o^-.f /^^, 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICSL SEMINSRY 
 
 JAvs. Rlexandep Ppoudfit. 
 
^ 
 
THE 
 
 Apocalyptic Drama 
 
 "We have .. a .. sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do 
 well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark 
 place, until the day dawn, and the daj^-star arise in your 
 hearts."— 2 Pet. l;i 9. 
 
 NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. 
 
 fflemiuG 1b. IRevell Company 
 
 Publishers of Evangelical Literature. 
 
"Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1891, 
 
 BY FLEMING H. RE YELL COMPANY, 
 
 In the Office of Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
GREETING : 
 "'* Unto all them that love his appearing." 
 
THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA, 
 
 Good and Evil. 
 
 "And the Lord God said, behold, the 
 man has become as one of us, to know good 
 and evil.'"^ Alas, for man, that it has been 
 so. He pays dearly for his knowledge. And, 
 what is to be the end of it ? — is now the all 
 important question. The good and the evil 
 are inseparable from us. They are wnthin 
 and without. They are mixed up, inexplic- 
 ably mixed up; and their antagonism is 
 intense. Must it ever be so ? Is the strife 
 inevitable ? Is this the order, or rather, the 
 disorder of the universe ? Is it nature with 
 her inexorable law — unalterable, everlasting; 
 or is the evil destined to gain the ascendancy, 
 and to assume the mastery? It seems the 
 stronger of the two. "What I would, that 
 do I not; but what I hate, that do I."t Is, 
 then, this principle of evil to go on increas- 
 ing in strength, untill mind and matter — all 
 the universe — shall succumb to its power, and 
 evil, and only evil, be the law of being? 
 These questions are forcing themselves upon 
 
 *Gen. 3:22. fRom. 7:15. 
 
10 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 lis. Neither our philosophy nor our science 
 have as yet answered them; nor is there any 
 prospect that they will ever be able to do so. 
 If an answer come, it must be from the be- 
 yond — from the unseen, the spiritual. And 
 we who bow before an all-wise Creator and 
 governor of the universe, not only look to 
 him for an answer to these questions, but we 
 believe that he has already given it. His 
 word, "the scriptures of truth," recognizes 
 the existence in this world of these two con- 
 flicting principles. This word begins with an 
 account of the way in which the evil was in- 
 troduced ; its every succeeding narrative is an 
 unfolding of the irrepressible conflict between 
 the two as antagonized principles; and it ends 
 with the "mystery of iniquity " finished, sin 
 cast out, and truth and righteousness triumph- 
 ant. 
 
 The Study of Prophecy, 
 
 To those who accept this word as a divine 
 revelation, dnd who ' ' keep those things 
 which are written," this conflict and this 
 consummation must be a subject of never- 
 failing interest. There must be a desire on 
 the part of all such to ' 'look into these things, ' ' 
 not, however, with idle curiosity. All scrip- 
 ture is given for our profit. Even in its hard 
 sayings, and its mysteries, and its far-reach- 
 
THE STUDY OF PROPHECY. 11 
 
 ing prophecies, wrapped up in the language 
 of type and symbol — even in these, there must 
 be instruction, for they are a part of ' ' all 
 scripture. ' ' The question as to the propriety 
 of searching into these hidden things has dis- 
 turbed many devout minds, and has led to a 
 neglect of the study of prophecy. And yet 
 this question seems to have been anticipated 
 and answered in the word itself At the very 
 outset, e. g. , of the book of Revelation, and 
 before a prophecy is uttered or a symbol used, 
 a blessing is invoked on him ' ' that readeth ' ' 
 and on them ' ' that hear the words of this 
 prophecy, and keep those things which are 
 written therein. ' ' * And as the book begins, 
 so does it end, with benediction on him who 
 studies these mysteries. ' ' Blessed is he that 
 keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this 
 book."t 
 
 And let it be noted that nothing is said of 
 understanding. The blessing is in hearing 
 the words, and in keeping the things written 
 in the heart, for warning, instruction, and 
 hope. The wonderful things spoken con- 
 cerning Jesus, and also by himself, were not 
 understood by his mother: but we are told 
 that she " kept " them, and " pondered them 
 in her heart"! And there continues to be 
 many things spoken by Jesus, or concern- 
 
 *1:3. t22:7. t Lu. 2:19. 
 
12 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 ing- him, that we cannot now understand; 
 but we can keep it in our hearts and 
 ponder them. And this is what the Lord 
 would have us do in regard to everything 
 given us in his word. Prophecy is no ex- 
 ception. If there is much connected with 
 it that is mysterious and beyond our present 
 grasp, there is much more that is plain and 
 simple, and within the reach of every docile 
 mind willing to take God at his word. And 
 it is these "things" — these fundamental 
 facts — that lie on the very surface of scrip- 
 ture, and especially its prophetic portions, 
 that we are to treasure up in our hearts. 
 Look at some of these things that the 
 'sure word of prophecy" — prophecy used in 
 its large sense of forth-telling — has revealed 
 to us. The world that now is with in the 
 power of the evil one. * The gospel is in it 
 witnessing for Jesus, inviting, warning, and 
 taking from among the Gentiles, a people 
 for His name, t The evil element working 
 in the world is eventually to culminate in 
 the lawless one, who is to be energized by 
 Satan: along with his appearing there is to 
 be a great falling away in the church. X The 
 Lord is to come again. He is to bring his 
 saints with him. || He is to put all enemies 
 
 *John 5:19. t Acts 1:18. 15:14. + 2 Thess. 2:1-11 
 II 1 Thess. 4:13 &c. 
 
THE STUDY OF PROPHECY. 13 
 
 under his feet. * There will be a new heaven 
 and a new earth. Old things are to pass 
 away, all things are to become new.f 
 
 These are great truths, clearly stated, easy 
 of comprehension, and well calculated to in- 
 spire hope, to awaken desire, to lift the 
 thoughts above the things seen, to center the 
 affections on things not seen, and to make 
 the heart cry out — " Come, Lord Jesus, come 
 quickly. ' ' Surely these are ' ' sayings ' ' to 
 read, and to hear about, and to keep in the 
 heart, and to ponder. 
 
 And so also of the things not so easy of 
 comprehension. There are indeed, many 
 such, and from the nature of these "sayings," 
 it is to be expected. But let it be remem- 
 bered that these are not forbidden things. 
 They, too, are among the sayings of the book 
 that are to be kept. Prophecies that are now 
 understood were once inexplicable even to 
 angels. Yet they desired to look into them, 
 and were not chided for an irreverent curios- 
 ity, j Of things future, disciples asked: 
 "Tell us, when shall these things be? And 
 what the sign of thy coming, and the end of 
 the world (age)?"§ The master's reply is 
 prompt, and it meets all the demands of his 
 questioners. Nor is there on the occasion a 
 note of warning against a too inquisitive 
 
 -1 Cor. 15: 24-26. fRev. 21. jl Tit. 1:12. ^Math. 24:3 
 
14 THE APOCAIvYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 Spirit that would know things that are com- 
 ing on the earth. 
 
 Such is the character of the sayings of the 
 book we propose considering. They relate to 
 things that either have come, or are yet to 
 come. And though there is much that is 
 sealed, and beside which we must write the 
 word mystery^ yet their consideration is not 
 forbidden. They, too, are among the sayings 
 to be heard, and read, and pondered. We 
 know so much, that we can well afford to 
 exercise patience and wait for that which is 
 not plain. ' ' At the end it shall speak and 
 not lie: though it tarry, wait for it."* In 
 due time we shall walk with the master, and 
 our understandings shall be. opened. He will 
 himself be our teacher. Beginning with 
 Moses and all the prophets, he will expound 
 unto us in all the scriptures the things con- 
 cerning himself Meanwhile, disciples are 
 to keep all these things in their hearts, pro- 
 fiting by what they know, pondering over 
 what they cannot understand, and ever desir- 
 ing and receiving more and more of the prom- 
 ised blessing. 
 
 The Object of the Book. 
 
 It has been in this spirit that the book ot 
 Revelation has been studied by a few loving 
 
 *Heb. 2:3. 
 
THE OBJECT OF THE BOOK. 15 
 
 students of the word, and we send out some 
 of the results of our studies. What, another 
 book ? Yes. More wild fancies to be con- 
 signed to the flames? Perhaps so. Many 
 and crude have been the interpretations given 
 to the words of this book. But what of that ? 
 They have been in the line of the master's 
 command, and they have kept the fact of a 
 coming Christ before the world. Time has 
 corrected many of the misconceptions of the 
 past and will continue to do so. The vers^ inad- 
 equacy of some of these conceptions, has stim- 
 ulated others to a more intelligent study and 
 to more satisfactory results. Thus will it 
 be to the end, when the vision ' ' shall speak, 
 and not lie," and the command is, " wait for 
 it." Now it is waiting for the vision, not in 
 the idleness of indifference, but in reading and 
 speaking often one to another concerning the 
 things that are written — it is in this spirit of 
 waiting, that our book has taken shape. We 
 make no claim to a solution of the mystery, or 
 indeed, of any of the mysteries of the book. 
 Far from it. It is an humble feeling after 
 truth, if haply we may find, be it only the 
 smallest fragment. If we do not throw light 
 on our subject, who shall say that another, 
 stimulated by our very dullness, may not re- 
 ceive inspiration, and so the church eventual- 
 ly be edified. Then will our little book have 
 
16 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 accomplished its mission, and it can be as- 
 signed to the grave of forgetfulness. 
 
 In studying the Apocalypse, its structural 
 character has occupied our attention more than 
 exegesis; and our thoughts have been led in 
 this direction from the examination of other 
 prophecies. That our readers may be the bet- 
 ter prepared to go along with us and to feel 
 the force of the suggestions to be made, we 
 must ask them to follow us in a brief outline 
 of at least one of these prophecies. 
 
 Daniel 9:24-29. 
 
 In our interpretation of prophecy we follow 
 mainly those who are known as literalists. 
 We regard Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks 
 as an epitomized history of the world, from 
 the rebuilding of Jerusalem, after the Baby- 
 lonish captivity, to the second coming of the 
 Lord. The 70 weeks, we are told, concern 
 ' ' thy people and thy holy city. ' ' The 
 prophecy then in the strictest sense re- 
 lates to Israel, And yet there is wrapped 
 up in it of very necessity, the history, not 
 of Israel only, but of the church and 
 the world, and that to the end. When it 
 speaks, it is of Israel. But there is a break, 
 a long interval between its 69th week and its 
 70th, And here its silence is most instructive, 
 for it sends you elsewhere with the inquiry 
 
DANIEL U:L:4-:i!J. 
 
 — what of this interval ? It is here that much 
 of previous prophecies, and of all that follows, 
 whether spoken by the Lord or his disciples, 
 falls into place. These prophecies break the 
 silence and fill up what has been left unsaid 
 by Daniel. 
 
 The Hebrew word here "^ translated 
 "weeks" is the word that is used to denote 
 a heptard or period of seven days. But it is 
 claimed by most commentators that in the 
 prophecy it stands for a longer period. It is 
 thought that a week of years, and not of days, 
 is intended. And this is common sense. To 
 make these 70 weeks, weeks of days, is to as- 
 sign a period of less than one year and a half 
 (iVz) for the whole course of the prophecy. 
 This clearly was not the intent of the Spirit. 
 
 Regarding the prophecy then as speaking 
 of weeks of years, the whole period designat- 
 ed amounts to 490 years, and is divided into 
 three portions: 
 
 (a), 7 weeks, (V. 25), 
 
 49 years. 
 
 (A), 62 '' 
 
 434 " 
 
 {€), I " (V. 27), 
 
 / 
 
 70 '' 490 
 
 Verse 24 tells us what is to be accomplished 
 when the whole period of 70 weeks has run its 
 course, viz. , the finishing of transgression, etc. 
 
 Dan. 9:24. 
 
18 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 In V. 25 we learn that " from the going forth 
 of the commandment to restore and to build 
 Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince, shall be 
 seven weeks, and three score and two weeks. ' ' 
 Seven weeks, i. e. , 49 years, will be con- 
 sumed in the rebuilding of the city; and 62 
 weeks, i. e., 434 years, will elapse from that 
 time to the cutting off of Messiah. After this 
 event the city and sanctuary are destroyed. 
 49 and 434=483 years. There yet remains 
 one week, or seven years of the prophecy un- 
 fulfilled, to make up the whole period of 490 
 years. 
 
 Up to this point there is much unanimity 
 in interpretation, but just here there is di- 
 vergence. What of this week ? We concur 
 with those who hold that after the cutting off 
 of Messiah at the close of the 69th week, the 
 further fulfilment of the prophecy is stayed. 
 It stops short within a week of its entire ful- 
 filment, and that last week still waits to run 
 its course. 
 
 In V. 26 we read that Messiah shall " be 
 cut off, but not for himself" The margin 
 reads, and so also the R. V. — "And shall have 
 nothing, ' ' — i. e. , instead of a kingdom which 
 he sent his fore-runner to announce, and 
 which he came to establish, he has nothing. 
 Israel would none of him. They disallowed 
 his claims, rejected his person, and refused 
 
DANIKL J>:24-29. 19 
 
 him his throne. He is cast out of the vine- 
 yard, and he is sent away empty. 
 
 Consequent upon this rejection, "the 
 people of the prince that shall come shall de- 
 stroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end 
 thereof ( i. e. of this destruction) shall be 
 with a flood, and even unto the end shall be 
 war; desolations are determined." (R. V.) 
 The idea seems to be this: This destruction 
 of their city and temple is only the beginning 
 of this new controversy that Jehovah God 
 will now have with his people on account of 
 their rejection of their Messiah. Indig-nation 
 and wrath will be poured out upon them a 
 tremendous and resistless flood, and it will be 
 prolonged " many days. "* Desolations are 
 determined even unto the end of this divine 
 war. " The end". This is a point of time 
 frequently referred to by Daniel, f It is found 
 also in the N. T. scriptures. X From the de- 
 struction ol the city to " the end " — a point 
 in time determined on in divine councils, but 
 not yet revealed — desolations are determined 
 upon Irsael. 
 
 No w observe that the cutting off of Messiah 
 brings us to the close of the 69th week of the 
 prophecy. There remains one more week to 
 complete the 70. The predictions of v. 26 
 concern the destruction of the city, which is 
 
 '' Hos. 3:4. t VIA, 6, 9, 13. J Matt. 13:40, 24:3, 13, 14. 
 
'20 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 the beginning of a war that is to last to ' ' the 
 end." This (to " the end ") is an indefinite 
 period that has been running on for over 
 eighteen centuries, and ' ' the end ' ' is not 
 yet, whereas this particular prophecy calls 
 for only one more week of seven years. 
 These prophecies therefore concerning these 
 determined desolations can have no relation 
 to this week. 
 
 Then again, these prophecies of v. 26 relate 
 to divine wrath poured on Israel, whereas 
 the 70 weeks portend blessings. Look at them. 
 V. 24: " Seventy weeks are determined up- 
 on thy people, and upon thy holy city, to 
 finish the transgression, and to make an end 
 of sins, and to make reconciliation for in- 
 iquity, and to bring in everlasting righteous- 
 ness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, 
 and to anoint the most holy." All this is 
 just the reverse of "desolations are deter- 
 mined" (v. 26). Surely these gracious pur- 
 poses await their fulfilment, and the 70th 
 week of the prophecy is yet to dawn on Israel 
 and the world in the fulness of its blessed- 
 ness. 
 
 We are then forced to the conclusion that 
 there has been an interruption in the onward 
 movement of this prophecy. Its further ful- 
 fillment is clearly arrested at the cutting off 
 of Messiah; and its 70th or last week awaits 
 
DANIEIy 9:24-29. 21 
 
 its accomplishment. In the hiatus thus cre- 
 ated, we are living. 
 
 This interpretation is important in its bear- 
 ing on the suggestions to be proposed in our 
 study of the Apocalypse. We must therefore 
 ask for it further consideration. 
 
 Our theory is, that of the 70 weeks of Dan- 
 iel's prophecy, 69 have met their fulfilment. 
 One week remains to run its course. There 
 has therefore been an interruption in the con- 
 tinuity of the prophecy. At the time of the 
 cutting off of Messiah there was a break. It 
 has lasted now through nineteen centuries, 
 and it will continue to the time of "the 
 end", when again the prophecy will resume 
 its course, and the announcements connected 
 with its last heptard will have their fulfill- 
 ment. Is this fanciful ? Is it trifling with 
 the word of God by an attempted accommo- 
 dation to our preconceived notions? Or does 
 the prophecy itself necessitate such an inter- 
 pretation, and does the analogy of scripture 
 authorize it ? Let us see. 
 
 (a) We claim that the prophecy itself neces- 
 sitates this view. It concerns Israel, and Israel 
 only. Daniel has been confessing the sins of 
 his people, and has been presenting his suppli- 
 cation for the holy mountain of his God (v. 
 20). While he is yet speaking the man Ga- 
 briel comes to him to orive him understand- 
 
22 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 iiig. He tells him: " Seventy weeks are de- 
 termined upon thy people^ and upon tJiy holy 
 city (v. 24). The prophecy then relates to 
 Israel and to their city, and to them only. 
 In his explanations the announcing angel 
 reaches a point where people and city are not 
 (v. 26). "The people of the prince that 
 shall come, shall destroy the city and the 
 sanctuary." They cease to be. Israel is no 
 longer a nation. Their house has been left 
 unto them desolate. * x\nd this is to be their 
 condition for ' ' many days' ' . f Of necessity 
 therefore, all through these ' ' many days ' ' 
 of desolation, the onward course of the 
 prophecy toward its fulfilment must be ar- 
 rested. The one week that remains concerns 
 them as much as did the 69 that are passed. 
 What remains of the prophecy to be fulfilled 
 (its last heptard), must therefore continue in 
 this state of suspense until the nation, and 
 city, and sanctuary, have existence again. 
 Their existence is a necessity to the require- 
 ments of the prophecy. Its fulfillment is sus- 
 pended because they are not. In the interim, 
 we have the history of the ' 'scattered' ' people, 
 and the destroyed city, in the closing state- 
 ments of V. 26. It is a war of divine 
 judgments against them because they 
 have rejected and cut off their Messiah. The 
 
 * Matt. 23:38. f Hos. 3:4. 
 
DANIEL 9:24-29. 23 
 
 vineyard has been taken from them and given 
 to others. * Their house has been left unto 
 them "desolate;" it still remains for them, 
 but desolate, t And they " shall be led cap- 
 tives into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be 
 trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times 
 of the Gentiles be fulfilled, "t 
 
 {b) This view of the prophecy is further 
 necessitated by its relation to other proph- 
 ecies. The word of God is a unit. Even 
 when not so expressed, there is always im- 
 plied a connection and dependence of parts 
 with parts. Scripture is to be compared with 
 scripture. One statement is to be contrasted 
 with another, and the harmony of the whole 
 is thus to be adjusted. And the prophetic 
 portions are no exceptions to this rule. Every 
 prophecy has relations of more or less import- 
 ance with those that have preceded it. In 
 seeking interpretations therefore, these mu- 
 tual relations and dependencies are important 
 factors. Many other prophecies concerning 
 Israel had preceded the one we are consider- 
 ing. Its uninterrupted fulfillment to ''the 
 end" must therefore depend upon the man- 
 ner in which the conditions of these prior 
 prophecies shall be carried out, E. g. In 
 Dent. i8: i8, 19, we find the promise of a 
 coming prophet like unto Moses. Along 
 
 * Matt. 21:33, &c. t Matt. 23:38. ; Lu. 21:24. 
 
24 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 with this announcement is a warning against 
 an ungracious reception of this prophet, and 
 threatened punishment should they not 
 hearken to his words. And this was the very 
 thing that Israel did. They refused to 
 hearken to the words of this prophet, and they 
 rejected their Messiah. But all scripture 
 must be fulfilled, and in its fulfillment must 
 harmonize. Hence it is that just at this point 
 in Daniel's prophecy — the cutting off of Mes- 
 siah — the two prophecies touch each other, 
 and there is need of adjustment. The fulfill- 
 ment of the entire 70 weeks is depend- 
 ent upon what Israel will do with a prophet 
 whom Moses has announced. If they will 
 hearken unto him, then the 70 weeks 
 can move on in their fulfillment, and the 
 conclusion of the last week will find Israel in 
 possession of all the blessings announced in 
 V. 24. But Israel in the exercise of the free- 
 dom of the will, rejected the prophet, and 
 therefore Daniel's prophecy had to give way 
 to the threatened punishments of the prior 
 prophecy. Daniel's last week has been sus- 
 pended until Moses' forewarned judgments 
 are executed. * Many other prophecies have 
 a similar bearing upon this one of Daniel's 
 that we are considering, e. g.. Lev. 26. Deut. 
 28. Josh. 23:15, 16. Is. 1:19, 20. 
 
 *Acts 3:23, etc. 
 
DANIEL 5:24-29. 25 
 
 It is thus apparent that the dependence of 
 this prophecy on others necessitates the sus- 
 pension of the fulfilhnent of its last week in 
 order that the unity and harmony of scripture 
 may be maintained. 
 
 (c) And this conditional feature in a 
 book so full of strong and positive state 
 ments must not surprise us. The warn- 
 ings, counsels, commands and promises of 
 scripture are addressed to intelligent and free 
 agents, and God never loses sight of this fact. 
 In proportion as he gives liberty to the crea- 
 ture, he limits himself. " If ye will harken 
 unto me, ' ' etc. "If ye will obey my voice, ' ' 
 etc. ' ' I would ... ye would not. " "Ye 
 will not come to me that ye may have life."* 
 Such is the conditional element that runs 
 through the whole of scripture. The prophe- 
 cies are no exception. If this element is not 
 always expressed it is always implied. And 
 hence we find many prophecies marked with 
 the peculiarity that we are claiming for these 
 70 weeks of Daniel. Look for instance 
 at the commission given to Moses to lead the 
 children of Israel into Canaan. It was a 
 short journey from Egypt to Canaan. A few 
 weeks at most could have accomplished it. 
 So far as the record shows it was the Divine 
 intent to accomplish this object speedily. The 
 
 Jer. 11:3-9. Pro. 1:24, &c. 
 
26 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 people expected to enter in and inherit at 
 once. But that generation died in the wild- 
 erness, and it is forty years before Israel is 
 settled in their land. The cowardice and re- 
 bellion of the people hindered. And while 
 they could not frustrate divine purposes they 
 could, and did, delay their fulfillment. Thus 
 we have delay, a postponement, such as we 
 claim in this prophecy of Daniel's, of the 
 time set for the completion of the divine 
 purposes. 
 
 There are several remarkable prophecies 
 that present us with this same feature of a 
 break in their continuity, and singularly 
 enough they relate to Israel and their accept- 
 ance or rejection of their Messiah. We call 
 attention to one. Compare L^u. 4:17-21 and 
 Is. 61:1, etc. Why did the Lord close the 
 book after reading the clause, ' ' To preach 
 the acceptable year of the Lord ? ' ' There 
 was but a comma between it and the next, 
 and they were closely connected by the con- 
 junction and. Why then did he not go on 
 to proclaim also " the day of vengeance of our 
 God," and all else that follows? It is all 
 one prophetic proclamation. Clearly, the 
 answer is, because the carrying out of what 
 follows was dependent upon the reception on 
 Israel's part of "the acceptable year of the 
 Lord," and a recognition of him who pro- 
 
DANIEL 9:24-29. 27 
 
 claimed it as their Messiah. In his ministry 
 the lyord is now approaching the close of the 
 69th week of Daniel's prophecy. The words 
 of Isaiah are the divinely appointed language 
 in which Messiah is to announce his advent, 
 and is to offer himself for acceptance to 
 Israel. Jesus uses these words and thereby 
 appropriates them to himself, and proclaims 
 himself to Israel as their expected Messiah. 
 Will they accept him? He must wait and 
 see. Their future is now in their own hands. 
 It is for them to say whether the remainder 
 of the prophetic proclamation is to go on to 
 its immediate completion or not. Here, as 
 ever, ' ' the awful freedom of the human will 
 was respected by its Maker. ' ' They rejected 
 him. The proclamation in its completeness 
 could not be carried out. The day of Israel's 
 redemption must be postponed. It is not 
 forever lost to them. It is still future; but 
 will not be until they are ready to say, 
 ' ' Blessed is he that cpmeth in the name of 
 the Lord." * This prophecy tells the same 
 story as the one we are considering. The 
 events it announces synchronize with the 
 events that are to follow the close of Daniel's 
 last week, and it presents us with precisely 
 the same hiatus. A rejected Messiah stays 
 the future progress of both prophecies, and 
 
 * Matt. 23:39. 
 
28 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 when the events of Daniel's last week shall 
 be accomplished, then shall the words of this 
 proclamation be sounded forth again, and this 
 time in all its fullness. The same voice that 
 in Judea eighteen hundred years ago began 
 it, shall now complete it, amid the acclama- 
 tions of the people, ' ' Blessed is he that 
 cometh in the name of the I^ord. ' ' 
 
 A word in reference to this 70th week, and 
 some of the events that are connected with 
 it as shadowed forth in v. 27. 
 
 ^^ And he shall confirm^' ^ etc. Who is the 
 person here referred to ? is an important ques- 
 tion. It has called forth many answers. 
 Some consider him the Messiah. This per- 
 son causes ' ' the sacrifice and oblation to 
 cease," and this, it is said, is what Christ 
 did by the sacrifice of himself. But did he ? 
 It was thirty years after his death before Jew- 
 ish sacrifices were discontinued, and then not 
 because of any influence of the crucified Christ 
 upon the nation, but because of the destruc- 
 tion of their city and temple. And so far as 
 his influence on them is concerned, they 
 would be offering their sacrifices to-day if 
 their temple was still in existence. 
 
 Then notice the difference between this 
 covenant and the one Messiah is to make. 
 This person is to make a (see marg. and R. 
 
DANIEL 9:24-20. 29 
 
 V.) covenant; but Messiah's is the covenant. * 
 This person's covenant is for a week, /. ^. , 
 seven years, clearly Daniel's last heptard; but 
 Messiah' s is an 'everlasting covenant, t Then , 
 again, in the midst of the week this person is 
 to break his covenant; but Messiah's cove- 
 nant cannot be broken. The word of the 
 Lord is sure. His covenant is an everlasting 
 covenant. Observe, also, that the Lord re- 
 fers to the events connected with this proph- 
 ecy as future in his day, { and names the 
 time of "the end" (v. 14) for their fulfill- 
 ment. He, therefore, cannot be the person 
 intended in this 27th verse. 
 
 Many historical characters have been named 
 in this connection, but the only one worthy of 
 the slightest consideration is Titus, the com- 
 manding general when Jerusalem was de- 
 stroyed. But the destruction announced in 
 V. 26 is attributed to ^'' the people of the prince 
 that shall come, ' ' and not to the prince him- 
 self. And let it be further noted that the de- 
 struction announced in this verse is of the 
 city and sanctuary, and that it is complete, 
 fulfilling the threatenings of Lev. 26:14, &c. , 
 and Deut. 28:15, &c, Whereas, in v. 27 it 
 is not the city that is to be destroyed, but " the 
 Desolator^^^ who has broken the covenant. 
 
 *Is. 59:21 cf.; Heb. 8:10. f Is. 55:3; Jer. 32:40; Ezek. 
 16:60. t Matt. 24:15. 
 
30 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 (See marg. and R. V.). In these and other 
 respects it will be found that Titus cannot 
 meet the requirements of v. 27. 
 
 Who, then, is " >^^ " f Observe who are 
 the first agents in this war of desolation that 
 we are told in v. 26 is determined against the 
 holy city, etc. " The people (v. 26) of the 
 prince that shall come." In this verse we 
 are dealing with fulfilled prophecy, and we 
 therefore know the people who were the in- 
 instruments of this first destruction. But who 
 is the prince that shall come? It is ^Hhe 
 people ^^ (the Romans) who shall destroy 
 the city. " The prince " is yet future. The 
 ' ' shall come ' ' belongs to ' ' the prince, ' ' not 
 to the Roman people — " the prince that shall 
 come." When? Verse 27 introduces us to 
 him, we think, and tells us something about 
 him. When all the conditions required by 
 the prophecy — a restored nation and a city 
 rebuilt — are in place again, then will the 
 prophecy resume its fulfillment, and then 
 this "prince of the people" (Romans) who 
 destroyed Jerusalem, A. D. 70, shall come. 
 With his coming, the last week of the 70, its 
 interrupted week, will begin to run its course 
 of fulfillment. This prince will then step 
 upon the scene of this world's greatest trag- 
 edy. He will make his covenant with Israel, 
 and begin to magnify himself, In the midst 
 
DANIEL 9:24-29. 31 
 
 of the week he will break his covenant, and 
 will turn his power against Israel, to desolate; 
 but at the determined moment, " wrath shall 
 be poured out upon the desolator. " (R.V.) 
 
 The ''//^" of V. 27 is, then, we think, 
 " the prince " of v. 26. He is identical with 
 Daniel's "little horn" of chap. 7:7, 8. He 
 springs from that " fourth beast, ' ' so dread- 
 ful and terrible. All expositors who do not 
 spiritualize the prophecies into airy nothing- 
 ness, regard this * ' fourth beast ' ' as the sym- 
 bol of the Roman Empire, the last consoli- 
 dated power of Gentile dominion. We further 
 identify this person with ' ' the man of sin, ' ' 
 ' ' the son of perdition, ' ' spoken of by St. 
 Paul, 2 Thess, 2:3, and the wild beast of Rev. 
 13:, to whom the dragon gives " his power, 
 and his seat, and great authority. ' ' 
 
 The following is a summary of the inter- 
 pretation we have been considering. Seventy 
 weeks (490 years) are determined on Daniel's 
 people. During this period, starting with 
 the restoration, the city is to be rebuilt, recon- 
 ciliation for sin is to be accomplished, ever- 
 lasting righteousness brought in, etc., (v. 24). 
 
 To this whole period there is given a three- 
 fold division, (i) From the decree to restore, 
 etc., (v. 24,) 7 weeks, or 49 years, are de- 
 termined. (2) From this point to the cut- 
 ting off of Messiah, 62 weeks, or 434 years. 
 
32 THE APOCAI.YPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 The combined periods equaling 483 years. 
 (3) One more week remains to complete the 
 whole number (490) of predicted years. But 
 here the onward movement of the prophecy 
 stops. Instead of ' ' everlasting righteous- 
 ness, " etc., we have the announcement of a 
 destroyed city, etc. "War" — Divine chas- 
 tisement — determined upon Israel because of 
 their rejected Messiah. His cutting off is 
 required of them according to a prior 
 prophecy. * And so long as this controversy 
 lasts "desolations are determined." Israel 
 and Jerusalem aie given up to Gentile 
 power to be trodden down. But when ' ' the 
 times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled," the 
 covenant with Israel will be remembered. 
 They will be restored to their land. City 
 and sanctuary will be rebuilt. Then will 
 the prophecy resume its course of fulfillment, 
 and its last, long suspended week, will begin 
 to run to its completion. On, or about, the 
 opening of this week, a notable personage 
 (v. 27) is to appear, who is to make this 
 week famous. He is the prince of v. 26, of 
 whom it is said — he ' ' shall come. ' ' He is 
 of the people who formerly destroyed the 
 city — the Roman. I. e. He will spring from 
 some one of the great powers that in his day 
 represents the fourth beast, or Roman empire. 
 
 *Deut. 18:18. 
 
DANIEL, 9:24-27. 33 
 
 This prince will make ' ' a firm covenant 
 with many" (R. V.), i. e., with Israel. 
 This will be at the begining of the last week. 
 At this time therefore Israel will be restored*. 
 Heretofore — during "many days" — the Gen- 
 tile has been treading down Israel; now he is 
 to build him upf. He, ' ' the prince, ' ' makes 
 a covenant. But he does not keep it. In 
 the midst of the half of the week (R. V.), he 
 begins to exalt himself. As he has done 
 elsewhere, so will he do at Jerusalem. 
 There will possibly be some interference with 
 worship and with religious rites. ' ' And for 
 the overspreading" etc., (see marg.), — "and 
 upon the wing of abominations shall come 
 one that maketh desolate," (R. V.). 
 ' ' Abominations ' ' in the O. T. scriptures 
 often stands for idolsj. " Overshadowing," 
 literally wings (R. V.). It conveys the idea 
 of protection§. The meaning possibly is — 
 for the protection of idols, he shall make it 
 desolate. 
 
 But when this half week (3^ years) shall 
 have run its course, the consummation that 
 has been " determined " shall be poured out 
 upon the desolator (R. V.), i. e., upon this 
 prince. He being destroyed, Israel and the 
 world will be ready for the promised bless- 
 
 -Joel8:4. Hos. 3:5. fls. 49: jl Kings 11:5, 7. ^Ps. 
 17:8. 36:7. 
 
34 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 ings of V. 24, and there will now be an end 
 of transgressions, etc. 
 
 We have dwelt thus fully on this prophecy 
 because it is important in its bearing on our 
 proposed suggestions regarding the Apoc- 
 alypse. It is the key to our position. If 
 this explanation of Daniel's 70 weeks is right, 
 all that follows seems but a filling up of what 
 he has left unsaid — a filling up of the hiatus 
 caused by the interruption of his prophecy. 
 This interruption began with the cutting off 
 of Messiah, and extends to a point of time 
 yet future. We are living in its times. It 
 has been running on more than eighteen 
 hundred years; how much longer it is yet to 
 run we cannot tell. It is an eventful time, 
 full of history, and God's word is not 
 silent regarding it. Both Testaments speak. 
 Their prophecies foreshadow events down to 
 this last week of Daniel, and through it to 
 ' ' the end. ' ' And nowhere are these fore- 
 shadowings more remarkable, and more dis- 
 tinct, than in those symbolic representations 
 found in the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the 
 Churches. In these prophecies of both Testa- 
 ments, four lines of history may be clearly 
 traced, viz. : (i) Concerning Israel, (2) con- 
 cerning Gentile power and dominion, (,^) 
 concerning the Christ, and (4) in the N. T. 
 concerning the Church. 
 
THE BOOK OF REVELATION. 35 
 
 This is the statement we wish to carry 
 with us to the book of Revelation. This 
 book we regard as an historic prophecy. Its 
 utterances and visions have for their subjects 
 in a special manner these last three histories 
 as they are influenced by unseen and super- 
 natural forces, and as they act and re-act one 
 upon the other. It begins with them some- 
 what later than the end of Daniel's 69th 
 week, and it carries them to his last week 
 and through it, and extends them even be- 
 yond the present aeon, giving us promises 
 and glimpses of a new heavens and a new 
 earth. 
 
 As we look at the utterances and visions 
 of this book, they seem to be a hopelessly 
 tangled skein. Can they be unravelled? 
 This is our hope, guided by the light that 
 other and prior prophecies throw upon the 
 subject. All have come from the same 
 source, all must have the same drift. If the 
 prophetic events of this book synchronize 
 with the times of Daniel's hiatus, viz., the 
 interval between his 69th week and his 70th, 
 and if there are other prophecies of an his- 
 torical character that evidently belong to this 
 same period, then it is not unreasonable to 
 suppose that the prophetic visions of the 
 Revelation may treat of the same subjects. 
 If these prior prophecies give us several lines 
 
36 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 of history connected with different persons 
 or events, we tnrn to these last forth-tellings of 
 the spirit of prophecy with the inquiry — do 
 they look in the same direction also? Is it 
 their purpose to unfold to us these same his- 
 tories, and to cause us to understand more 
 definitely the events to transpire from the 
 time of the suspension of Daniel's prophecy 
 to the resumption of its last week, and on to 
 ''the end?" 
 
 As a preparation for this proposed study 
 it is important to get before us distinct con- 
 ceptions of these prophetic histories, and to 
 assure ourselves that they are the subjects of 
 previous prophecies. In this direction we 
 must be very brief. It is impossible even to 
 look at the wealth of O. T. teachings on this 
 subject. Contenting ourselves with references 
 to them in the progress of our study, we 
 pass on to the N. T., and glance at the 
 Lord's prophecy as contained in Matt. 24, 
 and the corresponding chapters of MarkJ and 
 Lukef. 
 
 The Lord's Prophecy. 
 
 The time embraced by this prophecy is — 
 " this age" (aio^v). This includes the whole 
 period of the gospel dispensation. It runs 
 from the crucifixion of the Lord and the 
 
 * Mark 13. f Luke 21. 
 
MATTHEW 24: 37 
 
 organization of his Church, to his coming 
 again — "the end of the age J." It thus 
 synchronizes with the period of Daniel's 
 hiatus, beginning with the cutting off of 
 Messiah, and running to and through his 
 last week. 
 
 We find in this prophecy the fourfold his- 
 tory that has been spoken of, beginning, as 
 we have said, with the time then present 
 and running on to " the end. ' ' 
 
 I. IsraeV s history. It is very brief. In 
 the Revelation it is even more so than here. 
 There is perhaps, according to our interpre- 
 tation, not more than one allusion to Israel 
 throughout that book, and the reason is not 
 far to find. Israel, though " not cast away," 
 has been given up to judicial blindness. In 
 the exercise of the freedom of the will, they 
 have rejected their Messiah. As a people 
 they are suffering the judgments denounced 
 against them should they be guilty of this 
 act. So far as their national life is con- 
 cerned, they are not. They have no history, 
 save that of the prisoner serving his sen- 
 tence. And if you would know what that his- 
 tory is, go read the sentence. In Israel's 
 case we will find it in the latter half of the 
 26th V. of Daniel's ninth chapter, and still 
 
 \ Matt. 24:3, 13, 14, 30 and 23; 38, 39. 
 
38 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 more fully in Lev. 26: Deut. 28:15, &c. ; Matt. 
 
 23-38, 39; L^i- 21:6, 20-24. 
 
 This is not a fancy arrangement to suit 
 the condition of things we are contending 
 for. It is not only in accordance with the 
 positive statements of the divine word as to 
 Israel's present status (see e. g. Hosea 3:4), 
 but it is a repetition of what has actually 
 occurred before. There is a similar instance 
 of such a gap in Israel's history as the one 
 we are now considering, in connection with 
 Jeremiah's prophecy of the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity (Jer. 25:11, and 29:10). The king- 
 dom is interrupted by the taking of Zedekiah 
 to Babylon, and we hear no more of Israel 
 in their nationality from that time on until 
 the expiration of the 70 years. As a nation 
 they cease to have a history until the cap- 
 tivity ends. Israelis sacred history, the his- 
 tory with which the word of God is con- 
 cerned, is identified with the theocracy. 
 This suspended, Israel's national life is sus- 
 pended. Their record, as the chosen people, 
 disappears from the divine page. The word 
 of God knows nothing of them save as they 
 are undergoing their sentence. This is 
 Israel's condition now. From the cutting 
 off of Messiah and their scattering, to their 
 restoration, there is, so to speak, an historic 
 parenthesis. The kingdom, in its temporal 
 
MATTHEW 24. 
 
 ascendency and in its spiritual privileges, has 
 been taken from them, and has been given 
 to the Gentile. 
 
 In the book of Revelation therefore Israel 
 has no recognition. During the most of the 
 historical period that it covers, Israel has no 
 national life, nor has their history any bear- 
 ing upon the national life about them. Nor 
 will it, until Daniel's last week begins to 
 run its course. With this week, Israel again 
 take their place among the nations, and after 
 a brief interval of distress, a new and glorious 
 national career opens before them. Hence, 
 we are not to expect mention of Israel in the 
 Revelation, at least not until we are brought 
 to the point where the events of Daniel's 
 last week are recorded. 
 
 But when the I^ord's prophecy was spoken, 
 Israel still had a place and habitation. We 
 are therefore to expect in his prophecy a his- 
 tory. And we have it. And such a history! 
 Alas, for Israel! Of the temple, there shall 
 not be left one stone upon another that shall 
 not be thrown down. Of the city, it is to be 
 left desolate, and is to be trodden down of the 
 Gentiles. Of the people, there is wrath upon 
 them. Theyshall fall by the edge of the sword, 
 and shall be led away captive into all nations. 
 
 Read, Matt. 23:34-39, and 24:2. 
 
 See Luke, 21:6, 20-24. 
 
40 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 The prevailing interpretation of this pro- 
 phecy of the Lord's, is made to center upon 
 the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. This 
 catastrophy covers the whole ground in the 
 estimation of most expositors. Even the 
 passages that announce the coming of the 
 Lord, find their fulfillment in it. It seems pre- 
 sumptuous to differ from the many learned 
 who agree upon this interpretation. And yet 
 we must presume to differ. There are so 
 many statements of the prophecy that have 
 not met their fulfillment, that we are compelled 
 to dissent from the generally received ex- 
 planation. 
 
 Look at some of them. 
 
 1. The gospel is to be preached iii all the 
 world as a witness^. This was not effected 
 at the time of Jerusalem's destruction by 
 Titus; nor has it been accomplished as yet. 
 
 2. "77?^ abomination of desolatio^t^'''' etc. 
 (v. 15). This was not made to stand in the 
 holy place by the Romans. They were ever 
 scrupulous in respecting Jewish religious feel- 
 ing. Titus was desirous of saving the temple, 
 and gave command to that effect. The Ro- 
 mans never had access to it. There could 
 therefore have been no abomination set up in 
 its holy place by them, and as the temple has 
 
 *Matt. 24:14. 
 
MATTHEW 24. 41 
 
 ever since been destroyed, the prophecy must 
 yet stay for its fulfillment. 
 
 3. The disturbed state of the natio7is. (Vs. 
 7, 21, 22.) No such universal and tremend- 
 ous national convulsions took place at, or 
 prior to, the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 therefore cannot relate to that event, and 
 must be still future. 
 
 4. The general overttirning of govern- 
 ments (v. 29). 
 
 5. The appearing of the Son of Man (v. 
 
 30)- 
 
 6. The gathering together of the elect (v. 
 
 In connection with these events take in 
 the following attendant circumstances: 
 
 7. The secrecy of the time when they shall 
 happen (v. 36). 
 
 8. The suddeiiness^ and therefore^ unex- 
 pectedness of their happening (vs. 37-41). 
 
 9. The ijnportance of these events to the 
 Churchy and the call to watchfulness (vs. 24, 
 etc.). 
 
 10. The parables that follow (chap. 25), 
 and that are a portion of the prophecy, and 
 that can have no adaptation to events that 
 transpired at the time of the fall of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 None of these events, with their conditions, 
 did meet with their fulfillment, as it appears 
 
42 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 to US, at the time that Jerusalem was de- 
 stroyed. We are compelled, therefore, in all 
 humility, to dissent from the prevailing in- 
 terpretation. Israel's history stops with the 
 announcement of the destruction of the city 
 and the scattering of its people. But the 
 prophecy embraces other histories, and in its 
 scope reaches on to "the end." 
 
 The destruction by Titus is very distinctly 
 given us in the prophecy, as recorded by 
 Ivuke, 21 : 20 to 24. These statements, let it 
 be observed, are peculiar to Luke. He gives 
 us what the others give, and this much in addi- 
 tion, and we regard this portion of the 
 prophecy as applying exclusively to Israel. 
 It will be noted that (a) the period during 
 which this prophecy (in Luke) runs, embraces 
 the days of judicial vengeance, when all the 
 prophetic threatenings against Jerusalem will 
 have their fulfilment (vs. 22, 23): {^) The 
 armies are to surround her walls, and the de- 
 struction is to be meted out to her (v. 20): 
 (c) The Gentile is the Divinely appointed ex- 
 ecutioner of these chastisements (v. 24). 
 Read in this connection the last half of 
 Daniel's 26th verse (9:), and you may well 
 believe that it is present to the Lord's mind 
 as he utters his prediction. They are mar- 
 velously alike in their drift. 
 
 Now compare the language of these verses 
 
MATTHEW 24. 43 
 
 (Luke 2 1 :)\vith verses 8 to 13, and 25, 26, and 
 the corresponding verses in Matthew and Mark, 
 and the difference is apparent. Here (a) the 
 commotion is world wide. It is nation against 
 nation, etc. (vs. 9, 10). (d) There are to be 
 manifestations of false Christs (v. 8). (c) 
 There are to be bitter persecutions against the 
 Church (vs. 12, etc.). (d) Amid these po- 
 litical overturnings, there are to be natural 
 phenomena (vs. 25, 26) that will appal men, 
 and cause their hearts to fail them for fear of 
 those things that are coming on the earth. 
 There is an universality given to these wars, 
 persecutions and catastrophies, that cannot 
 find their fulfillment in the destruction of 
 Jerusalem by Titus. And there is one other 
 note of difference that must not be over- 
 looked. The end — the bringing to a close 
 of these two prophetic periods is so entirely 
 different, that this alone is sufficient to point 
 out the correctness of our contention. The 
 prophecy (Luke 21:) of verses 20 to 25 (relat- 
 ing as we think exclusively to Jerusalem), 
 ends with "the times of the Gentiles" being 
 "fulfilled." On the other hand, the wars, 
 persecutions and convulsions, of verses 8 to 
 20, and 25, 26, end with seeing "the Son of 
 Man coming in a cloud, with power and great 
 glory (v. 27). 
 
 For these reasons we are constrained to re- 
 
44 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 Strict the history of Israel in this prophecy 
 to the portions that have been enumerated, 
 viz. : Luke 21 :20 to 25. 
 
 2. The Church, In the N. T. , the Church 
 in its comprehensiveness is presented to us 
 under a two-fold aspect, the outward and 
 visible, and the mystical and invisible. It 
 is the distinction between the professing 
 Christian, who is one outwardly by registra- 
 tion only ; and the professing Christian, who 
 is one inwardly by regeneration. It is the 
 mingling of the elements of the true and of 
 the false. By the first (registration), we 
 have the visible Church, seen and known of 
 all men. By the second (regeneration), 
 there is a number that is known with cer- 
 tainty only to God, and therefore compar- 
 atively, unknown and invisible to men. 
 Separate them, and we have the true Church, 
 and the false Church. United and mingling 
 together we have the Church in its compre- 
 hensiveness and visibility. Nor is this dis- 
 tinction peculiar to the Church of the New 
 Testament. The O. T. dispensation was a 
 theocracy. All Israel composed the congre- 
 gation (the visible Church) of Jehovah God. 
 But as a loyal nation and a true Church, its 
 history has been comparatively brief. Long 
 and shameful have been its lapses into idol- 
 atry. And yet Israel's God never left himself 
 
MATTHEW 24. 46 
 
 without witnesses. There was always a 
 remnant — faithful ones who lifted their 
 voices in protest against Israel's shame. 
 Sometimes indeed they were reduced so low 
 that their testimony was silenced and they 
 were wholly lost sight of. So complete at one 
 time was this hiding, that God had to 
 encourage his desponding servant by assur- 
 ing him : ' * I have left me seven thousand in 
 Israel, all the knees which have not bowed 
 unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not 
 kissed him*." They were his faithful ones, 
 his true Church, invisible to the world, but 
 seen and known of him. 
 
 In the gospels this distinction comes out in 
 the parable of the taresf. Also when the Lord 
 compares himself to a vine| with branches, 
 some fruitful and others not. There are dis- 
 ciples whom he addresses with tender assur- 
 ances. " Fear not, little flock, for it is your 
 Father's good pleasure to give you the king- 
 dom. "§ And there are many who in the day 
 of his power will claim him as Lord, and to 
 whom he will declare — "I never knew you" ||. 
 The distinction is constantly forcing itself 
 upon us throughout the epistles. In this 
 historic prophecy of the Lord, it is very 
 marked, as also in the Apocalypse. 
 
 n Kings 19:18. tMatt. 13:24, etc. IJohn 15:1, etc. 
 ^Luke 12:32. ||Matt. 7:21, etc. 
 
46 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 In this prophecy the church runs through 
 the same course of time as Israel's history; 
 viz. : From the time then present to the ap- 
 pearing of anti-Christ, and the coming of the 
 Lord. And it is a history of struggle, and per- 
 secution, and failure, and patient suffering, 
 and faithful witnessing, and martyrdom, and 
 false prophets, and of many decieved, offended, 
 betrayed, and hatred one of another, and of a 
 great falling away, and of evil servants lord- 
 ing it over their fellows, and saying in their 
 hearts, "My Lord delayeth his coming," 
 and of general unbelief in that event, and 
 unpreparedness for it. Such is the histor}^ 
 of the church down to the end of this age — 
 this gospel dispensation, as the Lord pic- 
 tured it to his disciples. 
 
 Matt. 24:4 to 15, and 25:1 to 31, and 10: 
 16 to 42, and 13: 
 
 Mark 13:4 to 14. 
 
 Luke 21:8 to 21. 
 
 3. The history of Gentile dominion. The 
 nondescript beast of Daniel (7:7) had met its 
 fulfillment in the Roman empire. In our 
 Lord's day it was dominating the earth. In 
 this prophecy he announces that it would 
 continue to do so to "the end." Aggran- 
 dizement and oppression would still be its 
 ruling passion. It would keep the nations 
 and kingdoms stirred up against each other. 
 
MATTHEW 24. 
 
 it would persecute the true Church of God, 
 and it would tread Jerusalem under its feet, 
 all through its allotted time= The anti- 
 Christ* is to be its last development. This 
 will be DaniePsf " prince that shall come" — 
 the "7/^" of verse 27, and the one who 
 shall cause " the abomination of desolation" 
 to stand in the holy place. His career 
 begins and closes with Daniel's last week. 
 
 Matt. 24:15 to 29. 
 
 Mark 13:14 to 24. 
 
 Luke 21:8 to 13, 25, 26. 
 
 4. The history of the Lord. This, too, 
 synchronizes with the other histories. He is 
 revealed to us in his care over his true Church; 
 in his coming again; in his gathering together 
 of his elect; in his judgment on the Church: 
 and in his destruction of his enemies. 
 
 Matt. 24:29 to 32. 25:1-31. 
 
 Mark 13:24 to 28. 
 
 Luke 21:15, 27, 28. 
 
 Such, we think, are the histories outlined 
 in the Lord's prophecy, and filling up the 
 hiatus occasioned by the break in Daniel's 
 prophecy of the 70 weeks. 
 
 We are now ready to give our attention to 
 "the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God 
 gave unto him to show unto his servants 
 
 *Matt. 24:24, 15. fDan. 9:26, 27. 
 
48 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 things that must shortly come to pass." 
 These * 'things that must shortly come to 
 pass" — are they the histories that the Lord 
 has already outlined to disciples — "his serv- 
 ants," on the mount? Is it the history of 
 Israel, and of his Church, and of Gentile do- 
 minion, and of his own self, during the in- 
 terval between Daniel's 69th and 70th week, 
 and on through and to the end of that last 
 week? Such are our convictions. How far 
 there is ground for them can only be deter- 
 mined by an examination of the Book. 
 
 The Apocalyptic Drama. 
 
 We have ventured to speak of this Divine 
 Revelation as a drama. The whole cast ot 
 the prophecy is suggestive of this structure. 
 It is broken up into distinct visions with a 
 succession of scenes. A great number of per- 
 sons are introduced, acting their part and 
 disappearing. There are explanatory agen- 
 cies and choruses. Nature in all her varying 
 moods is brought in to heighten the eflfect and 
 to add grandeur, or charm, or terror, as the 
 circumstances may call for. There are the 
 boastings of the self-exalted and defiant, the 
 cruel excesses of the ungodly, the patient 
 suffering of the righteous, and their seeming 
 overthrow. There are battle scenes, and the 
 shout of the victorious, and the cry of the 
 
REVELATION. 49 
 
 vanquished. There are thrones and judg- 
 ments. There is a triumphal procession, and 
 a marriage, and a marriage feast, and great 
 rejoicings. The whole book is a succession 
 of scenic representations. 
 
 Should it be suggested that, if it was the 
 Divine purpose that the book should assume 
 this form, it would have been so ordered and 
 arranged; let it be remembered that at the 
 date of the Revelation, the drama had not as- 
 sumed the form it now presents. Literary 
 art in this direction has greatly advanced, 
 and that, too, only in very recent times. 
 Modern writers can overcome the difficulties 
 of arrangement with greater ease and grace 
 than their predecessors. The drama is now 
 by means of these improvements another 
 thing from what it was in the days of the 
 Greeks and Romans. The breaking up of 
 parts into acts and scenes, and the introduc- 
 tion of costumes and scenery, have not only 
 enhanced the attractiveness of the perform- 
 ance, but they have given to the play itself 
 coherence, simplicity, and so to speak, self- 
 explanation. The Author of the scriptures 
 has never anticipated literary or scientific 
 progress. He adapts his communications to 
 the times when, and persons to whom, he 
 speaks. And so wonderfully comprehensive 
 have been all these communications, that they 
 
50 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 have been found adaptive also for all time and 
 all conditions of men. 
 
 This book of the Revelation illustrates this 
 fact. Its structure from beginning to end is 
 dramatic. The divisions which the progress 
 in dramatic art calls for are not perceptible 
 on its face; but they are none the less there. 
 The book is so constructed that it requires 
 but little attention to tell you where these 
 divisions ought to be. They fall into place 
 naturally, and bring out the dramatic feature 
 of the book with great clearness. 
 
 This is the object of our present study. 
 We would treat the book as a prophetic- 
 historical drama, and would break up its sub- 
 jects (histories) into three natural divisions 
 (acts), and these again into such sub-divisions 
 (scenes) as the many-sided incidents of the 
 stor>^ seem to necessitate. Comparatively 
 little attention is given to exegesis. It is 
 this structural character of the book, and its 
 probable historical bearings, that will mainly 
 occupy our thoughts. Here and there ex- 
 planations and proposed interpretations may 
 be necessitated. But in this there is little or 
 no claim to originality. It will be hard to 
 find new thoughts on a subject that has been 
 so much studied and written upon. Doubt- 
 less all explanations that may be offered have 
 been suggested before somewhere. It is 
 
RF.VELATION. 51 
 
 mainly in the general divisions of the book, 
 and in some of its historical connections, and 
 in the times and dates of some of its events, 
 that there is a departure, so far at least as our 
 information goes, from theories and explana- 
 tions heretofore put forward. 
 
 In studying the Apocalypse we have been 
 led to believe that it synchronizes with the 
 hiatus we have suggested as existing in 
 Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks. Between 
 his 69th week and 70th, or last week, there 
 is a break in the onward progress of the 
 prophecy toward its completion. It is a 
 period undefined as to duration, and, by the 
 prophecy itself is passed over in almost com- 
 plete silence. And yet we know from other 
 sources that it is a period replete with mo- 
 mentous events to the world and to the people 
 of God. It is with these times and histories 
 that we think the Apocalypse deals. 
 
 It further synchronizes and harmonizes 
 with the Lord's utterances recorded in Mat- 
 thew, chapters 10:16-42, and 13: and 24: and 
 25: It moves along on these same lines of his- 
 tory, treating them with greater fullness, and 
 giving more of detail. Consequently we will 
 expect, if our conjecture is right, to find in 
 in this book {a) a history of the Christian 
 Church in its two- fold aspect, viz: as the 
 Church visible and corrupted, and as the 
 
52 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 Church invisible and faithful, {b) We will 
 further expect to find a history of Gentile 
 dominion and its consummation in the Anti- 
 christ; and (c) there will also be a history 
 of the Lord Christ. Of Israel, as has 
 been said already*, we are not to expect a 
 history. Nor do we think there is an alhision 
 to them until toward the close of the dis- 
 pensation, when the events of Daniel's last 
 week begin to run their course. The same 
 principle holds here that was mentioned in 
 connection with Daniel's prophecy. During 
 the greater part of this period, as a nation, 
 Israel is not. The Lord dismissed them from 
 the historic page when he pronounced on them 
 the judgments in Matt. 23:38, 39, and Luke 
 21:24. And it is not until after these judg- 
 ments have been executed, and the times of 
 Gentile dominion have been fulfilled — it is 
 not until then that Israel shall once more get 
 possession of their city and country, and as a 
 restored people, Daniel's last week shall begin 
 to run its course. It is at this junction pos- 
 sibly that their existence and their con- 
 nection with Anti-christ is recognizedf. 
 The allusions here to the blasphemies 
 of the Beast in connection with the "taber- 
 nacle" may shadow forth the event alluded 
 to by the Lord in Matt. 24:1, 15. 
 
 *See page 37. fRev. 13:6. 
 
REVELATION, 1. 53 
 
 Revelation i. 
 Introdziction mid Explanation. 
 
 The character and scope of the book is dis- 
 tinctly announced to us. It is a Revelation. 
 It was given by God to Jesus Christ, and by 
 him it has been made known to his Church. 
 By a message in the first instance, and then 
 in a succession of symbolic acts or pictures, 
 he presents us with a history of the Church 
 and the world, down to the time of ''the 
 end, ' ' i. e. , down to the time of his coming 
 again. All this we find in the first chapter. 
 Its opening verses tell us the character of the 
 book, and in v. 19 we have its scope. The 
 Lord himself seems here to give us the key 
 for its right division and understanding. 
 John is told to write, 
 
 {a) ''''The things which thoit hast seen.^^ 
 "Seen," or ''which thou sawest" (R. V.). 
 The word is here used in a comprehensive 
 sense, and may find its explanation in such 
 statements as John, 19:35, 21:24. i John, 
 1:1, etc. 
 
 (B) ^^The things which are.'' ^ The things 
 contained in this first chapter and which had 
 just been manifested to him; Jesus revealing 
 himself in his restored glory ; Jesus in his re- 
 lations to his Church — overseeing, inspect- 
 ing, taking account, approving, disapprov- 
 
54 THE APOLYPTIC DRAMA. 
 
 ing, warning, counseling, threatening, reward- 
 ing, punishing; and the Church itself in its 
 then present condition, a condition unfolded 
 possibly in the message of the next chapter 
 to the Ephesian Church. 
 
 (c) Ajid the things zvhich shall co^ne to pass 
 (R. V.) hei^eafter.^^ These are the things 
 that are unfolded in the visions that follow, 
 beginning with the second chapter, and on to 
 the end. 
 
 We must regard this first chapter then as 
 introductory and explanatory. It tells us 
 who is the author of the book, and what is 
 its object. Regarding the book as a dramatic 
 prophecy we shall break up all that follows 
 into Acts^ and these acts again into Scenes. 
 The acts will synchronize, i. e. , although re- 
 lating to different persons and events, they 
 will run along on parallel lines of time, hav- 
 ing a common starting point and a common 
 terminus. This method is not unusual. It 
 is unavoidable in historic narrative, whether 
 sacred or profane. See e.g. that of the kings of 
 Judah and Israel after the separation. If we 
 are correct in the interpretation of Matt. 24 :, we 
 have in the one prophecy, each of the four 
 histories, of the Church, of Israel, of the 
 world, and of the I^ord, traversing the same 
 period of time. And so, through the Apoca- 
 lypse, we regard the seals, trumpets, etc., 
 
REVELATION, 2. 65 
 
 as different acts, relating to different persons 
 and events, but synchronizing in time. 
 
 Revelation 2: 3: 
 
 Act I. 
 
 Stibject. — The Church visible. 
 
 Ti7ne. — From the destruction of Jerusalem 
 to nearly the close of Daniel's last week. 
 
 There can be no questioning the object of 
 these chapters. They contain a message to 
 the seven churches from him who walked 
 amid the seven candlesticks, and who gave 
 the command "Write," (V. i). 
 
 '''' Seveny The number seven plays a 
 conspicuous part in the symbols of this 
 prophecy. It is itself a symbol. We find it 
 all through the scriptures. The subject of 
 numbers has been very carefully studied, 
 and some profess to have fathomed their 
 meaning. The symbolic import of a few 
 seems to be clear. Seven is considered the 
 number of perfection — completeness. It de- 
 notes finished work. God rested on that 
 day. His creative work was finished, and 
 ever since, the seventh day by his ordering, 
 is a period of rest — the sign of finished work. 
 It bears this significance in the Mosaic 
 economy — the week, the Sabbatic year, the 
 year of jubilee. Similar is its import through- 
 out this book. The messages to the Churches 
 are brought to completeness in the seventh. 
 
56 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act I. 
 
 With the Seals and Trumpets, the 6th Seal, 
 the 6th Trumpet, etc., bring the events they 
 bear upon to that stage of completeness, that 
 but one more act is required for the finishing. 
 The six days brought the creation work to 
 that point when only one condition was 
 needed for the completion of the Divine pur- 
 pose, and the perfection of his work — rest, 
 enjoyment of what had been accomplished, 
 and that was the ordering of the seventh day. 
 So with the successions of Seals and Trumpets. 
 They are brought down to the sixth, leaving 
 but one more scene to complete the act, and 
 consummate the divine purpose. But that 
 7 th and last act, in each of these instances, 
 is arrested. There are other synchronizing 
 histories that must all be brought down 
 to the one point of time, and then the catas- 
 trophy common to all. The 7th seal there- 
 fore, instead of executing wrath and making 
 an end, develops into the seven trumpets ; 
 and the 7th trumpet, for the same reason, 
 introduces the seven vials ; and these seven 
 vials in their entirety, represent complete- 
 ness, especially the 7th, when we have the 
 outpouring of the wine of the wrath of 
 Almighty God, even to the last drop — com- 
 pleteness. 
 
 When these messages were sent there were 
 many other churches beside the one men- 
 
REVELATION, 2: 3: 57 
 
 tioned. Seven therefore must be used in 
 this connection in its mystical sense of 
 completeness — as standing for all the 
 Churches. 
 
 It is possible also that these messages may 
 give us exact representations of the spiritual 
 condition of these several Churches addressed. 
 But we must not confine ourselves to this 
 limitation. The whole character of the 
 messages, and the scope of the book, forbid 
 it. Clearly these are among ' ' the things 
 that shall be hereafter. ' ' We must therefore 
 regard these messages as containing a pro- 
 phetic history of the Church from the time 
 then present to ' ' the end. ' ' They are 
 broken up into seven distinct epochs. And 
 what a history it is! Counsels, encourage- 
 ments, promises, warnings, threatenings, on 
 the one hand ; on the other, some instances 
 of labor, and suffering, and patience, and 
 faithfulness unto death ; but a larger and more 
 conspicuous history of love declining, of per- 
 vertion of doctrine, of unfaithfulness, and 
 finally, of falling away, and apostasy. It is 
 the same history that we have in Matt. 13:. 
 In those parables but one-fourth of the seed 
 sown springs, and with very varying results. 
 And with this growing seed it is soon dis^ 
 covered that tares are mingled. And as the 
 Church advances to conspicuousness and in- 
 
58 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act I. 
 
 fluence, the fowls of the air (the world)* 
 seek it and take possession of it, and 
 now the woman herself (the Church) having 
 tasted of the sweets of worldly power, begins 
 to corrupt herself, and to apostatize from her 
 Lord. And, last scene of all, the harvest at the 
 end of the age, the reapers sent forth, and 
 the gathering of the tares for the burning. 
 Such is the history of the visible Church as 
 given us in the gospel by its Divine Head; 
 and it is the same history that is here pre- 
 sented to us in the Apocalypse by the same 
 Divine Person. The one is in parable, the 
 other in the form of a message. 
 
 So again, in Matt. 24 (and corresponding 
 chapters in Mark and Luke), we have first 
 the struggles and sufferings of the faithful 
 elements in the Church down to ' ' the time 
 of the end " (vs. 4-16). In verse 42 to the 
 end ot the chapter, there are intimations ot 
 unfaithful servants who have not watched (v. 
 43), and of evil servants who believe not in 
 their Lord's coming, etc., (vs. 48, 49); and 
 along with these statements are exhortations 
 to watchfulness that we may escape those 
 things that are coming upon the earth. And 
 just so is it in this prophetic history. We have 
 the same story of loving counsels, of warn- 
 
 ^v. 19. 
 
REVELATION, 2:3. 59 
 
 ings and threatenings, of falling away and 
 apostacy, until the Lord says: "I will spue 
 thee out of my mouth" (3:16.) — I will utterly 
 reject you. And let it be observed that the 
 messages ^stop when the Church reaches that 
 spiritual condition that calls for this threat. 
 The threat is not executed. The message in 
 the prophetic drama brings the Divine intent 
 as far as it can for present purposes, and 
 therefore to completeness. What remains 
 now is execution, and this calls not for words, 
 but for actions. At the appointed time that 
 will come.* But we now call attention to 
 the point at which this 7th message stops, 
 and we beg to emphasize it. It stops with 
 the threat of utter rejection. The reapers 
 are not }'et sent forth to gather — out, and to 
 execute sentence upon an apostate Church. 
 The evil is only determined and announced. 
 A little space must yet elapse, and then the 
 Lord will ' ' spue ' ' from him the harlot 
 Churchf, and this brings the history of the 
 Church — the Church visible — to perhaps the 
 middle of Daniel's last week. Before the 
 close of this week the sentence will be fully 
 executed. 
 
 Of these chapters we make one Act. If it 
 is desired to localize the time and events in 
 
 *Rev. 17:16, 17. tl7:16, 17. 
 
60 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. 4ct I. 
 
 the Church's history that fulfill the conditions 
 of these several messages, then the Act must 
 necessarily be divided into seven Scenes. But 
 this is not our purpose. Neither here nor 
 elsewhere in this prophetic history is it our 
 intention to particularize, excepting as it 
 shall be found needful for the understanding 
 and advocacy of the explanation we are 
 endeavoring to establish. Much has been 
 ably written concerning these messages to 
 the seven Churches of Asia. In these writ- 
 ings all who desire to enter more into details 
 will find ample satisfaction. Our purpose is 
 accomplished when we call attention to these 
 messages as a prophetic history of the Church 
 visible, from the time then present, to the 
 close almost of the age. The prophecy stops 
 short with the threatened judgment upon the 
 apostate Church; its execution is yet future. 
 
 Revelation 4: 
 
 Act II. 4: to 8: 
 
 Prologue^ 4:1-8. 
 
 The curtain rises. What a scene is before 
 us! Grand beyond description. Earth 
 never witnessed, no, never dreamed of its 
 like. Its pageants fade into nothingness be- 
 fore it. The first Act was a message — a 
 word communication. Now we are to have a 
 
Prologue. REVELATION, 4:1-8. 61 
 
 succession of pictures, with living person- 
 ages, and stirring incidents. 
 
 ' ' Behold! ' ' says the Seer. But first of all 
 he tells us — " I was in the Spirit." This is 
 important. His being in the Spirit, and his 
 beholding, are coincident. We also must be 
 under the same influences, and in heart must 
 be occupants of the same place — " Come up 
 hither," if we would behold and understand. 
 '' Come up hither" is the trumpet call to all 
 who would read and hear the words of this 
 prophecy, and who would keep those things 
 which are written therein. 
 
 "/ looked^ and beholdP^ etc. We must 
 then see these things through the eyes of the 
 Seer. He must describe them to us. * We 
 may therefore regard chapter 4: vs. i to 8, 
 as the prologue to the dramatic history that 
 follows. It gives us location. It introduces 
 us to a goodly company — the ' ' Dramatis 
 Personse, " especially as seen in the heavenly 
 places. E. g.^ " The throne ' ' in the midst 
 of heaven, and Him who sits upon it in the 
 resplendant glory that no man can approach 
 unto; the Lamb, the Elders, the Living Crea- 
 tures, the many angels, and along with these 
 celestial actors we have the scenery and 
 other accessories that contribute to the better 
 
 *Ezek. 40:4. 
 
62 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 understanding of what is to come, and that 
 greatly enhances the grandeur of the concep- 
 tion. There are the ' ' four and twenty 
 seats" (thrones) "round about THE THRONE." 
 There is the rainbow, and the sea of glass, 
 and the seven lamps burning, and the thun- 
 derings and lightnings, and the crowns of gold, 
 and the adorations, and prostrations, and 
 choruses of praise, and the trumpet- voice 
 with its frequent explanations. This is a 
 grand pageant. The eye can never vveary in 
 looking, or the ear in listening. But we 
 must hasten on. This is only the beginning 
 — the prelude, the solemn and fitting prepa- 
 ration for the awful scenes to follow, and for 
 the magnificent triumph that is to bring 
 glory to God, and joy to the universe. 
 
 V. I. ^^ After tJiisy (^era roura after these 
 things) i. e.^ after receiving these messages 
 for the Churches. This formula is much 
 used throughout the book. We have already 
 met with it in chapter 1:19. We will find 
 it also in 7:1, 9; 15:5, and elsewhere. In 
 this verse it occurs twice. In the first in- 
 stance it clearly denotes the order of time — 
 after the reception of these messages for the 
 Churches. At the close of the verse we read 
 — "I will show the things which must be 
 hereafter.^ ^ The Greek is the same. Things 
 which must come to pass after these things. 
 
Prologue. REVELATION, 4:3 8. 
 
 Does the formula (mt.) in this last instance 
 denote succession of time also? Not necessarily. 
 Lexicographers say that M^a^ with an accusa- 
 tive, may refer to '^succession either of place or 
 time." What is the reference here? Does 
 it in this latter instance refer to an order of 
 time or of place? The context must guide 
 us to a decision. It does in the first instance; 
 let it do so in the second. 
 
 The first ' ' after this ' ' is closely linked 
 with the messages to the Churches. It re- 
 lates to what follows in the order of time 
 after these messages have been received. In 
 connection with the second, let us call to 
 mind that we have been presented with the 
 history of the visible Church. If we are 
 right, it has been brought down to a point 
 when in her self-glorification she is rich, etc. 
 But he who is in the midst of the seven can- 
 dlesticks says : ' ' Thou . . . knowest 
 not that thou art wretched, ' ' etc. ' ' I will 
 spue thee out of my mouth. ' ' This is surely 
 a condition of apostacy and pending judg- 
 ment. Nothing remains but execution — 
 " the end." If it is true that these messages 
 bring the history of the visible Church down 
 to the close of this dispensation, then there 
 will be no time left " after this" for a suc- 
 cession of such scenes as the one presented in 
 the visions that follow. We are therefore com- 
 
64 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 pelled by the conditions of the context to re- 
 gard the last ' ' after these things, ' ' as refer- 
 ring to the order of place — to the order in 
 which the visions to come will follow each 
 other. All the visions cannot be presented 
 at one and the same moment, ahy more than 
 all the incidents of a narrative can be given 
 at once. There must be an order of place 
 for each, although all may belong to the 
 same order in time. So with these visions. 
 From the very necessity of the case they can- 
 not be present at one view. The observer 
 could not take them in. There would be 
 utter confusion. There must therefore be 
 succession. One vision must follow the 
 other in an order of place, though all may 
 be traversing the same period of time. 
 
 Of necessity therefore there can be given 
 the Seer but one picture at a time, and in 
 receiving them in their order, the most 
 natural language in which to announce the 
 ending of one and the beginning of another, 
 would be that which is here used — "after 
 this," or "after these things." 
 
 Guided then by the requirements of the 
 context, we regard this last "after these 
 things," as having reference to an order of 
 place. In the order of time the visions that 
 are to be presented to the Seer synchronize. 
 Relating to different historical events, they 
 
PrGlogiie. REVELATION, 4:1 8. 65 
 
 yet have the same starting point and a com- 
 mon ending. But that the seer may behold 
 correctly and understand, to each vision 
 there is given an order of place, and the 
 coming and going is in an orderly succes- 
 sion. 
 
 *' Come up hither. ^^ Up to the present, 
 John seems to have been on the earth; he is 
 now called up into the heavens. Through- 
 out he is placed in positions that give him 
 the fullest view of what is taking place. At 
 first he is on earth ; then he is called up into 
 the heavens; and at other times he seems to 
 be in mid-heaven occupying a position from 
 which he can command all that is taking 
 place at the same moment, or at least in 
 rapid succession, in both localities. 
 
 V. 3. In considering the significance of 
 the Divine appearance, let it be remembered 
 that the two stones "jasper" and "sardine" 
 are the first and last in the breast-plate of 
 the Jewish High Priest. * 
 
 ' ' Rainbozv. ' ' Indicative perhaps that amid 
 coming judgments, the covenant with earthf 
 is not forgotten. J 
 
 V. 5. " The lighhiings^ etc.^^ take you 
 back to Sinai. They possibly indicate that 
 it is a throne of judgment and fiery indigna- 
 
 ^Ex. 28:17, 20. fGen. 9:9, 18. |Ezek. 1:28. 
 
66 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act 11. 
 
 tion; while the rainbow reminds us that 
 covenants of mercy are not forgotten. 
 
 ' ' Seven lamps of fire bicrjiing. ' ' They are 
 explained to us — "Which are the seven 
 Spirits of God. " We read concerning them 
 again in the 5th chapter, v. 6. 
 
 Fire has always been regarded as the sym- 
 bol of the Divine Spirit, -^ the third Person of 
 the adorable Trinity. We have the Father 
 shadowed forth in the ineffable presence on 
 THE THRONE (v. 2), and the eternal Son in 
 the symbol of the Lamb, t and it is appropri- 
 ate that the Spirit's presence should be signi- 
 fied by these "seven lamps of fire." We 
 must rest satisfied for the present, however, 
 with these statements. Mystery is stamped 
 upon much that we meet with in this book. 
 It is written in letters of light on this symbol 
 — mystery, deep mystery. For a better 
 understanding we must wait until the Spirit 
 himself shall reveal more. Consult, Ex. 
 37:23, Chron. 4:20, Zach. 4:2. 
 
 V. 6. "^ sea of glass,'' ^iQ. Glass and 
 crystal stand for purity, transparency, calm- 
 ness, permanency. These are attributes of 
 Divine truth. The two symbols, the lamps 
 of fire and the sea, may stand for judgment 
 and truth. J 
 
 *Acts 2:1, etc. t5:6. ]:Pb. 89:14. 
 
Prologue. REVELATION, 4:1-8. 67 
 
 The Elders and the Living Ones. In verses 
 4 and 6, etc., we are introduced to the 24 
 Elders and to the four Living Ones. Who are 
 they ? These last have been identified with 
 the "the living creatures" of Bzek. i: and 
 10:; and also with the seraphims of Isa, 6: 
 and the cherubim of Gen. 3:24. The ren- 
 dering ("four beasts") of our version is 
 most unfortunate. The Greek word (^a,a) 
 means life. It differs entirely from the word 
 {m9^ov^ rendered beast (wild beast) in chapter 
 13:. Opinions are many and divergent as to 
 who or what may be intended by these two 
 representations. The most acceptable until 
 lately, has been the one that regarded them 
 as the impersonations of redeemed humanity, 
 and representations of the executive powers 
 of the Church in the heavenly places. There 
 has always been more or less dissent from 
 this view, on the ground that there were 
 several doxologies relating to the Church, in 
 which the Elders and the Living Ones, either 
 did not take part, or in doing so, did not in- 
 clude themselves. E. g.^ chapters 7:9, 12, 
 etc.; 15:3, etc., 11:15, etc. The main sup- 
 port for the view that the Redeemed Church 
 was here represented, was found in the dox- 
 ology in chapter 5:9, etc. " Hast redeemed 
 us^ ' ' etc. But the revisers say that '■^ ns^^ is 
 to be omitted. They. read — " and didst pur- 
 
68 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA Act II. 
 
 chase unto God with thy blood men of every 
 tribe," etc. This takes away, or at least 
 throws doubt upon, the rendering of the only 
 passage that has sustained the view we are 
 considering. 
 
 May not the symbols represent the Princi- 
 palities, Authorities, Powers, and Dominions, 
 in the heavenlies? They are enthroned. 
 They encircle the Throne. Th^y are sub- 
 ordinated to Christ,* who is in the midst of 
 ' ' THE THRONE, ' ' and of them, f They wait, 
 they serve, they worship, they praise. They 
 take an intense interest, an active, willing 
 part, in all that is now transpiring in con- 
 nection with this drama that we are study- 
 ing, and they shall joy in the triumph of the 
 Lord. May they not then be representatives 
 of that "innumerable company of angels, " .j" 
 that belong to Mount Zion, the city of the 
 living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and that 
 are an important portion of the Dramatis 
 Personse of our drama ? 
 
 Revelation 4:8 — 11, and 5: 
 
 Act II, 4: to 8: 
 
 Scene i, 4:8 — 11, and 5: 
 
 Location. — In heaven, and about the 
 
 THRONE. 
 ^Eph. 1:20, etc. fRev. 5:6. tHeb. 12:22. 
 
Scene ist. REVELATION, 4:8—11, and 5: 69 
 
 Dramatis Persons. — He who sits upon 
 THE THRONE. The Ivamb; the Living 
 Ones; the Elders. 
 
 Time. — The date of the Apocalypse. 
 
 Surpassingly grand is the outburst of 
 praise recorded in these verses (8-ii.) The 
 Living Ones begin it with their Trisagion. 
 The four and twenty Elders take it up, and 
 prolong the glorious anthem, amid piostra- 
 tions and adorations. It is a fit opening for 
 the stupendous drama about to be enacted. 
 This scene is altogether heavenly. The 
 "innumerable company of angels," and 
 the general assembly of the Church of the 
 first-born, are the interested spectators. Ever}- 
 eye is fixed upon the throne. It is the 
 very center of the whole movement. From 
 hence all that is to come to pass, will be 
 overlooked, and ordered, and controlled. 
 
 Chapter 5. 
 
 V. I. The anthem dies away, and now 
 the onward movement of the drama begins. 
 " In the right hand of Him that sat on the 
 THRONE," the Seer beholds "a book." 
 
 It must have been a roll-book. The Re- 
 visers omit the word "side," and read — 
 ' ' written within and on the back. ' ' 
 
 ' '• The book. ' ' This book was sealed with 
 "seven seals." There possibly may have 
 
70 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IT. 
 
 been seven pieces of parchment, secured one 
 to the other by as many seals, and all rolled 
 together, making one roll or book. 
 
 ^'^ Sealed. ^^ The use of the Seal carries 
 with it several significations in Scripture. E. 
 g. (a) It is binding as a witness, as in the 
 case of contracts. * {5) It is a guarantee of 
 security, t {c) It insures secrecy, and that is 
 its import in this instance. The book was 
 sealed. Its contents were unknown, and be- 
 fore the}^ could be known, these seals must be 
 broken. 
 
 But who shall break them? Who shall be 
 counted worthy in that vast assembly to ap- 
 proach THE THRONE, and to take the book 
 from the hand of him who sits upon it, and 
 to break the seals, and make known the 
 eternal counsels of the mind of God ? The 
 question runs through the expectant assem- 
 bly. The suspense is overwhelming. The 
 tension is beyond the limits of human endur- 
 ance. The Seer is prostrated, and gives 
 way, weeping much, "because no man was 
 found worthy to open and to read the book; 
 neither to look thereon " (v. 4). But he is 
 re-assured and comforted. "One of the Elders 
 saith unto him, weep not: Behold, the Lion 
 of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath 
 
 Jer. 82:10, &c. fMaU. 27:66. Rev. 20:3. 
 
Scene ist. REVELATION, 5: 71 
 
 prevailed to open the book, and the seven 
 seals thereof." The Seer's attention is now 
 turned to this "Lion" that has been an- 
 nounced. But note that, instead of a 
 "Lion," there is seen "a Lamb," and the 
 Lamb had the appearance of one that " had 
 been slain." It is even so. He is the all- 
 conquering Lion, because he was first the 
 sacrificial Lamb, and whether he manifests 
 himself as the " Lion " or the " Lamb," de- 
 pends altogether with whom he is dealing. * 
 To John he appears as a Lamb that had been 
 slain. To Him has the honor been accorded 
 to receive the book. He has prevailed — has 
 overcome, and all power in heaven and earth 
 has been given unto him. " And He came 
 and took the book out of the right hand of 
 Him that sat upon the ' 'throne. ' ' At once 
 the silence is broken, and there is a grand 
 outburst of praise. Amid prostrations, and 
 the sound of harps, and the odors of incense, 
 the Living ones and the Elders lead off the 
 grand orchestra. Now they address them- 
 selves to the Lamb. It is " a new song. ' ' 
 It tells the story of redemption through his 
 blood. It announces a kingdom purchased 
 and possessed — a people taken from among 
 the tribes of men, and who shall reign upon 
 
 *Rev. 14:1, 19:7. and 6:16, 19:15, &c. 2 Thess. 1:6, &c. 
 
72 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act 11. 
 
 the earth, and the refrain of their song is 
 — "Thou art worthy to take the book, and 
 to open the seals thereof. ' ' And the Anthem 
 grows louder as it rolls on, until " ever}' 
 creature which is in heaven, and on earth, 
 and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, 
 and all that are in them, are heard saying: 
 Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
 unto him that sitteth upon THE throne, 
 and unto the Lamb forever and ever. ' ' And 
 so this first scene is brought to its close. 
 
 This Sealed book^ what is its significance ? 
 May we not find its explanation in the first 
 verse of the Revelation? Contrast these two 
 portions, and see if there are not features of 
 strong resemblance. What in that first 
 verse"^ is told us in words, seems here to be 
 unfolded in symbol. In the first instance, a 
 ' ' Revelation ' ' is announced — something un- 
 known, but to be revealed; in the symbol it 
 is a book sealed — its contents are yet un- 
 known. In the word-statement, God gives 
 it, therefore it is in his possession; in the 
 symbol, the book is in the right hand of 
 Him who sits upon the throne. In the 
 word-statement, God gives it to Jesus Christ; 
 in symbol, the Lamb takes the book out of 
 the hand of Him who sits upon the 
 
 *Rev. 1:1. 
 
Scene I St. REVELATION, 5: 73 
 
 THRONE. In the word-statement, the Lord 
 Christ shows the Revelation that has been 
 given him to his servant who is to testify 
 concerning it; in the symbol, the Lamb pro- 
 ceeds to break the seals, and summons his 
 servant to ' ' behold, ' ' that he may record 
 the visions for the instruction of his Church. 
 This resemblance is ver}^ striking. And it can 
 hardly be presumptuous to answer the ques- 
 tion concerning this sealed book by saying, 
 that it is the same Revelation given to Jesus 
 Christ, and that it relates to things that 
 ' ' must shortly come to pass. " It is the 
 book of the world's and the Church's history, 
 during the hiatus of Daniel's prophecy; and 
 it runs from the date of the Apocalypse to 
 and through his last week. 
 
 Act, II. chp. 4: to 8: 
 Scene ^ 2d. chap. 6: 
 Location. Partly in heaven, and partly on 
 
 earth. 
 Subject. Opening of the seals. The course 
 
 of Gentile Dominion with its terrible 
 
 consequences down to the time of the 
 
 end. 
 Thne. From the date of the Apocalypse to 
 
 the middle or latter portion of Daniel's 
 
 last week. 
 The second scene opens. The Lamb is now 
 the conspicuous personage on the stage. He 
 
74 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad II. 
 
 holds the attention of the vast audience. In 
 his hand is the book received from him who 
 sits upon THE THRONE. It is the book of 
 Revelation. It contains ' ' the mystery of 
 God," and " the mystery of iniquity," and 
 the history of the World and the Church 
 down to the time of ' ' the end, ' ' and the 
 Church of Christ, and the Mighty intelli- 
 gences of the Universe desire to look into these 
 things, and are waiting with intense eagerness. 
 
 He opens one of the seven seals. Immedi- 
 ately, in tones of thunder, one of the Living 
 Creatures cried— " Come." The R. V. 
 omits, " and see. " The command is there- 
 fore issued to the ordained symbol. And 
 straightway there passes before the Seer's 
 vision "a white horse." "He that sat on 
 him had a bow, and a crown was given unto 
 him, and he went forth conquering and to 
 conquer. ' ' 
 
 ' ' A white horse. ' ' And what of this 
 horse and his rider? It is of course a 
 symbol. But whom does it represent, and 
 what does it signify? Surely not Christ. 
 The fact that the riders here and in chp. 19:, 
 are both on white horses and wear crowns, is 
 not ground sufficient to establish identity be- 
 tween them. The similarity is easily ac- 
 counted for. The horse personifies strength. 
 The white horse indicates victory, and tri- 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 6: 75 
 
 umph; and a crown is always the emblem of 
 royalty and kingship. The Lord Christ is 
 not the only one who lays claim to these 
 prerogatives in this world. There is "a 
 prince of this world," who, pointing to its 
 kingdoms, dared to say even to the Christ: 
 ' A 11 these things will / give thee, if thou 
 wilt fall down and worship me. ' ' He claims 
 this world as his. He wears its crowns,* 
 and transfers them to whom he pleases, t 
 And his mastery over it, and impress 
 upon it, is unmistakably manifest 
 everywhere. The white horse and the crown, 
 and all that they symbolize, are not therefore 
 in this world and at this time, the exclusive 
 right of Him who opens the seals. In this 
 s)'mbol an usurper sits upon the white horse, 
 and guides him on his conquering career. 
 For so is it ' 'given unto him (V. 2). ' ' 
 
 Observe also other considerations that will 
 not suffer us to recognize the Lord Christ in 
 this symbol. 
 
 {a) This rider is nameless. Wherever the 
 Lord Christ is brought before us, there is no 
 attempt at disguise. Whether as the Lion, 
 or the Lamb, or the King of Kings, there is 
 no mistaking him. Attending multitudes, 
 the glorified Church — the all-beauteous Bride, 
 
 ^Rev. 12:3. tl3:2. 
 
76 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Aci II. 
 
 the hallelujahs, the crowns at his feet, the 
 Armies of heaven following him, — always 
 is he proclaimed the Christ of God. He is 
 no longer nameless. He cannot be obscured. 
 God has highly exalted him. God — He who 
 sits upon THE THRONE, has given Him a 
 name which is above every name. Any 
 allusion to him must cause the knee to bend, 
 and the tongue to confess, and the anthem 
 of praise to ascend. No nameless horseman 
 then can symbolize Him. When His time 
 comes, and he mounts his horse, his names 
 shall be blazoned on vesture and thigh, and 
 the tramp of his conquering legiqns shall stir 
 the heart of the Universe, 
 
 (b) This horseman comes with "a bow." 
 But this is not Christ's weapon. When he 
 rides forth, he bears a sword. The bow is 
 the instrument for the discharge of arrows. 
 The arrow, the dart — "fiery darts," these in 
 the New Testament are Satan's weapons. 
 The Ivord Christ has no identification with 
 him and with his weapons. 
 
 (c) This horseman, as a royal conqueror 
 must be identified with the times of this 
 present dispensation. But these attributes of 
 kingship and conquest do not appertain to 
 Christ at this present time. This is the dis- 
 pensation of the Spirit. The gospel is being 
 preached as a witness. A people are being 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 6: 77 
 
 gathered out of all kindreds and nations for 
 his name. But He, the risen Jesus, is in the 
 heavens. They have received him and* must 
 retain him, until the times of the restitution 
 of all things. In His providential dispensa- 
 tion he, of course, over-rules all things; but 
 his special work is now " within the veil." 
 It is here that His official relations to His 
 Church are being exercised. He is Prophet, 
 Priest, Sacrifice, Intercessor. Take the 
 scene we are considering as illustrative. He 
 is before us as the Lamb Slain — the sacrifice. 
 Where is he? In heaven, before THE throne. 
 And what is he doing? Exercising his 
 Prophetic office — opening the sealed book 
 that he may ' ' show to his servants things 
 that must shortly come to pass. ' ' 
 
 He is then exercising his offices in the 
 heavens, and is not on earth. He is not on 
 his own throne. ' ' Now we see not all 
 things put under him." He is on Iiis 
 Father's throne, not his own. His kingly 
 office is as yet in abeyance, and must con- 
 tinue so until he takes unto himself his 
 ' ' great power, ' ' then shall he reign. We 
 cannot therefore recognize the Lord Christ 
 in the symbol of this conquering horseman. 
 
 ((£) And yet further we would call atten- 
 
 *Act8 3:21. 
 
78 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad 11. 
 
 tion to the attendants of this horseman — 
 war, famine, death. These are not the 
 attendants of the Prince of Peace. He is 
 never presented to us with such surround- 
 ings. True his presence brings a sword 
 upon the earth. But He does not draw it. 
 On the contrary his command is — " Put up 
 again thy sword into his place. ' ' His mis- 
 sion is peace on earth, good will toward men, 
 and even when he does take unto him his 
 ' ' great power, ' ' and comes to reign, there 
 will indeed be judgment quick and sharp, 
 but his attendants are the armies of heaven 
 clothed in white, and riding on white horses; 
 and in the day of his sovereignty, swords 
 will be beaten into plow-shares, and spears 
 into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up 
 sword against nation, neither shall they 
 learn war any more. 
 
 We therefore cannot recognize Christ in 
 this symbol. To us it in no way speaks of 
 him. Of whom or of what then does it 
 speak? 
 
 We suggest that it stands for Gentile 
 Dominion. The existence and character of 
 this power has been brought to our notice 
 before in prophetic symbol. The metallic 
 image of Daniel represents it in its totality. * 
 
 *2:31, &c. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 6: 79 
 
 This image is a perfect man from head to 
 feet, and so it continues until ' ' the stone ' ' 
 smites it. There is, however, well defined 
 divisions in the image. In the interpreta- 
 tion we are told that they denote four suc- 
 cessive empires, and yet the unity of the 
 image is not broken. No matter what 
 different metals or substances may enter into 
 its composition, yet, from its head to its feet, 
 the one idea (Gentile Dominion) is embodied. 
 
 These different parts of the image 'are in 
 Daniel's vision symbolized by four Beasts. 
 He describes the fourth Beast as ' ' dreadful 
 and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it 
 had great iron teeth, it devoured and brake 
 in pieces, and stamped the residue with the 
 feet of it."* 
 
 It is this terrible nondescript Beast that 
 we are now most interested in. It is the last 
 of the four Beasts, and it therefore represents 
 the last period of Gentile Dominion, the 
 period in which we are now living. It 
 answers to the legs of iron, and the feet, part 
 of iron and part of clay, of the image. Most 
 expositors see a connection between this 
 symbol and the Roman Empire. In the 
 Lord's day the government by military 
 tribunes had passed away, and Rome had 
 
 *7:7. 
 
80 THE APOLYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 assumed the purple, and was stretching forth 
 its arms in Conquest. At the time of this 
 Apocalyptic vision, it had reached the zenith 
 of its power, and war, famine and death, 
 marked the advance of its legions. 
 
 According to our scheme of interpretation, 
 the history of this Gentile Dominion must be 
 found in this book, and here we think we 
 have it. This symbol of the white horse 
 and its rider, and his attendant horsemen, 
 tells the story with all the distinctness of the 
 other symbols that relate to this subject, and 
 that have preceded it. It synchronizes 
 with the legs and feet of Nebuchadnezzar's 
 image, and with the nondescript Beast of 
 Daniel's vision. It portrays this power as it 
 then was, as it since has been, and as it will 
 continue to be to " the end." The color of 
 the horse (white) denotes triumph. The 
 crown given the rider is sovereignty, his 
 weapon is death dealing, and his mission is 
 conquest. This' is the Divine ordering for 
 this power down to ' ' the end. ' ' It was to 
 be an instrument in his hand who ruleth in 
 the armies of heaven and upon earth, to 
 "overturn, overturn, overtfirn, 
 until he come whose right it is to reign. ' ' * 
 To Nebuchadnezzar, the first acknowledged 
 
 *Bzek. 21:27. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 6: 81 
 
 head of this power, it was said: "The God 
 of heaven hath given thee a kingdom . 
 and wheresoever the children of men dwell, 
 hath he given into thine hand, and 
 hath made thee ruler over them all. " * Of 
 Daniel's fourth Beast it is said: " It devoured 
 and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue 
 with the 'feet of it. "f And here it is again. 
 A symbol armed for destructiveness, com- 
 missioned for conquest, and attended by war, 
 famine, pestilence and death. What can be 
 more terrible? And the picture is true to the 
 life. Read history and see these awful out- 
 lines filled up. And even now, though some 
 years of peace have intervened, yet the 
 governments that continue to represent this 
 Gentile Dominion, are armed to the teeth. 
 They are crushing out the life of the people 
 asking for bread, and they are watching 
 their opportunity to spring at each other for 
 conquest. Not only is Jerusalem to be trod- 
 den down by it, until the times of the Gen- 
 tiles be come, but all the peoples of the earth. 
 It ' ' shall devour the whole earth, and shall 
 tread it down, and break it in pieces. ' ' % 
 
 V. J. The second Seal is opened, and here, 
 as in the other instances,! the command 
 '*cbme", is to the appointed symbols. These 
 
 *2:37, 38. f7:7. ^7:23. gVs. 1. 5, 7. 
 
82 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 horsemen follow each other in rapid succes- 
 ion. We do not regard them as independent 
 and separate symbols, each shadowing forth a 
 different person or event, but as parts of one 
 symbol — the White horse and his rider with 
 his attendants. The White horse leads, these 
 follow. The four unite to make the one sym- 
 bol. As the different metallic substances unite 
 in the making up of the one image of Nebuc- 
 hadnezzar's dream; so here, the four horse- 
 men unite to give us a complete symbol. 
 The first horseman by himself is incomplete. 
 Associate him with the others and we have a 
 finished picture that tells its own story. As 
 a symbol it takes its place unmistakably be- 
 side those found in Daniel, and we are im- 
 pressed with the fact that it represents Gen- 
 tile Dominion down to "the end" with its 
 misrule, with its greed, persecutions of the 
 Church of God, and oppression and massacre 
 of the peoples of the earth. 
 
 The two pictures that follow vs. 9-17 present 
 us with the result of this domination. And 
 they are {a) a. persecuted and slaughtered 
 Church; and {U) a devastated and terror 
 stricken earth. 
 
 V. p. The scene is now in heaven, but 
 is closely linked with the one that has just 
 preceded it. The opening of this Seal 
 brings to our notice for the first time the real 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 6: 83 
 
 Church of God — the true, the faithful ones. 
 They are the Souls that are with Jesus. They 
 are resting, waiting, expecting. They have 
 passed through their fight of afflictions. 
 They have been faithful even unto death, and 
 they are now witnessing against the mis- 
 rule and God-hating spirit of this Gentile 
 power. 
 
 They are seen under the Altar. On the 
 Altar is the place for the offering; beside it is 
 the position of the priestly offerer; but 
 "under" it — at its base, is here designated as 
 the place of rest — "rest yet for a little sea- 
 son", is the answer given them. It may also 
 carry with it the idea of safety. In all 
 countries and religions the Altar was the 
 place of sanctuary. The man whose life was 
 forfeited sought refuge at the Altar. If there 
 was safety anywhere, it was there.* And 
 these souls were in the place of safety, be- 
 yond the reach of Satanic hate, and the 
 World's persecution. But though safe, they 
 are not dissociated from earth. They are in 
 the fullest sympathy with their brethren who 
 are yet bearing the heat and burden of the 
 day, and together with us, they are anticipat- 
 ing "the end" — the day of vengeance of our 
 God.t 
 
 *Ex. 21:14. 1 Kings 2:28, etc. fLuke 18:7. 
 
84 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Aci //. 
 
 y. 12^ etc. The sixth Seal is broken. The 
 picture now presented is the second evidence 
 of the misrule of this Gentile domination. 
 The Most High entrusted it with power, and 
 it has abused it. In the fifth Seal was heard 
 the cry of the Church against it. Here we 
 have a picture of the condition into which it 
 has brought the earth through its cruelty, 
 ambition, and God-defying spirit. 
 
 Sun, Moon, and Stars, stand for persons of 
 distinction. Note Joseph's dream, Gen. 37:9, 
 etc. Consult also. Rev. 1:20, 9: i , Num. 
 24:17, and Matt. 2:2, Dan. 8:10. 
 
 Earthquakes and natural disturbances sig- 
 nify political and social upheavals and hor- 
 rors. * While it is not improbable that when 
 the events called for by this seal shall be 
 transpiring there may be great natural dis- 
 turbances, as at the time of the Lord's cruci- 
 fixion, yet we are disposed to regard this and 
 similar discriptions throughout the book, as 
 figurative, announcing social, rather than 
 natural convulsions. 
 
 The closing of this scene is tragic and awful 
 to the last degree. The 'White Horse" and 
 his attendants have done their work effect- 
 ively. In addition to wasting and desolating 
 the earth, Gentile Dominion has also blas- 
 
 ts. 2:10, etc., 13:9 etc.,34: 2 Peter, 3:6, etc. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 6: 85 
 
 phemed the God of heaven, and defied his 
 sovereignty, and, as we shall learn elsewhere 
 in the book, has compelled the nations to do 
 the same. And now the time of reckoning 
 has come. The hand- writing is on the Wall. 
 The characters — ^^ Mene^ Mene^ Tekel^ 
 Upharseii' ' , are blazoned in letters of light. 
 Even a scoffing world can no longer doubt. 
 
 The events of this seal bring us down in 
 all probability to the beginning of Daniel's 
 70th week, and consequently to the uprising 
 of the Anti-Christ. It must even continue 
 well into the week — to a point of time when 
 a rebellious, God-defying world begins to 
 realize that there is an all-conquering power, 
 that his terrors are abroad, and that the day 
 of his wrath has come. It is the day of con- 
 sternation foretold by the Lord in lyuke 21: 
 25, 26. "Upon earth distress of nations, 
 with perplexity; the sea and the waves (the 
 enraged peoples) roaring: men's hearts fail- 
 ing them for fear, and for looking after those 
 things which are coming on the earth: for 
 the powers of heaven shall be shaken. " See 
 also Isa. 2:12, &c. 
 
 But here let it be carefull}^ noted as 
 important to our scheme of interpretation, 
 that in the events taking place under this 
 seal, verse 27 of Luke has no place. "And 
 there (in the midst of this expectancy and 
 
86 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 consternation) shall they see the son of man 
 coming in a cloud, with power and great 
 glory. ' ' Events under this seal stop short of 
 this consummation. Doubtless it is expect- 
 ancy of this coming, that gives occasion for 
 the World's consternation. But events under 
 this seal stop short of it. It is this fact that 
 we want especially to emphasize. This 
 sixth seal brings the world's history — the 
 history of Gentile Dominion, down to a point 
 of time just prior to the Lord's Advent, and 
 there it stops — there it leaves it. There is 
 more to come, but this seal is not to tell it, 
 nor is this history to be further pursued for 
 the present. This second scene of Act II, 
 closes, leaving Gentile Dominion still in 
 existence, but in a state of terror and fearful 
 expectation. This, it will be remembered, 
 was precisely the condition in which the 
 visible — the false and apostate Church, was 
 left at the close of Act I. Its prophetic his- 
 tory of chapters 2: and 3: closed, leaving it 
 still in existence, a self-righteous, rejected 
 Church, with threatened judgments awaiting 
 the hour of execution. The two histories in 
 the two Acts traverse the same period of time. 
 The one tells the story of the Church down 
 to the moment of its rejection; the other 
 brings the history of Gentile Dominion to a 
 similar moment, when it too has been judged, 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 6: 87 
 
 and its heart isjfailing it for fear. In both 
 instances we naturally look for the onward 
 movement of the history, and for the execu- 
 tion of the threatened judgment. But not 
 so. Other histories, and strange events must 
 be narrated, and must be brought down to this 
 same point of time, before "the end" will 
 be announced. The judgments and awards 
 are alike for an appointed time, therefore 
 must the history of all be first brought down 
 to that day and hour, before the Drama can 
 unfold the judgments in their execution, and 
 the honors in their bestowment. 
 
 Revelation 7: 
 
 Act, IL 4: to 8: 
 
 Scene. — 3d. chap. 7: 
 
 Location.— Y2,x\Xy in heaven, partly on 
 earth. 
 
 Dra^natis PersoncE. — Angels. The Sealed. 
 The Elders. The Lamb. 
 
 Ti7ne. — The entire period of O. and N. 
 Testament dispensations down to the transla- 
 tion. 
 
 This third scene presents us with the his- 
 tory of the hidden Church. We have 
 already had in Act I, a history of the Church 
 visible — the Church as it is seen by the 
 world, and that indentifies itself with the 
 
THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 world, and that eventually apostatizes. The 
 history of Gentile Dominion, with its cruel- 
 ties and godlessness, was the subject of the 
 next scene. Now there is given us what to 
 the world is a hidden history. It relates to 
 the Church invisible — the sealed ones. We 
 have already called attention* to the fact that 
 the Church is made up of these two elements. 
 In the history of the visible Church (Act I) 
 — the Church of the world and of the 
 Apostasy, we read of those who have labored, 
 who have not fainted, and have suffered 
 tribulation and poverty, and have not denied 
 the faith, and have been faithful even unto 
 death. What of these? Where are they? 
 They cannot be identified with those who 
 left their first love, who consented to the 
 doctrine of Balaam, who associated them- 
 selves with the woman Jezebel, and who 
 have joined the synagogue of Satan? Cer- 
 tainly not. They have a separate history, 
 and this scene tells us all about them. 
 
 No Seal is here opened. They (the Seals) 
 belong exclusively to Gentile Dominion, and 
 the results of its mis-rule. This picture-his- 
 tory may be regarded as an explanation and 
 expansion of the fifth seal. There we were 
 shown the souls — the victims of Gentile per- 
 
 *p. 44, &c. 
 
Scene 3d. REVEIvATION, 7: 89 
 
 seditions, sheltered beneath the Altar. This 
 scene tells ns more about them. It is the his- 
 tory of the true Chuich, the Church unrecog- 
 nized by the world, and unknown to it; but 
 sealed of God, and therefore known to him, 
 and kept by his power, and that will at last 
 be gathered before The throne, and before 
 the Ivamb. (V. 9.) 
 
 V. I. The scene opens with a beautiful 
 conception and illustration of Christ's head- 
 ship over all things for his Church. * Four 
 Angels standing on the four corners of the 
 earth, hold the four winds of the earth, that 
 they should not blow on the earth, nor on the 
 sea, nor on any tree. The earth is doomed, f 
 "The winds," — the forces of nature and the 
 passions of evil intelligences, are ready at 
 any moment to break loose and destroy, if 
 But God has his purposes. He holds them 
 in check. His Church is still in the world. 
 All have not been gathered yet, and until 
 they are, the restraining Angels must stand 
 to their posts. 
 
 V. 2. Another angel is now seen ascend- 
 ing from the east — ''the sun- rising" (R. V.). 
 His course is from the East to the West. In 
 his hand is the Seal of the Living God, with 
 which he is to seal the servants of his God. 
 
 Eph. 1:20, etc. 12 Peter 3:5, etc. t Jer. 51:16. 
 
90 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 Farther on* we read of an Angel flying in the 
 midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel 
 to preach unto them that dwell on the earth. 
 This is the fact revealed here. It is a sym- 
 bol of the Church commissioned to go into all 
 the world and preach the gospel. This 
 preaching began in Jerusalem, t Its course 
 has been steadily westward. Its mission is to 
 proclaim the grace of God, and to take out 
 from among the Gentiles a people for his 
 name.J. "He that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved.'' But before this calling out 
 and sealing process begins, the messenger 
 Angel gives charge to those holding the four 
 winds, to keep them in check. "Hurt not 
 the earth, etc., till we have sealed the serv- 
 ants of our God in their foreheads." (V. 3.). 
 And to-day we can look with John upon 
 this striking picture. To those who have 
 eyes to see and ears to hear, it is as distinctly 
 set forth in the heavens as when the seer be- 
 held it. The restraining Angels are still at 
 their posts. The apostle Paul announces 
 that the mystery of iniquity was working in 
 his day — that it only awaited the removal of 
 a restraining power, and then will he be re- 
 vealed, the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus 
 will consume, etc. || The existing World 
 
 14:0. fActs 1:8. JActs 15:14. 1|2 Thes. 2:7, etc. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 7: 91 
 
 power — the Beast so dreadful and terrible, 
 the lawless one, whose coming is after the 
 working of Satan with all power and signs 
 and lying wonders* — this world power is re- 
 strained, until the sealing is finished and the 
 number of the elect completed. ' 'AH things 
 continue as they were from the beginning of 
 the creation' ' , t is ever the taunt of unbelieving 
 scoffers. They dream not that destructive 
 forces are ready to burst upon them, restrained 
 only by Divine command. The world con- 
 tinues as it is for the sake of the Church, un- 
 til the servants of God shall be sealed. 
 
 The gospel message proposes a compact. If 
 accepted, it involves agreement and action 
 between contracting parties — "believe and be 
 baptized, and thou shalt be saved." God 
 and the believing soul entering into Covenant. 
 This sealing is then the sign of these Cove- 
 nant relations. It signifies identification, 
 ownership, security, {a) It is the Lord know- 
 ing them that are his;]: {b) it is giving this 
 knowledge to them that are his, sealing them 
 with the Holy Spirit of promise ;|| and {c) it 
 is his people desiring this knowledge — "Set 
 me as a seal upon thine heart", etc.§ And 
 this sealing is "in their foreheads".! All 
 men must be able to know them at once. By 
 
 *Dan. 7:7, 2 Thes. 2:7, etc., Rev. 18. t2 Peter 3, 4. |2 
 Tim. 2:19. ||Eph. 1:13, etc. ^.Cant. 8:6. «! Ezek. 9:4, etc. 
 
92 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 the confession of the mouth, and by the man- 
 ner of living, it must be manifest to all that 
 they have been with Jesus, and that they are 
 witnessing for him. 
 
 K 4. In this fourth verse the result of 
 this sealing is given. The messenger Angel 
 has therefore accomplished his mission. The 
 number of the elect is completed, and the 
 time of "the end" is reached. This is 
 further confirmed by the fact that the earth- 
 picture here closes, and we are introduced to 
 a heavenly one (V. 9). Behold the multi- 
 tude of the sealed ones gathered on the 
 Mount Sion. 
 
 This determines also for us the time occu- 
 pied by the vision. It extends from the 
 first sending forth of the gospel on its mis- 
 sion of calling and sealing down to the 
 translation.* This event takes place just 
 prior to the Lord's appearing. Its period 
 synchronizes then exactly with the other his- 
 tories we have been considering. It is the in- 
 terval between Daniel's 69th and 70th week, 
 and runs on to perhaps the middle of that 
 week. 
 
 ^^ Israeiy This nimibering is said to be 
 among " the tribes of the children of Israel. " 
 Our vision relates immediately to gospel 
 
 1 Cor. 10:50, etc., 1 Thes. 4:13, etc. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 7: 98 
 
 times. Israel as a nation are not.* They 
 are in blindness and banishment. This is 
 the dispensation when God is taking out a peo- 
 ple for his name among the Gentiles, f This 
 gathered people are declared to be Abraham's 
 seed, and heirs to the promises. J So that 
 we are authorized in interpreting the term- 
 " Israel " in its largest spiritual conception. 
 These gathered people belong to both dis- 
 pensations. Under the Theocracy there was 
 a ''holy seed" — sealed ones. So hidden 
 away were they at times that one of the most 
 distinguished of the prophets was not aware 
 of their existence. But God knew them. 
 These are their successors — their brethren. 
 What if those of the present dispensation 
 were once alienated, and enemies in mind by 
 wicked works ? Yet now hath he reconciled 
 them in the body of his flesh through death, 
 to present them holy and unblamable and 
 unreproveable in his sight. || They are 
 all one in Christ Jesus. Both Jew and 
 Gentile are comprehended. Verse nine re- 
 quires this. Here is the aggregate of 
 this sealing — "A great multitude, which no 
 man could number. " Who are they? They 
 are " of all nations, and kindreds, and people, 
 and tongues." This is exactly what the 
 
 *See p. 37, &c. } Acts 15:14. tGal. 3:29; Rom. 2:29. 
 iCol. 1:21, 22. 
 
94 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 apostle James declares to be the present mis- 
 sion of the gospel;* and it is in connection 
 with this fact also that the Living Ones 
 count Him, who had received the book, 
 worthy to be praised and honored — "for 
 thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God 
 with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, 
 and people, and nation, "f "Israel" 
 stands then for the Redeemed of Christ. 
 Nor, as we take them in the aggregate, must 
 we limit them to the called of this dispensa- 
 tion. While we regard the historic limits 
 of this vision to be the gospel period, yet 
 when we come to consider those sealed ones 
 as a great multitude, and as the same com- 
 pany that we read of in chapter 14, we must 
 recognize the saints of the Old Testament 
 dispensation as well as those of the New. 
 We must include that faithful company 
 recorded in Hebrews 1 1 :, and " of whom the 
 world was not worthy. ' ' The sealed ones in 
 their completed numbers are the Lamb's 
 Bride — the Redeemed of all generations and 
 of all nationalities. 
 
 ' ^An hundred and forty and four thousand. ' ' 
 So in regard to this numbering. The very 
 genius of the book we are studying requires 
 that this number, as well as the term "Israel" 
 
 *Acts 16:14. tRev. 5:9. 
 
Scefiejd. REVELATION, 7: 95 
 
 shall be taken figuratively. The aggregate 
 of this sealing is, we are told, " a multitude, 
 which no man could number. " Then it is 
 impossible to give the exact figures. There 
 must be some "x" that shall stand as the 
 sign of the unknown quantity, and we have 
 it in the number designated. In symbolic 
 numbers, twelve is supposed to be the num- 
 ber of the heavenly, the perfected Church. 
 There are twelve patriarchs, twelve tribes, 
 twelve apostles, twelve thrones, twelve stars, * 
 twelve gates, t One hundred and forty-four 
 thousand is the multiple of twelve. This 
 number must then be regarded as a repre- 
 sentative one. It stands for the whole mul- 
 titude of the Redeemed throughout all the 
 ages down to ' ' the end. ' ' 
 
 V. p. "After this," i. e.^ after the seal- 
 ing has been finished. The first part of the 
 scene was an earth-picture. It calls our atten- 
 tion to four angels standing on the four 
 corners of the earth, and holding in restraint 
 the four winds of earth that they should not 
 destroy. It shows us the messenger /Vngel 
 moving from the sunrising, and sealing the 
 servants of God, and it gives us the result of 
 this finished work. Now we have another 
 picture. It is in the heavens. The sealing 
 
 *Rev. 12:1. tRev. 21:14, 1(3. 
 
96 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act II. 
 
 is finished, and the translation, described in 
 I. Cor. 15:50, etc., and again in i. Thess. 
 4:13, etc., has taken place. This multitude 
 is composed of those who during the ages 
 past have slept in Jesus, together with those 
 who at the time of his appearing were yet 
 in the flesh, and were caught up to meet him 
 in his coming. 
 
 Nor must it be supposed that in this 
 picture we have an overlapping of the time 
 limits of the other histories. Not at all. 
 These two events, the sealing and translation, 
 and the conquest mission of the "white 
 horse," move along on the same parallels of 
 time. They reach their terminus at or about 
 the same period. The history of the Apostate 
 Church was brought down to a point where 
 sentence awaited execution. So in the his- 
 tory of Gentile Dominion, the nations are 
 affrighted, and men are realizing that the 
 great day of wrath is at hand. And in this 
 scene, the history of the faithful Church is 
 brought down to the time of its removal 
 from the earth. This wrath cannot be 
 poured out while any of the sealed ones are 
 here. The command to the angels is — hold 
 the winds until the sealing is finished. 
 These sealed ones must be beyond their 
 hurt. And this is what our last picture pre- 
 sents. It shows us the redeemed Church on 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 7: 97 
 
 Mount Sion, safe with its Lord. There is 
 nothing^ now between the world and the on- 
 rushing winds of destruction. The Angels 
 but wait the command. And so the histories 
 of the Apostate Church, of the godless world 
 power, and of the faithful Church, are brought 
 down to the same awful moment in time — 
 judgment threatened, and certain, and all 
 ready to be executed on an evil world and an 
 Apostate Church; but the true Church is safe. 
 The five virgins whose lamps were burning, 
 have entered in with the Bridegroom. The 
 door is shut. While zvithoitt^ men's hearts 
 are failing them for fear of impending judg- 
 ments, in this heaven-picture we are presented 
 with the scene ivithin the closed doors — the 
 Church safe, and rejoicing, and adoring Him 
 that sitteth on The Throne. This scene has 
 correspondence and close connection with 
 chapters 12:5, and 14:1 &c. 
 
 What follows from v. 1 3 to end of chapter, 
 does not properly belong to the picture. It 
 is explanatory. We shall meet with such 
 interruptions or additions often in the course 
 of the drama. It is a filling up of the pic- 
 tures. Telling us in word-pictures what 
 cannot be so well expressed by symbol. In 
 the present instance it is one of the Elders 
 explaining to the wondering Seer the per- 
 sonnel of this worshiping rejoicing throng. 
 
THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 They are not the multitudinous Angel host. 
 Neither are they of the order of the Living 
 Ones, nor of the Elders, nor yet come they 
 from the ranks of Cherubim or Seraphim; but 
 from earth, out of great tribulation, and 
 have washed their robes and made them 
 white in the blood of the Lamb. What 
 follows is anticipative, and tells of the 
 honors and glories of the Redeemed Church, 
 and transports us to the scenes connected 
 with chapters 21: and 22 : 
 
 But the historic pictures are not yet all 
 completed. Others are to be presented, and 
 to be brought down to this same moment of 
 fearful waiting for of judgment, before the 
 actual outpouring of the vials of wrath can 
 be described. We now pass on to Act III, 
 and its several scenes. 
 
Scene ist. REVELATION, 8: 9: 99 
 
 Revelation, 8: 9: 
 
 Act III. 8: to 11: I- 1 5. 
 
 Scene ist. — Chapters 8: to 9: 
 
 Location. — Partly in the heavens, and 
 partly on the earth. 
 
 Dramatis PersoncE. — The Lamb, Angels, 
 Trumpeters, Men. 
 
 Time. — From Apocalyptic date to the 
 beginning or middle of Daniel's last week. 
 
 The Seer is still in the heavenly places. 
 He is before THE throne, and in the pres- 
 ence of the Lamb, and the great multitude 
 of attending angels. 
 
 There are seven seals. The 6th at its 
 close showed us Gentile dominion ripe for 
 judgment and expecting it. I'here was also 
 given us a glimpse of "the Church of the 
 First Born ' ' in heaven. They have not 
 only escaped those things that are coming 
 upon the earth, but by their absence the 
 barrier that hindered these threatened judg- 
 ments has been removed. We should expect, 
 therefore, all things being now ready, that 
 the opening of the 7th and last seal would 
 usher in the climax of the tragedy — the 
 threatened judgment executed. But it does 
 not. The seal is broken, and instead of the 
 winds being let loose, and the storm of 
 Divine wrath sweeping in its fierceness over 
 
100 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 the earth, we read — ''there was silence in 
 heaven about the space of half an hour" 
 (v. I). 
 
 Is it the silence of rest? Is it to give the 
 Seer's mind time to adjust itself for the new 
 series of events that is to be brought before 
 it? Is it carrying out our idea of the 
 dramatic structure of the book, the dropping 
 of the curtain to allow the shifting of the 
 scenes preparatory to a new Act? We are 
 disposed to think so. 
 
 The seventh seal then, instead of bringing 
 the drama to a close, contains and unfolds 
 the prophetic symbols of a new Act with its 
 succession of Scenes. There are yet other 
 histories connected with this "mystery of 
 iniquity" that must be disclosed. The 
 Book taken from the hand of Him who sits 
 upon THE THRONE Contains "the whole 
 course of the world's history." The seals, 
 the trumpets, the vials, are parts of this 
 whole. The seals contain the trumpets, the 
 7th or last, develops them. So from the 
 trumpets come the vials. They are succes- 
 sive acts presenting us with parallel histories. 
 In Act I, it was the Church corrupting 
 itself.* In Act II it was Gentile domin- 
 ion in its pride, and greed, and cruelty. 
 
 *Rev. 2:3: Matt. 18: 33-36. 
 
Scene I St. REVELATION, 8: 9: 101 
 
 Here (Act III), it is the history of Satanic 
 power under spiritual guises assailing the 
 Church and the World. In the former case, 
 it was the material world-forces working out, 
 through Satanic energy, their awful conse- 
 quences upon the nations. In the symbols 
 now to be presented, we have, energized by 
 the same power, a history of the spiritual 
 world-forces within and without the Church. 
 The spiritual elements predominating 
 throughout these scenes lead to such an in- 
 terpretation, if they do not necessitate it. E. 
 g. The Altar, the censer, the incense, the 
 fire from the Altar, the prayers of the saints. 
 These are all spiritual in their relations. So 
 also in regard to the ultimate results upon 
 men, as presented by the 6th trumpet. They 
 become worshippers of devils, and of idols of 
 gold and silver, neither repent they of their 
 murders, of their sorceries, fornications, or 
 thefts. * 
 
 Without this representation, the Apocalypse 
 as a prophetic history would be incomplete. 
 This spiritual world-force workings its evil, is 
 as conspicuous in its destructiveness, as the 
 material world-force in its oppressions. From 
 the very beginning it has opposed itself to the 
 word of Jehovah God. You can trace it from 
 Jannes and Jambres, who withstood Moses, f 
 
 *(9:20, 21.). f2 Tim. 3:8. 
 
102 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 down to the close of the O. T. dispensation. 
 And from the very outset of the present it has 
 sought, and to the end will it continue to 
 seek, the overthrow of the gospel of the glory 
 of Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles, that 
 tell us of the first planting of the Church, we 
 read of Judaizing teachers. The Epistles 
 warn against Gnostic heresies, and in this 
 book of the Apocalypse, we read of the Nico- 
 laitans, and of the doctrine of Balaam, and 
 of Jezebel the prophetess and seducer, and of 
 the synagogue of Satan. Passing on to Ec- 
 clesiastical history, we find its pages occupied 
 with controversies concerning Arianism, Pe- 
 lagianism, Socinianism, and spiritual world 
 forces without end. And with the years, the 
 number and intensity of these assaults upon 
 the word of God and the gospel of Jesus, have 
 multiplied. These are the spiritual world- 
 forces within the Church. And from with- 
 out, from the world itself, they have been no 
 less numerous and persistent in their assaults. 
 From the day that Elymas, the sorcerer, with- 
 stood Paul* to the present, the succession has 
 been unbroken. It counts in its ranks such 
 names as Celsus, Julian, Porphery, Mahom- 
 med. Gibbon, Voltaire, and such like, all 
 children of the devil, enemies of all righteous- 
 
 *Acts. 13:10. 
 
Scene r St. REVELATION, 8: 9: 103 
 
 ness, perverters of the right ways of the Lord. 
 And to-day the world is full of them. Where- 
 soever their origin, and whatsoever their tend- 
 encies, they all have a common center of 
 unity — hatred of Jesus, contempt for his cross, 
 and rejection of his Kingship. In the present 
 day these spiritual forces are multiplying and 
 exercising a wide-spread influence upon the 
 minds of men both within and without the 
 Church. Their tendency is to undermine the 
 authority of Scripture as the word of the 
 Lord, to dethrone God from his universe, and 
 to make men return to the worship of de- 
 mons, and to all immorality. The material 
 world-forces presented to us under the seals, 
 culminate in the Beast of the sea, of Chap- 
 ter 13:1, etc. These spiritual forces find their 
 culmination in the Beast of the earth — the 
 false-prophet of the same chapter, V. 11, 
 etc. 
 
 Vs. 1-6. Possibly it is during the contin- 
 uance of this silence that the seer has the 
 opportunity of taking in his new surround- 
 ings. The throne is still there. The 
 grand tableau of chapter 4 is a permanency. 
 It is ever present to the seer. He is ever in 
 the midst of its glories. It is not only a rep- 
 resentation of Divine Majesty, but it is the 
 THRONE itself which is from everlasting to 
 everlasting. And God is on it. He has de- 
 
104 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 serted neither his universe, nor his earth. 
 Not a sparrow falls to the ground without his 
 permission. There have been times when 
 indeed it has seemed otherwise, and it will be 
 so again. But THE throne is still there. 
 God reigns. By his secret providences he 
 rules and restains. Upon the raging madness 
 of ungodliness, he lays his hand, and says: 
 '^Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; 
 and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. ' ' * 
 This is one of the facts that the Revelation is 
 intended to teach, and to impress, on the 
 minds of God's people. The world kvill not 
 recognize it.f But to those who are "in the 
 spirit", THE THRONE and he who sits upon 
 it, are always visible. 
 
 In this new vision therefore the throne 
 is still present to the seer. And now stand- 
 ing conspicuously by it are seven Angels. To 
 them seven trumpets are given. The Angel 
 beside the Altar, and the burning incense, 
 and the fire from the Altar poured on the 
 earth, with its direful results, these are all 
 preparatory, and as we have suggested, ex- 
 planatory. 
 
 V. 6. And now the first Angel sounds. 
 Are there historic facts in the direction sug- 
 gested that correspond to the symbols of these 
 
 *Job, 38:11. tis. 10:5, etc. 
 
Scene ist. REVELATION, 8: 105 
 
 six trumpeters ? It is not our purpose to at- 
 tempt an answer to this question. Many ex- 
 positions have been made, and those who 
 would go more into this matter, will not be 
 disappointed for lack of material. 
 
 Chap. g:i. We call attention to this 5th 
 trumpet, because, {a) it is ushered in by a 
 special announcement. An iVngel (8:13) is 
 heard ''flying through the midst of heaven, 
 saying with a loud voice. Woe, Woe, Woe, 
 to the inhabitants of the earth, by reason of 
 the other voices of the trumpets of the three 
 Angels, which are yet to sound." This cry 
 is doubtless intended for the Church. There 
 will be a portion of it in the days of these 
 trumpeters that will have ears to hear. For 
 them the warning is intended. Knowledge 
 has increased, and with it the power for evil 
 as well as for good. There will therefore be 
 an increased intensity in spiritual wickedness, 
 and in the afllictions that flow from it. And 
 (p) it is furthermore worthy of remark, that 
 there is great unanimity among expositors in 
 recognizing in this symbol the rise and 
 career of the Mahommedan power. 
 
 V. 12. At this point there is an interrup- 
 tion to the onward movement of the drama. 
 An explanation must be given. This was 
 common, and a necessity in the Greek plays.; 
 By the introduction of scener>' and dress, 
 
106 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 and other improvements in the dramatic art 
 we are able in our dramatic representations 
 to dispense with these interruptions. The 
 voice is both explanatory, and a note of 
 warning and preparation. It announces that 
 one woe is past, and that two more are to 
 follow. 
 
 V. ij. The 6th Angel sounds, and im- 
 mediately a voice from the altar bids the 
 trumpeter (v. 14) "loose the four angels 
 which are bound in the great river Euphra- 
 tes. " The Euphrates in that day was the 
 border line between the civilized and the 
 barbarous — between culture and savagery. 
 Interpreting the command as the language 
 of symbol, we may regard the ' ' Euphrates' ' 
 as the boundary between the material and 
 immaterial — between the land where there is 
 God, and Christ, and hope, and the realms 
 of outer-darkness. And the character of these 
 Angels to be loosed must be determined by 
 the results of their loosing, and these are 
 awful in the extreme. The announcing 
 voice may well give warning of coming woe. 
 They are none other than Satanic agencies — 
 spirits of evil, that in the working out of 
 " the mystery of iniquity," He who sits upon 
 THE THRONE, suffers to visit the earth, and 
 to influence and energize those who will not 
 obey the truth. 
 
Scene I St. REVELATION, 9: 107 
 
 These Angels are not to be confounded 
 with those mentioned in chapter 7:1. The 
 position and mission of those Angels of the 
 winds are entirely different. They are holy 
 ones, and throughout these prophetic times 
 they are still at their posts holding in reserve 
 the agencies of Divine judgments, while 
 these emissaries of evil are pursuing theii 
 mission. In chapter 16:13, we read of an 
 occurrence not unlike the one we are con- 
 sidering. Here the spirits are three. The}- 
 come out of the mouth (the device and coun- 
 sel) of the dragon and his materialistic 
 agencies. They are not identical, and yet 
 they probably stand in close relations. These 
 four Angels of darkness are the sowers of the 
 tares — the scatterers of the seeds of endless 
 heresies throughout Christendom, and are 
 thus preparing the way for these unclean 
 spirits. 
 
 V. 75. The R. V. translates— " Which 
 had been prepared for the hour, and day, and 
 month," &c. From this improved reading, 
 the inference is that the reference is to the 
 arrival of an appointed time. The fullness 
 of the time had now come, even to the very 
 hour, when these Angels were to be loosed 
 and sent on their errand. And what an awful 
 one it is — ' ' for to slay the third part of men. ' ' 
 We must take this, as we are doing the other 
 
108 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 portions of the vision, in a spiritual sense. 
 It is a spiritual slaughter that is intended. 
 These emissaries of Satan are probably those 
 ''seducing spirits" of whose appearance in 
 the latter times, the Divine spirit warns the 
 Church. * They are to teach ' ' doctrines of 
 devils, and speaking lies in h) pocrisy. " As a 
 consequence, there is to be "a falling 
 away, "t Nominal Christendom will make 
 shipwreck of its faith. Men will cease to 
 ' ' endure sound doctrine. ' ' After their own 
 carnal and materialistic desires shall they 
 heap to themselves teachers, having itching- 
 ears; and they shall turn away their ears 
 from the truth, and shall be turned unto 
 fables. J Are we in the beginning of these 
 times? Have these Angels of darkness been 
 let loose upon Christendom? And in the 
 higher-criticism, in agnosticism, and univer- 
 salism, and unitarianism, and conditional 
 immortality theories, in Theosophism, and 
 Positivism, and scepticism that is everywhere 
 cropping up in a thousand forms, — are these 
 '*the army of the horsemen" that these 
 Angels of the Euphrates are to lead forth on 
 the earth? Surely ' ' perilous times' ' must 
 result from their presence. For from these 
 teachings men will ' ' become lovers of their 
 
 *1 Tim. 4:1. t2 Thess. 2:3. i2 Tim. 4:3, 4. 
 
Scene I sL REVELATION, 9: 109 
 
 own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blas- 
 phemous, . . . lovers of pleasure more 
 than lovers of God; having the form of god- 
 liness, but denying the power thereof, " * By 
 these ' ' doctrines of devils ' ' shall the third 
 of men be slain. 
 
 In executing their mission these Angels 
 send forth an immense body of horsemen. 
 Attention has been called to the fact that the 
 horses in this symbol, rather than the riders, 
 are the conspicuous agencies, and the questions 
 asked are these, ' ' Is the intimation intended 
 that these riders (heretics) are, in many 
 respects, not so bad as their horses (death- 
 breathing heresies)? Or is it suggested that 
 the horses (the heresies) ordinarily run away 
 with them (the heretics); that they speedily 
 lose control over the movements originated 
 by themselves? Possibly both thoughts are 
 intimated, "t 
 
 V. ig. " Their power ^^ — the power of 
 this legion of horsemen (heresies), "is in 
 their mouth, and in their tails. ' ' The mouth 
 is the organ of speech. It is by speech, and 
 its adjunct, the printing press, that they 
 disseminate their "lies." " And their tails 
 were like serpents, and had heads" — their 
 doctrines were Satanic. They were inspired 
 
 *2 Tim. 3:1, &c. fLange's Com. on Rev., p. 200. 
 
110 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 by that "old serpent, the devil, which de- 
 ceiveth the whole world. ' ' * They related to 
 the earth, and the worship of devils, and the 
 idolatry of gold and silver, &c. f 
 
 In chapter 12:4, it is the Dragon's tail that 
 ' ' drew the third part of the stars of heaven, 
 and did cast them to the earth." Both 
 symbols, we think, relate to the same apostasy, 
 and represent the wisdom of the world made 
 all powerful by Satanic energy and cunning. 
 
 The results produced by these spiritual 
 world-forces under the 6th trumpet, J are 
 precisely analagous to those produced under 
 the 6th seal || by the material world-forces. 
 In the former symbol (the 6th seal), the 
 scene closes with the political world-forces 
 (Gentile dominion) in upheaval and conster- 
 nation because of expectant § evil. And so it 
 is left. The final catastrophy is, to the Seer, 
 still pending. Meanwhile his attention is 
 called to other considerations. So here we 
 have precisely the same conditions. There 
 are seven trumpets. Six describe the spirit- 
 ual apostasy of Christendom. Of Christen- 
 dom, not of the Apostate Church. Keep this 
 distinction clear. It is the utter abandon- 
 ment of Christianity for ' ' the doctrines of 
 
 *Rev. 12:9. fV. 20. +Vs, 20,^1. ||6:15-17. JJLu. 21 
 25. 26. 
 
Scene I St. REVELATION, 9: 111 
 
 devils," through the agencies of spiritual 
 world-forces (*' damnable heresies"), that 
 these trumpet symbols treat of. The sixth 
 trumpet, like the sixth seal, brings its 
 apostacy to the full, with its terrible conse- 
 quences realized; but Christendom still de- 
 fiant and impenitent, and persevering in its 
 wicked courses. And just at this point the 
 curtain drops. The history of this apostacy, 
 as in the case of the defiant world-power in 
 the sixth seal, is for the present suspended. 
 The next scene opens, and in it our attention 
 is fascinated by new objects and histories. 
 There is yet another trumpet, the seventh 
 and last. But the Seer is not ready for it. 
 When it sounds, it announces development 
 — a progressive movement along the whole 
 line of the prophetic history. 
 
 According to our scheme of interpretation 
 the apostate Church in chapters 2: and 3:, 
 the God defying world-power under the 6th 
 seal, the Redeemed Church under the same 
 seal, and apostate Christendom under the 6th 
 trumpet, are brought down to the same 
 moment of time. The Redeemed Church is 
 removed that it may escape those things that 
 are coming on the earth, the others are 
 awaiting results with anxious forebodings. 
 In prophetic time this will bring us some- 
 where from the beginning to the middle of 
 
112 • THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 Daniel's last week — the week of the anti- 
 christ. 
 
 The seventh trumpet will call us to an 
 onward movement in the prophetic history. 
 But the Seer is not yet ready for it. This 
 "second woe" trumpet has not entirely 
 told its story. The Church — the witnessing, 
 faithful Church, has a deep and painful 
 interest in it, and this seventh trumpet must 
 not sound until these things are set forth so 
 far as Divine purposes will allow. 
 
 Revelation io. 
 
 Act III. 8: to ii: 1-15. 
 
 Scene 2d — Chaps. 10:11: 1-15. 
 
 Location. — Mostly on earth. 
 
 Dramatis Personce. — Angels, the two Wit- 
 nesses, the Beast, the Seer, dwellers upon 
 the earth. 
 
 Time. — Synchronizing mostly with the 
 period of the 6th seal, and 6th trumpet. 
 
 This scene is located principally on the 
 earth. It concerns mostly the witnessing 
 Church. "Ye are my witnesses,"* is the 
 Lord's parting announcement to his disciples. 
 And from that day to this the world has never 
 been without witnesses, and never will be, 
 
 *Acts 1:8. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 10: 113 
 
 even to ' ' the end. " It is concerning the 
 persecutions, sufferings, death, revival, and 
 translation of these witnesses, that we are 
 now to hear. The events recorded, especially 
 in the nth chapter, belong to " the latter 
 days." They synchronize with events con- 
 nected with the 6th seal and the 6th trumpet, 
 and they bring us possibly to Daniel's last 
 week. 
 
 Chap. lo: The position of the Seer seems 
 to have changed. At first* he was sum- 
 moned into the heavenlies, a location which 
 he has continued to occupy to the present 
 time. Now, however, he is seeing and 
 speaking, as from the earth, f 
 
 The symbols of this scene are difficult of 
 explanation — ' 'things hard to be understood. ' ' 
 We must be satisfied in regarding them as 
 events yet future, and connected with the 
 Witnessing Church— the "little flock," the 
 Church that is faithful and true. We have 
 had recognition of this Church before (7 :) as 
 the Sealed ones — the separated from the 
 Apostate Church, the protected, and at last, 
 by translation, the Church delivered from 
 impending earth judgments. 
 
 V. I. John sees "another mighty Angel 
 come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; 
 
 ^Chap. 4. tlO:l, 8, 9. 
 
114 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 and a rainbow upon his head; and his face 
 was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars 
 of fire. ' ' This Angel, by most expositors, is 
 identified with Christ. But the similarity of 
 this appearance with those of Rev. 1:13, etc., 
 Dan, 7:13, is not a certain guide to such a 
 conclusion, for we have a somewhat similar 
 description of one who evidently is not the 
 Lord Christ. Dan. 10:5, etc., cf. V. 13, etc. 
 
 V. 2s In his hand is " <^ little book ' ' . 
 There are four books brought to oui notice 
 in the Apocalypse: The sealed book in the 
 hand of him who sat upon THE THRONE ; * 
 this little book in the hand of the Angel ; t 
 the books of general record ; % the book of 
 life. II This book contrasted with the others 
 is called "little," because perhaps it con- 
 tained the record of only the Church, with a 
 glimpse of the glory that should follow. It 
 was therefore small in size, and could quickly 
 be read through. 
 
 V. 4. ^^Seveii thunders . . . uttered their 
 voices.^ ^ We listen to the thunder with an 
 instinctive consciousness that it is God's 
 voice, that he is speaking from the heavens. 
 Here again we have the number seven denot- 
 ing completeness — perfection. In the symbol 
 we recognize a Divine revelation. God makes 
 
 5:1. t 10:2. % 20:12. || 20:12, 15, 21:27. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 10: 115 
 
 known to his servant some things that must 
 shortly come to pass. But when the Seer 
 would write in compliance with previous in- 
 structions,* he is commanded: ''seal up those 
 things which the seven thunders uttered, and 
 write them not." Here, as in Chap. 5, seal- 
 ing stands for locking up — concealing, f 
 These utterances remain therefore among the 
 ' ' hidden things. ' ' Many have surmized that 
 they relate to the Reformation of the 15th 
 and 1 6th centuries. But when the words are 
 sealed, who can tell ? 
 
 V. 5. The Angel still occupies the same 
 position that he did when the seer first beheld 
 him. J And what a grand conception is here 
 given us!|| This mighty Angel of such ma- 
 jestic proportions, and glorious appearance, § 
 is seen standing on sea and land — significant 
 perhaps of world-power and culture beneath 
 his feet ready to be trodden upon; with right 
 hand uplifted to heaven; with leonine voice 
 that penetrates to the uttermost bounds of the 
 creation, and that asseverates "by him that 
 liveth forever and ever" the verity of the 
 proclamation about to be announced; with all 
 intelligences in the universe attentive, ex- 
 pectant, and awaiting the things to be re- 
 vealed; this is the unfolding of a picture 
 
 ^1:19. tis. 29:11, 12. .tV.2. ||Dan.l2:7. ^V. 2. 
 
116 THE APOCALYTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 surpassingly grand. We surely need to be 
 '•in the spirit" to grasp it in its splendor and 
 magnitude. "There shall be time no longer; 
 but in the days of the voice of the seventh 
 Angel, when he is about to sound, then is 
 finished the mystery of God, according to the 
 good tidings which he declared to his servants 
 the prophets" (R, V.). 
 
 Wonderful and welcome announcement. It 
 is the consummation longand devoutly wished 
 for. x\ngels have ever desired to look into 
 these things;* disciples asked — "when?"t 
 The souls beneath the Altar cried — "how 
 long!"t and the whole creation together 
 with the struggling Church, have ever been 
 groaning within themselves — " waiting. " 1| 
 Welcome indeed is the announcement of the 
 mighty Angel to those who have " ears to 
 hear." 
 
 V. 6. " There shall be time no longer ^^ — 
 time shall no longer be, i. e. , the appointed 
 delay is at an end. That ' ' little season ' ' 
 announced to the inquirers beneath the 
 Altar§ has now reached its limit. If It was 
 needed for the sealing of the entire number 
 of "the elect,"** and it was symbolized by 
 the four restraining Angels, ft 
 
 *1 Peter 1:12. fMatt. 24:;^. jRev. 6:10, &c. ||Rom. 
 8:22, &c. g6:ll. 1[Ezek. 12:27,28. **7. tf7:l, 3. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 4:1-8. 117 
 
 V. 7. This consummation is now near at 
 hand. It only waits the voice of the seventh 
 Angel. When he shall begin to sound, it 
 will be the signal to the waiting universe 
 that ' ' the myster}' of God ' ' is finished. 
 The wisdom of God has been working out 
 the problem of evil in the presence of his 
 intelligences. Our earth has been the arena 
 — the central location, perhaps, where these 
 puzzling questions have been presented. 
 The presence of disloyalty and discord; the 
 unequal struggle between the good and the 
 evil; the apparent triumph of the powers ol 
 darkness; the heir sent to the vineyard and 
 cast out and killed; Satan still allowed in 
 the heavens; his work upon the earth un- 
 hindered; the Lord Christ not upon his 
 throne, and his people still struggling and 
 suffering because of their witness for him; 
 these are some of the mysteries of God. The 
 purposes long hidden away from his creatures, 
 are now to be unfolded. The problem of 
 evil has been solved, and when the seventh 
 x\ngel sounds, great voices in heaven will be 
 heard saying: "The kingdom of this world 
 has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of 
 his Christ ; and he shall reign forever and 
 ever."* (R. V.) 
 
 *v. 15. 
 
118 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 V. p. The Seer is commanded to take 
 the little book from the hand of the Angel, 
 and to eat it. To eat, as the mind eats, by 
 reception and apprehension. It is an open 
 book, and therefore easily read and under- 
 stood. The effect of this eating is at first 
 sweetness to the mouth, but afterward bitter- 
 ness to the inward parts. There was a 
 charming fascination experienced as the un- 
 foldings of the prophecy revealed to him the 
 good things that were to come;* but his 
 after reflections, when he came to consider 
 the apostasies, blasphemies, and terrible 
 judgments, and the much tribulation of the 
 Church, — these things cause him great bitter- 
 ness — heaviness of soul. 
 
 V. II. " Thou must prophesy^ &c. " To 
 prophesy is used in both Testaments not 
 only as fore-telling, but also in the sense of 
 forth-telling, announcing, teaching. It is 
 probably in this larger sense that it is used 
 here. The explanation given by some ex- 
 positors is, that at the Reformation John's 
 teachings would be revived in the Church, 
 and thus, though dead, he would yet be 
 prophesying. 
 
 Chap, ii: All expositors concur in regard- 
 ing the symbols of this chapter as difficult 
 
 Dan. 7:28, 8:27, 10: 1-4, 10, 17, 21. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 11:1-15. 119 
 
 beyond any others. Alford says: ''No 
 solution at all approaching to a satisfactory 
 one has ever yet been given of any one of 
 these points. ' ' 
 
 V. I. A measuring reed or rod, is given 
 the Seer, and he is required to ' ' measure the 
 temple of God, and the Altar, and them that 
 worship therein."* The measuring must be 
 taken in a figurative sense. 
 
 " The Tefnple.^^ According to the theory 
 on which we are basing our structural arrange- 
 ment of this Book, at this stage of the 
 prophecy, we are at, or about, the beginning 
 of Daniel's last week. If so, Israel must at 
 this time be restored, f and their city must 
 be in their possession. 
 
 To what then is the reference here? Is it 
 to Israel after the flesh, and to Jerusalem, 
 and to the semblance of a temple service that 
 they may have in that day? Or, are we to re- 
 gard the imagery of this vision as symbolic, 
 and treat it as we have done that of all the 
 others? Israel, we have said, will be re- 
 stored at this time. But they will be re- 
 stored to their land in unbelief.! It is not 
 probable that there will be any attempt, or 
 even disposition, to erect a temple. Syna- 
 
 *Ezek. 40:3, &c.; 42:15, &c. Rev. 21.15, &c 2 Kings 
 21:13. tSee p. %, &c., and 32, &c. tJer. 31:81, &c. 
 Ezek. 20: 40-45. 39:27, 28. Joel 2. Zach. 12:10. &c.. 13: 
 
120 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 gogue worship will be the most that they 
 will aspire to. And it is not until Israel shall 
 behold their Priest-King, and shall welcome 
 him with — "Blessed is he that cometh in 
 the name of the I^ord, " — it is not until then, 
 that this will be the holy city, and that the 
 glories of the temple service will be restored. * 
 The events mentioned in verse eighth, and 
 which are connected with the city ' ' where 
 our Lord was crucified," clearly indicate the 
 fact of a restored Israel at this time, and the 
 attitude they will then assume toward the 
 witnesses for Jesus. 
 
 Mount Moriah and its temple is undoubt- 
 edly the picture here presented to the Seer. 
 H^ beholds it in all its glories. But temple, 
 and altar, and outer court, are not. They 
 were things of the past. The things there- 
 fore seen in the vision must be symbolic, 
 and their relation must be to the Church, 
 and to the God-defying world-power! If we 
 except the statements of the eighth verse, 
 there is nothing in the symbols of this 
 chapter that can fit in with Israel after the 
 flesh. Then, as now, judging from verse 
 eighth, they will be antagonistic to the 
 witnesses for Jesus. If we will look for their 
 history at this special point of time as given 
 
 *Ezek 40: &c., &c. 
 
Scene 2d. REVEIvATION, 11:1-15. 121 
 
 US in other Scriptures, we will find that it is 
 entirely different from events as here narrated. 
 The Church — the true Church, and the 
 World, are clearly the subjects of this 
 prophecy. As evidence of this, note the fact, 
 that as in the symbol (6:) of the downward 
 career of the material world-force, there is 
 attached a prophecy of the condition of the 
 true Church (7:); so to the history of the 
 spiritual world -force (9:), there is appended 
 in this chapter (11: 1-15) we are now con- 
 sidering, a history of precisely similar import 
 — a body of faithful ones, under the symbol 
 of two witnesses, witnessing, suffering, and 
 eventually translated. We must therefore 
 regard the two histories as one, and relating 
 to the same subject, viz. : The true Church. 
 
 We interpret then the temple and its altar- 
 court with its worshipers, as representing 
 the Church. The Church visible and invis- 
 ible, and its worshipers of all kinds, the true 
 and the false. The Seer is to measure them 
 by some spiritual standard, and is to see 
 whether they come up to the requirements. 
 And this is perfectly in harmony with what 
 we are elsewhere told. We are nearing ' 'the 
 end." The World is ripe for judgment. 
 The time has come, and it must have its 
 beginning ' ' at the house of God. ' ' "^ And here 
 
 ♦1 Pet. 4:17. Ezek. 9:6. 
 
122 THH APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 it is. Perhaps it is at this time and to this 
 assembly, that the warning cry of chap. 18:4, 
 is being raised — ''Come out of her my 
 people. ' ' 
 
 V. 2, " The court that is without.,'^'' i. e. 
 The world. It is not to be measured. It be- 
 longs to the Gentiles, to Gentile dominion. 
 It is still under the sway of this Godless 
 power. No need of measuring it. It has 
 been judged already. See this judgment in 
 chaps. 6: and 9:, and we shall learn more of 
 it in connection with events that follow the 
 voice of the 7 th trumpet. 
 
 This "Court," the World, is given into 
 the hand of Gentile dominion — the great and 
 dreadful Beast, and ' ' the holy city ' ' even, the 
 true Church, " shall they tread under foot." 
 
 This prophecy is to be carefully distin- 
 guished from that in Luke 21:24. There the 
 prophecy is concerning Jerusalem, the Jeru- 
 salem of our Ivord's day. There are no 
 references in that prophecy to temple, altar, 
 and courts, nor is the characteristic ' ' holy ' ' 
 applied to it. There it is the material city and 
 its inhabitants that are to be given up to Gen- 
 tile dominion. The temple and altar are not 
 excepted. The whole city, and all its be- 
 longings, are given over, and that too for a 
 prolonged and indefinite period — " until the 
 times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. ' ' But here 
 
Scene 2d. REVKLATION, 11:1-15. 128 
 
 the language is clearly symbolical. It ap-» 
 pertains to places and conditions that have 
 ceased to be, and must therefore be taken in 
 a spiritual sense. 
 
 If the temple, and altar, and them that 
 worship there, are symbolic and figurative, 
 then consistency requires that the reference 
 to " the holy city " should also be so regarded. 
 If the temple, &c. , stands for the true priest- 
 hood who alone have a right to enter and to 
 minister within its precincts; then " the 
 holy city" must stand for the holy people 
 who alone have a right to inhabit it. 
 
 This "holy city "—the faithful and true 
 Church, shall Gentile power tread under 
 foot. This it has always done, as will be 
 seen in chaps. 0: and 9:. But just at this 
 special time, probably the beginning of 
 Daniel's last week, there seems to be given 
 it larger license, as the symbolic language 
 and prophetic statements that follow, indi- 
 cate. 
 
 The time here designated (v. 2) for this 
 treading under foot becomes, after this, an 
 important factor in our considerations and 
 interpretations. We shall now continue to 
 meet with it, and to find it linked with most 
 of the important histories down to "the end." 
 
 The period here designated is ' ' forty and 
 two months" =3 ^< years. In the next verse 
 
124 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad III. 
 
 (3) we are told that the ' ' two witnesses shall 
 prophesy a thousand two hundred and three 
 score days" =3^ years. The "Woman 
 clothed with the sun " is to be in the wilder- 
 ness (12:6 and 14) "a time, and times, and 
 half a time (1260 days, v. 6)=3^ years, and 
 power is given the Beast (13:5) for the same 
 period. Now observe that this note of time 
 is conspicuous also in Daniel's prophecies. 
 We have it in the form — '^ a time, and times, 
 and the dividing of time," i. e., one year, 
 two years, and half a year=3J/< years, (7:25, 
 12:7, cf Rev. 12:6, and 14). In Daniel's 
 prophecy concerning the last week of his 
 seventy, his week is to be halved by impor- 
 tant events. During the first half, a cove- 
 nant is to be made between restored Israel 
 and " the Prince " of the people who 
 destroyed the city after the cutting off of 
 Messiah. But in the midst of the week 
 (9:27), it is to be broken. Now, three and 
 a half {2>y^)i ^^^ number of our consideration, 
 is the half of seven, and let it be further 
 noted, that Daniel's use of that number is 
 always in connection with "the Prince," 
 the covenant breaker, the blasphemer and 
 oppressor, the anti-christ. In meeting with 
 this number {T^yi years) again in these, as 
 we believe, closing prophetic records of the 
 world's history, we are irresistibly led to the 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 11:1-15. 125 
 
 inquiry — Are the two prophetic eras the 
 same? Are we in Daniel's last week? 
 Everything tends to strengthen that impres- 
 sion. And we must not omit calling attention 
 to the fact that in Daniel's prophecy* we 
 have a similar scene to the one we have been 
 considering in Rev. jo:6. Danielf sees the 
 man clothed in linen, standing on the water 
 of the river, with hands lifted to heaven, 
 taking a similar oath, that the desolations 
 concerning the holy people (Israel), should 
 not be prolonged beyond "a time, times, 
 and half a time." In both instances the 
 Angel's oath precedes this specified time, 
 and limits the events they speak of to this so 
 well defined period. Are these two periods 
 then one and the same? We think so. We 
 think that they refer to Daniel's last week. 
 In the Angel's oath in Daniel's prophecy, 
 however, the three and a half (3^) years 
 have reference to the last half of his week, 
 which will be the period of Israel's great 
 tribulation, growing out of their connection 
 with this prince, and the broken covenant; 
 while in this oath in the Revelation, the 
 reference is evidently to the first half of this 
 same week. During this first half Israel and 
 "the Prince" will be in agreement, and will 
 
 *12:7. 112:7. 
 
126 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad III. 
 
 be of one mind in their treatment of ''the 
 Witnesses."* 
 
 If our explanation is correct, then the 
 treading down of "the holy city," the true 
 Church — the Church of the sealed ones, is 
 the subject of this prophecy, and is continued 
 on to verse fifteen (15); and its time is the first 
 half of Daniel's last week. 
 
 Recall the history of the sealed ones (7 :). 
 We brought it down to the translation, 
 which we supposed would be about the mid- 
 dle of Daniel's last week. Under different 
 symbols and names, we have heref we think, 
 a repetition of the same history. The first 
 was a history of the true Church in its rela- 
 tions to the material world-forces; this sec- 
 ond is a history of the same Church in con- 
 nection with spiritual world-forces. Both 
 histories run parallel with each other, and are 
 identical. Three and a half {y/i) years be- 
 fore the translation (the first half of Daniel's 
 week), the power to tread down " the holy 
 city," will be granted the anti-christ, the 
 Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless 
 pit (V. 7). He will at this time be coming 
 to the front. For his own crafty purposes 
 he will have made his covenant with restored 
 Israel, and will be promoting the interests 
 
 *Rev. 11:8. ]\\\l-lb. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 11:1-15. 127 
 
 of the material Jerusalem; but the true 
 Church will be under his heel. The wit- 
 nesses for Jesus throughout the World, will 
 be the objects of his hate and persecution, 
 and it will continue for three and a half 
 years, down to the translation. This event 
 (the translation) will be immediate!}^ followed 
 by the voice of the 7 th Angel (V. 15), and 
 this is the date (the middle of Daniel's last 
 week) to which we have brought down all 
 the histories. 
 
 K J. " My two witnesses. ' ' As witness- 
 ing can only be for Jesus,* it would seem 
 that it must be Jesus speaking here. But 
 that does not necessarily follow. At the 
 opening of the Book, we are told that Jesus 
 sent and signified the things to be made 
 known by his Angel (1:1). He is here prob- 
 ably speaking by his Angel, who imperson- 
 ates him. An instance of this occurs in 
 chap. 22: 6-10. The Angel emphatically 
 impersonates the Lord — "Behold, /come 
 quickly;" and in the next breath we find 
 him refusing the offered adoration, and 
 announcing himself as a " fellow-servant. ' ' 
 See also v. 16. 
 
 A peculiarity of these two witnesses is, 
 that ' ' they shall prophesy . . . clothed 
 
 '20:4. 
 
128 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act HI. 
 
 in sackcloth." Sackcloth is a penitential 
 dress. It must indicate the distress of spirit 
 that will weigh down these witnesses in these 
 days of their testimony. Fortunately it will 
 be short We are now possibly approaching 
 the times to which the Lord referred when 
 he said: "Except those days should be 
 shortened, there would no flesh be saved; 
 but for the elect's sake those days shall be 
 shortened."* The allotted time, for these 
 sackcloth witnesses, is 1260 days, or 3^ 
 years. 
 
 And who are these witnesses? In V. 4, we 
 are told that they ' ' are the two olive trees, 
 and the two candlesticks standing before 
 the God of the whole earth, "f From the 
 language used they seem to be persons, and 
 the powers attributed to them,t seem to 
 make this view imperative. Hence many 
 have supposed that two of the old prophets 
 would be sent on this mission. John has 
 been named as one of theni-|| 
 
 If, however, it is admissible to explain the 
 language figuratively, we would suggest that 
 the two Testa7nents^ the Old and the New, 
 are the two olive trees. The olive tree is 
 the source of the oil that supplied the Sanc- 
 tuary lights. The two Testaments are for us 
 
 "Matt. 24:22. fZach. 4:3, 11, &c. J Vs. 5 and 6. 
 llJohn 21:23, 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 11:1-15. 120 
 
 the source of Divine truth. This truth is 
 witnessed-to in the world by God's faithful 
 people through (i) preaching, and (2) the 
 printed page — the two candlesticks, or 
 lampstands. But it is the body of true 
 believers — the true Church of all generations, 
 that always have been the witnesses, and 
 that in this coming time, will in a special 
 manner bear their testimony, clothed in 
 sackcloth. 
 
 Vs. 5 and 6. We must let these verses 
 pass without suggestions. They give per- 
 sonality to the two witnesses. We must class 
 them among ' ' things hard to be under- 
 stood. " It is as yet a sealed prophecy. But 
 when the time comes, it will speak, and will 
 not lie. 
 
 V. 7. ' ' The Beast ... . of the bottoju- 
 less pif^ is to be the instrument in the slay- 
 ing (silencing) of these witnesses. Who 
 is he? 
 
 In Daniel's vision,* the four winds of the 
 heavens ' ' strive upon the great sea. ' ' The 
 sea symbolizes peoples, &c. ,tand a sea dis- 
 turbed by winds suggests social and political 
 upheavals. His four Beasts, in their ordered 
 successions, were to arise out of the social 
 disorders and political convulsions of the na- 
 
 ^7:2. fRev. 17:15. 
 
130 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 tions. John in his vision, saw the same 
 thing. His Beast, the last of Daniel's four, 
 comes up also out of the sea. His ' ' ten 
 horns" identify him with Daniel's last 
 Beast.* Out from among these horns, in 
 Daniel's description, there comes up another 
 "little horn". In John's vision, it is a 
 head. He sees it "as it were wounded to 
 death, and his deadly wound was healed". t 
 In common with all the others, he too comes 
 up out of the stormy sea ; and we are further 
 told, that he was energized by the dragon. | 
 Thus his origin is not only from the sea, but 
 from ' ' the bottomless pit ' ' from whence he 
 received power, and derives his spirit of 
 hatred against the people of God. ' ' The 
 Beast out of the bottomless pit " is then the 
 "little horn" of Daniel's vision. || He is 
 also "the Prince" of his last week,§ 
 and he is the one who in our Book is de- 
 scribed! as the head wounded to death, and 
 afterwards healed. In a word, he is the 
 Anti-christ, of whom Paul tells us in 2 
 Thess. 2:6, &c. This is the power that is 
 allowed to make war against these witnesses, 
 " and shall overcome them, and kill them " 
 
 (v. 7)- 
 
 V. S. " Their dead bodies.^ ^ The voice 
 
 *7:7, 8. tl3:3. JVs. 2, 4, &c. ||7:7, 8. ^9:26, 27. 
 P3:3. 
 
See tie 2d. REVELATION, 11:1-15. 131 
 
 of the witnessing Church is silenced. They 
 are to the world as dead. Perhaps a decree, 
 like that during the French Revolution, will 
 be issued by the Beast from the bottomless 
 pit. ' ' The book of the Lord ' ' will be pro- 
 claimed fabulous. Its doctrines will be stig- 
 matized as dangerous to social order, and 
 those who hold them will be required to de- 
 sist from teaching them. And so the wit- 
 nesses for Jesus and his Gospel of grace will 
 be killed. This is not only probable, but 
 facts yet to be brought to our notice, make 
 the issuing of such an edict certain. In 
 commanding the worship of himself, the 
 Beast must prohibit all other worship. * 
 
 The dead bodies of these witnesses are to 
 lie "in the streets of the great city, which 
 spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where 
 also their Lord was crucified". That the 
 reference here is to the city of Jerusalem 
 seems very clear. According to our theory 
 the events now under consideration — the wit- 
 nessing, the killing of the witnesses, are con- 
 nected with the first half of Daniel's last 
 week. According to the interpretation given 
 elsewhere, t Israel will at this time be re- 
 stored, and will be in close alliance and 
 friendship with the Anti-christ, "the Beast 
 
 *13:4, 14, &c. tP. 20, &c., and 33, &c. 
 
132 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 out of the bottomless pit/' This decree 
 therefore may have been issued from Jerusa- 
 lem, and so, the death blow having been 
 struck in that city, the dead bodies may be 
 said, in a figure, to be seen there also. 
 
 Vs. p, lo. " They that dwell iipoit the 
 earth shall rejoice over theni.^^ Not only 
 will Israel be in sympathy with the aspira- 
 tions of the Beast, and with this his decree; 
 but the earth-Beast also,* and the harlot wo- 
 man, f and all peoples of the earth. The 
 witnessing concerning judgment to come, 
 and a returning Christ, and redemption 
 through the blood, has become both distaste- 
 ful and hateful. The wisdom of the world 
 despises this word of the Lord, and pro- 
 nounces it false. The power of the world is 
 disturbed by it, as was Herod by the ques- 
 tioning of the wise men4 And the harlot 
 woman has long ago hidden away this word, 
 and forbidden its use, and misrepresented its 
 doctrines. The world is therefore weary of 
 it. The testimony of the witnesses is a con- 
 tinual source of alarm. It keeps it in a state 
 of unrest. It is tormented by it. The 
 world rejoices therefore because their voice 
 has been silenced. 
 
 Vs. 11^ 12. But this rejoicing is not long. 
 
 *13:11, &c. tl7: JMatt. 2: 
 
Scene 2d. REVEIvATlON, 11:1-15. 13B 
 
 The dead bodies are suffered to lie exposed 
 and dishonored only for three days and a 
 half The 1260 days (v. 3) are taken liter- 
 ally. We must so regard these three days 
 and a half They are literal days. 
 
 That our suggestion regarding the ' ' two 
 witnesses' ' may be perfectly clear, we will re- 
 state it. They are the succession of true 
 believers, who in all ages have testified for 
 God. They may derive their designation — 
 ' ' two witnesses, ' ' from the fact that the two 
 scriptures of the Old and New Testament 
 are now the sources from which they draw 
 their doctrine and inspiration. By means of 
 the speaking voice and the printed page, the 
 true Church holds these scriptures forth as 
 the word of life* to an ignorant or unbeliev- 
 ing world. This is the position assigned to 
 the Church by her Lord from the first, f And 
 the true Church has ever been a witnessing 
 Church, basing its testimony on — ''Thus 
 saith the Lord". Its appeal in both dispen- 
 sations has been to the scriptures — "to the 
 law and the testimony".]: 
 
 Now this rejoicing on account of the kill- 
 ing (suppression) of the Word of the Lord, 
 and of them who bear it, by (as we have sug- 
 
 *Phil. 2:16. fActs 1:8. %ls. 8:20, John 5:39, Matt. 
 24:14. See Peter's Ser. Acts 2:14, &c., and Stephen's 
 Argument, Acts 7: 
 
134 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 gested) the infidel powers of the world, is of 
 short duration. Three and a half days after 
 the issuing of the decree against the scrip- 
 tures, there is a revival of the dead witnesses. 
 And how is this effected? "The spirit of 
 life (v. ii) from God entered into them, and 
 they stood upon their feet ; and great fear fell 
 upon them which saw them." 
 
 In I Cor. 15:51, 52, and in i Thess. 4:13 
 (&c. , the Apostle Paul teaches that at the re- 
 turn of the Lord, his believing and waiting 
 ones will be caught up to meet Him in his 
 coming. The same fact seems to be taught 
 by the Lord in his parable of the ten virgins 
 (Matt. 25:). Have we a reference here to 
 this event? 
 
 The world is ripe for judgment. It 
 has now perpetrated its last crowning act of 
 iniquity. It has not only refused to hear 
 sound doctrine, but has denied the Lord who 
 bought it. It has decreed God's word out of 
 existence, and so far as the will power goes, 
 has banished Him from His throne, and it is 
 now rejoicing in its supposed triumph. What 
 more that is impious can it do? Judgment 
 will now be surely swift. But the faithful 
 ones — the sealed ones, must not be involved 
 in it. "Watch, and pray always," was the 
 teaching of their Lord, "that ye may be 
 counted worthy to escape those things that 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 11:1-15. 135 
 
 shall come to pass. ' ' * And these waiting ones, 
 witnesses for their coming Lord, will surely 
 be removed, as Lot from Sodom, before the 
 bursting of the fiery storm. And so it is. 
 In one place Paul tells us — "the trumpet 
 shall sound; "t in another, he says, — "the 
 Lord himself shall descend from heaven with 
 a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and 
 with the trump of God; J and here we are 
 told — "they (the witnesses) heard a great 
 voice from heaven, (v. 1 2). And this voice, this 
 "trump of God," gives no uncertain sound. 
 To these suffering witnesses it is the long ex- 
 pected summons — ' ' Come up hither. And they 
 ascended up to heaven in a cloud," (v. 12). 
 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 
 they were changed, and were with the Lord. 
 If we would know what would follow this 
 ascension, read Chapter 7:9, to end, and 
 Chapter 14:1, &c. These are scenes in the 
 heavens. What of the earth? "Their ene- 
 mies beheld them' ' in their ascending. Was 
 it to them an ocular demonstration? Per- 
 haps not. It was sudden, noiseless, only 
 those summoned heard the call. Two were 
 in the field, the one was taken, and the other 
 left. Two were grinding, the one was 
 taken, the other left. || Their enemies mis- 
 
 *Lu. 21:36. fl Cor. 15:52. X\ Thess. 4:in. ||Matt. 
 24:40.41. 
 
136 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act III. 
 
 sed them. They learned of their sud- 
 den disappearance. But whither? And 
 as this inquiry for the missing ones 
 would circle round the earth with the rising 
 sun, the only response to this world-wide cry 
 of alarm would be from the word of God — 
 they have been caught up to meet their com- 
 ing Lord — they have escaped those things 
 that are coming on the earth. Yes, the word 
 of the Lord still lives. Human decrees 
 cannot annul it. Heaven and earth shall 
 pass away, but not one jot or tittle of the 
 word. Men now see the hand-writing, and 
 realize the certainty of judgments that are 
 written against them, and they are "af- 
 frighted." For a little moment they cease 
 from their blasphemies, ' 'and give glory to the 
 God of heaven" (v. 13). But it is not for 
 long. It is the same mental and spiritual 
 condition that is described at the close of the 
 sixth seal and the sixth trumpet.* The time 
 is the same. The powers of heaven are 
 shaken. "Men's hearts are failing them for 
 for fear, and for looking after (expectation of 
 R. V.) those things which are coming on the 
 earth, "t They are affrighted, and for a 
 moment seemingly religious, but continue 
 utterly and hopelessly Godless. 
 
 *6:12, &c. and 9:20, 21- fLu. 21:26. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 11:15. 137 
 
 V. 14. '■'■The second woe is past.'''' It 
 synchronizes with the close of the first act * 
 and also with that of the second, f It brings 
 the Apostate Chnrch and the rebellious world 
 to the hour of judgment. They are aware 
 of it, and intense alarm prevails. J 
 
 We are thus brought to the beginning of 
 the last half of Daniel's Seventieth Week. 
 But three and a half years of the appointed 
 time remains. The mystery of God is almost 
 finished. 
 
 The 7th trumpet is now to be sounded, 
 and "the third woe cometh quickly." 
 
 Revelation 11:15, ^c. 
 
 Act IV, 11:15, &c. 12: to 20:1-4. 
 
 Scene I St. — Chp. 11:15, &c. 
 
 Location. — In heaven. 
 
 Dramatis Personcs. — The Seventh Trum- 
 pet Angel. The four and twenty Elders. 
 The Living Creatures. 
 
 Time. — The beginning of the 2d half of 
 Daniel's last week. 
 
 We are now at the beginning of the end. 
 When the " 7th angel sounded, there were 
 great voices in heaven" — a mighty out-burst 
 of rejoicings. It is the same grand choir that 
 
 *3:14 &c. t6: 12 &c, and 9:16 &c XUx. 21:26. 
 
138 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 we read of in chapter 4: The number of 
 the elect is now completed. The Church of 
 the Redeemed is safe with its Lord. The 
 mystery of sin is almost finished, and there- 
 fore the multitudes of the heavenly hosts re- 
 joice and are glad. 
 
 l\ ij. The first cause assigned for their 
 rejoicing is, that " the kingdom of this world 
 is become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of 
 his Christ, and that he shall reign forever 
 and ever." (R. V.). 
 
 The earth heretofore, though divided up 
 among many nationalities, was virtually but 
 one kingdom. " The whole world lieth in 
 the evil one'^ (R. V.).* He is its God,t and 
 is in possession. He is its one head, and 
 gives his authority to whomsoever he wills. | 
 And thus will it be after this. No matter 
 what the future subdivisions, it continues to 
 be one kingdom, but under Christ. || 
 
 V. ly. ' ' Thou hast taken to thee thy great 
 powej^^^^ &c. This is another cause for 
 thanksgiving. When the Lord came to 
 earth he emptied himself of majesty and 
 power. § He was then, and, for the pur- 
 poses of his salvation, he has been ever 
 since, seeming weakness. The very abjects 
 have scoffed at him and he has remained 
 
 n John, 5:19. f^ Cor. 4:4. tRev. 13:2. ||Dan. 7:14, 
 Lu. 1:32, &c. >^Phil. 2:f5, etc. 
 
Scene I St. REVKLATION, 11:15, ETC. 139 
 
 silent. They have spit upon him, and he 
 has answered to never a word. But all this 
 is now of the past. His purposes of grace 
 have been accomplished, and he is about re- 
 suming his " great power, " and " he shall 
 reign forever and ever". 
 
 K i8. ^^The nations^'' ^ &c. , i. e. apos- 
 tate Christian peoples, those leagued with 
 the Anti-christ. * Their anger is in contrast 
 with the "wrath" of the Lord God Al- 
 mighty. 
 
 ^^The time of the dead^^^ clearly those who 
 sleep in Jesus. The first resurrection is for 
 them only.f The time for their judgment 
 (in the sense of reward) has come, j 
 
 ' ' The prophets, ' ' &c. The Old Testament 
 church is included. "Them that fear thy 
 name," is the one feature that distinguishes 
 them all. 
 
 '^ Sviall and great.^' The distinguished 
 and the inconspicuous. There is a similar 
 antithesis in chapters 13:16, and 19:18. 
 
 This ends the doxology. It is anticipat- 
 ive of the end which they about The 
 Throne knoiv to be near at hand. 
 
 V, ip. The opening of the temple of 
 God in heaven follows. Perhaps the doxol- 
 ogy and the opening may have been simul- 
 
 Vs. 2: fRev. 20:5. tRev. 7:9, 20:4, &c. 
 
140 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 taneous. Opening is disclosing, making 
 known. The Divine purposes are now re- 
 vealed to principalities and powers in the 
 heavenlies. Hence their doxology. The 
 mystery of God is finished. The putting 
 forth of his power, and the manifestations 
 of his glorious purposes, as declared to his 
 servants, the prophets,* will from henceforth 
 rejoice the hearts of his loyal subjects. Even 
 Satan, who seems to be present, t sees the 
 end. He knows that he is to be cast out, 
 that his time is short. 
 
 ^^ There ivere lightnings,'^^ &c. These as 
 yet are limited to the heavenly scene. I'hey 
 are symbolic of the wrath (v. 1 8) that will 
 soon be poured out on Satan and his king- 
 dom. 
 
 Revelation, 12: 
 
 Act IV. 11:15 &c., 1 2 :to 20:1-4. 
 
 Scene 2d. — Chap. 1 2 : 
 
 Location. — Partly in the heavenlies, and 
 partly on the earth. The Seer continues to 
 occupy a position where he can command all 
 that passes in both locations. 
 
 Dramatis Personce. — The woman clothed 
 with the sun. The Man-Child. The Dra- 
 
 *Rev. 10:7. tRev. 12:9, 12, 18. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 12: 141 
 
 gon. Michael and his angels. The rem- 
 nant of the woman's seed. 
 
 Time. — The beginning of the last half of 
 Daniel's 70th week. 
 
 Chp. 12: We here open on a new scene, 
 the second in this IV. Act. The first closed 
 with the representations of the temple of God 
 opened in heaven, with its accompaniments 
 of lightnings &c. (11:19). All that follows 
 from the beginning of this twelfth chap- 
 ter to verse five of fifteenth, we regard as in 
 a measure parenthetic. The 7th trumpet 
 sounds, but the vial angels do not at once 
 come upon the scene. When the 7th seal 
 is broken, we read that "there was silence in 
 heaven about the space of half an hour."* It 
 was suggested that this was a silence of 
 preparation ; so to speak, the shifting and re- 
 adjusting of scenery, that the Seer might 
 be the better prepared for the new series of 
 events to be brought to his notice. So here. 
 We are entering upon a new series of events. 
 The previous histories will be continued. They 
 will be resumed at their points of discontinu- 
 ance. There will be the same characters, 
 but they will appear in new forms, and un- 
 der different circumstances. The Seer needs 
 therefore much explanation that he may 
 
 *8:1. 
 
14-4 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad II . 
 
 recognize these old characters, and that he 
 may become thoroughly master of details. 
 For this purpose, there is just here a momen- 
 tary suspension of the onward movement of 
 the prophetic history. The time for the 
 judgment has come, and the world is ripe for 
 it, and expects it. The mission of the 7th 
 trumpet is to set in motion the vial-angels, 
 that the execution of this judgment may be- 
 gin. But the Seer must first be made to un- 
 derstand clearly the position of things, and 
 their relations to each other and to coming 
 events. The Church, and the world powers, 
 and the unseen forces of darkness, will still 
 be the historic subjects to be unfolded to him. 
 Bnt he must comprehend the exact position of 
 the Church at this time in its two-fold rela- 
 tion of visible and invisible. He must also 
 take in the position of the world-power in 
 its assumptions, exaltations, and blasphemies. 
 The onward movement of the history is there- 
 fore suspended for this purpose. The Tem- 
 ple being opened, the next event in order 
 would be the summons to the seven vial- 
 angels; but we must wait until we reach the 
 15th clip, before this summons is issued. 
 All between, from clip. 12: to 15:6, is there- 
 fore parenthetic, and for the most part ex- 
 planatory and preparatory for the judgment 
 scene. These chapters contain a succession 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 12: 143 
 
 of symbols, pictures and explanations, that 
 are to the Seer, what the scenery, the cos- 
 tumes, and the varied artistic combinations 
 of our modern stage, are to us — helps to 
 the better understanding of what is said and 
 done by the actors. 
 
 V. I. There appears to the Seer "a 
 great wonder in heaven. " The R. V. sub- 
 stitutes "sign" for wonder. It is the same 
 Greek (o-^jMetov) that throughout the N. T. is 
 translated "miracle," and sometimes "sign" 
 in the sense of miracle. We prefer the 
 rendering of our old version — "wonder." 
 What the Seer beheld was no more a miracle 
 than the horses and horsemen of the other 
 visions. It was a symbolic representation. 
 The sight caused the Seer wonderment — as- 
 tonishment. 
 
 "y4 Woman:^' A woman is the symbol of 
 the Church in its totality. It is also made 
 adaptive to the Church in whatever relation 
 we find it. As an Apostate Church, she is 
 a harlot,* as the faithful Church, she is the 
 the bride, t 
 
 The symbol now given us is a conception 
 surpassingly beautiful. It repays prolonged 
 study. "x-V woman clothed with the sun, 
 and the moon under her feet, and upon her 
 
 Rev. 17:1, &c. jRev. 19:7. 
 
144 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 head a crown of twelve stars." This is the 
 very impersonation of majesty and purity. 
 It is not of the earth. It far transcends any- 
 thing- earthly. The imagination must feast 
 upon it, and the mind grow to it, and enlarge 
 itself, before it can realize its heavenliness. 
 The greatest of artists has made this his sub- 
 ject, and has given to the world a master- 
 piece. It is a beautiful painting; but be- 
 side the word-picture it is feeble. Who can 
 paint the Bride of Christ, but Christ him- 
 self, and this is His representation of her. 
 
 There can be no question that the true 
 Church, the sealed ones of all ages, is here 
 symbolized. Sun, moon, and stars are the 
 scources of light for our material world. By 
 Divine ordering, for its spiritual needs, this 
 true Church, is ordained the "light of the 
 world."* To represent this Church there- 
 fore as clothed and adorned with the sources 
 of physical light is appropriate and beauti- 
 ful. 
 
 That this woman represents the true 
 Church, the sealed ones of Chp. 7:, and the 
 witnesses of Chp. 11:, is made apparent by 
 V. 1 7. Here we are told that ' 'her seed . . . 
 keep the commandments of God, and have 
 the testimony of Jesus. ' ' None but the true 
 
 *Matt 5:14. 
 
Scene 2d. RE:vELATION, 12: 145 
 
 Church can produce such children. We 
 note also that on her head there is a crown of 
 twelve stars, the symbolic number of the 
 Church. * In striking contrast with the light 
 adorned woman, are the gaudy earth -wrought 
 trappings of the harlot sitting on the scarlet- 
 colored beast, t and equally in contrast are 
 the judgments that are awarded them. J 
 
 V. 2. We interpret this symbol as repre- 
 senting the whole body of the sealed ones. 
 As such this sun-clothed woman has ever been 
 the guardian and witness of the truth, and 
 the keeper and nourisher of God's children. 
 At the time of the vision (the middle of 
 Daniel's last week), and in the condition in 
 which she is represented, she is in pain to 
 deliver up all the children that she is at this 
 time carrying. In the ages past her children 
 have been removed one by one, and she has 
 seen them thus pass on "to the general as- 
 sembly and Church of the first-born, which 
 are written in heaven. "§ But now at one 
 birth all her children are to be translated 
 from earth to heaven. She is in expectancy of 
 the event, and is awaiting it. She is feeling 
 the pressure of the times. The powers of 
 heaven are being shaken, and she realizes 
 from passing events that the hour of "re- 
 
 *See p. 95. tl7:4. ^14:1, &c., & 17:16. ^Heb. 12:23. 
 
146 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 demption draweth nigh."* She cries there- 
 fore, and her cry is — "Come Lord Jesus, 
 come quickly. ' ' 
 
 V. J. The seer's attention is diverted for 
 a moment from this sun-clothed woman by 
 another vision. It is a source of equal won- 
 derment to him. — "A great red Dragon." 
 Verse nine designates him more fully, and 
 identifies him with " the prince of the power 
 of the air"— "the God of this world." He 
 is represented with the symbols that belong 
 to Daniel's last Beast, f and to the Beast of 
 chp. 13:1 &c., — "having seven heads and 
 ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head." 
 These symbols are regarded as indicating 
 complete world power, a power that belongs 
 to Satan. "The kingdom of this world " is as 
 yet his. J The Beast|| is but his representa- 
 tive. When Pharaoh placed Joseph over the 
 land of Egypt, he put his ring on his finger, 
 and arrayed him in other insignia of his 
 royalty, § So when King Ahasuerus would 
 honor Mordecai, he ordered him to be clothed 
 in royal apparel. 1 The seven crowned 
 heads, and the ten horns belong to Satan. 
 They are the insignia of his kingship over 
 this earth. For his own purposes he trans- 
 fers them to the Beast. He makes him his 
 
 *I.u. 21:28. 17:7, 8. tMatt. 4:8, &c., 1 John 5:11). 
 IRev. 18:1, &c. ^^Gen. 41:41, &c. 1[Esth 6:7. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 12: 147 
 
 Joseph over the land of Egypt. All the 
 governments of this earth have ever been 
 controlled by him, and have been given to 
 whomsoever he will, and have been adminis- 
 tered for the promotion of his interests. But 
 to this last representative of this Beast- 
 power, there will be transferred in a remark- 
 able degree " his power, and his seat, and 
 great authority. ' ' '^ 
 
 V. /. ^^ Stars, '^^ as already stated, repre- 
 sent prominent persons. Here the stars are 
 from heaven. They therefore represent 
 prominent dignitaries of the visible Church. 
 They are cast down to earth. The picture 
 is wonderfully graphic. There are but 
 three strokes of the brush — the Dragon, the 
 sweep of his tail among the stars of heaven, 
 and one-third of them cast to the earth. 
 It points to an apostasy in the visible 
 Church, brought about through the agency 
 of Satan. At this moment in the prophetic 
 history this apostasy comes to the full. We 
 identify it with the apostasy under the 6th 
 trumpet, t and which at this time takes 
 shape under the earth- Beast. ;}; The number 
 cast down is the same as that destroyed un- 
 der the 6th trumpet. II It is with his tail 
 that the Dragon draws these stars of heaven 
 
 13:2. t9:14, &c. ;13:11, &c. 1,9:18. 
 
148 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Wf/ /K 
 
 from their high places and drags them down 
 to the earth. With his tail, /. e. with his 
 "cunning craftiness",* and his " wiles", t 
 and his " lying wonders", and his " deceiva- 
 bleness of (concerning) unrighteousness". if 
 These are the agencies by which he deceives 
 and draws down these stars to the earth — to 
 the substitution of philosophy, and science, 
 and culture, and such like worldly wisdom 
 (things of the earth), for the doctrine of God 
 in Christ. And so, under the 6th trumpet, || 
 we are told that the power of the apostasy 
 thus described, lies " in their mouth, and in 
 their tails". These stars are first won from 
 their allegiance to the truth by the lies and 
 cunning craftiness (the tail) of the Dragon, 
 and then practice the same with success 
 upon others. 
 
 As children of light, can we not " discern 
 the signs of the times"?§ In "the higher 
 criticism" that undermines the authority of 
 God's word; in the cowardice that cringes 
 before an assumptive science; in the voices 
 heard in all our churches questioning, if not 
 openly denying, the doctrines of the Atone- 
 ment, of eternal punishment, and of a re- 
 turning Lord; can we not by these, and 
 many similar indications, discern the sweep 
 
 *Eph. 4:14. tEph. 6:11. +2 Thess. 2:10. ||9:1{). 
 ^Matt. 16:3. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 12: Hit 
 
 of the Dragon's tail, that is beginning to 
 bring to the earth the stars of heaven? 
 
 Successful in his wily schemes, and with 
 his apostasy almost at its culmination, the 
 Dragon turns his attention to those who have 
 refused to be led captive by him at his will. 
 He is now seen standing before the woman 
 anticipating the coming birth, and deter- 
 mined to devour the man-child to be brought 
 forth. It will be noticed that the symbols 
 we are now studying take us back in a meas- 
 ure over some of the historic ground we 
 have already traversed. Under the 6th 
 trumpet* we have the apostasy here symbol- 
 ized by the Dragon's tail drawing the stars 
 from heaven, and casting them down to earth. 
 In chp. II : there are the sackcloth-witnesses 
 corresponding to the sun-clothed woman 
 crying for deliverance. And in the state- 
 ment of V. 5 — "And her child was caught 
 up unto God, and to his throne," we recog- 
 nize the call of chp. i i : v. I2, " Come up 
 hither." The translation, as we think, is 
 shadowed forth in both instances. This 
 repetition seems to be required, not only for 
 the unity of the pictures, but that the con- 
 tinuity of the historical events should be 
 perfectly clear to the seer. 
 
 *9:14. &c. 
 
150 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IK 
 
 The woman — the true Church, is crying 
 and waiting for deliverance. This moment 
 of her anguish may correspond to the three 
 and a half days of the ''dead bodies" of 
 the witnesses lying unburied in the streets of 
 Jerusalem.* The Dragon is seen watching 
 for the birth of the child, with the 
 avowed purpose of devouring it. Up to 
 this time he seems to have had access in- 
 to the heavenlies.f He has not yet been 
 expelled. But he knows that "the end" is 
 near, I and that his time is short.. His 
 wrath therefore knows no bounds, and in 
 the madness of despair he seems to enter- 
 tain the hope that it may be in his power 
 to frustrate this translation — the Church 
 delivering up her Man-child. In the 
 symbol of the 6th trumpet, || the number of 
 the horsemen (the heresies) sent forth was 
 immense. It must be by these that he 
 hopes to devour the Man-child — to tear 
 the Bride, or at least a portion of her, from 
 the Bridegroom. § 
 
 K 5. The woman brings "forth a Man- 
 child, who was to rule all nations with a 
 rod of iron." — "She was delivered of a Son, 
 a Man-child, who is to rule," &c., (R. V.). 
 
 *Rev. 11:8, tl2:9. t12:18. yohn, 10:28. etc., G: 37-41. 
 i|9:16. 
 
Scene 2d. REVElvA^TlON, 12: 151 
 
 Who is this Man-child? Expositors in gen- 
 eral agree in making him Christ. The fact 
 that he was to rule all nations, <fec. , seems to 
 point to Him, and to none other. But there 
 are serious objections to this view. To make 
 the Man-child Christ, is to make the Church 
 His Mother. This has no warrant in scrip- 
 ture. The Ivord-christ, as to his humanity, 
 was born of a woman. * This was after the 
 flesh. The Church as here symbolized, is a 
 woman not after the flesh. She is heavenly 
 and spiritual. The children she nourishes 
 for eternal life have received a spiritual birth. 
 In no sense can Christ be said to have received 
 a spiritual birth, or any other kind of birth, 
 from, or in, or through, the Church. He 
 was begotten of the Father before all worlds. 
 He is the Maker and the Organizer of the 
 Church. The Church is ''his body," "his 
 Bride," but not his Mother. To make 
 her his Mother is to make the less 
 contain the greater. It was not until 
 after his birth, and even until after his 
 death, that the Church had its being. It 
 is more correct therefore to say that Christ 
 gave the Church being, than that she gave 
 Him birth. We must not interpret a sym- 
 bol in a way plainly repugnant to the letter 
 
 *Gal. 4:2. 
 
162 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 of scripture. We cannot therefore accept 
 the generally received intepretation that the 
 Man-child is Christ. We take it to be — all 
 on earth at this special time, who are in 
 Christ and who are waiting for him. That 
 the singular number — "a Son, a Man-child," 
 should be used when numbers are concerned 
 is quite in accordance with scripture usage. 
 The words, Church, bride, body, are singu- 
 lar, and yet they stand for the whole number 
 of the redeemed. In his message to Pharaoh, 
 God says: "Israel is my son, my first-born. "* 
 And so of Ephraim, he asks: "Is Ephraim, 
 my dear son? is he a pleasant child? "f AH 
 true believers are in Christ, and are one with 
 him. What is said of him is true of them. 
 They shall reign with him. The i\ngel 
 tells Daniel " that the kingdom and dominion, 
 and the greatness of the kingdom under the 
 whole heaven, shall be given to the people of 
 the saints (the Man-child) of the Most High." 
 |And observe that the child is no sooner 
 born than it is "caught up unto God, and 
 to his throne. ' ' 
 
 We take the interpretation to be this. The 
 true Church on earth at this particular time is 
 represented as delivering up her child "the 
 
 ^^Ex. 4:22, 23. tjer. 31:20. jDaii. 7: 14, 27. Matt 19:28. 
 Lu. 22:29, 30. Rom. 8:17, cS^c. I Cor. 6:8. Rev. 2:'^6, 27, 
 3:21. 20:4, 6. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION, 12: 153 
 
 seed ... to whom the promise was made. ' ' * 
 It is done at once, " in a moment, in the twink- 
 ling of an eye." It is the mystery of the 
 translation which has been revealed to us in 
 I Cor. 15:51, &c., and still more fully ex- 
 plained in I Thess. 4:17, &c. It is the para- 
 ble of the ten virgins in symbol. It is the 
 object lesson given us in Rev. ii:ii &c. 
 
 V. 6. The sun-clothed woman — the in- 
 visible and true Church, does not give up all 
 her children. The Man-child being taken up, 
 i. e. all in Christ who at the moment of the 7th 
 trumpet's sounding, are found watching and 
 waiting for the Bridegroom,! being caught 
 up, the woman will still be on the earth. 
 "Their enemies beheld them" is the state- 
 ment in Clip. 11:12. The removal of so 
 great a number must attract universal at- 
 tention. It must be accounted for and there 
 is onh' one way. The despised Book that 
 has been branded by the wisdom of the 
 world as a myth and a fraud, will speak and 
 will not lie. The consternation for a short 
 while will be great. Many will give glory 
 to God, and there will be believers added to 
 the Church of such as are being saved. 
 All of the ten watchers are spoken of as 
 virgins (true believers), though five are fool- 
 
 *Gal. 3:19. tMatt. 25:1 &c. 
 
154 THE APOCAIvYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 ish. They have not heeded their Lord's 
 warning,* and are therefore exchided from 
 the marriage feast. They return, however, 
 with oil in their lamps. These are spoken of 
 in V. 17 as "the remnant of her seed, which 
 keep the commandments of God and have 
 the testimony of Jesus Christ. ' ' The sun- 
 clad woman will therefore still be on the 
 earth. But she has to ' 'fly into the wilderness, 
 where she hath a place prepared of God ; that 
 they should feed her there a thousand two 
 hundred and three score days " — 3^ years. 
 The Dragon having failed in his designs on 
 the Man-child, will, in his desperation, wage 
 a war of extermination upon the remnant of 
 her seed (V. 1 7). 
 
 "77?^ Wilderness^ Many understand by 
 this some special hiding place. We would 
 eliminate the^idea of place, and regard it as 
 such general protection as the I^ord has vouch- 
 safed to his Church during times of persecu- 
 tion. There always has been suffering and 
 martyrdom, but he has never allowed exter- 
 mination. This remnant of the woman's 
 seed that will now be left within the visible 
 Church and in the world, will be like the 
 seven thousand hidden ones in Elisha'sday.f 
 
 There is here a note of time. It is the 
 
 *Lu. 21:36. tl- Kgs. 19:18. 
 
Scetie 2d. REVEIvATION, 12: 155 
 
 same as that assigned to the sackcloth wit- 
 ness.'^ This difference however must be 
 noted. With them it is the first half (1260 
 days) of Daniel's last week, and prior to the 
 translation. Here it is the last half of the 
 week, and after the translation (V. 5). All 
 after the 7 th trumpet, and the translation, 
 belongs to the last half of Daniel's week. 
 
 Vs. j-io. The war in heaven, the expul- 
 sion of Satan, and his flight to earth, are to 
 us realities. Believing in the personality of 
 Satan, and of all concerned in this conflict, 
 and knowing that earth is a place, and that 
 heaven must be also, we can find neither 
 figure nor symbol in this language. We take 
 it literally. 
 
 This is the beginning of Satan's progress 
 towards his final destination. He is first ex- 
 pelled from heaven (Vs. 8-9) ; then he is seized, 
 and bound, and locked up in the bottomless 
 pit (20:1, &c.); and last of all he is cast into 
 the lake of fire.f Was this struggle we are 
 now considering and its result present to the 
 Lord's mental vision when he said — "I 
 beheld Satan falling as lightning from 
 heaven?" R. V-i 
 
 V. 10. There is here given the Seer an- 
 other of those explanatory voices helpful to 
 
 ai.3. 120:10 %\,-\x. 10:18. 
 
156 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad /K 
 
 him in understanding what is taking place. 
 This loud voice is probably from one or per- 
 haps more, of the redeemed, for it speaks of 
 "our brethren.^' 
 
 l\ II. ^^ They overcame Him because of ^' 
 (R.V.). Through (sta), by virtue, on account 
 of, ^^the b/ood^' &c. They were not 
 ashamed of the cross of Christ. They ac- 
 cepted the doctrine of the efficacy of the 
 blood, and bore their testimony to it. With- 
 out its shedding the accusations of the ad- 
 versary could not have been answered. 
 
 V. 12. ^^IVoe to the inhabiters of the 
 earth and the Sea!^^ ik^. This is the third 
 and last woe.''' It is the ''great tribulation. ''t 
 It will be upon Israel,:]; and upon the rem- 
 nant of the woman's seed,§ and upon all na- 
 tions. || It is to be on ''the inhabiters of the 
 earth and the sea" — the dominion of the sea- 
 Beast, and the followers of the earth- 
 Beast. 
 
 V. I J. What follows to the end of the 
 chapter is both an amplification and an ex- 
 planation of the statements of Verse 6th. 
 The events are, however, presented from dif- 
 ferent standpoints. The first is the heavenl)- 
 aspect of the woman's flight. The other** 
 
 *8:13. 9:12. 11:14. fMatt. 24:15 28. Dau. 12:1. 
 yer. 30:7. ^^V. 17. ||Lu. 21:25. **Vs. 18 17. 
 
Scene 2d. REVELATION. 12: 157 
 
 gives the same facts with the fuller details, 
 and is an earth-picture. We now learn why 
 the woman had to fly into the wilderness — 
 the Dragon has been cast out of heaven and 
 is persecuting her. 
 
 V. 14. ''To f/iis -a'OJfian were giz^eti tzuo 
 icinjrs.'^ The upbearing, overshadowing, 
 over-ruling, providence of God, that causes 
 "all things to work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them who are called accord- 
 ing to his purpose.''* 
 
 ' \She is nourisJicd. ' ' The same Greek that 
 in V. 6th is translated "feed.'' The oil will 
 be supplied that these lamps may continue 
 buiuingt through all these 1260 days, so that 
 when Christ comes there wnll be a true 
 Church (the remnant of her seed) upon the 
 earth. 
 
 ]'s. /j, 16. These symbols are very diffi- 
 cult of explanation. "The serpent casts out 
 of his mouth as a flood" &c. We are dis- 
 posed to link this with 16:13, 14; and 9:16 cS:c. 
 With "damnable heresies" J — the immense 
 army of horsemen of Chp. 9:16, he will en- 
 deavor to sweep away the remnant of the seed 
 as with a flood. The earth-Beast, who will 
 be at the head of these horsemen seems to 
 
 *Rom. 8:2S. Ex. 9:4. Deut. 32:11 &c. Ps. 63:7. 
 tll:3 &c, j, 2 Pet. 2:1. 
 
158 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 symbolize the same fact that is here an- 
 nounced. 
 
 V. 1 6. We have not seen, nor can offer a 
 satisfactory explanation of this symbol. As 
 the time for its fulfillment approaches, there 
 will be more light. 
 
 V. ly. This verse is explanatory of verse 
 13. It tells why the Dragon persecuted the 
 woman. 
 
 This closes our second scene. In it, the 
 translation, which had previously been 
 brought to the Seer's notice by other symbols, 
 is reaffirmed. The defeat and expulsion of 
 Satan from heaven to earth is pictured to 
 him. The fact is also revealed that aftei the 
 translation there will still continue to be a 
 true Church upon earth. And he is made to 
 understand the condition of the untranslated 
 Church — the remnant of the woman's seed, 
 down to the end of the 1260 days. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 159 
 
 Revelation 13. 
 
 Act, IV. 11:15, <^c., i2:to 20:1-4. 
 
 Scene, 3d. Chp, 13: 
 
 Location. The earth. 
 
 Dramatis Personoe. The Dragon. The 
 sea-Beast. The earth-Beast. The inhabiters 
 of the earth. 
 
 Time. The last half of Daniel's last week. 
 
 This scene opens with a vision very differ- 
 ent from the previous one. That was a 
 woman clothed in light, this is a Beast 
 "scarlet-colored,"* fierce, cruel and impious. 
 That was a heavenly picture pure and beau- 
 tiful; this is of the earth earthy. We at 
 once identify him with Daniel's last "dread- 
 ful and terrible" Beast, f He comes on the 
 stage of action fully equipped for an awful 
 work. Satan is now upon earth. Keeping 
 himself out of sight for the better success of 
 his lying doctrines, he will transfer to this 
 Beast his ' ' power, and his seat, and great au- 
 thority," and he shall make war with the 
 saints and overcome them. Contemporary 
 with him is another Beast that comes up out of 
 the earth. He is lamb-like, but speaks great 
 swelling words. He exercises spiritual power 
 over the nations, and is confederate with the 
 
 *17:3: t7:7. 
 
160 THE APOCALYTIC DRAMA. Ad Il\ 
 
 sea-Beast. By them the earth is subdued, 
 and brought into a state of open and reckless 
 rebellion against the Most High. 
 
 />. /. The R. V. translates— "/2;2^ he 
 [the Dragon) stood upon the sand of the sea. 
 And I sazv a Beasf^ &c. With the risino^ of 
 this Beast, the Dragon ceases to occupy the 
 conspicuous position that he did in the last 
 scene. He hides himself in this Beast, as he 
 did in the serpent in Eden. He gives him 
 "his power, and seat, and great authority." 
 This Beast comes up out of the sea — out of 
 the disturbed civil and social relations of the 
 peoples. "^^ It is out of the same sea that 
 Daniel saw his Beasts arise, f The Greek is 
 erj^eof^ a wild beast ; very different from f^oa, 
 the living ones, of Chp. 4:6. 
 
 V. 2. This Beast is nondescript. He is 
 a combination of those of Daniel, and thus 
 shows his unity in spirit and purpose with 
 those who have preceded him. He sym- 
 bolizes the aggregate of the empires of this 
 world as opposed to Christ. 
 
 This Beast has ' ' seven heads, and ten horns, 
 and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his 
 heads the name of blasphemy (V. I.). There 
 is a still further descriptive allusion to him 
 in Chp. 17:8 to 13. We will bring together 
 
 *Rev. 17:15. t7:2. 
 
Scene 3d. REVEIvATION, 18: 161 
 
 these statements, and give what seems to us a 
 possible explanation. 
 
 The seven heads in Chp. 17:9, are said 
 to be "seven mountains," and in the next 
 verse, these mountains are said to be "seven 
 Kings R. v.). The seven heads, and seven 
 mountains, and seven kings, are one. They 
 are intended to represent ruling powers. The 
 seven mountains ma>- perhaps represent the 
 the dififerent forms of government peculiar to 
 these heads, or Kings. Because the City of 
 Rome is built on seven hills, most exposi- 
 tors have inferred that the reference is to that 
 City, and to the Church of Rome — "the seven 
 heads are seven mountains, on which the 
 woman sitteth."* But this sitting of the 
 woman upon these seven heads, which are 
 seven mountains, does not imply possession, 
 and control, and sovereignty. Just the con- 
 trary. The reference is to the tableau of V. 
 3, — a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored 
 beast (Chp. 7 :). The Beast referred to is carry- 
 ing the woman (V. 7. ). Her sitting on him de- 
 notes a condition of dependence. He is be- 
 friending her — sustaining her in her position, 
 whatever that may be, and as these seven 
 heads, which are mountains, represent the 
 same Beast, f the relations of the woman to 
 
 *17:9. tl3:l, &c. 
 
162 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 them must be the same, — one of depend- 
 ence. 
 
 The interpretation given the mountains, as 
 standing for forms of governments, finds am- 
 ple authority in scripture. (Dan. 2:35. Heb. 
 12:22, and Rev. 14:1. Is. 2:1 &c. 41:15. 
 Ps. 68:15-16. Ezek. 35:1, &c.) 
 This Beast has also ten horns. * The horn 
 is the symbol of power, and ten is considered 
 the number of the complete course of the 
 world — the completed development of world- 
 power, t These horns wear crown s, the sym- 
 bol of imperial power. This number ten is 
 linked with all the symbols of this world- 
 power. You find it in the ten toes of the 
 great image, and in the ten horns of Daniel's 
 last terrible Beast, i The Roman Empire 
 continued an unit throughout the first four 
 centuries. It was then divided into the East- 
 ern and Western Empires, the two legs of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's image. Since then, the ter- 
 ritories and nationalities it dominated, have 
 been broken up and subdivided again and 
 again. But there has always been more or 
 less adhesion and sympathy under a common 
 system of government — imperialism. The 
 idea of unification has never been lost sight 
 of Its realization has been the ambition of 
 
 «13:1, &c., and 17.-7. 12. IXangeon Rev. p. 316. J7:7 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 163 
 
 many who Irom time to time have dehiged 
 Europe with blood. These ten imperial 
 horns are yet future. In 17:12, they are 
 said to be "ten Kings, which have received 
 no Kingdom as yet, but, they receive author- 
 ity as Kings, with the Beast for one hour. ' ' 
 (R. V.) They correspond to the ten toes of 
 the image; and in Daniel's vision of the 
 Beasts, they are assigned to the fourth King- 
 dom, and to its last end, and as the Beast 
 (little horn) is to come up among these horns,* 
 we know that he belongs to the last King- 
 dom, and to the last end of tliat Kingdom. 
 
 In explaining "the myster}''t of this Beast, 
 the Seer tells us (13:3): "and I saw one ot 
 his heads as it were wounded to death; and 
 his deadly wound was healed." And in 17:8, 
 he is spoken of as "the Beast that was, 
 and is not, and yet is," or, as the R. V. 
 translates, "he was, and is not, and shall 
 come. ' ' This is still further explained in Vs. 
 10 and II.' 'There are seven Kings (govermen- 
 tal forms) ; five are fallen, and one is, and the 
 other is yet to come .... and the Beast that 
 was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and 
 is of the seventh. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Thei^e are seven Kings ^ five are fallen. ' ' 
 We have interpreted these Kingships to be 
 
 *Dan. 7:8. tl7:7. 
 
164 THE APOCAIvYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 different forms of government through which 
 this Beast-power passes. Following this 
 line of interpretation we know from history 
 that the Roman power up to Apocalyptic 
 times had numbered six different forms of 
 government — (i), Kings; (2), Consuls; (3), 
 Dictators; (4), Decemvirs; (5), Military Tri- 
 bunes. These at the time of the Seer had 
 passed away, — ^\five are fallen y (6) Em- 
 perors. * This was the form of government 
 existing at the time the revelation was 
 given, — "0/2<? />. " ^^ The other (the Sec'enth^) 
 7s not yet conie.^^ It was future in John's 
 day. We regard it as still future. Although 
 the Roman Beast-power in its imperial form 
 no longer exists as an unit, yet in its frag- 
 mentary portions the monarchical form 
 has almost universally prevailed. We ma\- 
 regard therefore the imperial (the 6th) form 
 of the Beast power as still existing. 
 
 What then is this seventh and still future 
 form? Let us note some of its features. (i)It 
 was at the time of the Seer's writing still 
 future. * When it comes, the Beast that was 
 (before it), i. e, the imperial form of govern- 
 ment, will receive a wound unto death, t 
 Mrg. "was slain." (3) On its coming, it is to 
 ' 'continue a short space. "J 
 
 *So far Bp. Elliott. *t7:10. 113:3. il7:10. 
 
Scene jd. REVKLATION, 13: l66 
 
 We are disposed to think that there is 
 coming an era of lawlessness that will sweep 
 the Roman world, and that will upturn its 
 thrones. And it is well for those who rest on 
 the most sure word of prophecy to observe 
 "the si^^ns of the times." Clouds are thick 
 and threatening on the horizon, and it will 
 be our fault if the storm bursts upon us un- 
 awares. The wonderful progress of science, 
 the rapid increase of knowledge, the cheer- 
 ing successes of missions, the growing influ- 
 ence of Peace Congresses — rthis promising 
 outlook makes optimists of us all. But we 
 are assured that " when they shall say peace 
 and safety, then sudden destruction cometh, 
 . . and they shall not escape. "* A spirit 
 of unrest and dissatisfaction is brooding over 
 the civilized world. It is attracting the at- 
 tention of all thinkers. You read of it in 
 the columns of the newspapers, and the page 
 of the magazine, the quarterly, and the 
 novel. Everywhere the question is asked — 
 how can we allay this threatening spirit? It 
 is organizing and. combining under manifold 
 names. They are all more or less the out- 
 growth of atheism, and lead to lawlessness. 
 When men discard the fear of God, and the 
 expectation of an after life, and a righteous 
 
 *lThess. 5:3. 
 
166 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 judgment, they also break the bond of human 
 brotherhood, and discard all the elements 
 that combine to form a perfect civilization. 
 Self becomes the center of all action. And it 
 is this fashion of atheism that is now taking; 
 possession of men's minds, and that needs 
 only time to bring about the awful catastro- 
 phy, out ol which the Anti-christ will be 
 developed. The resisting influences of re- 
 ligion are being rapidly taken out of the 
 way.''' It was so in France in 1790. There 
 was first a widespread infidelity nursed by 
 men of letters. Society was corrupted, con- 
 fidence and truth fled. Ivicentiousness was 
 given free rein. Wealth and power com- 
 bined to extort and oppress, and poverty and 
 ignorance roused itself for resistance. Then 
 came the upheaval; and the monarchy, and 
 all that was law abiding, vanished. The 
 same results must follow like conditions. 
 Now, however, on a more extended scale. 
 The whole world is one. Revolutions can 
 no more be confined to nationalities. The 
 great questions of the day are agitating the 
 minds of men throughout the civilized world. 
 When they come to be settled, there will be 
 no German, no Frenchmen, no Englishmen, 
 &c. The oppressor and the oppressed will 
 
 *2 Thess. 2:7. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 16'; 
 
 Stand face to face. And then will be the days 
 when "there shall be signs in the sun, and 
 in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the 
 earth distress of nations, with perplexity; 
 the sea and the waves (the uprising masses) 
 roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, 
 and for expectation of those things which are 
 coming on the earth for the powers of heaven 
 shall be shaken. ' ' * 
 
 This era of lawlessness and bloodshed is 
 that of the seventh head — the seventh form 
 of government. It is mob sovereignty, — 
 democracy run mad. In its wild frenzy all 
 thrones will be overturned, all established 
 principles of civil law abrogated, all recogni- 
 tion of religion prohibited, all safeguards to 
 person and property broken down, and 
 anarchy and terrorism will reign supreme. 
 Thus a deadly wound will be inflicted on one 
 of the heads of the Beast. The long estab 
 lished monarchical form of government that 
 has always characterized it, will be slain, 
 and to all appearance — forever. 
 
 But this wild out-burst of passion will soon 
 subside. The fury of so fierce a storm must 
 spend itself quickly. It was so during the 
 French revolution. Its "reign of terror" 
 ran its course in 426 days. The people were 
 
 *Luke 21:25, 26. 
 
1B8 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 satiated with blood, and there came a re- 
 action. The first one strong enough to grasp 
 the reins and restore social order and personal 
 security, was hailed as a savior, and so will it 
 be here. We are told — "//<?," this seventh 
 head, " nutst continue a short space^^ V. lO. 
 The strain will be too great for long continu- 
 ance, "And except those days should be 
 shortened, there should no flesh be saved; 
 but for the elect's sake those days shall be 
 shortened."* Humanity will long for deliv- 
 erance, and will be ready to welcome any- 
 one who will come in the name of law and 
 order, and so the next head (the eighth) 
 ''is of the seventh,'' (V. ii.) "The four 
 winds of the heaven" t have been striving on 
 the great sea, and from the midst of its roar- 
 ing tossing wavest — the madness of the peo- 
 ples, this 8tli head appears. He will restore 
 the ancient regime. The monarchial princi- 
 ple will once more appear, and thus "this 
 deadly wound is healed; and all the world 
 wondered after the beast. § It will recognize 
 him as its deliverer, and will readily yield to 
 him all the power and honor he claims, even 
 to worship; and this beast that was, and is 
 not, and that is to come, is the eighth head. || 
 and this is the Anti-christ. 
 
 *Matt. 24:22. tDan. 7:2. +Lu. 21:25. Rev. 13:1 
 ^.13:3. 1117:8, 11. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 169 
 
 John tells us that there were even in his day, 
 many Anti-christs. * iV person, or organiza- 
 tion, that in any way detracts from the au- 
 thority and glory of Christ, manifests the 
 spirit of Anti-christ, and there are many such 
 in the world. In this sense we may regard 
 the Church of Rome as Anti-christian; but 
 she is not the iVnti-christ. There is but one 
 such. John thus describes him in one of his 
 epistles. "Who is the liar, but he that 
 denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the 
 Anti-christ, even he that denieth the 
 Father and the Son (R. V.)t Rome has 
 never denied the divinity of the Lord, 
 nor his mission. She is not therefore 
 the Anti-christ. We must look elsewhere for 
 him, and it is in this 8th head — this last 
 development of Gentile Dominion that we find 
 him. ' ' He goeth into perdition. " i " Whom 
 the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his 
 mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness 
 of his coming. II He has no successor. He 
 is taken, and is "cast alive into the lake of 
 fire that burneth with brimstone (R. V.)§ 
 With him the image is broken to pieces, and 
 becomes like the chaff of the summer thresh- 
 ing-floors, that the wind carries away. \ The 
 mighty power which Satan energized, and by 
 
 "I John, 2:18. tl. John, 2:22. ^17:8 and 11, ||2 Thess. 
 2:8. i!9Rev.. 20. ^j Dan. 2:35. 
 
170 THE APOCAIvYPTiC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 which he dominated over the earth since the 
 days when Nebuchadnezzar dreamed his 
 dreams, and which has at last cuhninated in 
 the "little horn," will now be taken away. 
 "The judgment shall sit, and they shall take 
 away his dominion, to consume and to des- 
 troy unto the end. ' ' * He is the desolator, and 
 on him will be poured the determined consu- 
 mation. f 
 
 We now confine ourselves to chapter thir- 
 teen. 
 
 V. 5. In this verse there is a note of 
 time. The power of this Beast, as now rep- 
 resented by its 8th head, is to continue forty 
 and two months — 3^ years. It is the same 
 period as Daniel assigns to his "little horn," 
 and to his "Prince. "J It is also the time al- 
 lotted for the treading down of "the Holy 
 City, ' ' and named for the sackcloth witnesses, 
 and the woman's wilderness life. § 
 
 V. y. ' ^Pozver was given hint' ' &c. This 
 is by the Dragon. || It must be remem- 
 bered that this power is permissive. God is 
 over all. He controls in the armies of 
 heaven and upon earth, according to the 
 good pleasure of his will. What ever Satan 
 may accomplish is by his permission. If he 
 makes war with the saints, and overcomes 
 
 *Dan. 7:8-26. fDan. 9:27. t7:26, 9:27. §Rev. 11:2, 3. 
 12:6, 14. 1|13:2. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 171 
 
 them, divine purposes are being accom- 
 plished, and all things are working together 
 for the good of them who love God. We 
 need not fear the powers of evil. Their destruc- 
 tiveness is under control. Johovah God says 
 to their assumptions and their madness — 
 " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further ; 
 and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."* 
 
 This bestowment of power will explain 
 why the Beast will be able to gather so vast 
 an army for the last struggle, f 
 
 K ^. This is a summons to give atten- 
 tion. It takes us back to 2:7, and 3:6, 13, 
 2 2. The call in these chapters is addressed to 
 the Churches. The inference is therefore 
 that the same parties are here intended. 
 
 ]\ 10. These will be times of persecution, 
 and the temptation to the Church — the rem- 
 nant of the woman's seed, will be to meet 
 violence with violence — to resist with carnal 
 weapons. The warning given them, is that 
 in this Satanic war, they are not to take 
 the sword in self defense. This is not the 
 way God wants his people to resist the devil4 
 That the Beast overcomes them is by permis- 
 sion. § And it is by the spirit of passive suf- 
 fering for Christ, that the patience and faith 
 
 *Job. 38:11. fRev. 16:14. 17:12, etc. 19:19. JMatt. 
 26:52,53. 10:23. John, 18:11. Rom. 12:19. ^olm. 
 19:11. 
 
172 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 of the saints is manifested to the world. ^'In 
 your patience possess ye your souls. ' ' * 
 
 V.I I. ''Another Beast:' This the earth- 
 Beast. Verse one describes to us the coming 
 up, and appearance and nature of the sea- 
 Beast. He rises out of the political and 
 social storms that agitate the people (the 
 sea). He is the last head of the material 
 World-forces, whose history has been given 
 us under the seals. Now we have the earth- 
 Beast — "He comes up out of the earth." This, 
 we think, is "the wisdom of the world" — 
 its culture, civilization, and humanitarianism. 
 The Apostle James says of it — "it descendeth 
 not from above, but is earthly, sensual (or 
 natural), devilish, "fit represents the spiritual 
 World-forces. They were brought to our 
 notice under the trumpets. The sixth trum- 
 pet shows them to us a great company of 
 horsemen (heresies) spreading themselves 
 over the earth and destroying. 
 
 Here we have these forces organized under 
 a head, who is all-conspicuous. In the trum- 
 pet scene "the horsemen" J absorb all atten- 
 tion. In this symbol, their leader — the 
 earth-Beast, is the one absorbing object of 
 consideration. He is "the False Prophet of 
 Chps. 16:13, and 19:20. His lamb-like ap- 
 
 *I,u. 21:19. 13:15. 19:16, etc. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 173 
 
 pearance, — "he had two horns like a lamb" 
 (5:6), and indeed the whole character of his 
 career, has convinced all expositors that this 
 symbol represents a spiritual power. 
 
 ' ^He spake as a dragon. ' ' His lamb-like 
 appearance and dragon utterances bespeak 
 his true character — a false prophet, a lying 
 teacher, an emissary of the Dragon. This 
 corresponds with the Lord's description of 
 false prophets, which come to you in sheep' s 
 clothing, but inwardly they are ravening 
 wolves.* He is innocence and benevolence 
 itself in his professions and apparent objects 
 — having the form of godliness; but there is 
 uncompromising enmity in his heart against 
 the Lord, and his annointed.f 
 
 Because of these prophetic characteristics 
 so conspicuous in this Beast, there is much 
 unanimity among the commentators in iden- 
 tifying him with the Papacy. But we see 
 more clearly in this symbol the impersonation 
 of the spiritual and intellectual forces of the 
 world. It is the product of Protestantism 
 rather than of Romanism. Romanism 
 cramps, binds, enslaves. Protestantism in- 
 culcates individual responsibility, and intel- 
 lectual freedom; and so emancipates Rome's 
 captives. And it is this emancipated intellect 
 
 *Matt. 7:15. t2d Pet. 2:1, &c. I.Tim. 4:1, &c. 2. Tim. 
 3:1, &c. 4:2, &c. 
 
174 THE APOCAIvYPTiC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 broken loose from " the wisdom that is 
 from above" and captivated and enslaved by 
 that which is "from beneath," that it seems 
 to us to be here represented. We are disposed 
 therefore to regard this Beast as entirely dis- 
 tinct from Rome, Rome finds its symbol in 
 the Harlot- woman of Chp. 17: That it is 
 not Rome is clear from the different relations 
 they occupy to the sea-Beast, and also in the 
 different destinies. Rome, the Harlot- 
 woman, is to be carried — " upheld and sus- 
 tained, by the sea Beast and his ten Kings, 
 and at last is to be destroyed by them. * But 
 this earth-Beast is to be confederated with 
 the sea-Beast. He will be an efficient 
 and indispensible helper, and they two shall 
 meet the same judgment, and go into perdi- 
 tion together, t 
 
 We regard this symbol then, and also that 
 under the 6th trumpet, as apostate Protestant- 
 ism. It is not improbable that at this crisis, 
 Protestantism will melt away. There is no ad- 
 hesion about it. The intellectual freedom 
 that is one of its underlying principles, is 
 also one of its chiefest elements of dis- 
 integration. Rome will stand the shock, 
 for a while at least. Its adhesive qualities 
 are great. It is the most adaptive, and at 
 
 17:3, 1«. tl9:^0. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 175 
 
 the same time powerful, government the 
 world has ever seen. It can fight fire with 
 fire. But in this hour of evil's supremest 
 triumph, our boasted Protestantism will 
 probably vanish. Its best elements will hide 
 themselves in the dens and caves of the 
 earth — the remnant of the woman's seed will 
 be in the wilderness ; and the rest — the great 
 mass of it, will be th-e multitude of armed 
 horsemen (heresies), swelling the train of this 
 earth-Beast — the False- Prophet. 
 
 This is no fancy sketch. It is a fact too 
 plainly shadowed forth on the pages of his- 
 tory. Protestantism is even now riddled 
 through and through with false doctrine. It 
 is undermining its foundation with its own 
 hands. This is not, therefore, an exaggerated 
 statement-that Protestantism will melt away. 
 It is a logical conclusion, a self-evident fact. 
 If Chillingworth's position is sound — "the 
 Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of 
 Protestants," and it never has been ques- 
 tioned, then Protestantism rests on the Scrip- 
 tures as the Word of God. Aside from them 
 it has no foundation. It has neither tradi- 
 tions nor councils to guide, nor Church au- 
 thority to fall back upon. Take away 
 then our Bible, and our Protestantism must 
 go. And this is what German theology with 
 its so-called "higher criticism" is doing. It 
 
176 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 is undermining the authority of the Scrip- 
 tures as the Word of God by endeavoring 
 to prove that from the beginning to end they 
 are a fraud. And Protestantism loves to have 
 it so. This show of wisdom takes wonder- 
 fully. To be a learned man and a great the- 
 ologian, is to be able to throw doubt on every 
 important statement of the Word, and where- 
 unto must this tend but to the rankest infi- 
 delity, and to the utter extinction of Protes- 
 tantism. And the progress toward it is not 
 slow. 
 
 You see it in its doctrines of the Divine 
 Paternity, of future probation, conditional 
 immortality, and human perfectability; in its 
 Sabbath desecration, in spiritualism, in the 
 assumptions of science falsely so-called, in 
 Positivism, and Agnosticism, in Humanitari- 
 anism, and Theosophism, and in the name of 
 culture, the modernizing and revival of 
 Mohamedanism and the Ancient religions of 
 the East. All this is the outgrowth of 
 Protestant freedom of thought, and all these 
 heresiarchs have a common bond of union — 
 rejection of the scriptures as a Divine 
 Authority, and denial of the Lord who 
 bought them. * 
 
 V. 12. " //<^' cxercisetJi all the poiver of 
 
 *2 Pet. 1 : etc. 
 
REVELATION, 13: 177 
 
 the first Beast (the Beast of the Sea) before 
 hini^ (i. e. in his presence, R. V.), and he 
 caiisetJi the earth ardtJiem zvhich dwell therein 
 to worship the first Beast^ zvhose deadly zvoiind 
 zuas healed^' — the eighth head. There is 
 here a confedracy, a union between the 
 world's power and its culture to promote a 
 common end. It results in "the deification 
 of nature and humanity. ' ' The miraculous 
 powers accredited to both these Beasts are 
 real. The power that is now witheld, will 
 then be given through the Dragon.* The 
 God of heaven will seem at this terrible 
 moment to have abdicated his throne, and 
 to have deserted his world. 
 
 V. i^. He makes ' ^a?i image of the Beast^ ' ' 
 crV. This sea-Beast will be the incarnation 
 of world-power. Its pre-eminently distin- 
 guishing characteristic will be the denial of 
 God and his Christ, f As Christianity has 
 its cross, and Mahometanism its crescent, so 
 this sea-Beast will have his symbol. It is 
 the earth-Beast, the world's wisdom, culture, 
 and art, that will devise and produce it, and 
 recommend its adoption. It is probably this 
 symbol (image) that the anti-Christ will erect 
 in the holy place — "the abomination" 
 spoken of by Daniel and the Lord.;]: We 
 
 *Matt. 24:24. 2 Thess. 2:9. fl John 2:22. tDan. 9:27, 
 Matt. 24:15. 
 
178 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 are also reminded of the great metallic image. * 
 
 V. ij. ^^ And he had po-a 'er to give lifi\ ' ' 
 &c. These events are yet futnre. There 
 must therefore be much that we cannot as 
 yet even spell out, We must wait, Spirit- 
 ualizing the language, we may give it this 
 interpretation. — Everyone will be compelled 
 to wear (v. i6) one of these images as an 
 evidence of his acceptance of the damnable 
 heresy on pain of consequences (v. 17), and 
 so, for every man the image will have a 
 living and speaking power for life or death. 
 ' ^Should be killed. ' ' Science and ' 'advanced 
 thought" has already begun its ostracism 
 upon those who adhere to the old doctrines 
 of the cross. 
 
 Vs. 16 and ly. Here again we must wait 
 until the time comes before we can know 
 what this "mark" is. It is in contrast to 
 the sealing of chap. 7:. 
 
 V. 18. Numerous attempts have been 
 made to solve this problem of the Beast's 
 number. Here, too, we must wait. Doubtless 
 to those who will be most concerned, there 
 will be given "wisdom." They shall know. 
 
 This is a woeful picture of Apostasy here 
 presented. Such a state of things seems 
 impossible from our present standpoint of 
 
 *Dan. 2:31. etc. 
 
Scene 3d. REVELATION, 13: 179 
 
 Church aggressiveness, and mission effort, 
 and successful work. And we look at the 
 interpretation given these symbols, and ask 
 in amazement, — can these things be? Is it 
 possible that there could be such an outbreak 
 of evil amid our Christianization and civiliza- 
 tion? Humanly speaking, it seems impos- 
 sible, and the belief of the great body of the 
 Church is against it. But we turn from this 
 view of the seeming probability of things — 
 from this worldly outlook, to the teachings 
 of the word of God; and here we find the 
 ''sure word of prophecy'' announcing this 
 apostasy, and the Lord and his apostles fore- 
 warning concerning it. The Lord's com- 
 mand to disciples is to teach his Gospel 
 among alT nations. Their attitude is to be 
 that of witnesses. * And while the Gospel is to 
 be preached in all the world, it is nowhere said 
 that it will convert the world. On the con- 
 trary, the testimony everywhere in the Book 
 is, that along with the witnessing, and re- 
 sulting from it, there will be opposition, 
 hatred, persecution, and apostasy, f The 
 mission of the Gospel among the nations 
 during this dispensation is witnessing, not 
 converting. It is to take out from among 
 the nations a people for his name. 4! Indi- 
 
 *Lu. 24:48. Acts 1:8. tMatt. 24:4-14. jActs 15:14. 
 
180 THE APOCAIvYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 viduals will be converted, but not nations. 
 It is important to note this, lest the ardent 
 missionary spirit now pervading the Church 
 be chilled by results. The Gospel's grand 
 mission now is witnessing. * And when the 
 story of the cross has been told to all nations, 
 and God's elect ones have been sealed, what 
 then? Why, "the end" — the revealing of 
 "the man of sin" — the Anti-christ, with his 
 assumptions and blasphemies ; an Apostate 
 Church and world running after him ; a 
 translated Church ; and wrath poured out. 
 The lyord Christ will not come until after 
 these events. So at least an inspired apostle 
 tells us : " Let no man deceive you by any 
 means, for that day (the day of the Lord's 
 appearing) shall not come, except there come 
 a falling away first, and that man of sin be 
 revealed, the son of perdition, "f 
 
 Revelation, 14: 
 
 Act. IV. 11:15 &c. i2:to 20:1-4. 
 
 Scene ^ 4th. Clip. 14: 
 
 Location. In the heavenlies. 
 
 Dramatis Personoe. The Lamb. The 144,- 
 000. The announcing and executing angels. 
 The Son of Man. 
 
 *Matt. 24:14. VI Thess. 2:3. 
 
Scene it h. REVELATION, 14: 181 
 
 Time. The beginning of the last half of 
 Daniel's last week. 
 
 The fourth scene opens on Mount Sion. 
 It is a picture of the Church triumphant. 
 The number of "the elect" is now complet- 
 ed, and as a completed Church, the Lamb 
 and his 144,000 meet together for the first 
 time. No wonder that they are joyous and 
 that they make the heavens ring with their 
 ' 'new song. " There never was in all the past 
 when that song could have been sung be- 
 fore; there never w^ill be in all the coming 
 cycles when this song will not be sung. 
 
 The previous scene was on the earth, and 
 was terribly earthy. This is in the heavens, 
 and is heavenly. The two are strongly in 
 contrast. They represent events that are 
 transpiring at the same moment in the differ- 
 ent localities. At the beginning of Daniel's 
 last week, three and a half years before "the 
 end," the two Beasts are at the height of 
 their career, deceiving, blaspheming, perse- 
 cuting, destroying; and the remnant of the 
 woman's seed is being driven by the Dragon 
 into the wilderness. This is on the earth. 
 At the same time the Man-Child has been 
 caught up unto God, and his throne. In the 
 heavenlies, the Lord and his elect are 
 gathered in a joVous and everlasting union; 
 and before The Throne^ and in the presence 
 
182 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV 
 
 of the Living Ones, and the Elders, with 
 harp and voice, they sing their "new song, 
 and the shout of their triumph is as the voice 
 of many waters, and as the voice of a great 
 thunder. ' ' 
 
 This scene does not represent progressive 
 events, or if so, to a very limited extent. 
 Everything as we have suggested, in chap- 
 ters 12: J 3: and 14:, excepting the first five 
 verses of chapter twelve, has a common 
 starting point — the sounding of the 7th 
 trumpet. The exact status in the heavens 
 and on the earth at this instant of time, is, as 
 it were, photographed, that the Seer might 
 behold and understand the situation, and 
 might write it out for the study of the future 
 Church. The events pictured in 12:1-6, the 
 birth of the Man-Child, his danger from the 
 Dragon, and his being caught up to God (the 
 translation), transpire just before the sound- 
 ing of the 7th trumpet, and are the same as 
 those represented in chapter 11:1-15. They 
 are the last acts under the 6th trumpet. The 
 7th follows immediately. The re-introduc- 
 tion here* of the same events is explanatory. 
 It is also necessary to the unity and beauty of 
 the most beautiful of pictures. The pictures 
 that follow, and that photograph the exact 
 
 *12:l-6. 
 
Scene 4th. REVBlvATION, 14: 188 
 
 conditions in heaven and earth the moment 
 after the yth trumpet has sounded, are (i), 
 the Dragon expelled from the heavenlies, and 
 coming down to earth in great wrath (12:7 
 &c); (2), the woman having delivered up her 
 Child (the translation), fleeing with the rem- 
 nant of her seed into the wilderness from the 
 wrath of the Dragon (12:6, 14 &c); (3), the 
 Beast of the sea (13:1 <-Scc) energized by the 
 Dragon, exalting himself and beginning his 
 blasphemous career; (4), the Beast of the 
 earth (13:11 &c) taking form and by means 
 of the power given unto him, identifying 
 himself with, and greatly sustaining the sea- 
 Beast: (5), the Lamb and his 144,000 
 gathered on the Mount Sion in the heaven- 
 lies (i4:i&c.) Such is the position of things 
 in the heavenly places and on the earth; im- 
 mediately after the 7th Angel sounds; and so 
 they continue, modified by the circumstances 
 incident to the out pouring of the vials, dur- 
 ing the next 3^ years — to "the end" the 
 pouring out of the last vial. 
 
 V. I. In chapter 11:12 and 12:5, there 
 has been given us as seen from the earth, 
 the last glimpse of the translated ones. ' 'They 
 ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their 
 enemies beheld them." They were caught 
 up to God and His throne. Here is the next 
 scene. This is what followed immediately 
 
184 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act fV. 
 
 after they were "caught up unto God." In 
 Matt. 25:10 &c. , we are shown the outside of 
 the shut door, and what took place without. 
 Here we are privileged to look within. We 
 now see the trysting place and the banqueting 
 hall, and we can feast our eyes and ears on 
 what is there taking place. The Bride is 
 with the Bridegroom. The Church trium- 
 phant is with its exalted head. * 
 
 ''The La77ib'' (R. V.) This is the same 
 who "is in the midst of The Throne ^"^ ^ ^ 2,nA 
 who tends his people with a shepherd's care,t 
 And it is also the same Lamb whose wrath is 
 so terrible to his enemies. § 
 
 ''Motmt Sioji.'' Where is it? It is the 
 "holy dwelling place" of the Most High, 
 even heaven. || 
 
 ''An htindred Jm^ty and four thonsand.^^ 
 They are the same as those of chapter 7:4, 
 9. They are also the witnesses of 1 1 :i2, and 
 the Man-Child of 12:5. They are they who 
 through all the ages have "come out of great 
 tribulation, and have washed their robes, and 
 made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "1 
 They are the gathering together of two 
 classes of saints — those who are asleep and 
 those who at this moment of time are alive 
 and yet in the flesh, and who shall be 
 
 *L Thess. 4:14. t5:6. :}:7:9, 17. >^6:10 &c. ||2 Chroii. 
 30:27. Heb. 12:22, 23, 'Seep: 94. 7:14. 
 
Scene 4th. REVELATION, 14: 185 
 
 changed in a moment in the twinkling of an 
 eye.* In the scene of the transfiguration, we 
 have these two classes represented in the per- 
 sons of Moses and Elijah. Moses, who died 
 and was buried on the Mount; and Elijah, 
 who was translated in the chariot of fire. 
 
 ^^Havmg his narne^ and the ftame of his 
 Father^ written on their foreheads^ ^ (R. V.) 
 This is in contrast with those w^ho have the 
 mark of the Beast in their hands, and on their 
 foreheads, t 
 
 V, J. ' ''A7id they sung as it were a nezvsong. ' ' 
 This is the first time the conditions are such 
 as to call forth this song. It was never pos- 
 sible before. The number of "the elect " is 
 now completed. Up to this time it had been 
 an incomplete and a divided Church, a part 
 struggling on earth, a part waiting in heaven. % 
 But now it is a completed, and an united 
 body, its song is therefore possible, and pos- 
 sible for the first time. Israel could not sing 
 their song of triumph until all had passed 
 safely through the sea and were on the other 
 shore, ^^ and it was only those who had been 
 ''redeemed from the earth" who could sing 
 this song. " It presupposes the entire depth 
 and circuit of their experience, and the whole 
 
 * 1. Cor. 15:51 &c. 1. Thess. 4:13, &c. tl'^:16. 
 
 jRev. 6:9 &c. ^Ex. 15: 
 
186 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 state of their being brought from the earth. ' ' * 
 Neither the Living Ones, nor the Elders, 
 take part in this song. It is sung^ "before" 
 them, i. e. in their presence. They cannot 
 join in it. This is conclusive evidence 
 that they do not symbolize the Redeemed 
 Church, t 
 
 V. 4. These redeemed ones are desig- 
 nated by six marks. 
 
 (a) "They are virgins." The Greek 
 word is applicable to men as well as to 
 women. It is clearly used here in a spiritual 
 sense — they have kept themselves from idol- 
 atry. In Clip. 15:2, we have this same com- 
 pany described as those who "had gotten the 
 victory over the Beast, and over his image, 
 and over his mark," etc. Whoredom and 
 adultery are figures of constant occurrence in 
 scripture to denote spiritual unfaithfulness. 
 They are frequently used in connection with 
 Israel. J Such is the condition of the Church 
 in Thyatira.§ Paul hopes to present the 
 whole Corinthian Church to Christ as " a 
 chaste virgin. "|| So in Matt. 25: the Church 
 is represented under the figure of ten virgins. 
 In Chp. 7: this same company (the 144,000) 
 
 ^ Lange, Rev., p. 278. fSee p. 59, &c. jNum. 25:1-4: 
 Jer. 2:3: Ezek. 6:28: Hos. 1:3: ^^Rev. 2:20&c. ||2, Cor. 
 11:2. 
 
Scene ^th. REVELATION, 14: 187 
 
 are called "Israel. " As the name "Israel" 
 has been there taken in a figurative sense, so 
 must we here regard the term ' 'virgins. " It is 
 used as the anthithesis of ' 'harlot' ' in Chp. ij: 
 We have no question as to the symbolic mean- 
 ing of "harlot" in that chapter, we need 
 have none as to the import of ' 'virgins' ' here. * 
 
 (b) ^^They follozv the Lamb whitherso- 
 ever he goethy This was the command 
 laid upon them while in the world, and as 
 they did it faithfully amid self denials, re- 
 proaches, and great tribulations, so will they 
 continue this following, as "the ransomed of 
 the lyord . . . with songs, and everlasting joy 
 upon their heads."! 
 
 (c) ^^They zvere redeemed ^^ (purchased) 
 (R. V.).+ ^^From arnong men'''' — "God did 
 visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a 
 people for His name. "(Acts, 15:14. Rev. 7:9.) 
 
 (d) ^ ^ They are first fruits tinto God^^ &c. 
 "Every man in his own order: Christ the 
 first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's 
 at his coming" § It includes all the Re- 
 deemed of all dispensations up to the time of 
 this gathering on Mount Sion. 
 
 (e) ' '/;/ tJieir mouth zvas found jw guile. ' ' 
 They were true in their allegiance and their 
 service. "Faithful even unto death. " 
 
 *Ezek. 6:99. j Is. 35:10. Rev. 7:14 &c. 1 1 Peter. 
 1:18 &c. \X Cor. 15:20, 23. 
 
188 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 (f) ''They are ivithoiit faiUty Their 
 qualities are summed up in this one word — 
 faultless. The promise has been fulfilled. 
 They have not only been kept from falling, but 
 they have been ' 'presented faultless before the 
 presence of his glory with exceeding joy."* 
 This is the Church that Christ loved, and for 
 which He gave Himself, "that he might 
 scanctify and cleanse it, with the washing 
 of water by the word; that He might present 
 the Church to Himself, glorious, not having 
 spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that 
 it should be holy and without bjemish."t 
 
 Vs. 6 and j. We enter now upon a new 
 series, of visions. Let it be remembered that 
 all these scenes are prior to the judgments. 
 The vial-angels have not yet started on their 
 mission of wrath. J All that we are now 
 considering, and that we have considered, is 
 initiative. It is preparing the Seer to under- 
 stand the better, the onward movement of the 
 history, with its succession of judgments, . 
 when it shall be resumed. We are now see- 
 ing from the heavenly stand-point. We have 
 witnessed the gathering of the 144,000 on 
 Mount Sion, their meeting with the Lamb, 
 and we have also heard the voice of their ex- 
 ultation. They still occupy this position, 
 
 *Jude, 24. lEph. 5:25-28. JChp. 10: 
 
Scene 4th. REVELATION, 14: 189 
 
 and will continue to do so, until the King 
 rides forth with his armies, and begins His 
 grand movement towards the earth. The 
 first of these visions that follow relates to the 
 coming judgments. It pictures to the Seer 
 three Announcing Angels. The first is 
 the Gospel-preaching angel. "When the 
 fullness of the time was come" for the first 
 advent, angels announced the birth of the 
 Son of Man; and later on, his messenger 
 went before his face to prepare his way be- 
 fore him, and to proclaim that the kingdom 
 of heaven was at hand. So now at this his 
 second advent there doubtless will be ample 
 warning^ griven the Church and the World 
 that they may prepare for his coming. The 
 angel is seen flying "in the midst of heaven 
 having the everlasting Gospel to preach," &c. 
 The ascension of the witnesses* produces 
 great consternation. The five excluded virgins 
 will now have oil in their lamps. The rem- 
 nant of the Woman's seed will unhesitatingly 
 testify in behalf of their coming Lord, and 
 there will be thus a general proclamation of 
 2d advent doctrines to all them that dwell on 
 the earth. 
 
 V. 8. This is the second Announcing An- 
 gel. The burden of his message is — •■ 
 
 ai:12, 13. 
 
190 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 "Babylon is fallen." It has been decreed, 
 and therefore in God's sight it is accom- 
 plished. Bear in mind that these scenes are 
 from the heavenly stand-point. May we 
 venture the suggestion that they are not 
 only to help the Seer to a better understand- 
 ing of coming judgments, but also the 
 newly glorified Church, and even the living 
 creatures, and the Elders. Satan is no longer 
 present, and the Divine purposes are now, 
 therefore, being unfolded with unwonted 
 clearness to the angels, who desire to look 
 into these things. 
 
 ^''Babylon.^^ The manner in which this 
 judgment was executed is given more fully in 
 Chp. 1 8. 
 
 There is a very general agreement that 
 Rome is here symbolized by Babylon. We 
 prefer seeing in the symbol the God-defying 
 world-power of Gentile dominion. Baby- 
 lon was the beginning of this world-power. 
 It was the mother city, and is used therefore 
 appropriately to represent its entire social 
 and commercial systems to the end. Thus 
 we speak of Rome as the representative of 
 the religious system that centers there. So 
 we make London, Paris, or any of the great 
 capitals, stand for their respective countries, 
 when we would speak of their policy, their 
 
Scene ith. REVELATION, 14: 191 
 
 commercial standing, &c. (Seep. 211, &c. , 
 and 217, <S:c.) 
 
 Vs. p-ii. The third Announcing Angel 
 here delivers his message. It is one of warn- 
 ing. It may be that these angels (messen- 
 gers) signify a revival of Gospel preaching 
 by the remnant of the woman's seed, and that 
 their utterances indicate the burden of the 
 message that shall then be delivered. And if 
 so, we learn that in that day the Church will 
 not shrink from preaching concerning a 
 coming Christ, a judgment, and a hell. 
 
 The Dragon will have cause to be wroth 
 with the woman, and the two Beasts will make 
 war with the saints. They, therefore, that 
 keep the commandments of God, and the 
 faith of Jesus, will have need of patience. 
 
 (V. 12.) 
 
 V. jj: ''''Blessed are the dead ivhich die 171 
 the Lord from henceforth.^ ^ From this time 
 on to "the end" — from the beginning of this 
 last half of Daniel's last week. According 
 to our scheme of interpretation, this is the 
 period of these prophecies (11:15, &c. And 
 12: 13: and 14:) that we are now consider- 
 ing. In prophetic time we are standing just 
 31^ years from the time of "the end." 
 The translation is an accomplished fact. 
 The "great tribulation" is about be- 
 ginning. The remnant of the woman's 
 
192 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 seed is still upon the earth. During the 
 continuance of these 3^ years their condi- 
 tion will be truly pitiable. The Dragon in 
 his wrath is making such war upon them 
 as he has never done before. Blessed are 
 they who by a natural death are called away, 
 and are thus spared this prolonged suffer- 
 ing during these 1,260 days. 
 
 V. 14. We have had the three Announc- 
 ing Angels. We now have the three Ex- 
 ecuting Angels. The Lord Christ is at 
 the head of these as he was at the head of 
 the others. As the head of the first trio, 
 he appears as the Lamb surrounded by his 
 triumphant Church, because these announce- 
 ments (of a preached Gospel and of Baby- 
 lon fallen, and of wrath on the Beast-wor- 
 shipers) are for his Church. His Church on 
 earth possibly is to be his agent (his angels) 
 in keeping these facts before the world. But 
 now he appears in the majesty of judgment, 
 and he is the "Son of Man" (Matt. 24:30. 
 26:64. 2 Thess. 1:7, &c.) These angels at 
 his commanding, come forth out of the 
 temple to execute wrath upon a world that 
 will not be warned. (Matt. 13:30. Lange, 
 on Rev. in loco.) 
 
 The fulfillment of these prophetic pictures 
 is yet future. Any attempt at explanation 
 must be only conjectural — guessing. They 
 
Scene 5th. REVELATION, 15: 193 
 
 are an announcement of what is to come. The 
 fact of the fulfilhnent is recorded in 17:16, 
 and 18: and 19: 19, &c. 
 
 Revelation 15:16: 
 
 Act IV. 11:15, &c., to 20:1-4. 
 
 Scene 5 th. — Chp. 15:16: 
 
 Location. — Partly in heaven, and partly 
 on earth. 
 
 Dramatis Personce. — The Seven Vial- An- 
 gels. " Them that had gotten the victory." 
 The Living Ones. The Unclean vSpirits. 
 
 Time. — The last three and a half years of 
 Daniel's last week. 
 
 It is still a heavenly picture we are con- 
 sidering. The drama, however, begins now 
 to move on. x\t first sight this chapter ( 1 5) 
 with its song of triumph and its opened 
 temple, seems a repetition of Chp. 11:15, etc. 
 It is rather a going back to that scene than a 
 repetition of it. In that scene the temple 
 of God was opened. It was just at this 
 point that the digression began, and it is to 
 this point that the seer is again brought 
 (V. 5) that he may, as it were, take a fresh 
 start There are some new features here, 
 e. g. the "seven angels having the seven last 
 plagues," and the song, which is unmistak- 
 ably that of the translated. But these be- 
 
194 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 long legitimately to that first scene, and pos- 
 sibly were represented; but their narration 
 has been delayed until the explanations to 
 be given would make them more intelligible. 
 
 It was suggested that the onward move- 
 ment of the prophetic history was interrupt- 
 ed at the close of Clip. ii. Then the 
 Temple of God had just been opened in 
 heaven. The object of this interruption was, 
 as stated, to give the seer an intelligent out- 
 look of the heavenly and the earthly situa- 
 tion at the opening of this last half of 
 Daniel's Seventieth Week. All between, from 
 Chap. 12: to 15:6, we regarded as explanatory, 
 and intended to prepare the Seer for the 
 better understanding of the coming judg- 
 ment scenes. For our own assistance let 
 us again recall these scenes. 
 
 {a) The Church in pain (because of per- 
 secutions), and ready to be delivered of her 
 Man-child 12:1, 2. 
 
 {b) A great apostasy. Vs: 3, 4. 
 
 {c) The translation. V. 5. After this, 
 the translated Church becomes a feature in 
 the pictures. These three events are just 
 prior to the 7th trumpet, or the beginning of 
 the last half of Daniel's Week. What fol- 
 lows is immediately after the trumpet sounds. 
 
 (d) War in heaven, and Satan cast down 
 to the earth. Vs. 7-10. 
 
Scene sih. REVELATION, 15: 195 
 
 {e) Joy in heaven over the event. Vs. 
 •0-13. 
 
 (/) The woman flying into the wilderness. 
 and protected. Vs. 6, 14. 
 
 {g) The wrath of the Dragon, and his 
 war on the seed, which continues to the end. 
 Vs. 13, 17. 
 
 (//) Tlie starting on their career of the sea 
 and the earth- Beast. Chp. 13: 
 
 (/) The Lamb and his Church triumphant 
 on Mount Sion. 14:1-16. 
 
 (/) The three Announcing, and the three 
 Executing Angels. 14:6, &c. 
 
 These are pictures that reveal to the Seer 
 the status of all the parties, who will be in 
 one way and another concerned or involved 
 in the coming judgments. The whole is 
 preparatory. It is a mapping out of positions, 
 and a description of the coming actors. It 
 is information, essential to the leader on the 
 eve of great events or conflicts. The com- 
 mander-in-chief from some eminence is sur- 
 veying his proposed battle field. His aides 
 are about him. Yonder he has massed his 
 infantry. His cavalry are hidden away in 
 the valley. The artillery occupies the ele- 
 vations. He takes in the whole situation. 
 x\ll is now ready. It waits but the appointed 
 hour, and the word of command. So here, 
 after these pictures have been shown him, 
 
196 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 the Seer is able to take in and understand 
 the positions and relations of all the parties 
 concerned in this approaching conflict be- 
 tween the powers of good and evil. 
 
 And thus taught and prepared, the Seer, 
 in Chp. 15, is carried back to the initial 
 scene of the 7th trumpet* — the triumphant 
 song, and the open temple. This time, 
 however, the prophetic history moves on to 
 its completion. 
 
 V. 7. Reference is not made again to the 
 7th angel- trumpeter. He had sounded f and 
 all that follows is consequent upon it. We 
 had already been told of this opening of the 
 temple. That, together with the anthem of 
 the Angelic Hierarchy, is the first event that 
 follows this sounding. % The next is this 
 appearance of these seven angels, § having 
 the last seven plagues. They come from 
 the Open Temple (V. 6) of Chap. 11:19. 
 Their procession is not mentioned when 
 we are first told of the opening of this 
 Temple, because the narration there, as we 
 have suggested, was interrupted for a while. 
 But here it is resumed, and just when this 
 course of events was interrupted. Between 
 verses i and 5, on a smaller scale, we have 
 a repetition of this parenthetical structure. 
 
 ni:15,etc. tll:lo. |11;19. ^15:1. 
 
Scene 5th. REVEiLATlON, 15: 197 
 
 Verse i pictures the procession of the seven 
 angels with their plagues. Verses 2, 3, and 
 4, give us the song of those who had gotten 
 the victory over the beast; and verse 5 takes 
 us back again to the temple scene of V. i, 
 and to the out-going angels. And thus it is 
 after this larger interruption — the Seer is 
 taken back in V. i (Chp. 15), and again in 
 V. 5, to the same opened temple, he had 
 seen in Chp. 11:19. ^^^ ^^^w from amid 
 its lightenings, and voices, and thunderings, 
 he beholds these seven angels coming out. 
 The progress of the prophetic history is 
 thus resumed, and all in between these 
 two points * must be regarded therefore as 
 parenthetical, 
 
 V. 2. These are clearly the redeemed 
 ones — the whole Church of Chp. 14: Their 
 song is not to be associated with that of the 
 Living Ones, and the Elders of 11:15, etc. It 
 is entirely distinct. To have introduced it 
 when that first song was sung, would have 
 been utterly confusing to the Seer. He would 
 have been bewildered as at the Elder's ques- 
 tion in Chp, 7:13, etc. But now that he has 
 been shown the Man-child caught up to God, 
 and Mount Sion with the Lamb and his 
 144,000, he has no difficulty in deciding 
 
 11:19, & 15:6. 
 
198 THE APOCAIvYPTiC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 who they are that sing- this song of Moses 
 and the Lamb. 
 
 The order of events seems to run thus. The 
 seventh Angel sounds.* At once, amid the 
 anthems of angelic hosts, the temple opens, f 
 and the seven Angels make their appearance. J 
 Then the ransomed ones take up the strain, 
 and sing their song of Moses and the Lamb. § 
 
 K J. Moses was the agent of a deliver- 
 ance that called forth a song of triumph 
 from God's people. || That was a type and 
 fore-casting of this deliverance of God's 
 Church, of which Christ is the author and 
 the perfecter.T[ 
 
 Vs, 5, etc. The opened temple, the issu- 
 ing Angels, the living ones presenting them 
 with the seven vials full of the wrath of 
 God, no man suffered to enter the temple un- 
 til these plagues shall be poured out — these 
 things have their significance, but the time 
 for their unfolding is not yet. 
 
 Chapter i6. 
 And now the last awful scene of the drama 
 begins. Let us, even at the risk of too much 
 repetition, go back a little, and take in as fully 
 as we can the order and meaning of the sym- 
 bols as we have been interpreting them. 
 
 ni:16. tl:16 19. ±15:1 & 6. $:$ 15:2-5. ||Ex. 16. 
 Heb. 3:1 7. 
 
Scene oth. REVELATION, 16: 199 
 
 The yth seal contained the seven trum- 
 pets,* and the 7th trumpet contains the 
 vials, t 111 the visions connected with the 
 seals, we recognized the history of Gentile 
 dominion (" the times of the Gentiles "), to- 
 gether with that of the Church (visible and 
 invisible) in its relation to this dominion. 
 Then in the symbols of the trumpets, we 
 have presented the spiritual and intellectual 
 world forces, and again the history of the 
 Church (visible and invisible) is given, as it 
 stands related to these forces. These histories 
 synchronize. They have a common starting 
 point, the cutting off of Messiah the Prince; 
 and a common terminus at or about the mid- 
 dle of Daniel's last week — "in the midst 
 of the week. "I At the sounding of the 7th 
 trumpet, § these histories are taken up again 
 from this common point to which they had 
 all been brought (the middle of Daniel's 
 week), and they are continued to "the end." 
 This 7th trumpet therefore ushers in the 
 events of the last 3 1^ years in their relation to 
 Gentile dominion and theChurch. It was down 
 to this point that the 6th seal and the 6th trum- 
 pet had brought them. Under this 7th trumpet 
 there is given first of all, a description of the 
 
 ^8:1, 2. tn:15&15:l. tDan. 9:27. pi:15. 
 
200 tHE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 various actors * that are to be interested in 
 any way in the coming events, whether in 
 heaven, or earth, or under the earth. And 
 what an array of visible and invisible forces 
 they are! Man is but a puppet to be moved 
 at their pleasure, and to be crushed by their 
 power. All these forces are marshaled be- 
 fore the Seer. He is placed in a position 
 where he can at a glance command every 
 movement; and when everything is so ex- 
 plained that he can take in intelligibly all 
 that will transpire, then the great movement 
 connected with this yth trumpet begins. 
 — The sealed ones are on Mount Sion; they 
 are safe, having escaped those things that are 
 coming on the earth: The Anti-christ has 
 taken his Dragon-given seat, and has started 
 on his career of conquest and of blasphemy, 
 upheld by the earth-Beast, and the Harlot- 
 woman: the earth is ripe for vengeance :t the 
 messengers of wrath are commissioned, % and 
 the command given them § to go their ways: 
 the Angels of Clip. 7:1, etc., are no longer 
 restrained, and "the four winds" are loosed, 
 and now rush on earth, and sea, and trees, an 
 overwhelming storm. And this time it is not 
 man's wrath; but " the wrath of the Lamb; 
 
 11:15 &c. to 15:1-6. tl4:15. :|15:6. ^16:1. 
 
Scene 5th. REVELATION, 16: 201 
 
 for the great day of his wrath is come; and 
 who shall be able to stand?' ' * 
 
 V. I. The third and last woe is come, f 
 It is the Anti-christian night of the world. 
 Its last hour, and its darkest, because it just 
 preceeds the dawn — the Parousia, 
 
 If our theory of interpretation is correct, 
 we^ are dealing with last things, and con- 
 sequently with things future. It is impos- 
 sible therefore to conjecture the nature of 
 these plagues. 
 
 In connection with the seven trumpets, 
 and the seven vials under them, Bp. Elliott 
 calls attention to the taking of Jericho, the 
 fall of the first city that obstructed Israel's 
 entrance into Canaan. The Israelites march- 
 ed around the city once for six successive 
 days, blowing their trumpets; on the seventh 
 djxy they compassed it seven times. . "It al- 
 most seems, ' ' says Elliott, ' 'as if some power 
 were marked out hereby as the N. T. Jericho, 
 whose domination opposed and whose over- 
 throw would introduce the Saints' enjoyment 
 of the heavenly Canaan."! 
 
 V. 2^ cfc. The vials are poured out upon 
 the earth, sea, rivers, fountains, air. All 
 nature becomes disjointed. What was the 
 life and happiness of man now turns against 
 
 *6:16,17. tll:14. Jlvange, on Rev., p. 
 
 213. 
 
202 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 him. Note the rapidity with which the vials 
 follow each other. The Lord is making quick 
 work of it. He will execute his judgments 
 speedily. 
 
 V. 6. ^''For they have shed {poured oict 
 R, V.) the blood of saints'' (2fc.* "Blood 
 to drink." They shall be satiated with 
 slaughter, ^. ,^,, as during the French revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 V. y. ^^ And I heard the Altar., saying'^ 
 &c. R. V. Perhaps those who cry in Clip. 
 6:9, &c. 
 
 Vs. lo-ii. Cf 9:20, 21. The source of 
 this delusion that could thus harden their 
 hearts and drive them to defiance against 
 the power that was crushing them, is to be 
 found in verse 14. See also 17:12-15, and 
 19: 19. 
 
 V. I J. ^^ Three tin clean spirits.,'' — A 
 trinity of evil. They accord with the "se- 
 ducing spirits," and their "doctrines of 
 devils," that the Apostle Paul tells us of i. 
 Tim. 4:1 &c. Their mission is by the 
 specious reasoning of worldly wisdom to 
 blind the eyes of men to the truth, and to 
 harden their hearts against the God of 
 heaven. The Beast and the False Prophet 
 are their agencies. 
 
 ^Lu. 18:7-8. Rev. 6:11. 
 
Scejiesth. REVELATION, 16: 203 
 
 V. 14. " That great day of God A Imigh ty. ' ' 
 This day is to be carefully distinguished 
 from "the coming of the Lord." That has 
 taken place already. It was for his people. * 
 They are now (at this stage of the prophetic 
 history) with him on Mount Sion, spectators 
 of these earthly judgments. The day of the 
 Lord is his coming for vengeance. These 
 tribulations are only the preludes to it. Cf 
 Mai. 4: Joel, 2: 2. Thess. 1:7, &c. 
 
 ''To gather them'' &c. Cf Joel, 3:9, &c, 
 Ezek. 38:39: Dan. 12:1. Zech. 12:14: 
 
 In Ezek. 38: and 39: the Revisers read: 
 "Son of Man, set thy face toward Gog, 
 of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh 
 (C*K")), Meshech, and Tubal, &c." (V. 2). 
 Meshech may stand for Moscow, and Tubal 
 for Tobalsk. 
 
 The "Gog" mentioned here (Ezek. 38, 2), 
 is not to be confounded with the ' 'Gog' ' of 
 Rev. 20:8. The two struggles may be 
 wrapped up in this prophecy of Ezekiel. But 
 this up-rising of i6:i4t is to be introductory 
 to the millennium, that of Chp. 20: will be 
 after, and just before the final judgment. 
 
 V. ij. This reads like a parenthesis. The 
 R. V. marks it as such. It is the oft re- 
 
 *2. Thess. 2:1. And 1. Thess. 4:13, &c. tCf. 17:12-15. 
 And 19: 19. 
 
204 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 peated warning of the Master, and it is al- 
 ways addressed to his Church.* True and 
 faithful ones, will then, as now, be found in 
 every portion of the visible Church. 
 
 The Seer's attention is for a moment 
 diverted from the onward movement of the 
 vision, to receive this message from his Lord, 
 that he may write, and hand it downf to the 
 Church, t It is intended especially for the 
 Church of that day — the woman hiding in 
 the wilderness. It will not only be a source 
 of warning, but of hope and cheer to the 
 remnant ol the seed in this their hour of 
 great perplexity and distress. 
 
 ' 'Keepeth his garments. " Cf 3 : 1 8. 
 
 V . 16. The movement of the vision is 
 resumed. '^And he gathered^^ &(i. The re- 
 visers translate — "they." This is better. 
 The reference then would be to the ' 'three 
 unclean spirits" of V. 13 — "and they 
 gathered, &c." '^Armagedo)i.^^ More cor- 
 rectly Har-Magedon. Har, signifies mount- 
 ain. Some have fancied that they can lo- 
 cate the spot. It is certain that this battle- 
 field will not be far distant from Jerusalem. 
 
 V. ly. ^^ The seventh angel poured out his 
 vial, &c.'' It is the last. The 7th seal un- 
 folded into the seven trumpets, and the sev- 
 
 *Matt. 24: 43,14. Lu. 12:89,40. 1. Thess. 5:2, &c. 
 tlO:ll. tl2:17. 
 
Scene sth. REVELATION, 16: 205 
 
 enth trumpet into the seven vials. But there is 
 no unfolding for the seventh vial. There are 
 no more developments. This is the end. 
 ' '// is done. ' ' A cry once went up from the 
 cross — "It is finished." That death and 
 that cry were great mysteries. But they 
 were only a part of the one great mystery of 
 sin. That, too, is now finished. "It is 
 done." The full measure of divine judg- 
 ment is meted out. The last drop in the 
 cup once filled with wrath has been poured 
 out, and the very dregs thereof the wicked 
 of the earth have wrung out and drank, "^ The 
 result is that the earth is a wreck. Its phy- 
 sical conditions are disturbed; its governments 
 have ceased to be; its social order and com- 
 merce are broken up; and multitudes of its 
 inhabitants are slaughtered. Those that re- 
 main are terror stricken, and their hearts fail- 
 ing them for fear of what may be coming. 
 Satan and the two Beasts have not yet been 
 judged. They are still on the earth, and 
 now realize fully their defeat and coming 
 doom. But one more event is waited for. The 
 Lord is at hand indeed. Not only heaven, 
 but earth and hell now regard it as certain. 
 Just at this point there is again an inter- 
 ruption in the onward movement of the 
 
 *Ps. 75:8. 
 
206 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV- 
 
 drama, and it extends through Chps. 17: 
 and 18: The object of this interruption is to 
 show the Seer the results of the out-pouring 
 of these vials — to let him see as it were, the 
 wreckage. 
 
 Revelation 17: 
 
 Act IV. 11:15 &c. to 20: 1-4. 
 
 Scene^ 6th. Chps. 17. 18: 
 
 Location. The earth. 
 
 Dra^natis PersoncE . The Harlot. The 
 Sea Beast. The ten Kings. The explain- 
 ing Angel. 
 
 Time. At the end of Daniel's week, after 
 the pouring out of the last vial, and just 
 prior to the Parousia. 
 
 The first object to which the seer's atten- 
 tion is called is ' ' the great Harlot that 
 sitteth upon many waters," and the judg- 
 ment upon her. That he may the better 
 understand who this woman is, and how her 
 judgment is brought about, the explaining 
 Angel takes him back a little in the order of 
 events. At the beginning of the career of the 
 sea-Beast and of the ten Kings, or King- 
 doms,* this Harlot had long been enticing 
 and debauching the nations. For centuries 
 
 n3:l, &c., 17;13. 
 
Scene 6th. REVELATION, 17: 207 
 
 she had been drunk with the blood of the 
 saints, and had been making the inhabitants 
 of the earth drunk with the wine of her forni- 
 cation. 
 
 The sea-Beast — the ''symbol of the aggre- 
 gate of the empires of this world as opposed 
 to Christ," as we learn from 13:3 and 17:8, 
 receives a wound unto death, and for a while 
 is not. But his wound is healed, and he is 
 again. It was suggested that this wounding 
 to death was the wiping out of all social 
 order and monarchical forms of government, 
 by means of socialism, communism, etc.* 
 Out of the chaotic state that will follow, the 
 Beast of the sea, the eighth head, would 
 arise. The Harlot woman (the Apostate 
 Church) will be the first to welcome him, and 
 to assist him in grasping the reins of govern- 
 ment and in restoring order. For this assist- 
 ance the Beast and the ten Kings will for a 
 while be very grateful, and will carry the 
 woman — will enrich her, and sustain her in 
 her assumptions and aggrandizements. As 
 they acquire power, however, and progress 
 in their sacriligious claims and blasphemies, 
 they will realize that the woman is in their 
 way and troublesome, and too much of a 
 burden to carry. They will therefore turn 
 
 *See p. 165, &c. 
 
208 THB APOCAIvYPTiC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 against her and hate her.* And thus it 
 comes to pass, according to the Angel, that 
 the ten horns and the Beast are of one mind 
 in hating, and in destroying the woman. 
 
 V. I. "/ ivill show tmto ///<?^," &c. It 
 was one of the seven vial-angels. He had 
 already executed his office. The judgment 
 was a thing of the past. 
 
 ' ' The great Harlot ' ' (R. V. ). A woman f 
 is almost exclusively the symbol of the 
 Church, and a harlot — an adulterous woman, 
 of an Apostate Church. Jer. 2:3: Ezek. 
 16:23: Hos. 1:3: 2 Cor. 11:2. C£ Eph. 5:25- 
 27. Num. 25:1, &c. Cf. Rev. 2:14. 
 
 '' Many zvaters.'' Cf V. 15. Her exist- 
 ence and power rests upon the ignorance 
 and superstitions of many peoples. The 
 Roman and Greek Churches number at the 
 present time fully 250,000,000. 
 
 Kj. " The Wilderness^ ^ is here equiva- 
 lent to, and is explained by the "many 
 waters" of Vs. i and 15. The expression is 
 used in this sense in Ezek. 20:35, 36. God 
 says to Israel — " I will bring you into the 
 Wilderness of the people," &c. If this is the 
 correct interpretation, then the Seer must be 
 understood as saying — he (the Angel) gave 
 me spiritual comprehension to perceive (take 
 
 *17:16. tSee p. 143. 
 
Scene 6th. REVELATION, 17: 209 
 
 in) Kingdoms, and great masses of peoples* 
 who had been inveigled into the meshes of 
 this Harlot, and who were sustaining her. 
 
 " / saw a zvomaji sitting upon a scarlet- 
 colored Beast ^^^ i. e. , up-borne, sustained by 
 him. This is a formidable combination. 
 The Beast, and the ten Kings, and the great 
 Harlot — the God-defying World-power, and 
 the Apostate Church, in confederation. It 
 has long existed. It exists now, and will 
 continue during this dispensation. The 
 fowls of the air have taken possession of the 
 tree that had spread its branches to heaven. 
 Yea, the Woman herself mixed her meal 
 with the unholy leaven, until the whole be- 
 came leavened, t But the Witnesses for the 
 sufferings of Jesus, and the glory to follow, 
 must neither be surprised nor discouraged at 
 the successes of the one, nor because of the 
 God-defying assumptions of the other. Their 
 time is coming. 
 
 The position, outward adornments, and 
 atrocious doings, of this woman, point un- 
 questionably to the Church of Rome. B. g. 
 Her arrayment in purple, etc. (V. 4.) The 
 word ' ' Mystery'' ' on her forehead (V. 5). 
 We have it on good authority that this word 
 was once inscribed on the pope's tiara. f 
 
 *Matt. 4:8. fMatt. 13:31-34. t^ange on Rev. p. 309. 
 
210 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 ''Mother of Harlots:'' She styles herself 
 ' ' Rome, Mother and Mistress. " " Drunken 
 zvith the blood of the Saints^ ' ' sets forth her 
 merciless fury in shedding the blood of God's 
 people. 
 
 And yet we are not to regard this " great 
 Harlot" as exclusively Rome. In its total- 
 ity, ' 'corrupt, lifeless Christendom is the har- 
 lot." Her assumptions, power, and savage 
 blood-thirstiness, have given Rome the un- 
 enviable prominence as the apostate Church — 
 "The Mother of Harlots." As the 
 woman in Clip. 12: stood for the true (the in- 
 visible) Church, bearing her Man-child that 
 is caught up to God, and still continuing in 
 the world with the remnant of her seed per- 
 secuted by Satanic power; so this woman 
 symbolizes "the unfaithful Church generally 
 and universally " in its apostasy, and affiilia- 
 tion with the Antichristian power. It is not 
 only the Roman, but the Greek Church, and 
 those Protestant Churches that affiliate with 
 them in their ecclesiastical views. Because of 
 her prominence, Rome is made to stand for 
 the whole apostasy. It will be a unit in lend- 
 ing itself to the sea-Beast and the ten Kings; 
 and up to a certain point it will be an all 
 important factor in promoting their designs. 
 
 This confederacy is of long standing, and 
 this united action in carrying out satanic pur- 
 
Sce7ie6th. REVELATION, 17: - 211 
 
 pose against the woman's seed at this special 
 time, finds illustration and foreshadowing in 
 the Lord's day, when the visible (the Jewish) 
 Church leagued itself with Gentile power to 
 '* cut off" Messiah. 
 
 ' ' A scarlet_ colored Beast. ' ' This is the 
 same with 13:1, &c. 
 
 K 5. " Mystery. ' ' The Revisers in their 
 margin propose this reading — "and upon 
 her forehead a name written, a mystery, 
 Babylon The Great, ' ' etc. lyange * gives 
 a similar rendering — "on her forehead she 
 has a name written as a mystery, i. e. , whoso- 
 ever is able to read the name, will read the 
 following inscription: " Babylon," etc. This 
 reading of the passage seems to be the correct 
 one, judging from the symbolic use of the 
 word throughout this book. 
 
 ' ' Babylon. ' ' Babel or Babylon, confusion. 
 The name takes us back a long way, even to 
 the plains of Shinar.f Here we have the 
 first record of an high-handed act of open 
 apostasy and rebellion against the Most High. 
 It is the beginning of worldly assumption 
 and rebellion. J Babel soon develops into 
 Babylon. And so Babylon from being the 
 seat, became the symbol of worldliness, and 
 of the Antichristian power. 
 
 -On Rev., p. 307. fGen. 11: tGen. 10: 9, 10. 
 
212 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 This Harlot woman (the Apostate Church) 
 is given this name; because (i) she would 
 (as known by the spirit of prophecy) identify 
 herself with this God-defying Gentile-power; 
 because (2) she would possess the city (Rome), 
 which at the time the vision was given, was 
 the successor of Babylon as the capital of 
 this world-power; because (3) it was from 
 her (all through the iron and clay period of 
 this power) that these kingdoms would derive 
 the cohesion and the strength to enable them 
 to maintain their positions, and to dominate 
 over the peoples and nations; because (4) she 
 would be ever interfering with and influenc- 
 ing the policy and politics of these king- 
 doms; because (5), assuming the spiritual 
 power to be superior to the temporal, and by 
 this means controlling the consciences of the 
 masses (V. 15), she would be enabled to en- 
 force her claims, and thus would be, as she is 
 to-day, a powerful factor in the midst of 
 these world-governments. Hence the state- 
 ment of V. 18, "The woman which thou 
 sawest is that great city, which reigneth over 
 the kings oi the earth." 
 
 She is called "that great city," possibly 
 to designate her from the Babylon of the 
 world-power, because of the heinousness of 
 her apostasy and the magnitude of her 
 claims. The I^ord says: "My kingdom is 
 
Scene 6th. REVELATION, 17 : 213 
 
 not of this world." She says: "It is." 
 And in his name, she has made herself 
 empress of the world, reigning over the 
 kings of the earth, and domineering the con- 
 sciences of men. 
 
 ''The Mother of Harlots.'' This clearly 
 implies that she (the Roman Church) is not 
 alone. It gives her pre-eminence over the 
 others, and she is made to stand for all. The 
 Revisers translate: "The mother of the har- 
 lots, and of the abominations, ' ' etc. 
 
 V. 6. "/ ivondered with great admira- 
 tion'' — "with great wonder," (R. V.) The 
 seer recognizes the symbol (a woman) as that 
 of the Church. Perhaps he recalls her as 
 he had last seen her in Chp. i2, and he is 
 therefore amazed at her present appearance, 
 "drunken with the blood of the saints, and 
 with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and 
 identified with the blasphemous Beast. 
 
 Vs. 8-14. We have identified this Beast 
 with the sea-Beast of Chp. 13, and for our 
 explanation of these verses, see p. 159, &c. 
 
 V. p. ''Here is the mind zvhich hath wis- 
 dom. ' ' Wisdom not of this world, but which 
 Cometh from above. We are reminded of 
 Daniel, 12:4, 9, 10. It is a note of explana- 
 tion and warning intended for the Lord's 
 people who shall be on the earth when these 
 developments come about. His people will 
 
214 THE APOCAIvYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 be found then, as now, hidden away in 
 all the Churches, and to their enlightened 
 minds the call will be understood and 
 appreciated. 
 
 V. i^. ^^ These shall make war witJi the 
 Lamb. ' ' It must be through the remnant of 
 the Woman's seed. Here is the only way 
 that they can strike at the Lamb. The 
 statement helps us to the reason why these 
 powers should turn against the Harlot who 
 had been so helpful to them. In striking at 
 the Harlot, they thought they were warring 
 against the Lamb. But it is a case of mis- 
 taken identity. This woman was a fraud. 
 She was a wretched caricature of the follow- 
 ers of the Lamb — "the called, and chosen, 
 and faithful," Still, in her outward forms, 
 and in her spiritual assumptions, she was a 
 reminder of Him, and in so far was a hin- 
 drance. They hated him and therefore must 
 hate everything that reminded them of Him. 
 "The remnant" were scattered and hidden 
 away. They could only be attacked and 
 slaughtered as individuals. But this woman 
 is ostentatiously visible. She "sitteth upon 
 many waters," and in her corporate capacity 
 she is accessible to those who hate her. 
 
 V. i6. The Beast and ten horns are the 
 instruments in the execution of this judg- 
 ment. This, of course, is prior to their 
 
Scene 6th. REVELATION, 17: 215 
 
 being overcome by the Lamb. Note the 
 four elements of destruction. 
 
 1. They "make her desolate" — by with- 
 drawing the support of the secular arm. 
 
 2. They make her "naked" — they strip 
 her of her false claims and they expose her 
 frauds, and take from her all her spiritual 
 offices. 
 
 3. They "eat her flesh" — her substance 
 — her ill-gotton wealth, and divide it among 
 themselves. 
 
 4. They "burn her with fire." Lange 
 says:* "In a sarcastic auto dafi^ suggestive 
 of so many like proceedings" in her drunken 
 rage against God's children. 
 
 And so the Lord spues the Apostate Church 
 out of his mouth, t 
 
 V. J J. ^^For God hath put it into their 
 hearts to fulfil his ivill^''^ &c. God's grasp 
 upon his government is never relaxed. The 
 heathen may rage, and the people imagine a 
 vain thing, and the Kings of the earth set 
 themselves up, and the rulers take counsel 
 together, and that, too, against the Lord; 
 but his bit is in their mouths. They cannot 
 lift a finger, or take a step, without his per- 
 mission. Nay, more, he orders and controls 
 all their action. And when they think them- 
 
 ^On Rev., p. 309, 13:16. 
 
216 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV 
 
 selves most free and most wise, and most 
 independent, then it is that they are but 
 instruments in accomplishing the good pleas- 
 ure of his will. And yet they are free. 
 What they do, they do from the heart, and 
 with a will. In this instance we are told 
 "these shall hate the Harlot." The de- 
 struction they brought upon her was wholly 
 in accordance with their own desires, and 
 for the accomplishment of their own pur- 
 poses. But Jehovah God, the God whom 
 they had denied and blasphemed, was also 
 accomplishing his purposes. Howbeit they 
 mean not so, neither do their hearts think so. * 
 
 Just at this point in the prophetic history, 
 and by way of review, we may notice the 
 well organized confederacy that has been 
 developed in this portion of the drama, f 
 
 {a) The Dragon^ Chp. 12:3, etc. He is re- 
 presented as having seven heads, etc. By 
 this appearance Satan is identified with 
 Gentile dominion. He has energized it 
 through its long career, beginning with Babel 
 and Nimrod.J And so here he wears the 
 emblems of worldly dominion. He is the 
 power behind the throne. It is not, however, 
 until after he has been excluded from the 
 heavenlies and from the Divine presence, 
 
 *Is. 10:5. &c. tis. 8: 9, &c. Rev. 16: 13, 14. tGeii. 
 10:9. 10. 
 
Scene 6th. REVELATION, 18: 217 
 
 and has come down to the earth,* that he 
 takes human shape, and gives his power, etc.f 
 to a man. His destiny is given us in Chp. 
 2o:io. 
 
 (b) The Beast — the sea-Beast. % His 
 destiny is recorded in Chp. 19:^0. He is 
 not killed, but taken, and cast alive into a 
 lake of fire. All prophetic language points 
 to special judgment upon the Antichrist. § 
 
 (c) "The ten Horns," or Kingdoms, out 
 of which the sea-Beast is to arise, and which 
 will give their power and strength to him. || 
 Their destiny is given us in Chps. 16:14, and 
 19:17, etc. 
 
 {d) ''Another Beast'' — the earth-Beast. If 
 He is the same as the False- Prophet,** His 
 destiny is united with that of the sea-Beast, ft 
 
 {e) ''The great Harlots XX For her destiny 
 see 17:16, etc. 
 
 Chapter 18: 
 
 There is much unanimity in the interpreta- 
 tion of the symbols of these two chapters. §§ 
 The Harlot of the one, and the Babylon of 
 the other, are types of the apostate Church, 
 
 *12:9. tl3:2. +13:1, etc. ^Dati 9:27; 7:11; 8:25; 11:45. 
 2. Thess. 2:8; Rev. 7:11. ||13:1, 17:12, 13. 1113:11. 
 **16:13. ttiy:20. \%\1. ^^The 17: and 18: 
 
218 THE APOCALYTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 i. e. of Rome. Chapter 17:, it is supposed, 
 pictures the Harlot Church, and discloses the 
 agents of her destruction; while chapter 18: 
 describes to us under the symbol of a city — 
 "great Babylon," the results of this destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 There are very serious difficulties that call 
 for explanation before this view can be 
 accepted. It is probable that no explanation 
 can be given that will be free from difficulties, 
 we must therefore examine and choose that 
 which presents the least. 
 
 The statement in V. 18 (17:) — The woman 
 which thou sawest is that great city," etc., 
 seems strongly to favor the close connection 
 and identity of these two chapters. The 
 name "Babylon the Great," that is upon the 
 Harlot's forehead, also strengthens this view. 
 Further, in Vs. 3, 6-9, of Chp. 18, there 
 are expressions and allusions that tally with 
 the descriptions and doings of the Harlot in 
 Chp. 17, and that makes the argument all 
 the stronger in favor of the oneness of these 
 visions. 
 
 On the other hand, there are descriptions 
 and facts to be noted in this 1 8th Chp. that 
 can have no relation to an apostate Church, 
 nor to the city of Rome, as its representative. 
 They seem clearly to indicate that the visions 
 refer to different subjects. 
 
Scene 6th. REVElvATlON, 18: 219 
 
 I. Note the fact that the chapters them- 
 selves seem to give distinct evidence to this 
 effect. The agencies used in describing to the 
 Seer the results of the judgments are differ- 
 ent. Chp. 17: opens with the announcement: 
 "One of the seven Angels which had the 
 seven vials, talked with me," etc., and in 
 Chp. 18: the Seer says: "After these things I 
 saw another Angel come down from heaven, ' ' 
 etc. Here is a different agent. He is not 
 even one of the seven-vialed angels. The 
 conjunction "and," at the beginning of the 
 verse, is omitted by the Revisers, thus dis- 
 connecting the two visions more completely. 
 We seem in this way to be notified that the 
 vision of the Harlot is finished — that we are 
 done with her, and that we are now called to 
 the consideration of other events. 
 
 Keep in mind the situation as we are sup- 
 posing it. The last vial has been poured 
 out. The earth is a wreck. The onward 
 movement of events has been arrested, and 
 the Seer has been called to look upon the 
 results — the debris. The first accomplished 
 judgment to which his attention is directed 
 is that of the woman's — the Harlot's. It is 
 complete. But the woman is not the only 
 subject for judgment. There are many. 
 There are all her confederates. Not one will 
 be allowed to escape. In Chp. 17: we are 
 
220 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 told that she is burnt with fire — consumed 
 utterly. There is nothing more to be said 
 concerning' her. Here ends her history. 
 And now (Chp. i8:), after this picture of 
 completed judgment has been exhibited, an- 
 other angel comes ^to the Seer, and shows 
 him, as we think, another wreck. True, he 
 speaks of this destruction as that of "Babylon 
 the Great" (V. 2), the name given to the 
 apostate Church of Chp. 17:. The reason 
 for the use of this symbol, in connection 
 with the Harlot woman, has already been 
 given. * This apostate Church has been so 
 greedy after political power, and has been so 
 successful — "reigning over the kings of the 
 earth," that of necessity she becomes identi- 
 fied in spirit and in action with the world- 
 power. Consequently the language that is 
 descriptive of the one is also applicable to 
 the other. Thus we can readily reconcile 
 the fact that these two chapters treat of 
 different subjects, although using descriptive 
 language that in several instances is identical. 
 2. Note also that while in Chp. 17: the 
 Harlot is spoken of as "Babylon the Great," 
 in Chp. 18: there is no mention made of the 
 Harlot. The subject of this last vision is — 
 a city, a great centre of political power and 
 
 *p. 211. 
 
Scene 6th. REVELATION, 18: 221 
 
 commercial influence, and if she is called "a 
 queen," and "no widow," it is the self-as- 
 sertion of her own heart. It is also the spirit 
 and language that the O. T. Scriptures 
 ascribe to Babylon, the imperial mistress of 
 the world, the capital of Gentile-power at 
 that time. * All her surroundings are mater- 
 ialistic — merchantmen, ships, commerce, 
 slaves, all kinds of merchandise, enriching 
 herself and others. Very different from this 
 is the woman in Chp. 17: She wears the 
 gorgeous apparel, but she does not sell it, and 
 even where they seem to have things in com- 
 mon there is a difference. E. g. The in- 
 habitants of the earth are said to have been 
 made drunk with the wine of the Harlot's 
 fornication ;t but of this city it is announced 
 that, the nations have drank of the wine of 
 the wrath of her fornification (18:3). In the 
 first instance it is the picture of feasting and 
 debauchers^, delightful to the animal man; 
 in the other, it is the participation in the 
 judgments inflicted.! 
 
 3. The statement V. 24 (18:) is not 
 strictly true of the Harlot of Chp. 17:; but it 
 is of Babylon as the symbol of Gentile 
 dominion. Rome, as an Apostate Church, 
 has for the most part used the secular arm 
 
 *Is. 13:19. 14:4. 47:1, &c. Zepli. 3:15. tl7:2. +Rcv. 
 14:10. 
 
222 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 in her murders. Whereas this world-power 
 has not only slaughtered God's people that 
 have been handed over to it, but multitudes 
 that cannot be charged to Rome. In regard 
 to this power it can truly be said — "and in 
 her was found the blood of prophets, and of 
 saints, and of all that were slain upon earth." 
 The devil was a murderer from the beginn- 
 ing. * 
 
 4. Then observe that in Clip. 17: the 
 Beast and the ten Kings hate the woman. 
 They are of one mind in desiring her destruc- 
 tion, and are the willing instruments in its 
 accomplishment. Not so in the destruction 
 of the Babylon of Chp. 18: Neither the 
 Beast, nor the ten Kings are the instruments, 
 of it. They do not desire it. On the con- 
 trary, they mourn over it. Kings (V. 9), as 
 well as merchants, bewail her. 
 
 5. And observe further, that this lamen- 
 tation by representatives of commerce, never 
 has been, and never can be, applicable over 
 the destruction of an Apostate Church, nor 
 over the City of Rome, as its representative. 
 Rome has never been a commercial city. Her 
 situation is against it, and the lack of states- 
 manship has ever diiven from her gates the 
 commerce that might have drifted towards it. 
 
 7ohn, 8;14. 
 
Scene 6th. REVELATION, 18: 223 
 
 6. And once more let it be noted that 
 while in the 17th chapter the agents of the 
 woman's punishment, and the manner of it, 
 are carefully given; in Chp. i8th, all such 
 information is with-held. The intimation is 
 that it is sudden — "in one hour,'"^ and we 
 are left to the inference that it is effected 
 without human agency. If man had accom- 
 plished her ruin, "the Kings of the earth 
 would have been the agents most forward in 
 the movement; but we read that they are 
 among her chief mourners. 
 
 In view of these considerations, we are dis- 
 posed to regard the Babylon of Chp. 18th, 
 as the symbol of the Babylon of the Euphra- 
 tes. As such, it stands for the civilization 
 and dominion of Gentile power, At the 
 time of this overthrow, it may have been 
 centralized, as in the days of Nebuchadnez- 
 zar. Perhaps after the destruction of the 
 Harlot by the Beast, Rome may be made the 
 capital of his ursurpations, of his commerce, 
 and of his idolatrous practices. We are not, 
 however, so much disposed to regard it as the 
 destruction of a city, as of a system. Baby- 
 lon represents the whole succession of Gen- 
 tile dominion in the culmination of its 
 power, its culture, its prosperity, and its 
 
 *Vs. 10, 19. 
 
224 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 wickedness. It is the world full-ripe for 
 judgment. It is the great metallic image 
 standing on its feet, and the stone crashing 
 against it, and toppling it over, and grinding 
 it to powder. 
 
 Any difficulties that may be suggested by 
 expressions found, e. g. in Vs. 3, 6, 9, 18, 
 will be readily removed, by keeping before 
 us the fact that this world-empire will have 
 assumed at this time an ecclesiastical charac- 
 ter. Like the Apostate Church, it has become 
 a politico-ecclesiastical power. Its head is 
 the Anti-Christ. He has assumed divine pre- 
 rogatives and honors. He has his false- 
 prophet, and performs miracles, and makes 
 merchandise — not only of gold, but of ' 'souls 
 of men," sealing them with his mark, and 
 compelling them to worship him. 
 
 V. 2. The language of this verse is that 
 of the O. T. scriptures. * It was the prophetic 
 denunciation against the Babylon of that 
 day. It is now the announcement of the ful- 
 fillment of these denunciations upon the 
 whole world-system of which Babylon was 
 then the embodiment. 
 
 The angel speaks of this judgment as a 
 thing accomplished — "Babylon is fallen" — 
 "is become," etc. 
 
 ^Is. 13;21, 22; 34:11, 13-15. Jer. 50;5X. 
 
Scene jth. REVELATION, 19: 225 
 
 V. 20. The whole face of things is now 
 changed. The world's day of rejoicing is 
 past. The sorrow of God's people is about* 
 to be turned into joy. The waiting time for 
 the souls under the altar is at an end. * The 
 assurance given to his Church by the Lord 
 in the days of his flesh, is on the eve of ac- 
 complishment — "I will see you again, and 
 your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man 
 taketh from you. ' ' f 
 
 Revelation 19. 
 
 Act IV. 11:15, etc., to 20:1 — 4. 
 
 Sce7ie ph. Chps. 19:20: 1-4. 
 
 Location. Heaven and Karth. 
 
 Dramatis Personce. The King of Kings. 
 The Bride. The Living Ones. The Elders. 
 The Armies of Heaven. The Beast and 
 False-Prophet. Kings of the earth. Satan. 
 
 Time. "The End." 
 
 The onward movement of events is now 
 resumed. It was interrupted, as suggested, 
 at the close of Chp. 17: that the wreck, 
 produced by the vial judgments, might be 
 exhibited to the Seer. There had been vast 
 
 mev. 6:9, etc. tjohn 16:20, 22. 
 
226 THE APOCAIvYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 destruction, yet there is much life remaining 
 on the earth. The Harlot has been burnt, 
 H^nd the great emporium of the world's power, 
 and commerce, and culture, has been thrown 
 down;* but the Antichrist and his False- 
 Prophet are still alive and defiant. The ten 
 kings and their armies, and the merchants and 
 their followers that raised so pitious a cry 
 over their fallen Babylon, these all remain, 
 and their judgment is at hand (19:19, etc.). 
 
 We have seen that there were three ex- 
 planatory pictures given us just after the 
 sounding of the 7th trumpet, t and just prior 
 to the out-pouring of the vials. The course 
 of the prophetic history is arrested to give 
 them. 
 
 1. The first is that of the true (the in- 
 visible) Church, the translation of the Man- 
 Child, and Satan cast down to earth, and 
 persecuting the remnant of her children. J 
 
 2. Next we have the rise and career of 
 the two Beasts. § 
 
 3. And then comes the picture of the 
 Lamb and his 144,000, on Mount Sion — the 
 once invisible and struggling Church, now 
 translated and amid the heavenly glories. 
 
 These are the three pictures explanatory of 
 the situation at the beginning of the last half 
 
 n7;16; 18:21. tll:15. .|12: §13: 
 
Scene jih. REVELATION, 19: 227 
 
 of Daniel's week, and just before the pouring 
 out of the vial judgments. 
 
 Chapter 15th takes us back to the initial 
 scene of the triumphal song of the opened 
 temple.* And Chp. i6th tells us of the 
 going forth of the angels with their vials, 
 and of the judgments that are executed. 
 Once again, we have the history interrupted, 
 but only for a moment, that the Seer may 
 have the opportunity of surveying the ruin 
 that has been produced — the destruction of 
 the Harlot — the false Church; and the over- 
 throw of Babylon, the center of the world's 
 commerce, civilization, and power. 
 
 And now, in Chp. 19:, we are cabled back 
 to the Mount Sion scene of Chp. 14:. That 
 scene was just after the translation, and just 
 before the pouring out of the vials. This (19:) 
 is after the wrath has expended itself. The 
 scene is in the heavens. The "much people" 
 of V, I. (the Redeemed), have been lookers- 
 on at all these dreadful events. These are 
 they who have been counted worthy to escape 
 all those things that have come upon the 
 earth, t They are the "called, and the chosen, 
 and the faithful, "J They heard the voice 
 bidding them in Chp. 18:20, "rejoice over 
 her," etc. And now we have the response: 
 
 *ll:15;etc. fLu. 21:36. $17:14. 
 
228 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 "A great voice of much people in heaven, 
 saying-, Allehiia! Salvation, and glory, and 
 honour, and power, unto the lyord our God," 
 etc. 
 
 And so this 7th scens opens. It is the last 
 grand scene that brings this present dispensa- 
 tion to its close. With Chp. 19th, the move- 
 ment of the prophetic history is resumed, 
 and is not again interrupted until it reaches 
 its glorious consummation. 
 
 V. I. This is the same multitude that has 
 been brought to our notice before in Clips. 
 7:9, and 14:1, &c. 
 
 There is a two-fold cause for the halleluias. 
 
 (a) The destruction of the Harlot, (V. 2.) and 
 
 (b) the marriage of the Lamb, (V. 6.) 
 
 V. J. ''''And her smoke rose up forever 
 
 and ever. ' ' Alas, for the fastidious preachers 
 
 'of our day who cannot so much as say — 
 
 ' 'hell fire. ' ' They will hardly be able to join 
 
 in the halleluias of this rejoicing people! 
 
 V. /. The first portion of this chapter 
 is a grand, responsive choral service. The 
 first three verses are the response of the Re- 
 deemed to the summons in Chp. 18:20. In 
 this verse (4) the Living Ones, and the El- 
 ders, worship, and respond, with their — 
 "amen, alleluia," to the anthems of the Re- 
 deemed. It is the same Throne scene so 
 magnificently pictured in Chp. 4th, After 
 
Scene jth. REVELATION, 19: 229 
 
 this (V. 5. ) there comes a voice from out of 
 The Throne calling upon all the servants 
 of God to praise him, and then is heard the 
 grand chorus from ''a great multitude, as 
 the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
 of mighty thunderings, saying, alleluia! For 
 the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth (V. 6.) 
 
 V. y. ^^Thc marriage of the Lamb^'^^ &c. 
 The Bride is the whole body of the Re- 
 deemed at the time of the Lord's second com- 
 ing; and "the marriage is the union of this 
 body with a personally present Christ in 
 glory and government. "* Another picture of 
 this event is given in Dan. 7:13, &c. , and 
 still another in Rev. 20:4. 
 
 ^^His wife.^^ We have called attention to 
 the fact that throughout the Apocalypse a 
 woman is the symbol of the Church, and 
 that as such it has a three fold sense. 
 
 1. The woman of Clip. 12:, is the true, 
 pure Church. It is the little flock ;t the Be- 
 lievers of all ages ;| the sealed ones; § the faith- 
 ful witnesses on earth, the "called, and 
 chosen, and faithful ;"|| "the blessed company 
 of all faithful people." 
 
 2. The woman of Clip. 17th is the visi- 
 ble Church. She has become a Harlot, 
 apostate, unfaithful to her Lord and spouse. 
 
 -•^E. R. C. in Lange, p. 337. fLu. 12:32. tHeb. 11: 
 ^Rev. 7: i|ll: 17:14. 
 
230 THE APOCAIvYPTiC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 3. The woman of Clip. 19: 7, and 21:9, 
 is the same as at Chp. 12. It is the faithful 
 Church now glorified — the Bride of the 
 lyamb; the wife, partaking of the marriage 
 feast . 
 
 The woman, the Harlot, the Bride. These 
 are the three aspects of the Church as pre- 
 sented to us in the New Testament. The 
 woman is the Church Militant, the Bride is 
 the Church triumphant* 
 
 ' ^Hath made herself ready. ' ' ' 'These are 
 they which have come out of great tribula- 
 tion, and have washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. ' ' f 
 
 V. 8. Note the contrast between the 
 simple dress of the Bride, and the vulgar 
 gorgeousness of the Harlot. J 
 
 ^^The fine lineit is the righteous acts 0/ 
 the saints^ (R. V.) It is their own right- 
 eousness, that which is inherent, as distinct 
 from that which is imputed. § 
 
 V. p. ^^The marriage stepper.^ ^ It was 
 promised long ago — "I will not drink hence- 
 forth of this fruit of the wine, until that day 
 when I drink it new with you in my Father's 
 kingdom. "II "That day" has now come. 
 
 *Auberlin, p. 276. t Rev. 7:14. 22:14. Jude, 24. 
 Eph. 8:20. 5:25, &c. ^17:4. ^Alford in loco. ||Matt. 
 20:29. If 10:4. 
 
Scene jth. REVELATION, 19: 231 
 
 ' ' Wi'ite. ' ' This is in contrast with ' 'seal up 
 those things," &C.1 
 
 V. 10. ^^And I fell dcun before his 
 feet to li^orsliip hwi^ and he said unto ?;/<?, 
 see thou do it not: I am a felloiv servant^'''' 
 (R. V). Clearly there is no saint worship in 
 the Church above. 
 
 V. II. Thus far everything has been pre- 
 paratory. It may be that while the vials are 
 being poured out upon the earth, these events 
 are transpiring in heaven. While earth is 
 being convulsed to its centre, the Mar- 
 riage of the Lamb with his Bride is 
 taking place in heaven with appropriate 
 festivities and rejoicings, the armies of the 
 King are gathering, and the King himself 
 is preparing to go forth in righteousness to 
 judge and to make war. And now the last 
 vial is drained, and the Seer has beheld the 
 wreckage. All is ready, and — heaven opens. 
 It had opened on the Christ in his humilia- 
 tion that his divine sonship might be recog- 
 nized;* it had opened for his readmission as 
 the risen savior ;t and now it opens for him 
 again, that he may go forth as King of Kings, 
 and Lord of Lords. 
 
 In Clip. 4th, V. I, it is a door that is 
 
 *Matt. 3:16. f Acts, 1:9, 11. +Rev. 1:7. Ps. 68: 1-5, 
 17, 33, &c. 
 
232 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Ad IV. 
 
 Opened. Here it is heaven itself. Heaven's 
 King with heaven's armies is to pass out, and 
 a door is not sufficient. Heaven itself must 
 open to give him egress. J 
 
 r\ Tj. ''^His name is , . The ivord of 
 Goay John, i:i, and i. John i:i. 
 
 ^^ Clothed ill a vesture dipped in blood .^^ 
 Is. 63:1, &c. 
 
 V. 14, ^''And the arnnies in heaven fol- 
 hnved him^^^ etc. Matt 25:31 &c. 
 
 This is Jesus glorified. He is no longer 
 the despised Galilean, the homeless wan- 
 derer, the man that has not where to lay his 
 head, the rejected Messiah, the crucified 
 malefactor; but the exalted Prince and Sav- 
 ior, going forth with the shout of a king. 
 Heaven, earth, and hell are stirred at his 
 presence. Every eye is attracted to him. 
 Enemies tremble before him. Believers 
 admire his beauty and rejoice in him. The 
 whole universe is astir with interest, and adds 
 pomp and magnificence to the occasion. 
 And this is Jesus. He who once hung on 
 the cross, with the inscription written over 
 him in mockery — "77/^ King 0/ the Jews.'''' 
 All is now changed. By the Divine decree, 
 he is exalted head over all things, and he 
 goes forth from the midst of the very Throne 
 itself with the names emblazoned on his ves- 
 ture — King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 
 
Scene 7th. REVELATION, 19: 233 
 
 Every eye in the universe beholds him, every 
 tongue confesses to him, every knee bows 
 before him. And this is Jesus again with 
 us — Jesus in the glory foreshadowed on the 
 mount. 
 
 Up to this point (V. 14) it is an heavenly 
 picture. Now the triumphal march begins, 
 and the scene is transferred to earth. 
 
 V. 75. ' ' Ozct of his mouth goeth a sharp 
 sword^'^^ df^;. * It is the sharp sword of judi- 
 cial decision, t 
 
 V. 77. ''''Standing in the Siin^'^'' as this 
 proclaiming Angel does, possibly denotes his 
 conspicuousness. This is that day and hour 
 of which it was once said — no man knoweth; 
 no, nor the angels of heaven, but my Father 
 only. J It is now so proclaimed, and in such 
 ' ' a loud voice, ' ' throughout the great uni- 
 verse, that even the very fowls that fly in the 
 midst of heaven are summoned to be present, 
 and to take part in its awful events. 
 
 ' ' The Slipper of the great God. ■ ' This is 
 in marked contrast with the Marriage Supper 
 of the Lamb (V. 9). 
 
 There is a similar summons in Ezekiel 
 (39:17-21). His prophecy in chapters 37: to 
 40:, clearly synchronizes with this time, and 
 
 *2. Thess. 2:8. Hos. 6:5. fMatt. 25:31, &c. JMatt. 
 24:36. 
 
234 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act IV. 
 
 will be found profitable reading in this con- 
 nection. It fills out what is here only in 
 outline. The destruction of the Anti-christ 
 and his host, the restoration of Juda and 
 Israel, and the King who is to reign over 
 them in righteousness, — these are the sub- 
 jects on which the prophet dwells with 
 remarkable fulness. 
 
 V. /p. For the preparations on the part 
 of the Beast for the conflict, see 16:14, 1 6 
 and 17:8-16. 
 
 Vs. 20^ 21. This is the consummation 
 determined. It is poured out on the deso- 
 lator. * He is the Prince of the people that 
 should come, after the cutting off of Messiah, 
 to destroy the holy City; he is the man of 
 sin, the son of perdition, of the Epistlet; and 
 he is the Beast of the Apocalypse and of 
 Daniel. % 
 
 Chapter 20:1-4. 
 
 Of the great confederacy to which we have 
 called attention, § we have seen the Harlot 
 burned with fire, the ten Kings and their 
 armies slain with the sword, the two Beasts 
 taken and cast alive into the lake of fire, and 
 
 *Dan. 9:27. t2. Thess. 2:8. tRev. 13:1 &c. and Dan 
 7:11. ^p. 216. 
 
Scene I St. REVELATION, 20: 235 
 
 now there remains but one to be dealt with 
 — Satan, the head and front of this rebellion. 
 The first verses of this 2otli chapter tell us 
 what is done with him. He is bound, and 
 cast into the bottomless pit, and shut in, that 
 he should deceive the nations no more, till 
 the thousand years should be fulfilled. 
 
 Act V. 20:4-7. 
 
 Scene I St. — Chp. 20:4-7. 
 
 Location. — The earth. 
 
 Dramatis Personcs. — Christ; they that are 
 his — resurrected; and the inhabitants of the 
 earth. 
 
 Ti)}ie. — The times of refreshment and 
 restoration of all things. 
 
 These are the times of refreshing and of 
 the restoration of all things, "which God 
 hath spoken by the mouth of all his prophets 
 since the world began. " "^ It is Jesus, the son 
 of the Highest upon the throne of his father 
 David, t and his saints about him. J This is 
 the time of Israel's redemption and glory. 
 The seventy weeks determined upon the peo- 
 ple and the holy city have now met their 
 accomplishment. Transgression is finished; 
 an end has been made of sins; reconciliation 
 
 *Acts 3:19 &c. fLu. 1:32. JMatt. 19:28. Dan. 
 
 7:13 &c. 
 
286 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act V. 
 
 for iniquity has been accomplished; everlast- 
 ing righteousness has been brought in; the 
 visions and the prophecy have been ratified; 
 and the Most Holy has been anointed. * If 
 we would know more of the splendor of this 
 reign than is here given, we must study the 
 "sure word of prophecy" that we have con- 
 cerning it. 
 
 V. 4. ' ^Judgment zvas give^i unto tJiem. ' ' 
 The IvOrd and his saints reigning, f At his 
 coming the Lord subdues, judges, and pun- 
 ishesj — he treads ' ' the wine-press of the 
 fierceness and wrath of Almighty God," 
 and then brings in his salvation and estab- 
 lishes his kingdom in righteousness. The 
 little Stone becomes a great Mountain. The 
 proclamation goes forth, and the kingdom of 
 this world becomes the kingdom of our God 
 and his Christ. It probably will be theo- 
 cratic, such as Israel's was at the first. Jesus 
 is king. His is the throne. The govern- 
 ment is on his shoulders. But saints and 
 men will be the agents in the administration. 
 Thus Jesus will reign over the earth, but not 
 necessarily upon it. Perhaps his relations 
 to the earth may be shadowed forth by the 
 transfiguration scene. § His position was on 
 
 *Dan. 9:24; see p. 26. fDan. 7:13, 14, 27. JMatt. 
 25:31 &c. J<Matt. 17: 
 
Scene ist. REVELATION, 20: 287 
 
 the mount, and thus above the earth and 
 overlooking it; and disciples, men in the 
 flesh, representatives of the earth and its 
 kingdom, prostrate at his feet. The heavenly 
 and the earthly brought together, yet sepa- 
 rate and distinct. Men in glory, and men in 
 the flesh, and Jesus visible to all, accepted 
 by all, and controling all. And, to fill up to 
 completeness the typical scene, from the 
 throne of his glory — the mount of eminence, 
 He shall be transfigured before men, and 
 glorified saints, and angels; and the voice 
 from the most excellent glory, penetrating 
 through all space, and heard by all Intelli- 
 gences, shall announce — "This is my beloved 
 Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye 
 Him." 
 
 ^^ Thrones^ and they sat upon them.'''* Who 
 are "they?" Undoubtedly the sealed ones 
 of Chp. yth, and the 144,000 of Chp. 14th. 
 They are the Redeemed of all ages — both 
 those who have slept in Jesus, and those who 
 were caught up to meet him at his coming. 
 
 ''^And I saw the sotils of them that zvcre 
 beheaded.''^ &c. And who are these? Do 
 they differ from them who sat on the thrones ? 
 The inference seems to be that they do. 
 Who then are they ? We have accounted for 
 the resurrected in Christ, and for the trans- 
 lated. They are on the "thrones." After 
 
238 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act V. 
 
 the "Man-child" was caught up to God, the 
 woman still continued on the earth, and it 
 was "the remnant of her seed" that was to 
 contend with the Beast, and to refuse to 
 receive his mark, and to worship his image, 
 and that must witness for Jesus, even unto 
 death.* And these must be they. "The 
 souls of them that were beheaded for the wit- 
 ness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and 
 which had not worshiped the Beast, neither 
 his image, neither had received his mark 
 upon their foreheads, or in their hands." 
 The foolish virgins returned with oil in their 
 lamps. It was too late for the marriage 
 feast. The door was already shut. They 
 must abide without, and face the storm ; and 
 by keeping the commandments of God, and 
 maintaining the testimony of Jesus, amid 
 the universal Apostacy, they must make 
 amends for past unfaithfulness, and they too 
 shall live and reign with Christ a thousand 
 years. 
 
 V. 5. ''The rest of the dead,'' i. e., those 
 not included in the above category, 
 
 ' 'A thousand years. ' ' We are not com- 
 pelled to restrict this to literal years. "One 
 day is with the Lord as a thousand years, 
 and a thousand years as one day. "t It sym- 
 
 *13:17. 12. Pet. 3:8. 
 
Scene 1st. REVELATION, 20: 239 
 
 bolizes an seon — the world's sabbatic year, 
 an age of blessedness. 
 
 ' ' This is the fij'sf resurrection. ' ' Scripture 
 speaks of three resurrections. In the 15th 
 Chp. of I. Cor., the iVpostle presents the 
 fact of a resurrection, and says (V. 22): "For 
 as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
 all be made alive. But," he continues, 
 "every man in his own order." And then 
 he gives this order. 
 
 1. "Christ the flrst-fruits. " First in pre- 
 eminence, and in the peculiarity of its con- 
 ditions; and first also in the order of time, 
 in that there was none before, and has been 
 none since, like it. 
 
 2. "Afterward they that are Christ's at his 
 coming. " An interval of near two thousand 
 years has now elapsed since the Lord's resur- 
 rection, and this after-resurrection has not 
 yet taken place. This is the resurrection 
 that in this vision is mentioned as the first. 
 
 3. ' 'Then" — after the resurrection of those 
 at Christ's coming — "then the end." This 
 will be a long interval. Not only is there 
 the thousand years of the reign, but there is 
 also the period of the Satanic outbreak. It 
 is not until after this event that we read: 
 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
 before God," &c. (V. 12), and this is "the 
 end," or the second resurrection, 
 
240 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act V. 
 
 Here only two resurrections are referred to. 
 The vision concerns things present and future 
 — "the things which are, and the things 
 which shall be hereafter."* The resurrec- 
 tion of Christ is so peculiar to himself, and 
 is an event so entirely of the far past, that it 
 is not brought into consideration here. The 
 resurrections mentioned here are the same 
 that the Lord refers to when he says that ^ 'all 
 in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall 
 come forth; they that have done good to the 
 resurrection of life; and they that have done 
 evil, unto the resurrection of judgment."! 
 These are two distinct resurrections, and as 
 such well defined by scripture usage. When 
 the resurrection of the Lord, or of those in 
 him, is the object of reference, the preposi- 
 tion « is always introduced, and it is a 
 resurrection out of^ ox from among^ the dead: 
 But when it speaks of this last rising — the 
 resurrection of judgment — the preposition is 
 omitted, and its language is — the resurrection 
 o/the dead. 
 
 K d. " T/ze second death. ' ' There is no 
 question as to the nature of this death. { But 
 what is the first death ? Is it merely the dis- 
 solution of the body ? This seems to be the 
 
 *Rev. 1:19. fjohn 5:38, 29. Lu. 14:14. Acts 24:15. 
 
 |21:8. 
 
Scene ist. REVELATION, 20: 241 
 
 accepted view. But is there not a prior 
 death ? A death to which we must trace the 
 dissohition of the body? * We venture to 
 su^orest that the first death is our condition 
 by nature — a fleshly-mind that is enmity 
 against God. Thus antagonized the soul is 
 "without God, "and is ''condemned already." 
 And so we read: "The mind of the flesh is 
 death. "t (R. V.)#., 
 
 This we take to be the first death. There 
 is hope in it, for Christ can quicken the dead 
 in trespasses and sins. J And hence the dis- 
 tinction so strikingly brought out here. In 
 the first death there is hope, in the second 
 there is none. It is "the lake of fire" burn- 
 ing forever and ever.§ Those who attain to 
 this "first resurrection" are they who in this 
 life have passed (ck) out of (R. V.) this first 
 death-state into the life-state. || "On such 
 the second death hath no power. ' ' 
 
 "The second death" is then the carrying 
 out to the full that sentence of condemnation 
 which is on this first death, and which has 
 not been lifted in this life. The soul is now 
 without hope, and is "punished with ever- 
 lasting destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord, and from the glory of his power. "If 
 
 *Rom. 5:12. James 1:14, 15. fRom. 8.6, 7. Eph. 2:1, 
 11-13. tEpb. 2:1. Johu 6:40, 47, 57. 5:24. ^^Rev. 
 20:14. 21:8. 14:11. ||John 5:24. 1|2. Thess. 1:9. 
 
24-3 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act VI. 
 
 Revelation 20. 
 
 Act VI. 20:7-15. 
 
 This act may be divided into two scenes — 
 
 Scene I St. — The Apostacy. 
 
 Scene 2d. — The Jndgment. 
 
 Its location will be the earth, and its dra- 
 matis personse will be Satan, the inhabitants 
 of the earth, "the rest of the dead," and the 
 Judge. The time is after the thousand years. 
 
 Vs. 7 and 8. Satan is released from his 
 prison, and is permitted to visit the earth. 
 At once he is at his old business — deception.* 
 He seems not to have learned wisdom by the 
 past. Or perhaps his fallen nature finds all 
 its satisfaction in opposing the ways of truth 
 and righteousness, and in leading others into 
 sin and suffering. "The imagination of the 
 thoughts of his heart is only evil contin- 
 ually, "f 
 
 * ' Gog aiid Magogs to gather them together 
 to battle. ' ' This is the last great battle with 
 the powers of evil. After this the judgment, 
 and the lake of fire, which is the second 
 death. I 
 
 The question has been asked — Why is thivS 
 
 •Gen. 3:1 &c. tGeu. 6:5. ^See p. 203, 
 
Scene ist& 2d. REVELATION, 20: 243 
 
 second outbreak of evil allowed ? While we 
 cannot fathom Divine counsels, we can dis- 
 cern a reason for ihis permitted outbreak, 
 that for the present at least is abundantly 
 satisfactory. The great problem through all 
 these ages has been concerning evil in the 
 universe, and its final issue. What is to be 
 done with it ? He that sits upon The 
 Throne has been solving this problem. 
 And now that He is about bringing it to its 
 solution, he would have his wisdom perfectly 
 apprehended, his justice fully acknowledged, 
 and his judgments heartily acquiesced in, by 
 all his Intelligences. To make them realize 
 the malignant character of evil, its unalter- 
 able nature, and the exceeding danger of its 
 presence, is an all-important step in this 
 direction. A world is allowed to be dom- 
 inated by this power. Love passing all 
 understanding is bestoA^ed upon it. The 
 truth is made known to it. Grace and life 
 are offered it. After a long and awful expe- 
 rience, there is given to it an aeon of exemp- 
 tion from the curse of this power, and of 
 blessedness in the presence of the Redeemer. 
 In the midst of the very fulness of this bless- 
 edness. Divine influences are withdrawn, and 
 the prince of evil is allowed once more to 
 appear on the scene, and the heart of the 
 fallen creature cannot stand alone. No pro- 
 
244 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act VI. 
 
 cess of training in truth and righteousness, 
 no long continued enjoyment of paradisic 
 bliss, can heal its hurt, or eradicate its dis- 
 ease. It turns at once to the intruder and 
 welcomes his presence, and yields to his 
 seductions. The incurable nature of this 
 principle of evil is now completely demon- 
 strated; and the wisdom and justice of the 
 Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, in consign- 
 ing it to everlasting destruction from the 
 presence of his glory, is completely vindi- 
 cated. 
 
 V. lo. ''The lake of fire,'' &c. This is 
 Gehenna. It differs from Hades and "the 
 bottomless pit."* The Beast and False- 
 prophet are in this lake already. And now 
 Satan is to be cast in with his adherents, and 
 his agencies — death and Hades. And it is 
 forever. As he lived a thousand years in the 
 abyss, so he and his will continue to exist in 
 this fiery prison forever and ever. No more 
 letting him loose to deceive and to work ruin 
 in God's glorious universe. 
 
 And this is the end of sin, and sorrow, 
 and death. They have their place. But 
 God's people no more come in contact with 
 them. For them they are things of the past. 
 The problem of evil is solved. 
 
 *Rev. 19:20 &cf.c. 20:3 & 10, ]VIatt. 6:22. 29, 30, 
 10:28. Mk, 9:43. 
 
Scene I St & 2d. REVELATION, 20: 245 
 
 And it must be noted that with all the 
 events connected with this rebellion and 
 judgment, the redeemed have no connection, 
 save as lookers on. Their judgment has passed 
 long, long before, and it was unto life.* 
 This resurrection, and the white throne, and 
 the opened books, and the judgment, and the 
 fiery lake — these are for those only whose 
 names are not found written in the Lamb's 
 book of life. 
 
 Revelation 21:22: 
 Act VIL 21:22: 
 
 This introduces a new dispensation. These 
 are "the things" in all their fulness that 
 God has prepared for them that love him. f 
 
 Verses 24 and 28, of i. Cor. 15: have met 
 their accomplishment. We call attention to 
 verses 22 to 29 of this 15th Chp. of i. Cor- 
 inthians. They are worthy of careful study. 
 For range of thought, and condensation of 
 statement there is nothing like it in human 
 language. In its few paragraphs there is 
 outlined the leading events we have been 
 studying in this historic drama — events that 
 
 *John 5:29. tl. Cor. 2:9. 
 
246 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act VIL 
 
 in their duration and consequences, run 
 through all time and into the eternal ages. 
 Glance at them for a moment. Verse 22 
 tells that "in Christ shall all be made alive," 
 i. e. resurrected. "But (V. 23) every man 
 in his own order." First, Christ. This is 
 redemption completed. Afterward they that 
 are his at his coming. This is the thousand 
 yearsof Rev. 20 : "Then the end" (V. 24). The 
 ages of the millenium are past. The ser- 
 pent's head has been crushed;* the general 
 resurrection and the judgment have taken 
 place; the devil, death and Hades have been 
 cast into the lake; and so, "the end" — the 
 completion of Messiah's work. The mys- 
 tery of the Divine purposes concerning evil 
 has been solved. Its license has been revoked, 
 and its power broken, and it has been con- 
 signed to its own place. And what follows ? 
 Why, He, the seed of the woman, the son 
 of man, David's son, delivers up the king- 
 dom unto God, even the Father. His mis- 
 sion was to "destroy the works of the devil ;"t 
 to deliver his captives from his grasp ;| and 
 to restore the kingdom of this world to its 
 rightful sovereignty. § And with Satan and 
 his emissaries (death and Hades) in the lake 
 of fire, his mission has been successfully 
 
 *Gen. 3:15. fl. John 3:8. ^Eph. 4.8. ^Rev. 11:15. 
 
REVELATION, 21: & 2± 241 
 
 accomplished. All conflict is at an end. He 
 has reigned "till he hath pnt all enemies 
 under his feet" (V. 26), And now a new 
 order of things is ordained in which God is 
 "all in all" (V. 28). And these are the 
 things that these closing chapters of the Rev- 
 elation unfold to us. 
 
 P\ 4. ^^The former things are passed 
 azvayy And this passing away is not con- 
 fined to things material. Things spiritual 
 come within its sweep. Observe, e. g., that 
 in the new order there is a tabernacle, i. e. 
 dwelling place (21:3), but no temple (V. 
 22). Even this is among "the former 
 things." The temple necessitated the priest, 
 the altar, and the sacrifice, This new 
 dispensation will not require them. The 
 work of redemption has been completed. 
 Sin, and death, and Hades, as disturbing 
 elements, are no more. The ruined Kden 
 has been restored. The instruments of that 
 restoration are no longer needed, and are 
 therefore laid aside. So also in regard to the 
 Messianic Kingdom. It too has accom- 
 plished its purpose, and is numbered among 
 the things of the past. All things have 
 been subdued unto the Son; and now the 
 Son also himself is subject unto Him that put 
 
248 THE APOCALYPTIC DRAMA. Act VII. 
 
 all things under him, that God may be all 
 in all. * 
 
 And all things are made new (V. 4). These 
 new things are yet in the mind and counsels 
 of God. Secret things that belong unto 
 Him. Even as here hinted at, they are 
 beyond our conception and understanding. 
 They are in the far, far away. We look 
 toward them. In their indistinctness, they 
 are to us as the delicate penciling of moun- 
 tain rano-es on the distant horizon. For 
 more distinct outlines, and for clearer views, 
 we must wait "until the day break, and the 
 shadows flee away, "t Meanwhile, we have 
 a "blessed hope;" and that, too, in the near 
 future, even "the glorious appearing," and 
 "the kingdom;" concerning which, the lyord 
 himself has taught us to pray, saying: 
 "Our Father, which art in heaven. 
 
 Thy Kingdom come." Amen. 
 
 n. Cor. 15:28. fCaut. 2:17.