“And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy Prophets sent His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly be done” (Revelation 22:6).

With the words of the revealing angel recorded in the preceding verse, “they shall reign forever and ever,” the prophetic visions of the Revelation cease. Thus closed the series of wonderful, symbolic pictures or photographs representing the eventful history of the Church, spiritual, nominal, and apostate, throughout the Gospel Age. This included also the destruction of the nominal and apostate Babylonian systems; the union and exaltation of the true Church with her Divine Lord in glory; and the blessings to flow to humanity through the glorious Messianic reign, resulting in Paradise restored. The most marvelous drama of all time had passed before the enraptured vision of the beloved Apostle.

The time occupied by the revealing angel in giving these visions to St. John must have been very brief, at the most but an hour or so, on that memorable Lord’s day. The matters represented as hidden in the symbolic seven-sealed scroll were then to be written by St. John and sent immediately to the seven Churches — the whole Church — to be understood by the Church as the events of history gradually unveiled their meaning. We who now live see clearly the fulfillment of these remarkable visions describing the experiences of the witnesses of Jesus as they came in contact with worldly powers, false professors, nominal and apostate Christian systems, in their endeavors to proclaim the Gospel. Thrice have the visions, including the messages to the seven Churches (Revelation 2 and 3), in their fulfillment traversed the whole Gospel Age, bringing the history down into the closing scenes, the great tribulation that ends the present-world order. Thrice also have the visions covered the events of the harvest period, the end of the age — which visions we have found constitute a large proportion of the book. After viewing these things the Apostle was next permitted to look beyond these present scenes and to behold the faithful followers of Christ exalted to glory and honor, united with their Divine Lord and Master, sharing with him in his heavenly glory, and associated as kingly judges and priests in the grand work foretold by all the holy Prophets of restoring the obedient of the race to mental, moral, and physical perfection, and of making the renewed earth a never-ending paradise of beauty and blessedness.

It will be well to note at this point that history records the fact that St. John himself afterwards understood the meaning of certain features of the visions that he was permitted to see; and he made known the same to his disciple, Polycarp, who in turn communicated them to the saintly Irenaeus and others. Some of the visions were so like those seen by Daniel centuries before, which were familiar to St. John, that he immediately saw their application to the suffering saints of God in their trials, tribulations, and persecutions at the instigation of the rulers of the Roman Empire; thus proving the truthfulness of the Historical interpretation of the Revelation.

“Behold! I Come Speedily”

The words we now consider constitute what we may properly call the epilogue, the conclusion, of the book of Revelation. Having fulfilled his appointed commission of showing to St. John the visions, the revealing angel comes to him direct, and in the solemn asseveration of verse 6 assures him of the truthfulness of the visions — that they are Divine disclosures of the future, and that they would speedily begin to come to pass. Three different times is St. John told that these visions are true, that they are of Divine origin (Chapter 19:9, 21:5, 22:6). In the opening vision of the Revelation St. John is told that Christ had sent his angel to make known to his people things that must shortly come to pass; and now when St. John had beheld all the visions, we have the similar utterance, “And the Lord God of the holy Prophets sent His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly be done.” And doubtless as designed to show the importance of this statement and to give emphasis to it the Apostle a moment later hears the Divine Master himself testifying to the same fact, in the words: “I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches” (verse 16).

After the angel had solemnly affirmed to St. John the truthfulness of the prophecies contained in the several visions, the Master himself is heard to speak, saying: “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (verse 7). The words, “Behold, I come quickly,” are designed to teach the importance that the Second Advent of the Lord should have in the instruction and experiences of his faithful followers. That most significant of all events must be held in the highest and most sacred regard, as the time when the long cherished hopes of the Church would be fully realized, and as the time of the culmination of the Lord’s great purposes for the human race. In proportion as it has been kept before the minds of the Lord’s followers throughout the centuries of the Gospel Age, has the Church preserved her primitive piety and purity of life and doctrine. One who wrote sixty years ago has truthfully and forcefully said concerning this:

“When men [of the Church] forget to think of the coming again of the Lord Jesus in his great Apocalypse, when they cease to look and long for that as the crown and goal of their faith and hope, when they make light of it, and treat it as a fable, and regard all concern about it as fanaticism, they show and prove that they do not belong to that elect body of God’s saints which constitutes the Bride of the Lamb; for the deepest heart-voice of the Bride, with that of the Spirit itself, is, ‘Come Lord Jesus; come as Thou hast promised and foreshown; come quickly.’ Taking all the precepts and inculcations of the sacred Scriptures with regard to Christ’s return, it becomes a plain and evident impossibility for people to be true and obedient followers of the Gospel and not to look and watch and long and pray and make it a great point in all their religious activity and devotion to be ready for the glorious coming of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. The Apostles and early Christians were all alive to this subject, beyond everything else in Christianity. It was their life, their inspiration, the pole-star of their faith and hope. It was the thing which most marked them, set them apart from the world, and was their great distinguishing spirit as compared with other people. And if it is not so with Christians now, it is because they have sunk away from the original life of their religion, and lost their proper fellowship with the true and only Bride of the Lamb; for the voice of the Bride to her Lord continually is, ‘Come.’ Nor can she be in the spirit and life of a true bride, without having this feeling ever living in her soul, and permeating her whole being. Destined for Christ, and having her chief joy and salvation in him, and what he has ordained to accomplish for his people, she cannot but go out with all zeal and fervency for his revelation [manifestation], or she ceases in soul from her character as his Bride” (Joseph Seiss).

The words, “Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book,” also come from the Divine Master himself. We are reminded by these words of the seven-times repeated admonition uttered by him and recorded in chapters two and three, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.” The language teaches very clearly that the Master saw beforehand the neglect, the prejudice, and the ill treatment these prophetic visions of the Revelation would encounter at the hands of the Church — not only the nominal, but also at the hands of many of his true followers. How much these exhortations were needed, history now informs us in no uncertain tones. Only the few have given heed to these encouraging messages and salutary admonitions. Many leaders of the Lord’s people have by their example and teaching discouraged, instead of encouraged, the reading or hearing of this book read. Others have ridiculed those who have sought to heed these exhortations of their Divine Lord. It is said that James Robinson, who wrote on the Revelation in 1730, gave expression to the words: “Some are not ashamed directly to flout at, and spit contempt upon those that meddle with the exposition of this prophecy; which is an indirect battering of a great part of God’s Word. Thus Dr. South, in one of his sermons, affirms that none but a madman will meddle with the Revelation; or, if he has wits at the beginning, before he has done, they will be cracked. And Davies, a Welsh bombastic barrister, has the impudence to insult a learned and reverend prelate, yet alive, because he consumed two full years and more on this prophecy.” But as another has said, “We can afford to let men sneer when we have the sure benediction of God”: “Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy.”

To keep the words of the prophecy of this book would necessitate at least a partial understanding of the prophetic utterances contained in the book. Those who have in the past heeded the Master’s exhortations and admonitions along these lines have been enabled to realize the importance of so doing by the assistance they have received in their service for the Master, and in keeping themselves free from the false systems referred to in the visions of the book. As history has gradually unveiled the meaning of the symbolic visions, not a few of God’s people throughout the age now closing have been encouraged, cheered, and comforted in their hours of isolation and their days of trial, misrepresentation, and persecution, by understanding its visions, and thus being built up in the most holy faith. If this has been true in the past, how much more is it true today, when nearly all of the visions have met their fulfillment. By understanding these, such are enabled to forecast with measurable correctness the fulfillment of the few that yet remain, and thus come to a knowledge of the nearness of the Kingdom — the realization of the Church’s hope, Israel’s restoration to favor, and the divinely predicted restitution of all things. The time is now come for the Lord’s people to understand all these wonderful visions and this is one of the many evidences that we are living in the days of the Second Presence of the Son of Man.

St. John Worships the Revealing Angel

St. John next informs us that when he had heard and seen these things, he was so overcome, so overawed, that he fell prostrate before the angel who had revealed them to him. The emotions of St. John at this moment are variously interpreted by expositors. One has thus expressed himself concerning this:

“So wonderful were the revelations, and so wonderful was the knowledge and understanding of the angel which communicated these things, that St. John was filled with the profoundest adoration. Twice he fell down before the feet of the angel to worship him. He meant no idolatry; but so wonderful in wisdom and intelligence was his heavenly guide, and so transcendent were the things shown, that he could not but think that it was God Himself. The presentations all along were such as to make it hard to distinguish whether it was God Himself speaking, or whether it was through a created messenger that He spoke. And in this instance particularly, it certainly was the Lord Jesus whom he heard say, ‘Behold I come quickly’; and not distinguishing between him who spoke and the messenger through whom he spoke, John ‘fell down before the feet of the angel.’ This clearly shows that the holy Apostles held Christ to be a worshipful being. … The only mistake was that he did not at the moment perceive that it was a created angel speaking for Christ, and not Christ himself in the form of an angel. Even the best and holiest of men may make mistakes from their human impulses, as Moses when he broke the tables of the Law, and Peter when he avoided the Gentile Christians at Antioch. But innocent mistakes, and those which result from the truest and devoutest intentions, may be very injurious and need to be promptly corrected. There was danger here of a double sin, one on the part of John in giving worship to the angel instead of Christ, and one on the part of the angel in accepting worship which belongs only to Deity. But John was in doubt, which the angel was not, and therefore it belonged to the angel, in truth and fidelity to John, as well as to God Himself, to correct John’s mistake on the spot. The Devil solicits adoration, but holy angels repel it as a detraction from Jehovah. Hence, when John fell down to worship before this holy angel’s feet, promptly came the word, ‘Take heed, no; I am a fellowservant of thee and of thy brethren the Prophets, and of those who keep the words of this Book. Worship God.’

“The incident shows that no saint or angel worship can have the approval of heaven. If it was wrong to worship this glorious heavenly messenger in and through whom came forth the very voice of Jesus, how can it be right to worship and pray to the Virgin Mary, to whom is assigned no dignity or office? The impulse and intention may be devout and good; but it is a great mistake, and we take the side of heaven and holy angels when we say to those who do it: ‘See, no, no; you do greatly err; you are taking Christ’s honor from him, and bestowing it upon his human mother or friends; worship God, for it is written, Him only shalt thou serve [worship].’”

Mr. Lord has similarly interpreted this action of St. John and the admonitory words of the angel. His thought was that the homage which the Apostle was about to pay to the angel was probably not of adoration, but of gratitude merely, for his condescension and benignity in showing him the visions, especially those that related to the reign of Christ and his glorified saints. This writer’s comment on the admonition of the angel to St. John has always been timely; particularly is it so at the present time. The lesson he draws is that the angel exhibits in his reply the spirit of the true worshipers in contrast with the usurpers of the rights of God and their idolatrous followers. It was God who appointed him to that work, and in fulfilling his appointed work he was acting toward Him in the same capacity of a servant as was St. John himself in receiving it and giving it to the Church. And all who keep the words of the book are simply fulfilling their offices as witnesses for Christ.

Mr. Barnes’ thought concerning this matter is that St. John probably entertained a suspicion that it was Christ himself who had manifested himself to him in this remarkable manner; and that the angel’s words were simply designed to correct this misapprehension and to make known to him that he was like St. John and the other divinely chosen Prophets, and as they were not entitled to worship, no more was he. This interpretation appears to be most reasonable, for angels have nothing of their own to deliver but are simply messengers, “doing His commandments and hearkening unto the voice of His words,” and so the utterances of all inspired men of old are His, and we simply hear His voice through them. Looking at the matter from this standpoint it rather speaks of the faithfulness of St. John to the Word of God; and it also brings forth the faithfulness of the angel, who at once announces himself as simply and only a fellowservant of St. John, and of his brethren the Prophets.

There is, however, a significant lesson taught in this incident. St. John here represented those favored members of the Church who live in this present time, and to whom are granted the privilege of understanding more and more of this wonderful revelation. The understanding of these things, which for some years past have been unfolded by different messengers represented by the one angel, might result in some imbibing the spirit or disposition to give too much honor to those used of God in interpreting and applying these visions. Thus said Mr. Russell:

“The proprieties of the case are set forth to us in the conduct of the symbolical angel who talked to John and who represented some in the end of this age commissioned to present God’s Truth to His people. He said, ‘See thou do it not’ — do not worship me, for I am not the author of this Plan. I am thy fellowservant, a brother to all the Prophets and all those who keep the message of this revelation. God alone should be worshipped: He is the Author of the great Plan and will be the finisher of it. It is brought to our attention now by Him because it is now ‘due time’ for His people to come to an appreciation of His Plans.”

Seal Not the Words of This Prophecy

The revealing angel’s next words were, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand” (verse 10).

St. John was not to seal them up, that is, not to conceal them, but to record them, to make them known, to publish them to the Churches. Not from any self-will or choice on his part, therefore, were these Apocalyptic records put before the Lord’s people, but by direct command of our God and Savior. One has ably remarked: “And if he commanded the writing of them, I cannot see how men are to excuse themselves from the reading and studying of them, or put them from them as of no practical worth, and yet retain their holy faithfulness to the plain will and inculcations of our blessed Lord and Judge.”

In a lecture discoursing on the words under consideration, over fifty years ago, this same man of God thus entreats his hearers: “O, my friends, let us beware how we neglect or despise a book upon which God Almighty has laid so much stress, urgency and importance. If John had sealed it up, or failed to lay it before us as it is, he would have forfeited his place and standing as an Apostle of Christ; how, then, can we think our duty discharged, or the provisions of our highest blessedness duly accepted and used, if we pass it by as a dead letter, or make it to us as if it had never been?”

Mr. Barnes, although in his expositions inclined toward the Post-millennial theory, thus very truthfully and forcefully expressed himself in 1851: “Isaiah (8:16, 30:8) and Daniel (8:26, 12:4,9) were commanded to seal up their prophecies. Their prophecies related to far-distant times, and the idea in their being commanded to seal them was that they should make the record sure and unchangeable; that they should finish it and lay it up for future ages; so that in far-distant times, the events might be compared with the prophecy, and it might be seen that there was an exact correspondence between the prophecy and the fulfillment. Their prophecies would not be immediately demanded for the use of persecuted saints, but would pertain to future ages.

“On the other hand, the events which John had predicted, though in their ultimate development they were to extend to the end of the world, and even into eternity, were about to begin to be fulfilled, and were to be of immediate use in consoling a persecuted Church. John, therefore, was directed not to seal up his predictions; not to lay them away to be opened as it were in distant ages, but to leave them open so that a persecuted Church might have access to them, and might in times of persecution and trial have the assurance that the principles of their religion would finally triumph.”

The expression “For the time is at hand,” implies that they would soon commence, not that they would soon be completed. The thought evidently is that as the scenes of persecution had already commenced in St. John’s day, and would continue to increase in severity, it was very necessary that the saints should have these prophetic visions to comfort them, and as they looked forward to the final outcome, the triumph of the Church, they would be sustained and upheld in their trials.

“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11).

Whatever may be the correct interpretation of this language it would appear that the words must be understood as closely associated with and related to the preceding statement: “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.” Commentators in general have admitted that they have met with special difficulty in the exposition of the language of verse 11. Most expositors separate these words from their connection and apply them to a future time when the destinies of mankind will be forever settled. Those who do this as a rule believe in the eternal, conscious existence of the wicked in misery and torment. We believe, however, that the Scriptures when rightly understood do not teach anything of this kind, and we therefore look further for the correct and consistent interpretation.

Mr. Lord’s exposition of these words recognize their close connection with the angel’s statement preceding, and in substance his explanation is that the injunction contained in verses 10 and 11 is addressed to St. John, doubtless as the representative of the witnesses of God, the followers of Christ throughout the Gospel Age, and its meaning is he says: “Thou must not withhold from the Church, nor misrepresent the revelation of this book, but proclaim it in its truth, representing those as unjust whom the prophecy exhibits as unjust, and those as defiled whom the prophecy represents as defiled, and those as righteous and holy to whom it ascribes that character. The Redeemer enforces this injunction by the annunciation of his Deity and title to implicit obedience, and the assurance that he is to come quickly, to recompense to every one as his work shall be” (verses 12,13). His coming will usher in the thousand-year Judgment Day, when the unjust, the filthy, and the unrighteous will have their trial.

Mr. Russell’s explanation is much the same, and perfectly harmonious with the Divine Plan. He says that so far as these revelations are concerned they who are righteous may be righteous still, they who are filthy may be filthy still, they who are holy may be holy still — the unrighteous and the filthy simply ignore this message and are not moved specially by it. During the Millennium, however, we may expect that the vigorous processes of the Kingdom will correct many of these filthy and unrighteous, and ultimately develop many of them into lovers of the Light, the Truth, and the Way, bringing many of them into full fellowship with the Lord, which will secure to them everlasting life. Thus we may properly gather the thought that as marvelous and meaningful as are the visions that St. John beheld they were not intended to especially affect degenerate humanity. The visions would have little or no effect upon the world in all its sin and depravity. Neither were the visions intended to change the true Church in the sense of adding to her numbers, for it would appear that when the time would come that the visions would be generally understood (as is the fact today), the Church would be about complete, and the visions of Revelation would not be intended to cause any additions to the Church — the holy would be “holy still” and the righteous, “righteous still.”

Again the Savior announces, “Behold, I come quickly,” as if to doubly impress upon the believing hearer the solemn importance of that event, and its close connection with the fulfillment of much that St. John had just seen and heard. “And my reward is with me, to give to each one as his work is,” evidently applies to the great Judgment Day, at the beginning of which the Church will be rewarded and during which the world will have their trial, retribution and reward. For an explanation of verse 13 we refer the reader to page 38.

The correct reading of verse 14 is not “Blessed are they who do His commandments,” etc., as rendered in the Common Version, but rather, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that their right may be to the wood [grove] of the life, and they may enter by the gates into the City.” It is evident that the words apply to the inhabitants of the earth during the Millennial Kingdom. This benediction, writes Mr. Lord, is a benediction upon those who are to live under the Lord’s reign, after the establishment of the Kingdom of the glorified saints over the earth. This is manifest from the representation that they are to acquire by their obedience a title to the tree of life and an entrance through the gates into the City. They are to follow the descent of that City, therefore, not to precede it, and to be of those who enter and dwell within it (under its sway) not of those who constitute the City itself. They are to include the whole race, inasmuch as all others, the dogs, the sorcerers, the fornicators, the murderers, the idolaters, and whoever loves and practices falsehood (verse 15) are to be excluded, and (as the City is to open its gates to all nations) to be banished from the earth — destroyed.

That this is the correct interpretation is very evident. The question may arise, however, How shall we explain this in harmony with what is quite generally acknowledged to be the correct translation? How can it be applied to the world during the Millennium? What would the washing of their robes mean? This expression in its application to the world during the Millennium can hardly mean the same as applied to the Church during this Gospel Age. The members of the Church, Christ’s Body, are now reckoned, counted, by the Heavenly Father as perfect, because of their having Christ’s righteousness imputed to them. This is called their robe of righteousness. This imputation, this being counted perfect as human beings, is to the end that they may consecrate themselves, their reckoned perfect humanity to death, as our Lord consecrated himself, his perfect humanity, to death — thus following in his footsteps. The fulfillment of this vow of consecration secures to these the privilege of being of this Holy City, the Heavenly Kingdom, the Divine Government.

The application of the words, “wash their robes,” to the world during the Millennium would mean to them their making use of the cleansing process of the Millennial River, the Word of God, then provided; thus being brought up gradually to human perfection — restitution. On account of the Redeemer’s sacrifice applied by the Divine Christ to justice in behalf of all humanity, the world will be no longer considered as condemned in Adam — no longer treated as strangers and aliens from God and His promises and blessings, as it now is, but rather it will be treated as His people, because purchased by the sacrifice of His Son.

“The Root and Offspring of David”

The further expression: “I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning Star,” are significant titles, pointing to certain characteristics of the nature and glory of Christ. Mr. Seiss, who was a believer in the dual nature of Christ, and also in what is termed the orthodox Trinitarian doctrine, uses this text to support these teachings. He says, “The duality of his nature as at once God and man, is here affirmed. As God, He is the root or origination of David — He who gave David being and place, and out of whom David was raised up, even David’s Lord; and as a man, he is the offspring of David, David’s son, one born of the house and lineage of David.” He, like many others, failed to see that Christ was made “a little lower than angels,” a man, for the suffering of death — that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man; in other words, that he gave himself, his humanity, for the life of the world. Like many others who sincerely believed that the death of Christ was for the salvation of the world, he failed to discern that if Christ in any sense or degree is now human, it could be only by his taking back the price of human salvation.

The fact of the matter is that while it is true that the Logos, the Only Begotten Son, was the Heavenly Father’s agent used in the creation of all others, it should be kept in mind that all God’s creations through the Son were perfect. In the strict sense of the word “create,” Adam was the only human being created. David, as all others of humanity, sprang from Adam after he had fallen, and in this sense, David was not “created” or even given life by God, or the Logos of God. We will, therefore, have to reject the interpretation of this writer.

Mr. Barnes also dissents from Mr. Seiss’ interpretation of the expression, “the root of David,” and to our mind grasped more nearly, although not wholly, its true significance. His interpretation is that Christ was “not the root in the sense that David sprang from him, as a tree does from a root, but in the sense that he was the ‘root-shoot’ of David, or that he himself sprang from him [David], as a sprout starts up from a decayed and fallen tree — as of the oak, the willow, the chestnut,” etc. The meaning then is not that he was the ancestor of David, or that David sprang from him, but that he was the offspring of David, according to the promise in the Scriptures that the Messiah should be descended from him. “No argument,” he says, “then, can be derived from this passage in proof of the preexistence or the divinity of Christ,” although Mr. Barnes was a firm believer in his prehuman existence.

It will be noted that Mr. Barnes makes no distinction between the two expressions, “root” and “offspring.” We believe that his interpretation of the word “offspring” is the correct one, and is embodied in the statement of St. Paul: “He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3); but what is meant by the expression, “root of David”? Our reply is that it unquestionably applies to him after his glorification to the Divine nature. In other words, it applies to him as the Life-giver, the one who is to give eternal life, not only to David, but to all who will receive it under the conditions of the New Covenant, which will be inaugurated during the Millennial times of restitution. We now quote one whose interpretation harmonizes with all the Scriptures:

“We have seen how our Lord is the branch, or offspring, or son of David, and the line through which his genealogy is properly to be traced. According to the flesh, our Lord Jesus was, through his mother, the son, the branch, the offshoot, or offspring of David. It was by virtue of his sacrifice of his undefiled life that he became the ‘root’ of David as well as his Lord: for the thought suggested by the word ‘root’ differs somewhat from that furnished in the word ‘Lord.’ The ‘root’ of David signifies the origin, source of life, and development of David.

“The Scriptures declare that David was ‘a stem out of Jesse’: his [David’s] father therefore was his root, according to natural generation. When and how did Christ become David’s root or father? We answer, Not before he ‘was made flesh’ — it was when made flesh that, as the man Jesus, he became related to Adam’s race through his mother (Hebrews 2:14–18). And in that relationship to the race and to David he was ‘branch,’ not ‘root.’ How and when did he become the ‘root’? We answer, By the same means and at the same time that he became David’s Lord: the means was his death, by which he purchased liferights of Adam and all his race, including David’s; the time was when he was raised from the dead, Adam’s Redeemer, the race’s Redeemer, and hence David’s Redeemer.”

Christ, also, in the same connection, speaks of himself as the “bright morning Star.” What is the significance of this name as applied to him? May it not be that he is referring to the prediction of the covetous prophet, Balaam, who, moved by the spirit contrary to his own wishes, gave utterance to the words: “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel. … Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion,” etc. (Numbers 24:17–19). That Star, now that the morning has come, is seen by the eye of faith ushering in the dawning of the bright Millennial Day.

One has truthfully said: “It is not uncommon to compare a prince, a leader, a true teacher, with that bright and beautiful star, which at some seasons of the year precedes the rising of the sun, and leads on the day. The reference here is to that star as the harbinger of day, and the meaning of the Savior is, that he sustains a relation to a dark world similar to this beautiful star. At one time he is indeed compared with the sun itself in giving light to the world. Here he is compared with that morning star, rather with reference to its beauty than its light. May it not also have been one object in this comparison to lead us when we look on that star, to think of the Savior? It is perhaps the most beautiful object in nature; it succeeds the darkness of the night; it brings on the day — and as it mingles with the first rays of the morning, it seems to be so joyous, cheerful, exulting, bright, that nothing can be better adapted to remind us of him who came to lead on eternal day.”

The next verse has already been considered as referring to the gracious invitation that will be extended to all mankind, both to those who will be living at the time of the inauguration of the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly government, and also to those who have died ignorant of the great salvation that is to be offered to all.

The Solemn Warning

We now come to the consideration of the words of warning and threatening addressed to every one who hears the words of this prophecy, that is, the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The words read:

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (verses 18,19).

The writer, St. John, does not say who is referred to by the pronoun “I.” Some think it refers to the Lord Jesus, others think that it refers to the writer, St. John himself. The meaning in any event is that the writer makes the solemn affirmation contained in the words as a conclusion. The object of these threatening words is doubtless to guard the book against being corrupted by any interpolations or changes. The threat would, of course, have regard more especially to the manuscript as originally given by St. John to the seven Churches to whom he was instructed to deliver them. In rewriting, interpolations doubtless have crept into the different copies of the original, and possibly there have been some omissions. The former has been proved by a comparison with the oldest manuscripts now in existence, which were not used in the making up of the Common Version, the King James translation. To guard against this danger the words were given. “If any man shall add to it,” would mean to add to it with a view to furnishing a more complete revelation than that given to St. John; or with a claim that new truth had been communicated by inspiration since St. John wrote it. The words of warning apply to the book of the Revelation only, although the same principle may properly apply to all the original Scriptures.

“If any one take away from the words of this prophecy,” would mean, if he shall reject it altogether, or in copying from the original he designedly leave out any part of it.

“It is conceivable that from the remarkable nature of the communications made in this book, and the fact that they seemed to be unintelligible, John supposed there might be those who would be inclined to omit some portions as improbable, or that he apprehended that when the portions which describe Antichrist were [being] fulfilled in distant ages, those to whom those portions applied would be disposed to strike them from the sacred volume, or to corrupt [or misapply] them. The whole book was to be received — with all its fearful truths — as a revelation from God, and however obscure it might seem, in due time, it would be made plain; however faithfully it might depict a fearful apostasy, it was important both to show the truth of Divine inspiration, and so save the Church, that these disclosures should be in their native purity in the possession of the people of God.

“‘God shall take away his part out of the book of life.’ Perhaps there is here an intimation that this would be most likely to be done by those who professed to be Christians, and who supposed that their names were in the book of life. In fact most of the corruptions of the sacred Scriptures have been attempted by those who have professed some form of Christianity. Infidels have but little interest in attempting such changes, and but little influence to make them received by the Church. It is most convenient for them, as it is most agreeable to their feelings, to reject the Bible altogether” (Albert Barnes).

Mr. Lord’s explanation, though brief, is a most reasonable interpretation of these words. He says: “The terrific threat to those who add to the prophecy, or take from it, indicates that men are to be under violent temptation to reject or misrepresent it in order to evade the application of its predictions to themselves. And how needful to presumption, to party zeal, and to ambition, is the restraint it is suited to impose! With what a perverse and daring spirit have not a few, especially of the friends of the nationalized hierarchies, set aside the obvious meaning of its symbols, and forced on them constructions the most unauthorized and unnatural, in order to escape the demonstration that the great apostate powers which it foreshadows are those to which they belong!”

In addition to the foregoing on the Divine warning: “If any man shall add to,” and “If any man shall take away from,” etc., we believe this thought is also evidently intended: If any man shall by a wresting or twisting of the Revelator’s statements add to their meaning some thought that is not there and was never intended, or if he shall by such unholy practice take away from, and thus pervert the force and significance of those messages. It is most evident that many so-called expositors have been guilty of such proceedings — of so misconstruing and misapplying the Apocalyptic messages as to vitiate to a considerable extent the beautiful truths therein set forth, and to draw inferences and conclusions altogether unwarranted.

The expression, “God will add unto him the plagues written in this book,” seems to give force to this interpretation. In so far as they have been fulfilled up to the present time, the “seven last plagues” have fallen upon the systems that have corrupted, neglected, or misapplied these prophecies; and the last plague of all, the great winepress feature of the time of trouble, as we have seen, will destroy them from the earth. The individuals who have been responsible for these neglects and misapplications, and for the persecutions of God’s true saints, will meet their punishment, retribution, in the great individual Judgment Day, which will follow.

We have now come to the last, the concluding words of the book. The words are those of the Lord Jesus Himself, and read: “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.” Twice does the Savior utter these words, apparently, as already suggested, to give emphasis to the paramount importance of the Second Advent, toward which all the visions point, and into which they all finally merge. Next comes the response of St. John, as representing the true spirit and longing desire of the true Church: “Amen! Come! Lord Jesus.” On this, the concluding statement of the Revelator, we cannot but submit the beautiful and forceful illustration which another has given:

“Fiction has painted the picture of a maiden whose lover left her for a voyage to the Holy Land, promising on his return to make her his beloved bride. Many told her that she would never see him again. But she believed his word, and evening by evening she went down to the lonely shore and kindled there a beacon-light in sight of the roaring waves, to hail and welcome the returning ship which was to bring again her betrothed. And by that watchfire she took her stand each night, praying to the winds to hasten on the sluggish sails, that he who was everything to her might come. Even so that blessed Lord, who has loved us unto death, has gone away to the mysterious Holy Land of Heaven, promising on his return to make us his happy and eternal Bride. Some say that he is gone forever, and that here we shall never see him more. But his last word was, ‘Yea, I come quickly.’ And on the dark and misty beach, sloping out into the eternal sea, each true believer stands by the love-lit fire, looking, and waiting, and praying, and hoping for the fulfillment of his word, in nothing gladder than in his pledge and promise, and calling even from the soul of sacred love, ‘Amen! Come! Lord Jesus.’”

“Even So Come Lord Jesus.”

We would call attention to the sequel to which this beautiful picture points: The long predicted, dark, stormy morning, that was to witness the return of him who gave the promise, is at last dawning; but before the blessed sunshine of his revealing, before the full dawn of the light, comes the darkest of the night. While a stricken world has been reeling to and fro with the shocks of war, revolution, and strife; and while the sea and waves of anarchy have been roaring and lashing the doomed ship of state of present institutions, and the pilots have been endeavoring vainly to weather the terrible storm; some of the Lord’s saints who have preserved the true spirit of betrothal (“Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly”) and have been watching and longing for the glorious Apocalypse of the Divine one, who said that his coming would be like a thief, have by the eye of faith through the sure word of prophecy, seen a form rising up through the stormy mists, growing more and more distinct, as once it was seen from Galilee’s shore, and have recognized it to be the one for whom they have been longing.

Though these still find themselves in the midst of life’s tempestuous sea, they have the assurance that soon they will once more hear their Divine Lord command the sea and the waves, saying, “Peace, be still!” In obedience to that voice, the storms and tempests of earth will cease and again there will be a great calm. Yea, verily, his presence will yet, soon we trust, bring in the Day long promised when all the mists, shadows and darkness of the night time will pass away and give place to the morning of light — the morning of the resurrection; the day of the prisoner’s release; the day for which the whole creation for six thousand years has waited and travailed in pain; indeed, the day of the great consummation, the day that shouts the Harvest Home — the day that never dies!

St. John had heard the voice from Heaven saying, “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4). The Prophet, too, declared this same day, saying, “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10).

Who indeed that has this vision of the Divine Program; this vision of the great Prince of Peace and of his victorious reign; this vision of him who will usher mankind into one grand eternal day of unbroken fellowship and of unspeakable joy — who indeed with such a vision would not from the depth of his soul cry out with the beloved John — “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” Ah, yes, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”