Revelation
Excerpts from --
Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Rev. 18 Cont.
Verse 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
The voice coming from heaven denotes that it is a message of power attended with heavenly glory. How marked becomes the interposition of Heaven, and how the agents for the accomplishment of God's work multiply, as the great crisis approaches! This voice from heaven is called "another" voice, showing that a new agency is here introduced. We now have five celestial messengers expressly mentioned as engaged in this last religious reformation. These are the first, second, and third angels of Revelation 14; fourth, the angel of verse 1 of this chapter; and fifth, the agency indicated by the "voice" of verse 4, now before us. Three of these are already in operation. The second angel has joined the first, and the third has joined them. The first and second have not ceased. All three are now united in proclaiming a threefold message. The angel of verse 1 here enters upon his mission, as conditions call for his work. The divine call from heaven to come out of Babylon takes place in connection with his work.
"Come Out of Her, My People."--
Proof has already been offered to show that the message of verses 1 and 2 of this chapter is given in connection with the now current threefold message. An idea of its extent and power may be gathered from the description of the angel there given. The first angel's message is said to go with a "loud voice." The same is also said of the third message, but this angel, instead of simply flying "in the midst of heaven" like the others, is said to "come down" from heaven." He comes with a message more pointed and direct. He has "great power," and the earth is "lightened with his glory." No such description of a message from heaven to man is elsewhere to be found in all the Bible. This is the last, and as is meet, it comes with surpassing glory and unwonted power. It is an awful hour when a world's destiny is to be decided--a most solemn crisis when an entire contemporaneous generation of the human family is to pass the bounds of probation, as the last note of mercy is sounded.
In such a time, the world must not be left without warning. So amply must the great facts be heralded that none can plead a reasonable ignorance of the impending doom. Every excuse must be taken away. The justice and long-suffering and forbearance of God in delaying threatened vengeance until all have had an opportunity to receive a knowledge of His will, and time to repent, must be vindicated. An angel is sent forth panoplied with heavenly power. The light that encircles the throne enshrouds him. He comes to the earth. None but the spiritually dead--yea, "twice dead, and plucked up by the roots"--would fail to realize his presence. Light flashes everywhere. The dark places are lighted up. While his presence dispels the shadows, his voice in thunderous tones utters a warning. He cries "mightily." It is no parlor announcement, but a cry, a might cry with a strong voice.
The fatal defects in the profession of a worldly church are again pointed out. Their errors are once more, and for the last time, exposed. The inadequacy of the present standard of godliness to meet the final crisis is emphasized beyond all mistaking. The inevitable connection between their cherished errors and everlasting and irretrievable destruction is heralded until the earth resounds with the cry. Meanwhile, great Babylon's sins mount up to the heavens, and the remembrance of her iniquities comes up before God. The storm of vengeance gathers. Soon it will burst upon the great city of confusion, and proud Babylon will go down as a millstone sinks into the depths of the sea.
Suddenly another voice rings out from heaven, "Come out of her, My people!" The humble, sincere, devoted children of God, of whom there are some still left, and who sigh and cry over the abominations done in the land, heed the voice, wash their hands of her sins, separate from her communion, escape, and are saved, while Babylon becomes the victim of the just judgments of God. These are stirring times for the church. Let us be ready for the crisis.
The fact that God's people are called out so as not to be partakers of her sins, shows that it is not until a certain time that people become guilty by being connected with Babylon.
Verses 6 and 7 are a prophetic declaration that she will be rewarded or punished according to her works. Bear in mind that this testimony applies to that part of Babylon which is subject to a spiritual fall. As already pointed out, it must apply especially to the "daughters," the denominations who persist in clinging to the personal traits of the "mother," and keeping up the family resemblance. These, as pointed out previously, are to attempt a sweeping persecution against the truth and the people of God. By these the "image to the beast" is to be formed. These are to have what will be to them a new experience--the use of the civil arm to enforce their dogmas.
It is doubtless this first intoxication of power that leads this branch of Babylon to cherish in her heart the boast, "I sit a queen, and am no widow;" that is, I am no longer {GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, chera, "one bereaved," or destitute of power, as I have been. She declares, Now I rule like a queen, and I shall see no sorrow. With blasphemy she boasts God is in the Constitution, the church is enthroned, and will henceforth bear sway. The expression, "Reward her even as she rewarded you," seems to show that the time for this message to reach its climax, and for the saints to be finally called out, will be when she begins to raise against them the arm of oppression. As she fills up the cup of persecution to the saints, so the angel of the Lord will persecute her. (Psalm 35: 6.) Judgments from on high will bring upon her a twofold degree ("double unto her double"), the evil which she thought to bring upon the humble servants of the Lord.
The day in which her plagues come, mentioned in verse 8, must be a prophetic day, or at least cannot be a literal day, for it would be impossible for famine to come in that length of time. The plagues of Babylon are without doubt the seven last plagues, which have already been examined. The plain inference from the languages of this verse in connection with Isaiah 34: 8, is that a year will be occupied in that terrible visitation.
*******
No one will be able to say they didn't have a chance. No one will be able to justly accuse God of wronging them in not providing them with a way to Him, to His love and care. Many will be caught up in the horrific events about to unfold and many think they are safe but they aren't. The truth is what matters most, the truth in Christ. Clinging to Christ to His righteousness and none of our own, relying on His grace, His mercy alone.
In Him may we be found fully.
Amen.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Rev. 18. Apostasy
Revelation
Excerpts from --
Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter XVIII
The Doom of Modern Babylon
Verse 1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Some movement of mighty power is symbolized in these verse. (See comments on verse 4 of this chapter.) The consideration of a few facts will guide us unmistakably to the application. In Revelation 14 we had a message announcing the fall of Babylon. "Babylon" is a term which embraces not only paganism and the Roman Catholic Church, but religious bodies which have withdrawn from that church, but bringing many of her errors and traditions with them.
A Spiritual Fall.--
The fall of Babylon here spoken of cannot be literal destruction, for there are events to take place in Babylon after her fall which utterly forbid this idea. For instance, the people of God are there after her fall, and are called out in order that they may not receive of her plagues, which include her literal destruction. The fall is therefore a spiritual one, for the result of it is that Babylon becomes the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. These are terrible description of apostasy, showing that, as a consequence of her fall, she piles up an accumulation of sins even to the heavens, and becomes the subject to the judgments of God, which can no longer be delayed.
Since the fall here introduced is a spiritual one, it must apply to some branch of Babylon outside of the pagan or papal divisions; for from the beginning of their history paganism has been a false religion, and the papacy an apostate one. Further as this fall is said to occur but a short period before Babylon's final destruction, certainly this side of the rise and predicted triumph of the papal church, this testimony cannot apply to any religious organizations but such as have sprung from that church. These stared out on reform. They ran well for a season, and had the approbation of God; but bringing some of her erroneous doctrines with them, and fencing themselves about with creeds of their own, they have failed to keep pace with the advancing light of prophetic truth. This has left them where they will finally develop a character as odious in the sight of God as that of the church from which they withdrew.
Alexander Campbell, founder of the Disciples of Christ Church, says: "A reformation of popery was attempted in Europe full three centuries ago. It ended in a Protestant hierarchy, and swarms of dissenters. Protestantism has been reformed into Presbyterianism, that into Congregationalism, and that into Baptistism, etc., etc. Methodism has attempted to reform all, but has reformed itself into many forms of Wesleyism. . . . All of them retain in their bosom-- in their ecclesiastical organizations, worship, doctrines, and observances-- various relics of popery. They are at best a reformation of popery, and only reformations in part. The doctrines and traditions of men yet impair the power and progress of the gospel in their hands." [1]
Abundant testimony might be produced from persons in high standing in these various denominations, written, not for the purpose of being captious and finding fault, but from a vivid sense of the fearful condition to which these churches have fallen. The term Babylon, as applied to them, is not a term of reproach, but is simply expressive of the confusion and diversity of sentiment that exists among them. Babylon need not have fallen. She might have been healed (Jeremiah 51: 9) by receiving the truth, but she rejected it. In not accepting the truth of the second coming of Christ and in rejecting the first angel's message, the churches failed to walk in the advanced light shining on their pathway from the throne of God. As a result, confusion and dissension reign within their borders. Worldliness and pride are fast choking every plant of heavenly growth.
But in this chapter we have the fall of Babylon mentioned again. In the previous reference it followed the sounding of the first angel's message, and the divine declaration then was, "There followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen." Now the latter pronouncement from heaven heaven is, "He cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils." Here is a further step in the development of apostasy, and the next few pages will reveal the extent of this final phase of the fall of Babylon.
Time of This Fall.--
At what time do these verses have their application? When may this movement be looked for? If the position taken here is correct, that these churches, this branch of Babylon, experienced a spiritual fall by the rejection of the first angel's message of Revelation 14, the announcement in the chapter now under consideration could not have gone forth previous to that time. It is, then, either simultaneous with the message of the fall of Babylon in Revelation 14, or it is given at a later period than than. It cannot be at the same time with that, for that merely announces the fall of Babylon, while this adds several particulars which at that time were neither fulfilled nor in the process of fulfillment. We are therefore to look this side of 1844, when the previous message went forth, for the announcement brought to view in this chapter. We therefore inquire, Has any such message been given from that time to present? The answer is, Yes. We are now hearing the third angel's message, which is the last to be given before the coming of the Son of man. As declension has increased in the religious world, that message has been augmented by the warning of Revelation 18: 1-4, which thus constitutes a feature of the third angel's message which is now being proclaimed with power and lighting the world with its glory.
The Work of Spiritism.--The latter phase of the work brought to view in verse 2 is in process of accomplishment, and will soon be completed, by the work of spiritism. What are called in Revelation 16: 14, "spirits of devils, working miracles," are secretly but rapidly working their way into the religious denominations above referred to. Their creeds have been formulated under the influence of the wine (errors) of Babylon, one of which is that the spirits of our dead friends, conscious, intelligent, and active, are all about us.
A significant feature in the work of spiritism just now, is the religious garb is is assuming. Keeping in the background its grosser principles, which it has heretofore carried so largely in the front, it now assumes to appear as respectably religious as any other denomination in the land. It talks of sin, repentance, the atonement, salvation through Christ, in almost as orthodox language as do genuine Christians. Under the guise of this profession, what is to hinder it from entrenching itself in almost every denomination Christendom? We have shown that the basis of spiritism, the immortality of the soul, is a fundamental dogma of the creeds of almost all the churches. What, then, can save Christendom from its seductive influence?
Herein is seen another sad result of rejecting the truths offered to the world by the messages of Revelation 14. Had the churches received these messages, they would have been shielded against this delusion; for among the great truths developed by the religious movement in the time of the great advent awakening, is the important doctrine that the soul of man is not naturally immortal; that eternal life is the gift of Jesus Christ, and can be obtained only through Him; that the dead are unconscious; and that the rewards and punishments of the future world lie beyond the resurrection and the day of judgment.
These truths strike a deathblow to the first and vital claim of spiritism. What foot hold can that doctrine secure in any mind fortified by such truth? The spirit comes, and claims to be the disembodied soul, or spirit, of a dead man. It is met with the fact that that is not the kind of soul, or spirit, which man possesses; that the "dead know not anything;" that this, its first pretension, is a lie, and that the credentials it offers, show it to belong to the synagogue of Satan. Thus it is at once rejected, and the evil it would do is effectually prevented. But the great mass of religionists stand opposed to the truth which would thus shield them, and they thereby expose themselves to this last manifestation of satanic cunning.
Modern Liberalism.--
While spiritism is thus working, startling changes are manifesting themselves in high places in some of the denominations. The fidelity of the present age, under the seductive names of "science," "higher criticism," evolution," and "modern liberalism," has permeated most of the theological colleges of the land, and to a large extent has made serious incursions into the Protestant churches.
Public attention was forcibly called to this situation by a writer, Mr. Harold Bolce, in the Cosmopolitan Magazine for May, 1909. After making an investigation into the character of the teaching that was being imparted in some of the leading universities of this country, he reported the results in Cosmopolitan, which drew forth this comment from the editor:
"What Mr. Bolce sets down here is of the most astounding character. Out of the curricula of American colleges, a dynamic movement is upheaving ancient foundations, and promising a way for revolutionary thought and life. Those who are not in close touch with the great colleges of the country will be astonished to learn the creeds being fostered by the faculties of our great universities. In hundreds of classrooms it is being taught daily that the decalogue is no more sacred than a syllabus; that the home as an institution is doomed; that there are no absolute evils; that immorality is simply an act in contravention of society's accepted standards. . . . These are some of the revolutionary and sensational teachings submitted with academic warrant to the minds of hundreds of thousands of students in the United States." [2]
The results of modern liberalism have been all too apparent in the work of the Protestant churches. Writers in the various communions have freely pointed out the lack of interest in the preaching of the gospel and the decline of missions in particular. One writer states the situation in this way:
"Too largely I suspect our churches have become weak, uncertain as to their purpose, lifeless, characterized by a deadly respectability and lacking a sense of mission. The average congregation is primarily concerned with raising enough money to pay the pastor and to keep the property in good repair. There is little deep-seated conviction any longer that 'we have a story to tell to the nations.' The gospel of salvation and evangelism as respects the whole world has been diluted into a satisfactory and responsible ethic and the church is a society of good people who want the blessing of religion to attend them during their moments of exaltation or grief, but are quite content to absent themselves from the church and its divine mission so long as they can clothe themselves in the aura of respectability which attaches to church membership. Is this too caustic an indictment of the church?" [3]
Another writer states the attitude of the churches toward missions:
"Coupled with the fact that only a minority of church members give conscientiously is the change in belief about missions. Missionary boards may persuade themselves that the falling off in their receipts is due to high taxes and lowered incomes, but pastors who are in touch with donors recognize a definite increase of resistance to making donations designed for extension of the gospel beyond our borders. The number of otherwise loyal parishioners who doggedly announce that they 'don't believe in missions' is mounting. The caliber of these opponents gives pause. . . .
"The average annual per capita giving in twenty-two non-Roman communions now shows $11.28 for congregational expenses, against $2.19 for all non-local work. . . .
"The average of gifts beyond self-support coasts from 29.69 per cent of the total income with the United Presbyterian Church to 11.14, 12.30, and 10.02 per cent with the last-named trio. Small wonder we are being urged to 're- think missions.' " [4]
Such results as these are declared to follow:
"While missionary zeal was waning, the situation was further complicated by the revelation that other than evangelical missionaries were being commissioned and sent to the foreign fields. These were the 'adventurers' of a 'new civilization,' the 'creators of a new world,' and were mainly filled with a social passion. . . .
"World evangelization was again given a cruel blow in the critical findings of the Laymen's Foreign Missions Inquiry Report. Although the object of this enterprise, which began in 1930 and continued to 1933, was 'to aid laymen to determine their attitude toward foreign missions by reconsidering the functions of such missions in the world of today,' with undoubtedly the aim not only to remodel missions but to increase financial receipts, the results was only more controversy and decreased giving." [5]
Results of Apostasy.--From the standpoint of such a lamentable outlook, and under the leadership of such men, how long before Babylon will become full of spirits that are foul, and birds that are hateful and unclean? What progress has already been made in this direction! How would the godly fathers and mothers of the generation that lived just before the first angel's message was given, could they hear the teaching and behold the practices of the religious world, stand aghast at the fearful contrast between their time and ours, and deplore the sad degeneracy! But Heaven is not to let all this pass in silence. A mighty proclamation is being made, calling the attention of all the world to the fearful counts in the indictment against unfaithful religious bodies, that the justice of the judgments that follow may plainly appear.
Verse 3 shows the wide extent of the influence of Babylon, and the evil that has resulted and will result from her course, and hence the justness of her punishment. The merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Who take the lead in all the extravagances of the age? Who load their tables with the richest and choicest viands? Who are foremost in extravagance in dress and all costly attire? Who are the personification of pride and arrogance? Are not church members in the very forefront of those who seek after the material and prideful things of life?
But there is a redeeming feature in this picture. Degenerate as Babylon has become as a body, there are exceptions to the general rule; for God has still a people there, and she must be entitled to some regard on their account until all who will answer are called from her communion. Nor will it be necessary to wait long for this consummation. Soon Babylon will become so thoroughly leavened with the influence of these evil agents that her condition will be fully manifest to all the honest in heart, and the way will be prepared for the work which the apostle now introduces.
*******
There are many facts to substantiate the belief that God's church, His people given the special message in 1844, those who ate that little book and whose bellies became bitter as a result- those entrusted with the sacred truths of the 3 angels messages have betrayed that trust. Uriah Smith speaks here in his immediate future and looks to other churches for this fallen Babylon not knowing the extent of betrayal to come in the future from the very people God gave His message. Betraying God is not something new for His people to do. The people he rescued from horrible slavery in Egypt- those who made a covenant with Him turned around and broke it over and over, and over again. From those who have broken the covenant remained a fraction- a remnant that held true to him. It's the same this very day in which we live. Come out of Babylon is the cry. Come out of the false church, the corrupt church. Who will heed this message? God's true people who are following the truth and nothing but the truth in Christ.
May God bless and keep us in Him now and forever! By the Mercy and Grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, His will be done in us.
Amen.
Excerpts from --
Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter XVIII
The Doom of Modern Babylon
Verse 1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Some movement of mighty power is symbolized in these verse. (See comments on verse 4 of this chapter.) The consideration of a few facts will guide us unmistakably to the application. In Revelation 14 we had a message announcing the fall of Babylon. "Babylon" is a term which embraces not only paganism and the Roman Catholic Church, but religious bodies which have withdrawn from that church, but bringing many of her errors and traditions with them.
A Spiritual Fall.--
The fall of Babylon here spoken of cannot be literal destruction, for there are events to take place in Babylon after her fall which utterly forbid this idea. For instance, the people of God are there after her fall, and are called out in order that they may not receive of her plagues, which include her literal destruction. The fall is therefore a spiritual one, for the result of it is that Babylon becomes the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. These are terrible description of apostasy, showing that, as a consequence of her fall, she piles up an accumulation of sins even to the heavens, and becomes the subject to the judgments of God, which can no longer be delayed.
Since the fall here introduced is a spiritual one, it must apply to some branch of Babylon outside of the pagan or papal divisions; for from the beginning of their history paganism has been a false religion, and the papacy an apostate one. Further as this fall is said to occur but a short period before Babylon's final destruction, certainly this side of the rise and predicted triumph of the papal church, this testimony cannot apply to any religious organizations but such as have sprung from that church. These stared out on reform. They ran well for a season, and had the approbation of God; but bringing some of her erroneous doctrines with them, and fencing themselves about with creeds of their own, they have failed to keep pace with the advancing light of prophetic truth. This has left them where they will finally develop a character as odious in the sight of God as that of the church from which they withdrew.
Alexander Campbell, founder of the Disciples of Christ Church, says: "A reformation of popery was attempted in Europe full three centuries ago. It ended in a Protestant hierarchy, and swarms of dissenters. Protestantism has been reformed into Presbyterianism, that into Congregationalism, and that into Baptistism, etc., etc. Methodism has attempted to reform all, but has reformed itself into many forms of Wesleyism. . . . All of them retain in their bosom-- in their ecclesiastical organizations, worship, doctrines, and observances-- various relics of popery. They are at best a reformation of popery, and only reformations in part. The doctrines and traditions of men yet impair the power and progress of the gospel in their hands." [1]
Abundant testimony might be produced from persons in high standing in these various denominations, written, not for the purpose of being captious and finding fault, but from a vivid sense of the fearful condition to which these churches have fallen. The term Babylon, as applied to them, is not a term of reproach, but is simply expressive of the confusion and diversity of sentiment that exists among them. Babylon need not have fallen. She might have been healed (Jeremiah 51: 9) by receiving the truth, but she rejected it. In not accepting the truth of the second coming of Christ and in rejecting the first angel's message, the churches failed to walk in the advanced light shining on their pathway from the throne of God. As a result, confusion and dissension reign within their borders. Worldliness and pride are fast choking every plant of heavenly growth.
But in this chapter we have the fall of Babylon mentioned again. In the previous reference it followed the sounding of the first angel's message, and the divine declaration then was, "There followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen." Now the latter pronouncement from heaven heaven is, "He cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils." Here is a further step in the development of apostasy, and the next few pages will reveal the extent of this final phase of the fall of Babylon.
Time of This Fall.--
At what time do these verses have their application? When may this movement be looked for? If the position taken here is correct, that these churches, this branch of Babylon, experienced a spiritual fall by the rejection of the first angel's message of Revelation 14, the announcement in the chapter now under consideration could not have gone forth previous to that time. It is, then, either simultaneous with the message of the fall of Babylon in Revelation 14, or it is given at a later period than than. It cannot be at the same time with that, for that merely announces the fall of Babylon, while this adds several particulars which at that time were neither fulfilled nor in the process of fulfillment. We are therefore to look this side of 1844, when the previous message went forth, for the announcement brought to view in this chapter. We therefore inquire, Has any such message been given from that time to present? The answer is, Yes. We are now hearing the third angel's message, which is the last to be given before the coming of the Son of man. As declension has increased in the religious world, that message has been augmented by the warning of Revelation 18: 1-4, which thus constitutes a feature of the third angel's message which is now being proclaimed with power and lighting the world with its glory.
The Work of Spiritism.--The latter phase of the work brought to view in verse 2 is in process of accomplishment, and will soon be completed, by the work of spiritism. What are called in Revelation 16: 14, "spirits of devils, working miracles," are secretly but rapidly working their way into the religious denominations above referred to. Their creeds have been formulated under the influence of the wine (errors) of Babylon, one of which is that the spirits of our dead friends, conscious, intelligent, and active, are all about us.
A significant feature in the work of spiritism just now, is the religious garb is is assuming. Keeping in the background its grosser principles, which it has heretofore carried so largely in the front, it now assumes to appear as respectably religious as any other denomination in the land. It talks of sin, repentance, the atonement, salvation through Christ, in almost as orthodox language as do genuine Christians. Under the guise of this profession, what is to hinder it from entrenching itself in almost every denomination Christendom? We have shown that the basis of spiritism, the immortality of the soul, is a fundamental dogma of the creeds of almost all the churches. What, then, can save Christendom from its seductive influence?
Herein is seen another sad result of rejecting the truths offered to the world by the messages of Revelation 14. Had the churches received these messages, they would have been shielded against this delusion; for among the great truths developed by the religious movement in the time of the great advent awakening, is the important doctrine that the soul of man is not naturally immortal; that eternal life is the gift of Jesus Christ, and can be obtained only through Him; that the dead are unconscious; and that the rewards and punishments of the future world lie beyond the resurrection and the day of judgment.
These truths strike a deathblow to the first and vital claim of spiritism. What foot hold can that doctrine secure in any mind fortified by such truth? The spirit comes, and claims to be the disembodied soul, or spirit, of a dead man. It is met with the fact that that is not the kind of soul, or spirit, which man possesses; that the "dead know not anything;" that this, its first pretension, is a lie, and that the credentials it offers, show it to belong to the synagogue of Satan. Thus it is at once rejected, and the evil it would do is effectually prevented. But the great mass of religionists stand opposed to the truth which would thus shield them, and they thereby expose themselves to this last manifestation of satanic cunning.
Modern Liberalism.--
While spiritism is thus working, startling changes are manifesting themselves in high places in some of the denominations. The fidelity of the present age, under the seductive names of "science," "higher criticism," evolution," and "modern liberalism," has permeated most of the theological colleges of the land, and to a large extent has made serious incursions into the Protestant churches.
Public attention was forcibly called to this situation by a writer, Mr. Harold Bolce, in the Cosmopolitan Magazine for May, 1909. After making an investigation into the character of the teaching that was being imparted in some of the leading universities of this country, he reported the results in Cosmopolitan, which drew forth this comment from the editor:
"What Mr. Bolce sets down here is of the most astounding character. Out of the curricula of American colleges, a dynamic movement is upheaving ancient foundations, and promising a way for revolutionary thought and life. Those who are not in close touch with the great colleges of the country will be astonished to learn the creeds being fostered by the faculties of our great universities. In hundreds of classrooms it is being taught daily that the decalogue is no more sacred than a syllabus; that the home as an institution is doomed; that there are no absolute evils; that immorality is simply an act in contravention of society's accepted standards. . . . These are some of the revolutionary and sensational teachings submitted with academic warrant to the minds of hundreds of thousands of students in the United States." [2]
The results of modern liberalism have been all too apparent in the work of the Protestant churches. Writers in the various communions have freely pointed out the lack of interest in the preaching of the gospel and the decline of missions in particular. One writer states the situation in this way:
"Too largely I suspect our churches have become weak, uncertain as to their purpose, lifeless, characterized by a deadly respectability and lacking a sense of mission. The average congregation is primarily concerned with raising enough money to pay the pastor and to keep the property in good repair. There is little deep-seated conviction any longer that 'we have a story to tell to the nations.' The gospel of salvation and evangelism as respects the whole world has been diluted into a satisfactory and responsible ethic and the church is a society of good people who want the blessing of religion to attend them during their moments of exaltation or grief, but are quite content to absent themselves from the church and its divine mission so long as they can clothe themselves in the aura of respectability which attaches to church membership. Is this too caustic an indictment of the church?" [3]
Another writer states the attitude of the churches toward missions:
"Coupled with the fact that only a minority of church members give conscientiously is the change in belief about missions. Missionary boards may persuade themselves that the falling off in their receipts is due to high taxes and lowered incomes, but pastors who are in touch with donors recognize a definite increase of resistance to making donations designed for extension of the gospel beyond our borders. The number of otherwise loyal parishioners who doggedly announce that they 'don't believe in missions' is mounting. The caliber of these opponents gives pause. . . .
"The average annual per capita giving in twenty-two non-Roman communions now shows $11.28 for congregational expenses, against $2.19 for all non-local work. . . .
"The average of gifts beyond self-support coasts from 29.69 per cent of the total income with the United Presbyterian Church to 11.14, 12.30, and 10.02 per cent with the last-named trio. Small wonder we are being urged to 're- think missions.' " [4]
Such results as these are declared to follow:
"While missionary zeal was waning, the situation was further complicated by the revelation that other than evangelical missionaries were being commissioned and sent to the foreign fields. These were the 'adventurers' of a 'new civilization,' the 'creators of a new world,' and were mainly filled with a social passion. . . .
"World evangelization was again given a cruel blow in the critical findings of the Laymen's Foreign Missions Inquiry Report. Although the object of this enterprise, which began in 1930 and continued to 1933, was 'to aid laymen to determine their attitude toward foreign missions by reconsidering the functions of such missions in the world of today,' with undoubtedly the aim not only to remodel missions but to increase financial receipts, the results was only more controversy and decreased giving." [5]
Results of Apostasy.--From the standpoint of such a lamentable outlook, and under the leadership of such men, how long before Babylon will become full of spirits that are foul, and birds that are hateful and unclean? What progress has already been made in this direction! How would the godly fathers and mothers of the generation that lived just before the first angel's message was given, could they hear the teaching and behold the practices of the religious world, stand aghast at the fearful contrast between their time and ours, and deplore the sad degeneracy! But Heaven is not to let all this pass in silence. A mighty proclamation is being made, calling the attention of all the world to the fearful counts in the indictment against unfaithful religious bodies, that the justice of the judgments that follow may plainly appear.
Verse 3 shows the wide extent of the influence of Babylon, and the evil that has resulted and will result from her course, and hence the justness of her punishment. The merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Who take the lead in all the extravagances of the age? Who load their tables with the richest and choicest viands? Who are foremost in extravagance in dress and all costly attire? Who are the personification of pride and arrogance? Are not church members in the very forefront of those who seek after the material and prideful things of life?
But there is a redeeming feature in this picture. Degenerate as Babylon has become as a body, there are exceptions to the general rule; for God has still a people there, and she must be entitled to some regard on their account until all who will answer are called from her communion. Nor will it be necessary to wait long for this consummation. Soon Babylon will become so thoroughly leavened with the influence of these evil agents that her condition will be fully manifest to all the honest in heart, and the way will be prepared for the work which the apostle now introduces.
*******
There are many facts to substantiate the belief that God's church, His people given the special message in 1844, those who ate that little book and whose bellies became bitter as a result- those entrusted with the sacred truths of the 3 angels messages have betrayed that trust. Uriah Smith speaks here in his immediate future and looks to other churches for this fallen Babylon not knowing the extent of betrayal to come in the future from the very people God gave His message. Betraying God is not something new for His people to do. The people he rescued from horrible slavery in Egypt- those who made a covenant with Him turned around and broke it over and over, and over again. From those who have broken the covenant remained a fraction- a remnant that held true to him. It's the same this very day in which we live. Come out of Babylon is the cry. Come out of the false church, the corrupt church. Who will heed this message? God's true people who are following the truth and nothing but the truth in Christ.
May God bless and keep us in Him now and forever! By the Mercy and Grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, His will be done in us.
Amen.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Rev. 17
Revelation 17
Excerpts from - Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter XVII
A World Union Of Church and State
Verse 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
In verse 19 of the preceding chapter, we are informed that "great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath." The prophet now takes up more particularly the subject of this great Babylon. In order to give a full presentation of it, he goes back to recount some of the facts of her history. That this apostate woman as presented in this chapter is a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, is generally believed by Protestants. Between this church and the kings of the earth there has been illicit connection. With the wine of her fornication, her false doctrines, the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.
Church and State.--
This prophecy is more definite than others applicable to the Roman power in that it distinguishes between church and state. We have here the woman, the church, seated upon a scarlet-colored beast, the civil power, by which she is upheld, and which she controls and guides to her own ends, as a rider controls the animal upon which he is seated. The vesture and decorations of this woman, as brought to view in verse 4, are in striking harmony with the application made of this symbol. Purple and scarlet are the chief colors in the robes of popes and cardinals. Among the myriads of precious stones which adorn her service, according to eyewitnesses, silver is scarcely known, and gold itself is less noticeable than are costly gems. From the golden cup in her hand--symbol of purity of doctrine and profession, which should have contained only that which is unadulterated and pure, or only that which is in full accordance with truth--there came forth only abominations, and the wine of her fornication, fit symbol of her abominable doctrines and still more abominable practices.
The symbol of a woman with a cup in her hand is said to have been used at a papal jubilee.
"In 1825, on the occasion of the jubilee, Pope Leo XII struck a medal, bearing on the one side his own image, and on the other, that of the Church of Rome symbolized as a 'Woman,' holding in her left hand a cross and in her right a cup, with the legend around her, Sede super universum, 'The whole world is her seat.' " [1]
This woman is explicitly called Babylon. Is Rome, then, Babylon, to the exclusion of all other religious bodies?--No, she cannot be, from the fact that she is called the mother of harlots as already noticed, which shows that there are other independent religious organizations that constitute the apostate daughters, and belong to the same great family.
Verse 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
A Cause of Wonder.--
Why should John "wonder with great wonder," as it reads in the original, when he saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints? Was the persecution of the people of God strange in his day? Had he not seen Rome launch its most fiery anathemas against the church, himself being in banishment under its cruel power at the time he wrote? Why, then, should he be astonished, as he looked forward, and saw Rome still persecuting the saints? The secret of his wonder was this: All the persecution he had witnessed had been from pagan Rome, the open enemy of Christ. It was not strange that pagans should persecute Christ's followers. But when he looked forward and saw a church professedly Christian persecuting the followers of the Lamb, and drunk with their blood, he could but wonder with great amazement.
Verse 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rome in Three Phases.--
The beast of which the angel here speaks is evidently the scarlet-colored beast. A wild beast, like the one thus introduced, is the symbol of an oppressive and persecuting power. While the Roman power as a nation had a long, interrupted existence, it passed through certain phases during which this symbol would not be applicable to it, and during which time the beast, in such prophecies as the present, might be said not to be, or not to exist. Thus Rome in its pagan form was a persecuting power in its relation to the people of God, during which time it constituted the beast that was. But when the empire was nominally converted to Christianity, there was a transition from paganism to another phase of religion falsely called Christian. During a brief period, while this transition was going on, it lost its ferocious and persecuting character, and then it could be said of the beast that it was not. As time passed, it developed into the papacy, and again assumed its bloodthirsty and oppressive character.
The Seven Heads.--
The seven heads are explained to be first, seven mountains, and then seven kings. The expression in verse 10, "and there are seven kings," reads in the original, "and are seven kings." This makes the sentence read: "The seven heads are seven mountains . . . and are seven kings," thus identifying heads, mountains, and kings.
The angel says further, "five [kings] are fallen," or passed away. Again he says, "one [king] is"--the sixth was then reigning. "The other is not yet come; and when he cometh he must continue a short space." Last of all, "the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven."
From this account of the seven kings, we understand that when the one that had "not yet come" at the time of which John was writing, appears on the scene, he is here called an eighth, though he is really "of the seven," in the sense that he absorbed and exercised their power. It is this one whose career we are interested to follow. Of this one it is said that his destiny was to go "into perdition," that is, to perish utterly. This repeats the affirmation made in verse 8 concerning "the beast that thou sawest," which in turn is the "scarlet colored beast," on which the woman sat. We have shown that this beast symbolizes civil power, which according to the narrative before us, passes through seven phases represented also in the leopard beast of Revelation 13, until an eighth appears and continues to the end. Since we have already shown that papal Rome grew out of and succeeded pagan Rome, we must conclude that the eighth head, which was of the seven and ultimately exercised their power, represents the papacy, with all its mixture of so-called Christian doctrines with pagan superstitions and observances.
Verse 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
The Ten Horns.--
On this subject see remarks on Daniel 7: 7, where the ten horns are shown to represent the ten kingdoms that rose out of the Roman Empire. They receive power one hour ({GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, hora, an indefinite space of time) with the beast. That is, they reign a length of time contemporaneously with the beast, during which time they give to it their power and strength.
Croly offers this comment on verse 12: "The prediction defines the epoch of the papacy by the formation of the ten kingdoms of the Western Empire. "They shall receive power one hour with the beast.' The translation should be, 'in the same era ({GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, [mian horan]). The ten kingdoms shall be contemporaneous in contradistinction to the 'seven heads,' which were successive." [2]
This language doubtless refers to the past, when the kingdoms of Europe were unanimous in giving their support to the papacy. The treatment which these kingdoms are finally to give the papacy is expressed in verse 16, where it is said that they shall hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. A part of this work the nations of Europe have been doing for years. The completion of it, burning her with fire, will be accomplished when Revelation 18: 8 is fulfilled.
"These shall make war with the Lamb." Verse 14. Here we are carried into the future, to the time of the great and final battle, for at this time the Lamb bears the title King of kings and Lords of lords, a title which He assumes when He ceases His intercessory priesthood at the close of probation. (Revelation 19: 11-16.)
Verse 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Destiny of the Harlot.--
In verse 15 we have a plain definition of the Scripture symbol of waters; they denote peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The angel told John, while calling his attention to this subject, that he would show him the judgment of this great harlot. In verse 16 that judgment is specified. This chapter has naturally more especial referenda to the mother, or Catholic Babylon. The next chapter, if we mistake not, deals with the character and destiny of another great branch of Babylon, the harlot daughters.
*******
Again, as I mentioned before in a previous blog, history has passed since the writing of this book and things have unfolded that will be explored in greater depth later on after finishing the blog based on Uriah Smith's excerpts.
It is my continued prayer that we keep studying, that we keep searching to know the truth and nothing but the truth as it is found in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. All grace and mercy come from Him. May he bless us and keep us in Him now and forever!
Amen.
Excerpts from - Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter XVII
A World Union Of Church and State
Verse 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
In verse 19 of the preceding chapter, we are informed that "great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath." The prophet now takes up more particularly the subject of this great Babylon. In order to give a full presentation of it, he goes back to recount some of the facts of her history. That this apostate woman as presented in this chapter is a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, is generally believed by Protestants. Between this church and the kings of the earth there has been illicit connection. With the wine of her fornication, her false doctrines, the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.
Church and State.--
This prophecy is more definite than others applicable to the Roman power in that it distinguishes between church and state. We have here the woman, the church, seated upon a scarlet-colored beast, the civil power, by which she is upheld, and which she controls and guides to her own ends, as a rider controls the animal upon which he is seated. The vesture and decorations of this woman, as brought to view in verse 4, are in striking harmony with the application made of this symbol. Purple and scarlet are the chief colors in the robes of popes and cardinals. Among the myriads of precious stones which adorn her service, according to eyewitnesses, silver is scarcely known, and gold itself is less noticeable than are costly gems. From the golden cup in her hand--symbol of purity of doctrine and profession, which should have contained only that which is unadulterated and pure, or only that which is in full accordance with truth--there came forth only abominations, and the wine of her fornication, fit symbol of her abominable doctrines and still more abominable practices.
The symbol of a woman with a cup in her hand is said to have been used at a papal jubilee.
"In 1825, on the occasion of the jubilee, Pope Leo XII struck a medal, bearing on the one side his own image, and on the other, that of the Church of Rome symbolized as a 'Woman,' holding in her left hand a cross and in her right a cup, with the legend around her, Sede super universum, 'The whole world is her seat.' " [1]
This woman is explicitly called Babylon. Is Rome, then, Babylon, to the exclusion of all other religious bodies?--No, she cannot be, from the fact that she is called the mother of harlots as already noticed, which shows that there are other independent religious organizations that constitute the apostate daughters, and belong to the same great family.
Verse 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
A Cause of Wonder.--
Why should John "wonder with great wonder," as it reads in the original, when he saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints? Was the persecution of the people of God strange in his day? Had he not seen Rome launch its most fiery anathemas against the church, himself being in banishment under its cruel power at the time he wrote? Why, then, should he be astonished, as he looked forward, and saw Rome still persecuting the saints? The secret of his wonder was this: All the persecution he had witnessed had been from pagan Rome, the open enemy of Christ. It was not strange that pagans should persecute Christ's followers. But when he looked forward and saw a church professedly Christian persecuting the followers of the Lamb, and drunk with their blood, he could but wonder with great amazement.
Verse 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rome in Three Phases.--
The beast of which the angel here speaks is evidently the scarlet-colored beast. A wild beast, like the one thus introduced, is the symbol of an oppressive and persecuting power. While the Roman power as a nation had a long, interrupted existence, it passed through certain phases during which this symbol would not be applicable to it, and during which time the beast, in such prophecies as the present, might be said not to be, or not to exist. Thus Rome in its pagan form was a persecuting power in its relation to the people of God, during which time it constituted the beast that was. But when the empire was nominally converted to Christianity, there was a transition from paganism to another phase of religion falsely called Christian. During a brief period, while this transition was going on, it lost its ferocious and persecuting character, and then it could be said of the beast that it was not. As time passed, it developed into the papacy, and again assumed its bloodthirsty and oppressive character.
The Seven Heads.--
The seven heads are explained to be first, seven mountains, and then seven kings. The expression in verse 10, "and there are seven kings," reads in the original, "and are seven kings." This makes the sentence read: "The seven heads are seven mountains . . . and are seven kings," thus identifying heads, mountains, and kings.
The angel says further, "five [kings] are fallen," or passed away. Again he says, "one [king] is"--the sixth was then reigning. "The other is not yet come; and when he cometh he must continue a short space." Last of all, "the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven."
From this account of the seven kings, we understand that when the one that had "not yet come" at the time of which John was writing, appears on the scene, he is here called an eighth, though he is really "of the seven," in the sense that he absorbed and exercised their power. It is this one whose career we are interested to follow. Of this one it is said that his destiny was to go "into perdition," that is, to perish utterly. This repeats the affirmation made in verse 8 concerning "the beast that thou sawest," which in turn is the "scarlet colored beast," on which the woman sat. We have shown that this beast symbolizes civil power, which according to the narrative before us, passes through seven phases represented also in the leopard beast of Revelation 13, until an eighth appears and continues to the end. Since we have already shown that papal Rome grew out of and succeeded pagan Rome, we must conclude that the eighth head, which was of the seven and ultimately exercised their power, represents the papacy, with all its mixture of so-called Christian doctrines with pagan superstitions and observances.
Verse 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
The Ten Horns.--
On this subject see remarks on Daniel 7: 7, where the ten horns are shown to represent the ten kingdoms that rose out of the Roman Empire. They receive power one hour ({GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, hora, an indefinite space of time) with the beast. That is, they reign a length of time contemporaneously with the beast, during which time they give to it their power and strength.
Croly offers this comment on verse 12: "The prediction defines the epoch of the papacy by the formation of the ten kingdoms of the Western Empire. "They shall receive power one hour with the beast.' The translation should be, 'in the same era ({GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, [mian horan]). The ten kingdoms shall be contemporaneous in contradistinction to the 'seven heads,' which were successive." [2]
This language doubtless refers to the past, when the kingdoms of Europe were unanimous in giving their support to the papacy. The treatment which these kingdoms are finally to give the papacy is expressed in verse 16, where it is said that they shall hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. A part of this work the nations of Europe have been doing for years. The completion of it, burning her with fire, will be accomplished when Revelation 18: 8 is fulfilled.
"These shall make war with the Lamb." Verse 14. Here we are carried into the future, to the time of the great and final battle, for at this time the Lamb bears the title King of kings and Lords of lords, a title which He assumes when He ceases His intercessory priesthood at the close of probation. (Revelation 19: 11-16.)
Verse 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Destiny of the Harlot.--
In verse 15 we have a plain definition of the Scripture symbol of waters; they denote peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The angel told John, while calling his attention to this subject, that he would show him the judgment of this great harlot. In verse 16 that judgment is specified. This chapter has naturally more especial referenda to the mother, or Catholic Babylon. The next chapter, if we mistake not, deals with the character and destiny of another great branch of Babylon, the harlot daughters.
*******
Again, as I mentioned before in a previous blog, history has passed since the writing of this book and things have unfolded that will be explored in greater depth later on after finishing the blog based on Uriah Smith's excerpts.
It is my continued prayer that we keep studying, that we keep searching to know the truth and nothing but the truth as it is found in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. All grace and mercy come from Him. May he bless us and keep us in Him now and forever!
Amen.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Which Side Will You Be On?
Revelation 16
Excerpts from -Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
The Three Unclean Spirits.--
An event to be noticed under this plagues is the issuing forth of the three unclean spirits to gather the nations to the great battle. The agency now already abroad in the world known as modern spiritism, is in every way a fitting means to be employed in this work. But it may be asked how a work which is already going can be designated by that expression, when the spirits are not introduced into the prophecy until the pouring out of the sixth plague, which is still future. We answer that in this, as in many other movements, the agencies which Heaven designs to employ in the accomplishment of certain ends, go through a process of preliminary preparation for the part which they are to act. Thus, before the spirits can have such absolute authority over the race as to gather them to battle against the King of kings and Lord of lords, they must first win their way among the nations of the earth, and cause their teaching to be received as of divine authority and their word as law. This work they are now doing, and when they shall have once gained full influence over the nations in question, what fitter instrument could be employed to gather them to be so rash and hopeless an enterprise?
To many it may seem incredible that the nations should be willing to engage in such an unequal warfare as to go up to battle against the Lord of hosts; but it is one province of these spirits of devils to deceive, for they go forth working miracles, and thereby deceive the kings of the earth, that they should believe a lie.
That great statesmen recognize the influence of spiritism, or the spirits of devils, in influencing nations to go to war, is seen in the following statement by Sir Edward Grey, when speaking to the House of Commons. In describing the workings of these forces, the British Foreign Secretary accurately said: "It is really as if in the atmosphere of the world there were some mischievous influence at work, which troubles and excites every part of it." [7]
Ramsay MacDonald, twice Prime Minister of Britain, said:
"It would seem as if they were all bewitched, or laboring under some doom imposed upon them by devils. . . . People were beginning to feel that there was something devilish in the operations now going on to increase armies, navies, and air forces." [8]
The sources from which these spirits issue, denote that they will work among three great religious divisions of mankind, represented by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, or paganism, Roman Catholicism, and apostate Protestantism.
But what is the force of the caution thrown out in verse 15? Probation must have been closed, and Christ have left His mediatorial position, before the plagues begin to fall. Is there danger of falling after that? It will be noticed that this warning is spoken in connection with the working of the spirits. The inference therefore is that it is retroactive, applying from the time these spirits begin to work to the close of probation, and that by a use of tenses sometimes occurring in the Greek language, the present tense is put for the past, as if it had read, Blessed is he that hath watched and kept his garments, as the shame and nakedness of all how have not done this will at this time especially appear.
"He gathered them." Who are the ones here spoken of as "gathered," and what agency is to be used in gathering them? If the work "them" refers to the kings of verse 14 it is certain that no good agency would be made use of to gather them; and if the spirits are referred to by the word "he," why is it in the singular number? The peculiarity of this construction has led some to read the passage thus: "And he [Christ] gathered them [the saints] into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon [the illustrious city, or New Jerusalem] ." But this position is untenable.
Let us notice how the text really reads. The word for "spirits" is {GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, pneumata, a noun in the plural number. According to an established law of Greek language, when a plural noun is in the neuter gender, as pneumata is, it requires the verb to be in the singular. Accordingly, in verse 14, the verb "go forth" with "spirits" as its subject, is in the singular number in the Greek original. Likewise, also, as the narrative is resumed following the parenthetical exhortation in verse 15, the verb "gathered" is also in the singular in the Greek to co-ordinate with "go forth" in verse 14, since these two verbs have the same subject "which," that should not be printed as a supplied word, and that stands for "spirits." There is therefore every sound reason for translating verse 16, "They [the spirits] gathered them [the kings] together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." This interpretation is supported by other versions.
"They gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon," says the American Revised Version. "They did bring them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon," reads Young's Literal Translation of the Bible. Hence it is logical to conclude that the persons gathered are the minions of Satan, not the saints; that it is the work of the spirits, not of Christ; and that place of assemblage is not in the New Jerusalem at the marriage supper of the Lamb, but at Armageddon (or Mount Megiddo), at "the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
Verse 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
The Seventh Plague.--
Thus has Inspiration described the last judgment which is to be inflicted in the present state of the earth upon those who are incorrigibly rebellious against God. Some of the plagues are local in their application, but this one is poured out into the air. The atmosphere envelops the whole earth, and it follows that this plague will envelop equally the habitable globe. It will be universal. The very air will be deadly.
The gathering of the nations has taken place under the sixth vial, and the battle remains to be fought under the seventh. Here are brought to view the instrumentalities with which God will slay the wicked. At this time it may be said, "The Lord hath opened His armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation." Jeremiah 50: 25.
The Scripture declares, "There were voices." Above all will be heard the voice of God. "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel." Joel 3: 16. (See also Jeremiah 25: 30; Hebrews 12: 26.) The voice of God will cause the great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth.
"Thunders and lightnings"--another allusion to the judgments of Egypt. (See Exodus 9: 23.) The great city is divided into three parts: that is, the three grand divisions of the false and apostate religions of the world (the great city), paganism, Roman Catholicism, and apostate Protestantism, seem to be set apart each to receive its appropriate doom. The cities of the nations fall; universal desolation spreads over the earth; every island flees away, and the mountains are not found. Thus great Babylon comes in remembrance before God. read her judgments as more fully described in Revelation 18.
"A great hail out of heaven, falling upon men," is the last instrumentality used in the infliction of punishment upon the wicked--the bitter dregs of the seventh vial. God has solemnly addressed the wicked, saying, "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." Isaiah 28: 17. (See also Isaiah 30: 30.) The Lord asks Job if he has seen the treasures of hail, which He as "reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war." Job 28: 22, 23.
Every hailstone is said to be "about the weight of a talent." According to various authorities, a talent as a weight is about fifty-seven pounds avoirdupois. What could withstand the force of stones of such an enormous weight falling from heaven? But mankind, at this time, will have no shelter. The cities have fallen in a mighty earthquake, the islands have fled away, and the mountains are not found. Again the wicked give vent to their woe in blasphemy, for the plague of the hail is "exceeding great."
Some faint idea of the terrible effect of such a disaster as is here predicted, may be inferred from the following sketch of a hailstorm on the Bosphorus, by Commodore Porter:
"We had got perhaps a mile and a half on our way, when a cloud rising in the west gave indications of an approaching rain. In a few minutes we discovered something falling from the heavens with a heavy splash, and of a whitish appearance. I could not conceive what it was, but observing some gulls near, I supposed it to be them darting for fish, but soon after discovered that they were large balls of ice falling. Immediately we heard a sound like rumbling thunder, or ten thousand carriages rolling furiously over the pavement. The whole Bosphorus was in a foam, as though heaven's artillery had been discharged upon us and our frail machine. Our fate seemed inevitable; our umbrellas were raised to protect us, but the lumps of ice stripped them to ribbons. We fortunately had a bullock's hide in the boat, under which we crawled, and saved ourselves from further injury. One man of three oarsmen had his hand literally smashed; another was much injured in the shoulder; Mr. H. received a severe blow in the leg; my right hand was somewhat disabled, and all more or less injured. . . .
"It was the most awful and terrific scene that I ever witnessed, and God forbid that I should be ever exposed to such another! Balls of ice as large as my two fists fell into the boats, some of them came with such violence as certainly to have broken an arm or leg had they struck us in those parts. One of them struck the blade of an oar, and split it. The scene lasted, maybe five minutes; but it was five minutes of the most awful feeling that I ever experienced. When it passed over, we found the surrounding hills covered with masses of ice, I cannot call it hail, the trees stripped of their leaves and limbs, and everything looking desolate. . . .
"The scene was awful beyond all description. I have witnessed repeated earthquakes; the lightning has played, as it were, about my head; and wind roared, and the waves have at one moment thrown me to the sky, and the next have sunk me into the deep abyss. I have been in action, and have seen death and destruction around me in every shape of horror; but I never before had the feeling of awe which seized upon me on this occasion, and still haunts, and I fear will ever haunt me. . . . My porter, the boldest of my family, who had ventured an instant from the door, had been knocked down by a hailstone, and had they not dragged him in by the heels, would have been battered to death. . . .Two boatmen were killed in the upper part of the village, and I have heard of broken bones in abundance. . . . Imagine to yourself, however, the heavens suddenly frozen over, and as suddenly broken to pieces in irregular masses, of from half a pound to a pound weight, and precipitated to the earth." [9]
Reader, if such were the desolating effects of a hailstorm of ice, which discharged stones double the size of a man's fist, weighing at most a pound or so, who can depict the consequences of that coming storm in which "every stone" will be more than fifty pounds in weight? As surely as God's word is truth, He is thus soon to punish a guilty world. May it be ours, according to the promise, to have "sure dwellings" and "quiet resting places" in that terrific hour. Isaiah 32: 18, 19.
"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done!" Thus all is finished. The cup of human guilt has been filled up. The last soul has availed itself of the plan of salvation. The books are closed. The number of the saved is completed. The final period is placed to this world's history. The vials of God's wrath are poured out upon a corrupt generation. The wicked have drunk them to the dregs, and sunk into the realm of death for a thousand years. Reader, where do you wish to be found after that great decision?
But what is the condition of the saints while the "overflowing scourge" is passing over? They are the special subjects of God's protection, without whose notice not a sparrow falls to the ground. Many are the promises which come crowding in to afford them comfort, summarily contained in the beautiful and expressive language of the psalmist:
"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall plague come nigh they dwelling." Psalm 91: 2-10.
***
May God Bless and keep us in HIM! May we watch and pray, waiting and ready as His and only His. May His will be done in us as we take Christ alone as our righteousness, in Him alone is found salvation.
By His unfathomable mercy and His unending, amazing grace.
Amen.
Excerpts from -Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
The Three Unclean Spirits.--
An event to be noticed under this plagues is the issuing forth of the three unclean spirits to gather the nations to the great battle. The agency now already abroad in the world known as modern spiritism, is in every way a fitting means to be employed in this work. But it may be asked how a work which is already going can be designated by that expression, when the spirits are not introduced into the prophecy until the pouring out of the sixth plague, which is still future. We answer that in this, as in many other movements, the agencies which Heaven designs to employ in the accomplishment of certain ends, go through a process of preliminary preparation for the part which they are to act. Thus, before the spirits can have such absolute authority over the race as to gather them to battle against the King of kings and Lord of lords, they must first win their way among the nations of the earth, and cause their teaching to be received as of divine authority and their word as law. This work they are now doing, and when they shall have once gained full influence over the nations in question, what fitter instrument could be employed to gather them to be so rash and hopeless an enterprise?
To many it may seem incredible that the nations should be willing to engage in such an unequal warfare as to go up to battle against the Lord of hosts; but it is one province of these spirits of devils to deceive, for they go forth working miracles, and thereby deceive the kings of the earth, that they should believe a lie.
That great statesmen recognize the influence of spiritism, or the spirits of devils, in influencing nations to go to war, is seen in the following statement by Sir Edward Grey, when speaking to the House of Commons. In describing the workings of these forces, the British Foreign Secretary accurately said: "It is really as if in the atmosphere of the world there were some mischievous influence at work, which troubles and excites every part of it." [7]
Ramsay MacDonald, twice Prime Minister of Britain, said:
"It would seem as if they were all bewitched, or laboring under some doom imposed upon them by devils. . . . People were beginning to feel that there was something devilish in the operations now going on to increase armies, navies, and air forces." [8]
The sources from which these spirits issue, denote that they will work among three great religious divisions of mankind, represented by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, or paganism, Roman Catholicism, and apostate Protestantism.
But what is the force of the caution thrown out in verse 15? Probation must have been closed, and Christ have left His mediatorial position, before the plagues begin to fall. Is there danger of falling after that? It will be noticed that this warning is spoken in connection with the working of the spirits. The inference therefore is that it is retroactive, applying from the time these spirits begin to work to the close of probation, and that by a use of tenses sometimes occurring in the Greek language, the present tense is put for the past, as if it had read, Blessed is he that hath watched and kept his garments, as the shame and nakedness of all how have not done this will at this time especially appear.
"He gathered them." Who are the ones here spoken of as "gathered," and what agency is to be used in gathering them? If the work "them" refers to the kings of verse 14 it is certain that no good agency would be made use of to gather them; and if the spirits are referred to by the word "he," why is it in the singular number? The peculiarity of this construction has led some to read the passage thus: "And he [Christ] gathered them [the saints] into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon [the illustrious city, or New Jerusalem] ." But this position is untenable.
Let us notice how the text really reads. The word for "spirits" is {GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, pneumata, a noun in the plural number. According to an established law of Greek language, when a plural noun is in the neuter gender, as pneumata is, it requires the verb to be in the singular. Accordingly, in verse 14, the verb "go forth" with "spirits" as its subject, is in the singular number in the Greek original. Likewise, also, as the narrative is resumed following the parenthetical exhortation in verse 15, the verb "gathered" is also in the singular in the Greek to co-ordinate with "go forth" in verse 14, since these two verbs have the same subject "which," that should not be printed as a supplied word, and that stands for "spirits." There is therefore every sound reason for translating verse 16, "They [the spirits] gathered them [the kings] together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." This interpretation is supported by other versions.
"They gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon," says the American Revised Version. "They did bring them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon," reads Young's Literal Translation of the Bible. Hence it is logical to conclude that the persons gathered are the minions of Satan, not the saints; that it is the work of the spirits, not of Christ; and that place of assemblage is not in the New Jerusalem at the marriage supper of the Lamb, but at Armageddon (or Mount Megiddo), at "the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
Verse 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
The Seventh Plague.--
Thus has Inspiration described the last judgment which is to be inflicted in the present state of the earth upon those who are incorrigibly rebellious against God. Some of the plagues are local in their application, but this one is poured out into the air. The atmosphere envelops the whole earth, and it follows that this plague will envelop equally the habitable globe. It will be universal. The very air will be deadly.
The gathering of the nations has taken place under the sixth vial, and the battle remains to be fought under the seventh. Here are brought to view the instrumentalities with which God will slay the wicked. At this time it may be said, "The Lord hath opened His armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation." Jeremiah 50: 25.
The Scripture declares, "There were voices." Above all will be heard the voice of God. "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel." Joel 3: 16. (See also Jeremiah 25: 30; Hebrews 12: 26.) The voice of God will cause the great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth.
"Thunders and lightnings"--another allusion to the judgments of Egypt. (See Exodus 9: 23.) The great city is divided into three parts: that is, the three grand divisions of the false and apostate religions of the world (the great city), paganism, Roman Catholicism, and apostate Protestantism, seem to be set apart each to receive its appropriate doom. The cities of the nations fall; universal desolation spreads over the earth; every island flees away, and the mountains are not found. Thus great Babylon comes in remembrance before God. read her judgments as more fully described in Revelation 18.
"A great hail out of heaven, falling upon men," is the last instrumentality used in the infliction of punishment upon the wicked--the bitter dregs of the seventh vial. God has solemnly addressed the wicked, saying, "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." Isaiah 28: 17. (See also Isaiah 30: 30.) The Lord asks Job if he has seen the treasures of hail, which He as "reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war." Job 28: 22, 23.
Every hailstone is said to be "about the weight of a talent." According to various authorities, a talent as a weight is about fifty-seven pounds avoirdupois. What could withstand the force of stones of such an enormous weight falling from heaven? But mankind, at this time, will have no shelter. The cities have fallen in a mighty earthquake, the islands have fled away, and the mountains are not found. Again the wicked give vent to their woe in blasphemy, for the plague of the hail is "exceeding great."
Some faint idea of the terrible effect of such a disaster as is here predicted, may be inferred from the following sketch of a hailstorm on the Bosphorus, by Commodore Porter:
"We had got perhaps a mile and a half on our way, when a cloud rising in the west gave indications of an approaching rain. In a few minutes we discovered something falling from the heavens with a heavy splash, and of a whitish appearance. I could not conceive what it was, but observing some gulls near, I supposed it to be them darting for fish, but soon after discovered that they were large balls of ice falling. Immediately we heard a sound like rumbling thunder, or ten thousand carriages rolling furiously over the pavement. The whole Bosphorus was in a foam, as though heaven's artillery had been discharged upon us and our frail machine. Our fate seemed inevitable; our umbrellas were raised to protect us, but the lumps of ice stripped them to ribbons. We fortunately had a bullock's hide in the boat, under which we crawled, and saved ourselves from further injury. One man of three oarsmen had his hand literally smashed; another was much injured in the shoulder; Mr. H. received a severe blow in the leg; my right hand was somewhat disabled, and all more or less injured. . . .
"It was the most awful and terrific scene that I ever witnessed, and God forbid that I should be ever exposed to such another! Balls of ice as large as my two fists fell into the boats, some of them came with such violence as certainly to have broken an arm or leg had they struck us in those parts. One of them struck the blade of an oar, and split it. The scene lasted, maybe five minutes; but it was five minutes of the most awful feeling that I ever experienced. When it passed over, we found the surrounding hills covered with masses of ice, I cannot call it hail, the trees stripped of their leaves and limbs, and everything looking desolate. . . .
"The scene was awful beyond all description. I have witnessed repeated earthquakes; the lightning has played, as it were, about my head; and wind roared, and the waves have at one moment thrown me to the sky, and the next have sunk me into the deep abyss. I have been in action, and have seen death and destruction around me in every shape of horror; but I never before had the feeling of awe which seized upon me on this occasion, and still haunts, and I fear will ever haunt me. . . . My porter, the boldest of my family, who had ventured an instant from the door, had been knocked down by a hailstone, and had they not dragged him in by the heels, would have been battered to death. . . .Two boatmen were killed in the upper part of the village, and I have heard of broken bones in abundance. . . . Imagine to yourself, however, the heavens suddenly frozen over, and as suddenly broken to pieces in irregular masses, of from half a pound to a pound weight, and precipitated to the earth." [9]
Reader, if such were the desolating effects of a hailstorm of ice, which discharged stones double the size of a man's fist, weighing at most a pound or so, who can depict the consequences of that coming storm in which "every stone" will be more than fifty pounds in weight? As surely as God's word is truth, He is thus soon to punish a guilty world. May it be ours, according to the promise, to have "sure dwellings" and "quiet resting places" in that terrific hour. Isaiah 32: 18, 19.
"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done!" Thus all is finished. The cup of human guilt has been filled up. The last soul has availed itself of the plan of salvation. The books are closed. The number of the saved is completed. The final period is placed to this world's history. The vials of God's wrath are poured out upon a corrupt generation. The wicked have drunk them to the dregs, and sunk into the realm of death for a thousand years. Reader, where do you wish to be found after that great decision?
But what is the condition of the saints while the "overflowing scourge" is passing over? They are the special subjects of God's protection, without whose notice not a sparrow falls to the ground. Many are the promises which come crowding in to afford them comfort, summarily contained in the beautiful and expressive language of the psalmist:
"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall plague come nigh they dwelling." Psalm 91: 2-10.
***
May God Bless and keep us in HIM! May we watch and pray, waiting and ready as His and only His. May His will be done in us as we take Christ alone as our righteousness, in Him alone is found salvation.
By His unfathomable mercy and His unending, amazing grace.
Amen.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Plagues 1-6
Revelation
Excerpts from- Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter 16
Seven Plagues Devastate the Earth
Verse 1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.
This chapter is a description of the seven vials of the unmingled wrath of God, and the effects that follow as they are poured upon the earth. Our first inquiries are, What is the true position of these points? Are they symbolical and mostly fulfilled in the past? Or are they literal, and all future?
Time of the Plagues.--
The description of the first plague clearly reveals at once the time when it shall fall upon the earth, for it is poured out upon those who have the mark of the beast, and who worship his image--the very work against which the third angels warns us. This is conclusive proof that these judgments are not poured out until after this angel closes his work, and that the class who hear his warning and reject it, are the ones to receive the first drops from the overflowing vials of God's indignation. If these plagues are in the past, the image of the beast and his worship are in the past. If these are past, the two-horned beast, which makes this image, and all his work, are in the past. If these are past, then the third angel's message, which warns us in reference to this work, is in the past; and if this is ages in the past, then the first and second messages which precede it were also ages in the past. Then the prophetic periods, on which the messages are based, especially the 2300 days, ended ages ago. If this is so, the seventy weeks of Daniel are thrown wholly into the Jewish period, and the great proof of the Messiahship of Christ is destroyed. But it has been shown in remarks on Revelation 7, 13, 14, that the first and second messages have been given in our own day; that the third is now in process of accomplishment; that the two-horned beast has come upon the stage of action, and is preparing to do the work assigned; and that the formation of the image and the enforcement of the worship are just in the future. Unless all these positions can be overthrown, the seven last plagues must also be assigned wholly to the future.
But there are other reasons for locating them in the future and not in the past.
Under the fifth plague, men blaspheme God because of their sores, the same sores, of course, caused by the outpouring of the first plague. This shows that these plagues all fall upon one and the same generation of men, some being, no doubt swept off by each one, yet some surviving through the terrible scenes of them all.
These plagues are the wine of God's wrath without mixture, threatened by the third angel. (Revelation 14: 10; 15: 1.) Such language cannot be applied to any judgments visited upon the earth while Christ pleads with His Father in behalf of our fallen race. Therefore we must locate them in the future, when probation shall have closed.
Another and more definite testimony on the beginning and duration of these plagues is found in the these words: "The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." Revelation 15: 8. The temple here introduced is evidently that which is mentioned in Revelation 11: 19: "The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament." In other words, we have before us the heavenly sanctuary. When the seven angels with the seven golden vials receive their commission, the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God, and no being can enter into the temple, or sanctuary, until the angels have fulfilled their work. There will therefore be no ministration in the sanctuary during this time. Consequently, these vials are not poured out until the close of the ministration in the tabernacle above, but immediately follow that event. Christ is then no longer a mediator. Mercy, which has long stayed the hand of vengeance, pleads no more. The servants of God are all sealed. What could then be expected but that the storm of vengeance should fall, and earth be swept with the besom of destruction?
Since the time of these judgments places them in the very near future, treasured up against the day of wrath, we proceed to inquire, into their nature, and the result when the solemn and fearful mandate goes forth from the temple to the seven angels saying, "Go you ways, and pour our the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth." Here we are called to look into the "armory" of the Lord, and behold the "weapons of His indignation." Jeremiah 50: 25. Here are brought forth the treasures of hail, which have been reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war. (Job 38: 22, 23.)
The First Plague.--
"The first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beat, and upon them which worshiped his image." (See also Zechariah 14: 12.)
There is no apparent reason why this should not be regarded as strictly literal. These plagues are almost identical with those which God inflicted upon the Egyptians as He was about to deliver His people from the yoke of bondage, the reality of which is seldom, if ever, called in question. God is now about to reward His people with their final deliverance and redemption, and His judgments will be manifested in a manner no less literal and terrible. What the sore here threatened is, we are not informed. Perhaps it may be similar to the parallel plague which fell upon Egypt. (Exodus 9: 8-11.)
Verse 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
The Second Plague.--
A more infectious and deadly substance can scarcely be conceived of than the blood of a dead man; and the thought that the great bodies of water on the earth, which are doubtless meant by the term sea, will be changed to such a state under this plague, presents a fearful picture. We have here the remarkable fact that the term living soul is applied to irrational animals, the fish and living creatures of the sea. This is, we believe, the only instance of such an application in the Authorized Version. In the original languages, however, it occurs frequently, showing that the term as applied to man in the beginning (Genesis 2: 7) cannot be taken as furnishing any evidence that he is endowed with an immaterial and immortal essence called the soul.
Verse 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.
The Third Plague.--
Such is the description of the terrible retribution for the "blood of saints" shed by violent hands, visited upon those who have done so, or wish to do, such deeds. Though the horrors of that hour when the fountains and rivers of water shall be like blood, cannot now be realized, the justice of God will stand vindicated, and His judgments approved. Even the angels are heard exclaiming, "Thou are righteous, O Lord, . . . because Thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets. . . . Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments."
It may be asked how the last generation of the wicked can be said to have shed the blood of saints and prophets, since the last generation of saints are not slain. Reference to Matthew 23: 34, 35; 1 John 3: 15, will explain. These scriptures show that guilt attaches to motive no less than to action. No generation ever formed a more determined purpose to devote the saints to indiscriminate slaughter than the present generation will, not far in the future. (See comments on Revelation 12: 17; 13: 15.) In motive and purpose, they do shed the blood of saints and prophets, and are every whit as guilty as if they were able to carry out their wicked intentions.
It would seem that none of the human family could long survive a continuance of a plague so terrible as this. It must therefore be limited in its duration, as was the similar one on Egypt. (Exodus 7: 17-21, 25.)
Verse 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory.
The Fourth Plague.--
It is worthy of notice that every succeeding plague tends to augment the calamity of the previous ones and to heighten the anguish of the guilty sufferers. We have now a noisome and grievous sore preying upon men, inflaming their blood, and pouring its feverish influence through their veins. In addition to this, they have only blood to allay their burning thirst. As if to crown all, power is given unto the sun, and it pours upon them a flood of fire, and they are scorched with great heat. Here, as the records runs, their woe first seeks utterance in fearful blasphemy.
Verse 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
The Fifth Plague.--
An important fact is established by this testimony. The plagues do not at once destroy all their victims, for some who were at first smitten with sores, are still living under the fifth vial, and gnawing their tongues for pain. An illustration of this vial will be found in Exodus 10: 21-23. It is poured upon the seat of the beast, the papacy. The seat of the beast is wherever the papal see is located, which has thus far, and without doubt will continue to be, the city of Rome. "His kingdom" probably embraces all those who are ecclesiastical subjects of the pope wherever they may be.
As those who place the plagues in the past have the first five already wholly accomplished, we here pause a moment to inquire where in past ages the judgments here threatened have been fulfilled. Can judgments so terrible be inflicted, and nobody know it? If not, where is the history of the fulfillment? When did a noisome and grievous sore fall upon a specified and extensive part of mankind? When did the sea become as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul in it die? When did the fountains and rivers become blood, and people have blood to drink? When did the sun so scorch men with fire as to extort from them curses and blasphemy? When did the subjects of the beast gnaw their tongues for pain, and at the same time blaspheme God on account of their sores? In these plagues, says Inspiration, is filled up the wrath of God, but if they can be fulfilled and nobody know it, who shall henceforth consider His wrath so terrible a thing, or shrink from His judgments when they are threatened?
Verse 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The Sixth Plague.--
What is the great River Euphrates, upon which this vial is poured out? One view is that it is the literal River Euphrates in Asia. Another is that it is a symbol of the nation occupying the territory through which that river flows. The latter opinion is preferable for many reasons.
It would be difficult to see what end would be gained by the drying up of the literal river, as that would not offer an obstruction at all serious to the progress of an advancing army. It should be noticed that the drying up takes place to prepare the way of the kings of the East, that is, regular military organizations, and not a promiscuous and unequipped crowd of men, women, and children, like the children of Israel at the Red Sea, or at the Jordan River. The Euphrates is only about 1,400 miles in length, about one third the size of the Mississippi. Without difficulty, Cyrus turned the whole river from its channel at his siege of Babylon. Notwithstanding the numerous wars that have been carried on along its banks, and the mighty hosts that have crossed and recrossed its streams, it never yet had to be dried up to let them pass.
It would be as necessary to dry up the River Tigris as the Euphrates, for that is nearly as large as the latter. Its source is only fifteen miles from that of the Euphrates in the mountains of Armenia, and it runs nearly parallel with it and but a short distance from it throughout its whole course. Yet the prophecy says nothing of the Tigris.
The literal drying up of the rivers takes place under the fourth vial, when power is given to the sun to scorch men with fire. Under this plague occur beyond question the scenes of drouth and famine so graphically described by Joel, and as one result of these it is expressly stated that "the rivers of waters are dried up." (See Joel 1: 14-20.) The Euphrates can hardly be an exception to this visitation of drouth; hence not much would remain to be literally dried up under the sixth vial.
These plagues, from the very nature of the case, must be manifestations of wrath and judgments upon men; but if the drying up of the literal Euphrates is all that is brought to view, this plague is not of such a nature, and turns out to be no serious affair, after all.
With these objections existing against considering the Euphrates a literal river, it must be understood figuratively as symbolizing the power holding possession of the territory watered by that river when it is observed as beginning to dry up. All agree that that power was Turkey. Hence we may look for the fulfillment of the specifications of this prophecy to affect definitely the Turkish nation.
It is so used in other places in the Scriptures. (See Isaiah 8: 7; Revelation 9: 14.) In this latter text, all must concede that the Euphrates symbolizes the Turkish power; and being the first and only other occurrence of the word in the Revelation, it may well be considered as governing its use in this book.
The drying up of the river in this sense would be the diminution of the Turkish nation, the gradual shrinking of its borders. This is what has actually happened.
At its height the Ottoman Empire extended on the east to the Tigris and the Caspian Sea; on the south to Aden, including Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Algiers; on the north, the kingdom of Hungary, the Balkan States, the Crimea. Turkey waged war again and again with the mightiest armies of Europe, with Germany, Russia, and others. She carried her conquests deep into Asia, and received appeals of assistance from India. But this mighty scourge of Christendom did not pass her bounds. In the events leading up to 1840 she all but collapsed, and since then has rapidly declined. Let us consider some of her loses.
Turkey lost the kingdom of Hungary in 1718; the Crimea in 1774; Greece in 1832; Rumania, Montenegro, and Bulgaria, 1878; Tripoli, 1912; Egypt was lot in 1914; Mesopotamia was taken by Britain in 1917; Palestine in 1917; Syria, 1918; the Hejaz about the same time. At the close of World Ware I, the straits and Constantinople were made international, and the Turkish capital was removed to Ankara. Turkey recovered western Anatolia, including Smyrna, from the Greeks; she regained the western portion of Armenia, the headwaters of the Euphrates; she recovered her ancient capital Constantinople in Europe, with a portion of Thrace; but little territory was left to this one-time mighty empire. Her dominion has been reduced province by province, until she retains but a shadow of her former possessions. Surely the nation symbolized by the Euphrates is drying up. But it may be objected that while contending for the literality of the plagues, we nevertheless make one of them a symbol. We answer, No. A power is introduced, it is true, under the sixth vial, in its symbolic form, just as it is under the fifth, where we read of the seat of the beast, which is a well-known symbol; or as we read again in the first plague of the mark of the beast, his image, and its worship, which are also symbols. All that is here insisted upon, is the literality of the judgments that result from each vial, which are literal in this case as in all the others, though the organizations which suffer these judgments may be brought to view in their symbolic form.
The Battle of Armageddon.--It may be asked how the way of the kings of the East will be prepared by the drying up, or consumption, of the Ottoman power? The answer is obvious. For what is the way of these kings to be prepared? Is it not that they may come up to the battle of the great day of God Almighty? Where is the battle to be fought? The answer of the prophet is that those who fight this battle will be gathered together "into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." This name is drawn from the ancient valley of Megiddo, where so many fierce and decisive battles were fought in Old Testament times. Concerning the name "Armageddon," Lyman Abbot, in A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge says:
"This name is given to the great plain of the central Palestine which extends from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee. . . . It is the ancient plain of Megiddo, the Armageddon of Revelation 16: 16." [1]
On the importance of this battlefield, George Cormak says:
"Megiddo was the military key of Syria. It commanded at once the highway northward to Phoenicia and Coele-Syria and the road across Galilee to Damascus and the valley of the Euphrates. . . . The vale of Kishon and the region of Megiddo were inevitable battlefields. Through all history they retained that qualification; there many of the great contests of southwestern Asia have been decided." [2]
Admitting that "Megiddo was the military key of Syria" and that it commanded the highways of the Near East, the reader may still be interested to know why, aside from direct prophetic statement that the final battle will there be fought, this region should be chosen by the nations of earth as the scene of the last great conflict. To answer this logical question we submit the conclusions of others whose year of investigation of social, economic, and political reasons which lead nations to fight, entitle them to consideration.
"With the fall of Ottoman sovereignty . . . . there will arise once more the Eternal Question of the position of Asia Minor. That land is the corridor between Europe and Asia, along which had passed most of the European conquerors --the Russians alone excepted--who have invaded Asia, and most of the Asiatic conquerors who have invaded Europe." [3]
Mark this opinion long held concerning Constantinople and its environs by H. Huntington Powers: "Constantinople with its tributary straits is the most strategic site in the world. . . . When Napoleon and the Czar Alexander sat down at Tilsit to divide the world between them, Alexander is said to have pled with Napoleon: 'Give or take what you will, but give us Constantinople. For Constantinople my people are prepared to make any sacrifice.' Napoleon bent long over the map, and then straightening up with sudden resolution replied: 'Constantinople? Never! That means the rule of the world.' . . . Merchant and strategist alike still rank Constantinople as the most valuable of territorial possessions." [4] Again we read concerning the shift of interest from Constantinople to Asiatic Turkey:
"The problem of Constantinople has perplexed and distressed the world during many centuries. Numerous wars have been waged and innumerable lives have been sacrificed by the nations desiring to possess or control that glorious city and the wonderful Narrows which separate Europe from Asia and which connect the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the East and the West, the Slavonic and the Latin-Germanic world. Hitherto it was generally believed that an attempt to settle the question of Constantinople would inevitably lead to a world war among the claimant States, that their agreement impossible. Hence diplomats thought with dread of the question of Constantinople, which seemed insoluble. . . . However, while we may rejoice that the ever-threatening problem of Constantinople has at last been eliminated, it seems possible that another, a far greater and a far more dangerous one, may almost immediately arise in its place. The question of Asiatic Turkey is forcing itself to the front." [5]
Because the territory so long held by Turkey has dominated the great trade routes of three continents is has never ceased to be coveted by those who would rise to world domination. The discovery of vast reservoirs of oil in the Near East has greatly increased the desire of nations to possess Asia Minor and the region drained by the Euphrates River. Indeed the discovery that the words of Job 29: 6, "the rock poured out rivers of oil," was not hyperbole but literal truth, has led every first class nation to recognize that oil deposits said to be equal to those of the Western Hemisphere constitute an invaluable possession in the hands of those who would dominate the commercial and military world.
But why should the kings of the East be interested in this question which definitely affects the Near East? Let it not be forgotten that there have been in the past three invasions of the Near East by Oriental conquerors--which invasions have richly rewarded the invaders. With the entire East "in the throes of rebirth" it is not unnatural that they should cover the liquid gold of the Euphrates Valley.
In an interview given by the noted British general, Sir Ian Hamilton to Kingsbury Smith, staff correspondent of the International News Service, as General Hamilton spoke of the menace to Western European civilization of Asiatic penetration, he predicted that "the spot where Europe may attempt to halt Asiatic penetration will be the last battlefield of all time and mark the end of civilization." He said further, "I have looked carefully at the map and the best spot for Europe to meet and throw back Asia is called Megiddo, or in some maps, Armageddon." [6]
From the language of these writers it would seem obvious that if such mighty armies as would be made up of "the kings of the earth and of the whole world" should gather together anywhere from the ancient valley of Megiddo through the vast stretches of the Euphrates valley and Asia Minor, to fight the "battle of that great day of God Almighty," what is comprehended territorially by the term "Armageddon" in the prophecy would be fully met.
For centuries the territories of Palestine and the Euphrates valley have been under the control of Mohammedan rulers, who were amenable to the Turkish nation. Logically, then, the Turk will come to his end before the kings of the earth debouch their armies in that territory. The end of the Turk opens the way for the battle of Armageddon.
*******
The Middle East. Who doesn't recognize that term. Conflict in the Middle East. The conflict over there has been unending. In 1948 Israel fought and won against Palestine. In 1967 Israel had Jerusalem in it's possession. Yet even now in 2009, the battle goes on in word and deed over there. Wars are being waged. Territory being fought for, freedom being fought for, terrorism being fought against it seems unending. The land where riches in oil exist warranting interest there are wars, fighting for power, for control. In the lands where there is no oil, no real political interest battles maybe be fought civilly but other countries take little interest. The main area of interest is the Middle East. Trying for peace in the Middle East is something we hear about all the time.
Those who don't see the import in the going ons about our world ignore the obvious, or are blind because they wish to be blind.
We don't call Turks, Turks, we don't use the same terminology today as they did when the book was written but we all know who the Moslems are, we all know what Islam is. The names may have changed but the battles, the aminosity is still the same.
May God bless us and keep us in Him as we strive to be prepared for His soon coming. There is much just ahead and they may have said the same thing years ago, but even more no things are relevant. Luke 21:24 was prophecy just fulfilled in 1980-- not so long ago.
By the mercy and grace of Jesus may we be forgiven and found covered in His righteousness, in His love.
Amen.
Excerpts from- Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter 16
Seven Plagues Devastate the Earth
Verse 1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.
This chapter is a description of the seven vials of the unmingled wrath of God, and the effects that follow as they are poured upon the earth. Our first inquiries are, What is the true position of these points? Are they symbolical and mostly fulfilled in the past? Or are they literal, and all future?
Time of the Plagues.--
The description of the first plague clearly reveals at once the time when it shall fall upon the earth, for it is poured out upon those who have the mark of the beast, and who worship his image--the very work against which the third angels warns us. This is conclusive proof that these judgments are not poured out until after this angel closes his work, and that the class who hear his warning and reject it, are the ones to receive the first drops from the overflowing vials of God's indignation. If these plagues are in the past, the image of the beast and his worship are in the past. If these are past, the two-horned beast, which makes this image, and all his work, are in the past. If these are past, then the third angel's message, which warns us in reference to this work, is in the past; and if this is ages in the past, then the first and second messages which precede it were also ages in the past. Then the prophetic periods, on which the messages are based, especially the 2300 days, ended ages ago. If this is so, the seventy weeks of Daniel are thrown wholly into the Jewish period, and the great proof of the Messiahship of Christ is destroyed. But it has been shown in remarks on Revelation 7, 13, 14, that the first and second messages have been given in our own day; that the third is now in process of accomplishment; that the two-horned beast has come upon the stage of action, and is preparing to do the work assigned; and that the formation of the image and the enforcement of the worship are just in the future. Unless all these positions can be overthrown, the seven last plagues must also be assigned wholly to the future.
But there are other reasons for locating them in the future and not in the past.
Under the fifth plague, men blaspheme God because of their sores, the same sores, of course, caused by the outpouring of the first plague. This shows that these plagues all fall upon one and the same generation of men, some being, no doubt swept off by each one, yet some surviving through the terrible scenes of them all.
These plagues are the wine of God's wrath without mixture, threatened by the third angel. (Revelation 14: 10; 15: 1.) Such language cannot be applied to any judgments visited upon the earth while Christ pleads with His Father in behalf of our fallen race. Therefore we must locate them in the future, when probation shall have closed.
Another and more definite testimony on the beginning and duration of these plagues is found in the these words: "The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." Revelation 15: 8. The temple here introduced is evidently that which is mentioned in Revelation 11: 19: "The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament." In other words, we have before us the heavenly sanctuary. When the seven angels with the seven golden vials receive their commission, the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God, and no being can enter into the temple, or sanctuary, until the angels have fulfilled their work. There will therefore be no ministration in the sanctuary during this time. Consequently, these vials are not poured out until the close of the ministration in the tabernacle above, but immediately follow that event. Christ is then no longer a mediator. Mercy, which has long stayed the hand of vengeance, pleads no more. The servants of God are all sealed. What could then be expected but that the storm of vengeance should fall, and earth be swept with the besom of destruction?
Since the time of these judgments places them in the very near future, treasured up against the day of wrath, we proceed to inquire, into their nature, and the result when the solemn and fearful mandate goes forth from the temple to the seven angels saying, "Go you ways, and pour our the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth." Here we are called to look into the "armory" of the Lord, and behold the "weapons of His indignation." Jeremiah 50: 25. Here are brought forth the treasures of hail, which have been reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war. (Job 38: 22, 23.)
The First Plague.--
"The first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beat, and upon them which worshiped his image." (See also Zechariah 14: 12.)
There is no apparent reason why this should not be regarded as strictly literal. These plagues are almost identical with those which God inflicted upon the Egyptians as He was about to deliver His people from the yoke of bondage, the reality of which is seldom, if ever, called in question. God is now about to reward His people with their final deliverance and redemption, and His judgments will be manifested in a manner no less literal and terrible. What the sore here threatened is, we are not informed. Perhaps it may be similar to the parallel plague which fell upon Egypt. (Exodus 9: 8-11.)
Verse 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
The Second Plague.--
A more infectious and deadly substance can scarcely be conceived of than the blood of a dead man; and the thought that the great bodies of water on the earth, which are doubtless meant by the term sea, will be changed to such a state under this plague, presents a fearful picture. We have here the remarkable fact that the term living soul is applied to irrational animals, the fish and living creatures of the sea. This is, we believe, the only instance of such an application in the Authorized Version. In the original languages, however, it occurs frequently, showing that the term as applied to man in the beginning (Genesis 2: 7) cannot be taken as furnishing any evidence that he is endowed with an immaterial and immortal essence called the soul.
Verse 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.
The Third Plague.--
Such is the description of the terrible retribution for the "blood of saints" shed by violent hands, visited upon those who have done so, or wish to do, such deeds. Though the horrors of that hour when the fountains and rivers of water shall be like blood, cannot now be realized, the justice of God will stand vindicated, and His judgments approved. Even the angels are heard exclaiming, "Thou are righteous, O Lord, . . . because Thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets. . . . Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments."
It may be asked how the last generation of the wicked can be said to have shed the blood of saints and prophets, since the last generation of saints are not slain. Reference to Matthew 23: 34, 35; 1 John 3: 15, will explain. These scriptures show that guilt attaches to motive no less than to action. No generation ever formed a more determined purpose to devote the saints to indiscriminate slaughter than the present generation will, not far in the future. (See comments on Revelation 12: 17; 13: 15.) In motive and purpose, they do shed the blood of saints and prophets, and are every whit as guilty as if they were able to carry out their wicked intentions.
It would seem that none of the human family could long survive a continuance of a plague so terrible as this. It must therefore be limited in its duration, as was the similar one on Egypt. (Exodus 7: 17-21, 25.)
Verse 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory.
The Fourth Plague.--
It is worthy of notice that every succeeding plague tends to augment the calamity of the previous ones and to heighten the anguish of the guilty sufferers. We have now a noisome and grievous sore preying upon men, inflaming their blood, and pouring its feverish influence through their veins. In addition to this, they have only blood to allay their burning thirst. As if to crown all, power is given unto the sun, and it pours upon them a flood of fire, and they are scorched with great heat. Here, as the records runs, their woe first seeks utterance in fearful blasphemy.
Verse 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
The Fifth Plague.--
An important fact is established by this testimony. The plagues do not at once destroy all their victims, for some who were at first smitten with sores, are still living under the fifth vial, and gnawing their tongues for pain. An illustration of this vial will be found in Exodus 10: 21-23. It is poured upon the seat of the beast, the papacy. The seat of the beast is wherever the papal see is located, which has thus far, and without doubt will continue to be, the city of Rome. "His kingdom" probably embraces all those who are ecclesiastical subjects of the pope wherever they may be.
As those who place the plagues in the past have the first five already wholly accomplished, we here pause a moment to inquire where in past ages the judgments here threatened have been fulfilled. Can judgments so terrible be inflicted, and nobody know it? If not, where is the history of the fulfillment? When did a noisome and grievous sore fall upon a specified and extensive part of mankind? When did the sea become as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul in it die? When did the fountains and rivers become blood, and people have blood to drink? When did the sun so scorch men with fire as to extort from them curses and blasphemy? When did the subjects of the beast gnaw their tongues for pain, and at the same time blaspheme God on account of their sores? In these plagues, says Inspiration, is filled up the wrath of God, but if they can be fulfilled and nobody know it, who shall henceforth consider His wrath so terrible a thing, or shrink from His judgments when they are threatened?
Verse 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The Sixth Plague.--
What is the great River Euphrates, upon which this vial is poured out? One view is that it is the literal River Euphrates in Asia. Another is that it is a symbol of the nation occupying the territory through which that river flows. The latter opinion is preferable for many reasons.
It would be difficult to see what end would be gained by the drying up of the literal river, as that would not offer an obstruction at all serious to the progress of an advancing army. It should be noticed that the drying up takes place to prepare the way of the kings of the East, that is, regular military organizations, and not a promiscuous and unequipped crowd of men, women, and children, like the children of Israel at the Red Sea, or at the Jordan River. The Euphrates is only about 1,400 miles in length, about one third the size of the Mississippi. Without difficulty, Cyrus turned the whole river from its channel at his siege of Babylon. Notwithstanding the numerous wars that have been carried on along its banks, and the mighty hosts that have crossed and recrossed its streams, it never yet had to be dried up to let them pass.
It would be as necessary to dry up the River Tigris as the Euphrates, for that is nearly as large as the latter. Its source is only fifteen miles from that of the Euphrates in the mountains of Armenia, and it runs nearly parallel with it and but a short distance from it throughout its whole course. Yet the prophecy says nothing of the Tigris.
The literal drying up of the rivers takes place under the fourth vial, when power is given to the sun to scorch men with fire. Under this plague occur beyond question the scenes of drouth and famine so graphically described by Joel, and as one result of these it is expressly stated that "the rivers of waters are dried up." (See Joel 1: 14-20.) The Euphrates can hardly be an exception to this visitation of drouth; hence not much would remain to be literally dried up under the sixth vial.
These plagues, from the very nature of the case, must be manifestations of wrath and judgments upon men; but if the drying up of the literal Euphrates is all that is brought to view, this plague is not of such a nature, and turns out to be no serious affair, after all.
With these objections existing against considering the Euphrates a literal river, it must be understood figuratively as symbolizing the power holding possession of the territory watered by that river when it is observed as beginning to dry up. All agree that that power was Turkey. Hence we may look for the fulfillment of the specifications of this prophecy to affect definitely the Turkish nation.
It is so used in other places in the Scriptures. (See Isaiah 8: 7; Revelation 9: 14.) In this latter text, all must concede that the Euphrates symbolizes the Turkish power; and being the first and only other occurrence of the word in the Revelation, it may well be considered as governing its use in this book.
The drying up of the river in this sense would be the diminution of the Turkish nation, the gradual shrinking of its borders. This is what has actually happened.
At its height the Ottoman Empire extended on the east to the Tigris and the Caspian Sea; on the south to Aden, including Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Algiers; on the north, the kingdom of Hungary, the Balkan States, the Crimea. Turkey waged war again and again with the mightiest armies of Europe, with Germany, Russia, and others. She carried her conquests deep into Asia, and received appeals of assistance from India. But this mighty scourge of Christendom did not pass her bounds. In the events leading up to 1840 she all but collapsed, and since then has rapidly declined. Let us consider some of her loses.
Turkey lost the kingdom of Hungary in 1718; the Crimea in 1774; Greece in 1832; Rumania, Montenegro, and Bulgaria, 1878; Tripoli, 1912; Egypt was lot in 1914; Mesopotamia was taken by Britain in 1917; Palestine in 1917; Syria, 1918; the Hejaz about the same time. At the close of World Ware I, the straits and Constantinople were made international, and the Turkish capital was removed to Ankara. Turkey recovered western Anatolia, including Smyrna, from the Greeks; she regained the western portion of Armenia, the headwaters of the Euphrates; she recovered her ancient capital Constantinople in Europe, with a portion of Thrace; but little territory was left to this one-time mighty empire. Her dominion has been reduced province by province, until she retains but a shadow of her former possessions. Surely the nation symbolized by the Euphrates is drying up. But it may be objected that while contending for the literality of the plagues, we nevertheless make one of them a symbol. We answer, No. A power is introduced, it is true, under the sixth vial, in its symbolic form, just as it is under the fifth, where we read of the seat of the beast, which is a well-known symbol; or as we read again in the first plague of the mark of the beast, his image, and its worship, which are also symbols. All that is here insisted upon, is the literality of the judgments that result from each vial, which are literal in this case as in all the others, though the organizations which suffer these judgments may be brought to view in their symbolic form.
The Battle of Armageddon.--It may be asked how the way of the kings of the East will be prepared by the drying up, or consumption, of the Ottoman power? The answer is obvious. For what is the way of these kings to be prepared? Is it not that they may come up to the battle of the great day of God Almighty? Where is the battle to be fought? The answer of the prophet is that those who fight this battle will be gathered together "into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." This name is drawn from the ancient valley of Megiddo, where so many fierce and decisive battles were fought in Old Testament times. Concerning the name "Armageddon," Lyman Abbot, in A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge says:
"This name is given to the great plain of the central Palestine which extends from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee. . . . It is the ancient plain of Megiddo, the Armageddon of Revelation 16: 16." [1]
On the importance of this battlefield, George Cormak says:
"Megiddo was the military key of Syria. It commanded at once the highway northward to Phoenicia and Coele-Syria and the road across Galilee to Damascus and the valley of the Euphrates. . . . The vale of Kishon and the region of Megiddo were inevitable battlefields. Through all history they retained that qualification; there many of the great contests of southwestern Asia have been decided." [2]
Admitting that "Megiddo was the military key of Syria" and that it commanded the highways of the Near East, the reader may still be interested to know why, aside from direct prophetic statement that the final battle will there be fought, this region should be chosen by the nations of earth as the scene of the last great conflict. To answer this logical question we submit the conclusions of others whose year of investigation of social, economic, and political reasons which lead nations to fight, entitle them to consideration.
"With the fall of Ottoman sovereignty . . . . there will arise once more the Eternal Question of the position of Asia Minor. That land is the corridor between Europe and Asia, along which had passed most of the European conquerors --the Russians alone excepted--who have invaded Asia, and most of the Asiatic conquerors who have invaded Europe." [3]
Mark this opinion long held concerning Constantinople and its environs by H. Huntington Powers: "Constantinople with its tributary straits is the most strategic site in the world. . . . When Napoleon and the Czar Alexander sat down at Tilsit to divide the world between them, Alexander is said to have pled with Napoleon: 'Give or take what you will, but give us Constantinople. For Constantinople my people are prepared to make any sacrifice.' Napoleon bent long over the map, and then straightening up with sudden resolution replied: 'Constantinople? Never! That means the rule of the world.' . . . Merchant and strategist alike still rank Constantinople as the most valuable of territorial possessions." [4] Again we read concerning the shift of interest from Constantinople to Asiatic Turkey:
"The problem of Constantinople has perplexed and distressed the world during many centuries. Numerous wars have been waged and innumerable lives have been sacrificed by the nations desiring to possess or control that glorious city and the wonderful Narrows which separate Europe from Asia and which connect the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the East and the West, the Slavonic and the Latin-Germanic world. Hitherto it was generally believed that an attempt to settle the question of Constantinople would inevitably lead to a world war among the claimant States, that their agreement impossible. Hence diplomats thought with dread of the question of Constantinople, which seemed insoluble. . . . However, while we may rejoice that the ever-threatening problem of Constantinople has at last been eliminated, it seems possible that another, a far greater and a far more dangerous one, may almost immediately arise in its place. The question of Asiatic Turkey is forcing itself to the front." [5]
Because the territory so long held by Turkey has dominated the great trade routes of three continents is has never ceased to be coveted by those who would rise to world domination. The discovery of vast reservoirs of oil in the Near East has greatly increased the desire of nations to possess Asia Minor and the region drained by the Euphrates River. Indeed the discovery that the words of Job 29: 6, "the rock poured out rivers of oil," was not hyperbole but literal truth, has led every first class nation to recognize that oil deposits said to be equal to those of the Western Hemisphere constitute an invaluable possession in the hands of those who would dominate the commercial and military world.
But why should the kings of the East be interested in this question which definitely affects the Near East? Let it not be forgotten that there have been in the past three invasions of the Near East by Oriental conquerors--which invasions have richly rewarded the invaders. With the entire East "in the throes of rebirth" it is not unnatural that they should cover the liquid gold of the Euphrates Valley.
In an interview given by the noted British general, Sir Ian Hamilton to Kingsbury Smith, staff correspondent of the International News Service, as General Hamilton spoke of the menace to Western European civilization of Asiatic penetration, he predicted that "the spot where Europe may attempt to halt Asiatic penetration will be the last battlefield of all time and mark the end of civilization." He said further, "I have looked carefully at the map and the best spot for Europe to meet and throw back Asia is called Megiddo, or in some maps, Armageddon." [6]
From the language of these writers it would seem obvious that if such mighty armies as would be made up of "the kings of the earth and of the whole world" should gather together anywhere from the ancient valley of Megiddo through the vast stretches of the Euphrates valley and Asia Minor, to fight the "battle of that great day of God Almighty," what is comprehended territorially by the term "Armageddon" in the prophecy would be fully met.
For centuries the territories of Palestine and the Euphrates valley have been under the control of Mohammedan rulers, who were amenable to the Turkish nation. Logically, then, the Turk will come to his end before the kings of the earth debouch their armies in that territory. The end of the Turk opens the way for the battle of Armageddon.
*******
The Middle East. Who doesn't recognize that term. Conflict in the Middle East. The conflict over there has been unending. In 1948 Israel fought and won against Palestine. In 1967 Israel had Jerusalem in it's possession. Yet even now in 2009, the battle goes on in word and deed over there. Wars are being waged. Territory being fought for, freedom being fought for, terrorism being fought against it seems unending. The land where riches in oil exist warranting interest there are wars, fighting for power, for control. In the lands where there is no oil, no real political interest battles maybe be fought civilly but other countries take little interest. The main area of interest is the Middle East. Trying for peace in the Middle East is something we hear about all the time.
Those who don't see the import in the going ons about our world ignore the obvious, or are blind because they wish to be blind.
We don't call Turks, Turks, we don't use the same terminology today as they did when the book was written but we all know who the Moslems are, we all know what Islam is. The names may have changed but the battles, the aminosity is still the same.
May God bless us and keep us in Him as we strive to be prepared for His soon coming. There is much just ahead and they may have said the same thing years ago, but even more no things are relevant. Luke 21:24 was prophecy just fulfilled in 1980-- not so long ago.
By the mercy and grace of Jesus may we be forgiven and found covered in His righteousness, in His love.
Amen.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
WAKE UP!
Revelation
Excerpt from--
Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter 15
Preparing the Vials of Divine Wrath
This chapter introduces the seven last plagues, a manifestation of Heaven's unmingled wrath, in its full measure upon the last generation of the wicked. The work of mercy is then forever past.
Verse 1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. 4 Who shall not fear Thee, O 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. 5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
A Preparatory Scene.--
Thus reads the fifteenth chapter. By it we are carried back to a new series of events. The whole chapter is but an introduction to the most terrible judgments of the Almighty ever to be visited upon this earth--the seven last plagues. What we behold here is a solemn preparation for the outpouring of these unmixed vials. Verse 5 shows that these plagues fall after the close of the ministration in the sanctuary, for the temple is opened before they are poured out. They are given to seven angels clothed in linen pure and white, a fit emblem of the purity of God's righteousness and justice in the infliction of these judgments. They receive these vials from one of the four beasts, or living creatures. These living beings were shown in comments on Revelation 4 to be a class of Christ's assistants in His sanctuary work. How appropriate then that they should be the ones to deliver to the ministers of vengeance the vials of the wrath to be poured upon those who have slighted Christ's mercy, abused His long-suffering, heaped contumely upon His name, and crucified Him afresh in the persecution of His followers! While the seven angels are performing their fearful mission, the temple is filled with the glory of God, and no man--{GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, oudeis, "no one, no being" --can enter there. This shows that the work of mercy is closed, since there is no ministration in the sanctuary during the infliction of the plagues. Hence they are manifestations of the wrath of God without any mixture of mercy.
God's People Remembered.--
In this scene the people of God are not forgotten. The prophet is permitted to anticipate somewhat in verses 2-4, and behold them as victors upon the sea which had the appearance of glass mingled with fire. They sing the song of Moses and the Lamb as they stand upon that sparkling expanse of glory. The sea of glass upon which these victors stand, is the same as that brought to view in Revelation 4: 6, which was before the throne in heaven. As we have no evidence that it has yet changed location, and the saints are seen upon it, we have here indubitable proof in connection with Revelation 14: 1-5 that the saints are taken to heaven to receive a part of their reward. Thus, as if the bright sun should burst through the midnight cloud, some scene is presented or some promise given to the humble followers of the Lamb in every hour of temptation, to assure and reassure them of God's love and care for them, and of the certainty of their final reward. "Say ye to the righteous," wrote Isaiah of old, "that it shall be well with him;" but, "Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him." Isaiah 3: 10, 11.
The song the victors sing, the song of Moses and the Lamb, is given here in epitome: "Great and marvelous are They works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." It is a song of infinite grandeur. How comprehensive in its terms! How sublime in its theme! It appeals to the works of God which are a manifestation of His glory. With immortal vision the saints will be able to comprehend them as they cannot in the present state, even though astronomy reveals enough to fill all hearts with admiration. From our little world we pass out to our sun ninety-three million miles away; on to its nearest neighboring sun, twenty-five million million miles away; on to the great double polestar, from which it takes light four hundred years to reach our world; on past systems, groups, constellations, till we reach the great star Rigel, in Orion, shining with the power of fifteen thousand suns like ours! What then must be the grand center around which these myriads of shining orbs revolve! Well may the song be sung, "Great and marvelous are Thy works." But the song covers another field also, the field of God's providence and grace: "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." All the dealings of God with all His creatures in the eyes of the redeemed and the sight of all worlds will be forever vindicated. After all our blindness, all our perplexities, all our trials, we shall be able to exclaim at last in the exuberance of satisfied joy, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints."
*******
Who entered the Sanctuary to plead for us?
Hebrews-
{9:23} [It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. {9:24} For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
As with the earth Sanctuary service is was a type, an example of the heavenly. Daily sacrifices were made and then once a year the Sanctuary was cleansed.
We've gone over the prophecy that led us to the conclusion of this--
Daniel {8:14} And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
2300 years and the dates lined up with history to bring it to 1844.
They believed Christ would come then, that the sanctuary was cleansed on that day rather than the beginning of the cleansing started.
Looking to the type the High Priest alone once a year entered the Most Holy Place and a day of cleansing would take place. The Sanctuary itself would be cleansed, the people would be cleansed, all the sin that accumulated there over the year would be cleansed. It was a solemn day, a day for afflicting the soul of making sure you were right with God.
As Jesus began the cleansing of the Sanctuary the time for the normal day to day sacrifices was over. 2300 years were up. So in 1844 Jesus began the cleansing of the Sanctuary and when it's finished He will no longer be in the Sanctuary. As it says above-
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
NO MAN was able to enter into the temple- till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Probation is over completely, the cleansing work moved from the Most Holy place to the Holy, to the outer court just as it was typified in the earthly Sanctuary work.
We are told this in Daniel as well--
{11:45} And he shall plant the tabernacles of
his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain;
yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
{12:1} And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great
prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and
there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time
thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found
written in the book.
The beast that is being talked of throughtout chapter 11 will plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the gloious holy mountain-- yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him, and at THAT time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.
We have something to signal us. We have a prophecy unfulfilled to look towards. We have other as yet unfulfilled prophecies such as the situation of not being able to buy or sell save we make some sort of compromise with our faith that will allow us to do so. These things have to be paid attention to. Yes, just as it was in the days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah this will ALL take place with the majority of people blissfully in the dark because they don't want to see, they don't want to believe, they aren't watching and praying, they aren't prepared with oil in their lamps awaiting the Bridegroom. Looking at the world today as we see more and more how the Papacy has regained so much power- power that was unthinkable for it to have even in the 1950's when there was a massive protest over sending an ambassador to the Vatican. Power that today people back then would cringe at. Today we have our president calling the Pope, His Holiness, and the world looks on and smiles, applauding the diplomacy. Less than a hundred years ago, just under sixty years ago and it was impossible for the Protestant churches to allow such a thing and now they have ALL joined hands with the Papacy. The power that has grown since the deadly wound was healed is tremendous. Under Pope John Paul the Second ties were formed that before were unthinkable. With Pope Benedict the Sixteenth, they are being tied tighter than ever and all over the world people are beginning to look to the Papacy as a bringer of PEACE, of UNITY, of LOVE, of GOD, of HOPE. Eyes are being drawn off Christ and placed upon a man, upon a system. And the world sleeps on content to be lulled, unalarmed, claiming no need for extra oil in their lamps, no need for upset, no need to stand watch they are content to believe there is another watching for them, another praying for them.
We can't be lulled, we can't let ourselves be lulled! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!
It's all unfolding as foretold and by the grace and mercy of God may we be with Him, protected in His amazing love, through HIS righteousness so that when the plagues of God's wrath are unleashed they will not touch us.
Amen!
Excerpt from--
Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation Chapter 15
Preparing the Vials of Divine Wrath
This chapter introduces the seven last plagues, a manifestation of Heaven's unmingled wrath, in its full measure upon the last generation of the wicked. The work of mercy is then forever past.
Verse 1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. 4 Who shall not fear Thee, O 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. 5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
A Preparatory Scene.--
Thus reads the fifteenth chapter. By it we are carried back to a new series of events. The whole chapter is but an introduction to the most terrible judgments of the Almighty ever to be visited upon this earth--the seven last plagues. What we behold here is a solemn preparation for the outpouring of these unmixed vials. Verse 5 shows that these plagues fall after the close of the ministration in the sanctuary, for the temple is opened before they are poured out. They are given to seven angels clothed in linen pure and white, a fit emblem of the purity of God's righteousness and justice in the infliction of these judgments. They receive these vials from one of the four beasts, or living creatures. These living beings were shown in comments on Revelation 4 to be a class of Christ's assistants in His sanctuary work. How appropriate then that they should be the ones to deliver to the ministers of vengeance the vials of the wrath to be poured upon those who have slighted Christ's mercy, abused His long-suffering, heaped contumely upon His name, and crucified Him afresh in the persecution of His followers! While the seven angels are performing their fearful mission, the temple is filled with the glory of God, and no man--{GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, oudeis, "no one, no being" --can enter there. This shows that the work of mercy is closed, since there is no ministration in the sanctuary during the infliction of the plagues. Hence they are manifestations of the wrath of God without any mixture of mercy.
God's People Remembered.--
In this scene the people of God are not forgotten. The prophet is permitted to anticipate somewhat in verses 2-4, and behold them as victors upon the sea which had the appearance of glass mingled with fire. They sing the song of Moses and the Lamb as they stand upon that sparkling expanse of glory. The sea of glass upon which these victors stand, is the same as that brought to view in Revelation 4: 6, which was before the throne in heaven. As we have no evidence that it has yet changed location, and the saints are seen upon it, we have here indubitable proof in connection with Revelation 14: 1-5 that the saints are taken to heaven to receive a part of their reward. Thus, as if the bright sun should burst through the midnight cloud, some scene is presented or some promise given to the humble followers of the Lamb in every hour of temptation, to assure and reassure them of God's love and care for them, and of the certainty of their final reward. "Say ye to the righteous," wrote Isaiah of old, "that it shall be well with him;" but, "Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him." Isaiah 3: 10, 11.
The song the victors sing, the song of Moses and the Lamb, is given here in epitome: "Great and marvelous are They works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." It is a song of infinite grandeur. How comprehensive in its terms! How sublime in its theme! It appeals to the works of God which are a manifestation of His glory. With immortal vision the saints will be able to comprehend them as they cannot in the present state, even though astronomy reveals enough to fill all hearts with admiration. From our little world we pass out to our sun ninety-three million miles away; on to its nearest neighboring sun, twenty-five million million miles away; on to the great double polestar, from which it takes light four hundred years to reach our world; on past systems, groups, constellations, till we reach the great star Rigel, in Orion, shining with the power of fifteen thousand suns like ours! What then must be the grand center around which these myriads of shining orbs revolve! Well may the song be sung, "Great and marvelous are Thy works." But the song covers another field also, the field of God's providence and grace: "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." All the dealings of God with all His creatures in the eyes of the redeemed and the sight of all worlds will be forever vindicated. After all our blindness, all our perplexities, all our trials, we shall be able to exclaim at last in the exuberance of satisfied joy, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints."
*******
Who entered the Sanctuary to plead for us?
Hebrews-
{9:23} [It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. {9:24} For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
As with the earth Sanctuary service is was a type, an example of the heavenly. Daily sacrifices were made and then once a year the Sanctuary was cleansed.
We've gone over the prophecy that led us to the conclusion of this--
Daniel {8:14} And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
2300 years and the dates lined up with history to bring it to 1844.
They believed Christ would come then, that the sanctuary was cleansed on that day rather than the beginning of the cleansing started.
Looking to the type the High Priest alone once a year entered the Most Holy Place and a day of cleansing would take place. The Sanctuary itself would be cleansed, the people would be cleansed, all the sin that accumulated there over the year would be cleansed. It was a solemn day, a day for afflicting the soul of making sure you were right with God.
As Jesus began the cleansing of the Sanctuary the time for the normal day to day sacrifices was over. 2300 years were up. So in 1844 Jesus began the cleansing of the Sanctuary and when it's finished He will no longer be in the Sanctuary. As it says above-
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
NO MAN was able to enter into the temple- till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Probation is over completely, the cleansing work moved from the Most Holy place to the Holy, to the outer court just as it was typified in the earthly Sanctuary work.
We are told this in Daniel as well--
{11:45} And he shall plant the tabernacles of
his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain;
yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
{12:1} And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great
prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and
there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time
thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found
written in the book.
The beast that is being talked of throughtout chapter 11 will plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the gloious holy mountain-- yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him, and at THAT time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.
We have something to signal us. We have a prophecy unfulfilled to look towards. We have other as yet unfulfilled prophecies such as the situation of not being able to buy or sell save we make some sort of compromise with our faith that will allow us to do so. These things have to be paid attention to. Yes, just as it was in the days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah this will ALL take place with the majority of people blissfully in the dark because they don't want to see, they don't want to believe, they aren't watching and praying, they aren't prepared with oil in their lamps awaiting the Bridegroom. Looking at the world today as we see more and more how the Papacy has regained so much power- power that was unthinkable for it to have even in the 1950's when there was a massive protest over sending an ambassador to the Vatican. Power that today people back then would cringe at. Today we have our president calling the Pope, His Holiness, and the world looks on and smiles, applauding the diplomacy. Less than a hundred years ago, just under sixty years ago and it was impossible for the Protestant churches to allow such a thing and now they have ALL joined hands with the Papacy. The power that has grown since the deadly wound was healed is tremendous. Under Pope John Paul the Second ties were formed that before were unthinkable. With Pope Benedict the Sixteenth, they are being tied tighter than ever and all over the world people are beginning to look to the Papacy as a bringer of PEACE, of UNITY, of LOVE, of GOD, of HOPE. Eyes are being drawn off Christ and placed upon a man, upon a system. And the world sleeps on content to be lulled, unalarmed, claiming no need for extra oil in their lamps, no need for upset, no need to stand watch they are content to believe there is another watching for them, another praying for them.
We can't be lulled, we can't let ourselves be lulled! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!
It's all unfolding as foretold and by the grace and mercy of God may we be with Him, protected in His amazing love, through HIS righteousness so that when the plagues of God's wrath are unleashed they will not touch us.
Amen!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
A Clean Heart
Psalm 149
{149:1} Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, [and] his
praise in the congregation of saints.
{149:2} Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of
Zion be joyful in their King.
{149:3} Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises
unto him with the timbrel and harp.
{149:4} For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify
the meek with salvation.
{149:5} Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon
their beds.
{149:6} [Let] the high [praises] of God [be] in their mouth, and a
twoedged sword in their hand;
{149:7} To execute vengeance upon the heathen, [and] punishments upon
the people;
{149:8} To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters
of iron;
{149:9} To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all
his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Proverbs {5:3} For the lips of a strange woman drop [as] an
honeycomb, and her mouth [is] smoother than oil: {5:4}
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged
sword.
Hebrews {4:12} For the word of God [is] quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirt and of the
joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
Rev. {1:16} And he had in his right hand seven stars: and
out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his
countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength
The ultimate discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart- Jesus.
Psalms {51:10} Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me.
{51:11} Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy
spirit from me.
{51:12} Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with
thy] free spirit.
This is my prayer now and always.
I will never feel *clean* enough, I will never feel *right* enough. My thoughts and intents of my heart are not as they should be and Jesus can discern this, He knows and I come before Him begging His mercy and grace- asking that He create a clean heart in me, that He renews a right spirit in me. I cry out with David, 'Cast me not away from thy presence and take not the holy spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.'
John
{17:1} These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to
heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son,
that thy Son also may glorify thee: {17:2} As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. {17:3} And this is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. {17:4} I have
glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. {17:5} And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. {17:6} I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world:
thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have
kept thy word. {17:7} Now they have known that all things
whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. {17:8} For I
have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and
they have received [them,] and have known surely that I
came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me. {17:9} I pray for them: I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
{17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I
am glorified in them. {17:11} And now I am no more in the
world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we [are. ]{17:12} While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those
that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost,
but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
{17:13} And now come I to thee; and these things I speak
in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves. {17:14} I have given them thy word; and the
world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. {17:15} I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest
keep them from the evil. {17:16} They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. {17:17} Sanctify them
through thy truth: thy word is truth. {17:18} As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. {17:19} And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
that they also might be sanctified through the truth. {17:20}
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word; {17:21} That they all
may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me. {17:22} And the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are
one: {17:23} I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
{17:24} Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given
me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the
foundation of the world. {17:25} O righteous Father, the
world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and
these have known that thou hast sent me. {17:26} And I
have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it:] that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and
I in them.
AMEN!
{149:1} Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, [and] his
praise in the congregation of saints.
{149:2} Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of
Zion be joyful in their King.
{149:3} Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises
unto him with the timbrel and harp.
{149:4} For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify
the meek with salvation.
{149:5} Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon
their beds.
{149:6} [Let] the high [praises] of God [be] in their mouth, and a
twoedged sword in their hand;
{149:7} To execute vengeance upon the heathen, [and] punishments upon
the people;
{149:8} To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters
of iron;
{149:9} To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all
his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Proverbs {5:3} For the lips of a strange woman drop [as] an
honeycomb, and her mouth [is] smoother than oil: {5:4}
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged
sword.
Hebrews {4:12} For the word of God [is] quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirt and of the
joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
Rev. {1:16} And he had in his right hand seven stars: and
out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his
countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength
The ultimate discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart- Jesus.
Psalms {51:10} Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me.
{51:11} Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy
spirit from me.
{51:12} Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with
thy] free spirit.
This is my prayer now and always.
I will never feel *clean* enough, I will never feel *right* enough. My thoughts and intents of my heart are not as they should be and Jesus can discern this, He knows and I come before Him begging His mercy and grace- asking that He create a clean heart in me, that He renews a right spirit in me. I cry out with David, 'Cast me not away from thy presence and take not the holy spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.'
John
{17:1} These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to
heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son,
that thy Son also may glorify thee: {17:2} As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. {17:3} And this is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. {17:4} I have
glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. {17:5} And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. {17:6} I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world:
thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have
kept thy word. {17:7} Now they have known that all things
whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. {17:8} For I
have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and
they have received [them,] and have known surely that I
came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me. {17:9} I pray for them: I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
{17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I
am glorified in them. {17:11} And now I am no more in the
world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we [are. ]{17:12} While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those
that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost,
but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
{17:13} And now come I to thee; and these things I speak
in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves. {17:14} I have given them thy word; and the
world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. {17:15} I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest
keep them from the evil. {17:16} They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. {17:17} Sanctify them
through thy truth: thy word is truth. {17:18} As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. {17:19} And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
that they also might be sanctified through the truth. {17:20}
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word; {17:21} That they all
may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me. {17:22} And the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are
one: {17:23} I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
{17:24} Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given
me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the
foundation of the world. {17:25} O righteous Father, the
world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and
these have known that thou hast sent me. {17:26} And I
have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it:] that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and
I in them.
AMEN!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)