6:1 – “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.”

The Opening Of the Seals

“Then came the opening of the seals: the disclosing of one after another of the various features connected with the divine purpose. Each seal as it was loosed permitted the scroll to open a little wider, and a little wider, thus permitting ‘the mystery of God’ to be a little more clearly discerned. And so God’s people down through this Gospel age have been privileged to know something of the ‘secret of the Lord’ – the divine plan. But not until the last seal was broken, did the scroll fly wide open, permitting the ‘mystery of God’ to be fully disclosed; as it is written; ‘In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.’ (Rev. 5:1; 10:7)” (R2209:1)

“Since his glorification the Lamb has been breaking the seven seals and thus opening the divine plans before men and angels, and we now living are privileged to share this knowledge more abundantly than others, because, the last seal having been broken, the scroll is open to all who follow the Lamb in love and obedience and meekness; and ‘the mystery of God is [about] finished.’ (Rev. 10:7)” (R2156:4)

“The opening of the seals has progressed during all the Gospel age. The whole plan of God is represented in this book – the scroll. It has required all of the present age and will require all of the next age to complete the plan. The plan of God includes the ‘restitution of all things spoken.’ We are now able to see these wonderful things and to tell about them, because each of the seals as it has been opened has made the plan a little clearer. We may suppose that the Lord Jesus was made aware of all its features after his ascension to the presence of Jehovah. We who are God’s people are seeking to know these things more and more fully. The Master declared that as the Father revealed them unto him, so would he reveal them unto us; but this revelation has been gradual, as the successive seals have been broken.” (R5943:6)

John says, “I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals: and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts, saying, Come …” The words, “and see,” which follow here (Rev. 6:1) and in Rev. 6:3, 5, 7 do not find support in the oldest MSS; however, from what follows in the context, it is evident that “Come and see,” is not necessarily an improper or incorrect thought.

The “living one” referred to, we believe, was the first to be mentioned in Rev. 4:7, “like a lion,” and represented God’s POWER. It is, therefore, not strange that John heard a lion-like roar – “as it were the noise of thunder.”

6:2 – “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

The “horse” would symbolize a doctrine; the fact that it was a “white horse” – pure doctrine! The “rider” seems to represent the early church; the “bow” indicates him to have been a warrior sent forth to conquer; the “crown,” the divinely accredited kingship of those who go forth in the fullness of consecration against the forces of evil! And John adds, “The conquered.” (The Authorized Version incorrectly says “to conquer.”) It was the Power of God in the indwelling spirit that enabled him to conquer!

“… the warrior upon the white horse is manifestly a representation of the true and faithful servants of Christ of the early Church, as in obedience to His command they went forth on their mission of proclaiming the pure Truth – the word, causing eventually the overthrow of Pagan idolatry, and bringing many of its adherents to yield willing and glad submission to Christ, their King. It evidently has reference to the rapid spread of Gospel Truth in the first and second centuries during the ‘Ephesus’ and the beginning of the ‘Smyrna’ period. The horse being ‘white’ symbolizes purity – pure doctrines, and victory.”(The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 307)

Note the similarity between the following two texts: Rev. 6:2 – “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and The that sat upon him Thad a bow; and a crown was given unto him:”

Rev. 19:11 – “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse¹; and The that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.”

The former, it seems evident represented the early Church in its pristine purity, under the headship of Jesus! The latter, judging from the context, refers to Jesus and to Jesus alone. (Rev. 19:12-16)

6:3, 4 – “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”

The Rider of the Red Horse, etc.

“If the whiteness of the first horse denoted the purity of the gospel in the period which that symbol covers, the redness of the second horse would signify that in this period that original purity began to be corrupted. The mystery of iniquity already worked in Paul’s day; and the professed church of Christ, it would seem, was now so far corrupted by it as to require this change in the color of the symbol. Errors began to arise. Worldliness came in. The ecclesiastical power sought the alliance of the secular. Troubles and commotions were the result.

“… Of this period, Dr. Rice remarks: ‘It represents a secular period, or union of church and state. Constantine aided the clergy, and put them under obligations to him. He legislated for the church, called the Council of Nicea, and was most prominent in that Council. Constantine, not the gospel had the glory of tearing down the heathen temples. The State had the glory instead of the church. Constantine made decrees against some errors, and was praised, and suffered to go on and introduce many other errors, and oppose some important truths. Controversies arose; and when a new emperor took the throne, there was a rush of the clergy to get him on the side of their peculiar tenets. Mosheim says of this period, ‘There was continual war and trouble’.’” (Thoughts On Daniel and The Revelation – Uriah Smith, p. 404)

It is well to note, the “horse” now is red in color, instead of white; the “rider” now has a “sword,” instead of a “bow”; and that he wears no “crown.” This all, is very significant. If the “white horse” represented pure doctrines, then the “red horse” must represent – shall we say – false doctrines! And the “rider” being equipped with a “sword” suggests that he is a fighter at very close range! His being without a “crown” seems to say that he is deemed unworthy of kingship in the glory of God’s Kingdom.

¹ White Horse, symbolism for “pure doctrines.” (R774:6)

It appears that this “rider” “on the red horse” was intended to represent the nominally Christian church and its doctrines. Among these false doctrines is that concerning the Kingdom itself: it has taught that the Kingdom of God is already established in the earth. Then there is the doctrine concerning Jesus: it teaches that he is “God of very God” (the trinity), which is, of course, contrary to the words of Jesus, when he calls himself “the beginning of the creation of God.” (Rev. 3:14) Then too, the nominal Church created a clergy class (popes, bishops, etc.,) as separate and apart from the laity. This also being contrary to the Word of God which says, “… be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” (Matt. 23:8)

The “sword” here, does not represent the Truth, but rather a weapon for offensive warfare, with which the “rider” would be able to “take peace from the earth,” and to bring about the killing of one another. This he did by way of persecutions – the inquisition, the rack, burning at the stake, etc.

Perhaps the reason why it was the “living one” “like a calf” – representing divine Justice, that invited John to “Come and see,” is that Justice is vindicated in the fact that this “rider” was not adorned with a “crown.” The nominal Church, though it bears the name of Christ, and carries on a warfare to conquer (convert) the world for Christ, is not deemed worthy by God of joint-heirship with Jesus in the Kingdom, because of its failure to become identified with him in his sufferings for righteousness’ sake.

“The agents symbolized by this horseman are false teachers who usurp the power of Christ. It is what the Saviour called, Nicolaitanism,¹ which early began to be established in the Church. It refers to the creation of the office of diocesan bishops, which came about in this way: It was the custom of the Lord’s consecrated in each city to meet together for convenience in different assemblies. Necessarily, there would be a bishop or elder (which in the Scriptures are synonymous titles) of each of these assemblies. All were elected by the assemblies, and served as elders or bishops of the congregations that elected them. Before the second century closed, disagreement and strife arose concerning the settlement of disputes, either of doctrine or church government. Councils were held, at which certain persons were appointed who were given jurisdiction over a certain number of churches, to whom everything of this kind was referred. These decisions were final. These persons to whom were given the name diocesan bishops after a little time used their offices as a means of carrying out their own selfish purposes, claiming, of course, that these were of God. It was the beginning of what in the early part of the sixth century (539 A.D.) culminated in the usurpation of power by the Bishop of Rome as head of all the churches over the world … and by the powers assumed and exercised by these so-called bishops, discord, strife, and divisions (instead of peace, concord, and unity) were introduced into the Church.” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 310)

6:5, 6 – “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

The “rider” of the black horse, we believe, was the same as that of the red horse; but instead of having a “sword,” he now had “a pair of balances” with which to weigh or measure out his commodity – wheat and barley.

The difference in the color of the horse – black instead of red – signifies that a further deterioration of the doctrines of the nominal church system had taken place. Black being the antithesis of white, suggests that its doctrines were now completely devoid of light and purity! The Roman Catholic church had gained for herself the position of chief arbiter of all things, in both church and state. “I sit a queen.” (Rev. 18:7) As the antitypical “Jezebel” she had already mixed her “leaven” with the three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. (Matt. 13:33)

However, divine Love – the “living one,” with “a face as a man” had permitted this, i.e., overruled it, affording thereby to the true saints of the period, the blessed opportunity of becoming “overcomers”; and lest they be overtaken, this “rider” was restrained: The could not hurt “the oil and the wine.” The holy Spirit of God’s indwelling (oil), and the pure doctrines of the Lord (wine) – at least insofar as these true saints were concerned – were not suffered to be contaminated. Seemingly, this implies that the Truth itself (the wheat and barley) might suffer at the hands of the nominal church (Matt. 13:33), but the spirit of holiness, and the basic doctrines – the joys of salvation, etc., by the grace of God, would not.

¹See Rev. 2:6 – Ephesus; Rev. 2:15 – Pergamos; 2 Thes. 2:7

Wheat was used as food by most of the people; whereas barley was used for the cattle and by the extremely poor. Wheat and barley, as foods, therefore, are apt symbols of the Truth. The “penny” – the Roman denarius – was a work-a-day wage for the common laborer. Thus we have the thought that the Truth during the period covered, would be dearly bought; and then would not necessarily be pure and wholesome.

The “balances”:

“Balance joined with symbols denoting the sale of corn and fruits by weight, become the symbol of scarcity; bread by weight being a curse in Lev. 26:26, and in Ezek. 4:16, 17. So in Rev. 6:5, ‘He that sat upon him had a pair of balances in his hand.’ Here the balance is used to weigh corn and the necessaries of life, in order to signify great want and scarcity.” (McClintock & Strong’s Encycl. – Article: “Balances,” Vol. 1, p. 624)

Thus the “scales” bespeak a curse upon nominal spiritual Israel – want and scarcity of spiritual food – the Word of God: and, of course, the innocent – the true saints, were called upon to suffer because of it too. These latter, however, were comforted and sustained in their “oil and wine” which remain – wholesome and pure.

The Three Measures of Meal and the Leaven

“… the grace of God given to his people in the beginning of this age, (1) the faith once delivered to the saints, (2) the hope set before us in the Gospel, (3) love, the bond of perfectness, summed up the three measures of the Lord’s provision for his people, in partaking of which they were to become strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. But gradually a woman arose, a false woman, represented in Revelation as a harlot, and as ‘that woman Jezebel.’ This Roman Catholic system obtained great power over the three measures of meal provided for God’s household, and proceeded to mix therewith the leaven of her own impurity. The result was that all the family food, all Toly doctrines were contaminated with her false doctrines – nothing was left pure and clean, as handed to us originally by the apostles. The faith once delivered to the saints was distorted out of all semblance to its original simplicity; the hope set before us in the gospel was changed to another hope entirely, unlike the original; the spirit of the Lord, love, was perverted to a selfish love of creeds of men and human institutions. Alas! no wonder all Christendom is spiritually sick, because of this adulteration in its food supply.” (R2635:4)

Devitalization of Spiritual “Food”

“… so-called teachers and bishops who professing to be placed over the flock to feed it, robbed the flock of spirituality and that which supported spiritual life. Discontinuing to preach Christ and the Word, they substituted forms and ceremonies instead. There were introduced at this time into the Church, formal fastings, celibacy, and asceticism as a so-called means of sanctification. The development of these conditions was gradual throughout the third century, and has continued ever since in the Romish Church and in some others.” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 312)

6:7, 8 – “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast, say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

The last of the “living ones” divine Wisdom, would display itself in the foreknowledge of all the events which would transpire incidental to the trial and testing of those who were “foreknown” and “predestinated” to be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son (Rom. 8:29); and thus he says unto John, “Come and see.” And John beheld a pale horse and his rider, etc.

This fourth “rider” sat on a pale horse. “The ghastly green of terror and of death.” The word is used of grass in Rev. 8:7; 9:4; Mark 6:39. (Revelation – Cook) J. B. Phillips in his The New Testament in Modem English, has rendered the text as follows: “Again I looked, and there appeared a horse sickly green in color.”

This “Thorse” as those two, the red and the black, which preceded it, represents doctrines: the grim and macabre doctrines of the nominal Church of this period. As for the “rider” – we are this time given his name, “Death”; and also that of his fellow-traveler, “Hell” (¢δηl). We are not specifically told as to whether or not this fellow-traveler rode on another horse; nor does it seem amiss to assume that they both rode one and the same horse! The chief “rider” was the same as had sat upon the red and the black horses that preceded, viz., the nominally Christian Church – more specifically, “The Antichrist” – the Roman Catholicism – the Papacy.

The fact that the “riders” bore the names of Death and Hell, seems to have been intended to indicate how power would be used “over the fourth part of the earth [probably a symbolism for the continent of Europe], to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death.”

“What Antichrist was pleased to call heresy (much of which was truth and righteousness endeavoring to hold a footing) was classed as worse than infidelity by kings, emperors and theologians; and both were persecuted, especially the former, by the Inquisition.” (B332)

Death and Hell – The Antichrist – his Power

“It is estimated, by those who seemingly have given the subject thorough investigation, that Papacy, during the past thirteen hundred years, has, directly or indirectly, caused the death of fifty millions of people. And it may safely be said that human and Satanic ingenuity were taxed to their utmost to invent new and horrible tortures, for both the political and religious opponents of Antichrist; the latter – heretics – being pursued with tenfold fury. Besides the common forms of persecution and death, such as racking, burning, drowning, stabbing, starving and shooting with arrows and guns, fiendish hearts meditated how the most delicate and sensitive parts of the body, capable of the most excruciating pain, could be affected; molten lead was poured into the ears; tongues were cut out and lead poured into the mouths; wheels were arranged with knife blades attached so that the victim could be slowly chopped to pieces; claws and pincers were made red hot and used upon sensitive parts of the body; eyes were gouged out; finger nails were pulled off with red hot irons; holes, by which the victim was tied up, were bored through the heels; some were forced to jump from eminences onto long spikes fixed below, where, quivering with pain, they slowly died. The mouths of some were filled with gunpowder, which, when fired, blew their heads to pieces; others were hammered to pieces on anvils; others attached to bellows, had air pumped into them until they burst; others were choked to death with mangled pieces of their own bodies; others with urine, excrement, etc., etc.

“Some of these fiendish atrocities would be quite beyond belief were they not well authenticated. They serve to show to what awful depravity the human heart can descend; and how blind to right, and every good instinct, men can become under the influence of false, counterfeit religion. The spirit of Antichrist degraded and debased the world as the spirit of the true Christ and the power and influence of the true kingdom of God would have elevated and ennobled men’s hearts and actions; and as they will do during the Millennium. This is to a slight extent illustrated by the advance of civilization, and the increase of justice and mercy, since the power of Antichrist began to wane, and the word of God began to be heard, and heeded, even slightly.” (B346)

Luke 9:56 – “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

“… and with [by the domination of] the beasts [earthly governments] of the earth.”

“… as early as the year A.D. 630, the Council of Toledo compelled the king of Spain, on his ascension to the throne, to swear to tolerate no heretical subjects in the Spanish dominions; and it was declared that the sovereign who should violate such oath would ‘be accursed in the sight of the everlasting God, and become the fuel of eternal fire.’ But the awful import of such demands was much more fully realized when the awakening began, and when Antichrist had obtained the maximum of his power.

“The Council of Oxford in 1160 consigned a company of Waldenses, who had emigrated from Gascony to England, to the secular arm for punishment. Accord- ingly, King Henry II ordered them, men and women, to be publicly whipped, branded on the cheek with a red-hot iron, and driven, half naked, out of the city in the dead of winter; and none were permitted to show them pity or to grant them the slightest favor.

“Frederick, the emperor of Germany, A.D. 1224, sentenced heretics of every description, alive, to the flames, their property to confiscation, and their posterity, unless they became persecutors, to infamy. Louis, king of France, A.D. 1228, published laws for the extirpation of heresy, and enforced their execution. He forced Raymond, Count of Toulouse, to undertake the extermination of heresy from his dominions without sparing friend or vassal.” (B333)

6:9-11 – “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

On the opening of the fifth seal, John beheld an altar, probably not in heaven, but on earth, for as he looked beneath it, it was as though he were peering into the tombs of those who had been slain (actually or figuratively) for their witness and testimony for the truth and the Word of God. These –

“… the martyrs of the past, the ‘souls under the altar,’ are represented symbolically as crying out for the vindication of justice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood upon them that dwell on the earth!’ They were bidden to wait until others of their brethren should be similarly killed, when the guilt of all will be avenged. (Rev. 6:9-11)” (R5462:6)

The Saints and the Cry for Vengeance

“In one sense of the word the fears and sufferings of the Lord’s people and their trials and difficulties ascend to the Lord in prayer and call to divine justice for vengeance, recompense, punishments, without any word from his people to this effect. Rather their petition should be in line with Stephen’s prayer … ‘Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.’ Nevertheless, as Abel’s blood is said to have cried to the Lord for vengeance, so the blood of his saints is said to cry unto him day and night, ‘How long, O Lord, dost thou not judge and avenge?’ (Rev. 6:10)” (R4347:2)

“The cry is, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’ The message for all these mar- tyrs of Jesus was, Wait a little season, the vengeance will come, but not until all of this class shall have experienced their share of ‘the sufferings of Christ.’

“To these martyrs the sufferings brought polishings of character, testings of faith, Divine approval and an increased glory on the spirit plane as members of the Bride of Christ – the blessings to be given them in the First Resurrection – the chief Resurrection, referred to by the Lord in Rev. 20:6.” (OV346)

John says that “white robes” were given unto every one of them. This is indicative of the fact that though they were still dead, and awaiting their resurrection, in God’s sight, they had already been “found worthy!” No longer was theirs to be an imputed righteousness – the righteousness of Jesus – but their own righteousness: the “white raiment” in which the Bride is to be arrayed. (Rev. 19:8)

“… it is not sufficient that we have the imputation of our Savior’s righteousness. This imputation is only a temporary arrangement. We need to come to the place where we shall have a righteousness of our own. Our flesh is imperfect; as St. Paul says, we cannot do the things which we would. In spite of our best endeavors things are bound to go more or less wrong. But we are to prove ourselves overcomers ‘more than conquerors.’ The Lord has arranged that at the conclusion of our trial, at the end of the present life, all the overcomers shall receive the new body. This new body will be a body of actual purity. Thus, the Apostle says, we shall ‘be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.’ So our raiment will be changed from a garment of imputed perfection, our justification by faith, to that which represents actual perfection. At the resurrection we shall receive that body of inherent purity, without blemish, without spot, which is here pictured as ‘white raiment’.”(R5669:3)

However, those referred to in this text were to wait until the time of the first resurrection; and maybe the “little season” (Rev. 6:11) extends beyond A.D.1878, to include the very consummation of the Gospel age, and the completion of the Church!

6:12, 13 – “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.”

Though the Book of Revelation is one of symbolisms, wherein the thing mentioned isn’t really the thing that is meant; there are times when the events recorded seem to have had a literal as well as a figurative (spiritual) fulfillment. Thus the terrestrial and the celestial phenomena identified with the opening of the sixth seal, depicting, as it were, the shaking of the things that are, find a literal counterpart in:

The Great Earthquake of Lisbon, Portugal, on November 1, 1755, which according to the historian: “… extended over a tract of at least 4,000,000 square miles. Its effects were even extended to the waters in many places, where the shocks were not perceptible. It pervaded the greater portion of Europe, Africa, and America; but its extreme violence was exercised on the southwestern part of the former. In Africa, this earthquake was felt almost as severely as it had been in Europe. A great part of Algiers was destroyed. Many houses were thrown down at Fez and Mequinez, and multitudes were buried beneath the ruins. Similar effects were realized in Morocco. Its effects were likewise felt at Tangier, at Tetuan, at Funchal in the Island of Madeira. It is probable that all Africa was shaken. At the north, it extended to Norway and Sweden. Germany, Holland, France, Great Britain, and Ireland were all more or less agitated by the same great commotion of the elements. Lisbon (Portugal), previous to the earthquake in 1755, contained 150,000 inhabitants. Mr. Barretti says that 90,000 persons ‘were lost on that fatal day’.” (Wonders of the World – Sears, p. 50, 58, 381)

The ‘Dark Day’ of May 19, 1780: “… (still ‘in those days,’ the 1260 years of Papal power, but after that power had begun to wane and the brunt of the tribulation had passed) a phenomenal darkening of the sun occurred, for which scientists of that time and since have never been able to account.” (D585)

“Almost, if not altogether alone, as the most mysterious and as yet unexplained phenomena of its kind in nature’s diversified range of events during the last century, stands the dark day of May 19, 1780; a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New England, which brought intense alarm and distress to multitudes of minds, as well as dismay to the brute creation – the fowls fleeing, bewildered, to their roosts, and the cattle to their stalls. Indeed, thousands of the good people of that day became fully convinced that the end of all things terrestrial had come, many gave up, for the time, their secular pursuits, and betook themselves to religious devotions. It was a wonderful dark day.” (Our First Century – Devens; See also D586)

The Darkening of the Moon – May 20, 1780: “The darkening of the moon at its full the night following (after the dark day of May 19, 1780) seems to have been little less remarkable than this darkening of the sun; a witness, Judge Tenney, of Exeter, N.H., is quoted as follows:

“‘The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as has ever been observed since the Almighty first gave birth to light. I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable darkness, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eye was equally invisible with the blackest velvet’.” (D587)

The Falling of the Stars, November 13, 1833: “‘The year 1833 is memorable for the most magnificent display on record. This was on the night of November 13, and was visible over all the United States and over a part of Mexico and the West India Islands. Together with the smaller shooting stars which fell like snowflakes and produced phosphorescent lines along their course, there were intermingled large fireballs, which darted forth at intervals, describing in a few seconds an arc of 30E or 40E. These left behind luminous trains, which remained in view several minutes, and sometimes half an hour or more. One of them, seen in North Carolina, appeared of larger size and greater brilliancy than the moon. Some of the luminous bodies were of irregular form, and remained stationary for a considerable time, emitting streams of light. At Niagara the exhibition was especially brilliant, and probably no spectacle so terribly grand and sublime was ever before beheld by man as that of the firmament descending in fiery torrents over the dark and roaring cataract. It was observed that the lines of all the meteors, if traced back, converged in one quarter of the heavens, which was Leonis Majoris; and this point accompanied the stars in their apparent motion westward, instead of moving with the earth toward the east. The source whence the meteors came was thus shown to be independent of the earth’s relation, and exterior to our atmosphere.’” (The American Cyclopedia Vol. XI, p. 431; See also D589)

“The phenomenon was to a limited extent repeated in 1866, but the event of 1833 seems to have accomplished the purpose of the sign, and indeed, in connection with the preceding sign, it evidently had considerable to do with the first arousing of the Virgins to meet the Bridegroom, prophesied in Matt. 25:1-5.”(D590)

“While these literal signs served their designated purpose in drawing general attention to the time of the end, we believe that the symbolic fulfillments are no less striking and even more interesting to those whose mental and spiritual perceptives are awakened so as to enable them to appreciate them.” (D590)

In symbolic vision, John was now nearing the “time of the end.” (Dan. 12:4) The 1260 “days” of the true Church’s wilderness experiences were about drawing to a close; thus it was that when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, John saw a “great earthquake”; which “earthquake” had much to do with the ending of the “wilderness” period. (Rev. 12:6) It was in A.D. 539 that the “Abomination of Desolation” was fully set up, and those 1260 “days” began, which were to end in A.D. 1799, with the breaking of Papacy’s power over the nations. On February 19, 1798, Napoleon’s general Berthier, having entered Rome, organized there a Republic; and five days later carried the pope prisoner to France, where he died the following year. “From that time to the present, Papal dominion over the kingdoms of earth has been merely a shadow of its former self.” (C42)

The French Revolution had started about ten years earlier, and was undoubtedly the “earthquake” which John beheld in vision.

“In the symbolic language of Revelation, the French Revolution was indeed a ‘great earthquake’ – a social shock so great that all ‘Christendom’ trembled until it was over; and that terrible and sudden outburst of a single nation’s wrath, only a century ago, may give some idea of the fury of the coming storm, when the wrath of all the angry nations will burst the bands of law and order and cause a reign of universal anarchy. It should be remembered that the calamity occurred in what was then the very heart of Christendom, in the midst of what was regarded as one of the most thoroughly Christian nations in the world, the nations which for a thousand years had been the chief support of Papacy. A nation, intoxicated with Babylon’s wine of false doctrines in church and state, and long bound by priestcraft and superstition, there vomited forth its pollution and spent force of its maddened rage. In fact, the French Revolution seems referred to by our Lord in his Revelation to John on Patmos as a prelude to, and an illustration of, the great crisis now approaching.” (D531)

The French Revolution

“Taken as a whole the French Revolution was a convulsion in which the angry passions of men, set free from all restraint, manifested themselves with a force and fury unprecedented in the history of the world, against monarchial, aristocratic, ecclesiastical, and religious institutions. Let these things be considered in the light of a mighty and successful revolt against, and overthrow of absolute monarchial power, and Papal tyranny and usurpation, and it will at once be granted that nothing similar had ever occurred previously, in the history of the fourth great empire. Terribly iniquitous had been the career of the monarchial power thus rudely overthrown; and fearfully corrupt the priesthood and religion thus utterly and with abhorrence rejected. A solemn character of retribution attaches to even the worst excesses of the French Revolution. The Papacy in the hour of its agony was exultingly reminded of its own similar cruelties against Protestants. Papists were treated according to the example set by Papists of other days, and the worst barbarities of revolutionary France could not out-Herod the previous barbarities of Papal France.” (Guinness, as quoted in the Revelation of Jesus Christ – Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 329)

The “Sun” and the “Moon”

“As the moon symbolized ‘THE LAW,’ so the sun symbolizes the GOSPEL LIGHT. The former was but a shadow or reflection of the latter, and the relationship of the two to the Church (the woman) is beautifully symbolized in Rev. 12:1.” (R499:4)

Next, John beheld, the sun and the moon becoming dark; and the stars of heaven falling to the earth. It is possible that John here recalled something he had heard Jesus say more than sixty years before, in response to a question put by his disciples with regard to his second Advent. He then foretold the great tribulations which would overtake his followers during the Gospel dispensation (Matt. 24:9); and that immediately after those days (the 1260 years of Papal persecution) the sun would be darkened; the moon would not give her light; and the stars of heaven would fall to the earth. (Matt. 24:29) Jesus added, that then there would appear “the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” (Matt. 24:30) Jesus at that time, seems not to have mentioned the “great earthquake,” probably because it belonged more particularly to the period immediately preceding the “time of the end.”

“The sun as a symbol represents the Gospel light, the truth – and thus Christ Jesus. The moon as a symbol represents the light of the Mosaic Law. As the moon is a reflection of the light of the sun, so the Law was the shadow or reflection beforehand of the Gospel. The stars as symbols represent the inspired teachers of the church – the apostles. The heavens … represent Christendom …

“Wherever we look we can recognize the fact that while God’s consecrated people are being specially fed and enlightened at the present time, yet with the nominal church it is not so. Its sun is being darkened; its moon is being turned into blood: and the stars are falling. The center of the Gospel light has from the first been the cross of Christ, the ransom; and however boldly Papacy set up the competitive sacrifice of the Mass, the saints of God have always held fast to this blessed center of all God’s promises and of all his people’s hopes. They have held to it, even though its philosophy has been almost entirely hidden from their view.

“Thus the sunlight of the gospel is daily becoming more and more obscure; and although this denial of the value of the precious blood as our redemption price has not so generally extended from the pulpit to the pew, yet, false doctrines long held sacred, together with reverence for leaders and learning, have made the way so easy that a large majority of all who get sufficiently awake to consider the subject fall an easy prey to this doctrine of Evolution, which denies the Scriptural doctrine of a primal fall and of a ransom from it. The Scriptures variously forewarn us of this great falling away, as well as of this darkening of the faith of the Church at this time; so that the Son of Man when he cometh will find the faith very scarce on the earth. (Luke 18:8) A Psalm describing this period declares: – ‘A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee’ (the faithful saints, members of the body of Christ, whose elect members will now shortly be completed). (Psa. 91:7)

“As the sunlight of the ransom becomes obscured, so the moonlight of the Mosaic Law, which in its sacrifices foreshadowed the ransom, must of necessity become obscured also. It is no longer uncommon for public teachers to refer to the bloody sacrifices of Israel, required by their Law, as barbaric. Once, when they saw by the true light of the Word of God, they appreciated the Apostle’s statement that Israel’s sacrifices were foreshadowings of ‘better sacrifices’ for sin; but now, refusing the antitype, the ransom, and denying original sin, and all need therefore of sacrifices for it – the typical sacrifices are repudiated also and esteemed barbaric. Thus the darkening of the gospel sunlight results in the darkening of the moonlight. ‘The moon shall be turned into blood.’ And Joel, (Joel 2:10), adds that ‘the stars shall withdraw their shining,’ which signifies that when the gospel light is obscured, and the Law comes to be regarded merely as a meaningless and barbaric ceremony of blood, then the teachings of the God-ordained twelve stars of the Church (the apostles) will also fade from view, – cease to be recognized guides or lights.

“The word star (Greek aster) is not used respecting any of the faithful (outside the apostles) in referring to them in this present life; but it is used with reference to those who depart from the truth, and become ‘heady,’ false teachers, ‘vainly puffed up,’ aspiring to be considered authorities in the same sense as the apostles, and who are styled ‘wandering stars,’ ‘false apostles.’ (2 Cor. 11:13; Rev. 2:2; Jude 13)

“In our Lord’s prophecy these true stars (the apostles) are reckoned in as part of the gospel sunlight, darkened, withdrawn from shining; while the false stars, the worldly-wise, man-ordained lights of the present heavens are represented as making a great display in coming down to earthly conditions; – abandoning their once somewhat spiritual eminence, and in their teachings coming down to the level of earthly moralists and philosophers – to the Christian-citizenship-politics level.

“The shaking of the symbolic heavens mentioned in the same connection has somewhat to do with these lights of Christendom coming to a lower plane of public teaching. The shaking would signify just what we see on every hand – a shaking up of the creeds and dogmas of Christendom, which, because of their admixture of errors, produce confusion whenever referred to – as, for instance the doctrine of elect and non-elect infants; the doctrine of eternal torment of all who are not saints, overcomers, etc.” (D590-595)

John says that this falling of the stars from heaven to the earth was “as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken by a mighty wind.” What a metaphor is this! Surely, the adverse winds of the higher criticism, evolutionary sciences, secularism, agnosticism, infidelity, etc., have been blowing for some time; and one does not have to have very keen vision to note the devastation they have wrought throughout Christendom. “Untimely [unripe] figs” are scattered hither and thither!

6:14 – “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together: and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”

“… the ‘sure word of prophecy’ indicates very clearly that the various Protestant sects will form a cooperative union or federacy, and that Catholicism and Protestantism will affiliate, neither losing its identity. These are the two ends of the ecclesiastical heavens which, as their confusion increases, shall roll together as a scroll (Isa. 34:4., Rev. 6:14) for self- protection, as distinct and separate rolls, yet in close proximity to each other.” (D258)

From the Staten Island Advance 1/21/74:

“Terrence Cardinal Cooke, Roman Catholic Arch-bishop of New York, blessed and dedicated a stained glass window in St. Thomas Episcopal Church. The window contained a portrait of the late Pope John

XXIII. The service marked the city’s formal observance of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which began last Thursday.”

“Rolling together … like a scroll”

Isa. 34:4 – “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.”

The “Rolling Together … Scroll”

“It will be of little consequence … that the ecclesiastical heavens (the religious powers, Papal and Protestant) will have rolled together as a scroll. (Isa. 34:4; Rev. 6:14) The combined religious power of Christendom will be utterly futile against the rising tide of anarchy when the dread crisis is reached. Before that great army ‘all the host of heaven [the church nominal] shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll [The two great bodies which constitute the ecclesiastical heavens; viz., Papacy and Protestantism, as the two distinct ends of the scroll are even now rapidly approaching each other, rolling together, as we have shown]: and all their host shall fall down [fall off, drop out; not all at once, but gradually, yet rapidly] as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree’ (Isa. 34:4); and finally these ‘heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements [of which they are composed] shall melt with fervent heat.’ (2 Pet. 3:12)” (D551)

The Battle Unprecedented!

“According to the predictions of the prophets the conditions of this battle will be without historic precedent. As already suggested, this final struggle is graphically portrayed in symbols in the forty-sixth Psalm. (Compare also Psa. 97:2-6; Isa. 24:19-21; 2 Pet. 3:10) The hills (the less high, less autocratic governments) are already melting like wax; they still retain their form, but as the earth (society) gets hot they will yield to its requirements, little by little coming down to the level of popular demand. Great Britain is a good illustration of this class. High mountains (representing autocratic governments) will be ‘shaken’ by revolutions, and ultimately ‘carried into the midst of the sea’ – lost utterly in anarchy. Already ‘the sea and the waves roar’ against bulwarks of the present social system: ere long the earth (the present social structure) will reel and totter as a drunken man, vainly endeavoring to right itself, maintain a footing and reestablish itself: by and by it will be utterly ‘removed,’ to give place to the ‘new earth’ (the new social order) wherein righteousness, justice, will prevail.” (D551)

Every mountain and island were moved out of their places! Undoubtedly this bespeaks the great “time of trouble” (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21) which is to bring the present order of things to an end! The “mountains” seem to represent autocratic governments which will be “shaken” by revolutions and ultimately “carried into the midst of the sea” – lost utterly in anarchy. (Psa. 46:2; See D551) And the “islands” seem to represent the less autocratic republics, also to be removed; for John later in his Revelation says, “every island had fled away.” (Rev. 16:20) (R511:3, 4)

6:15-17 – “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

“Rev. 6:15 figuratively describes that time of falling of kingdoms when every mountain (kingdom) and island shall be moved. The kings and chief ones as well as bondsmen will recognize in this trouble that ‘The great day of his wrath is come,’ and will seek to make alliances and to hide themselves from the surely destructive storm. They will seek to be covered and protected by the great mountains (kingdoms) of earth, and to be hid in the great rocks of this world (secret societies). But they shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s anger, for all the kingdoms of the world shall be thrown down, and instead of these mountains (kingdoms) ‘the kingdom of the Lord becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth.’ (Dan. 2:35, 45)” (R409:6)

The “Rocks”

“As the trouble increases, men will seek, but in vain, for protection in the ‘dens’ and caves, the great rocks and fortresses of society (Free Masonry, Odd Fellowship, and Trades Unions, Guilds, Trusts, and all societies secular and ecclesiastical), and in the mountains (governments) of earth; saying ‘Fall over (cover, protect) and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come.’ (Rev. 6:15-17)” (B139)