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Now that same old serpent, the Devil and Satan, that tempted Christ in the wilderness and which hanged him on the cross and then taunted, saying, "If he be the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him, for he said, I am the Son of God,"- the same old serpent, the Devil and Satan, will be manifest in the latter days in the kings, princes, prophets, priests, and people of the rebellious house of Israel when the whole house of Israel will be present in the land and the people of Israel themselves as the sand of the sea for multitude, and Jerusalem the chief city of the earth.

CHAPTER VII

THE TIME OF TROUBLE

(Rev. 13-14)

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"Beast that rises out of sea"- Military strength Alliance with Israel -"Deadly wound healed"— War upon saints - Two-horned beast - His idolatry - Sin of Levites - The hundred forty and four thousand — Everlasting Gospel-When preached - Fall of Babylon - Judgments on idolatrous Israelites - Patience of saints-Sufferings and reward - Harvest of wicked-Treading of wine-press of God's wrath-Hostile armies the agency - Trodden" without the city"- Gog returns with great fury.

THE BEAST THAT RISES OUT OF THE SEA (REV. 13-14)

"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. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." We have already written so much touching the things contained in this thirteenth chapter of the Revelation in the interpretation of other and relative Scriptures that we need now but briefly speak of the things contained in this chapter.

This wonderful symbol by which the great nations of the earth and a multitude of the smaller nations in one great confederacy are represented, is worthy of him who created these nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples, and who then groups them together in the latter days as this symbol represents them; and when he brings them against his people and against his land, none but the Almighty himself is able to gather such a vast host of military men and mighty men of war, whom the Lord hath made strong to execute his judgments upon his own rebellious people, for the Lord speaking by Isaiah the prophet, says of them, "I have commanded my. sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle" (Isa. 13:3-4).

These kingdoms of the nations when gathered together in the holy land, comprising the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, will constitute the greatest gathering of military men and armies that the inhabitants of the earth. have ever beheld. Therefore the Prophet Joel says of them, "As the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations" (2:2). Moreover the Lord in the Revelation has furnished. us with the number of this prodigious army, saying (9), "And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand": which

is two hundred millions, and John adds, " And I heard the number of them." John not only heard the number of them, but he saw them in vision, for he says, "And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them." When this vast assemblage of nations comes into Israel's land, for Israel will be a very numerous and powerful people themselves in that day, then there will be great excitement, and the league and covenant that the rulers of Israel immediately enter into with these strangers will be a matter of great interest and public notoriety among the people of Israel; therefore the Lord speaks to the remnant of his people in that day by the Prophet Isaiah (8: 9-15) concerning these nations, saying, "Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces: and give ear, all ye of far countries. Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken."

These nations, though great and mighty, are not to be relied on, for they are destined to be broken into pieces after their work is finished; that is, they ascend out of the abyss of nations and go into perdition. This great confederation of nations will be broken to pieces and become as the chaff of the summer threshing-floors. Therefore the wise in Israel are warned not to fear and not to enter into this confederacy, for they are blasphemers of God's name, and his Temple, and them that dwell in heaven, and the prophet adds (verses 16-17), "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him." Moreover the Lord will in that day be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, as it is here declared. The Lord Jesus was a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to only the house of Judah in the days that are past, but in the latter days he will be thus to both houses, after which the stone of Israel will fall upon them and grind them to powder in the day that he hides his face from his people and delivers them into the hand of their enemies to destroy them.

This beast that John saw rise up out of the sea is the four beasts of Daniel's vision of the lion, the bear, the leopard and the fourth beast dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly, all grouped into one, which is indicated by the body of a leopard, mouth of a lion and feet of a bear. And as the four beasts of Daniel's vision had among themselves seven heads and ten horns, even so the beast that John saw had seven heads and ten horns. And as in Daniel's vision a little horn came up among the ten with a mouth speaking great things, so in John's vision the dragon is given as a mouth to the beast speaking great things and blasphemies.

The dragon king of Israel honors the beast and gives him his power, seat

(throne), and great authority and becomes his vassal, and in return for this great condescension and courtesy, the beast concedes him power over his heads and horns, and sustains him in making war upon the saints, the servants of God in Israel, for a period of forty and two months. Both of these great kings, the dragon and the beast, claim divine honors for themselves as well as for their gods that they set up, and this blasphemous worship is conceded by all them that dwell upon the (Israel's) earth, except those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, that is, the saints who prefer to sacrifice their lives in hope of a better resurrection rather than deny the God that is above and perish with the wicked.

ONE OF HIS HEADS SLAIN TO DEATH (REV. 13:3)

This head we have already shown to be the Ethiopian head, which stands in with the king of Egypt and is refractory, and as Egypt in the latter days. (as was shown to Daniel in the vision recorded in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth chapters of his book) is to be the antagonizer of the king of the north, therefore when Egypt and Ethiopia withstand the king of the north after he has overflown Palestine and the surrounding countries and established himself as king in Jerusalem, then he goes down to destroy Egypt and to subjugate Ethiopia, and to bring them into line. Therefore it is written, "He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians (two of the heads of the beast) shall be at his steps" (Dan. 11: 42-44). That is, they wheel into line and march with his army on his return to Jerusalem to deal with Israel, Edom, Moab and Ammon, who have broken away from their allegiance with him while he was absent ravaging Egypt and subjugating Ethiopia. In the twentieth chapter of Isaiah is found an instructive lesson regarding these things.

WAR UPON THE SAINTS (REV. 13:3-10)

And I saw one of his heads (the Ethiopian) as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast, and 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? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue (that is to make war) forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. 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 (there assembled). And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."

The dragon who becomes a mouth to the beast scatters the saints out of

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their own land, and they are taken captive by the enemy; some he puts into prison, as the Lord says in one of his letters to the churches, Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer. Behold the Devil (that old serpent, the Devil and Satan) shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (2: 10-11). The saints who stand these fiery trials and who are faithful unto death will, after these troubles are over, be raised from the dead to live forever. But those among them who are fearful and give way to the persecutor and deny the faith to save their lives will lose them, for they will rise from the dead, but to die the second death. He that killeth with the sword (the saints) must be killed with the sword, and so hath the Lord declared that the dragon in the end shall be slain by the Assyrian, who is the sword of the Lord.

THE TWO-HORNED BEAST (REV. 13:11-18)

This beast comes up out of the earth, and not out of the sea, thus showing that inasmuch as this power does not rise out of the sea of nations it is not a Gentile power, but on the contrary 'it rises up out of Israel's earth; and instead of having horns like the wild beasts of the nations, it has, that we may distinguish it from the Gentiles, two horns like a lamb. Nevertheless it has the characteristics of the dragon, for it is said of him that he spake as a dragon. Interpreting the vision of the ram and he goat, the angel said to Daniel (8:20), “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia," that is, they were Cyrus and Darius; so also in this prophecy the two horns like a lamb are the kings of Israel and Judah in alliance to do honor to the beast, a great and mighty Gentile king. As these two kings of Israel now unite to do honor to the great Assyrian, he favors their cause, and they are allowed by him to exercise all the power of the first beast before him and in his august presence, and he causeth the earth and them which dwell therein (that is, the people of Israel) to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed.

The Lord also sends them strong delusions, and as he gave Jannes and Jambres who withstood Moses power to work miracles whereby they might deceive the Egyptians and neutralize the effect of the miracles that Moses and Aaron wrought, so in the latter days when his people become like the Egyptians and are to be destroyed as the Egyptians were, he bestows upon them miraculous powers that they may work miracles to deceive those whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life, but whose eyes are blinded and whose hearts are hardened so that they may rush headlong into perdition. Therefore it is said in the testimony of Jesus, "And he doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast that had the wound by a sword, and did live" (Rev. 13:14).

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