Chapter IX: Front Matter (9)

10:4. And [when] WHATSOEVER the seven thunders had uttered [their voices], I.—Pastor Russell as a representative of the John class.

Was about to write.—Intended to put on paper at once.

And I heard a voice from Heaven.—The guidance of the Heavenly Father, directing and overruling, knowing that the results would be better if the interest of His little ones were sustained by expectancy throughout the whole time of Harvest, rather than to give them all the light at once.—John 16:12.

Saying [unto me], Seal up [those] WHAT things [which] SOEVER the seven thunders uttered.—Do not immediately disclose their full contents.—Dan. 8:26; 12:4, 9.

And write them not.—Observe how the Lord retarded the publications: Vol. I was published in 1886. “In sending forth this first volume of the MILLENNIAL DAWN, it is but proper that we apologize to the many friends who have waited for it so patiently since promised.” (A. 3.) Volume II was published in 1889, and III in 1891. “Some have urged greater haste in the writing and publishing of the several volumes of this series, and, to a large extent, I have shared the same feelings of impatience; but my observations of the Lord’s dealings and leadings and unfoldings of His Plan are gradually convincing me that He has not shared our impatience. Indeed, I can clearly trace His hand in some of the hindrances encountered and can realize by the delay I have been enabled to grasp the subjects more thoroughly, and to present them more fully, than if the work had been hastened more. Not only has this delay worked for my good and yours, but in another way also. It has afforded time for a more thorough digestion of the truths of each volume, and thereby has given to the faithful student the very necessary preparation for that which was to follow. And not only so, but it has also given opportunity for practicing the lessons learned, and for exercising the talents of each in spreading the advancing light before others of God’s saints.” (C. 12.) Volume IV was published in 1897, V in 1899, VI in 1904 and VII in 1917. This makes a total lapse of 36 years from the publication of _FOOD FOR THINKING CHRISTIANS_ to the last volume of the _SCRIPTURE STUDIES_. Meantime the Harvest work grew to a movement of vast proportions; and Volume VII was delayed.

10:5. And the angel which I saw.—The Lord Jesus, since 1874.—Rev. 10:1.

Stand upon the sea and upon the earth.—In control of the masses not under religious restraint as well as order‐loving society.

Lifted up His RIGHT hand to Heaven.—The seventh angel was in that hand when He did so.—Rev. 1:16, 20.

10:6. And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever.—By Jehovah, His Father and our Father, His God and our God.—John 20:17.

Who created Heaven, and the things that therein are.—“The heavens declare the glory of God.”—Psa. 19:1‐6; Neh. 9:6; Rev. 4:11; 14:7.

And the earth, and the things that therein are, [and the sea, and the things which are therein].—“When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”—Job 38, 39, 40 and 41 chapters.

That there [should be] IS time no longer.—“There shall be no further delay.”—Weym.

10:7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.—Pastor Russell was the seventh angel.—Rev. 3:14.

When he shall begin to sound.—In the autumn of 1881, at which time _FOOD FOR THINKING CHRISTIANS_ was circulated, and the General Call ceased.—Rev. 11:15.

The mystery of God [should be] WAS finished.—“The great unfolding of the Divine mystery we are expressly told was reserved until the close of the Gospel Age.” (Z. ’97‐255.) “The Plan ceases to be a mystery, because there is no further object in perpetuating its secrecy. The greatness of the mystery, so long kept secret, and the wonderful grace bestowed on those called to fellowship in this mystery (Eph. 3:9), suggest to us that the work to follow its completion must be an immense work, worthy of such great preparations. What may we not expect in blessings upon the world, when the veil of mystery is withdrawn and the showers of blessing descend! It is this for which the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now, waiting for the completion of this mystery, for the manifestation of the Sons of God, the promised ‘Seed’ in whom they shall all be blessed.—Rom. 8:19, 21, 22.” (A. 87.) “While the door stands open, it indicates that any believer who is anxious to enter and ready to comply with the conditions may yet do so, even though the general ‘call’ or invitation to enter is no longer sent out. The opportunity to labor and sacrifice has not yet closed though the general call ceased in 1881.”—C. 213.

As He hath declared to His servants.—The Harvest Workers.

AND the Prophets.—Daniel (12:4‐12) and Habakkuk (2:1‐3).—Rev. 1:1.

10:8. And the Voice which I heard from Heaven.—The Heavenly Father’s voice.—Rev. 10:4.

Spake unto me again.—By His Holy Spirit.

And said.—Through the Bible, His Word, His Voice.

Go take the little book.—“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”—2 Tim. 2:15.

Which is open in the hand of the angel.—The Lord Jesus. Rev. 10:1, 5.

Which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.—See Rev. 10:2, 5.

10:9. And I went unto the angel.—“In coming out of bondage to human traditions, creeds, systems and errors, we are coming directly to our Lord, to be taught and fed by Him, to be strengthened and perfected to do His pleasure, and to stand, and not fall with Babylon.”—C. 167.

And said unto Him.—By my act in obeying His command.—Rev. 18:4.

Give me the little book.—Take me into Your confidence; give me Your Holy Spirit; show me, as promised, the “things to come.”—John 16:13.

And He said unto me, Take it, and eat it up.—“It is absolutely useless for us to pray Lord, Lord, give us the Spirit, if we neglect the Word of Truth which that Spirit has supplied for out filling.”—E. _245_, 225; Ezek. 2:8.

And it shall make thy belly bitter.—Lead to self‐sacrifice, with its attendant sufferings, but create an appetite for more. “The after effects are always more or less blending of the bitterness of persecution with the sweetness.”—C. 89; Ezek. 2:10; 3:14; Dan. 8:27.

But it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.—“O the blessedness.”—Dan. 12:12; Psa. 19:10; 119:103.

10:10. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up.—“Thy words were found and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”—Jer. 15:16.

And it was in my mouth sweet as honey.—“So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll. And it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.”—Ezek. 3:2, 3.

And as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was [bitter] FILLED.—“It satisfies my longings as nothing else could do.”

10:11. And [He said] THEY SAY unto me.—The Scriptures do the saying.

Thou must prophesy again.—Continue to proclaim the Message of Truth Divine.

Before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.—Until it has been fully testified to all.—1 Tim. 2:6. The concluding word of this Scripture suggests that the last witness of the church in the flesh is, like their Lord’s as alleged malefactors, before earth’s rulers.

Revelation 11—The Time Of The End

11:1. And there was given me.—The John class in the Time of the End.

A reed like unto a rod.—The Lord’s Word is both a rod to lean upon, (Isa. 11:4) and a reed with which to measure. (Jer. 1:11‐12). The word here tendered “rod” is rendered “staff” in Matt. 10:10; Heb. 11:21.

[And the angel stood, saying], HE SAITH.—It is the “reed” or “rod” itself, the Divine Word, that does the saying.

Rise.—“At the exact ‘time appointed,’ 1799, the end of the 1260 days, the power of the Man of Sin, the great oppressor of the Church, was broken, and his dominion taken away. With one stroke of His mighty hand, God there struck off Zion’s fetters, and bade the oppressed go free. And forth came, and are coming, the ‘Sanctuary’ class, the ‘holy people,’ weak, and halt, and lame, and almost naked, and blind, from the dungeon darkness and filth and misery of papal bondage. Poor souls! they had been trying to serve God faithfully in the very midst of the lurid flames of persecution, clinging to the cross of Christ when almost every other truth had been swept away, and courageously endeavoring to emancipate God’s ‘Two Witnesses’ (the Old and New Testaments), which had so long been bound, and which had prophesied only under the sackcloth of dead languages.”—C. 122.

And measure the Temple of God.—“That symbolic Temple which is The Christ.” (T. 70.) “The mention of worshippers proves that the measuring is symbolical. To ‘_measure_’ is to separate for sacred purposes; what is excluded from the measurement is, accordingly, more or less mingled with evil. Hence, in this place, what is measured—the true believer typified—is to be exempted from the Judgments in which what is _not_ measured (ver. 2) is involved.” (Cook). “If the direction be understood figuratively, as applicable to the Christian Church, the work to be done would be to obtain an exact estimate or measurement of what the true Church was—as distinguished from all other bodies of men, and as constituted, and appointed, by the direction of God; such a measurement that its characteristics could be made known; that a church could be organized according to this, and that the accurate description could be transmitted to future times.” (Barnes.)—Ezek. 40:3; Rev. 21:15.

And the altar.—The Golden Altar, within the “Holy”, the true Church, as sacrificers.—Ex. 30:1‐10.

And them that worship therein.—The several volumes of _Scripture Studies_ and the booklet _Tabernacle Shadows_ are devoted to the “measurements” herein prophesied.

11:2. But the court which is [without] WITHIN the Temple leave out.—The court here represents the same thing as is represented in the Court of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, the condition of progression toward complete Justification.

And measure it not.—Devote all attention to the higher privileges of the “Holy”. The “Court” was merely provided as a proper approach to the “Holy”. Acceptance of Christ as one’s Savior, appreciation of His work at Calvary, and washing one’s self in the water of the Word as represented respectively by the First Gate, Brazen Altar, and Laver of the “Court” are not the things to which we are particularly invited; but consecration to God’s will, illumination by His Spirit, appropriation of His promises and sacrifice of our all, acceptable to the Father through our great High Priest, represented respectively by the Second Gate or Door, the Candlestick, Table of Shew‐bread and Golden Altar of the “Holy”, are the things to which we were called: so that we might pass the Third Gate or Veil, actual death of the body, and finally become a part of The Christ, represented by the Ark of the Covenant, of which our Father is the Head.

For it is given ALSO unto the Gentiles.—With the deliverance of the Little Flock, the condition represented by the “Holy” ceases. This leaves the Great Company still in the “Court” and the special objects of Gentile wrath as their kingdoms fall into ruin. “Being denied the liberty accorded to the Priests, these will have merely the standing of justification, which, if they maintain, will constitute them worthy of eternal life. But that life will not be human life, because they gave that up in order to become Priests. Their failure puts them out of the Holy condition back into the Court condition.” (Z. ’11‐22.)

“After the establishment of Messiah’s Kingdom, this distinction between the Church proper, joint‐heirs with Christ, and the larger company of antitypical Levites, will be perpetual, and the services of the two will be different. The former will be a Priesthood corresponding to that of Melchizedek—a Priest upon His Throne. The work of the latter will correspond more to that accomplished by the Levites; namely, teaching the people, etc., as servants of the Priests, from whom they will receive their directions.”—Z. ’14‐79.

And the Holy City.—The embryo Kingdom of God.

Shall they tread under foot.—“The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”—Matt. 11:12.

Forty and two months.—1260 years from papacy’s establishment as a temporal power, 539 A. D. to 1799 A. D.—B. 91, 310; C. 50, 64; Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 12:6, 14; 13:5; Jas. 5:17.

11:3. And I will give power unto My Two Witnesses.—“The Lord refers to the Old and New Testament Scriptures, and faithfully they have borne their testimony to every nation.”—D. 258.

And they shall prophesy.—Teach.

A thousand, two hundred and three score days.—1260 years, from A. D. 539 to 1799.

Clothed in sackcloth.—“Kept covered in dead languages.”—C. 50.

11:4. These are the Two Olive Trees.—Sources of the oil, the holy Spirit.—Zech. 4:1‐6; Rom. 11:17.

And the Two Candlesticks.—“The _light_ of the world, during all the darkness of the past.”—D. 652.

Standing before the [God] LORD of the earth.—Jehovah. “The earth is the Lord’s.”—Psa. 24:1.

11:5. And if any man will hurt them.—“And if any man _desireth_ to hurt them. The present tense here points to the continued enmity of the world to the Church, during the entire course of the Witnesses’ testimony.”—Cook.

Fire proceedeth out of their mouth.—“I will make My words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”—Jer. 5:14.

And devoureth their enemies.—“History supplies the illustrations—the fire that consumed the opponents of Moses (Num. 16:28, 35), and that which came down at the word of Elijah. (2 Kings 1:10, 12)”—Cook.

And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.—“Therefore have I hewed them by the Prophets; and I have slain them by the words of My mouth.”—Hos. 6:5.

11:6. These have power to shut heaven.—The literal heavens and the spiritual heavens.—1 Ki. 17:1.

That it rain not.—That there be no literal showers, or spiritual showers of blessings.

In the days of their prophecy.—Literally in the three and one half years in Elijah’s day in which there was no rain (James 5:17) and spiritually in the three and one half times, or 1260 years, from A. D. 539 to 1799 in which the showers of blessing were withheld from the world.—Rev. 2:20.

And have power over waters.—Literal and symbolic.

To turn them into blood.—Literally as when Moses turned the waters of Egypt into blood (Exodus 7:21.) Symbolically during this Harvest time in which the Heavenly Harvest truths have become “bloody”, repulsive, abhorrent, symbolizing death where they should be received as a blessing.—Z. ’07‐279.

[And] to smite the earth with all plagues.—Literal and symbolic.

As often as they will.—Literally in the plagues which Moses poured out upon the Egyptians (Exodus 7 to 11.) Symbolically in the spiritual plagues, the seven last upon Christendom.—Rev. 16.

11:7. And when they shall have finished their testimony.—In the dead languages, about the time of the end of papacy’s power to persecute.

The beast that THEN ascendeth out of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—The government without a foundation; revolutionary France during the “Reign of Terror.”

Shall make war against them.—“In 1793 a decree passed the French Assembly forbidding the Bible; and under that decree the Bibles were gathered and burned, every possible mark of contempt was heaped upon them.”—Smith.

And shall overcome them, and kill them.—“All the institutions of the Bible were abolished; the weekly rest day was blotted out, and every tenth day substituted for mirth and profanity. Baptism and the communion were abolished. The being of God was denied, and death proclaimed an eternal sleep. The Goddess of Reason, in the person of a vile woman, was set up, and publicly worshipped.”—Smith.

11:8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street.—France.

Of the great city.—Christendom, the Old Roman Empire.—Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17:9, 18; 18:2, 10, 16, 18, 19, 21.

Which spiritually is called Sodom.—“ ‘Remember Lot’s wife!’ is our Lord’s pointed warning. How intensely forceful it is as a caution to God’s people here, in the close of the Gospel Age. When we learn that Babylon is doomed, and hear the Lord’s message, ‘Come out of her My people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues,’ it is indeed like the voice of the messengers who hastened Lot and his family out of Sodom, saying, ‘Stay not in all the plain; escape for thy life; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed; look not behind thee.’ (Gen. 19:17). Christendom is ‘that great city [Babylon] which spiritually is called Sodom.’ ”—D. 607, 608; Rev. 17:5; Isa. 1:9, 10; 3:8, 9; Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 16:48, 41.

And Egypt.—“Egypt is recognized as a symbol or type of the world of mankind, full of vain philosophies, but ignorant of the true Light.”—C. 315; Ezek. 23:3, 4, 8, 27.

Where also [our] THE Lord was crucified.—Catholic France, through its connection with the papacy, is a part of the old Roman Empire, in another part of which our Lord was slain. In another aspect France is identified with the death of the Lord. Anything done to the least of one of the Lord’s little ones is counted as done to Himself. When Saul of Tarsus persecuted the Lord’s saints, the One who met him in the way said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” (Acts 9:4, 5; 22:7, 8; 26:14, 15.) A plot was laid in France to destroy all the Protestants; and on Aug. 24, 1572, sixty thousand were murdered, and the streets of Paris literally ran with blood. The Protestants were in Paris under a solemn oath of safety, to celebrate the marriage of the king of Navarre. Admiral Coligny, a Protestant of great ability and prominence, was basely murdered in his own house, and his head was sent to his holiness, the Pope, as proof that he was really dead. The “Holy Father of Fathers”, the “Vicar of Christ”, the “Chief Pastor and Teacher”, was so pleased that “bells were rung, and guns were fired, bonfires were set ablaze; and Gregory XIII, attended by cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and a great throng of prelates, marched in procession. A _Te Deum_ was chanted, and the Pope commissioned the painter Vasari to paint the scene of the massacre, and employed an artist to engrave a medal commemorative of the event. The preachers in Rome delivered eloquent orations, and a messenger carried a golden rose to Charles as a present from the Pope.”—Coffin.

11:9. And they of the people.—The Protestant people.

And kindreds and tongues and nations.—Of other parts of Europe.

[Shall] see their dead [bodies] BODY.—“As if though silenced in death they continued witnesses still.” (Cook.) Take note of the horrible effect upon France of their effort to exterminate the Scriptures. “The more deeply the French Revolution is considered, the more manifest is its preeminence above all the strange and terrible things that have come to pass on this earth. Every ancient institution and every time honored custom disappeared in a moment. The whole social and political system went down before the first stroke. Monarchy, nobility and church were swept away almost without resistance. The good things of this world,—birth, rank, wealth, fine clothes and elegant manners,—became worldly perils, and worldly disadvantages. The people waged a war of such extermination with everything established, as to abolish the common forms of address and salutation, and the common mode of reckoning time, abhorred ‘you’ as a sin, and shrank from ‘monsieur’ as an abomination, turned the weeks into decades, and would know the old months no more. The demolished halls of the aristocracy, the rifled sepulchres of royalty, the decapitated king and queen, the little dauphin so sadly done to death, the beggared princes, the slaughtered priests and nobles, the sovereign guillotine, the republican marriages, the Meudon tannery, the couples tied together and thrown into the Loire, and the gloves made of men’s and women’s skins: these things are most horrible.” (T. H. Gill, _The Papal Drama_.)—D. 537.

Three days and an half.—See Rev. 11:11.

And [shall not] suffer NOT their dead bodies to be put in [graves] A GRAVE.—On the contrary, this very attempt “served to arouse Christians everywhere to put forth new exertions in behalf of the Bible.”—Smith.

11:10. And they that dwell upon the earth.—The people of France, then infidels, without any hopes except for the present poor earth‐life.

[Shall] rejoice over them, and make merry.—Literally fulfilled when the Assembly proscribed the Scriptures.

And [shall] send gifts one to another.—Literally fulfilled, the gifts being expressions of joy over the sudden “liberty,” “a custom usual in times of festivity.”—Neh. 8:10, 12; Esth. 9:19, 22.—Cook.

Because these Two Prophets tormented.—By continuing to proclaim the coming Reign of Christ and His Church.

Them that dwelt on the earth.—The classes whose hopes and destinies are earthly.

11:11. And after three days and an half.—Three years and one half.

The Spirit of life from God entered into Them.—In a symbolic sense They were “raised from the dead.”—Ezek. 37:5, 9, 10, 14.

And They stood upon Their feet.—See Ezek. 37:10. “In 1793, a decree passed the French Assembly suppressing the Bible. Just three years after, a resolution was introduced into the Assembly superseding the decree, and giving toleration to the Scriptures. That resolution lay on the table six months, when it was taken up, and passed without a dissenting vote. Thus, in just three years and a half, the Witnesses ‘stood upon their feet.’ ”—Smith.

And great fear fell upon them which saw them.—“Nothing but the appalling results of the rejection of the Bible, could have induced France to take her hands off these Witnesses.” (Smith.) “In the light of the foretold character of coming events of this battle, we may regard the French Revolution as only the rumbling of distant thunder, giving warning of an approaching storm; as a slight tremor preceding the general earthquake shock; as the premonitory click of the great clock of the ages, which gives notice to those already awake that the wheels are in motion, and that shortly it will strike the midnight hour which will end the present order of affairs and usher in a new order,—the Year of Jubilee, with its attendant commotion and changes of possession.”—D. 535.

In comments on Rev. 3:14, reasons are given for anticipating the deliverance of the Little Flock about Passover, 1918 [possibly on the _Passover day_, as a result of activities by the tribe of Dan. (Jer. 8:16.)] There we noted the Lord’s use of the half‐week principle. In this prophecy, we have the same principle. The French Revolution is Divinely provided as a picture of events now at hand, and we therefore expect three and a half years of proscription of the Truth, from the spring of 1918 to the fall of 1921. This will give the Great Company splendid opportunities for martyrdom and allow another three and a half years, to the spring of 1925, for the world to think the matter over, by which time, doubtless, they will be quite ready to listen to the voice that speaketh from Heaven.—Heb. 12:19.

11:12. And they heard a great voice from Heaven.—The voice last referred to—the Lord Jesus Himself, the “voice,” the “Word,” of the Heavenly Father.

Saying unto them, Come up hither.—“The Two Witnesses of God, the Old and New Testaments, ascended to heaven, the place of honor and power, as the Scriptures symbolically represent the matter.”—Z. ’15‐199.

And they ascended up to heaven.—“The British and Foreign Bible Society (which has distributed 230,000,000 copies of the Bible) was established in 1803; the New York Bible Society in 1804; the Berlin‐Prussian Bible Society in 1805; the Philadelphia Bible Society in 1808; and the American Bible Society (127,000,000 copies distributed) in 1817. Bibles by the million, in over 300 languages, are published yearly and sold at low prices, and many thousands are given away to the poor. It is difficult to estimate the wide influence of this work. Its quiet teaching is the greatest of all levelers and equalizers.”—C. 51.

In a cloud.—In a time of trouble, the French Revolution. The exaltation which the Word of God received as a result of the French Revolution is as nothing compared with the exaltation which awaits it after the “Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a nation.”

And their enemies beheld them.—As the enemies of the Word of God were compelled by the stern logic of events to consent to its restoration in the French time of trouble, so the Lord’s enemies, and the enemies of His Church, will be compelled to submit to the Reign of Truth when their forces have been exhausted in the Battle of the great Day of God Almighty.—Luke 19:27; Isa. 54:11‐17.

11:13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake.—“In the symbolic language of Revelation, the French Revolution was indeed a ‘great earthquake’—a social shock so great that all ‘Christendom’ trembled until it was over; and that terrible and sudden outburst of a single nation’s wrath, only a century ago, may give some idea of the fury of the coming storm, when the wrath of all the angry nations will burst the bands of law and order and cause a reign of universal anarchy. In fact, the French Revolution seems referred to by our Lord in His Revelation to John on Patmos as a prelude to, and an illustration of, the great crisis now approaching.”—D. 531.

The French Revolution lasted ten and a half years, from June 17th, 1789, when the Assembly began its reign, until Napoleon seized the government and caused himself to be appointed First Consul, November 9th, 1799. This coincides well with the thought previously expressed (Rev. 7:3) that all phases of Babylon will not be disposed of until about ten and a half years from the fall of 1914. The Assembly was in control from the first, but did not execute the king until January 21st, 1793, three years and one‐half from the time the trouble started. The Assembly continued in control until June 25th, 1795, six years from the time the trouble began, when the government was intrusted to five persons under the name of the Directory. It was on October 4th of the same year that Napoleon cleared the streets of Paris of the mobs, and from that point onward his star began to rise. Some interesting developments in connection with the setting up of the Kingdom may occur in 1920, six years after the great Time of Trouble began. It would not be strange if this were so, when we recall that after forty years wandering in the wilderness the Israelites came into possession of the land of Canaan after a further six years. As these matters are still future we can but wait to see. We anticipate that the “earthquake” will occur early in 1918, and that the “fire” will come in the fall of 1920.—1 Kings 19:11, 12; Z. ’98‐207, 208.

And the tenth part of the city fell.—The French part of Christendom; one of the ten toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar; one of the ten horns of Daniel’s beast and John’s dragon.—Dan. 2:41‐43; 7:24; Rev. 12:3.

And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand.—“And by the earthquake were destroyed seven thousand names of men.” (Diaglott.) “France made war, in her revolution of 1793‐98, on all titles of nobility. It is said by those who have examined the French records, that just seven thousand titles of men were abolished in that revolution.”—Smith.

And the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of Heaven.—“Their God‐dishonoring and Heaven‐defying work filled France with such scenes of blood, carnage, and horror, as made even the infidels themselves tremble, and stand aghast; and the ‘remnant’ that escaped the horrors of that hour ‘gave glory to God’—not willingly, but the God of Heaven caused this ‘wrath of man to praise Him,’ by causing all the world to see that those who make war on Heaven make graves for themselves; thus glory redounded to God by the very means that wicked men employed to tarnish that glory. For the statistics and many of the foregoing thoughts on the Two Witnesses, we are indebted to an exposition of the subject of The Two Witnesses, by the late George Storrs.” (Smith.) “And here I gratefully mention assistance rendered by Brothers George Stetson and George Storrs, the latter the Editor of _The Bible Examiner_, both now deceased. The study of the Word of God with these dear brethren led step by step into greener pastures and brighter hopes for the world.”—Pastor Russell’s Autobiography. Z. ’16‐170.

11:14. The second woe is past.—In the narrative of Chapter XI are briefly summed up the three most important events of the Time of the End. Between the French Revolution and the great Time of Trouble occurs a most significant event, which leads up to and is the direct cause of the great Time of Trouble. That event is the second woe. It is described in detail in Rev. 9:14‐21. But for this the great Time of Trouble would never have been necessary (Mal. 4:6); but it is necessary now, as necessary as was the Flood in Noah’s day, and for the same reason—to rid the earth of the progeny of the evil spirits, the “abominations of the earth.”—Rev. 17:5; 9:13.

And, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.—The third woe is the Reign of the Lord begun, with its attendant upsetting of the present order. The woes are visited upon those interested in maintaining the present order of things, who would like to retain indefinitely the advantages they have obtained. “The battle of this great Day of God Almighty will be the greatest revolution the world has ever seen. Behold, how, even now, the searchlight of general intelligence is discovering the secret springs of political intrigue, financial policies, religious claims, etc., and how all are brought to the bar of judgment, and by men, as well as by God, declared right or wrong as judged by the teachings of the Word of God.”—D. 541.

11:15. And the seventh angel.—Pastor Russell. See Rev. 3:14; 10:7.

Sounded.—“We find the ‘_shout_,’ the ‘_voice of the Archangel_’ and ‘_the trump of God_’ all symbols, and now in process of fulfillment.” (B. 149, 197.) “The ‘great trumpet’ we understand to be the antitypical ‘trumpet of Jubilee,’ as symbolic as the preceding six, none of which ever made any literal sound. It has been symbolically sounding since October, 1874, and will continue to the end of the Millennium.”—D. 601; Rev. 10:7.

And there were great voices in heaven.—“These voices have been uttered, and to some extent heard, in the symbolic heavens, the nominal church. For some years past a ‘volunteer work’ has been steadily progressing amongst the brethren—the work of rendering assistance to the members of the Household of Faith still in Babylon, still in darkness respecting the Lord, His true Character, His true Plan, and respecting the nearness of His Kingdom.”—Z. ’02‐118.

Saying, The [kingdoms] KINGDOM of this world [are] IS become the [kingdoms] KINGDOM of our Lord, and of His Christ.—“The volunteer matter prepared for this present year (the issues of our journal for February 15 and March 15) had already been prepared before we thought of how wonderfully this year’s distribution will agree with the declaration of our text. Here will be a million voices proclaiming throughout the nominal Church (symbolic heavens) the great message of this present time; namely, the Second Presence of our Lord as the reaper of the Harvest of the Gospel Age, gathering the ‘wheat’ into the ‘garner,’ destroying the tares (as tares—not as human beings) and establishing His glorious Kingdom upon a firm foundation of righteousness and equity, for the blessing of every creature.”—Z. ’02‐119.

And He shall reign for ever and ever. AMEN.—See Rev. 5:13; Dan. 2:44; 7:14, 18, 27.

11:16. And the [four and] twenty‐FOUR elders.—The prophecies pertaining to the Kingdom of God.—Rev. 4:10.

Which [sat] SIT before God on their seats.—Rev. 4:4.

Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God.—Rev. 4:10.

11:17. Saying, We give thee thanks.—See Rev. 5:11‐13.

O Lord God Almighty.—“Represented in Christ—‘All things are _of_ the Father,’ and ‘all things are _by_ the Son,’ His honored Representative.”—D. 624.

Which art, and wast, and [art to come].—See Rev. 1:4. He is not to come. He _has_ come.

Because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.—“ ‘Thy God reigneth!’ The oft‐repeated prayer of the Church has been answered: the Kingdom of God has indeed come. The dead in Christ are even now risen and exalted with our Lord and Head. And the ‘feet’ members of the Body of Christ, who still tarry in the flesh, catching the inspiration of the glorified throng who have already ascended into the Mount (Kingdom) of God, reflect a measure of that transcendent glory, as did Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai.” (C. 301.) “In describing the events under the Seventh Trumpet, this order is observed:—(1) the power is taken by the Lord as King of Earth, and His Reign begun; (2) as a consequence the great judgment‐trouble comes upon the world.”—D. 622; Rev. 19:6; Psa. 99:1.

11:18. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come.—“Although they are called Christian nations, they have not received the Spirit of the Lord; they have not received the spirit of meekness, gentleness, long‐ suffering, brotherly kindness and love, the fruits of the Holy Spirit; but on the contrary, the spirit which St. Paul says consists of hatred, wrath, strife, murder—works of the flesh and the Devil. For this reason they did not even wait for God’s wrath to come, but began to bring it upon themselves nearly two months in advance. They became so angry that they began to destroy each other even before their lease of power had expired.”—Z. ’14‐328.

And the time of the dead, that they should be judged.—“They cannot be judged without His words, and the vast majority,—‘dead in trespasses and sins,’ blinded and deafened by the Adversary, through sin,—have not thus far been enabled to hear their Redeemer’s wonderful words of life. In the Millennial Kingdom the dead world will have the eyes of its understanding opened and its ears unstopped, and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth and reach every member of the dead race, not only those who have not yet gone down into the tomb, but ‘all the families of the earth;’ for, ‘all that are in the grave shall come forth’ for the very purpose of hearing the ‘wonderful words of life,’ and of being judged by them. If they shall accept them heartily they shall, by restitution processes, be brought fully up to life conditions.”—Z. ’02‐116; Dan. 7:10; Rev. 14:7; 15:4.

And that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy Servants the Prophets.—Who are therefore without their rewards until Christ’s Second Advent.—Heb. 11:39, 40.

And to the saints.—“We hold that it is a most reasonable inference, and one in perfect harmony with all the Lord’s Plan, that in the spring of 1878 all the holy Apostles and other ‘overcomers’ of the Gospel Age who slept in Jesus were raised spirit beings, like unto their Lord and Master.”—C. 234.

And them that fear Thy name, small and great.—All other classes of believers, past, present and future.

And shouldest destroy them.—The Papal and Protestant sects.

Which destroy the earth.—Corrupt the earth, Greek.—Rev. 19:2.

11:19. And the Temple of God.—The true Church.—1 Cor. 3:16.

Was opened in heaven ABOVE.—Was revealed as in the ascendency over the nominal ecclesiastical heavens.

And there was seen in His Temple.—Clearly revealed to His Church.

The Ark.—The repository of the sacred and hidden things of Revelation and Ezekiel.

Of [His] THE testament of God.—The Secret—“The Finished Mystery.”—Psa. 25:14; Col. 1:27; Rev. 14:17; 16:1, 17.

And there were lightnings, and voices and thunderings.—See Rev. 8:5.

And an earthquake.—See Rev. 8:5; 16:18.

And great hail.—A deluge of Truth in its most compact form.—Isa. 28:17; Rev. 16:21.

“The tidal wave is coming, the Year of Jubilee;
With shout and song it sweeps along, like billows of the sea,
The jubilee of nations shall ring through earth and sky;
The dawn of grace draws on apace—’tis coming by and by.”

Revelation 12—The Birth Of Antichrist

12:1. And there appeared a great wonder.—Sign, Greek.—Rev. 1:1.

In heaven.—In the power of spiritual control.—A. 318; Eph. 2:4‐6; Phil. 3:20.

A Woman.—The early Church, Nominal Zion, (D. 591), originally a chaste Virgin.—2 Cor. 11:2; Matt. 9:15; 22:2; John 3:29; Eph. 5:25, 32.

Clothed with the sun.—Resplendent in the full, clear light of the unclouded Gospel.—D. 591.

And the moon under her feet.—“The moon under her feet represents that the Law which supports her is nevertheless not the source of her light.”—D. 591.

And upon her head a crown of twelve stars.—“The twelve stars about her head as a crown represent her Divinely appointed and inspired teachers—the Twelve Apostles.” (D. 591.) “Now if God ordained only twelve stars as lights for His Church, as here represented, is it not a great mistake for popes, bishops and clergy to regard themselves as successors of the Apostles,—stars also?”—D. 594.

12:2. And [she] being with child.—As a result of the Mystery of Iniquity which was working within her.—2 Thes. 2:7.

[Cried], AND SHE CRIETH travailing in birth.—Felt the weight of the burden even in apostolic days.—Rev. 2:2.

And pained to be delivered.—Desired to get rid of the loathsome thing from which, by the machinations of Satan, she was at the time suffering. In a sense the birth of the Antichrist from the early Church was a counterfeit of the birth of Christ from the virgin Mary, the one a manifestation of the power of God, the other of Satan.—John 16:21, 22.

12:3. And there appeared another wonder in heaven.—Among the ecclesiastical powers of the same epoch.

And behold a great red dragon.—The Pagan Roman Empire, which had its own religious system. “The Roman Empire had not only conquered the world and given it politics and laws, but, recognizing religious superstitions to be the strongest chains by which to hold and control a people, it had adopted a scheme which had its origin in Babylon, in the time of her greatness as ruler of the world. That plan was, that the emperor should be esteemed the director and ruler in religious as well as in civil affairs. In support of this, it was claimed that the emperor was a demi‐god, in some sense descended from their heathen deities. As such he was worshipped and his statues adored; and as such he was styled _Pontifex Maximus_—i. e., Chief Priest or Greatest Religious Ruler.”—B. 288.

Having seven heads and ten horns.—See Dan. 7:7, 20; Rev. 13:1; 17:3, 9‐12; 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11. The Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, was founded in A. D. 395, when Theodosius divided the Roman Empire between his two sons, Honorius and Arcadius, assigning to the latter all the portion lying east of the Adriatic sea. At this time the Roman Empire became the two legs of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision. At the time the division was made the five potential races in the East were the Greeks, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Heruli and Vandals. The five potential races in the West were the Franks, Britons, Saxons, Visigoths and Suevi. During the next one hundred and fifty years great migrations and invasions have so confused history that there is great difference of opinion among historians on many important details. It is plain, however, that three of the migratory races disappeared from history, all within a few years of each other, apparently in order to leave Rome and its environs free for the development of the papacy. The Heruli, a race from Germanic territory, disappeared from Italian territory in A. D. 489; the Vandals, a race from the shores of the Baltic (never in control of Rome except on a brief raid, but a great enemy of the papacy) disappeared in A. D. 534; and the Ostrogoths, an Asiatic race, in A. D. 539. The Western Empire itself disappeared in A. D. 476. The matter is treated by Pastor Russell at greater length in C. 76, 77, and all his statements are, of course, correct.

And seven crowns upon his heads.—In the Eastern Empire, corresponding to the present Turkey and the Balkans, and in Lombardy, corresponding to the present Austria, we may see the two horns which remained of the five Eastern powers after the Ostrogoths, Heruli and Vandals disappeared. And in the Visigothic Kingdom, corresponding to Spain; Suevia, corresponding to Portugal; the Kingdom of the Franks, corresponding to France and the Netherlands; Saxonia, corresponding to Germany and Scandinavia; and Britannia, corresponding to Great Britain, we may see the five horns which represented the five western powers. The following explains why Italy is not included in the list:

“The difficulty of Italian history lies in the fact that until modern times the Italians have had no political unity, no independence, no organized existence as a nation. Split up into numerous and mutually hostile communities, they never, through the fourteen centuries which have elapsed since the end of the old Western Empire, shook off the yoke of foreigners completely; they never until lately learned to merge their local and conflicting interests in the common good of undivided Italy. Their history is therefore not the history of a single people, centralizing and absorbing its constituent elements by a process of continued evolution, but a group of cognate populations, exemplifying divers types of constitutional developments.”—Brit.

The foregoing justifies Pastor Russell’s thought that the Western Empire should be counted as one of the horns rooted up to make way for the Papacy. As to whether it or the Vandal race should be counted as the third horn, since both were destroyed, is a matter of no great importance to us. The point of greatest interest now is that the Lord is about to destroy the other seven, including the Papacy. All the powers named, except Spain, are already in the great War. Indeed, except South America, which expects to be dragged in, the only countries of the world not now (June, 1917) engaged in the war are Scandinavia, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Abyssinia and Mexico.—Jer. 25:15‐38.

12:4. And his tail.—Constantine, last of the Roman emperors to maintain his capital at Rome. “After the senate and people of Rome had ceased to be the sovereigns of the Roman world, and their authority had been vested in the sole person of the emperor, the eternal city could no longer claim to be the rightful throne of the state. That honor could henceforth be conferred upon any place in the Roman world which might suit the convenience of the emperor, or serve more efficiently the interests he had to guard. Furthermore, the empire was now upon its defense. When Constantine, therefore, established a new seat of government at Byzantium, he adopted a policy inaugurated before his day as essential to the preservation of the Roman dominion. He can claim originality only in his choice of the particular point at which that seat was placed, and in his recognition of the fact that his alliance with the Christian church could be best maintained in the new atmosphere. The city was founded by Constantine the Great, through the enlargement of the old town of Byzantium, in A. D. 328, and was inaugurated as a new seat of government on the 11th of May, A. D. 330. To indicate its political dignity, it was named New Rome, while to perpetuate the name of its founder it was styled Constantinople. The chief patriarch of the Greek church still signs himself ‘Archbishop of New Rome.’ ”—Brit.

Paganism Attacks the Early Church

Drew the third part.—“The Roman Emperor Constantine saw a vision—probably when wide awake—a vision of greater prosperity for himself and his Empire, by a recognition of Christianity as the religion of his Empire instead of paganism, which had previously been recognized. Constantine’s influence in Church affairs became great. He proposed the calling of a council of all the bishops, _numbering about one thousand_. He wanted to know why these apostolic bishops, all inspired with the same Spirit of God, taught so differently. He offered to pay the expenses of all the bishops to the Council of Nice; but the majority, fearing that the Emperor would be under the control of the Roman bishop (not yet claiming to be pope), declined to attend. _Only 384 came._ But even they were unable to agree. Many held to the Bible teaching, but the mystification thought of trinity had gained a hold on some of the bishops. Thereupon Constantine decided the matter; and the Nicene Creed, backed by the Emperor’s power, was declared to be the Christian faith, and anything contrary to it, heresy. Yet be it remembered that _only about one‐third_ of the bishops were present at the Council; and that they could not be coerced into substituting ‘mystery’ for the Word of God, until the Emperor lent his influence. Thus was the mystery of trinity enshrined by a heathen emperor, not baptized—not even sprinkled. The history of the persecution of all who would not worship the trinitarian mystery would fill volumes. One sad illustration is familiar to all—the burning of Servetus, by good Brother Calvin’s signature to the death warrant. Is it any wonder that with such conditions prevailing for centuries, the Bible ignored and the creeds worshipped, the true teachings of the Bible on many subjects were completely lost sight of? Is it any wonder that, when in the sixteenth century God began to bring the Bible back to the attention of the world, it was burned by the Episcopal bishops in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London? Is it any wonder that the Christians of that time were persecuted for studying it, and could meet only in secret?”—B. S. M.

Of the stars of heaven.—False stars, “wandering stars,” man‐ordained lights of the nominal heavens.—D. 595. There the bishops became substitutes for the true Apostolic stars.

And did cast them to the earth.—Forced them to teach what he told them or else be banished, as was Arius.

And the dragon.—Imperial Rome, represented by Constantine.

Stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered.—The early Christian Church.

For to devour her child.—Absorb it, make it a subordinate feature of the Roman system of government.

As soon as it was born.—As soon as the development of the clergy class and others equally unfaithful to Christ had made it impossible for them to be retained longer in the true Church.

12:5. And she brought forth a man child.—The papacy.—Z. ’79‐12‐2.

Who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.—“In a bull, or edict, Sixtus V declares: ‘The authority given to St. Peter and his successors, by the immense power of the eternal King, excels all the power of earthly kings and princes. It passeth uncontrollable sentence upon them all. And if it find any of them resisting God’s ordinance, it takes more severe vengeance on them, casting them down from their thrones, however powerful they may be, and tumbling them down to the lowest parts of the earth as the ministers of aspiring Lucifer.’

“A bull of Pope Pius V., entitled ‘The damnation and excommunication of Elizabeth, queen of England, and her adherents’ reads as follows: ‘He that reigneth on high, to whom is given all power in heaven and in earth, committed one holy, catholic and apostolic church (out of which there is no salvation) to one alone upon earth, namely, to Peter, the Prince of the apostles, and to Peter’s successor, the bishop of Rome, to be governed in fulness of power. Him alone he made prince over all people and all kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, consume, plant and build.’ ”—B. 311.

And her child was caught up unto God, and [to] UNTO His throne.—“St Bernard affirms that ‘none except God is like the pope, either in heaven or on earth.’ ‘The Emperor Constantine,’ says Pope Nicholas I., ‘conferred the appellation of God on the pope; who, therefore, being God, cannot be judged by man.’ Said Pope Innocent III.—‘The pope holds the place of the true God;’ and the canon law, in the gloss, denominates the pope—‘our Lord God.’ Innocent and Jacobatius state that ‘the pope can do nearly all that God can do,’ while Decius rejects the word nearly, as unnecessary. Jacobatius and Durand assert that ‘none dare say to him any more than to God—Lord, what doest Thou?’ ”—B. 311.

Pope Martin stated the matter in his own behalf as follows: “All the earth is my diocese, and I am the ordinary of all men, having the authority of the King of all kings upon subjects. I am all in all, and above all, so that God Himself, and I, the vicar of God, have both one consistory, and I am able to do almost all that God can do. In all things that I list my will is to stand for reason, for I am able by the law to dispense above the law, and of wrong to make justice in correcting laws and changing them. Wherefore, if those things that I do be said not to be done of man, but of God—What can you make me but God? Again, if prelates of the church be called and counted of Constance for Gods, I then, being above all prelates, seem by this reason to be above all Gods. Wherefore, no marvel if it be in my power to change time and times, to alter and abrogate laws, to dispense with all things, yea, with the precepts of Christ”—B. 314; Dan. 7:25.

12:6. And the woman.—The true Church of God.

Fled Into the wilderness.—“Error, always more popular than truth, when exalted to influence and power, hunted down, proscribed and made disreputable the truth, and all who held it. This was the time when the true Church (woman) fled into the wilderness—into solitude—an outcast because of her fidelity to the truth, and to the true Lord and Head of the Church.”—B. 329.

Where she hath a place prepared of God.—“The secret place of the Most High.”—Psa. 91:1.

That they.—The antitypical ravens that fed the Elijah class, the unknown, “faithful men” who, in secret, broke the bread of life to those that hungered for righteousness.

Should feed her there.—As Elijah was fed in the wilderness.—Rev. 2:20.

A thousand two hundred and threescore days.—1260 years, from A. D. 539 to 1799.—Rev. 11:2, 3.

12:7. And there was war in heaven.—Between the two ecclesiastical powers, Pagan Rome and Papal Rome.

Michael.—“Who as God,” the Pope.—B. 275; C. 62.

And his angels.—The Bishops. The following is the reply given in the Catholic catechism to the question, “Who are the successors of the Apostles?” Ans. “The bishops who are rightly consecrated, and are in communion with the head of the Church, the Pope.”

[Fought against] TO WAR WITH the dragon.—Attempted to get the temporal power away from the civil rulers.—Rev. 2:12.

And the dragon.—Imperial Rome.—B. 288; Rev. 12:3; 20:2.

Fought and his angels.—Did everything possible to circumscribe the growing power of the papacy, but all in vain.—Rev. 2:12.

12:8. And THEY prevailed not AGAINST HIM, neither was [their place] HE THEN found any more in heaven.—The Papacy came out of the contest victorious. “Paganism, defeated, relinquished all things pertaining to religious affairs and contented itself with social, civic and political affairs,” so stated one of Pastor Russell’s coworkers.

12:9. And the great dragon was cast out.—Verses 9 to 12 contain the rejoicings of the Papacy over their triumph.

That old serpent, called the Devil, [and] Satan.—“To this fourth beast, representing Rome, Daniel gives no descriptive name. While the others are described as lion‐like, bear‐like and leopard‐like, the fourth was so ferocious and hideous that none of the beasts of earth could be compared with it. John the Revelator, seeing in vision the same symbolic beast (government), was also at a loss for a name by which to describe it, and finally gives it several. Among others, he called it ‘the Devil.’ He certainly chose an appropriate name; for Rome, when viewed in the light of its bloody persecutions, certainly has been the most devilish of all earthly governments. Even in its change from Rome Pagan to Rome Papal it illustrated one of Satan’s chief characteristics; for he also transforms himself to appear as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), as Rome transformed itself from heathenism and claimed to be Christian—the Kingdom of Christ.”—A. 258.

Which deceiveth the whole world.—By intimating that anybody in it except the pope has any right to say anything about how it should be run.

He was cast out into the earth.—We, the Papacy, are in control!

And his angels were cast out with him.—We, the cardinals, etc., have the positions of power once held by the priests of Pagan Rome!

12:10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven.—In the Roman Catholic Church.