Volume IV, as their later conduct seems to suggest. Why they should have

disliked Pastor Russell when he told the truth, and proved it, is remarkable.

And men.—Greek “The Men;” the clergy. In Rev. 8:9 the clergy are not so honored.

Were scorched with great heat.—Became warm, indignant at the Pastor’s kindly explanation of the whore and the harlots, and the plainly evident application to the Papacy and the Protestant sects.

And blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues.—Misrepresented the name and character of the mighty one, Pastor Russell, to whom the Lord committed the task of presenting to His Church this meat in due season. This misrepresentation burst like a storm after the publication of Volume IV, _Studies_, and continued until the Pastor’s death, yea, and shame to say it, even afterwards, in the columns of such sheets as the New York World and the Brooklyn Eagle. What monuments of infamy these people have reared for themselves! They richly deserve all they will get when the tide turns.

And they repented not to give Him glory.—“One great obstacle to many is the contracted idea generally entertained of the meaning of the word god. They fail to note that the Greek theos (god) does not invariably refer to Jehovah, but signifies _a mighty one_. In the following texts the word god (theos) is used to refer to others than the one supreme being, Jehovah—viz.:—John 10:34, 35; Acts 7:40, 43; 17:23; 1 Cor. 8:5.”—B. 274.

Another view of how the publication of Volume IV looks to the worshipers of the beast and his image is shown in the plague of hail, described in Ex. 9:13‐26. “The character of this and the following plagues must be carefully examined, as the warning seems to indicate an important turning‐ point. The ruin caused by the hail was evidently far greater than that effected by any of the earlier plagues; for it destroyed men, which those others seem not to have done, and not only men, but beasts and the produce of the earth. In this case Moses, while addressing Pharaoh, openly warns his servants how to save something from the calamity. Pharaoh for the first time acknowledges his wickedness.” (McC.) The appropriateness of these comments to the subject matter of “The Day of Vengeance,” or “The Battle of Armageddon”, (as it is now called) as the latter would appear to the mind of the clergy, is self‐evident. Your true clergyman has the greatest abhorrence for any truth that would tend to lessen men’s reverence for himself or the systems which he aims to perpetuate.

16:10. And the fifth [angel].—Volume V, of _Studies_.

Poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast.—Thoroughly and scripturally analyzing the subjects of trinity, human immortality and eternal torment, the foundation of all Papal doctrine, as well as constituting a large part of the stock in trade of the Protestant aggregation.

And his kingdom was full of darkness.—Complete ignorance of the truths on these subjects as taught in the Bible.

And they gnawed their tongues for pain.—“Note the expression of Rev. Samuel T. Carter in a Presbyterian journal—_The Evangelist_. He says: ‘It must be admitted that if a Church is honest, that which stands in its Confession to its faith. It must be acknowledged that what is contained in its Confession is the faith of any honest church. The Westminster Confession of Faith is still the unquestioned Confession of the Presbyterian Church. Is the Presbyterian Church honest in its zeal for purity first and peace afterward? Be it known, then, to all the world that the Presbyterian Church by its Confession declares that all the heathen perish, that many men are hopelessly lost from all eternity by the decree of God, and that there are infants in hell.... In reality the church does not believe these dreadful doctrines. Then it stands before God and man with a lie in its right hand.’ ”—Z. ’00‐148.

16:11 And blasphemed the God of Heaven.—“In token of entire allegiance to the beast.”—Cook.

Because of their pains [and their sores], and repented not [of their deeds].—“The commotion amongst Presbyterians continues—some standing firm for their church creed, others repudiating it and begging to be released from it. Many thus indirectly confess that they have despised it for years, and have realized it to be a lie and a blasphemy against God, and after confessing to this acting and confessing a lie for years they beg to be released without cost or loss either of human or Divine favor, and especially without loss of bread and butter.” (Z. ’00‐148.) The way in which Volume V, _Scripture Studies_, appeared to the worshipers of the beast and his image is further illustrated in the plague of locusts, described in Ex. 10:1‐11. “This plague has not the unusual nature of the one that preceded it; but it even exceeds it in severity, and so occupies its place in the gradation of the more terrible judgments that form the latter part of the series. Its severity can be well understood by those who have been in Egypt in a part of the country where a plague of locusts has alighted. In this case the plague was greater than any ordinary visitation, since it extended over a far wider space, rather than because it was more intense; for it is impossible to imagine any more complete destruction than that always caused by locusts.” (McC.) With what dismay must the clergy have read the kind words for volume V, which appeared in the columns of the secular press.

16:12. And the sixth [angel].—Volume VI of _Studies in the Scriptures_.

Poured out his vial upon the great River Euphrates.—Seemed to the worshipers of the beast and his image to be instituting a new and horrible thing, a people’s church, in which there is no place for clergy, collections, church edifices, reverence for one day above another, or in fact any of the customs cherished in the nominal church.

And the water thereof was dried up.—“Literal Babylon was built upon the literal river Euphrates, while in the Gospel age mystic or figurative Babylon, which carried away captive Spiritual Israel, is portrayed as sitting upon the mystic Euphrates. In the type, the golden vessels of the Temple were carried away and profaned by literal Babylon: in the antitype, the precious, Divine (golden) truths, pertaining to the service of the true Temple, the Church (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Rev. 3:12), were far removed from their proper places, perverted and misapplied by mystic Babylon. Literal Babylon being built upon the river Euphrates, which materially contributed to its wealth and resources, its overthrow was accomplished by the turning aside of those waters. So mystic Babylon sits upon, is supported by, many waters (peoples, nations), and its fall is predicted, through the turning aside of its supporters and sustainers, the people.” (B. 209; Jer. 50:38, 51:36.) “Ecclesiastical circles in Germany are much exercised at the rapidly increasing desertions from the State Church. Although the process of official separation from the Church is one of the greatest difficulty, delay and expense, it is computed that in Berlin alone considerably over 10,000 persons have severed their connection with the Church during the past year. So great is the number of those who are notifying their intention to terminate their membership that special offices have been opened in Berlin to receive their applications, which now number between 300 and 400 daily. Among the working classes, especially those attached to the Social Democratic party, there exists a bitter hostility to the clergy.”—Z. ’09‐83.

“A program for a general strike against the Church is the latest plan of action. The ‘No‐Creeders’ (Monists) in league with the Socialists, convened mass meetings in Berlin, Brunswick and Saxony, in which every means of incitation was employed in an appeal toward a secession from the State Church. At these meetings over 1,300 persons signed a declaration announcing their intention to secede from the Church. Four thousand more followed, and according to judicial court‐records received towards the end of December, 17,000 secessions took place in December up to the 23d, and the day after Christmas 8,000 more announced their intention. The following press reports may serve as a typical illustration of the mode of procedure in such meetings. ‘Without exception, every one who even by vague allusion, ventured to take a stand for his Church was howled down, hissed from the rostrum and subjected to filthy invectives. To illustrate: When a minister ascended the platform, the following was heard, “He looks it!” “Old Sky‐pilot!” And from another part of the hall the same evening we heard the following words aimed at the ministers: “Damned Rags!” “Pig‐ priests!” A gentleman who interrupted was yelled at, “Rous mit the Parson‐ face!” ’ ”—Z. ’14‐133.

“Reports in Great Britain show that Baptists, Congregationalists and the various Methodist denominations there are declining in numbers and prestige. The cause of this is not far to see. Christianity has become merely another name for decency and civilization. All doctrines are abandoned as merely speculations. Churches are becoming merely social clubs in which form and ceremony mark the quality. This accounts for the growing unpopularity of those sects which once stood for the highest standards of earnestness and Christian zeal and liberty, non‐conformity and simplicity.” (Z. ’10‐324.) “The pastor of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York City, Rev. Dr. Charles F. Aked, who came to its direction from a London pulpit, in his sermon Sunday said: ‘When I interview my parishioners, and they are among the most representative in the city, I find the spirit of religious depression very unlike the spirit of abounding enterprise in business, in manufacturing, in engineering and construction. There are about 16,000,000 Catholics in continental United States. Now, in our immigration for ninety years back, no less than 15,000,000 were Catholics. If all remained loyal to its tenets they would number 45,000,000 now instead of 16,000,000. The Protestants have lost ground, too, when the filling up of the country is counted. Our own denomination, the Baptists, reflects the general trend. The increase among the Baptists of America has been equal to only one‐fourth of the birth rate among us, proving that three out of four of our Baptist population have fallen away from us. The decline of Christianity is universal.’

“In England, in France, in Spain, Italy and Germany we hear the same cry. Only lately I was talking to an English clergyman. He told me that not merely is there a great falling off in church‐goers in England, but that the class of people who frequent churches is becoming inferior.

“The church is out of touch with the masses. Everything has progressed except Christianity. The pulpit has too many bigots, too many bores, too many _hell‐fire screechers_ for the enlightened thought of the day. The church is obliged to accept any applicant for the ministry who is respectable. Even with this latitude, Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist vocations show a remarkable falling off in twenty‐five years.” (Z. ’08‐324.) “Rev. Charles A. Eaton at the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, Cleveland, spoke as follows: ‘In Italy one‐third of the people at the very outside, are more or less nominal followers of the Church of Rome; another third, possibly, are more or less sympathetic toward the Church; while another third are out and out continually and completely antagonistic, apparently, not only to the Church of Rome, but to all forms of Christianity. You enter France—the same story is true, only aggravated and multiplied a thousand fold. You enter Great Britain, which I consider to be the last citadel of Christianity in the world, with a people more robust and sane in their religious interests and sympathies than any other people. And what is the condition there? The non‐conformist churches of Great Britain last year not only made no progress, but met, according to their statistics, with an absolute loss of 18,000; the Baptist Church of Great Britain last year lost 5,000 people. In the year 1905 there were nearly 7,000 Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Methodist churches that had not one single member unite with them in twelve months. In a recent year in New York city, according to the statement of Dr. Aked, of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, 335 Protestant churches reported a net gain that year of 386 members. That is to say 335 churches gained one member apiece and fifty of them gained two in twelve months. Brethren, I say to you this morning, that the American Church is dying—it is dying! _It is dying!_ Don’t forget it.’ ” (Z. ’08‐211.)

“A declaration by the Rev. Dr. Charles E. McClellan, pastor of the Fairhill Baptist Church, that ‘Protestantism in the United States is fast decaying and will soon be a thing of the past,’ aroused a storm at the fifty‐third session of the North Philadelphia Baptist Association. Doctor McClellan spoke on what he called the decline of Protestantism while making his report as chairman of the missionary committee. ‘The spirit of Protestantism is dying in the United States, and it will soon be a thing of the past,’ he said. ‘Philadelphia, both denominationally and religiously, is going to perdition at a rapid rate. Recently I attended the services in one of our churches, at which I had been invited to speak. I found in attendance nineteen adults and one child. The same condition exists all over the city. We have large, magnificent churches, but small congregations, showing that it is easy to get money, but hard to get men.’ ”—Z. ’10‐373.

That the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.—“He must be comparatively blind who cannot see that the wonderful prophecies which speak of the fall of Babylon (Isa. 14:22; Jer. 50 and 51) were not wholly fulfilled by Cyrus the Persian. Much of the prophecy still waits for fulfillment in mystic or symbolic Babylon today. The Kings of the East, or kings from the sunrising, are, we understand, the kings of Christ’s Kingdom, who are also priests—the Body of Christ, the Royal Priesthood. ‘Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.’ From this standpoint, Cyrus, who with his army overthrew literal Babylon, was a figure or illustration of Messiah, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Isa. 41:25; 44:28; 45:1‐14.)”—Z. ’99‐174; Rev. 7:2.

16:13. And I saw three unclean spirits.—Denoting demoniacal origin. (Matt. 10:1; Mark 1:26; Luke 4:33.) “The Lord’s people must discriminate between doctrines presented to them as truth—they must ‘try the spirits,’ whether they be holy or evil, of God or of the Evil One—the Spirit of Truth or the spirit of error. These both are introduced by prophets, or teachers.”—E. _320_, 295.

[Like] AS IT WERE frogs.—Frogs are garrulous, have a very wise look, large mouths, are much puffed up and utter only croakings. In the “distress of nations with perplexity” which has come upon Christendom as a result of her sins, the croakings of the wise now fill the air everywhere. Actually all knees are “weak as water.”—Ezek. 7:17; 21:7. See especially D. i‐xvi.

Come out of the mouth of the dragon.—The three fundamental truths of history are man’s Fall, Redemption and Restoration. Stated in other language these three truths are the mortal nature of man, the Christ of God and His Millennial Kingdom. Standing opposite to these Satan has placed three great untruths, human immortality, the Antichrist and a certain delusion which is best described as race hatred—in reality murder, the spirit of the very Devil. (1 John 3:15.) It is this last and crowning feature of Satan’s work that is mentioned first. The other two errors are the direct cause of this one. The wars of the Old Testament were all intended to illustrate the battlings of the New Creature against the weaknesses of the flesh, and are not in any sense of the word justification for the human butchery practiced during the Christian era in the name of religion, exemplified by the events of St. Bartholomew’s Day and by the wicked Inquisition. Nowhere in the New Testament is hatred of other peoples encouraged. Everywhere and always it is forbidden; and yet, under one guise or another it has been encouraged for centuries by the clergy class who should have been teaching the people the message given them by the Prince of Peace.

And out of the mouth of the beast.—The Antichrist doctrine of the Divine right of the clergy was the direct cause of the great war. This frog has been coming out of the mouth of the Papal beast for sixteen centuries. “These false doctrines of the Dark Ages are bearing a terrible fruitage at the present time. Similarly the teaching of eternal torment, misrepresenting and blaspheming God’s character, is bearing an evil fruitage. Millions of people are being turned away from faith in a God of Love and from faith in the Bible as His Message by the most monstrous blasphemies of the Dark Ages. I charge the responsibility of all this against the sects and creeds of Christendom. I charge that the ministers, whose eyes are now open to a saner comprehension, have neglected the Bible, have neglected the people, and, instead of helping them out of the darkness, are now leading them into darkness in an opposite direction—into Evolution and Higher Criticism and everything contrary to the Word of God. God is still misrepresented in the world. The creeds of the Dark Ages are still hugged to the bosom in outward pretense, while inwardly they are loathed. A great fraud, a great hypocrisy, you say? I answer, Yes; the most astounding the world has ever known. Two hundred thousand professed ministers of God and of Christ are standing before the world today telling the legends of the Dark Ages and seeking to hinder the people from coming to a knowledge of the Truth, meanwhile receiving the people’s money and reverence. Does not such hypocrisy, such blasphemy against God, such deception of the people, such keeping of them in darkness, deserve a great punishment, and is it not nigh?”—B. S. M.

“Pollute Ye My Holy Name No More”

And out of the mouth of the false prophet.—The one cardinal error upon which all protestant (false prophet) sects agree is the doctrine of human immortality, the original lie told in Eden (Gen. 2:17, 3:4). In speaking of it our Lord says, “When he speaketh _the_ lie, he speaketh of his own.” (John 8:44, Diaglott.) Speaking of it again, the Apostle Paul says, of the worshipers of the beast and his image, “They admitted not the love of the Truth that they might be saved. And on this account God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood.” (2 Thes. 2:10, 11.) In each case the Greek gives the definite article. The frog issuing from the false prophet (the image of the beast) is the doctrine of human immortality. These deluded souls actually believe this error, and will be able to prove it to the satisfaction of the dragon, without a doubt. This error lies at the bottom of the doctrines of eternal torment and of the trinity. There is a hint in 1 John 4:1‐3 that the cardinal error on which the false prophet will insist is that when Jesus came from the Father He was more than flesh, i. e., had at least an immortal soul.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

“All Christian people credit the book of Revelation to our Lord, as St. John does. (Rev. 1:1.) Therefore we are not responsible for the symbolism used in that book. There are so many ways in which one might be misunderstood, even by good Christian people, that we naturally feel a delicacy about expressing our views. As we proceed to set forth our understanding of the symbols of the Revelation, we wish to state most emphatically that we are saying nothing whatever against godly Christians anywhere, at any time, whether in any church or out of any church. We have nothing to say respecting people. We discuss PRINCIPLES, DOCTRINES, ALWAYS; individuals, NEVER! God has not commissioned us to discuss _people_; it is ours to discuss _His Word_.

“Throughout the Bible, a Beast is the symbol used to represent a government. In Daniel’s prophecy the great universal empires of the earth are thus symbolized. Babylon was the Lion, Medo‐Persia the Bear, Greece the Leopard, and _Rome_ the _Dragon_. (Dan. 7:1‐8.) The Roman Empire still persists. The Dragon, then, symbolizes the Roman power, represented by the civil power in the world. The Beast is the Papal system of government. The third symbol, the False Prophet, remains to be interpreted. This, we believe, is another name for the system elsewhere called ‘the Image of the Beast.’ (Rev. 13:14.) According to the Scriptures, this Image is a very exact representation of the Beast. The False Prophet, or Image of the Beast, we understand to mean the Protestant Federation of Churches.

“ ‘Three unclean spirits like frogs came out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False Prophet.’ In this passage, the spirit is a doctrine—an unclean doctrine—a false doctrine. Each of these systems will utter the same things, and these utterances will have the effect of gathering the kingdoms of earth together to the Battle of Armageddon.

“The symbolism of Scripture, rightly understood, is very forceful, and there is always a close resemblance between the symbol itself and the thing symbolized. When the Holy Spirit uses a frog to represent certain doctrines or teachings, we may be sure that the application will fit well. While a frog is a small creature, yet it puffs itself up until it almost bursts with the effort to be somebody. A frog has a very wise look, even though it does not know very much. Then a frog _croaks_ whenever it utters a sound.

“The three most prominent characteristics of a frog, then, are pomposity, an air of superior wisdom and knowledge, and a continual croaking. Applying these characteristics to the picture given in the Divine Word, we learn that from kingly power, from the Catholic Church and from the Federation of Protestant Churches, will go forth the same teachings. The spirit of all will be boastful; an air of superior knowledge and wisdom will be assumed; all will foretell dire results to follow any failure to obey their counsels. However conflicting the creeds, the differences will be ignored in the general proposition that nothing ancient must be disturbed, or investigated, or repudiated.

“The boasted Divine authority of the Church, and the Divine right of kings aside from the Church, will not be allowed to conflict; for both will be indorsed. Any persons or teachings in conflict with these boastful, unscriptural claims will be branded as everything vile, at the mouths of the frogs, croaking from pulpits and platforms, and through the religious and secular press. The nobler sentiments of some will be strangled by the philosophy of the same evil spirit which spoke through Caiaphas, the high priest, respecting our Lord Jesus. As Caiaphas declared it expedient to commit a crime in violation of justice, both human and Divine, to be rid of Jesus and His teachings, so this frog‐like spirit will approve of any and every violation of principle necessary to self‐protection.

“Every true Christian is ashamed to look back upon the pages of history and see what terrible deeds were done in the name of God and justice, and in the name of our Lord Jesus. We are not to think for a moment that these frog spirits, or doctrines, are all bad, but rather that they are doctrines of bombast and pomposity, representing themselves to be very wise and great, and having the backing of centuries. Out of the mouth of the Dragon comes the doctrine of the Divine right of Kings: ‘Do not look back of the curtain of history to see where the kings got that right. Accept the doctrine; for if you do not, and if men look into the matter, there will be a terrible revolution and everything will go down!’

“The Beast and the False Prophet have similar croakings. The Catholic Church says, ‘Do not look behind! Do not question anything about the Church!’ Protestantism says, also, ‘We are great, we are wise, we know a great deal. Keep quiet! No one will then know that you know nothing.’ All say (croaking), ‘We tell you that if you say anything against present arrangements, terrible things will come to pass.’

“Political parties are figuring in this. All declare, ‘If any change should come, it will mean terrible disaster!’ Some have the backbone and some have the civil power behind them, but unitedly they croak to the people that if any change is made, it will mean ruin to the present order. In the language of our day, ‘Stand pat!’ is the order in Church and in State; but the people are being moved by fear. It is this croaking of the Beast, the Dragon and the False Prophet that will arouse the kings of earth and gather them together to the Armageddon Battle.

“The ecclesiastical kings and princes, with their retinue of clergy and faithful adherents, will be gathered in solid phalanx—Protestant and Catholic. The political kings and kaisers, princes, and all in high places, with their henchmen and retainers, will follow in line on the same side. The financial kings and merchant princes, and all whom they can influence by the most gigantic power ever yet exercised in the world, will join the same side, according to this prophecy. They do not realize, however, that they are coming to Armageddon; yet strange to say, this is a part of their very cry, ‘Come together to Armageddon!’

“Speaking of our day, our Lord declared, ‘Men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.’ (Luke 21:26.) The kings of Europe know not what to do. All sectarianism is being shaken.

“The croaking of the frog spirits, or doctrines, will gather the kings and princes, financial, political, religious and industrial, into one great army. The spirit of fear, inspired by the croaking, will scourge the passions of otherwise good and reasonable men to fury—desperation. In their blind following of these evil spirits, evil doctrines, they will be ready to sacrifice life and everything on what they mistakenly suppose is the altar of Justice, Truth and Righteousness under a Divine arrangement.

“Many noble people in this great army will assume an attitude quite contrary to their preference. For a time the wheels of liberty and progress will be turned backward, and mediæval restraints will be considered necessary for self‐preservation—for the maintenance of the present order of things and for the prevention of the new order which God has decreed, the due time for which is at hand. Even those who may be God’s people do not stop to consider whether it is His will that things should continue as they have been for the past six thousand years. The Bible says that such is not God’s will, but that there is to be a great overturning, that a new order is coming in.

“For a brief time, as we understand the Scriptures, these combined forces of Armageddon will triumph. Free speech, free mails, and other liberties which have come to be the very breath of the masses in our day, will be ruthlessly shut off on the plea of _necessity_, the glory of God, the commands of the Church, etc. The safety‐valve will be sat upon, and thus will cease to annoy earth’s kings with the sound of escaping steam; and all will seem to be serene—until the great social explosion described in the Revelation as an _earthquake_ will take place. In symbolic language an earthquake signifies social revolution, and the Scriptural declaration is that none like it ever before occurred. (Rev. 16:18, 19.) Our Lord refers to it in Matt. 24:21.

“At this juncture, the Scriptures show, Divine Power will step forward, and God will gather the marshaled hosts to Armageddon—to the Mount of Destruction. (Rev. 16:16.) The very thing which they sought to avert by their union, federation, etc., will be the very thing that they will hasten. Other Scriptures tell us that God will be represented by Messiah, and that He will be on the side of the masses. ‘At that time shall Michael [the Godlike One—Messiah] stand up.’ (Dan. 12:1.) He will assume authority. He will take possession of His Kingdom in a manner little looked for by many of those who erroneously have been claiming to be His Kingdom, and authorized by Him to reign in His name and in His stead.

“Our Lord Jesus declared, ‘His servants ye are unto whom ye render service.’ Some may be rendering service to Satan and to error, who claim to be rendering service to God and to righteousness; and some may serve ignorantly, as did Saul of Tarsus, who ‘verily thought that he did God service,’ in persecuting the Church. The same principle holds true reversely. As an earthly king does not hold himself responsible for the moral character of each soldier who fights his battles, so the Lord does not vouch for the moral character of all who enlist and fight on His side of any question. His servants they are to whom they render service, whatever the motive prompting them.

“The same principle will apply in the coming Battle of Armageddon. God’s side of that battle will be the people’s side; and that very nondescript host, the people, will be pitted at the beginning of the battle. Anarchists, Socialists, and hot‐headed radicals of every school of reason and unreason, will be in the forefront of that battle. He who has any knowledge of army life knows that a great army is composed of all classes.

“The masses will be restless under their restraints, but will be conscious of their weakness as compared with the kings and princes, financial, social, religious and political, who will then hold sway. The masses have no sympathy with anarchy. They realize truly that the worst form of government is better than none. The masses will seek relief through the ballot and the peaceful readjustment of earth’s affairs for the elimination of evil, for the placing of monopolies and utilities and the supplies of nature in the hands of people for the public good. The crisis will be reached when the hitherto upholders of the law shall become violators of the law and resisters of the will of the majority as expressed by the ballot. Fear for the future will goad the well‐meaning masses to desperation, and anarchy will result when Socialism fails.

“The Lord’s saints are not to be in this battle at all. God’s consecrated people, longing at heart for Messiah’s Kingdom and the glorious Year of Jubilee and Restitution which it will inaugurate, will patiently abide the Lord’s time, and wait unmurmuringly for it. Their lamps trimmed and burning, they will not be in darkness respecting the momentous events of the impending battle; but they will be of good courage, knowing the outcome portrayed in the ‘more sure word of prophecy,’ to which they have done well to ‘take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the Day dawn.’—2 Pet. 1:19.

“The question now arises, Why did not God send His Kingdom sooner? Why is Armageddon necessary? We answer that God has His own times and seasons, and that He has appointed the Great Seventh Thousand‐Year Day for the reign of Christ. Divine Wisdom has withheld until our day the great knowledge and skill which is breeding at the same time millionaires and discontents. Had God lifted the veil of ignorance a thousand years sooner, the world would have lined up for Armageddon a thousand years sooner. God did not bring these things before the present time because His Plan has various parts, all of which are converging at the same time. In kindness God veiled the eyes of mankind until the gathering to Armageddon would immediately precede Messiah’s taking to Himself His great power and beginning His reign.” (Rev. 11:17, 18.)—D. v‐xvi.

16:14. For they are the spirits of devils.—See Eph. 6:12. “We are naturally led by the analogy of the influence of evil spirits as described in the Gospels to compare the _effect_ produced by the demons referred to in this verse, with the instances of _possession_ of which we read elsewhere in the New Testament.”—Cook.

Working miracles.—It is very possible that the strongest “proof” of the immortality of man will yet be obtained by the false prophet through materializations of evil spirits, perhaps first at preachers’ meetings, and afterwards in public. We will wait and see. Meantime: the mental invasions indicated in Rev. 7:3 and 2 Thes. 2:11 will _surely_ come, whether the physical materializations come or not.—Rev. 13:13, 14.

“The newspapers far and near are publishing the following item: ‘Fred E. Foskett, a young machinist of Orange, Mass., has attracted the attention of Prof. James, of Harvard, and other leading members of the Boston branch of the American Society of Psychical Research, who gave him tests recently. Foskett poured a quart of alcohol into the basin, lighted it and then washed his hands, bathing them for nearly ten minutes in the burning fluid, washing it up over his arms and to his face—literally bathing himself in blazing alcohol. As soon as they were finished the physicians present examined Foskett, and they could not find the slightest trace of a burn or blister. Foskett then told them that the flames did not give him the slightest sensation of burning, that he felt comfortably warm and pleasant, and nothing more. The second tests were made at the home of Prof. James in Cambridge. A scientist who was there said that Foskett performed all of his experiments of the day before, and then “absolutely and positively dematerialized”. He seemed to dissolve into thin air as we watched, was gone forty‐one seconds and then materialized.’ ”—Z. ’09‐83; Matt. 24:24; 2 Thes. 2:9.

Which go forth unto the kings of the [earth and of the] whole world, to gather them to the battle of [that] THE great Day of God Almighty.—Of which the present horrible European war is only the preliminary skirmish.—Rev. 17:14; 19:19.

“This battle, which will end with the complete overthrow of earth’s present rulership, is already commenced. The gathering of the armies is plainly visible from the standpoint of God’s Word. The Sword of Truth, already sharpened, is to smite every evil system and custom—civil, social and ecclesiastical. The internal conflict is already fomenting. It will ere long break forth as a consuming fire; and human systems, and errors, which for centuries have fettered truth and oppressed the groaning creation, must melt before it. Yes, truth—and widespread and increasing knowledge of it—is the Sword which is perplexing and wounding the heads over many countries.” (Psa. 110:6; B. 101.) “Not until great Babylon is utterly overthrown and her influence over the world broken—will the great mass of mankind come to realize the true state of the case. Then they will see that the great trouble through which they will have passed was that symbolically termed ‘The battle of the great Day of God Almighty;’ that in proportion as they have aided error and wrong, they have been battling against the law and forces of the new Empire and the new Ruler of earth; and that in proportion as their tongues, and pens, and hands, and influence, and means, were used to support _the right_ and the truth on any subject, they had been to that extent fighting on the Lord’s side. And during all the trouble there will be in the world those who will bear witness to its cause, declaring the Lord’s presence and the setting up of His Kingdom which is in opposition to the powers of darkness to be the real cause of the trouble and shaking and overturning of society.”—B. 141.

16:15. Behold, I come as a thief.—A thief comes unexpectedly, for the purpose of securing jewels only.—Mal. 3:17; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; Matt. 24:42‐44; 1 Thes. 5:2.

Blessed is he that watcheth.—“Because not heedless, careless, indifferent servants of the King, but faithful and earnest ones, the Watchers discern that there are three words of distinctly different signification, used in respect to the Lord’s Second Advent; namely, parousia and epiphania and apokalupsis. Parousia is used in respect to the earliest stage of the Second Advent, while apokalupsis relates to the same Advent later.” (Z. ’02‐86.) “The Greek words apokalupsis and apokalupto signify revealment, uncovering, unveiling (as of a thing previously present but hidden). The name of the last book of the Bible is from the same root—Apocalypse or Revelation.”—Z. ’02‐92; 1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7; Lu. 17:29, 30.

And keepeth his garments.—Holds fast to his pledge of consecration even unto death.

Lest he walk naked.—As the nominal churches are doing even since the war council at Washington, May 6, 1917.

And they see his shame.—During the apokalupsis epoch now at hand. (Rev. 3:18.) “The exposure to the world that they lack what constitutes the Christian state.”—Cook.—Matt. 5:43, 44.

16:16. And [he] THEY gathered them together.—The three unclean spirits do the gathering.—Rev. 19:19.

Unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue [Armageddon] ARMAGEDON.—“The fact that St. John has employed a word (Har‐Magedon), ‘The destruction of their troop,’ not found in connection with any locality or historical event of itself points to a figurative interpretation. (Zech. 12:11.) Nor indeed are we to think of literal warfare.” (Cook.) “The word ‘mountain’ in the term Armageddon—‘Mountain of Megiddo’—seems to have been used because Megiddo was in a mountainous region, though the battles were fought in a valley adjacent. The meaning here is, that there would be, as it were, a decisive battle which would determine the question of the prevalence of true religion on the earth. What we are to expect as the fulfillment of this would seem to be, that there will be some mustering of strength—some rallying of forces—some opposition made to the Kingdom of God in the gospel by the powers here referred to which would be _decisive_ in its character.” (Barnes.) Another view of Volume VI, _Scripture Studies_, as it appeared to the worshipers of the beast and his image, may be had in the plague of darkness upon the Egyptians described in Ex. 10:21‐29. The 3‐½ days of terrible darkness over the land of Egypt represent the 3‐½ years of the great war and indicate its close shortly after the publication of this final witness of the church. While this plague was still in progress, Moses said to Pharaoh, “I will see thy face again no more.” It is even so; Pastor Russell passed forever out of reach of the antitypical Pharaoh, Satan, in the fall of 1916. But in steadfast belief that “his works do follow him,” we hold that he supervises, by the Lord’s arrangement, the work yet to be done. See Rev. 16:1.

16:17. And the seventh [angel].—Volume VII, _Scripture Studies_.

Poured out his vial [into] UPON the air.—Seemed to the clergy to be directed against the ruling powers. “The terrors of the revelation of Christ will thus appear spread out over the Universe.”—Cook.

And there came a great voice.—An earnest and vigorous setting forth of this prophecy and that of Ezekiel.

Out of the Temple of [Heaven, from the Throne,] GOD.—The true Church.

Saying, it is done.—See title of this book.—_Ezek. 9:11._

16:18. And there were [voices, and] thunders.—Seven of them—indicating wide‐spread interest in the _Scripture Studies_. There will probably also be some thundering by the esteemed clergy. If in the past they had thundered less and lightened more, the world would not be in its present predicament.—Rev. 8:5.

And lightnings.—A good lighting up of the dark places of the ecclesiastical firmament.

AND VOICES.—The “voices” of the Great Company, who, after the Little Flock have gone beyond, will display unparalleled energy and faithfulness amid unparalleled difficulty.—Rev. 11:15; 8:5.

And there was a great earthquake.—Social revolution. The same mentioned in Rev. 8:5; 11:19 and 1 Kings 19:11, 12, following the War.

Such as was not since men were upon the earth.—World‐wide socialism, an unprecedented and sure‐to‐fail experiment in government.

So mighty an earthquake, and so great.—The following is from an address given to the Chicago Bankers Club in December, 1916, by Frank A. Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York. “State socialism in Europe may develop problems, the like of which never concerned our minds. We may have to meet collective buying, State aided industries, forms of governmental control of ocean borne commerce and novel factors in international finance. There may come out of the war changes in forms of government that will have profound and world‐wide influence.”

16:19. And the great city was divided into three parts.—Christendom is now divided into three parts: Socialistic Russia, Imperial Teutonia, and the Representative Governments of the West; but we think a religious division is coming: The Greek church, the Papacy and the False Prophet Protestant aggregation, all under papal control. Or the city of Rev. 14:20, may be meant.—2 Ki. 2:10, 12, 15.

And the [cities] CITY of the nations fell.—The reference is to Rome, the “city” mentioned in Rev. 17:18. By Rome is meant the Papacy. All other kings have already drunk deeply of the wrath of God and Sheshach’s turn has come.—Jer. 25:26; Rev. 14:8.

And great Babylon came in remembrance before God.—“The fall of Babylon will astonish the entire world, so complete is the illusion that Christendom represents the Throne and Government of Messiah among men. And, be it remembered, the vast majority in all the various sects and denominations of Christendom are worldly people who have no conception whatever of the true Church and her cause. Their ambition is to approximate righteousness and a form of godliness, but no more than this seems to them necessary, since they have not been begotten of the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot appreciate things from the divine standpoint.”—Pastor Russell. See Rev. 18:5.

To give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of [His] THE wrath.—The wine of the vine of the earth.—Rev. 14:17‐20; Jer. 8:14; Isa. 51:17‐20; Jer. 25:26‐28; Rev. 18:6.

16:20. And every island fled away.—Even the republics will disappear in the fall of 1920.

And the mountains were not found.—Every kingdom of earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy.

16:21. And there fell upon men.—Greek “The Men,” the worshipers of the beast and his image, i. e., the clergy.

A great hail out of heaven.—Truth, compacted, coming with crushing force. A concluding statement of how the seventh volume of _Scripture Studies_ appears to the worshipers of the beast and his image.—Rev. 11:19; Isa. 28:17; 30:30; Ezek. 13:11; Joshua 10:11.

Every stone about the weight of a talent.—113 lbs. (Mal. 3:10.) Another view of the seventh volume of _Scripture Studies_, as it appears to the worshipers of the beast and his image, is found in the last of the Egyptian plagues, the death of the first‐born, Exodus 11th. and 12th. chapters. As soon as this plague came the Egyptians, from Pharaoh down, were anxious to speed the parting guest, and willing to give up all the jewels of silver (the Great Company) and the jewels of gold (the Little Flock). In connection with the statement that “there was not a house where there was not one dead,” it is admitted that if any sects were overlooked in the lists cited in comments on Rev. 8th and 9th chapters the omission was unintentional and will be corrected in later editions. The three days in which Pharaoh’s host pursued the Israelites into the wilderness represent the three years from 1917 to 1920 at which time all of Pharaoh’s messengers will be swallowed up in the sea of anarchy. The wheels will come off their chariots—organizations.

And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail.—Apparently, the book will be unpopular for a time. “As soon as Divine restraints upon Satan were released, he moved the Sabeans to steal Job’s cattle and to kill his servants; he caused fire to come down from heaven, which not only killed but burned up Job’s flocks of sheep; he sent the Chaldeans who stole Job’s camels, and finally produced a cyclone which smote the house in which Job’s children were feasting together, and destroyed the house and killed its occupants; and he attacked Job’s person with disease as soon as granted permission. (Job. 1:9‐2:7.)”—S. 80.

For the plague thereof was exceeding great.—Quite a shower.

Revelation 17—The Papacy’s Last Stand

17:1. And there came one of the seven angels.—Volume VII, _Studies in the Scriptures_.

Which had the seven vials.—An explanation of the plagues upon symbolic Babylon.

And talked with me.—The John class, the Church in the flesh.

Saying [unto me] Come hither; I will shew unto thee.—In the 8th, 9th, 16th and 18th chapters of Revelation, and throughout the Book of Ezekiel.—Nahum 3:3, 4.

The judgment of the great whore.—Papacy, the “beast.”—Rev. 19:2.

That sitteth upon many waters.—The peoples of the earth.—Jer. 51:13; Rev. 17:15.

17:2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.—“The kingdoms of Europe today claim to be Christian kingdoms, and announce that their sovereigns reign ‘by the grace of God,’ i. e., through appointment of either Papacy or some of the Protestant sects.”—A. 268; Rev. 18:3; Isa. 1:21; Jer. 2:20‐24; 3:6; Ezek. 16:15.

And the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.—“So great an institution as made all nations drunk with her false doctrine must be very prominent, indeed, to those who were made so under the influence of the stupefying draft from her cup.”—Pastor Russell.

With the wine of her fornication.—The mixed doctrines, part truth and part error, that originally led to the union of church and state,—the spiritual harlotry.—Jer. 51:7; Rev. 2:20; 17:5; 18:3; 19:2.

17:3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness.—“All who would get a true view of Babylon must, in spirit, take their position with the true people of God ’in the wilderness’—in the condition of separation from the world and worldly ideas and mere forms of godliness, and in the condition of entire consecration and faithfulness to and dependence upon God alone.”—D. 27.

And I saw a woman.—The Roman Catholic Church.

Sit upon a scarlet colored beast.—Pagan Rome, and its successors.

Full of names of blasphemy.—“From Ferraris’ _Ecclesiastical Dictionary_, a standard Roman Catholic authority, we quote the following condensed outline of papal power as given under the word _papa_, article 2nd: ‘The pope is of such dignity and highness that he is not simply a man but, as it were, God, and the vicar [representative] of God.... Hence the pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, of earth and of hell. Nay, the pope’s excellence and power are not only about heavenly, terrestrial and infernal things, but he is also above angels, and is their superior; so that if it were possible that angels could err from the faith, or entertain sentiments contrary thereto, they could be judged and excommunicated by the pope.... He is of such great dignity and power that he occupies one and the same tribunal with Christ; so that whatsoever the pope does seem to proceed from the mouth of God.... The pope is, as it were, God on earth, the only prince of the faithful of Christ, the greatest king of all kings, possessing the plenitude of power; to whom the government of the earthly and heavenly kingdom is entrusted.’ He further adds: ‘The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, declare or interpret the Divine Law.’ ‘The pope can sometimes counteract the Divine Law by limiting, explaining, etc.’ ”—B. 310.

Having seven heads and ten horns.—See Rev. 12:3; 13:1: 17:9‐12; Dan. 7:7, 20; Rev. 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.

17:4. And the woman was arrayed in purple.—Symbolizing the apostate church’s claim to royalty. “I sit a queen and am no widow.”—Rev. 18:7, 12, 16.

And scarlet color.—Symbolizing her claims to share in Christ’s work of sacrifice, in the doctrine of the mass.

And decked with gold.—Symbolizing her claim that she includes in her membership all the true Church of God, those who shall ultimately attain the Divine nature.

And precious stones.—Symbolizing her claim that she is the sole custodian of the Lord’s precious jewels of truth and character.—1 Cor. 3:12; Mal. 3:17.

And pearls.—Symbolizing her claim that she has sole power over all that the Lord bought by His death.—Matt. 13:45, 46.

Having a golden cup in her hand.—Symbolizing her claim that she is the repository of all Truth Divine.—Jer. 51:7.

Full of abominations and [filthiness] FILTHINESSES of [her] THE fornication OF HER AND OF THE EARTH.—“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad [intoxicated with her errors]. (Jer. 51:7‐9.)”—C. 156; Rev. 18:6; Isa. 65:4.

17:5. And upon her forehead [was a name written].—In plain sight of all the spiritually minded. (And how strange it is that _everybody_ does not see it!)

Mystery.—“We have already called attention to the fact that the Church of Christ is called in the Scriptures the ‘Mystery of God,’ because, contrary to expectation, the Church was to be the Messianic _Body_ which, under its Anointed Head, Jesus, shall rule and bless the world. We have also drawn attention to the fact that the Scriptures refer to Babylon as a counterfeit system (mother and daughters—some more and some less corrupt, some better and some poorer counterfeits), and there designated the ‘Mystery of Iniquity.’ We are to remember that it is Satan who in the Scriptures is credited with having ‘deceived the whole world’ on this subject; putting evil for good and good for evil; light for darkness and darkness for light. Satan ‘now worketh in the children of disobedience’ (Isa. 5:20; Eph. 2:2) even as he proffered his cooperation to our Lord Jesus.”—F. 199; 2 Thes. 2:7; Prov. 5:6.

Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.—“Since Papacy, the mother, is not a single individual, but a great religious system, in keeping with the symbol we should expect to see other religious systems answering to the illustration of daughters of similar character. To this description the various Protestant organizations fully correspond. The daughter systems parted from the mother under circumstances of travail, and were born virgins.” (D. 29.) “But some sincere Christians may still be anxiously inquiring,—‘If all Christendom is to be involved in the doom of Babylon, what will become of Protestantism, the result of the Great Reformation?’ This is an important question; but let the reader consider that Protestantism, as it exists today, is not the result of the Great Reformation, but of its decline.”—D. 28; Ezek. 16:44; Hos. 2:2‐5; Isa. 1:21; Rev. 18:9; 19:2.

“The claims of apostolic succession and clerical authority are almost as presumptuously set forth by some of the Protestant clergy as by the Papal priesthood. And the right of individual private judgment,—the very fundamental principle of the protest against Papacy, which led to the Great Reformation,—is now almost as strenuously opposed by Protestants as by Papists. Protestants seem to have forgotten,—for they truly ignore,—the very grounds of the original protest, and, as systems, they are fast drifting back toward the open arms of the ‘Holy (?) Mother Church.’ ‘Let us hold out to you our hand affectionately’ (says Pope Leo to Protestants in his famous Encyclical addressed ‘To the Princes and Peoples of the Earth’), ‘and invite you to the unity which never failed the Catholic church, and which never can fail. Long has our common mother called you to her breast.’ The doctrine of ‘the Divine right of kings,’ taught or supported by almost every sect, is the foundation of the old civil system, and has long given authority, dignity and stability to the kingdoms of Europe; and the doctrine of the Divine appointment and authority of the clergy has hindered God’s children from progressing in Divine things and bound them by the chains of superstition and ignorance to the veneration and adoration of fallible fellow‐beings, and to their doctrines, traditions and interpretations of God’s Word. It is this entire order of things that is to fall and pass away in the battle of this great day—the order of things which for centuries has held the people docile under the ruling powers, civil, social and religious. All this has been by God’s _permission_ (not by his appointment and approval, as they claim). But though an evil in itself, it has served a good, _temporary_ purpose in preventing anarchy, which is immeasurably worse, because men were not prepared to do better for themselves, and because the time for Christ’s Millennial Kingdom had not yet come. Hence God permitted the various delusions to gain credence in order to hold men in check until ‘The Time of the End’—the end of ‘The Times of the Gentiles’ (which expired October 1, 1914).”—D. 33.

17:6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints.—“ ‘But the blood of Protestants is not called the blood of saints, no more than the blood of thieves, man‐killers, and other malefactors, for the shedding of which, by the order of justice, no commonwealth shall answer.’—_Rhemish (Catholic) translation, footnote._” (B. 320.) “ ‘She wore out the saints of the most high God.’ and ‘was drunken with the blood of the saints.’—Rev. 18:24.”—Z. ’04‐236; Rev. 16:6.

And with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.—Most of these martyrs will doubtless be honored by a place in the Great Company. (See Rev. 7:9.) This Scripture was fulfilled in the Dark Ages, but we are still _in_ the Dark Ages, and will be until this system is destroyed. It takes more than a mere profession of faith to make a Christian. “Jezebel today has daughters—systems termed Protestant—which, nevertheless, copy largely the mother’s spirit. It is through the influence of the daughters that the anti‐typical Elijah may expect future persecutions, instigated by the mother, accomplished through the daughters, as typically represented in the case of John the Baptist, beheaded by Herod at the instance of Salome, but at the instigation of Herodias—Jezebel.”—Z. ’04‐237.

And when I saw her.—Discerned her true character.

I wondered with great admiration.—“With great wonder” (Diaglott), that the Lord would permit such an institution to exist.

17:7. And the angel.—Volume VII, _Scripture Studies_.

Said unto me.—See Revelation, Chapters 4, 5 and 6.

Wherefore dost thou marvel.—This is all quite right and necessary. The Papacy was foreseen and permitted as a part of God’s wonderful plan for developing and testing His Church, proving who are worthy to be of the First Resurrection, joint‐heirs with Christ.

I will tell thee the mystery of the woman.—The apostate Church of Rome.

And of the beast that carrieth her.—Pagan Rome, now represented in earth’s warring governments.

Which hath seven heads and ten horns.—See Rev. 12:3; 13:1. The exposition of the remainder of this chapter was greatly assisted by the following letter: “Your request for my version of what I understood Bro. Russell’s expectations to be respecting the fulfillment of the 17th Chapter of Revelation received and after considerable meditation upon the matter I have decided to submit the following: Brother Russell stated that there were three possible fulfillments of this Chapter, and that he did not or would not go on record as to which would be the correct interpretation, for the reason that this Chapter could not be interpreted in a positive way until after its fulfillment. He stated that this Chapter was the key to all of the pictures, or prophecies, of Revelation, which are as yet wrapped in mystery. On various occasions I requested Bro. Russell to give me his idea respecting the three possible fulfillments; but he remained absolutely mum respecting two of the ways, but freely expressed his opinion respecting the third way, which he believed would be the way in which the prophecy would be fulfilled. ‘The beast that thou sawest was, and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition,’ we understand to be the Holy Roman Empire—Church and State, united in power from 799 to 1799. The term ‘Thou sawest’ refers to the thousand‐year reign of the Pope, and the term ‘And is not’ refers to the present non‐existence of the Empire in power, and the term ‘And shall ascend from the bottomless pit and again go into perdition’ refers to the re‐establishment of the Holy Roman Empire in power and its subsequent destruction. The statement ‘When he cometh, he must continue a short space,’ was understood by Bro. Russell to mean that the beast would rule only for a very short time. In answer to a direct question on this point Bro. Russell stated that he did not believe this short space could be interpreted in days, months, or years, but that it simply meant a short time. In the 12th verse, we read that ‘The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.’ This seems to set forth the Papal view respecting the various kings of Europe which at the present time have not received the official anointing by the Pope, and consequently have not as yet received their kingdom. If this is correct, it would then also mean that if the Pope should anoint these kings and declare them to be ruling by Divine right, they thereby would officially receive power as kings, and would rule with the Pope and together with the Pope would constitute the beast again in power.

“Bro. Russell was anxiously awaiting the settlement of the present world war for the reason that it seemed very probable that the Pope would be the leading figure in bringing about its settlement, and possibly the very basis of the settlement will be the recognition of the Pope as the Holy See. If the Pope receives such recognition, he could in return immediately grant an official anointing of the rulers of the various governments included in the settlement, and they then as stated in Verse 13, will be ‘Of one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.’ If this is to be the fulfillment of this picture, then it will only be a question of time until these same governments will turn upon the Roman Church and ‘Shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.’ (Rev. 17:16.) The foregoing briefly outlines what Bro. Russell seemed to think would be the outcome of the present war. He had certain articles in prospect which, if backed up by fulfilled prophecies, were to be the absolute and irrevocable proof to the world of all of the leading pictures given in the entire book of Revelation. Personally, I think everything seems to be shaping itself towards the fulfillment of the Chapter on the line above specified. If you are making any use of this letter, kindly specify or emphasize the fact that Bro. Russell considered the matter largely as a speculation, and that he positively stated that he would not go on record in the matter for the reason that when he treated the matter he would do so in the light of fulfilled prophecy _as the last word and as the unsealing of the entire book_, and that he would not attempt to do this until such a time as the interpretation could not be refuted.” That time has evidently now come.

17:8. The beast that thou sawest.—The Antichrist.

Was.—Exercised actual dominion until 1799 A. D.

And is not.—Has not had even a vestige of temporal power since 1870. Since then it has been in oblivion, the “bottomless pit.”

And shall ascend out of the [bottomless pit], ABYSS.—“Private letters from the Vatican, received by Dr. A. Palmieri of the Library of Congress, a recognized writer on ecclesiastical subjects, announce that Pope Benedict XV is about to appoint a commission of four cardinals to renew a movement begun by Pope Leo XIII, and abandoned by Pope Pius X, looking to a reunion of Christianity and the cultivation of friendly relations with the Anglican Church. A public announcement on the subject from Rome is expected soon. Dr. Palmieri said that the new movement, as outlined in his advices, will be directed particularly toward an establishment of the reunion of the Russian church and the Papacy and to a thorough re‐ examination into the validity of Anglican or Episcopal ordinations, which was settled in the negative in a papal bull ‘Apostolica Sedis,’ by Pope Leo X. The interest of the Pope in the problem of Christian unity is said to have been intensified by the recent progress of the world congress, initiated by the American Episcopal Church.

“ ‘The new Pope,’ said Dr. Palmieri, summarizing the information received from Rome, ‘has taken a considerable part in the efforts of neutral nations to establish peace among nations. The Vatican’s efforts have been suggested not only by a humanitarian spirit, but by a longing for Christian unity and to end the conflict which long since has divided Christian churches. Efforts of Leo XIII for carrying out the reunion of Christianity were abruptly stopped by Piux X, who aimed at an inner reform of the Catholic clergy and turned all his energies to the crushing of modernism [Higher Criticism and Evolution]. Benedict XV thinks it is time to renew the policy of Leo XIII, also that a re‐establishment of a political peace would be the first step toward renewed attempts to stop the splitting of Christianity into a greater number of sects. It seems to the Vatican that the Orthodox Slavs will be very soon called to take a more active part in the life of western nations, either Protestant or Catholic, and that it is necessary to come to an understanding with them to avoid evils produced by religious intolerance. The newly planned commission of cardinals will pay attention to yearnings for unity, which from time to time manifest themselves in the Orthodox church, and to cultivate friendly relations with the Anglican church. One of the most important tasks of the new commission will be a thorough re‐examination of the arguments pro and con on the validity of Anglican ordinations. The bull Apostolica Sedis by Leo X has settled in the negative the problem of that validity, but generally theological schools assume a more favorable attitude toward acknowledgment the validity of Anglican orders, and the new commission of cardinals will carefully ponder the reasons set forth by Russian and Anglican divines against the decision of Pope Leo X. The friendship of the Anglican church is appreciated by Rome, for she may be as a link of union between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy.’ ” (Z. ’17‐52.) We assume that the foregoing plan of the pope will succeed. “This is the supreme chance for Christianity ‘to assert her authority and guide the world out of the darkness enshrouding it,’ observes _The Northwestern Christian Advocate_ (Methodist, Chicago), and it wonders whether the organized Christianity that ‘failed—ingloriously failed’—in 1914 will again ‘miss her golden opportunity.’ ” (Literary Digest.) “An old writer has observed that the Beast reappears from the Abyss (see on ch. 11, 7) without his diadems, as though, in this last stage, he would symbolize rather the violence of popular rage than the prescriptive sanctity of monarchical supremacy.”—Cook.

And go into perdition.—Be utterly destroyed at the hands of the masses it has so persistently and outrageously deceived.—Rev. 17:11.

And they that dwell on the earth.—All independent Christians, not entangled in the systems of either the beast or the image. See Rev. 13:13, 14.

Shall wonder.—Be astounded, perplexed and dismayed, “At the reappearance of the beast.”—Cook.

Whose names.—As a class, not as individuals.

Were not written in the Book of Life.—But not necessarily in so‐called Church books, kept here on earth, for collection purposes.

From the foundation of the world.—“The book or scroll covenanting life to an elect number was prepared from the foundation of the world. The names in it have been written as the individuals have made consecration of themselves, coming under the terms of the Divine call. In this view of the matter the book or scroll would represent the original Divine purpose—God’s intention to have a Church, of which our Lord Jesus would be the Head.—(Rev. 3:5.)”—Z. ’99‐265.

When they behold the beast that was, and is not, and [yet is] SHALL AGAIN BE PRESENT.—The Papal Empire restored.

17:9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom.—A problem requiring the aid of the Lord.—Rev. 13:18.

The seven heads are seven mountains.—The kingdoms enumerated in Rev. 12:3.

On which the woman sitteth.—Over which she once reigned in plentitude of power. Much of Revelation is written in such a way that both a literal and a symbolical explanation can be made, designed by the Lord to make the understanding of the book impossible to any except the fully consecrated. The following shows the physical explanation of this text which would most appeal to the unconsecrated. But it shows that the Mother of Harlots has her headquarters at Rome. And when we know who the mother is, it is impossible not to recognize the daughters. Rome is called in history the “seven‐hilled city.” “The original settlement of Romulus is said to have been limited to the Palatine mount. With this were united before the end of his reign the Capitoline and the Quirinal; Tullus Hostilius added the Caelian, Ancus Martius the Aventine; and finally Servius Tullius included the Esquiline and Viminal, and enclosed the whole seven hills with a stone wall. The growth of the state closely followed that of the city.” (Brit.) It would not be possible to limit this explanation to seven forms of government which have exercised sway over the city of Rome. There have been many such governments. There were seven of them during the nineteenth century alone—the Roman Republic of 1798, the Kingdom of 1805, the Annexation of 1810, the restoration of the temporal power in 1814, the Revolution of 1848, the restoration of the temporal power in 1849, and the Italian occupation in 1870.

17:10. And there are seven kings.—Seven forms of government of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, the devil’s own particular pattern of government.

Five are fallen.—(1) The Regal period, from 753 B. C. to 510 B. C. The “Kings” of this period were “not simply either the hereditary and patriarchal chief of a clan, the priestly head of a community bound together by a common _sacra_, or the elected magistrate of a state, but a mixture of all three.”—Brit.

(2) The Republic, from 509 to 451 B. C. and from 448 to 60 B. C. “It is characteristic of Rome that the change from monarchy to republic should have been made with the least possible disturbance of existing forms. The title of king was retained, though only as that of a priestly officer (_rex sacrorum_) to whom some of the religious functions of the former kings were transferred. The two annually elected consuls or prætores were regarded as joint heirs of the full kingly authority, and as holding the imperium and the correlative right of taking the auspices, by direct transmission from the founder of the city.” (Brit.) (3) The Decemvirate, a rule of ten men, from 451 to 449 B. C. (4) The Triumvirate, a rule of three men, from 59 to 49 B. C. and from 43 to 28 B. C. (5) The Dictatorship of Cæsar, 48 to 44 B. C. All of these forms of the old Holy Roman Empire have completely passed away.

[And] one is.—The Dragon, still represented in the powers of Europe. (See comments on Rev. 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17; 13:2, 4, 11; 16:13.) The rulership of Papacy during the Dark Ages, both directly in its temporal power, and through the governments which it controlled or influenced, and still influences, was—as has been shown—merely another aspect of the government of Pagan Rome, generally styled the Empire, but in Revelation called the Dragon, and the Devil, and Satan.

And the other.—The final form, of Arbitrator (whatever be the official title).

Is not yet come.—But is due to make its appearance with the close of the war, probably early in the year 1938. (See comments on Rev. 16:17‐21; Ex. 10:23.) Pastor Russell foretold the _darkness_ would commence in _1914_, and it did!! Egypt’s plague of darkness lasted three days (years).

And when he cometh, he must continue a short space.—Probably from the fall of 1917 to the spring or summer of 1918. “The language is indefinite, the words ‘must continue’ alone being emphatic. It is a duration such that by means of it the Church should be exercised in patience.”—Cook.

17:11. And the beast that was.—That once exercised temporal dominion and, through influence of the European governments, once actually ruled the world.

And is not.—Does not now have any temporal dominion.

[Even] he is the eighth.—The eighth horn which took the place of the three plucked up (Rev. 12:3); also the final form of the _HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE_.

And is of the seven.—“Cometh of the seven,” Greek.—Grew up by the plucking of the three. The Papacy is either the seventh or the eighth form, depending upon how the matter is viewed. If it be viewed as having reigned separately from the Dragon during the Dark Ages (as it did, when it exercised temporal power), in its new guise it will be the eighth form, its separate rulership during the Dark Ages being counted as the seventh. But if it be viewed as having been a co‐partner of the Dragon during the Dark Ages, then its forthcoming manifestation will be the seventh form. In any event the eighth form is one of the seven forms; and the regaining of the temporal power this time will be the cause of the Papacy’s destruction. See Z. ’03‐325 for a hint that Benedict XV will never have a successor. (He is personally the eighth pope reigning since 1799. Five of these popes had died prior to 1878. Here is a good secondary fulfilment.)

And goeth into perdition.—“Daniel, representing the saints, says (Dan. 7:11), ‘I watched it then [after its dominion was gone and it was powerless longer to crush the Truth, the power of the holy people], _because_ of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke, and I saw that [it obtained no power over the holy saints and the Truth, but it did have another effect] the beast was slain, the body thereof destroyed and given to the burning flame’—general anarchy. The destruction of the remnant of governments in the old Roman Empire, caused by the misleading influence of Papacy’s continued bombastic utterances, even after its dominion is gone, is thus shown.”—C. 68; 2 Thes. 2:3.

17:12. And the ten horns which thou sawest.—Three of which were originally plucked up to make room for the growth of the Papacy. See Rev. 12:3; 13:1; 17:3; Dan. 7:7, 8, 20; Rev. 5:6; 1 Sam. 2:10; Deut. 33:17; 1 Ki. 22:11.

Are ten kings.—The rulers, whether kings, kaisers, presidents or others who have dragged into the slaughter house the descendants of the ten powers originally composing the Roman Empire.

Which have received no kingdom [as yet].—No official sanction as rulers from the counterfeit “king of kings and lord of lords”—the Pope.

But receive power as kings.—“The absence of the diadem indicates that their kingdom is not full, regal power, but as being transient, is represented as if it were royal power.”—Cook.

One hour with the beast.—The “one hour” in this verse (17:12) may signify one year, or thereabouts. The word in the Greek is _hora_. This is the same word which our Lord used when, in speaking of John the Baptist He said, “He was a burning and a shining light; and you were willing, for a time (_hora_—one year—the length of John’s ministry before his imprisonment) to rejoice in his light.” (John 5:35; Z. ’04‐60.) In matters that are still future we can only use our best judgment as to the significance to be attached to expressions like this. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”—Rom. 14:5.

17:13. These have one mind.—All are desperately anxious to stop the terrible waste of human life, now that they see what their father, the Devil, has accomplished through their worship and service of himself and his institutions.

And [shall] give their power and strength unto the beast.—Support it in its apparently laudable but actually selfish efforts in trying to stop the European war. “Deposit in his hands all the available means which they possess.”—Cook.

17:14. These shall make war with the Lamb.—Endeavor to suppress the message of Present Truth.—Rev. 16:14; 19:19.

And the Lamb shall overcome them.—Zion need not fear; for God is in the midst of her, and will help her. Her consecration is unto death, and her privilege is to prove her faithfulness: “The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord.”—Matt. 10:24, 25.

“It will probably be in an effort at self‐preservation on the part of ‘Great Babylon’—‘Christendom’—when she sees her power in politics, priestcraft and superstition waning, that the work of truth‐spreading will be stopped as detrimental to her system. And probably at this juncture the Elijah class, persisting in declaring the Truth to the last, will suffer violence, pass into glory and escape from the severest features of the great Time of Trouble coming—just in the crisis of affairs when men begin to feel that desperate measures must be resorted to, to sustain the tottering structure of Christendom. Although the exact time of the deliverance or ‘change’ of the last members of the Body of Christ is not stated, the approximate time is nevertheless clearly manifest, as shortly after the ‘door’ is shut (Matt. 25:10).”—C. 231.

For He is Lord of lords, and King of kings.—Has the entire situation under perfect control—is the _real_ Pope.—1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 19:16.

And they that are with Him are called.—When they hear, understand and heed the message of complete consecration even unto death (Rev. 19:9). This clause, in the Greek, indicates that these also, as well as the Lamb, shall overcome them.

And chosen.—Elected as soon as they comply with the conditions, provided there are any vacancies.

And faithful.—“The door of opportunity to engage, with Christ our Lord, in the work of the Gospel Age, will be closed when ‘the night cometh wherein no man can work.’ And all who have not previously, by faithful service, developed the necessary character and proved their sympathy, devotion, love and zeal for the Lord and His Truth (Matt. 10:37; Mark 8:38), will then be too late to do so. The closing in of this night will evidently put a stop to any farther labor to disseminate the Truth, which, misunderstood by the public generally, will probably be accused of being the cause of much of the anarchy and confusion then prevailing, instead of being seen in its true light as a foreshadowing of the Divine mind and revelation concerning coming troubles on the world and their true causes.”—C. 210; Rev. 2:10.

17:15. And he saith unto me, [The] THESE waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth.—See Rev. 17:1, 9.

Are BOTH peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.—And not, therefore, literal water or literal hills, or forms of government which have ruled the city of Rome.—Isa. 8:7.

17:16. And the ten horns which thou sawest.—The rulers of Europe and America, and their subjects, descendants of the ten powers which originally composed the old Roman Empire.

[Upon] AND the beast.—The re‐established temporal dominion of the pope in Rome and elsewhere. “Of her boastings and threats the following from a Catholic journal of recent date is a fair sample: ‘The Papacy will regain its temporal sovereignty, because it is useful and convenient to the Church. It gives the head executive of the church a fuller liberty and a fuller sway. The Pope can be no king’s subject long. It is not in keeping with the divine office to be so. It cramps him and narrows his influence for good. Europe has acknowledged this influence, and will be forced to bow to it in greater times of need than this. Social upheavals, and the red hand of anarchy, will yet crown Leo or his successor with the reality of power which the third circle symbolizes, and which was once recognized universally.’ Yes, as the day of trouble draws on, ecclesiasticism will endeavor to use its power and influence more and more to secure its own political welfare, by its control of the turbulent elements of society; but in the crisis of the near future the lawless element will spurn all conservative influence and break over all restraints, the red hand of Anarchy will do its dreadful work, and Babylon, political and ecclesiastical, shall fall.”—D. 38.

These shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked.—People and governments will have a common hatred for their mutual enemy when the motives which actuate her are clearly revealed.—Ezek. 16:35‐44; 23:22, 29; Zech. 1:19.

And shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.—Unite to complete her utter destruction.—Rev. 18:8, 18; Dan. 7:11; C. 68; Gen. 38:24; Ezek. 16:41; Lev. 20:14; 21:9.

17:17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will.—As expressed in His Word.

And to agree.—The European war would stop tomorrow if it were not for the officers holding the men to the task of butchery.

And to give their kingdom unto the beast.—Put their liberties into the hands of the Papacy, as Arbitrator.

Until the words of God shall be fulfilled.—And the travail of nominal Zion shall disclose her true character.

17:18. And the woman which thou sawest.—The Apostate Church, the antitypical Jezebel.

Is that great city.—The “_HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE_.”

Which reigneth over the [kings] KINGDOMS of the earth.—“Expositors of every school generally agree that Rome Pagan, or Rome Papal, or Rome under both aspects, is intended here. In order to repel the application to the Papacy, many Roman expositors also apply what is said of the destruction of Rome, to the future—to Rome again become Pagan: This is the hypothesis, observes Bishop Wordsworth, of Suarez, Viegas, Ribera, Lessius, Menochius, C. à Lapide, and others, particularly Dr. Manning in our own day. Thus Stern writes:—Babylon is really the City of Rome, not only, however, according to the old‐heathenish, but also according to the new‐heathenish signification of the World’s history.”—Cook.

Could there ever come a time when men, the world over, could be more heathenish at heart than now; and does not, therefore, even Papal comment show that this Scripture is ready to be fulfilled?

“Whene’er the storms come down on thee, And days of peace all seem to flee; This thought thy peace again shall bring, Why should I fear?—the Lord is King.

E’en when the tempest rages high, And darkest clouds are drawing nigh, With hands of faith to this, O! cling,— Why should I fear?—the Lord is King;

Amid the stormy waves of life, Above the tumult and the strife, The chimes of hope still sweetly ring,— Be not afraid—the Lord is King.”

Revelation 18—The Fall Of Ecclesiasticism

18:1. [And] after these things.—As another view of the Harvest epoch.

I saw another angel.—Messenger, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus.—Mal. 3:1; Rev. 10:1; 14:1.

Come down from Heaven.—In 1874. See Rev. 3:14.

Having great power.—“All power in Heaven and in earth.”—Matt. 28:18.

And the earth was lightened.—See Mal. 4:2; Rev. 7:2.

With His glory.—Some of the glories of the New Day, all discovered since 1874, are adding machines, aeroplanes, aluminum, antiseptic surgery, artificial dyes, automatic couplers, automobiles, barbed wire, bicycles, carborundum, cash registers, celluloid, correspondence schools, cream separators, Darkest Africa, disk ploughs, Divine Plan of the Ages, dynamite, electric railways, electric welding, escalators, fireless cookers, gas engines, harvesting machines, illuminating gas, induction motors, linotypes, match machines, monotypes, motion pictures, North Pole, Panama Canal, Pasteurization, railway signals, Roentgen rays, shoe sewing machines, smokeless powder, South Pole, submarines, radium, sky scrapers, subways, talking machines, telephones, typewriters, vacuum cleaners and wireless telegraphy.—Ezek. 43:2; John 1:9; Matt. 25:31; Titus 2:13.

18:2. And he cried [mightily] with a [strong] MIGHTY voice.—How apt are these Scriptures that refer to Pastor Russell as a “voice”! (Rev. 7:2; 10:3; 16:1.) So modestly are his works written that the author is nowhere manifest, but attention is always and everywhere drawn to the _Lord_.

Saying, [Babylon the great is] fallen, is BABYLON THE GREAT [fallen].—“The expression, ‘Babylon is fallen,’ indicates that at some time a sudden and utter rejection is to come upon Babylon, when all favor will forever cease, and when judgments will follow—just such a rejection as we have shown was due in 1878.”—C. 155; Isa. 13:19‐22; 21:9; Jer. 51:8‐13; Rev. 14:8; 16:19.

“In spite of all our wealth, the blight of poverty, with its accompanying sickness, suffering, crime, insanity and vice, continues. The social disease manifested in ‘atrophy and hypertrophy,’ in ‘extremities bleeding at the bottom, bloating at the top, decay in both,’ is a portent of the modern world. The net result of our wonderful civilization is that men have less time now than they have ever had since the world began.”—_Current Literature_; Z. ’11‐420.

“Alienists the country over are sounding a solemn note of warning to the American people over the alarming rush in which we live. According to Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, federal pure food and drugs expert, nearly every man and woman at some time in their lives border on insanity. That view is also indorsed by the famous Dr. William A. White, head of the United States government hospital for the insane, who backs up the stand taken recently by Dr. Owen Copp, new head of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. Because of the terrible ravages of drink and drugs, particularly in the United States, thousands of people are rendered so extremely nervous that they are always on the verge of going crazy. The rush and worry of modern life he gives as the causes.”—Z. ’11‐228.

And is become the habitation of devils.—“The _New York World_ publishes an interview with Bishop Fallows, of the Reformed Episcopal Church, as follows: ‘Telepathy is an established fact. In recent years great strides have been made in the explanation of psychic phenomena and in the years to come the science of communication with the dead will be made a part of the curriculum of great educational institutions. I have called the new science “Immortalism” because it depends for its existence upon the immortality of the soul, in which we all believe, and the preservation of identity beyond the grave.’ Bishop Fallows will be recognized by many as one of the ministers who have recently been taking a great interest in Faith Healing clinics. We have already pointed out that to our understanding these cures are effected by hypnotic influences and that hypnotism is but another form of Spiritism. We believe that through this channel the fallen angels (‘wicked spirits,’ Eph. 6:12) are seeking to break down the human will; and that the results, shortly, will be direful in the extreme, leading to spirit control and every evil work.”—Z. ’09‐355; Ecc. 9:5; 1 Pet. 3:19; Jude 6; Jer. 51:37‐41; Rev. 16:14; Isa. 13:19‐22; 34:14.

And the hold of every foul spirit.—Rev. Wm. Sunday has exceptional opportunity for learning, and in his public discourses repeatedly “scores the ministers because they have no faith. He condemns their neglect of Bible study. He says the theological seminaries are turning out infidels. He refers to the large amount of saloon property that belongs to church members. He enumerates all kinds of worldly doings which go on in these denominations. He would have us believe that the moral standard of thousands high in the churches is so low as to almost stagger reason. Now if what Mr. Sunday says about the denominations is true they are not fit places for good, respectable people, to say nothing of true Christians. In fact, if they are only half as bad as he says, then every faithful child of God ought to get out of them as quickly as he can. If they are but one‐ quarter as bad as Mr. Sunday tells, then the only safety on the part of one who wishes to retain his faith is to get out of such spiritual pest‐ holes.”—Z. ’15‐207.

And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.—“How true it is, that the most execrable of society seek and wear the garb of Christian profession and ceremonialism, in some of the various quarters (sects) of Babylon. Of all the defaulters, and deceivers of men and of women, how many are professedly members of Christ’s Church! and how many even use their profession as a cloak under which to forward evil schemes! It is well known that a majority of even the most brutal criminals executed die in the Roman Catholic communion. Babylon has contained both the best and the worst, both the cream and the dregs, of the population of the civilized world.” (C. 162.) A parliamentary report of the status of society in England and Wales in 1873 showed that there were then no Jewish criminals, 1 of every 20,000 infidels was a criminal, 1 of every 666 Dissenters was a criminal, 1 of every 72 Church of England, and 1 of every 40 Roman Catholics. (C. 163.) “The great system in which the ‘fowl of heaven’ delight to roost, and which they have grievously befouled (Luke 13:18, 19), and which has in fact become ‘a cage of every unclean and hateful bird,’ is to be hewn down, and shall deceive the world no longer.”—C. 187; Isa. 34:11; Jer. 50:39; Zeph. 2:14.

18:3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.—“The stimulating power is not the spirit of a sound mind, but the delusion of a false doctrine; as the Prophet declares, they are ‘drunken,’ but not with wine. (Isa. 29:9‐13.) The people in general have lost their taste and appreciation for the water of life, the _Truth_; and false teachers warn them against it as poison. The wine of false doctrines now being manufactured at all the Theological Seminaries is the wine of evolution and higher criticism, which does not satisfy the thirst, but increases the confusion of mind. Even Babylon’s notables are dissatisfied, famished.—See Amos 8:11.”—Z. ’01‐349.

And the kings of the earth.—The governments of Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Russia, Spain, Portugal, etc.

Have committed fornication with her.—Joined themselves to the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Greek Catholic Churches.

And the merchants of the earth.—Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Presiding Elders, Reverends, etc.—Rev. 18:11, 15; Isa. 47:15; 23:8; Ezek. 27:36.

Are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.—Supplied partly in cash and partly in left‐overs from church fairs, suppers, etc.

18:4. And I heard another voice from heaven.—The WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, the corporate body which Pastor Russell personally organized to conduct the Harvest work (Rev. 8:3; 14:18). This voice has been exerted continuously since 1884. “Our thought is that it is the Lord who calls His people out of Babylon; the call to to be recognized especially as a Voice from Heaven. Apparently, the Voice is Present Truth.”—Z. ’14‐180.

Saying, Come out of her.—“This call applies not only to those in Babylon the Great, but to those in other denominations—mother and daughters. Be not of those who cannot see the errors of Babylon and who, consequently, are not of the called ones. The object of the call to come out is not for people merely to withdraw from a nominal church. No one is called out of Babylon until he sees her true condition. This call to associate with Christ, with Messiah, is given by the Lord through the Prophet when He says, ‘Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a Covenant with Me by sacrifice.’ (Psa. 50:5.) They were to be gathered, not to the Roman or other systems, but to the Lord, to become one with Him.” (Z. ’12‐277.) “The Lord’s call out of Babylon is not in audible one—He merely calls us by the principles of righteousness. He lifts the curtain before the eyes of understanding of His consecrated ones and thus lets them see some of the errors, some of the falsities in which they and others of Babylon are involved—dishonoring the holy name—blaspheming the holy name by misrepresentation of the Divine character and Plan. This is and should be call enough for those who are of the Lord’s Spirit, for those who love the Lord and the honor of His name more than they love houses or lands or parents or children or any other creature or thing—yea, more than they love their own lives. Such are sure to respond and to come out of Babylon; others who remain, in spite of seeing the light, fail to be overcomers of the highest class—fail therefore to be in the elect Bride class, and must be counted in with the Great Company, which will come through great tribulation, and will get out of Babylon only when she has been cast as a great millstone into the midst of the sea—in the time of anarchous trouble with which this Age will close.” (Z. ’06‐343.)

“Baptists think their preachers have no authority. But the Baptists cannot do anything without the consent of the preachers. The preachers hold a power that God did not repose there. God never authorized any men to go and ordain another man to preach the Gospel. God does the ordaining; and it is for the church to decide, according to its best judgment, whom the Lord ordains or calls as a pastor. The people in the Methodist church have almost no liberty, except the privilege of giving money. The bishops control the presiding elders, and under them the presiding elders control the preachers; and so it is all the way down to the class leaders. They have their head or chief amongst them. They have a human head. The General Conference is the highest authority. So the Presbyterian church has a head in the way of a General Assembly which has the deciding of matters.

“On one occasion I was called upon by a minister of the Reformed church. He wanted to know how I managed my church. I said to him, ‘Brother ——, I have no church.’ He said, ‘You know what I mean.’ I answered, ‘I want you to know what I mean, too. We claim that there is only one Church. If you belong to that Church, you belong to our Church.’ He looked at me in surprise. Then he said, ‘You have an organization; how many members are there?’ I replied, ‘I cannot tell; we do not keep any membership rolls.’ ‘You do not keep any list of the membership?’ ‘No. We do not keep any list; their names are written in Heaven.’ He asked, ‘How do you have your election?’ I said, ‘We announce an election; and any or all of God’s people, who are consecrated and are accustomed to meet with this company, or congregation, may have the privilege of expressing their judgment of who would be the Lord’s preference for elders and deacons of the congregation.’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘that is simplicity itself.’ I then added, ‘We pay no salaries; there is nothing to make people quarrel. We never take up a collection.’ ‘How do you get the money?’ he asked. I replied, ‘Now, Dr. ——, if I tell you what is the simplest truth you will hardly be able to believe it. When people get interested in this way, they find no basket placed under their nose. But they see there are expenses. They say to themselves, “This hall costs something, and I see that free lunch is served between meetings, for those living at some distance. How can I get a little money into this thing?” ’ He looked at me as if he thought, ‘What do you take me for—a greenhorn?’ I said, ‘Now, Dr. ——, I am telling you the plain truth. They do ask me this very question, “How can I get a little money into this cause?” ’ ” (Pastor Russell _Question Meeting_. Gen. 19:15, 22; Isa. 48:20; 52:11; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Matt. 24:16.)

“The present work of gathering the Lord’s saints out of Babylon is represented under various symbolic descriptions,—it is the gathering of the wheat from the tares into the barn (Matt. 13:30): it is the gathering of the good fish into baskets and the casting of the unsuitable fish caught in the Gospel net back into the sea (Matt. 13:47‐49); it is the gathering of His jewels (Mal. 3:17); it is the midnight cry to the virgins, which separates the wise from the foolish (Matt. 25:6); and it is the gathering of the ‘Elect’ from all the non‐elect of Christendom, from the four winds—from every quarter.” (Matt. 24:31.) (D. 600.) “Lot’s wife, after starting to flee as directed, ‘looked back;’ coveting the things behind: and so with some now fleeing from Babylon to the mountain (Kingdom) of the Lord; they are more in sympathy with the things behind than with the things before. Only those will run the race to the finish who set their affections on the things above, and not on the things beneath.” (D. 608.)

“Those who thus flee to the Lord will neither be consumed by fear and dread, nor swallowed up by the projects and false theories—science falsely so called—with which this day abounds. And, withal, they may be in the devouring fire [trouble], witnesses for God and His Plan, and teachers of the people—pointers to the glorious outcome of Jehovah’s Plan, lifting up a standard for the people.—Isa. 62:10.” (B. 31.) “The tables of the various sects of Christendom were started as tables of the Lord, and adorned to some extent with food from His storehouse, the Word. But the great Adversary placed upon these tables errors, delusions, doctrines of devils, which have blemished them as a whole; wherefore it is appropriate now to apply to them the words of the Scriptures, ‘Come out from amongst them and be ye separate; touch not the unclean thing.’ ” (Z. ’07‐91.) “Our friends, like Abraham’s friends, would persuade us of the folly of leaving Babylon, its comforts and associations: they assure us that our opportunities for greatness, etc., will be distinctly lessened by the course of obedience which we take. Nevertheless we, like Abram, go forth taking all of our possessions with us, great or small—nothing must be left behind to be a treasure in Babylon and to attract our hearts thither again. All things must be brought with us so that not our own lives and talents only, but our influence upon others, must all be made to count.” (Z. ’01‐231) “As to missionary activities (Matt. 23:15), what advantage can accrue to the heathen from giving them the false doctrines of the Adversary? The few who may be reached will have the more to unlearn when the Times of Restitution begin.”—F. 641.

My people.—“We would not be understood as including all Christians as ‘Babylonians.’ Quite to the contrary. As the Lord recognizes some in Babylon as true to Him and addresses them now, saying, ‘Come out of her, _My people_’ (Rev. 18:4), so do we; and we rejoice to believe that there are today thousands who have not bowed the knee to the Baal of our day—Mammon, Pride and Ambition. Those who will not come out until Babylon falls and they come through the ‘great tribulation’ (Rev. 7:9‐14) shall not be accounted worthy to share the Kingdom. Compare Rev. 2:26; 3:21; Matt. 10:37; Mark 8:34, 35; Luke 14:26, 27.” (See Micah 2:10; Jer. 12:7‐11; 23:33‐40; Jer. 11:14, 15; Prov. 19:27; Matt. 14:28, 29; Hos. 4:6; Isa. 27:12.) “The begetting of spiritual children of God, through the Word of His grace, and their being to some extent cherished, nourished and brought forward by these human sectarian tare systems, is well illustrated by certain insects, the young of which are injected into the backs of their enemies, and there warmed, nourished and developed, up to the time of their complete birth and deliverance, which means, usually, the death of the insect which temporarily carried them about.” (F. 656.) Now the point of deliverance has been reached.

That ye be not partakers of her sins.—“If you fail to obey the Lord through fear of earthly loss, it will prove that these things are more precious to you than His favor, and He will treat you as He treats the hypocrites; you will have a share in their experiences.” (Z. ’14‐180.) “We do not know but that they may go to the extreme in our day—to kill socially, to kill ecclesiastically, perhaps to kill physically. Nearly all the persecutions that have come to God’s people have come from professed Christians, fellow‐believers. ‘Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My Name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.’ (Isaiah 66:5.)”—Z. ’14‐181; Num. 16:26.

And that ye receive not of her plagues.—See Rev. 16:1‐21.

18:5. For her sins [have reached] CLEAVED TOGETHER unto Heaven.—Ezekiel has touched on this!—Jer. 51:9; Gen. 11:3, 4; Luke 10:11.

And God hath remembered her iniquities.—By seven plagues; the seven volumes of _Studies in the Scriptures_.—Rev. 16:1‐21. See also bottom of this page.

18:6. Reward her even as she rewarded [you].—A diligent attempt has been made in this direction. Anything overlooked will be inserted in the next edition.—Psa. 137:8; Jer. 50:15, 29; 51:24.

[And] double unto her double according to her works.—Make a double exposition (explaining Revelation and Ezekiel) that will show her up just as she is.

In [the] HER cup which she hath filled.—The Scriptures which she has twisted, distorted and misapplied. “The cup which she has used as a means of seduction shall now be changed into the instrument of her punishment.”—Cook.

Fill to her double.—Greek, “the double.” (Isa. 61:7.) Give her enough light on Ezekiel and Revelation to show her the exit.—Isa. 21:7‐10.

18:7. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously.—And to what lengths has not Papacy gone in this direction, with the Protestant sects doing their best to keep the pace!

So much torment and sorrow.—Mourning for the dead, Greek.—Amos. 8:10.

Give her.—“I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened His armoury [Ezekiel and Revelation] and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans ... the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of His Temple.... Recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her.”—Jer. 50:24‐29.

For she saith in her heart.—Babylon really believes her prosperity will continue forever. They “shall _believe_ the lie.”—2 Thes. 2:11.

I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.—See Isa. 47:8, 9; D. 43; Zeph. 2:15.

18:8. Therefore.—“Because she will violently struggle for life and power.”—D. 39.

Shall her plagues.—Death, mourning, famine and fire.

Come in one day.—The year of 1918. See Rev. 3:14; 11:11.

Death.—“By the hand of her enemies.”

And mourning.—For the loss of her people.—Rev. 18:7.

And famine.—Literal and symbolic. (Amos. 8:11). “As we call to mind the long train of evils by which Babylon has oppressed and worn out the saints of the most High (the true Zion), and how it is written that God will avenge His own Elect, and that speedily; that, according to their deeds, He will repay recompense to His enemies; that He will render unto Babylon a recompense (Luke 18:7, 8; Isa. 59:18; Jer. 51:6), we begin to realize that some fearful calamity awaits her. The horrible decrees of Papacy,—the reproach and reward of which Protestantism also is incurring by her present compromising association with her,—for the burning, butchering, banishing, imprisoning and torturing of the saints in every conceivable way, executed with such fiendish cruelty in the days of her power by the arm of the State, whose power she demanded and received, await full measure of just retribution.”—D. 39.

And she shall be utterly burned with fire.—Completely destroyed in the anarchy to follow.—Rev. 17:16; Gen. 38:24; Ezek. 16:41; Lev. 20:14; 21:9.

For strong is GOD the Lord [God] who [judgeth] JUDGED her.—“Compare Rev. 17:17, where the event is expressly declared to have been overruled by God.” (Cook.) “And I will punish Bel in Babylon [the God of Babylon,—the Pope]; and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up [he shall repudiate in his extremity the ‘great swelling words’ and blasphemous titles which he has long appropriated to himself—that he is the ‘infallible vicar,’ ‘vice‐gerent of Christ,’ ‘another God on earth,’ etc.], and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him. Yea, the wall of Babylon [the civil power that once defended it, and that in a measure does so still] shall fall.... Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire [shall be destroyed]; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire [to prop and save the walls of Babylon], and they shall be weary.—Jer. 51:44, 58.”—D. 40. The people are already getting weary of supporting murderous governments.

18:9. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication [and lived deliciously] with her.—In the illicit unions of Church and State the advantage, from a worldly viewpoint, has been on the side of the Church. She has compelled the State to cleanse her filthy linen while she proceeded to pollute another lot. Far from living deliciously, the horns have really hated the harlot for her impudent, shameless conduct.

Shall [bewail her], WAIL and lament for her.—Not because they loved her, but because she was useful to them in keeping the people in ignorance and subjection.—Jer. 50:46; Ezek. 26:15 to 27:36.

When they shall see the smoke of her burning.—When they witness her confusion and signs of imminent destruction as portrayed in the seventh plague—“the handwriting on the wall.”—Dan. 5:1‐9; Rev. 18:18; 19:3.

18:10. Standing afar off for fear of her torment.—Realizing that this is a question of interpretation of the Scriptures and not wishing to get entangled in it any more than absolutely necessary.—Jer. 51:30‐33.

Saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city.—Alas, that great religious system that was always eager to affiliate with us and give a religious coloring to even wholesale murder by enticing its young men to enlist under our banners!

For in one hour is thy judgment come.—In the one year 1917‐1918.—Rev. 17:12.

18:11. And the merchants of the earth.—Salesmen of religious goods—Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and smaller fry.—Ezek. 27:36; Isa. 23:8; 47:15; Rev. 18:3, 15, 23.

Shall weep and mourn over her.—Saying, in substance, “What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.”—Luke 16:3.

For no man buyeth their merchandise any more.—“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols [all sectarian denominations] out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets [the clergy] and the unclean spirit [their false doctrines] to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass that when any [former clergyman] shall yet prophesy [try to still further mislead the people into giving him reverence and coin], then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth [so enraged will they be when they realize how they have been deceived respecting fears of hell or assurances of Heaven for themselves and other descendants of monkeys, which the preachers have taught them they are]. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets [clergy] shall be ashamed every one of his vision [of the creeds], when he hath prophesied [preached]; neither shall they wear a rough garment [distinctive clothing—collars fastened on backwards, in harmony with their conceptions of religious things, and ties and clothing in mourning to suit] to deceive: But he shall say I am no prophet [no preacher of the gospel at all], I am an husbandman [a farmer]; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. [Ezekiel 34:1‐31 shows how poorly they kept the cattle]. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds [marks of rough usage] in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends [by my parishioners].”—Zech. 13:2‐6.

18:12. The merchandise of gold.—Truths respecting the Divine nature. There was a time when the nominal church had the custody of these truths, but that privilege passed in 1878.

And of silver.—Truths respecting the Great Company.

And precious stones.—Truths respecting the Lord’s jewels.—Mal. 3:17.

And of pearls.—Truths respecting the things purchased by the Lord’s death.—Matt. 13:45, 46.

And fine linen.—Truths respecting the righteousness of the Lord’s saints.—Rev. 19:8; Rom. 8:4; 2 Pet. 1:9.

And purple.—Truths respecting the Church’s expectation of coming royalty.—Rev. 5:10; 20:4; Luke 12:32; 22:29, 30; James 2:5; Mark 10:23; 1 Cor. 4:8; Rev. 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26, 27; Psa. 2:8‐12; 49:14; Rom. 8:19; 16:20.

And silk.—Truths respecting the most beautiful of all the fabrics of the loom—grand, beautiful characters made so by the wisdom and mercy of God out of men and women that to start with were only poor worms of earth.

And scarlet.—Truths respecting the Ransom‐sacrifice of our Lord. (1 Tim. 2:6; Rom. 14:9; Rom. 5:18, 19; John 1:29; 1 John 2:2.) All these truths have passed away from Babylon, but the errors must go, too.

And all thyine wood.—Errors respecting man’s inherent immortality. Thyine wood is a sweet‐smelling wood; wood is a symbol of human traditions. The sweetest of all human theories is the declaration that when a man dies he is not dead at all. (1 Cor. 3:12.) Very shortly men will begin to come back from the dead, “the last first” (Matt. 19:30; 20:16); and stories that they have been in some fabulous hell or in Heaven will be at a considerable discount.

And all manner vessels of ivory.—Stories of death‐bed repentance and dreams, used to decorate unscriptural doctrines. Ivory was and is used in the harness of horses. It was also used to decorate beds. (Amos 6:4.) Horses symbolize teachings, and beds symbolize creed‐beds. The application fits, whichever way the symbol is applied.—Jer. 23:28.

And all manner vessels of most precious wood.—Errors that appeal to the heart of the natural man.—1 Cor. 3:12.

And of brass.—Copper; errors respecting the nature of man, created perfect and to be re‐created in the same likeness.—Gen. 1:31; Rev. 21:5.

And Iron, [And marble].—Errors respecting the “iron rule” and when it is to be exercised.—Dan. 2:40; Rev. 2:27.

18:13. And cinnamon, and spice, and odours, and ointments.—Errors respecting the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. These principal spices represent things which go to make up the anointing which we receive to become priests and kings with Christ.

EXODUS 30:23 EXODUS 31:3 ISAIAH 11:2 Holy Anointing Oil Bezaleel Christ Olive oil, _an hin_ Filled with the Spirit of Lord Spirit of God. resting upon Him. Myrrh, 500 Wisdom Wisdom Cinnamon, 250 Understanding Understanding Calamus, 250 Knowledge Knowledge Cassia, 500 Workmanship Counsel and might

“In the above parallel we find knowledge parallel with calamus and understanding with cinnamon, and of each a like quantity is prescribed. We have the understanding of all the knowledge received of God.”—Z. ’07‐349.

And frankincense.—Errors respecting the kind of praise proper to offer. Much of the hymn‐book theology is bad.

And wine.—Errors respecting our privilege of draining the Lord’s cup of sorrow now, that we may drink the cup of joy with Him hereafter.—Matt. 20:22; 26:27.

And oil.—Errors with reference to the anointing of the Royal Priesthood.—Psa. 133:1‐3; 1 Pet. 2:5.

And fine flour.—Errors as to why the true wheat are so repeatedly crushed, broken and sifted—until “nothing of earth is seen.”

And wheat.—Errors as to who are the true wheat. A sister on her first service of Truth literature at a church door was asked by the pastor, “What are you doing around here?” Startled, the Sister replied, “I am looking for the wheat.” The pastor replied, with some anger, “Go away! There is no wheat here.”

And beasts.—Cattle; errors as to the nature of sacrifices with which the Lord is pleased.—Psa. 66:15.

And sheep.—Errors as to how to care for the true sheep.

And horses.—Errors as to the kind of doctrines to employ.—Rev. 9:17‐19.

And chariots.—Errors in multiplying organizations not authorized in the Scriptures and not in harmony therewith.

And slaves.—Errors respecting what it means to be a servant of the Lord.—Luke 16:13; 2 Tim. 2:24; Matt. 10:24, 25; 23:11.

And souls of men.—Errors respecting what is the soul.—Ezek. 18:4; Isa. 53:12.

18:14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after.—Love of ease, money and praise of men.

Are departed from thee.—Replaced by the conditions affecting the common people. “Every valley [lowly and depressed one] shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill [highly exalted one] shall be made low: and the crooked [doctrines] shall be made straight, and the rough places [where the iron heel of oppression has made a hard path for the weary multitudes to follow] shall be made plain.”—Isa. 40:4.

And all things which were dainty and goodly.—Stained glass windows, soft carpets and upholstery, church suppers, etc.

[Are departed] PERISHED from thee, and [thou shalt] THEY SHALL find them no more at all.—The future of the clergy is that in the Millennial Age they will have to work for a living, like everybody else! Isn’t it awful to contemplate? It means an expense of 65c for an alarm clock in every preacher’s house in Christendom!

18:15. The merchants of these things.—The salesmen of these goods, the clergy.—Rev. 18:3, 11; Ezek. 27:36; Isa. 23:8; 47:15.

Which were made rich by her.—Who have hitherto made a good living in the profession of the ministry.

Shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing.—Over their lost jobs.

18:16. [And] saying, Alas, alas, that great city.—Babylon, mother and daughters.

That was clothed in fine linen.—Seemed to the worshipers of the beast and his image very righteous.

And purple.—Seemed to be already reigning on the earth.

And scarlet.—Seemed to have been faithful to the blood shed on Calvary.

And decked with gold.—Seemed to have been the repository of Truth Divine.

And precious stones.—Seemed to have included in her membership all the Lord’s jewels.

And pearls.—Seemed to be the sure heir of all that the Lord purchased by His death.

18:17. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.—In one short year, 1917‐1918, the vast and complicated system of sectarianism reaches its zenith of power, only to be suddenly dashed into oblivion.—Rev. 18:10.

And every shipmaster.—Pilot (sky pilot), Greek.—Ezek. 27:27.

And [all the company in ships] EVERY ONE WHO SAILETH BY THE PLACE.—All the passengers.—Ezek. 27:29.

And sailors.—Mission workers.

And as many as trade by sea.—As many as work the sea, Greek. Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, and others who work solely among the masses not under religious restraint.

Stood afar off.—Realized that the old doctrines and the schemes for raising money would never work again.

18:18. And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning.—Her confusion and destruction by the Lord.

Saying, What city is like unto this great city.—With its millions of adherents, all professedly interested in mission work.

18:19. And they cast dust on their [heads] HEAD.—Did a certain amount of mud‐slinging.—Ezek. 27:30; Lam. 2:10.

And cried, weeping and wailing.—And gnashing their teeth, too, no doubt.

Saying, Alas, [alas] that great city.—That wonderful religio‐political combination.

Wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea.—All preachers who were strong enough and clever enough to manage people’s churches, independent of the sects. Many such “independent” churches have large memberships.

By reason of her costliness.—By reason of the amount of money that can be raised in and for such institutions.

For in one hour is she made desolate.—“To them the fall of Babylon at first is astounding, a perplexity, but will work no real injury, because the reign of Babylon over the earth will be superseded by the reign of the New Jerusalem—the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.”—Pastor Russell; Rev. 18:8; 3:14; 11:11.

18:20. Rejoice over her, thou Heaven.—New powers of spiritual control, Christ and His Bride, appointed to take her place.—Jer. 51:48; Phil. 3:20; Rev. 11:19.

And ye [holy] SAINTS AND Apostles.—You who have suffered at her hands.—Matt. 23:34, 35; Rev. 13:15; 18:24.

And Prophets.—The faithful teachers of the Christian church, and also the Prophets of old, who foresaw Mystic Babylon’s rise and fall, and knew that it stood between them and the fulfilment of their hopes. “Daniel, who was thinking specially of Israel, and of the fulfilment of God’s promises to the fathers, perceived that all that he had heard could not occur in 2300 literal days, especially when Gabriel said to him, ‘But shut thou up the vision, for it will be fulfilled after many days.’ And though he knew not how long each symbolic day would be, he was made sick at heart by the thought of so many evils as were coming upon God’s people—though he saw not the change of that name from fleshly to spiritual Israel. We read, ‘And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days.’ ”—C. 105.

For God hath avenged you on her.—This vengeance of God for the wrongs done to His saints in all ages began in 1878 (Rev. 6:10, 11), and closes with the full end of the Harvest. When the last member of the Great Company class is delivered the system will utterly perish.

18:21. And a mighty angel.—The common people.

Took up a stone like a great millstone.—Temporarily lifted ecclesiasticism to great heights.

And.—Experiencing a sudden conviction of their error in so doing, and of the truly devilish character of the system.

Cast it into the sea.—Overwhelmed it in a flood of anarchy. When this occurs there will be a “great hissing noise” (2 Pet. 3:10, Diaglott), indicating that the millstone will be warm, wrathy, at the moment of disappearance. The effect of throwing a hot stone into water is to disintegrate it completely.—Jer. 51:61‐64; Ex. 15:5; Neh. 9:11.

Saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, [And shall be found no more at all.]—“The masses of the people, no longer ignorantly stupid as during the Dark Ages, will awaken to the true situation, and will execute upon Babylon the Great—already repudiated by the Lord—the judgment foretold. She shall be cast like a great millstone into the sea, never to rise again. The sea represents the masses of the people, especially a restless opposition class.” (Z. ’13‐343.) “The fact is the world has outgrown the redhot and peppery dishes that suited the last generation, and it is quite beyond the power of a very few solemn gentlemen to produce a reaction.”—D. 110; Jer. 51:64.

18:22. And there shall be no more found in her the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters.—Those able to make melody and harmony out of the Scriptures.—Isa. 24:8; Ezek. 26:13.

IT shall be heard no more at all in thee.—Even now Ecclesiasticism is entirely unable to supply any explanation of either Ezekiel or Revelation, or to understand the one that is supplied.

And no craftsman, [of whatsoever craft he be,] shall be found any more in thee; [And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee].—God is the great craftsman. “We are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master‐builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”—1 Cor. 3:9, 10.

18:23. [And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee;] And the voice of the Bridegroom and of the Bride.—Christ and His true Church.—Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11.

Shall be heard no more at all in thee.—Neither Christ nor His saintly ones have had anything to say in the affairs of the nominal church since 1878; nor have they wished to have. “The rejection of Babylon (‘Christendom’), in 1878, was the rejection of the mass of professors—the ‘host,’ as it is termed by Daniel, to distinguish it from the Sanctuary or Temple class.”—C. 180.

For thy merchants were the great men of the earth.—They said so, themselves. They have attempted to direct everything from prize fights up. Rev. Rainsford even tried to run a beer saloon, but was not able to make it a coin‐producer for the church and gave it up.—Isa. 23:8; 47:15; Rev. 18:3, 11, 15; Ezek. 27:21, 36.

For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.—“Consider, again, why Babylon is so named. Evidently, because of her many errors of doctrine, which, mixed with a few elements of Divine Truth, make great confusion, and because of the mixed company brought together by the mixed truths and errors. This sin of holding and teaching error at the sacrifice of truth is one of which every sect of the church nominal is guilty, without exception. Where is the sect in which you can obey the Master’s words and let your light shine? We know of none.”—C. 181; Rev. 17:2; 2 Ki. 9:22.

18:24. And in her was found the blood of Prophets.—They are accounted as having slain the Prophets because they refuse to heed them, and to that extent caused them to lay down their lives needlessly!—Rev. 16:6; 17:6.

And of saints.—They are accounted as having slain the saints because they have given no heed to their warnings, and to that extent caused them to die in vain.—Jer. 51:49.

And of all that were slain upon the earth.—The great European war, and other wars, are justly laid at the door of the system that has perpetuated the doctrines of Divine right of clergy and kings; and it is for this reason that God has decreed her sins must be wiped out first with symbolical blood (Rev. 14:20), and afterwards with literal blood in the red sea of anarchy.—Ex. 14:21‐28; Isa. 63:1‐6.

The Traveler Inquires The Way To Heaven

Whom Should We Believe—God Or The Clergy?

Revelation 19—The Overthrow Of Satan’s Empire

19:1. [And] after these things.—After the saints are glorified and present ecclesiastical systems are destroyed.

I heard AS IT WERE a great voice of much people.—The Great Company.—Rev. 7:10.

In heaven.—The only heavenly‐minded ones remaining on earth.

Saying, Alleluia; Salvation.—Deliverance from the Papacy and other sects has come at last.

[And glory, and honor,] and power [unto the Lord] OF our God.—It has been accomplished not by human power, but by the Wisdom and Power of God.—Rev. 7:12.

19:2. For true and righteous are Thy judgments.—“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”—1 John 1:5; Rev. 15:3; 16:7.

For He hath judged the great whore.—Has executed the judgments long foretold.

Which did corrupt the earth with her fornication.—Her illicit union with worldly governments.

And hath avenged the blood of [His] HER servants at her hand.—The millions who have perished in the Great War have been the servants of Babylon. The direct cause of their slaughter is the doctrine of the Divine right of the clergy. These have maintained the kings of Europe on their thrones, falsely telling them they are ruling as part of Christ’s Kingdom. This position has led to the death of all these millions, and their blood will be required at Babylon’s hand.

19:3. And again they said, Alleluia.—The more they think it over, the happier they will become.

And her smoke.—The evidences of her destruction; the remembrance.—Isa. 34:10; Rev. 14:11; 18:9, 18.

Rose up for ever and ever.—Will be recorded in secular history, even as it is recorded in “the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”—1 Pet. 1:23.

19:4. And the [four and] twenty FOUR elders.—The prophecies.—Rev. 4:4, 10.

And the four beasts.—Infinite Power, Justice, Wisdom and Love.—Rev. 4:7.

Fell down and worshipped God that sat on the Throne, saying Amen; Alleluia.—The God, the mighty One, here referred to is the Lord Jesus.—Rev. 5:3.

19:5. And [a voice] VOICES.—The Little Flock, beyond the veil.

Came out of the Throne.—They will be _in_ the Throne at that time.—Rev. 3:21.

Saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants.—Of the Great Company class.—Rev. 7:15; Psa. 134:1‐3.

[And] ye that fear Him, [both] small and great.—Your deliverance was wholly due to the Lord. We did what we could to help you, but it was as nothing. To the Lord belongs all the glory for your deliverance and ours.—Rev. 11:18.

19:6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude.—“In the Age to come, when God shall ‘pour out His Spirit upon all flesh,’ as during the present Age He pours it upon His ‘servants and handmaids,’ then indeed all will understand and appreciate the promises now being grasped by the ‘little flock’; and they will rejoice in the obedience and exaltation of the Church, saying, ‘Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to God, for the Marriage of the Lamb is come, and His Wife hath made herself ready.’ They will rejoice in the glorification of the Church, through which blessings will then be flowing to them; and while they will realize that the ‘exceeding great and precious promises’ inherited by the Anointed (Head and Body) are not for them, but have been fulfilled upon us, they will be blessed by the lesson illustrated in the Church; and while they run for the blessings then held out to them, they will profit by the example of the Church and glorify God on her behalf. But this knowledge will not bring covetousness; for under the new order of things their calling to perfect human nature will fully satisfy them, and will seem more desirable to them than a change of nature.”—A. 86.

And as the voice of many waters.—All mankind.—Rev. 17:15.

And as the voice of mighty thunderings.—An overwhelming and complete reaction in favor of the Truth. The “seven thunders” will then be thundering as never before.—Rev. 10:4; 8:5.

Saying, Alleluia: for [the Lord] God OUR LORD THE Omnipotent reigneth.—“Shows Himself to be king by subduing His enemies.” (Cook.) Thoroughly convinced of the greatness of the Lord’s power, as all men will be by the end of the Time of Trouble, they will be glad to entrust all their interests to His care.

19:7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him.—“Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.”—Psa. 110:3.

For the Marriage of the Lamb is come.—The marriage of men and women is declared in the Scriptures to be a type of the marriage of Christ and His Church. (Eph. 5:22‐23.) It is a recognized principle that the antitype is greater than the sum of all the types. The death of Christ was greater than all the sacrifices throughout the Jewish Age. Now call to mind that the wedding day is the happiest of every human being. Think of all the happiness caused by all the weddings that have ever occurred, and know that the sum total is as nothing compared to the joy that will pervade the Universe when the festal day of eternity takes place, and Christ and His Bride are made one.

And His Wife.—“The Bride represents ‘all who have believed up to the commencement of the Millennium. These alone are the mystical Body of Christ. But after they are completed, at the Second Advent the earth will be peopled by the “nations of the saved” in flesh and blood,—a totally different party from the then glorified Bride.’ ”—Cook.

Hath made herself ready.—The witnessing to the world during the present Age is quite secondary and incidental to the Church’s more important work of making herself ready.—F. 608; T. 115; Matt. 22:1‐14; 25:1; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:27; Rev. 21:2, 9; John 3:29; Cant., all; Psa. 45:10‐14; Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19; Lu. 12:36.

19:8. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, BRIGHT AND clean and white.—“ ‘She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needle work’ (Psa. 45:14)—in the simple white robe of her Lord’s own furnishing, the robe of His righteousness, upon which she will have wrought, with much carefulness, the beautiful adornments of the Christian graces. And great will be the rejoicing in Heaven and in earth at her abundant entrance into the King’s palace.—2 Pet. 1:5‐8, 11.”—C. 193.

For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.—Here and there throughout the Scriptures are keys which unlock its mysteries. (Rev. 3:18; Psa. 132:9.) This is the key to several otherwise obscure passages.

19:9. And he.—The faithful and wise Servant to whom the custody of all the things in His Storehouse was especially promised by the Lord of the Harvest.—Luke 12:42‐44; Rev. 3:14; 1:1.

Saith unto me, write.—To representatives of the John class, commissioned to write something of encouragement to the Church after he himself had ceased to write.

Blessed are they which are called unto the [marriage] supper of the Lamb.—The Marriage Supper (Lu. 14:15) will be like all the other feasts the Church has had, not of physical food, but of truths Divine. That will be the time when the Lord, the Head of the family, will explain to us every part of every verse in all His Holy Word. We shall have perfect memories then, in which to treasure every word He utters, and perfect bodies, too, in which to perform to the full all God’s holy will. We have the will to do it now. We have tried to understand His Word, and tried to help others to understand it; but the best we could do was far from perfect. The Lord, in His love and mercy, has accepted our best endeavors here as evidence of our worthiness for the perfect opportunities that await us. “Ultimately the full number purposed by the great Householder will have been called, accepted, and found worthy through Christ to have a place at that table—to share in that great Feast. (Matt. 22:1‐10.) At that feast, we are assured, will be a secondary company, not worthy to be of the Bride class. These may be figuratively styled the bridesmaids, the Great Company class; for after the account of the gathering of the Bride we have the Lord’s message to these subsequently delivered from Babylon, saying, ‘Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ You can imagine the honors and joys of that great banquet!”—Z. ’14‐74.

And he saith unto me, These MY TRUE SAYINGS, are the [true] sayings of God.—

“Ascend, beloved, to His joy; Thy festal day has come; To‐night the Lamb doth feast His own, To‐night He with His Bride sits down, To‐night puts on the spousal crown, In the great Upper Room.”

19:10. And I fell at his feet to worship him.—“If there come to any of us a thought of doing homage to the Lord’s messengers or servants it would be our duty to fully recognize that God alone, however much He may use human instrumentalities in conveying His blessings, is to be honored and reverenced and appreciated as the Author and Giver of every good and perfect gift.—James 1:17.”—Z. ’07‐105; Rev. 22:8.

And he said unto me, See thou do it not.—But Satan said to the Lord, “All these things will I give thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.” (Matt. 4:9.) When Papacy did this, Satan was true to his promise. By resorting to worldly forms, customs and entertainments all the daughters have followed the example of the mother.

I am thy fellowservant.—“St. John in his humility forgets his own share in imparting the revelation; and the Angel in his humility brings this to light (Acts 10:25, 26).”—Cook; Acts 14:14, 15; Rev. 22:9; Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Tit. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1.

And of [thy] THE brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God.—“Whose servants we both are; of Whose prophetic Spirit we alike partake in this our common ministry; and therefore one of us may not worship the other.”—Cook.

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.—“All Christians, in every age, who can receive and understand prophecy, have this spirit.” (Cook; 1 Cor. 12:13.) However, “The design of prophecy is to bear testimony to Jesus. This is its great and ultimate end. The word prophecy here seems to be used in the large sense in which it is often employed in the New Testament—meaning to make known the divine will, and the primary reference here would seem to be to the preachers and teachers of the New Testament. The sense is, that their grand business is to bear testimony to the Saviour. They are all appointed for this, and therefore should regard themselves as ‘fellow‐servants.’ Thus understood, this passage has no direct reference to the prophecies of the Old Testament, and teaches nothing in regard to their design, though it is in fact undoubtedly true that their grand and leading object was to bear testimony to the future Messiah.”—Barnes; Rev. 12:17.

19:11. And I saw heaven opened.—The hidden things of God as recorded in the Seventh Volume of _Studies In The Scriptures_.—Rev. 11:19.

And behold a white horse.—Teachings which, however unpalatable to Churchianity, are nevertheless the truth.

And He that sat upon him was called Faithful.—“The faithful and true Witness.”—Rev. 3:14.

And True.—“He that is holy, He that is true.”—Rev. 3:7.

And in righteousness He doth judge and make war.—“While the Lord forbids His people to fight with carnal weapons, and while He declares Himself to be a God of peace, a God of order and of love, He also declares Himself to be a God of justice, and shows that sin shall not forever triumph in the world, but that it shall be punished. ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.’ (Rom. 12:19; Deut. 32:35.) And when He rises up to judgment against the nations, taking vengeance upon all the wicked, He declares Himself ‘a man of war’ and ‘mighty in battle,’ and having a ‘great army’ at His command.—Exod. 15:3; Psa. 24:8; 45:3; Isa. 11:4; Joel 2:11.”—D. 549.

19:12. His eyes were [as] a flame of fire.—The Lord’s Wisdom sees that the time has come for the destruction of present iniquitous systems.—Rev. 1:14.

And on His head were many crowns.—The right to rule all the kingdoms of the earth.—Ezek. 21:27.

And He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.—This new name is to be also the name of the Church, His Bride. Possibly it has not yet been revealed.—Rev. 2:17; 3:12.

19:13. And He was clothed with a vesture [dipped in] SPRINKLED WITH blood.—A reference to His faithfulness even unto death, and a hint to His Body what to expect shortly.

And His name [is] HATH BEEN called the Word of God.—In this picture He is represented as coming, not as the Messenger of the Covenant, but in _apokalupsis_, revealment as earth’s rightful King.—John 1:1; Rev. 1:2.

19:14. And the armies which were in heaven.—All the armies of Rev. 7:5‐8, the Little Flock, whether on this side of the veil or on the other.—Rev. 17:14.

Followed Him.—“The sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow.”—John 10:4, 5.

Upon white horses.—Teachings clean and pure.

Clothed in fine linen, white and clean.—“The righteousness of saints.”—Rev. 19:8.

19:15. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword.—“Our examination, in a preceding volume, of the great difference in character between the Kingdom of God and the beastly kingdoms of earth, prepares us to see also a difference in modes of warfare. The methods of conquest and breaking will be widely different from any which have ever before overthrown nations. He who now takes His great power to reign is shown in symbol as the One whose sword went forth out of His mouth, ‘that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron.’ That sword is the Truth (Eph. 6:17).”—B. 100; Isa. 11:4; 49:2; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:21; Hos. 6:5; Heb. 4:12.

That with it He should smite the nations.—“ ‘He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips [the force and spirit of His Truth] shall He slay the wicked.’ (Isa. 11:4; Psa. 98:1.) To no human generalship can the honors of the coming victory for truth and righteousness be ascribed. Wild will be the conflict of the angry nations, and world‐wide will be the battlefield and the distress of nations; and no human Alexander, Cæsar or Napoleon will be found to bring order out of the dreadful confusion. But in the end it will be known that the grand victory of justice and truth, and the punishment of iniquity with its just deserts, was brought about by the power of the King of kings and Lord of lords.”—D. 19.

And He shall rule them with a rod of iron.—“In this ‘Day of Jehovah,’ the ‘Day of Trouble,’ our Lord takes His great power (hitherto dormant) and reigns, and this it is that will cause the trouble, though the world will not so recognize it for some time. That the saints shall share in this work of breaking to pieces present kingdoms, there can be no doubt. It is written, ‘This honor have all His saints—to execute the judgments written, to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron’—of strength. (Psa. 149:8, 9.) ‘He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they [the empires] be broken to shivers.’ ”—Rev. 2:26, 27; Psa. 2:8, 9; B. 100.

And He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of THE ANGER OF Almighty God.—The Lord assumes an interest in and responsibility for the complete series of _Studies In The Scriptures_, the last one of which especially represents the winepress feature (Rev. 14:18‐20), but it would be unreasonable to expect that the Lord would miraculously use imperfect tools to do an absolutely perfect work and each must use his judgment as to the value of the interpretations in this book. Additionally, it should be remarked that the language here is more intense than in Rev. 14, indicating the extension of the winepress feature to other than ecclesiastical matters.

19:16. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written.—“The thigh is introduced as the place where the sword (which is not mentioned here, see ver. 15) is usually found, in accordance with Psa. 45:3: ‘Gird Thee with Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Most Mighty.’ ”—Cook.

King of kings and Lord of lords.—Before the controversy aroused by this book is finished, every person in the world will be convinced that it marks a distinct step by the Lord in His seizure of Satan’s Empire.—1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; Dan. 8:25.

19:17. And I saw [an] ANOTHER angel.—The Elijah class after the publication of Volume Seven, _Studies in the Scriptures_. See Rev. 8:3‐5; 14:18.

Standing in the sun.—Resplendent in the light of the Gospel.—Rev. 12:1; Matt. 13:43.

And he cried with a loud voice.—Fearlessly and plainly declaring the Truth.

Saying to all the fowls.—Birds, Greek.—Matt. 24:28.

That fly in the midst of heaven.—First to the “eagles,” the far‐sighted ones, the Little Flock, and then, by extension, to all who live, mentally, on any plane above the grossly material.

Come [and gather yourselves] BE GATHERED together unto the GREAT supper of [the great] God.—We should look for applications appropriate to the symbolical book we are studying, even though it develop later, as it will, that these passages will have a literal and terrible fulfilment in a deluge of actual bloodshed, of which the European War is but a preliminary.

19:18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings.—Five of these kings or rulers are enumerated in Rev. 6:4. Doubtless the reader has eaten them, in the symbolical sense. They are there to be eaten.

And the flesh of captains.—Lesser commanders, enumerated in Rev. 8:7‐12. No doubt the reader has eaten these also.

And the flesh of mighty men.—Warriors. These warriors are referred to in Rev. 9:7, 9, although there mentioned under the name of locusts. If the reader has not eaten (appropriated, absorbed, digested) the account, the task should be undertaken at once, or something will be missed.

That the Lord made no mistake in selecting the Locust as a symbol of the Methodist system of blindly following leaders is clear from the following extract from the works of a traveller: “While sojourning in Syria I was told that the whole country round Mt. Lebanon was dismayed one year by the news that a vast army of marching locusts was coming from the eastern desert. The governor of the district ordered a regiment of soldiers to aid the people to construct a great rampart of heath bushes to be set on fire as the locusts came up to it, hoping thus to save the gardens of Beyrout. These locusts always hopped straight ahead, deviating neither to the right nor left, and on coming to a house went up its stone walls, over it and down it, as if it were a level place, and in such inconceivable numbers that an American resident described the noise of the great host passing over the roof as like to that of a tremendous hailstorm. At every green leaf on the way each took a bite, and then went on for the next one to take his bite, until in an incredibly short time not a green thing could be seen. When they reached the prepared heaps of heath, and these were set on fire, the locusts marched on without pausing, until in a brief time they put the bonfires completely out. As the sea was not far off everybody hoped that they would take to surf bathing. And so they did. Just as certain injurious political crowds among us can always be always depended upon to march up to the polls and vote the straight ticket, when the vanguard reached the waves, like all good true locusts, in they hopped, followed by all the rest, till the billows seemed to roll only grasshoppers; nor did the scene end until the last of the rear guard had skipped over the heaps of his dead comrades to make his last jump into the blue waters of the Mediterranean.”—Jer. 51:64.

And the flesh of horses.—Did you not see the horses in Rev. 9:17, 18, and did you not eat them, fire, jacinth, brimstone and all?

And of them that sit on them.—Did we not find two hundred millions of these horsemen, and did you not eat them?—See Rev. 9:16.

And the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.—And did we not find all the rest of the men included in Rev. 9:20, 21, and did we not eat them in the same manner? We did, indeed. We ate or appropriated the truth concerning them. It is our eating of these truths that lead to the events next narrated.

19:19. And I saw the beast.—The Papacy restored to power. Weymouth’s New Testament in Modern Speech translates this verse as follows, and adds a footnote that the “once for all,” though not expressed in the Greek, is implied in the aorist tense of the verb: “And I saw the Wild Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, all assembled to make war, once for all, against the Rider upon the horse and against His army.”

And the kings of the earth.—Called to the war by demons. (Rev. 16:13‐16.) “The kings of the earth set themselves [in opposition], and the rulers [not knowing that they are fighting against the establishment of the Lord’s Kingdom], take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, [but] He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.”—Psa. 2:2, 4; D. 52.

And their armies.—Their following, Civil, Social, Ecclesiastical and Financial.

Gathered together to make war.—“The war,” Greek.

Against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.—Although composed of the twelve symbolical tribes (Rev. 19:14; 7:4‐8) they are, after all, but one army, all “One in Christ Jesus.” “Let it be seen that the best and the worst of earth’s nations are but ‘kingdoms of this world,’ whose lease of power from God is now expired, that they may give place to their ordained successor, the Kingdom of Messiah, the Fifth Universal Empire of earth (Dan. 2:44; 7:14, 17, 27)—and it will do much to establish truth and to overthrow error. But as it is, the actions of Papacy in this regard, sanctioned by the Protestant Reformers, go unquestioned among Christian people. And since they should uphold the Kingdom of Christ, they feel themselves called to the aid of the present falling kingdoms of so‐called Christendom—to the side of the kingdoms of this world, and the prince of this world, rather than to the side of the coming true Kingdom of Christ.”—A. 270; Rev. 16:16; 17:13, 14.

19:20. And the beast was taken.—The Papacy was caught. (Jer. 50:43‐46.) No doubt the publication of this book has come at a time unfavorable to the schemes of Papacy and will interfere greatly with its efforts at re‐ establishment—Rev. 17:14.

And with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him.—The Image of the Beast.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

With which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast.—Catholics.

And them that worshipped his image.—Protestants.

These both.—Both of these _systems_, not the people.

Were cast alive.—While they are still organized and operative.—H. 59.

Into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.—Into the complete and everlasting destruction, of the anarchy (symbolized by fire) of the Time of Trouble. This utter destruction of these systems is the beginning of the annihilation of everything out of harmony with God’s righteous arrangements. It was typified by the valley of Gehenna, just outside of Jerusalem. By the aid of brimstone the bodies of specially detestable criminals were there burned with the other refuse of Jerusalem. Standing upon the edge of this valley at night it had the appearance of a lake burning with fire and brimstone. Burning brimstone is the most deadly agent known, and symbolizes utter destructiveness.—Dan. 7:11.

19:21. And the remnant.—The _people_ who are left after their _systems_ are destroyed.

Were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse.—Will, in due time, come into loving and cheerful submission to the truth.—Rev. 19:15; 2 Cor. 10:4.

Which sword proceeded out of His mouth.—All should be able to see that it is not a literal sword that is here referred to.

And all the fowls were filled with their flesh.—See Rev. 19:18.

Revelation 20—The Thousand Years’ Reign

20:1. And I saw an Angel come down [from Heaven].—The Messenger of the Covenant at His Second Advent.—Mal. 3:1.

Having the key of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—Only Infinite Wisdom could provide the key to the solution of present difficulties in the earth. Here is a system of superstition and crime two thousand years old, and the praise and service of it ingrained into nearly every human being. All literature is poisoned with it. Public opinion is for it. The educated, the refined, the wealthy, the powerful are all for it and all against any change that would give the lower strata of society a fair chance. To overcome conditions like this is a task for Divinity itself.

And a great chain in His hand.—The TRUTH, as contained in the Seven Volumes of _Scripture Studies_. This chain of Truth has been forged, link by link, over a period of forty years. Each volume has made it more certain that old systems can never hope to stand against it.

20:2. And He laid hold on the dragon.—The iniquitous system of civil government which has associated with it the principle of holding the masses in subjection by preying upon their fears beyond this life. The subject of special condemnation in this regard, the masterpiece of Satan, is the old Roman Empire, still living in the Papacy and the Church‐State governments of Europe. This system is about contemporaneous with the (seven) Times of the Gentiles (2520 years ending in Oct., 1914), which began in the Fall of 607 B. C., or, as we would say, at the beginning of 606, Jewish Time. Rome was already well started on its upward path at that time. “Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, fifth legendary king of Rome, 616‐578 B. C., appointed guardian to the sons of Ancus Marcius, he succeeded in supplanting them on the throne on their father’s death. He laid out the Circus Maximus, instituted the great games, built the great sewers, and began the construction of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. He removed from Tarquinii in Etruria to Rome by the advice of his wife, the prophetess Tanaquil. Tanaquil was famous for her shrewdness and prophetic gifts, which enabled her to foretell the future greatness of her husband.” (Brit.)

That old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.—“While the name Old Serpent includes Satan, ‘the prince of devils,’ it is here evidently used as a synonym for all the sinful agencies and powers which had their rise in him.” (S. 32.) “Our Lord’s declaration that Satan is the great Adversary, not only of God, but of humanity, is by no means a fancy sketch, but the plain truth. Satan alone is the wilful, intelligent plotter and schemer who uses a superhuman intelligence and, so far as permitted, superhuman powers, in opposing righteousness and truth and those who are of the Truth. The inspired record asserts, persistently and consistently, that Satan began the rebellion against the divine law, and seduced our first parents into disobedience, through his own ambition for power; and that since man’s fall this same Adversary has been the implacable opponent of God, of righteousness and of truth; and not only the ensnarer of mankind, but the opposer of the great Plan of Atonement which God devised and is prosecuting through Christ. From the Scriptural account it does not appear that Satan had any sympathizers or associate conspirators amongst the angels at the time of his secession and attempt to establish a lordship or dominion of his own in the earth.”—F. 611.

And bound him.—“ ‘The god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.’ (2 Cor. 4:4.) God wills that all should be so saved from all the train of evils following Adam’s sin and curse, that they may come to a knowledge of the Truth. Why does He will this? To the intent that having a clear knowledge of the Truth they may make the very best possible use of the new trial for life secured for them by their Redeemer’s Ransom‐sacrifice. It is for the carrying out of this, God’s will, that the Redeemer will inaugurate His Millennial Kingdom, which will first bind Satan (restrain all outside evil influences) and then release man from his blindness;—as it is written, ‘the eyes of the blind shall be opened.’ (Isa. 35:5.) For the same reason, _viz._, that the new trial shall be most favorable for man, it is the Divine arrangement that its work shall be done gradually and require a thousand years.” (E. _480_, 470.) “The Millennial Day is dawning, with its change of earth’s rulership from the control of the ‘prince of this world’ and his faithful, to the control of Him ‘whose right it is’ (by purchase) and His faithful saints. We have seen that though the result of this change will be a great blessing; yet the time of the transfer, while the present prince, the ‘strong man,’ is being bound and his household driven out of power (Matt. 12:29), will be a time of intense trouble.” (C. 341.) “In reference to it Jesus said, ‘No man can enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house.’ (Mark 3:22‐27; Luke 11:22.) This effective binding of Satan is accordingly shown to be the first work of the New Dispensation.” (A. 68.) “The Adversary’s every deceptive and misleading influence will be restrained—so that evil shall no longer appear to men to be good, nor good appear undesirable, evil. Truth shall no longer appear to men untrue, nor falsehoods be caused to appear true.” (D. 519.) “The words of inspiration give us to understand that Satan’s struggles to retain control of mankind will be especially desperate at its close.”—S. 78.

A thousand years.—The Millennial Day, the Day of the Lord’s rest, following the six thousand years of evil which ended in 1874. “One Day is with the Lord as a thousand years.” (2 Pet. 3:8; Psa. 90:4.) “It was the claim of the Papacy that the thousand years of Christ’s Reign, the Millennium, promised in Scripture to follow Christ’s Second Advent, began in the year 800 A. D., under Pope Leo III., who claimed to be the representative of Christ, His vice‐gerent, to begin Christ’s Reign in His stead. In that year the ‘Papal states’ were ceded to the Church by Emperor Charlemagne. Their ‘Millennium’ ended, it was claimed, in the year 1799, when Napoleon confiscated the territories granted to the Church and took the Pope, Pius VI., a captive to France, where he died. The succeeding freedom from Papal persecution, and the widespread circulation of the Bible in the languages of the people, was declared by the Papal leaders to be the ‘little season’ (Rev. 20:3) to follow the thousand‐year Reign of Christ on earth; and they are hoping that soon they will regain their former power and prestige and once more reign supreme, and that their rule will be permanent. This Papal Millennium is known in history as the ‘Dark Ages.’ During those dark centuries millions were tortured, exiled and murdered for refusing to bow to the mandates of the apostate Church, under the leadership of Popes, Bishops and priests. Agents and spies were employed to apprehend and bring to punishment any who were found to express sentiments contrary to the Papal hierarchy, or who failed to bow in abject submission to their authority. Thus were the nations of Europe paganized, and steeped in error and superstition and in reverence for men who falsely claimed to be the special and authorized representatives of God on earth. They presumed to have authority to alter the Laws of God when it seemed advisable to them to do so, and thought to change the time for the Reign of Christ as we have shown.” (Dan. 7:25; Z. ’16‐181; B. 354.) “ ‘Those who lived next to the Apostles, and the whole Church for 300 years, understood them [the “Thousand Years”] in the plain literal sense.’ According to Jewish theology, as collected from the Talmud, Messiah is to gather in from the Dispersion all the scattered descendants of the Tribes, to discomfit their foreign oppressors, and from Jerusalem as a centre to rule over the whole earth which is to be a scene of temporal enjoyment and prosperity. Thus R. Salomon writes: ‘It is fixed that the world shall stand for 6000 years, according to the number of the days of the week; but on the _seventh_ Day is the Sabbath, and during the _seventh_ Millennium the world has rest.’ ”—Cook.

20:3. And cast him into the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—Oblivion. In this instance it signifies Satan’s enforced idleness, which will surely be oblivion for him after the busy time he has had during the past six thousand years. How small he will feel when he sees the Lord Jesus undo in one thousand years all that he accomplished in six thousand!

And shut him up, and set a seal upon him.—The Spirit of Truth in the hearts of men; the desire to win the favor of earth’s new King, will deprive Satan of all his subjects. All his evil companions, human and angelic, will be destroyed in the Time of Trouble. Alone, idle and humiliated constantly for a thousand years, is a punishment he richly deserves.

That he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.—“Some have become so deluded by the sophistries of Satan, by which he has deceived all nations, that they do not believe that there is a God; others believe in Him as a great and powerful adversary, without love or sympathy, ready and anxious to torment them to all eternity; others are confused by the Babel of conflicting reports that have reached them, concerning the Divine character, and know not what to believe; and, seeking to draw near unto God, are hindered by their fears and by their ignorance.” (E. _19_, 18.) “The trial, or judgment, of the overcomers of the Christian Dispensation and of the Dispensation that preceded it, has been much more severe than the trial of the world will be in its judgment day; for these have had to withstand Satan, the prince of this world, with all his wiles and ensnarements, while in the world’s judgment day Christ will be reigning, and Satan will be bound, that he may not deceive the nations. These have suffered persecution for righteousness’ sake, while then men will be rewarded for righteousness, and punished only for unrighteousness. These have had great stumbling blocks and snares in the way, which will be removed when the world is placed on trial. But though the trial of these two special companies has been much more severe than the trial of the world will be, the rewards are correspondingly greater.”—A. 146.

[And] after that he must be loosed a little season.—To see who are in heart harmony with the Lord’s will, and who are governed by other motives. As evil will be bound by the prompt infliction of punishment upon the would‐be evil‐doer, so we may presume it will be loosed by allowing evil deeds to go temporarily unpunished.—Rev. 20:8.

20:4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them.—The thrones of present earthly kingdoms.—Z. ’82‐3‐6.

And judgment was given unto them.—Judicial sentence was passed upon them as unfit to longer continue. (Z. ’82‐3‐6.) This word is rendered condemnation in Luke 23:40; Jas. 3:1; Jude 4.

And I saw the souls.—Persons, beings.—Z. ’82‐3‐6.

Of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.—“All constituting the Kingdom class are here referred to as beheaded. The Apostle gives us the key, saying. ‘The Head of every man is Christ; the head of the woman is the man; and the Head of Christ is God.’ (1 Cor. 11:3.) As a woman who becomes a wife accepts her husband as the head of the family (loses her name, her individuality, to become his bride), so the Church accepts Christ as her Head, and each member of the Church thus comes into relationship with the Lord as a member of His Body. It is required of every one who would be counted in as a member of the true Church, that he should be not only beheaded (lose his self‐will), but that he shall be united to the true Head of the Church and recognize himself as a member of the true Body of Christ—‘the Church of the living God, whose names are written in Heaven.’ ”—Z. ’01‐227; Rev. 1:9; 19:10.

And for the word of God.—On account of the Word of God and by means of it. We are “Begotten by the Word of Truth,” and to live in fullest harmony with its every precept, at any cost to the flesh, is the distinguishing peculiarity of the overcoming Church of God. “Only now are Bible students beginning to emerge from under the great cloud of false doctrine which for fifteen hundred years has misrepresented God and the Bible, putting darkness for light. Only now can Bible study be prosecuted in its true spirit, without the fear of man, which brings a snare. Only now is there general education, which permits of Bible study in this true sense. Only now have we the convenient Bible, cheap and in every home. Only now have we more leisure and opportunity for Bible study. Only now have we good light by which to study.”—Z. ’13‐366.

[And which] IF ANY THEREFORE had not worshipped the beast, neither his image.—See Rev. 13:13‐18.

Neither had received his mark upon their [foreheads, or in their hands] FOREHEAD AND ON THEIR HAND.—In years to come millions will be surprised to know that they had these marks of assent and service to Satan’s empire. “The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a programme of anarchy. It does not inspire wars and strife, but peace and security. It does not set the mother against her daughter and the father against his son, but promotes the fraternal spirit whereby the race is regarded as one great Brotherhood. It does not seek to drag down and degrade the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. To use a popular phrase, it appeals to ‘the best, all that is good within us.’ It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that the absence of Christ will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to make men so satisfied with this life that they shall be totally indifferent to the life hereafter. It propagates the principles of self‐ sacrifice, mercy, charity and benevolence, teaching men to live for the good of others and to be kind to all. For those who observe its conditions and obey its commands, it promises the development of certain inherent occult powers, the solution of the more recondite problems of man’s constitution and the accumulation of esoteric knowledge which is withheld from the multitude. In short, it declares that all who will eat of the forbidden fruit shall ‘be as gods.’ The gospel of Satan is one of works. The Devil’s Delusion is that we can be saved by our own works, and justified by our own deeds. Whereas God tells us, ‘By grace are ye saved through faith, ... not of works, lest any man should boast.’ And again, ‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.’—Eph. 2:8, 9; Tit. 3:5.”—Z. ’16‐42.

[And] they BOTH lived and reigned with Christ.—See Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10.

A thousand years.—“The loss of this hope by our forefathers led on to all the grievous errors from which we are now seeking to escape. Do we not still pray, ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven?’ The Messiah’s coming Kingdom is the key to the world’s blessing by Restitution back to human perfection in a world‐wide Eden.”—Pastor Russell. Observe how many times this period is mentioned in Rev. 20:2‐7.

20:5. [But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.]—“These words are not found in the oldest and most reliable Greek MSS., the Sinaitic, Vatican Nos. 1209 and 1160, nor the Syriac MS. However, the repudiation of this clause is not essential to the ‘Plan’ as herein set forth; for the rest of the dead—the world at large—will not live again in the full sense, in the perfect sense that Adam lived before he sinned and came under the sentence ‘dying thou shalt die.’ Perfect life without weakness or dying is the only sense in which God recognizes the word life. From His standpoint all the world has already lost life, is dying, and might now be more properly described as dead than as alive.”—2 Cor. 5:14; Matt. 8:22.

“The word resurrection (Greek, _anastasis_) signifies _raising up_. As related to man, it signifies raising up man to that condition from which he fell, to full perfection of manhood—the thing lost through Adam. The process of resurrection will be a gradual one, requiring the entire Age for its full accomplishment; though the mere awakening to a measure of life and consciousness, as at present enjoyed, will of course be a momentary work. And since anything short of perfect life is a condition of partial death, it follows that, although the above words are no part of the inspired record, it would be strictly true to say that the rest of the dead will not live again (will not regain the fulness of life lost) until the thousand years of restitution and blessing are complete.”—A. 288.

This is the First Resurrection.—“It is impossible for the tongue to describe this great honor and dignity.”—1 Cor. 2:9; Pastor Russell.

20:6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection.—“ ‘We shall be like Him [the glorified “changed” Jesus], for we shall see Him _as He is_.’ He is a Spirit Being, ‘the _express image of the Father’s person_,’ ‘far above angels, principalities and powers, and every name that is named,’ and hence, far above perfect manhood. If we shall be like Him and share His glory and His nature, it means that we too shall be images of the Father’s person, ‘whom no _man_ hath seen nor can see, dwelling in light which no _man_ can approach unto;’ but to whom we can approach and whom we can see as He is, because we have been ‘changed.’ (1 John 3:2; 1 Tim. 6:16, 1:17; Exod. 33:20.) Lest any should misunderstand him, the Apostle guards the above language by adding, ‘As _we_ [the Church] have borne the image of the earthly [one], _we_ shall also bear the image of the Heavenly [One].’ It is not the Apostle’s thought that all shall bear the image of the Heavenly One, in this sense, ever. Such was not the design of our Creator. When He made man He designed to have a _fleshly_, _human earthly_ being, in His own likeness [mentally, morally], to be the lord and ruler of the earth, as the representative of His Heavenly Creator.” (Gen. 1:26‐28; Psa. 8:4‐7; F. 722.) “If we know how to reproduce the human voice, it gives us a little illustration of how God, with His unlimited Power, can preserve everything recorded by the convolutions of our brain, and of how these could be preserved in the future absolutely—everything by which we could know ourselves in the future.”—Z. ’14‐315.

On such the Second Death hath no power.—Aside from the Father and the Son, these are the only ones in the Universe that will forever be beyond the possibility of death.—Rev. 2:11; Rom. 2:7; 1 Tim. 6:16.

But they shall be priests.—“The antitypical consecrating of the antitypical priests is confined to the present Gospel Age. It has progressed steadily since our Lord and Forerunner ‘offered up Himself’—and will be complete before this Age has fully ended. And if we fail to be among the priests now, during the time of consecration, we cannot be of them when they begin their service for the people in the Kingdom, when these same priests (now despised of men, but a ‘sweet savor to God’) will have the title of King added, and will, with their Head, Jesus, rule and bless all nations.”—T. 47; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10.

Of God and of Christ.—“No mention is made here of being priests of the Holy Ghost as it would undoubtedly have been mentioned if it had been the third person of the ‘trinity.’ ”

And shall reign with Him a thousand years.—“The ‘kingdoms of this world,’ even while being crushed by the Kingdom of God, will be quite ignorant of the real cause of their downfall,—until, in the close of this ‘day of wrath,’ the eyes of their understanding shall open, so that they will see that a New Dispensation has dawned, and learn that Immanuel has taken to Himself His great power, and has begun His glorious and righteous Reign.”—C. 129; Rev. 20:4.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.—“It will be for only a little season; for, his heart remaining unchanged, he will soon see a new avenue to the success of his long‐ cherished ambition. He will see not merely a perfect human pair with power to produce a mighty race destined to live forever, but a race restored to life and vigor. His thought will be, ‘If I can win this mighty race to my standard, my triumph and exaltation will be speedily accomplished.’ Again, therefore, he will figure as a leader, though, as now, unrecognized by men. Doubtless the temptation will again rest upon his old doctrine—that they shall not surely die, even if they do disregard the will of God.”—Z. ’94‐251.

20:8. And shall go out to deceive all the nations.—“At the close of the Millennial Age there will be a ’harvest’ time, for sifting and separating amongst the billions of human beings then living, each of whom will have enjoyed a full opportunity of attaining perfection. The Harvest of the Millennial Age will witness the complete separation of the ‘goats’ from the ‘sheep.’ ” (D. 644.) “While the blessing of the Lord will provide an abundance for all, nevertheless we may safely assume that the provision will be in the hands of their fellows. It will be the ’sheep’ that will be especially interested in, praying for and preparing for, those who are in the great prison‐house of death. And by so engaging their time and energy these ‘sheep’ will be manifesting a purpose, a will, in harmony with that of the Creator. (John 5:28, 29.) Any one not interested in that work will be lacking in God’s Spirit; and this is what is charged against the goat‐ class.”—Z. ’14‐268.

[Which are] in the four [quarters of the earth] CORNERS, Gog.—Proud (Gog means high), Natural Israelites. (1 Chr. 5:3, 4.) “ ‘Ye [proud and unfaithful Jews] shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God [the earthly phase], and ye yourselves thrust out,’ (Luke 13:28).”—Z. ’07‐302.

And Magog.—Those who, during the Gospel Age, were nominal Spiritual Israelites, but at heart were never anything but “tares” and always remain such. Magog was the descendant of Japheth. (Gen. 10:2.) Europe was peopled by his descendants, and it was to them that the Gospel call of the Age now ending was by Divine appointment sent. (Acts 16:6, 9.) The Gospel was sent into Europe that it might be demonstrated that God could call and make into Christlike characters representatives of even the most cruel, bloodthirsty, quarrelsome, rapacious people on earth. Such they are. Japan is proof that contact with Europeans will in a generation transform a contented, peace‐loving people into a people of unbounded ambition, imbued with the spirit of the very Devil.—Ezek. 38:2; 39:1.

AND to gather them together to battle.—“When at the close of the Millennial Age all the obedient of mankind shall have attained all that was lost in Adam and redeemed by Christ—then all, armed with complete knowledge and experience, and hence fully able to stand the test, will be tested severely (as was Adam), but individually, and only those found in fullest heart‐sympathy, as well as in outward harmony, with God and His righteous arrangements, will be permitted to go beyond the Millennium into the everlasting future or ‘world [age] without end.’ All others will be destroyed in the Second Death.” (E. _418_, 402.) “We read, regarding that testing, that Satan will endeavor to lead astray all mankind, whose numbers will then be as the sand of the sea for multitude; but that many of them will choose evil and disobedience, with past experience before them, and unhampered by present weaknesses and blinding influences, we do not suppose.”—H. 62.

20:9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth.—“Building upon a supposed weakness in the Divine character, these may be led to try to take advantage of the grace (favor) of God, and to use it as a license for wilful sin.”—H. 62.

And compassed the camp of the saints about.—“Just as in Great Britain, the people have gone to Parliament to protest, so the rebellious faction of mankind will protest against their faithful princes. The separation of the Ancient Worthies from the rest of the world seems to imply that God has some special purpose in respect to them. The term camp itself implies that theirs is only a temporary condition or arrangement, and that God has some better thing in store for them.” (Z. ’13‐53.) “The noble work of elevating the race by sure and steady steps (under the direction of the unseen spiritual members of the Kingdom) is the high honor to which the Ancient Worthies are appointed, and for which they will come forth prepared soon after the final wreck of the kingdoms of this world.” (A. 291.) “Israel as a nation will be the first among the nations to come into harmony with the new order of things; the earthly Jerusalem will be rebuilt upon her old heaps; and their polity will be restored as in the beginning under princes or judges. (Isa. 1:26; Psa. 45:16; Jer. 30:18.)” (A. 294.) “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets” and Ancient Worthies referred to by our Lord and by the Apostles (Matt. 8:11; Heb. 11:4‐40), having passed their trial, will be awakened from death perfect.

“Just as Adam, while perfect, before transgression, could commune direct with the Heavenly powers, so will these Worthies commune, when restored to the same state of perfection.” (D. 619.) “The veil which Moses wore before the people, but laid off when with the Lord in the Mount would seem to typify the earthly phase of his Kingdom, the ‘princes in all the earth,’ ” (D. 630.) “The friendship of David and Jonathan seems to be suggestive of that beautiful accord which shall exist between the glorified Church and the earthly princes who shall be next to them in the Kingdom of God. Each will be delighted to fill his honored place in the wonderful Plan of God, and will love the other as his own soul.” (Z. ’95‐291.) “As we consider the heavens, the work of God’s hands, and the innumerable worlds therein under preparation for inhabitants, we may reasonably suppose that these Ancient Worthies, who were faithful during the reign of evil, even unto death, will have some further honorable service, not only during the Millennial Age, but subsequently. For various reasons, therefore, we rank them higher in honor than the Great Company.” (Z. ’04‐313.) “These Ancient Worthies will be unlike the remainder of mankind, not alone in the fact that their trial is past while the trial of the world in general will just be beginning; but they will be unlike them also in the fact that they will have attained the reward of their faithfulness—they will be perfect men. When Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the Ancient Worthies have been resurrected, and shall appear amongst the regathered Israelites, their perfect minds will quickly grasp present‐day knowledge and inventions. (John 7:15.) And as Jesus taught the people positively, definitely, clearly, and not doubtfully and in a confused way, as did the scribes, so it will be with the perfected Ancient Worthies, when they appear amongst men.”—D. 625.

“Isa. 11:10 points us to the Millennial Day, and another root of Jesse, as connected with the blessing of the Gentiles. This latter seed seems to be referred to also in Heb. 11:39, 40. The Ancient Worthies shall not only be the princes, the representatives of the spiritual, invisible Kingdom, but also grand ensigns or standards set up before mankind, as illustrations of what all mankind may attain unto.” (Z. ’98‐312.) “The painful experiences of the Ancient Worthies during the Jewish age will be a store of blessings, instruction and help, by which they, when made subordinate ‘princes’ in the Kingdom, will assist in the restitution work.” (T. 111.) “While the Worthies are not in any sense part of the Sin‐Offering, they are nevertheless connected with the cleansing from sin: their ashes (the knowledge and remembrance of their faithfulness unto death), mingled with the water of Truth, and applied with the purgative, cleansing hyssop, is valuable, purifying, sanctifying.” (T. 108.) “The service which the Ancient Worthies will be given will be more than God would ordinarily entrust to a perfect human being. It will be a part of this service to deal with the imperfect, fallen creatures and to help them up out of sin and imperfection. While in one sense of the word this work is desirable, yet it is not what a perfect human being would prefer. These Ancient Worthies will come forth from the tomb perfect; but during the entire Millennium they will be amidst imperfect surroundings.

“A part of the evidence that the Ancient Worthies will be made sharers of the spirit nature and become members of the Great Company class is built upon the fact that they seem to be represented typically by the tribe of Levi. The fact that this tribe had no inheritance in the land seems to imply that the Ancient Worthies will have no earthly inheritance. Since the Heavenly Father has been pleased to arrange for the Great Company a place on the spirit plane, and since He is operating according to some general principles of righteousness, we are inclined to think that He may have something more for the Ancient Worthies than will come to the remainder of mankind. When Abraham was called upon to offer up his son Isaac, he exhibited a degree of loyalty greater than the Great Company will be called upon to manifest. Furthermore, in Gen. 17:8, God said unto Abraham, ‘And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ Two thousand years later, St. Stephen said that God never gave Abraham so much as a foot of the promised land (Acts 7:6); but he implied that Abraham will yet receive that land and afterward leave it to his posterity. If the land is to be given to Abraham and his coadjutors, and then to be left to his seed and mankind in general, the thought would seem to be implied that the Ancient Worthies will pass to the spirit nature.”—Z. ’13‐52.

“ ‘O Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength! [After the Church, the Bride, has been glorified with the Lord, the faithful ones of the fleshly seed of Abraham will begin to come into prominence before the world by reason of the leaders whom God will then raise up for them.] Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah [all who shall then be in covenant relationship with God], Behold! Your God is here!’ [Thus the message now given by ‘the feet’ of Christ—that the Millennial Kingdom is already beginning its rule (Isa. 52:7)—will be taken up by the earthly class when the ‘feet of Him’ have passed beyond the veil.]—Isa. 40:9.”—Z. ’92‐78.

And the beloved city.—“The ‘beloved city’ is the New Jerusalem, the Church in glory, not the Church in the flesh. The rebellion incited by Satan will be not only against the earthly princes, but also against The Christ.”—Z. ’13‐53.

And fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them.—They will be instantaneously and mercifully electrocuted, not tormented.

20:10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.—“He is to be destroyed, together with all his angels—his messengers, all who follow his leading and his course.—Matt. 25:41; Heb. 2:14.”—F. 619.

Where the beast and WHERE the false prophet are.—Papacy and the Protestant Church Federation will have been in destruction a thousand years at the time this Scripture is fulfilled.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

And shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.—The Seven Volumes of _Scripture Studies_ are the instruments the Lord is using to bring these iniquitous systems to their end; and so long as these books remain, the torment of these systems will be in evidence. The systems will cease, but the “Seven Plagues” will continue forever.—Rev. 14:11; 19:3.

20:11. And I saw a great white Throne.—“The whiteness of the Throne indicates the purity of the justice and judgment which will be meted out.”—B. S. M.

And Him that sat on it.—“The Throne is Messiah’s; it represents His Mediatorial Dominion of earth for a thousand years.”—B. S. M.

From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.—“The heavens and earth which will flee from the presence of the great Immanuel will not be the Heavens of God’s Throne, nor the earth which he has given to the children of men. The heavens and earth which will flee away, and for which no place will be found, are, of course, the symbolical ones. The symbolic heavens represent spiritual influences—Ecclesiasticism, Churchianity. Thus interpreted, our text declares that when Messiah assumes control of the world, the result will be that the social system of to‐day, as well as present‐day ecclesiasticism, will pass out of existence—no place will be found for them.” (B. S. M.) “ ‘Heaven and earth’: To our Lord’s contemporaries the religious and social system under which they lived seemed almost as fixed and as eternal as the earth and sky. Indeed, ‘heaven and earth’ appears to have been a name which they gave to the then‐existing order of things in recognition of what they deemed its permanence and fixity.”—Weym.; Rev. 21:1; Dan. 2:35.

20:12. And I saw the dead, [small and] BOTH great AND SMALL stand before [God] THE THRONE.—What a grand privilege is that which awaits “Him whom man despiseth, Him whom the nation abhorreth, a servant of rulers,” “That thou mayest say to the prisoners [the twenty billions in the prison‐house of death], Go forth; to them that are in [the] darkness [of the tomb], Show yourselves.” (Isa. 49:7, 9; Rev. 11:18; 19:5). (The dead are standing while they are dead. See Rev. 20:5 comments.)

And the books were opened.—“The books of the Bible will then all be opened—understood. All will then see that the Golden Rules laid down by inspiration through Moses and the Prophets, Jesus and His Apostles, are the very ones which God will require of men in the future and which Messiah will then enable the willing and obedient to comply with by assisting them up out of their sin and degradation.” (B. S. M.) The entire Word of God will not be opened until after the Church is beyond the veil. Much of it (perhaps nearly all) will be opened by the Great Company class during the Time of Trouble, but some of it may wait for the Prophets themselves. Meantime, all that is necessary for salvation and service has been provided.—Dan. 7:10.

And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.—“In the great Day of the world’s trial or Judgment another Book of Life will be opened. A record will be made of all who, by obedience, show themselves worthy of everlasting life on the human plane.” (B. S. M.) “The First Book of life is called the Lamb’s Book of Life, containing the names of the elect Church, His Bride. This other Book of Life will be the book, or record, of those who shall pass the restitutional trial or judgment satisfactorily.”—Z. ’00‐239.

And the dead were judged.—“This judgment, or rulership, cannot begin until Christ, whom Jehovah hath appointed to be the Judge or Ruler of the world, has come again—not again in humiliation, but in power and great glory: not again to redeem the world, but to judge [rule] the world in righteousness. A trial can in no case proceed until the judge is on the bench and the court in session at the appointed time.—Matt. 25:31.”—A. 345.

Out of those things which were written in the books.—“It is by the Word of the Lord that men are judged (John 12:48‐50); and not by the opinions or precedents of fellow‐men in any capacity. Therefore all should imitate the noble Bereans who ‘searched the Scriptures daily’ to see if the things taught them were true. (Acts 17:11.) ‘To the Law and to the Testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’—See 1 Thes. 5:21; Isa. 8:20.”—D. 66.

According to their works.—“The judgment of that time, the test, will not be of faith; for knowledge will be universal, and all the darkness and obscurity created by ignorance and superstition will have passed away. The test at that time will be of works, whereas the tests of the Church at the present time are of faith.”—B. S. M.

20:13. And the sea.—The masses of mankind, not under religious restraint—the condition of the whole world in the time of anarchy due in its full severity in the fall of 1920. See page 178.

Gave up the dead which were in it.—Earth’s new Ruler will deal first with those who survive the Time of Trouble, reckoned dead, even though actually having a small measure of life. When the Lord said, “Let the dead bury their dead” (Matt. 8:22), He used the same word to describe both classes. Those under the death sentence are counted by the Lord in the same class with those upon whom the sentence has been already executed. None but God’s people have “passed from death unto life.” (1 John 3:14.) All the rest of the world, in God’s sight, are dead.

And death.—“From the first, or Adamic death, a resurrection has been provided. All that are in their graves shall come forth. It was in view of God’s plan for redeeming the race from that first death that in both the Old and New Testaments it is called a ‘_sleep_.’ ”—H. 58.

And hell.—“The dark, secret condition, the grave, which in the present time speaks to us of a _hope_ of future life by God’s resurrection power in Christ.”—Z. ’10‐41.

Delivered up the dead which were in them.—“Thus God tells us through the Prophet, ‘I will ransom them from the power of the grave [_Sheol_]. I will redeem them from death.... O grave [_Sheol_] I will be thy destruction.’ (Hos. 13:14.) The first or Adamic death shall no longer have liberty or power over men, as it has had for the past six thousand years; no longer shall any die for Adam’s sin. (Rom. 5:12; Jer. 31:29, 30; Ezek. 18:2.)”—Z. ’10‐41.

And they were judged every man according to their works.—“Since all mankind will not be raised at once, but gradually, during the thousand years, each new group will find an army of helpers in those who will have preceded it. The love and benevolence which men will then show to each other (the brethren of Christ) the King will count as shown to Him. (Rom. 13:10.)”—Z. ’10‐39.

20:14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.—“The destruction of the first death and Hades commences with the beginning of the Millennial Reign and continues to its close. Hades (the grave) will be destroyed when all the dead in it have heard the Lord’s voice and come forth. (John 5:25.) But ‘death’ will still have hold upon these, since every ache and pain and every mental and moral imperfection is a part of the inherited Adamic penalty. The millions awakened will be still under condemnation, still in death; but in proportion as they render obedience to the terms of the New Covenant, progress will be made toward health, perfection and life. On the other hand, those who, after full knowledge, refuse to accept and personally apply the merit of the sacrifice of Christ, will remain under condemnation; because their wills consent to evil, they will progress toward the Second Death. In the case of the obedient, death will be swallowed up of life. In the case of the disobedient, death will be swallowed up of the Second Death. (1 Cor. 15:26, 54, 55; Isa. 25:6‐8.)”—H. 66.

AND this is the Second Death; THE LAKE OF FIRE.—“This destruction or death is called the Second Death in contradistinction to the First or Adamic death, and not to signify that everything which goes into it dies a second time. For instance, death (the first or Adamic death), and Hades, the grave, are to be cast into it, which work will require the entire Millennium to accomplish it; and in no sense will they ever have been destroyed before. So also the devil, the beast, and the false prophet, will never have been destroyed before.”—H. 58; Rev. 21:8.

20:15. And whosoever [was] SHALL not BE found written in the Book of Life.—The writing, the judging, is still future.

Was cast into the Lake of Fire.—“The Second Death, during the Millennial Age, is a part of the utter destruction which will include every improper, injurious and useless thing. (Isa. 11:9; Psa. 101:5‐8.) But the Second Death, the sentence of that individual trial, will be final: it will never be destroyed. We rejoice that there is no danger of this, but that Divine Justice unites with Divine Wisdom, Love and Power, to bring in everlasting righteousness on a permanent basis.”—H. 67; Rev. 19:20; Psa. 50:22.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

“A thousand years, earth’s coming glory, ’Tis the glad Day so long foretold; ’Tis the bright Morn of Zion’s glory Prophets foresaw in times of old.

“What if the clouds do for a moment Hide the blue sky where Morn appears? Soon the glad Sun of Promise given Rises to shine a thousand years!”

Revelation 21—The Descending Kingdom

21:1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.—“It may be that this, rather than ‘the Millennium,’ is the name which we ought to give to the Golden Age, of purity and bliss which next awaits the world. The words seem to include a transformation and glorification of our material globe.”—Weym.

“Paradise, the Garden of God, applicable as a name to Eden, where our first parents resided, is Scripturally applied to the new earth when Restitution blessings shall, during the Millennium, have brought it to perfection. This Paradise of the future is referred to by the Apostles as ‘the third heaven,’ and as ‘a new heavens and a new earth.’ (2 Corinthians 12:2; 2 Peter 3:13.) They are not referring to new planets, nor to heavens ranged one above another, as many have supposed, but to the third of three great periods of time, beginning with man’s creation and extending into the illimitable future. The first of these periods, termed the first heavens and earth—the old order of things—passed away with the Deluge of Noah’s day. The second period, ‘the heavens and the earth which are now,’ the present order of things, are reserved of God to pass away with a great symbolic fire of trouble—revolution, etc.—which will utterly destroy the present spiritual powers and the present social arrangements. (2 Peter 3:6, 7; Galatians 1:4; Zephaniah 3:8, 9.) The third great period is to be a ‘world without end,’ under Divine administration. This will be the third heavens and the third earth, or the new heavens and the new earth, which will differ from the present condition of things in that they will be righteous! whereas the present arrangement is imperfect, unrighteous. The ‘new heavens’ will consist of the new spiritual ruling powers of the future—Christ the Head, and the Church His Body.”—Z. ’16‐392.

For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.—“The Scriptures show us that in this general rupture the nominal church (including all denominations) will be gradually drawn more and more to the side of the governments and the wealthy, will lose much of its influence over the people, and will finally fall with the governments. Thus the heavens [ecclesiastical rule] being on fire, will pass away with a great hissing.” (A. 333.) Two of the causes that operate to “burn” the present “earth” are declared to be hunger, and the misrule of beastly governments. (Deut. 32:24) In the end all will be glad to see the unclean heavens pass away (Job 15:15) rent in twain (Isa. 64:1) and the new heavens planted (Isa. 51:16) which will be heard in their lightest petition to the God of all grace (Hos. 2:21). “Drop down, ye Heavens from above.”—Isa. 45:8.

And there was no more sea.—“Under the control of the new Heaven—spiritual powers—the reconstructed social order will be so satisfactory, so complete, so thorough, that there will be no more dissatisfied masses. Everything will be reduced to law and order, obliterating the differences of wealth and power as they now exist.”—Z. ’16‐392.

21:2. And I, [John] saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem.—“The New Jerusalem is not ‘that great city [government] which ruleth over the kings of the earth’ (Revelation 17:18) but is the new Spiritual Government of the Millennial Age. It is not reared by men; but, descends from God out of Heaven. It is for this Kingdom, this Government, that our Lord taught His disciples to pray, ‘Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in Heaven.’ ”—Z. ’16‐392; Isa. 52:1; Matt. 5:35; Heb. 11:10, 16; 13:14; Rev. 3:12; 21:10; 11:2; 22:19.

Coming down [from God] out of Heaven, FROM GOD.—“We are not to think of this Holy City as being composed of literal stones, but of ‘living stones’ (1 Peter 2:4‐7; Ephesians 2:19‐22.) Neither Christ nor the saints in glory can be seen of men. But the whole world will quickly be made aware of the fact that a new Government has been instituted—a government of righteousness and all power.”—Z. ’16‐392; Heb. 11:10; 12:22; Rev. 3:12; 21:10.

Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.—“This declaration implies its beauty, grandeur and perfection, as a bride’s adornment on such an occasion is particular and elaborate to the last degree. Additionally, the statement reminds us that in the government of the future the world’s judges are to be the saints selected throughout the Gospel Age and frequently called ‘the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.’ ”—Z. ’16‐392; 2 Cor. 11:2; John 3:29; Eph. 5:31, 32.

21:3. And [I heard] a great voice.—The Lord Jesus, the Father’s Word.

[Out of heaven] WAS saying, OUT OF THE THRONE, Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men.—“This verse associates this City with the other figure of a symbolic Temple, which the Lord is now preparing, of which the saints will constitute the ‘pillars.’ God will dwell in this Temple, and the world of mankind will approach God in it to receive the Divine blessings, as Israel approached the typical Tabernacle and the Temple in their typical religious services.” (Z. ’01‐199.) “When we think of the Church as the Temple under construction, it impresses upon us the thought that there is a future work to be accomplished. Why construct a Temple, and then not use it? St. Paul says, the Church is God’s workmanship. (Ephesians 2:10.) And His work will be so perfectly accomplished that there will be no need of rectification or alteration beyond the veil,—beautifully illustrated in the erection of Solomon’s Temple, of which we read that its stones were prepared at the quarry and then finally assembled for the construction of the Temple, and that they were so perfectly shaped and marked for their various places that they came together without the sound of a hammer.”—Z. ’15‐189; 2 Cor. 6:16.

And He [will dwell] DWELLETH with them and they shall be His people.—“All mankind will be treated from the standpoint of reconciliation, the Propitiation (price) for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) having been provided at Calvary, and the due time having then come for the manifestation of Divine favor.”—Z. ’01‐200; Psa. 68:18; Ezek. 37:27; Zech. 8:8.

[And] God Himself shall be with them, [and be their God].—“It will be the Kingdom of God, because God’s dear Son and His joint‐heir, the Church, will be in absolute accord with the Father, and all that shall be done under their control will fully and completely represent the Divine will respecting men. Nevertheless, it will be a separate Kingdom from that of the remainder of the Universe, as the Apostle Paul indicates. (1 Cor. 15:24, 25, 28.)”—Z. ’01‐200; Jer. 30:22; 31:33; Ezek. 11:20.

21:4. And [God] HE shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—“The wiping away of tears implies a gradual work, such as we see will be the process of that glorious time. Man will not be exempt from every weakness and trial and difficulty at the beginning, but if he will conform to the Laws of the Kingdom, all cause for distress will gradually pass away, as restitution blessings will lift him out of death into life.”—Z. ’01‐200; Isa. 25:8; 65:19.

And there shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor crying SHALL BE.—“What a glorious sun‐burst of blessing is in these words! What a grand fulfilment will be there of the Apostle’s declaration respecting ‘Times of Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began’! The declaration, however, applies to the very end of the Millennial Age, and not in full to any previous time in that Age. (John 5:28, 29.)”—Z. ’01‐200; 1 Cor. 15:26, 54; Rev. 20:14; Isa. 35:10; 51:11; 65:19.

[Neither shall there be any more pain] For the former things are passed away.—The reign of Satan, sin and death will have ended forever. “To gain a place in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God will be to find the gratification of every desire and ambition of the perfect human heart.”—A. 291.

21:5. And He that sat upon the Throne said, Behold, I make all things new.—“This expression does not relate merely to rocks and trees, etc., but to the great work which our Lord undertook; viz., the regeneration of humanity to the complete perfection contemplated in the original Divine Plan.”—Z. ’01‐201; Rev. 20:11.

And He said unto me, Write: for these words are [true and] faithful, AND TRUE.—“Present conditions seem so contrary to all this grand Restitution outcome that it cannot be fully believed and trusted by any except those who have learned to walk with the Lord. To all others these things will appear untrue, and God will appear unfaithful, and the matters which we are here discussing will seem ‘idle tales,’ as fables and golden fancies: but to us who believe, these promises are precious.”—1 Pet. 2:7.

21:6. And He [said] SAITH unto me, [It is done.] I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.—“It was the Father’s good pleasure that the Blessed One, the Only Begotten of the Father, should accomplish the entire program of redemption and restitution; and be forever the Associate and Representative of the Father, through whom and by whom all things should continue, as He was the one through whom all things were made that were made.”—Z. ’01‐201; Rev. 1:8; 22:13.

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.—“It is this one who, during the Millennial Age, will extend to all the willing and obedient the Water of Life, everlasting life—the privilege of perpetual existence. But they must thirst for it, must desire it; and this desire must be manifest in obedience to the terms, the laws, upon which it will be supplied freely.”—Z. ’01‐201; Rev. 22:17; Isa. 55:1; John 7:37.

21:7. He that overcometh shall inherit [all] THESE things.—These earthly things.—Acts 3:21.

And I will be his God, and he shall be My son.—“Those addressed are not the Bride class, selected during the Gospel Age, (1 John 3:2) but the sheep class of Matt. 25—such of mankind as during the Millennial Age become the Lord’s sheep and obey His voice. They shall inherit the earth, the purchased possession—which Jesus will restore at the close of the Millennium to all the children of Adam who shall have accepted His gracious favors and been regenerated by Him, and thus become His sons, and He their God—their Father. (Isa. 9:6)”—Z. ’01‐201; Zech. 8:8; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 8:21.

21:8. But the fearful.—“If any, enlightened by the Truth, and brought to a knowledge of the love of God, and restored to human perfection, become ‘fearful,’ and ‘draw back’ (Heb. 10:38, 39), they, with the unbelievers, will be destroyed from among the people. (Acts 3:23.)”—A. 107.

And unbelieving.—Who will not trust God, after all the marvels of His grace they will have seen and experienced.—Heb. 11:6; Rom. 10:17; John 20:31; John 17:20; 1 Tim. 6:12; Luke 17:5; James 2:17.

And the abominable.—“Those abominable characters among men, who, knowing the truth, yet love unrighteousness.”—H. 60.

And murderers.—Slanderers.—Psa. 141:3; Deut. 5:17; Matt. 5:21, 22; 15:18‐20; 1 John 3:15; James 3:2‐12; James 4:11; Prov. 4:23, 24; Matt. 12:34‐37; Eph. 4:31; Psa. 15:1‐3; 19:14; 34:13; 101:5; Prov. 12:19; 16:28; 17:4; 26:20‐21; Jer. 20:10; 1 Cor. 10:10; James 1:19; Deut. 32:2.

And whoremongers.—Not at heart faithful to the Lord.

And sorcerers.—Dreamers, theorists, pseudo‐philosophers, endeavoring to accredit to themselves the great salvation wrought.—Rev. 22:15.

And idolaters.—“Such as misappropriate and misuse Divine favors, who give to self or any other creature or thing that service and honor which belong to God.”—H. 63.

And all liars.—“All who do not love the Truth and seek it, and at any cost defend and hold it.” (H. 63.) “If something is six inches long, let it be just six inches for six inches.”—Z. ’12‐147.

Shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.—“The severest punishment inflicted by the Jews upon any criminal. The corpse (after the man had been stoned to death) was thrown out into the Valley of Hinnom (Gay‐Hinnom) and was devoured by the worm or the flame.”—Weym.

Which is the Second Death.—“Such company would be repulsive to any honest, upright being. It is hard to tolerate them now, but in the close of the Millennial Judgment, when the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall have given every advantage and opportunity of knowledge and ability, the righteous will be glad when the corrupters of the earth, and all their work and influence, shall be destroyed.”—H. 63.

21:9. And there came [unto me].—To the John class, the Church, on this side of the veil.

One of the seven angels.—The Seventh.

Which had the seven vials full.—They are still full after they are poured out on ecclesiasticism!

Of the seven last plagues.—The Seven volumes of _Studies in the Scriptures_.

And talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee.—See Lu. 4:21.

The Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.—“As a grand lesson of the Divine sovereignty, and as a sublime contradiction to all evolution theories, God elected to call to this place of honor (as ‘the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife and Joint‐ heir’—Rom. 8:17), not angels and cherubs, but some from among the sinners redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. The continued permission of evil is for the purpose of developing these ‘members of the Body of Christ’ and to furnish them the opportunity of sacrificing their little and redeemed all, in the service of Him who bought them with His precious blood; and thus of developing in their hearts His spiritual likeness, that when, at the end of the Age, they are presented by their Lord and Redeemer before the Father, God may see in them ‘the image of His Son.’ ”—Col. 1:22; Rom. 8:29; E. _412_, 395; Rev. 19:7; 21:2.

21:10. And he carried me away in the Spirit.—“God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.”—1 Cor. 2:10; Rev. 1:10; 17:3.

To a great and high mountain.—How similar is the language, recording the experience of the first and greatest Member of the Church, at the beginning of His ministry. Concerning the Lord’s third temptation we read: “In this temptation the Lord is taken, not physically, but in the spirit of His mind, up into a high mountain—a very exalted kingdom. Physically He was all this time in the desert near Jerusalem; and as a matter of fact there is neither in that desert nor anywhere in the world a mountain from which all the kingdoms of the world could be viewed except with the mind’s eye.”—Z. ’06‐43.

St. John’s Vision of the Descending Kingdom

And shewed me [that great] THE HOLY City, [The holy] Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God.—The city came down from Heaven to earth. If we went up to Heaven, it would not be found there. If Rev. 21 is to be literally interpreted, then the whole surface of Palestine is far from sufficient to hold a city of this size. Besides, its height, length and breadth were to be equal.—Rev. 21:2.

21:11. Having the glory [of] FROM God.—The Church has a foretaste of this glory on this side of the veil.—1 Pet. 4:14.

[And] her light.—“The Lamb is the Light thereof.”—Rev. 21:23; 22:5.

Was like unto a stone most precious.—“The brightness of His [the Father’s] glory, and the express image of His person.”—Heb. 1:3.

Even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.—A beautiful green‐tinted diamond.—Rev. 4:3.

21:12 And [had] HAVING a wall great and high.—The pictures here are all pictures of the Bride. Nevertheless, the wall, the protection of that Heavenly City, in a special sense represents our Heavenly Father. No picture of the Bride would be complete that did not include Him who dwells within us, who is the Author of the Plan, and the Source of all our joys. Now as to the application of the picture of the wall to the Bride herself, one of Pastor Russell’s coworkers has aptly said: “We are like living _stones_, in the plural—144,000 stones in one, if you will. There was one perfect Stone to begin with, and all the others had to be conformed to the image of that Stone. Men have discovered a way of taking two glasses of different density and fusing them together, so you cannot tell where the point of fusion is. And so, with this Little Flock of 144,000, they are going to be welded together in one—there will be but one mind in that whole 144,000. There is only one thing they have in view, and that is to perform Jehovah’s will; and they rejoice in doing His will absolutely.”

And [had] HAVING twelve gates.—The twelve mystical tribes of Israel.—Rev. 7:5‐8; Ezek. 48:31‐34.

And at the gates twelve angels, and THEIR names written thereon.—The entire Little Flock; twelve thousand of each tribe, each working together, under God’s direction, as one angel, or messenger. Doubtless certain special work is reserved for each tribe. All who gain membership in that tribe will be particularly suited to the work to which they will be assigned.

Which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.—Their names, and the characteristics they signify, are given in Rev. 7:5‐8.

21:13. On the East.—Toward the Sun‐rising, toward the Dawn, toward the Little Flock, specially honored and blessed in their sacrifices on behalf of the Church. The side of the Amramites.—Num. 3:19; F. 128.

Three gates.—The mystical tribe of Joseph, Benjamin and Manasseh—Manasseh taking the place of Dan.—Ezek. 48:32; Rev. 7:5, 7, 8.

AND on the North.—The side of the Merarites, the Great Company.—Num. 3:33; F. 129.

Three gates.—The mystical tribes of Judah, Reuben and Levi.—Ezek. 48:31; Rev. 7:5, 7.

AND on the South.—The side of the Kohathites, the Ancient Worthies.—Num. 4:2; F. 129.

Three gates.—The mystical tribes of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun.—Ezek. 48:33; Rev. 7:7, 8.

And on the West.—The side of the Gershonites, the Restitution classes.—Num. 4:22; F. 129.

Three gates.—The mystical tribes of Gad, Asher and Naphtali.—Ezek. 48:34; Rev. 7:5, 6.

Although the pictures here given are pictures of the Bride, and the gates apply as above shown, nevertheless these gates also represent the Ancient Worthies, who during the Millennial Age will be the earthly representatives of the Church, and, perhaps, exactly 144,000 in number. Additionally, the Ancient Worthies are _called_ “gates” in Isa. 26:2. “The gates or entrances of the City, which are twelve in number, are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is in harmony with what we have learned of the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God that the Ancient Worthies from the various tribes of Israel, selected during the Jewish Age, will be the visible representatives of the Heavenly Kingdom in the earth through whose instrumentality the nations may enter into the blessings of the Kingdom.”—Z. ’92‐16.

“The city lies open and accessible to all quarters, and to all quarters alike.”—Luke 13:29. Weym.

21:14. And the wall of the City had twelve foundations.—“The Lord himself, is the foundation, ‘Other foundations can no man lay than that is laid—Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 3:11.) He is the great Rock, and St. Peter’s confession of Him as such was, therefore, a rock testimonial—a declaration of the foundation principles underlying the Divine Plan. St. Peter disowned any pretension to being the foundation‐stone himself and properly classed himself to with all the other ‘living stones’ (Gr. _lithos_,) of the Church,—though _petros_, rock, signifies a larger stone than _lithos_, and all the Apostles as ‘foundation’ stones would in the Divine Plan and order have a larger importance than their brethren.”—F. 220; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20.

And [in] ON them the TWELVE names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb.—“We are entirely out of accord with the views of Papacy, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of the Catholic‐Apostolic Church, and of the Mormons, all of whom claim that the number of the Apostles was not limited to twelve, and that there have been successors since their day who spoke and wrote with equal authority with the original Twelve. (2 Cor. 11:13.)” (F. 209.) “We still have with us the gift of Apostles, in that we have their teachings in the New Testament, so full and complete as to require no addition; and hence the Twelve Apostles have no successors, and need none, since there are but ‘Twelve Apostles of the Lamb;’ they are the twelve stars; the twelve foundations.’”—John 6:70; E. _229_, 207.

12:15. And he that talked with me.—Volume VII of _Studies in the Scriptures_.

Had a [golden] MEASURING reed of gold.—The Divine Word.

To measure the City, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.—Surely, if we can not find the measurement in the Scriptures it is hopeless to look elsewhere.—Zech. 2:1, 2; Rev. 11:1; Ezek. 40:3.

21:16. And the City lieth foursquare, and the length is [as large] as the breadth.—A perfect cube, like the Most Holy of the Tabernacle.

And he measured the City with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.—“The number of ‘buildings’ in the City seems to be indicated by the measures—12,000 times 12,000 furlongs equals 144,000,000 square furlongs. This area contains 144,000 building‐lots of one thousand square furlongs each—which circumstance may well signify that the 144,000, faithful ones will reign with Jesus during a thousand years (one square furlong representing a year.”)

The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.—Each view of the City, from any side, presents to view, Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

21:17. And he measured the wall thereof.—Its thickness.

An hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man.—The measure of a man, the Man Christ Jesus, is 1,000. His Day is to be 1,000 years in length. Adam’s Day was a thousand years long. The total measure is 144,000, the number of the Elect. We should expect to find the number of those rescued during the Millennium shown somewhere in these measurements; and this we also find. The cubit, in symbolism, is flexible in length, like the word “day.” If we multiply the number of square furlongs in any wall by the _144 measures of a man_, i. e., 144,000,000 X 144, the result is 20,736,000,000, the estimated number of the sheep class at the end of the Millennial Age.—Matt. 25:34‐40; Z. ’05‐271.

That is, of the angel.—As interpreted by the angel.

21:18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper.—“The solid fabric of the wall was jasper; and the city itself was made of gold, resembling transparent glass.”—Weym.

And the City was pure gold, like unto clear glass.—Of Divine origin, and made up of those who have the Divine nature.

21:19. And the foundations of the wall of the City were garnished with all manner of precious stones.—Mosaic manufacturers make 15,000 colors; and it is estimated the trained eye can detect a million colors. In selecting and polishing the 144,000 gems and putting them in place in the Temple God is preparing a beautiful harmony of characters in infinite variety that will delight the hearts of all His creatures to all eternity.—1 Chron. 29:2.

The first foundation was jasper.—Likeness to the Father. See comments on Rev. 4:3.

AND the second, sapphire.—Faithfulness. The sapphire of the ancients is the modern lapiz lazuli, or azure stone, a mineral substance valued for decorative purposes in consequence of the fine blue color which it usually presents. It has the appearance of being spotted with gold dust. “The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.” (Job. 28:6.) The brilliant spots in the deep blue matrix invite comparison with the stars in the firmament. The crystals form into units having twelve equal sides. The blue is the color of faithfulness; the gold shows the faithfulness towards God; the star‐like appearance shows the faithfulness towards all the Heavenly beings—angels, archangels, and the Great Company; the crystalline formation shows the faithfulness towards the symbolical and actual twelve tribes of Israel which, in the last analysis, include all who shall become heirs of salvation. Those who gain the prize of the High Calling can be trusted.—1 Cor. 4:2; Luke 16:10‐12.

AND the third, a chalcedony.—Obedience; Submission. A green quartz, found in the copper mines of Chalcedon. It crystallizes in the twelve‐sided and twenty‐four‐sided forms of cubic crystalline formation. In the twelve sided crystals each side is a surface of five equal sides and angles. The Church’s obedience is perfect towards God as indicated in the faces of the crystals, five being a symbol of Divinity. It is operative towards the brethren as in the twelve‐faced crystals, and towards both phases of the Kingdom, as in the twenty‐four‐sided crystals.

The fourth, an emerald.—Deathlessness. One of the most beautiful of gems, of a bright green color, without any mixture, crystallizing in long, hexagonal (six‐sided) crystals. The stone loses color when strongly heated. From those originally imperfect (as shown in the six‐sided crystals) God is creating a race of deathless ones. Nevertheless, though begotten to the Divine nature, should they cling to the dross of their fleshly natures too determinedly, so great fires may be applied to burn away the dross as will destroy the value of the gem. This gem, too, represents the Church’s power to bestow life upon the dead world. The crystals may be broken or split crosswise. The everlasting life for the world, which may be made continuous, is nevertheless susceptible of being broken off at any time for disobedience.

21:20. The fifth, sardonyx.—Humility; Purity; Martyrdom. An ornamental stone much used for seals and cameos. It was considered by ancient oriental authorities that a fine oriental sardonyx should have at least three strata, a black base, a white intermediate center, and a superficial layer of red; these colors typifying the three cardinal virtues—humility, black; chastity, white; modesty or martyrdom, red.

The sixth, sardius.—Loyalty to Christ. A reddish stone much used by the ancients as a gem stone; it has been in all ages the commonest of the stones used by the gem engraver.—Rev. 4:3.

The seventh, chrysolyte.—Heavenly Wisdom. Greek _Chrysos_, gold, and _lithos_, stone. The meaning of the term makes it the golden stone. It is a gem of a golden color, lightly tinted with green. It is very transparent. “The wisdom that is from Above is first pure.”—Jas. 3:17.

The eighth, beryl.—Love of the Father. A pellucid gem of a bluish green color, much prized as a gem stone by the ancients. It crystallizes in the hexagonal system, with sixty‐six sides of various sizes and shapes. On each of the six principal sides are diamond‐shaped marks, alternately five and eight marks to a side, with four marks at the end. The sixty‐six sides represent the sixty‐six books of the Bible; the two ends represent the Old and New Testaments; the diamond shaped marks represent the Heavenly Father; the three groups of eight each represent the twenty‐four prophecies of the kingdom; five is a symbol of Divinity, and four represents Justice, Power, Wisdom and Love.

The ninth, topaz.—Benevolence. It is generally held that the mineral now called topaz was unknown to ancient writers, and that their topaz is our peridot. This is the name applied by jewelers to “noble olivine.” It is a dark, decidedly green‐colored mineral. Much mystery for a long time surrounded the locality which yielded most of the peridot for commerce; but it is now identified with the island of St. John in the Red Sea, probably the “Topaz Isle” of the ancients. It crystallizes in twenty‐six‐ sided figures. In some views—i. e., when the Great Company or the classes that are to be destroyed are taken into consideration—the tribes of Israel number thirteen; and when Spiritual and Fleshly Israel are considered separately, the total number is twenty‐six. It is not the wish of the Heavenly Father that any of these should perish, and it is the wish of the Church to do all humanly and Divinely possible to save the unworthy from the final consequences of their own willfulness. This spirit will be exercised to the last limit of love.

The tenth, chrysoprasus.—Constant, cheerful endurance. The modern Chrysoberyl is a yellow or green gem stone, remarkable for its hardness, being exceeded in this respect only by the diamond and the jacinth. It is not infrequently cloudy, due to microscopic cavities. The hardness signifies ability to “endure hardness as good soldiers,” and the clouds signify difficulties, troubles, to be overcome.

The eleventh, jacinth.—Unchangeableness. The modern sapphire, next to the diamond in hardness; a beautiful blue stone. Many of the crystals are parti‐colored, the blue being distributed in patches in a colorless stone; but by skillful cutting the deep‐colored portion may be caused to impart color to the entire gem. This stone crystallizes in the most beautiful and wonderful pattern conceivable, consisting of a six‐sided pyramid at either end, separated by three different sets of surfaces of six each and two different sets of surfaces of three each. We may think of the two ends as representing the teachings of the Twelve Apostles, and the twenty‐four surfaces between as representing the twenty‐four elders (prophecies pertaining to the Kingdom of God). God is unchangeable; although the different operations of His Plan, in different ages, make Him seem changeable to mankind. But the perfected Plan will be the adoration of all His creatures. This gem also shows how God can take characters whose conduct may have been very irregular, and by skillful cutting make them copies of Himself.

The twelfth, an amethyst.—Royalty. A stone of a violet color, bordering on purple, composed of a strong blue and deep red. The name is derived from the Greek _a_, not, and _methyskein_, to intoxicate, expressing the old belief that the stone protected its owner from strong drink. It was held that wine drank out of a cup of amethyst would not intoxicate. It crystallizes in double pyramids (base to base) of three sides on each pyramid. Amethyst was Pastor Russell’s birth‐stone; and behold how perfect its application! He was true blue in his faithfulness, and fully loyal to the blood of Christ, as shown by the red. He has the royalty now, thank God! The cup which he poured never intoxicated with error those who drank its live‐giving draughts from the Fountain of all Truth, our Father’s Word. The six‐sided crystallization represents his Six Volumes of _Scripture Studies_, and this, the Seventh, a summary of all, represents the stone as a whole. There are over ninety varieties of crystals in nature. Surely, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”

The following is William Miller’s dream, as given in _The Three Worlds_, the first of Pastor Russell’s books, long since out of print, where it is told only as a dream. (Jer. 23:28.) It calls to mind a dream of Pastor Russell’s, often told in private. In his early youth he dreamed of sleeping in an attic. Suddenly he awoke to see the morning sun, just emerged over the hill‐top, blazing directly in his face. He jumped to his feet with a start, thinking that it must be late. In doing so he stumbled over several forms still asleep. He was about to reproach himself for thus rudely awakening them, when he discovered that not one of the sleepers had been disturbed. The application is evident. “The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.” Pastor Russell was awakened by the light of the Sun of the New Day. He tried to waken others, and succeeded with “just one here, one there;” but the great mass are still asleep. However, the Dawn comes on apace. Now for William Miller’s dream:

“I dreamed that God, by an unseen hand, had sent me a curiously wrought casket, about ten inches long by six square, made of ebony and pearls curiously inlaid. To the casket there was a key attached. I immediately took the key and opened the casket, when, to my wonder and surprise, I found it filled with all sorts and sizes of jewels—diamonds, precious stones—and gold and silver coin of every dimension and value, beautifully arranged in their several places in the casket; and thus arranged, they reflected a light and glory equalled only by the sun. [These jewels are the beautiful truths which the open casket unfolded to his sight.] I thought it was my duty not to enjoy this wonderful sight alone, although my heart was overjoyed at the brilliancy, beauty and value of its contents. I therefore placed it on a center‐table in my room, and gave out the word that all who had a desire might come and see the most glorious and brilliant sight ever seen by man in this life. The people began to come in, at first few in number, but increasing to a crowd. When they first looked into the casket, they would wonder and shout for joy. But when the spectators increased, every one would begin to trouble the jewels, taking them out of the casket and scattering them on the table.

“I began to think that the owner would require the casket and jewels again at my hand; and that if I suffered them to be scattered, I could never place them in their places in the casket again as before, and felt I should never be able to meet the accountability; for it would be immense. I then began to plead with the people not to handle them, nor take them out of the casket. But the more I pleaded, the more they scattered; and now they seemed to scatter them all over the room, on the floor, and every piece of furniture in the room. I then saw that among the genuine jewels and coin they had scattered an innumerable quantity of spurious jewels and counterfeit coin. I was highly incensed at their base conduct and ingratitude, and reproved and reproached them for it; but the more I reproved, the more they scattered the spurious jewels and false coin among the genuine. I then became vexed in my very soul, and began to use physical force to push them out of the room; but while I was pushing out one, three more would enter, and bring in dirt, shavings, sand, and all manner of rubbish, until they had covered every one of the true jewels, diamonds and coins from sight. They also tore into pieces my casket and scattered it among the rubbish. I thought that no man regarded my sorrow or my anger. I became wholly discouraged and disheartened, and sat down and wept. [When the 1844 time passed, how perfectly was this fullfilled.] While I was thus weeping and mourning for my great loss and accountability, I remembered God, and earnestly prayed that He would send me help.

“Immediately the door opened and a man entered the room, when the other people all left it. Then he, having a dirt brush in his hand, opened the windows and began to brush the dust and rubbish from the room. I cried to him to forbear; that there were some precious jewels scattered among the rubbish. But he told me to fear not, for he would take care of them. Then while he brushed the dust and rubbish, the false jewels and counterfeit coin, all rose and went out of the window like a cloud and the wind carried them away. In the bustle I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them the rubbish was all gone, and the precious jewels, the diamonds, the gold and the silver coins lay scattered in profusion all over the room. He then placed on the table a casket, much larger and more beautiful than the former, and gathered up the jewels, the diamonds, the coins, by the handful, and cast them into the casket, till not one was left, although some of the diamonds were not bigger than the point of a pin. He then called upon me to come and see. I looked into the casket, but my eyes were dazzled with the sight. The contents shone with ten times their former glory. I thought that they had been scoured in the sand by the feet of those wicked persons who had scattered and trod them in the dust. They were arranged in beautiful order in the casket—every one in its place—without any visible pains on the part of the man [Pastor Russell] who cast them in. I shouted for joy; and that shout awoke me.”

21:21. And the twelve gates were [twelve] pearls; every several gate was of one pearl.—“The peculiar lustre of a pearl is dependent on the fact that the surface is not perfectly smooth, but covered with the irregularly sinuous edges of innumerable layers of inconceivable thinness, deposited one over the other. The distance of these edges from each other varies indefinitely, the pearls of the finest water having them closest. They are always, however, too fine to be detected by the naked eye. The edges make so many steps, so to speak; and the iridescence is produced by the mutual interference of the rays of light reflected from these thousands of angles. For their water, or lustre, as distinguished from iridescence, pearls are indebted to their being composed of thin layers, which allow light to pass through them, while their numerous surfaces disperse and reflect the light in such a manner that it returns and mingles with that which is directly reflected from the exterior. The thinner and more transparent the constituent layers, the more perfect is the lustre. The immediate occasion of the production of a pearl appears to be always the presence of some extraneous substance inside of the shell of the mollusk.” (McC.) The mollusk is the earthly tabernacle; the extraneous substance is the New Mind. The successive layers are the additions made to it, “precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little.”—Isa. 28:13.

And the street of the City was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.—There will be but one street in that City, the street which has been in process of construction throughout the Age. The Prophets tell us of it.—Prov. 16:17; Isa. 40:3; 49:11; 35:8; 62:10‐12.

21:22. And I saw no temple therein.—No special place of worship, for the use and benefit of the Little Flock.

[For] BECAUSE the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it.—The Bride’s whole life is completely wrapped up in the Father and the Son. Her one consuming wish is to glorify the Lord’s dear name. Of what need is any special place of worship for one who can say, “For to me to live is [for] Christ [to live]?”—Phil. 1:21.

21:23. And the City had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine [in] ON it.—“The sun signifies the light of this Gospel Age; the moon signifies the typically reflected light of the Gospel in the Law and the Prophets of the previous Dispensation. The glorified Church will have no need of the light which in the present time she so much enjoys through the Word and the Spirit, and the Law and the Prophets. She will have, instead of these, a much more excellent glory, being, herself, a part of the Sun of Righteousness.” (Z. ’01‐201.) “ ‘Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father’—our Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church, of course being included. The Prophet mentions the same Sun of Righteousness, saying, ‘The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His beams.’—Malachi 4:2.”—Z. ’16‐393.

For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.—“We are not to lose sight of the fact that Christ is the Head of the Church, even as the Father is the head of Christ Jesus. (1 Cor. 11:3.) Hence the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb will always be an inner Temple in this great Temple which God has provided for the world’s blessing during Restitution Times.”—Z. ’16‐393; Isa. 24:23; 60:19, 20; Rev. 21:11; 22:5.

21:24. And the nations [of them which are saved] shall walk [in] BY the light [of it] THEREOF.—“The word ‘nations’ here signifies peoples, and is intended to show that all peoples, not merely the Israelites, will be thus favored under God’s Kingdom. The world will not be divided into nationalities as at present.”—Z. ’16‐394; Isa. 60:3, 5.

And the kings of the earth do bring their glory [and honor] into it.—“When mankind reaches perfection at the close of the Millennial Age, as already shown, they will be admitted into membership in the Kingdom of God and given the entire control of earth as at first designed—each man a sovereign, a king.” (A. 296.) “That Kingdom, in which all will be kings, will be one grand, universal Republic, whose stability and blessed influence will be assured by the perfection of its every citizen, a result now much desired, but an impossibility because of sin.” (Z. ’10‐39.) “During the Millennial Age the kings will be the Ancient Worthies; but subsequently a New Dispensation will open, under new conditions, in which mankind (perfected) will be granted the privilege of ruling themselves in harmony with the Divine Law.” (Z. ’97‐304.) In this verse the Ancient Worthies are _directly_ referred to; while in verse 26 the rest of mankind are referred to. Notice the tenses of the verbs “_do_ bring” and “_shall_ bring”—present and future—in the Millennium and after.

21:25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day.—Throughout the long Millennial Day of a thousand years all who will may seek and find salvation through the broad gates of the City of God that will then be wide open. (Isa. 60:11.) Now, “Narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”—Matt. 7:14.

For there shall be no night there.—“The period in which sin is permitted has been a dark Night to humanity, never to be forgotten; but the glorious Day of righteousness and Divine favor, to be ushered in by Messiah, who, as the Sun of Righteousness, shall arise and shine fully and clearly into and upon all, bringing healing and blessing, will more than counterbalance the dreadful night of weeping, sighing, pain, sickness and death, in which the groaning creation has been so long. ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’—Psa. 30:5.” (A. 9.)

The Psalmist explains how the smile of the Father was turned away from mankind. He describes mankind as “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God [by disobedience of His express command] and contemned [set at naught] the counsels of the Most High. Therefore He brought down their heart with labor [each sex with its own peculiar kind]; they fell down, and there was none to help.” (Psa. 107:10‐12.) This disobedience brought our entire race into the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psa. 23:4); but the Prophets encouraged us to hope for a watchman who would tell us of the coming of the Day. (Isa. 21:12.) In the Apostle’s time he declared the night was far spent, being then more than two‐thirds gone. (Rom. 13:12.) The event that is to bring in the Day is the rising of the Sun of Righteousness. (Mal. 4:2.) When here at the First Advent Christ was the light of the world (John 8:12); and the people in His immediate neighborhood saw a great Light, shadowing forth His coming glory. (Isa. 9:2.) He declared that we, too, should be lights in the world. (Matt. 5:14.)—“You in your little corner, and I in mine;” and that in the resurrection all these 144,000 brightly burning candles should be brought together and with Him constitute the Sun of Righteousness that is to heal and bless the world. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.”—Matt. 13:43.

The sun rises quietly, like a thief. (1 Thes. 5:1.) When the Morning comes, the first work is banishing the works of the night. (Ezek. 7:7‐12.) Next comes the opening of the spiritually blind eyes of those that have physical sight. (Amos 5:18.) Surely, the best time for a great oculist to open the eyes of the blind is in the day time. (Isa. 35:5.) Now matters are more or less obscured (1 Cor. 13:12); but the time is coming when the blind shall be shown a way of life they have not hitherto known. (Isa. 42:16.) Will the Lord show wonders in the dark? (Psa. 88:10.) He will indeed; and when the nations come forth from the tomb, they will seek Him that turneth the shadow of death into the morning. (Amos 5:8; Isa. 42: 6, 7.) They will seek Him and will find Him. No wonder, then, that the Psalmist, looking down the stream of time to that happy Day, exultingly exclaims, “Then [after full experience with sin and death] they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He hath broken the gates of brass [that stood between them and perfection], and cut the bars of iron asunder [that held them in death’s prison house].” (Psa. 107:13‐16.) “And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4.) “For there shall be no night there.” “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the Morning.”—Psa. 30:5; Zech. 14:7.

21:26. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.—“This rendering of glory to the Kingdom will continue throughout the entire Millennial Age; for the princes throughout the earth will make known to the peoples that not in their own name or authority do they rule and execute judgment and establish righteousness, but in the name of the glorified Christ, Head and Body, whose representatives they are.”—Z. ’16‐394.

21:27. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything [that defileth] COMMON.—No one who could or would contaminate others by speech or example, will ever find a place in that City.

Neither whatsoever worketh abomination.—Nor anything tending in the direction of pride or sectarianism.

Or maketh a lie.—Nor anything countenancing the teaching of error for pleasure or profit.—1 John 2:22.

But they which are written in the [Lamb’s.] Book of THE Life OF HEAVEN.—“The Lamb’s Book of Life we must understand to include only those who attain to the position of joint‐heirship with Christ, those whose names are written in Heaven during this Gospel Age and who are faithful to their Covenant. (Psa. 50:5.)”—Z. ’16‐394; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5, 13:8.

Revelation 22—The River Of Grace And Truth

The River Of Life

22:1. And he showed me a [pure] River of Water of Life, clear as crystal.—“One would think that, even with no knowledge of the symbols of Revelation, no thinking Christian should have any difficulty in realizing that the book portrays trouble for the Church throughout this Gospel Age and the triumphant Millennial Reign at its close.”—Z. ’05‐170; Ezek. 47:1‐12; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8; Psa. 46:4.

Proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb.—“The Scriptures nowhere speak of the River of the Water of Life now. There is none, and can be none until the Heavenly City descends, for the river must flow from the midst of it, from the Throne. Describing the condition of the Lord’s saints at the present time very differently, the Lord declares that those who are His have in them a well of water springing up into life eternal.”—Z. ’05‐172; Ezek. 47:1; Zech. 14:8.

22:2. In the midst of the street of it.—In the midst of the Highway of Holiness.—Rev. 21:21.

And on either side of the River.—Nourished and blessed by the life‐giving Waters of Truth.—Ezek. 47:12.

Was there the Tree of Life.—The Christ, Head and Body.

Which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her [fruit] FRUITS every month.—Twelve kinds of fruit, twelve times a year, for a thousand years—a total fruitage of 144,000.

And the leaves of the [tree] TREES were for the healing of the nations.—“The symbolic picture suggests nourishment and healing for the sin‐sick, starving world, which then may partake freely of all the blessings and privileges thus symbolized.”—Z. ’05‐171; Rev. 21:24; Ezek. 47:12.

22:3. And there shall be no [more] curse.—“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it [the removal of the curse] shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isa. 55:13.) “Upon no subject is the testimony of the Scriptures more positive, consistent and conclusive than on this subject of the curse, its effects upon man, the redemption from it, and its ultimate removal.”—E. _421_, 405.

But the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.—“A spiritual police force will have humanity under absolute control. Every misdeed will be punished as soon as it is determined upon and before it shall have been put into effect. Likewise, every good act, good word and good thought will bring a blessing of restitution, health, strength—mental, moral, physical.”—Z. ’15‐267.

And His servants shall serve Him.—Beautiful inheritance of the Great Company class.—Rev. 7:15.

22:4. And they shall see His face.—This will be worth all they will be called upon to endure.—Matt. 5:8.

And His name shall be [in] ON their foreheads.—At present many of this class do not have clear perceptions of the Father’s character. All misunderstandings will be cleared up shortly. They only await the departure of the last of the Elijah class, in the spring of 1918.

22:5. And there shall be no MORE night [there].—Doubtless, at first, the Great Company’s memories of her dark night will be very keen.—Rev. 7:14; 21:23, 25.

And they need [no] NOT THE LIGHT OF A candle.—Light from the Church in the flesh.

[Neither] AND light of the sun.—The Gospel, through the Word.

For the Lord God [giveth] WILL GIVE them light.—“Blessed are they which are _called_ unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”—Rev. 19:9; 7:16‐17; Psa. 84:11.

And they shall reign for ever and ever.—They—Christ and His Bride, in whose blest Heavenly courts the Beloved Bridesmaids will always find their happy station.—Dan. 7:27; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 3:21.

22:6. And he.—The same angel mentioned in Rev. 1:1; 19:9, 10; representing Pastor Russell, beyond the veil.

Said unto me.—The John class, in the flesh.

These sayings are faithful and true.—“There hath not failed one word of all His good promise.”—1 Kings 8:56.

And the Lord God of the [holy] SPIRITS OF THE Prophets.—It is still possible to have the same spirit as filled the Prophets of old, even though the prophecies themselves have ceased to be miraculously uttered or interpreted.—1 Cor. 13:8.

Sent ME His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly be done.—Especially the events of the immediate future.—Rev. 1:1.

22:7. AND behold I come quickly.—See Rev. 16:15; 22:10, 12, 20. Jesus is the speaker.

Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.—The Elijah class, who see its clear import and accept the responsibilities implied.—Rev. 1:3; 3:14.

22:8. And I John saw these things, and heard them.—Understood them.—Rev. 1:3.

And when I had heard and seen, I fell down before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.—“This may signify that in the end of this Gospel Age as the whole Church, the John class, comes to see the unfolding of the Divine Plan, there might be a spirit or disposition amongst them to do too much honor to the one used of the Lord in communicating to them the Divine light now due.”—Z. ’05‐173; Judges 13:17, 18.

22:9. Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not: [for] I am thy fellow‐ servant.—“The angel’s refusal to accept homage should be a lesson to all ministers (servants—messengers) of God.”—Z. ’96‐305; Rev. 19:10.

And of thy brethren the Prophets.—Prophets, in the New Testament use of the word, refer to Christian speakers.

And of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.—“God alone should be worshiped: He is the Author of the great Plan and will be the Finisher of it. It is brought to our attention now by Him because it is now ‘due time’ for His people to come to an appreciation of His plans.”—Z. ’05‐173.

22:10. And he saith unto me, Seal not [the] THESE sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.—“Make no secret,” he added, “of the meaning of the predictions contained in this book; for the time for their fulfillment is now close at hand.”—Weym.

22:11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.—“At the time that the features of this symbolical Revelation shall come to be understood and appreciated by the Lord’s people, they may know that the time of the completion is near at hand. We are not to expect that the telling of this Message will have the effect of converting the world. It was not intended to do this and will not do it.”—Z. ’05‐173; Dan. 12:10.

And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.—“Present Truth, although full of comfort and encouragement to the Church in respect to their dear friends who are out of Christ, has no effect whatever upon those who love sin, who are filthy, who are unrighteous. The unrighteous and the filthy simply ignore this message and are not moved specially by it.”—Z. ’05‐173.

And he that is righteous, let him [be righteous] WORK RIGHTEOUSNESS still.—“To lovers of righteousness, of truth, the revelations of the Divine Plan now unfolding commend themselves, and intensify their love for righteousness and appreciation of full consecration to the Lord.”—Z. ’05‐173.

And he that is holy, let him be holy still.—“The word seems to denote development and crystallization of character, immediately preceding the coming of the great Judge of all.” (Weym.) “Love is patient and kind. Love knows neither envy nor jealousy. Love is not forward and self‐assertive, nor boastful and conceited. She does not behave unbecomingly, nor seek to aggrandize herself, nor blaze out passionate anger, nor brood over wrongs. She finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, but joyfully sides with the truth. She knows how to be silent. She is full of trust, full of hope, full of patient endurance.”—1 Cor. 13:4‐7.—Weym.

22:12. [And] behold, I come quickly.—See Rev. 16:15; 22:7, 10, 20. The Lord Himself becomes the speaker.

And My reward is with Me, to [give] BE GIVEN every man.—Every man in Christ.

According as his work [shall be] IS.—The Church’s work is practically finished. The reward is given on the basis of the work already done, in character development and in the natural outgrowth of that development—works.

22:13. I am Alpha and Omega, THE FIRST AND THE LAST, the Beginning and the End, [the First and the Last].—“Our Lord tells us over and over again (See Rev. 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 3:14; 21:6), that He is the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, of the creation of God.”—Z. ’93‐115.

22:14. Blessed are they that [do His commandments] WASH THEIR ROBES.—The Great Company class.—Rev. 7:14.

That they may have right to the Tree of Life.—Rev. 22:2.

And may enter through the gates into the City.—“Whose Builder and Maker is God.” (Heb. 11:10.) To these dear brethren we would say, The object of your trials is to remove the dross (Ex. 30:7; Mal. 3:2) that you may be fit companions of the Christ. (Ex. 12:8; Heb. 2:17; Rom. 5:3; Col. 1:11.) Do not think it strange. (James 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12; 5:10.) When you get the right viewpoint, you will rejoice in your sufferings. (Deut. 13:3; Psa. 23:4; 119:67.) The trials will not last forever (Psa. 39:1); and in them all you may hear the songs of deliverance. (Psa. 32:6, 7.) There is nothing to turn back to (Heb. 10:38); but there is joy untold to look forward to, and it is nigh.—Rev. 19:9; Psa. 45:14, 15.

22:15. [For] without are dogs.—There will be no clergy class, as such, in the Kingdom.—Isa. 56:10; Phil. 3:2; 2 Tim. 3:8, 9.

And sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolators.—See Rev. 21:8.

And whosoever [loveth and] maketh AND LOVETH a lie.—The old lies will die hard; and some may try to carry them far into the Time of Trouble, on the well‐known principle that if a pigeon’s brains are removed, and the wound allowed to heal, the bird will no longer seek its food, though it can still swing on a perch and ruffle its feathers and show fight. Ere long, however, the Truth will be so manifest that all must give way before it.

22:16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.—All down the Age the Church has had this Message; all down the Age holy men of God have sought to understand its mysteries; all down the Age it has remained a closed book. But now the Mystery of God is _finished_; and the object of keeping the book closed is accomplished. God wished the world to know when the time for the complete removal of error and for the establishment of His Kingdom would come; and so He enables the last members of His Church to give the Message.

I am the Root and the Offspring of David.—“According to the flesh, our Lord Jesus was, through His mother, the Son, the Branch, the Offshoot or Offspring of David. It was by virtue of His sacrifice of His undefiled life that He became the ‘Root,’ origin, source of life, and development of David.”—E. _150_, 136; Rev. 5:5.

And the bright and morning Star.—“And I will give him the Morning Star.” (Rev. 2:28.) Christ’s gift of Himself to the Bride is the greatest of all gifts.—Job. 38:7; Psa. 118:22‐25.

22:17. And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come.—“The Gospel Age makes ready the chaste Virgin, the faithful Church, for the coming Bridegroom. And in the end of the Age, when she is made ‘ready’ (Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9), the Bridegroom comes; and they that are ready go in with Him to the Marriage. The Second Adam and the Second Eve become one, and then the glorious work of Restitution begins. In the next Dispensation, the New Heaven and the new earth, the Church will be no longer the espoused Virgin, but the Bride.”—A. 98.

And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come.—“Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.”—Matt. 5:6; Isa. 55:1.

[And] whosoever will, let him take of the Water of Life freely.—“Now the prospective members of the Bride class have the Lord’s Spirit in them, ‘a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.’ (John 4:14.) By and by these well‐springs brought together in glory with the Lord shall constitute the source of the great River of Life which shall bless and heal all nations. By and by the prophecy will be fulfilled: ‘He that believeth in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ ”

22:18. [For] I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.—To all who ever understand it.

If any man shall add unto these things.—As was done in many instances during the Dark Ages, even in this very verse.—Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:5, 6.

God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.—His penalty will be, when he comes forth from the tomb in the Times of Restitution, that he will have to read the Seven Volumes of _Scripture Studies_, and get the matter straightened out in his own mind.

22:19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy.—Shall seek to nullify or minimize its teachings, now that the time has come for it to be understood.

God shall take away his part [out of the Book] FROM THE TREE of Life.—He will not be a part of the life‐giving Tree described in Rev. 22:2; not a part of the Little Flock.

And [out of] the Holy City, [and from the things] which are written in this book.—He will not be one of the Lord’s jewels, counted worthy of a place in the New Jerusalem.

22:20. He which testifieth these things TO BE saith, surely I come quickly.—The _apokalupsis_ is at hand! See Rev. 16:15.

[Amen. Even so] come, Lord Jesus.—The union with the Bridegroom draweth nigh.

22:21. The grace of [our] THE Lord Jesus Christ be with [you all] THE SAINTS, Amen.—The first of the saints to whom will be extended the unmerited favor of a raising up out of death to perfection will be the Little Flock; the next class of saints to be reached will be the Great Company; next in order will come forth the Ancient Worthies; and finally the millions and billions of mankind, until at last Adam, himself, shall come forth from the prison‐house in which he has lain so long, and may, if he will, receive again by the will of God, as a favor or grace at the hands of Christ, the unspeakable boon of eternal life.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

“The sweet persuasion of His voice Respects thy sanctity of will, He giveth day; thou hast thy choice To walk in darkness still.”—Whittier.

THE SONG OF SOLOMON

The Bridal Anthem

1:1. The song of songs—The harmony of harmonies—the assembling in one beautiful picture of many of the most beautiful figures of the Divine Word.

Which is Solomon’s—Type of Christ in glory, as David was a type of Christ in the flesh.

1:2. Let him kiss me—A form of salutation signifying closest fellowship. “Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.” “Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?”

With the kisses—The oft repeated endearments.

Of His Mouth—Of His Word, the Scriptures.

For Thy love—Thy caresses, the repeated assurances of guidance, protection, companionship, love and care.

Is better than wine—Wine is a symbol of doctrine. “They also have erred through wine.” “They are drunken, but not with wine.” “All nations have drunk of the wine.” “I will not henceforth drink of this fruit of the vine.” “Be not drunk with wine.” Although a sound faith is essential, yet of faith, hope and love, the greatest is love; therefore, love is better than wine. The Lord’s assurances of love are even more precious to the Bride than the precious doctrines so vital to her happiness.

1:3. Because of the savour—The sweet perfume.

Of Thy good ointments—The Holy Spirit, the holy anointing oil of the priesthood.

Thy name—Christ, which means “Anointed.”

Is as ointment—The holy anointing oil, the Holy Spirit.

Poured forth—At His baptism upon the Head, at Pentecost on the Body.

Therefore—Because of their admiration and appreciation of Christ’s Holy Spirit.

Do the virgins—The pure in heart.

Love Thee—Seek fellowship with Thee, aspire to learn of Thee, to cultivate Thy graces, to be near Thee.

1:4. Draw me—“No man can come to Me except the Father draw him.” “All Thine are Mine.”

We will run—Not sit in the seat of the scornful, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but run with patience the race set before us.

After Thee—The Forerunner. The First‐born from the dead. The first to pass over the narrow way. The Head, that in all things He might have the preeminence. Not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The King—The Lord Jesus, typified by Solomon. “So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.”

Hath brought me—Even in the present life.

Into His chambers—Into the “Holy,” the spirit‐begotten condition, the first heavenly condition; made us to sit down in heavenly places in Christ.

We will be glad—“Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous.”

And rejoice in Thee—“And again I say, Rejoice.”

We will remember—Will meditate upon, think of.

Thy love—Thy caresses, assurances of guidance, protection, companionship, love and care.

More than wine.—More even than the doctrines.

The upright—Those without deceit, guileless, honest.

Love Thee—Seek fellowship with Thee, aspire to learn of Thee, to cultivate Thy graces, to be near Thee.

1:5. I am black—The bride of Moses, Zipporah, type of the Bride of Christ, was an Ethiopian woman—a Gentile.

But comely—“The King’s Daughter is all glorious within”; her intentions are pure, spotless in God’s sight.

O ye daughters—Professed children.

Of Jerusalem—Of the Kingdom of God. The true Church instinctively recognizes that her detractors are to be found among God’s professed people.

As the tents of Kedar—Kedar was one of the children of Ishmael, and the name thus stands for the Ishmaelites, or Bedouins. Their tents are their homes; and though made of black goat’s hair and outwardly stained they are often luxurious in the interior, being hung with costly tapestries.

As the curtains—Between the Holy and the Most Holy.

Of Solomon—Of Solomon’s Temple. These curtains, or rather a similar curtain which hung in Herod’s temple, and which was rent in twain on the day of our Lord’s death, was most wonderful, being some thirty feet long, fifteen feet wide and five inches thick.

1:6. Look not upon me—Look not _so_ upon me (Leeser); the Bride kindly expostulates with her critics.

Because I am black—Because I am somewhat black (Leeser); the Bride does not deny her imperfections, but is not disposed to admit that she is altogether worthless.

Because the Sun—The searching light of the true Gospel which exposes every defect.

Hath looked upon me—Judgment must begin at the House of God. The Bride’s sins are open beforehand, known to all men. God’s Word exposes the weaknesses of almost every noble character whose life is there recorded.

My mother’s children—Sitting and speaking against their brother, their own mother’s son.

Were angry with me—“Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name’s sake,” etc. “The brother shall betray the brother to death.”

They made me—Elected me, appointed me.

The keeper—Class‐leader, Sunday‐school teacher, etc.

Of the vineyards—Sunday‐schools, Christian Endeavor societies, Epworth Leagues, Young People’s unions.

But mine own vineyard—The cultivation of the fruits of the Spirit.

Have I not kept—I have been too busy with “church work,” to look after my own best spiritual interests.

1:7. Tell me—The Bride continues.

O Thou—Christ.

Whom my soul loveth—Whom having not seen, we love.

Where Thou feedest—“Wheresoever the carcase is there will the eagles be gathered together.”

Where thou—The Good Shepherd.

Makest Thy flock—The Flock of God.

To rest—My people have forgotten their resting‐place.

At noon—Where the grass is long and sweet, and where there are opportunities to draw specially near to the Shepherd. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”

For why should I be—Why should I longer appear to others to be.

As one that turneth aside—As one that goeth astray.

By the flocks—Not _in_ them; for I never was in any other intentionally. I thought these other flocks _were_ yours.

Of Thy companions—Other great teachers; heads of other churches; Antichrist systems.

1:8. If thou know not—The Heavenly One replies.

O thou fairest—The Lord does not taunt her with her self‐confessed stains.

Among women—Churches, true and false.

Go thy way forth—There is something for you to do.

By the footsteps—He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him.

Of the flock—Look about you; and when you see those whose lives indicate that they are true sheep, and when they urge you “Come and see,” follow Nathaniel’s example.

And feed thy kids—Inquiring ones, newly interested, especially if they manifest any goat‐like tendencies.

Beside the shepherds’ tents—Take them to the elders’ or deacons’ homes for further instruction in the right ways of the Lord; or, apply the same principle by bringing the _Scripture Studies_ to their attention, thus introducing them to the teacher who has answered all our hard questions.

1:9. I have compared thee—The Lord continues.

O My Love—“Love one another as I have loved you.”

To a company—144,000.

Of horses—Fond of their Master, quick to do His bidding, easily guided, quiet, faithful, temperate, long‐suffering.

In Pharaoh’s chariots—The best in the world.

1:10. Thy cheeks are comely—The Lord continues to shower compliments upon His Espoused.

With rows of jewels—Jewels of Divine Truth; the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirit.

Thy neck—The yoke‐bearing member. “Take My yoke upon you”; a yoke is built for two—Jesus and one other.

With chains of gold.—The Divine nature. Each act of loyal burden‐bearing becomes a link in the golden chain.

1:11. We—My Father and I.

Will make thee borders—“A House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens.”

Of gold—The Divine nature.

With studs of silver—The House will be truly yours; that which is your own.

1:12. While the King—The Bride thus speaks of her Lord.

Sitteth at His table—Breaking the Bread of Life to His Household.

My spikenard—Devotion, as Illustrated by Mary’s alabaster box.

Sendeth forth the smell thereof—“Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” At such times the fires of Heavenly love burn fiercest.

1:13. A bundle of myrrh—Wisdom. “In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.”

Is my well‐beloved—Christ.

Unto me—“Who of God is made unto us Wisdom.” “We have the mind of Christ.”

He shall lie all night—During this dark time while evil is permitted.

Betwixt my breasts—I will take the Lord into my bosom, “More dear, more intimately nigh than e’en the sweetest earthly tie.”

1:14. My Beloved—Christ, on the other side of the veil.

Is unto me—The Bride, still toiling on this side of the veil.

As a cluster of camphire—A cooling, fragrant shade, a refuge from the fierce heat; “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

In the vineyards of Engedi—Located on the shore of the Dead Sea, in one of the hottest of climates.

1:15. Behold thou art fair.—The Bridegroom speaks again.

My love—My Bride to be.

Behold thou art fair—Beautiful of heart.

Thou hast dove’s eyes—Heavenly wisdom—the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

1:16. Behold Thou art fair—“Fairer than the children of men.” The Bride returns the compliment.

My Beloved—“Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Yea pleasant—The disciplines are as nothing compared to the joy of your fellowship.

Also, our bed—The place of our rest; “let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon their beds.”

Is green—Our rest will be everlasting. “They rest from their labors.”

1:17. The beams of our house—The covering over us; “the Head of Christ is God.”

Are cedar—Immortal.

And our rafters—Wainscoting; the environment on all sides.

Of fir—Everlasting. Where changes never come.

2:1. I am the rose—Glorious, beautiful, without a peer.

Of Sharon—(The Plain). Not seeking exaltation.

The lily—Pure, fragrant, exquisite.

Of the valleys—Meek and lowly of heart.

2:2. As the lily—Pure, humble, defenseless; so the Heavenly One responds.

Among thorns—Which scratch, tear and wound.

So is My love—“Continue ye in my love.”

Among the daughters—Nominal church organizations.

2:3. As the apple tree—The Bride thus refers to Christ.

Among the trees—With a fruitage greater in variety, color, flavor, quantity and lasting quality.

Of the wood—Which run largely to leaves, professions.

So is my Beloved—“We love Him because He first loved us.”

Among the sons—The other sons of God with whom we are acquainted.

I sat down—“Come ye yourselves apart, and rest awhile.”

Under His shadow—His protecting love and care.

And His fruit—His perfect fruitage of love.

Was sweet to my taste.—“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!”

2:4. He brought me—Guided me by His Word and providences.

To the banqueting house—To sup with Him and He with me.

And His banner—The banner under which He fought the good fight of faith.

Over me—And under which I also am enlisted.

Was love—Love of the highest order.

2:5. Stay me—Nerve me for the war.

With flagons—The pure doctrines of the Kingdom.

Comfort me—Strengthen me for the conflict.

With apples—Spiritual food; bread from Heaven.

For I am sick of love—Am lovesick, over‐sentimental, dreamy, not sufficiently awake to the fact that true love includes service and sacrifice.

2:6. His left hand—His power as illustrated in the guidance of His people into all necessary Truth.

Is under my head—Directing my mental faculties.

And His right hand—His power as illustrated in overruling all things that would harm me.

Doth embrace me—“Secure in His tender embrace, I’ve nothing to doubt or to fear.”

2:7. I charge you—I must give you this message.

O ye daughters—Professed children; nominal Spiritual Israel.

Of Jerusalem—The Kingdom of God.

By the roes—Which you regard as the loveliest things of earth, as illustrated by the statuary on your estates.

And by the hinds—The things which you regard as most full of grace; therefore typical of your churches, colleges, hospitals, libraries and charitable institutions.

Of the field—The world, the present order of things.

That ye stir not up—Seek not to arouse.

Nor awake my love—To take charge of earth’s affairs.

Till He please.—For when He does stand up to assume control, “there will be a Time of Trouble, such as never was,” in which all these beautiful things upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.

2:8. The voice of my Beloved—The Church suddenly recognizes the joyful sound, betokening the Second Presence of her Lord.

Behold He cometh—“At midnight there was a cry raised. Behold, He cometh!”

Leaping upon—Dismembering or changing the form of.

The mountains—The autocratic governments of Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Russia, Turkey, Persia and China.

Skipping upon—Shattering old customs and old political parties, and placing the people more in the ascendency.

The hills—The less autocratic governments of the United States, Mexico, Great Britain, France, etc. “The hills melt like wax at the presence of the Lord.”

2:9. My Beloved is like—In swiftness of movement.

A roe or a young hart—Swiftly leaping from mountain to mountain; preparing the world for His coming Reign.

Behold He standeth—“There standeth One among you whom ye know not.”

Behind our wall.—The wall of our earthly house, unseen by the eye of flesh.

He looketh forth—He looketh in.

At the windows—The windows of the soul, the eyes of the understanding.

Showing Himself—Revealing the fact of His Second Presence.

Through the lattice—Parallels and cross references of Holy Writ.

2:10. My Beloved spake—“Thine ears shall hear a voice behind thee.”

And said unto me—Through the words of the Prophets and the Apostles.

Rise up, My love—“Awake, awake! put on thy strength.”

My fair one—“Put on thy beautiful garments.”

And come away—From earthly to Heavenly conditions.

2:11. For lo, the winter—The time of the burning of the tares; “pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.”

Is past—Will shortly be past.

The rain—The deluge of Truth.

Is over and gone.—The Harvest work is all accomplished: will have been finished at the time here indicated.

2:12. The flowers—Promise of a new fruitage.

Appear on the earth—Among the restitution class.

The time of the singing—The harmonious mating.

Of birds is come—Of Heaven‐sent prophecies and their fulfilments. “Search ye out and see; not one of these shall want her mate”; i. e., every word of every prophecy will be fulfilled.

The voice of the turtle—The turtle‐dove; “the congregation of Thy poor” is thus described by the Psalmist.

Is heard in our land—The poor begin to take hope; the harbingers of the New Era are about us on every hand.

2:13. The fig tree—The Jewish nation.

Putteth forth—“Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth ... know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh.”

Her green figs—Plans for re‐establishment in Palestine.

And the vines—Of the Father’s right hand planting.

With the tender grape—Bearing the precious fruitage of love, joy, peace, long‐suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self‐control.

Give a good smell—Yield a sweet perfume to the husbandman. “My Father is the Husbandman.”

Arise My Love—“Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.”

My fair one—The queen in gold of Ophir, Daughter of the Great King.

And come away.—“Forget also thine own people and thy father’s house.”

2:14. O my Dove—The Bride addresses her unseen Lord.

That art in—Directly _in_, fully _in_, guiding, controlling.

The clefts—The apparent fractures or injuries.

Of the rock—The Kingdom; the Stone cut out without hands.

In the secret places—The dark corners of life’s experiences, where we halt trembling and afraid.

Of the stairs—The stepping stones by which we ascend to the Heavenly City.

Let me see Thy countenance—“I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness.”

Let me hear Thy voice—“The sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.”

For sweet is Thy voice—“Grace is poured into Thy lips.”

And Thy countenance is comely—“I will that they may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory.”

2:15. Take us the foxes—Take away from us the sly faults, originating in the deceitful mind of the flesh.

The little foxes—Secret beginnings of sin in the mind.

That spoil the vines—That prevent us from yielding the fruitage of love so precious in Thy sight.

For our vines—“I am the Vine; ye are the branches.”

Have tender grapes—Have begun a fruitage, which is ripening beautifully in the Father’s sight.

2:16. My Beloved is mine—“The Head can not say to the feet, I have no need of you.”

And I am His—“If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it not of the body?”

He feedeth—Bestows His spiritual favors upon.

The lilies—“The meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way.”

2:17. Until the day break—Until the Messianic Morning has fully dawned.

And the shadows—Of the reign of sin and death.

Flee away—Depart forever.

Turn my Beloved—Continue to hide Thyself from earthly eyes.

And be Thou like—In Thy swiftness of movement.

A roe or a young hart—Leaping from mountain to mountain—kingdom to kingdom.

Upon the mountains—Gentile dominions.

Of Bether—Of divisions, which separate us from Thee and separate Thee from Thy long‐promised Reign.

3:1. By night—While I was still in the dark in regard to God’s great Plan.

On my bed—My creed bed, the one from which I have now been taken, but in which many others are still left.

I sought Him—Sought intimate fellowship with Him.

Whom my soul loveth—“He that loveth father or mother ... son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

I sought Him—Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom.

But I found Him not—Certainly not; how absurd of me to expect to greet the Bridegroom when I was in bed, sound asleep!

3:2. I will rise now—This creed bed is uncomfortable; it is “shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it.”

And go about the city—Interest myself in the activities of Christendom.

In the streets—Enter into the affairs of its governments.

And in the broad ways—Plunge into its pleasures—“gay white ways,” etc.

I will seek Him—Try to find the place of rest.

Whom my soul loveth—For which my soul longs. “We who have believed do enter into rest.”

I sought Him—Sought rest of heart in all these ways.

But I found Him not—“All that my soul has tried left but an aching void.”

3:3. The watchmen—Of nominal Zion; the clergy.

That go about the city—Christendom, Babylon.

Found me—Drew me under their influence.

To whom I said—Having become deeply interested in the subject of the Lord’s promised Return.

Saw ye Him—Have you discerned the fact of the Bridegroom’s Presence?

Whom my soul loveth—There was no reply, for the reason that “His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant: they are all dumb dogs; they cannot bark.”

3:4. It was but a little—“He is not far from us.”

That I passed from them—Became unbound, unfettered.

But I found Him—Was made acquainted with the proofs of the Parousia.

Whom my soul loveth—We ought to live for Him who died for us.

I held Him—“Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

And would not let Him go—“I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”

Till I had brought Him—Till I had accompanied Him.

Into my mother’s house—The antitypical Sarah tent.

And into the chamber—Heaven itself.

Of her that conceived me—The Sarah Covenant; the Oath‐bound Covenant.

3:5. I charge you—I must give you this message.

O ye daughters—Professed children.

Of Jerusalem—The Kingdom of God.

By the roes—Which you regard as the loveliest things of earth, as illustrated by the statuary on your estates.

And by the hinds—The things which you regard as most full of grace; therefore typical of your churches, colleges, hospitals, libraries and charitable institutions.

Of the field—The world, the present order of things.

That ye stir not up—Seek not to arouse.

Nor awake my Love—To take charge of earth’s affairs.

Till He please—For when He does stand up to assume control, “there will be a Time of Trouble such as never was,” in which all these beautiful things upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.

3:6. Who is this that cometh—The Lord’s professed people thus speak of the evidences of the Lord’s Second Presence.

Out of the wilderness—The Time of Trouble having come, they recognize that the long‐promised Second Coming of the Lord is an accomplished fact.

Like pillars of smoke—Terrible in majesty, definite, personal, intangible. “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.”

Perfumed with myrrh—Anointed with Wisdom.

And frankincense—Praise to Jehovah.

With all powders—All ingredients of the holy anointing oil, type of the Holy Spirit.

Of the merchant—The apothecary; the Heavenly Father. “God gave not the Spirit by measure unto Him.”

3:7. Behold His bed—The place of His ultimate rest and ours.

Which is Solomon’s—Christ’s, in glory.

Threescore valiant men—The sixty centuries during which evil has been permitted.

Are about it—Standing between the people of God and the rest which He has promised.

Of the valiant—Invincible, immovable.

Of Israel—Of the people of God. All the centuries belong to God; they are His servants, working out His sovereign will.

3:8. They all hold swords—Since the slaughter of Abel, all the centuries have been filled with bloodshed.

Being expert in war—War has prevailed throughout the earth during all that time.

Every man hath his sword—Every century has its implements of war.

Upon his thigh—Ready for use upon the slightest provocation.

Because of fear—The present world‐war is due to mutual fear and distrust.

In the night—The time of the permission of evil; the time for dark motives and dark deeds.

3:9. King Solomon—Christ, in glory.

Made Himself a chariot—_Appiryon_, palanquin; a magnificent vehicle provided for a queen’s reception and her entrance into the royal city, and in which the King goes forth to meet her; typified by the chariot of fire which bore Elijah away from earthly scenes: the magnificent spectacle with which this Age will end.—See page 63.

Of the wood of Lebanon—The saints. The typical temple was built, in part, of cedar and fir timber cut from Mt. Lebanon.

3:10. He made the pillars thereof—The corner posts, just outside the place of greatest honor.

Of silver—The Great Company.

The bottom thereof—The canopy overhead; “that in all things He might have the preeminence.”

Of gold—The Divine nature.

The covering thereof—The seat; the Throne of the Royal Priesthood.

Of purple—Royalty.

The midst thereof—The heart of it.

Being paved with love—Love of the highest order—love for enemies.

For the daughters—The professed children; nominal Spiritual Israel.

Of Jerusalem—The Kingdom of God.

3:11. Go forth—“Come out of her,” out of Babylon.

O ye daughters of Zion—My people; God’s people.

And behold King Solomon—Get clear views of Christ.

With the crown—The Crown of Life; the Divine nature.

Wherewith His mother—The Sarah Covenant.

Crowned Him—With glory and honor.

In the day—Pentecost.

Of His espousals—When the antitypical Eliezer was received by the antitypical Rebecca.

And in the day—Now at hand, praise the Lord!

Of the gladness of His heart—When the marriage of the Lamb takes place. “Blessed is he that is called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

4:1. Behold thou art fair—The Lord addresses His Bride anew.

My love—“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.”

Behold thou art fair—“So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.”

Thou hast dove’s eyes—The Heavenly wisdom.

Thy hair—Woman’s hair was given her for a covering, and it is her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride’s covering, and it is her glory.

Is as a flock of goats—Thick, luxuriant.

That appear from Mt. Gilead—The flocks of goats on Mt. Gilead are of unusual size to this day.

4:2. Thy teeth—Masticators, grinders, assimilators of spiritual food.

Are like a flock—In glistening array.

That are even shorn—When the lips are parted.

Which come up from the washing—Cleansing by salivation.

Whereof every one bear twine—Whereof they come forth in pairs.

And none is barren—None is without its mate.

Among them—The teeth are perfect in form and number, illustrating the Bride’s ability to feed upon the strong meat which “belongeth to them that are of full age.”

4:3. Thy lips—“O Lord open Thou my lips!” “My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips.”

Are like a thread of scarlet—As the scarlet thread of redemption runs through the Divine Word, so it is with you, and on your lips—the all‐ absorbing theme of life.

And thy speech is comely—“My speech shall distil as the dew.”

Thy temples are like—Thy mind, the mind of the New Creature, may be properly compared to.

A piece of pomegranate—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the New Mind, which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, brings to perfection the fruitage of love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

Within thy locks—Behind thy veil; concealed by the veil of the flesh.

4:4. Thy neck—Willingness to bear burdens.

Is like the tower of David—David was a type of the Church militant.

Builded for an armory—Designed to accommodate a great number.

Whereon there hang a thousand—“One shall chase a thousand.”

Bucklers of shields of mighty men—“I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”

4:5. Thy two breasts—“The breasts of her consolations, whereof ye may suck and be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.”

Are like two young roes—The Scriptures, the Word of God, quick and powerful.

That are twins—The Old and New Testament Scriptures are identical in origin, spirit and purpose.

Which feed among the lilies—“The meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way.”

4:6. Until the Day—The Millennial Day. The Bride is the speaker.

Break—Has fully dawned.

And the shadows—Of the Valley of the Shadow of Death in which I now walk.

Flee away—Are gone.

I will get me—In spirit.

To the mountain of myrrh—The Kingdom of Wisdom.

And to the hill of frankincense—Praise, heart adoration.

4:7. Thou art all fair—Blameless, faultless. The Lord responds.

My love—His love is commended to us in that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly.”

There is no spot—You have kept your garments unspotted from the world.

In thee—“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us.”

4:8. Come with Me—To our Heavenly inheritance.

From Lebanon—From your present unfinished condition. The typical temple was built, in part, of cedar and fir timbers from Lebanon; but they had to be hewn and finished before they could be used.

My spouse—My espoused Bride.

With Me from Lebanon—You are but following in the path I trod.

Look from the top of Amana—The view from this peak is said to be indescribably grand. Look away to Heaven.

From the top of Shenir—(Peak or pointed.) Look beyond the sharp experiences of the present.

And Hermon—(Rugged or abrupt.) Look beyond the unkind words and deeds you now encounter.

From the lions’ dens—You are now in the lions’ dens, but look beyond them. Satan goes about as a roaring lion; but no lion shall be there.

From the mountains—Kingdoms of this world. Look beyond them.

Of the leopards—Papacy and those of her spirit. “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard.”

4:9. Thou hast ravished My heart—Taken it away.

My sister, My spouse—The Bride of Christ is His sister. His Father is their Father. His mother, the Sarah covenant, is their mother. “We, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the Promise.”

With one of thine eyes—With thy singleness of vision. “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be light.”—Matt. 6:22.

With one chain of thy neck—With thy one bond of servitude; consecration to the service of the Great King.

4:10. How fair is thy love—How various and beautiful are its forms of expression.

My sister, My spouse—My Father’s Daughter, My espoused Bride.

How much better is thy love—The ways in which you show your devotion to me.

Than wine—Than thy doctrines, some of which, in the past, have been badly mixed.

And the smell—The sweet fragrance.

Of thine ointments—The anointing oil; the Holy Spirit.

Than all spices—Than all other virtues.

4:11. Thy lips, O My spouse—My beloved Bride to be.

Drop as the honeycomb—Distil a dropping of pure honey; sweet and helpful words.

And the smell—The sweet perfume.

Of thy garments—The robe of Christ’s righteousness.

Is like the smell—The life‐giving odors.

Of Lebanon—The cedar and fir trees of Lebanon.

4:12. A garden enclosed—A heart‐garden, shut out of sight of all but its owners.

Is My sister, My spouse—My Father’s daughter, My espoused Bride.

A spring shut up—“It shall be in you a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.”

A fountain sealed—Sealed with the King’s own signet, until the time comes that all the well springs are brought together in the first resurrection, to constitute the fountain from which will flow the River of the Water of Life.

4:13. Thy plants are—The plants in your heart‐garden are illustrated by.

An orchard of pomegranates—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits and thus well represents love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

With pleasant fruits—Pleasing characteristics.

Camphire—Rest, trust, confidence.

With spikenard—Fragrant devotion, as illustrated by Mary’s alabaster box.

4:14. Spikenard and saffron—Fragrant devotion and long‐suffering.

Calamus and cinnamon—Knowledge and understanding.

With all trees of frankincense—Praise, heart adoration.

Myrrh and aloes—Wisdom and patience.

With all chief spices—All the remaining elements of Christian character.

4:15. A fountain—In the midst.

Of gardens—Beautiful, clear, sparkling, life‐giving.

A well of living waters—Invigorating the whole world in the New Age. “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.”

And streams from Lebanon—Pure, refreshing.

4:16. Awake O North wind—Storms of adversity. The Bride speaks.

And come thou South—Balmy breezes. “Some days are bright and sweet with praise, some with accepted pain.”

Blow upon my garden—My heart‐garden, in which I seek to develop the fruits most pleasing to my Lord.

That the spices thereof—The aroma of good deeds, kind words and noble thoughts.

May flow out—Manifest itself to the Lord and to others.

Let my Beloved—Bridegroom, Christ.

Come into His garden—Come into my heart.

And eat—Appropriate to His use and pleasure.

His pleasant fruits—The fruits of love, which He has cultivated within me.

5:1. I am come—The Lord responds.

Into My garden—I have accepted your invitation to come in and make My abode with you.

My sister, My spouse—My Father’s Daughter, My espoused Bride.

I have gathered My myrrh—Wisdom; generally the result of bitter experience. Myrrh means bitter.

With My spice—The fragrant and sweet ingredients of the Holy Spirit.

I have eaten—Accepted, appropriated, consumed.

My honeycomb—The sacrificers themselves.

With My honey—With the sacrifices of praise which they offered.

I have drunk My wine—Taken note of the doctrines you teach.

With My milk—Noticed also the manner and spirit with which you present the milk of the Word to those not so far advanced.

Eat, O friends—The Lord addresses the needy world.

Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved—“He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

5:2. I sleep—“While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” The Foolish Virgin class is here represented as speaking.

But my heart waketh—At heart the Foolish Virgins are loyal to the Lord.

It is the voice of my Beloved—She recognizes the evidences of the Lord’s Second Advent.

That knocketh—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

Saying Open to me—“If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him.”

My sister, My love—The Foolish Virgins are children of the same Father, and are also born of the Sarah Covenant, but the Lord does not address them as His spouse.

My dove, My undefiled—The Great Company class are pure in their hearts intentions.

For My head—“As one who has vowed a vow of a Nazarite to separate himself unto Jehovah.”

Is filled with dew—Freshness, vigor. “Thou hast the dew of Thy youth.”

And My locks—“All the days of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head. Till the days be fulfilled in the which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.”

With the drops—Experiences.

Of the night—My consecration to Jehovah has been steadfast throughout the world’s dark night of sin.

5:3. I have put off—Temporarily laid aside. The Foolish Virgins reply.

My coat—The wedding robe which You provided.

How shall I—How can I see to.

Put it on—I am in the midst of the dark night of the Time of Trouble.

I have washed my feet—I am a church member, in good and regular standing.

How shall I defile them—Why should I leave my creed bed and obey Your call to come out of Babylon?

5:4. My Beloved—In His great love and pity for me.

Put in His hand—Exerted His mighty power.

By the hole of the door—Rattled the time‐lock.

And my bowels—My heart.

Were moved for Him—Was stirred to action, but too late to go in with Him to the wedding.

5:5. I rose up—Roused myself to activity.

To open to my Beloved—Just as the Harvest was past.

And my hands—Holding the keys to the Bible, the _Studies_.

Dropped with myrrh—Wisdom, gleaned from the _Scripture Studies_, till then neglected.

With sweet smelling myrrh—A knowledge of all the precious things of Present Truth.

Upon the handles—The lines of prophetical evidence.

Of the lock—The time features of the Lord’s Plan.

5:6. I opened to my Beloved—After the Harvest work was finished.

But my Beloved—True to His word.

Had withdrawn Himself—“And they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage.”

And was gone—And the door was shut.

My soul failed when He spake—I lacked the love, faith and hope to obey promptly.

I sought Him—“Many shall strive to enter in but shall not be able when once the Master of the House hath risen up and shut to the door.”

But found Him not—“I am He that shutteth and no man openeth.”

I called Him—“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter in.”

But He gave me no answer—No hope of being His Bride and Joint‐heir.

5:7. The watchmen—Watchmen in nominal Zion, the clergy of the nominal church.

That went about the city—Christendom.

Found me—Observed my course in accepting Present Truth and withdrawing from their systems.

They smote me—“With arrows, even bitter words.”

They wounded me—Wounded my reputation.

The keepers—Civil authorities.

Of the walls—The Governments, the bulwarks of Christendom.

Took away my veil from me—Were instigated to destroy me, to cause me to pass into death.

5:8. I charge you—The Foolish Virgin class continues.

O daughters of Jerusalem—O all who profess to love Him.

If ye find my Beloved—If you yourself expect to be of the Bride class.

That ye tell Him—In my behalf.

That I am sick of love—Hungering for His companionship, longing to see His face, despite the fact that I did not open to Him promptly.

5:9. What is thy Beloved—The Lord’s professed people, now in nominal Zion, speak.

More than another beloved—Why is Christ any more to you than He is to me?

O thou fairest among women—The Lord’s professed people in nominal Zion begin to awake to the fact that the last of the spiritually‐minded ones are leaving them.

What is thy Beloved—To you.

More than another beloved—To another.

That thou dost so charge us—We would like to understand the reasons why you are so deeply concerned, and why you persist in saying, “The Harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

5:10. My Beloved is white—“Holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners.” The Foolish Virgin class responds to the Lord’s professed people in nominal Zion.

And ruddy—A reference to His pierced side. “He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood.”

The chiefest—The standard‐bearer or chieftain.

Among ten thousand—Among ten thousand warriors.

5:11. His head—“God gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is His Body, that in all things He might have the preeminence.”

Is as the most fine gold—“Who only hath immortality.”

His locks are bushy—His consecration is perfect and complete.

And black as a raven—And He remained steadfast in it unto death.

5:12. His eyes—Wisdom.

Are as the eyes of doves—Pure, peaceable, gentle.

By the rivers of waters—By the channels of truth.

Washed with milk—Primary elements of the Truth.

And fitly set—All in perfect harmony.

5:13. His cheeks—His countenance towards me.

Are as a bed of spices—The personification of every virtue and every grace.

As sweet flowers—Towers of perfumes (margin), flowers trained upon trellises; shedding a beauty and fragrance compelling the attention of all.

His lips like lilies—His speech modest, beautiful and sweet. “Never man spake like this Man.”

Dropping sweet smelling myrrh—Distilling Heavenly wisdom. “My speech shall distil as the dew.”

5:14. His hands—As in rolling or unrolling a scroll or parchment.

Are as gold rings—Conform to the shape of the roll. “Thou art worthy to take the roll and to open the seals thereof.”

Set with the beryl—Love of the Father. See page 335.

His belly—The word signifies the whole body, from shoulders to thighs.

Is as bright ivory—A beautiful vision.

Overlaid with sapphires—Faithfulness. See page 334. “And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone.”

5:15. His legs—The members that have been carrying on the work of the Body.

Are as pillars of marble—“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of My God.”

Set upon sockets—Feet, the foot members.

Of fine gold—“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him!”

His countenance—Smile of favor.

Is as Lebanon—Pure, invigorating, refreshing.

Excellent as the cedars—Everlasting life.

5:16. His mouth—His Word. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Is most sweet—“All bare Him witness and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth.”

Yea, He is altogether lovely—It is impossible to describe all His excellencies; He is the sum of all that is to be desired.

This is my Beloved—This is the One I love supremely.

And this is my Friend—“I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend!”

O daughters of Jerusalem—O you who are nominally His.

6:1. Whither is thy Beloved gone—After the door is shut, those who have been nominally Christ’s begin to give heed to the message of the Foolish Virgins.

O thou fairest among women—O most spiritually‐minded amongst us.

Whither is thy Beloved turned aside—We realize that He has entirely withdrawn Himself from us.

That we may seek Him with thee—Show us in the Word how He is now to be found. “All that a man hath will he give for his life.”

6:2. My Beloved—The Foolish Virgin class, now thoroughly aroused to the facts, explain to the Lord’s professed children in nominal Zion.

Is gone down—His Second Advent is accomplished.

Into His garden—He has taken His Bride to Himself.

To the beds of spices—To accept from her heart‐garden the fragrant and sweet ingredients of the Holy Spirit.

To feed in the gardens—To receive to Himself the precious fruits love, joy, peace, long‐suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self‐ control.

And to gather lilies—To take the humble sweet ones home; to gather the wheat class into the Heavenly garner.

6:3. I am my Beloved’s—The Great Company can not forget that they are precious in the Lord’s sight.

And my Beloved is mine—“Fade, Fade, each earthly joy, Jesus is mine.”

He feedeth among the lilies—“The meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way.”

6:4. Thou art beautiful—At heart. The Lord again addresses His Bride.

O My love—“Love one another as I have loved you.”

As Tirzah—A delight.

Comely as Jerusalem—“The City of the Great King.”

Terrible—In the conquest of evil.

As an army with banners—To an opposing host.

6:5. Turn away thine eyes from Me—Observe the Lord’s modesty and humility.

For they have overcome Me—How the Lord delights to express His appreciation of the virtues of His Bride, despite the fact that they are all but feeble reflections of His own!

Thy hair—Righteousness. Woman’s hair was given her for a covering, and it is her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride’s covering, and it is her glory.

Is as a flock of goats—Thick, luxuriant.

That appear from Mt. Gilead—The flocks of goats on Mt. Gilead are of unusual size to this day.

6:6. Thy teeth—Masticators, grinders, assimilators of spiritual food.

Are as a flock—In glistening array.

Which go up from the washing—Cleansing by salivation.

Whereof every one bear twins—They come forth in pairs.

And there is not one barren—None is without its mate.

Among them—The teeth are perfect in form and number, illustrating the Bride’s ability to feed upon the strong meat which “belongeth to them that are of full age.”

6:7. As a piece of pomegranate—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the New Mind, which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, brings to perfection the fruitage of love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

Are thy temples—Thy mind, the mind of the New Creature.

Within thy locks—Behind thy veil; concealed by the veil of the flesh.

6:8. There are threescore queens—Nominal church organizations openly joined to earthly heads.

And fourscore concubines—Even more are secretly violating their pledges of spiritual virginity. Altogether the census shows about 150 sects. See page 160, where all the principal sects are enumerated.

And virgins without number—Foolish Virgins, really pure at heart.

6:9. My dove, My undefiled—The Virgin Bride of Christ.

Is but one—“That they may be one, as We are.”

The only one—To share the glory, honor and immortality of Christ.

Of her mother—The Oath‐bound Covenant.

She is the choice one—The specially favored one.

Of her that bore her—The antitypical Sarah.

The daughters—Professed children of God.

Saw her—Discerned her, at the time of the manifestation of the Sons of God.

And blessed her—Called her blessed.

Yea the queens—Those openly affiliated with worldly churches in union with worldly governments.

And the concubines—Those secretly thus affiliated.

And they praised her—Acknowledged, in the end, that her course was right and her exaltation merited.

6:10. Who is she—The Bride.

That looketh forth—Beams resplendent.

As the morning—The Millennial Morning.

Fair—Pure, just, holy, good.

As the moon—“The law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”

Clear—Glorious, light‐giving.

As the Sun—“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father.” “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

And terrible—In the conquest of evil.

As an army with banners—To an opposing host.

6:11. I went down—Following the exaltation of the Bride. Christ speaks.

Into the garden of nuts—The heart‐gardens of the Foolish Virgin class. A garden of nuts does not as quickly yield its treasures as a garden of spices, to which the Bride’s heart garden is likened.

To see the fruits of the valley—Of the class that had not risen with the Bride to the Pisgah heights of faith and hope and love.

And to see whether—As a result of their experiences in the Time of Trouble.

The vine flourished—Their characters had been properly affected.

And the pomegranates budded—To see whether there is promise of the fruits of the Spirit coming to perfection.

6:12. Or ever I was aware—I knew not how it was.

My soul—Filled with love and pity for them.

Made me like the chariots—Swiftly speeding to them to bless and help them in their hour of extremity.

Of Amminadib—Of My willing people, the Bride.

6:13. Return, return—“Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.”

O Shulamite—(Uneven one), you who have been uneven in your love, hope and faith.

Return, return, that We—My Father and I.

May look upon thee—Smile upon thee; bestow blessings. “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the King’s palace.”

What will ye see—You who study the matter.

In the Shulamite—The Foolish Virgin class. The answer is that you will see.

As it were the company—The Great Company.

Of two armies—“A great multitude which no man can number.”

7:1. How beautiful are thy feet—“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace.” The Lord again addresses His Bride.

With shoes—“Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.”

O Prince’s daughter—Daughter of the King, Jehovah.

The joints—“The whole Body, fitly joined together and compacted with that which every joint supplieth.”

Of thy thighs—(Softness) gentleness, tenderness.

Are like jewels—“They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels.”

The work of the hands—“For we are His workmanship.”

Of a cunning workman—“As for God, His work is perfect.”

7:2. Thy navel—Umbilical cord; by which you are joined to the Oath‐bound Covenant, the Sarah Covenant; the cord of faith.

Is like a round goblet—Generous in capacity.

Which wanteth not liquor—Is full of the Divine promises.

Thy belly—Spiritual digestive tract.

Is like a heap of wheat—Solid spiritual food.

Set about with lilies—Flowers of humility.

7:3. Thy two breasts—“The breasts of her consolations, whereof ye may suck and be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.”

Are like two young roes—“The Scriptures, the Word of God, quick and powerful.”

That are twins—The Old and New Testament Scriptures are identical in origin, spirit and purpose.

7:4. Thy neck—Willingness to bear burdens.

Is as a tower of ivory—Purity and strength.

Thine eyes—Wisdom, Heaven‐sent.

Like the fishpools in Heshbon—Pure, deep.

By the gate of Bath‐Rabbim—Calm and strong.

Thy nose—Scent for spiritual food.

Is as the tower of Lebanon—Lofty, high, noble.

Which looketh toward Damascus—“Visions of beauty rise before us.” “He that lacketh these things is blind and can not see afar off.”

7:5. Thine head upon thee—Thy reasoning faculties.

Is like Carmel—(Crimson.) “Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.”

And the hair of thine head—Thy righteousness. Woman’s hair was given for a covering, and her glory. The righteousness of Christ is the Bride’s covering, and her glory.

Like purple—Royalty. The robe of Christ’s righteousness, which the Bride now wears, will ultimately become the robe of the Queen.

The King is held—Bound, captive.

In the galleries—The happy prison‐house of the charms of His Bride.

7:6. How fair—Beautiful at heart. “The King’s daughter is all glorious within.”

And how pleasant—When the New Creature is in full control.

Art thou, O beloved—“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

For delights—For one with whom to enjoy the Father’s favors and blessings throughout eternity; heirs together of the grace of life.

7:7. This thy stature—The stature of the fulness of Christ.

Is like a palm tree—Tall, upright.

And thy breasts—“The breasts of her consolations.”

To clusters of grapes—Suggestive of food and refreshment for the hungry, when they shall suck and be satisfied, milk out and be delighted.

7:8. I said—The world, in the Messianic Age, is the speaker.

I will go up to the palm tree—“And many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the House of the Lord.”

I will take hold—Lay hold of eternal life.

Of the boughs thereof—The members bending over to lift me out of the miry clay and the horrible pit.

Now also thy breasts—Feeding and helping the famishing world in the New Age.

Shall be as clusters of the vine—Giving life and health.

And the smell of thy nose—Thy scent for spiritual things and the blessed results that follow.

Like apples—Food for the hungry.

7:9. And the roof of thy mouth—Where the praises of Jehovah reverberate.

Like the best wine—The new wine of the Kingdom.

For my Beloved—Christ will then be the world’s Beloved, also.

That goeth down sweetly—“I will not henceforth drink this fruit of the vine till I drink it new with you in the Kingdom.”

Causing the lips—“Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust.”

Of those that are asleep—In death.

To speak—Shall the dead arise and praise thee?

7:10. I am my Beloved’s—The Bride speaks again.

And His desire is towards me—“So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.”

7:11. Come My beloved—The Lord addresses His Bride after the Time of Trouble.

Let us go forth—On our great mission of love and mercy.

Into the field—Into the world, which needs us so much.

Let us lodge—Take up our temporary dwelling‐place.

In the villages—“Have thou authority over ten cities!” “The tabernacle of God is with men.”

7:12. Let us get up early—In the dawn of the New Age.

To the vineyards—The hearts of mankind in general.

Let us see if the vine flourish—If men are beginning to draw nigh to God.

The tender grape appear—If there is promise of an ultimate fruitage pleasing to the Father.

And the pomegranates appear—If there are evidences that love, joy, peace, long‐suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, are going to abound.

There—When you see with what infinite patience and wisdom and love I cultivate the heart‐gardens of men.

Will I give thee—Cause thee to appreciate fully.

My loves—The love with which I have loved thee.

7:13. The mandrakes give a smell—The regeneration of the world is nigh.

And at our gates—The Ancient Worthies are the gates by which the restitution classes will come to the Mediator.

Are all manner of pleasant—Agreeable, attractive, pleasing.

Fruits new and old—The virtues which the Bride cultivated and others especially appropriate to the changed conditions of the New Age.

Which I have laid up—As a part of the much‐diversified Plan of the Ages.

For thee, O My beloved—For thy enjoyment.

8:1 O that Thou—My Lord and Head. The Bride addresses her Lord.

Wert as my brother—Not so immeasurably above me in character and station.

That sucked the breasts of my mother—So that we would be on an equality with each other.

When I should find Thee without—Beyond the house of flesh.

I would kiss Thee—Would feel free to express in Thy presence the great love I feel.

Yea I should not—Under such circumstances.

Be despised—By the critics who now blame me for presuming to so high a station as to be Thy Bride.

8:2. I would lead thee and bring thee—But now it is Thou alone that are competent to lead.

Into my mother’s house—The antitypical Sarah tent.

Who would instruct me—“They shall be all taught of God.”

I would cause Thee to drink—Accept, appropriate, enjoy.

Of spiced wine—Doctrines flavored with the Holy Spirit.

Of the juice of my pomegranate—The pomegranate curiously combines the flavors of all fruits. It thus well illustrates the fruitage of love, the sum of all the Christian graces.

8:3. His left hand—His power as illustrated in the guidance of His people into all necessary truth.

Should be under my head—Directing my mental faculties.

And his right hand—His power as illustrated in overruling all things that would harm me.

Should embrace me—“Secure in His tender embrace, I’d have nothing to doubt or to fear.”

8:4. I charge you—I must give you this message.

O daughters of Jerusalem—Professed children of God.

That ye stir not up—Seek not to arouse.

Nor awake my Love—To take charge of earth’s affairs.

Until He please—For when He does stand up to assume control, “there will be a Time of Trouble such as never was,” in which all the earthly organizations upon which you have set your heart will be obliterated.

8:5. Who is this—The Heavenly Father thus speaks of the Bride.

That cometh up—That cometh forward into prominence.

From the wilderness—At the end of 1260 years of wilderness hiding and papal supremacy.

Leaning upon her Beloved—Upon her Lord.

I raised thee up—“It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?”

Under the apple tree—Under Christ, the Author and Finisher of your salvation.

There thy mother—The antitypical Sarah.

Brought thee forth—“Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth?”

There she brought thee forth—The Oath‐bound Covenant accomplished its end.

That bare thee—From earthly to Heavenly conditions.

8:6. Set me as a seal—Indelibly impressed. The Bride beseeches her Lord.

Upon Thy heart—Thine infinite love.

As a seal upon Thine arm—Thine infinite power.

For love—Such love as I have for Thee.

Is strong as death—“Neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jealousy—The fear that I may not, after all, prove acceptable to You, as Your Bride.

Is cruel as the grave—Sheol, oblivion.

The coals thereof—The weaknesses of my fallen flesh.

Are coals of fire—Burned into my very soul.

Which hath a most vehement flame—These burning thoughts of my imperfections will be with me as long as I am in this tabernacle.

8:7. Many waters—Nor angels nor principalities.

Cannot quench love—The Father reassures the anxious Bride.

Neither can the floods—“Nor things present nor things to come.”

Drown It—Extinguish it.

If a man—The Man whom I have ordained.

Would give all the substance of his House—All His own glorious station with me on the Throne of the Universe.

For love—In exchange for the love you have manifested for Him throughout the dark night of your earthly career.

It would utterly be condemned—Despised by the courts of Heaven.

8:8. We—The Lord and His Bride together speak.

Have a little sister—The Foolish Virgin class, born of the same Father and the same antitypical Sarah, the Oath‐bound Covenant.

And she hath no breasts—Is not fully developed.

What shall we do—What will be the Divine arrangement?

For our sister—The Great Company class.

In the day—The close of the Time of Trouble.

When she shall be spoken for—Called to render up her account.

8:9. If she be a wall—Bulwark of truth, on the One Foundation.

We will build upon her—“Other foundation can no man lay.”

A palace of silver—Give her a place with the Great Company class.

And if she be a door—By which men and women have found the Lord and the Truth.

We will inclose her—Give her an environment.

With boards of cedar—Everlasting life.

8:10. I am a wall—The Bride thus refers to herself as having been a staunch defender of the Truth. “Lo, we have left all and followed Thee.” What then shall we have?

And my breasts—Unlike the Foolish Virgins.

Like towers—“Whereof ye may suck and be satisfied milk out and be delighted.”

Then—Because I reached the development of character He desired.

Was I in His eyes—The eyes of the Bridegroom.

As one that found favor—Peace (margin).

8:11. Solomon—Christ.

Had a Vineyard—For growing the fruitage of love.

At Baalhamon—(Lord of the multitude.) A reference to the Messianic Reign, in which Christ will be Lord of all.

He let out the vineyards—Gave the immediate care.

Unto keepers—The Ancient Worthies, “whom Thou mayest make princes in all the earth.”

Every one—Of the keepers.

For the fruit thereof—The kind of fruitage expected.

Was to bring—Present, offer.

A thousand pieces of silver—Yield a rich return of truth and praise from the hearts cultivated.

8:12. My vineyard—The same vineyard.

Which is mine—We are made joint‐heirs with Christ.

Is before me—Will take a thousand years to till.

Thou, O Solomon—Christ.

Must have a thousand—Tributes of praise.

And those that kept the fruit thereof—The Ancient Worthies.

Two hundred—A fifth as much, as their portion.

8:13. Thou—The restitution classes, address their Lord.

That dwellest in the gardens—The heart‐gardens of the redeemed race.

The companions—The Great Company; the companions that followed the Bride.

Hearken to thy voice—Have entered with joy into the King’s palace.

Cause me to hear it—O Lord, I see there is hope to _me_. I _also_ would be Thine. Show _me_ Thy will.

8:14. Make haste, my Beloved—The restitution classes continue.

And be Thou like—In thy swiftness of movement.

To a roe or to a young hart—Leaping from mountain to mountain, kingdom to kingdom.

Upon the mountains—The various divisions of the Kingdom of God during the Messianic Reign.

Of spices—Good deeds, kind words and noble thoughts. “And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.” “The kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” Amen.

The Heavenly Bridegroom

That He is mine and I am His, Oh! wondrous thought. I am so poor, so weak, so lowly, can there aught Of worthiness in me be found, that He should love And seek me for His Bride? I hear His voice, “My Dove, Thou art all fair, My Spouse, there is no spot in thee; Thy speech is comely, better is thy love to Me Than wine! Thine eyes as Heshbon’s fish‐pools, and like flocks Upon Mount Gilead are thy spiced and flower‐decked locks. The winter’s past, My Dove, come, come with Me away, Far spent the night, make ready for thy nuptial day!” My heart responds, “Throughout the many‐centuried night I’ve longed for Thee. I’ve waited for the dawning light; And I have laid Thee like sweet myrrh upon my breast, Thine arm beneath my weary head hath brought me rest. Thou whom my soul doth love, Thy countenance is fair To see within the secret places of the stair; Thy head is like fine gold, how beautiful Thy feet! Thine eyes as doves’ eyes, and Thy lips with honey sweet. I rise, my Lord, I leave my father’s house, behold My Robe of Righteousness, my raiment of wrought gold! Oh! wealth of love divine, that claims me for Thine own. Oh! miracle of grace, to seat me on Thy Throne. Oh! glorious future hopes, Oh! bliss beyond compare, Through all eternity Thy love and work to share!”

—G.W.S.

June 25, 1917.

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL

Ezekiel 1—God’s Character And Plan

1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, at I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.—Christ promised that at His Second Advent He would raise up a “faithful and wise servant,” or “steward,” who should watch and give forth in due season meat for the Household of Faith. This one should be given charge of all the Storehouse, the Word of God, to bring out of it things new and old. (Matt. 24:44‐47; Luke 12:42‐44.) The Prophet Ezekiel types this servant. As Ezekiel was among the Lord’s people, the Hebrews, in captivity in literal Babylon, this servant was among those in captivity in Mystic Babylon, beside the great river Chebar (“Joining”), the stream of commerce which joins the nations, on which Christendom is founded, and from which she draws her support, as did in a literal sense Babylon from her great river, Euphrates. In the early seventies Charles Taze Russell found himself engaged in commerce, but earnestly studying the Word of God, and striving to teach what he found therein. In fulfilment of the Divine promise the Heavenly things were opened to him (Matt. 3:16), and he saw the significance of the visions, prophecies, given in olden times by the Almighty. He was given a crystal‐clear understanding of the character of Jehovah.

Ezekiel’s Vision By The River Of Chebar

1:2, 3. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, the Word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.—Men do not raise themselves up to become great and honored agents in God’s outworking of the Divine Plan of the Ages (Luke 18:14; Eph. 3:11); but now and then throughout the centuries Jehovah Himself (1 Cor. 12:18) has raised up Christian men to carry forward one step or another of His purposes. God made special use of St Paul, St John, Arius, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles T. Russell. The significance of the word Ezekiel is “God is strong,” and epitomizes the faith and the message of Pastor Russell. He shows the power of Jehovah to save His people now (Acts 15:14), and later to save all the willing and obedient of mankind. (Acts 15:17.) As Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, “Contemned of God,” Pastor Russell was born the child of a nominal religious system which is unfaithful to Jehovah. Pastor Russell, by the faithful carrying out of his vow of consecration to Divine service, was accepted as a true priest of the Almighty. He sacrificed himself and all that he had until, in October, 1916, he died penniless, but rich in the things of God. Chosen expressly by God to declare the message of Present Truth to the last, or Laodicean age, of the Church, the hand, power, of Jehovah was upon him.

1:4. And I looked and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it; and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.—As a young man Charles T. Russell was looking intently to see what might be discerned in the Word of God. “Watch,” said the Master. Pastor Russell took for his motto, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me.” (Hab. 2:1) He called his semi‐monthly publication, “THE WATCH TOWER”; and, firm in the belief that the Second Advent took place in 1874, he included as a sub‐ title, “And Herald of Christ’s Presence.” The north symbolizes the spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God. (Isa. 14:13; D. 653.) Pastor Russell beheld coming, permitted by God, a great Time of Trouble, a whirlwind of warfare, revolution and anarchy. (Jer. 25:32; Psa. 58:9, 10; D. 528.) It was the cloud accompanying the approach to human affairs of Him for whose Kingdom many have so long prayed. “Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His Throne, a fire goeth before Him and burneth up His enemies round about.” (Psa. 97:2) A conflagration, beginning with world war, is upon the earth, developing into revolution and anarchy. Fire symbolises the last of these misfortunes. (Dan. 7:11) The situation is complicated, infolding, perplexing. None of the national leaders understand the situation. To the poor world, in gross darkness, and lying “in the wicked one,” the cloud is full of darkness (Isa. 60:2), of gloominess (Joel 2:2; Zeph. 1:15); but to those who are taken out of the world and into Christ, it is full of brightness and hope—a white cloud, with a silver lining. In the bright light of the dawning Day of Christ the faces of the Lord’s people light up with joy as they see these things coming to pass; for their “deliverance draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28)—the deliverance, too, of the whole world from the kingdom of Satan, the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), into the glorious Kingdom of God, the other side of the trouble. With the understanding of God, His work, plan and purpose, there shone forth the amber, golden glow of the Divine presence, and of the true character, nature and glory of the Almighty God of Love. The Father Himself is supervising the troublous commotion, bruising to heal (Hos. 6:1), and “shortening the days.”—Matt. 24:22.

One Of The Living Creatures

1:5. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.—Out of the contemplation of the cloud of trouble, the worldwide commotion, the destructive anarchy, and of the golden amber glow of God’s presence, came a wonderful understanding of something long misunderstood and misrepresented—the character of God. As the vision showed “four living creatures,” so the Divine character was seen by the Laodicean steward to consist of four active principles (Rev. 3:14); Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom. The four have the likeness of a perfect man.

1:6. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.—Each of the four attributes has four characteristics or attributes; and each has the Word of God (wings—Rev. 12:14), in the Old and New Testament, in two different ways of operation (two pairs).

1:7. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.—The feet members of Christ, embodying the Divine attributes on earth, are righteous (straight) in Christ’s righteousness, pure, unblemished in God’s sight, holy, acceptable, living sacrifices (the calf is a type of unblemished sacrifice); and they shine with the imputed perfection of the Man Christ Jesus.

1:8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they four had their faces and their wings.—The hand is symbolic of power and of execution of purpose. Overshadowed by the Word of God is the Divine power (hand) to execute the thing purposed, operating through human channels, through the power of men. He shows the qualities of the Divine mind through man. Shielded, protected, sustained by the Word (wings)—(Psa. 61:4), the work of the Almighty goes on through “the foolishness of preaching.” (1 Cor. 1:21.) Men and women are “coworkers with God.” (2 Cor. 6:1.) The hands (powers) of man are instruments for the operation of infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

1:9. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went everyone straight forward.—The wings (Psa. 91:4; Rev. 12:14) are perfectly joined together in unity of purpose and action. Straight on to the end ordained of God goes His Word, upholding and strengthening.—Isa. 46:10, 11.

1:10. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.—The character of Jehovah possesses four fundamental attributes, each composed of all the others. The four faces or features of the living creatures represent the four attributes of God, each inseparable from the others, and in each operate each and all of the four. Divine Justice operates in the fulness of Power, Love and Wisdom. In the fall of man into sin, unbending Justice enforced death for disobedience. Love delayed the execution of the sentence upon Adam 930 years (Gen. 5:5), that Wisdom might impress upon the erring human son an indelible lesson of the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7:13) and the extent of the penalty, death, that man, by said experience, might “know evil.” (Gen. 3:5.) Divine power will raise man from the dead, that he may learn to “know good” and experience the fulness of the Father’s Love and Wisdom. All who are willing and obedient, who consecrate fully to God’s will, shall enjoy “pleasures forevermore” (Psa. 16:11) in the sunshine of Divine favor. The unwilling and disobedient shall suffer the full penalty of Justice in the Second Death (Rev. 21:8), “utter destruction” (2 Thes. 1:9), final and eternal obliteration. (Psa. 37:10.) The face of a man symbolizes the quality of Love, in the character image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27), the God of love. (1 John 4:8.) The ox represents Power (Rev. 4:7); for no animal is stronger, or more patient in the exercise of strength. The majestic lion is God’s Justice, roaring its message of death, and executing all that oppose its voice. (Psa. 89:14.) No other creature is so far‐sighted, or soars so high as the eagle. The eagle symbolizes Wisdom, far‐seeing, ordering all the affairs of the Almighty along the lines of Justice, Power and Love.

1:11. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.—Each pair of wings (Rev. 12:14) symbolizes a separate function of God’s Word; one pair to fly with, to carry forward the Plan in the spirit realm, the powers of the air (Eph. 2:2), the other to uphold “all things by the Word” (Heb. 1:3) and to cover and protect.—Psa. 91:4.

1:12. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.—Not with wavering, as darkened minds imagine, proceeds the Divine Word, but “without variableness or shadow of turning.” (Jas. 1:17.) Wheresoever the mind, or Spirit, of Jehovah sends forth His Word, thither straight onward go perfect Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

1:13. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.—God’s Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom glow with the light of wisdom. The understanding of God’s attributes makes every quality of the Almighty to glow with a wondrous illumination to anyone given to see the “visions of God” first perceived clearly by the Laodicean Servant. “Thy Word is a lamp” (Psa. 119:105), shedding light in the darkness, effecting a personal local illumination. The Word is a lamp to the “feet” members of Christ. (Eph. 1:23.) Up and down, everywhere, throughout all the Divine qualities, wherever manifested, spreads the illumination now shining through the Lamp, the Word.

1:14. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.—In the operation of Divine Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom are sudden gleams of Heavenly wisdom upon great problems, such as now light up the dark clouds of the Time of Trouble.

1:15. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.—The word “cycle,” or “wheel,” is familiar in bicycle, motorcycle, and in cycle as applied to epochs. The Divine attributes operate upon human society, the symbolic earth, in cycles, or ages (Eph. 3:11), and in the mechanisms of ages by which God’s Plan is carried forward, His character, or face, is seen.

1:16. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.—Pliny says of the beryl or chrysolithos, “It is a transparent stone with a refulgence like that of gold.” Says Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “The ancient chrysolithos, or modern topaz, appears to have a better claim than any other stone to represent the _tarshish_ of the Hebrew Bible.” Gold is symbolic of things Divine. These golden cycles are the Divinely appointed ages in connection with the four attributes of Deity. The Divine operations are not in one simple age, cycle, or manner of operation, but cycle within cycle, age within age, many operations working together “manifold” (Eph. 3:10), like a vast and complicated machine.

1:17. When they went, they went upon their four sides; and they turned not when they went.—Divine Justice conflicts not with Divine Love, nor with Wisdom nor Power, but all qualities are in simultaneous operation. They proceed along lines planned ages ago.—Jas. 1:17.

1:18. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.—“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways (plans) higher than your ways.” (Isa. 55:9.) The Plan of the Ages reveals the lengths, breadths, heights and depths of the purposes of God, and fills the reverent soul with awe. The Plan of God is full of the infinite Wisdom (eyes—Psa. 32:8) of its Author.—B. 305.

1:19. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.—Whenever God’s attributes operate they are in accordance with the Divine Plan; sometimes the Divine qualities are exercised towards celestial things and sometimes towards things terrestrial.—1 Cor. 15:40.

1:20. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.—The Spirit, or Power of God, is in all His attributes and in all their operations.

1:21. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.—In whatever direction the Divine Spirit is to act, whether in earthly things or among spirit beings, thither the operations of the Spirit go in the cooperative action of all God’s attributes. When an age is finished and one attribute ceases its action, they all cease.

1:22. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.—The firmament in the air or atmosphere (Gen. 1:20), and symbolizes the powers of spiritual control. Above the attributes of God and controlling their operations is the Divine will. The expression of God’s will during the time indicated by the vision is the Christ, Head and Body. “All power in Heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18) is given unto Christ, and will be shared by His Bride and Joint‐heir. (Rev. 20:4.) “The terrible crystal”—literally “the reverential ice”—suggests the reverence due to the ruling Christ Head and Body, and their own reverential attitude towards the Father. The color is that of ice, clear as crystal, pure, unmixed “truth in the inward parts” (Psa. 51:6), characterizing the new ruling powers in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God.

1:23. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.—Beneath, subject to the direction of the Christ, Head and Church triumphant, are the wings (Word of God—Rev. 12:14). Whenever Divine Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom are in action, the Word of God points straight up to the Father as the Source of every good thing.

1:24. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings.—The sound of the Father’s Word is as the voice of great waters (Rev. 1:15), mighty truths, in “the voice of speech,” for the benefit of His children. It is the voice of God, too, when spoken by His people. When Divine Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom operate upon human society, then the Word of God is in full harmony therewith.

1:25. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.—It is through the reigning Christ, Zion, that the voice of Jehovah shall sound forth. “The Lord will roar from Zion.” (Amos 1:2.) “Out of Zion shall go forth the Law.” (Isa. 2:3.) Through The Christ sounds forth the Word of God bespeaking to the world infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

1:26. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a Man above upon it.—“THE HEAD OF CHRIST IS GOD.” (1 Cor. 11:3.) Above the triumphant Christ, Head and Body, is the Throne of Almighty God. “The Son [is] subject to Him that put all things under Him.” (1 Cor. 15:28.) The Throne represents the dominion of God. As the blue sapphire (symbolic of faithfulness), so is the rulership of the Almighty. “God is faithful.” (1 Cor. 1:9.) In the contemplation of the watchers, the faithfulness, unchangeableness of God, is seen shining through the Christ, the firmament, like the soft blue of the sapphire stone. Man is in the image and likeness of God. Reigning over all is One whom men can understand, a Deity whose perfect Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom elicit complete consecration. God is seen to be not a ferocious demon, belying His own command of love, but a just, reasonable, loving God, able to save all the willing and obedient. Jesus, the friend of sinners, was and is the perfect image of the Father.

1:27. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of His loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.—“God dwelleth in light whereto no man can approach.” (1 Tim. 6:16.) Radiant is the Almighty with the golden glow of the Divine nature. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29); only the perfect can stand in His presence; for all dross, not refinable (Mal. 3:2, 3), is consumed by Justice. The essence of the Divine Revelation is Love, the golden light radiating in every direction from Our Father. “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light” (1 John 2:10), in the Divine love‐light that surrounds the Throne and pervades the entire spirit realm. This love is the light of the world, to light men unto God.

1:28. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.—The Throne and He that sat thereon were surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow. (Rev. 4:3.) The love spirit finds fruitage in character fruits. So the light of our Father is divisible into the warm red of love, the glowing blue of faithfulness, the brilliant green of immortality, the royal purple of kingship, for those on any plane who are worthy of that honor, etc.—the manifestation of every good character fruit and every good purpose for the blessing of all His creatures. (John 15:8; Gal. 5:22.) The glory of God is not a display of blinding light to terrify men; but it is to do good, to manifest to the uttermost His character of love. When the watchman of the Laodicean age discerned the Divine character and Plan he fell upon his face (Rev. 1:17), in reverential worship and in complete consecration to do the will of his Father in Heaven. There sounded forth and through him, from the pages of God’s Word (Isa. 30:21), the voice of the Sublime One who has been speaking to Christendom during this dawn of the Golden Age.

Ezekiel 2—The Rebellious House And The Book

2:1. And He said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.—It is a mark of favor to stand before a king. (Prov. 22:29.) Those who stand before rulers receive commissions, are invested with authority and power.

2:2. And the spirit entered into me when He spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard Him that spake unto me.—“The words which I speak, they are spirit.” (John 6:63.) When the full import of the Word was discerned, Pastor Russell took a firm stand. The spirit, power, influence of God entered into him, never to leave. He stood firmly, before God, before his friends, and before all the hostile hosts of Mystic Babylon the Great.

2:3. And He said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very day.—Pastor Russell’s work was largely among professing Christians—not slum work, Christian work among the professedly non‐Christians, or a revivalistic work calling to repentance and conversion. This was not the work appropriate to the Harvest of the Christian Age. John the Baptist announced the First Presence of Messiah, and began the harvesting of Jewry, and was not sent to the heathen, but to the Lord’s people, the Jews, to acquaint them with the First Advent, expose those withholding the keys of knowledge (Luke 11:52), and warn of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Judea in A. D. 70 and 73. (Matt. 3:7; 24:2.) A like work was to be accomplished in Spiritual Israel, Christendom, after the Lord’s Second Advent in 1874. The man raised up, “set upon his feet,” and given wisdom, grace and power for the task, was Pastor Russell.

2:4. For they are impudent children and stiff‐hearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.—Few things are more trying than a family of impudent children. Forwardness in evil‐ doing and evil‐speaking was one of the characteristics of the Hebrew people. They violated the Word of God and justified the violation. (Matt. 15:5.) By impudent—hard faced—tradition they made void the Word of God. The effrontery of the “Christian” era has been unsurpassed. Possessing greatest light, they have sinned most grievously. The Word said, “He that is begotten of God sinneth not” (1 John 3:9); yet John Tetzel was, and in some countries Roman Catholic priests still are, selling indulgences to commit sin. Professing “Christians” keep Christianity out of their affairs with the phrase, “Business is business.”

2:5. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a Prophet among them.—The work of Ezekiel among the Hebrews in captivity proved a thankless task. He was rejected by both those in captivity and those remaining at Jerusalem under Zedekiah. His following was almost nothing. But he witnessed faithfully, and no Hebrew could say that he had not been cautioned of danger and warned of impending catastrophe. Whether the clergy and people of Christendom wished to heed Pastor Russell or not, they certainly heard his words. (Z. ’03‐436.) His work was peculiarly prospered. Against difficulties it grew and extended beyond the wildest dreams, until it compassed the civilized world. In the face of the united opposition of Protestant and Romanist clergy, the steward of Almighty God accomplished the most gigantic preaching work ever done by one man. “I cannot open the morning paper without Pastor Russell staring me in the face,” said a prominent minister. In the newspapers, in the theatres, on the bill‐boards, in billions of tract pages distributed gratis, in millions of home libraries, in the questions of inquiring church members, it was evident everywhere that a great preacher was faithfully sounding forth a trumpet message. With a voice of many waters, reverberating like thunder throughout the world, spoke Pastor Russell; and ere long “they shall know that there hath been a Prophet [preacher] among them.”

2:6, 7. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak My words, unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.—Fearlessness characterized Ezekiel and Pastor Russell, both outcasts among the “best” people. Pastor Russell was thrust by the church people into a wilderness condition, amid the briers of opposition and reproach. Though the thorns of persecution crowned his head, he was never afraid of words nor of angry looks. (Jer. 1:8‐10.) “I would rather see him stoned to death,” said a Wilkes‐Barre, Pa. preacher, in answer to a kindly invitation to come and hear Pastor Russell preach. “He ought to be skinned alive, and his hide stretched on a door,” remarked a Chicago “divine” to another “divine,” coming out from one of Pastor Russell’s addresses. A scorpion has a great swelling, formidable looking head, but it stings with its tail. (Rev. 9:5, 10.) Ecclesiasticism is made up of organizations whose heads utter boastful, swelling words, but which do injury through their followers. The sting of a scorpion—of the followers of synods and popes—is through poisoned words. Every great reformer has had some turn on him who were very close to him. Not from outside did Pastor Russell suffer most. A few from among his own household, whom he had befriended, helped, pushed, advanced, struck at him to ruin him and destroy his influence and his work. It is characteristic of the scorpion to sting and poison in the dark corners of a man’s own home. “Be not afraid, though thou dost dwell among scorpions.”

2:8. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house; open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.—The attitude of the rebellious Christian was not that of God’s chosen servant. Never did he rebel against the Divine leading, nor seek to pervert the Word of God. “My flesh is meat (food) indeed.” (Jno. 6:55.) “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4.) Whatever the word or message that came from the Father’s lips through the inspired pages of the Bible, the Laodicean steward was to appropriate, assimilate.—Rev. 10:9.

2:9. And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of a book was therein.—The Divine hand sent from God is the Divine power, support, upholding and advancing the interests of whatever is in the hand. “The book therein” is the Divine Plan of the Ages, Present Truth, especially as relating to the impending downfall of Christendom in the end of this Age. Ancient books were written on a continuous sheet, rolled up. The sheet was often written on both sides. The writing outside could be plainly read until covered by the rolling, but that inside was entirely hidden from view. Present Truth, the Divine Plan of the Ages, contains features which are plain to any one who looks at them; such as those relating to the earthly features of God’s Plan—the evil in the earth, the clashing interests of rich and poor, and various other elements of the present order of things, the great war, and the approach of a better order of things after the present troubles are over. Present Truth, “the roll of the book,” also contains hidden, deep truths, discernible only to those who have the Holy Spirit. It possesses features impossible for natural men, not anointed with the Spirit, to perceive. “The natural man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them; for they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14.) Many thousands of consecrated Christians are upheld, comforted and rejoiced by the deep things of God, made clear for the first time in centuries by the “roll of the book.”

2:10. And He spread it before me; and it was written within and without; and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.—What an honor to be the person before whom the Almighty would clearly spread out His purposes,—the honor which came to Pastor Russell, and with it a witness work of vast extent and responsibility! The purpose of Present Truth is to inform the Lord’s people and the people of the world, as far as they may listen, concerning the significance of the times. All classes profit more or less from the warning of Pastor Russell, as the message goes broadcast throughout the world. It comes with a different significance to Church and to world. To the Church it is a trumpet call of truth (Rev. 10:2‐7), to get ready quickly for deliverance, resurrection glory, honor and immortality. To the world, the worldly‐minded, the Present Truth is something to be dreaded. (Isa. 28:19.) This world, age, state of affairs, is in process of destruction. The destroying agencies, as portrayed in the Scriptures (1 Kings 19:11, 12; Z. ’04‐249; Z. ’98‐207, 208) are world‐wide war, then revolutions on an unprecedented scale, and finally universal anarchy—savagery. The significance of anarchy is appreciated by but few. It means an utter absence of government, first the paralysis, and ultimately the ceasing, of the governmental functions which now afford protection, peace and safety to property and life. As matters progress to the climax, as disaster after disaster overtakes human effort, and disintegration descends into the dissolution of law and order, the whole earth will be “filled with violence”. (Gen. 6:11; Micah 6:12); and men’s hearts will utterly fail. (Luke 21:26.) Picture the worst revolutions ever known; this trouble will outdo them all. Paint the darkest picture, and none will be as black as the sable pall of this dreadful night, this reign of terror already settling down upon mankind. Truly, “mourning, lamentation and woe” were the burden of God’s Prophet Ezekiel, as he foresaw the destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem—and of Pastor Russell, as he foreknew the desolation of a world!

Ezekiel 3—Pastor Russell’s Divine Ordination

3:1. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.—The Prophet was to find something. As Ezekiel ate the book in the hand of God, so the “faithful and wise servant” of this day absorbed, assimilated, the Plan of the Ages which was in the power (hand) of the Almighty. Pastor Russell searched diligently to find all that he could of the purposes of God. As he understood, he was to go speak to “the House of Sons” (Heb. 3:6), all the children, sons of God—to nominal Spiritual Israelites.

3:2. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll.—“I never knew any one so willing to do the will of God,” said the private secretary and traveling companion of Pastor Russell. He was eager to learn all he could about the Heavenly Father’s will. It was not of himself that he learned and taught the Divine Plan; but God Himself caused him to learn, believe and teach.

3:3. And He said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.—No mere casual scanning of Present Truth would suffice. The man of God was to be filled with the great Message. (Rev. 10:9, 10.) “The sweetest story ever told” (Psa. 19:10; 119:103) brought inexpressible peace. It sweetened the experiences of a life of sacrifice. Whoever eats, assimilates Present Truth, finds every heart question answered, every doubt silenced. He learns “the peace of God that passeth understanding” (Phil. 4:7), and a sweetness as of honey in the promises, plans, and purposes of the Father of Love.

3:4. And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.—From apostolic days to today all to whom the Spirit gives utterance begin to speak (Acts 2:1‐18) because constrained to do so, because they “love to tell the story.” To Ezekiel, and to the greatest preacher of modern times, came a readiness of speech, when Jehovah Himself gave them His Spirit, and commanded to “get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.”

3:5. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel.—Present Truth was not to go to the heathen, the drunkards, unbelievers, but to the Christian people of the world, the spiritual House of Israel.

3:6. Not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.—If the Message of Present Truth had been sent to the heathen with its glad tidings for all, they would have turned from devil worship, to worship the true God. (Matt. 11:21, 23.) On two occasions the trumpet sound was heard by “people of a strange speech and of a hard language.” Pastor Russell passed through Japan and India on a round‐the‐world tour. In Japan the people requested that he stay. It was the message they had longed for. In India the natives heard him gladly. In eastern and southern Africa a believer in Present Truth found his way from Nyassa to the Cape, and many thousands of natives embraced the Truth and were baptised.

3:7. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.—Christendom has never hearkened unto God. They hear and do not. (Jas. 1:22.) They are forgetful hearers of the Word. (Jas. 1:25.) They know their Master’s will and do it not. (Luke 12:47.) Because they hear not God, they heed not the Word of God when brought to them by His servants.

3:8. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.—Whatever situation Pastor Russell faced, God made him more than equal to it. This last and most illustrious of the reformers never asked for money; yet he had enough entrusted to him to carry on the work. Champions of Christendom met him on the debating platform; each encounter widened and strengthened the witness for Present Truth. He faced the modern enemies of Reformation with books by tens of millions, and they were unable to combat their power. “To read the _Studies in the Scriptures_,” admonished a Southern preacher to his flock, “is to believe them.” No argument could be devised to stem the flood of Truth, only a ban on the reading of the books. In innumerable places priestcraft caused the public burning of the books. Practically every home in America, England, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and other Protestant countries was reached by a deluge of free tracts. Such a tracting of the world with billions of pages, was never known. The enemies of Truth were wholly unable to check the spread of knowledge. A further situation faced was the production of the free Photo‐Drama of Creation, seen and heard by twelve millions. No answer could be put forth by clerical foes of truth, but baseless, cruel libels on the private life of one of God’s noblemen. Audiences by the thousands listened to Bible lectures by Pastor Russell and by hundreds of public speakers, and their voice is still heard all over the world. Stinging assaults of slander were ignored by a man of destiny, who had too much of God’s work to do to pay attention to the yelpings of little men—of the D. D.’s of Christendom (Isa. 56:10), who love slumber, but who snarl and bite when disturbed in their dreams of “peace, peace” (Jer. 6:14), social and civic gospels, church unity, and evangelistic raids on the pockets of the masses. Not a situation or a person but was faced victoriously.—Isa. 54:17.

Pastor Russell in the Critics’ Den

3:9. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.—The forehead is symbolic of wisdom. A man of high forehead, as was Pastor Russell, is of a high type of intellect. Pastor Russell’s mind was made strong against opponents of the Reform which is ushering in the everlasting Kingdom of Messiah. It is impossible for error to withstand truth. (Luke 21:15.) As in apostolic days, believers in Present Truth call themselves “in the Truth” (2 Pet. 1:12), the teachings of the Word of God are termed “the Truth” (1 John 3:19), and those who believe them are known as “Truth people.” (3 John 4.) The mind of Pastor Russell was filled with Truth. Crystal clear, with hard, irresistible logic, the Present Truth, which constituted his wisdom and understanding, was the hardest proposition ecclesiasticism ever encountered. (Isa. 50:7.) The mind of God’s steward was as adamant. Adamant is literally, in Hebrew, “a diamond point.” With diamond hardness (Rev. 4:3), the Present Truth cuts its way through all opposition, though the opposing thought be hard as flint. The diamond is the most crystal clear of stones, and represents the truth in irresistible form. It is futile to oppose the mind of any Present Truth believer, for truth is irrefutable. To those who have it, it imparts the mind of an intellectual giant—the mind of Christ, of God. (1 Cor. 2:16.) Their foreheads are made as diamond. In the light of the sun the diamond sparkles with indescribable beauty. It breaks the sunlight up into its component parts and reflects and refracts in prismatic flashes of rainbow colors. The sun is the Gospel of Divine Love and its embodiment, Jesus Christ. The component parts of Christian love are the character fruits. “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long‐suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” (Galatians 5:22‐3.) The minds, wisdom, characters of God’s true people are full of manifestations of the shining upon them of the glorious Gospel of the Son of Righteousness—full of the beauty of righteousness. The minds of God’s saints are made as the diamond in its excelling hardness and sunlit radiance.

3:10. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart and hear with thine ears.—Like Ezekiel, Pastor Russell was to hold back, pervert, or wrest _nothing_.

3:11. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.—It was to be a message for the Lord’s people in captivity to the king of this world. Satan, bound in Mystic Babylon the Great, the governmental‐ecclesiastical‐ commercial system of Christendom.

3:12. Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place.—Through the begetting of the Holy Spirit we are raised up to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4), to sit with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), in the Spirit‐begotten condition. The Spirit raised Pastor Russell up to an understanding and appreciation of Heavenly things. (Matt. 3:16.) At Pentecost the place where the Apostles were sitting was filled with a rushing sound as of a mighty wind, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2.) The mighty rushing sound represented Pastor Russell’s receiving a rich endowment of the Spirit of God, to whose leadings he was fully consecrated and to whose influence and guidance he wholly devoted his life. The words of Christ and of God are contained in the Bible, written thousands of years ago, behind in the stream of time. It was in the Word of God, behind him in time (Isa. 30:21), that Pastor Russell perceived the rushing sound, the utterances of the Holy Spirit. The message of the Bible has been perverted by Catholic and Protestant misunderstandings into anything but a glorious and blessed Gospel. It is a thing to be dreaded, if the glory of God is to eternally torment the vast majority of humans. But the Message of Truth sounded forth by Pastor Russell declares the grace of the Gospel which is to reach every man, woman and child (1 Tim. 2:6) with its blessed influence, power, wisdom and love, so that all creation in due time may join in a mighty paeon of praise. “Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from His place.”—Psa. 106:48.

The Clergy Would Censor The Bible

3:13. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.—Many Christian ministers have had glimpses of the Word of God, knowledge of some details of the Plan, some measure of the Holy Spirit; but to Pastor Russell, God’s messenger to the last stage of the Church, was given a superabundance of gifts, to set the things of God in order (Isa. 44:7), to proclaim an harmonious understanding of all the Divine purposes for mankind and of some for the angels. (Eph. 3:10.) He heard the full harmony of “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” (Rev. 15:3.) To him the wings (Rev. 12:14), the Word of God, Old Testament and New, sounded their Glad Tidings, a message whose parts “touched one another,” were in complete touch, full harmony. He heard for the first time since Apostolic days the Plan of God, “the noise of the wheels [cycles, ages].” He heard the manifestations of the operation of the Holy Spirit, the “noise of a great rushing,” and was filled with the Spirit in a measure beyond the portion of most Christian men. His patience with the stupid and erring was godlike and his love‐lit face was an inspiration.

3:14. So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.—“God hath taken you out of the world” (John 17:16); raised “to sit with Christ in Heavenly places.” (Eph. 2:6.) The Spirit took Pastor Russell away from earthly aims and raised him up to the plane of sacrificing priesthood. He turned from commercial pursuits to devote his life to the Heavenly Message. He tasted the bitter herbs of persecution, of suffering with Christ; and amid ostracism and persecution he lived the life of Christian service. He carried on his work in fervency of spirit; for the power of God was upon him, strengthening him with might in the inner man (Eph. 3:16), and with wisdom to deliver, in the face of the determined opposition of priestcraft, the trumpet message announcing the Presence of Christ—the sound of the Seventh Trumpet, the trump of God.—Rev. 10:7.

3:15. Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel‐abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat and remained there astonished among them seven days.—Future historians will record, as most remarkable, the mental, moral and spiritual bondage in which professing Christians were held during the Gospel Age, through the machinations of priestcraft, under the king of the age, Satan himself. Pastor Russell came with his message, in a day of supposed enlightenment, to a people bound hand and foot. Tel‐abib in Hebrew is “Hill of Grass” (from “Tel,” hill, and “Abib,” sprouting, budding). Abib was another name for Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew sacred year, corresponding to April. In type or symbol a place represents a condition, or a stage in historic development. The “hill of budding,” the beginning of the sacred year, symbolizes the dawn of the Times of Restitution, the “Millennial Dawn.” The Millennium (Rev. 20:3, 4, 7) began in 1874, with the Return of Christ. It was at about that time that Pastor Russell came to his fellow‐Christians with the beginning of a better understanding of the Bible, “the vision of God.” It was, as it were, the budding‐time of the good promises of God for the blessing of all peoples. The Christian people lived on and by the stream of commercial, social and economic intercourse that feeds and supports Christendom, Babylon.

3:16. And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—In a time prophecy a day in the prophecy usually signifies a year in fulfillment. For seven years after Christ’s Return in 1874—until 1881—Pastor Russell, although he knew much of God’s Plan, was in some degree in the same condition as other Christians in imperfect understanding of God’s Word. In 1881 a former associate, Mr. Barbour, of Rochester, N. Y., who had been a faithful fellow‐watcher, developed into the “Evil servant” of Matt. 24:48‐61 and Zechariah 11:17, and produced a work on the Hebrew Tabernacle types in opposition to the fundamentals of true Christianity. Pastor Russell desired the truth on the subject. He gave himself up to prayer and study of this matter alone. For days he struggled with the problem and wrestled with God in supplication. At length the matter cleared up. He then wrote “_Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices_.” of which 1,500,000 copies have since aided Christians to understand the deeper things of the Word and to make complete consecration unto death. This was in 1881, at which time he also published “_Food for Thinking Christians_,” a work embodying much afterwards expanded into the six volumes of “_Studies in the Scriptures_.” The same year, 1881, is prophetically marked at the time for the final withdrawal of favor from the churches, a favor which had begun to be withdrawn in 1878—the year in which the clergy were cast off as representatives of the Divine Word, and when Pastor Russell began his work by the publication of 50,000 copies of “_Object and Manner of the Lord’s Return_.” In 1873 the stewardship of the things of God, the teaching of Bible truths, was taken from the clergy, unfaithful to their age‐long stewardship, and given to Pastor Russell. In the interim, until 1881, the new steward was setting the things in order, getting the truths of the Bible in logical and Scriptural form for presentation, until the last great item of the Hebrew Tabernacle types, was ready. Then, in 1881, he became God’s watchman for all Christendom, and began his gigantic work of witness.

3:17. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me.—The function of watchmanship was not given until 1881. (Jer. 6:17; Isa. 21:6‐12.) Faithfulness in individual watching during a trial period of seven years was rewarded by the bestowal of the office of the greatest servant whom the Church of God has had since the Apostle Paul. “Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant.” (Matt. 20:27.) Pastor Russell at all times served the Church in great things and small. No request was too insignificant to get his careful attention. Rich and poor alike were faithfully served in every possible way. This work prior to 1881 was a great work for any ordinary man, but insignificant compared with what was to follow. By 1884 the watchman’s work had grown to such proportions as to cause the founding of THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY. This is the agency through which God’s appointed watchman has delivered his message to Christendom. Pastor Russell paid no attention to the words or opinions of man, however learned or pious, whether men of modern days or the “early fathers” of post‐apostolic times. He listened to the word direct from the mouth of God, spoken by holy men of old as moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21.) Ezekiel was raised up shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem to warn the Hebrews of the impending calamity. Pastor Russell’s warning to Christendom, coming direct from God, has been of the imminent collapse of the present “Christian” civilization in a welter of war, revolution and anarchy, to be succeeded by the early establishment of the Kingdom of God. In all his warnings he claimed no originality. He said that he could never have written his books himself. It all came from God, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

3:18. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.—Pastor Russell saw and revived the teaching of the Word of God that death is death. “All have sinned.” (Rom. 3:23.) “Death passed upon all.” (Romans 5:12.) “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23.) “There is none righteous.” (Rom. 3:10.) “The dead sleep in the dust.” (Isa. 26:19.) “Their thoughts perish.” (Psa. 146:4.) He taught clearly the Word of God first enunciated to Adam, “Thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17.) Man is not inherently immortal. At death he is dead, unconscious, asleep until the resurrection, not “more alive than ever,” as taught by a blinded and apostate priestcraft. Man, soul and body, is not a being whom God cannot destroy. “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body.” (Matt. 10:28.) To all erring mankind Pastor Russell was directed by God to reiterate the Divine penalty for sin, as death, and not eternal torment. This was a fundamental part of the message both of Ezekiel and of Pastor Russell.

3:19. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.—Pastor Russell faithfully warned the wicked. He published a complete exposition of the Bible statements regarding the Adamic death—3,000,000 copies of a pamphlet, “What Say the Scriptures About Hell,” quoting all Bible passages mentioning Sheol and Hades, the death state. He scarcely ever spoke in public without dwelling on this cardinal tenet, that the dead are dead. To the very best of his ability he taught Christendom the truth. By faithful testimony he delivered himself from liability.

3:20, 21. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.—Another cardinal teaching of God’s Word, clearly taught by Pastor Russell, is the nature of the eternal punishment to be visited upon the incorrigible backslider. Clergy, bishops and popes have taught for centuries on this subject an irrational combination of extreme symbolism with gross literalism, as suited their ambition to exercise worldly power and hold the masses in subjection—minds, bodies and pocketbooks. They have interpreted one symbolism symbolically and the next literally. They have said that the “Lake of Fire” and the “torment” are literal, but that the “beast” and the “false prophet” are symbolic (Rev. 19:20), even though it involved the absurdity of a symbolic beast going into a literal lake of fire! Blind and deaf to those who have pointed out the unreasonableness of such foolishness, they have turned savagely upon those that have the Truth. In eighteen centuries they have killed fifty million adherents of Christ, and persecuted innumerable others. It is impossible to compute the number that they will do to death in this, the close of the Gospel‐Age Harvest, when governmental protection shall be withdrawn from lovers of truth, except that, this time, they will get _all_ such!

An important feature of Pastor Russell’s teaching is that the Scriptural punishment of the incorrigibly wicked is not life in torment but oblivion, annihilation, the “second death” (Rev. 21:8); that every one is, either in this life or after the resurrection, to be brought to a full knowledge of the Truth (1 Tim. 2:4); to receive some measure of the Holy Spirit; that those who incur the extreme penalty for sin will be only those who backslide beyond recovery. In full conformity with Ezekiel’s prophecy Pastor Russell taught that “when a righteous man doth commit iniquity, he shall die”—the Second Death.

3:22. And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and He said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.—Ezekiel was impelled by the Holy Spirit to depart from the river Chebar with its teeming activities. Pastor Russell’s consecration led him to separate himself from commercial activities and to give his life to the service of God. The hand of the Lord was upon him to do this. The Lord’s people, the Hebrews, mingled with the Chaldeans, living in the plain—literally “vale” or “valley.” Pastor Russell turned from ordinary avocations to all the people dwelling in the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psa. 23:4); and in that condition God communed with His true Watchman. Pastor Russell has been known to pass entire nights in prayer, and go about his work the next day as though nothing unusual had taken place.—Rev. 3:14.

3:23. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain; and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.—Continually the vision was before Pastor Russell of the character, plan and work of the Almighty. Daily he renewed his covenant of consecration and daily sought to carry it out.

3:24. Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.—A thought possesses propulsive power, and must result in action unless hindered by an opposing thought. The Spirit, thoughts, words of God were continually entering, from the Bible, into Pastor Russell’s mind and setting him into action. All who have set themselves apart to do the will of God and have received the Holy Spirit, are members of Christ, in the House of Sons (Heb. 3:6), the Royal Priesthood. In the consecration of the typical priesthood, the priest shut himself in the Tabernacle for seven days. (Lev. 8:33.) (Seven symbolizes completeness.) So Christ and those in Him abide continually in the antitypical Holy, the spirit‐begotten condition. Pastor Russell lived in the Spirit from his consecration to his death.

3:25. But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them.—Each forward step in any branch of knowledge renders institutions based on past partial knowledge functionless; and consequently the adherents and beneficiaries of such institutions oppose the march of events. The clergy, trying to stem the tide of Truth, to uphold an effete ecclesiasticism tottering to its fall, put every restraint upon the influence of Pastor Russell; but the bands upon him served also to bind the tares more tightly into the organization bundles. (Matt. 13:30.) In fulfillment of the prophetic parable the bundles are to be destroyed in the anarchy about to ensue. Church members have been urged to get rid of every scrap of paper bearing the Message of Present Truth; the Truth has been preached against in practically every church in the English, German and Swedish speaking world; people have been warned against reading the Truth; Truth people have been discharged or refused employment; in Europe they have been imprisoned at hard labor; some have been done to death by firing squads; they have been forbidden to hold meetings. Neither Pastor Russell nor his fellow‐believers were permitted to utter the Bible Truth before the congregations of ecclesiasticism. It was not to go out among “them,” and his greatest work was the deepening of the spirit of consecration among those of the “House of Sons.”

3:26. And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.—It is impossible to witness spiritual things to the carnally‐minded (1 Cor. 3:1; John 16:12). But Pastor Russell never refrained from speaking or publishing the Word of God. The Bible teaches that the service of God must be of a willing heart. It is a privilege which may be accepted or rejected, as the hearer desires. Yet to the worldly, Pastor Russell was as “dumb”, for they would not hear.

Ezekiel 4—The Papal And Protestant Sieges

4:1. Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.—In Ezekiel’s days, in Chaldea, a book was a collection of inscribed tiles. The Laodicean servant was to be a writer of books. In many articles and chapters on the kingdoms of this world and their judgment and fall, and that of their ecclesiastical, political and business systems, Pastor Russell portrays Christendom, typically spoken of as Jerusalem. It bore the Lord’s name, but was defiled by the evil practices of its inhabitants. (C. 295.) As a type, Jerusalem represents particularly the ecclesiastical phase of Christendom.

4:2. And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it, set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.—Ecclesiasticism was to experience prolonged siege by a class symbolized by Ezekiel. The siege was to be conducted by Truth, encompassing the stronghold of the nominal city of God. Beleaguered ecclesiasticism was to go through experiences like that of a besieged city shut off from its province, shorn of its actual dominion, while nominally retaining it, cut off from the supplies that had flowed from the tributary peoples. In addition to the slow weakening of a close besiegement, it was to withstand occasional assaults, make sorties and go through a period of warfare, with only one possible end, the utter destruction of the city. The besieged city was surrounded on every side with a line of military works, trenches, palisades and forts, collectively called a fort; from which, especially from the principal center of offense, it was continually harassed by wearing‐down activities and assaulted by surprise attacks. So ecclesiasticism was to be surrounded and placed on the defensive, by strongly entrenched and fortified enemies. “God is our fortress.” (2 Sam. 22:2.) It was to be done by a class of progressive and liberty‐loving Christians in revolt against and attack upon the intolerance, superstition, and tyranny of priestcraft.

Ancient cities were surrounded by high walls, with frequent towers for watchmen, spearmen, bowmen and slingmen. The walls, in emergencies, were lined with such fighters and with throwers of boulders and firebrands. The attack was made upon a weak point in the wall; and an earthen mound or mounds was cast up to furnish an elevation from which to equalize for the besiegers the advantages of the defenders. The walls of ecclesiasticism are its defense of creeds and of formalism and, not least of all, of the civil powers and the men who stand as a bulwark against attack. A “mount” symbolizes a government. (Dan. 2:44, 45.) The nation (mount) was organized, militant Protestantism. The camp is the temporary abiding place of those who are fighting on the Lord’s side. (Heb. 13:13.) A battering ram was a device for battering down the wall of a city to make a breach for the attack of the soldiery. Ecclesiasticism has surrounded itself with walls of living stones, soldiers, police and other officers of the civil powers who protect the churches and church people (Isa. 59:10), educators to build up belief in ecclesiasticism, writers to write articles and books, and a host of other adherents and supporters. In the siege of ecclesiasticism the Lord’s yeomen have attacked aggressively with books, newspapers, missionaries, lectures and education; seeking to loosen and dislodge some of the living stones surrounding organized error.—Jer. 6:6.

4:3. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.—An iron pan, literally a “thin plate,” was between besieging Protestantism and beleaguered ecclesiasticism. “They were holpen with a little help” (Dan. 11:34). The civil powers were to stand as a wall of iron protecting the Lord’s people from the persecuting power of ruling priestcraft. No breaches could be made in the wall. It was a “wall of iron.” “No evil shall befall thee.” (Psa. 91:10.) “Greater is He that is for thee than all these that be against thee.” (2 Kings 6:16.) Iron, as in the iron claws and teeth of the beast of Daniel, symbolizes the agencies of an irresistible power. Turning the face toward or against anything was a mark of favor or of disfavor. (Psa. 104:29.) The Lord’s people were resolutely to disfavor established ecclesiasticism and to besiege it from the Reformation to the close of the Harvest. When Ezekiel sees another doing something it usually signifies another than Pastor Russell doing it, but may signify Pastor Russell seeing himself, or the Ezekiel class. The Ezekiel prophecy types and symbolizes Pastor Russell or the Reformer class seeing Pastor Russell or the Reformer class or some member of that class doing the thing typed or symbolized. Here, the Protestant class from the Protestant Reformation down through the Harvest period, is seen systematically and effectually besieging established ecclesiasticism. The house of Israel ordinarily meant the Hebrew nation, the nominal fleshly house of Israel. The Hebrews were divided into the ten tribes (Israel), thoroughly infected with Pagan beliefs and practices, and the two tribes (Judah), holding more closely to Jehovah. In antitype, when both Israel and Judah are mentioned, and the prophecy is intended for an antitypical fulfillment, Israel signifies the Papacy and Judah signifies established Protestantism. Here the sign was to be the whole nominal house of Israel—all professing Christians, Catholics and Protestants.—Z. ’05‐179.

4:4. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.—In verses 4 to 6 Israel and Judah are included in the same picture, and signify Papacy and established, corrupted Protestantism. The left side was a sign of less favor. Romanism kept on in sin and kept adding, multiplying evil deeds, until iniquity should come to the full (Gen. 15:16). A day in prophecy signifies a year in fulfillment. (Num. 14:34.) Ezekiel here represents the reformer class which had to endure the iniquities of Papacy, both by persecution and by the shame of seeing professed Christians believing grossest error. The iniquity of Papacy, the house of Israel, lay in the fact that the Reformers had shown them insistent proofs of their wrong course, and yet they continued in their own way, heedless of the Divine warnings. Hence less favor has been felt by Jehovah toward them than toward Protestantism.

4:5. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.—Upon the reform element was laid the burden of seeing the dupes of Papal priestcraft continually learning and living error. This was a burden upon conscience, and was repugnant to the enlightened mind of the reform element, known for centuries, in name at least, as Protestant. Priestcraft of the larger division of Christendom was to be under attack for 390 years, during which time the besieging element, the reformers, were to be protected from Papacy by the “iron wall” of the civil powers. This began in 1528 and ends in 1918. The year 1528 is one of the turning points of history. Protestantism in England and in Germany was in the balance. The sudden rise of Charles V of Germany to great power had emboldened Pope Clement to side with Charles. He induced the Emperor to support a measure designed to limit the spread of Protestantism, to be followed by its utter destruction. Under the proposed law no Protestant was to convert a Romanist to the reformed faith, nor would it be allowable for Protestantism to spread to other countries. It meant for all Protestants an end such as the Huguenots came to in France, the suppression of the Renaissance with its “increase of knowledge” (Dan. 12:4), and the end of the prosperous and comparatively enlightened civilization of modern times. The future of the whole world, and of the Divine Plan, was at stake! A general war was barely avoided to destroy Lutheranism. Philip Landgrave of Saxony discovered the plot, took arms, and in 1528 forced indemnity from a Catholic bishop. Other princes of Germany stood with Philip.

To quote from Dr. Peter Bayne, LL. D., the historian (“Martin Luther”), page 486: “These (the princes of the reformed faith) were inflexibly determined that the decree of the majority should not be assented to. Philip of Hesse, John of Saxony, Markgraf George the Pious of Brandenburg‐ Anspach, the Dukes of Lunenburg and Brunswick, the Prince of Anhalt, and the representatives of Strasburg, Nurnberg and twelve other free cities, entered a solemn protest against the prospective revolution. They were called _Protestants_! All, to this hour, who claim that Truth shall be unveiled, and that no Pope, or Kaiser, shall congeal the ever‐advancing stream of progress and improvement, may take an honorable pride in tracing their spiritual descent to the intrepid Philip and the magnanimous and simple‐hearted John.” (p. 481): “How thoroughly is the whole pageant of that war, 1528, erased from the memory of the present generation! And yet the effect of those events is not yet exhausted; nor would it be possible for any one without forming some comprehension of them, to understand how link added itself to link in the evolutionary chain of modern history.”

Thus Germany set up the iron wall of civic defense between the besieging Protestants and beleaguered Papacy. In England, too, the other great empire which has stood as an iron wall between the reform element and Papacy, the break with Rome began to take form in 1528. This was the year when Pope Clement appointed his legates, Correggio and Wolsey, to conduct the divorce trial of Queen Katherine of Aragon, at the behest of Henry VIII. (Rev. 8:8, 9.) As God raised up a willful, stubborn Pharaoh when He purposed to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt, so He raised up the lustful Henry VIII as the agent through whom the break should come between England and Rome. “The natural result” [of Henry’s divorce proceedings], says A. F. Pollard, the historian, in his “Henry VIII,” “was the separation of England from Rome.” Thus did Divine wisdom use “the wrath of man to praise Him” and cause the “iron wall” of the civil, military and naval powers of the British Empire, Germany, and of the United States, to stand an impregnable barrier against the persecuting power of Great Babylon. Safe behind the iron wall, the reform element was able to live and grow in its camp and to keep up its siege of Roman Catholic priestcraft.

4:6. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.—The right side signifies less disfavor than to Papacy. The house of Judah represents Protestantism, the Protestant churches. Until 1878, when cast off by the returned and present Messiah, Protestantism enjoyed Divine favor, just as the two tribes, collectively called Judah, did as compared with the idolatrous ten tribes of Israel. After 1874 the Present Truth took the form of a general overhauling of creeds and the announcement of Christ’s Second Presence. This was unanimously rejected by the Protestant churches; and organized Protestant ecclesiasticism from 1878 on for forty years became the Judah of this type, besieged on every side by the reform element, under the leadership of the steward of Divine Truth, Pastor Russell. Until 1918, Hebrew reckoning, beginning in the fall of 1917, the civil powers continue as a “wall of iron,” protecting the Lord’s people in their witness against error.—Rev. 3:14; B. 66, 91.

4:7. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.—The Ezekiel class, the true Protestant reform class, during the 390 and the 40 years set themselves to the attack upon priestcraft. Pastor Russell seldom spoke without some words of objection to or warning about ecclesiasticism. The arm symbolizes power (E. _50_, 47) and the uncovering of the arm is as when a man takes off his coat in attacking a task. The siege was to be carried on with energy. The reform element was to preach continually, not condoning or excusing priestcraft, but directly and pointedly attacking it.

4:8. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.—God bound His true people to this work. The reform element were not to change their attitude, but continually to keep at the attack upon ecclesiastical corruption until the siege should end in 1918. The Hebrew year 1918, begins in October, 1917.

4:9. Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side; three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.—These grains represent different grades of spiritual food, each kind of food to be eaten by the kind of Christian represented by the food. Wheat represents the true Gospel of the Kingdom, as in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1‐30), and is the food of the Little Flock. Barley among the Hebrews was little esteemed, for it was the price of an adulteress. (Hos. 3:2.) It signifies the spiritual food of a class guilty of spiritual adultery, unhallowed alliance with the world in the bringing forth of “strange” children. (Hos. 5:7.) Beans, lentiles, millet and fitches represent grades of food inferior to wheat (which contains every element to support life) and inferior even to barley. Their continued use as foods, causes physical deficiencies, weaknesses and disease. Lentiles are usually cultivated for fodder. Millet is still inferior. Symbolically it represents Christians who “have no depth of earth.” (Matt. 13:5.) Vetches, sometimes called “tares” or “prickly spelt,” are a very poor food. Their prickly nature suggests a type of hard‐to‐get‐along‐with Christians, and the kind of mental, moral and spiritual food that produces them. In with some of the true wheat, in established churchianity, as shown by verse 16, were to be gathered Christians of various degrees of development, each eating the kind of food corresponding to his Christian development, the wheat class assimilating the best of the Divine Word, and so on down to those who absorbed the poorest grade of spiritual provender, some of it food usually regarded as fit only for animals. This was the food the various classes should subsist on, each according to his capacity, from 1528 to 1918, and from 1878 to 1918.

4:10, 11. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.—A shekel was half an ounce; twenty shekels were ten ounces. A hin was a gallon and a half. The sixth part of a hin was one quart. This was the daily ration, a starvation allowance. They were not to feed on it continuously, but on Sundays, or two or three times a week—“from time to time.” The people would, as a class, have a scanty spiritual subsistence during the siege period.

4:12. And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.—Cakes, made of this mixture, were used by the very poor in times of scarcity, depicting the scarcity of spiritual food among the followers of ecclesiasticism. The poor, not having stones or ovens, baked their bread or cakes on heated stones or in the fire, or roasted them by placing them between layers of dung, which burns slowly. Only the dung of animals was used ordinarily. No insult or defilement was greater than to turn a man’s house into a receptacle for human excrement. (Deut. 23:12‐14.) Our Lord associated human dung with “that which defileth a man.” (Matt. 15:11.) Luther spoke of the “dunghill of Roman decretals.” The human dung signifies human traditions, clerical additions to the Word of God.

4:13. And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.—The spiritual food, poor as the mixture was, was to be thoroughly defiled.

4:14. Then said I, Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.—This typifies the heart desire of the reformer class to keep clear of defiling errors.

4:15. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.—The spiritual food would be unsavory enough.

4:16. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure; and with astonishment.—The type enacted by Ezekiel was intended to depict spiritual conditions in ecclesiasticism, Romish after 1528 A. D. and Protestant after 1878 A. D., in Jerusalem (churchianity), the besieged city, where there would be a famine of the Word of God. As prophecies often have a literal as well as a symbolic fulfillment, this refers also to the straitness of the siege of literal Jerusalem and to the literal scarcity of food in the Time of Trouble upon Christendom, with its high cost of living, food dictators and food tickets.—Lev. 26:26.

4:17. That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.—Like as people on poor food in starvation quantities weaken and die, so Christians weaken and die spiritually on the diet provided by priests and clergy.

Ezekiel 5—The Severed Hair Calamities

5:1. And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.—This is located “after the days of the siege” of Jerusalem, or in antitype after Romanism’s and Protestantism’s siege is ended in 1918. It had a literal fulfillment in 606 B. C. and is to have a literal and a symbolic fulfillment in and after 1918. It depicts the several kinds of troubles upon Christendom, and the causes provoking them. The shaving of the head represents the affliction of Christendom. (Isaiah 3:17, 20, 24; Jer. 7:29.) The shaving of the beard was part of the ceremonial treatment of a leper (Lev. 14:8, 9), and signifies that after 1918 Christendom will be treated by outraged Justice at a moral leper, unclean with incurable iniquity, the perverseness, which, in the face of continual preaching of the Gospel, led up to the recent wars.

Ezek. 5:2, 12, 16, 17, relate to features of the destruction of literal Jerusalem in 606 B. C. and 70‐73 A. D. and of Christendom in 1914 to 1918 A. D. Since in verse 12 a third part of the persons were to suffer death or affliction, the hair in verses 1, 2 and 3 signifies the people in Jerusalem—Christendom. In Samson’s case the hair represented his strength; and here the hair cut off signifies that the people who are the strength of Christendom shall be cut off in the brief but terribly eventful period beginning in 1918 A. D. A third part are “burned with fire in the midst of the city.” Fire symbolises destruction. One large part of the adherents of ecclesiasticism win die from pestilence and famine. (Deut. 32:24.) In 5:16, 17 the shafts of hunger are represented as the evil arrows of famine. The staff is that upon which one leans; the staff of bread is the food supply of Christendom. In 1916 there was already a 25 per cent. crop shortage throughout the world, presaging worse conditions to come. In verse 18 the evil beasts sent upon Christendom are the savage “Christian” governments of the world (Deut. 32:24), which, by unheard‐of barbarity in war, are bereaving the people by millions and causing bloodshed unparalleled in history.

5:2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.—A third part of the hair was to be smitten with a knife. See 5:12. This represents people not definitely in or under ecclesiasticism, but associated with it, favoring it, and benefiting from it These are to be smitten with the sword drawn for destruction of life in the Time of Trouble. A considerable portion of the people will be separated by the winds of warfare and commotion from all connection with churchianity. These have been connected with, sympathizers with, or beneficiaries from churchianity. This class also will be involved in the bloodshed of the “great tribulation.”—Matt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14.

5:3, 4. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.—To bind in the skirts is a symbol of close affiliation. A few adherents of churchianity will affiliate themselves with those believing Present Truth, but so searching will be the circumstances of the trouble period that none not at heart “in Present Truth” (2 Pet. 1:12) will be able to remain in the protection overshadowing the Lord’s people. These few will be separated, and finally become involved in the destruction upon all supporters of, sympathizers with and beneficiaries of churchianity. Not one shall escape; it will be upon “all the house of Israel.” Babylon’s conflagration will be hastened by the adherents here described. After 1918 the people supporting churchianity will cease to be its supporters, be destroyed as adherents, by the spiritual pestilence of errors abroad, and by the famine of the Word of God among them. The Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), which is the Word of God, will be wielded in the hands of “Present Truth” believers in such a manner as to cause conscientious supporters of ecclesiasticism to cease to be supporters.

5:5. Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.—God, through the increase of knowledge, the Renaissance, and the dynamic power of belief in the Word of God, has set up Christendom on a pinnacle of power in the midst of the heathen nations or the world.

5:6. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.—God taught Christendom the principles of Justice and gave her His law of Divine, self‐sacrificing love—“A new law, that ye love one another.” (John 13:34.) Relatively to the light of Christendom and heathendom, Christendom is far the more wicked; for, having the instructions, exhortations and examples of the Bible, she has both refused them and not walked in them.

5:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in My statutes, neither have kept My judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you.—Christendom under the blessing of God has multiplied in material things and in knowledge more than heathendom, and yet has not only not walked in God’s Law of Love, but has not lived up to the standards of righteousness and justice of the heathen. Chinese are more reliable in business engagements than are Christians. Some tribes in Africa are more moral sexually than are whites, and explorers have noted the natural kindness of the negroes of Nyassa and Soudan.

5:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.—Because of Christendom’s wickedness against light, God is against this system calling itself by Christ’s holy name, and will execute upon it judgment of such unprecedented awfulness as to constitute a lasting lesson to “uncivilized” peoples.

5:9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.—The punishments come because of churchianity’s illicit union of church and state, termed spiritual “fornication” (Rev. 17:2); her licensing of liquor, vice and crime; her doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1), such as eternal torment, inherent immortality and Trinity; her desolating abomination in the Romish mass (Matt. 24:15); and her Phariseeism in the face of wilful butchery of millions.

5:10, 11. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely, because thou hast defiled My Sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall Mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.—The Hebrew sanctuary or temple typed the Christian Sanctuary class, the Church of living stones (1 Pet. 2:5), the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 17.) True Christianity, pure in apostolic days, was defiled (2 Chr. 36:14) with practices and doctrines detestable and abominable to God, until now it is termed “the great whore,” (apostate church of Romanism) and the daughters “harlots” (Protestant churches). (Rev. 17:5.) Divine Justice will not spare nor pity, until upon Christendom has been visited all the righteous blood of hundreds of millions of victims of her long centuries of unchristian wars and persecutions.

5:12, 13. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall Mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in My zeal, when I have accomplished My fury in them.—Job hoped for the time when God’s wrath should be past. (Job 14:13.) The wrath of God will be over forever when this trouble time is past. (Isa. 10:25.) Divine Justice will be comforted, will rest, having accomplished its sentence of death, with the accompaniments of sickness, sorrow, tears and degradation, mental, moral and physical, upon the human race.

5:14‐17. Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it. When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.—Christendom is to be laid waste by war, revolution, anarchy, famine (Luke 21:26), and pestilence, from end to end. Her vaunted and envied eminence will pass, through self‐destruction, due to false ideals of honor, into a desolation causing the taunts and reproaches of the heathen, and being to the heathen nations a cause of astonishment and source of instruction. The fury of God’s anger against her appears in the expression “in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes.”

Ezekiel 6—Sword—Famine—Pestilence

6:1‐4. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.—This chapter relates to the Divine wrath, after 1918 A. D., upon the governments, symbolically called “mountains and hills,” and the rivers, the denominations.

6:5‐7. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—All state churches are to be destroyed, literally by the sword, and by the truth about them in the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit. (2 Ki. 23:13‐22.) At the tops of the hills and mountains, the governments, are the altars, the centers of the nation’s worship. Great sacrifices are made by the masses to maintain these altars.

6:8. Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.—Heathendom will be the safest place on earth in the time of Zion’s travail! (Jer. 44:28.)

6:9. And they that escape of you shall remember Me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from Me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.—God has completely broken relations with the churches, which with heart and eye have “departed from Me.”

6:10. And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.—After the trouble is over, the survivors will have a thousand years in which to recognize the hand of God.

6:11. Thus saith the Lord God; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel: for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.—The attitude of the Lord’s true people, “the mourners in Zion” (Isa. 61:3), is that of righteous indignation against the abominations of Christendom.

6:12. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish My fury upon them.—In spite of the manifest judgments of God, the devotees of Mystic Babylon, “Christians,” will not turn to God but, while doing reverence and rendering service to their altars and idols, will be overtaken by literal sword, famine and pestilence (Jer. 15:2) and by the spiritual Sword of the Spirit, by starvation from the lack of God’s Word, and by pestilential doctrines.—Psa. 91:6, 7.

6:13. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.—In the Roman and Greek churches the idols, images and ikons are literal. There are other idols in all the churches—power, prestige, social position, clerical honor, gold, worldly education, etc. As in the Tabernacle types, zealous, obedient sacrifice caused a “sweet savor” to rise to God, so the same service raises a sweet savor to the idols of Christendom. The “green trees” and “thick oaks” were favorite objects of idolatry (Jer. 2:20; Hos. 4:13), and typed the worship of prominent preachers and other men.—Psalm 37:35.

6:14. So will I stretch out My hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—Christendom is to be made more desolate than the wilderness surrounding Palestine, wiped off the face of the earth, to make way for the New Order of things, “the world to come” (Heb. 2:5), “wherein dwelleth righteousness.”—2 Pet. 3:13.

Ezekiel 7—Dawn Of The Evil Day

7:1‐6. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send Mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And Mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity; but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. An end is come, the end is come; it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.—Chapter 7 includes what Ezekiel saw in type and what the Ezekiel class now sees in antitype—the destruction of the symbolic earth (the social order), and the causes therefor; the escape of the remnant who will pass alive through the trouble into the better order of things; the defilement and destruction of God’s “ornament,” Christendom; and the binding and destruction of the rule of wicked might. Pastor Russell’s mission, in large part, was to advise Christendom of its impending end, in the time of world‐wide trouble. It is the Divine judgment upon the nations. They reap as they have sown. In times past God winked at the iniquity of men (Acts 17:30); but now evil shall receive its just recompense in the wrath of long‐insulted Justice. It will be a period of unmixed evil upon Christendom, the purpose of which will be to demonstrate to men’s certain knowledge that “thy God reigneth.” (Isa. 52:7.) There will be no chance of escaping from destruction, though the nations—as in cases of Germany, the Allies and the United States—earnestly seek in vain for some way of securing peace. The trouble is due to the dawning of the Day of Christ, the Millennium. It is the Day of Vengeance, which began in the world war of 1914 and which will break like a furious morning storm in 1918.—Lam. 4:18.

7:7‐9. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out My fury upon thee, and accomplish Mine anger upon thee; and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. And Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.—The chiefest sufferers will be those setting affections on earthly things, earth dwellers and earth lovers. Steep mountain valleys are full of echoing sounds, falling trees, dislodged rocks, avalanches, landslides, waterfalls, or the thunders of local storms. Earth’s nations have been resounding for centuries with local wars, seditions, revolutions, famine and pestilence. (A. 318.) These passed away; but the present commotion and impending revolution and anarchy will not cease, but will spread and increase until this order of things is destroyed.

7:10. Behold the Day, behold it is come: the Morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.—“Pride goeth before destruction.” (Prov. 16:18.) Human pride [among kaisers, clergy, labor leaders, and capitalists], has budded, blossomed forth into acts that will bring destruction. The rod is a symbol of authority. Organized authority is perverted from its Divinely appointed function of restraint and punishment of crime into a ruthless rule of might and bloodshed.

7:11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs; neither shall there be wailing for them.—Those who rule by violence shall be utterly rooted out of the earth in the Time of Trouble, unhonored and unwept (Jer. 16:4‐6), accursed for the evil they have wrought. The clergy, for whom many would even have died in the past, but who have preached the people into this war and into the world’s ruin, will become objects of popular hatred.

7:12. The time is come, the Day draweth near; let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.—The year 1918, with its fearful revolutions and succeeding anarchy, is at the door.

7:13. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.—This indicates the languishing and eventual decline and cessation of business. (Isa. 33:8.) Symbolically, it represents the ceasing of the clergy from “selling” religion and the people from buying. “Success consists in knowing how to be discreetly dishonest” is now a common rule of practice; but the time is at hand when iniquitous practices and precepts will no longer profit any.

7:14. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the Battle; for My wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.—There are other trumpets than the trumpet of Truth. Established error has its trumpet message. Ecclesiasticism, capitalism, and governments together have blown the trumpet of the Divine right of kings, magnates, and clergy, of the civic‐betterment gospel and of “preparedness.” Labor leaders have rallied the people to fight for their unions. Trumpet messages will summon the people of the world to yet other strife. But so furious and heart‐ breaking will be the trouble that none will have the spirit to respond. There is a hint here that conscription will meet with opposition.

7:15. The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.—Worldly people in Christendom, not professors of Christianity, will be pressed into the active fighting of the Time of Trouble and will perish. (Deut. 32:25; Jer. 14:18.) Those in the city refer to the professors of Christianity—church members.

7:16. But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.—There will be survivors of the Time of Trouble who will live on into the Millennium proper. Those of dove‐like character will be most likely to survive. The dove has a mournful note. This class will appreciate their iniquity, repent of it and pray for forgiveness and deliverance.—E. _231_, 212.

7:17. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.—The hands symbolize power. The people of Christendom will realize their helplessness. The extremity of the situation will weaken the strongest.—Zeph. 1:14; A. 315.

7:18. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.—In mourning for their dead, men’s minds and hearts will revolt at the horrors of the calamity. All will realize with shame that by drunkenness with Babylon’s mixed teachings (Rev. 17:2) they have brought the trouble on themselves. In grief the Hebrews shaved the head.—Isa. 3:24.

7:19. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed; their sliver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it is the stumbling‐block of their iniquity.—With the demonetization of silver, gold has become as a thing unclean (is losing its purchasing power). All forms of money, bonds, stocks and valuables will be worthless when governments are gone and whole nations are starving. (D. 45.) There was a literal fulfillment of this Scripture in 1898 when in Italy a miller who had publicly thanked the Virgin for dear bread, literally threw gold and silver to a crowd in the streets in a vain endeavor to pacify them. They demanded his life and took it.—Z. ’98‐331.

7:20. As for the beauty of His ornament, He set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein; therefore have I set it far from them.—“Jerusalem is a crown of glory and a royal diadem”. (Isa. 62:3.) Christianity, the embryonic Kingdom of God, was originally “His ornament,” in the apostolic age of the Church. Literal images were set up by the Hebrews in secret places, and to this day are worshipped by Romanists literally. Romanists and Protestants alike worship the images of world‐power, wealth, state‐church affiliation, clergy lordship, eternal torment, human immortality and trinity, all alike detestable to a jealous God. The actual ornament of God, His jewel, His diadem, is the true Church, composed mostly of the poor, rich in faith (Jas. 2:5)—of the reform element who since 1878 have been withdrawing from ecclesiasticism and coming to God.

7:21. And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.—The nominal jewel, churchianity, has become the prey of clerical and social anarchists.—D. 550.

7:22. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute My secret place; for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.—The secret place is the condition of consecration, which an apostate clergy pollute by misrepresentations, such as that bravery in battle, suffering in the trenches, devotion to a falling order of things (Hab. 2:13), win a place in Heaven—won only by loyal devotion to God’s Word, and by the spirit‐ begotten alone. “I am the Door. He that entereth in by another way is a robber.”—John 10:1.

7:23. Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.—Bind, unite them together, let the Divinely (!) appointed clergy and the governments for which they stand sponsor, make common cause. (D. 550.) Christendom is full of the beastly crimes of the most barbarous warfare ever known. A city symbolizes a government.

7:24. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.—Macaulay, the English historian, spoke of America as destined to be destroyed by its own Huns and Vandals, the unassimilated, uncivilized elements, especially of the cities. The anarchistic masses will literally live in the houses of the erstwhile rulers and prominent people. The display of power and magnificence of the strong one, Satan, the alleged eternal‐torment God, and the devil‐ worshipers of Christendom shall cease. Literally, the churches, Y. M. C. A.’s, monasteries and convents, supposedly holy, will be defiled by the impious.

7:25. Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.—There shall be no peace with God, or peace among the conflicting elements of society.

7:26. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.—Literally “accident upon accident” will befall the affairs of Christendom. (Jer. 4:29.) The people, wild with perplexity, will seek to the clergy for an understanding of the world‐holocaust; but the true Law, the Word of God, has departed from a clergy more learned in church politics and money‐raising schemes than in the Bible. The ancients, the “reverends,” college professors and savants do not know what counsel to give to meet the crisis.—Isa. 29:9‐14.

7:27. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—Satan shall mourn the downfall of his power, as will the heads of the savage, beastly governments under his control. (Matt. 4:8, 9.) “The exalted one” or prince, Satan’s chief representative among men, is the pope; and he, with his princes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and clergy, shall see the desolation due to their work.

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“O thou of little faith, who dost thou fear? The tempest hath no power when I am near; Will not the angry waves be still at My command? Step out, I’ll hold thy hand, Then, wherefore dost thou fear?”

Ezekiel 8—Molech, The Torment Deity

8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.—Chapters 8 to 24 continue the recital of the sins of Jerusalem, Christendom, and the Divine punishment to be inflicted on her. Chapter 8 refers literally to the temple, and its defilement by the seating of an idol of Baal at the door near the Brazen Altar, by the desecration of its interior with symbols of Egyptian heathenism and by the practicing of heathen worship within the temple. This types the condition of the spiritual Temple of God, “which Temple ye are”, the Church of God, originally pure and holy, but defiled by the clergy with pagan practices. The type refers back to 2 Chronicles 33:1‐9, where King Manasseh established heathen worship throughout Palestine, set up a carved image in Solomon’s temple and “made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err and to do worse than the heathens whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.” This resulted in Manasseh’s overthrow at the hands of the Assyrians. The name Manasseh means “causing forgetfulness.” He typed Satan, the god of this world, who, by his lying deceptions has made professing Christians forget God. Satan’s chief “angel of light” is the pope of Rome, ably seconded in keeping the people in the dark by the cardinals, bishops, priests, monks and sisters of apostate Rome and by the bishops and ministers of an apostate Protestantism. These keep “their people” from real Bible study, and encourage them in their forgetfulness of God and their individual obligations to God, the Word of God, to fellow‐Christians and to the world. The house is the House of the Sons of God, the consecrated. The elders, chosen by the people, represented all the people. The Protestant clergy continually sat before the Lord’s steward, could not pick up a paper that they did not see his sermons in it; but they would not hear his words, and they rejected him and the truths which he so plainly and so kindly stated.

8:2, 3. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.—Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the Ezekiel class is now taken up mentally into the powers of spiritual control, to discern the significance of the evil done by Satan and the clergy. They are brought to Jerusalem the anti‐typical, to consider established priestcraft. They are brought to the door of the inner gate, the gate of the altar between the people’s court and priest’s court—(the same as the Tabernacle court.) They are brought to the antitypical Temple, to the Chord of God, to the Lord’s people—“Ye are the Temple of God”. (1 Cor. 3:16.) “I am the Door” (John 10:9.) The Door represents Christ, through whom all that enter must come. The North symbolizes the seat of Divine government, the spiritual phase of the Kingdom. (Isa. 14:13.) The Door, Christ, looks toward, tends toward spiritual things. Those that enter through Christ are expected to look forward from the condition of belief to that of full consecration, the spirit‐begotten condition. In the Door, in the very place of Christ, Manasseh, type of the devil, and an apostate clergy set up an idol, an image of the Devil himself. Those who thereafter entered the court had to worship the image, typing that under clergy rule all entering the church, the condition of belief, had to do honor to Satan, whose seat of chief power is at Rome, and whose influence spreads wherever the clergy class is found.

The word “Baal” means “Lord.” The clergy have set themselves as lords over God’s heritage (1 Pet. 5:3), the Church. By perversion of the plain meaning of literal Bible statements, they have set up in the place of God the deity of the Devil. This God of Romanism and Protestantism is not one, but three; he inflicts tortures eternal; his favor can be bought for money; he dwells in earthly buildings (Acts 7:48), which are consecrated to him; he teaches the direct opposite of the Word of God—that the dead are alive; he favors spiritual adultery—the union of the church with the governments of this world; he fosters lordship of the clergy class. The clergy’s God is plainly not Jehovah, but the ancient deity, hoary with the iniquities of ages—Baal—the Devil himself. God pity the clergy, who have so long deceived themselves and the people with their “carved image, the work of their own hands!” “I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy.” (Zech. 1:14.) “I, Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God.” (Ex. 20:5.) There is little wonder that the literal typical Baal of the Jews and the anti‐ typical eternal‐torment God of the clergy should provoke Jehovah to jealousy.

8:4. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.—The usual place of the Shekinah Light was in the Most Holy between the cherubim above the golden Mercy Seat. It was from this glory that fire came out at times like lightning to consume and destroy iniquitous offenders. (Lev. 10:2.) It bodes ill for the devotees of the eternal‐torment god that the glory of Jehovah has come out against them.

8:5, 6. Then said He unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the North. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the North, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from My sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.—It is needless to look for abominations far off when such an abomination has been set up by “impudent children” at the very door of the Church.

8:7. And He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.—In Solomon’s temple the court of the priests was surrounded not by a simple wall, but by a row of rooms or chambers where the priests and Levites stayed. The hole in the wall was an opening or window into one of the chambers.

8:8. Then said He unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall, and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.—The wall was the wall of secrecy, misrepresentation and deception, by reason of which the pagan practices and beliefs of various classes of professed Christians were hidden from publicity and consequent popular judgment. A little was known about them, represented by the little hole in the wall. It is the work of the Ezekiel class to dig through the wall and throw the light on these hidden things. The time has come for judgment, and for everything that is done in a chamber to be proclaimed from the housetops. (Luke 12:3.) Once the wall of secrecy is dug through, the door is open to see whatever transpires.

8:9. And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.—The court typifies the condition of faith—tentative justification. The chambers surrounded the court. They symbolize the condition of those who profess faith and justification, but whose lives and beliefs contradict their professions.

8:10. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.—To the Egyptians, artistic portrayals of creatures had a religious significance. All kinds of living creatures were worshipped. Chief of these was the bull Apis, which symbolized life and especially the power of procreation. The devotees of the antitype are never so happy as when giving life to new spiritual offspring. The children thus begotten are mostly tares. But few of them have the life that comes from consecration to the Word of God. The revivalist and the clergy care little for any begotten of the Word of God and do little to help them grow up in Christ. They grow, if at all, like starved, neglected children. As the service of this worship could be conducted only by the regular priests of Egypt, so the antitypical work can be done only by the man‐made clergy class of the world (Egypt) and those “ordained” by them. Among the creeping things, objects of worship, was the fly—the evangelist. (Rev. 16:2.) The prince of the flies was Beelzebub. Flies breed in and feed upon the “dung hill of Popish decretals” and other “traditions of men.” They never get far above earthly things, but circulate in the lower strata of the air—ecclesiasticism. They bite and annoy both worldly people and the Lord’s people, as did the plague of flies in Egypt, and are specially persistent in the humid condition of a rain—a downpour of Truth. These, like all clergy‐approved workers, are looked up to, worshipped by the people of Christendom. Other creeping things that fly signify degrading of forbidden beliefs and practices, attractive, garbed in the cloak of religion, under church auspices, as typed by their flying in the air, ecclesiastical powers; but they are displeasing to God and tending toward death.

8:11. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.—Worshipping the pictured images were the elders, or ancients, appointed by and representing all the people of Jerusalem. Jaazaniah was a Levite, typical of a believer in Christ. The word Shaphan means “sly”, and suggests the slyness of the adherents of wrong beliefs. Jaazaniah means “God is listening,” and signifies the fact that whatever “Christian” sinners may say, God is actually paying attention. The censer was used to carry the fire in which incense was burned. (Rev. 8:3.) It types the bearing of the fiery trials signified by the fire. The devotees of error suffer in its behalf, as Truth people suffer for the Truth. Incense types the heart’s best endeavors, here wrongly directed by many professing Christians in the service of Satan, as were Saul’s in persecuting Christians. (Acts 22:3, 4.) Tares are often more devoted to their errors than are the Lord’s people to the Truth. “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8.) It was unlawful for a Hebrew to burn incense, except as in the regular temple service. It is an abomination for a professing Christian to put forth his heart’s best endeavors except in the service of God.

8:12. Then said He unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.—These departures from true Christian belief are carried on “in the dark.” (John 3:19.) Every tare, imitation Christian, has his own peculiar beliefs and practices in “the chamber of his imagery,” his mind. Because God knows how to defer retribution until the Day of Judgment (2 Pet. 2:9), these unwise ones delude themselves that the All‐Seeing One does not see. Those not familiar with the Divine Plan of the Ages, seeing the conditions of savage war trending into worse things, apparently have the delusion that the Lord has forsaken the earth.

8:13, 14. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then He brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.—Tammuz means “perfect (tam) by burning” (muz). He was a heathen god whose death was lamented annually by women idolaters. He was the god of fire worship, the same as Molech, to whom children were burned alive. He types the eternal‐torment‐purgatory God, who perfects (supposedly) by the fires of purgatory. The women weeping for him typify the once‐virgin churches, who honor the alleged hell‐fire god and lament the ones in the fire. There is a unity of heathen religions with apostate “Christianity” which stamps them all as pagan. The original heathen god was Nimrod, “the mighty hunter” of Gen. 10:8‐14, where is related the origin of Babylon and Ninevah. Nimrod led men and women from the true religion of devout Noah into gross sensuality and neglect of the worship of Jehovah. He was beloved by fallen women. For his iniquitous influence, Nimrod was condemned to death by the council of judges; and his dead body was cut into pieces, which were sent to all parts of the inhabited world, with the threat of death to any who practiced his evil ways. Nimrod married his own mother, Semiramis, so that, in a sense, he was his own father and his own son. Here was the origin of the Trinity doctrine.

Nation Father‐Husband Son The Woman

Asia Decius Cybele Assyria Winged bull Babylonia Lord of Heaven Babylonia Ninus Tammuz Queen of Heaven Chaldea Bal Ishtar Chaldea Cahna‐Bel The Seed (Cannibal) Chaldea Molech Ashtaroth Chaldea Zoroaster The Seed of the Fire China Child Madonna Egypt Apis bull Cow of Athor Egypt Osiris Horus Isis English The Devil Greece Bacchus Rhea Greece Capricornus Astarte Greece Kissos Mother of gods Greece Kronos Aphrodite Greece Orion Babe Ceres Greece Saturn Venus Greece Plutus Irene India Vishnu Christina India Tsi Eswara Italy Pope Virgin Mary Japan Child Madonna Nineveh Nimrod Nimrod Semiramis Palestine Baal Persia Sun Moon Persia Sun God Persia Child Madonna Philistia Dagon Rome Jupiter Jupiter Puer Fortuna Scandinavia Woden Thor Frieda Thibet Child Madonna

The practices of Nimrod were continued in secret by Semiramis; and as every caution had to be taken, the things done were veiled in mystery. Each act and person was represented only in symbols known to the initiated. Here originated the various secret societies, with their blood‐ curdling oaths of secrecy—Masonry, Oddfellowship, Jesuitism, Knights of Malta, and so on. These are lineal descendants of the “mysteries” of pagan sensuality, all of them abominations to God. Semiramis, to further her schemes, pretended that Nimrod, the father‐son, had been raised from the dead in the form of the sun, which thus became an object of worship. She represented herself as the moon, which was also adored. This was the original Trinity—Nimrod the father, Nimrod, or Tammuz, the son and Semiramis the mother, the power, or spirit, back of all. As the people multiplied and scattered they took with them this heathen Trinity which appears in various nations in the partial list shown on the preceding page.

These under inspiration of the Devil, put the false seed of the woman—Nimrod, Tammuz, etc.,—in the stead of the true Seed, pushed Jehovah aside, then into the background, and then out altogether. The Devil, through the Pope of Rome, substituted forms of paganism for the simplicity of true Christianity. “Such things are,” says Cardinal Newman, “the very instruments and appendages of demon worship,” but “sanctified by adoption into the church.” Roman Catholicism is a heathen religion. Protestantism also worships Molech, the fire god, Tammuz, the deity of torture, whom popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, clergy, ministers, and laymen unite in honoring and worshipping under the delusion that they are worshipping Jehovah, God of Abraham, the true God of the Bible. However, ignorantly, “they worship devils.”—1 Cor. 10:20.

8:15, 16. Then said He unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.—In the court itself (1 Ki. 6:36), in the very presence of the blood‐ bought sacrifice, these men were gathered. Only priests and Levites might be in this court. They typified the believers and spirit‐begotten ones of the Christian Church. They were divided into about twenty‐five courses or sections and served in rotation. These typed the divisions of Christians into about twenty‐five principal denominations. In the United States these are Adventists, Baptists, Brethren (Dunkards), Catholics (Greek), Christian, Churches of Christ Scientist, Churches of God, Congregationalists, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical, Friends, German Evangelical Protestant, German Evangelical Synod, Latter Day Saints, Lutherans, Scandinavian Evangelical, Menonites, Moravians, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Protestant Episcopals, Reformed, Salvation Army, and United Brethren. With their backs toward the Temple of the Lord (Jer. 2:27), these treat with contempt and scorn the little company of God’s true saints, rich in faith, “the Temple.” To turn the back is a gross insult. Their faces are toward the east. (Jer. 8:2.) All these denominations worship the fire‐god, the sun, the heathen god whose identity with paganism appears foregoing.

8:17. Then He said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger; and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.—So lightly do modern Babylonians, apostate religionists, regard their abominable beliefs, that they will not even give consideration to the presentation of the truth about Jehovah and His Divine Plan of the Ages. It is the church—clergy and members—who brought on the barbarous world‐war. They could have stood like a rock for peace; but the clergy, with devilish exhortations, urged their fellow‐savages to bloodshed. The Divine judgment has gone against them and soon will swallow them up in the earthquake (revolution) and fire (anarchy) of the Time of Trouble. The last clause should read. “They send a stench to My nostrils.”

Destructive Criticism Of The Bible

8:18. Therefore will I also deal in fury; Mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.—The fury of “Christians” in this savage war will be visited upon them in the succeeding revolution and anarchy. When the real Time of Trouble is on, after the war, Christendom will realize the terrible truth that it is the punishment of Divine Justice—and will pray mightily to God. Their prayers cannot be favorably answered (Prov. 1:28) until “the great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14) has finished its work of “bruising to heal.”—Hos. 6:1.

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“In the world despised, neglected, Deemed its refuse and its dross, She whose Lord the earth rejected Shares His sorrow, bears His loss.”

Ezekiel 9—The Man With The Inkhorn

9:1. He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.—Chapter 9 depicts the slaughter of the idolaters of Jerusalem. It types the literal slaughter of the spiritual idolaters of Christendom in the Time of Trouble, and also their destruction as tares (Matt. 13:40) by the Word of Truth, which will manifest their true condition and cause them to cease the pretense of being Christians. The picture corresponds to the harvesting of wheat and tares by the sickle of Truth (Rev. 14:15), and the burning of the tares. There is a two‐fold significance here—those having material charge of Christendom, and those having spiritual charge (D. 527.) The first class comprises the rulers of the great nations; the second class, the feet members of the Little Flock (Luke 12:32)—“All things are yours.” (1 Cor. 3:21); “Inheritors of the Kingdom” (Gal. 5:21); “Given charge of all His goods” (Luke 12:44), the Bible truths. The first class has as weapons the armies and navies. The second has the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

Seats Free And No Collection Was Never Babylon’s Slogan

9:2. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the North, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.—The six with earthly weapons are the rulers of the six great nations—Russia, Germany, Austria, France, England and Italy. The six with the Sword of the Spirit symbolize all the Elijah class, the six, with one other, making up the seven, the complete number. These have their commission from “the north,” from the seat of Divine Dominion, from God Himself. Practically all Bible translators and commentators agree that the one with a writer’s inkhorn by his side was not one of the six, but a seventh, garbed as a priest, or as a clerk or officer in an army of the East. The linen signifies the imputed righteousness of Christ, (Rev. 19:8.) The writer’s inkhorn symbolizes that the seventh man’s function was to write. God identified him thus: When THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY was at Allegheny, Pa., an open Bible was to be painted on one of the large front window of the office. A sign painter, not in the Truth, painted the open Bible; and without instruction from any one, of his own volition, he painted the Bible as open at Ezekiel, Chapter 9. The man in linen was the Laodicean servant, the Lord’s faithful and wise steward, Pastor Russell. When Pastor Russell saw this, he turned pale. Ezekiel seeing the man in linen, types Pastor Russell thereafter seeing himself to be the antitype of that man—one of the most prolific writers of the Age, and the only one to write and publish widely the glad tidings of the actual Second Presence of Christ. The seven men stood beside the brazen altar—there, in connection with God’s Plan, based upon the Ransom sacrifice to receive their Divinely appointed commission.

9:3. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side.—One of the four living creatures is here designated a “cherub.” This one was Justice, about to operate upon the iniquities of ecclesiasticism. The threshold of the house refers to the door of the Holy, the condition of the spirit‐ begotten. “The spirit of glory and of God is upon thee.” (1 Pet. 4:14) The message was to sound forth from the Lord’s consecrated people during the Harvest of the Gospel Age, from 1878 to 1918.

9:4. And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.—The center of Christendom is the nations of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. Hither and thither, traveling and preaching for nearly forty years Pastor Russell obeyed this command; and through the printed page of books, tracts and newspapers he went into every corner of the world. “Set a mark”, literally “set a ‘_tav_’ upon the foreheads.” The “_Tav_” was the twenty‐second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and in its earlier form had the shape of a cross (†). The forehead signifies the intellect (Rev. 7:3; 14:1). Pastor Russell’s great work was to imprint indelibly in the minds of certain ones the truth about the Cross, the sacrifice of the Christ, Head and Body, and the part of the Church therein. It was the duty of the clerk or officer of an oriental army to mark the people, either for slaughter or to be left untouched. The “mourners in Zion” (Isa. 61:3) are those faithful ones in Christendom that appreciate that conditions are evil in churchianity, perhaps without understanding just how. All these are to be marked in their minds with the knowledge of the Present Truth.

9:5. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity.—After Pastor Russell’s writings have reached an individual, the other members of the Elijah class, the “Truth people,” approach him with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. This is to each individual a “savor of life to life, or of death to death.” (2 Cor. 2:14‐16.) Those not believing Present Truth will become only the more confirmed in error. (2 Thes. 2:11.) They will be smitten by the Sword of the Spirit, which in them will operate at this time to destroy any pretense of being Christians, and cause them to take their proper stand as worldings—to be destroyed as tares. In this, God’s “strange work” (Isa. 28:21), the Word of God will operate seemingly without pity, to separate the people into two classes, in Present Truth or out of it. In a literal sense the rulers of this evil Age will pitilessly carry the Sword throughout the lengths and breadths of Christendom.

9:6. Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My Sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.—Here are depicted the savagery of the revolutions and the anarchy succeeding the great war. Though they are to be literally martyred, the consecrated in Present Truth cannot be hurt of either slaughter weapon; their hopes and their treasures are in Heaven (Matt. 6:20), and no earthly calamity can in any wise work them ill. Symbolically the Sword of the Spirit will do no harm to mature Christians—“men,”—but many young or undeveloped believers, not having the Holy Spirit, regardless of sex, will fall as tares, as will all of the idol worshipers of Christendom. The literal trouble will begin with a revolutionary outburst of anarchy against the churches and the clergy (1 Pet. 4:17), as responsible for the trouble because of having preached the people into the war, in the face of innumerable Scriptures against fighting with carnal weapons (Matt. 5:39, 44; John 18:11; 2 Cor. 10:4) and of those teaching Christians to love one another and to forgive trespasses (Luke 6:27‐38), personal or national. (Rom. 12:17‐21.) The Sword of the Spirit will begin its work with the sanctuary class, the professing Christians (1 Pet. 4:17). It will begin with “the ancient men”, the representatives of the people—the clergy, doctors of divinity, priests, bishops and other ecclesiastics.

9:7. And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.—Typically the house of God was defiled by a dead body. The Temple, the Body of Christ, the true Church, is defiled by the presence in it of any one who has become spiritually dead. The priests and Levites alone might enter the priests’ court; and this types that many professing to be consecrated Christians will lose all claim to being followers of Christ—be slain religiously. So many will thus lose belief that Christendom will be filled with them. Literally the sanctuaries and the streets of Christendom will be filled with the slain of the Time of Trouble.

9:8. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou destroy all the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon Jerusalem?—It will almost seem that none in Christendom will escape alive; and, indeed, “Except those days be shortened, no flesh should be saved.”—Matt. 24:22.

9:9, 10. Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. And as for Me also, Mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have any pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.—On account of the light of the Gospel of Love they possess, both Romanism and Protestantism are guilty to an extraordinary degree before God. Christendom, through its savage wars, is drenched with blood. Churchianity is full of wilful sin. God will seem to have left the social order to its own destruction.

9:11. And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by His side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded me.—Pastor Russell was faithful to his great task of writing and publishing the Truth and imprinting the “_tav_” of Present Truth in the minds of the spirit‐begotten. In October, 1916, he died, and beyond the veil has, ere this, undoubtedly, reported in the presence of Christ that he has done the work he was given to do.

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“Faithful when with tears thine eyes were dim, Faithful when joys’ cup o’erflowed its brim; Faithful when God seemed to veil His face, Faithful when He crowned thy work with grace, Faithful till was fled life’s fleeting breath, Eager hands were folded still in death.”

Ezekiel 10—Scattering Coals Of Fire

10:1. Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.—Verses 1, 8‐11, 12, 14‐22 are explained in Chapter 1. The repetition of the symbols of the Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power of God, of the wings (Word of God), of the wheels, and the wondrous light, are assurances that in the anarchous destruction of Christendom, our Father is acting wisely, justly, lovingly and in accordance with His Word and Plan for the good of mankind.—T. 125.

10:2. And He spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.—Ezekiel, typing Pastor Russell, sees himself as acting in the manner here described. He was to go in between the wheels, to do his work in accordance with the Divine Plan, to act under the dictates of the Divine Justice, “the cherub.” The coals of fire are symbolic of the fiery trials, distress, “great tribulation,” with which Christendom will be overwhelmed in the last period of the Time of Trouble, and the prophecies of these events. (Rev. 8:5.) These Divinely permitted troubles have the approval of Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power, as necessary from every viewpoint, and the inevitable retribution of a long‐ forbearing God. Pastor Russell was to do this work,—“fill his hand,” with all his might, to devote himself wholly to this task. Over the whole world was scattered the warning of impending trouble.—D. 57.

10:3. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.—The cherubim stood by the nominal Temple class—to inquire and visit the offences of Christendom. The house was on their left, the place of disfavor. When no priests were in the Holy, it was filled with a cloud. In 1 Kings 8:10 and in 2 Chron. 5:11‐14 the cloud filled the Holy, and the priests were unable to serve there because of it. When the cloud filled the Court, no one could see to serve in it. This types that in the Harvest period, from 1878 to 1918, while Pastor Russell was dispensing as part of the “food in due season” the impending downfall of Christendom, those who had been serving in the believing Court condition—clergy and other church workers—were no longer permitted to do so. It corresponds to the passing of the stewardship from the clergy to Pastor Russell in 1878. This applies also to verse 4, where the presence of the cloud also types the presence of Jehovah to visit punishment for wickedness.—B. 138.

10:4. Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.—Pastor Russell saw more clearly than any one in this end of the Age the glorious Gospel of God in the Ransom for all (Court and altar).

10:5. And the sound of the cherubim’s wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.—Here is indicated the sounding forth of the Word of God through Pastor Russell’s proclamation of Present Truth. The inner Court typed the condition of faith and justification, and the outer Court typed the condition of those not fully believing, nor directly serving God. The preaching and writings of Pastor Russell were heard by all classes of believers and unbelievers. It was the voice of Jehovah, represented as almighty to save, that was heard throughout the world.

10:6. And it came to pass that when He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.—In the Divine Plan of the Ages Pastor Russell was to find clearly indicated the great tribulation then close at hand.

10:7. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereof and put it into the hands of him clothed with linen; who took it, and went out.—Justice gave to Pastor Russell the knowledge of impending troubles, to go out and publish to Christendom.

10:8. And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings.—The work of witness here depicted is carried out by human beings, under the power and protection of the Word of God.

10:9‐11. And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone. And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.—See Chapter 1 for explanation. The leading face in the head was the man’s face, typical of Divine Love. This is the dominating attribute of God’s character, directing the course of the other three.

10:12. And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels they four had.—Every part of the Divine character, as well as every operation of the Divine attributes and of the human beings through which God acts is full of Wisdom.—B. 305.

10:13. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.—Very emphatic was the Divine directing of the attention toward the wheels—the Divine Plan of the Ages. Pastor Russell always directed the Bible student’s mind toward the great Plan.

10:14‐22. And every one had four faces; the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubim were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. And when the cherubim went, the wheels went by them: and the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also; for the spirit of the living creature was in them. Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubim. Every one had four faces apiece, and every one had four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearance and themselves: they went every one straight forward.—See explanation of these verses in Chapter 1. (Hos. 9:12) “Yea, woe also to them when I depart from them.”

Ezekiel 11—The Wicked Counsel

11:1. Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the Lord’s house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah, the son of Azur, and Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.—The east gate types Christ, the entrance to true Christianity. (John 10:9.) At the door of the gate were the leading sects, Jaazaniah, the son of Azur (helper) types the idea that by self‐help man can please God. Pelatiah (Jah delivers), the son of Benaiah (Jah is intelligent), types the belief that earthly wisdom will deliver the world from its difficulties. (1 Cor. 1:21.) These were “princes among the people”—very popular ideas.

11:2. Then said He unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city.—These teachings have actuated many of the erroneous beliefs and wicked acts of nominal Christians.

11:3. Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.—Ecclesiasticism’s thought is that the Time of Trouble is not near, and the destruction of Christendom is not to be thought of. (1 Thes. 5:3.) “Let us build houses” is an expression implying confidence in the permanence of things as they are. (2 Pet. 3:4.) “This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh” (Jer. 1:13) is a proverb, here applied to the iron sides of the caldron keeping away the fire, or in antitype civil and military powers, protecting from actual anarchy (fire), however hot things may become.

11:4, 5. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak: Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come unto your mind, every one of them.—The false teachings of the clergy are nothing new. Every one of them is the old worship of Nimrod and Baal.

11:6. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.—There never was a war that a clergy did not preach “their people” into it, and multiply the slain. Furthermore, the number is legion of those who would have liked to gain spiritual life, but the clergy have discouraged (John 7:48), and in millions of cases caused their actual death.

11:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.—Another sense in which the Jerusalem Jews used this proverb was that the Jews taken captive into Babylon were worthless, and they in Jerusalem were the valuable flesh remaining. (Mi. 3:3.) God here tells that the only ones to remain in Christendom will be the literally dead, or those who are dead to the claims of Mystic Babylon. These have the best chance of surviving the trouble. The walls, defences, military and police, will be broken down by war and revolution; and nothing can save the adherents of ecclesiasticism from their fate.

11:8. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a Sword upon you, saith the Lord.—The devotees of established priestcraft fear both the literal sword and the Sword of the Spirit. The armies of the nations will be in open revolt against the established powers, religious, political and economic. Also the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, will cut through all pretense and bring about the death of religion in all not begotten of the Holy Spirit.

11:9. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.—Christendom win fall literally into the hands of revolutionists and anarchists, Industrial Workers of the World, Syndicalists, Socialists, unfriendly to established systems, and spiritually into the power of the Word of God in the hands of His “strangers.” (1 Pet. 1:1; 2:11,) a “just recompense of reward.” (Heb. 2:2.)

11:10, 11. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel.—The Jews taken captive out of Jerusalem were tried and slain at Riblah (a bare place) outside of Palestine, typifying that the destroying judgments on Christendom will come upon her after her institutions have gone to pieces, and she is desolated.

11:12. And ye shall know that I am the Lord: for ye have not walked in My statutes, neither executed My judgments, but have done after the manner of the heathen that are round about you.—The people of Christendom will finally appreciate that their distress is a punishment from God, because of not having followed the plain injunctions of the Bible, having mistaught the Word of God, and having lived no better than unbelievers.

11:13. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?—While Pastor Russell’s reasonable and Divinely appointed teachings are doing their good work throughout Christendom the idea that human wisdom, Prussian culture, etc., can save the old order of things, will be seen lifeless.

11:14. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Verses 14 to 25 are the message of comfort and hope to those who are now out of harmony with ecclesiasticism.

11:15. Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord: unto us is this land given in possession.—The Jews in captivity were despised by those remaining in the “holy” city, Jerusalem. They type the people of Christendom who honestly own themselves to be of the world and are despised by the “best people,” the educated, religious “holy” Churchianity. “Get you far from the Lord” is the attitude of the tares toward those who do not pretend as much, but who are often much better in God’s sight. The “best people” not merely own most of the earth now, but expect to own Heaven too—with the now worldly people forever consigned to a devil‐imagined hell of eternal torment.

11:16. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.—God especially favors the honest‐hearted, humble‐ minded, however far they may now be from Him in outward appearance. Christ avoided the Scribes and the Pharisees, but freely associated with the publicans and sinners.

11:17. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.—In the coming Kingdom God will gather first the outcasts from their condition of disfavor, even from the dead, and will give them possession of the earth before the proud‐minded ecclesiastics are permitted to return from the dead. This is to have also a literal fulfillment on Fleshly Israel.—Z. ’94‐76.

11:18. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.—The common people, free from the perverse influence of priestcraft, in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom will abolish all the clergy‐ fostered ideas and practices now so abominable to God.

11:19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.—They will be single‐hearted to serve God and do His will alone. (Jer. 32:39.) From having the spirit or mind of natural men they will be given the Holy Spirit, when God “pours out His Spirit upon all flesh.” (A. 333; Z. ’03‐171.) From being hard‐hearted they will become tender‐hearted, forgiving one another even as God, for Christ’s sake will forgive them.—Eph. 4:32.

11:20. That they may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.—They will keep God’s Law of Divine love. The “best people,” who now regard themselves as God’s people, in the Age to come will learn that God opposes the proud and favors the humble.

11:21. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God.—Those who at heart love established ecclesiasticism are counted as having the heart, mind or will of the author of priestcraft, the Devil. “Ye generation of serpents (devils), how scarcely shall ye escape the condemnation of Gehenna (Second Death).”—Matt. 23:33.

11:22, 23. Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.—God, and Divine favor, has ceased to be in or with Christendom (D. 527), but is upon and with the true Kingdom (mountain) of God (A. 318), toward the east (Zech. 14:4), the antitypical Mount of Olives.—D. 653.

11:24, 25. Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the Lord had shewed me.—These things seen in the Scriptures are now preached and published to the captives in Mystic Babylon.

Ezekiel 12—Christendom’s Blind Flight

12:1, 2. The word of the Lord also came unto me saying, Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house.—In Chapter 12:1‐16 is depicted the blind flight of Christendom into revolution and anarchy. Pastor Russell and his co‐workers once dwelt in the midst of the rebellious nominal house, or church, of God, with eyes blinded and ears made deaf by their spiritual defection.—Matt. 13:13.

12:3. Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: It may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.—He found in the Bible the Truth of God, which exhorts to “come out of her, O My people” (Rev. 18:4); and in obedience, he came out of his church home into a condition of separateness, by every means of publicity (in their sight) drawing the attention to his removal, in the hope that those left behind might turn truly back to God.

12:4. Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.—In their estimation, he did this as one taken by the Evil One.

12:5. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.—He dug through the creeds walls and thus “came out of her.”

12:6. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.—To them he was one not knowing whither he went, with eyes blinded; whereas his action and his publishing of the Truth was but God’s way of beseeching Christendom and warning her of her own fate.

12:7. And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.—Pastor Russell and the Truth people did this with their limited power (hand), and laboriously (upon shoulder) made their way with their goods, the precious Truths, “out of her.”

12:8‐9. And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?—The nominal church (home) of Spiritual Israel have often inquired of Pastor Russell and of the Truth people, “What doest thou?”

12:10. Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.—The import of the answer concerns the exalted class (prince, exalted one), the lords in Christendom, the clergy, and all professing Christians that are with them.

12:11. Say, I am your sign, like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.—What has been, is a lesson for them; as the Royal Priesthood has done, so shall it be done unto them; they shall move down from their exalted place and go into captivity to the laborite and revolutionary elements. The Jews were literally to go into captivity into ancient Babylon, which they did.

12:12. And the prince that is among them shell bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby; he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.—As to the Jews, their ruler Zedekiah was by night to try to escape from Jerusalem, but he should not see the way. Regarding Christendom’s clergy, they shall at the close of their day, abandon Christendom in the time of revolution, to save what they can for themselves, and “get out of her.” They shall find a still more worldly way out of their creed walls and shall be self‐blinded to the real condition of society (the earth).

12:13. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.—Like a snare shall revolution, in the guise of freedom for all, come upon them; and, utterly blind to the significance of world events, they shall be forced into revolution and anarchy, and there shall this lordly class come to its end. (Hos. 7:12.) The literal application upon King Zedekiah is of course understood; for he went to Babylon, but never saw it, because his eyes were put out.

12:14. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.—God will scatter in war, tumult and confusion and in error; all that adhere to the clergy class, and all their congregations (bands); and against them shall He direct weapons of war and the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit.

12:15. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.—And they shall appreciate that Jehovah is God, when this has come.

12:16. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—From among them God will leave a few manly believers, who shall escape the sword, the famine, literal and of the Word, and from the pestilential errors; that they, as then faithful members of the Great Company, may explain to the revolutionists and anarchists the Truth about the Divinely forbidden doctrines and deeds of the clergy, and their following.

12:17, 18. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness.—The Lord’s people were to eat, drink and live with great economy.

12:19. And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.—They were to say to the people of Christendom: “God says to the clergy and people of nominal Spiritual Israel, the churches: You shall eat your food by measure, and with economy—on the food‐ticket plan—and drink your Truth with amazement at the famine; for Christendom is to be desolated of its people, because of the violent wars, and the revolutions and anarchy of the people.”

12:20. And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—The governments (cities) shall be destroyed and the social order desolated in anarchy; and they shall feel the outworkings of Jehovah’s purposes upon them.

12:21, 22. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?—Nominal clergy and Christians say concerning the Bible, that this Age will last for thousands of years and that Bible prophecies fail of fulfillment—2 Pet. 3:4.

12:23. Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.—God says that He will make their saying to cease; for close at hand is the Time of Trouble and of the Kingdom of God, and the fulfillment of prophecy.

12:24. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.—There shall be no more, in the churches, delusive theories of the everlasting welfare of Christendom or of evolution, or immortality, or flattering prediction of peace, peace.—Lam. 2:14.

12:25. For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; It shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.—Jehovah’s Word shall come to pass promptly, in the present day.—Isa. 55:11.

12:26, 27. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.—The clergy say that Pastor Russell’s predictions of early trouble and the setting up of the Kingdom are for hundreds or thousands of years to come, and about things that are far off.—Amos. 6:3.

12:28. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the Word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.—Jehovah says that none of the words spoken through His servant Pastor Russell, shall wait any longer for fulfillment, but the things shall come as spoken.

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“Sometime, when all life’s lessons have been learned, And sun and stars forevermore have set, The things which our weak judgment here has spurned— The things o’er which we grieved with lashes wet— Will flash before us out of life’s dark night, As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue; And we shall see how all God’s plans were right, And how what seemed unkind was love most true.”

Ezekiel 13—The Gaps In The Wall

13:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the Word of the Lord.—God’s Word is to write and speak against the preachers of Christendom that say things originating in their own imaginations; let them listen now to the Words of Jehovah.

13:3. Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.—Woe to the foolish preachers, who as blind leaders have seen nothing respecting today’s crisis in the Word of God, or in the signs of the times!

13:4. O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.—O Christendom, thy preachers will be like cunning foxes, finding profit in the desolation of their country!

13:5. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the Day of the Lord.—They have not preached God’s Truth to fill up the breaches among Christendom’s defenders, or to build up the broken‐down forsakers of Christendom’s moral and spiritual defenses, to enable Christendom to have strength to stand before God in the Time of Trouble.

13:6. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the Word.—They have taken and taught fallacious and delusive theories of evolution, destructive criticism of the Bible, the Divine right of kings and of clergy, and preached their people into savage warfare, saying it was the Word of God, when God has not said it; and they have made others believe their lies.

13:7. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken.—They have misrepresented Jehovah.

13:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God.—Wherefore God is against them.

13:9. And Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.—God will stretch out His hand against these preachers. They shall not be in the Church triumphant (Heb. 12:23), nor shall they be written as members of the spirit‐born Great Company; nor shall they enter the Heavenly phase of the Kingdom.

13:10. Because, even because they have seduced My people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar.—Because the clergy have deceived and ruined Christendom (Micah 3:5‐7) proclaiming peace when there was no peace (Jer. 6:14); and when one of them would build up a slight wall of workers of earthly, civic, social betterment, the others would bind it together with the binder of self‐interest, not with truth (water) or love.

13:11. Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall; there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.—It shall fall; there shall be an overflowing downpour of the water of Truth; and hard truths, great hard facts shall fall upon the wall; and gigantic wars and world wide commotion shall tear to pieces the preachers’ earthly‐civic‐social defense.

13:12. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye daubed it?—Behold, when Christendom’s slight defense against the forces of evil, is fallen, it shall be inquired of the clergy, “Where is that worthless, loveless, selfish binder wherewith you inefficiently cemented together its members?”

13:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in My fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in Mine anger, and great hailstones in My fury to consume it.—Therefore God says: I will destroy your defense with a furious storm of war and revolution, with a flood of Truth and great hard facts.

13:14. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—So will I break down your flimsy defenses of selfishness; they shall fall and you shall be buried in their fall.

13:15. Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it.—The defense of Christendom exists no more, neither they that plastered it with showy self‐interest.

13:16. To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her when there is no peace.—Namely, the preachers of Christendom who preach peace when there is no peace.

13:17. Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them.—God directs true Christians to set their faces against the man‐made churches, which preach things of their own imagining.

13:18. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of My people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?—Woe to the churches (women) that practice superstition (sew amulets about their elbows—an oriental method of incantation), and wear veils of mystery to ensnare men.

13:19. And will ye pollute Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My people that hear your lies?—Shall they continue to profane and prostitute My name among My people, for the price of the spiritual fornication of church‐state union (barley was the customary offering for an adulteress) and for the weekly collections offering, to discourage, persecute and kill the godly?

13:20. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.—God will strip the churches of the power of their superstitions, and will let the people go out of the bondage.

13:21. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—Their veil of mystery will He tear away, and deliver His people, the Great Company, out of bondage.

13:22. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.—Wherefore the churches shall no more hold forth delusive hopes.

Ezekiel 14—Insincere Inquirers

14:1. Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.—There will come certain of the clergy of Christendom to the Truth people to listen and inquire.

14:2, 3. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?—God’s Word for them will be that these men have insincerely set up in their hearts their idols of gold, power, etc., and with a pretended face‐to‐face sincerity, have retained their iniquitous stumbling block of love of sin. Should God be inquired of at all by such men?

14:4. Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh, according to the multitude of his idols:—Every man in the nominal church that insincerely clings to his idols and to his love of iniquity, and yet comes to one of God’s people, Jehovah will answer not with words, but with the retribution deserved for his idolatry.

14:5. That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols.—God will treat the nominal Christian church in a manner like their own insincere hearts, because by the idols they serve they are all estranged from their love for Him.—2 Thes. 2:11, 12.

14:6. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.—Say first to them: Repent of your evil deeds, turn away from your idols, O Christendom, and resolutely turn your faces unto Him, and from superstition, error, and from practices which are abominable to His standards.

14:7. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from Me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me; I the Lord will answer him by Myself.—Every church member and every one associated with him, who ceases to love God supremely, sets his heart upon other subjects of love or worship, clings to iniquitous practices, and then comes to the Truth people to find what God says, verily Jehovah Himself will answer him—with deeds, not with words merely.

14:8. And I will set My face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—God will thoroughly disfavor that man, and make him an example and a by‐word; He will cut him off from a place among His people.

14:9. And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.—And if any preacher—even one of the Truth people—shall get so wrong in heart that he is deceived in what he says (Jer. 20:7), Jehovah will “send him a strong delusion that he should believe a lie,” and will be against him and will destroy him from the midst of His people.

14:10. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him.—Both shall bear the same punishment for their iniquity—the preachers and the man that listens to him.

14:11. That the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be My people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.—Professed Christian people shall stray no longer from Him, nor become unclean spiritually through their wrongdoing, but may truly be God’s people, and He their God.

14:12, 13. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, when the land sinneth against Me by trespassing grievously then will I stretch out Mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it.—When a whole country sins against God with grievous, willful sin, then will He exercise His power against it, and cut off the necessary supply of material (Lev. 26:26) and spiritual food—send a famine of food and of the Word of God upon it, and cut off all life from it.

14:14. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.—Though in that country were the three most upright men of history, Noah, Daniel and Job—typing here the Little Flock, the Great Company, and the Household of Faith—they should by their righteousness save but their own lives.

14:15. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts.—God has caused savage governments to overrun Christendom with military and naval forces, and to ruin and desolate it, so that no manly independent man can exist there.

14:16. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.—Though these three classes be in Christendom, they shall deliver no one but themselves; they only shall be delivered, but Christendom shall be desolated.

14:17. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:—God has brought upon Christendom destroying weapons (Lev. 26:25), and the Sword of the Spirit is to go through Christendom and cut off all that can be cut off, and no one shall save aught but himself.

14:18, 19. Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast.—God will permit a pestilence, both of literal disease and of pestilential errors in Christendom, in wrath to take away life.

14:20, 21. Though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughters; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem—the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence—to cut off from it man and beast.—Christendom is so corrupt that God is sending upon her His four dreadful punishments—the sword, the famine, the savage government and the pestilence—as His destroyers!

14:22. Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.—There shall be left from the anarchy a few who shall be brought through into the Kingdom as samples of Christendom’s pollution. They will live among those who have suffered in Christendom’s trouble, and amid the blessed Kingdom influences by contrast the others shall see their continued evil ways and doings. And they will cause everyone to feel satisfied, content, over the trouble God is bringing upon Christendom.

14:23. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.—When the others see their evil ways and doings, they will be content as to the need of the Time of Trouble, for they shall realize that not without good cause shall God have done all that He will do to Christendom.

Ezekiel 15—Fit For Fuel Only

15:1‐8. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? Therefore thus saith the Lord God, As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set My face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God.—Ecclesiasticism, which imagines itself to be the true vine (John 15:1) with the sects as branches, is a wild vine (Rev. 14:18), unable to support itself and clinging like a parasite upon others for support. It brings forth no character fruitage, is unfit for any Divine purpose, is slender, half‐ charred by the assaults of Higher Criticism, and fit only to be destroyed.—Psa. 80:8‐16.

Ezekiel 16—Unfaithfulness Of God’s People

16:1‐5. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou was born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.—Chapter 16 is an amplification of the symbolic description of Babylon the Great (Jerusalem), ecclesiasticism (Rev. 17), as a once virgin but now apostate woman (church). The peoples of whom the church was composed were originally heathen (16:3), in and of the world (field).

16:6‐8. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine.—God through Christ loved these people and espoused them, He caused the church to grow beautiful.

16:9‐12. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger’s skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.—He anointed them with the Holy Spirit (16:9, oil), clothed them with the robe of Christ’s righteousness (Matt. 22:11) with the embroidery of character fruits (Psa. 45:14), and gave them precious ornament of Divine (golden) promises, put a jewel (pure, diamond‐ sparkling Truth—1 Cor. 3:12) on their forehead (minds—Rev. 7:3), golden earrings in their ears (ears to hear Divine things—Gen. 24:22), and a beautiful crown on their head (tentative kingship).—Rev. 2:10.

16:13. Thus was thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.—He gave them the purest and best food from the Word of God (Psa. 147:14); and they became beautiful in the beauty of holiness (Psa. 110:3), and prospered even unto inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.—Col. 1:13.

16:14. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.—They became renowned for their holy, kindly characters; obtainable through sacrificial suffering.—Heb. 2:10.

16:15. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.—The spirit of fornication in a church is the desire to form a union with any world‐government (Rev. 18:3); this spirit was manifested to every government.—Isa. 1:21.

16:16. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon; the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.—The high places are the tops of mountains, the rulers of governments; there the church displayed her greatest attractions, and induced the spiritual fornication of governments, to an extent never to be witnessed again.

16:17. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them.—She took the Divine treasures of Truth, and shaped and distorted them into the form of traditions of men.

16:18, 19. And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them; and thou hast set Mine oil and Mine incense before them. My meat also, which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour; and thus it was, saith the Lord God.—The spiritual food of the Word of God was spiced with human errors; such as Divine right of kings and clergy, immortality, Trinity and eternal torment, preached in a way to please the ruling powers and serve their unholy purposes.—Hos. 2:8.

16:20, 21. Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter? That thou hast slain My children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?—The Church gave the children of God, begotten of the Word, to endure doctrines of hell fire (Jer. 7:31) and fiery trials in the warfares of governments.

16:22. And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.—In her pride of place, the church forgot the heathendom from which her members had been raised.

16:23‐25. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God.) That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee a high place in every street. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.—Woe, woe, distress, trouble and destruction to such an apostate, who in every conspicuous way (Isa. 57:7) served the interests of the god of this world, made her “virtues” detestable to thoughtful men, and offered herself for state‐church union to every government (street), state, city and town!

16:26. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke Me to anger.—She united herself with the most worldly people, great in earthly things.

16:27. Behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.—God has now, since 1878, brought the powers of judgment against the apostate church and caused a famine of the Word of God within church doors. He has given her over to the encroachments of church daughters of aggressive worldliness and doctrines of devils (Philistines)—Christian Science, Theosophy, New Thought, Higher Criticism and Spiritism. Even these churches, founded on doctrines of devils, are ashamed of the worldly, self‐debasing ways of the professedly orthodox Church of Christ.

16:28, 29. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.—The Church has even sought union with the forces (Assyrians) destined to overthrow Christendom—Socialism, Communism, Industrial Workers of the World, Trade Unions, Syndicalists, revolutionists, anarchists,—insatiable in her desire for power.

16:30‐34. How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman, in that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire, but as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all whores; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms; and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou are contrary.—How despicable is the attitude of the professed church! ... lower even than an harlot! For a harlot has some self‐respect and gives herself only for gifts in return; but the “Christian” church has offered inducements to every possible kind and grade of governmental power to enter into Divinely condemned union of church and state.—Hos. 8:9.

16:35‐37. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them. Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.—Therefore God will cause the governments, with which the apostate church has made alliance, to hate and burn her with fire.—Rev. 17:16.

16:38‐40. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.—By Moses’ Law women that broke wedlock were stoned to death; in earlier days they were burned alive; and the guilty men also were killed. (Lev. 20:10, 14, 27.) Ecclesiasticism will be smitten down with the stones of hard facts, and be destroyed in the fires of anarchy, “with the fire of God’s Jealousy.” (Zeph. 3:8.) She shall be stripped of her tinsel and gilt (imitation immortality), her purple (imperial) and scarlet (bloody) colors, and of her real and imitation jewels of Truth. The masses, incensed by vain sacrifices and privations of a world‐war, will despatch her.

16:41. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.—Her houses (denominations) will be wiped out in the anarchy. She will receive her terrible judgments in the wondering sight of many heathen religions (women).

16:42, 43. So will I make My fury toward thee to rest, and My jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet and will be no more angry. Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted Me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.—Not till ecclesiasticism has perished from the face of the earth will God’s fury and jealousy cease its retributions.

16:44, 45. Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.—The Hittites, Amorites, Samaritans and Sodomites were all worshipers of Baal and Astarte, under one name or another, and were adepts in the heathen and immoral beliefs and practices of that religion, typical not of fleshly but of spiritual uncleanness, as explained in foregoing pages. The true Church’s father was our Father, her mother the Sarah Covenant of Grace, and her espoused husband, Christ. Ecclesiasticism’s parentage, as becometh the “dwellers in the summits,” the proud “best” people, was the proud, self‐sufficient one, the Devil (John 8:44.) Romanism and Protestantism are begotten, not by the Word of God, but by the words of pride, of selfishness, of earthly ambition. Her mother was of the Hittites, a commercial people, descendants of Ham, under Divine disapproval; her spiritual mother was the false promises of human tradition, which would barter a Divine promise for an earthly meal; she loves compromise, and knows not principle. “Like mother, like daughter.”

16:46. And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.—Samaria and Sodom were worshipers of Baal. With like parentage, ecclesiasticism is a sister religion with the heathen religions, even acknowledging in many volumes the unity of all religions, herself included. Samaria, the ten apostate tribes, mingled the religion of Jehovah with that of Baal—a fit religious sister of the “nominal church,” which reads the Bible and serves the god of selfishness. Samaria elsewhere types not merely ecclesiasticism’s sister, but churchianity herself. Sodom, here named Jerusalem’s (ecclesiasticism’s) sister religion, is directly identified as churchianity in Rev. 11:8—“The great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” It types professed Christianity in its lowest phase.

16:47. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou was corrupted more than they in all thy ways.—As though the ill‐fame of Sodom were not enough, (apostate) Christianity has excelled her in corruption; Sodom’s literal depravity was “a very little thing” to ecclesiasticism’s ways.

16:48‐50. At I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw good.—Sodom’s greatest depravity (A. 111, 112) was a result of depraved sexuality in connection with the religion of Baal. “This dreadful ‘consecration’ spread over Phoenicia, Syria, Phrygia, Assyria and Babylonia. Ashtaroth, the Greek Astarte, was its chief object.” Its antitype in the churches was, for national, state or municipal rulers, under guise of advancing religion, to cause their tributary governments to become “Christianized.” Whole nations were thus “Christianized” and baptized—the peoples of savage governments. Through a letting down of the bars of immorality, spiritual and fleshly, this ministered to the beastly propensities of rulers and of others. The clergy, from Pope to class leader, prostituted religion for the pleasure and profit of association with the rich and powerful. Rulers were assured of the “Divine right of kings,” and received homage, as God’s representatives. The people were led to believe that death for rulers was entrance to Heaven, and thousands died in the exhilaration—mistaken for religious uplift—of self‐sacrifice in their behalf. Ministers of Satan masquerading as angels of light, preached these falsities and millions believed them, and for their own good, and the good of the world which they have corrupted, God is about to take them away.—Z. ’95‐56.

16:51, 52. Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they; they are more righteous than thou; yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.—As Jerusalem’s moral corruption justified Sodom and Samaria, so ecclesiasticism’s moral and spiritual depravity have justified those elements in Christendom typed by Samaria and Sodom. The clergy, and their churches, because of pride of being the “best people”, have been more abominable than those of baser sort.—Psa. 119:113; Prov. 6:17; 8:13; 16:18.

16:53‐55. When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them. That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.—In the resurrection of the dead, “just and unjust” (Acts 24:15), Jerusalem, in shame, will face Sodom and Samaria, confounded and abased by the fact that her evil practices justified, excused and “comforted” Sodom and Samaria. Likewise ecclesiasticism, the clergy and their following of “best people”, will be in shame over the fact that their iniquity was an incentive to the evil doing of the baser elements of Christendom.

16:56‐59. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride. Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.—Among a proud and corrupt “best” people it was a tabooed subject even to mention the depravities of the “worser kind”; but in the last two score years of merciless “muckraking” and publicity of “Christian” criminality in choir lofts, Sunday School rooms, church “studies”, belfries, orphan asylums and convents, “the wickedness was discovered” of clergy and church people, and so widely published that the heathen religions (daughters of Syria and of the Philistines) have come to know about it and to despise so‐called “Christianity.” Christendom has despised its vow of consecration to God and the Covenant of Grace, by which “We, as Isaac was, are the children of the Promise.” (Gal. 4:28), and under which she was betrothed to Christ. God will deal with Christendom in like manner as Christendom has dealt with God.

16:60. Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.—Nevertheless, “God is faithful”, (1 Cor. 1:9); and as He made a covenant with the church in the pure and faithful days of her youth, He will remember that covenant, and in the Times of Restitution will make with all people, through the Jews, the New Covenant, everlasting, under which there will be showers of blessing.—Ezek. 34:26.

16:61. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.—When the people of Christendom, come back from the dead to life on the earth they will remember their evil, faithless ways, and experience deepest shame when people of the baser sort are given to them as daughters, to love and cherish in the Lord.—D. 633.

16:62. And I will establish My covenant with thee: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—The coming blessings are not for any faithfulness of Christendom, but because God is faithful.

16:63. That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.—Then the once apostate people, at last returned to “the Bishop and Shepherd of their souls” (1 Pet. 2:25), will realize the fullness of God’s eternal goodness and love, and come into the peace of God (Phil. 4:7)—a peace that will be eternal.—A. 111; Z. ’94‐46.

Ezekiel 17—Parable Of The Eagles

17:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable, unto the house of Israel.—Chapter 17 pictures ecclesiasticism as a king, his partial captivity to the forces destined to destroy him, his turning for support to the forces of worldly wisdom and power, the failure of the attempted alliance, and his final downfall.

17:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings, long‐winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar.—The Assyrians (a great eagle) with great wings, long‐winged, full of feathers (strong of wing, powerful), which had divers colors (many varieties and phases of appearance) came to Lebanon (the Hebrew kingdom) and took the highest branch of the cedar (carried King Jehoiachim captive). In antitype this signifies: The power destined to destroy Christendom (anarchy, Nihilism, Socialism, and their wisdom expressed in schools of thought tending to destroy respect for Christendom) like an eagle (wise one) with great wings (impressive words) long‐winged (far‐reaching), full of feathers (full of argument), has quietly made its way into Christendom since 1878 and taken captive the highest ones, many of the leading class of Christendom (the Cedar) with doctrines of Evolution, Socialism, and Higher Criticism, all destructive of the existing order of things.

17:4. He cropped off the top of his twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.—These were taken captive by these systems of thought into a condition where the Heavenly ideals of the church were abandoned for mere trafficking for position and power, and in human, earthly theories and philosophies.

17:5. He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.—The remaining people of ecclesiasticism, more lowly, the seed from whom had once sprung the ruling classes, will be planted in rich, deep soil, well saturated with waters of the great truths of fraternity, equality and liberty.

17:6. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.—The new ecclesiasticism, fostered by revivalists, evangelists, social and civic workers and other earthly reformers, will grow and flourish into a form of ecclesiasticism, low, never far above earthly things, whose numbers (branches) tended toward anarchous systems of thought, and whose roots, fundamental philosophy, will be under the sway of the same.

17:7, 8. There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.—But the new, low‐born ecclesiasticism, alarmed at the anarchous trend of thought, shall turn toward another great system of wisdom (an eagle) equally of demoniacal origin; i. e., conservative, worldly wisdom tending to uphold the present unholy state of affairs.

17:9. Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.—The time of God’s Kingdom having come, God purposes to uproot the new ecclesiasticism. Its character fruitage, being of the spirit of this world, must be cut off and withered in the fiery trials of this tribulation time. Its promise (leaves) shall wither away, even as it has withered wherever the great war has touched.

17:10. Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the furrows where it grew.—From the east, the direction of the rising Sun of Righteousness comes a wind, a teaching, Present Truth, that shall touch the new ecclesiasticism and wither it in a time when there is “perplexity and distress of nations, men’s hearts failing them for fear of the things coming on the earth” (Luke 21:24, 25)—the social order—ecclesiasticism—“the vine.”—Rev. 14:18.

17:11, 12. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the King of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon.—The king of Babylon, Satan, has already come to ecclesiasticism and taken captive the ruling class, the prominent clergy.

17:13. And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him; he hath also taken the mighty of the land.—He holds the chief ones captive by reason of their agreement with his modern, false, religious, social and economic teachings.

17:14. That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.—As a result ecclesiasticism will not be able to rise above earthly things nor lift itself up to combat anarchous systems of thought. If it could do so, it might not be overthrown immediately, but might continue to stand for yet a little while.

17:15. But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?—Ecclesiasticism has rebelled by crying out to the established wisdom of this world (Egypt), relying upon strong, conservative worldly doctrines (horses) and many supporters of the reactionary ideas, to save it from complete overthrow.

17:16. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.—As God lives! In the condition of lawlessness, wherein Satan, the king of anarchy, liveth, who elevated ecclesiasticism to its place of power, there, in anarchy, in the midst of lawless hosts, shall ecclesiasticism perish.

17:17. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons.—Neither shall worldly wisdom, with its mighty following, accomplish anything for ecclesiasticism in its death struggle with anarchy, not even by raising up governmental support (mounts) nor by the united efforts of the strongest elements of this world’s might.

17:18, 19. Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely Mine oath that he hath despised, and My covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.—Ecclesiasticism has been faithless to Jehovah and will be faithless to its newly acquired philosophy.

17:20. And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against Me.—Like a snare, a net, shall the Time of Trouble come upon ecclesiasticism; and it shall not escape destruction at the hands of anarchy.

17:21. And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.—Millions that abandon churches and clergy in the trouble shall fall physically by violence, and be slain spiritually by the Sword of the Spirit; and those that escape death shall be scattered in the world‐wide commotion (winds) far from the systems they once supported. They shall know that God has spoken truly, when the day of anarchy shall come.

17:22. Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent.—Thus says the Lord God: One of the highest branches of ecclesiasticism is Judaism. I will establish Judaism. I will take, in Judaism, one of its young and tender aspirations—Zionism—and will plant it, establish it at the very pinnacle of the coming Kingdom of God—the Jews ruling, through the resurrected Ancient Worthies—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.—over the earthly phase of that Kingdom.—Psa. 45:16; Heb. 11:10.

17:23. In the mountains of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.—It shall branch above all nations (boughs) and bear character fruit unto life eternal. (John 4:36.) It shall be the desire of all nations (Hag. 2:7) (a goodly cedar). Under it shall dwell in peace all the truly wise ones of earth.

17:24. And all the trees of the field shall knew that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.—All the people (trees) of the world (field) shall know that the Lord has brought down nominal ecclesiasticism and exalted the Ancient Worthies, has dried up “Christianity” and given vitality to Zionism and Judaism.

Ezekiel 18—“The Soul That Sinneth”

18:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?—The Word of God came to be clearly understood by Pastor Russell as to the equity of Jehovah’s dealings with man in condemning all to death. Both Jews and Christians have asked, “How is it just to visit the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations?” “Why have the children’s teeth been set on edge by the fathers’ eating the sour grape of sin?”—H. 59; E. _334_, 309.

18:3. As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.—The doubters queried, “Doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?” (18:19.) They complained, “The way of the Lord is not equal” nor just. (18:25.) Pastor Russell, expounding the Word of God, demonstrated clearly that God’s way is just (18:25); that man’s ways are unequal, unjust (18:29); and that God takes no “pleasure at all that the wicked should die, but rather that he should turn from his ways and live.” (18:23‐32.) The time will soon be when the scornful proverb shall no longer possess any force.—H. 46.

18:4. Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die.—In the earthly phase of the thousand‐year probationary Kingdom of God the equal justice of God will be manifest, father and son will be treated alike, no one dying for a parent’s sin; but each soul that sinneth shall die for his own sin.—E. _354_, 331; A. 128.

18:5‐9. But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman, and hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; he that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, hath walked in My statutes, and hath kept My judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.—The Father of equal love will beseech each sinner to repent and turn from his transgression, that iniquity, wilful sin, be not his ruin. “Wherefore turn yourselves and live ye.” (Ezek. 18:30, 32.) The days of death from Adamic and parental imperfection will be over; each one will be solely responsible for his own life or death. To clearly explain the changed situation the several cases are presented. If a righteous man continue in a righteous course he shall live eternally.

18:10‐13. If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife, hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.—If a man’s son is a wilful sinner, “he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.”

18:14‐18. Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, that hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, that hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed My Judgments, hath walked in My statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.—If the wicked man have a good, upright son, the good son shall live; but the father shall die.

18:19‐23. Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all My statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?—The wicked man who turns to righteousness shall not have his former sins held against him; but he shall live.

18:24‐30. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not My ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.—The righteous man who turns to iniquity shall die.

18:31, 32. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.—This will be true of individuals as soon as the last member of the spirit‐ begotten Body of Christ has died. And it is true now—and has been true since 1878—of the institutions of “this present evil age,” which have been in Divine judgment since 1878. If ecclesiasticism, “the house of Israel,” would cast away all their transgressions, and gain a new heart and a new spirit, they would abide forever; but they will never change their evil ways; their destruction will be their own wilful act—“Why will ye die?”

Ezekiel 19—The Lion’s Whelps

19:1. Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel.—Chapter 19 has the form of a dirge. It represents in antitype the downfall, in the Time of Trouble, of ecclesiasticism pictured first, as two roaring lions which are taken captive; and secondly, as a vine destroyed by fire of internal origin. The princes of Israel are the clergy.

19:2. And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.—As the father and the mother of Isaac were Abraham and Sarah, and the spiritual father and mother of the true Church are Jehovah and His Covenant of Grace (Gal. 4:22‐28), so the spiritual father and mother of ecclesiasticism, priestcraft, are the Devil and his covenant with death. (Gen. 3:4; Isa. 28:18.) “The Devil goeth about like a roaring lion.” (1 Pet. 5:8.) Their nourishment has been “doctrines of devils.”

19:3. And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.—Ecclesiasticism divided into two classes; one higher, richer, more educated than the other—“one of her whelps.” They learned to devour men, make them their prey.

19:4. The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.—The unbelieving peoples heard them; they, the clergy, were taken in the pit of corrupt doctrine; they were captivated, taken captive, into worldliness, the wisdom of this world, of “Egypt.”

19:5. Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.—Another class of ecclesiasticism was developed, under the same false covenant with death, into a full‐fledged lion, an embodiment and child of the eternal torment, trinity, inherent‐immortality teachings.

19:6. And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.—This was the popular evangelist well trained in catching men and shekels.

19:7. And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.—The revivalists caught men by thousands, and “the fulness thereof,” great contributions for a few weeks of noisy evangelism.

19:8. Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.—Then the “unconvertible” people, anarchists, Socialists, etc., spread the net of their teachings. The people, indignant at their sufferings from wars and high cost of living, declined further support.

19:9. And they put in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.—Revolution and anarchy will place a complete restraint upon the revivalists, and bring them to their end.

19:10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.—The false covenant‐mother of ecclesiasticism is a system of thought, in the very blood; it is part and parcel of the existence of ecclesiasticism. It is “the vine of the earth,” of Rev. 14:19. This system of error was once fruitful in gaining adherents.

19:11. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.—The vine had seeming strong authority for the rulership “of them that bare rule,” the clergy, “lords over God’s heritage.” (1 Pet. 5:3.) To a mighty and lofty height did the vine of the earth grow.

19:12. But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.—But in the fury of the world‐wide war she will be “cast down to the ground.” The truths arising from the presence of the dawning Sun of Righteousness will dry up the support of her fruit (church members). Her authority—rod—will be broken, withered, and destroyed in anarchy.

19:13. And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.—In a world of hostile doctrines of Socialism and anarchy, in a world‐wide drought of the water of the Word of God, the old system of sophistries will soon be in the wilderness condition, in a state of complete ostracism.

19:14. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.—The savage application in the world‐wide war of the rod of the Divine authority of rulers will cause revolt, revolution and anarchy to spring up, like a fire, which will bring to an utter end the denominational clusters, the fruit of the vine of the earth.

Ezekiel 20—The Hypocritical Ecclesiastics

20:1. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.—The elders of Israel came to confer with Ezekiel, but he would not be interviewed by them, because of their idolatrous tendencies. The Hebrews had always had such propensities. God had refrained from destroying them in order to preserve His own good name among the heathen peoples; but now He was about to punish them, until the appointed time should come when He would regather them. The destruction of Judaism is here pictured as a fire in a forest. This chapter introduces another group of prophecies against Christendom, ending with Chapter 24. Some of the prominent ecclesiastics will read up or consult Pastor Russell and his writings, and the “Truth people,” ostensibly to learn what they can.

20:2, 3. Then came the Word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to inquire of Me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.—Present Truth will refuse any favorable answer to ecclesiasticism.

20:4. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.—Instead, it will pronounce judgment upon them. It will cause them to realize the abominations in doctrine and in life of professed Christians, as a result of the teachings of the Dark Ages.

20:5. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: in the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up Mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up Mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God.—First viewed as God’s people “in the world,” Egypt, God chose them, made Himself known to them, and lifted up for them the hand of His power.—Z. ’94‐357.

20:6. In the day that I lifted up Mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.—He promised to bring them in the resurrection, if faithful, into the “mansion” prepared for them—Heaven itself, the most glorious condition in God’s Universe.

20:7. Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.—God had told them to cast away all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit (2 Cor. 7:1), to do away with the desire of things seen with the fleshly eyes (1 John 2:16), and no longer to defile themselves spiritually with cravings for earthly power. But while professing Christ’s name, they rebelled in their heart against God, and would not listen to Him.

20:8. But they rebelled against Me, and would not hearken unto Me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out My fury upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.—Over and over, throughout the Gospel Age, God was indignant enough to bring destruction upon them; but He did not, in order that His name and reputation might not come into disrespect among the worldly people, who were taught by professing Christians that God was with them.

20:9, 10. But I wrought for My name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made Myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.—God’s Word views professing Christians also as in the wilderness condition of separateness from and ostracism by the worldly—as “brought forth out of the land of Egypt.”

20:12. Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifieth them.—He gave them the privilege of entering in advance of the world into His sabbath (Millennial) rest—the rest of peace with God by faith, of justification freely given through the blood of the Son of God. The Lord Himself set them apart for His holy service.

20:13. But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness: they walked not in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and My sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.—As a class, professed Christians have rebelled against being in the wilderness condition of separateness from and ostracism by the worldly. They have lived not according to the Law of Divine Love, but have despised the opportunities of the trial period. They have despised the Scriptural doctrine of the Millennium, and have made a common thing of the rest of faith by introducing all kinds of penances, masses, alms, and other deeds whereby to earn the peace with God, freely offered through faith in Jesus’ atoning Sacrifice. Often was God indignant enough to destroy them.

20:14. But I wrought for My name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.—But for His own name’s sake, not theirs, God refrained from permitting the Time of Trouble to come before the appointed time, that the people of this world might not belittle Him and His protecting power.

20:15, 16. Yet also I lifted up My hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; because they despised My judgments, and walked not in My statutes, but polluted My sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.—Yet the Word of God has made it plain that those in the wilderness condition who have not given their whole heart to God shall not be changed to the spirit nature and brought to the Heavenly plane of being.

20:17‐21. Nevertheless Mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness. But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: I am the Lord your God; walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them; and hallow My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, neither kept My judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted My sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.—God did not at once destroy those in the wilderness condition, but gave the same fatherly admonition to those who succeeded them, all in vain.

20:22‐24. Nevertheless I withdrew Mine hand, and wrought for My name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. I lifted up Mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, and had polluted My sabbaths, and their eyes, were after their fathers’ idols.—God repeated His forbearance, in not scattering them back into the world, nor destroying them.

20:25. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.—At last God gave them up “to their own heart’s desires” (Psa. 81:12), to “worship the hosts of heaven,” their own pulpit stars (Acts 7:42), who “changed the truth of God into a lie,” into “human traditions,” and “worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25)—following evil statutes, “customs,” and enduring worldly trials and temptations, bringing them, not life, but death.

20:26. And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord.—God gave them up to doctrinal pollutions, in that they believed in and worshipped the eternal torment god, Moloch, the Devil, and singed, scorched spiritually, with the fear of “the hot place,” all their children, those young in nominal Christianity. (Jer. 32:35.) This caused them to be desolate, deserted, abandoned by the true God, like the heathen without God—though not that God might ultimately destroy them; for in the Times of Restitution they will by contrast appreciate the true God.

20:27‐28. Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they have committed a trespass against Me. For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.—The Christian’s course was typed by the experience of the Hebrews in the land of Canaan (Isa. 57:5), in the blessedness of Divine favor and in the abundance of God’s gifts. When brought into this condition of favor, instead of being thankful and giving their whole hearts to God in devoted consecration, the great mass of professing Christians committed the same abominations that the heathen were guilty of—union of church with worldly power, making the high ones the heads of the church, as the King of England and the Czar of Russia; doing homage to all of earth’s great ones (the thick trees); rendering service and obedience (sweet savor) to traditions of men; and preaching (pouring out) strong doctrines, intoxicating wine of their mixed teachings (drink offerings).

20:29. Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.—In verse 29 Ezekiel speaks with contempt of the Hebrew apostasy. He uses a play upon words, not apparent in the English translation. He asks them, “Mah ba” (Where go?), and answers, “Ba‐mah” (the high places) is the name to this day. Pastor Russell frequently spoke with contempt—deserved, from the Divine viewpoint—of the “high‐place,” nominal church, her clergy and her laity, always going to the “high ones.”

20:30. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?—Again, in the phase of captivity in “Babylon,” the Lord’s people were guilty of doctrinal and moral pollution and of illicit union of church and earthly power.

20:31. For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.—God will not even listen to the prayers of such professed Christians.

20:32. And that which cometh into your mind shall not be all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.—Their heart’s real desire to become good‐fellows in the world’s fellowship (Jer. 44:17) shall fail.

20:33. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you.—God began at the appointed time, 1914, to punish the accumulated sins of Christendom “with a mighty hand (power) and with a stretched out arm” (Christ present the Second time, Isa. 53:1), and with fury poured out “a great Time of Trouble such as never was” (Dan. 12:1), and which the Lord declared would never require a repetition.

20:34. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.—But even this tribulation will be done in a Father’s love and for the good of His erring children, to cleanse them. Through this trouble God will search out all professed Christians, make them manifestly separate from the openly worldly.—Z. ’94‐76.

20:35. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.—God will bring them into a wilderness condition of separateness from the world and of ostracism and persecution by the revolutionary and anarchistic masses, and face to face He will plead with the nominal church to forsake evil and idolatry.

20:36. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.—As He did with the Hebrews in their trial time in the Wilderness of Sinai.

20:37. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.—God will cause His people, all those not utterly devoid of the Holy Spirit—“the Great Company” in the churches—to pass under the rod of correction and to resume their fidelity to their vow of consecration.

20:38. And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—He will permit conditions of persecution by Socialists, revolutionists, syndicalists, nihilists and anarchists, against persons professing Christianity (“the religion that got the world into trouble”), such that every person not possessing the Holy Spirit will renounce all pretense of being Christian and will get out of the deplorable condition (country) wherein the true Christians will be. This outcast class, being entirely “of the earth, earthy,” shall not enter the spiritual phase of the Kingdom.

20:39. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto Me: but pollute ye My holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.—Let who will then serve their idols; but they shall no longer associate themselves with God’s children, nor falsely bear the name of Christ, nor pollute God’s holy name nor His Church with their presence or their practices. “If the Lord be God, _follow Him_; if Baal, follow _him_.”

20:40. For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve Me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.—God wounds to heal. In the real “high places,” the Kingdom of God now at hand, planned for man’s blessed restitution, all who are truly God’s shall serve Him, some in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom, some in the earthly phase. (Mal. 3:3, 4.) There God will accept all comers, “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come ... and whosoever will, let him take of the Water of Life freely” (Rev. 22:17.) There God will accept their offerings of themselves in heartfelt consecration, and the first and best of their offerings and all their possessions, then hallowed by the influences of the Kingdom of Love.

20:41. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.—God will accept their heart’s best endeavors (incense), when He gathers His children—His spirit children and His earth children—out from the prison‐ house of death, and out from the dark shadows of a world‐wide heathenism. Then God win be seen to be holy, sanctified, in His children, in the sight of all the Satan‐blinded idolaters of earth.

20:42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to your fathers.—God’s children, who have not known Him as He is, will know Him then as the God of infinite Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power,—when they shall be established in the Kingdom, in whatever phase they are fitted for—the Kingdom whose earthly phase God promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Ancient Worthies (Psa. 45:16), and whose Heavenly phase He covenanted to give to the spirit class of the Gospel Age.—Heb. 11:40.

20:43. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.—Then those who have not loved the God of Love as they should shall remember their former ways and loathe themselves for the evil done against such Love Divine.

20:44. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.—They will humbly, thankfully and with fervent gratitude and love know that Jehovah, who is Love (1 John 4:8), dealt with them, for the carrying out of His all holy purposes, and not as Justice might have called for in connection with their ways.

20:45, 46. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field.—The words of Ezekiel return to the impending destruction of Jerusalem—of Christendom. Pastor Russell was to speak, as from the Divine viewpoint (the North) against the multitudes (trees in the forest) in the earthly phase (the south) of the Kingdom of God, already established invisibly by God in 1878‐1914. Jerusalem (ecclesiasticism) was in a southerly direction (belonging to the earth, earthy), from the Prophet’s point of view.

20:47. And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.—God permitted in 1914 the kindling of the present unquenchable conflagration of war, and of revolution and anarchy to come. Righteous (green tree) and wicked (dry tree) alike are to suffer in the fiery trials of the trouble time. All who are of the earth, earthy (of the south, earthly phase of the Kingdom), but who pretend or claim to be of the spiritual phase, to have the Holy Spirit (look toward the north, the spiritual), are to be burned, as the tares are burned after the gathering of the wheat into the Heavenly garner.—Matt. 13:30.

20:48. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.—All mankind will understand, before the Time of Trouble is over, that “the strange work” is of Jehovah.

20:49. Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?—The people of ecclesiasticism, misled by the clergy, are unable to understand Pastor Russell’s teachings regarding the trouble, or to get the Divine viewpoint.

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“There are great truths that pitch their shining tents Outside our walls, and though but dimly seen In the gray dawn, they will be manifest When the light widens into perfect day.”

Ezekiel 21—The Thrice‐Doubled Sword

21:1, 2. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel.—The Lord has drawn the sword against Jerusalem and sharpened and pointed it in fury. (21:1‐17.) The king of Babylon (Satan) uses divination as to the route by which to bring the sword against Jerusalem; the Jews deride such a method (21:18‐24), but the Hebrew crown is to be overturned. (21:25‐57.) The Ammonites (aggressive worldly believers), too, are to be given to the sword.—21:28‐32.

21:3. And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.—Jehovah is against Christendom, has drawn against it both the literal weapons of war, in warfare and revolution, and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. (Eph. 6:17.) He will cause both righteous and wicked to die in the Time of Trouble; and by His Word He will bring about conditions such that all wicked professing Christians will abandon all pretense of Christianity, and the righteous will “come out of her” (Rev. 18:4) and be gathered as wheat into the Divine garner—Heaven.

21:4. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.—Cannon, rifle, shot, shell, bomb and torpedo shall be unleashed and turned against all flesh, from those of the earthly (of the south) to those having the Holy Spirit (of the north). The Word of God will be taken out of its sheath of mystery and plainly show the meaning of this trouble, and that it is to be upon all.

21:5. That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth My sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.—All the people shall know that the trouble has come from Jehovah, and that its consummation is a certainty.

21:6. Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.—Pastor Russell and the Truth people have carried a heavy heart burden in this message of the ills coming upon Christendom.

21:7. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighed thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings, because it cometh. And every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.—For the days are near when even the strongest shall falter.

21:8, 9. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished.—Modern weapons of destruction are brought to a hitherto unknown efficiency, as is the Sword of the Spirit in the hands of the “feet” members of Christ.—Isa. 52:7.

21:10. It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should We then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of My Son, as every tree.—The weapons of war will make a frightful slaughter among men; and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, will cause millions to cast off Christianity. It glitters with flashes of enlightenment reflected from the risen Sun of Righteousness, which to its idolatrous enemies are gleamings of trouble and distress. Who could rejoice over the trouble? Not the Lord’s people; for it presages the destruction of the power (rod) of all professing to be of the Son of God, together with all their institutions.

21:11. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.—It is given, bright and sharp, to be swung in the hand of skillful slayers.

21:12, 13. Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be upon My people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon My people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God.—The destruction by the weapons of war and by the Word of God shall be upon “My [professed] people,” upon all the clergy (princes). Fear shall take hold of churchianity.

21:14. Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.—Pastor Russell was to give expression to the final wrath of Jehovah. The destruction will be of double severity three times—in war, revolution and anarchy. The Sword of the Spirit was to be wielded by Pastor Russell twice three times, in his six volumes of _Studies in the Scriptures_. The weapons of destruction will pursue all the great ones of earth, penetrating into all their most secret places. The Sword of the Spirit will search out all the lords of God’s heritage (1 Pet. 5:3), the clergy, exposing their inmost ideas contrary to Jehovah and His Plan.

21:15. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.—The point of the sword against ecclesiasticism, revealing its true nature and imminent fall, is the present exposition of the prophecies of Revelation and Ezekiel. The Hebrew says that it is made “lightning brightness.” It is an illumination of the whole Babylonish system, for ages wrapped in the mystery of types and symbolisms. How gladly the clergy would have destroyed these two books of the Bible, had they known what they taught!

21:16. Go thee one way or the other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.—Wheresoever Pastor Russell and the Truth people set their face to go, it is authorized for them by the Lord.

21:17. I will also smite Mine hands together, and I will cause My fury to rest: I the Lord have said it.—God will manifest His anger and cause His fury to rest upon ecclesiasticism.

21:18, 19. And the Word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.—There were two ways that the weapons of war, revolution and anarchy might strike; in either way the blow would come from Satan, the king of anarchy. It was to come from Riblah, the fork of the roads. Riblah means “desolate.” Since 1878 the worldly churches, and since 1914 the worldly governments, have been “left desolate” (Matt. 23:38) and subject, the one to desolation by the Sword of the Spirit, the other to desolation by carnal weapons.

21:20. Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.—The sword might go east of Jordan against the Ammonites (Amos 1:14; Jer. 49:2), or west of Jordan, directly at Jerusalem, first of all. It might strike the Great (Rabbath) Company (Rev. 7:9) of “fellow companions” (Psa. 45:14) (Ammonites), or directly and first strike against churchianity (Judah) and ecclesiasticism proper—“the fenced off,” exclusive, superior, “best” people, hitherto so thoroughly defended from harm.

21:21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.—The forces that will overthrow Christendom are thoroughly under the influence and guidance of evil spirits—as is suggested by the shuffling of arrows named for the two cities, by the consulting of idols (theories), and by the looking in the liver (spiritism), by interpretation. The Devil chooses bitter words (arrows) (Psa. 64:3), consults evil spirits (images), and is guided even in his opposition to Jehovah by his own interpretations of Scripture.—Matt. 4:6; 2 Cor. 11:14.

21:22. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.—The proof from the Scriptures shows that the evil spirits directed that the revolutionary and anarchistic movement should proceed first to the destruction of Christendom. The ex‐Czar of Russia was a spiritualist, and maintained mediums for consultation. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, for years prior to the great war, followed the guidance of a demon which spoke to him clairaudiently, urging him to his present course. A surprising number of prominent men consult spirit mediums. The voice of the spirits was for war by every conceivable means, nation against nation, but destined to effect the desolation of ecclesiasticism as well.

21:23. And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but He will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.—In the sight of those that have sworn allegiance to ecclesiasticism’s god, the father of lies, this true prediction of the downfall of the nations will seem an erroneous expectation—as it has appeared to all the great ones of Christendom. They have thought that this war would be as other wars. But the end of the Age (world) has come; and ecclesiasticism’s iniquities shall no longer go unpunished.

21:24. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.—Universal muck‐ raking by Socialists, Anarchists, magazine writers, social surveyors and reformers has caused Christendom’s forgotten iniquities to be freshly remembered, and her transgressions uncovered, so that there is no department—commercial, financial, political or religious—in which her sinful practices do not appear. These things God has permitted to be made manifest that she may be taken red‐handed.

21:25. And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end.—The profane and wicked prince of the Jews was Zedekiah, their last king. (A. 248; Z. ’04‐343.) The antitype is churchianity’s lordly class, the clergy, profaning the holy Temple of God, the Church, the Body of Christ, with doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1), as wicked in the sight of God as were their prototypes, the scribes, doctors and Pharisees, with their hypocritical pretense of holiness. Their time has come—1918—when iniquity in the House of the Sons of God shall have an end.

21:26. Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.—Thus says Almighty God: Remove the mitre (mistranslated “diadem”). The mitre was a band of linen about the forehead, typing the righteousness of Christ, supposed to be in the minds of the clergy, but no more actually in them as a class than in whited sepulchres. (Matt. 23:27.) The king wore a golden crown on his head, held there by a white linen mitre. (A. 248; B. 76, 79; Z. ’98‐359.) The clergy, the lords of God’s heritage, have crowned themselves with the rulership of earth, in the person of the pope and in the general desire of clergymen to rule in the affairs of men, a lordship based upon their supposed righteousness (mitre). This great crisis will not be like the temporary setbacks of ecclesiasticism in past centuries. The lowly, revolutionary, anarchistic masses will exalt themselves to power in the Time of Trouble, and the lofty clergy shall be utterly abased.—Matt. 23:12.

21:27. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.—In warfare, revolution and anarchy Jehovah will triply overthrow Christendom until Christ in great power will take the crown and rule the affairs of earth.—E. _147_, 133; A. 248; B. 76, 79; Z. ’05‐253; H. 61.

21:28. And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering.—Nor will the openly worldly, professing Christian escape, for war, revolution and anarchy are abroad—“the sword is drawn”—to consume the worldly, too.

21:29. While they see vanity unto thee, while they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.—Destruction will come even when the worldly‐wise are mistakenly asserting that it will not come nigh them.

21:30. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.—The tribulation shall not be quieted—the sword shall not “return unto his sheath;” for God will condemn the worldly Christian also, in the condition of unbelief wherein they have been.

21:31. And I will pour out Mine indignation upon thee; I will blow against thee in the fire of My wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.—God will pour out His wrath upon the worldly professing Christians. He will blow upon them fiery blasts of war, revolution and anarchy. They shall be delivered into the hands of a revolted soldiery, brutal, destructive, pitiless, skilled in the arts of slaughter, taught by Teutons and Allies to know the utmost efficiency in war. The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, too, will be in the hands of consecrated ones, seemingly but not actually cruel, skilled through Divine power to use it with telling effect.

21:32. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.—Institutions Divinely condemned shall be as fuel for the fires of bloody anarchy and pass into oblivion. The war is the melting‐pot of ecclesiasticism.

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“Beautiful hands are they that do The work of the noble, good and true, Busy for them the long day through; Beautiful faces—they that wear The light of a pleasing spirit there, It matters little if dark or fair; And truly beautiful in God’s sight, Are the precious souls who love the right.”

Ezekiel 22—The Melting Pot Of War

22:1‐4. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations, then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; the city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.—In Chapter 22 the various iniquities of Jerusalem are related. (22:1‐12.) Their punishment is described under the figure of a melting‐pot. (22:13‐22.) Christendom, and especially ecclesiasticism, is guilty of bloodshed and of defiling paganism. This, by a natural process, has brought about a situation which could not continue. The present outbreak of evil and trouble, in view of the lofty pretenses of the past, has made paganized Christendom a byword among acknowledgedly pagan peoples.—D. 72.

22:5. Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.—The unbelievers, both in and out of “Christian” countries, scoff at “Christendom”—now defiled of name and “full of tumult.”

22:6. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.—In Christendom all the rulers, in the mania for war, have used every power to promote bloodshed. The spiritual rulers have, by false teachings, destroyed the spiritual hopes of millions.—Luke 11:52.

22:7. In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.—They have dealt unjustly by the classes needing help. Spiritually they have despised our Father and His Covenant of Grace, and oppressed those who are His pilgrims and strangers in the world.—1 Pet. 1:1.

22:8. Thou hast despised Mine holy things, and hast profaned My sabbaths.—They have despised the holy teachings of God’s Word, respecting the seventh thousand‐year Day of rest, and have attempted justification by works instead of in the rest of faith.

22:9. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.—In the churches are gossipers, evil speakers, assassins of reputation. In them are some that feast at the tables of devils (1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Cor. 10:21), like lords or rulers at the heads of the nations; they long for unhallowed church‐state union.

22:10, 11. In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter‐in‐law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.—They have not only made state‐churches in every possible direction, but have been in vast numbers guilty of sexual immorality.

22:12. In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord God.—They have used the gifts of God for evil purposes, even to slay God’s holy martyrs; they have even practised extortion upon those close to them. This they have done because they have forgotten the Lord.

22:13. Behold, therefore I have smitten Mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.—God has shown plain signs of anger against ecclesiasticism’s hypocrisy and her spirit of murder.

22:14. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.—Her heart must fail her, and her powers weaken, before an abused conscience, in the days when God will deal with her iniquities.

22:15. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.—He will scatter the ecclesiastics and by fiery trials consume the uncleanness out of ecclesiasticism.

22:16. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—She shall be profaned, desecrated and destroyed in the sight of earth’s nations.

22:17, 18. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is to Me become dross; all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.—Ecclesiasticism, clergy and laity alike, are to the just and holy God become as the refuse of the baser metals in a fiery furnace of affliction; they are the dross of the Great Company (silver). (Jer. 6:30.) The baser metals type degrees of earthly natures; brass (human perfection), tin (tares, begotten of error), iron (savage worldly power), and lead (sin, iniquity).

22:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.—God will gather the corrupt peoples and the nations of Christendom.

22:20. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in Mine anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.—This great conglomeration of persons of all shades of baseness shall be gathered as into a blast furnace, where God will permit indescribable troubles to afflict them; and there He will leave them.

22:21. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of My wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.—They are to be melted in heart and spirit in the fiery afflictions of His wrath.

22:22. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out My fury upon you.—As the Great Company of God’s spirit‐begotten children have suffered by the millions, so shall it be with the clergy and laity, who profess Christianity without its spirit.

22:23, 24. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.—Christendom in this Time of Trouble is without the cleansing, refreshing showers of the water of God’s Word.

22:25. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.—Among the clergy there is a conspiracy against the Truth. The “Federation of the [so‐called] Churches of Christ in America,” like a very devil (roaring lion), will yet tear to pieces the Present Truth people, will put many to death, and cause some weaker ones to lose their spiritual lives. They will take and destroy the literature containing the precious Bible truth. Literally the preachers by preaching the men into war have made widows by the millions.

22:26. Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.—The Roman Catholic priests—and the Protestant clergy—have violated the Law of Divine Love; have polluted God’s truths with pagan teachings, have shown no difference between those cleansed by the blood of Christ and those still in their sins, have denied the Bible teaching of the Millennium (Rev. 20:2‐7), have hidden the Sabbath rest of justification by faith, and have promoted a money‐grabbing system of penances and masses for sin and of collections, which discredits and profanes God’s name.

22:27. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.—The ecclesiastics, “wolves in sheeps’ clothing” (Matt. 7:15), tear their prey, the Body members of Christ, shed blood in persecution, and destroy spiritual life—all to acquire money to perpetuate their infamous, paganized religion.—Micah 2:9‐11.

22:28. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.—The preachers of Protestantism have whitewashed the whole crowd of ecclesiastics, imagining empty doctrines of Evolution and Higher Criticism, and lying to the people by giving their own theories as God’s Word.

22:29. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.—The laity of both Romanism and Protestantism have oppressed the poor in spirit, have robbed those needing God’s help of what comfort they had, and have wrongfully oppressed the “pilgrims and strangers” (Heb. 11:13) among them.

22:30. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.—God promised not to destroy Sodom if there should be ten righteous men in it; He will seek for even _one_ who is righteous in Christ’s righteousness, in ecclesiasticism, to make up the wall of her goat‐fold, and stand in the gap, that He should not destroy her; but He will find not one!

22:31. Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.—Therefore ecclesiasticism is doomed to extinction.

Ezekiel 23—Two Apostate Church Systems

23:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.—Chapter 23 describes the church‐state unions of the Roman Catholic church, pictured as an unchaste woman, Aholah, and of the Protestant church, her unchaste sister, Aholibah, and the destruction of both in the Time of Trouble by the nations with which they have made unions.—Jer. 3:6‐10.

23:3. And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.—Both of these churches have always catered to worldly ideas and people, and even in their youth were guilty of unions of church with state.

23:4. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were Mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.—Their names are significant. Aholah means “her own tent.” God is not in Romanist ecclesiasticism at all; it has its own tabernacle, called (Acts 7:43) “the tabernacle of Moloch.” Satan himself dwells in and actuates the Papal system. Aholibah means “My tent is in her.” God’s Tabernacle, the true Church, has been among the Protestants chiefly. In this picture, an unchaste Protestant ecclesiasticism is designated “Jerusalem.” They both have sons—prominent ones—and daughters—sectarian churches.

23:5. And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors.—The Romish church dates back to apostolic days, when she was God’s Church [Mine]; but she fell in love with her neighbors, the rulers of that brutal age, and sought temporal power.

23:6. Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.—The leaders and rulers in worldly affairs were apparently faithful (clothed in blue, typical of faithfulness), and seemed desirable and attractive to be associated with. They were men of thought and men of action, riding hobbies of vain philosophies.

23:7. Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.—The Church associated with them for gain of worldly power, set her affections on them, instead of on things Above, and defiled herself with their pagan ideas.

23:8. Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.—Nor did she give up her worldliness when she took up oriental asceticism.

23:9, 10. Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.—The rulers discovered the naked, unprotected condition of Romanism; and by hundreds of thousands poured in from the East, literal Tartars, Vandals, Huns and Turks, and the pagan ideas from the same sources, and slew the sons and daughters of Romanism with the literal sword, as well as her children spiritually. Among the Pagan religions (women) Romanist “Christianity” became a name and a byword; for the invaders had executed the judgment of God upon her.

23:11. And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.—Protestantism began in comparative purity, but later on developed an inordinate love for temporal power. Even more than Papacy she tried in every nation to “run things.”

23:12. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.—She, too, set her affections on popularity with earth’s rulers, great and small, conservative, radical and revolutionary.

23:13‐17. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way. And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: and as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.—God saw that both churches, Romish and Protestant, were of like tendency to church‐state union, especially Protestantism; for she never saw or heard of a great worldly man, even down to the local leaders of the smallest rural communities, that she did not desire their influence and help—particularly their money—and systematically invited them to connect themselves with a church, quite regardless of whether or not they remained worldly. So much did the prominent people in every place crowd into the Protestant churches and try to “boss” things, that the rank and file even of ecclesiastics and of the less prominent supporters of ecclesiasticism grew sick of them.

23:18. So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then My mind was alienated from her, like as My mind was alienated from her sister.—The newspaper writers, Socialists, anarchists and muck‐rakers, exposed the worldliness of the Protestant churches; and God Himself, from 1878 on, has been alienated from them.

23:19‐21. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.—Protestant ecclesiasticism multiplied her worldly alliances; and the prominent and wealthy, “of the earth, earthy,” filled the churches with tares, worldlings, desirous of profiting by association with prominent people.

23:22. Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side.—Therefore, O Protestantism, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will raise up, in warfare and revolution, the worldly people in you, of whom you are already sick, and bring them against you on every side.

23:23. The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.—The worldly, the worldly‐wise (Chaldeans), the officers (Pekod), princes (Shoa), and rulers (Koa), and all the discontented and anarchistic with them shall come against you, riding hobbies destructive to you.

23:24. And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.—They shall war against thy welfare with organizations of their own (chariots), with leaders (riders, mistranslated wagons), with a systematic plan of operation (wheels), and with a great following of revolutionists; and they shall condemn thee by their own perverted ideas of justice.

23:25. And I will set My jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.—Unknown to Protestantism, God’s jealousy has been excited by her worldliness; and He will permit the masses to deal with her in fury; they will destroy her spirituality, taking away her ability to discern spiritual things (nose), and to hear (ear) the Word of God. They will force Protestantism’s sons and daughters into service in war and revolution; and the remnant will be destroyed in the ensuing anarchy.

23:26. They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.—Protestantism shall be stripped of her robes of self‐ righteousness and of her imitation jewels—those not truly Christianized; for they will cast off all pretense of religion.

23:27. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.—Being no longer attractive or useful to the ruling powers, she will perforce cease her advances toward the grasping of worldly power.

23:28. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated.—All law‐abiding people, and especially Protestant ecclesiasticism, hate and fear the lawless forces destructive of society; but into the cruel hands of such shall they be delivered.

23:29. And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.—These evil forces shall deal hatefully with Protestantism, take away all the results of her work, and strip her completely, because of the ultimate evils wrought by union of church and state.

23:30. I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.—God will do this because Protestantism has sought and made church‐state unions, and has been polluted with worldly ideas and practices.

23:31. Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore, will I give her cup into thine hand.—She has walked in the way of Papacy; therefore will God give to her also Papacy’s cup of tribulation.—Jer. 25:15.

23:32. Thus saith the Lord God: Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.—Protestantism shall drink deep and large the measure of Romanism’s cup of trouble; it contains much. As a result of wars and devastation brought on by worldliness, in the face of boasted godliness, Protestantism shall be scorned and derided by the whole world.—Rev. 9.

23:33. Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.—Protestantism shall be intoxicated with the war spirit (Jer. 13:13), and later stupefied with amazement at the ruinous results of her own course, ending in the same cup of trouble, utter ruin, as confronts her sister‐church, Catholicism.

23:34. Thou Shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.—Protestantism shall drain the cup of desolation and sorrow and shall suck out the very dregs. (Isa. 30:14.) It shall be broken up in anarchy, and shall lose all the features that made it attractive to this world’s governments for purposes of union of church and state.

23:35. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast forgotten Me, and cast Me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.—Because she has forgotten the Lord and cast Him out of her mind, Protestantism shall endure unaided by Him the results of her own evil course.

23:36. The Lord said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Ahollbah? yes, declare unto them their abominations.—In Verses 36 to 49 Romanism and Protestantism are together jointly condemned.

23:37. That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their Idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.—They have both effected church‐state unions. They have blood guilt, for wars, and for causing the spiritual death of multitudes. They have given their hearts to idol doctrines. They have caused God’s children to endure fiery troubles, and have scorched, scarred and burned their religious lives with the eternal torment theory.

23:38. Moreover this they have done unto Me; they have defiled My Sanctuary In the same day, and have profaned My sabbaths.—They have defiled God’s Sanctuary, the Church, with soul‐destroying doctrines in the same Day, the Gospel Age. They have derided the Millennium, and have substituted works for the rest of faith, as the basis of justification before God.

23:39. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day Into My Sanctuary to profane it; and lo, thus have they done in the midst of Mine house.—They would slay their people in war and the same day go to worship God, even in the midst of God’s Sanctuary, the Little Flock of the true Church.

23:40. And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments.—They sought for union with and sent preachers to prominent men, at heart in a condition far from God; for them they “whitewashed” themselves, made their wisdom (eyes) attractive with worldly philosophies, and adorned themselves with the imitation jewels of courtesy, tact and politeness.

23:41. And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set Mine Incense and Mine oil.—They took their seat upon a stately creed‐bed, adapted to worldly, regal purposes, with a table of religious food, teachings, philosophies, not of God, where they gave their hearts’ best endeavor and prostituted what measure of the Holy Spirit they had to worldly ends.

23:42. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her; and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.—With the ecclesiasticism of Papacy and Protestantism was the voice of a multitude of worldly church members, thoroughly at ease in apostate Zion. (Amos 6:1.) Among the church members were men of the blackest character (Sabeans, descendants of Ham, disfavored of God), who belonged outside the pale of religion, who adorned themselves with seeming character jewels and crowns of inherent immortality, not of God, but of Plato.

23:43. Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?—It seemed impossible that the churches should unite with such evil men, to gain influence and power.

23:44. Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.—Nevertheless, both Romish and Protestant ecclesiasticism did so.

23:45. And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.—But men with a sense of decency, justice and the fitness of things will condemn both churches, Romish and Protestant, as adulteresses were judged among the Hebrews—stone them to death with hard facts, and by the ravages of revolution and anarchy.

23:46. For thus saith the Lord God, I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.—God will bring up against them a great rabble of people with a keen sense of outraged justice—Socialists, trades‐union men, laborites, social democrats, nihilists and anarchists. Also a multitude of God’s children, begotten of the Holy Spirit, will rise up against these apostacies.

23:47. And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.—This multitude will down ecclesiasticism with hard facts, and destroy her with material weapons and with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The anarchists will literally slay church members by millions; and the sons of God will by His Holy Word cause them to cease their pretense of being Christians.

23:48. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.—Thus will the Lord cause the desire for the union of churches with worldly power to cease out of human society, that all religious bodies may learn forever to avoid this abominable practice.

23:49. And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.—Thus shall ecclesiasticism’s faithless apostasy be recompensed upon her when she suffers the results of the sinfulness of loving other mighty ones than Jehovah, and thus shall she learn the supremacy of God in the affairs of men.

Ezekiel 24—The Boiling Caldron

24:1, 2. Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.—It was in the fall of 1916—a year and seven months before the city was to be smitten in the spring of 1918—that the forces of laborism, revolution and anarchy, began to assert themselves against the established order of things in Christendom—the siege of the city began.

24:3. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it.—Jerusalem is likened to a boiling caldron from which meat is taken; then it is set empty on the fire and the rust burned out. Ezekiel’s wife dies; but he suppresses his feelings, and, after the ordinance for a priest, makes no mourning for the dead—a picture of the dumb sorrow of the Hebrews on the destruction of Jerusalem. The prophecy of this chapter was uttered on the same day that the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, “came, he and all his host, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about; and the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.” (2 Kings 25:1, 2.) Its antitype is that on or about November 1, 1916, the date of Pastor Russell’s death, ecclesiasticism began to enter upon its life‐and‐death struggle, materially, with the forces of laborism and anarchy, and religiously with the consecrated children of God, whose work from then on was increasingly to bear witness to the apostasy and imminent destruction of churchianity. Ecclesiasticism, rebellious against her God, is as an organization, like a caldron of brass (copper), typing that many of its members believe the Word of God. It is set amid the fiery troubles of revolution and anarchy. There is water in it, symbolic of what Truth there is in ecclesiasticism.—Jer. 1:13.

24:4. Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulders: fill it with the choice bones.—In it are gathered the great and prominent (good pieces), and also the strong ones (bones) of her flock.

24:5. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.—The social elements will grow hot in the Time of Trouble until the truths in ecclesiasticism make it exceedingly warm for her members. Then the heated, excited, troublous condition will be transmitted, and as the truths warm up, will get all the church members into exceedingly hot water, even the strongest ones.

24:6. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the plot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.—Woe to Christendom, ecclesiasticism, bloody in the blood of soldiers, peasants, workingmen, martyrs and saints, by the millions, and blood guilty for the spiritual hopes of millions, extinguished by her false doctrines. Her rust (R. V.) is in her. Bring out her leading members, one by one, indiscriminately, into captivity to the forces of revolution.

24:7. For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; the poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;—Her infamy of blood is in her very substance. She has not been able to conceal it, but it is exposed to full view in “the top of her rock,” in the kings and the kaisers, her heads in church‐state union.

24:8. That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.—The fury of a revolted soldiery and populace will rise up against the heads of the governments, who are also heads of the churches, to take vengeance upon ecclesiasticism’s sins.

24:9. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.—Innumerable will be the opponents of churchianity, and blazing hot their wrath.

24:10. Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.—Heap up the fires of discontent and anarchy, consume the tares in Christendom, as tares. Thicken the broth (R. V.), boil it down until the very bones, the strong church members, cease to be such.

24:11. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.—Then ecclesiasticism, the clergy class, with emptied pews, shall sit amid the fiery trouble and be consumed, that their corruption may be done away.

24:12. She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.—She has wearied even the preachers with the dishonesty of preaching things not believed in, and yet they did not cast out her doctrinal corruption, which shall be fuel for the fire of anarchy.

24:13. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused My fury to rest upon thee.—Her corruption was in her desire to become prominent and powerful through the power of earth’s great ones. God purged her of these things to some extent through godly preachers and reformers; but she was not purged in heart and quickly reverted to the things Divinely proscribed. Since 1878 God has made no further attempt to reform ecclesiasticism; and she shall not be purged, but the fury of God’s jealousy shall rest upon her.

24:14. I the Lord have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.—God Himself has spoken this and will do it. He will not go back, neither spare, nor change His Plan; but in just recompense for her doings shall the Socialists and anarchists condemn her.

24:15, 16. Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.—God took away from Pastor Russell the desire of his eyes, her whom he loved, with a stroke, or “plague” of spiritual error, which completely separated them. By the Mosaic ordinance a priest on the death of father, mother, or wife, was to show no special sign of grief, but was to remain in the Tabernacle, or Temple, and attend as usual to the service of God. Pastor Russell, as a member of the great High Priest and as Christ’s representative in the world, the sole steward of the “meat in due season,” suffered deeply, but shed no tears.

24:17. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.—Rather, he made no mourning for her that was to him as dead, but continued in the work of the sacrificing priesthood. He was sustained in his affliction, not by human aid, but by the consolations of his Father’s Word.

24:18. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.—He continued his addresses and writings to the Lord’s people; his wife became to him as one dead: and he continued uninterruptedly in the work of the ministry.

24:19. And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?—Why was Pastor Russell caused by his Father to endure the fiery trials and ecclesiastical falsehoods in connection with this incident of his life?

24:20, 21. Then I answered them, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane My Sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.—God gives the reason. It was as a picture or parable of what is to happen to Christendom. Until 1878 the nominal church had been in a sense God’s sanctuary or Temple; but He was from then on, culminating in 1918, to remove it with a stroke or plague of erroneous doctrines and deeds Divinely permitted. The Church was the strength of Christendom, that about which its life centered, and around which its institutions were built. It was the desire of the eyes of the people, that which all Christians loved. Nevertheless, God was to make manifest the profanation which ecclesiasticism had made of the Christian Church, and to cause the church organizations to become to Him as one dead, an unclean thing, not to be touched, or mourned. And the “children of the church” shall perish by the sword of war, revolution and anarchy, and by the Sword of the Spirit be made to see that they have lost their hope of life on the spirit plane—that “the door is shut.”

24:22. And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.—So universal and dreadful will be the troubles that the dead will literally lie unburied and unwept. There can be no mourning for the dead in a period when the living are overwhelmed by troubles worse than death.

24:23. And your tires shall be upon your heads: and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.—The mourning will be an inner sorrow of a people stupefied by terrible experiences, who pine away and without outward expression sink together into the fellowship of helpless grief.

24:24. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.—Thus the silent sorrow at Pastor Russell’s heart was to be a sign to Christendom. The sorrowful experiences of Pastor Russell in this connection shall later on be those of all Christendom; “and when this cometh” they shall know that Jehovah God is supreme, and back of all the judgments of the trouble time.

24:25, 26. Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters. That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?—Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of “Christianity.”

24:27. In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—Pastor Russell’s voice has been stilled in death; and his voice is, comparatively speaking, dumb to what it will be. In the time of revolution and anarchy he shall speak, and be no more dumb to those that escape the destruction of that day. Pastor Russell shall “be a sign unto them,” shall tell them the truth about the Divine appointment of the trouble, as they consult his books, scattered to the number of ten million throughout Christendom. His words shall be a sign of hope unto them, enabling them to see the bright side of the cloud and to look forward with anticipation to the glorious Kingdom of God to be established. Then “they shall know the Lord.”

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea.”

Ezekiel 25—Recompense Upon The Tares

25:1, 2. The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them.—Chapter 25 foretells that after the fall of apostate ecclesiasticism in revolution, in 1918, the end of the various discordant non‐Christian elements of Christendom, hostile to true Christianity, which will seek to profit by her fall, will come. The Ammonites (25:1‐7) and the Moabites (25:8‐11), both children of Lot—who was himself a type of the Great Company class—are a type of a class brought into being by their father, the Great Company class (Lot), while he was in a state of drunken stupor from mixed doctrines, through Lot’s daughters, type of the worldly churches of the Great Company. The Edomites, descendants of Esau, represent a class who sell their birthright to sonship of God for a mess of pottage, worldly advantage (25:12‐14); and the Philistines, a people who migrated from Egypt, and aggressively preyed upon the Jews, type of a class of aggressive, middle‐course, professing Christians who prey upon true Christians. The message begins with words against the Ammonites, types of those believing worldlings who were brought into the churches by the more or less faithless Great Company, and who in an aggressive and predatory fashion as Jesuits, persecuting Romish priests, and Protestant clergy and their kind persecuted the true Christians. The Ammonites are described as “fierce marauders, crafty, cruel, predatory.” The Ammonites worshipped Baal, under the name Chemosh, the god of fire and of fornication, type of the eternal‐torment‐purgatory god, the encourager of the spiritual adultery of church‐state union.

25:3. And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against My Sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity.—When God’s true Church shall be persecuted in the world‐war and revolution, and true Christian faith shall be desolated, and the multitude of those that praise God (Judah, praise) shall go into captivity to the infidel revolutionists, the persecuting, world‐loving church members (Ammonites) will he glad of it.

26:4. Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.—God will deliver this class unto the anarchists, to possess them, and make themselves at home with their property, and to make away with their doctrines (milk).

25:5. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—And I will make the lordly clergy class (Rabbah, great) waste and abandoned.

25:6. For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel.—Because they shall rejoice greatly, in their despite against Christianity.

25:7. Behold, therefore I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen: and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—Therefore God will stretch out His hand against them, and deliver them to be despoiled by the infidel anarchists in their midst. He will cut them off as a class, cause them to cease and destroy them, and they shall know that He is God.

25:8. Thus saith the Lord God: Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.—The Moabites (“Seir” should be omitted) were the civilized part of the descendants of Lot, born of incest, of a drunken father, Lot, and worshippers of Baal, while acknowledging Jehovah. They typed a church membership begotten by the mixture of truth and error, by the Great Company class, through their world‐loving churches (daughters of Lot), and worshipping the eternal‐ torment God, imagining him to be Jehovah, and practicing the spiritual harlotry of union of church and state. Moab was “a nation high spirited, wealthy, populous, civilized, and of wide reputation and popularity.” They type a like class.

25:9. Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth‐jeshi‐moth, Baal‐meon, and Kiriathaim.—God will cause this class to be attacked in the anarchy (Beth‐jeshimoth, place of desolation), on two grounds, their apostate clergy (Baalmeon, lord of the habitation) and church‐state system (Kiriathaim, double city).

25:10. Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.—The anarchists will also overcome the aggressive class (Ammonites).

25:11, 12. And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them.—The professedly Christian “Edomites” (D. 14‐19)—nominally believers in God (descendants of Abraham), but worshipping a variety of gods of power, wealth, and worldliness, especially the eternal‐torment God—(Josephus says the Edomites worshipped Cese, the destroyer)—will help greatly in pulling down Christianity.

25:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out Mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.—God will stretch His hand against this class (Edom‐Idumea) and from end to end they shall fall by the weapons of destruction, and by the Sword of the Spirit.—Isa. 34:5, 6; Jer. 49:7‐17.

25:14. And I will lay My vengeance upon Edom by the hand of My people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to Mine anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My vengeance, saith the Lord God.—The Truth people shall declare what God will do to this class in His furious anger.—Isa. 15:1‐9; Jer. 48:1‐47.

25:15. Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred.—The worldly professing Christians (Philistines, emigrants from Egypt) persecute God’s true people, and shall in the revolution despitefully aid in destroying Christianity.—Joel 3:4.

25:16, 17. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will stretch out Mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethim, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay My vengeance upon them.—God will, through the anarchists, stretch out His hand against this class, and will cut off those that carry out persecution and death upon His people (Cherethim, executioners), and all worldly professing Christians as such, including those that border on anarchy (sea coast).

Ezekiel 26—Downfall Of Philosophy

26:1. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Chapter 26 depicts ecclesiasticism in the guise of an elaborate system of philosophy. The name Tyrus signifies “Rock;” and human philosophy, particularly Greek Platonic philosophy, is the real rock foundation of ecclesiastical teachings. Any true ecclesiastic, when driven by the Word of God from his untenable errors, claims sanction for them by reference to the philosophy of Plato and the inherent immortality of man, etc.

26:2. Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste.—This system and its adherents will manifest their essentially non‐Christian nature when Christendom (Jerusalem) falls at the hands of the revolutionists in 1918. Philosophy, Higher Criticism, will rejoice that ecclesiasticism, which claimed to be the gateway to God for the people, is broken. They will imagine that the adherents of a Christianity that has failed will turn to philosophy, and that the adherents of philosophy will be increased now that ecclesiasticism is desolated. Human philosophy will seem to be the sole refuge of the people of Christendom.

26:3. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.—Because Christendom has borne the name of Christ and had the oracles of God, therefore God is against philosophy and will cause the many nations of Christendom to come up against established philosophy, as a sea of anarchy, with the discontented masses attacking, wave after wave, endlessly.

26:4. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.—The anarchists shall destroy the walls of defense, composed of the adherents to human philosophy, and shall break down the loftiest and strongest organizations, its towers of defense. God will remove the last vestiges of human adherence to Christendom’s system of philosophy.

26:5. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.—In the anarchy, human philosophy shall be utterly abandoned—deprived of all its former supporters, by whole nations of anarchists.

26:6. And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—The religious organizations (daughters) founded on philosophy, which are in the world (field), shall be wiped out; and in the Kingdom their former adherents shall come to know Jehovah as He is.

26:7. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.—Jehovah God declares that against human philosophy (Tyrus) and its systems and adherents, He will array Satan—the king of this evil world, ruler of mystic Babylon, “the gateway to Bel,” to devil worship, king over the kings and other children of disobedience. He shall be permitted to come by God Himself (the North) (Jer. 1:14), with teachings (horses) of anarchy, with institutions based upon such teachings (chariots), with leaders and teachers riding these hobbies (horsemen), with an organised following (companies) and with many people following after anarchy in unorganized mobs (much people).

26:8. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.—With weapons of destruction (swords) anarchy shall seek to destroy the philosophical churches and other religious organizations (daughters) in the world (field) and shall systematically besiege them.

26:9. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.—Anarchy shall make war against their defenders (walls), and with keen, strong, cutting arguments (axes), shall break down philosophy’s strongholds (towers).

26:10. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.—Anarchistic teachings (horses) without limit shall fill the air with confusion (dust); philosophy’s defenders (walls) shall fear and quake at the tumult (noise) of the leaders and teachers of anarchy (horsemen), and of their systematic plans (wheels) of destruction, and of the anarchistic organizations (chariots), when Anarchy shall pour its forces through the great ones (gates) of Philosophy, for the great ones will become channels (breaches) for the inpouring teachings of anarchy.

26:11. With the hoofs of his horses shall be tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.—With the impact (hoofs) of doctrines (horses) of destruction, anarchy shall beat down all the orderly ways (streets) of philosophy. Anarchy shall destroy the adherents of philosophy with weapons of destruction, and the learned and mighty colleges and universities (garrisons) shall go down in failure and ruin.

26:12. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.—And the anarchists shall spoil the ideals (riches), and stop the teaching (merchandise) of philosophy; they shall break down the defense of philosophy’s adherents (walls), and destroy the pleasing philosophical organizations (pleasant houses). They shall engulf the believers (stones) and supporters (timbers) in the rising tide of anarchy.

26:13. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.—And God will cause the noise of philosophy’s siren songs, her falsely pleasant teachings (songs) to cease; and the utterance of her melodious books (harps) shall be no more heard forever.

26:14. And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.—Philosophy, falsely so‐called, shall be utterly desolated, and shall be built up no more forever; for Jehovah God has spoken it.

26:15. Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?—The world will be full of revolutionary republics (isles), devoid of Christian principles and following man‐made ideas; these republics shall be shaken to their foundations, when anarchy begins its dread slaughter of men and of systems.

26:16. Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.—Then shall the rude rulers of the revolutionary, half‐anarchistic republics lose their positions of power (thrones), and lay aside their honors (robes), and discard their works of revolution (broidered garments); they shall be filled with dread and with trembling, and shall marvel at the downfall of their socialistic and revolutionary philosophies.

26:17. And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!—They shall lament; for the great systems of human philosophy shall be destroyed, where abode polished cosmopolitan men of the world (seafaring men), the renowned system of thought which was strong among all peoples (in the sea), even in the midst of a world of restless, discontented masses.

26:18. Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.—Now shall the revolutionary republics (isles) tremble in the year of philosophy’s downfall; the republics in the midst of the anarchistic peoples (sea) shall be in trouble with the failure of the system of man‐made philosophy.

26:19. For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee.—For God will utterly desolate philosophical teachings; when He brings up the sea of anarchy upon them, and engulfs them in the tidal wave.

26:20. When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living.—God will bring human philosophy down to destruction, without an adherent and in disgrace and reproach (into the pit), in order that He may establish His glorious truth in the Kingdom of resurrection and of life.

26:21. I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God.—God will make human philosophy a wasted, desolated thing (a terror); never shall it exist any more; though men and devils should seek to reestablish it, never shall it be found again, saith Jehovah God.

Ezekiel 27—Philosophy’s Utter Ruin

27:1. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.—In Chapter 27 Christendom, regarded as an independent system of pagan philosophy, is represented as a gallant ship. Its component parts are represented symbolically (27:4‐7), as are its mariners and pilots (27:8‐9). In verses 9 to 25 the figure reverts to a mercantile city, and the sources of its articles of trade. It is again pictured as a ship, which is steered by its mariners into an angry sea, and wrecked.—Verses 26 to 36.

27:2. Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus.—The man‐made system of Pagan philosophy must fall.

27:3. And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God: O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.—O Christendom, thou that hast the entree to the ears of the peoples (sea), which art a salesman (merchant) of philosophical doctrines for the people of many revolutionary republics, thus says the Lord God: O Christendom, ecclesiasticism, thou hast regarded thy pagan philosophies as perfect, faultless and beautiful.

27:4. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.—Thou, as an independent pagan religious organization or system, belongest among the disobedient children (sea) of the world. Thy philosophers, doctors of divinity, professors and writers, have perfected thy seemingly beautiful philosophy.

27:5. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.—They have made as thy fundamental supporters (boards) believers in everlasting human life (firs, evergreen trees), in high stations in society (Mount Senir, or Hermon, “pointed rock” was in Benjamin, one of the Hebrew tribes, and type of the Great Company). They have taken as the support (masts) of thy seeming righteousness (linen sails) earth’s greatest men and the rulers, believers in inherent immortality (cedars), picturing them as from the loftiest, purest sources. (Lebanon, a great mountain range, means “white, snowy.”).

27:6. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.—The prominent tares, leaders (oaks), whom other tares follow and worship, and who are fruitful in producing more tares (Bashan means fruitful), are the mechanism (oars) for making thee move and progress among the people. The company of free‐thinkers (Ashurite means freemen) have made thy white (supposedly righteous) seats (ivory signifies dreams—of immediate spirit life when they die) to be the seats (seats of the mighty), of the rowers who work the oars.

27:7. Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.—Thy ensigns, banners, sails, over thee, to be driven by the winds of error, are false righteousness (linen), with innumerable works of self‐righteousness (broidered work), and of worldliness (Egypt); thou wast covered with the faithfulness (blue) and royalty (purple) of the worst of earth’s pagan peoples (Elishah, descended from Javan, European, the most cruel and ferocious people of earth, as shown by their history, including this furious world‐war.)

27:8. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners; thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.—The adherents of the belong‐ to‐a‐church or go‐to‐hell idea (Zidon meant “fortress,” and the idea is the fortress of ecclesiasticism), and the supporters of the falsely comforting refuge of Platonic immortality of the soul (Arvad means refuge, and Platonic heathen philosophy is the refuge of philosophic Christendom) were thy mariners, the ones who “worked” thy oars; thy philosophers (wise ones), from Plato to Nietsche, charted thy evil course, and were the real “sky‐pilots” for the rowers to row by.

27:9. The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.—The doctors of divinity (ancients of Gebal) (Psa. 83:7) and the creed builders said enough on both sides of any question for theological authorities (calkers) to keep the people (sea) from getting on the inside, or having any real participation in thy affairs. In the middle of verse 9 the figure changes back to that of the prosperous mercantile city that Tyre was. All the independent religious and philosophical churches and other organizations (ships) of the sea (peoples and nations) with their sky‐pilots (mariners) were in thee, O Christendom, thou aggregation of confused and contradictory philosophies, to receive, hold and disseminate thy teachings, doctrines, traditions, fables and philosophies (merchandise).

27:10. They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war; they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.—Believers in the hell‐fire superstition (Persians were fire worshippers), and middle‐course, conservative worldly men of sin (the people of Lud and Phut were dark‐skinned men, living probably west of Egypt, type of worldly compromisers with sin) were in thine army, those that fight the bad fight of error for thee; in thee they hung the shield of credulity (faith) and the helmet of a false salvation; they extolled the loveliness of thy philosophy.

27:11. The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy towers; they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.—The believers in human immortality, thy philosophic refuge (Arvad means “refuge”) with thine army just mentioned were the wall of thy defense and thy watchmen, college professors, economists (the Gammadim are thought to mean watchmen or guards) were in thy watch towers; upon thy walls, in the minds of thy supporters (walls) they hanged their shields of credulity; they have made thy philosophies and sophistries seem perfectly beautiful.

27:12. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.—Thy preachers (merchants, trading in philosophy for gain) were a hard proposition (Tarshish means hard), with an abundant supply of teachings regarded worth while by the world; with worldly truth—silver—with strong earthly authority—iron—with actually worthless philosophies (tin was as the dross of silver) and with downright wicked doctrines (lead symbolized wickedness—Zech. 5:7‐8) they taught and preached (traded) in thy preaching places (fairs).

27:13. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.—Believers in Greek philosophy (Javan represented the Greek race), and believers in the most far‐fetched and uncouth ideas, such as monkey‐born evolution (Tubal and Meshech were the remotest and rudest of nations), were thy preachers (merchants). They sold men into bondage to sin, and presented teachings of human perfection (brass) attainable otherwise than through Christ. Brass should be translated copper, and signifies perfect human nature.—T. 18.

27:14. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.—The representatives of the rudest and crudest ideas (Togarmah) preached in thy churches with doctrines (horses) and with followers of the doctrines and with mixed human and spirit nature ideas (mules).

27:15. The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present, horns of ivory and ebony.—Men of low ideals (Dedan means low) were thy preachers; many revolutionary republics (islands) were thy preaching places; they presented thee with dreams, visions (ivory) of power (horns), good and bad (ebony).

27:16. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and flat linen, and coral, and agate.—Believers in doctrines of lofty self‐righteousness (Syria signifies high land) were thy preachers; they traded for gain in philosophies of eternal life (emeralds) without Christ’s purchase, with teachings of self‐kingship (purple), with works of self‐mastery (broidered work), with self‐righteousness (linen), with an imitation ransom (red coral), and imitation character jewels (agate).

27:17. Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.—With thine errors were mingled God’s Truth to make up thy mixed doctrines. Some of thy preachers were really believers in the Bible (of Judah and Israel), taught the wholesome spiritual Bible truths (wheat), good teachings for the natural man (Pannag means millet), and teachings about Christ’s Second Coming (honey), the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit (Rev. 10:9, 10), and the balm of the comfort of the Word of God.—Rom. 15:4.

27:18. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.—Thy preachers (merchants) were among the chiefest of the lofty, self‐righteous, lordly ones (Damascus was capital of Syria, the high land), trading in all varieties of thy doctrines and philosophies, especially the mixed doctrines (wine) of earthly prosperity (Helbon, fruitfulness) and in natural human righteousness (white wool).

27:19. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.—Apostate Christians (Dan was the seat of idolatry and types a class once spirit‐begotten but fallen away) and Grecian pagans (Javan represented the Greeks) preached in thy church gatherings; lordship, authority (iron), the claim of apostolic authority (cassia, deputyship), and a claimed knowledge of the Bible (calamus) were in thy churches (markets).

27:20. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.—Preachers of low ideals (Dedan, low) preached that thy church organizations (chariots) should be made presentable by being robed in the embroidery of many works, church fairs and suppers, institutional work, and civic and social service (chariot clothes or robes).

27:21. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.—Thy preachers, with claims of consecration, separateness (Arabia, wilderness), and all the powerful right reverends, fathers, and other lords (Kedar, powerful), they traded (exchanged from one church to another) their converts (lambs), old church members (rams), and out‐and‐out tares (goats).

27:22. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.—The preachers in captivity (Sheba, captivity) to Satan, and those who tremble at Satan’s word (Raamah, trembling) set forth a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit (principal spices, Exodus 30:23), all kinds and degrees of self‐development of character (precious stones), and the alleged inherent spark of the Divine (!) in man (gold).

27:23. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.—The preachers of New Thought, Theosophy, Christian Science and other phases of Spiritism, self‐styled, strong and enlightened (Haran), set up and distinguished (Canneh), and believers in delightful delusions (Eden, delight), are in captivity (Sheba, captivity) to Satan, and really without hope of Kingdom honors (Chilmad, level, plain, without mountains).

27:24. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.—These self‐reliance preachers set forth the robes of a counterfeit faithfulness (blue), fruitless works of self‐improvement (broidered work), and organizations (chests) offering an imitation righteousness (rich apparel), bound with cords of free‐thought love and a delusive hope, and represented as having eternal life (cedar).

27:25. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.—The mighty independent religious sects (ships of Tarshish—Isa. 3:16) did preach of thy philosophies and thou wast richly supported (replenished) and made of great reputation (glorious) among the peoples and nations (seas).

27:26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.—The picture changes back to a gallant ship. Thy strong preachers (rowers) have steered thee into angry seas (anarchy); the doctrines (winds) from the presence of Christ the Sun of Righteousness (east wind) have broken thy power in the midst of a time of anarchy (seas).

27:27. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.—Thy philosophies, thy churches, thy doctrines, thy preachers, thy philosophers, thy Doctors of Divinity (sky‐pilots), thy church members, all thy church workers, and all the multitude that come to church, shall fall in the anarchy in the day of thy ruin.

27:28. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.—Those affiliated with thee shall quake at the shoutings and threatenings of thy sky‐pilots.

27:29. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land.—All those that work, the influential church members, the preachers, and all the sky‐pilots of the anarchistic masses (sea) (Rev. 18:17‐18), shall abandon their independent organizations or their heathen religions, and shall try to find more solid ground to stand on than thou wast on.

27:30. And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes.—They shall speak against thee, and cry out with bitterness against thee, they shall show signs of grief.

27:31. And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.—It was a custom in ancient times for those who had suffered great calamities to shave their heads. The Lord promises such an occasion for weeping to Zion, His professed people.—Isa. 3:24.

27:32. And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?—In their bemoaning the downfall of so‐called “Christian philosophy” they shall lament over thee, saying, What organization was ever like Christendom, like her who has been destroyed in anarchy?

27:33. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.—When thy philosophies were accepted by the masses, thou didst satisfy many people. Thou didst enrich materially and mentally the rulers and the clergy‐lords of society with thy innumerable philosophies and thy doctrines.

27:34. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.—When thou shalt be broken and engulfed in the roaring waves of anarchy, thy doctrines shall cease and all thy supporters shall fall.

27:35. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.—All the people of the revolutionary republics shall marvel at thy fall, and the rulers of that brief era shall be troubled and afraid of meeting thy fate in the anarchy.

27:36. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.—The preachers (merchants) then taking their place among the unbelieving masses shall scoff at thee; thou shalt be a “worn‐out and wasted thing” (literal) and never shalt thou exist any more.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

O bliss of the purified! bliss of the free! I plunge in the crimson tide opened for me; O’er sin and uncleanness exulting I stand, And point to the print of the nails in His hand.

O bliss of the purified! Jesus is mine; No longer in dread condemnation I pine; In conscious salvation, I sing of His grace, Who lifteth upon me the light of His face.

O Jesus, the crucified! thee will I sing, My blessed Redeemer, my God and my King; My soul filled with rapture shall shout o’er the grave, And triumph o’er death in the “Mighty to save.”

Ezekiel 28—Destruction Of The Devil

28:1. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.—Chapter 28:1‐10 depicts the destruction of priestcraft by the sword of revolution and anarchy and by the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

28:2. Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.—To the exalted class, the clergy (prince) of Christendom, as a system of paganized philosophy: Because of thy pride of heart, thou hast said through thy chief representative, the Pope of Rome, I am as a god, I am the vice‐ gerent of Jehovah, my seat is “upon many waters” (Rev. 17:1), upon “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues” (Rev. 17:15), yet thou art man‐made, man‐ordained, and not of God, not Divinely ordained, even though thou set thine heart to pose before the people as Divinely ordained.

28:3. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee.—Behold, thou thinkest that thou art wiser than Daniel (Z. ’05‐280); that through supposed Divine inspiration, the confessional and the universal clergy‐spy system, there is nothing in Heaven or earth which thou dost not know.

28:4. With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures.—With thy false philosophy and thy misunderstanding thou hast acquired riches, much gold and silver into thy treasury—many, too, of both Little Flock (gold) and Great Company (silver) into bondage.

28:5. By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick has thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches.—By scientific suppositions of infidel Evolution and Higher Criticism, and by good salesmanship of these worthless goods, thou hast heaped up wealth; and thou hast become proud, because of thy riches of materials, doctrines and membership.

28:6. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.—Therefore Jehovah says, Because thou hast set thyself up in pride to be as God, claiming to represent Him on earth as God’s vice‐gerent.

28:7. Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.—I will bring upon thee paganized anarchists, strangers to thy theories, the terror of the nations—and also My pilgrims and strangers, the sons of God, those whom thy philosophy dreadest; and the anarchists shall turn their weapons of destruction against thee, and the sons of God shall smite with the Sword of the Spirit thy falsely beautiful philosophy, and shall expose the real pollution of thy wisdom.

28:8. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the sea.—They shall bring thee down to a dishonored oblivion, and materially and religiously thou shalt die the deaths of those slain in the roaring waves of anarchy.

28:9. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.—Though thou sayest to the anarchy that shall slay thee materially and to Him that shall destroy thee religiously, “I represent God!”—yet thou shalt be seen to be man‐made and not ordained by God, in the power of the destroyer appointed by Jehovah.

28:10. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.—Thou shalt die the deaths of the wicked by the hand of the anarchists, and be destroyed religiously as one of unclean conscience (uncircumcised) at the hand of the sons of God, My strangers and pilgrims in the earth (1 Pet. 1:1); for Jehovah hath spoken it.

28:11. Moreover the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Verses 11 to 26 deal with the destruction of the Devil, pictured as the King of Tyrus.

28:12. Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.—Satan, the Devil, the father of lies and king over Christendom’s system of pagan philosophy, is by nature the summation of perfection, the personification of Wisdom (Wisdom was one of the cherubs) and by nature perfect in the beauty of holiness.—Z. ’03‐135.

28:13. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.—Thou wast in the garden of Eden at the fall of man. Every good fruit of character wast thine adornment (Rev. 21:18‐21); with this perfection of character endowment thou wast created.

28:14. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the Holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.—Before thy fall thou wast appointed the care‐taker (coverer) of the innocent pair in Eden. Thou wast the embodiment of Wisdom (cherub), and endowed with the Holy Spirit (anointed); and I so made thee. Thou wast in high position in the holy heavenly Kingdom of God (Eph. 6:12); thou hast had thy course of life among God’s holy angels (Isa. 14:13)—stars, fiery stones.

28:15, 16. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.—By their multitudinous trading in mixed doctrines (merchandise) “for revenue only” thy adherents, demons and clergy, have filled thy following with violence and warfare; and thou hast sinned unto death. Therefore I will cast thee as polluted out of the Kingdom of God (A. 318); and I will destroy thee from amongst My holy angels.

28:17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.—Thou becamest proud because of thine endowment of beauteous character. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy conceited teaching of counterfeit wisdom (brightness); I will humble thee to the dust, and expose thy real character.

28:18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick: therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.—Thou hast defiled the churches of Christendom by thine iniquitous doctrines and the teaching of them. Therefore I will utterly destroy thee with annihilation, and thy following with anarchy, in the sight of all that behold thee, in Heaven and on earth.

28:19. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.—All shall marvel at thy destruction; thou shall become wasted, devastated (a terror), and never shalt thou exist any more.

28:20. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying,—Verses 20 to 26 relate to the destruction of organized Churchianity.

28:21. Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it.—Zidon meant “fortress”; and the fortress of churchianity since the third century A. D. has been the doctrine that, to be saved, men must belong to a church organization. The King of Zidon typed the Devil.

28:22. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.—God says, I am against thee, organized churchianity, and I will be glorified and made holy in thee, only when I have executed retribution and justice upon thee.

28:23. For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—For I will afflict thee with literal and spiritual sickness and death (shed blood).

28:24. And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grievous thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.—The adherents to the church‐organization idea have persecuted and dispersed both Jews and Christians, but they shall do so no more.

28:25, 26. Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to My servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.—The Jews shall enjoy God’s earthly blessings, and the true Christians His Heavenly blessings, when He has executed justly earned judgments upon the people that have adhered to or taught the belong‐to‐a‐ church‐or‐go‐to‐hell idea.—Z. ’94‐76.

Ezekiel 29—The Egyptians A Type

29:1. In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Chapters 29 to 32 are directed against Egypt, its king and people, and against the surrounding peoples. Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, and was known as Mizraim, which meant “Middle Country,” and typed organized, entrenched and enthroned middle‐course worldliness. The word Egypt means “that binds or oppresses,” and signifies the bondage of the Lord’s people to the oppressive, enslaving spirit of the world—the spirit that slew our Lord (Rev. 11:8), and has enslaved and slain millions of God’s saints. Chapter 29:1‐7 represents worldliness as a crocodile, the dragon of Revelation 12:3, etc.

29:2. Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt.—This message is against Satan, the Devil, the king of this present evil world, and against all worldliness.

29:3. Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said. My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.—Jehovah says, I am against thee, Satan (Pharaoh means the sun, the god of the sun worshipper, the Devil), the great wicked dragon, also called Pagan Rome (later Papal Rome), that dwells in the midst of the church denominations (rivers, channels of Truth), and says, The church system is mine own, and I (not God) made it for my own purposes.

29:4. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.—God will bind thy utterances (jaws) with a chain (hook means chain or ring) (Rev. 20:1), and will cause thy active worldly church members and other adherents in thy churches (rivers) to adhere to thy protecting doctrines (scales) and will alienate thy churches from thee (corresponds to drying up Euphrates) and from all thy active supporters.

29:5. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.—And I will cause thee to be forsaken (in the wilderness), thee and all thy adherents (fish). Thou shalt fall unprotected into the hands of a cold, cruel world (open fields), not to be established again in power, but to be destroyed by the evil revolutionary governments (beasts) of the world (field), in world‐ wide revolution, and by wicked criminals, jail birds (fowls) and anarchists.

29:6. And the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.—The worldly people who have been no real support to either Jews or true Christians (Isa. 36:6; Z. ’95‐144), shall realize that Jehovah is the Lord.

29:7. When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.—When they in their weakness sought some aid of thee, thou didst roughly abuse them; and didst try to destroy them in persecution.

29:8, 9. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.—And worldliness shall be destroyed, and the people shall know Jehovah as He is; because Satan said, The churches are mine.

29:10. Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.—I am against thee and thy churches, and will utterly destroy worldliness from end to end.

29:11, 12. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.—Christendom shall be uninhabited and desolate for forty years after its devastation.

29:13. Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered.—After forty years God will gather into the Kingdom the scattered worldly people.

29:14. And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.—And will bring them back from the dead into their own country, where they shall be insignificant.

29:15. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.—This has been literally fulfilled upon Egypt, which for many centuries has not enjoyed self‐government.

29:16. And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.—Neither Jews nor Christians shall ever again look to the worldly people (Egypt), (Isa. 30:1‐5) for help; for the sight of the worldly will make them remember Christendom’s iniquity.

29:17, 18. And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it.—The forces of anarchy’s king, the Devil, will perform a great service in the Divine Plan of the Ages, but there will be nothing in it for the anarchists.

29:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages of his army.—Jehovah will give worldly Christendom to anarchy: and this shall be the material reward of the forces of anarchy.

29:20. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for Me, saith the Lord God.—God will give worldly Christendom to anarchy, for its labor in serving the interests of God’s plans against pagan religion masquerading as Christendom, because in doing so anarchy will do its part.

29:21. In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—During the Time of Trouble God will cause the power (T. 42) of the Jews to bud forth in Zionism, and make known the glad tidings of the Kingdom, taught in _Studies in the Scriptures_.—Isa. 19:1‐25.

Ezekiel 30—Pharaoh’s Two Arms Broken

30:1, 2. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of Man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Howl ye, Woe worth the day.—Thus saith Jehovah: Weep, and cry! O woeful day!

30:3. For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.—The day is near, the day of Jehovah, a gloomy day—the time of infidel anarchy!—Joel 1:15; Zeph. 1:7.

30:4. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.—The weapons of anarchy and the Sword of the Spirit shall come against worldly Christendom. Great distress shall be upon non‐church members (Ethiopia, black) socialists, laborites and revolutionists, when Christendom’s slain shall fall literally and spiritually, when her multitude shall abandon her, and when her foundations—social, economic, moral and religious—shall be broken down in war, revolution and anarchy.

30:5. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.—The worst peoples, darker religiously and morally—the socialists, laborites and revolutionists, in touch with worldly Christendom—shall fall with Christendom by literal weapons and by the Word of God.

30:6. Thus saith the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God.—All supporters of worldly Christendom shall fall; her pride of power shall be humbled; from end to end of Christendom shall they fall.

30:7. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.—Worldly Christendom shall be utterly desolated.

30:8. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.—They shall know that Jehovah permitted anarchy to start in Christendom, and will recognize Him, when they see that all their helpers are destroyed.

30:9. In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.—At the time of Christendom’s fall, the message from God shall be borne by independent religious organizations to the too‐confident socialists, laborites, and revolutionists that shall make them afraid of anarchy, and great distress shall ensue upon them, as in Christendom’s fall.

30:10. Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.—God will make the multitude of adherents to worldly Christendom to cease adhering to her, by the power of revolution and anarchy and their instigator, the Devil.

30:11. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.—Satan and his followers—devils and humans—the most terrible of all the nations—the anarchists—shall destroy Christendom’s worldly order of things. They shall attack Christendom with their weapons and fill the land with their slain—as will the Sword of the Spirit with those slain spiritually.

30:12. And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.—God will cause the denominations to become dry of members and of money, will give the order of things over into the power of the wicked anarchists, and will desolate Christendom’s order of things and all belonging to it, literally by the power of anarchists, strangers to the existing order of things, and spiritually by the sons of God.

30:13. Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.—God will destroy Christendom’s idols of love of gold, power, etc (Jer. 43:12, 13), and will cause these gods to cease among the more prosperous people of Christendom (Noph was the Delta and richer part of Egypt); and there shall be no more an exalted class, a worldly clergy class, in Christendom; but God will put in her fear and failing of heart.

30:14. And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.—God will make the upper classes (Pathros, upper Egypt), desolate, will permit anarchy and destruction to start among them (Zoan, capital of Egypt), and will execute retributive judgments upon the leaders of the upper classes (No, capital of Upper Egypt).

30:15. And I will pour My fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.—God will pour His fury upon Papacy, the strength of worldly Christendom, and will cut off the multitudes that support the upper classes.

30:16. And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.—God will let anarchy start in Christendom. Papacy shall have great distress; the upper classes shall be rent asunder, and the lower classes shall suffer daily distress.

30:17. The young men of Aven and of Pi‐beseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.—The young men who follow Christendom’s vain show (Aven, vanity), and her honors (Pi‐beseth, very exalted), shall fall by the sword of anarchy; for these things shall come to their end in anarchy.

30:18, 19. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—For the lower classes also (Tehaphnehes, in Lower Egypt), it shall be a dark day when God breaks the bondage imposed by worldly Christendom. Her pompous power shall cease. A cloud of trouble shall cover her, and her churches (daughters) shall be taken and lost in anarchy.

30:20, 21. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.—Ecclesiasticism, Satan’s right arm shall be broken, never to be healed. The Lord’s time for their punishment has come.

30:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.—God is against Satan, the mighty king of worldliness, and will break also the civil powers, and make him powerless to use his sword.

30:23. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.—God will scatter the worldly people among the anarchists.

30:24. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My Sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.—God will strengthen the civil and philosophic (infidel, anarchistic religions) powers of Anarchy; and anarchy shall both use the Bible (God’s Sword) and shall wield the sword of earthly weapons, as His own sword; and this evil order of things, with powers broken down, shall utter its dying groans of distress.

30:25. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.—But this order of things, with powers broken, and the anarchistic state of affairs with strengthened power, shall realize that it is of Jehovah’s might, when anarchy grows in power and attacks the existing order of things.

30:26. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.—And the worldly peoples scattered everywhere, shall by the fulfillment of this prophecy know that Jehovah rules in the affairs of men.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

“Mine eyes can see the glory of the presence of the Lord; He is trampling out the winepress where his grapes of wrath are stored; I see the flaming tempest of His swift descending Sword: Our King is marching on.

“I can see His coming judgments, as they circle all the earth, The signs and groanings promised, to precede a second birth; I read His righteous sentence, in the crumbling thrones of earth: Our King is marching on.”

Ezekiel 31—Christendom Not To Endure

31:1, 2. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?—Chapter 31 represents Christendom as a cedar tree which is cut down. It opens with a message respecting Satan (Pharaoh, the sungod) king of worldly Christendom (Egypt) and her multitudes. What comparison could be made of her greatness!

31:3. Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.—Behold, Satan and his counterfeit Christian system (tree; “Assyrian” should probably read “teashur,” a box‐tree), thought of as never to end (cedar, type of man with eternal life), and as a righteous kingdom (Lebanon, a mountain, white, snowy), having as members (branches, like the branches of Christendom) the great, the evil and the good, worldly people, with protecting power (shadowing shroud) and very prominent, with the greatest people at the very top.

31:4. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.—The peoples and the secular truth (waters) made Satan’s system great; the great nations and the apparently profound truths of liberty, fraternity and equality, made it prominent, with its roots (plantings) nourished by nations and sects (rivers) and sending out national and denominational influences throughout all the systems of the world.

31:5. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.—Therefore Christendom’s prominence was exalted above everything like it in the world; and its mighty members were increased in number and made of far reaching influence, because of the multitude of their people and of their teachings.

31:6. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.—All the jail‐birds (fowls) of the powers of spiritual control, made their church organizations (nests) among its members; and under the power of its membership (branches) did all of the governments (beasts) of this world (field) bring forth their progeny; and under its defense (shadow) dwelt all nations.

31:7. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.—Thus was it magnificent in its greatness, and in the extent of its ramifications; for it was rooted in great peoples and in great secular truths.

31:8. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; not any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.—In Christendom’s egotism there was nothing equal to her in this age or the next.

31:9. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches; so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.—Christendom felt itself the envy of everything, present and to come.

31:10. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height.—Because of Christendom’s self‐ exaltation and pride.

31:11. I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.—God will deliver Christendom into the power of the god (el, mighty one) of the heathen, the Devil himself; He shall surely deal vengeance to her; He will drive her out of existence.

31:12. And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.—The anarchists, the terror of the nations, will lay her low; upon the kingdoms (mountains), and among the people (valleys) her members (branches) will fall, and be broken off by her seceding denominations; all the people of this order of things will leave her protection, and abandon her.

31:13. Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches.—The jail‐birds of ecclesiasticism, and all the revolutionary governments of this state of affairs, shall profit by her ruin and through her members (branches).

31:14. To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water; for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.—No other earthly system may follow her proud example; for all of them are delivered, as systems, into death, to a dishonored place among the lowest in society.

31:15. Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.—In the year 1918, when Christendom shall go down as a system to oblivion, (Sheol) to be succeeded by revolutionary republics, God will cause mourning. He will restrain and defer for a brief period the threatening waves of anarchy. He will cause the nations to mourn for Christendom, and all the man‐made systems (trees) of the world (field) to become weak on account of her fall.—E. _392_, 372.

31:16. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell (Sheol) with them that descend to the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.—God will cause the nations to shake with gigantic revolutions, when He shall cast worldly Christendom, as an organized system, down to oblivion (as He did the Jews in the Dives parable).

31:17. They also went down into hell (Sheol) with him, unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were in his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.—But they also shall go down to oblivion (Sheol) (E. _392_, 372), with Christendom, as well as those that were her power, that dwelt under her defense among the people.

31:18. To whom art thou thus like in glory in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.—Though worldly Christendom is unsurpassed in glory and in greatness among other systems, yet shall she be brought down to be one of the most disesteemed grades of the social order; she shalt be counted as one of the ungodly. The Egyptians practiced circumcision, typical of worldly Christendom’s counterfeit ease of conscience through belief in error. This is said of Satan, the god of Christendom and all his multitude.

Ezekiel 32—Christendom’s Utter Downfall

32:1, 2. And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.—In Chapter 32 Christendom’s destruction is depicted in several ways: as the catching of a sea monster (32:1‐6); as the putting out of her light (32:7‐8); also, in addition the downfall of her systems (32:9‐10) as a worldly system destroyed by anarchy (32:11‐16); as the going down of worldly Christendom to oblivion (32:17‐21); as the fall into oblivion of the anarchists (32:22‐23); of the Eastern mysticism in Christendom (32:24‐25); of her worst classes (32:26‐28); of the worldly religious people (32:29); of the church organization of ecclesiasticism (32:30), and of Christendom’s king, Satan, and all his multitudes. (32:31‐32.) The message begins with a lamentation over Satan (Pharaoh), king of worldly Christendom (Egypt), and his visible representatives, the apostate clergy. Among the nations they are as a lion in power and ferocity (lion also symbolizes the Devil); and as a monstrous power (whale) among the peoples (seas); they came with their sects (rivers), and muddied the Truth (waters) with their earthly‐ minded members, the clergy (feet), and filled their churches (rivers) with worldliness.

32:3. Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out My net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in My net.—God will gradually bring the Time of Trouble upon Christendom like a snare, as a movement toward liberty for the people, through a multitude of progressives, radicals, revolutionists and anarchists; and these shall ensnare her unknowingly in the great tribulation, and bring her up out of favor with the people (out of the sea.)

32:4. Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.—Then God will leave her defenseless against the whole world, and will cause the worst classes (birds) of an apostate Christianity (heavens) to feed upon her, and will cause the evil revolutionary governments (beasts) of the whole earth to fill themselves up with her former members.

32:5. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.—And her prominent members shall die, and of her lesser people a great number.

32:6. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.—The loss of life shall extend to her highest government officials and rulers (mountain); and the churches shall be full of her dead.

32:7, 8. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.—When God shall put out Christendom’s light in 1918, He will blind the minds of ecclesiasticism (heaven) (A. 318), and deprive their pulpit stars of wisdom from the true apostolic stars, the Apostles. (D. 591). He will darken the understanding of the Gospel (sun) of Jesus Christ (D. 590) with the cloud of the Time of Trouble; and the light (truth) of the Mosaic Law shall not shine forth in her.

32:9. I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.—God will also trouble the hearts of many other peoples, when He shall visit the same Time of Trouble upon other nations, where the clergy had no sway.

32:10. Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish My Sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.—Yea, He will make many nations to marvel at Christendom’s fall; and their rulers shall fear and quake on account of her destruction, when they are threatened with destruction by anarchy. Every moment shall every man of them tremble for his life.

32:11. For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.—The destructive weapons of the Devil, the King of Confusion (Babylon), of Anarchy, shall be turned against worldly Christendom.

32:12. By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.—By the weapons of a mighty, revolted soldiery will God cause their multitudes to fall, even all the terrible men of all Christendom; and the anarchists shall take as their spoil the pomp of the nations, and all the adherents of the nations of Christendom shall cease to support them.

32:13. I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.—God will destroy all of the ferocious governments from beside the great nations (waters); neither shall worldly men trouble the people any more, nor the down‐treading oppression of savage governments make them trouble.

32:14. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God.—Then will God give the people peace (deep waters), and make their course to run with quiet smoothness. They shall know the deep things of God, and have the Holy Spirit.

32:15. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.—When God shall have made worldly Christianity desolate, and worldliness shall be destitute of its prosperous worldlings, when He shall have smitten with the great tribulation all that are at home in their worldliness, then, in the better days to come, shall they know Him as He is.

32:16. This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God.—The heathen religions (daughters) shall lament worldly Christendom’s downfall, and the downfall of her adherents.

32:17, 18. It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.—These verses depict the mourning for the multitudes of worldly Christians, tares, when they and worldly Christendom and the churches (daughters) of the great powers (nations) are cast down to the disesteemed lower strata of the social order, with those that die a disreputable death (pit).

32:19. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.—Worldly Christendom has imagined herself of unsurpassable desirability, but she shall go down to oblivion, with those regarded as polluted (uncircumcised).

32:20. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.—Her populace shall fall by weapons of destruction, and by the Sword of the Spirit; she is delivered to destruction. They shall draw her as a system, and her adherents, as adherents, away for burial!

32:21. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.—The one strong among Christendom’s great men, no longer men of power, and those that helped her shall speak of her downfall, in their fallen condition (Sheol); they shall have fallen from high positions, and be as men outcast and polluted, reduced to lowliness by the might of anarchy, and by the Sword of the Spirit.—E. _392_, 372.

32:22, 23. Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.—The revolutionists (Asshur, Assyria, the revolutionary anarchists) in multitudes shall go down to oblivion, dead literally or dead to their order of things.

32:24. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.—There in oblivion shall be buried New Thought, Christian Science, and other forms of Oriental religion or Mysticism (Elam, Persia, home of Mysticism), and the multitude of their believers, ceased then to be mystics; all fallen by the literal sword or by the Sword of the Spirit.

32:25. They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.—The anarchists shall put Mysticism to rest in destruction.

32:26. There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.—There shall be the worst classes of Christendom, the anarchists themselves, in oblivion, all in disrepute, destroyed in the destruction they wrought.

32:27. And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.—And they shall not be mentioned, not even with these great men who have gone down as evil but with some small degree of repute; and with them shall be the end of war (H. 16); but the very memory of the anarchists shall be as of iniquity personified.

32:28. Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.—They shall be thought of as evil only, slain with the sword, and disesteemed by the Word of God.

32:29. There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.—In the general ruin shall be worldly apostate persecuting Christendom, slain by anarchy’s weapons and by the Word of God. They shall be polluted, and come to a disreputable end.

32:30. There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.—The great ecclesiastical lords (north) and all the adherents of the belong‐to‐ a‐church‐or‐go‐to‐hell doctrine (Zidonians, among whom was Jezebel) shall go to oblivion. Though a dreadful terror in their activities, they shall be ashamed; they shall go down, as polluted with iniquity.

32:31. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord God.—Satan (Pharaoh), the god of worldly Christendom, then bound for a thousand years, shall see the fall of these his multitudes, slain by the literal sword, or by the Word of God.

32:32. For I have caused My terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.—Satan and his multitude shall cease to trouble the earth, gone down finally to oblivion, as one polluted with iniquity.

From chapters 25 to 32 Ezekiel prophesied against seven foreign nations (Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt), indicating _ALL_ non‐Christian elements.

Ezekiel 33—Why Ecclesiasticism Must Perish

33:1, 2. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman.—A mutual responsibility exists between one of God’s watchmen and His people, the one to speak and the other to listen. (33:1‐19.) Ezekiel recites his warning of Jerusalem’s fall. (33:20‐29.) The people listen, but do not believe. (33:30‐33.) This chapter repeats the statements of 3:17‐21 and 18:5‐29 regarding the watchman set to warn the people of Christendom, his message and responsibility, and the responsibility of the Christian people toward the watchman—Pastor Russell, and his message and warning from God. “A man of their coasts” refers to the clergy class appointed and ordained by the people, and set by them as _their_ watchman.

33:3. If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people.—Who of the clergy class have blown the trumpet of Truth and warned “their” people of the impending doom of Christendom?

33:4. Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.—The people who have heard the warning have only themselves to blame.—Isa. 58:1.

33:6. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.—The clergy have an awful responsibility. Faithful watching on their part with their great influence among the people, would have saved tens of millions from physical death, and a host from the religious death that will overtake so many. The outraged people will turn on the clergy, as they did in the French Revolution, and in a frightful carnival will exact full toll for the lives lost in war. Responsibility for the Time of Trouble lies squarely at the door of ecclesiasticism; for had the clergy taken a united stand upon the Word of God against industrial, social, political, moral and religious evils, they could have reformed Christendom and prevented the world war and the ensuing revolution and anarchy. Our Lord said, prophetically, “Upon this generation shall come all the blood—to the blood of Zechariah, whom you will murder between the sanctuary and the altar.” (Matt. 23:35 Diaglott, foot‐note.) Josephus says of this man that he boldly accused the clergy of Jerusalem with being the cause of the trouble upon the city. He was tried, accused of inciting anarchy, was found innocent, and was then slain by the clergy class. His fate represents experiences coming upon the Lord’s true people shortly.

33:7‐9. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood shall I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.—Pastor Russell faithfully taught that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and not eternal torment. He also warned the wicked systems of earth, political, economic and religious, that they should surely perish from the earth, if they did not turn whole‐heartedly to Jehovah, the God of infinite Love.

33:10. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?—The nominal Christians of our day were typed by the Hebrews who went to Ezekiel with insincere objections. They have treated Pastor Russell with a seeming but insincere respect. When they inquired into his writing and predictions, based upon the Word of God, they had no sincerity either in their questions or their professions toward him or the Word set forth by him.

33:11‐19. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and commiteth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.—God has no pleasure in the destruction of Christendom. If it had turned from its spiritual idolatry and harlotry to obey God it would have been saved from its impending doom. Its destruction is traceable directly to a “small group of willful men,” leaders and guides of the masses; namely the pope, the cardinals, bishops, priests, ministers, revivalists and other religious leaders who have mistaught rulers and people, and by their combination of worldly and religious teachings brought the world into a condition where the social elements are working their mutual destruction. God pity the clergy for what is coming upon them; for the people will surely recognize the part they have signally failed to play in not, by concerted preaching of true godliness, checking the world’s mad rush to anarchy and annihilation.

Literally the Scriptures foregoing are an affirmation that any one who kept the Mosaic Law perfectly should enjoy life indefinitely as long as he kept the law. Spiritually it teaches the Christian that if he has turned from sin to serve God, under the spirit of the Divine Law of Love, he shall have life everlasting. (Rom. 8:13, 14.) Symbolically it speaks to this evil state of affairs, or world, especially to that wicked one, ecclesiasticism, and enumerates its iniquities: it has sinned before God: it has broken God’s Law of Love and every other Law, and excused the breach by sophistries. Romanism, with which Protestantism has linked hands, teaches the most iniquitous and wicked things.

“A culprit or a witness questioned by a judge, but in an illegal manner (of which the culprit, of course, is the judge) may swear that he knows nothing of the crime about which he is questioned, although he knows it well, meaning mentally, that he knows nothing in such manner as to answer.”—Alphonso Maria de Liguori, Popish theologian, bishop and founder of the order of Redemptorists, 1696‐1787.

Again “Saint” Liguori: “He may swear that he knows nothing, when he knows that the person who committed the crime committed it without malice; or if he knows the crime, but secretly, and there has been no scandal. When a crime has been well concealed, the witness and even the criminal, may and even must, swear that the crime has never been committed. The accused may deny his crime under oath, understanding that he has not committed this crime in such a manner as to be obliged to confess it. He who has sworn to keep a secret is not obliged to keep his oath, if any consequential injury to him or to others is thereby caused. If any one has sworn before a judge to keep the truth, he is not obliged to say secret things. (A woman who has really committed adultery may deny it under oath, provided she has been to confess: for then the sin has been pardoned, and has really ceased to exist.) It is right to advise any one to commit a robbery, or a fornication in order to avoid a murder. We may be allowed to conceal the truth, or disguise it under ambiguous or equivocal words or signs, for a just cause, and where there is no necessity to confess the truth.” And Liguori is still a “saint” in the Roman ecclesiasticism, “where Satan’s seat is,” and with whom Episcopalians, Church of England men, and Protestants generally, are trying to come together in a church union or federation, destined fortunately to an early decease.

“They are not to be called oaths, but rather perjury, which are in opposition to the welfare of the Romish church.”—The Lateran Council (“infallible”). “If any, either alone or before others, whether asked or of his own accord, or for the purpose of sport, or for any other object, swears that he has not done something else which he has done, or in a different way from that in which he has done it, or any other truth that is added, he does not really lie, nor is he perjured.”—Pope Innocent XI, another of the “saints.” 1611‐1689. “A man may swear that he never did such a thing (though he actually did it), meaning within himself that he did not do so on a certain day, or before he was born, or understanding any other such circumstances, while the words which he employs have no such sense as would discover his meaning.” “Promises are not binding, when the person in making them had no intention to bind himself.”—“Saint” Antonio Escobar of Mendoza, a Spanish Casuist and Jesuit, 1589‐1699 (“Papacy and Civil Power,” page 607). “I pronounce all Roman Catholic priests, bishops, popes, monks, friars and nuns to be the most deliberate and willful set of liars that ever infested this or any other country, or disgraced the name of religion.”—William Hogan, a prominent southern lawyer, formerly a priest, on page 172 of his book, “Popery.”

Stealing is authorized by Popish ecclesiasticism: “A servant has the right to rob his master, a child his father, and a poor man the rich. The poor man who has concealed the goods and effects of which he has need, may swear that he has nothing.” In Romish theology it is ordinarily a mortal sin to steal two pieces of gold; but, “If any one steal small sums at different times, either from the same or from different persons, not having the intention of stealing large sums, nor of causing a great damage, his sin is not mortal. If several persons steal from the same master, in small quantities, each in such a manner as not to commit a mortal sin, though each knows that all of these little thefts together cause a considerable damage to their master, yet no one of them commits a mortal sin, even when they steal at the same time. A son does not commit a mortal sin when he steals only twenty or thirty pieces of gold from a father who has an income of 150 pieces of gold.”—“Saint” Liguori.

Ecclesiasticism, the dominant power of the Gospel Age, authorizes murder: “A man who has been excommunicated by the Pope may be killed anywhere, because the Pope has an indirect jurisdiction over the whole world, even in temporal things.”—Dens, a Roman Catholic theological authority in his “Theologica Morales.” Pope Gregory VII (alias “Saint” Hildebrand), 1020‐1085, pronounced that it was no murder to kill an excommunicated person. “This rule has been for 700 years and continues to be, part of the ecclesiastical law. One of the later popes has declared that the murder of a Protestant is so good a deed that it atones and more than atones for the murder of a Catholic.”—Lord Acton in the London Times, July 26, 1872. Says Dr. Isaac J. Lansing in “Romanism and the Republic;” “Every person who had anything to do with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was a Roman Catholic. John Wilkes Booth was a Roman Catholic; Payne and Atseroth, also Dr. Nudd, who dressed Booth’s leg; Garrett, in whose premises he was killed; also Harold was a Roman Catholic; Mrs. Suratt and her son were Roman Catholics; their house was the headquarters for Roman Catholics and for the Jesuit priests. All this was brought out before the military tribunal which condemned some of them to death. When John Suratt fled from Washington he was taken charge of by Jesuits, and under a Jesuit convoy was carried to France.”—Page 272.

“Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics, shall enjoy the same indulgences and be protected by the same privileges as are granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree, further that all who may have dealings with heretics, shall be excommunicated.”—The Lateran Council (composed of candidates for Roman Catholic “saintship.”).

Papacy, the mother of harlots, also permits her clergy to become criminals: “Were even the lives of her ministers debased by crime, they are still within her pale, and therefore lose none of the powers with which her ministry invests them.”—Catechism of the Council of Trent. “A mortal sin is that which kills the soul and deserves hell,” says Archbishop John Hughes, of New York. Papal ecclesiasticism controls the education of the nations under threat of mortal sin: “Catholic electors (voters) in this country, who do not use their electoral (voting) power in behalf of separate (religious public) schools, are guilty of mortal sin. Likewise parents not making the sacrifices necessary to secure such schools, or sending their children to mixed schools. Moreover, the confessor (priest) who would give absolution to such parents, electors or legislators as support mixed schools, to the prejudice of separate schools, would be guilty of a mortal sin.”—Right Reverend Charbonnel, Bishop of Toronto, Canada.

The chastity of an attractive and obedient young nun may hang by the following slender thread: “When a nun receives a precept from her prelate, superior, or confessor, she should immediately execute it, not only to please them, but principally to please God, whose will is known by their command. If then, you receive a command from one who holds the place of God (a man‐made priest!) you should observe it as if it came from God Himself. There is more certainty of doing the will of God by obedience to our superiors than by obedience to Jesus Christ should He appear in person and give His command. The nun shall be most certain of not having to render an account of the actions performed through obedience; for these the superior only, who commands them, shall be accountable.”—Liguori, “Saint,” in Popish constellation of fallen stars. According to Cardinal Manning, a bright star in the Roman Catholic heavens (page 89 of his “True Story of the Vatican Council”) the pope is infallible in matters of faith and morals: and the canonizing of “saints” comes under this head. Cardinal Newman on page 84 of his “Via Media,” 1887 edition, asserts concerning the canonizing of “Saints:”

“The infallibility of the church must certainly extend to this solemn and public act, canonization; and that because so serious a matter, affecting the worship of the faithful, the church, that is, the Pope, must be infallible.” One of the persons duly authorized by infallible Romish canonization is “Saint” Bridget, who lived in 1360. This “saint” says: “The Pope is a murderer of souls. He destroys the flock of Christ and fleeces it. More savage is he than Judas, and more unjust than Pilate, and worse and more wicked than Lucifer. He has exchanged all the ten commandments of God for this single one of his own, ‘Give me money, money, money.’ The Pope with his clergy are the forerunners of Antichrist, rather than the servants of Christ. The Pope’s court on earth plunders the Heavenly court of Christ. The clergy never read the Book of God; but they are ever studying the book of this world. I once loved priests more than men and even angels. The kiss of those fornicating priests is the kiss of Judas when he betrayed our Lord!”—Montagu, pages 305‐6.

An essential factor in the power of this evil one, and an important part of the iniquity of ecclesiasticism is the Romish confessional, which many Episcopal and Protestant ecclesiastics would, if they could, establish in the harlot daughters, the daughter churches, Protestantism. This feature is of Pagan origin. “Auricular confession was enjoined in the Elusinian mysteries, by Zoroaster in Persia, by Buddha in India, and was practiced by the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians, the Mexicans before Cortez, the Peruvians before Pizarro, by the Japanese, the Siamese, and others.” The confessional has made of every priest a spy upon the privacy of the home, the inner secrets of business and the confidential affairs of city, state, province, and nation. Theoretically the confessions are confidential, as Dr. Dens says: “It is not lawful to reveal anything that is told in confession, though it be to avoid the greatest evil that can happen; but actually the secrets of the confessional are revealed.” “De Sanctis,” page 122, says:

“While the penitent arraigns his faults with all the fatuity of a simpleton, what is the confessor doing? Laughing at the simplicity of the penitent: and afterwards in the priestly orgies that follow a morning of great confessions, in the hilarity that flows from wine, amid coarse explosions of laughter, they describe the stupid folly of their penitents; and each priest vies with his fellows in rendering his own penitents more ridiculous than the rest. This breach of faith extends to the highest of Rome’s degraded ecclesiasticism.” History records that Pope Pius V, “saint” (1504‐1572) “for the punishment of certain offences took advantage of the confessional, which ought to be an inviolable sanctuary.” Pope Sixtus V (1521‐1590) told the under clergy that “they could make a report to the Pontiff, without any danger attached to revealing a confession, he giving them absolution for the whole.” Elliott, a former priest, in “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” says, “All our conversation ran upon the stories he [another priest] heard in confession. It is the ordinary discourse of the priests, when they meet, to inform one another of what they have heard in confession. I was often present at such conferences, where the conversation was so indecent that even an honest pagan would have blushed.” “Every day they (the Dominican monks) came and talked most licentiously, relating things that had happened at the Holy office at Perugia, confessions they had heard, etc.”—Scipione Ricca, Bishop of Pistoria, and an Italian reformer, 1741‐1810.

Bishop Hugh Latimer, of England (1485‐1555), whom the Romish ecclesiasticism caused to be burned at the stake, said: “And so they came to know all the secrets that were in men’s hearts, so that neither emperor nor king could say nor do, nor think anything in his heart, but they knew it, and so applied all the purposes and intents of princes to their own commodities. And this was the fruit of their auricular confession.” Finally, from De Sanctis, page 133, etc: “Confession in relation to society may be defined as an universal spydom, organized and complete. Confessors are not content to know the sins of those who confess; but they must learn the regulation and management of the family; and when an ingenuous youth or innocent maiden comes under the fangs of a knavish confessor (and which of them is not a knave?) they do not escape until they have first revealed the secrets of the family circle—without, however, being aware of it.”

“De Sanctis” continues: “Encouragement is given to theft, as to every other crime, by the facility of obtaining pardon, and absolutions are given to robbers, usurers, murderers, without their having made any restitution whatever. They repair to the confessor, present him with a goodly offering for a mass; or, if they are robbers of celebrity, men abounding in wealth, they found a chapelry, a benefice, or something of the kind. At Rome, for instance, every one knows that Pius VII (1742‐1823) granted to all who hear confessions in the Holy house Ponterotto, the privilege of absolving from restitution all who have defrauded the Rev. Apostolic Chambers, or the government; and all defraud, and run there to receive absolution. But this is not enough. Leo X (1475‐1521), in his bull beginning with ‘Postquam ad Apostulatus’ gives confessors the privilege not only of absolving robbers, but of permitting them to retain in all good conscience, the fruits of their usury, robberies, thefts, etc., on condition that part of the goods be given to the church!”

Ecclesiasticism is a greedy robber: “By confession many families are immersed in poverty; because the grasping confessor, taking advantage of the weak moments of a dying man, has had the will made to the profit of the clergy; and facts of the kind may be reckoned by the million. The grasping cupidity of ecclesiasticism’s will‐hunters, and the consequent ruin of innocent and helpless families, formed the subject of an indignant remonstrance of the German princes at the Diet of Nuremberg. To such a length was this execrable practice sometimes carried that the last sacraments were denied to the dying man until he consented to make a will in the priest’s favor.”

Ecclesiasticism’s apostasy, in teachings and in life, has sown the seeds of the fiery harvest of anarchy: “The horrible consequence for religion is that infidelity advances with huge strides, especially in Roman Catholic countries. The enlightenment of the age no longer permits men to believe in the priests blindly, as in the times of ignorance. Free discussion alone could show that the doctrines of the Roman church are not those of the Gospel; discussion, as it would prove their falsehood to a demonstration, would establish the truth. Discussion being prevented, it follows that, seeing clearly the falsehood and iniquity of the Roman doctrines, men believe them, because they are not discussed, to be the doctrines of the Christian religion, and abandon them, and live in indifference and infidelity.” Protestantism, ecclesiasticism, has been an apt follower of Papacy in suppression of discussion. Witness the systematic world‐wide ban on any discussion of Present Truth as presented by God’s watchman, Pastor Russell! Ecclesiasticism, priestcraft, had for ages supplanted the worship of God with paganism, and in the Gospel Age has insidiously transformed the Gospel of Christ, has tried to destroy liberty and progress and has built up a gigantic system of oppression and destruction of the friends of the Truth. The most ferocious of the popes are made the “saints” of Satan’s church. And, says De Sanctis: “In canonizing such men, the Popes have canonized their doctrines; hence it cannot he said that despotism, obscuration [suppression of Truth], oppression of nations, and hatred for any kind of progress, exist through the mal‐practice of any one of the popes; they exist by the very system of the Papacy. The corruption of religion ought not to be attributed to abuse of it by the individual, but to the system; therefore the Gospel ought to reign in its purity, and ought to be delivered from this great enemy; and Italy and Rome ought to confer upon the world this great benefit of despoiling the popes of their usurped power.” Why not reform, purge, cleanse ecclesiasticism? As well try to reform cancer. The sole safeguard is the destruction, excision of the germs. Any real reform would cause the prompt dropping out of the system‐loving millions who would soon reorganize into another vicious system. The very constitution of ecclesiasticism forbids its ever being other than what the Wall Street Journal denominates, “that international nuisance, the church‐state.” Here are some of the articles of Papacy’s present, past and future constitution (infallible):

1. All human power is evil, and must therefore be under the Pope. 2. The temporal powers must act unconditionally, in accordance with the orders of the spiritual. 3. The Church is empowered to grant or take away any temporal possession. 4. The Pope has the right to give countries and nations which are non‐Catholic to Catholic regents, who can reduce them to slavery. 5. The Pope can make slaves of those Christian subjects whose prince or ruling power is interdicted by the Pope. 6. The laws of the Church concerning the liberty of the Church and the Papal power are based upon Divine inspiration. 7. The Pope has the right to practice the unconditional censure of books. 8. The Pope has the right to annul state laws, treaties, constitutions, etc.; to absolve from obedience thereto, as soon as they seem detrimental to the rights of the Church, or those of the clergy. 9. The Pope possesses the right of admonishing, and if needs be of punishing, the temporal rulers, emperors and kings, as well as of drawing before the spiritual forum any case in which a mortal sin occurs. 10. Without the consent of the Pope no tax or rate of any kind can be levied upon a clergyman or upon any church whatsoever. 11. The Pope has the right to absolve from oaths, and obedience to the persons and the laws of the princes whom he excommunicates. (Note. All Protestants are excommunicated.) 12. The Pope can annul all legal relations of those in ban, especially their marriage. 13. The Pope can release from every obligation, oath, vow, either before or after being made. 14. The execution of Papal commands for the persecution of heretics causes remission of sins. 15. He who kills one that is excommunicated is no murderer in a legal sense.“—The Canon Law”, by Dr. G. F. von Schulte, Professor of Canonical Law at Prague.

Here the crafty and wicked Mother of Harlots, ecclesiasticism, asserts her infallible right to permit, directly or indirectly, any and every crime possible for depraved humanity to commit.

Protestantism longs for the old‐time power of the clergy. It has the spirit, disposition, of spiritual fornication, goes to the limit in its efforts to control affairs through local, state, and national governmental agencies, and now is ready and willing to ally itself with liberty‐ destroying papal ecclesiasticism. It displays its true nature and its indifference to the good of the people in its willing eagerness to unite in any manner with the force which has for centuries throttled liberty, banished the Word of God, and stifled freedom in blood. Let not the people of Christendom overlook this when the Protestant clergy advocate church union, as they will. What can be done with such an organization as apostate ecclesiasticism? The truly Christian individual’s answer must be to obey the Divine command, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers [partners in] of her sins [outlined foregoing, _ad nauseam_] and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4.) The Lord’s people, all that really have the Holy Spirit, will and must “come out of her,” clean away from this unhallowed partnership and federation with iniquity. Ecclesiasticism, however, may rest assured that she will not suffer greatly in loss of members or of persons of wealth and power; for but few of the Lord’s people are in her. Each ecclesiastic can be assured that “his people,” the tares, the worldly church members, the Babylonians, the spiritual idolaters and fornicators, the congregation of Molech, will stick by him until the heat of the fiery trials of the time of trouble drives even “the clergy’s people” out into the open of worldliness.

Verse 13 shows that, in view of the enormity of ecclesiasticism’s iniquity, both Roman and Protestant, their partnership in criminality, and their stubborn and willful persistence in evil, “For his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die.”

33:20. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.—O house of nominal churchianity, the time has come for God to Judge you, to recompense you double, according to your ways!—Rev. 18:6.

33:21. And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.—In 24:25‐27, after having cited the skepticism of the Jews as to Ezekiel’s message, it was stated that from the time of Jerusalem’s fall until the tidings of the fall should arrive, Ezekiel was to be dumb, having no new message to be heard by the people. The intervening prophecies, chapters 26 to 32 are not against the Hebrews, but against the heathen nations. The city fell in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the fourth month, the ninth day (2 Kings 25:2, 3), from which to the coming of the tidings of the city’s fall, on the twelfth year, tenth month and fifth day, was one year, five months, twenty‐six days. On that momentous day came the tidings, “The city is smitten!” Pastor Russell’s voice was stilled in death on October 31, 1916. If an application of Ezekiel’s period of dumbness is valid here as a time feature, the tidings, the realization that Christendom is smitten by the onslaughts of revolution, might be expected to flash throughout the world on or about April 27, 1918, a year, five months and twenty‐six days after the death of God’s great watchman. As in Ezekiel 24:27, this would be a sign, an indication to Christendom of the truth of Pastor Russell’s commission from the Almighty.

33:22. Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.—The Lord made good His promise while the news was approaching; and removed Ezekiel’s dumbness half a day before, in the evening, before the morning when the tidings arrived. It was on the same day; for in the Hebrew system of time, the evening began the day. This signifies that perhaps half a year prior to the general realization of Christendom’s downfall, Pastor Russell, though dead, shall again speak through this, the seventh volume of his _Studies in the Scriptures_—for this is but the completion of his great work of admonition and warning for the Church and for Christendom.

33:23, 24. Then the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.—After Jerusalem had been sacked and King Zedekiah captured, as related in 2 Kings 25, “the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vine‐dressers and husbandmen.” These (“those inhabiting those wastes of the land of Israel”) imagined that “the land is given to us for an inheritance.” They thought they would be left in undisturbed possession, but certain of them came into further conflict with the Assyrians. Then the land was made utterly desolate. This signifies, in fulfillment, that while the revolution overthrowing ecclesiasticism will make quite a clean sweep, there will still remain some of the more lowly adherents of ecclesiastical systems, who will imagine that they and their ideals are to prosper and spread even to the control of the revolutionary order of things.

33:25, 26. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor’s wife; and shall ye possess the land?—But God knows their hearts, and is against them, for their continuance in the evil ways of ecclesiasticism.

33:27. Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.—A sad awakening awaits them. As Jehovah lives, those tares then surviving the ravages of revolution shall be slain by the sword of anarchy, and shall have taken away all pretense of being Christians. Those that have the spirit of earthly ambition shall be given to be destroyed by the savagery of anarchy; and those in the strongholds and in the protected conditions of revolution shall die literally of pestilence and be destroyed religiously by the pestilential teachings of those evil days.

33:28. For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and, the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.—God purposes to utterly desolate this evil order of things and to completely abase the last vestiges of its pride and pomp, and to cause the governments of this Age, even in their changed forms of revolution, to pass away.

33:29. Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate, because of all their abominations which they have committed.—Then at last the people that remain will realize that the war, revolution and anarchy, were the righteous judgments of the Almighty against the spiritual, political and economic abominations of Christendom.

33:30. Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the Word that cometh forth from the Lord.—Reverting to the present time, about contemporary with the realisation that Christendom is smitten, the hypocrisy of professed Christians is spoken against. The tares in their churches (houses) will talk of Pastor Russell and his works and words—they will read this book, and will urge one another to “hear what is the Word that cometh from the Lord.”

33:31. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them; for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.—They will come in numbers, apparently “as My people;” and like all tares, imitation Christians, they will listen respectfully to God’s Words urging haste in consecration for the coming Kingdom; but they will not do the things they hear. They will manifest with their mouths great love for God, but will at heart be the self‐seekers they always were!

33:32. And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.—To these people, in their insincerity and hypocrisy, Pastor Russell’s works will be scarcely a grade higher than an entertainment, a beautiful song, “the song of Moses and the Lamb,” well played on the many‐stringed harp, the Bible, but not heeded as of solemn import.

33:33. And when this cometh to pass (lo, it will come), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.—But when the things predicted in the entire sens volumes of the _Studies in the Scriptures_ come to pass, then shall the tares, too late, realize that a great and Divinely ordained preacher “hath been among them.”

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“Master, speak! Thy servant heareth, Longing for Thy gracious Word, Longing for Thy voice that cheereth; Master, let it now be heard. I am listening, Lord, for Thee; What hast Thou to say to me?”

Ezekiel 34—The Unfaithful Shepherds

34:1, 2. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?—God is against the clergy. Chapter 34 is a burning arraignment of ecclesiasticism. It is to be taken in a dual sense as concerning the clergy’s treatment of God’s true people, the true Church on the spiritual plane, and of the Jews on the earthly plane, both of whom the self‐ appointed shepherds, the clergy, have neglected, abused and scattered. (34:1‐8, 17‐21.) God will judge ecclesiasticism (34:9, 10, 16, 17, 20, 22), and will Himself, through His own agencies, regather and bless His true flock, Jewish and Christian. (34:10, 11‐17, 22‐31.) The words “shepherd” and “pastor” have the same meaning (D. 62; F. 287). Thus saith Jehovah God to the clergy, from Pope to preachers, Woe—in the revolution and anarchy, from 1918 on—woe to the clergy that selfishly look out for “No. 1,” that seek big salaries, live in tax‐free and rent‐free parsonages and rectories, that apply to themselves every promise of the Divine Word. Should not the clergy, the pastors, unselfishly feed the flock of God?

34:3. Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.—Ye live on the choicest offerings of the people. Ye “fleece” the sheep of their golden fleece. Them that are fed to fatness with the Word of God, ye kill spiritually if ye can. Ye have literally killed over fifty millions in bloody persecutions. Ye have preached millions into a dreadful death in the trenches. Ye do everything to the sheep but feed them. Did I not command you thrice, “Feed My sheep?”—John 21:17; 1 Pet. 5:2.

34:4. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.—Those weakened by spiritual disease—by the pestilence of false doctrines—ye have not strengthened with the pure Word of God, the Bread of Life. Rather ye have thrown them poisonous, death‐dealing doctrines (1 Cor. 10:21) from the “table of devils.” Ye have not healed with the Divine Word of comfort (2 Cor. 1:3‐7; Rom. 15:4) those spiritually sick with temporary ailment of the soul. Ye have not bound up, with the strong promises of God, the broken in spirit (Isa. 61:1.) Neither have ye brought back into renewed faithfulness those driven away by your treatment, nor sought to find and bring to renewed relation to God those sheep that have strayed from him in life and doctrine. Rather than feed them, serve and shepherd them, ye have ruled them, lorded over God’s heritage (1 Pet. 5:3), as concerns both God’s true Christian sheep and His sheep of the Hebrew race.

34:5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.—“My sheep know My voice [of love], and a stranger will they not follow.” (John 10:4, 5.) They were not kept together, cared for and cherished in the bonds of Christian love. There were not among you the true under‐shepherds having My Spirit of Divine Love; and you, adulterous priests of Baal, and of Molech—the cruel, fiery‐torment God—none having My Spirit could hear or follow. And when they were scattered, they, the inoffensive, unresisting ones, became the prey of every evil government and of every evil employer and corporation. Ye made them cannon‐fodder by the thousands for the blood‐guilty kaisers, czars, kings and generals of your evil order of things.

34:6. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.—My people wandered homeless and friendless throughout all the nations of this evil world. My flock of Apostles, martyrs, sacrificers, was scattered throughout all human society. Not one of the selfish, idolatrous clergy of either Romanism or Protestantism cared for them, or loved My beloved ones enough to seek after them; but rather ignored them, ostracized them, compelled their silence, drove them out from the churches, and stilled their voices in persecution and in death.

34:7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord.—Ye have done this for centuries; and God permitted you to continue, because the time had not come. But now has come the hour of your judgment, ye popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, preachers, revivalists, and clergy of Baal, of every order and grade. Hear ye the Word of Jehovah.

34:8. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not My flock.—As I live, saith the Living God, surely because My true flock became a prey, and was exploited by every evil ruler and employer, because there was no true shepherd among you, and you clergy did not love and cherish and seek for My beloved flock, but you loved and fed yourselves, and starved My true people with a famine for the hearing of the Word of God.—Amos 8:11.

34:9. Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.—Therefore, ye clergy, hear the Word of the true God, Jehovah.

34:10. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.—Thus saith Jehovah God; Behold, I am against the clergy (H. 12), great and little, high and low; and I will exact from them an accounting for My beloved people; I will take My flock entirely from them. “Come out of her, O My people, and touch not the unclean thing.” (Rev. 18:4; 2 Cor. 6:17.) And I will cause the clergy to cease from feeding or attempting to preach to My flock, or any flock in My name; for in a Time of great Trouble I will deliver My people from the mouths of the clergy (Rev. 9:17‐19), that My flock may not furnish them support any more, that My people may not ever again be preached by the clergy into slaughter.

34:11. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out.—Jehovah will ignore the hireling, faithless clergy, and through an agency of His own lowly despised, caluminated, ostracised will patiently, persistently, lovingly search for all His “little ones,” those having His Spirit, and will seek them out.

34:12. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.—As an oriental shepherd, who knows and loves his sheep and is known and loved of them, seeks them out, when they are scattered (John 10:4‐15), so will God seek out every one of His beloved ones, and will deliver them out of the condition of loneliness, distress, famine and persecution, where they have been scattered by the apostate clergy in the troublous and dark period of the Gospel Age.

34:13. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.—God himself will bring them together from the various paganized “Christian” denominations, into the joy and peace and love of a condition at one with Himself and with others of like precious faith. Upon the height of the Heavenly Kingdom will He feed them, by rivers of crystal clear Truth, and amid the rejoicing throngs of the Heavenly courts. His chosen people, the Jews, will God bring by the agency of the resurrected Ancient Worthies to Palestine, where He will feed them upon the historic mountains of that hallowed land, in the then great cities of a realized Zionism.

34:14. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.—God will feed His Little Flock, first on Present Truth and then, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb He will appoint their place as Kings and Priests of the Kingdom. He will make them abide forever in the place, the Divine spirit nature, which Christ went to Heaven to prepare. Upon the Word, fresh from the mind of God, shall they feast forever, in the spiritual phase of the Kingdom. To the Jews will be fulfilled these promises in the earthly phase of the Kingdom.

34:15. I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.—God will feed His Flock with Present Truth, and will give them the rest of “the peace that passeth understanding.”—Phil. 4:7.

34:16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.—Not one true sheep shall be lost. God’s unerring eye will seek every one, and bring all back, first into the Truth, and then into the Kingdom. He will bind up the broken in spirit and strengthen the spiritually sick. In the latter part of this verse the picture of the shepherds is dropped and a new parable begins, likening the clergy and their strong supporters and “laity” to different classes of sheep and goats (cattle). God purposes in the impending revolution and anarchy to destroy all the fat priests and clergy of all grades—as priests and clergy, at least—and those that, like the Pharisees of old, are sure they will securely stand in the presence of the Lord. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12.) He will feed them with famine and destruction, and with the judgments pronounced in His Word.

34:17. And as for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the goats.—The nominal flock is made up of clergy and laity of sheep and goats. In the flock God discerns the weaker sheep and the stronger rams and the goats—the clergy, class‐leaders, etc.,—some of whom are real sheep and some goats, destined to the left side of disfavor. Many of these are even wolves in sheep’s clothing.—Matt. 7:15.

34:18. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?—The stronger ones have not helped the weak to feed and grow strong; but, as though it were a small matter, the clergy, have lived on the fat of the land, relatively to their poorer congregations. They have eaten up the good Word of God for themselves, particularly the Romish clergy; and what spiritual food they have given the laity, they have walked all over with muddy feet—mingled it with earthly doctrines, social and civic betterment and traditions of men. They have drunk of the water of Truth (C. 65) coming from the Bible, but have spoiled the waters by mingling it with Evolution and Higher Criticism.

34:19. And as for My flock, they eat that which ye have trodden down with your feet; and they drink that which yet have fouled with your feet.—And the laity, God’s flock, whom God commissioned the shepherds to feed with the good Word of God, have eaten and drunk spiritual food polluted by the clergy with doctrines of devils.

34:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.—Therefore God Himself is about to judge and make a manifest difference between the unfaithful, rich in learning and opportunity, and the poorer ones on whom they have imposed.

34:21. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad.—Because the rich, learned and exclusive have shoved aside the weaker ones, and have, by their earthly power, pushed out of the churches all His flock, those not “at ease in Zion.”—Amos 6:1; Isa. 66:5.

34:22. Therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.—Therefore will God Himself save His own in these troublous times, by teaching them Present Truth; and they shall “come out of her” (Rev. 18:4), out of the churches altogether, so that the clergy and the “best” people can no longer exploit them.

34:23. And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My servant David; He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd.—God has established Jesus (David) the Beloved (Jer. 23; 4, 5; John 10:11), and Pastor Russell as a faithful and wise under‐shepherd, to bring forth from the Bible Storehouse truths new and old, to feed the sheep.

34:24. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.—Jehovah (not the eternal‐torment Molech God) will be their God, and His beloved Son and his under‐shepherds shall occupy exalted places among them. In the Times of Restitution the Beloved Christ, Head and body, (David, beloved) will be the true Shepherd to the earthly flock, the Jews.

34:25. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.—With the truly Christian flock God will make a covenant of the peace that passeth understanding (Phil. 4:7); and with the Jews will make the New Covenant through its Mediator, The Christ. He will cause the roaring lion (Isa. 35:9), Satan, to cease from troubling (Job 3:17), and will forever restrain in oblivion the evil governments. His flock shall dwell securely, even in the wilderness condition, until their change come (Job. 14:14), and shall rest in the cooling shadows (Cant. 2:3), in the refreshing truths brought forth from the Storehouse by righteous, strong teachers and leaders among them.

34:26. And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.—The Lord will make the Truth people, His flock, and everything and every condition related to His Kingdom, a blessing to others (Mal. 3:10); they shall be the Seed of Abraham, to bless all the families of the earth. (Gal. 3:8.) God has caused showers of truth to descend upon His flock at their appointed times, down‐pours of spiritual blessing in the “_Studies in the Scriptures_.” At the appointed time of the beginning of returning favor to the Jews, 1878, the latter rains began to fall in Palestine, making that fertile land a fit habitation again for the chosen nation.

34:27. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.—Thinking, manly men, gathered into Present Truth from the world, yield their fruitage of spirit fruits of character; and the blessed condition in which they are yields its increase of spiritual blessing and food; they are safe in their place, “seated with Christ in the Heavenlies” (Eph. 1:3, 20), where they assuredly know God with heart knowledge. God has broken the bands of the heavy yoke of ecclesiasticism, and delivered them out of the hand of a clergy that lived upon His flock, calling it “their people.” For Fleshly Israel and those who shall become Israelites there shall be the blessings of an earthly Eden, with an abundance of fruitage from trees and soil (A. 192).

34:28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.—God’s flock of spirit‐begotten ones shall be no more preyed upon by paganized “Christians,” nor persecuted, devoured, destroyed, by the great “beast” of Christendom, the Papacy, with its “Holy Inquisition;” but they shall dwell safely in the hollow of His hand, His power, and none can make afraid those sealed in their foreheads with the Truth.

34:29. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.—God raised up, in 1878, in the First Resurrection of the dead, the Body members of His Son, “the Stem of David,” and previously in 1874, had sent again His Son to feed the flock, to serve them (Luke 12:37), and sup with them (Rev. 3:20) in a feast of fat things spiritual—the Present Truth. Those in the Truth shall never again suffer from famine of the Word of God; nor shall they, when raised up to sit with Christ in power and glory (Matt. 19:28), ever again bear reproach from a paganized “Christian” apostasy.

34:30. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are My people, saith the Lord God.—This is the way that the Lord’s Spiritual Flock and both Jews, and nominal Christians, shall come to know of a certainty that Jehovah is with them, that they are His people.

34:31. And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.—This prophecy, this type, this symbolism, refers to the people who constitute God’s flock, Jewish and nominal.

Ezekiel 35—Edom A Type

35:1, 2. Moreover the Word of the Lord came onto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it.—Mount Seir and Edom are practically synonymous; for the Edomites inhabited the mountain range region along the east side of the valley, extending from the Dead Sea to the Elamitic or Persian Gulf. What Edom types Pastor Russell makes clear in volume IV of _Scripture Studies_, pp. 14, 20.

One of the features of the Time of Trouble will be upon the fleshly‐minded Christians, tares, who after the fall of ecclesiasticism, will repudiate Christianity, and take their stand as worldings, Edomites—the “people of Mount Seir,” mere tares. These, having assisted in the downfall of ecclesiasticism, will seek to take the place and power of defunct Christendom in an utterly Christless arrangement of things.

35:3. And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out Mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.—The godless nations that will succeed fallen Christendom will also find God against them, and that His power is stretched out against them and will make them, too, most desolate.

35:4. I will lay the cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.—God will, through anarchy, lay waste the Socialistic, labor‐union, social‐democratic and other governments which will emerge as the outcome of the revolutions of Christendom.

35:5. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end.—These economic‐ political movements—Socialism, labor‐unionism, syndicalism, nihilism, and others, but not including anarchy, which will swallow them up—have had a long standing hatred against ecclesiasticism, have spoken and worked against it, and against the social order characteristic of the past age. In the overthrow of ecclesiasticism, the fleshly‐minded tares, “Edomites” and the classes mentioned, will turn on the clergy and laity of the churches, as well as upon the Lord’s spirit‐begotten children—upon any remaining to profess Christianity, whether through adherence to the church systems or through consecration to God—and will slaughter them by thousands.

35:6. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee; since thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.—In gatherings of Socialists, there is no end to the differences of opinion as to what Socialism is and how it is to be worked out in practice. This factional division contains the seeds of the destruction of the short‐lived governmental system of Socialism, under whatever name, for a bloody end. They courted revolution and shall receive of the same.

35:7. Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth.—Thus will God cause the brief Socialistic phase of the Time of Trouble to become “most desolate.” Not one person connected with it shall escape the universal anarchy, the last and worst phase of the tribulation.

35:8. And I will fill his mountains with his slain men; in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.—The Socialistic, labor‐ridden nations (mountains), shall be filled with the slain; among the upper classes of socialism, and among the more insignificant people (valleys) and in connection with all their channels of Socialistic truth (rivers), the people of that order of things shall be slain. In a sense the Sword of the Spirit, will slay them; it foretells their destruction.

35:9. I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.—The Socialistic state shall be utterly destroyed, and its various forms of government (cities) go to oblivion.

35:10. Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there.—The then non‐religious Socialists, laborites, etc., will say: “These two systems (nations), Catholic and Protestant, and the condition of things characteristic of them, shall come under the sway of Socialism, and we Socialists, etc., shall rule over and control them”, whereas they will overlook the all‐important fact that God has been among these people, and they were called God’s people.—“The Lord was there.”

35:11. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy, which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them, when I have judged thee.—Therefore as the Socialists, etc., will turn upon ecclesiasticism and Christianity in anger and fury and with hateful envy, so God will do to the Socialistic laborite order of things. As they aid in smiting down Christianity, so will the anarchists smite them down.

35:12. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies, which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.—The laborites, etc., will learn that God rules in the affairs of men, and that the Almighty will pay attention to their utterances against the nations (mountains) of Christendom (Israel), when, after ecclesiasticism’s fall, the laborites shall say, “The nations have been desolated, and are given to us working people to divide up for ourselves.”

35:13. Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me: I have heard them.—The Socialistic and kindred movements, while speaking savagely against capitalism, and covertly against Christianity, have in reality been speaking against an order permitted by God, and in which God was—in the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, in such true Christians as were in the systems. In expressing the determination to lead the world out of the darkness of evil economic, social and political conditions, they unwittingly boast against God by presuming to perform what God previously planned to be done by His faithful Church, and which by any lesser agency is absolutely impossible of accomplishment, God will not pass by unnoticed the words of Socialists, syndicalists, laborites, etc. He will hear them, and remember them for just recompense.

35:14. Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.—When the Times of Restitution of all things come, one of the things not to be restored is the Socialist, laborite movement. When all society rejoices in the new order of things ordained of God, the Socialistic state will have been utterly and forever desolated.

35:15. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do onto thee; thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—As the fleshly‐minded apostates from Christianity, siding with the radicals and revolutionaries, will rejoice at the inheritance of desolation that will be Christendom’s after 1918, so will God do to the successful revolutionary movement; it shall be utterly desolated, “even all of it.” Not one vestige of it shall survive the ravages of world‐wide all‐embracing anarchy, in the fall of 1920. (Rev. 11:7‐13)

Ezekiel 36—Christendom’s Early Restoration

36:1. Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord.—In Chapter 6 is described the iniquities of the nations of Christendom and their doom.