Prophecies relating to the time of the end

Front matter

PROPHGCIGS RELATING TO THGTIMGOFTHGCND

Class

^1^ n J i

CHAPTER I Or the War Program of Jesus Christ

" \T7"HY do the nations rage, and the peoples VV devise a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against Jehovah and against His Anointed saying Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; Jehovah shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak to them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. Jehovah hath said unto me Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance; the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise therefore now ye kings, be instructed ye judges of the earth — kiss the Son lest He be angry with you and ye perish from the way for His wrath will soon be kindled." — The Second Psalm.

II

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals; and I heard one of the living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come! And I looked and beheld a White Horse and He that sat thereon had a Bow; and a Crown was given Him; and He went forth conquering and to conquer." — Revelation 6:1, 2.

Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. Christianity itself is His great Peace Program. When He was born the angels sang of Peace on earth, and when His kingdom shall come, there shall be "Abundance of Peace so long as the moon endureth." In this we all agree. But a great War is now upon us — a war that is of far greater significance in relation to the final Peace than any or perhaps all former wars. We are not to suppose that Jesus Christ is taking no part in this great war, or that He has no Program or plan to carry out while it is in progress. That Program is indicated in a general way in the Second Psalm and it is outlined more definitely and fully in the Sixth Chapter of the Book of the Revelation containing the Visions of Six of the Seven Seals. The War Program of Jesus Christ includes the following particulars:

I. His first move was to obtain complete and definite Information about the War, many centuries before it came, for it had all been mapped out so to speak by the Infinite Wisdom and Foreknowledge of God. In the Fifth Chapter of the Revelation which is the Prelude to all the visions that follow John tells us that he saw in the right hand of Him who sat upon the Throne a book or scroll written on both sides and sealed with seven seals. This was the Book of the Future, the Book of Destiny if you please so to term it. "And I wept much because no one in Heaven or on earth was able to open the Book or to look thereon." "Weep not" said one of the Elders, "Behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the Book and the seven seals thereof." Jesus then came forward, and taking the Scroll out of His Father's hand, broke its Seals one by one. As He unrolled and read the visions here recorded passed like a panorama before the mind of the Apostle. I do not suppose that John fully comprehended their meaning, but Jesus Christ did. He had proved his worthiness to be the leader in the great World Crisis by previous encounters with the hosts of sin and hell, in which He had come off victorious. To Him, therefore, as the trusted Leader all needful information was communicated. He enters the campaign knowing before hand every plan and every movement, the issue of every battle, and all the consequences and results of the great Cataclysm of the nations.

2. Knowing all about this great war so long beforehand He was fully prepared. In July, 1914, many well informed men were aware that war was near at hand, but there were very few who were not surprised by the suddenness and fury with which it burst upon the world. But the Lion of Judah was not surprised. In advance of the swiftly mobilized armies of Germany He was already upon the field. Having been proclaimed King of all the earth, a Crown was placed upon His royal brow. He carried in His hand a Bow, the surest and farthest-shooting implement of ancient days. He rode upon a White Horse and went forth "Conquering and to conquer." A Horse in the Book of the Revelation is the symbol of swift and powerful movement or activity. The nature of the action is indicated by the color or other characteristics. The white horse indicates the purity and beneficence of His activity. Thus equipped our great "White Champion" rides forth "conquering and to conquer." In every battle, whichever side seems to win, Christ is the real victor, and His conquests will go on and on, until every enemy is subdued and the whole world is subject to His dominion.

3. The Third Item of the War Program of Christ is disclosed in the breaking of the four Seals following the first. As these are opened, War, Famine, Pestilence and Massacre, four of the most terrible agencies for the destruction of mankind, successively rush forth upon the earth. In the Vision of War upon the Red Horse, the magnitude and vast extent of this conflict are indicated. In his hand is a great sword, and power is given him to take peace from the whole earth. The Vision of Famine upon the Black Horse with a pair of scales in his hand is a striking picture of existing conditions. Careful Conservation of food is the warning cry today, and in the vision, Famine is most earnestly cautioned against waste or unfair distribution. There is even the prediction of the extreme prices of grain — a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley for 17 cents. This is the limit that must not be exceeded. By these three agencies, War, Famine and Pestilence, one-fourth of the inhabitants of the earth, or at least of the war-swept portions of it are to perish. At the opening of the Fifth Seal the martyrs of the Early Church appear beneath the Altar crying "Lord how long? how long!" In answer, a fresh token of favor is bestowed upon them, and they are bidden to wait until the roll is completed, until their brethren have been killed as they were killed. Alas, and alas! We have been saying that the days of martyrdom were ended, but the seal has been broken, a million or more have already passed on to join this great company, and I greatly fear that their number is to be multiplied many fold before the dark night of the Great Tribulation is over.

Why are such awful things permitted as those which are taking place in the world, as foreshadowed in these visions? Some say God is directly responsible — that He wills these things to be, and therefore He is the doer of them. Some say the world is governed by blind Fate, and God, if there be a God, does not interfere. Mr. H. G. Wells, the novelist, has given us his creed, that God is benevolent but not omnipotent; that He is constantly struggling against the evil forces that would destroy the world, and doing the best He can, but there are many thing He cannot do until men rally in sufficient numbers and strength to His aid. But it is not necessary to resort to this theory of a limited God which some are adopting as the only solution of these perplexing problems. If Mr. Wells had said that there are many things God cannot wisely do until men come to His aid, his theology would have been more nearly correct, but his theory would not have been new. In the Book of the Revelation Christ is represented as "Breaking the Seals." As if there were mighty Forces He had long been restraining which He now releases. The poet Halleck has expressed the thought in regard to one of these forces in his apostrophe to death —

"Come when the blessed seals That close the pestilence, are broke And crowded cities wail the stroke."

But after all this is only saying that the things now taking place in the world are by God's permission. Beyond a certain limit it is not ours to reason why. Our part is to line up with God and help to put an end to them. This is the practical solution of all these dark problems and I know of no other.

4. The Fourth Item in the Program of Christ is the judgment of the nations. Individuals may be judged in a future state but nations as such must be judged here and now. "After death the Judgment" is a principle that does not apply at all to them for they have no corporate existence in any world but this. A nation therefore if judged at all must be judged in this present world. I will admit that in the judgment of the nations the principal element is that of discipline or correction. But the element of punishment is also not wanting As we sow we must reap is true of nations as well as of individuals. Terrible as are the Judgments of God falling upon nations we must admit in most cases the justice of the popular saying that they "are getting what is coming to them." The conscience of mankind after all approves of the sentiments expressed by Julia Ward Howe when she sings —

"I have read a fiery gospel writ in burning rows of

steel As ye deal with my companions so with you my

grace shall deal."

The Vision of the Sixth Seal as well as the Second Psalm reveals to us the fact that the period of the great war is the Judgment Day of the nations. Isaiah has written "The Nation or kingdom that will not serve thee" — that is not God or Christ but Zion, the Kingdom of. God, — "shall perish, yea those nations shall be utterly destroyed." Many nations in the past have thus been destroyed. It does not seem to be the purpose of God to utterly destroy any nation at the present time although some of them have been brought almost to the verge of extinction, but there is scarcely a nation upon which the stroke of judgment is not falling with greater or less severity. It is written in the Second Psalm of the King and Judge "Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." The War itself is His iron scepter with which He is dashing in pieces the refractory nations. In the vision of the Sixth Seal which is the

Vision of Judgment we are shown that all classes are involved. The great men, the rich men, the military captains, the common men bond and free. Everywhere the hearts of men are failing for fear of what is coming or may come upon them. I think the Revelator must have had some glimpse of what is going on in the trenches today — that he must have seen men by thousands burrowing in the earth trying to escape the iron hail and noxious gases from bursting bombs when he described them as calling upon the rocks and mountains to cover them and hide them from the face of the Judge "For the great day of His wrath is come and who shall be able to stand." Included in the Vision of Judgment as a part of the judgment of the nations, is the remarkable prediction of the fall of the rulers of the world in Revelation 6:13. "And the Stars of heaven fell unto the earth as the fig tree casteth her unripe figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind." In two places in the Book of the Revelation stars represent rulers or leaders in the Church. These are Rev. 1 :ig where the Stars in the right hand of Christ symbolize the messengers or ministers of the seven churches of Asia, and Rev. 12:1 where the Woman who symbolizes the Early Church has a crown of twelve stars representing the Twelve Apostles. In one other place, Rev. 12:4, Stars may represent the fallen angels although this is somewhat doubtful. In all other places in this Book, stars symbolize Emperors and kings and other rulers of the nations, and they are always falling stars. And in this connection it is interesting to observe that a "King" in this Book, does not mean a king, but a nation. Do not all these things portend the Triumph of Democracy — that the world will soon be rid of Emperors and Kings and Autocrats of every grade, and that the rule of the people will be established in all the nations. The rising spirit of Democracy is the mighty wind that is shaking the Tree, and will continue to shake it I believe until it is entirely bare and all its untimely fruit is scattered upon the ground. "Be wise now therefore O ye kings; be instructed ye judges of the earth — kiss the Son lest He be angry with you and ye perish from the way, for His wrath will in a little while be kindled." This terrible war would almost be worth while if this were its only result. The thrones of earth must be vacated in order that they may be occupied by Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

CHAPTER II Or Scenes and Incidents of the Great War

THE Second Series of Visions, recorded in the 8th, 9th and nth Chapters, are known as the Visions of the Seven Trumpets because they are announced by seven angelic Trumpeters. These are supplementary to the first series arid are designed to give us a more detailed view of actual scenes and occurrences during the progress of the conflict. The Prelude to these visions (Rev. 8:3-5) is interesting. For centuries the prayers of saints have been ascending to God for the coming of His Kingdom. The general expectation has been that the Kingdom would come gradually and peacefully through the leavening of the nations with the teachings and spirit of Christianity. Anything like a world-wide war would have been looked upon as a catastrophe almost fatal to the progress of the kingdom. Well the time had come for these prayers to be answered. An angel gathers them up in his censer, mingling them with coals of fire from off the Altar, and casts them down to earth. The result is not peace but War, symbolized as a vast cyclonic storm that sweeps over the earth with thunder and lightning and a great earthquake.

The First Trumpeter blows and the Storm continues with increasing violence, with the addition 20 now of "Hail, and Fire mingled with Blood" (vs. 7 ) . To understand the meaning of the Hail we turn to the description of a great hail storm in Rev. 16:2, "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent (ioo pounds) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for it was exceeding great." This seems to be the description of a great Air Raid. The Visions of the Seven Vials in which it is found are similar to those of the Seven Trumpets, but refer to a war period of later date. These storms of hail mingled with fire and blood and accompanied with crashes of thunder and flashes of lightning, seem to represent the falling and bursting of bombs, whether dropped from air craft or shot from the cannon's moutru

When the Second Trumpeter sounds "a great mountain burning with fire" is cast into the sea, by which a third part of the ships is destroyed (vs. 8, 9). John never saw or dreamed of Submarines, Torpedoes or Mines, and when the vision came before him of great ships suddenly blown to pieces, the figure of the Burning Mountain cast into the sea was naturally suggested to his mind as the only adequate cause. In the later Vision of the Sea, it is again described as red with human blood, but no such figure as this is employed. We have here an intimation, it may be, that the day of the Submarine is to be ended in this war, while on the other hand the Air Craft will become more of a menace and will be employed to a larger extent in the War or wars of the future.

The Vision of the Third Trumpeter is one of the most interesting and important of all these Inspired War Pictures. It reveals to us the Cause of this great war. This is a question that has been much agitated, and a great variety of answers have been given, especially by people of different nationalities. But it was answered in the Bible long ago and this should settle all controversies on the subject. "There fell from heaven a great Star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the Fountains of water. And the name of the Star is called Wormwood ; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many died of the waters because they were made bitter" (vs. 10, n). Here is the story not of the political but the moral downfall of a great and brilliant Ruler, the most conspicuous, and the most efficient of modern times; impelled by a boundless ambition he conceived the largest plans of aggrandizement for himself and people that ever entered the human mind. They were to be the Super men, the Lords of the whole earth in science and art and learning, in manufacture and commerce as well as in political power. And because other people stood in his way he became exceedingly bitter and hated them with implacable hatred. And then he 'fell into the Fountains of water.' For a quarter of a century he has bent all his energies and the power of his great genius to the education of his people to hate and despise the people of other nations. Eighteen centuries ago and more a name was given to him by an inspired Prophet. He is the Star

Wormwood. He and he alone is the Cause of this great world war.

The Fourth Vision requires but a few words of explanation. In the Book of Revelation, the Sun is God, the Moon is the World, the Stars as already explained are the Rulers of the earth. This is evident I think from the description given in Chapter 12 of the Woman who represented the Early Church. She was "Clothed with the Sun" the Moon was beneath her feet, the crown of 12 Stars was upon her head. The meaning of this vision will now be clear without further comment. Elsewhere we have the prophecy that "The Sun shall be darkened and the Moon be turned into blood and the Stars cease their shining, and fall from the skies, before the coming of the great and notable Day of God."

The Vision of the Fifth Trumpeter is one of the most interesting and important in the entire Book — interesting partly because it never was understood, and never could be understood we might almost say until the present moment, and important because, more than any other it opens up for us the vista of the future. This vision has always been interpreted as describing a certain fall of the Devil into the Pit of Hell which resulted in the opening up of the Pit and the invasion of the earth by a swarm of Demons. I can scarcely conceive why this interpretation should be given, for the Devil had already been cast out from the heavenly places to the earth where he remains as a slimy, crawling Dragon until the very close of this Age or Dispensation. (See

Rev. 12:7-12 and 20:1-3). This Vision of the Fifth Trumpet is not the Vision of Hell or of Hell opened out upon the earth, but it is the Vision of Russia. First we have the Fall of the Czar. Unlike the fall of the Kaiser in the third vision, this is a political not a moral fall. To him had been given the key to the Pit of the Abyss. Into that Pit had been pressed a great and noble people or at least the liberty-loving portions of them. Their King was Abaddon the Hebrew word for "destruction" or as he was called in Greek, Apollyon "the Destroyer." Their condition was seemingly hopeless. The lid was on and the Czar held the key and would not or could not give them freedom and the common rights and privileges of humanity. The fall of the Czar opened up this Pit. A great smoke first arose from it. When the lid was off the world could see the horrors of this Abyss as never before, that it was a veritable Hell on earth if we may so express it. Then follows the description of the swarm of people emerging from the Abyss in which they had so long been confined. We must bear in mind that every part of this description is symbolical. They are a swarm of Locusts whose leader is this same Apollyon of the Abyss. This is the figure often employed in the Bible to describe an invading army which is an undisciplined horde that lives off the country through which it marches and eats everything clean. In this case it represents the appearance of a great body of anarchists, or socialists with anarchistic tendencies, whose chief desire is to obtain their share of those material resources which have been so long denied to them. Their breastplates are of iron ; they are armed with an invincible purpose and determination. They have the faces of men — they are not lacking in mental or physical ability is perhaps the meaning. They have the hair of women. The Apostle in his vision saw that women were almost as prominent in their ranks as men. "They were like horses prepared for war." They were active and full of energy, ready to fight if necessary. Upon their heads were crowns of gold. As in America every man was a king. "And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots rushing to war. And they have tails like unto scorpions and stings in their tails." By this last expression I understand simply the use of guns in war. (See verse 19.)

We will now consider two interesting statements about this great Body of Russian Socialists that are important as prophecies and that are or will be literally fulfilled. The first is their treatment of their former oppressors. "It was given them that they should not kill them but that they should be tormented five months" (v. 5). The Russians in spite of their iron determination are a humane and kindly people. The five months have already expired and no one I think has been murdered or even tried and convicted for any political crime. A Republic has been proclaimed, and now a second restraint is laid upon them "And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth neither any green thing neither any tree but only such men as have not the seal of God upon their foreheads." (Rev. 9:4). Compare this with Rev. 7:2, 3. "And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying Hurt not the earth nor the sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads." I suppose these two injunctions are simultaneous and are practically the same, the one being given to the Russian Socialists and the other to the four angels who are supervising their activities. From these two prophetic statements I derive several inferences all of which I believe to be legitimate.

i. We know our exact location upon the prophetic Chart. Five months from the fall of the Czar, at the time of the Proclamation of the Russian Republic and the laying of a temporary restraint upon the extreme Socialistic elements, the Vision of the Sixth Seal unfolding like a Panorama before our eyes.

2. After the downfall of Autocracy and the triumph of Democracy in the world the next political change will be the establishment of the Socialistic State.

3. Socialism would doubtless destroy many "dry things," institutions, laws and customs that have outlived their usefulness and are ready for the burning. But it would also destroy many "green things" like grass and trees in the natural world, things in our civilization that have vitality and value.

4. Russia is to be the pioneer and leader in the introduction of Socialism. In fact the Russians or the great majority of them are ready for some form of socialism today, but it would be perilous to introduce it just now. So the cry is in Russia "Wait until the War is over and adjustments are made. Let our new Republic have the right of way." And God says that His Kingdom also must have the right of way. "Wait until we have sealed the servants of God upon their foreheads." So from this Vision of the Fifth Trumpet we gain quite an outlook upon the future that lies before us.

The blast *of the Sixth Trumpet follows very closely that of the Fifth. The Four Angels bound by the River Euphrates remind one of the Gates of the Temple of Janus. When these were opened War issued forth in every direction. So when these angels are loosed the great war spreads, North, South East and West, until the whole world is practically involved. These angels are loosed immediately after the Fall of the Czar. And we all know how the war spread after the Russian Revolution. The United States, Greece, China, Siam, Brazil, and other South American countries have declared war on Germany and the countries remaining neutral are becoming more and more involved. A vast number of people are engaged directly and indirectly in the activities of the war. Besides the armies of soldiers and the navies, there are Aviators and Engineers and Ambulance Drivers, an army of Nurses and a great host of Munition workers and another still greater manufacturing or producing food and clothing and other supplies. I do not think John exaggerated when he said "The number of the horsemen" — those engaged in the activities of the war is "twice ten thousand times ten thousand" that is 200,000,000. The remainder of this vision is an attempt to describe in Symbolism what no one in John's day could have understood if described literally — the machinery of modern warfare in action. The lion's heads of the demon Horses, and their mouths breathing forth fire and smoke and brimstone represent I think the cannon; and their tails with serpent's heads that bite and kill, the smaller arms such as guns and bayonets and swords. Horses are the principal figure in this symbolism because as I have already shown the Horse is the emblem of swift and powerful action.

Chapter III The "crux Interpretorum" And The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation ioth and nth Chapters

" T) LOW again trumpeter — conjure war alarms JD Swift to thy spell a shuddering hum like distant thunder rolls,

Lo, where the armed men hasten — lo! mid the clouds of dust the glint of bayonets,

I see the grime faced cannoneers, I mark the rosy flash amid the smoke, I hear the cracking of the guns.

Nor war alone — thy fearful music song, wild player, brings every sight of fear.

The deeds of ruthless brigands, rapine, murder — I hear the cries for help,

I see ships foundering on the sea. I behold on deck and below deck the terrible tableaus.

trumpeter, methinks I am myself the instrument

thou playest, Thou meltest my heart, my brain — thou movest,

drawest, changest them at will, And now thy sullen notes send darkness through me, Thou takest away all cheering light, all hope,

1 see the enslaved, the overthrown, the hurt, the

oppressed of the whole earth.

I feel the measureless humiliation of my race, it becomes all mine,

Mine too the revenges of humanity, the wrongs of ages, baffled feuds and frauds.

Utter defeat upon me weighs — all lost — the foe victorious,

Yet mid the ruins Pride colossal stands unshaken to the last,

Endurance, resolution to the last.

Now trumpeter, for thy close Vouchsafe a higher strain than any yet, Sing to my soul, renew its languishing faith and

hope, Rouse up my slow belief, give me some vision of

the future Give me once more its prophecy and joy.

O glad, exulting, culminating song!

A vigor more than earth's is in thy notes,

Marches of victory — man disenthralled — the Conqueror at last.

Hymns to the universal God from universal man — all joy!

A reborn race appears — a perfect world, all joy!

Women and men in wisdom, innocence, and health — all joy!

War, Sorrow, suffering gone — the rank earth purged, nothing but joy left!