Prophetic

Where in the seal judgment do the events of the seventh chapter of Revelation come, chronologically?

The seventh chapter of Revelation is a parenthesis in the movement of events. With the opening of the sixth seal souls are seen and heard of those who have been martyred under the first five seals. The seventh seal is to introduce the “trumpet” and “woe” judgments of the “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:15-24), and it is most comforting that just here should be the full vision of the saints of the tribulation. But it is not that the one hundred and forty-four thousand out of Israel and the “great multitude that no man could number” of Gentiles are already in heaven. What John sees is the whole harvest of the great tribulation (see verse 14, R.V.) in full and final blessedness. He then goes on to describe the tribulation in the midst of which they are to be saved.

Does prophecy ever relate to the material universe? And if so, what changes are predicted?

The prophetic Word predicts the disenthrallment of creation from its bondage to corruption and its subjection to “vanity”; that at the glorious appearing of Christ “‘the mount of Olives shall be cleft in twain’; that during the millennium a river shall flow out from Jerusalem from underneath the altar in the millennial temple; that at the end of the millennium the earth shall be purged with fire, so that there shall be “a new heavens and a new earth” (see Rom. 8:19-22, R.V.; Zech. 14:4; Ezek. 47:1-12; Rev. 21:1).

Is there any truth in the statement that many of the prophetic predictions were made at or nearly at the time of their occurrence?

No, that statement is incorrect. The Septuagint, containing prophecies of Christ, for instance, dates back over 300 years before Christ, so you see this alone would leave 300 years of intermission.

What is the best way to outline the book of Revelation?

The general outline of the Revelation is indicated in the commission given to John to write the book (Rev. 1:19), “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter” (literally, “‘after these things,” 7. e., after “the things which are’).

The things which John had seen are, obviously, contained in the first chapter — the Patmos vision of the glorified

Christ in the midst of the candlesticks, or lamp-stands (the churches, 1:20).

Putting ourselves back at the date of Apocalypse, say A. D. 96, and looking about for “things which are,’ we should at once be attracted by the churches as having for the time taken the witnessing place in the counsels of God formerly held by Israel. Accordingly, we find John next writing about churches. Seven then existing churches in Asia Minor are addressed in messages of like structure but varying content. At this late date there can be no difficulty in interpreting these messages as prophetical — ecclesiastical history written in advance. For, laying these messages by the side of the actual history of the churches, it appears that they have passed through phases of development in precise accord with the sevenfold foreview. Ephesus gives the general state at the close of the apostolic period; Smyrna, the period of the great persecutions down to the conversion of Constantine; Pergamos, the period of declension out of which Thyatira, or the papacy, developed; Sardis, the Protestant Reformation, and Philadelphia or Laodicea phases of Protestantism. Thyatira, or Romanism, and Philadelphia and Laodicea or the last condition of Protestantism, go on to the coming of the Lord. The third general division of the book extends, therefore, from 4:1 to the end, and is made up of prophecies which will be fulfilled after the true Church is caught up and the Laodicean residue spewed out of the mouth of Him whose Name Laodicea has brought into contempt. It is in vain to look into history for the events recorded in the third general division. ‘They may have had shadow and illustrative fulfillments, but the final and real fulfillment waits the departure of the Church.

Please explain “It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel’? in Genesis 3:15.

Genesis 3:15 shows the humanity of Christ in that He was the “seed of the woman” who bruised Satan’s head. This was accomplished through the cross (Heb. 2:14, 15; John 12:31-33), but at the cost of the suffering intimated by the expression, “thou shalt bruise his heel.” The final execution of the sentence on Satan awaits the fulfillment of Revelation 20:7-10, but Satan’s defeat in the death and resurrection of Christ was the sign of his overthrow. The Southern Confederacy existed for some time after the Battle of Gettysburg, but it was there that the confederacy received its death blow.

What will be the relation of heaven to earth after the millennium, and who will dwell on the new earth?

Heaven and earth are distinguished the one from the other, and the surprising thing is that the divine abiding place is with men, and that these are described as “‘peoples,” which in the Revelation is always an expression relating to earthly conditions. The eternal relation of heaven and earth, is Jacob’s ladder vision extended beyond the millennium into eternity. It should be remembered, also, that with a singular persistency, eternal duration is associated with the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:16; Psa. 89:3, 4, 27, 28, 29; Luke 1:38), under which Christ takes His earthly kingship. It is evident from 1 Corinthians 15:24, 28, that the mediatorial work of the King will come to a glorious consummation, but this does not imply a cessation of His kingly rule. The new earth is, then, the abode of ‘‘men,” of “peoples,” and the eternal tabernacle is with them.

When we ask concerning the identity of these eternal earth-dwellers, we come upon one of the reticences of Scripture, and can only say that there is no biblical objection to the inference that they are the “men” and “peoples” of the millennial period of Revelation 21. It certainly is remarkable that we nowhere have revealed the eternal state of the obedient and believing part of the millennial peoples. The part engaged in the rebellion of Revelation 20:7-10 are “devoured.”’ But what of the millennial “saints” who do not rebel? They are not in the judgment of the great white throne, for only “the dead” are there. If it be asked how the millennial saints could be kept alive during the purgation of the earth by fire (2 Pet. 3:10), one points to the power of God. He who kept alive His three saints in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace is not limited.

According to Matthew 17:10-13, did not Jesus teach that the prophecy concerning Elijah (Mal. 4:5) was fulfilled in John the Baptist?

Malachi 4:5 does not refer to John the Baptist, but to “Elijah the Prophet.” The prediction which refers to John the Baptist is in Malachi 3:1, so quoted in Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27. He came before Christ in his character of Angel of the Covenant (Mal. 3:1), and was an Elijah-like man (Luke 1:17; Matt. 11:14). But “Elijah the Prophet” in his own person will come — not before Christ, but “before the coming of the great and dreadful day, of the Lord” (Mal. 4:5). He will do what John did not (see verse 6). All the passages must be construed together. In Matthew 17 Jesus confirms the unfulfilled prophecy concerning Elijah in Malachi 4:5, 6, and yet keeps distinct the prophecy of John the Baptist. John’s ministry was so completely in the spirit and power of Elijah that in an adumbrative way it could be said that Elijah had already come.

If “‘all Israel’? is to be saved (Rom. 11:26) what about the Jews who reject Christ now?

The Jews who have died in unbelief will remain in their graves until the great white throne judgment, at the end of the kingdom age (Rev. 20:11). It is nowhere in Scripture intimated that all will accept Christ during the kingdom age. The natural heart will be as prone to evil (the inward evil of the Adamic nature) then as now. Men will become glory-hardened as they are now gospel-hardened, See the result in Revelation 20:7-9. During this age, only the Jewish remnant will accept Christ, as there is a vail over the heart of the nation, but when Christ returns in glory, Israel will repent and turn to the Lord (see Zech. 12:10).

Why is it necessary to study the prophetic portions of Scripture; is it not more profitable to deal with those portions that treat of salvation?

1. Prophecy came to us “by the will of God” (2 Pet. 1:20, 21) both for our instruction and blessing (Rev. 1:3).

2. We are to “rightly divide the Word of truth.” This we cannot do unless we search and study the Scriptures, dividing it as to past, present and future (1 Tim. 2:15).

3. Peter speaks of it as “a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, etc.” (2 Pet.r 319):

4. For ages before the promised ‘‘seed’” came into the world, the Old Testament saints “enquired and searched diligently” concerning His first coming, — then why should not His saints in this age do the same concerning His second coming — especially as He has stored His Word so full of the hidden gold that needs but to be mined out.

5. As a matter of intelligence we should study prophecy, for it is impossible to understand the times in which we live without this study.

6. As witnesses of Christ, we are giving an imperfect and incomplete testimony if we withhold that concerning Christ’s return and earthly reign, which must take place if God would be vindicated as to all the promises of temporal prosperity concerning Israel, and concerning Jesus Himself. Therefore if we close our eyes to that upon which the Author of the book has laid so much importance, and thereby darken the light which He has given to shine in a dark place (2 Pet. 1:19) and which we should hold up as the Christian’s “blessed hope,” especially in these last days when the apostasy is making such rapid strides, and the spirit of antichrist so manifest — we shall be unfaithful in our testimony.

Should we expect Elijah the Prophet before the
coming of the Lord, according to Malachi 4:5?

That passage does not say that Elijah will come before the Lord comes, but “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord’ — which is a totally different statement. The promise of God by Malachi will be fulfilled, but Christ must Himself come for His Church before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.” That is a distinct epoch in Scripture, the nature and events:of which will be clear if we bring together all the passages where the phrase occurs. The order of events is clearly given in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8: the apostasy of the church, the taking away of the One who hindereth (the Holy Spirit in the Church); the revelation of the son of perdition; and the destruction of the son of perdition by the brightness of the Lord’s coming. Elijah’s ministry comes between the taking away of the Church and the revelation of the man of sin. His ministry is to Israel exclusively, according to Malachi 4:6. It is referred to in Revelation 11:3-8 (Moses probably being the other “‘witness”), and the scene of Elijah’s ministry in Jerusalem (Rev. 11:8).

Is it not true that premillennialism is essentially pessimistic?

So far from premillennialism being essentially pessimistic, it gives the only solid basis for an invincible and triumphant optimism. Whatever may be the discouraging feature of any time in the “slow procession of the ages,” the premillennialist is sure of the final victory. How could it breed pessimism to expect the Lord with all the saints and the holy angels? The belief that at any moment the series of events may begin which are to culminate in the coming of that tremendous reinforcement to the forces that make for righteousness in this earth is surely a most inspiring belief. Wellington, fighting desperately at Waterloo, did not find the hope of the coming of Blucher casting a gloom over his mind.

Is ‘Babylon the great,”’ in Revelation 17, Rome?

Babylon the great of Revelation 17 is more than Rome, though it includes Rome. It is apostate Christianity as it will be during the great tribulation after the true Church has been taken away (1 Thess. 4:14-17; Rev. 4:1), and will be headed up in what is left of the papacy.

Why is the name ‘“‘David’’ applied to Christ in the prophecies?

In biblical usage, the posterity of a man whom God had made a covenant head takes his name (see e. g., Isa. 40:27; 43:1; Rev. 22:16). The New Testament confirmation of the Davidic covenant makes it clear that this is the sense in which the collective name “David” is used in the Old Testament passages referred to, for in the promise through Gabriel (Luke 1:32, 33), the promise to David is distinctly renewed to Christ, of the city of David.

Do the image inson of Daniel 2 and the beast vision of chapter 7 represent the same thing?

The monarchy-image vision of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 and the wild-beast vision of Daniel in Daniel 7 have both resemblances and differences.

They are alike in that both show a succession of four great Gentile world-powers, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Macedonia (as extended under Alexander) and Rome.

They are alike, again, in that both visions show a process of disintegration of the last of the Gentile world monarchies, that of Rome. The image vision speaks of two legs and of feet and toes; the wild-beast vision plainly of ten kingdoms in the last form of the fourth, or Roman Gentile world monarchy. They are alike, lastly, in that both show a sudden and catastrophic end of Gentile world sovereignty; and that not by natural, but by supernatural means.

But the differences are as strongly marked as the agreements. The monarchy vision gives the imposing external majesty and grandeur of the world-empires; the beast vision their true inner nature. Past the external glitter, it is seen that all Gentile world dominion is rapacious, bloody, selfish, and founded upon and sustained by force. Everybody knows that the majestic fabric of modern civilization rests, in the last analysis, upon the power of armies and navies.

Again, the monarchy vision reveals the division of the last or Roman world-power and its destruction, but externally, as it were. The beast vision gives the prophetic foreview of the closing events. ‘The monarchy vision is silent as to one of the most important personages of the end time; the beast vision reveals the “‘little horn” (Paul’s “man of sin’; the antichrist of 1 John; the “beast” out of the sea of Revelation) and the outline of his awful career.

But the chapters end alike in a vision of the Messianic earthly kingdom of the “stone cut out without hands’; of the “one like the Son of man.”

Is the ‘‘little horn’? of Daniel 7 identical with the “little horn’? of Daniel 8?

No. Note the following contrasts:

1. The “little horn” of chapter 7 comes up among the “ten horns’ (which are “ten kings that shall arise,” 7:24) into which the fourth, or Roman, world power shall be divided at the end time of the Gentile, or present, age. The “little horn” of chapter 8 comes out of one of the four kingdoms (the Syrian) into which the third, or Macedonian, world power fell after the death of Alexander the Great. In other words, the “little horn’ of chapter 8 runs his course before the fourth (Roman) empire comes to its zenith.

2. The “little horn” of chapter 7 overcomes three of the ten kings. The “little horn” of chapter 8 does nothing like that, nor could he, because the ‘“‘ten kings’ did not exist then. In a word, the “little horn” of chapter 8 has been fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphenes — a shadow and type of the “little horn” of chapter 7 who will run his awful course during the great tribulation.

How do the “beasts”? in Revelation 13 correspond with the same personages in Daniel?

Strictly speaking there are three “beasts” in Revelation 18. If you will turn to Daniel 7 you will see that the four successive world-empires which had been revealed to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 as different metals composing one great image, were revealed subsequently to Daniel as four beasts. Note carefully the description of the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision (Dan. 7:7, 8, 19-25) and then return to Revelation 13:1, 2, and you will, I think, see that the “‘beast out of the sea” is, first of all, just Daniel’s fourth beast, or the Roman empire in a divided form. But from verses 3-8 it is obvious that the reconstituted empire is represented in a man, the head of civil power at that time (yet future of course), when this prophecy will be fulfilled; and that this man is also called “‘the beast.”

From verse 11 of Revelation 13 we are shown “another beast” who is as obviously ecclesiastical as the beast of verses 8-8 is civil. For light upon the beast of verse 11 we turn to Revelation 19:20, where the description of the “false prophet” identifies him with ‘‘the beast” of Revelation 18:11. I answer, therefore, that “the beast out of the sea” of Revelation 13:1, 2 is the revised Roman empire in the form of ten confederated kingdoms having one imperial head, who is ‘‘the beast” of Revelation 13:3-8. And this second beast is the “little horn’ of Daniel 7; the “prince that shall come” of Daniel 9:26; the “abomination of desolation” of Matthew 24:15; “that wicked’ of 2 Thessalonians 2:8, and “antichrist” of 1 John 2:18. The third “beast” of Revelation 13:18 is the ‘“‘false prophet” of Revelation 19, and is priest-prophet of the second beast.

Who are the twenty-four elders of Revelation 4?

The “elders” of Revelation 4 stand for the Church. It must always be remembered in interpreting the Revelation that it is a book in which truth is revealed by signs, or symbols. The “elders” are redeemed (verse 9); are royal and priestly (verse 10), and are twenty-four in number, which is significant of priesthood, as David divided the priests into four and twenty courses. In Revelation 1:6 the quality of kingship and function of priesthood are spoken of in connection with the Church. Again, all through the book, it is noticeable that the elders have the secret of things, as e. g., 5:5; 7:18, 14, which accords with John 15:15. The Scriptures give no hint of any other body of saints of whom all these things are true. The “living ones’ of Revelation 4:6, etc., seem to be identical with the seraphim and cherubim of the Old Testament.

Who is the ““‘woman’’ of Revelation 12 and what is the general meaning of that vision?

The structure of Revelation 12 is as follows: The woman is Israel with her twelve-starred crown. ‘The dragon is Satan with the fallen angels. The man-child is Christ, as is evident from verse 5, with Psalms 2 and Revelation 2:27. Verse 6 takes up Israel at the beginning of the great tribulation, persecuted by Satan, but protected and preserved.

The interpretation which makes the Church the woman is involved at once in the absurdity of making the Church which did not begin till Pentecost, the mother of Christ. No system of interpretation of prophecy is free from difficulties, but these may be overcome by prayerful study, and a resolute determination not to so explain things as to explain them away.

On what grounds is it claimed that we are near the end of the age?

Students of prophecy cannot, as it would seem, but find our times full of signs of the approaching end of the age. The events predicted for the closing of this dispensation are, a great apostasy (2 Thess. 2:3); the revelation of the man of sin, identical with the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8, 24, 25, the antichrist of 1 John 2:18, and the beast of Revelation 13:1-10, and the great tribulation. The tribulation is introduced by anarchy.

Surely, in the widespread disbelief in the Scriptures as inspired of God, and of final authority in the matters of doctrine and practice, and this not by confessed atheists and agnostics, as formerly, but by influential ministers and theological professors, there is a “sign” of apostasy — more accurately, the apostasy begun. The man of sin cannot be revealed till ‘he that hindereth” be taken out of the way. This is the Holy Spirit in the Church. The apostasy will be followed by the removal of the Church, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, after which the man of sin will be revealed, the tribulation will run its course and will be brought to an end by the glorious appearing of the Lord (2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 19:11-20). An apostate church is then the first sign of the end.

But Israel is also a sign, since the first constructive work of the Lord after His return will be the restoration of the Davidic throne, regathering of Israel (Luke 1:31-33; Acts 15:16, 17). The great Zionistic movement, evincing a stirring of the hearts of the Jewish people toward their ancient land, is a most significant sign of the end.

Is there any distinction between “the day of the Lord” and ‘‘the day of Christ’??

The Scriptures distinguish absolutely between the “day of Christ’ and the “day ot the Lord.” The latter phrase is the older, occurring constantly in the prophets, especially Joel. It is associated with a time of supreme and unexampled trouble for Israel, out of the extremity of which Israel is delivered by the coming of the Lord (see Joel 1:15; 2:11, 830-32; 8:1-16; Zech. 14:1-5; Jer. 80:5-8; Matt. 24:21, 22; 1 Thess. 5:1-3; 2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 19:17-21). The day of Christ, on the contrary, is a New Testament phrase, and is connected with the taking away of the Church, which is the first phase of the second coming of Christ. It is the time, therefore of the Christian’s reward (see 1 Thess. 4:13-17).

To what does “the end” in Matthew 24:13, 14
refer?

The “end” referred to is the end of the present age or dispensation. The word rendered ‘‘world” in verse 3 should be “age,” or “ages.” The “end of the world” is not in view here. Scripturally, the world (earth) has no end. Purged by fire (2 Pet. 3:10-13) it becomes “the new earth” (Rev. 21:1).

What scriptural reason can you give against the
post-millennial teaching?

The divine program, Acts 15:14-17, puts the re-establishment of David’s throne after the return. The divine program, Revelation 19-20, puts the kingdom after the resurrection of the “holy,” and that is “at His coming.” The divine program, Matthew 25, puts the “throne” after His return. The divine program, Romans 11, puts the coming after the fullness of the Gentiles. The divine program, Matthew 13, excludes the possibility of a millennium during this age. The divine program, Daniel 2, puts the kingdom of the heavens after the destruction of the present political world-system. The divine program for the kingdom, Isaiah 11; Deuteronomy 30, etc., requires the restoration of Israel as the initial fact and that follows the return, Deuteronomy 80:3.

Who is meant by ‘“‘the man who is my fellow’”’ in Zechariah 13:7?

The “shepherd” who was smitten, God here calls His “fellow,” or equal. According to Philippians 2:6, Christ did not look upon His equality with God in “form” (2. e., visible glory) as “a thing to be grasped” (held fast), but emptied Himself of that form in becoming incarnate in the Babe of Bethlehem. He was in the mystery of the Trinity, eternally Jehovah’s ‘fellow’; in incarnation He became the Shepherd that He might be “‘smitten’’ for the sins of the “flock.”