(corrected) EXPOSITION
OF THE APOCALYPSE.
FIRST
SECTION OF THE SEVENTH SEAL ...................................... 11
Preparation
For Sounding ............................................””””””””””” 11
1. The Apostacy in the Preparation-Period
,,,.......................,.,..............
12
2. Preparation Judgments upon
Ghost-Worshippers .,,,.,...,...............,..,.. 25
CHRONOLOGICAL
SYNOPSIS OF THE SEALING AND
PREPARATION
PERIOD ...................................................”..’.’....’ 33
BLOWING
OF THE FOUR WINDS ..,..........,..........,.,.,.....,..,.,.,,..,..,...,,,.. 36
THE
FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS ............................................... 37
ACT
I - FIRST WIND TRUMPET
The
Earth subjected to hail and fire mingled with blood.
1. The Symbols explained
..............................................”””’ 42
2. Historical Exposition
.......................................................’
ACT
Il-SECOND WIND TRUMPET
A
great burning mountain Cast into the sea.
2. Historical Exposition
,,,,,,,,,,,,................,.................,...........,,.,..., 52
ACT
III - THIRD WIND TRUMPET
The
great blazing star Apsinthos embitters the Waters
1. The Symbols explained
,,,,,,,,........................,................................ 58
2. Historical Exposition
,,,,,,,............................................,.,.............. 62
ACT
IV - FOURTH WIND TRUMPET
Eclipse
of a third of the lights of the Catholic Firmament
1
Symbols
Explained.................................................................... 68
2.
Historical Exposition,,,.............................. 70
A
WARNING PROCLAMATION
1.
Symbols explained ....”””””””””””””””””””’ 75
2.
Historical Exposition ..”............’.”.”.”””...... 77
SECOND
SECTION OF THE SEVENTH SEAL
ACT
I - THE FIFTH TRUMPET, OR FIRST WOE
The
Locust-Plague for the tormentation of the Unsealed
I. SYMBOLS EXPLAINED
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....,,.....,,,.....,,,.......,,,,,,,,.,,,,... 81
8
EXPOSITION
OF THE APOCALYPSE.
1. The Pit of the Abyss ~ 82
2. The Key oft he Pit ..................................................................................... 84
3,
The Abyss, or “Bottomless Pit”
.............................................................. .. 85
4~
The Smoke of the Pit ..............................................................................
86
5. The Sun and Air darkened by the Smoke
....................~........................... . 87
6. “Out of the Smoke came forth Locusts
into the Earth” .............................. 88
7, “Power was given to the locusts
as the scorpions of the earth have power” 91
8. Chaplets like to gold
.......,,.......,,..........,.......,,,,,..,...~........,,,.......,............ . 91
9,
Faces as the Faces of Men
........,.........,,.....,...,,,.........,.................,........... . 92
10. “Their teeth were as of Lions”
...,.,,.......,,.......,,..,......,...,,,..,...........,.. 92
11. “They had their Breasts as it were
Breasts of Iron” ...,....,....,,..,,,......,.. 92
12. The two periods of “Five Months” each
,,...........,...,.,........,.,.......,.... 93
13. “And they had over them a king”
.....................,,..,..,.......,.,,......,........ 93
II. SYNTHETIC EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST WOE
.....,....,,............. 95
III. HISTORICAL EXPOSITION
1. Origin of the Star ..,.,,,,........,,.,,...,,...,,,.,.,.....,,,,....,...,...,,..,,,..,...,..
...... 96
2. The Pit becomes a Burning Furnace
..........,..,,...,,.,.......,...,,,.,......,....... 98
3,
The Pit of the Abyss opened .....,,.........,,,.,......,,...............,.,,,,,.....,..
.... 100
4,
The Smoke and Locusts ascend out of the Abyss,,.,......,....,,,.,,,,......... 102
5. The Sun and Air darkened
................................................................... 103
6. The torment and injury
........................................................................ 105
7.
The Angel of the Abyss
....................................................................... 106
ACT
Il-SIXTH TRUMPET, OR SECOND WOE
I. Eastern Part
The
Four Euphratean Angel-Powers
I. SYMBOLS EXPLAINED
1. “One Voice of the Four Horns”
...................................................... 111
2. “Loose the Four Angels”
............................................................... 114
3. Symbolic Period of Loosing
........................................................... 115
4,
Number of the Cavalry
................................................................. 116
5. The Horses and their Riders
........................................................... 117
6. Breasts Fiery and Hyacinthine
........................................................ 118
7,
“With the Heads they do injure”
..................................................... 119
8. Fire, Hyacinth, and Sulphur
........................................................... 120
9. Lake of Fire burning with Sulphur
................................................... 120
10.”The
Rest of the Men”
................................................................. 121
11.
“The Daemonials” 121
12.”Idols”
.....................................................................................
132
II. HISTORICAL EXPOSITION
1. Preparation of the First Euphratean
Angel ...........,,,,,,,,..................... 140
2. The loosing of the First Angel ....................,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,................
143
3. The Beginning of the 391 Years and 30
Days ..,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,................. 145
4. The First Interval
......................................................................... 146
EXPOSITION
OF THE APOCALYPSE.
5. The Preparation of the Second Angel
............................................... 148
6. Loosing of the Second Angel
.......................................................... 149
7. The Second Interval .....................................................................
151
8. The Preparation of the Third Angel
................................................. 152
9. The loosing of the Third Angel
....................................................... 154
10. Third Interval in which the Preparation
of the Fourth Angel is completed .
156
11. Loosing of the Fourth Angel
......................................................... 157
12. “The Fire, the Smoke and the Sulphur”
........................................... 158
13. The Killing of the Third
............................................................... 160
FOURTH
SECTION OF THE SEVENTH SEAL
2.
The Western PartEXPOSITION
2. The “One Body” the Golden Light-bearer
of the Spirit ........................ 221
I. POSITION OF THE “ONE BODY” IN THE
PRESENT STATE ......... 224
2. “Reed like a Rod”
....................................................................... 225
3. The Altar
................................................................................... 226
4. All not of the “On Body” Excommunicate
........................................ 227
5. The Holy Polity trampled Forty-two
Months ..................................... 232\
Page 11
The
chapters of th is volume are numbered according to the numbers of the chapters
of the Apocalypse; so that the eighth chapter of this work is an exposition of
the eighth chapter of the Apocalypse, and so on to the eleventh inclusive. The
previous volume having introduced the Seventh Seal, this volume proceeds to
expound the Seal properly.
FIRST
SECTION OF THE SEVENTH SEAL
This
section comprehends the events resulting from the release of the Four Winds,
held by the Four Angels standing at the Four Corners of the Earth Apoc. 7:1. When in operation, they were to
blow injuriously upon the earth, the sea, and the trees, of Daniel’s Fourth
Beast-Dominion. They were what Gibbon styles “the threatening tempests of
barbarians which subverted the foundations of Roman greatness.” They were
commissioned against the catholic empire of the west, and did not cease to blow
until they had sorely plagued the Apostasy, and disrobed Old Rome of its glory
and dominion. The Four Wind-powers angelized against Roman Europe are identical
with the first four trumpets, which were sounded or blown against “the earth,”
the “trees,” and “sea,” which were not plagued to the subversion of their
sovereignty until these trumpets had produced their full effect.
PREPARATION
FOR SOUNDING
The
seven angels, which John tells us in ch. 8:2, he saw standing before the Deity,
and to whom were given seven trumpets, he further informs us, in the sixth
verse, “prepared themselves to sound.” Though they had been commissioned in the
days of Constantine, they had also been forbidden to execute judgment until the
sealing of the 144,000 was duly effected. Their preparing to sound was no part
of their sounding. When the trumpets were given them they were quiescent, and
quiescent they remained during the “voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and earthquake”
of the reigns of Constantius and Julian; but, when the earthquake was over, and
the Catholic Apostasy found unexpected
Page 12 .
deliverance
in the military election of JOVIAN, a trinitarian catholic, nothing improved by
the well merited castigation it had experienced, it progressed from bad to
worse, until the forbearance of the Deity had attained the limit which, in His
wise foreknowledge of all things, He had fixed, and beyond which He had
predetermined that the blasphemous superstition should not continue unscathed
by the fierceness of His devouring indignation. From the death of Julian, A.D.
363, to the death of Theodosius the Great, and the revolt of the Goths under
Alaric, A.D. 395’ a period of thirty-two years, was the period also of the
preparation for sounding, which terminated in the Gothic blast of the First
Wind-Trumpet. At the end of this PREPARATION-PERIOD, the Catholic Imperiality
was finally divided into Two SOVEREIGNTIES, which answered to the Two IRON LEGS
of Nebuchadnezzar’s Image the
sovereignty of Constantinople under Arcadius, and the sovereignty of Rome under
Honorius, both of them the worthless sons of the catholic tyrant “ Theodosius
the Great.”
This
preparation period of thirty-two years includes the reigns of Jovian, Valentinian
and Valens, Gratian, and Theodosius - of Jovian, who reigined about seven
months; of Valentinian, who ruled twelve years; of Gratian, who, after reigning
four years, associated Theodosius with himself in the purple; and of
Theodosius, who reigned sixteen years, or till his decease, A.D. 395. The
sounding of the seven angels was, and is (for they will not have ceased to
sound until the reign of the saints shall have been established over all the
apocalyptic earth), the execution of judgment upon the Laodicean Catholic
Apostasy in its imperio-regal constitution. During this preparation-period it
made rapid and gigantic progress in developing “the mystery of iniquity,” after
the working of the Satan with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, and
with all deceivableness of the iniquity in them who are being destroyed.” It
rapidly filled up that measure of iniquity which rendered it no longer
expedient to defer judgment - to restrain the tempest of “hail and fire mingled
with blood,” which, as a devouring blast, should scorch and torment it unto
death.
It
will, doubtless, be satisfactory to the reader unacquainted with the history of
this period to receive some information respecting it. I shall, therefore, as
briefly as is compatible with clearness, notice the state of the Catholic
Apostasy in the thirty-two years of angel-preparation for the execution of
judgment.
1.
The Apostasy in the Preparation-Period
The
death of Julian left the Ancient Idolatry in possession of the empire, but
without a champion. He had endeavored to thoroughly
Page
13
paganize
the army but had succeeded only in making hypocrites of those who took any
interest in religion. So long as he was the dispenser of the loaves and fishes
of the state, the soldiery bowed the knee to Jupiter; but when the arrow of the
Persian had given victory to “the Galilean,” and the ‘pious Jovian” became the
elect of the fickle host, whose affection had been gained by his comely person,
cheerful temper, and familiar wit, the soldiers again displayed at the head of
their legions the banner of the cross, the Labarum of Constantine, by which was
announced to the people the Superstition of their new emperor(*).
The
first monuments of peace were devoted by Jovian to the restoration of domestic
tranquillity to the church and state. The ‘Christians,” says Gibbon, “had
forgotten the spirit of the gospel, and the pagans had imbibed the spirit of
the church. In private families, the sentiments of nature were extinguished by
the blind fury of zeal and revenge; the majesty of the laws was violated or
abused; the cities of the east were stained with blood, and the most implacable
enemies of the Romans were in the bosom of their country.” As soon as Jovian
was enthroned, he secured the legal establishment of the catholic superstition.
The insidious edicts of Julian were abolished, and the immunities of the
catholic apostasy were restored and enlarged, which gained for him, of course,
the loud and sincere applause of its devotees. The episcopal leaders of their
contending sects, convinced, by experience, how much their fate would depend on
the earliest impressions made on the mind of an untutored soldier, hastened to
the court at Antioch. “The highways of the east were crowded with
Homoousian,(+) and Arian, and Semi-Arian, and Eunomian bishops, who struggled
to outstrip each other in the holy race for the prize of the imperial favor;
the apartments of the palace resounded with their clamors, and the ears of
Jovian were assailed, and perhaps astonished, by the Babel-mixture of
metaphysics and passionate invectives. They discovered at length his admiration
for the celestial virtues of the great Athanasius’,” one of the most persistent
ecclesiastics of which Jezebel could boast in that or any subsequent period of
her career. By this discovery, Jovian was found to be possessed
............................................................................................................................................
(*)The
Labarum was the military standard of Constantine the Great, and of later
“Christian” emperors of Rome. It displayed so-called “Christian” symbols. On
coins struck by Constantine, the pagan goddess of victory was displayed with
the Labarum in order to gain favour with all sections of the populace. -Publishers.
(+)
These are titles given to various religious sects within the Apostate church of
the 4th century. The Homoousians taught that the essence or
substance of the Father and the Son is the same. The Arians taught that Jesus
Christ was mere man. The Eunomians (named after a Bishop of Cyzicus of that
name) was an extreme Arian sect that claimed that there was only a moral
resemblance between the Father and the Son. Eunomian taught that baptism should
be in the name of the Creator, and only into the death of Christ. In opposition
to all these sects, as well as to Trinitarianism (the other extreme). the Truth
proclaimed the doctrine of God manifestation, and of Jesus Christ as the
“begotten Son of God”. - Publishers
Page
14.
of
the spirit of the times, and therefore in fellowship with the zeal and numbers
of the most powerful sect of the Apostasy. Under his reign, Laodiceanism
obtained an easy and lasting victory; and as soon as the sunshine of imperial
patronage was withdrawn, the ancient idolatry, which had been cherished by the
arts of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the dust. Thus, as justly remarked by
Themistius in his address to Jovian, “in the recent changes, both religions
(Julian’s and Constantine’s) had been alternately disgraced by the seeming
acquisition of worthless proselytes, of those votaries of the reigning purple,
who could pass without a reason, and without a blush, from the church to the
temple, and from the altars of Jupiter to the sacred table of the Christians.”
After
Jovian’s death, Valentinian was elected by the military to the absolute
government of the Roman empire. In thirty days after his own election, he
associated his brother Valens as his colleague in the emperorship. In June,
A.D. 364, they divided the empire between them; Valentinian bestowing on his
brother the rich praefecture of the Eastern Leg of the Babylonian Image, from
the Lower Danube to the confines of Persia; whilst he reserved to himself the
three praefectures of Illyricum, Italy, and Gaul, constituting the Western Leg,
from the extremity of Greece to the Caledonian rampart, and from the rampart to
the foot of Mount Atlas. This division being amicably arranged, preparation for
the angel-trumpeters was advanced a stage. The Emperor of the West
ROMAN
EMPIRE UNDER VALENTLIAN
364~75
Valentinian I, elected by the military to ab-
solute
government, elevated his brother Valens to
co-ruler
in the East. Under their joint rule, the
borders
of the Empire were extended to the
Rhine
frontier and Hadrian’s Wall in Britain.
(NOTE
PICTURE NOT SCANNED)
Page
15
established
his temporary residence at Milan; and the Emperor of the Last returned to
Constantinople, to assume the dominion of fifty provinces.
Both
these men were cruel, and not equally and similarly zealous for the traditions of
the Apostasy. Valens was an Allan, and therefore a persecutor of the
Athanasians. These hostile factions were more equally balanced in the East than
in the Latin West, where the Allan party was but small. The Allan and
Athanasian monks and bishops supported their arguments by invectives, and these
were sometimes followed by blows. Athanasius reigned archbishop in Alexandria
over the most ignorant and ferocious catholics of the empire. Constantinople
and Antioch were occupied by his enemies, the Arians; and every episcopal
vacancy was the occasion of a popular tumult, greatly to the disgust and
contempt of philosophers and pagans. So great was the lust of power, that the
leaders of both factions believed that, if they were not suffered to reign,
they were most cruelly injured and oppressed.
The
western emperor Valentinian reigned over the countries in which the Sealing
Angel was occupied in the work of sealing the servants of the Deity in the
forehead. Though a man whose savage disposition was hardened against pity and
remorse, he uniformly maintained a firm and temperate impartiality in an age of
singular discord and contention among ecclesiastics. He declined with
respectful indifference the subtle questions of their debates; and, while he
remembered that he was a disciple of the church, he never forgot that he was
lord and master of the clergy. The pagans, the Jews, and all the various sects
which acknowledged the divine authority of Christ, were protected by the laws
from arbitrary power, or popular insult; nor did he prohibit any mode of
worship, except those secret and criminal practices which abused the name of
religion for the dark purposes of vice and disorder.
He
published an edict A.D. 370, addressed to Damasus, Bishop of Rome, restraining
the avarice of the clergy. The things he forbid them to practice show in what
they were especially guilty. He admonished the ecclesiastics and monks not to
frequent the houses of widows and virgins; and menaced their disobedience with
the animadversion of the civil authority. These were of that sort Paul
predicted would “creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with
sins, led away by divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:6). These reprobates installed themselves with
these ‘silly women” as their spiritual directors. But Valentinian rightly
discerned the corruptness of their purposes. He therefore forbid their visiting
the houses, or receiving any gift, legacy, or inheritance, from the liberality
of their spiritual daughters. He had to step in as the civil
Page
16
guardian
of domestic happiness and virtue, against the assaults of clerical wolves in
sheep’s clothing, calling themselves christian pastors of Christ’s flock!! By
their professed contempt of the world, they insensibly acquired the most
desirable advantages; the lively attachment, perhaps, of a young and beautiful
woman, the delicate plenty of an opulent household, and the respectful homage
of the slaves, the freedmen and clients of senatorial families. Under this
spiritual direction, the immense fortunes of Roman ladies were gradually
consumed in lavish arms and expensive pilgrimages; and the artful ecclesiastic,
who had assigned himself the first, or possibly the sole, place in the testament
of his spiritual daughter, still presumed to declare, with the smooth face of
hypocrisy, that he was only the instrument of charity and the steward of the
poor. The lucrative, but disgraceful trade which was exercised by the clergy to
defraud the expectations of the natural heirs, had provoked the indignation of
a superstitious age; and two of the most respectable of Latin spiritual
directors, Jerome and Ambrose, honestly confess that the ignominious edict of
Valentinian was just and necessary.
What
Gibbon styles “the splendid vices of the church of the Rome,” in the reign of
Valentinian, and under the spiritual direction of Damasus, its bishop, have
been impartially stated by Ammianus, who says,
The praefecture of Juventius was accompanied with peace and plenty; but
the tranquillity of his government was soon disturbed by a bloody sedition of
the distracted people. The ardor of Damasus and Ursinus to seize the episcopal
seat surpassed the ordinary measure of human ambition. They contended with the
rage of party; the quarrel was maintained by the wounds and death of their
followers; and the praefect, unable to resist or appease the tumult, was
constrained, by superior violence, to retire into the suburbs. Damasus
prevailed; the well-disputed victory remained on the side of his faction; one
hundred and thirty-seven dead bodies were found in the Basilica of Sicininus,
where the christians (!) hold their religious assemblies; and it was long
before the angry minds of the people resumed their accustomed tranquillity.
When I consider the splendor of the capital, I am not astonished that so
valuable a prize should inflame the desires of ambitious men, and produce the
fiercest and most obstinate contest. The successful candidate is secure that he
will be enriched by the offerings of matrons; that as soon as his dress is
composed with becoming care and elegance, he may proceed, in his chariot,
through the streets of Rome; and that the sumptuousness of the imperial table
will not equal the profuse and delicate entertainments provided by the taste
and at the expense of the Roman Pontiffs. How much more rationally (continues
the honest pagan, more christian in spirit than “the christians”) would these
pon-
Page
17
tiffs
consult their true happiness, if instead of alleging the greatness of the city
as an excuse for their manners, they would imitate the exemplary life of some
provincial bishops, whose temperance and sobriety, whose mean apparel and
downcast looks, recommended their pure and modest virtue to the Deity and his
true worshippers.” When the tranquillity of the city was restored by the wisdom
of the prefect Praetextatus , this polite and philosophic pagan, disguising a
reproach in the form of a jest, remarked to the
“right reverend bishop” Damasus, that if he could obtain the bishopric
of Rome, he himself would immediately embrace the christian religion. This
lively picture of the wealth and luxury of the bishops of Rome in the fourth
century becomes the more curious as it represents the intermediate degree between
the humble poverty of the Apostles, and the royal state of an Imperial Pontiff,
whose temporal dominions once extended from the confines of Naples to the Po.
On
the death of Valentinian, A.D. 375, Gratian, his son, a youth of seventeen, and
his brother, Valentinian II, then only four years old became emperors of the
West, so that the government of the Roman world was now exercised in the united
names of Valens and his two nephews. On the fall of Valens in the battle of
Hadrianople, A.D. 378, Gratian appointed Theodosius his successor over the
East. Gratian was a feeble and indolent character, piously credulous, and a
mere tool in he hands of ecclesiastical hypocrites, who procured from him an
edict to punish, as a capital offense, the violation, neglect, or even the
ignorance, of what they were pleased to call the divine law. This would give
them power to persecute and destroy “the servants of the Deity,” then
being impressed with his seal. The
murder of Gratian did not improve the situation; for Theodosius, a name dear to
the Apostasy, was pious and cruel, with strength and activity of mind.
Among
the benefactors of the catholic church, the fame of Constantine has been
rivaled by the glory of Theodosius, who assumed the merit of subduing Arianism,
and abolishing the worship of idols in the Roman world. Theodosius was the
first of the emperors immersed in what the apostasy terms “the true faith of
the Trinity.” As he ascended from the water, still glowing with the warm
feelings of regeneration,” he dictated a solemn edict which proclaimed his own
opinions and prescribed the religion of his subjects. “It is our pleasure,”
said this sacramentally regenerated prince, “that all the nations, which are
governed by our clemency and moderation, should steadfastly adhere to the
religion which was taught by St. Peter to the Romans, which faithful tradition
hath preserved, and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus (!) and by
Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the
discipline of the Apostles and the doctrine of
Page 18
the
gospel, let us believe the sole Deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, under an equal majesty, and a pious Trinity. We authorize the followers
of this doctrine to assume the title of ‘CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS’; and as we judge
that all others are extravagant madmen, we brand them with the infamous name of
HERETICS, and declare that their conventicles shall no longer usurp the
respectable appellations of churches. Besides the condemnation of divine justice,
they must expect to suffer the severe penalties which our authority guided by
heavenly wisdom, shall think proper to inflict upon them.,,
This
edict of Theodosius caused great joy to the catholics. He convened, A.D. 381, a
council at Constantinople, of one hundred and fifty bishops, to complete the
theological system which had been established in the council of Nice. They
decreed the equal Deity of the Holy Ghost, which, upon their authority, has
been received by all the deluded nations and all the churches of the Apostasy.
But, whatever the merits of the question, the sober evidence of history will
not allow much weight to the personal authority of these Theodosian fathers. In
an age when the spirituals of the Apostasy were a scandalous degeneration from
apostolic purity, the most worthless and corrupt were always the most eager to
frequent, and disturb the episcopal assemblies. The conflict and fermentation
of so many opposite interests and tempers inflamed the passions of the bishops;
and their ruling passions were the love of gold and the love of dispute. Many
of the same churchmen who now applauded the orthodox piety of Theodosius, had
repeatedly changed, with prudent flexibility, their creeds and opinions; and in
the various revolutions of the church and the state, the religion of their
sovereign was the rule of their obsequious faith. The unjust and disorderly
proceedings of these sycophants forced the gravest members of the council to
dissent and secede; and the clamorous majority, which remained masters of the
field, could be compared only to wasps or magpies, to a flight or cranes, or to
a flock of geese.
The
decrees of the council of Constantinople had set up the standard of catholic
opinion; and the spirituals who governed the beclouded conscience of Theodosius
suggested the most effectual methods of persecution. In the space of fifteen
years, he promulgated at least fifteen severe edicts against the heretics; and,
to deprive them of every hope of escape, he sternly enacted that if any laws or
rescripts should be alleged in their favour, the judges should consider them as
illegal productions either of fraud or forgery. The penal statutes were
directed against the ministers, the assemblies, and the persons of “the heretics”; and the passions of the
legislator were expressed in the language of declamation and invective.
Page
19
Thus
the theory of persecution was established by this regenerated trinitarian
emperor, whose justice and piety have been applauded by the church”; but the
practice of it, in the fullest extent, was reserved for his rival and
colleague, Maximus, then reigning beyond the Alps, the first, among catholic
princes, who shed the blood of his subjects on account of their religious
opinions. These were Priscillian and six of his brethren, who were tortured,
condemned, and executed at Treves. Their tenets being reported by their
enemies, it is not possible to speak with certainty respecting them. Their
rejection by the clergy and their adherents is a presumption in favor of their
being sufferers for the truth. Their death was the subject of a long and
vehement controversy, in which, though Martin, Bishop of Tours, and Ambrose,
Bishop of Milan, proclaimed the eternal damnation of heretics, they both were’
surprised and shocked by the bloody image of their temporal death. Since the
murder of Priscillian by the catholics, they have become scarlet with the blood
of the saints, and drunk with the blood of the witnesses for Jesus (Apoc.
17:6); and their proceedings have been refined and methodized in the “Holy
Office,” which assigns their distinct parts to the ecclesiastical and secular
powers. The victim to be murdered is regularly delivered by the sanguinary
priest to the magistrate, and by the magistrate to the pious executioner, and
the inexorable sentence of their Mother Jezebel, which dclares her charge
against the victim, is hypocritically expressed in the language of pity and
intercession. Who need wonder at seven angels being commissioned to inflict
vengeance upon such a communion of blood? How can wrath cease against men, so
long as the earth is cursed with the presence of catholicism, and its kindred
abominations? The divine indignation can only be appeased by their extirpation
total and complete.
After
the death of Valentinian II, and the overthrow of Maximus, the Roman world was
in the undivided possession of Theodosius; and thus it continued till his
death, A.D. 395, when the separation of the East and the West became final
under his sons Arcadius and Honorius.
About
sixty years after Constantine’s conversion to catholicism, the ancient form of
heathenism was completely superseded by catholic polytheism; and the temples of
the gods were replaced by the Bazaars of Guardian Saints and Angels (Dan.
11:38-39), in which Theodosius, and his sacramentally regenerated
coreligionists, convened under the spiritual direction of reprobate bishops and
presbyters, for the degrading adoration of dead men’s bones, and other relics
they were taught to venerate as sacred. A pagan, treating of this change in the
form of Rome’s polytheism, says: “The monks” (a race of filthy animals, to whom
he is tempted to refuse the name of men) are the authors of the new worship,
which, in the place of those deities who are conceived by the understanding,
has substituted the meanest and most contemptible Slaves, The heads, salted and
pickled, of those infamous male-factors who, for the multitude of their crimes.
have suffered a just and igno-
Page 20
minious
death; their bodies, still marked by the impression of the lash, and the scars
of those tortures which were inflicted by the sentence of the magistrates; such
are the gods which the earth produces in our days; such are the martyrs, the
supreme arbitrators of our prayers and petitions to the Deity, whose tombs are
now consecrated as the objects of the veneration of the people.” This writer
was the spectator of a revolution which raised a multitude of fabulous saints
and victims to the rank of mahuzzim, of celestial and invincible protectors of
the Roman empire! He might well be indignant at the worse than pagan
abomination. Fifty years after the building of Constantinople, the pretended
remains of Samuel, the prophet of Israel, were transported to that city. His
ashes, deposited in a golden vase, and covered with a silken veil, were
delivered by the episcopal mounte-banks into each other’s hands. These fabulous
relics were received by the infatuated catholic multitude with infinitely more
demonstrations of joy and reverence than they would have shown to the real
prophet; the high-ways, from Palestine to the gates of Constantinople, were
filled with an uninterrupted procession; and the emperor Arcadius, at the head
of the most illustriously betitled members of the clergy and senate, advanced
to meet this extraordinary and fictitious guest! The example of Rome and
Constantinople confirmed the superstition, blasphemy and discipline of the
catholic world. The honors of fictitious saints and martyrs, after an ineffectual
protest of the sealed servants of the Deity,(*) were universally established;
and in the age of those conspicuous theological empirics, Ambrose, Jerome, and
Augustine, something was still deemed wanting to the sanctity of a catholic
bazaar, till it had been consecrated by some portion of “holy relics,” which
fixed and inflamed the devotion of the deluded multitude.
The
Catholic Apostasy by the end of the preparation period for angelic sounding had
become a system of organized and established idolatry -of the worship of gods
produced from the earth by the clerical officials of Satan’s kingdom.
Perceiving how profitable were the so-called relics of saints, more valuable to
church-knaves than gold and precious stones, the clergy were as stimulated to
multiply these treasures of the church.” Without regard for truth or
probability they invented names for skeletons, and actions for names. The fame
of the apostles and prophets, and their holy brethren, was darkened by
superstitious fraud and falsehood. To the invincible band of real saints, whose
blood from
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*) In a note, Gibbon says: “The presbyter
Vigilantius, the protestant of his age, firmly, though ineffectually, withstood
the superstition of the monks, relies, Saints, fasts, etc., for which Jerome
compares him to the Hydra, Centaurs, Cerherus, etc., and considers him only as
the organ of the daemon.” Whoever will peruse the controversy of Jerome and
Vigilantius, and Augustine’s account of the miracles of Stephen, may speedily
gain some idea of the spirit of the fathers of the Apostasy.
Page 21
beneath
the Altar cried for vengeance against their pagan murderers, the Theodosian
craftsmen added myriads of imaginary heroes, who had never existed except in
the fancy of “daemons speaking lies in hypocrisy; and having their conscience
seared as with a hot iron,” of whom Ambrose, bishop of Milan, his pupil “St.
Augustine,” and “St Jerome,” were notable examples: “and there is reason to
suspect,” says Gibbon, “that Tours might not be the only diocese in which the
bones of a malefactor were adored instead of those of a saint. A superstitious
practice, which tended to increase the temptations of fraud and credulity,
insensibly extinguished the light of history and of reason in,” what he
incorrectly terms, “the christian world.”
But
the progress of catholic idolatry would have been much less rapid and
victorious, if the superstition of the people had not been assisted by the
seasonable aid of what Paul styles, “signs and wonders of falsehood;” that is,
of pretended visions and spurious miracles, to ascertain the authenticity and
virtue of the most suspicious relics. When Ambrose refused to obey the sentence
of banishment decreed against him by the Arian government of Valentinian II.,
and while he and his party were blockaded in the cathedral of Milan, he falsely
declared that he was instructed by a dream, to open the earth in a place where
the relics or remains of two martyrs, Gervasius and Protasius, had been
deposited above three hundred years. Immediately under the church-pavement two
perfect skeletons were found, with the heads separated from their bodies, and a
plentiful effusion of blood. These “holy relics” were presented, in solemn
pomp, to the veneration of his credulous flock. The knavish designs of Ambrose
were admirably promoted by this pretended discovery. Their bones, blood, and
garments, were supposed to contain a healing power; and their praeternatural
influence was said to be communicated to the most distant objects, without
losing any part of its original virtue. The alleged extraordinary cure of a
blind man by touching the garment, and the reluctant confessions of several
daemoniacs, were adduced to justify the Athanasian opinions and sanctity of
this rebel churchman! The truth of these miracles is attested by Saint Ambrose
himself, and by his proselyte, the celebrated Saint Augustin, who, at that time
professed the art of rhetoric in Milan. The Arian court very properly rejected
the testimony of such interested parties; and derided the theatrically
represented cures, exhibited by the contrivance and at the expense of the
archbishop. The effect, however, upon the irrational and strongly deluded
multitude was rapid and irresistible; and the feeble sovereign of Italy found
himself unable to contend with such a favorite of heaven!
The
same “grave and learned Augustin,” afterwards bishop of
Page 22
Hippo
in the Roman Africa, attests the innumerable prodigies performed there by the
relics of Stephen, stoned in the presence of Saul of Tarsus. These were brought
to light by a dream, thrice repeated to one Lucian, a presbyter, residing twenty
miles from Jerusalem. When they were unearthed, the ground trembled, and an
odor, such as that of paradise, was smelt, which instantly cured the various
diseases of seventy-three of the grave-openers. The relics were transported, in
solemn procession, to a house of the dead, called “a church’ by the ignorant
multitude, constructed in their honor on Mount Zion; and the minute particles
of those relics, a drop of blood, or the scrapings of a bone, were
acknowledged, in almost every province of the catholic world, to possess a
divine and miraculous virtue. This “wonder of falsehood” is inserted in his
elaborate work, “The City of God,” which Augustin designed as a solid and
immortal proof of the truth of what he called christianity. He solemnly
enumerates above seventy miracles, performed by Stephen’s relics, of which
three were resurrections from the dead, in the space of two years, and within
the limits of his own diocese! If we enlarge our views to all the dioceses, and
all the saints, of the christian’ world”, says Gibbon, truly, “it will not be
easy to calculate the fables, and the errors, which issued from this
inexhaustible source. But we may surely be allowed to observe, that a miracle
in that age of credulity and superstition, lost its name and its merit, since
it could scarcely be considered as a deviation from the ordinary, and
established, laws of nature.”
The
innumerable “wonders of falsehood,” of which the tombs were the perpetual
theatre, impressed the infatuated crowd with a notion of the state and
constitution of the invisible world, which became the basis of the system of
idol-worship, which darkens the kingdom of the clergy to this day. Whatever
might be the condition of the common herd between death and resurrection of
body, it was fancifully supposed that the disembodied ghosts of so-called
saints and martyrs did not consume that interval in silent and inglorious
sleep. It was imagined (without presuming to determine the place of their
habitation, or the nature of their felicity) that they employed the lively and
active consciousness of their happiness, their virtue, and their powers; and
that they had already secured the possession of their eternal reward. The
supposed enlargement of their intellectual faculties surpassed the measure of
human conception; since they imagined that they had proved by experience, that
they were capable of hearing and understanding the various petitions of their
numerous votaries, who, in the same moment of time, but in the most distant
parts of the world, invoked the name and assistance of Stephen or of Martin.
The confidence of their petitioners was found-
Page 23
ed
on the heathen dogma of inherent immortality; and the supposition, that the
disembodied immortal souls of saints go to Christ at death, and as unclothed
and naked ghosts are reigning with him, and in this their glory cast an eye of
pity upon earth; their worshippers are strongly deluded with the notion that
these naked souls are warmly interested in the prosperity of the church; and
that the individuals, who imitated the fabled example of their faith and piety,
were the peculiar and favorite objects of their most tender regard. Sometimes,
indeed, it was thought that their friendship might be influenced by
considerations of a less exalted kind; that they viewed, with partial
affection, the places which had been consecrated by their birth, their
residence, their death, their burial, or the possession of their relics. They
were regarded as not exempt from pride, avarice, and revenge; hence they were
supposed to approve with gratitude the liberality of their votaries; and to
hurl the keenest bolts of punishment against the impious wretches, who violated
their magnificent shrines, or disbelieved their supernatural power. Severus,
bishop of Minorca, says that the relics of St. Stephen in eight days, converted
in that island five hundred and forty Jews; but, it must not be forgotten, that
they were aided by some potent severities, such as burning the synagogue,
driving the obstinate infidels to starve among the rocks, and so forth. The
immediate, and almost instantaneous, effects, that were supposed to follow the
prayer, or the offense, satisfied the deluded fanatics of the ample measure of
favor and authority enjoyed by Immortal Ghosts in the presence of the Supreme;
and it seemed superfluous to inquire, whether they were continually obliged to
intercede before the throne of grace, or whether they might not be permitted to
exercise, according to the dictates of their benevolence and justice, the
delegated powers of a subordinate ministry. The imagination, which had been
raised by a powerful effort to the contemplation and worship of Eternal Spirit,
eagerly embraced such inferior objects of adoration as were more in keeping
with its gross conceptions and imperfect faculties. The simplicity which is in
Christ, or, as Gibbon styles it, ”the
sublime and simple theology of the primitive christians,” was not only
corrupted, but practically and doctrinally abolished; and the Monarchy of
Heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtleties, was dethroned by the
introduction of a popular mythology, which restored the reign of a multitude of
gods, which became the Mahuzzim, or ghost-protectors, of the “Religious World.”
Having
thus substituted for the old goels of Greece and Rome, the phantasmata of their
corrupt imaginations, which they decorated with the names of real and
fictitious saints and angels, they next proceeded to institute the rites and
ceremonies, or will-worship, with which they
Page
24
deemed
that their new deities ought to be satisfied. These were such as seemed most
powerfully to affect the senses of the vulgar herd. If, in the beginning of the
fifth century, Paul or Luke, had been raised from the dead, to witness the
festival of some popular saint, or martyr, they would have gazed with
astonishment and indignation on the profane spectacle, which had superseded the
pure and spiritual worship of a christadelphian ecclesia. As soon as the doors
of the Saint-Bazaar, or “church,” were thrown open, they would have been
annoyed by the smoke of incense, the perfume of flowers, and the glare of lamps
and tapers, which diffused at noonday a gaudy, superfluous, and in their
judgment sacrilegious light. If they approached the balustrade of the
Saint-altar, they would have made their way through a prostrate crowd,
consisting for the most part of strangers and pilgrims, who resorted to the
city on the vigil of the feast, and who already felt the “strong delusion,” or
intoxication, of fanaticism, and perhaps of wine. Their devout kisses were
imprinted on the walls and pavement of the Idol-Bazaar; and their fervent “vain
repetitions” were directed, whatever might be the expletives of their
conscience keepers, the priests, to the bones, the blood, or the dust, of the
tutelar of the bazaar, which were usually concealed by a linen or silken veil,
from the eyes of the vulgar. The fanatics frequented the tombs of their
ghost-deities, in the hope of obtaining, from their supposed powerful
intercession, every sort of spiritual, but more especially of temporal,
blessings. They implored the preservation of their health, or the care of their
infirmities; the fruit-fullness of their barren wives, or the safety and
happiness of their children. Whenever they undertook any distant or dangerous
journey, they requested that “the holy martyrs’ would be their guides and
protectors, or Mahuzzim, on the roads; and if they returned without having
experienced any misfortune, they again hastened to the ghost-bazaar tombs, to
celebrate, with grateful thanksgiving’s, their obligations to the memory and
relics of their invisible patrons. The walls were hung round with symbols of
the favors they supposed they had received; eyes, and hands, and feet, of gold
and silver; and memorial pictures, which also soon became objects of idolatry,
represented the image, the attributes, and the miracles of the tutelar
phantasma. All this new system of idolatry was the invention of that spirit of
superstition that reigned incarnate in the presbyters and bishops of the church
who imitated the polytheism and ritual they were impatient to destroy. They had
persuaded themselves, that the ignorant rustics would more cheerfully renounce
the superstition of paganism, if they found some resemblance, some
compensation, in the bosom of their catholicism. This religion of Constantine
achieved, in less than a hundred years, the final
Page 25
conquest
of the old idolatry in all the Roman empire; but the catholic victors
themselves were completely subdued by the heathen arts of their vanquished
rivals.
2.
Preparation-Judgments Upon Ghost-Worshippers
Could
it have been possible for “seducing spirits,” or demons, who had departed from
the faith, and speaking lies in hypocrisy, to have invented and set up such a
system of abomination in the fourth century, and in the name of christianity,
and the Deity not have poured out of His wrath upon the deceivers and the
deceived? The whole Roman Catholic world had gone wondering after the NEW
IDOLATRY, against which none opposed a scriptural testimony but the SEALING
ANGEL, or those engaged in the work of sealing the servants of their Deity with
His seal, in their foreheads. A presbyter or elder, among these took up his pen
to oppose it. His book was directed against the institution of monkery, the celibacy
of the clergy, praying for the dead, and to martyrs, celebrating their vigils,
and lighting up candles to them after the manner of the heathen. Jerome, who is
esteemed a saint and luminary of the catholic
church, and who was a zealous advocate of all these popular
superstitious rites. undertook the task of refuting him, whom he styled “a most
blasphemous heretic,” and “the organ of the Devil.” An individual denounced
after this fashion by a monk, or a clergyman, must have been one of the excellent
of the earth; for it is only such who are obnoxious to their reproach. The
following extract from Saint Jerome’s answer to his book, will satisfactorily
explain the heresy of Vigilantius, for that is his name, who has still the
honor of being enrolled in the list of those who are anathematized as heretics
by the Mother of Harlots, whose citadel is Rome. “That the honor paid to the
rotten bones of saints and martyrs,” says Jerome, “by adoring, kissing,
wrapping them up in silk and vessels of gold. lodging them in their churches,
and lighting up wax candles before them after the manner of the heathen were
the ensigns of idolatry -that the celibacy of the clergy was a heresy, and
their vows of chastity the seminary of lewdness - that to pray to the dead, was
superstitious, inasmuch as the souls of departed saints and martyrs were at
present in Some particular place(*) from which they could not remove themselves
at pleasure, so as to be everywhere present attending to the prayers of their
(*) Vigilantius taught that the souls of
prophets and martyrs were either in loco refrigeni, in a place of cooling, a
cold place, or else under the altar of Deity. But Jerome sternly. yet
ignorantly, tries to refute this “blasphemy.” “Dost thou give laws to Deity?”
says he to Vigilantius. “Thou bindest fetters upon the apostles, that they may
he held in custody till the day of judgment, and be not with their Lord; of
whom it is written, ‘They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes.’ If the Lamb
be everywhere, therefore, these also who are with the Lamb, are believed to be
everywhere Even as the devil and demons roam about the world”
Page 26
votaries that the sepulchres of the martyrs ought not
to be worshipped, nor their fasts and vigils to be observed - and finally, that
the signs and wonders said to be wrought by their relics, and at their
sepulchres, served to no good end or purpose of religion.”
These
were the sacrilegious tenets, as they are termed by the fanatical and
superstitious Jerome, which he could not hear with patience, or without the
utmost grief, And for which he declares Vigilantius a detestable heretic,
venting his foul-mouthed blasphemies against the relics of the martyrs, which
were working daily signs and wonders. He tells him to go into the churches of
those martyrs, and he would be cleansed from the evil spirit which possessed
him, and feel himself burnt, not with those wax candles which so much offend
him, but with invisible flames, which would force that demon that talked within
him to confess himself to be the same who had personated a Mercury, perhaps, or
a Baechus, or some other of the heathen deities.” Such is the style in which
this renowned father of the church rants and raves through several pages
against the sealed servants of the Deity, who, in the days of the sealing,
protested with Vigilantius against these delusions which had then become so
strong.
As
it may gratify the reader’s curiosity, the following specimen of Jerome’s
absurd manner of refuting their testimony, is presented: “If it were such a
sacrilege or impiety,” says he, “to pay these honors to the relics of saints,
as Vigilantius contends, then the Emperor Constantius must needs be a
sacrilegious person, who translated the holy relics of St. Andrew, Luke, and
Timothy to Constantinople; then Arcadius Augustus, also, must be held
sacrilegious, who translated the bones of the blessed Samuel from Judea, where
they had lain so many ages, into Thrace; then all the bishops were not only
sacrilegious, but stupid too, who submitted to carry a thing the most
contemptible, and nothing but mere dust, in silk and vessels of gold; and
lastly, the people of all the churches must needs be fools, who went out to
meet those holy relics, and received them with as much joy as if they had been
the prophet himself, living and present among them; for the procession was
attended with swarms of people from Palestine, even into Chalcedon, singing
with one voice the praises of Christ, who were yet adoring Samuel perhaps, and
not Christ, whose prophet and Levite Samuel was.
What
a development in this extract from Jerome, one of the greatest luminaries of
the Apostasy in that age, of the darkness and superstition that overspread the
Catholic World, and that in less than a hundred years after the Catholic
superstition was established by law! The sentiments of Jerome were a sample of
the opinions of Ambrose, Augustin, and the clergy at large; how deplorable then
must have been the
Page 27
state
of their flocks! Jerome’s defense of their stupid sacrilege against which the
144,000 lifted up their united voice, and which found a record in the writings
of Vigilantius, is childish and ridiculous. The thing cannot be gainsaid, that
to worship a bone, or a tooth, or the dust of a dead man, however excellent his
character may have been, is idolatrous impiety of the basest, and most
degrading kind. None would attempt to gainsay this but the clergy, who hold
Jerome and his fraternity in admiration. There can be no doubt, therefore, that
the emperors aforesaid were sacrilegious, the bishops both sacrilegious and
stupid, and the people fools; and because of the intense disgust with which the
Lamb contemplated their adulterous prostitution of his name to their gross and
lying vanities, He caused the Seven Angels to prepare to sound; and in the
preparation to execute upon them the calamities I shall now briefly recite.
As
soon as,” says Gibbon, “the death of Julian had relieved the barbarians from
the terror of his name, the most sanguine hopes of rapine and conquest excited
the nations of the east, of the north, and of the south. ”The chiefs of the
Allemanni being offended, crossed the Rhine, A.D. 365, and before Valentinian
could cross the Alps, the villages of the ghost-worshippers of Gaul were in
flames; and before his general could encounter them, they had secured the
captives and spoil in the forests of Germany. In the beginning of the ensuing
year, the military force of the whole nation, in deep and solid columns, broke
through the barrier of the Rhine, during the severity of a northern winter.
This irruption having been repelled, Mentz, the principal city of the Upper
Germany, was unexpectedly attacked A.D. 368, while the relic-worshippers were
celebrating one of their festivals. Rando, a bold and artful leader, suddenly
passed the Rhine, entered the defenseless town, and retired with a multitude of
captive idolators of either sex. Valentinian soon after followed them with a
powerful force, and giving them a signal overthrow, recrossed the Rhine, and
wintered at Treves. As his ambition was not to conquer Germany, he wisely
confined his attention to the important and laborious defense of the Gallic
frontier, against an enemy whose strength was renewed by a stream of daring
volunteers, which incessantly flowed from the most distant tribes of the north.
This influx from distant regions to the frontiers of the catholic world, was a
very important and essential element of the preparation for sounding.
About
the middle of the fourth century the Burgundians, a warlike and numerous people
of the Vandal race, occupied the countries on either side of the Elbe,
insensibly swelled into a powerful kingdom, and finally settled in the days of
the sounding on a flourishing province of the catholic empire.
Page
28
Three
small islands toward the mouth of the Elbe, comprehended in the duchy of
Sleswig-Holstein, were occupied by the Saxons. These were a gate, as it were,
through which poured forth upon the sea and maritime parts of the doomed
empire, inexhaustible swarms of barbarians, who descended from the gloomy
solitudes of their woods and mountains; and as a military confederation
gradually moulded into a national body, under the name and laws of the Saxons,
sallied forth upon the ocean in quest of plunder. In this preparatory enterprise
they acquired an accurate knowledge of the maritime provinces of the West,
after which they extended the scene of their depredations, so that the most
sequestered places had no reason to presume on their security.
In
the preparation for sounding, A.D. 371, under the reign of Valentinian, the
maritime provinces of Gaul were afflicted by the Saxons. They landed from their
frail coasters, and spread desolation among the relic-worshippers with fire and
sword. They were at length repelled, however, as the time of their permanent
settlement under the sounding of the angels had not yet arrived.
From
the reign of Constantine to A.D. 366, that is to say, during an interval of
thirty years, there had been peace between the Catholic Empire and the Goths.
During this period these barbarians under Hermanric, the king of the
Ostrogoths, extended their dominions from the Danube to the Baltic, including
the greater part of Germany and Scythia. The name of Hermanric is almost buried
in oblivion, his exploits are imperfectly known; and the Roman and Greek
worshippers of the dead themselves appeared unconscious of the progress of an
aspiring power, which threatened the liberty of the north, and the peace of
their dominion.
Civil
war between Procopius an usurper, and Valens, A.D. 366 became the occasion of
the Goths crossing the Danube to foment, as the allies of Procopius, the civil
discord of the catholics of the East. The suppression of the usurpation by
Valens, left him free to carry on the war against the Goths alone. “But,” says
Gibbon, “the events scarcely deserve the attention of posterity, except as the
preliminary steps,” or preparation,. “of the approaching decline and fall of
the empire.” The war, which had inflicted much evil on both sides, terminated
A.D. 369; after which the Goths remained tranquil about six years; till they
were violently impelled against the Catholic empire by an innumerable host of
Scythians, who appeared to issue from the frozen regions of the north.
This
period of preparation which opened the way, under the sounding of the four wind
trumpets to the inroads of so many hostile and savage tribes from the Danube to
the Atlantic, was also signalized by terrible and wholesale destruction of
catholic idolators by earthquakes,
Page 29
A.D.
365. On the twenty-first of July, the greatest part of their empire was shaken
by a violent and destructive convulsion of the earth. The shores of the
Mediterranean were left dry by the sudden retreat of the sea, and valleys and
mountains were laid bare, which had never since the Mosaic Era of the globe
been exposed to the sun. But the waters soon returned with the weight of an
immense and irresistible deluge, which was severely felt on the coasts of
Sicily, of Dalmatia, of Greece, and of Egypt; large boats were transported, and
lodged on the roofs of houses, or at the distance of two miles from the shore;
the ghost-worshippers, with their habitations, were swept away by the waters;
and the city of Mexandria, the origenlc birthplace, and alternate throne of Homoousian-ism
and Homoiousianism,(*) annually commemorated the fatal day, on which fifty
thousand Trinitarians and Arians lost their factious and blasphemous lives in
the inundation. This calamity astonished and terrified the subjects of Rome,
who rightly considered these alarming strokes as the prelude only of still more
dreadful calamities, which would ultimate in the submersion of the fabric of
their world.
From
the reign of Valens was a most disastrous period for the Laodicean Apostasy.
‘The fall of the Roman empire,” says Gibbon, may be justly dated from the reign
of Valens.” In this period of disaster, the happiness and security of each
individual were personally attacked; and the arts and labors of ages were
rudely defaced by the barbarians of Scythia and Germany. The invasion of the
Huns from the rear and remoter countries of the north, A.D. 376, precipitated
on the provinces of the west the Gothic nation, which advanced in less than
forty years, from the Danube to the Atlantic, and opened a way by the success
of their arms, to the inroads of so many hostile tribes more savage than
themselves. The original principle of motion was concealed in the remote
countries of the north, whence these destructive emigrations issued.
In
the year 375, Valens, then resident at Antioch, was informed by his officers
who were intrusted with the defense of the Danube, that the north was agitated
by a furious tempest, that the irruption of the Huns, an unknown and monstrous
race of savages, had subverted the power of the Goths; and that the suppliant
multitudes of that warlike nation, whose pride was now humbled in the dust,
covered a space of many miles along the banks of the river. They earnestly
sought permission to cross the Danube, and to settle on the waste lands of Thrace,
promising
(*)
The Homoiousians were a sect in addition to those noted on p 13. which
maintained that the essence of the Son is similar to, but not the same as that
of the Father. How beautiful and clear is
the teaching of the Truth in comparison with the confusion that reigns in the
doctrines of such schismatics---publishers
page
30
perpetual
obedience to the laws, and to defend the limits of the empire. The prayers of
the Goths were most imprudently granted, on condition of delivering up their
arms, and their children to be dispersed through the provinces of Asia, as
hostages to secure the fidelity of their parents. Upon these ignominious
conditions the whole body of the Gothic nation was transported across the
Danube, by the most strenuous diligence of the infatuated officials, who were
careful that not a single barbarian of those who were reserved to subvert the
foundations of Rome, should be left upon the opposite shore. The stipulation,
however, most offensive to the Goths, and the most important to the Romans, was
shamefully eluded by bribery and corruption. The catholic officials allowed
them to retain their arms in exchange for the prostitution of their wives and
daughters, and contributions of cattle and slaves. When the transportation was
finished, and their strength collected on the southern side of the Danube, an
immense camp of two hundred thousand Visigothic warriors in arms, was spread
over the plains and hills of the Lower Maesia, and assumed a threatening and
even a hostile aspect.
The
leaders of the Ostrogoths, Alatheus and Saphrax, pressed also by the Huns in
their rear, sought the like favor that had been granted to the Visigoths. But
this was absolutely refused by Valens, whose suspicions and fears were now
thoroughly aroused. His generals, however, whose attention was solely directed
to the Visigoths whose discontent and hostility they had excited by their
tyranny and avarice, had imprudently disarmed the ships and fortifications
which constituted the defense of the Danube. The fatal oversight was observed,
and improved by Alatheus and Saphrax, who anxiously watched the favorable
moment of escaping from the pursuit of the Huns. By the help of such rafts and
vessels as could be hastily procured, the leaders of the Ostrogoths
transported, without opposition, their king and their army; and boldly fixed a
hostile and independent camp on the territories of the empire.
A
secret union having been formed between these Gothic powers, they were prepared
for a desperate conflict with the catholics who had treated them with great
inhumanity and treachery. The flames of discord and mutual hatred soon burst
forth into a dreadful conflagration. At Marcianopolis, the capital of the Lower
Maesia, about seventy miles from the banks of the Danube, they sought to
purchase supplies in the plentiful markets of the city. They were refused,
however, with insolence and derision; and as their patience was now exhausted,
passionate altercations and angry reproaches ensued. A blow was imprudently
given; a sword was hastily drawn; and the first blood that was spilt in this
accidental quarrel, became the signal of a long and destructive war.
Page 31
Valens
removed from Antioch to Constantinople to be nearer the seat of war. He was
received as the author of the public calamity and provoked to desperate
rashness by the vain reproaches of an ignorant multitude, whose contempt he had
not firmness to resist; he hastened the downfall of the Roman empire, and the
termination of his own inglorious career, by the terrible defeat of
Hadrianople, A.D. 378, in which two thirds of the catholic army of 82,000 horse
and foot were destroyed. The pride of the Goths, who had been joined by their
former enemies the Huns, Alani, and other tribes, was elated by this memorable
victory. The scene of war and tumult was instantly converted into a silent
solitude, and abandoned for other fields. The Gothic inundation rolled from the
walls of Hadrianople to the suburbs of Constantinople. Laden with the spoils of
these, and the adjacent territory, they slowly moved from the Bosphorus to the
mountains which form the western boundary of Thrace; and securing the important
pass of Succi, the Goths who had no longer any resistance to apprehend from the
scattered and vanquished troops of the East, spread themselves over the face of
a fertile and cultivated country, as far as the confines of Italy, and the
Hadriatic sea.
Jerome,
a saint of the Apostasy, vehemently deplores the calamities inflicted by the
Goths and their allies in the provinces of the catholic empire the rapes, the
massacres, the conflagrations, and, above all, the profanation of the
“churches,” that were turned into stables, and the contemptuous treatment of
the pretended relics of fictitious saints, rubbish regarded by him as
worshipful and holy. The triumph of the Goths extended far beyond the limits of
a single day. One of their chiefs was heard to declare, with insolent
moderation, that, for his own part, he was fatigued with slaughter; but that he
was astonished how a people who fled before him like a flock of sheep could
still presume to dispute the possession of their treasures and provinces. The
formidable name of the Goths spread terror among the subjects and soldiers of
the catholic dominion, who, if they had been hastily collected, and led by
Theodosius, the successor of Valens, would have been vanquished by their own
fears. But this more fortunate emperor, through the superior vigor of his mind,
effected the deliverance and peace of the provinces by prudence rather than
valor, which was seconded by favorable circumstances, which he did not fail to
seize upon and improve. By the death of Fritigern, their heroic leader, and the
predecessor and master of the renowned ALARIC, the Gothic confederacy was
broken into many disorderly bands of ferocious robbers, who destroyed every
object which they wanted strength to remove or taste to enjoy, and they often
consumed with improvident rage, the harvests or the granaries which
Page 32
soon
after became necessary for their own subsistence. At length, a very
considerable part, who already felt the inconvenience of anarchy, acknowledged
Athanaric for their king, who, instead of leading them to battle, entered into
treaty with Theodosius, A.D. 382, which resulted in the final capitulation of
the Goths. By this treaty, a numerous colony of Visigoths was settled in
Thrace, and the remains of the Ostrogoths in Phrygia and Lydia, as the allies
of the Roman State. Prudence and necessity extorted the concessions and
privileges of this treaty from Theodosius, who, nevertheless, had the address
to persuade them that they were the voluntary expressions of his sincere
friendship for the Gothic nation. It was apparent, however, to every discerning
eye, that the Goths would long remain the enemies and might soon become the
conquerors of the catholic empire. It was generally believed that they had
signed the treaty of peace with a hostile and insidious spirit, and that their
chiefs had previously bound themselves by a solemn and secret oath, never to
keep faith with the Romans; to maintain the fairest show of loyalty and
friendship, and to watch the favorable moment of rapine, of conquest, and of
revenge. But the renewed outburst of the Gothic tempest was restrained by the
firmness and moderation of Theodosius; so that the public safety seemed to
depend on the life and abilities of a single man.
Such,
then, is the historical illustration of “this unhappy period,” as Gibbon styles
it, in which the Lamb was gathering his hosts and bringing them into position
on the four corners of the earth, that they might be prepared to subvert the
western empire of Rome when the sealing of the 144,000 should have sufficiently
advanced. His hosts were in position, the battle was arrayed, and nothing
remained but that the trumpet should sound “its harsh and mournful music” for
the dreadful combat to begin, that was to hurl fire and blood and bitterness
into the highways and fastness of catholic superstition and crime.
Sounding
Of The Trumpets
All
things being prepared - the iniquity of the catholic apostasy being matured,
the executioners of judgment upon it being ready, and the 144,000 to be taken
from it duly sealed - there was no longer any reason for holding back the
tempests that were appointed to blast “the earth,” “the sea,” and “the trees,”
of the section of the catholic dominion doomed to judicial overthrow. We
proceed, then, to consider them in the order of the release, which was
successive and not con-temporary; that is, the winds did not rush forth against
all “the foul corners of the earth” at the same instant, which would have been
tc make the winds blow against each other instead of against the earth and
Page 33
sea.
In ch. 7:1,2, we are not informed as to the order and effects of the blowing of
the winds. It is not said whether the blowing was consecutive or not. They were
to blow when released, and their blowing would be, in the general, injurious;
this is all that can be extracted from the testimony there. It was reserved for
the latter half of the eighth chapter to reveal the details omitted in the
seventh. These have been sufficiently supplied in the symbolism of the first
four trumpets, which are clearly identical with, and expository of, the four
winds. Indeed, the reference to the winds, inch. 7:1, is a prefatory
announcement to the first four trumpets, as the angel-proclamation of “Woe,” in
ch. 8:13, is prefatory to the last three of the seven. The first four are,
therefore, very properly styled “Wind-Trumpets,” and the last three, “Woes”
(ch. 11:14), or “Woe-Trumpets.”
But,
before proceeding to expound these “winds” and “woes” in detail, it may assist
the reader in the comprehension of so much of the Seventh Seal as is hitherto
interpreted in this work, to present him with the following:
CHRONOLOGICAL
SYNOPSIS
A.D.
324. Opening of the Seventh Seal, marked by the
victory of Constantine over Licinius at Chrysopolis.
Silence
in the heaven a half hour begins.
337. Silence, or peace, ends.
During
this half-hour period the Sealing of 144,000 proceeds
ch.
7, and the prayers of these saints ascend abundantly as incense of supplication
and thanksgiving - ch. 8:3,4.
The
silence ends with the ascension of the three sons of Constantine, who each reign
independently over a distinct division of the catholic empire.
At
their accession, “Fire is cast into the earth, and there were VOICES ‘- ver. 5.
The two brothers and seven of the nephews of Constantine, the praefect
Ablavius, and the patrician Optatus, massacred by order of the “pious”
Constantius.
350. Constans, emperor of the “third” then
comprising Italy, Africa, and the Western Illyricum, assassinated by order of a
usurper.
354. Gallus, the Caesar, a nephew of
Constantine, beheaded by Constantius.
“AND
THERE WERE THUNDERS”
Verse
5.
337. War between the Romans and Persians twenty
three years.
Page 34
356. War with the Allemanni and Franks.
357. War with the Quadi and Samaritans.
“AND
THERE WERE LIGHTNTNGS”
340. Civil war between the sons of Constantine
“the Great,” Constans and Constantine, in which the latter is slain.
350. Usurpation of Magnentius and Vetranio,
which produces a revolt throughout the praefectures of Italy and Gaul, with the
Illyrian countries from the Danube to the extremity of Greece. The civil war
continues three years.
355. Revolt and assassination ot Sylvanus.
“AND
THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE”
Verse
S
360. The Roman legions at Paris proclaim Julian,
the last of the House of Constantine, emperor. He declares war against Constantius.
361. Constantius dies, and Julian, the pagan, is
acknowledged. He reforms the court of the second “christian” “sovereign
pontiff” by turning out a thousand barbers, a thousand cuphearers, a thousand
cooks, and eunuchs numerous as clouds of insects on a summer’s day. He appoints
the Tribunal of Chalcedon for the sanguinary punishment of the sycophants of
the former reign. He deprives catholics of the power of tormenting heretics:
orders the pagan temples to be reopened; reestablishes paganism as the religion
of the empire; assumes the pago-sacerdotal functions of the Imperial
Pontificate; erases the name of Christ from the Labarum; undertakes the
rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, with a view to a falsification of the
prophecies; the enterprise is defeated by earthquake, whirlwind, and a fiery
eruption from the foundations.
He
orders christians to be called Galileans by way of contempt; abolishes clerical
honors and immunities; prohibits “christians” from teaching schools, or
practicing medicine, or the liberal arts.
He
degrades the clergy to the lowest class of the people; excludes catholics from
all offices of trust and profit, on the plea that it is unlawful for christians
to use the sword either of justice or war; condemns them to make full and ample
satisfaction for the pagan temples they had destroyed in the last reign.
The
result of this earthquake is recorded by the sophist, Libanus, in these words:
“Every part of the world displayed the
Page 35
triumph
of religion, and the grateful prospect of flaming altars, bleeding victims, the
smoke of incense, and a solemn train of priests and prophets, without fear and
without danger. The sound of prayer and music was heard on the tops of the
highest mountains: and the same ox afforded a sacrifice for the gods, and a
supper for their joyous votaries.”
363. Julian is wounded in battle, and dies.
Jovian, a catholic created emperor in his stead. He abolishes the edicts of
Julian, and reestablishes the Catholic Apostasy as the legal and privileged
religion of the state.
“The seven angels which have the seven
trumpets prepare themselves to sound”
ver. 6.
395. Preparation-period
ends with the death of Theodosius.
The Sealing and separating the 144,000 from
among the catholics, previous to judgment, finished.
ROME:
AN EPITOME
According
to Varro, the foundation of the city, was laid by Romulus on the 20th
April, in the year 3961 of the Julian period (3251 years after the creation of
the world, 753 years before the birth of Christ). The Romans conquered nearly
the whole of the then known world. In the time of Julius Caesar, the empire was
bounded by the Euphrates, Taurus, and Armenia on the east; by Africa and
Ethiopia on the south; by the Danube on the north; and by the Atlantic on the
west. It included much of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
On
the death of Constantius at York, in Britain, in 306, the troops under his son,
Constantine, saluted him as emperor. In 313 he had conquered the West and had
established his power in Rome. Licinius remained in the east to oppose him, but
was defeated in battle, and put to death by order of Constantine (his
brother-in-law) in 324. Constantine then reigned alone. He established
Constantinople as the capital of the Empire, and died on 22nd May,
337.
The
Empire was divided into Eastern and Western by Diocletian in 296; but was
reunited under Constans in 340. It was again divided into Eastern and Western
by Valentinian and Valens, the former having made the latter, his brother,
emperor of the West in 364.
The
Western Empire, with Rome as its capital, came to an end in 476 when Odoacer,
king of the Heruli took the city. He assumed the title of King of Italy, and
completed the fall of the Western Empire. The Eastern Empire came to an end
with the capture of Constantinople its capital by the Turks, and the death of
Constantine XIII on 29th May, 1453. Thence afterwards,
Constantinople formed part of the Ottoman Empire, and its name was changed to
Istanbul. It remains the only portion in Europe of the once powerful Turkish
Empire today under Turkish control.- Publishers,
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36
BLOWING OF THE FOUR
WINDS
After
the apostle saw the things represented in the sixth chapter; that is, after he
saw in vision the progressive accomplishment of the tak-mg out of the way of
that power, even of the pagan Greco-Latin or Roman power, which hindered the
revelation of the New Power in the estate of Daniel’s fourth beast - a power
both spiritual and temporal, or ecclesiastical and civil, unknown to the
Augustan Caesars who ruled anterior to Constantine; and germinated from that
“Mystery of Iniquity” which, as tares, was sown and springing forth in growing
vigor in the days of John and Paul; after he saw this power, whom the latter
styles “the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition,” and “the Lawless One,” exalted
to supreme authority and enthroned; in other words, after the entire exhaustion
of the judgments of the Sixth Seal, he saw “four angels” or powers, divinely
commissioned to destroy, “standing against (epi) the four corners of the earth”
- standing in arms, ready to operate against the four projections of that
“third part of the fourth beast earth” or territory, which was to be the arena
of the first four trumpets -namely, Gaul, Spain, Italy, and Africa. For a time,
even during the time of the sealing of the symbolic 144,000, John saw the
authorities, who had the control of these destroying tempests, “holding” or
restraining “the four winds of the earth, that THE WIND,” the one wind of divine
fury, blowing now against Italy, and then against Africa, and then in a third
and fourth direction, “should not blow against the earth, nor against the sea,
nor against any tree.”
That
the blowing of the wind was a destruction set in motion against the earth, sea,
and trees, is manifest from the proclamation made by the sealing angel
commanding the four destroying messenger-powers not to injure them until the
sealing work was accomplished. In other words, when the foundation was firmly
and thoroughly laid for the witnessing against the rising power of the Beast of
the Outer Court, whose Lion-Mouth would be opened in blasphemy, and, aided by
the ten new regal powers, would overcome the witnesses (Apoc. 11:3-7; 13:6,7);
so that there would be moral force enough to carry on the witnessing against
the Apostasy in its decemregal and papal organization during what might remain
of sackcloth-prophesying for a thousand two hundred and threescore symbolic
days - when the foundation of this witnessing institution was duly organized
and strengthened, then, and not till then, the destroying winds might begin to
blow to the injury of the fourth-beast earth, sea, and trees.
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37
THE
FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS
Though
the wind blow towards divers points, and is styled the east wind, the north
wind, and so-forth, it is still but one and the same wind, air, or spirit in
motion. So with “the four winds” of ch. 7:1, they were the one wind, which,
when blown against Italy, Spain, Gaul, and the Roman Africa, “the four corners
of the earth” to be tempest-tossed, sounded forth destroying blasts, and swept
with withering desolation all green and living things. These hurricanes of
destruction are figuratively styled “trumpets;” and as “the wind” was to sweep
over the four sections of the western Roman third of the fourth beast
territory, each blasting current became a distinct trumpet.
The
sounding of trumpets was a divinely appointed Mosaic institution. It was a holy
convocation, styled “a memorial of blowing of trumpets,” and was celebrated on
the first day of the seventh month - Lev. 23:24. It introduced one of the most
important months of the Hebrew calendar - the month on the tenth of which was
the Day of Covering of Sins; on the fifteenth, the Feast of Tabernacles; and on
every fiftieth tenth, the Jubilee, when sins, were not only covered, but every
man re-turned to his possession and family - Lev. 25:8-17.
The
trumpets used were of silver, two fabricated from a whole piece. They were
blown by the sons of Aaron “for the calling of the assembly, and for the
journeying of the camp.” If they blew with only one, then the princes, heads of
the thousands of Israel gathered themselves to Moses; but when they blew an
alarm with both trumpets, it was for war against the enemy that oppressed them;
and with the assurance that they should be remembered by Yahweh their Elohim,
and be saved from their enemies - Numbers 10:1-10.
When
an alarm was blown it portended great evil. This appears from Jer. 4:5, which
says: “Blow the trumpet in the land: cry, Gather together, and say, Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. Set up the standard toward
Zion: retire, stay not, for I will bring evil from the north, and a great
destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the
Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land
desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant.”
And
again, in Joel 2:1. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of Yahweh
cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of
clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great
people and strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more
after it... A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame bumeth: the
land is as the garden
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38
of
Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall
escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as
horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of
mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the
stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people
shall be much pained; all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like
mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war the earth shall quake before them; the
heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining: and Yahweh shall utter His voice before His army: for
His camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth His word: for the Day
of Yahweh is very terrible, and who can abide it?”
Such
is the illustration furnished by the Spirit of what he means by sounding
trumpets of alarm against the guilty. The sounding of a plurality of trumpets
was indicative of war. This is the indication of nearly all the trumpets of the
apocalypse; not of every trumpet, but of all the Seven trumpets certainly. If
they blew with only one, “then the princes, and heads of the thousands of
Israel gathered themselves to Moses.” None of the seven trumpets indicate a
gathering of the saints, or princes and chiefs of the thousands of Israel, to
the prophet like unto Moses. They only portend evil to the Apostasy - the
throwing down of the walls of Babylon, when the last blast of the seventh shall
have sounded against her from the breath of the kings and priests of Yahweh. But
before this portentous blast is sounded by them, a trumpet is blown of a
different import one that “gathers them
together as the elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the
other” - Matt. 24:31. This is the TRUMPET OF THE JUBILEE, which will bring all
the approved into the possession of the inheritance; and is symbolized, by none
of the seven, but by “an angel flying in mid-heaven having aion-glad tidings to
preach.” These moshkai kesheth, or sounders of the truth, of Isaiah 66:19, and messengers
of Matt. 24:31, go forth “with a trumpet and a great voice,” which declares the
glory of Yahweh among the nations. It has no sound of alarm in it, like the
sounding of the seven. When the saints, in their graves, and we who may remain,
hear this great voice, we shall all gather ourselves together to the Moses-like
prophet - to Jesus “both Lord and Christ.” This gathering accomplished, and the
affairs to be transacted in the presence of the Lord with regard to his
household disposed of - then, what remains to be executed in connection with
the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet will be proceeded with; and the
Lamb, with those “who follow him whithersoever he goeth,” will “execute the
judgment written” against Daniel and John’s beasts, till nothing remains of the
civil and ecclesiastical powers of the world.
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39
In
the prophets, this judicial execution by Jesus and His Brethren, the Elohim of
Israel, is styled “The NAME OF YAHWEH coming from far, burning with his anger
his lips full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: his breath as
an overflowing stream .... to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity” -
Isaiah 30:27. And Yahweh shall be seen over the sons of Zion, whom he shall
raise up against the sons of Greece; “and ADONAI YAHWEH shall blow the trumpet,
and shall go forth with whirlwinds of the south” - Zech. 9:14. This trumpet
thus divinely blown, is the winding up of the seventh apocalyptic trumpet. All
the preceding events of the seven are operative to the development of this
crisis in which is “filled up the wrath of Deity.”
The
sounding by Adonai Yahweh of this closing blast of the seven is the great
apocalyptic day of sacrifice - the slaying of the beasts, before the sins of
the nations are covered over, and they become “blessed with faithful Abraham,”
and “in Abraham and his seed.” He executes the Second and Third angel-missions,
reaps the harvest, and treads the winepress. All this pertains to “the war of
the great day of Almighty Power.” It prostrates Babylon, breaks in pieces the
powers of the nations, and establishes the power of the kingdom in all the
earth.
The
final purpose, then., of the seven trumpets is to abolish the Laodicean
Apostasy, which enthroned itself in the reign of Constantine the First, and of which
he was the new-born defender of its faith. This is the grand and glorious
consummation prepared for the Catholic and Protestant hierarchies of what the
world styles “Christendom.” They will then have answered their purpose in the
providence of heaven of a spiritual police in aid of the civil government of
the nations. There will be no more any use for them; because the nations being
enlightened and blessed, will no longer require deceivers and impostors to rule
them by terror and imposition. “All nations shall come and worship before thee,
0 Lord; for thy judgments are made manifest” - Apoc. 15:4. Clerical hierarchies
then will be no more; and the truth will cease to be evil spoken of because of
their impiety and folly.
But
these deceivers of “the whole earth that goes wondering after the beast” (ch.
13:3), were not to be permitted the enjoyment of times of bliss during the
centuries of their inhabitation of the high and fat places of the world. They
were image makers, relic and demon worshippers, murderers of the servants of
the Deity, bewitchers of the people with their sorceries, or theological
conceits, corrupters of silly women, and thieves. This is the apocalyptic
indictment against them - ch. 9:20,21; 11:7; 13:6,7,15; 16:6,7; 17:3,6;
18:20,23,24. Was it to be supposed that the Deity would permit these titled and
wealthy blasphemers of His name, and tabernacle; these idolatrous “spirituals
of wickedness in the
Page
40
heavenlies;”
to enjoy all the sweets of life and receive none of the plagues stored up as
His artillery for the day of evil? Such a winking at their iniquity was no part
of His wisdom revealed to John. The trumpets were so arranged in their sounding
as to give the clergy “wormwood” and “blood to drink;” and to be “tormented” to
the gnawing of their tongues for pain and sores-ch. 8:11; 16:6;9:4,5; 16:10,11.
This
judicial operation, however, was not to affect all parts and or-ders of the
clerical dominion at one and the same epoch. When the preparation for beginning
to sound the trumpet was complete in the Gothic occupation of the Illlyran
Third of their domain, the Catholic Empire was permanently divided into Two
LIMBS, as represented by the thighs and legs of Nebuchadnezzar’s Image; the
EASTERN CATHOLIC LIMB being Greek, with Constantinople for its imperial and
ecclesiastical centre; while the WESTERN CATHOLIC LIMB was Latin, with Rome for
its Mother City. This western section consisted of Gaul, Spain, Britain, Italy
and the Roman Africa. This was the first Constantine’s imperiality when he
divided the Fourth Beast dominion with his rivals Licinius, who possessed the
Illyrian Praefecture; and Maximin, who possessed that composed of the Asiatic
provinces and Egypt.
The
judgments of the trumpets were ordered with reference to this threefold
division of the Catholic World. The first four trumpets were to be blown
against the WESTERN THIRD, that its inhabitants of all orders and degrees
(except the sealed ones who were cherished) might be plagued until their power
was broken, and their sovereignty blotted out for a season
MAP
PAGE 40 NOT COPIED
Page
. 41
When
these judicial calamities had settled down into the generation of a new and
rising order of things, judgment was preparing for an ascent from “the Pit of
the Abyss” against the EASTERN THIRD of the catholic domain. It was the mission
of the fifth and sixth trumpets primarily to torment, and then to kill the
political life of the men, who wielded authority and power over the subjects of
this imperial praefecture; and secondarily, of the sixth, to inflict “wars”
upon the unrepentant spirituals of the Western Third, until the seventh should
begin to sound-ch. 11:14.
The
first four trumpets, then, made the Western Praefecture the seat of war - the
third part of the Roman Orb, consisting, as we have said, of Gaul, Spain,
Britain, Italy and the province of Africa, an area upon which, were caused to
bud forth by the judgments that befell, the TEN POWERS seen by Daniel and John
as “Ten Horns” upon the Eighth Read of the Fourth Beast.
It
may be remarked here, that we do not learn from Daniel that the Fourth Beast
had more heads than one. His was a vision of said beast in its constitutional
manifestation coevally with its being slain, and its body politic given to the
burning flame, at a time when judgment is also given to the saints for its
especial destruction. I speak not now of what he saw concerning the Little
Episcopal Horn Power; but of the head. All the horns were seen standing upon
the head of the beast. The history of the past is demonstrative that the Eleven
Horns did not stand on either of the first seven; though, when the uninstructed
in these mysteries under-take to give sketches of the beast, they scatter the
ten horns over all the seven heads. The Horns only began to bud forth in the times
of the Seventh Head, and therefore cannot be placed upon any of the previously
developed six. This seventh was to continue only “a short space.” The beast and
horns have continued many ages since the seventh head fell; unless therefore we
view the horns as standing upon the Eighth Head, we have before us a symbolical
monstrosity of a beast with ten horns and no head for them to stand upon. It is
to John’s writing we are indebted for knowledge about the heads. From him we
learn that the beast of Daniel has Eight Heads; and that it is with the eighth
that the ten horns are allied for “one hour” in a period of conflict with the
lamb and those that are with him - ch. 17:11-14.
The
trumpets were not only destructive of much that existed but formative
rudimentally of future political manifestations. The first four destroyed the
Latin Catholic Imperial state unity of the western third; abolished the
sovereignty of Rome; and formed the ten rudimental powers, which are destined
for world-wide operations in the last hour of their existence. In the first
four trumpets we have to do with things rudi-
Page
42 .
mental;
but in the seventh and last, with the great and marvelous manifestations of the
future, which could by no means have been developed without the preliminary
judgments we proceed now in their apocalyptic order to expound.
ACT
I - FIRST WIND-TRUMPET
The
hurting of the earth by hail and fire, mingled with blood, by which a third
part of the trees, and all green grass is burned up.
A.D.
395, and onwards.
“And
the first angel sounded, and there was hail and fire which had been mingled
with blood, and it was cast into the earth; and the third of the earth, and the
third of the trees was consumed, and every green blade was burned up.
Apoc.
8:7
1. The Symbols Explained
A
prophesy couched in such terms as these indicates nothing but judgment of the
severest kind. It is a tempest of the most scathing description imaginable - a
beating down with hail, scorching with lightning, and causing blood to flow.
The
prophets give us to understand that by such language as this is signified, “A
mighty and strong one casting down to the earth with the hand.” This
interpretation is indicated in Isaiah 28:2; as “Yahweh hath a mighty and strong
one, as a tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters
overflowing, he shall cast down to the earth with the hand,” or power of the
sword. This was a threatened war against the drunkards of Ephraim, which was
afterwards executed by the King of Assyria who cast down their sovereignty, and
carried them away into a captivity from which they have not yet returned. They
thought themselves secure, and made lies their refuge, and under falsehood hid
themselves. But in the seventeenth verse they are informed that “the hail
should sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters overflow the hiding
place.”
In
Ezek. 13, we find, that the self-constituted prophets of Israel promising peace
to Jerusalem, when Yahweh had determined there should be no peace for her, is
styled building up a wall, and daubing it with untempered mortar. Ezekiel was
commanded to announce to them, that it should fall by an overflowing shower;
and then addressing
Page
43
the
constituents of the shower, he says, “And ye, 0 great hailstones, shall fall;
and a stormy wind shall rend it.” This prediction was after-wards fulfilled by
the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, who as great hailstones, a mighty and
strong power, demonstrated the flimsiness and instability of their wall by
laying Jerusalem in ashes and destroying the liars out of her.
In
The Apocalypse, hailstones operate conspicuously in demolishing walls daubed
with untempered mortar, sweeping away the refuges of lies, and overflowing all
hiding places. Beside the place before us, they are brought into play in chs.
11:19 and 16:21. The hail in these two places signifies the same thing - a
mighty and strong power, which falls out of the heaven upon men to plague them
exceedingly. This power is the power of the heaven, the spirit, congealed (if I
may so speak) into spiritual bodies weighing one talent a piece. These are the
hailstones and coals of fire which result from the thunder voice of the Most
High. They are the electrical congelations of the Spirit which beat down the
Assyrian in his latter day overthrow; as it is written, “And Yahweh shall cause
his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm,
with the indignation of anger, and the flame of devouring fire, scattering and
tempest and hailstones; for through the voice of Yahweh shall the Assyrian be
beaten down who smite with a rod,” (Isaiah 30:30). The Assyrian to be beaten
down by these living, precious, and all powerful hailstones, is the Gog of
Ezekiel, the Fourth Beast of Daniel, and the eighth Head in alliance with the
Ten Horns of John. These are destroyed by the saints when judgment is given to
them; they are mighty and strong who fall upon them as a plague of hail and a
destroying storm upon the forest.
“The
third of the earth,” into which the mighty and strong power is cast for
judicial execution, was that third section of the Roman Orb occupied by “the
third of the trees.” A third implies two other thirds. The trees of these two
thirds were not to be affected by the scorching hail-commingled fire. It was to
be confined to one of the thirds, which, as we shall see in our historical
illustration, was the Western Third. This is “the earth,” or arena, of the
first trumpet.
“Trees”
are symbolical of the great men among a people. This is evident from Jotham’s
parable in Judges 9:8. “The trees went forth,” said he, “to anoint a king over
them, and they said unto the Olive Tree, Reign thou over us’.” But , when the
olive, and the fig, and the vine, severally declined to be promoted over the
trees, all the trees with one voice invited the bramble to wear the crown; to
which this prickly bush replied, “If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then
come and put your trust in my shadow; and, if not, let fire come out of the
bramble, and
Page 44
devour
the cedars of Lebanon.” All this is perfectly intelligible, and no sane mind
would think of trying to interpret it upon what is called the literal principle
of hermeneutics. The trees in Jotham’s parable symbolized all the men of
Shechem, and all the house of Millo, in whom the king~making and
king~sustaining power resided. It is unnecessary to adduce further proof of
this notable signification of “trees” in the symbolic language. An aggregation
of wild, uncultivated trees constitutes “a forest.” This is prophetically obnoxious
to the storm of hail, which descends upon it; while the people, or trees of
Yahweh’s planting (Isaiah 61:3) are dwelling securely, as Israel did in Goshen
when the rest of Egypt was desolated and scorched by literal hail mingled with
fire; as it is written, “My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and
in sure (or safe) dwellings, and in quiet resting places, when it shall hail,
coming down on the forest” (Isa. 32:18). This shows that when hail descends on
forest trees, there is no peace, safety, or tranquillity, to the wicked
represented thereby.
“Grass”
is figurative of the multitude. “All flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6). It may be
either withered or green and flourishing. Before the blast of this trumpet is
blown, the grass is “green”; but when the trumpet ceases to sound, it is burned
up, and consequently black. Before the hail and fire mingled with blood
descends, the catholic multitude, consisting of priests and people, are “green
grass.” They are so represented, because of their wickedness, and the iniquity
worked by them. The proof of this is found in Psalm 92:7, as, “When the wicked
spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is
that they shall be destroyed forever.” Grass that springs is green and looks
flourishing. This is sufficient to determine the meaning of the symbol. When it
becomes withered or black, it is “because the Spirit of Yahweh bloweth upon
it,” and the tempest licks it up as stubble (Isaiah 40:7,24).
Hence
then, the symbolism of this trumpet is representative of the Spirit of Yahweh
blowing upon the great men and people of the catholic apostasy of the West. He
did it by destroying agents already in a state of preparation. The hail and
fire mingled with blood were these agents, ready to fall upon the pious
hypocrites of the Latin West, when the time appointed should arrive.
2. Historical Exposition
The
following historical summary from Elliot’s Horae Apocalypticae being strictly
correct, I cannot do better than to lay it before my readers. “The first angel
sounds his trumpet: and lo the same tremendous tempest as before, black with
other clouds from the cold hail-generating countries beyond the Danube, and
charged with lightning
Page
45
and
hail, appears driving westward. “The third of the land,”(*) or continental
provinces of the Western division of the Roman empire, is declared the fatal
scene of ravage. The Asiatic continent and maritime province of Africa are to
remain unharmed by the storm: and the European provinces, too, of the Eastern Empire
mostly to escape. The skirts of the storm discharge themselves, as it passes
forward, on the Rhoetian hill-country. Then quickly its course is towards
Italy. As it sweeps across the Italian frontier, other terrific thunder-clouds
from the distant north-west quarter of the heaven succeed, and intermingle with
the first. Once and again, the almost united tempests spread in devastating
fury over Italy, beyond the Alps and Apennines. Then dividing, a part, impelled
yet further south, bursts with terrific lightnings directly over the
Seven-Hilled Imperial City, and passes thence to the southernmost coast of
Bruttium beyond. A part, driven backward, takes a westerly course over the
Rhine, into Gaul, and far and wide devastates it; then, crossing over the Pyrenaean
chain, pours its fury on the Spanish provinces: nor spends itself till it has
reached the far shores, west and south, of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Thus
has the entire continental division of the Western Empire been involved in its
ravages. Throughout the whole, the lightning fire runs along the ground, even
as in the plagues of ancient Egypt, burning in wide spreading conflagration
country and town, trees and pasture. And there are signs, too, not to be
mistaken, of the destruction of life, as well as of vegetation: for blood
appears mixed with the fire and hail. Slowly at length the storm subsides,
destroying, however, even in its subsidence. The desolation that it leaves is
frightful. The land was as the garden of Eden before it. It remains a wasted
wilderness.” Vol.1. p. 343.
ALARIC
and RHADAGAISUS were the leading spirits of what Claudian, a contemporary
writer, styles the “hail-storm.” With singular impolicy, Arcadius, the emperor
of the eastern third, which fell to him on the death of Theodosius, made Alaric
Master General of the Eastern Illyricum, and furnished him by so doing with
arms from the imperial armories. During four years he made preparation for the
invasion of the West. Installed by imperial authority in the centre of the
Illyrian Third, he was seated, as Gibbon expresses it, “on the verge, as it
were, of the two empires.” The separate halves of the catholic body politic
were before him, devoted of heaven to be ruthlessly scathed and torn in his
merciless career. As preliminary to this sanguinary enterprise, the chieftains
of his nation, according to ancient custom, raised him upon a shield, and
proclaimed him King of the Visigoths.
(*) Instead of to triton ton dendron, as in
Griesbach’s text, it reads doubtless more correctly as in Tregelles’, to triton
tes ges, kaj to tritofl ton dendron, as rendered in my translation.
Page 46
At
this epoch, the first trumpet sounded, A.D. 395-400. “Fame,” says Claudian, “encircling
with terror her gloomy wings, proclaimed the march of the barbarian army, and
filled Italy with consternation.” The public distress was aggravated by the
fears and reproaches of superstition. The pagans had no omens and sacrifices to
consult; but the infatuated catholics still derived some comfort from what they
regarded as the powerful intercession of saint and martyr ghosts. The emperor
Hon-onus was preeminent in fear. The approach of Alaric to Milan caused the
Emperor to flee, and take refuge at Asta, a small fortified town, in Piedmont,
in which he was hard pressed by the Goths. The timely arrival of the renowned
Stilicho effected his deliverance. The Goths retreated, and were afterwards
defeated at Pollentia. But Alaric soon repaired his losses, and boldly resolved
to break through the unguarded passes of the Apennine, to spread desolation
over the fruitful face of Tuscany, and to conquer or die before the gates of
Rome. Before, however, his threat was carried into effect, another “dark cloud
collected along the coast of the Baltic, and burst in thunder upon the banks of
the upper Danube.” Rhadagaisus, the king of the confederate Germans, passed
without resistance the Alps, the Po, and the Apennine, A.D.406. Many cities of
Italy were pillaged or destroyed. Alaric was a catholic and a leader of a
disciplined army; but, Rhadagaisus was a savage, and a stranger to the manners,
religion and language of the South. The senate and people of Rome, “the trees
and green grass” of the State, trembled while yet his presence was before
Florence, 180 miles from Rome, which he vowed to reduce to a heap of stones and
ashes, and to sacrifice the most illustrious Romans on the altars of those gods
who were appeased by human blood. But the fierceness of this portion of the
hail and fire mingled with blood, was destined to expend itself before
Florence. The strategy of Stilicho again saved the capital, and caused more
than a third of the vast and various multitude of Sueves, Vandals, and
Burgundians, who adhered to the standard of Rhadagaisus, to perish on the
fields of Tuscany. But one hundred thousand Germans still remained in arms
after the death of Rhadagaisus; and the invasion of Gaul, which Alaric had
designed, was executed by the remnant of the great army of the Baltic. “This
memorable passage (of the Rhine) of the Suevi, the Vandals, the Alani, and the
Burgundians, who never afterwards retreated, may be considered,” says Gibbon,
“as the fall of the Roman empire in the countries beyond the Alps; and the
barriers which had so long separated the savage and the civilized nations of
the earth were, from that fatal moment, leveled with the ground.”
The
subjects of Rome in Gaul, ‘”the trees” and “green grass” of the
Page
47
earth,
unconscious of their approaching calamities, enjoyed the state of quiet and
prosperity, which had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. The banks of the
Rhine were crowned, like those of the Tiber, with elegant houses, and
well-cultivated farms. This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly changed into
a desert, and the prospect of the smoking ruins could alone distinguish the
solitude of nature from the desolation of man. The flourishing city of Mentz
was surprised and destroyed; and many thousand catholics massacred in their
temples; and the consuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine
over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich and
extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, was
delivered to “the hail and fire mingled with blood” - the barbarians, who drove
before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the senator, and the virgin,
“the trees” and “green grass,” laden with the spoils of their houses and
altars;
The
inroads of the Barbarian nations
during
the period of the sounding of Note
Map pg 47 not shown
the
first trumpets. By 407 the Roman
garrison
in Britain had revolted and
set
up a soldier Emperor of its own
known
as Constantine (not to be con
fused
with Constantine the Great)
At
that time therefore, Britain had
independent
status.
See
Penguin Atlas of Medieval
History.
Page
48
so
that in less than two years, the divided troops of the savages of the Baltic
advanced, without a combat, to the foot of Pyrenees.
As
I am not writing a detailed history of the times, but selecting so much from
history already written as will illustrate what has been fulfilled of The
Apocalypse, it will be unnecessary for me to do more than to note, that the
calamities that befel “the third of the earth” were aggravated by the revolt of
the army in Britain, which renounced its allegiance to the Emperor of the West,
and set up a new emperor, named Constantine, whom they found in the lowest
ranks of the army. He established himself in Britain and Gaul, and received
also the submission of Spain, whose feeble resistance was ineffectual to
prevent the authority of the usurper being acknowledged from the walls of
Antoninus to the columns of Hercules. (*)
Adversity
had exercised and displayed the genius of Alaric; and the fame of his valor
invited to the Gothic standard the bravest of the barbarian warriors, who from
the Euxine to the Rhine were agitated by the desire of rapine and conquest.
After the death of Stilicho, he put his troops in motion, and A.D. 408, with
bold and rapid marches, passed the Alps and the Po; pillaged several cities;
proceeded on to Rimini, stretched his ravages along the sea coast of the
Hadriatic, and meditated the conquest of the ancient Mistress of the World. An
Italian hermit sought to turn him from his purpose; but was silenced by the
solemn asseveration of Alaric, that “he felt a secret and preternatural
impulse, which directed, and even compelled, his march to the gates of Rome.”
During
a period of six hundred and nineteen years “the Queen of the Earth” had never
been violated by the presence of a foreign enemy. The hour had now arrived for
this indignity. The city was blockaded by Alaric, whose vigilance inflicted
upon it at length the horrid calamities of famine. Enraged by hunger, the
desperate devoured the bodies of their victims; and even mothers tasted the
flesh of their slaughtered infants! Many thousands of the inhabitants expired
in their houses, or in the streets, for want of sustenance; and the stench
arising from so many putrid and unburied carcasses, infected the air. At length
Alaric was induced to retire by the payment of an enormous ransom, and to enter
upon negotiations for peace. But these failed through the imbecility and
infatuation of the administration. A second siege of Rome was formed; and a
third followed, A.D. 410, Aug.24. At midnight, the Salanan gate was silently
opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic
trumpet. Eleven hundred and sixty-
(*) This Constantine is not to be confused with
Constantine “the Great” or his son, Constantine II.
He
was a private soldier of the same name in the British garrison, whom the
legions of that country, with impetuous levity had seated on the throne. He
experienced a measure of success in battle, and extended his influence over
Gaul and Spain - Publishers.
Page
49
three
years after the foundation of Rome, the imperial city, which had subdued and
“civilized” so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious
fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia.
This
awful catastrophe of Rome filled the astonished empire with grief and terror.
The people deplored the afflictions of “the Queen of Cities;” while the clergy,
who applied justly to recent events the lofty metaphors of oriental prophecy,
were foolishly tempted to confound the destruction of the capital, and the
dissolution of the globe.
The
victorious Goths evacuated Rome on the sixth day, and marched into the southern
provinces of Italy, destroying whatever dared to oppose their passage, and
plundering the unresisting country. The “hail and fire mingled with blood”
continued to consume “the trees,” and to burn up “the green grass” for a still
longer period than that reached by the termination of the career of the King of
the Goths. While meditating further conquests beyond the limits of this
trumpet, Alaric was suddenly arrested by the power of death, which fixed, after
a short illness, the fatal term to his conquests. His sepulchre was built in
the bed of the Consentia, a river in Bruttium, and adorned with the spoils and
trophies of Rome. The secret of its location was concealed by restoring the
waters to their accustomed channel, and the massacre of the prisoners employed
in constructing it:- “The last Italian blood,” remarks Elliot, “that mingled
with the fire and hail,” under the judgments of the first trumpet.
ACT
II- SECOND WIND-TRUMPET
The
hurting of the Sea by a great mountain burning with fire being cast into it, by
which the third of the Sea became blood; the third of its living creatures
died; and the third of its ships was destroyed.
A.D. 429 and Onwards Apoc. 8:8,9
“And
the second angel sounded, and, as it were, a great mountain burning with fire
was cast into the sea; and the third of the sea became blood. 9. And the third
of the creatures in the sea, having souls, died; and the third of the ships was
destroyed.”
1.
Symbols Explained
We
are plainly informed in this text, that its terms are not to be understood
“literally”: that the great mountain in a state of intense com-
Page 50
bustion
was not a real mountain, but something analogous thereto. The information is
conveyed by the use of the particle hos, as it were. What John saw represented
was a destroying power of great force and magnitude, judicially affecting the
population of the maritime arena of the Western Third of the Catholic empire.
“The
very etymology of the word mountain,” says Daubuz, “helps out the signification
of the symbol. For ,a mountain(*), comes from (////)in Hiphil (????).This, and
the Chaldee(???), and the Arabic(???) signify to command, subdue, and govern.
So, in our military terms, hills and mountains are said to command the places
about them. Mountains burning with fire together with a strong wind, and seen
by a king in his dream, signify, according to all the interpreters among the
Persians and Egyptians, the destruction of his people by a warlike enemy.”
In
addressing the Babylonian power of Chaldea, the Spirit styles it “a destroying
mountain” - “Behold, I am against thee, 0 Destroying Mountain, saith Yahweh,
which destroyest all the earth” (Jer. 51:25). “A mountain burning with fire” is
a destroying power; and the direct opposite to “mountains that bring peace to
the people.” A mountain burning with fire would throw the sea, if cast therein,
into a bubbling and hissing agitation; it would be “a mountain of prey” but, if
the mountain were burnt, instead of burning, it would represent a great power
deprived of all ability to injure - a power destroyed instead of destroying.
Therefore, saith Yahweh to the power of Babylon which had destroyed all the
earth subjugated by it, “I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and roll thee
down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain;” a prediction that
was fulfilled when He executed “the vengeance of his temple” by Cyrus and his
uncle, “the kings of the Medes
“The
sea” of this trumpet is the politico-geographical arena of its judgments. The
mountain burning, or destroying, with fire was providentially “cast into the
sea.” “Sea, clear and serene, denotes an orderly collection of men in a quiet
and peaceable state. When troubled and tumultuous, a collection of men in
motion and war. Either way, waters signifying peoples (Apoc. 17:15), and the
sea being a collection of waters, the sea becomes the symbol of people,
gathered into one body
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
we
cannot follow the author in this statement. The Hebrew for “mountain” is Har or
Harar, not Dabyr as above. The Hebrew dabar signifies “to command”, and
symbolically mountains can command the bills or plains about them. The term
“mountain” has also been used in a political sense. For example, during the
French Revolution, the largest, and most revolutionary of the parties were the
Jacobins also styled The Montagrards or The Mountain because it sought to
dominate the other parties including the Girondins, another powerful party,
though not as commanding as the Jacobins. Between them the independent members,
and smaller groups were known as the Plain. This usage of Mountain and Plain in
a symbolic and political sense is what Bro. Thomas is referring to:
but
we cannot follow the citation from Daubiat which seems to be incorrect Publishers.
Page
51
politic,
kingdom, or jurisdiction, or united in one design.”
The
four great beasts of Daniel 7 were seen by the prophet to come up out of “the
sea” in consequence of the four winds striving upon the Great Sea. The many
headed beasts of the apocalypse are but symbolical parts of the fourth of these
in Daniel. As the whole came up out of the sea, so therefore must its parts;
and that sea, says the prophet, was “the Great Sea,” or Mediterranean. In this
trumpet-prophecy “the sea” has a twofold signification, the symbolic and
literal. The destroying power was to descend literally upon the maritime region
washed by the waters of the Mediterranean; and symbolically upon the peoples
inhabiting its coasts. The Romans used the term as inclusive of the islands and
maritime coasts of what they regarded as their sea, because situate in the
midst of their domain.
“The
third of the sea.” This, the sea-third, is the sea of the same “third of the
earth,” that was subject to the emperor of the catholic west. It included the
coasts of Spain, Gaul, Italy, and the Roman Africa; with the islands of Sicily,
Sardinia, Corsica, Majorca and Minorca. This sea-third “became blood.” Its
peoples were put to the sword because of the enormity of their blasphemy,
hypocrisy, and crime; for it is on account of these things that the judgments
of heaven are poured out with volcanic fury and destruction upon mankind.
MAP
PAGE 51 NOT SHOWN
.
Page
52
“The
creatures in the sea having souls* were the fish of the symbolic sea; and therefore
fish in a symbolic sense. “A sea being thus considered,” says Daubuz, “as a
kingdom or empire (in the text, the western empire), the living creatures in it
must be typical fishes, or men. But if a sea be considered only of the waters,
of which it is a collection, then the waters will signify the common people;
and the fishes, or the creatures in the sea, living, as having a power to act,
will denote their rulers. And in this sense are the fishes mentioned in Ezek.
29:4,5, explained of the princes of Pharaoh.”
“The
ships.” The introduction of ships into the prophecy indicates that the
judgments of the second trumpet have especial regard to the naval and
commercial interests of “the third.” Job’s days “passed away as swift ships.”
Here ships are used as a metaphor signifying swiftness. In this, his days were
analogous to ships. “They that go down to the sea in ships, do business in the
great waters.” To destroy these ships, then, would be to destroy the business,
whether naval and commercial: and to destroy those who worked them. In
predicting this destruction, there-fore, of the naval and commercial power of
the western third’s dominion, all that was necessary was to say, “the third of
the ships was destroyed.”
2. Historical Exposition
The
following is Mr. Elliott’s sketch of the phenomena of this vision. “A pause
ensues. Then presently there is heard another trumpet-blast of judgment. Now,
is the visitation of the Western Third of the Mediterranean sea, and the
islands and transmarine province included in it; a part hitherto unscathed and
safe. Behold yon giant mountain-rock, blazing with volcanic fires, that
upheaved from the southernmost point of Spain near the straits of Gades, and
cast into the sea, looks like Etna in its raging! Mark how the waters of the
midland sea are agitated by it! The lava pours down the mountain sides. The
igneous stones and ashes of the volcano are scattered for hundreds of miles all
round, on sea and mainland, coasts and islands; first on the coast of Africa,
then on that of the opposite continent, from the Atlantic Straits, all along up
to the head of the Adriatic. Ships appear set on fire by them, at sea and in
the harbors, and light the waters with their conflagrations. Blood marks the
loss of life accompanying; the same as in the former vision. Over the whole
maritime scene of its devastations whatever is habitable appears
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*)This
rendering differs from the Common version. exonta psuchas, is there incorrectly
turned into “had life,” as if psuchas were a singular noun. Supposing probably
that “the sea” was wholly literal, they did not like the idea of giving souls
to fish. Had they thought that “the creatures were men and women, souls would
doubtless have been ostentatiously paraded in the text.
Page 53
desolated;
whatever had life, destroyed.”
To
the Vandal power was providentially assigned the judicial execution of the second
trumpet upon the guilty catholic population of the west. Their work began A.D.
429, by their precipitating their destroying hosts, led by GENSERIC their king,
upon the rich and productive province of Africa. Gibbon styles him “the
terrible Genseric; a name, which, in the destruction of the Roman empire, has
deserved an equal rank with the names of Alaric and Attila.” His ambition was
without bounds and without scruples; and prompted him to any enterprise that
promised plunder and dominion. His power was a volcanic mountain vomiting forth
desolation and death upon what he styled “the guilty.”
The
discord of Aetius and Count Boniface, two generals of the Western empire, was
the fatal and immediate cause of the eruption of this Vandal volcano, which
resulted in the loss of Africa and the islands. Boniface, then in arms against
the administration, invited Genseric to an alliance. The Vandal king readily
accepted the invitation; and, by the assistance of the Spaniards, who,
anxiously desiring to get rid of them, furnished him with ships, he transported
his Vandals over the Straits of Gibraltar to the coast of Mauritania where he
mustered about 50,000 effective men.
BARBARIAN
INVASIONS (AD 200-AD430)
Map
not shown
Page
54
When
Genseric landed in Africa, he became the deliverer of the Donatists, who were
then suffering the most rigorous persecution by the catholic officials, lay and
clerical. Among the latter was their zealous enemy, the so-called “Saint”
Augustin, Bishop of Hippo, who died just before his city was taken, A.D. 430,
and, according to Mr. Elliott, was “joined to the white-robed company before
the throne!!” Genseric being an enemy to the catholic faction in power, showed
himself to the Donatists as a powerful deliverer, from whom they might reasonably
expect the repeal of the odious and oppressive edicts of the Roman emperors.
Genseric’s vengeance descended with terrible effect upon the “wolves in sheep’s
clothing,” who had been so long and cruelly oppressing all who were opposed to
the reigning catholic superstition. Under the reign of the Vandals, whose
success they favored, the Donatists of Africa enjoyed an obscure peace of one
hundred years, at the end of which they may again be traced “by the light of
the imperial persecutions.”
At
the time of invasion, Africa was so fruitful as to deserve the name of the
common granary of Rome and of mankind. On a sudden, the seven fruitful
provinces from Tangier to Tripoli were overwhelmed. The Vandals where they
found resistance seldom gave quarter, and the deaths of their comrades were
expiated by the ruin of the cities before which they had fallen. Boniface
having returned to his allegiance, obtained the command of a powerful armament
of ships and land forces, with which he boldly attacked the Vandals before
Hippo. But his defeat irretrievably decided the fate of Africa. Eight years
after the fall of Hippo, Carthage was reduced to ignominious servitude. After
permitting his troops to satiate their rage and avarice, he enjoined all
persons, without fraud or delay, to deliver their gold, silver, jewels, and
valuable furniture or apparel, to his officers; and the attempt to secrete any
part of their patrimony was inexorably punished with torture and death, as an
act of treason against the state. The nobility and senators of Carthage were
condemned to perpetual banishment; and crowds of exiles, of fugitives, and of
ingenuous captives, filled the provinces of the east and west.
With
the capture and sack of Carthage, all resistance to the “mountain burning with
fire” ceased in Africa. By the separation of this province, the internal
prosperity of Rome was irretrievably destroyed. The rapacious Vandals
confiscated the patrimonial estates of the emperors and cut off the regular
subsidies. The distress of the Romans was soon aggravated by an unexpected
attack, June 15, A.D. 455. There being nothing to tempt the rational ambition
of the Vandal king in the direction of the desert, “he cast his eyes,” says
Gibbon, “toward the sea. He
Page 55
resolved
to create a naval power, and his bold resolution was executed with steady and
active perseverance. He animated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode of
warfare which would render every maritime country accessible to their arms;” so
that, “after an interval of six centuries, the fleets that issued from the port
of Carthage again claimed the empire of the Mediterranean.” They vomited fire
upon Sicily, which “became blood” in its conquest and the sack of Palermo. The
Western empire being left without a defender and lawful prince, the avarice of
Genseric increased, and, with a numerous fleet of Vandals and Moors, he cast
the anchors of his burning power into the sea at the mouth of the Tiber. Having
disembarked, he boldly advanced to the gates of Rome. The bishop (for there was
then no Pope, no Pontiff King with temporal power, and “church-states” to be
ruled with a grievous yoke) this bishop
Leo, at the head of his clergy, issued in procession to supplicate with all due
orthodox humility, a restraining of the fierce and burning wrath of the
heretical defender of the Donatists. The Vandal king promised to spare all
non-resistants, to protect the buildings from fire, and to except the captives
from torture. Nevertheless, Rome and its inhabitants were delivered to the
blind passion of his soldiery. The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights.
Among the spoils transported from the city by the king were the Golden Table
and the Seven-Branched Golden Light-stand, brought by Titus to Rome, where they
were deposited in the temple of peace. Nearly four hundred years after, these
spoils of Jerusalem were shipped for Carthage, with the rich plunder of the
catholic bazaars, dedicated to demons called “guardian saints,” and adorned by
the excessive superstition of the coreligionists of Ambrose, Jerome, Augustin,
and company. The gold and silver, amounting to several thousand talents, with
the jewels, brass, and copper, accumulated by rapine, were all removed to the
fleet, which returned laden with thousands of captives, with a prosperous navigation,
to Carthage all except one vessel
bearing the relics of the capitol, which descended to the bottom of the sea.
But
“the sea” had not yet sufficiently “become blood;” nor had “the third of the
creatures in the sea, having souls, died;” nor had “the third of the ships”
been “destroyed.” To bring this about required the revival of “the kingdom of
Italy’s” power of resistance (for the Western empire had been reduced to an
Italian kingdom) to Genseric upon the sea. The four years reign of the
judicious and enterprising Majorian afforded scope for this. Perceiving that
Rome could not be safe while Carthage existed as a hostile state, he determined
to create a maritime power, and by it achieve the conquest of Africa. In three
years he collected an imperial navy of three hundred large galleys, with an
adequate
Page 56 .
proportion
of transports and smaller vessels, in the secure and capacious harbor of
Cathagena in Spain. Hearing of this, and apprehensive of Majorian’s descent at
his own original landing place, Genseric reduced Mauritania into a desert.
Secret intelligence guided him to the anchorage of his foe, whose unguarded
fleet he surprised in the bay of Carthagena. Many of the ships were taken, or
sunk, or burnt, and the preparations of three years were destroyed in a single
day.
For
six years after the death of Majorian, the government of Italy was in the hands
of the Count Ricimer alone, one of the principal commanders of the barbarians,
descended from the Visigoths and Suevi. Under his rule, the kingdom of Italy
was afflicted by the incessant depredations and conflagrations of the Vandalic
“mountain burning with fire.” In the spring of each year, Genseric sallied
forth from the port of Carthage in command of the most important expeditions.
When asked by his pilot what course he should steer, “Leave the determination
to the winds,” said he, “THEY will transport us to the guilty coast whose
inhabitants have provoked the divine justice.” They repeatedly visited the
coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia,
Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily. They subdued the
island of Sardinia, and spread desolation or terror from the columns of
Hercules to the mouth of the Nile; and, as they always embarked a sufficient number
of horses, they had no sooner landed, than they swept the dismayed country with
a body of light cavalry. The fierceness of the scourge is attested by the
massacre of five hundred noble citizens of Zante, whose mangled bodies he cast
into the Ionian sea- “the sea became blood; and the creatures in the sea,
having souls, died.”
The
permission of such sanguinary seventies by Providence can only be accounted for
on the principle of the wicked being Yahweh’s sword for the punishment of the
hypocrisy, blasphemy, superstition, and immorality of the victims. Genseric
seemed to recognize that he was the executioner of “divine justice” upon the
orthodox catholic fraternity that inhabited “the sea”. “The fury of the
Vandals,” says Gibbon, “was confined to the limits of the Western empire” - to
“the third of the sea, and of the creatures, and of the ships.” The Italians,
now destitute of a naval force, through the haughty Ricimer were at length
reduced to address the throne of Constantinople in the language of subjects;
and Italy submitted, as the price and security of the alliance, to accept a
master from the choice of Leo the First, the Emperor of the East, in the person
of Anthemius, who entered Rome as Emperor of the West, April 12, A.D. 467.
Immediately after this, “regardless of the majesty of the purple,” said he, “I
gave my daughter to a Goth; I sacrificed my own blood to the safety of the
republic.” But this did not prevent Ricimer, his
Page 57
daughter’s
husband, from sacking Rome and putting him to death,
A.D.
472.
In
the meantime, however, the alliance developed immense naval and military
preparations on the part of the eastern Romans, languidly aided by the west,
for carrying the war into Africa. One hundred and thirty thousand pound weight of
gold (about £5,200,000), and seven hundred thousand of silver, paid into the
treasury for expenses, reduced the cities to extreme poverty. The fleet it
provided, and which sailed from Constantinople to Carthage, consisted of eleven
hundred and thirteen ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners - “the
creatures in the sea having souls” - exceeded one hundred thousand men. This
formidable navy was increased by a fleet under Marcellinus from the Adriatic.
Consternation seized the Carthaginians; but Genseric beheld the danger with
firmness, and eluded it with his veteran dexterity. Having obtained a truce of
five days to regulate the terms of submission, in this short interval the wind
became favorable to his designs. He manned his largest ships of war with his
bravest Moors and Vandals, who towed after them many large barks filled with
combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, “as it were a mountain
burning with fire,” these destructive vessels were impelled against the
unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans. Their close and crowded order
assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated with rapid and
irresistible violence; and the noise of the wind, the crackling of the flames,
and the dissonant cries of “the creatures in the sea having souls” the soldiers and mariners, who could neither
command nor obey - increased the horror of the tumult. While they labored to
extricate themselves from the fireships, and to save at least a part of the
navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted them with temperate and disciplined
valor; and many of the Romans, who escaped the fury of the flames, were
destroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals. “More than half the fleet and
army was lost,” and Genseric again became “the Tyrant of the Sea.” The coasts
of Italy, Greece, and Asia, were again exposed to his vengeance; and, before he
died, in the fullness of years and of glory, A.D. 477, he beheld the final
extinction of the Trinitarian Empire of the West. And thus “the third of the
creatures in the sea, having souls, died; and the third of the ships were
destroyed.”
Page
58
ACT
Ill-THIRD WIND-TRUMPET
The
poisoning of the third of the rivers and fountains of waters with a deadly
bitterness, by the Great Blazing Star APSINTHOS falling from the heaven into
them, and causing the death of many.
A.D.
450, and onwards.
“And
the third angel sounded, and a great star blazing as it were a torch fell out
of the heaven: and it fell upon the third of the rivers, and upon the fountains
of waters. Ji. And the name of the star is called the Apsinthian; and the third
of the waters became undrinkable; and many of the men died out of the waters,
because they were made bitter”
Apoc~
8:10,11
1. Symbols Explained
On
account of the luminaries in the natural heaven governing the day and the night
(Gen. 1:14-18), all luminaries in the symbolical language signify ruling
powers; and the light itself is well employed to signify the edicts, laws,
rules, or directions that proceed from them for the good of their subjects.
Thus of the Great King, styled the “Day Star,” and “the Sun of Righteousness,”
it is said in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a light unto my path;” and in Hos.
6:5, “Thy judgments are as the light.”
“I
am,” saith the Lord Jesus, “the bright and the Morning Star” -Apoc. 22:16; the
Star which the Spirit compelled Balaam to predict would “come out of Jacob”
(Num. 24:17). By this star is evidently intended a ruler, a conqueror, a great
potentate; for, as the Sceptre of Israel, he is to “smite the princes of Moab,
and to destroy all the children of Sheth.”
A
Star, therefore, sometimes signifies a destroying power. The word is also put
for that which is inconstant, or meteoric in its motions. Hence, in Jude, such
stars are styled “wandering” or shooting stars. In this third trumpet prophecy,
the star seen was of this species. It shot forth out of the heaven. John did
not see it there, shining as a fixed star of great and sparkling, but steady
light; its motion was erratic, wandering or shooting out of the starry sphere
into regions below the ruling heaven. It fell from its position where it was “a
Great Star” in the heaven. It fell, or descended, not because it was expelled
as those stars of the heaven which the Little Horn of the Goat cast down to the
ground, and stamped upon (Dan. 8:9,10) by a superior power; but by its own
precipitancy, derived from the motive power of Deity, whose agent
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it
was for judgment upon the Laodicean Apostasy.
In
symbolic style, “a great star blazing as it were a torch” signifies no good to those
upon whom it is said to fall. Its effects must be conflagrating and deadly. An
ordinary, or literal, blazing torch would be extinguished by falling into
water; but we know that certain bodies cast into that fluid will set it on
fire, and convert it into a solution that would be fatal to the drinker. There
is therefore a decorum, or fitness, in the language of the vision, which is now
known to be founded in the nature of things. Mr. Cunninghame has therefore well
remarked that “the language of symbols is not of arbitrary or uncertain
signification, but is interpretable on fixed principles, to ascertain and
define which, is the first duty of a commentator, as the judicious application
of that language to the events of history is the second.”
“A
shooting star was, in antiquity, the appropriate image of a powerful and
successful invader from a distant country.” “The more I read this wonderful
book” (the Apocalypse), says Bishop Horsley, “the more I am convinced that the
precision of the phraseology is little short of mathematical accuracy. The
language seems highly adorned, but the ornaments are not redundancies: they are
not of that sort that the proposition would remain the same if the epithets
were expunged. And in passages which may seem similar, there never is the
smallest variation of style, but it points to something of diversity, either in
the subject or the predicate. With this notion of the style of the Apocalypse,
I think it of importance to remark that the falling stars of the third and
fifth trumpets fall ‘from heaven,’ or out of the sky,’ but are not said to be
of ‘the stars of heaven,’ which are seen to fall in ch. 6. But, further, that
which falls from heaven,’ or ‘out of the sky,’ upon the sounding of the third
trumpet, is a great star, burning as it were a lamp.
“Lampas,
in the Greek language, is the name of a meteor of a particular sort. From
Pliny’s description, it is evident that lampas was one sort of those meteors
which are commonly called ‘shooting stars.’ It was of that sort, in which a
large ball, appearing first in time, and foremost in the direction of the
motion, draws a long train of bright sparks after it. Such exactly was the
meteor in the vision of the third trumpet.
“The
most remarkable circumstances in these shooting stars are these: 1. They have
no appropriate place in the starry heavens, but are engendered in the lower
regions of the earth’s atmosphere. 2. They shine by a native light; but third,
are visible only while they fall. 4. The motion is rapid. 5. The duration brief.
6. The brightness, while it lasts, intense. 7. The extinction instantaneous. 8.
And when the light is extinguished, nothing remains: the body which emitted the
light is nowhere to be found.”
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The
falling of a great star blazing like a torch out of the heaven, then, was
symbolical of a great destroying power, issuing forth from a lower region of
the political aerial, progressing by its native force with rapid, but brief,
yet intense motion, coming suddenly to the end of its career, and leaving nothing
but a smoking desolation as the memorial of its presence.
“The
heaven” out of which it blazed forth was the heaven under which were “the
rivers and fountains of waters” into which the great star precipitated itself.
“Wherever the scene is laid,” says Daubuz, “heaven signifies, symbolically, the
ruling power or government; that is, the whole assembly of the ruling powers,
which, in respect of the subjects, or earth, are a political heaven, being over
and ruling the subjects as the natural heaven stands over and rules the earth:
so that according to the subject is the term to be limited and, therefore,
Artemidorus, writing in the times of the Roman emperors, makes the country of
Italy to be heaven. As heaven says he, is the abode of gods, so is Italy of kings”
But
after the times of the pagan emperors, and concurrent with those of the
scarcely less pagan Constantine and his successors, the Roman Heaven expanded
itself into the comprehensiveness of the three seats, or thrones, which ruled
over the three thirds, or Imperial Praefectures, into which the dominions of
Daniel’s Fourth Beast, civil and ecclesiastical polity, were divided. These
heavenly thirds are especially recognized in the vision of the fourth trumpet;
and are styled in Dan. 7:27, “the Whole Heaven.” The whole is more than its
parts. These thirds of the heaven have relation to the thirds of the earth, or
Roman Orb; and may be styled, the Byzantine or Constantinopolitan Heavenly, the
Italian Heavenly, and the Illyrian Heavenly, all of them “the abode of kings.”
A shooting star, generally, projects itself obliquely: so, when this “great
star blazing as it were a torch” fell, it fell “out of” its own appropriate
heavenly, into “the waters” under the neighboring third, whose heavenly bodies
were doomed shortly to be eclipsed. It fell from the Illyrian heavenly section
of “the whole heaven,” into the rivers under the Italian Third.
Yahweh
charges Sennacherib with saying by his messengers to Hezekiah: “With the
multitude of my chariots, I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the
sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of fenced places.” These waters
and rivers were the foreign nations he had laid waste. And again: “0 Jacob,
when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee”: that is, waters or peoples, and rivers
or nations. So they are also explained in Apoc. 16:4-7, where “rivers and
fountains of waters” are declared to be those who have “shed the blood of
saints and prophets”;
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61
and
in ch. 17:15, “the waters” upon whom the Great Harlot sits are peoples, and
multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
But
we are not to suppose that because “waters” signify these populations of earth,
their geography and topography are left undetermined. On the contrary, in the
phrase, “upon the third of the rivers, and upon the foundations of waters,” is
a blending of the literal and the symbolical, which is so frequent in prophecy.
There is a striking illustration of this in Apoc. 17:9,10, where the seven
heads of the beast are symbolical of seven supreme powers, or “kings”; and
literally identical with the seven mountains on which they were successively
located: so “the rivers” pertaining to “the third” represents symbolically the
populations thereof; and their literal chorography in the mountainous and
valley, or river, regions of the Catholic West. These “rivers and fountains of
waters” had not, previously to the times of the third trumpet, done much in the
way of shedding the blood of saints and prophets; they were beginning to
approve this remedy for what they were pleased to style “heresy”: nevertheless,
they had proved themselves bitter persecutors of “the sealed servants of
Deity,” during the one hundred and twenty-five years their rulers, who were all
“pious catholics,” exercised dominion over Italy, Africa, Gaul, Spain and
Britain. The third trumpet was an especial element of the judgment upon them.
Its scorching visitations retaliated upon them bitterness and death for the
bitterness they had caused “the sealed.”
But
after the judgments of the third and fourth trumpets had extinguished the
so-called orthodox catholic power of the West, another power arose out of the
wreck, which was a perfect novelty in the earth. This has been known for more
than a thousand years past as the Papal. It acquired sovereignty over “the
rivers and fountains of waters,” and energized them “to shed the blood of
saints and prophets,” to pour it out abundantly; so that they became worthy to
receive blood to drink, by one who, under the third Vial, gloried in his
resemblance to the Great Star that blazed like a torch in the judicial
execution of the third trumpet retribution. (*)
“And
the name of the star is called ho Apsinthos”. This I have simply transferred as
being the name of the star before the English tongue was written or spoken. As
the star-power did not exist in John’s day, the legetai, “is called,” must be
understood to mean that, in the days of the third trumpet, those who spoke
Greek called it ho Apsinthos. It is a proper name; and is to be taken in a like
sense as the name of the con-queror, styled by men in the days of the third
vial, “the Corsican.” This was applied to the first Napoleon as indicative of
the country from which
“I
will prove.” said Napoleon, “an Attila to Venice.”
Page 62.
he
came; so the Great Star was called by the Greeks, “the Apsinthian,” to
designate the region out of whose heaven he fell blazing upon “the third of the
rivers,” after he had proved a scourge to them.
I
have said that “the Apsinthian” fell upon “the rivers and fountains of waters,”
out of the Illyrian section of the whole heaven of the Roman orb. My reason for
this is that Apsinthos is the name of a river in the Illynan third of the Roman
earth; and is therefore as significative of Illyria, as the Euphrates was of
Assyria, or the Nile of Egypt.
But,
for what reason, may we conclude, did the Spirit select this river of Illyricum
in preference to any other? Because of the signification of the name being
appropriate to the nature of the judgments to be executed by THE ILLYRIAN
POWER, which had been developed in the preparation of the angels of the
trumpets for sounding. The word radically signifies undrinkable from whatever cause.
The trumpet mission of the Illyrian Power was to make the rivers of the third
undrinkable, by putting many of the men of the waters to the sword, that they
might die out from them. This was, as in the Arabic Romance, Antar, it is
expressed, “Death serving them with a cup of apsinth by the sword.”
2. Historical Exposition
The
following is Mr. Elliott’s summary of the phenomena of the vision. “Which,” he
inquires, “is the new scene of judgment? ‘The third of the rivers,’ it is said,
‘and the fountains of waters.’ It begins where yon mighty river to the North
forms the ancient limit between barbarian Germany, and the Illyrian, or Middle
Praefecture of the Roman Empire. Mark the portentous meteor that glares over
it; like a blazing torch trailing its red line of light behind it in the
Northern sky! And see, where the Teiss pouring itself into the Danube, marks
the central point of the base of the Great Illyrian Praefecture; there suddenly
it descends, and blazes, and taints with its sulphurous exhalations the
downward course of that ancient river.
“But
it was the same western third of the empire, as before, that was in this case
too to taste specially of the bitterness of the woe. And mark how, in
fulfillment of its mission, the meteor tracks the course of the Upper Danube,
and then reaches and moves along the Rhenish
frontier
river of the Western Empire; blazing over and poisoning its waters, down even
to the Belgic lowlands. Thence again unquenched it rises; shoots in rapid
course westward; is repelled, as if by some counter electric force, and as from
a region on which it behoved not that it should permanently shed its malignant
influences; then in southerly direction falls on the fountains of European
waters, there where the Alpine snows are dissolving from their eternal
glaciers. Wheresoever it has fallen, the
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63
rivers
and their tributaries have been poisoned by it; and the dead and dying of those
that drink them, appear lying on the banks. Having thus done its part, it
shoots back towards the Danube; there blazes for a moment longer, and is
extinct.”
“In
the reign of ATTILA the Huns,” says Gibbon, “became the terror of the world - a
formidable barbarian, who alternately insulted and invaded the east and the
west, and urged the rapid downfall of the Roman Empire.” He alone among the
conquering meteors, or blazing torches, of ancient or modern times, united the
two mighty kingdoms of Germany and Scythia under one sceptre. Claiming to be
the rightful possessor of the Sword of Mars, he asserted his divine and
indefeasible claim to the dominion of the earth. He soon acquired a sacred
character; and the barbarian princes confessed, in the language of devotion or
flattery, that they could not presume to gaze with a steady eye, on the Divine
Majesty of the King of the Huns. As supreme and sole monarch of the barbarians,
he was able, when he collected his military force, to bring into the field an
army of five, or according to another account, seven hundred thousand troops.
When these were set in rapid motion, they constituted a power, that may be very
appropriately likened to “a Great Star blazing as a torch.”
The
Attila-power, which prevailed from A.D. 433 to 453, was fitly designated “the
Apsinthian,” or Illyrian. It touched the Danube on one hand, and reached with
the other, as far as the Tanais, or Don. On making peace with the
Constantinopolitan power, after a ravaging war of five years to which he was
stirred up by his African ally, the redoubtable GENSERIC, the eastern Catholic
emperor, resigned to Attila an extensive and important territory, which
stretched along the southern banks of the Danube from Belgrade to Nova, in the
diocese of Thrace, a breadth of fifteen day’s journey, and embracing Naissus
within the limits of his dominion. The exact location of his capital is
uncertain; but supposed to have been seated between the Danube, the Teyss, and
the Carpathian hills in the plains of Upper Hungary. All these regions were
embraced in the great Illyrian Praefecture; so that the great Attila-star might
well be styled by its Greek contemporaries of the Byzantine dominion adjacent,
“THE ILLYRIAN;” and by the Spirit symbolically, “the Apsinthian.”
Theodosius
the younger, emperor of the east, having acknowledged Attila, the Illyrian, as
the lord of the Lower Danube, the Huns were now its masters, commanding the
navigation to the Black Sea; and prepared to blaze forth in any direction
Providence might impel them to take. “What fortress,” said the Apsinthian to
the Byzantine ambassadors, “what city, in the wide extent of the Roman Empire,
can hope to exist, secure and impregnable, if it is our pleasure that it should
be
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erased
from the earth?” They knew by experience, that these were not mere words; and
as they were unequal to contend with him in war, they sought to rid themselves
of this “Scourge of God,” by his assassination. But “the Apsinthian” was not to
be thus imperially disposed of till his mission was fulfilled; and then the
Deity would lay his instrument aside in his own way. Attila was informed of the
conspiracy against his life; and though he had the meaner conspirators in his
hands, he disdained to punish them; but reserved his just indignation for the
pious catholic prince who approved his murder. He denounced Theodosius as a
wicked slave, who had clandestinely conspired against his master, “whom fortune
and merit had placed above him” Nevertheless, he consented to pardon the
emperor, and to maintain peace.
All
the history of the Illyrian Conqueror goes to show, that his abode was in “the heaven,”
and that he was “a great star” therein; for he enjoyed the proud satisfaction
of receiving in the same camp, the ambassadors of the eastern and western
empires; and it is only to sovereign and recognized powers, that such
apocalyptic “demons,” are commissioned by the superior gods of their
heavenlies.
The
inglorious life of Theodosius was closed A.D. 450. The Apsinthian Star
forthwith assumed a threatening aspect against both empires. “While mankind,”
says Gibbon, “awaited his decision with awful suspense, Attila sent an equal
defiance to the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople, and his ministers saluted
the two emperors in the same haughty terms, saying, ‘Attila my lord, and thy
lord, commands thee to provide a palace for his immediate reception’.” But “the
Apsinthian” despising the Romans of the east, whom he had so often vanquished,
soon declared his resolution of suspending the easy conquest, till he had
achieved the more glorious and important enterprise of “blazing like a torch
upon the third of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;” and thus
unconsciously fulfilled the mission appointed for him by the finger of God.
For
this great and blazing descent upon the Western Third, the kings and nations of
Germany and Scythia, from the Volga to the Danube obeyed the warlike summons of
“the Scourge of God.” From the royal village in the plains of Hungary, he
marched to the conflux of the Rhine and the Neckar, where he was joined by the
Franks. These hostile myri ads were poured with restless violence, into the
Belgic provinces. The consternation of Gaul was universal. Its cities were
besieged and stormed by the Apsinthian Huns, who practised their customary
maxims of war. They made the waters undrinkable; so that multitudes were
separated from them by death; for they were made very bitter. “They involved,”
says Gibbon, “in the promiscuous massacre, the
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65
priests
who served at the altar, and the infants, who in the hour of danger had been
providentially baptized by the bishop; and the flourishing city (Metz) was
delivered to the flames.” From the Rhine and Moselle, Attila marched into the
heart of Gaul; crossed the Seine at Auxerre; and fixed his camp under the walls
of Orleans. From this city, however, he prudently retreated to the plains of
Chalons. The nations from the Volga to the Atlantic were marshalled here under
the Illyrian, and Aetius and Theodoric, the catholic generals of the west. The
results were very bitter to the contending hosts. Many of the Gothic warriors,
who served in that memorable engagement informed Cassiodorius, that it was “a
conflict fierce, various, obstinate, and bloody; such as could not be
paralleled, either in the present or in past ages.”
The
number of the polbi ton anthropon, the “many of the men” who were apsinthianized
in this battle of Chalons, amounted to 162,000, or, according to another
account 300,000. Though Attila was put to the
(Map
pg 65 not copied)
Page 66
worse
in this battle, he threatened his foe with redoubled fury. Prudence, however,
prevailed over revenge; and the allied army of Latin and Gothic catholics
separated, and withdrew from the plains of Chalons. Attila’s retreat beyond the
Rhine confessed the last victory achieved in the name of the western empire.
The Thuringians who served under “the Apsinthian,” made the waters very bitter.
They massacred their hostages and captives; they tortured young maidens with
exquisite and unrelenting rage; their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses,
or their bones were crushed under the weight of rolling wagons; and their
unburied limbs were abandoned on the public roads, as a prey to dogs and
vultures.
Neither
the spirit, the forces, nor the reputation of the Apsinthian Star were impaired
by the failure of the Gallic expedition. It had blazed like a torch, and
embittered the river populations of the country; but it had only partially
executed its mission upon the worshippers of relics and demons. In the ensuing
spring he passed the Alps into Italy with an innumerable host of barbarians. He
laid siege to Aquileia, the most populous and strongest of the maritime cities
of the Hadriatic. The Huns mounted the breach with irresistible fury, and the
succeeding generation could scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia. After this
dreadful chastisement, this blazing torch descended upon Altinum, Concordia,
and Padua, which were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes. The in-land
towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the rapacious cruelty of
his Huns. Milan and Pavia submitted without resistance to the loss of their
wealth; and applauded the unusual clemency, which preserved from the flames the
public, as well as private buildings; and spared the lives of the captive
multitude. After this, the scorching ravages of this Great Star, blazing like a
torch, overspread the rich plains of modern Lombardy, which are divided by the
Po, and bounded by the Alps and Apennine.
“It
is a saying,” says Gibbon, “worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that the
grass never grew on the spot where his horse had trod. Yet the savage destroyer
undesignedly laid the foundation of a republic, which revived, in the feudal
state of Europe, the art and spirit of commercial industry.” This was Venice.
Before the Apsinthian descended like a blazing torch upon the Italian province
of Venetia, extending from the confines of Pannonia to the river Addua, and
from the Po to the Rhaetian and Julian Alps, this fertile region was adorned
with fifty cities flourishing in peace and prosperity. They also were swept by
the conflagration; “all was flight,” says Sigonius, “depopulation, slaughter,
slavery, and despair;” but many families who fled from the sword of Attila,
found a safe, though obscure refuge in the hundred islets at the ex-
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tremity
of the Hadriatic. Upon these they laid the foundations of the queen of that
sea, which in after times became the Tyre of the feudal world; “and,” says
Elliott, “he who has seen the fair Venice may do well to remember that he has
seen in it a memorial of the terrors and ravages of that Scourge of God, the
Hun Attila.”
What
a terrible signification there is in the apocalyptic symbols:
This
great blazing star was still craving devastation and blood; and declared his
resolution of carrying his victorious arms to the gates of Rome. But the Star
was meteoric, and, as a meteor, must be of brief duration, and suddenly become
extinct. It had been blazing and scorching among “the rivers and fountains of
waters” during three years; but where was the power to extinguish it? The
barbarians, who had defended Gaul, refused to march to the relief of Italy; and
the succors promised by the Eastern Emperor were distant and doubtful. The only
deliverance was in unqualified submission. The Western Emperor, with the Senate
and people of Rome, by a solemn and suppliant embassy, embraced the salutary
resolution of deprecating the wrath of “the Apsinthian.” The barbarian monarch
listened with favorable, and even respectful attention; and the deliverance of
Italy was purchased by an immense ransom; but before he evacuated the country,
he threatened to return more dreadful, and more implacable, if the treaty were
not faithfully and punctually observed. But his mission being accomplished, he
was of no further use. Having returned to his royal village between the Danube
and the Teiss, the next year, which was A.D. 453, he was suddenly cut off by
apoplexy, and this blazing “terror of the world” lay powerless in death. The
empire and power of the Huns was soon after broken; and the wind of the third
trumpet ceased to blow.
ACT
IV - FOURTH WIND-TRUMPET
The
darkening of the third of the luminaries of the Greco-Latin Catholic firmament
by smiting them; so that the Day and the Night of their system were without
ruling lights, and therefore, shone not for a third of them.
A.D.
476
“And
the fourth angel sounded, and the third of the sun, and the third of the moon,
and the third of the stars, was smitten; so that the third of them was
darkened, and the day shone not the third of it, and the night likewise.”
Apoc.
8:12
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68
1. Symbols Explained
“For
the understanding of the prophesies,” says Sir Isaac Newton truly, “we are, in
the first place, to acquaint ourselves with the figurative language of the
prophets; which is taken from the analogy between the world natural, and an empire
or kingdom considered as a world politic.”
The
sun, moon, and stars are therefore prophetic symbols taken from the natural
world. “The Lord God is a Sun, and Shield” (Psalm 84:11). He is the universe’s
Ruler and Lightgiver, and Protector. This is the signification of sun, as a
symbol, in its largest sense. But, in Jer. 15:9, it is used restrictedly in the
testimony of the Spirit against Jerusalem; as “Her sun is gone down while it is
yet day.” In this instance the sun symbolized the sovereign power and glory of
the commonwealth, of which Jerusalem was the capital. It went down when the
state was destroyed by the Chaldeans. But it shone forth again; and again went
down, when the kingdom was taken away from the Pharisees - when “the sun was
darkened, the moon gave no light, and the stars fell from the Heaven;” and were
thenceforth suppressed superlatively “until He come whose right it is,” even
“the sun and shield.” Then, the Spirit saith to Jerusalem, “the sun shall no
more be thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto
thee; but Yahweh shall be unto thee an everlasting light,” or sun; “and thine
Elohim thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself; for Yahweh shall be to thee for the Light,” or sun, “of the
Olahm;” and which is explained to signify, that “the days of Zion’s mourning
shall be ended” - she should no more lose her sovereignty, and mourn the
withdrawal of her ecclesiastical institutions and privileges.
Again,
when the Spirit revealed his purpose to subvert the Egyptian monarchy by the
Chaldean power, he said to the King of Egypt, whom he likened to a dragon, in
the seas, in Ezek. 32:6-8, “I will water with thy blood the land wherein thou
swimmest; and when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heaven and make
the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall
not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven, will I make dark over
thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith Adonai Yahweh.” The Chaldean power
under Nebuchadnezzar was the “cloud” that covered the sun of Egypt, and made
the stars of its heaven dark, and its moon eclipsed; and the Pharaoh-Dragon
thenceforth swam no more in Egypt.
After
the same manner the prophets spoke when they predicted the overthrow of the
kingdoms of Babylon and Idumea. In foretelling the subversion of the former
power by the Medes and Persians, Isaiah says
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69
in
symbolizing ch. 13:9, “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof
shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and
the moon shall not cause her light to shine” - ver. 10; which in verse 11, is
interpreted to signify the punishing of the Chaldean world for evil, “and the
wicked for their iniquity.”
The
threatening against the Idumean sovereignty is in the highly symbolic style of
the sixth seal. “All the host of heaven,” says the Spirit in Isa. 34:4, “shall
be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all
their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a
falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven;” then
follows the exposition: “Behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the
people of my curse to judgment.”
Thus,
we see, that the moral universe, the Israelitish, the Egyptian, the Chaldean,
and the Idumean, kingdoms and empires, have all their suns, moons, stars, and
constellations, as well as the natural world or system of things. The supreme
civil and military authority of a state is the sun which sheds forth all the
light, power and glory of the polity. The moon, stars and constellations are
the ecclesiastical and aristocratic orders, which reflect its beams upon the
earth or subjects of the state. They rule the day and the night of their own
polity, which, without their shining, has no distinction of day or night. Like
the natural world luminaries, they are affected by eclipses, darkening, and so
forth, which become causes intercepting or suspending their regular and
peaceful influences upon the peoples.
Daniel’s
fourth beast system of powers has its sun, moon, and stars, as well as the
polities by which it was preceded. Under its pagan constitution, the authority
and power vested in the imperial and senatorial orders were the sun of the
Roman orb; its moon, the priestly orders of the state; and subject kings,
nobles, and magistrates, its stars and constellations. When the pagan
constitution that hindered was taken out of the way, the aerial, or political
expanse, transmitted the rays of the same lights, only that they emitted
influences less intensely heathen than be-fore. The sun, moon and stars which
continued to shine had become “catholic.” They radiated the malign influences
of the Laodicean Apostasy, and were essentially, though not professedly and in
detail, as devilish as of old.
In
the earlier years of Constantine’s reign, the Roman Sun was the one solar
investment of three emperors - Constantine, Licinius, and Maximin. So also,
when “the silence in the heaven about half an hour” had ended, his three sons
were clothed with the sun. In these instances, each emperor’s jurisdiction was
representative of “the third of the sun;” and the ecclesiastical orders in each
imperial jurisdiction, of “the third
Page 70 .
of the moon;” and the nobles
and magistrates also in each, “the third of the stars”. If one of these
emperors made war upon another of them, and defeated him, and incorporated the
dominion of the vanquished in his own jurisdiction, then “the third of the sun
and the third of the moon, and the third of the stars,” would be “darkened” by
Smiting; and there would be no political “day” nor “night” peculiar to that
smitten third.
Now, in the days of the
third trumpet, the sun of the Roman Heaven clothed the emperors of the eastern
and western thirds, to say nothing of the Illyrian. The smiting of one of these
thirds to obliteration from the political map, would be the darkening of that
third in its imperial, ecclesiastical, and aristocratic relations to the
subject peoples of its eclipsed jurisdiction. The unsmitten third would be “the
third of the men,” which so long as it continued a distinct and independent
power, would be regarded as living, or not “killed” (Apoc. 9:18).
When there are no heavenly
bodies visible to a spectator supposed to be standing upon the earth, the
alternations styled day and night, do not exist. To blot out the sun, moon, and
stars of the natural universe, would be to extinguish day and night, and to
establish “darkness upon the face of the deep.” The effect would be analogous
in the political universe. For, as in the case of Egypt, when Pharaoh’s
dominion was abolished, to make all the bright lights of heaven dark, would be
to set darkness upon the land. But, as in the instance of the Greco-Latin
Catholic dominion, if only one third of its sun, moon, and stars be smitten
into obscuration, the day and night of the whole polity would not be
extinguished, but only a proportional third. The imperial catholic day and
night would be restricted to the unsmitten thirds, where the bright lights of
their heaven would still be observed to shine.
2. Historical Exposition
The
phenomena of the fourth trumpet are thus briefly sketched by Mr. Elliott: “The vision
has passed; the fourth angel sounds. Hitherto, though its land, its sea, and
its frontier rivers and fountains of waters have been desolated, yet the sun
has still continued shining on the West-ern Empire as before. But now at length
this too is affected. To the extent of a third part of its orb, it suffers
eclipse. The shadow falls over the Western Empire. Then the night supervenes.
And see the eclipsing influences act on the luminaries of the night also.
Presently the Western third of the moon becomes eclipsed; and of the stars
scattered over the symbolic firmament, all that are in the third of the Roman
sky, are dark-ened also.”
Page 71
Thus,
by the judgments of the first, second, and third, trumpets, the final
catastrophe was preparing, by which the emperors of the west and their
dominions were to be extinguished. Rome’s glory had long departed; its
provinces severally and successively separated from it; the territory still
remaining to it had become like a desert; and its maritime dependencies, and
its fleets and commerce, been annihilated. Little remained to it but the vain
titles and insignia of sovereignty; and now the time was come that, by the
smiting of the fourth trumpet, these too were to be withdrawn; and that the
imperial, or Sixth Head of the Roman Dragon should be “as it were slain unto
death,” and give place to the SEVENTH HEAD, which had not then yet come, and
which, “when he cometh, must continue a short space” (Apoc. 13:3 and 17:10).
The
blast of the fourth trumpet when it began to sound, found Romulus Augustulus,
A.D. 476, the last and feeblest of emperors, upon the throne of the catholic
dominion of the West. He was placed there by his Father Orestes, the secretary
of state to the imperious Attila: and after his death “Patrician, and Master
General” of the barbarian confederates in the service of the Western empire,
who formed the defense and the terror of Italy. They oppressed and insulted the
last remains of Roman freedom and dignity. Their insolence and avarice at
length prompted them peremptorily to demand, that a third part of the lands of
Italy should be immediately divided among them. But Orestes rejected the
audacious demand. The standard of revolt was raised, therefore, by the bold
barbarian ODOACER. From all the camps and garrisons of Italy, the confederates
flocked to the standard of this popular leader. Over-whelmed by the torrent,
Orestes entrenched himself in Pavia, which was stormed and pillaged; and the
tumult could be appeased only by his execution. This “smiting” left Augustulus
at the mercy of Odoacer, whose clemency he was induced to implore.
The
success of this revolt elevated the king of the Heruli to the Vicegerency of
the Emperor of the West. But deeming the imperial office both useless and
expensive, Odoacer determined to abolish it. The unfortunate Augustulus was
made the instrument of his own disgrace, by sending in his resignation to the
Senate. An epistle was addressed by their unanimous decree to Zeno, the
contemporary incumbent of the Byzantine throne. In this document, they solemnly
“disclaim the necessity, or even the wish, of continuing any longer the
succession in Italy; since, in their opinion, the Majesty of a Sole Monarch is
sufficient to pervade and protect, at the same time, both the east and the west.
In their own name, and in the name of the people, they consent that the Throne
of Universal Empire shall be transferred from Rome to Constan-tinople; while
they renounce the right of choosing a master, the only ves-
Page
72
tige
that yet remained of the authority which had given laws to the world. The
republic might safely confide in the civil and military virtues of Odoacer; and
they humbly request, that the Emperor would invest him with the title of
PATRICIAN, and the administration of the diocese of Italy.” After some display
of displeasure and indignation, Zeno’s prudence and vanity prevailed. He was
gratified by the title of SOLE EM-PEROR, and by the statues erected to his
honor in the several quarters of Rome. He gratefully accepted the imperial ensigns,
the sacred ornaments of the throne and palace, which the Patrician Odoacer was
not unwilling to remove from the sight of the people.
Speaking
of Romulus Augustulus, whom Odoacer sent into banishment, Gibbon says, that of
all the nine emperors of the last twenty years
the
empire, Augustulus “would be the least entitled to the notice of posterity, if
his reign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman empire in the west,
did not leave a memorable era in the history of man-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Map
page 72 not shown)
In
AD 476, the Western Roman Empire came to end when Romulus Augustulus was
deposed. The Eastern Empire gradually eroded until it was brought to its demise
by the Ottoman Power in the over-throw of Constantinople in 1453. In the West,
the Holy Roman Empire was established by Charlemagne, but in the east the
Ottoman Power remained supreme until its decline.
Page
. 73
kind”.
The epoch was, indeed, remarkable and peculiar. The Roman Sun was still
recognized as shining; but still it shed no administrative light in the west.
One third of its face was pervaded by the shadow of a darkening body - the
administration of the Patrician of Italy. By this also the light of the Roman
Moon was diminished one third; for of what account in the state were the bishop
of Rome and his clergy, while “the diocese of Italy” was the patrimony, not of
St. Peter and his pretended successor, but of Odoacer and his military
compatriots?
Odoacer
was the first barbarian who reigned in Italy. The stem Ricimer had exercised
the power, without assuming the title, of a king; so that the patient Romans
were insensibly prepared to acknowledge the royalty of Odoacer and his barbaric
successors. The laws of the emperors were strictly enforced, and the civil
administration of Italy was still exercised by the praetorian praefect and his
subordinates; while the Roman Magistrates were appointed by Odoacer to the
odious and oppressive task of collecting the public revenue. Being an Arian
Catholic, the Trinitarian Catholics of the Italian Diocese were in eclipse.
Their sect no longer constituted the State Church. The bishop of Rome was now
the mere bishop of churches in Rome; and he and his clergy were nothing but
sectaries and dissenters. The absence of catholic abuse of the Patrician by his
contemporaries, attests the toleration which they enjoyed. His praefect,
however, had to interfere in the choice of their bishop that the peace of the
city might be preserved. They regarded this interference with disgust; but
being under eclipse they could not help themselves. The brightness of their
ecclesiasticism was darkened over them; and Trinitarian churches had to submit
to the humiliation and defilement of heretical Arian interference in the
election of a so-called Successor of St. Peter and St. Paul!
Notwithstanding
the prudence and success of Odoacer, his patriciate exhibited the sad prospect
of misery and’ desolation. The country was exhausted by the irretrievable
losses of war, famine, and pestilence; and Gelasius, the Roman bishop, and one
of Odoacer’s subjects, af-firms, that in Aemilia, Tuscany, and the adjacent
provinces, the human species was almost extirpated. The plebeians of Rome, who
were fed by the hand of their master, perished or disappeared, as soon as his
liberality was suppressed; and the senators, “the stars” of the Roman
firmament, bewailed their private loss of wealth and luxury. One third of their
ample estates was appropriated to the use of Odoacer’s confederates. Actual
sufferings were embittered by the fear of more dreadful evils; and as new lands
were allotted to new swarms of barbarians, each senator, or “star,” was
apprehensive lest the arbitrary surveyors should approach his favorite villa,
or his most profitable farm. But the darken-
Page 74
mg power was irresistible,
and absolute master of their fortunes. Desiring to live, they owed some
gratitude to the tyrant who spared their lives; and as he could have taken all,
they had to accept the portion he was pleased to leave as his pure and
voluntary gift.
But the end was not
immediately. The judgments of the fourth trumpet had not yet “slain” the
Imperial Head “as it were to death.” Odoacer was the Patrician Representative
of the Constantinopolitan Imperiality. He had ruled as such during fourteen
years in Rome, and the epoch had now arrived. A.D. 489-493, that he should
succumb to the superior genius of Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, who, after
a march of seven hundred miles from the region of Illyria, descended from the
Julian Alps, and displayed his invincible banners on the confines of Italy. After
the loss of two battles, Zeno’s Patrician fled to Ravenna. Favored, however,
again “by fortune,” Odoacer reappeared upon the field in formidable array. The
fierce conflict that ensued was finally decided by the victory of Verona, which
conferred on Theodoric the independent royalty of Italy. The assassination of
Odoacer, A.D. 493, left him without a rival, and the emperor of the East
without a representative to administer the Diocese of Italy. From the Alps to
the extremity of Campania, from Sicily to the Danube, and from Belgrade to the
Atlantic Ocean, Theodoric reigned first King of the Seventh Head of the Beast.
His royalty was proclaimed by the Goths, with a tardy, reluctant and ambiguous
recognition by the emperor of the East. He maintained with a powerful hand,
during a reign of thirty-three years, the balance of the West; and the Greeks
themselves acknowledged that the heretical king of Italy reigned over the
fairest portion of the darkened empire of the West.
“From a tender regard to the
expiring prejudices of Rome, Theodoric declined the name, the purple and the
diadem of the emperors; but he assumed,” says Gibbon, “under the hereditary
title of king, the whole substance and plenitude of imperial prerogative. His
addresses to the Eastern Throne were respectful and ambiguous; he celebrated in
pompous style the harmony of the two republics, applauded his own government as
the perfect similitude of a sole and undivided empire, and claimed above the
kings of the earth the same preeminence which he modestly allowed to the person
or rank of Anastasius.” Thus, while the jurisdiction and authority of the Sixth
Head were completely darkened in Rome, after shining upon its Seven Hills for
five hundred and twenty-four years, they continued in the light of imperial
majesty to illume the eastern third of the catholic firmament. In regard to
Rome, “it was slain as it were to death” by the Gothic sword. It seemed to be
dead beyond all possibility of being “healed” or restored to life. It was
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expelled
from the Seven Hills, and a new form of government established there, a Seventh
Head, which claimed and possessed, and was able to maintain, the preeminence of
its predecessor. In the recognition of the sovereignty of the Seventh Head, and
the Horn-Powers that had established themselves in the sounding of these
tempestuous trumpets, in Gaul, Spain and Africa, by the Sixth Head “the Dragon”
had “ceded to the Beast his power, and his throne and a great authority”; so
that the worshipful allegiance of catholics “in the whole earth” - en hole te
ge -was divided between the Dragon and the Beast: as it is written, “they
worshipped the dragon which gave power to the beast; and they worshipped the
beast saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” -
ch. 13:3,4.
Under
the first king of the Seventh Head, prosperity and peace were revived under the
shadow of the Seven Hills. Theodoric cultivated the affections of the Roman
Senate and people. The nobles were flattered by sonorous epithets and formal
professions of respect; while the people enjoyed, without fear or danger,
order, plenty, and public amusements. But the reign of Theodoric was only a
temporary arrest of judgment. The Seventh Head was only to “continue a short
space”-sixty years, which is “short” compared with the supremacy of the Sixth.
This was to be “healed” of its “deadly wound,” a process to be enacted at a
great cost of blood and treasure. The death wound to the authority of the Sixth
Head could only be “healed” by the destruction of the Seventh. When this should
be abolished, the obscuration of the Imperial Roman “day and night” would
cease. The fourth trumpet does not symbolize the healing of the deadly wound it
judicially inflicted. To this our attention will be recalled in my exposition
of Apoc. 13.
A
WARNING PROCLAMATION
Apoc.
8:~3
“And
I saw, and I heard from one, an eagle flying in midheaven, saying in a loud
voice Woe, woe, woe, to the dwellers upon the earth, from the remaining voices
of the trumpet-call of the three angels hereafter to sound.”
1. Symbols Explained
An
angel, in a symbolic sense, represents a class of agents executing a mission to
which they have been appointed. We have seen this use of the word in ch. 7:3,
where an angel says: “Hurt not the earth and the sea
Page76
until we have sealed the
servants of our Deity.” So also in the text of the English version, the “angel
flying” is representative of a class of agents having a mission to perform.
But Griesbach and other
critical editors of the original text read aetos, an eagle, instead of aggelou,
an angel. Upon this, Elliott remarks:
“The external evidence of
manuscripts is decidedly in favor of the former reading. On the other hand, the
internal evidence of scriptural analogy, with which Griesbach and the rest did
not concern themselves, is as decidedly - indeed, as it seems to me even more
so - against it. For nowhere in the Apocalypse is the proclaiming function
assigned to a bird, or, indeed to any being but an angel or the divine Spirit.
. .1 do not therefore hesitate to retain the reading aggelou.”
Tregelles reads eagle in his
translation, and gives us to understand that it is justified by manuscripts
fourteen hundred years old. This would carry us back to the times of the second
trumpet. In a note upon the word, the American Bible Union editor says: “I
recommend that this reading be adopted and translated eagle; and that the
following note appear in the margin: ‘Or, as a few copies read angel’.”
I believe that eagle was the
original and correct reading, and that it is supported both by the external
evidence of manuscripts, and the internal evidence of apocalyptical testimony.
It affords us a very important clue to the mystery of the text. Mr. Elliott is
unquestionably mistaken in saying that “nowhere in the Apocalypse is the
proclaiming function assigned to a bird. “ We find the very reverse of this is
ch. 6:7, where the fourth living creature, likened to “an eagle flying” in ch.
4:7, makes proclamation, saying, “Come and see!”
“An eagle flying” is the ensign
of one of the camps of “the Israel of God”; and when we consider their relative
position at the time when the Latin Catholic “day and night” were darkened by
the fourth trumpet, it symbolized their community very fitly. The eagle was the
ensign of the sealed servants of the Deity, who, during the tempestuous times
of the first four trumpets, and for centuries after, were protected from
exter-mination by the Serpent-power, in “the two wings of the Great Eagle”- ch.
12:14. They were an eagle “flying” in the “midheaven” of the great
eagle-dominion. They had an angelic mission indicated by the action of flying.
This is motion from one place to another for a purpose. The eagle encampment
was therefore an angel-community; and hence eagle and angel came afterwards to
be traditionally used as equivalents in the text. The angelism of the eagle
flying was to warn “the dwellers upon the earth” of what was still coming upon
them. That flying in mid-heaven is symbolical of preaching, or making
proclamation, is evident from ch. 14:6, where “another angel” is said to “fly
in midheaven having
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77
the
glad tidings of the Aion to preach unto the dwellers upon the earth.”
Midheaven, mesouranema is, according to the decorum of the symbol, the region of
their flight. They are not luminaries of the political heaven; they are not
constituents of the sun, moon, and stars, having no identity, officially or
morally, with the secular and spiritual orders they symbolize. Neither are they
“of the world,” though encamping in the world. “The dwellers upon the- earth”
were the Arian* and Athanasian catholics, and others, to whom they preached.
Hence, the Heavenly they occupied was peculiar to themselves; it was, as it
were, in the midst between the heaven of government and the peoples governed.
In this midheaven they winged their flight as “one” of the four living ones,
the fourth, or eagle flying saying, “Woe, Woe, Woe, to the dwellers upon the
earth” - woes issuing ‘out of the remaining voices of the trumpet call of the
three angels here-after to sound.”
And
because these woes were to issue out of the fifth, sixth and seventh trumpets,
the last three have been appropriately enough styled woe-trumpets. In the ninth
chapter, we enter upon the consideration of the fifth and sixth woes; the
latter not being exhausted till the epoch indicated in ch. 11:13,14. The third
woe will prove the most terrific of all winds and woes; to “the dwellers upon
the earth,” catholics, protestants, “sectaries,” and “infidels”; for, to the
Lion, the Ox, the Man and the FLYING EAGLE - symbols of the saints - will be
given the consummating judgments of the three “Woes,” that they may slay the
beast, and give his body politic to the burning flame - Dan. 7:11,26.
2. Historical Exposition
We
have seen in ch. 7, that the judgments of the first four trumpets were
restrained until the work of sealing the servants of the Deity should be
sufficiently advanced. The tempests that were to wreck the state, and dash it
in pieces upon the rocks, were not to blow until there should be a community of
faithful ones developed, who should be able to read the signs of their times
aright, and be able to instruct others. This is implied in their being “sealed
in their foreheads”. Being thus prepared, when the trumpets sounded they could
call the attention of their contemporaries to the true situation of affairs;
and in so doing deliver them from the superstition and blasphemy of such blind
leaders as Chrysostorn, Jerome, , Ambrose, Cyril, and others, of the catholic
church by law established. These all assumed that the superstition they
The
Arians followed the teaching of Anus (A.D. 250-336) who taught that Christ was
a mere man, and though Son of God was neither equal nor co-eternal with the
Father. He was opposed by Athanasius of Alexandria (297-373) who set forth the
doctrine of the Trinity. Neither understood the Truth relating to God
manifestation. Both refuted it, but from two different viewpoints.
Publisher
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professed
was the true religion; and that when Antichrist appeared, he would be “some
great man raised up by the devil,” who would head “the apostasy,” which could
be no other than a falling away “from the right faith, from truth, and from
good works,” as presented to the dwellers upon the earth in the traditions with
which they made void the word. They taught that Antichrist was to appear in a
Jewish temple, and from among the Jews, and gain the empire of the world. They
were all impressed with the idea that the dissolution of the Roman empire into
ten kingdoms was at hand; their Antichrist would be revealed, and then
destroyed by Christ, about A.D. 500, which was to be the end of the world!
The
gloomy forebodings among them respecting their near future were heightened by
chronological ignorance. They imagined that the world was nearly 6,000 years
old. Hilarion, A.D. 402, thus wrote: “It now wants 101 years to the end of the
Sixth Chiliad about the closing of which the ten kings must arise, Babylon, now
reigning, fall, Antichrist arise and be destroyed by Christ’s coming, and so
the saints’ sabbath millennary begin.” To read the vagaries solemnly propounded
by these Laodiceans, is to remind us of the times in which we live. The
confusion of ideas was truly marvelous. Their speculations were as hairbrained
as those of Mormons, Millerites(*), and clergymen at large, in the age in which
we live. They had been given over to “believe a lie, that they all might be
condemned who believed not the truth; but had pleasure in” their own
righteousness, which was “unrighteousness.” What, then, was to be done in this
extremity? They could no more deliver themselves from their own blasphemies,
than the natural man from his own ignorance. The remedy was at hand, if they
had been sagacious enough to dicern it; but, like our contemporaries, they
cruelly persecuted and denounced it as heresy, and put it from them. The remedy
was the EAGLE-ANGEL preaching of the truth. These preachers being “sealed in
their foreheads,” would be able to explain to them that the dissolution of the
Western Empire was not the end of the world, but a judgment upon them as the
real apostasy foretold by Paul. That they were deceivers and deceived. That the
end of the world was not at hand, nor the reign of the saints either. That the
trumpet-judgments of heaven were a call upon them to “repent of the works of
their hands, that they should not worship daemons, and idols of gold, and
silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor
walk; - to repent of their murders, of their sorceries, of their fornication
and of their thefts” (ch.
(*) The Millerites were a branch of a sect
that later developed Into The Seventh Day Adventist Church. For a time some of
them were attracted to the teaching of Bro. Thomas, but their rejection of the
restoration of Israel led to doctrinal controversy, and they became enemies
rather than advocates of the Truth
Publisher.
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9:20,21).
That of all these crimes they were guilty, and had been punished by heretical and
pagan firebrands, as Alaric, Genseric, Attila, and other barbarian scourges;
and that the terrible calamities they endured were not complete. That, as they
repented not of the works of their hands; or, in the words of Jerome, though
“the Roman world rushes to destruction, we bend not our neck in humiliation;”
therefore, “Woe, Woe, Woe” to them, both of the east and the west, because of
the judgments yet to befall them before the end should come.
While
this eagle-angel proclamation was warning the people, war, pestilence, and
famine, in all the reign of Justinian were plaguing them with unexampled
miseries A hundred millions of the human race were exterminated in his reign.
But this was only introductory to the coming ‘woes.” The camp of safety was
with the flying eagle The belief and
obedience of the gospel of the kingdom was then as now the only seal protective
from the sword
(Picture of Eagle pg 79 not shown)
Being the largest bird of Palestine, the eagle was considered the
monarch of the skies It is also identifiable with the standard of Dan
One of the faces of the Cherubim was that of the eagle (Ezek.
1:10:10:14), and one of the four living creatures surrounding the throne of
Rev. 4, is described as “like a flying eagle “(v.7). The speed, vision,
strength, and lofty skimming of the eagle.
are symbolic of the attributes of the Spirit
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OR
FIRST TWO WOE-TRUMPETS
ACT
I - FIFTH TRUMPET; OR, FIRST WOE
SUMMARY
A
star falls out of the heaven into the earth, to whom is given the key of the
pit of the abyss, which he opens; and from its furnace a smoke issues that
darkens the sun and air. Out of the smoke locusts go forth into the earth with
scorpion-power to torment “those men who have not the seal of the Deity upon
their foreheads,” during five months, and to injure them other five. Their king
is styled THE ANGEL OF THE ABYSS; and named in Hebrew, ABADDON; in Greek,
APOLLYON.
TIME
OF EVENTS
From
A.D. 632 to A.D. 932 = 300 years
ARENA
The
territory of the Dragon upon which the imperial “sun” shone before being
darkened by the smoke. See Tabular Analysis Vol.2 p.
110.
TRANSLATION
Apoc. 9:1-12
1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star
which had fallen out of the heaven into the earth, and there was given to him
the key of the pit of the abyss.
2. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and smoke
ascended out of the pit as it were smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was
darkened, and the air from the smoke of the pit.
3. And out of the smoke came forth locusts into
the earth, and there was given to them power as the scorpions of the earth have
power.
4. And it was commanded them that they should
not injure the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, except
the men only who have not the
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seal
of the Deity upon their foreheads. 5. And it was given to them that they should
not kill them, but that they should torment them five months: and their torment
was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man.
6. And in those days the men shall seek the
death, and shall not find it: and they shall earnestly desire to die, and the
death shall flee from them.
7. And the resemblances of the locusts were like
to horses which had been prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were
chaplets like to gold, and their faces as faces of men. 8. And they had hair as
the tresses of women; and their teeth were as of lions. 9. And they had breasts
as it were breasts of iron: and the sound of their wings as the sound of many
chariots of horses rushing into battle.
10. And they have tails like to scorpions, and
stings were in their tails; and their power to injure the men was five months.
11. And they have over them a king, the Angel of
the Abyss the name for him in Hebrew is Abaddon; and in the Greek, he hath the
name Apollyon.
12. The first woe hath passed away; behold there
come yet two woes after these things.
I. SYMBOLS EXPLAINED
On
the sounding of the fifth angel, John saw “a star.” I need not repeat here what
has already been said about stars. The reader is referred to my explanation of
the symbols of the third trumpet, the subject of which is the “great star
Apsinthos.” The star of the fifth trumpet may also be styled a falling star; or
rather, when John saw it in vision, a
fallen star. Its place was in the heaven, or it could not have proceeded
“out of the heaven.” It was not a fixed star of the heaven, transmitting
through “the air” in “the night” of the Greek catholic world, the reflected
light of the Byzantine “sun.” Had it been a fixed star of the eastern Roman
firmament, its falling would not have been to receive power, but the
deprivation of everything constituting the glory of a star. John may not have
seen it in the act of falling into the earth. The falling had been completed
when he first saw it. This is intimated by the perfect participle pep-tokota,
which signifies “having fallen.” The falling out of the heaven is no part of
the vision’s scenery. It had fallen, or descended, into the earth, as the
Apsinthian Star had fallen, or descended into the rivers and fountains of
water. It did not forsake the heaven as its place, because it had fallen into
the earth; but being a power, a power of the heaven peculiar to itself, it
retained its position there, but fell with destructive effect upon the people
represented by “the earth.”
By
“the earth” in this vision is meant “the dwellers upon the earth;” or the
grass, green things, and trees, which symbolized the unsealed. The eagle-angel community,
constituted of the servants of the Deity sealed in their foreheads, was not to
be tormented by this woe. The sea-
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led
servants of the Deity - the enlightened believers who have obeyed the truth -
are nowhere in the apocalypse styled “the earth”. They are “a Holy Nation.” But
“the earth” apocalyptic is the very reverse. “The earth” is an unholy
generation that “wonders after the beast;” and that “worships the Dragon, and
worships the beast;” and represents the “all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations” subject to the Dragon and Beast forms of government (Apoc. 13:3,4,7).
“The earth,” in the prophecy of the fifth and sixth trumpets, is symbolical of
the secular and ecclesiastical orders and people of the Catholic Apostasy;
which, by the fifth trumpet were to be “tormented” and “injured;” and by the
sixth, to be “killed,” or deprived of all power, authority and rule, over the
Eastern Third of the fourth beast dominion (ch. 9:15,18). “The earth” would
therefore represent the territory upon which these catholic idolaters dwelt.
The sealed servants of the Deity dwelt there likewise, only in “the Two Wings”
of it, where they were “nourished;” and though the locusts swarmed over “the
earth,” they were especially forbidden to torment and injure them, in the
command to injure only the unsealed - ver. 4. Hence, then, when John saw the
Fallen Star “in the earth,” he saw it where it did not naturally belong. It
fell “out of the heaven into the earth;” and being a star of destruction, or a
destroying power, it would make its way “into the earth” by an overwhelming
invasive force. In other words, “the earth” was fallen upon, or invaded, by the
star-power.
1. The Pit of the Abyss
But,
before the star was seen by John “in the earth,” it had acquired possession of
“the Key of the Pit of the Abyss” - he kleis tou phreatos tes abussou. The pit
of the abyss is the geographical locality of the “smoke,” out of which the
locusts issued to invade “the earth.” When the pit was opened smoke arose out
of it. The pit - to phrear - is contiguous to “the earth;” they abut the one
upon the other. It is an immense depression in the surface of the globe,
confining upon Palestine, then a province of the Eastern Third, called the
Greek or Byzantine empire. It is the pit or reservoir, or basin in which lies
the abussos, abyss, or Dead Sea. It is introduced here symbolically to
represent the region styled Arabia, whose tribes inhabited it, and poured out
of it “into the earth.” The Arabic region is well represented as “the pit;” and
locality of “a great furnace;” for the district of the Dead Sea, and of the
whole valley of the Jordan northward to the Lake of Tiberias, is quite a
phenomenon in physical geography, being below the level of the ocean. No other
example of similar depression, or pit, is known. The Lake of Tiberias is 328
feet below the level of the Mediterranean; and from
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thence
the river-valley declines to the Dead Sea, the surface of which is very nearly
1,400 feet below the same level. Owing to the great depth of this “pit,” or
depression of the surface, together with the heights which wall in the valley,
the heat powerfully
accumulates,
or becomes as it were “a great furnace,” by the concentration and reflection of
the solar rays, while the bordering highlands prevent the admission of external
breezes to relieve the temperature. The climate is therefore tropical.
Travelers, on descending into this low and deep country, feel as if they had
entered another zone. They confirm the accuracy of Josephus, who reports that
winter in the plain of Jericho resembled spring,
and
that the inhabitants wore linen garments at the time when the people in other
parts of Judea were shivering in the midst of snow. The balsam-tree, a tropical
plant, which yields the medicinal gum, now called the balsam of Mecca, and is
now limited to Arabia, once flourished in groves near Jericho, and furnished
the renowned balm of Gilead. Apart from the
(Map
page 83 not shown)
Depression
The
Jordan Valley from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is a phenomenon in
physical geography, being below the level of the ocean. A small plane can fly
above the Dead Sea and yet be below normal sea level The depression extends further south via the
Arabah through Arabia proper to the Gulf
of Aqaba. This area saw the uprise of the Saracen power, the locusts of
Revelation 9.
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margin
of the Jordan, the surface of “the pit” has the aspect of a parched desert
through the months of summer.
Such
are the natural conditions of this “pit of the abyss,” or sea, which constitute
it a fit and proper emblem of the political situation of affairs within its
limits before its locusts issued forth upon the earth. The whole pit was in the
condition of a furnace. In Deut. 4:20, Egypt is styled an iron furnace” to
Israel; and in Isa. 31:8,9, Zion and Jerusalem are styled the place of the fire
and the furnace, whence shall issue the de-struction that is to fall upon the
Assyrian. So this Arabian Pit was the place of a fire burning as a furnace,
which, when it should be “opened,” would pour forth a woeful tormenting power
upon the unsealed inhabitants of the earth. The inhabitants of this pit of the
sea, while they were shut up therein, would be in a state of war and
distraction; for such is the idea conveyed by a burning furnace, which melts
down the crude matters cast into it. A great furnace is never a symbol of peace
and prosperity; but always of the contrary. John saw the pit of the abyss in
this fiery, or embattled, condition before it was opened; but he has revealed
to us no details. He has simply informed us, that a power was developed that
was able to open the pit of the abyss; and to let out the contents thereof,
which he styles “smoke” and “locusts”. This information he conveys in the
words, “and to him (the Star) was given the Key of the Pit of the Abyss; and he
opened the pit of the abyss; and smoke ascended out of the pit. . . and out of
the smoke came forth locusts into the earth.”
2. The Key of the Pit
A
key is symbolical of governmental power and authority. The laying of the key of
the house of David upon the shoulder of Eliakim, was representative of the
bestowal of regal power upon ONE, who should be for a glorious throne to his
father’s house, and have the sole power of opening and shutting (Isa. 22:22).
With the Mohammedans, it is also symbolical of administrative power. “The
Koran,” says M. Peyron, “continually speaks of the Key of God, which opened to
them the gates of the world and of religion. So in the Koran: “Did not God give
to His legate the power of heaven which is above, and fire (the furnace-pit)
which is beneath? With the Key, did he not give him the title and power of a
porter, that he may open to those (the locusts) whom he may have chosen?” The
parentheses in this quotation are mine. The following form of renunciation of
Mohammedanism, enjoined on a convert to the catholic superstition, thus alludes
to Mohammed’s key of heaven: “I anathematize the spurious teaching and
promising of Mohammed among the Saracens; who says, that he is become the Key
holder of Paradise.” The key was also an armorial bearing of the Mohammedans
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85
in
Spain. When they crossed from Africa to Spain, it was on their standard; and
was afterwards sculptured on the archway of the Alhambra, an engraving of which
is given in Mr. Elliott’s work.
In
the apocalypse, there are two keys spoken of in connection with “the abyss;”
this in ch. 9; and another in ch. 20:1. They are, however, not the same. The
former is the key of the pit of the abyss; and the latter, the key of the abyss
itself. The key of the pit was given to the Star of the pit, or the Star who
kindled the furnace of the pit; while the key of the abyss is brought out of
the heaven by the angel thence descending. He descends with power to enlighten
the earth with his glory, and to shut down the Dragon “into the abyss,” out of
which, according to Daniel, he came up - salkan mm yammah - ch. 7:3.
3. The Abyss
This
leads me to remark, that in these places of the apocalypse, abussos is improperly
rendered “bottomless pit.” In Isa. 44:27, what in the Septuagint is abssos, or
abyss, is in the Hebrew tzulah “deep;” and is explained in Jer. 50:38 and
51:36, of Babylon’s power, which is also likened to a dragon therein. Hence, in
Daniel’s time, the eagle-winged lion of Babylon was the dragon of the great
sea, or abyss, so long as its dominion extended to the Mediterranean; but when
it lost that jurisdiction, then its “sea,” or abyss, was said to be “dried up.”
Abyss
is frequently used in the Greek version as synonymous with sea. The following
passages show this sense of the word abussos. In Job 38:30 - “the face of the
abyss is frozen;” 41:31, “he maketh the abyss to boil like a pot; he maketh the
sea like a pot of ointment.” In Isa. 63:13, where is he “that led them through
the abyss” by the hand of Moses? It is manifest that there is nothing
bottomless in the abyss as used in these texts.
In
Rom. 10:7, abyss is used by Paul in asking, “Who shall descend into the abyss?”
in the C.V. deep: and he tells us what sense he attaches to the word in letting
us know the purpose of the descent - “that is,” says he, “to bring up Christ
again from among dead ones, ek nekron.” This is an abyss which is “never full;”
still bottom can be reached when “there shall be no more death, and the grave
shall be destroyed. In this use of the word, abyss does not signify “the
invisible receptacle of departed spirits,” but the common receptacle of dead
bodies; or more strictly speaking, the aggregate of dead bodies themselves.
These are a sea of death, which when living were “a troubled sea, whose waters
cast up mire and dirt” - Isa. 57:20.
The
apocalyptic abyss is this troubled sea of nations, inhabiting the
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countries
circumiacent to the Great Sea; and out of which Daniel’s four beasts arose.
Arabia is physically and politically “the pit” of this “abyss”- physically,
because it is a sandy sea-bottom; and politically, because its tribes may be
regarded as the lowest, or worst of the peoples of the east. The key of the
abyss, that is brought down from heaven by the binding angel, is power to
suppress the Dragon-Government, and to destroy the Beast-Polity of the abyss,
or sea - Apoc. 13:1: and to maintain its suppression for a thousand years. The
abolition of the Dragon-Government will be the reduction of all its officials
in church and state to the common level of mankind; and the depriving them of
all power to recover the position lost during that long period. Thus, they will
be commingled with the waters of the great national abyss - they will have been
“cast into the abyss, and shut up, and sealed” with such a mark of divine
reprobation, that they will be able to deceive the nations by their
hypocritical pretensions, and blasphemous projects, no more for ages.
What
a different key is this to the key of the pit! This key is power given to one
to open the pit to let out clouds of tormentors and destroyers. Their mission
is not to deliver the nations from official and clerical deceivers; but to
torment and injure these blind leaders, and those who are blindly led by them.
These all “have not the seal of the Deity in their foreheads; “ and were
therefore obnoxious to the stinging calamities inflicted by the bold,
licentious, and ferocious swarms emergent from the smoke-clouds of the flaming
pit.
4. The Smoke of the Pit
Until
the power of the Prophet-King, or Star, was matured in “the pit of the abyss,”
the pit was shut; so that neither “smoke” nor “locusts” could issue forth upon
“the earth” to torment and destroy the unsealed. The furnace was roaring with
flaming blast in the pit, from which nothing could come forth until the
acquisition of undisputed authority and power by the star. This he at length
acquired; for it is testified, that “he opened the pit of the abyss.” He had
become a powerful star, ruling over the kingdom of the pit, styled
historically, the kingdom of Arabia; the armies of which no longer in a state
of civil war, but united under the yellow banner of the star, were prepared to
rush through the opened portals of the pit, and to invade the world at large.
And
invade it they did; for when the pit was opened, smoke poured out in columns
vast enough to darken the sun and the air. “Smoke” when considered as
proceeding from fire, signifies punishment and war. Thus Sodom and Gomorrah,
and all the cities of the plain, were situated in the pit of the abyss; and
when they were destroyed, “the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a
furnace.” Here, the smoke became
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representative
of their judgment. It is the adjunct of anger, as in Deut. 29:20, “The anger of
Yahweh shall smoke against that man;” and in Psa.
74:1,
“0 God, why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?” Smoke
arising out of a pit, and darkening the sun and air, is symbolical of divine
anger and wrath against the things represented by “the sun and air.” In ch.
9:18, the men obnoxious to the sixth trumpet woe, are said to be “killed by the
fire, by the smoke, and by the brimstone.” In ch. 14:11, smoke is associated
with torment as “the smoke of their tor-ment ascendeth to the aions of the
aions; and they have no rest day nor night;” and inch. 15:8, “the temple was
filled with smoke from the glory of the Deity and from his power;” that is the
wrath contained in the seven vials, and which in its seventh vial consummation
comes for the destruction of the destroyers of the earth - ch. 11:18.
. The Sun And Air Darkened By The Smoke
The
sun is here the symbol of the same imperial majesty as that which was darkened
in its third by the judgments of the fourth trumpet. The darkened third had
recovered its light in the process of reannexing Italy and Africa to the
Byzantine, Greek, or Constantinopolitan, empire in the reign of Justinian. The
“deadly wound” the Sixth Head had received, had been “healed;” and its affairs
restored to order in Italy by the Pragmatic Sanction, A.D. 554. The sun now
shining forth, “the third of the day and of the night,” then recovered their
brightness. The sun, therefore, now shone upon Italy, Africa, Egypt, Palestine,
Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and the islands of the sea. “The rest of the men not
killed by” the fifth and sixth trumpet plagues, were found in Spain, Gaul,
Britain, Germany, &c. When the sun was darkened by the smoke of the pit,
its light, or power, was quenched in the countries of “the earth” where the
locusts of the smoke established themselves.
Not
only was the sun darkened, but “the air” likewise. In the darkening of the
Roman luminaries by the fourth trumpet “the air” remained unaffected. In
symbolic language, the air denotes the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of
the world. This constitution was not changed when the Seventh Head superseded
the Sixth in Rome. It still continued catholic. The Gothic kingdom of Italy was
a catholic monarchy administered by Arian catholic kings, who distributed civil
and ecclesiastical offices both to Arian and Trinitarian members of the
apostasy. But when the smoke of the pit darkened “the air” all this was changed
where its locusts tormented the unsealed. The aerial constitution became
Arabian. Place and power, in the conquered countries, were only for the locusts
of the smoke; so that if a catholic idolater
88 EXPOSITION
OF THE APOCALYPSE.
would
retain office, he must become a convert to the new superstition, which so
darkened the air politically, that the rays of the spirituals of wickedness in
the Byzantine heaven, could not pass through it for the illumination of their
co-religionists in scorpion-like torment.
In
Apoc. 16:17, “the air” is also the recipient of judgment. But in this instance,
on a much larger scale. The course of the whole world will be changed; so that
every political island and mountain will be abolished. The civil and
ecclesiastical constitutions of all the states and kingdoms will be superseded
by “the law that goes forth from Zion,” which will become “the air” in which
clouds of saints will meet the Lord, and so be ever with him (1 Thess. 4:17).
When the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Yahweh and his Anointed,
“the wise” will be the embodiment of “the air” or firmament; for “they that be
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament” (Dan. 12:3). No smoke of
the pit, or wrath of vials, will ever darken, or abolish them. They will
al-ways be bright and clear, and give transmission to the healing rays of the
Sun of Righteousness, as his kings and priests over the subject nations of the
earth.
6. “Out of the Smoke Came Forth Locusts
Into The Earth”
“Locusts,”
says Daubuz, “begin to appear in spring, about a month after the equinox, and
are only seen at most during five months. They are wont to arise in such vast
companies, that they form a kind of cloud which eclipses the sun and darkens
the sky; and make so great a noise with their wings as that, according to some,
the sound thereof may be heard at six miles distant. Wherever they fall they
make a most terrible havoc of all the fruits of the earth; and therefore the
people, when they see them flying, are in the greatest consternation. Pliny
says, “That they were looked upon as a plague proceeding from the wrath of the
gods.”
The
head of the locust resembles that of the horse; and therefore the Italians, who
are often troubled with them, call them cavalette, as it were little horses.
“The
Arabians, who know them well, say that the locusts have the thigh of a camel,
the legs of an ostrich, the wings of an eagle, the breast of a lion, their
tails are like a viper’s, and the appearance of horns adorns their heads and
countenance.” As to the teeth of the locusts, Pliny observes that “nothing can
resist them.” For the reasons above given, locusts are the symbol of an army of
enemies coming in great multitudes, with great speed and swiftness to make an
excursion in order to plunder and destroy.
“It
is further to be observed, that locusts are generated in the pits of the earth,
out of which the new progeny arises in the spring.” Volney ob-
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89
(Pictures
on page 89 of Locusts not shown)
The
Locusts (Revelation 9)
The
devastation caused by a plague of locusts is depicted by these illustrations.
The tree above was quickly denuded of all foliage in a very short time. The
photo below illustrates the extent of locust swarms during a plague.
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90
serves,
that “the inhabitants of Syria have remarked that locusts come constantly from
the desert of Arabia.” Indeed, etymologically, an Arab and a locust are almost
the same in radicals, and in pronunciation -arbeh, signifying a locust; and
arbi, an Arab. In Judg. 6:5, in the original, the locust is used to designate
the number and character of invading Arab hosts - “they (the Midianite Arabs
and children of the east) came as locusts for multitude.” In a work styled
Mohammedanism Unveiled, the writer says: “In the Bedouin Romance of Antar, the
locust is introduced as the national emblem of the Ishmaelites.” He adds: “It
is a remarkable coincidence with these illustrative facts, that Mohammedan
tradition speaks of locusts having dropped into the hands of Mohammed, bearing
on their wings their inscription, We are
the army of the Great God’.”
The
Saracen Locusts
A
drawing illustrating the symbolism of the locusts. A bad plague will darken the
sun like smoke (Rev.9:2). The appearance of locusts is so like that of horses
that Italians call them cavelette - cavalry (see Rev.9:7).
It
is evident from the entomology of the insect, that the apocalyptic locusts were
not literally such. The locusts of the first woe had faces of men, and tresses
as those of women, and a king over them. These and other characteristics show
that they were armies of men, whose main force consisted of cavalry,
invincible, licentious, and tormenting; analogous in their destructive
operations to clouds of locusts. They were fitly styled locusts as coming from
Arabia, the native country of the locust, whose name, with the change of a
single letter as arabah for arbeh, signifies a desert- the Arab desert between
the Dead and Red Seas. As of the locust so of the “scorpion,” whose native
locality was considered by the Jews to be the Arabian desert. And they had good
reason for this; for they were reminded by Moses on emerging from it, that it
was “a great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and
scorpions.” “And who know not,” says Elliott, “if facts so notorious be worth
mentioning, that it is Arabia, still Arabia, that is regarded by naturalists as
the original country of the horse; and its wildernesses are the haunts also of
the lion. The entomology of the hieroglyphic is all Arabian.”
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7. “Power Was Given To the Locusts As The
Scorpions Of The Earth Have Power.”
The
bite or sting of the scorpion is generally fatal. Hence, the power of the
locusts was a fatal power. They had scorpion-like tails, and in these tails was
some of their power for destruction. But scorpion-like tails and Stings were
only symbolical of something analogous thereto. In Gibbon, I find the following
solution of the mystery. “A Roman knight,” says he, “who despised the swords
and lances of the Saracens, relates his own fears at the sight and sound of the
mischievous engines that discharged a torrent of the Saracen fire. ‘It came
flying through the air,’ says Joinville, ‘like a winged, long-tailed dragon,
about the thickness of a hogshead, with the report of thunder and the velocity
of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dispelled by the deadly
illumination. The use of the Saracen fire, or, as it was afterwards called, the
Greek fire, was continued to the middle of the 14th century, when
the scientific or casual compound of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal effected a
new revolution in the art of war and the history of mankind. An Arab writer in the Escurial collection,
about the year 1249, thus speaks of what Joinville styles “a winged,
long-tailed dragon,” used by the Saracens: “The scorpions,” says he,
“surrounded and ignited by nitrated powder, glide along like serpents, with a
humming noise, and, when exploded, they blaze brightly and burn. Now, to behold
the matter expelled was as a cloud extended through the air, which gave forth a
dreadful crash like thunder vomiting fire on every side, and breaking down,
burning, and reducing all things to ashes.”
8. Chaplets Like to Gold
The
use of this tormenting Saracen fire constituted the resemblance of the Arabs to
scorpion-tailed locusts. Besides this, they had other remarkable “resemblances”
in their equipment for war. They had, as it were, “chaplets like to gold” - hos
stephanoi. This was only an homoioma - resemblance - not literal golden
circlets. They would be yellow so as to bear a resemblance to gold. They had a
yellow headgear. Ezekiel, inch. 23:42, describes the head-dress of the Sabean
and Keturite Arabs by atereth, rendered in Greek by stephanon, as “Sabeans from
the wilderness, who put beautiful stephans or wreaths upon their heads” that
is, turbans. It was a usual Saying among them that Allah had bestowed four
peculiar things upon the Arabs; and that one of them was, that their turbans
should be to them instead of diadems. “Make a point,” said their prophet, “of wearing
turbans, because it is the way of angels.”
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9. Faces As The Faces Of Men
Another
resemblance of the locusts was that “they had faces as faces of men.” This
distinguished them from the Goths and other kindred barbarian hordes; the faces
of these being noticed by Jerome, who was contemporary with their earliest
invasions, as having faces shaven and smooth, like women’s faces. The beard was
not always worn by the Romans. From Nero to Hadrian, the imperatorial custom
was to have the beard shaven; from Hadrian to Constantine, unshaven;
after-wards (with the exception of Julian), down to Phocas, shaven. But the
locusts did not shave. They wore beards, and so vindicated their relationship
to the bearded race, and their antagonism to all shaven crowns.
Pliny,
who was contemporary with John, speaks of the Arabs as wearing the turban,
having the hair long and uncut, with the mustache on the upper lip, or the
beard, that “venerable sign of manhood,” as Gibbon, in Arab phraseology, calls
it. In the age immediately preceding the great Saracen irruption, in the poem,
Antar, the Arabs are portrayed with mustache and beard, long hair flowing on
the shoulder (“hair as the tresses of women,” which the Greeks regarded as
shameful), and the turban also.
10. “Their Teeth Were As Of Lions”
This
indicated their ferocity. Nothing could successfully resist them in their
ravening upon the prey. The Star styled his first vizier, Ah, the Lion of God.
“Who,” says Mohammed, “will be my Vizier and Lieutenant?” “0 prophet,” replied
Ali, “I am the man. Whoever rises against thee, I will dash out his teeth, tear
out his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly. 0 prophet, I will be thy
Vizier.” “These words,” says Hallam, “are, as it were, a text upon which the
commentary expands into the whole Saracenic history.” The spirit of Ali was the
spirit of the lion, and became the spirit of the hosts he led to battle, who
were equally entitled with him to the appellation of the lions of God.
11. “And They Had Breasts As It Were Breasts
of Iron”
In
this the thing covered is put for the covering. In the poem Antar, as quoted by
Elliott, the steel or iron cuirasses of the Arab warriors are frequently
noticed; as, “a warrior immersed in steel armor;” “15,000 men armed with
cuirasses, and well accoutered for war;” they were “clothed in iron armor and
brilliant cuirasses;” “out of the dust appeared horsemen clad in iron.” In the
Koran, among God’s gifts to the Arabs, their coats of mail for defense are
specially mentioned; as, “God
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hath
given you coats of mail to defend you in your wars.” The Saracen policy was the
wearing of defensive armor. The breastplate of iron, as symbolized by their
iron breasts, was a descriptive feature answering literally to the Arab
warriors of the sixth and seventh centuries.
12. The Two Periods of Five Months each
The
locusts were to torment the men of the catholic apostasy in church and state
“five months” ver 5 they were also to
“injure” them for “five months”-ver. 10. This is, of course, symbolic time. The
fitness of things requires that the time allotted for symbolic action should be
expressed symbolically and analogically. The entomology of the hieroglyphic
required that it should be five months, and not ten; because locusts are only
seen at most five months, namely, part of April, May, June, July, and August,
with part of September. Yet it would seem that they could not do all the
tormenting and injuring they were appointed to do against “the shaven crowns”
and their deluded votaries in one season of five months, but in two seasons.
The decorum of the symbols, therefore, rejected the record of ten months, and
required the time to be expressed symbolically twice by “five months.” This
period is 150 days, and upon the principle of a day for a year, which is the
basis of the symbolic times of the apocalypse, represents 150 years. Hence, the
locusts were to torment with scorpion torment “the men” of the apostasy until
the end of 150 years; and they were to injure “the rest of the men” not
included in the eastern or Byzantine third, which was politically “killed by
the plagues” of the first and second woes, jintil another 150 years should have
expired. So that the sounding of the fifth trumpet would continue to harass the
men destitute of intelligence in the truth, for not less than 300 years. A
period to be dated from the commencement of the tormentation or military
operation of the locusts in the Roman earth. A.D. 632-33
13. “And They Had Over Them A King”
“The
locusts,” says Solomon, “have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.”
As we must not set scripture against scripture, these opposite sayings
concerning locusts must be interpreted so as to harmonize. The apocalyptic
locusts who had a king are not literal locusts, as some ignorantly affirm who
deny the symbolic character of the apocalypse. John records the truth of the
locusts he saw in vision; and Solomon writes the truth concerning literal
locusts. These have no king; but John’s had, and he was apocalyptically named
“the Angel of the Abyss;” not the angel of the Pit of the Abyss, but of the
abyss at large.
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The
locust king-power is styled angel, because it was a messenger of heaven against
the unsealed a destroying angel-power;
and, there-fore, named Abaddon, and Apollyon, names which signify in English,
DESTROYER. The locust king-power was the destroyer of “the abyss” -“the
dwellers upon the earth,” against whom the woe-plague was commissioned, and in
the midst of whom it scattered destruction for three hundred years. In history,
the succession of men who reigned over the locusts are styled CALIPHS and
Commanders of the Faithful.
14. Abaddon - Apollyon
But
why are we informed that the destroying power is called “Abaddon in Hebrew, and
Apollyon in Greek,” and not told what it would be called in Latin, or any other
tongue? The answer is, because it was commissioned primarily and chiefly
against the countries to which the Hebrew and Greek belonged. We are not told
what its name was in Latin, because it was not sent against Italy to “torment”
the Italians. It was the Greek empire, which included Palestine and Syria, upon
which the locusts were to fall with their most destructive energy.
There
is another instance where our attention is claimed to the name of a thing “in
the Hebrew,” and for the same reason. Inch. 16:16, the sixth angel-power
gathers the kings of the earth and of the whole habitable, “into the place
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” This is equivalent to saying that
Armageddon is in the land where Hebrew was wont to be spoken. So “the abyss,”
where the destroying angel was to torment, was the Holy Land and the Greek
empire, in which he would help to “set up an abomination making desolate 1,290
years” (Dan. 12:11).
“THE
death” which “THE men” of the apostasy so earnestly desired (ver. 6) was not
natural death. This death did not flee from them, but pursued them on every
side, and overtook them by thousands. It was “the death” which could only be
arrived at by the woe-plagues of the sixth trumpet, which was for the slaying
of “the third of the men” of the catholic world. It was political death they
desired, the bitterness of which they had not experienced. Subject to this,
they hoped to find peace and protection from the conqueror, who would cease to
torment and injure them as enemies and foreigners to his rule and institutions.
“The death” at length came in aftertimes; and, when it came, it reduced “the
men” of the Greek catholic superstition and empire to the condition of Rayahs -
mere dogs and slaves in the estimation of their Ottoman superiors. In the depth
of this abyss, they have been prostrated without political life for upwards of
four hundred years. This is their present condition, and will so continue to
be, until “Yahweh shall have bent
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Judah
for himself, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion,
against thy sons, 0 Greece, and made Zion as the sword of a mighty man.” This
will change the situation, and be “life from the dead,” not to the Greeks only,
but “to the world” (Zech. 9:13; Rom. 11:15).
II. SYNTHETIC EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST WOE
In
the previous section, I have analyzed in detail the symbols of the first
woe-trumpet. I have resolved them severally into the things they signify. In this
section, I shall put their significations together, and thereby show what the
apostle predicted if he had recorded what he saw in plain unsymbolical terms.
This is what I mean by a synthetic exposition of the first woe.
1. “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw
one who had acquired power, and become a king, precipitate the forces of his
kingdom upon the territory of the eastern Roman empire. And to this king was
yielded the power of Arabia. 2. And he removed the barriers by which Arabia was
shut up from the world without, and a fiery host issued forth, and, by reason
of the smoking fierceness of their wrath, subverted the imperial Byzantine
authority, and changed the political aerial constitution of the catholic
countries they overrun.
3. “The wrathful hosts that invaded the
eastern Roman empire were Arabians like locusts for multitude; and they had
power fatal as the power of scorpions. 4. And it was commanded them by one,
styled the Commander of the Faithful, that they should not hurt the grass of the
earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only those men who have not the
truth of the Deity in their understandings. 5. And to the Arabians it was given
that they should not extinguish the sovereignty of these men, but that they
should be tormented in war during one hundred and fifty years, with a
scorpion-like torment.
6. “And in those days shall these ignorant
professors of christianity seek political extinction, and shall not find it;
and shall earnestly desire to be a conquered people, and political death by
conquest shall flee from them.
“And
the resemblances of these Arabians when embattled exhibit them as cavalry
prepared for war; and on their heads they wore yellow turbans;
and their faces were bearded, and they had
long flowing hair like the tresses of women; and their spirit was ferocious as
lions.
And they had on polished steel cuirasses; and
the sound of the right and left wings of their armies were of multitudes of
cavalry rushing into battle.
10
And they trailed in their rear, or tails of their hosts, scorpion-artillery for
destruction; and their power to hurt the rest of men westward was also one
hundred and fifty years.
11. “And they had over them a king styled a
CALIPH, the Messenger of Destruction among the subjects of the eastern Roman
empire, or ‘the abyss.’ In the land of the Hebrew, he earned the name Abaddon,
or Destroyer; and in the land of the Greek, that of Apollyon, which signifies
the same.
12. “One woe, that of the fifth trumpet, is
passed away after three
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hundred
years; and, behold, there come two woes more before the consummation - the
sixth and seventh trumpets, after these things.”
III. HISTORICAL EXPOSITION
1. Origin of the Star
Justinian
was invested with the majesty of the Sixth Head of the Dragon, or in other
words, clothed with the sun, during a reign upon the Constantinopolitan throne
of thirty-eight years, from A.D. 527 to A.D. 565. The triple scourge of war,
pestilence, and famine afflicted his subjects, and “his reign is disgraced,”
says Gibbon, “by a visible decrease of the human species, which has never been
repaired in some of the fairest countries of the globe.”
After
Justinian’s death the Byzantine throne was occupied by Justin II., Tiberius
II., Maurice, Phocas, and Heraclius. Phocas reigned from A.D. 602 to A.D. 610;
and his successor Heraclius till A.D. 642. It was in the reign of Heraclius
that the fifth trumpet began to sound; and that “the abomination of desolation”
established itself as the normal condition of things in the Holy Land.
The
events transpiring in the Pit of the Abyss until it was opened by the Star,
were contemporaneous with the first twenty-three years of the reign of
Heraclius. Mohammed, who was the principal agent in the development of the Star-Power,
began his career at Mecca, A.D. 609, by proclaiming the unity of God, and his
own apostleship. In three years he had made fourteen proselytes; and in 613,
assumed the prophetic office. On this occasion he said: “Friends and kinsmen, I
offer you, and I alone can offer, the most precious of gifts, the treasures of
this world, and of the world to come. God has commanded me to call you to this
service. Who among you will support my brethren?” His uncle, Abu Taleb, tried
to turn him from what he considered his impracticable design. “Spare your
remonstrances,” rejoined Mohammed; “if they should place the sun on my right
hand, and the moon on my left, they should not divert me from my course.” Like
Alexander and the Napoleons, first and third, he felt within an impulse
irresistible, which impelled him blindly upon a course, which had been marked
out for him to run in the preparation of a power, that should torment and
destroy the corrupters and enemies of the truth.
For
ten years after, he labored in Mecca to turn the Arabs from idolatry to the
belief and worship of a sole Deity. “Citizens and pilgrims,” said Abu Taleb,
“listen not to the tempter, hearken not to his impious novelties. Stand fast in
the worship of Al Lata and Al Uzzah.”
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Nevertheless,
Abu Taleb, the prince of the republic of Mecca, protected his person from
violence. The leaders of the people repeatedly reproached him for this. “Thy
nephew,” said they, “reviles our religion; he accuses our wise forefathers of
ignorance and folly; silence him quickly, lest he kindle tumult and disorder in
the city. If he persevere, we shall draw our swords against him and his
adherents, and thou shalt be responsible for the blood of thy fellowcitizens.”
On
the death of Abu Taleb, and the accession of Abu Sophian, a zealous votary of
the idols, protection was withdrawn from the deserter and denier of the gods of
Arabia; and Mohammed found it necessary to take flight from Mecca, accompanied
by Abubeker who afterwards succeeded him, and to seek refuge in Medina. The
flight of Mohammed occurred A.D. 622, and has fixed the memorable era of the
Hegira, which still discriminates the lunar years of the Mohammedan nations.
On
his establishment in Medina, this Unitarian Prophet assumed the exercise of the
regal and sacerdotal office. He was now a Pontiff-King in the Pit of the Abyss,
rising into great power and dominion, like that other Pontiff-King in Rome, who
was at the same time, as the spiritual chief of the image-worshippers of “the
abyss,” assuming divine supremacy over “the earth.” Of the two, Mohammed was,
doubtless, less of an impostor than the prophet of the west. The pope is an
idolater, and the prince of idolaters; but the Prince of Medina among his
companions was the champion of the Divine Unity; and the uncompromising enemy
of idolatry in every form. He was now “a star in the heaven,” where he shone
without a rival till A.D. 632. After a reign of six years,
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fifteen hundred Moslems, in
arms and in the field, renewed their oath of allegiance. The deputy of Mecca
witnessed the review, and was astonished at the devout fervor of his
attendants. “I have seen,” said he, ‘the Chosroes of Persia and the Caesars of
Rome, but never did I behold a king among his subjects like Mohammed among his
companions.”
2. The Pit Becomes A Burning Furnace
The
choice of an independent people had exalted the fugitive of Mecca to the rank
of a sovereign; so that he was now invested with the prerogative of forming
alliances, and of waging offensive or defensive war. In other words, being now
the Star of the Pit he possessed the power of kindling within its limits a
burning furnace, in which might be melted down into one homogeneous mass, all
the tribes of Arabia. This was the arduous work before Mohammed in the last
years of his reign -to eradicate idolatry, subdue the Jews, and to conquer the
Arabs, so as to unite all under his standard. His former moderation, the effect
of weakness, was superseded by a fiercer and more sanguinary tone; and he gave
out that he was commanded to propagate his religion by the sword, to destroy
the monuments of idolatry, and to pursue the unbelieving nations of the earth.
The martial prophet fought in person at nine battles, or sieges; and fifty
enterprises of war were achieved in ten years by himself or lieutenants. “The
Key of the Pit of the Abyss was given to him;” nor was he ignorant of the
nature of the key bestowed upon him. “The sword,” said he, “is the key of
heaven and of hell.
It
was not long before the fire was kindled in the furnace of the pit. The battle
of Beder, A.D. 623, was the spark that set the fuel all ablaze. This led to the
battle of Ohad, six miles north of Medina. In this, Mohammed was wounded. In
A.D. 625, Medina was besieged by the troops of Mecca, but without capture; and
on retiring, the enemy no longer hoped to subvert the throne, or to check the
conquests, of the invincible exile.
By
exciting and joining in this attack upon Medina, the Jews of Arabia brought
upon themselves the fierce wrath of the Star of the Pit. The fiery furnace he
had kindled consumed them. Their castles were reduced, and Chaibar, the seat of
the Jewish power in Arabia, submitted to the yoke. Under the reign of Omar, the
Jews of Chaibar were transplanted to Syria; in justification of which he
alleged the dying injunction of Mohammed, that only the one true religion
should be professed in his native land Arabia.
The
attack upon Medina was retaliated upon Mecca. Mohammed assembled ten thousand
soldiers for its conquest. The idolaters being
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hopeless
of success, surrendered at discretion. Their prince, the haughty Abu Sophian,
presented the keys of the city, observing, that the son of Abdallah had
acquired a mighty kingdom, and confessing, under the scimitar of Omar, that he
was the Apostle of the true God. Mohammed forgave the guilt, and united the
factions of Mecca. The chiefs of the idolaters were prostrate at his feet.
“What mercy,” said he, “can you expect from the man whom you have wronged?” “We
confide in the generosity of our kinsman.” “And you shall not confide in vain:
begone! you are safe, you are free!” The people of Mecca deserved their pardon
by the profession of Islam; and after an exile of seven years, the fugitive
missionary was enthroned as the prince and prophet of his native country.
The
conquest of Mecca determined the faith and obedience of the Arabian tribes. Yet
an obstinate remnant still adhered to the idolatry and liberty of their
ancestors. Four thousand pagans descended into the valley of Honain hoping to
take the prophet at disadvantage. At first, the battle prevailed against the
Moslems, and their prophet greatly endangered; “0 my brethren,” he repeatedly
cried with sorrow and indignation, “I am the son of Abdallah, I am the apostle
of truth! 0 man, stand fast in the faith! 0 God, send down thy succor!” The
flying Moslems returned from all sides to the holy standard. The tide of battle
had turned against the idolators, which Mohammed, standing in his stirrups to
overlook the conflict, perceiving, clapped his hands with joy, and exclaimed,
“at last the fire is kindled in the furnace.” His conduct and example had
restored the battle, and he animated his victorious troops to inflict a
merciless revenge.
From
the field of Honain, he marched to the siege of Tayef, sixty miles southeast of
Mecca. After a siege of twenty days; he sounded a retreat, but he retreated
with a song of devout triumph, and affected to pray for the repentance and
safety of the unbelieving city. He was followed by the deputies of Tayef, who
dreaded the repetition of the siege. “Grant us, 0 apostle of God, a truce of
three years, with the toleration of our ancient worship.” “Not a month, not an
hour.” “Excuse us at least from the obligation of prayer.” “Without prayer
religion is of no avail.” They submitted in silence; their temples were
demolished, and the same sentence of destruction was executed on all the idols
of Arabia. His lieutenants, on the shores of the Red Sea, the ocean, and the
gulph of Persia, were saluted by the acclamations of a believing people. Thus,
the fiery wars of this “great furnace” of the pit destroyed idolatry, and
brought the Arab nation to submit to the God and sceptre of Mohammed. The sword
of Arabia was the sword of God, forged and sharpened for judgment upon the
idolators of Syria and Greece. Hitherto, the Pit
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of the Abyss was closed. The
wars raging within were internal fires, whose smoke had not drifted toward the
west. The star-power that had kindled the furnace, had first to subdue all enemies
within the pit of the abyss, before it could issue forth, and precipitate its
incendiary fires upon the nations of the abyss itself.
The key-sword of power was
not only given to the Star of the Pit, but he was to use it in opening the pit.
The fact that the reigning star power in the heaven did open the pit, the
manner in which he opened it, and in what sense the smoke arose from the pit,
and locusts issued out of it “into the earth,” as the falling of the star
therein - is illustrated by what follows.
When
Heraclius, emperor of the Roman world, returned victorious from the Persian
war, A.D. 629, Mohammed having conquered and converted the idolators of Arabia,
and thereby united them into one kingdom, judged that the time had come to
invite the princes and nations of the Catholic Idolatry to abandon the worship
of images and demons, commonly known among the ignorant as the ghosts of dead
men and women. He beheld with great disgust and contempt the condition of the
catholic apostasy from the religion of Christ. He saw what Gibbon relates. “The
christians” (!) says he, “of the seventh century had relapsed into a semblance
of paganism; their public and private vows were addressed to the relics and
images that disgraced the temples of the east: The throne of the Almighty was
darkened by a cloud of martyrs, saints, and angels, the objects of popular
veneration; and the Collyridion heretics who flourished in the fruitful soil of
Arabia, invested the Virgin
MAP
OF MUSLIM CONQUESTS PG 100 NOT SHOWN
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101
Mary
with the name and honors of a goddess.” In the Koran, or Mohammedan Bible, ch.
5., the catholics of the Roman empire are distinctly charged with worshipping
the Virgin Mary as God; and in ch. 9, it is said of the priests and monks
specifically: “Very many of the priests and monks devour the substance of men
in vanity, and obstruct the way of God.” This referred to their fraudulent
gains by the sale, exhibition, and false miracles attached to relics. Mohammed
was right; these shaven crowns “obstructed the way of God,” as the clergy of
all orders and degree in “christendom” have been doing, and are doing, ever
since, even to this day. Though originally an ignorant pagan Arab, and
afterwards but imperfectly instructed in the scriptures, he had become wiser
than the whole catholic world. He not only spurned the gods of his native land,
but he vindicated the Divine Unity against “the infidels” who darkened the
Almighty’s throne by the senseless objects of their disgraceful and
demoralizing superstition. Being the providentially developed military apostle
of the Divine Unity, he offered all idolators, or worshippers of demons, the
alternative of conversion and peace, or idolatry and war. Hearing of the
presence of the Roman emperor at Emesa, he sent an ambassador to him, and
invited him to the profession of Islam. At first their intercourse was
amicable, but their friendship proved of short continuance. One of his envoys
had been murdered; and the rapacious spirit of the Saracens - the lion tooth
characteristic of the locusts - in-flamed by the new religion, or smoking in
the pit, burned to be avenged. The murder afforded their star-King a decent
pretext for gratifying it; and he forthwith ordered the invasion of the
territory of Palestine east-ward of the Jordan, A.D. 630. A small force of
three thousand Saracens encountered the Roman army at Muta. After losing three
generals, they effected a safe retreat under Caled, who afterwards was renowned
as “the Sword of God.” This was the first military action that tried the valor
of the Moslems against a foreign enemy. It was an opening of the pit; the
initiation only of the enterprise in which the forces of the Star may be said
to have got the worst of it.
Mohammed
now solemnly proclaimed war against the Romans. The Moslems were discouraged.
They alleged the intolerable heat of the summer. “Hell,” said the indignant
prophet, “is much hotter.” He advanced at the head of ten thousand horse, and
twenty thousand foot. After a painful march, in which they suffered much from
lassitude and thirst, aggravated by the scorching and pestilential winds of the
desert, they arrived at Tabuc, midway between Medina and Damascus. Beyond this
he did not advance. Caled, however, spread around the terror of his name, and
the prophet received the submission of the tribes and cities, from the
Euphrates to Ailah, at the head of the Red Sea. The power,
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102 .
styled
by Schlegel, “the new power of hell, “was still restricted to “the pit of the
abyss.” An expedition against Syria had been set in motion, but was arrested in
its march at Medina, by the death of Mohammed in that city, A.D. 632.
Mohammed
was succeeded in the throne of the kingdom of Arabia by the venerable Abubeker,
who was now “Successor of the prophet, Caliph, and Commander of the Faithful.”
But the death of Mohammed was the signal of independence; and Abubeker found
himself the chief of a power and religion which tottered to its foundations. He
forthwith assembled an army of forty thousand men to subdue the rebellion,
which sought the reestablishment of the old idolatry. Thus the furnace was
rekindled in the pit of the abyss, and smoke ascended toward the heaven. After
exhorting the Moslems to confide in the aid of God and his apostle, Abubeker attacked
the idolators vigorously. Though unsuccessful at first, he at length broke the
power of the rebels, who, without chief or cause, were suppressed by the power
and discipline of the rising monarchy; and the whole nation again possessed,
and more steadfastly held, the religion of the Koran.
4. The Smoke and Locusts Ascend Out Of The
Pit
The
time had now arrived for the Star-Kingdom-Power of the Arabian Pit to “fall
into the earth,” and to open it completely and permanently for the egress of
the smoke with its clouds of locusts, for “the darkening of the sun and the
air.” At this crisis, as we learn from the fourth verse of the chapter under
consideration, “it was commanded them (the smoke issuing locusts) that they
should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree; but
those men only who have not the seal of the Deity in their foreheads.” This is
explained by what follows. Abubeker, who was the first caliph, by his victory
over the rebels had restored the unity of the faith and government; and he now
resolved, A.D. 632, to provide immediate exercise for the restless spirit of
the Saracens, in the prosecution of a holy war. He accordingly dispatched a
circular to the locusts of the pit, saying: “This is to acquaint you that I
intend to send the true believers into Syria, to take it out of the hands of
the infidels” (or to darken their sun and air); “and I would have you know that
the fighting for religion is an act of obedience to God.”
The
summons was responded to by numerous intrepid bands of Saracens, who flocked to
the camp at Medina, where they were re-viewed by the Caliph. In his
instructions to the chiefs of the army, he said: “Remember that you are always
in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment,
and the hope of Paradise. Avoid injustice and Oppression; consult with your
brethren, and study
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103
to
preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When you fight the battles of the
Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your
victory be stained with the blood of women or children. Destroy no palm trees,
nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to
cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article,
stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some
religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to
serve God that way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy their
monasteries. And you will find another sort of people that belong to the
synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns.’ be sure you cleave their skulls,
and give them no quarter till they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute. ~”
These shaven crowns of the synagogue of Satan were THE MEN WHO HAD NOT THE SEAL
OF GOD IN THEIR FOREHEADS; and the alternative of death by the sword,
conversion, or tribute, was the “torment” to which they were to be subjected
during “five months” of years.
5. The Sun And The Air Darkened
After these things, the earth was invaded, and
Damascus, the capital of Syria, attacked. An army of seventy thousand succors -
indifferently styled Syrians, from the place of their birth or warfare; Greeks,
from the religion and language of their sovereign; and Romans, from the
appellation still assumed by the successors of Constantine - were encountered
and dispersed; and, after a siege of seventy days, Damascus was taken by storm
and capitulation, A.D. 634. While being surrendered in one quarter, the city
was betrayed and taken by assault in the opposite. Caled, the Sword of God,
rushed in with his rapacious and sanguinary lion-toothed locusts. “No quarter,”
he cried, “no quarter to the enemies of the Lord;” his trumpets sounded, and a
torrent of Mariolatrous blood was poured into the streets of Damascus. A large
majority of the people accepted the terms of toleration and tribute offered by
Abu Obeidah, the general in chief; but Caled, “the lieutenant of the Commander
of the Faithful,” was for a general massacre. The fury of “the Sword of God”
was at length appeased; nevertheless he sternly declared that, after a respite
of three days, all who left the city as exiles, with Thomas, their valiant,
though unsuccessful defender, might be pursued and destroyed by the Moslems. On
the fourth day, he issued
·
Notwithstanding this precept, the Arabs are the implacable enemies of
the monks, who, in the seventh century, were generally ‘laymen.” They wore
their hair long and disheveled, and shaved their heads when they were ordained
priests. The circular tonsure was sacred and mysterious: it was the crown of
thorns; but it was likewise a royal diadem, and every priest was a king. This
will explain to the reader the origin of the phrase ‘shaven crowns,” which is
figurative of catholic priests.
Page
104
from
Damascus in pursuit. Having overtaken the promiscuous multitude of priests,
monks and citizens, encamped in a pleasant valley, in-sufficiently provided
with arms, and already vanquished by sorrow and fatigue, Caled and his cavalry
rushed upon them, smoking with fury. Except a captive who was pardoned and
dismissed, the Arabs enjoyed the satisfaction of believing that not a
Virgin-Mary worshipper of either sex escaped the edge of their scymitars.
Thus,
the Pit of the Abyss was effectually “opened” by the key-sword in the hand of
the first of the Caliphs. The “smoke of the pit” was curling and drifting over
“the earth” in the direction of the Great Sea. After the battle of Yermuk, the
conquest of Jerusalem, and then of Aleppo and Antioch, Heraclius fled from the
country, and bid an eternal farewell to Syria, which, A.D. 639, bowed under the
sceptre of the Caliphs seven hundred years after Pompey had despoiled the last
of the Macedonian kings. Thus, the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke
of the pit; and Syria, now become Arabian, became the seat and support of the
house “; Ommiyah; and the revenue, the soldiers, the ships of that powerful
kingdom were consecrated to enlarge on every side the empire of the
caliph-kings of the locusts, “the angel of the abyss,” the ABAD DON, in the
land of the Hebrew tongue.
But
the “torment” of the catholic worshippers of images and daemons was not to be
confined to the land of Israel; it was to extend to the countries where Greek
was the vernacular, and there the caliph-power was to be revealed as the most
potent and absolute of the globe. It was to torment with an intensity that
should acquire for it in Greek the name APOLLYON, the destroyer. In the ten
years of the administration of the caliph Omar, the Saracens reduced to his
obedience thirty-six thousand cities or castles, destroyed four thousand
churches or temples of the unbelievers, and erected fourteen hundred mosques
for the exercise of the religion of Mohammed. One hundred years after his
flight from Mecca, the arms and reign of “the Angel of the Abyss” extended from
India to the Atlantic Ocean, over the various and distant provinces which may
be comprised under the names of Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, and Spain. Their
armies, which consisted chiefly of cavalry and archers, advanced with the speed
of horses, and fought with the courage of lions; and it excites no little
perplexity in the mind of the historian to explain by what means the church and
state of the Roman world were saved from destruction by so invincible a foe.
But their preservation is attributable, not to the virtue, skill and power of
those establishments, but to the fact that “to them it was given that they
should not kill them.” the Greek Church and State were not to be broken up and
to become politically extinct; and therefore, though Constantinople was twice
be-
Page
105
sieged
by the Saracens, the first time for seven years, and the last for thirteen
months, they could not capture it, and abolish its dominion. They were not to
inflict political death upon the Byzantine Empire, which they would certainly
have done had they captured Constantinople. This consummation was reserved for
the Four Angel-Powers of the Euphrates, under the sixth trumpet. The horse-like
locusts were only to darken, torment, and injure, for a specific period; and
when this was passed, according to the analogy of the insects to which they
were likened, to settle down so as at length to be found no longer tormenting
“the earth.”
6. The Torment and Injury
The
words used by John with respect to their mission are basanizo, and adikeo. The
first is rendered torment, the last, injure. The Spirit, doubtless, intended
different ideas to be represented by the different words. They were to torment,
but not to kill. It is clear from this that killing was not an element of the
torment. Basanidso signifies to rub upon the touchstone, or basanos; hence, to
try the genuineness of a thing. The touchstone used by the Saracen Locusts was
“the Koran, tribute, or the sword.” They rubbed all the unsealed upon this; and
according to the result, was the genuineness, or true character, of the party
in their estimation. If they accepted the Koran, they were then fellowshipped as
devout Moslems, and subjected neither to tribute nor death; but if they
rejected the Koran, or refused to become Mohammedans, which was the same thing,
then they must either pay tribute or be put to death. Such a touchstone as this
could not seriously affect those who had the seal of the Deity in their
foreheads. The Saracens were particularly
(MAP PAGE 105 NOT SHOWN)
Page
106
favorable
to all who were persecuted by the constituted authorities of the Greeks. They
became their protectors and allies, not their tormentors. To the Saracen
touchstone they replied after this sort: “The Greeks are determined to abide
the determination of the sword; but with the Greeks we desire no communion,
either in this world or in the next, and we adjure forever the Byzantine
tyrant, his synod of Chalcedon, and his Melchite slaves. For ourselves, we are
resolved to live and die in the profession of the gospel and unity of Christ.
It is impossible for us to embrace the revelations of your prophet; but we are
desirous of peace, and cheerfully submit to pay tribute, and obedience to his
temporal successors.”
The
word adikeo contains no idea answerable to that of using a touchstone of any
kind. To injure, without defining how the injury should he inflicted, conveys all
the meaning of the word in the text. They were to apply the touchstone five
months of years; and they were to injure, or commit offensive operations, for
an equal length of time. This we shall find was the fact. Power to torment and
injure was divinely appointed to “the Angel of the Abyss” for three hundred
years; and beyond this limitation he could not destroy.
7. The Angel of the Abyss
The
locusts had a king over them, the Angel of the Abyss - not the angel of the pit
of the abyss, but of “the abyss” at large. The star was especially related to
“the pit”; and the Angel-king, to “the abyss. The star-power, as we have seen,
was the kingdom of Arabia before its forces were precipitated upon “the earth”;
while the Destroying Angel of the abyss was the Arabian Empire of the Caliphs,
which, but for the Star-power of the pit, would never have existed in the world
to torment and injure the nations of the abyss.
The caliphs united in their own persons the kingly
and priestly characters. The first caliph was Abubeker, who began to reign on
the death of Mohammed, A.D. 632. In A.D. 718, the end of the first century of
the Hegira, * the caliphs were the most potent and absolute monarchs of the
globe. They reigned by the right of conquest over the nations of the east.
Under the last of the Ommiades, the Arabian empire extended two hundred days’
journey from east to west, from the
The
Hegira, or Flight is the title given to the flight of Mohammed to Medina (then
called Yathrib) from the wrath of the merchants of the polytheistic idolators
of Mecca in A.D. 622. The Islamic calendar dates from 1 July of that year, as
indicated by the letters AH (Anno Hegirae). Thus A.D. 622 is AH 1 in Islamic
time. It is interesting to note that from that period of time 1260 added brings
to 1882, the year Britain occupied Egypt; 1290 brings to 1912 and the Balkan
wars which weakened Turkey; and 1335 brings to 1957 which followed the
successful Suez attack by Israel, and witnessed the signing of the Rome Treaty
that brought into existence the E.E.C. - Publishers.
Page `107
confines
of Tartary and India to the shores of the Atlantic ocean. In the year 750, a
revolution dethroned the caliphs of the house of Omniyah, styled the Omniades,
and set up in their stead the descendants of Abbas, uncle to Mohammed, and
known as the Abbasides. Hitherto, Damascus had been the throne of the Arabian
empire; but it was removed by Almansor to Bagdad, “the City of Peace,” on the
eastern bank of the Tigris, A.D. 762. This was a few miles beyond the old Roman
Euphratean frontier. War was now no longer the passion of the Saracens; their
stern enthusiasm was softened by time and prosperity, and it was no longer easy
to allure them by the hopes of spoil and of paradise. The luxury of the caliphs
relaxed the nerves and terminated the progress of the Arabian empire. The
application of the touchstone now necessarily ceased. The power of the caliphs
being established over “the abyss,” the alternative of “the Koran, tribute, or
the sword,” could no longer be propounded to them. The “torment,” therefore, by
this touchstone was no longer applied. It could not be in the nature of things.
Power was given to them to basanize the Virgin-Mary and image worshippers five
months, and beyond this period they could not “torment.” When did these five
months begin? and how long a period do they represent?
In
answer to the first question, I reply that they began when Abubeker, the first
caliph, fulfilled the fourth verse of this ninth chapter, in commanding the
generals and captains of his Syrian army to apply the touchstone according to
his instructions. This was A.D. 632, which is doubtless the beginning of the
five months of tormentation.
As
to how long a period these five months represent, the key to this question is
the nature of the torment. We now know what this is; and we know also, from
history and the nature of things, that the torment did not cease at the end of
five months of days, but continued for many such terms of five months each. On
the contrary, it continued until there were no more within the scope of the woe
to be tormented, the power of the caliphs having reached the full. In the
sanguinary civil war between the Ommiades and the Abbassides, the Greeks had
seized the opportunity of avenging themselves, and enlarging their limits: so
that, A.D. 781-2, found the Greeks arrogant, and the frontier of the Arabian
empire diminished. This was five months of years, or 150 years, from Abubeker’s
command to torment, or “cleave the skulls” of the shaven crowns of the
synagogue of Satan, and to give them no quarter till they turned Mohammedans or
paid tribute.
But,
though the power to torment had passed away with the period assigned for
tormentation, the Apollyon-Caliphs were still formidable, and powerful for
offensive military operations, such as occur between hostile states. From A.D.
782 to A.D. 805, the caliphs Mohadi and Ha-
108 EXPOSITION OF THE
APOCALYPSE.
roun al Rashid inflicted
great calamities upon the Greeks. Haroun invaded their territories eight times;
and, as often as they declined the payment of the regular tribute, they were
taught to feel that a month of depredation, or adikia, injury, was more costly
than a year of submission. They were exposed to these hostile inroads so long
as the caliphs held the sceptre of the east. In the national and religious
conflicts of the two empires, peace was without confidence, and war without
mercy. Quarter was seldom given in the field; those who escaped the edge of the
sword were condemned to hopeless servitude, or exquisite torture; and a
catholic emperor relates with visible satisfaction the execution of the
Saracens of Crete, who were flayed alive, or plunged into caldrons of boiling
oil.
But, the time allotted for
the Arabian and Greek empires to cease their sanguinary conflicts, in the
beginning of the tenth century was drawing to a close. The destroying power of
the caliph-angel of the abyss, as against the Greek empire, was limited to
three hundred years, or the end of the second period of five months. It was to
decline and fall. The luxury of the caliphs, the rebellion of the
Carmathians,(*) and the revolt of the provinces, at length deprived the Arabs
of the sceptre of the east. The revolt of the provinces circumscribed the
dominions of the caliphs within the walls of Bagdad; until the independent
Persic-Moslem dynasty of the Bowides (+) interposing on account of factions
prevailing there, advanced A.D. 933, to Bagdad; stripped the caliph of his
secular office and supremacy; and reduced him to his spiritual functions as Chief
Pontiff of Islamism, the mere phantom the thenceforward of the departed power
of the Destroying Angel of the Abyss. Thus died “Apollyon” by the suicide of
his own hands twice five months of years, or three complete centuries, from the
issuing of the smoke out of the pit of the abyss A.D. 632.
“The first woe is passed
away,” A.D. 933; “behold, there come yet two woes after these things.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*)The Carmathians were a Moslem
sect, centered in Bahrein that followed the lead of a Yemenite Moslem named
Ramdan Caimat. They practised a brand of Shi’ism (the Shiites are the dominant
sect in Persia today), and opposed the Caliphate of Baghdad, seeking to weaken
his power. For considerable time they dominated Arabia by the sword, and
attempted to win all the East to their cause by its same persuasive argument. -
Publishers.
(+)The Bowides comprised a dynasty of Persia established by
three brothers descended frum Abu Shaja Buya. Under she reign of she Bowides
(or Buwayids), the language and influence of Persia were restored, and the
Arabs, three hundred and four years after the death of Mohammed, were deprived
of she sceptre of the East. Their political and military influence extended
from she Persian Gulf to she Caspian Sea, and included Baghdad itself. Though
nominal respect was given the Caliphate, its political influence was greatly
weakened under their rule. This prepared the ground for the assumption of
Islamic power by the Turks, and the ultimate establishment of the Ottoman
Empire.-Publishers.
Page 109
ACT
II- SIXTH TRUMPET OR SECOND WOE
1. Eastern Part
Summary
Still
in response to the prayers of all saints, a voice from the four horns of the
golden altar of incense commands the four messenger powers, confined by the
great river Euphrates, to be loosed. They are prepared for successful
aggression against the Byzantine empire during “the hour and day and month and
year,” that, at the end of this period, they may slay with political
extinction, the power of the men who ruled the Eastern Third of the Roman orb,
and worshipped demons and images, and were murderers, and sorcerers,
fornicators, and thieves; and had not been smitten by the judgments of the four
winds - See Tabular Analysis, Vol.2 page 116.
TIME
OF EVENTS
From
April 29, A.D. 1062, to May 29, 1453 - 391 years 30 days.
TRANSLATION
Apoc.
9:13-21
13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard
one voice out of the four horns of the altar of gold which is in the sight of
the Deity, saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, “Loose the four
angels, which have been bound by the great river Euphrates.”
15. And the Four Angels having been prepared
were loosed for the hour and day and month and year, that they might kill the
third of the men.
16. And the number of the hosts of the
cavalry was two myriads of myriads: and I heard the number of them.
17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision;
and those who sat upon them having breasts fiery and hyacinthine and
sulphurous; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, and out of
their mouths there burst forth fire and smoke and sulphur. 18. By these three
were killed the third of the men, by the fire and by the smoke and by the
sulphur, bursting forth out of their mouths. For their powers are in their
mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like ser-
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110
pents,
having heads, and with these do they injure.
20. And the rest of the men who were not
killed by these plagues changed not from the works of their hands, that they
might not worship the daemonials and idols of gold and of silver, and of brass,
and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see nor hear, nor walk. 21. And
changed not from their murders, nor from their sorceries, nor from their
fornication, nor from their thefts.
NOTES
In
the above translation there are some variations from the English Version. Instead
of “a voice,” I have rendered phonenmian, one voice; for, although it issued
from the four horns of the altar, there were not four voices, but only one, as
in the text.
Instead
of “in the river,” I have preferred the rendering of epi to potamo, “by the
river;” the preposition is rendered in this sense in Matt. 24:33, “He is near
epi thurais by or at the doors.”
In
verses 17 and 18, I have rendered ekporeuetai and ekporeuo-meno by “burst
forth” and “bursting forth,” instead of “issued or “proceeded,” as in the Bible
Union version. I have so rendered it from the use of the verb in Apoc. 4:5,
where it is used in connection with lightnings and thunders from the throne;
when they go forth, they do it burstingly.
The
phrase to triton ton anthropon, I have rendered “the third of the men,” instead
of “the third part of men,” “part” is
not in the Greek, and the definite article ton, should be translated as
referable to a certain class of men; those of the Byzantine Third, namely, not
having the seal of the Deity in their foreheads. It was that third which was to
be killed, not the third of mankind in general; but “the third of,” or
belonging to, “the men who were unsealed.”
In
verse 16, ho arithmos strateumaton tou hippikou, is rendered in the C.V. “the
number of the army of the horsemen.” This is a version very regardless of the
original. I have translated it the number of the hosts of the cavalry - the
number having regard to the individual troopers in the aggregate.
In
verse 19, the English Version reads “their power is in their mouth and in their
tails.” Griesbach and Tregelles prefer, “the power of the horses is in their
mouth and in their tails.” Greenfield’s edition of Mills, omits “and in their
tails” from the text, and inserts it in the margin. I prefer the reading hai
exousiai auton en to stomati auton eisi, kai en tais ourais auton, their powers
are in their mouth, and in their tails; my reason for this preference will
appear in the exposition.
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111
1. THE SYMBOLS EXPLAINED
1. “One Voice of the Four Horns”
“And
I heard One Voice out of the Four Horns of the Altar of Gold which is in the
sight of the Deity, saying, &c.” This is the same altar as that in the
scene pictured in Apoc. 8:3, which may be fitly reproduced here by way of
remembrance. “And another angel came and stood by the altar, having a golden
censer; and there was given to him many odors, that he might cast for the
prayers of all the saints, upon the golden altar which is in sight of the
throne. And the smoke of the odors for the prayers of the saints ascended out
of the hand of the angel, in the sight of the Deity. And the angel took the
censer, and filled it from the fire of the altar, and cast into the earth and
there were voices and thunders and lightnings and an earthquake. And the Seven
Angels having the seven trumpets prepared themselves that they might sound.”
This
scene is, as it were, a general preface to the sounding of each of the seven
trumpets. That is, each trumpet develops its judgments retributively upon the
enemies of the saints, and responsively to their prayers. The prayers of the
saints were not to be confined to the apostolic age; but to ascend till Christ
the avenger should return. “Men,” said Jesus, “ought always to pray, and not to
faint.” This saying he illus-trated by the parable of the unjust judge and the
widow, in Luke 18:1-8. “Avenge me,” said she, “of mine adversary;” but he would
not, until wearied by her importunity, he complied to get rid of her
complaints. If an unjust judge would do this, “shall not the Deity,” the just
judge of all the earth, “avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him,
though he bear long with them? I tell you,” said Jesus, “he will avenge them
speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find the faith upon
the earth?”
In
all apocalyptic times, the elect of the Deity are represented as crying unto
him “to judge and avenge their blood on them that dwell upon the earth” (ch.
6:10). In Apoc. 8:3-5, the sounding of all the trumpets is dramatically
represented as responsive to “the prayers of all the saints;” and consequently,
not to the prayers of those saints only who lived between A. D. 324 and AD.
395; but also to the prayers of the saints living contemporarily with all the
trumpets. The successive soundings of the first five trumpets have brought us
down to A.D. 933; and we have seen how the safety of the saints was guaranteed
by the command of the Angel of the Abyss to his destroying agents to torment
only the unsealed. The saints were not to be harmed by the special plagues; for
they were “nourished” while the unsealed, who were their enemies, were being
scourged.
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112
In
all the days of their nourishment, which were 1260, their prayers were
“ascending out of the angel’s and in the sight of the Deity.” They ascended as
sweet odors of the golden altar, for his eyes were always upon the Woman’s
place in the wilderness ch. 12:14. Her
seed had been contemporary with the seals as the four living ones full of eyes;
they were coeval with the first five trumpets as the golden altar; with the
sixth, as “the four horns of the altar of gold;” and with the seventh trump et
as the four living ones, and in its seventh vial manifestation, as “the nave of
the Deity” and “the four and twenty elders sitting upon their thrones” (ch.
11:16-17; 15:7). Hence, in all the apocalypse, under one symbol or another, the
saints are discerned in position; and that position is always in opposition to
“the men who have not the seal of the Deity in their foreheads;” and as
constituting no part of the symbols representing their civil and ecclesiastical
organizations.
Now,
although, according to the pattern in the Mosaic Tabernacle. this living altar
of gold has four horns, answering to the four living ones. and four comers of
the square, but one spirit pervades the whole. The multitude of the true
believers which compose the altar “are of one heart and of one soul” (Acts
4:32). In singleness of heart “with one
mind and one mouth they glorified the Deity, even the Father of the Lord Jesus
Christ” (Acts 2:46; Rom. 15:6). With this spirit of unanimity, resulting from
their being sealed in their foreheads with the seal of the living God, they
cause their prayers to ascend as burning odors - as one voice out of the four
horns - and not a distinct and discordant voice from each horn. In “the vision”
there was only “one voice.” It was the voice of the altar of gold, for it
proceeded from the four horns thereof. This voice of prayer said, “Loose the
four angels;” and, in answer to the prayer addressed “to the sixth angel, that
had the trumpet,” “the four angels were loosed.”
This
unanimous voice of prayer, ascending from hearts whose faith was more precious
than gold which perishes, was addressed, I say, to the sixth angel. This was
equivalent to addressing the Father-Deity, whose apocalyptic symbol is “a Lamb
as it had been slain, having Seven Horns and Seven Eyes.” This represents
Omnipotence and Omniscience manifested in flesh that had been slain, and
afterwards “justified in spirit.” These seven horns and seven eyes, viewed
apart from the slain Lamb, represent “the Seven Spirits of the Deity sent forth
into all the earth.” These seven spirits as sent forth are symbolized by the
Seven Angels, who in all the earth sound the seven trumpets. It is the
Omnipotent and Omniscient Spirit, in sevenfold manifestation, that sounds. HE,
incarnate in the Lamb, creates powers in the earth, stirs up their ambitions,
and impels them on to destinies which they can neither control nor
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113
see.
“There is no power,” says Paul, “but of the Deity;” and when judgments are
abroad in a country, the spirit of Yahweh is in an unquiet state (Zech. 6:8).
In the previous trumpets, we have seen illustrations of the terrible nature of
the inquietude of the Spirit. The Goths, Huns, Van-dals, and Saracens, were
embodiments of this unrest. When they acquired motion, they swept as a tornado
over the guilty; fell upon them like hail and fire mingled with blood; plunged
in among them as a great mountain burning with fire; scathed them as with a
burning torch; smote them, darkened them, destroyed them with scorpion-torment,
and killed them, as we shall see, with serpents. And all this in vindication of
“the truth as it is in Jesus;” in retribution of blasphemy, daemon-worship, and
idolatry; and in retaliation of war against the saints, whom they labored, but
too successfully, to subdue.
Now,
the Spirit created and excited these powers as he operated upon Pharaoh when he
hardened his heart; and as he will hereafter operate upon the powers that be
now, when he shall put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and
give their kingdom, or power and strength unto the Eighth Head of the Beast,
until his words be fulfilled (ch. 17:13,17). It was the same Spirit that inhabited
the golden altar, only that it was incarnate in the altar by the truth
understood, believed, and obeyed. This incarnation of spirit is holy, and,
standing “in the sight of the Deity,” as his holy altar, “smokes” with the
fragrant odors of enlightened zeal and indignation against “every high thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge of the Deity.” With “one voice” this
emanation of spirit cries day and night, through the angel of the altar, to be
av-enged. This cry ascends from spirit, through spirit, to the Eternal Spirit
-from the truth incarnate in the saints; through “the Lord the Spirit,” who.
makes intercession for them; to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. The answer
to this cry sets in motion the whole machinery of judgment exhibited in the
scenery of the apocalypse, which ultimates in the consummation which completely
and thoroughly avenges his elect.
In
addressing the sixth angel, then, the Deity was addressed by the “one voice
from the four horns of the altar of gold.” The Spirit had the trumpet, which he
sounded in the loosing of the four angels, in the killing of the Third, and in
the overthrow of the Tenth of the City (ch. 9:15,18; 11:13); and all of this, a
judicial development through seven centuries, in response to that one voice so
influential before the throne.
The
altar of gold is said to be enopion tou Theou, which I have rendered, “in the
sight of the Deity.” Literally, enopion signifies in the eye, from en, in, and
opi, dative of ops, the eye. The Golden Altar Community is in the eye of the
Deity, in the same sense that the twelve tribes of Israel were in his eye when
they dwelt in the Holy Land; but, when expel-
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led
therefrom by the Assyrians, were said to have been removed out of his sight (2
Kings 17:18). The Golden Altar Community have never been “removed out of his
sight,” as Israel and Judah were. But, can any thing be removed out of the
sight of him who sees all things? In a certain sense it can. Now, concerning
the Holy Land, by way of illustration, Moses says, in Deut. 11:12: “It is a
land which Yahweh thine Elohim careth for; the eyes of Yahweh thine Elohim are
always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”
When, therefore, Israel and Judah were dwelling there, they were in his sight;
for his eyes were upon them, being upon the land; but, when expelled, they were
not within the landscape, and, therefore, out of his sight. But they are to
return from captivity; and then, the prophet says, “in the third day he will
raise us up, and we shall live in his sight” (Hos. 6:2); that is, in the Holy
Land. In a like sense, the Golden Altar Community is in his eye, or in his
presence, or before him. It is sojourning, and has been for a long series of
ages, among the nations, kindreds, and tongues, which have been given over to
the Dragon and the Beast, and which have been made drunk by the Mother of
Harlots that sits upon them. But in the midst of all these, it is not hidden
from his sight. It is before him in all the brightness of fine gold. It is the
Altar of gold from which ascends sweet odors in the holy and heavenly in Christ
Jesus.
2. “Loose The Four Angels”
To
loose is the opposite of to bind. The nature of the loosing depends upon that
of the thing bound. The things to be loosed in the text before us are “the four
angels.” These are the symbols of the “two myriads of myriads of cavalry” by
which “the third” is killed. The four angels, therefore, represent four powers.
These were “bound”. A power bound is either a power restrained from action, or
bound by its own territorial limits. An example of the former occurs in the
Dragon shut up in the abyss. Here the Dragon-power is restrained from acting
from
“deceiving the nations.” When it is “loosed,” its wonted action is restored,
and it returns to its old work of deceiving (ch. 20:3,7,8). The four
angel-powers of the sixth trumpet were bound territorially; for we are informed
that they “had been bound - dedemenous - by the great river Euphrates.” This
river was the boundary of their dominion, and divided it from the territory of
“the Third” which they were to kill. To loose these Oriental powers was to
cause them to cross the Euphrates, to invade with their myriads of cavalry the
Eastern Third of the Roman inhabited earth, and to extend their own dominion at
its expense.
They
“had been bound by the great river Euphrates,” until the time of their loosing
arrived. They” were eastern powers, therefore. The
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countries
east of the Euphrates were the area of their preparation for the work they had
to do. They were prepared angel powers; therefore it is written, “The four
angels having been prepared were loosed.” While they were in preparation, or
being prepared, they were confined, or bounded within confines, that did not
extend further west or southwest than the Euphrates. The powers or angels were
not contemporary. They were not all four being prepared at one and the same
time. They were successively prepared messenger-powers, to be brought into
action one after the other. Hence, the loosing of the four angels was not
simultaneous. First, one angel was loosed: then followed an interval; after
that, a second: then a second interval; the third angel was next unbound, and
executed his mission: a third interval then ensued; and, lastly, the fourth
angel was loosed, and he consummated the work of killing “the third.” Thus,
these four angel-powers may very properly be styled Euphratean. The fourth
angel still exists, and Occupies the capital in which the throne of the extinct
“third” flourished for a thousand years. It is, therefore, by origin and
possession, Euphratean; for this “great river” flows through its territory.
Hence, “the Great River Euphrates” is made the symbol of the fourth angel in
the period coincident with the advent of Christ (ch.
16:12,15).
3. Symbolic Period of the Loosing
These
four angel-powers of the Euphratean region of the globe, were loosed for the
execution of a mission to be completed in a specific period - “they were loosed
that they might kill (he third of the men at the end of, eis, until, THE hour,
and day, and month and year,” eniauton. Here was a whole period, which began
with the complete preparation of the first angel-power, and ended with the
consummation of the work of the four angels, which was the putting to death of
“the third” (ver. 18). Of how many years was this period composed? The answer
to this question is, of three hundred and ninety-one years and thirty days. The
time of the preparation of each angel-power, is not stated. The transactions,
which developed the angels beyond the Euphrates, do not enter into the vision;
nor the time they consumed. The period of time has exclusive reference to the
operations of the “two myriads of myriads of cavalry” against the Eastern Third
peoples, after their crossing the Euphrates.
But,
it may be further asked, How are these 391 years and 30 days arrived at? In
answer to this it may be remarked, that it is absolutely certain from the
historical illustration of the fifth trumpet, that the two periods of “five
months” each, were periods of 150 years; and that the whole ten months, or 300
years, was the aeon, or cycle, allotted to the tormenting and injuring
ascendancy of the Caliph-Angel of the Abyss.
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Events
having clearly demonstrated the duration of five months, we are thereby
instructed as to the number of years contained in one month. A symbolical
month, then, is thirty years. When a month, therefore, is as-sociated with
“hour, day and year” in symbolic time, these must be relatively proportional.
The year, eniautos, that which returns into itself or a circuit of time, must
be twelve times the length of “the month;” and “the day” one thirtieth of the
month; and “the hour, “ one twelfth of “the day.” In the case of the five
months events have proved that Apocalyptic time is based upon the principle of
a day for a year. According to this, an eniautos or year, being twelve times
more than a month of years, would be equal to three hundred and sixty ordinary
years; a day, one year; and an hour, thirty days. These added together give the
whole number of years for the period of the execution of the mission of the
four loosed angel myriads of Euphratean cavalry, as stated above; and may be
tabularly presented thus:
Years Days
An Hour, equal to 0 30
A Day, equal to 1 00
A Month, equal to 30 00
A Year, equal to 360 00
Whole Period of the killing 391 30
In
the Greek text the definite article ten is prefixed only to horan, hour. It
does not read, “for the hour, and the day, and the month, and the year;” but, one
article is prefixed to the whole time - eis ten horan and so forth; ‘for,
during or until the end of the hour, “&c. This was, doubt-less,
significant; and designed to indicate, that the divisions of time were to be
taken as proportional parts of a whole period.
4. Number of the Cavalry
“And
the number of the hosts of the cavalry was two myriaas of myriads” - theo
muriathes muriathon. This is the symbolical number of the four angel-powers -
two myriads of myrids hippikou of cavalry -equestrian myriads. The number is
enormous when literally stated; but, however great, is in strict accordance
with the truth of history. A myriad is ten thousand. But this must be
multiplied by two, for there are “two myriads,” or twenty thousand. In the
phrase “two myriads of myriads,” this twenty thousand becomes the multiplier of
“myriads,” which is the multiplicand. If muriathon, genitive plural, is to be
taken as one myriad of ten thousand, then the “two myriads of myriads” will
represent two
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hundred
millions, or twenty thousand ten thousands. These 200,000,000 must not be taken
as the numeration of the angel-hosts at any one time; but as the aggregate of
the equestrian forces of the four angel-powers in all the 391 years and 30 days
of the killing period their numbers were
computed by millions.
5. The Horses and Their Riders
“And
thus I saw the horses in the vision; and those sitting upon them.” The
description which follows exemplifies the “thus.” He saw the equestrian
millions in vision. What a host to contemplate! He beheld them embattled, and
vomiting forth fire and smoke, and deadly missiles. The horses he saw were not
real horses, but horses in vision, or symbolical horses and symbolical riders;
which in solid array and in action presented certain characteristics
illustrative of the historical reality.
I
find the following concerning the horse in symbol in Daubuz. He says: “The
horse was of old used only for warlike expeditions, and not barely to ride,
draw, and drudge, as it is now practised with us. Hence, in that noble
description of the horse, in Job. 39:18-25, there is no notice taken of any
quality of his but what relates to war. So that the horse is the symbol of war
and conquest.” When, therefore, the Spirit saith in Zech. 10:3, “Yahweh
Tz’vaoth hath visited his flock the House of Judah, and hath made them as his
goodly horse in the battle,” the meaning is, that he will ride them as their
Commander-in-Chief, and make them conquerors over his enemies, glorious and
successful.
Thus
in Psa. 45:5 rchav, to ride, is rendered in the Septuagint by basileuein, to
reign. And in several other places to ride, signifies to have dominion.
“Agreeably to this,” the Oneirocritics say, “that if any one dreams that he
rides upon a generous horse, it denotes that he shall obtain dignity, fame,
authority, prosperity, and a good name among the people; in short, all such
things which may accrue to a man by good success in martial affairs.” And
hence, from the horse being an instrument of conquest, and therefore the symbol
of the dignity, fame, power, prosperity, and success he causes, when Carthage
was founded, and a horse’s head was dug up by the workmen, the soothsayers gave
Out that the city would be warlike and powerful.”
“As
a horse is warlike, so he is also a swift creature, and is there-fore not only
the symbol of conquest, but also of the speediness of it” (Joel 2:4; Jer.
4:13).
The
following in Hab. 1:8, concerning the swift, fierce, and invincible career of
the Chaldeans against Judah, is expressive also of that of the four Euphratean
angel-powers, as represented by the equestrian myriads in the sixth trumpet
vision: “Their horses are swifter than the
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leopards,
and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horse-men shall spread
themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle
hasteth to prey. They shall come all for violence ...... they shall scoff at
the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every
stronghold; for they shall heap dust, and take it”.
6. Breasts Fiery and Hyacinthine
But,
there were characteristics pertaining to the armed equestrian myriads seen in
vision by John, that Habakkuk did not see in the Chaldean hosts. He says, the
horsemen had breasts thorakas, fiery and hyacin-thine and sulphurous.” These
were breast-works, in military phraseology; and on these were mounted “heads,”
in which were “mouths.” They were equestrian lion-heads, very fierce and
destructive; and out of these horse-lion-head mouths “burst forth fire, and smoke,
and sulphur.” These horses were what is now styled horse-artillery: artillery
drawn by horses, without which they would be of little use in war. “The heads
of the horses were as the heads of lions,” because of their roaring; “and out
of their mouths burst, or roared forth the fire, smoke, and sulphur.” Hence,
the horses in the vision besides being symbolical of the equestrian character,
and of the swift and fierce invincibility, of the Euphratean angel-powers, are
representative of the new and powerful artillery used by the fourth Euphratean
Angel in putting to death “the third” - the third that belonged to the men who
were unsealed. These
The
Apocalypse predicted that the eastern Empire would be brought to its end by
“fire, smoke and brimstone” (or sulphur
Rev.
9:18). This describes the use of cannon and gunpowder. In describing the fall
of the Eastern Empire, Gibbon in The
Decline
And Fall Of The Roman Empire makes specific reference to the use of such
weapons in the overthrow of Constantinople.
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lion-headed
horses, roaring and vomiting fire, smoke, and sulphur out of their mouths, were
cannons belching forth destruction. John saw them mounted on breastworks, which
breasted the troops behind them; and from these “breasts,” as well as from the
“mouths,” burst forth fire; for the riders had “breasts fiery, hyacinthine, and
sulphurous.” He saw these artillery mounted breastworks actively at work; and
the nature of their activity he signifies by the sight and smell. They appeared
to the eye “fiery and hyacinthine.” This is the symbolism of the flash seen on
the discharge of loaded cannon. If a little saltpeter and sulphur be triturated
together, and then thrown into the fire, the hyacinthine color will be seen in
their combustion. In other words, this combustion will be “fiery and
hyacinthine.” Hence, breastworks, lined with cannon in explosive operation,
would be fiery and hyacinthine to the eye, being illuminated with these colors
at every flash. The smell also would be highly “sulphurous,” Owing to the
composition of matters vomited out of the roaring mouths of the great guns.
7. “With the Heads They Do Injure”
But
what he saw and smelt were not mere holiday salutes. He saw and smelt them in the
battles which extinguished the political existence of “the third” - to triton.
There were not only color and smell, but death also, in “the fire, and the
smoke, and the sulphur;” for “by these three,” saith he: “were killed the third
of the men by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the sulphur bursting forth out
of their mouths. And the reason given for the deadliness of these three agents
in combination, when bursting forth from the mouths of the lion-headed horses,
or artillery, is “because their powers are in their mouths and in their tails.”
A cannon, in modern style, is divided into breech, barrel, and mouth. The
Spirit only indicates the mouth and the breech, which he terms the tail, which
is an appendage thereto. These “tails” were “like serpents,” in the similitude
of their destructive operation; for the tails were not head-less. Had they been
headless tails, they could have done no injury; no more than a serpent without
a head. When a serpent injures, it coils, and making a fulcrum of its tail, shoots
forth its head from amid the coils, which are straightened by the spring, and
with its head strikes its victim with a deadly stroke. Hence, the death-dealing
powers of the serpent are in its head, or mouth, and in its tail. So it is with
flying artillery, and with artillery mounted on breastworks, compared herein to
“serpents.” Without the tail of the piece the mouth thereof could not injure;
and without the mouth, or outlet, the tail could do no harm. As in the natural,
“the powers” of these artillery serpents “are in their mouths and in their
tails.” The projecting power is in the tail of the piece; many
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the
projectile were always mouth, or muzzle-loaded - they went through the mouth
into the tail; and being well rammed, they spring or shoot forth with the voice
of a lion, straightening themselves from tail to mouth, out of which they rush
in “fire, smoke, and sulphur,” dealing death and destruction upon what things
soever may be encountered by their “head,” their tail-heads, or cannon balls;
“for their tails have heads, and with these do they injure.” Thus, “by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the sulphur,” as an exploding power projecting
the tail-heads, were “the third of the men killed.” The scorpions of the first
woe were highly incendiary; but they did not make breaches in walls, and
overturn lofty towers: the serpents of the second woe did all this; and in
opening breaches by their tail-heads, gave admission to the fourth Euphratean
angel-power into the capital of the Eastern Third, where he has been enthroned
upwards of four hundred years, the observed of all observers; some of whom long
for his decease, that they may be enriched by the division of his estate.
8.
Fire, Hyacinth, and Sulphur
“Fire,
hyacinth, and sulphur,” and “fire, smoke, and sulphur,” are symbolical of
gunpowder, which is composed of charcoal, saltpeter, and sulphur. These three
substances in their normal, distinct, and quiescent state, have no resemblance
to fire, hyacinth, and smoke; but while, in combustion, they are the
appearances, which, with the sulphurous smell, most forcibly strike our senses.
Hence, the phenomena resulting from the combustion, become symbolical of the
projecting force, or power, which drives forth the power that strikes with the
stroke of death. Saltpeter, or nitrate of potassa, is symbolized by
hyacinth-color, because of the analogy it bears to it in color when in
deflagration. Nothing could be more significant of this destructive agent,
first used in the warfare of nations in the fourteenth century, than the terms
employed by the Spirit in this vision. The hieroglyphic can mean nothing else
than the great destroying machinery of modern warfare.
9. “Lake of Fire Burning with Sulphur”
It
will be in place here to remark, that “these plagues,” as they are fitly termed
in verse 20, will be terribly operative in the destroying of the body of the
beast, and in the binding of the dragon, and casting of him into the abyss
(Dan. 7:11). They will be swamped in “a fiery stream,” and “be given to the burning
flame.” This is apocalyptically styled, “a Lake of Fire burning with sulphur”
(ch. 19:20). The territory upon
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which
the beast and false prophet dominion exist, will be turned into a lake of fire
by this sulphur-burning machinery of war. The saints will be in that lake,
“executing the judgment written,” in tormenting with fire and sulphur the
worshippers of the beast (ch. 14:10). Fire, sulphur, and smoke, in these
places, symbolize the same agent as they do in the second woe. The governments
are not casting great guns, and storing up munitions of war in vain. They are
preparing them blindly for their own destruction. Their arsenals will fall into
the hands of the Lamb and his people, who will plunge incessant fire upon their
enemies, the smoke of whose torment will ascend, until their power shall be
totally and finally destroyed. From thenceforth, war will be no more for a
thousand years.
10. “The Rest Of The Men”
In
the twelfth verse, the Spirit refers to hoi loipoi ton anthropon “the rest of the
men who were not killed by these plagues.” The to triton ton anthropon, the
third of the men were killed by the plagues. The former class who were not
killed, though filled with consternation at the fate of “the third,” still
flourished in political existence. The fourth Euphratean angel-power, though it
injured them greatly in its wars upon them, was unable to kill them, as he had
slain their brethren of “the third.” The others, hoi loipoi, in habit all those
countries of the Roman orb not included in the Ottoman empire, or fourth
Euphratean angel dominion. They are known as “the Latins,” who in ch .13:4,5,
are said to worship the beast, and to be subject to his Mouth, which speaks
great things and blasphemies. These are said in ch. 9:20, to worship the
Daemonials and idols, the works of their hands. Notwithstanding the signal
overthrow and political annihilation of their daemon and image-worshipping
brethren of the eastern third, they, the Latins of the west, still continued
the same abomination, as at this day. Hence, the work of judgment ceased not
with the death of the third; but continues still, and will continue, until all
“the daemons” are cast out, and “the idols” are thrown to the moles and the
bats, and Yahweh alone is exalted in the glory of his majesty and might (Isa.
2:17-21).
11. “The Daemonials”
In
the English Version of Apoc. 9:20, ta daimonia, is very improperly rendered
“devils.” In my translation I have merely transferred it from the Greek,
leaving it for explanation as a symbol.
Under
the word daimonion, I find the following among other significations of the
noun: “Especially an inferior race of divine beings; the name by which Socrates
called his genius, or the SPIRIT he supposed to
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dwell
within him.” (Not diminutive from daimon, but neuter from daimonios). The root
of the word is daimon, of which one of the senses given is “the souls of men of
the golden age hovering between heaven and earth, and acting as tutelary
deities; they formed the connecting link between gods and men, and so Aeschylus
calls the deified Darius daimon, a daemon; hence, when daimones and theoi are
joined, the daimones are gods of lower rank; and here note, that theos is never
used for daimon, though daimon is for theos. In later authors, as Lucianus, in
general, departed souls” - Liddel and Scott’s Lex.
This
was the sense of the word among the heathen who worshipped images. They
foolishly imagined that all men, women, and children have within them a genius,
spirit or soul which they considered to be a particle of the essence of Deity,
whoever or whatever he might be; and that, therefore, said genius, spirit, or
soul, was absolutely and essentially immortal or deathless. This was the daemon
in a living man, such as Socrates surrendered himself blindly to the guidance
and protection of. But, when men, women, and children, ceased to be creatures
visibly existing, they supposed, that they still continued in being, only
invisible to the naked eye. Their bodies they often burned to ashes, which they
deposited in urns; nevertheless, they supposed that they were still in
existence, only in a new form. They conceited that the real man was the
indwelling soul; and that when the body ceased to breathe, said soul ascended
into the air, or aerial, where it “hovered between heaven and earth.” These
were deified souls - souls made deities by human decrees, or apotheosis. They
styled them “Immortal Gods,” though but “an inferior race of divine beings.” Of
these gods were Darius, Caesar, Alexander, and a host of others, who had made
themselves “great,” in the estimation of the blind multitude, who decreed
divine honors to their souls, and erected statuesque copies of their perished
forms, for the glorification of their friends, and the factions they were
supposed to have adorned. The immortal soul in the aerial called Darius, and
decreed to be a god, was what they called a daemon or a daemon ion. Such
daemons the heathen worshipped, and placed themselves, their families, their
property, and countries, under the protection of. Hence, they styled them
“tutelary deities,” or divine guardians.
“In
classical use,” says Dr. Geo. Campbell, “demon signified a divine being, though
not in the highest order of their divinities, and there-fore supposed not
equivalent to Theos, but superior to human, and consequently, by the maxims of
their theology, a proper object of adoration.” “All demons,” says Plato, “are
an intermediate order between God and mortals.” “It was customary with the
pagans to deify abstract qualities, making them either gods or goddesses, as
suited the gender of
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the
name. They sometimes deified men who had
been their benefactors.” “The proper notion of demons is, beings in respect of
power superior to human, but inferior to that which christians comprehend under
the term divine.’
“What
are men?” says a dialogist in Lucian. The answer is, “Mortal gods. What are
gods? Immortal men. “In fact, immortality disembodied was almost the only
distinction between them. Disembodied immortals is the idea represented by
demons.
“The
pagans were a kind of superstitious atheists,” says another writer, “who
acknowledged no being that corresponds to our idea of a deity. Besides, a great
part of the heathen worship was confessedly paid to ghosts of departed heroes,
of conquerors, and potentates, and of the inventors of arts, whom popular
superstition, after disguising their history with fables and absurdities, had
blindly deified. Now, to all such beings they themselves, as well as the Jews,
assigned the name daimonia, demons.”
The
whole superstructure of paganism is based upon the unscriptural dogma, and
invention of the carnal mind, of an immortal essence in man capable of
disembodied existence after death. But for this stupid fiction there would have
been no daemons, nor any of the thirty thousand gods and goddesses, nor any
guardian saints, or tutelary deities, of ancient and modern Greece and Rome. A
scribe well instructed for the kingdom of the heavens, knows that man has no
such daemon in him; and that however high he may be “in honor,” if he
understand not the truth, “is as the beasts that perish” (Psa. 49:12,20).
In
the apocalypse diamonia occurs only once, and that in ch. 9:20; while daimon in
the genitive plural is found twice, first, inch. 16.14, and then inch. 18:2. In
ch. 9:20, it is really the neuter plural of the adjective daimonios, of, or
pertaining to, daemons: “that they should not worship ta daimonia things
related to daemons” - things supposed to exist in the aerial, “between heaven
and earth.” Inch. 16:14, the word is different, because it refers to different
things, and pertaining to a different region. Both in this text, and, in ch.
18:2, the things signified by daimones are related to earth, though, among the
inhabitants of the Roman earth, they occupy a position analogous to that of the
daemons of the mythical aerial between the political heaven and the peoples
beneath. The habitation of these daemons is the aerial of Babylon; “the hold of
every foul spirit, and cage of every unclean and hateful bird, “such as popes,
cardinals, bishops, priests, monks, and other officials of the state. In ch.
16:14, they are the gods of the political aerial, whose policies, or “spirits,”
develop remarkable and notable events. The daemons of these two texts are men
of high degree - real men of flesh and blood, in the official
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exercise
of power; and not objects of superstitious worship. But this is not the case in
ch. 9:20. Here the things related to daemons are as-sociated with idols or images,
in the phrase ta daimonia kai eidola, where the definite article ta serves both
for daimonia and eidola; and very properly so, because the eidola are the
visible representations of the daemonia.
“The
passage in which,” says Mr. Tayler Lewis, in his Platonic Theology, “we find
the most express and the clearest mention of daemons is in the Epinomis,” which
he renders thus: “Next to these, and under these, the Daemons, an aerial race,
having the third seat, must we honor by prayers.” They are spoken of as
possessing wonderful intelligence, as feeling a deep sympathy in human affairs,
as loving the good, hating the bad, and, in consequence of their middle
position in the air, acting as interpreters and mediators between gods and men.
To the same effect Socrates speaks of them in the Symposium, as: “For the whole
demonial race is between Deity and mortals, acting as interpreters or
messengers to both. Through this passes all divination, and the whole
prophetical art; for Deity mingles not directly with the human race, but
through these media is ever carried on the intercourse between Heaven and men,
both when awake and when asleep.”
Such
were the daimones, daemons, ta daimonia, the things pertaining to daemons, of
pagan antiquity. They were unsubstantial, unreal, imaginary phantasms, and fit
only to make symbols of, as representative of other abominations analogous to,
and as unreal as, themselves.
The
Greeks and Romans have never relaxed their hold upon daemonolatry or
demon-worship to this day. They have only changed the character of their
daemons and idols. When they became catholics they did not really cease to be
pagans; they only “baptized” their daemons, and called them by other names.
Jupiter, the Latins styled St. Peter, and the idol representative of “the
father of the gods and men” became the image of St. Peter, “the Prince of the
Apostles.” Jupiter’s wife, Juno, the Queen of the Universe, was converted by
the Collyridion “heretics,” who changed her name to “Mary, Mother of Mercy,
Queen of the whole world, Mother and Spouse of God.” After this fashion, they
have conferred the names of fabulous saints and angels upon the gods and
daemons of ancient Greece and Rome. All that the old heathens affirmed of their
deities, the modern heathens of the Greek and Latin communions affirm of their
martyrs, saints, and angels. The daemonology of the ancient world is the
daemonology of the Apostasy, catholic and protestant. These are in fellowship
with Plato, Socrates, and other pagans, in their views about “souls” and
“departed spirits”; and, with all their “ripe scholarship,” as they absurdly
style proficiency
Page 125
Illustrations page 125
not shown
The Struggle, as depleted by the Medieval Mind, for the Soul of a Dying
Person.
(Fourteenth Century MS. in British Museum. From Twining’s “Symbols and
Emblems in Christian Art.”
Illustration
not shown
Grecian
Conception of the Departure of the Soul
(Reproduction from wiedemann”s “The Ancient Egyptian Doctrine of
Immortality.”)
These
two illustrations show how closely the fiction of an immortal soul as taught by
the Apostasy
approximates
to the pagan teaching of Grecian
mythology. See comments on p. 124.
Page 126
Book
Cover shown page 126 not shown
The
Dedication of J. Furniss’ Books for Children and Young Persons as were offered
as recommended reading by Roman Catholic booksellers illustrating the blasphemy
of the Roman Catholic Apostasy. See comment on p.124 - Publishers.
Page 127
in
‘the foolishness” of their collegiate “divinities,” they are not one step in advance
of the Platonists upon these subjects. That is, they know no more about souls
and departed spirits, and their post mortem relations, than did they who had no
revelation at all to guide them into truth.
Protestants
and Catholics now believe, with all the heathen, that there is inherent in man
a particle of the Divine Essence, endowed with all the attributes of deity, in
like proportion as part bears to whole. This they call “soul,” or “spirit,” or
“immortal soul;” because they imagine it is incorruptible, indestructible,
deathless. They regard this fiction as the real man. The body, in their
psychology, is of no account. The soul is God in man’s nature - an immortal god
in mortal flesh - both in combination constituting what the pagan poet styles
“a mortal god.” When what is mortal of this god dies, that which they style
“the immortal soul” still lives, and becomes what their brother Lucian
denominates “an immortal man;” that is, a daemon of inferior rank, nevertheless
a god!
Now catholics and protestants hold such gods as these in high esteem.
The old mythologist had thirty thousand daemons; as -
‘For
thrice ten thousand wait upon our earth;
Jove’s
everlasting guards for mortal men.
who roam the world in robes of air conceal’d.”
But
their successors of the Laodicean church have millions. The immortal
soul-daemons of all their favorites are “sainted in heaven,” as soon as they
are supposed “to shuffle off the mortal coil.” The disembodied immortal
soul-daemons of what are called men, women, children, babes, are decreed by
their theologies, or daemonologies, to be saints and angels in the aerial or
sky. The soul-daemon of a babe is transformed into “a little darling angel”
with wings, and is symbolized by painters, as wild in their imaginations as the
poets, by a head with wings peeping out of a cloud. The air, which these
phantoms are supposed to inhabit, they term the “spirit-world,” “the
spirit-land,” “the eternal world,” “the world to come,” “kingdom come,” and so
forth; for, in reference to them in the words of Hesiod, they say -“close at
hand,
Immortal
eyes behold us evermore”
Or,
as Milton expresseth it -“Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth,
Unseen,
both when we sleep and when we wake.”
But,
though they suppose all individuals of the human race have immortal souls,
catholics do not worship all soul-daemons. All these they suppose to go to
“purgatory”; but it is only those of the dead they
Page
128.
delight
to honor whom they exalt to the aerial between heaven and earth. They do this
by a process in their ecclesiastical court called canonization. Having tried
their characters in this court, and heard all the Devil’s lawyer has to say
against them, they are, in spite of the Devil, decreed to be adorable saints,
and are translated out of purgatory beneath, to the aerial between heaven and
earth!
Apotheosis
was the deification of the disembodied ghosts, or soul daemons, of pagan heroes
and great men, by which they were exalted to the aerial between earth and heaven,
and became, in their new position, adorable daemon gods, interpreters,
mediators, angels or messengers, guardians and protectors of persons, families,
nations, temples, and states. Now, what apotheosis was among the worshippers of
Jupiter, canonization is among the worshippers of the fictitious ghost which
they call “the Virgin Mother and Spouse of God.” It is the next process to what
they style beatification. The ghost supposed to be a blessed or beatified ghost
after a scrutiny of its embodied life, in the presence of the Roman bishop and
his cardinals, is proclaimed a holy one, or what these “worshippers” of the
daemonials and images term “a saint,” upon which the Pontiff decrees the
canonization and appoints the day.
On
the day upon which the beatified soul daemon is installed by sovereign
authority among the saint-protectors and mediators of the Laodicean aerial, the
episcopal chief of the apostasy officiates in white, and his cardinals are
dressed in the same. The temple dedicated to the ghost-god whom they christen
“St Peter,” is hung with rich tapestry, upon which the arms of the Romish High
Priest, and of the prince or state requiring the deification, are embroidered
in gold and silver. A great number of lights blaze around the temple, which is
crowded with a swinish multitude, who await with the impatient devotion of
ignorance and superstition till the new daemonial has made his public entry
into the aerial paradise between earth and heaven, that they may offer up their
petitions to his demon-godship without danger of being rejected.
The
catholic aerial is full of these deified ghosts, whose demonial images and
relics are stored in the church bazaars dedicated to them, for the adoration of
their besotted worshippers. All the apostles, and “the noble army of martyrs,”
and the popes and cardinals, and “the fathers,” and Constantine, and
Theodosius, and St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and a countless host of
the same sort of deities, with the Immaculate Goddess Mary, “the Queen of
Heaven,” at the head of them, are all supposed to be there, interceding with
Mary’s Son for the safety and prosperity of their catholic adorers “whose
public and private vows,” says Gibbon, “were addressed to their relics and
images which disgraced the temples of the east.” This catholic aerial is
supposed to be
Page 129
before
the throne. The reader, therefore, may easily perceive the fitness of the
historian’s style, in continuing: “The throne of the Almighty was darkened by a
cloud of martyrs, saints, and angels, the objects of popular veneration; while
the Virgin Mary was invested with the name and honors of a goddess.” They are,
indeed, a cloud darkening the Almighty’s throne, so that no worshipper of
daemonial ghosts, daemonial relics, and daemonial images, can see that throne,
or find transmission for a single sigh.
Such
were the many new deities raised to the rank of celestial and invincible
protectors of the Roman empire. The intelligent reader will know that they
exist only in the intoxicated imaginations of their deluded worshippers, as do
the phantoms seen by an inebriate in delirium tremens. Immortality is neither
innate nor disembodied. “The Deity only hath it,” Paul says; and he only
bestows it upon obedient believers of the truth as it is in the Jesus he
preached; and that bestowal is upon men and women bodily existing; and by
clothing their bodies with incorruptibility and deathlessness after
resurrection from among the dead. This is what the scripture teaches in
opposition to the mythologies of the ancient and modern worlds. If “the
simplicity which is in Christ” had not been departed from, there would have
been no catholic and protestant daemonialism. The dogma of inherent immortality
in sin’s flesh would have remained with the old pagans; but the faith was
departed from by those who ought to have been its earnest defenders. They
abandoned the word, and substituted the vain imaginations of the heathen, which
are all resolvable into the reasonings and speculations of the brain,
unenlightened by revelation of any kind. They became polytheists in spite of
revelation; and polytheists they will remain till Babylon falls; and the divine
reprobation is stamped upon its idolatry in its destruction by the judgment to
be executed by the saints.
The
clergy, who are in all ages the blind adherents and patrons of profitable
errors, came to perceive that this polytheistic daemonialism would be more
valuable to them than gold or precious stones. This stimulated them to a
fraudulent multiplication of daemonial relics, such as the bones, hair, teeth,
toe nails, blood, and so forth, of some fictitious saint or martyr; all of
which were declared to be holy and endowed with miraculous powers for the
healing of the sick, and even for the resurrection of the dead. “Without much
regard for truth or probability,” says Gibbon, “they invented names for
skeletons, and actions for names. The fame of the apostles, and of the holy men
who had imitated their virtues, was darkened by religious fiction. To the
invincible band of genuine and primitive martyrs, they added myriads of
imaginary heroes who had never existed, except in the fancy of crafty or
credulous legen-
daries;
and there is reason to suspect that Tours might not be the only diocese in which
the bones of a malefactor were adored instead of those of a saint.”
But,
he believes that “the progress of superstition would have been much less rapid
and victorious if the faith of the people had not been assisted by the
seasonable aid of visions and miracles” (termed by Paul”all power, and signs,
and wonders of falsehood”) “to ascertain the authenticity and virtue of the
most suspicious relics.” He then gives a account of how the remains of Stephen
were discovered by the appea ance of Gamaliel to one Lucian, a presbyter of
Jerusalem, in the reign ( Theodosius II., A.D. 421-460. The ghost named
Gamaliel revealed the place of Stephen’s
burial. When his alleged coffin came into view, the earth trembled, and an odor
such as that of Paradise was smelt, which instantly cured the various diseases
of seventy-three of the assistants.
These fragrant daemonial relics were transported in clerical procession
to a church-bazaar constructed in their honor on Mount Zion; and th minute
particles of those relics, a drop of blood, or the scrapings of bone, were
acknowledged in almost every province of the Roman world to possess a divine
and miraculous virtue. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, renowned saint of the
Apostasy, and the great exemplar of Mr. Elliott’ “sealed ones,” attests the
innumerable prodigies performed in Africa by the daemonial relics of the
catholic St. Stephen. In his work, the City of God, he enumerates about seventy
miracles, of which three were resurrections from the dead, in the space of two
years, and within the limits of his own diocese! Paul had such “saints” as this
Augustine before his mind when he wrote to Timothy that in later times there
would be ” seducing spirits, with teachings concerning daemonials; speaking lie
in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared as with a hot iron.” If w enlarge
our view to all the dioceses and all the saints of the catholic world, it will
not be easy to calculate the fables and the errors which issued from this
inexhaustible source.
“Whatever
might be the condition of vulgar souls in the long interval between the
dissolution and the resurrection of their bodies, it was evident,” says Gibbon,
satirically, “that the superior spirits (or deified ghosts) of the saints and
martyrs did not consume that portion of their existence in silent and
inglorious sleep. To the pious worshippers, it was evident that these daemonial
spirits enjoyed the lively and active consciousness of their happiness, their
virtues, and their powers, and that they
had already secured the possession of their eternal reward. The enlargement of
their intellectual faculties surpassed the measure of th human imagination,
since it was proved by the (alleged) experience of their worshippers that they
were capable of hearing and understanding
Page 131
the
various petitions of their numerous votaries, who, in the same moment of time,
but in the most distant parts of the world, invoked the name and assistance of
Stephen or of Martin.” The confidence of their suppliants was based on the
supposition that the saints, by daemonial transformation were reigning with
Christ, and were warmly interested in the prosperity of the catholic church;
and that the individuals who im-itated the examples of their faith and piety,
were the peculiar and favorite objects of their most tender regard. They
imagined that the daemonials viewed, with partial affection, the places which
had been consecrated by their birth, their residence, their death, their
burial, or the possession of their relics. In short, as the daemonials of the
aerial were the mere fictions of disordered imaginations, the vagaries of the
human mind in its passion and desires were ascribed to them. Thus, they were as
proud, avaricious, and revengeful as their votaries, neither more nor less. As
all they had to say to their worshippers was said or interpreted by lying and
hypocritical priests and monks, they testified their grateful approbation of
the liberality of their votaries; and hurled the sharpest bolts of punishment
against those impious wretches who violated their magnificent shrines or
disbelieved their supernatural power. “The imagination, which had been raised
by a painful effort to the contemplation and worship of the Universal Cause,
eagerly embraced such inferior objects of adoration as were more proportioned
to its gross conceptions and imperfect faculties. The sublime and simple
theology of the primitive christians was gradually corrupted; and the monarchy
of heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtleties, was degraded by the
introduction of a popular mythology, which tended to restore the reign of
polytheism.” Gibbon.
Thus,
contemporary with the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets the latter of
which did not cease to sound till A.D. 1794, the daemons of pagan Rome
recovered their places in the aerial under new names; and became the patrons
and protectors of the catholic apostasy. These trumpets were terrible judgments
inflicted upon mankind because of their daemonolatry and idolatry.
Protestantism appeared on the stage of action about the time of or a few years
before the killing of the third of the men by the fourth angel power But though
it protested against some catholic abominations of the grosser sort it still
clung tenaciously to the beatified existence of the daemonials in the aerial It
holds to all the absurdities which flow from the dogma of hereditary
immortality, and the disembodied existence of the immortal essence after death.
It erects statues in honor of its departed great, and dedicates them with
clerical prayers and other ceremonies; and proclaims the dead to be alive in
heaven, whence they look down with pleasure and
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132
grateful
satisfaction upon the demonstrations of their admirers. Protestant daemonolatry
is no more agreeable to heaven than the daemon worship of the catholic world.
Behold the vengeance that desolates the protestant South, and that oppresses
the protestant North with death and perplexity. These sectarian sections, being
composed of all kinds of polytheists, are being plagued for reasons similar to
those which caused the locust-torment, and the loosing of the four
trans-Euphratean angel-powers. Erecting statues, and memorial windows in
churches, in honor of “immortal souls in heaven,” is worship, homage, or
reverence, and they who practice such things are as much guilty of “worshipping
the demonials,” as are they who bow down before the image of a “saint.”
‘2.
“Idols”
The
All Seeing Spirit, in ch. 9:20, intimates that the “plagues” of the first and
second woes were designed to abolish, or punish, the worshipping of daemonial
things, and idols or images. There were many other abominations concurrent with
these woes not specified; but daimonia, and eidola, things related to daemons,
and idols, are especially named, because the ages contemporary with the fifth,
and the interval preceding the sixth trumpet, were conspicuous for the legal
establishment of the worship of daemonials, and their idolatrous symbols,
called images or idols.
The
introduction and establishment of daemonial and idol worship as an institution
of the catholic apostasy, was progressive. It began with a “voluntary humility
and worshipping of angels” - and intruding into the unseen, and a vain
inflation of the mind of the flesh, in the apostolic age, as appears from Col.
2:17; and was established as early as the end of the sixth century, but more
firmly by Greek and Papal authority in the eighth and ninth. In the beginning
of the eighth, the idol worship was in full magnitude, and became a striking
characteristic of the Laodicean Apostasy; so that with Jews, Saracens,
Turkmans, Moguls, and Bible Christians, apocalyptically styled “the Golden
Altar,” and the “sealed,” catholics and idolators were and are but different
terms for the same thing.
As
I do not write for “the learned,” who are supposed to know all about the
history of the past, but whose ability to apply it rightly for apocalyptic
exposition is at zero; I shall give the reader a brief account, condensed from
Gibbon, of the idolatry which brought the judgments of the first and second woes
upon “the men” of the Greek and Latin sections of the Roman world.
At
the head of certain ecclesiastical phenomena, by which the decline and fall of
the Roman empire were materially affected, “We may,”
Page 133
says
he, “justly rank the Worship of Images, so fiercely disputed in the eighth and
ninth centuries;” since this question of popular superstition produced the
revolt of Italy from the Greek, or Sixth Dragon-Head of the empire; developed
the temporal power of the popes; and the restoration of the Roman empire of the
west under its last, or Eighth Head.
Images
or idols are symbols. They are symbols which represent the things related to
daemons - ta daimonia. Hence, when a catholic idolater looks upon the statue or
image of Jupiter, which he has been taught to regard as the image of Saint
Peter, that Saint Peter upon which the catholic church is built, he immediately
has before “the mind of his flesh,” ho nous tes sarkos autou, a disembodied
ghost, with a bunch of keys, at the gates of Paradise, called Saint Peter. He
bows before this image and kisses it, as the nearest approach he can make to
bowing be-fore the daemon-ghost in the aerial. It is to him not merely an
image, but a representative image, or idol, before which certain attitudes are
assumed, offerings presented, vows made, prayers repeated, which get no nearer
heaven than the eyes, ears, and pockets of the hypocrites who minister before
the symbol. The first introduction of this symbolic worship was in the
veneration of the cross, and of relics. At first, the experiment of daemonial
relic and image worship was made with caution and scruple. By a slow though
inevitable progression the honors conferred on the original daemon were
transferred to the copy, whether in picture, or in marble, wood, brass, silver
or gold the votary prayed before the image of a deified ghost; and the pagan
rites of genuflection, luminaries, and incense, reappeared in the catholic
church. The use, and even the worship of images, was ineradicably established
before the end of the sixth century. They were fondly cherished by the warm
imagination of the Greeks and Asiatics; and the Pantheon and Vatican were
adorned with the emblems of the new superstition.
Five
hundred years after the crucifixion, a certain bishop “speaking lies in
hypocrisy,” pretended to have discovered a true image of Christ, which he
presented to the devotion of the times. It was enthroned at Edessa in Syria,
where it was adored by the catholics as the immediate creation of the divine
original. The style and sentiments of a Byzantine hymn will declare how far
their worship was removed from the grossest idolatry. “How can we with mortal
eyes contemplate this image, whose celestial splendor the host of heaven
presumes not to behold? He who dwells in heaven condescends this day to visit
us by his venerable image. He who is seated on the cherubim visits us this day
by a picture, which the Father has delineated with his immaculate hand, which
he has formed in an ineffable manner, and which we sanctify by adoring it with
fear and love.” Before the end of the sixth century, these acheiropoietal
Page
134
PICTURE
OF “STATUE OF ST PETER” not shown, page
134
Page
135
images
(images made without hand, were propagated in the camps and cities of the
Eastern Third; they were the objects of worship, and the instruments of
miracles. The fruitful precedent was speedily transferred to the Virgin Mary,
and the daemonials of the catholic air; not very god-like, doubtless, being but
faintly and flatly delineated by monkish artists in the last degeneracy of
taste and genius.
In
the beginning of the eighth century, in the full magnitude of the abuse, many
of the Greeks were awakened to the conviction, that under the name of christianity
they had restored the idolatry of their fathers; and they heard, with grief and
impatience, from Mohammedans and Jews the incessant charge of worshipping
daemonial images, which were incapable of defending themselves, much less the
cities which superstition had placed under their protection. In ten years, the
Saracens had subdued all the daemonially protected cities of Syria, Palestine,
and Egypt, by which conquest, in their opinion, the Lord of hosts had
pronounced a decisive judgment between the adoration and contempt of their mute
and inanimate idols. In this season of distress and dismay, when the
worshippers sought death, but found it not; and desired to die, and the death
fled from them (ch. 9:6) the eloquence of the monks was exercised in the
defense of images. “But,” says the historian, they were now opposed by the
murmurs of many simple or rational christians, who appealed to the evidence of
texts, and of the primitive times, and secretly desired the reformation of the
church.”
This
reformation was attempted by Leo III., surnamed Iconoclast, who ascended the
throne of the Eastern Third, A.D. 726. After ten years, he proscribed the
existence, as well as the use of religious pictures; the church-bazaars of
Constantinople were cleansed from idolatry; the images of Christ, “the Virgin,
and the saints,” were demolished, or a smooth surface of plaster was spread
over the walls of the edifice. For these things, Leo the Isaurian, and his
party, were styled Iconoclasts, or Image breakers; by whom under six emperors,
the East and West were involved in a noisy conflict of one hundred and twenty
years. They held a synod in Constantinople, A.D. 754, which, after a session of
six months, decreed, that all visible symbols of Christ, except in the eucharist,
were either blasphemous or heretical; that image-worship was a corruption of
christianity and a renewal of paganism; that all such monuments of idolatry
should be broken or erased; and that those who should refuse to deliver the
objects of their private superstition were guilty of disobedience to the
authority of the church and of the emperor.
The
execution of the imperial edict was resisted by frequent tumults in
Constantinople and the provinces; the person of Leo was en
Page
136
dangered,
his officers were massacred, and the popular enthusiasm was quelled by the
strongest efforts of the civil and military power. Of the Archipelago, or Holy
Sea, the numerous islands were filled with images and monks; and their votaries
abjured the emperor, without scruple, as the enemy of Christ, his mother, and
the saints. They sallied forth in armed boats and galleys against the capital,
depending upon the succor of a miracle for success. But monkish miracles were
inefficient against Greek fire, which wrapped their fleet in a sheet of flame,
and gave victory to the image breakers; who forthwith suppressed the monks,
ever the faithful slaves of the superstition to which they owed their riches
and influence; dissolved their fraternities; converted their monasteries into magazines,
or barracks; and confiscated their lands, movables, and cat-tle, to the use of
the state. With the habit and profession of monks, the public and private
worship of images was rigorously proscribed; and a solemn abjuration of
idolatry was exacted from the clergy of the Eastern Third of the Roman orb.
The
patient east abjured, with reluctance, her sacred images; while they were
fondly cherished, and vigorously defended, by the Italians. Their popes were
the chief advocates of “the daemonials and idols.” It is agreed, that in the
eighth century, their dominion was founded on rebellion, and that the rebellion
was produced and justified by the heresy of the Iconoclasts. In the epistle of
Pope Gregory II. to the Emperor Leo, A.D. 727, he says: “You now accuse the
catholics of idolatry; and by the accusation you betray your own impiety and
ignorance. To this ignorance we are compelled to adapt the grossness of our
style and arguments: the first elements of holy letters are sufficient for your
confusion; and were you to enter a grammar school, and avow yourself the enemy
of our worship, the simple and pious children would be provoked to cast their
horn books at your head.” After this very episcopal salutation, he maintains a
distinction between the idols of antiquity and the catholic images. The former
were the fanciful representations of phantoms or daemons; while the latter are
the genuine forms of Christ, his mother, and his saints, who have approved by a
crowd of miracles the innocence and merit of this relative worship; and falsely
asserts the perpetual use of images from the apostolic age. Then addressing
Leo, he continues:
“You
assault us, 0 Tyrant! with a carnal and military hand; unarmed and naked, we
can only implore the Christ, the prince of the heavenly host, that he will send
unto you a devil, for the destruction of your body and the salvation of your
soul. You declare with foolish arrogance, I will dispatch my orders to Rome, I
will break in pieces the image of St. Peter; and Gregory, like his predecessor
Martin, shall be transported in chains, and in exile, to the foot of the
imperial throne. Incapable as you
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137
are
of defending your Roman subjects, the maritime situation of the city may
perhaps expose it to your depredations; but we can remove to the distance of
four and twenty stadia, to the first fortress of the Lombards, and then - you
may pursue the winds. Are you ignorant that the popes are the bond of union,
the mediators of peace (daimones, in the sense of ch. 18:2), between the east and
west? The eyes of the nations are fixed on our humility (“pride that apes
humility”); and they revere, as a God upon earth, the apostle Saint Peter,
whose image you threaten to destroy. The barbarians have submitted to the yoke
of the gospel, while you alone are deaf to the voice of the shepherd. These
pious barbarians are kindled into rage: they thirst to avenge the persecution
of the east. Abandon your rash and fatal enterprise; reflect, tremble, and
repent. If you persist, we are innocent of the blood that will be spilt in the
contest; may it fall on your own head.”
When
Leo’s proscriptive edict arrived in Italy, the catholics trembled for their
domestic deities; the images of Christ and the Virgin, of the angels, martyrs,
and saints, were abolished in all the church-bazaars of the country; and a
strong alternative was proposed to the pope, the imperial favor of the Dragon
Chief as the price of compliance, or degradation and exile as the penalty of
disobedience. Gregory refused to submit, and gave the signal of revolt. The
Italians swore to live and die in the defense of the pope, and the holy images.
They destroyed the statues of Leo, withheld the tribute of Italy, and put to an
ignominious death the officials who undertook to enforce his decree. To punish
these flagitious deeds, and to restore the dominion of the Dragon in Italy, Leo
sent a fleet and army into the Adriatic gulf. In a hard fought day, the
invaders were defeated, and the worship of images vindicated in a baptism of
blood. Amidst the triumph of the idolators, their Chief Pontiff, with the
consent of a synod hastily convened, pronounced a general excommunication
against all who by word or deed should attack the traditions of the fathers and
the images of the saints. They spared, however, the relics of the Byzantine
dominion. They delayed and prevented the election of a new emperor, and
exhorted the Italians not to separate from the body of the Roman monarchy: and
till the imperial coronation of Charlemagne, A.D. 799, the government of Rome and
Italy was administered in the name of the successors of Constantine.
While
the popes established in Italy their freedom and dominion, the images, the
first cause of their revolt, were restored in the eastern empire. The tree of
superstition had been hewn down, but the stump was still enrooted in the soil.
The idols were secretly cherished by the monks and women, whose fond alliance
obtained a final victory over the reason and authority of man. The ambitious
empress Irene, A.D. 780,
Page
138
undertook
the ruin of the Iconoclasts. In her restoration of the monks, a thousand images
were exposed to the public veneration; and a thousand lying legends invented of
their sufferings and miracles. The seventh general council was convened at
Nice, A.D. 787. The legates of the Roman God, and the eastern patriarch, sat in
the synod of three hundred and fifty bishops, who unanimously decreed, that the
worship of images is agreeable to scripture and reason, to the fathers and
council of the church. The acts of this council are still extant; a curious
monument of superstition and ignorance, of falsehood and folly. The comparative
merit of image worship and morality in the judgment of these bishops, is
illustrated by the following anecdote. A monk had concluded a truce with the
daemon of fornication on condition of interrupting his daily prayers to a
picture that hung in his cell. His scruples prompted him to consult the Abbot.
“Rather than abstain from adoring Christ and his Mother in their holy images,
it would be better for you,” said he, “to enter every brothel, and visit every
prostitute in the city.”
The
final victory of “the daemonials and idols” was achieved by a second female,
the empress Theodora, who was left guardian of the empire A.D. 842. Her
measures were bold and decisive. She ordered the Iconoclast patriarch to be
whipped with two hundred lashes. Upon this the bishops trembled, the monks
shouted, and idolatry reigned supreme. The churches of France, Germany,
England, and Spain, steered a middle course between the adoration and the
destruction of the idols, which they admitted into their temples, not as
objects of worship, but as lively and useful memorials of faith and history.
Among the barbarians of the west the worship of idols advanced with silent and
insensible progress, because among them were “nourished the Woman and the
Remnant of her seed” (ch. 12:14-17); but a large atonement is made for their
hesitation and delay, by the gross idolatry of the ages which precede the
protestant modification of Romanism, and of the countries, both in Europe and
America, which are still immersed in the gloom of daemonial superstition.
Thus,
having become inveterate idolators “the inhabitants of the earth” were given
over to their delusions, and nothing remained but to inflict upon them the
sanguinary judgments of the three woes, or fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets.
As I have said, the second woe ended in A.D. 1794; and since then, the third
woe has been doing its work upon the daemonialists and image worshippers of the
European and American sections of the globe. Its judgments have not yet ceased;
for “the rest of the men” have “not changed from the works of their hands, that
they should not worship the daemonials and idols;” nor have they of the
“religious world” abandoned murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft.
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Therefore
the judgments of the third woe will not cease, until all the catholic,
protestant, and sectarian Systems of Daemonialism shall be destroyed; and
Yahweh be alone exalted as Elohim and King over all the earth in a peaceful and
glorious reign of one thousand years (ch. 5:10;
20:4,6).
II.
HISTORICAL EXPOSITION
As
we have seen, the two periods of five symbolic months of years pertaining to
the fifth trumpet, terminated with the divesting of the Caliph-Angel of the
Abyss of all temporal power, which had enabled him to “torment” and “injure,”
or destroy, the catholic worshippers of the daemonials and idols, for 300
years. Since that notable event, A.D. 933’ their superstition and
demoralization continued to intensify to the full establishment of what the
moderns, in the plenitude of their own conceited wisdom, term “the dark ages.”
Dark enough they were; nevertheless there were more in those ages than in this,
who were scripturally enlightened in “the truth as it is in Jesus.” These were
“the golden altar,” “the altar” of sacrifice, and “the holy city trodden under
foot of the Gentiles” (ch. 11:1,2); in other words less highly figurative, “the
Woman in the Wilderness” and the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments
of the Deity, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (ch. 12:6,17).
Parallel
with the ascendancy of the Caliph-Angel of the Abyss, and far transcending the
epoch of his loss of temporal power; that is, from A.D. 660 to A.D. 1200, the Woman’s
Seed, under the tolerating government of the Arabs, and under the cruelly
persecuting rule, both of the image-worshipping and Iconoclastic Greeks, was
exceedingly active In opposing the superstition of the catholics of the Eastern
Third. We shall have to speak of these more particularly in the exposition of
the eleventh chapter; I need therefore only say here, that, while their labors
were beneficial to individuals in regard to their eternal salvation, and as a
protest against iniquity, it worked no change in the public conscience. The one
hundred and thirty years that intervened between the Caliph-Angel’s loss of
temporal power, and the loosing of the first of the four angel-powers from its
Euphratean boundary, were a period of supine superstition. Indeed, not only for
this period, but “from the beginning of the eighth century,” says Gibbon, “to
the last ages of the Byzantine empire, the sound of controversy was seldom
heard; curiosity was exhausted, zeal was fatigued, and in the decrees of six
councils, the articles of the catholic faith had been irrevocably defined; and
the prostrate Greeks were content to fast, to pray, and to believe, in blind
obedi-
‘
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ence to the patriarch and his
clergy. During a long dream of superstition, the Virgin and the Saints, their
visions and miracles, their relics and images, were preached by the monks and
worshipped by the people, including the first ranks of civil society.” The
Iconoclasts some-what rudely disturbed this dream; but the Eastern World
embraced or deplored its visible deities, and the restoration of images was
celebrated as the feast of orthodoxy. In this passive and unanimous state, the
ecclesiastical rulers were relieved from the toil, or deprived of the pleasure
of persecution. The old pagans had been superseded by the new; the Jews were
silent and obscure; the disputes with the Latins were rare and remote
hostilities; and the sects of Egypt and Syria enjoyed a free toleration under the
shadow of the Arabian Caliphs. One enemy alone remained to disturb their
spiritual slumbers; and these were the Altar-Worshippers of the apocalypse,
whom they selected as the victims of diabolical tyranny: “the earth” that
“helped” them (ch. 12:16) was at length exasperated to rebellion; and the exile
into which they were driven, scattered over the west fresh seeds of antagonism
to the Papal Power, styled “the Beast and his Image” (ch. 13).
What, then, could be done
with such an incorrigible generation of daemonial and idol-worshippers, but to
prepare powers, which when loosed against them, should proclaim idolatry a sin
punishable with slavery or death? This was the course of the Eternal Spirit, as
revealed in the vision of the second woe. The Euphratean Powers were prepared
powers - powers prepared for a special mission, and therefore “angels” or
messengers; and messengers are so called, because they are sent to perform; or
execute missions. The mission of these Euphrateans was to make war upon idolatry
with sword and gun, until the dominion of the Eastern Dragonic Third should be
transferred to the Conqueror; and so, in relation to the daemonial and
idol-worshipping community, to all intents and purposes, “killed.” In the
order, then, of things presented to our hand, I shall proceed to relate the
1. Preparation of the First Angel
The
loosing must not be confounded with the preparation of the four angels. If they
had been “prepared for the hour and day and month and year,” we might have been
led to look for their contemporaneous existence during all that period; which
would have made any effort at exposition a hopeless failure. Each individual
power was neither prepared nor loosed for a separate and independent
continuance of 391 years and 30 days. This period was the time appointed of the
Spirit for the work of killing the third of the men. He could have caused them
to be resolved into political extinction in a much shorter period; but this
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would
not have been a sufficient punishment for their daemonialism. The enormity of
their offense in worshipping deified immortal souls, and images of the bodies
of such fictions of fancy, demanded nearly four hundred years of severe
national suffering. In these centuries they were baptized in blood and calamity,
and no rest was granted them day or night.
The
word rendered “prepared,” hoi hetoimasmenoi, is the perfect participle passive,
and signifies having been prepared. Thus, it may be read, “the four
having-been-prepared angels were loosed for the hour and day and month and
year.” Their preparation and loosing were for the work of this period. The time
and circumstances of their preparation are not indicated; nor how long each
angel was to continue loose, or un-repressed. These particulars must be learned
from history, which gives us the following information with respect to the
preparation of the first of the four Euphratean angel-powers.
In
tracing the preparation of the first angel-power, the reader must transport
himself beyond the Caspian Sea, to the original seat of the Turkmans, against
whom the first crusade was principally directed. One of the greatest of their
princes, for whom the title of Sultan was first invented, was Mahmud the
Gaznevide, who reigned in the eastern provinces of Persia from A.D. 997 to A.D.
1028. His name is still venerable in the east, where he was very successful
against the idolators of Hindostan. Ten millions sterling were offered him for
the preservation of the idol of Sumnat
by the Brahmins; but he refused it, saying, “Never in the eyes of posterity
shall Mahmud appear as a merchant of idols.” The fame of his zeal reaching
Baghdad, Mahmud was saluted by the Caliph with the title of Guardian of the
Fortune and Faith of Mohammed.
The
Eastern Turkmans whom he had introduced into the heart of his Persian kingdom
were a cause of grief to him in the latter years of his reign. He discerned the
impolicy of his course in the replies of Ismael, a chief of the race of the
Seljuk, who dwelt in the territory of Bochara. The sultan had inquired what
supply of men he could furnish for military service. “If you send,” replied
Ismael, “one of these arrows into our camp, fifty thousand of your servants
will mount on horseback.” “And if that number,” continued Mahmud, “should not
be sufficient?” “Send this second arrow to the horde of Balik, and you will
find fifty thousand more.” “But,” said the Gaznevide, dissembling his anxiety,
“if I should stand in need of the whole force of your kindred tribes?”
“Dispatch my bow,” was the last reply of Ismael, “and as it is circulated
around, the summons will be obeyed by two hundred thousand horse.” The
apprehension of such formidable friendship induced him to transport the most
obnoxious tribes into the heart of Chorasan, where they would be
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separated
from their brethren by the river Oxus, and enclosed on all sides by the walls
of obedient cities. But on the death of Mahmud, these Turkman shepherds became
robbers; the bands of robbers were collected into an army of conquerors; as far
as Ispahan and the Tigris, Persia was afflicted by their predatory inroads; and
the Turkmans were not ashamed or afraid to measure their courage and numbers
with the proudest sovereigns of Asia.
Massoud,
the son and successor of Mahmud, had neglected too long the advice of his
ministers. ‘”Your enemies,” they repeatedly urged, “were in their Origin a
swarm of ants; they are now little snakes; and unless they be instantly
crushed, they will acquire the venom and magnitude of serpents.” This he
essayed to do, but with ill success; for, though for a time alternating between
victory and defeat, he at length lost his crown and life in battle; and in
Persia, as the result of his over-throw, was founded the dynasty of the
shepherd kings, A.D. 1038.
The
victorious Turks immediately elected Togrul Beg, the grand-son of Seljuk, for
their king. His ambition was equal to his valor, and both were great. He
extended his dominion eastward to the Indus. In the west, he annihilated the
dynasty of the Bowides, the Persian protectors of the caliphs; and by the
conquest of Media he approached the con-fines of the Roman earth, from whence
he despatched a herald to demand the tribute and obedience of the emperor of
Constantinople.
From
the Oxus to the Euphrates the military colonies of the Turks were protected and
propagated by their native princes, under the royalty of Togrul, who promoted
the most deserving of the Persians and Arabians to the honors of the state; and
the whole body of the Turkish
MAP
PAGE 142 OF SARACEN EMPIRE 711A.D. NOT SHOWN
Sarucen
EmpIre Under Threat
The map above shows the Saracen Empire at its fullest extent (711
A.D.). Its dominance was challenged by the Seljuk Turks as they moved West. The
Ottoman dynasty of Turks extended the Islamic threat to Europe itself. In 1453 Constantinople
fell, and the Eastern Roman Empire came to an end.
Page 143
nation
embraced with fervor and sincerity the anti-idolatrous religion of Mohammed.
With
the belief of the Koran, Togrul imbibed a lively reverence for the caliph, the
now feeble successor of Mohammed. On the fall of the Gaznevide dynasty, the
caliph named the Seljukian sultan his temporal vicegerent over the Moslem
world. In the palace of Bagdad, the Commander of the Faithful still slumbered,
a venerable phantom. The prince of the Bowides could no longer protect him from
meaner tyrants; and the presence of a conqueror was therefore implored as a
blessing. Togrul obeyed the holy summons at the head of an irresistible force.
As conqueror of the east, he entered Bagdad, where, seated upon a throne by the
side of the caliph’s, his commission was publicly read, which declared him the
temporal lieutenant of the Vicar of the Prophet. Two crowns were placed on his
head; and two scymitars were girded to his side, as the symbols of a double reign
over the east and west. The alliance of the Caliph, the spiritual, and of
Togrul, the temporal, chief of all faithful Moslems, was cemented by the
marriage of Togrul’s sister with the caliph, and the caliph’s daughter with
Togrul. The preparation of the first angel was now complete. An anti-idolatrous
power had been developed upon the old Mohammedan basis, whose dominion extended
to the Euphrates, by which it was “bounded,” and divided from the daemonial
idol-worshipping peoples, on the west. The royal nuptials of Togrul, A.D. 1062,
were soon followed by his death, A.D. 1063.
Since
the fall of the Caliphs, the Saracens had respected the Asiatic provinces of
Rome; which, by the victories of the Greeks, had been ex-tended to Antioch and
the eastern boundaries of Armenia. Twenty-five years after the death of Basil,
A~D. 1050, myriads of Togrul’s horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles
from Tauris to Erzeroum, and the blood of a hundred and fifty thousand
worshippers of daemonial relics, ghosts, and idols, was a grateful sacrifice by
the children of the Arabian prophet. This, however, was not a loosing of the
angel-power; for the arms of Togrul made no deep or lasting impression on the
Greek empire. The torrent rolled away from the open country; and he retired
without glory or success within his Euphratean boundary; beyond which he had
found it impossible for him permanently to extend westward the territory of the
Turks.
2. The Loosing of the First Angel
Togrul,
the Temporal Chief of the Mohammedan World, dying childless, was succeeded by
his nephew Alp Arsl an, “the Valiant Lion.” As soon as’he was seated on the
throne, he determined to continue the work of extending his dominion westward
at the expense of “the third of
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the men,” whom he very
correctly denounced as idolators. “He passed the Euphrates,” says Gibbon, “at
the head of the Turkish cavalry,” A.D. 1063, “and entered Caesarea, the
metropolis of Cappadocia, to which he had been attracted by the fame and wealth
of the temple of St. Basil.” He carried away the doors of the shrine incrusted
with gold and pearls, and profaned the relics of the guardian saint.
The final conquest of
Armenia and Georgia, began by Togrul, was achieved by Alp Arslan, who by this
success gave proof that the power of the Seljukian Turks was no longer “bound
by the great river Euphrates,” but emphatically “loosed.” The loss of this
important frontier was the news of a day; but as the idolators inhabiting the
country were also heretics, the orthodox idolators of the capital were neither
sur-prised nor displeased that they had been abandoned by their deities to the
invader. The Turkish sultan and his son Malek were indefatigable in this “holy
war;” their captives were compelled to promise both spiritual and temporal obedience;
and to wear an iron horseshoe, as a badge of ignominy, if they still adhered to
the daemonial and idol worship of their fathers.
The Turks had penetrated
into the heart of Phrygia; and their numerous detachments were scattered over
Asia in the security of con-quest These were separately surprised and defeated
by the Greeks under their emperor Romanus Diogenes; who, in three laborious
campaigns, drove the Turks beyond the Euphrates; and then undertook the
recovery of Armenia. The report of this bold invasion brought Alp Arslan again
into the field. He flew to the scene of action at the head of forty thousand
horse. His hopes of victory were in the arrows of the Turkish cavalry. After
wasting the greater part of a summer’s day, fatigue compelled the Greeks and
their Latin allies to retire to camp. At this crisis, the Turkish squadrons
poured in a cloud of arrows. The destruction of the army followed; the emperor
was taken prisoner, and the Asiatic provinces of Rome irretrievably lost. “The
third of the men” inhabiting the provinces “were killed.” Their sovereignty was
abolished, and they became the slaves of the victorious Turks, whose dominion
was advanced from Antioch to the Black Sea - A.D. 1068-1071.
Alp Arslan fell by the hand
of an assassin, A.D. 1072, and was succeeded by his son Malek Shah, who reigned
prosperously twenty years. He was the first Turk who bore the title of
“Commander of the Faithful.” By his personal merit and the extent of his
empire, he was the greatest prince of his age. From the Chinese frontier, he
stretched his immediate jurisdiction or feudatory sway to the west and south as
far as the mountains of Georgia, the neighborhood of Constantinople, the holy
city of Jerusalem, and the spicy groves of Arabia Felix. This domin-
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145
ion
surpassed the Asiatic reign of Cyrus and the Caliphs. His hunting train
consisted of forty-seven thousand horses; a stud, surpassing that doubtless, of
Nimrod, the “mighty hunter before the Lord.”
But
the greatness and union of the Seljukian angel-power expired in the person of
Malek Shah, who died A.D. 1092. His vacant throne was disputed by his brother
and his four sons. After a series of civil wars, the empire was divided into
four dynasties - the Persian, and those of Kerman, of Syria, and of ROUM. The
last invaded the Roman provinces of Asia Minor, A.D. 1074, under the lead of
the valiant Soliman, who extended the bounds of the Seljukian kingdom of Roum
to the Bosphorus and Hellespont; which, instead of “the great river Euphrates,”
became the eastern boundary of the Roman world.
“Since
the first conquests of the caliphs,” says Gibbon, “the establishment of the
Turks in Anatolia was the most deplorable loss which the church and empire had
sustained.” Soliman’s new kingdom of the Romans, or Roum, is described as
extending from the Euphrates to Constantinople, and from the Black Sea to the
confines of Syria. Nice, the capital of Bithynia, was chosen for his fortress
and palace; by which the throne of the Dynasty of Roum was planted one hundred
miles from Constantinople. On the hard conditions of tribute and slavery, the
Greek “worshippers of the daemonials and idols” might enjoy the exercise of
their superstition; but their most holy temples were profaned; their priests
and bishops were insulted; many thousands of their children were circumcised;
and many thousand captives were devoted to the service, or the pleasures of
their masters. A fleet of two hundred ships made Alexius, the Greek emperor,
tremble behind the walls of his capital; and caused him to supplicate the
compassion of the Latins in succor for the defence of the city of Constantine.
3. The Beginning of the 391 Years and 30
Days
Such
is a brief sketch of the loosing of the first, or Seljukian, angel-power, that it
might be no more “bound by the great river Euphrates.” The commencement of this
loosing enterprise was the attempted separation of the Asiatic provinces of the
Roman empire by Togrul, and perfected by Alp Arslan, A.D. 1071, by the capture
of the emperor Romanus. Hence, the loosing covered a period of several years.
The period of the symbolic time allotted to “the killing of the third of the
men,” that is, of “the hour and day and month and year,” is no more to be
calculated from the loosing of the first angel, than from that of the last
three. The calculation must be made from the perfected preparation of the first
angel power - “having been prepared” for the work of kill-
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146
mg.
The tense of the participle passive proves this, indicating, not partial, but
complete preparation before loosing.
We
know the day and month and year in which the work of killing, with political
death, “the third of the men” was accomplished. About this there can be no
mistake. The Imperial Eastern Roman Third was “killed” with the slaying of its
last emperor and the capture of the capital. This event came to pass, May 29,
1453. This was the last day of the 391 years and 30 days, which long period
must consequently have com-menced April 29, 1062, before the death of Togrul, and
after, or at, his adoption by marriage into the domestic circle of the
Caliph-Angel of the Abyss.
4. The First Interval
The
second Euphratean angel power did not immediately follow the first. At the
close of the eleventh century, and not more than forty years from the
inauguration of Togrul, Constantinople and its empire were on the verge of ruin
by the power of the Seljukian kingdom of Roum; and nothing less than a
superhuman intervention seemed capable of averting it. To have permitted “the
killing of the third of the men” “worshipping the daemonials and idols” at that
epoch, would have falsified the vision. They were to be killed, not by bows and
arrows, but “by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the sulphur bursting forth
out of the mouths of the horses.” This was a power of destruction, not in
operation in the days of Soliman, the Seljukian king of Roum. An intervention,
therefore, was a divine necessity, that the word of the Deity might be
established. Nor was the necessity unprovided for. The daemonial superstition
of the pope’s barbarians of western Europe finding vent in the “crusades,”
though ultimately ineffective in Syria, was made the instrument of so crippling
the Seljukian power, as for two hundred years to aid in upholding against it
the Greek empire, which tottered on the verge of destruction. In the age of the
crusades, the catholic idolators of the east and west, insisted upon their
peculiar title to the Holy Land, then as now in the possession of the Turks;
and that this title, which was inalienable, had been sealed by the blood of
their divine saviour. On this assumption, they affirmed that it was their right
and duty to rescue their inheritance from the Mohammedans, its unjust
possessors, who profaned his sepulchre, and oppressed the pilgrimage of his
disciples.
But
in this argument, which overwhelmed Asia and depopulated Europe, there were
fatal errors; first, in the assumption that they, these worshippers of
daemonial ghosts, relics, and images, were christians; and secondly, that it is
the right and duty of christians to possess them-selves of the Holy Land. It is
indeed true, that the true believers have an
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inalienable
title to the land; and that that title was sealed by the blood of Christ, when
by his death he brought the Abrahamic covenant into force; so that the land
becomes their inheritance; but it is not true, that it is the right and duty of
these heirs to become crusaders to wrest their inheritance from the enemy. They
are heirs, indeed; but they are also “joint-heirs with Christ,” and have
therefore no right, and consequently it is not their duty, to take possession
of it in his absence, even if they were able. He must first return from the far
country in which he has re-sided so long; and return, too, with power and
authority from the Father-Deity to take possession jointly with his
fellow-heirs of their inalienable inheritance.
But
what a monster evil the idolators of “Christendom” brought upon themselves by
the false assumptions of the argument, by which they sought to justify their
mad enterprises for the deliverance of the land and sepulchre of Christ. Their
ignorance and fanaticism were made the means of the destruction of myriads. In
the council of Clermont, Urban II. proclaimed a plenary indulgence to those who
should enlist under the banner of the cross; the absolution of all their sins,
and a full receipt for all that might be due of canonical penance. At the voice
of the pope, the robber, the incendiary, the homicide, arose by thousands to
redeem their souls, by repeating on the Moslems the same deeds they had
practised against their papal brethren; and the terms of atonement were eagerly
embraced by offenders of every rank and denomination. They set out for Asia,
A.D. 1096, early in the spring, under Peter the Hermit and Walter the
Pennyless, a herd of nearly three hundred thousand of the most stupid and
savage refuse of the people, who mingled with their devotion to the cross a
brutal license of rapine, prostitution, and drunkenness; while their genuine
leaders were a goose and a goat, who were carried in the front, and “to whom,”
says Gibbon, ‘these worthy christians ascribed an infusion of the divine
spirit.” In their march along the Rhine, they pillaged and massacred many
thousands of the Jews, numbers of whom, with their families and wealth,
perished in the rivers or the flames. As they advanced their numbers increased;
but in Hungary and Asia Minor, unrelenting vengeance retaliated upon them the
punishment of their crimes. In the plain of Nice, they were overwhelmed by the
Turkish arrows. Of these first crusaders 300,000 had already perished before a
single city was taken from the kingdom of Roum; and a pyramid of bones became
the memorial of their defeat.
This
herd of savages was followed by the chivalry of the nations. Their principal
force consisted in cavalry; and when mustered in the plains of Bithynia, the
knights and their martial attendants on horse-
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back
amounted to one hundred thousand fighting men, completely armed with the helmet
and coat of mail. Besides these, the promiscuous crowd was lost in its own
disorder. The Greeks were astonished at the overwhelming inundation; and the
Princess Anne, the daughter of the Emperor Alexius, exclaims, “That Europe was
loosened from its foundations, and hurled against Asia.” Provoked by the loss
of his capital, Soliman collected the Turkman hordes against them to the number
of three hundred and sixty thousand horse. But the battle went against him, and
he found it necessary to evacuate the kingdom of Roum. The crusaders at length
obtained possession of Antioch, but with the annihilation of their splendid
cavalry; and the loss of many thousands of every rank by famine, sickness, and
desertion. In the month of May, A.D. 1099, the relics of their mighty host laid
siege to Jerusalem, which they entered July 15. The capture of the city was
followed by the foundation of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Latins now
reigned beyond the Euphrates; and the four cities of Hems, Hamah, Damascus, and
Aleppo, were the only relics of the Mohammedan conquests.
The
Latin Kingdom was conquered by Saladin, A.D. 1187; but the expulsion of the
Latins from Syria was delayed till A.D. 1295; when the Sultan of Egypt, at the
head of sixty thousand horse, and a hundred and forty thousand foot, closed the
age of the crusades with the capture of Acre, the expulsion of these forces
from the Holy Land, and the death or slavery of sixty thousand worshippers of
the daemonials and idols of the catholic aerial.
5. Preparation of the Second Angel
The
rise and progress of the Ottomans are founded on a previous knowledge of the
great eruption of the Moguls and Tartars; whose rapid conquests may be compared
with the primitive convulsions of nature which have agitated and altered the
surface of the globe.
The
spacious highlands between China, Siberia, and the Caspian sea, the ancient
seats of the Huns and Turks, were occupied in the twelfth century by many
pastoral tribes, of the same descent and similar manners, which were united and
led to conquest by the formidable Zingis Khan. His private name was Temugin,
but from a naked prophet, who claimed to be able to ascend to heaven on a white
horse, he condescended to accept the title of ZINGIS, the Most Great; and a
divine right to the conquest and dominion of the earth. In a general diet, he
was solemnly proclaimed Great Khan, or Emperor of the Moguls and Tartars. War
was his delight, and his maxim was that peace should never be granted unless to
a vanquished or suppliant enemy.
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149
His
religious system was that of pure theism and perfect toleration. He was in
direct opposition to the impious fools of Europe, who believed nonsense and
defended it by cruelty. His first and only article of faith was the existence
of one God, the author of all good, who fills by his presence the heavens and
earth, which he has created by his power. Such a potentate was an appropriate
scourge for the idolators of the Roman world.
In
the west, his empire touched the dominions of the Sultan of Carizme, who
reigned from the Persian Gulph to the borders of India and Turkestan. It was
his wish to establish a friendly and commercial intercourse with the most
powerful of the Moslem princes. But he was not met in the same spirit. In the
vast plains north of the Jaxartes, 700,000 Moguls and Tartars under Zingis and
his four sons, encountered the Sultan with 400,000. In the first battle,
160,000 Carizmians were slain. The Sultan retired into his fortified cities.
But, aided by his Chinese engineers, and informed of the secret of gunpowder,
they were unable to withstand the attacks of Zingis. From the Caspian to the
Indus, his Moguls ruined a tract of many hundred miles, which was adorned with
the habitations and labors of mankind; so that five centuries have not been
sufficient to repair the ravages of four years.
Zingis
died in the fullness of years, A.D. 1227, leaving his empire to successors of
his own race and family. In the sixty-eight years of the first four of these, the
Moguls subdued almost all Asia, and a large portion of Europe. Thus, a power
was prepared eastward of the Euphrates, which, A.D. 1258, under Holagou, the
grandson of Zingis, by the storm and capture of Bagdad, and the territory of
its jurisdiction, extended to the Euphrates; the east of which the stream of
Mogul hostility was driven back from the south by the Mamelucs of Egypt. Hence,
it was a pre-pared power “bounded by the great river Euphrates.”
6. Loosing of the Second Angel
When
the Mogul-power suppressed the Caliphate, which had been held by the race of
Abbas above five hundred years, it spread beyond the Tigris and Euphrates,
pillaged Aleppo and Damascus, and threatened to join the Franks in the
deliverance of Jerusalem. Egypt would have been lost had it been only defended
by natives. But the Mamelucs were now established there; and they were equal in
valor and superior in discipline to the Moguls. These were heading in the wrong
direction. Their mission was towards Constantinople and the west. It was
necessary, therefore, that they should be turned thitherward. Hence, the
Mamelucs were stirred up to withstand them by their inva-
sion
of the south. They met them in many a well fought field, and at length drove
them to the east of the Euphrates.
But
they could not be “bound” there, for the time had come for the second angel to
be loosed. The Mogul inundation overflowed with resistless violence the Kingdom
of Armenia, which was possessed by the daemonial worshippers of idols; and then
crossing westward into the upper region watered by “the great river Euphrates,”
they flooded the Kingdom of Anatolia, which was possessed by the Turkish
sultans of Iconium. These opposed some resistance to the Mogul arms, till
Azzadin sought refuge in Constantinople, and his feeble successors, the last of
the Seljukian dynasty, were finally extirpated by the Mogul Khans of Persia,
A.D. 1272.
No
sooner had Octai, one of the four sons of Zingis subverted the northern empire
of China, than he resolved to visit with his arms the most remote countries of
the west. Fifteen hundred thousand Moguls and Tartars were inscribed on the
military roll. A third of these were in-trusted to his nephew, Batou, the son
of Tuli, who reigned over his father’s conquests to the north of the Caspian;
and such was the ardor of his innumerable cavalry, that in less than six years
they had measured a line of ninety degress of longitude, a fourth of the
circumference of the globe. They ravaged with equal fury the countries they
hoped to possess, and those they were hastening to leave. They reduced the
Russians to a servitude of two hundred years; made a deadly, though transient,
inroad into the heart of catholic Poland; and penetrated as far as the borders
of Germany. They approached the shores of the Baltic; and in the battle of
Lignitz, filled nine sacks with the right ears of the slain. From this extreme
point of their march westward, they invaded Hungary with five hundred thousand
horse. The whole country north of the Danube was lost in a day, and depopulated
in a summer. Of all the cities and fortresses of daemonial and idol worshipping
Hungary, three alone survived this Mogul-Tartar invasion.
The
Latin world was darkened by this cloud of second-angel hostility to the
idolators of the west; and the remote nations of the Baltic and the ocean
trembled at the noise of their approach. Since the invasion of the Arabs in the
eighth century, Europe had never been exposed to a similar calamity. The Roman
high priest of the daemonials attempted to appease and convert to his idolatry
these invincible pagans by a mission of Franciscan and Dominican friars; but
“His Holiness” was astonished by the reply of the Kh an, that the sons of God
and of zingis were invested with a divine power to subdue and extirpate the
nations; and that the pope would be involved in the universal destruction
unless he visited in person, and as a suppliant, the royal horde. This was
apocalyptically true;
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151
they
were indeed so invested. Their mission was divine. They were one of the four
Euphratean angel-powers, “invested with divine power” against the catholic
world. Vengeance upon this “Sodom and Egypt, spiritually so called” (ch. 11:8)
- was heaven’s decree; and the invincible sons of Zingis were the ministers of
its wrath.
In
this shipwreck of nations, Constantinople and the Greek empire, then divided
between the Greeks and Latins, escaped surprisingly. Had the sons of Zingis
undertaken the siege of the capital, it must have yielded to the common fate.
In a second expedition, death arrested the Khan in full march to attack
Constantinople. His brother Borga, how-ever, was diverted from the Byzantine
war which he had carried into Bulgaria and Thrace by an alliance with the
Mamelukes against the Moguls of Persia.
In
the reign of Michael Palaeologus, the Seljukian sultan, who had fled to
Constantinople, was released from his exile among the Greeks. The first terror
of the arms of the Monguls secured, rather than disturbed, the peace of the
Roman Asia. The Seljukian sultans of Iconium, were a barrier, which, when
overthrown exposed the defenselessness of the Greeks. Holagou, the grandson of
Zingis, threatened to march to Constantinople at the head of 400,000 men. The
news of this spread terror among the idolators of Nice, where the doleful chant
of a procession in honor of some of their saints, “from the fury of the
Tartars, good Lord, deliver us!” scattered the belief of an actual assault and
massacre; and it was some hours before the city could be delivered from this
imaginary foe. But the ambition of Holagou and his successors was diverted by
war with the Moslems of Bagdad and Syria, which disposed them to unite with the
Greeks and Franks. They offered the Seljukian kingdom of Anatolia to an
Armenian vassal, whose emirs all confessed the supremacy of the Mogul Khans of
Persia. The death of Cazan, one of the greatest and most accomplished princes
of the house of Zingis, terminated their salutary control A.D. 1304; and the
decline of the Moguls gave free scope to the rise and progress of the OTTOMAN
EMPIRE, or Fourth Euphratean Angel-power.
7. The Second Interval
On
the dissolution of the Carizmian power by the Moguls, some of the Turkman
chiefs engaged in the service of Aladdin, the sultan of Iconium; and among
these were the obscure fathers of the Ottoman line. They had formerly pitched
their tents near the southern banks of the Oxus. At the head of a Carizmian
force, Soliman Shah was drowned in the passage of the Euphrates. His son
Orthogrul became a soldier of
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152
Aladdin.
He was the father of Othman. The Seljukian dynasty was no more; and the decline
of the Mogul Khans soon freed him from the con-trol of a superior.
He
was situate on the verge of the Greek empire, which he first invaded, A.D.
1299. The conquest of Prusa by his son Orchan, A.D. 1326, may be dated as the
true era of the Ottoman power. The Seljukian coin was changed for the name and
impression of the new dynasty. Orchan subdued all Bithynia to the shores of the
Bosphorus and Helles-pont; and AD. 1341, crossed for the first time into
Europe, where they established themselves in the province of Thrace, A.D. 1353.
They soon subdued the whole province from the Hellespont to Mount Haemus, and
the verge of Constantinople. Adrianople was now their capital; and at this
fatal hour, the Greeks were surrounded, both in Asia and Europe, by the arms of
the same hostile monarchy. But Amurath I. postponed for a while this easy
conquest; and turned his arms against the Sclavonians between the Danube and
the Adriatic.
His
son Bajazet I, subdued his brother emirs from the Euphrates to the Danube, and
after the conquest of Iconium, the ancient kingdom of the Seljukians was
revived in the Ottoman dynasty. He now accepted the patent of sultan from the
caliphs who served in Egypt under the yoke of the Mamelukes: a last and
frivolous homage yielded by force to opinion, by the Turkish conquerors to the
Abbassides, and the successors of the Arabian prophet. Bajazet’s ambition was
inflamed by the obligation of deserving the august title; and he turned his
arms against Hungary, the perpetual theatre of Turkish victories and defeats.
In the battle of Nicopolis, he defeated a confederate army of 100,000 catholic
idol worshippers, who had proudly boasted that if the sky should fall, they could
uphold it on their lances. In the pride of victory, Bajazet threatened to
subdue Germany and Italy; and that he would feed his horse with the bushel of
oats on the altar of St. Peter at Rome.
The
Roman world was now contracted to a corner of Thrace, between the Propontis and
the Black Sea, about fifty miles in length and thirty in breadth. At length the
ambition of the victorious sultan pointed to the conquest of Constantinople,
which he claimed as his own. A refusal to surrender caused it to be more closely
pressed by war and famine; and the savage would have devoured his prey, if, in
the fatal moment, he had not been overthrown by another savage stronger than
him-self, A.D. 1402; an event that delayed the fall of Constantinople about
fifty years.
~.
Preparation of the Third Angel
The conquest and monarchy of the world was the first object of the
Page153
ambition
of Timour or TAMERLANE. He was born forty miles to the south of Samarcand in the
fruitful territory of Cash, of which his fathers were the hereditary chiefs, as
well as of a myriad or toman of ten thousand horse.
In
the twenty-fifth year of his age he stood forth as the deliverer of his
country: but not being duly supported, he retreated from the hills of Samarcand
to the desert with only sixty horsemen. They were overtaken by a thousand foes,
whom he repulsed with incredible slaughter, and they were forced to exclaim,
“Timour is a wonderful man; fortune and the divine favour are with him.”
At
the age of thirty-four, after various adventures, he was invested in a general
diet with imperial command over Zagatai and the East, a dominion five hundred
miles in length and breadth. But this did not satisfy him; for Timour aspired
to the dominion of the world; and before his death, Zagatai was only one of the
twenty-seven crowns which he had placed upon his head.
In
the year 1380, he invaded the kingdoms of Persia; and the whole course of the
Tigris and Euphrates, from the mouth to the sources of these rivers, was
reduced to his obedience. He extended his conquests eastward into Hindostan,
and made his triumphal entry into Delhi, the capital. While on the banks of the
Ganges he was informed of the revolt of the catholics in Georgia and Anatolia,
and of the ambitious designs of Bajazet, the Ottoman sultan. He was now
sixty-three years of age, and unimpaired by his innumerable fatigues, which had
subjected the greatest part of Asia to his laws. The Mogul and Ottoman
conquests now touched each other in the neighbourhood of Erzeroum and the
Euphrates, by which Timour’s dominion was “bound.” Of these ambitious monarchs,
Timour was impatient of an equal, and Bajazet was ig-norant of a superior. A
quarrel was soon excited between them that could only be composed by blood.
“Dost thou not know,” said Timour to the sultan, “that the greatest part of
Asia is subject to our arms and laws? That our invincible forces extend from
one sea to the other? That the potentates of the earth form a line before our gate?
And that we have compelled fortune herself to watch over the prosperity of our
empire? What is the foundation of thine insolence and folly? Thou hast fought
some battles in the woods of Anatolia; contemptible trophies! Thou hast
obtained some victories over the christians of Europe; thy sword was blessed by
the apostle of God; and thy obedience to the precept of the Koran, in waging
war against the infidels, is the sole consideration that prevents us from
destroying thy country, the frontier and bulwark of the Moslem world. Be wise
in time; reflect; repent, and avert the thunder of our vengeance, which is yet
suspended over thy head.
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154
Thou
art no more than a pismire; why wilt thou seek to provoke the elephants? Alas!
they will trample thee under their feet.”
Bajazet
was deeply stung, and in his replies poured forth the indignation of his soul.
His rage was ungovernable. He reproached TIMOUR as the thief and rebel of the
desert, and declared that he had never triumphed unless by his own perfidy and
the vices of his foe. “Thine armies are innumerable;” said he, “be they so: but
what are the arrows of the flying Tartar against the scymitar and battle-axes
of my firm and in-vincible janizaries? I will guard the princes that have
implored my protection: seek them in my tents. The cities of Arzingan and
Erzeroum are mine; and unless the tribute be duly paid, I will demand the
arrears under the walls of Tauris and Sultania.”
After
enjoying some tranquil months of Samarcand, Timour proclaimed a new expedition
of seven years into the western countries of Asia. Complaints and menaces
fermented two years before the final explosion; and though the political
quarrel was embittered by private and personal resentment, yet in his first
expedition, Timour was satisfied with the destruction of Sebaste, a strong city
on the borders of Anatolia; and revenged the indiscretion of Bajazet on the
garrison of four thousand Armenians, who were buried alive for their fidelity.
As a mussulman, he seemed to respect the pious occupation of the Ottoman, who
was still engaged in the blockade of Constantinople; and after this salutary
lesson, the Mogul conqueror checked his pursuit, and turned aside to the
invasion of Syria and Egypt, A.D. 1400.
Thus
was prepared the third Euphratean angel-power. The time was fast approaching
for it to be loosed, that it might superadd its vengeance upon “the worshippers
of the daemonials and idols” of the catholic church, and prevent the fall of
their eastern empire by the arms of the Ottoman sultan, until the full
expiration of the 391 years and 30 days.
9. The Loosing of the Third Angel
The
sack of Aleppo and Damascus signalized the loosing of the Timour-Mogul power
from its Euphratean boundary. In a peaceful conference with a doctor of
Mohammedan law, he said: “You see me here a poor, lame, decrepit mortal. Yet by
my arm has the Almighty been pleased to subdue the kingdoms of lran, Touran,
and the In dies. I am not a man of blood; and God is my witness, that in all my
wars I have never been the aggressor, and that my enemies have always been the
authors of their own calamities.” During this peaceful utterance, the streets
of Aleppo streamed with blood, and re-echoed with the cries of mothers
Page 155
and children, and the
shrieks of violated females; and the cruelty of his Moguls was enforced by the
peremptory command of producing an adequate number of heads, which, according
to his custom, were curiously piled in columns and pyramids. After a period of
seven centuries, Damascus was reduced to ashes; and in his return to the
Euphrates, he delivered Aleppo to the flames. Bagdad shared the same fate, and
upon its ruins he erected a pyramid of ninety thousand heads. He again visited
Georgia; and proclaimed his resolution of marching against the Otto-man
emperor, whom he styled, the Kaissar of Roum the Caesar of the Romans.
Conscious of the importance of the war he collected his forces from every
province - “myriads of myriads”
variously estimated at from 800,000 to 1,600,000 men.
During
the diversion of the Mogul arms into Syria, Bajazet had two years to collect
his “myriads” for the encounter. John, doubtless, in vision, saw the myriads of
myriads, which the Moguls counted by tomans of ten thousand each, collected by
these rival destroyers of mankind for the slaughter upon the field of Angora;
but without “the fire hyacinth and sulphur,” which had not been introduced into
Asiatic field warfare. Timour himself fixes the Ottoman army at 400,000 men,
horse and foot. He invested Angora, A.D. 1402, in the heart of the Ottoman
kingdom, which became the scene of a memorable battle, which has immortalized
the glory of Timour and the shame of Bajazet. For this signal victory, the
Mogul was indebted to the rapid evolutions of his numerous “cavalry,”
skillfully worked by a master hand. The genius of Bajazet sank under a stronger
ascendant, and the unfaithfulness of his troops. The fleetest of his horses
could not place him in safety. He was pursued, and taken; and after his
capture, and the defeat of the Ottoman powers, the kingdom of Anatolia
submitted to Timour. The Mogul squadrons were only stopped by the waves of the
Propontis. Smyrna was taken by storm; and the trunkless heads of the daemonial
worshippers were launched from the engines of assault.
From
the Irtish and Volga to the Persian gulph, and from the Ganges to Damascus and
the Archipelago, Asia was in the hands of Timour; his armies were invincible,
and his ambition boundless. He touched the utmost verge of the land; but an
insuperable, though narrow, sea rolled between the two continents of Europe and
Asia; “and the lord of so many tomans, or ‘myriads,’ of horse, was not master
of a single galley.” He invested Soliman, the son of Bajazet, with the kingdom
of Thrace. The Greek emperor paid the same tribute to him as he had to Bajazet,
and took an oath of allegiance to “the king of the world.” The Ottoman sultan
died in captivity beyond the Euphrates. The Ottoman power seemed ruined, or
fatally and finally merged in the
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156
third
angel-power. It was in abeyance beyond “the great river Euphrates,” where it
was “bound” with but little prospect of being revived. Before it could
reappear, the power of the Great Mogul must be broken, or rolled back within
its natural limits. When released from this restraint, it would be no longer
“bound by the great river Euphrates” but loosed for the work that still
remained to be done in “the hour, day, month, and year.”
Timour
returned in triumph to Samarcand, where for two months he ceased to exercise
his power. He considered these the only happy period of his life. But he was
soon awakened to the career of government and war. But the angel of death met
him on his march to China and terminated his career in the seventieth year of
his age, A.D. 1405 and thirty-five years after ascending the throne of Zagatai.
The race of Timour was perpetuated in the Great Moguls of Delhi, whose empire
has been dissolved, and their kingdoms possessed by the “Empress of India” and
“Queen” of the remote islands of the northern sea - VICTORIA GUELPH.
10. Third Interval, in which the
Preparation
of the Fourth Angel is Completed
It
would be well for the fame of fortunate destroyers of their species, if they
would remember and be admonished by the remark of Ahab to Benhadad, king of Syria:
“Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it
off.” The sultan Bajazet belonged to the numerous class of military vain
boasters, which is not, while we write, even now extinct. We have seen, that
A.D. 1402, Constantinople and the Greek empire, were on the verge of
destruction at his hand. The really formidable chivalry of the west had
intervened to save them, but had been broken in the battle of Nicopolis. The
Ottoman sultan saw no power to make him afraid; and supposing himself master of
the situation, he thus addressed the Dragon-emperor: “Our invincible scymitar
has reduced almost all Asia (Minor) and many and large countries in Europe
(“the Rest of the Men”) excepting only the city of Constantinople; resign that
city, or tremble for thyself and thine unhappy people.” The killing of “the
third of the men” thus seemed imminent full half a century before the prophetic
period of 391 years and 30 days had elapsed that fixed it. But the eyes of the
Eternal Spirit are always upon the truth. He never slumbers nor sleeps; so that
all the boastful Bajazets in creation can neither expedite nor delay what he
has decreed. As we have seen, he prepared the TIMOUR-Mogoul angel power to make
vain the boasts of the Ottoman sultan, and to delay the catastrophe of the
vision until the expiration of the period of the time appointed. Thus, “the
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157
savage,”
as Gibbon says, “was forced to relinquish his prey by a stronger savage than
himself; and by the victory of Tamerlane the fall of Constantinople was delayed
about fifty years.”
Bajazet
died in captivity, A.D. 1403; but the Ottoman Dynasty did not expire with him.
“The massy trunk was bent to the ground, but no sooner did the hurricane pass
away, than it again rose with fresh vigor and more lively vegetation.” When
Timour, in every sense, had evacuated Anatolia, he left the cities without a
palace, a treasure, or a king. The open country was overspread with hordes of
shepherds and robbers of Tartar and Turkman origin; the recent conquests of
Bajazet were restored to the emirs; and his five sons seemed eager, by their
civil discord, to consume the remnant of their patrimony. There was as yet no
fourth angel-power to be loosed. Its preparation, so far as it had progressed
during the second interval, was interrupted, with little prospect of renewal
and completion.
But
the events of the ensuing eighteen years changed the face of affairs. This was
a period of preparation, in which was completed the development of the fourth
Euphratean angel-power. It was a period of war between the sons of Bajazet,
which resulted in the destruction of them all, except Mohammed I. This prince,
before his father’s captivity, had been intrusted with the government of
Amasia, and the Turkish frontier. In his rapid career, Timour overlooked this
obscure angle of Anatolia, “bounded by” Georgia on the east, the Greek kingdom
of Trebisond on the west, and the “great river Euphrates” on the south-west;
where Mohammed, without provoking the conqueror, maintained his silent
independence. He obtained Anatolia by treaty, and Thrace by arms. The last
eight years of his reign were employed in banishing the vices of civil discord,
and restoring on a firmer basis the fabric of the Ottoman monarchy.
He
was succeeded by his son Amurath II., who, by the aid of the Genoese, captured
Adrianople, and so reunited the Ottoman empire,
A.D.
1421.
11.
Loosing of the Fourth Angel
The
conquest of Adrianople was followed in the ensuing spring, A.D. 1422, by the
siege of Constantinople. The religious merit of subduing the City of the
Caesars, attracted from Asia a crowd of volunteers, who aspired to the crown of
martyrdom. It was besieged over two months by 200,000 Turks; and “the old
resources of defense,” says Gibbon, “were opposed to the new engines of
attack’ “the horses in the vision.” The
credulity of “the worshippers of the daemonials and idols”
Page 158
Picture of
Mohammed II not shown
Mohammad
II (1430-1481) overthrew the eastern Roman Empire when he successfully captured
Constantinople, The strongly defended
city resisted attack for some time, but on May 29 a general assault was made
and the city was carried by storm.
Turkish artillery (as required by the Apocalypse as expounded by J
Thomas) played an important part in the overthrow. The illustration on p 159 is the artists
impression of the attack. He has
correctly given prominence to the artillery used by the Turks, referred to in
scripture as also by Gibbon in the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
beheld
the Virgin Mary, in a violet garment walking on the rampart, and animating
their courage But their time for political death (“when Ephraim offended in
Baal, he died,” i e a political death) had not quite arrived. It was not to
their Daemonial Mother of God, nor to their own courage, that they owed their
deliverance, at this time, but to the recall of Amurath by a domestic revolt,
which demanded the presence of his arms for its suppression. When this was
extinguished, he led his janizaries to new conquests in Europe and Asia; a
diversion which obtained for the Byzantine empire a servile and precarious
respite of thirty years.
12.
“The Fire, the Smoke, and the Sulphur”
“By
these three,” says John, “was the third of the men killed, by the fire, and by the
smoke, and by the sulphur, which burst forth out of the
Page 159
Picture
depicting fall of Constantinople 1453 AD not shown
Page
160
mouths of’ the horses. The time had now arrived,
which John saw illustrated in the vision by what Gibbon styles, “the new
engines of attack.” When John was in Patmos, there was no name in any of the
languages of mankind by which to designate these “new engines.” They were
represented to John by appearances and effects; as Mexicans might have done to
Montezuma when they first saw a horse with a rider and a gun trailing after
him, suddenly wheeling into position with their tails towards him, and fire,
smoke, and sulphur bursting forth from the gun’s mouth, with a roaring noise,
and hurling a ball into their midst. John was taught to call these new engines
“horses;” a name analogous to what would be afterwards bestowed upon them when
they should come into use-horse-artillery. I would here add to what I have
already said on the breasts of the riders. These had “fiery hyacinthine, and
sulphurous breasts.” Not only do the “breasts” represent the breast-works upon
which exploding horses would be mounted, but also the breasts of the riders
themselves, before which would be planted carbines, which when, fired by
cavalry in line, would give a fiery hyacinthine, and sulphurous smell and
appearance to their breasts.
Having
narrated the failure of Amurath’s attack upon Constantinople, Mr. Gibbon calls
the attention of the reader to the invention of gunpowder and balls as “the
powers” by which “the new engines” became effective. He remarks, that the only
hope of salvation for the Greek empire, and the adjacent kingdoms, would have
been some more powerful; weapon, some discovery in the art of war, that would
give them a decisive superiority over their Turkish foes. Such a weapon was in
their hands, and such a discovery had been made at this critical period of
their fate. The chemists of China or Europe, had found that a mixture of
saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, produces, with a spark of fire, a tremendous
explosion or bursting forth - ekporeusis. It was soon observed that if the
expansive force were compressed in a strong tube, a ball of stone or iron
“heads,” might be expelled with irresistible and destructive velocity. The
precise era of the invention and application of gun-powder is involved in
doubtful traditions and equivocal language; yet we may clearly discern, that it
was known before the middle of the four-teeth century; and that before the end
of the same, the use of artillery in battles and sieges, by sea and land, was
familiar to several states. But it was found impossible to circumscribe the
secret within the pale of catholic idolatry; it was disclosed to the Turks by
the treachery of apostates to Moslemism and the selfish policy of rivals; and
the sultans of the fourth angel-power had the sense to adopt, and wealth to
reward, the talents of a catholic engineer. It was probably by the hands of the
Genoese that Amurath’s cannon was cast and directed at the siege of
Page
161
Constantinople.
The first attempt was indeed unsuccessful; it could not be otherwise, the time
appointed for “killing the third” being yet distant upwards of thirty years.
13.
The Killing of the Third
Amurath
II was succeeded, A.D. 1451, by his son Mohammed II., styled by Gibbon, “the
Great Destroyer.” His passions were at once furious and inexorable. In the
palace, as in the field, a torrent of blood was spilt on the slightest
provocation. Constantinople has sealed his glory, and placed him among “the basest
of men” whom the Eternal Spirit “sets up” to fulfill his will. Under his
command the Ottoman “myriads” were always more numerous than their enemies;
“yet,” says the historian, “their progress was bounded by the Euphrates and the
Adriatic.”
Mohammed
II., though the proudest of men, could stoop from ambition to the basest arts
of dissimulation and deceit. Peace was on his lips, while war was in his heart;
and he incessantly sighed for the possession of Constantinople. The
indiscretion of the Greeks afforded the first pretense of a fatal rupture.
Instead of laboring to be forgotten, they continually annoyed him with their
demands, until patience being exhausted, his vizir addressed them in the
following strain: “Ye foolish and miserable Romans, we know your devices; and
ye are ignorant of your own danger. The scrupulous Amurath is no more; his
throne is occupied by a young conqueror, whom no laws can bind and no obstacles
can resist; and, if you escape from his hands, give praise to the divine
clemency which yet delays the chastisement of your sins. Why do you seek to
affright us by vain and indirect menaces? Release the fugitive, Orchan; crown
him sultan of Romania; call the Hungarians from beyond the Danube; arm against
us the nations of the west; and be assured that you will only provoke and
precipitate your ruin.”
Hostile
in mind, Mohammed proceeded to build a fortress on the Bosphorus, about five
miles from the city, to command the strait and close the Black Sea. This was,
in effect, commencing the siege. He began this work A.D. 1452, which he pressed
and directed with indefatigable ardor, and quickening the diligence of the
workmen with the eye of a despot, whose smile was the hope of fortune, and his
frown the messenger of death. In vain did Constantine, the last of the Greek
emperors of the Dragon power, try to divert him from the work. The sultan was
implacable, and listened with joy to all complaints, which only afforded him
occasions for treachery and violence. At length the gates of the city were closed,
and a last message forwarded to the sultan: “Since
162 EXPOSITION OF THE
APOCALYPSE.
neither
oaths, nor treaty, nor submission, can secure peace, pursue,” said the emperor,
“your impious warfare. My trust is in God alone: if it should please him to
mollify your heart, I shall rejoice in the happy change; if he delivers the
city into your hands, I submit without a murmur to his holy will. But, until
the Judge of the earth shall pronounce between us, it is my duty to live and
die in the defense of my people.” Constantine did not know, and there was no
one able to show him, that the Judge of the earth had recorded the decree
against him over thirteen hundred and fifty years, and that that decree was
death to “the third” of which he was the imperial head. The sultan’s answer was
hostile and decisive; and, having finished his fortress, he prepared to besiege
the city in the ensuing spring of A.D. 1453.
The conquest of the City of Caesar seemed to haunt him day and
night. About the second watch, he started from his bed, and commanded the
instant attendance of his prime vizir. This secret friend of the idolators,
surnamed Gabour Ortachi, or foster-brother of the in-fidels, alarmed at the
summons, hastened. with a guilty conscience to the palace with a slight tribute
of gold. “It is not my wish,” said the sultan, “to resume my gifts, but rather
to heap and multiply them upon thy head. In my turn I ask a present far more valuable and important
Picture of Fortress not shown Mohammmed’s Fortress over the Bosphorus.
Built in July 1452, it played a decisive
part in the conquest of Constantinople. This brought political “death”
to the Eastern Third.
Page 163
CONSTANTINOPLE.”
As soon as the vizir had recovered from his surprise, “The same God,” said he,
“who has already given thee so large a portion of the Roman empire, will not
deny the remnant and the capital. His providence and thy power assure thy
success; and myself, with the rest of thy faithful slaves, will sacrifice our
lives and fortunes.” “Lala,” continued the Sultan, “do you see this pillow? All
the night, in my agitation, I have pulled it on one side and on the other; I
have risen from my bed; again have I lain down, yet sleep has not visited these
weary eyes. Beware of the gold and silver of the Romans. In arms we are
superior; and, with the aid of God, and the prayers of the prophet, we shall
speedily become masters of Constantinople.”
His
artillery surpassed whatever had yet appeared in the world .”Am I,” said the
sultan to a founder of cannon, who had deserted from the Greeks, “able to cast
a cannon capable of throwing a ball or stone of sufficient size to batter the
walls of Constantinople?” “I am not ignorant of their strength,” replied the
artist; “but were they more solid than those of Babylon, I could oppose an
engine of superior power: the position and management of that engine must be
left to your engineers.” At the end of three months, Urban produced a piece of
brass ordnance of stupendous and almost incredible magnitude, capable of
projecting a stone bullet weighing six hundred pounds. The explosion was felt
or heard in a circuit of a hundred furlongs; the ball, by the force of
gunpowder - “the fire, the smoke, and the sulphur” - was driven above a mile;
and, on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom deep in the ground.
For the conveyance of this destructive engine, a carriage-frame of thirty wagons, linked together, was drawn by a team
of sixty oxen; two hundred men on both sides were stationed to poise or support
the rolling weight; two hundred and fifty pioneers marched before to smooth the
way and repair the bridges; and near two months were employed in transporting
it one hundred and fifty miles.
In
the beginning of the spring, the Turkish vanguard swept the towns and villages
as far as the gates of the capital: all who submitted were spared and
protected; whatever presumed to resist was exterminated with fire and sword.
The whole mass of the Turkish “myriads” are estimated at two hundred and
fifty-eight thousand. Constantinople was still peopled with more than a hundred
thousand inhabitants; but, of all these, only four thousand nine hundred and
seventy were found able and willing to defend the city. These were increased by
two thousand foreigners, under John Justiniani, a Genoese. These seven or eight
thousand soldiers were all that could be mustered to defend Constantinople, a
city of thirteen or sixteen miles circuit, against the fourth angel-power, to
which Europe and Asia were open, but closed against
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164
the
Greeks.
The
siege began April 6, A.D. 1453, and lasted fifty-three days. The Propontis and
the Harbor protected it on two sides, while the land side was defended by a
double wall, and a ditch one hundred feet deep and four English miles in
length. Against this the fourth angel-power directed its chief attack. “The
incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied,” says Gibbon, “with
the smoke, and the sound, and the fire, of musketry and cannon. Their small
arms discharged at the same time either five or even ten, balls of lead, of the
size of a walnut; and, according to the closeness of the ranks and the force of
the powder, several breastplates and bodies were transpierced by the same
shot.” This is quite apocalyptic. John, in vision, saw this described by
Gibbon. John also speaks of “the smoke,” and “the fire,” and “the sound,” or
“bursting forth” roaringly; for “the horses had heads of lions, and out of
their mouths burst forth fire, and smoke, and sulphur.” Gibbon likewise calls
our attention to the breasts of them who handled “the horses of the vision,” or
“sat upon them,” in speaking of the musketry as well as the cannon. He connects
the smoke, and the fire, and the sound, with their breasts, in speaking of
their musketry; for it need not be proved that, in a line of musketry
discharging its pieces, a breastline or work of small arms is presented to the
observer, which, in activity, are, as John says, “fiery, and hyacinthine, and sulphurous
breasts.” Gibbon also calls our attention to the apocalyptic “heads.” “They had
heads” says John, “and with them they do hurt.” A dull, stupid, round-headed
fellow is often styled a bullet-head. The Spirit termed balls and bullets in
the vision “heads,” hissing like serpents from the lion-mouths of the pieces;
and as Gibbon says, illustratively of the “hurt,” that “they transpierced
breastplates and bodies” of the Daemonial Virgin’s troops, the idolatrous
Greeks. Lastly, Gibbon is particular to explain to us what John terms “their
powers.” Projectiles were not new things at this siege; but the powers by which
they were made to hurt were new. He says it was by “the force of the powder”
that the bulletheads, or shot, transpierced the bodies. Here were two powers or
forces - the force of the powder, and the force of the shot; the one the
propelling power, and the other the striking power; and both these powers,
Gibbon says, were in the musketry and the cannon; and John says the same thing
in other words: -“their powers,” says he, “are in their mouths and in their
tails; for their tails are like to serpents, having heads, and with them (the
heads) they do hurt.” The serpent hiss of these heads is distinctly heard while
they are whizzing through the air in their course from the mouth of the piece
to their destination.
Now,
if Gibbon was so particular to narrate these details to his contemporaries, who
were as familiar with them in every day practice as
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165
himself, need we wonder that
the Spirit should give them great prominence in the vision? Gibbon could no
more dispense with his dissertation on gunpowder, musketry, and cannon, in
treating of the fall of the Roman empire, than could the Spirit in representing
the same event. And for this reason: what Gibbon styles “the new engines of
attack” were the instrumental cause of that fall; and it was the indispensable
duty of an accurate and faithful historian to dwell upon the remarkable fact,
that Constantinople was the chief city taken, and the Roman the first empire
subverted by the smoke, and the sound, and the fire, and the balls, of musketry
and cannon. This testimony of history is in harmony with the testimony of the
Omniscient Spirit, who, “by his servant John,” says: “By these three was the
third of the men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the sulphur,
which burst forth of out their mouths.” If it had not been for this “force of
powder,” “the third of the men” would not have been killed at the time
appointed - the end of “the hour and day and month and year.” By the aid of
“the powers” of powder and shot, it took the Ottoman angel-power fifty-three
days to take the city and overthrow the empire, so as to execute the work in
the appointed limit; but without these it would have taken a much longer time,
or have resulted in failure as before. The third of the men, then, was
emphatically “killed” by gunpowder - “by the fire, by the smoke, and by the
sulphur bursting forth out of” the cannons’ “mouths;” for, without this “force
of powder,” shot, cannon, and musketry, would have been perfectly harmless.
Such is the strict accord between prophecy and history. Hence, “the vision is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
“The
great cannon of Mohammed,” says Gibbon, “has been separately noticed - an
important and visible object in the history of the times; but that enormous
engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal magnitude. The long order of
the Turkish artillery was pointed against the walls; fourteen batteries
thundered at once on the most accessible places; and of one of these it is
ambiguously expressed, that it was mounted with one hundred and fifty guns, or
that it discharged one hundred and fifty bullets, or “heads.” The great cannon
could only be loaded and fired seven times in one day and at length burst,
destroying several engaged in working it.
The
resistance of the idolators was so obstinate and surprising that the
perseverance of Mohammed was fatigued, and he began to meditate a retreat. The
reduction of the city appeared to be hopeless, unless a double attack could be
made from the harbor as well as from the land. This he at length effected. He
constructed a floating battery, upon
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which he planted one of his largest
cannon. The fire of the Greeks was controlled and silenced by the superior fire
of the Turks; and, after a siege of forty days, the fate of Constantinople
could no longer be averted. The fortifications, which had stood for ages
against hostile violence, were dismantled on all sides by the Ottoman cannon;
many breaches were opened, and four towers had been leveled with the ground.
The crisis for the assault had arrived; but, wishing to spare the blood of his
soldiers, he invited the worshippers of canonized immortal souls and idols to
submission with circumcision or tribute; but if they preferred still to resist,
death was to be their fate. It was heaven’s decree that they should be killed.
The emperor of the Greeks determined to abide the last extremities of war.
Several days were employed in preparations for the assault; but singularly
enough, Mohammed did not trust himself to appoint the day when it should be
made. He had recourse to his favorite science of astrology, that it might fix
for him the day. He thus surrendered himself to “fate;” and that fate had
already decreed that the Roman Empire of the East should fall at the end of 391
years and 30 days. However he might arrive at the conclusion by the principles
of his science, I am not astrologer enough to tell. I doubt not but that, as in
the case of Saul and the witch of Endor, the Spirit made use of his infatuation
to determine him to do at the right moment what he had, over thirteen centuries
before, marked out for the fourth Euphratean angel-power to accomplish. Be this
as it may, Mohammed’s astrology ordered him to make the assault on the
twenty-ninth of May, as the fortunate and fatal day.
All was depression and
abject superstition within the city. The “celestial image of the Virgin” was
paraded in solemn procession; but their “divine patroness” was deaf to their
entreaties. This, their daemonialism and idolatry, had brought upon them the
calamities they endured. The shouts of the myriads without their walls
proclaimed the truth by which they were condemned - “God is God! there is but
one God!” and this one God it was, who, by all the four Euphratean
angel-powers, was vindicating his Unity against the more than pagan multitude
of the gods and goddesses of the catholic aerial. The morning of May 29, 1453,
at length dawned. The myriads pressed forward to the breach, while the Ottoman
artillery thundered from all sides; and the camp and city, the Greeks and the
Turks, were involved in a cloud of smoke, which could only be dispelled by the
deliverance or destruction of the Roman empire. The Turks were a hundred times
more numerous than the idolators. The double walls were reduced by cannon to a
heap of ruins; and their valiant emperor had fallen in the fight, and lay
buried under a mountain of the slain. After his death, resistance and order
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167
vanished; the Greeks fled towards the city; and, in the heat of the
pursuit, two thousand worshippers of the Virgin fell beneath the scymitars of
the victorious Turks; and, thenceforth Constantinople became the capital of the
Fourth Euphratean angel power. Thus was killed the Eastern Roman Third of the
men, at the full end of “the hour, and day, and month and year,” or 391 years
and 30 days from the perfected prepara-tion of the first angel-power.
MAP
PAGE 167 NOT SHOWN
The Ottoman Turks extended their con quests into Europe bringing political death to the Eastern Roman Empire
Page 168
The
son of Man similitude, seen by John originally, in the midst of the seven
lightstands, reappears in this chapter. As the Lamb that had been slain, he saw
him take the seven-sealed scroll then unrolled, and which no man could open or
“see” (ch. v.6,7); but in this chapter, as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who
had prevailed to unroll the scroll, he sees him with a little scroll in his
hand unrolled, or opened. He stands with his right foot upon the sea of the
ten-horned dominion; and his left on the earth of the two-horned dragon power;
burning with devouring fire: and roaring with the voice of a lion in the
utterances of seven thunders; and in the annunciation, that there should be,
chronically, no more time: but that in the days of the sounding of the seventh
angel, or third woe, the mystery of the Deity as he had declared the good news
to his servants the prophets, should be finished.
John,
as a representative of his constituents, digests the little open scroll of
seventh vial judgments. He is embittered in the execution of them, but
sweetened by the results; for he executes on peoples, nations, tongues, and
kings, the judgments written; and afterwards rejoices in victory over the
beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.”
TRANSLATION
Apoc.
10
1.
And I saw another powerful angel descending out of the heaven, having been
clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow upon the head, and his face as the sun, and
his feet as pillars of fire.
2.
And he had in his hand a little scroll which had been opened, and he
169 EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE
placed
his right foot upon the sea, and the left upon the earth, and he cried with a
loud voice like as a lion roars: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered
their voices. 4. And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about
to write: and I heard a voice out of the heaven, saying, to me, Seal, the
things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
5.
And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up
his hand to the heaven, and sware by him who lives for the aions of the aions,
who created the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in
it, and the sea and the things in it, That the time shall not be longer: but in
the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall sound, the mystery of
the Deity shall also be finished, as he hath announced the glad tidings to his
servants the prophets.
8.
And the voice which I heard out of the heaven was again speaking with me, and
saying, Go, take the little scroll which has been opened in the hand of the
angel who stands upon the sea, and upon the earth. 9. And I went to the angel,
saying to him, Give to me the little scroll. And he saith to me, take and eat
it up; and it shall embitter thy belly, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as
honey.
10.
And I took the little scroll out of the hand of the angel, and I ate it up; and
it was in my mouth as honey, sweet: and when I had eaten it, my belly was
embittered.
11.
And he saith to me, Thou must again prophesy against many peoples, and nations,
and tongues, and kings.
EXPOSITION
The
political death of the eastern Roman empire, and the transfer of its capital to
the Ottoman Dynasty, interrupts the continuity of apocalyptic prophecy, as it
did that of history. Having brought us down to the death of “the third,” the
historian informs us of the grief and terror of “the rest of the men who were
not killed by the plagues of the second woe; and who changed not from the
worship of the daemonials and idols;” and then bidding an everlasting farewell
to the Greeks, carries the reader back over four hundred years to the
consideration of the state of Rome, AD. 1000.
Not
so, however, with the apocalyptic prophecy. It does not carry us back in this
tenth chapter. It leaves the Euphratean Ottoman angel-power in possession of
the Dragon throne; and takes no further notice of it for upwards of three
hundred and sixty years. At the end of this period, it again invites our
attention to “the great river Euphrates” - to the power so named, because it
was the fourth angel “bound by the great river Euphrates,” as it is bounded
eastwardly at this day. Our attention is called to it in ch. 16:12, as to a
sign in the heavens of the coming of the Son of Man; in other words, as to the
sign of the approaching descent of
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the
powerful angel out of the heaven, having the rainbow upon the head. The water
of this Euphrates is said to be dried up in preparation of the way of the Kings
of a Sun’s risings - he hodos ton basileon ton apo anatolon heliou. The drying
up of the water of a river is the destroying of the river; and consequently, of
the power represented by the river. The fourth Euphratean angel-power, “the
great destroyer,” is itself doomed to destruction; and its decadence is a great
sign in the political aerial of the approaching descent of the RAINBOWED ANGEL,
out of the heaven; in other words, of the manifestation of the sons of the
Deity, the future kings who shall rule the earth and sea.
This
tenth chapter carries us forward in vision to this great crisis of the world;
even to “that great day of the Deity who is All-powerful.” “Behold,” saith the
Spirit, “I COME AS A THIEF” (ch. 16:15). The rain-bowed angel is the Spirit’s
symbol in that coming. It represents him in “that great day” - “the great and
terrible day of Yahweh;” when he shall “roar out of Zion, and utter his voice
from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; and he shall be the
hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel” (Joel 2:31;
3:16).
The time of this vision is the concluding period of that division of the seventh trumpet termed the “sixth vial.” The rainbowed angel is developing “in his chambers, with his doors shut about him; and hidden as it were for a little moment” (Isa. 26:20) under that vial; and before the gathering of the kings of the earth, and of the whole habitable into the place called in the Hebrew tongue ARMAGEDDON.” From this obscurity he emerges, and descends with burning and destructive effect upon the nations of “the earth” and “the sea.” His advent being before the conclusion of the sixth vial, he has all the work of the seventh vial as “his work before him” (Isa. 40:10; 62:11). We are now living under the sixth vial, contemporarily with the drying up of the fourth Euphratean angel-power, and the diplomatic operation of the unclean spirits of daemons like frogs. The next event is the development of the powerful angel of this tenth chapter. It is therefore not in the past, as nearly all the commentators of the world imagine; among whom stands out conspicuously the author of the Horae Apocalypticae. But we need not waste time and space in the consideration of their theories. The things represented by the scene are yet future. We have, therefore, no historical illustration to offer. Hence, my business will be to analyze the symbols, and reduce them by the process to their literal signification, that we may know “what the Spirit saith,” by the vision, “to the ecclesias.”
But
before proceeding to this analysis, I remark, that the position of this
sceno-dramatic vision in the apocalypse is admirable. Having disposed of the
Greek division of the apostasy by the death of its
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sovereignty;
and having likewise by the first four trumpets previously eclipsed the
luminaries of the Latin West - the Spirit now sets strikingly before us, that
all-powerful organization which will result from the Nave of the Deity opened
in the heaven, with the ark of his covenant in the midst, as revealed in ch.
11:19. In the eighteenth verse of this chapter, the resurrection of the saints,
their judgment, and consequent recompense, are set forth. These, in their
spiritual relations, constitute “the Nave,” or the Most Holy Heavenly, within
the veil; no longer flesh and blood, but spirit, as Jesus now is; for they are
to be “like Him” (1 John 3:2). Being thus identified with him, and “glorified
together,” and in the free reception of all things with him (Rom. 8:17,52) only
not equal to him in rank (Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18) the saints are also “the ark of
the covenant in the nave.” This being all developed in the hidden chambers
(Isa. 26:20) into which the outer world has no admission, the doors being shut
against it, they are apocalyptically “in the heaven,” though standing upon the
globe. In this secret place of the Highest, they are in preparation, or being
prepared for manifestation - for the epiphaneia and apokalupsis, epiphany and
apocalypse, of Rom. 8:19, and 2 Thess. 2:8.
When
thus prepared in the chamber under all the circumstances in-dicated in the
phrase, “Behold I come as a thief” (ch. 16:15), they stand forth in
manifestation as the “powerful angel descended out of the heaven, clothed with a
cloud; a rainbow upon the head; his face as the sun, and his feet as pillars of
fire.” This is the Strong Man of Psa. 19:5; in other words, “the Spirit and the
Bride” of Apoc. 22:17, who in this glorious manifestation are “one,” as the
head, and the body, and the life, are one. As a bridegroom, he will have come
out of his chamber; and as a strong man he will rejoice for the race he has to
run.
This
all-powerful angel is not only strong, but he is a Man of War. Yahweh ish
Milkhamah, says Moses; Yahweh shemo; “HE WHO SHALL BE is a man of War; YAHWEH
is his Name (Exod. 15:3). This angel of the tenth chapter is this same
Yahweh-Warrior, styled in a multitude of places, Yahweh Tz’vaoth, HE WHO SHALL
BE HOSTS. The “HE” is the Eternal Spirit “who created the heaven, and the
things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and
the sea, and the things that are therein” (ch. 10:6); and the “hosts,” Jesus
and his Brethren. The phrase is very incorrectly rendered in the English
version, “the Lord of hosts;” but Yahweh does not signify Lord; nor is it in
the construct case. It is absolute, and signifies simply, with Tz’vaoth, hosts,
not of hosts. YAHWEH Tz’vaoth, is a title chosen by the Spirit to intimate that
at a certain time appointed he would be apocalypsed in hosts. He has been
manifested in One, styled “His Holy One” and “the Holy and the Just One”
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(Acts
3:14); but he is also to be manifested in “hosts” of holy and just ones, after the
same manner. This multitudinous manifestation of the Spirit by spirit is the
basis of the symbols of the Apocalypse, as I have already shown in the first
volume of this work. The Son of Man similitude is identified with multitude by
“his voice,” which is “as the sound of many waters” (ch. 1:15); “many waters”
in this book signifying “peoples and multitudes, nations, and tongues” - ch.
17:15; hence Ezekiel, who saw the same hosts in symbol, speaks of the voice, or
noise, as “the noise of great waters, as the voice of strong ones, shaddai, the
voice of speech, as the noise of a host” (ch. 1:24); and Daniel who saw the
same multitude says, “the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude”
(ch.10:6)
In
the tenth chapter of the Apocalypse are set forth these seen of Ezekiel,
Daniel, and John, as the rainbowed angel. He is herein ready for action - the
strong and mighty warrior prepared for combat with the Man-Image seen by
Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. Here, then, are two men, representing two
belligerent powers - the one, that of the Kingdom of Men; the other, that of
the Kingdom of the Deity. Nebuchadnezzar’s Image was the aggregation into one
symbolic man, of a multitude of powers contemporary with many generations; so
this one powerful angel is an aggregation into One Body, named Yahweh Tz’vaoth,
of all saints accounted worthy of cooperation with the Lord Jesus in the
execution of “the judgment written.” “Judgment,” says Daniel, “was given to the
saints;” and this rainbowed angel is their symbol, representing their aspect in
the possession of judicial power, and ready to “destroy them who corrupt the
earth” (ch. 11:18).
This,
then is the “ALL-POWERFUL LORD GOD, who is, and was, and is to come” (ch.
11:17); in “the Omega” and terminal manifestation of the Eternal Spirit. This
manifestation is yet in the future - is “to come;” and therefore, it is spoken
of in ch. 16:5, as one that “shall be;” for “Shall be is his name” - Yahweh
shemo.
The
symbol of these “hosts” is styled “an angel,” because the Spirit incorporate in
them has a mission; which is to “take the kingdom, and to possess the kingdom
and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven” (Dan.
7:18,27); or, as it is expressed in Apoc. 11:15, “the kingdoms of this world,”
that they may be the kingdoms of this powerful angel, styled there, “our Lord
and his Christ” or YAHWEH ELOHIM.
1.
The Clothing with Cloud
The
angelic symbol isperibeblemenon nephelen, one who hath been clothed with a
cloud. Hence, there was a time when this clothing had not
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been
developed. Understanding that the nucleus of the symbol is “the Lord the
Spirit,” who is “the resurrection and the life,” we may perceive, that there is
an epoch, or point of time, when the Spirit had not as yet clothed himself with
the cloud. In symbolic language, cloud is representative of a mighty host.
Thus, in addressing Gog, the Spirit saith: “Thou shalt be like a cloud to cover
the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many peoples with thee” (Ezek. 38:9).
This is a very ample cloud, widespread as the Holy Land; and composed of “a
great company, and a mighty host” (verse 15). So also, in Jer. 4:7,13, speaking
of the lion of Babylon, the destroyer of the Gentiles, he says, he should come
against Judah “as clouds, and his chariots as a whirlwind.” Cloud signifies the
same sort of thing in the scene before us; that is, a host or multitude. The
point of time when the Spirit is not clothed with this multitudinous cloud, is
from his first touching ground at his coming to the completion of the judgment
of his household. How many months may be occupied in this judicial cleansing of
the house, I am not prepared to say. In ch. 11:18, it is styled, “the time of
the dead that they should be judged;” but how long the time of their judgment
may be, is not revealed. It will not be the work of an instant; for the dead in
Christ have first to be brought out of their graves; and then gathered by
angelic agency from one end of heaven to the other (Matt. 24:31). After this
“gathering together unto the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:1); the risen dead,
and the contemporary living, of the household, have all to give account of
themselves to the Deity (Rom. 14:12). This is “the dead, small and great,
standing before the Deity; and being judged out of those things written in the
books, according to their works” (ch. 19:11). Whosoever of them cannot give a
scripturally good account of themselves, are rejected, and expelled into the
darkness of the outer world of “the earth” and “the sea,” where they will in body
receive things evil (2 Cor. 5:10); and “of the flesh reap corruption” (Gal.
6:8); but, on the other hand, those whose account of themselves is deemed good,
they will receive in body things which are good, and “of the Spirit reap life
everlasting.” This is their quickening, transformation, or change, “in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;” that is, the seventh,
to which the rainbowed angel belongs (1 Cor. 15:52). This is their being
“clothed upon with their house which is from heaven,” not from the grave; a
clothing in which, in relation to each one so clothed, “mortality is swallowed
up of life” (2 Cor. 5:2-4).
Here,
then, is work for an epoch, but of how long a duration, I cannot tell. This,
however, we may know, that the accepted will be a host-“a great multitude which
no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, who
stand before the throne, and before
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the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands” (ch. 7:9). This is
the host symbolized by the cloud. The Spirit clothes himself with them all,
when, by their quickening, they become spirit, on the principle, that they who
have been born of the spirit are spirit (John 3:6). And how could we better
symbolize this Spirit-Host than by “a powerful angel clothed with a cloud” - a
great cloud of witnesses, of whom, in the days of their flesh, “the world was
not worthy?”
2.
The Rainbow
Now,
over or upon the head of this angel, John saw “the rainbow.” Before iris, all
the recent editors of the text insert he, “the” which is no doubt correct, as
having special reference to the rainbow in ch. 4:3. This is the symbol of the
covenant, and inseparably connected with the throne. Upon this sat one like a
jasper and sardine stone; and, as the rainbow was round about the throne, it
was also over Him who sat thereon. The occupant of the throne is the Spirit,
and those to whom he says, “he that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my
throne;” so that the rainbow arches over all such. The Spirit-Host is the
pillar of cloud between the Cherubim, which reflects the light of the divine-
countenance, and develops the bow. This token of the Abrahamic covenant is well
and appropriately placed over “the Head” of the Angelic Spirit-Host, seeing
that in Him all the fullness dwells; and that, in the days of his flesh, his
blood was the blood of that covenant brought into force by His death; and by
which all the individuals of the cloud were sanctified (Heb. 9:15; 10:10).
Arching over this symbol, it signifies that the angel is a company of kings and
priests, related to the rainbowed throne - the throne covenanted to David and
his seed;
The
rainbow occurs only twice among the symbols of the Apocalypse; once in the
fourth chapter, and again in the tenth. When seen by the scribe instructed for
the kingdom of the heavens, it reminds him of “the covenants of promise,” in
which he has become interested by adoption into “the Commonwealth of Israel,”
when he put on Christ by immersion, as “the obedience of faith” (Eph. 2:12;
Gal. 3:27,29; Rom. 16:26). The rainbow token in a scene reminds him, that the
symbol with which it is associated, has to do with the Holy Land, and the
Kingdom, of which the land is the territory. It suggests, that the things
signified by the symbol are connected with the avenging of the holy (Dan.
8:14), when the covenant with Jacob, and the covenant with Isaac, and the
covenant with Abraham, has been remembered; and the land also (Lev. 26:42).
175 EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE
3.
The Face as the Sun
The
face of the angel is identical with the countenance of the symbolic Son of Man
in ch. 1:16 - “his face as it were the Sun” or “his countenance as the sun
shineth in his strength.” In the vision which Daniel saw of the same, “his face
was as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire” (ch. 10:6).
Ezekiel saw the same brightness in his vision of the Elohim; “whose appearance
was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of lamps;.... the fire was
bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning” (ch. 1:13). Fire and glowing
brightness are symbols of the Spirit in intense and destroying activity “Our
Deity,” says Paul, “is a consuming fire.” The bright and fiery aspect of this
apocalyptic symbol, identifies it with spirit-manifestation. It is a symbol of
which the Sun of Righteousness is a constituent; and hence the sun-shine of his
face. This symbolic fire and brightness John saw in vision, find their
significance in part, in 2 Thess. 1:8; and 2:8; where Paul speaks of the
apocalypse of the Lord Jesus with a fire of flame, and consuming with spirit of
his mouth, and destroying with the brightness of his presence. Hence, the fire
and brightness of the symbol are indicative of the consuming and destroying
characteristics of the hosts, which are glorified together with him, and invest
omnipotence as a cloud.
4.
Feet As Pillars of Fire
The
feet of the angel as pillars of fire. The import of this has been expounded in
the first volume in treating of the feet of the symbolic Son of Man, which John
says, were “like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” The feet are
symbols of progress, of advance into the arena of conflict; and when in intense
ignition, of terrible destruction in their career. Feet, without the adjunct of
“pillars of fire,” are “beautiful,” and indicative of good; as, “How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thine Elohim reigneth !” (Isa. 52:7). But the
feet of the rain-bowed angel are not beautiful; they are moving pillars of
fire, dreadful and terrible in their desolating tramp; for wherever they tread,
they kindle a fire that cannot be quenched. The rainbowed angel proclaims no
good tidings, nor does he publish peace and salvation. His voice is not
addressed to Zion. He is altogether a symbol of war, and destruction by the
burning flame (Dan. 7:9-11). He is a fiery stream issuing and coming forth from
before the Ancient of Days; and his tread is the tramp of myriads, whose
mission it is to slay the beast, destroy his body, and give it to the burning
flame.
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In
the execution of this mission, he develops the judgments of the second and
third angels of ch. 14:8-11; and of the scenes described from verse 14 to 20
inclusive. He is the Lord of lords and King of kings, hav-ing been clothed with
the called, and faithful, and chosen; and prepared for combat with the Powers
that be, whom he overcomes (ch. 17:14). He is the angel that enlightens the
earth with his glory, and announces the fall of Babylon with a mighty voice
(ch. 18:1-2); and is the powerful Lord God, who judgeth her, and burns her
utterly with fire - ver. 8. As constituents of the cloud with which he has been
clothed, are the people of the Deity, who have separated themselves from the
Apostasy; the heaven, and holy apostles and prophets; for these are exhorted to
reward her as she rewarded them, to give her torment and sorrow, and to rejoice
over her fall; all of which implies their previous resurrection, judgment, and
acceptance (ch. 18:4-8; 20,24). Embodied as the rainbowed angel, they are seen
again in ch. 19:11-21, as the King of kings and Lord of lords, followed by the
hosts of the heaven, prepared to smite the nations, and to tread the winepress
of the fierceness and wrath of the All-powerful Deity. He is the angel standing
in the sun, verse 17; and lastly; he is seen as the Binder of the Dragon, and
the deliverer of the nations from the civil and ecclesiastical power of them by
whom they are now deceived and oppressed. Such is the career of the powerful
angel with “his feet as pillars of fire.”
5.
The Little Opened Scroll
In
the second verse of the tenth chapter, John says: “He had in his hand a little scroll
which had been opened, - biblaridion aneogmenon. This was not like the scroll
John speaks of in ch. 5., which was closed with a sevenfold sealing; “so that
no man in the heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open
the scroll, neither to look thereon.” This “little scroll” in the angel’s hand
had been opened before John saw him. The Opening had been completed before he
took up his position upon the earth and sea. The opening of the little scroll
is not represented in this chapter any more than the clothing of the angelic
symbol with the cloud. These are processes accomplished in the secret place of
the Most High; and before the angel presents himself before the nations as
Judah’s lion. The opening of the little scroll, and the clothing with the
cloud, belong to “the time of the dead when they are judged and rewarded” -
when they stand before the Deity in the scene exhibited inch. 20:12-15. In this
scene the three books, or scrolls, are opened. These are the scroll of the
Seven Seals, the little scroll, and the scroll of life. Down to “the time of
the dead,” the first is being unsealed and unrolled, as I have been expounding
the operation in this volume. But
177 EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE
when
the apocalyptic developments reach this extraordinary and notable crisis of the
resurrection, judgment, and quickening of the ap-proved, whose names are
written in the scroll of life, the mode of apocalyptic development is no longer
as during the centuries past. The manner of apocalyptic fulfilment is changed.
This change of method will be so demonstrable, that all the Deity’s servants
will see it; for they will be a part of it. The Spirit will have prevailed to
open the seven-sealed scroll in creating the crisis which crowns the centuries;
and in clothing himself with the cloud, or hosts, in, with, and by whom he
destroys the Fourth Beast, and takes away the dominion of the other three. The
supernatural element is now introduced, which wonderfully quickens and
consummates the end. But the infusion of this into the situation does not
supersede the free action of the enemy, and the counteraction of him by the
symbolic angel upon seemingly ordinary principles. The scroll is opened, not to
him, but to the saints, to whom the judgment is given. The Fourth Beast, or
Nebuchadnezzar’s Image, which covers the whole area, will contend against them,
as if they were a Zinghis or Tamerlane, until defeat and destruction on every
side give mankind a practical understanding of the opening of the seven-sealed
scroll.
The
opening of the seven-sealed scroll in the giving a reward to the servants of
the Deity is, to them, also, the opening of the “little scroll of the angel’s
hand.” It is a little scroll of judgment: the scroll is little, not the
judgment. The scroll unrolled is not long. The seven-sealed scroll, extending
from John’s day to “the time of the dead,” is long. Upon its roll are inscribed
judicial events extending over nearly eighteen cen-turies. This is not a little
scroll, but a very long one. A scroll extended gives us the idea of length; and
this is representative of time. A little scroll is a short time in which things
written therein are to be accomplished - a period, say of forty years,
according to the testimony of Micah 7:14-17, in which “the nations shall see,
and be confounded at all (this angel’s) might: they shall lay their hand upon
their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent;
they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth; they shall be
afraid of YAHWEH OUR ELOHIM, and shall fear because of thee.” This is a
short-time hand to hand conflict between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of
the Serpent, in which he gets bruised on the head (Gen. 3:15). The rainbowed
angel having come to the throne of judgment, and been crowned, received the
testimony in receiving this little scroll, in which is written his mission.
Being the king’s son, he succeeds to the throne, and is crowned; and the custom
established in Israel was, to deliver to the crowned ruler the testimony,
according to which he was to execute justice and judgment (2 Kings 11:12). The
little scroll is the finishing of the
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mystery
of the Deity, as he hath declared, announced, or testified, the glad tidings to
his servants the prophets (ch. 10:7); and it is the rain-bowed angel that hath
to finish it. This short-scroll finishing of the mystery is the completion of
the judgments written on the outer side of the seven-sealed scroll. It is,
therefore, the concluding part of this scroll -that part, namely, which
pertains exclusively to the saints, in the execution of the judgment given to
them, by which they possess themselves of the kingdoms of the world.
This
“little scroll” is the most important fragment of the apocalypse. It contains
the catastrophe of the plot, without which all the rest would be of little
interest to the believer. By the angel holding the little scroll “in his hand,”
his power is identified with the execution of its contents, and the character
of these is indicated by his voice. They are “the lightnings, and voices, and
thunderings, and earthquake, and great hail,” of ch. 11:19 the judgments of the seventh vial; which
exhaust the wrath of Deity, and give victory to the saints, and rest for a
thousand years (ch. 15:2; 14:13; 20:4).
6.
The Position of the Angel, and how it is Acquired
‘And
he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth.” He set or
placed his feet in this position. John does not reveal to us where he was
before he set his pedal pillars of fire upon the sea and upon the earth. This
has to be learned from other testimonies. The things represented by this
colossal angel were in existence somewhere before he made a forward move in
order to set his fiery feet upon the sea and upon the earth - upon the sea
first; and afterwards upon the earth. The nucleus of the RAINBOWED UNITY is in
present existence at “the right hand of power.” It is there in the form or
“fashion of a Man,” “justified by spirit,” and therefore spirit; and “made
strong” as the Man of Yahweh’s right hand, “whom he has made strong for
himself” (Phil. 2:7; 1 Tim. 3:16; John 3:6; Psa. 80:17). This Spirit-Nucleus is
the Lord Jesus Anointed, and by the anointing made what he is. He is the
Eternal, by spirit manifested in Flesh, justified and glorified. As the nucleus
of the Rainbowed Unity, he is not now standing upon the sea and upon the earth;
but is in a far country, whither he went many centuries ago to re-ceive the
kingdom, and afterwards to return (Luke 19:12). This return has been long
expected and earnestly desired by his servants; but, as yet their expectation has not been fulfilled.
Nevertheless, at the time styled by Paul, kairois idiois, “his own times,” the
manifestation the Lord Jesus Christ will be shown by “the Blessed and Only
Potentate, the King of kings and Lords , who only hath immortality
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,dwelling
in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can
see” (1 Tim. 6:14-16). This is the individual, personal, and simple nucleus of
the Rainbowed Angelic Unity - Omnipotence incorporate in one man - “the Man
Christ Jesus” - the Spirit-Man, who says: “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed
is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see
his shame” (Apoc. 16:15).
But,
where is he to come to? Where will he first stand with his feet when he
returns, having received power and authority to “revive his work in the midst
of the years?” In what part of the globe, or spot of earth, will he take up his
position, as the place where his saints shall be gathered to him, who have made
a covenant with him by sacrifice (Psa. 50:5)? Before replying to this inquiry,
I remark, that different prophets in vision have seen him approaching Jerusalem
at different stages of his course. One sees something in point that another did
not see; but, by noting what they all saw, we are enabled to trace out his
career till his “pillars of fire” stand upon the sea and upon the earth.
The
blessing of Israel by Moses before his death, is, unquestionably, a prophecy of
their happy condition in the latter day, when dwelling in safety alone, and
treading upon the high places of the earth (Deut. 33:28,29). The blessing upon
Levi, Benjamin, and Joseph, is clearly indicative of this. Thus, of Levi, he
said: “Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with the MAN thine HOLY ONE l’ish
chasidecha, whom thou didst prove at Massah.” This, in relation to Levi, has
never been yet. “And of Benjamin he said, The Beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in
safety by him.” This is yet future: for, when the Beloved of the Father dwelt
in the canton of Benjamin, his habitation was unsafe, and his life in danger
every day. “And of Joseph he said, The ten thousands of Ephraim, and the
thousands of Manasseh, shall push the peoples together to the ends of the
earth.” This yet remains to be fulfilled.
Now,
in the preface to this prophetic blessing, it is written that Moses said:
“Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from
Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints” - ver. 2. It was
historically true that Yahweh came to Sinai; but is there nothing more in this
than an historical allusion? Without other light than this affords, we could
hardly answer the question with full satisfaction. We know that Israel’s history
is typical, and that the text is in connection with prophecy still, came is so
decidedly past time, that it causes one to pause before we affirm that it here
predicts the future.
But
the Spirit enlarges our conception somewhat on this point, in Psa. 68:17,18.
Here it seems to indicate a future manifestation in the
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wilderness
of Sinai and Paran. “The chariots of Elohim are twenty thousands, thousands
repeated: the Lord (Adonai) among them, Sinai in the holy. “Then follows, in
the 18th verse, the prophecy of Christ’s ascension, as Paul
interprets it; after which in verse 22, “the Lord saith, I will bring again
from the depths of the sea.” The English Version interjects “is among them as
in Sinai in the holy place. “But Sinai bakkodesh, is equivalent to in Sinai the
holy. This conclusion is strengthened by verse 22 for how can “the Lord bring
AGAIN from the depths of the sea,” unless he gather his people in the vicinity
of the Red Sea?
But
Habakkuk has made certain what, without his testimony might be thought open to
dispute. In the third chapter of his book, he prays that Yahweh would “revive
his work in the midst of the years; in the midst of the years make known, or
manifest; and in wrath remember mercy.” In response to this, he is favored with
a vision, in describing which, he saith: “ELOAR (singular, not Elohim) came
from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the
heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.” If this testimony had been
faithfully translated, there would have been no obscurity in it. The prophet
did not write, “Eloah came from Teman.” The word rendered came is not bah, as
in Deut. 33:2, where it is correctly translated, but yahvo, the future of the
same verb, and, therefore, to be rendered shall come in. The text should be
rendered thus: “Eloah shall come in from the South, and the Holy One from mount
Paran. Selah. Eloah is the word used for the setter up of the kingdom, in Dan.
2:44. It signifies the Adorable One, or the Strong One. It is the Deity made
flesh, and justified by spirit, and equivalent to “the Holy One” - Messiah.
I
conclude, then, from this positive declaration of Habakkuk, that Moses spake
not historically but prophetically. The coming of Yahweh to Sinai in the days
of Moses was representative, as to power, place, and purpose, of his coming in
the latter day. Since Habakkuk wrote the words, “Eloah shall come in from the
South and the Holy One from mount Paran,” the prediction has not been fulfilled
in any sense. If it had, “His glory would now cover the heavens, and the earth
be filled with his praise,” which is very far from being the fact.
This,
then, I believe is the place or country to which the personal Son of Man, “the
Man Christ Jesus,” will come first at his approaching advent. The region is
admirably adapted for the manifestation of omnipotence, in the judicial
manifestation of the mystical Son of Man, or Rainbowed Angel. The Peninsula of
Sinai is the southern region which is reserved in solitude for a future display
of great signs and wonders far transcending anything witnessed by Israel in the
olden time. This peninsula is formed by two arms running into the land from the
north end of
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the
Red Sea, and is bounded by the one styled “the tongue of the Egyptian sea”
(Isa. 11:15) on the southwest, at the end of which is Suez; and by the other,
or Elanitic Gulf, called also the Gulf of Akaba, on the east. These waters form
two divergent sides of a triangle, within the area of which are mounts Sinai
and Paran, and a “waste howling wilderness,” containing nothing to be desired.
Moses styles it, “a great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents,
and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water” (Deut. 8:15). It is a
dry, hot, sandy, mountainous region, that no government seeks to annex, and
which no emigrants undertake to people. The few that are found within it are
the descendants of Hagar - wild men, whose hand is against every man, and every
man’s hand against them (Gen. 16:11). From Suez to Akaba, at the northern
extremity of the Gulf of Akaba, a road was constructed by the Romans, measuring
125 miles in a straight line. The peninsula included within these limits is
filled up with mountains, and narrow valleys, and desolate plains. Of these
mountains, the chain or elevated circle of Sinai is the chief.
To
the northward of the central region of Sinai, and divided from it by a broad
valley, called El Sheikh, is a mountain range extending east-ward, called
Zebeir. North of this are sandy plains and valleys, the most barren and
destitute of water of the whole country. This section borders still further
north on another mountain chain, termed El Tyh, which stretches nearly across
the peninsula from gulf to gulf. Still north of this range is the desert of El
Tyh, through which ran the old Roman road, and, at present, the great pilgrim
road from Egypt, by Suez to Akaba, on the way to Mecca.
North
and northwest, and, indeed, inclusive of the desert El Tyh, is the wilderness
of Paran, a tract so called after mount Paran, a chain of mountains bordering
the desert of Paran on the east. The wilderness lies between the southern
border of Palestine and the Mediterranean on the north; Egypt on the west;
Idumea, or Edom on the east; and the El Tyh range of the peninsula on the south.
“The Holy One,” says Habakkuk, writing in Jerusalem, “will come in from mount
Paran.” By the help of Moses, we understand that he arrives at Paran “from
Sinai,” which Habakkuk styles, taiman, “the south”. Habakkuk had a vision of
what was to be transacted in the country of the south, which will be left in
the rear by an advance from mount Paran, after bringing affliction there on the
tents of Cushan, and causing the curtains of the land of Midian to tremble (ch.
3:7).
The
reader is requested to note, that when Moses delivered his prophetic blessing
upon the tribes of Israel, he was in the plains of Moab, and soon about to
leave them. This was about a hundred miles
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north
of mount Paran. When Israel heard the blessing, would they not desire to know,
in view of Moses’ speedy death, where help was to come from to establish the
blessing? In reply to this, the answer is found in the oracle: “There is none
like the AlL of Yeshurun riding heavens in thy help, and clouds in his potence:
the Elohim of olden time a refuge; and underneath the arms of olahm: and He
shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall command to destroy.
Israel shall then dwell in safety alone
a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of thy help, and the sword of thy
excellency! And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt
tread upon their high places.”
But,
though satisfied that Ail, or the omnipotence that had helped them through the
Elohim hitherto, was their only help; yet, they were accustomed to the manifestation
of divine power in specially appointed places; where, then, were they to look
for him in his coming to help? Where would he rise up unto them,” when he
should appear to destroy their enemies, and cause them to dwell in safety
alone? The answer to this in Deut. 33:2, presupposes the accomplishment of the
enterprise; because, although it is yet in the future, it is as certain to come
to pass, as if it had already been fulfilled. For this reason, the future event
is foretold in terms of the past; and we read, “Yahweh came in from Sinai, and
rose up from Seir unto them; he caused to shine forth from Mount Paran, and he
came with ten thousands of the holy; from his right hand a fiery mandate for
them. Yea, he loved the peoples; all his saints are in thy hand.” Moses speaks
in this of an entrance from Sinai - a coming into the land from Sinai by way of
Seir and Paran; not of a coming to Sinai. The word I have rendered “came in,”
or entered bah, “from Sinai,” is different from “came with ten thousands,”
which is ahthah. The word zahrach, “rose up,” signifies to rise up as the sun
hence the sun-rising in Seir, and the shining forth from Mount Paran. This
Mosaic vision is unquestionably identical with John’s. The Ail of Yeshurun
riding heavens and clouds, with a mandate of destruction in his right hand, is
no other than the Rainbowed Angel with the little scroll of fiery judgments in
his hand; which, when executed, result in the deliverance of Is-rael, and the
overthrow of all their enemies.
The
south end of the Dead Sea is about a hundred and ten miles east of north from
Akaba, at the north end of the gulf. Between these two points runs a valley,
called towards the north El Ohor, and towards the south, El Araba, and forming
a prolongation of the valley of the Jordan, through which in all probability,
in very ancient times, before the overthrow of the cities of the plain, that
river poured its waters into the Red Sea. There is a chain of mountains on the
east of this great valley, forming the continuation of those which surround the
eastern side of the
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Dead
Sea. The portion of this chain eastward of El Araba is Mount Seir. “Yahweh rose
up from Seir unto them.” Near this are situated the ruins of Petra the ancient
capital of Edom; and the due north of these, and still in Idumea, and southeast
of the Dead Sea, so noted in the prophecy of Isa. 63:1. Rising up from Seir
with “his face as it were the sun,” he advances “in the greatness of his
strength” to Bozrah, and thence still northward through the plains of Moab, to
the vicinity of Mount Nebo, where Moses died.
But
let us return to Sinai, distant from Jerusalem, in a straight line, about two
hundred and eighty miles; but by Paran, Seir, Bozrah, and the Plains of Moab,
about three hundred and ten miles. The upper region of Sinai forms an irregular
circle of thirty or forty miles in diameter, possessing numerous sources of
water, a temperate climate, and a soil capable of supporting animal and
vegetable nature. It is upon this high-est region of the peninsula, that the
fertile valleys are found; and Burckhardt says: “I think it probable, that this
upper country, or wilderness, is, exclusively, the Desert of Sinai, so often
mentioned in the account of the wanderings of Israel.” He describes the central
summits of Mount Sinai, as abrupt cliffs of granite from six to eight hundred
feet high, whose surface is blackened by the sun, and surrounding the avenues
of approach. They enclose the holy mountain on three sides, leaving the east
and north east sides only, towards the gulf of Akaba, more open to the view.
These cliffs are entered by a narrow defile about forty feet wide, with
perpendicular granite rocks on each side. A gentle, but constant, ascent leads
up this valley, whose aspect is terrific but ever varying. It does not attain
more than two hundred feet in width; and the mountains rise to an immense
height on either side. The scenery is stern. “But what,” says a visitor, “had
the beauty and softness of nature to do here? Mount Sinai required an approach
like this, where all seemed to proclaim the land of miracles, and to have been
visited by the terrors of Jehovah. The scenes are suited to the s6und of the
fearful trumpet that was once heard there;” and will be heard again, when “the
Lord himself shall descend from the heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
Arch-angel, and with the trump of Deity” (1 Thess. 4:16). Sinai has four
summits, and that of Moses stands almost in the middle of the others. The view
from this summit is very grand. From one of these peaks a view is commanded of
some parts of the two gulfs of Akaba and Suez; also in-numerable ranges of
rocky mountains; but around the mount the open places are but few.
Such
is the elevated platform upon which is to be inaugurated the Most High and Holy
Heavenly - the ever-living Nave of Deity, con-taining the testimony, the bread
of heaven, and the life; “the glorious
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and
fearful name YARWEII Elohaikha,” of Moses (Deut. 28:58); the “YAR that rideth
in the deserts,” of David (Psa. 68:4); the “King YAHWEH Tz’vaoth,” of Isaiah
ch. 6:5; the “Four Living Creatures with the likeness of a Man,” of Ezekiel ch.
1:5,12; the “Man with the voice of a multitude,” of Daniel ch. 10:5,6; the
YAHWEH Elohim of hosts, YAHWEH his memorial” of Hos. 12:5; the “YAHWEH Givborim
- the Yahweh-mighty ones” of Joel 3:11; the “Saviours who come up on Mount Zion
to judge the mount of Esau,” of Obadiah, ver. 21; the “Man of Bethlehem
Ephratah” with his companions, who delivers Israel from the Assyrian, and
wastes Assyria with the sword, of Micah 5:2-6; the “Eloah upon his horses and
chariots of salvation,” of Hab. 3:3,8; the “four chariot-spirits of the
heavens,” and the “one Yahweh and one Name,” of Zechariah 6:1,5; 14:9; the “Son
of Man, the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, the rainbowed angel, and the
hundred and forty four thousand, who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes,” of
John’s Apocalypse: - all the things signified by these divers forms of speech
are essentially one and the same theophany, or God-Manifestation, simply
expressed by the words the Eternal Spirit by spirit incorporate in Jesus and
his Brethren.
The
Lord Jesus, then, comes first to Sinai; for before he can enter the holy land
“from Sinai,” “from Seir,” and “from Mount Paran,” he must come to the places
named. He comes to Sinai with ten thousands, who are style by Paul in 2 Thess.
1:7, aggebi dunameos autou, angels of his power; that is, all power is given to
him - all authority and ability to do whatever is appointed to be done, in
heaven and upon earth (Matt. 28:18). He is therefore Omnipotent; “for to this
end he both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of dead and
living ones” (Rom. 14:9). Hence, everything that is done in “the time of the
end,” is done by the power, or energy, whereby he is able to subdue all things
to himself” (Phil. 3:21). But, it is not to be supposed, that 50 august and
powerful a prince would come to Sinai alone, or unattended, by ministering
officials. All the Elohim of olden time elohai kedem, have been commanded to
worship, or do service to him as their Lord; for they are all public officials
sent forth to do service on account of those hereafter to inherit salvation
(Psa. 97:9; Heb. 1:6,14). They are then his messengers, excelling in strength
who do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word; his ministers
that do his pleasure (Psa. 103:20,21). Hence, they are angels, or messengers,
who execute his decrees, and therefore angels of his power.
He
comes to Sinai with ten thousand of these. But what brings, him there with
these angels of his power? This is answered in the words, “Thou, Eloah, wentest
forth for the salvation of thy people, for salva-
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tion
with thine Anointed” (Hab .3:13). Thy people; that is, first, “those who have made
a covenant with him by sacrifice” - the saints; secondly, for the salvation of
that people who shall be made willing in the day of his power - the twelve
tribes of Israel (Psa. 50:5; 110:3). The saints are those of the circumcision
justified by belief of the things promised, or covenanted, to the fathers, said
covenant being confirmed and brought into force by the death of the Seed; and
those of the circumcision and uncircumcision who, since the crucifixion, are
justified by belief of “the things of the Kingdom of the Deity, and of the name
of Jesus Christ;” and have been immersed into him, and thereby become Abraham’s
Seed, and heirs according to the promise (Rom. 3:30; Acts 8:12; Gal. 3:29).
These are the saints developed upon the principle of belief of the “exceedingly
great and precious promises” of Deity, both during and since the times of the
law. Multitudes of these are “sleeping in the dust of the earth;” and a few
living ones are to be found in the British empire, and in these States of
America. The dead saints, who are now lying in the dust of divers and remote
countries, are to be raised into renewed existence; and, with the few that are
alive, and have not tasted death, are to be “gathered together unto our Lord
Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:1). “Gather my saints unto me” is the command; and
doubtless, the first to be fulfilled after his descent to Sinai. This command
of the Judge can only be delivered to the angels of his power. This is their
work in all the earth; for it is written, “He shall send his angels with a
trumpet of great sound, and they shall gather together his chosen ones from the
four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matt. 24:31). They will
gather them to Sinai; for the prophet, who saw Adonai Yahweh go forth with whirlwinds
of the south, says, “YAHWEH my Elohim, all the saints, shall come in with thee”
(ch.9:14;14:5). But, how can they enter the land of Palestine with Adonai
Yahweh, He who shall be lord, who comes from Sinai, and the south, unless they
were first gathered there unto him by the angels of his power? The angels had
to do with his own resurrection, when he was delivered from death by the glory
of the Father; we conclude therefore, that, while the saints are raised by the
same power, the application of that power in all individual cases, will be made
by the angels of his power under his supremacy. The “trumpet of great sound” is
not necessarily a sound making a stunning impression upon ears of flesh. It is
the power of the seventh trumpet, which has been sounding for seventy years
without arresting public attention. It is the power of this period for the
resurrection of the saints, which will be loud enough for them to hear; for
they respond to it and come forth (John 5:28,29). An angel’s whisper can wake the
dead, when breathed by the command of Him, who is the resurrection and the
life. This would
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be
a “great sound,,, though inaudible to ears of flesh.
When
the angels of the Lord’s power shall have finished the gathering of the saints
from one end of the heavens to the other, they will have collected together “a
cloud of witnesses,” by whom will be concentrated in one general assembly the
living history of all ages and generations. There will be Abel, Enoch, Noah,
Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, David, Daniel, John, and all the
prophets and apostles, with a multitude beside, that no man can number; all in
their day, intelligent in the word, and zealous for the truth, in the service
of which many were accounted fools, and many lost their lives. In the later
ages of their separation from the nations, the governments of the Gentiles,
symbolized by the beast and his image, made war upon them, and overcame them,
or prevailed against them (Apoc. 13:7; 11:2,7; Dan. 7:21). But, now that the
Ancient of Days has come to Sinai, and they are gathered unto him, and approved
on the ground of having continued in the faith, rooted and settled, and not
moved away from the hope of the gospel (Col. 1:22,23); they are transformed,
and become like Christ Jesus in all things, except that he is preeminent in
rank and authority. They are “equal to angels,” who excel in strength (Luke
20:36).
Now,
reader, ascend with me into the Mount of the Elohim, and from the top of the
rocks look into the open spaces of this elevated region of the peninsula; what
seest thou outspread before thee? What but the goodly tents and tabernacles of
the “Holy Nation, ‘, the “chosen generation,” the “royal priesthood,” the
“purchased people,” the Israel of God” (1 Pet. 2:9; Gal. 6:16); “as the valleys
are they spread forth as gar-dens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign
aloes which Yahweh hath planted, as cedar trees beside the waters whose King shall be higher than Agag (Gog),
and his Kingdom shall be exalted. Behold them “abiding according to their
tribes” those tribes apocalyptically
“sealed in their foreheads with the seal of the Deity” (ch. 7:4-9). How
beautiful are they in their encampment, who as the four living ones, lie
foursquare, and as broad as their length, being 144 cubits, which is “the
measure of a Man, that is, of the Angel” - even of the RAINBOWED ANGEL (Apoc.
21:16,17); whose altitude is equal to his breadth; an attitude by which his
relationship to “the light which no man can approach unto,” is established and
revealed.
But,
why do they lie there in their encampment? What is their angelism? Why are they
thus marshalled, “looking forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the
sun, and terrible as an army with banners?” Why have they been hastily
transported hither in clouds? Why are they here in convention with the Lord in
the aerial? Are they to remain here permanently encamped in the elevated region
of the peninsula? No, the
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187
wilderness
of Sinai is only the place of gathering where the saints are organized, and
developed into this mighty angel. They are the Swift CLOUD upon which the
Spirit rides. In their camp, they are but waiting for “judgment to be given to
them,” that they may go forth and “take possession of the kingdom under the
whole heaven.” “He stood and measured the earth.” The wings of their flight
upon the prey are not yet expanded. Though they had been gathered by the angels
of his power into the presence of Israel’s King, preparation for action upon
the outer world was not complete. Israel after the flesh has to be “made
willing” to move in obedience to the commands of Jesus, as the Leader and
Commander of the people” (Psa. 110:3; Isa. 55:4). This may be also the mission
of the angels. But this work of the Spirit, however, executed by the angels or
by the saints, it would seem to be a necessary preliminary to a general
movement for their deliverance. This is after the order of the type. The
Spirit’s Messenger in the bush sent Moses and Aaron to the elders of Israel to
make the people willing to remove from Egypt under their leadership, before any
communication was opened with the court of Pharaoh, or any judgment had been
inflicted upon their enemies and oppressors.
But
all things being prepared, the quietude of the camp of Sinai is changed for
“the noise of great waters.” The scene becomes tempestuous. When they stood
inactive, they let down their wings. But judgment having been given to them,
they extend their wings; and the noise thereof is the noise of a host marching
against the foe. Habakkuk saw this angelic multitudinous unity in full career.
They would, of course, attack the peoples first who were nearest to their
encampment. These are
Map
p 187 not shown
Plan
of Attack
From
Sinai Christ’s forces will subdue the Arabs, occupy Egypt, and then move north
against Russia’s confederated forces to pour Out the judgment of Armageddon.
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188 .
“the
tents of Cushan” and “the curtains of Midian,” which are afflicted and made to tremble.
This Cushan is east of the Tigris and north of the Persian gulf; the Midianites
are the Arabs of the desert, who are to “bow down before him” (Psa. 72:9).
But,
it is written, “Yahweh rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt:
and the vanities of Egypt shall be moved at his pre-sence, and the heart of
Egypt shall melt in the midst of it” (Isa. 19:1). In this invasion of Egypt
then in the hands of Gog, the king of the north, who hath power over its gold,
and silver, and precious things (Dan. 11:43) the troops of Sinai would have to
march round the head of the gulf of Suez, or to pass over the sea, or through
it. The last alternative seems to be the course to be adopted at some epoch of
the enterprise; which will probably be on return from the conquest of Egypt, in
the march to Zion. “I will bring again from the depths of the sea,” saith the
Spirit in Psa. 68:22. And these words were written in Jerusalem, imply-ing that
they were coming Zionwards. In Psa. 66, after announcing the universal subjection
of the nations, the reader is invited to the contemplation of the means by
which the conquest is effected: “Come and see the doings of Elohim, terrible of
deed towards the sons of men. He turned the sea to dry land; they passed
through the river on foot: there did we rejoice in him.” And Isaiah says:
“Yahweh shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his
mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river (Euphrates) and shall smite
it into seven streams, and cause to go over in shoes. . . like as it was to
Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt” (ch. 11:15,16). And
yet again in ch. 50:9, Isaiah, by the inspiration of the Spirit saith in
relation to Israel’s future redemption, “Awake, awake, put on strength, 0 arm
of Yahweh; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou
not the same that cut in pieces Rahab (Egypt) and wounded the dragon? Art thou
not the same that dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the
depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?” These were the
awakenings of ancient days; and by the prophet’s petition, which was the word
of the Spirit, the dividing of the sea and the river in a future exodus is
indirectly foretold. “Therefore the redeemed of Yahweh shall return, and come
with singing unto Zion (not from Egypt to Sinai, as of old); and everlasting
joy (simchath olahm, joy of the future age) shall be upon their head.”
The
Rainbowed Angel being constituted of individuals who are all “like Jesus,” who
descended to Sinai, and in the days of his flesh even, walked upon the sea;
showing thereby that He, and therefore they, are untrammeled by the natural
laws: it will be unnecessary and supelfluous to divide the sea on their
account. It is Israel according to the flesh, who
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189
are
subject to the natural laws, that ‘are to be “brought again from the depths of
the sea;” beside showing his power, and gaining praise and fame in the earth in
drying up, or destroying the Egyptian gulf; the passage of the sea by Israel in
Egypt under the leadership of “the Prophet-like Moses,” is designed to serve
for a national baptism into Christ by which “all their sins will be cast into
the depths of the sea,” according to the testimony of Mic. 7:19. When they
passed through the sea under Moses, “they were all baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:2); 50 when saved from their long captivity by
Christ, they will be nationally baptized into him by a like marine investment;
and thus be able, as “a people saved by Yahweh,” nationally to sing “the song
of Moses the servant of the Deity, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and
marvelous thy works Yahweh Elohim almighty; just and true thy ways, 0 king of
the nations. Who shall not fear thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy Name? For thou
only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy
judgments are made manifest” (Apoc. 15:3,4).
The
testimony seems to indicate, that at the time of Yahweh’s riding upon the swift
cloud into Egypt, there will have collected there a considerable Jewish
population, which will be grievously oppressed by the king of the north, or
Russo-Assyrian Gog. This appears from Isa. 19:20, which says, “they shall cry
unto Yahweh because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a Saviour, even a
great one, and he shall deliver them.” This saviour is YAHWEH Elohim Tz’vaoth, He who shall be the
mighty ones of hosts, the Rainbowed Angel, “and he shall deliver them.” This
almighty organization having planted itself in Egypt, all the vanities or idols
of Egypt, Greek, and Latin images of saints, and those who worship them, “shall
be moved at His presence.” And what then? “The heart of Egypt shall melt in the
midst of it.” But why? Because “Yahweh shall smite Egypt,” to “recover the
remnant of his people from Egypt” (Isa. 11:11). In this process, “Yahweh will
beat off from the channel of the river (Euphrates) unto the stream of Egypt”
(the Nile); and thereby subdue the whole south of the grant to Abraham “from
sea to sea,” from the Mediterranean to the gulf of Persia.
When
the south is thus freed from the domination of “the House of Esau” (Obad.
18-21), the healing of Egypt will commence. “Yahweh shall smite Egypt and heal
it; and they shall return to Yahweh, and he shall be entreated of them, and
shall heal them. This healing will be curative of all the population, Gentile
and Jewish, that survives the heart-melting judgments of the crisis. Egypt will
no longer be proverbial for its darkness that may be felt: for in the day of the
Rainbowed Angel, “shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of
Canaan, and swear (allegiance) to YAHWEH Tz’vaoth, (to ‘him who shall be
hosts’):
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one
shall be called, The City of Destruction. In that day there shall be an altar
to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof
to Yahweh. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto YAHWEH Tz’vaoth in
the land of Egypt.” And this is the reason of the destruction which gives name
to one of the five cities; “for they shall cry unto Yahweh because of the
oppressors,” as they did in the days of Moses; “and he shall send them a
Saviour, even a great one (the Rain-bowed Angel) and he shall deliver them. And
Yahweh shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that
day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation: yea, they shall vow a vow to Yahweh,
and per-form it . . . and they shall return even to Yahweh; and he shall be
en-treated of them, and shall heal them (Isa. 19:18-22).
Egypt
appears to occupy a very important position in the restoration of Israel by the
Rainbowed Angel. Egypt, Cush and Seba are ap-pointed for their ransom (Isa.
43:3) - the wilderness and deserts of the south into which they are to be
brought for discipline, to fit them for settlement in the land of Israel (Ezek.
20:33-44). In reference to this crisis, the Spirit saith, “Remember ye not the
former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new
thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way
in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field shall
honor me, the dragons and the owls; because I give waters in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have
I formed for my-self; they shall show forth my praise” (Isa. 43:18-21).
This
is all part of the work of the Rainbowed Angel, in which “A don (the Lord) adds
his hand to redeem a second time the remnant of his people which shall be left
from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam,
and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea” (Isa.
11:11). This is an area of wide extent, stretching from the Nile to the east of
the Tigris; and thence north to the Caspian; and then westward to the
Mediterranean, in and beyond which are the islands. It is not to be supposed,
that such a revolution in the south of Asia and north of Africa, developing a
new power of extraordinary might, could progress without making a powerful
impression upon France, Turkey, and Russia, which are so sensitive in regard to
their supposed interests in Egypt, the Red Sea, and the east. It will throw
them all into a state of terrible belligerency. So great a danger will
confederate them for a great effort to scatter it. All Europe will be moved;
and “rush forth as a whirlwind to scatter me;” saith the Spirit: “their
rejoicing was as to devour the poor in ambush” (Hab. 3:14): “they will ascend
and come like a storm, and like a cloud to cover the land, that is (or that
portion of it which is) brought back from the
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sword,
and is gathered out of many people, who are dwelling safely in the midst of it
(Ezek. 38:9,8,10,12): under the protection of the Rain-bowed Angel. The
conquest of Egypt will, doubtless, operate power-fully upon England: for
nothing can affect Egypt without greatly disturbing the policy of Britain, and
deeply wounding her commercial interests. The Russo-Assyrian King of the north
will have inflicted this injury upon England, previous to Yahweh riding into
Egypt upon the swift rainbowed cloud. Hence, the invasion of Egypt, and the
destruction of the power of the king of the north in Egypt, will, doubtless be
rejoiced in by the British government; and may lead to an alliance between
England, the modern Tyre, and the New Power, the common enemies of Gog and the
Papacy, after the type of Hiram and Solomon, or of the Queen of Sheba, and the
King of Israel. In this event, “her merchandise and her hire will be holiness
to Yahweh: it shall not be treasured, nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be
for them that dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable
clothing” (Isa. 23:18). And in Psa. 45, which Paul endorses as a testimony for
Jesus and his followers, the Spirit testifies, that in the day when, “his right
hand shall teach him terrible things,” “the daughter of Tyre shall be there
with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat his favor” (verse
12); and again, “the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:
and the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts” (Psa. 72:10): and “surely
the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons
from far, their silver and their gold with them unto the Name of Yahweh thine
Elohim, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee, 0 Zion”
(Isa. 60:9).
These
testimonies indicate a different relationship between the regenerators of
Egypt, and the maritime power of the world, from that with the continental
powers. These are fiercely hostile; while maritime Tyre, Tarshish, Sheba and
Seba, are subservient to the angelic mission for the protection and
regeneration of Israel. The riches of these countries, by some powerful
influence in exercise at the time, are placed at the disposal of the saints,
who become thereby complete masters of the sea. The present tendency of Britain
to insulation is then perfected; and her destiny is identified with the New
Power of the East. In this cooperation, she becomes “the land shadowing wide
with wings, extending from beyond to rivers of Cush” - the Tigris and
Euphrates; whose shadow shall be as the night in the midst of the noonday, for
the hiding of the outcasts in the land of Moab (Isa. 18:1; 16:3-5). At this
epoch, the land becomes prosperous - “a land of unwalled villages, whose
inhabitants are at rest, and dwelling safely, all of them dwelling without
walls, and having neither bars nor gates. The desolate places of central
Palestine
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are
then inhabited, by a gathering out of the nations, which has become wealthy in
cattle and goods” (Ezek. 38:8,11,12).
But
this prosperity becomes an irresistible temptation to the king of the north to
invade the land, and if possible to annex it to his dominion bordering upon it,
by Hamath, Armenia, and Assyria. “He will ascend like a storm, like a cloud to
cover the land;” for “tidings out of the east, and out of the north shall
trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and
utterly to make away many. And he shall pitch the tents of his entrenched camp
between the seas,” the Mediterranean and sea of Tiberias, which will extend “to
the mountain of the glory of the holy” (Dan. 11:44,45). Thus all the nations of
this northern confederacy are gathered by Yahweh against Jerusalem, after his
descent to Sinai and before his own entrance into the city. He permits it to be
taken, and rifled by the spoiler, and its inhabitants to be partly expelled and
sent into exile (Zech. 14:2). Their hope would now seem to be lost, and themselves
finally cut off from their parts (Ezek. 37:11). They had, doubtless, thought
that the long expected rest had been established beyond the possibility of
disturbance. They were at rest in the midst of the land; but the whole house of
Israel was not there; and the nations were not yet acquainted with the
omnipotence of “the Kings of the Sun’s risings.”
The
land being covered with the northern hosts as with a cloud, the Russo-Assyrian
Gog is the lord ascendant of the country, with none to dispute his authority,
but “Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon,” south and east of the
Dead Sea, and the river Arnon. In this region, his power is contested. “Sheba
and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof,”
protest against the invasion of the land, but without effect. Doubtless, he
will feel too strong to be deterred from a grand solution of the Eastern
Question in his own be-half. But “he shall be broken without hand:” the
stone-power is near ready to fall upon him, and grind him to powder - the power
of the kingdom embodied in the rainbow organization (Matt. 21:44; Dan. 2:45;
8:25). The northern Gog pays no respect to the young lions and merchants of
Tarshish; but invades the country, and dominates it with an iron rule, as exemplified
in the history of daemonial and idol worshipping Poland. The fate of this
province of the papal empire was a punishment due to them as worshippers of the
beast and his image; but the people “dwelling in the midst of the land,” in
central Palestine, in peace and prosperity, belong to the Rainbowed Angel; and
to invade and oppress them will not be tolerated: “for thus saith YAHWEH
Tz’vaoth, after the glory,” manifested in the land, “hath he sent me unto the
nations who spoiled you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his
eye”(Zech. 2:8).
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At
this crisis, then, of extreme peril to the Jewish population of Palestine - of
that “tenth” indicated in Isa. 6:13 - “the fury of Adonai YAHWEH comes up into his
face” - his eyes become as a flame of fire, and his countenance as the sun
shining in his strength (Apoc. 1:14,16; 10:1). He comes out of Egypt, as it is
written, “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos. 11:1). This was true of “Israel
my son,my first born” (Exod. 4:22), in the days of Moses; of the child Jesus,
prophetically named Israel in Isa. 49:3, the Beloved Son of the Eternal Father,
in the days of his infancy (Matt. 2:15); and it is also true of Israel in
Egypt, and of the Rainbowed Angelic Son of Man, the Yahweh Name, their King, in
the day when Gog, in the latter-years manifestation of the Little Horn of the
Goat, the King of fierce countenance, “shall stand up against the Prince of
princes” (Dan. 8:25). The Son of the Eternal Father in these several
manifestations of Sonship, is called out of Egypt.
But
affliction attends the Son more or less in Egypt. Sojourn in Egypt is because
of distress in Canaan; and how can Israel sing for joy of heart in a strange
land, while the land of their inheritance is trampled under foot of the
spoiler! Hence the testimony, “I will bring them again also out of the land of
Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of
Gilead and Lebanon, and place shall not be found for them. And he shall pass
through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves of the sea, and all
the deeps of the river (the Euphrates) shall dry up; and the pride of Assyria
(of Gog) shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away”
(Zech. 10:10).
In
leaving Egypt, then, the Rainbowed Angel leads Israel out as a trembling bird
(Hos. 11:11). He does not lead them by the Isthmus of Suez, but after the
example of Moses and the angel, his prototype, he leads them to the seashore.
“Was thy wrath against the sea,” saith the Spirit, “that thou didst ride upon
thine horses (Apoc. 19:11,14) thy chariots of salvation? Thou didst walk
through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. When I
heard,” says the prophet as representative of his people in the flesh, “my
belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my
bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble” -
that day so great that none is like it; even the time of Jacob’s trouble, out
of which he shall be saved” (Jer. 30:7).
Having
destroyed the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and brought Israel up again from its
depths, the Rainbowed Angel leads them into the wilderness of Paran. Habakkuk
sees him here in great power and indignation; for “before him goes the
pestilence, and burning coals from his feet,” apocalyptically styled, “pillars
of fire.”
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“He
beheld,” when he came from mount Paran, and “rose up from mount Seir unto
them.” “Adonai YAHWEH (He who shall be lord) shall blow the trumpet, and shall
go forth with whirlwinds of the south” (Zech. 9:14). “He shall march through
the land in indignation, and thresh the nations in anger” (Hab. 3:12). In this
march, he arrives at Bozrah in Edom, where his presence confronts the forces of
the Russo-Assyrian king; “and all the men that are upon the face of the land
shake at his presence.” He causes them to turn their swords against one
another. He smites every horse with terror and blindness, and his rider with
madness (Zech. 12:4). He pleads against them with pestilence and with blood;
and rains upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with
him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone (Ezek.
38:22).
This
is the crisis which fairly inaugurates “the war of that great day of the
all-powerful Deity” in the field of Armageddon (Apoc. 16:14,16); “the great
winepress of the wrath of Deity” (ch. 14:19). Israel under the leadership of
the Rainbowed Angel on the one side; and the Powers that be, upon the other,
are the belligerents in this war. In the overthrow of the enemy at Bozrah,
however, Israel after the flesh had no part. The breaking in pieces of the
oppressor in Idumea, in this day of “Yahweh’s vengeance, and year of
recompenses for the controversy of Zion” (Isa. 34:8); is the glory of the
Rainbowed Angel alone. “I have trodden the winepress alone,” saith the Spirit;
“and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger,
and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my
garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my
heart, and the year of my redeemed is come” (Isa. 63:3). By this treading of
the wine-press, the Rainbowed Angel magnifies and sanctifies himself; and is
known in the eyes of those many nations confederate with the king of the north,
who come to know that he is YAHWEH (Ezek. 38:23).
“YAHWEH
is known by the judgment he executeth” (Psa. 9:16). This New Power of Southern
Asia is known to be theocratic, as was that of Joshua and his hosts by the
Canaanites, when the walls of Jericho fell at the sounding of Israel’s trumpets
the seventh and last time. The treading of the winepress in its initiation at
Bozrah is accompanied with a great shaking in the land of Israel, by which
mountains are overturned, and towers fall, and all walls are prostrated (Ezek.
38:20); for it is “the day of the great slaughter when the towers fall;” when
“Yahweh causes his glorious voice to be heard, and shows the lighting down of
his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring
fire, with scattering and tempest, and hailstones; for through the voice of
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Yahweh
shall the Assyrian be beaten down, who smote with a rod” (Isa.30:25,30).
But
the Rainbowed Angel’s pedal pillars of fire may not halt long at Bozrah. Isaiah
in vision saw him “coming from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah;” and
describes him as “glorious in his apparel, and traveling in the greatness of
his strength” (ch. 63:1). John’s rainbowed angel is symbolical of this
traveler, who proclaims himself “mighty to save;” and powerful to tread down
the peoples in his anger, and to make them drunk in his fury, and to bring down
their strength to the earth -verse 6. The mutual slaughter of the enemy, the sword
called for against him throughout all the mountains of Israel, and the
pestilence, make his overthrow coextensive with the land. It reduces the
invading hosts to only one sixth of their original force; as it is written, “I
will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee” (Ezek. 39:2,4). This
wreck of the invading force falls back upon Assyria, to which the war is
transferred from the Holy Land. A great and marvelous change comes over this
country politically, socially, and physically. The peace so long and earnestly
prayed for (Psa. 122, 125, 128), and promised (Psa. 72:3,7; 85:8,10; Isa.
9:6,7; 26:12; 32:17;54:13; 66:12; Ezek. 34:25), is at length established; so
that “from this day forward” (Ezek. 39:22) there will be no more war in the land
of Israel for a thousand years; and the house of Israel will come to know that
the ETERNAL SPIRIT is Yahweh their Elohim, manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ
and his Brethren, symbolized by the Rainbowed Angel of the Rainbowed Throne.
There
is reason to believe, that from the Idumaean Bozrah the Rainbowed Angel
advances to the plains of Moab; and compassing the north end of the Dead Sea,
crosses the Jordan into the plains of Jericho, according to the signification
of the things represented in the passage of that river in the days of Joshua.
According to Hosea, Israelis allured and brought into the wilderness (of
Paran). From thence, Solomon sees them coming up from the wilderness leaning
for Support upon the beloved (Cant. 8:5); “coming out of the wilderness like
pillars of smoke”
3:6.
“I will bring her into the wilderness,” saith the Spirit, “and I will give her
vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she
(Hephzibah and Beulah, with their inhabitants, the Messiah’s national bride -
Isa. 62:4,5,12) shall sing there, as in the days of her youth (the days of
Joshua), and ‘is in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt” (Hos.
2:14,15). The Valley of Achor near Jericho, is “a door of hope;” when the
Rainbowed Angel has led Israel to this encampment, it is only the earnest of
the restoration of “the whole house of Israel.” He has overthrown the king of
the north throughout the land. The country has been evacuated; but the national
graves of Israel have
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not
yet been opened. They had been gathered “one by one” into the wilderness of
Egypt; yet multitudes continued in the Assyrian empire, ready to perish,
especially, too, since the overthrow of the Assyrian upon the mountains of
Israel (Isa. 27:12,13; 24:25). The van only of Israel’s hosts had entered the
door under the rainbow-banner; but from the plains of Jericho they looked in
hope, sure and certain, of “the restitution of all things which the Deity hath
spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, ap aionos,” from the beginning of
the Mosaic dispensation (Acts 3:21).
From
the Valley of Achor, the Rainbowed Angel advances west-ward. The redemption of
Zion is unaccomplished until the Angel of the Covenant establishes Yahweh’s
throne in Jerusalem; that as the Spirit has testified, “they may call Jerusalem
the throne of Yahweh” (Jer. 3:17). His face is, therefore, Zion-ward, and he
takes up his line of march in that direction, until he stands with “his pillars
of fire” upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem upon the east. In
the great shaking which threw down mountains, towers, and walls, the mount
trembled at the presence of Deity in the land; and divided asunder in the
midst, leaving a very great valley between the halves of the mountain removed
to the north and south. The people will be panic-stricken, and flee as they
fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. After this, the
Pillars of Fire appear upon the mount, and in view of “the City of the Great
King.”
But
the remnant in the city know not that YAHWEH Elohim Tz’vaoth has returned to
the mountain, whence, in the time of Ezekiel (ch. 11:23) and in the days of the
apostles (Acts 1:11) he had taken his departure. The prediction of Ezek. 43:2,
is now fulfilled, that “the glory of the Elohim of Israel came from the way of
the east; and his voice was like the noise of many waters; and the earth shined
with his glory.” This was the Rainbowed Angel from the Valley of Achor, “the
way of the east.” The common idea is, that the Lord Jesus is to make a
perpendicular descent, and to touch the earth for the first time upon Mount
Olivet. The text in Acts 1:11, is cited to prove it. But this says nothing
about the place he should first descend to; but only that he should come again;
and that he should come again “in like manner” as he departed. This was
verified in his descent to Sinai; and, as we have seen, he arrived at the place
of his departure, “traveling in his strength” “from the way of the east.”
But
the gates of the city before him are closed. He had said to them in the days of
his flesh, “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, ‘Blessed is he
who cometh in the name of Yahweh”’ (Matt. 23:39). That crisis has now arrived;
and he sends his heralds of the rainbow to demand
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admission
into the city for the king of glory. Approaching the gates, they exclaim, “Lift
up, 0 gates, your heads; and be ye lifted up, ye doors of the future age
(olahm), and the King of glory shall come in!” But not knowing who he is, they
inquire from within the city. “Who is this King of glory?” to which his heralds
reply, “YAHWEH strong and mighty; Yahweh mighty from war: lift up, 0 gates,
your heads, and lift up, 0 doors of the future age, and the King of the glory
will come in!” But, the porters and sentinels still hesitate; and, as if to
gain time for de-liberation, or in expectation of further information, they
repeat the inquiry, “Who is He this King of the glory?” They are then further
informed, that “YAHWEH Tz’vaoth He is the King of the glory,” so amply revealed
in the prophets (Psa. 24:7-10).
This
conference at the gates of Jerusalem will, doubtless, result in the opening
wide the entrances to its interior. Then the strong and mighty one attended by
his multitude will descend from Olivet, and enter the gates of Zion amidst the
rejoicings of his retinue, crying, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is he
that cometh in the Name of Yahweh; Hosanna in the highest!” Of course, all the
city will be moved, and say, “Who is this?” This question will be answered in a
solemn assembly of the notables of the city. One will then put the inquiry in
the form, “What are these wounds in thy hands?” the reply to which will reveal
the crucified Nazarene to his astounded inquisitors - “The wounds with which I
was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zech. 13:6). Thus, after an absence of
over eighteen hundred years, the King of the Jews proves his identity to his
subjects, as he had before proved it to the apostle Thomas; and, after the
representation in the case of Joseph (the type of the Shepherd and Stone of
Israel - Gen. 49:24), he makes him-self known to his brethren according to the
flesh in his appearance before them the second time. Upon this a like result
ensues: “They look upon him whom they pierced, and mourn because of him as one
mourns for an only son . . . . In that day there shall be a great mourning in
Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon
(Armageddon)” (Zech. 12:10). This national repentance results in the salvation
of the tents of Judah, whose sin and uncleanness is covered and cleansed (verse
7; 13:1); and henceforth they rejoice in the Son of David as their king. Such
is the development in relation to Judah of Apoc. 1:7: “Behold he cometh with
clouds; and every eye shall see him, even they who pierced him; and all the
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
The
seven months ensuing “the great slaughter” will be occupied in burying the dead
that the land may be cleansed (Ezek. 39:11-16). This, however, does not
interrupt the prosecution of the war. The
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Bethlehem-born
Judge of Israel being duly installed upon the throne of his father David as
king over the little mustard seed like kingdom of Judah (Matt. 13:31,32),
invades the land of Assyria, and the land of Nimrod, and wastes them with the
sword. Thus, he will not only deliver Judah from the Assyrian when he cometh
into their land, and treadeth within her borders; but the Rainbowed Angel will
also take away the dominion of the first three beasts of Daniel - ch. 7:12.
But, though deprived of dominion, they will still exist as national
organizations; for “their lives shall be prolonged for a season and a time,” or
a thousand years. Their kingdoms will become the Rainbowed Angel’s, and they will
be blessed in the new administration of their affairs. While Yahweh inherits
Judah his portion in the Holy Land, and dwells in the midst of Zion, these
nations are joined to him, and become his people (Zech. 2:10,12). The
regeneration of Egypt, Israel, and Assyria becomes complete. His right hand is
established in the rivers, and his left in the sea; and he is already higher
than the kings of the earth (Psa. 89:25-27): and by his prowess he has changed
the face of the east, having wrested those fair and luxuriant countries from
the destroyer; and made the land that was desolate, the enchanting Paradise of
God (Ezek. 36:35; Isa. 51:3). “In that day there shall be a highway out of
Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into
Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall
Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the
land, whom Yahweh T’zvaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and
Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance” (Isa. 19:23-25).
But
the vindication, or avengement, of the Holy Land (Dan. 8:14 we-nitzdaik kodesh) and the conquest and
regeneration of Egypt and Assyria, do not consummate the work of the Rainbowed
Angel; they only serve to “place his right foot upon the sea;” and to prepare
him for setting “his left upon the earth.” He has conquered the lion, the bear,
and leopard: he has taken away their dominion, and placed them under his own:
but there still remains that “dreadful, and terrible, and exceedingly strong
fourth beast,” which came up out of the same sea as the others. This is not
simply to lose his dominion, and yet continue as a body politic to exist like
the others “for a season and a time.” The contrary of this, would be the
continuance of the European commonwealth as now constituted in church and
state, but without human government, for a thousand years. This however, can
never be. The decree of heaven has long been on record for its utter and total
destruction. The decree is this: “Because of the voice of the great words which
the horn spake; I beheld till the beast was slain and his body destroyed, and
given to the
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burning
flame” (Dan. 7:11). This is the grand catastrophe of the apocalypse - the slaying
of the Latin Catholic Beast, and the destroying of its body politic by the
Rainbowed Angel - by the Spirit manifested in the saints. His “pillars of fire”
march through the countries of Europe with the destruction of a “burning
flame;” the result of which is “judging among the nations, filling their
countries with dead bodies, and the bruising of the Head over an extensive
region” (Psa. 110:6).
This
exposition, then, of “the mystery of the Deity as he hath de-clared the glad
tidings to his servants the prophets,” defines the position of the Rainbowed
Angel; and brings him up before us as a colossus pre-pared to bestride the
world. By his right foot being placed upon the sea, it plants his left foot, of
course, upon daemonial and idol worshipping Spain, brings before him all the
countries of the Latin and Greek churches, as Spain, France, Belgium, Holland,
Britain and Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Prussia, Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Pope’s temporality, Turkey, and Greece. In this
enumeration there are protestant countries; but they all belong to the Fourth
Beast dominion, being ‘the Harlots and Abominations of the earth” which all
acknowledge the Church of Rome as their common “mother” - “the Mother of all
the Churches.”
Such
is the commonwealth or body politic to be destroyed root and branch, by the
saints when judgment is given to them, and they proceed to “prophesy before
many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (ch. 10:11). Then will the
high praises of AlL (the Eternal Power
THE
FATHER) be in their mouths; and “a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute
vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples; to bind their
kings with chains, and their honorable ones with fetters of iron: to execute
upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye YAH”
(Psa. 149:6-9).
7.
The Roaring of the Angel
These
are “the labors” to be performed by the Rainbowed Angel before he can “rest”
(Apoc. 14:13). But, before he advances against the daemonial and idol
worshippers of “Christendom” so called, “he cries with a loud voice as when a
lion roars.” Being “the lion of the tribe of Judah,” his proclamations are the
roarings of that lion; and the carrying of them into effect, is the noise of
the roaring (Ezek. 19:1-9). Before the noise of his roaring lays waste their
cities, and desolates their land and the fulness thereof, he is still awaiting
the result of his manifesto to the nations of the west. Enthroned in Jerusalem
his dwelling-place, he is fearless of attack. “I will be still,” says the
Spirit: “yet in my dwelling-
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place
I will be without fear as dry heat
impending lightning, as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest” (Isa. 18:4).
Such will be the condition of the political aerial, styled in Apoc. 16:17, “the
air,” at the crisis when “the lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and
earthquakes, and great hail” (ch. 11:19; 4:5) shall be about to rend the
heavens, shake the earth, and beat down the corrupters of the world. During
this ominous sultriness, and portentous calm, the strong lion of Judah “sends
of those who have escaped” “the whirlwinds of the south,” of the saved remnant
of Judah, “to the nations Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, sounders of the truth, to
Tubal, and Javan, and the isles afar off, that have not heard his fame, nor
seen his glory; and they shall declare the glory” of which he is the king,
“among the nations” (Isa. 66:19). But, they will not only declare his glory
throughout the west; they will also make known the ajon-evan-gile, the good
news concerning the millennial cycle, soon to commence in all its blessedness;
and with a loud voice throughout the aerial, styled “mid-heaven,” invite
mankind to “fear the Deity, and give glory to him, because the hour of his
judgment,” which is to destroy the catholic and protestant constitution of
things, “has come” (Apoc. 14:6,7).
But
this proclamation will not be complied with by the governments of the catholic
world at least. They will “prepare war, and wake
up
their mighty men.” The ten horn-royalties of the European Commonwealth will
make war with the Lamb, and contend with him in battle
(Apoc.
17:14; 19:15). Foreseeing this issue the Rainbowed Angel will roar out of Zion,
and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and go forth as a MIGHTY MAN, and stir up
jealousy as a man of war. Re will cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his
enemies. “I have,” saith he, “holden my peace maiolahm, from the (conclusion of
the Mosaic) cycle; I have been still, and refrained myself: now I will cry like
a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. I will make waste
mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs, and I will make rivers dry
deserts, and I will dry up the pools” (Isa. 42:13-15). This testimony shows the
import of the action expressed in the phrase “as a lion roareth.” In the
fearful conflict that ensues “he causes the nations to tremble, and the
mountains of antiquity to be scattered, and the hills of the cycle to be bowed
down: the goings of the cycle are his. He threshes the nations in his anger”
(Rab. 3:6,12). That great day is the great and terrible day of Yahweh. It is
the day of the seven thunders when they utter their voices, in the midst of
whose echoes, Babylon falls; and those who worship the beast and his image, and
have the mark on their forehead, or on their hand, are tormented with fire and
sulphur “in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb;”
that is, in the presence of the Rainbowed Angel.
When
these aerial reverberations shall have died away, and calm
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shall
be restored to the trembling heavens, and the quaking earth, “the labors of the
saints” will be finished, and they will enter into the rest, or sabbatism, that
remains for the people of the Deity. There will then be found nothing answering
to the image of Nebuchadnezzar; nor to the Fourth Beast of Daniel. They will
have become “like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, carried away by the
tempest; so that no place is found for them.” The judgments of the seventh vial
are exhausted; “for the Lamb has conquered;” and executed all the bitterness of
the little scroll. There is now no longer any Papacy to stultify humanity; all
names and denominations are abolished, and all the political hills and
mountains, or Gentile, imperial, regal, and republican states, that up-held
them, are overthrown. A glorious consummation is this! The Laodicean Apostasy
is destroyed; and all Europe delivered from the immense mass of ignorance and
superstition that bewilders and demoralizes its catholic and protestant
populations. No longer will it be possible for spiritual pretenders, and
political knaves to mislead them for their own glorification and
aggrandizement. This will be among the occupations gone. Clergy and ministerial
craft will be ruined; and men will practise it, as sorcerers spiritualism under
the Mosaic law, at the hazard of their lives. For “it shall come to pass when
any shall yet prophesy (for, in modern phraseology preach) then his father and
his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou
speakest lies in the name of Yahweh: and his father and his mother that begat
him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in
that day, that the prophet (clergy and parsons of all grades and classes) shall
be ashamed every one of his vision when he hath prophesied:
neither
shall they wear a rough garment (or professional garb) to deceive,” or impose
upon the ignorant (Zech. 13:3,4). For the nations con-quered by the Lamb and
those cooperating with him, who are called, and chosen, and faithful (Apoc.
17:14) are also enlightened by them; for “the earth is lightened by the glory
of the Rainbowed Angel” (ch. 18:1). And under the influence of this light,
“many peoples will go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of
Yahweh, to the house of the Elohim of Jacob; and RE will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the
word of Yahweh from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:3). Thus of a free and willing mind “the
Gen-tiles will come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our
fathers have inherited lies, vanities, and things in which there is no profit”
(Jer. 16:19). Such will be the judgment of posterity upon the spiritual wisdom
of their ancestors. The creeds, articles, and confessions of faith which are
now cherished with so much zeal, will be pronounced by a succeeding generation
mere lies and unprofitable vanities. And So
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they
are. They can teach no man the way of salvation; and therefore they are mere
“vanities;” and they teach what is either not true, or they nullify the truth;
so that they are neither more nor less than “lies.” These lies and unprofitable
vanities, which constitute the poisonous elements of that “strong delusion,”
which Paul predicted the Deity would send upon the professors of christianity
“that they should believe the lie,” as a punishment for their “not receiving
the love of the truth to the end that they might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10,11)
these false teachings will all have been suppressed by the victorious heroes of
the covenant, who will have “turned to the people a pure language;” and have
taught them all to “call upon the name of Yahweh, and to serve him with one
consent” (Zeph. 3:9). What an extraordinary and unparalleled revolution will
this be among the nations of the earth! Catholic, Protestant, Sectarian,
Mohammedan, and Pagan, all without exception freed from their special
ignorance’s and blasphemies, and meeting together unanimously in peace and concord;
indignant at the old fooleries imposed upon them by their pious predecessors;
enlightened in the truth; delivered from the crippling tyranny of thieves and
robbers in church and state; and blessed in Abraham and his seed; whom all
nations, though conquered by them, joyfully proclaim to be the blessed (Psa.
72:17-19). The sea upon which the Rainbowed Angel stands in ch. 15:2, will no
longer be mingled with fire. It will cease to be troubled with unrest, casting
up only mire and dirt (Isa. 57:20); but will have subsided into a calm which no
storms nor tempests will disturb for a thousand years. It will be a glassy sea
like to crystal before the throne (ch. 4:6); the beast with seven heads and ten
horns will have been exterminated from its waters (ch. 13:1); and it will have
become transparent, and affording in every part transmission to the glorious,
illuminating, and healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness, whose enlightening
influence will pervade the earth to the dispersion of all darkness in its utmost
corners, and profound depths. The present dead sea of nations will be filled
with the choicest fish; fished by those incomparable “fishers of men,” the
companions of Deity in flesh (Matt. 13:47,48; 4:19). Upon this bright blue sea,
purified by commingled fire from the colossal feet of the Rainbowed Angel, the
victorious saints will stand with the harps of the Deity. Each one will himself
be a living harp, a living embodiment of melody and song. And such music will
ascend as no concert of earth-borns has executed, and no inventor has composed
before. This rainbowed multitude, in throng which no man can number, will sing
what none besides themselves can sing - the great song of their redemption and
triumph (ch. 5:9,10; 14:3; 15:3,4). Victory crowns their labours, and they rest
in a Strong and peaceful reign of a thousand years (ch. 20:6).
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8.
The New World and the Angel of the Bow
The
destruction of the fourth beast of Daniel by the Rainbowed Angel’s pillars of fire
will be the dissolution of the European common-wealth. When the old world hath
fallen thus, what will be the destiny of the new? Will it escape “the burning
flame?” and, when “the kingdoms of the old world become the kingdoms of Yahweh
and of his Anointed,” will the colonial and republican institutions of the
American continent remain intact? Why should they so remain? American society
is but an extension of European. Their civil and spiritual institutions are
identical; their superstitions and blasphemies as God-dishonoring,
word-nullifying, and pervasive of “his way.” The earth is as corrupt as in the
days of Noah; “for all flesh,” in both hemispheres, “have corrupted his way
upon the earth” (Gen. 6:11,12). It is only necessary to understand the way of
salvation as taught by the apostles to see this. Seeing, then, that the Deity
swept into the abyss the whole human family except Noah and his house for this
crime, why should not the American world be punished, being guilty of the same
iniquity? There is every reason to conclude that judgment will fall upon it
with great severity. Its idolatry of self is God-defiant; and it needs to be
taught that there is One al-mightier than the dollar, and stronger than the
human will.
There
is no symbolical revelation of events to be developed upon the American arena;
there are, however, general declarations, which show what must of necessity be
developed in the course of the Rain-bowed Angel’s mission upon this continent
from one end of it to the other. Thus, the principle is oracular, that ‘~ALL
nations shall come and worship before the all-powerful Yahweh Elohim;” and that
“they will learn righteousness.” This necessitates instructors, and a system of
instruction, such as does not exist on earth at this time - an enlightening
power no less than divine. It also requires a disposition, a child-like
disposition, which exists not in the public mind, neither in the ignorant
people, nor in their blind and conceited guides. To correct this fatal evil,
and to break the power of ignorance, which is “the power of Satan,” the angelic
“pillars of fire” must march through the land; for it is written, “When the
judgments of Yahweh are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn
righteousness” (Isa. 26:9; Apoc. 15:4).
And
when they have learned this lesson, so difficult for individuals and nations,
their lofty looks will be humbled, and their haughtiness will be bowed down,
and Yahweh alone will be exalted (Isa. 2:10,11). British and American pride
will be prostrate in the dust; and “the people the source of all power,” an
exploded fiction of the past. “In that day, Yahweh alone shall be exalted.”
Popular sovereignty will be a dead
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putrescence
carcass; and all who derive their power and authority from it Will be abased.
Such a consummation as this, and so devoutly to be wished can only be developed
by Omnipotence - by the powerful angel of the covenant. The fate of the old
world must necessarily be the fate of this whole American continent; for it is
written of the Spirit, saying to the Son of David, “I will give thee the;
nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thine
possession” (Psa. 2:8). This is certainly comprehensive of the western
hemisphere. The Eternal Spirit gives this to the Rainbowed Angel in fee. All
power and authority here must, therefore, be derived from him, not from the
people; and in these there will be no democracy or republicanism, but divine
and imperial despotism, pure and simple; for “he shall rule the nations with a
rod of iron” (Psa. 2:9; Apoc. 19:15; 2:26-27); “and Yahweh shall be king over
all the earth; in that day there shall be one Yahweh, and his name one” (Zech.
14:9). This is conclusive. No one believing the scripture can respect the
traditions of Americanism. The Monroe doctrine and the millnnial perpetuity of
the Union, will be a derision to the cloud-invested angel, as they are now to
all who have ‘the patience of the saints,” “the commandments of the Deity, and
the faith of Jesus” (Apoc. 14:12). All the States of the new world will be
taken possession of by them; for “the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness
of the kingdom under the whole of the heavens is given to the people of the
saints of the Most High Ones. . . . and all dominions shall serve and obey him”
(Dan. 7:27). It is manifest, therefore, that the destiny of all colonies, and
republics, and empires, upon the American arena, has long since been decreed;
and that destiny is unquestionably glorious and blessed - that of being
delivered by judicial power from the debasing tyranny under which they now
groan; and of becoming the flourishing and happy provinces of an imperial
dominion, coextensive with the globe, under which life, liberty, and property,
will be secure; “mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace
embrace each other;” and “glory will be to the Deity in the highest heavens,
over the earth peace, and goodwill among men” (Psa. 85:10; Luke 2:14).
“Hitherto is the end of the matter” (Dan. 7:28). The wars of the Angel of the
Bow culminate in the conquest of a peace, which extinguishes all belligerent
conflagration in the earth for a thousand years.
9.
The Angel Rests from his Labors
Synchronical
with this “end of the matter” is the blessedness of the dead in “rest from
their labors.” The end of the Exodus from Egypt, and the destruction of the
fourth beast in all its relations, domestic and
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foreign,
being now attained by their almighty prowess, the end of Micah’s 40 years is
duly arrived at. It is, therefore, written by command of a voice from the
heaven, newly planted and firmly established (Isa. 51:16): “Blessed at this
time are the dead who die in the Lord. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may
rest from their labors: and their works HE goes with them” (Apoc. 14:13). This
is the time for the righteous dead, who have been caused to spring out of the
earth, and afterwards been quickened by Christ who is their life, to be blessed
in the Millennial Sabbatism. The millennial rest cannot be enjoyed by the
called, and chosen, and faithful saints so long as the fourth beast
ecclesiasticism is undestroyed. The Lion-Mouth of this system of ignorance and
imposition “speaks great things and blasphemies,” by which the Deity is
blasphemed in “blaspheming his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in
the heaven” (Apoc. 13:5,6). The saints, though resurrected and immortalized,
can have no rest while this, their old enemy, who, in the days of their flesh,
made war upon them and overcame them (ver. 7; 11:7; Dan. 7:21), remains
unconquered and undestroyed. When this is compassed their rest is attained. At
this time, aparti, or, from now; the now beginning at this consummation of
their works. They had “died in the Lord,” which they only do when they die who
believed the glad tidings of the kingdom of the Deity and name of Jesus Christ,
and are subsequently immersed; they had been caused to spring forth from the earth; they had been judged; and, by
quickening, had been organized into the cloud-invested angel of the covenant,
or bow; and following the Lamb whithersoever he went, in all his wars, had
conquered three of Daniel’s beasts, and destroyed the fourth; and, in so doing,
had delivered and regenerated the twelve tribes of Israel, restored all things,
and abolished the superstition of the world. These are their works, the works
of Jesus and his Brethren, and the consummation of them, which brings to them
rest for “a season and a time.”
But,
in the text before us, we are given to understand that Jesus and his Brethren
did not do all these wonderful and mighty works by their own independent and
inherent power. In the days of his flesh, Jesus said to the Jews, “I can of my
own self do nothing;” and again, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can
do nothing of himself. . . but what things soever the Father doeth, these also
doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19,30); and “the Father who dwelleth in me he
doeth the works” (John14.10). This doctrine is incorporated in the apocalyptic
symbolography. It is true in regard to all the works of that remarkable
prophecy. It is the Father, the Eternal Power, the Spirit, who doeth the works:
as he said to Zechariah, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith
YAHWEH Tz’vaoth” (ch. 4:6). Of their own selves Jesus and his Brethren
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can
do nothing. Their almightiness is of the Father-Spirit, “Whither-soever the
Spirit was to go they went” (Ezek. 1:12,20); and where they went, there the
Spirit of their Father worked. Hence the peculiarity of the sentence, ta de
erga auton akolouthei met ‘auton - “and their works He goes with them.” He
attends upon them as akolouthos, a camp-follower. He is present in all their
encampments; and all the defeats they give their enemies is by his power. How
could it be otherwise? For, having been begotten and born of the Spirit, they
are as much Spirit as that which has been begotten and born of the flesh is
flesh (John 3:6). Therefore, what they do must of necessity be done by the
Spirit - “he goes with them;” and “their works,” the works of the Angel of the
Covenant, signified in his roaring, in the little scroll, and in the seven
thunders, He does with almighty and invincible power.
10.
The Seven Thunders
Apocalyptic
thunder is significant of war. Seven thunders are either so many distinct wars;
or, they are war of complete and intense severity; or the wars are styled seven
thunders, because they are the thunderings of the Seven Spirits of the Deity
sent forth from before the throne into all the earth (Apoc. 4:5; 5:6). This, I
believe is the correct definition. If the spirits of the Deity had been eight
instead of seven, it would have changed the arrangement of the whole prophecy.
There would then have been eight apocalyptic epistles to eight ecclesias, eight
seals, eight trumpets, eight vials, and eight thunders. But seven is the Divine
Number of the Spirit; and, therefore, all these are numbered sevenfold; and the
Spirit is symbolized by “seven horns and seven eyes,” as significative of
omnipotence and omniscience.
The
Rainbowed Angel is the Seven Spirits incorporate in Jesus and his Brethren
going forth in their wars into all the earth. Hence the connection between the
lion-roar of his voice and the voices of the seven thunders - “And he cried
with a loud voice as when a lion roareth; and when he cried, the Seven Thunders
uttered their voices.” If the angel had not crashed forth his voice, there
would have been no thunderings reverberating their echoes through the aerial of
the Sin-Powers of the world. The thunders are, therefore, the echoes of the voice
of the All-powerful and Omniscient Seven. They are the wars of the Saints in
the execution of “the judgment written,” and “given to them;” and waged against
Babylon and the apocalyptic beasts in what remains of the sixth vial after the
return of Christ, and in all the seventh, until the wrath of Deity is filled
up, and the smoke from his glory and power no longer prevents an entrance into
the nave (Apoc. 15:8).
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“And
when,” says John, “the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write.”
The voices of these thunders imported the things to be transacted in the wars.
When John heard the revelation of them, he was about to make a record of them
for the information of the servants of the Deity; but this he was forbidden to
do by a voice from the heaven, saying, “Seal up those things which the seven
thunders uttered, and write them not.” This shows that the voices of the
thunders were their utterances; and that these were things expressed in words
that could be intelligibly recorded. To seal up is to conceal; and to conceal
what he had heard them say, was to obey the command, “Write them not.’ When the
time of the thunderings from the rainbowed throne arrives. the things they
uttered will be unsealed. The unsealing of them will be the practical
development of them in the execution of the judgments by the saints in the time
of the end. This also will be the unclosing and unsealing of the words and the
book which Daniel was commanded to shut up and seal till the time of the end
(ch. 12:4,9); and this unclosing and unsealing in that time is symbolized by
the little open scroll in the angel’s hand. As the apocalypse is a revelation
for the sealed servants of the Deity alone, it was deemed inexpedient to write
in detail the things in which they would be practically engaged. The apocalypse
is not for their enemies; hence the universal failure of all their attempts to
ex-pound it. To these, the prophesyings of the thunders were to be
im-penetrable. They were not to be permitted even to read them; therefore. the
Spirit said, “Write them not.” Thus, they can only be read in the history of
“the terrible doings of the Elohim toward the children of men.” in bringing
them to submit themselves to the glorious majesty of the kingdom (Psa. 66:3-7).
The utterances of the thunders will be written upon the historic page by the
valiant and mighty deeds of all the saints. This is the only record of them the
world will be permitted to inspect.
11. The Angel’s Oath
The
oath is the protestation of the saints-spirit swearing by Spirit -by the
all-creating Spirit - concerning the termination of the times at-tested in the
oath of the Spirit in the hearing of Daniel 12:7. This prophet saw in vision a
man clothed in linen, standing upon the waters; and John saw a man clothed with
a multitudinous cloud, standing upon the sea. They both have their feet upon
the waters; which imports that the peoples shall be subject to them whom they
represent. Daniel heard the question put to the linen-invested man, “How long
to the end of these wonders?” This elicited an oath from him with uplifted
hands to heaven, in which he declared by THE LIVING ONE OF THE FUTURE AGE,
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b’khai
ha-olahm (ho zon eis tous aionas ton aionon), that it should be “for a time, times,
and a half:” that is, that the ending of the wonders should be synchronical
with the end of that cycle of time. In this oath he declared the duration of
the wonders, but not the beginning of the period. The duration expressed in
figures is 1260 years. Daniel did not hear when they began; but he was informed
of a certain event that would characterize their terminal epoch - the
concentration of the power of the holy people. So long as the twelve tribes of
Israel remain scattered among the nations, their power is scattered. It will
occupy forty years after the Rainbowed Multitude commence their labors before
they will have established the twelve tribes in the Holy Land, an independent,
glorious, and powerful kingdom, under David II., their King and Prince for the
future age (Ezek. 37:21-28). When this is accomplished, the multitudinous angel
of the covenant will have “accomplished, to scatter the power of the holy
people;” which is the same as to cease to scatter it, or equivalent to
restitution in the era of Israel’s regeneration (Matt. 19:28). The development
of this work will be terminal with 1260, which ought to be a jubilee year, in
which every Israelite of that generation shall return to his possessions (Lev.
25:10). Be this as it may, this 1260 will not end so long as ‘the whole house
of Israel” is helplessly trodden under foot of the Gentile governments. It must
be restored “as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11-15; Acts 15:16); and then the
wonders revealed to Daniel will have been fully developed.
Thus
he heard, “but,” says he, “I understood not;” he then inquired about the end of
these times, saying, “0 my lord, what the end of these?” - of “the time, times,
and a half?” But, the only additional premises supplied was the coeval
termination of 1235 years(*); when his lot or inheritance, should be developed,
as the result of wonders elaborated during 40 subsequent years; and he should
stand in it.
Such
was the scanty information vouchsafed to Daniel 2400 years ago. The times,
however, still remained incomprehensible to him. He was like other prophets
“who inquired and searched diligently searching what, or what manner of time
the Spirit of the Christ that was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of the Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto
whom it was revealed, that not for themselves, but for us they did minister the
things which are now reported unto you by them (the apostles) who have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things
the angels desire to look into” (1 Pet. 1:11,12). He might have been told, that
the
·
The Author’s love for the Lord’s appearing (2 Tim. 4:8) led him into
the mistake of interpreting the three time-periods of Daniel 12 as having a
‘coeval termination”; in other words, all terminating at the same time, though
commencing at different periods. See our comment in Vol.2, pp. 10,11. The
comment of Peter (1 Pet. 1:11-12) can apply also to the Author of Eureka. -
Publishers
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times,
or 1260 years, when the glory should follow, would end in a certain year of the
world’s age. This would have been very gratifying to his curiosity and to Ours;
but such information was not granted to any “until the time of the end.” He was
therefore commanded to go his way, which is the way of all the earth. He was to
die in ignorance of the year of the world’s age when the 1260 should terminate;
but he is to rise again in the time of the end, and to become one of the cloud
with which the Spirit will then be invested. Then the words will be no longer
closed and sealed. He will himself be engaged in the work of unclosing and
unsealing in the time of the end, when “the mystery of the Deity will be
finished,” and fully “opened” to his view.
But,
six hundred and thirty-eight years after Daniel went his way (he died in the
first year of Cyrus’ sole reign, B.C. 540; which was the third from the capture
of Babylon, and the death of Lucifer - Dan. 1:21; 10:1; Isa. 14:12; Dan. 5:30),
John was favored with a vision of the same man seen by Daniel, only instead of
seeing him clothed with linen at the time, he saw him “clothed with a cloud.”
He had to communicate with John upon the same subject he had been treating of
with Daniel -upon the “How long to the end of the wonders?” In effect, he swore
by Him who lives for the Millennial Future, that when he should stand upon the
sea and upon the earth, chronos ouk estai eti - Time should be no longer; that
is, “the time, times, and a half” should expue; therefore, he adds, “But in the
days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall sound, otan melle
salpiseion, the Mystery of the Deity should also be finished, as he hath
declared the good news, hos enaggelise, to his ser-vants the prophets” (ch.
10:6,7). The time, concerning which Daniel inquired, saying: “What the end of
these times?” is to continue “no longer” than the sounding of the seventh and
last trumpet. When this shall sound, the 1260 time of Dan. 12:7 will all be in
the past - this time will be longer; but will be superseded by another “manner
of time,” commonly styled, “The Millennium;” by Daniel hah-olahm; and by John,
as in verse 6, hoi aiones ton aionon, the cycles of the cycles, which
constitute YAHWEH’S TIMES, or the future age (Isa. 33:5,6).
Such
is the angel’s oath. It is to be remarked, that he did not sware, that the 1260
time should be no longer than when the seventh angel should begin to sound, as
rendered in the English Version; but “when he shall sound,” which sounding will
occupy “days;” for he said, “in the days of the voice.” This indicates an
indefinite continuance of the voice; indefinite as far as the words of the oath
are concerned. In the days of sounding, neither at the beginning, nor in the
middle, of the sounding; but when the sounding shall be progressing, the mystery
shall be finished. The sixth trumpet ended with “the remnant giving glory to
the
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Deity of the heaven” (Apoc.
11:13); which was nationally proclaimed MAY 7, A.D. 1794. Since that event the
seventh angel has been sounding. He is sounding his trumpet at the present
time. It is “the third woe,” in the development of which, direful calamities
befall the catholic and protestant “worshippers of the daemonials and idols,”
not expressly detailed. This American woe, which afflicts the old and new worlds,
is, doubtless, an unwritten calamity of the seventh trumpet. It is a just
punishment upon “the spirituals of the wickedness in the heavenlies” -in Church
and State, and upon the blind multitude which is led by them into the ditch,
“the last ditch,” which will engulf them all. This seventh trumpet is “the last
trumpet;” and will not cease to sound until “the mystery of the Deity is
finished as he hath declared the glad tidings to his servants the prophets;”
that is, until the end of the seventh vial, in the consummation of which John
heard the announcement from the throne “IT IS DONE!” (ch. 16:17). What is done,
or finished? The only answer possible is, “the Mystery of the Deity is
finished.”
Now, on the ground of the
commencement of the seventh trumpet “quickly” after the ending of the sixth;
that is, in the same year; the seventh trumpet has been sounding seventy years
in the current A.D. 1865. But it will probably continue to sound forty years
longer, or till A.D. 1905-8; making in all a period of one hundred and ten
years. Hence, this century and a fraction answers to the “days of the voice of
the seventh angel.” In these days the mystery is to be finished; and the “time”
of the mystery “will be no longer - the 1260 will be all expired, and the thousand
years begin. Looking at the events of the past seventy years, and at the
present woeful condition of this “evil world,” no one can be so blind as to say
that the mystery is finished. Its finishing then, is unquestionably in the
future; which will be an epoch of the world’s history - “a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation to that same time” (Dan. 12:1):
“Blessed is he that watcheth, and keeps his garments;” and is able to discern
the time (Apoc. 16:15).
‘2.The
Mystery
In
my translation, I have rendered the words eueggelise, as he hath declared the
glad tidings. The English Version reads as he hath declared. But this is not
the full import of the verb euaggeliso. This is compounded of the adverb eu,
good, and the verb aggello, to announce by one sent; by a messenger, or angel.
The context of the English Version shows that the thing declared to the
prophets was “the mystery,” or secret purpose “of the Deity;” but its rendering
does not indicate whether the import of that mystery was good or bad. The
original gives us to understand that
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the
subject-matter of the mystery was good - or glad tidings of great joy. Good, of
course, to the servants of the Deity, the Father’s sealed ones; not to those who
are obnoxious to the “pillars of fire,” which march in indignation through the
countries of “the earth and sea.” This mystery of the Deity to be finished is
styled by Paul “the mystery of Christ,” “the mystery of the gospel,” “the
mystery of the Deity’s will,” “the mystery of Godliness,” “the mystery of the
Deity, even of the Father and the Christ.” These are not many mysteries, but
one and the same mystery, which he says, was “hid from the aions,” or Mosaic
and prophetic cycles of time; “and from the genea,” or thrice fourteen, that is
from the forty-two generations between Abraham and Christ; and in another place
he says that it was “hid from the aions in the Deity;” or “kept secret chronois
aioniois in the times of the aions.
It
was the special function of the apostles to make known this mystery in their
preaching. Paul was a prisoner in bonds because of his zealous labors in this
enterprise. As we have seen before, it was revealed or declared to the
prophets; but the revelation was not in the same form as was the revelation of
it to and by the apostles. This appears from Paul’s teachings, who says
concerning “the mystery of the gospel, for which he was an ambassador in
bonds,” “in other generations it was not made known to the sons of men as it is
now apokalyph the, apocalypsed or revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by
spirit;” among whom he includes himself in saying, “kata apokalupsin, by
revelation be made known to me the mystery.” They were commanded to go and make
manifest this important and long concealed secret to every creature under the
Roman heaven. This was the apostolic work in which John and his companions were
engaged. The whole ground of their prophesying was covered by the euaggelion,
by the kerugma, and by the apokalupsin musteriou; that is, by the
good-announcement they made as the messengers of heaven; by the proclamation of
Jesus as the Christ; and by the revelation of the secret, which none of the
chief men of their time knew anything about. These are the three grand divisions
of the great subject they handled, and in the right understanding of which they
sought to establish all true believers. In addressing such, Paul says, the only
wise Deity establish you “by my evangile,” good-announcement, or gospel, “and
proclamation of Jesus Christ; by the revelation of the mystery which was kept
secret in aionian times, but now is made manifest through the prophetic
writings by command of the aionian Deity (the Deity of the times of the law)
made known for obedience of faith to all the nations.” They set forth in their
teaching the gospel preached to Abraham; and afterwards preached by Moses to
the enslaved Israelites in Egypt; and next proepeggeilato, previously announced
through His
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prophets in the holy
writings; and then by John the Baptist, Jesus and his disciples, before the
crucifixion; after this, they proved that Jesus was the promised and expected
Christ, or Son of David and Son of the Deity, raised from among the dead to be
King of Israel; and they showed how remission of sins and eternal life might be
obtained through his name. “The sufferings of the Christ and the glory that
should follow,” are the more general and twofold division of the mystery; or in
other words, “the things concerning the Kingdom of the Deity, and the Name of
Jesus Christ;” which every one taught by them who desired to share in the great
salvation, practically elaborated by the Spirit-Angel of the Bow, believed, and
obtained a right to by being aqueously immersed into Christ. From this
exposition, then, the reader will perceive, that, the mystery previously
announced through the prophets, and preached by the apostles, is not yet
finished. Multitudes have received the remission of sins and a right to eternal
life, on the basis of the sufferings of the Christ, belief of the truth, and
immersion into his name; but the realization of their right in the kingdom of
which they are “heirs;” and the blessedness of all nations in Abraham and his
Seed, are parts of the mystery previously announced to the prophets, “the Hope
of the Gospel” and “the Hope of Israel,” which yet remain to be developed by
the al-mighty power of the Spirit-Angel of the Bow, in “the days of the seventh
angel,” when he shall synchronically consummate “the wonders” and “the times”
(Rom. 1:2; 16:25,26; 1 Cor. 2:7,8; Eph. 1:9,10; 3:3-9; 6:19,20; Col. 1:26; 4:3;
Matt. 1:17).
13.
The Dramatic Consummation of the Vision
The
prophecy of this tenth chapter is descriptive of a piece to be performed upon
the arena of the fourth-beast dominion. The dramatis personae are the Voice in
the heaven, the Angel, and John. “I am the Voice, “ said John the Baptist, “of
one crying in the wilderness.” It is correct, therefore, to say that “the Voice
in the heaven” is a person. The Voice personates the Father and the Son, who
“are one;” and the Angel personates a multitude, who are “made perfect in one,
as the Father is in Jesus, and Christ in him” (John 17:23); and shall we say
that John only personates his individual self in the midst of this
multitudinous unity? I believe not; but that, in this dramatic scene, he is the
representative of a class of agents; and that the part which he performs in it
is symbolical of their agency in connexion with the angel in carrying into
effect the judgments written in the little opened scroll. It was said to John,
as recorded in verse 11, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and
nations, and tongues, and kings.” He did not do this in any sense between
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his
release from Patmos and his decease. His prophesying, therefore, as herein
specified, must be in the future: and can only be then subsequently to his
resurrection from among the dead. As a resurrected, approved, and immortal man,
he will again stand before kings and nations, and “prophesy.” But not he alone.
He will only be one among “thy servants the prophets, and the saints, and them
that fear thy name, both small and great” (ch. 11:18). These all will “prophesy
again before many peoples,” &c., after they are raised and immortalized.
Hence, John in the scene before us, is their representative; and what he does
by command of the Voice in the heaven, they will all likewise have to do.
Illustrative
of this, John was commanded to “go and take the little scroll which had been
opened in the angel’s hand.” Here was an action to be performed. When
commanded, John had not the book, or scroll; nor was he where the angel stood:
but when he obeyed, he stands with the angel, the scroll disappears in John’s
substance, and he confronts the peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. This
dramatic consummation demonstrates that the Angel and the class of agents John
represents are identical. The Angel, therefore, symbolizes John and his
associates as the scroll incorporate; that is, after they eat the scroll they
occupy the position of the angel upon the sea and upon the earth; and in their
prophesying again, their voice crashes with the roaring of the seven thunders.
They become, like James and John, “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17); and shake
the heavens with their voice.
“Go
and take the little scroll that has been opened.” They “go” when “gathered” by
the angels of his power to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Peninsula of Sinai: and
they “take” the scroll when transformed into the likeness of the body of his
glory by the energy whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself (Phil.
3:21). Having taken the scroll they are commanded to “eat it up.” “Thy words
were found,” says Jeremiah, “and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the
joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for thy name is called upon me, 0 Yahweh
Elohim of hosts” (ch. 15:16). Jeremiah is one of those who will eat the little
scroll; and in consequence become a constituent of the same; that is, of the
angel. We may see from this, that words may be eaten as well as more material
substances. To eat words is first to know them, then to understand their
meaning; thirdly, to believe this heartily, and to assimilate it to our mental
habitude, that it may become the rule of our thought and action. When this
result is attained, the words are not only eaten, but eaten up, or thoroughly
digested; and they become part and parcel of the eater inseparably.
Ezekiel
was put through this dramatic exercise as well as John and Jeremiah; and from
the account he gives we may derive assistance in the
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exposition of the matter
before us. A scroll held in a hand was sent to him. It was a scroll of judgment
to be executed; for therein were written lamentations, and mourning, and woe
(ch. 2:8-10). This he was commanded to eat, and then to go and speak to Israel.
What he ate was suggestive of what he afterwards spoke and wrote in his book.
It was said to him, “Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels
with this scroll that I give thee. “Then,” says Ezekiel, “did I eat.” Now, the
effects produced upon him by the eating to fullness being identical with those
affecting John, we are enabled, upon the principle of like causes producing
like effects, to determine what the contents were of the little scroll eaten by
John. Ezekiel and John were similarly affected. “It was in my mouth,” says
Ezekiel, “as honey for sweetness;” and then, in ch. 3:14, he tells us “the
Spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the hot
anger of my spirit: and the hand of Yahweh was strong upon me.” And when John
applied for the opened scroll, and it was given to him, he was told by the
angel it should make his “belly bitter, but in his mouth be sweet as honey.”
Ezekiel’s scroll when eaten,
though prophetic of judgments causing lamentations, and mourning, and woe, was
as honey for sweetness, because, “the judgments of Yahweh are true and
righteous altogether; more to be desired than gold, yea than much fine gold:
sweeter also than honey, and droppings of honeycombs. Moreover by them is thy servant
warned: and in keeping them there is great reward” (Psa. 19:10,11). This
explains the sweetness in the mouths of Ezekiel and John. The contents of the
scrolls were the joy and rejoicing of their hearts; for in the complete
execution of “the judgments written,” they saw the development of the promised
recompense of reward.
But this sweetness of mouth
was followed with bitterness of belly. This condition of body imports “hot
anger,” as is manifest from Ezekiel 3:14. Moses connects bitter with destruction
in his threatening of punishment upon Israel: “They shall be burnt,” says he,
“with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction”
(Deut. 32:24). Fellows inflamed with anger, and ready to execute vengeance upon
the objects of their wrath, are said to be “bitter of soul:” this appears from
the original of Judg. 18:25, where the Danites say to Micah, “Let not thy voice
be heard among us, lest fellows bitter of soul run upon thee, and thou lose thy
life, with the lives of thy household.” Here, loss of life to Micah and his
dependents is predicated upon the bitterness of soul or body, of his enemies.
Also in 2 Sam. 17:8, David and his mighty men are said to be mahrai nephesh,
“bitter of soul as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field:” the robbed bear
is a striking illustration of the nature of the bitterness - that it is a very
fierce condition of mind. But, I need add no
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more
examples illustrative of the import of the phrase, “my belly was bitter.” John
ate the scroll. The effects produced upon him by the eating proved it to be the
scroll of “judgment given to the saints,” when they are prepared “to execute
the judgments written.” It is sweet to their taste, because of its truth and
righteousness; and the great reward its consummation will secure them: and
their body corporate becomes bit-ter when they set forth to destroy Babylon,
and the powers which sustain her. Their blood had been shed copiously by the
civil and ecclesiastical authorities of “Antichristendom;” and now the time
arrives to repay them “double.” They become a flaming and consuming fire; and
pour out from their bitterness of soul, “the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God.” In Babylon, at “the Hour of Judgment,” “is found the blood of prophets,
and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth;” and, as it is
written, “precious in the eyes of Yahweh is the death of his saints;” therefore
they are exhorted in their bitterness of soul, to “re-ward her even as she
rewarded them, and to double unto her double ac-cording to her works; in the
cup which she hath filled to fill to her double. How much she hath glorified
herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and” sorrow are they to “give
her: for she saith in her heart, I sit queen and am no widow, and shall see no
sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues (the seven thunders) come in one day,
death, and mourning, and famine (judgments written in the little open scroll);
and she shall be utterly burned with fire (with the “Feet like pillars
offire”): for strong is the Lord God (the cloud-invested angel of the bow) who
judgeth her” (Apoc. 18:24; 6-8). After this manner, they will “prophesy again”
against their old enemy, in bitterness of belly. But before they can do this,
they must be like Ezekiel, only in a higher degree, “lifted up by the Spirit,
with the hand, or power, of Yahweh strong upon them.” They must be exalted from
flesh to spirit. Their bitterness will then be “bitterness in the heat of their
spirit;” and in that bitterness they will go forth to “destroy them that
corrupt the earth” (ch. 11:18; 19:2). This accomplished, they will rejoice in
concert with the holy apostles and prophets, over the desolated and fallen
prostitute; for the Deity will then have avenged them upon her (ch. 18:20;
19:1-3).
14.
“Prophesy Again”
After
John, as the representative of all the saints, had eaten up the little scroll
of the judgments to be executed when the Angel of the Bow shall have been
developed, he was told by the angel in vision, that he “must prophesy again against
many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” In the Acts of the Apostles we
have several instances of their
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prophesying and of its
effects. They all stood before the Sanhedrin and prophesied; and their
prophesying resulted in an antagonism between them and the rulers; who, being
then the more powerful party, ordered them to be scourged and imprisoned. Much
of their prophesying was a proclamation of “the mystery of the Deity’s will,
according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself;” which
purpose is, “that in the economy of the fullness of the times (of the “time,
times, and half a time” of Dan. 12:7) he would gather under One Head the all
things in the Christ; both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth,
in him” - the things in the heavens, “things visible and invisible, whether
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers;” and things upon the
earth, “peoples, nations, and tongues” (Eph. 1:9; Col. 1:16; Dan. 7:14). The
proclamation of this purpose - of ruling mankind in righteousness by the
crucified King of the Jews, whom he had raised from among the dead - was
exceedingly offensive to the Roman emperor and his adherents. An imperial edict
was, therefore, published, forbidding any one to say, that there is another
king than Caesar; a proclamation that troubled both the people and their rulers
(Acts 17:6-8,31). The apostles and their colaborers, however, were not daunted
by decrees and threatenings; they continued their prophesying both before and
against the world, to the loss of liberty and life, which in the nature of
things was almost inseparable from their “prophesy.”
But, the time will come to
them when the nature of things will be changed. They will “prophesy again” when
power will preponderate on their side. Their function then will be, like
Ezekiel’s, “to prophesy and smite” (ch. 21:14); to “turn waters into blood, and
to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” (Apoc. 11:6). This
is the sort of prophecy resulting from eating up the little scroll. They
proclaim the purpose of Deity, and that the time to carry it into effect hath
arrived. In this they prophesy what is about to be; and they require all
“peoples, nations, languages, and kings” to submit to the New Monarch of the
earth. If these believe and obey the prophecy, it will be well with them; but
if they resist it, the prophets will proceed to establish their prophecy with
fire and sword. Their body will be like Samuel’s of old, who, in bitterness of
soul, “hewed Agag in pieces.”
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ACT
II. - THE SIXTH TRUMPET
or
SECOND WOE WESTERN PART Apoc. 11:1-13
SUMMARY
The
woman in the wilderness and the remnant of her seed (ch. 12:6,14,17) as the
nave of the Deity, the altar, and the worshippers therein, measured by John.
These (as the Holy City, and posterior to their measurement), are trodden under
foot forty and two months by the Lion-Mouth Gentiles of the unmeasured outer
court; that is, until the Ancient of days come (Dan. 7:21,22).
But,
“the Earth helps the Woman” from the time of her flight into the wilderness of
the Two Wings of the Great Eagle, where she is protected for a time, times, and
a half a time. To “the Earth,” as the two witnesses against the woman’s
persecutors, power is given to maintain their testimony in sackcloth 1260 days.
In the exercise of their mission, they smite the earth with all plagues as
often as they will. At length the Lion-Mouthed
Beast of the sea (ch. 13:7) effects their subjugation and political
extinction. But after three days and a half they stand upon their feet again,
and ascend to the heaven in sight of their enemies. At this crisis, an
earthquake overthrows a tenth of the city Babylon the Great:
titular
distinctions within the sphere of the convulsion are abolished, and many of
those who rejoice in them slain: the rest are terror-stricken; and give glory
to the Deity of the heaven (Apoc. 11:1-14).
During
the testifying, or prophesying of the witnesses the Ten Horns, the Two-horned
Beast of the earth and the Image of the wounded sixth head of the best, appear
upon the arena.
TIME
OF EVENTS
From
A.D. 312 to A.D. 1794, a period of 1482 years.
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ACT
III- THE SEVENTH TRUMPET
OR
THIRD WOE:
JUDICIALLY AFFECTING BOTH
EAST AND WEST
Apoc. 11:15-19
SUMMARY
The
events aforesaid being accomplished, the Seventh Trumpet begins to sound; and
ends in the casting down by the angel of the Bow of the thrones, and the
setting up of the kingdom of the Deity; who, as the measured nave, altar, and
worshippers therein, commences His reign. The casting down is preceded by the
revelation of divine wrath in a time of international belligerency; and by the
resurrection of the saints; who, as the nave and containing Ark of the
Covenant, are manifested in the heaven; and with lightnings, voices,
thunderings, earthquake, and hail, destroy the corrupters of the nations -
Verse 15-19.
TIME
OF EVENTS
From A.D. 1794 to A.D. 1905,
a period of 111 years.
See Tabular Analysis, Vol.
2,pp. J16-118
TRANSLATION
Apoc. 11
1. And there was given to me a reed like a rod: and the angel stood
saying, Rise up, and measure the nave of the Deity, and the altar, and those
worshipping in it.
2. And the court which is
outside of the nave cast away out, and measure it not, for it has been given to
the nations; and the Holy City they shall trample forty two months.
3. And I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a
thousand two hundred and sixty days, having been clothed with sackcloths.
4. These are the two olive trees, and two lightstands, which have
stood be-fore the god of the earth.
5. And if any will to injure them, fire bursts
forth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any will to
injure them, in this way must he be put to death.
6. These have power to shut the heaven, that rain may not fall in
their days of the prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them
into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they may have
willed.
7. And when they may have finished their testimony, the beast
ascending out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and put
them to death.
8. And their corpses shall
lie upon the breadth of the Great City styled spiritually Sodom and Egypt,
where also our Lord was crucified.
9. And they shall see their
corpses among the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations three days and
a half, and they shall not suffer their corpses to be put into tombs.
10. And they who dwell upon the earth shall rejoice
over them, and be exultant: and they shall send gifts to one another; because
these two prophets tormented them who dwell upon the earth.
11. And after the three days and a half, spirit of life from the Deity
broke in upon them’ and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon
those who beheld them.
12. And they heard a great voice from the heaven, saying to them,
“Ascend hither!” And they ascended into the heaven in the cloud, and their
enemies beheld them.
13. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth of the
city fell, and there were destroyed in the earthquake seven thousand names of
men: and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the Deity of the heaven.
14. The second woe has passed; behold the third woe comes immediately.
The
Third Woe
15.
And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in the heaven,
saying, the kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, and
he shall reign for the aions of the aions.
16. And the twenty and four elders sitting upon their thrones in the
pre-sence of the Deity, fell upon their faces, and did homage to the Deity,
saying, We give thanks to thee, 0 Lord, the almighty Deity, who is and who was
and who art THE COMING ONE, because thou hast assumed thy great power, and
reignest.
18. And the nations were
made angry, and thy wrath came; and the time of the dead to be judged, and to
give the reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, even to those
who fear thy name, to the small and to the great; and to destroy those who
corrupt the earth.
19. And the nave of the Deity was opened in the heaven, and the ark of
his covenant was seen in his nave: and there were lightnings, and voices, and
thunders, and earthquake, and great hail.
Exposition
1.
Zechariah’s Symbolism
In
the fourth chapter of Zechariah there is a very remarkable symbolic prophecy
concerning Zerubbabel and the “great mountain.” In this there is contained a
hidden mystery-wisdom concealed, which the prophet confessed he did not
understand. The exposition of the
eleventh
chapter of the apocalypse cannot be satisfactorily unfolded irrespective of
Zechariah’s prophecy; for this portion of John’s is a sym-
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bolical revelation of the
mystery therein contained. We shall therefore briefly look into what the spirit
said to Zechariah about Zerubbabel.
First, then, the prophet was
symbolically awakened by an angel out of a symbolic sleep, to show that what
was about to be revealed would in its consummation, be manifested after he
should rise up from among the dead.
Being thus figuratively
introduced. into the resurrection state, he saw therein a group of symbols
representative of post resurrectional Spirit-manifestation. The one group
consisted of a golden lightstand with a hollow ball, or bowl, upon the top,
from which projected seven tubes and burners. On each side of this was an olive
tree, one on the right, and the other on the left; and from a branch on each
tree a golden pipe connected with the bowl. When the prophet beheld the lightstand
and the two trees, he inquired of the angel what it meant; or what was the
solution of the mystery? But, instead of a definition of the symbols with an
analytic exposition of the truth, he was told in very general terms, that the
group represented the Spirit in manifestation, prepared to level the Great
Mountain, and to establish the Head Stone triumphantly - verses 2-7
This “great mountain” is the
mountain out of which the Head Stone is cut without hand (Dan. 2:45); and symbolizes
“the kingdom of men” as existing at the epoch of its final overthrow, when “the
kingdoms of this world become the Lord’s and his Christ’s.” “Before Zerubbabel”
it becomes “a plain.” The HEAD STONE is the Spirit in olive-tree and
light-stand manifestation, and surnamed Zerubbabel -scattered in Babylon. “They
shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel those seven, which are the Eyes
of Yahweh” (v.10). This is the “one stone of seven eyes” surnamed Zerubbabel.
It is the Spirit head Stone so named, constituted, not of one individual only,
but of a number of individuals, “which no man can number,” with one individual
at the head of them, named Jesus the Anointed.
But, Zechariah in looking
more narrowly at the symbolic group discerned two remarkable olive branches,
one upon each of the olive trees; and he saw besides two golden pipes, one
proceeding from each olive branch to the golden globe of the lightstand. He
perceived, that the pipes were for the conveyance of the golden colored oil
from the olive branches into the globe of the lightstands, that it might be
combusted in the seven burners at the end of the seven tubes projected from the
top of the golden globe. But he did not see into the truth or meaning of the
mystery of the two olive branches, and the two golden pipes; he there-fore
asked the angel what they represented? He gave him, however, very scanty
information. He simply replied, “these are the two Sons of
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Oil
standing before the Lord of all the earth” (ver. 14).
2.
The “One Body” the Golden Light-bearer of the Spirit
Such
was the symbolic scene beheld by Zechariah after his symbolic resurrection -
two antagonistic powers; the one the Spirit, the other, the mountain-dominion
of the world. But, had we no more light thrown upon the subject than granted to
the prophet, the truth symbolized would be as inscrutable to us as it was to
him. But, happily for them who are “the servants of the Deity sealed in their
foreheads” with his seal, the hidden mystery hath been apostolically and apocalyptically
revealed. The apostles, whose teaching consisted largely of “the revelation of
the mystery hid from the aions and generations,” have supplied that which the
angel carefully concealed from Zechariah. They have taught us, that the Golden
Light-bearer of the Spirit is the “One Body,” of which the Lord Jesus is the
head, or globular reservoir of the oil, anointed with the holy oil of truth;
for “the spirit is the truth,” says John. This is the stem, and the bowl, and
the seven tubes branching from the top, and the seven burners, and the two
pipes; through which flows the spirit-oil of the truth, that it may “shine
before men.” This one body, or light-bearer, is “the light of the world” (Matt.
5:14-16). It has been set up in the world to “give light unto all that are in
the house,” that they may see the good works of them who are burners of the
spirit-oil, and “glorify the Father who is in heaven.” It is through them that
the Spirit operates in enlightening mankind, in “opening their eyes, and turning
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan (which is ignorance)
to the Deity;”. and in “pulling down of strongholds, and casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the Deity’s
knowledge, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the
Christ” (Acts 26:18; 2 Cor. 10:5). In doing this, the seven Eyes of the Deity
shine like lamps of fire from the burners of the lightstand. In apostolic
times, they stood before the principalities and powers in the heavenlies making
known to these rulers of the earth the manifold wisdom of the Deity, according
to an exposition of the aions which he made concerning Jesus their anointed
Lord (Eph. 3:10,11). Without this light-bearing body, the world in all the ages
and generations from apostolic times until now, would have been in lightless
outer darkness. The One Body has been the golden seven branched light-bearer in
all the gloomy period of the times of the Gentiles. “Their testimony,” which is
their light, is not only enlightening to the understanding of the ignorant, but
it is tormenting to the adherents and advocates of the traditions and
sophistries of the catholic and protestant apostasy (Apoc.
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11:7,10). It vexes and
annoys them; and especially when the eyes of the common people are sufficiently
opened, if not to see the truth so as to be saved by it, at least to discern
the imposition practised by those who would be their spiritual guides; but
whose guidance they reject as mere quackery, and certain to precipitate all who
trust it into the ditch. This effect of the light-burning stirs the gods of the
earth up to inextinguishable wrath and causes them to make war upon the
light-burners and to try to put out their light by breaking their light-bearing
body to pieces -11:7; 13:7. But “the earth helps the Woman,” who is indirectly
nourished and cherished by the democratic and revolutionary adversaries of
arbitrary power in church and state. These are her helpers, though not members
of her body; and owe their political existence to the leavening influence of
the divine principles she irradiates. They are her fire and sword by which her
enemies are killed and devoured (Psa. 17:13; Apoc. 11:5,6): and, but for whose
chivalrous devotion to what they style “the rights of man,” she could in no
wise have withstood for ages the exterminating efforts of the enemies whom her
testimony hath tormented and provoked.
The apostles have also
taught us that the Spirit-Lightstand, or one light-bearing body, is constituted
of two classes of mankind, which are fitly represented by Two Olive Trees; the
one, “a wild olive tree,” and the other, “a good olive tree” (Rom. 11:17,24).
The former, we are taught in this chapter, represents the non-Israelitish
portion of man-kind; while the latter is representative of the twelve tribes of
Israel. In the Zechariah-group of symbols, these two olive trees are united to
the light-bearing body by the two golden pipes extending from a branch of
either tree. This intermediate union of the two trees is allegorical of the
union of Israelites and Gentiles in one body through Jesus Christ. In the
apostolic allegory, the union of the two classes is represented by grafting
branches taken from the wild olive tree among the branches of the good olive tree,
whose root and fatness supply wholesome nourishment to the grafts. In other
words, the engrafting is done by “the word of truth,” which is therefore styled
“the engrafted word received with meekness, which is able to save the soul”
(James 1:21). This word received with meekness by wild-olive men, makes them
intelligent believers of “the things concerning the kingdom of the Deity, and
of the name of Jesus Christ;” and, by causing them to be immersed into the
Christ-Name, they become members of the one body. By adoption, or engraftment,
through Christ Jesus, they become good olive-men; and being “cut out” of the
wild olive in all “the times of the Gentiles,” during which blindness afflicts
Israel, they supply the place of the Jewish branches broken off because of
unbelief.
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223
This transfer of branches
from the wild to the cultivated olive is the reason of there being two olive
trees in the symbolic group. In the first few years of the apostolic era, there
had been no breaking off of branches from the good olive tree; and no grafting
in of wild olive branches in their place. The engrafted word was preached and
received by Israelites alone; for, until Peter was taught to “call no man
common or unclean” (Acts 10:28), the gospel was not preached to the Gentiles;
so that the one body consisted only of believing and immersed Jews. But, when
it was found experimentally that Israelites were fast becoming deaf and blind
to the word, it was propounded to the Gentiles, from among whom a rich fullness
has been separated. As faith decayed in Israel it grew vigorously among the
Gentiles. The natural branches of the good olive became sapless; and were
broken off with violence, when the Little Horn of the Goat received a host
against the daily because of transgression, and cast down the truth, in its
Mosaic representation, to the ground (Dan. 8:9-12). A.D. 70.
But the One Body is destined
to flourish in two states. The Zechariah-symbolic group represents it in the
state inaugurated by the resurrection. John saw it in this state, as “a Son of
Man in the midst of Seven Lightstands,” invested with all the attributes of
omnipotence (Apoc. 1:12-16). Being in the midst of the seven, he occupies the
same relation to the light-irradiating ecclesias that the seven tubes of Zechariah’s
group do to the golden bowl, and the seven horns do to the Lamb (ch. 5:6). The
whole group of John and Zechariah is symbolical of the Omniscient and
Omnipotent Spirit in post resurrectional corporeal manifestation - the “One
Body” perfected and glorified in all its members.
But, before the One Body
thus symbolized can stand in the presence of the nations to “enlighten the
earth with his glory” (ch. 18:1), it must preexist in all “the times of the
Gentiles;” that is’ in the interval between the breaking off of the natural
branches of the good olive tree, say from A.D. 70, to “the time of the dead
when they should be judged, and a reward given to the prophets and saints” (ch.
11:18). This state of being, Paul styles, “the present evil world;” we term it
commonly, “this world,” and “the present state,” in contrast with “the future
state,” or “the other world,” or “the world to come.” Seeing, then, that the
One Body, a great multitudinous unity, Jesus and his Brethren, is related to
these two states, it is interesting to know -
I. What position it occupies in respect to the
nations of the earth?
II. What its mission while so placed? and,
III. How long is that position to be held?
224 EXPOSITION OF THE
APOCALYPSE~
A
correct answer to these questions will furnish us with the solution of the
mystery contained in the eleventh chapter of the Apocalypse.
I.
POSITION OF THE ONE BODY
IN THE PRESENT STATE
Zechariah
does not aid us here. He was briefly informed, that the two olive branches
emptying the golden oil through the two golden pipes into the bowl, were “the
two Sons of Oil standing before the Lord of all the earth.” They represented
Sons generated by the Golden Oil, or “word of truth” - the “unction from the
Holy One, which teacheth of all things, and is the truth” (1 John 2:20,27).
They stand before the Lord, al-adon, or before the Ruler of all the earth.
True; but who is the ruler here referred to? Is it the Spirit-King, Yahweh
Tz’vaoth, Isaiah saw? (ch. 6:1,5). Is it he exclusively, or is there a truth
concealed, indicating some other ruler as well? The answer to this question
must be deferred until we come to the exposition of Apoc. 11:4. We shall
proceed now to the consideration of the first verse of this chapter.
1.
“Rise Up!”
In
this we find John in a like situation with Zechariah. They are both in the
presence of an angel, and both asleep. That John was lying down asleep appears
from a voice saying to him, egeirai, awake, or rise up! Angel, of whom he says,
“the Angel stood,” he was prostrate in symbolic death, from which he was
commanded, not by the angel, but by the voice of the power that develops the
angel, to “Awake,” or “Rise up.” The angel is placed there, very much to the
perplexity of When John had the vision of the One Body, as related in the first
chapter, he “fell at his feet as dead,” and from this symbolic death was
restored again by the Spirit who spoke to him; so, in this eleventh chapter,
being in the same presence, namely, of the Rainbowed the grammarians and
commentators, who have proposed to abolish him from the text altogether, as an
inconvenient superfluity - as the representative of the One Body in the post
resurrectional period; as indicated by the symbolical resurrection of John,
who, when awake or risen up, sees him standing- “the Angel stood.”
But
why was John made the subject of a symbolic resurrection when he was about to
transact business having regard to the position and mission of the One Body in
the times antecedent to “the time of the dead?” The answer is, because the
business he had to transact would ultimate in the resurrection of the One Body,
of which, in its awaking or rising up, he was the dramatic representative. The
literal resurrection of the dead saints develops the angel he saw standing when
he opened his eyes to see. The things revealed in this eleventh chapter
ultimate, as any one may see, in the resurrection of the saints, and the
establishment of their kingdom. They are the Spirit’s dead men, and they arise
as his dead body. This is a grand consummation in regard to them. They now
“dwell in dust,” where they are fast asleep; but they shall “awake and sing,”
as the climax of their position and mission in this present evil world (Isa.
26:19; Dan. 12:2).
This
is a notable feature in all prophetic oracles, namely, the primary statement of
the end to be established as the result of, or consequent upon, the details
immediately to follow. There is another striking illustration of this in the
fifteenth verse of this chapter. Here, the end resulting from the finished
judgments of the seventh trumpet is summarily stated before the details of the
trumpet are specified. A neglect of this peculiarity would lead the reader to
suppose that “the kingdoms of this world became the Lord’s” at the first blast
of the seventh trumpet. This, however, would be a great mistake; for subsequent
specifications show that such a notable and world-astounding result is not to
be expected until the sounding is about to cease. But, of this apocalyptic
characteristic I need adduce no further examples, for it must be obvious enough
to all.
2.
“A Reed like to a Rod”
This
being so, I proceed further to notice, that the power commanding John to rise
up, gave to him “a reed like to a rod.” The use he was ordered to make of it
shows that it was a measuring reed. “Rise up,” said the voice of the Spirit,
“and measure the nave of the Deity, and the altar, and them that worship
therein.” When we consider the things to be measured, it is clear that the reed
must be a rule of faith, a rule of practice, a rule of time, or all of these;
not a material rule, such as a builder would use. It was “a reed like unto a
rhabdos.” In writing to the saints in Corinth. Paul says to them: “What will
ye? Shall I come unto you with a rhabdos or with love, and a spirit of
meekness?” (1 Cor. 4:21). This shows that a rhabdos is something different from
love and meekness in expression. The use of it in this chapter of the
apocalypse is evidently representative of the same idea as in Paul’s inquiry.
The scope of the prophecy shows this; for the two olive trees are to “prophesy
1260 days, having been clothed in sackcloths” (ver. 4,3); and to be overcome
and denied a burial (ver. 7,9). This unhappy fate was a rhabdos a Severe infliction. Hence, the measuring
reed was like to severe infliction. But, how long? The answer to this question
is the reed - 1260 days. The
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reed then was a rule of
time, indicating a period of severe trial; and there-fore “like to a rod;” and
upon the principle of loving chastisement -“whom the Lord loves he chastens,
and scourgeth every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6).
It is to be noted here, that
John, and not the angel, is the measurer. The measuring, therefore, is different
from the measuring of chapter 21:15. In this place, it is one of the seven
angels of the vials, the seventh, that is the measurer. John has a reed, and
this angel has a reed; but the reeds differ in this, that John’s is “like a
rod,” and the angel’s is “a golden reed.” Being different reeds or rules, they
are used for different kinds of measurements. The reed like a rod measures the
nave still in connection with altar-worship; while the angelic golden reed
measures “the great city, the holy Jerusalem,” in which there is neither nave
nor altar.
There was great symbolic
decorum in appointing John to be the measurer, in giving the reed like a rod to
him. “Rise up and measure!” was the voice of the Spirit. The measuring is here
connected with the rising up; in other words, John’s symbolical resurrection
was the limit of the measuring; at all events, of his measuring; for, where his
correctional mensuration ends, there the angelic measuring by the golden rule
begins.
3.
The Altar
The
altar in the text is the altar of sacrifice. Had it been the altar of incense
it would have been specified, as in ch. 8:3, “the golden altar before the
throne.” The altar John measured was the altar under which the saints lie, who
are slain for the word of the Deity, as in ch. 6:9. In this place, the symbolic
souls are represented as “crying with a loud voice, saying, How long?” But the
measurement of this was not revealed. They were told that it was “for a little
season;” but the number of days contained in this short period was not measured
off for their information. Not so, however, in John’s measuring. He gives in
symbolic days the period of altar-worshipping; that is, the period during which
the saints would be liable to death at the hand of their enemies because of their
testimony. In all “their days of the prophecy they were an afflicted people. As
the Spirit had foretold in Dan. 7:21, the Little Horn with Eyes and a Mouth of
blasphemy was to make war upon the saints, and to prevail against them till the
Ancient of Days came. The saints being in Christ Jesus, the altar, they
“worship therein,” and are “partakers with the altar” in altar-sufferings; in
other words, “they are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory
shall be revealed, they may be also partakers of that, and be glad with
exceeding joy” (1 Pet. 4:13; 5:1).
But, was this altar to be deluged with the blood of victims in all the
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period
elapsing from A.D. 70 to the coming of the Ancient of Days? John’s measuring
answers this question in the negative. The worshippers in the altar were to be
slain, and to rise again, and to ascend to power, and to strike terror into
their enemies; and, though not free from tribulation because of the word, their
sufferings are not represented as unto death as aforetime. They are prevailed
against till the Ancient of Days comes, but not under the same sanguinary
conditions.
4.
All not of the “One Body” Excommunicate
John’s
measuring was restricted to the One Body, the mystical body of Christ, the
saints. He was expressly commanded to excommunicate all the Gentiles not of the
One Body. “The Court,” said the Spirit-Voice, “that is outside of the nave,
ekbale exo, cast away out, and measure it not;” and the reason given for this
excommunication is, “because it hath been given to the nations.” Hence, the
apocalyptic court is the Court of the Gentiles; and the antitype of the Court
of the Gentiles under the Mosaic constitution. It may be remarked here, that in
Solomon’s building there were three courts; first, the outmost court of all,
into which the Gentiles might enter; next, the Court of Israel, for native
Israelites, if clean according to the law, otherwise admission was denied even
to them. Between these two courts, there was a “middle wall of partition,” upon
which were notices forbidding Gentiles to pass beyond it on pain of death; and,
third, the Court of the Priests, where the brazen altar of burnt-offerings, and
the brazen laver for washings, stood, and where the priests and Levites
exercised their ministry. Israelites, who offered sacrifices, might bring their
victims to the inner part of this court, but could not pass a certain
separation which divided it; they withdrew as soon as they had delivered their
sacrifices and offerings to the priest, or had made their confession, with
laying their hand upon the head of the victim, if it were a sin-offering.
Beyond the Court of the Priests was the temple proper, subdivided within into
the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place, or Nave. These two Holies were divided
from each other by the Veil or curtain. In the Holy Place were the golden altar
of incense, the show-bread table, and the seven-branched lightstand, in whose
seven burners was consumed the light-giving golden oil of olives. Into this
place, the priests, if purified by blood and water, and invested with the holy
garments; might enter at all times; but were forbidden to enter into the Most
Holy beyond the Veil. Into this, the Aaronic High Priest alone could enter, but
not at all times, nor without blood, on pain of death. When within the nave, he
stood, as “the angel stood” (ch. 11:1), before the throne of Yahweh, whose
power dwelt in a cloud be-
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tween the Cherubim, made of
the Olive Tree, and overlaid with pure gold; and above the propitiatory, or
mercy-seat, or coverlid of the ark, styled the Ark of the Covenant, because it
was a chest containing the stone tables of the law, cut and engraved in heaven,
and delivered thence by angels to Moses on the mount. Within were also
contained the pot of manna, the bread that came down from heaven, and Aaron’s
dead rod that budded into life and bore fruit. Such was “the House made with
hands” - an interesting fabric of the Mosaic parable foreshadowing certain
“things of the kingdom of the Deity, and of the name of Jesus Christ.”
As we have seen elsewhere,
these temple arrangements have been incorporated into the structure of the
Apocalypse. The text before us appropriates the apocalyptic outside court to
the Gentiles. “The middle wall of partition” having been broken down, by
nailing the threatening handwriting of ordinances to the cross (Eph. 2:14; Col.
2:14); no Court of Israel is introduced into the apocalypse. Israelites and
Gentiles not of the One Body, are constituents simply of the unmeasured court.
Their position in relation to the Nave and the Golden Altar, and the Altar of
Sacrifice, is that of excommunicate outsiders. In the aggregate, they are “the
court outside of the nave cast away out, and not measured.” They are therefore,
without remission of sins, and consequent right to the tree of life; they
cannot offer acceptable prayer and praise to the Deity; nor have they any
intercessor within the veil. Their court is wholly occupied by Daniel’s Fourth
Beast. There is not a foot of its area which is not so occupied; so that there
is room within its limits for no other beast; for this beast is resolved,
apocalyptically, into the dragon, the beast of the sea, the beast of the earth,
the image of the beast, and the scarlet colored beast and its rider. In other words,
the Unmeasured Court is Christendom, so called, in its civil and ecclesiastical
constitution -“Babylon the Great.”
The altar, which in the
first verse includes the Court of the Priests, and the Holy place, because the
constituents of the altar are constituents also of the court and the holy, is
surrounded by the Court of the
Gentiles; that is to say,
the One Body in the present evil world, is a pilgrim and a Sojourner in the
midst of its enemies. It is surrounded on every side by the children of “the Great
Harlot;” whose ecclesiastical institutions are apocalyptically labeled, “the
Mother of Harlots, and of all the Abominations of the Earth.” This
ecclesiastical family of adulteresses belong especially to “the beast that
ascendeth out of the abyss, and makes war upon the saints, and overcomes, and
kills them” (ver. 7; 13:7). They are the defiling women of ch. 14:4; with whom
“the Vir-gins,” or Altar-worshippers, have nothing to do, except to prophesy
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against them, and to torment
them with their testimony.
In this Court of the
Gentiles, “the spirituals of the wickedness in their high places” are rampant
revelers in tradition and blasphemy. Their court is illustrated by one great
“Name of Blasphemy” (ch. 13:1); which towers in pride and arrogance (“its look
more stout than his fellows” (Dan. 7:20) above all the other blasphemous “Names
and Denominations,” of which it is so “full” as scarcely to afford space for
novelty in this department of iniquity, transgression, and sin (ch. 17:3).
These Names and Denominations of Blasphemy fill up the Court; a fact expressed
in the text quoted, by the words, “a scarlet-colored beast, fi’ll of the Names
of Blasphemy.” Those of them in alliance with the civil powers of the court,
are styled “Harlots;” these can be counted upon the fingers; as, the Church of
England and Ireland, the Church of Scotland, the Lutheran Church, the Calvinian
Church of Switzerland, and the Gallican(*) Church. These are the Harlots, who
have sold themselves for gain to work the will of them who keep them. They are
ecclesiastical incorporations of “all that is in the world, the” sanctimonious
“lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life;” and therefore
“not of the Father” (1 John 2:16). Their diversities are but the diversities of
mere human speculation and views of expediency. The same substratum of
blasphemy and scripture-nullifying tradition, pervades them all. They teach
nothing aright; for their divinities and theologies, are the mere fleshly
thinkings of the natural man. Though their spirituals claim to be “ministers of
the gospel,” and “ambassadors of Jesus Christ,” and “successors of the
apostles;” their claims are stamped spurious and their high pretensions
ignored, by the command given to John not to measure their court, but to “cast
it away out.” They are a denounced apostasy, as far removed from the One Body
as the east from the west. Ministers of the gospel indeed! How can men minister
that of which they are profoundly ignorant in letter and spirit. If ministers of
anything, it is of “the wisdom from beneath; which is earthly, soulish, and
demoniac.” By their fruits they are known to the One Body which alone has
spiritual intelligence to discern their true character. This measured community
knows, that they are a base counterfeit that rail only be made to pass current
among those who are ignorant; and who mistake brass for the fine gold of the
temple. Thr spiritual institutions of their unmeasured and excluded court, have
no vitality in them; and can therefore save no one. Their way is the way of
death - the wide gate and the broad way
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
·
The Gallican Church is the Church of Gaul of France. It is associated
with the French Roman Catholics, but maintains the right to be in certain
respects free from Papal control. Its independence in that regard dates back to
1398. It recognizes the pope’s spiritual authority but denies his temporal
authority. Its influence has spread beyond France, and is today known as the
Catholic Liberal movement. - Publishers
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leading
to destruction.
These
Harlot-Churches of the Court are the leading novelties of modern times. They
had no place in the Court four hundred years ago. Then the court was wholly
occupied by Greek and Latin catholic idolatry; the Latin section of which they
ignorantly acknowledge as the true church; and the common “Mother of All Churches.”
This is true. The state churches are all her bastard progeny, begotten of her
adulteries with the kings of the earth (ch. 18:3). Hence, her apocalyptic name,
“MOTHER OF HARLOTS.”
But,
besides these harlot daughters, whose presence in the court she is too drunk
and feeble to prevent - “drunk,” not so much with wine as with folly, and “with
the blood of the saints and witnesses of Jesus” (ch. 17:6) she has a
multitudinous brood of young serpents, styled “All the Abominations of the
Earth.” These are the Anti-State churches of the Court - churches, not allied
to the state, but holding dogmas, which are a mere dilution of the traditions
of the Harlot Mother of Christendom. They pervade all the British isles and
possessions, under the general denomination of “Protestant Dissenters;” and all
the original United States, north and south. In the American section of the
Court of the Gentiles, as there is no Harlot “by law established” with
privileges from which her sister-prostitutes are excluded, “the Abominations”
are not styled “Dissenters” and “Nonconformists.” In this section of the court
they are all equal before the world’s law; but not equally respectable and
orthodox in the world’s esteem. Wealth, classic-al (or pagan) scholarship, and
numbers are the criteria of their relative respectability and orthodoxy. The
rulers and politicians of the “Model Republic,” players all upon the world’s
boards, are the honored members or patrons of “all the Abominations of the
Earth;” so that from the stage to the pulpit, and from the pulpit to “the floor
of the House,” there is no wider step than from the sublime to the ridiculous
and profane. The legislators and executives of the protestant sections of the
Court are the incarnations of the profanities and blasphemies inculcated by the
spiritual craftsmen who live by “the Abominations,” or “Denominations” of the
earth. Hence, their legislation and rule are devilish and oppressive; and
calculated to bring down upon them catastrophe and judgment, as at this day,
but more intensely and generally hereafter.
An
enlightened spectator, contemplating the festering abominations of the European
and American papal and sectarian sections of the Court of the Gentiles, might
wonder at the long suffering and forbearance of the Deity, whose Name and
Tabernacle they so grievously blaspheme. He might exclaim, “How long, 0 Yahweh,
wilt thou not avenge thine own cause!” But, to him it might be replied, that
the Deity remains
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silent,
not because he is not indignant at the blasphemies, corruptions, and cruelties
perpetrated against his dignity, and the well-being of his two witnesses or
prophets; but because the Antichristian Court is “cast away out, and not
measured.” For this reason, the Gentiles have liberty to set up any, and all
kinds of abominations in their court, or area of operation, without being
subjected to immediate judgment for their crimes. Hence, polygamous Mormonism,
and adulterous Romanism, courtesan state-churchism, and hypocritical
sectarianism, all flourish in their several spheres of abomination. They are
permitted to do as they please, until the measure or limit of the One Body’s
sackcloth probation is attained - a measure indicated by John’s symbolic
resurrection from the death-sleep. John’s rising up measured the altar
worshipping of the nave, or saints of Deity. When these rise from the dust, and
he with them, “the Angel stands” prepared to “finish the mystery of the Deity
as he hath announced the good news to his servants the prophets” - to break up
the court, and to level the Great Mountain of human dominion and corruption,
with which it is filled. There will then be no more Court of the Gentiles, and
no more apocalyptic altar-worshipping for the One Body. All “the Abominations
of the Earth,” mere lies, vanities, and “things which are of no profit,” will
then be swept away with the besom of destruction; and nothing will survive, but
the victorious and glorified community, symbolized by Zechariah as the Seven
Branched Light-stand, and Olive trees. These will then burn the golden oil in
the kingdom of their Father; and enlighten the subject nations with their
glory.
Such
is the position of the One Body in the present altar-worshipping state. It is
down-trodden trampled upon by the
“miserable sinners” of the Court of the Gentiles - “the Holy City,” said the
Spirit-Voice, “shall they tread under foot.” This is their present fate, in
common with Israel after the flesh, who, for an evening morning of 2400 years
past, according to the LXX, have also been trodden under foot by the Gentiles
of the Court (Dan. 8:13,14). The One Body, or “Holy City” is essentially
antagonistic to the Sin-Powers of the Court, by what symbol or names soever
they may be represented; for it is the Woman and her Seed in opposition to the
Serpent and his Seed; two parties between whom there is irreconcilable
hostility, which can only cease with the utter destruction of the
Serpent-Powers of the Court (Gen. 3:15).
In
the apocalypse, the Holy City occupies a conspicuous and interesting position.
The Holy City measured by John, and the Holy City measured by the Angel, are
the same Holy City in two different states in the preresurrectional; and in the
postresurrectional, states. Every immersed believer of the gospel of the
kingdom and name, is an adopted citizen of the Holy City. Paul writing to such
believers says: “Ye are
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233.
come
to Mount Zion, and unto the City of the Living Deity, the Heavenly Jerusalem,”
“the Mother of us all” (Heb. 12:22; Gal. 4:26). “Ye are come;” that is, not
personally; but by faith; because “we walk by faith, not by sight.” All that is
promised concerning the future glory of the “barren Jerusalem that beareth
not,” and is now trampled upon by the Fourth Euphratean, or Ottoman,
Angel-power, they heartily and affectionately believe: and believing these
“exceeding great and precious promises,” together with the things concerning
Jesus, and the apostolic revelation of the mystery, they are reckoned by
adoption through immersion into Christ, as if they had been royally born in the
Asiatic city; and consequently entitled to share officially in all its good
fortune when it shall break forth into singing, because her light is come, and
the glory of Yahweh is risen upon her (Psa. 87:5,6; Gal. 4:27; Isa. 54:1;
60:1). The true believers in the present altar-worshipping state are
collectively the Holy City, the Municipality elect, and divinely appointed to
rule in the restored Jerusalem, when it shall have been delivered by the Angel
of the Bow from the Serpent-Power of the unmeasured court by which it is now
“trodden under foot.”
5.
The Holy Polity Trampled Forty-two Months
The
Holy Body Politic is measured - the period of its down-treading by Gentile
barbarism is measured. The Court of the Gentiles will continue to exist a
longer time than their trampling of the Holy City. Not being measured, it does
not appear how much longer it will continue; but as the Holy Polity is to
destroy the Court and its sin-powers, it follows necessarily, that the
altar-worshipping and sackcloth prophesying of the Body, must come to an end
before judgment is given to it. This limit of tribulation had been revealed to
Daniel in the words of the oracle: “The Horn shall make war upon the saints,
and prevail against them until the Ancient of Days come, and judgment be given
to the saints” (ch. 7:21,22; and in verse 25, “they shall be given into his
power until a time and times and the dividing of time.” In other words, at the
end of this period the Ancient of Days will come; and then the saints will no
longer be prevailed against, or “the Holy City be trodden under foot.” This
coming of the Ancient of Days is the limiting event of the down-treading
measured off by John with “the reed like to a rod” given to him by the Spirit.
In the record of his measurement, he turns Daniel’s “time and times and the
dividing of time,” into “Forty and Two months.” He says:
“The
nations shall trample the Holy City forty and two months” (ch. 11:2). Hence, at
the termination of these months the trampling is to cease in the advent of Christ
and the resurrection of his brethren - “the time of the dead” (ch. 11:18). Now
he comes “as a thief under the sixth
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vial,
while the Franco-Frog power is in active operation (ch. 16:12-15); hence, the
“forty and two months” must terminate then; an end that must be exceedingly
near.
But,
are these forty and two months simply months of days; or are they symbolic
months of days, each day signifying a year? To affirm that they are months of
days and nothing more, would be a violation of all decorum. To have evolved a
scriptural exposition of the reed, the rod, the angel, the nave, the altar, the
court, and the city; and to have shown that John and his actions were
representative; and then to affirm, that the time related to these things is to
be expounded upon an entirely opposite principle - that the time is literal
months and no more, is irrational, contrary to the analogy of scripture,
incongruous to the subject treated of, and contrary to historic fact. Nearly
eighteen hundred years have elapsed since John saw the vision of the eleventh
chapter. When he saw it, the One Body was in the altar-worshipping and
sackcloth situation. It was then warred upon by the pagan Roman power, the
Little Horn with the Eyes of a Man, and a blaspheming Mouth, having then no
existence in the Court of the Gentiles. But, instead of being “prevailed
against,” “overcome and killed,” the One Body “overcame the great red Roman
dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Apoc.
12:3,9-11). It was not “trodden under foot” of pagan Rome; but Rome pagan is
placed under its feet, under the symbol of “a Woman with the Moon under her
feet” (ch. 12:1). Hence, there is no sense in which it could be then said of
the one Body, “the Holy City shall the Gentiles trample forty and two months”
of days, and days only: for history shows that the trampling was the reverse of
this; and that the conflict between the pagan dragon and the Holy City was
neither forty and two months nor 1260 days, nor 1260 years; but the much shorter
period of 226 years from the time John measured the Holy City until “the dragon
was cast out into the earth.(*)
Now, the historic fact is, that over two hundred
years after the pagan dragon was overcome by the saints, the Eyes and Mouth of
the Little Horn were constitutionally established as “the God of the Earth”
(ch. 11:4). The Little-Horn power that had destroyed the Asiatic Jerusalem,
disregarded the god of his fathers, called Jupiter; and this new god, whom his
pagan predecessors knew not, he honored, and leg-ally established in his
estate, or empire (Dan. 11:37,38). This was the
·
The period of 226 years extends from the time that John received The
Apocalypse which the Author dates as A.D. 96, until the resumption of
persecution of the Church by Licinius in A.D. 322 which led to the battles of
Adnanople (July 1,324) and Chrysopohs (Sept. 18,324). The numerically superior
forces of Licinius were defeated, and Constantine ruled as sole monarch of the
Roman world. “Christianity” was made an official religion, and in the following
year (325), Constantine presided at the council of Nicaca. - Publishers.
Page
324.
Little
Horn ecclesiastical element, into whose hand, or power, Daniel was told that the
saints should be given, until the elapse of “a time and times and the dividing
of a time” (ch. 7:25). Many periods of forty-two literal months elapsed in
these two hundred years; in all of which the saints were untrampled by the
nations. But when this New God came up in the midst of their court, the
situation of the Holy City was entirely changed. Forty and Two months of years
have nearly elapsed since then; and in all this time the Holy City has been in
the altar-worshipping and sackcloth prophesying measurement of time. Shall we
ignore this remarkable fact and say, “Oh, that is nothing at all!” and, for the
sake of reducing all students of the prophecy to one common low level of
ignorance, affirm “that the fulfillment of what is written in the book of The
Revelations, from chap. 4 inclusive, is still future?” For men to affirm this,
is proof of their entire and gross ignorance of the whole subject. But many
people, who are lost in the night of Egypt, desire to be thought as wise by
others as they are in their own conceits. In regard to the apocalypse, they
feel poignantly and painfully their deep and ineradicable ignorance; they can
make nothing of it, and being too self-conceited to be taught, or envious and
hateful of those who are able to teach them, they aim to allay their vexation
by the comforting delusion, that its events and times are all in the future,
and “in close connection with the appearing of Christ;” so that, of course, the
most intelligent and the most ignorant in the word and history, are equally in
the dark concerning it. This is very consoling to the envious, who love
darkness rather than light, if the light proceed from any but themselves. The
Apocalypse all in the future except the first three chapters!! If the reader
has followed our exposition from the beginning of the fourth to the present
writing, we believe he will find it impossible to endorse such “a foolish
notion.” He will be able to say boldly, that the dogma of the futurists is a
mere old wife’s fable; and utterly unworthy of the grave consideration of a
true believer - a servant of the Deity sealed in the forehead with the seal of
the living God (ch. 7:2,3).
In
my exposition of the ninth chapter, I have shown that “months” there can only
signify period of thirty years -verses 5,10,15. The word
Page
235 Pictures not shown
A
portrayal of the “Visions of Constantine of the Cross” which he claimed to have
seen flash across the sky prior to his
victorious battle against Maxentits at Milvian Bridge outside Rome, 28 October.
AD 312. This gave rise to anew system of policy and religion introduced by
Constantine after the seizure of power, although this was not perfectly
established till the last and peaceful years of his reign.
oposite
page below: A ‘nosaic in San viasle Ravenna portrays the emperor Justinian (Ad
482-565) handing a liturgical dish and pattern to representatives of the
Catholic Church On the far right is the Bishop Maximian. The Emperor regarded
it as his mission to restore the former glory of the Roman empire, and issued
in AD529 his Codes Justinaneus a series of laws and instructions, including the
proclamation of the Bishop of Rome as
“Universal Bishop of the Church.”
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236
signifies
the same period of time in the text before us. “Forty and Two months” of symbolic
time are as many years as they contain days. Forty and two months are 1260
days; so that, on the principle of a day for a year, as in chap. 9, the Holy
City is trampled to the end of 1260 years. This One Body has been
altar-worshipping, and “clothed with sack-cloth,” in nearly all this time;
during which “the great harlot that” still “sits upon many waters,” whose
polity is symbolized by “a scarlet-colored beast full of names of blasphemy,”
has become drunk with their blood (ch. 17:1-3).
There
are no data in the first and second verses of this eleventh chapter to show at
what epoch these “forty and two months,” or 1260 years of trampling begin. We
are informed that they shall end at John’s rising up, which is the terminal
measure of their continuance. This, as I have shown, is the import of the
command to him, “Rise up and measure.” But, the same Spirit told Daniel, that
the time was the period of the saints being in the hand of the Little Horn with
Eyes and Mouth; if, therefore, it can be ascertained when they were turned over
by authority to the ecclesiastical horn-power, the commencement of the “forty
and two months” will be determined.
The
words of the oracle, are, “they shall be given into his hand. This implies a
giver - one having power, by which he would be able to place the saints under
the jurisdiction of him who should “wear them out, and think to change times
and laws” (Dan. 7:25). This powerful giver was unquestionably the Sixth Head of
the Dragon; or “the king that shall do according to his will, and shall honor a
god whom his fathers knew not.” The throne of this dragon-king is
Constantinople. It was removed here from Rome by Constantine “the Great;” a
removal, that prepared the way for the manifestation in Rome of this new god,
who would speak great things against the Most High. The principal bishop of the
catholic idolatry in Rome was developed into “the God of all the earth” by the
legislative favor of the imperial Constantinopolitan power. This development
was legislative and circumstantial, and there-fore progressive. He was no
meteoric upstart in the Seven-hilled city; but a bastard deity, who had been
begotten in the Roman Mother by the adulterous embrace of the imperial power.
Rome was pregnant with this blasphemous deity during a gestative “set time” of
two hundred and eighty years - nine months and ten days being the physiological
period of human incubation. From A.D. 324 to A.D. 604-8, was this “god of
guardian saints” in the embryo, or fetal state. He was quickened into political
life as a future imperial element of the fourth beast dominion of the Court, by
Justinian’s Code, A.D. 529, and his Decretal Epistle, A.D. 533; which affirmed
the Roman Bishop’s universal supremacy in
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spiritual
affairs. Seventy-five years after this quickening, he was born God of the Roman
earth by Phocas, the Dragon emperor, acknowledging the supremacy of his See,
A.D. 604 (*) in grateful commemoration of which, and other benefits, the New
Deity caused to be erected by the exarch of Italy a Corinthian fluted column of
Greek marble, standing on a pyramid of eleven steps, on the top of which was a
gilt statue of Phocas. The date of the pillar was A.D. 608; and the occasion of
the honor is stated in the inscription to be, “Pro innumerabilibus Pietatis ejus
Beneficus, et pro Quiete procurata Italioe, ac conservata Libertate.” Surely,
the birth of “the God the earth” was an event to be celebrated in grateful
honor upon the imperial creator! Perhaps a baser wretch than Phocas never wore
the dragon-crown; but the baser the more worthy in the estimation of the new
god. By the murder of the imperial family, the usurper had given absolute
liberty and supremacy to the Roman bishop; besides bestowing liberal donations
upon the Roman churches. He was therefore entitled “His Piety;” and the pillar
was erected “For the innumerable benefits of His Piety, and for the quiet
procured to Italy, and the preservation of liberty.”
Thus,
by this development of the Roman bishop into the irresponsible “god of the
earth,” all spiritual things were “given into his hand” by imperial authority
and power. He was constituted the Lord Spiritual of all christians, who were
denounced as heretics fit only for fire and sword, if they dared to question
his divinity. Under his supremacy they were adjudged to the flames, had their
tongues cut out, denied “christian burial,” as he styled it, and deprived, not
only of the benefits of society, but of the common birthright of men. Such was
the iron yoke forged by the decrees of the Greco-Dragon emperors, who gave all
their subjects into the hand of the God they set up in the pre-Constantinian
seat of their dominion; thus, “giving him his power, his seat, and great
·
The Author of Eureka identifies the woman about to bring to birth the
manchild who would “rule all nations” (Rev. 12:1-2) as apostate Christianity ,
through whose assistance Constantine was brought to political birth. The
analogy is exact to the time period provided. Constantine came to political
birth as Emperor of Rome 280years (A.D. 313) from the establishment of the
Ecclesia after the resurrection of Christ. It is significant that on the day
for a year principle ,this is equivalent to the period of human gestation, and
therefore appropriate to the symbolism. Now, remarkably, the Author shows that
the establishment of the Papacy followed a similar period of gestation.
Christianity was universally recognized in A.D. 324 when Constantine attained
full and sole control of the Empire. But though an apostate Christianity was
officially recognized, the Papacy as such still awaited its political “birth”.
Conception is followed by quickening, and this took place when Justinian
through his Code (A529). and
Decretals (533) honored the Bishop f Rome by proclaiming him “universal Bishop”
this took place some 200 years after the establishment of Christianity as a
state-recognized religion in 324, and is represented by J. Thomas, as the
“quickening” of the fetus in the pregnant “woman” of Christianity. The birth
came exactly 280 years after 324 in the unexpected elevation of one of the
greatest criminals to sit upon the throne in Constantinople. Phocas came to
power in 604 and subsequently issued a decree proclaiming the Bishop of Rome as
“head of the churches”. The Papacy had come to birth and once again,the
symbolism was according to nature at the appropriate time, illustrating that
“the times are thoroughly adjusted to God’s command” (Heb. 11:3 - Diaglott) -
Publishers.
Picture
page 238
Once a hub of
the world, men began to excavate the rubbish-heap of the Forum in the
significant year 1870!- the same year as the temporal power of the Papacy was
withdrawn. In the foreground are the three columns of the Temple of Vespasian
and the Temple of Saturn, and in the centre the Column of Yhocas referred to by
the Author of Eureka. Phocas was a brutal centurion elevated to power, but with
no real ability to rule. He initiated a reign of terror, and died himself on
the scaffold in 610. The Column was setup in A.D. 608 - Publishers.
authority” (ch. 13:2): that
“he might as God sit in the temple of the god, showing himself that he is a
god” (2 Thess. 2:4).
This epoch, then, of the
four years between A.D. 604-8, in which the Roman Bishop was set up for the
supreme deity of the Court of the Gentiles - above all civil rulers; or, as
Paul expresses it, “above all that is called a god, or that is worshipped;” is
the only one that I can discover in history in harmony with the word, as the
epoch of commencement for
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the “forty and two months” of years, or 1260 years,
for the trampling of the Holy City by the nations. The terminal epoch, of
course, upon this basis will be between the end of the years A.D. 1864 and
1868. In these terminal four years ending in the spring of ‘69, it may
therefore be expected, that “the time of the dead” to rise up, as prefigured by
John, will have arrived; when the forty and two months (*) being ended, the trampling of the Holy City
will be no more.
II
THE MISSION OF THE ONE BODY IN THE
ALTAR-WORSHIPPING AND
SACKCLOTH-PROPHESYING
SITUATION OF ITS AFFAIRS
The
third verse of this chapter testifies as follows: “And I will give to my two
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days,
having been clothed with sackcloths.” Here is a proposition plainly stated.
There can be no mistake, one would think, as to the personage who makes the
statement. The “I” is, doubtless, the Spirit who speaks to the ecclesias, and
who said to John. “Rise up and measure the nave of the Deity.” He gave John
power to do this in giving him the “reed like to a rod,” the symbol of the
measurement. John, on awaking, no doubt, obeyed the order; having accomplished
the work, the Spirit added, “And I will give to my two witnesses” a certain mission
to perform. The measuring was John’s work; the prophesying, theirs; and with
this John was to have nothing to do, in person, until he shall “rise up” in
“the time of the dead,” and rejoin his classmates, as a constituent of the
Angel of the Bow; and with one foot upon the sea, and the other upon the earth,
prophesy with the voice of Boanerges in the utterances of Seven Thunders,
“before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (ch. 10).
The
Spirit styles them “my two witnesses.” They are therefore the Witnesses of the
Spirit, styled inch. 17:6, hoi martures Iesou, the witnes-
·
Forty two months are 1260 days, and on the day for a year prophetic
basis, 1260 years, which, from the time of Phocas, extends to 1868-70. This
epoch, as anticipated by the Author of Eureka’, witnessed several notable
historical developments in accordance with prophecy. It saw the temporal power
of the Papacy withdrawn permitting a further stage in the latter-day
development of the witnesses, and decline in the political power of the Roman
Catholic Church. It witnessed in-creasing interest by Jews in Ereiz Israel, and
the establishment of the first Agricultural School called Mikve-Israel (Hope of
Israel) in the land. This was to serve Jews who had begun to make their way
back there as “agriculturists and traders” (See Elpis Israel p.441). It was,
therefore, a terminal date of prophecy, and though it did not reveal “the time
of the dead” to be raised, it did commence a trail of events that led to the
elevation of the Holy City from the down treading it had experienced for so
long, and which constituted a sign of the impending resurrection (see Luke
21:24-28). Meanwhile, in 1930, by a concordat issued by Mussolini, the Temporal
Power of the Papacy was restored as required by prophecy, and the present
activities of the Pope in the political field are in accordance with its
requirements (see Rev. 18:7). In relation to the time periods see footnote
Vol.2 p. 10.- Publishers.
Page 240 EXPOSITION
OF THE APOCALYPSE.
ses
of Jesus - of Yah the Saviour. A witness is one who gives testimony to the
truth at the hazard of liberty, estate, and life. The Spirit’s witnesses are
witnesses of this kind. They testified to “the truth as it is in Jesus,” in
opposition to “every high thing that exalteth itself against the Deity’s
knowledge;” consequently, they were conspicuous in testifying against the
catholic worshipping of the daemonials and idols; and all the other
abominations they encountered in the Court of the Gentiles. Many of them
incurred the loss of all things - “they love not their lives unto the death”
(ch. 12:11); therefore they are described in “the time of the dead,” as “the
souls of them who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of
the Deity, and who had not worshipped the Beast, neither his Image, neither had
received the mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;” and to show that
these witnesses are the Saints, it is added, “and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years” (ch. 20:4).
To
these witnesses something was given - “And I will give to my two witnesses,”
saith the Spirit. What was this that was given? It could be nothing else than
the gift of prophecy; for it is immediately added, as the result of the gift
received, “and they shall prophesy.” Now, the nature of the gift is determined
by what, as prophets, they were to accomplish. They were to devour their
enemies by fire bursting forth out of their mouth; to shut the heaven that it
rain not; to turn the waters into blood; and to smite the earth with every
plague (verses 5,6). These effects were to result from their testimony
delivered “in their days of the prophecy;” for when those days were expired,
“their testimony was finished,” and they could neither prophesy, no do any of
these terrible things. Their tormenting power was gone, and the agency by which
it was executed was silenced in death (verses 7-10).
The
nature of the prophetic gift bestowed upon these formidable witnesses was
divine. It was a divine power imparted to them, which none of their adversaries
of the unmeasured Court could gainsay or successfully resist. It had been given
to them when the angel, who had ascended from the east, sealed them in their
foreheads with the seal of the Living Deity (ch. 7:2,3): A.D. 325, and onwards.
As the result of this sealing, the word of the Deity dwelt in them richly in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding; and as “the word of the truth of the
gospel” is a great unfulfilled, as well as partially fulfilled, prophecy, the
sealed, in vocalizing its testimony before the ignorant, are “prophets,” whose
inspiration is the word understood and believed. For this reason it is, that
the saints are said to “prophesy,” when they state, illustrate, and prove the
truth. “He that prophesieth,” saith Paul, “speaketh unto men to edification,
and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Cor. 14:3); and “he that
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241
prophesieth
edifleth the ecclesia” (ver. 4); therefore he saith in another place, “despise
not prophesyings.”
The
essential difference between the prophets of antiquity, and “the two prophets”
of this eleventh chapter, is not as to the matter given, but the manner in
which that matter was imparted. The ancient prophets and apostles received the
subject matter they proclaimed by revelation direct from Deity; while the
apocalyptic prophets receive it by hearing expounded, and reading the writings
in which the direct revelation is contained. A merely natural man is an empty
earthen vessel. He contains none of “the golden oil.” What he knows, he knows
only as a natural brute beast; and like other animals, obeys only the impulses
of his “inner consciousness.” Such a human creature is utterly destitute of
inspiration; and the efforts to enlighten him prove fruitless, he is fit only
for capture and destruction. The unmeasured Court of the Gentiles is the
aggregate of such; and in the midst of so dark and dangerous a community, the
Spirit’s Witnesses were appointed to operate for a testimony against them.
These
witnessing prophets were inspired by the truth; and the truth is declared to be
“the power of the Deity for the salvation of every one that believes it” (Rom.
1:16). “Power belongeth unto him;” and “he giveth strength and power to his
people;” and the truth is his power by which his witnesses are able to do, what
mere naturals are utterly impotent to effect. But the truth in His witnesses is
the power of the Deity to work intellectual and moral results; and is “the
savor of life ending in life” to those who believe; and of “death ending in
death” to those who do not. Hence, it divides the peoples in the Court into two
general divisions, believers and unbelievers, between whom the truth generates
implacable hostility; for as in the days of Isaac, “he that was born after the
flesh persecuted him born after the Spirit, even so it is now,” “in all their
days of the prophecy” (Gal. 4:29). This state of feeling is the “enmity” put
between the two seeds by Divine Power (Gen. 3:15); 50 that a man’s foes are
often those of his own house.
But
the truth in the Spirit’s witnessing prophets is not uniform in its effects.
The character of these depends materially upon the nature of the soil into
which the incorruptible seed is sown (Matt. 13:19-26). In this parable, there
are no less than six varieties of product from the same sowing - the way side,
the stony, the thorny and the good; and three varieties even of the good. These
all received the word sown into their hearts, even with joy; but it was only
those who, with honest and good hearts, understood it, brought forth fruit unto
endless life. The good soil believers are the Spirit’s witnessing prophets;
while the other soil believers, not sufficiently evangelized for their own
personal salvation, are too
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much
enlightened to accept the dogmas of the Great Harlot, of her Harlot-Daughters,
and of the Denominations, alias, the Abominations, of the earth; or to conform
to their ordinances and institutions. Hence, the Court of the Gentiles, besides
containing the Harlots and Abominations, has a numerous class of nondescripts,
who are not professors of any of the superstitions of the Court. These are
variously styled by the spirituals of the world, “infidels,” “liberals,”
“revolutionists,” “disorganizers,” “democrats,” and so forth; but
apocalyptically they are termed, “THE EARTH” (ch. 12:16).
In
the way previously explained, this apocalyptic earth is a creation of the truth
ministered by the Spirit’s witnessing prophets, “who keep the commandments of
the Deity, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” It is not a homogeneous
rabble such as may be found in all ages and generations of the world. It is, on
the contrary, a heterogeneous company of divers sorts and conditions of men, as
appears from Gen. 6:12, where the phrase is applied to “all flesh;” as, “the
Earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted Yahweh’s way upon the earth;”
and again, “Hear, 0 Earth, the words of my mouth!” (Deut. 32:1). But relatively
to the Spirit’s witnessing prophets, “the earth” is used in a more restricted
sense. “The Earth that helps the Woman” is all those upon whom her testimony or
principles, or both, have made a favorable impression. Though they may not at
all be influenced by her moral and doctrinal precepts for salvation, they
incorporate her principles of “civil and religious liberty,” and what they call
“the rights of man,” which were abolished by the edicts of the lrnperial
Dragon, when he subjected the nations of his dominion to the absolute
sovereignty of the Episcopal God of the earth, A.D. 529(*). No one imbued with
the principles of civil and religious liberty could forbear to testify against
arbitrary power in Church and State; and when natural men become impregnated
with such principles, they become impetuous and impatient of oppression, which
is said to drive even a wise man mad; and in their fury organize resistance,
and seek the overthrow and destruction of the oppressor. Such an “earth” as
this did not exist in the ages and generations of Rome pagan. The Woman then
had no Earth devoted to religious liberty to interpose itself between her and
the arbitrary ferocity of “the great red dragon;” the whole brunt of this
Sanguinary despotism fell directly upon
________________________________________________________________________________________-
·
Prior to the elevation of Justinian the state of Roman Law was in great
disarray. He Sought to correct this by establishing a general constitution of
law. The completed work is known as the Codex Consdiudonujn and was published
in A.D. 529. This was followed by the publication in 533 of an imperial statute
further endorsing the Cordex Constitution””” with supporting statements from
the published works of authorized jurists clarifying the Code. This is known as
the Digesta or Pandectae of Justinian. It established the basis of European Law
to the nineteenth century. in these decrees the bishop of Rome is named as “the
head of all the churches”. Publishers.
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her
unprotected self. It was not till after the establishment of that worse than
pagan superstition - that “dreadful and terrible” blasphemy, surnamed the Holy
Catholic Church, that “the Earth” in its witnessing relations appeared upon the
arena. When aroused to action in the unmeasured Court, it was a terror of the
oppressors of the saints. It tormented them with all the plagues of war; and
devoured them with fire and sword, as its own peculiar testimony against “the
God of the earth,” and the Sin-powers that sustained him.
An
arrangement of this sort was absolutely necessary for the preservation and
protection of the One Body, witnessing for the truth against “the worshipping
of the daemonials and idols,” in the midst of the nations, and “before the God
of the earth;” the weapons of whose war-fare were civil disabilities, and the
infernal tortures of anti-heretical crusades and inquisitions. The One Body, of
which Christ is the Head is commanded by him, not to avenge itself; not to take
any other sword than “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of the Deity;”
not to resist evil; if Smitten upon one cheek to turn the other; and many other
precepts, of which his own individual conduct when in the hands of his enemies,
was an unmistakable illustration. In view of these commands, how was such a
Polity to devour its enemies with fire, to turn waters into blood, and to smite
the earth with plagues? Manifestly such a work of death and destruction was
incompatible with obedience to such precepts of non-resistance. War and
desolation are no part of christian duty. “The servant of the Lord must not
strive; but be gentle unto all.” This principle faithfully and duly observed by
all the Lord’s servants in his absence, will prevent them from avenging their
own wrongs; or lending themselves as instruments in the quarrels of others, be
they individuals or nations. No degradation more ignominious can befall a
servant of the Lord than that of being a blood-shedder in the service of any of
the Sin-powers of the unmeasured Court. To be employed in such a service, is to
be servant of the Lord’s enemies. “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the
affairs of life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
This is the duty of all soldiers - they must labor to please their owners.
Hence, the world’s soldiers must please the world, who is their lord and
master; and “if I please men,” says Paul, “I should not be the servant of
Christ;” for Christ himself says, “that which is highly esteemed among men is
abomination in the sight of the Deity” (Luke 16:15; Gal. 1:10). The saints
cannot serve two masters, Christ and Sin. If they “endure hardness as good
soldiers of Jesus Christ;” and “fight the good fight of faith” scripturally,
they cannot at the same time “serve Sin” in the armies of “the God of the
earth” - the armies of the nations of the Court. Their mission is to “contend
earnestly for the faith
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once
for all delivered to the saints;” which protests against all the wars and
fightings of the Gentiles as emanating from their unhallowed and unbridled lusts.
What has the Holy City, trampled by the Gentiles, to do with what they deem
great, sacred and good? What is the judgment of these worth in the premises?
Doth not the word testify that they are all fools and drunk? And shall saints,
the salt of the earth and the light of the world, lose their savour in the
service of such, and be darkened by the fog of their delusions?
Thus
were organized in the unmeasured Court of the Gentiles two powerful antagonisms
- civil and religious despotism, on the one hand; and civil and religious
liberty, on the other. The adherents of the despotisms, in their civil and
ecclesiastical organization, were the Dragon, the Ten Horns, the God of the
earth, the Great Harlot, her Daughters, and the Abominations of the earth - a blind,
corrupt, and cruel host; while opposed to these, were the One Body and its
unconscious instrument, “the Earth - unconscious that it was the divinely
appointed and divinely energized agent for the aid, nourishment, and
vindication of the Spirit’s witnessing prophets against their enemies.
Here,
then, were two cooperative organizations against the Catholic Apostasy of the
Court. Without any treaty of alliance offensive and defensive, and without any
direct mutual understanding, the ages and generations of the past found them
standing side by side in witnessing and prophesying with tormenting effect
against the blasphemies and abominations of “them who dwell upon the earth.”
Each witness had its own speciality. Christ’s brethren testified the gospel,
and laid before the Court the way of salvation. They showed men what they must
believe and do for the remission of all their past sins; and for the obtaining
a right to the tree of life in the Holy City, when it shall be measured by the
angel of the golden reed - ch. 21:15; 22:14. In doing this, they did their
utmost to neutralize the teaching of the Jeromes, Augustines, Ambroses, and
Martins, of the apostasy; and to turn the hearts of the peoples from their
profane fables to “the engrafted word which is alone able to save their souls.”
In this work they were eminently successful. They filled the Court with their
doctrine, which inflicted great torment of mind upon the clerical and
ministerial craftsmen, whose pride, arrogance, and flesh, fattened upon its
superstitions and delusions.
Such
torment, of course, could not fail to arouse all the bitterness and animosity
of sin’s flesh. The firm of the Jeromes, Augustines, and company, perceived
that their episcopal craft was in danger; and that if they left this witness
alone, the evil might become so great, that they might not be able to hold
their own. Something, they concluded, must be done for the preservation of
their fables and traditions. It had not yet
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become
the custom for catholic to burn heretic; although the tendency to that orthodox
solution of inconvenient questions was becoming rife. In A.D. 385, the blood of
Priscillianists(*) had been shed by catholic ministers; but this was not the
rule. When the Christadelphians, or Brethren of Christ, undertook to protest
against practices which they regarded as superstitious and unscriptural, they
were then, as now, assailed with every expression of contumely and rancor. But
the wordy passion and invectives of their enemies broke no bones, and destroyed
no lives. These witnessing prophets of the Spirit were not to be deterred by
hard words. They continued to contend earnestly for the “one body, one Spirit,
one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Deity;” and to admit of no
truce or compromise with anything that rendered one or all of these of none
effect. Their course was onward by the light of the word, and by that only; so
that by the time the Roman Bishop was primarily developed into “the God of the
earth” by Justinian’s Decretal Epistle, A.D. 529, they had become a numerous
and influential community in all the nations of the West.
But, when this “Name of Blasphemy, speaking great
things,” had received political life; and had been set up as a living Image of
Imperial Power, styled “the Image of the Beast” in ch. 13:14; a change for the
worse came over the situation of affairs. “All, both small and great, rich and
poor, free and bond,” were commanded to worship this image upon pain of death;
and “to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead; and that no
man might buy and sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or
the number of his name.” This pressed with great hardship upon the One Body;
and upon those who were pledged to the antipapal principles of civil and religious
liberty. Multitudes preferred death to submission to this decree; and
determined to draw the sword in defense of “conscience and the rights of man,”
thus violently assailed by the new “god of all the earth.” This Moloch of the
Seven Hills was not backward in affording them scope for the development of
their prowess in all the nations of the court. He proclaimed crusades against
them; and called upon his worshippers to gather their hosts, and to take the
field against them, and to slay them with utter and exterminating slaughter.
“The Earth,” the Spirit’s other witness, embraced the conflict, undismayed by
the power and ferocity of the foe. With fire and sword, which was their
testimony practically administered, they tormented the minions of the oppressor.
The prophesying of
·
A sect within the church that followed the lead of a Spanish theologian
Priscillian, a member of the Catholic Church who advocated mysticism and
celibacy. Priscillian, with six of his companions, was burned alive at Treves
in A.D. 385, and extreme repressive measures were exerted against his
following. Nevertheless, the sect continued under persecution until the 6th
Century. - Publishers.
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“the
Earth” that “helped the Woman,” was not to be despised by the priests and
rulers of the nations. They devoured their enemies in war; and shut the heaven
of the Court, that there should be no peace “in their days of the prophecy.”
1.
“The Light Shining in Darkness”
Thus,
the history of the ages and the generations of the unmeasured Court is in
strict harmony with this prophecy of the witnesses. For a period considerably
over a thousand years after Rome renounced its old gods for the ghosts, dry
bones, and fables of the catholic superstition, the Spirit had provided himself
with Two Witnessing Classes, to whose custody he providentially committed the
truth, and its judicial vindication by fire and sword. This was their combined
mission in all that long series of centuries. The one witness was the military
arm of the other; and both in combination were the two arms of the Spirit,
holding the Olive Branch in one hand, and the Flaming Sword, in the other.
“These,” said the Spirit-Voice to John, “are the Two Olive Trees and two
Lightstands, which have stood before the god of the earth.” That is, the Two
Olive Trees, or Branches, and Two Golden Pipes, about which Zechariah made
special inquiry, represent these two classes of anti-catholic and antipapal,
but not “protestant,” though protesting, witnesses. They are represented by two
olive trees, because, though generically one, they are distinct species of
witnesses. They are both olive trees, in whom light-giving oil was generated,
as already explained; but the one class of witnessing prophets is of the wild
olive species; while the other is of the good, or cultivated olive.
In
the eleventh chapter of Romans, Paul compares all mankind to two olive trees of
the wild and cultivated species. The twelve tribes of Israel to whose country
the olive is indigenous he likens to “a good olive tree,” with a “holy root,”
representing “the fathers” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, on whose account the
whole nation is beloved. The rest of mankind he compares to “a wild olive
tree,” which is smaller and inferior in all its parts. Eliphaz in Job 15:33,
compares a wicked man to an olive tree whose flowers fall before their season,
and consequently brings no fruit.
Such
is the primary import of these two trees, symbols of Israel and the Gentiles.
But, the Israelitish Olive Tree, and the Gentile Olive Tree, signified something
more than this in the symbols before us. There was a specialty to be
represented which had been apostolically elicited. This was the adoption of
believing Gentiles into the Israelitish Family, that they might be Israelites
in every particular, except the accident of birth according to nature. This
adoption, Paul styles “grafting
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in;”
and figuratively represents the process, as a breaking of branches. off from
the wild Gentile olive, and inserting them into the place of certain sapless
branches of the good Israelitish olive, which had also been broken off, and
cast away. This teaches allegorically that while the good olive tree represents
the Israelitish peoples generally; there is nevertheless a Gentile element in
the nation, equally interested in the promises made to their fathers, which are
“the fatness of the tree.” Thus, the good olive tree represents “the Israel of
the Deity,” constituted of Israelites and Gentiles, who believe “the promises
covenanted to the fathers;” and who, since Pentecost, A.D. 34, have believed
“the truth as it is in Jesus,” and by immersion into him, have been adopted, or
grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel, as it will be in the times of
restitution.
This
union of Israelites and Gentiles into One Body, or Holy City, was represented
to Zechariah, by connecting the two trees by means of two golden pipes with the
one golden bowl of the lightstand; the idea of branch-union being set forth in
the connection of the pipes with certain branches of the trees.
In
the eleventh chapter of the Apocalypse, the two olive trees are not united by
pipes into one lightstand, as in Zechariah. This is an important item in the
premises. In the first chapter, there is only one Light-stand with seven
burners; but in the text before us, we have “two light-stands” with a tree to
each. Had there been but one class of witnesses, composed of faithful and
obedient Israelites and Gentiles, there would, doubtless, have been only one
Lightstand, indicative of their union into One Body. We should then have found
it impossible to interpret “the prophecy” in harmony with the anti-war
principles delivered to it. But we are relieved of this difficulty by the
introduction into the vision of two separate and distinct lightstands. A wild
olive branch and a light-stand are symbolical of “the Earth” - the
anti-Catholic and antipapal champion of civil and religious liberty, and the
rights of man, standing defiantly “before the god of the earth,” and the other
branches of the wild olive tree. Fed by the revolutionary principles of wild
olive liberalism, the earthy lightstand shone with light amid the deep and
universal gloom of “the dark ages.”
But, if this “lux lucens in
tenebris,” or light shining in darkness, had been the only light, it would have
been a feeble one indeed. It would have been like the light of “peace
democracy” shining in the abolition darkness of the past four years. There was
another lightstand and a good olive branch. These symbolized the One Body,
witnessing the truth. This lightstand shone with ‘the light of the word, “Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path” (Psa. 119:105). This was
“the golden oil” of the good olive, by which the lightstand burners were fed. It
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was
“the unction from the Holy One by which they knew all the things” they
witnessed; and by which they were taught, “and is the truth” (1 John 2:20,27).
By the shining of the light from this lightstand, the gross darkness of
catholic superstition and idolatry were made tormentingly manifest. The god of
the earth, his cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, monks, and such like, were
exhibited to the peoples of the Court, as profane mountebanks, and blasphemous
impostors. The light showed them to be, what they are to this day, unrepentant
hypocrites, and a generation of poisonous serpents. Multitudes were enlightened
to discern this; and caused thereby to desert the temples of the god. They
recruited the ranks of the witnesses, and greatly increased their power; until
the issue was formed, that either these lightstands must be extinguished; or
the spirituals of the wickedness of the Court would find their occupation gone.
2. “The God of the Earth”
Now,
it is expressly said, that these “two witnesses,” “two olive trees,” “two
lightstands,” and “two prophets,” “have stood before the god of the earth.”
This was to be their position. This god is not to be mistaken for the Eternal
Creator. Though he made the earth, and the sea, and all things that are
therein; and claims them all as his, He is not styled in this prophecy “the God
of the earth.” His title in this chapter is “the God of heaven,” to whom glory
is ascribed at the concluding act of the second woe (ch. 11:13). It is true,
these witnesses in a certain sense stand before the Creator; but in the sense
of giving testimony against, they do not; and that enopion, before, is to be
understood in the sense of against, is evident from the effect of their
testimony which “torments,” and stirs up the powers to destroy them (verses
7,10). These two witnessing classes of antipapists confront the representatives
of the papal deity in all the nations of the abyss; and in so doing, they stand
in a hostile attitude before the God of the earth.
I
have already shown, that this was a deity newly come up from the abyss, which
was entirely unknown to the nations of the fourth beast dominion, commonly
styled the pagan Roman empire; and that he was two hundred and eighty years,
after the similitude of a fetus in
embryo being two hundred and eighty days in developing into “THE MAN OF SIN,
the Son of Perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself over every one called
god, or an object of fear” - sebasma - into the Lawless One, ho Anomos, who,
Daniel was informed, would “think to change times and laws;” and “whom the Lord
will consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and destroy in the manifestation of
his presence - te epiphaneia tes parousias autou (2 Thess. 2:3,4,8). This
lawless deity of the court, who
Page 249
sets
himself above all law even in his decrepitude, while he has to be supported
upon his tottering throne against “the Earth” by French bayonets, claims to be
the successor of the apostle Peter, and Vicegerent of Jesus Christ - in other
words, THE ANTICHRIST - anti, instead of christos, Christ.
That
the term deity, or god, is rightly applied to this imperially apotheosized
Roman bishop, is apparent from the following testimonies:
“The
venerable name of Pope (or Father)” says Gibbon, speaking of A.D. 500, “was now
appropriated to the Roman Pontiff.” Addressed by nations, it was an imperial,
and originally a divine title. So Ovid says to Augustus, “Thou hast that name
through earth, which in high heaven is Jupiter’s; thou, the Father of men, He
of the gods.” And Horace, “Here thou mayest love to be called Father and Prince.”
The title as given to the Roman Bishop, was sometimes in the form Pater Patrum,
Father of fathers; as in a letter from the bishop of Larissa to Boniface II.,
A.D. 531, in which occurs the sentence, “to my holy lord, and over all most
blessed, and truly venerable Father of Fathers, the universal Patriarch (Chief
Father) Boniface.” The imperial and royal sense attached to the title pope, is
illustrated in the legend of the medal of Julius III.; “Dominus Julius Rep.
Christianae Rex. ac Pater “Lord Julius,
King and Father of the Christian Commonwealth.”
In
the time of Charlemagne, A.D. 799, a Roman Council declared, that the Pope who
was the judge of all men was above being judged by any other than himself. So
in the year 1090, “that the right of judging concerning every church is to the
Pope alone; but he himself, indeed, is subject to the judgment of none.”
Afterwards in the Canon Law, collected and published by Gratian in the 12th
century, it was said, “It is certain that the Pontiff was called a God by the pious
prince Constantine; and it is manifest that God cannot be judged by men.” This
claim continued unchanged in the 15th century. So A.D. 1463, on Paul
II. dismissing Platina after his election, and Platina’s threatening to bring
the case before the judges of the Rota, Paul fiercely replied, “Thou bring us
before the judges? Would’st thou not know, that all laws are placed in the
repository of our breast” I am
Pontiff: and upon the pleasure of my mind it depends both to rescind, and
approve the acts of others.” Assuredly, no future antichrist can be more
entitled to the name, “Lawless,” than the popes.
They
exalted themselves above all called god, or an object of homage, worship, or
fear. This papal exaltation and superiority above all royal majesty, Innocent
III. declared to be that of the sun above the moon; and Gregory VII. affirmed
that it was fit that all Princes should
Page
250
kiss
his feet. He claimed to make and unmake kings; to assign kingdoms and to take
them away. Pius II. proposed even to the sultan of Turkey to give him a legal
title to the Greek empire, if he would assist him. And to come nearer to our
own times, we find Pius VII., while suffering under the deep humiliation
inflicted upon him by Napoleon, asserting the same authority. “Let them learn,”
said he, in his excommunication of Napoleon, June 10, 1809, “that they are
subjected by the laws of Jesus Christ to our throne, and to our commandment.”
Concerning Celestin III., on occasion of the coronation of Henry VI. of
Germany, A.D. 1191, Roger of Hoveden, gives the following illustration of the
pope’s exaltation of himself “above all called god.” “The Lord Pope,” says he:
“sat in the pontifical chair, holding the golden imperial crown between his
feet; and the Emperor bending his head received the crown, and the Empress in
the same manner, from the feet of the Lord Pope. But the Lord Pope instantly
struck with his foot the Emperor’s crown, and cast it upon the ground;
signifying that he had the power of deposing him from the Empire , if he were
undeserving of it. The Cardinals however lifted up the crown, and placed it on
the Emperor’s head.”
The
pope was frequently addressed as Christ, and received the title as
distinctively and only his due. Illustrative of this S. Bernard in the 12th
century writes to Pope Eugenius, “Consider that thou art the Vicar of Christ,
the Christ of the Lord.” Another and later illustration occurs in an official
report about Pope Martin’s embassy to the Greek Emperor containing the
following description of the Pope by his own accredited orator: “The most Holy
and most Blessed One, who hath divine judgment, who is Lord on earth; successor
of Peter, the Lord’s Christ, Lord of the universe, Father of kings, Light of
the world, the Chief Pontiff Pope Martin.” It was the command of Gregory VII.,
that “the name of the pope alone should be recited in the churches;” and
Southey observes, that men were required to bow at the Pope’s name (so recited)
as at Christ’s.
In
setting up for Vicar, he claimed to be the substitute, not of a pure man, but
of the true God “Summus Pontifex non
hominis purised “VERI DEl, vere Vicarius appellatur:” - ruling in place of the
true God on earth - “VERI DEl, VICEM gent in terris,” as said Innocent III. “Sir
Culling Eardly,” says Mr. Elliott, from whose Latin notes I have translated
these gleanings, “in a late pamphlet, notices the following title of a book,
published with the sanction of the Neapolitan censorship in 1724, and which
illustrates the common application of this title Vice-God to the popes, even in
the 18th century: “Istoria dell’ antica Republica di am-alfi;
Consecrata al VICE DEO Benedetto decimo-terzo, Pontefice Ottimo Massimo. Con
licenza dei Superiori” - History of the ancient Republic
Page
251
of
Amalphi; Consecrated to the Vice-God Benedict XIII., a perfectly good supreme
pontiff. With license of the Superiors.
The
Papal Casuists say, “that honor which is due to Christ, according to what God
is, is due to the Pope; because honor is due to power. But the power of Christ,
according to what God is, and of the Pope, is one.” The same had been set forth
by Innocent in his Decretals, “the Pope is God because the Vicar of God: also
in the Canon Laws’ statement, before referred to, that Constantine called the
pope a God; with the gloss, “Our Lord God the Pope.”
Picture
page 251 not shown
The
Pope carried in Godlike State like the ancient Babylonian Pontifix Maximus From
a Roman Painting depicted in Horae Apocalypticae, vol.3) illustrating the
comment in Eureka. The Pope is depicted holding aloft “the Host”, a bit of
dough transformed, he asserts, into the real flesh and blood of Christ. This
fable was derived from pagan Babylonian mythology. See Hislop’s Two BabyIons.
The
following is a striking statement to the same effect from the “Speculum Vitae
Humanae” of Rodericus Sancius, Romish Bishop and Refendary of Paul II.; a book
published at Rome by Papal authority, in 1468, and many times afterwards. “The
majesty of his most sacred state impairs every human intellect. If nothing in
this world is more excellent
Page
252
than
the state of simple priests, what must be thought of the Chief Pontiff who
rules on earth instead of the true God? who is exalted, not only to a human
sovereignty, but to a divine one; not to ruling mortals alone, but angels; not
to judging the living, but also the dead; not on earth alone, but in heaven, by
the great God, and in his place.
The
saying of a certain French writer concerning a particular pope would be well
and truly applied to the whole fraternity of papal gods. “The bulls of John
XXIII.,” says he, “commenced with a lie - Servant of the servants of God. He
ought rather to have entitled himself Lord of lords. Seeing that he boasts
himself of having as much power as Jesus Christ possesses, as God and man.”
Some lines were addressed to an elephant presented to Leo X., two of
which were as follows:
Si servire Deo vere est
regnare, Leoni
Dum servis regnas: nam Leo
in orbe DEUS.
If
to serve God truly is to reign, while thou servest Leo thou reignest; for Leo is
God on earth - App. to Roscoe’s Leo, X.
This
exaltation of the Roman Bishop from a Patriarch, or Chief Father, into the God
of the earth, was not altogether approved by his brethren. Arnulph of Orleans
in the Synod at Rheims, A.D. 991, exclaimed in reference to John XV.: “What is
this, Reverend Fathers, sitting upon a lofty throne, radiant with a g6lden and
purple vesture; what, I say, think ye that this is? Doubtless, if he is
destitute of love, and puffed up and exalted with knowledge only, he is Antichrist
sitting in the temple of Deity and exhibiting himself as if he were God.”
Arnulph’s suspicion was well founded, only he erred in supposing that
Antichrist was to be found sitting in the temple of the true-God. This is an
universal error. The temple of the Deity who created all things, is a living
temple; a house not made with hands. In such a temple as the Roman, he does not
dwell. His habitation is that Spiritual House, built up by his formative word,
of lively precious stones, called saints, because they are “sanctified in
Christ Jesus.” In this temple of the Deity, Antichrist has never yet sat
enthroned, nor ever will. He sits in his own temple - in the temple of the God
of the earth; and there, as represented in an engraving published at Rome with license
of the authorities, and republished in Elliott’s Hor. Apoc. he sits upon the
high altar of the Cathedral dedicated to Peter; and receives the adoration of
his scarlet-robed cardinals, who worship him by bowing down before him, and
kissing his toe! Thus, he sits in the temple of the deity as a deity, publicly
exhibiting himself that he is a deity.” This is what Paul said, and most
strikingly and liter-ally it has come to pass.
In
the year 727, Gregory II, boasted to the Dragon-Emperor, that “all the kings of
the west held the pope to be a God upon earth.” In this he told the truth; for
when Stephen visited France to obtain aid from the Franks against the Lombards,
Pepin received him, according to Sismondi, as a Divinity.
In
Elliott’s repository of papal curiosities, I have before me copies of medals,
which illustrate very forcibly the “great things and blasphemies” of the Man
Eyes and Mouth of the Little Horn, which were developed into the deity of the
earth; before whom the witnesses stood, and by whose command they were at
length killed.
The
first is a medal struck by order of Martin V., A.D. 1417. The Roman Bishop is
sitting upon a throne, with the Holy Spirit symbolized by a dove, hovering
amidst rays over its canopy. Two cardinals, one on each side of him, are
crowning him with the tiara, or conical cap with three diadems one above
another, and surmounted at the peak by a ball and a cross. On the right of the
throne is an altar with a cross upon it, and a light burning on each side of
it. Before the altar and throne is a figure upon his knees, his hands lifted up
in prayer, and his head thrown back in devout contemplation of the pope.
Opposite to this representative of the multitude, are three cardinal princes
and electors, who represent the spiritual and sovereign influences by which
they were inspired in the election. On the margin, is the inscription “Quem
creant adorant Romae.” Whom they create they worship at Rome.
Another
medal was struck by Calixtus III., A.D. 1456. Upon a knoll stands a cross with
a tiara above it, and rays of spirit shed upon it. Behind the mound, intended
to represent Calvary, is the open sea, studded with sailing craft, and a
mountain peering up above the horizon, symbolical of the governments of the
world. In this symbolism, the Pope appears as Christ’s substitute, or vicar.
Jesus had all the sufferings; the Pope claims all the glory. The legend of this
medal shows this -“Omnes Reges servient ei” - All Kings shall serve him; that
is, the Pope!
A
third is a medal struck by Clement VII., A.D. 1525, commemorative of his
opening of heaven at the jubilee. On the right is a doorway that had been
walled up for the occasion. Standing before the wall is the Roman God with a
pickax hard at work demolishing the walls, which is represented as about a
third open, and the rubbish piled up at his feet. Above him in the air, and
sitting upon a cloud with a key in his hand about the size of the pick, is
Peter before the gate of heaven, which is unobscured by cloud in proportion to
the opening in the gate below. The relation between the two gates is shown by a
parallelogram of rays from Peter’s opening to the Pope’s. Behind the divine
pickman
Page 254 .
are
five waiting figures upon their knees, representative of the multitude, who
have friends in purgatory. They are watching for the entire demolition of the
wall, as the sign that Peter will have then finished his job above; and his
door in heaven being wide open (and if the God below had not picked out his
door, Peter’s would have never been opened at all) their suffering friends will
pass through it, out of the scorching flames into the refreshing coolness of
paradise! The legend of this medal is “Et Portae Coeli apertae sunt” - And the
gates of heaven are opened.
A
fourth medal struck by Alexander VII., A.D. 1655, represents the Roman God
creating God out of bread for the people to worship, and then to eat. Upon a
sedia gestatoria, or chair of state borne on clerical shoulders, the Pope is
represented as kneeling before his breaden god, which he holds up to public
gaze in a pyx, or small box, mounted on a stand. Above him is a canopy
decorated with crosses, keys, and tiaras; and on either side of the sedia are
priests bearing wide-expanded flabelli, or fans of peacocks’ feathers, mounted
on staves, so as to flank the pope from his shoulders upwards, and considerably
above his head. The eyes of the fans signify the innumerable eyes of the
Cherubim; so that the Roman God, while kneeling upon his sedia, is “dwelling
between the Cherubim!” Surely blasphemy like this cannot be surpassed. The rest
of the medal shows a crowd of worshippers, whose superstition is expressed in
the legend, “Procidamus et adoremus in Spiritu et veri-tate” - We fall
prostrate and adore in spirit and in truth!
A
fifth medal also by Alexander VII., A.D. 1655, illustrates the asserted power
of the Vice-Christ over the so-called “spirit-world.” He is represented sitting
upon a judgment seat with his cardinals on his right and left sitting in double
rows, with an open space before them; across which is a bar in the foreground.
Over the canopy of his throne is the symbol of the Spirit, the dove with
expanded wings, and surrounded with rays and angel-heads. The legend informs
us, that the matter before this divine consistory is an inquiry for reckoning
Bishop Francis among the saints “Blato
Francisco Episcopo inter sanctos relato.”
A
sixth medal by Gregory XV., A.D. 1622, commemorates his award of heaven to five
of the dead, and their apotheosis. The tiaraed god is sitting upon his throne,
with a book of judgment supported upon the head of a figure kneeling before
him, in which he is about to sign the decree of canonization. On the left, and
above the group of attendants, are opened clouds between which is the dove,
from which rays of light descend towards the book, indicating divine approval.
Around the whole is the legend, “Quinque Beatis Caelestes Honores decernit” -He
decrees celestial honors to five Blessed Ones.
page
255
In
a seventh medal, struck by order of Clement X., A.D. 1670, is a group of five
figures, four men and one woman, kneeling, standing, and sitting upon a cloud,
with the dove shedding his rays upon them from above. Each has a halo of glory
round the head. The figures are symbolical of the daemonials, or deified ghosts,
of a king, a cardinal, a pope, a priest, and a matron, as indicated by a crown,
a hat, a tiara, a crucifix, and a babe. The central figure, the cardinal, has a
book in one hand, and a pen in the other, symbolical of their admission among
the gods of the catholic aerial, being consequent upon the decree of the God
upon the earth below! This is expressed in the legend, “Decor ejus Gloria
Sanctorum” - His grace the glory of the saints!
3. “The God of the Earth” and “the
Antichrist” Identical
Thus,
in this eleventh chapter, two Deities are presented to view; the one living and
true Deity, styled in the C.V., “the God of Heaven,” and his counterfeit and
rival, called “the God of the Earth.” This is the Antichrist - ho antichristos.
The preposition anti in composition has the force of instead, equal to, like,
corresponding to, counter, against, &c. In the word antichrist, which is
not a classical word, but one especially coined by inspiration, it signifies AN
Anointed One substituted for THE Anointed One; and therefore an usurper of the
rights of the true. This is certainly a hostile position for one to hold, and
puts him in antagonism to Christ. But an enemy to Christ is not the force of
the word. It signifies, as Mr. Elliott contends in his note upon antipope, one
occupying the true Christ’s place, receiving his honors, and exercising his
functions.
The
germ which in after ages was fully developed into the Antichrist was the
denying the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). This denial was in the sense of
not confessing that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (2 John 7). All who held
this damnable tradition (which in our time is an article of “orthodoxy” so
called) forsook the fellowship of the apostles, and were thus manifested as
antichrists.
“Ye
have heard,” says John, “that The Antichrist comes; even now are there many
antichrists. They went out from us, but they were not of us.” These were “false
prophets,” spirits, or teachers, whose doctrine was “that of the Antichrist
that should come; and even now already,” says John, “is in the world” (1 John
4:3). They confessed not, that he whom they called Jesus Christ was a man in
the flesh common to all mankind, which is sarx amartias, Sin’s flesh (Rom.
8:3). They maintained that he had another kind of flesh, which was pure, holy,
and immaculate. They confounded his immaculate, or spotless, character, with
his maculate flesh. This was a fatal heresy; for if Jesus was not crucified
Page
256.
in
the flesh common to us all, then “sin was” not “condemned in the flesh,” as all
the apostles taught; and there has been as yet no sacrifice for sin, and
consequently there are no means of remission of sins extant.
This
immaculate nature of Jesus was the germ of the Catholic Apostasy headed up in
the Antichrist, or Deity of the Earth. All who taught the dogma were the
founders of a New Religion, and became its “Fathers;” and all who received
their traditions became, with them, the Mystical Body of Antichrist, whose Head
is the Deity of the Earth. The immaculate nature of Jesus, however, involved
“the Fathers,” and their “Father of the Fathers” -pater pateron - in the
necessity of transforming the mother of Jesus into an immaculate virgin-goddess
- immaculate in her conception, and therefore not of the common flesh of Jewish
nature. The Deity of the Apostasy was bound to decree this to avoid the
inconvenient questions, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” (Job
14:4); and, “How can he be clean that is born of woman?” (Job 25:4). Job says,
“Not one” can do this. But this paragon of patience knew nothing of the Pope!
He undertook to accomplish Job’s impossibility; for nothing is impossible with
the Great Blasphemer of the Deity of the Heaven!! He decreed that the woman
Mary was of clean and holy flesh; and therefore the thing born of her was “a
thing” - spotless flesh untainted of Adam’s sin, though eph, ho pantes emarton,
in him all sinned, which an unsophisticated mind would suppose included all
liable to death; Eli, Mary, her mother, and Jesus all died, and must
necessarily have been included federally in Adam. But these considerations are
no difficulty with the Chief Sorcerer of “Christendom.” His magic wand, “thus I
decree,” transforms all lies into divine truths; and the grossest absurdities
into the sublimest and most adorable mysteries!
Thus,
then, “the Antichrist” is the imperial and pontifical incarnation of
immaculate-conceptionism; ideally conceived in apostolic times; personally
enthroned A.D. 604-8; and culminating in the pontificate of Leo X., A.D.
1513-21. The blasphemies of the Antichrist, the Eyes and Mouth of the Beast of
the Abyss (ch. 13:1) attained the most audacious phase of their profanity in
his reign; and from the intense disgust they created even in the monkish mind,
became the occasion of the renowned A~PAPAL REBELLION led off by the
Augustinian monk of Erfurt. At this crisis, there was no impiety this
Lion-Mouth forbore to utter. His pretensions were as high as heaven; his moral degradation,
deep as “the lowest hell.” His assumption of divine honors, as the
Christ-Impersonation, is symbolized in a pontifical medal, on the reverse of
which is a lion with his right foot resting on the globe, representing the
pope, who assumed the name of Lion X., being crowned by an
Page
257
angel;
with the legend, or utterance of the angel, “Vicit Leo de Tribu Iudae” - The
Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered.
Pictures
page 257 not shown
POPE
LEO X. AS THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH
The
medal struck in Rome by leo X (1 513-21) just before the Reformation. It
depicts him as being crowned by an angel, whilst the words Vicit Leo de Tribu
J~aiae provide the caption: “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered.”
During his pontificate papal revenue increased dramatically mainly through the
sale of indulgences and offices. This called forth the Criticism of Protestants
as illustrated in the drawings below. That on the left depicts Christ expelling
the moneychangers from the temple. on the right under the tide Antichrist, the
pope is seen on his throne, disposing of bishoprics and archbishoprics and
selling dispensations and indulgences.~Pubhshers.
Page258 EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE.
Such
is the Antichrist, once a formidable power in all Antichristendom by which he
was worshipped; but now, as the phrase is “standing upon his last legs,” a
bye-word and a scorn to millions. But, although the lines of his temporality
are contracted almost to the limits of “the Seven Mountains,” his divine
attributes are acknowledged by many nations, and peoples, crazed and
intoxicated by the wine administered to them by the spiritual knaves who are
devoted to his will. Respect for this deified impropriator of the attributes of
“the Father and the Son,” is, however, not wholly confined to papists. The
governments of Protestant peoples send their representatives to his court; and
subsidize his emissaries in their states. Their schools are patronized by pious
sinners of “orthodox” antipapal “abominations;” who, being profoundly ignorant
of the history of “the God,” or not believing its testimony, entrust the
formation of their children’s minds to his spirituals, whose intoxicating
superstition and blasphemy inscribe “his mark in their foreheads,” and prepare
them for drinking the wrath of God in the outpouring of his indignation (Apoc.
14:9,10). Many calling themselves protestants recognize the popes, cardinals,
bishops, priests, and such like, as christians; and the church over which they
preside as a true one, and the Mother of all others. In such a recognition is
abundant proof, that they do not know what constitutes a christian; and that,
consequently, they have no scriptural claim to the name themselves. The church
of the Antichrist is undoubtedly the mother of all protestant churches. This I
would in no wise dispute; for their dogmas are all stained with the “great
things and blasphemies” of his mouth. The fathers of protestantism, in a
qualified sense benefactors, were but the rebellious servants of the
Antichrist, who revolted from his authority, but held on to many of his
traditions. While they rejected Antichrist they did not submit to Christ; but
allied themselves with sinful princes and governors of the court. The papal
scheme of salvation was through penance’s and works of merit; the Lutheran and
its fellows, “justification by faith ALONE.” These two schemes divide the Court
of the Gentiles. They are both equally false; and therefore, neither of them
“the power of god for the salvation of them that believe.” The principle of the
Spirit’s witnessing prophets, is an justification through the One Faith.” This
“One Faith” is proposed for faith, which, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone” (James 2:17). To the one faith belongs “the law of faith,” which
excludes all boasting; and where law is, obedience is required (Rom. 3:27). The
one faith was intrusted to the apostles that they might go forth, and publish
it “for obedience to the faith for his name among all nations” (Rom.
1:5;16:26). All who received the one faith, and yielded the obedience it
demands, “believed the things concerning the kingdom of the Deity, and of the
name of Jesus Christ; and were immersed into the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, for repentance and the remission of sins (Acts
8:12; 2:38; Matt. 28:19). The firm of Luther, Calvin, Knox, Cranmer and
company(*), knew nothing of this; yet they were highly useful in their day.
They were Satan casting out Satan, whereby his kingdom was greatly weakened.
They fought their master with his own weapons, and prevailed and became the
founders of Harlot-Superstitions, which flourished in power and worldly glory,
while the Spirit’s Witnesses were lying dead and unburied in the breadth of the
Great City, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord
was crucified” (ch. 11:6,9). In this breadth, plateia, they still flourish in
all pomp’s and vanities of sin and folly. They are useful antagonists to the
power of the Antichrist, while they are themselves but antichristian
fellowships inimical to the truth. But, the Deity of the heaven, in his
providence, educes good out of evil to his saints, “for whose sake are all
things.” The antagonisms of Satan so neutralize his power, that his Deity in
Chief can no longer torment them unto death. So shorn is he of his glory, that
though still upon his throne, and wearing the pontifical mitre and the imperial
tiara, his divine bombast is a bursted bubble, and he stands before the world
“the False Prophet of the Beast” (ch. 16:13; 19:20); and unconsciously waiting
with the beast, until the expiration of the “forty and two months;” when the
Lord Jesus Christ, whom he has burlesqued and blasphemed; and the saints whom
he has murdered, shall pay him in his own coin; and utterly destroy him in the
brightness of their manifestation. (+)
4.
How the Two Prophets Destroyed their Enemies
Before
this Deity of the earth, while in the plenitude of his power, the Spirit’s
witnessing prophets had to stand in all the breadth of his dominion. The One Body
and the Earth that helped it were the Mordecai in the gate, who, in all the
west, refused to salute him and to do him honor. But the time was at length
approaching when their mission for a while would be fulfilled; and a substitute
would be found for them in their testimony against the Antichrist, though not
in their exhibition of the engrafted word for salvation, in the antipapal
rebellion soon to blaze forth.
As I have shown, their mission was warlike as well
as doctrinal. In the prophecy, what “the earth” executed as the minister of
divine wrath,
These
are prominent Protestants who though in error, and rejecting the basic
doctrines of the Truth, opposed the Papacy, and in doing so established
Protestant Churches. - Publishers.
t See footnote Vol.2 pg. 10.
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both were said to do; unless
we understand the plural to refer to the multitude of which “the Earth” was
composed. “If any will to injure them”- if any power undertake to fall upon
them with the sword - “fire burst forth out of their mouth and devours their
enemies; and if any wills to injure them, thus must he be put to death.” This
is prophetic of the wars that would be waged against the forces raised by the
antichrist for their extermination. The Deity of the heaven did not require the
members of the One Body to stand and be murdered by their enemies without help.
If persecuted in one city they were to fly to another; but “the Earth,” not
believing in non-resistance and passive obedience to ecclesiastical tyranny,
stood their ground, and devoured their enemies, after the introduction of
gunpowder in war, at the cannon’s mouth. In this way “the Earth” performed
their part. This was their mode of prophesying against the Antichrist; which,
“in all their days of the prophecy,” was very effective in the preservation of
civil and religious liberty, and the rights of man; and in perpetuating them to
succeeding generations. Moreover, being not without political organization
under their Counts, they were enabled to exercise a will in these matters. They
could will to make war upon their enemies at pleasure; and, in so doing, they
had “power to shut the” antichristian “heaven, that rain might not fall in
their days of the prophecy.” I say, the antichristian heaven - the heaven of
Antichrist’s inhabitation; the heaven in which “the God of the earth” dwells,
under the whole of which “the Earth” and the “Holy City” stood while testifying
or prophesying against him. To shut up any sort of heaven that rain might not
descend upon those who lived under it, is figurative of divine wrath upon the
sufferers. This appears from Deut. 11:17 - “And Yahweh’s wrath be kindled
against you, and he shut up the heaven that there be no rain.” This shutting up
was the effect of divine displeasure. The shutting up of a heaven is never
significative of blessing upon any people, but always of calamity of some sort.
The genial, refreshing and fertilizing character of the administration of human
affairs by the Mystical Christ - Jesus and his Brethren - is compared to an
opened heaven from which rain descends in gentle showers upon the grass newly
mown grass, “There shall be a ruler over mankind, a Just One, ruling in the
righteous precepts of Elohim. And as the brightness of morning, He shall rise
the Sun of an unclouded dawn shining forth after rain upon tender grass out of
the earth” (2 Sam. 23:4); and, “He shall descend like rain upon the mown grass;
as showers that water the earth.” The meaning of which is, that “In his days
shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon
endureth” (Psa. 72:6,7). But, when the heaven is shut, the reverse of this
obtains - the righteous do not flourish, but are “in sackcloth;” and there is
no peace.
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Thus, by way of illustration,
while I now write, the atheistic abolition faction is prophesying against their
brethren in Antichrist dwelling in the South(*). Until the day of their own
judgment comes, “they have power to shut the heaven that rain fall not in their
days of prophesying,” neither upon themselves nor upon their enemies. In other
words, while they have the ability to carry death and desolation to the hearths
and altars of their coreligionists, they prevent the righteous flourishing, and
peace descending with its blessings upon the people. Hence, this infidel
faction is the Deity’s scourge upon communities of religionists, who corrupt
his way, and make void his word by their traditions. The faction is itself a
compound of “abominations of the earth” - an aggregation of pious and profane
infidels, being choris christou and atheoi en to kosmo, without Christ an4
atheists in the world (Eph. 2:12). Hence, they are fit only for a providential
work of blood; in which, while they are blindly executing vengeance for him,
they are preparing disaster and ruin by which they will be themselves submerged
into “the lowest hell” - sheol tachtiyah (Psa. 86:13; 9:17). As delighting in
carnage and desolation, they must be scattered, and all their knavish devilry
confused; for so the Spirit taught the Psalmist to pray - “Scatter thou the
people that delight in war” (Psa. 68:30).
But, his witnessing prophets of the Holy City do not delight in war.
The Earth that helps them only draws the sword to “turn the waters into blood,
and to smite the earth with the plagues” of war, when the rulers of those
waters, or “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues,” will to deprive
them of civil and religious liberty and the rights of men. Hence, these rulers
in the anti-christian heaven bring the evils of war upon themselves. But, it
must be noted, that civil and religious liberty and rights are only sacred in
the sight of heaven when it is the liberty and rights of his people that are in
question. He has granted a dispensation to no set of men to worship him
“according to the dictates of their own conscience’. This is a liberty and
right that he has granted to none. All that he has granted is liberty to enter
his august presence, and to do him worship according to the dictates of his
word. All else is mere “will-wor-ship and voluntary humility,” of which he has
recorded his contempt (Col. 2:18,23). This is the character of the worship
offered by the State Harlots and Dissenting Abominations of their Great Mother.
They are worships according to their unpurified, and therefore evil,
consciences; for none of them are to be found in the living word of the Deity
of the heaven. All of them, therefore, being of this category or order of
things,
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·
This is a reference to the American Civil war then raging between the
northern and southern States. The reference to “abolition” relates to the
abolition of slavery which the North was demanding and the South resisting. -
Publishers.
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they
are an offense to him, as offerings superseding his appointments, and which he
has not required at their hands. Such worshippers as these are the worshippers
of the unmeasured or excommunicated court; the worshippers of the Beast and of
his Image, and the mark of whose name is indelibly impressed in their
foreheads. To such he had granted neither liberty nor rights. The liberty he
grants is the freedom with which the truth makes free (John 8:32,36); perfect
law of liberty, into which whoso looketh narrowly and continueth therein, not
being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, shall be blessed in his deed
(James 1:25). This is the only true liberty, to which none have any right save
those who repudiate the worships of the Court, and become the adopted freemen
of the Holy City.
But,
while all others, not of the Earth and the Holy City, are mere
liberty-brawlers, “promising liberty to others, while they are themselves the
slaves of corruption,” the Deity of the heaven has granted the right to none to
forbid men adopting any worship they please. In this negative sense, the rights
of all men are in themselves a common birthright. Hence, the Antichrist has no
divine right to compel all men to be papists; nor have the State Harlots such a
right, though they often experimented in that direction even to the shedding of
blood. The right exercised by the Antichrist he derived from the Dragon
Imperiality of the East, styled by Daniel the Little Horn of the Goat; a right
afterwards recognized by that other Little Horn, which came up in the midst of,
and after, the Ten Horns of the European Commonwealth. “The Dragon gave him his
power, and his throne, and great authority” (Apoc. 13:2); and it is by virtue
of this, which is mere right based upon might, the right of brute force, that
“the Devil and his Angels” - Antichrist and the Sin-Powers of the Court - have
sought to force men, thus given into their hands, to worship what they call God
according to their dictates. Now, it is in opposition to this blasphemous
assumption, and in the negative sense already defined, that the witnessing
prophets of the Deity of the heaven, champion civil and religious liberty and
the rights of man. The enemies of these are their enemies; for if the spiritual
and temporal Sin-Powers were to deprive society of these, their testimony or
prophesying would inevitably be suppressed also. The conflict, therefore, which
raged for ages in the Court of the Gentiles was one of life or death to the
witnessing existence of the One Body, and the defensive self-devotion of the
Earth. This conflict of ages was long and bloody for all concerned. The saints
of the Holy City fell by thousands under the savage and merciless hand of the
Roman God. His Spouse of Babylon became red and drunk with their blood, which,
like the righteous Abel’s, still cries for vengeance upon the ruthless harlot
that sits upon the beast (Apoc.
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17:3).
The Earth valiantly helped her, but could not destroy the murderess. It gave
her papistic myrmidons frequent and signal overthrows. It gave them blood to
drink, and smote them with the plagues of war; so that, if they were determined
to trample the Holy City of the Faith, they should not be permitted so to do
with impunity.
But
in process of time their power of resistance was diminished. This was
attributable to the testimony of the One Body being enfeebled by the admixture
of traditions which had crept in, and, in so far, rendered it ineffectual. The
pastors, whose business it was to keep the light-stand well supplied with
golden olive oil of truth, were deteriorating in faithfulness and aptitude for
teaching. Hence, the light grew dim and smoky, and men did not see their way as
in former years. In consequence of this enfeebled perception, their christian
virtue became too easy and tolerant of the traditions of the apostasy, until at
length their individuality converged towards, and was finally lost in, the
indefiniteness and confusion of the Lutheran and Calvinistic novelties of the
sixteenth century. This fatal termination of their labors is styled in the
prophecy, the finishing of their testimony. Their word having lost its power,
the energy of their ancient helper, the Earth, was enfeebled likewise. When
men’s hold upon principles is relaxed, they lack that enterprise and force
which is necessary for their preservation in this evil world. A worldly and
“charitable” spirit generates indifference, by which the pointedness and
sharpness of the truth are destroyed. The word handled in a worldly spirit is
always “charitable” or tolerant of traditions, which make it of none effect.
The word being ministered thus, the power of energetic resistance, and of a
bold and valiant advocacy of their ancient principles, was wanting, and
deprived both classes of witnesses of their efficiency. Hence, the spirit had
no longer any use for them; for the protestantized testimony they were now only
able to give, was not of that brightness necessary to constitute them the Golden
Oil Light of the world. Men may testify against the Roman Antichrist, and
denounce both him and his co-religionists as idolators, which is unquestionably
true; but such a testimony leaves the Court as much in the dark as to what must
be believed and done for remission of sins, and for obtaining a right to
eternal life, as though nothing had been said. This is Protestantism. Its
protests truly, that the pope is a blasphemous impersonation of the Christ; but
it cannot delineate Christ Jesus according to the prophetic and apostolic
testimony. It is, therefore, simply a negation; it denies every thing, but can
scripturally affirm nothing. Such a witness as this is of no account in the
premises; its doctrine and institutions are devoid of all power for the salvation
of the soul.
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III. CONCERNING THE TIME DURING WHICH THE WITNESSES PROPHESY IN
SACKCLOTHS
“And
I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred
and sixty days, having been clothed in sack-cloths.”
I
have shown elsewhere that Daniel’s “time and times and the dividing of a time,”
and John’s “forty and two months,” are the same measurement; and both relating
to the same subject - the Saints as the Holy
City; and both terminating at the same crisis - the resurrection at the
advent of the Ancient of Days(*); and both constituted of 1260 years. And here
we have immediately following, a repetition of the same duration. In the third
verse, the Holy City is consigned to a trampling of forty and two months; and
in the fourth, the Witnesses are to prophesy in tribulation 1260 days. It will,
of course, strike the reader as remarkable, that a coequal length of years
should be prefigured in different terms. But the reason is, that the two
periods relate to different subjects, and are not coterminal. The trampling of
the Holy City was one thing, and its prophesying in sackcloth was another.
These two series of events were not to be parallel in the whole of their
course; so to prevent confusion, the two periods of equal duration were stated
in different terms. As the Holy City was to be trampled forty and two months by
the Gentiles; and as these were to trample it under the inspiration of the
Antichristian Mouth of the Beast, the power given him for this purpose by the
Drag-on-Emperor was to be operative for the same length of time, which, in
order to show this relation between the Mouth and the Holy City, is also
expressed by the same formula of “forty and two months” (Apoc. 13:5). And, for
a somewhat similar reason, that is, to connect the sackcloth witnessing of the
Holy City community with the fugitive woman and the earth that protected her by
its help (Apoc. 12:6,16), the things affirmed of the woman in relation to her
feeding are expressed in the same kind of time as the duration of the
witnessing - 1260 days; and, furthermore, to show that 1260 symbolic days are
equivalent to “a time and times and the dividing of a time” (a formula which
occurs nowhere else in the Apocalypse, and pertains exclusively to the
measurement of the Holy City) the 1260-feeding of the woman by the earth, in
the fourteenth verse of the twelfth chapter, is styled her nourishing “for a
time and times and half a time;” for to feed and nourish her are the same idea;
so that the one statement of the duration of her feeding, is expository of the
duration of her nourishing.
·
see footnote Vol 2 pg 10
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This
view of the matter which I believe is the only correct one, helps us greatly in
determining the commencement of the saints witnessing after the sackclothes had
been put upon them by their enemies. This be-ginning carries us back to the
epoch of the Woman’s flight into the wilderness, or two wings of the Great
Roman Eagle. Her flight, by which she turned her back with contempt upon the
honors and riches of the world; which she left to the leaders of the Catholic Apostasy - the Eusebiuses,
Lactantiuses, Ariuses, Athanasiuses, and Chrysostoms of the days (&)her
fugitive separation from these, by which she became a witness for the truth
against their worldliness and traditions, occurs after the birth of the
Man-Child of Sin - that sanguinary Cain, who, as the Antichrist, in the power
of his manhood and impiety, afterwards slew the Abel of the Faith, whose blood
cries for vengeance against him from the ground.
The
birth of this imperial child of the woman occurred in the enthronement of
Constantine in Rome on his defeat of Maxentius at the battle of Saxa Rubra,
A.D. 312. This introduced a remarkable epoch in the history of the woman, to be
more particularly considered in my exposition of the twelfth chapter. It will
be sufficient to remark here, that this was the epoch of her deliverance from
pagan persecution by the celebrated edict of Constantine published at Milan,
A.D. 313; and of her introduction to an acquaintance with the worse than pagan
persecution, which sought to exterminate her in the after years of Catholic
ascendancy. Constantine delighted to style himself “THE DELIVERER OF THE CHURCH.” He was truly the deliverer of the
Catholic Church; but he was also the first to inflict persecution and death
itself upon those, “who kept the commandments of the Deity, and retained the
testimony of Jesus Christ.” The edict of Milan, the great charter of
toleration, had confirmed to each individual of the Roman world, the privilege
of choosing and professing his own religion. But this inestimable privilege was
soon violated; with a smattering of truth, the woman’s child imbibed the maxims
of persecution, and the Dissenters from the Catholic Church were afflicted and
oppressed by its political triumph over Paganism. Constantine easily credited
the insinuation that the HERETICS as they were called, who presumed to dispute
his opinions, or to oppose his commands, were guilty of the most absurd and
criminal obstinacy; and that a seasonable application of moderate severity’s
might save those unhappy men from the danger of an everlasting condemnation.
Confounded with these so called Heretics, as has been the case in
& These were leaders of the Church as it
drifted into contention and apostasy around about the time of Constantine. -
Publishers.
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all
ages since, were those who held the testimony, and therefore, the witness of
Jesus. Not a moment was lost in excluding their pastors and teachers from any
share in the rewards and immunities Constantine had so liberally bestowed on
the Catholic Spirituals. But, as the Dissenters might still exist under the
cloud of imperial disfavor, the conquest of the East was immediately followed
by an edict which announced their total destruction. After a preamble filled
with passion and reproach, he absolutely prohibits the assemblies of
“Heretics,” and confiscates their public property to the use, either of the
revenue, or of the Catholic Church. Some of the penal regulations were copied
from the edicts of the pagan emperor Diocletian; and this method of conversion
was applauded by the same bishops who had felt the hand of oppression, and
pleaded for the rights of humanity.
But
Constantine was not the only oppressor whose tyranny bore heavily upon the
woman. His imperial colleague, Licinius, also within the limits of his
jurisdiction, made her to groan with anguish. “Those who had done no evil,”
says Eusebius, “were led away to punishment without any pretext, just like
murderers and assassins. Some also endured a novel kind of death, having their
bodies cut into many small pieces, and after this savage and terrible
spectacle, were thrown as food to the fishes into the depths of the sea. Again
the worshippers of God began to flee; again the open fields, the deserts,
forests, and mountains, received the servants of Christ.”
The
fleeing of the woman was the reduction of her to a state of humiliation and
tribulation, far removed from the exaltation and haughtiness characteristic of
the region of imperial grace. The gates of this clerical paradise were closed
against her. She has nothing to do with emperors and courts. These are only for
the votaries of fashion, and parasitic spirituals, who hold the persons of
rulers in admiration for the sake of gain. Bishops, cardinals, archbishops, and
other princes of the church, flourish in regions of imperial sunshine; but for
the woman and her seed, the farther off they flee from such a heavenly, the
clearer will they see the truth, and the better able will they be to “keep the
commandments of the Deity,” and to testify with the approval of Jesus Christ.
Thus,
then, the woman in flight is related both to state and place. She fled because
she was persecuted by “the angels of the Dragon” -officials in power, both
imperial and magisterial. The interval from the birth of her child, A.D. 312,
to the conquest of the East by the over-throw of Licinius, A. D. 324, was
occupied in ecclesiastical legislation in favour of the Catholic Church, and
against Dissenters; and in carrying off her son unto deity, and the throne
thereof. Here was an epoch of
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twelve
years. At the end of this, that is, A.D. 325, he sat as a god, a presidential
episcopal god, in the Council of Nice, exhibiting before the world the type of
that full grown Man of Sin, who should be worshipped by all the nations of the
unmeasured Court as “the Deity of the earth.”
Now,
it was at some point in this epoch of twelve years, that the 1260 years of
witnessing began. As the woman’s seed in their sackcloth witnessing were to
“stand before the deity of the earth” in the sense of testifying against him,
it is reasonable to refer the commencement of the witnessing period to the time
of the formation of an issue between him and them. Let us then see what is the
state of the case bearing upon this result.
The
complaints and mutual accusations which assailed the throne of Constantine, as
soon as the death of Maxentius, A.D. 312, had brought the Roman Africa into
subjection to his victorious arms, were ill adapted to edify an imperfect
proselyte. He learned with surprise, that the provinces of Africa, from the
confines of Cyrene to the columns of Hercules, were distracted with religious
discord. The cause of dissension, for the most part, ceases to characterize
religious disputes after the fervor of the onset subsides. This is proved in
numberless instances. It is so in the case before us; for though the election
of two rival bishops fanned the latent heat into a flame, the cause of the
Great Secession which was about to ensue, must be sought for in the deep rooted
affection of
“the
faithful” for the ANCIENT GOSPEL AND APOSTOLIC TRADITIONS. In the second of
Acts, Luke informs us, that on the Day of Pentecost there were Jews from
“Egypt, and the parts of Africa, which are about Cyrene.” Many of these, no
doubt, obeyed the gospel preached by
·
No fact in history more faithfully illustrates the true character of the
pretended “religion of Christ” called Catholic which had gained the ascendancy
in the beginning of the 4th century than the “conversion of
Constantine “ the first of the Christian emperors,” says Gibbon truly, “was un
worthy of that name till the moment of his death A D 337 During fourteen years
he had the reputation of a christian, he assumed the character of a bishop be
presided at ecclesiastical councils, gave judgment against christians reputed
heretical by catholics enjoined the solemn observance of the First day of the
week, which he Styled Dies Sols, the Day of the Sun after his once favorite
god, and in the same A D 321 directed the regular consultation of the
Aursuspices he was permitted by the Catholic Church to enjoy most of its
privileges instead of retiring from the
congregation when the voice of the deacon dismissed the profane multitude he
prayed with the faithful, disputed with the bishops, preached on the most
sublime and Intricate subjects of theology celebrated with sacred rites the Vigil
of Easter, and publicly declared himself, not only a partaker but, in some
measure, a priest and hierophant of the christian mysteries how I say shall we judge of such a religion,
whose
professors would permit and even applaud such flagrant violation of the first
principles of christianity? Such a community is no other than the CHURCH
OF Anti- CHRIST, and her imperial
proselyte, the MAN CHILD OF SIN This
unbaptized imperial bishop, aided and advised by ignorant, proud, and
superstitious ecclesiastics constituted the tribunal before whom those who
rejected their traditions and commands were arraigned and condemned as odi ous
and pestilent heretics! Shall we receive their sentence as just, and denounce
whom they condemn? If we were, we should be led into great error concerning the
merits or demerits of the proscribed; for nothing is more common than for the
catholics, as the so called “orthodox” do at this day, to misrepresent their
principles, blacken their characters, and stigmatize them by some obnoxious and
opprobrious name.
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Peter, and carried it to
their adopted homes, where they would persuade others to embrace the faith of
Jesus Christ. The churches thus formed in these parts, secluded from the
theatre, and inducements of the ecclesiastical discord and ambition, would be
more likely to “retain the testimony of Jesus Christ,” than the churches of
those princely bishops, which had transferred their devotion from apostolic to
worldly objects. The disciples in the country could not but grieve at the
apostasy and corruption of the church in the cities, which would be equally
deplored by the “few names which had not defiled their garments” in these
assemblies. But corruption may be lamented by the few, and yet continued by the
many, unless some incident transpire, often trivial in itself, or some
master-spirit arise to unfurl the standard, and rally around it the friends of
christian purity, liberty, and truth. Such, I apprehend, was the state of
things in the Roman Africa, Italy, and Gaul, at the time we are now
considering. The church in Carthage, the metropolis of the Roman Africa, and
the second ecclesiastical throne of the Roman West, was the occasion of the
dispute which involved the province in the most calamitous convulsions.
Mensurius, the bishop of the church, having died in A.D. 311, the majority of
the people chose the chief deacon Caecilianus to succeed him. In these times of
Laodicean corruption and apostasy it is not to be supposed, that because the
majority elected him, he was there-fore best qualified for the “good work” of
which Paul treats in 1 Tim. 3:1, and Tit. 1:7; nor is it to be taken for
granted that because the majority were Laodicean, the minority was all
blameless and pure. The ground of their objection to Caecilianus, if true, was
certainly just and valid, and honorable to those who made it the occasion of
their secession from a church so corrupt and insensible to its christian
dignity, as to appoint a man for their episcopal ruler, who had abandoned his
brethren under persecution and distress, and had received ordination from an
apostate, who had delivered up the Holy Scriptures to be burned.
This traditional archdeacon,
Caecilianus, then, had been elected and ordained by a party. His opponents,
however, refused to acquiesce in his ordination. By their influence an assembly
of bishops was convened, and Caecilianus was cited before them; but, being
contumacious, he was condemned as unworthy of the episcopal office. Majorinus,
a deacon, was therefore chosen in his place. The charges in their specification
were, that Felix, who assisted at his ordination, was a traitor, (*) and
therefore disqualified for the service by his apostasy; and
A Traitor is one who accepts as authoritative, alleged
sayings or teachings of Christ and the Apostles outside of what is recorded in
the Gospels, or who accepts teaching
that is claimed to have the authority of
the Holy Spirit, even though it has no written support. -publishers.
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that Caecihianus himself was
unfit, because of his cruelty to his brethren under persecution, whom, though a
deacon, he had abandoned in a merciless manner, leaving them without food in
their prisons, and precluding the grant of relief from those who were willing
to succor them. These were grave specifications; and, if true, ought to have
placed Caecilianus among “heathen men and publicans.” A party which could
choose and ordain such a spiritual guide must have been as unworthy as their
chief. His principal opponent was DONATUS, a bishop from Casae Nigrae. The
excitement spread through all the African Wing of the Great Eagle, so that
there were two opponent parties in every city. In A.D. 313, the DONATISTS, as
they were now called by way of distinguishing them from the Catholics, carried
the affair before Constantine at Rome. The principal bishop there, and eighteen
others, were appointed by him to settle the dispute. As might have been
supposed, judgment was given against the Donatists. In A.D. 314, the case of
Felix was brought before the Proconsul of Africa. The Donatists were again in
the minority. Seventy African bishops had condemned Caecilianus; nineteen
Italian bishops had acquitted him. In A.D. 315, the whole affair was again
agitated before a numerous assembly at Aries, in Gaul. The Donatists were again
cast. In A.D. 316, Constantine himself examined the case “in sacred
consistory,” at Milan. But here again their plea was rejected. He deprived them
also of their places of worship, sent their bishops into banishment, and
punished some of them with death. Caecilianus was now unanimously acknowledged
by the civil and ecclesiastical power as the true and lawful primate of Africa.
The Donatists protested against the Emperor’s sentence as an unrighteous one;
and that his credulity had been abused by the insidious arts of his advisers.
But they could get no redress from the Man-Child, whose persecuting edicts
drove them into exile from the high places of the State. Thus, “the woman fled
into the wilderness,” where it was appointed for her to remain, testifying in
the sackclothes forced upon her, during 1260 years.
These trials in Rome, Milan,
and Aries, would be well calculated to subserve the interests of the truth.
They afforded the Donatists scope for their testimony against the imperialized
catholicism in Italy and the South of France. They doubtless dropped their word
in these regions copiously; and failed not to enlist many in their protestation
against it. “What has the emperor to do with the church? And, what have
christians to do with kings, or what have bishops to do at court?” These were
their inquiries, which, in the face of Scripture, the State Church party found
to be both inconvenient and unanswerable. In these countries,
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there were already many dissenters from catholicism,
the Novatians,(*) who were in sympathy with them. The DONATIST TRIALS no doubt
in-fused new life into these, who, cooperating with them would develop the
evangelism, which, in our seventh chapter, has been considered under the
symbolism of the Sealing Angel of eastern origin (Apoc. 7:2). Thus, this whole
proceeding, which, from the first appeal to the final sentence, lasted three
years, became an important epoch in the woman’s history. “This incident,” says
Gibbon, “so inconsiderable that it scarcely deserves a place in history, was
productive of a MEMORABLE SCHISM, which afflicted the provinces of Africa above
300 years, and was extinguished only with christianity itself.” The inflexible
zeal of freedom animated the Donatists to refuse obedience to the courtly bishops,
whose spiritual powers they denied. Excluded themselves from the civil and
religious communion of mankind by an edict of banishment, they boldly
excommunicated the rest. They asserted with confidence that the Apostolical
Succession was interrupted; that all the bishops of Europe and Asia were
infected by the contagion of guilt and schism; and that the prerogatives of the
universal church were confined to the chosen portion of the African believers,
who alone had preserved inviolate the integrity of their faith and discipline.
This sounds like the testimony of Jesus Christ in the mouth of his witnesses.
Gibbon terms it “a rigid theory,” and says “it was supported by the most
uncharitable conduct,” in his opinion. “Whenever they acquired a proselyte, even
from the distant provinces of the East, they carefully repeated the sacred
rites of baptism and ordination, as they rejected the validity of those he had
already received from the hands of heretics and schismatics.” The Novatians
before them, and the Waldenses after them, did the same; and so do all those
who coincide in faith and practice with the writer of this exposition of the
apocalypse. We repudiate the immersion of every one as invalid, who is not,
previously to immersion, the enlightened subject of the one faith. Mr. Gibbon
would probably regard this “theory” more “rigid” than theirs. We do not,
however, accept him, nor our clerical contemporaries of antichristendom, as
competent to give a scriptural decision in the case. We know that a man must first
believe “the truth as it is in Jesus” before he can obey it. This is as certain
as that two and two make four. Being only “christians” of the antichristian
type, their preaching, praying, praises, and performances, are but the
spiritualism
·
The Novatians were a sect dating from the time of the Emperor Decius
(249-251). He demanded that people of all beliefs (including Christians)
sacrifice to the gods to obtain a certificate of loyalty to the State Religion;
and threatened those who refused with the penalty of death. Many capitulated to
the pressure, including Cornelius, the bishop of Rome. Novatian refused to give
way, and indicted Cornelius for doing so. As the anti-pope of the age, he
defiantly “stood before the God of the earth” (Rev. 11:4). The Novatians
continued as an anti-pope sect after the death of their leader.
·
Publishers.
Page
271
of
the unmeasured court - the outpourings of “the spirit that now works in the
children of disobedience.” The “divinity” with which they profess to “cure
souls” is not therapeutic; and as effective for the trans-formation of sinners
into saints, as the philosopher’s stone for the alchemical transmutation of
ignoble metals into gold. This being our conviction from an upwards of thirty
years study of the word, we have as little respect for their “ripe scholarship”
and scholastic traditions, as Paul had for those of the renowned Barjesus; or
Christ for “the wise and prudent” of his day.
This
“uncharitable” exclusiveness, and “bigoted” devotion to the primitive apostolic
faith, was the truly christian spirit of the woman and her seed at the epoch
which initiated the 1260 years of their sackcloth-witnessing against the
apostasy. In repudiating all its institutions, the Donatists drank of this
spirit, and maintained, as Gibbon confesses, the sentiment of a greater part of
the primitive church. Such was their abhorrence of the apostasy, that if they
came into possession of a church which had been used by the catholics, they
purified the building with the same jealous care which a temple of the old
idolatry might have required. The learned du Pin,(§) who is their adversary
says: “They did not teach anything that was contrary to the (apostles’) creed;
but they were so rash as to affirm that all the churches everywhere, which had
embraced the communion of Caecilianus and his party, ceased to be the true
churches of Jesus Christ; that thus the catholic church was only found among
themselves, having ceased to exist in other parts of the world. Besides which,
being very fond of the ancient doctrine of the African churches, that baptism
and the other sacraments conferred out of the church were null and void, they
rebaptized such as had been baptized by the Catholics, trampled upon their
eucharist as a profane thing, and maintained that the consecration, unctions,
and ordinations performed by the Catholics were of no avail. They burned or
scraped the altars which the latter made use of, as being polluted by impure
sacrifices, and broke their (communion) cups. They looked upon the vows made in
their communion as of no value; in a word, they would not communicate with
them. They maintained that the church ought to be made up of just and holy men,
or at least of those who were such in appearance; and that, although wicked men
might lurk in the church, yet it would not harbor those who were known to be
such.”
This was spuing the apostasy out of their mouth as
effectually as the Eternal Spirit threatened to do to the Laodiceans, because
of their
§
L. E. du Pin (or Dupin - 1657.1719) was a French ecclesiastical historian, and
considered an ex-pert on circumstances and beliefs of the Donatists. -
Publishers.
Page 272
lukewarmness (Apoc. 3:16).
They drew as broad a line between themselves and all other churches, as could
possibly have been drawn by any claiming to be the Woman and her seed, and the
party allied to imperial power that made her flight into the wilderness
necessary to her preservation. Their testimony against the catholic church,
whose system of tradition had become in this epoch “the religion of the State”
was in strict accordance with that of the Spirit, who denounced it as
“wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” The Donatists
testified neither more nor less than this; and their view of what a church
ought to be, harmonized with what the Spirit exhorted the Laodiceans to become.
I have, therefore, no doubt that the three years’ conflict of the Donatists
with the party of the Imperial Man-Child was the epoch which truly marks the
beginning of the witnessing period of the 1260 years. Here, then, we take our
stand, and, with the following extract from Mosheim, conclude, for the present,
what we have to say concerning this notable crisis of the fourth century. “The
doctrine of the Donatists was conformable to that of the church, as even their
adversaries confess; nor were their lives less exemplary than those of other
christian societies, if we except the enormous conduct, of the CIRCUMCELLIONS,
(†)which the greatest part of the sect regarded with the utmost detestation and
abhorrence. The crime, therefore, of the Donatists lay properly in the
following points: in their declaring the church of Africa, which adhered to
Caecilianus, fallen from the dignity and privileges of a true church, and
deprived of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, on account of the offenses with which
the new bishop, and Felix who had consecrated him, were charged; in their
pronouncing all the churches, which held communion with that of Africa, corrupt
and polluted; in maintaining that the sanctity of their bishops gave their
community alone a full right to be considered as the true, and the pure, and
the holy church; and in their avoiding all communication with other churches
from an apprehension of contracting their impurity and corruption. This
erroneous principle was the source of that most shocking uncharitableness and
presumption (poor Dr. Mosheim!) which appeared in their conduct to other
churches. Hence, they pronounced the sacred rites and institutions void of all
virtue and efficacy among those christians who were not precisely of their
sentiments; and not only rebaptized those who came over to their party from
other churches, but even with respect to those who have been ordained ministers
of the gospel, they observed the severe custom, either
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
† The
Circumcillians comprised a fanatical sect associated with the Donatists and
located mainly in North Africa. They resisted with what arms they had the
opposition of the Catholic Church, and became noted for their intemperance and
violence, so that they were feared wherever they were found. They proved an
embarrassment to the more moderate Donatists. - Publishers.
Page
273
of depriving
them of their office, or obliging them to be ordained a second time.” If such
only was “the crime” of the persecuted Donatists, had I lived in their day, I
should have been guilty of their “shocking uncharitableness and presumption”
too.
1.
“Their Days of the Prophecy”
In
the sixth verse of the chapter are the words, en hemerais auton tes
propheteias, about which “the recent editors” are at variance with their
predecessors. They recommend that it be changed, and translated, “during the
days of their prophesying.” But, with all due respect to their recencies, I
suggest that the words be left alone, and translated, “in their days of the
prophecy.”
The
whole apocalypse is “the prophecy;” for so it is termed in ch. 1:3. But the
days in which the witnesses stand bearing testimony against “the God of the
Earth,” do not extend through all the days of the prophecy. The God of the
earth was undeveloped in all those days of the prophecy extending from John’s
location in Patmos to the birth of the Catholic Woman’s Man-child. In all this
time, therefore, the witnesses could not stand before him; and, consequently,
these years were no part of “their days.” And from the finishing of their
testimony to their resurrection and ascension, was over two hundred years.
These, therefore, were no part of “their days,” unless a man can be said to
stand in the presence of another, and testify against him while he is dead. It must
be evident, then, that the days of the prophecy are of much longer measure than
the days of the witnessing against the Antichrist. These days are the 1260, and
therefore they are emphatically and specially “their days”
the
portion of time appropriated to the One Body and its Helper, to contend
earnestly for the “one Lord, one faith, and one immersion;” and to testify
against the Vice-Christ and his idolatrous institutions.
And
these “their days” neither begin nor end with the days of the prophecy. They began,
as I have shown, in the three years’ epoch of A.D. 312-316, and would
consequently end A.D. 1572-76; because 1260 + 316 = 1576. Thus, their
sackcloth-witnessing had its beginning and ending, long before the deliverance
of the Holy City from its “forty and two months” of subjection to the Gentile
governments. The Holy City still exists under Protestant ascendancy, in the
lowest stratum of the abyss - trampled in the dust; but it is nowhere to be
found under Catholic ascendancy, witnessing against the Antichrist, and
tormenting him and his adherents with their testimony. In all catholic
countries the saints have been “prevailed against;” and, though existing in
Britain and America to a very limited extent, their witnessing for the truth as
originally proclaimed by the apostles, and their testifying against “the
Page 274
spirituals of the wickedness
in” protestant and catholic “high places,” and their gospel-nullifying
traditions and institutions, command but little attention. Sceptical
indifference, and profane contempt for “the testimony of Jesus Christ,” are the
characteristic of the times in which we live. The Holy City has but few
citizens left, whose voice is overpowered in the unintelligible babble and
confusion of the Great City. They testify, nevertheless, as this exposition of
the apocalypse evinces; but their witnessing is not “in sackcloth.” Since their
ascension, their enemies have been restrained from the use of the whips, and
chains, and fire, and faggot. These, which used to be the most powerful
arguments against which they had to contend, have been wrested from their
destroyers by “the Earth;” so that now they can advocate the truth, and testify
against the apostasy, none daring, however willing, to make them afraid.
Now, the “forty and two
months,” measure of the Holy City is bounded by two events - the giving of the
saints into the hand of the Little Horn of the West, for its beginning; and the
resurrection, for its ending: so also, the days of its sackcloth-witnessing are
placed between the flight of the Woman, for their commencement; and the
finishing of her testimony, for their termination. We find this ending
indicated in the seventh verse, as, “when they may have finished their
testimony, the beast which ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them,
and overcome them, and put them to death.” The beast herein referred to, is
that which John saw arise, and describes in chap. 13:1-7. As John saw it arise,
it was not extant in his day, but appeared afterwards. It was a new development
of powers upon the same territory as that upon which Daniel beheld his fourth
beast. It was the ten horns and little horn of this in middle-age manifestation
- the Civil and Ecclesiastical Polity of the Gentiles who trampled the Holy
City. The Mouth of this beast represents the same power as the Eyes and Mouth
of the Daniel’s Little Horn. John says, that the beast’s Mouth made war with
the saints, and over-came them; and Daniel says, “the little horn made war upon
the saints, and prevailed against them;” by which, John and Daniel identified
the horn and mouth as symbolical of the same power.
With such testimony as this
before us, we ought to find 1260 years after the Donatist trials in the
presence of the Woman’s Imperial Man-child, a people specially obnoxious to the
ecclesiastical and civil authorities of the nations with whom they were at war,
for the purpose of putting them to silence, and suppressing their principles,
by the advocacy of which they were “tormented.” We ought to find, too, that the
conflict of this people with the powers was not only unsuccessful, but that it
resulted in the death of the cause of civil and religious freedom, and the
rights of man, in all the countries of the beast. We are however,
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275
not to suppose that they were
not made war upon before the end of the 1260 years; I have shown before that
there were frequent wars, in which they smote the earth with plagues as often
as they willed. But, this at the end of “their days of the prophecy” was a
special war, resulting as no previous wars had hitherto done, namely, in the
putting of them to death in the symbolic-sense of the prophecy.
This war was to supervene
upon their finishing their testimony hotan telesosi, “when they may have
finished their testimony” for Jesus Christ, and against the Antichrist. The
testimony concerning the faith was silenced first; afterwards, that against the
Antichrist, and for civil and religious freedom. “The Earth” maintained the
conflict longest, having been energized by the accession of new life from the
antipapal rebellion of the Lutherans and Calvinists. These not being of the
Holy City, but advocates of a reformed national system of religion, were
pre-pared to draw the sword against the papal powers with potent, though not
universally subversive results. After a lapse of twelve hundred years, these
sturdy combatants arose to disturb the peace, in which the worshippers of the
Roman God were glorifying themselves greatly. They fought valiantly, but did
not conquer; and, though in Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and
Britain, they established governments independent of “the God of the earth;”
yet, in all the Breadth of the Great City - epi tes plateias poleos tes me
gales, which is allegorically styled Sodom and Egypt, - in Rome, Italy,
Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, the Austrian states and Poland, “the
witnesses were overcome and put to death.”
In the year 1530, the
witnesses had been entirely employed in paving the way for union with the
German reformers. Those of them residing in the South of France, did not
encounter the enemy with their usual fortitude. they shrunk from the cross, and
fell into the practice of feigning acquiescence with the national forms of
worship. In the middle of this century also those of them residing in Calabria,
coalesced with the presbyterian church under the pastoral care of the
celebrated John Calvin and Theodore Beza at Geneva. The consequence of this
was, that several presbyterian ministers of their school settled among the
witnesses of Calabria, as pastors of their churches. This was their situation
in A.D. 1560. The Calvinists and Lutherans, both princes and divines, claimed
fellowship with them; and the claim was unscripturally allowed: for, while
Swiss and German Protestantism in those days, was a powerful antagonism to
popery, it had no affinity in faith and practice to the ancient apostolic
religion, of the primitive age. It is an unbaptized speculation, which no true
Christadelphian, or Brother of Christ, can fellowship without incurring the
crime of apostasy from the faith. This
Page 276
was
the position of the witnessing prophets in A.D. 1576. “Their testimony,” with
which for 1260 years they had tormented their adversaries, “was finished.”
“Their days of prophecy” were now expired. They could no longer teach others
“the great salvation” by which they might escape the guilt and condemnation of
sin unto eternal life in the kingdom of the Deity; and as for protesting
against “the God of the earth,” the Lutheran and Calvinistic antipapists, with
whom they had fraternized, were effective enough for that.
Thus,
then, having finished their testimony, the impending sentence of conquest and
death was about to burst upon them in a dreadful storm of massacre and
desolation. Exactly 1260 years from the birth of the Imperial Man-Child of Sin
(who, they testified had no more to do with the church, than christians with
kings, or their bishops with courts); that is, in the year 1572, the first of a
terminal epoch of four years, a dreadful calamity befel them in Paris and other
cities of France. This was the celebrated papal massacre of “St. Bartholomew’s
Day,” as the 24th of August is termed by the worshippers of the
saints. The murderers ravaged the whole city, and in three days butchered above
ten thousand lords, gentlemen, presidents, and people of all ranks. From Paris
the massacre spread throughout the whole of France. According to Thuanus,
30,000 persons were destroyed in this massacre; or, as others affirm, 100,000.
This was a notable beginning of that war which “the beast ascending out of the
abyss” was to wage against them. It burst forth upon them most unexpectedly in
that section of the plateia, or breadth, of the Great City, styled in the
thirteenth verse, to dekaton, the tenth - one of the Ten-Horn-Kingdoms of the
Beast.
I
must leave to history the narration of the details of the events of this war
between the beast and the witnesses. It will be sufficient to remark that, in
the course of it’ Richelieu, the cardinal premier of France, was convinced that
either the antipapists must be admitted to the full enjoyment of unlimited
liberty, and of all the privileges of the state, uncontrolled by catholics, and
even at the hazard of the permanent establishment of the catholic faith, or
that they must be totally subdued. He preferred the latter; and to accomplish
it, turned the whole power of France against them; and succeeded in totally
disarming them, leaving them, however in possession of considerable privileges,
civil and religious, guaranteed to them by the Edict of Nantes.
In
this Tenth of the Papal Breadth they still amounted to over 1,500,000; many of
them wealthy merchants, skillful manufacturers, able sailors and soldiers. The
question with the Antichrist and his “eldest son” Louis XIV., was, should such
a sect be permitted to exist; and whether their power was not now able to
subdue it, and extirpate the heresy? The king believed that God had raised him
up and prospered him for this very thing. The season seemed to them favorable.
There was none of the European States that could protect them. England was
weakened by its own discontents. The Emperor of the West was engaged in a war
with Turkey. Spain was unable to contend with France. Other states were awed by
her power, and however willing to support
Pictures page 277 not shown
Massacre
of St. Bartholomew’s Day
Charles
IX with his mother Catherine de Medicis watch the slaughter of their Protestant
guests from the balcony of their palace. Catherine de Medicis was the moving
power behind the massacre. As a result of it, many Huguenots fled the country
to Great Britain and America only to return to France to play apart in the
French Revolution. Below: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre as painted by a
Huguenot who survived the butchery. Similar massacres occurred throughout
France.
Page
278
Henry
of Navarre, who became Henry IV of France in 1589, was the most popular king
who ever reigned there. He became leader of the Huguenots, and after his victory
of Coutras reached an agreement with King Henry III of France, and was
recognized as his heir. After the assassination of Henry III in 1589, Henry’s
succession was opposed by the Catholic league, but in 1593 through expediency
he joined the Catholic Church, declaring that “Paris is worth a mass”, and was
crowned at Chartres the following year. His sympathies, however, were with the
Protestants and particularly the Huguenots, and in 1598, by the edict of
Nantes, he secured toleration for them. Henry was assassinated by a Roman
Catholic fanatic, and was succeeded by Louis XIII. The revocation of the Edict
of Nantes, which abolished all the privileges granted the Huguenots was brought
about by Louis XIV in 1685. The date of the Edict of Nantes is given as 1599 in
previous
editions of Eureka, but, in fact, it was granted in 1598. - Publishers.
the
Huguenots, dared not to provoke so mighty and unrelenting a foe as the GRAND
MONARQUE. He was therefore free to essay their conversion to Romish idolatry,
or to exterminate them from his kingdom. He accordingly began this great work
of putting to death the witnesses by revoking the Edict of Nantes granted by
Henry IV., April 1, 1598. The revocation was decreed October 23, 1685. It
provided, that all their churches should be forthwith demolished; that there
should be no meeting for religious worship in any place, on any pretense; that
every kind of religious exercise in the houses or castles of nobility or gentry
should be punished with death and confiscation of property; that all
non-catholic ministers should leave the kingdom in fifteen days, or embrace the
catholic religion; that all their schools should be absolutely shut up; that
their children should be “baptized” by the curates of the parish in which the
parents resided, on pain of 500 livres; and that every one attempting to leave
the kingdom should be condemned to the galleys or death: but, that all who were
not decided, or not prepared to declare themselves, until it pleased God to
enlighten them, might remain where they resided, continue their trades or arts,
and enjoy their property undisturbed,provided they refrained from all exercise
of their religion, and from every kind of meeting on that accounL This was
putting them to silence, or killing them as witnesses against Romish idolatry.
So long as their mouths were closed they were unable to testify; so that as
witnesses
page
275
they
were literally dead, though not therefore buried.
The
execution of this decree was terrible, and its consequences most deplorable.
Many were cruelly tortured and put to death; many were imprisoned or sent to
the galleys; dragoons, “the basest troops of the kingdom, fellows that would
stick at nothing,” were quartered upon them, who insulted and pillaged them, in
order to force them to change their religion. Terror and dread marched before
them, and the cruelties of 1572 were enacted over again. “Die or be catholics!”
was the war-cry of these savages who executed the behest’s of the Little Horn.
M. Claude, in his Short Account, published in 1686, says: “Amidst a thousand
hideous lamentations and horrid blasphemies, they hung men and women by the
hair of their heads, or by the feet, to the roofs of their chambers; or to the
racks in the chimneys, and there smoked them with wisps of wet hay, till they
were no longer able to bear it; and when they took them down, if they would not
sign, they immediately hung them up again. They plucked off the hair of their
heads and beards with pincers, till they left none remaining.
“They
threw them on great fires kindled on purpose, and did not pull them out till
they were half roasted. They plunged them again and again into wells, from
whence they would not take them up till they had promised to renounce their
religion. They bound them as they do criminals put to the rack, and in this
posture, with a funnel poured wine down their throats, till the fumes of it
depriving them of reason, they were made to say they were catholics. They
stripped them naked, and after having offered them a thousand indignities, they
stuck them all over with pins. They lanced them with penknives, and sometimes
with red hot pincers took them by the nose, and so dragged them about the room
till they promised to turn catholics. They bastinadoed them most cruelly, and
then dragged them thus bruised to the churches, where this forced appearance
was accounted abjuration. They kept them from sleeping seven or eight days
together; they tormented them in a thousand ways. They tied them to bed posts,
and ravished their wives and daughters before their eyes. They plucked off the
nails from the fingers and toes of some; and blew both men and women up with
bellows till they were ready to burst.”
Such
were the infamous dragoonings by which the Earth was subdued and silenced by
the beast of the abyss. A million of them are said to have emigrated into other
countries; and to have carried with them two hundred millions of money, besides
their skill in arts and manufactures. The flame was smothered, but the embers
remained yet again to be fanned into a terrible and consuming conflagration.
But for the present they were prostrated, as “corpses upon the breadth of the
Great City
Page 280
spiritually
styled Sodom and Egypt.”
Such,
then, was the war by which they were overcome and put to death. It continued
with intermissions during a period of a hundred and thirteen years from A.D.
1572. But although their testimony was silenced, and they were as dead “among
the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations,” upon which the Great Harlot
sits in reeling instability, “drunk with the blood of the saints AND with the
blood of the witnesses of Jesus” - their inanimate polities did not suffer
dissolution. Their corpses remained entire. Communities of them still were seen
in “the breadth of the Great City” awaiting “spirit of life from the Deity” to
break in upon them for their resuscitation.
Picture
page 280 not shown
Methods
used by the inquisition to extract confessions, left Prickers used to find the
Devil’s mark-the patch of skin insensitive to pain. The one in the center has a retractable blade
to find so-called prod of guilt. Right;
The strappado,. The accused, often naked, had heavy weights
tied to his or her feet was then hoisted into the air
Page
281
Medals
shown on page 281 not shown
The
Medal struck by Pope Gregory xiii in 1572 to commemorate the massacre of the
French Huguenots on “St Bartholomews Day”
The slayer
holds
a Crucifix in one hand and the drawn sword to kill in the other . The words Hugonotorum Strages signifies
“Slaughter of the Huguenots” Thus did
Rome “rejoice over them, and make merry, and send gifts one to another (Rev
11:10)
2.
Rome Rejoices at their Slaughter
The
massacre with which they were overwhelmed at the outbreak of the war against them
in 1572, and which was then supposed to have entirely ruined them, when known
in Rome was a cause of great joy to their enemies in that city. When the
letters of the Pope’s legate residing at the Court of Charles IX., were read in
the assembly of the cardinals, by which he assured the Pope that all was
transacted by the express will and command of the French king, it was
immediately decreed that the pope should march with his cardinals to the church
of St. Mark, and in the most solemn manner give thanks to God for so great a
blessing conferred on the See of Rome and the “Christian World;” and that on
the Monday after, solemn mass should be celebrated in the church of Minerva, at
which Gregory XIII., and the cardinals were present; and that a jubilee should
be published throughout the whole of “Christendom,” and the cause of it
declared to be, to return thanks to God for the extirpation of the enemies of
the truth and the church in France. In the evening, the cannon of St. Angelo
were fired to testify the public joy; the whole city illuminated with bonfires;
and no one sign of rejoicing omitted that was usually made for the greatest
victories obtained in favor of the Roman church. In addition to this medals
were struck com-
Page
282
memorative
of the joyous event. A copy of it is before me in Elliott’s work, taken from
Sir. W. Cockburn’s work on the Massacre. It is about two inches and five
eighths diameter. On one face is the bust of the Roman deity, Gregory XIII.;
and on the obverse a winged angel with an uplifted cross in the left hand, and
a drawn two edged sword in the right, symbolizing the papal destroyers of “the
earth” in France. Men, women, and children are before the angel dead, dying,
falling, and about to fall by his sword; while in the background is a woman,
with up-lifted arms supporting a mantle, and looking complacently upon the
massacre, symbolizing the Catholic church. On the margin is the legend,
“Ugonottorum Strages, 1572” - The Massacre of the Huguenots, 1572. These medals
were for free distribution to one another commemorative of the death blow
inflicted upon the hitherto unconquered enemies of the catholic idolatry. Thus
was fulfilled the tenth verse of this eleventh chapter, saying, “They that
dwelt upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry, and shall send
gifts (of medals) one to another; because these two prophets tormented them
that dwelt upon the earth.”
The
conquest and symbolic death of the witnessing prophets, then, was illustrated
by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Oct.23, A.D. 1685. This was the
conviction of the whole anti-papal world at the time. The poor sufferers in
France especially who survived, were of opinion that these unequalled
persecutions were the slaying of the witnesses; and they were, therefore, in
high expectation looking for the end of the
T1ME
PERIOD OF THE WITESSES
(Rev. 11)
A.D. 312 Controversy between Donatists and Church, and commencement of
persecution. Witnessing in sackcloth
(mourning) commences.
1260-Forty-two months of Witnessing in persecution.
1572-Massacre
of St. Bartholomew - commencement of the war of V. 7.
1598-Edict
of Nantes: measure of success to the witnesses:
privileges granted them.
1685-Revocatjon
of the Edict Nantes - Death of the Witnesses
105-Rome
celebrates the death of the witnesses (a lunar 31/2 days, v.9, representing 105
normal days) during which the bodies lie in the street of the city.
1790-The French Revolution: the political revival of the witnesses.
·
Publishers
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“three
days and a half,” during which they were to continue politically dead, though
not buried, or excluded from the observation of their merciless destroyers.
Peter Jurieu, a Hugonot pastor, whose work, entitled, “The Accomplishment of
the Scripture Prophecies,” was published in English two years after the
Revocation, 178 years ago, treating on the Resurrection of the Witnesses; the
Fall of the Tenth of the City; and so forth, says: “It is a truth which must be
held as certain (being one of the keys of the Revelation) that the City, the
Great City, signifies, in this book, not Rome alone, but Rome in conjunction
with its empire; the name of this great city is Babylon.” “This being supposed
and proved, that the city is the whole Babylonish and Antichristian empire, it
must be remembered, that this empire of Antichrist is made up of Ten Kingdoms,
and of ten kings, who must give their power to the beast. A tenth of the city
fell, i.e., one of these ten kingdoms which make up the Great City, the
Babylonish empire, shall forsake it.,, “Now, what is this tenth of the city
which shall fall? In my opinion we cannot doubt that it is France”. The “kings
who yet remain under the empire of Rome must break with her, leave her solitary
and desolate. But who must begin this last revolt? It is most probable that
France shall.” “Seeing the tenth of the city which must fall is France, this
gives me some hopes that the death of the two witnesses hath a particular
relation to this kingdom. It is the street, or place of this City, i.e., the
most fair and eminent part of lt. The witnesses must remain dead upon this
street, and upon it they must be raised again. And as the death of the
witnesses and their resurrection hath a relation to the kingdom of France, it
may well fall out, that we may not be far distant from the time of the
resurrection of the witnesses, seeing that the three years and a half of their
death, are either begun, or will begin shortly.
“I
lay not down the exact time of the resurrection of the witnesses. I do not say
it shall be exactly in such a year; for I have declared, and do still declare,
that I know not from what time God shall please to begin the reckoning of the
three years and a half; not but I strongly hope that God intends to begin it at
the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but this does not arise to a
full assurance.”
3. The “Great City where our Lord was
Crucified”
It
was in the plateia, or Breadth, of the GREAT City, the witnesses were to be
killed and to lie unburied for three days and a half. This is the first place
where the phrase, the Great City, occurs in the apocalypse. It is evidently
both a city and a country; for it is said to be “called spiritually Sodom and
Egypt.” The literal Sodom sunk into the abyss in the days of Abraham; it cannot,
therefore, be the city of Lot. But, though
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destroyed,
its memorial remains in the Daughters of Sodom. Since its destruction, the city
has “spiritually” existed again in Jerusalem, which was “spiritually called
Sodom,” because of the Sodomitish abominations of her rulers and citizens. They
were declared to be “a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
evil doers, children that are corrupters; who had forsaken Yahweh; provoked the
Holy One of Israel; and gone away backward,” or become apostate: so that “the
whole head was sick, and the whole heart faint”. From the sole of the nation’s
“foot even unto the head, there was no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises
and putrifying sores” (Isa. 1:4-10). Hence, because of this moral likeness to
Sodom and Gomorrha, the rulers and people were styled “the rulers of Sodom,”
and “the people of Gomorrha;” and would have met with the fate of those cities,
but for the saving influence of “a very small remnant.”
Now
Jerusalem as a daughter of Sodom, is illustrative of the moral condition of the
Great City in whose breadth the witnesses were slain. It is spiritually called
Sodom, because its rulers and people are the moral counterpart of the Jews in
their worst condition, upon whom that name was imposed because they were even
worse than “the cities of the plain” (Matt. 11:23,24). There is nothing
affirmed by Isaiah of Jerusalem as a spiritual Sodom, which is not literally
descriptive of the uncleanness and filth of the Antichristian city and dominion.
It is spiritually, or allegorically, styled Sodom, because of its moral
likeness thereto, and because, being destitute of even “a very small remnant,”
the like fate is decreed against it. The original Sodom suddenly went down
crashing into hell; so, when the Angel of the Bow, Yahweh Elohim, shall judge
the Great City, “as a great millstone cast into the sea,” she will go down
surging and plunging into her subterranean abyss, and “be found no more at all”
(Apoc. 18:21).
But,
the Great City is also allegorically styled “Egypt”. It is the great “House of
Bondage” in which Israel after the flesh, and the “very small remnant,” not of
the city, but trampled in it, “the Israel of the Deity,” are sojourning, and
waiting for deliverance. It is also spiritual Egypt because of its moral
likeness to the literal land of Mitzraim. Its superstition, its ignorance of
Yahweh, its hatred and oppression of his people, its hardness of heart, its
sorcery, adulteries and murders, its darkness that may be felt - transcend the
infamy of Pharaoh and his hosts in these abominations. The Great City is,
therefore, well and truly styled Egypt. But it is also thus allegorized,
because the plagues of Egypt await her; and because, the Eternal Spirit will
judge her to an overthrow, as terrible and effectual in the judgment as when he
judged the Egyptians by the hand of Moses.
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This
Sodom-and-Egypt territorial arena of Gentilism is the Great City “where also
our Lord was crucified.” This is indicative of the empire allegorized by “Sodom
and Egypt.” Christ was crucified by Rome without the walls of Jerusalem. He
was, therefore, crucified in a province of the Roman empire; for the Jews then
inhabiting Palestine earnestly testified that they had no other king than
Caesar - John 19:15. Hence, the Great City is the empire of Rome, whose
frontiers were decreed by Caracaha to be the limits of the city. The empire and
city, then, are coextensive; in other words, they are the same. In this Great
City, three thousand miles in one direction, and two thousand in another, the
personal and mystical Christs were both crucified, or put to death by violence
of the Fourth Beast power - Jesus in Palestine; and the witnesses of Jesus in
the plateia, or western breadth thereof- the special jurisdiction of Antichrist.
In
Apoc. 14:8, this Great city is styled BABYLON, for a like reason that it is
called Sodom and Egypt. It is spiritually styled Babylon; for it is as much a
city of confusion as was the original Babylon when the language of mankind was
confounded in the days of Nimrod. Its name signifies confusion; and certainly,
if ever there was a city in which “confusion worse confounded” was enthroned,
“the Great City” is that domain. In Apoc. 18:10,21, it is styled, “that Great
City Babylon,” to be hereafter “divided” under the Seventh Vial “into three
parts” (Apoc. 16:19). Inch. 17, this Great City is likened to a Drunken Harlot,
gorgeously arrayed, and sitting upon a Scarlet-colored Beast, the symbol of the
power over which she reigns - verse 18. Her name is emblazoned in the fifth
verse as, “MYSTERY, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations
of the Earth.” She is styled “Mystery,” because she is the embodiment of that
“Mystery of Iniquity,” which Paul says, was working at the time he was writing
- 2 Thess. 2:7. Scaliger testifies that “Mystery” was once worn as an
inscription on the Pope’s tiara; but after-wards removed by Julius III. The
term “Mother,” as applied to the Great City in its ecclesiastical relations is
recognized by all. As Jerusalem is the Mother of all the Saints; so Rome is the
Mother of all their enemies - “Romana Ecclesia,” says the Council of Trent,
“quomnium Ecclesiarum Mater est et Magistra” - The Roman Church, which is the
MOTHER and MISTRESS of all churches. The Popes themselves seem determined that
there shall be no lack of evidence to prove the identity of the ecclesiastical
polity of which they are the deified head, with the apocalyptical Great City
Babylon. On occasion of the last Jubilee a medal was struck, a copy of which is
given in Elliott. It is the size of a quarter of a dollar; on one face, is the
effigy of Leo XII; and on the obverse, a Woman, symbolizing the Roman Church,
Sitting on a
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286
Pictures
of medals page 286 not shown
The “woman” with the Golden Cup. The medal on the left was struck by
Pope Innocent XI in 1680, and that on tile right by Pope Leo XII in 1825 as
mentioned in the text of Eureka. -Publishers.
globe,
with rays of glory on her head, a cross in the left hand, and a cup, signed
with a cross in its mouth, in her extended right hand, as if presenting it to
be drunk. Beneath her is the date, and around her face the legend “Sedet super
Universam. Anno lubi. MDCCCXXV - She sits upon the world. In the year of
Jubilee, 1825 - Apoc. 17:4,15. Yes, she sits upon the world, or “upon many
waters,” the shameless Strumpet of the unmeasured court; and like certain
notorious prostitutes of pagan times. bears her ignoble name upon her
forehead.(*)
But
the Great City is not only spiritually styled Babylon because of the confusion
of spiritual speech that obtains among all the “Names and Denominations” of
which it is ecclesiastically constituted; but because it is the modern
development of the same power that existed in the days of the Chaldean Babylon;
whose golden head, for the time being, was the Dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar: and
because a similar fate awaits her. It is, I say, the same power, only modified
by time and circumstances. I do not say by place as well as by time and
circumstances; for, when the Gogue of Ezekiel shall have attained to the full
extent of his latter day dominion, much of Babylonia, even more than he now
possesses, will be his. He will be, in the full manifestation of his power, the
very apex of
“In
allusion,” says Bp. Newton of whose church she is Mother, “to the practice of
some notorious prostitutes who had their names written on a label upon their
foreheads, as we may col lect from ancient authors. Thus Seneca says, Nomen
tuumpependitinfronte:prenastupriaccepisn
·
“Thy name hath hung upon thy forehead: thou hast received the reward of
thy dishonor.”
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the
Little Horn of the Goat - the Hellenistic Horn of the Great City, which even
now includes the site of Babylon in its domain.
Now,
Nebuchadnezzar who was, as it were, the second founder of Babylon, which he had
built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of his power, and for the
honor of his majesty (Dan. 4:30), was much interested to know what would be the
fate of the kingdom over which he ruled. That he might know the thoughts of his
heart (ch. 2:30) a symbolical representation was presented before him in a
dream, illustrative of the general fortunes and consummation, of the kingdom of
Babylon “in the latter days.” Hence, the kingdom of Babylon has been in
continuous existence from his reign until now, for we are now living “in the
latter days.” It is true, that “the House of the kingdom” has not always been
the Babylon, which was the beginning of Nimrod’s dominion (Gen. 10:10); it has
been sometimes at one place, sometimes at another until at length Rome became
“the House” of the Great City. Various dynasties have become the inheritors of
the kingdom of Babylon. After Nebuchadnezzar’s, there was the silver dynasty,
and the brazen dynasty, and the iron dynasty, and the clay dynasty - five
dynasties ruling over one and the same kingdom; called also, “THE KINGDOM OF
MEN” - Dan. 4:17. This Babylonish kingdom in its latter-day manifestation, the
Spirit styles apocalyptically, “that Great City Babylon;” and is the arena upon
which will stand erect and complete in all its parts the entire Image, which,
in these latter days, is to be smitten by THE STONE, or Angel of the Rainbow.
Now,
a similar fate awaits the Roman House that in the days of Belshatzar befell the
Chaldean House of this same kingdom of men. The Median father Darius, and his
political son, but fleshly nephew, and Yahweh’s Messiah and Shepherd - Cyrus
the Persian, besieged the Shinar House. He dried up “the great river Euphrates”
from the city; and marching their “sanctified ones” along its bed, captured the
House of the Kingdom, and slew Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, with the sword
(Isa. 13:3,17; 14:12; 44:28; 45:1; Dan. 5:30). But in these things that were
transacted against the original Babylon, there was a mystery. Cyrus, whose
Hebrew name Choresh, which is a contraction of Chayoraish, and signifies Like
the Heir, was, as his name was intended to express, the type of Christ in the
execution of his mission against “the Great City Babylon” of the latter days.
Yahweh’s sanctified ones, the Medes and Persians, under Cyrus, were also
typical of the saints, who with Christ Jesus “the Heir of all things;” and
“joint heirs with him,” at the head of the armies of Israel, are to enter the
Great City when “the great river Euphrates,” in a political sense, shall be
sufficiently “dried up” to admit of their passage through into the Roman House
of the kingdom of men, in which they will slay the Papal Lucifer - “the Beast
and
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the
False Prophet” - the Little Horn that has Eyes and a Mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies. The great river Euphrates, which flows into the Great
City, has dried up greatly; that the way of these kings from the Sun’s risings,
may be prepared - the power of the fourth, or Ottoman, angel is now only
nominal; and the Gallic Frogs have well-nigh performed their mission: what,
then, remains, but that Yahweh whom we seek should suddenly come to his temple,
even the Messenger of the Covenant whom we delight in? (Apoc. 16:12-15; Mal.
3:1) and having broken, as a thief, into the strong man’s domain, bind him with
chains and cause Babylon to fall, no more again to rise and curse the world
with her cruelty and deceit.
Thus
did the Spirit select three of the most infamous centers of iniquity among the
ancients by which to allegorize the Great City, upon the arena of which has
been developed and matured the great Greek) Latin, and Protestant apostasy. It
is “spiritually,” or figuratively, called by these names, Sodom, Egypt, and
Babylon, because of its striking resemblance to them in their bestiality,
superstition, blasphemy, oppression of God’s people, and fate. Hence in Sodom,
in Egypt, and in the Great City Babylon, “our Lord was crucified;” not in his
own person only, but in that also of his witnesses; for what is done unto the
least of his brethren, is done also unto him (Matt. 25:40); therefore in
crucifying, or putting them to death, after their testimony was finished, he
was again crucified with them in the Great City, they having been massacred
Picture
page 288 not shown
Louis
XVI was a moderate ruler who, at first, welcomed the calling of the States
General, believing it would help solve many problems adversely affecting
France. But the tide of revolt was too strong for the King, and ultimately he
and his family died at the hands of the Revolutionaries. His fate illustrated
the prophecy of Rev. 11:12-13. The calling of the States General by the -King
comprised the “great voice from (the political) heaven unto them (the common
people come up hither (to rule) ... and
there was a great earthquake (Revolution) .... and the remnant were affrighted”
(by the reign of terror that followed).
Publishers.
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in
the noble service of witnessing for him against the deified usurper of his
sovereignty and rights.
5. The “Three Days and a Half”
Eureka
makes reference to the Baptists as part of the witnessing body of the 17th
century.
The
following confession of faith, signed by John Bunyan and forty other elders,
deacons, and brethren, and approved by more than 20,000 others, was presented
to King Charles II., in London, 1660. They declared: “We are not only resolved
to suffer persecution to the loss of our goods, but also life itself, rather
than decline from the same.” Where are the Baptists of 1660?
Art.
22: “We believe that the same Lord Jesus who showed himself alive after his
passion by many infallible proofs (Acts 1:3), which was taken up into heaven
Luke24:51) ,shall so come in like manner as he was seen to go into heaven (Acts
1:9-11). ‘And when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear
with him in glory’ (Col. 3:4). ‘For the kingdom is his, and he is the governor
among the nations’ (Psalms 22:28), and King over all the earth’ (Zech. 14:9);
‘and we shall reign with him on the earth’ (Rev. 5:10). ‘The kingdoms of this
world’ (which men so mightily strove after here to enjoy) ‘shall become the
kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.’ (Rev. 11:15). ‘For all is yours (ye that
overcome this world), for ye are Christ’s and Christ is God’s’ (1 Cor.
3:22,23). ‘For unto the saints shall be given the kingdom, and the greatness of
the kingdom, under the whole heaven’ (Dan. 7:27). Though alas! how many men be
scarce content that the saints should have so much as a being among them; but
when Christ shall appear, then shall be their day; then shall be given unto
them power over the nations, to rule them with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26,27).
Then shall they receive a crown of life, which no man shall take from them, nor
they by any means turned or overturned from; for the oppressor shall be broken
in pieces (Psalms 72:4), and their vain rejoicings be turned into mourning and
lamentations, as it is written (Job 20:5,7).
We
believe that there will be an order in the resurrection; Christ is the
first-fruits; and the next, or after, they that are Christ’s at His coming;
then, or afterwards, cometh the end. Concerning the kingdom and reign of our
Lord Jesus Christ, as we do believe that he is now in heaven, at his Father’s
right hand, so do we believe that at the time appointed by the Father, he shall
come again in power and great glory; and that at, or after his coming the
second time, he will not only raise the dead and judge and restore the world,
but will also take to himself his
kingdom, and will, according to the Scriptures, reign on the throne of his
father David, on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, for ever.
“We
believe that the kingdom of our Lord will be a universal kingdom, and in this
kingdom the Lord Jesus Christ himself will be alone, visible, supreme king of
the whole earth
“We
believe as this kingdom will be universal, so it will be also an everlasting
kingdom, that shall have no end, nor cannot be shaken; in which kingdom
the
saints and faithful in Christ Jesus shall receive the end of their faith, even
the salvation of their souls; where the Lord is they shall be also.
We
believe that the new Jerusalem that shall come down from God out of heaven,
when the tabernacle of God shall be with them, and he will dwell among them,
will be the metropolitan city of this kingdom, and will be the glorious place
of residence of both Christ and his saints forever; and will be so situate as
that the kingly palace will be on Mount Zion, the holy hill of David, where his
throne was” (Crosby’s History of Baptism, vol.2. App. 58).
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298
faith
was a simple belief of the divine testimony, passively received by the
understanding; which testimony carries in itself sufficient ground of hope to
every one who believes it, without any collateral spiritualistic operation;
that the gospel contained no offer but that of evidence, and that it was merely
a record or testimony to be credited; that there is acceptance with God through
Christ for sinners, while they are sinners, before “any act, exercise, or
exertion of their minds whatsoever;” consequently, before repentance. Hence,
his theory was, justification by passive belief of the truth alone!
He
was very severe, but not more so than was in accordance with the truth, in his
criticism of the “popular preachers.” “I would be far,” says he, “from refusing
even to the popular preachers themselves what they so much grudge to others -
the benefit of the one instance of a hardened sinner (the thief on the cross)
finding mercy at last; for I know of no sinners more hardened, none greater
destroyers of mankind, than they.”
The
Sandemanian section of “the Earth” differed from other sects of the Court, in
the weekly administration of the supper; in dining together at each other’s
houses between the morning and afternoon meetings; these dining’s were their
love-feasts, of which every member was required to partake. They differed also
in the kiss of charity, as the act of receiving into fellowship; in a weekly
contribution for all expenses; in mutual exhortation; in abstinence from blood
and things strangled; in washing of feet; in a plurality of elders, pastors, or
bishops, in each church, who, though unlearned and in trade, are sufficiently
qualified for their office, if answerable to the specifications found in 1 Tim.
3:1-7; Tit. 1:6-9. They separated themselves from all such religious societies
as appeared to them not to profess the simple truth for their only ground of
hope, and who do not walk in obedience to it.
The
Baptist churches in Scotland imbibed a considerable part of these principles,
by which a nearer approach was made to the apostolic order of things; but not
sufficiently to constitute them resurrected witnesses for the Ancient Gospel of
Jesus Christ. The theory they professed was an improvement upon that of the
Scottish Harlot. It might be assented to as a basis for immersion; but would
still leave the confessor “in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.”
The philosophy and vain deceit of Protestantism had so “defiled” the baptist
mind in the period of death they had passed through, that their resuscitation
as a society witnessing the gospel had become hopeless. It remained, therefore,
to be attained in the face of their active endeavors to suppress it.
The
effort was renewed in the United States of America, and crowned with the result
desired.
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299
Another
“reverend divine” of the Scottish Harlot’s family was stirred up to attack the
institutions which had given him birth. In 1819, or thereabouts, he separated
himself and a few others from her communion, and joined the Baptists. Upon
this, he commenced a periodical cal-ed the Christian Baptist, in which he ably
exposed the unscriptural character of the faith, order, and practices of the
so-called “religious world”. He was particularly severe upon his clerical
brethren, and “the benevolent institutions of the day,” by which they proposed
to introduce the Millennium! His unsparing attacks upon all the “Names and
Denominations” caused him to be denounced on every side, as a demoralizing
disturber of all ecclesiastical peace and comfort. Papists, Presbyterians,
Baptists, Methodists, and others, were all made to writhe in the anguish of his
tormenting testimony against them; and would willingly have extinguished him
after the approved fashion of former days, but for his brethren of “the Earth,”
who, at the epoch of their resurrection to political life and power, had
founded the new government under which he lived. This guaranteed civil and
religious liberty to all sects and persons; and protected them in the freest
exercise of all their natural and acquired rights. The French army, which was
sent to help “the Earth” established its independence of the Anglican Daughter
of the Roman Harlot, on its return to France re-imported into that land the
principles of liberty and the rights of man; which, after the “three days and a
half’ were ended, as “Spirit of Life from the Deity, broke in upon” the
constituents of the Third Estate, and caused them to “stand upon their feet” to
the great terror of all who beheld them (Apoc.11:11).
This
onslaught upon the Laodicean Apostasy in the United States produced a powerful
effect upon multitudes, who separated themselves from all of its Names and
Denominations. These were formed into churches by Messrs. Walter Scott,
Alexander Campbell, and their co-laborers, upon a simple confession that Jesus
is the Christ, and immersion for the remission of sins. Many of the principles
taught by Messrs. Glass and Sandeman were engrafted upon this stock; and
“Campbellism,” divested of its Calvinism, became a new edition of Scotch
Baptistism in America.
The
legends of this new sect, which it afterwards refused to practise, were: “Prove
all things, and hold fast that which is good;” and, on the obverse of its
medal, “Style no man on earth your Father; for he alone is your Father who is
in heaven; and all ye are brethren. Assume not the title of Rabbi; for ye have
only one Teacher; neither assume the title of Leader; for ye have only one
Leader, the Messiah.” The sentiment of these precepts is admirable; and, had it
been carried into prac-
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tice,
would have led the disciples of these reformers into the very Holy City itself.
But, as it turned out, they adjudged themselves unworthy of so distinguished an
honor, and are now groveling among the dust of “the Earth.”
In
those days, the author of this exposition of the apocalypse, then a young man
of about thirty years of age, found himself among them, before he understood their
theory in detail. He applied himself diligently to the thorough understanding
of it by the study of the writings current among them. This he acquired; so
that he needeth not that any should testify of Scotto-Campbellism; for he knows
what is in it, and that it falls infinitely short of its pretension to be the
“restoration of the ancient gospel and order of things.”
The
author adopted with great zest and zeal the sentiment of their legend. He
proceeded to “prove all things,” and to “hold fast what” he believed to be
“good;” and to call no man father, teacher, or leader, but Christ, THE TRUTH
(John 14:6). In doing this, he devoted himself to the study of the prophetic
and apostolic writings, under the impression that he was engaged in a good
work; and, as he was then publishing a periodical entitled The Apostolic
Advocate, he would from time to time report to his brethren for their benefit,
what he found taught therein. In pursuing this study, he found many of their
principles to be at variance with “the word,” which was made void by them.
Perceiving this, and supposing that the spirit of their legend was the spirit
of their body, he did not hesitate to lay his convictions before them that they
might prove them, and hold them, or reject them, according to the testimony.
This raised quite a storm among them, the thunderbolts of which were aimed at
him by the thunderer of their sect. This uproar caused the author to discover
that he had made a mistake in his reading of their legends; and that their
reading of Paul’s words was, “Prove all things which we have proved; and hold
fast what we believe to be good;” and of Jesus, “Call no man father, teacher,
or leader, but Alexander Campbell.” These were readings that he had never
agreed to; and, therefore, he continued to read and publish according to the
old method, very much to the indignation and disgust of the Simon Pures who
misled the multitude.
But
he saw that they did not walk honestly according to the truth, or the
principles they professed. The gospel proclaimed by this sect of “the Earth,”
was a misunderstanding of Peter’s pentecostian address. It preached “baptism
for remission of sins” to every one who confessed that Jesus was the Son of
God. This was styled “the Ancient Gospel.” The preachers of the Baptist sect
denounced it as a damnable heresy. Many of these same preachers, however, from
divers causes, changed their minds, left their own mother, joined the
Scotto-Campbellites,
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301
and,
without re-immersion, became “evangelists” and “pastors” among them.
Considering this fact, it occurred to the author to inquire, “If, when ye were
baptist ‘divines,’ ye denounced what, as Scotto-Camp-bellite ‘evangelists,’ ye
now preach and believe to be the Ancient Gospel; what was that gospel ye obeyed
when ye were immersed into baptistism?” They either could not, or would not,
answer this question; for they were acute enough to perceive that a scriptural
reply would have convicted them of preaching a gospel for remission of sins
which they had not themselves obeyed; and, consequently, that they were but
pious unpardoned sinners, promising to others liberty while they were
themselves the servants of corruption. These “evangelists” were the ruin of the
sect. They succeeded in closing the eyes and ears of the multitude against the
truth; and they remain closely sealed to this day.
The
numerical increase of the sect, without regard to the scriptural qualifications
of their proselytes, was the standard of the “good” done. They preached the
immortality of the soul; the translation of righteous immortal souls to
kingdoms beyond the skies at death; the dismissal of unjust immortal souls into
eternal torments in hell at death; the salvation of the immortal souls of
infants and pagans a salvation,
consequently, without faith; they proclaimed that the church is the kingdom,
and was set up on the day of Pentecost; that Jesus is now sitting on the throne
of David; that the apostles are ruling with him, and sitting upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel; that the old testament scriptures
are as an old Jewish almanac out of date; that the gospel is, that Christ died
for our sins, was buried, and rose again; and that whosoever believed these
“three facts,” and confessed that Jesus was Son of God, had the “one faith;”
that he was justified by this belief, or pardoned, though he might be in doubt;
therefore, to make assurance doubtless, they prescribed immersion for that
enjoyment that comes from knowledge of remission of sins; that this was the
“one baptism;” that there were three salvations - salvation from present ills,
salvation from sins, and salvation from hell-torments; that there were three
kingdoms - that of law, that of grace or the church, and that of glory; that
the first was entered by birth of flesh; the second, by birth of water, or the
right hand of fellowship; and the third, at death. Such were the leading
traditions with which the leaders intoxicated and demented the multitude for
their own advantage; and surely he must be judicially blind, who cannot see
that the Scotto-Campbellite sect, which, indeed, shook American ecclesiasticism
severely, was, nevertheless, not the resurrected witnessing of the saints for
the veritable ancient apostolic faith.
But,
after all, good was done. The influence of the clergy over the multitude was
vastly diminished; and great numbers were stirred up to
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read
the scriptures, and to think for themselves. The author and many of his friends
were of this “very small remnant.” Under the inspiration of the word believed,
he could not be silent, whatever consequences might arise. Hence, in October,
1834, he raised his voice against the system in an article upon baptism. He
maintained, that before immersion could be scripturally recognized as the “one
baptism, ‘ the subject there of must be possessed of the “one faith”. This was
a hard blow upon the baptistic Scotto-Campbellite “evangelists;” and they felt
it. It also condemned the author’s immersion; which, however, he did not
discover till twelve years after. He maintained -
1. That belief built on the testimony of the
prophets and apostles concerning the Christ; confession that Jesus of Nazareth
is that Christ, the Son of the Living God; and immersion into the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, for repentance and remission,
are part and parcel of, and necessary to, the ordinance of purification of sin,
styled by Paul, the “ONE BAPTISM.”
2. That mere immersion is not baptism; but that
a man cannot be aqueously baptized without being immersed in water.
3. That they whose immersion is predicated upon
“a certificate of former good character,” and a tale of sights and sounds,
frames and feelings, called “experience,” with no more faith than amounts to a
belief that “the word of God is a dead letter,” and that “if they don’t get
religion they’ll be damned” - that an immersion in the name of the Father,
&c., predicated on such premises, is not christian baptism.
4. That the subjects of any baptism not
predicated upon the “good confession,” are not entitled to the spiritual
blessings consequent on the “one baptism.”
5. That the Deity, having placed his name in
his institutions, all communicable blessings flow through those institutions,
of which christian baptism is one.
6. That every immersed person who is not immersed
on “the good confession,” is not founded upon THE ROCK; and consequently forms
no part of the Church of Christ.
7. That the re-immersion of such a believer is
not a re-baptism, and therefore justifiable - such re-immersion being his first
scriptural baptism.
Such was the testimony of A.
D. 1834. In the course of the year following he called in question their
speculations and traditions concerning the soul, heaven, hell, eternal torment,
the Devil, their salvation without faith, and so forth. He was not quite clear
upon these topics himself; but their violent attacks, threw him upon the
defensive, and compelled
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him
to fortify. By a closer study of the word he attained to full assurance of
faith, which was only confirmed by the feebleness of their arguments in debate.
He maintained:
1. That “a living soul” was not an “immortal
soul,” but a Body of Life, exemplified by the first Adam.
2. That immortality was not an abstract
essence, but life endlessly developed through incorruptible organic substance,
or body.
3. That “the Deity only hath immortality”
underived.
4. That incorruptibility and life, or
immortality, are a part of the reward promised only to the righteous, on
condition of their patient continuance in well-doing.
5. That they only are the righteous who believe
the truth and obey it.
6. That “the dead know not anything.”
7. That the just and unjust are rewarded at
their resurrection from among the dead, and not before.
8. That “the righteous shall be recompensed in
the earth,” when the meek will inherit it.
9. That the wicked and the sinner will also be
recompensed in the earth; from which they will “be cut off and rooted out,” as
unfit to inhabit it: for being without understanding of the word, they are like
the beasts that perish.
10. That the clerical devil is a mythological
fiction.
11. That the devil of scripture is, first, sin
manifested individually in and through our common nature; secondly, sin in
ecclesiastical and political manifestation. Hence, the powers of the world are
styled “the Devil and his Angels.”
12. That without faith there is no salvation.
The statement of these
propositions stirred up the devil on every side, and made him roar like a
devouring lion; but the truth of them turned his wrath into great bitterness.
He denounced the author as “a moonstricken speculator,” “a materialist,” “an
infidel,” “an atheist, fit only for the society of Tom Paine, Voltaire, and
that herd.” These were the weapons, endorsed with all the influence and power
of the sect for evil, against one man, whom he contemptuously spurned as “a
stripling,” and classed with the unclean beasts of the ark!
But “the Earth that helps
the Woman” being in power, these ravings and roarings were permitted to break
no bones. Great efforts were made to suppress both the author and his writings,
till at length they so far succeeded as to prevent their flocks from reading
them and listening to his discourse. Alas, for any people reduced by crafty and
designing men to such a case! How can the truth enter those whose eyes and ears
are closed? Nevertheless, its advocacy was not abandoned, though the
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aspect
of things was very discouraging. Several, however, avowed their conviction of
the truth of these propositions; and though the policy of the Devil was to
fight him by letting him alone, the study of “the faith once for all delivered
to the saints” was continued; and, as it broke in upon his mind, was dealt out
by the press and tongue to all who had “ears to hear what the Spirit had said to
the ecclesias.”
By
the year 1847, he had illustrated and proved the following propositions to the
conviction of increasing numbers:
1. That the Gospel preached by the apostles was
originally preached to Abraham, announcing blessedness for all nations in him
and in his Seed, when he should possess the gate of his enemies.
2. That this Gospel promised Abraham and his Seed
that they should be the Heirs of the World, which they should possess forever.
3. That Abraham, “hoping against hope,” was fully
persuaded that what the Deity had promised he was also able to perform, and
therefore it was counted to him for righteousness.
4. That the land in which he sojourned, and kept
his flocks and herds, and in scripture styled the Holy Land, and Yahweh’s Land
was promised to him for an everlasting possession.
5. That this promise of the land became a
confirmed covenant 430 years before the Mosaic Law was added.
6. That the Seed of Abraham, whose day he rejoiced
to see, was to descend from the tribe of Judah in the line of David; and to be
at once both son of David and Son of God.
7. That a covenant was made with David, ordered in
all things and sure, promising that the Seed should descend from him; that he
should possess a kingdom in a future age; that he should be Son of the Eternal
Father; that he should be afflicted unto death; that he should rise again; that
the throne of his kingdom should be David’s throne; that Christ should occupy
the throne in his presence; that he shall reign over the House of Jacob, in the
covenanted land, during the age; and that of his kingdom there shall be no end.
8. That these covenants made with Abraham and with
David are styled by Paul “the Covenants of Promise,” and that they contain “the
things concerning the Kingdom of God,” which must be believed as a part of the
faith that justifies.
9. That the Christ is the Eternal Father by his
spirit manifested in the Seed of David, and that Jesus of Nazareth is he.
10. That in his crucifixion, Sin was condemned in the
same flesh that had transgressed in Paradise, so that in the crucified body he
bore the sins of his people upon the tree, that they being dead to sin, should
live unto righteousness.
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11. That he was raised from among the dead by the
power of the Father, for the justification or pardon of those who believe the
covenanted promises, and the things concerning him.
12. That the things concerning the Christ as a
sufferer, and fulfilled in Jesus, are “the things concerning the Name of Jesus
Christ,” which must also be believed as the other part of the faith which
justifies.
13. That Repentance is a change of mind and
disposition, produced by “the exceeding great and precious promises” lovingly
believed, and resulting in “the obedience of faith.”
14. That repentance, remission of sins, and
eternal life are granted in the name of Jesus Christ.
15. That the Obedience of Faith consists in
believing the gospel preached to Abraham, the preaching of Jesus Christ, and
the revealed mystery of his Name, and in being immersed into the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
16. That repentance, remission of sins, and a
right to incorruptibility and life are institutionally granted to believers of
the truth as outlined above in being buried with Christ by immersion into death
to sin, from whence they rise with Christ, to walk in newness of life.
17. That Abraham, the prophets, and the brethren
under the Mosaic Law, are justified by the belief of the promises covenanted to
Abraham and David, which covenants were brought into force by the death of the
Testator, or Deity in flesh-manifestation called Jesus Christ; and that the
immersed, and they only, whether Jews or Gentiles, from the Day of Pentecost to
the return of the Ancient of Days, are justified by belief of the same
covenanted promises and of things concerning the Name of Jesus Christ as
specified above. Thus, there is one Deity who shall justify the circumcision ek
pisteos, by, from, or out of faith; and the uncircumcision dia tes pisteos, “through
the faith;” for whether under the Law or since the law, “the just shall live by
faith,” “without which it is impossible to please God.”
18. That “the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit,” is equivalent to “the Name of Jesus Christ;” and
expresses “the great mystery .of godliness,” the Deity manifested in flesh:
that this manifestation was first an individual unity, and then a multitudinous
unity, in flesh and blood nature; that the individual divine unity was
“justified by spirit” when Jesus was glorified; and that the multitudinous
unity, consisting of all saints, will be made like him when he shall appear in
power. Hence, when this consummation shall be complete, “THE NAME” will be the
Eternal Father by spirit manifested in a multitude of immortals, whom no man
can number. The scriptural designation of this DIVINE UNITY is Yahweh echad -
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the ONE WHO SHALL BE.
19. That this name exists in Two States - the
present and the future -which states are separated by the resurrection. In the
present state, the Name is apocalyptically symbolized by “the Sealed,” “the
Golden Altar,” “the Holy City trampled,” “the Woman and the remnant of her
seed;” and in the future state, by “the Four Living ones full of eyes,” and
“the four and twenty elders;” by the Rainbowed Angel; by the Nave; by the
144,000 on Mount Zion; by harpists and singers; by the Lamb’s wife arrayed in
white; by the armies in the heaven; and by the Great City, the Holy Jerusalem,
as a Bride adorned for her husband.
20. That the Gospel is glad tidings, inviting men
and women to become constituents of this Divine Name, and therefore Heirs of
the World with Abraham, on condition of believing the truth as it is in Jesus,
being immersed, and walking in the newness of life, as shown above.
Such is the system of truth
in outline elaborated by the author from the word as the result of an earnest
contention for the faith which, as I have said, continued about twelve years.
Its operation on his own mind was to cause him to be immersed; and, being thus
put right himself, to go forth and show the “straight gate and narrow way” to
others. “The spirit of life from the Deity,” which Mr. Bicheno was looking for
but did not see, had “entered into the witnesses for gospel truth,” as he expressed
it, when in 1847, the Gospel of the Kingdom and Name was once more proclaimed
for the obedience of faith. A few congregations had been collected upon this
basis in America, and “the earth” has been to some extent impregnated with
their principles. These earthborns, however, mix up many traditions with what
they have learned, which make the truth of none effect for their salvation.
They are known by various names, such as Millerites, Adventists, Storrites, and
so forth, who while dissatisfied with their old mother and her daughters, have
neither intelligence nor faith enough in the word to become citizens of the
downtrodden Holy City. This witnessing Society is “too exclusive,” “too
dogmatic,” “too denunciatory of the christians of other denominations,” “makes
too much of baptism” to suit them. It affords no scope for money-making by
preaching, for personal glorification by conventions, conferences, periodicals,
and so forth. For these, and other reasons too numerous and burdensome to
recount, they turn their backs upon those who are able to enlighten them, and
exhaust their feebleness in the work of hewing out for themselves cisterns -
broken cisterns - which will hold no water.
But, the author did not confine
his testimony to the territory of “THE MODEL REPUBLIC”. In that “wonderful
year,” A.D. 1848, sig-
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nalized by the terrible
shaking given to the kingdoms of the Great City by “the Earth,” he re-imported
the testimony into his native land - a land of Bibles, whose truth was buried
under mountains of tradition for want of a living witness to exhume it, and to
set it intelligibly before the people. Two hundred and seventy discourses in a
little over two years; the circulation of eleven hundred copies of Elpis
Israel; and less than a hundred copies of the Herald of the Kingdom, per annum,
for eleven years; with about a hundred and fifty copies of the first volume of
this work - has been his agency in witnessing for the truth against the Laodicean
Apostasy in Great Britain. The “very small remnant” has been increased by
acquisitions in Britain. The Holy City has acquired voice; and though feeble,
is making itself heard, and attended to, by the people. In 1862, the author
revisited that country. He found several churches that had struggled into a
semi-witnessing existence. The truth had more real friends than in 1848-‘50;
but it had also many more dangerous embarrassments to encounter, than at that
time. Its worst enemies are its pretended friends. It is from these that the
truth now suffers both in Britain and America. “The Earth” is a good breastwork
against the Serpent; but it is too ignorant and wise in its own conceit to be
“a witness for gospel truth.” I trust, however, that a better day has dawned in
the current 1866; when the principles herein outlined will find such an earnest
expression by their adherents, that no teaching will be endured among them, by
press or tongue, that is not in strict accordance with the oracles of God.
I shall conclude this
section by another quotation from Bicheno, respecting the “three days and a
half.” “Days, in the mystical language of prophecy, and particularly in the
Revelation, generally signify years. But if that be their meaning here, an
essential agreement is wanting; for the time, from the repeal of the Edict of
Nantes to the French Revolution, was about 105 years. Terms of time among the
ancients were ambiguous. Days, months, and years, had not always their proper
signification; for ‘months,’ says Artemidorus, ‘are sometimes denoted by years,
and days too; and years and days by months; and months and years by days.’ It
was the subject, or the rule of proportion which determined the meaning of the
terms. Hence, Daubuz observes respecting the terms of time in the symbolic
language: ‘Terms of time being thus ambiguous amongst the ancients, they must,
in the symbolic language, be by the rule of proportion determined by the
circumstances. Prophecy concerning future events is a picture, or
representation, of the events in symbols, which being fetched from objects
visible at one view, or cast of the eye, rather represent the events in
miniature, than in full proportion; giving us more to understand than what we
see. And, therefore, that the
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duration
of the events may be represented in terms suitable to the symbols of the
visions, the symbols of duration must also be drawn in miniature.
“Days,
then, may stand for months. And we may here see the reason why the witnesses
are represented as lying dead three days and a half, rather than three months
and a half, or 105 days. The duration of events must be represented in terms
suitable to the symbols of the visions. The symbol is, dead bodies lying in the
street. How monstrous would it be to represent dead bodies as lying in such a
situation for 105 days! The time of their lying dead is therefore, drawn in
miniature suitable to dead bodies lying in a street; and these lunar days, or
months, are to be calculated in the same manner as the ‘forty and two months’
in the second verse. Thus 3 x 30 + 15 = 105 years; the time which elapsed from
the repeal of the Edict of Nantes to the French Revolution.”
7.
Ascension of the Witnesses into the Heaven
“And
they heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, ‘Ascend hither!’ And
they ascended into the heaven in the cloud and their enemies beheld them. “
By
heaven in this place, we are to understand the political heaven which ruled
over the plateau of the Great City upon which the corpses of the witnesses were
extended: -- the political heaven of “the tenth of the Great City.” It was the
power of this heaven embodied in the government of the “Grand Monarque,” Louis
XIV, that conquered and put
Picture
on Page 308 not shown
LOUIS
XIV (1638-1715) was the most powerful monarch in Europe, presiding over a
France at the height of its intellectual. economic and military powers. He
exercised dictatorial powers, claiming that he ruled for God. Like Constantine,
he claimed the title of the Sun King, representing himself as such in the
emblem (left) designed for his glory (see Rev. 12:1). As a Catholic he set
about repressing all religious opposition with great cruelty. On 18th
October 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes that had granted concessions to
Protestants. The consequences of this decision were disastrous, for this
outrageously intolerant act provoked a mass exodus, with half a million
citizens settling in neighboring Protestant States. It led to the civil war of
the Camisards, and the War of the League of Augsburg that lasted nine years;
and to the weakening of Louis’ power. History thus witnesses to the warfare
between Catholics and Protestants symbolised in Rev. 11.—Publishers. .
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309
Illustrations
of the publications “APOSTOLIC ADVOCATE”, HERALD of THE FUTURE AGE” “HERALD OF
THE KINGDOM AND AGE TO COME”
Not
showm
“Contending
for
The Faith”—Jude 3
Against
his will, John Thomas was projected into the study of the Scriptures by the
action of Alexander Campbell calling upon him to deliver a Public address without
prior nohce. Recognising his deficiency to do so, he determined to make a close
study of the Bible, and this led him to publishing his findings in print. Four
different periodicals were commenced by him, the first, The Investigator
continuing only for a few months. In The Apostolic Advocate he commenced his
exposition of The Apocalypse; this was followed by Herald Of The Future Age,
the number pictured above depicting the article in which he outlined the system
of Truth which today forms the basis of the Christadelphian Movement. Herald Of
The Kingdom And Age To Come was commenced after a lecturing tour of Great
Britain and the subsequent publication of Elpis Israel.
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.
them
to death; and it was the power of the same heaven that blindly legislated them
into an erect position, so that they were able to “stand upon their feet.”
The
forces operating this result are very clearly exhibited in “Thiers’ Hist. of
the French Revolution.” It would occupy too much space for details. The period
was stormy and perplexing; and none were able to direct or allay the
excitement, that agitated all classes of the people. The Court, the noblesse,
the clergy, and the people, were all in antagonism; nor were these orders in
the state agreed among themselves; added to which, the army was disaffected,
the taxes intolerable to the masses, atheistic philosophy prevalent, depravity
excessive, extravagance boundless, and the public treasury empty. Alison writing
upon this crisis says: “THE AMERICAN WAR was the great change which blew into a
flame the embers of innovation. Such was the universal enthusiasm which seized
upon France at its commencement that nobles of the highest rank, princes,
dukes, and marquises, solicited with impatient zeal commissions in the
regiments destined to aid the insurgents. The passion for republican
institutions increased with the successes of the American war, and at length
arose to such a height as to infect even the courtiers of the palace. The
philosophers of France used every method of flattery to bring over the young
nobles to their side; and the profession of liberal opinions became as
indispensable a passport to the saloons of fashion as to the favor of the
people.”
This
combination of influences at length came to a head, and set, in a strong
current, against the court. In order, therefore, to divert into another channel
what might become an overwhelming flood, Louis XVI was now anxious for the
convocation of the States General, the opening of which he fixed by “a great
voice, “or edict, “out of the heaven, “saying, “Ascend hither!” on May 5, 1789.
The Court ordained that the total number of the deputies should be at least a
thousand; and that the Tiers-Etat, or Third Estate, should be equal to the
other two orders united. The clergy, the nobles and the deputies of the people,
were the three orders of the States General. The third estate comprehended
nearly the whole nation; all the useful, industrious, and enlightened classes;
for this reason, its deputies by the casting vote of Monsieur, who afterwards
reigned as Louis XVIII*~ were doubled, or exceeded the other two
Louis
XVIII (1775-1824) was a younger brother of Louis XVI who ruled during the
Revolution, and was ultimately executed by beheading. Louis XVIII fled France
(1791) during the Revolution, and after more than 20 years of exile returned in
1814 after the defeat of Napoleon. When Napoleon escaped from exile in March
1815 Louis was again forced to take refuge abroad, finally returning after
Napoleon’s overthrow at Waterloo in June. He favored a moderate policy but from
1820 the ultra-royalists gained the ascendancy under the leadership of the
count of Artois, brother of the king, who succeeded him as Charles X. During
the early years of the Revolution, he took part in the States General and
signed as “Monsieur” the equivalent of “Sir”; a form of address given to the
second son or youngest brother of the king of France. - Publishers.
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orders
united by sixty-seven, the whole number being 1254. This number constituted
what, in the prophecy, is termed “the Cloud.”
In
nature, by the electrical force exhalations are elevated from the earth to the
dew point of the aerial, where they are condensed into visible masses, termed
clouds. So, analogously in the generation of symbolic clouds. The sovereign
power of a state by its edict elevates from among the people their
representatives, who when they reach the place to which they are convoked,
become a visible and recognized body in the state, or political aerial, on the
verification of the powers of the members. This verification is the
condensation of them into “a Cloud.”
The
public mind, agitated by events, full of the confused idea of a speedy
revolution, was in a continual ferment. In the heat of this the elections took
place. “Tradesmen, lawyers, literary men, astonished to find themselves
assembled together for the first time, raised themselves up by degrees to
liberty.” It was an extraordinary resurrection.
The
moment of the convocation at length arrived. The King alone, who had not
enjoyed a moment’s repose since the commencement of his reign, regarded the
States General as the termination of his embarrasments! It was therefore with
joy that he made preparations for this grand assembly; which was opened with
great national, military, and religious pomp, by which all hearts were deeply
moved.
The
first business was the verification of the powers of the members. It became a
question whether this should take place in common, or by separate orders. The
Democracy insisted upon the verification in common. The nobility and clergy
were for each order verifying its own members. The Democracy were determined
not to give way. All compromise became impossible. The inertia of the inexorable
Third Estate, who would do nothing till the nobility and clergy were merged
with itself into one homogeneous assembly, exhausted the patience and prudence
of their enemies; who, forgetting the animosities between the Court and the
higher orders, sought reconciliation between them, that they might be enabled
to repress the audacity of the tiers-etatt, “whose power was rising with such
rapidity.” The nobles and titled clergy threw themselves at the feet of the
King, and implored him to support their rights, which were attacked equally
with his own. They strove to procure a dissolution of the States General, which
would have been a dispersion of “the Cloud;” and a frustration of the
providential purpose of its manifestation. But the commons would not allow
their enemies to dispose of them
t
The tiers-etat was the name given to the common people, the French bourgeoisie,
then being politically organized as an integral and dominant part of the States
General, or Revolutionary Parliament. As British rule was divided into three
sections: lords spiritual, lords temporal, and commons, so also was France at
that time - to the dismay of the first two. - Publishers.
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after this fashion. They proclaimed
themselves, after a stormy sitting, THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY on June 17, 1789;
whose mission it was to re-generate and restore the nation.
But, we are not to suppose
that this heterogeneous cloud of deputies were the witnesses. The National
Assembly contained many enemies to liberty and human rights and interests -
many who were devoted friends of the Roman Deity and arbitrary power
everywhere. Speaking of the witnesses against these, the prophecy says: “They
ascended into the heaven en te nephele, in the cloud.” They were in the States
General, and of it; but they were not themselves the States General, nor
National Assembly. The following extract will show how the prophecy harmonized
with facts:
“In the National Assembly,”
says Ferrieres testifying concerning the deputies of his own party, “there were
not more than about three hundred really upright men, exempt from party spirit,
not belonging to any club, wishing what was right, wishing it for its own sake,
independent of the interest of orders or of bodies, always ready to embrace the
most just and the most beneficial proposal, no matter from what quarter it
came, or by whom it was supported. These were the men worthy of the honorable
function to which they had been called, who made the few good laws that
proceeded from the Constituent Assembly; it was they who prevented all the
mischief that was not done by it. Invariably adopting what was good, as
invariably opposing what was bad, they have frequently produced a majority in
favor of resolutions, which, but for them, would have been rejected from a
spirit of faction; and they have often defeated motions, which, but for them,
would have been adopted from a spirit of interest.”
This class of deputies was
unquestionably “the Earth” - the ascended political witnesses of Jesus. Of
“their enemies,” Ferrieres writes as follows: “While on this subject,” says he,
“I cannot abstain from remarking on the impolitic conduct of the nobles and the
bishops. As they aimed only to dissolve the Assembly, to throw discredit upon
its operations, instead of opposing mischievous measures, they manifested an
indifference upon this point which is inconceivable. When the president stated
the question they quitted the Hall, inviting the deputies of their party to
follow them; or, if they stayed, they called out to them to take no part in the
deliberation. The Clubbists,(*) forming through this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*-The “Clubbists” were the various
groups among the common people in the States General. Thetwo main “clubs” were
the Jacobins and the Girondins, much the same as there exists extreme and
moderate groups within the various political parties today. Hence whilst they
may combine against a common enemy, they also press their individual policies
within the party of which they are members. So it was during the French
Revolution. The deputies of the common people opposed the aristocrats. but were
themselves divided in their policies. - Publishers.
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dereliction of duty a majority of
the Assembly, carried every resolution they pleased. The bishops and the
nobles, firmly believing that the new order of things would not last, hastened
with a sort of impatience, as if determined to accelerate the downfall, both
the ruin of the monarchy and their own ruin. With this senseless conduct they
combined an insulting disdain both of the assembly and of the people who
attended the sit-ings. Instead of listening, they laughed and talked aloud,
thus confirm-ng the people in their unfavorable opinion which it had conceived
of them; and instead of striving to recover its confidence and esteem, they
strove only to gain its hatred and contempt. All these follies arose solely
from the mistaken notions of the bishops and nobles, who could not persuade
themselves that the Revolution had long been effected in the opinion and in the
heart of every Frenchman. They hoped by means of these dykes, to set bounds to
a torrent that was daily swelling. All they did served only to produce a
greater accumulation of its waters, to occasion greater ravages; obstinately
clinging to the old system, the basis of all their actions, of all their
opposition, but which was repudiated by all. By this impolitic obstinacy they
forced the Revolutionists to extend the Revolution beyond the goal they had set
up for themselves. The nobles and the bishops then exclaimed against injustice
and tyranny. They talked of the antiquity and the legitimacy of their rights to
men who had sapped the foundations of all rights.”
The “Great Voice” from the
French throne, in commanding this Cloud of Deputies to ascend into the region
of power, or “heaven,” did not intend to convoke witnesses against itself, and
against the nobles, the bishops, and their dependents, the natural pillars of
every abomination in church and state. The electoral body of the nation,
however, had different views and purposes. In response to the “great voice out
of the heaven, saying, Ascend hither!” the electors sent up some whom they knew
not - men of political integrity, lovers of justice, haters of oppression,
detesters of hypocrisy and state craft, enemies of corruption, and friends of
the people. These “ascended into the heaven in the cloud; and their enemies,”
the Court, the bishops, and the nobles, “beheld them.” We have seen from
Ferrieres, how they “beheld them”; and how they treated them. They beheld them
with hatred; and would gladly, if they had been able, have scattered, and
rolled them into the dust of “the earth,” whence they had so astoundingly
ascended to the sovereignty of the nation. But this was not to be. The day of
vengeance for the national crimes of 1572 and 1685, had arrived; and they were
the divinely appointed executioners of judgment upon the court, aristocracy and
clergy; so that no device contrived against them was allowed to prosper.
When their enemies beheld
them, their hatred was the result of
Page 314
fear. History and prophecy
both testify this. “Great fear,” says John, “fell upon those who beheld them.”
Having resolved themselves into the National Assembly without regard to the
court, aristocracy, and clergy, they performed an act of power, in legalizing
the levy of the taxes, though imposed without the national consent; but that
they should cease to be levied from the day of their being broken up: and
placed the creditors of the State under the safeguard of French integrity: they
then proceeded to examine into the causes of the dearth and of the public
distress. “These measures,” says Thiers, “produced a deep impression. The court
and higher orders were alarmed at such courage and energy.” The danger was
equal for them all. The junction of the clergy with the Assembly was a revolution
as prejudicial to the king as to the two higher orders themselves, whom the
commons declared that they could dispense with. By the imprudent counsel of the
aristocracy, the king endeavored to prevent the meeting of the Assembly, but
failed. On June23, he held a royal sitting, in which, as the mouth of the
nobles and clergy, he launched reproaches and issued his commands, which, if
not obeyed, he would establish by his sole authority as the representative of
the nation. He ordered the Assembly to separate immediately. The nobility
obeyed with part of the clergy: but the Commons had bound themselves with an
oath, that they would not separate until they had given a constitution to the
kingdom, established and founded on a solid basis; and this oath, they declared
that nothing but the power of bayonets should prevent them from keeping. The
populace applauded the Commons; and the joy of the court and aristocracy was
instantly turned into alarm, and the greatest agitation. A minority of the
nobles joined the Assembly; but terror seized those who directed the majority.
They were exhorted by the court to give way to save the king. Their consent was
at length extorted amidst uproar; and the majority, accompanied with the
minority of the clergy, took their seats in the National Assembly on the 27th
of June. “The family,” said President Bailly,(*) “is complete. We can now
attend without intermission and without distraction to the regeneration of the
kingdom and of the public weal.” Thus great fear fell on their enemies when
they beheld them.
8.
“The Great Earthquake”
“And
in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the Tenth of the City fell.”
An
earthquake, in symbolic language, is a shaking of “the earth,” which, in the
political system of the world, is representative of the com-
Bailly
was a plain citizen, known only by his virtues and his talents, on the union of
the orders inthe Assembly, was seen presiding over all the grandees of the
kingdom and the church.
Page
315
mon
people. It answers to the phrase, a democratic and social revolution. There was
to be a Great Democratic Revolution “in that hour,” characterized by the ascent
of the political witnesses of Jesus “in the Cloud” of Deputies “into the
heaven,” to the great alarm of all interested in the abuses and corruptions of
Church and State. The events of that hour have since come to be spoken of as
“the Great French Revolution,” which has hitherto surpassed all others.
As
the result of this great political convulsion, “the Tenth of the City fell.” Not
the other nine tenths of the Great City, which would have been the fall of the
Great City itself; but of one tenth thereof. All the tenths are to continue
unfallen, with the exception of the tenth before us, until after the advent of
Christ, and the resurrection of his brethen. Then the Great City itself will
fall, and be “found no more at all.” Its thrones will all be “cast down,” and
not merely shaken; and the kingdoms which acknowledged their sovereignty will
be taken possession of by Christ and his resurrected brethren.
The
ten tenths of the Great City are symbolized in Daniel by the Ten Toes of the
metallic image seen by Nebuchadnezzar; and by the Ten Horns seen by Daniel and
John in their visions of the Fourth-Beast system of powers, commonly styled the
European Commonwealth, acknowledging the Papal Supremacy. They are the Ten
Kingdoms of the Great City, situated south and west of the Rhine and Danube.
Until the late temporary development of the Kingdom of Italy , and as the re-
Celebrated
procession of the States General in Versailles.
The members of each order were separated by the distinguishing dress
they were compelled to wear . But when
the deputies of the Commons failed to
obtain from the King the
concessions they demanded, they made their way to an indoor tennis court where they took an oath “never to separate”
until an acceptable constitution was established “on solid foundations” for
proper and equitable government of the nation. Made fearful by this show of
force, the King agreed to grant concessions. Thus “they (the representative of
the people) ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them”
(Rev. 11:12).
Page
316
sult of the Treaty of Vienna
A.D. 1815, modified by the revolution of 1832, they were Belgium, France,
Spain, Portugal, Greece, Bavaria, Hungary, Lombardy, Naples, and Sardinia. The
Italian Duchies, Venice, and Switzerland, though upon the territory of the
Great City, are not reckoned as horns, because their executives are not
diademed. The order of things existing in 1865 is exceptional, and therefore
only provisional. Bavaria, Hungary, and Lombardy, with the Roman States of the
Church, are concorded with the Little Horn, or Catholic Germany. This symbolic
order, however, is disturbed by the ambition of “the Earth,” or revolutionary
element of the Great City. Lombardy, Naples, and Sardinia, with the Duchies,
and without Rome, is the unsymbolic order of things; and with France imperial
instead of a simple diademed tenth. This arrangement of the city, I apprehend,
will not last long(*). It contains in it elements of conflict, which will
probably result in a threefold division of powers, after the advent of Christ
(Apoc. 16:19). Nevertheless, these powers continue to be styled “the ten horns,
or kingdoms, which receive power as kings one hour with the beast; to whom,
with one mind, they give their power and strength” (Apoc. 17:12,13). Ten has
been the predominant number of the papal kingdoms; and, therefore, though they
may vary at times, as the vision does not follow them in all their history,
they are symbolically indicated as the Ten. Of these, France is the most
conspicuous in its relation to the witnesses. It is therefore styled kat
exochen, “the Tenth of the City,” which was overthrown as a Diademed Horn by
the executioners of the national justice upon the king, nobles and clergy - the
class-murderers of the saints.
9.
“In that Hour”
A
period is herein allotted for the operations of “the Earth” upon the powers of
the City. It is indicated by an hour; which, being a twelfth part of a Jewish
circle of time, if that circle be a day for a year, would rep-
Since
Eureka was published, dramatic events have taken place in Europe in accordance
with the expectations of its Author. In 1957, the Pact of Rome was signed that
brought into existence the Common Market in Western Europe, in contrast to the
Warsaw Pact of Communist countries east of the Iron Curtain. This has
effectively divided the Continent into two parts answering to the feet of the
Image (Dan. 2) upon which the confederacy of the last days must ultimately
rest. In Exposition of Daniel, Bro. Thomas wrote: “Whilst the head, breast,
arms, belly, thighs, legs and toes have all existed, the feet have not yet been
formed; so that it has hitherto been impossible for the colossal Image to stand
erect as Nebuchadnezzar saw it in his dream. It is, therefore, the mission of
the Autocrat to form the feet and set up the Image before the world in all its
excellent brightness, and terribleness of form; that all men subject to the
Kingdom of Babylon may worship the work of its creator’s power It would appear that the “feet” of the
Image are today being formed in the manner in which Europe is divided and
confederated into two parts: east and west. Though Bro. Thomas may have been a
little sanguine in regard to the time in which his expectations would be
fulfilled, the basis of his expositions is sound, so that they are being
vindicated today. We can rejoice that the Lord did not come at the time he
anticipated he would, and that the work Bro. Thomas commenced in these latter
days of “preparing a people for the Lord” has continued to our days so long
after his death. - Publishers.
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317
resent
a month of days, or thirty days; or if a a year-time of years, a month of
years, or thirty years. I believe this is the proportional allotment of time
for the earthquake and the events of the first five vials resulting from it.
The
court, the nobles, the clergy, and the catholic superstition, were the chief
objects of vengeance, and indignation in the earthquake. The epoch from
1789-‘90 to A.D. 1794-‘5, a period of about four years, was the epoch of this
terrible earthquake, in which was demolished the order of things so carefully
established in favor of the church by the emperor Justinian, whose Code was the
civil law code of the kingdom of France. This code was first promulgated in the
epoch between A.D. 529-534. The code was a summary of former laws that still
continued in force; the pandects published four years afterwards, of the
principles of the Roman jurisprudence; and the novels were Justinian’s
additions. These altogether made up the Civil Law of the Great City.
Justinian’s
Decretal Letter to “JOHN, the Most Holy Archbishop of the sacred city Rome, and
Patriarch,” dated March, A.D. 533, became thenceforth part of the civil law. In
this the Roman See was recognized as the chief in all his dominion; and its
bishop consequently as the head
(The
manuscript noted is not shown)
A sixth-century manuscript of Justinian’s Digest published 16
December, 533. It epitomized all previous laws, and laid down a basis for
the legal and ecclesiastical constitution of Europe. It was translated
into Greek, that being the more general language of the
people, but the corpus of law was in Latin, the traditional language of law and
administration. Justinian’s code governed European law for 1260 years (Rev.
11:2), at which time it was abandoned in France by the French Revolution in
1793 when “the names” or titles of the aristocracy and religious orders of “the
tenth of the city” were over-thrown. See Rev. 11:13.-Publishers.
Page 318 .
of all the churches, and to
be judged by none. In those days, “magistrates were tyrants, and priests were wicked,
superstitious, and intolerant, beyond any former age. Numberless laws and
regulations were imposed in violation of Christ’s authority, which defaced
christianity, and robbed christians of their dearest liberties. By Justinian’s
Code those powers, privileges, and immunities were secured to the clergy; that
union established between things civil and ecclesiastical, and those laws
imposed in matters spiritual, which have proved such a hindrance to the truth,
and so calamitous to mankind. Through the zeal of the clergy this code has been
received, more or less, as the foundation of the jurisprudence of almost every
state in christendom; and that, not only in things civil, but ecclesiastical;
and by this means, as some author has observed, the old fancy of the Romans
about the eternity of their command, is thus far verified.”
Thus Justinian’s legislation
was all devoted to the building up and strengthening of the Catholic Church;
while the legislation of the National Assembly was all directed to its destruction.
It is a remarkable fact, that these two mutually antagonistic and subversive
systems of legislation flourished exactly 1260 years apart from epoch to epoch;
and that the one hour of 30 years added to it, or 1290, brings us to the
beginning of the outpouring of the Sixth Vial, A.D. 1820, upon “the Great River
Euphrates;” the drying up of whose waters prepares the way of the Sun’s
Resurrected Kings for the destruction of the Great City, and the redemption of
the Holy Land. Is this, indeed, the true ending of Daniel’s 1290? And if so, is
A.D. 1865-6 the ending of the 1335, as well as of John’s “forty and two
months”? If it be, then there is an epoch upon us of four years, in any day of
which Christ may “come as a thief” (Apoc. 16:15): to enter upon a work which
will not intermit until it has fully established the kingdom at the end of
Micah’s period of forty years, about A.D. 1905§.
This appears to me, at this
writing, to be the correct interpretation of the times. It is, of course,
impossible to say that the interpretation is without error. The ensuing years
will determine this point beyond dispute. While I write, it is the most
satisfactory to my own mind. I have thought, that Daniel’s 1290 terminated in
1864; and his 1335 in 1909. But in writing the exposition of this chapter, the
fact of the Great Earth-quake-resurrection of the witnesses being exactly 1260
years after the promulgation of the civil law of the City; and the Hour of 3O
years added, bringing us to the beginning of “the pouring out upon the
Desolator of the Holy Land that determined” (Dan. 9:27), or 1290 years
afterwards
§ See Vol.2
pg. 10.
Page
319
·
I do not feel at liberty to persist in rejecting my original
conviction, that the 1290 ends in 1820; and the 1335 forty-five years after, or
in the epoch current with 1865-6, or thereabout. Besides that, the same
evidence that limits the termination of the Holy City’s “forty and two months,”
also confines the 1335 days to the event of the resurrection. John’s symbolical
“rising up” measures the continuance of the forty and two months practicing
(poiesai, to execute, practice, act) of the Beast’s Mouth to the subjection, or
trampling, of the Holy City (ch. 11:2; 13:5):
even
so Daniel’s rising up measures the utmost limit of the 1335 days; concerning
which he was told, “thou shalt arise (tiamod) to thine inheritance at the end
of the days.” In view, therefore, of all the premises, I submit the following
as a
10.
Synopsis of the Times of Daniel and John
1. Beginning of the Seven Times of the Babylonian
Tree, or 2520 years of the Kingdom of Men from the
1st of Nebuchadnezzar - Dan.
4:16,23
..........................................................................................................................................612
BC
2. Beginning of the Evening-Morning treading
under foot of the holy and the host, or Septuagintal
2400 years in “the third year of Cyrus,”
being the first of his sole reign ..................................................................................540
BC
3. Beginning of the Seventy Weeks, or 490 years,
in the
20th Artaxerxes
Longimanus, king of Persia ..................................................................................................................................456
BC
After
Christ
1. End of the 70 weeks at “the cutting off of Messiah”
............................................................................................................ 34
2. Beginning of the “time, times, and dividing of a time”when the
Saints were imperially “given into the hand”
of the Episcopal Mouth of the Little Horn by the Civil Power -
Dan. 7:25; identical with the Forty and Two
months of Apoc. 11:2; 13:5; in the Phocan
Epoch.................................................................................................................. 604- ‘8
3. Beginning of the “time, times, and a half,” sworn to by the “Man
clothed in linen” (Dan. 12:7); and by the Rain-
bowed Angel, saying, that “the time shall be no longer” (Apoc.
10:6); which personages are identical....................... 604-‘8
4. Beginning of the “abomination making desolate 1290” years (Dan.
12:11; in the Justinian Epoch.............................. 531
5. Beginning of the 1335 day-years in the Justinian Epoch; they
extend to “the time of the dead” when Daniel and
Page 320.
After
Christ
John
rise to the inheritance (Dan. 12:12,13) .....................................................................................................................................531
6. The Man-Child of ”Sin “revealed,” being born of the Imperialized
Woman at the end of a gestation of nine
months, or 280 day-years (Apoc. 12:2,5); in the Donatist
Epoch, in which the Sealing begins (ch. 7:3); and the
flying into the wilderness ensues (ch.
12:6,14)........................................................................................................................ 312-‘16
7. “Silence in the Heaven about half an hour”
begins................................................................................................................ 324
8. Beginning of a gestative period of 280 years, made notable by the
Constantinian, or Laodicean, Pentecost,
styled the Council of
Nice........................................................................................................................................................... 325
9. The Silence in the Heaven ends at the death of the emperor
Constantine....................................................................... 337
10. The “God of the Earth” fully “revealed” in Rome in the Phocan
Epoch, 280 years after the Council of Nice
(Dan.
11:36-39)............................................................................................................................................................................... 605-‘6
11. Beginning of the first period of “five months” appropriated to the
tormentation of the unsealed by the
Saracens (Apoc.
9:4-6).................................................................................................................................................................... 632
12. Beginning of the second “five months” at the end of the
first (Apoc.
9:10).............................................................................................................................................................................. 782
13. End of the second five months, 300 years after the be-
ginning of the first, marked by the fall of
Caliphs................................................................................................................... 932
14 Beginning of “the hour, day, month, and year”, or 391 years and 30
days, appropriated to the subversion of the
Greek Catholic Empire, or third of the Roman orb (Apoc.
9:15)............................................... April 29 1062
15 End of the 391 years and 30 days, signalized by the capture of
Constantinople by the fourth Euphratean
angel, or Ottoman, power
.............................................................................................................................. May 29 1453
16. “The Remnant of the Woman’s Seed” stands first before the Dragon,
and afterwards before “the God of the
Earth;” in all, “a time, times, and a half a time,” or 1260
day-years (Apoc. 11:3; 12:6,14,17; which end with
the beginning of the war upon the witnesses, waged against
them by the MOUTH OF BLASPHEMY (Apoc.
13:5,7); in the St. Bartholomew
Epoch....................................................................................................................................... 1572-‘6
17 The war against the witnesses having continued 113 years, they are
“prevailed against,” or “overcome and
killed,” at the Revocation of the edict of Nantes (Dan.7:21;
Apoc. 11:7;
13:7).................................................................. 1685
18. Having lain unburied corpses in the Breadth of the........
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321
After Christ
feet, and ascend into the heaven in the
French revolutionary epoch, 1260 years from
the
Justinian (Apoc.
11:9,11,12)................................................................................................. 1789
19. End of the period of 1290
years of abomination making desolate, signalized by the
beginning of the outpouring, in the
Greek revolutionary epoch, of “that determined
upon the Desolator” of the Holy Land (Dan.9:27); in the commencement of
the Sixth
Vial at the end of the Hour of Apoc.
11:13............................................................................ 1821
20. End of the Evening-Morning
of 2400 years; notably signalized by the immediately succeeding
quinquennial epoch of the American
Civil, the Franco-Mexican, the Russo-Polish, and the
Austro-Russian Danish, wars; with
financial perplexity, the worst of which has
not
yet been
seen.................................................................................................................... 1860
21. End of the 42 months of
Apoc. 11:2; 13:5, the terminus of the temple and altar measurement;
also the end of the “time” -
chronon sworn to by the Rainbowed Angel;
that is, of the “time, times,
and a half’ sworn to by the “Man
clothed in linen;” and of the 1335
day-years in the current
epoch (Apoc. 10:6; Dan. 7:25;
12:7,12)..................................................................................... 1864-‘8
22. “THE TIME OF THE END.” A
period of 40 year Micah 7:15: in which the Rainbowed Angel
finishes the Mystery of the Deity as
declared in the Gospel of the Kingdom
23. The terminal epoch of
Micah’s 40 years, and of the Seven Times, or 2520 years, from the 1st
of
Nebuchadnezzar................................................................................................................... 1905-‘8
11.
Initial and Terminal Prophetic Epochs
1. The DONATIST EPOCH, a period of three years, signalized by the
Donatist Trials and their
condemnation by
Constantine............................................................................................................ 312-‘16
2. The JUSTINIAN EPOCH, a period of four years, signalized by the
promulgation of the Civil Law
of the Great City; and by great
desolation in the Holy Land................................................................ 529-‘34
3. The PHOCAN EPOCH, a period of four years, signalized by the
Bishop of Rome being recognized as
Supreme Pontiff by the emperor
Phocas.............................................................................. 604-‘8
Page 322
After Christ
4. The ST. BARTHOLOMEW EPOCH, signalized by massacre and war upon the
Huguenots
on the day of that Romish saint........................................................................................................ 1572-‘6
5. The FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY
EPOCH, a period of about five years, signalized by the fall
of the French Monarchy and the Reign of
Terror................................................................................ 1789-94
6. The CURRENT EPOCH, a period
incomplete, and signalized by the American Civil and other wars;
to be followed by the development of the
Roman Question at the close of 1866.................................... 1860-67
7. The TERMINAL MICAH EPOCH, a
period at the end of the ensuing 40 years adjusting the difference
between that end and the end of the 2520
years................................................................................. 1905-‘8
8. The POST RESURRECTIONAL
EPOCH, a few years at the end of the Millennium, styled “a little season,”
finishing the Millennary Week of 7000
years from the Creation.......................................................... 2905-‘8
12.
Of the 2400
It may be as well to state
here in relation to the number in Dan. 8:14, that there are various readings of
the text. In some manuscripts seen by Jerome in the 4th century, the
number was written 2200. The English Version on his authority reads 2300. But
in the Septuagint, translated from the Hebrew, about 265 years before the birth
of Jesus, for the use of the Jews in Egypt, who spoke Greek, the number is
written 2400. Here, then, are three different periods assigned to the duration
of the “evening-morning” trampling of the Holy and the Host by the Little Horn
of the Goat 2200, 2300, and 2400. Which
of these is correct?
As to the 2400, it does not
depend alone upon what some regard as the questionable authority of the
Septuagint. The celebrated missionary, Joseph Wolff, states that the Jews of
Ispahan and Bokhara possess some ancient manuscripts of the prophetic writings
of Daniel, in which chapter 8:14, reads “2400 instead of 2300 days;” also,
that, when in Adrianople, in 1826, he saw an Armenian manuscript of the Bible
in Greek, supposed to be of the fifth century, and translated by Mesrop, in
which the same number occurs.” The greater number of manuscripts read 2300.
This, however, proves nothing more than the fact, that 2400, like the truth, is
in the minority. “The authorities” and “competent judges,” as they are regarded
by Laodiceans without authority and incompetent, are most of them in favor of
the 2300. They reject the
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323
testimony of the Septuagint
as a typographical error; but this objecfion will not hold against the
manuscripts seen by Wolff, which “the authorities” and “competent judges” have
not hitherto succeeded, if they have attempted even, in convicting of error.
What is the correct reading
of the number must be determined by something more reliable than Laodicean
“authority.” Only one of the three readings can be right; and it is not to be
supposed, considering the carefulness with which the Hebrew text was preserved,
that they are all wrong. The probability is, that some manuscripts were
corrupted in, or soon after, the reign of “Antiochus Epiphanes, the Jewish
Antichrist,” so-called, in order to make Out a theory of the fulfillment of
“the Vision of ‘le Evening-Morning,” in his persecution of the Jews! The
2400(*) period was too long for the theory, and was probably shortened to suit;
hence, the 2300; and, as the theory was “orthodox,” and adopted by the leaders
of the catholic idolatry as the true interpretation, of the prophecy, and by
them handed down to the present generation of the children of the Great Harlot,
as proved by the writings of Rollin, Mait-
......................................................................................................................................................................................
-
·
Time has proved Bro. Thomas to be wrong in his conclusions regarding
the 2300 time period. He accepted the
2.400 reading on the ground that it alone showed results, and because of his
intense love for the Lord’s appearing, he anticipated his coming too soon But as is today obvious evidence shows that
he was incorrect in doing so The assertion that the Vatican MS reads 2400 is
not correct It was based upon a certain printed copy into which the erroneous
figure had crept Not a single MS. extant reads 2400 The Alexaedrian MS, the
Pesh£io Version of the Third Century the Latin Vulgates of the Fourth Century,
the Authorized Version and the Revised Version all read 2300. The only wittiness
for the 2400 is the claim of the missionary Wolff (cited by Bro
Thomas above), who had seen an old MS
at Bokhara or Ispahan which read 2400 But even he admitted that the
greater number of MSS found in the East like all others found in Europe, had
the number 2300
The
dominant prophecy of Daniel 8 where the time period is found is the contest
between the Ram ( Persia) and the He-goat (Greece) which resulted in the
triumph of the latter over the former. Alexander’s triumph resulted in the
extension of European power over the Land of the
Covenant.
This commenced with the conquest of Greece by Philip of Macedon father of
Alexander the Great His campaign began
in BC 353/52, to which if 2300 years are added terminates in 1947 the year in
which the UNO decided in favour of a
Jewish State in Palestine, which was established in May 1948. But Alexander’s
decisive victories against the Persian Ram at Granicus and Issus in B C 333 effectively opened up the East to
him That commencement brings the terminal date to 1967 and the occupation of
Jerusalem by the Israeli forces The repercussions of the Six Day War have been
felt throughout the world, as the Arabs commenced to use economic weapons
against the Israelis and their sympathizers As Bro Thomas elsewhere shows, the
word sanctuary in Dan 8 13 is qoelesh in the original and signifies holy,
leaving it to be determined as to whether holy people place land or city is
signified. The Lord cited this prophecy of Daniel in Luke 21, and in doing so
showed that the “holy city” was what was referred to Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (v 24) If
this be accepted, we are now in the epoch of time which will see the
fulfillment of the “times of the Gentiles” In commenting upon the statement of
Daniel “then shall the sanctuary be cleansed (Dan 8:14 )Bro Thomas in
Exposition of Daniel states “Let it be observed that this does not teach that
the avenging of the holy is to commence immediately. It only gives us to understand
that when that period is passed, the next series of events in relation to the
holy land shall be the manifestation of things necessary to wrest it from the
Gentiles and to avenge it in their overthrow
This means that the termination of the 2300 period would introduce an
epoch of time, and of events, that will terminate in the return of Christ the outpouring of Armageddon, and the
final cleansing of the Land . World
events are moving towards that climax and have been doing so at an accelerated
pace, since the occupation of Jerusalem by Israel in ‘1967 .-Publishers.
Page
324
land,
Moses Stuart, and so forth, the number. as an essential element of the theory,
was patronized by “the authorities” and “competent judges” of the divinely
excommunicated court, who, in the multiplication of manuscripts, are careful to
insert 2300 instead of 2400.
Be
this, however, as it may, the question with us is not so much how came the
error, but what is the truth in the case? This is what I shall try to get at;
and, in so doing, I remark, that it appears to me that the solution of the
difficulty depends upon the working of the matter by a correct rule of
interpretation. My rule or reed, then, is this, that the time of the Vision
must be calculated from the first event symbolized in the vision. I see no flaw
in this rule. I can see no reason why any of the events symbolically
represented should be left out of the time given, whatever it may be. The time
of the vision is the 2200, 2300, or 2400, as may be determined. Many affirm
(and I was once of the same opinion, when I took for granted the correctness of
the English text) that the commencement of the Seventy Weeks was the beginning
also of the time of the vision, B.C. 456. But to begin at this date would be to
exclude the symbolical events of over eighty years. Why should they be excluded
from the time of the vision? I can see no reason for such exclusion; and,
therefore, cannot consent to it. Besides this, it terminates too soon. This
will appear from the Hebrew text, l’eth-kaitz h’khazon, “to the time of the end
the vision.” The vision is to extend to the epoch of the manifestation of “the
appearance of a man,” answering to the symbolism exhibited in Dan. 8:15-18;
10:5,6; when “the Holy shall be vindicated,” or avenged-ch.8:14. If 2300 be
assumed as correct, then, commencing as above, it terminated in the vulgar era
1843. This was twenty-two years ago; too long an interval for a correct ending.
The Man has not appeared, nor has the Holy been justified, cleansed, vindicated,
or avenged, in any sense. I therefore conclude that this beginning and ending
in connexion with the 2300 is a mistake.
My
rule excludes the idea of the time of the vision beginning with “the going
forth of a commandment for causing to return, and for build-ing Jerusalem,” in
the 20th of Artaxerxes, B.C. 456. This commencement was assumed on
the ground of the word, nekhtak, rendered in the English Version, “are
determined,” signifying, cutoff. It is true that this is one of its meanings;
but it also signifies cut upon, or notched, divided, decided, decreed,
determined. Sir Isaac Newton has the following note upon the word: “Cut upon -
A phrase in Hebrew, taken from the practice of numbering by cutting notches.
“The word in the prophecy for “cut off,” is yikkaraith - ver. 26. The Seventy
Weeks were divided off from the time of the vision; but not necessarily from
its first years. If a reed of any length represents the time of the vision, the
most that can be argued
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from
the cutting import of the word is, that the seventy weeks, or 490 years, were
notched into the reed - that they were placed between two notches; of which,
the first answered to the decree of Artaxerxes; and the second, to the “cutting
off of Messiah” by crucifixion.
But
decreed, or determined, in the sense of divided or apportioned, is doubtless
the sense of the word in this the only place it occurs in the book. Seventy
weeks are apportioned out of the time of the vision for the development of
certain specified events. Hence, their beginning or ending affects only
themselves; and the commencement of the time of the vision must be sought for
elsewhere.
Seeing,
then, that it is reasonable that all the events of the vision should be
included in the time of the vision, I am prompted to inquire, what was the
first event symbolized in the Evening-Morning vision? The answer to this is in
the words of Daniel: “The higher horn of the ram came up last.” This was the
first event symbolized. It represented the Persian Dynasty of the Ram Empire
succeeding the Median. Darius and Cyrus reigned conjointly in Babylonia two
years, when Darius the Mede died, and Cyrus the Persian became sole ruler, B.C.
540. This was the third year of Cyrus from the death of Belshazzar; the first
from the death of Darius (Dan. 1:21; 10:1). Now, if this be admitted as the
commence-ment of the time of the vision, it is fatal to the claims of the 2300;
for this number, calculated from B.C. 540, would end A.D. 1760, since which
year over a hundred years have elapsed, in no part of which has the trampling
of the Holy and the Host been finished, nor the Holy avenged.
For
this reason, then, I reject the 2300 as spurious; and if so, I can have nothing
to say for the 2200, which, by the same rule, terminated two hundred years ago.
What then remains? One thing only, and that is, if my rule of interpretation be
correct, that the 2400 is the best reading of the three, and alone worthy of
all reception. Adopting this as the true time, we are brought by it to A.D.
1860-‘1, which is the ending of the 2400th year. If I am right, A.D.
1865 is hard on the beginning of “the time of the end,” styled by John “the
Hour of Judgment.” The numbers of Daniel and John all seem to terminate in the
epoch now upon us. After the 2400 is finished, “the appearance of the Man
clothed in linen,” “the voice of whose words is the voice of a multitude,”
transpires, judgment is given to them, and the Holy is avenged; but how long
exactly in-tervenes between the end of the 2400 and his appearing “as a thief,”
I see no evidence to prove.
The
vision, of which the 2400 is the time, is styled “the vision of the evening and
the morning,” in allusion to “the daily,” which was offered
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326 .
in
sacrifice every evening and morning under the law. No movement was to take place
for its restoration until the end of a day of 2400 years. That end seems to
have arrived, and with it the end of Daniel’s “time, times, and a dividing of
time,” the 1335 days, and John’s “forty and two months.” I therefore now look
for the advent of Christ, and the resurrection, at any time within the epoch
ending in a very little season.
13. “The Tenth of the City Fell”
Clermont-Tonnerre’s
“Genius of France,” was John’s “Spirit of Life from God.” It was this that
“hurried on the march of the public mind,” and gave it a certain amount of
wisdom for the crisis beyond its experience of ages.
But
the instability of the king, and the infatuation of the court and aristocracy,
proved an obstacle quite insurmountable by a wise moral force, and precipitated
events which threatened, and at length effected, their destruction. Had the
estates of the kingdom been left to their own action, the result would probably
have been in favor of the old abuses; but there were forces exterior to these
orders, vigilantly observing the course of events, and ever ready to shape them
into the direction it was considered they ought to go for the development of
the public good. These forces were famine and the fury of the people worked by
agents invisible and unknown. The parliaments, the nobility, the clergy, the
court, all threatened with the same ruin, had united their interests, and acted
in concert. They were all pervaded with consternation mingled with despair.
Their policy was to have the people commit as much evil as possible, that what
they called good might be brought about by the very excess of that evil. In
promotion, therefore, of this “political pessimism,” compounded of spite and
perfidy, the aristocracy began from the time of the capture of the Bastile to
cooperate with the most violent members of the popular party.
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327
Under
the influence of these antagonist forces, unexpected events would result to the
astonishment and dismay of all parties. The agitation was general. A sudden
terror had spread itself everywhere. On the night between July 14 and 15, Paris
was to be attacked on seven points, and the National Assembly dissolved. The
treachery of the court was revealed by its imprudence, and effectually defeated
by the fury of the people, who stormed the Bastile, July 14, 1789, and caused
the Assembly to triumph over its enemies.
But
the reconciliation was only transitory. The court resumed its pride, and the
people its distrust; and implacable hatred recommenced its course. Atrocious
outrages were committed throughout the whole kingdom, which were rather
increased than pacified by the spontaneous abolition of the feudal system, and
the tithes without redemption. The king, who sanctioned this revolution,
accepted the flattering but unde-served title of “the Restorer of French
Liberty.” His was a struggle of power against liberty; and every concession was
a victory gained by the people, and one step nearer the precipice over which
“the Tenth of the City” was doomed to fall.
Picture not shown
The
Storming of the Bastille in Paris
The
storming of the Bastille is recognized as a decisive incident in the French
Revolution The Bastille, a huge building of eight round towers linked by walls
eighty
feet high , had originally been built as a fortress in the fourteenth century.
Since then it had been used as a state prison for citizens who had been
arrested on political grounds, but were not guilty of an offence punishable
under common law It therefore became a symbol of an intolerable regime by the
common people, who stormed it and took it on 14th July 1789, an
Important date in
Bible prophecy and world history for
it clearly showed to the King and Government the violent
methods
the people were prepared to use to obtain what they considered their rights for
the French Revolution changed the political constitution of Europe and
established the principles of Communism which since then have so dramatically’
affected all counties. - Publishers.
Page 328 .
The work upon which the National
Assembly was now engaged was the New Constitution. “The nation wills, the king
executes:” these were its simple elements, and they imagined that they wished
for a monarchy, because they left a king as the executor of the national
resolve. Real monarchy is the rule of one, to which limits are set by means of
the national concurrence. There the will of the prince in reality does almost
every thing. But the moment the nation can order what it pleases, without the
king having the power to oppose it by a veto, the king is not more than a
magistrate. It is then a republic with one consul instead of several. Such was
the monarchy existing in men’s opinions; and they were republicans without
being aware of it.
But events were too slow for
the impatient populace; for while the court and the aristocracy were
intriguing, and the National Assembly discussing, the people were crying for
bread. The mob determined to go to Versailles, and call the king and Assembly
to account for their hesitation to secure the welfare of the people. From all
quarters was heard the cry of “The king to Paris!” which the aristocracy
proposed to prevent by carrying him off to Metz where, in a fortress, the court
might order what it pleased. All were in commotion. Paris poured forth its thousands,
and attacked the palace of the king, whose foreign mercenaries would have been
massacred but for the interposition of Lafayette. With frightful howlings, the
mob demanded the removal of the royal family to Paris. At length they were
gratified, and the procession started. “I hope,” says Lavallette, “such a scene
will never be witnessed again!” It was the conveyance of the royal
representatives of Charles IX., his Queen-Mother, and Louis XIV., the
sanguinary murderers of the witnesses of Jesus, prisoners of a mob as ferocious
as they, to the place of their future execution. “These madmen, dancing in the
mire and covered with mud, surrounded the king’s coach. The foremost groups
carried on long pikes the bloody heads of the life-guardsmen butchered in the
morning. A group of women, ugly as crime itself, swarming like insects, and
wearing grenadier’s hairy caps, went to and fro, howling barbarous Songs.
Several of these abandoned women, drunk with wine and fury, rode astride upon
the cannon, celebrating by their abominable howlings all the crimes they had
committed or witnessed. Others, near the king’s carriage were singing
allegorical airs, and, by their gross gestures, applying the insulting
allusions in them to the Queen. In the transports of their brutal joy, the
women stopped the passers by, and yelled in their ears, while pointing to the
royal carriage: Courage, my friends; we shall have plenty of bread now that we
have got the baker, the baker’s wife, and the baker’s boy.’ This scene lasted
for eight hours before the royal family arrived at the Place de Greve.
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329
They
alighted at the Hotel de Ville, their first resting-place during protracted
misery, that terminated afterwards in a horrible death. Thus ended the
memorable 6th of October, 1789.”
The
new constitution being finished, it was sworn to by all parties on the
anniversary of the destruction of the Bastile, July 14, 1790. Having concluded
its labors, the National Constituent Assembly was replaced by the Legislative
Assembly. The members of this body were of opinion that enough had not yet been
done. Their minds were incessantly recurring to the idea of a republic. The
National Assembly had changed an absolute monarchical despotism into a
constitutional and very limited monarchy, but the hot-headed republicans of the
new legislature, who occupied the highest benches, and thence denominated The
Mountain, were all-powerful in the clubs and among the populace, and were
determined to be satisfied with nothing short of the abolition of monarchy as
an expensive and useless pageant.
The
policy of the Legislative Assembly was the curtailing of the prerogatives of
Royalty. Its predecessor had already wrested from the king the privilege of
pardoning criminals. It continued the work by decreeing that he should no
longer be addressed by the titles Sire and Your Majesty; and, on August 11,
1792, they suspended him, and formed an Executive Council to exercise his
constitutional functions; and, on August 13, imprisoned him and the rest of the
royal family in the Temple.
The
Legislative Assembly held its first sitting October 1, 1791. It passed 2,140
decrees relative to administration or legislation, and closed its labor without
abolishing monarchy, September21, 1792.
During
the brief reign of this Assembly some very exciting events had transpired in
the history of the King. He considered himself as a prisoner in the hands of
his enemies; more especially since the failure of his attempt to establish
himself and family at Montmady. He had fled with them in disguise from Paris;
but was recaptured at Verennes, whence he was brought back by the populace with
ignominy.
On
June20, 1792, the mob invaded his palace in great tumult and in arms to lay
before him their remonstrance’s. They highly disapproved of his use of the
veto, and demanded that he should sanction the decrees of the Legislative
Assembly against the priests, and for the formation of a camp of 20,000 men,
for the defense of Paris against foreign enemies. But the king, true to the
catholic instincts of his blood-stained dynasty, was indisposed to endorse the
decrees which expelled non-juring priests from France, and demanded a vigorous
prosecution of hostilities against foreign powers, upon whose success against
the revolutionary “earth” he looked for deliverance and restoration to his
former despotic authority. He regarded the revolution as merely a transient
popular movement
Page 330
Pictures
shown on page 330 not shown
On
5th October 1789, some hundreds of women wild with fury through
hunger and frustration seized weapons and marched to Versailles where the King
and his family were staying. They demanded bread, and insisted upon the King
and his family returning to Paris. The above is a contemporary print depicting
them departing on their mission.
The
King arriving at the Hotel de Ville 6th October. He and his family
returned in the royal carriage, but ended on the scaffold of the guillotine.
His death ended an epoch for France for Europe and for the world. Out of the
French Revolution emerged the spirit of communism that has influenced world
politics since
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331
. that would soon be stopped by a few victories of the
invaders. Neither he nor his Queen, Marie Antoinette, could be persuaded of the
truth of Dumouriez’s words, that the movement was “an almost unanimous
insurrection of a mighty nation against inveterate abuses, the flame of which
was fanned by great factions.” “Thus, by a kind of fatality,” says Thiers -
yes, a fatality, apocalyptically registered, decreeing the fall of “the Tenth
of the City” - by this fatality “the supposed intenti6ns of the palace excited
the distrust and fury of the people, and the uproar of the people increased the
anxiety and the imprudence of the palace. Despair therefore reigned within and
without.” Utter detestation of royalty moved the heart of the abyss. “You see
me very sad,” said the Queen to Dumouriez. “I dare not approach the palace
window which looks into the garden. Yesterday evening I went to the window
towards the court just to take a little air. A gunner of the guard addressed me
in terms of vulgar abuse, adding, ‘How I should like to see your head on the
point of my bayonet.’ In this horrid garden-you see on one side a man mounted
on a chair, reading aloud the most abominable calumnies against us; on the
other, a military man or an abbe, dragged through one of the basins,
overwhelmed with abuse, and beaten; whilst others are playing at ball, or
quietly walking about. What an abode! What a people!”
The Girondins,(*) who were enthusiasts
for liberty and philosophy, ruled in the Legislative Assembly. They despaired
of the king’s sincerity. Therefore, having Paris at their back, they determined
to make their party master of the king, and to forestall his suspicious
intentions. Through Roland they declared to the king that “the declaration of
rights is become a political gospel, and the French constitution a religion for
which the people are ready to perish. That all attacks made upon it are but
means of kindling enthusiasm in its behalf. That it was too late to recede, and
that means of temporizing no longer exist. That the Revolution was accomplished
in men’s minds, and would be consummated at the expense of their blood, and
cemented with it, if prudence did not prevent the calamities which it was yet
possible to avoid. Gracious Heaven!” exclaimed they, “hast thou stricken with
blindness the powers of the earth, and are they never to have any counsel but
such as shall
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The
Girondins was a republican, political group that took its name from the Gironde
department from which many of its members came The party dominated the assembly
of 1791 92 when Louis XVI was forced to form a Girondin ministry In the
convention (1792 95) the Girondists advocated moderation, vainly trying to
prevent the execution of the king In June 1793 the party was over thrown and
subsequently its members were dispersed or executed by extremists of the
Mountain (so called from their high position in the assembly) who instituted
the reign of terror The Girondins were opposed by the more extreme Jacobins a
powerful political club which met at the Jacobin convent in Paris. Its
membership was widespread and numerous It reached the height of its power when
the national convention met in 1792, and under the leadership of Robespierre
was mainly responsible for the death of King Louis XVI, the destruction of the
more moderate Girondins, and the reign of terror. The club survived
Robespierre’s fall (July 1794) by only a few months.
Publishers.
.
Page 332 .
lead
them to perdition!”
The
combat had now commenced between the Girondins and the Court - a combat which
was for life or death. Lafayette,(t) who was a constitutionalist, offered to
deliver the king from his enemies by an armed rescue. But the king and queen
refused to be saved by him a sec-ond time, hoping that salvation would come
from the occupation of Paris by Austrian and Prussian troops. The discovery of
Lafayette’s intrigue made the popular party absolutely desperate, and it
resolved to strike a blow at the court before it could carry into execution the
plots of which it was accused.
June
20, 1792, was the insurrection of the Sans Culottes. They bore flags inscribed
with the words, “The Constitution or Death.” Ragged breeches were held up in
the air with shouts of Vivent les sans-culottes! Besides which an atrocious
sign was displayed to add ferocity to the whimsicality of the spectacle. On the
point of a pike was borne a calf s heart, with the inscription, “Heart of an
Aristocrat.” The court had called in the disciplined barbarians of the North,
by which its adversaries were stirred up to call in those other undisciplined
barbarians, who by turns merry and ferocious, abound in the heart of cities,
and remain sunk in depravity amid the most polished civilization. This motley
multitude filed by thousands through the Legislative Hall, and there forcibly
intruded themselves upon the king, whom they compelled to don the red Phrygian
“cap of liberty.” He consented to hear them read their petition. This terrible
lecture of the rabble was listened to amid uproar and shouts, and the
oft-repeated cries of “No Veto,” “No Priests,” “No Aristocrats!” “The Camp near
Paris!”
At
length, in the evening, these unwelcome visitors were persuaded to retire in
peace and order. He was immediately rejoined by his family. Tears flowed
copiously from these royal constituents of “the af-righted remnant” (ch.
11:13). The king, with the red cap still perched on the top of his wig, was
overcome by the scene. Recollecting that the offensive symbol was still there,
he flung it from him with indignation. The Queen perceived tears in the eyes of
M. Thionville, a staunch republican deputy. “You weep,” she said, “to see the
king and his family
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
(t
)The Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) was a French soldier and politician, who fought
for the American colonists in the war of Independence against Britain.
Returning to France , he became the leading figure in the French revolution,
being elected to the states-general (1789) and made commander of the newly
formed National Guard. Horrified by the attacks on the royal family in the
Tuileries in June and August, he attempted to lead his army against Paris.
Denounced as a traitor he crossed into Germany where he was imprisoned until
1797. During the rule of Napoleon he lived in retirement. In 1824~25 he made a
triumphant visit to America; from 1825 he sat in the French chamber of deputies
and in 1830 helped to place Louis Philippe on the throne. It is significant and
appropriate that persecution drove protesters from France to America, from
whence they returned to France to assist in the resurrection of the witnesses
and their elevation to power. -Publishers.
Page
333
treated
so cruelly by a people whom he has always wished to render happy.” “It is true,
Madam,” replied he, “I weep over the misfortunes of a beautiful, tender-hearted
woman and mother of a family. But, do not mistake; there is not one of my tears
for the king or the queen - I hate kings and queens.”
The
attacks against royalty were as yet only indirect. None seemed to be satisfied
with the constitution. One party wished to modify it by the intervention of
foreigners; the other to overthrow it by establishing a republic. The report of
the committees on public affairs was alarming, and caused the Assembly, on July
11, to pronounce the solemn formula: “Citizens, the country is in danger!” The
meaning of this was, that every one should now lay down his life in behalf of
the State. The Revolutionary ardor was excited to the utmost. An universal
phrenzy seized the public mind. The idea of declaring that the king had
forfeited the crown, and of forcing him to abdicate, was regarded as the only
possible remedy for the evils which threatened France. Many departments openly
defied the authority of government, and without any orders sent their
contingents to form the camp near Paris. This was the commencement of the
revolt that overturned “the tenth of the Great City.”
Consternation
pervaded the court, and a new trial of fortitude awaited the king. July 14,
1792, had arrived -the anniversary of the destruction of the Bastille - which
was to be celebrated. An immense tree was planted by “the Earth,” who styled it
“the Tree of Feudalism.” It bore on its branches crowns, blue ribbons, tiaras,
cardinals’ hats, St. Peter’s keys, ermine mantles, doctors’ caps, bags of law
proceedings, titles of nobility, escutcheons, coats of arms, and so forth, and
the king was invited to set fire to it. This, however, he declined, saying
there was no longer any such thing as feudalism. The concourse of rabble, federalists
from the provinces, and troops, was immense. No accident, however, occurred,
and the king returned to the palace, glad at having escaped the dangers, which
he conceived to be great, but alarmed at those he beheld approaching.
Everything
indicated a speedy revolution. The Girondins foresaw and wished for it; but
they did not clearly distinguish the means, and dreaded the issue of it. The
people accused them of indolence and incapacity. They were weary of eloquent
speeches without result, and the leaders of the clubs and sections demanded an
active and concentrated direction, that the popular efforts might not prove
unavailing.
This
demand was supplied by a secret conclave styled the insurrectional committee.
It was composed of Jacobins, who concerted the celebrated insurrection of the
10th of August, ‘92, “which was due,” says Petion, “to the Guardian
Genius which has constantly governed the
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334
destinies of France ever
since the first meeting of its representatives” -“the Spirit of Life from God.”
The plan definitely adopted
was to set the people in motion, repair in arms to the palace, and to depose
the king. On the 3rd of August, Petion, the Mayor of Paris, was
directed to petition the Assembly in the name of the forty-eight sections of
the city, to decree the dethronement of Louis XVI. The crisis was now
approaching. Everything was arranged by the royalists for the king’s flight,
which at the last moment was frustrated by his refusal to fly. A general
agitation pervaded Paris. The drum beat the call in all quarters. The cry, “To
arms!” was raised, and the insurrection proclaimed on the 10th of
August. The dismal sound of the tocsin pervaded the whole extent of the
Capital. At length it reached the palace, proclaiming that the terrible night had
come - that fatal night of agitation and blood - destined to be the last the
monarch should pass in the palace of his ancestors, a sanguinary and cruel
race.
At dawn of day the palace
was besieged by “the Earth,” full of fury against the royal and courtly
representatives of the murderers of the saints and witnesses of Jesus. The king
had with him about nine hundred Swiss mercenaries, and more than one battalion
of the national guard, besides a crowd of hangers-on about royalty. But he
lacked the boldness necessary to use them with effect; and though it is said
that the Queen presented a pistol angrily at him, and said to him, with energy,
“Sire, it is time to show yourself!” it was found impossible to arouse him from
that judicial infatuation sent upon him by the Divine Avenger of his own.
Instead of staying to defend himself in the royal den of Charles IX. who, from
its windows, had glutted his thirst for righteous blood in shooting Huguenot,
men and women, while flying from their murderers in the streets, in 1572 -
Louis took refuge with his family in the midst of the Assembly. Soon after
their arrival, the roar of cannon and the roll of musketry was heard. The
massacre, retaliatory for that of St. Bartholomew ‘s had begun. The resurrected
witnesses were striking terror and dismay into the hearts of their enemies; and
a most sanguinary combat raged. The Marseillais and Bretons, boiling with fury,
rushed forward with ardor, fell in great numbers, but at length made themselves
masters of the palace. The rabbe, with pikes, poured in after them, and the
rest of the scene was one general massacre. They put to death every person
without distinction. Streams of blood flowed everywhere from the roofs to the
cellars. All were butchered alike. It was scarcely possible to set foot
anywhere without treading upon a dead body. Modesty forbids the description of
the mutilation of the slain. Among the perpetrators of these atrocious deeds
were found women! Every comer of the palace was plundered by the mob.
Devastation and death everywhere prevailed.
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335
The butchery did not cease for hours. Carnage
was the revelry of the day; and when “aristocrats” were no longer found, the
rabble continued to drink blood in mutual slaughter; so that the mangled bodies
of the seven hundred and fifty Swiss guards were covered with fresh heaps of
the self-destroyed rabble.
The Assembly anxiously
awaited the issue of the combat. Shouts of victory at length arose from the
populace, intoxicated with joy and fury. They soon filled the Hall, bringing
with them plunder, and the few Swiss prisoners they had spared. The king and
his family, cribbed and confined in the reporters’ box, beheld in these
trophies the ruin of their throne, and the joy of their conquerors. The reward
of victory was the abolition of royalty. The Assembly dared not refuse this.
The celebrated decree was therefore passed to the effect, that
Louis XVI. is, for the time
being suspended from royalty;
A plan of education is
directed for the Prince Royal;
A national convention is
convoked.
The tumult continued to rage
with extreme violence, and, in the opinion of the people it was not sufficient
to have suspended royalty, it behoved them to destroy it. In their petitions
they insisted that the suspension should be changed into dethronement. They
were pacified with the assurance that a convention had been decreed to decide
irrevocably the great question. In the meantime the Royal Family was imprisoned
in the Temple.
Forty days after this event,
Sept.20, the National Convention was constituted at the Tuileries. A new
constitution was to be formed, based upon absolute equality, and the
sovereignty of the people. After certain motions and decrees, the question of
royalty was brought forward. It was insisted that its abolition should be
forthwith pronounced. “The people,” it was said, “had just been declared
sovereign, but it will not be really so till delivered from a rival authority -
that of kings.” The Assembly and the tribunes rose to express their unanimous
reprobation of royalty. Discussion was proposed. “What need is there of
discussion,” it was objected, “when all are agreed? Courts are the hotbed of
crime, the focus of corruption; the history of kings is the martyrology of
nations. Discussion is not needed.”
Profound silence ensued, and
by unanimous desire, the President of the National Convention declared that
ROYALTY WAS ABOLISHED IN France This decree was hailed with universal applause.
It was then proposed not to date 1792 the year 4 of liberty, but the year 1 of
THE RE-PUBLIC. The year 1789, was no longer considered as having commenced
liberty, and the new republican era began on that very day, Sept.22, 1792;
which was 1260 years from Justinian’s delivery of the saints into
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336
the hands of the Supreme Pontiff of the Great City.
14.
Seven Thousand Names of Men
“And
in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were put to death.”
In
the English version this text reads, “were slain of men seven thousand.” This
error has probably crept in through editors not being able to conceive how
names could be slain. They have therefore left onomata, names, out of the text,
without any good reason. In my translation it is restored as indispensable to
the right understanding of the prophecy.
We
have seen how “the Tenth of the City fell” by the concussion of “the Earth.” It
required the shocks of three entire years to level it with the ground. It was
caused to fall by the shaking of “the Earth” in a special sense. It was the
fury of the populace, excited and directed by an in-visible agency, dictating
its will to affrighted assemblies, that overthrew the monarchy. The assemblies
left to themselves would not have found the courage needful for such a work.
Their sympathy was with royalty even after Aug.10. The decree of heaven,
however, could not be circumvented. “The Earth” had no love for the power that
had crushed it in 1685. It hated kings, and all that constituted the pillars of
their thrones. It began its work by throwing down the pillars, and having
removed these, abolished the throne, and ignominiously executed its incumbent.
The
aristocracies and hierarchy of a monarchy are its strongest supports. To these
belong names of divers sorts. The names of aristocracy are the titled orders of
nobility, such as dukes, marquises, counts, and such like, to which are
attached feudal rights, privileges, and immunities, denied to the common
people. Hierarchial names are representative of ecclesiastical orders and
associations, which are known by their titles - monks and priests, orders of
men at once the creatures and supporters of despotism and superstition; the
flatterers of princes, and the spoilers of the common people. To put these
names to death would be to abolish them, both as to their associational
existence, and the titles by which the classes of men, and the individuals of
those classes, were distinguished.
These
names are put down at seven thousand. This is the symbolical number by which
the real number is expressed - a definite totality for an undefined whole; and
equivalent to all orders of monks, priests, and nobles related to the Tenth
Kingdom of the Papal City. Hence, the interpretation of the text is, that “in
the insurrectional agitation of the democracy all the monastic and sacerdotal
orders, together with all
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ranks
and degrees of nobility, should be utterly abolished.” Such is the prophecy;
and we shall find, that in the epoch of the fall of the French Monarchy, the
things predicted were literally and sanguinarily fulfilled.
The
destruction of the Bastille by the mob, and the excesses of the day, were a
warning to the upper classes of their approaching ruin. Consternation, mingled
with despair, pervaded them all. On the 4th of August, 1789, these
disturbances and the means of putting an end to them, were discussed. Two of
the nobility, members of the National Assembly, urged that it would be silly to
employ force to quiet the people: that the right way would be to destroy the
cause of their sufferings, and then the agitation which was the effect of them
would instantly cease. They proposed the abolition of all feudal rights, which
were frightfully oppressive. A sudden paroxysm of disinterestedness seized upon
the Assembly, and everyone hurried to the tribune to renounce his privileges. A
sort of intoxication seized all orders, all classes, all the possessors of
prerogatives of every kind, who sought only to cast them all away. As the
commons had no privileges to give up, they relinquished those of the provinces
and the towns. The equality of rights was thus established between individuals
and all parts of the French territory. The Assembly abolished tithes without
redemption, and decreed the maintenance of the clergy by the State, which was
very humiliating to their pride.
The
feudal system having been abolished, the Assembly proceeded to destroy those
great bodies, or “names,” which were enemies in the state against the state.
The clergy possessed immense property, conferred on them by princes as feudal
grants, or by the pious by way of legacy. Talleyr and, bishop of Autun,
proposed to them to renounce the property of the ecclesiastical benefices in
favor of the nation. The clergy, however, struggled against this proposition,
but without effect. The Assembly decreed that all their possessions were at the
disposal of the state; by which it destroyed their formidable power, and the
luxury of the high dignitaries of the order; and secured those immense
financial resources which so long upheld The Revolution. It declared also, that
it ceased to recognize “religious vows” and restored liberty to all the inmates
of cloisters. “From this moment,” says Mignet: “The hatred of the clergy to the
revolution broke forth. It had been less intractable than the noblesse at the
commencement of the States General, in the hope of preserving its wealth;
afterwards it showed itself not less opposed to the new regime.”
The
exasperated clergy continued to excite disturbances through-out France. They
deemed themselves sacrificed to the creditors of the state. Their property was
ordered to be sold. Rendered desperate by the
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338
loss
of the “filthy lucre” they adored, they circulated writings among the people,
declaring that the plan of the revolutionists or John’s resurrected and
ascended witnesses, was to attack the catholic religion - that great name by
which they had their wealth; and whose functionaries had put them to death.
They neglected no means to awaken the ancient fanaticism of Province and
Languedoc(*). The protestants of these parts excited the envy of the catholics,
whose priests took advantage of the dissension’s to widen the breach. In this
spirit it was proposed in the Assembly to declare, that the catholic religion
was the only religion of the State. An ecclesiastic threatened them with
malediction for intending to abolish the catholic religion. This was denied. In
the course of the debate Louis XIV. was mentioned. “I am not surprised,”
exclaimed Mirabeau, “that reference should be made to the reign in which the
Edict of Nantes was revoked; but consider that, from this tribune whence I
address you, I see that fatal window, where a king (Charles IX.), the murderer
of his subjects, mingling worldly interests with those of religion, gave the
signal for the massacre of St. Bartholomew!” The Assembly refused to make the
declaration. The catholics and protestants had come to blows on the subject in
the south; and the former were repulsed.
But,
while the clergy were filling up the measure of their fathers, the nobles were not
forgotten. On June 19, 1790, it was proposed to abolish the titles of count,
marquis, baron, etc.; to prohibit liveries; in short, to suppress all
hereditary titles. A noble asked what they would substitute for the words,
“Such an one was created count for service rendered to the state?” “Let it
merely be said,” replied Lafayette, “that on such a day such a person saved the
State.” The motion was carried, not-withstanding the extraordinary irritation
of the nobility, which was more galled by the abolition of its titles than by
the more substantial losses which it had sustained since the commencement of
the revolution. The more moderate portion of the Assembly had proposed that, in
abolishing titles, those who chose to retain them, should be at liberty to do
so. Lafayette tried to procure its return for amendment; but the king instantly
gave his sanction, with the disingenuous intention, as some supposed, of
driving things to extremities.
On
July 30, 1791, decorations and orders of knighthood were suppressed; and to
consummate the whole, the titles of Sire and Your Majesty were taken from the
king. The Duke of Orleans assumed the
·
These were provinces in the south of France noted for the relentless
fury by which Catholicism set about destroying the Albigenses, a Protestant
sect. The murder of a Papal legate was followed by a Catholic crusade to
exterminate all members of it. The Inquisition was set to work to accomplish
that aim with fanatical fury. Frightful repressive measures were used with the
utmost ruthlessness, until finally the sect was crushed. - Publishers.
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name
of Egalite, in English, Equality. Thus, all were reduced to an un-distinguished
multitude, having no preeminence to title one above another. Citizett and
citizeness, was the designation common to all the French.
“The
clergy,” says Thiers, “stripped of the immense possessions which had formerly
been given to it, on condition of relieving the poor, whom it did not relieve,
and of performing that worship which it left to be performed by poor curates,
was no longer a political order. But its ecclesiastical dignities were
preserved, its dogmas respected, its scandalous wealth changed into a
sufficient, nay, we may say, an abundant revenue, for it still possessed
considerable episcopal luxury
But
the time had arrived in Nov. 1793, to substitute for the clerical system of
blasphemy, another equally profane. The National Assembly had made the dioceses
and the departments the same, and caused the bishops to be elective like all
other functionaries. This was the civil constitution of the clergy to which
they were obliged to bind themselves by oath. From that day a schism had taken
place. Those who took the oath, were called constitutional priests; and those
who refused so to do, refractory priests. These were condemned by the
Convention to exile.
At
length people began to ask, why, when all the old monarchical superstitions
were abolished, there should yet remain this clerical phantom, in which
scarcely any one continued to believe? With the exception of reducing the pay
of the bishops to the maximum of six thousand francs, the Convention kept
silence upon the subject, leaving France to take the initiative in the
abolition of this GREAT NAME OF SUPERSTITION by which it had been cursed for so
many centuries. What the Convention feared to do, the Commune of Paris, less
reserved, zealously under-took, and set the first example for the abjuration of
the catholic worship of daemonials and idols.
The
dogma of the Commune was, that a nation ought to be governed by reason alone,
and to allow no other worship, but that of reason. If they had gone a little
further, and had said by reason en-lightened by scripture truth, there could be
no objection to the proposition, except from those who knew that the scriptures
of truth and their Systems are at variance. In the name of reason, then, the
leaders of the municipality, Hebert and Chaumette, launched out against the
publicity of the Romish mummery. A resolution was therefore obtained that the
ministers of no religion should be allowed to exercise their worship out of the
temples appropriated to it. Chaumette caused to be instituted new funeral
ceremonies. The friends and relations alone were to accompany the coffin. All
the religious emblems were to be suppressed in the cemeteries, and to be
replaced by a statue of Sleep. Instead of cypress
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340
and
doleful shrubs, the burial-grounds were to be planted with such as were more
cheerful and more fragrant. All the outward signs of the superstition were
entirely abolished. It was also decided that there should not be sold in the
streets “any kind of jugglery, such as holy nap-kins, St. Veronica’s
handkerchiefs, Ecce Homos, crosses, Agnus Deis, virgins, bodies and rings of
St. Hubert, or any powders, medicinal wat-ers, or other adulterated drugs.” The
image of the Virgin was everywhere suppressed, and all the Madonna’s in niches
at the corners of streets were removed to make room for busts of Marat and
Lepelletier(*).
Anacharsis
Clootz, a Prussian baron, and deputy to the National Convention, and who
announced himself as the Orator of the Human Race, cooperated with Chaumette in
incessantly preaching upon the worship of reason. To him deism appeared as
culpable as catholicism it-self. He never ceased to propose the destruction of
tyrants, and of all sorts of gods, declaring that there is no other God but
Nature, no other sovereign but the human race, the people-god; and that it was
now high time to destroy religion, the only obstacle to the happiness of
mankind.
The
hopes of Clootz were all revived by the requisitions of Chaumette. He called
upon Gobel, the constitutional Bishop of Paris. He persuaded him that the
moment had arrived for abjuring, in the face of France, the Catholic Name, of
which he was the Chief Pontiff. Gobel consented to go and abdicate the
episcopacy, and prevailed upon the majority of his vicars to follow his
example.
Accordingly, on November 7, 1793, all the
constituted authorities of Paris accompanied Gobel and all his vicars to the
Convention. Chaumette informed it that the Clergy of Paris had come to pay a
signal and sincere homage to reason. Gobel was then introduced, with a red cap
on his head, and holding in his hand his mitre, his crosier, his cross, and his
ring. Addressing the Assembly, he said: “Born a plebian curate of Porentruy,
sent by my clergy to the first assembly, then raised to the archbishopric of
Paris, I have never ceased to obey the people. I accepted the functions which
that people formerly bestowed on me, and now, in obedience to it, I am come to
resign them. I suffered myself to be made a bishop when the people wanted
bishops. I cease to be so now when the people no longer desire to have any.” He
spoke for himself and all his clergy, who ratified his declaration. Raving laid
down his in-
*Prominent
revolutionaries. Jean Paul Marat (1743-93) brought out a paper, Ami du Peuple
famous for the violence with which it demanded the execution of anyone less
extreme than Marat himself. On 14 July 1793 he was stabbed to death in his bath
by Charlotte Corday. Lepelletier(1760-93) was a deputy of the noblesse who
became president of the parliament of Paris. In the Constituent Assembly he
moved for the substitution of beheading for hanging. His vote for the king’s
death resulted in his assassination by a member of the king’s body-guard on the
eve of the king’s execution (Jan. 20,1793). -Publishers.
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341
Signia
of office, the president replied that the Convention had decreed freedom of
religion; that it had left it unshackled to each sect; that it had never
interfered in their creeds, but it applauded those who, enlightened by reason,
came to renounce their superstitions and their errors.
Several
bishops and curates, members of the Convention, abjured catholicism. These
abdications were nailed with tumultuous applause by the Assembly and the
tribunes. The deputation then retired, and, at-tended by an immense concourse,
proceeded to the Hotel de Ville to receive the congratulations of the Commune.
The
example once given, it was not difficult to excite all the sections of Paris,
and all the communes of the Republic to follow it. The sections all declared
that they renounced the errors of superstition, and acknowledged no other
worship than that of reason. The section of L’Romme-Arme declared that it
acknowledged no other worship than that of truth and reason; no other
fanaticism than that of liberty and equality; no other doctrine than that of
fraternity and of the republican laws decreed
Picture
page 341 not shown
“In
the earthquake seven thousand names of men were put to death” (Rev 11~l3) These
“names of men” related to the titles assumed by the aristocracy and clergy but
which were abandoned during the French Revolution. In 1792 the king was obliged
to condone the burning of the Tree of Feudalism bedecked with symbols of
royalty, aristocracy and the papacy. It was then set
ai1ghtasabonfire.~Publ’shers
Page 342 .
since May 31, 1793. The
section of La Reunion intimated that it would make a bonfire of all the
confessionals and of all the books used by the catholics; and that it would
shut up the church of St. Mary. The section William Tell renounced forever the
worship of error and imposture. That of Mutius Sccevola abjured the catholic
superstition. That of Les Piques that it would adore no other god than the God
of liberty and equality. And that of the Arsenal also renounced the catholic
religion.
“Thus the sections taking
the initiation, abjured the Catholic Name as the established superstition, and
seized its edifices and treasures, as pertaining to the communal domains. A
great number of the departmental communes seized the movable property of the
churches, which they said was not necessary for religion. All the churches were
stripped, and deputations were sent to the Convention with the gold and silver
accumulated in the shrines of saints, or places appropriated to devotion. They
went in procession, and the rabble, indulging in their fondness for burlesque,
caricatured in the most ludicrous manner the ceremonies of catholicism, which
they took as much delight in profaning as they had formerly done in celebrating
them. Men wearing surplices and copes, came singing hallelujahs, and dancing
the Carmagnole, to the bar of the Convention. There they deposited the host or
Wafer-god, the boxes in which it was kept, and the idols of gold and silver.
They made burlesque speeches, and sometimes addressed the most singular
apostrophes to the saint-daemonials themselves. ‘0 you,’ exclaimed a deputation
from St. Denis, ‘0, you instruments of fanaticism; blessed saints of all kinds;
be at length patriots. Rise in mass. Serve the country by going to the mint to
be melted, and give us in this world that felicity which you wanted to obtain
for us in the other.’ Having thus trampled on the saints of Romanism, they
unveiled the busts of Marat and Lepelletier, and pointing to them, said: ‘These
are not gods made by men, but the images of worthy citizens assassinated by the
slaves of kings.’ They then filed off before the Convention, again singing
hallelujahs and dancing the Carmagnole, carried the rich spoils of the altars
to the mint, and placed the busts of the revered Marat and Lepelletier in the
churches, which thenceforth became the temples of a new worship.”
Such was the putting to
death among the “seven thousand Names of men,” of the beast’s “Name of
Blasphemy,” in all the territory of the Tenth of the Great City (Apoc. 13:1).
It was a conflict between reason based upon the “vain philosophy” of Voltaire,
and idolatry sustained by the power of the State. The power had first to be
destroyed, and then the idolatry fall. Unenlightened reason and vain philosophy
were too strong for catholic ghost and relic worship, and therefore it was
destroyed. Thus one abomination was played off against another, and the most
guilty before God was
treated by a base rabble even as contemptible and vile. How admirably the Deity
avenges his own. He cast down the bloody throne of the Bourbons; caused the
royal representatives of the murderers of his saints and witnesses first to be
humbled in the dust and impoverished, then tried for their crimes by “vile
plebeians,” and insultingly condemned, and finally ignominiously guillotined
before the mob; and as the crowning expression of his indignation, exhibited
the symbols, superstition and imposture of his enemies to the contempt of an
awakened world. These were wonderful events, all consequent upon the ascent of
the political witnesses of Jesus “in the cloud;” and an earn-est of that
grander and universal judgment of the Great City, when the Lord God, YAHWEH
ELOHIM. shall arise to exterminate its temporal and spiritual power, and to
bless all nations in their deliverance.
As I have said, the
spiritual bazaars, dedicated to the guardian ghosts of fictitious saints,
called “churches,” were turned into temples for the worship of Deified Reason!
The bazaar, where the archbishops of Paris used to exhibit their spiritual
wares, and dedicated to the ghost the Laodiceans style “Our Lady,” was
converted into a republican edifice called The Temple of Reason. A festival was
instituted to be celebrated there every tenth day as a substitute for the
catholic mummery of Sundays. To this Temple of Reason the mayor, municipal
officers and public functionaries repaired. Here they read the declaration of
the rights of man and the constitutional act, analyzed the news from the army,
and related the brilliant actions which had been performed during the Decade or
past ten days. A mouth of truth was placed in this temple to receive opinions,
censures, advice, that might be useful to the public. These letters were
examined and read every Decade or tenth day; a discourse on morals was
delivered, after which pieces of music were performed, and the ceremonies
concluded with the singing of republican hymns.
“The first festival of
Reason was held with pomp, on Nov.10, 1793. It was attended by all the sections
and constituted authorities. A young woman, the wife of a printer, personated
the Goddess of Reason. She was draped in white, and a mantle of azure blue hung
from her should-ers, and her flowing hair was covered with the cap of liberty.
She sat upon an antique seat, entwined with ivy, and borne by four citizens.
Young girls, robed in white and crowned with roses, preceded and followed the
deified rival of the catholic Queen of Heaven. Then came the busts of the
sanguinary Marat and the regicide Lepelletier (assassinated by a soldier
because he had voted the death of Louis XVI.), with musicians, troops, and all
the armed sections. Speeches were delivered, and hymns sung, upon which they
left the Temple of Reason and presented
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themselves
before the Convention.
“Legislators!”
said Chaumette. “Fanaticism has given way to reason. Its bleared eyes could not
endure the brilliancy of the light. This day an immense concourse has assembled
beneath the Gothic vaults, which, for the first time, reechoed the truth. There
the French have celebrated the only true worship - that of liberty, that of
reason. There we have formed wishes for the prosperity of the arms of the
republic. There we have abandoned inanimate idols (the images of saints) for
reason, for that animated image, the masterpiece of nature,” - pointing to the
printer’s wife, the new-made goddess of reason. This young and brazen beauty
then descended from her seat, and went up to the presiding Jupiter of the
Convention, who gave her the fraternal kiss amidst universal bravos and shouts
of the Republic forever! Reason forever! Down with fanaticism! This farce being
over, the procession, accompanied by the reluctant Convention, returned to the
Temple of Reason, sang a patriotic song, and dismissed.
15.
“The Rest Were Terrified”
The
rest, styled in the text hoi loipoi, the others not of the titled and
privileged orders, became terrified. These terrified people composed that inert
and patient part of the population of France, on which political experiments
were being made. They were the swinish multitude of catholicism, which still
clung to the worship of demonials and the works of men’s hands. The refractory
priests were the living deities of these terrified heirs of capture and
destruction. In this great judgment the Deity of Heaven first smote “the world
rulers of the darkness, and their spirituals of the wickedness in the heavenlies;”
He was now about to descend in terrorism upon the guilty devotees of blasphemy,
who in a past generation had lent a willing hand in slaying His witnesses, and
suppressing their enlightening testimony.
The
wicked are Deity’s sword for vengeance upon blasphemers of His word and Name,
until the time come to give the execution of judgment into the hands of the
saints. We need not, therefore, be surprised at finding among his political
witnesses and avengers such men as Marat, Danton, Robespierre, St. Juste,
surnamed “the Apocalyptic,” and such like. If He did not employ “the basest of
men” to execute terrifying vengeance upon guilty nations, how would such have
been punished during the past eighteen centuries? If nations will “blaspheme
His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in the heaven;” if they will
persist in upholding spiritual impostures, and in making His word of none
effect by their absurd and impious traditions, they must be
punished
as nations; and, as real, scriptural, saints are so scarce, the vengeance of
Samuel upon Agag must be in the meantime executed by wicked men as the blind
instruments of His will.
A
terrified people implies the existence of terrifiers; and that these terrorists
were Stronger than the terrified. The history of the period is in rigid harmony
with this implication. The retributive and righteous providence of Deity, by
successive shocks of the great earthquake, had brought the besotted worshippers
of the daemonials and idols under what has been styled by eminence “THE REIGN
OF TERROR.” This power was more terrific than any that has oppressed society
since the flood. The twenty-five millions of affrighted catholic French “dared
no longer express any opinion. They were afraid to visit their friends lest
they might be compromised with them, and lose liberty and even life. A hundred
thousand arrests, and hundreds of condemnations, rendered imprisonment and the
scaffold ever present to their minds. They had to bear heavy taxes. Sometimes
they had to give up their crops, or their most valuable effects in gold and
silver. They durst no longer display any luxury, or indulge in noisy pleasures.
They were no longer permitted to use metallic money, but obliged to take and
give a depreciated paper, with which it was difficult to procure such things as
they needed. They were forced, if storekeepers, to sell at a fictitious price;
if buyers, to put up with the worst commodities. They had but one sort of black
bread, common to the rich as to the poor, for which they were obliged to
con-tend at the doors of the bakers, after waiting for several hours. Never had
power overthrown with greater violence the habits of a people. It threatened
all lives, decimated all fortunes, fixed compulsorily the standard of the
exchanges, gave new names to all things, and abolished with insult the
superstition of the ‘terrified’.”
This
terrible power that blindly avenged the saints, found vent through the Jacobins
of the Mountain. Of these, the most terrible was Marat. He was born of
Calvinist parents, with a hideous face, and head monstrously dis-proportioned
to his size. He had a daring mind, an un-governable imagination, a vindictive
temper, and the heart of a tiger. In the period of the earthquake, his natural
enthusiasm rose to delirium, in which he preached upon revolt, murder, and
pillage. In one of his speeches he said, “Massacre 270,000 partisans of the
former order of things.” “His political exhortations,” says Sir Walter Scott,
“began and ended like the howl of a blood-hound for murder. It was blood which
was Marat’s constant demand; not in drops from the breast of an individual, not
in puny streams from the slaughter of families; but blood in the profusion of
an ocean.” “None exercised a more fatal influence upon the period in which he
lived. To him was owing the idea realized at
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a later period - the
extermination of multitudes. He regarded the French as paltry revolutionists.
‘Give me,’ said he, ‘two hundred Neapolitans, the knife in their right hand, in
their left a muff, to serve for a shield, and with these I will traverse
France, and complete the Revolution.’ It was necessary, he asserted, to strike
off several thousand heads, and to destroy all the aristocrats, who rendered
liberty impossible. Under this name he included royalists, constitutionalists,
and Girondins; and that none might escape, it was only necessary to fall upon
those who had carriages, servants, silk clothes, and who were coming out of the
theatres. All such were assuredly aristocrats. This pitiless avenger was
supported by Danton, Robespierre, and others like them; sat in the National
Convention as a member of the Mountain,(*) presided over the Society of
Jacobins, and was ultimately deified in this carnival of blood.
“Marat was abhorred by his
colleagues; but they did not abhor making use of him. They placed him in their
midst, they put him in their van, they bore him as it were upon their breasts,
like a head of Medusa. As the horror of such a man was everywhere, you fancied
that you perceived him everywhere; you almost imagined,” said Garat, “that he
was the whole Mountain, or that the whole Mountain was, as it were, he. Among
the leaders, in fact, there were several who found no other fault of the
misdeeds of Marat, but that they were too undisguised.”
From this class of agents
issued the sanguinary terror by which “the rest were affrighted.” After it had
prostrated the Tenth Throne of the Great City, it filled the prisons with
crowds of suspected sympathizers with royalty and the recent order of things.
These arrests were made by the police under the direction of Marat, “whose name
alone,” says Petion, “strikes terror into the souls of all peaceable citizens.”
A rumor was started that there was a plot to liberate all the prisoners, who
were then to spread themselves through Paris, to commit all sorts of excesses,
and to carry off the king. Apprehensive of this, the secret directory caused
the alarm gun to be fired, and the tocsin to be sounded. The mob collected,
broke into the prisons, and, on September 2, 1792, began a work of carnage
which continued for several days. Twenty-four priests were sent to the Abbaye
for refusing to take the oath to the constitution. On descending from the
coaches to enter the prison, they were immediately pierced by a thousand
weapons, amidst the howls of an infuriated populace. Led by Maillard, they
rushed to the church of the Carmelites, where they butchered two hundred
priests of the Catholic Baal who had been confined there.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*This was the name given to the Governing group of the States
General, because lifted up above the others. - Publishers.
Being refreshed with wine, they returned to the Abbaye. There
they organized a criminal tribunal, of which Maillard was the terrible
president. A list of the prisoners was placed before him. They were brought out
in order and questioned. When he pronounced the words, “Sir, to La Force!” he
was passed out at the gate, supposing that he was being transferred to that
prison. But, when the door closed upon him, he was suddenly hewn to pieces by
the swords of the party posted there.
“Terror,” was proclaimed to
be “the order of the day,” and a secret authority overawed that which was
public. The massacre continued through the night. Amidst this carnage, however,
they spared some victims, and manifested inconceivable joy in giving them their
lives. A young man, declared pure from aristocracy, was acquitted with shouts
of “Vive Ia nation!” and borne in triumph in the bloody arms of the
executioners. The Governor of the Invalides was sentenced to La Force.
Perceiving him from the prison, his daughter rushed out amongst pikes and swords,
and, with piteous supplications, besought them to spare him. Handing her a pot
of human blood, “Drink, then,” said they, “the blood of the aristocrats!” She
drank - and her father was saved.
“After thirty hours of
carnage,” says Peltier, “sentence was passed on Cazotte. The instrument of
death was already uplifted; and bloody hands were stretched out to pierce his
aged breast. His daughter, seizing him round the neck, exclaimed, ‘You shall
not get at my father till you have forced your way through my heart.’ The pikes
were instantly checked, and a shout of pardon was raised by a thousand voices.
Elizabeth embraced the murderers; and, covered with human blood, but
triumphant, proceeded to lodge her father safe in the midst of his family.”
Another of the few capriciously saved was escorted home with great attention by
these Avengers. Dripping with blood, they begged leave to witness the joy of
his family, and immediately after returned to the carnage. “In this convulsive
state,” says M. Thiers, “all the emotions succeeded each other in the heart of
man. By turns, a miland ferocious animal, he weeps and then slaughters. Steeped
in blood, he is all at once touched by an instance of ardent affection or of
noble firmness. He is sensible to the honor of appearing just, to the vanity of
appearing up-right or disinterested.”
During this terrific night,
the avengers had divided and carried destruction into the other prisons of
Paris. Like massacres were perpetrated, and blood flowed in streams.
Consternation pervaded all Paris. The slaughter of the four hundred and fifty
prophets of Baal by the command of Elijah was nothing in comparison. The
members of the Commune declared that the people had been just; that they had
punished criminals only; and that, in their vengeance, if they had done wrong,
it
Page 348
Pictures page 348 not shown
The climax of the Reign of Terror was the execution of the
King, and later the Queen, by beheading. The Guillotine was invented by Dr.
Guillotin, a deputy of the States General, who claimed that it swiftly and
comparatively painlessly executed criminals. It could not work quick enough
during the Reign of Terror, when over one million people were put to death
within a short time. Publishers.
During the Reign of Terror the
guillotine became almost a diabolical machine of perpetual motion, to the point
where a contemporary print (left)
represented Robespierre - the
main instigator of the Terror - having executed all others, guillotining the
executioner! Actually, Robespierre
himself was guillotined on July
28, 1794, in one of the culminating acts of the Terror. - Publishers.
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349
was merely by anticipating
the sword of the law. The only place pre-erved from attack was the Temple,
against the royal inmates of which the popular fury was particularly excited;
so that, for six hours, it was very doubtful whether they would be massacred or
not.
The Bicetre Hospital was the
scene of the longest and bloodiest carnage. This prison was the receptacle of
every vice; it was an hospital, also, for the foulest and most afflicting
diseases. It was the sink of Paris. The avengers of crime put every creature
there to death. Not less than 6000 were slain during the eight days and nights
of the slaughter. Pikes, swords, and muskets not being expeditious enough,
recourse was had to cannon. A long and deadly resistance was made by the
victims, but they were all eventually slain. During the three days of
slaughter, about eight thousand prisoners were mercilessly put to death.
The prisons having been thus
cleared by fire and sword, the terrorists began to fill them again by new
arrests founded upon suspicions of incivism. While operating in Paris,
terrorist commissioners were dispatched to the departments to exhort them to
imitate the Sanguinary example of the Capital. Collot d’Herbois, surnamed the
Tiger, was almost equal to Marat. When he departed for Lyons, he protested that
the South should be soon purified. He employed a column of the revolutionary
army, with cannon, to make up for the slowness of the guillotine. Freron
displayed extreme activity and zeal in the work of death. He pro-claimed the
purpose of raising Toulon to the ground. Writing to Bayle, he says: “Things go
on well here; every day since our arrival we have caused two hundred heads to
fall, and already eight hundred Toulonese have been shot”. Eight thousand
Toulonese assembled in the Champs de Mars. The commissioners were shocked at
the sight of this multitude of victims. Freron himself was terrified. A great
number of the most guilty were instantly shot. The musketry shooting being
insufficient, they afterwards had recourse to cannon. In another execution of
this nature, in order to dispatch the victims who had not perished by the first
discharge, Freron cried out, “Let those who are still living rise; the republic
pardons them.” Some arose, when he caused them to be immediately fired upon. On
quitting Toulon, he went to finish the depopulation of Marseilles. Here they
destroyed more than four hundred persons by a criminal tribunal; and caused
some of its finest buildings to be demolished.
“Wearied with the slow
operation of the guillotine,” says Alison, “they destroyed their prisoners in
masses by firing at them with grapeshot.” In La Vendee, the noyades became
celebrated: men and women, in vessels full or in couples, being there drowned
by the victorious avengers, and the noyades called Republican Baptism and
Repub-
Page 350
lican
Marriage. At Pillau, they roasted women and children in a heated oven. In these
horrors, one regiment assumed to itself the title of Infernal. Altogether, the
massacres during the Reign of Terror are reckoned at 1,022,351. Thus were
avenged the 75,000 slain in France, A.D. 1572; the unnumbered thousands slain
in the anti-witness war; the 100,000 destroyed at their political death; and
the 800,000, or 1,000,000 ruined exiles of 1685. The kings of France are
computed to have put to death in torments a million of the witnesses for Jesus
under the Satanic inspiration of the Romish priests. Can we, then, in reading
the horrors perpetrated in the Reign of Terror, and which principally fell upon
the clergy and their adherents, forbear to exclaim, “Righteous art thou, 0
Lord, who art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus: for they
have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to
drink; for they are worthy. True and righteous are thy judgments!” (Apoc.
16:5).
The
Terrorists were the sword and scourge of Deity upon the guilty. They were
raised up by Him to retaliate upon the king, court, nobility, priests, and
people, the murders and crimes of every sort, which had accumulated upon their
heads until his long-suffering was exhausted. The nation was paralyzed, as well
as astounded and affrighted. It was the Terrorists that condemned the king and
queen to lose their heads, by which they broke definitively with royalty and
all thrones; and afterwards destroyed the Girondins for their want of zeal in
the regeneration of France by the guillotine. This was the overthrow of all
legality, and the establishment of the Terrible Dictatorship, developed in the
Committee of Public Welfare.
From
May 31, 1793, commence scenes a hundred times mole awful and more terrible than
the massacres of the prisons of Paris. La Vendee, the stronghold of the
priests, was all fire and blood. Their forces were styled, “the royal and
catholic armies.” The partisans of absolute power were simultaneously lifting
up their heads for a grand rally against the Revolution. The conflict that
ensued resulted in the establishment of the Committee of Public Welfare, which
was absolute master of the situation, being empowered to send the people either
to the field of battle, to the scaffold, or to prison; and, for the defence of
the Revolution, was possessed of a sovereign and terrible dictatorship. The
judgment-seat of this fearful committee was the Revolutionary Tribunal, whose
institution was caused by Danton. Its familiars pervaded the land, and all the
great cities of France experienced its vengeance. “THE MOUNTAINS” was now in
the ascendant - it ruled with terror in the heaven into which it had ascended
when called up thither by the “great voice,” or edict of the king. The ruling
power in the Mountain was Robespierre and the
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351
Jacobins.
The Committee and Tribunal were directed by them; and however great their
vengeance upon nobles, priests, the rich, and their adherents, greater
vengeance was soon to be displayed in Paris. It is a remarkable fact, that the
cities and districts where the blood of the saints and witnessing prophets of
Jesus had been poured out most abundantly and with the greatest barbarity,
suffered the most horribly in the Reign of Terror. After the decapitation of
Marie Antoinette and the Girondins, the sword of execution had no rest. All
that was considered most noble and most generous was perishing either by
suicide or by the blade of the executioner. “The whole country seemed one vast
conflagration of revolt and vengeance. The shrieks of death were blended with
the yell of the assassin and the laughter of buffoons.”
In
conclusion, under this head, I remark, in the words of Alison, that, after
April, 1794, “one only power now remained
alone, terrible, irresistible. This was the power of Death, wielded by a
faction (of which Robespierre was chief), steeled against every feeling of
humanity, dead to every principle of justice. In their iron hands order resumed
its sway from the influence of terror; obedience became universal from the
extinction of hope. Silent and unresisted, they led their victims to the
scaffold, dreaded alike by the soldiers who crouched, the people who trembled,
and the victims who suffered. The history of the world has no parallel to the
horrors of that long night of suffering!”
16.
“And they gave Glory to the Deity of the Heaven”
This
was the last demonstration of “the Earth” in its extraordinary agitations. In
the prophecy four things are particularly noted as charac-teristic of the Great
Earthquake which consummated the Sixth Trumpet, or Second Woe, namely:
1. The Fall of the Tenth of the City;
2. The putting to death of Seven Thousand Names
of Men;
3. The affrighting of the Rest; and
4. The Ascription of Glory to the Deity of the
Heaven.
These four characteristics have
met in no other revolution of past ages than in that of the French Epoch from
A.D. 1789 to A.D. 1794. It was the earnest of what is yet to come on a grander
scale when the whole of the spiritual Sodom and Egypt, that is of the Great
Papal City with all its kingdoms, or Tenths, and all its clerical and
aristocratic orders, Romish, Protestant, and Greek, shall be destroyed; not by
“the Earth,” how ever, but by the Cloud-Invested Angel of the Bow. There will
be this difference in the executing of the judgment by the saints. Their
judgment will be more sanguinary and terrific; but in executing it, they will
be guiltless of personal crimes. They will execute judgment in righteous-
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352
ness.
This was not the judgment executed by Marat, Fouquier, Tinville, Collot
d’Herbois, Robespierre, and the like. These were blood-thirsty villains, who,
in blindly punishing the blasphemous worshippers of saint-ghosts, relics, and
images, aristocratic, clerical, and plebeian, accumulated upon their own heads
heaps of trespasses, that could only be canceled by the blood of the
transgressors. They were thieves, adulterers, whoremongers, murderers,
hypocrites, and atheists. These were the characters that flourished in the work
of French regeneration as they styled it and were always babbling about virtue,
integrity, fraternity, justice, and so forth; to all of which, in a scriptural
sense, they were utter strangers. Nevertheless, they were not worse than the
creatures they put to death. They were the mire and dirt of society which is
itself infected and foul; and when stirred up from its lowest depths, throws
upon its surface its putrefaction’s. In the reign of death, these were swept
into the common sewer of headless humanity. The guillotine, which they termed
“holy,” was just and impartial in its vengeance; so that those who worked at it
with revolutionary fury, were themselves at length compelled to pay justice
with their lives.
As
we have seen, in the total abolition of the names of men, the CATHOLIC NAME was
abolished also. The destruction of this name in France was, in effect, to the
glory of God; although its ruin was by the agency of a set of dissolute,
fanatical, atheists. But these creatures mar-red the good work by decreeing
likewise, that there was no Supreme Being, who was before all things, who made
all things, and by whose power all things are sustained. “The fool has said in
his heart, There is no God.” The denial of Deity, and the deification of
Reason, was, therefore, the work of fools. The prime movers of this blasphemy,
however, were soon afterwards sent to the guillotine, which silenced their
folly for ever.
‘[he
proclamation of the Parisian authorities denying the existence of Deity was
exceedingly offensive to the deists of the Committee of Public Welfare and the
Convention. The former had paid homage to moral ideas by making “integrity,
justice, and all the virtues, the order of the day;” it could not, therefore,
tolerate the atheistic deification of reason, which made such order impossible.
“They beheld anarchy,” says M. Thiers, “rejecting all belief in God, effeminacy
and corruption rejecting all idea of order, mental delirium rejecting all idea
of morals. They then conceived the republic as virtue assailed by all the bad
passions at once. The word virtue was everywhere: they placed justice and
integrity upon the order of the day. It yet remained for them to proclaim the
belief in God, the Immortality of the Soul, all the moral creeds; it yet
remained for them to make a solemn declaration, to declare, in short,
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353
the
Religion of the State. They resolved, therefore, to pass a decree upon the
subject. In this manner they should oppose order to the anarchists, faith in
God to the Atheists, and morals to the dissolute. Their system of virtue would
be complete. The deistical committee made it above all a particular point to
remove from the republic the stigma of impiety with which it was branded
throughout all Europe. They resolved to say what is always said to priests who
accuse you of impiety because you do not believe in their dogmas - WE BELIEVE
IN
GOD.”
The
deistical dictators “had other motives for adopting a grand measure in regard
to religion. The ceremonies of the new worship of reason had been abolished;
festivals were required for the Decades or Tenth Days; and it was deemed of
importance, when attending to the moral and religious wants of the people, to
think of their wants of the imagination, and to furnish them with subjects of
public meetings. Be-sides, the favorable condition of public affairs caused
them to deem the moment most favorable for prostrating the republic at the feet
of the Al-mighty. The occasion was grand and touching for those who believed.
It was seasonable for those who merely complied with political ideas.”
“Let
us remark,” continues M. Thiers, “one singular circumstance. Sectaries, for
whom there existed no human convention that was respectable (so he designates
the political witnesses of Jesus; and truly affirms, that for the witnesses of
both classes, there doth exist no human convention that is respectable) who,
from the extraordinary contempt in which they held all other nations and the
esteem with which they were filled for themselves, dreaded no opinion, and were
not afraid of wounding that of all the world; who, in matters of government had
reduced everything to just what was absolutely necessary; who had admitted no
other authority but that of a few citizens temporarily elected; who had not
hesitated to abolish the most ancient and most stubborn of all religions- the Romish;
such sectaries paused before two ideas, morality and faith in God. After
rejecting all those ideas from which they deemed it possible to release man,
they remained under the sway of the two last, and sacrificed a party to each
idea. If some of them did not believe, they nevertheless all felt a want of
order among men, and for the support of this human order, the necessity of
acknowledging in the universe a general and intelligent order. This is the
first time in the history of the world that the dissolution of all the
authorities left society a prey to the government of purely systematic minds,
and those minds which had outstripped all the received ideas adopted, retained
the ideas of morality and faith in God. This example is unparalleled in the history
of the world: it is singular, it is grand, it is beautiful: history cannot help
pausing to remark
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354
it.
M.
Thiers did not know that he was pausing to remark upon an event that had been
predicted eighteen centuries before by the Exile of Patmos - by that beloved
companion of Jesus, who had distinctly spoen of these so-called “sectaries;”
and expressly declared that they should do that “singular, grand, and
beautiful” thing, of pausing before the idea of faith in God, in “giving glory
to the God of the heaven” in the throes of a grand convulsion, that should
abolish monarchy, the names of men, and “the most stubborn of all religions.”
It was an event which no historian of repute could venture to ignore.
Robespierre
was reporter on this interesting occasion. He was the head of the Committee of
Public Welfare, was consulted on all matters, and spoke only on important
occasions. For him,” says M. Thiers, “were reserved the high moral and
political questions, as more worthy of his talents and his virtue. The duty of
reporter on the question belonged to him of right. None had spoken out more
decidedly against atheism, none was so venerated, none had so high a reputation
for purity and virtue, none, in short, was so well qualified by his ascendancy
and his dogmatism for this sort of pontificate.
Picture
page 354 not shown
ROBESPIERRE
(1758-94). The
famous revolutionary
leader known as “The Incorruptible”. is identified with “The Reign of
Terror”. He was an extreme fanatic, and mainly responsible for the execution of
the King. After Mirabeau’s death his power and influence increased, and he was
elected a member of the Committee of Public Safety in 1793. As a leader of the
extreme Jacobin party, he bitterly opposed the Girdonists (the more moderate group), and was
responsible for the execution of its leaders after a mere mockery of a trial.
Robespierre aimed at a dictatorship of Republican France, but in spite of his
status, was unable to control the terror he had unleashed. His tyrannical
attitude antagonised members of his own party who rose against him. He was
arrested, and after a brief trial, was condemned to death. He was guillotined
with others on July 28, 1794.
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355
“On
May 7, 1794, about ten weeks before he lost his head, he addressed the National
Convention upon the subject of ‘giving glory to the God of the heaven.’ He was
listened to with profound attention. He justly observed, that it was not as the
authors of systems that the representatives of the nation ought to discourage
atheism and to proclaim DEISM, but as legislators seeking what principles are
most suitable to man in a state of society. In the eyes of the legislator, all
that is beneficial to the world and good in practice, is truth. The idea of the
Supreme Being and of the immortality of the soul is a continual recall of
justice; it is therefore social and republican.”
In
his address he strove to counteract the idea that, in proclaiming the worship
of the Supreme Being, the government was laboring for the benefit of the
priests. “What is there in common,” said he, “between the priests and God? The
priests are to morality what quacks are to medicine. How different is the God
of Nature from the God of the priests! I know nothing that so nearly resembles
atheism as the religions which they have framed. By grossly misrepresenting the
Supreme Being, they have annihilated belief in him as far as lay in their
power. The priests have created a God after their own image: they have made him
jealous, capricious, greedy, cruel, and implacable: they have confined him in
heaven as in a palace, and have called him to earth only to demand of him, for
their own interest, tithes, wealth, honors, pleasures, and power. The real temple
of the Supreme Being is the universe; his worship, virtue; his festivals, the
joy of a great nation, assembled in his presence to knit closer the bonds of
universal fraternity, and to pay him the homage of intelligent and pure
hearts.”
He finished his report amidst the warmest applause, and proposed the
following decree, which was adopted by acclamation:
“Art.
1. The French people acknowledges the existence of the Supreme Being and the
Immortality of the Soul.
“Art.
2. It acknowledges that the worship most worthy of the Supreme Being is the
practice of the duties of man.”
A
solemn festival was ordered for June 8. The decree was read at a meeting of the
Jacobins, who caused an address to be drawn up, and presented to the Convention
by a deputation of their body. Their address concluded thus: “The Jacobins come
this day to thank you for the solemn decree that you have just issued; they
will come and join you in the celebration of that great day on which the
festival of the Supreme Being shall assemble the virtuous citizens throughout
all France to sing the hymn of virtue.” To this the president replied: “It is
worthy of a society which fills the world with its renown, which enjoys so
great an influence upon public opinion, which has associated at all times with
all the
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356
most courageous of the
defenders of the rights of man, to come to the temple of the laws to pay homage
to the Supreme Being.”
A member of the Committee,
named Couthon, then made a violent speech against atheists and corrupt men; and
concluded by proposing on that solemn day of joy and gratitude to declare that
ever since the commencement of the Revolution, the Jacobins had not ceased to
deserve well of the country. This suggestion was adopted amidst thunders of
applause. The Convention broke up in transports of joy, nay, indeed, in a sort
of intoxication.
Congratulatory addresses to
the Convention for proclaiming belief in the Supreme Being were very numerous.
“The contagion of ideas and words,” says M. Thiers, “spread with extraordinary
rapidity among the French. Among a prompt and communicative people the idea
that engages some few minds soon engages the attention of the public generally;
the word that is in some mouths is soon in all. Addresses poured in from all
parts, congratulating the Convention on its sublime decree, thanking it for
having established virtue, proclaiming the worship of the Supreme Being, and
restored hope to man. The section of Marat of Paris, appearing at the bar,
addressed the assembly, saying: ‘0 beneficent Mountain! protecting Science!
accept also our expressions of gratitude and congratulation for all the sublime
decrees which thou art daily issuing for the happiness of mankind. From thy
boiling bosom darted the salutary thunderbolt, which, in crushing atheism,
gives us genuine republicans the consolatory idea of living free, in the sight
of the Supreme Being, and in expectation of the immortality of the soul.’
“From that day, the words
virtue and Supreme Being were in every mouth. Instead of the inscription, To
REASON, placed on the fronts of the temples, there was now inscribed, To THE
SUPREME BEING.”
The day fixed for the
festival in honor of the Supreme Being at length arrived. The principal part in
the performance was unanimously assigned to Robespierre, whom his colleagues
strove to flatter and to soothe by dint of honors. Vast preparations had been
made, and the fes-tival was to be magnificent. The multitude had collected, and
after a considerable time, Robespierre appeared in the midst of the Convention.
He was dressed with extraordinary care. His head was covered with feathers, and
in his hand he held, like all the representatives, a bunch of flowers, fruit,
and ears of corn. In his countenance, usually so gloomy, beamed a cheerfulness
that was uncommon to him. An amphitheater was erected in the centre of the
garden of the Tuileries. This was occupied by the Convention; and on either
side were several groups of boys, men, aged persons, and females. The boys wore
wreaths of violets, the youths of myrtle, the men of oak, the aged people of
ivy and
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357
olive. The men held their
daughters by the hand, and carried baskets ot flowers. Opposite to the
amphitheater were figures representing Atheism, Discord, Selfishness. These were
destined to be burned. As soon as the Convention had taken its place, the
ceremony was opened with music. The president then delivered a first discourse
on the object of the Festival. “Republican Frenchmen!” said he, “the ever
fortunate day which the French people dedicated to the Supreme Being is at
length arrived. Never did the world which He created, exhibit a spectacle so
worthy of His attention. He has beheld tyranny, crime, and imposture reigning
on earth. He beholds at this moment a whole nation as-sailed by all the
oppressors of mankind, suspending the course of its heroic labors, to lift its
thoughts and its prayers towards the Supreme Being, who gave it the mission to
undertake and the courage to execute them.”
After proceeding in this
manner for a few minutes, he descended from the amphitheater, and seizing a
torch, set fire to the figures of Atheism, Discord and Selfishness. From amidst
their ashes rose the statue of Wisdom, blackened by the flames from which it
issued. Robespierre returned to his place, and delivered a second speech on the
extirpation of the vices leagued against the Republic. After this first
ceremony, the Assembly set out in procession for the Field of Mars. The pride
of Robespierre seemed redoubled, and he affected to walk very far before his
colleagues. But some indignantly approached, and lavished upon him the keenest
sarcasm’s. Some laughed at the new pontiff, and said, in relation to his smoky
statue of Wisdom, that his wisdom was darkened. Others uttered the word “tyrant,”
and exclaimed that there were still Brutuses. A deputy addressed to him the
prophetic words: “The Tarpeian rock is close to the Capitol.”
The procession at length
reached the Champs de Mars. There arose a lofty mount, on the summit of which
was a tree, beneath whose boughs the Convention seated itself. On each side of
the mount the different groups of boys, old men, and women, took their places.
A symphony commenced; the groups then sang stanzas, alternately answering one
another; at length, on a given signal, the youths drew their swords, and swore
to the elders to defend their country; the mothers lifted their infants in
their arms; all present raised their hands towards heaven, and the oath to
conquer was mingled with the homage paid to the Supreme Being. They then
returned to the garden of the Tuileries, and the Festival concluded with public
diversions.
Such was the famous festival
in which “they gave glory to the Deity of the Heaven” - a glory or homage based
on the abolition of the Catholic worship of the Roman God, “the deity of the
earth,” before
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whom
they had stood witnessing in sackcloth over twelve centuries. The “they” who
gave the glory were the constituted authorities in the republican heaven, and
who had been unwittingly invited up thither by the royal edict, and had
ascended to their sovereign position “in the cloud.” They were as impious,
sanguinary and cruel as “Yahweh’s Anointed Shepherd,” Cyrus, and “his
sanctified ones,” the Medes and Persians, who ravished wives, spoiled houses,
had no pity on the fruit of the womb, dashed children to pieces, and destroyed
adults without mercy. This was the spirit that inspired Robespierre and his
colleagues of the Convention and its committees, who all figured in this
festival. On the days preceding and following that on which they were giving
glory to the Supreme power of the heaven, they sent forty-three victims to the
guillotine. Some of his colleagues did not like the festival. They said it had
alienated many minds. and that those ideas of the Supreme Being, of the
Immortality of the Soul, and those pompous ceremonies, looked like a return to
the superstition of former times, and were likely to give a retrograde impulse
to the Revolution. Robespierre was irritated by these remarks, and insisted
that he never meant to make the revolution retrograde, but had done everything
to accelerate its course; in proof of which he had drafted a law to make the
Revolutionary tribunal still more sanguinary. The law was passed, and in the
forty-nine days succeeding the festival 1386 victims lost their heads on no
other ground than suspicion. We are not, therefore, to suppose that the glory
given commended the actors in the festival to Deity. John merely predicted it
as an event that would obtain in the great earthquake, and as a sign by which
that revolutionary crisis might be known to be the epoch of the ascent of the
TERRIBLE WITNESSES against the Romish Idolatry to power.
THE
THIRD WOE
“The Second Woe has passed away; behold, the Third Woe comes immediately.”
The
fifth trumpet, which summoned the Saracens against the Greek division of the
Catholic Apostasy, was the first woe, and the sixth trumpet, which sounded
forth the four angel-powers to put to death the Greek Catholic dominion, was
the second woe. This was not only to extinguish this dominion, but to torment
with a terrible testimony the world rulers and spirituals of the European
Commonwealth in church and state, symbolized in the prophecy by “the beast with
seven heads and ten horns.” Hence, the judgments of the Second Woe were widely
diffused over the whole of the Great City from the Euphrates to the Danube,~the
Rhine, and the ocean. They began their desolating career A.D. 1062, and
continued in their work of death upon the worshippers
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359
of
the Demonials and Catholic Idols, until the demonial worship was destroyed in
France, and its national homage transferred from the Roman “God of the earth”
to “the Deity of the heaven,” A.D. 1794, a calamitous period of 732 years. The
ascription of glory to the Supreme Being was the remarkable act by which the
second woe was consummated.
But,
notwithstanding all the judgments that had fallen upon the Catholic World, it
continued unrepentant of its idolatry, of its murders, its sorceries, its
fornication, and its thefts. They had been terribly chastised in France. The
blood they had shed there was avenged twofold; their spiritual sorceries had
been abolished; the priests had been compelled to marry; and the wealth they
had acquired by theft and fraud, they had been forced to disgorge. About two
thousand priests had died by the executioner, many abjured their religion; and
thousands had been expelled from the bloodstained country they had plundered
and ruined. Still the Catholic world clung to its delusions, and repented not
of its deeds. The Second Woe had exhausted itself upon “the Tenth of the City.”
The Reign of Terror ended with the execution of Robespierre and his colaborers.
Forty-nine days after the Festival their heads rolled into the basket of the guillotine.
Applause accompanied every descent of the fatal blade; and joy prevailed on
every side, and the system of terror was overthrown. The woe had “passed away,”
and the time had come for republicanized France to become an angel-power of
destruction against the worshippers of the beast in the other Tenths of the
Great City.
“The
third woe comes immediately” after the termination of the second. Between the
predicted events of the first and second woes, that is, from the end of the
first to the beginning of the second woe, there was an interval of about 130
years. But between the end of the second and the beginning of the third, there
was no appreciable interval. It may therefore be considered as beginning in the
year of the Festival, A.D. 1794. This third woe is, of course, the Seventh and
Last Trumpet - the Seventh Trumpet Division of the Seventh Seal, and summarized
in the following words:
“And
the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in the heaven, saying,
The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, and he shall
reign for the aions of the ajons.”
This
is the grand result of the sounding - a consummation to be perfected as the
result of the sounding of the seventh trumpet. This third woe trumpet has been
sounding during the past seventy one years. These are so many of “the days of
the voice of the seventh angel” as have
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360
hitherto
elapsed. But they are not all “the days of the voice.” They have brought us to
the terminal epoch of the Holy City’s “forty and two months” and I believe that
there are yet forty more “days,” or years, to fill up all “the days of the
voice of the seventh angel.” The fall of the Tenth of the city happened in a
day, but it did not become the Lord’s. All the tenths are to fall likewise by
violence, to which they will be forced to yield, and to become the property of
Him who overturns them. This overthrow will be the work of the “Hour of
Judgment,” which does not begin till after the advent of Christ, and the giving
of judgment to the Saints; and consequently, after their resurrection and
ascension to power in the heaven, as prefigured in the resurrection and
ascension of the political witnesses “in the cloud.” The judgments of the
second woe terminated in the Reign of Terror, the most awful and terrible epoch
ever yet experienced by a nation. It was emphatically the Reign of Death,
oftentimes in its most appalling forms. But the consummation of the seventh
trumpet will woefully surpass the Reign of Terror. This was limited to a single
nation, of which the mighty were hurled from their seats into the lowest
depths, and the rest sent empty away. But the terminal epoch of the seventh
trumpet now upon us, will make the ears to tingle only to hear the report of
its terrors. Daniel was informed that it would be “a time of trouble such as
never was since there was a nation to that same time” (ch. 12:1). “The time of
the end” of the third woe trumpet is a time of unsurpassed calamity, and will
extend to all nations in all parts of the earth. Their trade and commerce will
be ruinously per-turbed; their countries devastated by war; their hundreds of
thousands prostrated by famine, pestilence and sword; their armies scattered
like chaff before the wind; their “religions” abolished as “abominations” and blasphemies;
their priests, clergies and ministers punished as sorcerers, murderers,
impostors, hypocrites, and plunderers of the poor; and their kings, nobles and
gentry destroyed as “the destroyers of the earth.”
The
Spirit of the Eternal in Jesus and his Brethren is “the Lord and his Christ,”
by whom this world-wide revolution will be developed and directed. The
political witnesses of Jesus developed and directed the great French
Revolution. Theirs was a great and mighty, as well as a terrible work; but it
is the witnesses of the Holy City, the One Body, who will constitute the
Revolutionary Government, and to whom the higher and nobler, mightier and more
terrible mission is assigned, of breaking in pieces the political fabric of the
world; of emancipating the nations from the reign of ignorance and strong
delusion, and of blessing them in Abraham and his Seed. This is the work that
is before them, and which, when accomplished, will introduce them to the reign
of the aions of the
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aions,
or THE THOUSAND YEARS.
And
when this Millennial Sabbatism shall be duly established by the Eternal Spirit,
the One Body, in glorious manifestation, and symbolized by the Four and Twenty
Elders before the Deity, and “on their thrones,” “fall upon their faces and do
homage to the Deity, saying, We give thanks to thee, 0 Lord, the Almighty
Deity, who is, and who was, and who art the Coming One, because thou hast
assumed thy great power, and reignest.”
But
this is all in the future. It is the grand apocalyptic consummation of the
gospel of the kingdom. It is the Divine purpose of the seventh trumpet first
stated, but the last accomplished. The Spirit’s Body cannot be the Who is, and
the Who was, and the Coming One reigning, so long as the saints are sleeping in
the dust, and those who corrupt the earth are undestroyed. The resurrection of
the’ holy generation is therefore indispensable to the denouement of the plot.
The resurrection first comes in a time of trouble - a trouble which has
doubtless begun, and which will not diminish, but increase, until there be
great wrath among the nations. And so it is written in the eighteenth verse of
this chapter, saying:
“And
the nations were made angry, and thy wrath came; and the time of the dead to be
judged; and to give the reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints,
even to those who fear thy name, to the small and to the great; and to destroy
those who corrupt the earth.”
The
nations of this prophecy are those of “the earth and of the whole habitable”
(Apoc. 16:14). They are “made angry” through the operation of the Frog Power,
which is the Imperial Democratic Power of France, the policy of which acting
upon the governments of Constantinople, Vienna and Rome, causes these powers in
their political antagonisms to become threatening and warlike. Thus the nations
they govern are “made angry,” and the world is again the theatre of war.
While
they are in this international belligerency, developing their wrath upon each
other, the wrath of Deity is manifested - “and thy wrath came.” But before this
wrath can be manifested, He that is to execute the vengeance must have first
come; and those who shall have the honor of cooperating with him in judgment,
must be raised from among the dead, and have been themselves examined before
his tribunal, ac-cepted and quickened with incorruptible life. When the Divine
wrath comes upon these nations, the revolutionary executors and directors of
the indignation will be the Lord Jesus and his Brethren - the Saints. The work
preparing for them by the Imperial Democratic Power, which is the political
witnessing power of “THE MOUNTAIN” imperialized, will be assumed and
consummated by the Saints, who are “the Kings from a
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Sun’s
risings.” The Mountain, whose representatives are the members of the Napoleon
Dynasty, could not with all the power at its command, do the work of wrath
assigned to these kings. The nations have felt the power and wrath of “the
Terrible Mountain,” when, under the general-ship of the first Buonaparte, it
inflicted “a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who had the mark of the
beast, and worshipped the Papal Image,” when it “gave them blood to drink” in
the plains and valleys of Italy; “scorched with fire” the unrepentant
blasphemers of Southern Germany; hurled the Roman God from his throne into
captivity; filled his kingdom with darkness; caused his blaspheming priests and
worship-pers to “gnaw their tongues for pain.” In short, the Imperialized
Mountain had executed the wrath of the first, third, fourth and fifth vials of
the Revolutionary Hour; and having regained its position in the heaven, from
which it was expelled at the fall of Napoleon, &c., into which it
originally “ascended in the cloud,” it is blindly preparing a situation for the
manifestation of the almighty and terrible power of the witnesses of the Holy
City. The Mountain, though terrible and powerful, is not mighty; but the Holy
City, when the forty-two months of its subjection shall have fully passed,
shall be more terrible, and absolutely omnipotent in the execution of its
mission. What “the Mountain” could not do, “the Stone” will fully accomplish,
will “become A GREAT MOUNTAIN, and fill the whole earth.”
“Thy
wrath is come.” The coming of this wrath is marked by the commencement of the
Seventh Vial, which is poured out upon “THE AIR” - the political aerial in
which the kingdoms of the kosmos, or fourth-beast constitution of things, shine
in all their glory. The wrath falls upon the Governments to their destruction.
The Imperial Mount-ain overturned the Papal Throne; but after the fall of its
Emperor, it was reestablished, as were also other thrones. But the Mountain
having recovered its position, has the papal throne again in its powerful grasp.
It will not be able finally to abolish it. This is not its mission. It is only
the Holy City, the One Almighty Body, that can overthrow all thrones in its
wrath, and prevent them from being again established. The One Almighty Body by
Seventh-Vial wrath is to possess itself of the kingdoms of the Unmeasured Court
of the Gentiles. The corrupters of the earth will then have been destroyed, and
the coming wrath of the Deity exhausted.
1. “The Time of the Dead”
“The
time of the Dead” is at “the Time of the End” - at the expiration of Daniel’s
1335 days. This appears from the words, “Blessed he that waiteth, and cometh to
the 1335 days. But go thou till the end; and
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thou
shalt rest, and arise to thine inheritance at the end of the days” (ch. 12:12,13).
To wait and come to these days, is to wait during their course, and to come to
their end. Daniel has been thus waiting, but has not yet come to their end.
During the time he has been waiting he has been rest-ng, or “sleeping in the
dust of the earth” - verse 2. So long as he is there he knows nothing, and can
inherit nothing; for “the dead know not anything”, and can therefore be neither
happy nor miserable. He expected nothing until he should “awake for a living
one of the Olahm.” He was told that this should be at the end of the 1335 days,
in the words, “thou shalt arise to thine inheritance at the end of the days.”
These can only be the 1335 days whose end terminates Daniel’s rest in the dust
of the earth. He is to arise to his inheritance, because the inheritance
promised is neither in the dust, nor in the sky, but a land from which he was
expelled by the Chaldeans, and to which he never returned. He will arise from
the dust of Persia, where he has been resting since “the third year of Cyrus,”
B.C. 540; and appearing before “Messiah the Prince,” of whom he wrote, and
being approved, as doubtless he will be, he will be strengthened, and
henceforth be prepared to “speak with the enemy in the gate,” who at present
occupies the land.
“The
time of the dead,” then, is at the epoch which terminates the 1335 years. This
being so, there will, of course, be no more trampling of the Holy City by the
Gentiles after their expiration. But the Saints were to be prevailed against
“for a time, times, and the dividing of a time,” or 1260 years; and the Holy
City was to be trampled “forty and two months,” which are also 1260 years. This
is true; and therefore it is evident that these two differently expressed, but
identical, periods both terminate synchronously with the 1335. The end of these
brings us to “the end”-the end of “the time, times, and dividing ofa time;” the
end of the forty and two months; the end of the 1335 years; and to the
beginning of “the time of the end,” which continues to the end of Micah’s forty
years.
The
beginning of “the Time of the End” is “the time of the dead.” The work of this
time will take time; but how much time it will consume the testimony does not
reveal. The Lord Jesus Christ who is “the resurrection and the life,” as well
as “the truth and the way,” descends to Mount Sinai while the present Sixth
Vial is continuing to pour out. “Behold!” says he, “I come as a thief.” He
comes before “the kings of the earth and of the whole habitable” are gathered
into the region termed “in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” How long before is
not revealed; but between his thief-like advent and the Armageddon-gathering is
“the time of the dead” and when his work is finished with his dead ones,
“Regathers the kings together” - he operates upon a situation already
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created by the Frog Power;
and brings on the catastrophe, which that power is not capable of
accomplishing.
But, how many months or
years the work of setting in order his own Melchizedec Household will consume I
know not. It will take time. The Lord is never in a hurry. He is always
deliberate and dignified. If He pleased, He could flash everything into order;
and all his enemies into destruction. But He has not acted in this way in the
past; and it is clear from the word that He does not intend to act flashingly
in the future. There is no question about His ability so to do. He can do what
He wills; and He has revealed His will, and from that revelation, it is evident
that He will be deliberate in all His movements.
In the work of “the time of
the dead” every individual saint who has died since Abel in all countries of
the earth, has first to be awakened from his sleep of death, and made to stand
bodily upon his feet. After this, they are to be gathered together from all
parts to the general convention, which brings them into the presence of Christ.
In this gathering, the few living saints that may remain have to be visited by
his mes-sengers, and to be caused to report themselves to the King; for one who
well knew what he spoke, says, “we must all appear before the tribunal of
Christ.” Now to accomplish all this will consume time; but it will, doubtless,
consume more time in disposing of the business of the Court. For every one
gathered to that grand assize will be called upon to give an account of
himself. Of this there can be no doubt, for Paul says again, “everyone of us
(saints) shall give account of himself to the Deity.” This relation of
experiences will consume time; and one would conclude no little time. Some will
doubtless be very brief, having little to say, while others will be even
“speechless;” but some will have a longer account to give, as in the case of
Paul and others like him. Then there will be the verdicts with all their
attendant circumstances; for after the accounts given, come the personal
recompenses; for they appear at the tribunal that they may “receive in body the
things according to that they have done whether good or bad.” For what a man
sows in body he must reap in body - “he that soweth to his flesh shall of the
flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit
reap life everlasting.” Saints who have sown to the flesh, and there have been
many such, will, in this “time of the dead,” be left in the body recently
created from the dust; and of that body they will reap corruption that will
utterly and finally destroy it. “This is the Second Death.” But Saints, who
have sown to the Spirit, in “denying themselves of all ungodliness and worldly
lusts, and in living soberly, righteously, and godly in the world,” will also
in this “time of the dead” not be left in the body recently elaborated from the
dust. That body will reap of the Spirit incorruptibility in being quic-
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kened in the twinkling of an
eye, by which it will become Spirit-body, and so conformed to the body of Jesus
Christ. This is what Daniel terms “strengthening.
Thus, in “the time of the
dead,” there will be a judicial separation of just saints from unjust saints. A
sinner becomes a saint by believing and obeying the truth; and he continues a
just saint if he continues in well-doing; but, he becomes an unjust saint if he
do not so continue. Now, the appearing at the tribunal of Christ by all the
saints of these two classes is, that the just may be separated from the unjust;
and that the unjust may be driven from the presence of judicial majesty into
the darkness of the outer world, where they may ignominiously partake in the
vengeance which is to “devour the adversaries.” This explains the phrase in
that text “the time of the dead to be judged.” The judicial sep-aration
completed on this basis and the unworthy expelled from the Royal Presence,
those who remain are “the called, the chosen, and faithful” - Ch. 17:14. They
are the 144,000, having the Lamb’s Father’s name indelibly written in their
foreheads; they are “the redeemed from the earth;” the undefiled virgins; the
First-fruits unto the Deity, and to the Lamb; the guiltless and faultless
before the throne - ch. 14:1-5. These are the saints, who have the honor of
executing the judgment written against the kings, priests, and aristocrats of
the Great City. They are all like to Jesus, who is their Head; and “equal to
the angels.” They constitute the Household, of which He is the High Priest, or
Pontiff-King, after the order of Melchizedec. To manifest this household, or
Divine Family, with all the attributes of Deity, is the great and interesting
preliminary work for which “the time of the dead” affords sufficient scope. -
The house being thus put in order and strengthened, the con-stituent members
thereof are prepared to “follow the Lamb whither-soever he goeth;” which is
equivalent to the phrase “whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went” (Ezek.
1:20). They go with him in all his warlike expeditions, and royal progresses and
visitations. They are one and indivisible, and inseparably knit together in all
the bonds of love, power, and devotion; being “members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones” (Eph. 5:30).
2. “The Reward”
“The
time of the dead” was, not only for the judicial separation and exclusion of
the unworthy, and the strengthening, or quickening, of the approved; but for
the giving of “the reward to the servants the prophets, and to the saints, even
to those who fear the name of the Deity, to the small and to the great.” This
testimony shows, that whatever “the reward” may consist in, the righteous do
not obtain it until after their re-
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surrection and
strengthening. Christ himself, in the days of his weakness and suffering,
plainly taught this. “Thou shalt be recompensed,” said he, “at the resurrection
of the just” (Luke 14:14). And again, he said: “The Son of man shall come in
the glory of his Father with his angels; and Then he shall reward every man
according to his works” (Matt. 16:27). This is the teaching which belongs to
“the simplicity which is in Christ.” Nothing can be more plain and easy to
understand. The resurrection has not yet transpired, because “the time of the
dead to be judged” is yet future; and because the Son of Man, who is the
resurrection and the life, has not yet come with his angels in his Father’s
glory. The resurrection being future, then, none of the righteous have yet
received “the reward.” Enoch, Elijah, Moses, and the few who came out of their
graves after the resurrection of Jesus, have been “strengthened;” but even they
have not received “the reward;” for this is only to be obtained upon the earth.
Now, reader, mark and
inwardly digest what follows. All Greek, Latin, and Mohammedan “priests”, all
Protestant “clergy,” and all Non-conformist, Dissenting, and Sectarian
“ministers,” of all the so-called “Names and Denominations of Christendom,”
teach the direct opposite to the doctrine of Jesus. In effect, this generation
of hypocrites and serpents tells the Lord Jesus that he is either an ignoramus
or a wilful deceiver of the people. It might refuse to say in so many words
that he is a liar; because these priests, clergy, and ministers, all, save the
Moslems, pretend to be called and sent of him, as his ambassadors to the world,
to preach his doctrine; and it would be too gross plainly to declare that he is
a liar and deceiver. There are, however, other ways of saying the same thing;
and the most effectual with the least danger to their craft, is to teach in his
name exactly the reverse of his teaching. This they do with the most unblushing
effrontery. They tell their dupes, that man shall not be recompensed at the
resurrection of the just; and that they have not to wait till the Son of Man
comes with his angels, in declaring that men are recompensed as soon as the
breath leaves the body in death. Thus, like the generation of vipers and
hypocrites, who appeared to men to be righteous, with whom Jesus had personally
to contend, by their tradition they make void his word. They convert it by
their sorcery into a falsehood, as the old Serpent, their father, did before
them in Eden. I testify against them as hypocrites in the classical sense of
the word. A hypocrite is one who plays a part on a stage. A priest, clergyman,
or minister, is exactly this. He plays a part on the ecclesiastical stage of
the world; and a part, too, that is not his real character. He is therefore, a
professional hypocrite - a hypocrite by profession. He professes to be Christ’s
ambassador, and when his credentials are demanded, he has
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none to show. If I present
myself at Washington, and claim to be an ambassador from the court of St.
James, and I have no credentials to estab-ish my claim, however sincerely I
might believe in my ingorance, that I was an ambassador of Britain, I should be
attempting to play a part that was not my true character. I should therefore,
be, not only a hypocrite, but an impostor, and worthy of all contempt. Only
think, reader, of an ambassador falsifying the instructions of the power by
whom he is sent! What confusion this would produce in the counsels of the
powers! An ambassador upon whose words no reliance could be placed! And here
are spiritual ambassadors, Greek, Romish, Protestant, and Sectarian, all
claiming to be sent from one and the same Divine Power, all of them differing
and contradicting in a multitude of important particulars, but all agreeing to
suppress the teaching delivered by Eternal Wisdom, and to substitute a falsehood
of their own! What do you think, reader, of such “ambassadors of Jesus Christ”
so-called; of such “ministers of the gospel;” and what think you of professed
believers of the truth, who would forbid that these hypocrites, impostors, and
wolves in sheep’s clothing, should be proved to be such, and being proved,
should be so styled? An intelligent and sincere believer is not afraid to strip
off the wool, and expose the naked wolf to the public gaze; his rule is to call
things by their right names; and if a man be a quack, not to call him a
physician, in order to make things pleasant all round. This course is necessary
for the defence of the flock from these ravenous wolves. Spirituals are known
to be wolves in sheep’s clothing “by their fruits.” Their teaching is one of
their fruits. They teach contrary to Christ and his apostles, and so injure the
reputation of their doctrine. This is defaming, reviling, calumniating,
blaspheming, the truth. They are therefore blasphemers; and the Names and
Denominations, of which they are the spirituals, are “Names of Blasphemy,” of
which the scarlet-colored beast is full (Apoc. 17:3).
But these priestly,
clerical, and ministerial teachers of blasphemy not only contradict Christ and
his apostles as to the time when men shall be rewarded according to their
works; but as to the place where. Eternal Wisdom has decreed that men shall be
rewarded in the earth - in the arena of their contention and suffering for the
truth. “The righteous shall be recompensed IN THE EARTh; much more the wicked
and the sinner.” “No, no!” say the blasphemers; “no such thing! The righteous
shall be recompensed at death, beyond the skiey realms of time and space; and
the wicked and the sinner in the hell-flames of eternal tor-ture, where they
shall be tormented day and night by the Devil and his angels!” I do not know
how it is with you, my reader, but I feel, with such contradictory propositions
before me, that I am reduced to the
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necessary alternative of
turning my back upon one or other of these parties. I find it utterly
impossible to believe with Eternal Wisdom and with the so-called “ambassadors
of Jesus Christ.” One or the other must be trying to impose upon me; for it is
logically impossible that both parties can be right. The reader can make his
own election. I believe the teaching of Eternal Wisdom; and, therefore,
repudiate the dogmata of blaspheming hypocrites with indignation and contempt;
and, at the same time, burn incense of thanksgiving from the golden altar to
His name, for His goodness in preserving me, by the enlightening influence of
the engrafted word, from the evil machinations of impostors, who would have
practised their sorceries upon me, and have made me twofold more a son of hell
than themselves!
The time when, then, and the
place where, the just and the unjust are to be rewarded, is in the earth at the
resurrection. This is the fiat of Eternal Wisdom, which cannot be reversed. But
what is the promised reward the righteous shall enjoy? “Of the Lord,” said Paul
to the saints at Colosse, “ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance.’, In
writing to the saints in Galatia, he says, “The Deity gave the Inheritance to
Abraham by promise.” By these testimonies we are taught that the subject-matter
of the reward is an inheritance, or an estate to be possessed, when the time
for the fulfilment of the promise shall arrive; and that this estate was given
to Abraham, not actually donated and received before he died, but promised to
him as an estate to be possessed when he should rise from the dead. “He died in
faith,” says Paul, “not having received the promises, but saw them afar off,
and was persuaded of them and embraced them.” And he tells us why he did not
obtain immediate possession of the reward: it was because “the Deity has
provided some better thing for us, that without us he might not be made
perfect.”
There is no difficulty in
learning what the estate is, and where it is situated, if we attend to what has
been revealed in the word. Moses tells us that it was promised to Abraham that
he should possess the country in which he was then living, the land of Canaan,
in a certain far off age. That he should possess it for ever; and that his seed
should be numberless as the stars; that he should be the father of many
nations, which should be blessed in him and his Seed. Paul tells us, that these
promises were made to Abraham and the Christ who was to descend from him; and
that they were consequently to be “THE HEIRS OF THE WORLD.” Thus, the
possession of the world was annexed to the possession of the land of Canaan; so
that he who could prove that he was the divinely constituted heir of the one,
proved also that he had a right to the other.
The Holy Land and the World
of Nations were promised to Abraham and Christ; and people of all nations were
invited by the gospel
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preached to become heirs
with them of the same promise; on condition of believing the promises, the
Christship of Jesus, and the things concerning his name; and of being immersed into
Christ, and thenceforth patiently continuing in well-doing. In this way they
become Christ’s; and, says Paul, “if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s Seed,
and heirs according to the promise.”
But, the apostle also saith,
the reason why Abraham did not receive the Land and World at the time the
promises were made, was because the Deity had predetermined “some better thing
for us.” This “better thing” is all that constitutes the world more desirable
in the nineteenth century after Christ, than it was over nineteen hundred years
before. It had not then been sufficiently subdued, improved, and replenished.
There was too much unhewn forest; too many wild races of untamed humanity; too
few of the conveniences and elegance’s of life; and the existing civilization
itself was too barbarous to constitute a gift worthy of Deity to His saints. He
therefore deferred the fulfillment of His promises until He had developed a
world of kingdoms and nations of a higher order of civilization - such, in
short, as now occupies the globe. This is the “better thing provided,” the
preparation of which has hitherto delayed the perfection of Abraham. When “the
time of the dead” arrives, he, and all the prophets and postpentecostian
believers, will stand upon their feet again, and be “made perfect;” and, when
perfected in putting on incorruptibility, will receive the Holy Land and Modern
World of kingdoms and nations for their reward.
This is “the reward” to be
given “in the time of the dead.” In writing to the saints in Corinth, Paul
says: “The world and all things are yours,” and “all things are for you sakes;”
and, in arguing that the World was promised to Abraham, and that they who are
Christ’s are Abraham’s Seed, he testifies that the World annexed to the Holy
Land was promised to saints. The prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, all taught
this doctrine; for the Eternal Spirit spoke by them all, and therefore their
teach-ng was a unit. Hence, by David the prophet, he taught that “those who
wait upon Yahweh shall inherit the earth;” and again, “The righteous shall
inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” Jesus also says: “Blessed are the
poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. Blessed are the meek;
for they shall inherit the earth.” And James says: “The Deity hath chosen the
poor of this world, rich in faith, as heirs of that kingdom which he hath
promised to them that love him.” From all these testimonies, then, it is
evident that “the reward” to be given to the immortalized saints is the Holy
Land, occupied by Abraham’s descendants, constituting a kingdom, with dominion,
absolute and uncontrol-ed, over all the kingdoms of the world, annexed thereto.
This is the kingdom and glory to which men are invited in “the gospel of the
king-
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dom.”
The events of the “Hour of Judgment” are for the purpose of wresting this
world-wide dominion from those who now possess it; and of transferring it to
“the Saints of the Most High, who shall take the kingdom, and possess the
kingdom for the Olahm, even for the Olahm, and beyond” the thousand years.
But
here come in the modern scribes, pharisees, and hypocrites, with their
blasphemous and word-nullifying traditions, and make all this teaching of none
effect. “Yes,” say they, “the meek shall inherit the earth;” they do now
inherit the earth in the farms they possess, which is as much of the earth as
is good for them; but, as to the earth itself, it is not to abide for ever, but
to be burned up in “the wreck of nature and the crash of worlds.” And as to the
Holy Land, called also “the Promised Land,” they say: “True; Abraham did not
possess it before he died; nor was it ever intended that he, Isaac, and Jacob,
should. They were to possess it in the sense of their posterity possessing it
under the Mosaic Law; for the Land of Canaan lying between the Euphrates and
the Great Sea, was only typical of that ‘heavenly country,’ the true Canaan and
happy land beyond the Jordan of Death, where souls immortal bathe in seas of
endless bliss! This celestial country was the land promised to Abraham, to
which he soared away upon the wings of angels, when his precious immortal soul
was released from its ‘mortal coil’ in the article of death.”
Reader,
one’s powerlessness alone restrains one’s indignation. No wonder Deity gave
these hypocrites “blood to drink,” and caused them to “gnaw their tongues for
pain,” in the great earthquake. It is because of their blasphemies vengeance
has fallen upon this “MODEL REPUBLIC,” and will, ere long, descend in an
avalanche of wrath upon “the kingdoms of the world.” The blasphemies of the
clergy are enough to wreck any nation that upholds them. Even now, where they
have the most power and influence, society is most rotten, most ignorant, and
most miserable: what, then, will be the fate of all peoples, when “the time of
the dead” arrives, to “execute the judgment written,” and to “destroy these
corrupters of the earth?”
“The
Reward,” in relation to its several elements, is exhibited apocalyptically
under a diversity of symbols. These have been considered at large in the first
volume of this work. To be strengthened with incorruptible life in the time of
the dead, is “to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise
of the Deity” (ch. 2:7). To be an immortal king, is to receive “the crown of life”
(ver. 10). To be approved, and acquitted of all guile and fault before the
throne, and to be physically like Jesus Christ, is to eat of the hidden manna,
to receive a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, and known only
to the receiver-ver.17
Page
371
.
To operate with the Lamb in the setting up of the promised kingdom, is to
receive power over the nations, to rule them with a rod of iron, and to shiver
their image to pieces as a potter’s vessel-ver. 26,27. To be endued with a
clean and incorruptible nature, and to be divinely honored, is to be clothed in
white raiment, and to be confessed before the Father and his angels (ch. 3:5).
To become Deity manifested in glorified nature, and a constituent of the New
Jerusalem, is to be made a permanent pillar in the Nave or Most Holy of Deity,
with the Name of Deity, and the name of the city of Deity, the new name written
upon him (ver. 12). And to reign with Christ, is to sit with him in his throne
(ver. 21). Such is “the reward to be given to the prophets, to the saints, to
them that venerate the Name of Deity, small and great;” so that, “even the
least in the kingdom of the heavens,” though a star of the smallest magnitude
and glory, will be greater than the greatest of all the prophets in the mortal
state (Luke 7:28); “the reward” offered to all who believe the glad tidings of
this glorious and powerful kingdom, and are immersed into its Almighty King,
and thenceforth seek for its glory, honor, incorruptibility, and life, by a
patient continuance in well-doing (Rom. 2:7); the reward to be received in “the
time of the dead,” and not before.
3.
“The Nave of Deity Opened”
“And
the Nave of the Deity was opened in the heaven, and the Ark of his Covenant was
seen in his Nave.”
This
nineteenth verse is parallel with ch. 4:1, in which John says, “a door had been
opened in the heaven;” and looking through the door, he saw “a throne and one
sitting upon it.” This throne and its glorious occupant is identical with the
Ark of the Covenant. In the typical Mosaic Tabernacle, the Ark stood in the
Nave, or Most Holy Place. It was Yahweh’s throne in Israel, on which He was
said to sit between the Cherubim. From thence proceeded all His decrees for
peace or war issued through the Prince of the host, the High Priest of Israel.
It was a symbol of great significance in its appointed place. Had it been
placed in the Holy place, and the Golden Altar in the Most Holy, that
expressive significance would have been wholly destroyed. This transposition
would have represented the Lord Jesus Christ as personally and visibly resident
among the saints in all the past eighteen hundred years; and that when “the
time of the dead” arrived, he would take his departure, and leave them to burn
incense to his name in prayer and praise, as they do now. This would have been
an entire reversal of the Divine Order of Manifestation.
The
Nave and the Ark were beyond the Veil, which represents the
Page
372
flesh
(Heb. 10:20). The opening of the nave is therefore equivalent to that which
constitutes the nave, being no longer simply holy in the flesh, but most holy
in spirit-nature, having passed from flesh to spirit. The opening of the nave
is a wonderful manifestation of power. It implies the descent of him, who is
the resurrection and the life; the reorganization of the ashes of the saints,
and the restoration to each of them of their identity; and their subsequent
transformation into spirit-bodies by the instantaneous operation of the Spirit.
And when this process is complete, to give them a commanding position “in the
heaven,” that, as the Ark of the Covenant, they may be the depository of
almighty power, and prepared for the work of ruling in righteousness all the
kingdoms, or heavens, of the world, and retaining undisturbed possession of
them for a thousand years.
Thus,
the Ark of the Covenant seen in the opened nave, is the Deity in most holy
manifestation - manifested by spirit in Jesus and his Brethren “glorified
together.” Collectively they form the Ark and Cherubim, the Spirit answering to
the manna, the budding almond-rod, and the testimony. This is evident from the
discourses of Jesus as recorded by John. The anointing Spirit, or
Christ-Spirit, speaking by Jesus, declared, that he is the bread of life, or
true manna; the resurrection, or budding rod; and the covenanted truth, or
testimony. The container of such a power is the chest, or ark thereof; and
therefore styled the Ark of the Covenant - of the New Covenant, the Abrahamic;
with a blood-sprinkled propitiatory or mercy seat, even Jesus; and all in him
who worshipped in the altar. This is the throne, the Eternal Spirit’s throne,
to be established as such in Jerusalem, the Mother City of the Kingdom of the
Ancient of Days.
In
the fourth chapter, the Ark of the Covenant is distributed. The mercy seat and
ark of which it is the coverlid, are exhibited there as the throne encircled
with the rainbow of covenant-testimony; and the cherubim full of eyes, are
taken down and placed about the throne, sur-rounded with a circle of
representative royal presbyters. This distribution, when synthesized, or put
together, constitutes the apocalyptic Ark. The time of the fourth chapter
symbols is synchronous with “the time of the dead,” when the judgment of the
House of Deity shall have been completed; and the saints shall be ready, by
their immortalization, to execute the judgment written against the world
without.
“And there were lightnings and voices and thunders, and an earthquake,
and great hail.”
These are the same that burst forth out of the throne, as rep-
Page 373
resented
inch. 4:5; and are the consummation of the wrath of the Eternal Omnipotence
upon the objects of apocalyptic vengeance. These light-flings, voices,
thunderings, earthquake, and great hail, of the fourth and eleventh chapters, are
symbolical of the judgments of the Seventh Vial; which is the consummation of
the judgments of the Seventh Trumpet, and of the Seventh Seal. “No one can
enter into the nave until the seven plagues of the seven angels be finished” -
ch. 15:8. This entering into the nave, is in the sense of entering into the
kingdom, consisting of “the kingdoms of the world;” for it will require all the
judgments of the Seventh Vial to complete the transfer of those kingdoms from
the grasp of the wicked, or, “the Devil and his Angels,” who now hold them, to
the Saints who are to possess them for a thousand years. In all the period of
the Seventh Vial “the Nave is filled with smoke from the glory of the Deity.”
The nave then exists, as constituted of glorified Christadelphians, or Brethren
of Christ; but they smoke with burning and consuming indignation against the
governments of the world and their armies; and until that smoke has passed away
in victory, by which their wrath is assuaged, the Nave, in the sense of the
most holy and blessed constitution of the thousand years can be entered upon by
none.
The
thunderings are the Seven Thunders of the last vial. They burst forth against
the powers of the aerial in which they roll. They are accompanied with an
earthquake, whose shocks surpass every thing of the kind experienced by men
since they began to dwell upon the earth. It is described as “a great
earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an
earthquake and so great” (ch. 16:18). As theresult of it, the cities or states,
of the nations, are overturned: and great dismay pervades all classes. Besides
this, a great hail falls upon the people, whose wickedness is great. It falls
upon them “out of the heaven.” It descends upon them from the Nave, “every hailstone
about the weight of a talent.” A talent is figurative of an individual. When he
descends as a hailstone, he falls from the heaven of power upon the enemy to be
judged. A multitude of such descending upon their enemies, becomes to them as a
storm of hail. They constitute a mighty and strong power, “which, as a tempest
of hail, and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall
cast down to the earth with the hand” (Isa. 28:2). With such a hail will men be
plagued; but instead of repenting of their iniquity, transgression, and sin,
they will “blaspheme the Deity; for the plague of the hail will be exceeding
great” (ch.16:21).
We
have now arrived at the conclusion of the eleventh chapter of that admirable
symbolic representation of the things concerning the kingdom of men, in its
antagonism to the kingdom of Deity, the Name
Page 374
of Jesus Christ, and to them
who are “the called according to His purpose.” There still remain eleven
chapters to be expounded. These will constitute the subject-matter of the
Third* Volume of Eureka. (*)(Note this is the Third Volume, discrepancy due to
different re-printings) This second
volume ( 3rd)has brought us down to the appearing of THE ANCIENT OF
DAYS in the midst of THE MANIFESTED SONS OF DEITY, in judicial and belligerent
activity against the Four Mediterranean Dominions, symbolized by the Beasts,
which Daniel saw coming up out of its tempestuous waters (Dan. 7:2,3). This is
the wonderful denouement of the tragic drama of the Apocalypse. There is
another grand development a thousand years afterwards. This is vastly important
and intensely interesting to all the sons of men; for it reveals nothing short
of the CESSATION OF EVERY CURSE by which humanity has been continuously
afflicted since its primeval transgression of the divine law (Apoc. 22:3). But,
of these two developments, the former is the most interesting at this crisis to
the Brethren of Jesus Christ; for to them, the coming of the Ancient of Days is
their speedy deliverance from “all the ills that flesh is heir to.” In relation
to them, Mortality and Death will be swallowed up of life and victory (1 Cor.
15:54; 2 Cor. 4:4); and the curses, which now cleave to flesh and blood with
leprous inveteracy, shall afflict them no more. They shall be “like Jesus” and
“equal to the angels” (1 John 3:2; Luke 20:36). This is a consummation, not
only to be devoutly wished and prayed for, but to be earnestly sought for, and
labored for, “by a patient continuance in well-doing” - which is the only effectual
seeking that will be wreathed with that which fadeth not away.
The end of this chapter
conducts the faithful to this glorious consummation, in which, being
immortalized, “judgment will be given to them” (Dan. 7:22,26). The “lightnings,
and voices, and thunderings, and earthquake, and great hail,” burst forth from
them in occupancy of the throne conjointly with the Ancient of Days. These are
their judicial outpourings of wrath upon the “POWERS THAT BE.” The whole of the
Seventh Vial, as well as the closing scenes of the Sixth, are assigned to them.
We are now contemporary with the development of the pre-adventual FROG-SIGN in
the third and last stage of its operation. Before this is completely finished,
“the Ancient of Days comes as a thief;” so that Apoc. 16:15 and 11:17-19, are
identical crises. This is the crisis now upon the world. The first throes of
the parturient mountain which are to evolve THE STONE (Dan. 2:34,35,44,45) are
being felt in all the Habitable of the two hemispheres. “No man is master of
the situation.” This has been well said by an Austrian Journal. The Deity alone
holds the key of the position. His servants know what that is; for to them He
has
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·
Eureka was originally produced in three volumes; for convenience in
resetting it in larger type we have extended it to five volumes. - Publishers.
Page
375
made
known His secret (Psa. 25:14; Prov. 3:32; Amos 3:7); and by its signs they are
forewarned. That key is upon his shoulder, who opens and none shuts; and shuts
and none opens even upon his, who shall be for a glorious throne to THE HOUSE
OF DAVID (Isa. 22:20-25; Apoc. 3:7). He will “open a door in the heaven,” and
lead “his sanctified ones” into the royal palace of Babylon the Great; where
all the might of the power, and the honor of the majesty of the kingdom of men,
is temporally and provisionally enthroned. While the governments of the nations
are unconsciously contributing to the formation of a situation to be signalized
by their irretrievable and final overthrow, the Master of that situation
proclaims to his Brethren, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame.” May we, my reader, be of that happy number, who shall be found of him
watching, and duly and fitly clothed.
Page
377
INDEX
Abaddon 94,95
Abomination
of the earth 228
Abraham,
heir of the world 369
Abubeker, successor
to Mahomet,
A.D.362 102
Abyss, the 85,86,93,95
The pit of the 82,84
Achor,
Valley of 195,196
Advent of
Christ, Second 178-188
where
He first comes to, when it takes place 169-172
Aerial,
the, meaning of the term . 69,198,199 Air darkened by the smoke, fifth
trumpet, first woe 87,88
Africa,
Roman, invaded by Vandals under Genseric, Second wind Trumpet A.D.
439 53
Ages, Dark 139
Air: see Aerial
Alaric, king
of Visigoths, A.D. 395, first wind trumpet, pillages Rome 45-49
Al p
Arslan and Turks, A.D. 1063-1072,
first Euphratean Angel Power 143-145
Altar, The
golden 111-114
The
Altar, or One Body in its present
state 226-227,231-232
America,
destiny of 203-204
Amurath
I, Prince of Ottoman dynasty,
14th
Century 152
Amurath
II, A.D. 1421, fourth European
Angel
power 157
Angel
of the Rainbow, or sons of Deity
in Apocalypse 170-176,186-204
Of the mid-heaven 75-79
The
first of the four Euphratean angels
(Alp
Arslan) 140-146
Apostasy,
Greek division of the same
overthrown
by Turkish power 166
Laodicean
Apostasy is to be overthrown by saints
Apotheosis 128
Apsinthian
or Illyrian, name of star, third
wind trumpet 61-63,67
Arabia, the
pit of abyss 82
Country
of the horse, lion, locust, scor-
pion 88-91
Arabs,
symbolised by locusts 91-93
Arcadius,
son of Theodosius the great, final
separation
of Roman empire made 12
Antichrist,
speculations concerning, in
fittn century 78
Blasphemies of 248,249
Identical
with “the God of the
Earth” 255,259
Culmination
of Antichrist’s power . 256,257
Whence
received his power ... 242-245,256,
257,262
Apollyon 94,95
The second
(Monguls & Tartars) ..
148-152
The third
(Timour or Tamerlane) .
152-157
The fourth 157-167
Days
of the Voice of the seventh
angel 209,210
Of the Oath (Daniel’s) 207-710
Angels,
of his power, collect saints for
judgment 184,185
Four
Euphratean angels loosed for
39lyears30days 114-116,167
Anthemius,
Emperor of West, A.D. 467
second wind trumpet 56
378 EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE.
Arians 13
Ark of the
covenant, in the nave 170171,372
Armageddon 194
Artillery,
used by fourth Euphratean angel power,
the fire, smoke, and suiphar,
seige of Constantinople ... 118,119,158-167
Athanasius 15
Attila,
King of Runs, invades Italy and Gaul,
A.D. 433-453, third wind trumpet 63-67
Augustine,
Bishop of Hippo 21,22
Augustulus, Romulus,
last Roman Emperor of
Catholic
West A.D. 476, fourth wind trumpet 71,72
Author,
the of “Eureka” unearthing of the
truth
by 18341847 300-310
Babylon,
overthrow and identity with
Rome 214215,283-289
Fall
of Chaldean Babylon Typical of
Roman 283-289
Bajazet
I, Sultan, Ottoman Empire, de-feats Catholic
idol worshippers, and the sieges Constantinople 151-157
Baptism, Dr. Thomas’ testimony in 1834 303
Baptists, rise of sect in England, 1638 295
Barbarians,
inroads on Roman Empire
in fourth century 2728 32
Fifth century, Heruli, A.D.476 ‘72-‘73
Alaric and Goths, A.D. 395 and on-
wards 44-49
Genseric and Vandals 53-57
Attila and Huns 63-67
Odoacer and Heruli 71-75
Seventh,
eighth, ninth, tenth centuries Saracens 96-99
Eleventh,
twelfth, thirteenth and four-teenth
centuries
angels of Euphrates,
Moguls, Tartars, Turks 143-167
Bartholomew, St. massacre of A.D. 1572 .276
Rejoicing occasioned by it at Rome. 281,282
Bastille, destruction of the, July 14th 1790 328
Beards 92
Beast,
Dragon and False Prophet cast
into lake of fire 120
Beast,fourth,
total destruction of the 198
Wars against the witnesses 273-281
Sixth head of the 71
Seventh head of the 74-75
Seven heads 43
Beasts, Daniel’s first three, dominion taken 198
Beatification 128
Belly,
made bitter from eating the
scroll 214,215
Bible
Society, the British and Foreign,
established
1804 295
Bicheno,
Mr., Baptist minister, on the re-surrected
witnesses and the three and a half days 292-294,309
Bishop, Catholic dragon of the East . 236,237
Universal, title conferred by Phocas,
A.D. 604-608 236239
Blasphemies
of the popes 249-250
Blasphemy,
names of 229
Blessed, the
dead dying in the Lord 205
Blessing of
Moses 179
Body,theone 171
As golden
light bearer of the Spirit .
221-224
Present position
as altar-worshippers 228-232
In
the altar - worshipping and sack-
cloth
witnessing state 239-246
Saints
as one Body, overthrow nations,
seventh trumpet 360-363
Bozrah 183,194,195
Breasts or Breastworks, fiery and hyacinthine 118,158
Bride,the 171
Burgundians,
fourth century 27
Caecilianus, opposes Donatus 268
Caesar,
impenal edict forbidding any one to say there
is another king than
...
216
Caliphs, or Commanders of the Faithful ... 94
Succeeded by Turkish power 143,145
Campbellism 299
Cannon,
used by Turks or Ottoman power
at siege of Constantinople 118-119,
158-165
Canonization
by Catholic Church 128
Cathari,
Puritans or Novatians, third
century,
fourth Seal 270,271
CathoLics,
Moslem war against Catholic
idolatry 100-102
Euphratean angels mission
against it 140-167
Chaplets, or
turbans of the Arabs 91
Chnst Jesus,
nature of 256
Nucleus of
the angel of the
Rainbow 178-179
Revealed
to Jews by wounds in His
hands 197-198
“Immaculate” nature doctrine 256,257
Advent of 179-190
Personal and mystical crucified in the
Great V, or Roman Empire 285-289
Christadelphian,
Faith of 373
Christians,
persecutions 13,14
Persecuted by Constantine 265-273
Circumcellions 272
City, Holy 231
Trampled underfoot 232-239
Existing at the present time 273,307
Or Government under saints,
subdues nations 360-36
City,
Great, spiritually called Sodom and
Egypt,
where our Lord was crucified 283-289
Tenth of the (France) 276,281-283,
316,317,327-337
Clergy,
synopsis of doctrines 367-369,371
Vices
in the time of Valentinian, A.D.
370 15,16
Estates,
etc., abolished at French Revo-
lution 338-340
Spiritual police 39
Destruction of the 293
Cloud, clothed with a 171-174
of witnesses, or third estate of French
States-General A.D. 1789 310-312
Constantine
the great, Man-child of Sin’s
birthA.D.312 265
Persecutes
Christians as heretics .. 265-273
Constantinople, throne of
universal
empire
transferred from Rome to ....
71,72
Besieged by
Bajaxet I and Turks A.D. 1400 152
And
taken by Mohainmed II, Ottoman Sultan
A.D. 1453,
fourth Euphrateanangel power 156
Constellations
of the heavens 68-69
Councils,
Ecclesiastical, seventh of Nice,
A.D. 787 137-138
Court of
Gentiles, Outer 227-228
Covenant of
Pronuse 174
Creatures, Four living (Ezekiel’s) .... 183-184
Crusaders,
eleventh and twelfth cen-
tuneS 146148
Culottes,
Sans-, insurrection of, French
Revolution 333
Cushan,
tents of 187-188
Cyrus,
or like the Heir, a type of
Christ 288-289
Daniel,
and John, synopsis of times
of 320323
Resting in the dust of Persia 363,364
Dantonleader
in French Revolution 351
Daubuz,
expositor of Apocalypse, extracts
from 88,90,309
Daughters,
Harlot 230
Day, for a
year 116
third of, darkened 68-75
Days,
1,260, witnesses prophesy in sack-
cloth 264-280
1,260 and 1,335 208,319,363,364
2400 232-237
Three
and a half days, witnesses lie un-buried or
105 years,
from A.D. 1685 1790 290294,309
Dead in
Christ 171-173
Blessed dying in the Lord 203,205
Time of the 363-366
How are they raised? When? and
Where9 179-188
Dead Sea,
Waters healed 82,182
Demons 121,132
Dissenters, or abominations of the earth . 230
Donatists,
second wind trumpet 54,55
Bigotry so-called of 264-273
Dragon, sixth and seventh heads of . 71,74,75
Cedes
his power and authority to the
beast 75
Dragooning,
or persecutions suffered by
the
earth 280,281
Eagle, or Angel flying in mid-heaven .. 75,76
Earth, third
of 81-82
That helps the woman 242-247,253-263
As
one of the witnesses persecuted and
overcome
by the dragoons 275-281
In
the French national assembly
1789 313,337
Earthquake,
the great, or French Re-
volution 315~3l7
Edict of
Nantes 276-280
Egypt,
healing of 189
Out of, have I called my son 193
The great city
spiritually called
Sodom 283,289
Elders,
twenty4our 112
Elliott,
Rev.E. B. “Horae Apocalypticac”
extracts from 44,45,52,54,62,66,70,76,
90,250,253,255
Eloali
‘shall come in 180
End, time of
the 364
England,
the Land shadowing wide with
wings 190
Her part in the Latter days 190
Enoch,
Moses, and Elijah, were glorified
men before Christ was born 367
Euphrates, Angels bound by the 114-117
Preparation
and loosing of first Angel
Alp Aislan) 140-146
Second angel
(MonguIs and Tar tars) 148-151
Third angel
(Timour) 152-156
Fourth angel
(Ottomans) 156,167
Drying up of
Ottoman power 169-171
Face, as the
sun 175
Faith, the
one faith 258
Feet, as
pillars of fire 175
Fire,lakeofit 120
Saracen or Greek 91
Euphratean angel power 118,158-161
And flame, consumin~, symbolic of
Spirit in destroying activity 176
Flame,
symbolic 174
Flesh, Sin’s 255,256
Foreheads
sealed 77,78
Foundation of waters, third of, poisoned .. 62
Four living ones, as four horns of altar .. . 112
France,
tenth of great city 277,278
Revolution in 310-314,326-358
States-General
and National Assembly
Louis
XVI, A.D. 1789 290
Republic
of, first year, 1,260 years
from
Justinian’s delivery of Saints into
the
hands of the Supreme Pontiff ..
337,319
People
of, give glory to the God of
Heaven 352,359
Frogs,
beglnnings of three phases of
Frogsigns,1853,1859,1867 375,376
Furnace of
Affliction 84
Gathering of the Saints 186
380 EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE.
Ueneration, what this, in effect tells the
LordJesus 365
Genseric,
King of Vandals, A.D. 429,
second wind trumpet 53-57
Gibbon, extracts from history ... 13,20,23,27, 29 48 54 55 59
65,66,73,74,91,
128,129,139,143,145,159,161,164,165
Girondins, the party in French Revo-
lution 332-334
Glass, John, witness for the Truth 296
God,
the of the Earth, or little Horn
power 233,239,243,244,255,283
Blasphemous statements
concernmg 248-255
Of
Heave~n;~French people give gloryto the 352-359
Gog, or king
of the North, destruction of 187-189
Gospel, of kingdom and name, proclaimed
by Dr. Thomas, 1847 305-307
Summanes 303-307
Goths,
invasion, reign of Valens 28-32
Capture Rome, A.D. 410, first wind
trumpet 48
Grass 44
Gratian,
Emperor, A.D. 375, seventh
Seal 12,25
Gregory
II, Pope, letter to Leo on image-
worship 135,136
Gunpowder, “fire, smoke, and sulphur,” 120,156
Secret of, made known by Chinese to
Zingis Khan 143,157,160
Habakkuk,
vision identical with John’s
inPatmos 81-182
Hail 4244
Stones weight of a talent 374-375
Harlots,
or abominations of the Earth,
destroyed by saints 198
Churches or
Court of Gentiles ....
229-230
Heads,
“witil their, they do injure” 114
Of the Beast 41
Sixth or imperial 70
Seventh,
established A.D 493,
Theodoric, first king
of Ostro-
goths 75-76
Heavens,
luminaries of the 58
Roman 60,68,69
Mid, an angel oresgle flying in 76
New Jerusalem descending out of
the 322,323
Hegira,
Mohammedan, A.D. 632 48
Heraclius,
occupies Byzantine throne AD 610-642,
fifth trumpet begins to
sound 96
Heretics 13,265,
Holagou
Mogul, grandson of Zingis
Khan 148,150
Honorius,
son of Theodosius the Great,
final
separation of the Roman Empire
madeA.D.395 19
Horn,
Little, with eyes and mouth, as
the God of the Earth 235
Horns, four
of the Altar of Gold 111
Horns, Ten,
budding forth 41
Horses
and their riders, sixth trumphet,
secondwoe 117,118
Hosts,
He who shall be, “Yahweh
Tz’vaoth,” 170,171
Hour,
symbolic time, thirty days 116
House from
Heaven 172
Huguenots,
persecutions, Massacre of St. Bartholomew,
A.D.
1572; Papists rejoice over it 278-283
Human
Affairs, the future administration
of by the mystical Christ - Jesus and
His brethren 260
Huns,
invasion, A.D. 376 29
Under Attila, A.D. 433-453, third wind
trumpet 61,68
Hypocrites,
classical sense of word, the
clergy 367,368
Iconoclasts,
or image breakers 135
Idolatry 19-25
Put down by Mohammedans ... 98,99
Idols 132,138
Image,
Nebuchadnezzar’s ,legs of 12,40
Image
Worship, sixth, eighth, and ninth
centunes 132-138
Immaculate
Conception, dogma of ..
256,257
the
doctrine of the immaculate nature of Jesus the
germ of the
Catholic Apostasy 256,257
Immersion of
Dr. Thomas 307-309
Immortality of soul, scripturally defined 129
Inheritance,
the promised 368-372
Irene,
Empress, A.D. 780, undertakes restoration
of
image worship 137
Israel
of God, by the Rainbowed
angel 186-198
Jacobins, French Revolution 335,351,357
Jerome,
“St.”, refutation of the heresy
of
Vigilantius 25
Jerusalem,
taken by the Crusaders, A.D.
1099 148
Latin Kingdom of 148
Heavenly 231-232
Conquered by Saladin, A.D. 1187 148
Taken by Gog and confederacy of na-
tions 192-193
Yahweh’s
throne established in, ... 196,197
Christ’s second trumphal
entry
into 196,197
Jews,
subdued by Mohammed 96-99
Acknowledged their Messiah 196,197
John
the Apostle, synopsis of the times of the
Apocalypse 320-322
Jovian,
Emperor, succeeds Julian the
ApoStSte 12-25
Jubilee,
trumpet of 38
Judgment,
duration of time 170-171
Of nations, by Saints 177-178
Place chosen
for the 180-181
Ofjust and
unjust 365-366
Julian, reign ofA.D. 36 11
Jurieu,
Peter fixes death of witnesses,
A.D. 1685 . . sB ~ 282,292
Justin II,
occupie yzantine throne 96
Justinian,
Constantinopolitan Emperor,
A.D.
527-565 96
Code
and decretal epistle affirming
spiritual
su~remaey of Ro man Bishop
A.D.
529-5 3 23&237,243,244,245
Code
of laws the foundation of all na-
tional jurisprudence 320
Key of the
pit of Abyss 84,85,99
King, of
Glory 197
Kingdom, of
men 172
Kingdoms,
the ten, in 1832 315
Koran,the 100,102
Lafayette 333
Lake of fire 120-121
Lampstand,
seven branched golden, taken
by Vandals from Rome 55
Golden, or
one body 221-223
Latin
kingdom of Jerusalem, foundation
oftheA.D.1099 148
Conquered by Saladin A.D. 1187 148
Latins expelled from Syria, ........... 148
Law of
liberty perfect 261,262
Lawless One,
or god of the earth 248-259
Legs,twoofimage 12
Eastern Greek, Western Latin 40
Leo
III., the Isaunan, surnamed Icono-clast,
Emperor
of Eastern third of Roman Empire, A.D. 726 136-138
Leo
X., Pope, papal power at its height,
A.D. 1513-1521 256
Licinius,
persecutes Christians 266-267
Lion,
Symbolic of saints 77
Living ones,
four 112-113
Locusts,
fifth trumpet, first woe 88-90
Louis
XIV., Grand Monarque, revokes
Edict of Nantes,
October 23rd,
1685 276-281
Louis XVI 291,328-337
Lutherans
and Calvinists 275,276
Mahmud,
the Gaznevide, A.D. 997-1028
title
of Sultan invented for 141
Mahommedans
invade Syria under Abu-
beker,A.D.632 103
Key, the armorial bearing of 85
Persecute idolaters 143-144
Mahuzzim or
Guardians 23-25
Malek
Shah, Turk, succeeds AIp-Arslan
first called Commander of the Faithful,
first Euphratean angel power 143-144
Mamelucs of
Egypt 149-150
Man, the,
symbolic of saints 77
Of war, Deity a 170-171
Child of sin 265-267
Marat
of the Mountain, French Revolu-
tion 341,344,346~347
Marie
Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI of
France 329-330,337
Mary,
immaculate conception 256,257
Massacre
of St. Bartholomew, A.D.
1572 27~280
During
Reign of Terror in France, number
executed estimated
at 1,022,351 144
Massoud
succeeds Mahmud, Turks con-
quer Persia, A.D. 1038 142
Medals,
copies of, struck by Popes 255,257
Jubilee, A.D. 1825 286
Merchants
of Tarshish and young lions
thereof 191
Midian,
curtains of 188
Millennial reign of Christ, rest of
Saints 204~206
Miracles, pretended 20-21,132-135
Moguls
and Tartars, second Euphratean
angel
power 148-151
Under
Timour or Tamerlane, third
Euphratean
angel p ower 152-155
Mohammed,
A.D. 609-632, Star of the Pit
fifth
trumpet, first woe ~102
Mohammed
I., Sultan of Ottoman empire
son of Baj azet I 156
Mohammed
II., son of Amurath II., con quers
Constantinople 160-164
Months, five 93
One
symbolic time thirty years 116
Forty
and Two Months Hol;y City trampled by
Gentiles 232-239
Moon, third
of 68-70
Roman 72
Moses, blessing
of 179
Mosheim,
Cxtr5cts from 272
Mother of
Harlots and progeny 230
Mountain, the Burnt, Chaldean Babylon 49-50
The,
a party in the French National
Assembly 330,346,351,357,363
Mount of
Olives, cleft 196
Myriads 116
Mystery of Godliness, of Deity finished 210-215
Of the
Gospel 210-212
Babylon 285-289
Names of
Blasphemy 229
7,000 of men 337-345
Nantes,
Edict of, granted by Henry IV.,
A.D.
1599 276
Revocation
of, by Louis XIV, A.D
1685, putting
to death of the
witnesses 276-280
Napoleonic
Dynasty 363
Nations
angry 361
Nave, of
Deity opened 371-375
Nebuchadnezzar
5 image 172
Dominion or Babylonish kingdom
Nice,
seventh, Council of, A.D. 787, on
382 EXPOSITION OF THE
APOCALYPSE.
the Image-worship question 138
Night,
third of, darkened, fourth wind
trumpet 70
Novatians or
PuritanS 269,270
Noyades, the
French Revolution 350
Oath, the Angel of the ,............... . 207-210
Odoacer,
King of Heruli, an Arian and the first
barbarian
to reign in Italy; Roman empire
extinct in West, A.D.
476493; fourth wind trumpet 71,73
Oil,sonsof 224
Olive trees,
two 222,223,247-248
Olives,
Mount of, rent asunder 195
Omega,the 171
Ostrogoths,
Theodoric, and seventh head of Beast,
fourth
wind trumpet, A.D.493 73-75
Ottoman
Empire, rise of, on the decline of
theMogul 151-152
Restrained
by Timour 152-156
Establishment of, fourth Euphratean
angel power 156168
Ox the symbo;lic of saints 77
Pagan Rome overcome by one body . 235-236
Paran, Mount 179
Patrician,
Odoacer, of the diocese of
Italy 72-73
Persecutions
of Christians, fou centurs Licinius and
Constantine .... 265-273
Of Huguenots sixteenth century ... 276-281
Peter, Apostle, image of, worshipped .... 124,
132,136,137
Peter
the Hermit leads crusades, A.D.
1096 147
Phocas,
Emperor, A.D. 602-610 96
Acknowledges Supremacy of Roman
Bishop’s
See, A.D. 604-608 236-238
Pillar
erected to him 236,238
Pillar erected to
Phocas, Dragon
Emperor 236,238
Pit of the
Abyss 82-87,98-109
Pliny, contemporary
with Apostle
John 91-92
Pope,
or Father, title appropriated by
Roman Pontiff, A.D. 500 249
Blasphemous
aseriptions given to, .
249-255
Antichrist or the God of the earth,
identical 255-259
Culmination
of power, A.D. 151-l52l LeoX 256
Gregory
XIII A.D. 1572, medal celebrating
Massacre of St.
Bartholomew 281,282
Leo
X A.D. 1513-1521, culmination
of Pope’s power 256
Prayers of
Saints 111
Preparation
period, Angels p repare to sound,
reigns
of Jovian, a entinian, Valens, Gratian,
Theodosius, A.D.363-395 12
Promises,
made to Abraham 368-372
Prophecies,
peculiarity of, viz., end first,
details after 225
Represent
events in miniature .... 293-294,
Prophetic
epochs, initial and terminal 323
Prophets, how
the two destroy
their enemies 259-263
Protestantism 132
Prussia,
joins in a coalition against Nap-
oleon
Buonaparte 140
Puritans,
Novatians, or Cathari, third
century,
fourth Seal 269,270
Queen
Victoria 155
Quickening
of the Saints after being
raised 173
Rainbow,
throne 173,174
Rainbow,
angel of 170175,186205,206
Reason, worship
of, decreed in
France 341-345,353
Reed,likearod 225,226
Reign of
Terror 345,359
Relic worship, beginning of ... . 19,20,128,131
Resistance, non-, the part of Saints . 243,244
Rest, they
do, from their labours 204,205
Rest
terrified 345-352
Resurrection
and Judgment 169-174,
179-187,363-366,536539,545-554,723-726
Resurrection,
John’s, symbolic 224,225
And reward
of approved Saints .... 366-372
How raised 178-188
Revival of witnessing
for Gospel
truth .294-309
Revolution,
American 310
French, 1789 310~3i5,327-359
Reward,
promised 366-372
Rhadagaisus,
King of Confederate Ger-mans, invaded
Italy
A.D. 406, first wind trumpet 45-46
Riders
and their Horses, sixth trumpet,
second
woe 117,118
Rivers,
third of, and fountains of waters
poisoned,
third trumpet, A.D. 450,.
60-62
Robespierre 345,351,355,360
Roland,
leader in French Revolution 332
Roman Empire
divided 12,19
In the West
becomes extinct, A.D.476 72-73
Asiatic provinces, taken by Turks 145
And City co-extensive 285
Roman
people, fourth wind trumpet 72
Rome,
city of, taken by Goths under Alarie,
A.D. 410,
first wind trumpet 48
Taken
by Vandals under Genseric,
A.D.
4552nd wind trumpet 55
Throne
of universal empire transferred
to
Constantinople from 72
Pagan, overcome
by the One
Body 232,233
Rejoices at
the slaughter of witnesses
281,283
And Empire co-extensive, a decree of
Page
383
Caracalla 285
Romulus
Augustulus, last of Roman Emperors
of
the Catholic West, A.D. 476,
fourth wind trumpet 71,72
Roum, kingdom of, founded 145
Russia,
capture of Jerusalem and final overthrow
by Christ and His
brethren 189-194
Saints, the, who are they 184-186
Relation to the Altar 226,227,228,231
Relation to the Nave .
171,183,112,372-375
As the One Body 172,221-223,
228-231,239.246,360363
Bride 171
Strongman 171
Arkofcovenant 171,360
Holy City 231-239,274,309,360-363
Heavenly Jerusalem 231
Great Mountain 362
Rainbow angel of 170-203
Resurrection and judgment of 184,186
Saladin
captures Jerusalem, ...........
148
Sandeman,
Robert, a witness for truth .. .
296,
298
Saracens,
A.D. 632-932, fifth trumpet,
flrstwoe 81-106
Saxons,A.D.371 28
Scorpion 91
Scott Walter 299
Scroll
of the Life, seven sealed, summary
of the Apocalypse 176,178
Little, open 176-178,212-215
Sea,
translucent, signification 202
Dead 82,183
Third
of, sea, becomes blood, second
wind
trumpet 5057
Divided
of the, for Israel to pass over,
a national
baptism into Christ ‘ 188,189
Seal, chronological
synopsis, A.D.324-395 33-35
Seal, the,
of the Deity, and the sealed 77,78,81
Sealin~
period, A.D. 324-396 11,12
Seal,
the seventh, and first four trumpets
A.D.
395-554 42,44,58
Second
section of, or fifth trumpet, first
woe,
A.D. 632-932 80
Sixth
trumpet, or second woe, A.D.
1062-1453
(Eastern part) 109-160
Sixth
trumpet, second woe, Western
part,
A.D. 312-1794 217,218,359
Third
section, seventh trumpet, or third woe,
affecting
both East and West . 359-375
Fourth
Section, the little open scroll 167-216
Seed of
serpent 242
Ofwoman 112,139,140
Seir, Mount 182
Seljuk 141,142
Seljukian
Turkish power 144
Serpent,
seed of 242
Seven
Spirits 205
Seven
Thunders 205,206
Shaven
crowns 92,93,102,103
Ships, the 52,5658
Sinai,
peninsula of 183
Mount, description of, place of judg-
ment 182-189
Smoke, of
the pit 8687
Fourth Euphratean Angel Power 118-120,157-160
Sodom,
destruction of, literal and spiritua l 283-289
Soliman
invades Roman provinces of Asia
Minor, A.D. 1074 145
Son of Man, similitude 172
Souls,
pagan belief in inherent immor-
tality 122-132
Sower,
parable of the 242
Spirits,seven 113,114
Star,
Apsinthian or Illyrian 58-68
Of the pit,
fifth trumpet, first
woe 81,%,101
Stars,
third of, smitten, fourth wind
trumpet 69-70
Sulphur
,smoke and fire. fourth Euphratean angel power 118-120.157,160
Sultan,
title first given to Mahmud, A.D. 997 141
Sun, face as
the 174,175
Third
of Roman Sun smitten, fourth
wind trumpet
67-70,72
And air darkened fifth trumpet first
woe 87,88
Tails, power in their 119
Tarshish merchants of young lions of 191
2nd Euphratean angel power 141,151
Teman and
Mt. Paran 180
Temple,
Apocalyptic arrangements of,
explained 227,229
Ten
toes, or kingdoms, A.D. 1815-1832.. 315
Tenth of
city, France 276,281,283,315
317,327-337
Terror,
reign of, in France 346-360
Theodora,
Empress, restored image-wor-
ship
in the East, A.D. 842 138
Theodoric,
king of Ostrogoths, first king
of
seventh head of beast; fourth wind
trumpet, A.D. 493-526 74,75
Theodosius
the Great, A.D. 380 12,17,
20-30
Third of
earth, Western 43-45
Trees of 43
Seaof 50
Ships of 50-52
Rivers and fountains of water 60-62
Sun, moon, and stars smitten 68-73
Of Roman earth, eastern 109,121
Of men killed, fourth Euphratean angel
power 144,146,160167
Of day
and night darkened 68-75
Thomas,
Dr., acquaintaned with the
truth 229-304
384 EXPOSITION OF THE
APOCALYPSE.
Testimony
on the one baptism in
1834 304-305
Elaboration of the truth, in 1847 .. 305-310
Immersion of 309
Throne,
of universal empire transferred
from Rome to
Constantinople 72
Thunders,
seven, yet future 205-209
Tiberius II,
Byzantine throne 96
Time,oftheEnd 364
Synopsis of Daniel’s and John’s .... 320-321
Time, times
and a half 208,211
Timour
or Tamerlane restrains Ottoman Power,
A.D.
1400, race perpetuated in Great Moguls of
Delhi, now under dominion of Bntain 152-155
Titles
abolished in France 317,341
Trees of
Eden 43
Trinity, Clerical 18
Trumpet,
the first wind, A.D. 395-429,
Alaric
and Rhadagaisus 42-58
Second
Wind, A.D. 429, Genseric and
Vandals 49,57
Third
Wind, A.D. 450, Attila and
Huns 58-68
Fourth wind, A.D. 476 68-75
Fifth or first woe, A.D. 632-933 .... 81-106, 360
Sixth or second woe A.D. 1062-1453
Eastern part 107,360
Sixth or second woe, Western part A.D.
312-1794 217,218
Seventh, third woe, A.D. 1793-1905
East and West 208,210,218,360363
364
Trumpets,
four wind 37-41
Turks or Turkmans 141
Conquer
Persia and establish Shepherd Kings
kings,
A.D. 1038 142
Believe
in Koran, under Togrul Beg, Alp Arslan,
Malek
Shah, first Euphratean angel power 144-146
Or
Ottoman power take Constantinople, fourth
Eupliratean
angel 160-167
Tyre or
England 189
Universe 69-70
Unjust, the 365-366
Valens,
Emperor, Eastern leg ... 12,14,27,32
Valentinian,
Emperor, Western leg .~. 12,14,
17,27,32
Valentinian
II 17
Vandals,
under Genseric, invade Roman Empire, s
econd
wind trumpet, A.D.
429 53-58
Vendee, La,
massacres in 350,351
Venice
founded 67
Vial,
seventh 373-376
Victoria
Guelph, Queen, Empress of India, possessor
of Great Mongul Empire 155
Vigilantius 25,26
Villages,
unwalled 191
Visigoths
and Alaric, one of Ten Horn kingdoms,
A.D.
395, pillage Rome .
45-49
Vision, rule
for calculating time
of a 324-326
Voice,
one of prayer from the golden altar
sixth trumpet or second woe 111-113
The voice, in the heaven 212
Waldenses 270
Waters,
signification 61,62
Winds, Four,
blowing of 36,37
Witnesses
two, prophesying of 239-246,
259-273
Testimony finished, A.D. 1572 .... 275-281
Death of A.D. 1685 275,281
Lie
unburied 3’~ days or 105 years from
A.D.
1685-1790 290-294
Revival of 294-310
Ascension in a
cloud to the
heaven 310,315
Woe, first
A.D. 632-932 81-107,95-96
Second,
A.D. 1062-1453, judgments on eastern
part
of Roman Empire 107-169
On
western part of Roman Empire,
A.D.312-1794 217,218,360
Third,
seventh trumpet, East and West affected
A.D.
1794-onwards ... 2 18,360-363
Wolff,
Joseph, missionary, on the 2,400
years 222,223
Woman, and her seed, sackcloth witnessing of 267-272
Testimony finished 273-283
Remnantofseed 112,139-140
Wounds, Jesus
revealed to Israel
by the 196,197
Yahweh
Tz’vaoth 171
Year
Days, one symbolic time, three
hundred
and sixty years 116
Years,
twelve hundred and sixty, thirteen
hundred and thirty-five 208,319,320,
363-364
Two thousand four hundred 323-327
Three
hundred and ninety-one and thirty
days,
Euphratean Angel powers 115-116
Forty,
occupied in establishing the King-
dom 208
Zechariah,
symbolism - great mountain,
head
stone, olive trees, etc 219-223
Zeno,
Emperor of Eastern third Roman
Empire 71
Zerubbabel,
the great mountain to be-
come
a plain ~~tore 221
Zingis
Khan, Emperor of Moguls and Tar-tars,
preparation
period of second Euphratean Angel
power,
died A.D.1227 149