{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46016/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46016","id":"gutenberg_46016","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46016","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jehovah's witnesses -- Controversial literature"],"text":"Studies in the Scriptures\n\n Volume VII\n\n The Finished Mystery\n\n \u201cThe Winepress of God\u2019s Wrath\u201d and the Fall of Babylon.\n\n By\n\n Charles Taze Russell\n\n (Published Posthumously)\n\n Edited by\n\n C. J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher\n\n 850,000 Edition\n\n\u201cAnd the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up\n his hand to Heaven, and swore by Him that liveth forever and ever, who\n created Heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the\n things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein,\nthat the time should be no longer delayed; but in the days of the voice of\nthe seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God should\n be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the Prophets.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n 10:5\u20107. \u201cAt the end it shall speak and not lie.\u201d\u2014Hab. 2:3.\n\n Copyright 1917\n\n Peoples Pulpit Association\n\n Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A.\n\n International Bible Students Association\n\n Brooklyn, London, Melbourne, Barmen\n\n 1918\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nPublisher\u2019s Preface\nExplanatory Note\nThe Revelation Of [St.] John [The Divine]\n Revelation 1\u2014The Message For This Day\n Revelation 2\u2014St. Paul, St. John, Arius And Waldo\n Revelation 3\u2014Wycliffe, Luther And Russell\n Revelation 4\u2014The Author Of The Plan\n Revelation 5\u2014The Executor Of The Plan\n Revelation 6\u2014Six Seals And The Papacy\n Revelation 7\u2014Seventh Seal And Great Company\n Revelation 8\u2014Four Preliminary Reformations\n Revelation 9\u2014Two Ineffective Reformation Woes\n Revelation 10\u2014The True Reformation Woe\n Revelation 11\u2014The Time Of The End\n Revelation 12\u2014The Birth Of Antichrist\n Revelation 13\u2014The Papal And Protestant Beasts\n Revelation 14\u2014The Five Harvest Messages\n Revelation 15\u2014The Song Of The Saints\n Revelation 16\u2014Ecclesiasticism\u2019s Seven Plagues\n Revelation 17\u2014The Papacy\u2019s Last Stand\n Revelation 18\u2014The Fall Of Ecclesiasticism\n Revelation 19\u2014The Overthrow Of Satan\u2019s Empire\n Revelation 20\u2014The Thousand Years\u2019 Reign\n Revelation 21\u2014The Descending Kingdom\n Revelation 22\u2014The River Of Grace And Truth\nThe Song Of Solomon\n The Bridal Anthem\n The Heavenly Bridegroom\nThe Book Of The Prophet Ezekiel\n Ezekiel 1\u2014God\u2019s Character And Plan\n Ezekiel 2\u2014The Rebellious House And The Book\n Ezekiel 3\u2014Pastor Russell\u2019s Divine Ordination\n Ezekiel 4\u2014The Papal And Protestant Sieges\n Ezekiel 5\u2014The Severed Hair Calamities\n Ezekiel 6\u2014Sword\u2014Famine\u2014Pestilence\n Ezekiel 7\u2014Dawn Of The Evil Day\n Ezekiel 8\u2014Molech, The Torment Deity\n Ezekiel 9\u2014The Man With The Inkhorn\n Ezekiel 10\u2014Scattering Coals Of Fire\n Ezekiel 11\u2014The Wicked Counsel\n Ezekiel 12\u2014Christendom\u2019s Blind Flight\n Ezekiel 13\u2014The Gaps In The Wall\n Ezekiel 14\u2014Insincere Inquirers\n Ezekiel 15\u2014Fit For Fuel Only\n Ezekiel 16\u2014Unfaithfulness Of God\u2019s People\n Ezekiel 17\u2014Parable Of The Eagles\n Ezekiel 18\u2014\u201cThe Soul That Sinneth\u201d\n Ezekiel 19\u2014The Lion\u2019s Whelps\n Ezekiel 20\u2014The Hypocritical Ecclesiastics\n Ezekiel 21\u2014The Thrice\u2010Doubled Sword\n Ezekiel 22\u2014The Melting Pot Of War\n Ezekiel 23\u2014Two Apostate Church Systems\n Ezekiel 24\u2014The Boiling Caldron\n Ezekiel 25\u2014Recompense Upon The Tares\n Ezekiel 26\u2014Downfall Of Philosophy\n Ezekiel 27\u2014Philosophy\u2019s Utter Ruin\n Ezekiel 28\u2014Destruction Of The Devil\n Ezekiel 29\u2014The Egyptians A Type\n Ezekiel 30\u2014Pharaoh\u2019s Two Arms Broken\n Ezekiel 31\u2014Christendom Not To Endure\n Ezekiel 32\u2014Christendom\u2019s Utter Downfall\n Ezekiel 33\u2014Why Ecclesiasticism Must Perish\n Ezekiel 34\u2014The Unfaithful Shepherds\n Ezekiel 35\u2014Edom A Type\n Ezekiel 36\u2014Christendom\u2019s Early Restoration\n Ezekiel 37\u2014The Valley Of Dry Bones\n Ezekiel 38\u2014Final Overthrow Of Pride\n Ezekiel 39\u2014Death Of Pride\u2019s Multitude\n Ezekiel 40\u201048\u2014God\u2019s Temple And River Of Truth\nAdvertisements\n \u201cGo Ye Also Into The Vineyard\u201d\n \u201cBoth the Houses of Israel\u201d\n The Watch Tower And Herald Of Christ\u2019s Presence\n What Say The Scriptures About Hell?\n What Say The Scriptures About Spiritism?\n Miscellaneous Advertisements\nFootnotes\n\n\n\n\n\n\n [Cover Art]\n\n[Transcriber\u2019s Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter\nat Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.]\n\n\n\n\n\nTO THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS THIS WORK IS DEDICATED\n\nIn the Interest of\nHIS CONSECRATED SAINTS\nWaiting for the Adoption\nAnd of\n\u201cALL THAT IN EVERY PLACE CALL UPON THE LORD\u201d\n\u201cTHE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH\u201d\nAnd Of\nThe Groaning Creation; Travailing And\nWaiting for the Manifestation of\nTHE SONS OF GOD\n\nPOSTHUMOUS WORK OF PASTOR RUSSELL\n\nHis Last Legacy to the Dear Israel of God (Matt 20:9)\n\n\u201cTo make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the\nbeginning of the world hath been hid in God.\u201d \u201cWherein He hath abounded\ntoward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the\nmystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed\nin Himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of the times He might\ngather together in one all things, under Christ.\u201d\n\nEph. 3:4, 5, 9; 1:8\u201010\n\n\n\n\n\nPUBLISHER\u2019S PREFACE\n\n\nSince the days of the Apostles, Christian people have been looking for the\ncoming of our Lord Jesus in great power and glory; for He said that He\nwould come again and receive His Church unto Himself. He further pointed\nout that for some time prior to the completion of the Church He would be\npresent, gathering out from Babylon and from the world the truly\nconsecrated, and that during His presence \u201cthe Mystery of God\u201d would be\nfinished.\n\nThrough St. John the Lord Jesus revealed the fact that the Church would be\ndeveloped during seven distinct periods, or epochs; and that for each of\nthese epochs He would have a special angel, or messenger, to serve the\nother members of the Body. It follows, then, that the messenger to the\nlast, or Laodicean, epoch would declare the Presence of the Lord and the\ntime of the Harvest of the Gospel Age. The great Master laid special\nemphasis on the importance of the messenger to the seventh, or Laodicean,\nperiod of the Church, saying that such an one would be \u201ca faithful and\nwise servant, whom his Lord would make ruler over all His Household, to\ngive them meat in due season.\u201d\n\nThose consecrated Christians who have read and fully appreciated the Truth\nas contained in the preceding six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES\nreadily see and agree that Charles Taze Russell was the messenger of the\nChurch of Laodicea. In the mind of every one who believes the Bible the\nevidence set forth in this volume will establish that fact beyond the\nquestion of a doubt.\n\nIn the light of Divine Prophecy, now being daily fulfilled and made clear\nto \u201cthe watchers,\u201d the following from the pen of Pastor Russell is further\nproof that he was sent of God to this generation. Long years before the\nbeginning of the trouble now upon the nations he wrote:\n\n\n \u201cThe four exhibitions of the Lord, given to Elijah, represent, we\n believe, four manifestations in which the Lord is about to reveal\n Himself to mankind, the first three of which will prepare men for\n the final one, in which will come the desired blessing to all the\n families of the earth. These are:\n\n \u201c(1) _The mighty winds_ rending the very rocks. Blowing winds seem\n to be used in Scripture for wars. The wars, whose dark clouds have\n threatened the civilized world so ominously for the past thirty\n years, have been miraculously hindered to give opportunity for\n \u2018sealing\u2019 the Lord\u2019s consecrated people in their foreheads\n (intellectually) with the Present Truth. We are therefore to\n expect that when these winds of war shall be let loose, it will\n mean a cataclysm of warfare which shall divide kingdoms\n (mountains)\u2014prefigured by the mighty wind shown to Elijah (1 Kings\n 19:11), which rent the rocks. But God\u2019s Kingdom will not follow\n the epoch of war; the world will not thus be made ready for the\n Reign of Immanuel. No; a further lesson will be needed and will be\n given. It is represented in\n\n \u201c(2) An _earthquake_. Throughout the Scriptures an earthquake\n seems always to represent revolution; and it is not unreasonable\n to expect that an era of general warfare would so arouse the lower\n classes of Europe and so discontent them with their lot (and\n especially with the conditions which would follow such a war) that\n revolution would be the next thing in order. (Rev. 16:18.) But,\n severe though those revolutionary experiences will be to the\n world, they are not sufficient to prepare men to hear the voice of\n God. It will require\n\n \u201c(3) The _fire from heaven_\u2014an epoch of Divine judgments and\n chastisements upon a maddened but unconverted world, wild in\n anarchy, as other Scriptures show us. The results of their wars,\n revolutions and anarchy, in the failure of their schemes, will\n have a humbling effect, and will prepare mankind for God\u2019s\n revelation of Himself in\n\n \u201c(4) The _still small voice_. Yes; He who spoke to the winds and\n the waves of the Sea of Galilee will, in due time, \u2018speak peace to\n the peoples.\u2019 He will speak with authority, commanding the\n observance of His long neglected Law of Love. \u2018And whosoever will\n not hear that Prophet shall be cut off from among His people.\u2019\n (Acts 3:23.)\u201d\u2014THE WATCH TOWER, July 1, 1898, p. 308.\n\n \u201cLooking back to the prophetic testimony respecting the _Times of\n the Gentiles_, we perceive that our Lord\u2019s words, \u2018Jerusalem shall\n be trodden down of the Gentiles until the Times of the Gentiles be\n filled full,\u2019 give the intimation that the determined times, or\n years, in which the empire of earth would be in the hands of\n Gentile governments was a fixed one from the Divine standpoint.\n And if, as we believe the Scriptures to teach, Gentile domination\n was provided for up to October, 1914, it would seem but a\n reasonable interpretation that Divine power would not be exercised\n to their dethronement until _after_ the time allotted for their\n reign had ended\u2014October, 1914.\u201d\u2014THE WATCH TOWER, July 1, 1904. p.\n 198.\n\n\nIn 1879 Charles Taze Russell began the publication of THE WATCH TOWER, of\nwhich he was the sole editor as long as he remained on earth. THE WATCH\nTOWER was, and is, the first and only journal declaring the _presence_ of\nthe Lord Jesus. Pastor Russell being the messenger to the Laodicean\nChurch, and occupying the position of the Lord\u2019s special servant to give\nthe Household of Faith meat in due season, it was to be expected that he\nwould bring forth from the Lord\u2019s great \u201cStorehouse\u201d the needed spiritual\nfood for the Church, in harmony with God\u2019s will. By the Lord\u2019s grace he\nwrote the six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, which writings, aside\nfrom the Bible, have gladdened more hearts and thrilled Christians with\ngreater hope and joyful expectation than have any other writings extant.\nThese books have been properly designated \u201cKeys to the Divine Plan of the\nAges.\u201d These \u201ckeys\u201d have been placed in the hands of thousands of\nChristian people throughout the world, and have enabled them to unlock the\nLord\u2019s Treasure\u2010house, the Bible, and there to see some of the \u201ctreasures\nof wisdom\u201d and knowledge of God! Some have been able to use these \u201ckeys\u201d\nmore effectually than have others. \u201cGod hath set the members in the Body\nas it hath pleased Him.\u201d\n\nTime and again Pastor Russell said that the Seventh Volume of STUDIES IN\nTHE SCRIPTURES would be written; and it was expected that he would write\nit. The Scriptures show that the Seventh Volume must be published. Pastor\nRussell passed from the earth, and the Seventh Volume remained\nunpublished. In his last moments he said, \u201cSome one else can write the\nSeventh Volume.\u201d For any one to arrogate to himself the authority to write\nand publish the Seventh Volume would, we believe, seem presumptuous before\nthe Lord. Whom, then, would the Lord have to write it?\n\nPastor Russell was a man of unusual modesty. Great men usually are modest.\nThe examination of the contents of this book will disclose the fact that\nit deals with Revelation and Ezekiel; that the Lord long ago caused to be\nrecorded therein, in symbolic language, a history of the Church,\nparticularly the closing earthly experiences thereof; that therein He set\nforth that He would uncover the frauds, deceptions and blasphemous\nteachings and practices of the church nominal\u2014both Catholic and\nProtestant; that in the last days He would then make bare the unholy\nalliance between the unrighteous ecclesiastical systems and the corrupt\npolitical elements of the earth, which religious systems have prospered\nand grown fat in the name of Christ; that the Lord pronounces His\nindignation and wrath against all such Babylonish systems and marks their\nutter destruction in a Time of Trouble such as the world has never known\nand will never again know; and that the earthly creature made prominent\ntherein above all others is the messenger of the Laodicean Church\u2014\u201cthat\nwise and faithful servant\u201d of the Lord\u2014CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL. In view of\nthe facts stated, is it at all surprising that the Lord spared him the\npublication of the Seventh Volume?\n\nBut the fact is, _he did write it_. This book may properly be said to be a\nposthumous publication of Pastor Russell. Why? Because to him the Lord\ngave the \u201ckey\u201d; to him was given the privilege of making clear to the\nChurch in its last years the \u201cMystery of God\u201d; to him was granted the\nprivilege of hearing from the hands of the Lord to the Household of Faith\n\u201cmeat in due season\u201d for the special development and sustenance of God\u2019s\ndear little ones. This service he has faithfully performed. This book is\nchiefly a compilation of things which he wrote and which have been brought\ntogether in harmonious style by properly applying the symbols which he\nexplained to the Church.\n\nBy his last Will and Testament Pastor Russell designated George H. Fisher,\nof Scranton, Pa., as one whom he would approve as a member of the\nEditorial Staff of THE WATCH TOWER\u2014the most important journal published on\nearth. For many years Brother Fisher has been consecrated to the Lord, a\ncareful student of the Bible in the light of the Message brought from the\nLord by the messenger to the Laodicean Church; and for some time he has\nmade a careful and prayerful study of the Book of Ezekiel.\n\nWhen Pastor Russell was with us he gave direction that the BIBLE STUDENTS\nMANUAL should be prepared by Clayton J. Woodworth, also of Scranton, Pa.\nThis Manual was published by this Society, and has proven a great blessing\nto the Household of Faith. The preparation of that Manual required a\ncritical examination of everything Pastor Russell had written; and thus\nBrother Woodworth was enabled to become more familiar, probably, than any\none else with the explanation of the Scriptures which had been given by\nBrother Russell. In this manner the Lord seemed to have qualified him for\nsome special work. With the \u201ckey\u201d which Brother Russell, as the Lord\u2019s\nservant, had placed in his hands, Brother Woodworth, by the Lord\u2019s grace,\nhas been enabled to bring together everything that Brother Russell wrote\non Revelation, and to explain and harmonize the other parts of that book\nwith the Divine Plan; also, to treat similarly, the Song of Solomon.\n\nIt seemed pleasing to the Lord that Brothers C. J. Woodworth and George H.\nFisher should prepare the Seventh Volume, under the direction of the WATCH\nTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY. While both residing in the same city, they\nhave worked separate and apart from each other, not even comparing notes.\nThe reader will be able to judge how fully the work of each harmonizes\nwith that of the other and with the Divine Plan, thus giving further\nevidence of the Lord\u2019s direction in this matter.\n\nPastor Russell long ago said, in substance, that the Seventh Volume would\nnot be for the development of the Church; that the preceding _six_ volumes\nof STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES contain the necessary spiritual food for that\npurpose. Asked why, then, it would be written, he replied, \u201c_It will\nprobably be given to the Church in a time of direst need, for her comfort\nand encouragement_.\u201d\n\nWho amongst the consecrated this side the veil does not realize that the\nChurch is now in that time of \u201cdire need of comfort and encouragement\u201d?\nThe hour of fiery trial and great testings is upon God\u2019s people, and there\nis need for their comfort and encouragement. The Lord has promised \u201cgrace\nsufficient\u201d and help for every time of need for those who love Him and\ncome confidently unto Him. We believe that as the Lord\u2019s dear children\nthroughout the earth read the contents of this book and see how\nwonderfully He has shielded them from the storms of human passion and from\nthe snares of the great Adversary; and that when they see that the\nunrighteous, wicked systems of Babylon are now crumbling under the mighty\nhand of God\u2014which bespeaks the early deliverance of the last members of\nthe Body from this vale of tears into the glorious light and liberty of\nthe saints\u2014that then they will be greatly comforted; that then they will\ntake new courage and \u201cgird up the loins of their mind, be sober and hope\nto the end for the grace that is to come unto them quickly;\u201d that with\nexceeding joy they will lift up their heads, because the hour of\ndeliverance is at hand! To all the truly consecrated who read and\nappreciate this book we believe that the words of the Master, \u201cTHE KINGDOM\nOF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!\u201d will sound in their ears like clarion notes upon\nthe clear morning air, giving courage and strength to those who are\ngrowing weak in faith, and more courage to the stronger ones. We believe\nthat every one who appreciates this volume will have a burning desire to\ngrasp his weapon and go forth to the smiting of the Jordan, giving praise\nto the Lord for the privilege.\n\nSome will murmur and find fault with this book; some will grow angry, and\nsome will join the persecutors. But, we believe, every saint whose heart\nis filled with love for God and for His people will rejoice and give\npraise to the Lord for this further evidence of His blessed favor.\n\nThe publisher takes pleasure in presenting this, the Seventh Volume, to\nthe remaining members of the Church, and to all who may read with profit\nto themselves and to the glory of the Lord Jesus and our Father. As the\nLord has sent forth the other six volumes, His blessing has accompanied\neach. That His blessing may be upon this volume, to the comfort and\nencouragement of the dear saints in the hour of direst need, is our\nprayer!\n\nWATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY.\n\n\n\n\n\nEXPLANATORY NOTE\n\n\nThis posthumous work of Pastor Russell (arranged for use as a textbook) is\nmuch condensed, including the extracts from the Pastor\u2019s pen, all of which\nare referred back to his works. The abbreviations used are:\n\nA, B, C, D, E, F. The six preceding volumes of \u201cSTUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES\u201d\n(Citations to E in italic figures refer to old editions, figures in\n ordinary type to later editions.)\nB. S. M. ... \u201cTHE BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY.\u201d\nH. ... \u201cWhat Say the Scriptures ABOUT HELL?\u201d\nP\u2010D. ... \u201cPHOTO\u2010DRAMA OF CREATION\u201d Scenario.\nT. ... \u201cTABERNACLE SHADOWS.\u201d\nS. ... \u201cSPIRITISM\u201d Pamphlet.\nZ. ... \u201cZION\u2019S WATCH TOWER,\u201d followed by year and page.\n\nThe citations to REVELATION and EZEKIEL refer to the comments herein, as\nwell as to the Bible text.\n\nOther abbreviations used are:\n\nBarnes ... Barnes\u2019 \u201cRevelation.\u201d\nBrit. ... \u201cEncyclopedia Britannica.\u201d\nBuck ... Buck\u2019s \u201cTheological Dictionary.\u201d\nCoffin ... Coffin\u2019s \u201cStory of Liberty.\u201d\nCook ... Cook\u2019s \u201cRevelation;\u201d a compendium of the presentations of\n seventy\u2010two leading commentators on Revelation, in all\n languages and all ages of the church.\nEdgar ... Edgar\u2019s \u201cPyramid Passages.\u201d Vol. II.\nMcC. ... McClintock and Strong\u2019s Encyclopedia.\nMosheim ... Mosheim\u2019s Ecclesiastical History.\nS. B. D. ... Smith\u2019s Bible Dictionary.\nSmith ... Smith\u2019s \u201cThoughts on Daniel and Revelation.\u201d\nWeym ... Weymouth\u2019s New Testament In Modern Speech.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE REVELATION OF [ST.] JOHN [THE DIVINE](1)\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 1\u2014The Message For This Day\n\n\nThe Revelation of Jesus Christ.\u2014John the Revelator and the Prophet\nHabakkuk have foretold that the understanding of this revelation, given in\n96 A. D., is set for an appointed time, the end of the age; and that, at\nthis time, now, when the predicted \u201cFaithful and wise servant\u201d would be\npresent with God\u2019s people, the vision would be made plain.\u2014Rev. 1:10;\nMatt. 24:45; Hab. 2:1\u20103; 1 Pet 1:13.\n\nWhich God gave unto Him.\u2014\u201cThe declaration that \u2018the Son can do nothing of\nHimself,\u2019 if it were not backed up as it is by a score of other\ntestimonies from the same interested and inspired Teacher, is a\ncontradiction to the common thought of Trinitarians, that the Son is the\nFather.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201999\u201045; John 5:20; 12:49; 17:7,8.\n\nTo shew unto His [servants] SAINTS.(2)\u2014\u201cOur Lord Jesus has promised us\nthat, as the Elder Brother (of the Gospel House of Sons), whatsoever the\nFather shall make known to Him He in turn will make known to us.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201999\u201045.\n\nThe things.\u2014The shifting scenes of Church and State, the history of the\nGospel and Millennial Ages.\n\nWhich must shortly come to pass.\u2014Which began at once, in St. John\u2019s day,\nand will continue until the completion of all that he foresaw.\n\nAnd He sent.\u2014He did not come Himself, but acted with the dignity becoming\nHim who is now the express Image of the Father\u2019s person. \u201cDwelling in the\nlight which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can\nsee.\u201d\u2014Heb. 1:3; 1 Tim. 6:16.\n\nAnd signified It\u2014\u201cOur Lord\u2019s revelation, which God gave Him after He had\npassed into glory, He sent and signified [_sign_ified, told in signs,\nsymbols, etc.] to His Church.\u201d\u2014B. 203.\n\nBy His angel.\u2014The \u201cangel\u201d of Rev. 3:14 represented this messenger who\nappeared to St. John. Our Lord\u2019s promise in Luke 12:44 is not limited to\nactivities on this side the veil.\n\nUnto His servant John.\u2014\u201cThis simplicity, common to all the Apostles,\ncommends them to us as men of humble mind\u2014the very kind we should expect\nour Lord to use as special messengers to His people.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010343; Rev.\n19:10.\n\n1:2. Who bare record.\u2014Previously, In the Fourth Gospel, and in the three\nepistles bearing his name.\n\nOf the Word of God.\u2014The Logos. St. John has had more to say of the Logos\nthan had any other Apostle. \u201cIn olden times certain kings made addresses\nto their subjects by proxy, the king sitting behind a screen, while his\nword, or spokesman, stood before the screen, and addressed the people\naloud on subjects whispered to him by the king, who was not seen, and such\na speaker was termed the King\u2019s _logos_.\u201d\u2014E. 94\u201085.\n\nAnd of the testimony.\u2014The daily words and deeds, during the three and a\nhalf years of His ministry.\n\nOf Jesus Christ.\u2014\u201cThe Faithful and True Witness.\u201d\u2014Rev. 3:14.\n\n[And of all] WHAT things [that] SOEVER he saw.\u2014St. John\u2019s powers of\nobservation were acute. His Gospel contains records of twenty\u2010two events\nor teachings not mentioned by the other Evangelists.\n\n1:3. Blessed is he.\u2014Singular.\n\nThat readeth.\u2014Correctly interprets the symbolisms.\n\nAnd they.\u2014Plural.\n\nThat hear the [words] WORD of this prophecy.\u2014\u201cAll who have read and\nunderstood even a part of the teachings of the book were blessed as\npromised. It was an important aid to Luther in deciding that the Papacy,\nof which he was a conscientious minister, was \u2018Antichrist\u2019 \u201d\u2014A. 27.\n\nAnd keep.\u2014Keep the eyes upon, observe (so the Greek Indicates).\u2014Rev. 22:7.\n\nThose things which are written therein.\u2014\u201cThere is a blessing upon those\nwho read this revelation, even though they do not understand, and a\nspecial blessing upon those who hear and understand the words of this\nprophecy, and who conform their lives to the things therein written.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010343.\n\nFor the time is at hand.\u2014The fulfilments began at once, in St. John\u2019s own\nday.\n\n1:4. John to the seven churches.\u2014Not merely the seven literal\ncongregations mentioned in Verse 11 and elsewhere, but to the epochs of\nthe Church as a whole, from Apostolic days until now.\n\nWhich are in Asia.\u2014In the Orient, the East, the early path of the sun.\nBefore the Sun of Righteousness can illuminate the world of mankind, its\nrays must first have passed through the Church, the first to greet and\nwelcome the New Day.\n\nGrace be unto you.\u2014May favor, unmerited, be your happy portion.\n\nAnd peace.\u2014The Lord\u2019s special legacy to His Church.\u2014John 14:27.\n\nFrom Him.\u2014Our glorified Lord and Head.\u2014Rev. 1:8.\n\nWhich is.\u2014Now self\u2010existent, like the Father.\u2014John 5:26.\n\nAnd which was.\u2014The Logos, the Father\u2019s Agent in the creation of all things\n(John 1:3), and subsequently, as man\u2019s Redeemer, \u201cmade a little lower than\nthe angels for the suffering of death.\u201d\u2014Heb. 2:9.\n\nAnd which is to come.\u2014In glory and great power at His Second Advent,\n\u201cuntil He shall have set judgment in the earth.\u201d\u2014Isa. 42:4.\n\nAnd from the seven spirits.\u2014Lamps of fire, or eyes. (Rev. 4:5; 5:6.) \u201cIn\nthis symbolical picture the eye of the Lord is represented as seven or\ncomplete, all\u2010seeing, everywhere, all\u2010knowing. This is our confidence,\nthis is our rejoicing.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010318; Zech. 3:9, 4:10.\n\nWhich are before His Throne.\u2014Which are \u201csent forth into all the\nearth.\u201d\u2014Rev. 4:5.\n\n1:5. And.\u2014_Kai_, even. For a similar use of the word see the expression,\n\u201cGod Himself and our Father\u201d (1 Thes. 3:11), which, in the Diaglott, is\nrendered, \u201cGod Himself, even our Father.\u201d\n\nFrom Jesus Christ the faithful Witness.\u2014\u201cWho before Pontius Pilate\nwitnessed a good confession.\u201d (1 Tim. 6:13.) Our Lord\u2019s admission to\nPilate, \u201cI am a King; to this end was I born, and for this cause came I\ninto the world\u201d (John 18:37), was the direct cause of His death. The\naccusation set up over His head was, \u201cThis is Jesus the King of the Jews.\u201d\n(John 19:19; Matt. 27:37.) Similarly faithful admissions may end the\nearthly careers of the feet\u2010members of His Body.\n\nThe First Begotten of the dead.\u2014\u201cThe First\u2010Born of the dead ones.\u201d\n(Diaglott.) (1 Cor. 15:20; Col. 1:18; Acts 26:23.) \u201cThis verse clearly\nteaches what the creeds of Christendom ignore; namely, that our Lord was\nthe first to experience a resurrection to perfection and eternal life in\nthe full sense of the word.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010343; Acts 13:33, 34.\n\nAnd.\u2014Even.\n\nThe Prince.\u2014The King\u2010Elect, now ruling in their hearts.\n\nOf the kings of the earth.\u2014His associate kings, \u201cThe kings of the East.\u201d\n(Rev. 16:12.) \u201cAll are to be awakened from the Adamic death, as though\nfrom a sleep. They will then be under the care of the Royal Priesthood,\nwhose experience with sin, and whose victory over sin, well fitted them to\nbe helpful toward those over whom they will reign, as Kings as well as\nPriests. (Rev. 5:10.)\u201d\u2014E. 487, 478.\n\nUnto Him that [loved] LOVETH us.\u2014Our Lord\u2019s love for us is ever\u2010present.\n\nAnd [washed] FREED us from our sins [in] BY His own blood.\u2014\u201cThat it was\nthe death of the Man Christ Jesus, His \u2018blood,\u2019 that secured our release\nfrom sin and death is most unequivocally stated in many Scriptures. See 1\nPet 1:2; Acts 4:12; 20:28; Rev. 5:9; Rom. 5:9; Heb. 13:12.\u201d\u2014E. 458, 446;\nMatt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6; Rev. 14:4.\n\n1:6. And hath made us.\u2014And will make us during the Millennial Age.\n\n[Kings and] A KINGDOM, priests.\u2014The work of a priest is that of\nintervention and of instruction in righteousness. It logically implies\nsubjects and a future work of salvation.\u20141 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10; 20:6;\n22:5.\n\nUnto God and His Father.\u2014\u201cUnto the God and Father of Himself.\u201d\u2014Diaglott.\nRom. 15:6; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3.\n\nTo Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.\u2014\u201cHe shall have\ndominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the\nearth;... and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and\nAmen.\u201d (Psa. 72:8, 19.) \u201cFor ever and ever\u201d is literally \u201cfor the ages of\n_the_ ages.\u201d The Millennium and subsequent ages are the ages of the ages.\n\n1:7. Behold, He cometh with clouds.\u2014\u201cWhile the clouds of trouble hang\nheavy and dark, when the mountains\u2014kingdoms of this world\u2014are trembling\nand falling, when the earth\u2014organized society\u2014is being shaken and\ndisintegrated, some will begin to realize that Jehovah\u2019s Anointed is\ntaking to Himself His great power and is beginning His work of laying\njustice to the line and righteousness to the plummet.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344; Matt\n24:30.\n\nAnd every eye shall see Him.\u2014\u201cHe will not be visible to natural sight, but\nto the eyes of understanding, as these shall open to an appreciation of\nthe punishments and blessings which will flow to mankind from His Reign.\nOur King will reveal Himself gradually. Some will discern the new Ruler\nsooner than will others. But ultimately \u2018every eye shall see [Greek,\n_horao_, discern] Him.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344.\n\nAnd they also which pierced Him.\u2014\u201cAnd I will pour upon the House of David,\nand upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the Jewish people], the spirit of\ngrace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have\npierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only\nson.\u201d\u2014Zech. 12:10.\n\nAnd all kindreds of the earth shall [wail because of] BEWAIL Him.\u2014\u201cAt the\ntime of our Lord\u2019s Second Advent the world will be far from converted to\nGod; for \u2018all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.\u2019 Christ\ncomes before the conversion of the world and for the very purpose of\nconverting all mankind.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344.\n\nEven so, Amen.\u2014We cannot stop the clouds of the Time of Trouble, or the\ntears of disappointment, and later, of repentance; and we would not if we\ncould. The trouble and the tears are a necessary preparation for the\nblessings which follow.\n\n1:8. I am THE Alpha and I AM ALSO THE Omega.\u2014Alpha is the first letter,\nand Omega the last letter, of the Greek alphabet.\n\nThe Beginning and the Ending.\u2014\u201cOur Lord\u2019s great honor is shown in that He\nwas not only the _first_ of God\u2019s creation, but the _last_. From this we\nare to understand that the great Jehovah did not directly employ His own\npower in creating either men or angels; but that He delegated His power to\nHis _Only_\u2010begotten Son.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201993\u2010115.\n\nSaith the Lord GOD.\u2014But not the clergy; they will have none of this\ndoctrine.\n\nWhich is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.\u2014\u201cIt is since\nHis resurrection that the message has gone forth\u2014\u2018All power in Heaven and\nin earth _is given_ unto Me.\u2019 (Matt 28:18.) Consequently it is only since\nthen that He could be called the Almighty.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201993\u2010115; Rev. 1:4; 16:5\u20107.\n\n1:9. I John, who [also] am your brother.\u2014\u201cInstead of adding titles to his\nname, as Reverend, Bishop, Overseer of all the Churches in Asia Minor, we\nfind John introducing himself as \u2018your brother.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010187.\n\nAnd companion in tribulation.\u2014\u201cHe was sharer with Christ, as a member of\nHis Body, in His afflictions, in His endurance; and the brother of all\nfellow\u2010disciples, sharers of the same sufferings, and prospectively of the\nsame glory.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010187: Matt. 20:23.\n\nAnd [In] the kingdom.\u2014Now, while \u201cthe Kingdom of Heaven suffereth\nviolence;\u201d and later, when \u201cthe Kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of\nthe Kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the\nsaints of the Most High.\u201d\u2014Matt 11:12; Dan. 7:27.\n\nAnd patience [of] IN Jesus [Christ].\u2014When Saul persecuted the saints, he\npersecuted Jesus. When St. Paul suffered as a Christian, it was as part of\nthe \u201cdying of the Lord Jesus.\u201d (Acts 9:5; 2 Cor. 4:10.) What St. John\ncheerfully endured was endured by Jesus.\n\nWas in the isle that is called Patmos.\u2014\u201cAt the time of this vision St.\nJohn was a prisoner, exiled to the Isle of Patmos, a penal colony of those\ndays [a convict quarry]\u2014a rocky, barren island in the \u00c6gean Sea. The crime\nfor which he suffered this banishment was his faithfulness as the Lord\u2019s\nmouthpiece. St. John, the beloved disciple, in some measure, or degree,\nrepresented the last living members of the Body of Christ (John\n21:20\u201023)\u2014a class that see with the eyes of their understanding the\nvisions and revelations which the beloved disciple saw in symbol in a\ntrance. If, then, St. John\u2019s exile in any degree represents ostracism\nwhich the Lord\u2019s followers may expect in the close of this Age\u2014a complete\nisolation from others and a treatment implying that they are\nprisoners\u2014they may take comfort from the thought that our Lord\u2019s favor and\nrevelation to St. John more than offset his persecutions.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010343.\n\nFor the Word of God.\u2014\u201cSt. John, with remarkable modesty, passes over his\nprevious service for the Truth (Rev. 1:2), which had brought him his\npersecution, and lightly passes over the persecution itself, merely noting\nthat he was in the island because of his fidelity to the Word of God.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201901\u2010187.\n\nAnd for the testimony of Jesus.\u2014As recorded in the Gospel according to St.\nJohn and the three Johannean epistles.\n\n1:10. I was in the spirit.\u2014\u201cVisions are not realities, although\nsymbolically representing them. (Dan. 7:1; Matt. 17:9.) The visions\ngranted to St. John, recorded in the Revelation, are in no sense to be\nunderstood as realities.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010343; Acts 10:10.\n\nOn the Lord\u2019s Day.\u2014\u201cAccording to our understanding of Bible chronology we\ntoday are living in the early dawn of this Day of Christ; and it is here,\nproperly enough, that we begin to see the wonderful things of the Divine\nCharacter and Plan. But to see and to understand we must be \u2018in the\nspirit.\u2019 Only those who have become New Creatures in Christ can be\nexpected to appreciate spiritual things; and this is the class which the\nApostle John represented.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010343.\n\nAnd heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.\u2014\u201cThe fact that its\nlocation is mentioned implies that it has a _symbolic_ meaning. It\nsignifies that the beginning of this Message was not in St. John\u2019s day,\nnor in the future, but that the things revealed had already commenced and\nwere already to some extent in the past. As some features of the\nRevelation show, the voice from behind went back to the time of our Lord\u2019s\nearthly ministry.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010344.) \u201cAs John heard a voice behind him and\nlooked in that direction, so we who now are having the realities find that\nthe Message is behind us, and turn and look toward the past to see the\nfulfilment of the various features of the Divine Plan and to hear and\nunderstand the Message given to His people by the risen Lord.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010168.\n\n1:11. Saying, [I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last: and] What\nthou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are\nin Asia.\u2014\u201cThere are many reasons for concluding that while the messages\nwere given to the seven churches specified and were applicable to them,\nthey should properly have a still wider application to the whole Church of\nChrist, the number seven representing completeness, and the order\nrepresenting different epochs in the history of the Church. To think\notherwise would be to attach more importance to those comparatively small\nchurches of Asia Minor than they would seem to have deserved, and would\nhave implied an ignoring of other churches more numerous and more\ninfluential; as, for instance, the churches at Jerusalem, Antioch,\nCorinth, Colosse, Philippi, Thessalonica, etc. Furthermore, the details of\nthe messages given to these seven churches apply to and fit historically\nthe one Church of the living God, over every member and branch of which\nthe Lord has a care. This thought, that the seven represented\ncompleteness, we find emphasized in the other symbolical\nrepresentations\u2014in the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars, etc.\u201d\n(Z. \u201905\u2010168.) Colosse (Col. 1:2), Miletus (Acts 20:17) and Hierapolis\n(Col. 4:13) were churches in Asia, not here mentioned. The Asia mentioned\nis the westernmost province of Asia Minor.\n\nUnto Ephesus.\u2014The Apostolic Age of the Church.\n\nAnd unto Smyrna.\u2014The Church during the period of persecution by Pagan\nRome.\n\nAnd unto Pergamos.\u2014The Church during the period of the rise of Antichrist.\n\nAnd unto Thyatira.\u2014The Church during the Dark Ages, the period of\nAntichrist\u2019s glory, and persecution by Papal Rome.\n\nAnd unto Sardis.\u2014The Church in the dawn of the Reformation.\n\nAnd unto Philadelphia.\u2014The Church in the period of reformation by sects.\n\nAnd unto Laodicea.\u2014The Church in the time of the Lord\u2019s Second Presence.\n\n1:12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.\u2014\u201cThe Apostles saw\nin symbol what the Lord\u2019s people may now see with the eye of faith and\nunderstanding. He saw One like a son of man\u2014like a man, like a priest, as\nimplied by the clothes described\u2014walking amongst seven golden\ncandlesticks, caring for them, trimming the wicks, seeing to the supply of\noil, etc. Thus our Lord Jesus, our glorified Master, has directed\nrespecting His people\u2019s affairs, inspecting and caring for the Church as a\nlight\u2010bearer, a candlestick. Alas, how poor the wicks have sometimes been!\nHow feeble the light that has sometimes shone out! How much trimming has\nbeen necessary!\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344.\n\nAnd being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.\u2014\u201cThe Golden\nCandlestick, or Lamp\u2010stand, which stood opposite the Golden Table, and\ngave light to all in the \u2018Holy,\u2019 was of gold\u2014all of one piece hammered\nout. (Exod. 25:31\u201037.) It had seven branches, each of which held a lamp,\nmaking seven lamps in all\u2014a perfect or complete number. This represented\nthe complete Church, from the Head, Jesus, to and including the last\nmember of the \u2018little flock\u2019 that He is taking out from among men, to be\npartakers of the Divine (gold) nature.\u201d\u2014T. 115; Rev. 1:20; Zech. 4:2;\nMatt. 5:14\u201016.\n\n1:13. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks.\u2014\u201cThe union, the\nrelationship between them, being supplied by our Redeemer, the antitypical\nHigh Priest.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344.\n\nOne like unto the son of man.\u2014\u201cThis symbolical picture has precious\nlessons for us, more valuable than an attempt to describe to our minds the\nappearance of our Lord as a Spirit Being, \u2018dwelling in light which no man\ncan approach unto,\u2019 and which we cannot appreciate until we shall be\nchanged to \u2018be like Him and see Him as He is.\u2019\u20141 John 3:2; 1 Cor.\n15:50\u201053.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344; Dan. 7:13.\n\nClothed with a garment down to the foot.\u2014\u201cThe glory of Christ was\nmanifested in His own person, in His own ministry, and in that of His\nTwelve Apostles, His representatives\u2014St. Paul taking the place of Judas;\nwith their death the body of Truth was almost veiled throughout the\neighteen centuries intervening, until now.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344.\n\nAnd girt about the breast.\u2014The support of the garment at the breast,\ninstead of the neck, left the arms and shoulders uncovered, representing\nthat the early Church was favored with the light of the true Gospel for a\nconsiderable time after our Lord and Head had completed His earthly\nministry.\n\nWith a golden girdle.\u2014Gold is a symbol of the Divine nature; the girdle a\nsymbol of service. (Rev. 15:6.) Throughout the Age the Lord has been\nserving His Church. \u201cBlessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He\ncometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you that He shall gird\nHimself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve\nthem.\u201d \u201cI am among you as he that serveth.\u201d\u2014Luke 12:37; 22:27.\n\n1:14. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.\u2014\u201cThe\nhead, with its white hair, is not to teach us that our Lord in glory has\nthe form of a man, with white hairs, but merely suggestive and symbolic of\nknowledge, experience, wisdom.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010188; Matt. 17:2.\n\nAnd His eyes were as a flame of fire.\u2014\u201cHis eyes like a flame of fire tell\nus in symbol that our Master is all\u2010seeing, omniscient; that He is not\ndeceived by outward forms and ceremonies; but that He can, and does, read\nevery thought and intent of the heart.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344; Rev. 19:12.\n\n1:15. And His feet like unto fine brass.\u2014\u201cThe feet, described as like\nfurnace\u2010refined copper, seem to say that those who belong to the Body of\nChrist, and whom the Lord would use in His service, \u2018the feet\u2019 members of\nthe Body, must, in their contact and dealings with the world, be refined,\npurified, clean\u2014\u2018Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord\u2019s\nhouse.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010188; Ezek. 1:7.\n\nAs if they burned in a furnace.\u2014\u201cIn the end of the Age, the feet members\nof the Body of Christ will be illuminated by the Truth and will shine\nforth\u2014not like the Head, but as polished brass. We have shining upon us\nwith almost burning brightness the focused rays of Divine inspiration and\nrevelation from the past 6,000 years. How it should consume in us all the\ndross of selfishness! How it should purify us! How humble it should make\nus!\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344.\n\nAnd His voice as the sound of many waters.\u2014\u201cThe many waters signify\npeoples, nations and languages, as elsewhere explained in this book. Thus\nour Lord, present with His Church, speaks to her and through her by many\ntongues, in many languages.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010188; Rev. 19:6.\n\n1:16. And He had in His right hand.\u2014\u201cThis One whom we thus know, thus\nrecognize, as the Instructor and Caretaker of the candlesticks, we are\nalso to recognize as having in His right hand\u2014in His favor as well as His\npower\u2014seven stars, the angels, the messengers, of the seven Churches. That\nthey are in His right hand seems to teach us that these should be\nconsidered as in some special sense under the Master\u2019s guidance,\nprotection and care in the interest of the Churches which they\nrepresented.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010345; Jer. 22:24.\n\nSeven stars.\u2014\u201cApparently the stars represent special ministers, or\nservants of the Church. In Revelation 12:1 the Church is pictured as a\nWoman crowned with twelve stars. These stars evidently represent the\nTwelve Apostles as the special lights of the Church. Similarly, in the\npicture before us, the seven stars which the Lord holds in His right hand\nseem to represent special light\u2010bearers in the Church\u2014in each of its seven\nphases, or stages, of development. It will be noticed that the messages to\nthe various Churches are sent by these stars, messengers, angels, as\nthough our Lord would have us understand that the appropriate message for\neach appropriate epoch in the Church\u2019s experience would be sent by the\nLord through a particular star, or messenger, whom He would especially\ncommission as His representative. Our Lord Himself is represented by the\ngreat light of the sun; and His special messengers in the Church\nthroughout the entire period of the Gospel Age are consistently enough\nrepresented as stars.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010345; Rev. 1:20.\n\nAnd out of His mouth went a sharp two\u2010edged sword.\u2014\u201cNo part of the\ndescription could more thoroughly convince us that the description of our\nLord given here is symbolic. As a symbolic picture, it speaks to us of the\nWord of the Lord, the Sword of the Spirit, \u2018sharper than any two\u2010edged\nsword.\u2019 (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12.) It reminds us that our Lord\u2019s words are\nnot one\u2010sided, not directed merely against sin in one class, but that His\nWord is sharp, cutting in every direction; that sin is reproved by Him as\nmuch when found in His most earnest followers as when found elsewhere. It\nassures us that none need attempt to pluck out the mote from his brother\u2019s\neye without first getting rid of the beam in his own eye; and that if we\ndo not show mercy to those who are our debtors we must not expect mercy\nfrom Him who has purposed to extend His mercy toward us. How heart\u2010\nsearching is God\u2019s Word when we understand it\u2014not merely as a compendium\nof rules and regulations, but when we catch the spirit of it! Then we come\nto see that its requirement is love out of a pure heart; first, to the\nHeavenly Father; secondly, to our Lord and Head; thirdly, to all His\nbrethren; fourthly, to the world in general, groaning and travailing in\npain, waiting for the blessings of the coming Day of Christ; and fifthly,\ntoward our enemies also, sympathetically realizing that they are warped,\ntwisted and blinded through the deceitfulness of sin and through the\nmachinations of the great Adversary.\u20142 Cor. 4:4.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010345; Rev. 2:12,\n16; 19:15, 21; Isa. 11:4.\n\nAnd His countenance [was as the sun] shineth AS THE SUN in his\nstrength.\u2014\u201cAnd his face was as it were the sun.\u201d\u2014Rev. 10:1; Acts 26:13.\n\n1:17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.\u2014\u201cSo great was the\nsplendor that St. John fell as dead, just as Daniel did in the presence of\nthe mighty One whom he saw, and just as Saul of Tarsus did before the\nmajesty presented to him. (Dan. 10:4\u201011; Acts 9:3\u20109.) So it is\nsymbolically with the Christian, when once he gets a glimpse of the\nglories of the Divine Character. When once we get a true view of Him with\nwhom we have to do, as the great Heart\u2010searcher and Caretaker of His\nChurch, we fall before Him, humbled to the dust, realizing that we are\nimperfect, that we cannot stand before our Master, that we are unworthy of\nHis blessing.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344; Ezek. 1:28.\n\nAnd He laid His right hand upon me.\u2014\u201cAs our Lord touched St. John gently,\nraising him up, so He has spoken to us comfort, peace and love, assuring\nus that we have a High Priest that can be touched with a feeling of our\ninfirmities, One who is able to sympathize and mercifully to assist.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010345.\n\nSaying [unto me, Fear not]; I am the First and the Last.\u2014\u201cWe must\nrecognize that our Lord is the One who was the beginning of the creation\nof God and the end of it, the One by whom are all things, next to the\nFather in everything pertaining to the affairs of the Universe.\u2014Col. 1:15;\nRev. 3:14; John 1:1\u20103; 1 Cor. 8:6.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010345; Rev. 1:11; 2:8.\n\n1:18. I am He that liveth, and was dead.\u2014\u201cThe Lord now liveth, and in\norder to appreciate this we understand that He was dead for parts of three\ndays\u2014not merely apparently dead, but actually _dead_\u2014His soul poured out\nunto death, made an offering for sin.\u2014Isa. 53:10\u201012.\u201d (Z. \u201901\u2010189.) \u201cIt\nwas because Christ\u2019s soul (being) was dead that the Apostles could declare\nthat unless His soul, being, were made alive again by a resurrection there\ncould be no hope in Him as a Savior and a Life\u2010giver.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010122.\n\nAnd behold, I am alive for evermore, [Amen].\u2014\u201cDeath has no more dominion\nover Him. (Rom. 6:9.) Neither sacrifices of the Mass nor death in any\nsense or form ever will be needed. His work is perfect. \u2018It is\nfinished!\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010345; John 19:30.\n\nAnd have the keys of [hell] DEATH.\u2014\u201cHe has the key, the power over death,\nin order that those who have not yet gone into the tomb, but who are under\nthe death sentence, may all be ultimately delivered into the full liberty\nof the sons of God\u2014righteousness and life everlasting.\u2014Rom. 8:21.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010345.\n\nAnd of [death] HELL.\u2014\u201cThese words imply that the Lord\u2019s people go to\n_Hades_, and that the hope when going down to _Hades_, to oblivion, is\nthat in due time our great Redeemer shall unlock this figurative\nprisonhouse of death and bring forth the captives. This is the\nsignificance of the statement that He has the keys\u2014He can open; all power\nis given into His hand. In preaching at His First Advent, He declared this\nto be the Gospel. (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18.) How full of meaning are these\nScriptures when viewed from the proper standpoint; how confusing and\nabsurd when viewed from any other!\u201d\u2014E. 397, 378.\n\n1:19. Write THEREFORE the things which thou hast seen.\u2014John was personally\nfamiliar with the first epoch, then already in the past. What he wrote of\nthat epoch (Rev. 2:1\u20107) serves as a guide to what follows.\n\nAnd the things which are.\u2014John was writing in the second epoch, already in\nits persecution era.\u2014Rev. 2:8\u201011.\n\nAnd the things which [shall be] MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS hereafter.\u2014The\nfive remaining epochs of the Church, and the Kingdom to follow.\n\n1:20. The mystery of the seven stars.\u2014Every true reformer must go contrary\nto the current of his times; and, in proportion as he has the Master\u2019s\nspirit, he cannot fail to be, like Him, a man of mystery to his own\ngeneration\u2014\u201ca Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offense\u201d\u2014to those who have\nnot \u201cears to hear.\u201d\n\nWhich thou sawest in My right hand.\u2014Small wonder that these great\nreformers seemed almost to have charmed lives!\n\nAnd the seven golden candlesticks.\u2014\u201cThe Candlestick, or Lampstand,\nrepresents the nominal, rather than the true Church. This is shown by the\nfact that in addressing each of these churches the Lord finds fault with\nthe many and approves the faithful few.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344.\n\nThe seven stars.\u2014\u201cThe star\u2010light is the Heavenly light, the spiritual\nenlightenment or instruction. The lamp\u2010light is the earthly light,\nrepresenting good works, obedience, etc., of those who are exhorted to let\ntheir light so shine that it will glorify their Father in Heaven.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010345.\n\nAre the angels of the seven churches.\u2014\u201cThe title is borrowed from the\nJewish Synagogue, in which the angel, or messenger of the assembly, was\nthe person who presided over and arranged the meetings for worship.\u201d\n(Cook.)\u2014Mal. 2:7; Hag. 1:13.\n\nAnd the seven candlesticks [which thou sawest] are the seven\nchurches.\u2014\u201cAlas! The Master evidently found but few good works, little\nglorifying light shining out from His earthly representatives in many of\nthe seven epochs of the history of the Church.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010344; Rev. 1:12;\nZech. 4:2.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 2\u2014St. Paul, St. John, Arius And Waldo\n\n\n2:1. [Unto] BY the angel.\u2014The special messenger in the Harvest of the\nJewish Age was St. Paul. A Hebrew of the Hebrews (Phil. 3:5), he was a\nfree\u2010born Roman citizen (Acts 22:25\u201029), highly educated (Acts 22:3),\nspoke Greek (Acts 21:37) and Hebrew (Acts 22:2), and was presumably a\nmember of the Sanhedrin at the time of St. Stephen\u2019s death. (Acts 7:58;\n8:1; 26:10.) Chosen before his birth (Gal. 1:15), he was supernaturally\ninducted into the Body of Christ (Acts 9:1\u201022) to take the place of Judas\n(Psa. 109:8; Acts 1:20), was privately instructed in the fullness of the\nGospel (Gal. 1:11, 12, 17), was specially commissioned to explain this\nGospel to the brethren at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1, 2), did not hesitate to\ncorrect the erring Peter (Gal. 2:11), was acknowledged by St. Peter as\nfilled with Heavenly wisdom (2 Pet. 3:15, 16), wrote over half of the\nbooks of the New Testament, carried the Gospel into Europe (Acts 16:9),\nsupported himself with his own hands while he preached (Acts 20:32\u201035),\nand suffered almost unbelievable hardships of every description\u2014besides\nhaving \u201cthe care of all the churches.\u201d (2 Cor. 11:24\u201028.) What a service\nand honor, here and hereafter, Judas missed by his love of money! St. Paul\nwas beheaded by Nero, A. D. 66.\n\nOf the church [of] IN Ephesus.\u2014The first age of the Church began at\nPentecost in the spring of A. D. 33, and ended in the spring of A. D. 73.\n\u201cIt may be proper to mention also what things occurred that show the\nbenignity of that all\u2010gracious Providence, that had deferred their\ndestruction for forty years after their crimes against Christ.\u201d (Eusebius\u2019\n_Ecclesiastical History_.) \u201cOn the 15th of Nisan, i. e., of April, in the\nyear 73 A. D., the first day of the Easter festival, the same day on\nwhich, according to tradition, the God of Israel had led His people out of\nEgyptian bondage into freedom, the last bulwark of Israel\u2019s liberty had\nfallen, and Israel was delivered into bondage.\u201d (Cornil\u2019s _History of the\nPeople of Israel_.) \u201cMasada attained great importance in the war with the\nRomans.... With the fall of Masada the war came to an end, on the 15th of\nNisan, 73.\u201d (_The Jewish Encyclopedia_.) \u201cThe capture of Masada, a Jewish\nfortress on the southwestern shores of the Dead Sea, put a termination to\none of the fiercest struggles recorded in history (73 A. D.)\u201d\u2014Morrison\u2019s\n_Jews Under Roman Rule_.\n\n\u201cJudea was not entirely subjugated; for three strong fortresses were still\nin arms: Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada.... The heroes agreed to this\nproposal (of their leader Eleasar) even with enthusiasm, and on the first\nday of the great Feast of the Passover (A. D. 73), after slaying their own\nwives and children, they all perished on their own swords.\u201d (Graetz\u2019s\n_History of the Jews_, Vol. 2.) \u201cEleasar accordingly persuaded all his\npeople during that night to kill their wives and children and then\nthemselves, but to burn all their treasures first. The next day the Romans\nfound only 960 dead bodies, whilst but two women and five children hid\nthemselves in caverns and were discovered. The Easter of the year 73, just\nseven years from the beginning of the great movement and 40 years after\nChrist\u2019s crucifixion, saw this end of the whole tragedy.\u201d (Ewald\u2019s\n_History of Israel_, Vol. 7, which is entitled \u201cThe Apostolic Age,\u201d and\nwhich Prof. Ewald makes to end with the year A. D. 73.) Josephus also\nrelates that Masada fell on the 15th of Nisan, April, A. D. 73; but the\nquotation is too lengthy to be inserted here.\n\nThe meaning of the word _Ephesus_ is \u201cpermission,\u201d which, understood as\n\u201capproval,\u201d harmonizes well with the tradition that the meaning is\n\u201cdesirable.\u201d Anything that has approval is desirable.\n\nWrite.\u2014St. Paul wrote a third of the New Testament.\n\nThese things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand.\u2014\u201cIn\nthe first chapter we have a description of \u2018One like unto a son of man.\u2019\nSome one or more of the features of this description are mentioned in\nconnection with each of the successive stages of the Church.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010346;\nRev. 1:16, 20.\n\nWho walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.\u2014\u201cWe could not\ndoubt the love and care of our glorified Head even if He had given us no\nexplicit declaration on the subject.\u201d (F. 401; Rev. 1:13; Lev. 24:2\u20104.)\n\n2:2. I know thy works.\u2014The early Christians \u201ctook joyfully the spoiling of\ntheir goods\u201d (Heb. 10:34); in \u201cgreat trial of affliction\u201d they abounded in\njoy, and in \u201cdeep poverty\u201d were liberal \u201cbeyond their power.\u201d (2 Cor. 8:2,\n3.) They were living epistles, \u201cknown and read of all men.\u201d\u20142 Cor. 8:2, 3.\n\nAnd thy labor.\u2014Considered as betrayers of the Jewish faith; living in the\nmidst of heathen idolatry, without railways, steamships, automobiles,\nbicycles, telegraphs, telephones, printing, postal service, electricity,\ngas, or kerosene\u2014in the midst of densest ignorance and basest morals\u2014the\nearly Christians traversed the seas and lands of the known world, braving\nfloggings, stonings, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness and martyrdom, that\nthey might tell the good news of the coming Kingdom.\u20142 Cor. 11:24\u201027.\n\nAnd thy patience.\u2014_Hupomonee._ \u201cAn endurance of wrong or affliction with\ncontentment, without rebellion of will, with full acquiescence in the\nDivine Wisdom and Love.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010115.\n\nAnd how thou canst not bear them which are evil.\u2014\u201cHow much earnestness it\nproduced in you! what an apology! what indignation! what earnest desire!\nwhat zeal! what a punishment! In everything you proved yourselves to be\npure in this matter.\u201d (2 Cor. 7:11, Diaglott.) \u201cSufficient for such a\nperson is this punishment, which was inflicted by the majority; so that,\non the other hand, you ought to forgive and comfort him, lest such an one\nshould be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I entreat you\npublicly to confirm your love towards him.\u201d\u20142 Cor. 2:6\u20108, Diaglott.\n\nAnd thou hast tried.\u2014Made experiment of, Greek implies.\n\nThem which [say they are] CALL THEMSELVES apostles, and are not, and hast\nfound them liars.\u2014\u201cGiving out that himself was some great one,\u201d like the\nclergy of other times, Simon Magus sought \u201calso this power, that on\nwhomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit,\u201d but learned that\nhe had \u201cneither part nor lot in this matter\u201d because his heart was \u201cnot\nright in the sight of God.\u201d (Acts 8:9\u201024.) Also, there were \u201ccertain men\nwhich came down from Judea\u201d (Acts 15:1, 2), the \u201cfalse apostles, deceitful\nworkers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ\u201d in Corinth\n(2 Cor. 11:12\u201015); \u201cHymenaeus and Alexander\u201d (1 Tim. 1:20); \u201cPhiletus\u201d (2\nTim. 2:17); those who would \u201cpervert the Gospel of Christ\u201d in Galatia\n(Gal. 1:7); \u201cPhygellus and Hermogenes.\u201d\u20142 Tim. 1:15; Acts 20:28\u201030; Rev.\n2:6.\n\n2:3. And [hast borne and] hast patience.\u2014_Hupomonee_, constant, cheerful\nendurance.\n\nAnd ALL AFFLICTIONS AND HAST BORNE for My name\u2019s sake [hast labored].\u2014\u201cAnd\nhast suffered on account of My name.\u201d (Diaglott.) \u201cAs concerning this\nsect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.\u201d (Acts 28:22.) The\nnatural course is, hatred, slander, then murder. (Matt. 5:21, 22.) It is\nsaid that Peter was crucified with head downward (A. D. 70); Andrew was\ncrucified on a cross decussate (X); James was murdered by Herod (A. D.\n44), (Acts 12:2); Bartholomew was first flayed alive and then crucified\nwith his head downward; Matthew died a martyr (supposedly); Thomas was\nimpaled on a spear; James the son of Alphaeus was thrown down from the\nTemple and was then stoned, and his brains dashed out with a club; Simon\nZelotes was crucified; Paul beheaded.\n\nAnd hast not fainted.\u2014\u201cLet us not be weary in well doing: for in due time\nwe shall reap, if we faint not.\u201d (Gal. 6:9.) \u201cConsider Him that endured\nsuch contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and\nfaint in your minds.\u201d\u2014Heb. 12:3.\n\n2:4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee.\u2014The Lord\u2019s nominal people\nof the Apostolic Age.\n\nBecause thou hast left thy first love.\u2014\u201cI marvel that ye are so soon\nremoved from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another\ngospel.\u201d\u2014Gal. 1:6.\n\n2:5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.\u2014\u201cCall to remembrance\nthe former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great\nfight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazing stock both by\nreproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of\nthem that were so used.\u201d\u2014Heb. 10:32, 33.\n\nAnd repent, and do the first works.\u2014\u201cCast not away therefore your\nconfidence, which hath great recompense of reward.\u201d\u2014Heb. 10:35.\n\nOr else I will come unto thee [quickly], and will remove thy candlestick\nout of his place, except thou repent.\u2014The nominal church was in grave\ndanger of being disowned and rejected. \u201cBy far the larger proportion were\nnot consecrated to death, not of the Royal Priesthood, but merely Levites,\ndoing the service of the Sanctuary, but not _sacrificing_.\u201d\u2014T. 118.\n\n2:6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the\nNicolaitanes.\u2014\u201cConquerors of the people\u201d\u2014the clergy.\u2014Rev. 2:15.\n\nWhich I also hate.\u2014When the Lord\u2019s people hate the idea of a class that\nseeks to be \u201clords over God\u2019s heritage\u201d (1 Pet. 5:2, 3), they hate\nsomething that the Lord hates.\n\n2:7. He that hath an ear.\u2014To receive and understand the voice of God\nthrough His Word.\u2014Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; Rev. 13:9.\n\nLet him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.\u2014\u201cIf they have\npersecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept [observed,\n\u2018heard\u2019] My saying, they will keep yours also.\u201d\u2014John 15:20.\n\nTo him that overcometh.\u2014See 1 John 2:13, 14.\n\nWill I give to eat of the tree of life.\u2014\u201cAll the trees in Eden were trees\nof life, and the overcomers of the Gospel Age shall have full liberty to\npartake of \u2018the tree of the knowledge of good and evil\u2019 when the knowledge\nwill be of benefit to them, and not bring a curse.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010346.\n\nWhich is in the [midst of the] Paradise of God.\u2014\u201cParadise, the garden of\nGod, was applicable as a name to the Garden of Eden, in which our first\nparents resided while they were still in harmony with God, before their\ndisobedience; and the same term is Scripturally applied as a name to the\nnew earth when restitution blessings shall, during our Lord\u2019s Second\nPresence (the Millennium), have brought it to perfection as the fit abode\nof those who, under Divine favor, shall then prove worthy of life\neverlasting. It is this same Paradise of the future on this earth that our\nLord referred to when addressing the penitent thief, and that is elsewhere\nreferred to as \u2018the third heaven\u2019\u2014\u2018new heavens and a new earth.\u2019 (2 Cor.\n12:2, 4; 2 Pet. 3:13.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010198.\n\n2:8. And [unto] BY the angel.\u2014The mouthpiece of the Lord to the second\nepoch of the Church was St. John himself. He was the one whom Jesus\nspecially loved (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7, 20); to him Jesus committed His\nchoicest earthly possession (John 19:26); length of days were implied in\nthe Lord\u2019s statement, \u201cIf I will that he tarry till I come, what is that\nto thee?\u201d (John 21:22.) He died at Ephesus at the age of 100, four years\nafter writing the Apocalypse. Polycarp, Ignatius and Papias, his\ndisciples, record that he was a tower of strength to the Church when the\nRoman Emperors Nero, Domitian and Trajan were endeavoring to destroy the\nhated sect. When all his capacity to work was gone, and he had no strength\neven to stand, he used to be carried into the Christian assemblies where\nhe would repeat the exhortation, \u201cLittle children, love one another.\u201d \u201cThe\nend of the commandment is love\u201d (1 Tim. 1:5); and it is significant that\nthe epoch of the Church especially under St. John\u2019s faithful and loving\ncare receive no reproof whatever from the Lord.\n\nOf the church in Smyrna.\u2014Greek, _myrrh_. The word means \u201cbitter,\u201d and, as\napplied to the history of the church from A. D. 73 to 325, is peculiarly\nappropriate. This era comprised persecutions under Nero, when Christian\nwomen were soaked with tar and burned as torches to light the path of his\nchariot; under Domitian, in the year 95, when 40,000 suffered martyrdom;\nunder Trajan in the year 100; under Antoninus; under Severus in the year\n127, when beautiful and amiable young women were stripped naked before\ninsulting mobs and gored to death by wild cattle; under Maximinus in A. D.\n235; under Decius in 250, when all Christians were driven from their\nestates; under Valerian in 257; under Aurelian in 274; and under\nDiocletian in A. D. 303.\n\nWrite.\u2014St. John wrote more of the New Testament than any other except St.\nPaul.\n\nThese things saith the First and the Last.\u2014\u201cIn no other sense or way could\nHe be the First and the Last than as the only direct creation of the\nFather, through whom all else was created. Any other view would be in\nconflict with the Scriptures. (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15; 1 Cor. 8:6; John\n1:1\u20103, Diaglott.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010346; Rev. 1:11, 17.\n\nWhich was dead, and is alive.\u2014This, in itself, must have been a message of\ncomfort and hope to the suffering martyrs.\u2014Rev. 1:18.\n\n2:9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty.\u2014\u201cSome of the most\nsublime pictures of Christian endurance that the world has ever seen were\nenacted during the Smyrna period of the Church.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010346.\n\nBut thou art rich.\u2014\u201cThe blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich.\u201d\u2014Prov.\n10:22; Luke 12:21; 1 Tim. 6:18; James 2:5.\n\nAnd I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are\nnot.\u2014\u201c \u2018They are not all Israel which are of Israel.\u2019 (Rom. 9:6, 7.) \u2018He\nis not a Jew which is a Jew outwardly, neither is that circumcision which\nis outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and\ncircumcision is that of the heart.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201999\u201068.\n\nBut are the synagogue of Satan.\u2014\u201cSold under sin, by our first parent,\nAdam, his family became \u2018slaves of sin\u2019 through the weakness of heredity.\n(Rom. 5:12, 21; 6:16\u201023; 7:14; 8:20, 21.) In this captive condition they\nhave been blinded by the god (ruler) of the present evil world (condition)\nwho puts evil before their minds as good, and darkness for light. (2 Cor.\n4:4; Eph. 6:12; Isa. 5:20.) He has general control; first of the masses\nthrough ignorance; and secondly, of the more intelligent through pride,\nselfishness, etc.\u201d\u2014E. 205, 189.\n\n2:10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.\u2014Some were covered\nwith the skins of wild beasts and torn in pieces by devouring dogs; some\nwere tortured in red\u2010hot iron chairs; the throats of Christian infants\nwere cut; and edicts were published in all places against the Christians,\nwho were exposed, without protection, to the common rage.\u2014Matt. 10:22.\n\nBehold, the Devil.\u2014\u201cIt is because there are such beasts as lions, bears\nand leopards, with known characteristics, that governments were likened to\nthem; and so, it is because there is a Devil, with known characteristics,\nthat the fourth empire is likened to him.\u201d (A. 259.) The Devil used the\nRoman empire as an instrument.\n\nShall cast some of you into prison.\u2014Restrain your liberties and\nopportunities for service.\n\nThat ye may be tried.\u2014\u201cThose who have read the history of this period can\nunderstand the depths of these words.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010346; Jas. 1:2, 3; 1 Pet.\n1:6, 7.\n\nAnd ye shall have tribulation ten days.\u2014\u201cThe ten symbolic days refer to\nthe last and most severe persecution under the Roman Emperors\u2014that of the\nreign of Diocletian, A. D. 303\u2010313.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010346.) \u201cThis persecution\ncontinued from February 23, A. D. 303, to June 13, A. D. 313. It began in\nNicomedia, and became universal. Some were impaled alive; some had their\nlimbs broken, and were left to expire. Some were roasted by slow fires;\nsome suspended by their feet with their heads downward, and, a fire being\nplaced under them, were suffocated by the smoke. Some had melted lead\npoured down their throats; the flesh of some was torn off with fingers and\ntoes. Houses filled with Christians were set on fire. Numbers of\nChristians were tied together and thrown into the sea. Seventeen thousand\nwere slain in one month; and during the continuance of this persecution in\nEgypt alone 144,000 Christians died by violence, besides 700,000 that died\nthrough the fatigues of banishment or the public works to which they were\ncondemned. Coins were struck, and inscriptions set up recording the fact\nthat Christian superstition was now utterly exterminated.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\nBe thou faithful unto death.\u2014\u201cIt is required of all consecrators that they\nshall \u2018die daily,\u2019 and that the end, with us as with our Lord and Head,\nshall be literal death. As it is written: \u2018I have said, Ye are gods\n[_elohim_\u2014mighty ones], all of you sons of the Highest; yet ye shall die\nlike men, ye shall fall like one of the princes\u2019\u2014not like Prince Adam,\nconvicts; but like Prince Jesus, participators in His death. (Psa. 82:6,\n7.)\u201d\u2014F. 444.\n\nAnd I will give thee a Crown of Life.\u2014\u201cThe Apostle James speaks of the\nsame crown and calls it the Crown of Life. (Jas. 1:12.) The Apostle Peter\nspeaking of the same calls it the Crown of Glory. (1 Pet. 5:4.) The\nthought at the bottom of each of these expressions is the same; namely,\nthe custom in olden times of running races and the giving of a crown to\nthe successful runner at the end of the course. Our reward will be the\nCrown of Life in the sense that we shall get life on the highest plane,\ninherent life, immortality. It will be a Crown of Righteousness in the\nsense that only those who are approved of God as righteous will thus be\nrewarded and glorified\u2014the righteousness of the Lord fulfilled in us who\nwalk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201903\u2010190; Rev. 3:11; 2\nTim. 2:15; Isa. 62:3; Phil. 3:14.\n\n2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches; he that overcometh.\u2014The overcomer of this Gospel Age only.\n\nShall not be hurt of the Second Death.\u2014His victory is eternal.\n\n2:12. And [to] BY the angel.\u2014The messenger whose testimony was of special\nvalue to the Church while the Papacy was rising into power was Arius. He\n\u201cmaintained that the Son of God was totally and essentially distinct from\nthe Father; that He was the first and noblest of those beings whom God had\ncreated\u2014the instrument by whose subordinate operation He formed the\nUniverse; and therefore inferior to the Father both in nature and\ndignity.\u201d (Buck.) \u201cThe controversy spread like a flame throughout the\nempire. Accordingly the first ecumenical council was held at Nice, A. D.\n325, consisting of 318 bishops, most of whom were from the East. The gist\nof the question to be settled by the Council of Nice lay in the argument\nof Arius: \u2018The Father is a father; the Son is a son; therefore the Father\nmust have existed before the Son; therefore once the Son was not;\ntherefore He was made, like all creatures, of a substance that had not\npreviously existed.\u2019 The creed, as finally adopted, condemned the heresy\nof Arius and fixed the doctrine as it has been held in the church to this\nday. Of all the bishops only Thomas of Marmarica, and Secundus of\nPtolemais, held out against the threat of banishment by the Emperor. Arius\nwas excommunicated and banished, and his books burnt.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\n\u201cFrom the time the Nicene Creed was promulgated and accepted, A. D. 325,\nthere was practically no more Bible study for over twelve centuries.\nDuring all that time Bible study was considered unnecessary, because the\nApostolic Bishops had formulated the creeds as proper statements of the\nChurch\u2019s faith. To study the Bible would have meant the studying of how to\nfight against the Emperor and the bishops.\u201d (Z. \u201915\u2010253.) \u201cAs a result of\nthe failure of these bishops to stand by the Word of the Lord, God\u2019s\npeople for centuries have been confessing a Divine trinity, which is\nincomprehensible; and meantime been neglecting the trinity taught by the\nBible, which is more reasonable. If the trinity of the creeds was\nquestioned, hands were lifted in horror, and the questioner was told that\nthe subject was a mystery, which he could not possibly understand, but to\ndoubt which would mean his damnation! The mysterious proposition was\nsometimes stated to be 3 \u00d7 1 is 1; but others stated it differently, 1 \u00d7 3\nis 1. No wonder if some of the more intelligent specimens of our race\ndeclared themselves incapable of understanding such mathematics, and too\nhonest to confess and profess what they could not believe!\u201d (B. S. M.) The\nwitness of Arius created a profound impression. \u201cThe doctrine was carried,\nin the fifth century, into Africa, under the Vandals; and into Asia, under\nthe Goths. But it sunk almost at once, when the Vandals were driven out of\nAfrica, and the Goths out of Italy, by the arms of Justinian. However, it\nrevived again in Italy, under the protection of the Lombards, in the\nseventh century, and was not extinguished till about the end of the\neighth. Arianism was revived in the West by Servetus, in 1531, for which\nhe suffered death.\u201d\u2014Buck.\n\nOf the church in Pergamos.\u2014From _Purgos_, a tower or citadel. \u201cThe name\nwas originally given to a remarkable hill, presenting a conical appearance\nwhen viewed from the plain, and strongly fortified by nature and art.\u201d (S.\nB. D.) Concerning the literal city of Pergamos, of which the rising Papacy\nwas the antitype, we read, \u201cThe sumptuousness of the princes raised\nPergamos to the rank of the first city of Asia as regards splendor. It was\na sort of union of a pagan cathedral city, a university town, and a royal\nresidence, embellished during a succession of years by kings who all had a\npassion for expenditure and ample means of gratifying it.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\nFrom the witness by Arius in 325 to the witness by the next special\nmessenger of the Church was the long period of 835 years; and during all\nthat time the Papacy was slowly rising, pushing itself higher and higher.\n\u201cThe first ecumenical council of Nice (325), in its sixth canon, makes\nonly an incidental mention of the Roman bishop. The first pope, in the\nreal sense, was Leo I (440\u2010461). The bishops of the African and the\nSpanish churches submitted to his demands, and he gained an important\nfoothold even in the East. In Gaul, however, he met with a most determined\nresistance. Gregory I (590\u2010604) saw that the bishops of Rome could not\nenjoy the ecclesiastical supremacy at which they aimed until they threw\noff their political dependency. The triumph of the Catholic Church over\nArianism in Spain greatly promoted his plans; but he did not as yet\nactually possess the power of the mediaeval popes. In the seventh and\neighth centuries a series of important events gave the popes a high and\ninfluential position among the secular governments of the world. The\nactual power was, however, for several centuries, not commensurate with\ntheir claims and aspirations. In 1073, Hildebrand (Gregory VII), after\nbeing for about twenty\u2010five years the guide of the Papal policy, boldly\nset forth the theory of a theocratic rule of the pope over all the nations\nof the world. The period from Gregory VII onward is an almost continuous\nconflict between the popes and the secular governments, during which the\nformer, with an iron firmness, endeavored at first to destroy the direct\ninfluence of the princes upon the church, and secondly, to subject all\nsecular governments to the church. This conflict was ended by the\nConcordat of Worms (1122), by which Emperor Henry V, after the precedence\nof the governments of England and France, surrendered \u2018to God, to St.\nPeter and Paul, and to the Catholic Church, all right of investiture.\u2019 \u201d\n(McC.) The Pergamos (\u201cearthly elevation\u201d) era ended in A. D. 1160, as will\nbe shown.\n\nWrite.\u2014Arius\u2019 writings were destroyed by Constantine.\n\nThese things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges.\u2014How the\nsharp sword, God\u2019s Word, wielded by Arius before the Emperor and his\nbrother elders at the Nicean Council, must have cut some of them to the\nheart when they saw the gentle and aged man (Arius was old at the time the\ncontroversy arose) banished into the Balkan mountains, one of the most\ninhospitable places in the world!\u2014Isa. 11:4, 49:2; Hos. 6:5; Eph. 6:17; 2\nThes. 2:8.\n\n2:13. I know [thy works, and] where thou dwellest, even where Satan\u2019s seat\nis.\u2014\u201cDuring this period, the true Christians were tested and proved by the\nintroduction and development of Pagan and Papal ideas. The Pagan priests,\nunwilling to lose their positions of honor and influence amongst the\npeople, while nominally professing Christianity, brought their former\nideas with them into the Christian Church.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010346.) The word _seat_\nis rendered _throne_ in Lu. 1:32, and refers to Satan\u2019s \u201chellish parody of\nthe Heavenly Kingdom.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, [even] in\nthose days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr.\u2014Throughout all the\nwestern part of Europe the Bishop of Rome finally came to be called the\n_papa_, or pope, or Father of the church. \u201cWhoever denounced this attempt\nto disobey the direct command of Jesus (Matt. 23:9), received the promised\npersecution. (2 Tim. 3:12.) This class in Pergamos is commended by our\nLord under the symbol of \u2018Anti\u2010pas, My faithful martyr.\u2019 In Greek, _anti\u2010_\nmeans against, and _papas_ signifies father.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010347.\n\nWho was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.\u2014We can give but a partial\nlist of the popes who served from the condemnation of Arius to the end of\nthe Pergamos epoch; but it will be instructive to those who trust in human\nordination and are in sympathy with the efforts of present\u2010day clergy to\nget some of the special spirit that is supposed to be imparted by the\nlaying on of hands of these \u201csuccessors of St. Peter,\u201d or those to whom\nthey imparted their \u201cauthority.\u201d \u201cSaint\u201d Gregory I, pope 590\u2010604 A. D.,\nwas the great\u2010great\u2010grandchild of Pope Felix II. When Phocas murdered\nEmperor Maurice and ascended the throne, Gregory wrote, \u201cThe Almighty has\nchosen you and put you on the throne. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the\nearth leap for joy.\u201d Phocas was not ungrateful and in return established\nthe supremacy of the see of Rome over all the other sees. Gregory was the\ndiscoverer of Purgatory, it having been revealed to him by means of\n\u201capparitions\u201d and visions. See middle of page 127.\n\nHonorius I, 625\u2010638, has been condemned as having taught a heresy _ex\ncathedra_ (officially). The interest in this lies in the fact that in 1870\nthe Vatican Council declared the infallibility of all the popes in their\n_ex cathedra_ utterances. But the pope who declared Honorius a heretic did\nit _ex cathedra_ also. Hundreds of \u201clearned\u201d volumes have been written in\nthe effort to make this pretty snarl clear to the Roman clergy. It is\nclear enough to others. \u201cSaint\u201d Agathon, 678\u2010682, claimed to be a miracle\nworker. He was the infallible pope who denounced the doctrines taught by\ninfallible Honorius I. \u201cSaint\u201d Nicholas I, 858\u2010867, \u201ctamed kings and\ntyrants, and ruled the world like a sovereign; to the wicked and\nunconverted he was a terror.\u201d So says a Catholic historian. John VIII,\n872\u2010882, must have seriously offended one of the \u201cbrethren\u201d at the\nVatican; for that dignitary first tried to poison him, and as the poison\ndid not work quickly enough, he finished the job by breaking John\u2019s head\nwith a hammer. Stephen VII, 897\u2010898, was offended because his predecessor\nhad at one time gotten the papal throne away from him. Accordingly, his\nfirst act was to cause the body of Pope Formosus to be exhumed, mutilated\nand thrown into the Tiber. Subsequently one of the \u201cbrethren\u201d strangled\nhim.\n\nChristopher, 900\u2010903, boldly deposed his predecessor, Leo V, declaring him\nunfit to reign, which was doubtless true. Leo died \u201cof grief\u201d in prison\nless than forty days after he had ascended the throne. He probably had\nsomething given him to help his grief along. Christopher himself was\nmurdered by _his_ successor. Sergius III, 904\u2010911, having murdered\nChristopher, ascended the throne and emulated the kings of earlier days.\nHis concubine Marosia bore him several children. John X, 915\u2010928, and Leo\nVI, 928\u2010929, were both killed by Marosia, to make room for others in whom\nshe was interested. John XI, 931\u2010936, was the son of Marosia by Pope\nSergius III. One of the \u201cbrethren\u201d poisoned him. John XII, 956\u2010964, was\nmurdered while in the act of committing adultery. He was of licentious\nhabits, associating with women of every station, and filling the Lateran\nwith the noisy profanity of a brothel. Among his mistresses was Joan,\npopularly known in history as Pope Joan. She was a brilliant woman and\nactually exercised the chief influence at Rome during John\u2019s pontificate.\nBenedict VI, 972\u2010973, was strangled or poisoned by one of the \u201csaints.\u201d\nBoniface VII, 984\u2010985, was elected just after the tumult caused by the\ndeath of Benedict VI, but had to leave town to escape a similar fate, on\naccount of licentiousness and cruelty. He remained away eleven years,\nreturned, put Pope John XIV in prison, starved him to death and ascended\nthe throne in his place.\n\nGregory V, 996\u2010999, was poisoned by one of the \u201cregularly ordained\u201d\nclergy. Benedict IX, 1033\u20101045, the boy pope whose parents bought the\npopedom for him when he was twelve years old, was the worst monster that\never held the papal throne. Some, however, claim that honor for Alexander\nVI, 1492\u20101503, who had seven acknowledged bastards and many mistresses.\nAlexander tried to poison nine cardinals at one sitting so that he could\nsell their offices for the benefit of his brood; but a stupid servant gave\nhim the wrong glass and he departed this life ahead of time. Benedict\u2019s\nvile conduct caused the Romans to expel him from the city. Silvester III\nwas regularly elected to take his place; but after three months Benedict\ncame back and resumed control. Shortly afterward he sold the popedom to\nGregory VI, so that he might be free to marry an Italian princess. At one\ntime there were three popes living in Rome contemporaneously, and the city\nwas filled with brawls and murders. A fourth, Clement II, was elected, but\nafter he had served nine months, a friend of Gregory put something into\nhis food besides the regular seasoning; and he never awoke again.\nThereupon Benedict came back and reigned three years longer.\n\n2:14. But I have a few things [against thee].\u2014Against the nominal church\nof the Pergamos epoch.\n\nBecause thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam.\u2014Balaam was\na mouthpiece of the Lord, but unworthy. He desired to curse God\u2019s true\npeople, because of the money there was in it, and finally seduced them by\nfornication (symbolical of union of church and state). The name Balaam\nmeans the same as \u201cNicolaitanes\u201d (conquerors of the people), and refers to\nthe money\u2010loving, power\u2010loving clergy. We have already noted the efforts\nto obtain worldly power (spiritual fornication) which characterized the\nPergamos epoch. Its history also shows that the clergy of that time were\nquite as fond of money as ever Balaam was. John XX, 1024\u20101033, tried to\nsell the Roman primacy over the Eastern church for a pecuniary\nconsideration, but failed to make the sale. \u201cBenedict IX, when a boy of\ntwelve years (A. D. 1033), was elected pope \u2018_intercedente thesaurorum\npecuniae_\u2019 \u201d; i. e., his relatives provided the collateral necessary to\nsecure the office for him. Gregory VI, who had had great repute for\nsanctity as a priest, obtained the papal chair (A. D. 1044) by purchase\nfrom Benedict IX, \u201cwho abdicated to marry a girl of noble family.\u201d \u201cAt a\ncouncil at Lyons, the archbishop and forty\u2010five bishops confessed\nthemselves simoniacal\u201d (guilty of buying and selling church offices). In\nthe reign of Lucien II, 1144\u20101145, the people, hoping for some relief from\nan intolerable condition, paraded the streets of Rome with a banner,\n\u201cCaesar should have the things that are Caesar\u2019s and the priest the things\nthat are the priest\u2019s.\u201d Lucien thought this was a reflection upon himself,\nand went out in person to put down the \u201crevolution.\u201d The people stoned him\nto death.\n\nWho taught Balac to cast a stumbling\u2010block before the children of\nIsrael.\u2014\u201cGuided by Balaam, King Balac communicated with the leading people\nof the Midianites, and urged that their wives and daughters should\napparently fall in love with the Israelites, and introduce them to the\nsensuous religious rites practised by Midian. The scheme was successful.\nSome of the leading wives and daughters of the Midianites attracted some\nof the leading men of Israel to adultery, and to idol worship and orgies.\u201d\n(Z. \u201913\u2010297; Num. 24:14; 25:1; 31:16; 2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11; 1 Cor. 10:8.)\nThe words \u201ccast a stumbling\u2010block\u201d are properly rendered, in Rotherham\u2019s\ntranslation, \u201cthrow a snare.\u201d\n\nTo eat.\u2014Appropriate to themselves as truths.\n\nThings sacrificed unto idols.\u2014Doctrines twisted, distorted and mutilated\nto make them agree with creed\u2010idols.\n\nAnd to commit fornication.\u2014\u201cPapacy perceived its own great power over the\npeoples of Europe, all of whom at that time ignorantly and blindly\nacknowledged the Roman Catholic faith. While the kings of Europe were\ncomparatively weak, the suggestion came, \u2018Now it must be God\u2019s time for\nsetting up the Messianic Kingdom, because now we have the power.\u2019 The\nanswer of others was, \u2018Not so. The Bible teaches that Jesus will set up\nHis own Kingdom at His Second Advent in power and great glory, and that\nthe virgin Church will become His Bride and Joint\u2010heir by the power of the\nFirst Resurrection.\u2019 The answer to this was, \u2018So once we thought. But we\nhave waited for the coming of Messiah for over 800 years; and now we have\nthe thought that He probably wishes us to set up His Kingdom for Him, and\nin His name to reign over the kings of the earth.\u2019 \u201d (Z. \u201916\u201053.) \u201cSo\nthese Pagan priests taught the Church to indulge in spiritual fornication,\nand thus brought upon her the withering blight of God\u2019s wrath.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010346.\n\n2:15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,\n[which thing I hate] IN LIKE MANNER.\u2014\u201cThe \u2018doctrine of the Nicolaitanes\u2019\n(conquerors of the people) seems to be the theory of lordship or headship\nin the Church. (1 Pet. 5:3.) At their councils there was a bitter fight\nfor supremacy. It was settled only by a division of the Church; the\nEastern, or Greek Church, accepting the Patriarch of Constantinople for\nits head; and the Western, or Papal Church, acknowledging the Bishop\u2014Pope\nor Father\u2014of Rome.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010346.) \u201cThe sins to which Balaam allured Israel\nwere a type of the sins to which the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes now\nseduce thee.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n2:16. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly.\u2014Ere you reach the\nearthly heights to which you aspire.\n\nAnd will fight against them.\u2014The unfaithful and unrepentant church\nnominal.\n\nWith the sword of My mouth.\u2014With the Scriptures, in the hands of a\nfaithful servant. Such a servant came at that very time, as we shall\nsee.\u20142 Thes. 2:8; Heb. 4:12.\n\n2:17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches.\u2014Not many have had the \u201chearing ear.\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s just one here, one\nthere.\u201d\n\nTo him that overcometh will I give [to eat] of the hidden manna.\u2014\u201cManna\nwas the bread which came down from heaven as a life\u2010sustainer for Israel.\nIt represented the living bread, Christ Himself. One peculiarity of the\ngolden pot of manna \u2018hidden\u2019 in the Tabernacle, marking it as the same and\nyet different from that supplied to the Israelites in general, was that it\nwas _incorruptible_; hence it well illustrates the immortal, incorruptible\ncondition promised to the Church.\u201d\u2014T. 122; Ex. 16:33, 34; Heb. 9:4; John\n6:49, 50.\n\nAnd [will give him] a white stone.\u2014\u201cIn ancient times the Greeks and the\nRomans had a custom of noting and perpetuating friendship by means of a\n_white stone_. This stone was divided into halves, and each person\ninscribed his name on the flat surface, after which the parts of the stone\nwere exchanged. The production of either half was sufficient to insure\nfriendly aid. Thus the divided stone became a mark of identification.\nThere is an individual and personal relationship between the Lord and the\novercomers, who may be said to receive the mark of identification\u2014the\nantitypical white stone\u2014_now_, in this life. This mark is the sealing of\nthe Holy Spirit.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201912\u2010315.\n\nAnd in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that\nreceiveth it.\u2014The new name signifies a new relationship to Jehovah.\u2014Gen.\n17:5, 15; 32:28.\n\n2:18. And [unto] BY the angel.\u2014The messenger to the fourth epoch of the\nChurch was Peter Waldo. \u201cPeter, an opulent merchant of Lyons, surnamed\nValdensis, or Valdisius, from Vaux, or Waldum, a town in the marquisate of\nLyons, being extremely zealous for the advancement of true piety and\nChristian knowledge, employed a certain priest, called Stephanus de Evisa,\nabout the year 1160, in translating, from Latin into French, the four\nGospels, with other books of Holy Scripture. But no sooner had he perused\nthese sacred books with a proper degree of attention, than he perceived\nthat the religion which was now taught in the Roman church differed\ntotally from that which was originally inculcated by Christ and His\nApostles. Struck with this glaring contradiction between the doctrines of\nthe pontiffs and the truths of the Gospel, and animated with zeal, he\nabandoned his mercantile vocation, distributed his riches among the poor\n(whence the Waldenses were called poor men of Lyons), and forming an\nassociation with other pious men who had adopted his sentiments and his\nturn of devotion, he began to assume the quality of a public teacher, and\nto instruct the multitude in the doctrines and precepts of Christianity.\n\n\u201cSoon after Peter had assumed the exercise of his ministry, the archbishop\nof Lyons, and the other rulers of the church in that province, vigorously\nopposed him. However, their opposition was unsuccessful; for the purity\nand simplicity of that religion which these good men taught, the spotless\ninnocence that shone forth in their lives and actions, and the noble\ncontempt of riches and honors which was conspicuous in the whole of their\nconduct and conversation, appeared so engaging to all such as had any\nsense of true piety, that the number of their followers daily increased.\nThey accordingly formed religious assemblies, first in France, and\nafterwards in Lombardy; from whence they propagated their sect throughout\nthe other provinces of Europe with incredible rapidity, and with such\ninvincible fortitude that neither fire nor sword, nor the most cruel\ninventions of merciless persecution, could damp their zeal, or entirely\nruin their cause. All they aimed at was to reduce the form of\necclesiastical government, and the manners both of the clergy and the\npeople, to that amiable simplicity and primitive sanctity which\ncharacterized the Apostolic ages, and which appear so strongly recommended\nin the precepts and injunctions of the Divine Author of our holy religion.\n\n\u201cIn consequence of this design, they complained that the Roman church had\ndegenerated from its primitive purity and sanctity. They denied the\nsupremacy of the Roman pontiff, and maintained that the rulers and\nministers of the Church were obliged, by their vocation, to imitate the\npoverty of the Apostles and to procure for themselves a subsistence by the\nwork of their hands. They considered every Christian as, in a certain\nmeasure, qualified and authorized to instruct, exhort and confirm the\nbrethren in their Christian course. They at the same time affirmed that\nconfession made to priests was by no means necessary, since the humble\noffender might acknowledge his sins and testify his repentance to any true\nbeliever, and might expect from such the counsel and admonition which his\ncase demanded. They maintained that the power of delivering sinners from\nthe guilt and punishment of their offenses belonged to God alone; and that\nindulgences in consequence were the criminal invention of sordid avarice.\nThey looked upon the prayers and other ceremonies that were instituted in\nbehalf of the dead, as vain, useless, and absurd, and denied the existence\nof departed souls in an intermediate state of purification. It is also\nsaid that several of the Waldenses denied the obligation of infant\nbaptism. They adopted as the model of their moral discipline Christ\u2019s\nsermon on the mount, which they interpreted and explained in the most\nrigorous and literal manner; and consequently prohibited and condemned in\ntheir society all wars, and suits of law, and all attempts toward the\nacquisition of wealth.\u201d\u2014Buck.\n\n\u201cWaldo\u2019s translation of the four gospels into French was the first\nappearance of the Scriptures in any modern language. The possession of\nthese books soon discovered to Waldo that the Church was never designed to\nbe dependent on a priesthood, even for the administration of the\nsacraments; and he became so obnoxious to the church that he was\nanathematized by the pope. No longer safe in Lyons, Waldo and his friends\ntook refuge in the mountains, and there formed those communities from\nwhich the simple doctrines of Christianity flowed out all over Europe.\nProvence, Languedoc, Flanders, Germany, one after another tasted of the\nrefreshing waters. Waldo traveled in Picardy, teaching his reformation\ndoctrines, hundreds of years before Luther was born. He finally settled in\nBohemia, where he died in 1179, the same year in which his tenets were\ndenounced by an ecumenical council. The Waldensian Church was a light on\nthe mountains during the Dark Ages.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\nOf the church in Thyatira.\u2014\u201cThyatira seems to mean \u2018the sweet perfume of\nsacrifice.\u2019 It was the period of Papal persecution.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010347.) From\nthe time of Peter Waldo\u2019s witness in 1160 until the next special messenger\nto the Church appeared, 1378, was a period of 218 years.\n\nWrite.\u2014The first translation of the Bible into a modern\nlanguage\u2014French\u2014was the work of Waldo.\n\nThese things saith the Son of God, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of\nfire.\u2014\u201cTo watch over His faithful ones as they wandered through the dark\nvalleys or hid in the darker caves of earth.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010347; Rev. 1:14.) His\neyes search out every secret thought.\u2014Rev. 2:23.\n\nAnd His feet are like fine brass.\u2014\u201cTo walk by their side as they scaled\nthe rugged mountains or wandered footsore and weary, seeking a place to\nplant the seeds of Truth.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010347; Rev. 1:15.) His feet \u201ctrample to\nfragments everything impure.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n2:19. I know thy works.\u2014The Lord remembers that Peter Waldo was the first\nto translate His Word into a modern language.\n\nAnd charity, [and service,] and faith, and [thy] patience, and thy\nworks.\u2014The Lord remembers that Peter Waldo literally \u201csold all that he had\nand gave to the [Lord\u2019s] poor.\u201d\n\n[And] thy last works to be more than the first.\u2014(Diaglott.) \u201cSo general\nand widespread became the so\u2010called heresy that Innocent III determined to\ncrush it out\u2014\u2018exterminate the whole pestilential race\u2019 was the language of\nwhich he made use. The commission he gave to the authorities was to burn\nthe chief of the Vaudois (Waldenses), to scatter the heretics themselves,\nconfiscating their property, and consigning to perdition every soul who\ndared to oppose the pope. Joined with \u2018His Holiness\u2019 in his relentless\npersecution of the Waldenses was Dominic, the father of the Inquisition.\nSuch has been the history of the Waldenses all through the ages\u2014subject to\nuntold suffering from persecution; then enjoying, in the quiet valleys of\nPiedmont, comparative tranquility for a time; then assailed by their ever\u2010\nrelentless foe, the Roman Catholic Church, which has spared no pains, by\nfire and slaughter, and the horrors of the Inquisition, to put an end to\nthe unfortunate victims of their violence.\u201d (McC.) How evident it is that\nthe followers of Peter Waldo have given a larger witness by their\nsufferings (their \u201clast works\u201d) than they did by the first works (the\ntranslation of the Gospel into French)!\n\n2:20. Notwithstanding I have [a few things] MUCH against thee.\u2014The fourth\nepoch of the church nominal.\n\n[Because] THAT thou sufferest that woman Jezebel.\u2014The Roman Catholic\nChurch, as shown in parallel below:\n\n\u201cElijah was persecuted for \u201cThe Church was persecuted for\nfidelity to truth and fidelity to truth and\nrighteousness. righteousness.\n\n\u201cHis principal persecutor was \u201cThe principal persecutor was\nJezebel, the wicked queen of the apostate Church of Rome,\nIsrael, who is mentioned by which claims to be a \u2018queen\u2019\nname as the type of the enemy and ruler over Spiritual\nof the saints.\u2014Rev. 2:20; 2 Israel.\u2014Rev. 18:7.\nKings 9:7.\n\n\u201cJezebel\u2019s persecuting power \u201cPapacy\u2019s persecuting power\nwas exercised through her was exercised through the\nhusband, Ahab, the king.\u20141 Roman Empire, to which she was\nKings 21:25. joined.\n\n\u201cElijah fled from Jezebel and \u201cThe true Church fled into the\nAhab into the wilderness, to a symbolic wilderness\u2014or\nplace prepared of God, where condition of isolation\u2014to her\nhe was miraculously place, prepared of God, where\nnourished.\u20141 Kings 17:5\u20109. she was sustained.\u2014Rev. 12:6,\n 16.\n\n\u201cElijah was \u2018three years and \u201cThe Church was three and a\nsix months\u2019 in the wilderness, half symbolic years (a day for\nand during that time there was a year\u20141260 literal years) in\nno rain, and a great famine the wilderness condition,\nwas in the land.\u2014James 5:17; 1 during which there was a\nKings 17:7; 18:2. spiritual famine because of\n the lack of Truth\u2014the living\n water.\u2014Rev. 12:6; 11:3; Amos\n 8:11.\n\n\u201cAfter the three and a half \u201cAt the end of the 1260 years\nyears, 1260 days, when Elijah the power of the Truth and its\nreturned from the wilderness, witnesses was manifested (A.\nthe errors of Jezebel\u2019s D. 1799); and since then the\npriests were manifested, the Truth has flowed at the rate\ntrue God was honored, and of millions of Bibles every\ncopious rains followed.\u20141 year, refreshing the world and\nKings 18:41\u201045. bringing forth fruit.\u201d\u2014B. 256.\n\nWhich [calleth herself] SAITH SHE IS a prophetess.\u2014Claims to be an\ninfallible teacher, but really has no right to teach at all\u2014\u201cI suffer not\na woman [a church] to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man\n[Christ].\u201d (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34; F. 270.) \u201cFalse prophecy,\nfornication and idolatry are symbolized by the woman Jezebel.\u201d (Cook.)\nJezebel was a prophetess of Baal.\u20141 Ki. 16:31\u201033; 21:25.\n\n[To teach and to seduce] AND TEACHETH AND SEDUCETH My servants to commit\nfornication.\u2014Union of church and state.\u2014Rev. 2:14; 2 Ki. 9:22; 1 Cor.\n14:34.\n\nAnd to eat things sacrificed unto idols.\u2014Reverence the creed\u2010idols set up\nby the various ecumenical councils.\u2014Rev. 2:14.\n\n2:21. And I gave her space.\u2014_Chronos_, a \u201ctime,\u201d 360 years. As noted in\ncomments on 2:20, the prophetic \u201ctime, times and a half a time,\u201d or three\nand a half times, or three and a half years, or forty and two months, or\n1260 days, represent 1260 years. A single _chronos_ or \u201ctime,\u201d therefore,\nrepresents 360 years.\n\nTo repent [of her fornication].\u2014Of her unfaithfulness to the Lord. During\nall this time \u201cthe virgin Church was enduring the hardships of the\nwilderness; while the apostate Church sat on the throne of her royal\nparamour.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010347.\n\nAnd she [repented not] WILL NOT REPENT OF THIS FORNICATION.\u2014The Lord\nforeknew that after 360 years more of living with the kings of earth, and\nendeavoring to gain dominion over them, the Roman Catholic Church would be\nunrepentant. The 360 years from Waldo\u2019s message in 1160 ended in 1520.\nLuther\u2019s 95 theses were placed on the church doors at Wittenberg October\n31, 1517. \u201cThese he proposed not as points fully established, but as\nsubjects of inquiry and disputation. The learned were invited to impugn\nthem, either in person or by writing; and to the whole he subjoined solemn\nprotestations of his high respect for the apostolic see, and of his\nimplicit submission to his authority. No opponent appeared at the time\nprefixed; the theses spread over Germany with astonishing rapidity, and\nwere read with the greatest eagerness.\u201d (Buck.) Luther was summoned in\nJuly, 1518, to appear at Rome within sixty days. He wrote a submissive\nletter to the pope, requesting a trial in Germany. Meantime the German\nEmperor died; and the pope, absorbed in the choice of a new emperor, paid\nlittle heed to the Luther controversy.\n\n\u201cFrom the reason just now given, a suspension of proceeding against Luther\ntook place for eighteen months, though perpetual negotiations were carried\non. The manner in which these were conducted having given our reformer\nmany opportunities of observing the corruption of the court of Rome, its\nobstinacy in adhering to established errors, and its indifference about\ntruth, he began in 1520 to utter some doubts with regard to the Divine\norigin of the papal authority, which he publicly disputed with Eccius, one\nof his most learned and formidable antagonists. The papal authority being\nonce suspected, Luther proceeded to push on his inquiries and attacks from\none doctrine to another, till at last he began to shake the foundations on\nwhich the wealth and power of the church were established. Leo then began\nto perceive that there were no hopes of reclaiming such an incorrigible\nheretic, and therefore prepared to pronounce the sentence of\nexcommunication against him. The college of cardinals was often assembled,\nin order to prepare the sentence with due deliberation; and the ablest\ncanonists were consulted how it might be expressed with unexceptionable\nformality. At last it was issued, on the 15th of June, 1520. Forty\u2010one\npropositions, extracted out of Luther\u2019s works, were therein condemned as\nheretical, scandalous, and offensive to pious ears; all persons were\nforbidden to read his writings, upon pain of excommunication; such as had\nany of them in their custody were commanded to commit them to the flames;\nhe himself, if he did not within sixty days publicly recant his errors,\nand burn his books, was pronounced an obstinate heretic, excommunicated,\nand delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh; and all secular\nprinces were required, under pain of incurring the same censure, to seize\nhis person, that he might be punished as his crimes deserved.\u201d (Buck.)\nWith the excommunication of Luther, \u201cthe fat was in the fire\u201d; and it was\nuseless for the Roman Catholic Church to try to stem the tide of the\nReformation. Her period for repentance ended with the \u201cchronos,\u201d 360\nyears, June 15, 1520.\u2014See 3d paragraph, page 41.\n\n2:22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed.\u2014Not a bed of ease, but a bed of\npain. See Diaglott. There where she sinned she shall suffer.\n\nAnd them that commit adultery with her.\u2014All the powers that receive her\nlegates or that maintain representatives at the Vatican. Knowing her\ncharacter, they are equally guilty.\n\nInto great tribulation.\u2014They are getting some now, and will get more soon.\n\nExcept they repent of [their] HER deeds.\u2014This teaches that the present\nsituation in Europe is the direct result of the teachings of the Roman\nCatholic Church.\n\n2:23. And I will kill her children.\u2014\u201cBoth Romanists and Protestants now\nfreely own the relationship of mother and daughters, the former\ncontinually styling herself the Holy Mother Church, and the latter, with\npleased complacency, endorsing the idea.\u201d\u2014D. 28; Isa. 57:3, 4. See p. 111.\n\nWith death.\u2014\u201cThey shall be as though they had not been.\u201d\u2014Obad. 16.\n\nAnd all the churches shall know.\u2014When their secrets are laid bare by the\nunfolding of the deep things of God\u2019s Word.\n\nThat I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts.\u2014In olden times the mind\nwas supposed to be located in the reins (kidneys); and the prophecy\nassumes the same position. Thus David says, \u201cMy reins also instruct me in\nthe night seasons\u201d; \u201cIn the night his song shall be with me.\u201d (Psa. 16:7;\n42:8.) \u201cMy reins within me are consumed with earnest desire for that day.\u201d\n(Job 19:27, margin.) The metaphor is appropriate to the theme.\u2014Psa. 7:9;\nJer. 11:20; 17:10; 20:12.\n\nAnd I will give unto every one of you according to your works.\u2014The light\nof Truth blazes most fiercely against the ecclesiastical organizations\nwhose offenses have been greatest. As for the Papacy, \u201cher sins have\nreached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.\u201d\u2014Rev. 18:5,\n6; Matt. 7:16, 20.\n\n2:24. But unto you I say [and unto] the rest in Thyatira.\u2014Waldenses and\nothers outside of the Papal system.\n\nAs many as have not this doctrine.\u2014Spiritual fornication, mixture of\nchurch and state, the special subject of the message to Thyatira.\n\n[And] which have not known.\u2014Comprehended, realized, entered into.\n\nThe depths of Satan.\u2014Rome, pagan and papal.\n\nAs they speak.\u2014\u201cSo to say,\u201d i. e., \u201cSatan\u201d is a name applicable to Rome,\nas describing its characteristics.\u2014Rev. 2:10.\n\nI will put upon you none other burden.\u2014The Lord only requires of His\npeople obedience to the light due.\u20141 John 1:7.\n\n2:25. But that which ye have already.\u2014The truths described in 2:18.\n\nHold fast till I come.\u2014Some of the light which shone upon the Waldensians\nhas never been entirely extinguished.\n\n2:26. And he that overcometh.\u2014Effectually resists efforts to entice him\ninto disloyalty to the Lord.\n\nAnd keepeth My works unto the end.\u2014Continues in the faith (John 6:29; 1\nJohn 3:23), despite the unions of church and state. Christ\u2019s works are\nopposite to Jezebel\u2019s.\u2014Rev. 2:22.\n\nTo him will I give THE power [over] OF the nations.\u2014How like our God! The\nsacrificed Christ gets the very prize for which Satan aspired.\u2014Isa. 14:13,\n14; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Rev. 3:21; 5:10; Psa. 149:5\u20109.\n\n2:27. And he shall rule them with a rod of Iron.\u2014\u201cGod\u2019s Kingdom will not\nbe established by a vote of the people, nor by the vote of the aristocracy\nand rulers. He \u2018whose right it is,\u2019 He who bought it with His own precious\nblood, will \u2018_take_ the Kingdom,\u2019 will \u2018take unto Himself His great power\nand reign.\u2019 \u201d (D. 518). \u201cThe nations will be ruled by irresistible\nforce\u2014\u2018every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess\u2019\u2014and obedience\nwill be compulsory.\u201d (D. 636.) \u201cIn His day the humble and righteous, and\nthey only, shall flourish. (Isa. 28:17; Rom. 14:11; Psa. 92:12, 13.\u201d\u2014C.\n369.) \u201cThe only liberty that will be granted to any will be the true and\nglorious liberty of the sons of God\u2014liberty to do good to themselves and\nothers in any and in every way; but nothing will be allowed to injure or\ndestroy in all that Holy Kingdom. (Isa. 11:9; Rom. 8:21.) Because of its\nfirmness and vigor, it is symbolically called an iron rule.\u201d\u2014A. 302; Rev.\n19:15.\n\nAs the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers.\u2014\u201cThe stone cut\nout of the mountain without hands, which smites and scatters the Gentile\npowers, represents the true Church, the Kingdom of God. Not the people,\nbut the governments, are symbolized by the image, and these are to be\ndestroyed that the people may be delivered. Our Lord Jesus came not to\ndestroy men\u2019s lives, but to save them. (John 3:17.) The stone does not\nbecome the mountain until it has smitten the image; and so the Church, in\nthe full sense, will become the Kingdom when \u2018the day of the Lord,\u2019 the\n\u2018day of wrath upon the nations,\u2019 will be over.\u201d (A. 255.) \u201cThis smiting\nand breaking properly belongs to the Day of Vengeance, and though the\npower and rod will still remain throughout the Millennial Age, their use\nwill probably be unnecessary.\u201d\u2014D. 637; Psa. 2:9; Dan. 7:22.\n\nEven as I received of My Father.\u2014The Father (Justice) decrees their\nunworthiness to continue longer. Their iniquity is come to the full. Four\nhundred years from October 31, 1517, end Oct. 31, 1917.\u2014Rev. 2:21; Gen.\n15:13\u201016.\n\n2:28. And I will give him the Morning Star.\u2014\u201cI am the bright and morning\nstar.\u201d\u2014Rev. 22:16; Matt. 13:43.\n\n2:29. He that hath an ear.\u2014An ear attuned to the Harp Divine.\n\nLet him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.\u2014Not many are able to\nappreciate the sweet old \u201csong of Moses and the Lamb\u201d when they hear\nit.\u2014Rev. 15:3.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 3\u2014Wycliffe, Luther And Russell\n\n\n3:1. And [unto] BY the angel.\u2014The next important messenger to the Church\nwas John Wycliffe. \u201cIt was in 1378 A. D., the year of the \u2018Great Schism of\nthe West,\u2019 when two popes were elected, one in Rome and the other in\nAvignon, that Wycliffe came out as the great Doctrinal Reformer. Workman,\nin _Dawn of the Reformation_, writes: \u2018Wycliffe\u2019s spiritual earnestness\nwas shocked, his theory destroyed by the spectacle of two popes, each\nclaiming to be the sole head of the Church, each labeling the other as\nAntichrist. To Wycliffe, the year of the Schism, 1378, was the crucial\nyear of his life. He first urged that both popes should be set aside as\nhaving little in common with the Church of the Holy God. From this\nposition of neutrality he quickly passed into one of antagonism to the\nPapacy itself.\u2019 In his _Mediaeval Church History_, Archbishop Trench says:\n\u2018The year 1378 marked the turning\u2010point in Wycliffe\u2019s career. Hitherto he\nhad concerned himself with matters of mixed ecclesiastical and political\nimport, but henceforth he devoted himself exclusively to doctrinal matters\nand came out as the Reformer. He began in earnest the translation of the\nBible into English, and took the next decisive step by an open attack,\nforced upon him by his studies of the Bible, against Transubstantiation.\u2019\nWycliffe thus attacked the very bulwark of Antichrist\u2019s stronghold, for\nthe doctrine of Transubstantiation, or the sacrifice of the Mass, annulled\nthe true sacrifice of Christ. Because of this, the Papal system became in\nGod\u2019s sight the \u2018desolating abomination.\u2019 (Dan. 11:31.)\u201d\u2014Edgar.\n\nOf the church in Sardis.\u2014\u201cSardis is said to mean that which remains, as if\nit signified something out of which life or virtue had gone. The nominal\nchurch during this period had a form of godliness without its power.\nSardis was the remains of the true Church, which had been driven into the\nwilderness; but when the persecution began to subside, her zeal also\nabated.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010347.\n\nWrite.\u2014Wycliffe wrote the first translation of the Bible into English.\n\nThese things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God.\u2014The seven lamps\nof fire (Rev. 4:5), or seven eyes sent forth into all the earth (Rev.\n5:6); i. e., perfect knowledge.\u2014Rev. 1:4.\n\nAnd the seven stars.\u2014How each of the Lord\u2019s messengers was kept! St. Paul\nhad (supposedly) eight years of liberty after his first imprisonment,\nplanted the Gospel in Spain and revisited the scenes of earlier labors;\nSt. John is said to have been thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, but\nescaped unharmed and died of old age; Arius died a natural death; as did\nPeter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles T. Russell, although\nall had reason to expect martyrdom at the hands of ecclesiasticism. The\nyear that Peter Waldo died, his tenets were condemned by an ecumenical\ncouncil. \u201cWycliffe preached unmolested; but the Council of Constance (May\n5, 1415) condemned his doctrines, and in 1428 his remains were dug up and\nburned; the ashes were cast into the adjoining Swift, which, as Wordsworth\npoetically remarked, conveyed them through the Avon and the Severn into\nthe sea, and thus disseminated them over the world. His doctrines, carried\ninto Bohemia, originated the Hussite movement. The New Testament was\npublished about 1378, and the entire Old Testament was completed shortly\nbefore his death.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\nI know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest.\u2014Many who admired\nWycliffe were not real Christians. A man not willing to go to the stake\nfor his religion has none.\n\nAnd art dead.\u2014Spiritually.\u2014Luke 9:60.\n\n3:2. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that [are] WERE\nready to die.\u2014Many among Wycliffe\u2019s admirers lost faith and love, and to\nthat degree died, while others had some spiritual life. These the Lord\ndesired to awaken, to strengthen, to encourage.\u2014Eph. 5:14.\n\nFor I have not found thy works perfect before MY God.\u2014Revised Version\nreads, \u201cFor I have found no works of thine fulfilled before My God.\u201d\n\n3:3. Remember [therefore] how thou hast received.\u2014Received the entire Word\nin the English tongue.\n\nAnd heard.\u2014Wycliffe was the author of more than 200 works, chiefly tracts,\non the Ransom.\n\nAnd hold fast, and reform.\u2014(Diaglott.) Had Wycliffe\u2019s labors been properly\nappreciated, the Reformation would have been set forward 150 years.\n\nIf therefore thou shalt not [watch] REPENT.\u2014Change your course of conduct.\n\nI will come on thee as a thief.\u2014\u201cMany today have the Sardis\ncharacteristics. To such this is a warning. Seven times our Lord\u2019s Second\nComing is described as being thief\u2010like, stealthy. Those who are asleep\nwill be awakened only after His work of destruction has progressed. His\npresence will be recognized by the sleepers only as the noise of spoiling\nthe Strong Man\u2019s House gradually increases.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010347; 1 Thes. 5:2;\nMatt. 24:43; 2 Pet. 3:10.) \u201cThe stealthiness of the thief, not the\nviolence of the robber, is implied in the original.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.\u2014\u201cFailing to\nrealize the fact that spiritual bodies cannot be seen by human eyes\nwithout a miracle, some cannot understand how He can be present while \u2018all\nthings continue as they were since the beginning of creation.\u2019 (2 Pet.\n3:3, 4.) Thus they are unable to understand the signs of the times\u2019\nrevealing His return.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010347.\n\n3:4. BUT thou hast a few names [even] in Sardis which have not defiled\ntheir garments.\u2014But have given due heed to the Message of the hour, the\nRansom.\n\nAnd they shall walk with Me In white.\u2014Fully covered by the robe of\nChrist\u2019s righteousness.\n\nFor they are worthy.\u2014None who trust in sacrifices of the Mass or in other\nsacrifices than that of Calvary, can ever be worthy in God\u2019s sight.\u2014Matt.\n10:37.\n\n3:5. He that overcometh, [the same] THUS.\u2014The test, apparently, was on the\nquestion of transubstantiation.\n\nShall be clothed in white raiment.\u2014\u201cThe pictures given of the Heavenly\nFather represent _Him_ as clothed (Psa. 104:2); and the pictures of our\nLord represent _Him_ as clothed. The angels who appeared at the time of\nour Lord\u2019s resurrection are represented as clothed in white. Our Lord\nsaid: \u2018Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk\nnaked, and they see his shame.\u2019 (Rev. 16:15.) The glorified Church is\nrepresented, not as taking off the robe of righteousness, but continuing\nto walk in white raiment, not as now, in a robe of reckoned righteousness,\nbut in a robe of actual righteousness.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u201011; Rev. 19:8.\n\nAnd I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life.\u2014\u201cIn the book are\nwritten the names of all those who have made with the Lord \u2018a Covenant by\nSacrifice.\u2019 The name of each of these is entered in the Lamb\u2019s Book of\nLife, when he starts to live the new life. If they are faithful, their\nnames will not be blotted out; and they will attain all those glorious\nthings which are promised to those who love Him supremely. (Rev.\n3:21.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010119; Rev. 13:8; Psa. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; Phil. 4:3; Lu.\n10:20.\n\nBut I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.\u2014\u201cIn\nthe end, the overcomers will each be so grandly developed that the Lord\nwill not be ashamed to confess any of them and to say, \u2018Here is one of My\nfollowers. Here is another. They have walked in My footsteps and have\novercome.\u2019 But He will be ashamed of any who are ashamed of Him or of His\nwords. (Luke 9:26.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010119; Luke 12:8, 9.\n\n3:6. He that hath an ear.\u2014A spiritual ear. \u201cMy sheep hear My voice.\u201d\u2014John\n10:27.\n\nLet him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.\u2014\u201cBlessed are the\npeople that know the joyful sound.\u201d\u2014Psa. 89:15.\n\n3:7. And [to] BY the angel.\u2014The next messenger to the Church was Martin\nLuther. \u201cThere is considerable similarity between the work begun on\nPentecost and that of Luther. The Reformation was, in a sense, the\nbeginning of a new era, a dawning of light where all had been darkness, a\nnew start in the way of Truth.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010347.\n\nOf the church in Philadelphia.\u2014\u201cPhiladelphia means brotherly love. This\nstage of the Church\u2019s history began at the Reformation; and there are many\nstill living who possess the characteristics described.\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010347.) The\nexact point of time at which the Philadelphia epoch of the Church began\nwas at midday, October 31, 1517. It was at that hour that Luther nailed\nhis ninety\u2010five theses on the church door at Wittenberg. \u201cNailing up that\npaper was the beginning of a great division in the Church; of thrones\ntumbled into the dust and kings with them; of empires rent asunder; of\nlands desolated by war; of massacres and horrible outrages against the\nlives and liberties of men; of thirty years continuous war in Germany; of\nParis and the vine\u2010clad valleys of Italy drenched in blood; of fires\nkindled all over England for the burning of men, women and children; of\nmen hurled headlong from precipices, roasted over slow fires, starving in\ndungeons, subjected to every form of cruelty\u2014but with all this, the\nadvance of justice, truth and liberty, the beginning of a new era in human\naffairs.\u201d (Coffin.) \u201cThe theses ran through all Germany in fourteen days,\nfor all the world was complaining about the indulgences; and Luther became\nrenowned, because at last somebody had come who took hold of the\nthing.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\nWrite.\u2014Luther wrote the first translation of the Bible into German.\n\nThese things saith He that is [holy] TRUE.\u2014The direct reference is to\nChrist (1 John 5:20); but characteristic of Luther was his great love of\ntruth. When the Papal legate came demanding that he recant, he replied, \u201cI\nstand by the truth. I will not take it back.\u201d\n\nHe that it [true] HOLY.\u2014See Mark 1:24. Luther\u2019s special message was\n\u201cJustification by faith\u201d\u2014_real_ holiness. One of the theses on the door\nwas, \u201cThose who truly repent of their sins have a full remission of guilt\nand penalty.\u201d\n\nHe that hath the key of David.\u2014\u201cAll power in Heaven and earth.\u201d (Matt.\n28:18; Luke 1:32.) Luther\u2019s theses were antagonistic to the system\nactually ruling all over the world. When a representative came warning\nthat his death would surely follow failure to recant, and asking him where\nhe could go when all had orders not to harbor him, he replied, \u201cI will\nabide under the cope of heaven.\u201d\n\n[He] AND that openeth.\u2014See Luke 24:32.\n\nAnd no man [shutteth] SHALL SHUT.\u2014\u201cNo doubt all the powers of Satan were\nexerted to close the door then opened; but \u2018He that is true\u2019 had said,\n\u2018which no man can shut.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010347; Isa. 22:22.\n\nAnd shutteth and no man [openeth] SHALL OPEN.\u2014The door of opportunity for\nthe Roman Catholic Church to repent swung shut the day Luther was\nexcommunicated. (Rev. 2:21.) \u201cLuther was not in the least disconcerted by\nthis sentence, which he had for some time expected. He renewed his appeal\nto the general council; declared the pope to be that Antichrist or Man of\nSin whose appearance is foretold in the New Testament; declaimed against\nhis tyranny with greater vehemence than ever; and at last having assembled\nthe University he cast the canon law, together with the bull of\nexcommunication, into the flames.\u201d\u2014Buck.\n\n3:8. I know thy works.\u2014A striking feature of Luther\u2019s character was his\npromptness to do whatever he saw to be the Lord\u2019s will. When the great\ntest came, Luther said to Erasmus: \u201cYou desire to walk upon eggs without\ncrushing them.\u201d Erasmus replied: \u201cI will not be unfaithful to the cause of\nChrist at least so far as the Age will permit me.\u201d \u201cI will go to Worms,\u201d\nshouted Luther, \u201cthough the devils were combined against me as thick as\ntiles upon the housetops!\u201d\n\nBehold I have set before thee an open door.\u2014See 1 Cor. 16:9; Acts 14:27.\n\n[And] WHICH no man can shut [it].\u2014\u201cWhile the Roman pontiff thought\neverything safe and settled, and all pious and good men were nearly in\ndespair of the religious reformation, so earnestly desired, a certain\nobscure and inconsiderable monk in Saxony, a province of Germany, suddenly\nopposed himself single\u2010handed with incredible resolution to the power of\nRome. This was Martin Luther.\u201d\u2014Mosheim.\n\nFor thou hast a little strength.\u2014\u201cCompared with the mighty hosts of their\nenemies, the little band of Reformers had but \u2018a little strength;\u2019 but\nthey knew that they had the Truth, and they fully trusted the Giver.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010347.\n\nAnd hast kept My Word.\u2014\u201cWhoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love\nof God perfected.\u201d\u20141 John 2:5.\n\nAnd hast not denied My name.\u2014\u201cIf we deny Him, He also will deny us.\u201d\u20142\nTim. 2:12.\n\n3:9. Behold I [will make] HAVE MADE them of the synagogue of Satan.\u2014The\nopponents of the reformers were _already_ of the synagogue of Satan.\u2014Rev.\n2:13.\n\nWhich say they are Jews.\u2014Claim to be Israelites indeed, saints.\u2014Rev. 2:9.\n\nAnd are not, but do lie.\u2014Papacy is one of the two systems of rulership\n(imperial power being the other) congenitally \u201cspotted like a leopard,\u201d as\nfar as the Truth is concerned.\u2014Dan. 11:27; Rev. 13:2.\n\nBehold I will make them to come.\u2014\u201cAll nations whom Thou hast made shall\ncome.\u201d\u2014Psa. 86:9.\n\nAnd worship before thy feet.\u2014\u201cThe sons also of them that afflicted thee\nshall come bending unto thee; and all that despised thee shall bow\nthemselves down at the soles of thy feet.\u201d\u2014Isa. 60:14; 49:23.\n\nAnd [to] THOU SHALT know that I have loved thee.\u2014See Eph. 2:7.\n\n3:10. Because thou hast kept the word of My patience.\u2014My patience\u2010\nenjoining word.\u2014Matt. 10:22; Lu. 8:15.\n\nI also will keep thee.\u2014\u201cAs to the Philadelphia stage of the Church, and\ntheir being saved from the hour of temptation, we think possibly the Lord\nmeant that some of the Church of that epoch would live over into the\npresent period, and that they would not be subjected to the special trials\nof this hour. For instance, we think of a very fine old gentleman, who was\nabout ninety years of age at the time we are about to mention. He was\npastor of a church. He seemed to receive Present Truth with a great deal\nof joy and spoke it forth with much zeal. But he was surrounded with so\nmuch opposition at home, and in the church to which he was attached as a\nminister, that he could not seem to trust to his mental judgment. This\nScripture which we are considering has rather comforted our mind with\nrespect to him and others like him.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010200.\n\nFrom the hour of temptation.\u2014\u201c \u2018The hour of temptation\u2019 has been the\nHarvest time. The majority of professing Christians of the world\u2014probably\nmore than three\u2010fourths\u2014have lost all faith in the Bible, and fallen into\nEvolution, Higher Criticism, Christian Science, Theosophy, Spiritism, New\nThought, etc. They are not able to stand in this \u2018evil day.\u2019 \u201d (Z\u201915\u2010199.)\nAdditionally, \u201cso far as we are able to judge, the same conditions prevail\ntoday amongst Bible students which the Apostle pointed out to the Elders\nof the Church of Ephesus. (Acts 20:28\u201032.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010328.\n\nWhich shall come upon all the world.\u2014\u201cWe believe that this temptation to\nheadiness and strife is spreading gradually in every direction; and the\nMaster assured us that unless these days would be cut short by the\nestablishment of His Kingdom in the hands of the Elect, no flesh would\nsurvive.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010327; Rev. 7:1\u20103; 16:14; Matt. 24:21.\n\nTo try them that dwell upon the earth.\u2014\u201cWe understand that the spirit of\nselfishness and ambition, which is driving the nations insanely to war for\ncommercial supremacy, will increase more and more, and will involve\neverybody.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010327; Rev. 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14.\n\n3:11. [Behold,] I come quickly.\u2014To Smyrna (73\u2010325 A. D.) and Pergamos\n(325\u20101160 A. D.) nothing was said about Christ\u2019s Second Advent; to\nThyatira (1160\u20101378) the Message was, \u201cHold fast till I come\u201d; to Sardis\n(1378\u20101518) it was, \u201cIf therefore thou shalt not reform, I will come on\nthee as a thief\u201d; to Philadelphia (1518\u20101874) it was, \u201cBehold, I come\n_quickly_.\u201d How evident that these messages to the Churches are epochs\ndrawing nearer and nearer to the climax of history, the Fifth Universal\nEmpire, now come at last!\n\nHold that fast which thou hast.\u2014\u201cThe Miller movement was a separation, as\nbetween those who kept the Word of God with patience and those who lost\ntheir faith in His Word. The Philadelphia Church, which patiently passed\nthrough so severe a trial of their faith, would not be subjected to the\nlater test.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010199.\n\nThat no man take thy crown.\u2014\u201cUnfaithfulness may lead to the blotting out\nof some names and the giving of their crowns to others.\u201d (F. 165.) \u201cIt is\nour expectation that this work of going out and coming in will continue\nuntil the last member of the New Creation shall have been found worthy,\nand all the crowns everlastingly apportioned.\u201d\u2014F. 95; 1 Sam. 16:1; Rev.\n2:10.\n\n3:12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar [in] TO the Temple of my\nGod.\u2014\u201cDuring the Philadelphia period the faithful have either been obliged\nto come out of the nominal temple or have been cast out. The reward\npromised such is that each will be a pillar in the eternal Temple\u2014a part\nwhich cannot be removed while the structure exists.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010347; Gal. 2:9;\n1 Kings 7:21, 22; Jer. 1:18; 1 Cor. 3:17; Eph. 2:19\u201022.\n\nAnd he shall [go no more] NOT GO out.\u2014\u201cDuring their trial state their\nnames were cast out as evil; they were not recognized as Christians. All\nthis is to be reversed. \u2018The Lord knoweth them that are His.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010347.\n\nAnd I will write upon him the name of My God.\u2014\u201cAnd I looked, and, lo, a\nLamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred and forty and four\nthousand, having His Father\u2019s name written on their foreheads\n[intellects].\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:1; 22:4.\n\nAnd the name of the city of My God.\u2014\u201cAnd they shall call them, The holy\npeople, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A\ncity not forsaken.\u201d\u2014Isa. 62:12; Ezek. 48:35; Jer. 23:6; 33:16.\n\nWhich is New Jerusalem.\u2014\u201cGlorious City of Peace! whose foundations, laid\nin justice, can never be moved, and whose builder and designer is God! It\nis in the light which will shine from this glorious City (Kingdom) of God\nthat the nations (people) will walk on the Highway of Holiness, up to\nperfection and to full harmony with God.\u201d\u2014Rev. 21:2, 10, 24; A 295.\n\nWhich cometh down out of Heaven from My God.\u2014\u201cA city is a symbol of a\nkingdom or dominion, and so God\u2019s Kingdom is symbolized by the New\nJerusalem, the new dominion coming from Heaven to earth. At first it will\nconsist of only the Bride of Christ.\u201d\u2014A. 295; Heb. 12:18\u201022.\n\nAnd I will write upon him My new name.\u2014\u201c \u2018Our Righteousness of Jehovah.\u2019\nHow appropriate is this name to the work and office of our Lord Jesus! Did\nHe not stand as the Representative of God\u2019s righteousness and suffer the\npenalty of Justice as man\u2019s Ransom\u2014that God might be just, and yet be the\nJustifier of him that believeth in Jesus? Surely no name could be more\nappropriate. (Jer. 33:16; 23:6; T. 102.) And that this name will be\nappropriate to the glorified Church all can readily see: she not only\nshares her Lord\u2019s sufferings for righteousness, \u2018filling up that which is\nbehind of the afflictions of Christ\u2019 (Col. 1:24; 1 Pet. 5:9), but is also\npromised a share in all the glories of her Lord, as a wife shares her\nhusband\u2019s honors and _name_.\u201d\u2014E. 45, 42; Isa. 9:6; Rev. 2:17; 19:12.\n\n3:13. He that hath an ear.\u2014\u201cHaving eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear\nye not?\u201d\u2014Mark 8:18.\n\nLet him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.\u2014\u201cLet these sayings\nsink down into your ears.\u201d\u2014Luke 9:44.\n\n3:14. And [unto] BY the angel.\u2014The special messenger to the last Age of\nthe Church was Charles T. Russell, born February 16, 1852. He has\nprivately admitted his belief that he was chosen for his great work from\nbefore his birth. His mother died when he was nine years old; and at the\nage of eleven Charles formed a business partnership with his father,\nhimself writing the articles of agreement under which they transacted\nbusiness. When he was but twelve years of age, his father found him in the\nstore one time at 2 a. m., poring over a concordance, unconscious of the\nlapse of time. We give some extracts from his autobiography:\n\n\u201cWe begin the narrative at the year 1868, when the Editor, having been a\nconsecrated child of God for some years, and a member of the\nCongregational Church and of the Y. M. C. A., began to be shaken in faith\nregarding many long accepted doctrines. Brought up a Presbyterian,\nindoctrinated from the catechism, and being naturally of an inquiring\nmind, I fell a ready prey to the logic of infidelity, as soon as I began\nto think for myself. But that which at first threatened to be the utter\nshipwreck of faith in God and the Bible, was, under God\u2019s providence,\noverruled for good, and merely wrecked my confidence in human creeds and\nsystems of Bible interpretations. I was led gradually to see that though\neach of the creeds contained some elements of Truth, they were, on the\nwhole, misleading and contradictory of God\u2019s Word. Among other theories, I\nstumbled upon Adventism. Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped into\na dusty, dingy hall in Allegheny, Pa., where I had heard that religious\nservices were held, to see if the handful who met there had anything more\nsensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches. There, for the\nfirst time, I heard something of the views of Second Adventism, by Jonas\nWendell, long since deceased. Thus I confess indebtedness to Adventists as\nwell as to other Bible students. Though his Scripture exposition was not\nentirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it\nwas sufficient, under God, to reestablish my wavering faith in the Divine\ninspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the Apostles and\nthe Prophets are indissolubly linked.\n\n\u201cWhen in 1872 I came to examine the subject of Restitution from the\nstandpoint of the Ransom\u2010price given by our Lord Jesus for Adam, and\nconsequently for all lost in Adam, it settled the matter of Restitution\ncompletely, and gave me the fullest assurance that ALL _must come forth_\nfrom their graves and be brought to a clear knowledge of the Truth and to\na full opportunity to gain everlasting life through Christ. The years\nfollowing, to 1876, were years of continued growth in grace and in\nknowledge on the part of the handful of Bible students with whom I met in\nAllegheny. We progressed from our first crude and indefinite ideas of\nRestitution to clearer understanding of the details; but God\u2019s due time\nfor clear light had not yet come. During this time, too, we came to\nrecognize the difference between our Lord as \u2018the _Man_ who gave Himself,\u2019\nand as the One who would come again, a _Spirit Being_. We saw that spirit\nbeings can be present and yet invisible to men.... It seems that not long\nafter their 1874 disappointment, a reader of _The Herald of the Morning_,\nwho had a copy of the _Emphatic Diaglott_, noticed something in it which\nhe thought peculiar\u2014that in Matthew 24:27, 37, 39, the Greek word\n_parousia_, which in our Common Version is rendered \u2018_coming_,\u2019 is in the\n_Diaglott_ translated \u2018_presence_\u2019\u2014evidently the correct translation of\nthe Greek. This was the clue; and following it, they had been led through\nprophetic _time_ toward proper views regarding the object and manner of\nour Lord\u2019s Return, and then to the examination of the time when the things\nindicated in God\u2019s Word as related to Christ\u2019s _parousia_ should take\nplace. Thus God leads His children often from different starting points of\nTruth. But where the heart is earnest and trustful, the results must be to\ndraw all together.\n\n\u201cThere were no books or other publications setting forth the time\nprophecies as then understood. So I paid Mr. Barbour\u2019s expenses to come to\nsee me at Philadelphia (where I had business engagements during the summer\nof 1876), to show me fully and Scripturally, if he could, that the\nprophecies indicated 1874 as the date at which the Lord\u2019s _presence_ and\nthe Harvest began. He came, and the evidence satisfied me. Being a person\nof positive convictions, and fully consecrated to the Lord, I at once saw\nthat the special times in which we live have an important bearing upon our\nduty and work as Christ\u2019s disciples; that since we are living in the time\nof the Harvest, the Harvest work should be done; and that Present Truth is\nthe sickle by which the Lord would have us do a reaping work everywhere\namong His children. I inquired of Mr. Barbour as to what was being done by\nhim and _The Herald_. He replied that nothing was being done.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010170,\n171.\n\nPastor Russell took the place of Mr. Barbour who became unfaithful and\nupon whom was fulfilled the prophecies of Matt. 24:48\u201051 and Zech.\n11:15\u201017.\n\n\u201cIn 1877 Pastor Russell called a meeting of all the ministers of Allegheny\nand Pittsburgh, showed them the Scriptures which indicated our Lord\u2019s\npresence and urged them to investigate and proclaim the message. All of\nthe ministers of the two cities were present; all of the ministers of the\ntwo cities refused to believe. In the same year he determined to give up\nsecular work and devote his entire time and fortune to the work indicated\nin the Scriptures as incident to the close of the Gospel Age and change of\ndispensation impending. As a means of determining whether his course was\nin harmony with the Scriptures, and also as a means of demonstrating his\nown sincerity, he decided to test the Lord\u2019s approval as follows: (1)\nDevote his life to the cause; (2) Invest his fortune in the promulgation\nof the work; (3) Prohibit collections at all meetings; (4) Depend on\nunsolicited contributions (wholly voluntary) to continue the work after\nhis fortune was exhausted. In 1881, 1,400,000 copies of _Food for Thinking\nChristians_ were distributed free at the doors of the Protestant churches\nin the United States, Canada and Great Britain on three consecutive\nSundays, by A. D. T. messenger boys.\u201d\u2014Obituary.\n\nAs to his education we quote his own words: \u201cAs respects my education in\nGreek and Hebrew: Not only do I not claim very special knowledge of either\nlanguage, but I claim that not one minister in a thousand is either a\nHebrew or a Greek scholar. To be able to spell out a few Greek words is of\nno earthly value. Nor is it necessary longer to study these languages in\norder to have knowledge of the Bible. Our Presbyterian friends have gotten\nout at great cost Young\u2019s Analytical Hebrew, Chaldaic, Greek and English\nLexicon Concordance, which any one may procure. And our Methodist friends\nhave issued a similar work\u2014Strong\u2019s Analytical Concordance and Lexicon.\nAnd there is a still older one entitled Englishman\u2019s Hebrew, Chaldaic,\nGreek and English Lexicon and Concordance. Additionally, Liddell and\nScott\u2019s Greek Lexicon is a standard authority. The prices of these are not\nbeyond the reach of the average man. By these works scholarly information\nrespecting the original text of the Bible is obtainable. I have all four\nof these works and have used them faithfully. Very few college professors,\neven, would risk to give a critical translation of any text of Scripture\nwithout consulting these very works of reference, which are standard.\nAdditionally I remind you of the many translations of the Bible now\nextant\u2014all of them very good. I have all of these and find them useful in\ncomparison and study of any text\u2014one sometimes giving a thought which\nanother may not. The other day, for curiosity\u2019s sake, I counted Bibles in\ndifferent translations, etc., in my study, and found that I have thirty\u2010\ntwo.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010286.\n\nAs to his ordination we quote him again: \u201cThere are two ordinations\nproper. One is of God; one of men. The ordination of God is the begetting\nof the Holy Spirit. If any are preaching without this ordination, they are\ndoing something that they are not authorized to do. There comes, however,\nanother special ordination of those who are called ministers of the\nGospel, in which class I count myself. This is ordination by the Church,\nand is recognized by all denominations everywhere. By some it is\nconsidered a mere form, by some it is performed with great ceremony, by\nothers with less ceremony. But to our understanding, each congregation\nshould have those whom it has chosen ordained in a Scriptural way\u2014by the\nstretching forth of hands\u2014by a vote. Whoever has not been ordained in\nthese two ways is not an ordained minister of the Gospel in the Scriptural\nsense. First, the Divine ordination is necessary; second, the earthly\nordination is necessary. By the grace of God I have both of these.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201915\u2010358.\n\nAs to his doctrines we quote him the third time: \u201cTo us the Scriptures\nclearly teach that the Church is the \u2018Temple of the living God\u2019\u2014peculiarly\n\u2018His workmanship\u2019; its construction has been in progress throughout the\nGospel Age\u2014ever since Christ became the world\u2019s Redeemer and Chief Corner\nStone of His Temple, through which, when finished, God\u2019s blessing shall\ncome \u2018to all people,\u2019 and they find access to Him. (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Eph.\n2:20; Gen. 28:14; Gal. 3:29.) That meantime the chiseling, shaping and\npolishing of consecrated believers in Christ\u2019s Atonement for sin\nprogresses; and when the last of these \u2018living stones,\u2019 \u2018elect and\nprecious,\u2019 shall have been made ready, the great Master Workman will bring\nall together in the First Resurrection; and the Temple shall be filled\nwith His glory, and be the meeting place between God and men throughout\nthe Millennium. (Rev. 15:6\u20108; 21:3.) We affirm the pre\u2010existence of Jesus\nas the mighty Word (Logos)\u2014Spokesman\u2014\u2018the beginning of the creation of\nGod,\u2019 \u2018the First\u2010Born of every creature,\u2019 the active Agent of the Heavenly\nFather, Jehovah, in all the work of creation. \u2018Without Him was not\nanything made that was made.\u2019 (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15; John 1:3.) We affirm\nthat the Word (Logos) was made flesh\u2014became the Babe of Bethlehem\u2014thus\nbecoming the Man Jesus, \u2018holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from\nsinners.\u2019 As we affirm the humanity of Jesus, we equally affirm the\nDivinity of Christ\u2014\u2018God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name\nabove every name.\u2019 (Heb. 7:26; Phil. 2:9.)\n\n\u201cWe acknowledge that the personality of the Holy Spirit is the Father and\nthe Son; that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and is manifested in all\nwho receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit and thereby become sons of\nGod. (John 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:3.) We affirm the resurrection of Christ\u2014that He\nwas put to death in flesh but quickened in Spirit. We deny that He was\nraised in the flesh, and challenge any statement to that effect as being\nunscriptural. (1 Pet. 3:18; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:8; Acts 26:13\u201015.) That\nthe basis of Hope, for the Church and the World, lies in the fact that\n\u2018Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man,\u2019 \u2018a Ransom\nfor all,\u2019 and will be \u2018the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh\ninto the world,\u2019 \u2018in due time.\u2019 (Heb. 2:9; John 1:9; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6.) That\nthe Hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, \u2018see Him as He\nis,\u2019 be \u2018partaker of the Divine nature,\u2019 and share His glory as His joint\u2010\nheir. (1 John 3:2; John 17:24; Rom. 8:17; 2 Pet. 1:4.) That the present\nmission of the Church is the perfecting of the saints for the future work\nof service; to develop in herself every grace; to be God\u2019s witness to the\nworld; and to prepare to be kings and priests in the next Age. (Eph. 4:12;\nMatt. 24:14; Rev. 1:6; 20:6.) That the Hope for the World lies in the\nblessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ\u2019s\nMillennial Kingdom\u2014the Restitution of all that was lost in Adam, to all\nthe willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and His glorified\nChurch\u2014when all the wilfully wicked shall be destroyed. (Acts 3:19\u201023;\nIsa. 35.)\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\nThe amount of work that Pastor Russell performed _is incredible_, and it\nis doubtful whether it was ever equalled by any other human being. When he\nwas in his twenties he was refused the lease of a property because the\nowner thought he would surely die before the lease had expired. For fifty\nyears he suffered constantly with sick headaches, due to a fall in his\nyouth, and for twenty\u2010five years had such distressing hemorrhoids that it\nwas impossible for him to rest in the easiest chair; yet in the past forty\nyears he traveled a million miles, delivered 30,000 sermons and table\ntalks\u2014many of them 2\u2010\u00bd hours long\u2014wrote over 50,000 pages (of this size)\nof advanced Biblical exposition, often dictated 1,000 letters per month,\nmanaged every department of a world\u2010wide evangelistic campaign employing\n700 speakers, personally compiled the most wonderful Biblical drama ever\nshown; and with all that, he found time in the course of each year to\npersonally aid thousands with his fatherly counsel. At one time his\nwritings were subjected to an analysis of 20,511 Scripture expositions.\nThese were assembled in Biblical order and disclosed but six points of\ninquiry, all easily harmonized. No writer, not even excepting the writers\nof the Bible, have ever had such critical readers. His works have been\npublished in 35 languages. During the last eight days of his life he had\nappointments in California, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and New York; and\nthough for several days manifestly dying, with cystitis (caused by\nexcessive travel and speaking), he declined to cancel any engagements, and\nwent out of this life October 31, 1916, on a railroad train en route to\nhis Kansas appointment. At the age of 30 he had accumulated a fortune of\nover $300,000, but died penniless, his own fortune, as well as all the\nlarge sums contributed to the cause, having been used up in the Master\u2019s\nservice. He was beloved everywhere by those who \u201cfollow the Lamb\nwhithersoever He goeth.\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:4. For further particulars of Pastor\nRussell\u2019s service of God\u2019s people see Memorial Number of _Zions Watch\nTower and Herald of Christ\u2019s Presence_.\n\nOf the church [of the Laodiceans] IN LAODICEA.\u2014It is significant that in\nthe first epoch of the Church there were Nicolaitanes (_nikon ton laon_),\n\u201cvanquishers of the people,\u201d a clergy class who succeeded in pulling the\nwool over the eyes of the common people; but that the last age of the\nChurch is Laodicean (_laos dike_), \u201cjustice for the people.\u201d We find we\nget along much better without the clergy than we did with them. The\nLaodicean period of the Church extends from the fall of 1874 to the spring\nof 1918, three and one\u2010half years of preparation, and forty years of\nHarvest. \u201cThe parallels affected merely the nominal Jewish House _there_\nand the nominal Christian House _here_. Both were rejected because of\nfailure to be in the right condition of heart for the truths that were due\nto them\u2014both rejected for destruction. The Jewish System was a Church\u2010\nState affair, paralleled here by the great Church\u2010State systems of Europe,\nwhose destruction began in 1914. Let us remember, however, that the three\nand a half years of Jesus\u2019 ministry were more a time of preparation of the\nApostles to be the instruments for the harvesting and a sharpening\npreparation of the Sickle of Truth for the later work, which _began_ at\nPentecost. Prior to Pentecost, there was _no _\u2018garner\u2019 into which to\ngather the wheat.\u201d\n\n\u201cJewish And Christian Parallels\n\n\u201cJewish\u2010Nominal Church Christian\u2010Nominal Church\nA. D. 29\u201033 A. D. 1874\u20101878\n\u201cThey knew not the time of\ntheir visitation.\u201d\n\u201cA. D. 33\u201036 A. D. 1878\u20101881\nThe Most Holy anointed, Divine\nfavor prolonged for three and\na half years to complete the\n70 weeks of favor promised to\nIsrael, their rejection being\ndeferred.\n\u201cA. D. 36\u201073 A. D. 1881\u20101918\nBecause of the overspreading\nof abominations, He shall make\nit desolate, even until the\nconsummation, or _utter\ndestruction_\u2014until all that\nGod has predetermined shall be\naccomplished.\u2014Dan. 9:24\u201027.\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010264. See pages 594, 595.\n\nThe foregoing is Pastor Russell\u2019s last expression on the subject of\nchronology; and we believe that it was designed to be of great value to\nthe Lord\u2019s people at this hour. \u201cThe Apostles, the Prophets and the angels\nall desired and sought earnestly to know what _time_ the Spirit of God\nindicated through the Prophets. And this interest on the part of His\nchildren is ever pleasing to God. He called the inquiring Daniel greatly\nbeloved, and answered his inquiry so far as was consistent with His Plan.\nSuch inquiry should not be regarded as an improper prying into the secrets\nof God. God would have us quickly discern the Truth as it becomes _due_.\u201d\n(B. 17.) \u201cLet none, then, of the truly consecrated under\u2010value these\nprophetic time\u2010evidences, which were designed to guide our words and deeds\nin the early dawn of the Millennial Day. These prophetic time\u2010proofs were\nlargely God\u2019s means of drawing the attention of the writer more carefully\nto other features of the Divine Plan.\u201d\u2014B. 31.\n\nDaniel \u201cunderstood by books\u201d (Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy) the length of the great\ncaptivity of the children of Israel. (Dan. 9:2.) At Christ\u2019s First Advent\nthere was but one time\u2010prophecy calling attention to that event (Dan.\n9:24\u201027), yet all the people \u201cwere in expectation\u201d of it (Luke 3:15.) In\nthe year 1190 the good monk Joachim declared that the Papal system was\nAntichrist, that the history of mankind is divided into three ages, and\nthat in the year 1260 the Papacy would give way to a new system in which\nthe whole world would be \u201cone vast monastery.\u201d \u201cIn 1260 the Council of\nArles pronounced all followers of Joachim heretics.\u201d His application of\nthe correct principle, \u201ca year for a day,\u201d made in the very depths of the\nDark Ages, is one of the most pathetic incidents in the history of\nmankind; but his study of time\u2010prophecy brought him peace and joy of\nheart. He was an opponent of the prevailing \u201cdoctrine of the Trinity.\u201d\nWilliam Miller, in the year 1829, was privileged to see (approximately)\nthe correct date for the setting up of the abomination of desolation (539\nA. D.), and for the beginning of the Time of the End (1799 A. D.) Morton\nEdgar, author of _Pyramid Passages_, has found foreshown in the Great\nPyramid of Egypt abundant evidence of the accuracy of the Bible chronology\nof Pastor Russell and the supplements thereto supplied by Dr. John Edgar,\ndeceased. These findings are set forth in his work, _Pyramid Passages_,\nVol. II, of which we recommend sections numbered in the following table.\nFor convenience we give the citations to Pastor Russell\u2019s works in which\nthe same items are discussed. The Pyramid is still there, and the\nmeasurements can be made by anybody. Pastor Russell\u2019s chronology was\nwritten before he ever saw the Pyramid.\n\nDate Foreshown Event Pastor Sections\n Russell\u2019s of\n Works Pyramid\n Passages\nFall 4127 B. C. Fall of Adam. Z 04\u2010343 25\u201030\u201058\nFall 3127 B. C. End of Adam\u2019s 1000\u2010year Z 04\u2010343 25\u201028\n day.\nFall 2473 B. C. Flood. B 42 24\u201030\nFall 2021 B. C. Birth of Isaac. B 231 45\nSpring 1813 B. C. Death of Jacob. B 218\u2010232 16\u201017\nSpring 1615 B. C. Exodus and giving of the B 42 11\n Law.\nSpring 1575 B. C. Entrance into Canaan. B 42 43\u201046\nFall 626 B. C. Last Jubilee. B 185 50\nFall 607 B. C. Desolation of the Land. B 51 19\u201046\u201048\nFall 455 B. C. Nehemiah\u2019s Commission. B 67 51\u201052\u201053\nFall 2 B. C. Birth of Christ. B 54 10\u201043\nFall 29 A. D. Baptism of Christ. B 60 10\u201024\u201043\u201058\nSpring 33 A. D. Death of Christ. B 61 10\u201011\u201014\u201032\u201045\nFall 36 A. D. Conversion of Cornelius. B 71 51\nSpring 1378 A. D. Wycliffe. Z 05\u2010185 37\nSpring 1521 A. D. Diet of Worms. Z 05\u2010180 38\nFall 1846 A. D. Evangelical Alliance. C 95\u2010119 14\u201052\nFall 1874 A. D. Second Advent of the B 173\u2010247 16\u201032\u201050\n Lord.\nSpring 1878 A. D. Favor to Jews and C 233 17\u201028\n sleeping Saints.\nFall 1914 A. D. End of Times of the B 73 19\u201048\n Gentiles.\nFall 2875 A. D. Restitution completed. Z 04\u2010344 37\nFall 2914 A. D. Dominion restored to Z 04\u2010343 58\n mankind.\n\nThe chronology as it appears in the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES is accurate.\nThe year 1914 brought the end of the Times of the Gentiles, but not the\nend of the Harvest work. Have the teachings of the Parallels lost their\nvalue? Not at all. The point not previously noticed is that the Jewish\npolity was not to be destroyed in Jerusalem only, but throughout all\nJudea. Nor does _Judea_ mean all of Palestine. The actual depopulation of\nthe whole of Palestine did not occur until the year 135 A. D.\n(corresponding to our year 1980), on the ninth day of the month of Ab, the\nanniversary of the burning of the Temple under Titus. On that day came to\nan end the insurrection of Bar\u2010Cocheba, the false Messiah, who wrought his\nown destruction and that of 580,000 of his followers, when he attempted to\nregain control of Judea and Jerusalem. The struggle was of five years\u2019\nduration having begun in 130 A. D. \u201cIt was the effort, under the\nleadership of Bar\u2010Cocheba, to regain their independence, that brought\nabout a repetition of scenes enacted under Titus, and resulted actually in\nthe depopulation of Palestine. The whole of Judea was turned into a\ndesert; about 985 towns and villages were laid in ashes; fifty of their\nfortresses were razed to the ground; even the name of their capital was\nchanged to \u00c6lia Capitolina, and they were forbidden to approach it on pain\nof death; thousands of those who had escaped death were reduced to\nslavery, and such as could not be thus disposed of were transported into\nEgypt.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\nWhen the Lord gave His wonderful prophecy in which the destinies of\nnominal Fleshly Israel, nominal Spiritual Israel, and the Israel of God,\nare set forth, it was in answer to three definite questions: \u201c_When_ shall\nthese things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy Parousia, and of the\n_end_ of the Age?\u201d (Matt. 24:3.) The Lord did not ignore their question.\nHe answered it with a reply that sweeps the history of twenty centuries.\nHe showed that the _end_ of Fleshly Israel foreshadowed the _end_ of\nSpiritual Israel. Fleshly Israel had three ends; the destruction of\nJerusalem in A. D. 70, the complete subjugation of Judea in A. D. 73, and\nthe actual depopulation of the whole of Palestine in A. D. 135. Which did\nHe mean should be the end that would be a guide to His followers? Not the\nend in A. D. 70, foreshadowing 1915; for the Harvest of the Gospel Age is\nstill in progress. Not the end in A. D. 135, foreshadowing 1980; for the\n_Harvest is the end_. He must have meant the end in Judea, even as He\nsaid, \u201cThen let them which be in _Judea_ flee into the mountains.\u201d (Matt.\n24:16.) See also Matt. 2:22; 3:5; Mark 1:5; Luke 1:5, 65; 3:1; 7:17; Acts\n11:29; Rom. 15:31, and _especially_ John 7:1\u20103 and 1 Thes. 2:14\u201016.\n\nThe data presented in comments on Rev. 2:1 _prove_ that the conquest of\nJudea was not completed until the day of the Passover, A. D. 73, and in\nthe light of the foregoing Scriptures, _prove_ that the Spring of 1918\nwill bring upon Christendom a spasm of anguish greater even than that\nexperienced in the Fall of 1914. Reexamine the table of the Parallel\nDispensations in STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, Vol. 2, pages 246 and 247;\nchange the 37 to 40, 70 to 73 and 1914 to 1918, and we believe it is\ncorrect and will be fulfilled \u201cwith great power and glory,\u201d (Mark 13:26.)\nIt was entirely impossible to foresee whether our Lord meant that A. D. 70\nor A. D. 73 should serve as our guide to the time when the Jewish polity\ncame to an end, until after October, 1915, had passed. Moreover, we have\nseen the promised signs, \u201cupon the earth distress of nations, with\nperplexity; men\u2019s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after\nthose things which are coming on the earth,\u201d and we have the Lord\u2019s words\nfor it that having seen those things \u201cthe Kingdom of God is nigh at hand,\u201d\n\u201ceven at the doors,\u201d and our \u201credemption draweth nigh.\u201d (Luke 21:25\u201036;\nMark 13:27\u201030.) It is possible that A. D. 1980 marks the regathering of\nall of Fleshly Israel from their captivity in death. It is just 70 years\nbeyond 1910, the date when Pastor Russell gave his great witness to the\nJewish people in the New York Hippodrome. See page 551 (1).\n\nBut if the time of nominal Zion\u2019s travail (Isa. 66:8) is due to occur in\nthe Spring of 1918, and if we are now but the \u201cone day\u201d (one year) distant\nfrom that event which the Prophet mentions, what should be our expectation\nregarding the experience of the \u201clittle flock\u201d meantime? \u201cThe symbolic\ntravail, in the above prophecy, is a reference to the great Time of\nTrouble\u2014the travail that is to come upon the nominal Gospel church, Great\n\u2018Babylon,\u2019 from which some are to be counted worthy to escape. (Luke\n21:36.) This is indicated by the preceding verse, which locates the time\nof this prophecy as synchronous with that wherein is heard \u2018a voice of\nnoise [confusion] from the city\u2019 [Babylon], and \u2018a voice [of truth and\nwarning] from the Temple\u2019 [the elect Little Flock of consecrated and\nfaithful ones], and \u2018a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to His\nenemies\u2019\u2014in the great Time of Trouble. The travail that is coming is to be\nupon nominal Zion\u2014\u2018Christendom,\u2019 \u2018Babylon\u2019; and it will be a great and\nsore affliction\u2014\u2018a Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a\nnation.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut the marvelous thing the Prophet here has to record is that a Man\u2010\nchild is to be born out of Zion before this travail comes. This is a\nstriking reference to the fact, elsewhere clearly taught, that the ripe\nwheat of the Gospel Church is to be separated from the tares, that they\nare to be exalted and glorified before the burning, the consuming trouble,\nshall come upon the latter. This Man\u2010child is, therefore, the Little\nFlock\u2014the true Zion in God\u2019s estimation, the Body of Christ; as it is\nwritten. \u2018There shall come out of Zion [the nominal Gospel Church] the\nDeliverer [The Christ, Head and Body], and shall turn away ungodliness\nfrom Jacob [the Fleshly Israel, or Zion].\u2019 (Rom. 11:26.) This is the Man\u2010\nchild that is to bless all the families of the earth. (Gen. 28:14; Gal.\n3:16, 29.) The birth of the Man\u2010child is the First Resurrection. Blessed\nand holy are all they that have part in the First Resurrection. Such are\nnow begotten of God by the Word of Truth, and quickened by the Holy Spirit\n(Jas. 1:18; Eph. 2:1; Rom. 8:11), and in due time\u2014before the travail\u2014they\nwill be born in the glorious likeness of Christ. The birth of this Man\u2010\nchild began over eighteen hundred years ago with the resurrection of\nChrist Jesus. There the Head of this Body of Christ came forth; and as\nsurely as the Head has been born, so surely shall the Body come forth.\n\u2018Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord:\nshall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy God.\u2019 (Isa.\n66:9.) Ah, no! \u2018the Man\u2010child, The Christ complete, the Great Deliverer,\nshall come forth.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201994\u2010135.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d says one, \u201cwhere is the fiery chariot that is to accomplish a\ncleavage between the Elijah and Elisha classes?\u201d We offer the suggestion\nthat the fiery horses are lurid prophecies; the horsemen are Ezekiel and\nJohn, and the chariot is the vehicle in which their Message is brought to\nthe Elijah class. And do the Elijah class take to that vehicle? They _do_.\nAnd why? Because \u201cthe sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.\u201d (John\n10:4.) The separation between the Elijah and Elisha classes will be\nbrought about in a perfectly natural way, by some using the chariot which\nthe Lord provides, and others recognizing it, but not attempting to use it\nto mount to the skies. And what should we expect such a fiery chariot\nwould do when caught up into the heavens? The answer is prophetic, \u201cThe\nheavens being on fire shall be dissolved;\u201d \u201cThe heavens shall pass away\nwith a great noise;\u201d \u201cAnd all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and\nthe heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall\nfall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling fig from\nthe fig\u2010tree.\u201d (2 Pet. 3:12, 10; Isa. 34:4.) Evidently the circulation of\nthe penny will have something to do with the burning of the tares!\u2014Matt.\n13:40\u201043; Isa. 21:9.\n\nForty days after Christ\u2019s resurrection His ascension occurred. This\nconfirms the hope of the Church\u2019s glorification forty years (a year for a\nday) after the awakening of the sleeping saints in the Spring of 1878. The\nseven days before the Deluge may represent seven years, from 1914 to 1921,\nin the midst of which \u201cweek of years\u201d the last members of the Messiah pass\nbeyond the veil. The Great Company class shall be cut off at its end\u2014the\nfact that we see the first half of this week so distinctly marked would\nlead us to expect three and one\u2010half years more of witnessing by the Great\nCompany class; for it seems to be the Heavenly Father\u2019s way to accomplish\nHis work by weeks and half weeks, from the very beginning of creation\nuntil now. The covenant with Abraham, 2045 B. C., was half way (2081 years\neach way) between the fall of Adam, 4127 B. C., and the conversion of\nCornelius, A. D. 36. The last observance of a typical jubilee by Israel,\n626 B. C., was half way (2500 years each way) from the end of Adam\u2019s Day,\n3127 B. C., and the beginning of the Times of Restitution, A. D. 1874. The\ncaptivity, 606 B. C., marks the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles,\nhalf way (2520 years each way) between the end of Adam\u2019s 1000\u2010year day,\n3127 B. C., and the end of Gentile Times, A. D. 1914. The captivity, 606\nB. C., marks a point half way (3520 years each way) between the fall of\nman, 4127 B. C., and his full restoration to Divine favor, A. D. 2914.\nChrist\u2019s death, A. D. 33, marks a point half way (1845 years each way)\nbetween the death of Jacob, 1813 B. C., and the restoration of favor to\nIsrael in 1878 A. D. The death of Christ, A. D. 33, was half way (three\nand one\u2010half years each way) between His baptism, A. D. 29, and the\nconversion of Cornelius, A. D. 36.\n\n [Chronological Chart of Revelation]\n\nThe awakening of the sleeping saints, A. D. 1878, was just half way (three\nand one\u2010half years each way) between the beginning of the Times of\nRestitution in 1874 and the close of the High Calling in 1881. Our\nproposition is that the glorification of the little Flock in the Spring of\n1918 A. D. will be half way (three and one\u2010half years each way) between\nthe close of the Gentile Times and the close of the Heavenly Way, A. D.\n1921. The three days\u2019 (three years\u20141918\u20101921) fruitless search for Elijah\n(2 Kings 2:17\u201018) is a confirmation of this view. We shall wait to see;\nbut we shall not be indifferent while we wait, lest peradventure another,\nmore zealous, take the crown we have. The time is not long: but if we have\nto go on for fifty years, why should we care? We are the Lord\u2019s. Let Him\ndo as He will with His own.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n The Seven Messengers To The Church\n\n\nWrite.\u2014Pastor Russell was the most prolific writer of Biblical truth that\never lived.\u2014Ezek. 9:2, 3.\n\nThese things saith the Amen.\u2014The same word translated \u201cverily\u201d in the\nGospels and so often used by our Lord as a solemn prefix to some important\nannouncement.\n\nAND the faithful and true Witness.\u2014Trinitarians witness that Christ and\nthe Father are one in person. Christ Himself witnesses, \u201cIt is also\nwritten in your Law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that\nbear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of\nMe.\u201d (John 8:17, 18.) Christ was one, and the Father was one; and one plus\none are two. (This lesson in mathematics is for Doctors of Divinity;\nschool children will not need it.)\u2014Rev. 1:5; 19:11.\n\nAND the Beginning of the [creation] CHURCH of God.\u2014Either reading is\ncorrect. Our Lord was the Beginning of the New Creation, but, more than\nthat, He was the Beginning of _all_ creation. \u201cHe is the Image of the\ninvisible God\u2014_First\u2010born of all creation_; because by Him were all things\ncreated, those in the heavens and those on the earth, visible and\ninvisible\u2014whether thrones, or lordships, or governments, or authorities:\nall things were created by Him and for Him, and He precedes all things,\nand in Him all things have been permanently placed. (Col. 1:15\u201018.) Hear\nalso the word of prophecy concerning the Only\u2010Begotten, not only declaring\nHis coming exaltation as King of earthly kings, but describing Him as\nalready being Jehovah\u2019s _First\u2010born_, saying, \u2018I will make Him, My First\u2010\nborn, higher than the kings of the earth.\u2019 (Psa. 89:27.)\u201d\u2014E. _95_, 86.\n\n3:15. I know thy works.\u2014\u201cThe Laodicean Church has much zeal, but not\naccording to knowledge. She claims that her principal object is to convert\nsinners, to bring forth spiritual children. The Prophet puts these words\ninto the mouth of nominal Christians when they awake to a knowledge of the\nsituation: \u2018We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it\nwere brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth;\nneither have the inhabitants of the earth fallen (become converted).\u2019\n(Isa. 26:16\u201018.)\u201d (Z. \u201916\u2010347.) The literal city of Laodicea was\ndistinguished for the raven blackness of the fleeces (black sheep) there\nto be had.\n\nThat thou are neither cold.\u2014Making no pretense whatever to be exponents of\nGod\u2019s Truth.\u2014Luke 7:36\u201050.\n\nNor hot.\u2014Full of warm, loving devotion to Christ.\u20142 Tim. 3:5; Ezek. 5:6.\n\nI would thou wert cold or hot.\u2014\u201cEphraim is a cake not turned.\u201d\u2014Hos. 7:8.\n\n3:16. So then.\u2014\u201cThe Spring of 1878, corresponding to the date at which our\nLord assumed the office of King, rode on the ass, cleansed the Temple of\nits money\u2010changers, and wept over and gave up to desolation that nominal\nchurch or kingdom, marks the date from which the nominal church systems\nare not the mouth\u2010pieces of God, nor in any degree recognized by Him.\u201d\u2014B.\n235.\n\nBecause thou art THUS lukewarm and ART neither [cold nor hot] HOT NOR\nCOLD.\u2014\u201cRetaining the forms of worship and faith in a Creator and in a\nfuture life, but viewing these chiefly through their own or other men\u2019s\nphilosophies and theories, and ignoring the Bible as an infallible teacher\nof the Divine purposes. These, while retaining the Bible, disbelieve its\nnarratives, especially that of Eden and the fall. Retaining the name of\nJesus, and calling Him the Christ and the Savior, they regard Him merely\nas an excellent though not infallible Exemplar, and reject entirely His\nRansom\u2010sacrifice\u2014His cross. Claiming the Fatherhood of God to extend to\nsinners, they repudiate both the curse and the Mediator.\u201d\u2014C. 167.\n\n[I will spue thee out of My] REFRAIN THY mouth.\u2014She is bidden to hold her\npeace. She needs to _study_, not to teach; and so the following verses\nindicate.\u2014Hos. 5:6; 9:12.\n\n3:17. Because thou sayest I am rich.\u2014I have all the spiritual light that\nexists in the world. \u201cI have much goods laid up for many years.\u201d (Luke\n12:19.) \u201cI sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n18:7; Hos. 12:8; 1 Cor. 4:8.\n\nAnd Increased with goods.\u2014\u201cLaodiceans count their numbers and their\ndonations by millions, and say, \u2018We are rich as never before.\u2019 Alas, that\nthey do not realize that these are earthly riches of the kind which our\nLord declares are no evidence of His favor during this Gospel Age, but\nrather to the contrary! And they see not the true riches which the Lord\nadmires, and which are the foretaste of His favor and the coming Kingdom\nwealth.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u201056.\n\nAnd have need of nothing.\u2014\u201cThey will not own that they have departed from\nthe right ways of the Lord: in their own estimation they are rich and\nincreased with goods, spiritual as well as temporal, and have need of\nnothing.\u201d\u2014Mal. 3:7; Z. \u201992\u2010261.\n\nAnd knowest not that thou.\u2014Of all others, so the Greek indicates.\n\nArt wretched.\u2014\u201cTo our eternal disgrace, the United States leads all\ncivilized countries in homicides\u2014over 8,000 yearly. There are twelve\nmurders in New England to one in London; in California seventy\u2010five to\none; in Nevada 245 to one.\u201d (Z. \u201908\u201083.) \u201cEach nation feels that theirs is\nthe greatest talent, theirs are the finest guns, theirs the best\neverything; and it is this feeling of self\u2010sufficiency that led the\nnations into the present conflict. They think that they are so good and so\ngreat that God could not help giving them the victory.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010174.\n\nAnd miserable.\u2014\u201cHow blind we all have been not to have noticed: (1) That\nthe numbers of the heathen in proportion even to the nominally Christian\ndoubled last century; (2) That if we could bring all the heathen up to the\nstandard of our most civilized nation it would mean that God\u2019s will would\nbe less done the world over than it is now.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201908\u201083.\n\nAnd poor.\u2014\u201cThe Laodicean Church is poor in that she has so little of the\nMaster\u2019s Spirit, so little of the Truth and of the Spirit of the\nTruth.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u201056.\n\nAnd blind.\u2014\u201cShe cannot see afar off, cannot see either the High Calling of\nthe Church or the blessed provisions of Restitution for the world in\ngeneral.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201998\u2010128.\n\nAnd naked.\u2014\u201cThe clergy, under the name of Higher Criticism and Evolution,\nare rapidly denuding her, making her naked, taking from her the robe of\nChrist\u2019s righteousness, and leading her to trust, not in the precious\nblood of the Redeemer, but in an evolutionary process which needs no\nSavior, which denies that there is, or has been, any sin to make atonement\nfor.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u201056.\n\n3:18. I counsel thee.\u2014\u201cThou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward\nreceive me into glory.\u201d\u2014Psa. 73:24.\n\nTo buy of Me.\u2014\u201cNot until we lay hold by faith upon the _exceeding great\nand precious_ promises is there any of the \u2018gold\u2019 of the \u2018Divine nature\u2019\nin us. This treasure can be _purchased_ only at the cost of entire\nconsecration, or sacrifice of all that we have, to Christ\u201d\u2014Z. \u201996\u201044;\nProv. 23:23; Matt. 13:44.\n\nGold tried in the fire.\u2014\u201cIf we would purchase the \u2018gold _tried in the\nfire_,\u2019 it must be at the cost of faithful and constant submission to the\ndiscipline of the Lord in fiery trials. How otherwise can the dross be\neliminated? There is no other way. Wherefore, think it not strange; let\nthe fire burn; let the dross be consumed; and see to it, beloved, that in\nthe heat of the flame you remove not the \u2018living sacrifice.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201996\u201044;\n1 Pet. 4:12.\n\nThat thou mayest be rich.\u2014\u201cFor ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nthat, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye\nthrough His poverty might be rich.\u201d\u20142 Cor. 8:9; Prov. 10:22; Lu. 12:21; 1\nTim. 6:18; Jas. 2:5; Rev. 2:9.\n\nAnd white raiment.\u2014\u201cThe robe of Christ\u2019s imputed righteousness, which so\nmany are now discarding, to appear before God in their own\nunrighteousness.\u201d\u2014D. 42; Rev. 19:8.\n\nThat thou mayest be clothed.\u2014\u201cA glorious church, not having spot, or\nwrinkle, or any such thing.\u201d\u2014Eph. 5:27.\n\nAnd that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.\u2014\u201cBehold I come as a\nthief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk\nnaked and they see his shame.\u201d\u2014Rev. 16:15; Matt. 22:11\u201013; Isa. 47:3.\n\nAnd anoint thine eyes with eyesalve.\u2014From the Great Physician. (Mark\n2:17.) \u201cComplete consecration and submission to the Divine will as\nexpressed in the Scriptures.\u201d\u2014D. 42.\n\nThat thou mayest see.\u2014\u201cThe \u2018master of the house\u2019 or \u2018householder\u2019 of the\npresent dispensation is not _our_ Lord, but _our_ Adversary, the\nDevil\u2014\u2018the god of this world,\u2019 \u2018the prince of the power of the air,\u2019 \u2018the\nprince of this world,\u2019 who now ruleth in the children of disobedience,\n_blinding_ the minds of all that believe not.\u201d\u2014D. 611; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph.\n2:2; Psa. 13:3; 19:8; John 9:6, 41.\n\n3:19. As many as I love.\u2014\u201cAs many as are honest and at heart loyal to\nGod.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201992\u201059.\n\nI rebuke and chasten.\u2014\u201c \u2018My son, despise not thou the chastening of the\nLord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him; for whom the Lord loveth He\nchasteneth.\u2019\u2014Prov. 3:11, 12; Heb. 12:5\u20108.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201996\u201044; Job 5:17; Jas. 1:12.\n\nBe zealous, therefore, and repent.\u2014\u201cThe lawyer who makes legality his test\ninstead of justice; the merchant who is satisfied simply to conform to the\ncode of his trade, whose excuse for any dishonesty is, \u2018They all do it\u2019;\nthe \u2018gentleman\u2019 or \u2018lady\u2019 who puts good form and manners in the place of\nsincerity and kindliness of heart, and politeness in place of courtesy\u2014all\nare alike animated by the ecclesiastical conscience. It was this\necclesiastical mind and this ecclesiastical conscience which crucified\nJesus Christ (Rt. Rev. Chas. D. Williams, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of\nMichigan.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010339.\n\n3:20. Behold, I stand at the door.\u2014Some of the Scriptures, which, when\nunderstood in their connections and significance, prove that the Lord\u2019s\nSecond Advent occurred in the fall of 1874 are as follows: \u201cSpeak ye\ncomfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is\naccomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the\nLord\u2019s hand _double_ for all her sins.\u201d (Isa. 40:2; B. 227.) \u201cAnd first I\nwill recompense their iniquity and their sin _double_.\u201d (Jer. 16:18; B.\n218.) \u201cTurn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even _today_ do\nI declare that I will render _double_ unto thee.\u201d (Zech. 9:12; B. 224.)\n\u201cThe _fourteenth_ day of the second month, at even, they shall keep it.\u201d\n(Num. 9:11; Z. \u201998\u201068.) \u201cAnd when her days to be delivered were fulfilled,\nbehold, there were _twins_.\u201d (Gen. 25:24; Z. \u201994\u201063.) \u201cAnd when he was\nfull _forty_ years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren. And\nwhen _forty_ years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness\nof Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord.\u201d \u201cWonders and signs in the land of\nEgypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the Wilderness _forty_ years.\u201d\u2014Acts\n7:23, 30, 36; Z. \u201911\u2010215.\n\n\u201cBlessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and\nfive and thirty days.\u201d (Dan. 12:12; C. 83.) \u201cThen shalt thou cause the\ntrumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in\nthe day of atonement.\u201d (Lev. 25:9; B. 187.) \u201cAs long as she lay desolate\nshe kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.\u201d (2 Chron. 36:21; B.\n195.) \u201cIn that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the\nland of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it\nshall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land\nof Egypt.\u201d (Isa. 19:19, 20; C. 315.) \u201cThe like figure whereunto even\nbaptism doth also now save us.\u201d (1 Pet. 3:21; Z. \u201905\u2010181, Diagram.) \u201cIn\nthe first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, he made a proclamation.\u201d (Ezra\n1:1; Z. \u201905\u2010185.) \u201cThis house was finished on the third day of the month\nAdar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.\u201d (Ezra\n6:15; Z. \u201905\u2010185.) \u201cThis Ezra went up from Babylon.... And he came to\nJerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.\u201d\n(Ezra 7:6\u20108; Z. \u201905\u2010185.) \u201cIn the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the\nking.\u201d\u2014Neh. 2:1; Z. \u201905\u2010185.\n\nBesides the above Scriptures, time\u2010proofs of the Lord\u2019s Return, are the\nfulfilments of the promised signs: The Gospel has been preached in all the\nworld for a witness: (Matt. 24:14; A. 91); the abomination has been _seen_\nin the holy place (Matt. 24:15; D. 572); the flight of the saints from the\nantitypical \u201cJudea\u201d has occurred (Matt. 24:16; D. 573); the great\ntribulation has commenced (Matt. 24:21; D. 540); the false Christs are\nwith us (Matt. 24:23; D. 580); the eagles have gathered to the carcase\n(Matt. 24:28; D. 610); the sun and moon have been darkened (Matt. 24:29;\nD. 590); the Man of Sin has been revealed (2 Thes. 2:8; T. 86; B. 271);\nthe Elias has come (Mal. 4:5; B. 251); the regathering of the Jews has\nbegun (Jer. 31:8; Z. \u201906\u201084); the refining of the sons of Levi progresses\n(Mal. 3:1\u20103; Z. \u201905\u2010378); the true faith was nearly extinct in the earth\n(Luke 18:8; Z. \u201906\u2010265); the doctrines of devils are rampant (1 Tim. 4:1;\nF. 621); the perilous times and all associated evils are here (2 Tim.\n3:1\u20107; Z. \u201999\u201099); the Lord God has given the sinners water of gall to\ndrink (Jer. 8:14; C. 158); the mighty angel has roared, \u201cCome out of her\u201d\n(Rev. 18:4; C. 155); the running to and fro is in evidence (Dan. 12:4; C.\n63); the antitypical Josiah has kept the great Passover (2 Chron. 35:19;\nZ. \u201905\u2010180); the land shadowed with wings has played its part (Isa. 18:1;\nZ. \u201904\u2010230); the watchman has stood upon his tower (Hab. 2:1; C. 89); the\nwheels within wheels are made clear (Ezek. 1:15); the Prophet has come to\nthe rebellious house (Ezek. 2:3); he has eaten the book of her fate (Ezek.\n2:9); the seven years of astonishment are finished (Ezek. 3:15); the\nsieges of 390 years and 40 years are at an end (Ezek. 4:5, 6); the image\nof jealousy has been disclosed (Ezek. 8:3); the man with the writer\u2019s\ninkhorn has performed his task (Ezek. 9:2); the removing is at an end\n(Ezek. 14:21); the sword has been doubled the third time (Ezek. 21:15);\nthe point of the sword has been made bright (Ezek. 21:15); ecclesiasticism\nhas been delivered unto brutish persons (Ezek. 21:31); the desire of the\nfaithful servant\u2019s eyes has failed (Ezek. 24:16); the stilled voice is\nspeaking again.\u2014Ezek. 33:22.\n\nThe seven thunders have uttered their voices (Rev. 10:3); the seven last\nplagues have been poured out (Rev. 15:6); the voices of the three signs\nhave been uttered (Exod. 4:3\u20109; Z. \u201907\u2010276); the ribband of blue (the Vow)\nhas done its work (Num. 15:38); the tares and wheat have been separated\n(Matt. 13:30; C. 139); the net has been drawn to the shore and the fish\nsorted (Matt. 13:48; C. 214); the ambassadors of peace have wept bitterly\n(Isa. 33:7); the foolish virgins have had their sound sleep (Matt. 25:5;\nC. 92); the seven seals have been opened (Rev. 8:1); the seven angels have\nsounded (Rev. 10:7; B. 149); the nations are angry (Rev. 11:18); the\nwinepress of God\u2019s wrath has been trodden (Rev. 14:20); the horses and\nchariot of fire have come for Elijah (2 Kings 2:11); the chariots are\nrunning like lightning (Nah. 2:4; C. 272); the mighty angel has flown in\nthe midst of heaven (Rev. 14:6); the false worshippers have been tormented\nwith fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:10); Behemoth and Leviathan have been\nbeheld doing their work (Job 40:15\u201023; 41:1\u201034); the secret of the Lord\nhas been shown (Psa. 25:14; Z. \u201997\u2010255); the Lord is judging His people\nand gathering His saints (Psa. 50:4, 5; D. 75; B. 164); the lightnings\nhave enlightened the world (Psa. 97:4; A. 171); the hills have melted like\nwax (Psa. 97:5; D. 551); the banner has been lifted on the high mount\n(Isa. 13:2; D. 40); the tables are full of vomit (Isa. 28:8; Z. \u201907\u201091);\nthe dumb dogs have failed to bark (Isa. 56:10; F. 287); the silver has\nbeen cast into the streets (Ezek. 7:19); the nations have all been shaken\n(Hag. 2:7; D. 528); the rain, floods and winds have come on Christendom\n(Matt. 7:27; Z. \u201906\u201095); the King has come in to see the guests (Matt.\n22:11; C. 197); the speechless one has been bound hand and foot and cast\nout (Matt. 22:13; C. 201); the Master is reckoning with His servants\n(Matt. 25:19; F. 419); the seas and the waves are roaring (Luke 21:25; D.\n551); the 144,000 are standing on the sea of glass singing (Rev. 15:3; C.\n237); the Devil has risen up against himself (Mark 3:26; F. 641); the\nblood, fire and vapor of smoke are here (Acts 2:19; D. 592); the brethren\nare not in darkness and all others are (1 Thes. 5:4; B. 121); the teachers\nhaving itching ears have turned unto fables (2 Tim. 4:3; 4; F. 287; Z.\n\u201907\u2010308); the twenty\u2010four elders have cast their crowns before the throne\n(Rev. 4:10); the predicted scoffing has taken place (2 Pet. 3:3; B. 167);\nthe laborers have received their penny (Matt. 20:8); and these are but 88\nof the proofs hastily collected.\n\nAnd knock.\u2014\u201cThe knock, or proclamation of the Lord\u2019s Presence, as\nindicated by the Old Testament prophecies, has been given since 1875 and\nis still being given.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201904\u2010124; Lu. 12:36; Cant. 5:2\u20106.\n\nIf any man hear My voice.\u2014\u201cThe knock is to be the evidence of the\nPresence; and the servants are not to know in advance, but are to know at\nthe time of the arrival and that without seeing.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201904\u2010123.\n\n[And] I WILL BOTH open the door.\u2014When once we give the Lord a welcome to\nour hearts, how He does open the doors to joys we ne\u2019er before knew!\n\n[I will] AND come in to him.\u2014\u201cIf a man love Me, he will keep My words: and\nMy Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode\nwith him.\u201d\u2014John 14:23.\n\nAnd will sup.\u2014Take the evening meal.\u2014Lu. 12:37.\n\nWith him.\u2014The Master Himself is feasting on the same joys of the Father\u2019s\nPlan that delight our own hearts.\n\nAnd he with Me.\u2014\u201cThis serving of the servants by the Master should be\nunderstood to be an individual work, and not merely a collective service\nand feast.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201904\u2010124.\n\n3:21. To him that overcometh.\u2014\u201cLet us not avoid the Gethsemane moment if\nit come to us in the Lord\u2019s providence, but let us also with strong\ncryings and tears look up to Him who is able to save us out of death by\nthe glorious First Resurrection; and let us remember that if we abide in\nHis love, He is able and willing to bring us off conquerors, yea, more\nthan conquerors through His own merit.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201906\u2010348.\n\nWill I grant.\u2014If they prove faithful unto death.\n\nTo sit with Me.\u2014\u201cWith the early Church, the promises of Kingdom honor and\njoint\u2010heirship with the Master were strong incentives to faithfulness\nunder present trials and persecutions, which they had been forewarned to\nexpect.\u201d\u2014A. 285.\n\nIn My Throne.\u2014\u201cGod\u2019s appointed means of blessing the world and causing the\nknowledge of the Lord to come to every creature.\u201d\u2014A. 91; 1 Cor. 6:2; 2\nTim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26, 27; 22:1.\n\nEven as I also overcame.\u2014\u201cGod sent an angel to comfort and minister unto\nHim; to assure Him still of the Divine favor, and thus to give Him fresh\ncourage, strength of mind and steadiness of nerve to endure all that was\nbefore Him, even unto death. The bitterness of the mental conflict was now\nover, and the light of Heaven shining into His soul chased away the deep\ngloom that had hung over Him like a funeral pall.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201906\u2010348.\n\nAnd am set down with My Father in His Throne.\u2014\u201cThe thousand years of the\nMillennial Reign will constitute but a beginning of the exercise of the\nglory, honor and immortality of these New Creatures. At its close when the\nKingdom shall be delivered up to \u2018God, even the Father,\u2019 and to mankind as\nthe glorified agents of the Father to rule the earth, a still larger\nsphere for the exercise of their glory, honor and immortality will open\nbefore the New Creation.\u201d\u2014F. 69; 1 Cor. 15:24\u201028.\n\n3:22. He that hath an ear.\u2014\u201cBlessed are your eyes, for they see; and your\nears, for they hear.\u201d\u2014Matt. 13:16.\n\nLet him hear.\u2014\u201cFor verily I say unto you, That many Prophets and righteous\nmen have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them;\nand to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.\u201d\u2014Matt.\n13:17.\n\nWhat the Spirit saith unto the churches.\u2014Unto the seven epochs, ending,\nrespectively, in A. D. 73, 325, 1160, 1378, 1518, 1874 and 1918.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 4\u2014The Author Of The Plan\n\n\n4:1. After this.\u2014After this first panorama of the seven stages of the\nChurch had passed.\n\nI looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven.\u2014It is only as the\nLord, who holds the key, opens the door to the understanding of Heavenly\nthings, that we are able to comprehend them.\u2014Matt. 3:16; Ezek. 1:1; Rev.\n19:11.\n\nAnd BEHOLD the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet\ntalking with me.\u2014See comments on Rev. 1:1; 7:2.\n\nWhich said, Come up hither.\u2014Not that St. John went to Heaven at that time;\nhe was merely given a vision of Heavenly things. (Rev. 11:12.) \u201cThe seer\nnow obtains a higher spiritual standpoint.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.\u2014The Divine Plan for\nthe permission of evil.\n\n4:2. [And] immediately I was in the spirit.\u2014In a trance condition.\u2014Acts\n10:10; Rev. 1:10.\n\nAnd, behold, a Throne.\u2014The Throne of the Heavenly Father.\u2014Isa. 6:1; Ezek.\n1:26\u201028.\n\nWas set.\u2014Permanently established. The same word as in, \u201cThis Child is\n_set_ for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.\u201d (Luke 2:34.) \u201cI am\n_set_ for the defence of the Gospel.\u201d\u2014Phil. 1:17.\n\nIn Heaven.\u2014\u201cWhither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.\u201d\u2014Heb.\n6:20.\n\nAnd One.\u2014Jehovah, \u201cthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (1 Pet.\n1:3), the Author of the Divine Plan for the permission of evil, in the\nrecreation of a perfect human race, and in the creation of a race of gods,\nsons of Himself. \u201cGod designed to _permit evil_, because, having the\nremedy provided for man\u2019s release from its consequences, He saw that the\nresult would be to lead him the more to love and honor his Creator, who is\nthe source and fountain of all goodness, and forever to shun that which\nbrought so much woe and misery.\u201d (A. 124.) \u201cNot only are men benefited to\nall eternity by the experience gained, and angels by their observation of\nman\u2019s experiences, but all are further advantaged by a fuller acquaintance\nwith God\u2019s Character as manifested in His Plan. Had sin not been\npermitted, the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and of His Church, the reward\nof which is the Divine nature, would have been impossible.\u201d\u2014A. 135.\n\nSat on the Throne.\u2014Of the Universe. \u201cAll can see the propriety of the\nAlmighty\u2019s decision that He shall be recognized as the Center of\nauthority, wisdom, justice, love and power; for this is the _truth_, and\nanything else would be untruth and to that extent evil, injurious.\u201d\u2014E.\n_57_, 52; Rev. 7:10; Dan. 7:9.\n\n4:3. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper.\u2014\u201cAnd the building of\nthe wall of it was of _jasper_: and the city was pure gold, like unto\nclear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished\nwith all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was _jasper_.\u201d\n(Rev. 21:18, 19.) \u201cA precious stone, variegated with divers colors, and of\na very hard quality; some have been found of a sea\u2010green color.\u201d (Diaglott\nnote.) \u201cThe ancient _jasper_ thus appears to have been frequently\ntranslucent, but the modern is opaque.\u201d (McC.) The jasper, therefore, is\nsupposed to refer to the modern rare and beautiful green\u2010tinted diamond.\nThe diamond is the hardest substance known, excelling in brilliancy and\nbeautiful play of prismatic colors. The crystals of which it is composed\nare bounded by _eight_ equal equilateral triangles; _twenty\u2010four_ angles\nin all, constituting a perfect double pyramid, set base to base. How\nadorable, how sublime, how perfect is our God! How impossible to describe\nHim! To know Him aright will require eternity. The jasper seems especially\nto illustrate His glory, perfection and _prescience_. (He uses twenty\u2010four\nelders\u2014prophecies.)\n\nAnd a sardine stone.\u2014\u201cThe sard, which is a superior variety of agate, has\nlong been a favorite stone for the engraver\u2019s art. On this stone all the\nfinest works of the most celebrated artists are to be found; and this not\nwithout good cause, such is its toughness, facility of working, beauty of\ncolor, and the high polish of which it is susceptible, and which it\nretains longer than any other gem. The sardius is the stone now called the\ncarnelian, from its color, which resembles that of raw flesh. It is\nsupposed to stop hemorrhage when laid on a fresh wound.\u201d (McC.) The\nsardius seems especially to illustrate God\u2019s love, His memory of His\ncreatures, and His purpose of a resurrection for all smitten in Adam and\nredeemed in Christ. Will God forget to raise any of His blood\u2010bought? \u201cCan\na woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on\nthe son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.\nBehold I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.\u201d\u2014Isa. 49:15, 16.\n\nAnd there was a rainbow.\u2014\u201cThe rainbow has always been an emblem of\n_peace_. It appears on the cloud as the storm passes away. It contrasts\nbeautifully with the tempest that has just been raging. It is seen as the\nrays of the sun again appear clothing all things with beauty\u2014the more\nbeautiful from the fact that the storm has come. It is a pledge that the\nwar of the elements has ceased, and that God smiles again upon the earth.\nThe appearance of the rainbow around the Throne was a beautiful emblem of\nthe mercy of God, and of the peace that was to pervade the world as the\nresult of the events that were to be disclosed to the vision of John.\u201d\n(Barnes.) The rainbow is characterized by seven colors\u2014perfection. (Ezek.\n1:28.) It represents not only the bow of promise for mankind, but the\n_peace_ of God. It is His _Plan_. \u201cFrom His own vast inherent resources of\npower and wisdom, springs the peace of God. But not from this source alone\nis the Divine peace; for peace is the certain concomitant of inherent\ngoodness. God is the impersonation of every virtue and every grace;\nconsequently He has the blessed satisfaction and peace of conscious moral\nperfection as well as inherent wisdom and power.\u201d (Z. \u201995\u2010153.) \u201cDuring\nthe seventh millennium, according to the Divine purpose, it will be the\njoyful privilege of our Lord Jesus to fully manifest to all creatures in\nHeaven and in earth the Father\u2019s glorious character. Then will the Father\nrejoice in the grandeur of His finished work and in the everlasting peace\nand happiness of His family in Heaven and in earth, \u2018reunited under one\nhead.\u2019 (Eph. 1:10, _Diaglott_.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201995\u2010155.\n\nRound about the Throne.\u2014Justice is \u201cthe habitation of Thy Throne.\u201d (Psa.\n89:14.) \u201cGod\u2019s law is stern Justice, with no allowances, ready to consume\nas a fire everything blemished. Who cannot see that if God could deal with\nsinners, and condoning their sins, accept their best endeavors, though\nimperfect, there would have been no necessity for a Redeemer? And thus, to\nall eternity, there might be danger of sin on the part of those who had\nnot already dabbled in it. Seeing this, it does not surprise us that God,\nin the interest of all His holy creatures, as well as for His own\npleasure, decides that He will recognize nothing short of perfection in\nany creature, and makes _Justice_ the foundation of His Throne.\u201d\u2014E. _481_,\n472.\n\nIn sight like unto an emerald.\u2014\u201cThe same with the ancient _smaragdus_; one\nof the most beautiful of gems, of a bright green color, without any\nmixture.\u201d\u2014_Diaglott._ \u201cThe _emerald_, of bright green color, \u2018was the most\nprecious gem in the Roman jeweller\u2019s list.... The Romans were plentifully\nsupplied with the true emerald. The _smaragdus_ of Nero\u2019s age must be\nrestricted to the true emerald, perhaps including the green ruby.\u2019\n(King.)\u201d\u2014_Nat. Hist. of Precious Stones._ The color of the emerald, green,\nsignifies everlastingness. \u201cFrom everlasting to everlasting thou art\nGod.\u201d\u2014Psa. 90:2; Ezek. 1:28.\n\n4:4. And round about the Throne.\u2014Encompassing it on all sides\u2014always in\nmind\u2014never out of sight.\n\n[Were] SAW I four and twenty seats.\u2014_Thronoi_, thrones, places of highest\nexaltation\u2014the twenty\u2010four angles (viewpoints) of the diamond.\u2014Rev.\n4:3,10.\n\nAnd upon the seats [I saw four and twenty] elders\nsitting.\u2014_Personifications_ of the testimonies of twenty\u2010four Prophets\n(Heb. 11:2), who foretold things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Not the\nProphets themselves are here referred to. They are not in Heaven. \u201cDavid\nis not ascended into the Heavens.\u201d (Acts 2:34.) Daniel still \u201csleeps in\nthe dust of the earth.\u201d (Dan. 12:2, 13.) None of the Prophets are in\nHeaven: \u201cGod having provided some better thing for us, that they without\nus should not be made perfect.\u201d (Heb. 11:40.) But from the time that \u201choly\nmen of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit\u201d (2 Pet. 1:21), the\nutterances of Enoch, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Job, David, Solomon, Isaiah,\nJeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,\nNahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and John the\nBaptist, have been witnesses before God that there shall be \u201cTimes of\nRefreshing\u201d\u2014\u201cTimes of Restitution.\u201d\u2014Acts 3:19\u201021.\n\nClothed in white raiment.\u2014All of these men considered themselves unworthy\nto be God\u2019s mouthpieces. Jacob said, \u201cI am not worthy of the least of all\nThy mercies, and of all the truth which Thou hast shewed unto Thy\nservant.\u201d (Gen. 32:10.) Moses said, \u201cWho am I that I should go unto\nPharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of\nEgypt?\u201d (Exod. 3:11.) David said, \u201cWho am I, O Lord God? and what is my\nhouse, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?\u201d (2 Sam. 7:18.) Solomon said,\n\u201cI am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.\u201d (1 Kings\n3:7.) Isaiah said, \u201cWoe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of\nunclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.\u201d (Isa.\n6:5.) Jeremiah said, \u201cAh, Lord God! behold I cannot speak: for I am a\nchild.\u201d (Jer. 1:6.) Daniel said, \u201cThis secret is not revealed to me for\nany wisdom that I have.\u201d (Dan. 2:30.) And John the Baptist said, \u201cI have\nneed to be baptised of Thee, and comest Thou to me?\u201d (Matt. 3:14.) But the\nLord knoweth them that are His (2 Tim. 2:19); and whatever they may think\nof themselves, if they are God\u2019s mouthpieces, they are clean. Isaiah\u2019s\nutterances are spotless in the sight of God\u2014clothed in white raiment.\u2014Isa.\n6:6, 7.\n\nAnd [they] had on their heads crowns of gold.\u2014The glory of God\u2014Love, God\u2019s\nhighest attribute. If there are any prophets that do not have something to\nsay about God\u2019s loving arrangement for Times of Restitution, then they are\nnot holy. Judged by this standard, how many of the clergy of our day are\nholy?\u2014Acts 3:19\u201021.\n\n4:5. And out of the Throne proceeded lightnings.\u2014\u201cHow apt is this figure!\nTruly like lightning flashes in the midst of the gloom and perplexity of\nthis cloudy day, come to men remarkable glimpses of the great principles\nof Truth and Righteousness. A flash of lightning from the obscured Throne\ndiscloses here one error, and there another, and another. It is remarkable\nthat these lightning flashes are continually calling attention to the Word\nof God, to the Golden Rule. It seems remarkable, too, how often in these\ndays of war and stress _worldly_ men are drawing attention to the\nprophecies of the Scriptures.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010339; Rev. 8:5; 16:18.\n\nAND VOICES.\u2014\u201cAs a result of God\u2019s lightning flashes which are enlightening\nthe world, there are ominous mutterings of dissatisfaction, unrest. The\nlightning flashes are revealing the corruption in the world, the\ndishonesty in high places; with conflicting ideas, voices, theories and\nthreats, \u2018the nations are angry,\u2019 \u2018the heathen [Gentiles, peoples] rage,\u2019\nand the whole earth trembles from the din of a wordy conflict and from the\nblows which even now are beginning to arouse the world.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010340.\n\nAnd thunderings [and voices.]\u2014\u201cWe hear the thunder tones of judgment that\n\u2018call the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof\u2019\n(Psa. 50:1); we see the whole earth now in the shaking process which will\neventuate in the complete overthrow of all existing institutions, systems\nand governments. Present events indeed speak in trumpet tones.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010340; Ex. 19:16; Rev. 8:5; 11:19; 16:18.\n\nAnd there were seven lamps of fire burning before the Throne, which are\nthe seven Spirits of God.\u2014Perfect knowledge.\u2014Rev. 1:4; 3:1.\n\n4:6. And before the Throne.\u2014In the earth, and everywhere throughout the\nUniverse.\u2014Rev. 5:6.\n\nThere was AS a sea of glass.\u2014\u201cThe troubled surface which Daniel and Isaiah\nbeheld (Dan. 7:2, 3; Isa. 57:20) became when seen before the Throne of\nGod, calm and clear; reflecting as from a mirror, every fulfilment of the\nDivine purposes.\u201d (Cook.) (Rev. 21:18, 21; Ex. 24:10.) The sea (godless\nconditions about them) has been a means of purifying earth\u2019s future\npriests.\u20141 Ki. 7:23\u201026, 38, 39.\n\nLike unto crystal.\u2014Indicating that nothing escapes God\u2019s notice; all is\ntransparent. \u201cFor centuries skeptics have been disposed to smile\nincredulously at the words of our Lord, \u2018Enter into thy closet; and when\nthou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy\nFather which _seeth in secret_ shall reward thee openly.\u2019 (Matt. 6:6.) Now\nthat an electric ray can be passed through opaque substances, such as\npaper, wood, cloth, leather, aluminium, animal flesh, etc., can these\nscientists any longer mock at Christians for \u2018credulity,\u2019 because we\nbelieve that \u2018All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with\nwhom we have to do\u2019? (Heb. 4:13.) \u2018He that formed the ear shall He not\nhear? He that formed the eye shall He not see?\u2019 Now we begin to see how it\nis that \u2018There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid,\nthat shall not be known.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201996\u201027; Ezek. 1:22.\n\nAnd in the midst of the Throne.\u2014Woven into its very fabric.\n\nAnd round about the Throne.\u2014Completely encircling and enveloping it.\n\nWere four beasts.\u2014\u201cLiving ones\u201d (_Diaglott_.); the four immortal\nattributes of Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\u2014Ezek. 1:5, 6.\n\nFull of eyes before and behind.\u2014Seeing clearly everything that will ever\noccur in the future, and everything that has ever transpired in the\npast.\u2014Ezek. 10:4, 12.\n\n4:7. And the first beast.\u2014Justice was the attribute first manifested\ntoward our sinful race. \u201cGod has found it necessary to perform the\nunpleasant duties of discipline; and though all the while His fatherly\nlove was preparing to bless the deceived and fallen ones when the purposes\nof redemption should restore the repentant to His favor, Love must be\nveiled while only stern, relentless Justice could be manifested. This has\nbeen no happifying duty.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201995\u2010154.\n\nWas like a lion.\u2014The characteristics of the lion illustrate this\nattribute: The teeth are of the highest carnivorous type, adapted to\nseizing and holding firmly. Although occasionally seen abroad during the\nday, especially in wild and desolate regions, the _night_ (Psa. 30:5) is\nthe period of its greatest activity. The usual pace of a lion is a walk;\nand, though apparently rather slow, yet he is able to get over a good deal\nof ground in a short time. As a rule, he kills only when hungry or\nattacked, and not for the mere pleasure of killing.\u2014Ezek. 1:10; 10:14.\n\nAnd the second beast.\u2014Power, exhibited in the Flood, was the second of\nGod\u2019s attributes manifested to man. \u201cGod, the Creator of all things, is\nalso the competent Sustainer of all things. In silent grandeur, from age\nto age, the whole physical Universe fulfils His will, without a suspicion\nof disorder or mishap; and the same Power is pledged for its sustenance\nthroughout the eternal future.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201995\u2010153; Ezek. 1:10.\n\nLike a calf.\u2014With the Hebrews the calf (young ox) was the emblem of Power,\nthe attribute of God with which they were principally acquainted. As an\nagricultural people, they were brought in frequent contact with it, the\nstrongest of all the domestic animals. They were brought out of Egypt by a\n\u201cmighty power and a stretched out arm\u201d (Deut. 9:29); and when they sought\nto make a representation of it, the form selected was a golden calf.\u2014Deut.\n9:16\u201021.\n\nAnd the third beast.\u2014Love, exhibited in the Father sending His Only\u2010\nBegotten Son to die that we might live, was the third of God\u2019s attributes\nmanifested to man. \u201cOur recovery cost the sacrifice of the dearest\ntreasure of His heart, and the subjection of this Beloved One to the most\nabject humiliation, ignominy, suffering and death. Ah, did the Father let\nHim go on that errand of mercy without the slightest sensation of\nsorrowful emotion? had He no appreciation of the pangs of a father\u2019s love\nwhen the arrows of death pierced the heart of His beloved Son? When our\ndear Lord said, \u2018My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,\u2019 and\nagain, \u2018Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me:\nnevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt,\u2019 did it touch no\nsympathetic chord in the heart of the Eternal? Yea, verily.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201995\u2010154.\n\nHad a face [as] LIKE a man.\u2014The embodiment of love. (A. 174.) \u201cClose your\neyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow\nthat yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision\nthe glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and\npeace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or\nword; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every\nother heart, and benevolence marks every act. Think of all the pictures of\ncomparative health and beauty of human form and feature that you have ever\nseen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing\nloveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp\nand glorify every radiant countenance.\u201d\u2014A. 191; Ezek. 1:5.\n\nAnd the fourth beast.\u2014Wisdom, as exhibited in the Father\u2019s Plan, now\nunfolded before our delighted gaze, is the fourth, and complete,\nmanifestation of God to man. \u201cHe is never confused, bewildered, perplexed,\nanxious or careworn, or in the least fearful that His plans will miscarry\nor His purposes fail; because all power and wisdom inhere in Him. The\nscope of His mighty intellect reaches to the utmost bounds of possibility,\ncomprehends all causes and discerns with precision all effects;\nconsequently He knows the end from the beginning, and that, not only upon\nphilosophical principles, but also by intuition. As the Creator of all\nthings and the Originator of all law, He is thoroughly acquainted with all\nthe intricate subtleties of physical, moral and intellectual law, so that\nno problem could arise, the results of which are not manifest to His mind.\n\u2018God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.\u2019 (1 John 1:5.)\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201995\u2010153.\n\nWas like a flying eagle.\u2014Of all known birds, the eagle flies the highest\nand with the greatest rapidity. \u201cAs the heavens are higher than the earth,\nso are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.\u201d\n(Isa. 55:9.) The ones attracted to Present Truth are the eagles, the far\u2010\nsighted ones that \u201cbehold the land that is very far off.\u201d (Matt. 24:28; 2\nPet. 1:9; Isa. 33:16, 17; Psa. 103:5.) In the training of its young the\neagle manifests wisdom of high order: \u201c \u2018As an eagle stirreth up her nest\u2019\n(she mixes the thorny outside with the downy inside, so that the eaglets\nwill leave it and learn to fly), so God, by His testing providences makes\nthe place of rest one of unrest to us, and thus lures us out to trust\nourselves to His care and guidance over untried ways.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201904\u2010116.\n\n4:8. And the four beasts.\u2014Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\n\nHad each of them six wings about him.\u2014\u201cAbove it stood the seraphims\n(Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom): each one had six wings, and with twain\nhe did fly. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the\nLord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.\u201d (Isa. 6:2, 3.) \u201cThe\nvision of Isaiah is a prophecy of the future, when the \u2018glory of the Lord\nshall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together\u2019 in the\nestablishment of the Kingdom of God during the Millennium. (Isa. 40:5.)\nOnly from this prophetic standpoint would the words of the seraphim be\ntrue; for the whole earth has never yet been filled with the Lord\u2019s glory;\nbut on the contrary, the earth is full of sin and violence, and every evil\nwork.\u201d (Z. \u201998\u2010305.) Six is a symbol of imperfection, and in the light of\nthe foregoing seems to refer to the six thousand years of the permission\nof evil, the theme of the entire Book of Revelation. For the first two\nthousand years, from the fall to the covenant with Abraham, God\u2019s face was\nalmost entirely hidden from man. For the next two thousand years, until\nthe death of Christ, it was not apparent how the place of God\u2019s feet, His\nfootstool, should ever be made glorious. (Isa. 60:13; 66:1.) But since\nthen, for two thousand years, God\u2019s Love has been manifest to all, and\n\u201cthe earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of\nthe sons of God\u201d (Rom. 8:19), to set up the Kingdom, the Golden Age, for\nwhich we all so long have prayed. (Matt. 6:10.) The wings operate in\npairs.\n\nAnd they were full of eyes within.\u2014Nothing has transpired, or will ever\ntranspire, without God\u2019s knowledge. In the past six thousand years,\nwhether hidden or partially revealed, God\u2019s Justice, Power, Love and\nWisdom, have been in touch with all of earth\u2019s affairs.\u2014Ezek. 10:12.\n\nAnd they HAVE NO rest [not] day and night.\u2014Not eternal idleness, but\neternal work in the interest of others will be our reward. \u201cMy Father\nworketh until now, and I work.\u201d (John 5:17.) \u201cI must work the works of Him\nthat sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work.\u201d\n(John 9:4.) \u201cWe are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good\nworks.\u201d (Eph. 2:10.) \u201cIt is God which worketh in you both to will and to\ndo.\u201d (Phil. 2:13.) \u201cWe are laborers together with God.\u201d (1 Cor. 3:9.)\n\u201cWorkers together with Him.\u201d (2 Cor. 6:1.) \u201cWho shall change the Body of\nour humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious Body,\naccording to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto\nHimself.\u201d\u2014Phil. 3:21.\n\nSaying, Holy, holy, holy, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.\u2014The Sinaitic MS.\nrepeats the word \u201choly\u201d eight times. (See Rev. 4:3.) In the seventh\nthousand\u2010year Day God will bring all things to perfection through The\nChrist, yet it is the eighth Day that marks the complete separation from\nthe old order of things. The Jewish child was circumcised on the eighth\nday (Luke 1:59; Phil. 3:5); seven days a sheep was to be with its dam, and\non the eighth given to the Lord (Exod. 22:30); the eighth day of the Feast\nof Tabernacles was to be a holy convocation unto the Lord. (Lev. 23:36,\n39.) In the eighth thousand\u2010year Day of mankind\u2019s history on the earth,\ncircumcision of the heart will be complete in all, all the sheep will have\nbeen turned over to the Father, and the holy convocation of eternity will\nhave begun, \u201cthe grand epoch when there shall be no more sighing, no more\ncrying, no more pain and no more dying, because God\u2019s work of creation\nshall then have been completed so far as this earth is concerned.\u201d\u2014F. 51.\n\nLord God Almighty.\u2014Jehovah. This scene is located in Heaven, where even\nthe Son Himself is subject unto the Father.\u20141 Cor. 15:28.\n\nWhich was.\u2014The great First Cause.\n\nAnd is.\u2014The great \u201cI AM.\u201d\n\nAnd is to come.\u2014And evermore shall be.\n\n4:9. And when those beasts.\u2014Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\n\nGive.\u2014Shall eternally continue to give, so the Greek indicates.\n\nGlory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the Throne.\u2014Their united\ntestimony to the perfection of His character in all its attributes, as\nthey are now doing, since His Wisdom has been unveiled.\n\nWho liveth for ever and ever, AMEN.\u2014And will forever use those attributes\nin the blessing of all the willing and obedient throughout the Universe.\n\n4:10. The four and twenty elders.\u2014The personifications of the messages of\nthe twenty\u2010four Prophets who foretold the coming Kingdom of God.\n\nFall down before Him that sat on the Throne.\u2014Unitedly bear witness to His\nperfect ability to foretell the future.\n\nAnd worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, AMEN.\u2014Magnify His perfect\nJustice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\n\nAnd cast.\u2014Shall eternally continue to cast, so the Greek indicates.\n\nTheir crowns before the Throne, saying.\u2014(1) _Enoch_ was the first of the\nholy Prophets; and according to the Apostle Jude he prophesied of the\ncoming reign of Christ and His glorious Bride, to judge the world, saying:\n\u201cThe Lord cometh with a myriad of His saints, to execute judgment.\u201d (Jude\n14, 15.) That there shall be such a glorious and blessed Judgment Day,\nfull of hope and joy for all the world, the Apostle Paul says is\ndefinitely decreed in the counsels of God, \u201cwhereof He hath given\nassurance,\u201d grounds for confident, joyful anticipation, \u201cunto all men.\u201d\n(Acts 17:31.) When that happy time comes, \u201cthe inhabitants of the world\nwill learn righteousness\u201d (Isa. 26:9), and \u201cthe poor of the people will be\nlifted up\u201d (Psa. 72:2\u20104, 12\u201014.) It will be the long\u2010promised poor man\u2019s\nchance.\n\n(2) _Jacob_ was one of the holy Prophets; and in Gen. 49:10 he says, \u201cThe\nsceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet,\nuntil Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.\u201d The\nsceptre means the right to rule, the title to power; and Shiloh means\npeacemaker. So this prophecy is merely another way of saying that Judah\nwould be the ancestor of the great Lawgiver, the great \u201cPrince of Peace\u201d\ninto whose hands God, in due time, will \u201cgive the heathen for an\ninheritance,\u201d \u201cthat they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve\nHim with one consent.\u201d\u2014Psa. 2:8; Zeph. 3:9.\n\n(3) _Moses_, as a historian, recorded God\u2019s original purpose to give man\ndominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28); His declaration to the serpent that\nthe Seed of the woman should bruise its head (Gen. 3:15); the promise to\nAbraham that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen.\n12:3); that Abraham\u2019s inheritance should be an earthly one (Gen. 13:15);\nand an everlasting one (Gen. 17:8); that all the nations of the earth\nshall be blessed in him (Gen. 18:18); that in his Seed shall all the\nnations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 22:18); to Isaac, that in his Seed\nshall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 26:4); to Jacob, that\nin his Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 28:14);\nto Jacob again, that he should be a joint\u2010heir with Abraham and Isaac of\nthe land of Canaan (Gen. 35:12); by the sacrifices after the day of\natonement was typically shown the perfection of mankind in the Millennium\n(Lev. 1:5); by the glory appearing unto all the people was foretold their\nfuture release from sin and death (Lev. 9:23); by the acceptance of a goat\nas a sin\u2010offering for the people we see blessings of life for the world\nafter the Church\u2019s career is finished (Lev. 16:15); and by the sounding of\nthe jubilee trumpet, the proclamation of liberty to the captives and the\nreturn of every man to his possession, we see the world\u2019s restoration to\nthe image and likeness of God. (Lev. 25:10.) As a Prophet, his\ndeclarations show that throughout the Gospel Age God would raise up a\ngreat Prophet and Deliverer like unto himself (The Christ), to whom shall\nall the people give heed in the Millennial Age (Deut. 18:15, 19); and that\nthis great Deliverer then would set before them life, if obedient, and\ndeath, if disobedient.\u2014Deut. 30:15.\n\n(4) _Samuel_, as a historian, recorded Hannah\u2019s prophecy, \u201cThe Lord\nkilleth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to hell and bringeth up.\u201d (1\nSam. 2:6.) This is one of the first places in the Bible where we are shown\nthat what goes into hell does not necessarily stay there. Another\ninstance, in which Samuel foretold pictorially the coming of the better\nKing, was in the case of the coronation of King Saul. Saul had been\nselected king, but had an attack of bashfulness; and when they had\nsearched, they found him behind the baggage. The record is, \u201cThey ran, and\nfetched him thence; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than\nany of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said, See ye\nhim whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among the\npeople? And all the people shouted and said, God save the king.\u201d (1 Sam.\n10:17\u201024.) Saul was God\u2019s choice for king; his name means \u201cdesired,\u201d and\nin this he typified Christ, the \u201cdesire of all nations.\u201d This incident\nlooks forward to the time when all the people of the world will say of\nChrist, \u201cOh! who is like unto our God? Lo! This is our God; this is our\nKing; this is the One we have waited for; He is head and shoulders, as a\nruler, above all kings and rulers we have had.\u201d\n\n(5) _Job_, after the Sabeans had made off with his oxen and asses, after a\nbolt of lightning had burned up his sheep, after the Chaldeans had stolen\nhis camels and murdered his servants, after a whirlwind had blown down his\nhouse and killed all his children, after he was covered with boils from\nhead to foot, after his wife had gone back on him, and after his three\nremaining friends tried to prove to him that he was a hypocrite, prayed\nthat he might go to hell and stay there until God\u2019s wrath should be past,\nand that then God would remember him in resurrection. (Job 14:13\u201015.) Job\nrecords Elihu\u2019s prophetic statement that when the Messenger of the\nCovenant has returned, death will cease and men not need to go into the\ntomb. (Job 33:19\u201030.) Job also describes the steam engine\u2014stationary,\nrailway and marine.\n\nThe following is a corrected translation of Job 40:15 to 41:34, with\ncomments thereon from the pen of one of Pastor Russell\u2019s followers:\n\u201cBehold now one with great heat [the stationary steam engine], which I\nhave made to be with thee; he will consume fodder [peat, wood, coal] as do\ncattle. Behold now his strength is in his loins [boiler plates], and his\npower is within the parts bent in a circle [boiler shell] of his belly.\nHis tail [smoke stack\u2014opposite the feeding end] will set upright like a\ncedar; the couplings of his leaping parts [connecting rods, pitmans] will\nbe clamped together. His bones are tubes of copper; his solid bones [grate\nbars] are as hammered\u2010out bars of iron. He is the greatest of the ways of\npower. He that made him [the Lord] can make His sword [Word] to approach\nunto [reveal] him. [Isa. 27:1, 2.] He shall rest under thin shelter [steam\njackets] within a covering of fibrous reeds [jute] and clay [mortar]. The\nwillows of the valley [the trees overhead] will enclose him around about\nBehold [as a pumping engine] he will drink up an overflowing river without\nmuch exertion; he will cause the people to trust [that their cellars will\nkeep dry], though a Jordan should rush forth over its border. He will\ngather it up in his fountains by means of traps and with a perforated\nnozzle.\n\n\u201cThou wilt lengthen out leviathan [the locomotive] with a hook [automatic\ncoupler] or with a snare [coupling\u2010pin] which thou wilt cause his tongue\n[coupling\u2010link] to drop down. Wilt thou not place a ring [piston] in his\nnostrils [cylinders] or pierce through his cheeks [piston\u2010ends] with a\nstaff [piston\u2010rod]? Will he make repeated supplication unto thee [to get\noff the track]? Or will he utter soft tones unto thee [when he screeches\nwith the whistle]? Will he make a covenant with thee, that thou mayest\ntake him for a servant forever [without repairs]? Wilt thou play with him\nas with a bird [make him whistle at will]? Or wilt thou bind [enslave] him\nfor thy maidens [so that you can take them to a picnic or convention]?\nCompanies [of stockholders] will feast upon him [his earnings]; they will\nshare him among speculators. [Psa. 74:14.] Thou wilt fill his skin with\npointed irons [bolts], and his head with a cabin of fishermen [a cab\nsimilar to the cabins on fishing vessels]. Place thy hand upon him, be\nmindful of the conflict [raging within the boiler] and thou wilt add no\nfurther questions. Behold, his confidence [boiler] being deceived [not\nproperly supplied with water], shall not at once his mighty form be spread\nasunder [by an explosion]? There is none so bold that he will stir him up\n[to run at his very highest possible speed], and none who will then place\nhimself before him [to be run over]. Who will compete with this one and\nendure [pass him on the track]? Under the whole heaven, none, unless [one\nlike] himself.\n\n\u201cI will not pass in silence his members, nor the cause of his mighty\nforces, nor the beauty of his equipment. Who can strip off the facings of\nhis jacket? Who can penetrate between the double lap of his shield [the\noverlapping sections of the boiler plates]? Who can force open the doors\nof his shield [the boiler ends]? The circuits of his teeth [rows of\nrivets] are formidable. His strength depends on courses of shields\n[sections of plates] closed up tightly with a seal [calked]. They shall\njoin one upon another so that a hiss of air [steam] shall not escape from\nbetween them. One to the other shall adhere. They will be welded together\nthat they cannot be sundered. In his sneezing [when he puffs from the\ncylinders] light will shine, a flood of light pervading the mass of\nvapors: and his eyes [headlights] will be as the eyelashes of the morning\n[as rays of light from the rising sun]. Out of his mouth [fire\u2010door] will\nleap forth flaming torches, and [from the smoke stack] glowing sparks will\nslip themselves away. From his nostrils [cylinders] will issue forth vapor\nas from a boiling pot or caldron. His inhaling [forced draft] will vivify\nburning coals, and a flame will leap forth from his mouth. Within his neck\nabideth strength, and a desolation will dance with joy [become a\nprosperous community] at his presence. The separable parts of his body are\nconnected together; all will be made fast upon him; nothing will be shaky.\nHis heart will be indurated similar to a stone, and will be firm as a\npiece of the lower [rocks]. When at his full speed the most courageous\nwill fear [lest], from accidents, they lose themselves. When dryness\nexalteth him [or renders him furious], he will not have power to withhold;\nthe curved vault [fire box] being caused to tear away, and also the armor.\nHe will esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The archer cannot\nmake him flee; missiles [of war] will be turned unto him as chaff. The\n[strokes of a] hammer will be esteemed as chaff; he will rejoice at the\npoking of the fireman. Hewed [or notched] timbers of the craftsman [ties]\nare under him; he will spread an embankment [or trench] upon the mire. He\nwill [as a marine engine] cause deep [places] to become as a boiling pot\n[about his propellers]; he will make the sea to appear like boiling\nointment. He will make a path to shine after him; one will think the deep\nto be growing gray. [Psa. 104:26; Isa. 27:1.] Upon the earth there is not\nhis like\u2014he that is [so] constructed that he can fear nothing. He can\noversee [control by his work] all that which is great; he is indeed king\nover all conceptions of power.\u201d\n\n(6) _David_ foresaw a time when all the ends of the world shall remember\nand turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship\nbefore Him (Psa. 22:27); that after this dark night of weeping will come a\nmorning of joy (Psa. 30:5); that the meek shall inherit the earth (Psa.\n37:11); that those who are now the King\u2019s enemies shall be converted and\npraise Him for ever and ever (Psa. 45:5, 17); that wars shall cease to the\nends of the earth and the Lord alone be exalted (Psa. 46:10); that the\nignominious shall come forth from the grave and the upright shall have\ndominion over them in the morning (Psa. 49:14); that the Lord will be the\nconfidence of all the ends of the earth (Psa. 65:5); that His saving\nhealth will be made known among all nations, that all the nations shall\npraise Him, and that He will judge and govern them righteously at the time\nthe earth shall yield her increase (Psa. 67:1\u20107); that the people shall be\nscattered that delight in war (Psa. 68:30); that peace shall come to the\npeople, that the poor shall be delivered from the oppressor, that the\nflesh, which, as dried grass is ready to die, shall be given new life and\nthat the fruits of the earth shall shake like a forest (Psa. 72:3, 4, 6,\n16); that the poor and needy will be delivered out of the hand of the\nwicked (Psa. 82:4); that mercy and truth will meet, righteousness and\npeace kiss each other and truth spring out of the earth when righteousness\nlooks down from Heaven (Psa. 85:10, 11); that all nations the Lord has\nmade shall come and worship before Him and glorify His name (Psa. 86:9);\nthat He will say, Return, to the men He has turned into destruction (Psa.\n90:3); that the world shall be established so that it shall not be moved\n(Psa. 93:1); that the heavens, earth, seas, fields and trees of the wood\nshall rejoice because the Lord is coming to judge the earth with\nrighteousness and the people with His truth (Psa. 96:11\u201013); that all the\nearth shall join in a joyful noise to the Lord, songs of praise, harps,\npsalms, trumpets and cornets, while the seas, floods and hills clap their\nhands because He comes to judge the earth (Psa. 98:4\u20109); and that the\nfoundations of the earth have been laid so that it shall not be removed,\nbut be forever the home of a perfect, happy human race.\u2014Psa. 104:5.\n\n(7) _Solomon_ declared that the upright shall dwell in the land and the\nperfect shall remain in it (Prov. 2:21); that the righteous shall be\nrecompensed in the earth (Prov. 11:31); and that the earth abideth\nforever.\u2014Ecclesiastes 1:4.\n\n(8) _Isaiah_ prophesied that in the last days the Lord\u2019s Kingdom will be\nestablished on the ruins of all earthly kingdoms, and all nations will\nflow into it to learn His ways, at which time they will beat their swords\ninto plowshares and spears into pruninghooks and learn war no more (Isa.\n2:2\u20104); that of the increase of that new Government and of peace there\nshall be no end (Isa. 9:7); that nothing in the Kingdom will be permitted\nto hurt or destroy, all evil dispositions of men and animals being done\naway with, the poor and meek being lifted up and the earth being filled as\nfull with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isa.\n11:4\u20109); that Christ will become the standard\u2010bearer of the people, that\nHis rest will be glorious and a highway there provided for the remnant of\nthe people (Isa. 11:10\u201016); that the whole earth shall be at rest and\nquiet and break forth into singing (Isa. 14:7); that at the time the\npillar to the Lord Is recognized in the world, the world will return to\nthe Lord and He will be entreated of them and heal them (Isa. 19:22); that\nthe Lord will make to all people a feast of fat things, doctrines of joy,\nwell refined, will destroy ignorance and superstition, swallow up death in\nvictory and wipe away tears from off all faces; it will cease to be a\nrebuke to a person to admit that he belongs to the Lord, and all the\npeople will say, Lo, this Is our God; we have waited for Him and He will\nsave us, and all the high fortresses will crumble into dust (Isa.\n25:6\u201012); that when the Lord\u2019s judgments are in the earth the inhabitants\nof the world will learn righteousness; that then the trusts shall perish\nutterly and the dead shall live (Isa. 26:9, 13, 14, 19); that judgment\nwill be laid to the line, the truth sweep away the refuge of lies and the\nagreement of the preachers on the hell question will be disannulled (Isa.\n28:17, 18); that the spiritually deaf shall get their ears open to\nunderstand the harmonies of God\u2019s Word and the eyes of the blind see out\nof obscurity and out of darkness, and the crops in the field be so large\nthey will look like a forest (Isa. 29:17, 18); that the eyes of them that\nsee shall not be dim, the ears of them that hear shall hearken and the\ntongue of the stammerers be ready to speak plainly; that the skyscrapers\nwill be turned over to wild asses, along with the forts; that the people\nshall dwell in righteousness, quietness and assurance forever (Isa. 32:3,\n4, 14, 17, 18); that the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick, because the\npeople that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.\u2014Isa. 33:24.\n\nFurthermore, he declared that the wilderness and solitary place shall\nblossom as the rose, the weak hands and feeble knees be strengthened, the\nfearful be encouraged, the blind have their eyes opened, the deaf have\ntheir ears unstopped, the lame made to leap as an hart, the tongue of the\ndumb made to sing; in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in\nthe desert; an highway shall be there by which the unclean may be cleansed\nof all their sins amid joy and gladness everlasting (Isa. 35:1\u201010); that\nall the crooked and rough places will be straightened out (Isa. 40:4);\nthat rivers will open in unexpected places and the deserts become a forest\nof useful trees (Isa. 41:18, 19); that all the prisoners in the great\nprison\u2010house of death shall be brought forth (Isa. 42:7); that the new\nspiritual powers shall pour down righteousness and the world of mankind\neagerly take it in, to their salvation and everlasting joy of heart (Isa.\n45:8); that God created the earth not in vain but formed it to be\ninhabited (Isa. 45:18); that the Lord will establish the earth and cause\nthe people to inherit the once desolate heritages, with the result that\nthey shall be joyful and break forth into singing (Isa. 49:8, 13); that\nthe redeemed of the Lord (all mankind) shall return from the tomb and gain\nsalvation with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads and sorrow and\nmourning shall flee away (Isa. 51:11); that the feet are beautiful which\nproclaim good tidings of good and publish salvation because the King has\ncome to reign (Isa. 52:7); that the mountains, hills and trees shall\nrejoice with verdure, and instead of thorns and briers shall come up fir\nand myrtles (Isa. 55:12, 13); that the Lord will make this earth (His\nfootstool) glorious; violence, wasting and destruction shall cease, and\nthe people shall all be righteous and dwell in the land forever (Isa.\n60:13, 18, 21); that the stumbling stones shall be gathered out of the\nway, and the standard of Truth be lifted up for the people (Isa. 62:10);\nthat one who dies at a hundred years shall be considered but an infant;\nthat the people who build houses shall build them for themselves and live\nin them forever among their own vineyards and other works of their hands\n(Isa. 65:20\u201022); and that all nations and tongues shall be gathered to see\nGod\u2019s glorious character in its true light.\u2014Isa. 66:18.\n\n(9) _Jeremiah_ foretold that in the good times coming mankind should no\nmore walk after the imagination of an evil heart (Jer. 3:17); that the\nnations of all the earth shall come to the new order of things and\ncheerfully admit that the teachings of the clergy were chiefly lies and\nvanity (Jer. 16:19); that the new Shepherds will really feed the Lord\u2019s\nsheep, and they shall no more be dismayed or lacking (Jer. 23:4); that the\nLord will give the people a heart to know Him, and they shall return to\nHim with their whole heart (Jer. 24:7); that the children shall come again\nfrom the land of the enemy; that the children shall no longer suffer for\nthe sins of the parents, and they shall teach no more every man his\nneighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall\nall know Him from the least even unto the greatest (Jer. 31:16, 29, 34);\nthat the Lord will give the people one heart and one way and make an\neverlasting covenant with them, and not turn away from them to do them\ngood; and they shall not depart from Him (Jer. 32:39, 40); that mankind\nwill fear and tremble at all the goodness and prosperity Jehovah shall\nbring to them when He has pardoned all their Iniquities and transgressions\n(Jer. 33:8, 9); that they shall be at rest and at ease with none to make\nthem afraid (Jer. 46:27); that the Moabites and Elamites shall return to\ntheir former estate (Jer. 48:47; 49:39); and that in those days the\npenitent, together, going and weeping, shall seek the Lord their God and\nask the way to Zion, saying, Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a\nperpetual covenant that shall never be forgotten.\u2014Jer. 50:4, 5.\n\n(10) _Ezekiel_ foretold a coming time when the Lord will take away the\nstony heart out of the people and give them hearts that are warm and\ntender (Ezek. 11:19); that the Sodomites, the Samaritans and the Jews\u2014who\nwere twice as bad as either of the others\u2014shall all return to their former\nestate, and the Lord will establish His covenant with them and be pacified\ntowards them (Ezek. 16:55, 61\u201063); that it will no more be true that the\nchildren suffer for the sins of their parents (Ezek. 18:2); that it will\nnot be necessary then for anybody to die (Ezek. 18:31, 32); that the\npeople shall dwell safely and build houses and plant vineyards with\nconfidence (Ezek. 28:26); that the Lord will cause the evil beasts to\ncease out of the land; and that the people shall dwell safely in the\nwilderness and sleep in the woods, the shower will come down in its\nseason, there shall be showers of blessing, the trees shall yield their\nfruit and the earth shall yield its increase and the people shall dwell\nsafely and none shall make them afraid (Ezek. 34:25\u201028); that the Lord\nwill put His Spirit into the people and cause them to walk in His ways,\nwill increase the corn, multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of\nthe field, and the land that was desolate shall become like the garden of\nEden (Ezek. 36:26, 27, 29, 30, 35); that the people shall have one\nShepherd and walk in His statutes and do them (Ezek. 37:24); and the Lord\nwill not hide His face from them any more when He has poured out His\nSpirit upon them.\u2014Ezek. 39:29.\n\n(11) _Daniel_ foretold that the God of Heaven shall set up a Kingdom which\nshall never be destroyed, but which shall break in pieces and consume all\nother kingdoms, and which shall stand forever (Dan. 2:44); and the Kingdom\nand dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom _under_ the whole heaven\nshall be given to the saints of the Most High as an everlasting\ndominion.\u2014Dan. 7:27.\n\n(12) _Hosea_ prophesied food in abundance for the beasts of the field and\nthe fowls of heaven with the creeping things of the ground; and that the\nLord will break the bow and sword and the battle out of the earth, and\nmake all to lie down safely; and that it shall come to pass in that Day\nthat Jehovah will hear the new powers of spiritual control and they shall\nhear the cries of men (Hos. 2:18, 21); that the people shall fear the\ngoodness of the Lord in the latter days (Hos. 3:5); that after the fifth\nand sixth thousand\u2010year Days are past the people will be raised up and\nlive in the Lord\u2019s sight (Hos. 6:2); and He will ransom them from hell and\nredeem them from death, and destroy hell altogether.\u2014Hos. 13:14.\n\n(13) _Joel_ prophesied that the Lord will cause the pastures to spring,\nthe tree to bear her fruit and the fig tree and the vine to yield their\nstrength, and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be\ndelivered.\u2014Joel 2:22, 32.\n\n(14) _Amos_ was the next one of the holy Prophets; and we have an inspired\ncomment on one of his prophecies by the Apostle James in Acts 15:14\u201018.\nJames says, \u201cSimeon [St Peter] hath declared how God at the first [in the\nconversion of Cornelius] did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a\npeople for His name [the Bride of Christ]. And to this agree the words of\nthe Prophets [Amos 9:11, 12]; as it is written, After this [after the\nBride of Christ has been selected], I will return and will build again the\ntabernacle [the house, royalty or dominion] of David, which is fallen\ndown; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up [re\u2010\nestablish the Kingdom of God on earth]; that the residue of men [all the\nrest of the world of mankind] might seek after the Lord, and all the\nGentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord who doeth all these\nthings. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.\u201d\n\n(15) _Obadiah_ was the next one of the holy Prophets; and in the last\nverse of his short prophecy he says, \u201cAnd saviors [it is in the plural and\nrefers not only to Jesus the Head, but to the Church, the members of His\nBody] shall come up on Mount Zion [come up into the Heavenly phase of the\nKingdom], and shall judge the mount of Esau\u201d [judge the world]. \u201cKnow ye\nnot that the saints shall judge the world?\u201d\n\n(16) _Jonah_ was the next one of the holy Prophets; and in the fourth\nchapter we have an interesting picture of events now transpiring before\nour eyes. Jonah walked into the city of Nineveh and said, \u201cYet forty days\nand Nineveh shall be overthrown.\u201d The prophecy was fulfilled in forty\nliteral years. But when Jonah saw that things were not coming out as he\nexpected, he was very angry and said to the Lord, \u201cThat is just what I\nmight have expected; for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and\nmerciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and I said so before I\nleft my own country.\u201d Jonah went out, sat in the hot sun on the outside of\nthe city, and began to sulk. The Lord took pity on him and caused a gourd\nto grow up over him, to shelter him from the hot rays of the sun. And\nJonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd. Then the Lord prepared a\nworm to smite the gourd; and a strong east wind blew up and the gourd\nwithered. Jonah\u2019s shade was gone, and he was angrier than ever. The Lord\nsaid, \u201cDoest thou well to be angry?\u201d and he said, \u201cYes, I do well to be\nangry, even unto death.\u201d Then the Lord said, \u201cJonah, thou hast had pity on\nthe gourd that sprung up in a night and perished in a night; and should\nnot I spare Nineveh, that great city wherein are more than six score\nthousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their\nleft hand?\u201d\n\nWe live in a day when a class have been preaching that the world is to be\ndestroyed; and, like Jonah, they have not properly understood their\nmessage. The kind of world that is to be destroyed is Satan\u2019s world,\nSatan\u2019s empire, arrangement, or order of things\u2014not our literal earth. The\nword world does not always refer to our literal earth. For instance, when\nthe Apostle James says, \u201cThe tongue is a world of iniquity,\u201d he does not\nmean that we have inside our jaws a little planet that turns over every\ntwenty\u2010four hours, that has spring, summer, fall, winter, snowstorms,\nrainstorms, and a moon revolving about it, with once in a while a comet\nand a shower of meteors thrown in for good measure. When they think about\nthe Panama Canal, and the wonderful works of irrigation which are causing\nthe desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose, and all the other wonderful\nachievements of our day, these people are beginning to see that they have\nmade a mistake and are now about where Jonah was when he said, \u201cThat is\nwhat I might have expected, for I know that Thou art a just God, slow to\nanger, and plenteous in mercy.\u201d They are now outside the city, and the\nscorching light of Present Truth is pretty hot. Meantime the church trust\nis growing up to keep off the heat. We are not to have anything to do with\nthis church federation. \u201cSay ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom\nthis people shall say, A confederacy.\u201d \u201cTake counsel together, and it\nshall come to naught; speak the word and it shall not stand; for God is\nwith us.\u201d (Isa. 8:10, 12.) Pretty soon something will happen to the church\ntrust, and their shade will be gone. Then the Lord will say to them, \u201cOh,\nyou need not feel so badly! You are not the first people that ever made a\nmistake. You have made lots of them, to be sure. You have had pity on the\nchurch trust which grew up in one year and blew up in another year; and\nshould not I spare the poor world, that as far as their knowledge of right\nand wrong is concerned do not know the difference between their right hand\nand their left hand?\u201d\n\n(17) _Micah_ has written of the coming of the Kingdom of God in the earth,\naccompanied by the rebuking of strong nations afar off; that then they\nshall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into\npruninghooks; that nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither\nshall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine\nand under his fig tree [not the landlord\u2019s]; and none [be they doctors,\nlandlords, employers, sheriffs, or undertakers] shall make them afraid;\nthat all people will walk in the name of our God, and that the first\ndominion [lost by Adam in Eden] will be restored to Christ, the Tower of\nthe Flock.\u2014Micah 4:1\u20105, 8.\n\n(18) _Nahum_ was the next one of the holy Prophets; and after prophesying\nin the last verse of the preceding chapter about the coming of the King\nwith His good tidings of peace to the sin\u2010burdened earth, he next tells\n(Nahum 2:3\u20106) of an interesting thing that will be a matter of common\neveryday experience at the time the Kingdom is established. He describes a\nrailway train in motion [not an automobile, as some think], and if we will\nbe at the trouble to put ourselves in the Prophet\u2019s place we can see just\nwhat he saw in his vision and what he has so interestingly described.\nFirst, the Prophet stands looking at the engine coming toward him, and\nthen says, \u201cThe shield [the thing ahead of this great warrior\u2014the\nheadlight] is made red [shines brilliantly], the valiant men [the engineer\nand the fireman] are dyed scarlet [when the flames from the firebox\nilluminate the interior of the cab at night, as the fireman opens the\nfiredoor to throw in the coal]. The chariots [the railway coaches] shall\nbe with [shall be preceded by locomotives that, at night, have the\nappearance of] flaming torches, in the Day of Preparation.\u201d\n\nNext the Prophet takes his place in the train and looks out of the window,\nand, seemingly, \u201cThe fir trees shall be terribly shaken [the telegraph\npoles alongside the track seem to be fairly dancing]. The chariots shall\nrage in the streets [a railway is merely an elaborate, scientifically\nconstructed street, or highway], they shall jostle one against another in\nthe broad ways [the clanking and bumping of the cars together is one of\nthe significant items of railway travel]. They shall seem like torches [a\nrailway train at night, rushing through a distant field, looks like\nnothing so much as a vast torch, going at flying speed], they shall run\nlike the lightnings.\u201d Next the Prophet sees the conductor coming for his\nticket and says, \u201cHe shall recount his worthies [the conductor spends his\nentire time, almost, counting and recounting his passengers, keeping them\nchecked up, etc.]; they shall stumble in their walk [try walking on a\nrapidly moving train]; they shall make haste to the wall thereof [to the\nnext city or town] and the coverer [the train shed, the station] shall be\nprepared [the baggageman, expressman, mail wagon, hotel bus, intending\npassengers, and friends to meet incoming passengers, will all be there\nwaiting for the train to come]. The gates of the rivers shall be opened\n[the doors of the cars will be opened and the people will flow out] and\nthe palace [car] shall be dissolved [emptied].\u201d\n\n(19) _Habakkuk_ was the next one of the holy Prophets, and in Hab. 2:14 he\nsays, \u201cThe earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the\nLord as the waters cover the sea.\u201d In places, the water in the Pacific\nOcean is seven miles deep. Imagine a condition in which the knowledge of\nthe glory of God is like that in the earth! It will be as impossible for a\nman not to know about God as it would be for one to be down at the bottom\nof the ocean without getting wet.\n\n(20) _Zephaniah_ foretold that the Lord will starve all the false gods to\ndeath; for all men will worship the one only and true God, even including\nthe heathen we have worried so much about (Zeph. 2:11); that after the\npresent inequitable condition of society has passed away\u2014been devoured,\nnot with literal fire but with the fire of the Lord\u2019s jealousy\u2014there will\nbe no more sectarianism, but all the people will be taught the pure Truth\nand worship the Lord with _one_ consent; the liar and deceiver will no\nlonger be abroad in the land and the people will eat and rest without fear\nof disaster, dispossession or death.\u2014Zeph. 3:9, 13.\n\n(21) _Haggai_ was the next one of the holy Prophets, and he says in Hag.\n2:7, \u201cThe desire of all nations shall come.\u201d In Rom. 8:19\u201022, the Apostle\ntells us what is the desire of all nations. He says, \u201cThe whole creation\ngroaneth and travaileth in pain, waiting for the manifestation [showing\nforth] of the sons of God.\u201d It is in the plural, and means not Jesus only,\nbut all of the Little Flock. The groaning will not be in vain; for in the\nsame passage the Apostle says the outcome will be that the groaning\ncreation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into a glorious\nliberty from sin and every evil thing.\n\n(22) _Zechariah_ prophesied that many nations shall be joined to the Lord\nin that Day and be His people and He will dwell in the midst of them\n(Zech. 2:11); that when every man dwells under his own vine and fig tree\nevery man will love his neighbor and his brother (Zech. 3:10); that the\ncoming Kingdom will be a Kingdom of Truth, the people will be God\u2019s people\nand He will be their God in truth and righteousness; the ground shall give\nits increase and the heaven its dews and the Lord will do well to the\npeople and remove their fears (Zech. 8:3, 8, 12, 15); that the inhabitants\nof one city will go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before\nthe Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I will go also. Yea, many people\nand strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts and to pray before\nthe Lord (Zech. 8:21; 22); that the battle bow shall be cut off, that the\nLord shall speak peace to the people; corn shall make the young men speak,\nand new wine (better doctrines) the maids (Zech. 9:10, 17); that the Lord\nshall be King over all the earth and men shall dwell in it, and there\nshall be no more utter destruction, but all shall be holiness unto the\nLord.\u2014Zech. 14:9, 11, 20.\n\n(23) _Malachi_ foretold that from the rising of the sun even unto the\ngoing down of the same the Lord\u2019s name shall be great among all peoples;\nand in every place heart adoration shall be offered to His name (Mal.\n1:11); that the devourer will be rebuked and not be permitted longer to\ndestroy the fruits of the ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit\nbefore the time in the field; injurious parasites, germs and microbes will\nbe a thing of the past. Crops will be abundant everywhere (Mal. 3:11); and\nThe Christ, Head and Body, will arise with healing in their beams,\nnourishing and bringing the willing to perfection with the same care as is\ngiven to stall\u2010fed cattle\u2014now receiving more attention than human\nbeings.\u2014Mal. 4:2.\n\n(24) _John the Baptist_ was the next and last of the holy Prophets, for\nJesus said, \u201cThe Law and the Prophets were until John.\u201d And John, we are\ntold, turned and looked at Jesus, and said, \u201cBehold the Lamb of God, that\ntaketh away the sin of the world.\u201d\u2014John 1:29; Matt. 11:9, 11.\n\n4:11. Thou art worthy, O Lord OUR LORD AND GOD.\u2014\u201cThe proper view of the\nmatter shows us the Heavenly Father perfect in all the attributes of\nnobility of character; perfect in Justice, so that the just sentence of\nHis righteous Law cannot be infracted, even by Himself; perfect in wisdom,\nso that His plan and arrangement, not only with respect to man\u2019s creation,\nbut also with respect to man\u2019s salvation, the Atonement, etc., were all so\ncomplete that no contingency or failure could arise, nor any necessity for\nchange of the Divine Plan; as it is written, \u2018I am the same, I change not,\nsaith the Lord,\u2019 and \u2018Known unto the Lord are all His works, from the\nfoundation of the world\u2019; perfect also in His Love, than which there could\nbe no greater love possible, and yet that Love is in full balance and\naccord with the other Divine attributes, so that it could spare the sinner\nonly in harmony with the just program marked out by Divine Wisdom; perfect\nalso in Power, so that all His good purposes, good intentions, just\nprogram and loving designs, fully co\u2010ordinated, shall be executed, and\nbring the originally designed result; as it is written, \u2018My Word that\ngoeth forth out of My mouth shall not return to Me void; it shall\naccomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto\nI sent it.\u2019 (Isa. 55:11; Mal. 3:6; Acts 15:18.)\u201d\u2014E. _37_, 34.\n\nTo receive glory.\u2014All the glory, Greek.\n\nAnd honor and power.\u2014\u201cCould this Scripture ever be fulfilled, could the\nDivine character ever be appreciated by intelligent, honest, just and\nloving hearts, if in any corner of the Universe there were such orgies and\ntortures of His creatures as the creeds of the Darker Ages have set forth?\nSurely not!\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\nFor Thou has created all things.\u2014The all things, the Universe, Greek.\n\u201cAcross the vista of ages He saw in His purpose the glory of an\nintelligent creation in His own likeness, established in righteousness and\nworthy of His gift of eternal life. He therein foresaw the mutual pleasure\nof the Creator and the creature, and with a peaceful patience He resolved\nto wait for the glorious consummation.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201995\u2010154.\n\nAnd for Thy pleasure they [are and] were created.\u2014\u201cHe desired that love\nshould respond to love, admiration to admiration, virtue to virtue, and\ngrace to grace, in the Creator and the creature, as face answers to face\nin a glass. In this natural attitude of the Creator and the creature\ngenerous benevolence and filial gratitude combine in mutual happiness. God\nis happy in the realization and in the exercise of all the noble traits of\nHis glorious character, which happiness is enhanced by appreciation of the\nsame on the part of His creatures, and by manifestation in them of the\nsame qualities and dispositions of mind and heart. And likewise man must\nboth realize and exercise the noble endowments of his nature and form a\ncharacter modeled after that of his Heavenly Father and meeting His\napproval, if he would find that true happiness which consists in the\napproval of his own conscience and of his Creator and Judge, in whose\nfavor is life, and at whose right hand there are pleasures\nforevermore.\u2019\u2014Psa. 16:11.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201995\u2010167.\n\n\n \u201cSun of my soul, my Father dear,\n I know no night when Thou are near.\n O! may no earth\u2010born cloud arise\n To hide Thee from thy servant\u2019s eyes.\n\n Shield of my soul, though tempests rage,\n And \u2019gainst me hosts of foes engage,\n My refuge and my fortress Thou,\n Before Thee every foe must bow.\n\n Thy grace and glory Thou dost give\n To those who near Thee ever live;\n And no good thing dost Thou withhold\n From sheep which stray not from Thy fold.\u201d\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Hindrances To Christian Progress\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n The Thinking Public Declines To Endorse The Modern Political Preaching\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 5\u2014The Executor Of The Plan\n\n\n5:1. And I saw in the right hand.\u2014\u201cThe Divine Plan, known only to the\nFather, Jehovah Himself, was kept in His own power\u2014in His own hand\u2014until\nsome one should be _proved_ worthy to know it, and become its executor as\nJehovah\u2019s honored Agent and Representative.\u201d\u2014E. _39_, 36.\n\nOf Him that sat on the Throne.\u2014\u201cHe that sits upon the Throne is Jehovah.\nThe scroll in His right hand is His Plan for human redemption, sealed from\nall until One should be found and proved \u2018worthy.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010150.\n\nA book.\u2014\u201cNot the Bible, but the Divine Plan, with its times and seasons.\u201d\n(Z. \u201916\u2010252.) \u201cThis was the _Mystery_, the _Secret_ of the Lord, unknown\nto any one but Himself\u2014His plan for the salvation of the world.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201997\u2010256.\n\nWritten [within] IN FRONT.\u2014The writing in front is the fulfilment of\neverything prophesied on the outside. Every word of every prophecy of\nGod\u2019s Word is sure of fulfilment. \u201cSeek ye out the book of the Lord, and\nread; no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate; for My mouth\nit hath commanded, and His Spirit it hath gathered them.\u201d (Isa. 34:16.)\n\u201cThat scroll contains a record of everything that is happening now, and\nall that will occur throughout the Millennial Age, down to its very\nclose\u2014down to the time when every creature in Heaven and in earth and\nthose in the sea, shall ascribe praise, honor, glory and dominion to Him\nthat sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb forever.\u2014Rev. 5:13.\u201d (Z.\n\u201909\u2010243.) \u201cAmong the Orientals the lines began from the right hand and ran\nto the left hand; with the Northern and Western nations, from the left to\nthe right hand; but the Greeks sometimes followed both directions\nalternately.\u201d (McC.)\n\nThe Word is plainly written on the outside, where all may read the words,\nbut cannot understand their significance without Divine aid. Meantime,\nfrom age to age, the events foretold occur in the manner predicted. The\nmanner of the writing, some of it from left to right and some from right\nto left, enables the fulfilments to follow the prophecies exactly, item by\nitem, to the last jot and tittle. Write a word on a sheet of paper and\nthen turn the paper over and look at it, holding it in front of a good\nlight. Thus it is with the Word of God. The prophecies look strange until\nthe due time has come for holding them up to the light, and then they\nbecome clear. What could be only imperfectly deciphered until the\nhindering seal is broken is no mystery after the seal is broken, because\nthe book or scroll or chart can be turned about and held to the light. The\nfulfilments are seen to fit the prophecies. If the lines are not clear,\nthen for some reason we are looking upon that much of the record from the\noutside and not from the inside.\n\nAnd on the backside.\u2014\u201cExcepting the bare promise (written on the outside\nof the scroll) of salvation through the Seed of the woman, nothing could\nbe known of the wonderful scheme for human restitution until the Son of\nGod, having left the glory of the spiritual nature, took our nature and by\nthe sacrifice of Himself redeemed us from death. Then, having His\nrighteousness imputed to us by faith, we are counted worthy to look upon\nthe scroll as He opens the seals one after another.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u2010332; Ezek.\n2:9, 10.\n\nSealed with seven seals.\u2014\u201cThe things that were sealed were not proper to\nbe understood by our Redeemer until He had received the all\u2010power, after\nHis resurrection. The execution of God\u2019s Plan was then given into His\nhands.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010253.\n\n5:2. And I saw a strong angel.\u2014Personification of the Law.\n\nProclaiming.\u2014In types and shadows, pictures, figures and symbols.\n\nWith a loud voice.\u2014From the fall of Adam onward.\n\nWho is worthy.\u2014\u201cThe inquiry compassed the period from before Jesus came\ninto the world up to His resurrection from the grave. God had given the\nmost honorable One of all the host of Heaven the first opportunity to\nprove His worthiness to loose the Scroll of God\u2019s great Plan, and to\nfulfill its provisions. And He did not allow the privilege to go by. He\naccepted it.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010252.\n\nTo open the book.\u2014\u201cThe inquiry, \u2018Who is worthy to open the book [scroll]\nand to loose the seals thereof?\u2019 had long been made: for four thousand\nyears, from the giving of the promise that the Seed of the woman should\nbruise the serpent\u2019s head, it had been the query\u2014Who shall be esteemed, by\nJehovah God, to be worthy to perform His gracious purposes, and thus be\nhonored above all others as Servant (Messenger) of the Covenant of\nGrace?\u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010150.\n\nAnd to loose the seals thereof.\u2014\u201cJohn in the symbol hears the\nproclamation, \u2018Who is worthy to open the Book and to loose the seals?\u2019\u2014who\nis worthy to have committed to his care _the execution_ of the great\nDivine Plan, wonderful for its wisdom and love, and its lengths and\nbreadths and depths and heights past human comprehension\u2014that he may open\nit and execute it?\u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010256.\n\n5:3. And no man in Heaven.\u2014No angel had been proven worthy. \u201cWhich things\nthe angels desire to look into.\u201d\u20141 Pet. 1:12.\n\nNor in earth, [neither under the earth].\u2014No man on earth was worthy.\n\u201cThere is none righteous; no, not one; for all have sinned and come short\nof the glory of God.\u201d\u2014Rom. 3:10, 23.\n\nWas able to open the book.\u2014\u201cIn the picture John looked to see who the\nworthy one might be, but none was found worthy.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201909\u2010243.\n\nNeither to look thereon.\u2014In the light of this Scripture, who can dare, in\nhis own strength, wisdom or righteousness to interpret the Word of God or\ntake any part in the execution of the Plan?\u2014Heb. 12:18\u201029.\n\n5:4. And I wept much.\u2014\u201cIt seemed to John too bad that God should have some\ngreat, wonderful purposes which might come to naught because no one was\nworthy to be the Divine executor.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201909\u2010243.\n\nBecause no man.\u2014No being in the Universe.\n\nWas found worthy to open and to read the book.\u2014\u201cWhen silence prevailed,\nand none was found worthy either in Heaven or on earth (representing the\ncondition of things prior to the First Advent), John began saying to\nhimself: Alas! we may never know God\u2019s gracious and wise plans for the\nwelfare of His creatures, because none is found worthy to know or execute\nthem.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010150; John 1:27; Matt. 8:8.\n\nNeither to look thereon.\u2014\u201cSo it was that, even our Lord Jesus, prior to\nthe finishing of His sacrifice, as He then declared, did not know all\nabout the Father\u2019s plans, times and seasons (Mark 13:32.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010150.\n\n5:5. And one of the elders.\u2014The deathbed prophecy of Jacob. It is the\nidentification of this elder that enables us to recognize the other\ntwenty\u2010three.\u2014Rev. 4:10.\n\nSaith unto me.\u2014\u201cJudah is a lion\u2019s whelp. The sceptre shall not depart from\nJudah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto\nHim shall the gathering of the people be.\u201d\u2014Gen. 49:9, 10.\n\nWeep not: behold, the Lion.\u2014\u201cThe Holy One, and the Just.\u201d\u2014Acts 3:14;\n22:14.\n\nOf the tribe of Juda.\u2014\u201cThe great prize, for which Israel had been longing\nfor centuries, was won by the Lion of the tribe of Judah. (Heb. 7:14.)\u201d\u2014B.\n85.\n\n\u201cFor an illustration of latter time assumptions, note the fact that a late\npope, upon ascending the throne, took the title of Leo XIII, and shortly\nafter subscribed himself \u2018Leo de tribus Juda,\u2019 i. e., \u2018The Lion of the\ntribe of Judah.\u2019 \u201d\u2014B. 316.\n\nThe Root of David.\u2014\u201cIt was not the pre\u2010human Logos, nor yet the man Jesus,\nthat was David\u2019s Lord and David\u2019s Root; but the resurrected Messiah.\u201d\u2014E.\n_151_, 136; Isa. 11:1; Rom. 15:12; Rev. 22:16.\n\nHath prevailed to open the book.\u2014\u201cWhen our Lord Jesus had proven His\nloyalty to the Heavenly Father by His obedience, \u2018even unto the\n[ignominious] death of the cross,\u2019 then and thereby He did prove Himself\nworthy of every confidence and trust.\u201d\u2014E. _39_, 37.\n\nAnd to loose the seven seals thereof.\u2014\u201cGreat was the favor bestowed upon\nthe Just One of the tribe of Judah, in being permitted to open the seals;\nand great is the privilege of those who are permitted to look thereon as\nthe seals are opened.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u2010332; Rev. 5:2; 6:1.\n\n5:6. And I beheld, [and lo,] in the midst of the Throne.\u2014\u201cIn the bosom of\nthe Father.\u201d\u2014John 1:18.\n\nAnd of the four beasts.\u2014\u201cThe express image of His person.\u201d\u2014Heb. 1:3.\n\nAnd in the midst of the elders.\u2014The central theme of all their\nprophesies.\u2014Rev. 4:10.\n\nStood a Lamb as it had been slain.\u2014\u201cIt was not possible for Him to know\nthe completeness of the Divine Plan until after He had demonstrated His\nworthiness by His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201906\u201039; Isa. 53:7; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19.\n\nHaving seven horns.\u2014Perfect power. \u201cAll power is given unto Me in Heaven\nand in earth.\u201d\u2014Matt. 28:18; 1 Sam. 2:1, 10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.\n\nAnd seven eyes.\u2014Perfect wisdom. \u201cIn whom are hid all the treasures of\nwisdom and knowledge.\u201d\u2014Col. 2:3; Zech. 3:9; 4:10; Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 2\nChron. 16:9.\n\nWhich are the seven Spirits of God.\u2014Or lamps of fire.\u2014Rev. 4:5.\n\nSent forth into all the earth.\u2014See Rev. 1:4.\n\n5:7. And He came and took the book.\u2014\u201cTo Him was the scroll or book\nentrusted, that in due time all the wonderful provisions of the Divine\nPlan might be fully executed in the glorification of the Church and the\nblessing of all the families of the earth.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201906\u201039.\n\nOut of the right hand.\u2014See Rev. 5:1.\n\nOf Him that sat upon the Throne.\u2014Jehovah. If Jesus and His Father are a\nTrinity, \u201cOne in person, equal in glory and power,\u201d how is it that one has\nto come to the other for something, or how can He come to Himself and take\nsomething He already has and give it to Himself?\n\n5:8. And when He had taken the book.\u2014His worthiness to do so having been\nproven by His resurrection to the Divine nature.\n\nThe four beasts.\u2014Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\u2014Rev. 4:6, 7.\n\nAnd four and twenty elders.\u2014Messages of the four and twenty Prophets.\u2014Rev.\n4:10.\n\nFell down before the Lamb.\u2014Gave their joint homage and adoration to the\nConqueror of sin and death.\n\nEach having [every one of them harps] A HARP.\u2014Yielding the most exquisite\nharmony that ever fell on mortal ears.\u2014Rev. 15:1\u20104; 4:10.\n\nAnd golden vials.\u2014Incense cups, \u201cspoons,\u201d similar to those used at the\nGolden Altar.\u2014Ex. 25:29; 30:1\u20109.\n\nFull of odors.\u2014The sweet fragrance of patient hearts, precious in the\nFather\u2019s memory, pleading for love and wisdom Divine.\u2014Psa. 141:2; Ex.\n30:34\u201038; Lev. 16:12, 13; Lu. 1:9, 10; Acts 10:4.\n\nWhich are the prayers of saints.\u2014Every one of which, by the Father\u2019s\narrangement, has been made in the name of the One here honored.\u2014John\n16:23; Eph. 2:19.\n\n5:9. And they sung a new song.\u2014\u201cThis means that the Divine Plan as a whole\nwas here made known to Him\u2014for He already had knowledge of much of\nthis\u2014but all things were now given Him.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010253; Psa. 40:3; Rev. 14:3.\n\nSaying, Thou art worthy to take the book.\u2014Worthy of \u201ca name which is above\nevery name.\u201d\u2014Phil. 2:9.\n\nAnd to open the seals thereof.\u2014Disclose the wonderful method by which the\nFather will develop the _saviors_ of the world.\u2014Obad. 21.\n\nFor thou wast slain.\u2014He had sacrificed His will, but this was not\nsufficient. \u201cGod wished Him to sacrifice not only His will, but actually\nto lay down His human life. When all His testings were completed at His\ndeath on the Cross, God gave Him a name to which all should bow, both in\nHeaven and in earth.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010252.\n\nAnd hast redeemed.\u2014\u201c_Agorazo._ This word signifies to purchase in the open\nmarket.\u201d\u2014E. _443_, 429; 1 Cor. 6:20; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1\nPet. 1:18, 19.\n\n[Us].\u2014Oldest MS., with evident propriety, omits _us_, since the Divine\nattributes and prophecies were not redeemed.\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010151.\n\nTo God.\u2014\u201cWhat say the Scriptures respecting the sacrifice of Christ, the\noffering which He made? Do they say that it was made to Satan or to\nJehovah God? We answer that in all the types of the Jewish dispensation,\nwhich foreshadowed this better sacrifice, which does take away the sins of\nthe world, the offerings were presented to God, at the hands of the\npriest, who typified our Lord Jesus.\u201d\u2014E. _461_, 449.\n\nBy Thy blood.\u2014\u201cIf the blood of bulls and of goats ... sanctifieth to the\npurifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who,\nthrough the eternal spirit, offered Himself without spot to God.\u201d\u2014Heb.\n9:13\u201015.\n\nOut of every kindred.\u2014\u201cIn thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be\nblessed.\u201d\u2014Acts 3:25.\n\nAnd tongue.\u2014\u201cEvery knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.\u201d\u2014Isa. 45:23.\n\nAnd people.\u2014\u201cThe heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see\nHis glory.\u201d\u2014Psa. 97:6.\n\nAnd nation.\u2014\u201cAnd in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be\nblessed.\u201d\u2014Gen. 26:4, 22:18; Rev. 14:6.\n\n5:10. And hast made [us] THEM unto our God [Kings] A KINGDOM.\u2014\u201cIt will be\nthe Kingdom of the saints, in that they shall reign and judge and bless\nthe world in conjunction with their Lord, Jesus. (Rom. 8:17, 18.) The\nKingdom class proper will consist only of our Lord and His \u2018elect\u2019 Little\nFlock.\u201d\u2014D. 618.\n\nAnd [priests] PRIESTHOOD.\u2014\u201cThe Divine provision for a \u2018Royal Priesthood\u2019\nimplies weakness, imperfection, on the part of some whom the priests are\nto help, and instruct, and from whom they are to accept sacrifice and\nofferings for sin, and to whom they are to extend mercy and\nforgiveness.\u201d\u2014E. _486_, 476; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 20:6.\n\nAnd [we] THEY shall reign.\u2014\u201cBut before the Royal Priesthood begin their\nreign, they must \u2018suffer with Him,\u2019 sharing in the antitypical sacrifices.\n(2 Tim. 2:12.)\u201d\u2014T. 26.\n\nOn.\u2014_Epi_, over.\u2014Rev. 6:16.\n\nThe earth.\u2014\u201cThe Kingdom and dominion, even the majesty of the Kingdom\n_under_ the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the\nMost High, whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and all rulers shall\nserve and obey Him. (Dan 7:27.)\u201d\u2014D. 618.\n\n5:11. And I beheld.\u2014John beheld this in vision and will behold it in\nreality.\n\nAnd I heard.\u2014John heard in the vision, and will hear in the reality.\n\nAs it were the voice of many angels.\u2014Besides the angels, the Great Company\nare in this happy throng. The events to the end of the chapter have their\nfulfilment in the future.\n\nRound about the Throne.\u2014\u201cIn the circuit of Heaven\u201d (Job 22:14), the circle\nof the Universe.\n\nAnd the beasts.\u2014Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\u2014Rev. 4:6, 7.\n\nAnd the elders.\u2014The prophecies.\u2014Rev. 4:10.\n\nAnd the number of them.\u2014\u201cWhose number no man knoweth.\u201d\u2014Rev. 7:9.\n\nWas ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.\u2014The\nnumber of the Great Company will apparently exceed one hundred millions.\nNum. 4:46\u201048 and Ex. 28:1 indicate but one priest to each 2,860 Levites,\nwhich would make the number of the Great Company approximate\n411,840,000.\u2014T. 118, 119; Dan. 7:10.\n\n5:12. Saying with a loud voice.\u2014The Great Company will be very\nenthusiastic workers on the other side of the veil, for they really love\nthe Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30), and\nneed only to be liberated to give full expression to that love.\n\nWorthy is the Lamb that was slain.\u2014\u201cOur Lord Jesus demonstrated before the\nFather, before angels, and before His \u2018brethren,\u2019 His fidelity to the\nFather and to the Father\u2019s Law, demonstrating that it was not beyond the\nability of a perfect being, even under the most adverse conditions.\u201d\u2014E.\n_134_, 120.\n\nTo receive power.\u2014The Great Company class humbly realize that their\nfaithfulness and zeal was not sufficient to warrant their own exaltation\nto power.\n\nAnd riches.\u2014They realize they did not lay up all the Heavenly treasures\nthey might have done, but hid their talents in earthly pursuits.\n\nAnd wisdom.\u2014They realize their own unwisdom in seeking the praise of men\nand that the Christ Company, though apparently fools for Christ\u2019s sake,\nwere really the wisest of the wise.\n\nAnd strength.\u2014They know that they used their own strength for the support\nand maintenance of institutions which really hindered rather than helped\nthe Bride to make herself ready.\n\nAnd honor.\u2014They know that, as a class, they sought and obtained the honor\nthat cometh from men, but failed to properly seek the honor that cometh\nfrom God only.\n\nAnd glory.\u2014They know that they failed to meet the high conditions of self\u2010\nsacrifice, and were therefore unworthy of the high reward.\n\nAnd blessing.\u2014They feel that the blessings which the Lord gave to them\nwere thoughtlessly appropriated to themselves and their families, with\nhardly a serious thought about the needs of the Lord\u2019s dear family; and\nthat appropriately, the chiefest of all blessings, the privilege of\nextending God\u2019s blessings to the needy world, should go to those who most\nearnestly \u201cby patient perseverance in well doing (did) seek for glory,\nhonor and immortality.\u201d (Rom. 2:7.) Thus they reverence the Lamb, and His\nBride, for they are one.\u2014Rev. 19:7.\n\n5:13. And every creature.\u2014After the destruction of the incorrigible at the\nend of the Millennial Age (and this, in itself, is a blessing to those who\nrefuse to make a right use of life).\n\nWhich is in Heaven.\u2014\u201cLet all the angels of God worship Him.\u201d (Heb. 1:6.)\n\u201cWorship Him, all ye gods.\u201d\u2014Psa. 97:7.\n\nAnd on the earth, [and under the earth,].\u2014All mankind.\u20141 Cor. 15:25.\n\nAnd such [as are] in the sea.\u2014The class that continues to be \u201cin the sea,\u201d\ni. e., not under religious restraint, will cease to exist. They no longer\n_are_, but even their terminated existence will be to the praise of the\nOne who died for them on Calvary; for they will have had a perfect chance.\n\nAnd all that are in them.\u2014\u201cThat at the name of Jesus every knee should\nbow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth.\u201d\u2014Phil. 2:10; Eph. 1:10;\nCol. 1:20.\n\n[Heard I] AND I HEARD THEM saying, THE Blessing.\u2014The myriads of happy\nbeings, on all created planes of intelligence, from the highest to the\nlowest, in Heaven and earth, acknowledge with joy the source of all their\nblessings.\u2014Rom. 9:5.\n\nAnd honor.\u2014By that time all will have come to see what a great honor has\nbeen conferred on any creature to receive the unspeakable boon of life on\nany plane, and will gladly own its fountain.\u20141 Tim. 6:16.\n\nAnd glory [and power] OF THE ALMIGHTY.\u2014Each will have come to know the\nglory of life on his own plane. \u201cThere are celestial bodies, and bodies\nterrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the\nterrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory\nof the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from\nanother star in glory.\u201d\u20141 Cor. 15:40, 41; Rom. 16:27; 1 Pet. 4:11; 5:11.\n\nBe.\u2014Be ascribed to.\n\nHim that sitteth upon the Throne.\u2014Our Father and Friend.\u20141 Chron. 29:11.\n\nAnd unto the Lamb.\u2014Our Redeemer and Brother.\n\nFor ever and ever.\u2014\u201cFor the Ages of the Ages,\u201d Greek.\n\n5:14. And the four beasts said Amen.\u2014Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom\nunitedly declare this to be the happy outcome.\n\nAnd the [four and twenty] elders fell down and worshipped [Him that liveth\nfor ever and ever].\u2014The prophecies plainly declare that neither men nor\ndevils can in any wise thwart this perfect ending of the Plan which began\nso strangely and still progresses\u2014the perfection, through suffering, of\nthe Little Flock, the Great Company and, indeed, the world of mankind\nitself.\u2014Rev. 4:10.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 6\u2014Six Seals And The Papacy\n\n\n6:1. And I saw.\u2014\u201cGod does not display His plans to satisfy mere idle\ncuriosity. If we would comprehend what is revealed within the scroll we\nmust be sincerely desirous of knowing the details of God\u2019s Plan in order\nto an earnest co\u2010operation with it. Such, and such only, are worthy to\nknow, and such only ever come to see, in the sense of understanding and\nappreciating, the deep things of God written within the scroll. Such are\nthe righteous for whom the light (Truth) is sown. This worthiness is\ninquired for not only at the beginning, but all along the path of light.\nIf we are not found worthy by the various tests applied from time to time,\nwe cannot proceed in the path of light; and unless the unfaithful ones\narouse themselves to greater diligence and watchfulness, the light that\nalready is in them will become darkness. And how great, how intense must\nbe the darkness of one cast out of light! (Matt. 6:23.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u2010332.\n\nWhen the Lamb opened.\u2014\u201cThe opening of the seals has progressed during all\nthe Gospel Age. It has required all of the present Age and will require\nall of the next Age to complete the Plan. We may suppose that the Lord\nJesus was made aware of all its features after His ascension to the\npresence of Jehovah. The Master declared that as the Father revealed them\nunto Him, so would He reveal them unto us.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010253; Rev. 5:5\u20109.\n\nOne of the SEVEN seals.\u2014\u201cEach seal as it was loosed permitted the scroll\nas a whole to open a little wider, and a little wider, thus permitting\n\u2018the mystery of God\u2019 to be a little more clearly discerned.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010257.\n\nAnd I heard [as it were the noise of thunder].\u2014The roar of a Lion.\n\nOne of the four beasts.\u2014Justice, typified by the Lion.\u2014Rev. 4:7.\n\nSaying, AS IT WERE THE NOISE OF THUNDER, Come and see.\u2014Come and see\nInfinite Justice permitting one of the greatest acts of injustice ever\nperpetrated.\n\n6:2. And I saw.\u2014John beheld in vision the first strange and wonderful\nfeature of the Divine Plan for the permission of evil as it related to\nepochs of the Church beyond his own epoch\u2014that of Smyrna.\n\nAnd behold a white horse.\u2014The doctrines, teachings of the Lord and the\nApostles recognized as the one and only rule of faith and practice of\nGod\u2019s Church.\n\nAnd he that sat on him.\u2014The Bishop of Rome, the embryo Pope, the personal\nrepresentative of Satan.\n\nHad a bow.\u2014\u201cThey bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are\nnot valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to\nevil, and they know not Me, saith the Lord.\u201d\u2014Jer. 9:3.\n\nAnd a crown.\u2014Great honor and authority in the Church.\n\nWas given unto him.\u2014\u201cUnder the reign of Constantine (who murdered his own\nson in the same year in which he convened the Council of Nice) the\nopposition of the empire to Christianity gave way to favor, and the\nImperial Pontifex Maximus became the patron of the professed but really\napostate Church of Christ; and, taking her by the hand, he assisted her to\na place of popularity and splendor from which she was able afterward, as\nthe imperial power grew weak, to put her own representatives upon the\nreligious throne of the world as Chief Religious Ruler\u2014Pontifex\nMaximus.\u201d\u2014B. 290.\n\nAnd he went forth conquering, [and to conquer] AND HE CONQUERED.\u2014Thus we\nsee the apparent defeat of Infinite Justice in this first epoch.\nApparently, God forsook His Church, having jeopardized all its interests\nby placing the power in the hands of a self\u2010seeking ecclesiastical system.\nBut worse things are coming!\n\n6:3. And when He had opened the second seal.\u2014Revealing the second period\nof the history of the Antichrist.\n\nI heard the second beast.\u2014Infinite Power. See Rev. 4:7.\n\nSay, Come and see.\u2014Come and see Infinite Power consenting to a thing\napparently in victorious opposition to it.\n\n6:4. And I beheld and lo there went out another horse.\u2014A creed\u2010horse,\nquite different from the Scriptures which it misrepresented.\n\nThat was red.\u2014The color of sin\u2014imperfection. \u201cThough your sins be as\nscarlet.\u201d\u2014Isa. 1:18.\n\nAnd power was given to him that sat thereon.\u2014The same rider, the\nAntichrist.\n\nTo take peace from the earth.\u2014To embroil in controversy those who were\nunder religious restraint\u2014in other words, the entire professed church of\nGod.\n\nAnd that they should kill one another.\u2014Depose and destroy one another as\nteachers, by inveighing the Roman power against all offenders.\n\nAnd there was given unto him a great sword.\u2014As the Lord has a great and\npowerful sword, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph.\n6:17), and as it is represented as coming out of His mouth, so the Papacy\nhas a great and powerful sword, in opposition to the Sword of the Spirit,\nand it, too, comes out of Papacy\u2019s mouth. [The word here is different from\nRev. 1:16 and refers to the butcher knife\u2014Gen. 22:6, 10.] \u201cThe pope (each\npope in his turn) is the head of the false church, which is his body, even\nas Christ Jesus is the Head of the true Church, which is His Body. Since\nthe head is the representative of the body, and its _mouth_ speaks for the\nbody, we find, as we should expect, this feature of Antichrist prominently\nreferred to in the Scriptures. In Daniel 7:8, 11, 25, and Rev. 13:5, 6,\nthe mouth of Antichrist is brought specially to our notice as a leading\ncharacteristic.\u201d\u2014B. 304.\n\nThis period, beginning with the year 325 A. D. and extending to the year\n539, was the period of formation of creeds. \u201cCome near, put your feet upon\nthe necks of these kings.\u201d (Josh. 10:24.) Once they were very powerful,\nbut they are quite harmless now. The Lord (Joshua\u2010Savior) has humbled them\nall by His own Sword of the Spirit in the hands of Pastor Russell.\n\n\u201cNeither Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, nor any ecclesiastical writer\nbefore the fifth century, makes mention of an assembly of the Apostles for\nthe purpose of forming a creed. Had the Apostles composed it, it would\nhave been the same in all churches and ages. But it is quite otherwise.\u201d\n(McC.) So much for the well\u2010known \u201cApostle\u2019s Creed,\u201d which, it is alleged,\n\u201ccomprehends the leading articles of the faith in the triune God.\u201d\n\nBut this was not triune enough, so the Nicene Creed improved the matter,\nA. D. 325:\n\n\n \u201cWe believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things\n visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of\n God, begotten of the Father, Only\u2010begotten, that is of the\n substance of the Father; God of God; Light of Light; very God of\n very God; begotten, not made; of the same substance with the\n Father; by whom all things were made, both things in Heaven and\n things in earth; who for us men and our salvation became flesh,\n was made man, suffered, and rose again the third day. He ascended\n into Heaven; He cometh to judge the quick and dead. And in the\n Holy Ghost. But those that say there was a time when He was not;\n or that He was not before He was begotten; or that He was made\n from that which had no being; or who affirm the Son of God to be\n of any other substance or essence, or created, or variable, or\n mutable, such persons doth the Catholic and Apostolic Church\n anathematize.\u201d\n\n\nFifty\u2010six years later, at the second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople,\nA. D. 381, the Nicaeno\u2010Constantinopolitan Creed was put on the market:\n\n\n \u201cI believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and\n earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord\n Jesus Christ, the only\u2010begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father\n before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very\n God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;\n by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation\n came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the\n Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under\n Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried; and the third day He\n rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into Heaven,\n and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And He shall come\n again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose\n Kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost the\n Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the\n Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and\n glorified, who spake by the Prophets. And I believe in the one\n catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the\n remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead,\n and the life of the world to come.\u201d\n\n\nThis did very well until the fourth Ecumenical Council, A. D. 451, when\nthe Chalcedon Creed was worked up. But very little is said about this\ncreed nowadays; for \u201cthe two parties in the council were roused to the\nhighest pitch of passion, the proceedings, especially during the early\nsessions, were very tumultuous, until the lay commissioners and the\nsenators had to urge the bishops to keep order, saying that such vulgar\noutcries were disgraceful.\u201d However, we give it for what it is worth:\n\n\n \u201cWe confess and with one accord teach one and the same Son, our\n Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in the divinity, perfect in the\n humanity, truly God and truly man, consisting of a reasonable soul\n and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead,\n and consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things\n like unto us, sin only excepted; who was begotten of the Father\n before all ages, according to the Godhead; and in the last days\n the same was born, according to the manhood, of Mary the Virgin,\n Mother of God, for us and for our salvation; who is to be\n acknowledged one and the same Christ, the Son, the Lord, the Only\n Begotten in two natures, without mixture, change, division or\n separation; the difference of natures not being removed by their\n union, but rather the propriety of each nature being preserved and\n concurring in one person and in one _hypostasis_, so that He is\n not divided into two persons, but the only Son, the Word, our Lord\n Jesus Christ, and one and the same person.\u201d\n\n\nA merciful oblivion has hidden the name and the date of authorship of the\nnext creed, the Athanasian, the cream of all the creeds; but it was\nprobably manufactured by Satan for use about 539 A. D. By 570 A. D. it had\nbecome very famous. \u201cThe creed is received in the Greek, Roman and English\nchurches, but is left out of the service of the Protestant Episcopal\nChurch in America.\u201d The nature of this creed may be judged by the\nfollowing extract from an 1855 issue of the Church of England Quarterly:\n\n\n \u201cThe Athanasian Creed finds few real lovers as a portion of a\n public service. No one supposes that it was the work of\n Athanasius. [Athanasius originated the monastery\u2010convent system.\n He was the Bishop of Alexandria and friend of the Emperor\n Constantine who caused the banishment of Arius.] No one is now, at\n least among us, in any danger from the errors it denounces; for no\n one believes that all the members of the Greek Church are\n necessarily consigned to everlasting damnation; and thus, every\n time the creed is read, the officiating minister has solemnly to\n enunciate what neither he nor any of his hearers believes. It is\n true that by distinguishing between the creed itself and the\n damnatory clauses he may save himself, mentally, from declaring a\n falsehood; but surely this is reason enough for the removal of the\n creed from our Liturgy. We have had too much in our Church of\n mental reservations. So far as the doctrine of the Trinity is\n concerned, it is abundantly insisted on in the Apostles\u2019 and\n Nicene Creeds.\u201d\n\n\nIt seems almost incredible that any one seriously believed the following\namazing statements:\n\n\n \u201cWhoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he\n hold the Catholic faith, which faith, except every one do keep\n whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.\n And the Catholic faith is this: that we worship one God in\n Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the persons nor\n dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father,\n another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead\n of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all one; the\n glory equal, the majesty co\u2010eternal. Such as the Father is, such\n is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the\n Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father\n incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost\n incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the\n Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one\n eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three\n uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So\n likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy\n Ghost almighty. And yet there are not three almighties, but one\n almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Ghost\n is God. And yet there are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise\n the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord and the Holy Ghost Lord. And\n yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by\n the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by Himself to be\n God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say\n there be three Gods and three Lords. The Father is made of none,\n neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not\n made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father\n and the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but\n proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son,\n not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this\n Trinity none is afore or after other; none is greater or less than\n another. But the whole three persons are co\u2010eternal together, and\n co\u2010equal. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in\n Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.\n\n \u201cHe therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.\n Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also\n believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the\n right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus\n Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. God of the substance of\n the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance\n of His mother, born in the world. Perfect God and perfect man, or\n a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father\n as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching\n His manhood. Who, although He be God and man, yet He is not two,\n but one Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh,\n but by taking of the manhood into God. One altogether, not by\n confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the\n reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one\n Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose\n again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven; He\n sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty. From whence\n He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all\n men shall rise again in their bodies, and shall account for their\n own works. And they that have done good shall go into life\n everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.\n This is the Catholic faith which, except a man believe faithfully\n he cannot be saved. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to\n the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall\n be, world without end. Amen.\u201d\n\n\nThis put an end to the business of creed making, Satan\u2019s powers of\nconcocting gibberish to take the place of the Bible having been\ntemporarily quite exhausted. But a thousand years later the \u201cCreed of Pope\nPius IV\u201d was issued in the form of a bull in December, 1564. \u201cAll bishops,\necclesiastics, and teachers in the Romish church, as well as all converts\nfrom Protestantism, publicly profess assent to it.\u201d It follows:\n\n\n \u201cI, A. B., believe and profess with a firm faith all and every one\n of the things which are contained in the symbol of faith which is\n used in the Holy Roman Church; namely, I believe in one God the\n Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things\n visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only\u2010\n begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all worlds, God of\n God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made,\n consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made; who\n for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was\n incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;\n was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was\n buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,\n and ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father,\n and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead,\n of whose kingdom there will be no end; and in the Holy Ghost, the\n Lord and Life\u2010giver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,\n who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and\n glorified, who spake by the holy prophets; and one holy catholic\n and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for the remission of\n sins; and I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of\n the world to come. Amen. I most firmly admit and embrace\n apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other\n constitutions and observances of the same church. I also admit the\n sacred Scriptures according to the sense which the holy mother\n church has held and does hold, to whom it belongs to judge of the\n true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures; nor will I\n ever take or interpret them otherwise than according to the\n unanimous consent of the fathers.\n\n \u201cI profess, also, that there are truly and properly seven\n sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord,\n and for the salvation of mankind, though all are not necessary for\n every one\u2014namely, baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance,\n extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, and that they confer\n grace; and of these, baptism, confirmation, and order cannot be\n reiterated without sacrilege. I do also receive and admit the\n ceremonies of the Catholic Church, received and approved in the\n solemn administration of all the above\u2010said sacraments. I receive\n and embrace all and every one of the things which have been\n defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning sin\n and justification. I profess likewise that in the mass is offered\n to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living\n and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist\n there is truly, really and substantially the body and blood,\n together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and\n that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the\n bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into\n the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls\n Transubstantiation. I confess, also, that under either kind alone,\n whole and entire, Christ and a true sacrament is received. I\n constantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls\n detained therein are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.\n Likewise that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be\n honored and invocated, that they offer prayers to God for us, and\n that their relics are to be venerated.\n\n \u201cI most firmly assert that the images of Christ, and of the Mother\n of God, ever Virgin, and also of the other saints, are to be had\n and retained, and that due honor and veneration are to be given to\n them. I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by\n Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome\n to Christian people. I acknowledge the holy catholic and apostolic\n Roman Church, _the mother and mistress of all churches_; and I\n promise and swear true obedience to the Roman bishop, the\n successor of St. Peter, prince of the apostles and vicar of Jesus\n Christ. I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things\n delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and general\n councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent; and\n likewise I also condemn, reject, and anathematize all things\n contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever condemned, rejected,\n and anathematized by the Church. This true catholic faith, out of\n which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly\n hold, I, A. B., promise, vow, and swear most constantly to hold,\n and profess the same whole and entire, with God\u2019s assistance to\n the end of my life; and to procure, as far as lies in my power,\n that the same shall be held, taught, and preached by all who are\n under me, or are intrusted to my care, by virtue of my office. So\n help me God, and these holy Gospels of God. Amen.\u201d\n\n\nThe less Bible, the more Creed, and the thicker and blacker the darkness!\nBible students will not fail to notice the progressive darkness of these\ncreeds. Incarnation is first mentioned in the third creed, mariolatry in\nthe fourth, and trinity and purgatory in the fifth.\n\nIn the Millennial Age the creed\u2010formers will feel like adding a postscript\nto their work, reading about as follows:\n\n\u201cP. S.\u2014We have had our eyes opened and now see that Jesus was the Alpha,\nthe Beginning of the creation of God, and the Omega, the Last of the\nFather\u2019s direct creation (Rev. 22:13; 1:8); that as the Logos, or\nRepresentative of the Father, He was _a_ God (mighty one) but not _the_\nGod, Jehovah (John 1:1); that all things were made by Him (John 1:3); that\nJehovah _sent_ His Son to save mankind (1 John 4:10); that the Logos was\nmade flesh (John 1:14) and in the days of His flesh (Heb. 5:7) became poor\n(2 Cor. 8:9), lower than the angels (Heb. 2:9), a servant (Phil. 2:7), a\nman (Phil. 2:8); that while a man He did not have all wisdom (Luke 2:52)\nbut admitted the Father\u2019s greater power (John 14:28) and knowledge (Matt.\n24:36); that as the Father had previously said that He would give His own\npersonal glory to no one (Isa. 42:8), so Jesus admitted He and the Father\nwere two separate persons (John 8:17, 18); that He admitted He had not the\nglory of the Father (John 17:5) and expected the same unity between the\nChurch and the Father as existed between Himself and the Father (John\n17:21\u201023); that when He died He was really, truly, completely dead, as\ndead as though He had never previously existed (1 Cor. 15:3; Rev. 1:18);\nthat God raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:24; Gal. 1:1); highly exalted\nHim (Phil. 2:9) to Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4); making Him the express\nimage of Himself (Heb. 1:3); but that even since His resurrection our\nFather is still Jesus\u2019 Father and our God is still His God (John 20:17);\nthat a thousand years hence Jesus will still be subject to the Father (1\nCor. 15:28); that to us there is but one God (1 Cor. 8:6) and that every\ndoctrine that confesseth that Jesus Christ when He came in the flesh came\nas anything more or less than a fleshly being is the spirit of Antichrist\nwhich dictated every one of the creeds aforementioned (1 John 4:3).\u201d\n\n6:5. And when He had opened the third seal.\u2014Disclosing the third epoch in\nthe history of Antichrist.\n\nI heard the third beast.\u2014Infinite Love.\n\nSay, Come and see.\u2014Come and see the apparently complete triumph of the\npowers of darkness and the apparent inaction of Infinite Love in\npermitting it.\n\nAnd I beheld, and lo, a black horse.\u2014Complete disregard of the Scriptures\nby clergy and people alike, and in their place the ugly creeds and bulls\nof popes and councils.\n\nAnd he that sat on him.\u2014The same rider, the Antichrist.\n\nHad a pair of balances in his hand.\u2014\u201cBalance joined with symbols denoting\nthe sale of corn and fruits by weight, becomes the symbol of scarcity;\nbread by weight being a curse in Lev. 26:26 and in Ezek. 4:16, 17.\u201d (McC.)\nDuring this period the common people could have in their own tongue only a\nfew words or verses of the Scriptures; and for these they were obliged to\npay large sums to the clergy, who alone had the ability to translate from\nthe dead languages, or even to read at all. As the services were in Latin\nthe people were starved spiritually.\n\n6:6. And I heard AS IT WERE a voice.\u2014The voice of the Lord Jesus, the\nGuardian and Caretaker of the true Church.\u2014Matt. 28:20.\n\nIn the midst of the four beasts.\u2014\u201cIn the midst of the Throne and of the\nfour beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb.\u201d\u2014Rev. 5:6.\n\nSay, A measure.\u2014\u201cThe word _chenix_ denotes a measure containing one wine\nquart and a twelfth part of a quart.\u201d\u2014Diaglott.\n\nOf wheat.\u2014The true children of the Kingdom.\u2014C. 137.\n\nFor a penny.\u2014\u201cA _denarius_ was the day\u2010wages of a laborer in Palestine\n(Matt. 20:2, 9).\u201d (Diaglott.) These wages, a little more than a quart of\nwheat for a day\u2019s work, show how great was the effort, in those dark and\nterrible days, to find some \u201cgrains of wheat.\u201d\u2014Amos 8:11.\n\nAnd three measures.\u2014Three _chenices_, three quarts.\n\nOf barley.\u2014Spiritual adulterers and adulteresses, courting the friendship\nof the world. (Jas. 4:4.) Barley is the symbol of the adulteress as wheat\nis the symbol of the virgin.\u2014Num. 5:15; Hos. 3:1, 2.\n\nFor a penny.\u2014For a _denarius_. It was three times as easy to find the\nfaithless as the faithful.\n\nAnd see thou hurt not the oil.\u2014The supply of the oil, the Holy Spirit of\nfull submission to the will of God was low; the light of the true Church\nwas feeble indeed.\n\nAnd the wine.\u2014Wine is a symbol of doctrine, true or false, and its\naccompanying joys. In this case it refers to the true doctrines of the\nKingdom. But little knowledge of the coming Kingdom was prevalent then,\nand the joys of the Church were proportionately small. (See comments on\nRev. 2:12\u201017, synchronous with events of second and third seals.)\n\nLest it be supposed that the Roman Catholic church is now different from\nwhat it once was, and that at present it is holding to the Scriptures, we\nquote the following from _Strength of Will_ by E. Boyd Barrett, of the\nSociety of the Jesuits, approved by the Roman Catholic censor, Remy\nLafort, and approved by John, Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York,\nNovember 24th, 1915:\n\n\u201cCatholic ascetics teach us, in this matter, first of all to have a clear\nand definite view of the object we propose to ourselves\u2014let us suppose\nthat it is to overcome the passion of anger. Now the resolution, \u2018not to\ngive way to anger\u2019 would be far too broad and too great. Applying the\nprinciple, \u2018_divide et impera_,\u2019 we content ourselves with resolving \u2018not\nto give way to external manifestations of anger.\u2019 But here again, our\nresolution is too broad and too great. We again apply the principle,\n\u2018_divide et impera_,\u2019 and resolve \u2018not to give way to angry retorts.\u2019 This\nresolution is pointed, definite and intelligible\u2014it means that cross and\npeevish remarks must not occur. A time limit may now be added in order to\nmake the resolution still more well\u2010defined: \u2019Until the last day of this\nmonth I will not make an angry retort.\u2019 Possibly, it might be advisable to\nlimit this resolution still more, by conditions of place or circumstance,\nadding \u2018in such a place or to such a person, or during such a ceremony.\u2019 \u201d\nSimple! All you have to do is to keep dividing.\n\n6:7. And when He had opened the fourth seal.\u2014Disclosing the history of the\nPapacy in its fourth stage, the period synchronizing with the Thyatira and\nSardis epochs. See Rev. 2:18\u201029; 3:1\u20106.\n\nI heard the voice of the fourth beast.\u2014Infinite Wisdom.\n\nSay, Come and see.\u2014Come and see what would seem to be the most unwise\nthing the Lord could possibly permit to happen to His Church.\n\n6:8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse.\u2014The ghastly and horrible\nteachings that God\u2019s true people must be \u201cexterminated.\u201d \u201cThe ghastly\ngreen of terror and of death. The word is used of grass in Rev. 8:7; 9:4;\nMark 6:39.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd his name that sat on him was Death.\u2014Still the same rider, the Papacy;\nand an apt description of its chief claim to recognition during the pre\u2010\nReformation period.\n\n\u201cPope Innocent III. first sent missionaries to the districts in which the\ndoctrines had gained foothold, to preach Romanism, work miracles, etc.;\nbut, finding these efforts unavailing, he proclaimed a crusade against\nthem and offered to all who would engage in it the pardon of all sins and\nan immediate passport to Heaven without passing through purgatory. With\nfull faith in the pope\u2019s power to bestow the promised rewards, half a\nmillion men\u2014French, German and Italian\u2014rallied around the standard of the\ncross, for the defence of Catholicism and the extinction of heresy. Then\nfollowed a series of battles and sieges covering a space of twenty years.\nThe city of Beziers was stormed and taken in 1209, and the citizens,\nwithout regard for age or sex, perished by the sword to the number of\nsixty thousand, as reported by several historians. The blood of those who\nfled to churches, and were murdered there by the holy crusaders, drenched\nthe altars and flowed through the streets. It is estimated that one\nhundred thousand Albigenses fell in one day; and their bodies were heaped\ntogether and burned. The clergy thanked God for the work of destruction,\nand a hymn of praise to God for the glorious victory was composed and\nsung.\u201d\u2014B. 335.\n\nAnd Hell followed with him.\u2014All the people killed by the pope went to\nhell, and he himself went there also; but none of them went to the kind of\nhell to which the pope thought he was sending them. They went to the Bible\nhell, which is a place quite different from what is supposed. The average\nman believes in hell, but thinks few people go there and that nobody knows\nmuch about it. The Bible is the only authority on the subject, and no one\ncan know anything about it, aside from the Bible. When we consider\nChrist\u2019s statement that unless a man loves Him more than \u201cfather, and\nmother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his\nown life also, he cannot be My disciple\u201d (Luke 14:26), and reflect that\nprobably not one professed Christian in a hundred has reached either this\nstandard or the other one which He set in the same chapter, that\n\u201cWhosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be\nMy disciple\u201d (Luke 14:33), it should make us willing to consider carefully\nwhat is to become of the 9,999 out of every 10,000 of earth\u2019s population\nthat do not meet these conditions.\n\nWe all know that \u201cThe wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the\nnations that forget God\u201d (Psa. 9:17); but how many of us know that they\nwill be re\u2010turned there; that the passage, correctly translated, reads,\n\u201cThe wicked shall be returned into hell, all the nations that forget\nGod\u201d\u2014showing that there are nations which go into hell once, come out of\nhell, learn of God, forget Him and are returned there? We may all know\n(Jude 11) that Korah, or Core, went to hell; but how many of us know that\nhe was accompanied to this place by his house, with all his household\ngoods, and two other establishments similarly equipped? (_Num._ 16:32,\n33.) We may all know that the Sodomites went to hell (Gen. 19), but how\nmany know that they were accompanied by the city in which they lived and\nthat there are other cities there? (_Matt._ 11:23.) We may all suppose\nthat many heathen warriors of long ago went to hell, but how many of us\nknow that they took with them their weapons of war, and that their swords\nare there now, under their heads, with what is left of their bones? (Ezek.\n32:27.) We may understand that the wealthy go to hell, but how many know\nthat in the same place are sheep, gray hairs, worms, dust, trees and\nwater?\u2014Psa. 49:14; Gen. 44:31; Job 17:13\u201016; Ezek. 31:16.\n\nWe may all know that bad men go to hell, but how many of us know that the\nAncient Worthies, Jacob and Hezekiah, fully expected to go there, and that\nfaithful Job prayed to go there? (Gen. 37:35; Job 14:13.) We may all wish\nto keep out of hell, but how many of us know that David said there is not\na man that liveth that shall deliver his soul from its power, and that\nSolomon says, thou goest there, whosoever thou art? (Psa. 89:48; Eccl.\n9:10.) We may think that those who go to hell go there to stay forever,\nbut how many of us know that Samuel said, \u201cThe Lord killeth and maketh\nalive; He bringeth down to hell and bringeth up\u201d out of hell, and that\nDavid said, God has the same power to aid those in hell that He has to\nbless those in Heaven? (1 Sam. 2:6; Psa. 139:8.) We may think that those\nwho go into hell never come out, and that there is no record that any have\ncome out, yet there are at least two persons in history who have been in\nhell and come out of hell. One is Jonah, who prayed in hell and was\ndelivered from hell (Jonah 2:2), and the other is Christ, whose soul went\nto hell, but \u201cHis soul was not left in hell,\u201d for God raised Him up out of\nit. (Acts 2:31.) And when Christ came out of hell He brought with Him \u201cThe\nkeys of hell\u201d and now has the power and the right to set all its captives\nfree. (Rev. 1:18.) We may suppose that hell is to last forever, but the\nProphet speaks of its coming destruction, and John the Revelator says that\nit is to be made to \u201cdeliver up the dead\u201d which are in it, and it, itself,\nis to be destroyed. (Hosea 13:14; Rev. 20:13.) The last passage cited\naffords the explanation of the whole subject, for in the margin opposite\nRev. 20:13 the translators have explained that the word \u201chell\u201d means\n\u201cgrave.\u201d Reversely, in the margin opposite 1 Cor. 15:55, the translators\nhave explained that \u201cgrave\u201d means \u201chell.\u201d The terms are interchangeable\nand the meaning is the same. In every place foregoing in which the\ncitations appear in italic type, the translators have rendered Sheol or\nHades by \u201cgrave\u201d or \u201cpit\u201d instead of \u201chell.\u201d In the margins of the old\nfamily Bibles, printed before Pastor Russell was born, we are told in\nseven places, and in both ways, in both the Old Testament and the New,\nthat hell means the grave, and the grave means hell.\u2014Psa. 49:15; 55:15;\n86:13; Isa. 14:9; Jonah 2:2; 1 Cor. 15:55; Rev. 20:13.\n\nAnd power was given unto them.\u2014To his Holiness, the Pope, and all the\ncardinals, bishops, archbishops, priests, inquisitors, kings and rulers.\n\nOver the fourth part of the earth.\u2014Over Europe, but not over Asia, Africa\nor America.\n\nTo kill with sword, and [with hunger] FAMINE and [with] death.\u2014The\ndestruction of New Creatures by wresting of the Scriptures and their\nspiritual starvation are here in evidence; but there was also a literal\nfulfilment. \u201cHuman and Satanic ingenuity were taxed to their utmost to\ninvent new and horrible tortures, for both the political and religious\nopponents of Antichrist; the latter\u2014heretics\u2014being pursued with tenfold\nfury. Besides the common forms of persecution and death, such as racking,\nburning, drowning, stabbing, starving and shooting with arrows and guns,\nfiendish hearts meditated how the most delicate and sensitive parts of the\nbody, capable of the most excruciating pain, could be affected; molten\nlead was poured into the ears; tongues were cut out and lead poured into\nthe mouths; wheels were arranged with knife blades attached so that the\nvictim could be slowly chopped to pieces; claws and pincers were made red\nhot and used upon sensitive parts of the body; eyes were gouged out;\nfinger nails were pulled off with red hot irons; holes, by which the\nvictim was tied up, were bored through the heels; some were forced to jump\nfrom eminences onto long spikes fixed below, where, quivering with pain,\nthey slowly died. The mouths of some were filled with gunpowder, which,\nwhen fired, blew their heads to pieces; others were hammered to pieces on\nanvils; others, attached to bellows, had air pumped into them until they\nburst; others were choked to death with mangled pieces of their own\nbodies; others with urine, excrement, etc., etc.\u201d\u2014B. 346.\n\nAnd with the beasts of the earth.\u2014The evil governments. \u201cKings and princes\nwho trembled for the security of their crowns, if they to any extent\nincurred the pope\u2019s displeasure, were sworn to exterminate heresy, and\nthose barons who neglected to aid in the work of persecution forfeited\ntheir estates. Kings and princes, therefore, were prompt to comply with\nthe mandates of the Papacy, and the barons and their retainers were at\ntheir service, to aid in the work of destruction.\u201d\u2014B. 333.\n\n6:9. And when He had opened the fifth seal.\u2014Disclosing the Reformation in\nthe days of Luther. See Rev. 3:7\u201013.\n\nI saw under the altar.\u2014Altars were originally made of earth. (Ex. 20:24.)\nTo see under the altar is to see underground, in the tomb, the grave. At\nthe bottom of the brazen altar all the blood of the victim was\npoured.\u2014Lev. 4:7; 8:15; Heb. 8:5; 13:10; Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6.\n\nThe souls.\u2014The beings of those who had died. These souls were not in\nHeaven.\n\nOf [them] MEN that were slain.\u2014Spiritually beheaded (some of them\nliterally, also).\u2014Rev. 20:4.\n\nFor.\u2014_Dia_, \u201cthrough\u201d or \u201cby means of.\u201d\n\nThe Word of God.\u2014\u201cOf His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth.\u201d\n(James 1:18.) It is this Sword of the Spirit that cuts us off from the\nworld.\u2014Heb. 4:12.\n\nAnd for the testimony.\u2014\u201cAnd _through_ the testimony\u201d; through the Word of\nGod. The word _dia_ is here used again. It is the Word that does the\nbeheading.\n\nWhich they held.\u2014As witnesses in their hearts (Rom. 8:16) and to which\nthey adhered at any cost.\n\n6:10. And they cried with a loud voice.\u2014Not actually, but in the same way\nthat the voice of Abel\u2019s blood cried from the ground.\u2014Gen. 4:10.\n\nSaying, How long, O Lord.\u2014How long will it be from this particular time,\nthe Spring of 1518?\u2014Rev. 3:7.\n\nHoly and true.\u2014See Rev. 3:7; 1 John 5:20; Mark 1:24.\n\n[Dost] WILT Thou not judge.\u2014Deliver us from the tomb. The judges of old\nwere _deliverers_.\u2014Judges 3:9\u201011.\n\nAnd avenge our blood.\u2014Cast off from all favor a system of nominal\nChristianity which is not Christianity at all.\n\nOn them that dwell on the earth.\u2014On these that are \u201cOf the earth,\nearthy.\u201d\u2014Rev. 17:5; 3:10; 8:13; 13:8, 14. \u201cThe answer is given by the\nangel of the waters. See Rev. 16:4\u20107.\u201d (Cook.) Quite true. The answer is\nin Vol. III of SCRIPTURE STUDIES.\n\n6:11. And [white robes were] THERE WAS given unto [every one] EACH of them\na white robe.\u2014\u201cGod\u2019s grace cannot admit to heavenly perfection those who\nhave not robes of spotless righteousness. How gracious is the provision of\nour God in thus presenting us with the Robe which covers all the repented\u2010\nof blemishes of the past as well as the unintentional and unwitting\nimperfections of the present!\u201d\u2014Z. \u201911\u2010342; Rev. 3:4, 5; 19:8.\n\nAnd it was said unto them.\u2014Not actually, but by the teachings of the\nparallel dispensations, which show that as Christ was raised from the dead\nin A. D. 33, the sleeping saints would be raised 1845 years later, in the\nSpring of 1878. See Rev. 3:14, 20.\n\nThat they should rest yet for a little season.\u2014Greek _Chronos_, 360 years.\nSee Rev. 2:21. This is the item which Pastor Russell had in mind in the\nfollowing footnote: \u201cWhen, in a succeeding volume, we examine the\nwonderful visions of the Revelator, it will be clearly seen that the time\nhere pointed out by the word \u2018henceforth,\u2019 as marked by events,\nsynchronizes closely with 1878, as indicated by the prophecies herein\nnoted.\u201d (C. 241.) Luther nailed the proclamation on the church door at\nWittenberg Oct 31, 1517, which was already one month into the year 1518,\nJewish reckoning. But it took some time for the news to travel to all\nparts of Europe. Three hundred and sixty years from the Spring of 1518\nbrings us to the Spring of 1878, when we understand that God\u2019s promise\nmade to the sleeping saints was fulfilled. They were raised from the dead,\nand Babylon was cast off.\n\nUntil their fellowservants also.\u2014The other members of the Little Flock,\nall bond\u2010slaves of Jesus.\u2014Gal. 6:17, Diaglott, footnote.\n\nAnd their brethren.\u2014Fellow\u2010believers, the Great Company.\n\nThat should be killed BY THEM as they were.\u2014Similarly make covenants of\nconsecration to the Lord.\u2014Rev. 6:9.\n\nShould be fulfilled.\u2014Should be filled full, completed in number. \u201cThe\nGospel age is for the very purpose of calling those who shall participate\nin the marriage feast. If, therefore, it be true that we are in the end of\nthis Gospel age, it implies that a sufficient number of worthy guests have\nbeen found, or, to reverse the proposition, if a sufficient number of\nworthy guests have now been found, it proves that we are in the close of\nthis age. It was after the wedding _had been furnished_ with a proper\nnumber of guests, that \u2018the King came in\u2019 and began the inspection of the\nguests. This, we have elsewhere shown, marks the date April, 1878.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201998\u2010137.\n\n6:12. And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal.\u2014Disclosing the\nevents leading up to and associated with the Lord\u2019s _Parousia_, presence.\n\nAnd, [lo,] there was a great earthquake.\u2014_Literally_, the great Lisbon\nearthquake, Nov. 1, 1755, which extended over 4,000,000 square miles;\nshocked all Africa and Western Europe, including Scandinavia and\nGreenland; slew 90,000 persons in Lisbon and many thousands elsewhere;\ndestroyed every church and convent in the city; caused a tidal wave 60\nfeet high; split mountains from top to bottom; sunk an immense area to a\ndepth of 600 feet and threw sailors to the decks hundreds of miles at sea.\nIt is believed to be the most severe earthquake shock ever felt on the\nearth. _Symbolically_, the American Revolution, 21 years later (the\nunderlying cause of the French Revolution); the most successful and most\nextraordinary movement upward of the lower strata of human society that\nhad ever been seen in the world up to that time. God has so written\nRevelation that those who will not accept the symbolical significance of\nwhat is expressly declared to be a symbolical book (Rev. 1:1) may find\nliteral fulfillments, and thus lose the light they would otherwise get.\n\nAnd the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.\u2014_Literally_ in the dark day\nof May 19, 1780, which extended over 320,000 square miles. (D. 587.)\n_Symbolically_, the light of the papal heavens (the pope) became darkened\nwhen Napoleon fined the Pope ten million dollars, organized the Papal\nterritory into a republic and took the Pope a prisoner to France. (C. 41,\n55.) _Symbolically_, too, the light of the true heavens, the Gospel light,\nthe Truth, and thus Christ Jesus, has become hidden from view of many by\nthe denial of the clergy of our day that we were bought with the precious\nblood and by the teaching of the theory of Evolution.\u2014D. 590; Joel 2:10,\n31.\n\nAnd the WHOLE moon became as blood.\u2014_Literally_ on May 19, 1780.\n_Symbolically_, the creeds (the moon of the papal heavens) have become\nrepugnant, though still hypocritically professed. _Symbolically_, also the\nlight of the Mosaic Law (the moon of the true heavens) has been made to\nappear evil by the claims of the clergy that the typical sacrifices were\nbloody and barbaric.\u2014D. 590, 592.\n\n6:13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth.\u2014_Literally_, the\nmeteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833, covering 11,000,000 square miles. (D.\n588.) _Symbolically_, the bishops and the priestly stars of the papacy\nfell from their positions of power and influence over the minds and\nconsciences of the people. _Symbolically_, also, the Protestant pulpit\nstars make a great display in coming down from spiritual things to the\nChristian\u2010citizenship\u2010politics level.\u2014D. 595.\n\nEven as a fig tree.\u2014\u201cThe fig tree in this prophecy may be understood to\nsignify the Jewish nation. (Matt. 24:32.) If so, it is being signally\nfulfilled; for not only are thousands of Israelites returning to\nPalestine, but the Zionist movement, started recently, has assumed such\nproportions as to justify a Convention of representatives from all parts\nof the world to meet in Switzerland to put in practical shape the proposal\nfor the reorganization of a Jewish state in Palestine. These buds will\nthrive, but will bear no perfect fruit before October, 1914\u2014the full end\nof \u2018Gentile Times.\u2019 \u201d\u2014D. 604.\n\n[Casteth] CASTING her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty\nwind.\u2014The immature fruits of the Zionist movement were dashed to the\nground by the great war. Thousands of the Jews already in Palestine were\ndeported to Egypt at the breaking out of the war. At this writing the\nBritish are besieging Jerusalem and the Turks are driving the Jews into\nthe desert to perish rather than permit them to remain and come under\nBritish control. Out of this turmoil Zionism will soon start afresh and\nthe Jews become the actual rulers of their native land.\n\n6:14. And the heaven departed as a scroll.\u2014\u201cThe \u2018sure word of prophecy\u2019\nindicates very clearly that the various Protestant sects will form a\nco\u00f6perative union or federacy, and that Catholicism and Protestantism will\naffiliate, neither losing its identity. These are the two ends of the\necclesiastical heavens which, as their confusion increases, shall roll\ntogether _as a scroll_ (Isaiah 34:4) for their self\u2010protection\u2014as distinct\nand separate rolls, yet in close proximity to each other.\u201d\u2014D. 258; Psa.\n102:26.\n\nWhen it is rolled together.\u2014\u201cIt will be impossible to re\u2010establish the\npresent order, (1) because it has evidently outlived its usefulness, and\nis inequitable under present conditions; (2) because of the general\ndiffusion of secular knowledge; (3) because the discovery that priestcraft\nhas long blinded and fettered the masses with error and fear will lead to\na general disrespect for all religious claims and teachings as of a piece\nwith the discovered frauds; (4) because religious people in general, not\ndiscerning that God\u2019s time has come for a change of dispensation, will\nignore reason, logic, justice and Scripture in defending the present order\nof things. It will be of little consequence then that the ecclesiastical\nheavens (the religious powers, Papal and Protestant) will have rolled\ntogether as a scroll. (See Isaiah 34:4.) The combined religious power of\nChristendom will be utterly futile against the rising tide of anarchy when\nthe dread crisis is reached. Before that great army \u2018all the host of\nheaven [the church nominal] shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be\nrolled together as a scroll.\u2019 \u201d\u2014D. 551.\n\nAnd every mountain.\u2014Kingdom.\n\nAnd [island] HILL.\u2014\u201cLittle hills\u201d refer to governments less autocratic\nthan monarchies; but \u201chills\u201d sometimes refer to the sharpest, highest,\nmost jagged mountain peaks, and then mean the most autocratic of all\ngovernments. This is evidently what is meant here.\n\nWere moved out of [their] THE places.\u2014Did not occupy the same position as\nbefore with reference to the people. The places were never \u201ctheirs,\u201d but\nbelong \u201cto Him whose right it is.\u201d (Z. \u201905\u2010253.) In recent years Turkey\nand Persia have been granted parliaments; China, Russia and Portugal have\nbecome republics; and other countries have become vast socialist\ncommunities.\u2014Rev. 16:20.\n\n6:15. And the kings of the earth.\u2014The aristocracy.\n\nAnd the great men.\u2014The clergy. (Rev. 18:23, comment.) Rendered \u201clords\u201d in\nMark 6:21. See Job 12:2.\n\n[And the rich men,] and the chief captains, AND THE RICH MEN.\u2014The high\nmilitary officers. Rendered \u201chigh captains\u201d in Mark 6:21. The magnates and\nfinanciers.\n\nAnd the mighty men.\u2014The labor organizers.\n\nAnd every bondman.\u2014Member of a labor organization.\n\nAnd every free man.\u2014Other worker (if not a bond\u2010slave of Christ).\n\nHid themselves in the dens.\u2014See Isa. 2:19\u201021.\n\nAnd in the rocks of the mountains.\u2014\u201cAs the trouble increases, men will\nseek, but in vain, for protection in the great rocks and fortresses of\nsociety (Free Masonry, Odd Fellowship, and Trades Unions, Guilds, Trusts,\nand all societies secular and ecclesiastical), and in the mountains\n(governments) of earth.\u201d\u2014B. 139; Jer. 3:23; Hos. 10:8.\n\n6:16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us.\u2014\u201cThe Greek word\n_epi_, here used, is generally translated _on_, but has also the\nsignificance of _over_ (Rev. 5:10) and _about_, and is so translated many\ntimes in the common version. The thought is that of protection, not of\ndestruction. The common view of this passage, that it teaches that wicked\nmen will get faith enough to pray for literal mountains to fall, is\nabsurd. The real fulfilment is already beginning: the great, the rich, and\nno less the poor, are seeking to the mountains and rocks and caves for\nshelter from the darkening storm of trouble which all see is\ngathering.\u201d\u2014B. 139; Hos. 10:8.\n\nAnd hide us from the face.\u2014Of Justice, now about to demand an accounting\nfor our stewardship.\n\nOf Him that sitteth on the Throne.\u2014Jehovah.\n\nAnd from the wrath of the Lamb.\u2014Whose followers we have falsely professed\nto be.\n\n6:17. For the great day of [His] THEIR wrath is come.\u2014The wrath of the\nFather, the Son, and the glorified saints.\u2014Rev. 2:26, 27; Isa. 13:6\u201019;\nZeph. 1:14\u201018.\n\nAnd who shall be able to stand.\u2014\u201cThe answer through the Prophet is, \u2019He\nthat hath clean hands [an honest life] and a pure heart [a conscience void\nof offence toward God and man]: he shall ascend into the mountain\n[Kingdom] of the Lord and stand in the holy place.\u2019\u201d (Psa. 24:3, 4; D.\n582.) \u201cOh, what sorrow it gives us at times to behold some not standing\nwell the testing of this hour, some who are developing tendencies of\nweakness, disloyalty to the cause, ambition for name and fame or position,\ndesire to be greatest, tendencies to lord it over God\u2019s heritage, and who,\nunless recovered, will be surely cut off from membership in the Body, even\nthough, as the Apostle declares, they may be saved so as by fire, as\nmembers of the \u2018great company.\u2019\u20141 Cor. 3:15.\u201d (Z. \u201906\u2010309; Psa. 76:7.) The\nonly ones who will stand are the twelve tribes named in the next chapter.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 7\u2014Seventh Seal And Great Company\n\n\n7:1. And after [these things] THIS.\u2014After the events disclosed by the\nopening of the sixth seal had already been amply fulfilled, but not\nsignifying that further, more elaborate and final fulfilments on an\nimmense scale will not take place later.\n\nI saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth.\u2014The Little\nFlock, commissioned to carry the message of Present Truth to the remotest\noutposts of civilization. \u201cThey shall gather together His Elect from the\nfour winds.\u201d\u2014Matt. 24:31.\n\nHolding the four winds of the earth.\u2014\u201cThe winds of the earth referred to\nhere are, of course, symbolic. The thought is that the winds from the four\nquarters\u2014North, East, South and West\u2014are being held back, and that when\nthe restraint is withdrawn they will rush together, and the result will be\na whirlwind. Certain Scriptures tell of a whirlwind that will be raised up\nfrom the coasts of the earth. See Jer. 23:19; 25:32, 33; 30:23, 24. We do\nnot understand that this will be a physical whirlwind, but this symbolic\nexpression is used to convey the thought of a severe strife of the powers\nof the air. These \u2018powers of the air,\u2019 or \u2018winds,\u2019 are not powers of\nnatural air, but are the powers referred to by St. Paul when he speaks of\nSatan as \u2018the Prince of the power of the air,\u2019 (Eph. 2:2.) Those spirits\nwho have been under the control of Satan\u2014the fallen angels\u2014were to be\nrestrained until the Judgment of the Great Day. (Jude 6.) The letting\nloose of these winds, or air powers, would seem to show that God will let\ngo His hand of restraint; that He will have to do with the permission of\nthe terrible trouble that will come. This outside influence will exercise\na baneful effect upon men, when finally granted the liberty. These fallen\nspirits have been under restraint for these many centuries, but they have\nexercised their influence to whatever extent they have had permission. If\nthey had had unlimited power they would have wrecked the world long ago;\nbut they have been restrained. Apparently God will soon cease to restrain\nthe fallen angels, and they will then proceed to vent their fury upon\nhumanity, so that the whole earth will be full of violence, the same as in\nthe days of Noah. The power manifested by the demons when loosed, will, we\nbelieve, be with a view to the injury of mankind. _We do not know but that\nmany of our readers will have a share in that injury._ We have every\nreason to suppose that, if these fallen angels shall get loose, they will\nvent their first anger upon the Lord\u2019s people.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010166.\n\nThat the wind should not blow.\u2014\u201cAs soon as the power that is now\ncontrolling them shall be removed, we shall have a reign of evil all over\nthe earth. The evil spirits will do all the evil that is in their power,\nand this will constitute the trial of all the fallen angels\u2014the lifting of\nthe restraints to see whether they will go contrary to the Divine will.\nAll who thus manifest their alliance with evil in any way will become\nsubjects of the Second Death; while others who show their loyalty to God\nwill mark themselves as worthy, presumably, of everlasting life. _It may\nbe something in connection with the saints that will constitute the test\nof these angels. This will be the key, the secret connected with the awful\nTime of Trouble which the Bible tells us will mark the conclusion of this\nAge and which will constitute the forerunner or beginning of the New\nDispensation._\u201d (Z. \u201911\u2010359.) _THE TEST IS ON._\n\nOn the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.\u2014\u201cSymbolically, the earth\nrepresents organized society; the sea represents the disorganized masses\n(Dan. 7:2; Lu. 21:25; Rev. 10:2, 8), and the trees represent the Household\nof Faith. The letting loose suddenly of the fallen angels will account\nwell for the suddenness of the coming trouble, which everywhere in the\nScriptures is one of its particular features\u2014\u2018in one hour\u2019; \u2018suddenly as\ntravail upon a woman\u2019; \u2018as it was in the days of Noah,\u2019 and \u2018as it was in\nthe days of Lot\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201911\u2010157.\n\n\u201cThere is only one way, so far as we can see, in which these fallen angels\ncan have a trial, their trial consisting in having a fuller opportunity to\nsin, if they so desire, or an opportunity to show, if they wish, that they\nare sick of sin and desire to return to harmony with God. We cannot think\nthat God will allow this trial of the angels during the Millennial Reign,\nfor then, nothing shall hurt; nothing shall destroy; Satan will be bound\nand all evil influences will be restrained. No; it cannot be then. And in\norder to be tried at all, these fallen angels must have certain liberties\ngranted, to prove them. Otherwise, where would be their trial?\nConsequently, reasoning along this basis (2 Peter 2:4), we reach the\nconclusion that the trial of these fallen angels is in the near\nfuture\u2014perhaps to some extent already begun. In what way?\u201d (Z. \u201911\u2010358.)\nHe that hath ears to hear, let him hear!\u20141 Cor. 6:2.\n\n7:2. And I saw another angel.\u2014The Messenger of the Covenant; our Lord\nJesus at His Second Advent.\u2014Mal. 3:1.\n\nAscending from the east.\u2014\u201cThis speaks symbolically of the Sun of\nRighteousness and its full light of Divine truth and blessing scattering\nthe shadows of sin, ignorance, superstition and death, and healing and\nrestoring the willing and obedient of humanity.\u201d\u2014D. 653; Luke 1:78; Mal.\n4:2.\n\nHaving the seal of the living God.\u2014The seventh seal.\n\nAnd He cried with a loud voice.\u2014Pastor Russell was the voice used.\nBeautiful voice of the Lord: strong, humble, wise, loving, gentle, just,\nmerciful, faithful, self\u2010sacrificing; one of the noblest, grandest\ncharacters of all history \u201cI lift my pen, not in defense of any doctrine,\ncreed or dogma, but in defense of a man, in defense of fairness, justice\nand righteousness. Pastor C. T. Russell, of Brooklyn, N. Y., stands out\nprominently as a target for the pulpits and religious press of the country\ntoday. I believe there is no one more bitterly persecuted, harshly\ncondemned, woefully misrepresented and misunderstood than this fearless,\nconscientious man of God. No infidel writer, such as Hume, Voltaire or\nIngersoll, ever suffered such ruthless attacks as have been made upon Mr.\nRussell. Whether this persecution and misrepresentation is due to\nprejudice or ignorance of this man\u2019s real character and writing, is not\nfor me to say, but I believe both are elements that play a part in the\nwidespread criticism uttered both from the pulpit and the press.\nNaturally, men will resent any attack made upon the creed of their\npersuasion, for they hold to their religious creed and affiliations with\nmore tenacity than they realize, until some strong mind, backed by\nScripture proof, begins to uproot their doctrine by showing their\ninconsistencies and errors. This is what Mr. Russell proceeds to do. As a\nlogician and theologian he is doubtless without a peer today. In his\nresearch for Biblical Truth and harmony he is without a parallel in this\nAge. Without a blemish in his character, with the loftiest ideals of God,\nand the possibilities of man, he towers like a giant, unmatched. His\ndefects fade into insignificance. He has been too busy spreading Divine\nTruth, as he honestly sees it, to waste time in frivolous speculation in\nmatters not in some way connected with man\u2019s future state, as outlined in\n\u2018The Plan of the Ages.\u2019 Unselfish, liberal and courteous to Christians of\nall denominations, but fearlessly condemning, in unmeasured terms, the\nerrors and inconsistencies in their creeds, as he sees them, he ranks with\nimmortal benefactors, and is stamping his opinion on the world as no other\nman has done since the days of the Reformation. Efforts to throttle the\npress to prevent the publication of his sermons have repeatedly been made.\nWhy this opposition? Why would any one oppose investigation or revelation\nand searching the Scriptures? Why? What right has any one to prevent free\nthought, free speech, or the freedom of the press? What manner of men are\nwe? Let men, preachers or what not, beware of blocking the way of such a\nman. Jesus said, \u2018And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that\nbelieve in Me, it is better that a millstone were hanged about his neck,\nand he were cast into the sea.\u2019 Mark 9:42. Better be like Gamaliel in the\ndays of the Apostles, when St. Peter and others were on trial. Gamaliel\nrose up and said, \u2018Refrain from these men, and let them alone, for if this\nwork be of men it will come to naught; but if it be of God, ye cannot\noverthrow it, for ye fight against God.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Prof. S. A. Ellis.\n\nTo the four angels.\u2014The church in the flesh, the Harvest workers.\u2014Matt.\n24:31.\n\nTo whom it was given.\u2014By completing the Harvest work and thus releasing\nthe restraints on the evil spirits.\n\nTo hurt the earth.\u2014Throw order\u2010loving peoples into desperation.\n\nAnd the sea.\u2014So enrage the masses, not under religious restraint, as to\nmake it impossible to control them.\n\n7:3. Saying, Hurt not the earth.\u2014Do not complete the Harvest work too\nsoon, and thus allow the demons to invade the minds of men until the\nappointed time. (Many writers claim that this has already happened to the\nex\u2010Czar of Russia, to Kaiser Wilhelm and to the chief of modern\n\u201cevangelists.\u201d)\n\nNeither the sea.\u2014I will see to it that the work of Harvest shall hold in\ncheck those not under religious restraint until the work of Harvest is\nfinished and the demons are released, when, maddened by the obsession of\nthe evil spirits, there are no lengths to which the godless will not\npresume to go. All Bible Students, followers of Pastor Russell, know how\nurgently he has warned for forty years that this deluge of evil spirits is\nsure to come.\n\nNor the trees.\u2014See Rev. 8:7. Have you enjoyed this work thus far? Are you\nconvinced it is of the Lord\u2014prepared under His guidance? Have you\ncarefully and prayerfully read the comments on Rev. 7:1? Then brace\nyourself for the truth that it is evidently God\u2019s purpose soon to allow\nthe minds of many of His little ones to become an open battle ground, upon\nwhich the fallen angels shall be judged, and the manner in which we meet\nthe tests will prove our worthiness of crowns at the same time that it\nproves these disobedient spirits unworthy of life on any plane. This is\nsomething with which some but not many are yet familiar. Truly, we know\nthe Apostle in writing of this evil day says, \u201cWe wrestle not against\nflesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the\nrulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked ones in\nheavenly places\u201d (Eph. 6:12). Truly, we know the Lord Jesus, at the First\nAdvent began His ministry with forty days of conflict with the Adversary,\nwho all that time sought to sway His mind (Matt. 4:1\u201011). Truly, we have\nreason to believe He must have had other terrible battles when He spent\nall night in prayer, and especially when He was so depressed in the garden\nof Gethsemane. But without actual experience it is quite impossible to\nconceive of the intensity of such struggles as Eph. 6:12 suggests. The\nbase of the brain is seized as in a vise. Interpretations of Scripture,\ningenious, but misleading beyond description, are projected into the mind\nas water might be projected through a hose. Visions may be tried,\nwonderful illuminations of the mind as by a soft but glorious greenish or\nyellowish haze. Seductive suggestions may be made, based on circumstances\nof the environment. Offers of inspiration may be made. The privilege of\nsleep may be taken away for days at a stretch. All this is with the object\nof forcing the unfortunate into at least temporary insanity so as to\ndestroy his influence and, if possible, his faith in God. Failing in all\nother attempts, the mind may be flooded with thoughts that are vile beyond\ndescription. _THEN REMEMBER THE VOW._\n\nThe fact that Jehovah intends some unique experiences for the antitypical\nIsaac may be judged from the fact that between Isaac\u2019s conception (Gen.\n17:19 and 18:10) and his birth (Gen. 21:1) occurred the destruction of\nSodom (Gen. 18:16 to end of 19th Chap.) and _Abraham\u2019s denial of Sarah_\n(Gen. 20). But reading the latter account, the child of God is comforted\nwith God\u2019s care of His little ones (Gen. 20:3) with the assurance that\nnone of Satan\u2019s plans can mature (Gen. 20:18) without the Lord\u2019s\npermission. Isaac was a type of the complete Christ; and if now The Christ\nis complete, as we believe, and ready to be born into the Kingdom, we\nshould not be surprised at anything that might look like our repudiation\nat the Father\u2019s hands. If He pours the cup, it will only be because He\nknows that we can drink it, and because He wishes to prove to angels and\nto men that we are worthy of the honors He is to give us.\u2014Lu. 22:42, 43; 1\nTim. 1:16.\n\nTill we.\u2014You \u201cfour angels,\u201d Harvest workers in the flesh, and Myself, the\nLord of the Harvest.\n\nHave sealed the servants of our God.\u2014See Rev. 19:20; 14:1. Satan is a\ndiligent student of time prophecy (Luke 12:39); but not having the Holy\nSpirit he is unable to reach accurate conclusions. Seeing a definite Plan,\nand a definite time for every important feature of that Plan, his aim has\never been to thwart the purposes of the Almighty. This attempt to destroy\nthe Seed began with the death of Abel and still continues. No doubt Satan\n_believed_ the Millennial Kingdom was due to be set up in 1915; and no\ndoubt, also, he knew that seven years prior to the time of the setting up\nof that kingdom the restraints upon the evil spirits would be lifted. Be\nthat as it may, there is evidence that the establishment of the Kingdom in\nPalestine will probably be in 1925, ten years later than we once\ncalculated. The 70 jubilees, reckoned as 50 years each, expire October,\n1925. (B. 186.) Gen. 15:1\u201016:3, read connectedly, indicates that Abraham\u2019s\nvision as to when he would receive the Kingdom was not granted until ten\nyears after the Covenant was made, or 2035 B. C. The ages of the animals\noffered aggregated eleven years, which, applied prophetically, on the\nscale of a year for a day, equal 3960 years, the length of time from the\ndate of the visions to A. D. 1925 (Z. \u201907\u201079). It seems conclusive that\nthe hour of Nominal Zion\u2019s travail is fixed for the Passover of 1918. (See\nRev. 3:14.) That will be 7 years prior to 1925. At that time there is\nevery reason to believe the fallen angels will invade the minds of many of\nthe Nominal Church people, driving them to exceedingly unwise conduct and\nleading to their destruction at the hands of the enraged masses, who will\nlater be dragged to the same fate. The great war now raging is most\ncertainly the work of evil spirits, and the Kaiser is not the only clever\nruler who has been deceived by evil spirits, as history will sometime\nshow.\u2014Lu. 12:56.\n\nIf our reasoning is correct, we inquire whether there was any indication\nof a move on Satan\u2019s part 7 years prior to 1915, showing that he expected\nthe restraints to be removed from the evil spirits at that time; and we\nanswer that there was something very definite indicated at that time. In\nthe Vow, advised by Pastor Russell in that year, and in the experiences of\nmany, for and against it, it is plain that the Enemy _then_ attempted to\ncome in like a flood, but was held back\u2014restrained until the sealing work\nis done. (Matt. 10:25; Luke 22:42\u201044; Heb. 12:4; Isa. 63:3.) After the\ndemons have been turned loose on the _swine_ class, we shall see what\nhappens. (Matt. 7:6; 8:31\u201034.) Those now fearful that they might learn\nsomething will be terror\u2010stricken then for a different reason.\n\nIn their foreheads.\u2014\u201cThe storm is held in check until the faithful\nservants of God are \u2018sealed in their foreheads\u2019 (Exod. 13:9; 28:36, 38.\nDeut. 6:8; Ezek. 9:4\u20106; Rev. 14:1), i. e., until such are given an\nintellectual appreciation which will not only comfort them, and shield\nthem, but also be a mark, seal or evidence of their sonship, as indicated\nby our Lord when He promised that the Holy Spirit should show to the\nfaithful \u2018things to come.\u2019 (John 16:13.)\u201d (B. 169.) When the demon test\ncomes, those who have the mark of sonship (Ezek. 9:2\u20104) will know it and\nwill stand the test, while all others will surely fail. A letter from one\nof the Bethel workers, written shortly after Pastor Russell\u2019s death, says:\n\u201cAbout three months ago I asked several questions at the table, the last\none being as follows, \u2018Since I now see that the Jewish Time of Trouble did\nnot end until the year 73 A. D., as I fully proved to myself by consulting\nthe historians, what then are we to expect in the parallel year 1918?\u2019\nBrother Russell put the question to three prominent brethren, all of whom\nreplied that they did not know, but were willing to wait and see. When he\ncalled upon me I said, \u2018Since the year 73 A. D. saw the complete overthrow\nof nominal Natural Israel in Palestine, so in the parallel year 1918, I\ninfer we should look for the complete overthrow of nominal Spiritual\nIsrael; i. e., the fall of Babylon. (Rev. 18.)\u2019 Brother Russell replied:\n\u2018Exactly. That is exactly the inference to draw.\u2019 \u201d The conclusion of the\nChurch\u2019s career comes first. (Rev. 3:14.)\n\n\u201cIf you see the \u2018door\u2019 of opportunity for sacrifice and service open\nbefore you, enter in. But enter quickly; for the night of darkness and of\nintense opposition to the truth will ere long be upon us and will hinder\nyou from engaging in the service. \u2018The morning cometh, and also the\nnight.\u2019 \u2018The night cometh in which no man can work.\u2019 When that is true,\nyou may know that \u2018the door is shut.\u2019 that all the wise virgins have\nentered in, that all have been proved, and that all vacancies have been\nacceptably filled. All the special \u2018servants of God\u2019 having by that time\nbeen \u2018sealed in their foreheads\u2019 (given an intellectual appreciation of\nGod\u2019s Plan), the four winds will be loosed and will produce the great\n\u2018whirlwind\u2019 of trouble in the midst of which the remnant of the Elijah\nclass will be \u2018changed,\u2019 and exalted to Kingdom glory.\u201d\u2014C. 225.\n\n7:4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed.\u2014\u201cWe have every\nreason to believe that the definite, fixed number of the Elect is that\nseveral times stated in Revelation, namely, 144,000 \u2018redeemed from amongst\nmen.\u2019 \u201d (F. 179; Rev. 14:1.) This is the equivalent of one saint fully\ndeveloped for each five days of the Age.\n\nAnd there were sealed 144,000.\u2014On this point one of Pastor Russell\u2019s\ncoworkers has well said: \u201cThat this is not a symbolical, but an exact\nnumber, seems certain from the fact that, in the same chapter reference is\nmade to another company, also spirit\u2010begotten. In the 9th verse we read:\n\u2018I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number.\u2019 It is not\nprobable that this multitude is so great that no one could actually count\nthem, but rather that none can state their number, God having left it\nindefinite.\u201d\n\nOf all the tribes of the children of Israel.\u2014\u201cAs a name, Israel signified\n\u2018The people blessed of the Lord,\u2019 \u2018The people of God,\u2019 \u2018The Lord\u2019s\npeople.\u2019\u20142 Chron. 7:14.\u201d (D. 654; Gal. 6:16; Rom. 9:6\u20108.) Each of the\nsaints is reckoned as belonging to one of the twelve tribes of \u201cIsraelites\nindeed,\u201d which tribes bear the names of the twelve patriarchs of natural\nIsrael. In every family each child is beloved for some characteristic\npeculiarly its own; and in the meaning of the names of the children of\nIsrael we may recognize certain of the qualities which make each overcomer\nprecious in the Father\u2019s sight.\n\n7:5. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.\u2014Juda signifies\n_Celebrated_, lauded, praised. Nothing is more praiseworthy than justice,\nnoble\u2010mindedness, the doing to everybody as one would wish to be done by.\nOur Lord was the Just One of the tribe of Juda. All who knew Pastor\nRussell intimately, recognized that justice was the foundation principle\nof his character. The mention of the Lord\u2019s tribe first shows that there\nis a Divine order in the arrangement of the names, inasmuch as that order\nis different from the order of the birth of Jacob\u2019s sons. Doubtless the\nbrightest crowns will be worn by those that are wholly without self\u2010love,\neither in heart or in life.\u2014Gen. 38:12\u201026; 43:3\u201010; 44:14, 34; 46:28.\n\nOf the tribe of Reuben [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Reuben\u2019s name\nsignifying \u201c_See ye, a son, provided in my affliction_\u201d or _The Pity of\nGod_, seems to refer to the five\u2010talented brethren who make their calling\nand election sure. To be possessed of ability and means to get the fullest\nenjoyment out of life, and to sacrifice it all gladly, requires a standard\nof character so high that the Lord expressly states that not many attain\nit. (1 Cor. 1:26; Gen. 37:21, 22, 29, 30; 42:22, 37.) A taint of love of\nthe world (spiritual uncleanness) is all that prevents from attaining the\nvery highest place.\u2014Gen. 35:22; 49:3, 4; 2 Cor. 7:1.\n\nOf the tribe of Gad [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Gad\u2019s name, signifying\n_A troop of children cometh_, seems to give the third highest honor to\nthose faithful men and women who have been blessed of God in bringing many\nof their own descendants into the Divine family. Instances are on record\nwhere as many as twelve children in one family have all come into the\nlight of Present Truth and consecrated, as a result of the life and\nteachings of a noble father and mother. There is a family interest on the\npart of the Heavenly Father in every family that rightly seeks His face.\nNot a crown is available for others, so long as even one child of one of\nthe consecrated is ready to run for that crown. \u201cThe promise is unto you\n[first], and to your children [next], and [after that] to all that are\nafar off, even as many as the Lord your God shall call.\u201d (Acts 2:39; 1\nCor. 7:14.) \u201cOf the childhood and life of the patriarch Gad nothing is\npreserved. At the time of the descent into Egypt, seven sons are ascribed\nto him, remarkable from the fact that a majority of their names have\nplural terminations, as if those of families rather than persons.\u201d\n(McC.)\u2014Gen. 46:16; Num. 26:15\u201018.\n\n7:6. Of the tribe of Aser [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Aser\u2019s name\nsignifies _Happy_. \u201cAnd Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call\nme blessed: and she called his name Asher.\u201d (Gen. 30:13.) Apparently the\nfourth highest place of honor goes to the happy Christians. Wherever else\nthe long\u2010faced saints go they do not get into the Asher tribe. \u201cRejoice in\nthe Lord alway: and again I say rejoice. _Finally_, my brethren, rejoice\nin the Lord.\u201d\u2014Phil. 4:4; 3:1; 2 Chron. 20:22.\n\nOf the tribe of Nephtalim [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Naphtali\u2019s name\nsignifies _Great wrestlings_, and suggests that the fifth highest place\nwill go to those who have especially sought the face of the Father in\nprayer. By his birth Naphtali was allied to Dan, the class that goes into\nthe Second Death. (Gen. 35:25; 49:17.) The suggestion is not strained,\nthen, that here is a class that has overcome largely because they have so\nmuch appreciated, and have used to such good purpose, the privilege of\nseeking the Father\u2019s face in prayer.\u2014Luke 11:5\u201013; James 1:5; 3:17.\n\nOf the tribe of Manasses [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Manasseh\u2019s name\nsignifies _Forgetting_, \u201cFor God hath made me forget all my toil and all\nmy father\u2019s House.\u201d (Gen. 41:51.) The sixth honor apparently refers to a\nclass having naturally very strong human attachments, for the dear ones of\ntheir earthly families, and yet love the Lord still more. Great is the\nlove, great the faithfulness of those that hear and heed the Divine\nproposal: \u201cHearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;\nforget also thine own people, and thy father\u2019s House.\u201d\u2014Psa. 45:10.\n\n7:7. Of the tribe of Simeon [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Simeon\nsignifies _Hearing_. \u201cBecause the Lord hath heard that I was hated, He\nhath therefore given me this son also.\u201d (Gen. 29:33.) This suggests that\nthe seventh place of honor is reserved for those who have been hated in\ntheir home circles because of faithfulness to the Word of the Lord. The\nLord saw that the beauties of their characters would only shine forth to\nthe best advantage if they were made ready in just such environment. How\nsweet, how beautiful, is the patient heart developed under such\nconditions!\u2014Rom. 5:3; Col. 1:11, 12; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12; 5:10; Rom. 8:17; 2\nTim. 2:12; James 1:12.\n\nOf the tribe of Levi [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Levi\u2019s name signifies\n_A joining_. \u201cThis time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have\nborne him three sons.\u201d The next honor is apparently reserved for those who\nhave literally sacrificed all their possessions in this world in order\nthat they might be more closely joined to the Lord and His service. Levi\nhad no inheritance in the land, as a tribe, and as an individual the only\nevent recorded in the life of the patriarch is one of destruction of the\nunfaithful.\u2014Gen. 34:25\u201029.\n\nOf the tribe of Issachar [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Issachar signifies\n_There is reward_, or _He brings reward_. \u201cGod hath given me my hire,\nbecause I have given my maiden to my husband.\u201d \u201cIssachar is a strong ass\ncouching down between two burdens: and he saw that rest was good, and the\nland that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear.\u201d (Gen. 30:18;\n49:14, 15.) This seems to signify that the next honor goes to the zealous,\nthose who joyfully undertake, in the Lord\u2019s name and cause, to work hard\nfor the glory of His name.\u20141 Cor. 15:58.\n\n7:8. Of the tribe of Zabulon [were sealed] twelve thousand.\u2014Zebulun\nsignifies _Habitation_ or _Dwelling_. It signifies the blessed\nsatisfaction that comes to those who, like the Master, during their\nearthly pilgrimages have not known where to lay their heads; but, although\nthey have wrestled with poverty throughout life\u2019s little day, have\nnevertheless held faithfully to the Lord, serving Him, with limited\neducation, strength, talents and opportunities, in hope of finally\nreaching \u201cThe Home where changes never come, nor pain, nor sorrow, toil\nnor care.\u201d What a homecoming they will have! In the Father\u2019s House of many\nmansions theirs will be the happiest home.\n\nOf the tribe of [Joseph were sealed] BENJAMIN twelve thousand.\u2014Benjamin\nsignified _Son of my Sorrow_ originally, but the name was changed to\nsignify _Son of the right hand_. The youngest of Jacob\u2019s children, he\nseems in some aspects to typify the Great Company class (Z. \u201981\u20101\u20107), but\nsucceeds in gaining the higher reward, probably because of being the\ncompanions of those that occupy more advanced positions in the Body. Thus\nthe humble\u2010minded and faithful servants and _companions_ may and do fill\nup that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, even though their\npersonal sufferings be slight.\u2014Heb. 10:33.\n\nOf the tribe of [Benjamin were sealed] JOSEPH twelve thousand.\u2014The\nSinaitic MS. mentions Joseph last, with peculiar fitness. Joseph was one\nof the most beautiful characters of the Bible. His name signifies _Whom\nmay God increase_. He had so many virtues that it is inadvisable to\nattempt their enumeration, but the story is told at length in Gen. 37\u201050.\nHe is one of the very few characters named in the Bible about whom nothing\nuncomplimentary is expressed. He well represents all the other members of\nthe Divine family, all of whom have attained the Divine likeness in their\nhearts and given expression to that likeness as well as the frailties and\nweaknesses of the flesh would permit.\n\nIt will be noticed that the tribes of Dan and Ephraim are omitted from the\nforegoing list. Dan evidently represents the class that goes into the\nSecond Death. The name signifies \u201cGod hath judged me.\u201d (Gen. 30:6.) We\nknow that all God\u2019s judgments are just and look for the reason for Dan\u2019s\nrejection. Jacob prophesied that it would be Dan \u201cthat biteth the horse\nheels, so that his rider shall fall backward.\u201d (Gen. 49:17.) Horses are\nsymbols of doctrines. Dan evidently represents a class tampering with\ndoctrines, resulting in the overthrow of the New Creature. A study of the\nhistory of the tribe of Dan confirms this. Originally Dan was given one of\nthe choicest parts of Palestine, one of the most fertile and the most\nsecure. It was completely embraced by its two brother tribes Ephraim and\nBenjamin, while on the south\u2010east and south it joined Judah, and was thus\nsurrounded by the three most powerful states of the whole confederacy. The\nDanites however failed to conquer the land originally assigned to them\n(representing the failure of the New Creature to gain the victory over the\nmind of the flesh) and chose another inheritance to the far north (Judges\n18:1\u201031). This selection of the farthest north resembles Satan\u2019s similar\nchoice (Isa. 14:13) and suggests that the Danite New Creatures were led\naway from their original inheritance by ambition. The context shows an\nunreasonably high valuation of their own judgment and a wilful\ninterference with the priestly office, and this we may judge has been a\nfrequent offense of those who commit the great sin that lies just beyond\nthe sin of presumption. (Psa. 19:13; 2 Sam. 6:6, 7.) _THE TEST IS ON_;\ntake heed! take heed!\n\nThe half tribe of Ephraim represents the Great Company, mainly to be found\nin the Nominal Church. They are more or less intoxicated with error (Isa.\n28:1, 7), they fear to let go of their idols of creeds and catechisms\n(Hos. 4:17), they are, in a way, half\u2010baked Christians, not wholly devoted\nto the Lord\u2014\u201cEphraim is a cake not turned.\u201d (Hos. 7:8.) From first to last\nthe prophecy of Hosea is eloquent with Jehovah\u2019s pleadings to the Great\nCompany class not to miss the great prize of Immortality.\n\n7:9. After this, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude.\u2014When the Apostle\ntells us in 2 John 8, \u201cLook to yourselves that ye lose not those things\nwhich we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward,\u201d he is teaching\nthat a Heavenly reward may be gained that is not as full as if a course\nmore pleasing to the Heavenly Father is pursued.\n\nInstead of teaching that the saved of our race will all be saved to the\nsame thing, the Scriptures show two degrees or kinds of Heavenly\nsalvation, and two degrees or kinds of earthly salvation. In the second\nchapter of Genesis the stream which went forth from the Garden of Eden was\ndivided into four parts. This is a Scriptural recognition of the fact that\nfrom Adam, the original fountain of life, will flow four streams: The\nLittle Flock, who are to sit down with Christ in His Throne; the Great\nCompany, who are to stand before the Throne, having the palms of martyrdom\nbut without the crowns of glory; the Ancient Worthies, the Jewish fathers,\nAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, etc., who are to be made princes in all the\nearth; and the world of mankind, who will constitute the subjects of the\nKingdom over which the Ancient Worthies will rule. The same lesson is\ntaught in the division of the Levites into four camps, each located on a\ndifferent side of the Tabernacle. (Num. 3:15; F. 128, 129.) It is also\ntaught in the Apostle\u2019s statement in 2 Tim. 2:20, that in God\u2019s great\nHouse there will ultimately be found four classes of vessels to His\npraise.\n\nThe question for the saints is not as to which of the earthly classes may\nultimately include them, for they have given up their earthly hopes in\nexchange for Heavenly hopes. The question is whether they shall be wise\nvirgins, faithful students of the Word, building with the gold, silver and\nprecious stones of Divine Truth instead of foolish _virgins_ (pure of\nheart) (Matt. 25:2; C. 91; F. 75) who build faith structures with the\nwood, hay and stubble of human tradition. The Apostle says the fiery\ntrials of life will try every man\u2019s work so as by fire, and intimates that\nthose who do not build wisely shall suffer loss\u2014not go into eternal\ntorment, but fail to gain the great reward which otherwise might be\ntheirs. (1 Cor. 3:15; T. 69.) The question is whether as branches in\nChrist the Vine, to go onward to fruit\u2010bearing, or as other branches, to\nbe principally devoted to leaves (professions), or tendrils (feelers after\nearthly honors and emoluments). (John 15:2; F. 78, 170.) Christ said of a\nsimilar class in His day, \u201cHow can ye believe [effectively] which receive\nhonor one of another, and seek not the praise which cometh from God only!\u201d\nThe question is whether we are to be termed children of disobedience (Col.\n3:6; Z. \u201999\u2010140) because, though God\u2019s children, we have failed to\nmortify, or put to death, our earthly and sinful tendencies; whether we\nare sinners against the covenant we have made with God to lay down our\nlives in His service (Psa. 1:1; Z. \u201900\u2010281), whether, like Lot\u2019s wife, we\nlook back to the earthly good things we have given up (Gen. 19:26; C.\n194), or whether we retain the singleness of heart and purpose, without\nwhich the prize of the High Calling cannot be gained.\n\nThe question is whether, as babes in Christ, we shall wink at the\nunscriptural divisions of God\u2019s people, into followers of Paul or Apollos,\nCephas or Luther, Calvin or Wesley (1 Cor. 3:4; D. 17); whether, like\nRahab, we shall be in the citadel of error when it falls, or like Joshua\nwho caused it to fall (Josh. 6:25; Z. \u201907\u2010267); whether, like the fitches\nand cummin, we shall easily divest ourselves of the entangling\nassociations of life, represented by the pods from which the fitches and\ncummin are so easily shaken, or whether we shall be like the \u201cbread\u2010corn\u201d\nwhich requires a vast amount of threshing before it will let go of the\nclose\u2010clinging chaff. (Isa. 28:27; Z. \u201984\u20101\u20104.) The question is whether,\nlike the rejected members of Gideon\u2019s army, we shall forget our mission,\nand bury our heads in the waters of truth; or whether, with equal\nappreciation of its message, we shall remember why the Lord gave it to us,\nand shall drink of it, with our eyes out over the horizon, seeking to\nserve, to spend and be spent in the Master\u2019s service. (Judg. 7:6; Z.\n\u201907\u2010331.) The question is whether, like Caleb and Joshua, we shall retain\nour confidence in Him who has called us, and bring back true reports of\nthe land we hope ere long to possess, or, whether we shall be of the\nlarger company that through fear and faint\u2010heartedness never enter in.\n(Num. 13:31; Z. \u201907\u2010251.) Shall we rejoice to lay down our lives for the\nLord\u2019s brethren, or shall we, through fear of this sacrificial death, be\nall our lifetime subject to bondage? (Heb. 2:15; T. 70, 71.) The question\nis whether we shall be like the servant who hid his Lord\u2019s talent in the\nearth (in earthly enjoyments and pursuits) (Matt. 25:24; Z. \u201901\u201061; Z.\n\u201906\u2010318), whether we shall be double minded, having some idea of attaining\nheavenly things and some idea of getting all we can of earthly things\n(Jas. 1:8; Z. \u201907\u2010316), whether, like Obadiah, we are merely friendly\ntoward the Truth and those who stand for the Truth, but conceal our\ninterest for fear of the consequences to ourselves and our families.\u20141 Ki.\n18:3; Z. \u201904\u2010221.\n\nIf, in these tests of faith and character, we come off victorious in the\nLord\u2019s sight, we shall not need to be of those who wash their robes and\nmake them white in the blood of the Lamb, in the great tribulation with\nwhich this Age will close, but shall keep our robes unspotted so that they\nwill not need such a general cleansing. If we have fled to the Lord before\nthe winter time of His disfavor has come upon the man\u2010made systems of our\nday, we shall be spared the rigors of the flight, of which He said, \u201cPray\nthat your flight be not in _the winter_ [of 1917\u20101918 (?)]\u201d (Matt. 20:10;\nD. 578), and we shall be spared, too, the bitter disappointment of saying\nat that time, \u201cThe Harvest [the time of special favor] is past, the summer\nis ended and we are not saved\u201d [not saved with the chiefest salvation,\nwith the salvation to which we aspired]. (Jer. 8:20; D. 578.) In the time\nof Zion\u2019s travail these children of God will all be delivered. (Isa. 66:8;\nZ. \u201994\u2010135.) Let us be glad of our hope that we shall be of the Man\u2010child\ndelivered before that travail comes. Let us hope we may not be of the\nlambs (Isa. 34:6; D. 17) or the goats found together in the nominal\nsheepfolds when the time has come to wind up present ecclesiastical\nsystems. All down the Age, some of God\u2019s children have been \u201cturned over\nto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved\nin the day of the Lord\u201d (1 Cor. 5:5; T. 69, 71), because they have not\nlived up to their covenants. The sufferings of the scapegoat class, turned\ninto the wilderness, dying of thirst, hunger, snake\u2010bites, thorns, briars,\nburrs, fleas or attacks of wild animals, were far greater than those of\nthe Lord\u2019s goat, killed sacrificially. (Lev. 16:7\u201010; T. 60.) Those who\nwithhold from the Lord what they have promised Him suffer far more than\nthose who fight manfully the good fight of faith and lay hold with both\nhands on the hope set before us.\n\nThe Great Company class will say \u201cAlleluia\u201d as soon as they perceive that\nthe Church is complete. (Rev. 19:1; A. 240; F. 128.) But like Rebecca\u2019s\ndamsels of old, they must go the same long journey as the Bride class,\nonly to be received as servants in the end. (Gen. 24:61; Psa. 45:14; F.\n121, 171.) Shall we enter fully into our inheritance now, while the door\nis still open to do and dare in the Master\u2019s Cause; or shall we be like\nthe class mentioned in Ezekiel 44 that finds the door shut because the\nstart is made too late, and must know that forever the Heavenly\nPriesthood, the prize of the High Calling, is closed, and that the most\nthat can be then attained is the place as keepers or servants in the\nTemple? (Ezek. 44:1\u201014; Z. \u201905\u2010269.) Let us rejoice if we are heirs of\nsalvation at all; but let us resolve, by God\u2019s grace, that we shall, in\nthe words of our text, \u201cLook to ourselves, that we lose not those things\nthat we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward\u201d\u2014all that the\nFather is pleased to give to those who love Him supremely.\n\n\u201cWhat we see going on about us seems natural to our minds. The way in\nwhich other people spend time and money is a temptation to the Lord\u2019s\npeople which must be _steadfastly resisted_. For us to do what others do,\nand to devote to the Lord\u2019s service only what the world considers a\nreasonable day\u2019s work, would not be fulfilling our Covenant of Sacrifice\nat all. Those who seek merely to do right, and to put in eight hours or so\na day faithfully, after the manner of the world, will be judged from this\nstandpoint; and they will merely obtain a place in the Great Company. They\nare not fulfilling the conditions of the Covenant of Sacrifice.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201914\u201071.\n\n\u201cWe do not think we should understand the Scriptures to teach that the\nGreat Company will attain to the same degree of spiritual development as\nthe Little Flock. They fail to display that love and zeal which the Lord\nhas set as the mark for participation in the Royal Priesthood.\u201d (Z.\n\u201914\u201068.) \u201cIn determining to sacrifice themselves piecemeal when and how\nthey and their friends might please, is the primary mistake.\u201d (Z.\n\u201996\u2010191.) \u201cWhile the living members of the Bride are being separated from\nothers by the _Truth_, the ears of this class are dull of hearing and they\nare slow to believe and slow to act.\u201d (A. 240.) \u201cIn one parable the Lord\nstyles this class a wicked and slothful servant. He does not deny him the\nhonor of being a servant, He does not charge him with becoming an enemy.\nHe is counted wicked and slothful because, having undertaken certain\nresponsibilities as a servant, he has failed to manifest the proper spirit\nof earnest devotion.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010315.\n\nWhich no man could number.\u2014\u201cWhose number no man is able to tell (i. e., it\nis not a foreordained or fixed number\u2014none were called to be of this\ncompany.)\u201d\u2014Rev. 5:11.\n\nOf all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.\u2014\u201cAs the number of\nthe Bride of Christ is to be 144,000, it would be reasonable to think that\neach number of this class may have 144,000 to look after, as 144,000 x\n144,000 equals 20,736,000,000 (twenty billions seven hundred and thirty\u2010\nsix millions), evidently just about the right number to be cared\nfor\u2014144,000 would be quite a host for each individual of the Bride class\nto look after. So we can see the necessity for the work of the Great\nCompany.\u201d\u2014_Question Meeting._\n\nStood before the Throne.\u2014Not in the Throne, as in the case of the Bride.\n(A. 214.) \u201cThe Scriptures inform us that as that which is begotten of the\nflesh is flesh, so that which is begotten of the Spirit is spirit. That is\nto say, that whoever has been begotten of the Holy Spirit has experienced\na change of nature so radical that it would be impossible for him to share\na resurrection with the world on the human plane.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010316.\n\nAnd before the Lamb.\u2014\u201cSince their hearts are loyal to the Redeemer, and\nsince they maintain their faith in the precious blood and hold fast and do\nnot deny the same, therefore the Lord Jesus, the Advocate, the Captain of\nour Salvation, who leads the Very Elect to glory through the steps of\nwilling sacrifice, will lead these to a spiritual blessing\u2014to perfection\non a lower plane of spirit\u2010being\u2014because they have trusted in Him and have\nnot denied His name or His work.\u201d\u2014F. 169.\n\nClothed with white robes.\u2014\u201cThey let slip their opportunity for becoming\nmembers of the Bride; but they are, nevertheless, _virgins_, pure in their\nheart\u2010intentions.\u201d\u2014F. 127; Rev. 7:14.\n\nAnd palms in their hands.\u2014\u201cThe palm is especially the symbol of\n_martyrdom_. The palm of martyrdom has become in the language of the\nChurch, a classical and sacramental expression. In the diptychs, the acts\nof the martyrs, and the martyrologies, we read, \u2018He has received the palm\nof martyrdom\u2019\u2014he has been crowned with the palm of the martyrs.\u201d (McC.)\nMany of the martyrs of the Dark Ages were undoubtedly of the Great\nCompany.\n\n7:10. And [cried] THEY CRY with a loud voice.\u2014In grand and happy chorus of\nexultant praise and thanksgiving over their final deliverance.\u2014Rev.\n19:1\u20103.\n\nSaying, Salvation.\u2014Our glorious and unmerited boon of life on so high a\nplane.\n\nTo our God.\u2014Be ascribed to Him as the Author.\u2014Psa. 3:8.\n\n[Which sitteth] upon the Throne.\u2014Jehovah.\u2014Rev. 4:2; 5:13.\n\nAnd unto the Lamb.\u2014The Tower of the Flock, Christ as the instrument of\nsalvation.\u2014Micah 4:8.\n\n7:11. And all the angels.\u2014The beautiful sons of the morning who shouted\nfor joy in the dawn of earth\u2019s creative week 48,000 years ago.\u2014Job 38:7;\nLu. 2:9\u201014; Matt. 4:11; 28:2; F. 51.\n\nStood round about the Throne.\u2014With eager joy welcoming this new addition\nto the family of God.\n\nAnd about the elders.\u2014The prophecies, many of which have pointed out this\nsecond and greater company. But notice the exquisite nicety of the Word of\nGod and the Wisdom of our Father! Not _all_ the elders do mention the\nGreat Company, and therefore the designation \u201cfour and twenty,\u201d in this\ninstance, is omitted.\n\nAnd the four beasts.\u2014Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\n\nAnd fell before the Throne on their faces.\u2014No wonder such humble\ncharacters \u201calways behold the face of the Father.\u201d\u2014Matt. 18:10.\n\nAnd worshipped God.\u2014There is no self\u2010seeking among the angels. When an\nangel appeared to Manoah and his wife, and Manoah sought to know his name,\nhe left an everlasting lesson in his reply, \u201cWhy askest thou thus after my\nname, seeing it is secret?\u201d\u2014Judges 13:2\u201023.\n\n7:12. Saying, Amen.\u2014So be it! We are not at all jealous. We are delighted\nto have these new helpers in the Heavenly realm.\n\nBlessing.\u2014The praises and blessings of all who owe their existence to His\ngoodness.\n\nAnd wisdom.\u2014To continually and forever unfold some new and wonderful\nfeatures of goodness and grace towards the work of His hands.\n\nAnd thanksgiving.\u2014From \u201cevery creature which is in Heaven and on\nearth.\u201d\u2014Rev. 5:13.\n\nAnd honor.\u2014To the Name so long and so unjustly and foully dishonored, by\nthe eternal torment theory.\n\nAnd power.\u2014Restrained for thousands of years, but now about to be\nexercised in man\u2019s behalf.\u2014Psa. 76:10.\n\nAnd might.\u2014The ability to accomplish fully all His purposes.\u2014Isa. 55:11.\n\nBe unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.\u2014Be ascribed to Jehovah for\neternity.\u2014Rev. 5:13,14.\n\n7:13. And one of the elders.\u2014The prophecy of Isaiah 1:10\u201020.\n\nAnswered, saying unto me.\u2014Under symbolism of Sodom because of their\nidentification with spiritual Sodom\u2019s work and hopes.\u2014Rev. 11:8.\n\nWhat are these which are arrayed in white robes.\u2014Who are these of whom it\nis said, \u201cYour hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away\nthe evil of your doings before mine eyes,\u201d etc.?\u2014Isa. 1:15, 16; Rev. 7:9.\n\nAnd whence came they.\u2014Why are they figuratively represented as stained\nwith blood?\n\n7:14. And I said unto him, [Sir,] MY LORD, thou knowest.\u2014It is doubtless\ncontained in your prophecy.\n\nAnd he said unto me.\u2014In Isa. 34:5, 6, \u201cMy sword shall be bathed in Heaven:\nbehold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of My curse,\nto judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat\nwith fatness, and with the blood of lambs.\u201d\u2014D. 17.\n\nThese are they which came out of great tribulation.\u2014\u201c \u2018The tribulation,\nthe great one\u2019\u2014the twofold article being specially emphatic. See Rev.\n3:10; 6:17; Matt. 24:21.\u201d (Cook.) \u201cThey are those,\u201d he said, \u201cwho have\njust passed through the great distress.\u201d (Weym.) \u201cThe slaughter of this\nday of vengeance is said to be of the \u2018lambs and goats.\u2019 (Isa. 34:6.) The\nlambs would represent the tribulation saints.\u201d (D. 17.) \u201cThe Great Company\nwill pass through a great tribulation, with a view to effecting in them a\nproper penitence for sin and a proper appreciation of the Divine standard\nof truth and righteousness. This class, particularly large in the present\nday, will be delivered over to the Adversary\u2014to suffer in a Time of\nTrouble such as was not since there was a nation\u2014the great time of trouble\nwith which this Age shall end. Such of them as fail to respond to those\ntribulations and to seek the Lord will die the Second Death, but such as\nrespond faithfully will be counted as overcomers.\u201d (Z. \u201907\u2010232.)\n\n\u201cMany such are now being closely bound in with the various bundles of\ntares for the burning; and not until the fiery trouble of the latter end\nof the Harvest period shall burn the binding cords of Babylon\u2019s bondage\nshall these be able to make their escape\u2014\u2018saved so as by fire.\u2019 They must\nsee the utter wreck of Great Babylon and receive some measure of her\nplagues.\u201d (C. 364.) \u201cSad disappointments attach to the experiences of this\ncompany: it is because they _fear_ the reproaches of Christ that they\nshirk present privileges and opportunities for walking with Him in white\nin the \u2018sufferings of this present time:\u2019 behold, they not only miss the\npresent joy and rejoicing of those who are faithful, but eventually they\nmust come through _still greater_ sufferings, if they would attain even to\na lower place. Although loving the Lord and His people, they are somewhat\nashamed of them and hide, as it were, their faces from them, in the\npresence of the worldly: and behold the Master at His Coming for His\n\u2018Bride\u2019 cannot confess their names in the presence of the Father and the\nholy angels.\u201d (Z. \u201997\u2010162.) \u201cThese will be helped out of Babylon when she\nis falling, and will flee in the winter\u2010time, saying in the words of the\nProphet, \u2018The Harvest is past, the Summer is ended [Winter has come], and\nwe are not saved.\u2019 (Jer. 8:20.)\u201d (D. 578.) \u201cThese, surely, we cannot\nexpect to see shielded from the very trouble which the Lord declares they\nneed; and which in special mercy He will inflict for their perfecting.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201996\u2010191.\n\nAnd have washed their robes.\u2014Spotted and soiled by contact with the\nworld.\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010161.\n\nAnd made them white in the blood of the Lamb.\u2014\u201cNot that their sufferings\nwill wash their robes, but that in their sufferings they will learn to\nappreciate as never before their relationship to the Lamb of God and to\nHis atoning merit, and by faith will be permitted to apply the same to\ntheir own cleansing.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010233; 1 John 1:7.\n\n7:15. Therefore.\u2014Because, in the final test, they suffered martyrdom and\ncleansed their robes rather than deny the Lord.\n\nAre they before the Throne of God.\u2014\u201cWith the world in the next Age, the\nLord\u2019s power will be represented through the Great Company class, under\nthe Bride. They will be a great police force, looking out for the whole\npeople. They will have enough to do; for God has guaranteed that \u2018nothing\nshall hurt or offend in all His holy Mountain\u2019\u2014Kingdom (Isa. 11:9). That\nwill mean a careful supervision. Yes, indeed! How will they hinder wrong\u2010\ndoing? If a person were about to speak blasphemy or slander, the tongue\nmight be instantly paralyzed. Very easy! A policeman right on the\nspot!\u2014not waiting until the offender had done the mischief and then\npunishing him, but fixing him so that he will not get the chance to do it,\nand punishing him for trying to do so.\u201d\u2014_Question Meeting._\n\nAnd serve Him day and night in His Temple.\u2014\u201cAlthough they can never be the\nliving Temple of which Christ is the Head (Rev. 3:12; 11:1), we are told\nthey shall be _servants_ in that Temple; and although they shall never sit\nin the Throne, they are highly privileged to serve \u2018before the Throne.\u2019\nGrand and glorious privileges will be theirs.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010162; Rev. 22:3.\n\nAnd He that sitteth on the Throne.\u2014Jehovah.\n\n[Shall dwell among] KNOWETH them.\u2014To be known of the Lord is to be the\nsure recipient of blessings. Not to be known or recognized of Him is the\ngreatest of all calamities. God keeps a record of His friends (Mal. 3:16)\nbut no record of His enemies; and therein lies their ruin. \u201cI never _knew_\nyou; depart from Me.\u201d\u2014Matt. 7:23.\n\n7:16. They shall NOT hunger [no more].\u2014Poor things, how hungry they have\nbeen! How the light has shone in their poor, hunted, starved faces, as\nthey have listened to Pastor Russell, by the tens of thousands; and yet,\nwhen the lecture was over, they have wearily gone back to the \u201chusks,\u201d\nfrom a sense of duty to the memory of some man, dead for hundreds of\nyears, who would, if alive today, be a follower of _the_ Reformer, Charles\nT. Russell, because he followed Christ.\n\nNeither thirst any more.\u2014\u201cThe waters of Truth shall no longer be brackish\nwith error, being healed at the very spring by a clearer understanding of\nthe Word of God.\u201d\u2014B. 266.\n\nNeither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.\u2014During the Harvest time\nthe Lord\u2019s people, illuminated with the light of Present Truth, have been\nshining forth, not with any brilliancy of their own, but with much of the\ncoming splendor of the \u201cSun of Righteousness.\u201d Coming in contact with\nthem, it has been inevitable that the Great Company class should\nfrequently be singed, unable to answer the Truth, and should feel\nconsiderable heat. Their condition has been aptly described by the\nProphet, \u201cIt shall be a vexation only to understand the report.\u201d (Isa.\n28:19.) \u201cAs if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went\ninto the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit\nhim.\u201d\u2014Amos 5:19.\n\n7:17. For the Lamb.\u2014Jesus Christ, their eternal Friend\u2014\u201cThe same\nyesterday, today, and forever.\u201d\u2014Heb. 13:8.\n\nWhich is in the midst of the Throne.\u2014Authority, rulership.\u2014A. 92; Rev.\n5:6.\n\nShall feed them.\u2014Be their shepherd. (John 10:1\u201028; 21:16.) They will not\nhave immortality. Their lives will always require to be sustained, as in\nthe case of the angels.\n\nAnd shall lead them unto [living] fountains of waters OF LIFE.\u2014They will\nnot have within them the \u201cwell of water springing up unto everlasting\nlife,\u201d as will the Bride class, but may freely take of the \u201cWater of life\u201d\nwhich flows forth from the united well\u2010springs of the Fountain and its\n144,000 associates.\u2014John 4:14; Rev. 22:1, 17; Ezekiel 47:1\u20105.\n\nAnd God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.\u2014There will be tears at\nfirst that will require wiping away, when they see all they have missed.\nNevertheless, \u201cWith gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought into the\nKing\u2019s Palace.\u201d (Psa. 45:15.) And it is a good place; there we leave them,\nto bask in the sunlight of His presence forevermore. We shall _know_ them\nall, then, even as we shall be known by them.\u20141 Cor. 13:12.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 8\u2014Four Preliminary Reformations\n\n\n8:1. And when He.\u2014The Lord Jesus, whose privilege it is to open them\nall.\u2014Rev. 6:1.\n\nHad opened the seventh seal.\u2014\u201cThe seal of the living God.\u201d (Rev. 7:2.) The\nopening of the seventh seal is _progressive_. The opening and unfolding of\nthe Truth goes on as the saints are sealed. By the time the saints are all\nsealed in their hearts and minds with the Present Truth, the deepest\nfeatures of the Truth itself will have been disclosed. \u201cThe time will\nundoubtedly come in the near future when the number of the Elect will be\ncomplete. Then only such vacancies as might still occur by some falling\nout would remain.\u201d (Z. \u201914\u201068.) \u201cGod\u2019s people down through this Gospel age\nhave been privileged to know something of the \u2018Secret of the Lord\u2019\u2014the\nDivine Plan. But not until the last seal is broken, does the scroll fly\nwide open, permitting the \u2018Mystery of God\u2019 to be fully disclosed; as it is\nwritten: \u2018In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall\nbegin to sound, the Mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared\nto His servants the Prophets.\u2019 (Rev. 5:1; 10:7.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201997\u2010257.\n\nThere was silence.\u2014\u201cAssemble yourselves, and let us enter into the\ndefenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put\nus to silence.\u201d (Jer. 8:14.) \u201cThey (the clergy) somehow realize that\nneither reason nor Scripture supports their false doctrines, and that the\nwisest method is to keep silent, in the shadow of old superstitions and\nunder the protection of so\u2010called Christian governments.\u201d\u2014C. 158.\n\nIn heaven.\u2014In the nominal ecclesiastical heavens.\n\nAbout the space of half an hour.\u2014On the scale of a year for a day this\nwould mean but a week, and indicates that, as soon as the full number to\ncomplete the Body of Christ have been sealed with the Present Truth,\npersecution in a public way, and on an unprecedented scale, may be\nexpected to begin almost immediately. (This verse should properly be\nincluded in Chapter 7.)\n\n8:2. And I saw.\u2014As the next vision of the grand series. Something never\nseen until the seventh seal is broken and the Mystery of God finished.\n\nThe seven angels.\u2014Instrumentalities suitable for the work to be performed.\n\nWhich stood before God.\u2014Featuring the _Reformation_.\n\nAnd to them were given seven trumpets.\u2014Bugles with which to blow bugle\u2010\nblasts of liberty from the oppressions of the papacy, leading up to and\nincluding the final blast of \u201cLiberty throughout all the land unto all the\ninhabitants thereof.\u201d\u2014Lev. 25:10.\n\n8:3. And another angel.\u2014Not the \u201cvoice of the Lord,\u201d mentioned in the\npreceding chapter, but the corporate body\u2014the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT\nSOCIETY, which Pastor Russell formed to finish his work. This verse shows\nthat, though Pastor Russell has passed beyond the veil, he is still\nmanaging every feature of the Harvest work. \u201cTHE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND\nTRACT SOCIETY is the greatest corporation in the world, because from the\ntime of its organization until now the Lord has used it as His channel\nthrough which to make known the Glad Tidings.\u201d\u2010Z. \u201917\u201022; Rev. 14:18;\n19:17.\n\nCame and stood.\u2014Waited before the Lord, after the Pastor\u2019s death, ready to\ndo the Master\u2019s will.\n\nAt the altar.\u2014The Brazen Altar, the place of sacrifice. (Ex. 38:1\u20107; Lev.\n16:12, 13.) The fire for the sacrifice at the Golden Altar was obtained\nhere and then carried to the Golden Altar where the incense was crumbled\nin it.\n\nHaving a golden censer.\u2014Censers, or fire\u2010pans, were of two forms, with\nhandles and without. In this case the kind with the handle, used only on\nthe Day of Atonement, is the one referred to. The incense was burnt while\nthe high priest held the censer in his hand. Thus, in this prophecy, the\ngreat antitypical High Priest identifies Himself with the work of the\nSociety, and places in its care\u2014holds in His hand\u2014the fire\u2010pans, the\nthings that lead us to the place where we sacrifice ourselves. Thus seen,\nthe censer represents teachings, understandings of the Word; for it is our\nunderstanding of the Word which leads us to offer up all we have in the\nLord\u2019s service.\u2014Num. 16:6, 7.\n\nAnd there was given unto him much incense.\u2014The heart\u2019s best endeavors of\nthe faithful fellow\u2010members of the Body.\n\nThat he should offer it.\u2014To Jehovah, through the Son.\u2014Rev. 5:8.\n\nWith the prayers of all saints.\u2014The Society is the only entity in the\nworld answering to this description. It alone has offered on its behalf\nthe prayers of all the saints, in harmony with the clause of the Vow which\nreads, \u201cDaily will I remember at the Throne of heavenly grace the general\ninterests of the Harvest work\u2014the dear co\u2010laborers at the Brooklyn\nTabernacle and Bethel, and everywhere.\u201d\n\nUpon the golden altar [which was] before the Throne.\u2014The offerings take\nplace \u201cbefore the Throne,\u201d on this side the veil.\u2014Rev. 1:4; 5:6; Ex.\n30:1\u201010.\n\n8:4. And the smoke.\u2014The fragrant, sweet perfume.\n\nOf the incense.\u2014Life\u2019s dearest ties, sacrificed in the Master\u2019s cause.\n\nWhich came with the prayers of the saints.\u2014In harmony with the Vow of\nfaithfulness.\u2014Psa. 141:2; Luke 1:10; Acts 10:4.\n\nAscended up before God out of the angel\u2019s hand.\u2014\u201cAn odor of a sweet smell,\na sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.\u201d\u2014Phil. 4:18.\n\n8:5. And the angel.\u2014THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY through its proper\nrepresentatives.\n\nTook the censer.\u2014The Seventh Volume of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, Divinely\nprovided.\n\nAnd filled it with fire of the altar.\u2014Coals from the altar signify burning\ntruths; and such the Lord\u2019s prophecies always are, when rightly\nunderstood.\u2014Isa. 6:5\u20108. This is a plain intimation of God\u2019s purpose to use\nthe SOCIETY in further unfoldings of His Truth as it becomes due. \u201cWe\nbelieve that the Lord will not scatter, but will \u2018turn His hand [power]\nupon the little ones,\u2019 in this dark hour of trial (Zech. 13:7).\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201917\u201030.\n\nAnd cast it.\u2014Greek, \u201cDeliberately hurled it.\u201d\n\nInto the earth.\u2014Among order\u2010loving people.\u2014Ezek. 10:2; Luke 12:49.\n\nAnd there were [voices and] thunderings.\u2014Seven Volumes of \u201cSCRIPTURE\nSTUDIES,\u201d this one being the last of the series. (Rev. 10:3, 4.) Thunders\nare symbolical of controversy, and this volume may cause some.\nParticularly is it to be expected that the clergy will thunder against\nwhatever Truth it contains. Thunder is caused by the flashing of lightning\nthrough the heavens, opening them up, as it were. Immediately after the\nflash they come together with an angry roar. Thunder, of itself, never\ndoes anybody any harm.\u2014Rev. 16:18.\n\nAnd voices.\u2014\u201cThese voices have been circulated here and there throughout\nthe whole civilized world, not by worldly agents, not through book\u2010\nsellers, but by those who have themselves been blessed by the light, and\nwho desire to render a service to the Lord and to the Truth, and to lay\ndown their lives for the brethren by taking to them the glorious and\nencouraging message now due to the Lord\u2019s people.\u201d (Z. \u201902\u2010118.) Voices\nalso symbolize discussion, contention.\n\nAnd lightnings.\u2014See Rev. 4:5; 11:19; 16:18.\n\nAnd an earthquake.\u2014\u201cThe term earthquake is used to symbolically represent\nrevolution\u2014it is in this sense of the word that it is used throughout the\nBook of Revelation. What we are to look for then will be a great\nrevolution, the great symbolic earthquake, the great shaking of the\npresent institutions which will overthrow everything that is not of the\nLord\u2019s establishment and approval. Perhaps the symbolical earthquake will\nbe accompanied by a literal one.\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\n8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets.\u2014\u201cWe, in common with\nalmost all expositors, recognize that the seven trumpets of Revelation are\nsymbolical and not literal.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u2010116; Josh. 6:4.\n\nPrepared themselves to sound.\u2014\u201cChristian people in general understand that\nfive of these trumpets have already \u2018sounded\u2019 and are in the past\u2014we would\nsay six. It is admitted that those that have already \u2018sounded\u2019 have not\nbeen literal blasts of a bugle on the air. But literal things are so much\nmore easily received by the natural man that many advanced Christians,\nBible students and ministers, are really expecting some day to hear what\nis sometimes denominated \u2018Gabriel\u2019s horn,\u2019 shrill enough and loud enough\nto awaken the dead.\u201d (Z. \u201902\u2010116.) As thoughtful Christians we should\nexpect that, as this period is that in which the great sects have risen,\nits history should pay particular attention to them, and thus we find. The\nReformation particularly affected \u201cthree parts\u201d of the papal dominion,\nGermany, England and France.\u2014Rev. 8:7\u201010.\n\n8:7. And the first [angel] sounded.\u2014The movement began, which later\ndeveloped into the Lutheran General Synod, Lutheran United Synod South,\nLutheran General Council, Lutheran Synodical Conference, United Norwegian\nLutheran Synod, Ohio Independent Lutheran Synod, Buffalo Lutheran Synod,\nHauge\u2019s Lutheran Synod, Eleisen\u2019s Lutheran Synod, Norwegian Lutheran\nSynod, Danish in America Lutheran Synod, Icelandic Lutheran Synod,\nImmanuel Lutheran Synod, Suomai Finnish Lutheran Synod, Finnish National\nSynod, Finnish Apostolic Synod, Norwegian Free Lutheran Synod, Danish\nUnited Lutheran Synod, Church of the Lutheran Brethren and Independent\nLutheran Congregations.\u20141 Cor. 3:3.\n\nAnd there followed hail.\u2014Sharp, cutting, hard truth, contained in Luther\u2019s\n95 theses nailed on the church door at Wittenberg.\n\nAnd fire.\u2014Destructive judgments upon the papacy. Luther sized up the Papal\nsystem of \u201cHeads, I win; and tails, you lose\u201d in a few words when he said,\n\u201cThe Romanists have with great dexterity built themselves about with three\nwalls, which have hitherto protected them against reform. In the first\nplace, when the temporal power has pressed them hard, they have affirmed\nand maintained that the temporal power has no jurisdiction over them\u2014that\non the contrary, the spiritual is above the temporal. Secondly, when it is\nproposed to admonish them from the Holy Scriptures they said, \u2018It beseems\nno one but the pope to interpret the Scriptures,\u2019 and thirdly, when they\nwere threatened with a council, they invented the idea that no one but the\npope can call a council.\u201d\n\nMingled with blood.\u2014Blood is a symbol of death\u2010dealing doctrine, and this\nteaches that Luther did not get entirely free from error. The following\nillustrates this point: \u201cThere gradually developed a group of radicals who\nwere convinced that Luther had not the courage of his convictions. They\nproposed to abolish the idolatry of the Mass and all other outward signs\nof what they deemed the old superstitions. Luther\u2019s colleague at\nWittenberg, Carlstadt, began denouncing the monastic life, the celibacy of\nthe clergy, the veneration of images; and before the end of 1521 we find\nthe first characteristic outward symptoms of Protestantism. In January\n1522, Carlstadt induced the authorities of Wittenberg to publish the first\nevangelical church ordinance. The service of the Mass was modified, and\nthe laity were to receive the elements in both kinds. Reminders of the old\nreligious usages were to be done away with, and the fast\u2010days were to be\nno longer observed. These measures led Luther to return to Wittenberg in\nMarch, 1522, where he preached a series of sermons attacking the\nimpatience of the radical party. In 1525 the conservative party, which had\nfrom the first feared that Luther\u2019s teaching would result in sedition,\nreceived a new and terrible proof, as it seemed to them, of the noxious\ninfluence of the evangelical preachers.\n\n\u201cThe peasant movements which had caused so much anxiety at the diet of\nAugsburg in 1518, culminated in the Peasant Revolt in which the common\nman, both in country and town, rose in the name of God\u2019s justice to avenge\nlong\u2010standing wrongs and establish his rights. Luther was by no means\ndirectly responsible for the civil war which followed, but he had\ncertainly contributed to stir up the ancient discontent. He had asserted\nthat, owing to the habit of foreclosing small mortgages, \u2018Any one with a\nhundred gulden could gobble up a peasant a year.\u2019 The German feudal lords\nhe pronounced hangmen, who knew only how to swindle the poor man. Yet in\nspite of this harsh talk about princes, Luther relied upon them to forward\nthe reforms in which he was interested. The peasants demanded that the\ngospel should be taught them as a guide in life, and that each community\nshould be permitted to choose its pastor and depose him if he conducted\nhimself improperly. More radical demands came from the working classes in\nthe towns. The articles of Heilbronn demanded that the property of the\nChurch should be confiscated and used for the community; clergy and\nnobility alike were to be deprived of all their privileges, so that they\ncould no longer oppress the poor man. The more violent leaders renewed the\nold cry that the parsons must be slain. Hundreds of castles and\nmonasteries were destroyed by the frantic peasantry, and some of the\nnobles were murdered with shocking cruelty. Luther, who believed that the\npeasants were trying to cloak their dreadful sins with excuses from the\ngospel, exhorted the government to put down the insurrection. \u2018Have no\npity on the poor folk; stab, smite, throttle, who can.\u2019 The German rulers\ntook Luther\u2019s advice with terrible literalness, and avenged themselves\nupon the peasants, whose lot was apparently worse afterwards than\nbefore.\u201d\u2014Brit.\n\nAnd they were cast upon the earth AND THE THIRD PART OF THE EARTH WAS\nBURNED UP.\u2014Luther\u2019s teaching had the effect of transforming the order\u2010\nloving German people into anarchists.\n\nAnd the third part.\u2014The German part.\n\nOf trees.\u2014Trees are symbols of saints. \u201cSt. Paul gives us the picture of a\ntree, the roots of which push down deep into the knowledge of the Divine\nPlan, while the tree of character grows higher and higher, developing and\nmaturing the rich fruits of the Holy Spirit of God; for instruction is a\nform of _construction_.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010312; Isa. 61:3.\n\nWas burnt up.\u2014Hindered from standing alone, and absorbed into the Lutheran\nsystem.\n\nAnd all green grass.\u2014Natural men of independent thought.\u2014Isa. 40:6, 7.\n\nWas burnt up.\u2014Similarly absorbed into the Lutheran system, a welcome\nsubstitute for papacy\u2019s intolerable yoke.\n\n8:8. And the second [angel] sounded.\u2014The Anglican church movement began.\n\nAnd as it were a great mountain.\u2014England in the time of Henry VIII.\nMountains symbolize kingdoms.\u2014Dan. 2:35; Jer. 51:25.\n\nBurning with fire.\u2014Aflame with another great movement destructive to the\npapacy.\n\nWas cast into the sea.\u2014Was suddenly thrown into a condition of isolation\nfrom the papacy\u2014no longer placed under religious restraint to it.\n\nAnd the third part of the sea.\u2014The English part.\n\nBecame blood.\u2014The much\u2010married Henry VIII., founder of the Anglican\nChurch, and the second great sect\u2010founder, has some slight blemishes on\nhis escutcheon also. \u201cHenry VIII. himself stoutly maintained the headship\nof the pope, and as is well known, after examining the arguments of\nLuther, published his defence of the Seven Sacraments in 1521, which won\nfor him from the pope the glorious title of \u2018Defender of the faith.\u2019 By\n1527 the king had become hopeless of having a male heir by Catherine. He\nwas tired of her, and in love with the black\u2010eyed Anne Boleyn, who refused\nto be his mistress. The king\u2019s agents secured the opinion of a number of\nprominent universities that his marriage was void, and an assembly of\nnotables, which he summoned in June 1530, warned the pope of the dangers\ninvolved in leaving the royal succession in uncertainty. Henry\u2019s next move\nwas to bring a charge against the clergy, accusing them of having violated\nthe ancient laws of praemunire in submitting to the authority of papal\nlegates (although he himself had ratified the appointment of Wolsey as\nlegate _a latere_). The clergy of the province of Canterbury were fined\n100,000 pounds and compelled to declare the king their singular protector\nand only supreme lord, and, as far as that is permitted by the law of\nChrist, the supreme head of the Church and of the clergy.\n\n\u201cThe following year, 1532, an obedient parliament presented a petition to\nthe king (which had been most carefully elaborated by the king\u2019s own\nadvisers) containing twelve charges against the bishops. For the remedy of\nthese abuses parliament turned to the king \u2018in whom and by whom the only\nand sole redress, reformation and remedy herein absolutely rests and\nremains.\u2019 [These charges were answered by the clergy, but the answer did\nnot suit the king so on the 15th of May, 1532.] The king\u2019s most humble\nsubjects, daily orators and bedesmen of the clergy of England, in view of\nhis goodness and fervent Christian zeal and his learning far exceeding\nthat of all other kings that they have read of, agree never to assemble in\nconvocation except at the king\u2019s summons, and to enact and promulgate no\nconstitution or ordinances except they receive the royal assent and\nauthority. [Then Henry divorced Catherine and married Anne Boleyn and the\nEnglish Reformation was officially launched.] The king had now clarified\nthe ancient laws of the realm to his satisfaction, and could proceed to\nseize such portions of the Church\u2019s possessions as he deemed superfluous\nfor the maintenance of religion. [On the 30th of July, 1540, three\nLutheran clergymen were burned and three Roman Catholics beheaded, the\nlatter for denying the king\u2019s spiritual supremacy. The king\u2019s ardent\ndesires that diversities of minds and opinions should be done away with\nand unity be \u2018charitably established\u2019 was further promoted by publishing\nin 1543 A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man, set\nforth by the King\u2019s Majesty of England, in which the tenets of mediaeval\ntheology, except for denial of the supremacy of the bishop of Rome and the\nunmistakable assertion of the supremacy of the king, were once more\nrestated. The First Prayer Book of Edward VI was issued in 1549 and was\nfollowed in 1552 by the Second Prayer Book and] \u2018The foundations of the\nAnglican church were laid.\u2019\u2014Brit.\n\n8:9. And the third part.\u2014The English part.\n\nOf the creatures.\u2014The clergy \u201capostolically\u201d of the Church of Rome, but\nactually doing business under Henry VIII. Be it noted that they were not\ncounted worthy of being called \u201cmen.\u201d\n\nWhich were in the sea.\u2014No longer under religious restraint to the papacy.\n\nAnd had life.\u2014The apostolic succession, from the line of popes, etc.,\ndescribed in Rev. 2:13 comments.\n\nDied.\u2014Were excommunicated by the pope, lost their \u201capostolic (?)\nsuccession.\u201d\n\nAnd the third part.\u2014The English part.\n\nOf the ships.\u2014Independent bodies of Christian worshippers called Lollards,\nfollowers of Wycliffe.\u2014Mark 4:36; 6:48\u201051; John 6:21.\n\nWere destroyed.\u2014Compelled to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church\nor lose their lives. \u201cThus, when the English Reformation of the 16th\ncentury commenced, it derived a new impulse from the earlier Lollard\nmovement which it was destined to absorb into itself.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\n8:10. And the third angel sounded.\u2014The Calvinistic movement began, which\nlater developed into the Northern Presbyterian Church, Cumberland\nPresbyterian Church, Welsh Calvinistic Church, United Presbyterian Church,\nSouthern Presbyterian Church, Associate Presbyterian Church, Associate\nReformed Southern Presbyterian Church, Reformed Synod Presbyterian Church,\nReformed General Synod Presbyterian Church, Reformed Covenanted\nPresbyterian Church, Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States and\nCanada, Dutch Reformed Church, German Reformed Church, Christian Reformed\nChurch, Hungarian Reformed Church, and Congregational Church.\u20141 Cor. 3:3.\n\nAnd there fell a great star from heaven.\u2014John Calvin tore a large\u2010sized\nhole in the Catholic firmament when he started the manufacture of a\nfirmament of his own.\n\nBurning as it were a lamp.\u2014The precipitation of the Calvinistic movement\nin France and Switzerland was as sudden as the Anglican movement had been\nin England or the Lutheran movement in Germany. In 1533 Francis I, King of\nFrance, \u201canxious to conciliate both German Protestants and anti\u2010papal\nEngland, invited some of the reformers to preach in the Louvre,\u201d as an\noffset to a fierce attack that had but lately been made upon them, caused\nby the mutilation of a statue of the Virgin. On the festival of All\nSaints, Cop, the rector of the University of Paris, was to deliver the\naddress, but Jean Cauvin (Calvin) persuaded the rector to read an address\nwhich he had written. It was a defence of the new evangelical views and so\naroused the Sorbonne that Calvin and Cop were both obliged to flee from\nParis. Calvin went to Basle, Switzerland, and in 1536 wrote and published\nthe first great textbook of Protestant theology, _Institutes of the\nChristian Religion_. He did his best, but his best was not very good.\n\nAnd it fell upon the third part.\u2014The French part.\n\nOf the rivers.\u2014Channels of religious instruction.\n\nAnd upon the fountains of waters.\u2014The Word of God. Although Calvin\nmisunderstood and misapplied them, yet he constantly appealed to the\nScriptures as the support for his theories.\n\n8:11. And the name of the star.\u2014Calvin is entitled to the honor of having\nat one time been a papal star. \u201cHe was from the first educated for the\nChurch, and before he was twelve years old was presented to a benefice in\nthe Cathedral of Noyon. Six years after this he was appointed to a cure of\nsouls at Montville, and thus, although not yet twenty, and not even in the\nminor orders, he was enjoying the titles and revenues of a cure.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\nIs called Wormwood.\u2014What an ideal name for the doctrine which has caused\nmore bitterness against God than any other doctrine ever taught, and for\nthe man who roasted Servetus at the stake.\n\nAnd the third part of the waters.\u2014Many portions of the Scriptures,\nmisunderstood, misconstrued and misapplied.\n\nBecame.\u2014Were made to appear in the eyes of many.\n\nWormwood.\u2014Bitter as gall. \u201cNone now would justify Calvin\u2019s course in\nsentencing Servetus to be burned. Others burned at the stake usually had\nthe fuel piled at their feet. The flames were inhaled with the smoke, and\nthe victim was speedily unconscious to suffering. For Servetus Satanic\ningenuity arranged the burning fagots at a distance. He literally roasted\nalive, in horrible torture, nearly five hours\u2014in the name of God, of\nJesus, of Righteousness, Truth, Justice, Love, Christianity and\nCivilization.\u201d (P. D.)\u2014Jer. 9:15; 23:15; 9\u201040; Deut. 29:18.\n\nAnd many men died of the waters.\u2014Lost their manhood, reason and common\nsense by becoming Calvinists.\n\nBecause they were made bitter.\u2014Because the Scriptures were made to appear\nto teach what actually they do not. \u201cIt seems remarkable that only now are\nwe realizing that a man so deficient in the spirit of his Master as to\nmurder his brother, should not be an accepted teacher of the Word of God\nand its spirit. Only now are Bible students realizing that Brother Calvin\nwas not the inventor of the doctrine of election, but merely of the\ndoctrine that all the non\u2010elect would suffer everlastingly. Now we see\nthat the terms, \u2018the elect,\u2019 \u2018the very elect,\u2019 are Bible terms! and that\nthose who make their calling and election sure, will be glorified in the\nFirst Resurrection. Now we see that the Elect will be associated with\nJesus in His Kingdom, which will bless the non\u2010elect\u2014\u2018all the families of\nthe Earth.\u2019 \u201d\u2014P. D.\n\n8:12. And the fourth angel sounded.\u2014The Baptist sectarian movement began,\nresulting in Baptist Churches North, Baptist Churches South, Baptist\nChurches Colored, Seventh\u2010Day Baptists, General Baptists, Separate\nBaptists, United Baptists, Baptist Church of Christ, Primitive Baptist\nChurch, Primitive Colored Baptist Church, Old Two Seed in the Spirit\nPredestinarian Baptist Church, Church of God and Saints of Christ,\nMennonites, Six Principle Baptist Church, Free Baptist Church, Freewill\nBaptist Church\u2014not forgetting the Selfwill Baptist Church, which also has\na large membership, but is not listed.\u20141 Cor. 3:3.\n\nFrom an examination of history \u201cIt does not appear that the Baptists were\nformed into any stability (as a sect) until the time of Menno, about the\nyear 1536. About 1644 they began to make a considerable figure in England,\nand spread themselves into several separate congregations. They separated\nfrom the Independents about the year 1638, and set up for themselves under\nthe pastoral care of Mr. Jesse; and, having renounced their former\nbaptism, they sent over one of their number to be immersed by one of the\nDutch Anabaptists of Amsterdam, that he might be qualified to baptize his\nfriends in England after the same manner.\u201d (Buck.) \u201cMenno Simons, born in\n1492 at Witmarsum in Friesland, at the age of 24 entered the priesthood.\nDoubts about transubstantiation made him uneasy; some of Luther\u2019s tracts\nfell in his way, and he was comforted by Luther\u2019s dictum that salvation\ndoes not depend on human dogmata. Hence he began to study the New\nTestament. The question as to the right age for baptism came up; he found\nthis an open matter in the early church. Then the execution, in March,\n1531, at Leeuwarden, of the tailor Sicke Freerks, who had been rebaptized\nin the previous December at Emden, introduced further questions. Menno was\nnot satisfied with the inconsistent answers which he got from Luther,\nBucer and Bullinger; he resolved to rely on Scripture alone, and from this\ntime describes his preaching as evangelical, not sacramental. Anabaptism\nof the Munster type repelled him. A brother of Menno joined the insurgent\nfollowers of Matthyzoon and was killed at Bolsward, April 1535. Blaming\nthe leaders by whom these poor people had been misled, Menno blamed\nhimself for not having shown them a straight course. Accordingly on the\n12th of January 1536 he left the Roman communion.\n\n\u201cAmong the so\u2010called Anabaptists were four parties, the favorers of the\nMunster faction, the Batenburgers, extremists, the Melchiorites and the\nObbenites. For a time Menno remained aloof from both Melchior Hofman and\nObbe Philipsz. Before the year was out, yielding to the prayer of six or\neight persons who had freed themselves from the Munster spell, he agreed\nto become their minister and was set apart January 1537 to the eldership\nat Groningen, with imposition of hands by Obbe Philipsz. Menno repudiated\nthe formation of a sect; those who had experienced the \u2018new birth\u2019 were to\nhim the true Christian church. His Christology was in the main orthodox\nthough he rejected terms such as Trinity which he could not find in\nScripture. Of the introduction of Anabaptist views into England we have no\ncertain knowledge. Fox relates that \u2018the registers of London make mention\nof certain Dutchmen counted for Anabaptists, of whom ten were put to death\nin sundry places in the realm, anno 1535; other ten repented and were\nsaved\u2019. In 1536 King Henry VIII issued a proclamation concerning faith\nagreed upon by Convocation, in which the clergy are told to instruct the\npeople that they ought to repute and take \u2018The Anabaptists\u2019 opinions for\ndetestable heresies and to be utterly condemned.\u2019 Thomas Fuller tells us\nfrom Stow\u2019s Chronicles that in the year 1538 four Anabaptists, three men\nand one woman, all Dutch, bare faggots at Paul\u2019s Cross, and three days\nafter a man and woman of their sect were burnt in Smithfield. The early\nEnglish Baptists, while they utterly rejected the baptism of infants, were\nas yet unpledged to immersion and rarely practiced it.\u201d\u2014Brit.\n\nAnd the third part of the sun was smitten.\u2014Though not apparently so stated\nin any confession of faith, it is a prevalent view among Baptists that the\nOld Testament has been entirely fulfilled. Believing thus they lose the\nforce of a large part of the Gospel Message, typified by the sun.\n\nAnd the third part of the moon.\u2014Similarly, they do not see the force of\nthe teachings of the Law Dispensation, as in the Tabernacle arrangements,\netc., in their application to the Church.\n\nAnd the third part of the stars.\u2014The teachings of the true light\u2010bearers,\nthe Apostles, cannot be fully appreciated except in connection with the\nprophecies of the Old Testament.\n\nSo as the third part of them was darkened.\u2014If pressed to estimate the\nrelative worth to us as New Creatures of the writings of the Old and New\nTestaments, we would admit that the writings of the New Testament are\nworth perhaps twice as much to us as those of the Old Testament because\nthey contain the message addressed to the New Creation, but _we_ want all\n_three_ thirds of the Word.\n\nAnd the day.\u2014The Scripture teaching of the coming Millennial Day.\n\nShone not for a third part of it.\u2014At least a third of the light we get on\nthe subject of the Lord\u2019s Millennial Reign is from the Old Testament.\n\nAnd the night likewise.\u2014The same is true of the world\u2019s dark night of sin\nand death, and the darkest feature of that night\u2014the Time of Trouble such\nas was not since there was a nation. The Old Testament has much of light\nand instruction on this subject.\n\n8:13. And I beheld, and heard an [angel] EAGLE.\u2014One of Pastor Russell\u2019s\nhumble followers (Matt. 24:28) apprehending correctly the significance of\nthe three woes.\n\nFlying through the midst of heaven.\u2014Beginning with the papal heavens and\nthen in their order of development, the Lutheran heavens, Anglican\nheavens, Calvinistic heavens and Baptist heavens (and others shortly.)\n\nSaying with a loud voice.\u2014With considerable plainness of speech.\n\nWoe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.\u2014Great distress and\nperplexity of mind to all supporters of Satan\u2019s Empire.\n\nBy reason of the other voices.\u2014Later movements in the ecclesiastical\nheavens described in Chapters 9 and 10.\n\nOf the three angels, which are yet to sound.\u2014The four great\ndenominations\u2014Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian and Baptist\u2014were formed in\nswift succession within twenty years from the time Luther nailed the\ntheses on the Wittenberg door. But the work of forming new movements away\nfrom papal bondage did not stop there.\n\n\n \u201cYe curious minds, who roam abroad,\n And trace creation\u2019s wonders o\u2019er,\n Confess the footsteps of your God,\n And bow before Him, and adore.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 9\u2014Two Ineffective Reformation Woes\n\n\n9:1. And the fifth angel sounded.\u2014The Wesleyan movement began, leading up\nto the Methodist Episcopal Church, United American Methodist Episcopal\nChurch, African Methodist Episcopal Church, African United Methodist\nProtestant Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Methodist\nProtestant Church, Wesleyan Methodist Church, Methodist Episcopal Church\nSouth, Congregational Methodist Church, New Congregational Methodist\nChurch, Zion Union Apostolic Church, Colored Methodist Episcopal Church,\nFree Methodist Church, Reformed Methodist United Episcopal Church, and\nIndependent Methodist Churches.\u20141 Cor. 3:3.\n\nAnd I saw a star.\u2014John Wesley became a star in the Anglican heavens in\n1728, at which time he was ordained a priest by Bishop Potter.\n\nFall from heaven unto the earth.\u2014For many years Wesley had no thought of\nforming a sect; and yet, unconsciously, he began to do so from the time he\nwas ordained. He was then in Oxford University, where \u201cthe completeness of\nhis self\u2010devotion to the service of God, combined with his rare moral\ncourage and superior strength of character, caused him to be recognized as\nthe leader of a group of under\u2010graduates which was nicknamed the \u2018Holy\nClub\u2019 by the ungodly of the University, who derided its members for their\nrigid rules and charitable practices by calling them \u2018Methodists.\u2019 \u201d\n(McC.) \u201cHe fully accepted the recognized teaching of the Church of\nEngland, and publicly appealed to the Prayer\u2010Book and the Thirty\u2010nine\narticles in justification of the doctrines he preached. Methodism began in\na revival of personal religion, and it professed to have but one aim, to\nspread Scriptural holiness over the land. Its doctrines were in no sense\nnew.\u201d (Brit.) The work in the Western World, particularly in the United\nStates, grew to vast proportions. \u201cThe preachers in the South determined\nupon administration of the sacraments, and a committee was chosen who\nordained themselves and others. The Northern preachers opposed this step\nand for several years the Connexion was on the verge of disruption. Wesley\nperceived that the Society would disintegrate unless effective measures\nwere speedily taken, and, aided by two presbyters of the Church of\nEngland, (one of whom was James Creighton) early in 1784 he ordained\nThomas Coke, a presbyter of that Church, as Superintendent.\u201d\u2014Brit.\n\nHis brother Charles heartily disapproved of this and wrote the following\n(which does not, however, appear with his other hymns in the Methodist\nhymnal):\n\n\n \u201cSo easily are bishops made\n By man or woman\u2019s whim;\n Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid,\n But who laid hands on _him_?\u201d\n\n\nIn 1787 the American Conference changed Mr. Coke\u2019s title to \u201cBishop.\u201d Mr.\nCoke tried to introduce this title into the English Conference of which he\nwas president, but the English Brethren could not accept it, despite his\ngreat earnestness in the cause. It must have been a strange sight to see a\nbright man like Wesley engaging those two presbyters of the Church of\nEngland to help him ordain somebody to a higher office than any of _them_\nhad ever held. But _the plan worked_. All Methodists believe that Bishop\nCoke, the first Bishop of the Methodist Church received some \u201capostolic\nsuccession\u201d from the original line described in comments on Rev. 2:13.\nThese brethren have grieved that Pastor Russell did not get his ordination\nfrom the same source.\n\nAnd to him was given the key of the [bottomless] pit OF THE ABYSS.\u2014Wesley\nwas given the key to _nothing_ and to _nowhere_.\n\n9:2. [And he opened the bottomless pit].\u2014Wesley opened nothing. He did\ninterpret Rom. 8:21 as meaning that the lower animals would go to Heaven,\nbut that was an error. He was honest enough, however, to object to using\nthe word Trinity because he did not find it in the Bible. \u201cChristian\nAdvocates\u201d please note.\n\nAnd there arose a smoke.\u2014Confusion\u2014a blinding haze.\n\n[Out of] OVER the pit.\u2014In the \u201cair,\u201d the ecclesiastical heavens.\n\nAs the smoke of a great furnace.\u2014Methodism was no ordinary smudge.\n\nAnd the sun.\u2014The true Gospel.\n\nAnd the air.\u2014The Anglican Church.\n\nWere darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.\u2014Methodism damaged the\nAnglican communion as much as it did the Truth.\n\n9:3. And there came out of the smoke locusts.\u2014An immense number of\nfollowers.\u2014Judges 7:12.\n\nUpon the earth.\u2014Among order\u2010loving people.\n\nAnd unto them was given power.\u2014To attend an old\u2010time Methodist meeting and\nwitness the \u201cgetting the power\u201d was to see the sight of a life\u2010time.\n\nAs the scorpions of the earth have powers.\u2014\u201cA well\u2010known injurious insect\nof _hot_ climates, which is shaped very much like a lobster. They are\ncarnivorous in their habits, and move along in a threatening attitude with\nthe tail elevated. The sting, which is situated at the extremity of the\ntail, has at its base a gland that secretes a poisonous fluid, which is\ndischarged into the wound by two minute orifices at its extremity. The\nscorpion makes a painful wound in men and beasts which produces fatal\nresults unless speedy remedies be provided such as scarifying the wound or\nsucking out the poison.\u201d\u2014McC.\n\n9:4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the\nearth.\u2014Men of independent thought.\u2014Rev. 8:7.\n\n[Neither any green thing.] Neither any tree.\u2014Saint.\u2014Rev. 8:7.\n\nBut [only] those men.\u2014The unconverted.\n\nWhich have not the seal of God in their foreheads.\u2014Methodists understand\nthat to be converted from being a sinner means to have the seal of God in\none\u2019s forehead. All the energies of that church are devoted to gathering\nin goats to the sheepfold.\n\n9:5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them.\u2014No such sane\nand merciful sentence as \u201cThe wages of sin is death\u201d has any place in\nMethodist theology. Wesley was born at a time when the original meaning of\nthe word \u201cHell\u201d had become hidden, and was saturated with the later\nteachings that it signifies a place of torment. He threw his whole heart\ninto the work of spreading this error throughout the earth.\n\nBut that they should be tormented five months.\u2014In symbolic time, 150\nyears. (Rev. 2:21). Wesley became the first Methodist in 1728. (Rev. 9:1).\nWhen the Methodist denomination, with all the others, was cast off from\nfavor in 1878 (Rev. 3:14) its power to torment men by preaching what\nPresbyterians describe as \u201cConscious misery, eternal in duration\u201d came to\nan end legally, and to a large extent actually.\u2014Rev. 9:10.\n\nAnd their torment.\u2014The torment of those tormented by the tormenting\ndoctrine of torment.\n\nWas as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.\u2014See Rev. 9:10.\n\n9:6. And in those days.\u2014Throughout the 150 years of widely prevalent\n\u201cMethodist hell\u2010fire\u201d.\n\nShall men seek death.\u2014Would be glad to know that \u201cThe wages of sin _is_\ndeath.\u201d\u2014Rom. 6:23.\n\nAnd shall not find it.\u2014Because all the texts which plainly teach that \u201cAll\nthe wicked will God destroy,\u201d were perverted to mean \u201cAll the wicked will\nGod immortalize in hell.\u201d\n\nAnd shall desire to die.\u2014Real men would prefer to die and stay dead rather\nthan forever companion and worship the greatest devil of the Universe.\n\nAnd death shall flee from them.\u2014They were told that men only seem to die,\nalthough touch, hearing, sight and smell all bear eloquent testimony to\nthe contrary.\u2014Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4; Gen. 3:19; Psa. 115:17; Ecc. 9:5;\nPsa. 37:10, 20; Ecc. 3:19\u201021; 1 Cor. 15:13, 18; Dan. 12:2.\n\n9:7. And the [shapes] LIKENESSES of the locusts were like unto horses\nprepared unto battle.\u2014The battle\u2010cry of the old\u2010time Methodist was \u201cAll at\nit, and always at it\u201d.\n\nAnd on their heads were as it were crowns like gold.\u2014Those born of the\nspirit, changed from human conditions and made like the Lord, have\nreceived the very highest blessing, the \u201cCrown of life\u201d, the Divine\nnature. Gold is a symbol of Divinity. To receive a crown of gold is to be\nborn of the spirit. All old\u2010time Methodists felt certain that they were\n\u201cborn of the spirit\u201d when converted, no begetting or quickening being\nnecessary. But here is pointed out that these good people had \u201cas\u2010it\u2010were\u201d\ncrowns instead of real ones.\n\nAnd their faces were as the faces of men.\u2014They were not \u201cBorn of the\nspirit\u201d as they supposed.\n\n9:8. And they had hair as the hair of women.\u2014\u201cIf a woman have long hair it\nis a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.\u201d (1 Cor.\n11:15.) The Church\u2019s glory is her wedding robe, the robe of Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness. It is to the credit of old\u2010time Methodists that they\ntrusted for salvation in the precious blood of Christ.\n\nAnd their teeth were as the teeth of lions.\u2014Lions are able to chew and\nswallow almost anything. When the conference at Baltimore in 1787 turned\nJohn Wesley\u2019s Superintendent into a Bishop, the Methodist people swallowed\nit all; and to this day most of them really believe that their clergy are\na Divinely appointed institution, despite the fraud perpetrated.\u2014Joel.\n1:4\u20106.\n\n9:9. And they had breastplates.\u2014\u201cBreastplates of righteousness.\u201d\u2014Eph.\n6:14.\n\nAs it were breastplates of iron.\u2014An iron breastplate would be a good one\nbut an \u201cas\u2010it\u2010were\u201d breastplate would need examination. It was not\nuncommon for old\u2010time Methodists to deceive themselves into thinking they\nhad not sinned for years. Those who had such breastplates wore the \u201cAs\u2010it\u2010\nwere\u201d variety.\n\nAnd the sound of their wings.\u2014When engaged in \u201cgetting the power\u201d.\u2014Rev.\n9:3.\n\nWas as the sound of chariots.\u2014The noisiest vehicles known in the\nRevelator\u2019s day.\n\nOf many horses running to battle.\u2014The old\u2010time Methodist hell\u2010fire revival\nwas in days gone by the noisiest place on earth, excepting the camp\u2010\nmeeting. Those good old days have long since gone.\n\n9:10. And they had tails.\u2014Followers\u2014class\u2010leaders.\n\nLike unto scorpions.\u2014The old\u2010time class\u2010leader was an invaluable adjunct\nof the Methodist Church. Upon him devolved the duty of requiring each\nprobationer to attend the class\u2010meeting and report his spiritual progress\nweekly, whether he had made any or not. After each report it was the\nclass\u2010leader\u2019s duty to squirt in a little more of the poisonous doctrines\nfrom the two orifices referred to in comments on Rev. 9:3. From the\n\u201cheaven\u201d orifice came the doctrine \u201cIf you are good you will go to Heaven\nwhen you die\u201d\u2014and from the \u201chell\u201d orifice came the message \u201cIf you are bad\nyou will go to hell when you die.\u201d It was all very simple. Everybody was\nsimple in those days.\n\nAnd [there were] stings.\u2014Revivals in which the attendants were stung,\ndoctrinally and financially.\n\nAND in their tails [and] WAS their power [was] to hurt men five\nmonths.\u2014One hundred and fifty years, from Wesley\u2019s ordination in 1728 to\nthe casting off of Methodism in 1878.\u2014Rev. 9:5.\n\n9:11. [And] they [had a] HAVE THEIR king [over them].\u2014The same king as\nexercises general rulership over all the ecclesiastical affairs of this\npresent evil world.\n\n[Which is] the angel of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.\u2014\u201cThe prince of the\npower of the air.\u201d\u2014Eph. 2:2.\n\nWhose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon.\u2014And he is \u201ca bad one,\u201d sure\nenough.\u20142 Cor. 4:4.\n\nBut in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.\u2014That is, Destroyer. But in\nplain English his name is Satan, the Devil. As a means for preventing\npeople from seeing the Truth, Methodism has been as efficient as any of\nthe five systems previously described, or any that follow. All have been\nsadly misled and deceived by our great and wily Adversary; \u201cTaken captive\nby him at his will.\u201d\u20142 Tim. 2:26.\n\n9:12. One woe is past.\u2014Methodism was the first woe of the epoch leading up\nto and associated with the Time of the End. It was a serious blow to the\npretensions of the Papacy, but its days of usefulness have long since\npassed.\n\nAnd, behold, there come two woes more [hereafter].\u2014One outlined in the\nremainder of this chapter and one in Chapter 10. It was the discovery of\nMethodism as the first woe that led to an identification of the four\nmovements of the Reformation proper which preceded it.\u2014Rev. 8:7\u201013.\n\n9:13. [And] AFTER THESE THINGS the sixth angel sounded.\u2014The Evangelical\u2010\nAlliance\u2010Spiritism movement began in 1846\u20101848 culminating in the Federal\nCouncil of the Churches of Christ in America. The following great\ndenominations which comprise 90% of the Protestant Church membership are\nrepresented in this council: Baptist (North), Free Baptist, Christian,\nCongregational, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical Association, Evangelical\nSynod, Friends, Lutheran General Synod, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist\nEpiscopal (South), German Evangelical Synod, Colored Methodist Episcopal,\nMethodist Protestant, African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist\nEpiscopal Zion, Mennonite, Moravian, Presbyterian, Presbyterian (South),\nWelsh Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, United Presbyterian, Protestant\nEpiscopal, Reformed Church in America, Reformed Church in the U. S. A.,\nReformed Episcopal, Seventh\u2010Day Baptist, United Brethren in Christ, United\nEvangelical, National Baptist Convention.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Methodism\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Babylon Perplexes The World\n\n\nAlthough these sects are the only ones now members of the Federal Council,\nyet, in hatred of the Truth, and darkness in regard to God\u2019s Plan, the\nfollowing are also entitled to membership: Evangelical Adventists, Advent\nChristians, Seventh\u2010Day Adventists, Church of God, Life and Advent Union,\nChurch of God in Jesus Christ, fifteen kinds of Baptists named in comments\non Rev. 8:12, four kinds of Dunkard brethren, the Conservative, Old Order,\nProgressive and Seventh\u2010Day German varieties, four kinds of Plymouth\nBrethren, three kinds of River Brethren, the Brethren in Christ, Old Order\nor Yorker and United Zion\u2019s Children, Catholic Apostolic, New Apostolic,\nChristadelphians, Dowie\u2019s Christian Catholic, Christian Union, Church of\nChrist Scientist, Winnebrenarian Churches of God, Colored Churches of the\nLiving God, Christian Workers for Friendship, Apostolic, Church of Christ\nin God, Churches of the New Jerusalem, General Convention, General Church,\nChurch Transcendent, Communistic Societies, Shakers, Amana, Churches of\nChrist, Apostolic Faith Movement, Peniel Missions, Metropolitan Church\nAssociation, Hepziba Faith Association, Missionary Christian Association,\nHeavenly Recruit Church, Apostolic Christian Church, Christian\nCongregation, Colored Voluntary Missionary Society, Hicksite Friends,\nWilburite Friends, Primitive Friends, Friends of the Temple, German\nEvangelical Protestant, Latter\u2010Day Saints, Reorganized Latter\u2010Day Saints,\ntwenty\u2010one kinds of Lutherans shown in comments on Rev. 8:7, Swedish\nEvangelical Missionary Covenant. Swedish Evangelical Free Mission,\nNorwegian Evangelical Free Church, twelve kinds of Mennonites,\nBruederhoef, Amish, Old Amish, Conservative Amish, Reformed, General\nConference, Church of God in Christ, Old Wisler, Bundes Conference,\nDefenceless, Brethren in Christ, sixteen kinds of Methodists shown in\ncomments on Rev. 9:1, Union Moravian, Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene,\nOther Pentecostal Associations, twelve kinds of Presbyterians shown in\ncomments on Rev. 8:10, 11, Christian Reformed, Hungarian Reformed,\nReformed Catholic, Salvation Army, Schwenkfelders, Social Brethren,\nSociety for Ethical Culture, Spiritualists, Theosophical Society, Old\nConstitution Brethren, Unitarians, Universalists, etc.\n\nTheir \u201cfaiths\u201d are quite as varied as their names, but without exception\nthey deny the central truth of the Scriptures (1 John 4:2, 3) that when\nJesus Christ came to earth He came as a man only, devoid of immortality or\nDivinity, that when He died He was as dead as though He never had lived,\nand that by that death He bought for Adam and his race the Restitution of\nall things foretold by \u201cthe mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world\nbegan.\u201d (Rev. 4:10.) The common ground upon which they stand is this,\ntheir denial of the Ransom, their affirmation of Spiritism, in some form,\nand their adherence to the principle of Federation. All of these things\nare condemned in the Scriptures but the Scriptures will never be allowed\nto stand in the way of those who live by shearing the wool from the sheep.\n(2 Tim. 4:3, 4; Deut. 18:10, 11; Isa. 8:9\u201022.) The latter passage is full\nof the deepest significance at this time.\n\n\u201cChristian Heralds\u201d that refused to publish advertisements of Pastor\nRussell\u2019s books now give space to advertisements of godless, Christless,\nBuddhist, demoniacal books, glorifying the New Thought system of mind\nworship, the boot\u2010strap system of religion by which men, by cultivation of\nthe will, lift themselves into money, piety and immortality, and by making\nassertions to and demands of the alleged \u201csub\u2010conscious mind\u201d invite and\nreceive the assistance of evil spirits, and finally come under their\ncontrol. Modern \u201cChristianity\u201d is Buddhism.\n\n\u201cThe Rev. Dr. Day, Chancellor of the Syracuse University, recently, in an\naddress to the Y. M. C. A., is reported by the public press to have said:\n\u2018Wouldn\u2019t you rather live in America than in Heaven? I would. I\u2019d like to\ngo to Heaven when I can\u2019t be here. In fact, I think I\u2019d be rather\ndiscontented in Heaven till I got adjusted. You can get anything you want\nhere. You can live under forty odd governments, meet all the nations of\nthe world, eat all the fruits of the world and get any kind of climate\nthat you choose. So America is the beat place to live; but I think when a\nman can\u2019t stay here any longer he ought to steer for Heaven,\u2019 \u201d (Z.\n\u201908\u2010196.) Having concluded to stay here as long as possible, \u201cChristians\u201d\nare now flocking by thousands to the purchase of works which will show\nthem how to use spiritism to take advantage of their fellow men. The\nreligious and other periodicals are now filled with advertisements of\nthese books. We quote a few extracts to show their Satanic character:\n\n\u201cIt is necessary to control others, to discover their plans. This you may\nbe able to do if you have developed your inner faculties. We show you how\nto so develop your intuitional nature that you are able to detect the\nfeelings of others; to penetrate their secret motives; and to discover\nwhat they try to conceal. The Golden Rule must be followed in controlling\nothers. \u2018Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you.\u2019 There\ncomes more and more the power of seeing the future, so that more and more\ntrue becomes the old adage that coming events cast their shadows before.\nHealth in time takes the place of disease; for all disease and its\nconsequent suffering is merely the result of the violation of law, whether\nconsciously or unconsciously. There comes a spiritual power which, as it\nis sent out, is adequate for the healing of others the same as in the days\nof old.\u201d\n\n\u201cMany omniscient men and women will soon walk the earth. Omniscience and\nFreedom are the goal of all, and in this Great Age of Light many Egos are\napproaching the blessed omniscience state.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuddenly it seemed that the top of my head had been lifted, and I became\naware of an immense increase of personal consciousness. I became\nconscious, I say\u2014I know what I am writing\u2014of the vast sky above, and the\nmighty deeps below, and the wide sweep of present human life, and the long\nforward and backward stretch of human history. It seemed that I could\nsense the All. Since that day all is well. Life is deeper, richer,\nstronger\u2014assured, fearless, and saturated with perennial vital interests.\u201d\n(What really happened to this man was that he became obsessed by\ndemons.)\u2014Rev. 7:3.\n\n\u201cThe strength of these delusions lies in the grave errors mixed with\ntruths long held by Christian people, because of the \u2018falling away\u2019 from\nthe pure faith of the Apostolic Church, foretold in the Scriptures. Among\nthese errors none is designed to open the heart and mind to these delusive\nand destructive theories of today more effectually than the general belief\nof the first lie\u2014\u2018Ye shall _not_ surely die.\u2019 (Gen. 3:4.) The general\nacceptance of it results from a failure to understand the Bible doctrine\nconcerning _life_ and _immortality_, which were brought to light by our\nLord Jesus through His Gospel of salvation from sin by His Ransom\u2010\nsacrifice. The advocates of these false doctrines are surprisingly alert\nand active everywhere, especially in the United States, where thought is\nmost active and where liberty often means license. Hundreds of thousands\nhave embraced these errors as new and advanced light. The extent of their\nsuccess is not fully apparent to many; for their success lies in a _still\nhunt_ for prey. Their advocates are to be found in almost every\ncongregation of every denomination, and especially among the more\ncultured; and the \u2018angel of light\u2019 feature is seldom neglected. The\nnominal churches are already permeated, _leavened_ with these false\ndoctrines. The Scriptural prophecy that \u2018a thousand shall fall at thy [the\ntrue Church\u2019s] side, and ten thousand at thy right hand\u2019 (Psalm 91:3\u201014),\nis now fulfilled before our eyes.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010343.\n\nAnd I heard a voice.\u2014William Miller, from A. D. 1829 to 1844.\n\nFrom [the four horns of] the golden altar which is before God.\u2014\u201cThe Golden\nAltar in the \u2018Holy\u2019 would seem to represent the \u2018little flock,\u2019 the\nconsecrated Church in the present sacrificing condition.\u201d\u2014T. 120.\n\n9:14. Saying.\u2014By pointing to the near fulfillment of the 2300 days.\u2014Dan.\n8:14.\n\nTo the sixth angel which had the trumpet.\u2014The Evangelical Alliance\u2010\nSpiritism movement. The Alliance proper was organized Sept. 2nd, 1846, at\nthe end of the 2800 years. The spiritism feature began January, 1848. The\ntwo have been growing towards each other ever since until now they are\nsubstantially one and the same thing.\n\nLoose the four angels.\u2014Four errors in the nine fundamental principles of\nthe Evangelical Alliance. We give the erroneous clauses by number: (3)\n\u201cThe unity of the Godhead, and the trinity of persons therein.\u201d See Rev.\n6:4; 5:7. (5) \u201cThe incarnation of the Son of God.\u201d (8) \u201cThe immortality of\nthe soul.\u201d (9) \u201cThe Divine institution of the Christian ministry\u201d (i. e.,\nthe clergy).\n\nWhich are bound.\u2014Hindered from gaining fullest expression.\n\nIn the great river Euphrates.\u2014The world of mankind.\u2014B. 209, D. 24.\n\nAnd the four angels.\u2014The four great errors of trinity, incarnation,\nimmortality and lordship over God\u2019s heritage.\n\nWere loosed.\u2014Given greater liberties than ever before.\n\nWhich were prepared.\u2014Each sect for itself, and in its own time.\n\nFor [an] THE hour.\u2014The hour of judgment, 1918.\n\n[And a day] and [a] month, and [a] year.\u2014Thirteen symbolic months, the 390\nyears of Protestantism\u2019s siege of the Papacy.\u2014Ezek. 4:5.\n\nFor to slay.\u2014To make nominal Christians of, to take away the manhood of.\n\nThe third part of men.\u2014According to the World Almanac for 1917, the total\nnumber of Christians in the world at the beginning of the twentieth\ncentury was 571,400,000, of whom one third, 177,800,000, were Protestants.\n\n9:16. And the number of the army of the horsemen.\u2014In round numbers, at the\ntime of identification.\n\nWere two hundred thousand thousand.\u2014Approximately two hundred millions.\n\n[And] I heard the number of them.\u2014Heard, heeded, or noted, the count as\ngiven in the World Almanac, as correct. This is a tribute to a journal\nnotorious for its ignoble, unjust and dishonest attacks on Pastor Russell.\n\u201cOut of thine own mouth will I judge thee.\u201d And have you noticed, on the\nsame principle, that nearly all the encyclopedic references herein are to\nthe great standard Protestant works to be found in every capable\nminister\u2019s library? How is it that _they_ do not know these things?\n\n9:17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision.\u2014Horses are symbols of\nteachings. It is the doctrines a man has been taught that carry him along\nto do things. \u201cAs a man thinketh, so is he.\u201d The man and his beliefs are\ninseparable.\u2014Joel 2:4. (The four kinds of horses of Zech. 6:1\u20108 seem to\nrefer to four companies of saved ones. Red, the Ancient Worthies; black,\nthe Little Flock; white, the Great Company; bay, the world of mankind.)\n\nAnd them that sat [on] UPON them.\u2014The total Protestant church membership.\n\nHaving breastplates of fire.\u2014Keeping the doctrine of hell\u2010fire well to the\nfront in their teachings.\n\nAnd of jacinth.\u2014\u201cThe hyacinthus of the Romans is invariably blue and\nlustrous. This description suggests the blue flame which issues between\nthe fire and the brimstone, represented as \u2018smoke\u2019 in verse 18.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd brimstone.\u2014Yes, indeed, plenty of brimstone went along with the hell\u2010\nfire.\u2014Rev. 14:10.\n\nAnd the heads.\u2014\u201cThe ancient and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet\nthat teaches lies, he is the tail.\u201d\u2014Isa. 9:15. \u201cIn a genus of serpents or\nophidian reptiles called _amphisboena_ the tail and head are equally\nobtuse, and the scales on the head so similar to those on the back as to\nrender it difficult to distinguish one extremity from the other. Hence\nthese reptiles have been supposed to have the power of creeping backwards\nor forwards with equal facility.\u201d (Cook.)\u2014Isa. 29:10\u201014; John 4:22.\n\nWere as the heads of lions.\u2014Able to swallow the most ridiculous and\nimpossible theories.\u20141 Chron. 12:8.\n\nAnd out of their mouths issued fire.\u2014Sermons full of hell\u2010fire.\n\nAnd smoke.\u2014See Rev. 9:18.\n\nAnd brimstone.\u2014O yes, surely; plenty of brimstone, to go with the hell\u2010\nfire.\n\n9:18. By these [three] PLAGUES was the third part of men.\u2014The Protestant\nthird of Christendom.\n\nKilled.\u2014Deprived of reason, manhood and dignity.\n\nBy the fire.\u2014The sermons full of hell\u2010fire.\n\nAnd [by] the smoke.\u2014Smoke is a symbol of confusion. The following is an\nextract from an article on the brain written by a well\u2010known physician and\nalienist:\n\n\u201cTo illustrate how effectually such conceptions served to block all\nprogress in the science of life we may quote one instance from a ponderous\nvolume in my library with the date 1618 on _Physiology and Anatomy_ by\nHilkiah Crooke, Physician and Professor on Anatomy and Chirurgery to His\nMajesty, James I. Speaking of the origin and growth of hair, he says: \u2018The\nimmediate matter of the haires is a sooty, thicke, and earthly vapour,\nwhich in the time of the third concoction (distillation) is elevated by\nthe strength of the action of naturall heate, and passeth through the\npores of the skin, which heate exiceateth or drieth this moysture of these\nsootie and thicke vapours, for the vapour being thicke, in his passage\nleaveth some part of it selfe, to wit, the grossest, in the very outlet,\nwhere it is impacted by a succeeding vapour arising where the former did,\nis protruded and thrust forward, so that they are wrought together in one\nbody. The straightness of the passages of the skin were through the matter\nof the haires is anoyded, formeth them into a small roundness, even as a\nwyre receyeth that proportion whereof the whole is, where through it is\ndrawne.\u2019 One great office of the hairs of the head, therefore, Crooke\nperceived to be to lead off \u2018the vapors which otherwise would choke and\nmake smoaky the braine,\u2019 though how hopelessly choked the brains of all\nbald heads hence would be he does not mention.\u201d A study of the foregoing\nleads to the conclusion that the various churches must have been founded\nby bald\u2010headed men, and the smoke being unable to find its way out through\ntheir scalps naturally had to come out of their mouths!\n\nAnd [by] the brimstone.\u2014Yes, indeed; plenty of brimstone.\n\nWhich issued out of their mouths.\u2014Especially when an evangelist firm is in\ntown looking for shekels.\n\n9:19. For [their power] THE POWER OF THE HORSES is in their\nmouth.\u2014Assuredly, assuredly; it certainly is not in the Scriptures.\n\nAnd in their tails.\u2014Followers, \u201cWorkers,\u201d class\u2010leaders.\u2014Isa. 9:15.\n\nFor their tails were like unto serpents.\u2014Bright enough to know better.\n\nAnd had heads.\u2014Wills of their own\u2014unlike the \u201cBeheaded\u201d saints (Rev.\n20:4.)\n\nAnd with them they do hurt.\u2014Damage the cause of Truth.\n\n9:20. And the rest of the men.\u2014Those ordinary \u201cgood fellows\u201d (and bad ones\ntoo), men of the world who had too much sense to swallow what is taught by\nany of the sects.\n\nWhich were not killed by these THEIR plagues.\u2014Who remained \u201cunconverted\u201d\nto the mass of errors masquerading in the name of religion.\n\nYet repented not of the works of their hands.\u2014Failed to turn their money,\nbrains and service over to the nominal church, but continued on in their\nown way.\n\nThat they should not worship devils.\u2014Joining, if they choose, the Masons,\nOdd Fellows and other secret organisations teaching a debased form of\nreligion.\u2014Lev. 17:7; Deut. 32:17; 1 Cor. 10:20.\n\nAnd idols of gold, and silver and [brass] COPPER.\u2014Having their affection\nset upon currency in hand and in the bank.\u2014Psa. 115:1\u20104; Dan. 5:22, 23.\n\nAnd stone, and of wood.\u2014Giving their attention to earthly affairs,\nimprovements in real estate, etc.\n\nWhich neither can see, nor hear, nor walk.\u2014But are more or less permanent,\ntangible and fixed.\n\n9:21. Neither repented they of their murders.\u2014Teaching hell\u2010fire keeps\nnobody from being a murderer or a slanderer.\u2014Rev. 21:8.\n\nNor their sorceries.\u2014Use of drugs, Greek. Teaching hell\u2010fire keeps nobody\nfrom being a drug fiend or pseudo\u2010philosopher.\u2014Rev. 21:8.\n\nNor of their [fornication] WICKEDNESS.\u2014Teaching hell\u2010fire keeps nobody\nfrom being a wicked man.\n\nNor of their thefts.\u2014Teaching hell\u2010fire keeps nobody from engaging in\n\u201chigh finance.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 10\u2014The True Reformation Woe\n\n\n10:1. And I saw another angel.\u2014\u201cThe Messenger of the Covenant,\u201d the Lord\nJesus.\u2014Mal. 3:1.\n\nCome down from Heaven.\u2014At the time of the Second Advent, Oct. 1874.\u2014Rev.\n3:20.\n\nClothed with a cloud.\u2014\u201c \u2018He cometh with clouds;\u2019 and while the clouds of\ntrouble are heavy and dark, when the mountains (kingdoms of this world)\nare trembling and falling, and the earth (organized society) is being\nshaken, disintegrated, melted, some will begin to realize what we now\nproclaim as already at hand\u2014that Jehovah\u2019s Anointed is taking to Himself\nHis great power and beginning His work of laying justice to the line and\nrighteousness to the plummet. (Isa. 28:17.)\u201d\u2014B. 138.\n\nAnd [a rainbow was] THE HAIR upon His head, and His face was as it were\nthe sun, and His feet as pillars of fire.\u2014See Rev. 1:14\u201016; 7:2; 18:1.\n\n10:2. And [He had] HAVING in His hand.\u2014In His power, given to Him by the\nFather.\u2014Rev. 5:7, 5.\n\nA little book open.\u2014The Present Truth message.\u2014C. 89.\n\nAnd He set His right foot.\u2014Exerted the strongest power of restraint.\n\nUpon the sea.\u2014The masses not under religious control, who, without the\nLord\u2019s control of the situation, would have long since swallowed up the\npresent order of things.\u2014Rev. 7:1\u20103; Luke 21:25; Psa. 46:2, 3.\n\nAnd His left foot on the earth.\u2014\u201cThroughout the Scriptures, earth, when\nused symbolically, represents society; seas, the restless, turbulent,\ndissatisfied masses of the world.\u201d\u2014A. 318.\n\n10:3. And cried with a loud voice.\u2014Pastor Russell was the voice used.\u2014Rev.\n7:2.\n\nAs when a lion roareth.\u2014Symbolical of Justice.\u2014Rev. 4:7; Amos 3:8.\n\nAnd when.\u2014In 1881 A. D.\n\nHe had cried.\u2014With the first great cry, \u201c_Food for Thinking Christians_,\u201d\n1,400,000 copies given away, _free_.\n\nSeven thunders.\u2014Seven volumes of \u201cSTUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES.\u201d\u2014Rev. 8:5.\n\nUttered their voices.\u2014Were foreseen as necessary to the complete statement\nof the Plan, and the fulfillment of this and other Scriptures.\n\n10:4. And [when] WHATSOEVER the seven thunders had uttered [their voices],\nI.\u2014Pastor Russell as a representative of the John class.\n\nWas about to write.\u2014Intended to put on paper at once.\n\nAnd I heard a voice from Heaven.\u2014The guidance of the Heavenly Father,\ndirecting and overruling, knowing that the results would be better if the\ninterest of His little ones were sustained by expectancy throughout the\nwhole time of Harvest, rather than to give them all the light at\nonce.\u2014John 16:12.\n\nSaying [unto me], Seal up [those] WHAT things [which] SOEVER the seven\nthunders uttered.\u2014Do not immediately disclose their full contents.\u2014Dan.\n8:26; 12:4, 9.\n\nAnd write them not.\u2014Observe how the Lord retarded the publications: Vol. I\nwas published in 1886. \u201cIn sending forth this first volume of the\nMILLENNIAL DAWN, it is but proper that we apologize to the many friends\nwho have waited for it so patiently since promised.\u201d (A. 3.) Volume II was\npublished in 1889, and III in 1891. \u201cSome have urged greater haste in the\nwriting and publishing of the several volumes of this series, and, to a\nlarge extent, I have shared the same feelings of impatience; but my\nobservations of the Lord\u2019s dealings and leadings and unfoldings of His\nPlan are gradually convincing me that He has not shared our impatience.\nIndeed, I can clearly trace His hand in some of the hindrances encountered\nand can realize by the delay I have been enabled to grasp the subjects\nmore thoroughly, and to present them more fully, than if the work had been\nhastened more. Not only has this delay worked for my good and yours, but\nin another way also. It has afforded time for a more thorough digestion of\nthe truths of each volume, and thereby has given to the faithful student\nthe very necessary preparation for that which was to follow. And not only\nso, but it has also given opportunity for practicing the lessons learned,\nand for exercising the talents of each in spreading the advancing light\nbefore others of God\u2019s saints.\u201d (C. 12.) Volume IV was published in 1897,\nV in 1899, VI in 1904 and VII in 1917. This makes a total lapse of 36\nyears from the publication of _FOOD FOR THINKING CHRISTIANS_ to the last\nvolume of the _SCRIPTURE STUDIES_. Meantime the Harvest work grew to a\nmovement of vast proportions; and Volume VII was delayed.\n\n10:5. And the angel which I saw.\u2014The Lord Jesus, since 1874.\u2014Rev. 10:1.\n\nStand upon the sea and upon the earth.\u2014In control of the masses not under\nreligious restraint as well as order\u2010loving society.\n\nLifted up His RIGHT hand to Heaven.\u2014The seventh angel was in that hand\nwhen He did so.\u2014Rev. 1:16, 20.\n\n10:6. And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever.\u2014By Jehovah, His\nFather and our Father, His God and our God.\u2014John 20:17.\n\nWho created Heaven, and the things that therein are.\u2014\u201cThe heavens declare\nthe glory of God.\u201d\u2014Psa. 19:1\u20106; Neh. 9:6; Rev. 4:11; 14:7.\n\nAnd the earth, and the things that therein are, [and the sea, and the\nthings which are therein].\u2014\u201cWhen the morning stars sang together, and all\nthe sons of God shouted for joy.\u201d\u2014Job 38, 39, 40 and 41 chapters.\n\nThat there [should be] IS time no longer.\u2014\u201cThere shall be no further\ndelay.\u201d\u2014Weym.\n\n10:7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.\u2014Pastor Russell\nwas the seventh angel.\u2014Rev. 3:14.\n\nWhen he shall begin to sound.\u2014In the autumn of 1881, at which time _FOOD\nFOR THINKING CHRISTIANS_ was circulated, and the General Call ceased.\u2014Rev.\n11:15.\n\nThe mystery of God [should be] WAS finished.\u2014\u201cThe great unfolding of the\nDivine mystery we are expressly told was reserved until the close of the\nGospel Age.\u201d (Z. \u201997\u2010255.) \u201cThe Plan ceases to be a mystery, because there\nis no further object in perpetuating its secrecy. The greatness of the\nmystery, so long kept secret, and the wonderful grace bestowed on those\ncalled to fellowship in this mystery (Eph. 3:9), suggest to us that the\nwork to follow its completion must be an immense work, worthy of such\ngreat preparations. What may we not expect in blessings upon the world,\nwhen the veil of mystery is withdrawn and the showers of blessing descend!\nIt is this for which the whole creation groans and travails in pain\ntogether until now, waiting for the completion of this mystery, for the\nmanifestation of the Sons of God, the promised \u2018Seed\u2019 in whom they shall\nall be blessed.\u2014Rom. 8:19, 21, 22.\u201d (A. 87.) \u201cWhile the door stands open,\nit indicates that any believer who is anxious to enter and ready to comply\nwith the conditions may yet do so, even though the general \u2018call\u2019 or\ninvitation to enter is no longer sent out. The opportunity to labor and\nsacrifice has not yet closed though the general call ceased in 1881.\u201d\u2014C.\n213.\n\nAs He hath declared to His servants.\u2014The Harvest Workers.\n\nAND the Prophets.\u2014Daniel (12:4\u201012) and Habakkuk (2:1\u20103).\u2014Rev. 1:1.\n\n10:8. And the Voice which I heard from Heaven.\u2014The Heavenly Father\u2019s\nvoice.\u2014Rev. 10:4.\n\nSpake unto me again.\u2014By His Holy Spirit.\n\nAnd said.\u2014Through the Bible, His Word, His Voice.\n\nGo take the little book.\u2014\u201cStudy to show thyself approved unto God, a\nworkman that needeth not to be ashamed.\u201d\u20142 Tim. 2:15.\n\nWhich is open in the hand of the angel.\u2014The Lord Jesus. Rev. 10:1, 5.\n\nWhich standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.\u2014See Rev. 10:2, 5.\n\n10:9. And I went unto the angel.\u2014\u201cIn coming out of bondage to human\ntraditions, creeds, systems and errors, we are coming directly to our\nLord, to be taught and fed by Him, to be strengthened and perfected to do\nHis pleasure, and to stand, and not fall with Babylon.\u201d\u2014C. 167.\n\nAnd said unto Him.\u2014By my act in obeying His command.\u2014Rev. 18:4.\n\nGive me the little book.\u2014Take me into Your confidence; give me Your Holy\nSpirit; show me, as promised, the \u201cthings to come.\u201d\u2014John 16:13.\n\nAnd He said unto me, Take it, and eat it up.\u2014\u201cIt is absolutely useless for\nus to pray Lord, Lord, give us the Spirit, if we neglect the Word of Truth\nwhich that Spirit has supplied for out filling.\u201d\u2014E. _245_, 225; Ezek. 2:8.\n\nAnd it shall make thy belly bitter.\u2014Lead to self\u2010sacrifice, with its\nattendant sufferings, but create an appetite for more. \u201cThe after effects\nare always more or less blending of the bitterness of persecution with the\nsweetness.\u201d\u2014C. 89; Ezek. 2:10; 3:14; Dan. 8:27.\n\nBut it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.\u2014\u201cO the blessedness.\u201d\u2014Dan.\n12:12; Psa. 19:10; 119:103.\n\n10:10. And I took the little book out of the angel\u2019s hand and ate it\nup.\u2014\u201cThy words were found and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the\njoy and rejoicing of mine heart.\u201d\u2014Jer. 15:16.\n\nAnd it was in my mouth sweet as honey.\u2014\u201cSo I opened my mouth, and He\ncaused me to eat that roll. And it was in my mouth as honey for\nsweetness.\u201d\u2014Ezek. 3:2, 3.\n\nAnd as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was [bitter] FILLED.\u2014\u201cIt satisfies\nmy longings as nothing else could do.\u201d\n\n10:11. And [He said] THEY SAY unto me.\u2014The Scriptures do the saying.\n\nThou must prophesy again.\u2014Continue to proclaim the Message of Truth\nDivine.\n\nBefore many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.\u2014Until it has\nbeen fully testified to all.\u20141 Tim. 2:6. The concluding word of this\nScripture suggests that the last witness of the church in the flesh is,\nlike their Lord\u2019s as alleged malefactors, before earth\u2019s rulers.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 11\u2014The Time Of The End\n\n\n11:1. And there was given me.\u2014The John class in the Time of the End.\n\nA reed like unto a rod.\u2014The Lord\u2019s Word is both a rod to lean upon, (Isa.\n11:4) and a reed with which to measure. (Jer. 1:11\u201012). The word here\ntendered \u201crod\u201d is rendered \u201cstaff\u201d in Matt. 10:10; Heb. 11:21.\n\n[And the angel stood, saying], HE SAITH.\u2014It is the \u201creed\u201d or \u201crod\u201d itself,\nthe Divine Word, that does the saying.\n\nRise.\u2014\u201cAt the exact \u2018time appointed,\u2019 1799, the end of the 1260 days, the\npower of the Man of Sin, the great oppressor of the Church, was broken,\nand his dominion taken away. With one stroke of His mighty hand, God there\nstruck off Zion\u2019s fetters, and bade the oppressed go free. And forth came,\nand are coming, the \u2018Sanctuary\u2019 class, the \u2018holy people,\u2019 weak, and halt,\nand lame, and almost naked, and blind, from the dungeon darkness and filth\nand misery of papal bondage. Poor souls! they had been trying to serve God\nfaithfully in the very midst of the lurid flames of persecution, clinging\nto the cross of Christ when almost every other truth had been swept away,\nand courageously endeavoring to emancipate God\u2019s \u2018Two Witnesses\u2019 (the Old\nand New Testaments), which had so long been bound, and which had\nprophesied only under the sackcloth of dead languages.\u201d\u2014C. 122.\n\nAnd measure the Temple of God.\u2014\u201cThat symbolic Temple which is The Christ.\u201d\n(T. 70.) \u201cThe mention of worshippers proves that the measuring is\nsymbolical. To \u2018_measure_\u2019 is to separate for sacred purposes; what is\nexcluded from the measurement is, accordingly, more or less mingled with\nevil. Hence, in this place, what is measured\u2014the true believer typified\u2014is\nto be exempted from the Judgments in which what is _not_ measured (ver. 2)\nis involved.\u201d (Cook). \u201cIf the direction be understood figuratively, as\napplicable to the Christian Church, the work to be done would be to obtain\nan exact estimate or measurement of what the true Church was\u2014as\ndistinguished from all other bodies of men, and as constituted, and\nappointed, by the direction of God; such a measurement that its\ncharacteristics could be made known; that a church could be organized\naccording to this, and that the accurate description could be transmitted\nto future times.\u201d (Barnes.)\u2014Ezek. 40:3; Rev. 21:15.\n\nAnd the altar.\u2014The Golden Altar, within the \u201cHoly\u201d, the true Church, as\nsacrificers.\u2014Ex. 30:1\u201010.\n\nAnd them that worship therein.\u2014The several volumes of _Scripture Studies_\nand the booklet _Tabernacle Shadows_ are devoted to the \u201cmeasurements\u201d\nherein prophesied.\n\n11:2. But the court which is [without] WITHIN the Temple leave out.\u2014The\ncourt here represents the same thing as is represented in the Court of the\nTabernacle in the wilderness, the condition of progression toward complete\nJustification.\n\nAnd measure it not.\u2014Devote all attention to the higher privileges of the\n\u201cHoly\u201d. The \u201cCourt\u201d was merely provided as a proper approach to the\n\u201cHoly\u201d. Acceptance of Christ as one\u2019s Savior, appreciation of His work at\nCalvary, and washing one\u2019s self in the water of the Word as represented\nrespectively by the First Gate, Brazen Altar, and Laver of the \u201cCourt\u201d are\nnot the things to which we are particularly invited; but consecration to\nGod\u2019s will, illumination by His Spirit, appropriation of His promises and\nsacrifice of our all, acceptable to the Father through our great High\nPriest, represented respectively by the Second Gate or Door, the\nCandlestick, Table of Shew\u2010bread and Golden Altar of the \u201cHoly\u201d, are the\nthings to which we were called: so that we might pass the Third Gate or\nVeil, actual death of the body, and finally become a part of The Christ,\nrepresented by the Ark of the Covenant, of which our Father is the Head.\n\nFor it is given ALSO unto the Gentiles.\u2014With the deliverance of the Little\nFlock, the condition represented by the \u201cHoly\u201d ceases. This leaves the\nGreat Company still in the \u201cCourt\u201d and the special objects of Gentile\nwrath as their kingdoms fall into ruin. \u201cBeing denied the liberty accorded\nto the Priests, these will have merely the standing of justification,\nwhich, if they maintain, will constitute them worthy of eternal life. But\nthat life will not be human life, because they gave that up in order to\nbecome Priests. Their failure puts them out of the Holy condition back\ninto the Court condition.\u201d (Z. \u201911\u201022.)\n\n\u201cAfter the establishment of Messiah\u2019s Kingdom, this distinction between\nthe Church proper, joint\u2010heirs with Christ, and the larger company of\nantitypical Levites, will be perpetual, and the services of the two will\nbe different. The former will be a Priesthood corresponding to that of\nMelchizedek\u2014a Priest upon His Throne. The work of the latter will\ncorrespond more to that accomplished by the Levites; namely, teaching the\npeople, etc., as servants of the Priests, from whom they will receive\ntheir directions.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u201079.\n\nAnd the Holy City.\u2014The embryo Kingdom of God.\n\nShall they tread under foot.\u2014\u201cThe Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence,\nand the violent take it by force.\u201d\u2014Matt. 11:12.\n\nForty and two months.\u20141260 years from papacy\u2019s establishment as a temporal\npower, 539 A. D. to 1799 A. D.\u2014B. 91, 310; C. 50, 64; Dan. 7:25; 12:7;\nRev. 12:6, 14; 13:5; Jas. 5:17.\n\n11:3. And I will give power unto My Two Witnesses.\u2014\u201cThe Lord refers to the\nOld and New Testament Scriptures, and faithfully they have borne their\ntestimony to every nation.\u201d\u2014D. 258.\n\nAnd they shall prophesy.\u2014Teach.\n\nA thousand, two hundred and three score days.\u20141260 years, from A. D. 539\nto 1799.\n\nClothed in sackcloth.\u2014\u201cKept covered in dead languages.\u201d\u2014C. 50.\n\n11:4. These are the Two Olive Trees.\u2014Sources of the oil, the holy\nSpirit.\u2014Zech. 4:1\u20106; Rom. 11:17.\n\nAnd the Two Candlesticks.\u2014\u201cThe _light_ of the world, during all the\ndarkness of the past.\u201d\u2014D. 652.\n\nStanding before the [God] LORD of the earth.\u2014Jehovah. \u201cThe earth is the\nLord\u2019s.\u201d\u2014Psa. 24:1.\n\n11:5. And if any man will hurt them.\u2014\u201cAnd if any man _desireth_ to hurt\nthem. The present tense here points to the continued enmity of the world\nto the Church, during the entire course of the Witnesses\u2019\ntestimony.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nFire proceedeth out of their mouth.\u2014\u201cI will make My words in thy mouth\nfire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.\u201d\u2014Jer. 5:14.\n\nAnd devoureth their enemies.\u2014\u201cHistory supplies the illustrations\u2014the fire\nthat consumed the opponents of Moses (Num. 16:28, 35), and that which came\ndown at the word of Elijah. (2 Kings 1:10, 12)\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be\nkilled.\u2014\u201cTherefore have I hewed them by the Prophets; and I have slain\nthem by the words of My mouth.\u201d\u2014Hos. 6:5.\n\n11:6. These have power to shut heaven.\u2014The literal heavens and the\nspiritual heavens.\u20141 Ki. 17:1.\n\nThat it rain not.\u2014That there be no literal showers, or spiritual showers\nof blessings.\n\nIn the days of their prophecy.\u2014Literally in the three and one half years\nin Elijah\u2019s day in which there was no rain (James 5:17) and spiritually in\nthe three and one half times, or 1260 years, from A. D. 539 to 1799 in\nwhich the showers of blessing were withheld from the world.\u2014Rev. 2:20.\n\nAnd have power over waters.\u2014Literal and symbolic.\n\nTo turn them into blood.\u2014Literally as when Moses turned the waters of\nEgypt into blood (Exodus 7:21.) Symbolically during this Harvest time in\nwhich the Heavenly Harvest truths have become \u201cbloody\u201d, repulsive,\nabhorrent, symbolizing death where they should be received as a\nblessing.\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010279.\n\n[And] to smite the earth with all plagues.\u2014Literal and symbolic.\n\nAs often as they will.\u2014Literally in the plagues which Moses poured out\nupon the Egyptians (Exodus 7 to 11.) Symbolically in the spiritual\nplagues, the seven last upon Christendom.\u2014Rev. 16.\n\n11:7. And when they shall have finished their testimony.\u2014In the dead\nlanguages, about the time of the end of papacy\u2019s power to persecute.\n\nThe beast that THEN ascendeth out of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.\u2014The\ngovernment without a foundation; revolutionary France during the \u201cReign of\nTerror.\u201d\n\nShall make war against them.\u2014\u201cIn 1793 a decree passed the French Assembly\nforbidding the Bible; and under that decree the Bibles were gathered and\nburned, every possible mark of contempt was heaped upon them.\u201d\u2014Smith.\n\nAnd shall overcome them, and kill them.\u2014\u201cAll the institutions of the Bible\nwere abolished; the weekly rest day was blotted out, and every tenth day\nsubstituted for mirth and profanity. Baptism and the communion were\nabolished. The being of God was denied, and death proclaimed an eternal\nsleep. The Goddess of Reason, in the person of a vile woman, was set up,\nand publicly worshipped.\u201d\u2014Smith.\n\n11:8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street.\u2014France.\n\nOf the great city.\u2014Christendom, the Old Roman Empire.\u2014Rev. 14:8; 16:19;\n17:9, 18; 18:2, 10, 16, 18, 19, 21.\n\nWhich spiritually is called Sodom.\u2014\u201c \u2018Remember Lot\u2019s wife!\u2019 is our Lord\u2019s\npointed warning. How intensely forceful it is as a caution to God\u2019s people\nhere, in the close of the Gospel Age. When we learn that Babylon is\ndoomed, and hear the Lord\u2019s message, \u2018Come out of her My people that ye be\nnot partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues,\u2019 it is\nindeed like the voice of the messengers who hastened Lot and his family\nout of Sodom, saying, \u2018Stay not in all the plain; escape for thy life;\nescape to the mountain lest thou be consumed; look not behind thee.\u2019 (Gen.\n19:17). Christendom is \u2018that great city [Babylon] which spiritually is\ncalled Sodom.\u2019 \u201d\u2014D. 607, 608; Rev. 17:5; Isa. 1:9, 10; 3:8, 9; Jer. 23:14;\nEzek. 16:48, 41.\n\nAnd Egypt.\u2014\u201cEgypt is recognized as a symbol or type of the world of\nmankind, full of vain philosophies, but ignorant of the true Light.\u201d\u2014C.\n315; Ezek. 23:3, 4, 8, 27.\n\nWhere also [our] THE Lord was crucified.\u2014Catholic France, through its\nconnection with the papacy, is a part of the old Roman Empire, in another\npart of which our Lord was slain. In another aspect France is identified\nwith the death of the Lord. Anything done to the least of one of the\nLord\u2019s little ones is counted as done to Himself. When Saul of Tarsus\npersecuted the Lord\u2019s saints, the One who met him in the way said, \u201cI am\nJesus whom thou persecutest.\u201d (Acts 9:4, 5; 22:7, 8; 26:14, 15.) A plot\nwas laid in France to destroy all the Protestants; and on Aug. 24, 1572,\nsixty thousand were murdered, and the streets of Paris literally ran with\nblood. The Protestants were in Paris under a solemn oath of safety, to\ncelebrate the marriage of the king of Navarre. Admiral Coligny, a\nProtestant of great ability and prominence, was basely murdered in his own\nhouse, and his head was sent to his holiness, the Pope, as proof that he\nwas really dead. The \u201cHoly Father of Fathers\u201d, the \u201cVicar of Christ\u201d, the\n\u201cChief Pastor and Teacher\u201d, was so pleased that \u201cbells were rung, and guns\nwere fired, bonfires were set ablaze; and Gregory XIII, attended by\ncardinals, archbishops, bishops, and a great throng of prelates, marched\nin procession. A _Te Deum_ was chanted, and the Pope commissioned the\npainter Vasari to paint the scene of the massacre, and employed an artist\nto engrave a medal commemorative of the event. The preachers in Rome\ndelivered eloquent orations, and a messenger carried a golden rose to\nCharles as a present from the Pope.\u201d\u2014Coffin.\n\n11:9. And they of the people.\u2014The Protestant people.\n\nAnd kindreds and tongues and nations.\u2014Of other parts of Europe.\n\n[Shall] see their dead [bodies] BODY.\u2014\u201cAs if though silenced in death they\ncontinued witnesses still.\u201d (Cook.) Take note of the horrible effect upon\nFrance of their effort to exterminate the Scriptures. \u201cThe more deeply the\nFrench Revolution is considered, the more manifest is its preeminence\nabove all the strange and terrible things that have come to pass on this\nearth. Every ancient institution and every time honored custom disappeared\nin a moment. The whole social and political system went down before the\nfirst stroke. Monarchy, nobility and church were swept away almost without\nresistance. The good things of this world,\u2014birth, rank, wealth, fine\nclothes and elegant manners,\u2014became worldly perils, and worldly\ndisadvantages. The people waged a war of such extermination with\neverything established, as to abolish the common forms of address and\nsalutation, and the common mode of reckoning time, abhorred \u2018you\u2019 as a\nsin, and shrank from \u2018monsieur\u2019 as an abomination, turned the weeks into\ndecades, and would know the old months no more. The demolished halls of\nthe aristocracy, the rifled sepulchres of royalty, the decapitated king\nand queen, the little dauphin so sadly done to death, the beggared\nprinces, the slaughtered priests and nobles, the sovereign guillotine, the\nrepublican marriages, the Meudon tannery, the couples tied together and\nthrown into the Loire, and the gloves made of men\u2019s and women\u2019s skins:\nthese things are most horrible.\u201d (T. H. Gill, _The Papal Drama_.)\u2014D. 537.\n\nThree days and an half.\u2014See Rev. 11:11.\n\nAnd [shall not] suffer NOT their dead bodies to be put in [graves] A\nGRAVE.\u2014On the contrary, this very attempt \u201cserved to arouse Christians\neverywhere to put forth new exertions in behalf of the Bible.\u201d\u2014Smith.\n\n11:10. And they that dwell upon the earth.\u2014The people of France, then\ninfidels, without any hopes except for the present poor earth\u2010life.\n\n[Shall] rejoice over them, and make merry.\u2014Literally fulfilled when the\nAssembly proscribed the Scriptures.\n\nAnd [shall] send gifts one to another.\u2014Literally fulfilled, the gifts\nbeing expressions of joy over the sudden \u201cliberty,\u201d \u201ca custom usual in\ntimes of festivity.\u201d\u2014Neh. 8:10, 12; Esth. 9:19, 22.\u2014Cook.\n\nBecause these Two Prophets tormented.\u2014By continuing to proclaim the coming\nReign of Christ and His Church.\n\nThem that dwelt on the earth.\u2014The classes whose hopes and destinies are\nearthly.\n\n11:11. And after three days and an half.\u2014Three years and one half.\n\nThe Spirit of life from God entered into Them.\u2014In a symbolic sense They\nwere \u201craised from the dead.\u201d\u2014Ezek. 37:5, 9, 10, 14.\n\nAnd They stood upon Their feet.\u2014See Ezek. 37:10. \u201cIn 1793, a decree passed\nthe French Assembly suppressing the Bible. Just three years after, a\nresolution was introduced into the Assembly superseding the decree, and\ngiving toleration to the Scriptures. That resolution lay on the table six\nmonths, when it was taken up, and passed without a dissenting vote. Thus,\nin just three years and a half, the Witnesses \u2018stood upon their\nfeet.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Smith.\n\nAnd great fear fell upon them which saw them.\u2014\u201cNothing but the appalling\nresults of the rejection of the Bible, could have induced France to take\nher hands off these Witnesses.\u201d (Smith.) \u201cIn the light of the foretold\ncharacter of coming events of this battle, we may regard the French\nRevolution as only the rumbling of distant thunder, giving warning of an\napproaching storm; as a slight tremor preceding the general earthquake\nshock; as the premonitory click of the great clock of the ages, which\ngives notice to those already awake that the wheels are in motion, and\nthat shortly it will strike the midnight hour which will end the present\norder of affairs and usher in a new order,\u2014the Year of Jubilee, with its\nattendant commotion and changes of possession.\u201d\u2014D. 535.\n\nIn comments on Rev. 3:14, reasons are given for anticipating the\ndeliverance of the Little Flock about Passover, 1918 [possibly on the\n_Passover day_, as a result of activities by the tribe of Dan. (Jer.\n8:16.)] There we noted the Lord\u2019s use of the half\u2010week principle. In this\nprophecy, we have the same principle. The French Revolution is Divinely\nprovided as a picture of events now at hand, and we therefore expect three\nand a half years of proscription of the Truth, from the spring of 1918 to\nthe fall of 1921. This will give the Great Company splendid opportunities\nfor martyrdom and allow another three and a half years, to the spring of\n1925, for the world to think the matter over, by which time, doubtless,\nthey will be quite ready to listen to the voice that speaketh from\nHeaven.\u2014Heb. 12:19.\n\n11:12. And they heard a great voice from Heaven.\u2014The voice last referred\nto\u2014the Lord Jesus Himself, the \u201cvoice,\u201d the \u201cWord,\u201d of the Heavenly\nFather.\n\nSaying unto them, Come up hither.\u2014\u201cThe Two Witnesses of God, the Old and\nNew Testaments, ascended to heaven, the place of honor and power, as the\nScriptures symbolically represent the matter.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010199.\n\nAnd they ascended up to heaven.\u2014\u201cThe British and Foreign Bible Society\n(which has distributed 230,000,000 copies of the Bible) was established in\n1803; the New York Bible Society in 1804; the Berlin\u2010Prussian Bible\nSociety in 1805; the Philadelphia Bible Society in 1808; and the American\nBible Society (127,000,000 copies distributed) in 1817. Bibles by the\nmillion, in over 300 languages, are published yearly and sold at low\nprices, and many thousands are given away to the poor. It is difficult to\nestimate the wide influence of this work. Its quiet teaching is the\ngreatest of all levelers and equalizers.\u201d\u2014C. 51.\n\nIn a cloud.\u2014In a time of trouble, the French Revolution. The exaltation\nwhich the Word of God received as a result of the French Revolution is as\nnothing compared with the exaltation which awaits it after the \u201cTime of\nTrouble such as was not since there was a nation.\u201d\n\nAnd their enemies beheld them.\u2014As the enemies of the Word of God were\ncompelled by the stern logic of events to consent to its restoration in\nthe French time of trouble, so the Lord\u2019s enemies, and the enemies of His\nChurch, will be compelled to submit to the Reign of Truth when their\nforces have been exhausted in the Battle of the great Day of God\nAlmighty.\u2014Luke 19:27; Isa. 54:11\u201017.\n\n11:13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake.\u2014\u201cIn the symbolic\nlanguage of Revelation, the French Revolution was indeed a \u2018great\nearthquake\u2019\u2014a social shock so great that all \u2018Christendom\u2019 trembled until\nit was over; and that terrible and sudden outburst of a single nation\u2019s\nwrath, only a century ago, may give some idea of the fury of the coming\nstorm, when the wrath of all the angry nations will burst the bands of law\nand order and cause a reign of universal anarchy. In fact, the French\nRevolution seems referred to by our Lord in His Revelation to John on\nPatmos as a prelude to, and an illustration of, the great crisis now\napproaching.\u201d\u2014D. 531.\n\nThe French Revolution lasted ten and a half years, from June 17th, 1789,\nwhen the Assembly began its reign, until Napoleon seized the government\nand caused himself to be appointed First Consul, November 9th, 1799. This\ncoincides well with the thought previously expressed (Rev. 7:3) that all\nphases of Babylon will not be disposed of until about ten and a half years\nfrom the fall of 1914. The Assembly was in control from the first, but did\nnot execute the king until January 21st, 1793, three years and one\u2010half\nfrom the time the trouble started. The Assembly continued in control until\nJune 25th, 1795, six years from the time the trouble began, when the\ngovernment was intrusted to five persons under the name of the Directory.\nIt was on October 4th of the same year that Napoleon cleared the streets\nof Paris of the mobs, and from that point onward his star began to rise.\nSome interesting developments in connection with the setting up of the\nKingdom may occur in 1920, six years after the great Time of Trouble\nbegan. It would not be strange if this were so, when we recall that after\nforty years wandering in the wilderness the Israelites came into\npossession of the land of Canaan after a further six years. As these\nmatters are still future we can but wait to see. We anticipate that the\n\u201cearthquake\u201d will occur early in 1918, and that the \u201cfire\u201d will come in\nthe fall of 1920.\u20141 Kings 19:11, 12; Z. \u201998\u2010207, 208.\n\nAnd the tenth part of the city fell.\u2014The French part of Christendom; one\nof the ten toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar; one of the ten horns\nof Daniel\u2019s beast and John\u2019s dragon.\u2014Dan. 2:41\u201043; 7:24; Rev. 12:3.\n\nAnd in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand.\u2014\u201cAnd by the\nearthquake were destroyed seven thousand names of men.\u201d (Diaglott.)\n\u201cFrance made war, in her revolution of 1793\u201098, on all titles of nobility.\nIt is said by those who have examined the French records, that just seven\nthousand titles of men were abolished in that revolution.\u201d\u2014Smith.\n\nAnd the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of\nHeaven.\u2014\u201cTheir God\u2010dishonoring and Heaven\u2010defying work filled France with\nsuch scenes of blood, carnage, and horror, as made even the infidels\nthemselves tremble, and stand aghast; and the \u2018remnant\u2019 that escaped the\nhorrors of that hour \u2018gave glory to God\u2019\u2014not willingly, but the God of\nHeaven caused this \u2018wrath of man to praise Him,\u2019 by causing all the world\nto see that those who make war on Heaven make graves for themselves; thus\nglory redounded to God by the very means that wicked men employed to\ntarnish that glory. For the statistics and many of the foregoing thoughts\non the Two Witnesses, we are indebted to an exposition of the subject of\nThe Two Witnesses, by the late George Storrs.\u201d (Smith.) \u201cAnd here I\ngratefully mention assistance rendered by Brothers George Stetson and\nGeorge Storrs, the latter the Editor of _The Bible Examiner_, both now\ndeceased. The study of the Word of God with these dear brethren led step\nby step into greener pastures and brighter hopes for the world.\u201d\u2014Pastor\nRussell\u2019s Autobiography. Z. \u201916\u2010170.\n\n11:14. The second woe is past.\u2014In the narrative of Chapter XI are briefly\nsummed up the three most important events of the Time of the End. Between\nthe French Revolution and the great Time of Trouble occurs a most\nsignificant event, which leads up to and is the direct cause of the great\nTime of Trouble. That event is the second woe. It is described in detail\nin Rev. 9:14\u201021. But for this the great Time of Trouble would never have\nbeen necessary (Mal. 4:6); but it is necessary now, as necessary as was\nthe Flood in Noah\u2019s day, and for the same reason\u2014to rid the earth of the\nprogeny of the evil spirits, the \u201cabominations of the earth.\u201d\u2014Rev. 17:5;\n9:13.\n\nAnd, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.\u2014The third woe is the Reign of\nthe Lord begun, with its attendant upsetting of the present order. The\nwoes are visited upon those interested in maintaining the present order of\nthings, who would like to retain indefinitely the advantages they have\nobtained. \u201cThe battle of this great Day of God Almighty will be the\ngreatest revolution the world has ever seen. Behold, how, even now, the\nsearchlight of general intelligence is discovering the secret springs of\npolitical intrigue, financial policies, religious claims, etc., and how\nall are brought to the bar of judgment, and by men, as well as by God,\ndeclared right or wrong as judged by the teachings of the Word of God.\u201d\u2014D.\n541.\n\n11:15. And the seventh angel.\u2014Pastor Russell. See Rev. 3:14; 10:7.\n\nSounded.\u2014\u201cWe find the \u2018_shout_,\u2019 the \u2018_voice of the Archangel_\u2019 and \u2018_the\ntrump of God_\u2019 all symbols, and now in process of fulfillment.\u201d (B. 149,\n197.) \u201cThe \u2018great trumpet\u2019 we understand to be the antitypical \u2018trumpet of\nJubilee,\u2019 as symbolic as the preceding six, none of which ever made any\nliteral sound. It has been symbolically sounding since October, 1874, and\nwill continue to the end of the Millennium.\u201d\u2014D. 601; Rev. 10:7.\n\nAnd there were great voices in heaven.\u2014\u201cThese voices have been uttered,\nand to some extent heard, in the symbolic heavens, the nominal church. For\nsome years past a \u2018volunteer work\u2019 has been steadily progressing amongst\nthe brethren\u2014the work of rendering assistance to the members of the\nHousehold of Faith still in Babylon, still in darkness respecting the\nLord, His true Character, His true Plan, and respecting the nearness of\nHis Kingdom.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u2010118.\n\nSaying, The [kingdoms] KINGDOM of this world [are] IS become the\n[kingdoms] KINGDOM of our Lord, and of His Christ.\u2014\u201cThe volunteer matter\nprepared for this present year (the issues of our journal for February 15\nand March 15) had already been prepared before we thought of how\nwonderfully this year\u2019s distribution will agree with the declaration of\nour text. Here will be a million voices proclaiming throughout the nominal\nChurch (symbolic heavens) the great message of this present time; namely,\nthe Second Presence of our Lord as the reaper of the Harvest of the Gospel\nAge, gathering the \u2018wheat\u2019 into the \u2018garner,\u2019 destroying the tares (as\ntares\u2014not as human beings) and establishing His glorious Kingdom upon a\nfirm foundation of righteousness and equity, for the blessing of every\ncreature.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u2010119.\n\nAnd He shall reign for ever and ever. AMEN.\u2014See Rev. 5:13; Dan. 2:44;\n7:14, 18, 27.\n\n11:16. And the [four and] twenty\u2010FOUR elders.\u2014The prophecies pertaining to\nthe Kingdom of God.\u2014Rev. 4:10.\n\nWhich [sat] SIT before God on their seats.\u2014Rev. 4:4.\n\nFell upon their faces, and worshipped God.\u2014Rev. 4:10.\n\n11:17. Saying, We give thee thanks.\u2014See Rev. 5:11\u201013.\n\nO Lord God Almighty.\u2014\u201cRepresented in Christ\u2014\u2018All things are _of_ the\nFather,\u2019 and \u2018all things are _by_ the Son,\u2019 His honored\nRepresentative.\u201d\u2014D. 624.\n\nWhich art, and wast, and [art to come].\u2014See Rev. 1:4. He is not to come.\nHe _has_ come.\n\nBecause Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.\u2014\u201c \u2018Thy\nGod reigneth!\u2019 The oft\u2010repeated prayer of the Church has been answered:\nthe Kingdom of God has indeed come. The dead in Christ are even now risen\nand exalted with our Lord and Head. And the \u2018feet\u2019 members of the Body of\nChrist, who still tarry in the flesh, catching the inspiration of the\nglorified throng who have already ascended into the Mount (Kingdom) of\nGod, reflect a measure of that transcendent glory, as did Moses when he\ncame down from Mount Sinai.\u201d (C. 301.) \u201cIn describing the events under the\nSeventh Trumpet, this order is observed:\u2014(1) the power is taken by the\nLord as King of Earth, and His Reign begun; (2) as a consequence the great\njudgment\u2010trouble comes upon the world.\u201d\u2014D. 622; Rev. 19:6; Psa. 99:1.\n\n11:18. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come.\u2014\u201cAlthough they\nare called Christian nations, they have not received the Spirit of the\nLord; they have not received the spirit of meekness, gentleness, long\u2010\nsuffering, brotherly kindness and love, the fruits of the Holy Spirit; but\non the contrary, the spirit which St. Paul says consists of hatred, wrath,\nstrife, murder\u2014works of the flesh and the Devil. For this reason they did\nnot even wait for God\u2019s wrath to come, but began to bring it upon\nthemselves nearly two months in advance. They became so angry that they\nbegan to destroy each other even before their lease of power had\nexpired.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010328.\n\nAnd the time of the dead, that they should be judged.\u2014\u201cThey cannot be\njudged without His words, and the vast majority,\u2014\u2018dead in trespasses and\nsins,\u2019 blinded and deafened by the Adversary, through sin,\u2014have not thus\nfar been enabled to hear their Redeemer\u2019s wonderful words of life. In the\nMillennial Kingdom the dead world will have the eyes of its understanding\nopened and its ears unstopped, and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill\nthe whole earth and reach every member of the dead race, not only those\nwho have not yet gone down into the tomb, but \u2018all the families of the\nearth;\u2019 for, \u2018all that are in the grave shall come forth\u2019 for the very\npurpose of hearing the \u2018wonderful words of life,\u2019 and of being judged by\nthem. If they shall accept them heartily they shall, by restitution\nprocesses, be brought fully up to life conditions.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u2010116; Dan. 7:10;\nRev. 14:7; 15:4.\n\nAnd that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy Servants the Prophets.\u2014Who\nare therefore without their rewards until Christ\u2019s Second Advent.\u2014Heb.\n11:39, 40.\n\nAnd to the saints.\u2014\u201cWe hold that it is a most reasonable inference, and\none in perfect harmony with all the Lord\u2019s Plan, that in the spring of\n1878 all the holy Apostles and other \u2018overcomers\u2019 of the Gospel Age who\nslept in Jesus were raised spirit beings, like unto their Lord and\nMaster.\u201d\u2014C. 234.\n\nAnd them that fear Thy name, small and great.\u2014All other classes of\nbelievers, past, present and future.\n\nAnd shouldest destroy them.\u2014The Papal and Protestant sects.\n\nWhich destroy the earth.\u2014Corrupt the earth, Greek.\u2014Rev. 19:2.\n\n11:19. And the Temple of God.\u2014The true Church.\u20141 Cor. 3:16.\n\nWas opened in heaven ABOVE.\u2014Was revealed as in the ascendency over the\nnominal ecclesiastical heavens.\n\nAnd there was seen in His Temple.\u2014Clearly revealed to His Church.\n\nThe Ark.\u2014The repository of the sacred and hidden things of Revelation and\nEzekiel.\n\nOf [His] THE testament of God.\u2014The Secret\u2014\u201cThe Finished Mystery.\u201d\u2014Psa.\n25:14; Col. 1:27; Rev. 14:17; 16:1, 17.\n\nAnd there were lightnings, and voices and thunderings.\u2014See Rev. 8:5.\n\nAnd an earthquake.\u2014See Rev. 8:5; 16:18.\n\nAnd great hail.\u2014A deluge of Truth in its most compact form.\u2014Isa. 28:17;\nRev. 16:21.\n\n\n \u201cThe tidal wave is coming, the Year of Jubilee;\n With shout and song it sweeps along, like billows of the sea,\n The jubilee of nations shall ring through earth and sky;\n The dawn of grace draws on apace\u2014\u2019tis coming by and by.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 12\u2014The Birth Of Antichrist\n\n\n12:1. And there appeared a great wonder.\u2014Sign, Greek.\u2014Rev. 1:1.\n\nIn heaven.\u2014In the power of spiritual control.\u2014A. 318; Eph. 2:4\u20106; Phil.\n3:20.\n\nA Woman.\u2014The early Church, Nominal Zion, (D. 591), originally a chaste\nVirgin.\u20142 Cor. 11:2; Matt. 9:15; 22:2; John 3:29; Eph. 5:25, 32.\n\nClothed with the sun.\u2014Resplendent in the full, clear light of the\nunclouded Gospel.\u2014D. 591.\n\nAnd the moon under her feet.\u2014\u201cThe moon under her feet represents that the\nLaw which supports her is nevertheless not the source of her light.\u201d\u2014D.\n591.\n\nAnd upon her head a crown of twelve stars.\u2014\u201cThe twelve stars about her\nhead as a crown represent her Divinely appointed and inspired teachers\u2014the\nTwelve Apostles.\u201d (D. 591.) \u201cNow if God ordained only twelve stars as\nlights for His Church, as here represented, is it not a great mistake for\npopes, bishops and clergy to regard themselves as successors of the\nApostles,\u2014stars also?\u201d\u2014D. 594.\n\n12:2. And [she] being with child.\u2014As a result of the Mystery of Iniquity\nwhich was working within her.\u20142 Thes. 2:7.\n\n[Cried], AND SHE CRIETH travailing in birth.\u2014Felt the weight of the burden\neven in apostolic days.\u2014Rev. 2:2.\n\nAnd pained to be delivered.\u2014Desired to get rid of the loathsome thing from\nwhich, by the machinations of Satan, she was at the time suffering. In a\nsense the birth of the Antichrist from the early Church was a counterfeit\nof the birth of Christ from the virgin Mary, the one a manifestation of\nthe power of God, the other of Satan.\u2014John 16:21, 22.\n\n12:3. And there appeared another wonder in heaven.\u2014Among the\necclesiastical powers of the same epoch.\n\nAnd behold a great red dragon.\u2014The Pagan Roman Empire, which had its own\nreligious system. \u201cThe Roman Empire had not only conquered the world and\ngiven it politics and laws, but, recognizing religious superstitions to be\nthe strongest chains by which to hold and control a people, it had adopted\na scheme which had its origin in Babylon, in the time of her greatness as\nruler of the world. That plan was, that the emperor should be esteemed the\ndirector and ruler in religious as well as in civil affairs. In support of\nthis, it was claimed that the emperor was a demi\u2010god, in some sense\ndescended from their heathen deities. As such he was worshipped and his\nstatues adored; and as such he was styled _Pontifex Maximus_\u2014i. e., Chief\nPriest or Greatest Religious Ruler.\u201d\u2014B. 288.\n\nHaving seven heads and ten horns.\u2014See Dan. 7:7, 20; Rev. 13:1; 17:3, 9\u201012;\n5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11. The Eastern, or Byzantine\nEmpire, was founded in A. D. 395, when Theodosius divided the Roman Empire\nbetween his two sons, Honorius and Arcadius, assigning to the latter all\nthe portion lying east of the Adriatic sea. At this time the Roman Empire\nbecame the two legs of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s vision. At the time the division\nwas made the five potential races in the East were the Greeks, Lombards,\nOstrogoths, Heruli and Vandals. The five potential races in the West were\nthe Franks, Britons, Saxons, Visigoths and Suevi. During the next one\nhundred and fifty years great migrations and invasions have so confused\nhistory that there is great difference of opinion among historians on many\nimportant details. It is plain, however, that three of the migratory races\ndisappeared from history, all within a few years of each other, apparently\nin order to leave Rome and its environs free for the development of the\npapacy. The Heruli, a race from Germanic territory, disappeared from\nItalian territory in A. D. 489; the Vandals, a race from the shores of the\nBaltic (never in control of Rome except on a brief raid, but a great enemy\nof the papacy) disappeared in A. D. 534; and the Ostrogoths, an Asiatic\nrace, in A. D. 539. The Western Empire itself disappeared in A. D. 476.\nThe matter is treated by Pastor Russell at greater length in C. 76, 77,\nand all his statements are, of course, correct.\n\nAnd seven crowns upon his heads.\u2014In the Eastern Empire, corresponding to\nthe present Turkey and the Balkans, and in Lombardy, corresponding to the\npresent Austria, we may see the two horns which remained of the five\nEastern powers after the Ostrogoths, Heruli and Vandals disappeared. And\nin the Visigothic Kingdom, corresponding to Spain; Suevia, corresponding\nto Portugal; the Kingdom of the Franks, corresponding to France and the\nNetherlands; Saxonia, corresponding to Germany and Scandinavia; and\nBritannia, corresponding to Great Britain, we may see the five horns which\nrepresented the five western powers. The following explains why Italy is\nnot included in the list:\n\n\u201cThe difficulty of Italian history lies in the fact that until modern\ntimes the Italians have had no political unity, no independence, no\norganized existence as a nation. Split up into numerous and mutually\nhostile communities, they never, through the fourteen centuries which have\nelapsed since the end of the old Western Empire, shook off the yoke of\nforeigners completely; they never until lately learned to merge their\nlocal and conflicting interests in the common good of undivided Italy.\nTheir history is therefore not the history of a single people,\ncentralizing and absorbing its constituent elements by a process of\ncontinued evolution, but a group of cognate populations, exemplifying\ndivers types of constitutional developments.\u201d\u2014Brit.\n\nThe foregoing justifies Pastor Russell\u2019s thought that the Western Empire\nshould be counted as one of the horns rooted up to make way for the\nPapacy. As to whether it or the Vandal race should be counted as the third\nhorn, since both were destroyed, is a matter of no great importance to us.\nThe point of greatest interest now is that the Lord is about to destroy\nthe other seven, including the Papacy. All the powers named, except Spain,\nare already in the great War. Indeed, except South America, which expects\nto be dragged in, the only countries of the world not now (June, 1917)\nengaged in the war are Scandinavia, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Abyssinia\nand Mexico.\u2014Jer. 25:15\u201038.\n\n12:4. And his tail.\u2014Constantine, last of the Roman emperors to maintain\nhis capital at Rome. \u201cAfter the senate and people of Rome had ceased to be\nthe sovereigns of the Roman world, and their authority had been vested in\nthe sole person of the emperor, the eternal city could no longer claim to\nbe the rightful throne of the state. That honor could henceforth be\nconferred upon any place in the Roman world which might suit the\nconvenience of the emperor, or serve more efficiently the interests he had\nto guard. Furthermore, the empire was now upon its defense. When\nConstantine, therefore, established a new seat of government at Byzantium,\nhe adopted a policy inaugurated before his day as essential to the\npreservation of the Roman dominion. He can claim originality only in his\nchoice of the particular point at which that seat was placed, and in his\nrecognition of the fact that his alliance with the Christian church could\nbe best maintained in the new atmosphere. The city was founded by\nConstantine the Great, through the enlargement of the old town of\nByzantium, in A. D. 328, and was inaugurated as a new seat of government\non the 11th of May, A. D. 330. To indicate its political dignity, it was\nnamed New Rome, while to perpetuate the name of its founder it was styled\nConstantinople. The chief patriarch of the Greek church still signs\nhimself \u2018Archbishop of New Rome.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Brit.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Paganism Attacks the Early Church\n\n\nDrew the third part.\u2014\u201cThe Roman Emperor Constantine saw a vision\u2014probably\nwhen wide awake\u2014a vision of greater prosperity for himself and his Empire,\nby a recognition of Christianity as the religion of his Empire instead of\npaganism, which had previously been recognized. Constantine\u2019s influence in\nChurch affairs became great. He proposed the calling of a council of all\nthe bishops, _numbering about one thousand_. He wanted to know why these\napostolic bishops, all inspired with the same Spirit of God, taught so\ndifferently. He offered to pay the expenses of all the bishops to the\nCouncil of Nice; but the majority, fearing that the Emperor would be under\nthe control of the Roman bishop (not yet claiming to be pope), declined to\nattend. _Only 384 came._ But even they were unable to agree. Many held to\nthe Bible teaching, but the mystification thought of trinity had gained a\nhold on some of the bishops. Thereupon Constantine decided the matter; and\nthe Nicene Creed, backed by the Emperor\u2019s power, was declared to be the\nChristian faith, and anything contrary to it, heresy. Yet be it remembered\nthat _only about one\u2010third_ of the bishops were present at the Council;\nand that they could not be coerced into substituting \u2018mystery\u2019 for the\nWord of God, until the Emperor lent his influence. Thus was the mystery of\ntrinity enshrined by a heathen emperor, not baptized\u2014not even sprinkled.\nThe history of the persecution of all who would not worship the\ntrinitarian mystery would fill volumes. One sad illustration is familiar\nto all\u2014the burning of Servetus, by good Brother Calvin\u2019s signature to the\ndeath warrant. Is it any wonder that with such conditions prevailing for\ncenturies, the Bible ignored and the creeds worshipped, the true teachings\nof the Bible on many subjects were completely lost sight of? Is it any\nwonder that, when in the sixteenth century God began to bring the Bible\nback to the attention of the world, it was burned by the Episcopal bishops\nin front of St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral in London? Is it any wonder that the\nChristians of that time were persecuted for studying it, and could meet\nonly in secret?\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\nOf the stars of heaven.\u2014False stars, \u201cwandering stars,\u201d man\u2010ordained\nlights of the nominal heavens.\u2014D. 595. There the bishops became\nsubstitutes for the true Apostolic stars.\n\nAnd did cast them to the earth.\u2014Forced them to teach what he told them or\nelse be banished, as was Arius.\n\nAnd the dragon.\u2014Imperial Rome, represented by Constantine.\n\nStood before the woman which was ready to be delivered.\u2014The early\nChristian Church.\n\nFor to devour her child.\u2014Absorb it, make it a subordinate feature of the\nRoman system of government.\n\nAs soon as it was born.\u2014As soon as the development of the clergy class and\nothers equally unfaithful to Christ had made it impossible for them to be\nretained longer in the true Church.\n\n12:5. And she brought forth a man child.\u2014The papacy.\u2014Z. \u201979\u201012\u20102.\n\nWho was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.\u2014\u201cIn a bull, or edict,\nSixtus V declares: \u2018The authority given to St. Peter and his successors,\nby the immense power of the eternal King, excels all the power of earthly\nkings and princes. It passeth uncontrollable sentence upon them all. And\nif it find any of them resisting God\u2019s ordinance, it takes more severe\nvengeance on them, casting them down from their thrones, however powerful\nthey may be, and tumbling them down to the lowest parts of the earth as\nthe ministers of aspiring Lucifer.\u2019\n\n\u201cA bull of Pope Pius V., entitled \u2018The damnation and excommunication of\nElizabeth, queen of England, and her adherents\u2019 reads as follows: \u2018He that\nreigneth on high, to whom is given all power in heaven and in earth,\ncommitted one holy, catholic and apostolic church (out of which there is\nno salvation) to one alone upon earth, namely, to Peter, the Prince of the\napostles, and to Peter\u2019s successor, the bishop of Rome, to be governed in\nfulness of power. Him alone he made prince over all people and all\nkingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, consume, plant and build.\u2019 \u201d\u2014B.\n311.\n\nAnd her child was caught up unto God, and [to] UNTO His throne.\u2014\u201cSt\nBernard affirms that \u2018none except God is like the pope, either in heaven\nor on earth.\u2019 \u2018The Emperor Constantine,\u2019 says Pope Nicholas I., \u2018conferred\nthe appellation of God on the pope; who, therefore, being God, cannot be\njudged by man.\u2019 Said Pope Innocent III.\u2014\u2018The pope holds the place of the\ntrue God;\u2019 and the canon law, in the gloss, denominates the pope\u2014\u2018our Lord\nGod.\u2019 Innocent and Jacobatius state that \u2018the pope can do nearly all that\nGod can do,\u2019 while Decius rejects the word nearly, as unnecessary.\nJacobatius and Durand assert that \u2018none dare say to him any more than to\nGod\u2014Lord, what doest Thou?\u2019 \u201d\u2014B. 311.\n\nPope Martin stated the matter in his own behalf as follows: \u201cAll the earth\nis my diocese, and I am the ordinary of all men, having the authority of\nthe King of all kings upon subjects. I am all in all, and above all, so\nthat God Himself, and I, the vicar of God, have both one consistory, and I\nam able to do almost all that God can do. In all things that I list my\nwill is to stand for reason, for I am able by the law to dispense above\nthe law, and of wrong to make justice in correcting laws and changing\nthem. Wherefore, if those things that I do be said not to be done of man,\nbut of God\u2014What can you make me but God? Again, if prelates of the church\nbe called and counted of Constance for Gods, I then, being above all\nprelates, seem by this reason to be above all Gods. Wherefore, no marvel\nif it be in my power to change time and times, to alter and abrogate laws,\nto dispense with all things, yea, with the precepts of Christ\u201d\u2014B. 314;\nDan. 7:25.\n\n12:6. And the woman.\u2014The true Church of God.\n\nFled Into the wilderness.\u2014\u201cError, always more popular than truth, when\nexalted to influence and power, hunted down, proscribed and made\ndisreputable the truth, and all who held it. This was the time when the\ntrue Church (woman) fled into the wilderness\u2014into solitude\u2014an outcast\nbecause of her fidelity to the truth, and to the true Lord and Head of the\nChurch.\u201d\u2014B. 329.\n\nWhere she hath a place prepared of God.\u2014\u201cThe secret place of the Most\nHigh.\u201d\u2014Psa. 91:1.\n\nThat they.\u2014The antitypical ravens that fed the Elijah class, the unknown,\n\u201cfaithful men\u201d who, in secret, broke the bread of life to those that\nhungered for righteousness.\n\nShould feed her there.\u2014As Elijah was fed in the wilderness.\u2014Rev. 2:20.\n\nA thousand two hundred and threescore days.\u20141260 years, from A. D. 539 to\n1799.\u2014Rev. 11:2, 3.\n\n12:7. And there was war in heaven.\u2014Between the two ecclesiastical powers,\nPagan Rome and Papal Rome.\n\nMichael.\u2014\u201cWho as God,\u201d the Pope.\u2014B. 275; C. 62.\n\nAnd his angels.\u2014The Bishops. The following is the reply given in the\nCatholic catechism to the question, \u201cWho are the successors of the\nApostles?\u201d Ans. \u201cThe bishops who are rightly consecrated, and are in\ncommunion with the head of the Church, the Pope.\u201d\n\n[Fought against] TO WAR WITH the dragon.\u2014Attempted to get the temporal\npower away from the civil rulers.\u2014Rev. 2:12.\n\nAnd the dragon.\u2014Imperial Rome.\u2014B. 288; Rev. 12:3; 20:2.\n\nFought and his angels.\u2014Did everything possible to circumscribe the growing\npower of the papacy, but all in vain.\u2014Rev. 2:12.\n\n12:8. And THEY prevailed not AGAINST HIM, neither was [their place] HE\nTHEN found any more in heaven.\u2014The Papacy came out of the contest\nvictorious. \u201cPaganism, defeated, relinquished all things pertaining to\nreligious affairs and contented itself with social, civic and political\naffairs,\u201d so stated one of Pastor Russell\u2019s coworkers.\n\n12:9. And the great dragon was cast out.\u2014Verses 9 to 12 contain the\nrejoicings of the Papacy over their triumph.\n\nThat old serpent, called the Devil, [and] Satan.\u2014\u201cTo this fourth beast,\nrepresenting Rome, Daniel gives no descriptive name. While the others are\ndescribed as lion\u2010like, bear\u2010like and leopard\u2010like, the fourth was so\nferocious and hideous that none of the beasts of earth could be compared\nwith it. John the Revelator, seeing in vision the same symbolic beast\n(government), was also at a loss for a name by which to describe it, and\nfinally gives it several. Among others, he called it \u2018the Devil.\u2019 He\ncertainly chose an appropriate name; for Rome, when viewed in the light of\nits bloody persecutions, certainly has been the most devilish of all\nearthly governments. Even in its change from Rome Pagan to Rome Papal it\nillustrated one of Satan\u2019s chief characteristics; for he also transforms\nhimself to appear as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), as Rome transformed\nitself from heathenism and claimed to be Christian\u2014the Kingdom of\nChrist.\u201d\u2014A. 258.\n\nWhich deceiveth the whole world.\u2014By intimating that anybody in it except\nthe pope has any right to say anything about how it should be run.\n\nHe was cast out into the earth.\u2014We, the Papacy, are in control!\n\nAnd his angels were cast out with him.\u2014We, the cardinals, etc., have the\npositions of power once held by the priests of Pagan Rome!\n\n12:10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven.\u2014In the Roman Catholic\nChurch.\n\nNow is come salvation, and strength.\u2014\u201cCardinal Manning, Papacy\u2019s chief\nrepresentative in England, endorses and draws public attention to the\nfollowing clause of the Catholic faith: \u2018We declare, affirm, define, and\npronounce it necessary to salvation, for every human creature to be\nsubject to the Roman Pontiff.\u2019 And in a published discourse he represents\nthe pope as saying, \u2018I claim to be the Supreme Judge and Director of the\nconsciences of men; of the peasant that tills the field, and the prince\nthat sits on the throne; of the household that lives in the shade of\nprivacy, and the Legislature that makes laws for kingdoms. I am the sole,\nlast, Supreme Judge of what is right and wrong.\u2019 \u201d\u2014B. 317.\n\nAnd the kingdom of our God.\u2014The Papacy really believed that its exaltation\nto power was the exaltation of the kingdom of God in the earth, and so it\nwas, but not _our_ God.\u20142 Cor. 4:4.\n\nAnd the power of His Christ.\u2014The pope really believes he is the Vicar of\nChrist.\n\nFor the accuser of our brethren is cast down.\u2014It seemed to the Papacy that\nin undermining and supplanting Imperial Rome they had gained a great\nvictory for Christ.\n\nWhich accused them before our God day and night.\u2014Pagan Rome truthfully\naccused the Papacy of lying, simony, murder, adultery, and every crime on\nthe calendar.\u2014Rev. 2:13.\n\n12:11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.\u2014This is the way it\nlooks to Catholics even to this day. \u201cBy this sign [the cross] conquer!\u201d\nwas the Crusaders\u2019 standard.\n\nAnd by the word of their testimony.\u2014But not by the testimony of history or\nof God\u2019s Word, both of which show that \u201ctheir testimony\u201d (i. e., the\ntestimony of the papacy, in the forged decretals and otherwise) was one of\ncontinuous lies.\u2014Dan. 11:27.\n\nAnd they loved not their lives unto the death.\u2014This was the Catholic\nviewpoint.\n\n12:12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens.\u2014Catholic heavens\u2014popes, bishops and\nprelates.\n\nAnd ye that dwell in them.\u2014\u201cThe under\u2010priests of Papacy, not parts or\nmembers of _the_ church or hierarchy, but called \u2018Brothers.\u2019 \u201d\u2014B. 303.\n\nWoe to the [inhabiters of] the earth and [of] the sea.\u2014It seemed to the\nPapacy as though the Millennium, and the great Time of Trouble which the\nScriptures everywhere show is to precede it, were just at hand.\u2014Rev. 7:1\n\nFor the devil is come down to you.\u2014The papal thought that Pagan Rome was a\ngood representative of the Devil is quite right; and the Scriptures return\nthe compliment.\n\nHaving [great] wrath.\u2014Being very greatly angered at Papacy\u2019s aggressions.\nThe Papal policy has ever been to crowd the civil powers as far as they\ncould possibly go, then wait until a generation had passed and crowd some\nmore. The horns have _always_ hated the whore.\u2014Rev. 17:16.\n\nBecause he knoweth he hath but a short time.\u2014Had Papacy been able to bring\nit about it would surely, in time, have deprived all the rulers of the\nworld of every particle of civil, social, ecclesiastical and financial\npower. There has never been any limit to its ambitions or pretensions, and\nthere is none now.\n\n12:13. And when the dragon.\u2014The civil powers of the old Roman Empire,\nunder the control of the Papacy.\n\nSaw that he was cast unto the earth.\u2014Deprived of the superstitious\nreverence now almost wholly absorbed by the Papacy.\n\nHe persecuted.\u2014Not on his own account, but under the orders and\ninstructions and encouragements of the Papacy, and to win Papal approval.\n\nThe woman which brought forth the man child.\u2014The true Church. For details\nof the infamous work of Charles V, Emperor of Germany and King of Spain\nand the Netherlands, the Duke of Alva, Philip II of Spain, the French\nkings Francis and Henry, see pages 337\u2010338 of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES,\nVol. II. These are but illustrations of what occurred in all parts of the\nold Roman world, and were all done at the behest of the Papacy.\n\n12:14. And to the woman.\u2014The true Church.\n\nWere given Two Wings.\u2014The Old and New Testaments.\n\nOf a great eagle.\u2014The eagle is a symbol of wisdom, a fit representative of\nthe Scriptures in which are contained the words of our God. (Rev. 4:7.) \u201cI\nbare you on eagle\u2019s wings, and brought you unto Myself.\u201d\u2014Ex. 19:4; Deut.\n32:11\u201012.\n\nThat she might fly into the wilderness.\u2014Separateness from the world;\nostracism; represented by Elijah\u2019s three and a half years in the\nwilderness.\u2014Rev. 2:20.\n\nInto her place, where she is nourished.\u2014By Divinely provided means, of\nwhich almost no records have been permitted to survive the ravages of\npapal persecution.\n\nBoth for a time, and times, and half a time.\u20141260 years from A. D. 539 to\n1799.\u2014Rev. 11:2, 3.\n\nFrom.\u2014Safe from.\n\nThe face of the Serpent.\u2014Satan himself, the real instigator of all\npersecutions from the Lord\u2019s time even until now.\n\nAnd the Serpent.\u2014Satan himself, at the close of the 1260 years of Papacy\u2019s\npower to persecute.\n\nCast out of his mouth water as a flood.\u2014\u201cThe strength of the French\nrevolution, to which reference is here had, lay in the fact that it was\ninstigated by many stern truths, regarding priest\u2010craft and king\u2010craft,\nand regarding the individual rights and liberties of all. Truths regarding\nhuman rights were seen and expressed there which cause us surprise when we\nconsider the ignorance, superstition and servility of that day, under\nwhich the masses had so long rested. Many of the truths which then swept\nas a flood over France, deluging it with blood, are now very generally\naccepted among all civilized peoples.\u201d\u2014C. 65.\n\nAfter the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the\nflood.\u2014\u201cSatan\u2019s design in instigating the French revolution was to create\nan alarm throughout Europe, especially the influential class, unfavorable\nto liberty, and to illustrate in France the theory that, were the\nsuperstitions of Rome to be overthrown and liberty to be given full sway,\nall law and order would speedily end.\u201d This strategy Satan is now about to\nrepeat\u2014this time with success, but his triumph will be short.\u2014C. 66.\n\nAnd the earth.\u2014The order\u2010loving people of Europe.\n\nHelped the woman.\u2014The true Church.\n\nAnd the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood.\u2014\u201cIt is a fact\nof history that the flood of truth which spread over France\u2014arraigning\nPapacy and its priestcraft, and monarchy and its parasitic aristocracy, as\nthe responsible causes of much of the ignorance, poverty and superstition\nof the people\u2014was swallowed up, or absorbed by the people of Europe\ngenerally (The Roman \u2018earth\u2019). And when the rulers of Europe formed what\nwas called \u2018The Holy Alliance,\u2019 for the suppression of the liberties of\nthe people and the perpetuation of their own thrones, it was too late to\nfetter the people; for, having drunk up the flood of waters, they would\nnot submit. It was too late to think of re\u2010establishing Papacy, which had\nbeen so terribly humiliated and whose anathemas against liberty and the\nFrench had so reacted against itself; so the pope was not even invited to\njoin the \u2018Holy Alliance,\u2019 of which before he would have been the\nrecognized head.\u201d\u2014C. 66.\n\nWhich the dragon cast out of his mouth.\u2014\u201cThis sudden flood of waters\n(truth) was designed to act as an emetic, to lead to the casting out of\nthe food of liberty, already being received by the people from the Bible,\nas the result of the Reformation, and thus to force rulers and teachers to\noppose the truth through fear of anarchy.\u201d\u2014C. 66.\n\n12:17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman.\u2014The protesting Church of\nGod. This will apply with great force shortly.\n\nAnd went to make war with the remnant of her seed.\u2014The true saints in the\nRoman Catholic communion or wherever otherwise found,\u2014always objects of\nhatred and oppression by ecclesiasticism.\u2014Rev. 13:7.\n\nWhich keep the commandments of God.\u2014\u201cThe law is fulfilled in us.\u201d\u2014Rom.\n8:4.\n\nAnd have the testimony of [Jesus Christ] GOD.\u2014Have HIS word as the man of\ntheir counsel.\u2014Rev. 14:12.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 13\u2014The Papal And Protestant Beasts\n\n\n13:1. And [I] HE stood upon the sand of the sea.\u2014The sea represents the\nmasses not under religious restraint. It is this symbolic sea that is to\noverturn and swallow up all kingdoms of earth in the great Time of\nTrouble. The proper understanding of the vision is located down at the\nedge of this sea, near the Time of Trouble.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Papacy As God Pictures It\n\n\nAnd I saw a beast.\u2014\u201cThis character is very forcibly delineated even in the\nnames applied to it by the inspired writers. Paul calls it \u2018That Wicked\nOne,\u2019 \u2018The Man of Sin,\u2019 \u2018The Mystery of Iniquity,\u2019 \u2018The Antichrist,\u2019 and\n\u2018The Son of Perdition;\u2019 the Prophet Daniel calls it \u2018The Abomination that\nmaketh desolate\u2019 (Dan. 11:31; 12:11); and our Lord refers to the same\ncharacter as \u2018The Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the\nProphet\u2019 (Matt. 24:15). This same character was also prefigured by a\nlittle horn, or power, out of a terrible beast that Daniel saw in his\nprophetic vision, which had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and\nwhich prospered and made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.\n(Dan. 7:8, 21.) John also saw and warned the Church against this\ncharacter, saying, \u2018Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come.\u2019 He then\nadvises how to escape Antichrist\u2019s influence. (1 John 2:18\u201027.) These\nvarious appellations and brief descriptions indicate a base, subtle,\nhypocritical, deceptive, tyrannical and cruel character, developed in the\nmidst of the Christian Church; claiming, to the last, peculiar sanctity\nand authority and power from God.\u201d (B. 271.) \u201cWe need not look long to\nfind a character fitting all the requirements perfectly. But when we state\nthat the one and only system whose history fits these prophecies is\nPapacy, let no one misunderstand us to mean that every Roman Catholic is a\nman of sin. Popes, bishops and others are at most only parts or members of\nthe Antichrist system, even as all of the Royal Priests are only members\nof the true Christ.\u201d (B. 277.) Antichrist now finds its expression in the\n\u201cChristian\u201d governments of the world founded upon its\nteachings\u2014Christendom.\n\nRise up out of the sea.\u2014See Rev. 17:15; Psa. 65:7; 93:3, 4; Isa. 57:20. At\nthe time of papacy\u2019s birth the masses of the Roman people had ceased to\nhave reverence for the ancient mythology of Pagan Rome. Constantine, a\nshrewd politician, discerned this and discerned the growing influence of\nthe Christian religion. In adopting it, in forcing the adoption of the\nNicene Creed, and in removing his capital from Rome, he gave the papacy\nits start.\n\nHaving TEN HORNS AND seven heads [and ten horns].\u2014See Rev. 12:3; Dan. 7:7,\n20; Rev. 17:3, 9\u201012; 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.\n\nAnd upon his horns ten crowns.\u2014In this calculation are included the three\npotential races plucked up to make way for the papacy. (Rev. 12:3; 17:3,\n9.) In this picture the location of the crowns upon the horns instead of\nupon the heads, as in Rev. 12:3, denotes the changed situation after the\npapacy came into control. The papacy ruled not directly, as did Pagan\nRome, but through other powers to which it was joined.\n\nAnd upon his heads.\u2014The seven kingdoms that still survive: Spain,\nPortugal, France, England, Germany, Austria, Greece, and their past and\npresent dependencies.\n\nThe name of blasphemy.\u2014Every one of these kingdoms falsely claims, or has\nclaimed, to be a part of the Kingdom of God, though actually all part of\nthe one great kingdom ruled by \u201cThe god of this world.\u201d\u20142 Cor. 4:4.\n\n13:2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard.\u2014\u201cThe body of the\nPapal beast was like a Leopard. The Leopard was the third beast seen by\nDaniel, viz., Grecia. Greece was noted as the center of learning, piety\nand wisdom (Acts 17:23); so Papacy\u2019s chief claim, to be the ruler of all\nkingdoms, is based on the claim that it is the center of wisdom, learning\nand piety. Other peculiarities of the Leopard are its activity, vigilance\nand secretiveness; so with Papacy. Again, a Leopard is spotted\nirregularly, so too Papacy\u2019s policy in various parts of the earth.\u201d (Z.\n\u201979\u201012\u20102.) \u201cIn one place it is liberal, almost white in its professions or\nappearances; in another quarter black, corrupt, degrading, brutal; and in\nstill other places it has various neutral and tawny shades of\ncorrespondence to the natural depravity of the people it rules with its\nrod of eternal torment and its staff of Purgatory. In Spain, for example,\nwhich has been for centuries one of its dark spots\u2014as dark as the general\ncivilization of the people will permit,\u2014the \u2018leopard\u2019 has been accustomed\nto have its way, and is incensed that freedom of worship, or even of\nthought, should be dreamed of.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201999\u2010262.\n\nAnd his feet were as the feet of a bear.\u2014\u201cThe bear suggests another of\nPapacy\u2019s peculiarities as an empire, viz., persistency. Like the Bear\nEmpire (Medo\u2010Persia) which would besiege for years, and even turn a river\naside to accomplish its ends; so Papacy moves cautiously and gets\npossession of kingdoms rather by strategy than by battles. The bear hugs\nits prey to death with its paws.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201979\u201012\u20102.\n\nAnd his mouth as the mouth of [a lion] LIONS.\u2014\u201cBabylon was celebrated for\nits splendor and pride\u2014the Lion the king or ruler of all beasts\u2014so Papacy\nhad a mouth of this sort, i. e., it claimed to be the kingdom over all\nkingdoms by Divine right, the kingdom of God, which was to break in pieces\nand consume all others\u2014a strong mouth.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201979\u201012\u20102.\n\nAnd the dragon.\u2014Imperial Rome, represented by Constantine.\n\nGave him his power.\u2014\u201cAncient Pagan Rome had only a mere skeleton of\nsacerdotal power as compared with the complex and elaborate machinery and\ncontrivances of doctrine and practice of Papal Rome, the triumphant\nsuccessor to their scheme, who now, after centuries of cunning and skill,\nhas its power so intrenched that even today, when its power is outwardly\nbroken and it is shorn of civil dominion, it rules the world and controls\nkingdoms secretly, under cover, more thoroughly than the Roman emperors\never ruled the kings subordinate to them.\u201d\u2014B. 288.\n\nAnd his seat.\u2014His place in the city of Rome, by transferring his own\nheadquarters to Byzantium, \u201cNew Rome.\u201d\u2014Rev. 12:4.\n\nAnd great authority.\u2014At the hands of the Roman Emperor Justinian, in A. D.\n539.\u2014Rev. 12:3\u20105.\n\n13:3. And I saw one of his heads.\u2014One of the dragon\u2019s heads\u2014Papacy.\n\nAs it were wounded to death.\u2014Whenever the Scriptures use the expression\n\u201cas it were\u201d (as in Rev. 9:7, 9) what seems or appears is not actually the\ncase.\n\nAnd his deadly wound was healed.\u2014\u201cAt the Diet of Augsburg, in 1555, the\nReligious Peace was concluded. Every prince was to be allowed to choose\nbetween the Catholic religion and the Augsburg Confession [of the\nReformers]; and the religion of the prince was to be that of the land over\nwhich he reigned: that is, each government was to choose the creed for its\nsubjects.\n\n\u201cIn fact, the political circumstances of the time, combined with the fact\nthat even the leaders of the reform were only beginning to get awake to\nsome of the moral and a few of the doctrinal errors of Papacy, lead us to\nwonder at the rapid strides taken toward the right, rather than to harshly\ncondemn them for not making the cleansing more thorough. But when the\nProtestant churches united with the state, progress and reform came to a\nstandstill. Soon creeds were formed which were almost as unyielding and\nopposed to growth in knowledge as the decrees of Rome.\u201d\u2014C. 111.\n\nAnd all the [world] EARTH wondered after the beast.\u2014The reference is to\nthe symbolic earth, the people, obedient to the ruling powers.\u2014Rev. 17:8.\n\n13:4. And they worshipped the dragon.\u2014\u201cDragon means civil power, Pagan\nRome.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201979\u201012\u20102.\n\n[Which] BECAUSE HE gave THE power unto the beast.\u2014\u201cThe people respected\nthe civil power all the more because it had so honored ecclesiastical\nauthority. The various kingdoms (horns) soon learned that their hold over\nthe people was strengthened rather than weakened by allegiance to Papacy,\nfor Papacy in turn recognized them, and commanded the people to recognize\nthose despots as of divine appointment. Thus it is, that to this day, the\nrulers of Europe claim to rule by Divine right and appointment, and their\nchildren after them, no matter how incompetent. For the same reason the\nProtestant churches of Europe, to gain national favor, protection and\nassistance, became State churches, and they, as Papacy did, recognize the\nreigning families as possessed of Divine title to the office and rulership\nof the people. God\u2019s Word, on the contrary, denounces all the governments\nof earth as beastly, selfish, oppressive, and recognizes only one Kingdom\nas being of God\u2019s appointment, viz., the Kingdom soon to be established in\nall the earth\u2014Christ and His saints in glory. (Dan. 7:27; Rev. 11:15; 2\nTim. 2:12.) It is in that Kingdom only that the saints have their\ncitizenship, it alone they recognize, and for it pray \u2018Thy Kingdom\ncome.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201980\u20101\u20101.\n\nAnd they worshipped the beast.\u2014\u201cThe following, called The Adoration, is\nstill a part of the ceremony connected with the installation of a new\npope: \u2018The pope is lifted up by the cardinals and placed by them upon the\naltar\u2010throne. One of the bishops kneels, and the singing of _Te Deum_ [We\npraise thee, O God] begins. Meantime the cardinals kiss the feet and hands\nand face of the pope.\u2019 A coin representing this ceremony, struck in the\nPapal mint, bears the words, \u2018Whom they create, they adore.\u2019 \u201d\u2014B. 316.\n\nSaying, Who is like unto the beast.\u2014What other character in history ever\nmade such claims or received such homage?\u2014Rev. 18:18.\n\nAND who is able to make war with him.\u2014\u201cWhen, in A. D. 455, the city of\nRome was invaded and plundered by the Vandals, and all around was distress\nand desolation, Leo, the bishop of Rome, improved the opportunity for\nimpressing upon all, both barbarians and Romans, his claim of spiritual\npower. To the rude and superstitious barbarians, already greatly impressed\nby what they saw about them, of Rome\u2019s greatness and wealth, Leo, arrayed\nin his pontifical robes, exclaimed: \u2018Beware! I am the successor of St.\nPeter, to whom God has given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and against\nwhose church the gates of hell cannot prevail; I am the living\nrepresentative of divine power on the earth; I am C\u00e6sar, a Christian\nC\u00e6sar, ruling in love, to whom all Christians owe allegiance; I hold in my\nhands the curses of hell and the benedictions of Heaven; I absolve all\nsubjects from allegiance to kings; I give and take away, by divine right,\nall thrones and principalities of Christendom. Beware how you desecrate\nthe patrimony given me by your invisible king; yea, bow down your necks to\nme and pray that the anger of God may be averted.\u2019 \u201d\u2014B. 295.\n\n13:5. And there was given unto him a mouth.\u2014The mouth of Antichrist is one\nof its leading characteristics.\u2014B. 305; Dan. 7:8, 11, 25.\n\nSpeaking great things and blasphemies.\u2014\u201cHow evident it must be to the\nsimplest minds that Papacy\u2019s great swelling words and boastful claims\nhave, one and all, been blasphemies. The establishment of a counterfeit\nKingdom of God was a libel upon God\u2019s government, a gross blasphemy, and a\nmisrepresentation of His character and Plan and Word. God\u2019s character, i.\ne., His \u2018name,\u2019 was blasphemed in the thousand monstrous edicts, bulls and\ndecretals issued in His name, by the long line of those who claimed, as\nvice\u2010gerents, to represent His Son by the titles, appropriate only to the\nFather or to Christ, which they have applied to themselves; and God\u2019s\nTabernacle, the true Church, was blasphemed by the false system which\nclaimed to take its place.\u201d\u2014B. 306; Dan. 7:8, 20, 25.\n\nAnd [power] IT was given unto him to [continue] DO WHAT HE WILL.\u2014He still\ncontinues, though he can no longer do what he will.\n\nForty and two months.\u20141260 days, or a time, times and a half; fulfilled in\n1260 literal years from A. D. 539 to 1799 A. D. (Rev. 11:2.) As a\nsecondary fulfilment, we may see the end of the rule of the Kaiser and\nothers of his mouthpieces in 42 literal months from Aug. 1, 1914. But what\nfolly it would be to try to see in the German Kaiser, or any other _one\nman_, the foretold Antichrist.\u2014Rev. 11:11.\n\n13:6. And he opened his mouth in [blasphemy] BLASPHEMIES against\nGod.\u2014Misrepresentations of the Divine Character and Plan.\n\nTo blaspheme [His name] HIM.\u2014God was blasphemed, or misrepresented by the\ntitles used by the popes, by their claims to the exercise of Divine power\non earth (B. 311), by claims that the Pope is God on earth (B. 314), by\nclaims that he is the sole judge of right and wrong (B. 317), by claims\nthat he is infallible (B. 318), by proscribing the Bible (B. 319), by the\ndoctrines of eternal torture and purgatory (B. 323), by masses for the\ndead and the sale of indulgences (B. 324), and by devilish practices\nagainst His saints, too numerous to name.\n\nAnd His tabernacle.\u2014The church in the wilderness.\u2014Rev. 12:6, 14.\n\n[And] Them that dwell in heaven.\u2014God\u2019s Tabernacle is His true Church in\nthe flesh, but, nevertheless, \u201cOur citizenship is in Heaven.\u201d (Phil. 3:20,\nR. V.) Even here we have been made to \u201cSit together in heavenly places in\nChrist Jesus.\u201d\u2014Eph. 2:6.\n\n13:7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints.\u2014See Rev.\n2:20; Acts 9:32; Rom. 15:25; 1 Cor. 6:1.\n\nAnd to overcome them.\u2014See Rev. 6:8; Dan. 7:21, 22.\n\nAnd power was given him over all kindreds, AND PEOPLES, and tongues, and\nnations.\u2014This has been literally fulfilled, but will have a secondary\nfulfilment soon, through the beastly governments that are Papacy\u2019s living\nrepresentatives in spirit if not in fact.\u2014Rev. 17:15.\n\n13:8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.\u2014Yield either\nwilling or forced obedience to his mandates; bow the knee in submission.\n\nWhose names are not written in the Book of Life.\u2014\u201cThe deception of Papacy\nwas so complete that the world was deceived, and all the church, except\nthe overcomers, whose names were \u2018written in Heaven,\u2019 were deceived in the\nsame way, and hastened to unite themselves with, and to worship the Beast,\nand have it enroll their names on its books. From this has sprung the\ndelusion so common to all Protestants at this day, viz., that their names\nmust be connected with some such earthly system, or they are not the\nLord\u2019s saints. But the important item is, to have our names recorded in\nthe Lamb\u2019s Book of Life; His is the only record of any value.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201980:1\u20101;\nPsa. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; Lu. 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 21:27.\n\nOf the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.\u2014\u201cThis selection of the\nOnly Begotten to be the Head and Chief of the New Creation\u2014subject to the\ntrials, disciplines, humiliations and other necessary experiences to prove\nHis worthiness\u2014had already been determined upon in the Divine counsel\nbefore man was created.\u201d\u2014F. 65; 1 Pet. 1:20; Eph. 1:4; Rev. 5:6; John\n1:29, 36; Acts 8:32.\n\n13:9. If any man have an ear, let him hear.\u2014\u201cOnly those whose ears have\nbeen circumcised\u2014those who had come to a considerable knowledge of God\u2019s\nWord and who had the hearing of faith\u2014to respect Him and His Word, despite\nthe magnificence, success and power of error, would be able to receive the\nforegoing statements concerning those who were deceived by Papacy.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201980\u20101\u20101.\n\n13:10. [He that] IF ANY ONE leadeth into captivity [shall go] HE GOETH\ninto captivity.\u2014\u201cThe Papal system was one of bondage. All who acknowledge\nits claims must of necessity render implicit obedience, as unto God; for\nit claimed to be the kingdom of heaven; and its head, the Pope, to be\nGod\u2019s vice\u2010gerent; consequently those who were for, or in favor of such\ncaptivity of individual thought, and who would acknowledge the right of\nthat Papal system to limit and define the faith of all, by consenting,\nbecame captives.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\nHe that killeth with the sword must be killed by the sword.\u2014\u201cThere were\nsome who asserted that Papacy was a usurpation of the titles and power of\nthe true Head and Ruler of the Church, and claimed their rights to the\nindividual liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. Such used the\n\u2018Sword of the Spirit,\u2019 which is the Word of God, in defense of their\nliberty, and such were put to death by Papacy; it overcame the saints\nduring its 1260 years of power.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\nHere is the patience and the faith of the saints.\u2014\u201cThis was a severe test\nof true saintship\u2014Would they go into captivity and join in the usurper\u2019s\nranks, or would they remain faithful to the true King and wait for the\nKingdom which He promised to establish? Those whose names were written in\nHeaven stuck to the Word, and sealed their testimonies by death.\u201d (Z.\n\u201980\u20101\u20102.) The same situation now confronts the saints, in the matter of\naiding in some way the murderous spirit of the governments which are\npermeated by Antichrist\u2019s spirit.\u2014Rev. 14:12.\n\n13:11. And I beheld another beast.\u2014\u201cIf the preceding wild beast\nrepresented an ecclesiastical power, as we have just seen, then this beast\ncalled another should be understood to represent a similar ecclesiastical\nor church power. As the first beast had ten horns, or powers, which gave\nit their strength, so this beast has \u2018two horns\u2019 which indicates that two\npowers or governments will support it. Again, notice that this beast\n\u2018ascended (came gradually) out of the earth,\u2019 while the first came out of\nthe sea. Now, if our definitions be correct\u2014as the coming of Papacy from\namong the irreligious masses of the Roman Empire was shown by its coming\nout of the \u2018sea\u2019\u2014then the coming of this second beast out of the \u2018earth\u2019\nshould signify that it sprung up among a professedly religious people. The\nTwo\u2010horned Beast is one ecclesiastical system, and the two horns show that\nit is supported, and its authority recognized by two kingdoms. Remember\nthat to be simply aided or supported by the empire does not make a\nsymbolic \u2018Beast\u2019; a \u2018Beast\u2019 is a government, and to become a symbolic\nbeast, a church must needs become an element in, or part of the\ngovernment.\n\n\u201cThere is but one church which this symbol fits perfectly, viz.: The\nestablished \u2018Church of England and Ireland.\u2019 This system, like the Papal,\nwas a blending of church and state, an ecclesiastical empire. In the year\n1200 England became subject to the Pope. In 1531, owing to a dispute\nbetween her king, Henry VIII, and the Pope, England withdrew from\nallegiance to Papacy. The Convocation of its clergy called the same year,\nin its decrees, declared King Henry VIII to be \u2018The one protector of the\nEnglish Church, its only and Supreme Lord; and as far as might be, by the\nlaw of Christ, its Supreme Head.\u2019 Those are the exact sentiments of\nPapacy; that is exactly the sense in which the Pope is recognized as\nChrist\u2019s vice\u2010gerent. What a glorious representation of the Lord Jesus\nthey had in Henry VIII, who, out of six wives, was divorced from two,\nbeheaded two, and by many is supposed to have poisoned one! He was a\nworthy rival of some of the Popes as an Anti\u2010christian claimant of\nheadship to the church. The Clerical Convocation which could acknowledge\nsuch a head was not far from being as corrupt as Papacy.\n\n\u201cThe proof that the title, \u2018head of the church,\u2019 was not an empty honor,\nappears from the historian\u2019s words\u2014\u2018At the same time it was ordained that\nno regard should be paid to censures which the Pope might pass on account\nof this law and that Mass should be said, and sacraments administered as\nusual. In 1534, all payments made to the apostolic chamber, and\ndispensations, were abolished; monasteries were subjected to royal\ngovernment, and exempted from all other; the right to summon Convocations,\napprove or reject canons (laws or doctrines enacted by the Convocation of\nclergy), and hear appeals from the Bishops, was vested in the King alone.\nThese matters are but imperfectly understood by people in general, and the\nsame titles\u2014\u201cSupreme head of the church on earth,\u201d etc., are still applied\nto English sovereigns. It is needless to remark that the Lord Jesus never\ngave this office to any one, but claims it Himself; and any others who\nclaim it are usurpers. Paul said: \u201cChrist is the Head of the Church,\u201d and\nthat we are to \u201cgrow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even\nChrist.\u201d Again he repeats that \u201cGod gave Him to be the Head over all\nthings in the Church, which is His body.\u201d (Eph. 1:22 and 4:15, and 5:23;\nCol. 1:18.) It is the church on earth that Paul is speaking of, hence any\nPope, Queen, Council, Assembly, Conference, or any other man or company of\nmen, who claim or exercise the powers of the true Head\u2014Jesus\u2014are opposing\nHim. And all who support such by influence, presence or money, are\nabettors of evil and supporters of false systems. Now does this system\n(the English church) fill the picture? The second Beast had two horns;\nwhat two kingdoms (horns) supported this church? Bear in mind the\ndistinction between a church supported by a government, as the\nPresbyterian in Scotland, and a church united in the government, as in\nEngland; it is the latter relationship that constitutes a \u201cbeast.\u201d \u2019 \u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201980\u20101\u20102; Rev. 13:14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13.\n\nComing up out of the earth.\u2014\u201cFrom the visible church of God.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd he had two horns like a lamb.\u2014\u201cNow about the two horns. England, of\ncourse, was one of them, and Ireland the other. Let us see. History says\nthat in 1537 the Irish Parliament in Dublin \u2018passed the Act of Supremacy,\ndeclaring Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church, prohibiting intercourse\nwith the court of Rome, and making it treason to refuse the oath of\nsupremacy.\u2019 \u2018Henry VIII also took the title of King of Ireland.\u2019 Thus it\nis seen that the second horn came up within the brief space of five years\nafter the first. The fact that Ireland was not a powerful horn matters\nnot, for it was stronger than some that supported the Papal Beast. What\neffects result from the disestablishment of the Church in Ireland? From\n1538 to 1871 (333 years), the title of the church was \u2018The Church of\nEngland and Ireland,\u2019 thus recognizing both \u2018horns.\u2019 On January 1, 1871\n(by action of Parliament and the consent of the Queen, the head of the\nchurch) the Irish church was disestablished, or that horn was cast off.\nSo, too, all of the horns which once supported Papacy have broken off from\nher; the difference being that in the case of Papacy the horns have turned\nagainst her, and in the case of the second Beast it casts off the Irish\nhorn of itself, believing it to be a weakness rather than a strength. And\nit would not be at all remarkable if the other horn (England) would be\nseparated from this Beast. \u2018The two horns like a lamb,\u2019 would seem to\nindicate that this Beast would be peaceably inclined\u2014not aggressive, but\nmerely using the horns for defense.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\nAnd, he spake as a dragon.\u2014\u201c \u2018He spake like a dragon.\u2019 Notice, it is not\nsaid he spake like _the_ dragon, but like _a_ dragon. We understand this\nto mean that its utterances resembled those of a purely civil (dragon)\npower, and that in its words there would be little to denote that it is an\necclesiastical government.\u201d (Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.) England\u2019s conduct in forcing\nopium into China is evidence enough of its Satanic character. \u201cChina\nrealizes that opium is her great curse; she has passed laws against the\ngrowth of the poppy and the manufacture of opium. But she finds that the\nimports of opium amount to 5,000,000 pounds per year. She cries out again,\nas in the past, that this Great Kingdom of Christ (?) (Great Britain) will\nhave mercy upon her and cease to insist on this curse being introduced to\nblight China morally and physically. The young men of heathen China have\nstarted a monster petition for the cessation of opium importation. The\ntext of this appeal appeared in the _New York Herald_, February 17. It\nrecounts that a previous appeal, of similar character, was made without\navail to the King\u2019s royal grandmother in 1858, when she was the\nrepresentative of this branch of Christ\u2019s Kingdom (?).\u201d (Z. \u201911\u2010115.) \u201cThe\nFalse Prophet who causes the dwellers on earth to worship the Beast\nsymbolizes the deification of the world and of the world power, throughout\nthe conflict between the church and Antichrist.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n13:12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.\u2014\u201cAnd\nthe authority of the first Wild Beast\u2014the whole of that authority\u2014he\nexercises in his presence, and he causes the earth and its inhabitants to\nworship the first Wild Beast.\u201d (Weym.) \u201cThis shows that the second does\nnot take the place of the first beast, but that they exist\ncontemporaneously.\u201d (Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.) It also shows that the sufferings of the\nlast members of the Body of Christ, under the combination of governments\ndominated by Great Britain, may be expected to be as great as in Papacy\u2019s\npalmiest days.\n\nAnd causeth the earth and them which dwell therein.\u2014\u201cWe make a distinction\nbetween the earth and those who dwell on it. As the earth symbolizes those\nobedient to and supporting the Beast, so \u2018those dwelling on the earth,\u2019 we\nunderstand to mean independent Christians who do not support either of\nthese systems.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\nTo worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.\u2014\u201cThe Church of\nEngland claimed all the powers and authority which Papacy claimed. It\nclaimed to be the Church; it acknowledged and repudiated some of the\ncorruptions complained of by the Reformers, such as the sale of\nindulgence, transubstantiation, etc., and abandoned these as well as the\nname Roman, for which they substituted the word Holy, calling it the\noriginal \u2018Holy Catholic Church.\u2019 It claims the same governmental authority\nand the same veneration for its decrees as Papacy does for hers. And by\nestablishing a similar system, devoid of some of the grosser Papal errors,\nit attracted the attention of all to those errors, as being the only\npossible fault of Papacy. And when some of those errors were shortly after\ndiscarded by Papacy, the inference was that both Beast systems were right.\nPeople at that day, as now, seemed to think those systems proper and\nright, if their powers, etc., were properly exercised; but from God\u2019s\nstandpoint the systems are abominations, and wrong from the very center.\nThese systems are based upon errors, and like a corrupt tree, \u2018cannot\nbring forth good fruit.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe principal error was in this\u2014the very basis of those systems\u2014their\nclaim to be the \u2018Kingdom of God\u2019 in reigning power. That idea, once\nadmitted, justifies their persecution of individuals and nations, forcing\nthem to submit and bow in obedience. Scripture accords these powers to the\n\u2018Kingdom of God\u2019\u2014when \u2018the Kingdom is the Lord\u2019s and He is the Governor\namong the nations; all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto\nthe Lord, and all the kindreds of nations shall worship before Thee.\u2019 (Ps.\n22:27, 28.) He shall \u2018dash them in pieces as a potter\u2019s vessel.\u2019 (Ps.\n2:9.) Unto Him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. (Phil.\n2:11.) And if their claim be good, who can object to their carrying out\nthe Scriptural statements? These Antichrists, to make their claim of\nkingdom power appear true, had simply to take another, viz., to compel\nobedience, backing up their right to do so by the Scriptures just quoted.\nAnd not only was this great evil sanctioned, but their claim, once\nadmitted, that the Kingdom was established and the reign in progress,\nthose who admitted it were hindered from looking for the true Head of the\nChurch to set up the true Kingdom under the whole heavens, which shall\nbreak in pieces present imperfect governments, establish righteousness in\nthe earth, and cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess, to the\nglory of God.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\n13:13. And he doeth great wonders.\u2014The strongest text of Scripture\nforewarning against the impending Church Federation is the strongest text\nof Scripture forewarning against spiritism. (Isa. 8:9\u201022.) It is not by\naccident that these warnings are placed together. \u201cWe shall not be at all\nsurprised if some later manifestation of the powers of darkness,\ntransformed to appear as the angels of light and progress, shall be much\nmore specious and delusive than anything yet attempted. We do well to\nremember the Apostle\u2019s words,\u2014\u2018We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but\nwith princely powers of darkness, with the spiritual things of the Evil\nOne.\u2019 (Eph. 6:12.) In 1842, six years before \u2018modern Spiritism\u2019 began to\noperate, Edward Bickersteth, a servant of God and student of His Word,\nwrote,\u2014\u2018Looking at the signs of the times, and the long neglect and\nunnatural denial of all angelic ministration or spiritual influence, and\nat the express predictions of false Christs, and false prophets, who shall\nshow signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they should\ndeceive the Very Elect, and that when men receive not the love of the\ntruth that they might be saved, for this cause God shall send them strong\ndelusion, that they shall believe a lie; I cannot but think there is a\npainful prospect of a sudden recoil and religious revulsion from the\npresent unbelief and misbelief, to an unnatural and undistinguishing\ncredulity.\u2019 Satan is the inspirer and supporter of every Antichrist; and\nas he led those who had pleasure in error rather than the truth to the\norganization of the great Antichrist, Papacy, symbolically the \u2018beast\u2019 of\nRev. 13, and as he is now operating to produce a Protestant \u2018image of the\nbeast\u2019 with life, which will cooperate with the chief Antichrist, so in\ncombination with these will be the powers of darkness, the powers of the\nair, the lying and seducing spirits, operating in some manner or in a\nvariety of ways,\u2014Spiritism, Christian Science, New Thought, Theosophy,\nHypnotism, etc.\u201d (S. 32.) \u201cIf we gain the right conception of the matter\nthese deceptions are to affect the whole world, including its wise men,\nand indeed practically everybody.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201909\u2010123; Deut. 13:1\u20103; Matt. 24:24,\n25; 2 Thes. 2:9\u201012; Rev. 16:14.\n\nNote the readiness of Christendom to fall into the trap: \u201cIn a sermon in\nwhich he told of the effect of religious seances and the efforts of\ncertain writers to shatter belief in a future life, the Rev. H. D. C.\nMaclachlan preached to a large congregation in Seventh Street Christian\nChurch on \u2018The New Spiritualism,\u2019 in which he gave scientific proof of a\nfuture life and exhorted his hearers to be of good cheer and continue to\nhope. Mr. Maclachlan spoke in part as follows: \u2018There has been no more\nremarkable change in public opinion than that witnessed within the last\nfew years with regard to that class of facts known as spiritualistic.\nThere was a time when it was not quite respectable to believe in them, but\nquite recently there has been a change. Ghosts have become respectable;\nplanchette and table rapping are parlor amusements; the popular magazines\nvie with each other in saying nice things about mediums and their ways.\nThe cause of this change in public opinion has been a similar change in\nscientific belief. It is not more than thirty years ago that orthodox\nscience refused so much as to investigate the things of which we are\nspeaking. Some twenty\u2010five years ago the Society for Psychical Research\nwas formed in England with such names as Crookes, Myers, Romanes,\nEidgwick, Barrett and others on its list of members, and since that day\ntelepathy, table rapping, clairvoyance, clairaudience, telekinesis,\napparitions, materializations, mental healing and all the other phenomena\nwhich Professor James, of Harvard, aptly calls _residual_, have been\ninvestigated. Mediums have been transferred from back parlors, where all\nsorts of trickery was possible, to the physical laboratories of the\nuniversities. They have been put under conditions of strictest control.\nEven the traditional darkness has been denied them. And still the\nwonderful results came. One after another leading scientists entered into\nthese investigations skeptical and contemptuous, but came out of them\nbelievers in the facts on the evidence of their own senses.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201909\u2010164.\n\nSo that he maketh fire come down from heaven.\u2014Fire from heaven was the\ntest by which Elijah proved that Jehovah is the true God, and was the\nmethod by which Jehovah accepted the offerings made to Him on the Day of\nAtonement. (1 Kings 18:38; Lev. 9:24.) In the test at hand the second\nbeast will be able to prove to all except the Elect that his claims to\nDivine approval are correct. \u201cOur Lord warns us of danger from false\nChrists \u2018then\u2019\u2014that is now. Had it been foretold precisely what form these\ndeceptions would take, this would have somewhat hindered their deceptive\npower. God permits these deceptions for the very purpose of separating the\n\u2018overcomers\u2019 from all others, and merely guarantees us that the \u2018Elect\u2019\nwill be kept from falling. And yet it is quite possible that some of these\ntrials, siftings and delusions, may come closest upon those possessing the\nlargest degree of the light of Present Truth.\u201d (D. 581; Rev. 7:3.) \u201cThe\nLord allows the storms to press us more and more so that we will cry unto\nHim. Then He will hear us and give us the necessary deliverance. These\nstorms may be right inside, in our own person. Whether, therefore, storms\nfinancial, political, religious or demoniacal, come his way, the child of\nGod may rest secure and be of good courage. The Lord is both able and\nwilling to care for his interests and bring him off victor.\u201d (Z. \u201913\u2010150.)\nAs soon as the beast has apparently made out a clear case, perhaps by\noutward, visible evidences, but surely by evidences from the Scriptures\n(distorted) of its standing with God, we may expect a very prompt and\npractical use of the \u201cfire\u201d (Luke 9:54) thus obtained. \u201cThe Image, as soon\nas vitalized, will very promptly use its influence, prestige, power, in\nevery way to punish in the name of the Lord those who in any sense of the\nword it shall consider to be its opponents. Speedily none will be allowed\nto buy or sell, in the spiritual marts [or perhaps in any marts], except\nthose who have either the mark or the number of the Beast, or of the\nImage, either in the right hand of co\u2010operation or in the forehead of\npublic confession. This will mean that the INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS\nASSOCIATION and all others not in affiliation with the Alliance will be\nsubjected to radically coercive measures. Truth shall fall in the streets.\n(Isa. 59:14.) Righteousness will be unable to enter under the stress of\nthe new order of things. For a time it will appear as though a great\nChristian victory had been won, shared equally by Papacy and Federated\u2010\nProtestantism\u2014no longer protesting.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201913\u2010343.\n\nOn the earth in the sight of men.\u2014Amongst his own followers and among\nChristians unattached to either beast.\n\n13:14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth.\u2014The independent\nChristians just named.\n\nBy the means of those miracles.\u2014Signs, the laying on of hands, doctrines\nof immortality, trinity and claims that none are qualified to understand\nthe Bible aright except those consecrated by the imposition of holy orders\nby the episcopal succession.\u2014Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\nWhich he had power to do in the sight of the beast.\u2014While the papacy is\nstill alive and active.\u2014Rev. 19:20.\n\nSaying.\u2014By its own example.\n\nTo them that dwell on the earth.\u2014Independent Christians.\n\nThat they should ALSO make an Image to the beast.\u2014\u201cFrom the year 1800 to\n1846 was a time in which great numbers of new sects arose, whereas before\nthat, they were few and prominent. This gave rise to uneasiness among the\nolder denominations who wondered whereunto this thing would lead. As the\nBible came to be read more and more by the masses, occasional individuals\nwould feel free to preach what they thought it taught, regardless of\ndenominational creeds and the views of the older sects. As a consequence,\nProtestants were fast splitting up into fragments. They began to say, By\nwhat means shall we check and stop this disposition to individual thought\nand opinion relative to the teachings of Scripture? They wanted to stop\nthe very thing God desired; viz., that each individual should be free and\nindependent of restraint, with his faith based, not on the views of\nothers, not on the decisions of Councils or Presbyters, nor in the\ndecision of the Pope, nor in things approved of the head of the English\nchurch, but in the Word of God. The question came: How can we restrain\nthese preachers? This was a quandary to all except the Roman and Episcopal\nchurches, since these both claimed the \u2018Apostolic Succession,\u2019 and that\nthis, by ordination, conferred upon their ministers special power and\nauthority to preach and to administer the \u2018Sacraments\u2019; hence that no\nothers had a right to do so, but were clerical pretenders. Other\ndenominations could not claim this continuation of apostolic power through\ntheir preachers, but simply set them apart by prayer, consequently those\nof one denomination could not object that the preachers of other\ndenominations, as well as all laymen, were not as truly authorized of God\nto expound the Scriptures as their own clergy.\n\n\u201cBut the example of the Church of England showed what a prestige she had\nby reason of the voice of authority with which she commanded a reverence\nfor her clergy and her teachings. This teaching by example was not lost.\nThe various denominations felt a necessity for some common Standard of\nDoctrine which would be supported and upheld by all of them, and thus give\nprestige to their teachings, and bring the combined influence of all\nagainst any further advance in knowledge or the development of any\ndifferent phase of truth. Thus they would protect themselves by being able\nto say: The combined opinion of all Protestants is against you; therefore\nyou are heretics, and therefore we will shun you, and not call you\nBrethren, but use all our influence against you. This was done by the\nformation of the \u2018Evangelical Alliance.\u2019 It was stated to be one of the\nobjects of the Alliance (and we believe the principal one) to \u2018Promote\nbetween the different Evangelical denominations, an effective co\u2010operation\nin the efforts to repel common enemies and dangers.\u2019\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Evangelical Alliance\u2014Church Federation The Image of The Beast\n\n\n\u201cDo not understand us as opposing the Christians represented in that\nAlliance; we are opposed merely to their attempt to muzzle truth, and to\nprevent the opening up of any other truths buried by Papacy than those\nwhich they had received. It is far from our purpose to say that they\nintentionally combined against the unfolding of truth, nor would we say\nthis of Papists. But we do say, that by their action they were following\nPapacy\u2019s tactics, and that in that Alliance they did make the Image of the\nBeast. It has tended to make a separation clear and distinct between the\nClergy and the Laity.\n\n\u201cHow much the Image resembles the Papal Beast may be judged from the fact\nthat Papacy acknowledged the Image\u2014owned it as a creditable likeness\u2014by\nthe Pope sending \u2018Greetings\u2019 to the last meeting of the Evangelical\nAlliance. Strange to say, the delegates to the Alliance had so far lost\nsight of the principles and doctrines which led to the protests against\nthe Papal church (that it was the Harlot church\u2014Antichrist\u2014Man of\nSin\u2014mentioned in the Scriptures) that they actually felt flattered by the\nPontiff\u2019s notice, instead of becoming alarmed and examining how and why he\nwho is \u2018The Chief Antichrist\u2019 should feel pleased to greet them as\nfellows. A prominent Presbyterian minister present at the above named\nmeeting mentioned the \u2018Pope\u2019s Greeting\u2019 with evident pleasure and\nsatisfaction to the writer.\n\n\u201cA prominent characteristic of the Beast copied by the Image is the\nhonoring of a special class, the Clergy, with special honors and titles.\nThey are known as Revs., Divines, etc., but Jesus the Divine said: \u2018Ye\ncall Me Lord and Master, and ye say well, for so I am.\u2019 \u2018Be not ye called\nRabbi, neither be ye called Master, for one is your Master, even Christ,\nand all ye are brethren.\u2019 (Matt. 23:8.) These titles are assumptions\nfashioned after those of Papacy. When the various denominations began\ntheir existence, more full of the spirit of Christ, they claimed no such\nhigh\u2010sounding titles. The Reformers were not known as Rev., D. D., etc.,\nbut as John Knox, Martin Luther, etc. Unpretentious, like Jesus and the\nApostles, they were intent upon serving God, and therefore became the\nservants (ministers) of the Church. But now the Clergy are far from being\nservants; they are Lords. They have itching ears, loving the approval of\nmen. As pride and worldliness have come in, vital godliness and power have\ngradually departed. For the very same reason, they are losing all power to\nexpound the Word of God\u2014the gift of teaching\u2014because \u2018God abhorreth the\nproud, but giveth grace (favor) to the humble.\u2019 We find ministers of all\ndenominations ready to confess their ignorance of the Word. They appeal,\nfor their information, back to the early reformers, and thus confess that\nthey have less light than they. That their light should grow dim, and\ntheir spiritual life become dwarfed, is the natural result of their\njoining the Image, and subscribing to creeds made in the fifteenth\ncentury, which, like the shoe of China, will not admit of any growth. It\nis a shoe a little larger than Papacy put upon its followers, but of the\nsame sort.\n\n\u201cPapacy established the clerical hierarchy, who lorded it over God\u2019s\nheritage instead of serving their brethren as Jesus explained\u2014\u2018One is your\nMaster; all ye are brethren,\u2019 and as Paul said: \u2018We are to speak the truth\nin love and grow up into Him in all things who is the Head, even Christ;\nfrom whom the whole Body fitly joined together [not by creeds of men, but\nby love begotten by the one Spirit of Truth] and compacted by that which\nevery joint supplied [every joint is every member, not the clergy only]\nmaketh increase of the Body unto the edifying of itself in love,\u2019 thus\ncoming \u2018to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of\nGod.\u2019 (Eph. 4:15, 16.) As Papacy established the priesthood over the\nchurch, so Protestantism has established the same, and there is no\nopportunity for the Body to edify itself, every joint taking part. True,\nthere is a seeming show of liberty at prayer meetings, etc., but it is\nonly upon the surface, for the ordained pastor is to watch zealously lest\nanything contrary to the teachings of his church should be expressed, and\nif so, to silence the audacious member at once, for the church creed is\nthe rule, not the Word of God. If this is not sufficient, they must have a\nsort of church trial and excommunicate him (\u2018kill him\u2019). The trial, by the\nway, gives evidence of another likeness to the Beast, namely, the\nexaltation of the teachings of the organization above the Word of God, for\nall such are tried according to \u2018the authorities\u2019 of their church.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\n\u201cThe Alliance endeavored to establish a standard of orthodoxy. They saw\nthe power of the Papal argument, that it is the Church, and that all\nothers are heretical. In this sense it was a copy, or image, of the Papal\ninstitution. It has been merely an Image without life or power for now\nmore than sixty years.\u201d (Z. \u201913\u2010342.) \u201cAnd he told the inhabitants of the\nearth to erect a statue (possibly a symbol of corrupt public opinion) to\nthe Wild Beast who had received the sword\u2010stroke and yet had\nrecovered.\u201d\u2014Weym.\n\nWhich had the wound by a sword, and did live.\u2014Which was smitten by the\nSword of the Spirit in the hands of the reformers, but not persistently\nenough to kill it. (Heb. 4:12.) \u201cIt is important to observe that the wound\nof one of the heads is here ascribed to the whole beast.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n13:15. And he had power to give life.\u2014Either \u201capostolic succession\u201d or its\neffect. \u201cIt may not be known to many how much stress was laid upon the\n\u2018apostolic succession,\u2019 which was supposed to be a virtue transmitted\nthrough hundreds of years of Papal corruption, by the laying on of the\nhands of the Bishop. This, of course, was vested in the Roman church, and\nalso in the English church on account of its being at first rather a\nsecession from Papacy than a reformation. To many minds; even among the\nclergy, there was a veneration for that ceremony, which neither Papacy nor\nthe English church were averse to promoting.\u201d (Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.) For the effect\nof this superstition on the mind of Wesley, see Rev. 9:1, 2. \u201cThe Lord\u2019s\nsymbolic prophecy tells us that in the close of this Age the Image will\nreceive life, vitality, energy, power. No longer will it stand as a mere\nImage. It will become as active as the Beast. Moreover, it will not be\nantagonistic to the Beast, but sympathetic, and cause that all shall\neither worship the Beast or the Image\u2014all must be in harmony either with\nCatholicism, or with the Protestant Church Federation as soon as it\nreceives the vitalizing breath.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201913\u2010343.\n\nUnto the Image of the beast.\u2014\u201cThe vitality of the Image is to come from\nthe two\u2010horned Beast; the Church of England. A few years ago the Episcopal\nChurch took an important step toward vitalizing the Church Federation\nmovement. That important step was the recognition of the ministers of the\ndenominations represented in the Evangelical Alliance. Previously no\nminister not ordained by the laying on of hands of a Catholic or an\nEpiscopalian bishop was allowed to preach from an Episcopalian pulpit.\nPerhaps this recognition of the Image is all the vitalization the Image\nneeds, but we are inclined to expect more. For years the Episcopalians\nhave proffered reordination to the ministers of the different\ndenominations represented in the Evangelical Alliance. And they still\nproffer it. We have been inclined to expect that the ministers would\nfinally concede the point and accept a reordination at the hands of an\nEpiscopal bishop. But we are not sure of this. It is possible that, to\nmeet the requirements of the case, some other way will be found by which\nthe Episcopal Church will recognize the Church Federation without\nobligating the ministers to be reordained. We are waiting for this.\u201d (Z.\n\u201913\u2010343.) \u201cIf the various ministers of other denominations in considerable\nnumbers accept reordination as ministers at the hands of Episcopalian\nBishops, the validity of other ordination will be speedily questioned. The\nauthority of this so\u2010called \u2018Apostolic Ordination\u2019 will give seeming right\nof authority, dignity and power. After the prominent ministers of various\ndenominations submit themselves to such reordination, the \u2018lesser lights\u2019\nwill make a rush for it.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201910\u2010308.\n\nCanon Henson, of Westminster Abbey, has said: \u201cThe logical goal of modern\ntendencies is not toward Disestablishment, but toward a fuller and\nworthier Establishment. Why should not the nation draw into its service\nall the organized Christianity instead of limiting itself to a single\ndenomination? I rejoice to observe a beginning made in this direction by\nrecent legislation, which has recognized for certain civic purposes the\nstatus of Nonconformist clergymen.\u201d (Z. \u201906\u20106.) The change of name of the\n\u201cImage of the Beast\u201d to that of \u201cFalse Prophet\u201d in Rev. 16:13, between the\n_sixth_ and _seventh_ plagues, indicates it was vitalized prior to the\npublication of Vol. VII (the 7th plague). Truly it now _lives_\u2014in the\nminds of the clergy\u2014but it will grow stronger.\n\nThe matter is growing in the minds of those interested, as the following\ndispatches show: \u201cWashington, Dec. 31, 1916.\u2014In a signed document\naddressed to the nation, more than fifty prelates and laymen of various\ndenominations representing many sections of the country have united in a\nwarning against what they declare may be a premature peace in Europe which\n\u2018may bring a curse instead of a blessing.\u2019 \u201d \u201cLast winter commissions of\nall American Protestant churches met at Garden City, L. I., for the first\ntime, and adopted a general platform on which it recommended that the\nWorld Conference on Faith and Order proceed. Pope Benedict XV. sent a\nletter to the commissions, assuring them of his \u2018deep interest and\nprayers.\u2019 \u201d\u2014_Literary Digest_, January 13, 1917.\n\nThat the image of the beast should both speak.\u2014Thus far he has been\nsignificantly \u201csilent\u201d as far as claiming any real power or authority is\nconcerned; but the time for the breaking of the silence is near.\u2014Jer.\n8:14\u201017; Rev. 8:1.\n\nAnd cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the\nbeast.\u2014\u201cWorship of this symbolic beast and his image is to be the great\ntest or trial upon professing Christians in every province of symbolic\nBabylon in the end of this Age. And we have the same inspired record as\nauthority for the statement that only those who refuse to render worship\nto those powerfully influential religious systems (symbolized by the beast\nand his image) will be counted by the Lord as \u2018overcomers\u2019 and be made His\njoint\u2010heirs as members of His elect Church. (Rev. 20:4.) And there are\nsome the world over who, with a courage not less than that of Shadrach,\nMeshach and Abed\u2010nego, declare publicly that the Lord God alone shall have\nthe worship and the service which they can render. The faithful few will\nbe exposed to fiery experiences\u2014boycotted socially, boycotted in business,\nslandered in every conceivable manner, and often by those of whom they\nleast expect it, who, according to the Lord\u2019s declaration, will say \u2018all\nmanner of evil against them falsely.\u2019 (Matt. 5:11,12.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201999\u2010170.\n\nShould be killed.\u2014\u201cSoon we shall have their \u2018Union\u2019 or \u2018Confederacy\u2019 (Isa.\n8:12), and the bitter fruits of Union in error will speedily manifest\nthemselves in tyranny, as during the Dark Ages.\u201d (Z. \u201904\u2010212.) \u201cTo us the\nScriptures indicate that the prosperity of the Federated Protestant\n\u2018Image\u2019 will for a little time be so great, so pronounced, and its\narrogance become so great that the sympathy of the masses will be entirely\nalienated and turned into bitterness.\u201d (Z. \u201910\u2010309). It may be objected\nthat the Church would have no part in the killing of their fellow\nworshippers, but ecclesiastics themselves have a better understanding of\nthe ecclesiastical mind and ecclesiastical conscience. The following is\nfrom the pen of Rt. Rev. Chas. D. Williams, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of\nMichigan:\n\n\u201cIt is an appalling thought that the Church should have had a part in the\ncrime of Calvary, and yet it did, and that the chief part. The\necclesiastical mind is a closed mind\u2014and there is nothing it resents so\nmuch as being pried open to receive a new idea. Its settled rule of\njudgment, its accepted test of truth, is, \u2018What is new is never true, and\nwhat is true is never new.\u2019 The other characteristic of a perverted\nreligion is the ecclesiastical conscience. It is strikingly illustrated by\none Good Friday scene. A procession is sweeping through the streets of\nJerusalem, bound for the Governor\u2019s Palace. Who compose this procession?\nThey are the religious leaders of the people the prominent divines, the\nchief ecclesiastics. What is the business they have in mind? They are\nintent on committing the greatest crime in history. But at Pilate\u2019s\nthreshold they stop. Why? Ah, they have stumbled across a canon of the\nChurch. If they should enter a heathen house that Passover morning, they\nwould become ceremonially defiled and unfit to partake of the sacrament.\u201d\n(Z. \u201915\u2010339.) \u201cIn 1526 Prof. Tyndale, having prepared his MS., published\nit in Germany, because of the opposition of the English clergy. He\nimported his New Testaments into London, in whose shops the people began\nto purchase them. At this same time the Germans were learning something of\nthe New Testament and its different teachings, from Luther and his\nassociates. The Church of England bishops forthwith bought up the entire\nedition in the shops, and publicly burnt them in front of St Paul\u2019s\nCathedral, London. They knew that the eighteen Ecumenical Councils had\ndeclared to be true Christian faith many things not taught in the Bible,\nand had omitted many things that are taught therein. They feared that the\npeople, becoming Bible students, would know of these things, and thus\nwould be upset the general belief based in the creeds\u2014and not in the\nBible. Then, too, they warned the people against putting any construction\nupon the Bible that would make it different from the teaching of the so\u2010\ncalled \u2018Apostolic Bishops\u2019 in the creeds\u2014threatening them with eternal\ntorment. As it was, Tyndale and some of the others interested in the Bible\nsuffered martyrdom, as enemies of the \u2018Apostolic Bishops,\u2019 and their\ncreeds and institutions.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010253. Are the clergy divinely ordained?\n\n13:16. And he causeth all, both small and great.\u2014\u201cThe great feast which\npreceded the fall of Babylon would seem to correspond well with the great\ndenominational union expected soon, and the season of rejoicing which will\naccompany it. The gold and silver vessels of the Lord\u2019s house which were\nprofaned may fitly represent not only the precious truths of Divine\nRevelation, but also the Lord\u2019s consecrated people\u2014the golden vessels\nrepresenting the Little Flock, and the more numerous silver vessels\nrepresenting the \u2018Great Company.\u2019 What may be the character of the\ndefilement and injury of these is of course problematical; but in any case\nwe remember that those consecrated vessels were all highly honored, and\nrestored to the Temple by Cyrus, and likewise we know that not only the\ntruths of Divine Revelation will all be cared for by our Lord, but also\nthat all that are His shall be glorified in the spiritual Temple which He\nwill rear shortly.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201999\u2010175.\n\n[Rich and] Poor AND RICH.\u2014\u201cSo popular will Federated Churchianity become\nthat to even criticize it will be a \u2018crime\u2019 worthy of crucifixion in some\nform\u2014socially and financially, if not physically. Politicians will quickly\nrealize that their bread is buttered on that side, and be ready to enact\nlegislation of any kind desired by the Federation. Mammon\u2010worship will\ntake on new forms temporarily, but power will soon debauch the\nunregenerate mass and drive out the regenerate faithful who may\ntemporarily be misled by the great \u2018Union\u2019 movement in the name of Christ,\nbut without His Spirit or authority.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201906\u20106.\n\nFree and bond.\u2014\u201cIt is altogether possible, indeed probable we think, that\nJohn\u2019s course which brought him into conflict with Herod was in some\ndegree typical of the course of the Gospel Church in this present time;\nand of the course of events that may be expected. If it be a type, Herod\nwould represent civil government, and the unlawful wife would represent\nthe nominal church, which throughout the symbolic Scriptures is\nrepresented as a woman, Jezebel, etc. Should it prove to be a type by its\nfulfilment in antitype, the fulfilment will probably be on something like\nthe following lines: (1) A partial reunion of Church and State. [This has\nnow been accomplished by the Alliance of the United States with Great\nBritain.] (2) In such case it would become the duty of the true Church,\nthe forerunners and announcers of the Messianic Kingdom, to reprove the\ncivil powers as well as the nominal church systems, and to declare their\nunion unlawful\u2014contrary to the Word of God. (3) The effect of this would\npretty surely be to awaken the animosity of both civil and religious\npowers; but it would draw out specially the animosity and venom of the\nlatter. (4) The church nominal, in her false position would be anxious to\nstifle the reproofs and to destroy the reprovers, and the effect would be\nthat the civil power would be induced to pass such legislation as would\nrestrain the liberty of the faithful ones and hinder them from public\nutterances;\u2014as John was hindered by imprisonment. (5) Herodias\u2019 daughter\n(united Protestantism) will become the tool for the destruction of the\nmost loyal servants of God.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201998\u201095.\n\nTo [receive] GIVE HIM a mark in their right hand or in their [foreheads]\nFOREHEAD.\u2014By contrast with Ex. 13:9; 28:26\u201038; Deut. 6:8; Z. \u201907\u2010265; Rev.\n7:3; 14:1; Ezek. 9:4\u20106. \u201cConsecration to the service of the beast is what\nis signified here.\u201d (Cook.) (Lev. 19:28.) \u201cAll classes of Christians must\nbow; all must, in some way, give evidence of their support of the Image\nand consecration to its interests and laws; either a public, open\nprofession of being members of the Alliance, and hence supporters (mark in\nforehead), or at least a giving of some assistance and influence to the\nprinciples of Image organisation\u2014(the right\u2010hand support).\u201d (Z. \u201980\u20101\u20102.)\nThis implies a re\u2010establishment of the inquisition _soon_\u2014in some form of\nhouse\u2010to\u2010house \u201cinvestigation\u201d or public enrollment.\n\n13:17. [And] That no man might buy or sell.\u2014\u201cThe \u2018buying and selling,\u2019\nlike the other features, is symbolic, and refers to dealing in spiritual\nthings. [But it may be literally fulfilled as well in the year of\nprospective famine now at hand.] None may be recognized as having any\nright to teach or preach or baptize or administer the emblems of our\nLord\u2019s death, except those licensed by some orthodox member of the Image,\nand acts of such persons (\u2018unlicensed\u2019) are not counted valid.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201980\u20101\u20102.\n\nSave he that had the mark [or the name] of the beast.\u2014Protestants\naffiliated with the Federal Council of Churches\u2014already \u201cmarked,\u201d stamped\nO. K. by the papacy.\n\nOr his name.\u2014Roman Catholics.\n\nOr the number of his name.\u2014Consent to the principle of clergy rule in\nmatters of faith, order and war (murder.)\u2014Rev. 15:2.\n\n13:18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath [understanding] AN EAR count the\nnumber of the beast.\u2014\u201cHere is scope for ingenuity. Let people of shrewd\nintelligence calculate the number of the Wild Beast; for it indicates a\ncertain man, and his number is 666.\u201d\u2014Weym.\n\nFor it is the number of a man.\u2014The Man of Sin, the Papacy.\u2014Rev. 19:20; 2\nThes. 2:3.\n\n[And his number is] Six hundred threescore and six.\u2014In the Greek this\nnumber is six hundred (represented by the Greek letter \u03c7), plus sixty\n(represented by the Greek letter \u03be), plus six (represented by the Greek\nletter \u03b6). It is not as though it read six plus six plus six.\n\n\u201cThe following extract on this point is from a work entitled The\nReformation, bearing the date of 1832:\n\n\u201c \u2018Mrs. A.,\u2019 said Miss Emmons, \u2018I saw a very curious fact the other day; I\nhave dwelt upon it much, and will mention it. A person, lately, was\nwitnessing a ceremony of the Romish Church. As the pope passed him in the\nprocession, splendidly dressed in his pontifical robes, the gentleman\u2019s\neye rested on these full, blazing letters in front of his mitre\n(tiara\u2014crown): VICARIVS FILII DEI, the Vicar of the Son of God. His\nthoughts, with the rapidity of lightning, reverted to Rev. 13:18.\u2019 \u2018Will\nyou turn to it?\u2019 said Mrs. A. Alice opened the New Testament, and read:\n\u2018Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is\nthe number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.\u2019\nShe paused, and Miss Emmons said, \u2018He took out his pencil, and marking the\nnumerical letters of the inscription on his tablet, it stood 666.\u2019 \u201d\n(Smith.) This explanation was approved by Pastor Russell, and was given by\nhim at a Convention Question Meeting.\n\nV 5\nI 1\nC 100\nA 0\nR 0\nI 1\nV 5\nS 0\n \u2014\u2014\nF 0\nI 1\nL 50\nI 1\nI 1\n \u2014\u2014\nD 500\nE 0\nI 1\n\u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014\nTotal 666\n\nOn the pope\u2019s crown in the Vatican museum is the recognized and most used\ntitle of the pope, VICARIVS FILII DEI (Vicar of the Son of God.) The word\nVICARIVS is on the top of the threefold crown. The word FILII is on the\nsecond circlet; and the words are made from dark, shining precious jewels.\nThe word DEI is on the under part of the threefold crown and is made of\n100 diamonds. \u201cThe Tiara is a bee\u2010hive shaped, somewhat bulging head\u2010\ncovering, ornamented with three crowns. It is first mentioned by Pope\nConstantine, in A. D. 715. It first appears on papal coins in the reign of\nSergius III., A. D. 911. At this period it was merely a cap of white\nstuff. The papal coins of the 11th century leave it doubtful whether the\nornamental band at the lower edge of the tiara is intended to represent a\ncrown or merely a decoration. It is only in representations dating from\nthe late 13th century that the circlet appears as a regular spiked crown.\nThe second circlet was added by Pope Boniface VIII., A. D. 1303. The third\nwas added under Clement V., A. D. 1311.\u201d (Brit.) The reason for the\naddition of any of these crowns is unknown, or why the pope should have\nany crown at all. The words VICARIVS FILII DEI are, it is said, also\ncarved over the entrance to the Vatican.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n Gideon\u2019s Band.\n\n \u201cCount Me the swords that have come.\u201d\n \u201cLord, thousands on thousands are ready.\u201d\n \u201cLo! these are too many, and with them are some\n Whose hearts and whose hands are not steady.\n He whose soul does not burn,\n Let him take up his tent and return.\n\n \u201cCount Me the swords that remain.\u201d\n \u201cLord, hundreds on hundreds are daring.\u201d\n \u201cThese yet are too many for Me to attain\n To the victory I am preparing.\n Lead them down to the brink\n Of the waters of Marah to drink.\u201d\n\n \u201cLord those who remain are but few,\n And the hosts of the foe are appalling,\n And what can a handful such as we do?\u201d\n \u201cWhen ye hear from beyond, My Voice calling,\n Sound the trump! Hold the light!\n Great Midian will melt in your sight!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 14\u2014The Five Harvest Messages\n\n\n14:1. And I looked, and, [lo, a] BEHOLD THE Lamb.\u2014See Rev. 5:6; 13:8; John\n1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19.\n\nStood on the Mount Sion.\u2014The Return of the Lord is here pictured as\naccomplished the sleeping saints raised, and the full number called. This\nwas all fulfilled in 1878. (Rev. 11:17.) At that time our Lord took unto\nHimself His great power and began His Reign.\n\nAnd with Him an hundred forty and four thousand.\u2014See Rev. 7:4.\n\nHaving His [Father\u2019s] name AND THE NAME OF HIS FATHER.\u2014How beautiful and\nhow true that we have _both_ the Father and the Son in our minds, while\ntrinitarians must necessarily have more or less, and are proportionately\nconfused.\n\nWritten in their foreheads.\u2014Isa. 44:5; Rev. 7:3; Ex. 13:9; 28:26\u201038; Deut.\n6:8; Z. \u201907\u2010265; Ezek. 9:2\u20106.\n\n14:2. And I heard a voice.\u2014The message of Present Truth from the lips of\nthe Lord\u2019s saints on this side of the veil. They are on Mount Zion in the\nspirit of their minds.\n\nFrom heaven.\u2014\u201cWe are seated with Him in Heavenly places.\u201d\u2014Rev. 13:6.\n\nAs the voice of many waters.\u2014A great outpouring of Truth, in many\ntongues.\u2014Rev. 1:16; 19:6.\n\nAnd as the voice of [a great] thunder.\u2014Seven thunders, the seven volumes\nof _Scripture Studies_.\u2014Rev. 8:5; 10:3, 4.\n\nAnd [I heard] the voice WHICH I HEARD WAS AS THAT of harpers harping with\ntheir Harps.\u2014\u201cThe Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments constitute what\nthe Lord Himself designates \u2018the Harp of God.\u2019 (Rev. 15:2.) And the\nvarious testimonies of the Law and the Prophets are the several chords of\nthat Harp, which, when tuned by the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts,\nand swept by the fingers of the devoted servants and searchers after\nDivine Truth, yields the most enchanting strains that ever fell on mortal\nears.\u201d\u2014F. 233; Rev. 5:8.\n\n14:3. And they [sang as it were] SING a new song.\u2014The Lord particularly\npromised that in this Harvest time, out of His Storehouse would come\nthings _new_. (Matt. 13:52; 24:45.) \u201cIn symbol He pointed out to us the\nfact that the Message of His grace in the closing days of this Gospel Age\nwould be so different from the commonly accepted message, misnamed the\nGospel, that it would properly be termed a new song.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u201037; Rev. 5:9;\n15:3.\n\nAND IT WAS before the Throne.\u2014While still on earth. Compare Rev. 4:5 and\n5:6.\n\nAnd before the four beasts.\u2014Every declaration of Present Truth has for its\nobject the presentation of one or more of the Divine attributes\u2014Justice,\nPower, Love and Wisdom. All that we do in the service of the Truth is done\nin their sight.\u2014Rev. 4:7\u201010.\n\nAnd BEFORE the elders.\u2014The prophecies. In all that we do we are pointing\nto the prophecies and fulfilling them. How often it was said of our Lord\nJesus, that He said or did this or that \u201cThat it might be fulfilled which\nwas spoken by the mouth of\u201d one of the Prophets.\n\nAnd no man could learn that song but the 144,000.\u2014\u201cNothing is more\nmanifest than that it is necessary to be somewhat of an \u2018overcomer\u2019 of the\nworld and its spirit which pervades nominal Christendom, ere any would\nhave the courage to sing this song\u2014to declare before men the lengths,\nbreadths, heights and depths of the goodness and grace of the Divine Plan,\nof which Jesus and His Sacrifice are the center. To all others \u2018the fear\nof man bringeth a snare,\u2019 and stoppeth their mouths from speaking \u2018forth\nthe praise of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.\u2019\n\u2018But the people that do know their God [His Character and Plan] shall be\nvaliant and do exploits,\u2019 and like the Apostles of old will feel and say.\n\u2018Whether it be right to obey God or men, judge ye; but we cannot but speak\nthe things which we have seen and heard,\u2019\u2014Dan. 11:32; Acts 4:19, 20.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201900\u201037.\n\nWhich were redeemed from the earth.\u2014_Agorazo_, acquired at the forum.\u2014E.\n_443_, 429.\n\n14:4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are\nvirgins.\u2014\u201cAll Bible exponents of the Protestant kind recognize there are\ntwo Women especially mentioned in Revelation; the one the true Woman, the\nBride class, the other the false Woman; and Protestants in general\nunderstand that false Woman to represent the papacy. Then again other\nProtestants understand that the Scriptures which refer to the mother and\ndaughters refer to the papacy, and these denominational daughters, or\nsystems, which sprang from her, and have more or less of her nature,\ndisposition and characteristics. The Bible proposition is that the Church\nis a Virgin Church; viz.: not united to the world at all, and that this is\nthe error that was made by the early Church in leaving Christ as the\nprospective Bridegroom and becoming united with the nation of Rome. This\nconstituted an illicit union; for as the Bride of Christ she had no right\nwhatever to be associated with any earthly dominion; therefore in becoming\nassociated with the Roman Emperor she lost her standing. We are to\nremember that this word \u2018harlotry\u2019 as used in Revelation is merely a\nsymbolical term; there is nothing more than that to be understood. God\nspeaks of some of His children as being in Babylon. Babylon is the name\nfor the mother, the papal system, and the daughters also have the same\nname. It means confusion, mixture and improper relationship. Now then some\nare in Babylon and not of Babylon, just the same as the children of Israel\nwere carried captive into Babylon, but they were not Babylonians. And in\ndue time God sent forth the Message to all Natural Israel that if those\nwho had been carried in captivity into Babylon desired to return to the\nLord their God, and to the Land of Promise, they might do so. Cyrus gave\nthat decree, you remember, and many of them did return.\n\n\u201cNo one is called out of Babylon until he hears the Lord\u2019s voice. So you\nand I may have been in Babylon for years and not have had any\nresponsibility or any impurity; we were not defiled, because we did not\nknow any better. But He says, \u2018Come out of her, My people, that ye be not\npartakers of her sins.\u2019 That implies that you are not yet partakers of her\nsins; you are My people, in her, but not yet partakers. I was not\nresponsible for what was in my head from childhood; and God did not hold\nme responsible; nor you, nor anyone else; but after we come to see the\ngreat errors which are taught by Babylon\u2019s system then we are responsible.\nWe have said things about our Heavenly Father that we would be ashamed to\nsay about ourselves or of our earthly parents.\n\n\u201cWe have said He created our world of mankind and knew what He was doing,\nhad full power and full wisdom, and intended from the beginning to damn\nnine hundred and ninety\u2010nine out of every thousand, and to have them roast\nthrough all eternity; and that He made fireproof devils to handle them;\nthat He created a great place called hell in which all of this diabolical\nwork was going on. No honorable man would treat a poor rat that\nway\u2014predestinate the rat before it was born, foreordain it to eternal\ntorture. And now then after we once see that this doctrine is blasphemy\nagainst God, after we once see that it was evidently instigated by our\ngreat Adversary, the Devil\u2014after we once see what an awful thing it is\u2014if\nthen we wish to uphold earthly systems and give our lives, strength,\ntalents and means, to upholding these diabolical teachings, then we are\nworse than any others there; we are the worst of them all. What right has\nany man to stay inside of a denomination and deny the teachings of that\ndenomination? He is branding himself as a fraud, professing to believe\nwhat he knows he does not believe, claiming to teach what he knows he\nshould not teach; or, on the other hand, teaching that which he knows is\nwrong, and professing that which he does not believe at all. The whole\nmatter is wrong; such are defiled by the Women.\n\n\u201cBut those who come out when they see the right and wrong on the question,\nwho take their stand for right, they are delivering their souls from\nBabylon. \u2018Flee out of Babylon, saith the Lord; deliver every man his\nsoul.\u2019 Now no one is responsible to flee out unless he sees that it is\nBabylon, but the very suggestion that it is Babylon to every honest person\nmeans that he should make an investigation, and a thorough one, to know\nwhether or not he is in Babylon. If he says, \u2018Well, God\u2019s voice says \u201cflee\nout of Babylon,\u201d and I believe that the system is Babylon, but I do not\nwish to look into it for fear I find it true,\u2019 that means he is dishonest\nwith himself; he is defiling himself. There is only one way of being\nthoroughly honest, and that is to be honest.\u201d (Pastor Russell.) \u201cThat the\nwords can only be understood spiritually seems to follow from the whole\ntone of Apocalyptic symbolism:\u2014see the mention of the Bridegroom and the\nBride, of the Harlot and her fornications. Elsewhere we have the language\nof Ps. 45, of the Canticles, of the Book of Hosea, above all of 2 Cor.\n11:2:\u2014\u2018I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a\nchaste virgin to Christ.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n[These are they which] THOSE WHO follow The Lamb.\u2014On this side of the\nveil.\n\nWhithersoever He goeth.\u2014Those who fail to \u201cWalk in the light as He is in\nthe light\u201d find sooner or later that they \u201cwalk in darkness\u201d for the light\ngoes on and leaves them.\u2014John 1:6, 7; Prov. 4:18.\n\nThese were redeemed from among men.\u2014They are a separate class, \u201cfrom\namong\u201d men. \u201cThe thought is that of public purchase; and all the other\nuses of this word _agorazo_, throughout the New Testament, emphatically\nsupport a most commercial signification. We call especial attention to the\nsignification of this word, because the tendency to deny that there was a\npurchase of our race effected by a _price_ given for man\u2019s release from\nthe \u2018curse\u2019 is prevalent and a growing one\u2014very subversive of the true\nfaith, once delivered to the saints.\u201d\u2014E. _443_, 430.\n\n[Being the first\u2010fruits] FROM THE BEGINNING unto God and [to] IN the\nLamb.\u2014\u201cSeparated from the entire mass as the best absolutely.\u2014Num. 18:12.\u201d\n(Cook) Deut. 26:2; Jas. 1:18.\n\n14:5. And in their mouth.\u2014By contrast to the lies of the False Prophet.\n\nWas found no [guile] FALSEHOOD.\u2014They fully and thoroughly believe the\ndoctrines they teach.\u2014Psa. 15:1, 2.\n\nFor they are without fault [before the Throne of God].\u2014\u201cFaultless before\nthe presence of His glory with exceeding Joy.\u201d\u2014Jude 24; Eph. 5:27; Psa.\n15:1\u20105.\n\n14:6. And I saw [another] AN angel.\u2014_The Divine Plan of the Ages_, Volume\nI of the _Scripture Studies_.\n\nFly in the midst of heaven.\u2014\u201cFrom one end of heaven to the other\u201d amongst\nChristian people of all denominations.\u2014Matt. 24:31.\n\nHaving the everlasting Gospel.\u2014The same Gospel preached by our Heavenly\nFather (Gal. 3:8), the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:16), the holy Apostles\n(Acts 15:13\u201018), the holy Prophets (Acts 3:19\u201024) and the holy Angels\n(Luke 2:10, 13, 14); but entirely overlooked by the clergy.\n\nTo preach unto them that dwell on the earth.\u2014To independent\nChristians.\u2014Rev. 13:13, 14.\n\nAnd [to] UNTO every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.\u2014All\nmankind, living and dead.\u20141 Tim. 2:4\u20107.\n\n14:7. [Saying] with a loud voice.\u2014By millions of copies circulated earth\u2010\nwide.\n\nFear God, and give glory to Him.\u2014Rather than to creeds, sects and clergy.\n\nFor the hour of His judgment is come.\u2014The _MILLENNIAL DAWN_, the dawn of\nthe thousand\u2010year Judgment Day of Christ, is at hand.\u2014Rev. 15:4; 11:18.\n\nAnd worship Him that made Heaven, and earth, and the sea.\u2014God, our\nHeavenly Father, the Creator of all things.\u2014Neh. 9:6; Psa. 33:6, 124:8;\nActs 14:15; 17:24.\n\nAnd the fountains of waters.\u2014His Heaven\u2010sent Word.\n\n14:8. And there followed another [angel] A SECOND.\u2014Volume II of _Scripture\nStudies_.\n\nSaying, [Babylon is fallen,] is fallen, [that] BABYLON, THE great\n[city].\u2014Chapters 7 and 9 of Volume II are particularly devoted to this\ntheme. \u201cThe name Babylon originally signified God\u2019s gate\u2010way; but\nafterward, in derision, it came to mean _mixture_ or _confusion_. In the\nbook of Revelation this name is applied specifically to the church\nnominal, which, from being the gate\u2010way to glory, became a gate\u2010way to\nerror and confusion, a miserable mixture composed chiefly of tares,\nhypocrites,\u2014a confused mass of worldly profession in which the Lord\u2019s\njewels are buried, and their true beauty and luster hidden.\u201d (C. 153.)\n\u201cThe name Babylon was applied, not only to the capital city of the\nBabylonian empire, but also to the empire itself. Babylon, the capital,\nwas the most magnificent, and probably the largest, city of the ancient\nworld. It was built in the \u2018form of a square on both sides of the\nEuphrates river; and, for protection against invaders, it was surrounded\nby a deep moat filled with water and inclosed within a vast system of\ndouble walls, from thirty\u2010two to eighty\u2010five feet thick, and from seventy\u2010\nfive to three hundred feet high. On the summit were low towers, said to\nhave been two hundred and fifty in number, placed along the outer and\ninner edges of the wall, tower facing tower; and in these walls were a\nhundred brazen gates, twenty\u2010five on each side, corresponding to the\nnumber of streets which intersected each other at right angles. The city\nwas adorned with splendid palaces and temples and the spoils of\nconquest.\u2019 \u201d (D. 23; Jer. 51:8; Rev. 18:2.) \u201cThis use of the aorist\u2014in the\nsense of the \u2018prophetic preterite\u2019\u2014expresses the certainty of the fall:\nsee chapters 10:7; 11:18; 18:2; and see on chapter 15:1. The language is\ntaken from Isa. 21:9, the verb denoting the violent fall and overthrow of\nkingdoms\u2014see Ezek. 30:6; and see on chapter 17:10. With the fall of\nBabylon, the capital of the ungodly world\u2010kingdom, the Old Testament\nconnects the redemption of the people of God.\u2014Isa. 13:19; 47:1; Jer.\n51:1\u201010.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nBecause [she made all nations drink of] ALL NATIONS HAVE FALLEN THROUGH\nthe wine of the wrath of her fornication.\u2014\u201cThe ruin of all the nations of\nearth is here attributed directly to the fact that \u2018Babylon made all the\npeoples drunk with the wine [spirit, influence] of her\nfornication\u2019\u2014worldly affiliation.\u201d\u2014C. 164, 104; Jer. 51:7; Rev. 2:20;\n17:2, 5; 18:3; 19:2.\n\n14:9. And [the] ANOTHER, A third angel followed them.\u2014Volume III of the\n_Scripture Studies_ followed I and II.\n\nSaying with a loud voice.\u2014Proclaiming clearly, in chapters 2, 4 and 6.\n\nIf any man worship the beast.\u2014The Papacy.\n\nAnd his image.\u2014The Evangelical\u2010Alliance\u2010Spiritism combination.\u2014Rev. 13:11,\n13, 14, 15; 14:11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.\n\nAnd receive his mark In his forehead, or in his hand.\u2014See Rev. 13:16, 17.\n\n14:10. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.\u2014The Message\nof Present Truth.\n\nWhich is poured out without mixture.\u2014Different from Babylon\u2019s _mixed_\nwine.\u2014Isa. 5:20\u201022.\n\nInto the cup of His indignation.\u2014\u201cThe Lord our God hath put us to silence\nand given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the\nLord.\u201d\u2014Jer. 8:14; Isa. 51:17\u201020; Jer. 25:26\u201028; Rev. 18:6; 16:19; Psa.\n60:3; 75:8.\n\nAnd he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.\u2014Whoever worships,\nreverences, human institutions and doctrines more than the Word of the\nLord has experienced the torment here specified. Doctrines of hell fire\nand brimstone have been his portion.\u2014Rev. 9:17\u201019.\n\nIn the presence of the holy angels.\u2014The Harvest workers on this side of\nthe veil.\u2014Matt. 13:39.\n\nAnd in the presence of the Lamb.\u2014\u201cIn the days of the Son of Man;\u201d after\nthe Second Advent has taken place.\n\n14:11. And the smoke of their torment.\u2014\u201cA noun, unlike a verb (or \u2018time\u2010\nword,\u2019 as the Germans call it), does not indicate time. So \u2018the smoke of\ntheir torment\u2019 may mean that of pain endured once for all, and then at an\nend. There is nothing in this verse that necessarily implies an eternity\nof suffering. In a similar way the word \u2018punishment\u2019 or \u2018correction\u2019 in\nMatt. 25:46 gives in itself no indication of time. Cp. Gen. 19:28; Jude\n7.\u201d (Weym.)\n\n\u201cAbout _endless torment_:\n\n\u201c(a) The doctrine is found nowhere in the Old Testament, nor any hint of\nit. The expression, in the end of Isaiah, about the fire unquenched and\nthe worms not dying, is plainly of the corpses of men upon the physical\nearth.\n\n\u201c(b) The doctrine of endless torment was, as a historical fact, brought\nback from Babylon by the Rabbis.\n\n\u201c(c) St Paul accepts nothing of it as far as we can tell, never making the\nleast allusion to the doctrine.\n\n\u201c(d) The Apocalypse asserts that not only _death_, but _hell_ shall be\ncast into the Lake of Fire.\n\n\u201c(e) The Christian Church has never really held it exclusively till now.\n\n\u201c(f) Since the Reformation it has been an open question in the English\nChurch.\n\n\u201c(g) The Church of England, by the deliberate expunging of the 42nd\nArticle, which affirmed endless punishment, has declared it,\nauthoritatively, to be open.\n\n\u201c(h) It is so, in fact. Neither I nor any others who have denied it can be\ndispossessed or proceeded against legally, in any way whatsoever.\u2014Rev.\nChas. Kingsley, May 9, 1857.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201911\u2010363.\n\nAscendeth up for ever and ever.\u2014\u201cThe remembrance of the destruction of\nthese systems of deception and error will be lasting, the lesson will\nnever be forgotten\u2014as smoke, which continues to ascend after a destructive\nfire, is testimony that the fire has done its work.\u2014See also Isa.\n34:8\u201010.\u201d\u2014H. 64; Rev. 19:3.\n\nAnd they have no rest day or night.\u2014A literal fulfillment of this is\nexpected. (Rev. 7:3.) A few days of it will be enough to satisfy the most\nardent lover of the torment system of religion. And it will be a just\nrecompense of reward.\n\nWho worship the beast and his Image.\u2014\u201cAll will at once concede that if a\nliteral worshipping of a beast and image were meant in verse 9, then few,\nif any, in civilized lands are liable to the penalty of verse 11; and if\nthe beast and his image and worship and wine and cup are symbols, so also\nare the torments and smoke and fire and brimstone.\u201d\u2014H. 64; Rev. 14:9.\n\nAnd whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.\u2014Of fear, sympathy or\nworship.\n\n14:12. Here is the patience of the saints.\u2014Their crowning trial.\n\n[Here are they] that keep the commandments of God.\u2014The commandments of God\nduring the Harvest time are to proclaim, \u201cGather My saints together unto\nMe;\u201d \u201cFlee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be\nnot cut off in her iniquity.\u201d\u2014Psa. 50:5; Jer. 51:6.\n\nAnd the faith of Jesus.\u2014\u201cHe laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay\ndown our lives for the brethren.\u201d (1 John 3:16.) The Great Company class\nare our brethren and we ought to show as much interest in them as we do in\nthe Little Flock. The gathering of the full number of the Very Elect would\ngive us no reason to discontinue Harvest work.\n\n14:13. And I heard a voice from Heaven.\u2014The Heavenly Father\u2019s Word.\n\nSaying [unto me], Write.\u2014The message found in chapter 9 of Volume III.\n\nBlessed are the dead which die in the Lord.\u2014\u201cEach member of the Body of\nChrist must finish his sacrifice in actual death. They are reckoned of God\nas being already dead, and they are exhorted so also to reckon themselves:\n\u2018Reckon ye yourselves dead indeed unto sin.\u2019 No other dead men can be said\nto die but this class of dead ones, who must finish their course of\nsacrifice in actual death.\u201d\u2014C. 241; 1 Thes. 4:16.\n\nFrom henceforth.\u2014From the spring of 1878.\n\n[Yea,] saith the Spirit.\u2014The Word of God, in Rev. 6:11. \u201cNowhere in the\nScriptures is death represented as in any sense a blessing, except in this\none instance; and here it is particularly limited and made applicable to a\ncertain specific time.\u201d\u2014C. 240.\n\nThat they may rest from their labors.\u2014\u201cPoor, bruised \u2018feet,\u2019 now despised\nof men, none but yourselves fully appreciate your privileges. None others\ncan appreciate the joy you have in proclaiming Present Truth.\u201d (C. 236.)\n\u201cOne by one the \u2018feet\u2019 class will pass from the present condition, in\nwhich, though often weary and wounded, they are always rejoicing, to the\nother side the veil;\u2014\u2018changed\u2019 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,\nfrom mortality to immortality, from weakness to power, from dishonor to\nglory, from human to Heavenly conditions, from animal to spirit bodies.\u201d\n(C. 237.) \u201cInstead of the Kingdom waiting for the living members to finish\ntheir course, the Kingdom work began at once; and the living ones on this\nside the veil are privileged to know \u2018the mysteries of the Kingdom\u2019 and to\nengage in Kingdom work before their \u2018change;\u2019 and as they die (will not\nfall \u2018asleep,\u2019 but) will be \u2018changed\u2019 in the moment of death, resurrected\nas part of the blessed and holy First Resurrection.\u201d\u2014D. 622.\n\n[And] FOR their works do follow them.\u2014\u201cTheir _work_ will not cease with\nthis change; for all those who will be counted worthy of that change to\nglory will be already enlisted in the service of the Kingdom on this side\nthe veil: only the weariness, the labor feature, will cease with the\nchange.\u201d (C. 238.) \u201cWe may not be able to judge accurately as to what\nfeatures of the great work are now being carried on by the Lord and His\nglorified saints beyond the veil; but we may be sure that they are active\nparticipants in the work assigned the members of the same Kingdom class,\nwhose course and service are not yet ended on this side the veil\u2014the\nHarvest work.\u201d\u2014D. 624; 1 Cor. 15:58.\n\n14:14. [And I looked], and behold a white cloud.\u2014See Rev. 10:1. As the\ncloud indicates the Time of Trouble, so the white indicates the pure\nmotive back of it.\n\nAnd upon the cloud [one sat] I SAW ONE SITTING like unto the Son of\nMan.\u2014\u201cTo the Jewish House Jesus presented Himself in three characters\u2014as\nBridegroom (John 3:29), Reaper (John 4:35, 38) and King (Matt. 21:5, 9,\n4). To the Christian House He presents Himself in the same characters. (2\nCor. 11:2; Rev. 14:14, 15; 17:14.)\u201d\u2014B. 238.\n\nHaving on His head a golden crown.\u2014The Divine nature, Immortality, the\nhighest form of life.\u20142 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4.\n\nAnd in His hand a sharp sickle.\u2014\u201cThis Harvest, like the Jewish one, is to\nbe first a time of trial and sifting upon the Church, and afterward a time\nof wrath upon the world, including the nominal Church. That which tried\nfleshly Israel in the Harvest of their Age was the truth then presented to\nthem. The truth then due was the sickle, and it separated the \u2018Israelites\nindeed\u2019 from the nominal Jewish Church; and of the true wheat there was\nbut a fragment compared to the professors. So also is the Harvest of this\nAge. The Harvest of the Gospel Age, like that of the Jewish Age, is under\nthe supervision of the Chief Reaper, our Lord Jesus, who must then be\npresent.\u201d\u2014A. 238.\n\n14:15. And another angel.\u2014The Witness to the Lord in the Land of Egypt.\n(Isa. 19:20.) See pages 309, 311, Vol. III, and observe that Chapter 10,\nVol. III, _Scripture Studies_, is in reality a separate book.\n\nCame out of [the] HIS temple, crying with a loud voice.\u2014Throughout the 66\npages of his testimony.\n\nTo Him that sat on the cloud.\u2014To our Present Lord.\n\nThrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come [for thee] to\nreap.\u2014The Great Pyramid confirms the Bible\u2019s teaching that the time of\nHarvest has come.\n\nFor the Harvest of the earth is ripe.\u2014\u201cThe use of a sickle is to gather\nwheat, not to ripen it.\u201d\n\n14:16. And He that sat on the cloud.\u2014The Lord Jesus, during His Parousia,\noverruling and withholding the Time of Trouble.\n\nThrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.\u2014Reading\nverses 13\u201016 connectedly, we note that the resurrection of the sleeping\nsaints is recorded, and is immediately followed by the Harvest. This\nsuggests that the Harvest proper began in 1878; and that the three and a\nhalf years prior to the spring of 1878 was devoted to preliminary work,\nbut not to Harvest work in the full sense. It was not proper to say \u201cCome\nout of her, My people,\u201d until Babylon was cast off, in the Spring of\n1878.\u2014Rev. 3:14; Matt. 13:30; 24:31.\n\n14:17. And another angel.\u2014Pastor Russell himself, after the harvesting of\nthe saints was finished. (Volumes IV, V, VI are not shown in this strictly\nHarvest chapter, as they are more used for the upbuilding of the saints\nthan as Harvest instruments. They are, however, shown in Rev. 10:4; 15:8;\n16:1\u201018.)\n\nCame out of the Temple which is in Heaven.\u2014The Church in glory, on the\nother side of the veil.\n\nHe also having a sharp sickle.\u2014The privilege of guiding the work of\nbringing forth out of the Divine Storehouse all the Master\u2019s store of\nprovisions, as needed, and of directing the execution upon the nominal\nchurch of the chastisements promised in the Holy Word. \u201cBlessed is that\nservant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I\nsay unto you, that He will make him ruler over _all that He hath_.\u201d\u2014Luke\n12:44; Psa. 49:5\u20109; Isa. 21:1\u201010.\n\n14:18. And another angel.\u2014The corporate body which Pastor Russell\norganized to finish his work. See Rev. 8:3\u20105, which describes the same\nmatter as here narrated.\n\nCame out from the altar.\u2014The place of sacrifice. The SOCIETY is maintained\nby the sacrifices of the saints.\n\nWhich had power over fire.\u2014Authority over the publication and distribution\nof expositions of Ezekiel and John the Revelator, symbolical \u201ccoals of\nfire.\u201d\u2014Isa. 6:6; Ezek. 10:2.\n\nAnd cried with a loud [cry] VOICE to Him that had the sharp sickle.\u2014What a\ndisappointed cry went up from the whole Church that dear Brother Russell\nwent beyond the veil without writing the Seventh Volume of _Scripture\nStudies_, for which we all have looked so long!\n\nSaying, Thrust In Thy sharp sickle.\u2014Oh, that the Lord would wind up the\npresent order of things, in whatever way He might elect!\u2014Joel 3:9\u201014, 13;\nMatt. 13:39\u201043.\n\nAnd gather the clusters of the vine of the earth.\u2014In the Adventist cluster\nthere are 6 bunches of smaller sects; in the Baptist 15; Brethren\n(Dunkard) 4; Plymouth Brethren 4; River Brethren 3; Catholic Apostolic 2;\nChurches of the Living God 3; Churches of the New Jerusalem 2; Disciples\nof Christ 2; Evangelical Bodies 2; Faith Associations 9; Friends 4;\nLatter\u2010Day Saints 2; Lutheran 21; Scandinavian Evangelical Bodies 3;\nMennonite 13; Methodist 16; Moravian 2; Pentecostal bodies 2; Presbyterian\n12; Protestant Episcopal 2; Reformed 4; United Brethren 2.\n\nFor her grapes are fully ripe.\u2014All these sects have long ago taken their\nstand against the Truth and therefore against the Lord. O Lord, judge them\nwith Thy Truth! Thou hast called them the \u201cabominations of the earth\u201d and\nso they are. Bring their man\u2010made clergy\u2010ridden systems to an end and make\ntheir memory to perish from the earth! Amen.\u2014Isa. 65:17; Rev. 17:5; Jer.\n6:9\u201030.\n\n14:19. And the angel thrust in his sickle [into] UPON the\nearth.\u2014Distributed far and wide among order\u2010loving people the good news\nthat nominal Zion\u2019s travail is at hand, and the new and better order of\nthings near.\n\nAnd gathered the vine of the earth.\u2014Brought together all the sects in\nvirulent opposition to the Message of the Truth.\n\nAnd cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.\u2014\u201cThe fruitage of\nthe True Vine is Love, and is precious to the Father; but the fruitage of\nthe Vine of the Earth is selfishness in various forms, and will be\nultimately gathered into the great winepress of the wrath of God in the\ngreat Time of Trouble with which this Age will close.\u201d (F. 207; Rev.\n19:15.) \u201cWhile the taking of different names was wrong, it was an evidence\nof a deeper wrong\u2014of a selfish, party spirit. It was an evidence that\nthose Corinthians who took the party names had never appreciated the\noneness of the Body of Christ; that they did not really appreciate that\nChrist is the only Head, Leader and Standard; and that His is the only\nname by which His followers should recognize themselves and each other.\u201d\n(Z. \u201908\u2010116.)\n\nMany of the clergy are today followers of Darwin and Socrates instead of\nMoses and Christ And both Darwin and Socrates were mentally unsound. The\nfollowing is from Dr. Dorland\u2019s _The Age of Mental Virility_: \u201cIt is\nlikewise exceptional to find an unusually short nose, such as that\npossessed by Darwin and Socrates, among men of intellect. Nasal\nabbreviation is one of the well\u2010known signs of degeneracy, as is also the\nsessile or otherwise misshapen ear, the sugar\u2010loaf skull, the close\u2010set\neyes, and other physiognomic irregularities, including the cretinoid face.\nThe latter, strange to relate, has been noted in certain men of remarkable\ngenius, including Darwin and Carlyle, Rembrandt, Pope and Socrates. I wish\nto emphasize at this point the assertion that not every individual who\nchances to possess one of the above mentioned physical peculiarities is to\nbe immediately stamped as a degenerate. It is only when there is a\ncombination of two or more of these traits, especially if this combination\nhas been noted as a family peculiarity, that the suspicion will be\nawakened; and this may then be confirmed and the condition established by\nclose and careful investigation.\u201d \u201cSocrates,\u201d writes Pedigo, \u201cpresented\none of the most interesting studies in dual personality and subconscious\nconditions in all history in his memorable daemon, which he said guided\nhim and inspired him with wisdom.\u201d \u201cHerbert Spencer was the victim of a\nfixed delusion.\u201d\n\nThe clergy are the ones directly responsible for the war in Europe. It was\nnot their province to convince the rulers of those countries that their\nkingdoms are parts of God\u2019s Kingdom of peace, holiness, justice, love and\ntruth\u2014monstrous! They are an entirely unauthorized class\u2014except by\nthemselves; a self\u2010perpetuating fraud. They have brought upon their heads\nthe blood of all the nations of the earth in this world war; and God will\nrequire it at their hands. In the spring of 1918, and from that time\nonward forever, it will be as unsafe to tell the lies that have filled\nBabylon\u2019s exchequers as it will to be a king.\u2014Zech. 13:2\u20106. \u201cThough\ncontroversy and words of passion and arguments will be and are among the\nweapons used in this battle, especially in the beginning of it, yet it\nwill not end with these. Every prophetic detail indicates that before it\nends it will be most sanguinary, a fierce and terrible storm.\u201d\u2014D. 529;\nJer. 25:26\u201038; Isa. 63:1\u20106; Lam. 1:15.\n\n14:20. And the winepress.\u2014The Seventh Volume of _Scripture Studies_, the\nwork that will squeeze the juice out of the \u201cAbominations of the earth.\u201d\nCook\u2019s _Revelation_, page 709, calls attention to the peculiar fact that\nthis word is _both masculine and feminine_. This seemingly indicates the\nLord\u2019s recognition of the co\u2010operation of the _sisters_, particularly in\nthe closing feature of the Harvest work. Priscilla was such a valuable\nhelper that she was named before her husband in Acts 18:18.\n\nWas trodden without the city.\u2014\u201cIn symbolic prophecy a \u2018city\u2019 signifies a\nreligious government backed by power and influence. Thus, for instance,\nthe \u2018holy city, the new Jerusalem,\u2019 is the symbol used to represent the\nestablished Kingdom of God, the overcomers of the Gospel Church exalted\nand reigning in glory.\u201d (D. 25.) \u201cThe treading of the winepress is the\nlast feature of Harvest work. The reaping and gathering is all done\nfirst.\u201d (D. 18.) Worldly editors have applied this verse to the great war\nnow raging in Europe; but this expression makes it impossible to so apply\nit. If the war is the winepress and Christendom the city, it is not being\ntrodden _without_ the city, but right in its midst. This suggests that the\nRevelator referred to another city; and with propriety; for this chapter\nis devoted to Harvest work only. What city more appropriate to refer to\nthen than the Bethel, the Divinely appointed center for the Harvest work,\nthe embryo Kingdom of God on earth? See Rev. 19:15.\n\nAnd blood.\u2014Teachings which though truthful will be death\u2010dealing and seem\n\u201cbloody\u201d to sectarianism. (\u201cAnd blood came out of the winepress even unto\nthe horse bridles\u201d is a parenthetical clause. Without this parenthesis the\nverse reads: \u201cAnd the winepress was trodden without the city by the\ndistance of a thousand and two hundred furlongs.\u201d)\n\nCame out of the winepress.\u2014The exposition of the prophecies of Ezekiel and\nthe Revelator.\n\nEven unto the horse bridles.\u2014So deep as to strangle and drown the old\nfalse doctrinal hobbies so long ridden. Sectarianism will be the universal\nlaughing\u2010stock. See Rev., chapters 8 and 9. \u201cBecause I have called, and ye\nrefused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have\nset at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof; I will mock\nwhen your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your\ndestruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon\nyou. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek\nMe early, but they shall not find Me; for that they hated knowledge, and\ndid not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel: they\ndespised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their\nown way.\u201d\u2014Prov. 1:24\u201031.\n\nBy the space of a thousand and [six] TWO hundred furlongs.\u2014This can not be\ninterpreted to refer to the 2100 mile battle line of the world war. A\nfurlong or stadium is not a mile and this is without the city whereas the\nbattle line is within the city. See Rotherham\u2019s translation.\n\nA stadium is 606\u2010\u00be English ft.; 1200 stadii are, mi., 137.9.\n\nThe work on this volume was done in Scranton, Pa. As fast as it was\ncompleted it was sent to the Bethel. Half of the work was done at an\naverage distance of 5 blocks from the Lackawanna station, and the other\nhalf at a distance of 25 blocks. Blocks in Scranton are 10 to the mile.\nHence the average distance to the station is 15 blocks, or, 1.5 mi.\n\nThe mileage from Scranton to Hoboken Terminal is shown in time tables as\n143.8 and this is the mileage charged to passengers, but in 1911, at an\nexpense of $12,000,000, the Lackawanna Railroad completed its famous cut\u2010\noff, saving 11 miles of the distance. From the day the cut\u2010off was\ncompleted the trainmen have been allowed 11 miles less than the time table\nshows, or a net distance of 132.8 mi.\n\nHoboken Ferry to Barclay Street Ferry, New York, is 2.0 mi.\n\nBarclay Street Ferry to Fulton Ferry, New York, is 4,800 feet or 0.9 mi.\n\nFulton Ferry, New York, to Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, is 2,000 feet or 0.4\nmi.\n\nFulton Ferry, Brooklyn, to Bethel, is 1,485 feet or 0.3 mi.\n\nShortest distance from place where the winepress was trodden by the Feet\nMembers of the Lord, Whose guidance and help alone made this volume\npossible. (John 6:60, 61; Matt. 20:11.), mi., 137.9\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 15\u2014The Song Of The Saints\n\n\n15:1. And I saw another sign.\u2014_Seemion_, the same word used by our Lord\nwhen He said, \u201cThen shall appear the _sign_ of the Son of Man.\u201d The proofs\nof the Lord\u2019s Second Advent are here referred to.\n\nIn heaven.\u2014Among God\u2019s professed people.\n\nGreat and marvelous.\u2014Very different in tone and contents from other Bible\n\u201chelps.\u201d\n\nSeven angels.\u2014The seven volumes of _Studies in the Scriptures_.\n\nHaving the seven last plagues.\u2014The seven volumes of _Studies in the\nScriptures_ together constitute the third and last woe poured out upon\npapacy.\u2014Rev. 16:1\u201021; 22:18.\n\nFor in them is filled up the wrath of God.\u2014Their united testimony is that\nthe Times of the Gentiles have expired, the Reign of Christ has begun, all\nearthly potentates\u2014Civil, Social, Ecclesiastical and Financial\u2014must give\nway to the New Order of things, and will not give way peaceably, but must\nbe ejected.\n\n15:2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass.\u2014The Time of Trouble made\ntransparent. We can see why the Lord permits it, and see the Golden Age of\nglory, peace and Divine blessing that lies just beyond.\n\nMingled with fire.\u2014The coming anarchy. \u201cThey are the waves of the Red Sea,\nwhich appears on fire as the Sun of righteousness arises upon them, on the\nmargin of which the true Israelites sing the song of Moses and the saving\nLamb. Standing on its shore are seen those who are delivered from the\nbeasts\u2019 sway as the Israelites were in their exodus from the land of\nPharaoh. The song of Moses is sung by delivered Israel after the Egyptian\nplagues: here the hymn of praise is sung by the redeemed before the\nplagues are renewed and the Church gains its last victory over the\nantichristian world.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and [over] his\nimage.\u2014Who understand and live in harmony with the knowledge that both\nPapacy and Protestantism, and the governments under their influence, are\nof Satanic spirit.\u2014Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:11; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10;\nMatt. 24:24.\n\n[And over his mark,] And over the number of his name.\u2014Who refuse to let\nany stand for them in the place of Christ.\u2014Rev. 13:14\u201018.\n\nStand on the sea of glass.\u2014Not in among the restless and discontented, but\non a higher plane.\u2014Heb. 13:5.\n\nHaving the harps of THE LORD God.\u2014See Rev. 5:8; 14:2.\n\n\n \u201cGod\u2019s Word is that harp, which has long been unstrung,\n And men heard but discordant its notes;\n Now as tuned are its chords from Moses to John,\n How grandly sweet melody floats.\u201d\n\n\n15:3. And [they sing] SINGING the song of Moses.\u2014\u201cHebrew scholars have\nremarked on the evidence of the antiquity of the song of Moses, recorded\nin Exodus 15:1\u201020, some even noting the fact that a few of the words\nshowed an intermingling of the Egyptian language. It is further\nauthenticated by the reference made to it in the book of Psalms, where the\nentire matter of the deliverance of the people and the overthrow of their\nenemies in the sea is graphically described by the sweet singer of Israel.\n(Psa. 106:7\u201012.) If it was appropriate, as we all admit that it was, that\nthe Israelites should give glory to God for their deliverance from the\nbondage of Egypt, much more is it appropriate that spiritual Israel should\nrecognize the still greater deliverance from the power of Satan and the\nthralldom of sin, accomplished for us through the blood of the Lamb of God\nwho died for our sins.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010158; Rev. 14:3.\n\nThe Servant of God.\u2014See Ex. 14:31.\n\nAnd the song of the Lamb.\u2014\u201cThey sing in the sense of declaring in\nharmonious and beautiful cadences the relationship of the types and\nfigures of the Law and the Prophets of the Mosaic Dispensation with the\nantitypes of these of the Gospel Dispensation; showing that all things\nwritten in the Law and in the Prophets are finding glorious fulfilments in\nthe Lamb of God and in the great Plan which the Father is working out\nthrough Him.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u2010310.\n\nSaying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty.\u2014\u201cFirst\namongst the great and marvelous works of the Almighty was the sentence of\ndeath upon father Adam and his posterity. As we look at this marvelous\nwork, we must concede that it was just (in that it was merited), that it\nis true (in the sense of not being an unreasonable penalty), true in the\nsense that it was exactly what God forewarned father Adam the penalty of\ndisobedience would be. \u2018Just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints.\u2019\nBut Jehovah\u2019s first great and marvelous work of condemnation was, after\nfour thousand years, followed by another great and marvelous work; _viz._,\nthe work of redemption. How stupendous this work of the ransoming of all\nAdam\u2019s race of hundreds of millions by the sacrifice of one Man! How great\nand wonderful indeed this act, and how just and true, and how fully in\nHarmony with every feature of Divine Justice and Love!\u20141 Tim. 2:5, 6; Rom.\n5:12, 18, 19.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u2010310.\n\nJust and true are Thy ways.\u2014\u201cAs we have viewed the failure of Christendom\nto adopt the spirit of Christ\u2019s teaching, and seen how the knowledge and\nliberty gained from His teachings were blended with the spirit of evil,\nselfishness, and as from present foreshadowings we mark the sure approach\nof anarchy and every evil work, yet realizing its necessity and justice,\nand having learned also the ends of mercy to be attained eventually by\nthis very means, our hearts exclaim, \u2018Great and marvelous are Thy works,\nLord God Almighty. Just and true are Thy ways.\u2019 \u201d (D. 526; Deut. 32:4;\nPsa. 145:17.) \u201cAs Aaron and the two remaining sons were forbidden to make\nlamentation for their brethren who were cut off, this signifies that all\nthe faithful of the priests will recognize the justice of the Divine\ndecisions, and will bow to them in humble submission, saying, \u2018Just and\ntrue are Thy ways.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Lev. 10:1\u20107; Psa. 89:14; Job 36:17; 37:23; Isa.\n56:1; T. 40.\n\nThou King of [saints] THE WORLDS.\u2014The margin renders this \u201cKing of nations\nor ages.\u201d He will be King of all nations by and by. He is King of all ages\n(worlds) in the sense that the ages are working out His sovereign will.\n\n15:4. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name.\u2014\u201cHere is\nstill another feature to this song, and it is glorious also. It looks\nforward to the glorious Millennial Age, to the time when, under Divine\nprovidence, the knowledge of the Lord, essential to faith, and to any\nacceptance of His favor and mercy through Christ, shall be extended to\nevery creature. \u2018Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.\u2019 (Rom.\n14:11.) And while this bowing and confessing may at first be compulsory,\nyet the Scriptures assure us that ultimately all who will not come into\nheart harmony with the Lord and with all His gracious arrangements and\nprovisions, shall be cut off from amongst the people,\u2014in the Second Death.\n(Acts 3:23.) So that ultimately, instead of the Universe being filled with\nhundreds of millions who to all eternity will wail and gnash their teeth\nand blaspheme God\u2019s holy name in agony\u2014instead of this the time shall come\nwhen every tongue in Heaven and in earth shall be heard praising God, and\ngiving honor to Him that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb, forever,\nfor by that time all evildoers shall be cut off. (Rev. 5:13.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u2010311;\nJer. 10:7.\n\nFor Thou only art holy.\u2014\u201cThis song continues, and has yet another strain.\nIt declares, \u2018Thou only art holy\u2019. All holiness, all perfection, wherever\nit is found, must proceed from God, the great Fountain of holiness. How\nstrange, then, that any of God\u2019s dear people (and we ourselves were once\namongst this number) should so misunderstand the Divine Character and Plan\nas to misrepresent the same as being the very essence of unholiness,\ninjustice, unkindness, inequity, lovelessness, toward the great mass of\nGod\u2019s creatures!\u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u2010311.\n\nFor all nations shall come and worship before Thee.\u2014\u201cThere is still\nanother strain in this song; and it is a grand one also, like all the\nothers,\u2014reaching down into the Millennial Age. It declares, \u2018All nations\nshall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.\u2019\n\u2018All nations\u2019 will include, not only all the nations then living, but all\nthe nations of the dead, just as does the promise which God made to\nAbraham, saying, \u2018In thy Seed [The Christ, Head and Body] shall all the\nnations of the earth be blessed.\u2019 (Gen. 22:18.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u2010311.\n\nFor [Thy] judgments are made manifest BEFORE THEE.\u2014There was a time when\nwe could not sing this song (Psa. 137). We looked forward with dread to\nthe time when the Lord\u2019s judgments would be made manifest. We did not see\nthat the Judgment Day is a day of \u201cassurance to all men.\u201d (Acts 17:31.) We\ndid not see that the first judgment day was against our race (Rom. 5:18),\nand that no culprit can be on trial twice for the same offence. We did not\nsee that another Judgment Day, favorable to our race, came at the time of\nour Lord\u2019s great victory over death (John 12:31); nor did we see that our\nown, the Judgment Day of the saints, is here and now. (1 Tim. 5:24; 1 Cor.\n11:31; 1 Pet. 4:17.) We did perhaps note, our duty of judging wolves by\ntheir greed, dogs by their quarrelsomeness, swine by their interest in\nearthly things, thorns by their disposition to wound and tear, and\nthistles by their disposition to scatter seeds that cause trouble (Matt.\n7:6, 16, 15); and some of us went beyond and began judging one another\n(Rom. 14:13; Matt. 7:1). We never wanted the Lord to do it, even though we\ndo know that He will bring every secret thing into judgment. (Prov. 15:3;\nEcc. 12:14.) Now we see that the world\u2019s Judgment Day is a thousand years\nlong (Psa. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:7, 8); we have learned that a day is not always\nmerely a 24\u2010hour period. (Gen. 2:4; Heb. 3:8; 2 Cor. 6:2.) We see now that\nour Lord Jesus at the first Advent judged nobody (John 12:47; Luke 12:14),\nbut that God has exalted Him to be the world\u2019s Judge (Acts 5:31) a\nDeliverer (Judges 3:9; Isa. 1:26); that He will have associate judges (1\nCor. 6:2; Rev. 20:6); that His judgments will end war, promote\nrighteousness and aid the poor and needy (Isa. 2:4; 11:4; 26:9), destroy\nunrighteousness and bring in everlasting peace and joy.\u20142 Thes. 1:7; Isa.\n65:18; 1 Cor. 15:25; 1 Chron. 16:31; Psa. 96:13; Psa. 98:1\u20109; Psa.\n72:1\u201014.\n\n15:5. And after that I looked, and, [behold].\u2014Another vision of the same\nthing.\n\nThe Temple of the Tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.\u2014Pastor\nRussell was given a clear, beautiful, complete comprehension of the Plan\nof God as revealed in the Tabernacle arrangements and sacrifices. (Acts\n7:44). This is the foundation of all his works.\n\n15:6. And the seven angels came out of the Temple.\u2014The seven volumes of\n_Scripture Studies_, emerged, all in harmony with the teachings of the\nTabernacle, from which they proceeded.\n\nHaving the seven last plagues.\u2014Though counted as plagues by\necclesiasticism they are in reality blessings, destined to rid the earth\nof every obnoxious thing, not the least of which are the great whore and\nharlots, large and small, that have defiled the earth with their unclean\ndoctrines. (Rev. 17:5.) \u201cSuppose that the salaries and \u2018livings\u2019 of all\nministers, bishops, priests, etc., were cut off, all churches, chapels and\ncathedrals destroyed, all theological seminaries broken up, and their\nprofessors turned to other pursuits, all religious guilds and societies\ndisbanded, including all sectarian organizations\u2014what would be the effect?\nWho can doubt that it would be a real blessing under the disguise of a\ngreat and terrible catastrophe? The effect would be to bring _true_\nChristians together as the family of God, and not as sectarian bands; to\nstudy God\u2019s Word, and not human traditions and creeds formulated in the\nDark Ages. The Scriptures seem to indicate that very much of this sort of\ndestruction of present systems must take place before all the \u2018wheat,\u2019 the\ntrue Church, will be separated from the \u2018tares,\u2019 the mere professors.\u201d (Z.\n\u201908\u2010119.) \u201cThe Church, or company of believers, probationers for coming\nglory, in its \u2018voluntary association,\u2019 was indeed to _recognize_\n\u2018teachers,\u2019 \u2018helps,\u2019 \u2018Apostles,\u2019 etc., but not to _make_ them. If they\nrecognize a man \u2018mighty in the Scriptures,\u2019 \u2018apt to teach,\u2019 they should be\ncareful always, even while rejoicing in and thanking God for such a\nservant, to require a \u2018thus saith the Lord\u2019 for every point of doctrine,\nand to search the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be so.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201908\u2010120.\n\nClothed in pure [and white] BRIGHT linen.\u2014\u201cThe \u2018Linen Girdle\u2019 indicated a\nrighteous servant: linen\u2014righteousness, girdle\u2014servitude.\u201d (T. 30.) \u201cA\ndifferent word than in Rev. 19:8. The word here used is suitable as\ndescribing priestly attire and refers to ministrations on this side of the\nveil.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd having their breasts girded with golden girdles.\u2014\u201cThe under\u2010priests\nwere robed in linen garments and wore girdles. Their robes represented the\nrighteousness of Jesus, imputed to us, and their girdles represent us as\nservants of righteousness.\u201d (T. 36.) The _Scripture Studies_ are servants\nof the Church\u2014righteous servants, clad in the Lord\u2019s robe.\u2014Rev. 1:13.\n\n15:7. And one of the four beasts.\u2014Heavenly Wisdom.\u2014Rev. 4:7; Matt. 24:45;\nJas. 1:5; 3:17; Ezek. 10:2, 7.\n\nGave unto the seven angels [seven] golden vials.\u2014The message of Present\nTruth. \u201cThe vial was the shallow bowl in which they drew from the larger\ngoblet.\u201d\u2014Cook; Psa. 79:6; Jer. 10:25; Zeph. 3:8.\n\nFull of the wrath of God.\u2014Against all untruth, injustice and selfishness\nin organizations, Civil, Social, Ecclesiastical and Financial.\n\nWho liveth for ever and ever, Amen.\u2014Whereas all of those are to pass\naway.\u2014Rev. 4:9, 10; 10:6.\n\n15:8. And the temple was filled with smoke.\u2014The nominal Church is filled\nwith confusion as the deformities of her errors are made manifest.\u2014Isa.\n6:4.\n\nFrom the glory of God, and from His power.\u2014As revealed in His Word in this\nHarvest time.\u20142 Chron. 5:14.\n\nAnd no man was able to enter into the temple.\u2014No person of mature thought.\nThe large proportion of new members now received in the various\ndenominations is from the Sunday School.\u2014Rev. 9:20.\n\nTill the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.\u2014Until the seven\nvolumes of _Scripture Studies_ were written, published and circulated.\nShortly afterward the true Temple will be in readiness, wherein men, women\nand children of all races and ages will find their hearts\u2019 hunger\nsatisfied.\n\n\u201cYet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the\nearth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and\nthe desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this House with\nglory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver [the Great Company class that\nwill be used in connection with its ministrations] is Mine, and the gold\n[the Little Flock, of which it will be composed] is Mine, saith the Lord\nof Hosts. The glory of this latter House shall be greater than the former,\n[the nominal church], saith the Lord of Hosts; and in this place will I\ngive peace, saith the Lord of Hosts.\u201d\u2014Hag. 2:6\u20109.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 16\u2014Ecclesiasticism\u2019s Seven Plagues\n\n\n16:1. And I heard a great voice out of the Temple.\u2014Pastor Russell was the\nvoice of the Lord thus used. (Rev. 7:2; 10:3.) He was of the true Temple,\nand \u201cout of\u201d the nominal temple at the time these plagues were poured out.\n\nSaying to the seven angels.\u2014The seven volumes of _Scripture Studies_. See\nRev. 8:2\u20105 and 14:17\u201020. \u201cThe plagues upon Egypt were intended in some\nmeasure to foreshadow, to illustrate, the plagues with which this Gospel\nAge will end.\u201d (F. 175.) Pastor Russell walked in the light. When the\nplagues actually appeared, he no longer held to the explanation published\nin 1883, before they appeared, and so stated on many occasions.\n\nGo your ways, and pour out the SEVEN vials of the wrath of God upon the\nearth.\u2014In the prefaces to the several volumes of _Scripture Studies_ such\nexpressions abound as \u201cI send forth this volume with prayers,\u201d \u201cand now it\nis sent forth in the faith,\u201d etc., etc.\n\n16:2. And the first went, and poured out his vial [upon] INTO the\nearth.\u2014Volume I was distributed among those already under religious\nrestraint.\n\nAnd there fell a [noisome and] grievous AND NOISOME sore.\u2014The book seemed\nto ecclesiastics like an evil and malignant ulcer, a painful, running\nsore, which eats, corrupts and destroys.\n\nUpon the men which had the mark of the beast.\u2014Roman Catholics.\n\nAnd upon them which worshipped his image.\u2014Protestants affiliated with the\nFederal Council of Churches. Rev. 13:11; 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2;\n16:13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24. Another view of the book, from the\nstandpoint of the clergy, is afforded by the plague of flies (Ex.\n8:20\u201032.) It seemed to them like an old\u2010time Egyptian curse, with which\nthey were quite familiar, namely, one more of the Evangelistic firms\nalready cursing society, and interfering with the regular clergy business.\n\u201cThe Scriptural details are as follows: The _arab_ filled the houses of\nthe Egyptians, they covered the ground, they lighted on the people, the\nland was laid waste on their account. A biting, insidious creature, which\ncomes like a dart, with great noise, and, rushing with great impetuosity\non the skin, sticks to it most tenaciously. They boldly beset cattle, and\nnot only obtain ichor, as other flies, but also suck out blood from\nbeneath, and occasion great pain.\n\n\u201cThey have no proboscis, but, instead, have double sets of teeth, like\nwasps, which they infix deeply in the skin; they greatly infest the ears\nof dogs. This genus is most impudently pertinacious in its assaults,\nspares neither man nor beast, gorges itself to bursting with blood,\ninfusing an irritating venom at the same time. No idea can be formed of\ntheir obstinate rapacity. It is in vain to drive them away; they return\nagain in the self\u2010same moment, and their perseverance wearies out the most\npatient spirit.\u201d (McC.) These flies, flying a short distance into the\nheavens, do their work around the dunghill of human tradition, but the\ncollections of one of them recently amounted to $400,000 in eight American\ncities, so the business can be made a money maker by those willing to\ncater to the demand for sensationalism, and who have no hesitancy in\nrepeating ancient blasphemies against God\u2019s holy name.\n\nThese flies are called dog\u2010flies, because they infest the ears of dogs;\nand when it is remembered that the Scriptures refer to the clergy as \u201cdumb\ndogs\u201d (Isa. 56:10, 11; Phil. 3:2) we can readily see the application. The\nclergy of an entire city will sit on a platform, facing virtually the\nwhole population, and hear themselves called liars, hypocrites, false\u2010\nalarms and other villainous names. But because they hope to get a few\n\u201cconverts,\u201d and therefore a few shekels for the \u201csanctuary,\u201d they will\ntake it all meekly, and prefer to take it rather than humbly admit one\nitem of truth in all Pastor Russell\u2019s beautiful writings. After the firm\nhas left town, they frequently bemoan the treatment received and think\nlongingly of the wherewithal taken by the fly that was not satisfied with\nmere ichor, but wanted the real blood.\n\nAt this point it may be well to explain the plagues of frogs and lice. The\nformer seems to represent the _Old Theology Quarterly_ which Pharaoh found\neverywhere contaminating his kingdom, but which, at the hand of the Lord,\nsuddenly died out completely. The latter seems to represent _The Bible\nStudents Monthly_. There is no record that the plague of lice was\ndiscontinued, and even yet the Egyptians (people of the world) and Pharaoh\n(the Devil) and his magicians (the clergy) scratch their heads many a\ntime, wondering how to deal with a plague which they cannot duplicate.\n\n16:3. And the second [angel] poured out his vial upon the sea.\u2014Volume II,\n_Scripture Studies_ seemed to the beast and his image to reach and affect\nonly the discontented, those who never were very subservient to the ruler\nof this present evil world, or any of his systems.\n\nAnd it became as the blood of a dead man.\u2014After death the blood separates\ninto a watery liquid, called serum, and a solid substance termed clot. As\nsoon as this separation takes place the clot begins to putrefy or corrupt.\nThus it seemed to worshipers of the beast and his image that anybody that\nwould accept the teachings of Volume II would be in a hopeless condition.\n\nAnd every living soul died in the sea.\u2014To the worshipers of the beast and\nhis image it seemed as though such would be lost and would surely go to\nhell to be tormented forever. An \u201cevangelist\u201d who held these views called\nat the home of a lady in Scranton. Entering the hall he saw an elegant\npicture of Pastor Russell. Instantly he lost control of what mind he had\nand vehemently said, \u201cI called here as a Christian minister, but I see you\nhave old Russell\u2019s picture here. Are you a follower of his?\u201d The lady\nreplied that she was. He then said, \u201cHe is in hell, and you will be there\ntoo, if you follow him.\u201d Quick as thought the lady reopened the door\nthrough which he had just entered, invited him to the porch overlooking\nthe valley; and as he stood there gazing into space she said, \u201cTell it to\nthe atmosphere,\u201d and left him while she attended to more important duties.\n\nAnother picture of the effect of Volume II on the anti\u2010typical Egyptians\nmay be seen from the plague of the murrain (Ex. 9:1\u20107.) \u201cThis consisted in\nsome distemper that resulted in a sudden and dreadful mortality among the\ncattle in the field, including horses, asses, camels, oxen and sheep. It\nwas, however, confined to the Egyptian cattle, and to those that were in\nthe field; for though the cattle of the Hebrews breathed the same air,\ndrank the same water, and fed in the same pastures, not a creature of\ntheirs died. The Egyptian cattle that survived in the sheds, and were\nafterwards sent into the fields, were destroyed by the succeeding storm of\nfire and hail.\u201d (McC.) These creatures were valuable to the Egyptians.\nThey used them for bearing their burdens, for sacrifices and for food.\nThey represent the classes that go to make up the nominal church and\nsupport it. Thus it seemed to the worshippers of the Beast and his Image\nthat the only way to prevent the loss of all their live stock would be to\nkeep them securely impounded, allowing them no liberty whatever.\n\n16:4. And the third [angel] poured out his vial upon the rivers and\nfountains of waters.\u2014It seemed to the worshippers of the beast and his\nimage that the teachings of Volume III of the _Scripture Studies_ had\ncontaminated the Scriptures, the Waters of Life, at their very source, by\nextending the call to people to come out of Babylon while they were busy\ntrying to get people in.\n\nAnd they became blood.\u2014Seemed repulsive, undesirable, bloody.\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010279;\nEx. 7:20; Rev. 14:20.\n\nAnother view of how Volume III appears to the worshipers of the beast and\nhis image is shown by the plague of boils described in Ex. 9:8\u201012. \u201cThe\nboil was a scab or pustule, which might or might not break out into an\nulcerous sore (Lev. 13:18). With this, in one of its worst forms, Job was\nafflicted (2:7), and by this Hezekiah was brought to the verge of the\ngrave. (2 Kings 20:7; Isa. 38:21.) It was an eruption of a very painful\nkind accompanied with a burning itch, tending to produce a permanent state\nof foul and wasteful disease. One form of this disease which seized upon\nthe legs and knees, and was regarded as incurable, was peculiar to Egypt,\nand was hence called \u2018the botch of Egypt.\u2019 (Deut. 28:27, 35.) In the case\nbefore us, this eruption had a tendency to break out into larger swellings\nand became probably the disease called elephantiasis, a disease said to be\npeculiar to Egypt, or the black leprosy, a disease which also affects\ncattle.\u201d (McC.) It was \u201cashes of the furnace,\u201d loyalty to the memory of\nthe bullock, the one perfect Sacrifice for all, Christ Jesus, that caused\nthe boils; and it is particularly noted that the magicians (clergy) could\nnot withstand this plague, the message, \u201cCome out of her, My People.\u201d\n\n16:5. And I heard the angel of the waters.\u2014Volume III, _Scripture\nStudies_.\n\nSay, thou art righteous, [O Lord] which art, and wast.\u2014See Rev. 1:4; 15:3;\n19:2.\n\n[And shalt be], THE HOLY.\u2014The Lord, the Holy One, was present, at the time\nVolume III was written.\n\nBecause Thou hast judged thus.\u2014Made the beautiful Harvest truths appear\n\u201cbloody\u201d to those not consecrated.\n\n16:6. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets.\u2014Literally and\nfiguratively.\u2014Matt. 23:34, 35; Rev. 13:15; 18:24.\n\nAnd thou hast given them blood to drink; [for] THAT WHEREOF they are\nworthy.\u2014See Rev. 14:20; Isa. 49:26.\n\n16:7. And I heard [another out of] the altar.\u2014The \u201cAltar to the Lord in\nthe midst of the land of Egypt\u201d (Isa. 19:19) at the time these plagues are\nbeing poured out upon the antitypical Egyptians, is the Great Pyramid,\ndiscussed in a separate section of Volume III.\n\n[Say] Saying Even so, Lord God Almighty.\u2014The Lord Jesus.\u2014Rev. 1:8; John\n5:22; Matt. 28:18.\n\nTrue and righteous are Thy judgments.\u2014The teaching of the Great Pyramid is\nin full accord with the rest of the book. See Rev. 14:15. \u201cIt is by no\nmeans an addition to the written revelation: that revelation is complete\nand perfect, and needs no addition. But it is a strong _corroborative\nwitness_ to God\u2019s Plan. Isaiah testifies of an altar and pillar in the\nland of Egypt, which \u2018shall be for a _sign_ and for a _witness_ unto the\nLord of hosts in the land of Egypt.\u2019 And the context shows that it shall\nbe a witness _in the day_ when the great Savior and Deliverer shall come\nto set at liberty Sin\u2019s captives.\u201d\u2014C. 315.\n\n16:8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun.\u2014Volume IV of\n_Scripture Studies_, as soon as published, was sent free to all clergy\nwhose names could be obtained. They are taught, and teach others, that\nthey are important luminaries in the heavens, suns, rivalling in\nbrilliancy and wisdom the Lord Himself, whose place they take in the minds\nof the people, by setting forth their own views on every subject, rather\nthan the Lord\u2019s Word. Volume IV, then, sent to this class, and calling\nattention to Babylon\u2019s fall, seemed to them as the height of all\npresumption in wickedness.\n\nAnd power was given unto him to scorch men.\u2014Greek \u201cThe Men,\u201d i. e., the\nworshipers of the beast and his image.\n\nWith fire.\u2014Perhaps some of the clergy became a trifle warm as they read\nVolume IV, as their later conduct seems to suggest. Why they should have\ndisliked Pastor Russell when he told the truth, and proved it, is\nremarkable.\n\nAnd men.\u2014Greek \u201cThe Men;\u201d the clergy. In Rev. 8:9 the clergy are not so\nhonored.\n\nWere scorched with great heat.\u2014Became warm, indignant at the Pastor\u2019s\nkindly explanation of the whore and the harlots, and the plainly evident\napplication to the Papacy and the Protestant sects.\n\nAnd blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these\nplagues.\u2014Misrepresented the name and character of the mighty one, Pastor\nRussell, to whom the Lord committed the task of presenting to His Church\nthis meat in due season. This misrepresentation burst like a storm after\nthe publication of Volume IV, _Studies_, and continued until the Pastor\u2019s\ndeath, yea, and shame to say it, even afterwards, in the columns of such\nsheets as the New York World and the Brooklyn Eagle. What monuments of\ninfamy these people have reared for themselves! They richly deserve all\nthey will get when the tide turns.\n\nAnd they repented not to give Him glory.\u2014\u201cOne great obstacle to many is\nthe contracted idea generally entertained of the meaning of the word god.\nThey fail to note that the Greek theos (god) does not invariably refer to\nJehovah, but signifies _a mighty one_. In the following texts the word god\n(theos) is used to refer to others than the one supreme being,\nJehovah\u2014viz.:\u2014John 10:34, 35; Acts 7:40, 43; 17:23; 1 Cor. 8:5.\u201d\u2014B. 274.\n\nAnother view of how the publication of Volume IV looks to the worshipers\nof the beast and his image is shown in the plague of hail, described in\nEx. 9:13\u201026. \u201cThe character of this and the following plagues must be\ncarefully examined, as the warning seems to indicate an important turning\u2010\npoint. The ruin caused by the hail was evidently far greater than that\neffected by any of the earlier plagues; for it destroyed men, which those\nothers seem not to have done, and not only men, but beasts and the produce\nof the earth. In this case Moses, while addressing Pharaoh, openly warns\nhis servants how to save something from the calamity. Pharaoh for the\nfirst time acknowledges his wickedness.\u201d (McC.) The appropriateness of\nthese comments to the subject matter of \u201cThe Day of Vengeance,\u201d or \u201cThe\nBattle of Armageddon\u201d, (as it is now called) as the latter would appear to\nthe mind of the clergy, is self\u2010evident. Your true clergyman has the\ngreatest abhorrence for any truth that would tend to lessen men\u2019s\nreverence for himself or the systems which he aims to perpetuate.\n\n16:10. And the fifth [angel].\u2014Volume V, of _Studies_.\n\nPoured out his vial upon the seat of the beast.\u2014Thoroughly and\nscripturally analyzing the subjects of trinity, human immortality and\neternal torment, the foundation of all Papal doctrine, as well as\nconstituting a large part of the stock in trade of the Protestant\naggregation.\n\nAnd his kingdom was full of darkness.\u2014Complete ignorance of the truths on\nthese subjects as taught in the Bible.\n\nAnd they gnawed their tongues for pain.\u2014\u201cNote the expression of Rev.\nSamuel T. Carter in a Presbyterian journal\u2014_The Evangelist_. He says: \u2018It\nmust be admitted that if a Church is honest, that which stands in its\nConfession to its faith. It must be acknowledged that what is contained in\nits Confession is the faith of any honest church. The Westminster\nConfession of Faith is still the unquestioned Confession of the\nPresbyterian Church. Is the Presbyterian Church honest in its zeal for\npurity first and peace afterward? Be it known, then, to all the world that\nthe Presbyterian Church by its Confession declares that all the heathen\nperish, that many men are hopelessly lost from all eternity by the decree\nof God, and that there are infants in hell.... In reality the church does\nnot believe these dreadful doctrines. Then it stands before God and man\nwith a lie in its right hand.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u2010148.\n\n16:11 And blasphemed the God of Heaven.\u2014\u201cIn token of entire allegiance to\nthe beast.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nBecause of their pains [and their sores], and repented not [of their\ndeeds].\u2014\u201cThe commotion amongst Presbyterians continues\u2014some standing firm\nfor their church creed, others repudiating it and begging to be released\nfrom it. Many thus indirectly confess that they have despised it for\nyears, and have realized it to be a lie and a blasphemy against God, and\nafter confessing to this acting and confessing a lie for years they beg to\nbe released without cost or loss either of human or Divine favor, and\nespecially without loss of bread and butter.\u201d (Z. \u201900\u2010148.) The way in\nwhich Volume V, _Scripture Studies_, appeared to the worshipers of the\nbeast and his image is further illustrated in the plague of locusts,\ndescribed in Ex. 10:1\u201011. \u201cThis plague has not the unusual nature of the\none that preceded it; but it even exceeds it in severity, and so occupies\nits place in the gradation of the more terrible judgments that form the\nlatter part of the series. Its severity can be well understood by those\nwho have been in Egypt in a part of the country where a plague of locusts\nhas alighted. In this case the plague was greater than any ordinary\nvisitation, since it extended over a far wider space, rather than because\nit was more intense; for it is impossible to imagine any more complete\ndestruction than that always caused by locusts.\u201d (McC.) With what dismay\nmust the clergy have read the kind words for volume V, which appeared in\nthe columns of the secular press.\n\n16:12. And the sixth [angel].\u2014Volume VI of _Studies in the Scriptures_.\n\nPoured out his vial upon the great River Euphrates.\u2014Seemed to the\nworshipers of the beast and his image to be instituting a new and horrible\nthing, a people\u2019s church, in which there is no place for clergy,\ncollections, church edifices, reverence for one day above another, or in\nfact any of the customs cherished in the nominal church.\n\nAnd the water thereof was dried up.\u2014\u201cLiteral Babylon was built upon the\nliteral river Euphrates, while in the Gospel age mystic or figurative\nBabylon, which carried away captive Spiritual Israel, is portrayed as\nsitting upon the mystic Euphrates. In the type, the golden vessels of the\nTemple were carried away and profaned by literal Babylon: in the antitype,\nthe precious, Divine (golden) truths, pertaining to the service of the\ntrue Temple, the Church (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Rev. 3:12), were far removed\nfrom their proper places, perverted and misapplied by mystic Babylon.\nLiteral Babylon being built upon the river Euphrates, which materially\ncontributed to its wealth and resources, its overthrow was accomplished by\nthe turning aside of those waters. So mystic Babylon sits upon, is\nsupported by, many waters (peoples, nations), and its fall is predicted,\nthrough the turning aside of its supporters and sustainers, the people.\u201d\n(B. 209; Jer. 50:38, 51:36.) \u201cEcclesiastical circles in Germany are much\nexercised at the rapidly increasing desertions from the State Church.\nAlthough the process of official separation from the Church is one of the\ngreatest difficulty, delay and expense, it is computed that in Berlin\nalone considerably over 10,000 persons have severed their connection with\nthe Church during the past year. So great is the number of those who are\nnotifying their intention to terminate their membership that special\noffices have been opened in Berlin to receive their applications, which\nnow number between 300 and 400 daily. Among the working classes,\nespecially those attached to the Social Democratic party, there exists a\nbitter hostility to the clergy.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201909\u201083.\n\n\u201cA program for a general strike against the Church is the latest plan of\naction. The \u2018No\u2010Creeders\u2019 (Monists) in league with the Socialists,\nconvened mass meetings in Berlin, Brunswick and Saxony, in which every\nmeans of incitation was employed in an appeal toward a secession from the\nState Church. At these meetings over 1,300 persons signed a declaration\nannouncing their intention to secede from the Church. Four thousand more\nfollowed, and according to judicial court\u2010records received towards the end\nof December, 17,000 secessions took place in December up to the 23d, and\nthe day after Christmas 8,000 more announced their intention. The\nfollowing press reports may serve as a typical illustration of the mode of\nprocedure in such meetings. \u2018Without exception, every one who even by\nvague allusion, ventured to take a stand for his Church was howled down,\nhissed from the rostrum and subjected to filthy invectives. To illustrate:\nWhen a minister ascended the platform, the following was heard, \u201cHe looks\nit!\u201d \u201cOld Sky\u2010pilot!\u201d And from another part of the hall the same evening\nwe heard the following words aimed at the ministers: \u201cDamned Rags!\u201d \u201cPig\u2010\npriests!\u201d A gentleman who interrupted was yelled at, \u201cRous mit the Parson\u2010\nface!\u201d \u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010133.\n\n\u201cReports in Great Britain show that Baptists, Congregationalists and the\nvarious Methodist denominations there are declining in numbers and\nprestige. The cause of this is not far to see. Christianity has become\nmerely another name for decency and civilization. All doctrines are\nabandoned as merely speculations. Churches are becoming merely social\nclubs in which form and ceremony mark the quality. This accounts for the\ngrowing unpopularity of those sects which once stood for the highest\nstandards of earnestness and Christian zeal and liberty, non\u2010conformity\nand simplicity.\u201d (Z. \u201910\u2010324.) \u201cThe pastor of the Fifth Avenue Baptist\nChurch, New York City, Rev. Dr. Charles F. Aked, who came to its direction\nfrom a London pulpit, in his sermon Sunday said: \u2018When I interview my\nparishioners, and they are among the most representative in the city, I\nfind the spirit of religious depression very unlike the spirit of\nabounding enterprise in business, in manufacturing, in engineering and\nconstruction. There are about 16,000,000 Catholics in continental United\nStates. Now, in our immigration for ninety years back, no less than\n15,000,000 were Catholics. If all remained loyal to its tenets they would\nnumber 45,000,000 now instead of 16,000,000. The Protestants have lost\nground, too, when the filling up of the country is counted. Our own\ndenomination, the Baptists, reflects the general trend. The increase among\nthe Baptists of America has been equal to only one\u2010fourth of the birth\nrate among us, proving that three out of four of our Baptist population\nhave fallen away from us. The decline of Christianity is universal.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn England, in France, in Spain, Italy and Germany we hear the same cry.\nOnly lately I was talking to an English clergyman. He told me that not\nmerely is there a great falling off in church\u2010goers in England, but that\nthe class of people who frequent churches is becoming inferior.\n\n\u201cThe church is out of touch with the masses. Everything has progressed\nexcept Christianity. The pulpit has too many bigots, too many bores, too\nmany _hell\u2010fire screechers_ for the enlightened thought of the day. The\nchurch is obliged to accept any applicant for the ministry who is\nrespectable. Even with this latitude, Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist\nvocations show a remarkable falling off in twenty\u2010five years.\u201d (Z.\n\u201908\u2010324.) \u201cRev. Charles A. Eaton at the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church,\nCleveland, spoke as follows: \u2018In Italy one\u2010third of the people at the very\noutside, are more or less nominal followers of the Church of Rome; another\nthird, possibly, are more or less sympathetic toward the Church; while\nanother third are out and out continually and completely antagonistic,\napparently, not only to the Church of Rome, but to all forms of\nChristianity. You enter France\u2014the same story is true, only aggravated and\nmultiplied a thousand fold. You enter Great Britain, which I consider to\nbe the last citadel of Christianity in the world, with a people more\nrobust and sane in their religious interests and sympathies than any other\npeople. And what is the condition there? The non\u2010conformist churches of\nGreat Britain last year not only made no progress, but met, according to\ntheir statistics, with an absolute loss of 18,000; the Baptist Church of\nGreat Britain last year lost 5,000 people. In the year 1905 there were\nnearly 7,000 Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Methodist churches that\nhad not one single member unite with them in twelve months. In a recent\nyear in New York city, according to the statement of Dr. Aked, of the\nFifth Avenue Baptist Church, 335 Protestant churches reported a net gain\nthat year of 386 members. That is to say 335 churches gained one member\napiece and fifty of them gained two in twelve months. Brethren, I say to\nyou this morning, that the American Church is dying\u2014it is dying! _It is\ndying!_ Don\u2019t forget it.\u2019 \u201d (Z. \u201908\u2010211.)\n\n\u201cA declaration by the Rev. Dr. Charles E. McClellan, pastor of the\nFairhill Baptist Church, that \u2018Protestantism in the United States is fast\ndecaying and will soon be a thing of the past,\u2019 aroused a storm at the\nfifty\u2010third session of the North Philadelphia Baptist Association. Doctor\nMcClellan spoke on what he called the decline of Protestantism while\nmaking his report as chairman of the missionary committee. \u2018The spirit of\nProtestantism is dying in the United States, and it will soon be a thing\nof the past,\u2019 he said. \u2018Philadelphia, both denominationally and\nreligiously, is going to perdition at a rapid rate. Recently I attended\nthe services in one of our churches, at which I had been invited to speak.\nI found in attendance nineteen adults and one child. The same condition\nexists all over the city. We have large, magnificent churches, but small\ncongregations, showing that it is easy to get money, but hard to get\nmen.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201910\u2010373.\n\nThat the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.\u2014\u201cHe must be\ncomparatively blind who cannot see that the wonderful prophecies which\nspeak of the fall of Babylon (Isa. 14:22; Jer. 50 and 51) were not wholly\nfulfilled by Cyrus the Persian. Much of the prophecy still waits for\nfulfillment in mystic or symbolic Babylon today. The Kings of the East, or\nkings from the sunrising, are, we understand, the kings of Christ\u2019s\nKingdom, who are also priests\u2014the Body of Christ, the Royal Priesthood.\n\u2018Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on\nthe earth.\u2019 From this standpoint, Cyrus, who with his army overthrew\nliteral Babylon, was a figure or illustration of Messiah, King of kings\nand Lord of lords. (Isa. 41:25; 44:28; 45:1\u201014.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201999\u2010174; Rev. 7:2.\n\n16:13. And I saw three unclean spirits.\u2014Denoting demoniacal origin. (Matt.\n10:1; Mark 1:26; Luke 4:33.) \u201cThe Lord\u2019s people must discriminate between\ndoctrines presented to them as truth\u2014they must \u2018try the spirits,\u2019 whether\nthey be holy or evil, of God or of the Evil One\u2014the Spirit of Truth or the\nspirit of error. These both are introduced by prophets, or teachers.\u201d\u2014E.\n_320_, 295.\n\n[Like] AS IT WERE frogs.\u2014Frogs are garrulous, have a very wise look, large\nmouths, are much puffed up and utter only croakings. In the \u201cdistress of\nnations with perplexity\u201d which has come upon Christendom as a result of\nher sins, the croakings of the wise now fill the air everywhere. Actually\nall knees are \u201cweak as water.\u201d\u2014Ezek. 7:17; 21:7. See especially D. i\u2010xvi.\n\nCome out of the mouth of the dragon.\u2014The three fundamental truths of\nhistory are man\u2019s Fall, Redemption and Restoration. Stated in other\nlanguage these three truths are the mortal nature of man, the Christ of\nGod and His Millennial Kingdom. Standing opposite to these Satan has\nplaced three great untruths, human immortality, the Antichrist and a\ncertain delusion which is best described as race hatred\u2014in reality murder,\nthe spirit of the very Devil. (1 John 3:15.) It is this last and crowning\nfeature of Satan\u2019s work that is mentioned first. The other two errors are\nthe direct cause of this one. The wars of the Old Testament were all\nintended to illustrate the battlings of the New Creature against the\nweaknesses of the flesh, and are not in any sense of the word\njustification for the human butchery practiced during the Christian era in\nthe name of religion, exemplified by the events of St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day\nand by the wicked Inquisition. Nowhere in the New Testament is hatred of\nother peoples encouraged. Everywhere and always it is forbidden; and yet,\nunder one guise or another it has been encouraged for centuries by the\nclergy class who should have been teaching the people the message given\nthem by the Prince of Peace.\n\nAnd out of the mouth of the beast.\u2014The Antichrist doctrine of the Divine\nright of the clergy was the direct cause of the great war. This frog has\nbeen coming out of the mouth of the Papal beast for sixteen centuries.\n\u201cThese false doctrines of the Dark Ages are bearing a terrible fruitage at\nthe present time. Similarly the teaching of eternal torment,\nmisrepresenting and blaspheming God\u2019s character, is bearing an evil\nfruitage. Millions of people are being turned away from faith in a God of\nLove and from faith in the Bible as His Message by the most monstrous\nblasphemies of the Dark Ages. I charge the responsibility of all this\nagainst the sects and creeds of Christendom. I charge that the ministers,\nwhose eyes are now open to a saner comprehension, have neglected the\nBible, have neglected the people, and, instead of helping them out of the\ndarkness, are now leading them into darkness in an opposite direction\u2014into\nEvolution and Higher Criticism and everything contrary to the Word of God.\nGod is still misrepresented in the world. The creeds of the Dark Ages are\nstill hugged to the bosom in outward pretense, while inwardly they are\nloathed. A great fraud, a great hypocrisy, you say? I answer, Yes; the\nmost astounding the world has ever known. Two hundred thousand professed\nministers of God and of Christ are standing before the world today telling\nthe legends of the Dark Ages and seeking to hinder the people from coming\nto a knowledge of the Truth, meanwhile receiving the people\u2019s money and\nreverence. Does not such hypocrisy, such blasphemy against God, such\ndeception of the people, such keeping of them in darkness, deserve a great\npunishment, and is it not nigh?\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n \u201cPollute Ye My Holy Name No More\u201d\n\n\nAnd out of the mouth of the false prophet.\u2014The one cardinal error upon\nwhich all protestant (false prophet) sects agree is the doctrine of human\nimmortality, the original lie told in Eden (Gen. 2:17, 3:4). In speaking\nof it our Lord says, \u201cWhen he speaketh _the_ lie, he speaketh of his own.\u201d\n(John 8:44, Diaglott.) Speaking of it again, the Apostle Paul says, of the\nworshipers of the beast and his image, \u201cThey admitted not the love of the\nTruth that they might be saved. And on this account God will send to them\nan energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood.\u201d (2 Thes. 2:10,\n11.) In each case the Greek gives the definite article. The frog issuing\nfrom the false prophet (the image of the beast) is the doctrine of human\nimmortality. These deluded souls actually believe this error, and will be\nable to prove it to the satisfaction of the dragon, without a doubt. This\nerror lies at the bottom of the doctrines of eternal torment and of the\ntrinity. There is a hint in 1 John 4:1\u20103 that the cardinal error on which\nthe false prophet will insist is that when Jesus came from the Father He\nwas more than flesh, i. e., had at least an immortal soul.\u2014Rev. 13:11, 13,\n14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.\n\n\u201cAll Christian people credit the book of Revelation to our Lord, as St.\nJohn does. (Rev. 1:1.) Therefore we are not responsible for the symbolism\nused in that book. There are so many ways in which one might be\nmisunderstood, even by good Christian people, that we naturally feel a\ndelicacy about expressing our views. As we proceed to set forth our\nunderstanding of the symbols of the Revelation, we wish to state most\nemphatically that we are saying nothing whatever against godly Christians\nanywhere, at any time, whether in any church or out of any church. We have\nnothing to say respecting people. We discuss PRINCIPLES, DOCTRINES,\nALWAYS; individuals, NEVER! God has not commissioned us to discuss\n_people_; it is ours to discuss _His Word_.\n\n\u201cThroughout the Bible, a Beast is the symbol used to represent a\ngovernment. In Daniel\u2019s prophecy the great universal empires of the earth\nare thus symbolized. Babylon was the Lion, Medo\u2010Persia the Bear, Greece\nthe Leopard, and _Rome_ the _Dragon_. (Dan. 7:1\u20108.) The Roman Empire still\npersists. The Dragon, then, symbolizes the Roman power, represented by the\ncivil power in the world. The Beast is the Papal system of government. The\nthird symbol, the False Prophet, remains to be interpreted. This, we\nbelieve, is another name for the system elsewhere called \u2018the Image of the\nBeast.\u2019 (Rev. 13:14.) According to the Scriptures, this Image is a very\nexact representation of the Beast. The False Prophet, or Image of the\nBeast, we understand to mean the Protestant Federation of Churches.\n\n\u201c \u2018Three unclean spirits like frogs came out of the mouth of the Dragon,\nand out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False\nProphet.\u2019 In this passage, the spirit is a doctrine\u2014an unclean doctrine\u2014a\nfalse doctrine. Each of these systems will utter the same things, and\nthese utterances will have the effect of gathering the kingdoms of earth\ntogether to the Battle of Armageddon.\n\n\u201cThe symbolism of Scripture, rightly understood, is very forceful, and\nthere is always a close resemblance between the symbol itself and the\nthing symbolized. When the Holy Spirit uses a frog to represent certain\ndoctrines or teachings, we may be sure that the application will fit well.\nWhile a frog is a small creature, yet it puffs itself up until it almost\nbursts with the effort to be somebody. A frog has a very wise look, even\nthough it does not know very much. Then a frog _croaks_ whenever it utters\na sound.\n\n\u201cThe three most prominent characteristics of a frog, then, are pomposity,\nan air of superior wisdom and knowledge, and a continual croaking.\nApplying these characteristics to the picture given in the Divine Word, we\nlearn that from kingly power, from the Catholic Church and from the\nFederation of Protestant Churches, will go forth the same teachings. The\nspirit of all will be boastful; an air of superior knowledge and wisdom\nwill be assumed; all will foretell dire results to follow any failure to\nobey their counsels. However conflicting the creeds, the differences will\nbe ignored in the general proposition that nothing ancient must be\ndisturbed, or investigated, or repudiated.\n\n\u201cThe boasted Divine authority of the Church, and the Divine right of kings\naside from the Church, will not be allowed to conflict; for both will be\nindorsed. Any persons or teachings in conflict with these boastful,\nunscriptural claims will be branded as everything vile, at the mouths of\nthe frogs, croaking from pulpits and platforms, and through the religious\nand secular press. The nobler sentiments of some will be strangled by the\nphilosophy of the same evil spirit which spoke through Caiaphas, the high\npriest, respecting our Lord Jesus. As Caiaphas declared it expedient to\ncommit a crime in violation of justice, both human and Divine, to be rid\nof Jesus and His teachings, so this frog\u2010like spirit will approve of any\nand every violation of principle necessary to self\u2010protection.\n\n\u201cEvery true Christian is ashamed to look back upon the pages of history\nand see what terrible deeds were done in the name of God and justice, and\nin the name of our Lord Jesus. We are not to think for a moment that these\nfrog spirits, or doctrines, are all bad, but rather that they are\ndoctrines of bombast and pomposity, representing themselves to be very\nwise and great, and having the backing of centuries. Out of the mouth of\nthe Dragon comes the doctrine of the Divine right of Kings: \u2018Do not look\nback of the curtain of history to see where the kings got that right.\nAccept the doctrine; for if you do not, and if men look into the matter,\nthere will be a terrible revolution and everything will go down!\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Beast and the False Prophet have similar croakings. The Catholic\nChurch says, \u2018Do not look behind! Do not question anything about the\nChurch!\u2019 Protestantism says, also, \u2018We are great, we are wise, we know a\ngreat deal. Keep quiet! No one will then know that you know nothing.\u2019 All\nsay (croaking), \u2018We tell you that if you say anything against present\narrangements, terrible things will come to pass.\u2019\n\n\u201cPolitical parties are figuring in this. All declare, \u2018If any change\nshould come, it will mean terrible disaster!\u2019 Some have the backbone and\nsome have the civil power behind them, but unitedly they croak to the\npeople that if any change is made, it will mean ruin to the present order.\nIn the language of our day, \u2018Stand pat!\u2019 is the order in Church and in\nState; but the people are being moved by fear. It is this croaking of the\nBeast, the Dragon and the False Prophet that will arouse the kings of\nearth and gather them together to the Armageddon Battle.\n\n\u201cThe ecclesiastical kings and princes, with their retinue of clergy and\nfaithful adherents, will be gathered in solid phalanx\u2014Protestant and\nCatholic. The political kings and kaisers, princes, and all in high\nplaces, with their henchmen and retainers, will follow in line on the same\nside. The financial kings and merchant princes, and all whom they can\ninfluence by the most gigantic power ever yet exercised in the world, will\njoin the same side, according to this prophecy. They do not realize,\nhowever, that they are coming to Armageddon; yet strange to say, this is a\npart of their very cry, \u2018Come together to Armageddon!\u2019\n\n\u201cSpeaking of our day, our Lord declared, \u2018Men\u2019s hearts failing them for\nfear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for\nthe powers of heaven shall be shaken.\u2019 (Luke 21:26.) The kings of Europe\nknow not what to do. All sectarianism is being shaken.\n\n\u201cThe croaking of the frog spirits, or doctrines, will gather the kings and\nprinces, financial, political, religious and industrial, into one great\narmy. The spirit of fear, inspired by the croaking, will scourge the\npassions of otherwise good and reasonable men to fury\u2014desperation. In\ntheir blind following of these evil spirits, evil doctrines, they will be\nready to sacrifice life and everything on what they mistakenly suppose is\nthe altar of Justice, Truth and Righteousness under a Divine arrangement.\n\n\u201cMany noble people in this great army will assume an attitude quite\ncontrary to their preference. For a time the wheels of liberty and\nprogress will be turned backward, and medi\u00e6val restraints will be\nconsidered necessary for self\u2010preservation\u2014for the maintenance of the\npresent order of things and for the prevention of the new order which God\nhas decreed, the due time for which is at hand. Even those who may be\nGod\u2019s people do not stop to consider whether it is His will that things\nshould continue as they have been for the past six thousand years. The\nBible says that such is not God\u2019s will, but that there is to be a great\noverturning, that a new order is coming in.\n\n\u201cFor a brief time, as we understand the Scriptures, these combined forces\nof Armageddon will triumph. Free speech, free mails, and other liberties\nwhich have come to be the very breath of the masses in our day, will be\nruthlessly shut off on the plea of _necessity_, the glory of God, the\ncommands of the Church, etc. The safety\u2010valve will be sat upon, and thus\nwill cease to annoy earth\u2019s kings with the sound of escaping steam; and\nall will seem to be serene\u2014until the great social explosion described in\nthe Revelation as an _earthquake_ will take place. In symbolic language an\nearthquake signifies social revolution, and the Scriptural declaration is\nthat none like it ever before occurred. (Rev. 16:18, 19.) Our Lord refers\nto it in Matt. 24:21.\n\n\u201cAt this juncture, the Scriptures show, Divine Power will step forward,\nand God will gather the marshaled hosts to Armageddon\u2014to the Mount of\nDestruction. (Rev. 16:16.) The very thing which they sought to avert by\ntheir union, federation, etc., will be the very thing that they will\nhasten. Other Scriptures tell us that God will be represented by Messiah,\nand that He will be on the side of the masses. \u2018At that time shall Michael\n[the Godlike One\u2014Messiah] stand up.\u2019 (Dan. 12:1.) He will assume\nauthority. He will take possession of His Kingdom in a manner little\nlooked for by many of those who erroneously have been claiming to be His\nKingdom, and authorized by Him to reign in His name and in His stead.\n\n\u201cOur Lord Jesus declared, \u2018His servants ye are unto whom ye render\nservice.\u2019 Some may be rendering service to Satan and to error, who claim\nto be rendering service to God and to righteousness; and some may serve\nignorantly, as did Saul of Tarsus, who \u2018verily thought that he did God\nservice,\u2019 in persecuting the Church. The same principle holds true\nreversely. As an earthly king does not hold himself responsible for the\nmoral character of each soldier who fights his battles, so the Lord does\nnot vouch for the moral character of all who enlist and fight on His side\nof any question. His servants they are to whom they render service,\nwhatever the motive prompting them.\n\n\u201cThe same principle will apply in the coming Battle of Armageddon. God\u2019s\nside of that battle will be the people\u2019s side; and that very nondescript\nhost, the people, will be pitted at the beginning of the battle.\nAnarchists, Socialists, and hot\u2010headed radicals of every school of reason\nand unreason, will be in the forefront of that battle. He who has any\nknowledge of army life knows that a great army is composed of all classes.\n\n\u201cThe masses will be restless under their restraints, but will be conscious\nof their weakness as compared with the kings and princes, financial,\nsocial, religious and political, who will then hold sway. The masses have\nno sympathy with anarchy. They realize truly that the worst form of\ngovernment is better than none. The masses will seek relief through the\nballot and the peaceful readjustment of earth\u2019s affairs for the\nelimination of evil, for the placing of monopolies and utilities and the\nsupplies of nature in the hands of people for the public good. The crisis\nwill be reached when the hitherto upholders of the law shall become\nviolators of the law and resisters of the will of the majority as\nexpressed by the ballot. Fear for the future will goad the well\u2010meaning\nmasses to desperation, and anarchy will result when Socialism fails.\n\n\u201cThe Lord\u2019s saints are not to be in this battle at all. God\u2019s consecrated\npeople, longing at heart for Messiah\u2019s Kingdom and the glorious Year of\nJubilee and Restitution which it will inaugurate, will patiently abide the\nLord\u2019s time, and wait unmurmuringly for it. Their lamps trimmed and\nburning, they will not be in darkness respecting the momentous events of\nthe impending battle; but they will be of good courage, knowing the\noutcome portrayed in the \u2018more sure word of prophecy,\u2019 to which they have\ndone well to \u2018take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,\nuntil the Day dawn.\u2019\u20142 Pet. 1:19.\n\n\u201cThe question now arises, Why did not God send His Kingdom sooner? Why is\nArmageddon necessary? We answer that God has His own times and seasons,\nand that He has appointed the Great Seventh Thousand\u2010Year Day for the\nreign of Christ. Divine Wisdom has withheld until our day the great\nknowledge and skill which is breeding at the same time millionaires and\ndiscontents. Had God lifted the veil of ignorance a thousand years sooner,\nthe world would have lined up for Armageddon a thousand years sooner. God\ndid not bring these things before the present time because His Plan has\nvarious parts, all of which are converging at the same time. In kindness\nGod veiled the eyes of mankind until the gathering to Armageddon would\nimmediately precede Messiah\u2019s taking to Himself His great power and\nbeginning His reign.\u201d (Rev. 11:17, 18.)\u2014D. v\u2010xvi.\n\n16:14. For they are the spirits of devils.\u2014See Eph. 6:12. \u201cWe are\nnaturally led by the analogy of the influence of evil spirits as described\nin the Gospels to compare the _effect_ produced by the demons referred to\nin this verse, with the instances of _possession_ of which we read\nelsewhere in the New Testament.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nWorking miracles.\u2014It is very possible that the strongest \u201cproof\u201d of the\nimmortality of man will yet be obtained by the false prophet through\nmaterializations of evil spirits, perhaps first at preachers\u2019 meetings,\nand afterwards in public. We will wait and see. Meantime: the mental\ninvasions indicated in Rev. 7:3 and 2 Thes. 2:11 will _surely_ come,\nwhether the physical materializations come or not.\u2014Rev. 13:13, 14.\n\n\u201cThe newspapers far and near are publishing the following item: \u2018Fred E.\nFoskett, a young machinist of Orange, Mass., has attracted the attention\nof Prof. James, of Harvard, and other leading members of the Boston branch\nof the American Society of Psychical Research, who gave him tests\nrecently. Foskett poured a quart of alcohol into the basin, lighted it and\nthen washed his hands, bathing them for nearly ten minutes in the burning\nfluid, washing it up over his arms and to his face\u2014literally bathing\nhimself in blazing alcohol. As soon as they were finished the physicians\npresent examined Foskett, and they could not find the slightest trace of a\nburn or blister. Foskett then told them that the flames did not give him\nthe slightest sensation of burning, that he felt comfortably warm and\npleasant, and nothing more. The second tests were made at the home of\nProf. James in Cambridge. A scientist who was there said that Foskett\nperformed all of his experiments of the day before, and then \u201cabsolutely\nand positively dematerialized\u201d. He seemed to dissolve into thin air as we\nwatched, was gone forty\u2010one seconds and then materialized.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201909\u201083;\nMatt. 24:24; 2 Thes. 2:9.\n\nWhich go forth unto the kings of the [earth and of the] whole world, to\ngather them to the battle of [that] THE great Day of God Almighty.\u2014Of\nwhich the present horrible European war is only the preliminary\nskirmish.\u2014Rev. 17:14; 19:19.\n\n\u201cThis battle, which will end with the complete overthrow of earth\u2019s\npresent rulership, is already commenced. The gathering of the armies is\nplainly visible from the standpoint of God\u2019s Word. The Sword of Truth,\nalready sharpened, is to smite every evil system and custom\u2014civil, social\nand ecclesiastical. The internal conflict is already fomenting. It will\nere long break forth as a consuming fire; and human systems, and errors,\nwhich for centuries have fettered truth and oppressed the groaning\ncreation, must melt before it. Yes, truth\u2014and widespread and increasing\nknowledge of it\u2014is the Sword which is perplexing and wounding the heads\nover many countries.\u201d (Psa. 110:6; B. 101.) \u201cNot until great Babylon is\nutterly overthrown and her influence over the world broken\u2014will the great\nmass of mankind come to realize the true state of the case. Then they will\nsee that the great trouble through which they will have passed was that\nsymbolically termed \u2018The battle of the great Day of God Almighty;\u2019 that in\nproportion as they have aided error and wrong, they have been battling\nagainst the law and forces of the new Empire and the new Ruler of earth;\nand that in proportion as their tongues, and pens, and hands, and\ninfluence, and means, were used to support _the right_ and the truth on\nany subject, they had been to that extent fighting on the Lord\u2019s side. And\nduring all the trouble there will be in the world those who will bear\nwitness to its cause, declaring the Lord\u2019s presence and the setting up of\nHis Kingdom which is in opposition to the powers of darkness to be the\nreal cause of the trouble and shaking and overturning of society.\u201d\u2014B. 141.\n\n16:15. Behold, I come as a thief.\u2014A thief comes unexpectedly, for the\npurpose of securing jewels only.\u2014Mal. 3:17; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; Matt.\n24:42\u201044; 1 Thes. 5:2.\n\nBlessed is he that watcheth.\u2014\u201cBecause not heedless, careless, indifferent\nservants of the King, but faithful and earnest ones, the Watchers discern\nthat there are three words of distinctly different signification, used in\nrespect to the Lord\u2019s Second Advent; namely, parousia and epiphania and\napokalupsis. Parousia is used in respect to the earliest stage of the\nSecond Advent, while apokalupsis relates to the same Advent later.\u201d (Z.\n\u201902\u201086.) \u201cThe Greek words apokalupsis and apokalupto signify revealment,\nuncovering, unveiling (as of a thing previously present but hidden). The\nname of the last book of the Bible is from the same root\u2014Apocalypse or\nRevelation.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201902\u201092; 1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7; Lu. 17:29, 30.\n\nAnd keepeth his garments.\u2014Holds fast to his pledge of consecration even\nunto death.\n\nLest he walk naked.\u2014As the nominal churches are doing even since the war\ncouncil at Washington, May 6, 1917.\n\nAnd they see his shame.\u2014During the apokalupsis epoch now at hand. (Rev.\n3:18.) \u201cThe exposure to the world that they lack what constitutes the\nChristian state.\u201d\u2014Cook.\u2014Matt. 5:43, 44.\n\n16:16. And [he] THEY gathered them together.\u2014The three unclean spirits do\nthe gathering.\u2014Rev. 19:19.\n\nUnto a place called in the Hebrew tongue [Armageddon] ARMAGEDON.\u2014\u201cThe fact\nthat St. John has employed a word (Har\u2010Magedon), \u2018The destruction of their\ntroop,\u2019 not found in connection with any locality or historical event of\nitself points to a figurative interpretation. (Zech. 12:11.) Nor indeed\nare we to think of literal warfare.\u201d (Cook.) \u201cThe word \u2018mountain\u2019 in the\nterm Armageddon\u2014\u2018Mountain of Megiddo\u2019\u2014seems to have been used because\nMegiddo was in a mountainous region, though the battles were fought in a\nvalley adjacent. The meaning here is, that there would be, as it were, a\ndecisive battle which would determine the question of the prevalence of\ntrue religion on the earth. What we are to expect as the fulfillment of\nthis would seem to be, that there will be some mustering of strength\u2014some\nrallying of forces\u2014some opposition made to the Kingdom of God in the\ngospel by the powers here referred to which would be _decisive_ in its\ncharacter.\u201d (Barnes.) Another view of Volume VI, _Scripture Studies_, as\nit appeared to the worshipers of the beast and his image, may be had in\nthe plague of darkness upon the Egyptians described in Ex. 10:21\u201029. The\n3\u2010\u00bd days of terrible darkness over the land of Egypt represent the 3\u2010\u00bd\nyears of the great war and indicate its close shortly after the\npublication of this final witness of the church. While this plague was\nstill in progress, Moses said to Pharaoh, \u201cI will see thy face again no\nmore.\u201d It is even so; Pastor Russell passed forever out of reach of the\nantitypical Pharaoh, Satan, in the fall of 1916. But in steadfast belief\nthat \u201chis works do follow him,\u201d we hold that he supervises, by the Lord\u2019s\narrangement, the work yet to be done. See Rev. 16:1.\n\n16:17. And the seventh [angel].\u2014Volume VII, _Scripture Studies_.\n\nPoured out his vial [into] UPON the air.\u2014Seemed to the clergy to be\ndirected against the ruling powers. \u201cThe terrors of the revelation of\nChrist will thus appear spread out over the Universe.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd there came a great voice.\u2014An earnest and vigorous setting forth of\nthis prophecy and that of Ezekiel.\n\nOut of the Temple of [Heaven, from the Throne,] GOD.\u2014The true Church.\n\nSaying, it is done.\u2014See title of this book.\u2014_Ezek. 9:11._\n\n16:18. And there were [voices, and] thunders.\u2014Seven of them\u2014indicating\nwide\u2010spread interest in the _Scripture Studies_. There will probably also\nbe some thundering by the esteemed clergy. If in the past they had\nthundered less and lightened more, the world would not be in its present\npredicament.\u2014Rev. 8:5.\n\nAnd lightnings.\u2014A good lighting up of the dark places of the\necclesiastical firmament.\n\nAND VOICES.\u2014The \u201cvoices\u201d of the Great Company, who, after the Little Flock\nhave gone beyond, will display unparalleled energy and faithfulness amid\nunparalleled difficulty.\u2014Rev. 11:15; 8:5.\n\nAnd there was a great earthquake.\u2014Social revolution. The same mentioned in\nRev. 8:5; 11:19 and 1 Kings 19:11, 12, following the War.\n\nSuch as was not since men were upon the earth.\u2014World\u2010wide socialism, an\nunprecedented and sure\u2010to\u2010fail experiment in government.\n\nSo mighty an earthquake, and so great.\u2014The following is from an address\ngiven to the Chicago Bankers Club in December, 1916, by Frank A.\nVanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York. \u201cState\nsocialism in Europe may develop problems, the like of which never\nconcerned our minds. We may have to meet collective buying, State aided\nindustries, forms of governmental control of ocean borne commerce and\nnovel factors in international finance. There may come out of the war\nchanges in forms of government that will have profound and world\u2010wide\ninfluence.\u201d\n\n16:19. And the great city was divided into three parts.\u2014Christendom is now\ndivided into three parts: Socialistic Russia, Imperial Teutonia, and the\nRepresentative Governments of the West; but we think a religious division\nis coming: The Greek church, the Papacy and the False Prophet Protestant\naggregation, all under papal control. Or the city of Rev. 14:20, may be\nmeant.\u20142 Ki. 2:10, 12, 15.\n\nAnd the [cities] CITY of the nations fell.\u2014The reference is to Rome, the\n\u201ccity\u201d mentioned in Rev. 17:18. By Rome is meant the Papacy. All other\nkings have already drunk deeply of the wrath of God and Sheshach\u2019s turn\nhas come.\u2014Jer. 25:26; Rev. 14:8.\n\nAnd great Babylon came in remembrance before God.\u2014\u201cThe fall of Babylon\nwill astonish the entire world, so complete is the illusion that\nChristendom represents the Throne and Government of Messiah among men.\nAnd, be it remembered, the vast majority in all the various sects and\ndenominations of Christendom are worldly people who have no conception\nwhatever of the true Church and her cause. Their ambition is to\napproximate righteousness and a form of godliness, but no more than this\nseems to them necessary, since they have not been begotten of the Holy\nSpirit and therefore cannot appreciate things from the divine\nstandpoint.\u201d\u2014Pastor Russell. See Rev. 18:5.\n\nTo give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of [His] THE\nwrath.\u2014The wine of the vine of the earth.\u2014Rev. 14:17\u201020; Jer. 8:14; Isa.\n51:17\u201020; Jer. 25:26\u201028; Rev. 18:6.\n\n16:20. And every island fled away.\u2014Even the republics will disappear in\nthe fall of 1920.\n\nAnd the mountains were not found.\u2014Every kingdom of earth will pass away,\nbe swallowed up in anarchy.\n\n16:21. And there fell upon men.\u2014Greek \u201cThe Men,\u201d the worshipers of the\nbeast and his image, i. e., the clergy.\n\nA great hail out of heaven.\u2014Truth, compacted, coming with crushing force.\nA concluding statement of how the seventh volume of _Scripture Studies_\nappears to the worshipers of the beast and his image.\u2014Rev. 11:19; Isa.\n28:17; 30:30; Ezek. 13:11; Joshua 10:11.\n\nEvery stone about the weight of a talent.\u2014113 lbs. (Mal. 3:10.) Another\nview of the seventh volume of _Scripture Studies_, as it appears to the\nworshipers of the beast and his image, is found in the last of the\nEgyptian plagues, the death of the first\u2010born, Exodus 11th. and 12th.\nchapters. As soon as this plague came the Egyptians, from Pharaoh down,\nwere anxious to speed the parting guest, and willing to give up all the\njewels of silver (the Great Company) and the jewels of gold (the Little\nFlock). In connection with the statement that \u201cthere was not a house where\nthere was not one dead,\u201d it is admitted that if any sects were overlooked\nin the lists cited in comments on Rev. 8th and 9th chapters the omission\nwas unintentional and will be corrected in later editions. The three days\nin which Pharaoh\u2019s host pursued the Israelites into the wilderness\nrepresent the three years from 1917 to 1920 at which time all of Pharaoh\u2019s\nmessengers will be swallowed up in the sea of anarchy. The wheels will\ncome off their chariots\u2014organizations.\n\nAnd men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail.\u2014Apparently, the\nbook will be unpopular for a time. \u201cAs soon as Divine restraints upon\nSatan were released, he moved the Sabeans to steal Job\u2019s cattle and to\nkill his servants; he caused fire to come down from heaven, which not only\nkilled but burned up Job\u2019s flocks of sheep; he sent the Chaldeans who\nstole Job\u2019s camels, and finally produced a cyclone which smote the house\nin which Job\u2019s children were feasting together, and destroyed the house\nand killed its occupants; and he attacked Job\u2019s person with disease as\nsoon as granted permission. (Job. 1:9\u20102:7.)\u201d\u2014S. 80.\n\nFor the plague thereof was exceeding great.\u2014Quite a shower.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 17\u2014The Papacy\u2019s Last Stand\n\n\n17:1. And there came one of the seven angels.\u2014Volume VII, _Studies in the\nScriptures_.\n\nWhich had the seven vials.\u2014An explanation of the plagues upon symbolic\nBabylon.\n\nAnd talked with me.\u2014The John class, the Church in the flesh.\n\nSaying [unto me] Come hither; I will shew unto thee.\u2014In the 8th, 9th, 16th\nand 18th chapters of Revelation, and throughout the Book of Ezekiel.\u2014Nahum\n3:3, 4.\n\nThe judgment of the great whore.\u2014Papacy, the \u201cbeast.\u201d\u2014Rev. 19:2.\n\nThat sitteth upon many waters.\u2014The peoples of the earth.\u2014Jer. 51:13; Rev.\n17:15.\n\n17:2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.\u2014\u201cThe\nkingdoms of Europe today claim to be Christian kingdoms, and announce that\ntheir sovereigns reign \u2018by the grace of God,\u2019 i. e., through appointment\nof either Papacy or some of the Protestant sects.\u201d\u2014A. 268; Rev. 18:3; Isa.\n1:21; Jer. 2:20\u201024; 3:6; Ezek. 16:15.\n\nAnd the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.\u2014\u201cSo great an\ninstitution as made all nations drunk with her false doctrine must be very\nprominent, indeed, to those who were made so under the influence of the\nstupefying draft from her cup.\u201d\u2014Pastor Russell.\n\nWith the wine of her fornication.\u2014The mixed doctrines, part truth and part\nerror, that originally led to the union of church and state,\u2014the spiritual\nharlotry.\u2014Jer. 51:7; Rev. 2:20; 17:5; 18:3; 19:2.\n\n17:3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness.\u2014\u201cAll who\nwould get a true view of Babylon must, in spirit, take their position with\nthe true people of God \u2019in the wilderness\u2019\u2014in the condition of separation\nfrom the world and worldly ideas and mere forms of godliness, and in the\ncondition of entire consecration and faithfulness to and dependence upon\nGod alone.\u201d\u2014D. 27.\n\nAnd I saw a woman.\u2014The Roman Catholic Church.\n\nSit upon a scarlet colored beast.\u2014Pagan Rome, and its successors.\n\nFull of names of blasphemy.\u2014\u201cFrom Ferraris\u2019 _Ecclesiastical Dictionary_, a\nstandard Roman Catholic authority, we quote the following condensed\noutline of papal power as given under the word _papa_, article 2nd: \u2018The\npope is of such dignity and highness that he is not simply a man but, as\nit were, God, and the vicar [representative] of God.... Hence the pope is\ncrowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, of earth and of hell. Nay,\nthe pope\u2019s excellence and power are not only about heavenly, terrestrial\nand infernal things, but he is also above angels, and is their superior;\nso that if it were possible that angels could err from the faith, or\nentertain sentiments contrary thereto, they could be judged and\nexcommunicated by the pope.... He is of such great dignity and power that\nhe occupies one and the same tribunal with Christ; so that whatsoever the\npope does seem to proceed from the mouth of God.... The pope is, as it\nwere, God on earth, the only prince of the faithful of Christ, the\ngreatest king of all kings, possessing the plenitude of power; to whom the\ngovernment of the earthly and heavenly kingdom is entrusted.\u2019 He further\nadds: \u2018The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify,\ndeclare or interpret the Divine Law.\u2019 \u2018The pope can sometimes counteract\nthe Divine Law by limiting, explaining, etc.\u2019 \u201d\u2014B. 310.\n\nHaving seven heads and ten horns.\u2014See Rev. 12:3; 13:1: 17:9\u201012; Dan. 7:7,\n20; Rev. 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.\n\n17:4. And the woman was arrayed in purple.\u2014Symbolizing the apostate\nchurch\u2019s claim to royalty. \u201cI sit a queen and am no widow.\u201d\u2014Rev. 18:7, 12,\n16.\n\nAnd scarlet color.\u2014Symbolizing her claims to share in Christ\u2019s work of\nsacrifice, in the doctrine of the mass.\n\nAnd decked with gold.\u2014Symbolizing her claim that she includes in her\nmembership all the true Church of God, those who shall ultimately attain\nthe Divine nature.\n\nAnd precious stones.\u2014Symbolizing her claim that she is the sole custodian\nof the Lord\u2019s precious jewels of truth and character.\u20141 Cor. 3:12; Mal.\n3:17.\n\nAnd pearls.\u2014Symbolizing her claim that she has sole power over all that\nthe Lord bought by His death.\u2014Matt. 13:45, 46.\n\nHaving a golden cup in her hand.\u2014Symbolizing her claim that she is the\nrepository of all Truth Divine.\u2014Jer. 51:7.\n\nFull of abominations and [filthiness] FILTHINESSES of [her] THE\nfornication OF HER AND OF THE EARTH.\u2014\u201cBabylon hath been a golden cup in\nthe Lord\u2019s hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunken\nof her wine; therefore the nations are mad [intoxicated with her errors].\n(Jer. 51:7\u20109.)\u201d\u2014C. 156; Rev. 18:6; Isa. 65:4.\n\n17:5. And upon her forehead [was a name written].\u2014In plain sight of all\nthe spiritually minded. (And how strange it is that _everybody_ does not\nsee it!)\n\nMystery.\u2014\u201cWe have already called attention to the fact that the Church of\nChrist is called in the Scriptures the \u2018Mystery of God,\u2019 because, contrary\nto expectation, the Church was to be the Messianic _Body_ which, under its\nAnointed Head, Jesus, shall rule and bless the world. We have also drawn\nattention to the fact that the Scriptures refer to Babylon as a\ncounterfeit system (mother and daughters\u2014some more and some less corrupt,\nsome better and some poorer counterfeits), and there designated the\n\u2018Mystery of Iniquity.\u2019 We are to remember that it is Satan who in the\nScriptures is credited with having \u2018deceived the whole world\u2019 on this\nsubject; putting evil for good and good for evil; light for darkness and\ndarkness for light. Satan \u2018now worketh in the children of disobedience\u2019\n(Isa. 5:20; Eph. 2:2) even as he proffered his cooperation to our Lord\nJesus.\u201d\u2014F. 199; 2 Thes. 2:7; Prov. 5:6.\n\nBabylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the\nearth.\u2014\u201cSince Papacy, the mother, is not a single individual, but a great\nreligious system, in keeping with the symbol we should expect to see other\nreligious systems answering to the illustration of daughters of similar\ncharacter. To this description the various Protestant organizations fully\ncorrespond. The daughter systems parted from the mother under\ncircumstances of travail, and were born virgins.\u201d (D. 29.) \u201cBut some\nsincere Christians may still be anxiously inquiring,\u2014\u2018If all Christendom\nis to be involved in the doom of Babylon, what will become of\nProtestantism, the result of the Great Reformation?\u2019 This is an important\nquestion; but let the reader consider that Protestantism, as it exists\ntoday, is not the result of the Great Reformation, but of its decline.\u201d\u2014D.\n28; Ezek. 16:44; Hos. 2:2\u20105; Isa. 1:21; Rev. 18:9; 19:2.\n\n\u201cThe claims of apostolic succession and clerical authority are almost as\npresumptuously set forth by some of the Protestant clergy as by the Papal\npriesthood. And the right of individual private judgment,\u2014the very\nfundamental principle of the protest against Papacy, which led to the\nGreat Reformation,\u2014is now almost as strenuously opposed by Protestants as\nby Papists. Protestants seem to have forgotten,\u2014for they truly ignore,\u2014the\nvery grounds of the original protest, and, as systems, they are fast\ndrifting back toward the open arms of the \u2018Holy (?) Mother Church.\u2019 \u2018Let\nus hold out to you our hand affectionately\u2019 (says Pope Leo to Protestants\nin his famous Encyclical addressed \u2018To the Princes and Peoples of the\nEarth\u2019), \u2018and invite you to the unity which never failed the Catholic\nchurch, and which never can fail. Long has our common mother called you to\nher breast.\u2019 The doctrine of \u2018the Divine right of kings,\u2019 taught or\nsupported by almost every sect, is the foundation of the old civil system,\nand has long given authority, dignity and stability to the kingdoms of\nEurope; and the doctrine of the Divine appointment and authority of the\nclergy has hindered God\u2019s children from progressing in Divine things and\nbound them by the chains of superstition and ignorance to the veneration\nand adoration of fallible fellow\u2010beings, and to their doctrines,\ntraditions and interpretations of God\u2019s Word. It is this entire order of\nthings that is to fall and pass away in the battle of this great day\u2014the\norder of things which for centuries has held the people docile under the\nruling powers, civil, social and religious. All this has been by God\u2019s\n_permission_ (not by his appointment and approval, as they claim). But\nthough an evil in itself, it has served a good, _temporary_ purpose in\npreventing anarchy, which is immeasurably worse, because men were not\nprepared to do better for themselves, and because the time for Christ\u2019s\nMillennial Kingdom had not yet come. Hence God permitted the various\ndelusions to gain credence in order to hold men in check until \u2018The Time\nof the End\u2019\u2014the end of \u2018The Times of the Gentiles\u2019 (which expired October\n1, 1914).\u201d\u2014D. 33.\n\n17:6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints.\u2014\u201c \u2018But the\nblood of Protestants is not called the blood of saints, no more than the\nblood of thieves, man\u2010killers, and other malefactors, for the shedding of\nwhich, by the order of justice, no commonwealth shall answer.\u2019\u2014_Rhemish\n(Catholic) translation, footnote._\u201d (B. 320.) \u201c \u2018She wore out the saints\nof the most high God.\u2019 and \u2018was drunken with the blood of the\nsaints.\u2019\u2014Rev. 18:24.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201904\u2010236; Rev. 16:6.\n\nAnd with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.\u2014Most of these martyrs will\ndoubtless be honored by a place in the Great Company. (See Rev. 7:9.) This\nScripture was fulfilled in the Dark Ages, but we are still _in_ the Dark\nAges, and will be until this system is destroyed. It takes more than a\nmere profession of faith to make a Christian. \u201cJezebel today has\ndaughters\u2014systems termed Protestant\u2014which, nevertheless, copy largely the\nmother\u2019s spirit. It is through the influence of the daughters that the\nanti\u2010typical Elijah may expect future persecutions, instigated by the\nmother, accomplished through the daughters, as typically represented in\nthe case of John the Baptist, beheaded by Herod at the instance of Salome,\nbut at the instigation of Herodias\u2014Jezebel.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201904\u2010237.\n\nAnd when I saw her.\u2014Discerned her true character.\n\nI wondered with great admiration.\u2014\u201cWith great wonder\u201d (Diaglott), that the\nLord would permit such an institution to exist.\n\n17:7. And the angel.\u2014Volume VII, _Scripture Studies_.\n\nSaid unto me.\u2014See Revelation, Chapters 4, 5 and 6.\n\nWherefore dost thou marvel.\u2014This is all quite right and necessary. The\nPapacy was foreseen and permitted as a part of God\u2019s wonderful plan for\ndeveloping and testing His Church, proving who are worthy to be of the\nFirst Resurrection, joint\u2010heirs with Christ.\n\nI will tell thee the mystery of the woman.\u2014The apostate Church of Rome.\n\nAnd of the beast that carrieth her.\u2014Pagan Rome, now represented in earth\u2019s\nwarring governments.\n\nWhich hath seven heads and ten horns.\u2014See Rev. 12:3; 13:1. The exposition\nof the remainder of this chapter was greatly assisted by the following\nletter: \u201cYour request for my version of what I understood Bro. Russell\u2019s\nexpectations to be respecting the fulfillment of the 17th Chapter of\nRevelation received and after considerable meditation upon the matter I\nhave decided to submit the following: Brother Russell stated that there\nwere three possible fulfillments of this Chapter, and that he did not or\nwould not go on record as to which would be the correct interpretation,\nfor the reason that this Chapter could not be interpreted in a positive\nway until after its fulfillment. He stated that this Chapter was the key\nto all of the pictures, or prophecies, of Revelation, which are as yet\nwrapped in mystery. On various occasions I requested Bro. Russell to give\nme his idea respecting the three possible fulfillments; but he remained\nabsolutely mum respecting two of the ways, but freely expressed his\nopinion respecting the third way, which he believed would be the way in\nwhich the prophecy would be fulfilled. \u2018The beast that thou sawest was,\nand is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into\nperdition,\u2019 we understand to be the Holy Roman Empire\u2014Church and State,\nunited in power from 799 to 1799. The term \u2018Thou sawest\u2019 refers to the\nthousand\u2010year reign of the Pope, and the term \u2018And is not\u2019 refers to the\npresent non\u2010existence of the Empire in power, and the term \u2018And shall\nascend from the bottomless pit and again go into perdition\u2019 refers to the\nre\u2010establishment of the Holy Roman Empire in power and its subsequent\ndestruction. The statement \u2018When he cometh, he must continue a short\nspace,\u2019 was understood by Bro. Russell to mean that the beast would rule\nonly for a very short time. In answer to a direct question on this point\nBro. Russell stated that he did not believe this short space could be\ninterpreted in days, months, or years, but that it simply meant a short\ntime. In the 12th verse, we read that \u2018The ten horns which thou sawest are\nten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as\nkings one hour with the beast.\u2019 This seems to set forth the Papal view\nrespecting the various kings of Europe which at the present time have not\nreceived the official anointing by the Pope, and consequently have not as\nyet received their kingdom. If this is correct, it would then also mean\nthat if the Pope should anoint these kings and declare them to be ruling\nby Divine right, they thereby would officially receive power as kings, and\nwould rule with the Pope and together with the Pope would constitute the\nbeast again in power.\n\n\u201cBro. Russell was anxiously awaiting the settlement of the present world\nwar for the reason that it seemed very probable that the Pope would be the\nleading figure in bringing about its settlement, and possibly the very\nbasis of the settlement will be the recognition of the Pope as the Holy\nSee. If the Pope receives such recognition, he could in return immediately\ngrant an official anointing of the rulers of the various governments\nincluded in the settlement, and they then as stated in Verse 13, will be\n\u2018Of one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.\u2019 If\nthis is to be the fulfillment of this picture, then it will only be a\nquestion of time until these same governments will turn upon the Roman\nChurch and \u2018Shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and\nburn her with fire.\u2019 (Rev. 17:16.) The foregoing briefly outlines what\nBro. Russell seemed to think would be the outcome of the present war. He\nhad certain articles in prospect which, if backed up by fulfilled\nprophecies, were to be the absolute and irrevocable proof to the world of\nall of the leading pictures given in the entire book of Revelation.\nPersonally, I think everything seems to be shaping itself towards the\nfulfillment of the Chapter on the line above specified. If you are making\nany use of this letter, kindly specify or emphasize the fact that Bro.\nRussell considered the matter largely as a speculation, and that he\npositively stated that he would not go on record in the matter for the\nreason that when he treated the matter he would do so in the light of\nfulfilled prophecy _as the last word and as the unsealing of the entire\nbook_, and that he would not attempt to do this until such a time as the\ninterpretation could not be refuted.\u201d That time has evidently now come.\n\n17:8. The beast that thou sawest.\u2014The Antichrist.\n\nWas.\u2014Exercised actual dominion until 1799 A. D.\n\nAnd is not.\u2014Has not had even a vestige of temporal power since 1870. Since\nthen it has been in oblivion, the \u201cbottomless pit.\u201d\n\nAnd shall ascend out of the [bottomless pit], ABYSS.\u2014\u201cPrivate letters from\nthe Vatican, received by Dr. A. Palmieri of the Library of Congress, a\nrecognized writer on ecclesiastical subjects, announce that Pope Benedict\nXV is about to appoint a commission of four cardinals to renew a movement\nbegun by Pope Leo XIII, and abandoned by Pope Pius X, looking to a reunion\nof Christianity and the cultivation of friendly relations with the\nAnglican Church. A public announcement on the subject from Rome is\nexpected soon. Dr. Palmieri said that the new movement, as outlined in his\nadvices, will be directed particularly toward an establishment of the\nreunion of the Russian church and the Papacy and to a thorough re\u2010\nexamination into the validity of Anglican or Episcopal ordinations, which\nwas settled in the negative in a papal bull \u2018Apostolica Sedis,\u2019 by Pope\nLeo X. The interest of the Pope in the problem of Christian unity is said\nto have been intensified by the recent progress of the world congress,\ninitiated by the American Episcopal Church.\n\n\u201c \u2018The new Pope,\u2019 said Dr. Palmieri, summarizing the information received\nfrom Rome, \u2018has taken a considerable part in the efforts of neutral\nnations to establish peace among nations. The Vatican\u2019s efforts have been\nsuggested not only by a humanitarian spirit, but by a longing for\nChristian unity and to end the conflict which long since has divided\nChristian churches. Efforts of Leo XIII for carrying out the reunion of\nChristianity were abruptly stopped by Piux X, who aimed at an inner reform\nof the Catholic clergy and turned all his energies to the crushing of\nmodernism [Higher Criticism and Evolution]. Benedict XV thinks it is time\nto renew the policy of Leo XIII, also that a re\u2010establishment of a\npolitical peace would be the first step toward renewed attempts to stop\nthe splitting of Christianity into a greater number of sects. It seems to\nthe Vatican that the Orthodox Slavs will be very soon called to take a\nmore active part in the life of western nations, either Protestant or\nCatholic, and that it is necessary to come to an understanding with them\nto avoid evils produced by religious intolerance. The newly planned\ncommission of cardinals will pay attention to yearnings for unity, which\nfrom time to time manifest themselves in the Orthodox church, and to\ncultivate friendly relations with the Anglican church. One of the most\nimportant tasks of the new commission will be a thorough re\u2010examination of\nthe arguments pro and con on the validity of Anglican ordinations. The\nbull Apostolica Sedis by Leo X has settled in the negative the problem of\nthat validity, but generally theological schools assume a more favorable\nattitude toward acknowledgment the validity of Anglican orders, and the\nnew commission of cardinals will carefully ponder the reasons set forth by\nRussian and Anglican divines against the decision of Pope Leo X. The\nfriendship of the Anglican church is appreciated by Rome, for she may be\nas a link of union between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy.\u2019 \u201d (Z.\n\u201917\u201052.) We assume that the foregoing plan of the pope will succeed. \u201cThis\nis the supreme chance for Christianity \u2018to assert her authority and guide\nthe world out of the darkness enshrouding it,\u2019 observes _The Northwestern\nChristian Advocate_ (Methodist, Chicago), and it wonders whether the\norganized Christianity that \u2018failed\u2014ingloriously failed\u2019\u2014in 1914 will\nagain \u2018miss her golden opportunity.\u2019 \u201d (Literary Digest.) \u201cAn old writer\nhas observed that the Beast reappears from the Abyss (see on ch. 11, 7)\nwithout his diadems, as though, in this last stage, he would symbolize\nrather the violence of popular rage than the prescriptive sanctity of\nmonarchical supremacy.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nAnd go into perdition.\u2014Be utterly destroyed at the hands of the masses it\nhas so persistently and outrageously deceived.\u2014Rev. 17:11.\n\nAnd they that dwell on the earth.\u2014All independent Christians, not\nentangled in the systems of either the beast or the image. See Rev. 13:13,\n14.\n\nShall wonder.\u2014Be astounded, perplexed and dismayed, \u201cAt the reappearance\nof the beast.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nWhose names.\u2014As a class, not as individuals.\n\nWere not written in the Book of Life.\u2014But not necessarily in so\u2010called\nChurch books, kept here on earth, for collection purposes.\n\nFrom the foundation of the world.\u2014\u201cThe book or scroll covenanting life to\nan elect number was prepared from the foundation of the world. The names\nin it have been written as the individuals have made consecration of\nthemselves, coming under the terms of the Divine call. In this view of the\nmatter the book or scroll would represent the original Divine\npurpose\u2014God\u2019s intention to have a Church, of which our Lord Jesus would be\nthe Head.\u2014(Rev. 3:5.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201999\u2010265.\n\nWhen they behold the beast that was, and is not, and [yet is] SHALL AGAIN\nBE PRESENT.\u2014The Papal Empire restored.\n\n17:9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom.\u2014A problem requiring the aid\nof the Lord.\u2014Rev. 13:18.\n\nThe seven heads are seven mountains.\u2014The kingdoms enumerated in Rev. 12:3.\n\nOn which the woman sitteth.\u2014Over which she once reigned in plentitude of\npower. Much of Revelation is written in such a way that both a literal and\na symbolical explanation can be made, designed by the Lord to make the\nunderstanding of the book impossible to any except the fully consecrated.\nThe following shows the physical explanation of this text which would most\nappeal to the unconsecrated. But it shows that the Mother of Harlots has\nher headquarters at Rome. And when we know who the mother is, it is\nimpossible not to recognize the daughters. Rome is called in history the\n\u201cseven\u2010hilled city.\u201d \u201cThe original settlement of Romulus is said to have\nbeen limited to the Palatine mount. With this were united before the end\nof his reign the Capitoline and the Quirinal; Tullus Hostilius added the\nCaelian, Ancus Martius the Aventine; and finally Servius Tullius included\nthe Esquiline and Viminal, and enclosed the whole seven hills with a stone\nwall. The growth of the state closely followed that of the city.\u201d (Brit.)\nIt would not be possible to limit this explanation to seven forms of\ngovernment which have exercised sway over the city of Rome. There have\nbeen many such governments. There were seven of them during the nineteenth\ncentury alone\u2014the Roman Republic of 1798, the Kingdom of 1805, the\nAnnexation of 1810, the restoration of the temporal power in 1814, the\nRevolution of 1848, the restoration of the temporal power in 1849, and the\nItalian occupation in 1870.\n\n17:10. And there are seven kings.\u2014Seven forms of government of the HOLY\nROMAN EMPIRE, the devil\u2019s own particular pattern of government.\n\nFive are fallen.\u2014(1) The Regal period, from 753 B. C. to 510 B. C. The\n\u201cKings\u201d of this period were \u201cnot simply either the hereditary and\npatriarchal chief of a clan, the priestly head of a community bound\ntogether by a common _sacra_, or the elected magistrate of a state, but a\nmixture of all three.\u201d\u2014Brit.\n\n(2) The Republic, from 509 to 451 B. C. and from 448 to 60 B. C. \u201cIt is\ncharacteristic of Rome that the change from monarchy to republic should\nhave been made with the least possible disturbance of existing forms. The\ntitle of king was retained, though only as that of a priestly officer\n(_rex sacrorum_) to whom some of the religious functions of the former\nkings were transferred. The two annually elected consuls or pr\u00e6tores were\nregarded as joint heirs of the full kingly authority, and as holding the\nimperium and the correlative right of taking the auspices, by direct\ntransmission from the founder of the city.\u201d (Brit.) (3) The Decemvirate, a\nrule of ten men, from 451 to 449 B. C. (4) The Triumvirate, a rule of\nthree men, from 59 to 49 B. C. and from 43 to 28 B. C. (5) The\nDictatorship of C\u00e6sar, 48 to 44 B. C. All of these forms of the old Holy\nRoman Empire have completely passed away.\n\n[And] one is.\u2014The Dragon, still represented in the powers of Europe. (See\ncomments on Rev. 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17; 13:2, 4, 11; 16:13.) The\nrulership of Papacy during the Dark Ages, both directly in its temporal\npower, and through the governments which it controlled or influenced, and\nstill influences, was\u2014as has been shown\u2014merely another aspect of the\ngovernment of Pagan Rome, generally styled the Empire, but in Revelation\ncalled the Dragon, and the Devil, and Satan.\n\nAnd the other.\u2014The final form, of Arbitrator (whatever be the official\ntitle).\n\nIs not yet come.\u2014But is due to make its appearance with the close of the\nwar, probably early in the year 1938. (See comments on Rev. 16:17\u201021; Ex.\n10:23.) Pastor Russell foretold the _darkness_ would commence in _1914_,\nand it did!! Egypt\u2019s plague of darkness lasted three days (years).\n\nAnd when he cometh, he must continue a short space.\u2014Probably from the fall\nof 1917 to the spring or summer of 1918. \u201cThe language is indefinite, the\nwords \u2018must continue\u2019 alone being emphatic. It is a duration such that by\nmeans of it the Church should be exercised in patience.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n17:11. And the beast that was.\u2014That once exercised temporal dominion and,\nthrough influence of the European governments, once actually ruled the\nworld.\n\nAnd is not.\u2014Does not now have any temporal dominion.\n\n[Even] he is the eighth.\u2014The eighth horn which took the place of the three\nplucked up (Rev. 12:3); also the final form of the _HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE_.\n\nAnd is of the seven.\u2014\u201cCometh of the seven,\u201d Greek.\u2014Grew up by the plucking\nof the three. The Papacy is either the seventh or the eighth form,\ndepending upon how the matter is viewed. If it be viewed as having reigned\nseparately from the Dragon during the Dark Ages (as it did, when it\nexercised temporal power), in its new guise it will be the eighth form,\nits separate rulership during the Dark Ages being counted as the seventh.\nBut if it be viewed as having been a co\u2010partner of the Dragon during the\nDark Ages, then its forthcoming manifestation will be the seventh form. In\nany event the eighth form is one of the seven forms; and the regaining of\nthe temporal power this time will be the cause of the Papacy\u2019s\ndestruction. See Z. \u201903\u2010325 for a hint that Benedict XV will never have a\nsuccessor. (He is personally the eighth pope reigning since 1799. Five of\nthese popes had died prior to 1878. Here is a good secondary fulfilment.)\n\nAnd goeth into perdition.\u2014\u201cDaniel, representing the saints, says (Dan.\n7:11), \u2018I watched it then [after its dominion was gone and it was\npowerless longer to crush the Truth, the power of the holy people],\n_because_ of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke, and I saw\nthat [it obtained no power over the holy saints and the Truth, but it did\nhave another effect] the beast was slain, the body thereof destroyed and\ngiven to the burning flame\u2019\u2014general anarchy. The destruction of the\nremnant of governments in the old Roman Empire, caused by the misleading\ninfluence of Papacy\u2019s continued bombastic utterances, even after its\ndominion is gone, is thus shown.\u201d\u2014C. 68; 2 Thes. 2:3.\n\n17:12. And the ten horns which thou sawest.\u2014Three of which were originally\nplucked up to make room for the growth of the Papacy. See Rev. 12:3; 13:1;\n17:3; Dan. 7:7, 8, 20; Rev. 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.\n\nAre ten kings.\u2014The rulers, whether kings, kaisers, presidents or others\nwho have dragged into the slaughter house the descendants of the ten\npowers originally composing the Roman Empire.\n\nWhich have received no kingdom [as yet].\u2014No official sanction as rulers\nfrom the counterfeit \u201cking of kings and lord of lords\u201d\u2014the Pope.\n\nBut receive power as kings.\u2014\u201cThe absence of the diadem indicates that\ntheir kingdom is not full, regal power, but as being transient, is\nrepresented as if it were royal power.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nOne hour with the beast.\u2014The \u201cone hour\u201d in this verse (17:12) may signify\none year, or thereabouts. The word in the Greek is _hora_. This is the\nsame word which our Lord used when, in speaking of John the Baptist He\nsaid, \u201cHe was a burning and a shining light; and you were willing, for a\ntime (_hora_\u2014one year\u2014the length of John\u2019s ministry before his\nimprisonment) to rejoice in his light.\u201d (John 5:35; Z. \u201904\u201060.) In matters\nthat are still future we can only use our best judgment as to the\nsignificance to be attached to expressions like this. \u201cLet every man be\nfully persuaded in his own mind.\u201d\u2014Rom. 14:5.\n\n17:13. These have one mind.\u2014All are desperately anxious to stop the\nterrible waste of human life, now that they see what their father, the\nDevil, has accomplished through their worship and service of himself and\nhis institutions.\n\nAnd [shall] give their power and strength unto the beast.\u2014Support it in\nits apparently laudable but actually selfish efforts in trying to stop the\nEuropean war. \u201cDeposit in his hands all the available means which they\npossess.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n17:14. These shall make war with the Lamb.\u2014Endeavor to suppress the\nmessage of Present Truth.\u2014Rev. 16:14; 19:19.\n\nAnd the Lamb shall overcome them.\u2014Zion need not fear; for God is in the\nmidst of her, and will help her. Her consecration is unto death, and her\nprivilege is to prove her faithfulness: \u201cThe disciple is not above his\nMaster, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that\nhe be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord.\u201d\u2014Matt. 10:24, 25.\n\n\u201cIt will probably be in an effort at self\u2010preservation on the part of\n\u2018Great Babylon\u2019\u2014\u2018Christendom\u2019\u2014when she sees her power in politics,\npriestcraft and superstition waning, that the work of truth\u2010spreading will\nbe stopped as detrimental to her system. And probably at this juncture the\nElijah class, persisting in declaring the Truth to the last, will suffer\nviolence, pass into glory and escape from the severest features of the\ngreat Time of Trouble coming\u2014just in the crisis of affairs when men begin\nto feel that desperate measures must be resorted to, to sustain the\ntottering structure of Christendom. Although the exact time of the\ndeliverance or \u2018change\u2019 of the last members of the Body of Christ is not\nstated, the approximate time is nevertheless clearly manifest, as shortly\nafter the \u2018door\u2019 is shut (Matt. 25:10).\u201d\u2014C. 231.\n\nFor He is Lord of lords, and King of kings.\u2014Has the entire situation under\nperfect control\u2014is the _real_ Pope.\u20141 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 19:16.\n\nAnd they that are with Him are called.\u2014When they hear, understand and heed\nthe message of complete consecration even unto death (Rev. 19:9). This\nclause, in the Greek, indicates that these also, as well as the Lamb,\nshall overcome them.\n\nAnd chosen.\u2014Elected as soon as they comply with the conditions, provided\nthere are any vacancies.\n\nAnd faithful.\u2014\u201cThe door of opportunity to engage, with Christ our Lord, in\nthe work of the Gospel Age, will be closed when \u2018the night cometh wherein\nno man can work.\u2019 And all who have not previously, by faithful service,\ndeveloped the necessary character and proved their sympathy, devotion,\nlove and zeal for the Lord and His Truth (Matt. 10:37; Mark 8:38), will\nthen be too late to do so. The closing in of this night will evidently put\na stop to any farther labor to disseminate the Truth, which, misunderstood\nby the public generally, will probably be accused of being the cause of\nmuch of the anarchy and confusion then prevailing, instead of being seen\nin its true light as a foreshadowing of the Divine mind and revelation\nconcerning coming troubles on the world and their true causes.\u201d\u2014C. 210;\nRev. 2:10.\n\n17:15. And he saith unto me, [The] THESE waters which thou sawest where\nthe whore sitteth.\u2014See Rev. 17:1, 9.\n\nAre BOTH peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.\u2014And not,\ntherefore, literal water or literal hills, or forms of government which\nhave ruled the city of Rome.\u2014Isa. 8:7.\n\n17:16. And the ten horns which thou sawest.\u2014The rulers of Europe and\nAmerica, and their subjects, descendants of the ten powers which\noriginally composed the old Roman Empire.\n\n[Upon] AND the beast.\u2014The re\u2010established temporal dominion of the pope in\nRome and elsewhere. \u201cOf her boastings and threats the following from a\nCatholic journal of recent date is a fair sample: \u2018The Papacy will regain\nits temporal sovereignty, because it is useful and convenient to the\nChurch. It gives the head executive of the church a fuller liberty and a\nfuller sway. The Pope can be no king\u2019s subject long. It is not in keeping\nwith the divine office to be so. It cramps him and narrows his influence\nfor good. Europe has acknowledged this influence, and will be forced to\nbow to it in greater times of need than this. Social upheavals, and the\nred hand of anarchy, will yet crown Leo or his successor with the reality\nof power which the third circle symbolizes, and which was once recognized\nuniversally.\u2019 Yes, as the day of trouble draws on, ecclesiasticism will\nendeavor to use its power and influence more and more to secure its own\npolitical welfare, by its control of the turbulent elements of society;\nbut in the crisis of the near future the lawless element will spurn all\nconservative influence and break over all restraints, the red hand of\nAnarchy will do its dreadful work, and Babylon, political and\necclesiastical, shall fall.\u201d\u2014D. 38.\n\nThese shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked.\u2014People\nand governments will have a common hatred for their mutual enemy when the\nmotives which actuate her are clearly revealed.\u2014Ezek. 16:35\u201044; 23:22, 29;\nZech. 1:19.\n\nAnd shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.\u2014Unite to complete her\nutter destruction.\u2014Rev. 18:8, 18; Dan. 7:11; C. 68; Gen. 38:24; Ezek.\n16:41; Lev. 20:14; 21:9.\n\n17:17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will.\u2014As expressed\nin His Word.\n\nAnd to agree.\u2014The European war would stop tomorrow if it were not for the\nofficers holding the men to the task of butchery.\n\nAnd to give their kingdom unto the beast.\u2014Put their liberties into the\nhands of the Papacy, as Arbitrator.\n\nUntil the words of God shall be fulfilled.\u2014And the travail of nominal Zion\nshall disclose her true character.\n\n17:18. And the woman which thou sawest.\u2014The Apostate Church, the\nantitypical Jezebel.\n\nIs that great city.\u2014The \u201c_HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE_.\u201d\n\nWhich reigneth over the [kings] KINGDOMS of the earth.\u2014\u201cExpositors of\nevery school generally agree that Rome Pagan, or Rome Papal, or Rome under\nboth aspects, is intended here. In order to repel the application to the\nPapacy, many Roman expositors also apply what is said of the destruction\nof Rome, to the future\u2014to Rome again become Pagan: This is the hypothesis,\nobserves Bishop Wordsworth, of Suarez, Viegas, Ribera, Lessius, Menochius,\nC. \u00e0 Lapide, and others, particularly Dr. Manning in our own day. Thus\nStern writes:\u2014Babylon is really the City of Rome, not only, however,\naccording to the old\u2010heathenish, but also according to the new\u2010heathenish\nsignification of the World\u2019s history.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nCould there ever come a time when men, the world over, could be more\nheathenish at heart than now; and does not, therefore, even Papal comment\nshow that this Scripture is ready to be fulfilled?\n\n\n \u201cWhene\u2019er the storms come down on thee,\n And days of peace all seem to flee;\n This thought thy peace again shall bring,\n Why should I fear?\u2014the Lord is King.\n\n E\u2019en when the tempest rages high,\n And darkest clouds are drawing nigh,\n With hands of faith to this, O! cling,\u2014\n Why should I fear?\u2014the Lord is King;\n\n Amid the stormy waves of life,\n Above the tumult and the strife,\n The chimes of hope still sweetly ring,\u2014\n Be not afraid\u2014the Lord is King.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 18\u2014The Fall Of Ecclesiasticism\n\n\n18:1. [And] after these things.\u2014As another view of the Harvest epoch.\n\nI saw another angel.\u2014Messenger, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Lord\nJesus.\u2014Mal. 3:1; Rev. 10:1; 14:1.\n\nCome down from Heaven.\u2014In 1874. See Rev. 3:14.\n\nHaving great power.\u2014\u201cAll power in Heaven and in earth.\u201d\u2014Matt. 28:18.\n\nAnd the earth was lightened.\u2014See Mal. 4:2; Rev. 7:2.\n\nWith His glory.\u2014Some of the glories of the New Day, all discovered since\n1874, are adding machines, aeroplanes, aluminum, antiseptic surgery,\nartificial dyes, automatic couplers, automobiles, barbed wire, bicycles,\ncarborundum, cash registers, celluloid, correspondence schools, cream\nseparators, Darkest Africa, disk ploughs, Divine Plan of the Ages,\ndynamite, electric railways, electric welding, escalators, fireless\ncookers, gas engines, harvesting machines, illuminating gas, induction\nmotors, linotypes, match machines, monotypes, motion pictures, North Pole,\nPanama Canal, Pasteurization, railway signals, Roentgen rays, shoe sewing\nmachines, smokeless powder, South Pole, submarines, radium, sky scrapers,\nsubways, talking machines, telephones, typewriters, vacuum cleaners and\nwireless telegraphy.\u2014Ezek. 43:2; John 1:9; Matt. 25:31; Titus 2:13.\n\n18:2. And he cried [mightily] with a [strong] MIGHTY voice.\u2014How apt are\nthese Scriptures that refer to Pastor Russell as a \u201cvoice\u201d! (Rev. 7:2;\n10:3; 16:1.) So modestly are his works written that the author is nowhere\nmanifest, but attention is always and everywhere drawn to the _Lord_.\n\nSaying, [Babylon the great is] fallen, is BABYLON THE GREAT [fallen].\u2014\u201cThe\nexpression, \u2018Babylon is fallen,\u2019 indicates that at some time a sudden and\nutter rejection is to come upon Babylon, when all favor will forever\ncease, and when judgments will follow\u2014just such a rejection as we have\nshown was due in 1878.\u201d\u2014C. 155; Isa. 13:19\u201022; 21:9; Jer. 51:8\u201013; Rev.\n14:8; 16:19.\n\n\u201cIn spite of all our wealth, the blight of poverty, with its accompanying\nsickness, suffering, crime, insanity and vice, continues. The social\ndisease manifested in \u2018atrophy and hypertrophy,\u2019 in \u2018extremities bleeding\nat the bottom, bloating at the top, decay in both,\u2019 is a portent of the\nmodern world. The net result of our wonderful civilization is that men\nhave less time now than they have ever had since the world\nbegan.\u201d\u2014_Current Literature_; Z. \u201911\u2010420.\n\n\u201cAlienists the country over are sounding a solemn note of warning to the\nAmerican people over the alarming rush in which we live. According to Dr.\nHarvey W. Wiley, federal pure food and drugs expert, nearly every man and\nwoman at some time in their lives border on insanity. That view is also\nindorsed by the famous Dr. William A. White, head of the United States\ngovernment hospital for the insane, who backs up the stand taken recently\nby Dr. Owen Copp, new head of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane.\nBecause of the terrible ravages of drink and drugs, particularly in the\nUnited States, thousands of people are rendered so extremely nervous that\nthey are always on the verge of going crazy. The rush and worry of modern\nlife he gives as the causes.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201911\u2010228.\n\nAnd is become the habitation of devils.\u2014\u201cThe _New York World_ publishes an\ninterview with Bishop Fallows, of the Reformed Episcopal Church, as\nfollows: \u2018Telepathy is an established fact. In recent years great strides\nhave been made in the explanation of psychic phenomena and in the years to\ncome the science of communication with the dead will be made a part of the\ncurriculum of great educational institutions. I have called the new\nscience \u201cImmortalism\u201d because it depends for its existence upon the\nimmortality of the soul, in which we all believe, and the preservation of\nidentity beyond the grave.\u2019 Bishop Fallows will be recognized by many as\none of the ministers who have recently been taking a great interest in\nFaith Healing clinics. We have already pointed out that to our\nunderstanding these cures are effected by hypnotic influences and that\nhypnotism is but another form of Spiritism. We believe that through this\nchannel the fallen angels (\u2018wicked spirits,\u2019 Eph. 6:12) are seeking to\nbreak down the human will; and that the results, shortly, will be direful\nin the extreme, leading to spirit control and every evil work.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201909\u2010355; Ecc. 9:5; 1 Pet. 3:19; Jude 6; Jer. 51:37\u201041; Rev. 16:14; Isa.\n13:19\u201022; 34:14.\n\nAnd the hold of every foul spirit.\u2014Rev. Wm. Sunday has exceptional\nopportunity for learning, and in his public discourses repeatedly \u201cscores\nthe ministers because they have no faith. He condemns their neglect of\nBible study. He says the theological seminaries are turning out infidels.\nHe refers to the large amount of saloon property that belongs to church\nmembers. He enumerates all kinds of worldly doings which go on in these\ndenominations. He would have us believe that the moral standard of\nthousands high in the churches is so low as to almost stagger reason. Now\nif what Mr. Sunday says about the denominations is true they are not fit\nplaces for good, respectable people, to say nothing of true Christians. In\nfact, if they are only half as bad as he says, then every faithful child\nof God ought to get out of them as quickly as he can. If they are but one\u2010\nquarter as bad as Mr. Sunday tells, then the only safety on the part of\none who wishes to retain his faith is to get out of such spiritual pest\u2010\nholes.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010207.\n\nAnd a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.\u2014\u201cHow true it is, that the\nmost execrable of society seek and wear the garb of Christian profession\nand ceremonialism, in some of the various quarters (sects) of Babylon. Of\nall the defaulters, and deceivers of men and of women, how many are\nprofessedly members of Christ\u2019s Church! and how many even use their\nprofession as a cloak under which to forward evil schemes! It is well\nknown that a majority of even the most brutal criminals executed die in\nthe Roman Catholic communion. Babylon has contained both the best and the\nworst, both the cream and the dregs, of the population of the civilized\nworld.\u201d (C. 162.) A parliamentary report of the status of society in\nEngland and Wales in 1873 showed that there were then no Jewish criminals,\n1 of every 20,000 infidels was a criminal, 1 of every 666 Dissenters was a\ncriminal, 1 of every 72 Church of England, and 1 of every 40 Roman\nCatholics. (C. 163.) \u201cThe great system in which the \u2018fowl of heaven\u2019\ndelight to roost, and which they have grievously befouled (Luke 13:18,\n19), and which has in fact become \u2018a cage of every unclean and hateful\nbird,\u2019 is to be hewn down, and shall deceive the world no longer.\u201d\u2014C. 187;\nIsa. 34:11; Jer. 50:39; Zeph. 2:14.\n\n18:3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her\nfornication.\u2014\u201cThe stimulating power is not the spirit of a sound mind, but\nthe delusion of a false doctrine; as the Prophet declares, they are\n\u2018drunken,\u2019 but not with wine. (Isa. 29:9\u201013.) The people in general have\nlost their taste and appreciation for the water of life, the _Truth_; and\nfalse teachers warn them against it as poison. The wine of false doctrines\nnow being manufactured at all the Theological Seminaries is the wine of\nevolution and higher criticism, which does not satisfy the thirst, but\nincreases the confusion of mind. Even Babylon\u2019s notables are dissatisfied,\nfamished.\u2014See Amos 8:11.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010349.\n\nAnd the kings of the earth.\u2014The governments of Austria, Denmark, France,\nGermany, England, Russia, Spain, Portugal, etc.\n\nHave committed fornication with her.\u2014Joined themselves to the Roman\nCatholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Greek Catholic Churches.\n\nAnd the merchants of the earth.\u2014Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops,\nPresiding Elders, Reverends, etc.\u2014Rev. 18:11, 15; Isa. 47:15; 23:8; Ezek.\n27:36.\n\nAre waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.\u2014Supplied partly in\ncash and partly in left\u2010overs from church fairs, suppers, etc.\n\n18:4. And I heard another voice from heaven.\u2014The WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND\nTRACT SOCIETY, the corporate body which Pastor Russell personally\norganized to conduct the Harvest work (Rev. 8:3; 14:18). This voice has\nbeen exerted continuously since 1884. \u201cOur thought is that it is the Lord\nwho calls His people out of Babylon; the call to to be recognized\nespecially as a Voice from Heaven. Apparently, the Voice is Present\nTruth.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010180.\n\nSaying, Come out of her.\u2014\u201cThis call applies not only to those in Babylon\nthe Great, but to those in other denominations\u2014mother and daughters. Be\nnot of those who cannot see the errors of Babylon and who, consequently,\nare not of the called ones. The object of the call to come out is not for\npeople merely to withdraw from a nominal church. No one is called out of\nBabylon until he sees her true condition. This call to associate with\nChrist, with Messiah, is given by the Lord through the Prophet when He\nsays, \u2018Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a Covenant\nwith Me by sacrifice.\u2019 (Psa. 50:5.) They were to be gathered, not to the\nRoman or other systems, but to the Lord, to become one with Him.\u201d (Z.\n\u201912\u2010277.) \u201cThe Lord\u2019s call out of Babylon is not in audible one\u2014He merely\ncalls us by the principles of righteousness. He lifts the curtain before\nthe eyes of understanding of His consecrated ones and thus lets them see\nsome of the errors, some of the falsities in which they and others of\nBabylon are involved\u2014dishonoring the holy name\u2014blaspheming the holy name\nby misrepresentation of the Divine character and Plan. This is and should\nbe call enough for those who are of the Lord\u2019s Spirit, for those who love\nthe Lord and the honor of His name more than they love houses or lands or\nparents or children or any other creature or thing\u2014yea, more than they\nlove their own lives. Such are sure to respond and to come out of Babylon;\nothers who remain, in spite of seeing the light, fail to be overcomers of\nthe highest class\u2014fail therefore to be in the elect Bride class, and must\nbe counted in with the Great Company, which will come through great\ntribulation, and will get out of Babylon only when she has been cast as a\ngreat millstone into the midst of the sea\u2014in the time of anarchous trouble\nwith which this Age will close.\u201d (Z. \u201906\u2010343.)\n\n\u201cBaptists think their preachers have no authority. But the Baptists cannot\ndo anything without the consent of the preachers. The preachers hold a\npower that God did not repose there. God never authorized any men to go\nand ordain another man to preach the Gospel. God does the ordaining; and\nit is for the church to decide, according to its best judgment, whom the\nLord ordains or calls as a pastor. The people in the Methodist church have\nalmost no liberty, except the privilege of giving money. The bishops\ncontrol the presiding elders, and under them the presiding elders control\nthe preachers; and so it is all the way down to the class leaders. They\nhave their head or chief amongst them. They have a human head. The General\nConference is the highest authority. So the Presbyterian church has a head\nin the way of a General Assembly which has the deciding of matters.\n\n\u201cOn one occasion I was called upon by a minister of the Reformed church.\nHe wanted to know how I managed my church. I said to him, \u2018Brother \u2014\u2014, I\nhave no church.\u2019 He said, \u2018You know what I mean.\u2019 I answered, \u2018I want you\nto know what I mean, too. We claim that there is only one Church. If you\nbelong to that Church, you belong to our Church.\u2019 He looked at me in\nsurprise. Then he said, \u2018You have an organization; how many members are\nthere?\u2019 I replied, \u2018I cannot tell; we do not keep any membership rolls.\u2019\n\u2018You do not keep any list of the membership?\u2019 \u2018No. We do not keep any\nlist; their names are written in Heaven.\u2019 He asked, \u2018How do you have your\nelection?\u2019 I said, \u2018We announce an election; and any or all of God\u2019s\npeople, who are consecrated and are accustomed to meet with this company,\nor congregation, may have the privilege of expressing their judgment of\nwho would be the Lord\u2019s preference for elders and deacons of the\ncongregation.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 he said, \u2018that is simplicity itself.\u2019 I then added,\n\u2018We pay no salaries; there is nothing to make people quarrel. We never\ntake up a collection.\u2019 \u2018How do you get the money?\u2019 he asked. I replied,\n\u2018Now, Dr. \u2014\u2014, if I tell you what is the simplest truth you will hardly be\nable to believe it. When people get interested in this way, they find no\nbasket placed under their nose. But they see there are expenses. They say\nto themselves, \u201cThis hall costs something, and I see that free lunch is\nserved between meetings, for those living at some distance. How can I get\na little money into this thing?\u201d \u2019 He looked at me as if he thought, \u2018What\ndo you take me for\u2014a greenhorn?\u2019 I said, \u2018Now, Dr. \u2014\u2014, I am telling you\nthe plain truth. They do ask me this very question, \u201cHow can I get a\nlittle money into this cause?\u201d \u2019 \u201d (Pastor Russell _Question Meeting_.\nGen. 19:15, 22; Isa. 48:20; 52:11; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Matt. 24:16.)\n\n\u201cThe present work of gathering the Lord\u2019s saints out of Babylon is\nrepresented under various symbolic descriptions,\u2014it is the gathering of\nthe wheat from the tares into the barn (Matt. 13:30): it is the gathering\nof the good fish into baskets and the casting of the unsuitable fish\ncaught in the Gospel net back into the sea (Matt. 13:47\u201049); it is the\ngathering of His jewels (Mal. 3:17); it is the midnight cry to the\nvirgins, which separates the wise from the foolish (Matt. 25:6); and it is\nthe gathering of the \u2018Elect\u2019 from all the non\u2010elect of Christendom, from\nthe four winds\u2014from every quarter.\u201d (Matt. 24:31.) (D. 600.) \u201cLot\u2019s wife,\nafter starting to flee as directed, \u2018looked back;\u2019 coveting the things\nbehind: and so with some now fleeing from Babylon to the mountain\n(Kingdom) of the Lord; they are more in sympathy with the things behind\nthan with the things before. Only those will run the race to the finish\nwho set their affections on the things above, and not on the things\nbeneath.\u201d (D. 608.)\n\n\u201cThose who thus flee to the Lord will neither be consumed by fear and\ndread, nor swallowed up by the projects and false theories\u2014science falsely\nso called\u2014with which this day abounds. And, withal, they may be in the\ndevouring fire [trouble], witnesses for God and His Plan, and teachers of\nthe people\u2014pointers to the glorious outcome of Jehovah\u2019s Plan, lifting up\na standard for the people.\u2014Isa. 62:10.\u201d (B. 31.) \u201cThe tables of the\nvarious sects of Christendom were started as tables of the Lord, and\nadorned to some extent with food from His storehouse, the Word. But the\ngreat Adversary placed upon these tables errors, delusions, doctrines of\ndevils, which have blemished them as a whole; wherefore it is appropriate\nnow to apply to them the words of the Scriptures, \u2018Come out from amongst\nthem and be ye separate; touch not the unclean thing.\u2019 \u201d (Z. \u201907\u201091.) \u201cOur\nfriends, like Abraham\u2019s friends, would persuade us of the folly of leaving\nBabylon, its comforts and associations: they assure us that our\nopportunities for greatness, etc., will be distinctly lessened by the\ncourse of obedience which we take. Nevertheless we, like Abram, go forth\ntaking all of our possessions with us, great or small\u2014nothing must be left\nbehind to be a treasure in Babylon and to attract our hearts thither\nagain. All things must be brought with us so that not our own lives and\ntalents only, but our influence upon others, must all be made to count.\u201d\n(Z. \u201901\u2010231) \u201cAs to missionary activities (Matt. 23:15), what advantage\ncan accrue to the heathen from giving them the false doctrines of the\nAdversary? The few who may be reached will have the more to unlearn when\nthe Times of Restitution begin.\u201d\u2014F. 641.\n\nMy people.\u2014\u201cWe would not be understood as including all Christians as\n\u2018Babylonians.\u2019 Quite to the contrary. As the Lord recognizes some in\nBabylon as true to Him and addresses them now, saying, \u2018Come out of her,\n_My people_\u2019 (Rev. 18:4), so do we; and we rejoice to believe that there\nare today thousands who have not bowed the knee to the Baal of our\nday\u2014Mammon, Pride and Ambition. Those who will not come out until Babylon\nfalls and they come through the \u2018great tribulation\u2019 (Rev. 7:9\u201014) shall\nnot be accounted worthy to share the Kingdom. Compare Rev. 2:26; 3:21;\nMatt. 10:37; Mark 8:34, 35; Luke 14:26, 27.\u201d (See Micah 2:10; Jer.\n12:7\u201011; 23:33\u201040; Jer. 11:14, 15; Prov. 19:27; Matt. 14:28, 29; Hos. 4:6;\nIsa. 27:12.) \u201cThe begetting of spiritual children of God, through the Word\nof His grace, and their being to some extent cherished, nourished and\nbrought forward by these human sectarian tare systems, is well illustrated\nby certain insects, the young of which are injected into the backs of\ntheir enemies, and there warmed, nourished and developed, up to the time\nof their complete birth and deliverance, which means, usually, the death\nof the insect which temporarily carried them about.\u201d (F. 656.) Now the\npoint of deliverance has been reached.\n\nThat ye be not partakers of her sins.\u2014\u201cIf you fail to obey the Lord\nthrough fear of earthly loss, it will prove that these things are more\nprecious to you than His favor, and He will treat you as He treats the\nhypocrites; you will have a share in their experiences.\u201d (Z. \u201914\u2010180.) \u201cWe\ndo not know but that they may go to the extreme in our day\u2014to kill\nsocially, to kill ecclesiastically, perhaps to kill physically. Nearly all\nthe persecutions that have come to God\u2019s people have come from professed\nChristians, fellow\u2010believers. \u2018Your brethren that hated you, that cast you\nout for My Name\u2019s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but He shall\nappear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.\u2019 (Isaiah 66:5.)\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201914\u2010181; Num. 16:26.\n\nAnd that ye receive not of her plagues.\u2014See Rev. 16:1\u201021.\n\n18:5. For her sins [have reached] CLEAVED TOGETHER unto Heaven.\u2014Ezekiel\nhas touched on this!\u2014Jer. 51:9; Gen. 11:3, 4; Luke 10:11.\n\nAnd God hath remembered her iniquities.\u2014By seven plagues; the seven\nvolumes of _Studies in the Scriptures_.\u2014Rev. 16:1\u201021. See also bottom of\nthis page.\n\n18:6. Reward her even as she rewarded [you].\u2014A diligent attempt has been\nmade in this direction. Anything overlooked will be inserted in the next\nedition.\u2014Psa. 137:8; Jer. 50:15, 29; 51:24.\n\n[And] double unto her double according to her works.\u2014Make a double\nexposition (explaining Revelation and Ezekiel) that will show her up just\nas she is.\n\nIn [the] HER cup which she hath filled.\u2014The Scriptures which she has\ntwisted, distorted and misapplied. \u201cThe cup which she has used as a means\nof seduction shall now be changed into the instrument of her\npunishment.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nFill to her double.\u2014Greek, \u201cthe double.\u201d (Isa. 61:7.) Give her enough\nlight on Ezekiel and Revelation to show her the exit.\u2014Isa. 21:7\u201010.\n\n18:7. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously.\u2014And to\nwhat lengths has not Papacy gone in this direction, with the Protestant\nsects doing their best to keep the pace!\n\nSo much torment and sorrow.\u2014Mourning for the dead, Greek.\u2014Amos. 8:10.\n\nGive her.\u2014\u201cI have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O\nBabylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because\nthou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened His armoury\n[Ezekiel and Revelation] and hath brought forth the weapons of His\nindignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of Hosts in the land of\nthe Chaldeans ... the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of His\nTemple.... Recompense her according to her work; according to all that she\nhath done, do unto her.\u201d\u2014Jer. 50:24\u201029.\n\nFor she saith in her heart.\u2014Babylon really believes her prosperity will\ncontinue forever. They \u201cshall _believe_ the lie.\u201d\u20142 Thes. 2:11.\n\nI sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.\u2014See Isa. 47:8, 9;\nD. 43; Zeph. 2:15.\n\n18:8. Therefore.\u2014\u201cBecause she will violently struggle for life and\npower.\u201d\u2014D. 39.\n\nShall her plagues.\u2014Death, mourning, famine and fire.\n\nCome in one day.\u2014The year of 1918. See Rev. 3:14; 11:11.\n\nDeath.\u2014\u201cBy the hand of her enemies.\u201d\n\nAnd mourning.\u2014For the loss of her people.\u2014Rev. 18:7.\n\nAnd famine.\u2014Literal and symbolic. (Amos. 8:11). \u201cAs we call to mind the\nlong train of evils by which Babylon has oppressed and worn out the saints\nof the most High (the true Zion), and how it is written that God will\navenge His own Elect, and that speedily; that, according to their deeds,\nHe will repay recompense to His enemies; that He will render unto Babylon\na recompense (Luke 18:7, 8; Isa. 59:18; Jer. 51:6), we begin to realize\nthat some fearful calamity awaits her. The horrible decrees of Papacy,\u2014the\nreproach and reward of which Protestantism also is incurring by her\npresent compromising association with her,\u2014for the burning, butchering,\nbanishing, imprisoning and torturing of the saints in every conceivable\nway, executed with such fiendish cruelty in the days of her power by the\narm of the State, whose power she demanded and received, await full\nmeasure of just retribution.\u201d\u2014D. 39.\n\nAnd she shall be utterly burned with fire.\u2014Completely destroyed in the\nanarchy to follow.\u2014Rev. 17:16; Gen. 38:24; Ezek. 16:41; Lev. 20:14; 21:9.\n\nFor strong is GOD the Lord [God] who [judgeth] JUDGED her.\u2014\u201cCompare Rev.\n17:17, where the event is expressly declared to have been overruled by\nGod.\u201d (Cook.) \u201cAnd I will punish Bel in Babylon [the God of Babylon,\u2014the\nPope]; and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath\nswallowed up [he shall repudiate in his extremity the \u2018great swelling\nwords\u2019 and blasphemous titles which he has long appropriated to\nhimself\u2014that he is the \u2018infallible vicar,\u2019 \u2018vice\u2010gerent of Christ,\u2019\n\u2018another God on earth,\u2019 etc.], and the nations shall not flow together any\nmore unto him. Yea, the wall of Babylon [the civil power that once\ndefended it, and that in a measure does so still] shall fall.... Thus\nsaith the Lord of Hosts: the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly\nbroken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire [shall be destroyed];\nand the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire [to prop and\nsave the walls of Babylon], and they shall be weary.\u2014Jer. 51:44, 58.\u201d\u2014D.\n40. The people are already getting weary of supporting murderous\ngovernments.\n\n18:9. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication [and\nlived deliciously] with her.\u2014In the illicit unions of Church and State the\nadvantage, from a worldly viewpoint, has been on the side of the Church.\nShe has compelled the State to cleanse her filthy linen while she\nproceeded to pollute another lot. Far from living deliciously, the horns\nhave really hated the harlot for her impudent, shameless conduct.\n\nShall [bewail her], WAIL and lament for her.\u2014Not because they loved her,\nbut because she was useful to them in keeping the people in ignorance and\nsubjection.\u2014Jer. 50:46; Ezek. 26:15 to 27:36.\n\nWhen they shall see the smoke of her burning.\u2014When they witness her\nconfusion and signs of imminent destruction as portrayed in the seventh\nplague\u2014\u201cthe handwriting on the wall.\u201d\u2014Dan. 5:1\u20109; Rev. 18:18; 19:3.\n\n18:10. Standing afar off for fear of her torment.\u2014Realizing that this is a\nquestion of interpretation of the Scriptures and not wishing to get\nentangled in it any more than absolutely necessary.\u2014Jer. 51:30\u201033.\n\nSaying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city.\u2014Alas, that\ngreat religious system that was always eager to affiliate with us and give\na religious coloring to even wholesale murder by enticing its young men to\nenlist under our banners!\n\nFor in one hour is thy judgment come.\u2014In the one year 1917\u20101918.\u2014Rev.\n17:12.\n\n18:11. And the merchants of the earth.\u2014Salesmen of religious goods\u2014Popes,\nCardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and smaller fry.\u2014Ezek. 27:36; Isa. 23:8;\n47:15; Rev. 18:3, 15, 23.\n\nShall weep and mourn over her.\u2014Saying, in substance, \u201cWhat shall I do? for\nmy lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am\nashamed.\u201d\u2014Luke 16:3.\n\nFor no man buyeth their merchandise any more.\u2014\u201cAnd it shall come to pass\nin that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the\nidols [all sectarian denominations] out of the land, and they shall no\nmore be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets [the clergy] and\nthe unclean spirit [their false doctrines] to pass out of the land. And it\nshall come to pass that when any [former clergyman] shall yet prophesy\n[try to still further mislead the people into giving him reverence and\ncoin], then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him,\nThou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and\nhis father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he\nprophesieth [so enraged will they be when they realize how they have been\ndeceived respecting fears of hell or assurances of Heaven for themselves\nand other descendants of monkeys, which the preachers have taught them\nthey are]. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets\n[clergy] shall be ashamed every one of his vision [of the creeds], when he\nhath prophesied [preached]; neither shall they wear a rough garment\n[distinctive clothing\u2014collars fastened on backwards, in harmony with their\nconceptions of religious things, and ties and clothing in mourning to\nsuit] to deceive: But he shall say I am no prophet [no preacher of the\ngospel at all], I am an husbandman [a farmer]; for man taught me to keep\ncattle from my youth. [Ezekiel 34:1\u201031 shows how poorly they kept the\ncattle]. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds [marks of rough\nusage] in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was\nwounded in the house of my friends [by my parishioners].\u201d\u2014Zech. 13:2\u20106.\n\n18:12. The merchandise of gold.\u2014Truths respecting the Divine nature. There\nwas a time when the nominal church had the custody of these truths, but\nthat privilege passed in 1878.\n\nAnd of silver.\u2014Truths respecting the Great Company.\n\nAnd precious stones.\u2014Truths respecting the Lord\u2019s jewels.\u2014Mal. 3:17.\n\nAnd of pearls.\u2014Truths respecting the things purchased by the Lord\u2019s\ndeath.\u2014Matt. 13:45, 46.\n\nAnd fine linen.\u2014Truths respecting the righteousness of the Lord\u2019s\nsaints.\u2014Rev. 19:8; Rom. 8:4; 2 Pet. 1:9.\n\nAnd purple.\u2014Truths respecting the Church\u2019s expectation of coming\nroyalty.\u2014Rev. 5:10; 20:4; Luke 12:32; 22:29, 30; James 2:5; Mark 10:23; 1\nCor. 4:8; Rev. 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26, 27; Psa. 2:8\u201012; 49:14; Rom.\n8:19; 16:20.\n\nAnd silk.\u2014Truths respecting the most beautiful of all the fabrics of the\nloom\u2014grand, beautiful characters made so by the wisdom and mercy of God\nout of men and women that to start with were only poor worms of earth.\n\nAnd scarlet.\u2014Truths respecting the Ransom\u2010sacrifice of our Lord. (1 Tim.\n2:6; Rom. 14:9; Rom. 5:18, 19; John 1:29; 1 John 2:2.) All these truths\nhave passed away from Babylon, but the errors must go, too.\n\nAnd all thyine wood.\u2014Errors respecting man\u2019s inherent immortality. Thyine\nwood is a sweet\u2010smelling wood; wood is a symbol of human traditions. The\nsweetest of all human theories is the declaration that when a man dies he\nis not dead at all. (1 Cor. 3:12.) Very shortly men will begin to come\nback from the dead, \u201cthe last first\u201d (Matt. 19:30; 20:16); and stories\nthat they have been in some fabulous hell or in Heaven will be at a\nconsiderable discount.\n\nAnd all manner vessels of ivory.\u2014Stories of death\u2010bed repentance and\ndreams, used to decorate unscriptural doctrines. Ivory was and is used in\nthe harness of horses. It was also used to decorate beds. (Amos 6:4.)\nHorses symbolize teachings, and beds symbolize creed\u2010beds. The application\nfits, whichever way the symbol is applied.\u2014Jer. 23:28.\n\nAnd all manner vessels of most precious wood.\u2014Errors that appeal to the\nheart of the natural man.\u20141 Cor. 3:12.\n\nAnd of brass.\u2014Copper; errors respecting the nature of man, created perfect\nand to be re\u2010created in the same likeness.\u2014Gen. 1:31; Rev. 21:5.\n\nAnd Iron, [And marble].\u2014Errors respecting the \u201ciron rule\u201d and when it is\nto be exercised.\u2014Dan. 2:40; Rev. 2:27.\n\n18:13. And cinnamon, and spice, and odours, and ointments.\u2014Errors\nrespecting the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. These principal spices\nrepresent things which go to make up the anointing which we receive to\nbecome priests and kings with Christ.\n\nEXODUS 30:23 EXODUS 31:3 ISAIAH 11:2\nHoly Anointing Oil Bezaleel Christ\nOlive oil, _an hin_ Filled with the Spirit of Lord\n Spirit of God. resting upon Him.\nMyrrh, 500 Wisdom Wisdom\nCinnamon, 250 Understanding Understanding\nCalamus, 250 Knowledge Knowledge\nCassia, 500 Workmanship Counsel and might\n\n\u201cIn the above parallel we find knowledge parallel with calamus and\nunderstanding with cinnamon, and of each a like quantity is prescribed. We\nhave the understanding of all the knowledge received of God.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010349.\n\nAnd frankincense.\u2014Errors respecting the kind of praise proper to offer.\nMuch of the hymn\u2010book theology is bad.\n\nAnd wine.\u2014Errors respecting our privilege of draining the Lord\u2019s cup of\nsorrow now, that we may drink the cup of joy with Him hereafter.\u2014Matt.\n20:22; 26:27.\n\nAnd oil.\u2014Errors with reference to the anointing of the Royal\nPriesthood.\u2014Psa. 133:1\u20103; 1 Pet. 2:5.\n\nAnd fine flour.\u2014Errors as to why the true wheat are so repeatedly crushed,\nbroken and sifted\u2014until \u201cnothing of earth is seen.\u201d\n\nAnd wheat.\u2014Errors as to who are the true wheat. A sister on her first\nservice of Truth literature at a church door was asked by the pastor,\n\u201cWhat are you doing around here?\u201d Startled, the Sister replied, \u201cI am\nlooking for the wheat.\u201d The pastor replied, with some anger, \u201cGo away!\nThere is no wheat here.\u201d\n\nAnd beasts.\u2014Cattle; errors as to the nature of sacrifices with which the\nLord is pleased.\u2014Psa. 66:15.\n\nAnd sheep.\u2014Errors as to how to care for the true sheep.\n\nAnd horses.\u2014Errors as to the kind of doctrines to employ.\u2014Rev. 9:17\u201019.\n\nAnd chariots.\u2014Errors in multiplying organizations not authorized in the\nScriptures and not in harmony therewith.\n\nAnd slaves.\u2014Errors respecting what it means to be a servant of the\nLord.\u2014Luke 16:13; 2 Tim. 2:24; Matt. 10:24, 25; 23:11.\n\nAnd souls of men.\u2014Errors respecting what is the soul.\u2014Ezek. 18:4; Isa.\n53:12.\n\n18:14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after.\u2014Love of ease, money and\npraise of men.\n\nAre departed from thee.\u2014Replaced by the conditions affecting the common\npeople. \u201cEvery valley [lowly and depressed one] shall be exalted, and\nevery mountain and hill [highly exalted one] shall be made low: and the\ncrooked [doctrines] shall be made straight, and the rough places [where\nthe iron heel of oppression has made a hard path for the weary multitudes\nto follow] shall be made plain.\u201d\u2014Isa. 40:4.\n\nAnd all things which were dainty and goodly.\u2014Stained glass windows, soft\ncarpets and upholstery, church suppers, etc.\n\n[Are departed] PERISHED from thee, and [thou shalt] THEY SHALL find them\nno more at all.\u2014The future of the clergy is that in the Millennial Age\nthey will have to work for a living, like everybody else! Isn\u2019t it awful\nto contemplate? It means an expense of 65c for an alarm clock in every\npreacher\u2019s house in Christendom!\n\n18:15. The merchants of these things.\u2014The salesmen of these goods, the\nclergy.\u2014Rev. 18:3, 11; Ezek. 27:36; Isa. 23:8; 47:15.\n\nWhich were made rich by her.\u2014Who have hitherto made a good living in the\nprofession of the ministry.\n\nShall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and\nwailing.\u2014Over their lost jobs.\n\n18:16. [And] saying, Alas, alas, that great city.\u2014Babylon, mother and\ndaughters.\n\nThat was clothed in fine linen.\u2014Seemed to the worshipers of the beast and\nhis image very righteous.\n\nAnd purple.\u2014Seemed to be already reigning on the earth.\n\nAnd scarlet.\u2014Seemed to have been faithful to the blood shed on Calvary.\n\nAnd decked with gold.\u2014Seemed to have been the repository of Truth Divine.\n\nAnd precious stones.\u2014Seemed to have included in her membership all the\nLord\u2019s jewels.\n\nAnd pearls.\u2014Seemed to be the sure heir of all that the Lord purchased by\nHis death.\n\n18:17. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.\u2014In one short\nyear, 1917\u20101918, the vast and complicated system of sectarianism reaches\nits zenith of power, only to be suddenly dashed into oblivion.\u2014Rev. 18:10.\n\nAnd every shipmaster.\u2014Pilot (sky pilot), Greek.\u2014Ezek. 27:27.\n\nAnd [all the company in ships] EVERY ONE WHO SAILETH BY THE PLACE.\u2014All the\npassengers.\u2014Ezek. 27:29.\n\nAnd sailors.\u2014Mission workers.\n\nAnd as many as trade by sea.\u2014As many as work the sea, Greek. Salvation\nArmy, Volunteers of America, and others who work solely among the masses\nnot under religious restraint.\n\nStood afar off.\u2014Realized that the old doctrines and the schemes for\nraising money would never work again.\n\n18:18. And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning.\u2014Her confusion and\ndestruction by the Lord.\n\nSaying, What city is like unto this great city.\u2014With its millions of\nadherents, all professedly interested in mission work.\n\n18:19. And they cast dust on their [heads] HEAD.\u2014Did a certain amount of\nmud\u2010slinging.\u2014Ezek. 27:30; Lam. 2:10.\n\nAnd cried, weeping and wailing.\u2014And gnashing their teeth, too, no doubt.\n\nSaying, Alas, [alas] that great city.\u2014That wonderful religio\u2010political\ncombination.\n\nWherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea.\u2014All preachers who\nwere strong enough and clever enough to manage people\u2019s churches,\nindependent of the sects. Many such \u201cindependent\u201d churches have large\nmemberships.\n\nBy reason of her costliness.\u2014By reason of the amount of money that can be\nraised in and for such institutions.\n\nFor in one hour is she made desolate.\u2014\u201cTo them the fall of Babylon at\nfirst is astounding, a perplexity, but will work no real injury, because\nthe reign of Babylon over the earth will be superseded by the reign of the\nNew Jerusalem\u2014the Kingdom of God\u2019s dear Son.\u201d\u2014Pastor Russell; Rev. 18:8;\n3:14; 11:11.\n\n18:20. Rejoice over her, thou Heaven.\u2014New powers of spiritual control,\nChrist and His Bride, appointed to take her place.\u2014Jer. 51:48; Phil. 3:20;\nRev. 11:19.\n\nAnd ye [holy] SAINTS AND Apostles.\u2014You who have suffered at her\nhands.\u2014Matt. 23:34, 35; Rev. 13:15; 18:24.\n\nAnd Prophets.\u2014The faithful teachers of the Christian church, and also the\nProphets of old, who foresaw Mystic Babylon\u2019s rise and fall, and knew that\nit stood between them and the fulfilment of their hopes. \u201cDaniel, who was\nthinking specially of Israel, and of the fulfilment of God\u2019s promises to\nthe fathers, perceived that all that he had heard could not occur in 2300\nliteral days, especially when Gabriel said to him, \u2018But shut thou up the\nvision, for it will be fulfilled after many days.\u2019 And though he knew not\nhow long each symbolic day would be, he was made sick at heart by the\nthought of so many evils as were coming upon God\u2019s people\u2014though he saw\nnot the change of that name from fleshly to spiritual Israel. We read,\n\u2018And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days.\u2019 \u201d\u2014C. 105.\n\nFor God hath avenged you on her.\u2014This vengeance of God for the wrongs done\nto His saints in all ages began in 1878 (Rev. 6:10, 11), and closes with\nthe full end of the Harvest. When the last member of the Great Company\nclass is delivered the system will utterly perish.\n\n18:21. And a mighty angel.\u2014The common people.\n\nTook up a stone like a great millstone.\u2014Temporarily lifted ecclesiasticism\nto great heights.\n\nAnd.\u2014Experiencing a sudden conviction of their error in so doing, and of\nthe truly devilish character of the system.\n\nCast it into the sea.\u2014Overwhelmed it in a flood of anarchy. When this\noccurs there will be a \u201cgreat hissing noise\u201d (2 Pet. 3:10, Diaglott),\nindicating that the millstone will be warm, wrathy, at the moment of\ndisappearance. The effect of throwing a hot stone into water is to\ndisintegrate it completely.\u2014Jer. 51:61\u201064; Ex. 15:5; Neh. 9:11.\n\nSaying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down,\n[And shall be found no more at all.]\u2014\u201cThe masses of the people, no longer\nignorantly stupid as during the Dark Ages, will awaken to the true\nsituation, and will execute upon Babylon the Great\u2014already repudiated by\nthe Lord\u2014the judgment foretold. She shall be cast like a great millstone\ninto the sea, never to rise again. The sea represents the masses of the\npeople, especially a restless opposition class.\u201d (Z. \u201913\u2010343.) \u201cThe fact\nis the world has outgrown the redhot and peppery dishes that suited the\nlast generation, and it is quite beyond the power of a very few solemn\ngentlemen to produce a reaction.\u201d\u2014D. 110; Jer. 51:64.\n\n18:22. And there shall be no more found in her the voice of harpers, and\nmusicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters.\u2014Those able to make melody and\nharmony out of the Scriptures.\u2014Isa. 24:8; Ezek. 26:13.\n\nIT shall be heard no more at all in thee.\u2014Even now Ecclesiasticism is\nentirely unable to supply any explanation of either Ezekiel or Revelation,\nor to understand the one that is supplied.\n\nAnd no craftsman, [of whatsoever craft he be,] shall be found any more in\nthee; [And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in\nthee].\u2014God is the great craftsman. \u201cWe are laborers together with God: ye\nare God\u2019s husbandry, ye are God\u2019s building. According to the grace of God\nwhich is given unto me, as a wise master\u2010builder, I have laid the\nfoundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how\nhe buildeth thereupon.\u201d\u20141 Cor. 3:9, 10.\n\n18:23. [And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee;] And\nthe voice of the Bridegroom and of the Bride.\u2014Christ and His true\nChurch.\u2014Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11.\n\nShall be heard no more at all in thee.\u2014Neither Christ nor His saintly ones\nhave had anything to say in the affairs of the nominal church since 1878;\nnor have they wished to have. \u201cThe rejection of Babylon (\u2018Christendom\u2019),\nin 1878, was the rejection of the mass of professors\u2014the \u2018host,\u2019 as it is\ntermed by Daniel, to distinguish it from the Sanctuary or Temple\nclass.\u201d\u2014C. 180.\n\nFor thy merchants were the great men of the earth.\u2014They said so,\nthemselves. They have attempted to direct everything from prize fights up.\nRev. Rainsford even tried to run a beer saloon, but was not able to make\nit a coin\u2010producer for the church and gave it up.\u2014Isa. 23:8; 47:15; Rev.\n18:3, 11, 15; Ezek. 27:21, 36.\n\nFor by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.\u2014\u201cConsider, again, why\nBabylon is so named. Evidently, because of her many errors of doctrine,\nwhich, mixed with a few elements of Divine Truth, make great confusion,\nand because of the mixed company brought together by the mixed truths and\nerrors. This sin of holding and teaching error at the sacrifice of truth\nis one of which every sect of the church nominal is guilty, without\nexception. Where is the sect in which you can obey the Master\u2019s words and\nlet your light shine? We know of none.\u201d\u2014C. 181; Rev. 17:2; 2 Ki. 9:22.\n\n18:24. And in her was found the blood of Prophets.\u2014They are accounted as\nhaving slain the Prophets because they refuse to heed them, and to that\nextent caused them to lay down their lives needlessly!\u2014Rev. 16:6; 17:6.\n\nAnd of saints.\u2014They are accounted as having slain the saints because they\nhave given no heed to their warnings, and to that extent caused them to\ndie in vain.\u2014Jer. 51:49.\n\nAnd of all that were slain upon the earth.\u2014The great European war, and\nother wars, are justly laid at the door of the system that has perpetuated\nthe doctrines of Divine right of clergy and kings; and it is for this\nreason that God has decreed her sins must be wiped out first with\nsymbolical blood (Rev. 14:20), and afterwards with literal blood in the\nred sea of anarchy.\u2014Ex. 14:21\u201028; Isa. 63:1\u20106.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n The Traveler Inquires The Way To Heaven\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Whom Should We Believe\u2014God Or The Clergy?\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 19\u2014The Overthrow Of Satan\u2019s Empire\n\n\n19:1. [And] after these things.\u2014After the saints are glorified and present\necclesiastical systems are destroyed.\n\nI heard AS IT WERE a great voice of much people.\u2014The Great Company.\u2014Rev.\n7:10.\n\nIn heaven.\u2014The only heavenly\u2010minded ones remaining on earth.\n\nSaying, Alleluia; Salvation.\u2014Deliverance from the Papacy and other sects\nhas come at last.\n\n[And glory, and honor,] and power [unto the Lord] OF our God.\u2014It has been\naccomplished not by human power, but by the Wisdom and Power of God.\u2014Rev.\n7:12.\n\n19:2. For true and righteous are Thy judgments.\u2014\u201cGod is light, and in Him\nis no darkness at all.\u201d\u20141 John 1:5; Rev. 15:3; 16:7.\n\nFor He hath judged the great whore.\u2014Has executed the judgments long\nforetold.\n\nWhich did corrupt the earth with her fornication.\u2014Her illicit union with\nworldly governments.\n\nAnd hath avenged the blood of [His] HER servants at her hand.\u2014The millions\nwho have perished in the Great War have been the servants of Babylon. The\ndirect cause of their slaughter is the doctrine of the Divine right of the\nclergy. These have maintained the kings of Europe on their thrones,\nfalsely telling them they are ruling as part of Christ\u2019s Kingdom. This\nposition has led to the death of all these millions, and their blood will\nbe required at Babylon\u2019s hand.\n\n19:3. And again they said, Alleluia.\u2014The more they think it over, the\nhappier they will become.\n\nAnd her smoke.\u2014The evidences of her destruction; the remembrance.\u2014Isa.\n34:10; Rev. 14:11; 18:9, 18.\n\nRose up for ever and ever.\u2014Will be recorded in secular history, even as it\nis recorded in \u201cthe Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.\u201d\u20141\nPet. 1:23.\n\n19:4. And the [four and] twenty FOUR elders.\u2014The prophecies.\u2014Rev. 4:4, 10.\n\nAnd the four beasts.\u2014Infinite Power, Justice, Wisdom and Love.\u2014Rev. 4:7.\n\nFell down and worshipped God that sat on the Throne, saying Amen;\nAlleluia.\u2014The God, the mighty One, here referred to is the Lord\nJesus.\u2014Rev. 5:3.\n\n19:5. And [a voice] VOICES.\u2014The Little Flock, beyond the veil.\n\nCame out of the Throne.\u2014They will be _in_ the Throne at that time.\u2014Rev.\n3:21.\n\nSaying, Praise our God, all ye His servants.\u2014Of the Great Company\nclass.\u2014Rev. 7:15; Psa. 134:1\u20103.\n\n[And] ye that fear Him, [both] small and great.\u2014Your deliverance was\nwholly due to the Lord. We did what we could to help you, but it was as\nnothing. To the Lord belongs all the glory for your deliverance and\nours.\u2014Rev. 11:18.\n\n19:6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude.\u2014\u201cIn the Age\nto come, when God shall \u2018pour out His Spirit upon all flesh,\u2019 as during\nthe present Age He pours it upon His \u2018servants and handmaids,\u2019 then indeed\nall will understand and appreciate the promises now being grasped by the\n\u2018little flock\u2019; and they will rejoice in the obedience and exaltation of\nthe Church, saying, \u2018Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to God,\nfor the Marriage of the Lamb is come, and His Wife hath made herself\nready.\u2019 They will rejoice in the glorification of the Church, through\nwhich blessings will then be flowing to them; and while they will realize\nthat the \u2018exceeding great and precious promises\u2019 inherited by the Anointed\n(Head and Body) are not for them, but have been fulfilled upon us, they\nwill be blessed by the lesson illustrated in the Church; and while they\nrun for the blessings then held out to them, they will profit by the\nexample of the Church and glorify God on her behalf. But this knowledge\nwill not bring covetousness; for under the new order of things their\ncalling to perfect human nature will fully satisfy them, and will seem\nmore desirable to them than a change of nature.\u201d\u2014A. 86.\n\nAnd as the voice of many waters.\u2014All mankind.\u2014Rev. 17:15.\n\nAnd as the voice of mighty thunderings.\u2014An overwhelming and complete\nreaction in favor of the Truth. The \u201cseven thunders\u201d will then be\nthundering as never before.\u2014Rev. 10:4; 8:5.\n\nSaying, Alleluia: for [the Lord] God OUR LORD THE Omnipotent\nreigneth.\u2014\u201cShows Himself to be king by subduing His enemies.\u201d (Cook.)\nThoroughly convinced of the greatness of the Lord\u2019s power, as all men will\nbe by the end of the Time of Trouble, they will be glad to entrust all\ntheir interests to His care.\n\n19:7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him.\u2014\u201cThy people shall\nbe willing in the day of Thy power.\u201d\u2014Psa. 110:3.\n\nFor the Marriage of the Lamb is come.\u2014The marriage of men and women is\ndeclared in the Scriptures to be a type of the marriage of Christ and His\nChurch. (Eph. 5:22\u201023.) It is a recognized principle that the antitype is\ngreater than the sum of all the types. The death of Christ was greater\nthan all the sacrifices throughout the Jewish Age. Now call to mind that\nthe wedding day is the happiest of every human being. Think of all the\nhappiness caused by all the weddings that have ever occurred, and know\nthat the sum total is as nothing compared to the joy that will pervade the\nUniverse when the festal day of eternity takes place, and Christ and His\nBride are made one.\n\nAnd His Wife.\u2014\u201cThe Bride represents \u2018all who have believed up to the\ncommencement of the Millennium. These alone are the mystical Body of\nChrist. But after they are completed, at the Second Advent the earth will\nbe peopled by the \u201cnations of the saved\u201d in flesh and blood,\u2014a totally\ndifferent party from the then glorified Bride.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nHath made herself ready.\u2014The witnessing to the world during the present\nAge is quite secondary and incidental to the Church\u2019s more important work\nof making herself ready.\u2014F. 608; T. 115; Matt. 22:1\u201014; 25:1; 2 Cor. 11:2;\nEph. 5:27; Rev. 21:2, 9; John 3:29; Cant., all; Psa. 45:10\u201014; Matt. 9:15;\nMark 2:19; Lu. 12:36.\n\n19:8. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,\nBRIGHT AND clean and white.\u2014\u201c \u2018She shall be brought unto the King in\nraiment of needle work\u2019 (Psa. 45:14)\u2014in the simple white robe of her\nLord\u2019s own furnishing, the robe of His righteousness, upon which she will\nhave wrought, with much carefulness, the beautiful adornments of the\nChristian graces. And great will be the rejoicing in Heaven and in earth\nat her abundant entrance into the King\u2019s palace.\u20142 Pet. 1:5\u20108, 11.\u201d\u2014C.\n193.\n\nFor the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.\u2014Here and there\nthroughout the Scriptures are keys which unlock its mysteries. (Rev. 3:18;\nPsa. 132:9.) This is the key to several otherwise obscure passages.\n\n19:9. And he.\u2014The faithful and wise Servant to whom the custody of all the\nthings in His Storehouse was especially promised by the Lord of the\nHarvest.\u2014Luke 12:42\u201044; Rev. 3:14; 1:1.\n\nSaith unto me, write.\u2014To representatives of the John class, commissioned\nto write something of encouragement to the Church after he himself had\nceased to write.\n\nBlessed are they which are called unto the [marriage] supper of the\nLamb.\u2014The Marriage Supper (Lu. 14:15) will be like all the other feasts\nthe Church has had, not of physical food, but of truths Divine. That will\nbe the time when the Lord, the Head of the family, will explain to us\nevery part of every verse in all His Holy Word. We shall have perfect\nmemories then, in which to treasure every word He utters, and perfect\nbodies, too, in which to perform to the full all God\u2019s holy will. We have\nthe will to do it now. We have tried to understand His Word, and tried to\nhelp others to understand it; but the best we could do was far from\nperfect. The Lord, in His love and mercy, has accepted our best endeavors\nhere as evidence of our worthiness for the perfect opportunities that\nawait us. \u201cUltimately the full number purposed by the great Householder\nwill have been called, accepted, and found worthy through Christ to have a\nplace at that table\u2014to share in that great Feast. (Matt. 22:1\u201010.) At that\nfeast, we are assured, will be a secondary company, not worthy to be of\nthe Bride class. These may be figuratively styled the bridesmaids, the\nGreat Company class; for after the account of the gathering of the Bride\nwe have the Lord\u2019s message to these subsequently delivered from Babylon,\nsaying, \u2018Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the\nLamb.\u2019 You can imagine the honors and joys of that great banquet!\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201914\u201074.\n\nAnd he saith unto me, These MY TRUE SAYINGS, are the [true] sayings of\nGod.\u2014\n\n\n \u201cAscend, beloved, to His joy;\n Thy festal day has come;\n To\u2010night the Lamb doth feast His own,\n To\u2010night He with His Bride sits down,\n To\u2010night puts on the spousal crown,\n In the great Upper Room.\u201d\n\n\n19:10. And I fell at his feet to worship him.\u2014\u201cIf there come to any of us\na thought of doing homage to the Lord\u2019s messengers or servants it would be\nour duty to fully recognize that God alone, however much He may use human\ninstrumentalities in conveying His blessings, is to be honored and\nreverenced and appreciated as the Author and Giver of every good and\nperfect gift.\u2014James 1:17.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010105; Rev. 22:8.\n\nAnd he said unto me, See thou do it not.\u2014But Satan said to the Lord, \u201cAll\nthese things will I give thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.\u201d\n(Matt. 4:9.) When Papacy did this, Satan was true to his promise. By\nresorting to worldly forms, customs and entertainments all the daughters\nhave followed the example of the mother.\n\nI am thy fellowservant.\u2014\u201cSt. John in his humility forgets his own share in\nimparting the revelation; and the Angel in his humility brings this to\nlight (Acts 10:25, 26).\u201d\u2014Cook; Acts 14:14, 15; Rev. 22:9; Rom. 1:1; Phil.\n1:1; Tit. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1.\n\nAnd of [thy] THE brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship\nGod.\u2014\u201cWhose servants we both are; of Whose prophetic Spirit we alike\npartake in this our common ministry; and therefore one of us may not\nworship the other.\u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nFor the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.\u2014\u201cAll Christians, in\nevery age, who can receive and understand prophecy, have this spirit.\u201d\n(Cook; 1 Cor. 12:13.) However, \u201cThe design of prophecy is to bear\ntestimony to Jesus. This is its great and ultimate end. The word prophecy\nhere seems to be used in the large sense in which it is often employed in\nthe New Testament\u2014meaning to make known the divine will, and the primary\nreference here would seem to be to the preachers and teachers of the New\nTestament. The sense is, that their grand business is to bear testimony to\nthe Saviour. They are all appointed for this, and therefore should regard\nthemselves as \u2018fellow\u2010servants.\u2019 Thus understood, this passage has no\ndirect reference to the prophecies of the Old Testament, and teaches\nnothing in regard to their design, though it is in fact undoubtedly true\nthat their grand and leading object was to bear testimony to the future\nMessiah.\u201d\u2014Barnes; Rev. 12:17.\n\n19:11. And I saw heaven opened.\u2014The hidden things of God as recorded in\nthe Seventh Volume of _Studies In The Scriptures_.\u2014Rev. 11:19.\n\nAnd behold a white horse.\u2014Teachings which, however unpalatable to\nChurchianity, are nevertheless the truth.\n\nAnd He that sat upon him was called Faithful.\u2014\u201cThe faithful and true\nWitness.\u201d\u2014Rev. 3:14.\n\nAnd True.\u2014\u201cHe that is holy, He that is true.\u201d\u2014Rev. 3:7.\n\nAnd in righteousness He doth judge and make war.\u2014\u201cWhile the Lord forbids\nHis people to fight with carnal weapons, and while He declares Himself to\nbe a God of peace, a God of order and of love, He also declares Himself to\nbe a God of justice, and shows that sin shall not forever triumph in the\nworld, but that it shall be punished. \u2018Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,\nsaith the Lord.\u2019 (Rom. 12:19; Deut. 32:35.) And when He rises up to\njudgment against the nations, taking vengeance upon all the wicked, He\ndeclares Himself \u2018a man of war\u2019 and \u2018mighty in battle,\u2019 and having a\n\u2018great army\u2019 at His command.\u2014Exod. 15:3; Psa. 24:8; 45:3; Isa. 11:4; Joel\n2:11.\u201d\u2014D. 549.\n\n19:12. His eyes were [as] a flame of fire.\u2014The Lord\u2019s Wisdom sees that the\ntime has come for the destruction of present iniquitous systems.\u2014Rev.\n1:14.\n\nAnd on His head were many crowns.\u2014The right to rule all the kingdoms of\nthe earth.\u2014Ezek. 21:27.\n\nAnd He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.\u2014This new name\nis to be also the name of the Church, His Bride. Possibly it has not yet\nbeen revealed.\u2014Rev. 2:17; 3:12.\n\n19:13. And He was clothed with a vesture [dipped in] SPRINKLED WITH\nblood.\u2014A reference to His faithfulness even unto death, and a hint to His\nBody what to expect shortly.\n\nAnd His name [is] HATH BEEN called the Word of God.\u2014In this picture He is\nrepresented as coming, not as the Messenger of the Covenant, but in\n_apokalupsis_, revealment as earth\u2019s rightful King.\u2014John 1:1; Rev. 1:2.\n\n19:14. And the armies which were in heaven.\u2014All the armies of Rev. 7:5\u20108,\nthe Little Flock, whether on this side of the veil or on the other.\u2014Rev.\n17:14.\n\nFollowed Him.\u2014\u201cThe sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a\nstranger will they not follow.\u201d\u2014John 10:4, 5.\n\nUpon white horses.\u2014Teachings clean and pure.\n\nClothed in fine linen, white and clean.\u2014\u201cThe righteousness of\nsaints.\u201d\u2014Rev. 19:8.\n\n19:15. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword.\u2014\u201cOur examination, in a\npreceding volume, of the great difference in character between the Kingdom\nof God and the beastly kingdoms of earth, prepares us to see also a\ndifference in modes of warfare. The methods of conquest and breaking will\nbe widely different from any which have ever before overthrown nations. He\nwho now takes His great power to reign is shown in symbol as the One whose\nsword went forth out of His mouth, \u2018that with it He should smite the\nnations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron.\u2019 That sword is the\nTruth (Eph. 6:17).\u201d\u2014B. 100; Isa. 11:4; 49:2; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 1:16; 2:12,\n16; 19:21; Hos. 6:5; Heb. 4:12.\n\nThat with it He should smite the nations.\u2014\u201c \u2018He shall smite the earth with\nthe rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips [the force and\nspirit of His Truth] shall He slay the wicked.\u2019 (Isa. 11:4; Psa. 98:1.) To\nno human generalship can the honors of the coming victory for truth and\nrighteousness be ascribed. Wild will be the conflict of the angry nations,\nand world\u2010wide will be the battlefield and the distress of nations; and no\nhuman Alexander, C\u00e6sar or Napoleon will be found to bring order out of the\ndreadful confusion. But in the end it will be known that the grand victory\nof justice and truth, and the punishment of iniquity with its just\ndeserts, was brought about by the power of the King of kings and Lord of\nlords.\u201d\u2014D. 19.\n\nAnd He shall rule them with a rod of iron.\u2014\u201cIn this \u2018Day of Jehovah,\u2019 the\n\u2018Day of Trouble,\u2019 our Lord takes His great power (hitherto dormant) and\nreigns, and this it is that will cause the trouble, though the world will\nnot so recognize it for some time. That the saints shall share in this\nwork of breaking to pieces present kingdoms, there can be no doubt. It is\nwritten, \u2018This honor have all His saints\u2014to execute the judgments written,\nto bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron\u2019\u2014of\nstrength. (Psa. 149:8, 9.) \u2018He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto\nthe end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them\nwith a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they [the empires] be\nbroken to shivers.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Rev. 2:26, 27; Psa. 2:8, 9; B. 100.\n\nAnd He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of THE ANGER OF\nAlmighty God.\u2014The Lord assumes an interest in and responsibility for the\ncomplete series of _Studies In The Scriptures_, the last one of which\nespecially represents the winepress feature (Rev. 14:18\u201020), but it would\nbe unreasonable to expect that the Lord would miraculously use imperfect\ntools to do an absolutely perfect work and each must use his judgment as\nto the value of the interpretations in this book. Additionally, it should\nbe remarked that the language here is more intense than in Rev. 14,\nindicating the extension of the winepress feature to other than\necclesiastical matters.\n\n19:16. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written.\u2014\u201cThe\nthigh is introduced as the place where the sword (which is not mentioned\nhere, see ver. 15) is usually found, in accordance with Psa. 45:3: \u2018Gird\nThee with Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Most Mighty.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Cook.\n\nKing of kings and Lord of lords.\u2014Before the controversy aroused by this\nbook is finished, every person in the world will be convinced that it\nmarks a distinct step by the Lord in His seizure of Satan\u2019s Empire.\u20141 Tim.\n6:15; Rev. 17:14; Dan. 8:25.\n\n19:17. And I saw [an] ANOTHER angel.\u2014The Elijah class after the\npublication of Volume Seven, _Studies in the Scriptures_. See Rev. 8:3\u20105;\n14:18.\n\nStanding in the sun.\u2014Resplendent in the light of the Gospel.\u2014Rev. 12:1;\nMatt. 13:43.\n\nAnd he cried with a loud voice.\u2014Fearlessly and plainly declaring the\nTruth.\n\nSaying to all the fowls.\u2014Birds, Greek.\u2014Matt. 24:28.\n\nThat fly in the midst of heaven.\u2014First to the \u201ceagles,\u201d the far\u2010sighted\nones, the Little Flock, and then, by extension, to all who live, mentally,\non any plane above the grossly material.\n\nCome [and gather yourselves] BE GATHERED together unto the GREAT supper of\n[the great] God.\u2014We should look for applications appropriate to the\nsymbolical book we are studying, even though it develop later, as it will,\nthat these passages will have a literal and terrible fulfilment in a\ndeluge of actual bloodshed, of which the European War is but a\npreliminary.\n\n19:18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings.\u2014Five of these kings or rulers\nare enumerated in Rev. 6:4. Doubtless the reader has eaten them, in the\nsymbolical sense. They are there to be eaten.\n\nAnd the flesh of captains.\u2014Lesser commanders, enumerated in Rev. 8:7\u201012.\nNo doubt the reader has eaten these also.\n\nAnd the flesh of mighty men.\u2014Warriors. These warriors are referred to in\nRev. 9:7, 9, although there mentioned under the name of locusts. If the\nreader has not eaten (appropriated, absorbed, digested) the account, the\ntask should be undertaken at once, or something will be missed.\n\nThat the Lord made no mistake in selecting the Locust as a symbol of the\nMethodist system of blindly following leaders is clear from the following\nextract from the works of a traveller: \u201cWhile sojourning in Syria I was\ntold that the whole country round Mt. Lebanon was dismayed one year by the\nnews that a vast army of marching locusts was coming from the eastern\ndesert. The governor of the district ordered a regiment of soldiers to aid\nthe people to construct a great rampart of heath bushes to be set on fire\nas the locusts came up to it, hoping thus to save the gardens of Beyrout.\nThese locusts always hopped straight ahead, deviating neither to the right\nnor left, and on coming to a house went up its stone walls, over it and\ndown it, as if it were a level place, and in such inconceivable numbers\nthat an American resident described the noise of the great host passing\nover the roof as like to that of a tremendous hailstorm. At every green\nleaf on the way each took a bite, and then went on for the next one to\ntake his bite, until in an incredibly short time not a green thing could\nbe seen. When they reached the prepared heaps of heath, and these were set\non fire, the locusts marched on without pausing, until in a brief time\nthey put the bonfires completely out. As the sea was not far off everybody\nhoped that they would take to surf bathing. And so they did. Just as\ncertain injurious political crowds among us can always be always depended\nupon to march up to the polls and vote the straight ticket, when the\nvanguard reached the waves, like all good true locusts, in they hopped,\nfollowed by all the rest, till the billows seemed to roll only\ngrasshoppers; nor did the scene end until the last of the rear guard had\nskipped over the heaps of his dead comrades to make his last jump into the\nblue waters of the Mediterranean.\u201d\u2014Jer. 51:64.\n\nAnd the flesh of horses.\u2014Did you not see the horses in Rev. 9:17, 18, and\ndid you not eat them, fire, jacinth, brimstone and all?\n\nAnd of them that sit on them.\u2014Did we not find two hundred millions of\nthese horsemen, and did you not eat them?\u2014See Rev. 9:16.\n\nAnd the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.\u2014And\ndid we not find all the rest of the men included in Rev. 9:20, 21, and did\nwe not eat them in the same manner? We did, indeed. We ate or appropriated\nthe truth concerning them. It is our eating of these truths that lead to\nthe events next narrated.\n\n19:19. And I saw the beast.\u2014The Papacy restored to power. Weymouth\u2019s New\nTestament in Modern Speech translates this verse as follows, and adds a\nfootnote that the \u201conce for all,\u201d though not expressed in the Greek, is\nimplied in the aorist tense of the verb: \u201cAnd I saw the Wild Beast, and\nthe kings of the earth, and their armies, all assembled to make war, once\nfor all, against the Rider upon the horse and against His army.\u201d\n\nAnd the kings of the earth.\u2014Called to the war by demons. (Rev. 16:13\u201016.)\n\u201cThe kings of the earth set themselves [in opposition], and the rulers\n[not knowing that they are fighting against the establishment of the\nLord\u2019s Kingdom], take counsel together against the Lord and against His\nAnointed, [but] He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall\nhave them in derision.\u201d\u2014Psa. 2:2, 4; D. 52.\n\nAnd their armies.\u2014Their following, Civil, Social, Ecclesiastical and\nFinancial.\n\nGathered together to make war.\u2014\u201cThe war,\u201d Greek.\n\nAgainst Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.\u2014Although composed\nof the twelve symbolical tribes (Rev. 19:14; 7:4\u20108) they are, after all,\nbut one army, all \u201cOne in Christ Jesus.\u201d \u201cLet it be seen that the best and\nthe worst of earth\u2019s nations are but \u2018kingdoms of this world,\u2019 whose lease\nof power from God is now expired, that they may give place to their\nordained successor, the Kingdom of Messiah, the Fifth Universal Empire of\nearth (Dan. 2:44; 7:14, 17, 27)\u2014and it will do much to establish truth and\nto overthrow error. But as it is, the actions of Papacy in this regard,\nsanctioned by the Protestant Reformers, go unquestioned among Christian\npeople. And since they should uphold the Kingdom of Christ, they feel\nthemselves called to the aid of the present falling kingdoms of so\u2010called\nChristendom\u2014to the side of the kingdoms of this world, and the prince of\nthis world, rather than to the side of the coming true Kingdom of\nChrist.\u201d\u2014A. 270; Rev. 16:16; 17:13, 14.\n\n19:20. And the beast was taken.\u2014The Papacy was caught. (Jer. 50:43\u201046.) No\ndoubt the publication of this book has come at a time unfavorable to the\nschemes of Papacy and will interfere greatly with its efforts at re\u2010\nestablishment\u2014Rev. 17:14.\n\nAnd with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him.\u2014The Image\nof the Beast.\u2014Rev. 13:11, 13, 14 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20;\n20:10; Matt. 24:24.\n\nWith which he deceived them that had received the mark of the\nbeast.\u2014Catholics.\n\nAnd them that worshipped his image.\u2014Protestants.\n\nThese both.\u2014Both of these _systems_, not the people.\n\nWere cast alive.\u2014While they are still organized and operative.\u2014H. 59.\n\nInto a lake of fire burning with brimstone.\u2014Into the complete and\neverlasting destruction, of the anarchy (symbolized by fire) of the Time\nof Trouble. This utter destruction of these systems is the beginning of\nthe annihilation of everything out of harmony with God\u2019s righteous\narrangements. It was typified by the valley of Gehenna, just outside of\nJerusalem. By the aid of brimstone the bodies of specially detestable\ncriminals were there burned with the other refuse of Jerusalem. Standing\nupon the edge of this valley at night it had the appearance of a lake\nburning with fire and brimstone. Burning brimstone is the most deadly\nagent known, and symbolizes utter destructiveness.\u2014Dan. 7:11.\n\n19:21. And the remnant.\u2014The _people_ who are left after their _systems_\nare destroyed.\n\nWere slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse.\u2014Will, in due\ntime, come into loving and cheerful submission to the truth.\u2014Rev. 19:15; 2\nCor. 10:4.\n\nWhich sword proceeded out of His mouth.\u2014All should be able to see that it\nis not a literal sword that is here referred to.\n\nAnd all the fowls were filled with their flesh.\u2014See Rev. 19:18.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 20\u2014The Thousand Years\u2019 Reign\n\n\n20:1. And I saw an Angel come down [from Heaven].\u2014The Messenger of the\nCovenant at His Second Advent.\u2014Mal. 3:1.\n\nHaving the key of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.\u2014Only Infinite Wisdom could\nprovide the key to the solution of present difficulties in the earth. Here\nis a system of superstition and crime two thousand years old, and the\npraise and service of it ingrained into nearly every human being. All\nliterature is poisoned with it. Public opinion is for it. The educated,\nthe refined, the wealthy, the powerful are all for it and all against any\nchange that would give the lower strata of society a fair chance. To\novercome conditions like this is a task for Divinity itself.\n\nAnd a great chain in His hand.\u2014The TRUTH, as contained in the Seven\nVolumes of _Scripture Studies_. This chain of Truth has been forged, link\nby link, over a period of forty years. Each volume has made it more\ncertain that old systems can never hope to stand against it.\n\n20:2. And He laid hold on the dragon.\u2014The iniquitous system of civil\ngovernment which has associated with it the principle of holding the\nmasses in subjection by preying upon their fears beyond this life. The\nsubject of special condemnation in this regard, the masterpiece of Satan,\nis the old Roman Empire, still living in the Papacy and the Church\u2010State\ngovernments of Europe. This system is about contemporaneous with the\n(seven) Times of the Gentiles (2520 years ending in Oct., 1914), which\nbegan in the Fall of 607 B. C., or, as we would say, at the beginning of\n606, Jewish Time. Rome was already well started on its upward path at that\ntime. \u201cLucius Tarquinius Priscus, fifth legendary king of Rome, 616\u2010578 B.\nC., appointed guardian to the sons of Ancus Marcius, he succeeded in\nsupplanting them on the throne on their father\u2019s death. He laid out the\nCircus Maximus, instituted the great games, built the great sewers, and\nbegan the construction of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. He removed\nfrom Tarquinii in Etruria to Rome by the advice of his wife, the\nprophetess Tanaquil. Tanaquil was famous for her shrewdness and prophetic\ngifts, which enabled her to foretell the future greatness of her husband.\u201d\n(Brit.)\n\nThat old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.\u2014\u201cWhile the name Old\nSerpent includes Satan, \u2018the prince of devils,\u2019 it is here evidently used\nas a synonym for all the sinful agencies and powers which had their rise\nin him.\u201d (S. 32.) \u201cOur Lord\u2019s declaration that Satan is the great\nAdversary, not only of God, but of humanity, is by no means a fancy\nsketch, but the plain truth. Satan alone is the wilful, intelligent\nplotter and schemer who uses a superhuman intelligence and, so far as\npermitted, superhuman powers, in opposing righteousness and truth and\nthose who are of the Truth. The inspired record asserts, persistently and\nconsistently, that Satan began the rebellion against the divine law, and\nseduced our first parents into disobedience, through his own ambition for\npower; and that since man\u2019s fall this same Adversary has been the\nimplacable opponent of God, of righteousness and of truth; and not only\nthe ensnarer of mankind, but the opposer of the great Plan of Atonement\nwhich God devised and is prosecuting through Christ. From the Scriptural\naccount it does not appear that Satan had any sympathizers or associate\nconspirators amongst the angels at the time of his secession and attempt\nto establish a lordship or dominion of his own in the earth.\u201d\u2014F. 611.\n\nAnd bound him.\u2014\u201c \u2018The god of this world has blinded the minds of them\nwhich believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is\nthe image of God, should shine unto them.\u2019 (2 Cor. 4:4.) God wills that\nall should be so saved from all the train of evils following Adam\u2019s sin\nand curse, that they may come to a knowledge of the Truth. Why does He\nwill this? To the intent that having a clear knowledge of the Truth they\nmay make the very best possible use of the new trial for life secured for\nthem by their Redeemer\u2019s Ransom\u2010sacrifice. It is for the carrying out of\nthis, God\u2019s will, that the Redeemer will inaugurate His Millennial\nKingdom, which will first bind Satan (restrain all outside evil\ninfluences) and then release man from his blindness;\u2014as it is written,\n\u2018the eyes of the blind shall be opened.\u2019 (Isa. 35:5.) For the same reason,\n_viz._, that the new trial shall be most favorable for man, it is the\nDivine arrangement that its work shall be done gradually and require a\nthousand years.\u201d (E. _480_, 470.) \u201cThe Millennial Day is dawning, with its\nchange of earth\u2019s rulership from the control of the \u2018prince of this world\u2019\nand his faithful, to the control of Him \u2018whose right it is\u2019 (by purchase)\nand His faithful saints. We have seen that though the result of this\nchange will be a great blessing; yet the time of the transfer, while the\npresent prince, the \u2018strong man,\u2019 is being bound and his household driven\nout of power (Matt. 12:29), will be a time of intense trouble.\u201d (C. 341.)\n\u201cIn reference to it Jesus said, \u2018No man can enter into a strong man\u2019s\nhouse and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man, and\nthen he will spoil his house.\u2019 (Mark 3:22\u201027; Luke 11:22.) This effective\nbinding of Satan is accordingly shown to be the first work of the New\nDispensation.\u201d (A. 68.) \u201cThe Adversary\u2019s every deceptive and misleading\ninfluence will be restrained\u2014so that evil shall no longer appear to men to\nbe good, nor good appear undesirable, evil. Truth shall no longer appear\nto men untrue, nor falsehoods be caused to appear true.\u201d (D. 519.) \u201cThe\nwords of inspiration give us to understand that Satan\u2019s struggles to\nretain control of mankind will be especially desperate at its close.\u201d\u2014S.\n78.\n\nA thousand years.\u2014The Millennial Day, the Day of the Lord\u2019s rest,\nfollowing the six thousand years of evil which ended in 1874. \u201cOne Day is\nwith the Lord as a thousand years.\u201d (2 Pet. 3:8; Psa. 90:4.) \u201cIt was the\nclaim of the Papacy that the thousand years of Christ\u2019s Reign, the\nMillennium, promised in Scripture to follow Christ\u2019s Second Advent, began\nin the year 800 A. D., under Pope Leo III., who claimed to be the\nrepresentative of Christ, His vice\u2010gerent, to begin Christ\u2019s Reign in His\nstead. In that year the \u2018Papal states\u2019 were ceded to the Church by Emperor\nCharlemagne. Their \u2018Millennium\u2019 ended, it was claimed, in the year 1799,\nwhen Napoleon confiscated the territories granted to the Church and took\nthe Pope, Pius VI., a captive to France, where he died. The succeeding\nfreedom from Papal persecution, and the widespread circulation of the\nBible in the languages of the people, was declared by the Papal leaders to\nbe the \u2018little season\u2019 (Rev. 20:3) to follow the thousand\u2010year Reign of\nChrist on earth; and they are hoping that soon they will regain their\nformer power and prestige and once more reign supreme, and that their rule\nwill be permanent. This Papal Millennium is known in history as the \u2018Dark\nAges.\u2019 During those dark centuries millions were tortured, exiled and\nmurdered for refusing to bow to the mandates of the apostate Church, under\nthe leadership of Popes, Bishops and priests. Agents and spies were\nemployed to apprehend and bring to punishment any who were found to\nexpress sentiments contrary to the Papal hierarchy, or who failed to bow\nin abject submission to their authority. Thus were the nations of Europe\npaganized, and steeped in error and superstition and in reverence for men\nwho falsely claimed to be the special and authorized representatives of\nGod on earth. They presumed to have authority to alter the Laws of God\nwhen it seemed advisable to them to do so, and thought to change the time\nfor the Reign of Christ as we have shown.\u201d (Dan. 7:25; Z. \u201916\u2010181; B.\n354.) \u201c \u2018Those who lived next to the Apostles, and the whole Church for\n300 years, understood them [the \u201cThousand Years\u201d] in the plain literal\nsense.\u2019 According to Jewish theology, as collected from the Talmud,\nMessiah is to gather in from the Dispersion all the scattered descendants\nof the Tribes, to discomfit their foreign oppressors, and from Jerusalem\nas a centre to rule over the whole earth which is to be a scene of\ntemporal enjoyment and prosperity. Thus R. Salomon writes: \u2018It is fixed\nthat the world shall stand for 6000 years, according to the number of the\ndays of the week; but on the _seventh_ Day is the Sabbath, and during the\n_seventh_ Millennium the world has rest.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Cook.\n\n20:3. And cast him into the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.\u2014Oblivion. In this\ninstance it signifies Satan\u2019s enforced idleness, which will surely be\noblivion for him after the busy time he has had during the past six\nthousand years. How small he will feel when he sees the Lord Jesus undo in\none thousand years all that he accomplished in six thousand!\n\nAnd shut him up, and set a seal upon him.\u2014The Spirit of Truth in the\nhearts of men; the desire to win the favor of earth\u2019s new King, will\ndeprive Satan of all his subjects. All his evil companions, human and\nangelic, will be destroyed in the Time of Trouble. Alone, idle and\nhumiliated constantly for a thousand years, is a punishment he richly\ndeserves.\n\nThat he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should\nbe fulfilled.\u2014\u201cSome have become so deluded by the sophistries of Satan, by\nwhich he has deceived all nations, that they do not believe that there is\na God; others believe in Him as a great and powerful adversary, without\nlove or sympathy, ready and anxious to torment them to all eternity;\nothers are confused by the Babel of conflicting reports that have reached\nthem, concerning the Divine character, and know not what to believe; and,\nseeking to draw near unto God, are hindered by their fears and by their\nignorance.\u201d (E. _19_, 18.) \u201cThe trial, or judgment, of the overcomers of\nthe Christian Dispensation and of the Dispensation that preceded it, has\nbeen much more severe than the trial of the world will be in its judgment\nday; for these have had to withstand Satan, the prince of this world, with\nall his wiles and ensnarements, while in the world\u2019s judgment day Christ\nwill be reigning, and Satan will be bound, that he may not deceive the\nnations. These have suffered persecution for righteousness\u2019 sake, while\nthen men will be rewarded for righteousness, and punished only for\nunrighteousness. These have had great stumbling blocks and snares in the\nway, which will be removed when the world is placed on trial. But though\nthe trial of these two special companies has been much more severe than\nthe trial of the world will be, the rewards are correspondingly\ngreater.\u201d\u2014A. 146.\n\n[And] after that he must be loosed a little season.\u2014To see who are in\nheart harmony with the Lord\u2019s will, and who are governed by other motives.\nAs evil will be bound by the prompt infliction of punishment upon the\nwould\u2010be evil\u2010doer, so we may presume it will be loosed by allowing evil\ndeeds to go temporarily unpunished.\u2014Rev. 20:8.\n\n20:4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them.\u2014The thrones of present\nearthly kingdoms.\u2014Z. \u201982\u20103\u20106.\n\nAnd judgment was given unto them.\u2014Judicial sentence was passed upon them\nas unfit to longer continue. (Z. \u201982\u20103\u20106.) This word is rendered\ncondemnation in Luke 23:40; Jas. 3:1; Jude 4.\n\nAnd I saw the souls.\u2014Persons, beings.\u2014Z. \u201982\u20103\u20106.\n\nOf them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.\u2014\u201cAll constituting the\nKingdom class are here referred to as beheaded. The Apostle gives us the\nkey, saying. \u2018The Head of every man is Christ; the head of the woman is\nthe man; and the Head of Christ is God.\u2019 (1 Cor. 11:3.) As a woman who\nbecomes a wife accepts her husband as the head of the family (loses her\nname, her individuality, to become his bride), so the Church accepts\nChrist as her Head, and each member of the Church thus comes into\nrelationship with the Lord as a member of His Body. It is required of\nevery one who would be counted in as a member of the true Church, that he\nshould be not only beheaded (lose his self\u2010will), but that he shall be\nunited to the true Head of the Church and recognize himself as a member of\nthe true Body of Christ\u2014\u2018the Church of the living God, whose names are\nwritten in Heaven.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010227; Rev. 1:9; 19:10.\n\nAnd for the word of God.\u2014On account of the Word of God and by means of it.\nWe are \u201cBegotten by the Word of Truth,\u201d and to live in fullest harmony\nwith its every precept, at any cost to the flesh, is the distinguishing\npeculiarity of the overcoming Church of God. \u201cOnly now are Bible students\nbeginning to emerge from under the great cloud of false doctrine which for\nfifteen hundred years has misrepresented God and the Bible, putting\ndarkness for light. Only now can Bible study be prosecuted in its true\nspirit, without the fear of man, which brings a snare. Only now is there\ngeneral education, which permits of Bible study in this true sense. Only\nnow have we the convenient Bible, cheap and in every home. Only now have\nwe more leisure and opportunity for Bible study. Only now have we good\nlight by which to study.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201913\u2010366.\n\n[And which] IF ANY THEREFORE had not worshipped the beast, neither his\nimage.\u2014See Rev. 13:13\u201018.\n\nNeither had received his mark upon their [foreheads, or in their hands]\nFOREHEAD AND ON THEIR HAND.\u2014In years to come millions will be surprised to\nknow that they had these marks of assent and service to Satan\u2019s empire.\n\u201cThe gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet\na programme of anarchy. It does not inspire wars and strife, but peace and\nsecurity. It does not set the mother against her daughter and the father\nagainst his son, but promotes the fraternal spirit whereby the race is\nregarded as one great Brotherhood. It does not seek to drag down and\ndegrade the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. To use a popular\nphrase, it appeals to \u2018the best, all that is good within us.\u2019 It aims to\nmake this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that the absence\nof Christ will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to\nmake men so satisfied with this life that they shall be totally\nindifferent to the life hereafter. It propagates the principles of self\u2010\nsacrifice, mercy, charity and benevolence, teaching men to live for the\ngood of others and to be kind to all. For those who observe its conditions\nand obey its commands, it promises the development of certain inherent\noccult powers, the solution of the more recondite problems of man\u2019s\nconstitution and the accumulation of esoteric knowledge which is withheld\nfrom the multitude. In short, it declares that all who will eat of the\nforbidden fruit shall \u2018be as gods.\u2019 The gospel of Satan is one of works.\nThe Devil\u2019s Delusion is that we can be saved by our own works, and\njustified by our own deeds. Whereas God tells us, \u2018By grace are ye saved\nthrough faith, ... not of works, lest any man should boast.\u2019 And again,\n\u2018Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His\nmercy He saved us.\u2019\u2014Eph. 2:8, 9; Tit. 3:5.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u201042.\n\n[And] they BOTH lived and reigned with Christ.\u2014See Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12;\nRev. 5:10.\n\nA thousand years.\u2014\u201cThe loss of this hope by our forefathers led on to all\nthe grievous errors from which we are now seeking to escape. Do we not\nstill pray, \u2018Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in\nHeaven?\u2019 The Messiah\u2019s coming Kingdom is the key to the world\u2019s blessing\nby Restitution back to human perfection in a world\u2010wide Eden.\u201d\u2014Pastor\nRussell. Observe how many times this period is mentioned in Rev. 20:2\u20107.\n\n20:5. [But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years\nwere finished.]\u2014\u201cThese words are not found in the oldest and most reliable\nGreek MSS., the Sinaitic, Vatican Nos. 1209 and 1160, nor the Syriac MS.\nHowever, the repudiation of this clause is not essential to the \u2018Plan\u2019 as\nherein set forth; for the rest of the dead\u2014the world at large\u2014will not\nlive again in the full sense, in the perfect sense that Adam lived before\nhe sinned and came under the sentence \u2018dying thou shalt die.\u2019 Perfect life\nwithout weakness or dying is the only sense in which God recognizes the\nword life. From His standpoint all the world has already lost life, is\ndying, and might now be more properly described as dead than as alive.\u201d\u20142\nCor. 5:14; Matt. 8:22.\n\n\u201cThe word resurrection (Greek, _anastasis_) signifies _raising up_. As\nrelated to man, it signifies raising up man to that condition from which\nhe fell, to full perfection of manhood\u2014the thing lost through Adam. The\nprocess of resurrection will be a gradual one, requiring the entire Age\nfor its full accomplishment; though the mere awakening to a measure of\nlife and consciousness, as at present enjoyed, will of course be a\nmomentary work. And since anything short of perfect life is a condition of\npartial death, it follows that, although the above words are no part of\nthe inspired record, it would be strictly true to say that the rest of the\ndead will not live again (will not regain the fulness of life lost) until\nthe thousand years of restitution and blessing are complete.\u201d\u2014A. 288.\n\nThis is the First Resurrection.\u2014\u201cIt is impossible for the tongue to\ndescribe this great honor and dignity.\u201d\u20141 Cor. 2:9; Pastor Russell.\n\n20:6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First\nResurrection.\u2014\u201c \u2018We shall be like Him [the glorified \u201cchanged\u201d Jesus], for\nwe shall see Him _as He is_.\u2019 He is a Spirit Being, \u2018the _express image of\nthe Father\u2019s person_,\u2019 \u2018far above angels, principalities and powers, and\nevery name that is named,\u2019 and hence, far above perfect manhood. If we\nshall be like Him and share His glory and His nature, it means that we too\nshall be images of the Father\u2019s person, \u2018whom no _man_ hath seen nor can\nsee, dwelling in light which no _man_ can approach unto;\u2019 but to whom we\ncan approach and whom we can see as He is, because we have been \u2018changed.\u2019\n(1 John 3:2; 1 Tim. 6:16, 1:17; Exod. 33:20.) Lest any should\nmisunderstand him, the Apostle guards the above language by adding, \u2018As\n_we_ [the Church] have borne the image of the earthly [one], _we_ shall\nalso bear the image of the Heavenly [One].\u2019 It is not the Apostle\u2019s\nthought that all shall bear the image of the Heavenly One, in this sense,\never. Such was not the design of our Creator. When He made man He designed\nto have a _fleshly_, _human earthly_ being, in His own likeness [mentally,\nmorally], to be the lord and ruler of the earth, as the representative of\nHis Heavenly Creator.\u201d (Gen. 1:26\u201028; Psa. 8:4\u20107; F. 722.) \u201cIf we know how\nto reproduce the human voice, it gives us a little illustration of how\nGod, with His unlimited Power, can preserve everything recorded by the\nconvolutions of our brain, and of how these could be preserved in the\nfuture absolutely\u2014everything by which we could know ourselves in the\nfuture.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010315.\n\nOn such the Second Death hath no power.\u2014Aside from the Father and the Son,\nthese are the only ones in the Universe that will forever be beyond the\npossibility of death.\u2014Rev. 2:11; Rom. 2:7; 1 Tim. 6:16.\n\nBut they shall be priests.\u2014\u201cThe antitypical consecrating of the\nantitypical priests is confined to the present Gospel Age. It has\nprogressed steadily since our Lord and Forerunner \u2018offered up Himself\u2019\u2014and\nwill be complete before this Age has fully ended. And if we fail to be\namong the priests now, during the time of consecration, we cannot be of\nthem when they begin their service for the people in the Kingdom, when\nthese same priests (now despised of men, but a \u2018sweet savor to God\u2019) will\nhave the title of King added, and will, with their Head, Jesus, rule and\nbless all nations.\u201d\u2014T. 47; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10.\n\nOf God and of Christ.\u2014\u201cNo mention is made here of being priests of the\nHoly Ghost as it would undoubtedly have been mentioned if it had been the\nthird person of the \u2018trinity.\u2019 \u201d\n\nAnd shall reign with Him a thousand years.\u2014\u201cThe \u2018kingdoms of this world,\u2019\neven while being crushed by the Kingdom of God, will be quite ignorant of\nthe real cause of their downfall,\u2014until, in the close of this \u2018day of\nwrath,\u2019 the eyes of their understanding shall open, so that they will see\nthat a New Dispensation has dawned, and learn that Immanuel has taken to\nHimself His great power, and has begun His glorious and righteous\nReign.\u201d\u2014C. 129; Rev. 20:4.\n\nAnd when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his\nprison.\u2014\u201cIt will be for only a little season; for, his heart remaining\nunchanged, he will soon see a new avenue to the success of his long\u2010\ncherished ambition. He will see not merely a perfect human pair with power\nto produce a mighty race destined to live forever, but a race restored to\nlife and vigor. His thought will be, \u2018If I can win this mighty race to my\nstandard, my triumph and exaltation will be speedily accomplished.\u2019 Again,\ntherefore, he will figure as a leader, though, as now, unrecognized by\nmen. Doubtless the temptation will again rest upon his old doctrine\u2014that\nthey shall not surely die, even if they do disregard the will of God.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201994\u2010251.\n\n20:8. And shall go out to deceive all the nations.\u2014\u201cAt the close of the\nMillennial Age there will be a \u2019harvest\u2019 time, for sifting and separating\namongst the billions of human beings then living, each of whom will have\nenjoyed a full opportunity of attaining perfection. The Harvest of the\nMillennial Age will witness the complete separation of the \u2018goats\u2019 from\nthe \u2018sheep.\u2019 \u201d (D. 644.) \u201cWhile the blessing of the Lord will provide an\nabundance for all, nevertheless we may safely assume that the provision\nwill be in the hands of their fellows. It will be the \u2019sheep\u2019 that will be\nespecially interested in, praying for and preparing for, those who are in\nthe great prison\u2010house of death. And by so engaging their time and energy\nthese \u2018sheep\u2019 will be manifesting a purpose, a will, in harmony with that\nof the Creator. (John 5:28, 29.) Any one not interested in that work will\nbe lacking in God\u2019s Spirit; and this is what is charged against the goat\u2010\nclass.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201914\u2010268.\n\n[Which are] in the four [quarters of the earth] CORNERS, Gog.\u2014Proud (Gog\nmeans high), Natural Israelites. (1 Chr. 5:3, 4.) \u201c \u2018Ye [proud and\nunfaithful Jews] shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the\nProphets in the Kingdom of God [the earthly phase], and ye yourselves\nthrust out,\u2019 (Luke 13:28).\u201d\u2014Z. \u201907\u2010302.\n\nAnd Magog.\u2014Those who, during the Gospel Age, were nominal Spiritual\nIsraelites, but at heart were never anything but \u201ctares\u201d and always remain\nsuch. Magog was the descendant of Japheth. (Gen. 10:2.) Europe was peopled\nby his descendants, and it was to them that the Gospel call of the Age now\nending was by Divine appointment sent. (Acts 16:6, 9.) The Gospel was sent\ninto Europe that it might be demonstrated that God could call and make\ninto Christlike characters representatives of even the most cruel,\nbloodthirsty, quarrelsome, rapacious people on earth. Such they are. Japan\nis proof that contact with Europeans will in a generation transform a\ncontented, peace\u2010loving people into a people of unbounded ambition, imbued\nwith the spirit of the very Devil.\u2014Ezek. 38:2; 39:1.\n\nAND to gather them together to battle.\u2014\u201cWhen at the close of the\nMillennial Age all the obedient of mankind shall have attained all that\nwas lost in Adam and redeemed by Christ\u2014then all, armed with complete\nknowledge and experience, and hence fully able to stand the test, will be\ntested severely (as was Adam), but individually, and only those found in\nfullest heart\u2010sympathy, as well as in outward harmony, with God and His\nrighteous arrangements, will be permitted to go beyond the Millennium into\nthe everlasting future or \u2018world [age] without end.\u2019 All others will be\ndestroyed in the Second Death.\u201d (E. _418_, 402.) \u201cWe read, regarding that\ntesting, that Satan will endeavor to lead astray all mankind, whose\nnumbers will then be as the sand of the sea for multitude; but that many\nof them will choose evil and disobedience, with past experience before\nthem, and unhampered by present weaknesses and blinding influences, we do\nnot suppose.\u201d\u2014H. 62.\n\n20:9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth.\u2014\u201cBuilding upon a\nsupposed weakness in the Divine character, these may be led to try to take\nadvantage of the grace (favor) of God, and to use it as a license for\nwilful sin.\u201d\u2014H. 62.\n\nAnd compassed the camp of the saints about.\u2014\u201cJust as in Great Britain, the\npeople have gone to Parliament to protest, so the rebellious faction of\nmankind will protest against their faithful princes. The separation of the\nAncient Worthies from the rest of the world seems to imply that God has\nsome special purpose in respect to them. The term camp itself implies that\ntheirs is only a temporary condition or arrangement, and that God has some\nbetter thing in store for them.\u201d (Z. \u201913\u201053.) \u201cThe noble work of elevating\nthe race by sure and steady steps (under the direction of the unseen\nspiritual members of the Kingdom) is the high honor to which the Ancient\nWorthies are appointed, and for which they will come forth prepared soon\nafter the final wreck of the kingdoms of this world.\u201d (A. 291.) \u201cIsrael as\na nation will be the first among the nations to come into harmony with the\nnew order of things; the earthly Jerusalem will be rebuilt upon her old\nheaps; and their polity will be restored as in the beginning under princes\nor judges. (Isa. 1:26; Psa. 45:16; Jer. 30:18.)\u201d (A. 294.) \u201cAbraham, Isaac\nand Jacob and all the Prophets\u201d and Ancient Worthies referred to by our\nLord and by the Apostles (Matt. 8:11; Heb. 11:4\u201040), having passed their\ntrial, will be awakened from death perfect.\n\n\u201cJust as Adam, while perfect, before transgression, could commune direct\nwith the Heavenly powers, so will these Worthies commune, when restored to\nthe same state of perfection.\u201d (D. 619.) \u201cThe veil which Moses wore before\nthe people, but laid off when with the Lord in the Mount would seem to\ntypify the earthly phase of his Kingdom, the \u2018princes in all the earth,\u2019 \u201d\n(D. 630.) \u201cThe friendship of David and Jonathan seems to be suggestive of\nthat beautiful accord which shall exist between the glorified Church and\nthe earthly princes who shall be next to them in the Kingdom of God. Each\nwill be delighted to fill his honored place in the wonderful Plan of God,\nand will love the other as his own soul.\u201d (Z. \u201995\u2010291.) \u201cAs we consider\nthe heavens, the work of God\u2019s hands, and the innumerable worlds therein\nunder preparation for inhabitants, we may reasonably suppose that these\nAncient Worthies, who were faithful during the reign of evil, even unto\ndeath, will have some further honorable service, not only during the\nMillennial Age, but subsequently. For various reasons, therefore, we rank\nthem higher in honor than the Great Company.\u201d (Z. \u201904\u2010313.) \u201cThese Ancient\nWorthies will be unlike the remainder of mankind, not alone in the fact\nthat their trial is past while the trial of the world in general will just\nbe beginning; but they will be unlike them also in the fact that they will\nhave attained the reward of their faithfulness\u2014they will be perfect men.\nWhen Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the Ancient Worthies have been\nresurrected, and shall appear amongst the regathered Israelites, their\nperfect minds will quickly grasp present\u2010day knowledge and inventions.\n(John 7:15.) And as Jesus taught the people positively, definitely,\nclearly, and not doubtfully and in a confused way, as did the scribes, so\nit will be with the perfected Ancient Worthies, when they appear amongst\nmen.\u201d\u2014D. 625.\n\n\u201cIsa. 11:10 points us to the Millennial Day, and another root of Jesse, as\nconnected with the blessing of the Gentiles. This latter seed seems to be\nreferred to also in Heb. 11:39, 40. The Ancient Worthies shall not only be\nthe princes, the representatives of the spiritual, invisible Kingdom, but\nalso grand ensigns or standards set up before mankind, as illustrations of\nwhat all mankind may attain unto.\u201d (Z. \u201998\u2010312.) \u201cThe painful experiences\nof the Ancient Worthies during the Jewish age will be a store of\nblessings, instruction and help, by which they, when made subordinate\n\u2018princes\u2019 in the Kingdom, will assist in the restitution work.\u201d (T. 111.)\n\u201cWhile the Worthies are not in any sense part of the Sin\u2010Offering, they\nare nevertheless connected with the cleansing from sin: their ashes (the\nknowledge and remembrance of their faithfulness unto death), mingled with\nthe water of Truth, and applied with the purgative, cleansing hyssop, is\nvaluable, purifying, sanctifying.\u201d (T. 108.) \u201cThe service which the\nAncient Worthies will be given will be more than God would ordinarily\nentrust to a perfect human being. It will be a part of this service to\ndeal with the imperfect, fallen creatures and to help them up out of sin\nand imperfection. While in one sense of the word this work is desirable,\nyet it is not what a perfect human being would prefer. These Ancient\nWorthies will come forth from the tomb perfect; but during the entire\nMillennium they will be amidst imperfect surroundings.\n\n\u201cA part of the evidence that the Ancient Worthies will be made sharers of\nthe spirit nature and become members of the Great Company class is built\nupon the fact that they seem to be represented typically by the tribe of\nLevi. The fact that this tribe had no inheritance in the land seems to\nimply that the Ancient Worthies will have no earthly inheritance. Since\nthe Heavenly Father has been pleased to arrange for the Great Company a\nplace on the spirit plane, and since He is operating according to some\ngeneral principles of righteousness, we are inclined to think that He may\nhave something more for the Ancient Worthies than will come to the\nremainder of mankind. When Abraham was called upon to offer up his son\nIsaac, he exhibited a degree of loyalty greater than the Great Company\nwill be called upon to manifest. Furthermore, in Gen. 17:8, God said unto\nAbraham, \u2018And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land\nwherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting\npossession; and I will be their God.\u2019 Two thousand years later, St.\nStephen said that God never gave Abraham so much as a foot of the promised\nland (Acts 7:6); but he implied that Abraham will yet receive that land\nand afterward leave it to his posterity. If the land is to be given to\nAbraham and his coadjutors, and then to be left to his seed and mankind in\ngeneral, the thought would seem to be implied that the Ancient Worthies\nwill pass to the spirit nature.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201913\u201052.\n\n\u201c \u2018O Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength! [After the Church, the\nBride, has been glorified with the Lord, the faithful ones of the fleshly\nseed of Abraham will begin to come into prominence before the world by\nreason of the leaders whom God will then raise up for them.] Lift it up,\nbe not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah [all who shall then be in\ncovenant relationship with God], Behold! Your God is here!\u2019 [Thus the\nmessage now given by \u2018the feet\u2019 of Christ\u2014that the Millennial Kingdom is\nalready beginning its rule (Isa. 52:7)\u2014will be taken up by the earthly\nclass when the \u2018feet of Him\u2019 have passed beyond the veil.]\u2014Isa. 40:9.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201992\u201078.\n\nAnd the beloved city.\u2014\u201cThe \u2018beloved city\u2019 is the New Jerusalem, the Church\nin glory, not the Church in the flesh. The rebellion incited by Satan will\nbe not only against the earthly princes, but also against The Christ.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201913\u201053.\n\nAnd fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them.\u2014They will be\ninstantaneously and mercifully electrocuted, not tormented.\n\n20:10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and\nBrimstone.\u2014\u201cHe is to be destroyed, together with all his angels\u2014his\nmessengers, all who follow his leading and his course.\u2014Matt. 25:41; Heb.\n2:14.\u201d\u2014F. 619.\n\nWhere the beast and WHERE the false prophet are.\u2014Papacy and the Protestant\nChurch Federation will have been in destruction a thousand years at the\ntime this Scripture is fulfilled.\u2014Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2;\n16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.\n\nAnd shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.\u2014The Seven Volumes\nof _Scripture Studies_ are the instruments the Lord is using to bring\nthese iniquitous systems to their end; and so long as these books remain,\nthe torment of these systems will be in evidence. The systems will cease,\nbut the \u201cSeven Plagues\u201d will continue forever.\u2014Rev. 14:11; 19:3.\n\n20:11. And I saw a great white Throne.\u2014\u201cThe whiteness of the Throne\nindicates the purity of the justice and judgment which will be meted\nout.\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\nAnd Him that sat on it.\u2014\u201cThe Throne is Messiah\u2019s; it represents His\nMediatorial Dominion of earth for a thousand years.\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\nFrom whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no\nplace for them.\u2014\u201cThe heavens and earth which will flee from the presence\nof the great Immanuel will not be the Heavens of God\u2019s Throne, nor the\nearth which he has given to the children of men. The heavens and earth\nwhich will flee away, and for which no place will be found, are, of\ncourse, the symbolical ones. The symbolic heavens represent spiritual\ninfluences\u2014Ecclesiasticism, Churchianity. Thus interpreted, our text\ndeclares that when Messiah assumes control of the world, the result will\nbe that the social system of to\u2010day, as well as present\u2010day\necclesiasticism, will pass out of existence\u2014no place will be found for\nthem.\u201d (B. S. M.) \u201c \u2018Heaven and earth\u2019: To our Lord\u2019s contemporaries the\nreligious and social system under which they lived seemed almost as fixed\nand as eternal as the earth and sky. Indeed, \u2018heaven and earth\u2019 appears to\nhave been a name which they gave to the then\u2010existing order of things in\nrecognition of what they deemed its permanence and fixity.\u201d\u2014Weym.; Rev.\n21:1; Dan. 2:35.\n\n20:12. And I saw the dead, [small and] BOTH great AND SMALL stand before\n[God] THE THRONE.\u2014What a grand privilege is that which awaits \u201cHim whom\nman despiseth, Him whom the nation abhorreth, a servant of rulers,\u201d \u201cThat\nthou mayest say to the prisoners [the twenty billions in the prison\u2010house\nof death], Go forth; to them that are in [the] darkness [of the tomb],\nShow yourselves.\u201d (Isa. 49:7, 9; Rev. 11:18; 19:5). (The dead are standing\nwhile they are dead. See Rev. 20:5 comments.)\n\nAnd the books were opened.\u2014\u201cThe books of the Bible will then all be\nopened\u2014understood. All will then see that the Golden Rules laid down by\ninspiration through Moses and the Prophets, Jesus and His Apostles, are\nthe very ones which God will require of men in the future and which\nMessiah will then enable the willing and obedient to comply with by\nassisting them up out of their sin and degradation.\u201d (B. S. M.) The entire\nWord of God will not be opened until after the Church is beyond the veil.\nMuch of it (perhaps nearly all) will be opened by the Great Company class\nduring the Time of Trouble, but some of it may wait for the Prophets\nthemselves. Meantime, all that is necessary for salvation and service has\nbeen provided.\u2014Dan. 7:10.\n\nAnd another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.\u2014\u201cIn the great Day\nof the world\u2019s trial or Judgment another Book of Life will be opened. A\nrecord will be made of all who, by obedience, show themselves worthy of\neverlasting life on the human plane.\u201d (B. S. M.) \u201cThe First Book of life\nis called the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life, containing the names of the elect\nChurch, His Bride. This other Book of Life will be the book, or record, of\nthose who shall pass the restitutional trial or judgment\nsatisfactorily.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201900\u2010239.\n\nAnd the dead were judged.\u2014\u201cThis judgment, or rulership, cannot begin until\nChrist, whom Jehovah hath appointed to be the Judge or Ruler of the world,\nhas come again\u2014not again in humiliation, but in power and great glory: not\nagain to redeem the world, but to judge [rule] the world in righteousness.\nA trial can in no case proceed until the judge is on the bench and the\ncourt in session at the appointed time.\u2014Matt. 25:31.\u201d\u2014A. 345.\n\nOut of those things which were written in the books.\u2014\u201cIt is by the Word of\nthe Lord that men are judged (John 12:48\u201050); and not by the opinions or\nprecedents of fellow\u2010men in any capacity. Therefore all should imitate the\nnoble Bereans who \u2018searched the Scriptures daily\u2019 to see if the things\ntaught them were true. (Acts 17:11.) \u2018To the Law and to the Testimony; if\nthey speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in\nthem.\u2019\u2014See 1 Thes. 5:21; Isa. 8:20.\u201d\u2014D. 66.\n\nAccording to their works.\u2014\u201cThe judgment of that time, the test, will not\nbe of faith; for knowledge will be universal, and all the darkness and\nobscurity created by ignorance and superstition will have passed away. The\ntest at that time will be of works, whereas the tests of the Church at the\npresent time are of faith.\u201d\u2014B. S. M.\n\n20:13. And the sea.\u2014The masses of mankind, not under religious\nrestraint\u2014the condition of the whole world in the time of anarchy due in\nits full severity in the fall of 1920. See page 178.\n\nGave up the dead which were in it.\u2014Earth\u2019s new Ruler will deal first with\nthose who survive the Time of Trouble, reckoned dead, even though actually\nhaving a small measure of life. When the Lord said, \u201cLet the dead bury\ntheir dead\u201d (Matt. 8:22), He used the same word to describe both classes.\nThose under the death sentence are counted by the Lord in the same class\nwith those upon whom the sentence has been already executed. None but\nGod\u2019s people have \u201cpassed from death unto life.\u201d (1 John 3:14.) All the\nrest of the world, in God\u2019s sight, are dead.\n\nAnd death.\u2014\u201cFrom the first, or Adamic death, a resurrection has been\nprovided. All that are in their graves shall come forth. It was in view of\nGod\u2019s plan for redeeming the race from that first death that in both the\nOld and New Testaments it is called a \u2018_sleep_.\u2019 \u201d\u2014H. 58.\n\nAnd hell.\u2014\u201cThe dark, secret condition, the grave, which in the present\ntime speaks to us of a _hope_ of future life by God\u2019s resurrection power\nin Christ.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201910\u201041.\n\nDelivered up the dead which were in them.\u2014\u201cThus God tells us through the\nProphet, \u2018I will ransom them from the power of the grave [_Sheol_]. I will\nredeem them from death.... O grave [_Sheol_] I will be thy destruction.\u2019\n(Hos. 13:14.) The first or Adamic death shall no longer have liberty or\npower over men, as it has had for the past six thousand years; no longer\nshall any die for Adam\u2019s sin. (Rom. 5:12; Jer. 31:29, 30; Ezek. 18:2.)\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201910\u201041.\n\nAnd they were judged every man according to their works.\u2014\u201cSince all\nmankind will not be raised at once, but gradually, during the thousand\nyears, each new group will find an army of helpers in those who will have\npreceded it. The love and benevolence which men will then show to each\nother (the brethren of Christ) the King will count as shown to Him. (Rom.\n13:10.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201910\u201039.\n\n20:14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.\u2014\u201cThe\ndestruction of the first death and Hades commences with the beginning of\nthe Millennial Reign and continues to its close. Hades (the grave) will be\ndestroyed when all the dead in it have heard the Lord\u2019s voice and come\nforth. (John 5:25.) But \u2018death\u2019 will still have hold upon these, since\nevery ache and pain and every mental and moral imperfection is a part of\nthe inherited Adamic penalty. The millions awakened will be still under\ncondemnation, still in death; but in proportion as they render obedience\nto the terms of the New Covenant, progress will be made toward health,\nperfection and life. On the other hand, those who, after full knowledge,\nrefuse to accept and personally apply the merit of the sacrifice of\nChrist, will remain under condemnation; because their wills consent to\nevil, they will progress toward the Second Death. In the case of the\nobedient, death will be swallowed up of life. In the case of the\ndisobedient, death will be swallowed up of the Second Death. (1 Cor.\n15:26, 54, 55; Isa. 25:6\u20108.)\u201d\u2014H. 66.\n\nAND this is the Second Death; THE LAKE OF FIRE.\u2014\u201cThis destruction or death\nis called the Second Death in contradistinction to the First or Adamic\ndeath, and not to signify that everything which goes into it dies a second\ntime. For instance, death (the first or Adamic death), and Hades, the\ngrave, are to be cast into it, which work will require the entire\nMillennium to accomplish it; and in no sense will they ever have been\ndestroyed before. So also the devil, the beast, and the false prophet,\nwill never have been destroyed before.\u201d\u2014H. 58; Rev. 21:8.\n\n20:15. And whosoever [was] SHALL not BE found written in the Book of\nLife.\u2014The writing, the judging, is still future.\n\nWas cast into the Lake of Fire.\u2014\u201cThe Second Death, during the Millennial\nAge, is a part of the utter destruction which will include every improper,\ninjurious and useless thing. (Isa. 11:9; Psa. 101:5\u20108.) But the Second\nDeath, the sentence of that individual trial, will be final: it will never\nbe destroyed. We rejoice that there is no danger of this, but that Divine\nJustice unites with Divine Wisdom, Love and Power, to bring in everlasting\nrighteousness on a permanent basis.\u201d\u2014H. 67; Rev. 19:20; Psa. 50:22.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cA thousand years, earth\u2019s coming glory,\n \u2019Tis the glad Day so long foretold;\n \u2019Tis the bright Morn of Zion\u2019s glory\n Prophets foresaw in times of old.\n\n \u201cWhat if the clouds do for a moment\n Hide the blue sky where Morn appears?\n Soon the glad Sun of Promise given\n Rises to shine a thousand years!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 21\u2014The Descending Kingdom\n\n\n21:1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.\u2014\u201cIt may be that this, rather\nthan \u2018the Millennium,\u2019 is the name which we ought to give to the Golden\nAge, of purity and bliss which next awaits the world. The words seem to\ninclude a transformation and glorification of our material globe.\u201d\u2014Weym.\n\n\u201cParadise, the Garden of God, applicable as a name to Eden, where our\nfirst parents resided, is Scripturally applied to the new earth when\nRestitution blessings shall, during the Millennium, have brought it to\nperfection. This Paradise of the future is referred to by the Apostles as\n\u2018the third heaven,\u2019 and as \u2018a new heavens and a new earth.\u2019 (2 Corinthians\n12:2; 2 Peter 3:13.) They are not referring to new planets, nor to heavens\nranged one above another, as many have supposed, but to the third of three\ngreat periods of time, beginning with man\u2019s creation and extending into\nthe illimitable future. The first of these periods, termed the first\nheavens and earth\u2014the old order of things\u2014passed away with the Deluge of\nNoah\u2019s day. The second period, \u2018the heavens and the earth which are now,\u2019\nthe present order of things, are reserved of God to pass away with a great\nsymbolic fire of trouble\u2014revolution, etc.\u2014which will utterly destroy the\npresent spiritual powers and the present social arrangements. (2 Peter\n3:6, 7; Galatians 1:4; Zephaniah 3:8, 9.) The third great period is to be\na \u2018world without end,\u2019 under Divine administration. This will be the third\nheavens and the third earth, or the new heavens and the new earth, which\nwill differ from the present condition of things in that they will be\nrighteous! whereas the present arrangement is imperfect, unrighteous. The\n\u2018new heavens\u2019 will consist of the new spiritual ruling powers of the\nfuture\u2014Christ the Head, and the Church His Body.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010392.\n\nFor the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.\u2014\u201cThe Scriptures\nshow us that in this general rupture the nominal church (including all\ndenominations) will be gradually drawn more and more to the side of the\ngovernments and the wealthy, will lose much of its influence over the\npeople, and will finally fall with the governments. Thus the heavens\n[ecclesiastical rule] being on fire, will pass away with a great hissing.\u201d\n(A. 333.) Two of the causes that operate to \u201cburn\u201d the present \u201cearth\u201d are\ndeclared to be hunger, and the misrule of beastly governments. (Deut.\n32:24) In the end all will be glad to see the unclean heavens pass away\n(Job 15:15) rent in twain (Isa. 64:1) and the new heavens planted (Isa.\n51:16) which will be heard in their lightest petition to the God of all\ngrace (Hos. 2:21). \u201cDrop down, ye Heavens from above.\u201d\u2014Isa. 45:8.\n\nAnd there was no more sea.\u2014\u201cUnder the control of the new Heaven\u2014spiritual\npowers\u2014the reconstructed social order will be so satisfactory, so\ncomplete, so thorough, that there will be no more dissatisfied masses.\nEverything will be reduced to law and order, obliterating the differences\nof wealth and power as they now exist.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010392.\n\n21:2. And I, [John] saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem.\u2014\u201cThe New Jerusalem\nis not \u2018that great city [government] which ruleth over the kings of the\nearth\u2019 (Revelation 17:18) but is the new Spiritual Government of the\nMillennial Age. It is not reared by men; but, descends from God out of\nHeaven. It is for this Kingdom, this Government, that our Lord taught His\ndisciples to pray, \u2018Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is\ndone in Heaven.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010392; Isa. 52:1; Matt. 5:35; Heb. 11:10, 16;\n13:14; Rev. 3:12; 21:10; 11:2; 22:19.\n\nComing down [from God] out of Heaven, FROM GOD.\u2014\u201cWe are not to think of\nthis Holy City as being composed of literal stones, but of \u2018living stones\u2019\n(1 Peter 2:4\u20107; Ephesians 2:19\u201022.) Neither Christ nor the saints in glory\ncan be seen of men. But the whole world will quickly be made aware of the\nfact that a new Government has been instituted\u2014a government of\nrighteousness and all power.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010392; Heb. 11:10; 12:22; Rev. 3:12;\n21:10.\n\nPrepared as a bride adorned for her husband.\u2014\u201cThis declaration implies its\nbeauty, grandeur and perfection, as a bride\u2019s adornment on such an\noccasion is particular and elaborate to the last degree. Additionally, the\nstatement reminds us that in the government of the future the world\u2019s\njudges are to be the saints selected throughout the Gospel Age and\nfrequently called \u2018the Bride, the Lamb\u2019s Wife.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010392; 2 Cor. 11:2;\nJohn 3:29; Eph. 5:31, 32.\n\n21:3. And [I heard] a great voice.\u2014The Lord Jesus, the Father\u2019s Word.\n\n[Out of heaven] WAS saying, OUT OF THE THRONE, Behold the Tabernacle of\nGod is with men.\u2014\u201cThis verse associates this City with the other figure of\na symbolic Temple, which the Lord is now preparing, of which the saints\nwill constitute the \u2018pillars.\u2019 God will dwell in this Temple, and the\nworld of mankind will approach God in it to receive the Divine blessings,\nas Israel approached the typical Tabernacle and the Temple in their\ntypical religious services.\u201d (Z. \u201901\u2010199.) \u201cWhen we think of the Church as\nthe Temple under construction, it impresses upon us the thought that there\nis a future work to be accomplished. Why construct a Temple, and then not\nuse it? St. Paul says, the Church is God\u2019s workmanship. (Ephesians 2:10.)\nAnd His work will be so perfectly accomplished that there will be no need\nof rectification or alteration beyond the veil,\u2014beautifully illustrated in\nthe erection of Solomon\u2019s Temple, of which we read that its stones were\nprepared at the quarry and then finally assembled for the construction of\nthe Temple, and that they were so perfectly shaped and marked for their\nvarious places that they came together without the sound of a hammer.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201915\u2010189; 2 Cor. 6:16.\n\nAnd He [will dwell] DWELLETH with them and they shall be His people.\u2014\u201cAll\nmankind will be treated from the standpoint of reconciliation, the\nPropitiation (price) for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) having\nbeen provided at Calvary, and the due time having then come for the\nmanifestation of Divine favor.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010200; Psa. 68:18; Ezek. 37:27; Zech.\n8:8.\n\n[And] God Himself shall be with them, [and be their God].\u2014\u201cIt will be the\nKingdom of God, because God\u2019s dear Son and His joint\u2010heir, the Church,\nwill be in absolute accord with the Father, and all that shall be done\nunder their control will fully and completely represent the Divine will\nrespecting men. Nevertheless, it will be a separate Kingdom from that of\nthe remainder of the Universe, as the Apostle Paul indicates. (1 Cor.\n15:24, 25, 28.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010200; Jer. 30:22; 31:33; Ezek. 11:20.\n\n21:4. And [God] HE shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.\u2014\u201cThe wiping\naway of tears implies a gradual work, such as we see will be the process\nof that glorious time. Man will not be exempt from every weakness and\ntrial and difficulty at the beginning, but if he will conform to the Laws\nof the Kingdom, all cause for distress will gradually pass away, as\nrestitution blessings will lift him out of death into life.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010200;\nIsa. 25:8; 65:19.\n\nAnd there shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor crying SHALL\nBE.\u2014\u201cWhat a glorious sun\u2010burst of blessing is in these words! What a grand\nfulfilment will be there of the Apostle\u2019s declaration respecting \u2018Times of\nRestitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the\nholy Prophets since the world began\u2019! The declaration, however, applies to\nthe very end of the Millennial Age, and not in full to any previous time\nin that Age. (John 5:28, 29.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010200; 1 Cor. 15:26, 54; Rev. 20:14;\nIsa. 35:10; 51:11; 65:19.\n\n[Neither shall there be any more pain] For the former things are passed\naway.\u2014The reign of Satan, sin and death will have ended forever. \u201cTo gain\na place in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God will be to find the\ngratification of every desire and ambition of the perfect human heart.\u201d\u2014A.\n291.\n\n21:5. And He that sat upon the Throne said, Behold, I make all things\nnew.\u2014\u201cThis expression does not relate merely to rocks and trees, etc., but\nto the great work which our Lord undertook; viz., the regeneration of\nhumanity to the complete perfection contemplated in the original Divine\nPlan.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010201; Rev. 20:11.\n\nAnd He said unto me, Write: for these words are [true and] faithful, AND\nTRUE.\u2014\u201cPresent conditions seem so contrary to all this grand Restitution\noutcome that it cannot be fully believed and trusted by any except those\nwho have learned to walk with the Lord. To all others these things will\nappear untrue, and God will appear unfaithful, and the matters which we\nare here discussing will seem \u2018idle tales,\u2019 as fables and golden fancies:\nbut to us who believe, these promises are precious.\u201d\u20141 Pet. 2:7.\n\n21:6. And He [said] SAITH unto me, [It is done.] I am Alpha and Omega, the\nBeginning and the End.\u2014\u201cIt was the Father\u2019s good pleasure that the Blessed\nOne, the Only Begotten of the Father, should accomplish the entire program\nof redemption and restitution; and be forever the Associate and\nRepresentative of the Father, through whom and by whom all things should\ncontinue, as He was the one through whom all things were made that were\nmade.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010201; Rev. 1:8; 22:13.\n\nI will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life\nfreely.\u2014\u201cIt is this one who, during the Millennial Age, will extend to all\nthe willing and obedient the Water of Life, everlasting life\u2014the privilege\nof perpetual existence. But they must thirst for it, must desire it; and\nthis desire must be manifest in obedience to the terms, the laws, upon\nwhich it will be supplied freely.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010201; Rev. 22:17; Isa. 55:1; John\n7:37.\n\n21:7. He that overcometh shall inherit [all] THESE things.\u2014These earthly\nthings.\u2014Acts 3:21.\n\nAnd I will be his God, and he shall be My son.\u2014\u201cThose addressed are not\nthe Bride class, selected during the Gospel Age, (1 John 3:2) but the\nsheep class of Matt. 25\u2014such of mankind as during the Millennial Age\nbecome the Lord\u2019s sheep and obey His voice. They shall inherit the earth,\nthe purchased possession\u2014which Jesus will restore at the close of the\nMillennium to all the children of Adam who shall have accepted His\ngracious favors and been regenerated by Him, and thus become His sons, and\nHe their God\u2014their Father. (Isa. 9:6)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201901\u2010201; Zech. 8:8; Heb. 8:10;\nRom. 8:21.\n\n21:8. But the fearful.\u2014\u201cIf any, enlightened by the Truth, and brought to a\nknowledge of the love of God, and restored to human perfection, become\n\u2018fearful,\u2019 and \u2018draw back\u2019 (Heb. 10:38, 39), they, with the unbelievers,\nwill be destroyed from among the people. (Acts 3:23.)\u201d\u2014A. 107.\n\nAnd unbelieving.\u2014Who will not trust God, after all the marvels of His\ngrace they will have seen and experienced.\u2014Heb. 11:6; Rom. 10:17; John\n20:31; John 17:20; 1 Tim. 6:12; Luke 17:5; James 2:17.\n\nAnd the abominable.\u2014\u201cThose abominable characters among men, who, knowing\nthe truth, yet love unrighteousness.\u201d\u2014H. 60.\n\nAnd murderers.\u2014Slanderers.\u2014Psa. 141:3; Deut. 5:17; Matt. 5:21, 22;\n15:18\u201020; 1 John 3:15; James 3:2\u201012; James 4:11; Prov. 4:23, 24; Matt.\n12:34\u201037; Eph. 4:31; Psa. 15:1\u20103; 19:14; 34:13; 101:5; Prov. 12:19; 16:28;\n17:4; 26:20\u201021; Jer. 20:10; 1 Cor. 10:10; James 1:19; Deut. 32:2.\n\nAnd whoremongers.\u2014Not at heart faithful to the Lord.\n\nAnd sorcerers.\u2014Dreamers, theorists, pseudo\u2010philosophers, endeavoring to\naccredit to themselves the great salvation wrought.\u2014Rev. 22:15.\n\nAnd idolaters.\u2014\u201cSuch as misappropriate and misuse Divine favors, who give\nto self or any other creature or thing that service and honor which belong\nto God.\u201d\u2014H. 63.\n\nAnd all liars.\u2014\u201cAll who do not love the Truth and seek it, and at any cost\ndefend and hold it.\u201d (H. 63.) \u201cIf something is six inches long, let it be\njust six inches for six inches.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201912\u2010147.\n\nShall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and\nbrimstone.\u2014\u201cThe severest punishment inflicted by the Jews upon any\ncriminal. The corpse (after the man had been stoned to death) was thrown\nout into the Valley of Hinnom (Gay\u2010Hinnom) and was devoured by the worm or\nthe flame.\u201d\u2014Weym.\n\nWhich is the Second Death.\u2014\u201cSuch company would be repulsive to any honest,\nupright being. It is hard to tolerate them now, but in the close of the\nMillennial Judgment, when the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall have given\nevery advantage and opportunity of knowledge and ability, the righteous\nwill be glad when the corrupters of the earth, and all their work and\ninfluence, shall be destroyed.\u201d\u2014H. 63.\n\n21:9. And there came [unto me].\u2014To the John class, the Church, on this\nside of the veil.\n\nOne of the seven angels.\u2014The Seventh.\n\nWhich had the seven vials full.\u2014They are still full after they are poured\nout on ecclesiasticism!\n\nOf the seven last plagues.\u2014The Seven volumes of _Studies in the\nScriptures_.\n\nAnd talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee.\u2014See Lu. 4:21.\n\nThe Bride, the Lamb\u2019s Wife.\u2014\u201cAs a grand lesson of the Divine sovereignty,\nand as a sublime contradiction to all evolution theories, God elected to\ncall to this place of honor (as \u2018the Bride, the Lamb\u2019s Wife and Joint\u2010\nheir\u2019\u2014Rom. 8:17), not angels and cherubs, but some from among the sinners\nredeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. The continued permission of\nevil is for the purpose of developing these \u2018members of the Body of\nChrist\u2019 and to furnish them the opportunity of sacrificing their little\nand redeemed all, in the service of Him who bought them with His precious\nblood; and thus of developing in their hearts His spiritual likeness, that\nwhen, at the end of the Age, they are presented by their Lord and Redeemer\nbefore the Father, God may see in them \u2018the image of His Son.\u2019 \u201d\u2014Col.\n1:22; Rom. 8:29; E. _412_, 395; Rev. 19:7; 21:2.\n\n21:10. And he carried me away in the Spirit.\u2014\u201cGod hath revealed them unto\nus by His Spirit.\u201d\u20141 Cor. 2:10; Rev. 1:10; 17:3.\n\nTo a great and high mountain.\u2014How similar is the language, recording the\nexperience of the first and greatest Member of the Church, at the\nbeginning of His ministry. Concerning the Lord\u2019s third temptation we read:\n\u201cIn this temptation the Lord is taken, not physically, but in the spirit\nof His mind, up into a high mountain\u2014a very exalted kingdom. Physically He\nwas all this time in the desert near Jerusalem; and as a matter of fact\nthere is neither in that desert nor anywhere in the world a mountain from\nwhich all the kingdoms of the world could be viewed except with the mind\u2019s\neye.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201906\u201043.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n St. John\u2019s Vision of the Descending Kingdom\n\n\nAnd shewed me [that great] THE HOLY City, [The holy] Jerusalem, descending\nout of Heaven from God.\u2014The city came down from Heaven to earth. If we\nwent up to Heaven, it would not be found there. If Rev. 21 is to be\nliterally interpreted, then the whole surface of Palestine is far from\nsufficient to hold a city of this size. Besides, its height, length and\nbreadth were to be equal.\u2014Rev. 21:2.\n\n21:11. Having the glory [of] FROM God.\u2014The Church has a foretaste of this\nglory on this side of the veil.\u20141 Pet. 4:14.\n\n[And] her light.\u2014\u201cThe Lamb is the Light thereof.\u201d\u2014Rev. 21:23; 22:5.\n\nWas like unto a stone most precious.\u2014\u201cThe brightness of His [the Father\u2019s]\nglory, and the express image of His person.\u201d\u2014Heb. 1:3.\n\nEven like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.\u2014A beautiful green\u2010tinted\ndiamond.\u2014Rev. 4:3.\n\n21:12 And [had] HAVING a wall great and high.\u2014The pictures here are all\npictures of the Bride. Nevertheless, the wall, the protection of that\nHeavenly City, in a special sense represents our Heavenly Father. No\npicture of the Bride would be complete that did not include Him who dwells\nwithin us, who is the Author of the Plan, and the Source of all our joys.\nNow as to the application of the picture of the wall to the Bride herself,\none of Pastor Russell\u2019s coworkers has aptly said: \u201cWe are like living\n_stones_, in the plural\u2014144,000 stones in one, if you will. There was one\nperfect Stone to begin with, and all the others had to be conformed to the\nimage of that Stone. Men have discovered a way of taking two glasses of\ndifferent density and fusing them together, so you cannot tell where the\npoint of fusion is. And so, with this Little Flock of 144,000, they are\ngoing to be welded together in one\u2014there will be but one mind in that\nwhole 144,000. There is only one thing they have in view, and that is to\nperform Jehovah\u2019s will; and they rejoice in doing His will absolutely.\u201d\n\nAnd [had] HAVING twelve gates.\u2014The twelve mystical tribes of Israel.\u2014Rev.\n7:5\u20108; Ezek. 48:31\u201034.\n\nAnd at the gates twelve angels, and THEIR names written thereon.\u2014The\nentire Little Flock; twelve thousand of each tribe, each working together,\nunder God\u2019s direction, as one angel, or messenger. Doubtless certain\nspecial work is reserved for each tribe. All who gain membership in that\ntribe will be particularly suited to the work to which they will be\nassigned.\n\nWhich are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.\u2014Their\nnames, and the characteristics they signify, are given in Rev. 7:5\u20108.\n\n21:13. On the East.\u2014Toward the Sun\u2010rising, toward the Dawn, toward the\nLittle Flock, specially honored and blessed in their sacrifices on behalf\nof the Church. The side of the Amramites.\u2014Num. 3:19; F. 128.\n\nThree gates.\u2014The mystical tribe of Joseph, Benjamin and Manasseh\u2014Manasseh\ntaking the place of Dan.\u2014Ezek. 48:32; Rev. 7:5, 7, 8.\n\nAND on the North.\u2014The side of the Merarites, the Great Company.\u2014Num. 3:33;\nF. 129.\n\nThree gates.\u2014The mystical tribes of Judah, Reuben and Levi.\u2014Ezek. 48:31;\nRev. 7:5, 7.\n\nAND on the South.\u2014The side of the Kohathites, the Ancient Worthies.\u2014Num.\n4:2; F. 129.\n\nThree gates.\u2014The mystical tribes of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun.\u2014Ezek.\n48:33; Rev. 7:7, 8.\n\nAnd on the West.\u2014The side of the Gershonites, the Restitution\nclasses.\u2014Num. 4:22; F. 129.\n\nThree gates.\u2014The mystical tribes of Gad, Asher and Naphtali.\u2014Ezek. 48:34;\nRev. 7:5, 6.\n\nAlthough the pictures here given are pictures of the Bride, and the gates\napply as above shown, nevertheless these gates also represent the Ancient\nWorthies, who during the Millennial Age will be the earthly\nrepresentatives of the Church, and, perhaps, exactly 144,000 in number.\nAdditionally, the Ancient Worthies are _called_ \u201cgates\u201d in Isa. 26:2. \u201cThe\ngates or entrances of the City, which are twelve in number, are inscribed\nwith the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is in harmony with\nwhat we have learned of the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God that the\nAncient Worthies from the various tribes of Israel, selected during the\nJewish Age, will be the visible representatives of the Heavenly Kingdom in\nthe earth through whose instrumentality the nations may enter into the\nblessings of the Kingdom.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201992\u201016.\n\n\u201cThe city lies open and accessible to all quarters, and to all quarters\nalike.\u201d\u2014Luke 13:29. Weym.\n\n21:14. And the wall of the City had twelve foundations.\u2014\u201cThe Lord himself,\nis the foundation, \u2018Other foundations can no man lay than that is\nlaid\u2014Jesus Christ.\u2019 (1 Cor. 3:11.) He is the great Rock, and St. Peter\u2019s\nconfession of Him as such was, therefore, a rock testimonial\u2014a declaration\nof the foundation principles underlying the Divine Plan. St. Peter\ndisowned any pretension to being the foundation\u2010stone himself and properly\nclassed himself to with all the other \u2018living stones\u2019 (Gr. _lithos_,) of\nthe Church,\u2014though _petros_, rock, signifies a larger stone than _lithos_,\nand all the Apostles as \u2018foundation\u2019 stones would in the Divine Plan and\norder have a larger importance than their brethren.\u201d\u2014F. 220; Matt. 16:18;\nEph. 2:20.\n\nAnd [in] ON them the TWELVE names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb.\u2014\u201cWe\nare entirely out of accord with the views of Papacy, of the Protestant\nEpiscopal Church, of the Catholic\u2010Apostolic Church, and of the Mormons,\nall of whom claim that the number of the Apostles was not limited to\ntwelve, and that there have been successors since their day who spoke and\nwrote with equal authority with the original Twelve. (2 Cor. 11:13.)\u201d (F.\n209.) \u201cWe still have with us the gift of Apostles, in that we have their\nteachings in the New Testament, so full and complete as to require no\naddition; and hence the Twelve Apostles have no successors, and need none,\nsince there are but \u2018Twelve Apostles of the Lamb;\u2019 they are the twelve\nstars; the twelve foundations.\u2019\u201d\u2014John 6:70; E. _229_, 207.\n\n12:15. And he that talked with me.\u2014Volume VII of _Studies in the\nScriptures_.\n\nHad a [golden] MEASURING reed of gold.\u2014The Divine Word.\n\nTo measure the City, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.\u2014Surely,\nif we can not find the measurement in the Scriptures it is hopeless to\nlook elsewhere.\u2014Zech. 2:1, 2; Rev. 11:1; Ezek. 40:3.\n\n21:16. And the City lieth foursquare, and the length is [as large] as the\nbreadth.\u2014A perfect cube, like the Most Holy of the Tabernacle.\n\nAnd he measured the City with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.\u2014\u201cThe\nnumber of \u2018buildings\u2019 in the City seems to be indicated by the\nmeasures\u201412,000 times 12,000 furlongs equals 144,000,000 square furlongs.\nThis area contains 144,000 building\u2010lots of one thousand square furlongs\neach\u2014which circumstance may well signify that the 144,000, faithful ones\nwill reign with Jesus during a thousand years (one square furlong\nrepresenting a year.\u201d)\n\nThe length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.\u2014Each view of\nthe City, from any side, presents to view, Justice, Power, Love and\nWisdom.\n\n21:17. And he measured the wall thereof.\u2014Its thickness.\n\nAn hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a\nman.\u2014The measure of a man, the Man Christ Jesus, is 1,000. His Day is to\nbe 1,000 years in length. Adam\u2019s Day was a thousand years long. The total\nmeasure is 144,000, the number of the Elect. We should expect to find the\nnumber of those rescued during the Millennium shown somewhere in these\nmeasurements; and this we also find. The cubit, in symbolism, is flexible\nin length, like the word \u201cday.\u201d If we multiply the number of square\nfurlongs in any wall by the _144 measures of a man_, i. e., 144,000,000 X\n144, the result is 20,736,000,000, the estimated number of the sheep class\nat the end of the Millennial Age.\u2014Matt. 25:34\u201040; Z. \u201905\u2010271.\n\nThat is, of the angel.\u2014As interpreted by the angel.\n\n21:18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper.\u2014\u201cThe solid fabric\nof the wall was jasper; and the city itself was made of gold, resembling\ntransparent glass.\u201d\u2014Weym.\n\nAnd the City was pure gold, like unto clear glass.\u2014Of Divine origin, and\nmade up of those who have the Divine nature.\n\n21:19. And the foundations of the wall of the City were garnished with all\nmanner of precious stones.\u2014Mosaic manufacturers make 15,000 colors; and it\nis estimated the trained eye can detect a million colors. In selecting and\npolishing the 144,000 gems and putting them in place in the Temple God is\npreparing a beautiful harmony of characters in infinite variety that will\ndelight the hearts of all His creatures to all eternity.\u20141 Chron. 29:2.\n\nThe first foundation was jasper.\u2014Likeness to the Father. See comments on\nRev. 4:3.\n\nAND the second, sapphire.\u2014Faithfulness. The sapphire of the ancients is\nthe modern lapiz lazuli, or azure stone, a mineral substance valued for\ndecorative purposes in consequence of the fine blue color which it usually\npresents. It has the appearance of being spotted with gold dust. \u201cThe\nstones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.\u201d (Job.\n28:6.) The brilliant spots in the deep blue matrix invite comparison with\nthe stars in the firmament. The crystals form into units having twelve\nequal sides. The blue is the color of faithfulness; the gold shows the\nfaithfulness towards God; the star\u2010like appearance shows the faithfulness\ntowards all the Heavenly beings\u2014angels, archangels, and the Great Company;\nthe crystalline formation shows the faithfulness towards the symbolical\nand actual twelve tribes of Israel which, in the last analysis, include\nall who shall become heirs of salvation. Those who gain the prize of the\nHigh Calling can be trusted.\u20141 Cor. 4:2; Luke 16:10\u201012.\n\nAND the third, a chalcedony.\u2014Obedience; Submission. A green quartz, found\nin the copper mines of Chalcedon. It crystallizes in the twelve\u2010sided and\ntwenty\u2010four\u2010sided forms of cubic crystalline formation. In the twelve\nsided crystals each side is a surface of five equal sides and angles. The\nChurch\u2019s obedience is perfect towards God as indicated in the faces of the\ncrystals, five being a symbol of Divinity. It is operative towards the\nbrethren as in the twelve\u2010faced crystals, and towards both phases of the\nKingdom, as in the twenty\u2010four\u2010sided crystals.\n\nThe fourth, an emerald.\u2014Deathlessness. One of the most beautiful of gems,\nof a bright green color, without any mixture, crystallizing in long,\nhexagonal (six\u2010sided) crystals. The stone loses color when strongly\nheated. From those originally imperfect (as shown in the six\u2010sided\ncrystals) God is creating a race of deathless ones. Nevertheless, though\nbegotten to the Divine nature, should they cling to the dross of their\nfleshly natures too determinedly, so great fires may be applied to burn\naway the dross as will destroy the value of the gem. This gem, too,\nrepresents the Church\u2019s power to bestow life upon the dead world. The\ncrystals may be broken or split crosswise. The everlasting life for the\nworld, which may be made continuous, is nevertheless susceptible of being\nbroken off at any time for disobedience.\n\n21:20. The fifth, sardonyx.\u2014Humility; Purity; Martyrdom. An ornamental\nstone much used for seals and cameos. It was considered by ancient\noriental authorities that a fine oriental sardonyx should have at least\nthree strata, a black base, a white intermediate center, and a superficial\nlayer of red; these colors typifying the three cardinal virtues\u2014humility,\nblack; chastity, white; modesty or martyrdom, red.\n\nThe sixth, sardius.\u2014Loyalty to Christ. A reddish stone much used by the\nancients as a gem stone; it has been in all ages the commonest of the\nstones used by the gem engraver.\u2014Rev. 4:3.\n\nThe seventh, chrysolyte.\u2014Heavenly Wisdom. Greek _Chrysos_, gold, and\n_lithos_, stone. The meaning of the term makes it the golden stone. It is\na gem of a golden color, lightly tinted with green. It is very\ntransparent. \u201cThe wisdom that is from Above is first pure.\u201d\u2014Jas. 3:17.\n\nThe eighth, beryl.\u2014Love of the Father. A pellucid gem of a bluish green\ncolor, much prized as a gem stone by the ancients. It crystallizes in the\nhexagonal system, with sixty\u2010six sides of various sizes and shapes. On\neach of the six principal sides are diamond\u2010shaped marks, alternately five\nand eight marks to a side, with four marks at the end. The sixty\u2010six sides\nrepresent the sixty\u2010six books of the Bible; the two ends represent the Old\nand New Testaments; the diamond shaped marks represent the Heavenly\nFather; the three groups of eight each represent the twenty\u2010four\nprophecies of the kingdom; five is a symbol of Divinity, and four\nrepresents Justice, Power, Wisdom and Love.\n\nThe ninth, topaz.\u2014Benevolence. It is generally held that the mineral now\ncalled topaz was unknown to ancient writers, and that their topaz is our\nperidot. This is the name applied by jewelers to \u201cnoble olivine.\u201d It is a\ndark, decidedly green\u2010colored mineral. Much mystery for a long time\nsurrounded the locality which yielded most of the peridot for commerce;\nbut it is now identified with the island of St. John in the Red Sea,\nprobably the \u201cTopaz Isle\u201d of the ancients. It crystallizes in twenty\u2010six\u2010\nsided figures. In some views\u2014i. e., when the Great Company or the classes\nthat are to be destroyed are taken into consideration\u2014the tribes of Israel\nnumber thirteen; and when Spiritual and Fleshly Israel are considered\nseparately, the total number is twenty\u2010six. It is not the wish of the\nHeavenly Father that any of these should perish, and it is the wish of the\nChurch to do all humanly and Divinely possible to save the unworthy from\nthe final consequences of their own willfulness. This spirit will be\nexercised to the last limit of love.\n\nThe tenth, chrysoprasus.\u2014Constant, cheerful endurance. The modern\nChrysoberyl is a yellow or green gem stone, remarkable for its hardness,\nbeing exceeded in this respect only by the diamond and the jacinth. It is\nnot infrequently cloudy, due to microscopic cavities. The hardness\nsignifies ability to \u201cendure hardness as good soldiers,\u201d and the clouds\nsignify difficulties, troubles, to be overcome.\n\nThe eleventh, jacinth.\u2014Unchangeableness. The modern sapphire, next to the\ndiamond in hardness; a beautiful blue stone. Many of the crystals are\nparti\u2010colored, the blue being distributed in patches in a colorless stone;\nbut by skillful cutting the deep\u2010colored portion may be caused to impart\ncolor to the entire gem. This stone crystallizes in the most beautiful and\nwonderful pattern conceivable, consisting of a six\u2010sided pyramid at either\nend, separated by three different sets of surfaces of six each and two\ndifferent sets of surfaces of three each. We may think of the two ends as\nrepresenting the teachings of the Twelve Apostles, and the twenty\u2010four\nsurfaces between as representing the twenty\u2010four elders (prophecies\npertaining to the Kingdom of God). God is unchangeable; although the\ndifferent operations of His Plan, in different ages, make Him seem\nchangeable to mankind. But the perfected Plan will be the adoration of all\nHis creatures. This gem also shows how God can take characters whose\nconduct may have been very irregular, and by skillful cutting make them\ncopies of Himself.\n\nThe twelfth, an amethyst.\u2014Royalty. A stone of a violet color, bordering on\npurple, composed of a strong blue and deep red. The name is derived from\nthe Greek _a_, not, and _methyskein_, to intoxicate, expressing the old\nbelief that the stone protected its owner from strong drink. It was held\nthat wine drank out of a cup of amethyst would not intoxicate. It\ncrystallizes in double pyramids (base to base) of three sides on each\npyramid. Amethyst was Pastor Russell\u2019s birth\u2010stone; and behold how perfect\nits application! He was true blue in his faithfulness, and fully loyal to\nthe blood of Christ, as shown by the red. He has the royalty now, thank\nGod! The cup which he poured never intoxicated with error those who drank\nits live\u2010giving draughts from the Fountain of all Truth, our Father\u2019s\nWord. The six\u2010sided crystallization represents his Six Volumes of\n_Scripture Studies_, and this, the Seventh, a summary of all, represents\nthe stone as a whole. There are over ninety varieties of crystals in\nnature. Surely, \u201cThe fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.\u201d\n\nThe following is William Miller\u2019s dream, as given in _The Three Worlds_,\nthe first of Pastor Russell\u2019s books, long since out of print, where it is\ntold only as a dream. (Jer. 23:28.) It calls to mind a dream of Pastor\nRussell\u2019s, often told in private. In his early youth he dreamed of\nsleeping in an attic. Suddenly he awoke to see the morning sun, just\nemerged over the hill\u2010top, blazing directly in his face. He jumped to his\nfeet with a start, thinking that it must be late. In doing so he stumbled\nover several forms still asleep. He was about to reproach himself for thus\nrudely awakening them, when he discovered that not one of the sleepers had\nbeen disturbed. The application is evident. \u201cThe light shineth in\ndarkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.\u201d Pastor Russell was\nawakened by the light of the Sun of the New Day. He tried to waken others,\nand succeeded with \u201cjust one here, one there;\u201d but the great mass are\nstill asleep. However, the Dawn comes on apace. Now for William Miller\u2019s\ndream:\n\n\u201cI dreamed that God, by an unseen hand, had sent me a curiously wrought\ncasket, about ten inches long by six square, made of ebony and pearls\ncuriously inlaid. To the casket there was a key attached. I immediately\ntook the key and opened the casket, when, to my wonder and surprise, I\nfound it filled with all sorts and sizes of jewels\u2014diamonds, precious\nstones\u2014and gold and silver coin of every dimension and value, beautifully\narranged in their several places in the casket; and thus arranged, they\nreflected a light and glory equalled only by the sun. [These jewels are\nthe beautiful truths which the open casket unfolded to his sight.] I\nthought it was my duty not to enjoy this wonderful sight alone, although\nmy heart was overjoyed at the brilliancy, beauty and value of its\ncontents. I therefore placed it on a center\u2010table in my room, and gave out\nthe word that all who had a desire might come and see the most glorious\nand brilliant sight ever seen by man in this life. The people began to\ncome in, at first few in number, but increasing to a crowd. When they\nfirst looked into the casket, they would wonder and shout for joy. But\nwhen the spectators increased, every one would begin to trouble the\njewels, taking them out of the casket and scattering them on the table.\n\n\u201cI began to think that the owner would require the casket and jewels again\nat my hand; and that if I suffered them to be scattered, I could never\nplace them in their places in the casket again as before, and felt I\nshould never be able to meet the accountability; for it would be immense.\nI then began to plead with the people not to handle them, nor take them\nout of the casket. But the more I pleaded, the more they scattered; and\nnow they seemed to scatter them all over the room, on the floor, and every\npiece of furniture in the room. I then saw that among the genuine jewels\nand coin they had scattered an innumerable quantity of spurious jewels and\ncounterfeit coin. I was highly incensed at their base conduct and\ningratitude, and reproved and reproached them for it; but the more I\nreproved, the more they scattered the spurious jewels and false coin among\nthe genuine. I then became vexed in my very soul, and began to use\nphysical force to push them out of the room; but while I was pushing out\none, three more would enter, and bring in dirt, shavings, sand, and all\nmanner of rubbish, until they had covered every one of the true jewels,\ndiamonds and coins from sight. They also tore into pieces my casket and\nscattered it among the rubbish. I thought that no man regarded my sorrow\nor my anger. I became wholly discouraged and disheartened, and sat down\nand wept. [When the 1844 time passed, how perfectly was this fullfilled.]\nWhile I was thus weeping and mourning for my great loss and\naccountability, I remembered God, and earnestly prayed that He would send\nme help.\n\n\u201cImmediately the door opened and a man entered the room, when the other\npeople all left it. Then he, having a dirt brush in his hand, opened the\nwindows and began to brush the dust and rubbish from the room. I cried to\nhim to forbear; that there were some precious jewels scattered among the\nrubbish. But he told me to fear not, for he would take care of them. Then\nwhile he brushed the dust and rubbish, the false jewels and counterfeit\ncoin, all rose and went out of the window like a cloud and the wind\ncarried them away. In the bustle I closed my eyes for a moment. When I\nopened them the rubbish was all gone, and the precious jewels, the\ndiamonds, the gold and the silver coins lay scattered in profusion all\nover the room. He then placed on the table a casket, much larger and more\nbeautiful than the former, and gathered up the jewels, the diamonds, the\ncoins, by the handful, and cast them into the casket, till not one was\nleft, although some of the diamonds were not bigger than the point of a\npin. He then called upon me to come and see. I looked into the casket, but\nmy eyes were dazzled with the sight. The contents shone with ten times\ntheir former glory. I thought that they had been scoured in the sand by\nthe feet of those wicked persons who had scattered and trod them in the\ndust. They were arranged in beautiful order in the casket\u2014every one in its\nplace\u2014without any visible pains on the part of the man [Pastor Russell]\nwho cast them in. I shouted for joy; and that shout awoke me.\u201d\n\n21:21. And the twelve gates were [twelve] pearls; every several gate was\nof one pearl.\u2014\u201cThe peculiar lustre of a pearl is dependent on the fact\nthat the surface is not perfectly smooth, but covered with the irregularly\nsinuous edges of innumerable layers of inconceivable thinness, deposited\none over the other. The distance of these edges from each other varies\nindefinitely, the pearls of the finest water having them closest. They are\nalways, however, too fine to be detected by the naked eye. The edges make\nso many steps, so to speak; and the iridescence is produced by the mutual\ninterference of the rays of light reflected from these thousands of\nangles. For their water, or lustre, as distinguished from iridescence,\npearls are indebted to their being composed of thin layers, which allow\nlight to pass through them, while their numerous surfaces disperse and\nreflect the light in such a manner that it returns and mingles with that\nwhich is directly reflected from the exterior. The thinner and more\ntransparent the constituent layers, the more perfect is the lustre. The\nimmediate occasion of the production of a pearl appears to be always the\npresence of some extraneous substance inside of the shell of the mollusk.\u201d\n(McC.) The mollusk is the earthly tabernacle; the extraneous substance is\nthe New Mind. The successive layers are the additions made to it, \u201cprecept\nupon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a\nlittle and there a little.\u201d\u2014Isa. 28:13.\n\nAnd the street of the City was pure gold, as it were transparent\nglass.\u2014There will be but one street in that City, the street which has\nbeen in process of construction throughout the Age. The Prophets tell us\nof it.\u2014Prov. 16:17; Isa. 40:3; 49:11; 35:8; 62:10\u201012.\n\n21:22. And I saw no temple therein.\u2014No special place of worship, for the\nuse and benefit of the Little Flock.\n\n[For] BECAUSE the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it.\u2014The\nBride\u2019s whole life is completely wrapped up in the Father and the Son. Her\none consuming wish is to glorify the Lord\u2019s dear name. Of what need is any\nspecial place of worship for one who can say, \u201cFor to me to live is [for]\nChrist [to live]?\u201d\u2014Phil. 1:21.\n\n21:23. And the City had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine\n[in] ON it.\u2014\u201cThe sun signifies the light of this Gospel Age; the moon\nsignifies the typically reflected light of the Gospel in the Law and the\nProphets of the previous Dispensation. The glorified Church will have no\nneed of the light which in the present time she so much enjoys through the\nWord and the Spirit, and the Law and the Prophets. She will have, instead\nof these, a much more excellent glory, being, herself, a part of the Sun\nof Righteousness.\u201d (Z. \u201901\u2010201.) \u201c \u2018Then shall the righteous shine forth\nas the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father\u2019\u2014our Lord Jesus, the Head of the\nChurch, of course being included. The Prophet mentions the same Sun of\nRighteousness, saying, \u2018The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing\nin His beams.\u2019\u2014Malachi 4:2.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010393.\n\nFor the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light\nthereof.\u2014\u201cWe are not to lose sight of the fact that Christ is the Head of\nthe Church, even as the Father is the head of Christ Jesus. (1 Cor. 11:3.)\nHence the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb will always be an inner Temple in\nthis great Temple which God has provided for the world\u2019s blessing during\nRestitution Times.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010393; Isa. 24:23; 60:19, 20; Rev. 21:11; 22:5.\n\n21:24. And the nations [of them which are saved] shall walk [in] BY the\nlight [of it] THEREOF.\u2014\u201cThe word \u2018nations\u2019 here signifies peoples, and is\nintended to show that all peoples, not merely the Israelites, will be thus\nfavored under God\u2019s Kingdom. The world will not be divided into\nnationalities as at present.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010394; Isa. 60:3, 5.\n\nAnd the kings of the earth do bring their glory [and honor] into it.\u2014\u201cWhen\nmankind reaches perfection at the close of the Millennial Age, as already\nshown, they will be admitted into membership in the Kingdom of God and\ngiven the entire control of earth as at first designed\u2014each man a\nsovereign, a king.\u201d (A. 296.) \u201cThat Kingdom, in which all will be kings,\nwill be one grand, universal Republic, whose stability and blessed\ninfluence will be assured by the perfection of its every citizen, a result\nnow much desired, but an impossibility because of sin.\u201d (Z. \u201910\u201039.)\n\u201cDuring the Millennial Age the kings will be the Ancient Worthies; but\nsubsequently a New Dispensation will open, under new conditions, in which\nmankind (perfected) will be granted the privilege of ruling themselves in\nharmony with the Divine Law.\u201d (Z. \u201997\u2010304.) In this verse the Ancient\nWorthies are _directly_ referred to; while in verse 26 the rest of mankind\nare referred to. Notice the tenses of the verbs \u201c_do_ bring\u201d and \u201c_shall_\nbring\u201d\u2014present and future\u2014in the Millennium and after.\n\n21:25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day.\u2014Throughout the\nlong Millennial Day of a thousand years all who will may seek and find\nsalvation through the broad gates of the City of God that will then be\nwide open. (Isa. 60:11.) Now, \u201cNarrow is the way that leadeth unto life,\nand few there be that find it.\u201d\u2014Matt. 7:14.\n\nFor there shall be no night there.\u2014\u201cThe period in which sin is permitted\nhas been a dark Night to humanity, never to be forgotten; but the glorious\nDay of righteousness and Divine favor, to be ushered in by Messiah, who,\nas the Sun of Righteousness, shall arise and shine fully and clearly into\nand upon all, bringing healing and blessing, will more than counterbalance\nthe dreadful night of weeping, sighing, pain, sickness and death, in which\nthe groaning creation has been so long. \u2018Weeping may endure for a night,\nbut joy cometh in the morning.\u2019\u2014Psa. 30:5.\u201d (A. 9.)\n\nThe Psalmist explains how the smile of the Father was turned away from\nmankind. He describes mankind as \u201cSuch as sit in darkness and in the\nshadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled\nagainst the words of God [by disobedience of His express command] and\ncontemned [set at naught] the counsels of the Most High. Therefore He\nbrought down their heart with labor [each sex with its own peculiar kind];\nthey fell down, and there was none to help.\u201d (Psa. 107:10\u201012.) This\ndisobedience brought our entire race into the Valley of the Shadow of\nDeath (Psa. 23:4); but the Prophets encouraged us to hope for a watchman\nwho would tell us of the coming of the Day. (Isa. 21:12.) In the Apostle\u2019s\ntime he declared the night was far spent, being then more than two\u2010thirds\ngone. (Rom. 13:12.) The event that is to bring in the Day is the rising of\nthe Sun of Righteousness. (Mal. 4:2.) When here at the First Advent Christ\nwas the light of the world (John 8:12); and the people in His immediate\nneighborhood saw a great Light, shadowing forth His coming glory. (Isa.\n9:2.) He declared that we, too, should be lights in the world. (Matt.\n5:14.)\u2014\u201cYou in your little corner, and I in mine;\u201d and that in the\nresurrection all these 144,000 brightly burning candles should be brought\ntogether and with Him constitute the Sun of Righteousness that is to heal\nand bless the world. \u201cThen shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in\nthe Kingdom of their Father.\u201d\u2014Matt. 13:43.\n\nThe sun rises quietly, like a thief. (1 Thes. 5:1.) When the Morning\ncomes, the first work is banishing the works of the night. (Ezek. 7:7\u201012.)\nNext comes the opening of the spiritually blind eyes of those that have\nphysical sight. (Amos 5:18.) Surely, the best time for a great oculist to\nopen the eyes of the blind is in the day time. (Isa. 35:5.) Now matters\nare more or less obscured (1 Cor. 13:12); but the time is coming when the\nblind shall be shown a way of life they have not hitherto known. (Isa.\n42:16.) Will the Lord show wonders in the dark? (Psa. 88:10.) He will\nindeed; and when the nations come forth from the tomb, they will seek Him\nthat turneth the shadow of death into the morning. (Amos 5:8; Isa. 42: 6,\n7.) They will seek Him and will find Him. No wonder, then, that the\nPsalmist, looking down the stream of time to that happy Day, exultingly\nexclaims, \u201cThen [after full experience with sin and death] they cried unto\nthe Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He\nbrought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their\nbands in sunder. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and\nfor His wonderful works to the children of men! For He hath broken the\ngates of brass [that stood between them and perfection], and cut the bars\nof iron asunder [that held them in death\u2019s prison house].\u201d (Psa.\n107:13\u201016.) \u201cAnd there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,\nneither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed\naway.\u201d (Rev. 21:4.) \u201cFor there shall be no night there.\u201d \u201cWeeping may\nendure for a night, but joy cometh in the Morning.\u201d\u2014Psa. 30:5; Zech. 14:7.\n\n21:26. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into\nit.\u2014\u201cThis rendering of glory to the Kingdom will continue throughout the\nentire Millennial Age; for the princes throughout the earth will make\nknown to the peoples that not in their own name or authority do they rule\nand execute judgment and establish righteousness, but in the name of the\nglorified Christ, Head and Body, whose representatives they are.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201916\u2010394.\n\n21:27. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything [that defileth]\nCOMMON.\u2014No one who could or would contaminate others by speech or example,\nwill ever find a place in that City.\n\nNeither whatsoever worketh abomination.\u2014Nor anything tending in the\ndirection of pride or sectarianism.\n\nOr maketh a lie.\u2014Nor anything countenancing the teaching of error for\npleasure or profit.\u20141 John 2:22.\n\nBut they which are written in the [Lamb\u2019s.] Book of THE Life OF\nHEAVEN.\u2014\u201cThe Lamb\u2019s Book of Life we must understand to include only those\nwho attain to the position of joint\u2010heirship with Christ, those whose\nnames are written in Heaven during this Gospel Age and who are faithful to\ntheir Covenant. (Psa. 50:5.)\u201d\u2014Z. \u201916\u2010394; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5, 13:8.\n\n\n\n\nRevelation 22\u2014The River Of Grace And Truth\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n The River Of Life\n\n\n22:1. And he showed me a [pure] River of Water of Life, clear as\ncrystal.\u2014\u201cOne would think that, even with no knowledge of the symbols of\nRevelation, no thinking Christian should have any difficulty in realizing\nthat the book portrays trouble for the Church throughout this Gospel Age\nand the triumphant Millennial Reign at its close.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010170; Ezek.\n47:1\u201012; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8; Psa. 46:4.\n\nProceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb.\u2014\u201cThe Scriptures\nnowhere speak of the River of the Water of Life now. There is none, and\ncan be none until the Heavenly City descends, for the river must flow from\nthe midst of it, from the Throne. Describing the condition of the Lord\u2019s\nsaints at the present time very differently, the Lord declares that those\nwho are His have in them a well of water springing up into life\neternal.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010172; Ezek. 47:1; Zech. 14:8.\n\n22:2. In the midst of the street of it.\u2014In the midst of the Highway of\nHoliness.\u2014Rev. 21:21.\n\nAnd on either side of the River.\u2014Nourished and blessed by the life\u2010giving\nWaters of Truth.\u2014Ezek. 47:12.\n\nWas there the Tree of Life.\u2014The Christ, Head and Body.\n\nWhich bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her [fruit] FRUITS every\nmonth.\u2014Twelve kinds of fruit, twelve times a year, for a thousand years\u2014a\ntotal fruitage of 144,000.\n\nAnd the leaves of the [tree] TREES were for the healing of the\nnations.\u2014\u201cThe symbolic picture suggests nourishment and healing for the\nsin\u2010sick, starving world, which then may partake freely of all the\nblessings and privileges thus symbolized.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010171; Rev. 21:24; Ezek.\n47:12.\n\n22:3. And there shall be no [more] curse.\u2014\u201cInstead of the thorn shall come\nup the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree:\nand it [the removal of the curse] shall be to the Lord for a name, for an\neverlasting sign that shall not be cut off.\u201d (Isa. 55:13.) \u201cUpon no\nsubject is the testimony of the Scriptures more positive, consistent and\nconclusive than on this subject of the curse, its effects upon man, the\nredemption from it, and its ultimate removal.\u201d\u2014E. _421_, 405.\n\nBut the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.\u2014\u201cA spiritual police\nforce will have humanity under absolute control. Every misdeed will be\npunished as soon as it is determined upon and before it shall have been\nput into effect. Likewise, every good act, good word and good thought will\nbring a blessing of restitution, health, strength\u2014mental, moral,\nphysical.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201915\u2010267.\n\nAnd His servants shall serve Him.\u2014Beautiful inheritance of the Great\nCompany class.\u2014Rev. 7:15.\n\n22:4. And they shall see His face.\u2014This will be worth all they will be\ncalled upon to endure.\u2014Matt. 5:8.\n\nAnd His name shall be [in] ON their foreheads.\u2014At present many of this\nclass do not have clear perceptions of the Father\u2019s character. All\nmisunderstandings will be cleared up shortly. They only await the\ndeparture of the last of the Elijah class, in the spring of 1918.\n\n22:5. And there shall be no MORE night [there].\u2014Doubtless, at first, the\nGreat Company\u2019s memories of her dark night will be very keen.\u2014Rev. 7:14;\n21:23, 25.\n\nAnd they need [no] NOT THE LIGHT OF A candle.\u2014Light from the Church in the\nflesh.\n\n[Neither] AND light of the sun.\u2014The Gospel, through the Word.\n\nFor the Lord God [giveth] WILL GIVE them light.\u2014\u201cBlessed are they which\nare _called_ unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.\u201d\u2014Rev. 19:9; 7:16\u201017;\nPsa. 84:11.\n\nAnd they shall reign for ever and ever.\u2014They\u2014Christ and His Bride, in\nwhose blest Heavenly courts the Beloved Bridesmaids will always find their\nhappy station.\u2014Dan. 7:27; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 3:21.\n\n22:6. And he.\u2014The same angel mentioned in Rev. 1:1; 19:9, 10; representing\nPastor Russell, beyond the veil.\n\nSaid unto me.\u2014The John class, in the flesh.\n\nThese sayings are faithful and true.\u2014\u201cThere hath not failed one word of\nall His good promise.\u201d\u20141 Kings 8:56.\n\nAnd the Lord God of the [holy] SPIRITS OF THE Prophets.\u2014It is still\npossible to have the same spirit as filled the Prophets of old, even\nthough the prophecies themselves have ceased to be miraculously uttered or\ninterpreted.\u20141 Cor. 13:8.\n\nSent ME His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly\nbe done.\u2014Especially the events of the immediate future.\u2014Rev. 1:1.\n\n22:7. AND behold I come quickly.\u2014See Rev. 16:15; 22:10, 12, 20. Jesus is\nthe speaker.\n\nBlessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.\u2014The\nElijah class, who see its clear import and accept the responsibilities\nimplied.\u2014Rev. 1:3; 3:14.\n\n22:8. And I John saw these things, and heard them.\u2014Understood them.\u2014Rev.\n1:3.\n\nAnd when I had heard and seen, I fell down before the feet of the angel\nwhich shewed me these things.\u2014\u201cThis may signify that in the end of this\nGospel Age as the whole Church, the John class, comes to see the unfolding\nof the Divine Plan, there might be a spirit or disposition amongst them to\ndo too much honor to the one used of the Lord in communicating to them the\nDivine light now due.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010173; Judges 13:17, 18.\n\n22:9. Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not: [for] I am thy fellow\u2010\nservant.\u2014\u201cThe angel\u2019s refusal to accept homage should be a lesson to all\nministers (servants\u2014messengers) of God.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201996\u2010305; Rev. 19:10.\n\nAnd of thy brethren the Prophets.\u2014Prophets, in the New Testament use of\nthe word, refer to Christian speakers.\n\nAnd of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.\u2014\u201cGod alone\nshould be worshiped: He is the Author of the great Plan and will be the\nFinisher of it. It is brought to our attention now by Him because it is\nnow \u2018due time\u2019 for His people to come to an appreciation of His plans.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201905\u2010173.\n\n22:10. And he saith unto me, Seal not [the] THESE sayings of the prophecy\nof this book: for the time is at hand.\u2014\u201cMake no secret,\u201d he added, \u201cof the\nmeaning of the predictions contained in this book; for the time for their\nfulfillment is now close at hand.\u201d\u2014Weym.\n\n22:11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.\u2014\u201cAt the time that the\nfeatures of this symbolical Revelation shall come to be understood and\nappreciated by the Lord\u2019s people, they may know that the time of the\ncompletion is near at hand. We are not to expect that the telling of this\nMessage will have the effect of converting the world. It was not intended\nto do this and will not do it.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010173; Dan. 12:10.\n\nAnd he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.\u2014\u201cPresent Truth, although\nfull of comfort and encouragement to the Church in respect to their dear\nfriends who are out of Christ, has no effect whatever upon those who love\nsin, who are filthy, who are unrighteous. The unrighteous and the filthy\nsimply ignore this message and are not moved specially by it.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010173.\n\nAnd he that is righteous, let him [be righteous] WORK RIGHTEOUSNESS\nstill.\u2014\u201cTo lovers of righteousness, of truth, the revelations of the\nDivine Plan now unfolding commend themselves, and intensify their love for\nrighteousness and appreciation of full consecration to the Lord.\u201d\u2014Z.\n\u201905\u2010173.\n\nAnd he that is holy, let him be holy still.\u2014\u201cThe word seems to denote\ndevelopment and crystallization of character, immediately preceding the\ncoming of the great Judge of all.\u201d (Weym.) \u201cLove is patient and kind. Love\nknows neither envy nor jealousy. Love is not forward and self\u2010assertive,\nnor boastful and conceited. She does not behave unbecomingly, nor seek to\naggrandize herself, nor blaze out passionate anger, nor brood over wrongs.\nShe finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, but joyfully sides with\nthe truth. She knows how to be silent. She is full of trust, full of hope,\nfull of patient endurance.\u201d\u20141 Cor. 13:4\u20107.\u2014Weym.\n\n22:12. [And] behold, I come quickly.\u2014See Rev. 16:15; 22:7, 10, 20. The\nLord Himself becomes the speaker.\n\nAnd My reward is with Me, to [give] BE GIVEN every man.\u2014Every man in\nChrist.\n\nAccording as his work [shall be] IS.\u2014The Church\u2019s work is practically\nfinished. The reward is given on the basis of the work already done, in\ncharacter development and in the natural outgrowth of that\ndevelopment\u2014works.\n\n22:13. I am Alpha and Omega, THE FIRST AND THE LAST, the Beginning and the\nEnd, [the First and the Last].\u2014\u201cOur Lord tells us over and over again (See\nRev. 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 3:14; 21:6), that He is the Beginning and the\nEnding, the First and the Last, of the creation of God.\u201d\u2014Z. \u201993\u2010115.\n\n22:14. Blessed are they that [do His commandments] WASH THEIR ROBES.\u2014The\nGreat Company class.\u2014Rev. 7:14.\n\nThat they may have right to the Tree of Life.\u2014Rev. 22:2.\n\nAnd may enter through the gates into the City.\u2014\u201cWhose Builder and Maker is\nGod.\u201d (Heb. 11:10.) To these dear brethren we would say, The object of\nyour trials is to remove the dross (Ex. 30:7; Mal. 3:2) that you may be\nfit companions of the Christ. (Ex. 12:8; Heb. 2:17; Rom. 5:3; Col. 1:11.)\nDo not think it strange. (James 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12; 5:10.) When you\nget the right viewpoint, you will rejoice in your sufferings. (Deut. 13:3;\nPsa. 23:4; 119:67.) The trials will not last forever (Psa. 39:1); and in\nthem all you may hear the songs of deliverance. (Psa. 32:6, 7.) There is\nnothing to turn back to (Heb. 10:38); but there is joy untold to look\nforward to, and it is nigh.\u2014Rev. 19:9; Psa. 45:14, 15.\n\n22:15. [For] without are dogs.\u2014There will be no clergy class, as such, in\nthe Kingdom.\u2014Isa. 56:10; Phil. 3:2; 2 Tim. 3:8, 9.\n\nAnd sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolators.\u2014See Rev.\n21:8.\n\nAnd whosoever [loveth and] maketh AND LOVETH a lie.\u2014The old lies will die\nhard; and some may try to carry them far into the Time of Trouble, on the\nwell\u2010known principle that if a pigeon\u2019s brains are removed, and the wound\nallowed to heal, the bird will no longer seek its food, though it can\nstill swing on a perch and ruffle its feathers and show fight. Ere long,\nhowever, the Truth will be so manifest that all must give way before it.\n\n22:16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in\nthe churches.\u2014All down the Age the Church has had this Message; all down\nthe Age holy men of God have sought to understand its mysteries; all down\nthe Age it has remained a closed book. But now the Mystery of God is\n_finished_; and the object of keeping the book closed is accomplished. God\nwished the world to know when the time for the complete removal of error\nand for the establishment of His Kingdom would come; and so He enables the\nlast members of His Church to give the Message.\n\nI am the Root and the Offspring of David.\u2014\u201cAccording to the flesh, our\nLord Jesus was, through His mother, the Son, the Branch, the Offshoot or\nOffspring of David. It was by virtue of His sacrifice of His undefiled\nlife that He became the \u2018Root,\u2019 origin, source of life, and development of\nDavid.\u201d\u2014E. _150_, 136; Rev. 5:5.\n\nAnd the bright and morning Star.\u2014\u201cAnd I will give him the Morning Star.\u201d\n(Rev. 2:28.) Christ\u2019s gift of Himself to the Bride is the greatest of all\ngifts.\u2014Job. 38:7; Psa. 118:22\u201025.\n\n22:17. And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come.\u2014\u201cThe Gospel Age makes ready\nthe chaste Virgin, the faithful Church, for the coming Bridegroom. And in\nthe end of the Age, when she is made \u2018ready\u2019 (Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9), the\nBridegroom comes; and they that are ready go in with Him to the Marriage.\nThe Second Adam and the Second Eve become one, and then the glorious work\nof Restitution begins. In the next Dispensation, the New Heaven and the\nnew earth, the Church will be no longer the espoused Virgin, but the\nBride.\u201d\u2014A. 98.\n\nAnd let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst\ncome.\u2014\u201cBlessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness for\nthey shall be filled.\u201d\u2014Matt. 5:6; Isa. 55:1.\n\n[And] whosoever will, let him take of the Water of Life freely.\u2014\u201cNow the\nprospective members of the Bride class have the Lord\u2019s Spirit in them, \u2018a\nwell of water springing up unto everlasting life.\u2019 (John 4:14.) By and by\nthese well\u2010springs brought together in glory with the Lord shall\nconstitute the source of the great River of Life which shall bless and\nheal all nations. By and by the prophecy will be fulfilled: \u2018He that\nbelieveth in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.\u2019 \u201d\n\n22:18. [For] I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the\nprophecy of this book.\u2014To all who ever understand it.\n\nIf any man shall add unto these things.\u2014As was done in many instances\nduring the Dark Ages, even in this very verse.\u2014Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov.\n30:5, 6.\n\nGod shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.\u2014His\npenalty will be, when he comes forth from the tomb in the Times of\nRestitution, that he will have to read the Seven Volumes of _Scripture\nStudies_, and get the matter straightened out in his own mind.\n\n22:19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this\nprophecy.\u2014Shall seek to nullify or minimize its teachings, now that the\ntime has come for it to be understood.\n\nGod shall take away his part [out of the Book] FROM THE TREE of Life.\u2014He\nwill not be a part of the life\u2010giving Tree described in Rev. 22:2; not a\npart of the Little Flock.\n\nAnd [out of] the Holy City, [and from the things] which are written in\nthis book.\u2014He will not be one of the Lord\u2019s jewels, counted worthy of a\nplace in the New Jerusalem.\n\n22:20. He which testifieth these things TO BE saith, surely I come\nquickly.\u2014The _apokalupsis_ is at hand! See Rev. 16:15.\n\n[Amen. Even so] come, Lord Jesus.\u2014The union with the Bridegroom draweth\nnigh.\n\n22:21. The grace of [our] THE Lord Jesus Christ be with [you all] THE\nSAINTS, Amen.\u2014The first of the saints to whom will be extended the\nunmerited favor of a raising up out of death to perfection will be the\nLittle Flock; the next class of saints to be reached will be the Great\nCompany; next in order will come forth the Ancient Worthies; and finally\nthe millions and billions of mankind, until at last Adam, himself, shall\ncome forth from the prison\u2010house in which he has lain so long, and may, if\nhe will, receive again by the will of God, as a favor or grace at the\nhands of Christ, the unspeakable boon of eternal life.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cThe sweet persuasion of His voice\n Respects thy sanctity of will,\n He giveth day; thou hast thy choice\n To walk in darkness still.\u201d\u2014Whittier.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SONG OF SOLOMON\n\n\n\n\nThe Bridal Anthem\n\n\n1:1. The song of songs\u2014The harmony of harmonies\u2014the assembling in one\nbeautiful picture of many of the most beautiful figures of the Divine\nWord.\n\nWhich is Solomon\u2019s\u2014Type of Christ in glory, as David was a type of Christ\nin the flesh.\n\n1:2. Let him kiss me\u2014A form of salutation signifying closest fellowship.\n\u201cGreet all the brethren with an holy kiss.\u201d \u201cBetrayest thou the Son of man\nwith a kiss?\u201d\n\nWith the kisses\u2014The oft repeated endearments.\n\nOf His Mouth\u2014Of His Word, the Scriptures.\n\nFor Thy love\u2014Thy caresses, the repeated assurances of guidance,\nprotection, companionship, love and care.\n\nIs better than wine\u2014Wine is a symbol of doctrine. \u201cThey also have erred\nthrough wine.\u201d \u201cThey are drunken, but not with wine.\u201d \u201cAll nations have\ndrunk of the wine.\u201d \u201cI will not henceforth drink of this fruit of the\nvine.\u201d \u201cBe not drunk with wine.\u201d Although a sound faith is essential, yet\nof faith, hope and love, the greatest is love; therefore, love is better\nthan wine. The Lord\u2019s assurances of love are even more precious to the\nBride than the precious doctrines so vital to her happiness.\n\n1:3. Because of the savour\u2014The sweet perfume.\n\nOf Thy good ointments\u2014The Holy Spirit, the holy anointing oil of the\npriesthood.\n\nThy name\u2014Christ, which means \u201cAnointed.\u201d\n\nIs as ointment\u2014The holy anointing oil, the Holy Spirit.\n\nPoured forth\u2014At His baptism upon the Head, at Pentecost on the Body.\n\nTherefore\u2014Because of their admiration and appreciation of Christ\u2019s Holy\nSpirit.\n\nDo the virgins\u2014The pure in heart.\n\nLove Thee\u2014Seek fellowship with Thee, aspire to learn of Thee, to cultivate\nThy graces, to be near Thee.\n\n1:4. Draw me\u2014\u201cNo man can come to Me except the Father draw him.\u201d \u201cAll\nThine are Mine.\u201d\n\nWe will run\u2014Not sit in the seat of the scornful, nor stand in the way of\nsinners, nor walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but run with patience the\nrace set before us.\n\nAfter Thee\u2014The Forerunner. The First\u2010born from the dead. The first to pass\nover the narrow way. The Head, that in all things He might have the\npreeminence. Not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.\n\nThe King\u2014The Lord Jesus, typified by Solomon. \u201cSo shall the King greatly\ndesire thy beauty.\u201d\n\nHath brought me\u2014Even in the present life.\n\nInto His chambers\u2014Into the \u201cHoly,\u201d the spirit\u2010begotten condition, the\nfirst heavenly condition; made us to sit down in heavenly places in\nChrist.\n\nWe will be glad\u2014\u201cBe glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous.\u201d\n\nAnd rejoice in Thee\u2014\u201cAnd again I say, Rejoice.\u201d\n\nWe will remember\u2014Will meditate upon, think of.\n\nThy love\u2014Thy caresses, assurances of guidance, protection, companionship,\nlove and care.\n\nMore than wine.\u2014More even than the doctrines.\n\nThe upright\u2014Those without deceit, guileless, honest.\n\nLove Thee\u2014Seek fellowship with Thee, aspire to learn of Thee, to cultivate\nThy graces, to be near Thee.\n\n1:5. I am black\u2014The bride of Moses, Zipporah, type of the Bride of Christ,\nwas an Ethiopian woman\u2014a Gentile.\n\nBut comely\u2014\u201cThe King\u2019s Daughter is all glorious within\u201d; her intentions\nare pure, spotless in God\u2019s sight.\n\nO ye daughters\u2014Professed children.\n\nOf Jerusalem\u2014Of the Kingdom of God. The true Church instinctively\nrecognizes that her detractors are to be found among God\u2019s professed\npeople.\n\nAs the tents of Kedar\u2014Kedar was one of the children of Ishmael, and the\nname thus stands for the Ishmaelites, or Bedouins. Their tents are their\nhomes; and though made of black goat\u2019s hair and outwardly stained they are\noften luxurious in the interior, being hung with costly tapestries.\n\nAs the curtains\u2014Between the Holy and the Most Holy.\n\nOf Solomon\u2014Of Solomon\u2019s Temple. These curtains, or rather a similar\ncurtain which hung in Herod\u2019s temple, and which was rent in twain on the\nday of our Lord\u2019s death, was most wonderful, being some thirty feet long,\nfifteen feet wide and five inches thick.\n\n1:6. Look not upon me\u2014Look not _so_ upon me (Leeser); the Bride kindly\nexpostulates with her critics.\n\nBecause I am black\u2014Because I am somewhat black (Leeser); the Bride does\nnot deny her imperfections, but is not disposed to admit that she is\naltogether worthless.\n\nBecause the Sun\u2014The searching light of the true Gospel which exposes every\ndefect.\n\nHath looked upon me\u2014Judgment must begin at the House of God. The Bride\u2019s\nsins are open beforehand, known to all men. God\u2019s Word exposes the\nweaknesses of almost every noble character whose life is there recorded.\n\nMy mother\u2019s children\u2014Sitting and speaking against their brother, their own\nmother\u2019s son.\n\nWere angry with me\u2014\u201cYour brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My\nname\u2019s sake,\u201d etc. \u201cThe brother shall betray the brother to death.\u201d\n\nThey made me\u2014Elected me, appointed me.\n\nThe keeper\u2014Class\u2010leader, Sunday\u2010school teacher, etc.\n\nOf the vineyards\u2014Sunday\u2010schools, Christian Endeavor societies, Epworth\nLeagues, Young People\u2019s unions.\n\nBut mine own vineyard\u2014The cultivation of the fruits of the Spirit.\n\nHave I not kept\u2014I have been too busy with \u201cchurch work,\u201d to look after my\nown best spiritual interests.\n\n1:7. Tell me\u2014The Bride continues.\n\nO Thou\u2014Christ.\n\nWhom my soul loveth\u2014Whom having not seen, we love.\n\nWhere Thou feedest\u2014\u201cWheresoever the carcase is there will the eagles be\ngathered together.\u201d\n\nWhere thou\u2014The Good Shepherd.\n\nMakest Thy flock\u2014The Flock of God.\n\nTo rest\u2014My people have forgotten their resting\u2010place.\n\nAt noon\u2014Where the grass is long and sweet, and where there are\nopportunities to draw specially near to the Shepherd. \u201cHe maketh me to lie\ndown in green pastures.\u201d\n\nFor why should I be\u2014Why should I longer appear to others to be.\n\nAs one that turneth aside\u2014As one that goeth astray.\n\nBy the flocks\u2014Not _in_ them; for I never was in any other intentionally. I\nthought these other flocks _were_ yours.\n\nOf Thy companions\u2014Other great teachers; heads of other churches;\nAntichrist systems.\n\n1:8. If thou know not\u2014The Heavenly One replies.\n\nO thou fairest\u2014The Lord does not taunt her with her self\u2010confessed stains.\n\nAmong women\u2014Churches, true and false.\n\nGo thy way forth\u2014There is something for you to do.\n\nBy the footsteps\u2014He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him.\n\nOf the flock\u2014Look about you; and when you see those whose lives indicate\nthat they are true sheep, and when they urge you \u201cCome and see,\u201d follow\nNathaniel\u2019s example.\n\nAnd feed thy kids\u2014Inquiring ones, newly interested, especially if they\nmanifest any goat\u2010like tendencies.\n\nBeside the shepherds\u2019 tents\u2014Take them to the elders\u2019 or deacons\u2019 homes for\nfurther instruction in the right ways of the Lord; or, apply the same\nprinciple by bringing the _Scripture Studies_ to their attention, thus\nintroducing them to the teacher who has answered all our hard questions.\n\n1:9. I have compared thee\u2014The Lord continues.\n\nO My Love\u2014\u201cLove one another as I have loved you.\u201d\n\nTo a company\u2014144,000.\n\nOf horses\u2014Fond of their Master, quick to do His bidding, easily guided,\nquiet, faithful, temperate, long\u2010suffering.\n\nIn Pharaoh\u2019s chariots\u2014The best in the world.\n\n1:10. Thy cheeks are comely\u2014The Lord continues to shower compliments upon\nHis Espoused.\n\nWith rows of jewels\u2014Jewels of Divine Truth; the ornaments of a meek and\nquiet spirit.\n\nThy neck\u2014The yoke\u2010bearing member. \u201cTake My yoke upon you\u201d; a yoke is built\nfor two\u2014Jesus and one other.\n\nWith chains of gold.\u2014The Divine nature. Each act of loyal burden\u2010bearing\nbecomes a link in the golden chain.\n\n1:11. We\u2014My Father and I.\n\nWill make thee borders\u2014\u201cA House not made with hands eternal in the\nHeavens.\u201d\n\nOf gold\u2014The Divine nature.\n\nWith studs of silver\u2014The House will be truly yours; that which is your\nown.\n\n1:12. While the King\u2014The Bride thus speaks of her Lord.\n\nSitteth at His table\u2014Breaking the Bread of Life to His Household.\n\nMy spikenard\u2014Devotion, as Illustrated by Mary\u2019s alabaster box.\n\nSendeth forth the smell thereof\u2014\u201cDid not our hearts burn within us while\nHe talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?\u201d\nAt such times the fires of Heavenly love burn fiercest.\n\n1:13. A bundle of myrrh\u2014Wisdom. \u201cIn Him are hid all the treasures of\nwisdom and of knowledge.\u201d\n\nIs my well\u2010beloved\u2014Christ.\n\nUnto me\u2014\u201cWho of God is made unto us Wisdom.\u201d \u201cWe have the mind of Christ.\u201d\n\nHe shall lie all night\u2014During this dark time while evil is permitted.\n\nBetwixt my breasts\u2014I will take the Lord into my bosom, \u201cMore dear, more\nintimately nigh than e\u2019en the sweetest earthly tie.\u201d\n\n1:14. My Beloved\u2014Christ, on the other side of the veil.\n\nIs unto me\u2014The Bride, still toiling on this side of the veil.\n\nAs a cluster of camphire\u2014A cooling, fragrant shade, a refuge from the\nfierce heat; \u201cas the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.\u201d\n\nIn the vineyards of Engedi\u2014Located on the shore of the Dead Sea, in one of\nthe hottest of climates.\n\n1:15. Behold thou art fair.\u2014The Bridegroom speaks again.\n\nMy love\u2014My Bride to be.\n\nBehold thou art fair\u2014Beautiful of heart.\n\nThou hast dove\u2019s eyes\u2014Heavenly wisdom\u2014the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.\n\n1:16. Behold Thou art fair\u2014\u201cFairer than the children of men.\u201d The Bride\nreturns the compliment.\n\nMy Beloved\u2014\u201cGreater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his\nlife for his friends.\u201d\n\nYea pleasant\u2014The disciplines are as nothing compared to the joy of your\nfellowship.\n\nAlso, our bed\u2014The place of our rest; \u201clet the saints be joyful in glory,\nlet them sing aloud upon their beds.\u201d\n\nIs green\u2014Our rest will be everlasting. \u201cThey rest from their labors.\u201d\n\n1:17. The beams of our house\u2014The covering over us; \u201cthe Head of Christ is\nGod.\u201d\n\nAre cedar\u2014Immortal.\n\nAnd our rafters\u2014Wainscoting; the environment on all sides.\n\nOf fir\u2014Everlasting. Where changes never come.\n\n2:1. I am the rose\u2014Glorious, beautiful, without a peer.\n\nOf Sharon\u2014(The Plain). Not seeking exaltation.\n\nThe lily\u2014Pure, fragrant, exquisite.\n\nOf the valleys\u2014Meek and lowly of heart.\n\n2:2. As the lily\u2014Pure, humble, defenseless; so the Heavenly One responds.\n\nAmong thorns\u2014Which scratch, tear and wound.\n\nSo is My love\u2014\u201cContinue ye in my love.\u201d\n\nAmong the daughters\u2014Nominal church organizations.\n\n2:3. As the apple tree\u2014The Bride thus refers to Christ.\n\nAmong the trees\u2014With a fruitage greater in variety, color, flavor,\nquantity and lasting quality.\n\nOf the wood\u2014Which run largely to leaves, professions.\n\nSo is my Beloved\u2014\u201cWe love Him because He first loved us.\u201d\n\nAmong the sons\u2014The other sons of God with whom we are acquainted.\n\nI sat down\u2014\u201cCome ye yourselves apart, and rest awhile.\u201d\n\nUnder His shadow\u2014His protecting love and care.\n\nAnd His fruit\u2014His perfect fruitage of love.\n\nWas sweet to my taste.\u2014\u201cOh, taste and see that the Lord is good!\u201d\n\n2:4. He brought me\u2014Guided me by His Word and providences.\n\nTo the banqueting house\u2014To sup with Him and He with me.\n\nAnd His banner\u2014The banner under which He fought the good fight of faith.\n\nOver me\u2014And under which I also am enlisted.\n\nWas love\u2014Love of the highest order.\n\n2:5. Stay me\u2014Nerve me for the war.\n\nWith flagons\u2014The pure doctrines of the Kingdom.\n\nComfort me\u2014Strengthen me for the conflict.\n\nWith apples\u2014Spiritual food; bread from Heaven.\n\nFor I am sick of love\u2014Am lovesick, over\u2010sentimental, dreamy, not\nsufficiently awake to the fact that true love includes service and\nsacrifice.\n\n2:6. His left hand\u2014His power as illustrated in the guidance of His people\ninto all necessary Truth.\n\nIs under my head\u2014Directing my mental faculties.\n\nAnd His right hand\u2014His power as illustrated in overruling all things that\nwould harm me.\n\nDoth embrace me\u2014\u201cSecure in His tender embrace, I\u2019ve nothing to doubt or to\nfear.\u201d\n\n2:7. I charge you\u2014I must give you this message.\n\nO ye daughters\u2014Professed children; nominal Spiritual Israel.\n\nOf Jerusalem\u2014The Kingdom of God.\n\nBy the roes\u2014Which you regard as the loveliest things of earth, as\nillustrated by the statuary on your estates.\n\nAnd by the hinds\u2014The things which you regard as most full of grace;\ntherefore typical of your churches, colleges, hospitals, libraries and\ncharitable institutions.\n\nOf the field\u2014The world, the present order of things.\n\nThat ye stir not up\u2014Seek not to arouse.\n\nNor awake my love\u2014To take charge of earth\u2019s affairs.\n\nTill He please.\u2014For when He does stand up to assume control, \u201cthere will\nbe a Time of Trouble, such as never was,\u201d in which all these beautiful\nthings upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.\n\n2:8. The voice of my Beloved\u2014The Church suddenly recognizes the joyful\nsound, betokening the Second Presence of her Lord.\n\nBehold He cometh\u2014\u201cAt midnight there was a cry raised. Behold, He cometh!\u201d\n\nLeaping upon\u2014Dismembering or changing the form of.\n\nThe mountains\u2014The autocratic governments of Spain, Portugal, Sweden,\nRussia, Turkey, Persia and China.\n\nSkipping upon\u2014Shattering old customs and old political parties, and\nplacing the people more in the ascendency.\n\nThe hills\u2014The less autocratic governments of the United States, Mexico,\nGreat Britain, France, etc. \u201cThe hills melt like wax at the presence of\nthe Lord.\u201d\n\n2:9. My Beloved is like\u2014In swiftness of movement.\n\nA roe or a young hart\u2014Swiftly leaping from mountain to mountain; preparing\nthe world for His coming Reign.\n\nBehold He standeth\u2014\u201cThere standeth One among you whom ye know not.\u201d\n\nBehind our wall.\u2014The wall of our earthly house, unseen by the eye of\nflesh.\n\nHe looketh forth\u2014He looketh in.\n\nAt the windows\u2014The windows of the soul, the eyes of the understanding.\n\nShowing Himself\u2014Revealing the fact of His Second Presence.\n\nThrough the lattice\u2014Parallels and cross references of Holy Writ.\n\n2:10. My Beloved spake\u2014\u201cThine ears shall hear a voice behind thee.\u201d\n\nAnd said unto me\u2014Through the words of the Prophets and the Apostles.\n\nRise up, My love\u2014\u201cAwake, awake! put on thy strength.\u201d\n\nMy fair one\u2014\u201cPut on thy beautiful garments.\u201d\n\nAnd come away\u2014From earthly to Heavenly conditions.\n\n2:11. For lo, the winter\u2014The time of the burning of the tares; \u201cpray ye\nthat your flight be not in the winter.\u201d\n\nIs past\u2014Will shortly be past.\n\nThe rain\u2014The deluge of Truth.\n\nIs over and gone.\u2014The Harvest work is all accomplished: will have been\nfinished at the time here indicated.\n\n2:12. The flowers\u2014Promise of a new fruitage.\n\nAppear on the earth\u2014Among the restitution class.\n\nThe time of the singing\u2014The harmonious mating.\n\nOf birds is come\u2014Of Heaven\u2010sent prophecies and their fulfilments. \u201cSearch\nye out and see; not one of these shall want her mate\u201d; i. e., every word\nof every prophecy will be fulfilled.\n\nThe voice of the turtle\u2014The turtle\u2010dove; \u201cthe congregation of Thy poor\u201d is\nthus described by the Psalmist.\n\nIs heard in our land\u2014The poor begin to take hope; the harbingers of the\nNew Era are about us on every hand.\n\n2:13. The fig tree\u2014The Jewish nation.\n\nPutteth forth\u2014\u201cBehold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot\nforth ... know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh.\u201d\n\nHer green figs\u2014Plans for re\u2010establishment in Palestine.\n\nAnd the vines\u2014Of the Father\u2019s right hand planting.\n\nWith the tender grape\u2014Bearing the precious fruitage of love, joy, peace,\nlong\u2010suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self\u2010control.\n\nGive a good smell\u2014Yield a sweet perfume to the husbandman. \u201cMy Father is\nthe Husbandman.\u201d\n\nArise My Love\u2014\u201cAwake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.\u201d\n\nMy fair one\u2014The queen in gold of Ophir, Daughter of the Great King.\n\nAnd come away.\u2014\u201cForget also thine own people and thy father\u2019s house.\u201d\n\n2:14. O my Dove\u2014The Bride addresses her unseen Lord.\n\nThat art in\u2014Directly _in_, fully _in_, guiding, controlling.\n\nThe clefts\u2014The apparent fractures or injuries.\n\nOf the rock\u2014The Kingdom; the Stone cut out without hands.\n\nIn the secret places\u2014The dark corners of life\u2019s experiences, where we halt\ntrembling and afraid.\n\nOf the stairs\u2014The stepping stones by which we ascend to the Heavenly City.\n\nLet me see Thy countenance\u2014\u201cI shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy\nlikeness.\u201d\n\nLet me hear Thy voice\u2014\u201cThe sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.\u201d\n\nFor sweet is Thy voice\u2014\u201cGrace is poured into Thy lips.\u201d\n\nAnd Thy countenance is comely\u2014\u201cI will that they may be with Me where I am,\nthat they may behold My glory.\u201d\n\n2:15. Take us the foxes\u2014Take away from us the sly faults, originating in\nthe deceitful mind of the flesh.\n\nThe little foxes\u2014Secret beginnings of sin in the mind.\n\nThat spoil the vines\u2014That prevent us from yielding the fruitage of love so\nprecious in Thy sight.\n\nFor our vines\u2014\u201cI am the Vine; ye are the branches.\u201d\n\nHave tender grapes\u2014Have begun a fruitage, which is ripening beautifully in\nthe Father\u2019s sight.\n\n2:16. My Beloved is mine\u2014\u201cThe Head can not say to the feet, I have no need\nof you.\u201d\n\nAnd I am His\u2014\u201cIf the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not\nof the body, is it not of the body?\u201d\n\nHe feedeth\u2014Bestows His spiritual favors upon.\n\nThe lilies\u2014\u201cThe meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His\nway.\u201d\n\n2:17. Until the day break\u2014Until the Messianic Morning has fully dawned.\n\nAnd the shadows\u2014Of the reign of sin and death.\n\nFlee away\u2014Depart forever.\n\nTurn my Beloved\u2014Continue to hide Thyself from earthly eyes.\n\nAnd be Thou like\u2014In Thy swiftness of movement.\n\nA roe or a young hart\u2014Leaping from mountain to mountain\u2014kingdom to\nkingdom.\n\nUpon the mountains\u2014Gentile dominions.\n\nOf Bether\u2014Of divisions, which separate us from Thee and separate Thee from\nThy long\u2010promised Reign.\n\n3:1. By night\u2014While I was still in the dark in regard to God\u2019s great Plan.\n\nOn my bed\u2014My creed bed, the one from which I have now been taken, but in\nwhich many others are still left.\n\nI sought Him\u2014Sought intimate fellowship with Him.\n\nWhom my soul loveth\u2014\u201cHe that loveth father or mother ... son or daughter\nmore than Me is not worthy of Me.\u201d\n\nI sought Him\u2014Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom.\n\nBut I found Him not\u2014Certainly not; how absurd of me to expect to greet the\nBridegroom when I was in bed, sound asleep!\n\n3:2. I will rise now\u2014This creed bed is uncomfortable; it is \u201cshorter than\nthat a man can stretch himself on it.\u201d\n\nAnd go about the city\u2014Interest myself in the activities of Christendom.\n\nIn the streets\u2014Enter into the affairs of its governments.\n\nAnd in the broad ways\u2014Plunge into its pleasures\u2014\u201cgay white ways,\u201d etc.\n\nI will seek Him\u2014Try to find the place of rest.\n\nWhom my soul loveth\u2014For which my soul longs. \u201cWe who have believed do\nenter into rest.\u201d\n\nI sought Him\u2014Sought rest of heart in all these ways.\n\nBut I found Him not\u2014\u201cAll that my soul has tried left but an aching void.\u201d\n\n3:3. The watchmen\u2014Of nominal Zion; the clergy.\n\nThat go about the city\u2014Christendom, Babylon.\n\nFound me\u2014Drew me under their influence.\n\nTo whom I said\u2014Having become deeply interested in the subject of the\nLord\u2019s promised Return.\n\nSaw ye Him\u2014Have you discerned the fact of the Bridegroom\u2019s Presence?\n\nWhom my soul loveth\u2014There was no reply, for the reason that \u201cHis watchmen\nare blind; they are all ignorant: they are all dumb dogs; they cannot\nbark.\u201d\n\n3:4. It was but a little\u2014\u201cHe is not far from us.\u201d\n\nThat I passed from them\u2014Became unbound, unfettered.\n\nBut I found Him\u2014Was made acquainted with the proofs of the Parousia.\n\nWhom my soul loveth\u2014We ought to live for Him who died for us.\n\nI held Him\u2014\u201cHold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.\u201d\n\nAnd would not let Him go\u2014\u201cI will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.\u201d\n\nTill I had brought Him\u2014Till I had accompanied Him.\n\nInto my mother\u2019s house\u2014The antitypical Sarah tent.\n\nAnd into the chamber\u2014Heaven itself.\n\nOf her that conceived me\u2014The Sarah Covenant; the Oath\u2010bound Covenant.\n\n3:5. I charge you\u2014I must give you this message.\n\nO ye daughters\u2014Professed children.\n\nOf Jerusalem\u2014The Kingdom of God.\n\nBy the roes\u2014Which you regard as the loveliest things of earth, as\nillustrated by the statuary on your estates.\n\nAnd by the hinds\u2014The things which you regard as most full of grace;\ntherefore typical of your churches, colleges, hospitals, libraries and\ncharitable institutions.\n\nOf the field\u2014The world, the present order of things.\n\nThat ye stir not up\u2014Seek not to arouse.\n\nNor awake my Love\u2014To take charge of earth\u2019s affairs.\n\nTill He please\u2014For when He does stand up to assume control, \u201cthere will be\na Time of Trouble such as never was,\u201d in which all these beautiful things\nupon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.\n\n3:6. Who is this that cometh\u2014The Lord\u2019s professed people thus speak of the\nevidences of the Lord\u2019s Second Presence.\n\nOut of the wilderness\u2014The Time of Trouble having come, they recognize that\nthe long\u2010promised Second Coming of the Lord is an accomplished fact.\n\nLike pillars of smoke\u2014Terrible in majesty, definite, personal, intangible.\n\u201cI will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and\npillars of smoke.\u201d\n\nPerfumed with myrrh\u2014Anointed with Wisdom.\n\nAnd frankincense\u2014Praise to Jehovah.\n\nWith all powders\u2014All ingredients of the holy anointing oil, type of the\nHoly Spirit.\n\nOf the merchant\u2014The apothecary; the Heavenly Father. \u201cGod gave not the\nSpirit by measure unto Him.\u201d\n\n3:7. Behold His bed\u2014The place of His ultimate rest and ours.\n\nWhich is Solomon\u2019s\u2014Christ\u2019s, in glory.\n\nThreescore valiant men\u2014The sixty centuries during which evil has been\npermitted.\n\nAre about it\u2014Standing between the people of God and the rest which He has\npromised.\n\nOf the valiant\u2014Invincible, immovable.\n\nOf Israel\u2014Of the people of God. All the centuries belong to God; they are\nHis servants, working out His sovereign will.\n\n3:8. They all hold swords\u2014Since the slaughter of Abel, all the centuries\nhave been filled with bloodshed.\n\nBeing expert in war\u2014War has prevailed throughout the earth during all that\ntime.\n\nEvery man hath his sword\u2014Every century has its implements of war.\n\nUpon his thigh\u2014Ready for use upon the slightest provocation.\n\nBecause of fear\u2014The present world\u2010war is due to mutual fear and distrust.\n\nIn the night\u2014The time of the permission of evil; the time for dark motives\nand dark deeds.\n\n3:9. King Solomon\u2014Christ, in glory.\n\nMade Himself a chariot\u2014_Appiryon_, palanquin; a magnificent vehicle\nprovided for a queen\u2019s reception and her entrance into the royal city, and\nin which the King goes forth to meet her; typified by the chariot of fire\nwhich bore Elijah away from earthly scenes: the magnificent spectacle with\nwhich this Age will end.\u2014See page 63.\n\nOf the wood of Lebanon\u2014The saints. The typical temple was built, in part,\nof cedar and fir timber cut from Mt. Lebanon.\n\n3:10. He made the pillars thereof\u2014The corner posts, just outside the place\nof greatest honor.\n\nOf silver\u2014The Great Company.\n\nThe bottom thereof\u2014The canopy overhead; \u201cthat in all things He might have\nthe preeminence.\u201d\n\nOf gold\u2014The Divine nature.\n\nThe covering thereof\u2014The seat; the Throne of the Royal Priesthood.\n\nOf purple\u2014Royalty.\n\nThe midst thereof\u2014The heart of it.\n\nBeing paved with love\u2014Love of the highest order\u2014love for enemies.\n\nFor the daughters\u2014The professed children; nominal Spiritual Israel.\n\nOf Jerusalem\u2014The Kingdom of God.\n\n3:11. Go forth\u2014\u201cCome out of her,\u201d out of Babylon.\n\nO ye daughters of Zion\u2014My people; God\u2019s people.\n\nAnd behold King Solomon\u2014Get clear views of Christ.\n\nWith the crown\u2014The Crown of Life; the Divine nature.\n\nWherewith His mother\u2014The Sarah Covenant.\n\nCrowned Him\u2014With glory and honor.\n\nIn the day\u2014Pentecost.\n\nOf His espousals\u2014When the antitypical Eliezer was received by the\nantitypical Rebecca.\n\nAnd in the day\u2014Now at hand, praise the Lord!\n\nOf the gladness of His heart\u2014When the marriage of the Lamb takes place.\n\u201cBlessed is he that is called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.\u201d\n\n4:1. Behold thou art fair\u2014The Lord addresses His Bride anew.\n\nMy love\u2014\u201cGreater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life\nfor his friend.\u201d\n\nBehold thou art fair\u2014\u201cSo shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.\u201d\n\nThou hast dove\u2019s eyes\u2014The Heavenly wisdom.\n\nThy hair\u2014Woman\u2019s hair was given her for a covering, and it is her glory.\nThe righteousness of Christ is the Bride\u2019s covering, and it is her glory.\n\nIs as a flock of goats\u2014Thick, luxuriant.\n\nThat appear from Mt. Gilead\u2014The flocks of goats on Mt. Gilead are of\nunusual size to this day.\n\n4:2. Thy teeth\u2014Masticators, grinders, assimilators of spiritual food.\n\nAre like a flock\u2014In glistening array.\n\nThat are even shorn\u2014When the lips are parted.\n\nWhich come up from the washing\u2014Cleansing by salivation.\n\nWhereof every one bear twine\u2014Whereof they come forth in pairs.\n\nAnd none is barren\u2014None is without its mate.\n\nAmong them\u2014The teeth are perfect in form and number, illustrating the\nBride\u2019s ability to feed upon the strong meat which \u201cbelongeth to them that\nare of full age.\u201d\n\n4:3. Thy lips\u2014\u201cO Lord open Thou my lips!\u201d \u201cMy mouth shall praise Thee with\njoyful lips.\u201d\n\nAre like a thread of scarlet\u2014As the scarlet thread of redemption runs\nthrough the Divine Word, so it is with you, and on your lips\u2014the all\u2010\nabsorbing theme of life.\n\nAnd thy speech is comely\u2014\u201cMy speech shall distil as the dew.\u201d\n\nThy temples are like\u2014Thy mind, the mind of the New Creature, may be\nproperly compared to.\n\nA piece of pomegranate\u2014The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of\nall fruits. It thus well illustrates the New Mind, which, under the\ninfluence of the Holy Spirit, brings to perfection the fruitage of love,\nthe sum of all the Christian graces.\n\nWithin thy locks\u2014Behind thy veil; concealed by the veil of the flesh.\n\n4:4. Thy neck\u2014Willingness to bear burdens.\n\nIs like the tower of David\u2014David was a type of the Church militant.\n\nBuilded for an armory\u2014Designed to accommodate a great number.\n\nWhereon there hang a thousand\u2014\u201cOne shall chase a thousand.\u201d\n\nBucklers of shields of mighty men\u2014\u201cI can do all things through Christ,\nwhich strengtheneth me.\u201d\n\n4:5. Thy two breasts\u2014\u201cThe breasts of her consolations, whereof ye may suck\nand be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.\u201d\n\nAre like two young roes\u2014The Scriptures, the Word of God, quick and\npowerful.\n\nThat are twins\u2014The Old and New Testament Scriptures are identical in\norigin, spirit and purpose.\n\nWhich feed among the lilies\u2014\u201cThe meek will He guide in judgment; the meek\nwill He teach His way.\u201d\n\n4:6. Until the Day\u2014The Millennial Day. The Bride is the speaker.\n\nBreak\u2014Has fully dawned.\n\nAnd the shadows\u2014Of the Valley of the Shadow of Death in which I now walk.\n\nFlee away\u2014Are gone.\n\nI will get me\u2014In spirit.\n\nTo the mountain of myrrh\u2014The Kingdom of Wisdom.\n\nAnd to the hill of frankincense\u2014Praise, heart adoration.\n\n4:7. Thou art all fair\u2014Blameless, faultless. The Lord responds.\n\nMy love\u2014His love is commended to us in that \u201cwhile we were yet sinners\nChrist died for the ungodly.\u201d\n\nThere is no spot\u2014You have kept your garments unspotted from the world.\n\nIn thee\u2014\u201cIf we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our\nsins and to cleanse us.\u201d\n\n4:8. Come with Me\u2014To our Heavenly inheritance.\n\nFrom Lebanon\u2014From your present unfinished condition. The typical temple\nwas built, in part, of cedar and fir timbers from Lebanon; but they had to\nbe hewn and finished before they could be used.\n\nMy spouse\u2014My espoused Bride.\n\nWith Me from Lebanon\u2014You are but following in the path I trod.\n\nLook from the top of Amana\u2014The view from this peak is said to be\nindescribably grand. Look away to Heaven.\n\nFrom the top of Shenir\u2014(Peak or pointed.) Look beyond the sharp\nexperiences of the present.\n\nAnd Hermon\u2014(Rugged or abrupt.) Look beyond the unkind words and deeds you\nnow encounter.\n\nFrom the lions\u2019 dens\u2014You are now in the lions\u2019 dens, but look beyond them.\nSatan goes about as a roaring lion; but no lion shall be there.\n\nFrom the mountains\u2014Kingdoms of this world. Look beyond them.\n\nOf the leopards\u2014Papacy and those of her spirit. \u201cAnd the beast which I saw\nwas like unto a leopard.\u201d\n\n4:9. Thou hast ravished My heart\u2014Taken it away.\n\nMy sister, My spouse\u2014The Bride of Christ is His sister. His Father is\ntheir Father. His mother, the Sarah covenant, is their mother. \u201cWe,\nbrethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the Promise.\u201d\n\nWith one of thine eyes\u2014With thy singleness of vision. \u201cIf thine eye be\nsingle, thy whole body shall be light.\u201d\u2014Matt. 6:22.\n\nWith one chain of thy neck\u2014With thy one bond of servitude; consecration to\nthe service of the Great King.\n\n4:10. How fair is thy love\u2014How various and beautiful are its forms of\nexpression.\n\nMy sister, My spouse\u2014My Father\u2019s Daughter, My espoused Bride.\n\nHow much better is thy love\u2014The ways in which you show your devotion to\nme.\n\nThan wine\u2014Than thy doctrines, some of which, in the past, have been badly\nmixed.\n\nAnd the smell\u2014The sweet fragrance.\n\nOf thine ointments\u2014The anointing oil; the Holy Spirit.\n\nThan all spices\u2014Than all other virtues.\n\n4:11. Thy lips, O My spouse\u2014My beloved Bride to be.\n\nDrop as the honeycomb\u2014Distil a dropping of pure honey; sweet and helpful\nwords.\n\nAnd the smell\u2014The sweet perfume.\n\nOf thy garments\u2014The robe of Christ\u2019s righteousness.\n\nIs like the smell\u2014The life\u2010giving odors.\n\nOf Lebanon\u2014The cedar and fir trees of Lebanon.\n\n4:12. A garden enclosed\u2014A heart\u2010garden, shut out of sight of all but its\nowners.\n\nIs My sister, My spouse\u2014My Father\u2019s daughter, My espoused Bride.\n\nA spring shut up\u2014\u201cIt shall be in you a well of water springing up unto\neverlasting life.\u201d\n\nA fountain sealed\u2014Sealed with the King\u2019s own signet, until the time comes\nthat all the well springs are brought together in the first resurrection,\nto constitute the fountain from which will flow the River of the Water of\nLife.\n\n4:13. Thy plants are\u2014The plants in your heart\u2010garden are illustrated by.\n\nAn orchard of pomegranates\u2014The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors\nof all fruits and thus well represents love, the sum of all the Christian\ngraces.\n\nWith pleasant fruits\u2014Pleasing characteristics.\n\nCamphire\u2014Rest, trust, confidence.\n\nWith spikenard\u2014Fragrant devotion, as illustrated by Mary\u2019s alabaster box.\n\n4:14. Spikenard and saffron\u2014Fragrant devotion and long\u2010suffering.\n\nCalamus and cinnamon\u2014Knowledge and understanding.\n\nWith all trees of frankincense\u2014Praise, heart adoration.\n\nMyrrh and aloes\u2014Wisdom and patience.\n\nWith all chief spices\u2014All the remaining elements of Christian character.\n\n4:15. A fountain\u2014In the midst.\n\nOf gardens\u2014Beautiful, clear, sparkling, life\u2010giving.\n\nA well of living waters\u2014Invigorating the whole world in the New Age. \u201cThe\nwater that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up\nunto everlasting life.\u201d\n\nAnd streams from Lebanon\u2014Pure, refreshing.\n\n4:16. Awake O North wind\u2014Storms of adversity. The Bride speaks.\n\nAnd come thou South\u2014Balmy breezes. \u201cSome days are bright and sweet with\npraise, some with accepted pain.\u201d\n\nBlow upon my garden\u2014My heart\u2010garden, in which I seek to develop the fruits\nmost pleasing to my Lord.\n\nThat the spices thereof\u2014The aroma of good deeds, kind words and noble\nthoughts.\n\nMay flow out\u2014Manifest itself to the Lord and to others.\n\nLet my Beloved\u2014Bridegroom, Christ.\n\nCome into His garden\u2014Come into my heart.\n\nAnd eat\u2014Appropriate to His use and pleasure.\n\nHis pleasant fruits\u2014The fruits of love, which He has cultivated within me.\n\n5:1. I am come\u2014The Lord responds.\n\nInto My garden\u2014I have accepted your invitation to come in and make My\nabode with you.\n\nMy sister, My spouse\u2014My Father\u2019s Daughter, My espoused Bride.\n\nI have gathered My myrrh\u2014Wisdom; generally the result of bitter\nexperience. Myrrh means bitter.\n\nWith My spice\u2014The fragrant and sweet ingredients of the Holy Spirit.\n\nI have eaten\u2014Accepted, appropriated, consumed.\n\nMy honeycomb\u2014The sacrificers themselves.\n\nWith My honey\u2014With the sacrifices of praise which they offered.\n\nI have drunk My wine\u2014Taken note of the doctrines you teach.\n\nWith My milk\u2014Noticed also the manner and spirit with which you present the\nmilk of the Word to those not so far advanced.\n\nEat, O friends\u2014The Lord addresses the needy world.\n\nDrink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved\u2014\u201cHe, every one that thirsteth,\ncome ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat;\nyea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.\u201d\n\n5:2. I sleep\u2014\u201cWhile the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.\u201d\nThe Foolish Virgin class is here represented as speaking.\n\nBut my heart waketh\u2014At heart the Foolish Virgins are loyal to the Lord.\n\nIt is the voice of my Beloved\u2014She recognizes the evidences of the Lord\u2019s\nSecond Advent.\n\nThat knocketh\u2014\u201cBehold, I stand at the door and knock.\u201d\n\nSaying Open to me\u2014\u201cIf any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come\nin to him.\u201d\n\nMy sister, My love\u2014The Foolish Virgins are children of the same Father,\nand are also born of the Sarah Covenant, but the Lord does not address\nthem as His spouse.\n\nMy dove, My undefiled\u2014The Great Company class are pure in their hearts\nintentions.\n\nFor My head\u2014\u201cAs one who has vowed a vow of a Nazarite to separate himself\nunto Jehovah.\u201d\n\nIs filled with dew\u2014Freshness, vigor. \u201cThou hast the dew of Thy youth.\u201d\n\nAnd My locks\u2014\u201cAll the days of his separation there shall no razor come\nupon his head. Till the days be fulfilled in the which he separateth\nhimself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the\nhair of his head grow.\u201d\n\nWith the drops\u2014Experiences.\n\nOf the night\u2014My consecration to Jehovah has been steadfast throughout the\nworld\u2019s dark night of sin.\n\n5:3. I have put off\u2014Temporarily laid aside. The Foolish Virgins reply.\n\nMy coat\u2014The wedding robe which You provided.\n\nHow shall I\u2014How can I see to.\n\nPut it on\u2014I am in the midst of the dark night of the Time of Trouble.\n\nI have washed my feet\u2014I am a church member, in good and regular standing.\n\nHow shall I defile them\u2014Why should I leave my creed bed and obey Your call\nto come out of Babylon?\n\n5:4. My Beloved\u2014In His great love and pity for me.\n\nPut in His hand\u2014Exerted His mighty power.\n\nBy the hole of the door\u2014Rattled the time\u2010lock.\n\nAnd my bowels\u2014My heart.\n\nWere moved for Him\u2014Was stirred to action, but too late to go in with Him\nto the wedding.\n\n5:5. I rose up\u2014Roused myself to activity.\n\nTo open to my Beloved\u2014Just as the Harvest was past.\n\nAnd my hands\u2014Holding the keys to the Bible, the _Studies_.\n\nDropped with myrrh\u2014Wisdom, gleaned from the _Scripture Studies_, till then\nneglected.\n\nWith sweet smelling myrrh\u2014A knowledge of all the precious things of\nPresent Truth.\n\nUpon the handles\u2014The lines of prophetical evidence.\n\nOf the lock\u2014The time features of the Lord\u2019s Plan.\n\n5:6. I opened to my Beloved\u2014After the Harvest work was finished.\n\nBut my Beloved\u2014True to His word.\n\nHad withdrawn Himself\u2014\u201cAnd they that were ready went in with Him to the\nmarriage.\u201d\n\nAnd was gone\u2014And the door was shut.\n\nMy soul failed when He spake\u2014I lacked the love, faith and hope to obey\npromptly.\n\nI sought Him\u2014\u201cMany shall strive to enter in but shall not be able when\nonce the Master of the House hath risen up and shut to the door.\u201d\n\nBut found Him not\u2014\u201cI am He that shutteth and no man openeth.\u201d\n\nI called Him\u2014\u201cNot every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter\nin.\u201d\n\nBut He gave me no answer\u2014No hope of being His Bride and Joint\u2010heir.\n\n5:7. The watchmen\u2014Watchmen in nominal Zion, the clergy of the nominal\nchurch.\n\nThat went about the city\u2014Christendom.\n\nFound me\u2014Observed my course in accepting Present Truth and withdrawing\nfrom their systems.\n\nThey smote me\u2014\u201cWith arrows, even bitter words.\u201d\n\nThey wounded me\u2014Wounded my reputation.\n\nThe keepers\u2014Civil authorities.\n\nOf the walls\u2014The Governments, the bulwarks of Christendom.\n\nTook away my veil from me\u2014Were instigated to destroy me, to cause me to\npass into death.\n\n5:8. I charge you\u2014The Foolish Virgin class continues.\n\nO daughters of Jerusalem\u2014O all who profess to love Him.\n\nIf ye find my Beloved\u2014If you yourself expect to be of the Bride class.\n\nThat ye tell Him\u2014In my behalf.\n\nThat I am sick of love\u2014Hungering for His companionship, longing to see His\nface, despite the fact that I did not open to Him promptly.\n\n5:9. What is thy Beloved\u2014The Lord\u2019s professed people, now in nominal Zion,\nspeak.\n\nMore than another beloved\u2014Why is Christ any more to you than He is to me?\n\nO thou fairest among women\u2014The Lord\u2019s professed people in nominal Zion\nbegin to awake to the fact that the last of the spiritually\u2010minded ones\nare leaving them.\n\nWhat is thy Beloved\u2014To you.\n\nMore than another beloved\u2014To another.\n\nThat thou dost so charge us\u2014We would like to understand the reasons why\nyou are so deeply concerned, and why you persist in saying, \u201cThe Harvest\nis past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.\u201d\n\n5:10. My Beloved is white\u2014\u201cHoly, harmless, undefiled and separate from\nsinners.\u201d The Foolish Virgin class responds to the Lord\u2019s professed people\nin nominal Zion.\n\nAnd ruddy\u2014A reference to His pierced side. \u201cHe was clothed in a vesture\ndipped in blood.\u201d\n\nThe chiefest\u2014The standard\u2010bearer or chieftain.\n\nAmong ten thousand\u2014Among ten thousand warriors.\n\n5:11. His head\u2014\u201cGod gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church\nwhich is His Body, that in all things He might have the preeminence.\u201d\n\nIs as the most fine gold\u2014\u201cWho only hath immortality.\u201d\n\nHis locks are bushy\u2014His consecration is perfect and complete.\n\nAnd black as a raven\u2014And He remained steadfast in it unto death.\n\n5:12. His eyes\u2014Wisdom.\n\nAre as the eyes of doves\u2014Pure, peaceable, gentle.\n\nBy the rivers of waters\u2014By the channels of truth.\n\nWashed with milk\u2014Primary elements of the Truth.\n\nAnd fitly set\u2014All in perfect harmony.\n\n5:13. His cheeks\u2014His countenance towards me.\n\nAre as a bed of spices\u2014The personification of every virtue and every\ngrace.\n\nAs sweet flowers\u2014Towers of perfumes (margin), flowers trained upon\ntrellises; shedding a beauty and fragrance compelling the attention of\nall.\n\nHis lips like lilies\u2014His speech modest, beautiful and sweet. \u201cNever man\nspake like this Man.\u201d\n\nDropping sweet smelling myrrh\u2014Distilling Heavenly wisdom. \u201cMy speech shall\ndistil as the dew.\u201d\n\n5:14. His hands\u2014As in rolling or unrolling a scroll or parchment.\n\nAre as gold rings\u2014Conform to the shape of the roll. \u201cThou art worthy to\ntake the roll and to open the seals thereof.\u201d\n\nSet with the beryl\u2014Love of the Father. See page 335.\n\nHis belly\u2014The word signifies the whole body, from shoulders to thighs.\n\nIs as bright ivory\u2014A beautiful vision.\n\nOverlaid with sapphires\u2014Faithfulness. See page 334. \u201cAnd they saw the God\nof Israel, and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a\nsapphire stone.\u201d\n\n5:15. His legs\u2014The members that have been carrying on the work of the\nBody.\n\nAre as pillars of marble\u2014\u201cHim that overcometh will I make a pillar in the\nTemple of My God.\u201d\n\nSet upon sockets\u2014Feet, the foot members.\n\nOf fine gold\u2014\u201cHow beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him!\u201d\n\nHis countenance\u2014Smile of favor.\n\nIs as Lebanon\u2014Pure, invigorating, refreshing.\n\nExcellent as the cedars\u2014Everlasting life.\n\n5:16. His mouth\u2014His Word. \u201cMan shall not live by bread alone, but by every\nword that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.\u201d\n\nIs most sweet\u2014\u201cAll bare Him witness and wondered at the gracious words\nthat proceeded out of His mouth.\u201d\n\nYea, He is altogether lovely\u2014It is impossible to describe all His\nexcellencies; He is the sum of all that is to be desired.\n\nThis is my Beloved\u2014This is the One I love supremely.\n\nAnd this is my Friend\u2014\u201cI\u2019ve found a Friend, O such a Friend!\u201d\n\nO daughters of Jerusalem\u2014O you who are nominally His.\n\n6:1. Whither is thy Beloved gone\u2014After the door is shut, those who have\nbeen nominally Christ\u2019s begin to give heed to the message of the Foolish\nVirgins.\n\nO thou fairest among women\u2014O most spiritually\u2010minded amongst us.\n\nWhither is thy Beloved turned aside\u2014We realize that He has entirely\nwithdrawn Himself from us.\n\nThat we may seek Him with thee\u2014Show us in the Word how He is now to be\nfound. \u201cAll that a man hath will he give for his life.\u201d\n\n6:2. My Beloved\u2014The Foolish Virgin class, now thoroughly aroused to the\nfacts, explain to the Lord\u2019s professed children in nominal Zion.\n\nIs gone down\u2014His Second Advent is accomplished.\n\nInto His garden\u2014He has taken His Bride to Himself.\n\nTo the beds of spices\u2014To accept from her heart\u2010garden the fragrant and\nsweet ingredients of the Holy Spirit.\n\nTo feed in the gardens\u2014To receive to Himself the precious fruits love,\njoy, peace, long\u2010suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self\u2010\ncontrol.\n\nAnd to gather lilies\u2014To take the humble sweet ones home; to gather the\nwheat class into the Heavenly garner.\n\n6:3. I am my Beloved\u2019s\u2014The Great Company can not forget that they are\nprecious in the Lord\u2019s sight.\n\nAnd my Beloved is mine\u2014\u201cFade, Fade, each earthly joy, Jesus is mine.\u201d\n\nHe feedeth among the lilies\u2014\u201cThe meek will He guide in judgment; the meek\nwill He teach His way.\u201d\n\n6:4. Thou art beautiful\u2014At heart. The Lord again addresses His Bride.\n\nO My love\u2014\u201cLove one another as I have loved you.\u201d\n\nAs Tirzah\u2014A delight.\n\nComely as Jerusalem\u2014\u201cThe City of the Great King.\u201d\n\nTerrible\u2014In the conquest of evil.\n\nAs an army with banners\u2014To an opposing host.\n\n6:5. Turn away thine eyes from Me\u2014Observe the Lord\u2019s modesty and humility.\n\nFor they have overcome Me\u2014How the Lord delights to express His\nappreciation of the virtues of His Bride, despite the fact that they are\nall but feeble reflections of His own!\n\nThy hair\u2014Righteousness. Woman\u2019s hair was given her for a covering, and it\nis her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride\u2019s covering, and it\nis her glory.\n\nIs as a flock of goats\u2014Thick, luxuriant.\n\nThat appear from Mt. Gilead\u2014The flocks of goats on Mt. Gilead are of\nunusual size to this day.\n\n6:6. Thy teeth\u2014Masticators, grinders, assimilators of spiritual food.\n\nAre as a flock\u2014In glistening array.\n\nWhich go up from the washing\u2014Cleansing by salivation.\n\nWhereof every one bear twins\u2014They come forth in pairs.\n\nAnd there is not one barren\u2014None is without its mate.\n\nAmong them\u2014The teeth are perfect in form and number, illustrating the\nBride\u2019s ability to feed upon the strong meat which \u201cbelongeth to them that\nare of full age.\u201d\n\n6:7. As a piece of pomegranate\u2014The pomegranate curiously combines the\nflavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the New Mind, which, under\nthe influence of the Holy Spirit, brings to perfection the fruitage of\nlove, the sum of all the Christian graces.\n\nAre thy temples\u2014Thy mind, the mind of the New Creature.\n\nWithin thy locks\u2014Behind thy veil; concealed by the veil of the flesh.\n\n6:8. There are threescore queens\u2014Nominal church organizations openly\njoined to earthly heads.\n\nAnd fourscore concubines\u2014Even more are secretly violating their pledges of\nspiritual virginity. Altogether the census shows about 150 sects. See page\n160, where all the principal sects are enumerated.\n\nAnd virgins without number\u2014Foolish Virgins, really pure at heart.\n\n6:9. My dove, My undefiled\u2014The Virgin Bride of Christ.\n\nIs but one\u2014\u201cThat they may be one, as We are.\u201d\n\nThe only one\u2014To share the glory, honor and immortality of Christ.\n\nOf her mother\u2014The Oath\u2010bound Covenant.\n\nShe is the choice one\u2014The specially favored one.\n\nOf her that bore her\u2014The antitypical Sarah.\n\nThe daughters\u2014Professed children of God.\n\nSaw her\u2014Discerned her, at the time of the manifestation of the Sons of\nGod.\n\nAnd blessed her\u2014Called her blessed.\n\nYea the queens\u2014Those openly affiliated with worldly churches in union with\nworldly governments.\n\nAnd the concubines\u2014Those secretly thus affiliated.\n\nAnd they praised her\u2014Acknowledged, in the end, that her course was right\nand her exaltation merited.\n\n6:10. Who is she\u2014The Bride.\n\nThat looketh forth\u2014Beams resplendent.\n\nAs the morning\u2014The Millennial Morning.\n\nFair\u2014Pure, just, holy, good.\n\nAs the moon\u2014\u201cThe law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but\nafter the Spirit.\u201d\n\nClear\u2014Glorious, light\u2010giving.\n\nAs the Sun\u2014\u201cThen shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom\nof their Father.\u201d \u201cWho hath ears to hear, let him hear.\u201d\n\nAnd terrible\u2014In the conquest of evil.\n\nAs an army with banners\u2014To an opposing host.\n\n6:11. I went down\u2014Following the exaltation of the Bride. Christ speaks.\n\nInto the garden of nuts\u2014The heart\u2010gardens of the Foolish Virgin class. A\ngarden of nuts does not as quickly yield its treasures as a garden of\nspices, to which the Bride\u2019s heart garden is likened.\n\nTo see the fruits of the valley\u2014Of the class that had not risen with the\nBride to the Pisgah heights of faith and hope and love.\n\nAnd to see whether\u2014As a result of their experiences in the Time of\nTrouble.\n\nThe vine flourished\u2014Their characters had been properly affected.\n\nAnd the pomegranates budded\u2014To see whether there is promise of the fruits\nof the Spirit coming to perfection.\n\n6:12. Or ever I was aware\u2014I knew not how it was.\n\nMy soul\u2014Filled with love and pity for them.\n\nMade me like the chariots\u2014Swiftly speeding to them to bless and help them\nin their hour of extremity.\n\nOf Amminadib\u2014Of My willing people, the Bride.\n\n6:13. Return, return\u2014\u201cReturn, ye backsliding children, and I will heal\nyour backslidings.\u201d\n\nO Shulamite\u2014(Uneven one), you who have been uneven in your love, hope and\nfaith.\n\nReturn, return, that We\u2014My Father and I.\n\nMay look upon thee\u2014Smile upon thee; bestow blessings. \u201cWith gladness and\nrejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the King\u2019s palace.\u201d\n\nWhat will ye see\u2014You who study the matter.\n\nIn the Shulamite\u2014The Foolish Virgin class. The answer is that you will\nsee.\n\nAs it were the company\u2014The Great Company.\n\nOf two armies\u2014\u201cA great multitude which no man can number.\u201d\n\n7:1. How beautiful are thy feet\u2014\u201cHow beautiful upon the mountains are the\nfeet of them that preach the Gospel of peace.\u201d The Lord again addresses\nHis Bride.\n\nWith shoes\u2014\u201cFeet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.\u201d\n\nO Prince\u2019s daughter\u2014Daughter of the King, Jehovah.\n\nThe joints\u2014\u201cThe whole Body, fitly joined together and compacted with that\nwhich every joint supplieth.\u201d\n\nOf thy thighs\u2014(Softness) gentleness, tenderness.\n\nAre like jewels\u2014\u201cThey shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day\nwhen I make up My jewels.\u201d\n\nThe work of the hands\u2014\u201cFor we are His workmanship.\u201d\n\nOf a cunning workman\u2014\u201cAs for God, His work is perfect.\u201d\n\n7:2. Thy navel\u2014Umbilical cord; by which you are joined to the Oath\u2010bound\nCovenant, the Sarah Covenant; the cord of faith.\n\nIs like a round goblet\u2014Generous in capacity.\n\nWhich wanteth not liquor\u2014Is full of the Divine promises.\n\nThy belly\u2014Spiritual digestive tract.\n\nIs like a heap of wheat\u2014Solid spiritual food.\n\nSet about with lilies\u2014Flowers of humility.\n\n7:3. Thy two breasts\u2014\u201cThe breasts of her consolations, whereof ye may suck\nand be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.\u201d\n\nAre like two young roes\u2014\u201cThe Scriptures, the Word of God, quick and\npowerful.\u201d\n\nThat are twins\u2014The Old and New Testament Scriptures are identical in\norigin, spirit and purpose.\n\n7:4. Thy neck\u2014Willingness to bear burdens.\n\nIs as a tower of ivory\u2014Purity and strength.\n\nThine eyes\u2014Wisdom, Heaven\u2010sent.\n\nLike the fishpools in Heshbon\u2014Pure, deep.\n\nBy the gate of Bath\u2010Rabbim\u2014Calm and strong.\n\nThy nose\u2014Scent for spiritual food.\n\nIs as the tower of Lebanon\u2014Lofty, high, noble.\n\nWhich looketh toward Damascus\u2014\u201cVisions of beauty rise before us.\u201d \u201cHe that\nlacketh these things is blind and can not see afar off.\u201d\n\n7:5. Thine head upon thee\u2014Thy reasoning faculties.\n\nIs like Carmel\u2014(Crimson.) \u201cCome now and let us reason together, saith the\nLord; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow;\nthough they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.\u201d\n\nAnd the hair of thine head\u2014Thy righteousness. Woman\u2019s hair was given for a\ncovering, and her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride\u2019s\ncovering, and her glory.\n\nLike purple\u2014Royalty. The robe of Christ\u2019s righteousness, which the Bride\nnow wears, will ultimately become the robe of the Queen.\n\nThe King is held\u2014Bound, captive.\n\nIn the galleries\u2014The happy prison\u2010house of the charms of His Bride.\n\n7:6. How fair\u2014Beautiful at heart. \u201cThe King\u2019s daughter is all glorious\nwithin.\u201d\n\nAnd how pleasant\u2014When the New Creature is in full control.\n\nArt thou, O beloved\u2014\u201cWho shall separate us from the love of Christ?\u201d\n\nFor delights\u2014For one with whom to enjoy the Father\u2019s favors and blessings\nthroughout eternity; heirs together of the grace of life.\n\n7:7. This thy stature\u2014The stature of the fulness of Christ.\n\nIs like a palm tree\u2014Tall, upright.\n\nAnd thy breasts\u2014\u201cThe breasts of her consolations.\u201d\n\nTo clusters of grapes\u2014Suggestive of food and refreshment for the hungry,\nwhen they shall suck and be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.\n\n7:8. I said\u2014The world, in the Messianic Age, is the speaker.\n\nI will go up to the palm tree\u2014\u201cAnd many people shall come and say, Come\nand let us go up to the House of the Lord.\u201d\n\nI will take hold\u2014Lay hold of eternal life.\n\nOf the boughs thereof\u2014The members bending over to lift me out of the miry\nclay and the horrible pit.\n\nNow also thy breasts\u2014Feeding and helping the famishing world in the New\nAge.\n\nShall be as clusters of the vine\u2014Giving life and health.\n\nAnd the smell of thy nose\u2014Thy scent for spiritual things and the blessed\nresults that follow.\n\nLike apples\u2014Food for the hungry.\n\n7:9. And the roof of thy mouth\u2014Where the praises of Jehovah reverberate.\n\nLike the best wine\u2014The new wine of the Kingdom.\n\nFor my Beloved\u2014Christ will then be the world\u2019s Beloved, also.\n\nThat goeth down sweetly\u2014\u201cI will not henceforth drink this fruit of the\nvine till I drink it new with you in the Kingdom.\u201d\n\nCausing the lips\u2014\u201cAwake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust.\u201d\n\nOf those that are asleep\u2014In death.\n\nTo speak\u2014Shall the dead arise and praise thee?\n\n7:10. I am my Beloved\u2019s\u2014The Bride speaks again.\n\nAnd His desire is towards me\u2014\u201cSo shall the King greatly desire thy\nbeauty.\u201d\n\n7:11. Come My beloved\u2014The Lord addresses His Bride after the Time of\nTrouble.\n\nLet us go forth\u2014On our great mission of love and mercy.\n\nInto the field\u2014Into the world, which needs us so much.\n\nLet us lodge\u2014Take up our temporary dwelling\u2010place.\n\nIn the villages\u2014\u201cHave thou authority over ten cities!\u201d \u201cThe tabernacle of\nGod is with men.\u201d\n\n7:12. Let us get up early\u2014In the dawn of the New Age.\n\nTo the vineyards\u2014The hearts of mankind in general.\n\nLet us see if the vine flourish\u2014If men are beginning to draw nigh to God.\n\nThe tender grape appear\u2014If there is promise of an ultimate fruitage\npleasing to the Father.\n\nAnd the pomegranates appear\u2014If there are evidences that love, joy, peace,\nlong\u2010suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, are going to abound.\n\nThere\u2014When you see with what infinite patience and wisdom and love I\ncultivate the heart\u2010gardens of men.\n\nWill I give thee\u2014Cause thee to appreciate fully.\n\nMy loves\u2014The love with which I have loved thee.\n\n7:13. The mandrakes give a smell\u2014The regeneration of the world is nigh.\n\nAnd at our gates\u2014The Ancient Worthies are the gates by which the\nrestitution classes will come to the Mediator.\n\nAre all manner of pleasant\u2014Agreeable, attractive, pleasing.\n\nFruits new and old\u2014The virtues which the Bride cultivated and others\nespecially appropriate to the changed conditions of the New Age.\n\nWhich I have laid up\u2014As a part of the much\u2010diversified Plan of the Ages.\n\nFor thee, O My beloved\u2014For thy enjoyment.\n\n8:1 O that Thou\u2014My Lord and Head. The Bride addresses her Lord.\n\nWert as my brother\u2014Not so immeasurably above me in character and station.\n\nThat sucked the breasts of my mother\u2014So that we would be on an equality\nwith each other.\n\nWhen I should find Thee without\u2014Beyond the house of flesh.\n\nI would kiss Thee\u2014Would feel free to express in Thy presence the great\nlove I feel.\n\nYea I should not\u2014Under such circumstances.\n\nBe despised\u2014By the critics who now blame me for presuming to so high a\nstation as to be Thy Bride.\n\n8:2. I would lead thee and bring thee\u2014But now it is Thou alone that are\ncompetent to lead.\n\nInto my mother\u2019s house\u2014The antitypical Sarah tent.\n\nWho would instruct me\u2014\u201cThey shall be all taught of God.\u201d\n\nI would cause Thee to drink\u2014Accept, appropriate, enjoy.\n\nOf spiced wine\u2014Doctrines flavored with the Holy Spirit.\n\nOf the juice of my pomegranate\u2014The pomegranate curiously combines the\nflavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the fruitage of love, the\nsum of all the Christian graces.\n\n8:3. His left hand\u2014His power as illustrated in the guidance of His people\ninto all necessary truth.\n\nShould be under my head\u2014Directing my mental faculties.\n\nAnd his right hand\u2014His power as illustrated in overruling all things that\nwould harm me.\n\nShould embrace me\u2014\u201cSecure in His tender embrace, I\u2019d have nothing to doubt\nor to fear.\u201d\n\n8:4. I charge you\u2014I must give you this message.\n\nO daughters of Jerusalem\u2014Professed children of God.\n\nThat ye stir not up\u2014Seek not to arouse.\n\nNor awake my Love\u2014To take charge of earth\u2019s affairs.\n\nUntil He please\u2014For when He does stand up to assume control, \u201cthere will\nbe a Time of Trouble such as never was,\u201d in which all the earthly\norganizations upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.\n\n8:5. Who is this\u2014The Heavenly Father thus speaks of the Bride.\n\nThat cometh up\u2014That cometh forward into prominence.\n\nFrom the wilderness\u2014At the end of 1260 years of wilderness hiding and\npapal supremacy.\n\nLeaning upon her Beloved\u2014Upon her Lord.\n\nI raised thee up\u2014\u201cIt is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?\u201d\n\nUnder the apple tree\u2014Under Christ, the Author and Finisher of your\nsalvation.\n\nThere thy mother\u2014The antitypical Sarah.\n\nBrought thee forth\u2014\u201cShall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring\nforth?\u201d\n\nThere she brought thee forth\u2014The Oath\u2010bound Covenant accomplished its end.\n\nThat bare thee\u2014From earthly to Heavenly conditions.\n\n8:6. Set me as a seal\u2014Indelibly impressed. The Bride beseeches her Lord.\n\nUpon Thy heart\u2014Thine infinite love.\n\nAs a seal upon Thine arm\u2014Thine infinite power.\n\nFor love\u2014Such love as I have for Thee.\n\nIs strong as death\u2014\u201cNeither death nor life shall be able to separate us\nfrom the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d\n\nJealousy\u2014The fear that I may not, after all, prove acceptable to You, as\nYour Bride.\n\nIs cruel as the grave\u2014Sheol, oblivion.\n\nThe coals thereof\u2014The weaknesses of my fallen flesh.\n\nAre coals of fire\u2014Burned into my very soul.\n\nWhich hath a most vehement flame\u2014These burning thoughts of my\nimperfections will be with me as long as I am in this tabernacle.\n\n8:7. Many waters\u2014Nor angels nor principalities.\n\nCannot quench love\u2014The Father reassures the anxious Bride.\n\nNeither can the floods\u2014\u201cNor things present nor things to come.\u201d\n\nDrown It\u2014Extinguish it.\n\nIf a man\u2014The Man whom I have ordained.\n\nWould give all the substance of his House\u2014All His own glorious station\nwith me on the Throne of the Universe.\n\nFor love\u2014In exchange for the love you have manifested for Him throughout\nthe dark night of your earthly career.\n\nIt would utterly be condemned\u2014Despised by the courts of Heaven.\n\n8:8. We\u2014The Lord and His Bride together speak.\n\nHave a little sister\u2014The Foolish Virgin class, born of the same Father and\nthe same antitypical Sarah, the Oath\u2010bound Covenant.\n\nAnd she hath no breasts\u2014Is not fully developed.\n\nWhat shall we do\u2014What will be the Divine arrangement?\n\nFor our sister\u2014The Great Company class.\n\nIn the day\u2014The close of the Time of Trouble.\n\nWhen she shall be spoken for\u2014Called to render up her account.\n\n8:9. If she be a wall\u2014Bulwark of truth, on the One Foundation.\n\nWe will build upon her\u2014\u201cOther foundation can no man lay.\u201d\n\nA palace of silver\u2014Give her a place with the Great Company class.\n\nAnd if she be a door\u2014By which men and women have found the Lord and the\nTruth.\n\nWe will inclose her\u2014Give her an environment.\n\nWith boards of cedar\u2014Everlasting life.\n\n8:10. I am a wall\u2014The Bride thus refers to herself as having been a\nstaunch defender of the Truth. \u201cLo, we have left all and followed Thee.\u201d\nWhat then shall we have?\n\nAnd my breasts\u2014Unlike the Foolish Virgins.\n\nLike towers\u2014\u201cWhereof ye may suck and be satisfied milk out and be\ndelighted.\u201d\n\nThen\u2014Because I reached the development of character He desired.\n\nWas I in His eyes\u2014The eyes of the Bridegroom.\n\nAs one that found favor\u2014Peace (margin).\n\n8:11. Solomon\u2014Christ.\n\nHad a Vineyard\u2014For growing the fruitage of love.\n\nAt Baalhamon\u2014(Lord of the multitude.) A reference to the Messianic Reign,\nin which Christ will be Lord of all.\n\nHe let out the vineyards\u2014Gave the immediate care.\n\nUnto keepers\u2014The Ancient Worthies, \u201cwhom Thou mayest make princes in all\nthe earth.\u201d\n\nEvery one\u2014Of the keepers.\n\nFor the fruit thereof\u2014The kind of fruitage expected.\n\nWas to bring\u2014Present, offer.\n\nA thousand pieces of silver\u2014Yield a rich return of truth and praise from\nthe hearts cultivated.\n\n8:12. My vineyard\u2014The same vineyard.\n\nWhich is mine\u2014We are made joint\u2010heirs with Christ.\n\nIs before me\u2014Will take a thousand years to till.\n\nThou, O Solomon\u2014Christ.\n\nMust have a thousand\u2014Tributes of praise.\n\nAnd those that kept the fruit thereof\u2014The Ancient Worthies.\n\nTwo hundred\u2014A fifth as much, as their portion.\n\n8:13. Thou\u2014The restitution classes, address their Lord.\n\nThat dwellest in the gardens\u2014The heart\u2010gardens of the redeemed race.\n\nThe companions\u2014The Great Company; the companions that followed the Bride.\n\nHearken to thy voice\u2014Have entered with joy into the King\u2019s palace.\n\nCause me to hear it\u2014O Lord, I see there is hope to _me_. I _also_ would be\nThine. Show _me_ Thy will.\n\n8:14. Make haste, my Beloved\u2014The restitution classes continue.\n\nAnd be Thou like\u2014In thy swiftness of movement.\n\nTo a roe or to a young hart\u2014Leaping from mountain to mountain, kingdom to\nkingdom.\n\nUpon the mountains\u2014The various divisions of the Kingdom of God during the\nMessianic Reign.\n\nOf spices\u2014Good deeds, kind words and noble thoughts. \u201cAnd I will make all\nmy mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.\u201d \u201cThe kingdoms of\nthis world are become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He\nshall reign for ever and ever.\u201d Amen.\n\n\n\n\nThe Heavenly Bridegroom\n\n\n That He is mine and I am His, Oh! wondrous thought.\n I am so poor, so weak, so lowly, can there aught\n Of worthiness in me be found, that He should love\n And seek me for His Bride? I hear His voice, \u201cMy Dove,\n Thou art all fair, My Spouse, there is no spot in thee;\n Thy speech is comely, better is thy love to Me\n Than wine! Thine eyes as Heshbon\u2019s fish\u2010pools, and like flocks\n Upon Mount Gilead are thy spiced and flower\u2010decked locks.\n The winter\u2019s past, My Dove, come, come with Me away,\n Far spent the night, make ready for thy nuptial day!\u201d\n My heart responds, \u201cThroughout the many\u2010centuried night\n I\u2019ve longed for Thee. I\u2019ve waited for the dawning light;\n And I have laid Thee like sweet myrrh upon my breast,\n Thine arm beneath my weary head hath brought me rest.\n Thou whom my soul doth love, Thy countenance is fair\n To see within the secret places of the stair;\n Thy head is like fine gold, how beautiful Thy feet!\n Thine eyes as doves\u2019 eyes, and Thy lips with honey sweet.\n I rise, my Lord, I leave my father\u2019s house, behold\n My Robe of Righteousness, my raiment of wrought gold!\n Oh! wealth of love divine, that claims me for Thine own.\n Oh! miracle of grace, to seat me on Thy Throne.\n Oh! glorious future hopes, Oh! bliss beyond compare,\n Through all eternity Thy love and work to share!\u201d\n\n \u2014G.W.S.\n\n June 25, 1917.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 1\u2014God\u2019s Character And Plan\n\n\n1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in\nthe fifth day of the month, at I was among the captives by the river of\nChebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.\u2014Christ\npromised that at His Second Advent He would raise up a \u201cfaithful and wise\nservant,\u201d or \u201csteward,\u201d who should watch and give forth in due season meat\nfor the Household of Faith. This one should be given charge of all the\nStorehouse, the Word of God, to bring out of it things new and old. (Matt.\n24:44\u201047; Luke 12:42\u201044.) The Prophet Ezekiel types this servant. As\nEzekiel was among the Lord\u2019s people, the Hebrews, in captivity in literal\nBabylon, this servant was among those in captivity in Mystic Babylon,\nbeside the great river Chebar (\u201cJoining\u201d), the stream of commerce which\njoins the nations, on which Christendom is founded, and from which she\ndraws her support, as did in a literal sense Babylon from her great river,\nEuphrates. In the early seventies Charles Taze Russell found himself\nengaged in commerce, but earnestly studying the Word of God, and striving\nto teach what he found therein. In fulfilment of the Divine promise the\nHeavenly things were opened to him (Matt. 3:16), and he saw the\nsignificance of the visions, prophecies, given in olden times by the\nAlmighty. He was given a crystal\u2010clear understanding of the character of\nJehovah.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Ezekiel\u2019s Vision By The River Of Chebar\n\n\n1:2, 3. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king\nJehoiachin\u2019s captivity, the Word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel\nthe priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river\nChebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.\u2014Men do not raise\nthemselves up to become great and honored agents in God\u2019s outworking of\nthe Divine Plan of the Ages (Luke 18:14; Eph. 3:11); but now and then\nthroughout the centuries Jehovah Himself (1 Cor. 12:18) has raised up\nChristian men to carry forward one step or another of His purposes. God\nmade special use of St Paul, St John, Arius, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe,\nMartin Luther and Charles T. Russell. The significance of the word Ezekiel\nis \u201cGod is strong,\u201d and epitomizes the faith and the message of Pastor\nRussell. He shows the power of Jehovah to save His people now (Acts\n15:14), and later to save all the willing and obedient of mankind. (Acts\n15:17.) As Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, \u201cContemned of God,\u201d Pastor Russell\nwas born the child of a nominal religious system which is unfaithful to\nJehovah. Pastor Russell, by the faithful carrying out of his vow of\nconsecration to Divine service, was accepted as a true priest of the\nAlmighty. He sacrificed himself and all that he had until, in October,\n1916, he died penniless, but rich in the things of God. Chosen expressly\nby God to declare the message of Present Truth to the last, or Laodicean\nage, of the Church, the hand, power, of Jehovah was upon him.\n\n1:4. And I looked and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great\ncloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it; and out\nof the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the\nfire.\u2014As a young man Charles T. Russell was looking intently to see what\nmight be discerned in the Word of God. \u201cWatch,\u201d said the Master. Pastor\nRussell took for his motto, \u201cI will stand upon my watch, and set me upon\nthe tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me.\u201d (Hab. 2:1) He\ncalled his semi\u2010monthly publication, \u201cTHE WATCH TOWER\u201d; and, firm in the\nbelief that the Second Advent took place in 1874, he included as a sub\u2010\ntitle, \u201cAnd Herald of Christ\u2019s Presence.\u201d The north symbolizes the\nspiritual phase of the Kingdom of God. (Isa. 14:13; D. 653.) Pastor\nRussell beheld coming, permitted by God, a great Time of Trouble, a\nwhirlwind of warfare, revolution and anarchy. (Jer. 25:32; Psa. 58:9, 10;\nD. 528.) It was the cloud accompanying the approach to human affairs of\nHim for whose Kingdom many have so long prayed. \u201cClouds and darkness are\nround about Him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His\nThrone, a fire goeth before Him and burneth up His enemies round about.\u201d\n(Psa. 97:2) A conflagration, beginning with world war, is upon the earth,\ndeveloping into revolution and anarchy. Fire symbolises the last of these\nmisfortunes. (Dan. 7:11) The situation is complicated, infolding,\nperplexing. None of the national leaders understand the situation. To the\npoor world, in gross darkness, and lying \u201cin the wicked one,\u201d the cloud is\nfull of darkness (Isa. 60:2), of gloominess (Joel 2:2; Zeph. 1:15); but to\nthose who are taken out of the world and into Christ, it is full of\nbrightness and hope\u2014a white cloud, with a silver lining. In the bright\nlight of the dawning Day of Christ the faces of the Lord\u2019s people light up\nwith joy as they see these things coming to pass; for their \u201cdeliverance\ndraweth nigh\u201d (Luke 21:28)\u2014the deliverance, too, of the whole world from\nthe kingdom of Satan, the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), into the\nglorious Kingdom of God, the other side of the trouble. With the\nunderstanding of God, His work, plan and purpose, there shone forth the\namber, golden glow of the Divine presence, and of the true character,\nnature and glory of the Almighty God of Love. The Father Himself is\nsupervising the troublous commotion, bruising to heal (Hos. 6:1), and\n\u201cshortening the days.\u201d\u2014Matt. 24:22.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n One Of The Living Creatures\n\n\n1:5. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living\ncreatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a\nman.\u2014Out of the contemplation of the cloud of trouble, the worldwide\ncommotion, the destructive anarchy, and of the golden amber glow of God\u2019s\npresence, came a wonderful understanding of something long misunderstood\nand misrepresented\u2014the character of God. As the vision showed \u201cfour living\ncreatures,\u201d so the Divine character was seen by the Laodicean steward to\nconsist of four active principles (Rev. 3:14); Justice, Power, Love and\nWisdom. The four have the likeness of a perfect man.\n\n1:6. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.\u2014Each of\nthe four attributes has four characteristics or attributes; and each has\nthe Word of God (wings\u2014Rev. 12:14), in the Old and New Testament, in two\ndifferent ways of operation (two pairs).\n\n1:7. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was\nlike the sole of a calf\u2019s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of\nburnished brass.\u2014The feet members of Christ, embodying the Divine\nattributes on earth, are righteous (straight) in Christ\u2019s righteousness,\npure, unblemished in God\u2019s sight, holy, acceptable, living sacrifices (the\ncalf is a type of unblemished sacrifice); and they shine with the imputed\nperfection of the Man Christ Jesus.\n\n1:8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four\nsides: and they four had their faces and their wings.\u2014The hand is symbolic\nof power and of execution of purpose. Overshadowed by the Word of God is\nthe Divine power (hand) to execute the thing purposed, operating through\nhuman channels, through the power of men. He shows the qualities of the\nDivine mind through man. Shielded, protected, sustained by the Word\n(wings)\u2014(Psa. 61:4), the work of the Almighty goes on through \u201cthe\nfoolishness of preaching.\u201d (1 Cor. 1:21.) Men and women are \u201ccoworkers\nwith God.\u201d (2 Cor. 6:1.) The hands (powers) of man are instruments for the\noperation of infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\n\n1:9. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they\nwent; they went everyone straight forward.\u2014The wings (Psa. 91:4; Rev.\n12:14) are perfectly joined together in unity of purpose and action.\nStraight on to the end ordained of God goes His Word, upholding and\nstrengthening.\u2014Isa. 46:10, 11.\n\n1:10. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man,\nand the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of\nan ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.\u2014The\ncharacter of Jehovah possesses four fundamental attributes, each composed\nof all the others. The four faces or features of the living creatures\nrepresent the four attributes of God, each inseparable from the others,\nand in each operate each and all of the four. Divine Justice operates in\nthe fulness of Power, Love and Wisdom. In the fall of man into sin,\nunbending Justice enforced death for disobedience. Love delayed the\nexecution of the sentence upon Adam 930 years (Gen. 5:5), that Wisdom\nmight impress upon the erring human son an indelible lesson of the\nexceeding sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7:13) and the extent of the penalty,\ndeath, that man, by said experience, might \u201cknow evil.\u201d (Gen. 3:5.) Divine\npower will raise man from the dead, that he may learn to \u201cknow good\u201d and\nexperience the fulness of the Father\u2019s Love and Wisdom. All who are\nwilling and obedient, who consecrate fully to God\u2019s will, shall enjoy\n\u201cpleasures forevermore\u201d (Psa. 16:11) in the sunshine of Divine favor. The\nunwilling and disobedient shall suffer the full penalty of Justice in the\nSecond Death (Rev. 21:8), \u201cutter destruction\u201d (2 Thes. 1:9), final and\neternal obliteration. (Psa. 37:10.) The face of a man symbolizes the\nquality of Love, in the character image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27),\nthe God of love. (1 John 4:8.) The ox represents Power (Rev. 4:7); for no\nanimal is stronger, or more patient in the exercise of strength. The\nmajestic lion is God\u2019s Justice, roaring its message of death, and\nexecuting all that oppose its voice. (Psa. 89:14.) No other creature is so\nfar\u2010sighted, or soars so high as the eagle. The eagle symbolizes Wisdom,\nfar\u2010seeing, ordering all the affairs of the Almighty along the lines of\nJustice, Power and Love.\n\n1:11. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two\nwings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their\nbodies.\u2014Each pair of wings (Rev. 12:14) symbolizes a separate function of\nGod\u2019s Word; one pair to fly with, to carry forward the Plan in the spirit\nrealm, the powers of the air (Eph. 2:2), the other to uphold \u201call things\nby the Word\u201d (Heb. 1:3) and to cover and protect.\u2014Psa. 91:4.\n\n1:12. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to\ngo, they went; and they turned not when they went.\u2014Not with wavering, as\ndarkened minds imagine, proceeds the Divine Word, but \u201cwithout\nvariableness or shadow of turning.\u201d (Jas. 1:17.) Wheresoever the mind, or\nSpirit, of Jehovah sends forth His Word, thither straight onward go\nperfect Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\n\n1:13. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was\nlike burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up\nand down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of\nthe fire went forth lightning.\u2014God\u2019s Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom glow\nwith the light of wisdom. The understanding of God\u2019s attributes makes\nevery quality of the Almighty to glow with a wondrous illumination to\nanyone given to see the \u201cvisions of God\u201d first perceived clearly by the\nLaodicean Servant. \u201cThy Word is a lamp\u201d (Psa. 119:105), shedding light in\nthe darkness, effecting a personal local illumination. The Word is a lamp\nto the \u201cfeet\u201d members of Christ. (Eph. 1:23.) Up and down, everywhere,\nthroughout all the Divine qualities, wherever manifested, spreads the\nillumination now shining through the Lamp, the Word.\n\n1:14. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a\nflash of lightning.\u2014In the operation of Divine Justice, Power, Love and\nWisdom are sudden gleams of Heavenly wisdom upon great problems, such as\nnow light up the dark clouds of the Time of Trouble.\n\n1:15. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the\nearth by the living creatures, with his four faces.\u2014The word \u201ccycle,\u201d or\n\u201cwheel,\u201d is familiar in bicycle, motorcycle, and in cycle as applied to\nepochs. The Divine attributes operate upon human society, the symbolic\nearth, in cycles, or ages (Eph. 3:11), and in the mechanisms of ages by\nwhich God\u2019s Plan is carried forward, His character, or face, is seen.\n\n1:16. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour\nof a beryl: and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their\nwork was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.\u2014Pliny says of the\nberyl or chrysolithos, \u201cIt is a transparent stone with a refulgence like\nthat of gold.\u201d Says Smith\u2019s Bible Dictionary, \u201cThe ancient chrysolithos,\nor modern topaz, appears to have a better claim than any other stone to\nrepresent the _tarshish_ of the Hebrew Bible.\u201d Gold is symbolic of things\nDivine. These golden cycles are the Divinely appointed ages in connection\nwith the four attributes of Deity. The Divine operations are not in one\nsimple age, cycle, or manner of operation, but cycle within cycle, age\nwithin age, many operations working together \u201cmanifold\u201d (Eph. 3:10), like\na vast and complicated machine.\n\n1:17. When they went, they went upon their four sides; and they turned not\nwhen they went.\u2014Divine Justice conflicts not with Divine Love, nor with\nWisdom nor Power, but all qualities are in simultaneous operation. They\nproceed along lines planned ages ago.\u2014Jas. 1:17.\n\n1:18. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and\ntheir rings were full of eyes round about them four.\u2014\u201cAs the heavens are\nhigher than the earth, so are My ways (plans) higher than your ways.\u201d\n(Isa. 55:9.) The Plan of the Ages reveals the lengths, breadths, heights\nand depths of the purposes of God, and fills the reverent soul with awe.\nThe Plan of God is full of the infinite Wisdom (eyes\u2014Psa. 32:8) of its\nAuthor.\u2014B. 305.\n\n1:19. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and\nwhen the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were\nlifted up.\u2014Whenever God\u2019s attributes operate they are in accordance with\nthe Divine Plan; sometimes the Divine qualities are exercised towards\ncelestial things and sometimes towards things terrestrial.\u20141 Cor. 15:40.\n\n1:20. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their\nspirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the\nspirit of the living creature was in the wheels.\u2014The Spirit, or Power of\nGod, is in all His attributes and in all their operations.\n\n1:21. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and\nwhen those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over\nagainst them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.\u2014In\nwhatever direction the Divine Spirit is to act, whether in earthly things\nor among spirit beings, thither the operations of the Spirit go in the\ncooperative action of all God\u2019s attributes. When an age is finished and\none attribute ceases its action, they all cease.\n\n1:22. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living\ncreature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over\ntheir heads above.\u2014The firmament in the air or atmosphere (Gen. 1:20), and\nsymbolizes the powers of spiritual control. Above the attributes of God\nand controlling their operations is the Divine will. The expression of\nGod\u2019s will during the time indicated by the vision is the Christ, Head and\nBody. \u201cAll power in Heaven and in earth\u201d (Matt. 28:18) is given unto\nChrist, and will be shared by His Bride and Joint\u2010heir. (Rev. 20:4.) \u201cThe\nterrible crystal\u201d\u2014literally \u201cthe reverential ice\u201d\u2014suggests the reverence\ndue to the ruling Christ Head and Body, and their own reverential attitude\ntowards the Father. The color is that of ice, clear as crystal, pure,\nunmixed \u201ctruth in the inward parts\u201d (Psa. 51:6), characterizing the new\nruling powers in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God.\n\n1:23. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward\nthe other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one\nhad two, which covered on that side, their bodies.\u2014Beneath, subject to the\ndirection of the Christ, Head and Church triumphant, are the wings (Word\nof God\u2014Rev. 12:14). Whenever Divine Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom are in\naction, the Word of God points straight up to the Father as the Source of\nevery good thing.\n\n1:24. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise\nof great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the\nnoise of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings.\u2014The sound of\nthe Father\u2019s Word is as the voice of great waters (Rev. 1:15), mighty\ntruths, in \u201cthe voice of speech,\u201d for the benefit of His children. It is\nthe voice of God, too, when spoken by His people. When Divine Justice,\nPower, Love and Wisdom operate upon human society, then the Word of God is\nin full harmony therewith.\n\n1:25. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads,\nwhen they stood, and had let down their wings.\u2014It is through the reigning\nChrist, Zion, that the voice of Jehovah shall sound forth. \u201cThe Lord will\nroar from Zion.\u201d (Amos 1:2.) \u201cOut of Zion shall go forth the Law.\u201d (Isa.\n2:3.) Through The Christ sounds forth the Word of God bespeaking to the\nworld infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.\n\n1:26. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness\nof a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness\nof the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a Man above upon\nit.\u2014\u201cTHE HEAD OF CHRIST IS GOD.\u201d (1 Cor. 11:3.) Above the triumphant\nChrist, Head and Body, is the Throne of Almighty God. \u201cThe Son [is]\nsubject to Him that put all things under Him.\u201d (1 Cor. 15:28.) The Throne\nrepresents the dominion of God. As the blue sapphire (symbolic of\nfaithfulness), so is the rulership of the Almighty. \u201cGod is faithful.\u201d (1\nCor. 1:9.) In the contemplation of the watchers, the faithfulness,\nunchangeableness of God, is seen shining through the Christ, the\nfirmament, like the soft blue of the sapphire stone. Man is in the image\nand likeness of God. Reigning over all is One whom men can understand, a\nDeity whose perfect Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom elicit complete\nconsecration. God is seen to be not a ferocious demon, belying His own\ncommand of love, but a just, reasonable, loving God, able to save all the\nwilling and obedient. Jesus, the friend of sinners, was and is the perfect\nimage of the Father.\n\n1:27. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round\nabout within it, from the appearance of His loins even upward, and from\nthe appearance of His loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance\nof fire, and it had brightness round about.\u2014\u201cGod dwelleth in light whereto\nno man can approach.\u201d (1 Tim. 6:16.) Radiant is the Almighty with the\ngolden glow of the Divine nature. \u201cOur God is a consuming fire\u201d (Heb.\n12:29); only the perfect can stand in His presence; for all dross, not\nrefinable (Mal. 3:2, 3), is consumed by Justice. The essence of the Divine\nRevelation is Love, the golden light radiating in every direction from Our\nFather. \u201cHe that loveth his brother abideth in the light\u201d (1 John 2:10),\nin the Divine love\u2010light that surrounds the Throne and pervades the entire\nspirit realm. This love is the light of the world, to light men unto God.\n\n1:28. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of\nrain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the\nappearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I\nfell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.\u2014The Throne and\nHe that sat thereon were surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow.\n(Rev. 4:3.) The love spirit finds fruitage in character fruits. So the\nlight of our Father is divisible into the warm red of love, the glowing\nblue of faithfulness, the brilliant green of immortality, the royal purple\nof kingship, for those on any plane who are worthy of that honor, etc.\u2014the\nmanifestation of every good character fruit and every good purpose for the\nblessing of all His creatures. (John 15:8; Gal. 5:22.) The glory of God is\nnot a display of blinding light to terrify men; but it is to do good, to\nmanifest to the uttermost His character of love. When the watchman of the\nLaodicean age discerned the Divine character and Plan he fell upon his\nface (Rev. 1:17), in reverential worship and in complete consecration to\ndo the will of his Father in Heaven. There sounded forth and through him,\nfrom the pages of God\u2019s Word (Isa. 30:21), the voice of the Sublime One\nwho has been speaking to Christendom during this dawn of the Golden Age.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 2\u2014The Rebellious House And The Book\n\n\n2:1. And He said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will\nspeak unto thee.\u2014It is a mark of favor to stand before a king. (Prov.\n22:29.) Those who stand before rulers receive commissions, are invested\nwith authority and power.\n\n2:2. And the spirit entered into me when He spake unto me, and set me upon\nmy feet, that I heard Him that spake unto me.\u2014\u201cThe words which I speak,\nthey are spirit.\u201d (John 6:63.) When the full import of the Word was\ndiscerned, Pastor Russell took a firm stand. The spirit, power, influence\nof God entered into him, never to leave. He stood firmly, before God,\nbefore his friends, and before all the hostile hosts of Mystic Babylon the\nGreat.\n\n2:3. And He said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of\nIsrael, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against Me; they and\ntheir fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very\nday.\u2014Pastor Russell\u2019s work was largely among professing Christians\u2014not\nslum work, Christian work among the professedly non\u2010Christians, or a\nrevivalistic work calling to repentance and conversion. This was not the\nwork appropriate to the Harvest of the Christian Age. John the Baptist\nannounced the First Presence of Messiah, and began the harvesting of\nJewry, and was not sent to the heathen, but to the Lord\u2019s people, the\nJews, to acquaint them with the First Advent, expose those withholding the\nkeys of knowledge (Luke 11:52), and warn of the impending destruction of\nJerusalem and Judea in A. D. 70 and 73. (Matt. 3:7; 24:2.) A like work was\nto be accomplished in Spiritual Israel, Christendom, after the Lord\u2019s\nSecond Advent in 1874. The man raised up, \u201cset upon his feet,\u201d and given\nwisdom, grace and power for the task, was Pastor Russell.\n\n2:4. For they are impudent children and stiff\u2010hearted. I do send thee unto\nthem; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.\u2014Few things\nare more trying than a family of impudent children. Forwardness in evil\u2010\ndoing and evil\u2010speaking was one of the characteristics of the Hebrew\npeople. They violated the Word of God and justified the violation. (Matt.\n15:5.) By impudent\u2014hard faced\u2014tradition they made void the Word of God.\nThe effrontery of the \u201cChristian\u201d era has been unsurpassed. Possessing\ngreatest light, they have sinned most grievously. The Word said, \u201cHe that\nis begotten of God sinneth not\u201d (1 John 3:9); yet John Tetzel was, and in\nsome countries Roman Catholic priests still are, selling indulgences to\ncommit sin. Professing \u201cChristians\u201d keep Christianity out of their affairs\nwith the phrase, \u201cBusiness is business.\u201d\n\n2:5. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for\nthey are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a\nProphet among them.\u2014The work of Ezekiel among the Hebrews in captivity\nproved a thankless task. He was rejected by both those in captivity and\nthose remaining at Jerusalem under Zedekiah. His following was almost\nnothing. But he witnessed faithfully, and no Hebrew could say that he had\nnot been cautioned of danger and warned of impending catastrophe. Whether\nthe clergy and people of Christendom wished to heed Pastor Russell or not,\nthey certainly heard his words. (Z. \u201903\u2010436.) His work was peculiarly\nprospered. Against difficulties it grew and extended beyond the wildest\ndreams, until it compassed the civilized world. In the face of the united\nopposition of Protestant and Romanist clergy, the steward of Almighty God\naccomplished the most gigantic preaching work ever done by one man. \u201cI\ncannot open the morning paper without Pastor Russell staring me in the\nface,\u201d said a prominent minister. In the newspapers, in the theatres, on\nthe bill\u2010boards, in billions of tract pages distributed gratis, in\nmillions of home libraries, in the questions of inquiring church members,\nit was evident everywhere that a great preacher was faithfully sounding\nforth a trumpet message. With a voice of many waters, reverberating like\nthunder throughout the world, spoke Pastor Russell; and ere long \u201cthey\nshall know that there hath been a Prophet [preacher] among them.\u201d\n\n2:6, 7. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of\ntheir words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell\namong scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their\nlooks though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak My words,\nunto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they\nare most rebellious.\u2014Fearlessness characterized Ezekiel and Pastor\nRussell, both outcasts among the \u201cbest\u201d people. Pastor Russell was thrust\nby the church people into a wilderness condition, amid the briers of\nopposition and reproach. Though the thorns of persecution crowned his\nhead, he was never afraid of words nor of angry looks. (Jer. 1:8\u201010.) \u201cI\nwould rather see him stoned to death,\u201d said a Wilkes\u2010Barre, Pa. preacher,\nin answer to a kindly invitation to come and hear Pastor Russell preach.\n\u201cHe ought to be skinned alive, and his hide stretched on a door,\u201d remarked\na Chicago \u201cdivine\u201d to another \u201cdivine,\u201d coming out from one of Pastor\nRussell\u2019s addresses. A scorpion has a great swelling, formidable looking\nhead, but it stings with its tail. (Rev. 9:5, 10.) Ecclesiasticism is made\nup of organizations whose heads utter boastful, swelling words, but which\ndo injury through their followers. The sting of a scorpion\u2014of the\nfollowers of synods and popes\u2014is through poisoned words. Every great\nreformer has had some turn on him who were very close to him. Not from\noutside did Pastor Russell suffer most. A few from among his own\nhousehold, whom he had befriended, helped, pushed, advanced, struck at him\nto ruin him and destroy his influence and his work. It is characteristic\nof the scorpion to sting and poison in the dark corners of a man\u2019s own\nhome. \u201cBe not afraid, though thou dost dwell among scorpions.\u201d\n\n2:8. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou\nrebellious like that rebellious house; open thy mouth, and eat that I give\nthee.\u2014The attitude of the rebellious Christian was not that of God\u2019s\nchosen servant. Never did he rebel against the Divine leading, nor seek to\npervert the Word of God. \u201cMy flesh is meat (food) indeed.\u201d (Jno. 6:55.)\n\u201cMan shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out\nof the mouth of God.\u201d (Matt. 4:4.) Whatever the word or message that came\nfrom the Father\u2019s lips through the inspired pages of the Bible, the\nLaodicean steward was to appropriate, assimilate.\u2014Rev. 10:9.\n\n2:9. And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of\na book was therein.\u2014The Divine hand sent from God is the Divine power,\nsupport, upholding and advancing the interests of whatever is in the hand.\n\u201cThe book therein\u201d is the Divine Plan of the Ages, Present Truth,\nespecially as relating to the impending downfall of Christendom in the end\nof this Age. Ancient books were written on a continuous sheet, rolled up.\nThe sheet was often written on both sides. The writing outside could be\nplainly read until covered by the rolling, but that inside was entirely\nhidden from view. Present Truth, the Divine Plan of the Ages, contains\nfeatures which are plain to any one who looks at them; such as those\nrelating to the earthly features of God\u2019s Plan\u2014the evil in the earth, the\nclashing interests of rich and poor, and various other elements of the\npresent order of things, the great war, and the approach of a better order\nof things after the present troubles are over. Present Truth, \u201cthe roll of\nthe book,\u201d also contains hidden, deep truths, discernible only to those\nwho have the Holy Spirit. It possesses features impossible for natural\nmen, not anointed with the Spirit, to perceive. \u201cThe natural man\nperceiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them; for\nthey are spiritually discerned.\u201d (1 Cor. 2:14.) Many thousands of\nconsecrated Christians are upheld, comforted and rejoiced by the deep\nthings of God, made clear for the first time in centuries by the \u201croll of\nthe book.\u201d\n\n2:10. And He spread it before me; and it was written within and without;\nand there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.\u2014What an\nhonor to be the person before whom the Almighty would clearly spread out\nHis purposes,\u2014the honor which came to Pastor Russell, and with it a\nwitness work of vast extent and responsibility! The purpose of Present\nTruth is to inform the Lord\u2019s people and the people of the world, as far\nas they may listen, concerning the significance of the times. All classes\nprofit more or less from the warning of Pastor Russell, as the message\ngoes broadcast throughout the world. It comes with a different\nsignificance to Church and to world. To the Church it is a trumpet call of\ntruth (Rev. 10:2\u20107), to get ready quickly for deliverance, resurrection\nglory, honor and immortality. To the world, the worldly\u2010minded, the\nPresent Truth is something to be dreaded. (Isa. 28:19.) This world, age,\nstate of affairs, is in process of destruction. The destroying agencies,\nas portrayed in the Scriptures (1 Kings 19:11, 12; Z. \u201904\u2010249; Z. \u201998\u2010207,\n208) are world\u2010wide war, then revolutions on an unprecedented scale, and\nfinally universal anarchy\u2014savagery. The significance of anarchy is\nappreciated by but few. It means an utter absence of government, first the\nparalysis, and ultimately the ceasing, of the governmental functions which\nnow afford protection, peace and safety to property and life. As matters\nprogress to the climax, as disaster after disaster overtakes human effort,\nand disintegration descends into the dissolution of law and order, the\nwhole earth will be \u201cfilled with violence\u201d. (Gen. 6:11; Micah 6:12); and\nmen\u2019s hearts will utterly fail. (Luke 21:26.) Picture the worst\nrevolutions ever known; this trouble will outdo them all. Paint the\ndarkest picture, and none will be as black as the sable pall of this\ndreadful night, this reign of terror already settling down upon mankind.\nTruly, \u201cmourning, lamentation and woe\u201d were the burden of God\u2019s Prophet\nEzekiel, as he foresaw the destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem\u2014and\nof Pastor Russell, as he foreknew the desolation of a world!\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 3\u2014Pastor Russell\u2019s Divine Ordination\n\n\n3:1. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this\nroll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.\u2014The Prophet was to find\nsomething. As Ezekiel ate the book in the hand of God, so the \u201cfaithful\nand wise servant\u201d of this day absorbed, assimilated, the Plan of the Ages\nwhich was in the power (hand) of the Almighty. Pastor Russell searched\ndiligently to find all that he could of the purposes of God. As he\nunderstood, he was to go speak to \u201cthe House of Sons\u201d (Heb. 3:6), all the\nchildren, sons of God\u2014to nominal Spiritual Israelites.\n\n3:2. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll.\u2014\u201cI never\nknew any one so willing to do the will of God,\u201d said the private secretary\nand traveling companion of Pastor Russell. He was eager to learn all he\ncould about the Heavenly Father\u2019s will. It was not of himself that he\nlearned and taught the Divine Plan; but God Himself caused him to learn,\nbelieve and teach.\n\n3:3. And He said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy\nbowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in\nmy mouth as honey for sweetness.\u2014No mere casual scanning of Present Truth\nwould suffice. The man of God was to be filled with the great Message.\n(Rev. 10:9, 10.) \u201cThe sweetest story ever told\u201d (Psa. 19:10; 119:103)\nbrought inexpressible peace. It sweetened the experiences of a life of\nsacrifice. Whoever eats, assimilates Present Truth, finds every heart\nquestion answered, every doubt silenced. He learns \u201cthe peace of God that\npasseth understanding\u201d (Phil. 4:7), and a sweetness as of honey in the\npromises, plans, and purposes of the Father of Love.\n\n3:4. And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of\nIsrael, and speak with My words unto them.\u2014From apostolic days to today\nall to whom the Spirit gives utterance begin to speak (Acts 2:1\u201018)\nbecause constrained to do so, because they \u201clove to tell the story.\u201d To\nEzekiel, and to the greatest preacher of modern times, came a readiness of\nspeech, when Jehovah Himself gave them His Spirit, and commanded to \u201cget\nthee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.\u201d\n\n3:5. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard\nlanguage, but to the house of Israel.\u2014Present Truth was not to go to the\nheathen, the drunkards, unbelievers, but to the Christian people of the\nworld, the spiritual House of Israel.\n\n3:6. Not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose\nwords thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they\nwould have hearkened unto thee.\u2014If the Message of Present Truth had been\nsent to the heathen with its glad tidings for all, they would have turned\nfrom devil worship, to worship the true God. (Matt. 11:21, 23.) On two\noccasions the trumpet sound was heard by \u201cpeople of a strange speech and\nof a hard language.\u201d Pastor Russell passed through Japan and India on a\nround\u2010the\u2010world tour. In Japan the people requested that he stay. It was\nthe message they had longed for. In India the natives heard him gladly. In\neastern and southern Africa a believer in Present Truth found his way from\nNyassa to the Cape, and many thousands of natives embraced the Truth and\nwere baptised.\n\n3:7. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not\nhearken unto me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and\nhardhearted.\u2014Christendom has never hearkened unto God. They hear and do\nnot. (Jas. 1:22.) They are forgetful hearers of the Word. (Jas. 1:25.)\nThey know their Master\u2019s will and do it not. (Luke 12:47.) Because they\nhear not God, they heed not the Word of God when brought to them by His\nservants.\n\n3:8. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy\nforehead strong against their foreheads.\u2014Whatever situation Pastor Russell\nfaced, God made him more than equal to it. This last and most illustrious\nof the reformers never asked for money; yet he had enough entrusted to him\nto carry on the work. Champions of Christendom met him on the debating\nplatform; each encounter widened and strengthened the witness for Present\nTruth. He faced the modern enemies of Reformation with books by tens of\nmillions, and they were unable to combat their power. \u201cTo read the\n_Studies in the Scriptures_,\u201d admonished a Southern preacher to his flock,\n\u201cis to believe them.\u201d No argument could be devised to stem the flood of\nTruth, only a ban on the reading of the books. In innumerable places\npriestcraft caused the public burning of the books. Practically every home\nin America, England, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and other Protestant\ncountries was reached by a deluge of free tracts. Such a tracting of the\nworld with billions of pages, was never known. The enemies of Truth were\nwholly unable to check the spread of knowledge. A further situation faced\nwas the production of the free Photo\u2010Drama of Creation, seen and heard by\ntwelve millions. No answer could be put forth by clerical foes of truth,\nbut baseless, cruel libels on the private life of one of God\u2019s noblemen.\nAudiences by the thousands listened to Bible lectures by Pastor Russell\nand by hundreds of public speakers, and their voice is still heard all\nover the world. Stinging assaults of slander were ignored by a man of\ndestiny, who had too much of God\u2019s work to do to pay attention to the\nyelpings of little men\u2014of the D. D.\u2019s of Christendom (Isa. 56:10), who\nlove slumber, but who snarl and bite when disturbed in their dreams of\n\u201cpeace, peace\u201d (Jer. 6:14), social and civic gospels, church unity, and\nevangelistic raids on the pockets of the masses. Not a situation or a\nperson but was faced victoriously.\u2014Isa. 54:17.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Pastor Russell in the Critics\u2019 Den\n\n\n3:9. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead; fear them\nnot, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious\nhouse.\u2014The forehead is symbolic of wisdom. A man of high forehead, as was\nPastor Russell, is of a high type of intellect. Pastor Russell\u2019s mind was\nmade strong against opponents of the Reform which is ushering in the\neverlasting Kingdom of Messiah. It is impossible for error to withstand\ntruth. (Luke 21:15.) As in apostolic days, believers in Present Truth call\nthemselves \u201cin the Truth\u201d (2 Pet. 1:12), the teachings of the Word of God\nare termed \u201cthe Truth\u201d (1 John 3:19), and those who believe them are known\nas \u201cTruth people.\u201d (3 John 4.) The mind of Pastor Russell was filled with\nTruth. Crystal clear, with hard, irresistible logic, the Present Truth,\nwhich constituted his wisdom and understanding, was the hardest\nproposition ecclesiasticism ever encountered. (Isa. 50:7.) The mind of\nGod\u2019s steward was as adamant. Adamant is literally, in Hebrew, \u201ca diamond\npoint.\u201d With diamond hardness (Rev. 4:3), the Present Truth cuts its way\nthrough all opposition, though the opposing thought be hard as flint. The\ndiamond is the most crystal clear of stones, and represents the truth in\nirresistible form. It is futile to oppose the mind of any Present Truth\nbeliever, for truth is irrefutable. To those who have it, it imparts the\nmind of an intellectual giant\u2014the mind of Christ, of God. (1 Cor. 2:16.)\nTheir foreheads are made as diamond. In the light of the sun the diamond\nsparkles with indescribable beauty. It breaks the sunlight up into its\ncomponent parts and reflects and refracts in prismatic flashes of rainbow\ncolors. The sun is the Gospel of Divine Love and its embodiment, Jesus\nChrist. The component parts of Christian love are the character fruits.\n\u201cThe fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long\u2010suffering, gentleness,\ngoodness, faith, meekness, temperance.\u201d (Galatians 5:22\u20103.) The minds,\nwisdom, characters of God\u2019s true people are full of manifestations of the\nshining upon them of the glorious Gospel of the Son of Righteousness\u2014full\nof the beauty of righteousness. The minds of God\u2019s saints are made as the\ndiamond in its excelling hardness and sunlit radiance.\n\n3:10. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall\nspeak unto thee receive in thine heart and hear with thine ears.\u2014Like\nEzekiel, Pastor Russell was to hold back, pervert, or wrest _nothing_.\n\n3:11. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy\npeople, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God;\nwhether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.\u2014It was to be a\nmessage for the Lord\u2019s people in captivity to the king of this world.\nSatan, bound in Mystic Babylon the Great, the governmental\u2010ecclesiastical\u2010\ncommercial system of Christendom.\n\n3:12. Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great\nrushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place.\u2014Through\nthe begetting of the Holy Spirit we are raised up to walk in newness of\nlife (Rom. 6:4), to sit with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), in the\nSpirit\u2010begotten condition. The Spirit raised Pastor Russell up to an\nunderstanding and appreciation of Heavenly things. (Matt. 3:16.) At\nPentecost the place where the Apostles were sitting was filled with a\nrushing sound as of a mighty wind, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts\n2:2.) The mighty rushing sound represented Pastor Russell\u2019s receiving a\nrich endowment of the Spirit of God, to whose leadings he was fully\nconsecrated and to whose influence and guidance he wholly devoted his\nlife. The words of Christ and of God are contained in the Bible, written\nthousands of years ago, behind in the stream of time. It was in the Word\nof God, behind him in time (Isa. 30:21), that Pastor Russell perceived the\nrushing sound, the utterances of the Holy Spirit. The message of the Bible\nhas been perverted by Catholic and Protestant misunderstandings into\nanything but a glorious and blessed Gospel. It is a thing to be dreaded,\nif the glory of God is to eternally torment the vast majority of humans.\nBut the Message of Truth sounded forth by Pastor Russell declares the\ngrace of the Gospel which is to reach every man, woman and child (1 Tim.\n2:6) with its blessed influence, power, wisdom and love, so that all\ncreation in due time may join in a mighty paeon of praise. \u201cBlessed be the\nglory of Jehovah from His place.\u201d\u2014Psa. 106:48.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n The Clergy Would Censor The Bible\n\n\n3:13. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that\ntouched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a\nnoise of a great rushing.\u2014Many Christian ministers have had glimpses of\nthe Word of God, knowledge of some details of the Plan, some measure of\nthe Holy Spirit; but to Pastor Russell, God\u2019s messenger to the last stage\nof the Church, was given a superabundance of gifts, to set the things of\nGod in order (Isa. 44:7), to proclaim an harmonious understanding of all\nthe Divine purposes for mankind and of some for the angels. (Eph. 3:10.)\nHe heard the full harmony of \u201cthe song of Moses and the Lamb.\u201d (Rev.\n15:3.) To him the wings (Rev. 12:14), the Word of God, Old Testament and\nNew, sounded their Glad Tidings, a message whose parts \u201ctouched one\nanother,\u201d were in complete touch, full harmony. He heard for the first\ntime since Apostolic days the Plan of God, \u201cthe noise of the wheels\n[cycles, ages].\u201d He heard the manifestations of the operation of the Holy\nSpirit, the \u201cnoise of a great rushing,\u201d and was filled with the Spirit in\na measure beyond the portion of most Christian men. His patience with the\nstupid and erring was godlike and his love\u2010lit face was an inspiration.\n\n3:14. So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in\nbitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong\nupon me.\u2014\u201cGod hath taken you out of the world\u201d (John 17:16); raised \u201cto\nsit with Christ in Heavenly places.\u201d (Eph. 2:6.) The Spirit took Pastor\nRussell away from earthly aims and raised him up to the plane of\nsacrificing priesthood. He turned from commercial pursuits to devote his\nlife to the Heavenly Message. He tasted the bitter herbs of persecution,\nof suffering with Christ; and amid ostracism and persecution he lived the\nlife of Christian service. He carried on his work in fervency of spirit;\nfor the power of God was upon him, strengthening him with might in the\ninner man (Eph. 3:16), and with wisdom to deliver, in the face of the\ndetermined opposition of priestcraft, the trumpet message announcing the\nPresence of Christ\u2014the sound of the Seventh Trumpet, the trump of\nGod.\u2014Rev. 10:7.\n\n3:15. Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel\u2010abib, that dwelt by the\nriver of Chebar, and I sat where they sat and remained there astonished\namong them seven days.\u2014Future historians will record, as most remarkable,\nthe mental, moral and spiritual bondage in which professing Christians\nwere held during the Gospel Age, through the machinations of priestcraft,\nunder the king of the age, Satan himself. Pastor Russell came with his\nmessage, in a day of supposed enlightenment, to a people bound hand and\nfoot. Tel\u2010abib in Hebrew is \u201cHill of Grass\u201d (from \u201cTel,\u201d hill, and \u201cAbib,\u201d\nsprouting, budding). Abib was another name for Nisan, the first month of\nthe Hebrew sacred year, corresponding to April. In type or symbol a place\nrepresents a condition, or a stage in historic development. The \u201chill of\nbudding,\u201d the beginning of the sacred year, symbolizes the dawn of the\nTimes of Restitution, the \u201cMillennial Dawn.\u201d The Millennium (Rev. 20:3, 4,\n7) began in 1874, with the Return of Christ. It was at about that time\nthat Pastor Russell came to his fellow\u2010Christians with the beginning of a\nbetter understanding of the Bible, \u201cthe vision of God.\u201d It was, as it\nwere, the budding\u2010time of the good promises of God for the blessing of all\npeoples. The Christian people lived on and by the stream of commercial,\nsocial and economic intercourse that feeds and supports Christendom,\nBabylon.\n\n3:16. And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the Word of the\nLord came unto me, saying.\u2014In a time prophecy a day in the prophecy\nusually signifies a year in fulfillment. For seven years after Christ\u2019s\nReturn in 1874\u2014until 1881\u2014Pastor Russell, although he knew much of God\u2019s\nPlan, was in some degree in the same condition as other Christians in\nimperfect understanding of God\u2019s Word. In 1881 a former associate, Mr.\nBarbour, of Rochester, N. Y., who had been a faithful fellow\u2010watcher,\ndeveloped into the \u201cEvil servant\u201d of Matt. 24:48\u201061 and Zechariah 11:17,\nand produced a work on the Hebrew Tabernacle types in opposition to the\nfundamentals of true Christianity. Pastor Russell desired the truth on the\nsubject. He gave himself up to prayer and study of this matter alone. For\ndays he struggled with the problem and wrestled with God in supplication.\nAt length the matter cleared up. He then wrote \u201c_Tabernacle Shadows of the\nBetter Sacrifices_.\u201d of which 1,500,000 copies have since aided Christians\nto understand the deeper things of the Word and to make complete\nconsecration unto death. This was in 1881, at which time he also published\n\u201c_Food for Thinking Christians_,\u201d a work embodying much afterwards\nexpanded into the six volumes of \u201c_Studies in the Scriptures_.\u201d The same\nyear, 1881, is prophetically marked at the time for the final withdrawal\nof favor from the churches, a favor which had begun to be withdrawn in\n1878\u2014the year in which the clergy were cast off as representatives of the\nDivine Word, and when Pastor Russell began his work by the publication of\n50,000 copies of \u201c_Object and Manner of the Lord\u2019s Return_.\u201d In 1873 the\nstewardship of the things of God, the teaching of Bible truths, was taken\nfrom the clergy, unfaithful to their age\u2010long stewardship, and given to\nPastor Russell. In the interim, until 1881, the new steward was setting\nthe things in order, getting the truths of the Bible in logical and\nScriptural form for presentation, until the last great item of the Hebrew\nTabernacle types, was ready. Then, in 1881, he became God\u2019s watchman for\nall Christendom, and began his gigantic work of witness.\n\n3:17. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel;\ntherefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me.\u2014The\nfunction of watchmanship was not given until 1881. (Jer. 6:17; Isa.\n21:6\u201012.) Faithfulness in individual watching during a trial period of\nseven years was rewarded by the bestowal of the office of the greatest\nservant whom the Church of God has had since the Apostle Paul. \u201cWhosoever\nwill be chief among you let him be your servant.\u201d (Matt. 20:27.) Pastor\nRussell at all times served the Church in great things and small. No\nrequest was too insignificant to get his careful attention. Rich and poor\nalike were faithfully served in every possible way. This work prior to\n1881 was a great work for any ordinary man, but insignificant compared\nwith what was to follow. By 1884 the watchman\u2019s work had grown to such\nproportions as to cause the founding of THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT\nSOCIETY. This is the agency through which God\u2019s appointed watchman has\ndelivered his message to Christendom. Pastor Russell paid no attention to\nthe words or opinions of man, however learned or pious, whether men of\nmodern days or the \u201cearly fathers\u201d of post\u2010apostolic times. He listened to\nthe word direct from the mouth of God, spoken by holy men of old as moved\nby the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21.) Ezekiel was raised up shortly before\nthe destruction of Jerusalem to warn the Hebrews of the impending\ncalamity. Pastor Russell\u2019s warning to Christendom, coming direct from God,\nhas been of the imminent collapse of the present \u201cChristian\u201d civilization\nin a welter of war, revolution and anarchy, to be succeeded by the early\nestablishment of the Kingdom of God. In all his warnings he claimed no\noriginality. He said that he could never have written his books himself.\nIt all came from God, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.\n\n3:18. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest\nhim not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to\nsave his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his\nblood will I require at thine hand.\u2014Pastor Russell saw and revived the\nteaching of the Word of God that death is death. \u201cAll have sinned.\u201d (Rom.\n3:23.) \u201cDeath passed upon all.\u201d (Romans 5:12.) \u201cThe wages of sin is\ndeath.\u201d (Rom. 6:23.) \u201cThere is none righteous.\u201d (Rom. 3:10.) \u201cThe dead\nsleep in the dust.\u201d (Isa. 26:19.) \u201cTheir thoughts perish.\u201d (Psa. 146:4.)\nHe taught clearly the Word of God first enunciated to Adam, \u201cThou shalt\nsurely die.\u201d (Gen. 2:17.) Man is not inherently immortal. At death he is\ndead, unconscious, asleep until the resurrection, not \u201cmore alive than\never,\u201d as taught by a blinded and apostate priestcraft. Man, soul and\nbody, is not a being whom God cannot destroy. \u201cFear Him who is able to\ndestroy both soul and body.\u201d (Matt. 10:28.) To all erring mankind Pastor\nRussell was directed by God to reiterate the Divine penalty for sin, as\ndeath, and not eternal torment. This was a fundamental part of the message\nboth of Ezekiel and of Pastor Russell.\n\n3:19. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness,\nnor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast\ndelivered thy soul.\u2014Pastor Russell faithfully warned the wicked. He\npublished a complete exposition of the Bible statements regarding the\nAdamic death\u20143,000,000 copies of a pamphlet, \u201cWhat Say the Scriptures\nAbout Hell,\u201d quoting all Bible passages mentioning Sheol and Hades, the\ndeath state. He scarcely ever spoke in public without dwelling on this\ncardinal tenet, that the dead are dead. To the very best of his ability he\ntaught Christendom the truth. By faithful testimony he delivered himself\nfrom liability.\n\n3:20, 21. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness,\nand commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die:\nbecause thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his\nrighteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood\nwill I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous\nman, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely\nlive, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.\u2014Another\ncardinal teaching of God\u2019s Word, clearly taught by Pastor Russell, is the\nnature of the eternal punishment to be visited upon the incorrigible\nbackslider. Clergy, bishops and popes have taught for centuries on this\nsubject an irrational combination of extreme symbolism with gross\nliteralism, as suited their ambition to exercise worldly power and hold\nthe masses in subjection\u2014minds, bodies and pocketbooks. They have\ninterpreted one symbolism symbolically and the next literally. They have\nsaid that the \u201cLake of Fire\u201d and the \u201ctorment\u201d are literal, but that the\n\u201cbeast\u201d and the \u201cfalse prophet\u201d are symbolic (Rev. 19:20), even though it\ninvolved the absurdity of a symbolic beast going into a literal lake of\nfire! Blind and deaf to those who have pointed out the unreasonableness of\nsuch foolishness, they have turned savagely upon those that have the\nTruth. In eighteen centuries they have killed fifty million adherents of\nChrist, and persecuted innumerable others. It is impossible to compute the\nnumber that they will do to death in this, the close of the Gospel\u2010Age\nHarvest, when governmental protection shall be withdrawn from lovers of\ntruth, except that, this time, they will get _all_ such!\n\nAn important feature of Pastor Russell\u2019s teaching is that the Scriptural\npunishment of the incorrigibly wicked is not life in torment but oblivion,\nannihilation, the \u201csecond death\u201d (Rev. 21:8); that every one is, either in\nthis life or after the resurrection, to be brought to a full knowledge of\nthe Truth (1 Tim. 2:4); to receive some measure of the Holy Spirit; that\nthose who incur the extreme penalty for sin will be only those who\nbackslide beyond recovery. In full conformity with Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy\nPastor Russell taught that \u201cwhen a righteous man doth commit iniquity, he\nshall die\u201d\u2014the Second Death.\n\n3:22. And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and He said unto me,\nArise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.\u2014Ezekiel\nwas impelled by the Holy Spirit to depart from the river Chebar with its\nteeming activities. Pastor Russell\u2019s consecration led him to separate\nhimself from commercial activities and to give his life to the service of\nGod. The hand of the Lord was upon him to do this. The Lord\u2019s people, the\nHebrews, mingled with the Chaldeans, living in the plain\u2014literally \u201cvale\u201d\nor \u201cvalley.\u201d Pastor Russell turned from ordinary avocations to all the\npeople dwelling in the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psa. 23:4); and in\nthat condition God communed with His true Watchman. Pastor Russell has\nbeen known to pass entire nights in prayer, and go about his work the next\nday as though nothing unusual had taken place.\u2014Rev. 3:14.\n\n3:23. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain; and, behold, the glory\nof the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar:\nand I fell on my face.\u2014Continually the vision was before Pastor Russell of\nthe character, plan and work of the Almighty. Daily he renewed his\ncovenant of consecration and daily sought to carry it out.\n\n3:24. Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake\nwith me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.\u2014A thought\npossesses propulsive power, and must result in action unless hindered by\nan opposing thought. The Spirit, thoughts, words of God were continually\nentering, from the Bible, into Pastor Russell\u2019s mind and setting him into\naction. All who have set themselves apart to do the will of God and have\nreceived the Holy Spirit, are members of Christ, in the House of Sons\n(Heb. 3:6), the Royal Priesthood. In the consecration of the typical\npriesthood, the priest shut himself in the Tabernacle for seven days.\n(Lev. 8:33.) (Seven symbolizes completeness.) So Christ and those in Him\nabide continually in the antitypical Holy, the spirit\u2010begotten condition.\nPastor Russell lived in the Spirit from his consecration to his death.\n\n3:25. But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and\nshall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them.\u2014Each\nforward step in any branch of knowledge renders institutions based on past\npartial knowledge functionless; and consequently the adherents and\nbeneficiaries of such institutions oppose the march of events. The clergy,\ntrying to stem the tide of Truth, to uphold an effete ecclesiasticism\ntottering to its fall, put every restraint upon the influence of Pastor\nRussell; but the bands upon him served also to bind the tares more tightly\ninto the organization bundles. (Matt. 13:30.) In fulfillment of the\nprophetic parable the bundles are to be destroyed in the anarchy about to\nensue. Church members have been urged to get rid of every scrap of paper\nbearing the Message of Present Truth; the Truth has been preached against\nin practically every church in the English, German and Swedish speaking\nworld; people have been warned against reading the Truth; Truth people\nhave been discharged or refused employment; in Europe they have been\nimprisoned at hard labor; some have been done to death by firing squads;\nthey have been forbidden to hold meetings. Neither Pastor Russell nor his\nfellow\u2010believers were permitted to utter the Bible Truth before the\ncongregations of ecclesiasticism. It was not to go out among \u201cthem,\u201d and\nhis greatest work was the deepening of the spirit of consecration among\nthose of the \u201cHouse of Sons.\u201d\n\n3:26. And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that\nthou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a\nrebellious house.\u2014It is impossible to witness spiritual things to the\ncarnally\u2010minded (1 Cor. 3:1; John 16:12). But Pastor Russell never\nrefrained from speaking or publishing the Word of God. The Bible teaches\nthat the service of God must be of a willing heart. It is a privilege\nwhich may be accepted or rejected, as the hearer desires. Yet to the\nworldly, Pastor Russell was as \u201cdumb\u201d, for they would not hear.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 4\u2014The Papal And Protestant Sieges\n\n\n4:1. Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and\nportray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.\u2014In Ezekiel\u2019s days, in Chaldea, a\nbook was a collection of inscribed tiles. The Laodicean servant was to be\na writer of books. In many articles and chapters on the kingdoms of this\nworld and their judgment and fall, and that of their ecclesiastical,\npolitical and business systems, Pastor Russell portrays Christendom,\ntypically spoken of as Jerusalem. It bore the Lord\u2019s name, but was defiled\nby the evil practices of its inhabitants. (C. 295.) As a type, Jerusalem\nrepresents particularly the ecclesiastical phase of Christendom.\n\n4:2. And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a\nmount against it, set the camp also against it, and set battering rams\nagainst it round about.\u2014Ecclesiasticism was to experience prolonged siege\nby a class symbolized by Ezekiel. The siege was to be conducted by Truth,\nencompassing the stronghold of the nominal city of God. Beleaguered\necclesiasticism was to go through experiences like that of a besieged city\nshut off from its province, shorn of its actual dominion, while nominally\nretaining it, cut off from the supplies that had flowed from the tributary\npeoples. In addition to the slow weakening of a close besiegement, it was\nto withstand occasional assaults, make sorties and go through a period of\nwarfare, with only one possible end, the utter destruction of the city.\nThe besieged city was surrounded on every side with a line of military\nworks, trenches, palisades and forts, collectively called a fort; from\nwhich, especially from the principal center of offense, it was continually\nharassed by wearing\u2010down activities and assaulted by surprise attacks. So\necclesiasticism was to be surrounded and placed on the defensive, by\nstrongly entrenched and fortified enemies. \u201cGod is our fortress.\u201d (2 Sam.\n22:2.) It was to be done by a class of progressive and liberty\u2010loving\nChristians in revolt against and attack upon the intolerance,\nsuperstition, and tyranny of priestcraft.\n\nAncient cities were surrounded by high walls, with frequent towers for\nwatchmen, spearmen, bowmen and slingmen. The walls, in emergencies, were\nlined with such fighters and with throwers of boulders and firebrands. The\nattack was made upon a weak point in the wall; and an earthen mound or\nmounds was cast up to furnish an elevation from which to equalize for the\nbesiegers the advantages of the defenders. The walls of ecclesiasticism\nare its defense of creeds and of formalism and, not least of all, of the\ncivil powers and the men who stand as a bulwark against attack. A \u201cmount\u201d\nsymbolizes a government. (Dan. 2:44, 45.) The nation (mount) was\norganized, militant Protestantism. The camp is the temporary abiding place\nof those who are fighting on the Lord\u2019s side. (Heb. 13:13.) A battering\nram was a device for battering down the wall of a city to make a breach\nfor the attack of the soldiery. Ecclesiasticism has surrounded itself with\nwalls of living stones, soldiers, police and other officers of the civil\npowers who protect the churches and church people (Isa. 59:10), educators\nto build up belief in ecclesiasticism, writers to write articles and\nbooks, and a host of other adherents and supporters. In the siege of\necclesiasticism the Lord\u2019s yeomen have attacked aggressively with books,\nnewspapers, missionaries, lectures and education; seeking to loosen and\ndislodge some of the living stones surrounding organized error.\u2014Jer. 6:6.\n\n4:3. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of\niron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it shall\nbe besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to\nthe house of Israel.\u2014An iron pan, literally a \u201cthin plate,\u201d was between\nbesieging Protestantism and beleaguered ecclesiasticism. \u201cThey were holpen\nwith a little help\u201d (Dan. 11:34). The civil powers were to stand as a wall\nof iron protecting the Lord\u2019s people from the persecuting power of ruling\npriestcraft. No breaches could be made in the wall. It was a \u201cwall of\niron.\u201d \u201cNo evil shall befall thee.\u201d (Psa. 91:10.) \u201cGreater is He that is\nfor thee than all these that be against thee.\u201d (2 Kings 6:16.) Iron, as in\nthe iron claws and teeth of the beast of Daniel, symbolizes the agencies\nof an irresistible power. Turning the face toward or against anything was\na mark of favor or of disfavor. (Psa. 104:29.) The Lord\u2019s people were\nresolutely to disfavor established ecclesiasticism and to besiege it from\nthe Reformation to the close of the Harvest. When Ezekiel sees another\ndoing something it usually signifies another than Pastor Russell doing it,\nbut may signify Pastor Russell seeing himself, or the Ezekiel class. The\nEzekiel prophecy types and symbolizes Pastor Russell or the Reformer class\nseeing Pastor Russell or the Reformer class or some member of that class\ndoing the thing typed or symbolized. Here, the Protestant class from the\nProtestant Reformation down through the Harvest period, is seen\nsystematically and effectually besieging established ecclesiasticism. The\nhouse of Israel ordinarily meant the Hebrew nation, the nominal fleshly\nhouse of Israel. The Hebrews were divided into the ten tribes (Israel),\nthoroughly infected with Pagan beliefs and practices, and the two tribes\n(Judah), holding more closely to Jehovah. In antitype, when both Israel\nand Judah are mentioned, and the prophecy is intended for an antitypical\nfulfillment, Israel signifies the Papacy and Judah signifies established\nProtestantism. Here the sign was to be the whole nominal house of\nIsrael\u2014all professing Christians, Catholics and Protestants.\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010179.\n\n4:4. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house\nof Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie\nupon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.\u2014In verses 4 to 6 Israel and Judah\nare included in the same picture, and signify Papacy and established,\ncorrupted Protestantism. The left side was a sign of less favor. Romanism\nkept on in sin and kept adding, multiplying evil deeds, until iniquity\nshould come to the full (Gen. 15:16). A day in prophecy signifies a year\nin fulfillment. (Num. 14:34.) Ezekiel here represents the reformer class\nwhich had to endure the iniquities of Papacy, both by persecution and by\nthe shame of seeing professed Christians believing grossest error. The\niniquity of Papacy, the house of Israel, lay in the fact that the\nReformers had shown them insistent proofs of their wrong course, and yet\nthey continued in their own way, heedless of the Divine warnings. Hence\nless favor has been felt by Jehovah toward them than toward Protestantism.\n\n4:5. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to\nthe number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear\nthe iniquity of the house of Israel.\u2014Upon the reform element was laid the\nburden of seeing the dupes of Papal priestcraft continually learning and\nliving error. This was a burden upon conscience, and was repugnant to the\nenlightened mind of the reform element, known for centuries, in name at\nleast, as Protestant. Priestcraft of the larger division of Christendom\nwas to be under attack for 390 years, during which time the besieging\nelement, the reformers, were to be protected from Papacy by the \u201ciron\nwall\u201d of the civil powers. This began in 1528 and ends in 1918. The year\n1528 is one of the turning points of history. Protestantism in England and\nin Germany was in the balance. The sudden rise of Charles V of Germany to\ngreat power had emboldened Pope Clement to side with Charles. He induced\nthe Emperor to support a measure designed to limit the spread of\nProtestantism, to be followed by its utter destruction. Under the proposed\nlaw no Protestant was to convert a Romanist to the reformed faith, nor\nwould it be allowable for Protestantism to spread to other countries. It\nmeant for all Protestants an end such as the Huguenots came to in France,\nthe suppression of the Renaissance with its \u201cincrease of knowledge\u201d (Dan.\n12:4), and the end of the prosperous and comparatively enlightened\ncivilization of modern times. The future of the whole world, and of the\nDivine Plan, was at stake! A general war was barely avoided to destroy\nLutheranism. Philip Landgrave of Saxony discovered the plot, took arms,\nand in 1528 forced indemnity from a Catholic bishop. Other princes of\nGermany stood with Philip.\n\nTo quote from Dr. Peter Bayne, LL. D., the historian (\u201cMartin Luther\u201d),\npage 486: \u201cThese (the princes of the reformed faith) were inflexibly\ndetermined that the decree of the majority should not be assented to.\nPhilip of Hesse, John of Saxony, Markgraf George the Pious of Brandenburg\u2010\nAnspach, the Dukes of Lunenburg and Brunswick, the Prince of Anhalt, and\nthe representatives of Strasburg, Nurnberg and twelve other free cities,\nentered a solemn protest against the prospective revolution. They were\ncalled _Protestants_! All, to this hour, who claim that Truth shall be\nunveiled, and that no Pope, or Kaiser, shall congeal the ever\u2010advancing\nstream of progress and improvement, may take an honorable pride in tracing\ntheir spiritual descent to the intrepid Philip and the magnanimous and\nsimple\u2010hearted John.\u201d (p. 481): \u201cHow thoroughly is the whole pageant of\nthat war, 1528, erased from the memory of the present generation! And yet\nthe effect of those events is not yet exhausted; nor would it be possible\nfor any one without forming some comprehension of them, to understand how\nlink added itself to link in the evolutionary chain of modern history.\u201d\n\nThus Germany set up the iron wall of civic defense between the besieging\nProtestants and beleaguered Papacy. In England, too, the other great\nempire which has stood as an iron wall between the reform element and\nPapacy, the break with Rome began to take form in 1528. This was the year\nwhen Pope Clement appointed his legates, Correggio and Wolsey, to conduct\nthe divorce trial of Queen Katherine of Aragon, at the behest of Henry\nVIII. (Rev. 8:8, 9.) As God raised up a willful, stubborn Pharaoh when He\npurposed to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt, so He raised up the lustful\nHenry VIII as the agent through whom the break should come between England\nand Rome. \u201cThe natural result\u201d [of Henry\u2019s divorce proceedings], says A.\nF. Pollard, the historian, in his \u201cHenry VIII,\u201d \u201cwas the separation of\nEngland from Rome.\u201d Thus did Divine wisdom use \u201cthe wrath of man to praise\nHim\u201d and cause the \u201ciron wall\u201d of the civil, military and naval powers of\nthe British Empire, Germany, and of the United States, to stand an\nimpregnable barrier against the persecuting power of Great Babylon. Safe\nbehind the iron wall, the reform element was able to live and grow in its\ncamp and to keep up its siege of Roman Catholic priestcraft.\n\n4:6. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side,\nand thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have\nappointed thee each day for a year.\u2014The right side signifies less disfavor\nthan to Papacy. The house of Judah represents Protestantism, the\nProtestant churches. Until 1878, when cast off by the returned and present\nMessiah, Protestantism enjoyed Divine favor, just as the two tribes,\ncollectively called Judah, did as compared with the idolatrous ten tribes\nof Israel. After 1874 the Present Truth took the form of a general\noverhauling of creeds and the announcement of Christ\u2019s Second Presence.\nThis was unanimously rejected by the Protestant churches; and organized\nProtestant ecclesiasticism from 1878 on for forty years became the Judah\nof this type, besieged on every side by the reform element, under the\nleadership of the steward of Divine Truth, Pastor Russell. Until 1918,\nHebrew reckoning, beginning in the fall of 1917, the civil powers continue\nas a \u201cwall of iron,\u201d protecting the Lord\u2019s people in their witness against\nerror.\u2014Rev. 3:14; B. 66, 91.\n\n4:7. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and\nthine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.\u2014The\nEzekiel class, the true Protestant reform class, during the 390 and the 40\nyears set themselves to the attack upon priestcraft. Pastor Russell seldom\nspoke without some words of objection to or warning about ecclesiasticism.\nThe arm symbolizes power (E. _50_, 47) and the uncovering of the arm is as\nwhen a man takes off his coat in attacking a task. The siege was to be\ncarried on with energy. The reform element was to preach continually, not\ncondoning or excusing priestcraft, but directly and pointedly attacking\nit.\n\n4:8. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee\nfrom one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.\u2014God\nbound His true people to this work. The reform element were not to change\ntheir attitude, but continually to keep at the attack upon ecclesiastical\ncorruption until the siege should end in 1918. The Hebrew year 1918,\nbegins in October, 1917.\n\n4:9. Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles,\nand millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread\nthereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy\nside; three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.\u2014These grains\nrepresent different grades of spiritual food, each kind of food to be\neaten by the kind of Christian represented by the food. Wheat represents\nthe true Gospel of the Kingdom, as in the parable of the sower (Matt.\n13:1\u201030), and is the food of the Little Flock. Barley among the Hebrews\nwas little esteemed, for it was the price of an adulteress. (Hos. 3:2.) It\nsignifies the spiritual food of a class guilty of spiritual adultery,\nunhallowed alliance with the world in the bringing forth of \u201cstrange\u201d\nchildren. (Hos. 5:7.) Beans, lentiles, millet and fitches represent grades\nof food inferior to wheat (which contains every element to support life)\nand inferior even to barley. Their continued use as foods, causes physical\ndeficiencies, weaknesses and disease. Lentiles are usually cultivated for\nfodder. Millet is still inferior. Symbolically it represents Christians\nwho \u201chave no depth of earth.\u201d (Matt. 13:5.) Vetches, sometimes called\n\u201ctares\u201d or \u201cprickly spelt,\u201d are a very poor food. Their prickly nature\nsuggests a type of hard\u2010to\u2010get\u2010along\u2010with Christians, and the kind of\nmental, moral and spiritual food that produces them. In with some of the\ntrue wheat, in established churchianity, as shown by verse 16, were to be\ngathered Christians of various degrees of development, each eating the\nkind of food corresponding to his Christian development, the wheat class\nassimilating the best of the Divine Word, and so on down to those who\nabsorbed the poorest grade of spiritual provender, some of it food usually\nregarded as fit only for animals. This was the food the various classes\nshould subsist on, each according to his capacity, from 1528 to 1918, and\nfrom 1878 to 1918.\n\n4:10, 11. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty\nshekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. Thou shalt drink also\nwater by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou\ndrink.\u2014A shekel was half an ounce; twenty shekels were ten ounces. A hin\nwas a gallon and a half. The sixth part of a hin was one quart. This was\nthe daily ration, a starvation allowance. They were not to feed on it\ncontinuously, but on Sundays, or two or three times a week\u2014\u201cfrom time to\ntime.\u201d The people would, as a class, have a scanty spiritual subsistence\nduring the siege period.\n\n4:12. And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with\ndung that cometh out of man, in their sight.\u2014Cakes, made of this mixture,\nwere used by the very poor in times of scarcity, depicting the scarcity of\nspiritual food among the followers of ecclesiasticism. The poor, not\nhaving stones or ovens, baked their bread or cakes on heated stones or in\nthe fire, or roasted them by placing them between layers of dung, which\nburns slowly. Only the dung of animals was used ordinarily. No insult or\ndefilement was greater than to turn a man\u2019s house into a receptacle for\nhuman excrement. (Deut. 23:12\u201014.) Our Lord associated human dung with\n\u201cthat which defileth a man.\u201d (Matt. 15:11.) Luther spoke of the \u201cdunghill\nof Roman decretals.\u201d The human dung signifies human traditions, clerical\nadditions to the Word of God.\n\n4:13. And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their\ndefiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.\u2014The spiritual\nfood, poor as the mixture was, was to be thoroughly defiled.\n\n4:14. Then said I, Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted:\nfor from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of\nitself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my\nmouth.\u2014This typifies the heart desire of the reformer class to keep clear\nof defiling errors.\n\n4:15. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow\u2019s dung for man\u2019s\ndung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.\u2014The spiritual food would\nbe unsavory enough.\n\n4:16. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff\nof bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care;\nand they shall drink water by measure; and with astonishment.\u2014The type\nenacted by Ezekiel was intended to depict spiritual conditions in\necclesiasticism, Romish after 1528 A. D. and Protestant after 1878 A. D.,\nin Jerusalem (churchianity), the besieged city, where there would be a\nfamine of the Word of God. As prophecies often have a literal as well as a\nsymbolic fulfillment, this refers also to the straitness of the siege of\nliteral Jerusalem and to the literal scarcity of food in the Time of\nTrouble upon Christendom, with its high cost of living, food dictators and\nfood tickets.\u2014Lev. 26:26.\n\n4:17. That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with\nanother, and consume away for their iniquity.\u2014Like as people on poor food\nin starvation quantities weaken and die, so Christians weaken and die\nspiritually on the diet provided by priests and clergy.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 5\u2014The Severed Hair Calamities\n\n\n5:1. And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber\u2019s\nrazor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take\nthee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.\u2014This is located \u201cafter the\ndays of the siege\u201d of Jerusalem, or in antitype after Romanism\u2019s and\nProtestantism\u2019s siege is ended in 1918. It had a literal fulfillment in\n606 B. C. and is to have a literal and a symbolic fulfillment in and after\n1918. It depicts the several kinds of troubles upon Christendom, and the\ncauses provoking them. The shaving of the head represents the affliction\nof Christendom. (Isaiah 3:17, 20, 24; Jer. 7:29.) The shaving of the beard\nwas part of the ceremonial treatment of a leper (Lev. 14:8, 9), and\nsignifies that after 1918 Christendom will be treated by outraged Justice\nat a moral leper, unclean with incurable iniquity, the perverseness,\nwhich, in the face of continual preaching of the Gospel, led up to the\nrecent wars.\n\nEzek. 5:2, 12, 16, 17, relate to features of the destruction of literal\nJerusalem in 606 B. C. and 70\u201073 A. D. and of Christendom in 1914 to 1918\nA. D. Since in verse 12 a third part of the persons were to suffer death\nor affliction, the hair in verses 1, 2 and 3 signifies the people in\nJerusalem\u2014Christendom. In Samson\u2019s case the hair represented his strength;\nand here the hair cut off signifies that the people who are the strength\nof Christendom shall be cut off in the brief but terribly eventful period\nbeginning in 1918 A. D. A third part are \u201cburned with fire in the midst of\nthe city.\u201d Fire symbolises destruction. One large part of the adherents of\necclesiasticism win die from pestilence and famine. (Deut. 32:24.) In\n5:16, 17 the shafts of hunger are represented as the evil arrows of\nfamine. The staff is that upon which one leans; the staff of bread is the\nfood supply of Christendom. In 1916 there was already a 25 per cent. crop\nshortage throughout the world, presaging worse conditions to come. In\nverse 18 the evil beasts sent upon Christendom are the savage \u201cChristian\u201d\ngovernments of the world (Deut. 32:24), which, by unheard\u2010of barbarity in\nwar, are bereaving the people by millions and causing bloodshed\nunparalleled in history.\n\n5:2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when\nthe days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and\nsmite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the\nwind; and I will draw out a sword after them.\u2014A third part of the hair was\nto be smitten with a knife. See 5:12. This represents people not\ndefinitely in or under ecclesiasticism, but associated with it, favoring\nit, and benefiting from it These are to be smitten with the sword drawn\nfor destruction of life in the Time of Trouble. A considerable portion of\nthe people will be separated by the winds of warfare and commotion from\nall connection with churchianity. These have been connected with,\nsympathizers with, or beneficiaries from churchianity. This class also\nwill be involved in the bloodshed of the \u201cgreat tribulation.\u201d\u2014Matt. 24:21;\nRev. 7:14.\n\n5:3, 4. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy\nskirts. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire,\nand burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all\nthe house of Israel.\u2014To bind in the skirts is a symbol of close\naffiliation. A few adherents of churchianity will affiliate themselves\nwith those believing Present Truth, but so searching will be the\ncircumstances of the trouble period that none not at heart \u201cin Present\nTruth\u201d (2 Pet. 1:12) will be able to remain in the protection\novershadowing the Lord\u2019s people. These few will be separated, and finally\nbecome involved in the destruction upon all supporters of, sympathizers\nwith and beneficiaries of churchianity. Not one shall escape; it will be\nupon \u201call the house of Israel.\u201d Babylon\u2019s conflagration will be hastened\nby the adherents here described. After 1918 the people supporting\nchurchianity will cease to be its supporters, be destroyed as adherents,\nby the spiritual pestilence of errors abroad, and by the famine of the\nWord of God among them. The Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), which is the\nWord of God, will be wielded in the hands of \u201cPresent Truth\u201d believers in\nsuch a manner as to cause conscientious supporters of ecclesiasticism to\ncease to be supporters.\n\n5:5. Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the\nmidst of the nations and countries that are round about her.\u2014God, through\nthe increase of knowledge, the Renaissance, and the dynamic power of\nbelief in the Word of God, has set up Christendom on a pinnacle of power\nin the midst of the heathen nations or the world.\n\n5:6. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the\nnations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her:\nfor they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked\nin them.\u2014God taught Christendom the principles of Justice and gave her His\nlaw of Divine, self\u2010sacrificing love\u2014\u201cA new law, that ye love one\nanother.\u201d (John 13:34.) Relatively to the light of Christendom and\nheathendom, Christendom is far the more wicked; for, having the\ninstructions, exhortations and examples of the Bible, she has both refused\nthem and not walked in them.\n\n5:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than\nthe nations that are round about you, and have not walked in My statutes,\nneither have kept My judgments, neither have done according to the\njudgments of the nations that are round about you.\u2014Christendom under the\nblessing of God has multiplied in material things and in knowledge more\nthan heathendom, and yet has not only not walked in God\u2019s Law of Love, but\nhas not lived up to the standards of righteousness and justice of the\nheathen. Chinese are more reliable in business engagements than are\nChristians. Some tribes in Africa are more moral sexually than are whites,\nand explorers have noted the natural kindness of the negroes of Nyassa and\nSoudan.\n\n5:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: behold, I, even I, am against\nthee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the\nnations.\u2014Because of Christendom\u2019s wickedness against light, God is against\nthis system calling itself by Christ\u2019s holy name, and will execute upon it\njudgment of such unprecedented awfulness as to constitute a lasting lesson\nto \u201cuncivilized\u201d peoples.\n\n5:9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I\nwill not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.\u2014The\npunishments come because of churchianity\u2019s illicit union of church and\nstate, termed spiritual \u201cfornication\u201d (Rev. 17:2); her licensing of\nliquor, vice and crime; her doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1), such as\neternal torment, inherent immortality and Trinity; her desolating\nabomination in the Romish mass (Matt. 24:15); and her Phariseeism in the\nface of wilful butchery of millions.\n\n5:10, 11. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,\nand the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in\nthee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.\nWherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely, because thou hast\ndefiled My Sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine\nabominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall Mine eye\nspare, neither will I have any pity.\u2014The Hebrew sanctuary or temple typed\nthe Christian Sanctuary class, the Church of living stones (1 Pet. 2:5),\nthe Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 17.) True Christianity, pure\nin apostolic days, was defiled (2 Chr. 36:14) with practices and doctrines\ndetestable and abominable to God, until now it is termed \u201cthe great\nwhore,\u201d (apostate church of Romanism) and the daughters \u201charlots\u201d\n(Protestant churches). (Rev. 17:5.) Divine Justice will not spare nor\npity, until upon Christendom has been visited all the righteous blood of\nhundreds of millions of victims of her long centuries of unchristian wars\nand persecutions.\n\n5:12, 13. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with\nfamine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall\nfall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into\nall the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall Mine\nanger be accomplished, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I\nwill be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in\nMy zeal, when I have accomplished My fury in them.\u2014Job hoped for the time\nwhen God\u2019s wrath should be past. (Job 14:13.) The wrath of God will be\nover forever when this trouble time is past. (Isa. 10:25.) Divine Justice\nwill be comforted, will rest, having accomplished its sentence of death,\nwith the accompaniments of sickness, sorrow, tears and degradation,\nmental, moral and physical, upon the human race.\n\n5:14\u201017. Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations\nthat are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. So it shall\nbe a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the\nnations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee\nin anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it.\nWhen I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for\ntheir destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will\nincrease the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: So will\nI send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and\npestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword\nupon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.\u2014Christendom is to be laid waste by\nwar, revolution, anarchy, famine (Luke 21:26), and pestilence, from end to\nend. Her vaunted and envied eminence will pass, through self\u2010destruction,\ndue to false ideals of honor, into a desolation causing the taunts and\nreproaches of the heathen, and being to the heathen nations a cause of\nastonishment and source of instruction. The fury of God\u2019s anger against\nher appears in the expression \u201cin anger and in fury and in furious\nrebukes.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 6\u2014Sword\u2014Famine\u2014Pestilence\n\n\n6:1\u20104. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy\nface toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say,\nYe mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord\nGod to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys;\nBehold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your\nhigh places. And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be\nbroken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.\u2014This\nchapter relates to the Divine wrath, after 1918 A. D., upon the\ngovernments, symbolically called \u201cmountains and hills,\u201d and the rivers,\nthe denominations.\n\n6:5\u20107. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before\ntheir idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all\nyour dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places\nshall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate,\nand your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down,\nand your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of\nyou, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014All state churches are to be\ndestroyed, literally by the sword, and by the truth about them in the Word\nof God, the Sword of the Spirit. (2 Ki. 23:13\u201022.) At the tops of the\nhills and mountains, the governments, are the altars, the centers of the\nnation\u2019s worship. Great sacrifices are made by the masses to maintain\nthese altars.\n\n6:8. Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape\nthe sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the\ncountries.\u2014Heathendom will be the safest place on earth in the time of\nZion\u2019s travail! (Jer. 44:28.)\n\n6:9. And they that escape of you shall remember Me among the nations\nwhither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their\nwhorish heart, which hath departed from Me, and with their eyes, which go\na whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the\nevils which they have committed in all their abominations.\u2014God has\ncompletely broken relations with the churches, which with heart and eye\nhave \u201cdeparted from Me.\u201d\n\n6:10. And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in\nvain that I would do this evil unto them.\u2014After the trouble is over, the\nsurvivors will have a thousand years in which to recognize the hand of\nGod.\n\n6:11. Thus saith the Lord God; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy\nfoot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel:\nfor they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the\npestilence.\u2014The attitude of the Lord\u2019s true people, \u201cthe mourners in Zion\u201d\n(Isa. 61:3), is that of righteous indignation against the abominations of\nChristendom.\n\n6:12. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near\nshall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die\nby the famine: thus will I accomplish My fury upon them.\u2014In spite of the\nmanifest judgments of God, the devotees of Mystic Babylon, \u201cChristians,\u201d\nwill not turn to God but, while doing reverence and rendering service to\ntheir altars and idols, will be overtaken by literal sword, famine and\npestilence (Jer. 15:2) and by the spiritual Sword of the Spirit, by\nstarvation from the lack of God\u2019s Word, and by pestilential\ndoctrines.\u2014Psa. 91:6, 7.\n\n6:13. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be\namong their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all\nthe tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every\nthick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their\nidols.\u2014In the Roman and Greek churches the idols, images and ikons are\nliteral. There are other idols in all the churches\u2014power, prestige, social\nposition, clerical honor, gold, worldly education, etc. As in the\nTabernacle types, zealous, obedient sacrifice caused a \u201csweet savor\u201d to\nrise to God, so the same service raises a sweet savor to the idols of\nChristendom. The \u201cgreen trees\u201d and \u201cthick oaks\u201d were favorite objects of\nidolatry (Jer. 2:20; Hos. 4:13), and typed the worship of prominent\npreachers and other men.\u2014Psalm 37:35.\n\n6:14. So will I stretch out My hand upon them, and make the land desolate,\nyea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their\nhabitations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014Christendom is to be\nmade more desolate than the wilderness surrounding Palestine, wiped off\nthe face of the earth, to make way for the New Order of things, \u201cthe world\nto come\u201d (Heb. 2:5), \u201cwherein dwelleth righteousness.\u201d\u20142 Pet. 3:13.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 7\u2014Dawn Of The Evil Day\n\n\n7:1\u20106. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Also, thou son\nof man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end\nis come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee,\nand I will send Mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy\nways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And Mine eye\nshall not spare thee, neither will I have pity; but I will recompense thy\nways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and\nye shall know that I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an\nonly evil, behold, is come. An end is come, the end is come; it watcheth\nfor thee; behold, it is come.\u2014Chapter 7 includes what Ezekiel saw in type\nand what the Ezekiel class now sees in antitype\u2014the destruction of the\nsymbolic earth (the social order), and the causes therefor; the escape of\nthe remnant who will pass alive through the trouble into the better order\nof things; the defilement and destruction of God\u2019s \u201cornament,\u201d\nChristendom; and the binding and destruction of the rule of wicked might.\nPastor Russell\u2019s mission, in large part, was to advise Christendom of its\nimpending end, in the time of world\u2010wide trouble. It is the Divine\njudgment upon the nations. They reap as they have sown. In times past God\nwinked at the iniquity of men (Acts 17:30); but now evil shall receive its\njust recompense in the wrath of long\u2010insulted Justice. It will be a period\nof unmixed evil upon Christendom, the purpose of which will be to\ndemonstrate to men\u2019s certain knowledge that \u201cthy God reigneth.\u201d (Isa.\n52:7.) There will be no chance of escaping from destruction, though the\nnations\u2014as in cases of Germany, the Allies and the United States\u2014earnestly\nseek in vain for some way of securing peace. The trouble is due to the\ndawning of the Day of Christ, the Millennium. It is the Day of Vengeance,\nwhich began in the world war of 1914 and which will break like a furious\nmorning storm in 1918.\u2014Lam. 4:18.\n\n7:7\u20109. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land:\nthe time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again\nof the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out My fury upon thee, and\naccomplish Mine anger upon thee; and I will judge thee according to thy\nways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. And Mine eye\nshall not spare, neither will I have pity; I will recompense thee\naccording to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of\nthee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.\u2014The chiefest\nsufferers will be those setting affections on earthly things, earth\ndwellers and earth lovers. Steep mountain valleys are full of echoing\nsounds, falling trees, dislodged rocks, avalanches, landslides,\nwaterfalls, or the thunders of local storms. Earth\u2019s nations have been\nresounding for centuries with local wars, seditions, revolutions, famine\nand pestilence. (A. 318.) These passed away; but the present commotion and\nimpending revolution and anarchy will not cease, but will spread and\nincrease until this order of things is destroyed.\n\n7:10. Behold the Day, behold it is come: the Morning is gone forth; the\nrod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.\u2014\u201cPride goeth before destruction.\u201d\n(Prov. 16:18.) Human pride [among kaisers, clergy, labor leaders, and\ncapitalists], has budded, blossomed forth into acts that will bring\ndestruction. The rod is a symbol of authority. Organized authority is\nperverted from its Divinely appointed function of restraint and punishment\nof crime into a ruthless rule of might and bloodshed.\n\n7:11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall\nremain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs; neither shall there\nbe wailing for them.\u2014Those who rule by violence shall be utterly rooted\nout of the earth in the Time of Trouble, unhonored and unwept (Jer.\n16:4\u20106), accursed for the evil they have wrought. The clergy, for whom\nmany would even have died in the past, but who have preached the people\ninto this war and into the world\u2019s ruin, will become objects of popular\nhatred.\n\n7:12. The time is come, the Day draweth near; let not the buyer rejoice,\nnor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.\u2014The\nyear 1918, with its fearful revolutions and succeeding anarchy, is at the\ndoor.\n\n7:13. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they\nwere yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof,\nwhich shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the\niniquity of his life.\u2014This indicates the languishing and eventual decline\nand cessation of business. (Isa. 33:8.) Symbolically, it represents the\nceasing of the clergy from \u201cselling\u201d religion and the people from buying.\n\u201cSuccess consists in knowing how to be discreetly dishonest\u201d is now a\ncommon rule of practice; but the time is at hand when iniquitous practices\nand precepts will no longer profit any.\n\n7:14. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth\nto the Battle; for My wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.\u2014There are\nother trumpets than the trumpet of Truth. Established error has its\ntrumpet message. Ecclesiasticism, capitalism, and governments together\nhave blown the trumpet of the Divine right of kings, magnates, and clergy,\nof the civic\u2010betterment gospel and of \u201cpreparedness.\u201d Labor leaders have\nrallied the people to fight for their unions. Trumpet messages will summon\nthe people of the world to yet other strife. But so furious and heart\u2010\nbreaking will be the trouble that none will have the spirit to respond.\nThere is a hint here that conscription will meet with opposition.\n\n7:15. The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he\nthat is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city,\nfamine and pestilence shall devour him.\u2014Worldly people in Christendom, not\nprofessors of Christianity, will be pressed into the active fighting of\nthe Time of Trouble and will perish. (Deut. 32:25; Jer. 14:18.) Those in\nthe city refer to the professors of Christianity\u2014church members.\n\n7:16. But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the\nmountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for\nhis iniquity.\u2014There will be survivors of the Time of Trouble who will live\non into the Millennium proper. Those of dove\u2010like character will be most\nlikely to survive. The dove has a mournful note. This class will\nappreciate their iniquity, repent of it and pray for forgiveness and\ndeliverance.\u2014E. _231_, 212.\n\n7:17. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.\u2014The\nhands symbolize power. The people of Christendom will realize their\nhelplessness. The extremity of the situation will weaken the\nstrongest.\u2014Zeph. 1:14; A. 315.\n\n7:18. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall\ncover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their\nheads.\u2014In mourning for their dead, men\u2019s minds and hearts will revolt at\nthe horrors of the calamity. All will realize with shame that by\ndrunkenness with Babylon\u2019s mixed teachings (Rev. 17:2) they have brought\nthe trouble on themselves. In grief the Hebrews shaved the head.\u2014Isa.\n3:24.\n\n7:19. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be\nremoved; their sliver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in\nthe day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their souls,\nneither fill their bowels; because it is the stumbling\u2010block of their\niniquity.\u2014With the demonetization of silver, gold has become as a thing\nunclean (is losing its purchasing power). All forms of money, bonds,\nstocks and valuables will be worthless when governments are gone and whole\nnations are starving. (D. 45.) There was a literal fulfillment of this\nScripture in 1898 when in Italy a miller who had publicly thanked the\nVirgin for dear bread, literally threw gold and silver to a crowd in the\nstreets in a vain endeavor to pacify them. They demanded his life and took\nit.\u2014Z. \u201998\u2010331.\n\n7:20. As for the beauty of His ornament, He set it in majesty; but they\nmade the images of their abominations and of their detestable things\ntherein; therefore have I set it far from them.\u2014\u201cJerusalem is a crown of\nglory and a royal diadem\u201d. (Isa. 62:3.) Christianity, the embryonic\nKingdom of God, was originally \u201cHis ornament,\u201d in the apostolic age of the\nChurch. Literal images were set up by the Hebrews in secret places, and to\nthis day are worshipped by Romanists literally. Romanists and Protestants\nalike worship the images of world\u2010power, wealth, state\u2010church affiliation,\nclergy lordship, eternal torment, human immortality and trinity, all alike\ndetestable to a jealous God. The actual ornament of God, His jewel, His\ndiadem, is the true Church, composed mostly of the poor, rich in faith\n(Jas. 2:5)\u2014of the reform element who since 1878 have been withdrawing from\necclesiasticism and coming to God.\n\n7:21. And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and\nto the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.\u2014The\nnominal jewel, churchianity, has become the prey of clerical and social\nanarchists.\u2014D. 550.\n\n7:22. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute My secret\nplace; for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.\u2014The secret\nplace is the condition of consecration, which an apostate clergy pollute\nby misrepresentations, such as that bravery in battle, suffering in the\ntrenches, devotion to a falling order of things (Hab. 2:13), win a place\nin Heaven\u2014won only by loyal devotion to God\u2019s Word, and by the spirit\u2010\nbegotten alone. \u201cI am the Door. He that entereth in by another way is a\nrobber.\u201d\u2014John 10:1.\n\n7:23. Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is\nfull of violence.\u2014Bind, unite them together, let the Divinely (!)\nappointed clergy and the governments for which they stand sponsor, make\ncommon cause. (D. 550.) Christendom is full of the beastly crimes of the\nmost barbarous warfare ever known. A city symbolizes a government.\n\n7:24. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall\npossess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease;\nand their holy places shall be defiled.\u2014Macaulay, the English historian,\nspoke of America as destined to be destroyed by its own Huns and Vandals,\nthe unassimilated, uncivilized elements, especially of the cities. The\nanarchistic masses will literally live in the houses of the erstwhile\nrulers and prominent people. The display of power and magnificence of the\nstrong one, Satan, the alleged eternal\u2010torment God, and the devil\u2010\nworshipers of Christendom shall cease. Literally, the churches, Y. M. C.\nA.\u2019s, monasteries and convents, supposedly holy, will be defiled by the\nimpious.\n\n7:25. Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be\nnone.\u2014There shall be no peace with God, or peace among the conflicting\nelements of society.\n\n7:26. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour;\nthen shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish\nfrom the priest, and counsel from the ancients.\u2014Literally \u201caccident upon\naccident\u201d will befall the affairs of Christendom. (Jer. 4:29.) The people,\nwild with perplexity, will seek to the clergy for an understanding of the\nworld\u2010holocaust; but the true Law, the Word of God, has departed from a\nclergy more learned in church politics and money\u2010raising schemes than in\nthe Bible. The ancients, the \u201creverends,\u201d college professors and savants\ndo not know what counsel to give to meet the crisis.\u2014Isa. 29:9\u201014.\n\n7:27. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with\ndesolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I\nwill do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I\njudge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014Satan shall mourn the\ndownfall of his power, as will the heads of the savage, beastly\ngovernments under his control. (Matt. 4:8, 9.) \u201cThe exalted one\u201d or\nprince, Satan\u2019s chief representative among men, is the pope; and he, with\nhis princes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and clergy, shall\nsee the desolation due to their work.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cO thou of little faith, who dost thou fear?\n The tempest hath no power when I am near;\n Will not the angry waves be still at My command?\n Step out, I\u2019ll hold thy hand,\n Then, wherefore dost thou fear?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 8\u2014Molech, The Torment Deity\n\n\n8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the\nfifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah\nsat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.\u2014Chapters\n8 to 24 continue the recital of the sins of Jerusalem, Christendom, and\nthe Divine punishment to be inflicted on her. Chapter 8 refers literally\nto the temple, and its defilement by the seating of an idol of Baal at the\ndoor near the Brazen Altar, by the desecration of its interior with\nsymbols of Egyptian heathenism and by the practicing of heathen worship\nwithin the temple. This types the condition of the spiritual Temple of\nGod, \u201cwhich Temple ye are\u201d, the Church of God, originally pure and holy,\nbut defiled by the clergy with pagan practices. The type refers back to 2\nChronicles 33:1\u20109, where King Manasseh established heathen worship\nthroughout Palestine, set up a carved image in Solomon\u2019s temple and \u201cmade\nJudah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err and to do worse than the\nheathens whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.\u201d This\nresulted in Manasseh\u2019s overthrow at the hands of the Assyrians. The name\nManasseh means \u201ccausing forgetfulness.\u201d He typed Satan, the god of this\nworld, who, by his lying deceptions has made professing Christians forget\nGod. Satan\u2019s chief \u201cangel of light\u201d is the pope of Rome, ably seconded in\nkeeping the people in the dark by the cardinals, bishops, priests, monks\nand sisters of apostate Rome and by the bishops and ministers of an\napostate Protestantism. These keep \u201ctheir people\u201d from real Bible study,\nand encourage them in their forgetfulness of God and their individual\nobligations to God, the Word of God, to fellow\u2010Christians and to the\nworld. The house is the House of the Sons of God, the consecrated. The\nelders, chosen by the people, represented all the people. The Protestant\nclergy continually sat before the Lord\u2019s steward, could not pick up a\npaper that they did not see his sermons in it; but they would not hear his\nwords, and they rejected him and the truths which he so plainly and so\nkindly stated.\n\n8:2, 3. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from\nthe appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even\nupward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And He\nput forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the\nspirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in\nthe visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that\nlooketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy,\nwhich provoketh to jealousy.\u2014Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit,\nthe Ezekiel class is now taken up mentally into the powers of spiritual\ncontrol, to discern the significance of the evil done by Satan and the\nclergy. They are brought to Jerusalem the anti\u2010typical, to consider\nestablished priestcraft. They are brought to the door of the inner gate,\nthe gate of the altar between the people\u2019s court and priest\u2019s court\u2014(the\nsame as the Tabernacle court.) They are brought to the antitypical Temple,\nto the Chord of God, to the Lord\u2019s people\u2014\u201cYe are the Temple of God\u201d. (1\nCor. 3:16.) \u201cI am the Door\u201d (John 10:9.) The Door represents Christ,\nthrough whom all that enter must come. The North symbolizes the seat of\nDivine government, the spiritual phase of the Kingdom. (Isa. 14:13.) The\nDoor, Christ, looks toward, tends toward spiritual things. Those that\nenter through Christ are expected to look forward from the condition of\nbelief to that of full consecration, the spirit\u2010begotten condition. In the\nDoor, in the very place of Christ, Manasseh, type of the devil, and an\napostate clergy set up an idol, an image of the Devil himself. Those who\nthereafter entered the court had to worship the image, typing that under\nclergy rule all entering the church, the condition of belief, had to do\nhonor to Satan, whose seat of chief power is at Rome, and whose influence\nspreads wherever the clergy class is found.\n\nThe word \u201cBaal\u201d means \u201cLord.\u201d The clergy have set themselves as lords over\nGod\u2019s heritage (1 Pet. 5:3), the Church. By perversion of the plain\nmeaning of literal Bible statements, they have set up in the place of God\nthe deity of the Devil. This God of Romanism and Protestantism is not one,\nbut three; he inflicts tortures eternal; his favor can be bought for\nmoney; he dwells in earthly buildings (Acts 7:48), which are consecrated\nto him; he teaches the direct opposite of the Word of God\u2014that the dead\nare alive; he favors spiritual adultery\u2014the union of the church with the\ngovernments of this world; he fosters lordship of the clergy class. The\nclergy\u2019s God is plainly not Jehovah, but the ancient deity, hoary with the\niniquities of ages\u2014Baal\u2014the Devil himself. God pity the clergy, who have\nso long deceived themselves and the people with their \u201ccarved image, the\nwork of their own hands!\u201d \u201cI am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy.\u201d\n(Zech. 1:14.) \u201cI, Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God.\u201d (Ex. 20:5.) There\nis little wonder that the literal typical Baal of the Jews and the anti\u2010\ntypical eternal\u2010torment God of the clergy should provoke Jehovah to\njealousy.\n\n8:4. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to\nthe vision that I saw in the plain.\u2014The usual place of the Shekinah Light\nwas in the Most Holy between the cherubim above the golden Mercy Seat. It\nwas from this glory that fire came out at times like lightning to consume\nand destroy iniquitous offenders. (Lev. 10:2.) It bodes ill for the\ndevotees of the eternal\u2010torment god that the glory of Jehovah has come out\nagainst them.\n\n8:5, 6. Then said He unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way\ntoward the North. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the North, and\nbehold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the\nentry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do?\neven the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that\nI should go far off from My sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou\nshalt see greater abominations.\u2014It is needless to look for abominations\nfar off when such an abomination has been set up by \u201cimpudent children\u201d at\nthe very door of the Church.\n\n8:7. And He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold\na hole in the wall.\u2014In Solomon\u2019s temple the court of the priests was\nsurrounded not by a simple wall, but by a row of rooms or chambers where\nthe priests and Levites stayed. The hole in the wall was an opening or\nwindow into one of the chambers.\n\n8:8. Then said He unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall, and when I had\ndigged in the wall, behold a door.\u2014The wall was the wall of secrecy,\nmisrepresentation and deception, by reason of which the pagan practices\nand beliefs of various classes of professed Christians were hidden from\npublicity and consequent popular judgment. A little was known about them,\nrepresented by the little hole in the wall. It is the work of the Ezekiel\nclass to dig through the wall and throw the light on these hidden things.\nThe time has come for judgment, and for everything that is done in a\nchamber to be proclaimed from the housetops. (Luke 12:3.) Once the wall of\nsecrecy is dug through, the door is open to see whatever transpires.\n\n8:9. And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that\nthey do here.\u2014The court typifies the condition of faith\u2014tentative\njustification. The chambers surrounded the court. They symbolize the\ncondition of those who profess faith and justification, but whose lives\nand beliefs contradict their professions.\n\n8:10. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and\nabominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed\nupon the wall round about.\u2014To the Egyptians, artistic portrayals of\ncreatures had a religious significance. All kinds of living creatures were\nworshipped. Chief of these was the bull Apis, which symbolized life and\nespecially the power of procreation. The devotees of the antitype are\nnever so happy as when giving life to new spiritual offspring. The\nchildren thus begotten are mostly tares. But few of them have the life\nthat comes from consecration to the Word of God. The revivalist and the\nclergy care little for any begotten of the Word of God and do little to\nhelp them grow up in Christ. They grow, if at all, like starved, neglected\nchildren. As the service of this worship could be conducted only by the\nregular priests of Egypt, so the antitypical work can be done only by the\nman\u2010made clergy class of the world (Egypt) and those \u201cordained\u201d by them.\nAmong the creeping things, objects of worship, was the fly\u2014the evangelist.\n(Rev. 16:2.) The prince of the flies was Beelzebub. Flies breed in and\nfeed upon the \u201cdung hill of Popish decretals\u201d and other \u201ctraditions of\nmen.\u201d They never get far above earthly things, but circulate in the lower\nstrata of the air\u2014ecclesiasticism. They bite and annoy both worldly people\nand the Lord\u2019s people, as did the plague of flies in Egypt, and are\nspecially persistent in the humid condition of a rain\u2014a downpour of Truth.\nThese, like all clergy\u2010approved workers, are looked up to, worshipped by\nthe people of Christendom. Other creeping things that fly signify\ndegrading of forbidden beliefs and practices, attractive, garbed in the\ncloak of religion, under church auspices, as typed by their flying in the\nair, ecclesiastical powers; but they are displeasing to God and tending\ntoward death.\n\n8:11. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house\nof Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan,\nwith every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went\nup.\u2014Worshipping the pictured images were the elders, or ancients,\nappointed by and representing all the people of Jerusalem. Jaazaniah was a\nLevite, typical of a believer in Christ. The word Shaphan means \u201csly\u201d, and\nsuggests the slyness of the adherents of wrong beliefs. Jaazaniah means\n\u201cGod is listening,\u201d and signifies the fact that whatever \u201cChristian\u201d\nsinners may say, God is actually paying attention. The censer was used to\ncarry the fire in which incense was burned. (Rev. 8:3.) It types the\nbearing of the fiery trials signified by the fire. The devotees of error\nsuffer in its behalf, as Truth people suffer for the Truth. Incense types\nthe heart\u2019s best endeavors, here wrongly directed by many professing\nChristians in the service of Satan, as were Saul\u2019s in persecuting\nChristians. (Acts 22:3, 4.) Tares are often more devoted to their errors\nthan are the Lord\u2019s people to the Truth. \u201cThe children of this world are\nwiser in their generation than the children of light.\u201d (Luke 16:8.) It was\nunlawful for a Hebrew to burn incense, except as in the regular temple\nservice. It is an abomination for a professing Christian to put forth his\nheart\u2019s best endeavors except in the service of God.\n\n8:12. Then said He unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients\nof the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his\nimagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the\nearth.\u2014These departures from true Christian belief are carried on \u201cin the\ndark.\u201d (John 3:19.) Every tare, imitation Christian, has his own peculiar\nbeliefs and practices in \u201cthe chamber of his imagery,\u201d his mind. Because\nGod knows how to defer retribution until the Day of Judgment (2 Pet. 2:9),\nthese unwise ones delude themselves that the All\u2010Seeing One does not see.\nThose not familiar with the Divine Plan of the Ages, seeing the conditions\nof savage war trending into worse things, apparently have the delusion\nthat the Lord has forsaken the earth.\n\n8:13, 14. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see\ngreater abominations that they do. Then He brought me to the door of the\ngate of the Lord\u2019s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there\nsat women weeping for Tammuz.\u2014Tammuz means \u201cperfect (tam) by burning\u201d\n(muz). He was a heathen god whose death was lamented annually by women\nidolaters. He was the god of fire worship, the same as Molech, to whom\nchildren were burned alive. He types the eternal\u2010torment\u2010purgatory God,\nwho perfects (supposedly) by the fires of purgatory. The women weeping for\nhim typify the once\u2010virgin churches, who honor the alleged hell\u2010fire god\nand lament the ones in the fire. There is a unity of heathen religions\nwith apostate \u201cChristianity\u201d which stamps them all as pagan. The original\nheathen god was Nimrod, \u201cthe mighty hunter\u201d of Gen. 10:8\u201014, where is\nrelated the origin of Babylon and Ninevah. Nimrod led men and women from\nthe true religion of devout Noah into gross sensuality and neglect of the\nworship of Jehovah. He was beloved by fallen women. For his iniquitous\ninfluence, Nimrod was condemned to death by the council of judges; and his\ndead body was cut into pieces, which were sent to all parts of the\ninhabited world, with the threat of death to any who practiced his evil\nways. Nimrod married his own mother, Semiramis, so that, in a sense, he\nwas his own father and his own son. Here was the origin of the Trinity\ndoctrine.\n\nNation Father\u2010Husband Son The Woman\n\nAsia Decius Cybele\nAssyria Winged bull\nBabylonia Lord of Heaven\nBabylonia Ninus Tammuz Queen of Heaven\nChaldea Bal Ishtar\nChaldea Cahna\u2010Bel The Seed\n (Cannibal)\nChaldea Molech Ashtaroth\nChaldea Zoroaster The Seed of the\n Fire\nChina Child Madonna\nEgypt Apis bull Cow of Athor\nEgypt Osiris Horus Isis\nEnglish The Devil\nGreece Bacchus Rhea\nGreece Capricornus Astarte\nGreece Kissos Mother of gods\nGreece Kronos Aphrodite\nGreece Orion Babe Ceres\nGreece Saturn Venus\nGreece Plutus Irene\nIndia Vishnu Christina\nIndia Tsi Eswara\nItaly Pope Virgin Mary\nJapan Child Madonna\nNineveh Nimrod Nimrod Semiramis\nPalestine Baal\nPersia Sun Moon\nPersia Sun God\nPersia Child Madonna\nPhilistia Dagon\nRome Jupiter Jupiter Puer Fortuna\nScandinavia Woden Thor Frieda\nThibet Child Madonna\n\nThe practices of Nimrod were continued in secret by Semiramis; and as\nevery caution had to be taken, the things done were veiled in mystery.\nEach act and person was represented only in symbols known to the\ninitiated. Here originated the various secret societies, with their blood\u2010\ncurdling oaths of secrecy\u2014Masonry, Oddfellowship, Jesuitism, Knights of\nMalta, and so on. These are lineal descendants of the \u201cmysteries\u201d of pagan\nsensuality, all of them abominations to God. Semiramis, to further her\nschemes, pretended that Nimrod, the father\u2010son, had been raised from the\ndead in the form of the sun, which thus became an object of worship. She\nrepresented herself as the moon, which was also adored. This was the\noriginal Trinity\u2014Nimrod the father, Nimrod, or Tammuz, the son and\nSemiramis the mother, the power, or spirit, back of all. As the people\nmultiplied and scattered they took with them this heathen Trinity which\nappears in various nations in the partial list shown on the preceding\npage.\n\nThese under inspiration of the Devil, put the false seed of the\nwoman\u2014Nimrod, Tammuz, etc.,\u2014in the stead of the true Seed, pushed Jehovah\naside, then into the background, and then out altogether. The Devil,\nthrough the Pope of Rome, substituted forms of paganism for the simplicity\nof true Christianity. \u201cSuch things are,\u201d says Cardinal Newman, \u201cthe very\ninstruments and appendages of demon worship,\u201d but \u201csanctified by adoption\ninto the church.\u201d Roman Catholicism is a heathen religion. Protestantism\nalso worships Molech, the fire god, Tammuz, the deity of torture, whom\npopes, cardinals, bishops, priests, clergy, ministers, and laymen unite in\nhonoring and worshipping under the delusion that they are worshipping\nJehovah, God of Abraham, the true God of the Bible. However, ignorantly,\n\u201cthey worship devils.\u201d\u20141 Cor. 10:20.\n\n8:15, 16. Then said He unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? turn\nthee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And He\nbrought me into the inner court of the Lord\u2019s house, and behold, at the\ndoor of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were\nabout five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord,\nand their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the\neast.\u2014In the court itself (1 Ki. 6:36), in the very presence of the blood\u2010\nbought sacrifice, these men were gathered. Only priests and Levites might\nbe in this court. They typified the believers and spirit\u2010begotten ones of\nthe Christian Church. They were divided into about twenty\u2010five courses or\nsections and served in rotation. These typed the divisions of Christians\ninto about twenty\u2010five principal denominations. In the United States these\nare Adventists, Baptists, Brethren (Dunkards), Catholics (Greek),\nChristian, Churches of Christ Scientist, Churches of God,\nCongregationalists, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical, Friends, German\nEvangelical Protestant, German Evangelical Synod, Latter Day Saints,\nLutherans, Scandinavian Evangelical, Menonites, Moravians, Methodists,\nPentecostals, Presbyterians, Protestant Episcopals, Reformed, Salvation\nArmy, and United Brethren. With their backs toward the Temple of the Lord\n(Jer. 2:27), these treat with contempt and scorn the little company of\nGod\u2019s true saints, rich in faith, \u201cthe Temple.\u201d To turn the back is a\ngross insult. Their faces are toward the east. (Jer. 8:2.) All these\ndenominations worship the fire\u2010god, the sun, the heathen god whose\nidentity with paganism appears foregoing.\n\n8:17. Then He said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? Is it a\nlight thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which\nthey commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have\nreturned to provoke Me to anger; and, lo, they put the branch to their\nnose.\u2014So lightly do modern Babylonians, apostate religionists, regard\ntheir abominable beliefs, that they will not even give consideration to\nthe presentation of the truth about Jehovah and His Divine Plan of the\nAges. It is the church\u2014clergy and members\u2014who brought on the barbarous\nworld\u2010war. They could have stood like a rock for peace; but the clergy,\nwith devilish exhortations, urged their fellow\u2010savages to bloodshed. The\nDivine judgment has gone against them and soon will swallow them up in the\nearthquake (revolution) and fire (anarchy) of the Time of Trouble. The\nlast clause should read. \u201cThey send a stench to My nostrils.\u201d\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Destructive Criticism Of The Bible\n\n\n8:18. Therefore will I also deal in fury; Mine eyes shall not spare,\nneither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud\nvoice, yet will I not hear them.\u2014The fury of \u201cChristians\u201d in this savage\nwar will be visited upon them in the succeeding revolution and anarchy.\nWhen the real Time of Trouble is on, after the war, Christendom will\nrealize the terrible truth that it is the punishment of Divine Justice\u2014and\nwill pray mightily to God. Their prayers cannot be favorably answered\n(Prov. 1:28) until \u201cthe great tribulation\u201d (Rev. 7:14) has finished its\nwork of \u201cbruising to heal.\u201d\u2014Hos. 6:1.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cIn the world despised, neglected,\n Deemed its refuse and its dross,\n She whose Lord the earth rejected\n Shares His sorrow, bears His loss.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 9\u2014The Man With The Inkhorn\n\n\n9:1. He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that\nhave charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying\nweapon in his hand.\u2014Chapter 9 depicts the slaughter of the idolaters of\nJerusalem. It types the literal slaughter of the spiritual idolaters of\nChristendom in the Time of Trouble, and also their destruction as tares\n(Matt. 13:40) by the Word of Truth, which will manifest their true\ncondition and cause them to cease the pretense of being Christians. The\npicture corresponds to the harvesting of wheat and tares by the sickle of\nTruth (Rev. 14:15), and the burning of the tares. There is a two\u2010fold\nsignificance here\u2014those having material charge of Christendom, and those\nhaving spiritual charge (D. 527.) The first class comprises the rulers of\nthe great nations; the second class, the feet members of the Little Flock\n(Luke 12:32)\u2014\u201cAll things are yours.\u201d (1 Cor. 3:21); \u201cInheritors of the\nKingdom\u201d (Gal. 5:21); \u201cGiven charge of all His goods\u201d (Luke 12:44), the\nBible truths. The first class has as weapons the armies and navies. The\nsecond has the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Seats Free And No Collection Was Never Babylon\u2019s Slogan\n\n\n9:2. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which\nlieth toward the North, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and\none man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer\u2019s inkhorn by his\nside: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.\u2014The six with\nearthly weapons are the rulers of the six great nations\u2014Russia, Germany,\nAustria, France, England and Italy. The six with the Sword of the Spirit\nsymbolize all the Elijah class, the six, with one other, making up the\nseven, the complete number. These have their commission from \u201cthe north,\u201d\nfrom the seat of Divine Dominion, from God Himself. Practically all Bible\ntranslators and commentators agree that the one with a writer\u2019s inkhorn by\nhis side was not one of the six, but a seventh, garbed as a priest, or as\na clerk or officer in an army of the East. The linen signifies the imputed\nrighteousness of Christ, (Rev. 19:8.) The writer\u2019s inkhorn symbolizes that\nthe seventh man\u2019s function was to write. God identified him thus: When THE\nWATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY was at Allegheny, Pa., an open Bible\nwas to be painted on one of the large front window of the office. A sign\npainter, not in the Truth, painted the open Bible; and without instruction\nfrom any one, of his own volition, he painted the Bible as open at\nEzekiel, Chapter 9. The man in linen was the Laodicean servant, the Lord\u2019s\nfaithful and wise steward, Pastor Russell. When Pastor Russell saw this,\nhe turned pale. Ezekiel seeing the man in linen, types Pastor Russell\nthereafter seeing himself to be the antitype of that man\u2014one of the most\nprolific writers of the Age, and the only one to write and publish widely\nthe glad tidings of the actual Second Presence of Christ. The seven men\nstood beside the brazen altar\u2014there, in connection with God\u2019s Plan, based\nupon the Ransom sacrifice to receive their Divinely appointed commission.\n\n9:3. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub,\nwhereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man\nclothed with linen, which had the writer\u2019s inkhorn by his side.\u2014One of the\nfour living creatures is here designated a \u201ccherub.\u201d This one was Justice,\nabout to operate upon the iniquities of ecclesiasticism. The threshold of\nthe house refers to the door of the Holy, the condition of the spirit\u2010\nbegotten. \u201cThe spirit of glory and of God is upon thee.\u201d (1 Pet. 4:14) The\nmessage was to sound forth from the Lord\u2019s consecrated people during the\nHarvest of the Gospel Age, from 1878 to 1918.\n\n9:4. And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through\nthe midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that\nsigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst\nthereof.\u2014The center of Christendom is the nations of the United States,\nCanada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. Hither and\nthither, traveling and preaching for nearly forty years Pastor Russell\nobeyed this command; and through the printed page of books, tracts and\nnewspapers he went into every corner of the world. \u201cSet a mark\u201d, literally\n\u201cset a \u2018_tav_\u2019 upon the foreheads.\u201d The \u201c_Tav_\u201d was the twenty\u2010second\nletter of the Hebrew alphabet, and in its earlier form had the shape of a\ncross (\u2020). The forehead signifies the intellect (Rev. 7:3; 14:1). Pastor\nRussell\u2019s great work was to imprint indelibly in the minds of certain ones\nthe truth about the Cross, the sacrifice of the Christ, Head and Body, and\nthe part of the Church therein. It was the duty of the clerk or officer of\nan oriental army to mark the people, either for slaughter or to be left\nuntouched. The \u201cmourners in Zion\u201d (Isa. 61:3) are those faithful ones in\nChristendom that appreciate that conditions are evil in churchianity,\nperhaps without understanding just how. All these are to be marked in\ntheir minds with the knowledge of the Present Truth.\n\n9:5. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through\nthe city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity.\u2014After\nPastor Russell\u2019s writings have reached an individual, the other members of\nthe Elijah class, the \u201cTruth people,\u201d approach him with the Sword of the\nSpirit, the Word of God. This is to each individual a \u201csavor of life to\nlife, or of death to death.\u201d (2 Cor. 2:14\u201016.) Those not believing Present\nTruth will become only the more confirmed in error. (2 Thes. 2:11.) They\nwill be smitten by the Sword of the Spirit, which in them will operate at\nthis time to destroy any pretense of being Christians, and cause them to\ntake their proper stand as worldings\u2014to be destroyed as tares. In this,\nGod\u2019s \u201cstrange work\u201d (Isa. 28:21), the Word of God will operate seemingly\nwithout pity, to separate the people into two classes, in Present Truth or\nout of it. In a literal sense the rulers of this evil Age will pitilessly\ncarry the Sword throughout the lengths and breadths of Christendom.\n\n9:6. Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and\nwomen: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My\nSanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the\nhouse.\u2014Here are depicted the savagery of the revolutions and the anarchy\nsucceeding the great war. Though they are to be literally martyred, the\nconsecrated in Present Truth cannot be hurt of either slaughter weapon;\ntheir hopes and their treasures are in Heaven (Matt. 6:20), and no earthly\ncalamity can in any wise work them ill. Symbolically the Sword of the\nSpirit will do no harm to mature Christians\u2014\u201cmen,\u201d\u2014but many young or\nundeveloped believers, not having the Holy Spirit, regardless of sex, will\nfall as tares, as will all of the idol worshipers of Christendom. The\nliteral trouble will begin with a revolutionary outburst of anarchy\nagainst the churches and the clergy (1 Pet. 4:17), as responsible for the\ntrouble because of having preached the people into the war, in the face of\ninnumerable Scriptures against fighting with carnal weapons (Matt. 5:39,\n44; John 18:11; 2 Cor. 10:4) and of those teaching Christians to love one\nanother and to forgive trespasses (Luke 6:27\u201038), personal or national.\n(Rom. 12:17\u201021.) The Sword of the Spirit will begin its work with the\nsanctuary class, the professing Christians (1 Pet. 4:17). It will begin\nwith \u201cthe ancient men\u201d, the representatives of the people\u2014the clergy,\ndoctors of divinity, priests, bishops and other ecclesiastics.\n\n9:7. And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the\nslain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.\u2014Typically\nthe house of God was defiled by a dead body. The Temple, the Body of\nChrist, the true Church, is defiled by the presence in it of any one who\nhas become spiritually dead. The priests and Levites alone might enter the\npriests\u2019 court; and this types that many professing to be consecrated\nChristians will lose all claim to being followers of Christ\u2014be slain\nreligiously. So many will thus lose belief that Christendom will be filled\nwith them. Literally the sanctuaries and the streets of Christendom will\nbe filled with the slain of the Time of Trouble.\n\n9:8. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left,\nthat I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou\ndestroy all the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon\nJerusalem?\u2014It will almost seem that none in Christendom will escape alive;\nand, indeed, \u201cExcept those days be shortened, no flesh should be\nsaved.\u201d\u2014Matt. 24:22.\n\n9:9, 10. Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and\nJudah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full\nof perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the\nLord seeth not. And as for Me also, Mine eyes shall not spare, neither\nwill I have any pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.\u2014On\naccount of the light of the Gospel of Love they possess, both Romanism and\nProtestantism are guilty to an extraordinary degree before God.\nChristendom, through its savage wars, is drenched with blood. Churchianity\nis full of wilful sin. God will seem to have left the social order to its\nown destruction.\n\n9:11. And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by\nHis side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded\nme.\u2014Pastor Russell was faithful to his great task of writing and\npublishing the Truth and imprinting the \u201c_tav_\u201d of Present Truth in the\nminds of the spirit\u2010begotten. In October, 1916, he died, and beyond the\nveil has, ere this, undoubtedly, reported in the presence of Christ that\nhe has done the work he was given to do.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cFaithful when with tears thine eyes were dim,\n Faithful when joys\u2019 cup o\u2019erflowed its brim;\n Faithful when God seemed to veil His face,\n Faithful when He crowned thy work with grace,\n Faithful till was fled life\u2019s fleeting breath,\n Eager hands were folded still in death.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 10\u2014Scattering Coals Of Fire\n\n\n10:1. Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head\nof the cherubim there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as\nthe appearance of the likeness of a throne.\u2014Verses 1, 8\u201011, 12, 14\u201022 are\nexplained in Chapter 1. The repetition of the symbols of the Justice,\nWisdom, Love and Power of God, of the wings (Word of God), of the wheels,\nand the wondrous light, are assurances that in the anarchous destruction\nof Christendom, our Father is acting wisely, justly, lovingly and in\naccordance with His Word and Plan for the good of mankind.\u2014T. 125.\n\n10:2. And He spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in\nbetween the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals\nof fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he\nwent in in my sight.\u2014Ezekiel, typing Pastor Russell, sees himself as\nacting in the manner here described. He was to go in between the wheels,\nto do his work in accordance with the Divine Plan, to act under the\ndictates of the Divine Justice, \u201cthe cherub.\u201d The coals of fire are\nsymbolic of the fiery trials, distress, \u201cgreat tribulation,\u201d with which\nChristendom will be overwhelmed in the last period of the Time of Trouble,\nand the prophecies of these events. (Rev. 8:5.) These Divinely permitted\ntroubles have the approval of Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power, as\nnecessary from every viewpoint, and the inevitable retribution of a long\u2010\nforbearing God. Pastor Russell was to do this work,\u2014\u201cfill his hand,\u201d with\nall his might, to devote himself wholly to this task. Over the whole world\nwas scattered the warning of impending trouble.\u2014D. 57.\n\n10:3. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man\nwent in; and the cloud filled the inner court.\u2014The cherubim stood by the\nnominal Temple class\u2014to inquire and visit the offences of Christendom. The\nhouse was on their left, the place of disfavor. When no priests were in\nthe Holy, it was filled with a cloud. In 1 Kings 8:10 and in 2 Chron.\n5:11\u201014 the cloud filled the Holy, and the priests were unable to serve\nthere because of it. When the cloud filled the Court, no one could see to\nserve in it. This types that in the Harvest period, from 1878 to 1918,\nwhile Pastor Russell was dispensing as part of the \u201cfood in due season\u201d\nthe impending downfall of Christendom, those who had been serving in the\nbelieving Court condition\u2014clergy and other church workers\u2014were no longer\npermitted to do so. It corresponds to the passing of the stewardship from\nthe clergy to Pastor Russell in 1878. This applies also to verse 4, where\nthe presence of the cloud also types the presence of Jehovah to visit\npunishment for wickedness.\u2014B. 138.\n\n10:4. Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over\nthe threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and\nthe court was full of the brightness of the Lord\u2019s glory.\u2014Pastor Russell\nsaw more clearly than any one in this end of the Age the glorious Gospel\nof God in the Ransom for all (Court and altar).\n\n10:5. And the sound of the cherubim\u2019s wings was heard even to the outer\ncourt, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.\u2014Here is\nindicated the sounding forth of the Word of God through Pastor Russell\u2019s\nproclamation of Present Truth. The inner Court typed the condition of\nfaith and justification, and the outer Court typed the condition of those\nnot fully believing, nor directly serving God. The preaching and writings\nof Pastor Russell were heard by all classes of believers and unbelievers.\nIt was the voice of Jehovah, represented as almighty to save, that was\nheard throughout the world.\n\n10:6. And it came to pass that when He had commanded the man clothed with\nlinen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the\ncherubim; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.\u2014In the Divine Plan\nof the Ages Pastor Russell was to find clearly indicated the great\ntribulation then close at hand.\n\n10:7. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim\nunto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereof and put it\ninto the hands of him clothed with linen; who took it, and went\nout.\u2014Justice gave to Pastor Russell the knowledge of impending troubles,\nto go out and publish to Christendom.\n\n10:8. And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man\u2019s hand under\ntheir wings.\u2014The work of witness here depicted is carried out by human\nbeings, under the power and protection of the Word of God.\n\n10:9\u201011. And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubim, one\nwheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the\nappearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone. And as for\ntheir appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in\nthe midst of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides;\nthey turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked\nthey followed it; they turned not as they went.\u2014See Chapter 1 for\nexplanation. The leading face in the head was the man\u2019s face, typical of\nDivine Love. This is the dominating attribute of God\u2019s character,\ndirecting the course of the other three.\n\n10:12. And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their\nwings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels they\nfour had.\u2014Every part of the Divine character, as well as every operation\nof the Divine attributes and of the human beings through which God acts is\nfull of Wisdom.\u2014B. 305.\n\n10:13. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O\nwheel.\u2014Very emphatic was the Divine directing of the attention toward the\nwheels\u2014the Divine Plan of the Ages. Pastor Russell always directed the\nBible student\u2019s mind toward the great Plan.\n\n10:14\u201022. And every one had four faces; the first face was the face of a\ncherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face\nof a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubim were\nlifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.\nAnd when the cherubim went, the wheels went by them: and the cherubim\nlifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also\nturned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood; and when they\nwere lifted up, these lifted up themselves also; for the spirit of the\nliving creature was in them. Then the glory of the Lord departed from off\nthe threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim\nlifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when\nthey went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at\nthe door of the east gate of the Lord\u2019s house, and the glory of the God of\nIsrael was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under\nthe God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the\ncherubim. Every one had four faces apiece, and every one had four wings;\nand the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. And the\nlikeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of\nChebar, their appearance and themselves: they went every one straight\nforward.\u2014See explanation of these verses in Chapter 1. (Hos. 9:12) \u201cYea,\nwoe also to them when I depart from them.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 11\u2014The Wicked Counsel\n\n\n11:1. Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate\nof the Lord\u2019s house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the\ngate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah, the son of Azur, and\nPelatiah, the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.\u2014The east gate types\nChrist, the entrance to true Christianity. (John 10:9.) At the door of the\ngate were the leading sects, Jaazaniah, the son of Azur (helper) types the\nidea that by self\u2010help man can please God. Pelatiah (Jah delivers), the\nson of Benaiah (Jah is intelligent), types the belief that earthly wisdom\nwill deliver the world from its difficulties. (1 Cor. 1:21.) These were\n\u201cprinces among the people\u201d\u2014very popular ideas.\n\n11:2. Then said He unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise\nmischief, and give wicked counsel in this city.\u2014These teachings have\nactuated many of the erroneous beliefs and wicked acts of nominal\nChristians.\n\n11:3. Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the\ncaldron, and we be the flesh.\u2014Ecclesiasticism\u2019s thought is that the Time\nof Trouble is not near, and the destruction of Christendom is not to be\nthought of. (1 Thes. 5:3.) \u201cLet us build houses\u201d is an expression implying\nconfidence in the permanence of things as they are. (2 Pet. 3:4.) \u201cThis\ncity is the caldron, and we be the flesh\u201d (Jer. 1:13) is a proverb, here\napplied to the iron sides of the caldron keeping away the fire, or in\nantitype civil and military powers, protecting from actual anarchy (fire),\nhowever hot things may become.\n\n11:4, 5. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. And the\nSpirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak: Thus saith the\nLord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that\ncome unto your mind, every one of them.\u2014The false teachings of the clergy\nare nothing new. Every one of them is the old worship of Nimrod and Baal.\n\n11:6. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the\nstreets thereof with the slain.\u2014There never was a war that a clergy did\nnot preach \u201ctheir people\u201d into it, and multiply the slain. Furthermore,\nthe number is legion of those who would have liked to gain spiritual life,\nbut the clergy have discouraged (John 7:48), and in millions of cases\ncaused their actual death.\n\n11:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Your slain whom ye have laid in\nthe midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city the caldron: but I will\nbring you forth out of the midst of it.\u2014Another sense in which the\nJerusalem Jews used this proverb was that the Jews taken captive into\nBabylon were worthless, and they in Jerusalem were the valuable flesh\nremaining. (Mi. 3:3.) God here tells that the only ones to remain in\nChristendom will be the literally dead, or those who are dead to the\nclaims of Mystic Babylon. These have the best chance of surviving the\ntrouble. The walls, defences, military and police, will be broken down by\nwar and revolution; and nothing can save the adherents of ecclesiasticism\nfrom their fate.\n\n11:8. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a Sword upon you, saith\nthe Lord.\u2014The devotees of established priestcraft fear both the literal\nsword and the Sword of the Spirit. The armies of the nations will be in\nopen revolt against the established powers, religious, political and\neconomic. Also the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, will cut through\nall pretense and bring about the death of religion in all not begotten of\nthe Holy Spirit.\n\n11:9. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into\nthe hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.\u2014Christendom\nwin fall literally into the hands of revolutionists and anarchists,\nIndustrial Workers of the World, Syndicalists, Socialists, unfriendly to\nestablished systems, and spiritually into the power of the Word of God in\nthe hands of His \u201cstrangers.\u201d (1 Pet. 1:1; 2:11,) a \u201cjust recompense of\nreward.\u201d (Heb. 2:2.)\n\n11:10, 11. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of\nIsrael, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. This city shall not be your\ncaldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will\njudge you in the border of Israel.\u2014The Jews taken captive out of Jerusalem\nwere tried and slain at Riblah (a bare place) outside of Palestine,\ntypifying that the destroying judgments on Christendom will come upon her\nafter her institutions have gone to pieces, and she is desolated.\n\n11:12. And ye shall know that I am the Lord: for ye have not walked in My\nstatutes, neither executed My judgments, but have done after the manner of\nthe heathen that are round about you.\u2014The people of Christendom will\nfinally appreciate that their distress is a punishment from God, because\nof not having followed the plain injunctions of the Bible, having\nmistaught the Word of God, and having lived no better than unbelievers.\n\n11:13. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah, the son of\nBenaiah, died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice,\nand said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou make a full end of the remnant of\nIsrael?\u2014While Pastor Russell\u2019s reasonable and Divinely appointed teachings\nare doing their good work throughout Christendom the idea that human\nwisdom, Prussian culture, etc., can save the old order of things, will be\nseen lifeless.\n\n11:14. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.\u2014Verses 14 to 25\nare the message of comfort and hope to those who are now out of harmony\nwith ecclesiasticism.\n\n11:15. Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy\nkindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the\ninhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord: unto us is\nthis land given in possession.\u2014The Jews in captivity were despised by\nthose remaining in the \u201choly\u201d city, Jerusalem. They type the people of\nChristendom who honestly own themselves to be of the world and are\ndespised by the \u201cbest people,\u201d the educated, religious \u201choly\u201d\nChurchianity. \u201cGet you far from the Lord\u201d is the attitude of the tares\ntoward those who do not pretend as much, but who are often much better in\nGod\u2019s sight. The \u201cbest people\u201d not merely own most of the earth now, but\nexpect to own Heaven too\u2014with the now worldly people forever consigned to\na devil\u2010imagined hell of eternal torment.\n\n11:16. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them\nfar off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the\ncountries, yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the countries\nwhere they shall come.\u2014God especially favors the honest\u2010hearted, humble\u2010\nminded, however far they may now be from Him in outward appearance. Christ\navoided the Scribes and the Pharisees, but freely associated with the\npublicans and sinners.\n\n11:17. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from\nthe people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been\nscattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.\u2014In the coming Kingdom\nGod will gather first the outcasts from their condition of disfavor, even\nfrom the dead, and will give them possession of the earth before the\nproud\u2010minded ecclesiastics are permitted to return from the dead. This is\nto have also a literal fulfillment on Fleshly Israel.\u2014Z. \u201994\u201076.\n\n11:18. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the\ndetestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from\nthence.\u2014The common people, free from the perverse influence of\npriestcraft, in Christ\u2019s Millennial Kingdom will abolish all the clergy\u2010\nfostered ideas and practices now so abominable to God.\n\n11:19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within\nyou; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give\nthem a heart of flesh.\u2014They will be single\u2010hearted to serve God and do His\nwill alone. (Jer. 32:39.) From having the spirit or mind of natural men\nthey will be given the Holy Spirit, when God \u201cpours out His Spirit upon\nall flesh.\u201d (A. 333; Z. \u201903\u2010171.) From being hard\u2010hearted they will become\ntender\u2010hearted, forgiving one another even as God, for Christ\u2019s sake will\nforgive them.\u2014Eph. 4:32.\n\n11:20. That they may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do\nthem: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.\u2014They will keep\nGod\u2019s Law of Divine love. The \u201cbest people,\u201d who now regard themselves as\nGod\u2019s people, in the Age to come will learn that God opposes the proud and\nfavors the humble.\n\n11:21. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their\ndetestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon\ntheir own heads, saith the Lord God.\u2014Those who at heart love established\necclesiasticism are counted as having the heart, mind or will of the\nauthor of priestcraft, the Devil. \u201cYe generation of serpents (devils), how\nscarcely shall ye escape the condemnation of Gehenna (Second\nDeath).\u201d\u2014Matt. 23:33.\n\n11:22, 23. Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels\nbeside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And\nthe glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon\nthe mountain which is on the east side of the city.\u2014God, and Divine favor,\nhas ceased to be in or with Christendom (D. 527), but is upon and with the\ntrue Kingdom (mountain) of God (A. 318), toward the east (Zech. 14:4), the\nantitypical Mount of Olives.\u2014D. 653.\n\n11:24, 25. Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by\nthe Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision\nthat I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity\nall the things that the Lord had shewed me.\u2014These things seen in the\nScriptures are now preached and published to the captives in Mystic\nBabylon.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 12\u2014Christendom\u2019s Blind Flight\n\n\n12:1, 2. The word of the Lord also came unto me saying, Son of man, thou\ndwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and\nsee not; they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious\nhouse.\u2014In Chapter 12:1\u201016 is depicted the blind flight of Christendom into\nrevolution and anarchy. Pastor Russell and his co\u2010workers once dwelt in\nthe midst of the rebellious nominal house, or church, of God, with eyes\nblinded and ears made deaf by their spiritual defection.\u2014Matt. 13:13.\n\n12:3. Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and\nremove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to\nanother place in their sight: It may be they will consider, though they be\na rebellious house.\u2014He found in the Bible the Truth of God, which exhorts\nto \u201ccome out of her, O My people\u201d (Rev. 18:4); and in obedience, he came\nout of his church home into a condition of separateness, by every means of\npublicity (in their sight) drawing the attention to his removal, in the\nhope that those left behind might turn truly back to God.\n\n12:4. Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as\nstuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as\nthey that go forth into captivity.\u2014In their estimation, he did this as one\ntaken by the Evil One.\n\n12:5. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.\u2014He\ndug through the creeds walls and thus \u201ccame out of her.\u201d\n\n12:6. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it\nforth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the\nground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.\u2014To them\nhe was one not knowing whither he went, with eyes blinded; whereas his\naction and his publishing of the Truth was but God\u2019s way of beseeching\nChristendom and warning her of her own fate.\n\n12:7. And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as\nstuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine\nhand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder\nin their sight.\u2014Pastor Russell and the Truth people did this with their\nlimited power (hand), and laboriously (upon shoulder) made their way with\ntheir goods, the precious Truths, \u201cout of her.\u201d\n\n12:8\u20109. And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son\nof man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto\nthee, What doest thou?\u2014The nominal church (home) of Spiritual Israel have\noften inquired of Pastor Russell and of the Truth people, \u201cWhat doest\nthou?\u201d\n\n12:10. Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; This burden concerneth\nthe prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among\nthem.\u2014The import of the answer concerns the exalted class (prince, exalted\none), the lords in Christendom, the clergy, and all professing Christians\nthat are with them.\n\n12:11. Say, I am your sign, like as I have done, so shall it be done unto\nthem: they shall remove and go into captivity.\u2014What has been, is a lesson\nfor them; as the Royal Priesthood has done, so shall it be done unto them;\nthey shall move down from their exalted place and go into captivity to the\nlaborite and revolutionary elements. The Jews were literally to go into\ncaptivity into ancient Babylon, which they did.\n\n12:12. And the prince that is among them shell bear upon his shoulder in\nthe twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry\nout thereby; he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his\neyes.\u2014As to the Jews, their ruler Zedekiah was by night to try to escape\nfrom Jerusalem, but he should not see the way. Regarding Christendom\u2019s\nclergy, they shall at the close of their day, abandon Christendom in the\ntime of revolution, to save what they can for themselves, and \u201cget out of\nher.\u201d They shall find a still more worldly way out of their creed walls\nand shall be self\u2010blinded to the real condition of society (the earth).\n\n12:13. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in My\nsnare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet\nshall he not see it, though he shall die there.\u2014Like a snare shall\nrevolution, in the guise of freedom for all, come upon them; and, utterly\nblind to the significance of world events, they shall be forced into\nrevolution and anarchy, and there shall this lordly class come to its end.\n(Hos. 7:12.) The literal application upon King Zedekiah is of course\nunderstood; for he went to Babylon, but never saw it, because his eyes\nwere put out.\n\n12:14. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help\nhim, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.\u2014God will\nscatter in war, tumult and confusion and in error; all that adhere to the\nclergy class, and all their congregations (bands); and against them shall\nHe direct weapons of war and the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit.\n\n12:15. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them\namong the nations, and disperse them in the countries.\u2014And they shall\nappreciate that Jehovah is God, when this has come.\n\n12:16. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine,\nand from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations\namong the heathen whither they come: and they shall know that I am the\nLord.\u2014From among them God will leave a few manly believers, who shall\nescape the sword, the famine, literal and of the Word, and from the\npestilential errors; that they, as then faithful members of the Great\nCompany, may explain to the revolutionists and anarchists the Truth about\nthe Divinely forbidden doctrines and deeds of the clergy, and their\nfollowing.\n\n12:17, 18. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\neat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with\ncarefulness.\u2014The Lord\u2019s people were to eat, drink and live with great\neconomy.\n\n12:19. And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the\ninhabitants of Jerusalem and the land of Israel; They shall eat their\nbread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her\nland may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of\nall them that dwell therein.\u2014They were to say to the people of\nChristendom: \u201cGod says to the clergy and people of nominal Spiritual\nIsrael, the churches: You shall eat your food by measure, and with\neconomy\u2014on the food\u2010ticket plan\u2014and drink your Truth with amazement at the\nfamine; for Christendom is to be desolated of its people, because of the\nviolent wars, and the revolutions and anarchy of the people.\u201d\n\n12:20. And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land\nshall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014The governments\n(cities) shall be destroyed and the social order desolated in anarchy; and\nthey shall feel the outworkings of Jehovah\u2019s purposes upon them.\n\n12:21, 22. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what\nis that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are\nprolonged, and every vision faileth?\u2014Nominal clergy and Christians say\nconcerning the Bible, that this Age will last for thousands of years and\nthat Bible prophecies fail of fulfillment\u20142 Pet. 3:4.\n\n12:23. Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this\nproverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel;\nbut say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every\nvision.\u2014God says that He will make their saying to cease; for close at\nhand is the Time of Trouble and of the Kingdom of God, and the fulfillment\nof prophecy.\n\n12:24. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering\ndivination within the house of Israel.\u2014There shall be no more, in the\nchurches, delusive theories of the everlasting welfare of Christendom or\nof evolution, or immortality, or flattering prediction of peace,\npeace.\u2014Lam. 2:14.\n\n12:25. For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak\nshall come to pass; It shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O\nrebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord\nGod.\u2014Jehovah\u2019s Word shall come to pass promptly, in the present day.\u2014Isa.\n55:11.\n\n12:26, 27. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nbehold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for\nmany days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.\u2014The\nclergy say that Pastor Russell\u2019s predictions of early trouble and the\nsetting up of the Kingdom are for hundreds or thousands of years to come,\nand about things that are far off.\u2014Amos. 6:3.\n\n12:28. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, There shall none\nof My words be prolonged any more, but the Word which I have spoken shall\nbe done, saith the Lord God.\u2014Jehovah says that none of the words spoken\nthrough His servant Pastor Russell, shall wait any longer for fulfillment,\nbut the things shall come as spoken.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cSometime, when all life\u2019s lessons have been learned,\n And sun and stars forevermore have set,\n The things which our weak judgment here has spurned\u2014\n The things o\u2019er which we grieved with lashes wet\u2014\n Will flash before us out of life\u2019s dark night,\n As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue;\n And we shall see how all God\u2019s plans were right,\n And how what seemed unkind was love most true.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 13\u2014The Gaps In The Wall\n\n\n13:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man,\nprophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto\nthem that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the Word of the\nLord.\u2014God\u2019s Word is to write and speak against the preachers of\nChristendom that say things originating in their own imaginations; let\nthem listen now to the Words of Jehovah.\n\n13:3. Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow\ntheir own spirit, and have seen nothing.\u2014Woe to the foolish preachers, who\nas blind leaders have seen nothing respecting today\u2019s crisis in the Word\nof God, or in the signs of the times!\n\n13:4. O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.\u2014O\nChristendom, thy preachers will be like cunning foxes, finding profit in\nthe desolation of their country!\n\n13:5. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the\nhouse of Israel to stand in the battle in the Day of the Lord.\u2014They have\nnot preached God\u2019s Truth to fill up the breaches among Christendom\u2019s\ndefenders, or to build up the broken\u2010down forsakers of Christendom\u2019s moral\nand spiritual defenses, to enable Christendom to have strength to stand\nbefore God in the Time of Trouble.\n\n13:6. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith:\nand the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that\nthey would confirm the Word.\u2014They have taken and taught fallacious and\ndelusive theories of evolution, destructive criticism of the Bible, the\nDivine right of kings and of clergy, and preached their people into savage\nwarfare, saying it was the Word of God, when God has not said it; and they\nhave made others believe their lies.\n\n13:7. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying\ndivination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not\nspoken.\u2014They have misrepresented Jehovah.\n\n13:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity,\nand seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord\nGod.\u2014Wherefore God is against them.\n\n13:9. And Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that\ndivine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, neither shall\nthey be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they\nenter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord\nGod.\u2014God will stretch out His hand against these preachers. They shall not\nbe in the Church triumphant (Heb. 12:23), nor shall they be written as\nmembers of the spirit\u2010born Great Company; nor shall they enter the\nHeavenly phase of the Kingdom.\n\n13:10. Because, even because they have seduced My people, saying, Peace;\nand there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it\nwith untempered mortar.\u2014Because the clergy have deceived and ruined\nChristendom (Micah 3:5\u20107) proclaiming peace when there was no peace (Jer.\n6:14); and when one of them would build up a slight wall of workers of\nearthly, civic, social betterment, the others would bind it together with\nthe binder of self\u2010interest, not with truth (water) or love.\n\n13:11. Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall\nfall; there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones,\nshall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.\u2014It shall fall; there shall be\nan overflowing downpour of the water of Truth; and hard truths, great hard\nfacts shall fall upon the wall; and gigantic wars and world wide commotion\nshall tear to pieces the preachers\u2019 earthly\u2010civic\u2010social defense.\n\n13:12. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where\nis the daubing wherewith ye daubed it?\u2014Behold, when Christendom\u2019s slight\ndefense against the forces of evil, is fallen, it shall be inquired of the\nclergy, \u201cWhere is that worthless, loveless, selfish binder wherewith you\ninefficiently cemented together its members?\u201d\n\n13:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will even rend it with a\nstormy wind in My fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in Mine\nanger, and great hailstones in My fury to consume it.\u2014Therefore God says:\nI will destroy your defense with a furious storm of war and revolution,\nwith a flood of Truth and great hard facts.\n\n13:14. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered\nmortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof\nshall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the\nmidst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014So will I break down\nyour flimsy defenses of selfishness; they shall fall and you shall be\nburied in their fall.\n\n13:15. Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall, and upon them that\nhave daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is\nno more, neither they that daubed it.\u2014The defense of Christendom exists no\nmore, neither they that plastered it with showy self\u2010interest.\n\n13:16. To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem,\nand which see visions of peace for her when there is no peace.\u2014Namely, the\npreachers of Christendom who preach peace when there is no peace.\n\n13:17. Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of\nthy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou\nagainst them.\u2014God directs true Christians to set their faces against the\nman\u2010made churches, which preach things of their own imagining.\n\n13:18. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows\nto all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt\nsouls! Will ye hunt the souls of My people, and will ye save the souls\nalive that come unto you?\u2014Woe to the churches (women) that practice\nsuperstition (sew amulets about their elbows\u2014an oriental method of\nincantation), and wear veils of mystery to ensnare men.\n\n13:19. And will ye pollute Me among My people for handfuls of barley and\nfor pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save\nthe souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My people that hear\nyour lies?\u2014Shall they continue to profane and prostitute My name among My\npeople, for the price of the spiritual fornication of church\u2010state union\n(barley was the customary offering for an adulteress) and for the weekly\ncollections offering, to discourage, persecute and kill the godly?\n\n13:20. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your\npillows, wherewith ye there hunt to make them fly, and I will tear them\nfrom your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to\nmake them fly.\u2014God will strip the churches of the power of their\nsuperstitions, and will let the people go out of the bondage.\n\n13:21. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver My people out of your\nhand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted, and ye shall\nknow that I am the Lord.\u2014Their veil of mystery will He tear away, and\ndeliver His people, the Great Company, out of bondage.\n\n13:22. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom\nI have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he\nshould not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.\u2014Wherefore\nthe churches shall no more hold forth delusive hopes.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 14\u2014Insincere Inquirers\n\n\n14:1. Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before\nme.\u2014There will come certain of the clergy of Christendom to the Truth\npeople to listen and inquire.\n\n14:2, 3. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these\nmen have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of\ntheir iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by\nthem?\u2014God\u2019s Word for them will be that these men have insincerely set up\nin their hearts their idols of gold, power, etc., and with a pretended\nface\u2010to\u2010face sincerity, have retained their iniquitous stumbling block of\nlove of sin. Should God be inquired of at all by such men?\n\n14:4. Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord\nGod; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his\nheart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,\nand cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh,\naccording to the multitude of his idols:\u2014Every man in the nominal church\nthat insincerely clings to his idols and to his love of iniquity, and yet\ncomes to one of God\u2019s people, Jehovah will answer not with words, but with\nthe retribution deserved for his idolatry.\n\n14:5. That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they\nare all estranged from Me through their idols.\u2014God will treat the nominal\nChristian church in a manner like their own insincere hearts, because by\nthe idols they serve they are all estranged from their love for Him.\u20142\nThes. 2:11, 12.\n\n14:6. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God;\nRepent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from\nall your abominations.\u2014Say first to them: Repent of your evil deeds, turn\naway from your idols, O Christendom, and resolutely turn your faces unto\nHim, and from superstition, error, and from practices which are abominable\nto His standards.\n\n14:7. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that\nsojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from Me, and setteth up his\nidols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before\nhis face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me; I the\nLord will answer him by Myself.\u2014Every church member and every one\nassociated with him, who ceases to love God supremely, sets his heart upon\nother subjects of love or worship, clings to iniquitous practices, and\nthen comes to the Truth people to find what God says, verily Jehovah\nHimself will answer him\u2014with deeds, not with words merely.\n\n14:8. And I will set My face against that man, and will make him a sign\nand a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and ye\nshall know that I am the Lord.\u2014God will thoroughly disfavor that man, and\nmake him an example and a by\u2010word; He will cut him off from a place among\nHis people.\n\n14:9. And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the\nLord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand upon him\nand will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.\u2014And if any\npreacher\u2014even one of the Truth people\u2014shall get so wrong in heart that he\nis deceived in what he says (Jer. 20:7), Jehovah will \u201csend him a strong\ndelusion that he should believe a lie,\u201d and will be against him and will\ndestroy him from the midst of His people.\n\n14:10. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the\npunishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that\nseeketh unto him.\u2014Both shall bear the same punishment for their\niniquity\u2014the preachers and the man that listens to him.\n\n14:11. That the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, neither be\npolluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be My\npeople, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.\u2014Professed Christian\npeople shall stray no longer from Him, nor become unclean spiritually\nthrough their wrongdoing, but may truly be God\u2019s people, and He their God.\n\n14:12, 13. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man,\nwhen the land sinneth against Me by trespassing grievously then will I\nstretch out Mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread\nthereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from\nit.\u2014When a whole country sins against God with grievous, willful sin, then\nwill He exercise His power against it, and cut off the necessary supply of\nmaterial (Lev. 26:26) and spiritual food\u2014send a famine of food and of the\nWord of God upon it, and cut off all life from it.\n\n14:14. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they\nshould deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord\nGod.\u2014Though in that country were the three most upright men of history,\nNoah, Daniel and Job\u2014typing here the Little Flock, the Great Company, and\nthe Household of Faith\u2014they should by their righteousness save but their\nown lives.\n\n14:15. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil\nit, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the\nbeasts.\u2014God has caused savage governments to overrun Christendom with\nmilitary and naval forces, and to ruin and desolate it, so that no manly\nindependent man can exist there.\n\n14:16. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God,\nthey shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be\ndelivered, but the land shall be desolate.\u2014Though these three classes be\nin Christendom, they shall deliver no one but themselves; they only shall\nbe delivered, but Christendom shall be desolated.\n\n14:17. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through\nthe land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:\u2014God has brought upon\nChristendom destroying weapons (Lev. 26:25), and the Sword of the Spirit\nis to go through Christendom and cut off all that can be cut off, and no\none shall save aught but himself.\n\n14:18, 19. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord\nGod, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be\ndelivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour\nout My fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast.\u2014God will\npermit a pestilence, both of literal disease and of pestilential errors in\nChristendom, in wrath to take away life.\n\n14:20, 21. Though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live saith the\nLord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughters; they shall but\ndeliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus saith the Lord\nGod; How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem\u2014the\nsword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence\u2014to cut\noff from it man and beast.\u2014Christendom is so corrupt that God is sending\nupon her His four dreadful punishments\u2014the sword, the famine, the savage\ngovernment and the pestilence\u2014as His destroyers!\n\n14:22. Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought\nforth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you,\nand ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted\nconcerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning\nall that I have brought upon it.\u2014There shall be left from the anarchy a\nfew who shall be brought through into the Kingdom as samples of\nChristendom\u2019s pollution. They will live among those who have suffered in\nChristendom\u2019s trouble, and amid the blessed Kingdom influences by contrast\nthe others shall see their continued evil ways and doings. And they will\ncause everyone to feel satisfied, content, over the trouble God is\nbringing upon Christendom.\n\n14:23. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their\ndoings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I\nhave done in it, saith the Lord God.\u2014When the others see their evil ways\nand doings, they will be content as to the need of the Time of Trouble,\nfor they shall realize that not without good cause shall God have done all\nthat He will do to Christendom.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 15\u2014Fit For Fuel Only\n\n\n15:1\u20108. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, What is\nthe vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the\ntrees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will\nmen take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into\nthe fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst\nof it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it\nwas meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work,\nwhen the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? Therefore thus saith the\nLord God, As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have\ngiven to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.\nAnd I will set My face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and\nanother fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when\nI set My face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because\nthey have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God.\u2014Ecclesiasticism, which\nimagines itself to be the true vine (John 15:1) with the sects as\nbranches, is a wild vine (Rev. 14:18), unable to support itself and\nclinging like a parasite upon others for support. It brings forth no\ncharacter fruitage, is unfit for any Divine purpose, is slender, half\u2010\ncharred by the assaults of Higher Criticism, and fit only to be\ndestroyed.\u2014Psa. 80:8\u201016.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 16\u2014Unfaithfulness Of God\u2019s People\n\n\n16:1\u20105. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause\nJerusalem to know her abominations, and say, Thus saith the Lord God unto\nJerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father\nwas an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the\nday thou was born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water\nto supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye\npitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee;\nbut thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person,\nin the day that thou wast born.\u2014Chapter 16 is an amplification of the\nsymbolic description of Babylon the Great (Jerusalem), ecclesiasticism\n(Rev. 17), as a once virgin but now apostate woman (church). The peoples\nof whom the church was composed were originally heathen (16:3), in and of\nthe world (field).\n\n16:6\u20108. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own\nblood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said\nunto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to\nmultiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great,\nand thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and\nthine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed\nby thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and\nI spread My skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto\nthee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou\nbecamest Mine.\u2014God through Christ loved these people and espoused them, He\ncaused the church to grow beautiful.\n\n16:9\u201012. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy\nblood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with\nbroidered work, and shod thee with badger\u2019s skin, and I girded thee about\nwith fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with\nornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.\nAnd I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a\nbeautiful crown upon thine head.\u2014He anointed them with the Holy Spirit\n(16:9, oil), clothed them with the robe of Christ\u2019s righteousness (Matt.\n22:11) with the embroidery of character fruits (Psa. 45:14), and gave them\nprecious ornament of Divine (golden) promises, put a jewel (pure, diamond\u2010\nsparkling Truth\u20141 Cor. 3:12) on their forehead (minds\u2014Rev. 7:3), golden\nearrings in their ears (ears to hear Divine things\u2014Gen. 24:22), and a\nbeautiful crown on their head (tentative kingship).\u2014Rev. 2:10.\n\n16:13. Thus was thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of\nfine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and\nhoney, and oil; and thou wast exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst\nprosper into a kingdom.\u2014He gave them the purest and best food from the\nWord of God (Psa. 147:14); and they became beautiful in the beauty of\nholiness (Psa. 110:3), and prospered even unto inheritance of the Kingdom\nof Heaven.\u2014Col. 1:13.\n\n16:14. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it\nwas perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the\nLord God.\u2014They became renowned for their holy, kindly characters;\nobtainable through sacrificial suffering.\u2014Heb. 2:10.\n\n16:15. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot\nbecause of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that\npassed by; his it was.\u2014The spirit of fornication in a church is the desire\nto form a union with any world\u2010government (Rev. 18:3); this spirit was\nmanifested to every government.\u2014Isa. 1:21.\n\n16:16. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places\nwith divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon; the like things\nshall not come, neither shall it be so.\u2014The high places are the tops of\nmountains, the rulers of governments; there the church displayed her\ngreatest attractions, and induced the spiritual fornication of\ngovernments, to an extent never to be witnessed again.\n\n16:17. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of My gold and of My silver,\nwhich I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst\ncommit whoredom with them.\u2014She took the Divine treasures of Truth, and\nshaped and distorted them into the form of traditions of men.\n\n16:18, 19. And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them; and\nthou hast set Mine oil and Mine incense before them. My meat also, which I\ngave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast\neven set it before them for a sweet savour; and thus it was, saith the\nLord God.\u2014The spiritual food of the Word of God was spiced with human\nerrors; such as Divine right of kings and clergy, immortality, Trinity and\neternal torment, preached in a way to please the ruling powers and serve\ntheir unholy purposes.\u2014Hos. 2:8.\n\n16:20, 21. Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou\nhast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be\ndevoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter? That thou hast slain My\nchildren, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for\nthem?\u2014The Church gave the children of God, begotten of the Word, to endure\ndoctrines of hell fire (Jer. 7:31) and fiery trials in the warfares of\ngovernments.\n\n16:22. And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not\nremembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast\npolluted in thy blood.\u2014In her pride of place, the church forgot the\nheathendom from which her members had been raised.\n\n16:23\u201025. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto\nthee! saith the Lord God.) That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent\nplace, and hast made thee a high place in every street. Thou hast built\nthy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be\nabhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and\nmultiplied thy whoredoms.\u2014Woe, woe, distress, trouble and destruction to\nsuch an apostate, who in every conspicuous way (Isa. 57:7) served the\ninterests of the god of this world, made her \u201cvirtues\u201d detestable to\nthoughtful men, and offered herself for state\u2010church union to every\ngovernment (street), state, city and town!\n\n16:26. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy\nneighbors, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke Me\nto anger.\u2014She united herself with the most worldly people, great in\nearthly things.\n\n16:27. Behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over thee, and have\ndiminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them\nthat hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy\nlewd way.\u2014God has now, since 1878, brought the powers of judgment against\nthe apostate church and caused a famine of the Word of God within church\ndoors. He has given her over to the encroachments of church daughters of\naggressive worldliness and doctrines of devils (Philistines)\u2014Christian\nScience, Theosophy, New Thought, Higher Criticism and Spiritism. Even\nthese churches, founded on doctrines of devils, are ashamed of the\nworldly, self\u2010debasing ways of the professedly orthodox Church of Christ.\n\n16:28, 29. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because\nthou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet\ncouldest not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication\nin the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied\nherewith.\u2014The Church has even sought union with the forces (Assyrians)\ndestined to overthrow Christendom\u2014Socialism, Communism, Industrial Workers\nof the World, Trade Unions, Syndicalists, revolutionists,\nanarchists,\u2014insatiable in her desire for power.\n\n16:30\u201034. How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest\nall these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman, in that thou\nbuildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine\nhigh place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou\nscornest hire, but as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh\nstrangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all whores; but thou\ngivest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come\nunto thee on every side for thy whoredom. And the contrary is in thee from\nother women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit\nwhoredoms; and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto\nthee, therefore thou are contrary.\u2014How despicable is the attitude of the\nprofessed church! ... lower even than an harlot! For a harlot has some\nself\u2010respect and gives herself only for gifts in return; but the\n\u201cChristian\u201d church has offered inducements to every possible kind and\ngrade of governmental power to enter into Divinely condemned union of\nchurch and state.\u2014Hos. 8:9.\n\n16:35\u201037. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the\nLord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness\ndiscovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols\nof thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst\ngive unto them. Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom\nthou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them\nthat thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee,\nand will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy\nnakedness.\u2014Therefore God will cause the governments, with which the\napostate church has made alliance, to hate and burn her with fire.\u2014Rev.\n17:16.\n\n16:38\u201040. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed\nblood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. And I\nwill also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine\neminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee\nalso of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked\nand bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall\nstone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.\u2014By\nMoses\u2019 Law women that broke wedlock were stoned to death; in earlier days\nthey were burned alive; and the guilty men also were killed. (Lev. 20:10,\n14, 27.) Ecclesiasticism will be smitten down with the stones of hard\nfacts, and be destroyed in the fires of anarchy, \u201cwith the fire of God\u2019s\nJealousy.\u201d (Zeph. 3:8.) She shall be stripped of her tinsel and gilt\n(imitation immortality), her purple (imperial) and scarlet (bloody)\ncolors, and of her real and imitation jewels of Truth. The masses,\nincensed by vain sacrifices and privations of a world\u2010war, will despatch\nher.\n\n16:41. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments\nupon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from\nplaying the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.\u2014Her houses\n(denominations) will be wiped out in the anarchy. She will receive her\nterrible judgments in the wondering sight of many heathen religions\n(women).\n\n16:42, 43. So will I make My fury toward thee to rest, and My jealousy\nshall depart from thee, and I will be quiet and will be no more angry.\nBecause thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted\nMe in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way\nupon thine head, saith the Lord God: and thou shalt not commit this\nlewdness above all thine abominations.\u2014Not till ecclesiasticism has\nperished from the face of the earth will God\u2019s fury and jealousy cease its\nretributions.\n\n16:44, 45. Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb\nagainst thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. Thou art thy\nmother\u2019s daughter, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou\nart the sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and their\nchildren: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.\u2014The\nHittites, Amorites, Samaritans and Sodomites were all worshipers of Baal\nand Astarte, under one name or another, and were adepts in the heathen and\nimmoral beliefs and practices of that religion, typical not of fleshly but\nof spiritual uncleanness, as explained in foregoing pages. The true\nChurch\u2019s father was our Father, her mother the Sarah Covenant of Grace,\nand her espoused husband, Christ. Ecclesiasticism\u2019s parentage, as becometh\nthe \u201cdwellers in the summits,\u201d the proud \u201cbest\u201d people, was the proud,\nself\u2010sufficient one, the Devil (John 8:44.) Romanism and Protestantism are\nbegotten, not by the Word of God, but by the words of pride, of\nselfishness, of earthly ambition. Her mother was of the Hittites, a\ncommercial people, descendants of Ham, under Divine disapproval; her\nspiritual mother was the false promises of human tradition, which would\nbarter a Divine promise for an earthly meal; she loves compromise, and\nknows not principle. \u201cLike mother, like daughter.\u201d\n\n16:46. And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell\nat thy left hand; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand,\nis Sodom and her daughters.\u2014Samaria and Sodom were worshipers of Baal.\nWith like parentage, ecclesiasticism is a sister religion with the heathen\nreligions, even acknowledging in many volumes the unity of all religions,\nherself included. Samaria, the ten apostate tribes, mingled the religion\nof Jehovah with that of Baal\u2014a fit religious sister of the \u201cnominal\nchurch,\u201d which reads the Bible and serves the god of selfishness. Samaria\nelsewhere types not merely ecclesiasticism\u2019s sister, but churchianity\nherself. Sodom, here named Jerusalem\u2019s (ecclesiasticism\u2019s) sister\nreligion, is directly identified as churchianity in Rev. 11:8\u2014\u201cThe great\ncity which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was\ncrucified.\u201d It types professed Christianity in its lowest phase.\n\n16:47. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their\nabominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou was corrupted\nmore than they in all thy ways.\u2014As though the ill\u2010fame of Sodom were not\nenough, (apostate) Christianity has excelled her in corruption; Sodom\u2019s\nliteral depravity was \u201ca very little thing\u201d to ecclesiasticism\u2019s ways.\n\n16:48\u201050. At I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done,\nshe nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold,\nthis was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and\nabundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she\nstrengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and\ncommitted abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw\ngood.\u2014Sodom\u2019s greatest depravity (A. 111, 112) was a result of depraved\nsexuality in connection with the religion of Baal. \u201cThis dreadful\n\u2018consecration\u2019 spread over Phoenicia, Syria, Phrygia, Assyria and\nBabylonia. Ashtaroth, the Greek Astarte, was its chief object.\u201d Its\nantitype in the churches was, for national, state or municipal rulers,\nunder guise of advancing religion, to cause their tributary governments to\nbecome \u201cChristianized.\u201d Whole nations were thus \u201cChristianized\u201d and\nbaptized\u2014the peoples of savage governments. Through a letting down of the\nbars of immorality, spiritual and fleshly, this ministered to the beastly\npropensities of rulers and of others. The clergy, from Pope to class\nleader, prostituted religion for the pleasure and profit of association\nwith the rich and powerful. Rulers were assured of the \u201cDivine right of\nkings,\u201d and received homage, as God\u2019s representatives. The people were led\nto believe that death for rulers was entrance to Heaven, and thousands\ndied in the exhilaration\u2014mistaken for religious uplift\u2014of self\u2010sacrifice\nin their behalf. Ministers of Satan masquerading as angels of light,\npreached these falsities and millions believed them, and for their own\ngood, and the good of the world which they have corrupted, God is about to\ntake them away.\u2014Z. \u201995\u201056.\n\n16:51, 52. Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast\nmultiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy\nsisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. Thou also, which\nhast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast\ncommitted more abominable than they; they are more righteous than thou;\nyea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast\njustified thy sisters.\u2014As Jerusalem\u2019s moral corruption justified Sodom and\nSamaria, so ecclesiasticism\u2019s moral and spiritual depravity have justified\nthose elements in Christendom typed by Samaria and Sodom. The clergy, and\ntheir churches, because of pride of being the \u201cbest people\u201d, have been\nmore abominable than those of baser sort.\u2014Psa. 119:113; Prov. 6:17; 8:13;\n16:18.\n\n16:53\u201055. When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom\nand her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then\nwill I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them.\nThat thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all\nthat thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. When thy\nsisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and\nSamaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou\nand thy daughters shall return to your former estate.\u2014In the resurrection\nof the dead, \u201cjust and unjust\u201d (Acts 24:15), Jerusalem, in shame, will\nface Sodom and Samaria, confounded and abased by the fact that her evil\npractices justified, excused and \u201ccomforted\u201d Sodom and Samaria. Likewise\necclesiasticism, the clergy and their following of \u201cbest people\u201d, will be\nin shame over the fact that their iniquity was an incentive to the evil\ndoing of the baser elements of Christendom.\n\n16:56\u201059. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day\nof thy pride. Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy\nreproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the\ndaughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. Thou hast\nborne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord. For thus saith\nthe Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast\ndespised the oath in breaking the covenant.\u2014Among a proud and corrupt\n\u201cbest\u201d people it was a tabooed subject even to mention the depravities of\nthe \u201cworser kind\u201d; but in the last two score years of merciless\n\u201cmuckraking\u201d and publicity of \u201cChristian\u201d criminality in choir lofts,\nSunday School rooms, church \u201cstudies\u201d, belfries, orphan asylums and\nconvents, \u201cthe wickedness was discovered\u201d of clergy and church people, and\nso widely published that the heathen religions (daughters of Syria and of\nthe Philistines) have come to know about it and to despise so\u2010called\n\u201cChristianity.\u201d Christendom has despised its vow of consecration to God\nand the Covenant of Grace, by which \u201cWe, as Isaac was, are the children of\nthe Promise.\u201d (Gal. 4:28), and under which she was betrothed to Christ.\nGod will deal with Christendom in like manner as Christendom has dealt\nwith God.\n\n16:60. Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of\nthy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting\ncovenant.\u2014Nevertheless, \u201cGod is faithful\u201d, (1 Cor. 1:9); and as He made a\ncovenant with the church in the pure and faithful days of her youth, He\nwill remember that covenant, and in the Times of Restitution will make\nwith all people, through the Jews, the New Covenant, everlasting, under\nwhich there will be showers of blessing.\u2014Ezek. 34:26.\n\n16:61. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt\nreceive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them\nunto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.\u2014When the people of\nChristendom, come back from the dead to life on the earth they will\nremember their evil, faithless ways, and experience deepest shame when\npeople of the baser sort are given to them as daughters, to love and\ncherish in the Lord.\u2014D. 633.\n\n16:62. And I will establish My covenant with thee: and thou shalt know\nthat I am the Lord.\u2014The coming blessings are not for any faithfulness of\nChristendom, but because God is faithful.\n\n16:63. That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy\nmouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for\nall that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.\u2014Then the once apostate\npeople, at last returned to \u201cthe Bishop and Shepherd of their souls\u201d (1\nPet. 2:25), will realize the fullness of God\u2019s eternal goodness and love,\nand come into the peace of God (Phil. 4:7)\u2014a peace that will be\neternal.\u2014A. 111; Z. \u201994\u201046.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 17\u2014Parable Of The Eagles\n\n\n17:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, put\nforth a riddle, and speak a parable, unto the house of Israel.\u2014Chapter 17\npictures ecclesiasticism as a king, his partial captivity to the forces\ndestined to destroy him, his turning for support to the forces of worldly\nwisdom and power, the failure of the attempted alliance, and his final\ndownfall.\n\n17:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings,\nlong\u2010winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon\nand took the highest branch of the cedar.\u2014The Assyrians (a great eagle)\nwith great wings, long\u2010winged, full of feathers (strong of wing,\npowerful), which had divers colors (many varieties and phases of\nappearance) came to Lebanon (the Hebrew kingdom) and took the highest\nbranch of the cedar (carried King Jehoiachim captive). In antitype this\nsignifies: The power destined to destroy Christendom (anarchy, Nihilism,\nSocialism, and their wisdom expressed in schools of thought tending to\ndestroy respect for Christendom) like an eagle (wise one) with great wings\n(impressive words) long\u2010winged (far\u2010reaching), full of feathers (full of\nargument), has quietly made its way into Christendom since 1878 and taken\ncaptive the highest ones, many of the leading class of Christendom (the\nCedar) with doctrines of Evolution, Socialism, and Higher Criticism, all\ndestructive of the existing order of things.\n\n17:4. He cropped off the top of his twigs, and carried it into a land of\ntraffick; he set it in a city of merchants.\u2014These were taken captive by\nthese systems of thought into a condition where the Heavenly ideals of the\nchurch were abandoned for mere trafficking for position and power, and in\nhuman, earthly theories and philosophies.\n\n17:5. He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful\nfield; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.\u2014The\nremaining people of ecclesiasticism, more lowly, the seed from whom had\nonce sprung the ruling classes, will be planted in rich, deep soil, well\nsaturated with waters of the great truths of fraternity, equality and\nliberty.\n\n17:6. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose\nbranches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it\nbecame a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.\u2014The new\necclesiasticism, fostered by revivalists, evangelists, social and civic\nworkers and other earthly reformers, will grow and flourish into a form of\necclesiasticism, low, never far above earthly things, whose numbers\n(branches) tended toward anarchous systems of thought, and whose roots,\nfundamental philosophy, will be under the sway of the same.\n\n17:7, 8. There was also another great eagle with great wings and many\nfeathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot\nforth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of\nher plantation. It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it\nmight bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be\na goodly vine.\u2014But the new, low\u2010born ecclesiasticism, alarmed at the\nanarchous trend of thought, shall turn toward another great system of\nwisdom (an eagle) equally of demoniacal origin; i. e., conservative,\nworldly wisdom tending to uphold the present unholy state of affairs.\n\n17:9. Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God: Shall it prosper? shall he not\npull up the roots thereof, cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? It\nshall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or\nmany people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.\u2014The time of God\u2019s Kingdom\nhaving come, God purposes to uproot the new ecclesiasticism. Its character\nfruitage, being of the spirit of this world, must be cut off and withered\nin the fiery trials of this tribulation time. Its promise (leaves) shall\nwither away, even as it has withered wherever the great war has touched.\n\n17:10. Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly\nwither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the furrows\nwhere it grew.\u2014From the east, the direction of the rising Sun of\nRighteousness comes a wind, a teaching, Present Truth, that shall touch\nthe new ecclesiasticism and wither it in a time when there is \u201cperplexity\nand distress of nations, men\u2019s hearts failing them for fear of the things\ncoming on the earth\u201d (Luke 21:24, 25)\u2014the social\norder\u2014ecclesiasticism\u2014\u201cthe vine.\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:18.\n\n17:11, 12. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Say now to\nthe rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them,\nBehold, the King of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king\nthereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon.\u2014The\nking of Babylon, Satan, has already come to ecclesiasticism and taken\ncaptive the ruling class, the prominent clergy.\n\n17:13. And hath taken of the king\u2019s seed, and made a covenant with him,\nand hath taken an oath of him; he hath also taken the mighty of the\nland.\u2014He holds the chief ones captive by reason of their agreement with\nhis modern, false, religious, social and economic teachings.\n\n17:14. That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up,\nbut that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.\u2014As a result\necclesiasticism will not be able to rise above earthly things nor lift\nitself up to combat anarchous systems of thought. If it could do so, it\nmight not be overthrown immediately, but might continue to stand for yet a\nlittle while.\n\n17:15. But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt\nthat they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall\nhe escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be\ndelivered?\u2014Ecclesiasticism has rebelled by crying out to the established\nwisdom of this world (Egypt), relying upon strong, conservative worldly\ndoctrines (horses) and many supporters of the reactionary ideas, to save\nit from complete overthrow.\n\n17:16. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king\ndwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he\nbrake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.\u2014As God lives!\nIn the condition of lawlessness, wherein Satan, the king of anarchy,\nliveth, who elevated ecclesiasticism to its place of power, there, in\nanarchy, in the midst of lawless hosts, shall ecclesiasticism perish.\n\n17:17. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make\nfor him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off\nmany persons.\u2014Neither shall worldly wisdom, with its mighty following,\naccomplish anything for ecclesiasticism in its death struggle with\nanarchy, not even by raising up governmental support (mounts) nor by the\nunited efforts of the strongest elements of this world\u2019s might.\n\n17:18, 19. Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo,\nhe had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not\nescape. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely Mine oath\nthat he hath despised, and My covenant that he hath broken, even it will I\nrecompense upon his own head.\u2014Ecclesiasticism has been faithless to\nJehovah and will be faithless to its newly acquired philosophy.\n\n17:20. And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My\nsnare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will plead with him there for\nhis trespass that he hath trespassed against Me.\u2014Like a snare, a net,\nshall the Time of Trouble come upon ecclesiasticism; and it shall not\nescape destruction at the hands of anarchy.\n\n17:21. And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword,\nand they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall\nknow that I the Lord have spoken it.\u2014Millions that abandon churches and\nclergy in the trouble shall fall physically by violence, and be slain\nspiritually by the Sword of the Spirit; and those that escape death shall\nbe scattered in the world\u2010wide commotion (winds) far from the systems they\nonce supported. They shall know that God has spoken truly, when the day of\nanarchy shall come.\n\n17:22. Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take of the highest branch of\nthe high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young\ntwigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and\neminent.\u2014Thus says the Lord God: One of the highest branches of\necclesiasticism is Judaism. I will establish Judaism. I will take, in\nJudaism, one of its young and tender aspirations\u2014Zionism\u2014and will plant\nit, establish it at the very pinnacle of the coming Kingdom of God\u2014the\nJews ruling, through the resurrected Ancient Worthies\u2014Abraham, Isaac,\nJacob, etc.\u2014over the earthly phase of that Kingdom.\u2014Psa. 45:16; Heb.\n11:10.\n\n17:23. In the mountains of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it\nshall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under\nit shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches\nthereof shall they dwell.\u2014It shall branch above all nations (boughs) and\nbear character fruit unto life eternal. (John 4:36.) It shall be the\ndesire of all nations (Hag. 2:7) (a goodly cedar). Under it shall dwell in\npeace all the truly wise ones of earth.\n\n17:24. And all the trees of the field shall knew that I the Lord have\nbrought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the\ngreen tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken\nand have done it.\u2014All the people (trees) of the world (field) shall know\nthat the Lord has brought down nominal ecclesiasticism and exalted the\nAncient Worthies, has dried up \u201cChristianity\u201d and given vitality to\nZionism and Judaism.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 18\u2014\u201cThe Soul That Sinneth\u201d\n\n\n18:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What mean ye,\nthat ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, the\nfathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children\u2019s teeth are set on\nedge?\u2014The Word of God came to be clearly understood by Pastor Russell as\nto the equity of Jehovah\u2019s dealings with man in condemning all to death.\nBoth Jews and Christians have asked, \u201cHow is it just to visit the sins of\nthe fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations?\u201d \u201cWhy\nhave the children\u2019s teeth been set on edge by the fathers\u2019 eating the sour\ngrape of sin?\u201d\u2014H. 59; E. _334_, 309.\n\n18:3. As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more\nto use this proverb in Israel.\u2014The doubters queried, \u201cDoth not the son\nbear the iniquity of the father?\u201d (18:19.) They complained, \u201cThe way of\nthe Lord is not equal\u201d nor just. (18:25.) Pastor Russell, expounding the\nWord of God, demonstrated clearly that God\u2019s way is just (18:25); that\nman\u2019s ways are unequal, unjust (18:29); and that God takes no \u201cpleasure at\nall that the wicked should die, but rather that he should turn from his\nways and live.\u201d (18:23\u201032.) The time will soon be when the scornful\nproverb shall no longer possess any force.\u2014H. 46.\n\n18:4. Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the\nsoul of the son is Mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die.\u2014In the\nearthly phase of the thousand\u2010year probationary Kingdom of God the equal\njustice of God will be manifest, father and son will be treated alike, no\none dying for a parent\u2019s sin; but each soul that sinneth shall die for his\nown sin.\u2014E. _354_, 331; A. 128.\n\n18:5\u20109. But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, And\nhath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the\nidols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour\u2019s wife,\nneither hath come near to a menstruous woman, and hath not oppressed any,\nbut hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence,\nhath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a\ngarment; he that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any\nincrease, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true\njudgment between man and man, hath walked in My statutes, and hath kept My\njudgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord\nGod.\u2014The Father of equal love will beseech each sinner to repent and turn\nfrom his transgression, that iniquity, wilful sin, be not his ruin.\n\u201cWherefore turn yourselves and live ye.\u201d (Ezek. 18:30, 32.) The days of\ndeath from Adamic and parental imperfection will be over; each one will be\nsolely responsible for his own life or death. To clearly explain the\nchanged situation the several cases are presented. If a righteous man\ncontinue in a righteous course he shall live eternally.\n\n18:10\u201013. If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that\ndoeth the like to any one of these things, And that doeth not any of those\nduties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his\nneighbour\u2019s wife, hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by\nviolence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the\nidols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth upon usury, and hath\ntaken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all\nthese abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.\u2014If a\nman\u2019s son is a wilful sinner, \u201che shall surely die; his blood shall be\nupon himself.\u201d\n\n18:14\u201018. Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father\u2019s sins\nwhich he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, that hath\nnot eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols\nof the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour\u2019s wife, neither\nhath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled\nby violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the\nnaked with a garment, that hath taken off his hand from the poor, that\nhath not received usury nor increase, hath executed My Judgments, hath\nwalked in My statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he\nshall surely live. As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed,\nspoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his\npeople, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.\u2014If the wicked man have a\ngood, upright son, the good son shall live; but the father shall die.\n\n18:19\u201023. Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the\nfather? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath\nkept all My statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul\nthat sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the\nfather, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the\nrighteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of\nthe wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his\nsins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which\nis lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his\ntransgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto\nhim: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any\npleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not\nthat he should return from his ways, and live?\u2014The wicked man who turns to\nrighteousness shall not have his former sins held against him; but he\nshall live.\n\n18:24\u201030. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and\ncommitteth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the\nwicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done\nshall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in\nhis sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of\nthe Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; is not My way equal?\nare not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his\nrighteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his\niniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man\nturneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that\nwhich is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he\nconsidereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath\ncommitted, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of\nIsrael, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not My\nways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house\nof Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent,\nand turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be\nyour ruin.\u2014The righteous man who turns to iniquity shall die.\n\n18:31, 32. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have\ntransgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye\ndie, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that\ndieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.\u2014This\nwill be true of individuals as soon as the last member of the spirit\u2010\nbegotten Body of Christ has died. And it is true now\u2014and has been true\nsince 1878\u2014of the institutions of \u201cthis present evil age,\u201d which have been\nin Divine judgment since 1878. If ecclesiasticism, \u201cthe house of Israel,\u201d\nwould cast away all their transgressions, and gain a new heart and a new\nspirit, they would abide forever; but they will never change their evil\nways; their destruction will be their own wilful act\u2014\u201cWhy will ye die?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 19\u2014The Lion\u2019s Whelps\n\n\n19:1. Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of\nIsrael.\u2014Chapter 19 has the form of a dirge. It represents in antitype the\ndownfall, in the Time of Trouble, of ecclesiasticism pictured first, as\ntwo roaring lions which are taken captive; and secondly, as a vine\ndestroyed by fire of internal origin. The princes of Israel are the\nclergy.\n\n19:2. And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions,\nshe nourished her whelps among young lions.\u2014As the father and the mother\nof Isaac were Abraham and Sarah, and the spiritual father and mother of\nthe true Church are Jehovah and His Covenant of Grace (Gal. 4:22\u201028), so\nthe spiritual father and mother of ecclesiasticism, priestcraft, are the\nDevil and his covenant with death. (Gen. 3:4; Isa. 28:18.) \u201cThe Devil\ngoeth about like a roaring lion.\u201d (1 Pet. 5:8.) Their nourishment has been\n\u201cdoctrines of devils.\u201d\n\n19:3. And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and it\nlearned to catch the prey; it devoured men.\u2014Ecclesiasticism divided into\ntwo classes; one higher, richer, more educated than the other\u2014\u201cone of her\nwhelps.\u201d They learned to devour men, make them their prey.\n\n19:4. The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they\nbrought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.\u2014The unbelieving peoples\nheard them; they, the clergy, were taken in the pit of corrupt doctrine;\nthey were captivated, taken captive, into worldliness, the wisdom of this\nworld, of \u201cEgypt.\u201d\n\n19:5. Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then\nshe took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.\u2014Another class\nof ecclesiasticism was developed, under the same false covenant with\ndeath, into a full\u2010fledged lion, an embodiment and child of the eternal\ntorment, trinity, inherent\u2010immortality teachings.\n\n19:6. And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and\nlearned to catch the prey, and devoured men.\u2014This was the popular\nevangelist well trained in catching men and shekels.\n\n19:7. And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities;\nand the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his\nroaring.\u2014The revivalists caught men by thousands, and \u201cthe fulness\nthereof,\u201d great contributions for a few weeks of noisy evangelism.\n\n19:8. Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces,\nand spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.\u2014Then the\n\u201cunconvertible\u201d people, anarchists, Socialists, etc., spread the net of\ntheir teachings. The people, indignant at their sufferings from wars and\nhigh cost of living, declined further support.\n\n19:9. And they put in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of\nBabylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be\nheard upon the mountains of Israel.\u2014Revolution and anarchy will place a\ncomplete restraint upon the revivalists, and bring them to their end.\n\n19:10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she\nwas fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.\u2014The false\ncovenant\u2010mother of ecclesiasticism is a system of thought, in the very\nblood; it is part and parcel of the existence of ecclesiasticism. It is\n\u201cthe vine of the earth,\u201d of Rev. 14:19. This system of error was once\nfruitful in gaining adherents.\n\n19:11. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule,\nand her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in\nher height with the multitude of her branches.\u2014The vine had seeming strong\nauthority for the rulership \u201cof them that bare rule,\u201d the clergy, \u201clords\nover God\u2019s heritage.\u201d (1 Pet. 5:3.) To a mighty and lofty height did the\nvine of the earth grow.\n\n19:12. But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground,\nand the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and\nwithered; the fire consumed them.\u2014But in the fury of the world\u2010wide war\nshe will be \u201ccast down to the ground.\u201d The truths arising from the\npresence of the dawning Sun of Righteousness will dry up the support of\nher fruit (church members). Her authority\u2014rod\u2014will be broken, withered,\nand destroyed in anarchy.\n\n19:13. And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty\nground.\u2014In a world of hostile doctrines of Socialism and anarchy, in a\nworld\u2010wide drought of the water of the Word of God, the old system of\nsophistries will soon be in the wilderness condition, in a state of\ncomplete ostracism.\n\n19:14. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured\nher fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is\na lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.\u2014The savage application in\nthe world\u2010wide war of the rod of the Divine authority of rulers will cause\nrevolt, revolution and anarchy to spring up, like a fire, which will bring\nto an utter end the denominational clusters, the fruit of the vine of the\nearth.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 20\u2014The Hypocritical Ecclesiastics\n\n\n20:1. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the\ntenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to\ninquire of the Lord, and sat before me.\u2014The elders of Israel came to\nconfer with Ezekiel, but he would not be interviewed by them, because of\ntheir idolatrous tendencies. The Hebrews had always had such propensities.\nGod had refrained from destroying them in order to preserve His own good\nname among the heathen peoples; but now He was about to punish them, until\nthe appointed time should come when He would regather them. The\ndestruction of Judaism is here pictured as a fire in a forest. This\nchapter introduces another group of prophecies against Christendom, ending\nwith Chapter 24. Some of the prominent ecclesiastics will read up or\nconsult Pastor Russell and his writings, and the \u201cTruth people,\u201d\nostensibly to learn what they can.\n\n20:2, 3. Then came the Word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, speak\nunto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are\nye come to inquire of Me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be\ninquired of by you.\u2014Present Truth will refuse any favorable answer to\necclesiasticism.\n\n20:4. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them\nto know the abominations of their fathers.\u2014Instead, it will pronounce\njudgment upon them. It will cause them to realize the abominations in\ndoctrine and in life of professed Christians, as a result of the teachings\nof the Dark Ages.\n\n20:5. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: in the day when I chose\nIsrael, and lifted up Mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and\nmade Myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up Mine\nhand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God.\u2014First viewed as God\u2019s\npeople \u201cin the world,\u201d Egypt, God chose them, made Himself known to them,\nand lifted up for them the hand of His power.\u2014Z. \u201994\u2010357.\n\n20:6. In the day that I lifted up Mine hand unto them, to bring them forth\nof the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with\nmilk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.\u2014He promised to bring them\nin the resurrection, if faithful, into the \u201cmansion\u201d prepared for\nthem\u2014Heaven itself, the most glorious condition in God\u2019s Universe.\n\n20:7. Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of\nhis eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord\nyour God.\u2014God had told them to cast away all filthiness of the flesh and\nthe spirit (2 Cor. 7:1), to do away with the desire of things seen with\nthe fleshly eyes (1 John 2:16), and no longer to defile themselves\nspiritually with cravings for earthly power. But while professing Christ\u2019s\nname, they rebelled in their heart against God, and would not listen to\nHim.\n\n20:8. But they rebelled against Me, and would not hearken unto Me: they\ndid not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did\nthey forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out My fury upon\nthem, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of\nEgypt.\u2014Over and over, throughout the Gospel Age, God was indignant enough\nto bring destruction upon them; but He did not, in order that His name and\nreputation might not come into disrespect among the worldly people, who\nwere taught by professing Christians that God was with them.\n\n20:9, 10. But I wrought for My name\u2019s sake, that it should not be polluted\nbefore the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made Myself\nknown unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.\nWherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought\nthem into the wilderness.\u2014God\u2019s Word views professing Christians also as\nin the wilderness condition of separateness from and ostracism by the\nworldly\u2014as \u201cbrought forth out of the land of Egypt.\u201d\n\n20:12. Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and\nthem, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifieth them.\u2014He\ngave them the privilege of entering in advance of the world into His\nsabbath (Millennial) rest\u2014the rest of peace with God by faith, of\njustification freely given through the blood of the Son of God. The Lord\nHimself set them apart for His holy service.\n\n20:13. But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness: they\nwalked not in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, which if a man\ndo, he shall even live in them; and My sabbaths they greatly polluted:\nthen I said, I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to\nconsume them.\u2014As a class, professed Christians have rebelled against being\nin the wilderness condition of separateness from and ostracism by the\nworldly. They have lived not according to the Law of Divine Love, but have\ndespised the opportunities of the trial period. They have despised the\nScriptural doctrine of the Millennium, and have made a common thing of the\nrest of faith by introducing all kinds of penances, masses, alms, and\nother deeds whereby to earn the peace with God, freely offered through\nfaith in Jesus\u2019 atoning Sacrifice. Often was God indignant enough to\ndestroy them.\n\n20:14. But I wrought for My name\u2019s sake, that it should not be polluted\nbefore the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.\u2014But for His own\nname\u2019s sake, not theirs, God refrained from permitting the Time of Trouble\nto come before the appointed time, that the people of this world might not\nbelittle Him and His protecting power.\n\n20:15, 16. Yet also I lifted up My hand unto them in the wilderness, that\nI would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with\nmilk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; because they despised My\njudgments, and walked not in My statutes, but polluted My sabbaths: for\ntheir heart went after their idols.\u2014Yet the Word of God has made it plain\nthat those in the wilderness condition who have not given their whole\nheart to God shall not be changed to the spirit nature and brought to the\nHeavenly plane of being.\n\n20:17\u201021. Nevertheless Mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither\ndid I make an end of them in the wilderness. But I said unto their\nchildren in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers,\nneither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: I\nam the Lord your God; walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do\nthem; and hallow My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you,\nthat ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding, the\nchildren rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, neither kept\nMy judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them;\nthey polluted My sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them\nto accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.\u2014God did not at once\ndestroy those in the wilderness condition, but gave the same fatherly\nadmonition to those who succeeded them, all in vain.\n\n20:22\u201024. Nevertheless I withdrew Mine hand, and wrought for My name\u2019s\nsake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose\nsight I brought them forth. I lifted up Mine hand unto them also in the\nwilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them\nthrough the countries; because they had not executed My judgments, but had\ndespised My statutes, and had polluted My sabbaths, and their eyes, were\nafter their fathers\u2019 idols.\u2014God repeated His forbearance, in not\nscattering them back into the world, nor destroying them.\n\n20:25. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and\njudgments whereby they should not live.\u2014At last God gave them up \u201cto their\nown heart\u2019s desires\u201d (Psa. 81:12), to \u201cworship the hosts of heaven,\u201d their\nown pulpit stars (Acts 7:42), who \u201cchanged the truth of God into a lie,\u201d\ninto \u201chuman traditions,\u201d and \u201cworshipped and served created things rather\nthan the Creator\u201d (Rom. 1:25)\u2014following evil statutes, \u201ccustoms,\u201d and\nenduring worldly trials and temptations, bringing them, not life, but\ndeath.\n\n20:26. And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass\nthrough the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them\ndesolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord.\u2014God gave\nthem up to doctrinal pollutions, in that they believed in and worshipped\nthe eternal torment god, Moloch, the Devil, and singed, scorched\nspiritually, with the fear of \u201cthe hot place,\u201d all their children, those\nyoung in nominal Christianity. (Jer. 32:35.) This caused them to be\ndesolate, deserted, abandoned by the true God, like the heathen without\nGod\u2014though not that God might ultimately destroy them; for in the Times of\nRestitution they will by contrast appreciate the true God.\n\n20:27\u201028. Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say\nunto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have\nblasphemed Me, in that they have committed a trespass against Me. For when\nI had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up Mine hand to\ngive it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees,\nand they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the\nprovocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour,\nand poured out there their drink offerings.\u2014The Christian\u2019s course was\ntyped by the experience of the Hebrews in the land of Canaan (Isa. 57:5),\nin the blessedness of Divine favor and in the abundance of God\u2019s gifts.\nWhen brought into this condition of favor, instead of being thankful and\ngiving their whole hearts to God in devoted consecration, the great mass\nof professing Christians committed the same abominations that the heathen\nwere guilty of\u2014union of church with worldly power, making the high ones\nthe heads of the church, as the King of England and the Czar of Russia;\ndoing homage to all of earth\u2019s great ones (the thick trees); rendering\nservice and obedience (sweet savor) to traditions of men; and preaching\n(pouring out) strong doctrines, intoxicating wine of their mixed teachings\n(drink offerings).\n\n20:29. Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And\nthe name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.\u2014In verse 29 Ezekiel speaks\nwith contempt of the Hebrew apostasy. He uses a play upon words, not\napparent in the English translation. He asks them, \u201cMah ba\u201d (Where go?),\nand answers, \u201cBa\u2010mah\u201d (the high places) is the name to this day. Pastor\nRussell frequently spoke with contempt\u2014deserved, from the Divine\nviewpoint\u2014of the \u201chigh\u2010place,\u201d nominal church, her clergy and her laity,\nalways going to the \u201chigh ones.\u201d\n\n20:30. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God;\nAre ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom\nafter their abominations?\u2014Again, in the phase of captivity in \u201cBabylon,\u201d\nthe Lord\u2019s people were guilty of doctrinal and moral pollution and of\nillicit union of church and earthly power.\n\n20:31. For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass\nthrough the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto\nthis day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,\nsaith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.\u2014God will not even\nlisten to the prayers of such professed Christians.\n\n20:32. And that which cometh into your mind shall not be all, that ye say,\nWe will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood\nand stone.\u2014Their heart\u2019s real desire to become good\u2010fellows in the world\u2019s\nfellowship (Jer. 44:17) shall fail.\n\n20:33. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with\na stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you.\u2014God\nbegan at the appointed time, 1914, to punish the accumulated sins of\nChristendom \u201cwith a mighty hand (power) and with a stretched out arm\u201d\n(Christ present the Second time, Isa. 53:1), and with fury poured out \u201ca\ngreat Time of Trouble such as never was\u201d (Dan. 12:1), and which the Lord\ndeclared would never require a repetition.\n\n20:34. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out\nof the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a\nstretched out arm, and with fury poured out.\u2014But even this tribulation\nwill be done in a Father\u2019s love and for the good of His erring children,\nto cleanse them. Through this trouble God will search out all professed\nChristians, make them manifestly separate from the openly worldly.\u2014Z.\n\u201994\u201076.\n\n20:35. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there\nwill I plead with you face to face.\u2014God will bring them into a wilderness\ncondition of separateness from the world and of ostracism and persecution\nby the revolutionary and anarchistic masses, and face to face He will\nplead with the nominal church to forsake evil and idolatry.\n\n20:36. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land\nof Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.\u2014As He did with the\nHebrews in their trial time in the Wilderness of Sinai.\n\n20:37. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you\ninto the bond of the covenant.\u2014God will cause His people, all those not\nutterly devoid of the Holy Spirit\u2014\u201cthe Great Company\u201d in the churches\u2014to\npass under the rod of correction and to resume their fidelity to their vow\nof consecration.\n\n20:38. And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that\ntransgress against Me: I will bring them forth out of the country where\nthey sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye\nshall know that I am the Lord.\u2014He will permit conditions of persecution by\nSocialists, revolutionists, syndicalists, nihilists and anarchists,\nagainst persons professing Christianity (\u201cthe religion that got the world\ninto trouble\u201d), such that every person not possessing the Holy Spirit will\nrenounce all pretense of being Christian and will get out of the\ndeplorable condition (country) wherein the true Christians will be. This\noutcast class, being entirely \u201cof the earth, earthy,\u201d shall not enter the\nspiritual phase of the Kingdom.\n\n20:39. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye,\nserve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken\nunto Me: but pollute ye My holy name no more with your gifts, and with\nyour idols.\u2014Let who will then serve their idols; but they shall no longer\nassociate themselves with God\u2019s children, nor falsely bear the name of\nChrist, nor pollute God\u2019s holy name nor His Church with their presence or\ntheir practices. \u201cIf the Lord be God, _follow Him_; if Baal, follow\n_him_.\u201d\n\n20:40. For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,\nsaith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in\nthe land, serve Me: there will I accept them, and there will I require\nyour offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy\nthings.\u2014God wounds to heal. In the real \u201chigh places,\u201d the Kingdom of God\nnow at hand, planned for man\u2019s blessed restitution, all who are truly\nGod\u2019s shall serve Him, some in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom, some in\nthe earthly phase. (Mal. 3:3, 4.) There God will accept all comers, \u201cThe\nSpirit and the Bride say, Come ... and whosoever will, let him take of the\nWater of Life freely\u201d (Rev. 22:17.) There God will accept their offerings\nof themselves in heartfelt consecration, and the first and best of their\nofferings and all their possessions, then hallowed by the influences of\nthe Kingdom of Love.\n\n20:41. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from\nthe people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been\nscattered, and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.\u2014God will\naccept their heart\u2019s best endeavors (incense), when He gathers His\nchildren\u2014His spirit children and His earth children\u2014out from the prison\u2010\nhouse of death, and out from the dark shadows of a world\u2010wide heathenism.\nThen God win be seen to be holy, sanctified, in His children, in the sight\nof all the Satan\u2010blinded idolaters of earth.\n\n20:42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into\nthe land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up Mine hand\nto give it to your fathers.\u2014God\u2019s children, who have not known Him as He\nis, will know Him then as the God of infinite Justice, Wisdom, Love and\nPower,\u2014when they shall be established in the Kingdom, in whatever phase\nthey are fitted for\u2014the Kingdom whose earthly phase God promised to give\nto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Ancient Worthies (Psa. 45:16), and\nwhose Heavenly phase He covenanted to give to the spirit class of the\nGospel Age.\u2014Heb. 11:40.\n\n20:43. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein\nye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for\nall your evils that ye have committed.\u2014Then those who have not loved the\nGod of Love as they should shall remember their former ways and loathe\nthemselves for the evil done against such Love Divine.\n\n20:44. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you\nfor My name\u2019s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to\nyour corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.\u2014They will\nhumbly, thankfully and with fervent gratitude and love know that Jehovah,\nwho is Love (1 John 4:8), dealt with them, for the carrying out of His all\nholy purposes, and not as Justice might have called for in connection with\ntheir ways.\n\n20:45, 46. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nset thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and\nprophesy against the forest of the south field.\u2014The words of Ezekiel\nreturn to the impending destruction of Jerusalem\u2014of Christendom. Pastor\nRussell was to speak, as from the Divine viewpoint (the North) against the\nmultitudes (trees in the forest) in the earthly phase (the south) of the\nKingdom of God, already established invisibly by God in 1878\u20101914.\nJerusalem (ecclesiasticism) was in a southerly direction (belonging to the\nearth, earthy), from the Prophet\u2019s point of view.\n\n20:47. And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus\nsaith the Lord God; Behold I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall\ndevour every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all\nfaces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.\u2014God permitted\nin 1914 the kindling of the present unquenchable conflagration of war, and\nof revolution and anarchy to come. Righteous (green tree) and wicked (dry\ntree) alike are to suffer in the fiery trials of the trouble time. All who\nare of the earth, earthy (of the south, earthly phase of the Kingdom), but\nwho pretend or claim to be of the spiritual phase, to have the Holy Spirit\n(look toward the north, the spiritual), are to be burned, as the tares are\nburned after the gathering of the wheat into the Heavenly garner.\u2014Matt.\n13:30.\n\n20:48. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall\nnot be quenched.\u2014All mankind will understand, before the Time of Trouble\nis over, that \u201cthe strange work\u201d is of Jehovah.\n\n20:49. Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak\nparables?\u2014The people of ecclesiasticism, misled by the clergy, are unable\nto understand Pastor Russell\u2019s teachings regarding the trouble, or to get\nthe Divine viewpoint.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cThere are great truths that pitch their shining tents\n Outside our walls, and though but dimly seen\n In the gray dawn, they will be manifest\n When the light widens into perfect day.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 21\u2014The Thrice\u2010Doubled Sword\n\n\n21:1, 2. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set\nthy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and\nprophesy against the land of Israel.\u2014The Lord has drawn the sword against\nJerusalem and sharpened and pointed it in fury. (21:1\u201017.) The king of\nBabylon (Satan) uses divination as to the route by which to bring the\nsword against Jerusalem; the Jews deride such a method (21:18\u201024), but the\nHebrew crown is to be overturned. (21:25\u201057.) The Ammonites (aggressive\nworldly believers), too, are to be given to the sword.\u201421:28\u201032.\n\n21:3. And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am\nagainst thee, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut\noff from thee the righteous and the wicked.\u2014Jehovah is against\nChristendom, has drawn against it both the literal weapons of war, in\nwarfare and revolution, and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.\n(Eph. 6:17.) He will cause both righteous and wicked to die in the Time of\nTrouble; and by His Word He will bring about conditions such that all\nwicked professing Christians will abandon all pretense of Christianity,\nand the righteous will \u201ccome out of her\u201d (Rev. 18:4) and be gathered as\nwheat into the Divine garner\u2014Heaven.\n\n21:4. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the\nwicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of his sheath against all\nflesh from the south to the north.\u2014Cannon, rifle, shot, shell, bomb and\ntorpedo shall be unleashed and turned against all flesh, from those of the\nearthly (of the south) to those having the Holy Spirit (of the north). The\nWord of God will be taken out of its sheath of mystery and plainly show\nthe meaning of this trouble, and that it is to be upon all.\n\n21:5. That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth My sword\nout of its sheath: it shall not return any more.\u2014All the people shall know\nthat the trouble has come from Jehovah, and that its consummation is a\ncertainty.\n\n21:6. Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and\nwith bitterness sigh before their eyes.\u2014Pastor Russell and the Truth\npeople have carried a heavy heart burden in this message of the ills\ncoming upon Christendom.\n\n21:7. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighed thou?\nthat thou shalt answer, For the tidings, because it cometh. And every\nheart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall\nfaint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall\nbe brought to pass, saith the Lord God.\u2014For the days are near when even\nthe strongest shall falter.\n\n21:8, 9. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nprophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is\nsharpened, and also furbished.\u2014Modern weapons of destruction are brought\nto a hitherto unknown efficiency, as is the Sword of the Spirit in the\nhands of the \u201cfeet\u201d members of Christ.\u2014Isa. 52:7.\n\n21:10. It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it\nmay glitter: should We then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of My Son,\nas every tree.\u2014The weapons of war will make a frightful slaughter among\nmen; and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, will cause millions to\ncast off Christianity. It glitters with flashes of enlightenment reflected\nfrom the risen Sun of Righteousness, which to its idolatrous enemies are\ngleamings of trouble and distress. Who could rejoice over the trouble? Not\nthe Lord\u2019s people; for it presages the destruction of the power (rod) of\nall professing to be of the Son of God, together with all their\ninstitutions.\n\n21:11. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this\nsword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the\nslayer.\u2014It is given, bright and sharp, to be swung in the hand of skillful\nslayers.\n\n21:12, 13. Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be upon My people, it\nshall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword\nshall be upon My people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. Because it is a\ntrial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more,\nsaith the Lord God.\u2014The destruction by the weapons of war and by the Word\nof God shall be upon \u201cMy [professed] people,\u201d upon all the clergy\n(princes). Fear shall take hold of churchianity.\n\n21:14. Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands\ntogether, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the\nslain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth\ninto their privy chambers.\u2014Pastor Russell was to give expression to the\nfinal wrath of Jehovah. The destruction will be of double severity three\ntimes\u2014in war, revolution and anarchy. The Sword of the Spirit was to be\nwielded by Pastor Russell twice three times, in his six volumes of\n_Studies in the Scriptures_. The weapons of destruction will pursue all\nthe great ones of earth, penetrating into all their most secret places.\nThe Sword of the Spirit will search out all the lords of God\u2019s heritage (1\nPet. 5:3), the clergy, exposing their inmost ideas contrary to Jehovah and\nHis Plan.\n\n21:15. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that\ntheir heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made\nbright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.\u2014The point of the sword against\necclesiasticism, revealing its true nature and imminent fall, is the\npresent exposition of the prophecies of Revelation and Ezekiel. The Hebrew\nsays that it is made \u201clightning brightness.\u201d It is an illumination of the\nwhole Babylonish system, for ages wrapped in the mystery of types and\nsymbolisms. How gladly the clergy would have destroyed these two books of\nthe Bible, had they known what they taught!\n\n21:16. Go thee one way or the other, either on the right hand, or on the\nleft, whithersoever thy face is set.\u2014Wheresoever Pastor Russell and the\nTruth people set their face to go, it is authorized for them by the Lord.\n\n21:17. I will also smite Mine hands together, and I will cause My fury to\nrest: I the Lord have said it.\u2014God will manifest His anger and cause His\nfury to rest upon ecclesiasticism.\n\n21:18, 19. And the Word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, Also, thou\nson of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon\nmay come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a\nplace, choose it at the head of the way to the city.\u2014There were two ways\nthat the weapons of war, revolution and anarchy might strike; in either\nway the blow would come from Satan, the king of anarchy. It was to come\nfrom Riblah, the fork of the roads. Riblah means \u201cdesolate.\u201d Since 1878\nthe worldly churches, and since 1914 the worldly governments, have been\n\u201cleft desolate\u201d (Matt. 23:38) and subject, the one to desolation by the\nSword of the Spirit, the other to desolation by carnal weapons.\n\n21:20. Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites,\nand to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.\u2014The sword might go east of Jordan\nagainst the Ammonites (Amos 1:14; Jer. 49:2), or west of Jordan, directly\nat Jerusalem, first of all. It might strike the Great (Rabbath) Company\n(Rev. 7:9) of \u201cfellow companions\u201d (Psa. 45:14) (Ammonites), or directly\nand first strike against churchianity (Judah) and ecclesiasticism\nproper\u2014\u201cthe fenced off,\u201d exclusive, superior, \u201cbest\u201d people, hitherto so\nthoroughly defended from harm.\n\n21:21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the\nhead of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he\nconsulted with images, he looked in the liver.\u2014The forces that will\noverthrow Christendom are thoroughly under the influence and guidance of\nevil spirits\u2014as is suggested by the shuffling of arrows named for the two\ncities, by the consulting of idols (theories), and by the looking in the\nliver (spiritism), by interpretation. The Devil chooses bitter words\n(arrows) (Psa. 64:3), consults evil spirits (images), and is guided even\nin his opposition to Jehovah by his own interpretations of\nScripture.\u2014Matt. 4:6; 2 Cor. 11:14.\n\n21:22. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint\ncaptains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with\nshouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount,\nand to build a fort.\u2014The proof from the Scriptures shows that the evil\nspirits directed that the revolutionary and anarchistic movement should\nproceed first to the destruction of Christendom. The ex\u2010Czar of Russia was\na spiritualist, and maintained mediums for consultation. Kaiser Wilhelm of\nGermany, for years prior to the great war, followed the guidance of a\ndemon which spoke to him clairaudiently, urging him to his present course.\nA surprising number of prominent men consult spirit mediums. The voice of\nthe spirits was for war by every conceivable means, nation against nation,\nbut destined to effect the desolation of ecclesiasticism as well.\n\n21:23. And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to\nthem that have sworn oaths: but He will call to remembrance the iniquity,\nthat they may be taken.\u2014In the sight of those that have sworn allegiance\nto ecclesiasticism\u2019s god, the father of lies, this true prediction of the\ndownfall of the nations will seem an erroneous expectation\u2014as it has\nappeared to all the great ones of Christendom. They have thought that this\nwar would be as other wars. But the end of the Age (world) has come; and\necclesiasticism\u2019s iniquities shall no longer go unpunished.\n\n21:24. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your\niniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so\nthat in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are\ncome to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.\u2014Universal muck\u2010\nraking by Socialists, Anarchists, magazine writers, social surveyors and\nreformers has caused Christendom\u2019s forgotten iniquities to be freshly\nremembered, and her transgressions uncovered, so that there is no\ndepartment\u2014commercial, financial, political or religious\u2014in which her\nsinful practices do not appear. These things God has permitted to be made\nmanifest that she may be taken red\u2010handed.\n\n21:25. And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when\niniquity shall have an end.\u2014The profane and wicked prince of the Jews was\nZedekiah, their last king. (A. 248; Z. \u201904\u2010343.) The antitype is\nchurchianity\u2019s lordly class, the clergy, profaning the holy Temple of God,\nthe Church, the Body of Christ, with doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1), as\nwicked in the sight of God as were their prototypes, the scribes, doctors\nand Pharisees, with their hypocritical pretense of holiness. Their time\nhas come\u20141918\u2014when iniquity in the House of the Sons of God shall have an\nend.\n\n21:26. Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown:\nthis shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is\nhigh.\u2014Thus says Almighty God: Remove the mitre (mistranslated \u201cdiadem\u201d).\nThe mitre was a band of linen about the forehead, typing the righteousness\nof Christ, supposed to be in the minds of the clergy, but no more actually\nin them as a class than in whited sepulchres. (Matt. 23:27.) The king wore\na golden crown on his head, held there by a white linen mitre. (A. 248; B.\n76, 79; Z. \u201998\u2010359.) The clergy, the lords of God\u2019s heritage, have crowned\nthemselves with the rulership of earth, in the person of the pope and in\nthe general desire of clergymen to rule in the affairs of men, a lordship\nbased upon their supposed righteousness (mitre). This great crisis will\nnot be like the temporary setbacks of ecclesiasticism in past centuries.\nThe lowly, revolutionary, anarchistic masses will exalt themselves to\npower in the Time of Trouble, and the lofty clergy shall be utterly\nabased.\u2014Matt. 23:12.\n\n21:27. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more,\nuntil He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.\u2014In warfare,\nrevolution and anarchy Jehovah will triply overthrow Christendom until\nChrist in great power will take the crown and rule the affairs of\nearth.\u2014E. _147_, 133; A. 248; B. 76, 79; Z. \u201905\u2010253; H. 61.\n\n21:28. And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God\nconcerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou,\nThe sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to\nconsume because of the glittering.\u2014Nor will the openly worldly, professing\nChristian escape, for war, revolution and anarchy are abroad\u2014\u201cthe sword is\ndrawn\u201d\u2014to consume the worldly, too.\n\n21:29. While they see vanity unto thee, while they divine a lie unto thee,\nto bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose\nday is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.\u2014Destruction will come\neven when the worldly\u2010wise are mistakenly asserting that it will not come\nnigh them.\n\n21:30. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in\nthe place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.\u2014The\ntribulation shall not be quieted\u2014the sword shall not \u201creturn unto his\nsheath;\u201d for God will condemn the worldly Christian also, in the condition\nof unbelief wherein they have been.\n\n21:31. And I will pour out Mine indignation upon thee; I will blow against\nthee in the fire of My wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish\nmen, and skilful to destroy.\u2014God will pour out His wrath upon the worldly\nprofessing Christians. He will blow upon them fiery blasts of war,\nrevolution and anarchy. They shall be delivered into the hands of a\nrevolted soldiery, brutal, destructive, pitiless, skilled in the arts of\nslaughter, taught by Teutons and Allies to know the utmost efficiency in\nwar. The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, too, will be in the hands\nof consecrated ones, seemingly but not actually cruel, skilled through\nDivine power to use it with telling effect.\n\n21:32. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst\nof the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken\nit.\u2014Institutions Divinely condemned shall be as fuel for the fires of\nbloody anarchy and pass into oblivion. The war is the melting\u2010pot of\necclesiasticism.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cBeautiful hands are they that do\n The work of the noble, good and true,\n Busy for them the long day through;\n Beautiful faces\u2014they that wear\n The light of a pleasing spirit there,\n It matters little if dark or fair;\n And truly beautiful in God\u2019s sight,\n Are the precious souls who love the right.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 22\u2014The Melting Pot Of War\n\n\n22:1\u20104. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son\nof man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt\nshew her all her abominations, then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; the\ncity sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh\nidols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy\nblood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which\nthou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come\neven unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the\nheathen, and a mocking to all countries.\u2014In Chapter 22 the various\niniquities of Jerusalem are related. (22:1\u201012.) Their punishment is\ndescribed under the figure of a melting\u2010pot. (22:13\u201022.) Christendom, and\nespecially ecclesiasticism, is guilty of bloodshed and of defiling\npaganism. This, by a natural process, has brought about a situation which\ncould not continue. The present outbreak of evil and trouble, in view of\nthe lofty pretenses of the past, has made paganized Christendom a byword\namong acknowledgedly pagan peoples.\u2014D. 72.\n\n22:5. Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock\nthee, which art infamous and much vexed.\u2014The unbelievers, both in and out\nof \u201cChristian\u201d countries, scoff at \u201cChristendom\u201d\u2014now defiled of name and\n\u201cfull of tumult.\u201d\n\n22:6. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power\nto shed blood.\u2014In Christendom all the rulers, in the mania for war, have\nused every power to promote bloodshed. The spiritual rulers have, by false\nteachings, destroyed the spiritual hopes of millions.\u2014Luke 11:52.\n\n22:7. In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of\nthee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they\nvexed the fatherless and the widow.\u2014They have dealt unjustly by the\nclasses needing help. Spiritually they have despised our Father and His\nCovenant of Grace, and oppressed those who are His pilgrims and strangers\nin the world.\u20141 Pet. 1:1.\n\n22:8. Thou hast despised Mine holy things, and hast profaned My\nsabbaths.\u2014They have despised the holy teachings of God\u2019s Word, respecting\nthe seventh thousand\u2010year Day of rest, and have attempted justification by\nworks instead of in the rest of faith.\n\n22:9. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat\nupon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.\u2014In the\nchurches are gossipers, evil speakers, assassins of reputation. In them\nare some that feast at the tables of devils (1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Cor. 10:21),\nlike lords or rulers at the heads of the nations; they long for unhallowed\nchurch\u2010state union.\n\n22:10, 11. In thee have they discovered their fathers\u2019 nakedness; in thee\nhave they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. And one hath\ncommitted abomination with his neighbor\u2019s wife; and another hath lewdly\ndefiled his daughter\u2010in\u2010law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister,\nhis father\u2019s daughter.\u2014They have not only made state\u2010churches in every\npossible direction, but have been in vast numbers guilty of sexual\nimmorality.\n\n22:12. In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury\nand increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion,\nand hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord God.\u2014They have used the gifts of God\nfor evil purposes, even to slay God\u2019s holy martyrs; they have even\npractised extortion upon those close to them. This they have done because\nthey have forgotten the Lord.\n\n22:13. Behold, therefore I have smitten Mine hand at thy dishonest gain\nwhich thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of\nthee.\u2014God has shown plain signs of anger against ecclesiasticism\u2019s\nhypocrisy and her spirit of murder.\n\n22:14. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days\nthat I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do\nit.\u2014Her heart must fail her, and her powers weaken, before an abused\nconscience, in the days when God will deal with her iniquities.\n\n22:15. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the\ncountries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.\u2014He will scatter\nthe ecclesiastics and by fiery trials consume the uncleanness out of\necclesiasticism.\n\n22:16. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of\nthe heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.\u2014She shall be\nprofaned, desecrated and destroyed in the sight of earth\u2019s nations.\n\n22:17, 18. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the\nhouse of Israel is to Me become dross; all they are brass, and tin, and\niron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of\nsilver.\u2014Ecclesiasticism, clergy and laity alike, are to the just and holy\nGod become as the refuse of the baser metals in a fiery furnace of\naffliction; they are the dross of the Great Company (silver). (Jer. 6:30.)\nThe baser metals type degrees of earthly natures; brass (human\nperfection), tin (tares, begotten of error), iron (savage worldly power),\nand lead (sin, iniquity).\n\n22:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross,\nbehold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.\u2014God will\ngather the corrupt peoples and the nations of Christendom.\n\n22:20. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into\nthe midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I\ngather you in Mine anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there, and\nmelt you.\u2014This great conglomeration of persons of all shades of baseness\nshall be gathered as into a blast furnace, where God will permit\nindescribable troubles to afflict them; and there He will leave them.\n\n22:21. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of My wrath,\nand ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.\u2014They are to be melted in\nheart and spirit in the fiery afflictions of His wrath.\n\n22:22. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be\nmelted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured\nout My fury upon you.\u2014As the Great Company of God\u2019s spirit\u2010begotten\nchildren have suffered by the millions, so shall it be with the clergy and\nlaity, who profess Christianity without its spirit.\n\n22:23, 24. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say\nunto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the\nday of indignation.\u2014Christendom in this Time of Trouble is without the\ncleansing, refreshing showers of the water of God\u2019s Word.\n\n22:25. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a\nroaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken\nthe treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the\nmidst thereof.\u2014Among the clergy there is a conspiracy against the Truth.\nThe \u201cFederation of the [so\u2010called] Churches of Christ in America,\u201d like a\nvery devil (roaring lion), will yet tear to pieces the Present Truth\npeople, will put many to death, and cause some weaker ones to lose their\nspiritual lives. They will take and destroy the literature containing the\nprecious Bible truth. Literally the preachers by preaching the men into\nwar have made widows by the millions.\n\n22:26. Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy\nthings: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither\nhave they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have\nhid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.\u2014The Roman\nCatholic priests\u2014and the Protestant clergy\u2014have violated the Law of Divine\nLove; have polluted God\u2019s truths with pagan teachings, have shown no\ndifference between those cleansed by the blood of Christ and those still\nin their sins, have denied the Bible teaching of the Millennium (Rev.\n20:2\u20107), have hidden the Sabbath rest of justification by faith, and have\npromoted a money\u2010grabbing system of penances and masses for sin and of\ncollections, which discredits and profanes God\u2019s name.\n\n22:27. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey,\nto shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.\u2014The\necclesiastics, \u201cwolves in sheeps\u2019 clothing\u201d (Matt. 7:15), tear their prey,\nthe Body members of Christ, shed blood in persecution, and destroy\nspiritual life\u2014all to acquire money to perpetuate their infamous,\npaganized religion.\u2014Micah 2:9\u201011.\n\n22:28. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing\nvanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when\nthe Lord hath not spoken.\u2014The preachers of Protestantism have whitewashed\nthe whole crowd of ecclesiastics, imagining empty doctrines of Evolution\nand Higher Criticism, and lying to the people by giving their own theories\nas God\u2019s Word.\n\n22:29. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery,\nand have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger\nwrongfully.\u2014The laity of both Romanism and Protestantism have oppressed\nthe poor in spirit, have robbed those needing God\u2019s help of what comfort\nthey had, and have wrongfully oppressed the \u201cpilgrims and strangers\u201d (Heb.\n11:13) among them.\n\n22:30. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge,\nand stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it;\nbut I found none.\u2014God promised not to destroy Sodom if there should be ten\nrighteous men in it; He will seek for even _one_ who is righteous in\nChrist\u2019s righteousness, in ecclesiasticism, to make up the wall of her\ngoat\u2010fold, and stand in the gap, that He should not destroy her; but He\nwill find not one!\n\n22:31. Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them; I have\nconsumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I recompensed\nupon their heads, saith the Lord God.\u2014Therefore ecclesiasticism is doomed\nto extinction.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 23\u2014Two Apostate Church Systems\n\n\n23:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man,\nthere were two women, the daughters of one mother.\u2014Chapter 23 describes\nthe church\u2010state unions of the Roman Catholic church, pictured as an\nunchaste woman, Aholah, and of the Protestant church, her unchaste sister,\nAholibah, and the destruction of both in the Time of Trouble by the\nnations with which they have made unions.\u2014Jer. 3:6\u201010.\n\n23:3. And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in\ntheir youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the\nteats of their virginity.\u2014Both of these churches have always catered to\nworldly ideas and people, and even in their youth were guilty of unions of\nchurch with state.\n\n23:4. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her\nsister: and they were Mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were\ntheir names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.\u2014Their names are\nsignificant. Aholah means \u201cher own tent.\u201d God is not in Romanist\necclesiasticism at all; it has its own tabernacle, called (Acts 7:43) \u201cthe\ntabernacle of Moloch.\u201d Satan himself dwells in and actuates the Papal\nsystem. Aholibah means \u201cMy tent is in her.\u201d God\u2019s Tabernacle, the true\nChurch, has been among the Protestants chiefly. In this picture, an\nunchaste Protestant ecclesiasticism is designated \u201cJerusalem.\u201d They both\nhave sons\u2014prominent ones\u2014and daughters\u2014sectarian churches.\n\n23:5. And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her\nlovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors.\u2014The Romish church dates back to\napostolic days, when she was God\u2019s Church [Mine]; but she fell in love\nwith her neighbors, the rulers of that brutal age, and sought temporal\npower.\n\n23:6. Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them\ndesirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.\u2014The leaders and rulers\nin worldly affairs were apparently faithful (clothed in blue, typical of\nfaithfulness), and seemed desirable and attractive to be associated with.\nThey were men of thought and men of action, riding hobbies of vain\nphilosophies.\n\n23:7. Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were\nthe chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their\nidols she defiled herself.\u2014The Church associated with them for gain of\nworldly power, set her affections on them, instead of on things Above, and\ndefiled herself with their pagan ideas.\n\n23:8. Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth\nthey lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and\npoured their whoredom upon her.\u2014Nor did she give up her worldliness when\nshe took up oriental asceticism.\n\n23:9, 10. Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into\nthe hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. These discovered her\nnakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the\nsword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment\nupon her.\u2014The rulers discovered the naked, unprotected condition of\nRomanism; and by hundreds of thousands poured in from the East, literal\nTartars, Vandals, Huns and Turks, and the pagan ideas from the same\nsources, and slew the sons and daughters of Romanism with the literal\nsword, as well as her children spiritually. Among the Pagan religions\n(women) Romanist \u201cChristianity\u201d became a name and a byword; for the\ninvaders had executed the judgment of God upon her.\n\n23:11. And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her\ninordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her\nwhoredoms.\u2014Protestantism began in comparative purity, but later on\ndeveloped an inordinate love for temporal power. Even more than Papacy she\ntried in every nation to \u201crun things.\u201d\n\n23:12. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers\nclothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them\ndesirable young men.\u2014She, too, set her affections on popularity with\nearth\u2019s rulers, great and small, conservative, radical and revolutionary.\n\n23:13\u201017. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way.\nAnd that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men portrayed upon\nthe wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded\nwith girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads,\nall of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of\nChaldea, the land of their nativity: and as soon as she saw them with her\neyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. And\nthe Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her\nwith their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was\nalienated from them.\u2014God saw that both churches, Romish and Protestant,\nwere of like tendency to church\u2010state union, especially Protestantism; for\nshe never saw or heard of a great worldly man, even down to the local\nleaders of the smallest rural communities, that she did not desire their\ninfluence and help\u2014particularly their money\u2014and systematically invited\nthem to connect themselves with a church, quite regardless of whether or\nnot they remained worldly. So much did the prominent people in every place\ncrowd into the Protestant churches and try to \u201cboss\u201d things, that the rank\nand file even of ecclesiastics and of the less prominent supporters of\necclesiasticism grew sick of them.\n\n23:18. So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then\nMy mind was alienated from her, like as My mind was alienated from her\nsister.\u2014The newspaper writers, Socialists, anarchists and muck\u2010rakers,\nexposed the worldliness of the Protestant churches; and God Himself, from\n1878 on, has been alienated from them.\n\n23:19\u201021. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the\ndays of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.\nFor she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses,\nand whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to\nremembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the\nEgyptians for the paps of thy youth.\u2014Protestant ecclesiasticism multiplied\nher worldly alliances; and the prominent and wealthy, \u201cof the earth,\nearthy,\u201d filled the churches with tares, worldlings, desirous of profiting\nby association with prominent people.\n\n23:22. Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will\nraise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I\nwill bring them against thee on every side.\u2014Therefore, O Protestantism,\nthus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will raise up, in warfare and revolution,\nthe worldly people in you, of whom you are already sick, and bring them\nagainst you on every side.\n\n23:23. The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa,\nand all the Assyrians with them; all of them desirable young men, captains\nand rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.\u2014The\nworldly, the worldly\u2010wise (Chaldeans), the officers (Pekod), princes\n(Shoa), and rulers (Koa), and all the discontented and anarchistic with\nthem shall come against you, riding hobbies destructive to you.\n\n23:24. And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels,\nand with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and\nshield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and\nthey shall judge thee according to their judgments.\u2014They shall war against\nthy welfare with organizations of their own (chariots), with leaders\n(riders, mistranslated wagons), with a systematic plan of operation\n(wheels), and with a great following of revolutionists; and they shall\ncondemn thee by their own perverted ideas of justice.\n\n23:25. And I will set My jealousy against thee, and they shall deal\nfuriously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy\nremnant shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy\ndaughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.\u2014Unknown to\nProtestantism, God\u2019s jealousy has been excited by her worldliness; and He\nwill permit the masses to deal with her in fury; they will destroy her\nspirituality, taking away her ability to discern spiritual things (nose),\nand to hear (ear) the Word of God. They will force Protestantism\u2019s sons\nand daughters into service in war and revolution; and the remnant will be\ndestroyed in the ensuing anarchy.\n\n23:26. They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy\nfair jewels.\u2014Protestantism shall be stripped of her robes of self\u2010\nrighteousness and of her imitation jewels\u2014those not truly Christianized;\nfor they will cast off all pretense of religion.\n\n23:27. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom\nbrought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes\nunto them, nor remember Egypt any more.\u2014Being no longer attractive or\nuseful to the ruling powers, she will perforce cease her advances toward\nthe grasping of worldly power.\n\n23:28. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the\nhand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is\nalienated.\u2014All law\u2010abiding people, and especially Protestant\necclesiasticism, hate and fear the lawless forces destructive of society;\nbut into the cruel hands of such shall they be delivered.\n\n23:29. And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all\nthy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy\nwhoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.\u2014These\nevil forces shall deal hatefully with Protestantism, take away all the\nresults of her work, and strip her completely, because of the ultimate\nevils wrought by union of church and state.\n\n23:30. I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring\nafter the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.\u2014God\nwill do this because Protestantism has sought and made church\u2010state\nunions, and has been polluted with worldly ideas and practices.\n\n23:31. Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore, will I give\nher cup into thine hand.\u2014She has walked in the way of Papacy; therefore\nwill God give to her also Papacy\u2019s cup of tribulation.\u2014Jer. 25:15.\n\n23:32. Thus saith the Lord God: Thou shalt drink of thy sister\u2019s cup deep\nand large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it\ncontaineth much.\u2014Protestantism shall drink deep and large the measure of\nRomanism\u2019s cup of trouble; it contains much. As a result of wars and\ndevastation brought on by worldliness, in the face of boasted godliness,\nProtestantism shall be scorned and derided by the whole world.\u2014Rev. 9.\n\n23:33. Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of\nastonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister\nSamaria.\u2014Protestantism shall be intoxicated with the war spirit (Jer.\n13:13), and later stupefied with amazement at the ruinous results of her\nown course, ending in the same cup of trouble, utter ruin, as confronts\nher sister\u2010church, Catholicism.\n\n23:34. Thou Shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the\nsherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it,\nsaith the Lord God.\u2014Protestantism shall drain the cup of desolation and\nsorrow and shall suck out the very dregs. (Isa. 30:14.) It shall be broken\nup in anarchy, and shall lose all the features that made it attractive to\nthis world\u2019s governments for purposes of union of church and state.\n\n23:35. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast forgotten Me,\nand cast Me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy\nwhoredoms.\u2014Because she has forgotten the Lord and cast Him out of her\nmind, Protestantism shall endure unaided by Him the results of her own\nevil course.\n\n23:36. The Lord said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah\nand Ahollbah? yes, declare unto them their abominations.\u2014In Verses 36 to\n49 Romanism and Protestantism are together jointly condemned.\n\n23:37. That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and\nwith their Idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their\nsons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour\nthem.\u2014They have both effected church\u2010state unions. They have blood guilt,\nfor wars, and for causing the spiritual death of multitudes. They have\ngiven their hearts to idol doctrines. They have caused God\u2019s children to\nendure fiery troubles, and have scorched, scarred and burned their\nreligious lives with the eternal torment theory.\n\n23:38. Moreover this they have done unto Me; they have defiled My\nSanctuary In the same day, and have profaned My sabbaths.\u2014They have\ndefiled God\u2019s Sanctuary, the Church, with soul\u2010destroying doctrines in the\nsame Day, the Gospel Age. They have derided the Millennium, and have\nsubstituted works for the rest of faith, as the basis of justification\nbefore God.\n\n23:39. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they\ncame the same day Into My Sanctuary to profane it; and lo, thus have they\ndone in the midst of Mine house.\u2014They would slay their people in war and\nthe same day go to worship God, even in the midst of God\u2019s Sanctuary, the\nLittle Flock of the true Church.\n\n23:40. And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto\nwhom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash\nthyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments.\u2014They\nsought for union with and sent preachers to prominent men, at heart in a\ncondition far from God; for them they \u201cwhitewashed\u201d themselves, made their\nwisdom (eyes) attractive with worldly philosophies, and adorned themselves\nwith the imitation jewels of courtesy, tact and politeness.\n\n23:41. And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it,\nwhereupon thou hast set Mine Incense and Mine oil.\u2014They took their seat\nupon a stately creed\u2010bed, adapted to worldly, regal purposes, with a table\nof religious food, teachings, philosophies, not of God, where they gave\ntheir hearts\u2019 best endeavor and prostituted what measure of the Holy\nSpirit they had to worldly ends.\n\n23:42. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her; and with the\nmen of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put\nbracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.\u2014With\nthe ecclesiasticism of Papacy and Protestantism was the voice of a\nmultitude of worldly church members, thoroughly at ease in apostate Zion.\n(Amos 6:1.) Among the church members were men of the blackest character\n(Sabeans, descendants of Ham, disfavored of God), who belonged outside the\npale of religion, who adorned themselves with seeming character jewels and\ncrowns of inherent immortality, not of God, but of Plato.\n\n23:43. Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now\ncommit whoredoms with her, and she with them?\u2014It seemed impossible that\nthe churches should unite with such evil men, to gain influence and power.\n\n23:44. Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth\nthe harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd\nwomen.\u2014Nevertheless, both Romish and Protestant ecclesiasticism did so.\n\n23:45. And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of\nadulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they\nare adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.\u2014But men with a sense of\ndecency, justice and the fitness of things will condemn both churches,\nRomish and Protestant, as adulteresses were judged among the Hebrews\u2014stone\nthem to death with hard facts, and by the ravages of revolution and\nanarchy.\n\n23:46. For thus saith the Lord God, I will bring up a company upon them,\nand will give them to be removed and spoiled.\u2014God will bring up against\nthem a great rabble of people with a keen sense of outraged\njustice\u2014Socialists, trades\u2010union men, laborites, social democrats,\nnihilists and anarchists. Also a multitude of God\u2019s children, begotten of\nthe Holy Spirit, will rise up against these apostacies.\n\n23:47. And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them\nwith their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and\nburn up their houses with fire.\u2014This multitude will down ecclesiasticism\nwith hard facts, and destroy her with material weapons and with the Sword\nof the Spirit, the Word of God. The anarchists will literally slay church\nmembers by millions; and the sons of God will by His Holy Word cause them\nto cease their pretense of being Christians.\n\n23:48. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women\nmay be taught not to do after your lewdness.\u2014Thus will the Lord cause the\ndesire for the union of churches with worldly power to cease out of human\nsociety, that all religious bodies may learn forever to avoid this\nabominable practice.\n\n23:49. And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear\nthe sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.\u2014Thus\nshall ecclesiasticism\u2019s faithless apostasy be recompensed upon her when\nshe suffers the results of the sinfulness of loving other mighty ones than\nJehovah, and thus shall she learn the supremacy of God in the affairs of\nmen.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 24\u2014The Boiling Caldron\n\n\n24:1, 2. Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of\nthe month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write\nthee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set\nhimself against Jerusalem this same day.\u2014It was in the fall of 1916\u2014a year\nand seven months before the city was to be smitten in the spring of\n1918\u2014that the forces of laborism, revolution and anarchy, began to assert\nthemselves against the established order of things in Christendom\u2014the\nsiege of the city began.\n\n24:3. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them,\nThus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into\nit.\u2014Jerusalem is likened to a boiling caldron from which meat is taken;\nthen it is set empty on the fire and the rust burned out. Ezekiel\u2019s wife\ndies; but he suppresses his feelings, and, after the ordinance for a\npriest, makes no mourning for the dead\u2014a picture of the dumb sorrow of the\nHebrews on the destruction of Jerusalem. The prophecy of this chapter was\nuttered on the same day that the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, \u201ccame,\nhe and all his host, and pitched against it; and they built forts against\nit round about; and the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king\nZedekiah.\u201d (2 Kings 25:1, 2.) Its antitype is that on or about November 1,\n1916, the date of Pastor Russell\u2019s death, ecclesiasticism began to enter\nupon its life\u2010and\u2010death struggle, materially, with the forces of laborism\nand anarchy, and religiously with the consecrated children of God, whose\nwork from then on was increasingly to bear witness to the apostasy and\nimminent destruction of churchianity. Ecclesiasticism, rebellious against\nher God, is as an organization, like a caldron of brass (copper), typing\nthat many of its members believe the Word of God. It is set amid the fiery\ntroubles of revolution and anarchy. There is water in it, symbolic of what\nTruth there is in ecclesiasticism.\u2014Jer. 1:13.\n\n24:4. Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh,\nand the shoulders: fill it with the choice bones.\u2014In it are gathered the\ngreat and prominent (good pieces), and also the strong ones (bones) of her\nflock.\n\n24:5. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and\nmake it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.\u2014The social\nelements will grow hot in the Time of Trouble until the truths in\necclesiasticism make it exceedingly warm for her members. Then the heated,\nexcited, troublous condition will be transmitted, and as the truths warm\nup, will get all the church members into exceedingly hot water, even the\nstrongest ones.\n\n24:6. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the\nplot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it\nout piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.\u2014Woe to Christendom,\necclesiasticism, bloody in the blood of soldiers, peasants, workingmen,\nmartyrs and saints, by the millions, and blood guilty for the spiritual\nhopes of millions, extinguished by her false doctrines. Her rust (R. V.)\nis in her. Bring out her leading members, one by one, indiscriminately,\ninto captivity to the forces of revolution.\n\n24:7. For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a\nrock; the poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;\u2014Her infamy\nof blood is in her very substance. She has not been able to conceal it,\nbut it is exposed to full view in \u201cthe top of her rock,\u201d in the kings and\nthe kaisers, her heads in church\u2010state union.\n\n24:8. That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set\nher blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.\u2014The fury\nof a revolted soldiery and populace will rise up against the heads of the\ngovernments, who are also heads of the churches, to take vengeance upon\necclesiasticism\u2019s sins.\n\n24:9. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city! I will\neven make the pile for fire great.\u2014Innumerable will be the opponents of\nchurchianity, and blazing hot their wrath.\n\n24:10. Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it\nwell, and let the bones be burned.\u2014Heap up the fires of discontent and\nanarchy, consume the tares in Christendom, as tares. Thicken the broth (R.\nV.), boil it down until the very bones, the strong church members, cease\nto be such.\n\n24:11. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may\nbe hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it,\nthat the scum of it may be consumed.\u2014Then ecclesiasticism, the clergy\nclass, with emptied pews, shall sit amid the fiery trouble and be\nconsumed, that their corruption may be done away.\n\n24:12. She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not\nforth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.\u2014She has wearied even the\npreachers with the dishonesty of preaching things not believed in, and yet\nthey did not cast out her doctrinal corruption, which shall be fuel for\nthe fire of anarchy.\n\n24:13. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou\nwast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more,\ntill I have caused My fury to rest upon thee.\u2014Her corruption was in her\ndesire to become prominent and powerful through the power of earth\u2019s great\nones. God purged her of these things to some extent through godly\npreachers and reformers; but she was not purged in heart and quickly\nreverted to the things Divinely proscribed. Since 1878 God has made no\nfurther attempt to reform ecclesiasticism; and she shall not be purged,\nbut the fury of God\u2019s jealousy shall rest upon her.\n\n24:14. I the Lord have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it;\nI will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according\nto thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the\nLord God.\u2014God Himself has spoken this and will do it. He will not go back,\nneither spare, nor change His Plan; but in just recompense for her doings\nshall the Socialists and anarchists condemn her.\n\n24:15, 16. Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nbehold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet\nneither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.\u2014God\ntook away from Pastor Russell the desire of his eyes, her whom he loved,\nwith a stroke, or \u201cplague\u201d of spiritual error, which completely separated\nthem. By the Mosaic ordinance a priest on the death of father, mother, or\nwife, was to show no special sign of grief, but was to remain in the\nTabernacle, or Temple, and attend as usual to the service of God. Pastor\nRussell, as a member of the great High Priest and as Christ\u2019s\nrepresentative in the world, the sole steward of the \u201cmeat in due season,\u201d\nsuffered deeply, but shed no tears.\n\n24:17. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of\nthine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not\nthy lips, and eat not the bread of men.\u2014Rather, he made no mourning for\nher that was to him as dead, but continued in the work of the sacrificing\npriesthood. He was sustained in his affliction, not by human aid, but by\nthe consolations of his Father\u2019s Word.\n\n24:18. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife\ndied; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.\u2014He continued his\naddresses and writings to the Lord\u2019s people; his wife became to him as one\ndead: and he continued uninterruptedly in the work of the ministry.\n\n24:19. And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these\nthings are to us, that thou doest so?\u2014Why was Pastor Russell caused by his\nFather to endure the fiery trials and ecclesiastical falsehoods in\nconnection with this incident of his life?\n\n24:20, 21. Then I answered them, The word of the Lord came unto me,\nsaying, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I\nwill profane My Sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of\nyour eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your\ndaughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.\u2014God gives the reason.\nIt was as a picture or parable of what is to happen to Christendom. Until\n1878 the nominal church had been in a sense God\u2019s sanctuary or Temple; but\nHe was from then on, culminating in 1918, to remove it with a stroke or\nplague of erroneous doctrines and deeds Divinely permitted. The Church was\nthe strength of Christendom, that about which its life centered, and\naround which its institutions were built. It was the desire of the eyes of\nthe people, that which all Christians loved. Nevertheless, God was to make\nmanifest the profanation which ecclesiasticism had made of the Christian\nChurch, and to cause the church organizations to become to Him as one\ndead, an unclean thing, not to be touched, or mourned. And the \u201cchildren\nof the church\u201d shall perish by the sword of war, revolution and anarchy,\nand by the Sword of the Spirit be made to see that they have lost their\nhope of life on the spirit plane\u2014that \u201cthe door is shut.\u201d\n\n24:22. And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor\neat the bread of men.\u2014So universal and dreadful will be the troubles that\nthe dead will literally lie unburied and unwept. There can be no mourning\nfor the dead in a period when the living are overwhelmed by troubles worse\nthan death.\n\n24:23. And your tires shall be upon your heads: and your shoes upon your\nfeet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your\niniquities, and mourn one toward another.\u2014The mourning will be an inner\nsorrow of a people stupefied by terrible experiences, who pine away and\nwithout outward expression sink together into the fellowship of helpless\ngrief.\n\n24:24. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done\nshall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord\nGod.\u2014Thus the silent sorrow at Pastor Russell\u2019s heart was to be a sign to\nChristendom. The sorrowful experiences of Pastor Russell in this\nconnection shall later on be those of all Christendom; \u201cand when this\ncometh\u201d they shall know that Jehovah God is supreme, and back of all the\njudgments of the trouble time.\n\n24:25, 26. Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take\nfrom them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their\neyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their\ndaughters. That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to\ncause thee to hear it with thine ears?\u2014Also, in the year 1918, when God\ndestroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it\nshall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to\nlearn the meaning of the downfall of \u201cChristianity.\u201d\n\n24:27. In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and\nthou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them;\nand they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014Pastor Russell\u2019s voice has been\nstilled in death; and his voice is, comparatively speaking, dumb to what\nit will be. In the time of revolution and anarchy he shall speak, and be\nno more dumb to those that escape the destruction of that day. Pastor\nRussell shall \u201cbe a sign unto them,\u201d shall tell them the truth about the\nDivine appointment of the trouble, as they consult his books, scattered to\nthe number of ten million throughout Christendom. His words shall be a\nsign of hope unto them, enabling them to see the bright side of the cloud\nand to look forward with anticipation to the glorious Kingdom of God to be\nestablished. Then \u201cthey shall know the Lord.\u201d\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cBuild thee more stately mansions, O my soul,\n As the swift seasons roll!\n Leave thy low vaulted past!\n Let each new temple, nobler than the last,\n Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,\n Till thou at length art free,\n Leaving thine outgrown shell by life\u2019s unresting sea.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 25\u2014Recompense Upon The Tares\n\n\n25:1, 2. The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, set\nthy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them.\u2014Chapter 25\nforetells that after the fall of apostate ecclesiasticism in revolution,\nin 1918, the end of the various discordant non\u2010Christian elements of\nChristendom, hostile to true Christianity, which will seek to profit by\nher fall, will come. The Ammonites (25:1\u20107) and the Moabites (25:8\u201011),\nboth children of Lot\u2014who was himself a type of the Great Company class\u2014are\na type of a class brought into being by their father, the Great Company\nclass (Lot), while he was in a state of drunken stupor from mixed\ndoctrines, through Lot\u2019s daughters, type of the worldly churches of the\nGreat Company. The Edomites, descendants of Esau, represent a class who\nsell their birthright to sonship of God for a mess of pottage, worldly\nadvantage (25:12\u201014); and the Philistines, a people who migrated from\nEgypt, and aggressively preyed upon the Jews, type of a class of\naggressive, middle\u2010course, professing Christians who prey upon true\nChristians. The message begins with words against the Ammonites, types of\nthose believing worldlings who were brought into the churches by the more\nor less faithless Great Company, and who in an aggressive and predatory\nfashion as Jesuits, persecuting Romish priests, and Protestant clergy and\ntheir kind persecuted the true Christians. The Ammonites are described as\n\u201cfierce marauders, crafty, cruel, predatory.\u201d The Ammonites worshipped\nBaal, under the name Chemosh, the god of fire and of fornication, type of\nthe eternal\u2010torment\u2010purgatory god, the encourager of the spiritual\nadultery of church\u2010state union.\n\n25:3. And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus\nsaith the Lord God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against My Sanctuary, when\nit was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and\nagainst the house of Judah, when they went into captivity.\u2014When God\u2019s true\nChurch shall be persecuted in the world\u2010war and revolution, and true\nChristian faith shall be desolated, and the multitude of those that praise\nGod (Judah, praise) shall go into captivity to the infidel revolutionists,\nthe persecuting, world\u2010loving church members (Ammonites) will he glad of\nit.\n\n26:4. Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a\npossession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their\ndwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy\nmilk.\u2014God will deliver this class unto the anarchists, to possess them,\nand make themselves at home with their property, and to make away with\ntheir doctrines (milk).\n\n25:5. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a\ncouching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014And I\nwill make the lordly clergy class (Rabbah, great) waste and abandoned.\n\n25:6. For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands,\nand stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite\nagainst the land of Israel.\u2014Because they shall rejoice greatly, in their\ndespite against Christianity.\n\n25:7. Behold, therefore I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and will\ndeliver thee for a spoil to the heathen: and I will cut thee off from the\npeople, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will\ndestroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.\u2014Therefore God will\nstretch out His hand against them, and deliver them to be despoiled by the\ninfidel anarchists in their midst. He will cut them off as a class, cause\nthem to cease and destroy them, and they shall know that He is God.\n\n25:8. Thus saith the Lord God: Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold,\nthe house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.\u2014The Moabites (\u201cSeir\u201d\nshould be omitted) were the civilized part of the descendants of Lot, born\nof incest, of a drunken father, Lot, and worshippers of Baal, while\nacknowledging Jehovah. They typed a church membership begotten by the\nmixture of truth and error, by the Great Company class, through their\nworld\u2010loving churches (daughters of Lot), and worshipping the eternal\u2010\ntorment God, imagining him to be Jehovah, and practicing the spiritual\nharlotry of union of church and state. Moab was \u201ca nation high spirited,\nwealthy, populous, civilized, and of wide reputation and popularity.\u201d They\ntype a like class.\n\n25:9. Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities,\nfrom his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country,\nBeth\u2010jeshi\u2010moth, Baal\u2010meon, and Kiriathaim.\u2014God will cause this class to\nbe attacked in the anarchy (Beth\u2010jeshimoth, place of desolation), on two\ngrounds, their apostate clergy (Baalmeon, lord of the habitation) and\nchurch\u2010state system (Kiriathaim, double city).\n\n25:10. Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in\npossession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the\nnations.\u2014The anarchists will also overcome the aggressive class\n(Ammonites).\n\n25:11, 12. And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know\nthat I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt\nagainst the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended,\nand revenged himself upon them.\u2014The professedly Christian \u201cEdomites\u201d (D.\n14\u201019)\u2014nominally believers in God (descendants of Abraham), but\nworshipping a variety of gods of power, wealth, and worldliness,\nespecially the eternal\u2010torment God\u2014(Josephus says the Edomites worshipped\nCese, the destroyer)\u2014will help greatly in pulling down Christianity.\n\n25:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out Mine\nhand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it\ndesolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.\u2014God will\nstretch His hand against this class (Edom\u2010Idumea) and from end to end they\nshall fall by the weapons of destruction, and by the Sword of the\nSpirit.\u2014Isa. 34:5, 6; Jer. 49:7\u201017.\n\n25:14. And I will lay My vengeance upon Edom by the hand of My people\nIsrael: and they shall do in Edom according to Mine anger and according to\nMy fury; and they shall know My vengeance, saith the Lord God.\u2014The Truth\npeople shall declare what God will do to this class in His furious\nanger.\u2014Isa. 15:1\u20109; Jer. 48:1\u201047.\n\n25:15. Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by\nrevenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it\nfor the old hatred.\u2014The worldly professing Christians (Philistines,\nemigrants from Egypt) persecute God\u2019s true people, and shall in the\nrevolution despitefully aid in destroying Christianity.\u2014Joel 3:4.\n\n25:16, 17. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will stretch out\nMine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethim, and\ndestroy the remnant of the sea coast. And I will execute great vengeance\nupon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord,\nwhen I shall lay My vengeance upon them.\u2014God will, through the anarchists,\nstretch out His hand against this class, and will cut off those that carry\nout persecution and death upon His people (Cherethim, executioners), and\nall worldly professing Christians as such, including those that border on\nanarchy (sea coast).\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 26\u2014Downfall Of Philosophy\n\n\n26:1. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the\nmonth, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying.\u2014Chapter 26 depicts\necclesiasticism in the guise of an elaborate system of philosophy. The\nname Tyrus signifies \u201cRock;\u201d and human philosophy, particularly Greek\nPlatonic philosophy, is the real rock foundation of ecclesiastical\nteachings. Any true ecclesiastic, when driven by the Word of God from his\nuntenable errors, claims sanction for them by reference to the philosophy\nof Plato and the inherent immortality of man, etc.\n\n26:2. Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she\nis broken that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall\nbe replenished, now she is laid waste.\u2014This system and its adherents will\nmanifest their essentially non\u2010Christian nature when Christendom\n(Jerusalem) falls at the hands of the revolutionists in 1918. Philosophy,\nHigher Criticism, will rejoice that ecclesiasticism, which claimed to be\nthe gateway to God for the people, is broken. They will imagine that the\nadherents of a Christianity that has failed will turn to philosophy, and\nthat the adherents of philosophy will be increased now that\necclesiasticism is desolated. Human philosophy will seem to be the sole\nrefuge of the people of Christendom.\n\n26:3. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O\nTyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea\ncauseth his waves to come up.\u2014Because Christendom has borne the name of\nChrist and had the oracles of God, therefore God is against philosophy and\nwill cause the many nations of Christendom to come up against established\nphilosophy, as a sea of anarchy, with the discontented masses attacking,\nwave after wave, endlessly.\n\n26:4. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her\ntowers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of\na rock.\u2014The anarchists shall destroy the walls of defense, composed of the\nadherents to human philosophy, and shall break down the loftiest and\nstrongest organizations, its towers of defense. God will remove the last\nvestiges of human adherence to Christendom\u2019s system of philosophy.\n\n26:5. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the\nsea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil\nto the nations.\u2014In the anarchy, human philosophy shall be utterly\nabandoned\u2014deprived of all its former supporters, by whole nations of\nanarchists.\n\n26:6. And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the\nsword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014The religious organizations\n(daughters) founded on philosophy, which are in the world (field), shall\nbe wiped out; and in the Kingdom their former adherents shall come to know\nJehovah as He is.\n\n26:7. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus\nNebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with\nhorses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much\npeople.\u2014Jehovah God declares that against human philosophy (Tyrus) and its\nsystems and adherents, He will array Satan\u2014the king of this evil world,\nruler of mystic Babylon, \u201cthe gateway to Bel,\u201d to devil worship, king over\nthe kings and other children of disobedience. He shall be permitted to\ncome by God Himself (the North) (Jer. 1:14), with teachings (horses) of\nanarchy, with institutions based upon such teachings (chariots), with\nleaders and teachers riding these hobbies (horsemen), with an organised\nfollowing (companies) and with many people following after anarchy in\nunorganized mobs (much people).\n\n26:8. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he\nshall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up\nthe buckler against thee.\u2014With weapons of destruction (swords) anarchy\nshall seek to destroy the philosophical churches and other religious\norganizations (daughters) in the world (field) and shall systematically\nbesiege them.\n\n26:9. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls and with his axes\nhe shall break down thy towers.\u2014Anarchy shall make war against their\ndefenders (walls), and with keen, strong, cutting arguments (axes), shall\nbreak down philosophy\u2019s strongholds (towers).\n\n26:10. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover\nthee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the\nwheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men\nenter into a city wherein is made a breach.\u2014Anarchistic teachings (horses)\nwithout limit shall fill the air with confusion (dust); philosophy\u2019s\ndefenders (walls) shall fear and quake at the tumult (noise) of the\nleaders and teachers of anarchy (horsemen), and of their systematic plans\n(wheels) of destruction, and of the anarchistic organizations (chariots),\nwhen Anarchy shall pour its forces through the great ones (gates) of\nPhilosophy, for the great ones will become channels (breaches) for the\ninpouring teachings of anarchy.\n\n26:11. With the hoofs of his horses shall be tread down all thy streets:\nhe shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go\ndown to the ground.\u2014With the impact (hoofs) of doctrines (horses) of\ndestruction, anarchy shall beat down all the orderly ways (streets) of\nphilosophy. Anarchy shall destroy the adherents of philosophy with weapons\nof destruction, and the learned and mighty colleges and universities\n(garrisons) shall go down in failure and ruin.\n\n26:12. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy\nmerchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant\nhouses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the\nmidst of the water.\u2014And the anarchists shall spoil the ideals (riches),\nand stop the teaching (merchandise) of philosophy; they shall break down\nthe defense of philosophy\u2019s adherents (walls), and destroy the pleasing\nphilosophical organizations (pleasant houses). They shall engulf the\nbelievers (stones) and supporters (timbers) in the rising tide of anarchy.\n\n26:13. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of\nthy harps shall be no more heard.\u2014And God will cause the noise of\nphilosophy\u2019s siren songs, her falsely pleasant teachings (songs) to cease;\nand the utterance of her melodious books (harps) shall be no more heard\nforever.\n\n26:14. And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place\nto spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have\nspoken it, saith the Lord God.\u2014Philosophy, falsely so\u2010called, shall be\nutterly desolated, and shall be built up no more forever; for Jehovah God\nhas spoken it.\n\n26:15. Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the\nsound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the\nmidst of thee?\u2014The world will be full of revolutionary republics (isles),\ndevoid of Christian principles and following man\u2010made ideas; these\nrepublics shall be shaken to their foundations, when anarchy begins its\ndread slaughter of men and of systems.\n\n26:16. Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones,\nand lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall\nclothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and\nshall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.\u2014Then shall the\nrude rulers of the revolutionary, half\u2010anarchistic republics lose their\npositions of power (thrones), and lay aside their honors (robes), and\ndiscard their works of revolution (broidered garments); they shall be\nfilled with dread and with trembling, and shall marvel at the downfall of\ntheir socialistic and revolutionary philosophies.\n\n26:17. And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How\nart thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned\ncity, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause\ntheir terror to be on all that haunt it!\u2014They shall lament; for the great\nsystems of human philosophy shall be destroyed, where abode polished\ncosmopolitan men of the world (seafaring men), the renowned system of\nthought which was strong among all peoples (in the sea), even in the midst\nof a world of restless, discontented masses.\n\n26:18. Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles\nthat are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.\u2014Now shall the\nrevolutionary republics (isles) tremble in the year of philosophy\u2019s\ndownfall; the republics in the midst of the anarchistic peoples (sea)\nshall be in trouble with the failure of the system of man\u2010made philosophy.\n\n26:19. For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate\ncity, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the\ndeep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee.\u2014For God will utterly\ndesolate philosophical teachings; when He brings up the sea of anarchy\nupon them, and engulfs them in the tidal wave.\n\n26:20. When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit,\nwith the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the\nearth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that\nthou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the\nliving.\u2014God will bring human philosophy down to destruction, without an\nadherent and in disgrace and reproach (into the pit), in order that He may\nestablish His glorious truth in the Kingdom of resurrection and of life.\n\n26:21. I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou\nbe sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord\nGod.\u2014God will make human philosophy a wasted, desolated thing (a terror);\nnever shall it exist any more; though men and devils should seek to\nreestablish it, never shall it be found again, saith Jehovah God.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 27\u2014Philosophy\u2019s Utter Ruin\n\n\n27:1. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.\u2014In Chapter 27\nChristendom, regarded as an independent system of pagan philosophy, is\nrepresented as a gallant ship. Its component parts are represented\nsymbolically (27:4\u20107), as are its mariners and pilots (27:8\u20109). In verses\n9 to 25 the figure reverts to a mercantile city, and the sources of its\narticles of trade. It is again pictured as a ship, which is steered by its\nmariners into an angry sea, and wrecked.\u2014Verses 26 to 36.\n\n27:2. Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus.\u2014The man\u2010made\nsystem of Pagan philosophy must fall.\n\n27:3. And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea,\nwhich art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord\nGod: O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.\u2014O Christendom, thou\nthat hast the entree to the ears of the peoples (sea), which art a\nsalesman (merchant) of philosophical doctrines for the people of many\nrevolutionary republics, thus says the Lord God: O Christendom,\necclesiasticism, thou hast regarded thy pagan philosophies as perfect,\nfaultless and beautiful.\n\n27:4. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have\nperfected thy beauty.\u2014Thou, as an independent pagan religious organization\nor system, belongest among the disobedient children (sea) of the world.\nThy philosophers, doctors of divinity, professors and writers, have\nperfected thy seemingly beautiful philosophy.\n\n27:5. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir; they have\ntaken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.\u2014They have made as thy\nfundamental supporters (boards) believers in everlasting human life (firs,\nevergreen trees), in high stations in society (Mount Senir, or Hermon,\n\u201cpointed rock\u201d was in Benjamin, one of the Hebrew tribes, and type of the\nGreat Company). They have taken as the support (masts) of thy seeming\nrighteousness (linen sails) earth\u2019s greatest men and the rulers, believers\nin inherent immortality (cedars), picturing them as from the loftiest,\npurest sources. (Lebanon, a great mountain range, means \u201cwhite, snowy.\u201d).\n\n27:6. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the\nAshurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of\nChittim.\u2014The prominent tares, leaders (oaks), whom other tares follow and\nworship, and who are fruitful in producing more tares (Bashan means\nfruitful), are the mechanism (oars) for making thee move and progress\namong the people. The company of free\u2010thinkers (Ashurite means freemen)\nhave made thy white (supposedly righteous) seats (ivory signifies\ndreams\u2014of immediate spirit life when they die) to be the seats (seats of\nthe mighty), of the rowers who work the oars.\n\n27:7. Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou\nspreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah\nwas that which covered thee.\u2014Thy ensigns, banners, sails, over thee, to be\ndriven by the winds of error, are false righteousness (linen), with\ninnumerable works of self\u2010righteousness (broidered work), and of\nworldliness (Egypt); thou wast covered with the faithfulness (blue) and\nroyalty (purple) of the worst of earth\u2019s pagan peoples (Elishah, descended\nfrom Javan, European, the most cruel and ferocious people of earth, as\nshown by their history, including this furious world\u2010war.)\n\n27:8. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners; thy wise men,\nO Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.\u2014The adherents of the belong\u2010\nto\u2010a\u2010church or go\u2010to\u2010hell idea (Zidon meant \u201cfortress,\u201d and the idea is\nthe fortress of ecclesiasticism), and the supporters of the falsely\ncomforting refuge of Platonic immortality of the soul (Arvad means refuge,\nand Platonic heathen philosophy is the refuge of philosophic Christendom)\nwere thy mariners, the ones who \u201cworked\u201d thy oars; thy philosophers (wise\nones), from Plato to Nietsche, charted thy evil course, and were the real\n\u201csky\u2010pilots\u201d for the rowers to row by.\n\n27:9. The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy\ncalkers; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to\noccupy thy merchandise.\u2014The doctors of divinity (ancients of Gebal) (Psa.\n83:7) and the creed builders said enough on both sides of any question for\ntheological authorities (calkers) to keep the people (sea) from getting on\nthe inside, or having any real participation in thy affairs. In the middle\nof verse 9 the figure changes back to that of the prosperous mercantile\ncity that Tyre was. All the independent religious and philosophical\nchurches and other organizations (ships) of the sea (peoples and nations)\nwith their sky\u2010pilots (mariners) were in thee, O Christendom, thou\naggregation of confused and contradictory philosophies, to receive, hold\nand disseminate thy teachings, doctrines, traditions, fables and\nphilosophies (merchandise).\n\n27:10. They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men\nof war; they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy\ncomeliness.\u2014Believers in the hell\u2010fire superstition (Persians were fire\nworshippers), and middle\u2010course, conservative worldly men of sin (the\npeople of Lud and Phut were dark\u2010skinned men, living probably west of\nEgypt, type of worldly compromisers with sin) were in thine army, those\nthat fight the bad fight of error for thee; in thee they hung the shield\nof credulity (faith) and the helmet of a false salvation; they extolled\nthe loveliness of thy philosophy.\n\n27:11. The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about,\nand the Gammadim were in thy towers; they hanged their shields upon thy\nwalls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.\u2014The believers in\nhuman immortality, thy philosophic refuge (Arvad means \u201crefuge\u201d) with\nthine army just mentioned were the wall of thy defense and thy watchmen,\ncollege professors, economists (the Gammadim are thought to mean watchmen\nor guards) were in thy watch towers; upon thy walls, in the minds of thy\nsupporters (walls) they hanged their shields of credulity; they have made\nthy philosophies and sophistries seem perfectly beautiful.\n\n27:12. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds\nof riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.\u2014Thy\npreachers (merchants, trading in philosophy for gain) were a hard\nproposition (Tarshish means hard), with an abundant supply of teachings\nregarded worth while by the world; with worldly truth\u2014silver\u2014with strong\nearthly authority\u2014iron\u2014with actually worthless philosophies (tin was as\nthe dross of silver) and with downright wicked doctrines (lead symbolized\nwickedness\u2014Zech. 5:7\u20108) they taught and preached (traded) in thy preaching\nplaces (fairs).\n\n27:13. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the\npersons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.\u2014Believers in Greek\nphilosophy (Javan represented the Greek race), and believers in the most\nfar\u2010fetched and uncouth ideas, such as monkey\u2010born evolution (Tubal and\nMeshech were the remotest and rudest of nations), were thy preachers\n(merchants). They sold men into bondage to sin, and presented teachings of\nhuman perfection (brass) attainable otherwise than through Christ. Brass\nshould be translated copper, and signifies perfect human nature.\u2014T. 18.\n\n27:14. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and\nhorsemen and mules.\u2014The representatives of the rudest and crudest ideas\n(Togarmah) preached in thy churches with doctrines (horses) and with\nfollowers of the doctrines and with mixed human and spirit nature ideas\n(mules).\n\n27:15. The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the\nmerchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present, horns of ivory\nand ebony.\u2014Men of low ideals (Dedan means low) were thy preachers; many\nrevolutionary republics (islands) were thy preaching places; they\npresented thee with dreams, visions (ivory) of power (horns), good and bad\n(ebony).\n\n27:16. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of\nthy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and\nbroidered work, and flat linen, and coral, and agate.\u2014Believers in\ndoctrines of lofty self\u2010righteousness (Syria signifies high land) were thy\npreachers; they traded for gain in philosophies of eternal life (emeralds)\nwithout Christ\u2019s purchase, with teachings of self\u2010kingship (purple), with\nworks of self\u2010mastery (broidered work), with self\u2010righteousness (linen),\nwith an imitation ransom (red coral), and imitation character jewels\n(agate).\n\n27:17. Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded\nin thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and\nbalm.\u2014With thine errors were mingled God\u2019s Truth to make up thy mixed\ndoctrines. Some of thy preachers were really believers in the Bible (of\nJudah and Israel), taught the wholesome spiritual Bible truths (wheat),\ngood teachings for the natural man (Pannag means millet), and teachings\nabout Christ\u2019s Second Coming (honey), the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit\n(Rev. 10:9, 10), and the balm of the comfort of the Word of God.\u2014Rom.\n15:4.\n\n27:18. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy\nmaking, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white\nwool.\u2014Thy preachers (merchants) were among the chiefest of the lofty,\nself\u2010righteous, lordly ones (Damascus was capital of Syria, the high\nland), trading in all varieties of thy doctrines and philosophies,\nespecially the mixed doctrines (wine) of earthly prosperity (Helbon,\nfruitfulness) and in natural human righteousness (white wool).\n\n27:19. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright\niron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.\u2014Apostate Christians (Dan\nwas the seat of idolatry and types a class once spirit\u2010begotten but fallen\naway) and Grecian pagans (Javan represented the Greeks) preached in thy\nchurch gatherings; lordship, authority (iron), the claim of apostolic\nauthority (cassia, deputyship), and a claimed knowledge of the Bible\n(calamus) were in thy churches (markets).\n\n27:20. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.\u2014Preachers\nof low ideals (Dedan, low) preached that thy church organizations\n(chariots) should be made presentable by being robed in the embroidery of\nmany works, church fairs and suppers, institutional work, and civic and\nsocial service (chariot clothes or robes).\n\n27:21. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in\nlambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.\u2014Thy\npreachers, with claims of consecration, separateness (Arabia, wilderness),\nand all the powerful right reverends, fathers, and other lords (Kedar,\npowerful), they traded (exchanged from one church to another) their\nconverts (lambs), old church members (rams), and out\u2010and\u2010out tares\n(goats).\n\n27:22. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they\noccupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious\nstones, and gold.\u2014The preachers in captivity (Sheba, captivity) to Satan,\nand those who tremble at Satan\u2019s word (Raamah, trembling) set forth a\ncounterfeit of the Holy Spirit (principal spices, Exodus 30:23), all kinds\nand degrees of self\u2010development of character (precious stones), and the\nalleged inherent spark of the Divine (!) in man (gold).\n\n27:23. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and\nChilmad, were thy merchants.\u2014The preachers of New Thought, Theosophy,\nChristian Science and other phases of Spiritism, self\u2010styled, strong and\nenlightened (Haran), set up and distinguished (Canneh), and believers in\ndelightful delusions (Eden, delight), are in captivity (Sheba, captivity)\nto Satan, and really without hope of Kingdom honors (Chilmad, level,\nplain, without mountains).\n\n27:24. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes,\nand broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and\nmade of cedar, among thy merchandise.\u2014These self\u2010reliance preachers set\nforth the robes of a counterfeit faithfulness (blue), fruitless works of\nself\u2010improvement (broidered work), and organizations (chests) offering an\nimitation righteousness (rich apparel), bound with cords of free\u2010thought\nlove and a delusive hope, and represented as having eternal life (cedar).\n\n27:25. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast\nreplenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.\u2014The mighty\nindependent religious sects (ships of Tarshish\u2014Isa. 3:16) did preach of\nthy philosophies and thou wast richly supported (replenished) and made of\ngreat reputation (glorious) among the peoples and nations (seas).\n\n27:26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath\nbroken thee in the midst of the seas.\u2014The picture changes back to a\ngallant ship. Thy strong preachers (rowers) have steered thee into angry\nseas (anarchy); the doctrines (winds) from the presence of Christ the Sun\nof Righteousness (east wind) have broken thy power in the midst of a time\nof anarchy (seas).\n\n27:27. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy\npilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men\nof war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of\nthee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.\u2014Thy\nphilosophies, thy churches, thy doctrines, thy preachers, thy\nphilosophers, thy Doctors of Divinity (sky\u2010pilots), thy church members,\nall thy church workers, and all the multitude that come to church, shall\nfall in the anarchy in the day of thy ruin.\n\n27:28. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy\npilots.\u2014Those affiliated with thee shall quake at the shoutings and\nthreatenings of thy sky\u2010pilots.\n\n27:29. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of\nthe sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the\nland.\u2014All those that work, the influential church members, the preachers,\nand all the sky\u2010pilots of the anarchistic masses (sea) (Rev. 18:17\u201018),\nshall abandon their independent organizations or their heathen religions,\nand shall try to find more solid ground to stand on than thou wast on.\n\n27:30. And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry\nbitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow\nthemselves in the ashes.\u2014They shall speak against thee, and cry out with\nbitterness against thee, they shall show signs of grief.\n\n27:31. And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them\nwith sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and\nbitter wailing.\u2014It was a custom in ancient times for those who had\nsuffered great calamities to shave their heads. The Lord promises such an\noccasion for weeping to Zion, His professed people.\u2014Isa. 3:24.\n\n27:32. And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and\nlament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in\nthe midst of the sea?\u2014In their bemoaning the downfall of so\u2010called\n\u201cChristian philosophy\u201d they shall lament over thee, saying, What\norganization was ever like Christendom, like her who has been destroyed in\nanarchy?\n\n27:33. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many\npeople; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy\nriches and of thy merchandise.\u2014When thy philosophies were accepted by the\nmasses, thou didst satisfy many people. Thou didst enrich materially and\nmentally the rulers and the clergy\u2010lords of society with thy innumerable\nphilosophies and thy doctrines.\n\n27:34. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of\nthe waters, thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall\nfall.\u2014When thou shalt be broken and engulfed in the roaring waves of\nanarchy, thy doctrines shall cease and all thy supporters shall fall.\n\n27:35. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and\ntheir kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their\ncountenance.\u2014All the people of the revolutionary republics shall marvel at\nthy fall, and the rulers of that brief era shall be troubled and afraid of\nmeeting thy fate in the anarchy.\n\n27:36. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a\nterror, and never shalt be any more.\u2014The preachers (merchants) then taking\ntheir place among the unbelieving masses shall scoff at thee; thou shalt\nbe a \u201cworn\u2010out and wasted thing\u201d (literal) and never shalt thou exist any\nmore.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n O bliss of the purified! bliss of the free!\n I plunge in the crimson tide opened for me;\n O\u2019er sin and uncleanness exulting I stand,\n And point to the print of the nails in His hand.\n\n O bliss of the purified! Jesus is mine;\n No longer in dread condemnation I pine;\n In conscious salvation, I sing of His grace,\n Who lifteth upon me the light of His face.\n\n O Jesus, the crucified! thee will I sing,\n My blessed Redeemer, my God and my King;\n My soul filled with rapture shall shout o\u2019er the grave,\n And triumph o\u2019er death in the \u201cMighty to save.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 28\u2014Destruction Of The Devil\n\n\n28:1. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.\u2014Chapter 28:1\u201010\ndepicts the destruction of priestcraft by the sword of revolution and\nanarchy and by the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.\n\n28:2. Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God;\nBecause thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in\nthe seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not\nGod, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.\u2014To the exalted\nclass, the clergy (prince) of Christendom, as a system of paganized\nphilosophy: Because of thy pride of heart, thou hast said through thy\nchief representative, the Pope of Rome, I am as a god, I am the vice\u2010\ngerent of Jehovah, my seat is \u201cupon many waters\u201d (Rev. 17:1), upon\n\u201cpeoples and multitudes and nations and tongues\u201d (Rev. 17:15), yet thou\nart man\u2010made, man\u2010ordained, and not of God, not Divinely ordained, even\nthough thou set thine heart to pose before the people as Divinely\nordained.\n\n28:3. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can\nhide from thee.\u2014Behold, thou thinkest that thou art wiser than Daniel (Z.\n\u201905\u2010280); that through supposed Divine inspiration, the confessional and\nthe universal clergy\u2010spy system, there is nothing in Heaven or earth which\nthou dost not know.\n\n28:4. With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee\nriches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures.\u2014With thy false\nphilosophy and thy misunderstanding thou hast acquired riches, much gold\nand silver into thy treasury\u2014many, too, of both Little Flock (gold) and\nGreat Company (silver) into bondage.\n\n28:5. By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick has thou increased thy\nriches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches.\u2014By scientific\nsuppositions of infidel Evolution and Higher Criticism, and by good\nsalesmanship of these worthless goods, thou hast heaped up wealth; and\nthou hast become proud, because of thy riches of materials, doctrines and\nmembership.\n\n28:6. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart\nas the heart of God.\u2014Therefore Jehovah says, Because thou hast set thyself\nup in pride to be as God, claiming to represent Him on earth as God\u2019s\nvice\u2010gerent.\n\n28:7. Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of\nthe nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy\nwisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.\u2014I will bring upon thee\npaganized anarchists, strangers to thy theories, the terror of the\nnations\u2014and also My pilgrims and strangers, the sons of God, those whom\nthy philosophy dreadest; and the anarchists shall turn their weapons of\ndestruction against thee, and the sons of God shall smite with the Sword\nof the Spirit thy falsely beautiful philosophy, and shall expose the real\npollution of thy wisdom.\n\n28:8. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths\nof them that are slain in the midst of the sea.\u2014They shall bring thee down\nto a dishonored oblivion, and materially and religiously thou shalt die\nthe deaths of those slain in the roaring waves of anarchy.\n\n28:9. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou\nshalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.\u2014Though\nthou sayest to the anarchy that shall slay thee materially and to Him that\nshall destroy thee religiously, \u201cI represent God!\u201d\u2014yet thou shalt be seen\nto be man\u2010made and not ordained by God, in the power of the destroyer\nappointed by Jehovah.\n\n28:10. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of\nstrangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.\u2014Thou shalt die the\ndeaths of the wicked by the hand of the anarchists, and be destroyed\nreligiously as one of unclean conscience (uncircumcised) at the hand of\nthe sons of God, My strangers and pilgrims in the earth (1 Pet. 1:1); for\nJehovah hath spoken it.\n\n28:11. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.\u2014Verses 11 to 26\ndeal with the destruction of the Devil, pictured as the King of Tyrus.\n\n28:12. Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus, and say\nunto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom\nand perfect in beauty.\u2014Satan, the Devil, the father of lies and king over\nChristendom\u2019s system of pagan philosophy, is by nature the summation of\nperfection, the personification of Wisdom (Wisdom was one of the cherubs)\nand by nature perfect in the beauty of holiness.\u2014Z. \u201903\u2010135.\n\n28:13. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was\nthy covering: the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx,\nand the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:\nthe workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in\nthe day that thou wast created.\u2014Thou wast in the garden of Eden at the\nfall of man. Every good fruit of character wast thine adornment (Rev.\n21:18\u201021); with this perfection of character endowment thou wast created.\n\n28:14. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so;\nthou wast upon the Holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in\nthe midst of the stones of fire.\u2014Before thy fall thou wast appointed the\ncare\u2010taker (coverer) of the innocent pair in Eden. Thou wast the\nembodiment of Wisdom (cherub), and endowed with the Holy Spirit\n(anointed); and I so made thee. Thou wast in high position in the holy\nheavenly Kingdom of God (Eph. 6:12); thou hast had thy course of life\namong God\u2019s holy angels (Isa. 14:13)\u2014stars, fiery stones.\n\n28:15, 16. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast\ncreated, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy\nmerchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou\nhast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of\nGod: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the\nstones of fire.\u2014By their multitudinous trading in mixed doctrines\n(merchandise) \u201cfor revenue only\u201d thy adherents, demons and clergy, have\nfilled thy following with violence and warfare; and thou hast sinned unto\ndeath. Therefore I will cast thee as polluted out of the Kingdom of God\n(A. 318); and I will destroy thee from amongst My holy angels.\n\n28:17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast\ncorrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the\nground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.\u2014Thou\nbecamest proud because of thine endowment of beauteous character. Thou\nhast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy conceited teaching of\ncounterfeit wisdom (brightness); I will humble thee to the dust, and\nexpose thy real character.\n\n28:18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine\niniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick: therefore will I bring forth\na fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee\nto ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.\u2014Thou\nhast defiled the churches of Christendom by thine iniquitous doctrines and\nthe teaching of them. Therefore I will utterly destroy thee with\nannihilation, and thy following with anarchy, in the sight of all that\nbehold thee, in Heaven and on earth.\n\n28:19. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at\nthee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.\u2014All shall\nmarvel at thy destruction; thou shall become wasted, devastated (a\nterror), and never shalt thou exist any more.\n\n28:20. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying,\u2014Verses 20 to 26\nrelate to the destruction of organized Churchianity.\n\n28:21. Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against\nit.\u2014Zidon meant \u201cfortress\u201d; and the fortress of churchianity since the\nthird century A. D. has been the doctrine that, to be saved, men must\nbelong to a church organization. The King of Zidon typed the Devil.\n\n28:22. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O\nZidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee; and they shall know\nthat I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall\nbe sanctified in her.\u2014God says, I am against thee, organized churchianity,\nand I will be glorified and made holy in thee, only when I have executed\nretribution and justice upon thee.\n\n28:23. For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets;\nand the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her\non every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014For I will afflict\nthee with literal and spiritual sickness and death (shed blood).\n\n28:24. And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of\nIsrael, nor any grievous thorn of all that are round about them, that\ndespised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.\u2014The adherents\nto the church\u2010organization idea have persecuted and dispersed both Jews\nand Christians, but they shall do so no more.\n\n28:25, 26. Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house\nof Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be\nsanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in\ntheir land that I have given to My servant Jacob. And they shall dwell\nsafely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they\nshall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those\nthat despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord\ntheir God.\u2014The Jews shall enjoy God\u2019s earthly blessings, and the true\nChristians His Heavenly blessings, when He has executed justly earned\njudgments upon the people that have adhered to or taught the belong\u2010to\u2010a\u2010\nchurch\u2010or\u2010go\u2010to\u2010hell idea.\u2014Z. \u201994\u201076.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 29\u2014The Egyptians A Type\n\n\n29:1. In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the\nmonth, the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.\u2014Chapters 29 to 32 are\ndirected against Egypt, its king and people, and against the surrounding\npeoples. Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, and was known as\nMizraim, which meant \u201cMiddle Country,\u201d and typed organized, entrenched and\nenthroned middle\u2010course worldliness. The word Egypt means \u201cthat binds or\noppresses,\u201d and signifies the bondage of the Lord\u2019s people to the\noppressive, enslaving spirit of the world\u2014the spirit that slew our Lord\n(Rev. 11:8), and has enslaved and slain millions of God\u2019s saints. Chapter\n29:1\u20107 represents worldliness as a crocodile, the dragon of Revelation\n12:3, etc.\n\n29:2. Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and\nprophesy against him, and against all Egypt.\u2014This message is against\nSatan, the Devil, the king of this present evil world, and against all\nworldliness.\n\n29:3. Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee,\nPharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his\nrivers, which hath said. My river is mine own, and I have made it for\nmyself.\u2014Jehovah says, I am against thee, Satan (Pharaoh means the sun, the\ngod of the sun worshipper, the Devil), the great wicked dragon, also\ncalled Pagan Rome (later Papal Rome), that dwells in the midst of the\nchurch denominations (rivers, channels of Truth), and says, The church\nsystem is mine own, and I (not God) made it for my own purposes.\n\n29:4. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy\nrivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst\nof thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy\nscales.\u2014God will bind thy utterances (jaws) with a chain (hook means chain\nor ring) (Rev. 20:1), and will cause thy active worldly church members and\nother adherents in thy churches (rivers) to adhere to thy protecting\ndoctrines (scales) and will alienate thy churches from thee (corresponds\nto drying up Euphrates) and from all thy active supporters.\n\n29:5. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the\nfish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not\nbe brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the\nbeasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.\u2014And I will cause thee\nto be forsaken (in the wilderness), thee and all thy adherents (fish).\nThou shalt fall unprotected into the hands of a cold, cruel world (open\nfields), not to be established again in power, but to be destroyed by the\nevil revolutionary governments (beasts) of the world (field), in world\u2010\nwide revolution, and by wicked criminals, jail birds (fowls) and\nanarchists.\n\n29:6. And the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because\nthey have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.\u2014The worldly people\nwho have been no real support to either Jews or true Christians (Isa.\n36:6; Z. \u201995\u2010144), shall realize that Jehovah is the Lord.\n\n29:7. When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend\nall their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and\nmadest all their loins to be at a stand.\u2014When they in their weakness\nsought some aid of thee, thou didst roughly abuse them; and didst try to\ndestroy them in persecution.\n\n29:8, 9. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword\nupon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt\nshall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord:\nbecause he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.\u2014And\nworldliness shall be destroyed, and the people shall know Jehovah as He\nis; because Satan said, The churches are mine.\n\n29:10. Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I\nwill make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of\nSyene even unto the border of Ethiopia.\u2014I am against thee and thy\nchurches, and will utterly destroy worldliness from end to end.\n\n29:11, 12. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall\npass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. And I will\nmake the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are\ndesolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be\ndesolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations,\nand will disperse them through the countries.\u2014Christendom shall be\nuninhabited and desolate for forty years after its devastation.\n\n29:13. Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I\ngather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered.\u2014After\nforty years God will gather into the Kingdom the scattered worldly people.\n\n29:14. And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them\nto return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and\nthey shall be there a base kingdom.\u2014And will bring them back from the dead\ninto their own country, where they shall be insignificant.\n\n29:15. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt\nitself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they\nshall no more rule over the nations.\u2014This has been literally fulfilled\nupon Egypt, which for many centuries has not enjoyed self\u2010government.\n\n29:16. And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel,\nwhich bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after\nthem: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.\u2014Neither Jews nor\nChristians shall ever again look to the worldly people (Egypt), (Isa.\n30:1\u20105) for help; for the sight of the worldly will make them remember\nChristendom\u2019s iniquity.\n\n29:17, 18. And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the\nfirst month, in the first day of the month, the Word of the Lord came unto\nme, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to\nserve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every\nshoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the\nservice that he had served against it.\u2014The forces of anarchy\u2019s king, the\nDevil, will perform a great service in the Divine Plan of the Ages, but\nthere will be nothing in it for the anarchists.\n\n29:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of\nEgypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her\nmultitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the\nwages of his army.\u2014Jehovah will give worldly Christendom to anarchy: and\nthis shall be the material reward of the forces of anarchy.\n\n29:20. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he\nserved against it, because they wrought for Me, saith the Lord God.\u2014God\nwill give worldly Christendom to anarchy, for its labor in serving the\ninterests of God\u2019s plans against pagan religion masquerading as\nChristendom, because in doing so anarchy will do its part.\n\n29:21. In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud\nforth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them;\nand they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014During the Time of Trouble God\nwill cause the power (T. 42) of the Jews to bud forth in Zionism, and make\nknown the glad tidings of the Kingdom, taught in _Studies in the\nScriptures_.\u2014Isa. 19:1\u201025.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 30\u2014Pharaoh\u2019s Two Arms Broken\n\n\n30:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of Man,\nprophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Howl ye, Woe worth the\nday.\u2014Thus saith Jehovah: Weep, and cry! O woeful day!\n\n30:3. For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day;\nit shall be the time of the heathen.\u2014The day is near, the day of Jehovah,\na gloomy day\u2014the time of infidel anarchy!\u2014Joel 1:15; Zeph. 1:7.\n\n30:4. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in\nEthiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her\nmultitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.\u2014The weapons of\nanarchy and the Sword of the Spirit shall come against worldly\nChristendom. Great distress shall be upon non\u2010church members (Ethiopia,\nblack) socialists, laborites and revolutionists, when Christendom\u2019s slain\nshall fall literally and spiritually, when her multitude shall abandon\nher, and when her foundations\u2014social, economic, moral and religious\u2014shall\nbe broken down in war, revolution and anarchy.\n\n30:5. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and\nChub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by\nthe sword.\u2014The worst peoples, darker religiously and morally\u2014the\nsocialists, laborites and revolutionists, in touch with worldly\nChristendom\u2014shall fall with Christendom by literal weapons and by the Word\nof God.\n\n30:6. Thus saith the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the\npride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they\nfall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God.\u2014All supporters of worldly\nChristendom shall fall; her pride of power shall be humbled; from end to\nend of Christendom shall they fall.\n\n30:7. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are\ndesolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are\nwasted.\u2014Worldly Christendom shall be utterly desolated.\n\n30:8. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in\nEgypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.\u2014They shall know that\nJehovah permitted anarchy to start in Christendom, and will recognize Him,\nwhen they see that all their helpers are destroyed.\n\n30:9. In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the\ncareless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the\nday of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.\u2014At the time of Christendom\u2019s fall, the\nmessage from God shall be borne by independent religious organizations to\nthe too\u2010confident socialists, laborites, and revolutionists that shall\nmake them afraid of anarchy, and great distress shall ensue upon them, as\nin Christendom\u2019s fall.\n\n30:10. Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to\ncease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.\u2014God will make the\nmultitude of adherents to worldly Christendom to cease adhering to her, by\nthe power of revolution and anarchy and their instigator, the Devil.\n\n30:11. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be\nbrought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against\nEgypt, and fill the land with the slain.\u2014Satan and his followers\u2014devils\nand humans\u2014the most terrible of all the nations\u2014the anarchists\u2014shall\ndestroy Christendom\u2019s worldly order of things. They shall attack\nChristendom with their weapons and fill the land with their slain\u2014as will\nthe Sword of the Spirit with those slain spiritually.\n\n30:12. And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of\nthe wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by\nthe hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.\u2014God will cause the\ndenominations to become dry of members and of money, will give the order\nof things over into the power of the wicked anarchists, and will desolate\nChristendom\u2019s order of things and all belonging to it, literally by the\npower of anarchists, strangers to the existing order of things, and\nspiritually by the sons of God.\n\n30:13. Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will\ncause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a\nprince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of\nEgypt.\u2014God will destroy Christendom\u2019s idols of love of gold, power, etc\n(Jer. 43:12, 13), and will cause these gods to cease among the more\nprosperous people of Christendom (Noph was the Delta and richer part of\nEgypt); and there shall be no more an exalted class, a worldly clergy\nclass, in Christendom; but God will put in her fear and failing of heart.\n\n30:14. And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and\nwill execute judgments in No.\u2014God will make the upper classes (Pathros,\nupper Egypt), desolate, will permit anarchy and destruction to start among\nthem (Zoan, capital of Egypt), and will execute retributive judgments upon\nthe leaders of the upper classes (No, capital of Upper Egypt).\n\n30:15. And I will pour My fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will\ncut off the multitude of No.\u2014God will pour His fury upon Papacy, the\nstrength of worldly Christendom, and will cut off the multitudes that\nsupport the upper classes.\n\n30:16. And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No\nshall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.\u2014God will let\nanarchy start in Christendom. Papacy shall have great distress; the upper\nclasses shall be rent asunder, and the lower classes shall suffer daily\ndistress.\n\n30:17. The young men of Aven and of Pi\u2010beseth shall fall by the sword: and\nthese cities shall go into captivity.\u2014The young men who follow\nChristendom\u2019s vain show (Aven, vanity), and her honors (Pi\u2010beseth, very\nexalted), shall fall by the sword of anarchy; for these things shall come\nto their end in anarchy.\n\n30:18, 19. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall\nbreak there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease\nin her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go\ninto captivity. Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall\nknow that I am the Lord.\u2014For the lower classes also (Tehaphnehes, in Lower\nEgypt), it shall be a dark day when God breaks the bondage imposed by\nworldly Christendom. Her pompous power shall cease. A cloud of trouble\nshall cover her, and her churches (daughters) shall be taken and lost in\nanarchy.\n\n30:20, 21. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month,\nin the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me,\nsaying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and,\nlo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to\nmake it strong to hold the sword.\u2014Ecclesiasticism, Satan\u2019s right arm shall\nbe broken, never to be healed. The Lord\u2019s time for their punishment has\ncome.\n\n30:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against Pharaoh\nking of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was\nbroken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.\u2014God is against\nSatan, the mighty king of worldliness, and will break also the civil\npowers, and make him powerless to use his sword.\n\n30:23. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will\ndisperse them through the countries.\u2014God will scatter the worldly people\namong the anarchists.\n\n30:24. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My\nSword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh\u2019s arms, and he shall groan\nbefore him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.\u2014God will strengthen\nthe civil and philosophic (infidel, anarchistic religions) powers of\nAnarchy; and anarchy shall both use the Bible (God\u2019s Sword) and shall\nwield the sword of earthly weapons, as His own sword; and this evil order\nof things, with powers broken down, shall utter its dying groans of\ndistress.\n\n30:25. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms\nof Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I\nshall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall\nstretch it out upon the land of Egypt.\u2014But this order of things, with\npowers broken, and the anarchistic state of affairs with strengthened\npower, shall realize that it is of Jehovah\u2019s might, when anarchy grows in\npower and attacks the existing order of things.\n\n30:26. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse\nthem among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014And the\nworldly peoples scattered everywhere, shall by the fulfillment of this\nprophecy know that Jehovah rules in the affairs of men.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cMine eyes can see the glory of the presence of the Lord;\n He is trampling out the winepress where his grapes of wrath are\n stored;\n I see the flaming tempest of His swift descending Sword:\n Our King is marching on.\n\n \u201cI can see His coming judgments, as they circle all the earth,\n The signs and groanings promised, to precede a second birth;\n I read His righteous sentence, in the crumbling thrones of earth:\n Our King is marching on.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 31\u2014Christendom Not To Endure\n\n\n31:1, 2. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in\nthe first day of the month, that the Word of the Lord came unto me,\nsaying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his\nmultitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?\u2014Chapter 31 represents\nChristendom as a cedar tree which is cut down. It opens with a message\nrespecting Satan (Pharaoh, the sungod) king of worldly Christendom (Egypt)\nand her multitudes. What comparison could be made of her greatness!\n\n31:3. Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and\nwith a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the\nthick boughs.\u2014Behold, Satan and his counterfeit Christian system (tree;\n\u201cAssyrian\u201d should probably read \u201cteashur,\u201d a box\u2010tree), thought of as\nnever to end (cedar, type of man with eternal life), and as a righteous\nkingdom (Lebanon, a mountain, white, snowy), having as members (branches,\nlike the branches of Christendom) the great, the evil and the good,\nworldly people, with protecting power (shadowing shroud) and very\nprominent, with the greatest people at the very top.\n\n31:4. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her\nrivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto\nall the trees of the field.\u2014The peoples and the secular truth (waters)\nmade Satan\u2019s system great; the great nations and the apparently profound\ntruths of liberty, fraternity and equality, made it prominent, with its\nroots (plantings) nourished by nations and sects (rivers) and sending out\nnational and denominational influences throughout all the systems of the\nworld.\n\n31:5. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field,\nand his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of\nthe multitude of waters, when he shot forth.\u2014Therefore Christendom\u2019s\nprominence was exalted above everything like it in the world; and its\nmighty members were increased in number and made of far reaching\ninfluence, because of the multitude of their people and of their\nteachings.\n\n31:6. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under\nhis branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and\nunder his shadow dwelt all great nations.\u2014All the jail\u2010birds (fowls) of\nthe powers of spiritual control, made their church organizations (nests)\namong its members; and under the power of its membership (branches) did\nall of the governments (beasts) of this world (field) bring forth their\nprogeny; and under its defense (shadow) dwelt all nations.\n\n31:7. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches:\nfor his root was by great waters.\u2014Thus was it magnificent in its\ngreatness, and in the extent of its ramifications; for it was rooted in\ngreat peoples and in great secular truths.\n\n31:8. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees\nwere not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his\nbranches; not any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his\nbeauty.\u2014In Christendom\u2019s egotism there was nothing equal to her in this\nage or the next.\n\n31:9. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches; so that all\nthe trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.\u2014Christendom\nfelt itself the envy of everything, present and to come.\n\n31:10. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up\nthyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and\nhis heart is lifted up in his height.\u2014Because of Christendom\u2019s self\u2010\nexaltation and pride.\n\n31:11. I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of\nthe heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his\nwickedness.\u2014God will deliver Christendom into the power of the god (el,\nmighty one) of the heathen, the Devil himself; He shall surely deal\nvengeance to her; He will drive her out of existence.\n\n31:12. And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and\nhave left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are\nfallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all\nthe people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left\nhim.\u2014The anarchists, the terror of the nations, will lay her low; upon the\nkingdoms (mountains), and among the people (valleys) her members\n(branches) will fall, and be broken off by her seceding denominations; all\nthe people of this order of things will leave her protection, and abandon\nher.\n\n31:13. Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the\nbeasts of the field shall be upon his branches.\u2014The jail\u2010birds of\necclesiasticism, and all the revolutionary governments of this state of\naffairs, shall profit by her ruin and through her members (branches).\n\n31:14. To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt\nthemselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick\nboughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink\nwater; for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the\nearth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the\npit.\u2014No other earthly system may follow her proud example; for all of them\nare delivered, as systems, into death, to a dishonored place among the\nlowest in society.\n\n31:15. Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave\nI caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the\nfloods thereof, and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to\nmourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.\u2014In the year\n1918, when Christendom shall go down as a system to oblivion, (Sheol) to\nbe succeeded by revolutionary republics, God will cause mourning. He will\nrestrain and defer for a brief period the threatening waves of anarchy. He\nwill cause the nations to mourn for Christendom, and all the man\u2010made\nsystems (trees) of the world (field) to become weak on account of her\nfall.\u2014E. _392_, 372.\n\n31:16. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast\nhim down to hell (Sheol) with them that descend to the pit: and all the\ntrees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall\nbe comforted in the nether parts of the earth.\u2014God will cause the nations\nto shake with gigantic revolutions, when He shall cast worldly\nChristendom, as an organized system, down to oblivion (as He did the Jews\nin the Dives parable).\n\n31:17. They also went down into hell (Sheol) with him, unto them that be\nslain with the sword; and they that were in his arm, that dwelt under his\nshadow in the midst of the heathen.\u2014But they also shall go down to\noblivion (Sheol) (E. _392_, 372), with Christendom, as well as those that\nwere her power, that dwelt under her defense among the people.\n\n31:18. To whom art thou thus like in glory in greatness among the trees of\nEden? yet thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the\nnether parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the\nuncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and\nall his multitude, saith the Lord God.\u2014Though worldly Christendom is\nunsurpassed in glory and in greatness among other systems, yet shall she\nbe brought down to be one of the most disesteemed grades of the social\norder; she shalt be counted as one of the ungodly. The Egyptians practiced\ncircumcision, typical of worldly Christendom\u2019s counterfeit ease of\nconscience through belief in error. This is said of Satan, the god of\nChristendom and all his multitude.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 32\u2014Christendom\u2019s Utter Downfall\n\n\n32:1, 2. And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in\nthe first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me,\nsaying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and\nsay unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a\nwhale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst\nthe waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.\u2014In Chapter 32\nChristendom\u2019s destruction is depicted in several ways: as the catching of\na sea monster (32:1\u20106); as the putting out of her light (32:7\u20108); also, in\naddition the downfall of her systems (32:9\u201010) as a worldly system\ndestroyed by anarchy (32:11\u201016); as the going down of worldly Christendom\nto oblivion (32:17\u201021); as the fall into oblivion of the anarchists\n(32:22\u201023); of the Eastern mysticism in Christendom (32:24\u201025); of her\nworst classes (32:26\u201028); of the worldly religious people (32:29); of the\nchurch organization of ecclesiasticism (32:30), and of Christendom\u2019s king,\nSatan, and all his multitudes. (32:31\u201032.) The message begins with a\nlamentation over Satan (Pharaoh), king of worldly Christendom (Egypt), and\nhis visible representatives, the apostate clergy. Among the nations they\nare as a lion in power and ferocity (lion also symbolizes the Devil); and\nas a monstrous power (whale) among the peoples (seas); they came with\ntheir sects (rivers), and muddied the Truth (waters) with their earthly\u2010\nminded members, the clergy (feet), and filled their churches (rivers) with\nworldliness.\n\n32:3. Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out My net over\nthee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in My\nnet.\u2014God will gradually bring the Time of Trouble upon Christendom like a\nsnare, as a movement toward liberty for the people, through a multitude of\nprogressives, radicals, revolutionists and anarchists; and these shall\nensnare her unknowingly in the great tribulation, and bring her up out of\nfavor with the people (out of the sea.)\n\n32:4. Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon\nthe open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon\nthee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.\u2014Then God\nwill leave her defenseless against the whole world, and will cause the\nworst classes (birds) of an apostate Christianity (heavens) to feed upon\nher, and will cause the evil revolutionary governments (beasts) of the\nwhole earth to fill themselves up with her former members.\n\n32:5. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys\nwith thy height.\u2014And her prominent members shall die, and of her lesser\npeople a great number.\n\n32:6. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest,\neven to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.\u2014The loss of\nlife shall extend to her highest government officials and rulers\n(mountain); and the churches shall be full of her dead.\n\n32:7, 8. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make\nthe stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon\nshall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark\nover thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.\u2014When God\nshall put out Christendom\u2019s light in 1918, He will blind the minds of\necclesiasticism (heaven) (A. 318), and deprive their pulpit stars of\nwisdom from the true apostolic stars, the Apostles. (D. 591). He will\ndarken the understanding of the Gospel (sun) of Jesus Christ (D. 590) with\nthe cloud of the Time of Trouble; and the light (truth) of the Mosaic Law\nshall not shine forth in her.\n\n32:9. I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy\ndestruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not\nknown.\u2014God will also trouble the hearts of many other peoples, when He\nshall visit the same Time of Trouble upon other nations, where the clergy\nhad no sway.\n\n32:10. Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall\nbe horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish My Sword before them;\nand they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the\nday of thy fall.\u2014Yea, He will make many nations to marvel at Christendom\u2019s\nfall; and their rulers shall fear and quake on account of her destruction,\nwhen they are threatened with destruction by anarchy. Every moment shall\nevery man of them tremble for his life.\n\n32:11. For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall\ncome upon thee.\u2014The destructive weapons of the Devil, the King of\nConfusion (Babylon), of Anarchy, shall be turned against worldly\nChristendom.\n\n32:12. By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the\nterrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of\nEgypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.\u2014By the weapons of\na mighty, revolted soldiery will God cause their multitudes to fall, even\nall the terrible men of all Christendom; and the anarchists shall take as\ntheir spoil the pomp of the nations, and all the adherents of the nations\nof Christendom shall cease to support them.\n\n32:13. I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great\nwaters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs\nof beasts trouble them.\u2014God will destroy all of the ferocious governments\nfrom beside the great nations (waters); neither shall worldly men trouble\nthe people any more, nor the down\u2010treading oppression of savage\ngovernments make them trouble.\n\n32:14. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run\nlike oil, saith the Lord God.\u2014Then will God give the people peace (deep\nwaters), and make their course to run with quiet smoothness. They shall\nknow the deep things of God, and have the Holy Spirit.\n\n32:15. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall\nbe destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that\ndwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.\u2014When God shall\nhave made worldly Christianity desolate, and worldliness shall be\ndestitute of its prosperous worldlings, when He shall have smitten with\nthe great tribulation all that are at home in their worldliness, then, in\nthe better days to come, shall they know Him as He is.\n\n32:16. This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the\ndaughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even\nfor Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God.\u2014The heathen\nreligions (daughters) shall lament worldly Christendom\u2019s downfall, and the\ndownfall of her adherents.\n\n32:17, 18. It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day\nof the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man,\nwail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the\ndaughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with\nthem that go down into the pit.\u2014These verses depict the mourning for the\nmultitudes of worldly Christians, tares, when they and worldly Christendom\nand the churches (daughters) of the great powers (nations) are cast down\nto the disesteemed lower strata of the social order, with those that die a\ndisreputable death (pit).\n\n32:19. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the\nuncircumcised.\u2014Worldly Christendom has imagined herself of unsurpassable\ndesirability, but she shall go down to oblivion, with those regarded as\npolluted (uncircumcised).\n\n32:20. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword:\nshe is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.\u2014Her\npopulace shall fall by weapons of destruction, and by the Sword of the\nSpirit; she is delivered to destruction. They shall draw her as a system,\nand her adherents, as adherents, away for burial!\n\n32:21. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of\nhell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised,\nslain by the sword.\u2014The one strong among Christendom\u2019s great men, no\nlonger men of power, and those that helped her shall speak of her\ndownfall, in their fallen condition (Sheol); they shall have fallen from\nhigh positions, and be as men outcast and polluted, reduced to lowliness\nby the might of anarchy, and by the Sword of the Spirit.\u2014E. _392_, 372.\n\n32:22, 23. Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him:\nall of them slain, fallen by the sword: Whose graves are set in the sides\nof the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain,\nfallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.\u2014The\nrevolutionists (Asshur, Assyria, the revolutionary anarchists) in\nmultitudes shall go down to oblivion, dead literally or dead to their\norder of things.\n\n32:24. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of\nthem slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into\nthe nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of\nthe living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the\npit.\u2014There in oblivion shall be buried New Thought, Christian Science, and\nother forms of Oriental religion or Mysticism (Elam, Persia, home of\nMysticism), and the multitude of their believers, ceased then to be\nmystics; all fallen by the literal sword or by the Sword of the Spirit.\n\n32:25. They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her\nmultitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised,\nslain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the\nliving, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit:\nhe is put in the midst of them that be slain.\u2014The anarchists shall put\nMysticism to rest in destruction.\n\n32:26. There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are\nround about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though\nthey caused their terror in the land of the living.\u2014There shall be the\nworst classes of Christendom, the anarchists themselves, in oblivion, all\nin disrepute, destroyed in the destruction they wrought.\n\n32:27. And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the\nuncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and\nthey have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall\nbe upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land\nof the living.\u2014And they shall not be mentioned, not even with these great\nmen who have gone down as evil but with some small degree of repute; and\nwith them shall be the end of war (H. 16); but the very memory of the\nanarchists shall be as of iniquity personified.\n\n32:28. Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and\nshalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.\u2014They shall be thought\nof as evil only, slain with the sword, and disesteemed by the Word of God.\n\n32:29. There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their\nmight are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with\nthe uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.\u2014In the general\nruin shall be worldly apostate persecuting Christendom, slain by anarchy\u2019s\nweapons and by the Word of God. They shall be polluted, and come to a\ndisreputable end.\n\n32:30. There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the\nZidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are\nashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain\nby the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.\u2014The\ngreat ecclesiastical lords (north) and all the adherents of the belong\u2010to\u2010\na\u2010church\u2010or\u2010go\u2010to\u2010hell doctrine (Zidonians, among whom was Jezebel) shall\ngo to oblivion. Though a dreadful terror in their activities, they shall\nbe ashamed; they shall go down, as polluted with iniquity.\n\n32:31. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his\nmultitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the\nLord God.\u2014Satan (Pharaoh), the god of worldly Christendom, then bound for\na thousand years, shall see the fall of these his multitudes, slain by the\nliteral sword, or by the Word of God.\n\n32:32. For I have caused My terror in the land of the living: and he shall\nbe laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with\nthe sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.\u2014Satan\nand his multitude shall cease to trouble the earth, gone down finally to\noblivion, as one polluted with iniquity.\n\nFrom chapters 25 to 32 Ezekiel prophesied against seven foreign nations\n(Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt), indicating _ALL_\nnon\u2010Christian elements.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 33\u2014Why Ecclesiasticism Must Perish\n\n\n33:1, 2. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nspeak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the\nsword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts,\nand set him for their watchman.\u2014A mutual responsibility exists between one\nof God\u2019s watchmen and His people, the one to speak and the other to\nlisten. (33:1\u201019.) Ezekiel recites his warning of Jerusalem\u2019s fall.\n(33:20\u201029.) The people listen, but do not believe. (33:30\u201033.) This\nchapter repeats the statements of 3:17\u201021 and 18:5\u201029 regarding the\nwatchman set to warn the people of Christendom, his message and\nresponsibility, and the responsibility of the Christian people toward the\nwatchman\u2014Pastor Russell, and his message and warning from God. \u201cA man of\ntheir coasts\u201d refers to the clergy class appointed and ordained by the\npeople, and set by them as _their_ watchman.\n\n33:3. If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet,\nand warn the people.\u2014Who of the clergy class have blown the trumpet of\nTruth and warned \u201ctheir\u201d people of the impending doom of Christendom?\n\n33:4. Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not\nwarning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his\nown head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his\nblood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his\nsoul.\u2014The people who have heard the warning have only themselves to\nblame.\u2014Isa. 58:1.\n\n33:6. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet,\nand the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from\namong them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require\nat the watchman\u2019s hand.\u2014The clergy have an awful responsibility. Faithful\nwatching on their part with their great influence among the people, would\nhave saved tens of millions from physical death, and a host from the\nreligious death that will overtake so many. The outraged people will turn\non the clergy, as they did in the French Revolution, and in a frightful\ncarnival will exact full toll for the lives lost in war. Responsibility\nfor the Time of Trouble lies squarely at the door of ecclesiasticism; for\nhad the clergy taken a united stand upon the Word of God against\nindustrial, social, political, moral and religious evils, they could have\nreformed Christendom and prevented the world war and the ensuing\nrevolution and anarchy. Our Lord said, prophetically, \u201cUpon this\ngeneration shall come all the blood\u2014to the blood of Zechariah, whom you\nwill murder between the sanctuary and the altar.\u201d (Matt. 23:35 Diaglott,\nfoot\u2010note.) Josephus says of this man that he boldly accused the clergy of\nJerusalem with being the cause of the trouble upon the city. He was tried,\naccused of inciting anarchy, was found innocent, and was then slain by the\nclergy class. His fate represents experiences coming upon the Lord\u2019s true\npeople shortly.\n\n33:7\u20109. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house\nof Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them\nfrom Me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die;\nif thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man\nshall die in his iniquity; but his blood shall I require at thine hand.\nNevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do\nnot turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast\ndelivered thy soul.\u2014Pastor Russell faithfully taught that \u201cthe wages of\nsin is death\u201d (Rom. 6:23), and not eternal torment. He also warned the\nwicked systems of earth, political, economic and religious, that they\nshould surely perish from the earth, if they did not turn whole\u2010heartedly\nto Jehovah, the God of infinite Love.\n\n33:10. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus\nye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we\npine away in them, how should we then live?\u2014The nominal Christians of our\nday were typed by the Hebrews who went to Ezekiel with insincere\nobjections. They have treated Pastor Russell with a seeming but insincere\nrespect. When they inquired into his writing and predictions, based upon\nthe Word of God, they had no sincerity either in their questions or their\nprofessions toward him or the Word set forth by him.\n\n33:11\u201019. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure\nin the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and\nlive: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house\nof Israel? Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy\npeople, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the\nday of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall\nnot fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither\nshall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that\nhe sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live;\nif he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his\nrighteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath\ncommitted, he shall die for it. Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou\nshalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and\nright; if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed,\nwalk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely\nlive, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be\nmentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall\nsurely live. Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is\nnot equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. When the righteous\nturneth from his righteousness, and commiteth iniquity, he shall even die\nthereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is\nlawful and right, he shall live thereby.\u2014God has no pleasure in the\ndestruction of Christendom. If it had turned from its spiritual idolatry\nand harlotry to obey God it would have been saved from its impending doom.\nIts destruction is traceable directly to a \u201csmall group of willful men,\u201d\nleaders and guides of the masses; namely the pope, the cardinals, bishops,\npriests, ministers, revivalists and other religious leaders who have\nmistaught rulers and people, and by their combination of worldly and\nreligious teachings brought the world into a condition where the social\nelements are working their mutual destruction. God pity the clergy for\nwhat is coming upon them; for the people will surely recognize the part\nthey have signally failed to play in not, by concerted preaching of true\ngodliness, checking the world\u2019s mad rush to anarchy and annihilation.\n\nLiterally the Scriptures foregoing are an affirmation that any one who\nkept the Mosaic Law perfectly should enjoy life indefinitely as long as he\nkept the law. Spiritually it teaches the Christian that if he has turned\nfrom sin to serve God, under the spirit of the Divine Law of Love, he\nshall have life everlasting. (Rom. 8:13, 14.) Symbolically it speaks to\nthis evil state of affairs, or world, especially to that wicked one,\necclesiasticism, and enumerates its iniquities: it has sinned before God:\nit has broken God\u2019s Law of Love and every other Law, and excused the\nbreach by sophistries. Romanism, with which Protestantism has linked\nhands, teaches the most iniquitous and wicked things.\n\n\u201cA culprit or a witness questioned by a judge, but in an illegal manner\n(of which the culprit, of course, is the judge) may swear that he knows\nnothing of the crime about which he is questioned, although he knows it\nwell, meaning mentally, that he knows nothing in such manner as to\nanswer.\u201d\u2014Alphonso Maria de Liguori, Popish theologian, bishop and founder\nof the order of Redemptorists, 1696\u20101787.\n\nAgain \u201cSaint\u201d Liguori: \u201cHe may swear that he knows nothing, when he knows\nthat the person who committed the crime committed it without malice; or if\nhe knows the crime, but secretly, and there has been no scandal. When a\ncrime has been well concealed, the witness and even the criminal, may and\neven must, swear that the crime has never been committed. The accused may\ndeny his crime under oath, understanding that he has not committed this\ncrime in such a manner as to be obliged to confess it. He who has sworn to\nkeep a secret is not obliged to keep his oath, if any consequential injury\nto him or to others is thereby caused. If any one has sworn before a judge\nto keep the truth, he is not obliged to say secret things. (A woman who\nhas really committed adultery may deny it under oath, provided she has\nbeen to confess: for then the sin has been pardoned, and has really ceased\nto exist.) It is right to advise any one to commit a robbery, or a\nfornication in order to avoid a murder. We may be allowed to conceal the\ntruth, or disguise it under ambiguous or equivocal words or signs, for a\njust cause, and where there is no necessity to confess the truth.\u201d And\nLiguori is still a \u201csaint\u201d in the Roman ecclesiasticism, \u201cwhere Satan\u2019s\nseat is,\u201d and with whom Episcopalians, Church of England men, and\nProtestants generally, are trying to come together in a church union or\nfederation, destined fortunately to an early decease.\n\n\u201cThey are not to be called oaths, but rather perjury, which are in\nopposition to the welfare of the Romish church.\u201d\u2014The Lateran Council\n(\u201cinfallible\u201d). \u201cIf any, either alone or before others, whether asked or\nof his own accord, or for the purpose of sport, or for any other object,\nswears that he has not done something else which he has done, or in a\ndifferent way from that in which he has done it, or any other truth that\nis added, he does not really lie, nor is he perjured.\u201d\u2014Pope Innocent XI,\nanother of the \u201csaints.\u201d 1611\u20101689. \u201cA man may swear that he never did\nsuch a thing (though he actually did it), meaning within himself that he\ndid not do so on a certain day, or before he was born, or understanding\nany other such circumstances, while the words which he employs have no\nsuch sense as would discover his meaning.\u201d \u201cPromises are not binding, when\nthe person in making them had no intention to bind himself.\u201d\u2014\u201cSaint\u201d\nAntonio Escobar of Mendoza, a Spanish Casuist and Jesuit, 1589\u20101699\n(\u201cPapacy and Civil Power,\u201d page 607). \u201cI pronounce all Roman Catholic\npriests, bishops, popes, monks, friars and nuns to be the most deliberate\nand willful set of liars that ever infested this or any other country, or\ndisgraced the name of religion.\u201d\u2014William Hogan, a prominent southern\nlawyer, formerly a priest, on page 172 of his book, \u201cPopery.\u201d\n\nStealing is authorized by Popish ecclesiasticism: \u201cA servant has the right\nto rob his master, a child his father, and a poor man the rich. The poor\nman who has concealed the goods and effects of which he has need, may\nswear that he has nothing.\u201d In Romish theology it is ordinarily a mortal\nsin to steal two pieces of gold; but, \u201cIf any one steal small sums at\ndifferent times, either from the same or from different persons, not\nhaving the intention of stealing large sums, nor of causing a great\ndamage, his sin is not mortal. If several persons steal from the same\nmaster, in small quantities, each in such a manner as not to commit a\nmortal sin, though each knows that all of these little thefts together\ncause a considerable damage to their master, yet no one of them commits a\nmortal sin, even when they steal at the same time. A son does not commit a\nmortal sin when he steals only twenty or thirty pieces of gold from a\nfather who has an income of 150 pieces of gold.\u201d\u2014\u201cSaint\u201d Liguori.\n\nEcclesiasticism, the dominant power of the Gospel Age, authorizes murder:\n\u201cA man who has been excommunicated by the Pope may be killed anywhere,\nbecause the Pope has an indirect jurisdiction over the whole world, even\nin temporal things.\u201d\u2014Dens, a Roman Catholic theological authority in his\n\u201cTheologica Morales.\u201d Pope Gregory VII (alias \u201cSaint\u201d Hildebrand),\n1020\u20101085, pronounced that it was no murder to kill an excommunicated\nperson. \u201cThis rule has been for 700 years and continues to be, part of the\necclesiastical law. One of the later popes has declared that the murder of\na Protestant is so good a deed that it atones and more than atones for the\nmurder of a Catholic.\u201d\u2014Lord Acton in the London Times, July 26, 1872. Says\nDr. Isaac J. Lansing in \u201cRomanism and the Republic;\u201d \u201cEvery person who had\nanything to do with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was a Roman\nCatholic. John Wilkes Booth was a Roman Catholic; Payne and Atseroth, also\nDr. Nudd, who dressed Booth\u2019s leg; Garrett, in whose premises he was\nkilled; also Harold was a Roman Catholic; Mrs. Suratt and her son were\nRoman Catholics; their house was the headquarters for Roman Catholics and\nfor the Jesuit priests. All this was brought out before the military\ntribunal which condemned some of them to death. When John Suratt fled from\nWashington he was taken charge of by Jesuits, and under a Jesuit convoy\nwas carried to France.\u201d\u2014Page 272.\n\n\u201cCatholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics,\nshall enjoy the same indulgences and be protected by the same privileges\nas are granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree,\nfurther that all who may have dealings with heretics, shall be\nexcommunicated.\u201d\u2014The Lateran Council (composed of candidates for Roman\nCatholic \u201csaintship.\u201d).\n\nPapacy, the mother of harlots, also permits her clergy to become\ncriminals: \u201cWere even the lives of her ministers debased by crime, they\nare still within her pale, and therefore lose none of the powers with\nwhich her ministry invests them.\u201d\u2014Catechism of the Council of Trent. \u201cA\nmortal sin is that which kills the soul and deserves hell,\u201d says\nArchbishop John Hughes, of New York. Papal ecclesiasticism controls the\neducation of the nations under threat of mortal sin: \u201cCatholic electors\n(voters) in this country, who do not use their electoral (voting) power in\nbehalf of separate (religious public) schools, are guilty of mortal sin.\nLikewise parents not making the sacrifices necessary to secure such\nschools, or sending their children to mixed schools. Moreover, the\nconfessor (priest) who would give absolution to such parents, electors or\nlegislators as support mixed schools, to the prejudice of separate\nschools, would be guilty of a mortal sin.\u201d\u2014Right Reverend Charbonnel,\nBishop of Toronto, Canada.\n\nThe chastity of an attractive and obedient young nun may hang by the\nfollowing slender thread: \u201cWhen a nun receives a precept from her prelate,\nsuperior, or confessor, she should immediately execute it, not only to\nplease them, but principally to please God, whose will is known by their\ncommand. If then, you receive a command from one who holds the place of\nGod (a man\u2010made priest!) you should observe it as if it came from God\nHimself. There is more certainty of doing the will of God by obedience to\nour superiors than by obedience to Jesus Christ should He appear in person\nand give His command. The nun shall be most certain of not having to\nrender an account of the actions performed through obedience; for these\nthe superior only, who commands them, shall be accountable.\u201d\u2014Liguori,\n\u201cSaint,\u201d in Popish constellation of fallen stars. According to Cardinal\nManning, a bright star in the Roman Catholic heavens (page 89 of his \u201cTrue\nStory of the Vatican Council\u201d) the pope is infallible in matters of faith\nand morals: and the canonizing of \u201csaints\u201d comes under this head. Cardinal\nNewman on page 84 of his \u201cVia Media,\u201d 1887 edition, asserts concerning the\ncanonizing of \u201cSaints:\u201d\n\n\u201cThe infallibility of the church must certainly extend to this solemn and\npublic act, canonization; and that because so serious a matter, affecting\nthe worship of the faithful, the church, that is, the Pope, must be\ninfallible.\u201d One of the persons duly authorized by infallible Romish\ncanonization is \u201cSaint\u201d Bridget, who lived in 1360. This \u201csaint\u201d says:\n\u201cThe Pope is a murderer of souls. He destroys the flock of Christ and\nfleeces it. More savage is he than Judas, and more unjust than Pilate, and\nworse and more wicked than Lucifer. He has exchanged all the ten\ncommandments of God for this single one of his own, \u2018Give me money, money,\nmoney.\u2019 The Pope with his clergy are the forerunners of Antichrist, rather\nthan the servants of Christ. The Pope\u2019s court on earth plunders the\nHeavenly court of Christ. The clergy never read the Book of God; but they\nare ever studying the book of this world. I once loved priests more than\nmen and even angels. The kiss of those fornicating priests is the kiss of\nJudas when he betrayed our Lord!\u201d\u2014Montagu, pages 305\u20106.\n\nAn essential factor in the power of this evil one, and an important part\nof the iniquity of ecclesiasticism is the Romish confessional, which many\nEpiscopal and Protestant ecclesiastics would, if they could, establish in\nthe harlot daughters, the daughter churches, Protestantism. This feature\nis of Pagan origin. \u201cAuricular confession was enjoined in the Elusinian\nmysteries, by Zoroaster in Persia, by Buddha in India, and was practiced\nby the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians, the Mexicans before Cortez, the\nPeruvians before Pizarro, by the Japanese, the Siamese, and others.\u201d The\nconfessional has made of every priest a spy upon the privacy of the home,\nthe inner secrets of business and the confidential affairs of city, state,\nprovince, and nation. Theoretically the confessions are confidential, as\nDr. Dens says: \u201cIt is not lawful to reveal anything that is told in\nconfession, though it be to avoid the greatest evil that can happen; but\nactually the secrets of the confessional are revealed.\u201d \u201cDe Sanctis,\u201d page\n122, says:\n\n\u201cWhile the penitent arraigns his faults with all the fatuity of a\nsimpleton, what is the confessor doing? Laughing at the simplicity of the\npenitent: and afterwards in the priestly orgies that follow a morning of\ngreat confessions, in the hilarity that flows from wine, amid coarse\nexplosions of laughter, they describe the stupid folly of their penitents;\nand each priest vies with his fellows in rendering his own penitents more\nridiculous than the rest. This breach of faith extends to the highest of\nRome\u2019s degraded ecclesiasticism.\u201d History records that Pope Pius V,\n\u201csaint\u201d (1504\u20101572) \u201cfor the punishment of certain offences took advantage\nof the confessional, which ought to be an inviolable sanctuary.\u201d Pope\nSixtus V (1521\u20101590) told the under clergy that \u201cthey could make a report\nto the Pontiff, without any danger attached to revealing a confession, he\ngiving them absolution for the whole.\u201d Elliott, a former priest, in\n\u201cDelineation of Roman Catholicism,\u201d says, \u201cAll our conversation ran upon\nthe stories he [another priest] heard in confession. It is the ordinary\ndiscourse of the priests, when they meet, to inform one another of what\nthey have heard in confession. I was often present at such conferences,\nwhere the conversation was so indecent that even an honest pagan would\nhave blushed.\u201d \u201cEvery day they (the Dominican monks) came and talked most\nlicentiously, relating things that had happened at the Holy office at\nPerugia, confessions they had heard, etc.\u201d\u2014Scipione Ricca, Bishop of\nPistoria, and an Italian reformer, 1741\u20101810.\n\nBishop Hugh Latimer, of England (1485\u20101555), whom the Romish\necclesiasticism caused to be burned at the stake, said: \u201cAnd so they came\nto know all the secrets that were in men\u2019s hearts, so that neither emperor\nnor king could say nor do, nor think anything in his heart, but they knew\nit, and so applied all the purposes and intents of princes to their own\ncommodities. And this was the fruit of their auricular confession.\u201d\nFinally, from De Sanctis, page 133, etc: \u201cConfession in relation to\nsociety may be defined as an universal spydom, organized and complete.\nConfessors are not content to know the sins of those who confess; but they\nmust learn the regulation and management of the family; and when an\ningenuous youth or innocent maiden comes under the fangs of a knavish\nconfessor (and which of them is not a knave?) they do not escape until\nthey have first revealed the secrets of the family circle\u2014without,\nhowever, being aware of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDe Sanctis\u201d continues: \u201cEncouragement is given to theft, as to every\nother crime, by the facility of obtaining pardon, and absolutions are\ngiven to robbers, usurers, murderers, without their having made any\nrestitution whatever. They repair to the confessor, present him with a\ngoodly offering for a mass; or, if they are robbers of celebrity, men\nabounding in wealth, they found a chapelry, a benefice, or something of\nthe kind. At Rome, for instance, every one knows that Pius VII (1742\u20101823)\ngranted to all who hear confessions in the Holy house Ponterotto, the\nprivilege of absolving from restitution all who have defrauded the Rev.\nApostolic Chambers, or the government; and all defraud, and run there to\nreceive absolution. But this is not enough. Leo X (1475\u20101521), in his bull\nbeginning with \u2018Postquam ad Apostulatus\u2019 gives confessors the privilege\nnot only of absolving robbers, but of permitting them to retain in all\ngood conscience, the fruits of their usury, robberies, thefts, etc., on\ncondition that part of the goods be given to the church!\u201d\n\nEcclesiasticism is a greedy robber: \u201cBy confession many families are\nimmersed in poverty; because the grasping confessor, taking advantage of\nthe weak moments of a dying man, has had the will made to the profit of\nthe clergy; and facts of the kind may be reckoned by the million. The\ngrasping cupidity of ecclesiasticism\u2019s will\u2010hunters, and the consequent\nruin of innocent and helpless families, formed the subject of an indignant\nremonstrance of the German princes at the Diet of Nuremberg. To such a\nlength was this execrable practice sometimes carried that the last\nsacraments were denied to the dying man until he consented to make a will\nin the priest\u2019s favor.\u201d\n\nEcclesiasticism\u2019s apostasy, in teachings and in life, has sown the seeds\nof the fiery harvest of anarchy: \u201cThe horrible consequence for religion is\nthat infidelity advances with huge strides, especially in Roman Catholic\ncountries. The enlightenment of the age no longer permits men to believe\nin the priests blindly, as in the times of ignorance. Free discussion\nalone could show that the doctrines of the Roman church are not those of\nthe Gospel; discussion, as it would prove their falsehood to a\ndemonstration, would establish the truth. Discussion being prevented, it\nfollows that, seeing clearly the falsehood and iniquity of the Roman\ndoctrines, men believe them, because they are not discussed, to be the\ndoctrines of the Christian religion, and abandon them, and live in\nindifference and infidelity.\u201d Protestantism, ecclesiasticism, has been an\napt follower of Papacy in suppression of discussion. Witness the\nsystematic world\u2010wide ban on any discussion of Present Truth as presented\nby God\u2019s watchman, Pastor Russell! Ecclesiasticism, priestcraft, had for\nages supplanted the worship of God with paganism, and in the Gospel Age\nhas insidiously transformed the Gospel of Christ, has tried to destroy\nliberty and progress and has built up a gigantic system of oppression and\ndestruction of the friends of the Truth. The most ferocious of the popes\nare made the \u201csaints\u201d of Satan\u2019s church. And, says De Sanctis: \u201cIn\ncanonizing such men, the Popes have canonized their doctrines; hence it\ncannot he said that despotism, obscuration [suppression of Truth],\noppression of nations, and hatred for any kind of progress, exist through\nthe mal\u2010practice of any one of the popes; they exist by the very system of\nthe Papacy. The corruption of religion ought not to be attributed to abuse\nof it by the individual, but to the system; therefore the Gospel ought to\nreign in its purity, and ought to be delivered from this great enemy; and\nItaly and Rome ought to confer upon the world this great benefit of\ndespoiling the popes of their usurped power.\u201d Why not reform, purge,\ncleanse ecclesiasticism? As well try to reform cancer. The sole safeguard\nis the destruction, excision of the germs. Any real reform would cause the\nprompt dropping out of the system\u2010loving millions who would soon\nreorganize into another vicious system. The very constitution of\necclesiasticism forbids its ever being other than what the Wall Street\nJournal denominates, \u201cthat international nuisance, the church\u2010state.\u201d Here\nare some of the articles of Papacy\u2019s present, past and future constitution\n(infallible):\n\n1. All human power is evil, and must therefore be under the Pope. 2. The\ntemporal powers must act unconditionally, in accordance with the orders of\nthe spiritual. 3. The Church is empowered to grant or take away any\ntemporal possession. 4. The Pope has the right to give countries and\nnations which are non\u2010Catholic to Catholic regents, who can reduce them to\nslavery. 5. The Pope can make slaves of those Christian subjects whose\nprince or ruling power is interdicted by the Pope. 6. The laws of the\nChurch concerning the liberty of the Church and the Papal power are based\nupon Divine inspiration. 7. The Pope has the right to practice the\nunconditional censure of books. 8. The Pope has the right to annul state\nlaws, treaties, constitutions, etc.; to absolve from obedience thereto, as\nsoon as they seem detrimental to the rights of the Church, or those of the\nclergy. 9. The Pope possesses the right of admonishing, and if needs be of\npunishing, the temporal rulers, emperors and kings, as well as of drawing\nbefore the spiritual forum any case in which a mortal sin occurs. 10.\nWithout the consent of the Pope no tax or rate of any kind can be levied\nupon a clergyman or upon any church whatsoever. 11. The Pope has the right\nto absolve from oaths, and obedience to the persons and the laws of the\nprinces whom he excommunicates. (Note. All Protestants are\nexcommunicated.) 12. The Pope can annul all legal relations of those in\nban, especially their marriage. 13. The Pope can release from every\nobligation, oath, vow, either before or after being made. 14. The\nexecution of Papal commands for the persecution of heretics causes\nremission of sins. 15. He who kills one that is excommunicated is no\nmurderer in a legal sense.\u201c\u2014The Canon Law\u201d, by Dr. G. F. von Schulte,\nProfessor of Canonical Law at Prague.\n\nHere the crafty and wicked Mother of Harlots, ecclesiasticism, asserts her\ninfallible right to permit, directly or indirectly, any and every crime\npossible for depraved humanity to commit.\n\nProtestantism longs for the old\u2010time power of the clergy. It has the\nspirit, disposition, of spiritual fornication, goes to the limit in its\nefforts to control affairs through local, state, and national governmental\nagencies, and now is ready and willing to ally itself with liberty\u2010\ndestroying papal ecclesiasticism. It displays its true nature and its\nindifference to the good of the people in its willing eagerness to unite\nin any manner with the force which has for centuries throttled liberty,\nbanished the Word of God, and stifled freedom in blood. Let not the people\nof Christendom overlook this when the Protestant clergy advocate church\nunion, as they will. What can be done with such an organization as\napostate ecclesiasticism? The truly Christian individual\u2019s answer must be\nto obey the Divine command, \u201cCome out of her, My people, that ye be not\npartakers [partners in] of her sins [outlined foregoing, _ad nauseam_] and\nthat ye receive not of her plagues.\u201d (Rev. 18:4.) The Lord\u2019s people, all\nthat really have the Holy Spirit, will and must \u201ccome out of her,\u201d clean\naway from this unhallowed partnership and federation with iniquity.\nEcclesiasticism, however, may rest assured that she will not suffer\ngreatly in loss of members or of persons of wealth and power; for but few\nof the Lord\u2019s people are in her. Each ecclesiastic can be assured that\n\u201chis people,\u201d the tares, the worldly church members, the Babylonians, the\nspiritual idolaters and fornicators, the congregation of Molech, will\nstick by him until the heat of the fiery trials of the time of trouble\ndrives even \u201cthe clergy\u2019s people\u201d out into the open of worldliness.\n\nVerse 13 shows that, in view of the enormity of ecclesiasticism\u2019s\niniquity, both Roman and Protestant, their partnership in criminality, and\ntheir stubborn and willful persistence in evil, \u201cFor his iniquity that he\nhath committed, he shall die.\u201d\n\n33:20. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel,\nI will judge you every one after his ways.\u2014O house of nominal\nchurchianity, the time has come for God to Judge you, to recompense you\ndouble, according to your ways!\u2014Rev. 18:6.\n\n33:21. And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the\ntenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out\nof Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.\u2014In 24:25\u201027, after\nhaving cited the skepticism of the Jews as to Ezekiel\u2019s message, it was\nstated that from the time of Jerusalem\u2019s fall until the tidings of the\nfall should arrive, Ezekiel was to be dumb, having no new message to be\nheard by the people. The intervening prophecies, chapters 26 to 32 are not\nagainst the Hebrews, but against the heathen nations. The city fell in the\neleventh year of Zedekiah\u2019s reign, the fourth month, the ninth day (2\nKings 25:2, 3), from which to the coming of the tidings of the city\u2019s\nfall, on the twelfth year, tenth month and fifth day, was one year, five\nmonths, twenty\u2010six days. On that momentous day came the tidings, \u201cThe city\nis smitten!\u201d Pastor Russell\u2019s voice was stilled in death on October 31,\n1916. If an application of Ezekiel\u2019s period of dumbness is valid here as a\ntime feature, the tidings, the realization that Christendom is smitten by\nthe onslaughts of revolution, might be expected to flash throughout the\nworld on or about April 27, 1918, a year, five months and twenty\u2010six days\nafter the death of God\u2019s great watchman. As in Ezekiel 24:27, this would\nbe a sign, an indication to Christendom of the truth of Pastor Russell\u2019s\ncommission from the Almighty.\n\n33:22. Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that\nwas escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the\nmorning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.\u2014The Lord made\ngood His promise while the news was approaching; and removed Ezekiel\u2019s\ndumbness half a day before, in the evening, before the morning when the\ntidings arrived. It was on the same day; for in the Hebrew system of time,\nthe evening began the day. This signifies that perhaps half a year prior\nto the general realization of Christendom\u2019s downfall, Pastor Russell,\nthough dead, shall again speak through this, the seventh volume of his\n_Studies in the Scriptures_\u2014for this is but the completion of his great\nwork of admonition and warning for the Church and for Christendom.\n\n33:23, 24. Then the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nthey that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying Abraham\nwas one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us\nfor inheritance.\u2014After Jerusalem had been sacked and King Zedekiah\ncaptured, as related in 2 Kings 25, \u201cthe captain of the guard left of the\npoor of the land to be vine\u2010dressers and husbandmen.\u201d These (\u201cthose\ninhabiting those wastes of the land of Israel\u201d) imagined that \u201cthe land is\ngiven to us for an inheritance.\u201d They thought they would be left in\nundisturbed possession, but certain of them came into further conflict\nwith the Assyrians. Then the land was made utterly desolate. This\nsignifies, in fulfillment, that while the revolution overthrowing\necclesiasticism will make quite a clean sweep, there will still remain\nsome of the more lowly adherents of ecclesiastical systems, who will\nimagine that they and their ideals are to prosper and spread even to the\ncontrol of the revolutionary order of things.\n\n33:25, 26. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with\nthe blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood; and\nshall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination,\nand ye defile every one his neighbor\u2019s wife; and shall ye possess the\nland?\u2014But God knows their hearts, and is against them, for their\ncontinuance in the evil ways of ecclesiasticism.\n\n33:27. Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely\nthey that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in\nthe open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be\nin the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.\u2014A sad awakening\nawaits them. As Jehovah lives, those tares then surviving the ravages of\nrevolution shall be slain by the sword of anarchy, and shall have taken\naway all pretense of being Christians. Those that have the spirit of\nearthly ambition shall be given to be destroyed by the savagery of\nanarchy; and those in the strongholds and in the protected conditions of\nrevolution shall die literally of pestilence and be destroyed religiously\nby the pestilential teachings of those evil days.\n\n33:28. For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength\nshall cease; and, the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none\nshall pass through.\u2014God purposes to utterly desolate this evil order of\nthings and to completely abase the last vestiges of its pride and pomp,\nand to cause the governments of this Age, even in their changed forms of\nrevolution, to pass away.\n\n33:29. Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land\nmost desolate, because of all their abominations which they have\ncommitted.\u2014Then at last the people that remain will realize that the war,\nrevolution and anarchy, were the righteous judgments of the Almighty\nagainst the spiritual, political and economic abominations of Christendom.\n\n33:30. Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking\nagainst thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to\nanother, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what\nis the Word that cometh forth from the Lord.\u2014Reverting to the present\ntime, about contemporary with the realisation that Christendom is smitten,\nthe hypocrisy of professed Christians is spoken against. The tares in\ntheir churches (houses) will talk of Pastor Russell and his works and\nwords\u2014they will read this book, and will urge one another to \u201chear what is\nthe Word that cometh from the Lord.\u201d\n\n33:31. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before\nthee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them; for\nwith their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their\ncovetousness.\u2014They will come in numbers, apparently \u201cas My people;\u201d and\nlike all tares, imitation Christians, they will listen respectfully to\nGod\u2019s Words urging haste in consecration for the coming Kingdom; but they\nwill not do the things they hear. They will manifest with their mouths\ngreat love for God, but will at heart be the self\u2010seekers they always\nwere!\n\n33:32. And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a\nvoice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but\nthey do them not.\u2014To these people, in their insincerity and hypocrisy,\nPastor Russell\u2019s works will be scarcely a grade higher than an\nentertainment, a beautiful song, \u201cthe song of Moses and the Lamb,\u201d well\nplayed on the many\u2010stringed harp, the Bible, but not heeded as of solemn\nimport.\n\n33:33. And when this cometh to pass (lo, it will come), then shall they\nknow that a prophet hath been among them.\u2014But when the things predicted in\nthe entire sens volumes of the _Studies in the Scriptures_ come to pass,\nthen shall the tares, too late, realize that a great and Divinely ordained\npreacher \u201chath been among them.\u201d\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cMaster, speak! Thy servant heareth,\n Longing for Thy gracious Word,\n Longing for Thy voice that cheereth;\n Master, let it now be heard.\n I am listening, Lord, for Thee;\n What hast Thou to say to me?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 34\u2014The Unfaithful Shepherds\n\n\n34:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nprophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, Thus\nsaith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel\nthat do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?\u2014God is\nagainst the clergy. Chapter 34 is a burning arraignment of\necclesiasticism. It is to be taken in a dual sense as concerning the\nclergy\u2019s treatment of God\u2019s true people, the true Church on the spiritual\nplane, and of the Jews on the earthly plane, both of whom the self\u2010\nappointed shepherds, the clergy, have neglected, abused and scattered.\n(34:1\u20108, 17\u201021.) God will judge ecclesiasticism (34:9, 10, 16, 17, 20,\n22), and will Himself, through His own agencies, regather and bless His\ntrue flock, Jewish and Christian. (34:10, 11\u201017, 22\u201031.) The words\n\u201cshepherd\u201d and \u201cpastor\u201d have the same meaning (D. 62; F. 287). Thus saith\nJehovah God to the clergy, from Pope to preachers, Woe\u2014in the revolution\nand anarchy, from 1918 on\u2014woe to the clergy that selfishly look out for\n\u201cNo. 1,\u201d that seek big salaries, live in tax\u2010free and rent\u2010free parsonages\nand rectories, that apply to themselves every promise of the Divine Word.\nShould not the clergy, the pastors, unselfishly feed the flock of God?\n\n34:3. Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that\nare fed: but ye feed not the flock.\u2014Ye live on the choicest offerings of\nthe people. Ye \u201cfleece\u201d the sheep of their golden fleece. Them that are\nfed to fatness with the Word of God, ye kill spiritually if ye can. Ye\nhave literally killed over fifty millions in bloody persecutions. Ye have\npreached millions into a dreadful death in the trenches. Ye do everything\nto the sheep but feed them. Did I not command you thrice, \u201cFeed My\nsheep?\u201d\u2014John 21:17; 1 Pet. 5:2.\n\n34:4. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that\nwhich was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither\nhave ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought\nthat which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled\nthem.\u2014Those weakened by spiritual disease\u2014by the pestilence of false\ndoctrines\u2014ye have not strengthened with the pure Word of God, the Bread of\nLife. Rather ye have thrown them poisonous, death\u2010dealing doctrines (1\nCor. 10:21) from the \u201ctable of devils.\u201d Ye have not healed with the Divine\nWord of comfort (2 Cor. 1:3\u20107; Rom. 15:4) those spiritually sick with\ntemporary ailment of the soul. Ye have not bound up, with the strong\npromises of God, the broken in spirit (Isa. 61:1.) Neither have ye brought\nback into renewed faithfulness those driven away by your treatment, nor\nsought to find and bring to renewed relation to God those sheep that have\nstrayed from him in life and doctrine. Rather than feed them, serve and\nshepherd them, ye have ruled them, lorded over God\u2019s heritage (1 Pet.\n5:3), as concerns both God\u2019s true Christian sheep and His sheep of the\nHebrew race.\n\n34:5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they\nbecame meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.\u2014\u201cMy\nsheep know My voice [of love], and a stranger will they not follow.\u201d (John\n10:4, 5.) They were not kept together, cared for and cherished in the\nbonds of Christian love. There were not among you the true under\u2010shepherds\nhaving My Spirit of Divine Love; and you, adulterous priests of Baal, and\nof Molech\u2014the cruel, fiery\u2010torment God\u2014none having My Spirit could hear or\nfollow. And when they were scattered, they, the inoffensive, unresisting\nones, became the prey of every evil government and of every evil employer\nand corporation. Ye made them cannon\u2010fodder by the thousands for the\nblood\u2010guilty kaisers, czars, kings and generals of your evil order of\nthings.\n\n34:6. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high\nhill: yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none\ndid search or seek after them.\u2014My people wandered homeless and friendless\nthroughout all the nations of this evil world. My flock of Apostles,\nmartyrs, sacrificers, was scattered throughout all human society. Not one\nof the selfish, idolatrous clergy of either Romanism or Protestantism\ncared for them, or loved My beloved ones enough to seek after them; but\nrather ignored them, ostracized them, compelled their silence, drove them\nout from the churches, and stilled their voices in persecution and in\ndeath.\n\n34:7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord.\u2014Ye have done\nthis for centuries; and God permitted you to continue, because the time\nhad not come. But now has come the hour of your judgment, ye popes,\ncardinals, bishops, priests, preachers, revivalists, and clergy of Baal,\nof every order and grade. Hear ye the Word of Jehovah.\n\n34:8. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because My flock became a\nprey, and My flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there\nwas no shepherd, neither did My shepherds search for My flock, but the\nshepherds fed themselves, and fed not My flock.\u2014As I live, saith the\nLiving God, surely because My true flock became a prey, and was exploited\nby every evil ruler and employer, because there was no true shepherd among\nyou, and you clergy did not love and cherish and seek for My beloved\nflock, but you loved and fed yourselves, and starved My true people with a\nfamine for the hearing of the Word of God.\u2014Amos 8:11.\n\n34:9. Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.\u2014Therefore, ye\nclergy, hear the Word of the true God, Jehovah.\n\n34:10. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I\nwill require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding\nthe flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I\nwill deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for\nthem.\u2014Thus saith Jehovah God; Behold, I am against the clergy (H. 12),\ngreat and little, high and low; and I will exact from them an accounting\nfor My beloved people; I will take My flock entirely from them. \u201cCome out\nof her, O My people, and touch not the unclean thing.\u201d (Rev. 18:4; 2 Cor.\n6:17.) And I will cause the clergy to cease from feeding or attempting to\npreach to My flock, or any flock in My name; for in a Time of great\nTrouble I will deliver My people from the mouths of the clergy (Rev.\n9:17\u201019), that My flock may not furnish them support any more, that My\npeople may not ever again be preached by the clergy into slaughter.\n\n34:11. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search My\nsheep, and seek them out.\u2014Jehovah will ignore the hireling, faithless\nclergy, and through an agency of His own lowly despised, caluminated,\nostracised will patiently, persistently, lovingly search for all His\n\u201clittle ones,\u201d those having His Spirit, and will seek them out.\n\n34:12. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his\nsheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver\nthem out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and\ndark day.\u2014As an oriental shepherd, who knows and loves his sheep and is\nknown and loved of them, seeks them out, when they are scattered (John\n10:4\u201015), so will God seek out every one of His beloved ones, and will\ndeliver them out of the condition of loneliness, distress, famine and\npersecution, where they have been scattered by the apostate clergy in the\ntroublous and dark period of the Gospel Age.\n\n34:13. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the\ncountries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the\nmountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the\ncountry.\u2014God himself will bring them together from the various paganized\n\u201cChristian\u201d denominations, into the joy and peace and love of a condition\nat one with Himself and with others of like precious faith. Upon the\nheight of the Heavenly Kingdom will He feed them, by rivers of crystal\nclear Truth, and amid the rejoicing throngs of the Heavenly courts. His\nchosen people, the Jews, will God bring by the agency of the resurrected\nAncient Worthies to Palestine, where He will feed them upon the historic\nmountains of that hallowed land, in the then great cities of a realized\nZionism.\n\n34:14. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of\nIsrael shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a\nfat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.\u2014God will feed\nHis Little Flock, first on Present Truth and then, at the Marriage Supper\nof the Lamb He will appoint their place as Kings and Priests of the\nKingdom. He will make them abide forever in the place, the Divine spirit\nnature, which Christ went to Heaven to prepare. Upon the Word, fresh from\nthe mind of God, shall they feast forever, in the spiritual phase of the\nKingdom. To the Jews will be fulfilled these promises in the earthly phase\nof the Kingdom.\n\n34:15. I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the\nLord God.\u2014God will feed His Flock with Present Truth, and will give them\nthe rest of \u201cthe peace that passeth understanding.\u201d\u2014Phil. 4:7.\n\n34:16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was\ndriven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen\nthat which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will\nfeed them with judgment.\u2014Not one true sheep shall be lost. God\u2019s unerring\neye will seek every one, and bring all back, first into the Truth, and\nthen into the Kingdom. He will bind up the broken in spirit and strengthen\nthe spiritually sick. In the latter part of this verse the picture of the\nshepherds is dropped and a new parable begins, likening the clergy and\ntheir strong supporters and \u201claity\u201d to different classes of sheep and\ngoats (cattle). God purposes in the impending revolution and anarchy to\ndestroy all the fat priests and clergy of all grades\u2014as priests and\nclergy, at least\u2014and those that, like the Pharisees of old, are sure they\nwill securely stand in the presence of the Lord. \u201cLet him that thinketh he\nstandeth take heed lest he fall.\u201d (1 Cor. 10:12.) He will feed them with\nfamine and destruction, and with the judgments pronounced in His Word.\n\n34:17. And as for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I\njudge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the goats.\u2014The\nnominal flock is made up of clergy and laity of sheep and goats. In the\nflock God discerns the weaker sheep and the stronger rams and the\ngoats\u2014the clergy, class\u2010leaders, etc.,\u2014some of whom are real sheep and\nsome goats, destined to the left side of disfavor. Many of these are even\nwolves in sheep\u2019s clothing.\u2014Matt. 7:15.\n\n34:18. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good\npasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your\npastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the\nresidue with your feet?\u2014The stronger ones have not helped the weak to feed\nand grow strong; but, as though it were a small matter, the clergy, have\nlived on the fat of the land, relatively to their poorer congregations.\nThey have eaten up the good Word of God for themselves, particularly the\nRomish clergy; and what spiritual food they have given the laity, they\nhave walked all over with muddy feet\u2014mingled it with earthly doctrines,\nsocial and civic betterment and traditions of men. They have drunk of the\nwater of Truth (C. 65) coming from the Bible, but have spoiled the waters\nby mingling it with Evolution and Higher Criticism.\n\n34:19. And as for My flock, they eat that which ye have trodden down with\nyour feet; and they drink that which yet have fouled with your feet.\u2014And\nthe laity, God\u2019s flock, whom God commissioned the shepherds to feed with\nthe good Word of God, have eaten and drunk spiritual food polluted by the\nclergy with doctrines of devils.\n\n34:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold I, even I, will\njudge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.\u2014Therefore God\nHimself is about to judge and make a manifest difference between the\nunfaithful, rich in learning and opportunity, and the poorer ones on whom\nthey have imposed.\n\n34:21. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all\nthe diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad.\u2014Because\nthe rich, learned and exclusive have shoved aside the weaker ones, and\nhave, by their earthly power, pushed out of the churches all His flock,\nthose not \u201cat ease in Zion.\u201d\u2014Amos 6:1; Isa. 66:5.\n\n34:22. Therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey;\nand I will judge between cattle and cattle.\u2014Therefore will God Himself\nsave His own in these troublous times, by teaching them Present Truth; and\nthey shall \u201ccome out of her\u201d (Rev. 18:4), out of the churches altogether,\nso that the clergy and the \u201cbest\u201d people can no longer exploit them.\n\n34:23. And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them,\neven My servant David; He shall feed them, and He shall be their\nShepherd.\u2014God has established Jesus (David) the Beloved (Jer. 23; 4, 5;\nJohn 10:11), and Pastor Russell as a faithful and wise under\u2010shepherd, to\nbring forth from the Bible Storehouse truths new and old, to feed the\nsheep.\n\n34:24. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince\namong them; I the Lord have spoken it.\u2014Jehovah (not the eternal\u2010torment\nMolech God) will be their God, and His beloved Son and his under\u2010shepherds\nshall occupy exalted places among them. In the Times of Restitution the\nBeloved Christ, Head and body, (David, beloved) will be the true Shepherd\nto the earthly flock, the Jews.\n\n34:25. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the\nevil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the\nwilderness and sleep in the woods.\u2014With the truly Christian flock God will\nmake a covenant of the peace that passeth understanding (Phil. 4:7); and\nwith the Jews will make the New Covenant through its Mediator, The Christ.\nHe will cause the roaring lion (Isa. 35:9), Satan, to cease from troubling\n(Job 3:17), and will forever restrain in oblivion the evil governments.\nHis flock shall dwell securely, even in the wilderness condition, until\ntheir change come (Job. 14:14), and shall rest in the cooling shadows\n(Cant. 2:3), in the refreshing truths brought forth from the Storehouse by\nrighteous, strong teachers and leaders among them.\n\n34:26. And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing;\nand I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be\nshowers of blessing.\u2014The Lord will make the Truth people, His flock, and\neverything and every condition related to His Kingdom, a blessing to\nothers (Mal. 3:10); they shall be the Seed of Abraham, to bless all the\nfamilies of the earth. (Gal. 3:8.) God has caused showers of truth to\ndescend upon His flock at their appointed times, down\u2010pours of spiritual\nblessing in the \u201c_Studies in the Scriptures_.\u201d At the appointed time of\nthe beginning of returning favor to the Jews, 1878, the latter rains began\nto fall in Palestine, making that fertile land a fit habitation again for\nthe chosen nation.\n\n34:27. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth\nshall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall\nknow that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and\ndelivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of\nthem.\u2014Thinking, manly men, gathered into Present Truth from the world,\nyield their fruitage of spirit fruits of character; and the blessed\ncondition in which they are yields its increase of spiritual blessing and\nfood; they are safe in their place, \u201cseated with Christ in the Heavenlies\u201d\n(Eph. 1:3, 20), where they assuredly know God with heart knowledge. God\nhas broken the bands of the heavy yoke of ecclesiasticism, and delivered\nthem out of the hand of a clergy that lived upon His flock, calling it\n\u201ctheir people.\u201d For Fleshly Israel and those who shall become Israelites\nthere shall be the blessings of an earthly Eden, with an abundance of\nfruitage from trees and soil (A. 192).\n\n34:28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the\nbeast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall\nmake them afraid.\u2014God\u2019s flock of spirit\u2010begotten ones shall be no more\npreyed upon by paganized \u201cChristians,\u201d nor persecuted, devoured,\ndestroyed, by the great \u201cbeast\u201d of Christendom, the Papacy, with its \u201cHoly\nInquisition;\u201d but they shall dwell safely in the hollow of His hand, His\npower, and none can make afraid those sealed in their foreheads with the\nTruth.\n\n34:29. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be\nno more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the\nheathen any more.\u2014God raised up, in 1878, in the First Resurrection of the\ndead, the Body members of His Son, \u201cthe Stem of David,\u201d and previously in\n1874, had sent again His Son to feed the flock, to serve them (Luke\n12:37), and sup with them (Rev. 3:20) in a feast of fat things\nspiritual\u2014the Present Truth. Those in the Truth shall never again suffer\nfrom famine of the Word of God; nor shall they, when raised up to sit with\nChrist in power and glory (Matt. 19:28), ever again bear reproach from a\npaganized \u201cChristian\u201d apostasy.\n\n34:30. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and\nthat they, even the house of Israel, are My people, saith the Lord\nGod.\u2014This is the way that the Lord\u2019s Spiritual Flock and both Jews, and\nnominal Christians, shall come to know of a certainty that Jehovah is with\nthem, that they are His people.\n\n34:31. And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your\nGod, saith the Lord God.\u2014This prophecy, this type, this symbolism, refers\nto the people who constitute God\u2019s flock, Jewish and nominal.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 35\u2014Edom A Type\n\n\n35:1, 2. Moreover the Word of the Lord came onto me, saying, Son of man,\nset thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it.\u2014Mount Seir and\nEdom are practically synonymous; for the Edomites inhabited the mountain\nrange region along the east side of the valley, extending from the Dead\nSea to the Elamitic or Persian Gulf. What Edom types Pastor Russell makes\nclear in volume IV of _Scripture Studies_, pp. 14, 20.\n\nOne of the features of the Time of Trouble will be upon the fleshly\u2010minded\nChristians, tares, who after the fall of ecclesiasticism, will repudiate\nChristianity, and take their stand as worldings, Edomites\u2014the \u201cpeople of\nMount Seir,\u201d mere tares. These, having assisted in the downfall of\necclesiasticism, will seek to take the place and power of defunct\nChristendom in an utterly Christless arrangement of things.\n\n35:3. And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O mount Seir, I am\nagainst thee, and I will stretch out Mine hand against thee, and I will\nmake thee most desolate.\u2014The godless nations that will succeed fallen\nChristendom will also find God against them, and that His power is\nstretched out against them and will make them, too, most desolate.\n\n35:4. I will lay the cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou\nshalt know that I am the Lord.\u2014God will, through anarchy, lay waste the\nSocialistic, labor\u2010union, social\u2010democratic and other governments which\nwill emerge as the outcome of the revolutions of Christendom.\n\n35:5. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of\nthe children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their\ncalamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end.\u2014These economic\u2010\npolitical movements\u2014Socialism, labor\u2010unionism, syndicalism, nihilism, and\nothers, but not including anarchy, which will swallow them up\u2014have had a\nlong standing hatred against ecclesiasticism, have spoken and worked\nagainst it, and against the social order characteristic of the past age.\nIn the overthrow of ecclesiasticism, the fleshly\u2010minded tares, \u201cEdomites\u201d\nand the classes mentioned, will turn on the clergy and laity of the\nchurches, as well as upon the Lord\u2019s spirit\u2010begotten children\u2014upon any\nremaining to profess Christianity, whether through adherence to the church\nsystems or through consecration to God\u2014and will slaughter them by\nthousands.\n\n35:6. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto\nblood, and blood shall pursue thee; since thou hast not hated blood, even\nblood shall pursue thee.\u2014In gatherings of Socialists, there is no end to\nthe differences of opinion as to what Socialism is and how it is to be\nworked out in practice. This factional division contains the seeds of the\ndestruction of the short\u2010lived governmental system of Socialism, under\nwhatever name, for a bloody end. They courted revolution and shall receive\nof the same.\n\n35:7. Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him\nthat passeth out and him that returneth.\u2014Thus will God cause the brief\nSocialistic phase of the Time of Trouble to become \u201cmost desolate.\u201d Not\none person connected with it shall escape the universal anarchy, the last\nand worst phase of the tribulation.\n\n35:8. And I will fill his mountains with his slain men; in thy hills, and\nin thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with\nthe sword.\u2014The Socialistic, labor\u2010ridden nations (mountains), shall be\nfilled with the slain; among the upper classes of socialism, and among the\nmore insignificant people (valleys) and in connection with all their\nchannels of Socialistic truth (rivers), the people of that order of things\nshall be slain. In a sense the Sword of the Spirit, will slay them; it\nforetells their destruction.\n\n35:9. I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not\nreturn; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014The Socialistic state shall\nbe utterly destroyed, and its various forms of government (cities) go to\noblivion.\n\n35:10. Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries\nshall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there.\u2014The\nthen non\u2010religious Socialists, laborites, etc., will say: \u201cThese two\nsystems (nations), Catholic and Protestant, and the condition of things\ncharacteristic of them, shall come under the sway of Socialism, and we\nSocialists, etc., shall rule over and control them\u201d, whereas they will\noverlook the all\u2010important fact that God has been among these people, and\nthey were called God\u2019s people.\u2014\u201cThe Lord was there.\u201d\n\n35:11. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according\nto thine anger, and according to thine envy, which thou hast used out of\nthy hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them, when I\nhave judged thee.\u2014Therefore as the Socialists, etc., will turn upon\necclesiasticism and Christianity in anger and fury and with hateful envy,\nso God will do to the Socialistic laborite order of things. As they aid in\nsmiting down Christianity, so will the anarchists smite them down.\n\n35:12. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all\nthy blasphemies, which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel,\nsaying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.\u2014The\nlaborites, etc., will learn that God rules in the affairs of men, and that\nthe Almighty will pay attention to their utterances against the nations\n(mountains) of Christendom (Israel), when, after ecclesiasticism\u2019s fall,\nthe laborites shall say, \u201cThe nations have been desolated, and are given\nto us working people to divide up for ourselves.\u201d\n\n35:13. Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against Me, and have\nmultiplied your words against Me: I have heard them.\u2014The Socialistic and\nkindred movements, while speaking savagely against capitalism, and\ncovertly against Christianity, have in reality been speaking against an\norder permitted by God, and in which God was\u2014in the indwelling of His Holy\nSpirit, in such true Christians as were in the systems. In expressing the\ndetermination to lead the world out of the darkness of evil economic,\nsocial and political conditions, they unwittingly boast against God by\npresuming to perform what God previously planned to be done by His\nfaithful Church, and which by any lesser agency is absolutely impossible\nof accomplishment, God will not pass by unnoticed the words of Socialists,\nsyndicalists, laborites, etc. He will hear them, and remember them for\njust recompense.\n\n35:14. Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will\nmake thee desolate.\u2014When the Times of Restitution of all things come, one\nof the things not to be restored is the Socialist, laborite movement. When\nall society rejoices in the new order of things ordained of God, the\nSocialistic state will have been utterly and forever desolated.\n\n35:15. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel,\nbecause it was desolate, so will I do onto thee; thou shalt be desolate, O\nmount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am\nthe Lord.\u2014As the fleshly\u2010minded apostates from Christianity, siding with\nthe radicals and revolutionaries, will rejoice at the inheritance of\ndesolation that will be Christendom\u2019s after 1918, so will God do to the\nsuccessful revolutionary movement; it shall be utterly desolated, \u201ceven\nall of it.\u201d Not one vestige of it shall survive the ravages of world\u2010wide\nall\u2010embracing anarchy, in the fall of 1920. (Rev. 11:7\u201013)\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 36\u2014Christendom\u2019s Early Restoration\n\n\n36:1. Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and\nsay, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord.\u2014In Chapter 6 is\ndescribed the iniquities of the nations of Christendom and their doom.\nChapter 36 describes the rejoicing of the non\u2010Christian elements over her\nfall, and God\u2019s jealous anger against them. It foretells the early re\u2010\npeopling of the nations of Christendom, their conversion to true\nChristianity, and the reason for God\u2019s action in behalf of the nations\njust previously destroyed. Taken literally, it foretells the same good\nfuture for His chosen but long\u2010chastised people, the Jews. This is the\nmessage to the nations (mountains) of Christendom, as the Word of Jehovah\nconcerning them.\n\n36:2. Thus saith the Lord God; Because the enemy hath said against you,\nAha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession.\u2014Because the\nrevolutionists, who shall overthrow the nations of Christendom, shall say\nagainst them, \u201cAha, even the oldest and greatest nations of Christendom\nare under the control of us revolutionists, Socialists and laborites.\u201d\n\n36:3. Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they\nhave made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might\nbe a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in\nthe lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people.\u2014Thus saith Jehovah\nGod to the nations of Christendom: Because the revolutionists shall have\njustly made you desolate and overrun you in every direction, so that you\nmight be ruled over by pagan, fleshly\u2010minded, infidel, revolutionary\nrulers, and because you shall be the subject of flippant discussion among\nthe revolutionaries, and through your fall become infamous among all the\nheathen peoples of the world, in Europe, America and elsewhere.\u2014Lam. 2:15,\n16.\n\n36:4. Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord God;\nThus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers\nand to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are\nforsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen\nthat are round about.\u2014Therefore, ye nations of Christendom, thus saith\nJehovah to the nations, great and small, to the religious denominations,\nto the lowly members of society, to the masses wasted and desolated by war\nand revolution, to the governments, local and national that shall be\nabandoned, which shall become the victims of the Socialists, laborites and\nother revolutionists, who shall hold you in derision for your fall from\neminence to desolation.\n\n36:5. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of My jealousy\nhave I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea,\nwhich have appointed My land into their possessions with the joy of all\ntheir heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.\u2014Therefore,\nsaith God, surely I am jealous over the reflections they cast upon Me, and\nat the mouths of many prophets have I foretold the destruction by anarchy\nof the rest of those who falsely profess My name and then help to desolate\nChristendom\u2014the \u201cChristian\u201d infidels and all the former fleshly\u2010minded\nChristians (Idumeans) who shall have presumed, with malicious joy, to\noverthrow the order of things which bears My name\u2014Christendom!\n\n36:6. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the\nmountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, Thus saith\nthe Lord God; Behold I have spoken in My jealousy and in My fury, because\nye have borne the shame of the heathen.\u2014O nations of fallen Christendom,\nMy people, because you shall have borne shame and reproach from the\nungodly revolutionists, I will bring My jealous fury to bear upon your\ndestroyers.\n\n36:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I have lifted up Mine hand,\nSurely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their\nshame.\u2014Jehovah has sworn (lifted the hand) that the Socialists, laborites,\netc., shall bear a similar shame and reproach, when their short\u2010lived\norder of things has in turn been desolated by the anarchists.\n\n36:8. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches,\nand yield your fruit to My people of Israel; for they are at hand to\ncome.\u2014A branch signifies a person born from another; as, Christ was a\nBranch of David. Here the branches shooting forth from the mountains are\nthe people of Christendom, slain in revolutions and anarchy, springing\nforth, rising from the dead, to people Christendom again. But you, O\nnations, of Christendom, your dead shall rise up from their sleep in the\ndust of the earth, to the earthly restitution\u2014resurrection; you shall\nyield proper fruitage as the truly Christian people of Christendom; for\nthey are close at hand to come back in the dust of the earth, in the mire\nof trenches, fortresses and battle fields. They sleep in death, ready to\ncome, for \u201cAll that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of\nGod, and shall come forth\u201d to resurrection.\u2014John 5:28, 29.\n\n36:9. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be\ntilled and sown.\u2014Now that the Times of Restitution are at the door, God\nwill be for them and will turn his favor unto them, and they shall be\ncultivated by truly Christian preachers commissioned by the resurrected\nAncient Worthies at Jerusalem, and sown with the seed of the true Gospel\nof the Kingdom of restitution and blessing for all people.\n\n36:10. And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all\nof it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be\nbuilded.\u2014The dead, fallen by the sword of war, revolution and anarchy,\nshall come forth from their graves to inhabit the earth. Thus, as they\nmultiplied the dead, will God multiply the living, to the number of all\nthe dead of Christendom, even every one of them; they shall become in His\nsight, not dead in trespasses and sins, but living, true\u2010blue, manly men\nfor the Christ of divine love. The governments (cities) shall be\nreestablished; and commerce, transportation, industry and art, wasted by\nthe Time of Trouble, shall be built up again, upon the foundation of the\nwholly righteous principles of the New Era.\n\n36:11. And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase\nand bring fruit; and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do\nbetter unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the\nLord.\u2014God will multiply useful workers in industries, and the invention of\nlabor\u2010saving machinery\u2014the beasts of burden and of the productive arts and\ntrades. They shall increase in numbers and in service to mankind, and\nshall multiply the productivity of the workers, bringing forth with the\nbusy, happy hum of industry, plenty for all, fruitage abundant for the\nneeds of humanity. God will settle them, establish them in permanent\nconditions, and will do for them far better than He could do in the former\ndays of Christendom, when the operation of His Spirit energizing mind and\nspirit in invention, art, industry, commerce and religion, was hindered by\napostasy of clergy and rulers. Men shall learn by happy experience how\ngood is Jehovah and how truly He is love, and not the fire\u2010god, eternal\u2010\ntorment Molech, whom they ignorantly worshipped, thinking they did Jehovah\nservice.\n\n36:12. Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even My people Israel; and\nthey shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou\nshalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.\u2014God will cause men,\nperfected by processes of restitution and resurrection, to live in the\nnations of resurrected Christendom. Men of this highly exalted type shall\npossess Christendom, when Christ\u2019s Kingdom shall be inherited by the\nkingly men for whom it was prepared from the foundations of the earth.\nNever more shall the nations of Christendom bereave themselves of men, as\nthey have done in centuries of oppression, misrule and persecution, and\nespecially in the Time of Trouble.\n\n36:13. Thus saith the Lord God; Because they say unto you, Thou land\ndevourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations.\u2014Because the infidel\nrevolutionists will throw at Christendom the taunt, \u201cYour social order,\neconomic, political and religious, eats up, destroys men, in industry,\npersecution, war, and revolution, and bereaves the nations of their best\nmen.\u201d\n\n36:14. Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy\nnations any more, saith the Lord God.\u2014Never shall this be any more, says\nGod.\n\n36:15. Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen\nany more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more,\nneither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord\nGod.\u2014Neither will God permit men to hear the infidel peoples put\nChristendom to shame, nor to heap reproach upon her; for Christendom shall\nbe no more a reproach among the heathen, nor shall she cause her nations\nto fall again.\n\n36:16, 17. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\nwhen the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their\nown way and by their doings: their way was before Me as the uncleanness of\na removed woman.\u2014While ecclesiasticism and its adherents control\nChristendom, they defile it spiritually by their traditions, doctrines and\nactions. Their spiritual condition is before God as a church polluted,\nunclean spiritually, unfit to touch, which ought to be \u201ccut off from\nsocial privileges and her citizenship among God\u2019s people put in abeyance,\u201d\nas long as the spiritually unclean condition lasts, an uncleanness which\nmay be removed only by a liberal application of \u201cthe waters of separation\u201d\n(Lev. 15:19\u201031)\u2014the cleansing reformation of the pure, unadulterated,\nfearlessly preached and applied Word of God, \u201cthe water of the Word.\u201d\u2014Eph.\n5:26.\n\n36:18. Wherefore I poured My fury upon them for the blood that they had\nshed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted\nit.\u2014The penalty for wilful violation of the Hebraic precepts regarding\nuncleanness was the final cutting off of the culprit from the Lord\u2019s\npeople. Wherefore God shall pour out upon ecclesiasticism His fury in war,\nrevolution, and anarchy, for the lives\u2014physical and religious\u2014taken\nthroughout the lengths and breadths of human society, and for the\nidolatrous worship of Molech, the eternal\u2010torment God, and of Baal, the\ngod of adulterous church\u2010state union, wherewith she has polluted\nChristendom.\n\n36:19. And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed\nthrough the countries: according to their way and according to their\ndoings I judged them.\u2014God will scatter the church adherents among the\nrevolutionists, and disperse them throughout a variety of infidel,\nSocialistic, laborite and other like conditions, judging the ecclesiastics\naccording to their apostasy.\n\n36:20. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they\nprofaned My holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the\nLord, and are gone forth out of His land.\u2014Wherever these fleshly\u2010minded\nChristians shall be scattered, they will blaspheme God\u2019s holy name, with\nthe reproach that though they had claimed to be Jehovah\u2019s people, God had\nbeen unable to safeguard them and they had abandoned all pretense of being\nChristians.\n\n36:21. But I had pity for Mine holy name, which the house of Israel had\nprofaned among the heathen, whither they went.\u2014But God will have regard\nfor the prestige of His reputation for justice, power, love and wisdom,\nwhich the apostate of Christendom shall impugn during the revolutionary\norder of things.\n\n36:22. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I\ndo not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name\u2019s\nsake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.\u2014Therefore\nJehovah says that what He is about to do, He will not do for their sakes,\nfor they deserve nothing at His hand but the judgments justly visited upon\nthem; but that He will do it for His holy name\u2019s reputation, which they\nhave persistently misrepresented and blasphemed.\n\n36:23. And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the\nheathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen\nshall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be\nsanctified in you before their eyes.\u2014God will make His name sacred, and\nforever hallowed, among the pagan peoples, the name which apostate\nChristians have profaned and defamed among them; and God will make the\ninfidel peoples to know of a certainty that He is the all\u2010wise, just,\nloving and almighty Jehovah, when He finally converts all such to true\nChristianity.\n\n36:24. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of\nall countries, and will bring you into your own land.\u2014God will save His\nprofessed people from the faithless, unbelieving condition of the\nrevolutionists and the professedly pagan peoples, and will gather them out\nof all the evil conditions into which they shall fall, into a condition of\ngenuine conversion and consecration to Himself. How much like God! all\nwill exclaim, who know Jehovah. What an example does the Father set to His\nchildren, the sons of God!\u2014Eph. 5:1; Z. \u201992\u201063.\n\n36:25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean:\nfrom all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse\nyou.\u2014Then will Jehovah wash His apostate people with the pure, unpolluted\nwater of the Word of Truth; and from all their filthiness of flesh and\nspirit, of life and of doctrine, and from their idolatry of Molech and of\nBaal, will He cleanse them; and they shall be clean.\u2014A. 333; Z. \u201992\u201064.\n\n36:26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put\nwithin you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I\nwill give you a heart of flesh.\u2014God judges the thoughts and intents of the\nheart, and He will give His professed people a pure heart to serve Him and\nto love Him with fullness of consecration. He will take away from them the\nstony heart (Jer. 31:33), wherewith for sake of earthly emoluments and\nhonor of men, they have resisted Him and hardened their consciences\nagainst His Truth. He will put within them a new spirit which they have\nnot known\u2014the spirit of willing service and obedience to Jehovah, the\nspirit of the truth, the spirit of wisdom, of courage, of a sound mind,\nand of Divine love.\u20142 Tim. 1:7; Z. \u201999\u2010187; A. 310; Z. \u201903\u2010171.\n\n36:27. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My\nstatutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.\u2014God will give them\nHis Holy Spirit and cause them to walk in His \u201croyal law of love\u201d (Jas.\n2:8), so that they shall keep that law and do it\u2014Z. \u201999\u2010138.\n\n36:28. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye\nshall be My people, and I will be your God.\u2014And they shall abide in the\ncondition of Divine favor that the fathers walked in, and truly be God\u2019s\npeople; and Jehovah, the God of love\u2014not Molech, nor Baal\u2014shall be their\nGod.\n\n36:29. I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for\nthe corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.\u2014God will save\nthe people now constituting His professed, but apostate church, from all\ntheir spiritual and fleshly uncleanness. He will call for the wheat, the\nbread of life, the Word of God, and will give them to feed on this good\nWord, and will permit no more famine of the Word of God among them.\n\n36:30. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the\nfield, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the\nheathen.\u2014God will multiply the fruits of righteousness, and cause the new\nsocial order to increase its character fruitage, so that Christians shall\nreceive no more from the heathen the reproach that there is among them a\nfamine of God\u2019s Word, and that they fail to practise what they\nprofess.\u2014Amos. 8:11.\n\n36:31. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that\nwere not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your\niniquities and for your abominations.\u2014Then, in the abundance of the\nwonderful and undeserved goodness and love of God, God\u2019s professed people\nshall remember their former evil doctrines, that misrepresented His holy\ncharacter, and their doings that were not good, especially their grasping\nfor world power and their persecution of the sons of God. Then they shall\nloathe themselves for their iniquitous doctrines and for their sectarian\nabominations.\n\n36:32. Not for your own sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known\nunto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of\nIsrael.\u2014Be it known, in advance, that Jehovah will do these good things,\nnot for their sakes in any sense; for they merit far different treatment\nat His hands. They shall be ashamed and utterly confounded at His\ngoodness. Thus, with goodness and with love overflowing will God\nrecompense the evil they have done Him and His true children.\n\n36:33. Thus saith the Lord God; in the day that I shall have cleansed you\nfrom all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and\nthe wastes shall be builded.\u2014In the 1,000\u2010year day, the Millennium, the\n\u201cTimes of Restitution of all things\u201d (Acts 3:19\u201021), when God shall have\ncleansed those who are now His professed people from their iniquities, He\nwill cause them to abide in new governments of the nations and cities of\nChristendom (Lu. 19:17), whose wasted arts, manufactures, industries,\ntransportation and commerce shall be built up again.\n\n36:34. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in\nthe sight of all that passed by.\u2014Christendom, utterly desolated in war,\nrevolution and anarchy, and lying desolate in the sight of the whole\nworld, shall be cultivated in the arts, sciences, trades and professions,\nand especially with the true Gospel of the Kingdom.\n\n36:35. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the\ngarden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become\nfenced, and are inhabited.\u2014And the infidel peoples shall exclaim,\n\u201cChristendom that was utterly desolated, has become like the Garden of\nEden!\u201d For governments, national, city, and local, which were wasted,\ndesolated and ruined, have been replaced by better and permanent (fenced)\narrangements brought about by the mighty power of Jehovah\u2019s Love.\n\n36:36. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I\nthe Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the\nLord have spoken it, and I will do it.\u2014Then the unbelieving peoples will\ncome to the realization that the One that shall rebuild ruined Christendom\nand plant the desolate people with the seed of the glad gospel of the\nKingdom is Jehovah. Jehovah has spoken it, and will bring it to pass.\n\n36:37. Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the\nhouse of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a\nflock.\u2014God will yet be supplicated by desolated Christendom to do this for\nthem. Then, in answer to their prayers, He will, by awakenings from the\ndead, increase their numbers with men in multitudes.\n\n36:38. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts;\nso shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall\nknow that I am the Lord.\u2014Like as vast flocks of sheep and cattle were\ngathered for sacrifice at the annual feasts at Jerusalem, so shall the\ndevastated nations of Christendom be filled with great crowds of\nconsecrated, holy men, each devoted as a willing thank offering forever to\nlive for God. And they shall know, when God has brought them back from the\ndead, that He is Jehovah, a God of infinite Justice, Power, Love and\nWisdom.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n Hail to the brightness of Zion\u2019s glad morning!\n Joy to the lands that in darkness have lain!\n Hushed be the accents of sorrow and mourning!\n Zion, in triumph, begins her glad reign.\n\n See the dead risen from land and from ocean;\n Praise to Jehovah ascending on High;\n Fall\u2019n are the engines of war and commotion;\n Shouts of salvation are rending the sky.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 37\u2014The Valley Of Dry Bones\n\n\n37:1. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit\nof the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of\nbones.\u2014Chapter 37:1\u201014 has a fourfold application: (1) to the Valley of\nJehoshaphat, the Adamic death, into which the Hebrew nation has gone; (2)\nto the captivity of the Hebrews in literal Babylonia; (3) the captivity of\nthe Hebrews in Mystic Babylon, Christendom; and (4) the dead condition of\nthe hopes of Christendom in and after the Time of Trouble. It is because\nthe Jews were types of the Christians that the blessed fulfilment of this\nprophecy applies with peculiar force to Christendom in and after the Time\nof Trouble. The power (hand) of Jehovah was upon Ezekiel to enable him to\nsee and expound this vision for the benefit of the Hebrews and their dead\nhopes in captivity (2) in literal Babylon, (3) in Mystic Babylon\n(Christendom) and (1) in the Adamic death. (Z. \u201999\u2010190; \u201901\u2010358.) The\npower of God is now upon His people to understand the application of the\nvision of dry bones as pertaining to the hopes of (4) the people of\nChristendom, who, though believers in God, have not the Holy Spirit to\nilluminate their mental vision, and who will find themselves in the depths\n(valley) of despair in and after the Time of Trouble.\n\nThe condition of the withered hopes of Christendom in the Time of Trouble\nand death is pictured by the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, 9\u201014): \u201cI\nwill gather all nations, and will bring them down into the Valley of\nJehoshaphat [of judgment and death], and will plead [in war, revolution\nand anarchy] with them there for My people and My heritage Israel [the\ntrue Church] whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted My\nland [into several hundred denominations]. Proclaim ye this among the\nnations: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw\nnear; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning\nhooks into spears; let the weak [Belgium, etc.] say, I am strong. Assemble\nyourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round\nabout; thither cause thy mighty ones [the Little Flock, mighty in the\npower of the Lord] to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen [in Christendom,\nand out] be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat: for there\nwill I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for\nthe harvest [of the vine of the earth, (Rev. 14:19) Christendom] is ripe;\ncome, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their\nwickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision [for\nor against God and His Word] for the Day [of vengeance] of the Lord is\nnear in the valley of decision.\u201d\u2014Joel 3:2, 9\u201015.\n\nVast will be the slaughter, complete the devastation, heart\u2010rending the\nruin and the desolation of the hopes and aspirations of Christendom in the\ndark and gloomy valley of the Day of Vengeance of Jehovah. It will indeed\nbe a valley\u2014a cast down, humbled, lowly condition, in which the people of\nproud Christendom will suddenly find themselves, a condition full of the\nmemories of ruined hopes, (bones) (Mal. 4:1.) The valley is full of dried\u2010\nup hopes (bones): (1) the twelve tribes of Israel in death; (2, 3) the\nHebrews in captivity to literal and mystical Babylon; and (4) the hopes of\nChristendom.\n\n37:2. And caused me to pass by them round about: and behold, there were\nvery many in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.\u2014The hopes of the\nHebrews, held out to them in Scripture, were very many, but until the\nregathering out of literal and mystical Babylon, and from the dead, were\nand shall be lifeless. Pastor Russell, in Volume IV of _Studies in the\nScriptures_, compassed the entire range of the afflictions and desolated\nhopes of mankind in war, revolution and anarchy of the great Time of\nTrouble.\n\n37:3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live! And I\nanswered, O Lord God, Thou knowest.\u2014\u201cIs there any hope for the scattered\npeople of Israel, that they will ever be restored as a nation? Can the\ngood hopes of Christendom, ruined by war, revolution and anarchy, be\nrevived?\u201d \u201cO Jehovah God, Thou knowest and hast foretold the answer by the\nmouths of Prophets and Apostles, and Thine own Son!\u201d\n\n37:4. Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them,\nO ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.\u2014And God says about the\nScriptural hopes of both Jews and of Christendom, whose fall, ignominy and\ncaptivity in literal Babylon, in mystic Babylon, in the Adamic death and\nin the Time of Trouble have caused, and will cause, so great sufferings\nand so many tears. \u201cHear the good Word of Jehovah concerning thy ruined\nhopes.\u201d\n\n37:5. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause\nbreath to enter into you, and ye shall live.\u2014Thus saith Jehovah God about\nthe hopes of Christendom: Behold, in the blessed Times of Restitution, the\ntime for His great love for men to be revealed, He shall cause the people\nthat are left among the Hebrews and in Christendom to talk and pray about\ntheir good hopes for the uplift of themselves and all the world to better,\nhigher things. And their hopes shall live again; for God will cause the\nspirit of life, life\u2010energy, to enter into their hopes and into their\ndead\u2014those captive in the Adamic death and in the ruin of the great\ntribulation.\u2014E. _341_, 316.\n\n37:6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you,\nand cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye\nshall know that I am the Lord.\u2014God will make their hopes strong; for His\nWord encourages their realization; and He gives them power, form and\nsubstance and protection, and will finally give them vitality, and they\nshall live, shall become a bright and vital reality. Then with\nthanksgiving they shall know Him truly as Jehovah.\u2014E. _341_, 316.\n\n37:7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a\nnoise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his\nbone.\u2014While Ezekiel was speaking there began \u201ca shaking\u201d\u2014the commotion\nincident to the fall of Babylon and the transfer of the empire to the\nMedes and Persians, typifying the coming Time of Trouble. And while Pastor\nRussell was preaching there began\u2014in 1914\u2014the shaking of Christendom, in\nwars, revolutions and anarchy, preparatory to the transfer of the\nrulership from Mystic Babylon, Christendom, to the two\u2010phase, spiritual\nand natural, Kingdom of God; also the Zionistic hopes of the Jews began to\nassume definite, connected and Scriptural form. In due time, after the\nhopes of Christendom shall have been utterly ruined in the trouble, there\nwill be \u201ca noise,\u201d as of the rushing wind of a second Pentecostal\noutpouring of the Holy Spirit \u201cupon all flesh.\u201d It will be upon all\nChristendom, where men will be awaiting it with prayer and supplication.\nAnd behold! all Christendom will be shaken with emotion and with a revival\nof hope; and all the good hopes of Christendom, whose realization hitherto\nhad been vague and disconnected, will be seen in their proper and Divinely\nappointed relation (bone to his bone).\u2014Z. \u201999\u2010191.\n\n37:8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them,\nand the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.\u2014As a\nresult of Ezekiel\u2019s prophesying among the Hebrews captive in Babylon, hope\ngrew strong and positive, and the protection of Jehovah (skin) was seen to\nbe upon it, but yet there was no vitality to it. The time was not ripe for\nthe fruition of hope. Pastor Russell, too, preached to the Jews about\ntheir Zionist hopes, and pointed them to the Hebrew Bible to understand\nthe proper fulfillment of their hopes; and while he was preaching Zionism\ngrew into a strong movement. There is a due time also for Christendom\u2019s\nhopes to be strengthened by the books of Pastor Russell in millions of\nhomes throughout Christendom. The surviving people of Christendom will\nread the _Studies in the Scriptures_ during and after the time of the\nruination of their hopes. But even then something will be lacking\u2014the\nSpirit, power, to cause the fulfillment of hope.\u2014E. _341_, 316.\n\n37:9. Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man,\nand say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O\nbreath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.\u2014Ezekiel was\ncommissioned to say, as the Word of God Himself, concerning the operation\nof the Holy Spirit (wind, _ruach_) or power of God, that the whole power\n(four winds) of God as concerned the Hebrew nation in captivity in literal\nBabylon should be exercised to cause the revival of their national and\nMessianic hopes. \u201cThe words that I speak, they are Spirit.\u201d The whole Word\nof God (four winds, the whole Spirit) foretold the regathering of the\nwilling and obedient of the Hebrews from Babylon to Jerusalem, after\nseventy years\u2019 captivity. Pastor Russell, as Ezekiel\u2019s antitype, was\ncommissioned to say to the Hebrews, scattered throughout the world in\ncaptivity in Mystic Babylon, Christendom, that the whole Word of God\npointed to two great blessings: (1) the revival of their Zionist hope and\nits realization in the regathering of many Hebrews to Jerusalem, and the\nfounding there of the world\u2010wide Hebrew dominion over the whole world,\ninto which should be gathered, out of Mystic Babylon, all the Hebrews in\nthe world, wherever they might remain; and (2) the regathering of the\nHebrews of all ages from the captivity of death\u2014the tomb\u2014to live on earth\nagain in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God, under the invisible\nspiritual dominion of Christ, Head and Body, and under the visible earthly\nrulership of the resurrected Ancient Worthies. Beginning in October, 1910,\nPastor Russell called the attention of Hebrews by thousands, throughout\nthe world, to the fact that the whole Old Testament foretold this as the\nlegitimate aspiration of the Hebrews. For the Christian people of the\nworld Pastor Russell has a similar message:\n\n(1) For believing Christians having the Holy Spirit, he revived their\nhopes and pointed out clearly their gathering out from captivity in Mystic\nBabylon and in death, unto the glorious spirit phase of the Kingdom of\nGod. (2) For the mass of professing Christians, who through some measure\nof unbelief or of unfaithfulness are not begotten of the Spirit to a\nchange of nature from human to spiritual, He has a Divine message, which\nin due time will bring strong hope and comfort. As the Time of Trouble\nprogresses, professing Christians by the millions, losing faith, as did\nthe Apostles when, on the arrest of Christ they all forsook Him and fled,\nwill forsake Christianity and all profession of being Christians. They\nwill lose all the hopes they had as Christians. Then Pastor Russell\u2019s\nmessage will preach to Christendom the necessity of receiving the Holy\nSpirit in its entirety, in order to realize their hopes; will turn the\npeople to the whole Truth of the Word of God (the four Winds, all the\nTruth), all the witness of the Spirit for them, that \u201csalvation cometh of\nthe Jew\u201d (John 4:22), and that they must connect themselves with the\nAncient Worthies, resurrected and reigning at Jerusalem; for without these\nWorthies their hopes must remain inactive\u2014through them alone hope can be\nvitalized. Then Christendom will pray to God, \u201cWe submit ourselves wholly\nto Thee in heartfelt consecration. Come, O Spirit, all the Spirit, in the\nappointed way, and breathe life into our hopes, that they may live at\nlast!\u201d\n\n37:10. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them,\nand they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great\narmy.\u2014From paying attention to Ezekiel\u2019s message, the Hebrews captive in\nBabylon realized their hopes at the end of the seventy years captivity. As\na result of Pastor Russell\u2019s teaching, Zionistic hopes have gained new\nvitality; and in due time the Hebrew dead will come forth from the Adamic\ndeath in multitudes. From his teachings to the true Church, captive in\nMystic Babylon, Christendom, the Scriptural hopes of the Church were\nclearly seen, and vitalized for those in Present Truth. From his teachings\nhope will grow afresh in the hearts of the survivors of desolated\nChristendom; and as a result of their prayers the dead of Christendom will\ncome forth, an exceeding great army.\u2014E. _341_, 316.\n\n37:11. Then He said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house\nof Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we\nare cut off for our parts.\u2014The dried bones represent all the Hebrews,\nFleshly Israel, and all the professing Christians, Spiritual Israel. As\noutlined foregoing, they say that their hopes are lost, and that they are\ncut off from Divine favors for their evil course in life.\u2014Isa. 49:14;\nZ\u201999\u2010191.\n\n37:12. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God;\nBehold, O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out\nof your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.\u2014The various classes\nmentioned were to be brought up from their condition\u2014dead as to their\nhopes\u2014and brought, the Hebrews into Palestine; the true Christians, into\nthe Spirit phase of the Kingdom; and the nominal Christians, into a place\nof favor in the earthly phase of the Kingdom.\u2014Isa. 60:21; Z. \u201999\u2010196.\n\n37:13, 14. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your\ngraves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put\nMy Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own\nland: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it,\nsaith the Lord.\u2014They shall all know that God is the Jehovah of infinite\nJustice, Wisdom, Love and Power, when the wonderful power of God has thus\nwrought in them for their blessing.\u2014E. _341_, 316; Z. \u201999\u2010190.\n\n37:15. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.\u2014Verses 15\u201028\nrecount the separation of the Hebrews into two distinct kingdoms; Israel,\nthe corrupt ten tribes; and Judah, the less corrupt two tribes. In\nantitype it represents corrupt Catholicism, the larger branch of\nChristendom, and Protestantism, the smaller and less corrupt.\n\n37:16, 17. Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon\nit, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take\nanother stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and\nfor all the house of Israel and his companions: And join them one to\nanother into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.\u2014By the\npower of God the two were to be made one nation in the return of the\nHebrews from Babylonia, and again will be made one in their return from\nMystic Babylon, Christendom, to Palestine. Likewise the denominational\ndivisions of Christian people have been obliterated among those gathered\nout of Mystic Babylon into Present Truth, as they will yet be in the\nregathering of the dead of Christendom in the resurrection, and in the\nunifying influences that will work among the survivors of Christendom\u2019s\ntrouble. All these are to have as their Prince forever, the Beloved\n(David, beloved) of God, The Christ in glory.\n\n37:18. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying,\nWilt Thou not show what Thou meanest by these?\u2014Both Jews and Christians\nhave long inquired what God has signified by this prophecy.\n\n37:19. Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I will take the\nstick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel\nhis fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and\nmake them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand.\u2014The reuniting of\nthe Hebrews and of the divisions of Christians will be by the power of\nGod, and they shall remain one.\n\n37:20. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before\ntheir eyes.\u2014The uniting of the Hebrews was apparently due to the prophecy\nof Ezekiel. That to come\u2014of the Hebrews and of the Christians\u2014will be in\naccordance with the teachings of Pastor Russell.\n\n37:21, 22. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take\nthe children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and\nwill gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I\nwill make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and\none king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations,\nneither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.\u2014In 536 B.\nC. God regathered the Natural Israelites into Palestine as one nation, and\nwill soon regather them out from all the nations of the world. He will\ngather true Spiritual Israel into the Heavenly phase of the Kingdom, where\nthey shall ever be one people in mind in Christ, no longer separated as\nLittle Flock, loving Heavenly things, and Great Company, loving the\nearthly. He will regather nominal Spiritual Israel from the dead and from\ntheir hopeless earthly condition, into the earthly phase of the Kingdom,\nno longer divided as Catholic and Protestant.\u2014Jer. 50:4\u20106.\n\n37:23. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor\nwith their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I\nwill save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned,\nand will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I will be their\nGod.\u2014God will cleanse them all from everything relating to this present\nevil age and will save them out of their dwelling\u2010places\u2014the spirit\nchildren from their corrupt bodies; the Great Company from their spiritual\nbondage; the nominal Christians from their sects; and the Jews from their\ndomiciles in all nations; and all classes from the sleep of death. They\nshall all be truly God\u2019s people; and Jehovah, Just, Wise, Loving and\nPowerful, their God.\n\n37:24. And David My servant shall be king over them; and they shall all\nhave One Shepherd: they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My\nstatutes, and do them.\u2014Over them as King shall be Christ Jesus, the\nBeloved Head of His Body the Church, and the whole Beloved Christ, Head\nand Body, for all the other classes. Christ Jesus the Head shall be the\nShepherd of the Spirit classes; and The Christ, Head and Body, the\nShepherd and Pastor of all the others. All classes in Heaven and on earth\nshall walk in the royal Law of Love.\n\n37:25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My\nservant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein,\neven they and their children, and their children\u2019s children for ever: and\nMy servant David shall be their prince for ever.\u2014The promise to Jacob is\nto be understood as both spiritual and earthly, a place spiritually\ntypifying a condition. The Jews, living and resurrected dead, shall dwell\nforever in Palestine, given by God to Jacob, wherein their fathers,\nAbraham, Isaac and Jacob, dwelt. The Little Flock and the Great Company\nwill dwell forever in the Heavenly condition, where their great Father\ndwells. The nominal Christians will dwell in the whole earth, wherein\ntheir then Father. The Christ, Head and Body, dwelt in bodies of\nhumiliation and sacrifice. The Christ shall forever be their King.\n\n37:26. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an\neverlasting Covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them,\nand will set My Sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.\u2014God will make\neffective with the Jews the everlasting New Covenant, guaranteeing eternal\nearthly blessings to the willing and obedient; and the nominal professing\nChristians will come under the benefits of the Covenant. He will make\neffective the complete fulfillment of the Covenant of Grace for the Church\nin the spirit phase of the Kingdom. He will set both classes up in\npower\u2014the Church as spiritual Kings and Priests unto God; and the Jews as\nthe rulers of the earth. He will multiply their numbers by the\nresurrection. He will dwell in the spiritual class, making them His\nSanctuary to the earthly class.\n\n37:27. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God,\nand they shall be My people.\u2014God\u2019s abode will be in the spiritual class;\nand they will be God\u2019s Temple or Dwelling\u2010place, from which the Law of\nLove shall proceed for the earthly class.\n\n37:28. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when\nMy Sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.\u2014Then will follow\nthe conversion of the heathen peoples of the earth\u2014\u201cthe residue of men,\neven all the Gentiles.\u201d\u2014Acts 15:17.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 38\u2014Final Overthrow Of Pride\n\n\n38:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set\nthy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and\nTubal, and prophesy against him.\u2014The Truth people, the reformers, are to\nset themselves against the proud, lofty rulers (Gog, high, mountain, D.\n554) of the revolutionary republics after the war and the fall of\nChristendom, and of the ignorant, degraded revolutionists. (Magog was\nScythia, a rude, ignorant, degraded people, including the savages of\nEurope [D. 556], savage by nature and made doubly so in the most barbarous\nwars of history. Meshech, north of Armenia, and Tubal, south of the Black\nSea, and also Spain, represented the remotest and rudest nations of the\nworld.) The prophecy is to have a double fulfillment, for it refers also\nto the gathering, at the close of the 1,000 years, of Satan, and the\ndeceivable among restored mankind against the camp of the saints.\u2014Rev.\n20:7\u201010.\n\n38:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,\nthe chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.\u2014God will be against the rulers of\nthe worst of earth\u2019s peoples.\n\n38:4. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will\nbring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them\nclothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and\nshields, all of them handling swords.\u2014God will lead them on (Revised\nVersion) and bring them forth to do this deed, them and all their\nmultitude, equipped with every conceivable weapon of destruction.\n\n38:5. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and\nhelmet.\u2014The dark peoples of Africa (descendants of Ham, typical of sinful,\ndegraded peoples), trained and equipped in the European war.\n\n38:6. Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north\nquarters, and all his bands; and many people with thee.\u2014The remotest\npeoples of Europe (D. 556) (Gomer was ancestor of the Celts, Scotch, etc.;\nTogarmah was north of Armenia) and their armies, and a multitude with\nthem; and, a thousand years later, all whose heart attitude answers this\ndescription.\n\n38:7. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company\nthat are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.\u2014The foregoing\nand their savage multitudes of revolutionists are to be the vanguard of\nthe evil host. These people symbolize also those after the 1,000 years\nwhose heart condition will be like the actual state of these savages.\n\n38:8. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou\nshalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is\ngathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have\nbeen always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they\nshall dwell safely all of them.\u2014After the career of the Ezekiel class is\nterminated in the flesh, the nations of Europe (and after the thousand\nyears are finished the hosts of Satan, unbound) shall be called to do\ntheir dreadful work. At the close of the turbulent revolutionary era\nEurope shall come against Palestine, then living in a peace contrasting\nwith their turbulence; and, at the close of the Millennium Satan shall\ncome against the Millennial order of things, abounding in holiness and\npeace.\n\n38:9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud\nto cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with\nthee.\u2014They shall make the attack in vast numbers.\n\n38:10. Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the\nsame time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil\nthought.\u2014At the end of the revolutionary era turbulent Europe and Africa\nwill be obsessed with an idea full of evil for them and for the Hebrews;\nand at the close of the Millennium Satan and the hosts in sympathy with\nhis deceptions will dream of seizing the established Kingdom of God.\n\n38:11. And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;\nI will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them\ndwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.\u2014They shall say\nthat they will go up against Palestine, against the Hebrews living in\nunwonted peace in a turbulent world.\u2014D. 553.\n\n38:12. To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the\ndesolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are\ngathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that\ndwell in the midst of the land.\u2014They will seek to plunder their property,\nto turn their weapons against once desolate Palestine, against the\nregathered Hebrews, enjoying some measure of prosperity. In like manner\nthe hosts of Satan will seek to seize the restored Kingdom of God, at the\nclose of the 1,000 years.\n\n38:13. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young\nlions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast\nthou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold,\nto take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?\u2014The people\nsurrounding Palestine (D. 556), with their soldiers, will join in the\nplunder. After the Millennium all classes not in heart harmony with \u201cthe\ncamp of the saints,\u201d will seek to capture the Kingdom, to take captive the\npower of the Little Flock and the Great Company (silver and gold), and the\nmasses of perfect humanity (cattle, etc.).\n\n38:14. Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the\nLord God; In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou\nnot know it?\u2014When God\u2019s people, the Hebrews, are living peacefully in\nPalestine, the fact will be well known by revolutionary Europe and Africa.\nAfter the Millennium Satan and his former associates, the apostate clergy\nof Christendom and the Hebrew Pharisees, bound for a thousand years, and\nloosed for a short time, will behold the prosperity of restored mankind.\n\n38:15. And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou,\nand many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great\ncompany, and a mighty army.\u2014Europe\u2019s hosts shall come from the countries\nnorth (D. 555) of Palestine with many people, riding on horses, motor cars\nand railroad trains, a vast and mighty army. And a thousand years later,\nSatan will appear, permitted to come by the spiritual phase of the Kingdom\n(the north), with many new, lying doctrines (horses) to deceive the\npeople.\n\n38:16. And thou shalt come up against My people of Israel, as a cloud to\ncover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee\nagainst My land, that the heathen may know Me, when I shall be sanctified\nin thee, O Gog, before their eyes.\u2014The revolutionists will come against\nthe Hebrews in the closing years of the Time of Trouble, just at the\noutbreak of anarchy (D. 555). This invasion will be permitted by God, that\nthe peoples may know that Jehovah is God, when His mighty power shall\nperform a dreadful work upon these wicked peoples, raised up and set apart\n(sanctified) for the enhancing of Divine prestige. It will also be to\ndemonstrate the Divine attributes that the Satanic hosts will be permitted\nlater to conspire against \u201cthe camp of the saints.\u201d\n\n38:17. Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old\ntime by My servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days\nmany years, that I would bring thee against them?\u2014Jehovah declares that\nthese evil multitudes, who will shortly organize a crusade against the\nJews, will be the ones of whom, thousands of years before, the Hebrew\nProphets wrote.\n\n38:18. And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come\nagainst the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that My fury shall come up\nin My face.\u2014The Divine wrath of furious retribution will be against these\nclasses.\n\n38:19. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken,\nSurely In that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of\nIsrael.\u2014In jealous love for His beloved people and in jealous destructive\n(fire) wrath against their assailants (D. 527) has God foretold a world\u2010\nshaking holocaust of the hosts of evil in the land of Palestine, and a\nthousand years later of the minions of the Devil.\n\n38:20. So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the\nbeasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth,\nand all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My\npresence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places\nshall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.\u2014The result will be\nthat the men (fishes, C. 214) not under religious restraint (Z. \u201986:1),\nthe most execrable of the people of the world (fowls, C. 162), the\nrevolutionary governments (beasts, A. 261), and all the lowest of mankind\nshall be thrown into revolutionary commotion; and the nations (mountains,\nA. 318) shall be overthrown in anarchy, together with all the civil powers\n(walls, D. 40) of the world.\n\n38:21. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My\nmountains, saith the Lord God: every man\u2019s sword shall be against his\nbrother.\u2014God will do His dreadful work of ending this present evil world,\nand will call for the universal arming of mankind with destroying weapons,\nso that every man\u2019s weapons will be against every other man.\n\n38:22. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I\nwill rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are\nwith him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and\nbrimstone.\u2014God will fight miraculously against the hosts of evil with\npestilence and death, and will overwhelm them with a flood of Truth\u2014with\nhard facts, to smite their hearts\u2014and with anarchy, destruction, utter and\ncomplete. So also will the Almighty deal with the rebels of a thousand\nyears later.\n\n38:23. Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be\nknown in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the\nLord.\u2014So will God magnify His reputation as the One to be reverenced, and\nthe fame of His power will spread throughout the world.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 39\u2014Death Of Pride\u2019s Multitude\n\n\n39:1. Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus\nsaith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of\nMeshech and Tubal.\u2014This has a triple fulfillment: (a) the destruction of\nthe literal armies that will attack the Hebrews at the beginning of the\nMillennium; (b) the destruction of their pride and their sophistries by\nthe Truth; and (c) at the end of the Millennium the literal annihilation\nof the hosts that will then be deceived by Satan, and the destruction of\ntheir errors by the loyal members of the Kingdom. Jehovah is against these\nevil leaders and their multitude. The greatest curse of God\u2019s people in\nall times has been pride.\u2014Matt. 5:3; 1 John 3:12; John 8:44; Isa. 14:14;\nPsa. 119:113; Prov. 6:17; Psa. 101:5; Prov. 8:13; Isa. 2:12; Prov. 16:18;\n2 Thes. 2:4; Mal. 3:15; Mark 10:43.\n\n39:2. And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and\nwill cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon\nthe mountains of Israel.\u2014Jehovah will lead them on (R. V.), controlled and\ndirected by the spiritual phase of the Kingdom (north) to (a, b) bring a\nhost against restored Israel; and (c) a thousand years later another\nSatanic multitude against the entire restored Kingdom.\n\n39:3. And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine\narrows to fall out of thy right hand.\u2014God will (a, b) destroy the weapons\nand the power of the anti\u2010Hebrew crusade; and (b, c) He will also end, in\nthose hosts, their hatred (bow) and their bitter words (arrows).\n\n39:4. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy\nbands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the\nravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field, to be\ndevoured.\u2014These evil hosts (a, b, c) shall die; and God will give the\nfirst one to be disorganized, disrupted and destroyed by the most\nexecrable of mankind (birds and beasts); and He will deliver (b) both it\nand (c) the second into the power of the spiritual phase of His Kingdom,\nto be wiped out.\n\n39:5. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the\nLord God.\u2014They shall fall defenseless at the hands of their destroyers.\n\n39:6. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell\ncarelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.\u2014God will\n(a, b) send anarchy (fire) among the peoples of the revolutionary\nrepublics (isles); and literal miraculous annihilation upon the second\nuprising of Satan and his deceived followers.\n\n39:7. So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel;\nand I will not let them pollute My holy name any more: and the heathen\nshall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.\u2014Through this\nmiraculous deliverance (a) the Hebrews shall be converted to the Truth, so\nthat they shall never again be a discredit to God\u2019s name; and (b, c) all\nmankind also shall thereby learn fully to know God.\n\n39:8. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the\nday whereof I have spoken.\u2014It shall surely come; it shall be done; thus\nshall be the day of the end of evil and the final establishment of right,\nwhereof God has spoken in His Word.\n\n39:9. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and\nshall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers,\nthe bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they\nshall burn them with fire seven years.\u2014The regathered Hebrews of Palestine\n(a) shall be seven years burning and destroying the weapons of war of this\nevil rabble, (a) The hosts of heaven and of earth (b, c) shall eternally\n(seven years) recount the lesson of the utter end of Satan\u2019s deceptive\ndoctrines, of credulity (shield) of hatred (bows), evil\u2010speaking (arrows)\nand other evil character\u2010fruits.\n\n39:10. So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down\nany out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and\nthey shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them,\nsaith the Lord God.\u2014So numerous will be the weapons of war (a) of those\nDivinely vanquished armies that the Hebrews will need no other firewood,\nbut will burn the weapons. They shall plunder those that plunder them. The\ninnumerable sophistries (b, c) by which Satan\u2019s legions shall seek to\ngrasp the Kingdom power, and their miraculous overthrow, shall forever\nfurnish lessons to help the inheritors of the Kingdom.\n\n39:11. And It shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a\nplace there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east\nof the sea; and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall\nthey bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it, The valley of\nHamon\u2010gog.\u2014God will give (a) the self\u2010exalted anti\u2010Semite crusaders a\nplace of burial in Palestine. In the valley used as a highway east of the\nDead Sea, the dead shall be a stench to the passers\u2010by; and there shall\nthey bring the proud (Gog, high, proud ones) hosts to their end, and they\nshall call it the Valley of Pride\u2019s Multitude (Hamon, multitude). Then,\nand a thousand years later (b, c), the memory of the proud dead shall be\noffensive to all that recall it.\n\n39:12. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that\nthey may cleanse the land.\u2014For seven months (a) the Hebrews shall be\nburying the crusaders, that they may cleanse the land defiled by the dead.\nAnd then, and after the Millennium (b, c), for many years shall the\nspiritual members of the Kingdom be neutralizing the sophistries of Satan,\nthat they may thoroughly cleanse the Kingdom of its spiritual defilement.\n\n39:13. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to\nthem a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.\u2014Yea\n(a) all the nations shall bury the dead; and the day of pride\u2019s (Gog\u2019s)\noverthrow shall be a celebrated day among them. All the people of the\nKingdom (b, c) shall loyally assist in cleansing their beloved Kingdom of\nthe spiritual defilement. It will always be a day to be remembered.\u2014Mal.\n4:1.\n\n39:14. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing\nthrough the land, to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the\nface of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they\nsearch.\u2014After the seven months (a) men shall be hired regularly to search\nthrough the land, in cooperation with any travelers, for any dead\nremaining on the earth, to thoroughly cleanse the land. And then, and\nafter the thousand years (b, c) spiritual teachers shall be detailed to\nremove any remaining spiritual defilement, by teaching the Truth.\n\n39:15. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a\nman\u2019s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have\nburied it in the valley of Hamon\u2010gog.\u2014Any travelers (a) passing by, that\nsee even a human bone, shall mark it for the buriers to bury in the Valley\nof Pride\u2019s Multitude. And then, and a thousand years later (b, c) any one\nnoticing any vestige of death\u2010dealing error shall mark it for the special\nteachers to cleanse away with truth.\n\n39:16. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they\ncleanse the land.\u2014There shall (a) be a city there named Multitude\n(Hamonah, Multitude). Thus shall they cleanse the land; and then (b, c)\nand beyond the thousand years there shall be a perfect government\n(city)\u2014not such a government as Satan would establish again, not usurped\nby the few, Satan and his agents, but a government, under God\u2014of\nmultitudes of restored and perfect men\u2014a Divine Republic, called\n\u201cMultitude.\u201d\n\n39:17. And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every\nfeathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and\ncome; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice\nfor you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may\neat flesh, and drink blood.\u2014God says: (a) When the proud revolutionists\nshall set themselves in array against His people, to call to the most\nexecrable of men (fowls) and to the revolutionary rulers (beasts); Come to\nthe great destruction of hosts of rebellious humanity, where you, in\nanarchy, shall destroy these people; symbolically (b, c) a call to the\nfar\u2010sighted spiritual ones (eagles) and the believing ones of earth\n(beasts\u2014members of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah) to gather themselves to\nfeast upon, to destroy with the weapons of Divine Truth, the evil\ndoctrines (flesh, as the flesh of Jesus symbolizes true doctrines) and the\ncorrupting errors (blood) of Satan.\n\n39:18. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the\nprinces of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of\nthem fatlings of Bashan.\u2014They shall (b, c) consume the sophistries of\nSatan (the mighty), and annihilate the errors of earth\u2019s great false\nteachers and rulers\u2014New Thought doctrines of devils relating to the\nattainment of perfection, to whatever kind and degree desired\u2014to be as\nmature leaders (rams), among the sheep, as tender\u2010charactered lambs, as\nself\u2010willed, self\u2010masters through thought\u2010power (goats), or as perfect\nhuman beings (bullocks), all imagining themselves actually, fully\ndeveloped (fatlings), under the delusions of Satan\u2019s fruitful mind\n(Bashan, fruitful).\n\n39:19. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be\ndrunken, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.\u2014They shall (b,\nc) with the Truth consume and destroy these false philosophies, until\nsatiated with the glorious witness for God\u2019s Truth.\n\n39:20. Thus ye shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with\nmighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.\u2014Thus (b, c) at\nGod\u2019s table of spiritual food, His people shall have an abundant feeding\nupon the truths which shall destroy the errors of the Time of Trouble, the\ndoctrines and the organizations actuated by these doctrines and the\nrulers, philosophies, teachers and workers in the cause of evil.\n\n39:21. And I will set My glory among the heathen, and all the heathen\nshall see My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid\nupon them.\u2014God will (a, b, c) make Himself renowned among all nations; and\nthey shall realize that He shall have executed judgment upon them, and\nthat it is His hand of Justice that has been laid upon them for their\nmisdeeds.\n\n39:22. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from\nthat day and forward.\u2014Thus shall (a) the Hebrews and (b, c) all professing\nChristians know Jehovah as their God, from that time on forever.\n\n39:23. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into\ncaptivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against Me,\ntherefore hid I My face from them, and gave them into the hand of their\nenemies; so fell they all by the sword.\u2014The whole world shall know that\nthe Hebrews (a) went into captivity to literal Babylon and to Mystic\nBabylon, and that the unfaithful professing Christians went into captivity\n(b) to Mystic Babylon and (c) to Satan\u2019s deceptions, because they sinned\nagainst God. For this reason He disfavored them and gave them over into\nthe power of their enemies. So shall they fall, by literal weapons of\ndestruction and (b, c) be slain by the Sword of the Spirit.\n\n39:24. According to their uncleanness and according to their\ntransgressions have I done unto them, and hid My face from them.\u2014According\nto their physical, mental, moral and spiritual pollution, and to their\nsinfulness, God will recompense and disfavor them.\n\n39:25. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the\ncaptivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and\nwill be jealous for My holy name.\u2014Then when the punishment is over (D.\n557), will God (a) release the Hebrews (A. 300) from their captivity in\nMystic Babylon and in the tomb, and antitypically that of Christendom. He\nwill show His mercy and love toward all the Hebrews, living and dead (D.\n557), and (b, c), toward all of Christendom, the quick and the dead, and\nwill vindicate His reputation for righteousness.\n\n39:26. After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses\nwhereby they have trespassed against Me, when they dwelt safely in their\nland, and none made them afraid.\u2014After they (a) have thus (D. 558) endured\ntheir shame and the punishment for all their sins, wherein they have erred\nagainst the Lord, while the Jews were peacefully dwelling in Palestine (b,\nc) and the professing Christians in Christendom, and while no one made\nthem afraid, the sure results shall follow.\n\n39:27. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them\nout of their enemies\u2019 lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of\nmany nations.\u2014In Zionism (a) God shall regather the Jews and (b, c) bring\nJews and Christians alike back from the great enemy, death, and by their\nholy, consecrated lives, He will be hallowed in the regard of the whole\nworld.\n\n39:28. Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused\nthem to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them\nunto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.\u2014Then shall\nthey in humble thankfulness appreciate that God is the beloved Jehovah,\nthe Just One, who shall have punished them with captivity among the\nnations, and then in infinite Wisdom, Power and Love shall have gathered\nall of them, living and dead, (a) back to their former homes in Palestine\n(b, c) and in Christendom, and shall have left not one in captivity any\nmore.\n\n39:29. Neither will I hide My face any more from them: for I have poured\nout My Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.\u2014God will not\ndisfavor them any more: for He will pour out upon them (a) Jews and (b, c)\nChristians together, His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to abide in them\nforever.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n Great truths are dearly bought. The common truth,\n Such as men give and take from day to day,\n Comes in the common walk of easy life,\n Blown by the careless wind across our way.\n\n Great truths are dearly won; not found by chance,\n Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;\n But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,\n Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.\n\n Not in the general clash of human creeds,\n Nor in the merchandise \u2019twixt church and world,\n Is truth\u2019s fair treasure found, \u2019mongst tares and weeds;\n Nor her fair banner in their midst unfurled.\n\n Truth springs like harvest from the well\u2010ploughed fields,\n Rewarding patient toll, and faith, and zeal.\n To those thus seeking her, she ever yields\n Her richest treasures for their lasting weal.\n\n\n\n\nEzekiel 40\u201048\u2014God\u2019s Temple And River Of Truth\n\n\nThis vision of the prophet Ezekiel depicts the established theocratic\nKingdom of God on earth, civil and religious, spiritual and earthly. While\nthe Temple is an architectural possibility, as shown in the accompanying\nillustrations, (and may be erected at Jerusalem), it, in its various\nparts, surroundings, rites and worshippers, is a type and symbol of\n\u201cbetter things to come,\u201d after the wars, revolutions and anarchy of the\nperiod from 1914 to 1925 have passed.\n\nThe Time of the establishment of the Kingdom in power is indicated as \u201cin\nthe fourteenth year after that the city (Christendom) was smitten\u201d\u2014or\nthirteen years after 1918, viz., in 1931.\u2014Ezek. 40:1.\n\nPlace.\u2014The Temple was seen in the \u201cland of Israel\u201d\u2014in Palestine. As a\nplace types a condition, the land of Israel is typical of the condition of\nthe whole world of mankind; and the city, at the south side of a very high\nmountain, is symbolic of the established earthly phase (south) of the\nDivine Government overshadowed by the autocratic (very high) spiritual\nphase of the Kingdom (mountain).\u2014Ezek. 40:2.\n\nBy Whom.\u2014The one who showed the Temple to the Church, the Elijah class,\nwas \u201cthe man in linen\u201d\u2014Pastor Russell. The brass (copper) of vs. 3\nrepresents his justification. In his power (hand) were the Divine\nstandards of measurement\u2014the reed (Word of God) and the \u201cline of flax\u201d\n(linen, righteousness). His standing was in the east gate of the\nSanctuary\u2014in Christ (gate). With the Word he measured the Temple (the\nChurch, and the subsidiary classes) and with the standard of perfect\nDivine righteousness (flax, linen) he measured the progress of the life\u2010\ngiving River of Truth.\u2014Ezek. 40:3; 43:6; 44:4; 47:1\u20103.\n\nPurpose.\u2014The vision is important. Those that have eyes to see and ears to\nhear, must set their heart upon all that the Laodicean steward shows them,\n\u201cfor to the intent that I might show them unto thee, art thou brought\nhither.\u201d (40:4.) The hearers are to declare all that they see, to\nprofessing Christians (house of Israel), that they may be ashamed of\nformer beliefs and practices, and in complete consecration seek to conform\nthemselves to all the Divine standards.\u2014Ezek. 43:10\u201012; 44:4\u20106; 47:6.\n\nThe Measures.\u2014The standards of the Kingdom will be the fulness of the Word\nof God (the reed of 9 feet of six \u201cgreat cubits,\u201d each about 18 inches, or\nof a 15\u2010inch cubit and a handbreadth) (Ezek. 40:3, 5), and the standard of\nDivine righteousness.\u2014Ezek. 40:3, 47:3.\n\nAn interchangeable decimal system of dry and liquid measures is given,\nsymbolic of just and righteous dealing. An ephah (dry measure) equals a\nbath (liquid measure), and ten of either is a homer or cor. The homer is\nabout 75 gallons and the ephah and the bath, one tenth of a homer, or 7\u2010\u00bd\ngallons each. (Ezek. 45:10\u201011).\n\nThe measures of volume are to be used chiefly in connection with the\nsacrifices\u2014so many ephahs of wheat or baths of oil as a meat or drink\noffering with a bullock, etc.\n\nSymbolisms of Numbers.\u2014Numbers are used as symbols of completeness or\nperfection, or their opposite. The common conception of the symbolisms of\nnumbers is:\n\n\n One\u2014Unity, self\u2010sufficiency.\n\n Two\u2014Duality, couples.\n\n Three\u2014That in itself complete, invisible, infinite.\n\n Four\u2014That in which God reveals Himself completely, as the four\n cherubim, the four\u2010sided altar, and the cubic shaped Most Holy.\n\n Five\u2014Used in connection with ten, completeness in the stage,\n degree, or power attained or ordained; a symbol of Divinity.\n\n Six\u2014Secular completeness, or completeness according to man;\n imperfection; also full measure of the Word.\u2014Ezek. 40:5.\n\n Seven\u2014The sum of three and four; religious or Divine completeness\n or perfection; the covenant number. The half of seven (3\u2010\u00bd), the\n broken number, appears in connection with suffering.\n\n Ten\u2014The natural symbol of perfection, completeness, complete\n development, a complete and perfect whole.\n\n Twelve\u2014Three times four; the number of the covenant people;\n completeness of organization; national completeness.\n\n Multiples or powers of these numbers combine or intensify their\n symbolism.\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\nSymbolism of Directions.\u2014The north points to spiritual things, the south\nto earthly things, the east to Christ and His ransom sacrifice. The right\nis the side of favor, the left of less favor, or of disfavor. Higher\nelevations represent higher planes of being or of power; lower planes the\nopposite.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Figure 1. The Division Of The Land\n\n\nThe Land and Its Divisions.\u2014As places typify conditions, the land of\nCanaan, of the children of Israel, types the whole world of mankind. Its\ndivision among the twelve tribes, in equal parts varying in nearness to\nthe central sacred portion, suggests, among restored humanity, twelve\nconditions or degrees of honor in the Kingdom, each individual being\naccorded a place befitting his loyalty and love during his trial or\njudgment period. The meaning of the names of the tribes is suggestive, the\nnames being in order of nearness to the central sacred portion. (See\nFigure 1.)\u2014See Rev. 7.\n\nTo the north of the sacred portion: Judah (praise, Gen. 49:8\u201012); Reuben\n(behold a son, Gen. 49:3\u20104); Ephraim (doubly fruitful, Gen. 48:15\u201020);\nManasseh (causing forgetfulness, Gen. 48:15\u201020); Naphtali (wrestling, Gen.\n49:21); Asher (happy, Gen. 49:20); and at the extreme north, Dan (judge,\nGen. 49:16\u201018).\u2014Ezek. 48:1\u20107.\n\nTo the south of the central sacred portion: Benjamin (son of the right\nhand, Gen. 49:27); Simeon (hearing, Gen. 49:5\u20107); Issachar (bearing\nreward, Gen. 49:14\u201015); Zebulun (dwelling, Gen. 49:13); and at the extreme\nsouth, Gad (seer, lot, fortune, Gen. 49:19). (Ezek. 48:23\u201029.) The name\nmeanings and Jacob\u2019s prophetic blessings are significant of Kingdom\nconditions.\n\nFigure 1 shows the division of Palestine into the strips assigned to the\ntribes and the central sacred portion.\n\nThe Boundaries of the Land (Ezek. 47:13\u201021) are through places whose name\u2010\nmeanings are suggestive of Kingdom conditions. On the north side: Hethlon\n(stronghold), Hamath (defended, walled), Berotha (food), Sibraim (double\nhill), Hazar\u2010Hatticon (middle court), Hauran (cave district), Hazar\u2010enan\n(court of the fountains) and Damascus (similitude of burning). On the east\nside: Gilead (strong, rocky), Israel (ruling with God), and Jordan\n(descender). On the south side: Tamar (palm), and Kadesh (holy). On the\nwest: the Great Sea (peoples and nations).\n\nThe land is to be apportioned by lot, symbolizing that the station of\nKingdom honor of individuals in the Times of Restitution is not\npredestinated but the result of the degree of effort and of consecration.\n(Ezek. 45:1.) Whatever the honor attained, it cannot be taken away. (Ezek.\n46:18.) All are to have an equal chance. (Ezek. 47:14.) Former pagan and\nheathen persons (strangers) are to have the same chance as God\u2019s chosen\npeople, the Jews, as though born to the same honored favor.\u2014Ezek.\n47:22\u201023.\n\nThe Holy Offering of Land.\u2014(Figure 2.) The people are not to occupy all\nthe land, but are to devote as a sacred offering, or \u201coblation,\u201d a central\nstrip across Palestine, 25,000 reeds or about 42.6 miles wide, to sacred\nand governmental uses. Figure 2 shows the holy offering of land and its\ndivisions. The two ends of the strip will be for the Prince, typing the\ncondition of the Prince, or Ancient Worthy class. The 25,000\u2010reeds\u2010square\ndimensions of the central section\u2014as powers and multiples of ten and\nfive\u2014combined with the full measure (reed) of the Divine Word as applying\nto the classes therein represented, suggest the exalted degree of\nperfection of these classes. The conditions represented are: at the north\n(spiritual) the Divine nature of the Little Flock (priests); in the\nmiddle, the intermediate, lower spirit nature of the Great Company\n(Levites); at the south, of half the width, of a lesser degree of honor\n(secular), the perfect human nature of those engaged in the actual\ngovernment of the world. As in many other types the same antitypes are\npresented repeatedly in their several phases.\u2014Ezek. 45:1, 4, 7; 48:20.\n\nLand of the Priests.\u2014The northern section, 10,000 reeds wide, of the holy\ncentral square, typifies the condition of the Little Flock, of the highest\nspirit nature, the Divine, (northernmost). This is a \u201cmost holy\u201d\ncondition. (Ezek. 48:9\u201012.) In it, as appertains to the inheritors of the\nnature of God, will be the Sanctuary\u2014the entire Temple and its\ncourts\u2014typing the spiritual domain of the ruling Christ over all the\naffairs of the coming Kingdom of Heaven on earth.\u2014Ezek. 44:28; 45:3\u20104;\n48:8\u201012.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Figure 2. The Holy Offering Of Land\n\n\nLand of the Levites.\u2014Inferior as to direction, toward the south (toward\nearthly things), the spiritual condition (land) of the Great Company\n(Levites) will be, as have been their religious lives\u2014trending from\nheavenly to earthly throughout the Gospel Age of Divine opportunity. This\nwill be their condition throughout eternity, unchangeable, inalienable\u2014but\n\u201choly unto Jehovah.\u201d There will be among them twenty grades of\nhonor\u2014\u201ctwenty chambers.\u201d\u2014Ezek. 45:5; 48:13\u201014.\n\nSecular Land for the City.\u2014At the extreme south (earthly) of the holy\nsquare will be a 5,000\u2010reed\u2010wide section which will be \u201csecular for the\ncity.\u201d This represents in miniature the perfect human condition of the\nvisible rulers (city) of the earthly phase of the Kingdom and of all those\nunder that Divine government\u2014the whole world of mankind (Israel). The city\nwill be in the middle of this section, a 4,500\u2010reed square, which, with a\nborder or suburb 250 reeds wide all around, reaches across the secular\nland, symbolizing the dominance of the coming world government over the\nhuman race. (Ezek. 45:6, 7; 48:15\u201020, 35.) So extraordinary and heart\u2010\nsatisfying will be the methods of and the blessings from the Divine\ngovernment (city) that it will appropriately be called \u201cThe Wonder of\nJehovah.\u201d\u2014E. _46_, 43.\n\nLand for Sanctuary.\u2014In the center of the priests\u2019 land will be the land\nfor the Sanctuary, an area 500 cubits, or 750 feet square, surrounded by a\n50\u2010cubit, or 75\u2010foot, border or \u201csuburb.\u201d In this square will be the\nwalls, courts and structures of the sanctuary. It will type again in\nminiature, in detail, the conditions of all classes in the Kingdom from\nthe Christ (priests) down, as regards their religious relationship to one\nanother and to God.\u2014Ezek. 45:2\u20103.\n\nLand for the Prince.\u2014Both of the ends of the 25,000\u2010reed\u2010wide offering of\nland, east and west of the central holy square, will be given to \u201cthe\nPrince,\u201d typing the perfect human condition of the Ancient Worthies, or\novercomers before the Gospel Age, who shall be \u201cPrinces in all the earth.\u201d\nAs the Prince\u2019s land will not be inalienable but may be given away by the\nPrince, so to certain classes it will be given to share in the perfected\ncondition of the Ancient Worthies.\u2014Ezek. 45:7\u20108; 46:16\u201018; 48:21\u201022.\n\nThe Classes.\u2014In the Kingdom there will be several distinct classes,\naccording to opportunity and degree of faithfulness in ages preceding\nestablishment of the Kingdom.\n\nThe priests will be the glorified Little Flock, faithful unto death, sons\nof God, the Righteous One (Zadok, righteous), who during the Gospel Age\n\u201ckept the charge of God\u2019s Sanctuary,\u201d by faithfulness to the Word of God\nat any cost. They will be \u201cof the Divine nature.\u201d\u2014Ezek. 40:44\u201046;\n43:18\u201027; 44:15\u201031; 45:4; 48:10\u201012.\n\nThe antitypical Levites (Great Company), will have spirit nature akin to\nthe angelic, because though during the Gospel Age they were also begotten\nof the Spirit, sons of God (Zadok, righteous), they \u201cwent astray from God,\nafter their idols;\u201d they ministered unto the people before their idols and\ncaused the house of Israel (Christendom) to fall into iniquity. They shall\nbear their iniquity.\u2014Ezek. 44:10\u201014; 45:5; 48:13\u201014.\n\nThe Ancient Worthies (the Prince), who in the Jewish Age were faithful\nunto death amid incredible trials of faith (Heb. 11), will during the\n1,000 years be of the perfect human nature, and will be on earth the\nvisible leaders and rulers of mankind.\u2014Ezek. 44:1\u20103; 45:7\u201017, 21\u201025;\n46:16\u201018; 48:21\u201022.\n\nThe servants of the city will be of the perfect human nature, and engaged\nin the multifarious duties of a world wide government. They will be taken\nfrom amongst mankind. Some are spoken of as servants and some as sons of\nthe Ancient Worthies.\u2014Ezek. 48:18\u201019; 46:16\u201018.\n\nThe people of the Kingdom will be first the resurrected Hebrews, making\nprogress during the 1,000 years toward human perfection, but who in\nprevious ages had not been consecrated to God and had been far astray from\nHim. (Romans 1.)\u2014Ezek. 43:7\u20109; 44:6\u201012, 15, 19, 23\u201030; 45:6\u201021; 46:1\u20103,\n9\u201010; 47:13\u201014; 48:11, 18\u201019, 23\u201029.\n\nThe \u201cstrangers\u201d will be the resurrected billions of humanity, not Jews,\nwho gaining the heart circumcision of a conscience cleansed by the blood\nof Jesus, shall be as though born to the same conditions as the Hebrews.\nNone of them shall have part in the direct service of God.\u2014Ezek. 44:9;\n47:22\u201023; Zech. 14:20\u201021; Numbers 31:47; Joel 3:17; Joshua 9:22\u201027; Rev.\n21:27.\n\nSanctuary and Outer Court.\u2014The Sanctuary will be the entire enclosure\ndevoted to the Divine service. According to Ezekiel 45:2 the exterior wall\nis around a square of 500 cubits, and by 42:16\u201020 it is 500 _reeds_, or\n3,000 cubits square; but the latter is translated \u201ccubits\u201d in the\nSeptuagint, and the former agrees minutely with the internal measurements.\nAbout the outer court of 500 cubits square will be a border or suburb 50\ncubits wide to separate the Sanctuary from the surrounding land. (Ezek.\n42:20.) The outer court types the condition of the Ancient Worthies and of\nthe Hebrews and the world of mankind, the former of actually perfect\nhumanity, and the latter of a perfect heart condition and striving toward\nhuman perfection. This court will be at an elevation above the surrounding\nland and will be reached by seven steps, symbolizing the human perfection,\nactual or heart, of those that enter the court. It will be surrounded by a\nwall one reed high and a reed thick. The wall types Christ in the Ancient\nWorthies, who will constitute the embodiment of the Divinely appointed\nwall of faith about the Sanctuary. The reed indicates the full measure of\nthe Divine Word as regards the human nature.\u2014Ezek. 40:6, 17\u201019, 22\u201023, 27,\n34; 42:1, 7\u20109, 14\u201020; 43:1\u20105; 44:1\u20103, 19; 45:1\u20102; 46:19\u201024.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Figure 3. The Sanctuary\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Figure 4. The Temple\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Figure 5.\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Figure 6. One Of The Outer Court Gates\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Figure 7. Section Through Most Holy Across The Sanctuary\n\n\nInner Court.\u2014The inner court will be an enclosure toward the rear or west\nof the outer court, 200 cubits wide by 300 deep. It types the spirit\u2010born\ncondition of the Great Company (Levites), and is at an elevation of eight\nsteps, symbolizing by one step the change to spirit nature and by seven\nsteps the perfection of that nature\u2014perfect, though not the highest\nnature. Its wall represents Christ in the Great Company, and the absence\nof dimensions for the wall represents that \u201cit doth not yet appear\u201d what\nthe spirit nature is like. Both inner and outer courts will be adorned\nwith colonnades of pillars, probably along the inner border of the\npavements, typing those on each plane of being who shall be \u201cpillars in\nthe house of Jehovah.\u201d\u2014Ezekiel 40:27, 28, 34, 37, 39\u201047; 42:2\u20104; 43:4\u20105;\n44:17\u201018, 21, 25\u201027; 46:19\u201024.\n\nThe Temple.\u2014The Temple building (Figure 4) will be toward the rear and\nreaching to within 50 cubits of the rear of the inner court. It will be on\na platform 60 cubits wide by 100 deep. This types the condition of the\nLittle Flock, born from the dead to the nature of God. It will be elevated\none reed above the inner court, representing that the Divine nature is the\nfull measure of the Word of God above any other spirit nature, \u201cfar above\nangels, principalities and powers.\u201d Its infinite height above other\nnatures is indicated by the fact that the number of steps up to it is not\nstated, for it is an immeasurable, infinite elevation. (41:8\u201011.) The\nTemple will be entered by a porch, and will contain \u201cthe holy\u201d twenty by\nforty cubits, and the \u201cMost Holy\u201d or \u201coracle\u201d twenty cubits square, inside\nmeasurement. These rooms type the glorious condition of the Christ, Head\nand Body, of the nature of God. That the person being shown tills did not\nenter the Most Holy (Ez. 41:3, 4) suggests that it is not given to know\nyet \u201cwhat we shall be,\u201d in that condition where \u201cthe glory of Jehovah\nfilled the house.\u201d\u2014Ezek. 41:1\u20102, 43:5.\n\nPavements and Open Ways.\u2014The outer and inner courts will not be simple\ninclosures, as was the Tabernacle court, but each will include a bordering\nspace, or pavement, 50 cubits wide, occupied by gates, buildings, and\npassage ways, typing conditions and activities in the condition typed by\nthe inclosure. That embraced by the outer court will be the \u201clower\npavement.\u201d (40:17\u201018.) This will contain the east, north and south gates\nof the outer court, and four corner courts where the Levites will bake and\nboil the sacrifices of the people. It will also contain 30 chambers,\ntyping that number of conditions or activities among those resurrected and\nperfected or progressing toward human perfection. Each of the four corner\ncourts upon the lower pavement will be 30 by 40 cubits in size and will be\nsurrounded by a row of structures under which will be the boiling places\nfor the preparation of their sacrifices to be eaten by the people. (Ezek.\n46:21\u201024.) At the center of the east, north and south lower pavements will\nbe the outer gates, like covered corridors or lobbies extending entirely\nacross the 50\u2010cubit pavement to the outer court proper, as shown in Figure\n3.\n\nThe corresponding 50\u2010cubit pavement of the inner court is not definitely\ntermed a pavement, but the name is inferred from the designation \u201clower\npavement\u201d for the outer court pavement. It will contain the inner court\ngate, and buildings for certain activities of the priests and the Levites.\nThe inner court 50\u2010cubit pavement leaves an inner space of 100 cubits\nsquare\u2014the inner court proper\u2014facing the Temple and with the brazen altar\nin the middle. This 100\u2010cubit\u2010wide area will extend west about the Temple\nplatform, surrounding it on the north, west and south, with an open space\n20 cubits wide, called \u201cthe separate place.\u201d On the upper pavement,\nflanking the Temple north and south, and of the same length\u2014100 cubits\u2014as\nthe Temple, will be two buildings on each side for the priests, called the\n\u201cpriests\u2019 chambers.\u201d These buildings will be separated from each other by\na 10\u2010cubit walk along the center line of the upper pavement. The outer of\neach of the two pairs of \u201cpriests\u2019 chambers\u201d will be 50 cubits long, half\nthe length of the inner buildings. These are located on the upper\npavement. At the rear or west end of the upper pavement will be little\nsquare courts, similar to the corner courts of the lower pavement, and\nused by the priests for boiling and baking the sacrifices eaten by the\npriests.\u2014Ezek. 40:17\u201018; 41:10\u201015; 42:1\u201014; 45:2; 46:19\u201024.\n\nThe lesser elevation of the plane of these pavements, courts and ways,\ntypes the lower plane of Spiritual being of the persons, and their\nactivities type things to be done on that plane.\n\nChambers and Galleries for Priests.\u2014In the inner court near the north gate\nwill be a chamber (Fig 3, D) with a door looking toward the south, and one\nnear the east gate with its door looking toward the north. These will be\nfor the Priestly singers, the sweet singers in Israel, the Little Flock,\nsinging to God and to the people concerning the Kingdom blessings. These\nimmortal ones will sing the praises of God for His goodness to those in\nthe spirit phase (north) of the Kingdom, and for the blessings flowing\nfrom Christ\u2019s ransom altar (east gate) through restitution to those in the\nearthly (south) phase of the Kingdom.\u2014Ezek. 40:44\u201046.\n\nOn the north and on the south pavements of the inner court flanking the\nTemple will be the two pairs of parallel priests\u2019 chambers (Figures 3 and\n5), in each pair the inner building 100 cubits long and the outer 50\ncubits. They will be three stories high, the top story narrower than the\nothers and leaving galleries facing each other across the 10\u2010cubit way\nbetween them, into which their doors will open one on each side of the\nway. In these chambers, lighted by narrow windows the priests will lay the\nmost holy things, and eat the most holy things, including the meat, sin\nand trespass offerings of prince and people in the Millennial Age;\nhumanity having been bought by Christ will make the consecration of\nthemselves and their all to Christ, Head and Body. The Christ (priest)\nwill accept their consecrations (lay them in the priests\u2019 chambers) and\nappropriate them to themselves (eat the offerings). In the sacred\nconditions represented by the priests\u2019 chambers the priests will have\ntheir feasts of love, as they rejoice over the consecrated efforts of\nearth\u2019s billions in their progress toward human perfection, and\nthereafter. When the priests come out to the outer court with the people\nthey will change the holy garments they wore in the priest\u2019s chambers and\nput on other garments. The holy garments type the promises and Word of God\nas concerns the Divine immortal nature, and the other garments will be the\nWord and covenant of God as respects things concerning the people and\ntheir restitution hopes and blessings.\u2014Ezek. 42:1\u201014; 44:19, 29\u201030; 46:19\n20.\n\nThe Temple will be built with double walls all around, except the porch in\nfront (Figures 3, 4 and 5). This will leave a space within the walls\ntermed the \u201cside chambers,\u201d in three stories reached by winding stairs,\nand reaching up set quite to the top of the Temple inner wall. Each story\nwill be divided into 30 rooms. The second story rooms will be wider than\nthe first, and the third story wider than the second. This will be\naccomplished by making the thick walls thinner each story up. The floor\nbeams will rest, not in the walls, but on the recessions of thickness with\neach story. No function is stated by Ezekiel, but the similar side\nchambers in Solomon\u2019s Temple were utilized for keeping Temple treasures\nand vessels. In antitype the Temple is the Church, the Christ, Head and\nBody, and in the chambers of memory of the Divine Christ will be stored up\nnot only the character treasures of oil and incense and of gold and silver\nand precious stones laid up in Heaven during the Gospel Age, but also the\nlike treasures offered by mankind throughout the Millennial Age. Only the\npriests will have access to these treasures and the Little Flock will\nforever guard these most precious offerings. The three stories, each\nwider, suggest the character treasures laid up by those on the three\nplanes, Human, Spirit, and Divine.\u2014Ezek. 41:5\u20109; 1 Kings 6:5\u201010; 2 Chron.\n3:9.\n\nThe Ezekiel Temple represents God\u2019s finished work. The Holy does not type\nthe spirit\u2010begotten condition, but rather the _memory of it_ as a Divinely\naccomplished work\u2014for the experiences of the spirit\u2010begotten condition\nwill never be lost. The Most Holy types the accomplished Divine nature. No\nfurniture appears in either of these sacred chambers, except in the Holy,\nan altar of a kind of wood not stated\u2014an altar designated as \u201cThis is the\ntable that is before Jehovah.\u201d If it is to be the same as is in Solomon\u2019s\nTemple it will be cedar\u2014type of immortality, the Divine nature. No mention\nis made of offerings at this altar, for the time of the Christ\u2019s sacrifice\nwill be past. The interior of both chambers will be sheathed with\nwood\u2014presumably cedar, type of immortality\u2014up to the narrow windows at the\ntop of the inner wall of the Temple. The interior decorations of palm\ntrees, alternating with two\u2010faced cherubim, with the faces of a lion and\nof a man, type that the purpose and concern of God\u2019s glorious Temple will\nbe the administration of the affairs of perfect righteous men (palm trees)\nunder the joint auspices of Divine Justice and Love. If the two\u2010leaved\ndoors into the Holy and the Most Holy are to be of the same wood as in\nSolomon\u2019s Temple, they will be of olive, type of the peace of God that\npasseth understanding for those privileged to enter through the door of\nChrist.\u2014Ezek. 41:13\u201025.\n\nBack of, or west of the rear of the Temple, and separated from it by the\ntwenty cubits of the separate place will be the western building, a\nstructure of inside dimensions 70 by 90 cubits and with walls 5 cubits\nthick, making the outside dimensions 80 by 100, or including the 20\u2010cubit\nseparate place, 100 cubits square, indicating the Divine perfection of the\nclass represented by it. This is not connected in any way with the altar\nor the Holy or Most Holy, and its use is not stated. It answers the\ndescription of such a class of beings as the angels.\u2014Ezek. 41:12\u201013.\n\nChambers for the Levites.\u2014Certain chambers will be set apart for the\nactivities of the Levites. Near the outer door of the north gate of the\ninner court (a work done by the spirit phase of the Kingdom) on the upper\npavement will be a chamber where the Levite will wash the burnt offerings\nof the people. In the porch or lobby of the same gate will be four tables\nof hewn stone, each 1\u2010\u00bd cubits square by a cubit high, on which will be\nlaid the instruments for slaying the sacrifices, and whereon the\nsacrifices will be slain and their flesh laid out. In the outer court\noutside the inner court gate and beside the steps leading up to the gate,\nwill be the four more tables for slaying the sacrifices, two on each side\nof the steps. In antitype, the offerers will make or renew the\nconsecration of themselves, under the various required conditions, and\nwill be accepted by the Great Company (Levites) who will act between the\npeople and the Little Flock (priests). The utter consecration of the\npersons, typed by the death of the animals, will be supervised and\ndirected by the Great Company, and the offerers will endeavor to conform\nthemselves to the character pattern, suggested by the cut stone of the\ntables and the resting of the flesh and the slaughter instruments upon the\ntables. Those offering themselves in heartfelt consecration as an\nexpression of their thankfulness to God (burnt offering) will be cleansed\nin character by the teachings of the Word of God (washed with water)\nimparted by the Great Company (Levites).\u2014Ezek. 40:39\u201043.\n\nCertain of their offerings the people are to eat, figuring their\nassimilation in their very beings of the consecrations made. This process\nwill not be without fiery trials, ameliorated by the Word of God (hot\nwater), chastenings at the hands of the Great Company (Levites)\u2014typed by\nthe boiling of the sacrifices by the Levites preparatory to their being\neaten by the people. This activity of the Great Company is typed in the\nboiling places at the courts in the corners of the lower pavement.\u2014Ezek.\n46:21\u201024.\n\nFurther activities by the Levites of thirty kinds in behalf of or in\ncooperation with the people, may be typed in the thirty chambers along the\nlower pavement of the outer court.\u2014Ezek. 40:17\u201018.\n\nGates, Doors, Porches, etc.\u2014In the Tabernacle the gate, the door and the\nveil, all facing the east, typed Christ and in a certain sense those in\nHim. None might enter these holy entrances except those having to do, as\nactual or probationary, participants in the sin offering. So in the\nEzekiel Temple, in connection with the east gate of the outer and inner\ncourts is pictured the entrance of those in previous ages having to do\nwith the fiery sufferings connected with the sin offering\u2014the Little Flock\nand the Ancient Worthies. The Little Flock is depicted as the glory of God\nentering by the east gate of the outer court and the east gate of the\ninner court, and finally into the Temple (Ezek. 43:1\u20105), typing the\nprogress of the Christ Body through Christ Jesus, as the way (gate) into\nimputed human perfection (outer court) through the \u201cchange\u201d to the Spirit\nplane (inner court) and up to the immeasurable exaltation of the nature of\nGod (Temple). After the full entrance of the Body of Christ the outer gate\nshall be shut, and no one shall enter except the Ancient Worthies, who\nwere privileged to enter their honorable estate by the door of self\u2010\nsacrifice unto death. (Ezek. 44:1\u20103.) In the condition of being in Christ,\nin the mind of Christ, the Ancient Worthies shall \u201csit\u201d, communing with\nChrist and with God, assimilating the Word of God (eating), which shall\nstrengthen them for their stupendous task of the government and\nregeneration of the whole world of mankind.\n\nThe eastern gate of the inner court, the way to the Divine nature through\nsacrifice, will be closed after the entrance of the glory of God, the Body\nof Christ, in whom God dwells, and no one shall ever enter therein, as\npictured in the parable of the foolish virgins. (Z. \u201905\u2010267; Ezek. 46:1).\nIn this gate, in Christ, at the very inner door of the gate, having met\nall the conditions qualifying for entrance upon the spirit nature,\nthroughout the Millennium, God\u2019s seventh day (the Sabbath), and the day of\nthe New Covenant (new moon), the Ancient Worthies will have their\nstanding. There in intimate communion with the glorified Christ they will\nmake their thankful consecrations of themselves and their vows fulfill\n(burnt and peace offerings), having their standing in Him Whom they\npreceded in suffering, and Whom they follow in time and place.\u2014Ezek.\n46:1\u20108, 12.\n\nEntrance at the north or south gates of the inner or outer courts\nsignifies, not participation in, but benefit from the Sin Offering. The\ngate looking toward the north (spirit phase) types the looking toward the\nDivinely provided ransom. It will be where the people will present their\nsacrifices, and figures their consecrations and their acknowledgment of\nthe altar, the blood of Jesus Christ. The gate looking toward the south\nwill look figuratively toward restitution. Those entering it, too, will\nacknowledge the blood, for in entering it they will face directly toward\nthe altar. On the solemn feast days, the people and the Prince entering\nthe north gate must not go out by the same gate, but by the south gate,\nand vice versa. This types that every one entering the plane of actual or\nheart perfection on the human plane must acknowledge that the restitution\n(south) blessings were brought by the spiritually (north) provided blood\nof the Redeemer.\u2014Ezek. 40:20\u201031; 44:4\u20106; 46:9\u201010.\n\nThe typical importance of the gates, doors and porches is emphasized in\nEzekiel 44:5 \u201cMark well, and behold with thine eyes (of understanding),\nand hear with thine ears (of spiritual hearing), all that I shall say\n(write) unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of Jehovah,\nand the laws thereof, and mark well the entering in of the house, with\nevery going forth of the Sanctuary.\u201d\n\nThe court gates (Figure 6) will be hallways crossing the 50\u2010cubit\npavements. The size will be 50 by 25 cubits. The outer court gate will be\nentered from a flight of seven steps over the outer threshold through a\ndoor. The narrow hallway will be flanked by six little chambers projecting\nout one cubit into the hallway, three in a side, and will end over an\ninner threshold in a porch or lobby, frequently translated \u201carch\u201d, from\nwhich an inner door will open into the court. The inner court gate will be\nof identical but reversed construction, the porch or lobby coming first.\nThe interior will be dimly lighted by narrow windows. The walls along the\nhallway\u2014the posts\u2014will be adorned with palm trees, reminders,\nantitypically, that the purpose of the entire sanctuary is to promote the\nglory of God by the restoration of mankind to perfection (palms). The six\nlittle chambers type six conditions to be complied with by those actually\nor at heart on the perfect human plane, the size of the chambers\u2014one reed\nsquare\u2014signifying that each of these conditions embraces the full measure\nof the Word of God (reed)\u2014perfect requirement in that respect.\u2014Ezek.\n40:6\u201043; 43:1\u20104; 44:1\u20105; 46:1\u201012.\n\nThe porch of each gate and of the Temple types Christ, as the\nresurrection\u2014\u201cI am the resurrection.\u201d In the outer court gates the person\nentering will pass the little chambers first and the porch afterward,\ntyping that during the Times of Restitution the world of mankind will meet\nthe conditions before being fully resurrected to perfection. In the inner\ncourt gates the porch will come first, signifying that the person is first\nraised to the spirit condition and then is developed. In connection with\nthe Temple porch there will be no little chambers, typing that the Little\nFlock will have met all the conditions before their exaltation.\u2014Ezek.\n40:8\u20109, 16, 20\u201022, 24\u201026, 33\u201036, 39\u201043, 48\u201049; 41:23\u201026.\n\nThe entrance to the Temple will be through a lofty porch, flanked by two\ngreat pillars. These pillars will be suggestively named, as in Solomon\u2019s\nTemple, the right one, Jachin (He shall establish) and the left one, Boaz\n(In it is strength). In these inspiring reminders are seen the mighty\nstrength of The Christ, possessors of all power in Heaven and in earth,\nwith which God through them will establish His Kingdom.\u20141 Kings 7:13\u201022.\n\nThe priests\u2019 chambers on the upper pavement of the Inner court will be\nentered by a separate gate and separate stairs from the outer court,\nsuggesting that the entree to the love feasts of the Little Flock will be\nexclusively for them alone. (Ezek. 46:19). The gates of the city will be\ntwelve in number, three on a side, and each named for one of the twelve\ntribes.\u2014Ezek. 48:31\u201034.\n\nThe Altars.\u2014As the entire Plan of salvation centers about the ransom\nsacrifice of Jesus Christ, so at the mathematical center of the Ezekiel\nTemple will be the great brazen altar, with its rites, and offerings, and\nthe blood, typing the ransom and the antitypical sin offering. It will be\nat the center of both the outer court and of the inner court, and of the\npriests\u2019 land and of the land divided among the tribes, typical of the\nworld. The court gates will all point toward it, and facing it will be the\nsteps, porch, and outer and inner doors of the Temple. The construction\nand dimensions of the altar are given in Fig. 7. The brazen altar will be\n4x12x12 cubits; it will be reached by stairsteps from the east, and will\nrest upon two borders or \u201csettles,\u201d respectively, 4x14x14 cubits and\n2x16x16 cubits, the lower of which will rest upon a bottom or foundation\n1x18x18 cubits. The Tabernacle altar was 3x5x5 cubits, the dimensions\nsuggesting incompleteness, as compared with the numerical symbolism of the\nEzekiel altar. This altar types the completed work of the Sin Offering and\nwill be seen to be of far greater magnitude and importance than even the\neye of faith can now perceive while the suffering work is in process. Its\nelevation by the bottom and two settles suggests the lofty exaltation of\nThe Christ who participated in the Sin Offering far above the\nbeneficiaries from the blood\u2014the Great Company and the perfected world of\nhumanity. It will be approached by stairs to the height of the base of the\naltar proper, typing that the evidence of the sacrifices by the offerers\nwill be carried into Heaven itself.\u2014Ezek. 40:44\u201047; 43:13\u201027; 45:18\u201020;\n47:1.\n\nThe Offerings.\u2014The various offerings typify the following:\n\nA burnt offering will be a thankful prayer to God, acknowledging His\nmercy, wisdom and love as manifested in the broken Body of the offerer\u2019s\ngreat Ransomer.\n\nA peace offering will be the fulfilment of a vow or a willing thank\noffering; the offerer eating the sacrifice will be his appropriation to\nhimself of the consecration; with it he will eat certain things such as\nunleavened cakes, oil and anointed wafers, signifying his faith in\nChrist\u2019s character which he will copy.\n\nA trespass offering signifies reconsecration in connection with\nrestoration for wrong, with recognition of the offerer\u2019s imperfection and\nthe value of the ransom.\n\nA meat offering of fine flour, unleavened cakes, oil, etc., signifies the\nconsecration of the offerer\u2019s all, the sample burned on the altar meaning\nthe consecration\u2019s approval and acceptance by Jehovah.\n\nThe sin offering will be an acknowledgment of past sins and of the\napplication of the merit of the Ransom, with repentance and reconsecration\nof the offerer.\n\nDefilement and Cleansing.\u2014There will be defilement of individuals and the\npast defilement of the whole world. The general defilements involving\nall\u2014referring in part to the typical location of the palace of Solomon and\nthe kings, close to the Temple\u2014are Christendom\u2019s defilement of God\u2019s holy\nname by their erroneous teachings about Him and by the lives of those evil\nclergy and laity who presumed to bear His name; their \u201cwhoredoms,\u201d or\nunhallowed union of church and state; their permitting of prominent\npersons\u2014clergy and laity\u2014who were dead in trespasses and sins, to assume\nelevated places in the worship of God; their conjoining the entrance into\nthe Temple class (a church) with entrance into places of influence; their\nestablishing the same wall of living members of the churches as the wall\nof business and the state; their encouraging unconsecrated persons, not\nspirit\u2010begotten, to serve in the holy things in the church as teachers and\nclergy; their breaking their covenant, made solemnly with God in their\nconsecrations; and their not keeping the charge of the Divine Word of\ntruth but hiring paid clergymen to look after it for them. The great mass\nof the Spirit begotten (Levites) had gone astray from God after their man\u2010\nmade idols of earthly honor, power and wealth; and they had served the\nevil tendencies of church members in their idol worship. Between the\npeople and the clergy every conceivable abomination in the sight of God\nhad been practiced, and will require cleansing and a wholesome memory of\nit, to safeguard against future outbreaks and to manifest continual\nappreciation of the holiness of any service of God.\u2014Ezek. 43:7\u20109; 44:6\u201014.\n\nTimes for Offerings.\u2014The times of certain offerings, as on the sabbaths\nand new moons, type that the Jews and the world might not effectively\nconsecrate themselves until the Millennial Age\u2014God\u2019s seventh Day and the\ntime of the New Covenant. (Ezek. 44:24; 45:17.) The sacrifices by the\nprince for all the people on the first month, first day, type the\nuniversal consecrations during the first 1,000\u2010year Day of blessing for\nmankind, when all consciences will be cleansed by the application of\nChrist\u2019s merit. Those on the Seventh day type the same consecration during\nthe Millennium regarded as God\u2019s great seventh Sabbatical thousand year\nDay, when sinners and the simple minded will be cleansed from sin and set\nright. (Ezek. 45:20.) On the fourteenth day the celebration of the\npassover memorial, and the seven\u2010day feast thereafter, picture the\nmemorial of the Lamb of God and the feast of thankfulness and consecration\nfor the fulness of the New Covenant forever (Ezek. 45:21\u201024); that on the\nfifteenth of the seventh month, and for seven days, type the application\nof Christ\u2019s merit through the Sin Offering and the thankfulness and\nconsecration of the people in the Spirit, eternally thereafter. (Ezek.\n45:25.) The sacrifices and worship of prince and people at the east gate,\non the sabbaths and the new moons, figure the consecrations and\nreconsecrations of Ancient Worthies and people throughout the 1,000\u2010year\nDay of Restitution.\u2014Ezek. 46:1\u201011.\n\nAt any time the Ancient Worthies representing the people also may, of\ntheir own free will express their thankfulness and celebrate the\nfulfilment of their consecration vows, signifying this as their continuing\nstate of mind. (Ezek. 46:12). The daily burnt and meat offering for the\nnation, morning and evening, signify the continued thankful consecrating\nof all classes on all planes of being in memory of and through, \u201cthe Lamb\nof God which taketh away the sin of the world.\u201d (Ezek. 46:13\u201015).\nThroughout the Millennial Age this Little Flock will necessarily be in\ncontact with defiling and death\u2010dealing error in some, with whom they are\nintimately connected, in process of restoration to human perfection; by\nthe close of the great seventh Day, before the eighth Day the application\nof the merit of the Sin Offering will have cleansed or destroyed, all such\ncases and The Christ will no more have to be in touch with such\ndefilements. (Ezek. 44:25\u201027). Offerings to cleanse the altar with blood\ntype the memory that the altar class\u2014The Christ, Head and Body\u2014were\ncleansed by the blood, and that all offerings are sanctified by the blood.\n(Ezek. 43:18\u201027). Salt cast upon the offerings types the preserving power\nof the Word.\u2014Ezek. 43:23\u201044.\n\nThroughout the Millennium the world of mankind are to regard the perfect\nhuman condition toward which they are progressing, as their inalienable\npossession, \u201cbought by the blood.\u201d No ruler, or other power, is to\ninterfere with this right, nor teach them otherwise. (Ezek. 46:13; 48:29.)\nThe Hebrews, the original beneficiaries, are to welcome the rest of\nmankind and treat them as of their own number.\u2014Ezek. 47:22\u201023.\n\nThey are to submit loyally to the rulership of The Christ, Head and body,\nand to that of the Divinely appointed earthly phase of government. (Ezek.\n44:24; 45:6.) They are to receive the instructions of the Christ.\u2014Ezek.\n44:23.\n\nThrough the Ancient Worthies, the rulers of the earthly phase, the people\nare at heart to consecrate their all, typed by offerings of tenths or\nmultiple thereof. (Ezek. 45:13\u201025.) To The Christ they are to consecrate\ntheir hearts\u2019 best endeavors, their firstfruits, and everything which they\ndedicate by vow or consecration. (Ezek. 44:29\u201030.) The Great Company they\nare to love, and to them they must be loyal.\u2014Deut. 14:27\u201029.\n\nThe people must be thoroughly cleansed in conscience. (Ezek. 44:9). They\nare to put away all their former defilements and abominations and are to\nworship and serve God throughout the Times of Restitution and thereafter,\nobserving that holy period as a solemn feast to the Lord. (Ezek. 43:6\u20107;\n46:1\u20103, 9\u201010; 45:17.) They are to consecrate themselves daily, with\nthankfulness, with repentance and restitution for sin, and with vows\nfulfilled.\u2014Ezek. 44:29\u201030; 45:1, 13\u201025; 46:19\u201024; Zech. 14:20\u201021.\n\nDuties of Prince.\u2014The duties of the ruling Ancient Worthies will be: to\nremove violence and exploitation, execute judgment and justice and take\naway all former exactions imposed upon the people. (Ezek. 45:8\u20109). They\nare to see that the commercial intercourse of the people is on a just and\nequal basis for all. (Ezek. 45:10\u201012). They will receive taxes or\nofferings from the people, with special attention to the spiritual\nofferings symbolized by the things offered. (Ezek. 45:13\u201016). The land\nthey are to keep holy, as they will their own condition of favored\nperfection, symbolized by the land. (Ezek. 48:21\u201022). Certain ones for\nspecial merit\u2014such as any during the Gospel Age who lived up to their\nconsecrations as mere believers, not being taught the things of the\nSpirit, and as those through devoted loyalty making special progress\nduring the Millennium\u2014they may cause to have the same honored position as\nthemselves, which will be permanent if the recipients manifest the spirit\nof sonship, but lasting only to the close of the 1,000 years to those\nfailing to show this spirit. (Ezek. 46:16\u201017). They will be privileged, as\nfavored participants in the application of the Sin Offering merit, to go\nin and out of the outer court east gate\u2014as in the place of Christ\u2014and\nthere to feed upon the meat in due season from Christ\u2019s bounty. (Ezek.\n44:1\u20103). In all holy things they are to be the leaders of the people.\n(Ezek. 46:9\u201010). They are, during the entire Millennial Age\u2014God\u2019s\nsabbath\u2014to make offerings (Ezek. 45:17\u201025) of thankfulness, praise and\nrecognition of the ransom, directly through the Christ with whom they\nshall be in intimate relations.\u2014Ezek. 46:1\u201012.\n\nDuties and Privileges of Levites.\u2014On account of Gospel Age disloyalty the\nGreat Company, while enjoying the Spirit nature (Numb. 18:23\u201024), will\noccupy an inferior place as servants\u2014not priests\u2014in the service of God.\n(Ezek. 44:10\u201014). Their lower nature on the spirit plane will be\ninalienable and unchangeable. (Ezek. 48:13\u201014). Rather than serve in the\nTemple at all, they are to render service at the various gates, for\nwhatever functions are typed at or by the gates. (Ezek. 44:11). Rather\nthan do the direct service of Jehovah, they will continue as in the Gospel\nAge when they courted and served the desires and lusts of the people\u2014to\nserve directly and perpetually the people rather than the direct interests\nof their God. (Ezek. 44:11\u201012). They shall not come near to God nor\napproach to an appreciation of the things of the Divine nature, but they\nshall do whatever menial services there may be given them by the Little\nFlock to do. (Ezek. 44:13\u201014.) It will be their part to receive and make\neffective the consecrations of the people, to cleanse them with the water\nof the Word, and to administer the stripes and chastening, many or few,\ntempered by the water of the Word, whereby the people may thoroughly\nassimilate (eat) the significance of their consecrations. They may\npossibly restore the literal sacrifices of animals as object lessons (Z.\n\u201905\u2010269).\u2014Ezek. 40:35\u201043; 46:21\u201024.\n\nDuties and Privileges of the Priests.\u2014The Little Flock, the Church, will\nenjoy the nature of God, who Himself, in His nature, will be their\ninheritance and possession. (Ezek. 44:27\u201028, Numbers 18:20.) They will\nserve the Divine purposes in direct and intimate contact with their\nFather, Jehovah, and will continue to keep the charge of God\u2019s holy\ndoctrines and truths, as they faithfully kept it during the Gospel Age.\n(Ezek. 40:46; 44:15\u201016; 45:4; 48:10\u201012.) They will continue having charge\nof God\u2019s house, His Church, His people. (40:44\u201045; 44:8.) They will be in\nvarious grades of honor (houses), as \u201cstar differeth from star in glory.\u201d\n(Ezek. 45:4.) They alone will have the privilege of entering the Divine\nTemple, or Christ class. (Ezek. 44:15\u201016.) They will forever regard their\nblessed condition most holy, most consecrated to Jehovah. (Ezek. 48:12.)\nThey will keep the law of Divine Love in all its manifestations and judge\nthe people according to that exalted standard (Ezek. 44:24, Deut.\n17:8\u201013); teach all mankind to know the pattern of true godliness in all\nits particulars and to discern between holy and secular, good and evil\n(Ezek. 43:10\u201012; 44:23); sanctify and bless humanity according to the\nOath\u2010bound Abrahamic Covenant on terms of willing obedience. (Ezek. 44:19,\n30; 46:19\u201020.) These priests will make union with and make fruitful the\nvarious covenants and promises (wives) by God, avoiding those not Divinely\napproved. (Ezek. 44:22; Lev. 21:7, 13\u201014.) They will receive tithes of the\nLevites. (Numbers 18:25\u201032.) All dedicated things will belong to them\u2014that\nis, all covenants, vows and consecration of the people will be made to the\nChrist. (Ezek. 44:29\u201030; Josh. 6:19; Lev. 27:20\u201034; Numbers 18:8\u201020.)\nTheirs will be the charge of the altar\u2014of applying the merit of Christ to\nthe people (Ezek. 40:44\u201046), and they alone shall make the offering to\nGod, declare the Divine forgiveness and approval of the people and of\ntheir consecrations.\u2014Ezek. 43:18\u201027; 44:15\u201016, 25\u201027; 45:18\u201025; 46:1\u20107,\n11\u201024.\n\nThe Life\u2010Giving River.\u2014The benefits of Divine Love flowing to save and\nbless all the willing and obedient of mankind are pictured in the Life\u2010\nGiving River. From underneath the threshold, the place of rulership, the\nThrone of The Christ (Rev. 22:1), the water of the Word of Divine Love\nflows forth. Under the favor of the Church (right of Temple) the truth\nabout the loving mercy through the blood of Jesus Christ (altar) is for\nthe restitution of all in the earthly (south) phase of the Kingdom. (D.\n650, 655; Z. \u201905\u2010269; Z. \u201999\u2010196; Ezek. 47:1.) Through Christ, the Gate,\nwith all His loving favor (right) it flows toward the Sun\u2010rise. (Ezek.\n47:2.) The same one\u2014Pastor Russell\u2014who measured the race for the mark of\nthe prize, with the line of Divine Righteousness (love, \u201cthe fulfilling of\nthe law\u201d), measured also the requirements for character attainment of the\nMillennial Age. One who will have that degree of love, which is duty love\nto God and man, even though reaching the utmost fulness of the measure of\nDivine Justice (1,000 cubits), will be as it were, only up to the ankles\nin the stream. He who attains the fulness of the Divine standard as to\nlove for God, for His glorious character, will be in the stream to his\nknees. He who shall reach the fulness of love for the \u201cleast\u201d brethren of\nthat Age will be up to the loins; but he who so acquires the spirit of\nDivine Love, as to love all, including his enemies, will have reached the\nutmost fulness of love. (Ezek. 47:2\u20105.) Any that appreciate this, see the\nfull purpose of Divine Love. It is important\u2014\u201cSon of man, hast thou seen\nthis?\u201d (Ezek. 47:6.) This is the love that will insure the healing of the\nsin\u2010sick, anarchistic world lying in a deadness like the Dead Sea. (A.\n318, D. 653, Z. \u201999\u2010196, Ezek. 47:7\u20108.) Whoever becomes immersed in the\nfulness of Divine Love shall thereby gain life; and for everyone\neverywhere, to whom the water comes, there shall be life. (E. _357_, 335;\nC. 214; Ezek. 47:9.) In connection with the gospel of the fulness of\nDivine Love there shall be a multitude of fishers of men to spread the net\nof the gospel of glad tidings of great joy for exceeding many. (C. 215,\nEzek. 47:10.) But the people who are hopelessly polluted with worldliness\n(miry places) and those impregnated beyond saving with miasmas of iniquity\n(marshes) shall not be healed even when \u201cbrought to an accurate knowledge\nof the truth.\u201d (Ezek. 47:11.) And the stream of the truth of Divine Love\nshall cause many righteous ones to come up (Dan. 12:3) whose loving\nteachings shall never be forgotten nor its character fruitage ever pass\naway; for they shall bring forth continued fruitage, because of the Divine\nTruth of perfect love coming to them out of Zion, the glorified Church.\nAnd the character fruitage shall forever be for spiritual food (John 4:34)\nand the teachings (leaves) for the healing of all the willing and obedient\nof the sin\u2010sick world of mankind.\u2014Z. \u201905\u2010269; Matt. 10:8; Mal. 4:2; Ezek.\n47:12.\n\n \u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\u2010\n\n\n \u201cCome all ye saints to Pisgah\u2019s mountain,\n Come view our Home beyond the tide:\n Millennial Canaan is before us,\n Soon we\u2019ll sing on the other side.\n O there see the \u2019white Throne of glory,\u2019\n And crowns which the saints then shall gain;\n And all who shall love Christ\u2019s appearing,\n Shall be blessed by His glorious reign.\n\n Thence springs of life will e\u2019er be flowing,\n Robing the earth in living green.\n Visions of beauty rise before us\n When the King and the saints shall reign.\n Soon our conflicts and toils will be ended;\n We\u2019ll be tried and tempted no more,\n And mankind of all Ages and nations\n Shall be blessed in that triumphant hour.\n\n Faith now beholds salvation\u2019s River,\n Gliding from underneath the Throne,\n Bearing its life to whomsoever\n Will return to his Father\u2019s Home.\n They will walk \u2019mid the trees by the rivers,\n With the friends they have loved by their side;\n They will sing the glad songs of salvation.\n And be ready to follow their Guide.\n O! the prospect! it is so transporting,\n Reapers, hasten the gath\u2019ring, we pray;\n We rejoice in the glory that\u2019s promised,\n And the dawn of Millennial Day.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENTS\n\n\n\n\n\u201cGo Ye Also Into The Vineyard\u201d\n\n\n\u201c_He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit._\u201d _John 4:36._\n\nAll interested in the subjects of this volume, and who consider its\npresentations to be \u201cmeat in due season,\u201d will feel more or less\nconstrained to become servants of the truth, and to bear the \u201cthings new\nand old\u201d to yet others of the \u201cHousehold of Faith.\u201d Your measure of zeal\nfor such service will of course measure your activities in its service,\nand determine how much of time, influence, means, etc., you will devote to\nits spread. We are glad to cooperate with all, that those who love much\nmay do much, and that those who love some may do something, in the name of\nthe great Shepherd and in the interest of His sheep.\n\nTo this end we wish you to know that special provision has been made\nwhereby you may be a co\u2010laborer in this work, regardless of whether you\nhave financial means to invest or not. We have quite a variety of\nexcellent tracts, which we supply free and in large quantities for\njudicious circulation. We also publish twice a month a 16 page journal,\nThe Watch Tower, and desire that our list should bear your name, if you\nare interested. If interested in this volume you will undoubtedly be\ninterested in the journal, which treats similar themes, and we are\nprepared to supply you with it upon your own terms\u2014you may have it on\ncredit if it is not convenient to pay for it in advance, and if never able\nto pay for it we will, upon application, cancel the indebtedness. If you\nhave no prospect of being able to pay for it you will be welcome to it\nfree as one of the \u201cLord\u2019s poor,\u201d on application, and upon renewal of the\nsame yearly. If you can afford to pay, the price is $1 (4s.) a year.\n\nWe have various helps for Bible study, which we supply to all who are on\nour Watch Tower list at extremely low prices\u2014these include various\ntranslations of the Bible, Concordances, etc., and especially the\nSCRIPTURE STUDIES\u2014\u201cTHE BIBLE KEYS.\u201d\n\nColporteuring And Loaning The \u201cStudies.\u201d\n\nSome have numbers of friends to whom they take pleasure in supplying the\nStudies _gratis_; others keep a quantity at hand which they constantly\nloan out amongst their friends, after the manner of a circulating library;\nand still others enter the Colporteur work, as being one of the most\nfavorable opportunities to them for serving the truth to others, traveling\nfrom town to town introducing the \u201cBible Keys,\u201d soliciting orders and\ndelivering the books. Our Society does all in its power to facilitate\nthese various methods of circulating the truth, encouraging each to serve\nthe cause to the extent of his zeal and ability, according to his own\npreference; assisting in the matter very materially by supplying the books\nat remarkably low prices. See page 2 of THE WATCH TOWER for wholesale\nrates to subscribers, and if the Colporteur work appeals to you, write for\n\u201cHints to Colporteurs.\u201d\n\nWe shall be glad to hear from you, and to co\u00f6perate with you, and we\nassure you that you will find a blessing in every sacrifice you may make\non behalf of the truth. Very truly, Your fellow\u2010servants,\n\nWatch Tower Bible and Tract Society,\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A.\n\nBranches:\u2014London, W.; Elberfeld, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Orebro,\nChristiana, Geneva, Yokohama.\n\n\n\n\n\u201cBoth the Houses of Israel\u201d\n\n\nCorrespondencies Of The Mosaic And Christian Dispensations.\n\nIsrael After the Flesh Israel After the Spirit\nA House of Servants. 1 Cor. A House of Sons. Gal. 4:5, 6,\n10:18; Rom. 9:7, 8; 4:16; Heb. 7, 30, 31; 6:15, 16; John\n3:5. 1:12; Rom. 8:15.\nFounded in Jacob\u2019s Twelve Founded in Jesus\u2019 Twelve\nSons. 1 Kings 18:31. Apostles. Rev. 21:14.\nA Kingdom and Priesthood, A A Royal Priesthood, A Holy\nHoly Nation. Exod. 19:6. Nation. 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.\nAaron, Fleshly High\u2010Priest. Jesus, The Spiritual High\u2010\nHeb. 9:7. Priest. Heb. 9:11.\nCircumcision of the Flesh. Circumcision of the Heart.\nRom. 2:28, 29. Rom. 2:28, 29.\nLaw of Sin and Death. Rom. Law of the Spirit of Life in\n8:2. Christ Jesus. Rom 8:2.\nEarthly Promises. Gen. \u201cBetter Promises\u201d. Heb. 9:23;\n13:14\u201017; Acts 7:2\u20105. 11:40.\nIn Captivity To Literal In Captivity To Mystic\nBabylon. 2 Chron. 36:20. Babylon. Rev. 17:5; 18:4.\nLength of Favor 1845 Years, Length of Favor 1845 Years,\nFrom Jacob\u2019s Death to Israel\u2019s From Jesus\u2019 Death to the\nRejection and the Beginning of Beginning of Christ\u2019s Reign\nSpiritual Israel, A. D. 33. and the Rejection of Babylon,\n A. D. 1878.\nThe Nominal System Cast Off, The Nominal System Spewed Out,\nA. D. 33. Matt. 23:38. A. D. 1878. Rev. 3:16.\n40 Years in Falling, to A. D. 40 Years in Falling, to A. D.\n73. 1918.\nThe end of the age. A harvest The end of the age. A harvest\nof 40 years. Luke 10:9, 16. of 40 years, Matt. 13:24\u201030,\n 36\u201043.\nOur Lord\u2019s Presence and the Our Lord\u2019s Presence and the\nSacrificial Character of His Sacrificial Character of His\nDeath, the Stumbling\u2010Stone. Death, the Stumbling\u2010Stone.\n\n\n\n\nThe Watch Tower And Herald Of Christ\u2019s Presence\n\n\nThis journal, founded by the author of Scripture Studies, should regularly\nvisit all who have the slightest interest in the topics discussed in this\nand the other volumes of the _Scripture Studies_ series. It is issued\ntwice a month, 16 pages, at one dollar (4s.) a year in advance.\n\nThat _none_ of the interested may be without it, the arrangement is that\nthose who need may have it on credit on application, while those too poor\nto pay may receive it regularly _free_ by stating the facts and making\nrequest each December. All new tracts are sent to THE WATCH TOWER list\nwhich it is desired shall represent all interested in Present Truth, the\n\u201cHarvest\u201d message.\n\nWatch Tower Bible and Tract Society,\n\nBROOKLYN, N. Y., U. S. A.\n\nBranches:\u2014London, W.; Elberfeld, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Orebro,\nChristiana, Geneva, Yokohama.\n\nThis Society never solicits donations, but it uses voluntary contributions\nas wisely and economically as possible in the propagation of Christian\nknowledge along the lines presented in _Scripture Studies_. It yearly\ncirculates tons of tracts and papers free, through the mails and through\nvoluntary agents.\n\nIt justifies that portion of its name which relates to the Bible\u2014(not by\npublishing Bibles, nor by circulating them gratuitously, but)\u2014by supplying\nBibles and Bible\u2010study helps at wholesale prices; and often below the\nusual wholesale rates. We mention a few of these on succeeding pages, of\ncourse ranking _Scripture Studies_ as the most important helps or \u201cBible\nKeys,\u201d and THE WATCH TOWER, semi\u2010monthly, their efficient supplement.\n\nReaders who desire to co\u00f6perate in the circulation of _Scripture Studies_\nwill be supplied at cost prices, and can have tracts ad libitum. Write us\nrespecting this!\n\nThe Bible Students Monthly\n\nTreating Live Topics, Supplied Free.\n\nSamples will be sent free to anyone requesting them: and quantities for\nfree circulation will be supplied free to all subscribers to THE WATCH\nTOWER, they being considered working members of the Society, whether they\nspecially contribute to its funds or not. Send for free samples.\n\n\n\n\nWhat Say The Scriptures About Hell?\n\n\nAn Examination Of Every Text Of Scripture In Which The Word \u201cHell\u201d Is\nFound\n\nA Correct understanding of the subject of this booklet is almost a\nnecessity to Christian steadfastness. For centuries it has been the\nteaching of \u201corthodoxy,\u201d of all shades, that God, before creating man, had\ncreated a great abyss of fire and terrors, capable of containing all the\nbillions of the human family which He purposed to bring into being; that\nthis abyss He had named \u201chell;\u201d and that all of the promises and\nthreatenings of the Bible were designed to deter as many as possible (a\n\u201clittle flock\u201d) from such wrongdoing as would make this awful place their\nperpetual home.\n\nWhile glad to see superstitions fall, and truer ideas of the great, and\nwise, and just, and loving Creator prevail, we are alarmed to notice that\nthe tendency with all who abandon this long revered doctrine is toward\ndoubt, scepticism, infidelity. Why should this be the case, when the mind\nis merely being delivered from an error?\u2014do you ask? Because Christian\npeople have so long been taught that the foundation for this awful\nblasphemy against God\u2019s character and government is deeplaid and firmly\nfixed in the Word of God\u2014the Bible\u2014and consequently, to whatever degree\ntheir belief in \u201chell\u201d is shaken, to that extent their faith in the Bible,\nas the revelation of the true God, is shaken also;\u2014so that those who have\ndropped their belief in a \u201chell,\u201d of some kind of endless torment, are\noften open infidels, and scoffers at God\u2019s Word.\n\nGuided by the Lord\u2019s providence to a realization that the Bible has been\nslandered, as well as its Divine Author, and that, rightly understood, it\nteaches nothing on this subject derogatory to God\u2019s character nor to an\nintelligent reason, we have attempted in this booklet to lay bare the\nScripture teaching on this subject that thereby faith in God and His Word\nmay be re\u00ebstablished, on a better, a reasonable foundation. Indeed, it is\nour opinion that whoever shall hereby find that his false view rested upon\nhuman misconceptions and misinterpretations will, at the same time, learn\nto trust hereafter less to his own and other men\u2019s imaginings, and, by\nfaith, to grasp more firmly the Word of God, which is able to make wise\nunto salvation; and on this mission, under God\u2019s providence, it is sent\nforth.\n\nPrice 10 Cents (5d.) Per Copy.\u201488 Pages.\n\nSpecial wholesale rates to colporteurs and those who desire to aid in\ncirculating these booklets widely.\n\nAddress\n\nWatch Tower Bible and Tract Society\n\nBROOKLYN, N. Y., U. S. A.\n\nBranches:\u2014London, W.; Elberfeld, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Orebro,\nChristiana, Geneva, Yokohama.\n\n\n\n\nWhat Say The Scriptures About Spiritism?\n\n\nProofs That It Is Demonism.\n\nAlso\n\n\u201cThe Spirits In Prison\u201d And Why Are They There!\n\nThe necessity for this little brochure lies in the fact that Spiritism is\nshowing an increased activity of late, and meeting with considerable\nsuccess in entrapping Christians who are feeling dissatisfied with their\npresent attainments and craving spiritual food and better foundation for\nfaith.\n\nThe aim is to show the unscripturalness of Spiritism, and to point those\nwho hunger and thirst for truth in the direction of God\u2019s Word\u2014the counsel\nof the Most High. \u201cThou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward\nreceive me to glory.\u201d\u2014Psa. 73:24.\n\n119 pages; in paper covers, 10 cents (5d.)\n\nAddress\n\nWatch Tower Bible and Tract Society,\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A.\n\nBranches:\u2014London, W.; Elberfeld, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Orebro,\nChristiana, Geneva, Yokohama.\n\n\n\n\nMiscellaneous Advertisements\n\n\nOld MS. Translations, Concordances, Etc. Recommended as Aids to Bible\nStudy\n\nThe Emphatic Diaglott\n\nThis Greek New Testament, with interlinear word\u2010for\u2010word rendering, and a\nfree reading emphasized translation alongside, is based upon the famous\nVatican MS. No. 1209. With each copy sold, we give one year\u2019s subscription\nto THE WATCH TOWER\u2014if a New subscription. If you already take THE WATCH\nTOWER, your purchase of the DIAGLOTT entitles you to send THE TOWER to a\nfriend who may want it, but this New Subscription must accompany the\norder, as we cannot apply subscriptions on back orders.\n\nLeather bound, divinity circuit, gilt edges, good Bible paper. Price $3.25\n(or $2.50 without Watch Tower).\n\nYoung\u2019s Analytical Concordance\n\nIn English, Hebrew and Greek, by Prof. Young (Presbyterian.) 1240 pages,\ncloth binding, price, $6.00 postpaid. As we are not permitted to reduce\nthe publisher\u2019s price, we will, however, send FREE with each order any two\nvolumes of Studies In the Scriptures.\n\nSmith\u2019s Bible Dictionary\n\nInteresting and valuable, 1020 pp. Cloth, $1.30 postpaid.\n\nBerean Bible Helps (BOUND SEPARATE)\n\nThese are the same as in the latest \u201cI. B. S. A.\u201d Bibles described on\nanother page. Full leather, divinity circuit, $1.15 postpaid. Karatol, red\nedges, 60c. postpaid. Also carried in German (leather and cloth), prices\nsame as English.\n\nInternational Bible Students Association\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y.\n\nI. B. S. A. Berean Bibles\n\nThese are Common Version Bibles but their distinguishing feature consists\nof\n\nOver 500 Pages Of Special Berean Helps\n\nin Four Sections as follows:\n\nPart I. Bible Teachers\u2019 Manual\n\nBiblical Comments from Genesis to Revelation explaining the text and\nreferring to the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES and other publications where\nthe subject is more fully treated.\n\nPart II. Instructors\u2019 Guide Texts\n\nTexts relating to various important subjects topically arranged for ready\nreference.\n\nPart III. Berean Topical Index\n\nAn alphabetical arrangement of over 800 subjects of peculiar interest,\nwith reference to page where treated in our publications.\n\nPart IV. Spurious Passages Noted\n\nA full list of spurious passages not found in the oldest Greek MSS.\n\nIn Addition To The Above\n\nthe Bagster Concordance, Maps and Students Helps are incorporated in Nos.\n1919, 1939 and 1959.\n\nDescriptions and Prices\n\nNo, 1918. Size 4\u20101/4 x 6\u20101/4 India Paper, Minion type, French Seal,\ndivinity circuit, red under gold edges, Berean Helps, colored maps,\nmarginal reference. $2.00 postpaid.\n\nNo. 1919. Same as No. 1918, with Bagster Concordance, Maps, etc., added.\n$2.25 postpaid.\n\nNo. 1928. Same as No. 1918, except bound in Genuine Morocco, leather\u2010\nlined. $2.85 postpaid.\n\nIonic Type, Self\u2010Pronouncing.\n\nNo. 1939. Size 5\u20101/2 x 7\u20101/2 India Paper, Ionic type, French Seal,\ndivinity circuit, red under gold edges, Berean Helps, also Bagster\nConcordance, Maps, etc. Marginal reference. $3.60 postpaid.\n\nNo. 1959. Same as No. 1939, except bound in genuine Morocco, calf\u2010lined.\n$3.95 postpaid.\n\nPatent Index, 25c Extra; Registry 10c.\n\nPublishers lists of other Bibles sent on request.\n\nInternational Bible Students Assn., Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\nVolume I. \u201cStudies in the Scriptures\u201d Series\n\nThings You Ought To Know As\n\nChristian Bible Students\n\nThe Satisfactory Proofs That\n\nThe Bible is a Divine Revelation\u2014reasonable and trustworthy, revealing a\nsystematic Plan full of Justice, Wisdom and Love. \u201cThe Key of Knowledge\u201d\nof the Scriptures, long lost is found, and gives God\u2019s faithful people\naccess to the \u201cHidden Mystery.\u201d\u2014Luke 11:52, Col. 1:26.\n\nThe Lord Jesus and His faithful are to be not only priests but kings, and\nwill reign over the earth.\n\nThis Kingdom is to come at Christ\u2019s Second Advent.\n\nGod\u2019s Plan is to select and save the Church in the Gospel Age, and to use\nthis Church in blessing the world in the Millennium. A \u201cransom for all\u201d\nimplies an _opportunity_ to all for restitution. The Day of Judgment is\n1,000 years long\u2014the world\u2019s trial day.\n\n\u201cThe narrow way\u201d of self\u2010sacrifice will cease with this Age.\n\n\u201cThe highway\u201d of righteousness will be open to all the redeemed race in\nthe Millennium.\u2014Isa. 35:8, 9.\n\n\u201cThe kingdoms of this world\u201d are but for an ordained period and must give\nplace to the \u201cKingdom of Heaven.\u201d\n\nGod has permitted evil for six thousand years for a wise purpose.\n\n_These subjects and many others of deep interest to all of God\u2019s people\nare discussed fully and in language easy of comprehension in_\n\n\u201cThe Divine Plan of the Ages\u201d\n\n(In English, German, Swedish, Dano\u2010Norwegian, Italian, French, Greek,\nHungarian, Spanish, Polish, Hollandish, Finnish, Arabic, Slovak,\nRoumanian, Lettish, Ukrainian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean; also Braille,\nfor the blind).\n\n416 Pages\u2014Cloth Bound. 50 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs.\nMagazine Edition (Eng. and Ger.) 10 Cents Postpaid.\n\nInternational Bible Students Association\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y.\n\nVolume II. \u201cStudies in the Scriptures\u201d Series\n\nA Remarkable Book\n\nSkeptics Should Read it . . .\n\nChristians Should Study it.\n\nThings You Want To Know As\n\nChristian Bible Students\n\nThere Are Evidences That\n\nSix thousand Years from Adam ended in A. D. 1872.\nThe Date of our Lord\u2019s Birth was October B. C. 2.\nThe Date of Annunciation to Mary, Dec 25th, B. C. 3.\nThe Date of our Lord\u2019s Baptism was October A. D. 29.\nThe Date of our Lord\u2019s Crucifixion, April A. D. 33.\nThe \u201cSeventy Weeks\u201d of Israel\u2019s favor ended A. D. 36.\nThe Jewish Age \u201cHarvest\u201d was 40 years A. D. 30 to 70.\nThe Christian Age \u201cHarvest\u201d is its parallel.\nThe Jewish Jubilees were typical of the \u201cTimes of Restitution of all\n Things.\u201d\u2014Acts 3:19\u201021.\nThe Typical Jubilees mark the Date of their Antitype.\nThe \u201cTimes of the Gentiles\u201d ended A. D. 1914.\nThe Jewish Age, in its Lengths, its Ceremonies, etc.,\nTypified the Realities of the Christian Age and its Length.\nElias or \u201cElijah the prophet\u201d was a Type.\u2014How fulfilled.\nThe Antichrist has come!\u2014What? When? Where?\n\n_These subjects and many others deeply interesting to __\u201c__the Household\nof Faith,__\u201d__ and __\u201c__Meat in due season__\u201d__ to all who love and study\nGod\u2019s Word, can be had in_\n\n\u201cThe Time Is At Hand\u201d\n\n(In English, German, Swedish, Finnish and Dano\u2010Norwegian.)\n\n482 Pages\u2014Cloth Bound, 50 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs\n\nInternational Bible Students Association\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y.\n\nVolume III. \u201cStudies in the Scriptures\u201d Series\n\nDo You Know That\n\nWe are now living in \u201cthe Time of the End\u201d of this Gospel Age?\n\nOur Epoch is \u201cthe Day of God\u2019s Preparation\u201d for the Millennial Age?\n\nThe \u201cDays of Waiting\u201d are ended and the \u201cCleansing of the Sanctuary\u201d\u2014the\nChurch\u2014the separating of its Wheat and Tares, is now in progress?\n\nThis the reason for the beginning of the Return of Divine Favor to Fleshly\nIsrael\u2014blinded for centuries\u2014to permit the gathering of an Elect Class\nfrom among the Gentiles?\n\nThis favor now taking shape is known as Zionism?\n\nImmanuel\u2019s Kingdom is now being established?\n\nThe Great Pyramid in Egypt is a Witness to all these events of the past\nand present\u2014testifying in symbols? The Pyramid\u2019s Downward Passage under \u201cA\nDraconis\u201d symbolizes the course of Sin? Its First Ascending Passage\nsymbolizes the Jewish Age? Its Grand Gallery symbolizes the Gospel Age?\nIts Upper Step symbolizes the approaching period of tribulation and\nanarchy, \u201cJudgments,\u201d upon Christendom? Its King\u2019s Chamber the Divine\nNature, etc., of the Overcoming Church\u2014the Christ, Head and Body? Its\nAnte\u2010Chamber the Correction in Righteousness of the \u201cGreat Company\u201d etc.?\nIts Queen\u2019s Chamber symbolizes those of Israel and the world who\neventually attain Restitution?\n\n_All these interesting topics with ten Pyramid illustrations can be had\nin_\n\n\u201cThy Kingdom Come\u201d\n\n(English, German, Swedish, Finnish, Dano\u2010Norwegian)\n\n482 Pages\u2014Cloth Bound, 50 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs\n\nInternational Bible Students Association\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y.\n\nVolume IV. \u201cStudies in the Scriptures\u201d Series\n\n\u201cNone Of The Wicked Will Understand\u201d\n\nBut \u201cThe Wise Shall Understand\u201d That\n\nThis Gospel Age is closing with a \u201cDay of Vengeance.\u201d It will affect the\nwhole world, specially Christendom. All Political, Social, Financial and\nReligious systems will fail.\n\nThese Judgments, beginning with the House of God, must extend to all.\n\nOur day is noted by the Prophets as \u201cthe Day of Jehovah.\u201d\n\nIt is symbolically styled \u201ca Dark Day,\u201d a \u201cDay of clouds,\u201d etc.\n\nIts trouble is symbolically likened to a Hurricane, to a Flood, to a Fire,\netc., these strong figures being used to give an appreciation, yet to hide\nthe real nature, of that \u201cTime of Trouble such as Never Has been since\nthere was a Nation.\u201d\u2014Dan. 13:1.\n\nPreparations for this symbolic \u201cFire\u201d and \u201cTempest\u201d are now well under way\nand shortly will rage furiously throughout the world.\n\nIt will be a contest between Masses and Classes.\n\nMany see it upon us and trust to various schemes to avert it.\n\nBut all worldly Schemes and Panaceas will fail utterly. God\u2019s Kingdom, the\nonly hope for Church and world, is sure.\n\nMan\u2019s extremity will prove to be God\u2019s opportunity\u2014in the establishment of\nGod\u2019s Kingdom\u2014Christ\u2019s Millennial Kingdom which will establish\nrighteousness by force.\u2014Rev. 2:26, 27; Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45.\n\n_All these subjects are simply yet forcefully treated, and Matthew 24th\nChapter elucidated, in_\n\n\u201cThe Battle Of Armageddon\u201d\n\n(In English, German, Swedish, Finnish and Dano\u2010Norwegian.)\n\n720 Pages\u2014Cloth Bound, 60 Cents. Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs\n\nInternational Bible Students Association\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y.\n\nVolume V. \u201cStudies in the Scriptures\u201d Series\n\nThe At\u2010One\u2010Ment Is Believed In By All\n\nChristian Bible Students\n\nNevertheless, but few could explain its philosophy\n\nAll Should Know\n\nAbout the great Mediator of the At\u2010one\u2010ment, our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nRespecting the necessity for the At\u2010one\u2010ment\n\nAnd the necessity that the \u201cOnly Begotten\u201d must be \u201cmade flesh,\u201d and then\ndie, and then rise from the dead in order to effect the At\u2010one\u2010ment.\n\nRespecting the office and work of the Holy Spirit in connection with the\nAt\u2010one\u2010ment.\n\nAnd the important part of the At\u2010one\u2010ment not yet finished\u2014which awaits\nthe Second Coming of our Lord in His Kingdom glory.\n\nRespecting the central doctrine of At\u2010one\u2010ment, namely, the _Ransom_\u2014what\nis was\u2014why it was and is the center or \u201chub\u201d around which and into which\nall Bible doctrines fit.\n\nHow this doctrine is the test of the truth or falsity of all doctrines; so\nthat once understood clearly it is a guard against error in every form.\n\nRespecting man, the subject of the great At\u2010one\u2010ment, his nature; his sin;\nhis penalty; his deliverance through Christ; his future possibilities\nthrough acceptance of the At\u2010one\u2010ment.\n\n_All these interesting and very important themes are lucidly discussed in\nsimple language, and corroborated by fourteen hundred Scripture citations,\nin_\n\n\u201cThe At\u2010One\u2010Ment Between God And Man\u201d\n\n(In English, German, Swedish, Finnish and Dano\u2010Norwegian.)\n\n600 Pages\u2014Cloth Bound 60 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs.\n\nInternational Bible Students Association\n\nBrooklyn, N. Y.\n\nVolume VI. \u201cStudies in the Scriptures\u201d Series\n\nThings You Ought To Know As\n\nChristian Bible Students\n\nThe Creative Week of Genesis\u2014its actual length\u2014scientifically\ncorroborated.\n\nThe true Church of Christ, begotten of the Spirit as the New Creation; the\nsteps of Grace Divine\u2014Justification, Sanctification, and Deliverance in\nthe First Resurrection.\n\nThe duties and obligations of the New Creation\u2014toward the Lord, toward\neach other, toward earthly friends and neighbors, toward parents,\nchildren, husbands, wives, etc.\n\nThe Lord\u2019s Memorial Supper or Sacrament: what it is and what it is not\nshould be clearly discerned by all of God\u2019s people.\n\nTrue Baptism\u2014what it is. The many mistakes of nearly all denominations are\npointed out in kindly spirit, and then the true Baptism is set forth in\nconvincing style\u2014indisputable, incontrovertible.\n\nThe foes and besetments of the New Creation, and the Scriptural method of\novercoming them; also the present and the future inheritance of the\nsaints.\n\n_These subjects and many others deeply interesting to all who love and\nstudy the Bible are fully treated in_\n\nThe New Creation\n\n(English, German, Swedish, Dano\u2010Norwegian and Finnish)\n\n816 Pages\u2014Cloth Bound, 60 Cents, Postpaid or Delivered by Colporteurs\n\nInternational Bible Students Association\n\nBrooklyn, N.Y.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n 1 Words not In Sinaitic MS. are enclosed in brackets. The Sinaitic MS.\n is the oldest known copy of the Scriptures, having been written, it\n is believed. In A. D. 331. The \u201cAuthorized\u201d Version was made from\n MSS. none of which were older than the tenth century.\n\n 2 Words in Sinaitic MS. which do not appear in \u201cAuthorized\u201d Version\n are printed in capitals.","title":"Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 7: The Finished Mystery","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":252022}