THE Bible deals in mighty and striking contrasts, and so does every aggressive moral book, but pre-eminently does the Bible. It is sin versus righteousness, good versus evil, life versus death, destruction versus salvation; and the living personifications of these two great principles, stand out clear and strong,—Jesus Christ the Saviour of men, and Satan the great adversary and destroyer. Ever and again God brings before us the destinies of those who walk in the two paths, whose lives are molded by the principles. The chapter of our study this week is one of mighty contrasts.
Our last chapter dealt with sin and its results, this with righteousness and its fruits. Our last chapter dealt with Babylon and her children, and the awful doom which awaited them; this deals with the saints of God who have suffered from the Babylonian oppressions through all the ages. Let us learn —
The Answer of the Text
1. After the sentence upon Babylon, what did John hear?
After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying. Rev. 19:1. Note 1.
2. What did they say?
Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: for true and righteous are His judgments; for He hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. And a second time they say, Hallelujah. Verses 1-3. Note 2.
3. What reference is made to Babylon's doom?
And her smoke goeth up forever and ever. Verse 3. Note 3.
4. What chorus of praise was offered by others?
And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. Verse 4. Note 4.
5. What voice came from the throne?
And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye His servants, ye that fear Him, the small and the great. Verse 5. Note 5.
6. What did the prophet then hear?
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Verses 6-8. Note 6.
7. What words was he bidden to write?
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God. Verse 9. Note 7.
8. What regard did he show the angel?
And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Verse 10. Note 8.
9. What was the next vision disclosed to him?
And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He hath a name written which no one knoweth but He Himself. And He is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And He hath on His garment and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Verses 11-16. Note 9.
10. What did he then see and hear?
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great. Verses 17, 18. Note 10.
11. What awful scene followed?
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat upon the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: and the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of His mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Verses 19-21. Note 11.
Note and Comment
1. AFTER THESE THINGS.—The first part of the 19th chapter follows logically after the 18th. Through all the ages Babylon has been the oppressor of the children of God. The earth has truly belonged to the Lord and to His children, but Babylon has been its possessor. Now the doom of Babylon is pronounced. A mighty angel declares that the great apostate and oppressive system will be found no more at all, cast down forever.
Christ our Lord has come, and has taken His people to the mansions which He has prepared for them in heaven. And the great multitude, the voice of which John heard, are those who came forth from their graves to the resurrection of life. John 5:29; 1 Cor. 15:51-54.
2. HALLELUJAH.—Praise to Jehovah. In all their earthly pilgrimage God's children have ascribed praise to the Master. Even when they have gone down in death, suffering untold agonies, still have they said by faith, "Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God." That now is past, and they are seeing the righteous judgment of God upon the iniquitous system of the ages. It was asked by the "father of the faithful," Abraham, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" And now the faithful children of all ages, looking upon the righteous sentences which God has meted out, declare, "True and righteous are His judgments." It is not God's delight to execute vengeance. His wrath is only against sin. It is never against the human who does not identify himself with sin. God loves the sinner, loved him so much that He gave His only-begotten Son to die to save him from sin; but when, under the strongest persuasions to the contrary, men will identify themselves with sin, they by that very act become a part of sin itself, and must be destroyed with it, as those who corrupt the universe.
3. HER SMOKE GOETH UP FOREVER AND EVER.—This does not imply constant burning. It does not imply that Babylon shall exist in smoldering ruins forever. It does not imply a fire which will constantly burn throughout the endless ages. It should be interpreted in harmony with the sentence pronounced a little while before, "She shall be utterly burned with fire." Chapter 18:8. "Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all." Verse 21. Another prophet, in speaking of the same judgment, declares, "The day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1. And the psalmist, referring to those who have identified themselves with sin, declares, "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; in smoke shall they consume away." And finally it is declared of the chiefest sinner of all, Satan, under the figure of the king of Tyre, in Eze. 28:18, 19: "Therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the peoples shall be astonished at thee: thou art become a terror, and THOU SHALT NEVERMORE HAVE ANY BEING." The punishment is final and forever.
4. WORSHIPED.—The four and twenty elders, assistants of our Lord Jesus Christ in the sanctuary work of salvation, the four living creatures, God's agencies in the working out7of the great problem of man's saving from sin, who with the Master have fought and struggled against the enemies which would destroy, now triumph with the Master. They have triumphed in part through all the past; they now see the triumph complete. Even the prison-house of death has yielded its prey, and the children of God have come home. And they shout, "Amen! Hallelujah!" That is their response to the song of praise and deliverance which is sung by the saints of God.
5. GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.—It is a time for praise. There have been times of mourning and weeping and pleading through all the past. God's children have been in all ages in pitiful straits, persecuted, hunted, put to death by every conceivable means that hellish ingenuity could invent; they have lifted piteous hands to heaven and pleaded for divine interference, and yet God, for the perfecting of their faith and as an answer to the powers of darkness, has allowed the cruel oppression to go on. It is over now; and the voice comes forth from the throne, "Give praise to our God, all ye His servants, ye that fear Him, the small and the great." Triumph is forever assured.
6. THE VOICE OF A GREAT MULTITUDE.—And then there is the response to the voice from the throne; the great multitude, as the voice of many waters, as the voice of many thunders, responds to the call from the throne of God, "Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth." They have reason to rejoice. The long deferred marriage of the Lamb is to take place. His wife, the holy city, has made herself ready. She is arrayed in a different garment from any the people of earth have ever known. It is a living garment, white and bright and clean and pure, but it is the righteousness of the saints who possess her.
7. BLESSED.—All the Revelation is true. All that God has given is for us. But there are some things so precious that it would seem as tho even Deity felt He must doubly emphasize them to His children; and this is one of them: "Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb." That does not mean those who have rejected that invitation, but those who are bidden and who accept of the invitation with all that it implies, who have been willing to leave all things else that they may be at that supper, have been willing to submit to all the regulations, that they may be clothed with the garments fitted for that exalted occasion. Blessed are they that are thus bidden: "These are true words of God."
8. I FELL DOWN TO WORSHIP HIM.—We could understand, faintly, somewhat of the glow and the glory exhibited by that mighty angel of God, as he told John that message. We have seen men so filled with the message of God that they seemed almost glorified; and it is not difficult to understand how that mighty angel which told John those things, seeing the glorious triumph of God's work, appeared to John like an impersonation of Deity, and therefore he fell at his feet to worship him. But the angel, with the true humility of a faithful servant of God, knows that the glory which he possesses is not his own, and the message did not find its source in him, and he rebukes the worship. "I am only a fellow servant, John, with thee, and a fellow servant with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus." On another occasion he told John that "I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets." He is God's messenger, who through the ages of the past has ministered to the prophets—to Isaiah, to Jeremiah, to Ezekiel, to Daniel—the mighty angel Gabriel, Christ's angel. And he also brings this glorious assurance to those who are living in the last days and who follow the teachings of this book, that he is a minister to them, also; for not one of God's gifts shall be wanting when Christ shall take His children home at His coming. They shall then "come behind in no gift." 1 Cor. 1:7.
9. HEAVEN OPENED.—A new vision is disclosed to the prophet. Revelation is a book of symbols, and the symbols used of our Lord represent character, work, sacrifice, salvation. As before remarked, symbols were not used by the people of God as they were by the world, as for instance, in Greece. In the Grecian cosmogony, deity was symbolized by everything that was beautiful. In the Bible, symbols pertain to character, to work. For instance, in the first chapter of Revelation Jesus is depicted as walking among the seven candlesticks. This is designed to show His supervision over His churches, represented by the candlesticks. In these verses He is represented as a warrior. Not that He goes forth to fight with a material sword against those with material swords. He uses only spiritual weapons, but His spiritual weapons are not less potent, not less mighty. They are all-potent, all-conquering. The white horse represents purity in all His actions and all His deeds. And He that sat on the horse, Christ, is the Faithful and the True, and in all His warfare through all the past it has been in righteousness. There has been no compromise with evil. Evil has not been met with its own weapons; it has ever met the straightforward righteousness of God. His eyes as a flame of fire, showing their piercing depth, He sees through all things, discerns all motives; to Him all hearts are open. Upon His head are many diadems, showing the victories which He has won for us. A name written which no one knoweth but He Himself, represents the character which has been wrought out through all His sufferings, conflicts, and victories. No one knows the fulness of that character except Himself, because no one has experienced all that He has experienced.
His garment dipped in blood carries us back to Isa. 63:3, where Christ prophetically is represented as treading the wine-press of wrath alone, "and their life-blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My raiment." And yet He is the one who is "mighty to save." His name—one of His names—is called "The Word of God." He is the Word of God personified; all the commandments and precepts and promises have been wrought out in His living character and fulness. We learn in Rev. 17:14 that those with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. Here it is said they are upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. God's battles are fought with clean hands and pure hearts. The sharp sword out of His mouth is the Word of God, and He comes as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS. That Word has been salvation to all who would accept it in the past, but to those who have utterly rejected it it will mean final and eternal destruction.
10. ANGEL STANDING IN THE SUN.—This angel announces the great, final slaughter to all those systems of men which have cursed the earth and those identified with them. It refers to the same time as does the 25th chapter of Jeremiah, where we are told that the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth to the other. Before that final conflict takes place the great slaughter is announced. There will be no question regarding its outcome; the very birds of the heavens are invited to the feast before the slaughter takes place.
11. THEIR ARMIES.—In these verses we have the two parties to the conflict. All the earth is ranged under the beast—the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies. They are all gathered together to war against Christ and His army. They do not see Him. They do not know how they are pitting themselves against Infinite Might. All that is visible of Christ is the few representatives, comparatively, that He has in the earth; those who stand for truth and God and righteousness, who count not their lives dear to themselves, if so be they can finish their course with joy; who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and count it all joy to suffer for His sake, if to that He calls them; who will not yield to the beast or his worship, or the reception of his mark. Against all these the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies are enlisted. How unequal seems the conflict! Surely it would seem as if triumph were sure to the powers of apostasy. But back of all God's faithful band is the infinite might and power of righteousness. And in that last great conflict, such as has been witnessed before on a smaller scale, the very powers which unite to fight against God fight against each other, and the great slaughter predicted by Jeremiah, chapter 25:15-31, takes place at Jerusalem, the great center of strife. Those who survive this battle are slain by the sword of Him that sat upon the horse. As stated by the apostle Paul, "And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of His coming." 2 Thess. 2:8. And the chapter closes by declaring that "all the birds were filled with their flesh."
The closing events of this chapter are synchronous with those of the plagues of Revelation 16. They fall under the plagues. They are a part of the things which are there told in brief. It is useless for mortal pen to endeavor to describe in detail how these closing events will be carried out. There may be descriptions which seem almost contradictory, but which, in their development, may be literally true. One of the seemingly contradictory events may precede the other. In the awful intensity of the times which lie before us, when men are filled with wrath, event will follow event with wonderful rapidity, change will follow change. The only quiet calm there will be in this old earth at that time will be those who are resting upon God and upon His promises. They will wait His time; and when the opening heavens shall reveal8His coming, then, and not till then, will their expectations be fulfilled. Then shall they say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25: 9.
Taste and See
A PRISON visitor gave a convict a Bible. He employed himself in raising questions on difficult passages to ask the donor at every visit. Seeing that the study was of no profit to the convict, the visitor said: "What would you think of a hungry man who had not eaten a morsel of food for the last twenty-four hours, and was asked by a charitable man to come in and sit down at a richly covered table, on which were large dishes of choice food, and also covered ones, the contents of which the hungry man did not know? Instead of satisfying his exhausted body with the former, he raises one cover after another, and insists on finding out what these unknown dishes are composed of.
In spite of all the advice of the charitable man to partake first of the more substantial dishes, he dwells with obstinate inquiry on nicer compounds, until, overcome with exhaustion, he drops down. What do you think of such a man?" "He is a fool," said the convict; "and I will be one no longer. I understand you well." — Selected.
Our Bible Reading
The Gift of Prophecy
1. What is the first of the spiritual gifts?
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles. 1 Cor. 12:28.
NOTE.—Therefore, these gifts belong there. He has not placed these gifts there to be removed. All that God placed there were needed, and there is no reason to be found why they should be taken away. The very first in importance is "apostle." An "apostle" means one who is sent. First of all, God must send His messenger with His message. He wins souls to God; and after the souls are won, then follow other gifts. Sometimes the apostle combines more than one gift in himself. Such did the apostle Paul.
2. What is the second gift?
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily PROPHETS. 1 Cor. 12:28.
And He gave some, apostles; and some, PROPHETS. Eph. 4:11.
NOTE.—If we will read the context, we will find that the prophet and the apostle are classed with other gifts which all recognize as belonging to the church, such as teachers, evangelists, pastors. There is no more reason why one should be set aside than the other.
3. What illustration have we of a prophet?
And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh. Ex. 7:1, 2.
NOTE.—A prophet of God is one who speaks for God, one who stands between God and the people, and who bears God's message uncorrupted. This is emphasized in Ex. 4:15, 16, the Lord's instruction to Moses: "And thou shalt speak unto him [Aaron], and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God." Moses was God's prophet speaking for God, Aaron speaking for Moses. Thus God's prophets are mouthpieces for Him.
4. What is said of the way God reveals Himself to His prophets?
Hear now My words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. Num. 12:6.
NOTE.—Yet there are other ways in which the Lord has impressed His servants. Prophecy is sometimes used in the sense of teaching, as well as in the sense of revelation. God reveals much, sometimes, in the vision. He afterward impresses that even upon His prophet, or His servant, that he may give it to the people. There were two persons who received instruction directly from the mouth of the Lord. One was Moses. "With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches." Num. 12:8. The other was our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Moses was a type.
5. What is God's object in sending prophets to His people?
Prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. 1 Cor. 14:22, 3.
6. With what is it always connected?
Where there is NO VISION, the people PERISH: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Prov. 29:18.
If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter. John 14:15, 16.
7. Should we receive every prophecy without question?
Despise not PROPHESYINGS. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 Thess. 5:20, 21.
NOTE.—God would not have us accept the message of every one. There are false prophets and false christs in the world. He Himself warns of these. Therefore would He have His people careful about accepting the message of one who claims to be the prophet of God. He would not have us despise prophesying, or utterly ignore it; but He would have us test it, and the true test is given in Isa. 8:20: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." God's law is His great standard of character. It is God's witness through all the ages of what is true. Jesus said: "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Matt. 7:22, 23. Iniquity is lawlessness, the breaking of God's law. So it matters not what the prophet himself may prophesy, or how remarkable may be his manifestations, if he prophesy contrary to God's law, he is not a true prophet. God's witness is against him. Therefore the bestowal of the prophetic gift in the church is always when God's law is regarded, or there would be no test as to the genuineness of the gift. If a church has no perfect standard, she has no means by which to determine whether her teachers are true or false. It was for this very reason that God spoke His law from Mount Sinai with His own voice—the great Shepherd's voice to His sheep, by which the voice of every pretended shepherd in the world could be tested. "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." The prophet whose teaching leads us away from God's Word, and leads us to trust in the prophet himself, we may set down as a false prophet. The true prophet will ever bring the soul back to the Word of God, and His Word will be seen to be in harmony with truth and righteousness.
8. What indications, among others, have we in the New Testament of the perpetuity of the prophetic gift?
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17.
We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had FOUR DAUGHTERS, virgins, WHICH DID PROPHESY. Acts 21:8, 9.
9. What instruction have we as to the time when that gift will cease in the church?
Whether there be PROPHECIES, THEY shall FAIL; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But WHEN that which is PERFECT IS COME, then that which is in part shall be done away. 1 Cor. 13:8-10.
NOTE.—Still the church sees and knows in part. The perfect has not yet come; prophesying is yet needed.
10. What promise have we concerning the remnant church?
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST. Rev. 12:17.
Worship God: for the TESTIMONY OF JESUS is the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. Rev. 19:10.
NOTE.—By comparing the above texts with Rev. 22:9, it will be seen that where the angel uses "the spirit of prophecy" in the one case, he uses "the prophets" in the other. The spirit of prophecy is the grasping of that supernatural power by which God gives His prophecy to His children. The remnant of the seed of the woman is the very last of her seed, or the remnant church; and it is declared that this remnant church keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. A part of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ is to place His spiritual gifts in His church: He "hath set some in the church." "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men," and the gifts which He gave were to be used until He should return again. And among these gifts were those of apostleship, and prophet, and teacher, and evangelist. (See Eph. 4:8-13.) These gifts were to persist until our Lord should come. But the church wandered away from Christ, wandered away from His law, turned from obedience to His commandments. Consequently, the prophetic gift departed from her. But in the last days, with the restoration of His holy law in the church and in the hearts of His people, there is restored again the gift of prophecy, to lead, to warn, to admonish, to edify, to bring His people back to the Word. And therefore, as that gift is confirmed in the hearts of God's children, and when it is so confirmed, His church will "come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 1:6, 7.
Stars of Hope
"STARS of hope are always born in the night of trouble."
Religion in Everyday Life
“THE man who has religion will be moral. He will carry his religion from the church into his every-day life. He can be trusted in a business transaction, in the store or in the office, just as much as he can be trusted in the church edifice. He will conduct himself in the home, in the social gathering, in the place of amusement, with just as much decorum as he will in the church.”
