tithes of the Levites. (Numbers 18:25-32.) All dedicated things will belong to them—that is, all covenants, vows and consecration of the people will be made to the Christ. (Ezek. 44:29-30; Josh. 6:19; Lev. 27:20-34; Numbers 18:8-20.) Theirs will be the charge of the altar—of applying the merit of Christ to the people (Ezek. 40:44-46), and they alone shall make the offering to God, declare the Divine forgiveness and approval of the people and of their consecrations.—Ezek. 43:18-27; 44:15-16, 25-27; 45:18-25; 46:1-7, 11-24.

The Life-Giving River.—The benefits of Divine Love flowing to save and bless all the willing and obedient of mankind are pictured in the Life-Giving River. From underneath the threshold, the place of rulership, the Throne of The Christ (Rev. 22:1), the water of the Word of Divine Love flows forth. Under the favor of the Church (right of Temple) the truth about the loving mercy through the blood of Jesus Christ (altar) is for the restitution of all in the earthly (south) phase of the Kingdom. (D. 650, 655; Z. '05-269; Z. '99-196; Ezek. 47:1.) Through Christ, the Gate, with all His loving favor (right) it flows toward the Sun-rise. (Ezek. 47:2.) The same one—Pastor Russell—who measured the race for the mark of the prize, with the line of Divine Righteousness (love, “the fulfilling of the law”), measured also the requirements for character attainment of the Millennial Age. One who will have that degree of love, which is duty love to God and man, even though reaching the utmost fulness of the measure of Divine Justice (1,000 cubits), will be as it were, only up to the ankles in the stream. He who attains the fulness of the Divine standard as to love for God, for His glorious character, will be in the stream to his knees. He who shall reach the fulness of love for the “least” brethren of that Age will be up to the loins; but he who so acquires the spirit of Divine Love, as to love all, including his enemies, will have reached the utmost fulness of love. (Ezek. 47:2-5.) Any that appreciate this, see the full purpose of Divine Love. It is important—“Son of man, hast thou seen this?” (Ezek. 47:6.) This is the love that will insure the healing of the sin-sick, anarchistic world lying in a deadness like the Dead Sea. (A. 318, D. 653, Z. '99-196, Ezek. 47:7-8.) Whoever becomes immersed in the fulness of Divine Love shall thereby gain life; and for everyone everywhere, to whom the water comes, there shall be life. (E. 357, 335; C. 214; Ezek. 47:9.) In connection with the gospel of the fulness of Divine Love there shall be a multitude of fishers of men to spread the net of the gospel of glad tidings of great joy for exceeding many. (C. 215, Ezek. 47:10.) But the people who are hopelessly polluted with worldliness (miry places) and those impregnated beyond saving with miasmas of iniquity (marshes) shall not be healed even when “brought to an accurate knowledge of the truth.” (Ezek. 47:11.) And the stream of the truth of Divine Love shall cause many righteous ones to come up (Dan. 12:3) whose loving teachings shall never be forgotten nor its character fruitage ever pass away; for they shall bring forth continued fruitage, because of the Divine Truth of perfect love coming to them out of Zion, the glorified Church. And the character fruitage shall forever be for spiritual food (John 4:34) and the teachings (leaves) for the healing of all the willing and obedient of the sin-sick world of mankind.—Z. '05-269; Matt. 10:8; Mal. 4:2; Ezek. 47:12.

“Come all ye saints to Pisgah's mountain,”
Come view our Home beyond the tide:
Millennial Canaan is before us,
Soon we'll sing on the other side.
O there see the 'white Throne of glory,'
And crowns which the saints then shall gain;
And all who shall love Christ's appearing,
Shall be blessed by His glorious reign.

Thence springs of life will e'er be flowing,
Robing the earth in living green.
Visions of beauty rise before us
When the King and the saints shall reign.
Soon our conflicts and toils will be ended;
We'll be tried and tempted no more,
And mankind of all Ages and nations
Shall be blessed in that triumphant hour.

Faith now beholds salvation's River,
Gliding from underneath the Throne,
Bearing its life to whomsoever
Will return to his Father's Home.
They will walk 'mid the trees by the rivers,
With the friends they have loved by their side;
They will sing the glad songs of salvation.
And be ready to follow their Guide.
O! the prospect! it is so transporting,
Reapers, hasten the gath'ring, we pray;
We rejoice in the glory that's promised,
“And the dawn of Millennial Day.”

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All interested in the subjects of this volume, and who consider its presentations to be “meat in due season,” will feel more or less constrained to become servants of the truth, and to bear the “things new and old” to yet others of the “Household of Faith.” Your measure of zeal for such service will of course measure your activities in its service, and determine how much of time, influence, means, etc., you will devote to its spread. We are glad to cooperate with all, that those who love much may do much, and that those who love some may do something, in the name of the great Shepherd and in the interest of His sheep.

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“Both the Houses of Israel”

Correspondencies Of The Mosaic And Christian Dispensations.

Israel After the Flesh	Israel After the Spirit
A House of Servants. 1 Cor. 10:18; Rom. 9:7, 8; 4:16; Heb. 3:5.	A House of Sons. Gal. 4:5, 6, 7, 30, 31; 6:15, 16; John 1:12; Rom. 8:15.
Founded in Jacob's Twelve Sons. 1 Kings 18:31.	Founded in Jesus' Twelve Apostles. Rev. 21:14.
A Kingdom and Priesthood, A Holy Nation. Exod. 19:6.	A Royal Priesthood, A Holy Nation. 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.
Aaron, Fleshly High-Priest. Heb. 9:7.	Jesus, The Spiritual High-Priest. Heb. 9:11.
Circumcision of the Flesh. Rom. 2:28, 29.	Circumcision of the Heart. Rom. 2:28, 29.
Law of Sin and Death. Rom. 8:2.	Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:2.
Earthly Promises. Gen. 13:14-17; Acts 7:2-5.	“Better Promises”. Heb. 9:23; 11:40.
In Captivity To Literal Babylon. 2 Chron. 36:20.	In Captivity To Mystic Babylon. Rev. 17:5; 18:4.
Length of Favor 1845 Years, From Jacob's Death to Israel's Rejection and the Beginning of Spiritual Israel, A. D. 33.	Length of Favor 1845 Years, From Jesus' Death to the Beginning of Christ's Reign and the Rejection of Babylon, A. D. 1878.
The Nominal System Cast Off, A. D. 33. Matt. 23:38.	The Nominal System Spewed Out, A. D. 1878. Rev. 3:16.
40 Years in Falling, to A. D. 73.	40 Years in Falling, to A. D. 1918.
The end of the age. A harvest of 40 years. Luke 10:9, 16.	The end of the age. A harvest of 40 years, Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43.
Our Lord's Presence and the Sacrificial Character of His Death, the Stumbling-Stone.	Our Lord's Presence and the Sacrificial Character of His Death, the Stumbling-Stone.

The Watch Tower And Herald Of Christ's Presence

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What Say The Scriptures About Hell?

An Examination Of Every Text Of Scripture In Which The Word “Hell” Is Found

A Correct understanding of the subject of this booklet is almost a necessity to Christian steadfastness. For centuries it has been the teaching of “orthodoxy,” of all shades, that God, before creating man, had created a great abyss of fire and terrors, capable of containing all the billions of the human family which He purposed to bring into being; that this abyss He had named “hell;” and that all of the promises and threatenings of the Bible were designed to deter as many as possible (a “little flock”) from such wrongdoing as would make this awful place their perpetual home.

While glad to see superstitions fall, and truer ideas of the great, and wise, and just, and loving Creator prevail, we are alarmed to notice that the tendency with all who abandon this long revered doctrine is toward doubt, scepticism, infidelity. Why should this be the case, when the mind is merely being delivered from an error?—do you ask? Because Christian people have so long been taught that the foundation for this awful blasphemy against God's character and government is deeplaid and firmly fixed in the Word of God—the Bible—and consequently, to whatever degree their belief in “hell” is shaken, to that extent their faith in the Bible, as the revelation of the true God, is shaken also;—so that those who have dropped their belief in a “hell,” of some kind of endless torment, are often open infidels, and scoffers at God's Word.

Guided by the Lord's providence to a realization that the Bible has been slandered, as well as its Divine Author, and that, rightly understood, it teaches nothing on this subject derogatory to God's character nor to an intelligent reason, we have attempted in this booklet to lay bare the Scripture teaching on this subject that thereby faith in God and His Word may be reëstablished, on a better, a reasonable foundation. Indeed, it is our opinion that whoever shall hereby find that his false view rested upon human misconceptions and misinterpretations will, at the same time, learn to trust hereafter less to his own and other men's imaginings, and, by faith, to grasp more firmly the Word of God, which is able to make wise unto salvation; and on this mission, under God's providence, it is sent forth.

Price 10 Cents (5d.) Per Copy.—88 Pages.

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What Say The Scriptures About Spiritism?

Proofs That It Is Demonism.

Also

“The Spirits In Prison” And Why Are They There!

The necessity for this little brochure lies in the fact that Spiritism is showing an increased activity of late, and meeting with considerable success in entrapping Christians who are feeling dissatisfied with their present attainments and craving spiritual food and better foundation for faith.

The aim is to show the unscripturalness of Spiritism, and to point those who hunger and thirst for truth in the direction of God's Word—the counsel of the Most High. “Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”—Psa. 73:24.

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Volume I. “Studies in the Scriptures” Series

Things You Ought To Know As

Christian Bible Students

The Satisfactory Proofs That

The Bible is a Divine Revelation—reasonable and trustworthy, revealing a systematic Plan full of Justice, Wisdom and Love. “The Key of Knowledge” of the Scriptures, long lost is found, and gives God's faithful people access to the “Hidden Mystery.”—Luke 11:52, Col. 1:26.

The Lord Jesus and His faithful are to be not only priests but kings, and will reign over the earth.

This Kingdom is to come at Christ's Second Advent.

God's Plan is to select and save the Church in the Gospel Age, and to use this Church in blessing the world in the Millennium. A “ransom for all” implies an opportunity to all for restitution. The Day of Judgment is 1,000 years long—the world's trial day.

“The narrow way” of self-sacrifice will cease with this Age.

“The highway” of righteousness will be open to all the redeemed race in the Millennium.—Isa. 35:8, 9.

“The kingdoms of this world” are but for an ordained period and must give place to the “Kingdom of Heaven.”

God has permitted evil for six thousand years for a wise purpose.

These subjects and many others of deep interest to all of God's people are discussed fully and in language easy of comprehension in

“The Divine Plan of the Ages”

(In English, German, Swedish, Dano-Norwegian, Italian, French, Greek, Hungarian, Spanish, Polish, Hollandish, Finnish, Arabic, Slovak, Roumanian, Lettish, Ukrainian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean; also Braille, for the blind).

416 Pages—Cloth Bound. 50 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs. Magazine Edition (Eng. and Ger.) 10 Cents Postpaid.

International Bible Students Association

Brooklyn, N. Y.

Volume II. “Studies in the Scriptures” Series

A Remarkable Book

Skeptics Should Read it . . .

Christians Should Study it.

Things You Want To Know As

Christian Bible Students

There Are Evidences That

Six thousand Years from Adam ended in A. D. 1872.
The Date of our Lord's Birth was October B. C. 2.
The Date of Annunciation to Mary, Dec 25th, B. C. 3.
The Date of our Lord's Baptism was October A. D. 29.
The Date of our Lord's Crucifixion, April A. D. 33.
The “Seventy Weeks” of Israel's favor ended A. D. 36.
The Jewish Age “Harvest” was 40 years A. D. 30 to 70.
The Christian Age “Harvest” is its parallel.
The Jewish Jubilees were typical of the “Times of Restitution of all Things.”—Acts 3:19-21.
The Typical Jubilees mark the Date of their Antitype.
The “Times of the Gentiles” ended A. D. 1914.
The Jewish Age, in its Lengths, its Ceremonies, etc.,
Typified the Realities of the Christian Age and its Length.
Elias or “Elijah the prophet” was a Type.—How fulfilled.
The Antichrist has come!—What? When? Where?

These subjects and many others deeply interesting to “the Household of Faith,” and “Meat in due season” to all who love and study God's Word, can be had in

“The Time Is At Hand”

(In English, German, Swedish, Finnish and Dano-Norwegian.)

482 Pages—Cloth Bound, 50 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs

International Bible Students Association

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Volume III. “Studies in the Scriptures” Series

Do You Know That

We are now living in “the Time of the End” of this Gospel Age?

Our Epoch is “the Day of God's Preparation” for the Millennial Age?

The “Days of Waiting” are ended and the “Cleansing of the Sanctuary”—the Church—the separating of its Wheat and Tares, is now in progress?

This the reason for the beginning of the Return of Divine Favor to Fleshly Israel—blinded for centuries—to permit the gathering of an Elect Class from among the Gentiles?

This favor now taking shape is known as Zionism?

Immanuel's Kingdom is now being established?

The Great Pyramid in Egypt is a Witness to all these events of the past and present—testifying in symbols? The Pyramid's Downward Passage under “A Draconis” symbolizes the course of Sin? Its First Ascending Passage symbolizes the Jewish Age? Its Grand Gallery symbolizes the Gospel Age? Its Upper Step symbolizes the approaching period of tribulation and anarchy, “Judgments,” upon Christendom? Its King's Chamber the Divine Nature, etc., of the Overcoming Church—the Christ, Head and Body? Its Ante-Chamber the Correction in Righteousness of the “Great Company” etc.? Its Queen's Chamber symbolizes those of Israel and the world who eventually attain Restitution?

All these interesting topics with ten Pyramid illustrations can be had in

“Thy Kingdom Come”

(English, German, Swedish, Finnish, Dano-Norwegian)

482 Pages—Cloth Bound, 50 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs

International Bible Students Association

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Volume IV. “Studies in the Scriptures” Series

“None Of The Wicked Will Understand”

But “The Wise Shall Understand” That

This Gospel Age is closing with a “Day of Vengeance.” It will affect the whole world, specially Christendom. All Political, Social, Financial and Religious systems will fail.

These Judgments, beginning with the House of God, must extend to all.

Our day is noted by the Prophets as “the Day of Jehovah.”

It is symbolically styled “a Dark Day,” a “Day of clouds,” etc.

Its trouble is symbolically likened to a Hurricane, to a Flood, to a Fire, etc., these strong figures being used to give an appreciation, yet to hide the real nature, of that “Time of Trouble such as Never Has been since there was a Nation.”—Dan. 13:1.

Preparations for this symbolic “Fire” and “Tempest” are now well under way and shortly will rage furiously throughout the world.

It will be a contest between Masses and Classes.

Many see it upon us and trust to various schemes to avert it.

But all worldly Schemes and Panaceas will fail utterly. God's Kingdom, the only hope for Church and world, is sure.

Man's extremity will prove to be God's opportunity—in the establishment of God's Kingdom—Christ's Millennial Kingdom which will establish righteousness by force.—Rev. 2:26, 27; Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45.

All these subjects are simply yet forcefully treated, and Matthew 24th Chapter elucidated, in

“The Battle Of Armageddon”

(In English, German, Swedish, Finnish and Dano-Norwegian.)

720 Pages—Cloth Bound, 60 Cents. Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs

International Bible Students Association

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Volume V. “Studies in the Scriptures” Series

The At-One-Ment Is Believed In By All

Christian Bible Students

Nevertheless, but few could explain its philosophy

All Should Know

About the great Mediator of the At-one-ment, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Respecting the necessity for the At-one-ment

And the necessity that the “Only Begotten” must be “made flesh,” and then die, and then rise from the dead in order to effect the At-one-ment.

Respecting the office and work of the Holy Spirit in connection with the At-one-ment.

And the important part of the At-one-ment not yet finished—which awaits the Second Coming of our Lord in His Kingdom glory.

Respecting the central doctrine of At-one-ment, namely, the Ransom—what is was—why it was and is the center or “hub” around which and into which all Bible doctrines fit.

How this doctrine is the test of the truth or falsity of all doctrines; so that once understood clearly it is a guard against error in every form.

Respecting man, the subject of the great At-one-ment, his nature; his sin; his penalty; his deliverance through Christ; his future possibilities through acceptance of the At-one-ment.

All these interesting and very important themes are lucidly discussed in simple language, and corroborated by fourteen hundred Scripture citations, in

“The At-One-Ment Between God And Man”

(In English, German, Swedish, Finnish and Dano-Norwegian.)

600 Pages—Cloth Bound 60 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs.

International Bible Students Association

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Volume VI. “Studies in the Scriptures” Series

Things You Ought To Know As

Christian Bible Students

The Creative Week of Genesis—its actual length—scientifically corroborated.

The true Church of Christ, begotten of the Spirit as the New Creation; the steps of Grace Divine—Justification, Sanctification, and Deliverance in the First Resurrection.

The duties and obligations of the New Creation—toward the Lord, toward each other, toward earthly friends and neighbors, toward parents, children, husbands, wives, etc.

The Lord's Memorial Supper or Sacrament: what it is and what it is not should be clearly discerned by all of God's people.

True Baptism—what it is. The many mistakes of nearly all denominations are pointed out in kindly spirit, and then the true Baptism is set forth in convincing style—indisputable, incontrovertible.

The foes and besetments of the New Creation, and the Scriptural method of overcoming them; also the present and the future inheritance of the saints.

These subjects and many others deeply interesting to all who love and study the Bible are fully treated in

The New Creation

(English, German, Swedish, Dano-Norwegian and Finnish)

816 Pages—Cloth Bound, 60 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs

International Bible Students Association

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Footnotes