Beasts and sevens of Revelations

Chapter I

The book of Revelations is a symbolical book, written in Beasts and Sevens. We have the seven headed and ten horned red dragon of chapter 12, the seven headed and ten horned, and the two horned beasts of chapter 13. (The beast of the 17th chapter is the seven headed and ten horned beast of chapter 13 brought to view a second time, in order to show us the: means by which God aims to destroy the Catholic church.

Then we have the seven churches, the book with seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven last plagues. In in the 17th chapter John gives us an explanation of the seven headed and ten horned beast and of the woman he carried. This explanation taken together with the work and description of the red dragon and the two-horned beast gives us a correct clue to their interpretation, as well as the symbolical meaning of woman in Revelations. The sevens are not explained to any considerable extent, their true interpretation is found, in the main, by their connection with the beast. The reader must understand that the explanations given in the beasts hold good in the sevens; likewise the explanations given in the sevens hold good in the beasts. For instance in the first chapter the Savior said that the Seven Stars that he held in his right hand were the angels of the churches; that is, the messengers or pastors of the churches. In the twelfth chapter it is stated, that, the tail of the dragon drew one-third of the stars of heaven and cast them; to' the earth. This great red dragon, as will be shown in this work, was a symbol of the Roman empire. The teacher of lies" is the tail when a government is spoken of as an animal, and through them

* Isa 9-15 — The prophet that teaches lies is the tail.

persecution always comes. It was the tail that cast to the ground or slew one-third of the pastors of the true churches. Thus if we accept the explanation given by Christ of the Stars, we learn the extent of the havoc played by the Roman empire, among the pastors of the true churches. The reader should remember that the red dragon symbolized the Roman empire, not only in its united state as in the days of Christ, but in its divided condition to this day. So that it is one-third of all the true pastors or teachers that were slain.

The explanations in the beasts apply equally well in the sevens. In the twelfth chapter, and also in the twentieth, John identifies the dragon with that old serpent, the devil and Satan. Let us take this explanation and go to the seven churches of the second and third chapters. "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, who was dead, and lives again: I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich) and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and they are not, but iare the Synagogue of Satan/' Rev. 2-1. 2.

Satan as identified with the dragon, is the symbol of the Roman empire or emperor here as elsewhere. The Synagogue of Satan, or the Roman emperor, can be easily identified by the claim she makes. Paul says: Rom. 2-28-29: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly: neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter: whose praise is not of men, but of God." ''The claim of this Synagogue to be Jews or real believers in Christ, points unerringly to the Roman Catholic church as she is the only institution of the Roman emperor that ever made such claim. That the Catholic church is an institution of the Roman empire goes

INTRODUCTORY — '

THE BOOK SYMBOLICAL without saying; not only the fostering care of Constantine and other emperors but the internal changes made in the church at Rome and other large churches, to say nothing of the right claimed by Constantine to appoint the pastors or patriarchs of the four great cities of the empire, certainly justifies the Savior in denouncing the institution as a synagogue of Satan and their claim to being Jews, blasphemy. The churches of Rev. 2 and 3 are representative or symbolical churches, each one representing all the true churches for the age it stands. All the seven churches taken together symbolize all the true churches from the time Christ went away until he returns. The time from the first to the second coming of Christ being divided into seven periods, each church of the seven would represent a period. It's not necessary that periods be of equal length. This view of the seven churches corresponds with the make-up of the rest of the book of Revelations, >and agrees with what Christ, himself, says in the first chapter: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass/' Not the existing conditions then, but things to come to pass." The Catholic church was adopted and remodeled by Constantine in the second period, the period symbolized by the church at Smyrna), in the year A. D\ 325. He that would understand Revelations must believe in the perpetuity of the true churches. He must understand that the church of the Roman emperor is no part nor parcel of the true church. That the poor despised persecuted churches that stood aloof from the empire church are recognized as the true churches and these letters are addressed to them. The first letter, the letter to Ephesus, shows no division of the churches into the false and true ones. The first letter represents the churches for about the first three centuries. The second letter shows the division of the churches into the false and true. It also points out the empire church as the false one, and brands even her claim to be true as blasphemy. The rest of the seven letters directly or indirectly show the continuation of the division and still point to the same parties as the false and true. The empire church though pointed out under the symbol of Jezebel is still the false while the persecuted heretics are still recognized as the true churches, and to them the letters are addressed. But as these matters are more fully developed in the work we drop it here; only in confirmation of our theory, that the sevens and beasts must be taken together, and be interpreted together, would say that the seven trumpets, which cover the same ground as the red dragon and beasts, for the first four which brings us down to the Lutheran reformation, show the destruction of the one-third of the true ministry the same, though under different symbols, as is indicated by the tail of the dragon casting one-third of the stars to the ground.

THE GREAT RED DRAGON AND THE WOMAN

Chapter 2. THE GREAT RED DRAGON AND THE WOMAN

Before entering into an explanation of the great signs of the woman and the dragon, I wish to make some remarks as regards the question of interpretation of the book of Revelations generally.

First — I regard the red dragon of chapter 12 and the two beasts of chapter 13 as the key to ia correct understanding of the whole book. The sevens are so related to and connected with the history of these beasts that if we understand correctly the beast we may also readily understand the sevens.

Second — That John, so far as he explains his work, must be taken as the standard; that John, taken together with Daniel and other scriptural writers, will enable us correctly to understand the Revelations, if we stick to them. After a few quotations to show the connection between the beasts and the sevens we are ready to take up the great signs.

We take first the seven last plagues. The first angel pours out his vial of wrath and it takes effect upon those who have the mark of the beast and who worship his image. The fifth angel pours his vial upon the seat or throne of the beast and his kingdom is filled with darkness. The sixth angel pours out his vial and the three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouths of the dragon beast and false prophet. The reader can see at once the impossibility of understanding these plagues apart from the beasts.

We take the seven trumpets, and the connection with the« beast is here also; not only do they show the one-third of the true pastors killed, as indicated by the tail of the dragon casting one-third of the stars to the ground, but under the sounding of the sixth angel John gives a history of the witnesses and says: "And when they shall have finished their testimony the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them and overcome them and kill them." Rev. 11-7.

Neither can any man give an intelligent explanation of the lettters to the seven churches, recorded in the second and third chapters of Revelations, if he fails to accept the explanation which John gives of the woman of the seventeenth chapter, or fails to take notice that John identifies the red dragon of chapter twelve with that old serpent called the Devil and Satan. The reader must see that the book of Revelations is connected in all of its parts, that the explanations given in one part are applicable throughout the whole.

THE GREAT SIGNS.

"And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she was with child; and she crieth out travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered." Rev. 12-1, 2.

This woman is generally explained by commentators, to symbolize the church. But such a theory at once sets John aside as his own interpreter, as he gives no such interpretation of woman. Such theory would likewise indicate a change in the divine mind, as Christ in the commission charged the church to go into all the world and to preach the gospel to the whole creation. But this woman fled into the wilderness to a place of hiding from the face of the serpent. Such theory would likewise indicate that the church was not a new Testament institution. Jesus, himself, testifed that the law and the prophets were until John; that since that time the Kingdom of Heaven is preached. He makes the preaching of John the dividing line between the old and the new. "But this woman

THE GREAT RED DRAGON AND THE WOMAN brought forth the man child, who is to rule the nations with & rod of iron. That man child is Christ, as will be shown later. Now if this woman represents the church she must have been in existence at the birth of Christ, as the mother must exist before her child; hence she is a law institution according to the dividing line set by Christ.

This woman does not represent the church in any way. iShe represents Jerusalem, the capital city of natural Israel. As a capital city she embraces the people over ■which she rules. This interpretation agrees with the rule given by John for the interpretation of woman. It agrees perfectly with every word in the description given of the woman. It is also in agreement, historically, with the woman's work.

The Jewish worship was ceremonial and imperfect; when it had accomplished its purpose, God set it aside. The woman fled into the wilderness, But the church He sent into the world to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. But what does John say a woman represents? "And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city which reigneth over the Kings of the earth." Rev. 17-18. Here he says & woman represents a reigning city. In Rev. 21-9-10: "Come hither I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high, and show r ed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming 4pwn out of Heaven from God." Here the Lamb's wife is used to point out the new Jerusalem, the capital city of the new earth. In the mouth of two witnesses every word shall be established. A woman in Revelations symbolizes a capital city. If she ever symbolizes a church that is secondary and incidental; that happens from the fact that said church is the reigning power in such city. But the church is -a spiritual institution set up by the God of Heaven and she has never been the reigning power in any capital city

EEASTS AND SEVENS OF REVELATIONS of the earth; hence John nowhere symbolizes the true church by a woman. A reigning city is always meant, where woman is used as a symbol.

We will now examine the: description of the woman and see if it will apply to natural Israel, for if this woman points to Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, she embraces the people over wdiich she reigns. She was clothed in the sun. As a nation her laws came directly from God. The moon was under her feet. Other nations receive their laws, only in an indirect w r ay from God; in this respect all nations were under the feet of Israel. She had a crown of twelve stars — the nation was composed of twelve tribes. If we accept the rule given by John for the interpretation of woman there is but one question to settle, and that is, what capital city does this woman symbolize? We have seen that the description of the woman points to Jerusalem. We will now find that the work and history of the woman makes it absolutely certain that Jerusalem is the city symbolized. This woman brought forth the man child, who is to rule the nation with a rod of iron. "Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Psalms 2-8-9. Our Savior claims this prophesy as referring to himself ; he says : "And he that overcometb and keepth 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 be broken to shivers even as I received of my Father." Rev. 2-26-27. Again John says of Christ: "And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron." Rev. 19-15.

Truly Christ is the man child brought by the woman,

THE GREAT RED DRAGON AND THE WOMAN 9

who is to rule the nations with a; rod of iron, and who would have the hardihood to say, that he did not spring from the nation of Israel? And this woman's son was caught up unto God and unto His throne. This can be said of no one save Christ. And after the ascension of the woman's son she fled into the wilderness. In the year 70 A. D., and in the years from 132 to 135, the Jews were entirely denationalized by the Romans and scattered among the nations, from which dispersion they have never recovered as a nation. They are in the wilderness as a nation. But, though scattered and peeled, they are still preserved as a people and only wait the time when, according to their prophets, they will be, regathered as a nation and under Christ, their King, set on high over all the nations of earth.

THE DRAGON.

"And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." Rev. 12-3-4. This great red dragon symbolized the Roman empire. And believing that this dragon and the beasts of chapter thirteen form the key to a correct understanding of Revelations we wish to examine liim closely. The reader should remember that after John saw the things recorded in the first three chapters from the Isle of PatmoSj he was given a new viewpoint, from which he saw things; that is, he was carried into Heaven in the spirit, where he saw signs. But though the signs were seen in Heaven, the things signified by the signs were to take place on the earth. John identified the dragon with that old serpent, the Devil and Satan. He says: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan." Rev. 12-9. As if the Lord could not find an animal that would properly represent the greatempire, he represents it* by the Devil, giving him such body and parts as would best describe the empire. The reader should remember that the great dragon not only symbolized the empire in its united state as at the first coming of Christ, but in its divided condition, as at this day and on down to the second coming. This is shown by the ten horns of the dragon. In other words the entire territory, once covered by the empire, is today and has been and will be, down to the second coming, symbolized by the dragon or the devil, so that today the nations occupying that territory may properly be called the dragon nations. The two horned beast of chapter thirteen is not a dragon nation, but he speaks as one.

What territory then was covered by the empire? It practically covered Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. It reached from the Euphrates in Asia to the British Isles in Europe, and from the desert in Africa to the German states in Europe. All this vast territory was signified by the dragon. It may be objected that the territory is now divided into more than ten parts. I answer that there is ample time yet to arrange it into the required parts. John was brought down to time some 40 or 50 years later than this, as we will show, and the ten Kings had not received their Kingdoms then. He says: "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten Kings, which have received no Kingdom as yet; but receive power as Kings one hour with the beast.'' Rev. 17-12. But it is absolutely necessary that the horns on the dragon and the horns on the beast should point to the same ten divisions of the empire. The horns on the beast evidently point to the divisions as they will exist at the

THE GREAT RED DRAGOX AND THE WOMAN coming of Christ, for these ten horns with the beast engage him in battle when he comes.

Here is a point that I am very anxious that the reader should catch', as there were candlesticks long before Jesus used them as symbols of his churches. So the Devil existed long before he was used to symbolize t 1 ri ' and there are things said of him without any reference whatever to the Roman empire. For instance his war in Heaven with Michael, and his being chained by the angel, after the beast, the last representative of the empire, has been thrown into the lake of fire. It seems from the reading of the Scriptures that before the crucifixion and ascension of Jesus, that the Devil had a greater sphere of action than now. Jesus said just before his death: "Now is the judgment of this world ; now shall the prince of this world be cast out." John 12-31. Again he said: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven.' 1 It seems that soon after the ascension of our Savior that Michael was appointed to put him out of Heaven. John thus describes it: "And there was war in Heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And the great dragon was cast out. that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him/' Rev. 12-7-9. But it is with Satan, given such body and parts as best suited the Savior's purpose in pointing out the Roman empire, that we have now to do.

The great dragon had seven heads. The dragon and the seven-headed beast of chapter seventeen represent the same country in different ages; hence the explanations given of the beast in the seventeenth apply in part to the dragon. We notice according to these explanations the heads serve a two-fold purpose: First, they point to the seat of government ; second, to the rulers. We should also observe that while both heads and horns point to kings, they are different; for while the heads point to different rulers of the same country, the horns point to kings of different countries. The seven heads point to the seven hills on which the city of Rome was built. The Caesars and the Popes occupied the same capital city. The heads on the dragon point also to the Caesars. The number seven indicates a complete cycle. They point to the entire round of the Caesars, and not to just seven of them. There were crowns on the heads; the Caesars wore the crowns, but afterwards, when the empire was divided into the ten Kingdoms, the crowns were transferred to the horns. See the beast of chapter thirteen. The dragon stood before the woman in order to destroy her child as soon as it was born. The Romans had held the Jews in subjection from the days of Pompey the Great 63 years before the birth of Christ. Herod the Great was an agent of the empire and when the wise men announced the birth of Christ he made a great effort to kill Him, slaying all the male children of Bethlehem. Note that after the birth of Christ is shown here, his entire life is omitted except his ascension. The dragon persecuted the woman; after the ascension of the Savior the Romans utterly destroyed the city of Jerusalem and scattered the Jews to the four winds. In the last verse of the twelfth chapter we have this: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Jesus Christ, according to Paul, is the seed of Abraham, unto whom the promises were made, and this remnant of the woman's seed, "which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" is the church. Truly the Roman empire not only persecuted the Jews, but played sad havoc with the church. Now if the reader will accept John as authority, I can tell him to what extent this "remnant" suffered. John speaks of the dragon thus: •'And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven and did cast them to the earth/' Rev. 12-4. When an animal is used to symbolize a government, the tail points to lying teachers who bring the Saints to the courts to be punished. In the first chapter of Revelations, Christ in giving an explanation of the stars and candlesticks, said the stars were the angels of the churches, that is, the messengers or pastors. It was then one-third of the pastors that the tail of the dragon cast to the ground. Now if the reader will examine the first four trumpets, Rev. 8, which show political affairs and cover the same ground as the dragon, he will find under different symbols that it was not only one-third of the pastors, but one-third of the church as well. We will notice these trumpets later in this work. It was between the time of Christ's ascension and the destruction of Jerusalem that the war in Heaven occurred. John says: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child." We learn that the Devil came dowm to the earth having great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time. We must understand that his "short time" covers this entire age from the first to the second coming of our Savior. The Savior said : "Surely I come quickly." This quickly covers this age. Again: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass."

But it required the entire age for the fulfillment of all the things shown. The dragon will be chained at the beginning of the next age ; this age is his "short time," and well is he manifesting his wrath.

Chapter 3. THE SEVEN HEADED AND TEN HORNED BEAST

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, .and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.'' Rev. 13-1. This beast is a symbol of the papal Kingdom — not the papacy as is sometimes supposed; there is quite a difference: there w r as a papacy long before there was a papal kingdom — we have the papacy today but no papal kingdom. This beast and the beast of the seventeenth chapter are one and the same; we must study both chapters in order to get all the history of the beast. John explains the beast in the seventeenth chapter, and his explanation sets aside all question as to what is symbolized by the beast.

"This beast arose from the sea/' John in Rev. 17-15 tells us what is meant by the waters. He says: "And he saith unto me: The waters which thou saw^est, where the whore sitteth are peoples, and mutitudes and nations and tongues." "Where the whore sits" — that is, the people that Rome controls, for this whore is the city of Rome. We read: "And the woman w^hich thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the Kings of the earth." Rev. 17-18. The sea then would point to the people controlled or ruled by the city of Rome. In other words the sea points to the Roman Catholic church as it is and always has been controlled from Rome. This beast arose from the sea or the people ruled by Rome, the Catholic church.

"The dragon gave him his power and his seat, and great authority." Rev. 13-2. We have already noticed the dragon, the symbol of the Roman empire, not only in its united but in its divided condition. In the year 754, Pepin, King of France, marched his army into Italy, conquered the Lombard King and took from him twenty cities. He made the Pope a present of these cities and started him on his career as a temporal King. Afterward in various ways, mainly by fraud, he was made King of nearly all Italy. France was one of the divisions of the Roman empire; hence it is said the dragon gave the beast his throne. This beast had seven heads. The city of Rome was the seat of government, of the Kingdom symbolized by this beast, for as explained by John the seven heads point to the seven mountains on which Rome was built. This settles it beyond all question as to what Kingdom is symbolized by the beast. For more than eleven hundred years Rome has been the capital city of the papal kingdom, and until recently the papal kingdom is the only one that has had that city as its capital.

There was the name of blasphemy on the heads of this beast; the heads serve a double purpose: they point to the rulers as well fas to the seat of government. The claim of the Pope to be infallible and Christ's vicegerent and to hold the keys of the Kindgom of Heaven, etc., are truly blasphemous. We will call attention to the fourth verse of the thirteenth chapter: "Arid they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast : and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"

This double worship of the dragon and beast occurred this way: When the Popes induced the rulers of the different divisions of the empire to pass laws in the interest of the Catholic church, or against heretics, and the people walked in obedience to these laws, they were in the worship of the driagon ; the dragon symbolized the civil power, and, as the Popes induced these rulers to pass these laws, they were worshipping the beast also. We have already seen in the study of the dragon that his tail drew the third part of the stars and cast them to the ground. This religious persecution was rot mitigated by the rise of the papal kingdom. We find under the sounding of the trumpet of the . second angel, Rev. 8-8, when the great mountain was cast into the sea, which points to the rise of the papal kingdom, the third was killed afterward as before. In fact in all the divisions of the Roman empire, after the rise of the papal kingdom leligious persecution was carried on at the instigation of the Pope, or by his example. "And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them ; and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues, and nations." Rev. 13-7. "And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." Chapter 13-5. These months multiplied by 30 days per month, give 1260 days, symbolical time 1260 years. From the year 754 to the year 1870, when the Pope lost his kingdom, is only 1116 years, so according to this he is entitled to his kingdom 144 years yet. Some seem to think that the papal kingdom is over with forever. Bible readers have no excuse for falling into that error. This beast will be in the zenith of his power and at the head of the combined armies of earth, at the coming of Christ. John speaks of this beast as a King with an interruption in his reigns: "And I saw one cf his heads \as it were wounded to death: and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. " Chapter 13-3. The heads point to the entire line of Popes. One of them was wounded to death. In the year 1870 the armies of Italy dethroned the Pope, and took possession of his Dominion; they left him, however, his palace and other buildings and provided him a salary, but as a King they killed him dead. He is now treated as a foreign Sovereign residing at Rome. But this wound of the beast is to be healed. If we turn to the seventeenth chapter, where John saw this beast a second