The Revelation, a student's handbook

Introduction

IS the painstaking, detailed study of the Book of Revelation worth while ? Is there an intelligent interpretation of the book ? Is it intended for the profit of devout souls in this present dispensation ? "We are aware that not all good people would give the same answers to these questions. It is a generally accepted fact that to the average reader of the Scriptures this book is a closed volume. Many scholars treat it as of secondary importance, taking the position that it is a jumble of incomprehensible visions. Others, who believe it to be in a measure, at least, inspired, think that there is no interpretation of it for the present age, and that we must wait to live into it before it can be understood.

Perhaps no book in all the sacred canon has ever been so abused by having heretical teachers claim its authority for their spurious doctrines ; and, on this account, many people have feared to recognize its full claim to their attention. If these positions are correct, why not be frank and open about it, and let some general council of representative Christendom assign it to the Apocrypha ? If it has no message from God, intended for the edification of the Church, surely it is unworthy of a place in the holy Scriptures. If the study of it simply leads one into absurd extremes, or if a sane interpretation of it brings one to conelusions that are contrary to the other prophecies of the Scriptures, then let us no longer include it as a part of our Holy Bible.

A glance at the history concerning its authorship and canonicity will be of help at this point. The external proofs of St. John's authorship are very strong. This book, with the author's name, is quoted earlier than any other book of the New Testament with but one exception, St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. In a Dialogue of Justin Martin written about the year A. D. 135, the mention of "the Revelation which was made to John, one of the apostles of Christ" is given. This Dialogue was circulated at Ephesus, and here surely the authorship of the Revelation must have been known.

All the Churches named in the early chapters of the Revelation from the earliest period succeeding the time of its writing, with one accord accepted and honored it as from St. John, their Apostolic Bishop. Papias, Bishop of Hieropolis, a disciple of John, who gave much attention to the collection of all the sayings and works of the apostles, accepted and honored this book as the genuine production of St. John. A catalog of the works of Melito, Bishop of Sardis, "the ablest, most learned, and most critical of the Christian writers of his time" (A. D. 161-180), has been preserved, and shows that Melito not only acknowledges "the Revelation of John," but wrote a commentary upon it. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, was a native of Smyrna, and was intimately acquainted with Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp was, in turn, a disciple of St. John, probably receiving his appointment as bishop from the venerable Apostle. Irenaeus, having received authentic traditions thru Polycarp, bears definite testimony everywhere to the genuineness of "the Revelation of John," and states that "it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation." Tertullian, who wrote in Africa at the end of the second century, constantly quotes this book as St. John's, and does not intimate that any doubt can exist concerning it. Contemporary with Tertullian, was Clement of Alexandria, who quotes the Revelation as St. John's work, and refers historically to his exile in Patmos.

In the fourth century, a movement known as the Montanist movement became prominent. The Cambridge Bible commentary on The Revelation says that this propaganda went into some ' ' wild extremes ' ' in regard to the New Jerusalem, and, in order to combat what was considered a heresy, an Asiatic sect arose, extreme opponents of Montanism, who thought it necessary to discredit the writings of St. John because the Montanist teachers appealed to his authority in support of their views.

Many more authorities might be quoted, but the scope of this introduction prohibits a more lengthy discussion. In conclusion of this point, let us say that "no one in ancient times cared to question the inspiration of The Revelation, or to reject its authority, except those who, in the anti-millenarian controversy, thought it necessary to deny its orthodoxy." This was destructive criticism, and our modern higher critics follow this same method of discrediting any portion of Scripture which they do not wish to accept. It is food for thought for devout minds that our present day higher critics are among those who ignore the book of Revelation and deny the doctrine of Christ's premillennial return. There is not a book in the New Testament whose genuineness and inspiration were more clearly attested on its first appearance, and for the three and a half centuries that followed.

Having such historical evidence, the fair-minded student will concede the inspiration and canonieity of Revelation. If this be granted, then it really is our Lord Jesus Christ who speaks to us in this book ; and there is nothing in all the Bible which He more solemnly guards, or more urgently presses upon the study of all who would be His disciples (Rev. 1:3 and 22:18-19). The authority of this book is binding upon us.

And what of its message? Prof. Milligan in the Baird Lectures on the Revelation calls attention to the dependence of the Apocalypse upon Old Testament prophecy. He says, in illustration : ' ' The great earthquake of chapter six is taken from Haggai ; the sun becoming black as sack-eloth of hair and the moon becoming blood (chapter eight), from Joel; the stars of heaven falling, the fig tree easting her untimely figs, the heavens departing as a scroll (chapter eight), from Isaiah; the scorpions (chapter nine), from Ezekiel; the gathering of the vine of the earth (chapter fourteen), from Joel; and the "treading of the winepress" from Isaiah. Not indeed that the writer binds himself to the Old Testament in a slavish spirit. He rather uses it with great freedom and independence, extending, intensifying, or transfiguring its descriptions at his pleasure. Yet the main source of his emblems cannot be mistaken. The sacred books of his people had been more than familiar to him. They had penetrated his whole being. They had lived within him as a germinating seed capable of shooting up, not only in the old forms, but in new forms of life and beauty. In the whole extent of sacred and religious literature there is to be found nowhere else such a perfect fusion of the revelation given to Israel with the mind of one who would either express Israel's ideas, or give utterance by means of the symbols supplied by Israel's history, to the present and most elevated thoughts of the Christian faith."

"We would add just a little to Prof. Milligan's statement, and say that we believe the Holy Spirit inspired St. John in his entire being, and that under this inspiration, John has given us the divine amplification of the Old Testament prophecies. To have omitted this book from the Sacred Canon would be to have left the Bible a broken shaft, for this book is the capital of the column, making the Holy Scriptures God 's own message to man for all time.

It is important to the student to have some knowledge of the two great schools of interpretation regarding this Book: the pre-millennial and post-millennial schools. Not to go into fine technical distinctions, the opposing views may be broadly stated as follows :

As is generally understood, the millennium refers to the period of a thousand years, the manifested kingdom of Jesus Christ. All branches of the Christian church agree that the Lord will return in His glorified humanity, and that the nations of the earth shall become His Kingdom. Disagreement arises as to the time of His coming, whether it be before (pre) or after (post) the millennium. In other words, does the King come first or the Kingdom?

The post-millennial school takes the position that to admit that Christ must come before millennial conditions have been worked out is to cast reflection upon the office and work of the Holy Spirit, operating thru the church of this dispensation. This school insists that the world is steadily getting better, and that finally the principles of Christianity will permeate the civilizations of all peoples, and triumph throughout the whole earth. They argue that to question this as a result of the present dispensation is to limit the power of the Holy Spirit.

The pre-millennialist, in answer to this position, says it is not a question concerning the power of the Holy Spirit. God had power enough to save the world under the Old Testament, had all men been willing to accept His grace; God had power enough to save the world at the time of Christ's first advent, had all men been willing to be saved; but in His infinite foreknowledge, God saw that all men would not accept His mercy. Hence the Holy Scriptures lead us to the revelation of the fact that Christ is coming again before the conditions for His Kingdom are consummated. This is not pronouncing this present dispensation a failure any more than one admits failure by saying that Christ's first coming did not inaugurate the millennium.

The pre-millennialists hold that the Scriptures teach that the divine purpose of this dispensation is the evangelization of the world, tho we are not warranted in the expectation that all will be saved (Matt. 3-14).

This evangelization shall result in the selection of the Bride — the invisible body of true believers — who shall reign with Christ. They hold that the wheat and tares — the good and the evil — will be growing together until Christ comes again ; that the saints are becoming more spiritual, but wicked men "are waxing worse and worse," and that these conditions will become more and more intensified to the end of this age.

As a matter of fact, the name post-millennialist is r.

almost a misnomer, for a considerable majority of those who are classed with this school are inclined to deny the doctrine of the millennium entirely, and to hold simply that the end of this age brings us to the final judgment. To maintain this position, is to discredit many passages which teach the distinction between the first and second resurrections, and to ignore that part of The Revelation bearing upon this theme as "highly figurative." It ought not to be overlooked that no less authorities than Papias and Tertullian believed in and taught the doctrine of the Millennium.

Post-millennialists urge further that the extreme literalism and materialism of the interpretation of Scripture in which some pre-millennialists indulge is offensive to good judgment and sound spirituality. Hence, consistency demands that these "mysteries" should not be tampered with.

In answer to this, the pre-millennialists urge that it is as unfair to discredit this doctrine because fanaticisms and extremes have attached themselves to it, as it is to discredit any other great inspired truth ; and that, tho we may not understand it fully, nevertheless, we must recognize its authority as the Word of God. They further insist that the passages bearing upon this doctrine must meet with the same sincere method of interpretation that would be applied to any other part of the inspired writings; and that to symbolize away this truth into vague indefiniteness, is equivalent to its denial. "What say the Scriptures? What is written ? ' ' God 's word must be met with faith and humility, not with the pride of human philosophies.

In closing, perhaps a word of personal testimony will be pardoned. In 1902, the writer became Principal of a Bible Training School. Our curriculum was mapped out for us by higher authority; and it, of course, included the study of the entire Bible. At the time of entering upon my duties, I supposed of course a specialist could be secured to teach the Book of Revelation. The lady on whom I had counted for this was hindered from becoming a member of our faculty. I went to a church official of great prominence, a scholarly and godly man, and asked him to take our class. He received me cordially; but passed by my request with a pleasantry which amounted to the suggestion that it w y ould not be profitable for him to teach it. I went next to an editor of a great church paper w T ith my request. He told me he would travel that winter, so could not give us his services; but added that he would be glad to lecture to our students on his travels when he returned.

Thus my quest for a teacher of Revelation failed. But I felt the responsibility of living up to the curriculum ; and in this dilemma, faced that first class of young women. I told them frankly that I was incapable of handling the subject, and said, "I will bring you the best authorities I can find, and we will study together." That was the beginning.

At that time, all my prejudices and sympathies were with the post-millennial school. Practically all the preaching I had ever heard had been from that point of view, and my private opinion was that all "Adventists" of whatever type, were unsound. Naturally, I wanted to find a post-millennialist scheme of interpretation for the Revelation. I read some learned articles that pointed out its orientalism and mysticism, etc. ; and some that advanced the theory of its being a collection of incomprehensible visions that had evolved in Hebrew literature somewhat after the manner that the Iliad is supposed to have been built into a great epic from early Greek literature, etc. But these interpretations did not satisfy me as a profitable handling of God 's word ; and I faced the question which I raised at the beginning of this article : why not assign it to the Apocrypha ? At this juncture, I began a more careful study of the proofs of its authenticity and canonicity; and with prayer and painstaking research I became convinced in my own heart and mind that it was inspired by the Holy Ghost; that its message corroborated Old Testament prophecy; and that God's blessing upon its study was for our own time. Here I turned with open mind to the pre-millennialist authorities. I have read many volumes, and turned to them for reference many times since.

I find myself greatly embarrassed as I am about to commit this work — the boiled down result of twelve years of study — to print, for this reason: I am utterly unable to give credit to all writers from whom I have gathered material. I am sure that I owe more to Dr. Seiss than to any other one writer, for his Lectures on the Apocalypse formed the basis of my early study; and much of detail I have taken from him. The perfect sincerity of the man commands my respect, tho I am not able to accept his conclusions in regard to many points ; and it goes without saying, that Dr. Seiss, could he speak for himself, would not wish to be responsible for my conclusions. Being a Wesleyan, "dyed in the wool," as regards the doctrine of Christian perfection, this has necessarily influenced all my thinking. Among the books which I have found most helpful for reference have been : Dr. Vincent's "Word Studies in the New Testament"; Dr. Blanchard's "Light on the Last Days"; Bengel's "Gnomon of the New Testament"; and Cambridge Bible Commentary. Beside these, such books as Mauro's "Number of Man," Haldeman's "The Coming of Christ," Andrew's "Christianity and Anti-Christianity in Their Final Conflict, ' ' Blackstone 's ' ' Jesus Is Coming, ' ' and many other books and periodicals have been suggestive. In one sense, I feel that none of the material is mine, for I have in no degree attempted originality in interpretation ; and the finished product of my study seems but the gathering and selecting of thought from many and varied sources, together with the systematizing of it for convenient use. But the conclusions I must own, for I have followed my own convictions in the application of the material that has come to me.

This little book makes no pretention of being an exhaustive commentary on The Revelation. If it may prove a help in the hands of students who are seeking to know the word of God, it will have reached the aim of its writer.

Iva Durham Vennard.

TABLE OF SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBERS

AMONG the most ancient peoples, especially orientals, numbers had a religious significance. This grows out of an instinctive appreciation that numbers and proportion are necessary attributes of the created universe. This is recognized in the Old Testament, and among the Hebrews numbers were considered as having a sacred meaning.

ONE is the unit — source and parent of all. God in His most

hidden absoluteness of being.

TWO signifies the first two persons of the Deity, or the second Terson of the Trinity, the Son Christ. It denotes incompleteness, dependence upon one, but productive.

It is necessary to the first complete number. Man and wife are two-one; the product of this union completes the family.

THREE., .signifies completion: the Trinity. It is the simplest complete unit; the simplest geometrical figure — the equilateral triangle, unresolvable into anything else.

Man is body, soul and spirit : three in one. The family is man, woman, and off -spring: three-one. Religion is knowledge, action, and experience: three-one.

FOUR.... the world number, signifies creation — the universe.

There are four elements : earth, fire, air, and water.

Four seasons of the year. Four points of the compass.

FIVE signifies progress, but incompleteness — made of perfect

three plus the imperfect two.

SIX is the Satanic number, the worst of all. The number

of anti-Christ is three sixes. Christ was crucified on the sixth day. Signifies individual completeness of everything evil.

SEVEN. . .signifies dispensational fullness. Denotes temporary, but not final completeness. It is the sacred covenant number between God and man. It is made up of the divine three plus the world four. There are seven epochs in the life of Christ.

1. Christ in the bosom of the Father.

2. Christ in Creation (Active agency).

3. Christ in the Old Testament, somewhat un-

recognized.

4. Jesus Christ in His earthly life.

5. Christ of this dispensation, our Mediator.

6. Christ in the Day of Judgment, Judge of the

earth.

7. Glorified Christ in the eternal future.

EIGHT. . .signifies new beginning and resurrection. Jewish circumcision was on the eighth day, and signifies birth in covenant. Christ arose on the eighth day, and marks a new dispensation.

NINE is the multiple of three.

TEN signifies worldly completion, especially in the evil sense.

The great beast of worldly power has ten horns. The lost tribes of Israel were ten in number. The church of worldly sloth is represented by the Ten Virgins. The Satanic six plus the worldly four.

ELEVEN.. No significance.

TWELVE . signifies final completeness. Twelve months in the year; twelve tribes of Israel; twelve apostles; twelve gates to the New Jerusalem; twelve fruits to the Tree of Life ; twelve stars in the crown of the woman clothed with the sun.

OUTLINE

I. Christ in His Relation to His Earthly Churches and His Judgment of Them.

A. General Introduction 1:1-3.

B. John's Personal Introduction 1:4-9.

C. The First Vision : Christ Amid the Can-

dlesticks 1:10-20.

D. Epistles to the Churches II-III.

II. Christ in His Relation to His Glorified Church, and the Marshalling for His Forthcoming IV-V.

A. The Heavenly Order IV.

III. Christ in His Relation to the Scenes of Tribulation VI-XIX:6.

A. The Opening of the Seven Seals

1. The First Group VI :l-8.

2. The Second Group VI:9-XIX:6.

a. The Fifth Seal, denoting a period of martyrdom VI :9-ll.

b. The Opening of the Sixth Seal. VI :12-17.

Parenthesis —

A Pause in Judgments VII.

The Sealing of 1U,000 VII: 1-8.

The Palm Bearers VII:9-17.

c. The Opening of the Seventh

Seal VIII-XIX:6.

The Angel with the Golden Censer VIII :l-5.

(1). The Sounding of the

Trumpets VIII:6-XVI.

(a) . The First Group —

Four VIII:6-13.

(b) . The Woe Trumpets- Three IX-XVI.

1'. The First Woe IX:1-12.

2'. The Second Woe. . .IX : 13-21.

Parenthesis — A Second Pause.

The Little Book X.

The Two Witnesses XI :1-13.

3'. The Last WoeTrum- Parenthesis- pet XI : 14-19.

The Woman and the Dragon XII.

The Tivo Beasts XIII.

The First Beast— Anti-Christ XIII: 1-10.

The Second Beast— False Prophet XIII : 11-18.

The 1M,000 again Introduced XIV : 1-5.

The Four Angel Messengers give Warning

of the Fall of Babylon XIV:6-20.

a'. The Seven Vials

or Bowls XV-XVI.

Parenthesis —

An Interlude XV:l-4-

(2). Fall of Babylon XVII-XIX :6.

(a) . A Study of the Scarlet Woman XVII.

(b) . The Fall of the Woman XVIII-XIX:G.

IV. Christ in His Relation to the Millennium XIX-XX :6.

A. The Inauguration XIX-XX :3.

B. The Reign XX:4-6.

V. Christ's Manifestation to the World in the

Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty XX :7-10.

VI. Christ in His Relation to the Final Act of

Judgment XX:11-15.

VII. The Cosmic Sanctification and the Final

Estate of Redemption XXI-XXII.

A. The Redeemed World XXI : 1-8.

B. The New Jerusalem XXI :9-XXII :5.

C. John's Epilogue XXII:6-15.

D. Conclusion XXII :16-21.

I. Christ in His Relation to His Earthly Churches and His Judgment of Them.

7-777.

A. General Introduction I :l-3.

Chapter I

1 THE Revelation of 2 Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which 3 must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his 4 angel unto his

2 6 servant John. Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that

3 he saw. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand.

THE great theme of this Book is Jesus Christ, revealed in the Day of His glory and administration ; coming forth from His invisible seat at the right hand of God to receive His Bride, judge the wicked and manifest His Kingdom which is even now established.

1 The key word of the Book is revelation. The word is in the singular number, for we have here, not a massing together of oriental symbols and visions without much meaning or arrangement, but a revelation, divinely unfolded and proceeding harmoniously from stage to stage depicting actual conditions in the development of human affairs until the culmination is reached.

2 The divine title of the Book is Jesus Christ Revealed. At the time the apocalypse was given to John, Jesus Christ had been manifested as the Son of Man. His earthly life of humiliation and suffering had been lived and He had become forever identified with humanity. The prophecies concerning His passion and death had been fulfilled. God now gives this revealing of His Beloved Son to re-inforce the prophecies of The Second Advent of Christ that the world may know that this Man of Sorrows whom it has despised and rejected is indeed the King of Kings and the Judge of the whole earth. God does not give this revelation to Jesus Christ for His information, for our Lord has known from the beginning the outcome of His mediatorial work. It is rather in the divine purpose, the setting forth of the Epiphany of Jesus Christ.

3 Must — The force of the absolute decree of the infallible God.

4 The identity of the angel is not given, but it is His office to impart the divine intelligence, about to be unfolded, to John in such a way that he will see the events as actually transpiring. It is not for us to know the exact manner in which this is accomplished. We may not understand the psychology of it but it is not inconceivable that John may have experienced a trance and being "enrapport" the angel caused John to recognize conditions as if he were actually living through this period. John in turn gives to us what things soever he saw.

6 Servant — Designating the prophetic office — Isa. 49 :5. Amos 3 :7.

L2

B. John's Personal Introduction 1 :4-9.

4 JOHN 'to the seven churches which are in Asia: 2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from 3 him which is, and which was, and which is to come; 4 and from the seven Spirits which are before his

5 throne. And from Mesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the firstbegotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. "Unto him that loved us, and 'washed us from

6 our sins in his own blood. And hath made us "kings and 9 priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion 10 for ever and ever. Amen.

7 "Behold, he cometh with "clouds; and every eye shall see him, 13 and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail be-

8 cause of him. Even so, Amen. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come,

9 15 the Almighty. 16 I John, who also am "your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, 18 was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

THE

REVELATION

■ John had no thought that he was writing an incomprehensible mysticism. He believed, and there was inspiration back of his belief, that he was giving a precious message to mankind which carried with it a peculiar blessing to him who would hear and heed. "He that readeth" would indicate the Reader in the Church. "They that hear," the congregation. The original suggests or implies a public, official reading in full religious worship.

'John's introduction opens with a salutation to the seven churches, in the form of a benediction from The Trinity. 2 Grace, which includes all that God's favor bestows upon us thru Christ. 3 From Him which is, etc. — God, the Father. 4 From the seven Spirits — The Holy Ghost in the completeness of His office and power. 'From Jesus Christ — the second Person of the Trinity. Here is a strong testimony to the deity of Christ.

"The salutation is followed by an ascription of praise which gives a comprehensive survey of the benefits of The Atonement. 'Washed us — individual salvation; the full work of deliverance from sin. 8 Kings — princely dignity of heirship with Christ. "Priests — the official honor of intercessory labor, the prestige of being workmen together with God. In I Peter 2:5 we find "living stones" — individual Christians — and "a spiritual house" — the Body collectively — In verse 9, they are combined in the phrase — "royal priesthood." In the Kingdom of Christ each individual is a priest.

10 "The formula of eternity" — (Vincent).

"An abrupt change of construction interjects a prophetic allusion with the force of its near fulfillment. Behold ! 12 With clouds — denoting the majesty and glory of His coming. This coming is the fulfillment of the angel's words (Acts 1:11). "This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

"This expression refers not to the Jews alone but to all those who "in any age have identified themselves with the Spirit of the Savior's murderers" — (Milligan).

"Another abrupt change in construction gives the recognition of the Overtowering Personage everywhere present thruout this wonderful Book. "The Almighty — Christ uses this strongest term of divinity, applying it to Himself.

16 In concluding this personal prologue, John identifies himself with the body of true believers, The Bride. "A better version reads "I, John, your brother and copartner in the tribulation and kingdom and patience in Jesus Christ." The great mission of Christ in coming to earth and identifying Himself with humanity was to accomplish our redemption, translating us into His Kingdom. The subtle force of the temptation in the wilderness lay in the fact that Satan offered our Lord the thing He wanted most — humanity — the kingdoms of the world, and Satan insinuated that he could gratify this desire without its being necessary for Christ to embrace the cross. Our Lord spurned Satan for He knew that His Kingdom could not be established according to Satan's offer. If the anticipation may be pardoned, let us add that Satan has not withdrawn his offer of the kingdoms of this world and in Anti-Christ he will find a man who will accept it and there will be much ostentation, but Christ having withstood the devil, establishes His Kingdom according to the divine plan, (Luke XVII :20, 21) : "The Kingdom of God cometh not with outward shew, * * * for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you." Having established His Kingdom, by His humiliation and the cross, Christ ascended into heaven and took His place beside The Father as our Advocate, there to await toith patience the ripeness of the age when God would speak the fulness of time and He, Christ, would come again to make manifest His Kingdom. The human soul enters this Kingdom only by spiritual birth, regeneration. The body of true believers having thus entered the Kingdom becomes the Bride of Christ, and in order that we may be one with the Bridegroom, it is the divine plan that the Kingdom should be hidden from the eye of flesh for this present time, and the Bride should have her period of humiliation. Thus she is fitted to drink with Christ the cup of His joy when His Kingdom shall be made manifest. The Bride must share with Him the patience of faith in awaiting the fulfillment of the Glorious Hope.