Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 7: The Finished Mystery
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Title: Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 7: The Finished Mystery
Author: C. T. Russell
Release date: June 17, 2014 [eBook #46016]
Most recently updated: June 15, 2020
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, VOLUME 7: THE FINISHED MYSTERY ***
Studies in the Scriptures
Volume VII
The Finished Mystery
“The Winepress of God’s Wrath” and the Fall of Babylon.
By
Charles Taze Russell
(Published Posthumously)
Edited by
C. J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher
850,000 Edition
“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up
his hand to Heaven, and swore by Him that liveth forever and ever, who
created Heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the
things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein,
that the time should be no longer delayed; but in the days of the voice of
the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God should
be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the Prophets.”—Rev.
10:5‐7. “At the end it shall speak and not lie.”—Hab. 2:3.
Copyright 1917
Peoples Pulpit Association
Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A.
International Bible Students Association
Brooklyn, London, Melbourne, Barmen
1918
CONTENTS
Publisher’s Preface
Explanatory Note
The Revelation Of [St.] John [The Divine]
Revelation 1—The Message For This Day
Revelation 2—St. Paul, St. John, Arius And Waldo
Revelation 3—Wycliffe, Luther And Russell
Revelation 4—The Author Of The Plan
Revelation 5—The Executor Of The Plan
Revelation 6—Six Seals And The Papacy
Revelation 7—Seventh Seal And Great Company
Revelation 8—Four Preliminary Reformations
Revelation 9—Two Ineffective Reformation Woes
Revelation 10—The True Reformation Woe
Revelation 11—The Time Of The End
Revelation 12—The Birth Of Antichrist
Revelation 13—The Papal And Protestant Beasts
Revelation 14—The Five Harvest Messages
Revelation 15—The Song Of The Saints
Revelation 16—Ecclesiasticism’s Seven Plagues
Revelation 17—The Papacy’s Last Stand
Revelation 18—The Fall Of Ecclesiasticism
Revelation 19—The Overthrow Of Satan’s Empire
Revelation 20—The Thousand Years’ Reign
Revelation 21—The Descending Kingdom
Revelation 22—The River Of Grace And Truth
The Song Of Solomon
The Bridal Anthem
The Heavenly Bridegroom
The Book Of The Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 1—God’s Character And Plan
Ezekiel 2—The Rebellious House And The Book
Ezekiel 3—Pastor Russell’s Divine Ordination
Ezekiel 4—The Papal And Protestant Sieges
Ezekiel 5—The Severed Hair Calamities
Ezekiel 6—Sword—Famine—Pestilence
Ezekiel 7—Dawn Of The Evil Day
Ezekiel 8—Molech, The Torment Deity
Ezekiel 9—The Man With The Inkhorn
Ezekiel 10—Scattering Coals Of Fire
Ezekiel 11—The Wicked Counsel
Ezekiel 12—Christendom’s Blind Flight
Ezekiel 13—The Gaps In The Wall
Ezekiel 14—Insincere Inquirers
Ezekiel 15—Fit For Fuel Only
Ezekiel 16—Unfaithfulness Of God’s People
Ezekiel 17—Parable Of The Eagles
Ezekiel 18—“The Soul That Sinneth”
Ezekiel 19—The Lion’s Whelps
Ezekiel 20—The Hypocritical Ecclesiastics
Ezekiel 21—The Thrice‐Doubled Sword
Ezekiel 22—The Melting Pot Of War
Ezekiel 23—Two Apostate Church Systems
Ezekiel 24—The Boiling Caldron
Ezekiel 25—Recompense Upon The Tares
Ezekiel 26—Downfall Of Philosophy
Ezekiel 27—Philosophy’s Utter Ruin
Ezekiel 28—Destruction Of The Devil
Ezekiel 29—The Egyptians A Type
Ezekiel 30—Pharaoh’s Two Arms Broken
Ezekiel 31—Christendom Not To Endure
Ezekiel 32—Christendom’s Utter Downfall
Ezekiel 33—Why Ecclesiasticism Must Perish
Ezekiel 34—The Unfaithful Shepherds
Ezekiel 35—Edom A Type
Ezekiel 36—Christendom’s Early Restoration
Ezekiel 37—The Valley Of Dry Bones
Ezekiel 38—Final Overthrow Of Pride
Ezekiel 39—Death Of Pride’s Multitude
Ezekiel 40‐48—God’s Temple And River Of Truth
Advertisements
“Go Ye Also Into The Vineyard”
“Both the Houses of Israel”
The Watch Tower And Herald Of Christ’s Presence
What Say The Scriptures About Hell?
What Say The Scriptures About Spiritism?
Miscellaneous Advertisements
Footnotes
[Cover Art]
[Transcriber’s Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter
at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.]
TO THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS THIS WORK IS DEDICATED
In the Interest of
HIS CONSECRATED SAINTS
Waiting for the Adoption
And of
“ALL THAT IN EVERY PLACE CALL UPON THE LORD”
“THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH”
And Of
The Groaning Creation; Travailing And
Waiting for the Manifestation of
THE SONS OF GOD
POSTHUMOUS WORK OF PASTOR RUSSELL
His Last Legacy to the Dear Israel of God (Matt 20:9)
“To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God.” “Wherein He hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed
in Himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of the times He might
gather together in one all things, under Christ.”
Eph. 3:4, 5, 9; 1:8‐10
PUBLISHER’S PREFACE
Since the days of the Apostles, Christian people have been looking for the
coming of our Lord Jesus in great power and glory; for He said that He
would come again and receive His Church unto Himself. He further pointed
out that for some time prior to the completion of the Church He would be
present, gathering out from Babylon and from the world the truly
consecrated, and that during His presence “the Mystery of God” would be
finished.
Through St. John the Lord Jesus revealed the fact that the Church would be
developed during seven distinct periods, or epochs; and that for each of
these epochs He would have a special angel, or messenger, to serve the
other members of the Body. It follows, then, that the messenger to the
last, or Laodicean, epoch would declare the Presence of the Lord and the
time of the Harvest of the Gospel Age. The great Master laid special
emphasis on the importance of the messenger to the seventh, or Laodicean,
period of the Church, saying that such an one would be “a faithful and
wise servant, whom his Lord would make ruler over all His Household, to
give them meat in due season.”
Those consecrated Christians who have read and fully appreciated the Truth
as contained in the preceding six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES
readily see and agree that Charles Taze Russell was the messenger of the
Church of Laodicea. In the mind of every one who believes the Bible the
evidence set forth in this volume will establish that fact beyond the
question of a doubt.
In the light of Divine Prophecy, now being daily fulfilled and made clear
to “the watchers,” the following from the pen of Pastor Russell is further
proof that he was sent of God to this generation. Long years before the
beginning of the trouble now upon the nations he wrote:
“The four exhibitions of the Lord, given to Elijah, represent, we
believe, four manifestations in which the Lord is about to reveal
Himself to mankind, the first three of which will prepare men for
the final one, in which will come the desired blessing to all the
families of the earth. These are:
“(1) _The mighty winds_ rending the very rocks. Blowing winds seem
to be used in Scripture for wars. The wars, whose dark clouds have
threatened the civilized world so ominously for the past thirty
years, have been miraculously hindered to give opportunity for
‘sealing’ the Lord’s consecrated people in their foreheads
(intellectually) with the Present Truth. We are therefore to
expect that when these winds of war shall be let loose, it will
mean a cataclysm of warfare which shall divide kingdoms
(mountains)—prefigured by the mighty wind shown to Elijah (1 Kings
19:11), which rent the rocks. But God’s Kingdom will not follow
the epoch of war; the world will not thus be made ready for the
Reign of Immanuel. No; a further lesson will be needed and will be
given. It is represented in
“(2) An _earthquake_. Throughout the Scriptures an earthquake
seems always to represent revolution; and it is not unreasonable
to expect that an era of general warfare would so arouse the lower
classes of Europe and so discontent them with their lot (and
especially with the conditions which would follow such a war) that
revolution would be the next thing in order. (Rev. 16:18.) But,
severe though those revolutionary experiences will be to the
world, they are not sufficient to prepare men to hear the voice of
God. It will require
“(3) The _fire from heaven_—an epoch of Divine judgments and
chastisements upon a maddened but unconverted world, wild in
anarchy, as other Scriptures show us. The results of their wars,
revolutions and anarchy, in the failure of their schemes, will
have a humbling effect, and will prepare mankind for God’s
revelation of Himself in
“(4) The _still small voice_. Yes; He who spoke to the winds and
the waves of the Sea of Galilee will, in due time, ‘speak peace to
the peoples.’ He will speak with authority, commanding the
observance of His long neglected Law of Love. ‘And whosoever will
not hear that Prophet shall be cut off from among His people.’
(Acts 3:23.)”—THE WATCH TOWER, July 1, 1898, p. 308.
“Looking back to the prophetic testimony respecting the _Times of
the Gentiles_, we perceive that our Lord’s words, ‘Jerusalem shall
be trodden down of the Gentiles until the Times of the Gentiles be
filled full,’ give the intimation that the determined times, or
years, in which the empire of earth would be in the hands of
Gentile governments was a fixed one from the Divine standpoint.
And if, as we believe the Scriptures to teach, Gentile domination
was provided for up to October, 1914, it would seem but a
reasonable interpretation that Divine power would not be exercised
to their dethronement until _after_ the time allotted for their
reign had ended—October, 1914.”—THE WATCH TOWER, July 1, 1904. p.
198.
In 1879 Charles Taze Russell began the publication of THE WATCH TOWER, of
which he was the sole editor as long as he remained on earth. THE WATCH
TOWER was, and is, the first and only journal declaring the _presence_ of
the Lord Jesus. Pastor Russell being the messenger to the Laodicean
Church, and occupying the position of the Lord’s special servant to give
the Household of Faith meat in due season, it was to be expected that he
would bring forth from the Lord’s great “Storehouse” the needed spiritual
food for the Church, in harmony with God’s will. By the Lord’s grace he
wrote the six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, which writings, aside
from the Bible, have gladdened more hearts and thrilled Christians with
greater hope and joyful expectation than have any other writings extant.
These books have been properly designated “Keys to the Divine Plan of the
Ages.” These “keys” have been placed in the hands of thousands of
Christian people throughout the world, and have enabled them to unlock the
Lord’s Treasure‐house, the Bible, and there to see some of the “treasures
of wisdom” and knowledge of God! Some have been able to use these “keys”
more effectually than have others. “God hath set the members in the Body
as it hath pleased Him.”
Time and again Pastor Russell said that the Seventh Volume of STUDIES IN
THE SCRIPTURES would be written; and it was expected that he would write
it. The Scriptures show that the Seventh Volume must be published. Pastor
Russell passed from the earth, and the Seventh Volume remained
unpublished. In his last moments he said, “Some one else can write the
Seventh Volume.” For any one to arrogate to himself the authority to write
and publish the Seventh Volume would, we believe, seem presumptuous before
the Lord. Whom, then, would the Lord have to write it?
Pastor Russell was a man of unusual modesty. Great men usually are modest.
The examination of the contents of this book will disclose the fact that
it deals with Revelation and Ezekiel; that the Lord long ago caused to be
recorded therein, in symbolic language, a history of the Church,
particularly the closing earthly experiences thereof; that therein He set
forth that He would uncover the frauds, deceptions and blasphemous
teachings and practices of the church nominal—both Catholic and
Protestant; that in the last days He would then make bare the unholy
alliance between the unrighteous ecclesiastical systems and the corrupt
political elements of the earth, which religious systems have prospered
and grown fat in the name of Christ; that the Lord pronounces His
indignation and wrath against all such Babylonish systems and marks their
utter destruction in a Time of Trouble such as the world has never known
and will never again know; and that the earthly creature made prominent
therein above all others is the messenger of the Laodicean Church—“that
wise and faithful servant” of the Lord—CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL. In view of
the facts stated, is it at all surprising that the Lord spared him the
publication of the Seventh Volume?
But the fact is, _he did write it_. This book may properly be said to be a
posthumous publication of Pastor Russell. Why? Because to him the Lord
gave the “key”; to him was given the privilege of making clear to the
Church in its last years the “Mystery of God”; to him was granted the
privilege of hearing from the hands of the Lord to the Household of Faith
“meat in due season” for the special development and sustenance of God’s
dear little ones. This service he has faithfully performed. This book is
chiefly a compilation of things which he wrote and which have been brought
together in harmonious style by properly applying the symbols which he
explained to the Church.
By his last Will and Testament Pastor Russell designated George H. Fisher,
of Scranton, Pa., as one whom he would approve as a member of the
Editorial Staff of THE WATCH TOWER—the most important journal published on
earth. For many years Brother Fisher has been consecrated to the Lord, a
careful student of the Bible in the light of the Message brought from the
Lord by the messenger to the Laodicean Church; and for some time he has
made a careful and prayerful study of the Book of Ezekiel.
When Pastor Russell was with us he gave direction that the BIBLE STUDENTS
MANUAL should be prepared by Clayton J. Woodworth, also of Scranton, Pa.
This Manual was published by this Society, and has proven a great blessing
to the Household of Faith. The preparation of that Manual required a
critical examination of everything Pastor Russell had written; and thus
Brother Woodworth was enabled to become more familiar, probably, than any
one else with the explanation of the Scriptures which had been given by
Brother Russell. In this manner the Lord seemed to have qualified him for
some special work. With the “key” which Brother Russell, as the Lord’s
servant, had placed in his hands, Brother Woodworth, by the Lord’s grace,
has been enabled to bring together everything that Brother Russell wrote
on Revelation, and to explain and harmonize the other parts of that book
with the Divine Plan; also, to treat similarly, the Song of Solomon.
It seemed pleasing to the Lord that Brothers C. J. Woodworth and George H.
Fisher should prepare the Seventh Volume, under the direction of the WATCH
TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY. While both residing in the same city, they
have worked separate and apart from each other, not even comparing notes.
The reader will be able to judge how fully the work of each harmonizes
with that of the other and with the Divine Plan, thus giving further
evidence of the Lord’s direction in this matter.
Pastor Russell long ago said, in substance, that the Seventh Volume would
not be for the development of the Church; that the preceding _six_ volumes
of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES contain the necessary spiritual food for that
purpose. Asked why, then, it would be written, he replied, “_It will
probably be given to the Church in a time of direst need, for her comfort
and encouragement_.”
Who amongst the consecrated this side the veil does not realize that the
Church is now in that time of “dire need of comfort and encouragement”?
The hour of fiery trial and great testings is upon God’s people, and there
is need for their comfort and encouragement. The Lord has promised “grace
sufficient” and help for every time of need for those who love Him and
come confidently unto Him. We believe that as the Lord’s dear children
throughout the earth read the contents of this book and see how
wonderfully He has shielded them from the storms of human passion and from
the snares of the great Adversary; and that when they see that the
unrighteous, wicked systems of Babylon are now crumbling under the mighty
hand of God—which bespeaks the early deliverance of the last members of
the Body from this vale of tears into the glorious light and liberty of
the saints—that then they will be greatly comforted; that then they will
take new courage and “gird up the loins of their mind, be sober and hope
to the end for the grace that is to come unto them quickly;” that with
exceeding joy they will lift up their heads, because the hour of
deliverance is at hand! To all the truly consecrated who read and
appreciate this book we believe that the words of the Master, “THE KINGDOM
OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!” will sound in their ears like clarion notes upon
the clear morning air, giving courage and strength to those who are
growing weak in faith, and more courage to the stronger ones. We believe
that every one who appreciates this volume will have a burning desire to
grasp his weapon and go forth to the smiting of the Jordan, giving praise
to the Lord for the privilege.
Some will murmur and find fault with this book; some will grow angry, and
some will join the persecutors. But, we believe, every saint whose heart
is filled with love for God and for His people will rejoice and give
praise to the Lord for this further evidence of His blessed favor.
The publisher takes pleasure in presenting this, the Seventh Volume, to
the remaining members of the Church, and to all who may read with profit
to themselves and to the glory of the Lord Jesus and our Father. As the
Lord has sent forth the other six volumes, His blessing has accompanied
each. That His blessing may be upon this volume, to the comfort and
encouragement of the dear saints in the hour of direst need, is our
prayer!
WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This posthumous work of Pastor Russell (arranged for use as a textbook) is
much condensed, including the extracts from the Pastor’s pen, all of which
are referred back to his works. The abbreviations used are:
A, B, C, D, E, F. The six preceding volumes of “STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES”
(Citations to E in italic figures refer to old editions, figures in
ordinary type to later editions.)
B. S. M. ... “THE BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY.”
H. ... “What Say the Scriptures ABOUT HELL?”
P‐D. ... “PHOTO‐DRAMA OF CREATION” Scenario.
T. ... “TABERNACLE SHADOWS.”
S. ... “SPIRITISM” Pamphlet.
Z. ... “ZION’S WATCH TOWER,” followed by year and page.
The citations to REVELATION and EZEKIEL refer to the comments herein, as
well as to the Bible text.
Other abbreviations used are:
Barnes ... Barnes’ “Revelation.”
Brit. ... “Encyclopedia Britannica.”
Buck ... Buck’s “Theological Dictionary.”
Coffin ... Coffin’s “Story of Liberty.”
Cook ... Cook’s “Revelation;” a compendium of the presentations of
seventy‐two leading commentators on Revelation, in all
languages and all ages of the church.
Edgar ... Edgar’s “Pyramid Passages.” Vol. II.
McC. ... McClintock and Strong’s Encyclopedia.
Mosheim ... Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History.
S. B. D. ... Smith’s Bible Dictionary.
Smith ... Smith’s “Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation.”
Weym ... Weymouth’s New Testament In Modern Speech.
THE REVELATION OF [ST.] JOHN [THE DIVINE](1)
Revelation 1—The Message For This Day
The Revelation of Jesus Christ.—John the Revelator and the Prophet
Habakkuk have foretold that the understanding of this revelation, given in
96 A. D., is set for an appointed time, the end of the age; and that, at
this time, now, when the predicted “Faithful and wise servant” would be
present with God’s people, the vision would be made plain.—Rev. 1:10;
Matt. 24:45; Hab. 2:1‐3; 1 Pet 1:13.
Which God gave unto Him.—“The declaration that ‘the Son can do nothing of
Himself,’ if it were not backed up as it is by a score of other
testimonies from the same interested and inspired Teacher, is a
contradiction to the common thought of Trinitarians, that the Son is the
Father.”—Z. ’99‐45; John 5:20; 12:49; 17:7,8.
To shew unto His [servants] SAINTS.(2)—“Our Lord Jesus has promised us
that, as the Elder Brother (of the Gospel House of Sons), whatsoever the
Father shall make known to Him He in turn will make known to us.”—Z.
’99‐45.
The things.—The shifting scenes of Church and State, the history of the
Gospel and Millennial Ages.
Which must shortly come to pass.—Which began at once, in St. John’s day,
and will continue until the completion of all that he foresaw.
And He sent.—He did not come Himself, but acted with the dignity becoming
Him who is now the express Image of the Father’s person. “Dwelling in the
light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can
see.”—Heb. 1:3; 1 Tim. 6:16.
And signified It—“Our Lord’s revelation, which God gave Him after He had
passed into glory, He sent and signified [_sign_ified, told in signs,
symbols, etc.] to His Church.”—B. 203.
By His angel.—The “angel” of Rev. 3:14 represented this messenger who
appeared to St. John. Our Lord’s promise in Luke 12:44 is not limited to
activities on this side the veil.
Unto His servant John.—“This simplicity, common to all the Apostles,
commends them to us as men of humble mind—the very kind we should expect
our Lord to use as special messengers to His people.”—Z. ’16‐343; Rev.
19:10.
1:2. Who bare record.—Previously, In the Fourth Gospel, and in the three
epistles bearing his name.
Of the Word of God.—The Logos. St. John has had more to say of the Logos
than had any other Apostle. “In olden times certain kings made addresses
to their subjects by proxy, the king sitting behind a screen, while his
word, or spokesman, stood before the screen, and addressed the people
aloud on subjects whispered to him by the king, who was not seen, and such
a speaker was termed the King’s _logos_.”—E. 94‐85.
And of the testimony.—The daily words and deeds, during the three and a
half years of His ministry.
Of Jesus Christ.—“The Faithful and True Witness.”—Rev. 3:14.
[And of all] WHAT things [that] SOEVER he saw.—St. John’s powers of
observation were acute. His Gospel contains records of twenty‐two events
or teachings not mentioned by the other Evangelists.
1:3. Blessed is he.—Singular.
That readeth.—Correctly interprets the symbolisms.
And they.—Plural.
That hear the [words] WORD of this prophecy.—“All who have read and
understood even a part of the teachings of the book were blessed as
promised. It was an important aid to Luther in deciding that the Papacy,
of which he was a conscientious minister, was ‘Antichrist’ ”—A. 27.
And keep.—Keep the eyes upon, observe (so the Greek Indicates).—Rev. 22:7.
Those things which are written therein.—“There is a blessing upon those
who read this revelation, even though they do not understand, and a
special blessing upon those who hear and understand the words of this
prophecy, and who conform their lives to the things therein written.”—Z.
’16‐343.
For the time is at hand.—The fulfilments began at once, in St. John’s own
day.
1:4. John to the seven churches.—Not merely the seven literal
congregations mentioned in Verse 11 and elsewhere, but to the epochs of
the Church as a whole, from Apostolic days until now.
Which are in Asia.—In the Orient, the East, the early path of the sun.
Before the Sun of Righteousness can illuminate the world of mankind, its
rays must first have passed through the Church, the first to greet and
welcome the New Day.
Grace be unto you.—May favor, unmerited, be your happy portion.
And peace.—The Lord’s special legacy to His Church.—John 14:27.
From Him.—Our glorified Lord and Head.—Rev. 1:8.
Which is.—Now self‐existent, like the Father.—John 5:26.
And which was.—The Logos, the Father’s Agent in the creation of all things
(John 1:3), and subsequently, as man’s Redeemer, “made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death.”—Heb. 2:9.
And which is to come.—In glory and great power at His Second Advent,
“until He shall have set judgment in the earth.”—Isa. 42:4.
And from the seven spirits.—Lamps of fire, or eyes. (Rev. 4:5; 5:6.) “In
this symbolical picture the eye of the Lord is represented as seven or
complete, all‐seeing, everywhere, all‐knowing. This is our confidence,
this is our rejoicing.”—Z. ’05‐318; Zech. 3:9, 4:10.
Which are before His Throne.—Which are “sent forth into all the
earth.”—Rev. 4:5.
1:5. And.—_Kai_, even. For a similar use of the word see the expression,
“God Himself and our Father” (1 Thes. 3:11), which, in the Diaglott, is
rendered, “God Himself, even our Father.”
From Jesus Christ the faithful Witness.—“Who before Pontius Pilate
witnessed a good confession.” (1 Tim. 6:13.) Our Lord’s admission to
Pilate, “I am a King; to this end was I born, and for this cause came I
into the world” (John 18:37), was the direct cause of His death. The
accusation set up over His head was, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.”
(John 19:19; Matt. 27:37.) Similarly faithful admissions may end the
earthly careers of the feet‐members of His Body.
The First Begotten of the dead.—“The First‐Born of the dead ones.”
(Diaglott.) (1 Cor. 15:20; Col. 1:18; Acts 26:23.) “This verse clearly
teaches what the creeds of Christendom ignore; namely, that our Lord was
the first to experience a resurrection to perfection and eternal life in
the full sense of the word.”—Z. ’16‐343; Acts 13:33, 34.
And.—Even.
The Prince.—The King‐Elect, now ruling in their hearts.
Of the kings of the earth.—His associate kings, “The kings of the East.”
(Rev. 16:12.) “All are to be awakened from the Adamic death, as though
from a sleep. They will then be under the care of the Royal Priesthood,
whose experience with sin, and whose victory over sin, well fitted them to
be helpful toward those over whom they will reign, as Kings as well as
Priests. (Rev. 5:10.)”—E. 487, 478.
Unto Him that [loved] LOVETH us.—Our Lord’s love for us is ever‐present.
And [washed] FREED us from our sins [in] BY His own blood.—“That it was
the death of the Man Christ Jesus, His ‘blood,’ that secured our release
from sin and death is most unequivocally stated in many Scriptures. See 1
Pet 1:2; Acts 4:12; 20:28; Rev. 5:9; Rom. 5:9; Heb. 13:12.”—E. 458, 446;
Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6; Rev. 14:4.
1:6. And hath made us.—And will make us during the Millennial Age.
[Kings and] A KINGDOM, priests.—The work of a priest is that of
intervention and of instruction in righteousness. It logically implies
subjects and a future work of salvation.—1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10; 20:6;
22:5.
Unto God and His Father.—“Unto the God and Father of Himself.”—Diaglott.
Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3.
To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.—“He shall have
dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the
earth;... and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and
Amen.” (Psa. 72:8, 19.) “For ever and ever” is literally “for the ages of
_the_ ages.” The Millennium and subsequent ages are the ages of the ages.
1:7. Behold, He cometh with clouds.—“While the clouds of trouble hang
heavy and dark, when the mountains—kingdoms of this world—are trembling
and falling, when the earth—organized society—is being shaken and
disintegrated, some will begin to realize that Jehovah’s Anointed is
taking to Himself His great power and is beginning His work of laying
justice to the line and righteousness to the plummet.”—Z. ’16‐344; Matt
24:30.
And every eye shall see Him.—“He will not be visible to natural sight, but
to the eyes of understanding, as these shall open to an appreciation of
the punishments and blessings which will flow to mankind from His Reign.
Our King will reveal Himself gradually. Some will discern the new Ruler
sooner than will others. But ultimately ‘every eye shall see [Greek,
_horao_, discern] Him.’ ”—Z. ’16‐344.
And they also which pierced Him.—“And I will pour upon the House of David,
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the Jewish people], the spirit of
grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only
son.”—Zech. 12:10.
And all kindreds of the earth shall [wail because of] BEWAIL Him.—“At the
time of our Lord’s Second Advent the world will be far from converted to
God; for ‘all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.’ Christ
comes before the conversion of the world and for the very purpose of
converting all mankind.”—Z. ’16‐344.
Even so, Amen.—We cannot stop the clouds of the Time of Trouble, or the
tears of disappointment, and later, of repentance; and we would not if we
could. The trouble and the tears are a necessary preparation for the
blessings which follow.
1:8. I am THE Alpha and I AM ALSO THE Omega.—Alpha is the first letter,
and Omega the last letter, of the Greek alphabet.
The Beginning and the Ending.—“Our Lord’s great honor is shown in that He
was not only the _first_ of God’s creation, but the _last_. From this we
are to understand that the great Jehovah did not directly employ His own
power in creating either men or angels; but that He delegated His power to
His _Only_‐begotten Son.”—Z. ’93‐115.
Saith the Lord GOD.—But not the clergy; they will have none of this
doctrine.
Which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.—“It is since
His resurrection that the message has gone forth—‘All power in Heaven and
in earth _is given_ unto Me.’ (Matt 28:18.) Consequently it is only since
then that He could be called the Almighty.”—Z. ’93‐115; Rev. 1:4; 16:5‐7.
1:9. I John, who [also] am your brother.—“Instead of adding titles to his
name, as Reverend, Bishop, Overseer of all the Churches in Asia Minor, we
find John introducing himself as ‘your brother.’ ”—Z. ’01‐187.
And companion in tribulation.—“He was sharer with Christ, as a member of
His Body, in His afflictions, in His endurance; and the brother of all
fellow‐disciples, sharers of the same sufferings, and prospectively of the
same glory.”—Z. ’01‐187: Matt. 20:23.
And [In] the kingdom.—Now, while “the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth
violence;” and later, when “the Kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of
the Kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High.”—Matt 11:12; Dan. 7:27.
And patience [of] IN Jesus [Christ].—When Saul persecuted the saints, he
persecuted Jesus. When St. Paul suffered as a Christian, it was as part of
the “dying of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 9:5; 2 Cor. 4:10.) What St. John
cheerfully endured was endured by Jesus.
Was in the isle that is called Patmos.—“At the time of this vision St.
John was a prisoner, exiled to the Isle of Patmos, a penal colony of those
days [a convict quarry]—a rocky, barren island in the Ægean Sea. The crime
for which he suffered this banishment was his faithfulness as the Lord’s
mouthpiece. St. John, the beloved disciple, in some measure, or degree,
represented the last living members of the Body of Christ (John
21:20‐23)—a class that see with the eyes of their understanding the
visions and revelations which the beloved disciple saw in symbol in a
trance. If, then, St. John’s exile in any degree represents ostracism
which the Lord’s followers may expect in the close of this Age—a complete
isolation from others and a treatment implying that they are
prisoners—they may take comfort from the thought that our Lord’s favor and
revelation to St. John more than offset his persecutions.”—Z. ’16‐343.
For the Word of God.—“St. John, with remarkable modesty, passes over his
previous service for the Truth (Rev. 1:2), which had brought him his
persecution, and lightly passes over the persecution itself, merely noting
that he was in the island because of his fidelity to the Word of God.”—Z.
’01‐187.
And for the testimony of Jesus.—As recorded in the Gospel according to St.
John and the three Johannean epistles.
1:10. I was in the spirit.—“Visions are not realities, although
symbolically representing them. (Dan. 7:1; Matt. 17:9.) The visions
granted to St. John, recorded in the Revelation, are in no sense to be
understood as realities.”—Z. ’16‐343; Acts 10:10.
On the Lord’s Day.—“According to our understanding of Bible chronology we
today are living in the early dawn of this Day of Christ; and it is here,
properly enough, that we begin to see the wonderful things of the Divine
Character and Plan. But to see and to understand we must be ‘in the
spirit.’ Only those who have become New Creatures in Christ can be
expected to appreciate spiritual things; and this is the class which the
Apostle John represented.”—Z. ’16‐343.
And heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.—“The fact that its
location is mentioned implies that it has a _symbolic_ meaning. It
signifies that the beginning of this Message was not in St. John’s day,
nor in the future, but that the things revealed had already commenced and
were already to some extent in the past. As some features of the
Revelation show, the voice from behind went back to the time of our Lord’s
earthly ministry.” (Z. ’16‐344.) “As John heard a voice behind him and
looked in that direction, so we who now are having the realities find that
the Message is behind us, and turn and look toward the past to see the
fulfilment of the various features of the Divine Plan and to hear and
understand the Message given to His people by the risen Lord.”—Z. ’05‐168.
1:11. Saying, [I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last: and] What
thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are
in Asia.—“There are many reasons for concluding that while the messages
were given to the seven churches specified and were applicable to them,
they should properly have a still wider application to the whole Church of
Christ, the number seven representing completeness, and the order
representing different epochs in the history of the Church. To think
otherwise would be to attach more importance to those comparatively small
churches of Asia Minor than they would seem to have deserved, and would
have implied an ignoring of other churches more numerous and more
influential; as, for instance, the churches at Jerusalem, Antioch,
Corinth, Colosse, Philippi, Thessalonica, etc. Furthermore, the details of
the messages given to these seven churches apply to and fit historically
the one Church of the living God, over every member and branch of which
the Lord has a care. This thought, that the seven represented
completeness, we find emphasized in the other symbolical
representations—in the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars, etc.”
(Z. ’05‐168.) Colosse (Col. 1:2), Miletus (Acts 20:17) and Hierapolis
(Col. 4:13) were churches in Asia, not here mentioned. The Asia mentioned
is the westernmost province of Asia Minor.
Unto Ephesus.—The Apostolic Age of the Church.
And unto Smyrna.—The Church during the period of persecution by Pagan
Rome.
And unto Pergamos.—The Church during the period of the rise of Antichrist.
And unto Thyatira.—The Church during the Dark Ages, the period of
Antichrist’s glory, and persecution by Papal Rome.
And unto Sardis.—The Church in the dawn of the Reformation.
And unto Philadelphia.—The Church in the period of reformation by sects.
And unto Laodicea.—The Church in the time of the Lord’s Second Presence.
1:12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.—“The Apostles saw
in symbol what the Lord’s people may now see with the eye of faith and
understanding. He saw One like a son of man—like a man, like a priest, as
implied by the clothes described—walking amongst seven golden
candlesticks, caring for them, trimming the wicks, seeing to the supply of
oil, etc. Thus our Lord Jesus, our glorified Master, has directed
respecting His people’s affairs, inspecting and caring for the Church as a
light‐bearer, a candlestick. Alas, how poor the wicks have sometimes been!
How feeble the light that has sometimes shone out! How much trimming has
been necessary!”—Z. ’16‐344.
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.—“The Golden
Candlestick, or Lamp‐stand, which stood opposite the Golden Table, and
gave light to all in the ‘Holy,’ was of gold—all of one piece hammered
out. (Exod. 25:31‐37.) It had seven branches, each of which held a lamp,
making seven lamps in all—a perfect or complete number. This represented
the complete Church, from the Head, Jesus, to and including the last
member of the ‘little flock’ that He is taking out from among men, to be
partakers of the Divine (gold) nature.”—T. 115; Rev. 1:20; Zech. 4:2;
Matt. 5:14‐16.
1:13. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks.—“The union, the
relationship between them, being supplied by our Redeemer, the antitypical
High Priest.”—Z. ’16‐344.
One like unto the son of man.—“This symbolical picture has precious
lessons for us, more valuable than an attempt to describe to our minds the
appearance of our Lord as a Spirit Being, ‘dwelling in light which no man
can approach unto,’ and which we cannot appreciate until we shall be
changed to ‘be like Him and see Him as He is.’—1 John 3:2; 1 Cor.
15:50‐53.”—Z. ’16‐344; Dan. 7:13.
Clothed with a garment down to the foot.—“The glory of Christ was
manifested in His own person, in His own ministry, and in that of His
Twelve Apostles, His representatives—St. Paul taking the place of Judas;
with their death the body of Truth was almost veiled throughout the
eighteen centuries intervening, until now.”—Z. ’16‐344.
And girt about the breast.—The support of the garment at the breast,
instead of the neck, left the arms and shoulders uncovered, representing
that the early Church was favored with the light of the true Gospel for a
considerable time after our Lord and Head had completed His earthly
ministry.
With a golden girdle.—Gold is a symbol of the Divine nature; the girdle a
symbol of service. (Rev. 15:6.) Throughout the Age the Lord has been
serving His Church. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He
cometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you that He shall gird
Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve
them.” “I am among you as he that serveth.”—Luke 12:37; 22:27.
1:14. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.—“The
head, with its white hair, is not to teach us that our Lord in glory has
the form of a man, with white hairs, but merely suggestive and symbolic of
knowledge, experience, wisdom.”—Z. ’01‐188; Matt. 17:2.
And His eyes were as a flame of fire.—“His eyes like a flame of fire tell
us in symbol that our Master is all‐seeing, omniscient; that He is not
deceived by outward forms and ceremonies; but that He can, and does, read
every thought and intent of the heart.”—Z. ’16‐344; Rev. 19:12.
1:15. And His feet like unto fine brass.—“The feet, described as like
furnace‐refined copper, seem to say that those who belong to the Body of
Christ, and whom the Lord would use in His service, ‘the feet’ members of
the Body, must, in their contact and dealings with the world, be refined,
purified, clean—‘Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord’s
house.’ ”—Z. ’01‐188; Ezek. 1:7.
As if they burned in a furnace.—“In the end of the Age, the feet members
of the Body of Christ will be illuminated by the Truth and will shine
forth—not like the Head, but as polished brass. We have shining upon us
with almost burning brightness the focused rays of Divine inspiration and
revelation from the past 6,000 years. How it should consume in us all the
dross of selfishness! How it should purify us! How humble it should make
us!”—Z. ’16‐344.
And His voice as the sound of many waters.—“The many waters signify
peoples, nations and languages, as elsewhere explained in this book. Thus
our Lord, present with His Church, speaks to her and through her by many
tongues, in many languages.”—Z. ’01‐188; Rev. 19:6.
1:16. And He had in His right hand.—“This One whom we thus know, thus
recognize, as the Instructor and Caretaker of the candlesticks, we are
also to recognize as having in His right hand—in His favor as well as His
power—seven stars, the angels, the messengers, of the seven Churches. That
they are in His right hand seems to teach us that these should be
considered as in some special sense under the Master’s guidance,
protection and care in the interest of the Churches which they
represented.”—Z. ’16‐345; Jer. 22:24.
Seven stars.—“Apparently the stars represent special ministers, or
servants of the Church. In Revelation 12:1 the Church is pictured as a
Woman crowned with twelve stars. These stars evidently represent the
Twelve Apostles as the special lights of the Church. Similarly, in the
picture before us, the seven stars which the Lord holds in His right hand
seem to represent special light‐bearers in the Church—in each of its seven
phases, or stages, of development. It will be noticed that the messages to
the various Churches are sent by these stars, messengers, angels, as
though our Lord would have us understand that the appropriate message for
each appropriate epoch in the Church’s experience would be sent by the
Lord through a particular star, or messenger, whom He would especially
commission as His representative. Our Lord Himself is represented by the
great light of the sun; and His special messengers in the Church
throughout the entire period of the Gospel Age are consistently enough
represented as stars.”—Z. ’16‐345; Rev. 1:20.
And out of His mouth went a sharp two‐edged sword.—“No part of the
description could more thoroughly convince us that the description of our
Lord given here is symbolic. As a symbolic picture, it speaks to us of the
Word of the Lord, the Sword of the Spirit, ‘sharper than any two‐edged
sword.’ (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12.) It reminds us that our Lord’s words are
not one‐sided, not directed merely against sin in one class, but that His
Word is sharp, cutting in every direction; that sin is reproved by Him as
much when found in His most earnest followers as when found elsewhere. It
assures us that none need attempt to pluck out the mote from his brother’s
eye without first getting rid of the beam in his own eye; and that if we
do not show mercy to those who are our debtors we must not expect mercy
from Him who has purposed to extend His mercy toward us. How heart‐
searching is God’s Word when we understand it—not merely as a compendium
of rules and regulations, but when we catch the spirit of it! Then we come
to see that its requirement is love out of a pure heart; first, to the
Heavenly Father; secondly, to our Lord and Head; thirdly, to all His
brethren; fourthly, to the world in general, groaning and travailing in
pain, waiting for the blessings of the coming Day of Christ; and fifthly,
toward our enemies also, sympathetically realizing that they are warped,
twisted and blinded through the deceitfulness of sin and through the
machinations of the great Adversary.—2 Cor. 4:4.”—Z. ’16‐345; Rev. 2:12,
16; 19:15, 21; Isa. 11:4.
And His countenance [was as the sun] shineth AS THE SUN in his
strength.—“And his face was as it were the sun.”—Rev. 10:1; Acts 26:13.
1:17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.—“So great was the
splendor that St. John fell as dead, just as Daniel did in the presence of
the mighty One whom he saw, and just as Saul of Tarsus did before the
majesty presented to him. (Dan. 10:4‐11; Acts 9:3‐9.) So it is
symbolically with the Christian, when once he gets a glimpse of the
glories of the Divine Character. When once we get a true view of Him with
whom we have to do, as the great Heart‐searcher and Caretaker of His
Church, we fall before Him, humbled to the dust, realizing that we are
imperfect, that we cannot stand before our Master, that we are unworthy of
His blessing.”—Z. ’16‐344; Ezek. 1:28.
And He laid His right hand upon me.—“As our Lord touched St. John gently,
raising him up, so He has spoken to us comfort, peace and love, assuring
us that we have a High Priest that can be touched with a feeling of our
infirmities, One who is able to sympathize and mercifully to assist.”—Z.
’16‐345.
Saying [unto me, Fear not]; I am the First and the Last.—“We must
recognize that our Lord is the One who was the beginning of the creation
of God and the end of it, the One by whom are all things, next to the
Father in everything pertaining to the affairs of the Universe.—Col. 1:15;
Rev. 3:14; John 1:1‐3; 1 Cor. 8:6.”—Z. ’16‐345; Rev. 1:11; 2:8.
1:18. I am He that liveth, and was dead.—“The Lord now liveth, and in
order to appreciate this we understand that He was dead for parts of three
days—not merely apparently dead, but actually _dead_—His soul poured out
unto death, made an offering for sin.—Isa. 53:10‐12.” (Z. ’01‐189.) “It
was because Christ’s soul (being) was dead that the Apostles could declare
that unless His soul, being, were made alive again by a resurrection there
could be no hope in Him as a Savior and a Life‐giver.”—Z. ’01‐122.
And behold, I am alive for evermore, [Amen].—“Death has no more dominion
over Him. (Rom. 6:9.) Neither sacrifices of the Mass nor death in any
sense or form ever will be needed. His work is perfect. ‘It is
finished!’ ”—Z. ’16‐345; John 19:30.
And have the keys of [hell] DEATH.—“He has the key, the power over death,
in order that those who have not yet gone into the tomb, but who are under
the death sentence, may all be ultimately delivered into the full liberty
of the sons of God—righteousness and life everlasting.—Rom. 8:21.”—Z.
’16‐345.
And of [death] HELL.—“These words imply that the Lord’s people go to
_Hades_, and that the hope when going down to _Hades_, to oblivion, is
that in due time our great Redeemer shall unlock this figurative
prisonhouse of death and bring forth the captives. This is the
significance of the statement that He has the keys—He can open; all power
is given into His hand. In preaching at His First Advent, He declared this
to be the Gospel. (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18.) How full of meaning are these
Scriptures when viewed from the proper standpoint; how confusing and
absurd when viewed from any other!”—E. 397, 378.
1:19. Write THEREFORE the things which thou hast seen.—John was personally
familiar with the first epoch, then already in the past. What he wrote of
that epoch (Rev. 2:1‐7) serves as a guide to what follows.
And the things which are.—John was writing in the second epoch, already in
its persecution era.—Rev. 2:8‐11.
And the things which [shall be] MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS hereafter.—The
five remaining epochs of the Church, and the Kingdom to follow.
1:20. The mystery of the seven stars.—Every true reformer must go contrary
to the current of his times; and, in proportion as he has the Master’s
spirit, he cannot fail to be, like Him, a man of mystery to his own
generation—“a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offense”—to those who have
not “ears to hear.”
Which thou sawest in My right hand.—Small wonder that these great
reformers seemed almost to have charmed lives!
And the seven golden candlesticks.—“The Candlestick, or Lampstand,
represents the nominal, rather than the true Church. This is shown by the
fact that in addressing each of these churches the Lord finds fault with
the many and approves the faithful few.”—Z. ’16‐344.
The seven stars.—“The star‐light is the Heavenly light, the spiritual
enlightenment or instruction. The lamp‐light is the earthly light,
representing good works, obedience, etc., of those who are exhorted to let
their light so shine that it will glorify their Father in Heaven.”—Z.
’16‐345.
Are the angels of the seven churches.—“The title is borrowed from the
Jewish Synagogue, in which the angel, or messenger of the assembly, was
the person who presided over and arranged the meetings for worship.”
(Cook.)—Mal. 2:7; Hag. 1:13.
And the seven candlesticks [which thou sawest] are the seven
churches.—“Alas! The Master evidently found but few good works, little
glorifying light shining out from His earthly representatives in many of
the seven epochs of the history of the Church.”—Z. ’16‐344; Rev. 1:12;
Zech. 4:2.
Revelation 2—St. Paul, St. John, Arius And Waldo
2:1. [Unto] BY the angel.—The special messenger in the Harvest of the
Jewish Age was St. Paul. A Hebrew of the Hebrews (Phil. 3:5), he was a
free‐born Roman citizen (Acts 22:25‐29), highly educated (Acts 22:3),
spoke Greek (Acts 21:37) and Hebrew (Acts 22:2), and was presumably a
member of the Sanhedrin at the time of St. Stephen’s death. (Acts 7:58;
8:1; 26:10.) Chosen before his birth (Gal. 1:15), he was supernaturally
inducted into the Body of Christ (Acts 9:1‐22) to take the place of Judas
(Psa. 109:8; Acts 1:20), was privately instructed in the fullness of the
Gospel (Gal. 1:11, 12, 17), was specially commissioned to explain this
Gospel to the brethren at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1, 2), did not hesitate to
correct the erring Peter (Gal. 2:11), was acknowledged by St. Peter as
filled with Heavenly wisdom (2 Pet. 3:15, 16), wrote over half of the
books of the New Testament, carried the Gospel into Europe (Acts 16:9),
supported himself with his own hands while he preached (Acts 20:32‐35),
and suffered almost unbelievable hardships of every description—besides
having “the care of all the churches.” (2 Cor. 11:24‐28.) What a service
and honor, here and hereafter, Judas missed by his love of money! St. Paul
was beheaded by Nero, A. D. 66.
Of the church [of] IN Ephesus.—The first age of the Church began at
Pentecost in the spring of A. D. 33, and ended in the spring of A. D. 73.
“It may be proper to mention also what things occurred that show the
benignity of that all‐gracious Providence, that had deferred their
destruction for forty years after their crimes against Christ.” (Eusebius’
_Ecclesiastical History_.) “On the 15th of Nisan, i. e., of April, in the
year 73 A. D., the first day of the Easter festival, the same day on
which, according to tradition, the God of Israel had led His people out of
Egyptian bondage into freedom, the last bulwark of Israel’s liberty had
fallen, and Israel was delivered into bondage.” (Cornil’s _History of the
People of Israel_.) “Masada attained great importance in the war with the
Romans.... With the fall of Masada the war came to an end, on the 15th of
Nisan, 73.” (_The Jewish Encyclopedia_.) “The capture of Masada, a Jewish
fortress on the southwestern shores of the Dead Sea, put a termination to
one of the fiercest struggles recorded in history (73 A. D.)”—Morrison’s
_Jews Under Roman Rule_.
“Judea was not entirely subjugated; for three strong fortresses were still
in arms: Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada.... The heroes agreed to this
proposal (of their leader Eleasar) even with enthusiasm, and on the first
day of the great Feast of the Passover (A. D. 73), after slaying their own
wives and children, they all perished on their own swords.” (Graetz’s
_History of the Jews_, Vol. 2.) “Eleasar accordingly persuaded all his
people during that night to kill their wives and children and then
themselves, but to burn all their treasures first. The next day the Romans
found only 960 dead bodies, whilst but two women and five children hid
themselves in caverns and were discovered. The Easter of the year 73, just
seven years from the beginning of the great movement and 40 years after
Christ’s crucifixion, saw this end of the whole tragedy.” (Ewald’s
_History of Israel_, Vol. 7, which is entitled “The Apostolic Age,” and
which Prof. Ewald makes to end with the year A. D. 73.) Josephus also
relates that Masada fell on the 15th of Nisan, April, A. D. 73; but the
quotation is too lengthy to be inserted here.
The meaning of the word _Ephesus_ is “permission,” which, understood as
“approval,” harmonizes well with the tradition that the meaning is
“desirable.” Anything that has approval is desirable.
Write.—St. Paul wrote a third of the New Testament.
These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand.—“In
the first chapter we have a description of ‘One like unto a son of man.’
Some one or more of the features of this description are mentioned in
connection with each of the successive stages of the Church.”—Z. ’16‐346;
Rev. 1:16, 20.
Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.—“We could not
doubt the love and care of our glorified Head even if He had given us no
explicit declaration on the subject.” (F. 401; Rev. 1:13; Lev. 24:2‐4.)
2:2. I know thy works.—The early Christians “took joyfully the spoiling of
their goods” (Heb. 10:34); in “great trial of affliction” they abounded in
joy, and in “deep poverty” were liberal “beyond their power.” (2 Cor. 8:2,
3.) They were living epistles, “known and read of all men.”—2 Cor. 8:2, 3.
And thy labor.—Considered as betrayers of the Jewish faith; living in the
midst of heathen idolatry, without railways, steamships, automobiles,
bicycles, telegraphs, telephones, printing, postal service, electricity,
gas, or kerosene—in the midst of densest ignorance and basest morals—the
early Christians traversed the seas and lands of the known world, braving
floggings, stonings, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness and martyrdom, that
they might tell the good news of the coming Kingdom.—2 Cor. 11:24‐27.
And thy patience.—_Hupomonee._ “An endurance of wrong or affliction with
contentment, without rebellion of will, with full acquiescence in the
Divine Wisdom and Love.”—Z. ’01‐115.
And how thou canst not bear them which are evil.—“How much earnestness it
produced in you! what an apology! what indignation! what earnest desire!
what zeal! what a punishment! In everything you proved yourselves to be
pure in this matter.” (2 Cor. 7:11, Diaglott.) “Sufficient for such a
person is this punishment, which was inflicted by the majority; so that,
on the other hand, you ought to forgive and comfort him, lest such an one
should be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I entreat you
publicly to confirm your love towards him.”—2 Cor. 2:6‐8, Diaglott.
And thou hast tried.—Made experiment of, Greek implies.
Them which [say they are] CALL THEMSELVES apostles, and are not, and hast
found them liars.—“Giving out that himself was some great one,” like the
clergy of other times, Simon Magus sought “also this power, that on
whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit,” but learned that
he had “neither part nor lot in this matter” because his heart was “not
right in the sight of God.” (Acts 8:9‐24.) Also, there were “certain men
which came down from Judea” (Acts 15:1, 2), the “false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” in Corinth
(2 Cor. 11:12‐15); “Hymenaeus and Alexander” (1 Tim. 1:20); “Philetus” (2
Tim. 2:17); those who would “pervert the Gospel of Christ” in Galatia
(Gal. 1:7); “Phygellus and Hermogenes.”—2 Tim. 1:15; Acts 20:28‐30; Rev.
2:6.
2:3. And [hast borne and] hast patience.—_Hupomonee_, constant, cheerful
endurance.
And ALL AFFLICTIONS AND HAST BORNE for My name’s sake [hast labored].—“And
hast suffered on account of My name.” (Diaglott.) “As concerning this
sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” (Acts 28:22.) The
natural course is, hatred, slander, then murder. (Matt. 5:21, 22.) It is
said that Peter was crucified with head downward (A. D. 70); Andrew was
crucified on a cross decussate (X); James was murdered by Herod (A. D.
44), (Acts 12:2); Bartholomew was first flayed alive and then crucified
with his head downward; Matthew died a martyr (supposedly); Thomas was
impaled on a spear; James the son of Alphaeus was thrown down from the
Temple and was then stoned, and his brains dashed out with a club; Simon
Zelotes was crucified; Paul beheaded.
And hast not fainted.—“Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due time
we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Gal. 6:9.) “Consider Him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and
faint in your minds.”—Heb. 12:3.
2:4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee.—The Lord’s nominal people
of the Apostolic Age.
Because thou hast left thy first love.—“I marvel that ye are so soon
removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel.”—Gal. 1:6.
2:5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.—“Call to remembrance
the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great
fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazing stock both by
reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of
them that were so used.”—Heb. 10:32, 33.
And repent, and do the first works.—“Cast not away therefore your
confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.”—Heb. 10:35.
Or else I will come unto thee [quickly], and will remove thy candlestick
out of his place, except thou repent.—The nominal church was in grave
danger of being disowned and rejected. “By far the larger proportion were
not consecrated to death, not of the Royal Priesthood, but merely Levites,
doing the service of the Sanctuary, but not _sacrificing_.”—T. 118.
2:6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes.—“Conquerors of the people”—the clergy.—Rev. 2:15.
Which I also hate.—When the Lord’s people hate the idea of a class that
seeks to be “lords over God’s heritage” (1 Pet. 5:2, 3), they hate
something that the Lord hates.
2:7. He that hath an ear.—To receive and understand the voice of God
through His Word.—Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; Rev. 13:9.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—“If they have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept [observed,
‘heard’] My saying, they will keep yours also.”—John 15:20.
To him that overcometh.—See 1 John 2:13, 14.
Will I give to eat of the tree of life.—“All the trees in Eden were trees
of life, and the overcomers of the Gospel Age shall have full liberty to
partake of ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ when the knowledge
will be of benefit to them, and not bring a curse.”—Z. ’16‐346.
Which is in the [midst of the] Paradise of God.—“Paradise, the garden of
God, was applicable as a name to the Garden of Eden, in which our first
parents resided while they were still in harmony with God, before their
disobedience; and the same term is Scripturally applied as a name to the
new earth when restitution blessings shall, during our Lord’s Second
Presence (the Millennium), have brought it to perfection as the fit abode
of those who, under Divine favor, shall then prove worthy of life
everlasting. It is this same Paradise of the future on this earth that our
Lord referred to when addressing the penitent thief, and that is elsewhere
referred to as ‘the third heaven’—‘new heavens and a new earth.’ (2 Cor.
12:2, 4; 2 Pet. 3:13.)”—Z. ’01‐198.
2:8. And [unto] BY the angel.—The mouthpiece of the Lord to the second
epoch of the Church was St. John himself. He was the one whom Jesus
specially loved (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7, 20); to him Jesus committed His
choicest earthly possession (John 19:26); length of days were implied in
the Lord’s statement, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that
to thee?” (John 21:22.) He died at Ephesus at the age of 100, four years
after writing the Apocalypse. Polycarp, Ignatius and Papias, his
disciples, record that he was a tower of strength to the Church when the
Roman Emperors Nero, Domitian and Trajan were endeavoring to destroy the
hated sect. When all his capacity to work was gone, and he had no strength
even to stand, he used to be carried into the Christian assemblies where
he would repeat the exhortation, “Little children, love one another.” “The
end of the commandment is love” (1 Tim. 1:5); and it is significant that
the epoch of the Church especially under St. John’s faithful and loving
care receive no reproof whatever from the Lord.
Of the church in Smyrna.—Greek, _myrrh_. The word means “bitter,” and, as
applied to the history of the church from A. D. 73 to 325, is peculiarly
appropriate. This era comprised persecutions under Nero, when Christian
women were soaked with tar and burned as torches to light the path of his
chariot; under Domitian, in the year 95, when 40,000 suffered martyrdom;
under Trajan in the year 100; under Antoninus; under Severus in the year
127, when beautiful and amiable young women were stripped naked before
insulting mobs and gored to death by wild cattle; under Maximinus in A. D.
235; under Decius in 250, when all Christians were driven from their
estates; under Valerian in 257; under Aurelian in 274; and under
Diocletian in A. D. 303.
Write.—St. John wrote more of the New Testament than any other except St.
Paul.
These things saith the First and the Last.—“In no other sense or way could
He be the First and the Last than as the only direct creation of the
Father, through whom all else was created. Any other view would be in
conflict with the Scriptures. (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15; 1 Cor. 8:6; John
1:1‐3, Diaglott.)”—Z. ’16‐346; Rev. 1:11, 17.
Which was dead, and is alive.—This, in itself, must have been a message of
comfort and hope to the suffering martyrs.—Rev. 1:18.
2:9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty.—“Some of the most
sublime pictures of Christian endurance that the world has ever seen were
enacted during the Smyrna period of the Church.”—Z. ’16‐346.
But thou art rich.—“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich.”—Prov.
10:22; Luke 12:21; 1 Tim. 6:18; James 2:5.
And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are
not.—“ ‘They are not all Israel which are of Israel.’ (Rom. 9:6, 7.) ‘He
is not a Jew which is a Jew outwardly, neither is that circumcision which
is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and
circumcision is that of the heart.’ ”—Z. ’99‐68.
But are the synagogue of Satan.—“Sold under sin, by our first parent,
Adam, his family became ‘slaves of sin’ through the weakness of heredity.
(Rom. 5:12, 21; 6:16‐23; 7:14; 8:20, 21.) In this captive condition they
have been blinded by the god (ruler) of the present evil world (condition)
who puts evil before their minds as good, and darkness for light. (2 Cor.
4:4; Eph. 6:12; Isa. 5:20.) He has general control; first of the masses
through ignorance; and secondly, of the more intelligent through pride,
selfishness, etc.”—E. 205, 189.
2:10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.—Some were covered
with the skins of wild beasts and torn in pieces by devouring dogs; some
were tortured in red‐hot iron chairs; the throats of Christian infants
were cut; and edicts were published in all places against the Christians,
who were exposed, without protection, to the common rage.—Matt. 10:22.
Behold, the Devil.—“It is because there are such beasts as lions, bears
and leopards, with known characteristics, that governments were likened to
them; and so, it is because there is a Devil, with known characteristics,
that the fourth empire is likened to him.” (A. 259.) The Devil used the
Roman empire as an instrument.
Shall cast some of you into prison.—Restrain your liberties and
opportunities for service.
That ye may be tried.—“Those who have read the history of this period can
understand the depths of these words.”—Z. ’16‐346; Jas. 1:2, 3; 1 Pet.
1:6, 7.
And ye shall have tribulation ten days.—“The ten symbolic days refer to
the last and most severe persecution under the Roman Emperors—that of the
reign of Diocletian, A. D. 303‐313.” (Z. ’16‐346.) “This persecution
continued from February 23, A. D. 303, to June 13, A. D. 313. It began in
Nicomedia, and became universal. Some were impaled alive; some had their
limbs broken, and were left to expire. Some were roasted by slow fires;
some suspended by their feet with their heads downward, and, a fire being
placed under them, were suffocated by the smoke. Some had melted lead
poured down their throats; the flesh of some was torn off with fingers and
toes. Houses filled with Christians were set on fire. Numbers of
Christians were tied together and thrown into the sea. Seventeen thousand
were slain in one month; and during the continuance of this persecution in
Egypt alone 144,000 Christians died by violence, besides 700,000 that died
through the fatigues of banishment or the public works to which they were
condemned. Coins were struck, and inscriptions set up recording the fact
that Christian superstition was now utterly exterminated.”—McC.
Be thou faithful unto death.—“It is required of all consecrators that they
shall ‘die daily,’ and that the end, with us as with our Lord and Head,
shall be literal death. As it is written: ‘I have said, Ye are gods
[_elohim_—mighty ones], all of you sons of the Highest; yet ye shall die
like men, ye shall fall like one of the princes’—not like Prince Adam,
convicts; but like Prince Jesus, participators in His death. (Psa. 82:6,
7.)”—F. 444.
And I will give thee a Crown of Life.—“The Apostle James speaks of the
same crown and calls it the Crown of Life. (Jas. 1:12.) The Apostle Peter
speaking of the same calls it the Crown of Glory. (1 Pet. 5:4.) The
thought at the bottom of each of these expressions is the same; namely,
the custom in olden times of running races and the giving of a crown to
the successful runner at the end of the course. Our reward will be the
Crown of Life in the sense that we shall get life on the highest plane,
inherent life, immortality. It will be a Crown of Righteousness in the
sense that only those who are approved of God as righteous will thus be
rewarded and glorified—the righteousness of the Lord fulfilled in us who
walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.”—Z. ’03‐190; Rev. 3:11; 2
Tim. 2:15; Isa. 62:3; Phil. 3:14.
2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; he that overcometh.—The overcomer of this Gospel Age only.
Shall not be hurt of the Second Death.—His victory is eternal.
2:12. And [to] BY the angel.—The messenger whose testimony was of special
value to the Church while the Papacy was rising into power was Arius. He
“maintained that the Son of God was totally and essentially distinct from
the Father; that He was the first and noblest of those beings whom God had
created—the instrument by whose subordinate operation He formed the
Universe; and therefore inferior to the Father both in nature and
dignity.” (Buck.) “The controversy spread like a flame throughout the
empire. Accordingly the first ecumenical council was held at Nice, A. D.
325, consisting of 318 bishops, most of whom were from the East. The gist
of the question to be settled by the Council of Nice lay in the argument
of Arius: ‘The Father is a father; the Son is a son; therefore the Father
must have existed before the Son; therefore once the Son was not;
therefore He was made, like all creatures, of a substance that had not
previously existed.’ The creed, as finally adopted, condemned the heresy
of Arius and fixed the doctrine as it has been held in the church to this
day. Of all the bishops only Thomas of Marmarica, and Secundus of
Ptolemais, held out against the threat of banishment by the Emperor. Arius
was excommunicated and banished, and his books burnt.”—McC.
“From the time the Nicene Creed was promulgated and accepted, A. D. 325,
there was practically no more Bible study for over twelve centuries.
During all that time Bible study was considered unnecessary, because the
Apostolic Bishops had formulated the creeds as proper statements of the
Church’s faith. To study the Bible would have meant the studying of how to
fight against the Emperor and the bishops.” (Z. ’15‐253.) “As a result of
the failure of these bishops to stand by the Word of the Lord, God’s
people for centuries have been confessing a Divine trinity, which is
incomprehensible; and meantime been neglecting the trinity taught by the
Bible, which is more reasonable. If the trinity of the creeds was
questioned, hands were lifted in horror, and the questioner was told that
the subject was a mystery, which he could not possibly understand, but to
doubt which would mean his damnation! The mysterious proposition was
sometimes stated to be 3 × 1 is 1; but others stated it differently, 1 × 3
is 1. No wonder if some of the more intelligent specimens of our race
declared themselves incapable of understanding such mathematics, and too
honest to confess and profess what they could not believe!” (B. S. M.) The
witness of Arius created a profound impression. “The doctrine was carried,
in the fifth century, into Africa, under the Vandals; and into Asia, under
the Goths. But it sunk almost at once, when the Vandals were driven out of
Africa, and the Goths out of Italy, by the arms of Justinian. However, it
revived again in Italy, under the protection of the Lombards, in the
seventh century, and was not extinguished till about the end of the
eighth. Arianism was revived in the West by Servetus, in 1531, for which
he suffered death.”—Buck.
Of the church in Pergamos.—From _Purgos_, a tower or citadel. “The name
was originally given to a remarkable hill, presenting a conical appearance
when viewed from the plain, and strongly fortified by nature and art.” (S.
B. D.) Concerning the literal city of Pergamos, of which the rising Papacy
was the antitype, we read, “The sumptuousness of the princes raised
Pergamos to the rank of the first city of Asia as regards splendor. It was
a sort of union of a pagan cathedral city, a university town, and a royal
residence, embellished during a succession of years by kings who all had a
passion for expenditure and ample means of gratifying it.”—McC.
From the witness by Arius in 325 to the witness by the next special
messenger of the Church was the long period of 835 years; and during all
that time the Papacy was slowly rising, pushing itself higher and higher.
“The first ecumenical council of Nice (325), in its sixth canon, makes
only an incidental mention of the Roman bishop. The first pope, in the
real sense, was Leo I (440‐461). The bishops of the African and the
Spanish churches submitted to his demands, and he gained an important
foothold even in the East. In Gaul, however, he met with a most determined
resistance. Gregory I (590‐604) saw that the bishops of Rome could not
enjoy the ecclesiastical supremacy at which they aimed until they threw
off their political dependency. The triumph of the Catholic Church over
Arianism in Spain greatly promoted his plans; but he did not as yet
actually possess the power of the mediaeval popes. In the seventh and
eighth centuries a series of important events gave the popes a high and
influential position among the secular governments of the world. The
actual power was, however, for several centuries, not commensurate with
their claims and aspirations. In 1073, Hildebrand (Gregory VII), after
being for about twenty‐five years the guide of the Papal policy, boldly
set forth the theory of a theocratic rule of the pope over all the nations
of the world. The period from Gregory VII onward is an almost continuous
conflict between the popes and the secular governments, during which the
former, with an iron firmness, endeavored at first to destroy the direct
influence of the princes upon the church, and secondly, to subject all
secular governments to the church. This conflict was ended by the
Concordat of Worms (1122), by which Emperor Henry V, after the precedence
of the governments of England and France, surrendered ‘to God, to St.
Peter and Paul, and to the Catholic Church, all right of investiture.’ ”
(McC.) The Pergamos (“earthly elevation”) era ended in A. D. 1160, as will
be shown.
Write.—Arius’ writings were destroyed by Constantine.
These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges.—How the
sharp sword, God’s Word, wielded by Arius before the Emperor and his
brother elders at the Nicean Council, must have cut some of them to the
heart when they saw the gentle and aged man (Arius was old at the time the
controversy arose) banished into the Balkan mountains, one of the most
inhospitable places in the world!—Isa. 11:4, 49:2; Hos. 6:5; Eph. 6:17; 2
Thes. 2:8.
2:13. I know [thy works, and] where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat
is.—“During this period, the true Christians were tested and proved by the
introduction and development of Pagan and Papal ideas. The Pagan priests,
unwilling to lose their positions of honor and influence amongst the
people, while nominally professing Christianity, brought their former
ideas with them into the Christian Church.” (Z. ’16‐346.) The word _seat_
is rendered _throne_ in Lu. 1:32, and refers to Satan’s “hellish parody of
the Heavenly Kingdom.”—Cook.
And thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, [even] in
those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr.—Throughout all the
western part of Europe the Bishop of Rome finally came to be called the
_papa_, or pope, or Father of the church. “Whoever denounced this attempt
to disobey the direct command of Jesus (Matt. 23:9), received the promised
persecution. (2 Tim. 3:12.) This class in Pergamos is commended by our
Lord under the symbol of ‘Anti‐pas, My faithful martyr.’ In Greek, _anti‐_
means against, and _papas_ signifies father.”—Z. ’16‐347.
Who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.—We can give but a partial
list of the popes who served from the condemnation of Arius to the end of
the Pergamos epoch; but it will be instructive to those who trust in human
ordination and are in sympathy with the efforts of present‐day clergy to
get some of the special spirit that is supposed to be imparted by the
laying on of hands of these “successors of St. Peter,” or those to whom
they imparted their “authority.” “Saint” Gregory I, pope 590‐604 A. D.,
was the great‐great‐grandchild of Pope Felix II. When Phocas murdered
Emperor Maurice and ascended the throne, Gregory wrote, “The Almighty has
chosen you and put you on the throne. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the
earth leap for joy.” Phocas was not ungrateful and in return established
the supremacy of the see of Rome over all the other sees. Gregory was the
discoverer of Purgatory, it having been revealed to him by means of
“apparitions” and visions. See middle of page 127.
Honorius I, 625‐638, has been condemned as having taught a heresy _ex
cathedra_ (officially). The interest in this lies in the fact that in 1870
the Vatican Council declared the infallibility of all the popes in their
_ex cathedra_ utterances. But the pope who declared Honorius a heretic did
it _ex cathedra_ also. Hundreds of “learned” volumes have been written in
the effort to make this pretty snarl clear to the Roman clergy. It is
clear enough to others. “Saint” Agathon, 678‐682, claimed to be a miracle
worker. He was the infallible pope who denounced the doctrines taught by
infallible Honorius I. “Saint” Nicholas I, 858‐867, “tamed kings and
tyrants, and ruled the world like a sovereign; to the wicked and
unconverted he was a terror.” So says a Catholic historian. John VIII,
872‐882, must have seriously offended one of the “brethren” at the
Vatican; for that dignitary first tried to poison him, and as the poison
did not work quickly enough, he finished the job by breaking John’s head
with a hammer. Stephen VII, 897‐898, was offended because his predecessor
had at one time gotten the papal throne away from him. Accordingly, his
first act was to cause the body of Pope Formosus to be exhumed, mutilated
and thrown into the Tiber. Subsequently one of the “brethren” strangled
him.
Christopher, 900‐903, boldly deposed his predecessor, Leo V, declaring him
unfit to reign, which was doubtless true. Leo died “of grief” in prison
less than forty days after he had ascended the throne. He probably had
something given him to help his grief along. Christopher himself was
murdered by _his_ successor. Sergius III, 904‐911, having murdered
Christopher, ascended the throne and emulated the kings of earlier days.
His concubine Marosia bore him several children. John X, 915‐928, and Leo
VI, 928‐929, were both killed by Marosia, to make room for others in whom
she was interested. John XI, 931‐936, was the son of Marosia by Pope
Sergius III. One of the “brethren” poisoned him. John XII, 956‐964, was
murdered while in the act of committing adultery. He was of licentious
habits, associating with women of every station, and filling the Lateran
with the noisy profanity of a brothel. Among his mistresses was Joan,
popularly known in history as Pope Joan. She was a brilliant woman and
actually exercised the chief influence at Rome during John’s pontificate.
Benedict VI, 972‐973, was strangled or poisoned by one of the “saints.”
Boniface VII, 984‐985, was elected just after the tumult caused by the
death of Benedict VI, but had to leave town to escape a similar fate, on
account of licentiousness and cruelty. He remained away eleven years,
returned, put Pope John XIV in prison, starved him to death and ascended
the throne in his place.
Gregory V, 996‐999, was poisoned by one of the “regularly ordained”
clergy. Benedict IX, 1033‐1045, the boy pope whose parents bought the
popedom for him when he was twelve years old, was the worst monster that
ever held the papal throne. Some, however, claim that honor for Alexander
VI, 1492‐1503, who had seven acknowledged bastards and many mistresses.
Alexander tried to poison nine cardinals at one sitting so that he could
sell their offices for the benefit of his brood; but a stupid servant gave
him the wrong glass and he departed this life ahead of time. Benedict’s
vile conduct caused the Romans to expel him from the city. Silvester III
was regularly elected to take his place; but after three months Benedict
came back and resumed control. Shortly afterward he sold the popedom to
Gregory VI, so that he might be free to marry an Italian princess. At one
time there were three popes living in Rome contemporaneously, and the city
was filled with brawls and murders. A fourth, Clement II, was elected, but
after he had served nine months, a friend of Gregory put something into
his food besides the regular seasoning; and he never awoke again.
Thereupon Benedict came back and reigned three years longer.
2:14. But I have a few things [against thee].—Against the nominal church
of the Pergamos epoch.
Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam.—Balaam was
a mouthpiece of the Lord, but unworthy. He desired to curse God’s true
people, because of the money there was in it, and finally seduced them by
fornication (symbolical of union of church and state). The name Balaam
means the same as “Nicolaitanes” (conquerors of the people), and refers to
the money‐loving, power‐loving clergy. We have already noted the efforts
to obtain worldly power (spiritual fornication) which characterized the
Pergamos epoch. Its history also shows that the clergy of that time were
quite as fond of money as ever Balaam was. John XX, 1024‐1033, tried to
sell the Roman primacy over the Eastern church for a pecuniary
consideration, but failed to make the sale. “Benedict IX, when a boy of
twelve years (A. D. 1033), was elected pope ‘_intercedente thesaurorum
pecuniae_’ ”; i. e., his relatives provided the collateral necessary to
secure the office for him. Gregory VI, who had had great repute for
sanctity as a priest, obtained the papal chair (A. D. 1044) by purchase
from Benedict IX, “who abdicated to marry a girl of noble family.” “At a
council at Lyons, the archbishop and forty‐five bishops confessed
themselves simoniacal” (guilty of buying and selling church offices). In
the reign of Lucien II, 1144‐1145, the people, hoping for some relief from
an intolerable condition, paraded the streets of Rome with a banner,
“Caesar should have the things that are Caesar’s and the priest the things
that are the priest’s.” Lucien thought this was a reflection upon himself,
and went out in person to put down the “revolution.” The people stoned him
to death.
Who taught Balac to cast a stumbling‐block before the children of
Israel.—“Guided by Balaam, King Balac communicated with the leading people
of the Midianites, and urged that their wives and daughters should
apparently fall in love with the Israelites, and introduce them to the
sensuous religious rites practised by Midian. The scheme was successful.
Some of the leading wives and daughters of the Midianites attracted some
of the leading men of Israel to adultery, and to idol worship and orgies.”
(Z. ’13‐297; Num. 24:14; 25:1; 31:16; 2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11; 1 Cor. 10:8.)
The words “cast a stumbling‐block” are properly rendered, in Rotherham’s
translation, “throw a snare.”
To eat.—Appropriate to themselves as truths.
Things sacrificed unto idols.—Doctrines twisted, distorted and mutilated
to make them agree with creed‐idols.
And to commit fornication.—“Papacy perceived its own great power over the
peoples of Europe, all of whom at that time ignorantly and blindly
acknowledged the Roman Catholic faith. While the kings of Europe were
comparatively weak, the suggestion came, ‘Now it must be God’s time for
setting up the Messianic Kingdom, because now we have the power.’ The
answer of others was, ‘Not so. The Bible teaches that Jesus will set up
His own Kingdom at His Second Advent in power and great glory, and that
the virgin Church will become His Bride and Joint‐heir by the power of the
First Resurrection.’ The answer to this was, ‘So once we thought. But we
have waited for the coming of Messiah for over 800 years; and now we have
the thought that He probably wishes us to set up His Kingdom for Him, and
in His name to reign over the kings of the earth.’ ” (Z. ’16‐53.) “So
these Pagan priests taught the Church to indulge in spiritual fornication,
and thus brought upon her the withering blight of God’s wrath.”—Z.
’16‐346.
2:15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,
[which thing I hate] IN LIKE MANNER.—“The ‘doctrine of the Nicolaitanes’
(conquerors of the people) seems to be the theory of lordship or headship
in the Church. (1 Pet. 5:3.) At their councils there was a bitter fight
for supremacy. It was settled only by a division of the Church; the
Eastern, or Greek Church, accepting the Patriarch of Constantinople for
its head; and the Western, or Papal Church, acknowledging the Bishop—Pope
or Father—of Rome.” (Z. ’16‐346.) “The sins to which Balaam allured Israel
were a type of the sins to which the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes now
seduce thee.”—Cook.
2:16. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly.—Ere you reach the
earthly heights to which you aspire.
And will fight against them.—The unfaithful and unrepentant church
nominal.
With the sword of My mouth.—With the Scriptures, in the hands of a
faithful servant. Such a servant came at that very time, as we shall
see.—2 Thes. 2:8; Heb. 4:12.
2:17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches.—Not many have had the “hearing ear.” “There’s just one here, one
there.”
To him that overcometh will I give [to eat] of the hidden manna.—“Manna
was the bread which came down from heaven as a life‐sustainer for Israel.
It represented the living bread, Christ Himself. One peculiarity of the
golden pot of manna ‘hidden’ in the Tabernacle, marking it as the same and
yet different from that supplied to the Israelites in general, was that it
was _incorruptible_; hence it well illustrates the immortal, incorruptible
condition promised to the Church.”—T. 122; Ex. 16:33, 34; Heb. 9:4; John
6:49, 50.
And [will give him] a white stone.—“In ancient times the Greeks and the
Romans had a custom of noting and perpetuating friendship by means of a
_white stone_. This stone was divided into halves, and each person
inscribed his name on the flat surface, after which the parts of the stone
were exchanged. The production of either half was sufficient to insure
friendly aid. Thus the divided stone became a mark of identification.
There is an individual and personal relationship between the Lord and the
overcomers, who may be said to receive the mark of identification—the
antitypical white stone—_now_, in this life. This mark is the sealing of
the Holy Spirit.”—Z. ’12‐315.
And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that
receiveth it.—The new name signifies a new relationship to Jehovah.—Gen.
17:5, 15; 32:28.
2:18. And [unto] BY the angel.—The messenger to the fourth epoch of the
Church was Peter Waldo. “Peter, an opulent merchant of Lyons, surnamed
Valdensis, or Valdisius, from Vaux, or Waldum, a town in the marquisate of
Lyons, being extremely zealous for the advancement of true piety and
Christian knowledge, employed a certain priest, called Stephanus de Evisa,
about the year 1160, in translating, from Latin into French, the four
Gospels, with other books of Holy Scripture. But no sooner had he perused
these sacred books with a proper degree of attention, than he perceived
that the religion which was now taught in the Roman church differed
totally from that which was originally inculcated by Christ and His
Apostles. Struck with this glaring contradiction between the doctrines of
the pontiffs and the truths of the Gospel, and animated with zeal, he
abandoned his mercantile vocation, distributed his riches among the poor
(whence the Waldenses were called poor men of Lyons), and forming an
association with other pious men who had adopted his sentiments and his
turn of devotion, he began to assume the quality of a public teacher, and
to instruct the multitude in the doctrines and precepts of Christianity.
“Soon after Peter had assumed the exercise of his ministry, the archbishop
of Lyons, and the other rulers of the church in that province, vigorously
opposed him. However, their opposition was unsuccessful; for the purity
and simplicity of that religion which these good men taught, the spotless
innocence that shone forth in their lives and actions, and the noble
contempt of riches and honors which was conspicuous in the whole of their
conduct and conversation, appeared so engaging to all such as had any
sense of true piety, that the number of their followers daily increased.
They accordingly formed religious assemblies, first in France, and
afterwards in Lombardy; from whence they propagated their sect throughout
the other provinces of Europe with incredible rapidity, and with such
invincible fortitude that neither fire nor sword, nor the most cruel
inventions of merciless persecution, could damp their zeal, or entirely
ruin their cause. All they aimed at was to reduce the form of
ecclesiastical government, and the manners both of the clergy and the
people, to that amiable simplicity and primitive sanctity which
characterized the Apostolic ages, and which appear so strongly recommended
in the precepts and injunctions of the Divine Author of our holy religion.
“In consequence of this design, they complained that the Roman church had
degenerated from its primitive purity and sanctity. They denied the
supremacy of the Roman pontiff, and maintained that the rulers and
ministers of the Church were obliged, by their vocation, to imitate the
poverty of the Apostles and to procure for themselves a subsistence by the
work of their hands. They considered every Christian as, in a certain
measure, qualified and authorized to instruct, exhort and confirm the
brethren in their Christian course. They at the same time affirmed that
confession made to priests was by no means necessary, since the humble
offender might acknowledge his sins and testify his repentance to any true
believer, and might expect from such the counsel and admonition which his
case demanded. They maintained that the power of delivering sinners from
the guilt and punishment of their offenses belonged to God alone; and that
indulgences in consequence were the criminal invention of sordid avarice.
They looked upon the prayers and other ceremonies that were instituted in
behalf of the dead, as vain, useless, and absurd, and denied the existence
of departed souls in an intermediate state of purification. It is also
said that several of the Waldenses denied the obligation of infant
baptism. They adopted as the model of their moral discipline Christ’s
sermon on the mount, which they interpreted and explained in the most
rigorous and literal manner; and consequently prohibited and condemned in
their society all wars, and suits of law, and all attempts toward the
acquisition of wealth.”—Buck.
“Waldo’s translation of the four gospels into French was the first
appearance of the Scriptures in any modern language. The possession of
these books soon discovered to Waldo that the Church was never designed to
be dependent on a priesthood, even for the administration of the
sacraments; and he became so obnoxious to the church that he was
anathematized by the pope. No longer safe in Lyons, Waldo and his friends
took refuge in the mountains, and there formed those communities from
which the simple doctrines of Christianity flowed out all over Europe.
Provence, Languedoc, Flanders, Germany, one after another tasted of the
refreshing waters. Waldo traveled in Picardy, teaching his reformation
doctrines, hundreds of years before Luther was born. He finally settled in
Bohemia, where he died in 1179, the same year in which his tenets were
denounced by an ecumenical council. The Waldensian Church was a light on
the mountains during the Dark Ages.”—McC.
Of the church in Thyatira.—“Thyatira seems to mean ‘the sweet perfume of
sacrifice.’ It was the period of Papal persecution.” (Z. ’16‐347.) From
the time of Peter Waldo’s witness in 1160 until the next special messenger
to the Church appeared, 1378, was a period of 218 years.
Write.—The first translation of the Bible into a modern
language—French—was the work of Waldo.
These things saith the Son of God, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of
fire.—“To watch over His faithful ones as they wandered through the dark
valleys or hid in the darker caves of earth.” (Z. ’16‐347; Rev. 1:14.) His
eyes search out every secret thought.—Rev. 2:23.
And His feet are like fine brass.—“To walk by their side as they scaled
the rugged mountains or wandered footsore and weary, seeking a place to
plant the seeds of Truth.” (Z. ’16‐347; Rev. 1:15.) His feet “trample to
fragments everything impure.”—Cook.
2:19. I know thy works.—The Lord remembers that Peter Waldo was the first
to translate His Word into a modern language.
And charity, [and service,] and faith, and [thy] patience, and thy
works.—The Lord remembers that Peter Waldo literally “sold all that he had
and gave to the [Lord’s] poor.”
[And] thy last works to be more than the first.—(Diaglott.) “So general
and widespread became the so‐called heresy that Innocent III determined to
crush it out—‘exterminate the whole pestilential race’ was the language of
which he made use. The commission he gave to the authorities was to burn
the chief of the Vaudois (Waldenses), to scatter the heretics themselves,
confiscating their property, and consigning to perdition every soul who
dared to oppose the pope. Joined with ‘His Holiness’ in his relentless
persecution of the Waldenses was Dominic, the father of the Inquisition.
Such has been the history of the Waldenses all through the ages—subject to
untold suffering from persecution; then enjoying, in the quiet valleys of
Piedmont, comparative tranquility for a time; then assailed by their ever‐
relentless foe, the Roman Catholic Church, which has spared no pains, by
fire and slaughter, and the horrors of the Inquisition, to put an end to
the unfortunate victims of their violence.” (McC.) How evident it is that
the followers of Peter Waldo have given a larger witness by their
sufferings (their “last works”) than they did by the first works (the
translation of the Gospel into French)!
2:20. Notwithstanding I have [a few things] MUCH against thee.—The fourth
epoch of the church nominal.
[Because] THAT thou sufferest that woman Jezebel.—The Roman Catholic
Church, as shown in parallel below:
“Elijah was persecuted for “The Church was persecuted for
fidelity to truth and fidelity to truth and
righteousness. righteousness.
“His principal persecutor was “The principal persecutor was
Jezebel, the wicked queen of the apostate Church of Rome,
Israel, who is mentioned by which claims to be a ‘queen’
name as the type of the enemy and ruler over Spiritual
of the saints.—Rev. 2:20; 2 Israel.—Rev. 18:7.
Kings 9:7.
“Jezebel’s persecuting power “Papacy’s persecuting power
was exercised through her was exercised through the
husband, Ahab, the king.—1 Roman Empire, to which she was
Kings 21:25. joined.
“Elijah fled from Jezebel and “The true Church fled into the
Ahab into the wilderness, to a symbolic wilderness—or
place prepared of God, where condition of isolation—to her
he was miraculously place, prepared of God, where
nourished.—1 Kings 17:5‐9. she was sustained.—Rev. 12:6,
16.
“Elijah was ‘three years and “The Church was three and a
six months’ in the wilderness, half symbolic years (a day for
and during that time there was a year—1260 literal years) in
no rain, and a great famine the wilderness condition,
was in the land.—James 5:17; 1 during which there was a
Kings 17:7; 18:2. spiritual famine because of
the lack of Truth—the living
water.—Rev. 12:6; 11:3; Amos
8:11.
“After the three and a half “At the end of the 1260 years
years, 1260 days, when Elijah the power of the Truth and its
returned from the wilderness, witnesses was manifested (A.
the errors of Jezebel’s D. 1799); and since then the
priests were manifested, the Truth has flowed at the rate
true God was honored, and of millions of Bibles every
copious rains followed.—1 year, refreshing the world and
Kings 18:41‐45. bringing forth fruit.”—B. 256.
Which [calleth herself] SAITH SHE IS a prophetess.—Claims to be an
infallible teacher, but really has no right to teach at all—“I suffer not
a woman [a church] to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man
[Christ].” (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34; F. 270.) “False prophecy,
fornication and idolatry are symbolized by the woman Jezebel.” (Cook.)
Jezebel was a prophetess of Baal.—1 Ki. 16:31‐33; 21:25.
[To teach and to seduce] AND TEACHETH AND SEDUCETH My servants to commit
fornication.—Union of church and state.—Rev. 2:14; 2 Ki. 9:22; 1 Cor.
14:34.
And to eat things sacrificed unto idols.—Reverence the creed‐idols set up
by the various ecumenical councils.—Rev. 2:14.
2:21. And I gave her space.—_Chronos_, a “time,” 360 years. As noted in
comments on 2:20, the prophetic “time, times and a half a time,” or three
and a half times, or three and a half years, or forty and two months, or
1260 days, represent 1260 years. A single _chronos_ or “time,” therefore,
represents 360 years.
To repent [of her fornication].—Of her unfaithfulness to the Lord. During
all this time “the virgin Church was enduring the hardships of the
wilderness; while the apostate Church sat on the throne of her royal
paramour.”—Z. ’16‐347.
And she [repented not] WILL NOT REPENT OF THIS FORNICATION.—The Lord
foreknew that after 360 years more of living with the kings of earth, and
endeavoring to gain dominion over them, the Roman Catholic Church would be
unrepentant. The 360 years from Waldo’s message in 1160 ended in 1520.
Luther’s 95 theses were placed on the church doors at Wittenberg October
31, 1517. “These he proposed not as points fully established, but as
subjects of inquiry and disputation. The learned were invited to impugn
them, either in person or by writing; and to the whole he subjoined solemn
protestations of his high respect for the apostolic see, and of his
implicit submission to his authority. No opponent appeared at the time
prefixed; the theses spread over Germany with astonishing rapidity, and
were read with the greatest eagerness.” (Buck.) Luther was summoned in
July, 1518, to appear at Rome within sixty days. He wrote a submissive
letter to the pope, requesting a trial in Germany. Meantime the German
Emperor died; and the pope, absorbed in the choice of a new emperor, paid
little heed to the Luther controversy.
“From the reason just now given, a suspension of proceeding against Luther
took place for eighteen months, though perpetual negotiations were carried
on. The manner in which these were conducted having given our reformer
many opportunities of observing the corruption of the court of Rome, its
obstinacy in adhering to established errors, and its indifference about
truth, he began in 1520 to utter some doubts with regard to the Divine
origin of the papal authority, which he publicly disputed with Eccius, one
of his most learned and formidable antagonists. The papal authority being
once suspected, Luther proceeded to push on his inquiries and attacks from
one doctrine to another, till at last he began to shake the foundations on
which the wealth and power of the church were established. Leo then began
to perceive that there were no hopes of reclaiming such an incorrigible
heretic, and therefore prepared to pronounce the sentence of
excommunication against him. The college of cardinals was often assembled,
in order to prepare the sentence with due deliberation; and the ablest
canonists were consulted how it might be expressed with unexceptionable
formality. At last it was issued, on the 15th of June, 1520. Forty‐one
propositions, extracted out of Luther’s works, were therein condemned as
heretical, scandalous, and offensive to pious ears; all persons were
forbidden to read his writings, upon pain of excommunication; such as had
any of them in their custody were commanded to commit them to the flames;
he himself, if he did not within sixty days publicly recant his errors,
and burn his books, was pronounced an obstinate heretic, excommunicated,
and delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh; and all secular
princes were required, under pain of incurring the same censure, to seize
his person, that he might be punished as his crimes deserved.” (Buck.)
With the excommunication of Luther, “the fat was in the fire”; and it was
useless for the Roman Catholic Church to try to stem the tide of the
Reformation. Her period for repentance ended with the “chronos,” 360
years, June 15, 1520.—See 3d paragraph, page 41.
2:22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed.—Not a bed of ease, but a bed of
pain. See Diaglott. There where she sinned she shall suffer.
And them that commit adultery with her.—All the powers that receive her
legates or that maintain representatives at the Vatican. Knowing her
character, they are equally guilty.
Into great tribulation.—They are getting some now, and will get more soon.
Except they repent of [their] HER deeds.—This teaches that the present
situation in Europe is the direct result of the teachings of the Roman
Catholic Church.
2:23. And I will kill her children.—“Both Romanists and Protestants now
freely own the relationship of mother and daughters, the former
continually styling herself the Holy Mother Church, and the latter, with
pleased complacency, endorsing the idea.”—D. 28; Isa. 57:3, 4. See p. 111.
With death.—“They shall be as though they had not been.”—Obad. 16.
And all the churches shall know.—When their secrets are laid bare by the
unfolding of the deep things of God’s Word.
That I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts.—In olden times the mind
was supposed to be located in the reins (kidneys); and the prophecy
assumes the same position. Thus David says, “My reins also instruct me in
the night seasons”; “In the night his song shall be with me.” (Psa. 16:7;
42:8.) “My reins within me are consumed with earnest desire for that day.”
(Job 19:27, margin.) The metaphor is appropriate to the theme.—Psa. 7:9;
Jer. 11:20; 17:10; 20:12.
And I will give unto every one of you according to your works.—The light
of Truth blazes most fiercely against the ecclesiastical organizations
whose offenses have been greatest. As for the Papacy, “her sins have
reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”—Rev. 18:5,
6; Matt. 7:16, 20.
2:24. But unto you I say [and unto] the rest in Thyatira.—Waldenses and
others outside of the Papal system.
As many as have not this doctrine.—Spiritual fornication, mixture of
church and state, the special subject of the message to Thyatira.
[And] which have not known.—Comprehended, realized, entered into.
The depths of Satan.—Rome, pagan and papal.
As they speak.—“So to say,” i. e., “Satan” is a name applicable to Rome,
as describing its characteristics.—Rev. 2:10.
I will put upon you none other burden.—The Lord only requires of His
people obedience to the light due.—1 John 1:7.
2:25. But that which ye have already.—The truths described in 2:18.
Hold fast till I come.—Some of the light which shone upon the Waldensians
has never been entirely extinguished.
2:26. And he that overcometh.—Effectually resists efforts to entice him
into disloyalty to the Lord.
And keepeth My works unto the end.—Continues in the faith (John 6:29; 1
John 3:23), despite the unions of church and state. Christ’s works are
opposite to Jezebel’s.—Rev. 2:22.
To him will I give THE power [over] OF the nations.—How like our God! The
sacrificed Christ gets the very prize for which Satan aspired.—Isa. 14:13,
14; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Rev. 3:21; 5:10; Psa. 149:5‐9.
2:27. And he shall rule them with a rod of Iron.—“God’s Kingdom will not
be established by a vote of the people, nor by the vote of the aristocracy
and rulers. He ‘whose right it is,’ He who bought it with His own precious
blood, will ‘_take_ the Kingdom,’ will ‘take unto Himself His great power
and reign.’ ” (D. 518). “The nations will be ruled by irresistible
force—‘every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess’—and obedience
will be compulsory.” (D. 636.) “In His day the humble and righteous, and
they only, shall flourish. (Isa. 28:17; Rom. 14:11; Psa. 92:12, 13.”—C.
369.) “The only liberty that will be granted to any will be the true and
glorious liberty of the sons of God—liberty to do good to themselves and
others in any and in every way; but nothing will be allowed to injure or
destroy in all that Holy Kingdom. (Isa. 11:9; Rom. 8:21.) Because of its
firmness and vigor, it is symbolically called an iron rule.”—A. 302; Rev.
19:15.
As the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers.—“The stone cut
out of the mountain without hands, which smites and scatters the Gentile
powers, represents the true Church, the Kingdom of God. Not the people,
but the governments, are symbolized by the image, and these are to be
destroyed that the people may be delivered. Our Lord Jesus came not to
destroy men’s lives, but to save them. (John 3:17.) The stone does not
become the mountain until it has smitten the image; and so the Church, in
the full sense, will become the Kingdom when ‘the day of the Lord,’ the
‘day of wrath upon the nations,’ will be over.” (A. 255.) “This smiting
and breaking properly belongs to the Day of Vengeance, and though the
power and rod will still remain throughout the Millennial Age, their use
will probably be unnecessary.”—D. 637; Psa. 2:9; Dan. 7:22.
Even as I received of My Father.—The Father (Justice) decrees their
unworthiness to continue longer. Their iniquity is come to the full. Four
hundred years from October 31, 1517, end Oct. 31, 1917.—Rev. 2:21; Gen.
15:13‐16.
2:28. And I will give him the Morning Star.—“I am the bright and morning
star.”—Rev. 22:16; Matt. 13:43.
2:29. He that hath an ear.—An ear attuned to the Harp Divine.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—Not many are able to
appreciate the sweet old “song of Moses and the Lamb” when they hear
it.—Rev. 15:3.
Revelation 3—Wycliffe, Luther And Russell
3:1. And [unto] BY the angel.—The next important messenger to the Church
was John Wycliffe. “It was in 1378 A. D., the year of the ‘Great Schism of
the West,’ when two popes were elected, one in Rome and the other in
Avignon, that Wycliffe came out as the great Doctrinal Reformer. Workman,
in _Dawn of the Reformation_, writes: ‘Wycliffe’s spiritual earnestness
was shocked, his theory destroyed by the spectacle of two popes, each
claiming to be the sole head of the Church, each labeling the other as
Antichrist. To Wycliffe, the year of the Schism, 1378, was the crucial
year of his life. He first urged that both popes should be set aside as
having little in common with the Church of the Holy God. From this
position of neutrality he quickly passed into one of antagonism to the
Papacy itself.’ In his _Mediaeval Church History_, Archbishop Trench says:
‘The year 1378 marked the turning‐point in Wycliffe’s career. Hitherto he
had concerned himself with matters of mixed ecclesiastical and political
import, but henceforth he devoted himself exclusively to doctrinal matters
and came out as the Reformer. He began in earnest the translation of the
Bible into English, and took the next decisive step by an open attack,
forced upon him by his studies of the Bible, against Transubstantiation.’
Wycliffe thus attacked the very bulwark of Antichrist’s stronghold, for
the doctrine of Transubstantiation, or the sacrifice of the Mass, annulled
the true sacrifice of Christ. Because of this, the Papal system became in
God’s sight the ‘desolating abomination.’ (Dan. 11:31.)”—Edgar.
Of the church in Sardis.—“Sardis is said to mean that which remains, as if
it signified something out of which life or virtue had gone. The nominal
church during this period had a form of godliness without its power.
Sardis was the remains of the true Church, which had been driven into the
wilderness; but when the persecution began to subside, her zeal also
abated.”—Z. ’16‐347.
Write.—Wycliffe wrote the first translation of the Bible into English.
These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God.—The seven lamps
of fire (Rev. 4:5), or seven eyes sent forth into all the earth (Rev.
5:6); i. e., perfect knowledge.—Rev. 1:4.
And the seven stars.—How each of the Lord’s messengers was kept! St. Paul
had (supposedly) eight years of liberty after his first imprisonment,
planted the Gospel in Spain and revisited the scenes of earlier labors;
St. John is said to have been thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, but
escaped unharmed and died of old age; Arius died a natural death; as did
Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles T. Russell, although
all had reason to expect martyrdom at the hands of ecclesiasticism. The
year that Peter Waldo died, his tenets were condemned by an ecumenical
council. “Wycliffe preached unmolested; but the Council of Constance (May
5, 1415) condemned his doctrines, and in 1428 his remains were dug up and
burned; the ashes were cast into the adjoining Swift, which, as Wordsworth
poetically remarked, conveyed them through the Avon and the Severn into
the sea, and thus disseminated them over the world. His doctrines, carried
into Bohemia, originated the Hussite movement. The New Testament was
published about 1378, and the entire Old Testament was completed shortly
before his death.”—McC.
I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest.—Many who admired
Wycliffe were not real Christians. A man not willing to go to the stake
for his religion has none.
And art dead.—Spiritually.—Luke 9:60.
3:2. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that [are] WERE
ready to die.—Many among Wycliffe’s admirers lost faith and love, and to
that degree died, while others had some spiritual life. These the Lord
desired to awaken, to strengthen, to encourage.—Eph. 5:14.
For I have not found thy works perfect before MY God.—Revised Version
reads, “For I have found no works of thine fulfilled before My God.”
3:3. Remember [therefore] how thou hast received.—Received the entire Word
in the English tongue.
And heard.—Wycliffe was the author of more than 200 works, chiefly tracts,
on the Ransom.
And hold fast, and reform.—(Diaglott.) Had Wycliffe’s labors been properly
appreciated, the Reformation would have been set forward 150 years.
If therefore thou shalt not [watch] REPENT.—Change your course of conduct.
I will come on thee as a thief.—“Many today have the Sardis
characteristics. To such this is a warning. Seven times our Lord’s Second
Coming is described as being thief‐like, stealthy. Those who are asleep
will be awakened only after His work of destruction has progressed. His
presence will be recognized by the sleepers only as the noise of spoiling
the Strong Man’s House gradually increases.” (Z. ’16‐347; 1 Thes. 5:2;
Matt. 24:43; 2 Pet. 3:10.) “The stealthiness of the thief, not the
violence of the robber, is implied in the original.”—Cook.
And thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.—“Failing to
realize the fact that spiritual bodies cannot be seen by human eyes
without a miracle, some cannot understand how He can be present while ‘all
things continue as they were since the beginning of creation.’ (2 Pet.
3:3, 4.) Thus they are unable to understand the signs of the times’
revealing His return.”—Z. ’16‐347.
3:4. BUT thou hast a few names [even] in Sardis which have not defiled
their garments.—But have given due heed to the Message of the hour, the
Ransom.
And they shall walk with Me In white.—Fully covered by the robe of
Christ’s righteousness.
For they are worthy.—None who trust in sacrifices of the Mass or in other
sacrifices than that of Calvary, can ever be worthy in God’s sight.—Matt.
10:37.
3:5. He that overcometh, [the same] THUS.—The test, apparently, was on the
question of transubstantiation.
Shall be clothed in white raiment.—“The pictures given of the Heavenly
Father represent _Him_ as clothed (Psa. 104:2); and the pictures of our
Lord represent _Him_ as clothed. The angels who appeared at the time of
our Lord’s resurrection are represented as clothed in white. Our Lord
said: ‘Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk
naked, and they see his shame.’ (Rev. 16:15.) The glorified Church is
represented, not as taking off the robe of righteousness, but continuing
to walk in white raiment, not as now, in a robe of reckoned righteousness,
but in a robe of actual righteousness.”—Z. ’14‐11; Rev. 19:8.
And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life.—“In the book are
written the names of all those who have made with the Lord ‘a Covenant by
Sacrifice.’ The name of each of these is entered in the Lamb’s Book of
Life, when he starts to live the new life. If they are faithful, their
names will not be blotted out; and they will attain all those glorious
things which are promised to those who love Him supremely. (Rev.
3:21.)”—Z. ’15‐119; Rev. 13:8; Psa. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; Phil. 4:3; Lu.
10:20.
But I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.—“In
the end, the overcomers will each be so grandly developed that the Lord
will not be ashamed to confess any of them and to say, ‘Here is one of My
followers. Here is another. They have walked in My footsteps and have
overcome.’ But He will be ashamed of any who are ashamed of Him or of His
words. (Luke 9:26.)”—Z. ’15‐119; Luke 12:8, 9.
3:6. He that hath an ear.—A spiritual ear. “My sheep hear My voice.”—John
10:27.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—“Blessed are the
people that know the joyful sound.”—Psa. 89:15.
3:7. And [to] BY the angel.—The next messenger to the Church was Martin
Luther. “There is considerable similarity between the work begun on
Pentecost and that of Luther. The Reformation was, in a sense, the
beginning of a new era, a dawning of light where all had been darkness, a
new start in the way of Truth.”—Z. ’16‐347.
Of the church in Philadelphia.—“Philadelphia means brotherly love. This
stage of the Church’s history began at the Reformation; and there are many
still living who possess the characteristics described.” (Z. ’16‐347.) The
exact point of time at which the Philadelphia epoch of the Church began
was at midday, October 31, 1517. It was at that hour that Luther nailed
his ninety‐five theses on the church door at Wittenberg. “Nailing up that
paper was the beginning of a great division in the Church; of thrones
tumbled into the dust and kings with them; of empires rent asunder; of
lands desolated by war; of massacres and horrible outrages against the
lives and liberties of men; of thirty years continuous war in Germany; of
Paris and the vine‐clad valleys of Italy drenched in blood; of fires
kindled all over England for the burning of men, women and children; of
men hurled headlong from precipices, roasted over slow fires, starving in
dungeons, subjected to every form of cruelty—but with all this, the
advance of justice, truth and liberty, the beginning of a new era in human
affairs.” (Coffin.) “The theses ran through all Germany in fourteen days,
for all the world was complaining about the indulgences; and Luther became
renowned, because at last somebody had come who took hold of the
thing.”—McC.
Write.—Luther wrote the first translation of the Bible into German.
These things saith He that is [holy] TRUE.—The direct reference is to
Christ (1 John 5:20); but characteristic of Luther was his great love of
truth. When the Papal legate came demanding that he recant, he replied, “I
stand by the truth. I will not take it back.”
He that it [true] HOLY.—See Mark 1:24. Luther’s special message was
“Justification by faith”—_real_ holiness. One of the theses on the door
was, “Those who truly repent of their sins have a full remission of guilt
and penalty.”
He that hath the key of David.—“All power in Heaven and earth.” (Matt.
28:18; Luke 1:32.) Luther’s theses were antagonistic to the system
actually ruling all over the world. When a representative came warning
that his death would surely follow failure to recant, and asking him where
he could go when all had orders not to harbor him, he replied, “I will
abide under the cope of heaven.”
[He] AND that openeth.—See Luke 24:32.
And no man [shutteth] SHALL SHUT.—“No doubt all the powers of Satan were
exerted to close the door then opened; but ‘He that is true’ had said,
‘which no man can shut.’ ”—Z. ’16‐347; Isa. 22:22.
And shutteth and no man [openeth] SHALL OPEN.—The door of opportunity for
the Roman Catholic Church to repent swung shut the day Luther was
excommunicated. (Rev. 2:21.) “Luther was not in the least disconcerted by
this sentence, which he had for some time expected. He renewed his appeal
to the general council; declared the pope to be that Antichrist or Man of
Sin whose appearance is foretold in the New Testament; declaimed against
his tyranny with greater vehemence than ever; and at last having assembled
the University he cast the canon law, together with the bull of
excommunication, into the flames.”—Buck.
3:8. I know thy works.—A striking feature of Luther’s character was his
promptness to do whatever he saw to be the Lord’s will. When the great
test came, Luther said to Erasmus: “You desire to walk upon eggs without
crushing them.” Erasmus replied: “I will not be unfaithful to the cause of
Christ at least so far as the Age will permit me.” “I will go to Worms,”
shouted Luther, “though the devils were combined against me as thick as
tiles upon the housetops!”
Behold I have set before thee an open door.—See 1 Cor. 16:9; Acts 14:27.
[And] WHICH no man can shut [it].—“While the Roman pontiff thought
everything safe and settled, and all pious and good men were nearly in
despair of the religious reformation, so earnestly desired, a certain
obscure and inconsiderable monk in Saxony, a province of Germany, suddenly
opposed himself single‐handed with incredible resolution to the power of
Rome. This was Martin Luther.”—Mosheim.
For thou hast a little strength.—“Compared with the mighty hosts of their
enemies, the little band of Reformers had but ‘a little strength;’ but
they knew that they had the Truth, and they fully trusted the Giver.”—Z.
’16‐347.
And hast kept My Word.—“Whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love
of God perfected.”—1 John 2:5.
And hast not denied My name.—“If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”—2
Tim. 2:12.
3:9. Behold I [will make] HAVE MADE them of the synagogue of Satan.—The
opponents of the reformers were _already_ of the synagogue of Satan.—Rev.
2:13.
Which say they are Jews.—Claim to be Israelites indeed, saints.—Rev. 2:9.
And are not, but do lie.—Papacy is one of the two systems of rulership
(imperial power being the other) congenitally “spotted like a leopard,” as
far as the Truth is concerned.—Dan. 11:27; Rev. 13:2.
Behold I will make them to come.—“All nations whom Thou hast made shall
come.”—Psa. 86:9.
And worship before thy feet.—“The sons also of them that afflicted thee
shall come bending unto thee; and all that despised thee shall bow
themselves down at the soles of thy feet.”—Isa. 60:14; 49:23.
And [to] THOU SHALT know that I have loved thee.—See Eph. 2:7.
3:10. Because thou hast kept the word of My patience.—My patience‐
enjoining word.—Matt. 10:22; Lu. 8:15.
I also will keep thee.—“As to the Philadelphia stage of the Church, and
their being saved from the hour of temptation, we think possibly the Lord
meant that some of the Church of that epoch would live over into the
present period, and that they would not be subjected to the special trials
of this hour. For instance, we think of a very fine old gentleman, who was
about ninety years of age at the time we are about to mention. He was
pastor of a church. He seemed to receive Present Truth with a great deal
of joy and spoke it forth with much zeal. But he was surrounded with so
much opposition at home, and in the church to which he was attached as a
minister, that he could not seem to trust to his mental judgment. This
Scripture which we are considering has rather comforted our mind with
respect to him and others like him.”—Z. ’15‐200.
From the hour of temptation.—“ ‘The hour of temptation’ has been the
Harvest time. The majority of professing Christians of the world—probably
more than three‐fourths—have lost all faith in the Bible, and fallen into
Evolution, Higher Criticism, Christian Science, Theosophy, Spiritism, New
Thought, etc. They are not able to stand in this ‘evil day.’ ” (Z’15‐199.)
Additionally, “so far as we are able to judge, the same conditions prevail
today amongst Bible students which the Apostle pointed out to the Elders
of the Church of Ephesus. (Acts 20:28‐32.)”—Z. ’16‐328.
Which shall come upon all the world.—“We believe that this temptation to
headiness and strife is spreading gradually in every direction; and the
Master assured us that unless these days would be cut short by the
establishment of His Kingdom in the hands of the Elect, no flesh would
survive.”—Z. ’16‐327; Rev. 7:1‐3; 16:14; Matt. 24:21.
To try them that dwell upon the earth.—“We understand that the spirit of
selfishness and ambition, which is driving the nations insanely to war for
commercial supremacy, will increase more and more, and will involve
everybody.”—Z. ’16‐327; Rev. 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14.
3:11. [Behold,] I come quickly.—To Smyrna (73‐325 A. D.) and Pergamos
(325‐1160 A. D.) nothing was said about Christ’s Second Advent; to
Thyatira (1160‐1378) the Message was, “Hold fast till I come”; to Sardis
(1378‐1518) it was, “If therefore thou shalt not reform, I will come on
thee as a thief”; to Philadelphia (1518‐1874) it was, “Behold, I come
_quickly_.” How evident that these messages to the Churches are epochs
drawing nearer and nearer to the climax of history, the Fifth Universal
Empire, now come at last!
Hold that fast which thou hast.—“The Miller movement was a separation, as
between those who kept the Word of God with patience and those who lost
their faith in His Word. The Philadelphia Church, which patiently passed
through so severe a trial of their faith, would not be subjected to the
later test.”—Z. ’15‐199.
That no man take thy crown.—“Unfaithfulness may lead to the blotting out
of some names and the giving of their crowns to others.” (F. 165.) “It is
our expectation that this work of going out and coming in will continue
until the last member of the New Creation shall have been found worthy,
and all the crowns everlastingly apportioned.”—F. 95; 1 Sam. 16:1; Rev.
2:10.
3:12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar [in] TO the Temple of my
God.—“During the Philadelphia period the faithful have either been obliged
to come out of the nominal temple or have been cast out. The reward
promised such is that each will be a pillar in the eternal Temple—a part
which cannot be removed while the structure exists.”—Z. ’16‐347; Gal. 2:9;
1 Kings 7:21, 22; Jer. 1:18; 1 Cor. 3:17; Eph. 2:19‐22.
And he shall [go no more] NOT GO out.—“During their trial state their
names were cast out as evil; they were not recognized as Christians. All
this is to be reversed. ‘The Lord knoweth them that are His.’ ”—Z.
’16‐347.
And I will write upon him the name of My God.—“And I looked, and, lo, a
Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred and forty and four
thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads
[intellects].”—Rev. 14:1; 22:4.
And the name of the city of My God.—“And they shall call them, The holy
people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A
city not forsaken.”—Isa. 62:12; Ezek. 48:35; Jer. 23:6; 33:16.
Which is New Jerusalem.—“Glorious City of Peace! whose foundations, laid
in justice, can never be moved, and whose builder and designer is God! It
is in the light which will shine from this glorious City (Kingdom) of God
that the nations (people) will walk on the Highway of Holiness, up to
perfection and to full harmony with God.”—Rev. 21:2, 10, 24; A 295.
Which cometh down out of Heaven from My God.—“A city is a symbol of a
kingdom or dominion, and so God’s Kingdom is symbolized by the New
Jerusalem, the new dominion coming from Heaven to earth. At first it will
consist of only the Bride of Christ.”—A. 295; Heb. 12:18‐22.
And I will write upon him My new name.—“ ‘Our Righteousness of Jehovah.’
How appropriate is this name to the work and office of our Lord Jesus! Did
He not stand as the Representative of God’s righteousness and suffer the
penalty of Justice as man’s Ransom—that God might be just, and yet be the
Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus? Surely no name could be more
appropriate. (Jer. 33:16; 23:6; T. 102.) And that this name will be
appropriate to the glorified Church all can readily see: she not only
shares her Lord’s sufferings for righteousness, ‘filling up that which is
behind of the afflictions of Christ’ (Col. 1:24; 1 Pet. 5:9), but is also
promised a share in all the glories of her Lord, as a wife shares her
husband’s honors and _name_.”—E. 45, 42; Isa. 9:6; Rev. 2:17; 19:12.
3:13. He that hath an ear.—“Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear
ye not?”—Mark 8:18.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—“Let these sayings
sink down into your ears.”—Luke 9:44.
3:14. And [unto] BY the angel.—The special messenger to the last Age of
the Church was Charles T. Russell, born February 16, 1852. He has
privately admitted his belief that he was chosen for his great work from
before his birth. His mother died when he was nine years old; and at the
age of eleven Charles formed a business partnership with his father,
himself writing the articles of agreement under which they transacted
business. When he was but twelve years of age, his father found him in the
store one time at 2 a. m., poring over a concordance, unconscious of the
lapse of time. We give some extracts from his autobiography:
“We begin the narrative at the year 1868, when the Editor, having been a
consecrated child of God for some years, and a member of the
Congregational Church and of the Y. M. C. A., began to be shaken in faith
regarding many long accepted doctrines. Brought up a Presbyterian,
indoctrinated from the catechism, and being naturally of an inquiring
mind, I fell a ready prey to the logic of infidelity, as soon as I began
to think for myself. But that which at first threatened to be the utter
shipwreck of faith in God and the Bible, was, under God’s providence,
overruled for good, and merely wrecked my confidence in human creeds and
systems of Bible interpretations. I was led gradually to see that though
each of the creeds contained some elements of Truth, they were, on the
whole, misleading and contradictory of God’s Word. Among other theories, I
stumbled upon Adventism. Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped into
a dusty, dingy hall in Allegheny, Pa., where I had heard that religious
services were held, to see if the handful who met there had anything more
sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches. There, for the
first time, I heard something of the views of Second Adventism, by Jonas
Wendell, long since deceased. Thus I confess indebtedness to Adventists as
well as to other Bible students. Though his Scripture exposition was not
entirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it
was sufficient, under God, to reestablish my wavering faith in the Divine
inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the Apostles and
the Prophets are indissolubly linked.
“When in 1872 I came to examine the subject of Restitution from the
standpoint of the Ransom‐price given by our Lord Jesus for Adam, and
consequently for all lost in Adam, it settled the matter of Restitution
completely, and gave me the fullest assurance that ALL _must come forth_
from their graves and be brought to a clear knowledge of the Truth and to
a full opportunity to gain everlasting life through Christ. The years
following, to 1876, were years of continued growth in grace and in
knowledge on the part of the handful of Bible students with whom I met in
Allegheny. We progressed from our first crude and indefinite ideas of
Restitution to clearer understanding of the details; but God’s due time
for clear light had not yet come. During this time, too, we came to
recognize the difference between our Lord as ‘the _Man_ who gave Himself,’
and as the One who would come again, a _Spirit Being_. We saw that spirit
beings can be present and yet invisible to men.... It seems that not long
after their 1874 disappointment, a reader of _The Herald of the Morning_,
who had a copy of the _Emphatic Diaglott_, noticed something in it which
he thought peculiar—that in Matthew 24:27, 37, 39, the Greek word
_parousia_, which in our Common Version is rendered ‘_coming_,’ is in the
_Diaglott_ translated ‘_presence_’—evidently the correct translation of
the Greek. This was the clue; and following it, they had been led through
prophetic _time_ toward proper views regarding the object and manner of
our Lord’s Return, and then to the examination of the time when the things
indicated in God’s Word as related to Christ’s _parousia_ should take
place. Thus God leads His children often from different starting points of
Truth. But where the heart is earnest and trustful, the results must be to
draw all together.
“There were no books or other publications setting forth the time
prophecies as then understood. So I paid Mr. Barbour’s expenses to come to
see me at Philadelphia (where I had business engagements during the summer
of 1876), to show me fully and Scripturally, if he could, that the
prophecies indicated 1874 as the date at which the Lord’s _presence_ and
the Harvest began. He came, and the evidence satisfied me. Being a person
of positive convictions, and fully consecrated to the Lord, I at once saw
that the special times in which we live have an important bearing upon our
duty and work as Christ’s disciples; that since we are living in the time
of the Harvest, the Harvest work should be done; and that Present Truth is
the sickle by which the Lord would have us do a reaping work everywhere
among His children. I inquired of Mr. Barbour as to what was being done by
him and _The Herald_. He replied that nothing was being done.”—Z. ’16‐170,
171.
Pastor Russell took the place of Mr. Barbour who became unfaithful and
upon whom was fulfilled the prophecies of Matt. 24:48‐51 and Zech.
11:15‐17.
“In 1877 Pastor Russell called a meeting of all the ministers of Allegheny
and Pittsburgh, showed them the Scriptures which indicated our Lord’s
presence and urged them to investigate and proclaim the message. All of
the ministers of the two cities were present; all of the ministers of the
two cities refused to believe. In the same year he determined to give up
secular work and devote his entire time and fortune to the work indicated
in the Scriptures as incident to the close of the Gospel Age and change of
dispensation impending. As a means of determining whether his course was
in harmony with the Scriptures, and also as a means of demonstrating his
own sincerity, he decided to test the Lord’s approval as follows: (1)
Devote his life to the cause; (2) Invest his fortune in the promulgation
of the work; (3) Prohibit collections at all meetings; (4) Depend on
unsolicited contributions (wholly voluntary) to continue the work after
his fortune was exhausted. In 1881, 1,400,000 copies of _Food for Thinking
Christians_ were distributed free at the doors of the Protestant churches
in the United States, Canada and Great Britain on three consecutive
Sundays, by A. D. T. messenger boys.”—Obituary.
As to his education we quote his own words: “As respects my education in
Greek and Hebrew: Not only do I not claim very special knowledge of either
language, but I claim that not one minister in a thousand is either a
Hebrew or a Greek scholar. To be able to spell out a few Greek words is of
no earthly value. Nor is it necessary longer to study these languages in
order to have knowledge of the Bible. Our Presbyterian friends have gotten
out at great cost Young’s Analytical Hebrew, Chaldaic, Greek and English
Lexicon Concordance, which any one may procure. And our Methodist friends
have issued a similar work—Strong’s Analytical Concordance and Lexicon.
And there is a still older one entitled Englishman’s Hebrew, Chaldaic,
Greek and English Lexicon and Concordance. Additionally, Liddell and
Scott’s Greek Lexicon is a standard authority. The prices of these are not
beyond the reach of the average man. By these works scholarly information
respecting the original text of the Bible is obtainable. I have all four
of these works and have used them faithfully. Very few college professors,
even, would risk to give a critical translation of any text of Scripture
without consulting these very works of reference, which are standard.
Additionally I remind you of the many translations of the Bible now
extant—all of them very good. I have all of these and find them useful in
comparison and study of any text—one sometimes giving a thought which
another may not. The other day, for curiosity’s sake, I counted Bibles in
different translations, etc., in my study, and found that I have thirty‐
two.”—Z. ’14‐286.
As to his ordination we quote him again: “There are two ordinations
proper. One is of God; one of men. The ordination of God is the begetting
of the Holy Spirit. If any are preaching without this ordination, they are
doing something that they are not authorized to do. There comes, however,
another special ordination of those who are called ministers of the
Gospel, in which class I count myself. This is ordination by the Church,
and is recognized by all denominations everywhere. By some it is
considered a mere form, by some it is performed with great ceremony, by
others with less ceremony. But to our understanding, each congregation
should have those whom it has chosen ordained in a Scriptural way—by the
stretching forth of hands—by a vote. Whoever has not been ordained in
these two ways is not an ordained minister of the Gospel in the Scriptural
sense. First, the Divine ordination is necessary; second, the earthly
ordination is necessary. By the grace of God I have both of these.”—Z.
’15‐358.
As to his doctrines we quote him the third time: “To us the Scriptures
clearly teach that the Church is the ‘Temple of the living God’—peculiarly
‘His workmanship’; its construction has been in progress throughout the
Gospel Age—ever since Christ became the world’s Redeemer and Chief Corner
Stone of His Temple, through which, when finished, God’s blessing shall
come ‘to all people,’ and they find access to Him. (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Eph.
2:20; Gen. 28:14; Gal. 3:29.) That meantime the chiseling, shaping and
polishing of consecrated believers in Christ’s Atonement for sin
progresses; and when the last of these ‘living stones,’ ‘elect and
precious,’ shall have been made ready, the great Master Workman will bring
all together in the First Resurrection; and the Temple shall be filled
with His glory, and be the meeting place between God and men throughout
the Millennium. (Rev. 15:6‐8; 21:3.) We affirm the pre‐existence of Jesus
as the mighty Word (Logos)—Spokesman—‘the beginning of the creation of
God,’ ‘the First‐Born of every creature,’ the active Agent of the Heavenly
Father, Jehovah, in all the work of creation. ‘Without Him was not
anything made that was made.’ (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15; John 1:3.) We affirm
that the Word (Logos) was made flesh—became the Babe of Bethlehem—thus
becoming the Man Jesus, ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners.’ As we affirm the humanity of Jesus, we equally affirm the
Divinity of Christ—‘God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name
above every name.’ (Heb. 7:26; Phil. 2:9.)
“We acknowledge that the personality of the Holy Spirit is the Father and
the Son; that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and is manifested in all
who receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit and thereby become sons of
God. (John 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:3.) We affirm the resurrection of Christ—that He
was put to death in flesh but quickened in Spirit. We deny that He was
raised in the flesh, and challenge any statement to that effect as being
unscriptural. (1 Pet. 3:18; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:8; Acts 26:13‐15.) That
the basis of Hope, for the Church and the World, lies in the fact that
‘Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man,’ ‘a Ransom
for all,’ and will be ‘the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world,’ ‘in due time.’ (Heb. 2:9; John 1:9; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6.) That
the Hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, ‘see Him as He
is,’ be ‘partaker of the Divine nature,’ and share His glory as His joint‐
heir. (1 John 3:2; John 17:24; Rom. 8:17; 2 Pet. 1:4.) That the present
mission of the Church is the perfecting of the saints for the future work
of service; to develop in herself every grace; to be God’s witness to the
world; and to prepare to be kings and priests in the next Age. (Eph. 4:12;
Matt. 24:14; Rev. 1:6; 20:6.) That the Hope for the World lies in the
blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ’s
Millennial Kingdom—the Restitution of all that was lost in Adam, to all
the willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and His glorified
Church—when all the wilfully wicked shall be destroyed. (Acts 3:19‐23;
Isa. 35.)”—B. S. M.
The amount of work that Pastor Russell performed _is incredible_, and it
is doubtful whether it was ever equalled by any other human being. When he
was in his twenties he was refused the lease of a property because the
owner thought he would surely die before the lease had expired. For fifty
years he suffered constantly with sick headaches, due to a fall in his
youth, and for twenty‐five years had such distressing hemorrhoids that it
was impossible for him to rest in the easiest chair; yet in the past forty
years he traveled a million miles, delivered 30,000 sermons and table
talks—many of them 2‐½ hours long—wrote over 50,000 pages (of this size)
of advanced Biblical exposition, often dictated 1,000 letters per month,
managed every department of a world‐wide evangelistic campaign employing
700 speakers, personally compiled the most wonderful Biblical drama ever
shown; and with all that, he found time in the course of each year to
personally aid thousands with his fatherly counsel. At one time his
writings were subjected to an analysis of 20,511 Scripture expositions.
These were assembled in Biblical order and disclosed but six points of
inquiry, all easily harmonized. No writer, not even excepting the writers
of the Bible, have ever had such critical readers. His works have been
published in 35 languages. During the last eight days of his life he had
appointments in California, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and New York; and
though for several days manifestly dying, with cystitis (caused by
excessive travel and speaking), he declined to cancel any engagements, and
went out of this life October 31, 1916, on a railroad train en route to
his Kansas appointment. At the age of 30 he had accumulated a fortune of
over $300,000, but died penniless, his own fortune, as well as all the
large sums contributed to the cause, having been used up in the Master’s
service. He was beloved everywhere by those who “follow the Lamb
whithersoever He goeth.”—Rev. 14:4. For further particulars of Pastor
Russell’s service of God’s people see Memorial Number of _Zions Watch
Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence_.
Of the church [of the Laodiceans] IN LAODICEA.—It is significant that in
the first epoch of the Church there were Nicolaitanes (_nikon ton laon_),
“vanquishers of the people,” a clergy class who succeeded in pulling the
wool over the eyes of the common people; but that the last age of the
Church is Laodicean (_laos dike_), “justice for the people.” We find we
get along much better without the clergy than we did with them. The
Laodicean period of the Church extends from the fall of 1874 to the spring
of 1918, three and one‐half years of preparation, and forty years of
Harvest. “The parallels affected merely the nominal Jewish House _there_
and the nominal Christian House _here_. Both were rejected because of
failure to be in the right condition of heart for the truths that were due
to them—both rejected for destruction. The Jewish System was a Church‐
State affair, paralleled here by the great Church‐State systems of Europe,
whose destruction began in 1914. Let us remember, however, that the three
and a half years of Jesus’ ministry were more a time of preparation of the
Apostles to be the instruments for the harvesting and a sharpening
preparation of the Sickle of Truth for the later work, which _began_ at
Pentecost. Prior to Pentecost, there was _no _‘garner’ into which to
gather the wheat.”
“Jewish And Christian Parallels
“Jewish‐Nominal Church Christian‐Nominal Church
A. D. 29‐33 A. D. 1874‐1878
“They knew not the time of
their visitation.”
“A. D. 33‐36 A. D. 1878‐1881
The Most Holy anointed, Divine
favor prolonged for three and
a half years to complete the
70 weeks of favor promised to
Israel, their rejection being
deferred.
“A. D. 36‐73 A. D. 1881‐1918
Because of the overspreading
of abominations, He shall make
it desolate, even until the
consummation, or _utter
destruction_—until all that
God has predetermined shall be
accomplished.—Dan. 9:24‐27.—Z.
’16‐264. See pages 594, 595.
The foregoing is Pastor Russell’s last expression on the subject of
chronology; and we believe that it was designed to be of great value to
the Lord’s people at this hour. “The Apostles, the Prophets and the angels
all desired and sought earnestly to know what _time_ the Spirit of God
indicated through the Prophets. And this interest on the part of His
children is ever pleasing to God. He called the inquiring Daniel greatly
beloved, and answered his inquiry so far as was consistent with His Plan.
Such inquiry should not be regarded as an improper prying into the secrets
of God. God would have us quickly discern the Truth as it becomes _due_.”
(B. 17.) “Let none, then, of the truly consecrated under‐value these
prophetic time‐evidences, which were designed to guide our words and deeds
in the early dawn of the Millennial Day. These prophetic time‐proofs were
largely God’s means of drawing the attention of the writer more carefully
to other features of the Divine Plan.”—B. 31.
Daniel “understood by books” (Jeremiah’s prophecy) the length of the great
captivity of the children of Israel. (Dan. 9:2.) At Christ’s First Advent
there was but one time‐prophecy calling attention to that event (Dan.
9:24‐27), yet all the people “were in expectation” of it (Luke 3:15.) In
the year 1190 the good monk Joachim declared that the Papal system was
Antichrist, that the history of mankind is divided into three ages, and
that in the year 1260 the Papacy would give way to a new system in which
the whole world would be “one vast monastery.” “In 1260 the Council of
Arles pronounced all followers of Joachim heretics.” His application of
the correct principle, “a year for a day,” made in the very depths of the
Dark Ages, is one of the most pathetic incidents in the history of
mankind; but his study of time‐prophecy brought him peace and joy of
heart. He was an opponent of the prevailing “doctrine of the Trinity.”
William Miller, in the year 1829, was privileged to see (approximately)
the correct date for the setting up of the abomination of desolation (539
A. D.), and for the beginning of the Time of the End (1799 A. D.) Morton
Edgar, author of _Pyramid Passages_, has found foreshown in the Great
Pyramid of Egypt abundant evidence of the accuracy of the Bible chronology
of Pastor Russell and the supplements thereto supplied by Dr. John Edgar,
deceased. These findings are set forth in his work, _Pyramid Passages_,
Vol. II, of which we recommend sections numbered in the following table.
For convenience we give the citations to Pastor Russell’s works in which
the same items are discussed. The Pyramid is still there, and the
measurements can be made by anybody. Pastor Russell’s chronology was
written before he ever saw the Pyramid.
Date Foreshown Event Pastor Sections
Russell’s of
Works Pyramid
Passages
Fall 4127 B. C. Fall of Adam. Z 04‐343 25‐30‐58
Fall 3127 B. C. End of Adam’s 1000‐year Z 04‐343 25‐28
day.
Fall 2473 B. C. Flood. B 42 24‐30
Fall 2021 B. C. Birth of Isaac. B 231 45
Spring 1813 B. C. Death of Jacob. B 218‐232 16‐17
Spring 1615 B. C. Exodus and giving of the B 42 11
Law.
Spring 1575 B. C. Entrance into Canaan. B 42 43‐46
Fall 626 B. C. Last Jubilee. B 185 50
Fall 607 B. C. Desolation of the Land. B 51 19‐46‐48
Fall 455 B. C. Nehemiah’s Commission. B 67 51‐52‐53
Fall 2 B. C. Birth of Christ. B 54 10‐43
Fall 29 A. D. Baptism of Christ. B 60 10‐24‐43‐58
Spring 33 A. D. Death of Christ. B 61 10‐11‐14‐32‐45
Fall 36 A. D. Conversion of Cornelius. B 71 51
Spring 1378 A. D. Wycliffe. Z 05‐185 37
Spring 1521 A. D. Diet of Worms. Z 05‐180 38
Fall 1846 A. D. Evangelical Alliance. C 95‐119 14‐52
Fall 1874 A. D. Second Advent of the B 173‐247 16‐32‐50
Lord.
Spring 1878 A. D. Favor to Jews and C 233 17‐28
sleeping Saints.
Fall 1914 A. D. End of Times of the B 73 19‐48
Gentiles.
Fall 2875 A. D. Restitution completed. Z 04‐344 37
Fall 2914 A. D. Dominion restored to Z 04‐343 58
mankind.
The chronology as it appears in the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES is accurate.
The year 1914 brought the end of the Times of the Gentiles, but not the
end of the Harvest work. Have the teachings of the Parallels lost their
value? Not at all. The point not previously noticed is that the Jewish
polity was not to be destroyed in Jerusalem only, but throughout all
Judea. Nor does _Judea_ mean all of Palestine. The actual depopulation of
the whole of Palestine did not occur until the year 135 A. D.
(corresponding to our year 1980), on the ninth day of the month of Ab, the
anniversary of the burning of the Temple under Titus. On that day came to
an end the insurrection of Bar‐Cocheba, the false Messiah, who wrought his
own destruction and that of 580,000 of his followers, when he attempted to
regain control of Judea and Jerusalem. The struggle was of five years’
duration having begun in 130 A. D. “It was the effort, under the
leadership of Bar‐Cocheba, to regain their independence, that brought
about a repetition of scenes enacted under Titus, and resulted actually in
the depopulation of Palestine. The whole of Judea was turned into a
desert; about 985 towns and villages were laid in ashes; fifty of their
fortresses were razed to the ground; even the name of their capital was
changed to Ælia Capitolina, and they were forbidden to approach it on pain
of death; thousands of those who had escaped death were reduced to
slavery, and such as could not be thus disposed of were transported into
Egypt.”—McC.
When the Lord gave His wonderful prophecy in which the destinies of
nominal Fleshly Israel, nominal Spiritual Israel, and the Israel of God,
are set forth, it was in answer to three definite questions: “_When_ shall
these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy Parousia, and of the
_end_ of the Age?” (Matt. 24:3.) The Lord did not ignore their question.
He answered it with a reply that sweeps the history of twenty centuries.
He showed that the _end_ of Fleshly Israel foreshadowed the _end_ of
Spiritual Israel. Fleshly Israel had three ends; the destruction of
Jerusalem in A. D. 70, the complete subjugation of Judea in A. D. 73, and
the actual depopulation of the whole of Palestine in A. D. 135. Which did
He mean should be the end that would be a guide to His followers? Not the
end in A. D. 70, foreshadowing 1915; for the Harvest of the Gospel Age is
still in progress. Not the end in A. D. 135, foreshadowing 1980; for the
_Harvest is the end_. He must have meant the end in Judea, even as He
said, “Then let them which be in _Judea_ flee into the mountains.” (Matt.
24:16.) See also Matt. 2:22; 3:5; Mark 1:5; Luke 1:5, 65; 3:1; 7:17; Acts
11:29; Rom. 15:31, and _especially_ John 7:1‐3 and 1 Thes. 2:14‐16.
The data presented in comments on Rev. 2:1 _prove_ that the conquest of
Judea was not completed until the day of the Passover, A. D. 73, and in
the light of the foregoing Scriptures, _prove_ that the Spring of 1918
will bring upon Christendom a spasm of anguish greater even than that
experienced in the Fall of 1914. Reexamine the table of the Parallel
Dispensations in STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, Vol. 2, pages 246 and 247;
change the 37 to 40, 70 to 73 and 1914 to 1918, and we believe it is
correct and will be fulfilled “with great power and glory,” (Mark 13:26.)
It was entirely impossible to foresee whether our Lord meant that A. D. 70
or A. D. 73 should serve as our guide to the time when the Jewish polity
came to an end, until after October, 1915, had passed. Moreover, we have
seen the promised signs, “upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things which are coming on the earth,” and we have the Lord’s words
for it that having seen those things “the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand,”
“even at the doors,” and our “redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:25‐36;
Mark 13:27‐30.) It is possible that A. D. 1980 marks the regathering of
all of Fleshly Israel from their captivity in death. It is just 70 years
beyond 1910, the date when Pastor Russell gave his great witness to the
Jewish people in the New York Hippodrome. See page 551 (1).
But if the time of nominal Zion’s travail (Isa. 66:8) is due to occur in
the Spring of 1918, and if we are now but the “one day” (one year) distant
from that event which the Prophet mentions, what should be our expectation
regarding the experience of the “little flock” meantime? “The symbolic
travail, in the above prophecy, is a reference to the great Time of
Trouble—the travail that is to come upon the nominal Gospel church, Great
‘Babylon,’ from which some are to be counted worthy to escape. (Luke
21:36.) This is indicated by the preceding verse, which locates the time
of this prophecy as synchronous with that wherein is heard ‘a voice of
noise [confusion] from the city’ [Babylon], and ‘a voice [of truth and
warning] from the Temple’ [the elect Little Flock of consecrated and
faithful ones], and ‘a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to His
enemies’—in the great Time of Trouble. The travail that is coming is to be
upon nominal Zion—‘Christendom,’ ‘Babylon’; and it will be a great and
sore affliction—‘a Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a
nation.’
“But the marvelous thing the Prophet here has to record is that a Man‐
child is to be born out of Zion before this travail comes. This is a
striking reference to the fact, elsewhere clearly taught, that the ripe
wheat of the Gospel Church is to be separated from the tares, that they
are to be exalted and glorified before the burning, the consuming trouble,
shall come upon the latter. This Man‐child is, therefore, the Little
Flock—the true Zion in God’s estimation, the Body of Christ; as it is
written. ‘There shall come out of Zion [the nominal Gospel Church] the
Deliverer [The Christ, Head and Body], and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob [the Fleshly Israel, or Zion].’ (Rom. 11:26.) This is the Man‐
child that is to bless all the families of the earth. (Gen. 28:14; Gal.
3:16, 29.) The birth of the Man‐child is the First Resurrection. Blessed
and holy are all they that have part in the First Resurrection. Such are
now begotten of God by the Word of Truth, and quickened by the Holy Spirit
(Jas. 1:18; Eph. 2:1; Rom. 8:11), and in due time—before the travail—they
will be born in the glorious likeness of Christ. The birth of this Man‐
child began over eighteen hundred years ago with the resurrection of
Christ Jesus. There the Head of this Body of Christ came forth; and as
surely as the Head has been born, so surely shall the Body come forth.
‘Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord:
shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy God.’ (Isa.
66:9.) Ah, no! ‘the Man‐child, The Christ complete, the Great Deliverer,
shall come forth.’ ”—Z. ’94‐135.
“But,” says one, “where is the fiery chariot that is to accomplish a
cleavage between the Elijah and Elisha classes?” We offer the suggestion
that the fiery horses are lurid prophecies; the horsemen are Ezekiel and
John, and the chariot is the vehicle in which their Message is brought to
the Elijah class. And do the Elijah class take to that vehicle? They _do_.
And why? Because “the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.” (John
10:4.) The separation between the Elijah and Elisha classes will be
brought about in a perfectly natural way, by some using the chariot which
the Lord provides, and others recognizing it, but not attempting to use it
to mount to the skies. And what should we expect such a fiery chariot
would do when caught up into the heavens? The answer is prophetic, “The
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved;” “The heavens shall pass away
with a great noise;” “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and
the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall
fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling fig from
the fig‐tree.” (2 Pet. 3:12, 10; Isa. 34:4.) Evidently the circulation of
the penny will have something to do with the burning of the tares!—Matt.
13:40‐43; Isa. 21:9.
Forty days after Christ’s resurrection His ascension occurred. This
confirms the hope of the Church’s glorification forty years (a year for a
day) after the awakening of the sleeping saints in the Spring of 1878. The
seven days before the Deluge may represent seven years, from 1914 to 1921,
in the midst of which “week of years” the last members of the Messiah pass
beyond the veil. The Great Company class shall be cut off at its end—the
fact that we see the first half of this week so distinctly marked would
lead us to expect three and one‐half years more of witnessing by the Great
Company class; for it seems to be the Heavenly Father’s way to accomplish
His work by weeks and half weeks, from the very beginning of creation
until now. The covenant with Abraham, 2045 B. C., was half way (2081 years
each way) between the fall of Adam, 4127 B. C., and the conversion of
Cornelius, A. D. 36. The last observance of a typical jubilee by Israel,
626 B. C., was half way (2500 years each way) from the end of Adam’s Day,
3127 B. C., and the beginning of the Times of Restitution, A. D. 1874. The
captivity, 606 B. C., marks the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles,
half way (2520 years each way) between the end of Adam’s 1000‐year day,
3127 B. C., and the end of Gentile Times, A. D. 1914. The captivity, 606
B. C., marks a point half way (3520 years each way) between the fall of
man, 4127 B. C., and his full restoration to Divine favor, A. D. 2914.
Christ’s death, A. D. 33, marks a point half way (1845 years each way)
between the death of Jacob, 1813 B. C., and the restoration of favor to
Israel in 1878 A. D. The death of Christ, A. D. 33, was half way (three
and one‐half years each way) between His baptism, A. D. 29, and the
conversion of Cornelius, A. D. 36.
[Chronological Chart of Revelation]
The awakening of the sleeping saints, A. D. 1878, was just half way (three
and one‐half years each way) between the beginning of the Times of
Restitution in 1874 and the close of the High Calling in 1881. Our
proposition is that the glorification of the little Flock in the Spring of
1918 A. D. will be half way (three and one‐half years each way) between
the close of the Gentile Times and the close of the Heavenly Way, A. D.
1921. The three days’ (three years—1918‐1921) fruitless search for Elijah
(2 Kings 2:17‐18) is a confirmation of this view. We shall wait to see;
but we shall not be indifferent while we wait, lest peradventure another,
more zealous, take the crown we have. The time is not long: but if we have
to go on for fifty years, why should we care? We are the Lord’s. Let Him
do as He will with His own.
[Illustration]
The Seven Messengers To The Church
Write.—Pastor Russell was the most prolific writer of Biblical truth that
ever lived.—Ezek. 9:2, 3.
These things saith the Amen.—The same word translated “verily” in the
Gospels and so often used by our Lord as a solemn prefix to some important
announcement.
AND the faithful and true Witness.—Trinitarians witness that Christ and
the Father are one in person. Christ Himself witnesses, “It is also
written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that
bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of
Me.” (John 8:17, 18.) Christ was one, and the Father was one; and one plus
one are two. (This lesson in mathematics is for Doctors of Divinity;
school children will not need it.)—Rev. 1:5; 19:11.
AND the Beginning of the [creation] CHURCH of God.—Either reading is
correct. Our Lord was the Beginning of the New Creation, but, more than
that, He was the Beginning of _all_ creation. “He is the Image of the
invisible God—_First‐born of all creation_; because by Him were all things
created, those in the heavens and those on the earth, visible and
invisible—whether thrones, or lordships, or governments, or authorities:
all things were created by Him and for Him, and He precedes all things,
and in Him all things have been permanently placed. (Col. 1:15‐18.) Hear
also the word of prophecy concerning the Only‐Begotten, not only declaring
His coming exaltation as King of earthly kings, but describing Him as
already being Jehovah’s _First‐born_, saying, ‘I will make Him, My First‐
born, higher than the kings of the earth.’ (Psa. 89:27.)”—E. _95_, 86.
3:15. I know thy works.—“The Laodicean Church has much zeal, but not
according to knowledge. She claims that her principal object is to convert
sinners, to bring forth spiritual children. The Prophet puts these words
into the mouth of nominal Christians when they awake to a knowledge of the
situation: ‘We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it
were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth;
neither have the inhabitants of the earth fallen (become converted).’
(Isa. 26:16‐18.)” (Z. ’16‐347.) The literal city of Laodicea was
distinguished for the raven blackness of the fleeces (black sheep) there
to be had.
That thou are neither cold.—Making no pretense whatever to be exponents of
God’s Truth.—Luke 7:36‐50.
Nor hot.—Full of warm, loving devotion to Christ.—2 Tim. 3:5; Ezek. 5:6.
I would thou wert cold or hot.—“Ephraim is a cake not turned.”—Hos. 7:8.
3:16. So then.—“The Spring of 1878, corresponding to the date at which our
Lord assumed the office of King, rode on the ass, cleansed the Temple of
its money‐changers, and wept over and gave up to desolation that nominal
church or kingdom, marks the date from which the nominal church systems
are not the mouth‐pieces of God, nor in any degree recognized by Him.”—B.
235.
Because thou art THUS lukewarm and ART neither [cold nor hot] HOT NOR
COLD.—“Retaining the forms of worship and faith in a Creator and in a
future life, but viewing these chiefly through their own or other men’s
philosophies and theories, and ignoring the Bible as an infallible teacher
of the Divine purposes. These, while retaining the Bible, disbelieve its
narratives, especially that of Eden and the fall. Retaining the name of
Jesus, and calling Him the Christ and the Savior, they regard Him merely
as an excellent though not infallible Exemplar, and reject entirely His
Ransom‐sacrifice—His cross. Claiming the Fatherhood of God to extend to
sinners, they repudiate both the curse and the Mediator.”—C. 167.
[I will spue thee out of My] REFRAIN THY mouth.—She is bidden to hold her
peace. She needs to _study_, not to teach; and so the following verses
indicate.—Hos. 5:6; 9:12.
3:17. Because thou sayest I am rich.—I have all the spiritual light that
exists in the world. “I have much goods laid up for many years.” (Luke
12:19.) “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”—Rev.
18:7; Hos. 12:8; 1 Cor. 4:8.
And Increased with goods.—“Laodiceans count their numbers and their
donations by millions, and say, ‘We are rich as never before.’ Alas, that
they do not realize that these are earthly riches of the kind which our
Lord declares are no evidence of His favor during this Gospel Age, but
rather to the contrary! And they see not the true riches which the Lord
admires, and which are the foretaste of His favor and the coming Kingdom
wealth.”—Z. ’01‐56.
And have need of nothing.—“They will not own that they have departed from
the right ways of the Lord: in their own estimation they are rich and
increased with goods, spiritual as well as temporal, and have need of
nothing.”—Mal. 3:7; Z. ’92‐261.
And knowest not that thou.—Of all others, so the Greek indicates.
Art wretched.—“To our eternal disgrace, the United States leads all
civilized countries in homicides—over 8,000 yearly. There are twelve
murders in New England to one in London; in California seventy‐five to
one; in Nevada 245 to one.” (Z. ’08‐83.) “Each nation feels that theirs is
the greatest talent, theirs are the finest guns, theirs the best
everything; and it is this feeling of self‐sufficiency that led the
nations into the present conflict. They think that they are so good and so
great that God could not help giving them the victory.”—Z. ’15‐174.
And miserable.—“How blind we all have been not to have noticed: (1) That
the numbers of the heathen in proportion even to the nominally Christian
doubled last century; (2) That if we could bring all the heathen up to the
standard of our most civilized nation it would mean that God’s will would
be less done the world over than it is now.”—Z. ’08‐83.
And poor.—“The Laodicean Church is poor in that she has so little of the
Master’s Spirit, so little of the Truth and of the Spirit of the
Truth.”—Z. ’01‐56.
And blind.—“She cannot see afar off, cannot see either the High Calling of
the Church or the blessed provisions of Restitution for the world in
general.”—Z. ’98‐128.
And naked.—“The clergy, under the name of Higher Criticism and Evolution,
are rapidly denuding her, making her naked, taking from her the robe of
Christ’s righteousness, and leading her to trust, not in the precious
blood of the Redeemer, but in an evolutionary process which needs no
Savior, which denies that there is, or has been, any sin to make atonement
for.”—Z. ’01‐56.
3:18. I counsel thee.—“Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward
receive me into glory.”—Psa. 73:24.
To buy of Me.—“Not until we lay hold by faith upon the _exceeding great
and precious_ promises is there any of the ‘gold’ of the ‘Divine nature’
in us. This treasure can be _purchased_ only at the cost of entire
consecration, or sacrifice of all that we have, to Christ”—Z. ’96‐44;
Prov. 23:23; Matt. 13:44.
Gold tried in the fire.—“If we would purchase the ‘gold _tried in the
fire_,’ it must be at the cost of faithful and constant submission to the
discipline of the Lord in fiery trials. How otherwise can the dross be
eliminated? There is no other way. Wherefore, think it not strange; let
the fire burn; let the dross be consumed; and see to it, beloved, that in
the heat of the flame you remove not the ‘living sacrifice.’ ”—Z. ’96‐44;
1 Pet. 4:12.
That thou mayest be rich.—“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye
through His poverty might be rich.”—2 Cor. 8:9; Prov. 10:22; Lu. 12:21; 1
Tim. 6:18; Jas. 2:5; Rev. 2:9.
And white raiment.—“The robe of Christ’s imputed righteousness, which so
many are now discarding, to appear before God in their own
unrighteousness.”—D. 42; Rev. 19:8.
That thou mayest be clothed.—“A glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing.”—Eph. 5:27.
And that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.—“Behold I come as a
thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk
naked and they see his shame.”—Rev. 16:15; Matt. 22:11‐13; Isa. 47:3.
And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve.—From the Great Physician. (Mark
2:17.) “Complete consecration and submission to the Divine will as
expressed in the Scriptures.”—D. 42.
That thou mayest see.—“The ‘master of the house’ or ‘householder’ of the
present dispensation is not _our_ Lord, but _our_ Adversary, the
Devil—‘the god of this world,’ ‘the prince of the power of the air,’ ‘the
prince of this world,’ who now ruleth in the children of disobedience,
_blinding_ the minds of all that believe not.”—D. 611; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph.
2:2; Psa. 13:3; 19:8; John 9:6, 41.
3:19. As many as I love.—“As many as are honest and at heart loyal to
God.”—Z. ’92‐59.
I rebuke and chasten.—“ ‘My son, despise not thou the chastening of the
Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him; for whom the Lord loveth He
chasteneth.’—Prov. 3:11, 12; Heb. 12:5‐8.”—Z. ’96‐44; Job 5:17; Jas. 1:12.
Be zealous, therefore, and repent.—“The lawyer who makes legality his test
instead of justice; the merchant who is satisfied simply to conform to the
code of his trade, whose excuse for any dishonesty is, ‘They all do it’;
the ‘gentleman’ or ‘lady’ who puts good form and manners in the place of
sincerity and kindliness of heart, and politeness in place of courtesy—all
are alike animated by the ecclesiastical conscience. It was this
ecclesiastical mind and this ecclesiastical conscience which crucified
Jesus Christ (Rt. Rev. Chas. D. Williams, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of
Michigan.)”—Z. ’15‐339.
3:20. Behold, I stand at the door.—Some of the Scriptures, which, when
understood in their connections and significance, prove that the Lord’s
Second Advent occurred in the fall of 1874 are as follows: “Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the
Lord’s hand _double_ for all her sins.” (Isa. 40:2; B. 227.) “And first I
will recompense their iniquity and their sin _double_.” (Jer. 16:18; B.
218.) “Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even _today_ do
I declare that I will render _double_ unto thee.” (Zech. 9:12; B. 224.)
“The _fourteenth_ day of the second month, at even, they shall keep it.”
(Num. 9:11; Z. ’98‐68.) “And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled,
behold, there were _twins_.” (Gen. 25:24; Z. ’94‐63.) “And when he was
full _forty_ years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren. And
when _forty_ years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness
of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord.” “Wonders and signs in the land of
Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the Wilderness _forty_ years.”—Acts
7:23, 30, 36; Z. ’11‐215.
“Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and
five and thirty days.” (Dan. 12:12; C. 83.) “Then shalt thou cause the
trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in
the day of atonement.” (Lev. 25:9; B. 187.) “As long as she lay desolate
she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.” (2 Chron. 36:21; B.
195.) “In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the
land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it
shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land
of Egypt.” (Isa. 19:19, 20; C. 315.) “The like figure whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us.” (1 Pet. 3:21; Z. ’05‐181, Diagram.) “In
the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, he made a proclamation.” (Ezra
1:1; Z. ’05‐185.) “This house was finished on the third day of the month
Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.” (Ezra
6:15; Z. ’05‐185.) “This Ezra went up from Babylon.... And he came to
Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.”
(Ezra 7:6‐8; Z. ’05‐185.) “In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the
king.”—Neh. 2:1; Z. ’05‐185.
Besides the above Scriptures, time‐proofs of the Lord’s Return, are the
fulfilments of the promised signs: The Gospel has been preached in all the
world for a witness: (Matt. 24:14; A. 91); the abomination has been _seen_
in the holy place (Matt. 24:15; D. 572); the flight of the saints from the
antitypical “Judea” has occurred (Matt. 24:16; D. 573); the great
tribulation has commenced (Matt. 24:21; D. 540); the false Christs are
with us (Matt. 24:23; D. 580); the eagles have gathered to the carcase
(Matt. 24:28; D. 610); the sun and moon have been darkened (Matt. 24:29;
D. 590); the Man of Sin has been revealed (2 Thes. 2:8; T. 86; B. 271);
the Elias has come (Mal. 4:5; B. 251); the regathering of the Jews has
begun (Jer. 31:8; Z. ’06‐84); the refining of the sons of Levi progresses
(Mal. 3:1‐3; Z. ’05‐378); the true faith was nearly extinct in the earth
(Luke 18:8; Z. ’06‐265); the doctrines of devils are rampant (1 Tim. 4:1;
F. 621); the perilous times and all associated evils are here (2 Tim.
3:1‐7; Z. ’99‐99); the Lord God has given the sinners water of gall to
drink (Jer. 8:14; C. 158); the mighty angel has roared, “Come out of her”
(Rev. 18:4; C. 155); the running to and fro is in evidence (Dan. 12:4; C.
63); the antitypical Josiah has kept the great Passover (2 Chron. 35:19;
Z. ’05‐180); the land shadowed with wings has played its part (Isa. 18:1;
Z. ’04‐230); the watchman has stood upon his tower (Hab. 2:1; C. 89); the
wheels within wheels are made clear (Ezek. 1:15); the Prophet has come to
the rebellious house (Ezek. 2:3); he has eaten the book of her fate (Ezek.
2:9); the seven years of astonishment are finished (Ezek. 3:15); the
sieges of 390 years and 40 years are at an end (Ezek. 4:5, 6); the image
of jealousy has been disclosed (Ezek. 8:3); the man with the writer’s
inkhorn has performed his task (Ezek. 9:2); the removing is at an end
(Ezek. 14:21); the sword has been doubled the third time (Ezek. 21:15);
the point of the sword has been made bright (Ezek. 21:15); ecclesiasticism
has been delivered unto brutish persons (Ezek. 21:31); the desire of the
faithful servant’s eyes has failed (Ezek. 24:16); the stilled voice is
speaking again.—Ezek. 33:22.
The seven thunders have uttered their voices (Rev. 10:3); the seven last
plagues have been poured out (Rev. 15:6); the voices of the three signs
have been uttered (Exod. 4:3‐9; Z. ’07‐276); the ribband of blue (the Vow)
has done its work (Num. 15:38); the tares and wheat have been separated
(Matt. 13:30; C. 139); the net has been drawn to the shore and the fish
sorted (Matt. 13:48; C. 214); the ambassadors of peace have wept bitterly
(Isa. 33:7); the foolish virgins have had their sound sleep (Matt. 25:5;
C. 92); the seven seals have been opened (Rev. 8:1); the seven angels have
sounded (Rev. 10:7; B. 149); the nations are angry (Rev. 11:18); the
winepress of God’s wrath has been trodden (Rev. 14:20); the horses and
chariot of fire have come for Elijah (2 Kings 2:11); the chariots are
running like lightning (Nah. 2:4; C. 272); the mighty angel has flown in
the midst of heaven (Rev. 14:6); the false worshippers have been tormented
with fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:10); Behemoth and Leviathan have been
beheld doing their work (Job 40:15‐23; 41:1‐34); the secret of the Lord
has been shown (Psa. 25:14; Z. ’97‐255); the Lord is judging His people
and gathering His saints (Psa. 50:4, 5; D. 75; B. 164); the lightnings
have enlightened the world (Psa. 97:4; A. 171); the hills have melted like
wax (Psa. 97:5; D. 551); the banner has been lifted on the high mount
(Isa. 13:2; D. 40); the tables are full of vomit (Isa. 28:8; Z. ’07‐91);
the dumb dogs have failed to bark (Isa. 56:10; F. 287); the silver has
been cast into the streets (Ezek. 7:19); the nations have all been shaken
(Hag. 2:7; D. 528); the rain, floods and winds have come on Christendom
(Matt. 7:27; Z. ’06‐95); the King has come in to see the guests (Matt.
22:11; C. 197); the speechless one has been bound hand and foot and cast
out (Matt. 22:13; C. 201); the Master is reckoning with His servants
(Matt. 25:19; F. 419); the seas and the waves are roaring (Luke 21:25; D.
551); the 144,000 are standing on the sea of glass singing (Rev. 15:3; C.
237); the Devil has risen up against himself (Mark 3:26; F. 641); the
blood, fire and vapor of smoke are here (Acts 2:19; D. 592); the brethren
are not in darkness and all others are (1 Thes. 5:4; B. 121); the teachers
having itching ears have turned unto fables (2 Tim. 4:3; 4; F. 287; Z.
’07‐308); the twenty‐four elders have cast their crowns before the throne
(Rev. 4:10); the predicted scoffing has taken place (2 Pet. 3:3; B. 167);
the laborers have received their penny (Matt. 20:8); and these are but 88
of the proofs hastily collected.
And knock.—“The knock, or proclamation of the Lord’s Presence, as
indicated by the Old Testament prophecies, has been given since 1875 and
is still being given.”—Z. ’04‐124; Lu. 12:36; Cant. 5:2‐6.
If any man hear My voice.—“The knock is to be the evidence of the
Presence; and the servants are not to know in advance, but are to know at
the time of the arrival and that without seeing.”—Z. ’04‐123.
[And] I WILL BOTH open the door.—When once we give the Lord a welcome to
our hearts, how He does open the doors to joys we ne’er before knew!
[I will] AND come in to him.—“If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and
My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode
with him.”—John 14:23.
And will sup.—Take the evening meal.—Lu. 12:37.
With him.—The Master Himself is feasting on the same joys of the Father’s
Plan that delight our own hearts.
And he with Me.—“This serving of the servants by the Master should be
understood to be an individual work, and not merely a collective service
and feast.”—Z. ’04‐124.
3:21. To him that overcometh.—“Let us not avoid the Gethsemane moment if
it come to us in the Lord’s providence, but let us also with strong
cryings and tears look up to Him who is able to save us out of death by
the glorious First Resurrection; and let us remember that if we abide in
His love, He is able and willing to bring us off conquerors, yea, more
than conquerors through His own merit.”—Z. ’06‐348.
Will I grant.—If they prove faithful unto death.
To sit with Me.—“With the early Church, the promises of Kingdom honor and
joint‐heirship with the Master were strong incentives to faithfulness
under present trials and persecutions, which they had been forewarned to
expect.”—A. 285.
In My Throne.—“God’s appointed means of blessing the world and causing the
knowledge of the Lord to come to every creature.”—A. 91; 1 Cor. 6:2; 2
Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26, 27; 22:1.
Even as I also overcame.—“God sent an angel to comfort and minister unto
Him; to assure Him still of the Divine favor, and thus to give Him fresh
courage, strength of mind and steadiness of nerve to endure all that was
before Him, even unto death. The bitterness of the mental conflict was now
over, and the light of Heaven shining into His soul chased away the deep
gloom that had hung over Him like a funeral pall.”—Z. ’06‐348.
And am set down with My Father in His Throne.—“The thousand years of the
Millennial Reign will constitute but a beginning of the exercise of the
glory, honor and immortality of these New Creatures. At its close when the
Kingdom shall be delivered up to ‘God, even the Father,’ and to mankind as
the glorified agents of the Father to rule the earth, a still larger
sphere for the exercise of their glory, honor and immortality will open
before the New Creation.”—F. 69; 1 Cor. 15:24‐28.
3:22. He that hath an ear.—“Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your
ears, for they hear.”—Matt. 13:16.
Let him hear.—“For verily I say unto you, That many Prophets and righteous
men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them;
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”—Matt.
13:17.
What the Spirit saith unto the churches.—Unto the seven epochs, ending,
respectively, in A. D. 73, 325, 1160, 1378, 1518, 1874 and 1918.
Revelation 4—The Author Of The Plan
4:1. After this.—After this first panorama of the seven stages of the
Church had passed.
I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven.—It is only as the
Lord, who holds the key, opens the door to the understanding of Heavenly
things, that we are able to comprehend them.—Matt. 3:16; Ezek. 1:1; Rev.
19:11.
And BEHOLD the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet
talking with me.—See comments on Rev. 1:1; 7:2.
Which said, Come up hither.—Not that St. John went to Heaven at that time;
he was merely given a vision of Heavenly things. (Rev. 11:12.) “The seer
now obtains a higher spiritual standpoint.”—Cook.
And I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.—The Divine Plan for
the permission of evil.
4:2. [And] immediately I was in the spirit.—In a trance condition.—Acts
10:10; Rev. 1:10.
And, behold, a Throne.—The Throne of the Heavenly Father.—Isa. 6:1; Ezek.
1:26‐28.
Was set.—Permanently established. The same word as in, “This Child is
_set_ for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.” (Luke 2:34.) “I am
_set_ for the defence of the Gospel.”—Phil. 1:17.
In Heaven.—“Whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.”—Heb.
6:20.
And One.—Jehovah, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Pet.
1:3), the Author of the Divine Plan for the permission of evil, in the
recreation of a perfect human race, and in the creation of a race of gods,
sons of Himself. “God designed to _permit evil_, because, having the
remedy provided for man’s release from its consequences, He saw that the
result would be to lead him the more to love and honor his Creator, who is
the source and fountain of all goodness, and forever to shun that which
brought so much woe and misery.” (A. 124.) “Not only are men benefited to
all eternity by the experience gained, and angels by their observation of
man’s experiences, but all are further advantaged by a fuller acquaintance
with God’s Character as manifested in His Plan. Had sin not been
permitted, the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and of His Church, the reward
of which is the Divine nature, would have been impossible.”—A. 135.
Sat on the Throne.—Of the Universe. “All can see the propriety of the
Almighty’s decision that He shall be recognized as the Center of
authority, wisdom, justice, love and power; for this is the _truth_, and
anything else would be untruth and to that extent evil, injurious.”—E.
_57_, 52; Rev. 7:10; Dan. 7:9.
4:3. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper.—“And the building of
the wall of it was of _jasper_: and the city was pure gold, like unto
clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished
with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was _jasper_.”
(Rev. 21:18, 19.) “A precious stone, variegated with divers colors, and of
a very hard quality; some have been found of a sea‐green color.” (Diaglott
note.) “The ancient _jasper_ thus appears to have been frequently
translucent, but the modern is opaque.” (McC.) The jasper, therefore, is
supposed to refer to the modern rare and beautiful green‐tinted diamond.
The diamond is the hardest substance known, excelling in brilliancy and
beautiful play of prismatic colors. The crystals of which it is composed
are bounded by _eight_ equal equilateral triangles; _twenty‐four_ angles
in all, constituting a perfect double pyramid, set base to base. How
adorable, how sublime, how perfect is our God! How impossible to describe
Him! To know Him aright will require eternity. The jasper seems especially
to illustrate His glory, perfection and _prescience_. (He uses twenty‐four
elders—prophecies.)
And a sardine stone.—“The sard, which is a superior variety of agate, has
long been a favorite stone for the engraver’s art. On this stone all the
finest works of the most celebrated artists are to be found; and this not
without good cause, such is its toughness, facility of working, beauty of
color, and the high polish of which it is susceptible, and which it
retains longer than any other gem. The sardius is the stone now called the
carnelian, from its color, which resembles that of raw flesh. It is
supposed to stop hemorrhage when laid on a fresh wound.” (McC.) The
sardius seems especially to illustrate God’s love, His memory of His
creatures, and His purpose of a resurrection for all smitten in Adam and
redeemed in Christ. Will God forget to raise any of His blood‐bought? “Can
a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on
the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.”—Isa. 49:15, 16.
And there was a rainbow.—“The rainbow has always been an emblem of
_peace_. It appears on the cloud as the storm passes away. It contrasts
beautifully with the tempest that has just been raging. It is seen as the
rays of the sun again appear clothing all things with beauty—the more
beautiful from the fact that the storm has come. It is a pledge that the
war of the elements has ceased, and that God smiles again upon the earth.
The appearance of the rainbow around the Throne was a beautiful emblem of
the mercy of God, and of the peace that was to pervade the world as the
result of the events that were to be disclosed to the vision of John.”
(Barnes.) The rainbow is characterized by seven colors—perfection. (Ezek.
1:28.) It represents not only the bow of promise for mankind, but the
_peace_ of God. It is His _Plan_. “From His own vast inherent resources of
power and wisdom, springs the peace of God. But not from this source alone
is the Divine peace; for peace is the certain concomitant of inherent
goodness. God is the impersonation of every virtue and every grace;
consequently He has the blessed satisfaction and peace of conscious moral
perfection as well as inherent wisdom and power.” (Z. ’95‐153.) “During
the seventh millennium, according to the Divine purpose, it will be the
joyful privilege of our Lord Jesus to fully manifest to all creatures in
Heaven and in earth the Father’s glorious character. Then will the Father
rejoice in the grandeur of His finished work and in the everlasting peace
and happiness of His family in Heaven and in earth, ‘reunited under one
head.’ (Eph. 1:10, _Diaglott_.)”—Z. ’95‐155.
Round about the Throne.—Justice is “the habitation of Thy Throne.” (Psa.
89:14.) “God’s law is stern Justice, with no allowances, ready to consume
as a fire everything blemished. Who cannot see that if God could deal with
sinners, and condoning their sins, accept their best endeavors, though
imperfect, there would have been no necessity for a Redeemer? And thus, to
all eternity, there might be danger of sin on the part of those who had
not already dabbled in it. Seeing this, it does not surprise us that God,
in the interest of all His holy creatures, as well as for His own
pleasure, decides that He will recognize nothing short of perfection in
any creature, and makes _Justice_ the foundation of His Throne.”—E. _481_,
472.
In sight like unto an emerald.—“The same with the ancient _smaragdus_; one
of the most beautiful of gems, of a bright green color, without any
mixture.”—_Diaglott._ “The _emerald_, of bright green color, ‘was the most
precious gem in the Roman jeweller’s list.... The Romans were plentifully
supplied with the true emerald. The _smaragdus_ of Nero’s age must be
restricted to the true emerald, perhaps including the green ruby.’
(King.)”—_Nat. Hist. of Precious Stones._ The color of the emerald, green,
signifies everlastingness. “From everlasting to everlasting thou art
God.”—Psa. 90:2; Ezek. 1:28.
4:4. And round about the Throne.—Encompassing it on all sides—always in
mind—never out of sight.
[Were] SAW I four and twenty seats.—_Thronoi_, thrones, places of highest
exaltation—the twenty‐four angles (viewpoints) of the diamond.—Rev.
4:3,10.
And upon the seats [I saw four and twenty] elders
sitting.—_Personifications_ of the testimonies of twenty‐four Prophets
(Heb. 11:2), who foretold things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Not the
Prophets themselves are here referred to. They are not in Heaven. “David
is not ascended into the Heavens.” (Acts 2:34.) Daniel still “sleeps in
the dust of the earth.” (Dan. 12:2, 13.) None of the Prophets are in
Heaven: “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without
us should not be made perfect.” (Heb. 11:40.) But from the time that “holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21), the
utterances of Enoch, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Job, David, Solomon, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and John the
Baptist, have been witnesses before God that there shall be “Times of
Refreshing”—“Times of Restitution.”—Acts 3:19‐21.
Clothed in white raiment.—All of these men considered themselves unworthy
to be God’s mouthpieces. Jacob said, “I am not worthy of the least of all
Thy mercies, and of all the truth which Thou hast shewed unto Thy
servant.” (Gen. 32:10.) Moses said, “Who am I that I should go unto
Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of
Egypt?” (Exod. 3:11.) David said, “Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my
house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?” (2 Sam. 7:18.) Solomon said,
“I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.” (1 Kings
3:7.) Isaiah said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” (Isa.
6:5.) Jeremiah said, “Ah, Lord God! behold I cannot speak: for I am a
child.” (Jer. 1:6.) Daniel said, “This secret is not revealed to me for
any wisdom that I have.” (Dan. 2:30.) And John the Baptist said, “I have
need to be baptised of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” (Matt. 3:14.) But the
Lord knoweth them that are His (2 Tim. 2:19); and whatever they may think
of themselves, if they are God’s mouthpieces, they are clean. Isaiah’s
utterances are spotless in the sight of God—clothed in white raiment.—Isa.
6:6, 7.
And [they] had on their heads crowns of gold.—The glory of God—Love, God’s
highest attribute. If there are any prophets that do not have something to
say about God’s loving arrangement for Times of Restitution, then they are
not holy. Judged by this standard, how many of the clergy of our day are
holy?—Acts 3:19‐21.
4:5. And out of the Throne proceeded lightnings.—“How apt is this figure!
Truly like lightning flashes in the midst of the gloom and perplexity of
this cloudy day, come to men remarkable glimpses of the great principles
of Truth and Righteousness. A flash of lightning from the obscured Throne
discloses here one error, and there another, and another. It is remarkable
that these lightning flashes are continually calling attention to the Word
of God, to the Golden Rule. It seems remarkable, too, how often in these
days of war and stress _worldly_ men are drawing attention to the
prophecies of the Scriptures.”—Z. ’16‐339; Rev. 8:5; 16:18.
AND VOICES.—“As a result of God’s lightning flashes which are enlightening
the world, there are ominous mutterings of dissatisfaction, unrest. The
lightning flashes are revealing the corruption in the world, the
dishonesty in high places; with conflicting ideas, voices, theories and
threats, ‘the nations are angry,’ ‘the heathen [Gentiles, peoples] rage,’
and the whole earth trembles from the din of a wordy conflict and from the
blows which even now are beginning to arouse the world.”—Z. ’16‐340.
And thunderings [and voices.]—“We hear the thunder tones of judgment that
‘call the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof’
(Psa. 50:1); we see the whole earth now in the shaking process which will
eventuate in the complete overthrow of all existing institutions, systems
and governments. Present events indeed speak in trumpet tones.”—Z.
’16‐340; Ex. 19:16; Rev. 8:5; 11:19; 16:18.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the Throne, which are
the seven Spirits of God.—Perfect knowledge.—Rev. 1:4; 3:1.
4:6. And before the Throne.—In the earth, and everywhere throughout the
Universe.—Rev. 5:6.
There was AS a sea of glass.—“The troubled surface which Daniel and Isaiah
beheld (Dan. 7:2, 3; Isa. 57:20) became when seen before the Throne of
God, calm and clear; reflecting as from a mirror, every fulfilment of the
Divine purposes.” (Cook.) (Rev. 21:18, 21; Ex. 24:10.) The sea (godless
conditions about them) has been a means of purifying earth’s future
priests.—1 Ki. 7:23‐26, 38, 39.
Like unto crystal.—Indicating that nothing escapes God’s notice; all is
transparent. “For centuries skeptics have been disposed to smile
incredulously at the words of our Lord, ‘Enter into thy closet; and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy
Father which _seeth in secret_ shall reward thee openly.’ (Matt. 6:6.) Now
that an electric ray can be passed through opaque substances, such as
paper, wood, cloth, leather, aluminium, animal flesh, etc., can these
scientists any longer mock at Christians for ‘credulity,’ because we
believe that ‘All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with
whom we have to do’? (Heb. 4:13.) ‘He that formed the ear shall He not
hear? He that formed the eye shall He not see?’ Now we begin to see how it
is that ‘There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid,
that shall not be known.’ ”—Z. ’96‐27; Ezek. 1:22.
And in the midst of the Throne.—Woven into its very fabric.
And round about the Throne.—Completely encircling and enveloping it.
Were four beasts.—“Living ones” (_Diaglott_.); the four immortal
attributes of Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.—Ezek. 1:5, 6.
Full of eyes before and behind.—Seeing clearly everything that will ever
occur in the future, and everything that has ever transpired in the
past.—Ezek. 10:4, 12.
4:7. And the first beast.—Justice was the attribute first manifested
toward our sinful race. “God has found it necessary to perform the
unpleasant duties of discipline; and though all the while His fatherly
love was preparing to bless the deceived and fallen ones when the purposes
of redemption should restore the repentant to His favor, Love must be
veiled while only stern, relentless Justice could be manifested. This has
been no happifying duty.”—Z. ’95‐154.
Was like a lion.—The characteristics of the lion illustrate this
attribute: The teeth are of the highest carnivorous type, adapted to
seizing and holding firmly. Although occasionally seen abroad during the
day, especially in wild and desolate regions, the _night_ (Psa. 30:5) is
the period of its greatest activity. The usual pace of a lion is a walk;
and, though apparently rather slow, yet he is able to get over a good deal
of ground in a short time. As a rule, he kills only when hungry or
attacked, and not for the mere pleasure of killing.—Ezek. 1:10; 10:14.
And the second beast.—Power, exhibited in the Flood, was the second of
God’s attributes manifested to man. “God, the Creator of all things, is
also the competent Sustainer of all things. In silent grandeur, from age
to age, the whole physical Universe fulfils His will, without a suspicion
of disorder or mishap; and the same Power is pledged for its sustenance
throughout the eternal future.”—Z. ’95‐153; Ezek. 1:10.
Like a calf.—With the Hebrews the calf (young ox) was the emblem of Power,
the attribute of God with which they were principally acquainted. As an
agricultural people, they were brought in frequent contact with it, the
strongest of all the domestic animals. They were brought out of Egypt by a
“mighty power and a stretched out arm” (Deut. 9:29); and when they sought
to make a representation of it, the form selected was a golden calf.—Deut.
9:16‐21.
And the third beast.—Love, exhibited in the Father sending His Only‐
Begotten Son to die that we might live, was the third of God’s attributes
manifested to man. “Our recovery cost the sacrifice of the dearest
treasure of His heart, and the subjection of this Beloved One to the most
abject humiliation, ignominy, suffering and death. Ah, did the Father let
Him go on that errand of mercy without the slightest sensation of
sorrowful emotion? had He no appreciation of the pangs of a father’s love
when the arrows of death pierced the heart of His beloved Son? When our
dear Lord said, ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,’ and
again, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me:
nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt,’ did it touch no
sympathetic chord in the heart of the Eternal? Yea, verily.”—Z. ’95‐154.
Had a face [as] LIKE a man.—The embodiment of love. (A. 174.) “Close your
eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow
that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision
the glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and
peace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or
word; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every
other heart, and benevolence marks every act. Think of all the pictures of
comparative health and beauty of human form and feature that you have ever
seen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing
loveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp
and glorify every radiant countenance.”—A. 191; Ezek. 1:5.
And the fourth beast.—Wisdom, as exhibited in the Father’s Plan, now
unfolded before our delighted gaze, is the fourth, and complete,
manifestation of God to man. “He is never confused, bewildered, perplexed,
anxious or careworn, or in the least fearful that His plans will miscarry
or His purposes fail; because all power and wisdom inhere in Him. The
scope of His mighty intellect reaches to the utmost bounds of possibility,
comprehends all causes and discerns with precision all effects;
consequently He knows the end from the beginning, and that, not only upon
philosophical principles, but also by intuition. As the Creator of all
things and the Originator of all law, He is thoroughly acquainted with all
the intricate subtleties of physical, moral and intellectual law, so that
no problem could arise, the results of which are not manifest to His mind.
‘God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.’ (1 John 1:5.)”—Z.
’95‐153.
Was like a flying eagle.—Of all known birds, the eagle flies the highest
and with the greatest rapidity. “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
(Isa. 55:9.) The ones attracted to Present Truth are the eagles, the far‐
sighted ones that “behold the land that is very far off.” (Matt. 24:28; 2
Pet. 1:9; Isa. 33:16, 17; Psa. 103:5.) In the training of its young the
eagle manifests wisdom of high order: “ ‘As an eagle stirreth up her nest’
(she mixes the thorny outside with the downy inside, so that the eaglets
will leave it and learn to fly), so God, by His testing providences makes
the place of rest one of unrest to us, and thus lures us out to trust
ourselves to His care and guidance over untried ways.”—Z. ’04‐116.
4:8. And the four beasts.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.
Had each of them six wings about him.—“Above it stood the seraphims
(Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom): each one had six wings, and with twain
he did fly. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the
Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isa. 6:2, 3.) “The
vision of Isaiah is a prophecy of the future, when the ‘glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together’ in the
establishment of the Kingdom of God during the Millennium. (Isa. 40:5.)
Only from this prophetic standpoint would the words of the seraphim be
true; for the whole earth has never yet been filled with the Lord’s glory;
but on the contrary, the earth is full of sin and violence, and every evil
work.” (Z. ’98‐305.) Six is a symbol of imperfection, and in the light of
the foregoing seems to refer to the six thousand years of the permission
of evil, the theme of the entire Book of Revelation. For the first two
thousand years, from the fall to the covenant with Abraham, God’s face was
almost entirely hidden from man. For the next two thousand years, until
the death of Christ, it was not apparent how the place of God’s feet, His
footstool, should ever be made glorious. (Isa. 60:13; 66:1.) But since
then, for two thousand years, God’s Love has been manifest to all, and
“the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of
the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), to set up the Kingdom, the Golden Age, for
which we all so long have prayed. (Matt. 6:10.) The wings operate in
pairs.
And they were full of eyes within.—Nothing has transpired, or will ever
transpire, without God’s knowledge. In the past six thousand years,
whether hidden or partially revealed, God’s Justice, Power, Love and
Wisdom, have been in touch with all of earth’s affairs.—Ezek. 10:12.
And they HAVE NO rest [not] day and night.—Not eternal idleness, but
eternal work in the interest of others will be our reward. “My Father
worketh until now, and I work.” (John 5:17.) “I must work the works of Him
that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work.”
(John 9:4.) “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works.” (Eph. 2:10.) “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do.” (Phil. 2:13.) “We are laborers together with God.” (1 Cor. 3:9.)
“Workers together with Him.” (2 Cor. 6:1.) “Who shall change the Body of
our humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious Body,
according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto
Himself.”—Phil. 3:21.
Saying, Holy, holy, holy, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.—The Sinaitic MS.
repeats the word “holy” eight times. (See Rev. 4:3.) In the seventh
thousand‐year Day God will bring all things to perfection through The
Christ, yet it is the eighth Day that marks the complete separation from
the old order of things. The Jewish child was circumcised on the eighth
day (Luke 1:59; Phil. 3:5); seven days a sheep was to be with its dam, and
on the eighth given to the Lord (Exod. 22:30); the eighth day of the Feast
of Tabernacles was to be a holy convocation unto the Lord. (Lev. 23:36,
39.) In the eighth thousand‐year Day of mankind’s history on the earth,
circumcision of the heart will be complete in all, all the sheep will have
been turned over to the Father, and the holy convocation of eternity will
have begun, “the grand epoch when there shall be no more sighing, no more
crying, no more pain and no more dying, because God’s work of creation
shall then have been completed so far as this earth is concerned.”—F. 51.
Lord God Almighty.—Jehovah. This scene is located in Heaven, where even
the Son Himself is subject unto the Father.—1 Cor. 15:28.
Which was.—The great First Cause.
And is.—The great “I AM.”
And is to
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