Key to the Revelation of St. John

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KEY TO THE

Author's Preface

It is said that manj years ago, in Egypt, there was unerthed by antiquarians a many roomed building, called the Labyrinth. So numerous were the rooms, and so intricate the passages that he who went in without some means of retracing his steps, found himself inextricably lost, but if, when he started in, he took the precaution to tie a string at the door and unwind the ball as the different rooms and passages were explored, he could easily retrace his steps by following the string back to the door.

Revelations is a Labyrinth, and many have been the expositors and Biblical students who have been lost in its intricacies; simply because they did not observe that at its door was a cord which, taken hold of, by the hand, invest ig at ion ^ and followed, would easily, and infallibly, lead them to a perfect knowledge of truths recorded therein. That cord has three strands. The first is of what does Revelations treat, the second is the scheme or plan of Revelations, and the third is a perfect understanding of the imagery and figurative language in which it is written. Without a knowledge of any one of these three, success in the study of Revelations is impossible, but knowing these, it can be as easily understood, and its truths as successfully traced, as can be those of any ordinary book.

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KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.

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:^ INTKODUCTION TO REVELATIONS.

What is Revelations? For what purpose was it given? Revelations is the history of the establishing of the universal kingdom of Christy for which he taught his disciples to pray, for which the church has, in every age of the world, looked, and which the prophets fortold.

That kingdom was to be established through the faithful • efforts and suffering of the church in preaching the gospel, i When the youthful Christian Church first began to spread the 1 gospel, the world was under the dominion of Satan, and his rule is called, in Revelations, Babel, but through the efforts of the Church, there came a time when Babylon ceased to dominate the earth, and the dominion of the gospel, called Armageddon in Revelations, began This change occurred in 1798 A. D., when the 1260 years of the papacy w^ere ended, v^hen the beast Atheism fell, and the two witnesses — Old and New Testaments — ascended up to Heaven in a cloud, or in other words the Bible, and the truths it contains, became the dominant ruling powder on earth. This dominancy of the gospel is to go on increasing in power, until it crushes and utterly destroys all the rule of man on earth, and only the law of God rules the world ; every government now on earth will, therefore, be demolished, and the kingdom of Christ rule the world ^^from the river even unto the ends of the earth."

This history God gave to the Church, before hand, through Revelations. Church history is therefore Revelations divested of its figurative language.

Scheme of Revelations.

Revelations has

It has

And three divis ions the

22 CHAPTERS.

12 VISIONS.

Vv

Admonitory Division.

CHAPS. I, II, III.

One Vision.

Tims Historical Dirision.

NEXT 17 CHAPS,

Ten Visions.

Historical Triumphant Division

CHAPS. XXI, XXII.

One Vision.

Time Historical Division has three Axial visions. These have companion visions, ist Axial, the vision of the Seals, Chap IV, V, VI, a general history of the church through time. Companion vision. Chap. VII.

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2nd Axial vision, the Trumpets, Chap. VIII-IX, History of vv^hat men did for or against the gospel. Companion visions two; Chap. X and XL

3rd Axial vision, the Vials, Chap. XV, XVI. The wrath of God poured out on the opposition. Companion visions four, t. Introductory showing why the wrath of God should be poured out, and relating the means God employed to pour out the seventh vial, viz : an aggressive church Chap. XII, XIII, XIV. i, Showing the judgment of the great vs^hore, Babylon, and explaining particularly of the fourth beast; Chap. XVII. i, A lament for great Babylon, on whom the vials were poured. Chap XVIII, and a song of thanksgiving from the church that they were poured out, and relating the means, Chap. XIX, and i, Describing the result of the pouring out of the vials, viz: the millenium, and the utter destruction of wickedness and opposition ; Chap. XX.

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Each Axial vision is divided into seven parts; each relating the history of one division of time, and the several divisions are cotemporary with each other, that is a division of the Seals, a division of the Trumpets, and a division of the vials, relate the history of the same division of time. The companion visions to these Axial visions, are explanatory of them.

KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.

Generalization of St. John's Revelation.

Christ came to earth to redeem man from the penalty of sin and to establish here a government in which the will of God will be done as it is in heaven. Revelations is the story of the setting up of the kingdom, and the opposition Satan made to its establishment. It particularly describes the means he employed to defeat the progress of the gospel, viz: The four beasts, Paganism, Catholicism, Atheism, and Judaism, and tells how the Church, through Christ, overcame him and his emisaries, and established the kingdom.

Christ's Means Setting- Up the Kingdom.

Christ's means of conquering the world of sin and opposition and establishing the kingdom, was the Christian Church, the neucleus of which was the seven churches in Asia, to whom this revelation was sent. These and their extension, were his army to battle against sin and establish his universal kingdom. This Church is represented, chap, vi, 2, as a white horse whose rider carried a bow, — the gospel of truth — going forth conquering, and to conquer. It is a significant fact that his conquering career has never received a check. Satan has opposed beasts, powers and principalities, to the church, and deluged the earth with the blood of her martyrs, but still the sturdy white horse has marched grandly on, and will march on until all sin, and opposition to the law of God is destroyed, and man is safely housed in the city of the New Jerusalem — God's government on the earth after time.

Satan's Means of Opposing- Christ.

Satan opposed Christ through four vehicles called beasts. These were: i. Paganism; 2, Catholicism; 3, Atheism and 4, Judaism, or the Jewish money power.

Each of these beasts were supported by temporal power, this being necessary because they could deal only with the bodies of Christ's followers, and were obliged to have temporal power to carry on their several persecutions.

The pagan beast opposed Christ the longest, i. e,, from the building of Babel to about 538 A. D., when the Roman Catholic church took its place. It was supported by the six great empires, Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Medo, Persian empire, Macedonian empire, and the Roman empire. These, together with the papacy, form the seven heads of the pagan beast, and also of the papal beast. Chap, xii : 3 and xiii: i, 2.

The papacy was supported by the later Roman Emperors and Medieval and modern Europe. The latter constitutes the ten horns of the pagan and Catholic beast.

It is said. Chap, xii: '^There was war in Heaven," i. e. in the power or government then dominant on the earth, which was the rule spiritually of paganism or 3abel; Heaven meaning that which is exalted or dominant, in this place. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found in heaven any more. Literally, Christ and the Church, fought against the Devil and paganism, and beat them so that paganism was not the dominant religion of the world any more.

When Satan found himself beaten in open warfare, he resorted to policy and gradually compounding the doctrines of paganism with those of Christianity, established by 538 the Roman Catholic Church. With this he deceived those who worshiped in the court of the temple, i. e., those who were either not Christians at all, or at best only weak or formal Christians, and denominated the third part of men, to distinguish them from those who worshiped in the temple and at its altar, or true Christians^ and made of it the most formidable engine of opposition to Christ's cause the Christian Church has ever known.

The third beast. Atheism, was in particular supported by France, and during the French revolution prohibited the Bible and set up the worship of reason. This was the crowning act of the dominancy of Babel. Thus far Satan could come, but no farther; his rule ceased to dominate the earth, and Armageddon, or the empire of the gospel which Armageddon means, began its eternal, universal, sway of the earth, i. e. the tw^o witnesses — Old and New Testaments — ascended up to heaven in a cloud, a cloud of storm, wrath, and destruction to the enemies of Christ, but a cloud of peace and shelter to his followers.

The fourth beast, Judaism — Jewish money power — will be supported by modern Europe. It is called in Rev. XVII: 11, '^The beast that was, that is not, and yet is," which is a perfect description of Judaism, for the Mosaical or Israellitish church, was, till Christ came and by offering himself for sin caused the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, when it was not in God's eyes, but to the Jew it still is; and he has never relinquished for a moment the idea that an earthly Messiah will come and gather the Jews into a nation once more, and give to them the rule and supremacy of the earth.

We know that it will do this through the power of wealth, for Chap. XIII: 18, the number of the two horned beast— the two horns represent the lamb of the sacrifice — is given as 666 which is, in the Roman notation, Del. XVI, the letters from which they formed their denominations, and by this system reads:

Denominational Beast: By the Arabic system 666=2x3 xioo-io-i or two X three, multiplied by the denominational ratio loo-io-i. Two means, in the typical numbering of the.

KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.

Bible, MAN, three stands for god and by this system 666 would read man god by the power of denomination or wealth. Or MAN — Mesiah — god power through denomination or wealth.

This beast will set up an universal empire over the world, for in Rev. XVII: lo, after stating that there were seven heads, or empires, which had dominated or were to dominate the earth, it distinctly says in verse ii, ^^And the beast that was, that is not, and yet is, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and cometh out of the bottomless pit, i. e. is no longer God's instrument but the Devil's, and goeth into perdition, i. e. is to be destroyed.

It is so like the papacy in its characters and aims, that it is said to be the image of the be^st that had a wound by a sword and did live. This image will consist, in that it will be an apostate power, and have a spiritual head or earthly Messiah. Who this Messiah will be, is of course a matter of conjecture, but as he is to be the head of the money power we may well expect it to be the richest of their number.

Scheme of Kevelations.

Revelations is divided into three parts. The first part consists mainly of admonition to the churches in Asia, and may therefore, be called the admonitory division. This division embraces the first three chapters. The second division embraces the next seventeen chapters, and gives the history of the establishing of the kingdom. It covers the time from Christ, or rather from the day of Pentecost until the end of time, and may properly be called the time historical division. The third division tells what the kingdom was like after time, and describes the happy state of the blessed, therein. It is the writing on the back of the book of seven seals.

Of the Twelve Visions of Kevelations.

Revelations consists, not of one vision relating consecutive events, but of twelve visions or views.

The first vision takes up the whole of the Admonitory divisions, and admonishes the seven churches in Asia to greater diligence and holiness, as by these they were to conquer. They had not realized until now, that they, through the power of God, were to overcome the world; they thought Christ would soon return, and by his Godly might strike down the world of sin, and when persecutions thickened around them, they turned their terrified eyes toward the heavens to see if they could discern the signs of his coming. The church thought Christ would soon return from his remark, ^^This generation shall not pass away until all these things be fullfiUed," meaning spiritual generation, or that his church militant should be until all was fulfilled. They thought he

KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.

meant physical generation. Had Christ come the way they expected, it would have been Christ coming in front, or from the way they were looking, but he came in this vision, Chap. I: lo, behind St. John, and told him that his kingdom must be set up through the efforts and faithfulness of his church, and that too, under much tribulation and with great opposition. This was Christ coming from behind or from a direction in which they were not looking.

Of the Next Ten Visions.

The next ten visions relate the history of the church and its opposers in their battle for the dominion of the earth, through time, beginning at Christ, and ending with the general judgment. These ten visions constitute the whole of the second or time historical division. Each of the visions are from a different point of view, and the ten visions give a perfect view from all sides, of the events of the intervening time. Ten views are given, because ten in the Bible is the numerical expression for perfect; and so perfect is the picture given by these ten visions, that if one is at a loss to understand anything found in one vision he has only to look in the other visions when its meaning will be made perfectly plain. Also Revelations is complete in itself, and does not need to be explained by Daniel nor the prophecies in the gospels.

Vision 1, Chap. IV, V, VI— The Seals.

The first vision of the ten is of the seals. It divides time from Christ to the end of the world, into seven divisions or periods, each of which represen s some phase of the action of the church or the opposition through that time. Of each of these it gives a general history, and each of these divisions is cotemporary with the vision of the same number in the vision of the vials, and also of the trumpets; they each being divided into seven similar divisions.

The Axis of Revelations.

(The three cotemporary visions.)

The vision of the seals, the visions of the trumpets and the vision of the vials constitute the axis of Revelations. They contain the w^hole history of Reveations in general form. Their seven periods are cotemporary.

Each of these axial visions has its companion vision, or visions, for the purpose of giving special features, or of rendering the history in the axial visions more plain. The seals have one companion vision, the trumpets have two companion visions, and the vials have four companion visions.

KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.

Vision II, Chap. VII.

(Companion to the Seals.)

Vision two relates that God rendered futile, or restrained the efforts of the four formsof opposition^ Paganism^ Catholicism, Atheism, and Judaism — called angels — to crush the church.

The church is here represented in its two divisions, pastors and members. The 144,000 are the ministers, and does not mean therefore that only that number was saved of all Israel, but this: 10 means perfect in Revelations, and a cube means perfect from every point of view. The twelve tribes of Israel were the custodians of the gospel under the old dispensation. Under the new dispensation Christ delivered the gospel into the care of the twelve apostles, and made them its minsters and custodians. These by their preaching greatly multiplied the original twelve, in short multiplied twelve by twelve, 144= but this 144, or Christ's ministers, dared and suffered all things for his sake, or were perfect, w^hich fact is stated by saying that they were 1000 or the cube of the perfect number 10, whence the expression 144,000 to represent Christ's perfect ministry.

The innumerable company is the membership of the church. This vision is given between the sixth and seven seals of vision one, division two, probably to satisfy St. John's curiosity as to what would give the church so much trouble as related in the seals and as to what the outcome should be.

Vision III.— The Trumpets.— Chaps. VIII, IX.

(Second Axial Vision.)

This vision relates what men did for or against the gospel in each of the seven periods. Trumpets are used to designate its periods, because the trumpet is used to call men into action. It is the instrument of war, and this vision relates that men were called to act. Its companion visions are the fourth vision. Chap. X, and the fifth vision. Chap. XI, of Div. II.

Vision IV, Chap. X.

(First Companion to Vision of Trumpets.)

This vision was given especially for St. John's benefit and the world was not to know all it related; but as thunders are used in Revelations for emphasis or to express that anything is made perfectly plain to the understanding, we may rest assured that St. John received in this vision a revelation the meaning of which it was impossible for him to misunderstand. The angel of the first verse is prophecy.

!• KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.

Vision V, Chap. XI.

(2d Companion Vision to Vision of the Trumpets.) The first six verses of this vision give a running history of papal oppressions during the 1260 years.

The reed like a rod was the measure affliction. It v^^as 1260 years long, the length of papal oppression which it measured. At its end Babel lost its dominance and Armageddon began^ or the kingdom of Christ became dominant. The change took place 1798 A. D., when the two witnesses (verse 12) heard a voice from heaven saying, ^^Come up hither," or in plain terms, God said let the Bible of the Old and New Testaments become the daminant power on earth.

Vision VI, Chaps. XII, XIII, XIV.

Introductory to Vials.

Vision six shows the church — the woman clothed with the sun, etc. — and three of the beasts that opposed her, viz : Paganism, Catholicism Judaism, and presents the means of the destruction of these beasts, Chap. XIV, viz: A church spread all over the world and sounding God's praise like the voice of many waters — or with the voice of many people, which waters mean — verse 1, 2, 3, and the preaching of the gospel of truth, justice and right, by which every wrong was crushed through the weight of popular opinion, verse 6, 7, 8. It relates in justice to God's mercy, the wrongs the three beasts of opposition had done his church — ie. the woman — and that for this he destroyed them with the vials of his wrath.

Vision VII, Chap. XV, XVI.— Third Axial Vision.

What God did to Opposers of the Gospel.

This vision tells the form of vengeance God took on opposers of the gospel in each of the seven periods. These vials are called last plagues, although poured out at intervals, during many hundreds of years, because with them, the power of sin will be utterly destroyed, so there will never need be any more plagues — God sent many plagues to men in other dispensations.

Vision VIII, Chap. XVII.

Second Companion to Vision of Vials.

Vision 8 shows the judgment of the great whore Babylon, and explains in verse 3 the origin of apostacy. It shows the woman or apostacy riding the scarlet beast of the sacrifice, and wearing the tabernacle jewels, and arrayed in two of its colors, the purple which represents royalty, and the scarlet which stands for sacrifice, but lacking the blue which means truth. She has also the golden cnp of the gospel in her hand from which instead of truth, she dispensed the waters of

KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN.

apostate doctrine. Apostacv always makes use of gospel means to oppose the gospel, anything else is open opposition. Catholicism rode the scarlet beast of the sacrifice and used gospel instruments to compass its ends, and Judaism will do the same. The name of the beast which the woman rode is given in verse 8 and n. It is the beast that was, that is NOT, AND YET IS, or the Israelittish church and people who were the church of God until their mission was ended and the Christian church established, when it ceased to exist in God's eyes, but has never ceased to be in the mind of the Jew, and they look as confidently for the coming of the Messiah as ever, and for that coming keep alive their faith and preserve their nationality. Verses 9-1 1 after saying that there had been six great empires on earth, and that the seventh — Catholicism — was to come, says distinctly and plainly, verse 11: ^'And the beast that was, that is not, and yet is, he is the eight head, and is of the seven, or the eighth great monarchy on the earth.

This chapter, verse 5, speaks of the mystery of apostacy. It is this. After the fall of man, God promised him a Saviour who should set up a kingdom in which all that men had lost by the fall should be restored. It became the ambition of many men to personate this Saviour and nations longed to exert their sway over the whole world. For this cause Cain killed Abel, He, as the eldest son, was the legitimate high preist of the family, and was taught to believe he might be that seed of the woman who was to crush the serpent's head, and under his preisthood he contemplated setting up the looked for universal empire. When God rejected him, his dream was at an end, and fearing Abel might become the mighty prince he had wished to be, he slew him in his wrath and went out from the presence of the Lord — ceased to be his priest — to become the ruler over sin as God had said. Gen. 4:7. To do this he went out on the east of Eden — i. e. got between man and his God — to the land of Nod — which means to beckon — and said to men go not through the gate of the law and the sacrifice — the two cherubim who kept the way of the tree of life on the east of Eden — Come to me. I will in my government give you all you seek and you can still remain at enmity with God. This was the origin of empire and apostacy, from Paganism to Judaism, and because of this the woman of Chap. XVII, who is apostacy, is shown riding the scarlet beast of the sacrifice, seated on the heads of empire, carrying the golden cup of the gospel, adorned with the tabernacle jewels, and clad in two of its colors; the purple which means royalty, the scarlet which represents sacrifice, but lacking the blue or truth, i. e., she was false. See Exodus XXXVI, 8.

Vision 9, Chapters XVIII, XIX, Third Companion to Vials.

Vision nine is a lament for great Babylon, from those who have profited bj her; Chap. XVIII, and a song of thanksgiving to God, from his people, that he has destroyed Babylon, Chap. XIX, which still further relates the destruction of the Jewish money power by Christ, his church, and all those who held with them in the doctrines of justice and right, Ver. 11-21.

Vision 10, Chap.jXV, Fourth Companion to Vials.

Vision ten shows us the result of the out pouring of the Vials, namely opposition to the kingdom utterly destroyed, the devil chained, Christ's kingdom fully established, and the race under the guiding and governing hand of God's resurrected saints, going on to perfection and confirmation during a thousand years which we call the millenium.

revision 3, Vision 1, Chaps. XXI, XXII.

Historical triumphant division.

The one vision of this division, relates that God's government, called the New Jerusalem, descended from heaven to earth, and describes that government,_and ^the happy state of the church triumphant.

This fills the number, 12, of visions in Revelations, and we have the plan of Revelations as given in the diagram at the beginning of the key, viz:

Scheme of Revelations.

Revelations is divided into three divisions, viz:

1. The Admonitory division. Chaps. I-II-III.

2. The Time Historical division, next 17 chapters,

3. The Historical Triumphant division. Chaps. XXI-XXII.

Visions.

It has twelve visions.

One in the first division.

Ten in the second division.

One in the third division.

Axial and Companion Vision.

It has three Axial visions,

1. The Seals, Chaps. IV, V, VI.

2. The Trumpets, Chaps. VIII, IX.

3. The Vials, Chaps. XV, XVI— All in the Time

Historical division.

Companion Vision.

The Seals have one companion vision, Chap. VII.

The Trumpets have tw^o companion visions. Chap X and Chap XI.

The Vials have four companion visions. Chaps. XII, XIII, XIV; Chaps. XVII, XVIII, XIX, and Chap. XX.

Subject of Kevelations.

Revelations treats of a kingdom being set up and the opposition thereto.

The Forces Engagred.

Chirst and the Christian Church — the v^rhite horse and his rider — on one side, backed by the Omnipotent God and the government of the universe, and on the other side the devil, with four engines, paganism. Popery, Atheism, and Judaism, backed by temporal power exerted with the most devilish ingenuity.

The Out Come.

Christ wins, and Satan, his beasts and followers are cast into hell.

Rise, ^Climax and Decline.

Opposition to the Church contiuualy increased in fury until the French Revolution, ^when the twelve hundred and sixty years being ended, pt^hasj^rapidly declined. ^Opposition reached its climax ih the entire suppression of the scriptures in France and the establishment of the worship of reason, but in 1798 A. D. Christs kingdom became dominant, — the^iBible ascended up to heaven,' Chap. XI, ver. 12 and 15 — since, which time opposition to the gospel, and the various wrongs to humanity, have been rapidly destroyed, and the adjuncts of Christ's kingdom, as Bible and ^.Missionary Societies, an aggressive church, etc., have been rapidly set up.

Woes.

Papal oppressions during the dark ages, about the time of Tetzel, were the first woe. The French revolution was the second woe, and the third woe will be when the Jewish money power is destroyed and all the governments of the world go down, as well as every power that oppresses men or sets one man above another. These are woes to the opposition only.

Prophecies to he Fulfilled.

PROPHECY I, REV. IX I I3-2O.

At the demand of Christian people the world over — the voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, which is the church in its capacity of demanding justice, altar meaning justice. The four Christian powers Russia,

England; France and Gernianj will be loosed and Mohamedism — the religion of the Euphrates near which it had its birth, will be dried up or destroyed. This drying up process has been going on all through the sixth seal.

PROPHECY 2, CHAP. XIII, VERSES I5-I7.

The Jewish money power will set up their univeral rule of the Jews through the financial system of the world,

PROPHECY 3, CHAP. XVI: 13, 14.

Three unlawful means of forwarding the interests of the money power will be employed by it to secure the cooperation of the governments of earth, and tne rich, prominent, and powerful in every department of life.

When we see these, the time until Christ destroys all opposition to his rule is short, — see Rev. XVI: 13-16.

PROPHECY 4, CHAP. XVI : I7-2I.

The money power will be destroyed, and every government on earth melt away before the brightness of the appearing of the kingdom of Christ.

Armageddon.

Armageddon, or Empire of the Gospel, became dominant in 1798, as has been stated in previous pages, but as a thorough understanding of this fact is very important, as through a misunderstanding of it, very grevious errors have been made in the interpretation of the appocalyptic prophecies, especially those of Daniel, we will try to make the tact very plain.

Christ pointed to this time very explicitly in Math. XXIV: 30, the sign of the son of man being the kingdom set up in power. In the 31st verse, Christ tells of the angels of his government, the Bible, missionaries, an aggressive church, etc.. which after the founding of the Bible and. missionary societies, and the aggressive movement of the church about Wesley's time, went to every part of the world, not secretly, and with fear and trembling, as they did when Babel dominated the world, but with the sound of a trumpet, openly and fearlessly, because under the protection of the mighty armageddon. Mark foretells the same. Chap. XIII, 26, 27, and Luke XXI, 27, fortells the coming of the kingdom in its dominance.