VI. The Seven Dooms

Introduction

BABYLON AND THE BEAST. Chapter. 17:1-18.

1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. 8 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, 5 and upon her forehead a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come. 9 Here is the I mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth:10 and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast. 14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall over come that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire. 17 For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished. 18 And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

“Babylon” and “as fallen” was first mentioned and without explanation in an earlier vision. 14:1-20. In this present vision one of the Vial angels describes her character, deeds and career in connection with the world power.

As introductory to the study of this great subject, attention is called to certain facts concerning the time of her existence. If the Beast which destroys her belongs to a future day, she does also. It is also revealed that she existed before his day and that of the “ten kings” allied with him.

Turning to the interpretation of the “Mystery of the Woman” she is first shown in consummate form “sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast.” Then another “and I saw,” with significant brevity to indicate a dreadful charge of blood guiltiness that must be pondered by it self, leads to the explanation given by the angel: she is seen “drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” 17:6.

This charge is again made in the conclusion of the ac count of her fall: “And in her was found the blood of prophets and' of saints and of all that have been slain upon the earth.” 18:24.

In her is found the martyr blood of a historic past, pagan and papal, present and future. She fills up the cup of iniquity of all past years since Jerusalem’s day when the latter had attained the same unholy pre eminence. Matt. 23:34-36; Rev. 18:24.

It is the picture of a corrupt religious system gradually filled with a spirit of luke-warmness and indifference and a false charity covering a multitude of errors, she has become apostate and anti-christian, her corporate testimony lost, and a demoniac hatred of the truth urging her on to a persecution of the saints and faithful of God. For all this and her love of the world, using its power arrayed in its glory, she is delivered to the Beast and his Kings for utter destruction.

A distinction must be made between “Babylon” as a system and as a city of the world. It is only to a system the words can apply, “Come out of her, my people,” when the “Beast” and his ten Kings are about to destroy her. This destruction takes place before the literal city is destroyed by the wrath of God at the last Vial, after the close of the Week. This must be so, even though system and city in the prophetic vision are seen so intimately conjoined and their characters interchanged. As the people and institutions of any city are called by the same name as its buildings, streets and parks, so “Babylon the great” is the name of both the city and the apostate system.

And surely when the literal city falls under the final wrath, the Seventh Vial, there will be no people of God in her to come forth, nor merchants and mariners to bewail their loss, for then the end of Gentile civilization will have come.

In the explanation of the “Mystery” there is a retrospect over the entire past times of the great Empires of Gentile history which had to do with Israel, and later, with the Church.

The Woman is seen seated upon the Beast in its sum total of the imperial and kingly powers.

Seven are world empires; but between the sixth and the seventh come ten kingdoms, so forming, in all, eight world powers. Out of the “ten horns” arises an eleventh, who subduing three, secures the allegiance of all, and becomes the head of a final or seventh world empire; he is of the seven world emperors, but the eighth world power. Dan. 7:8, 20.

The explanation of the angel ends with “a definite statement” which apparently identifies the “Woman” with Rome: “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which holdeth sovereignty over the kings of the earth. 5 17:18.

But in the light of the history of Christendom and the perspective of prophecy, it is Rome neither pagan nor papal, but Babylonian. Pagan Rome was never a false woman towards God or Christ, papal Rome has been so in her partial sovereignty over the European world powers, but “Babylon” includes more in her power and extent; she is the “Mother of the harlots” of all Christendom; and true to the historic instinct, she may seek to be rooted in the marvelous past of a great imperial city and thus secure the prestige of its history.

But she is Babylonian; the Rome of the Caesars be comes the locale and heir of the idolatry and worldliness and persecuting spirit of the Babylon on the Euphrates. She would fain reproduce, as a religious system, ancient Babylonian rite and ceremony and doctrine, and thus become a Jerusalem also to the religious world, merging a Rome and a Babylon and a Jerusalem into one.

The Beast, on the other hand, though at first supporting the Woman in her city, would strike the roots of his power and authority into a religious past more potent and universal than that of Rome and would make the Jerusalem of the Holy Land the place of worship, the joy of the whole earth, the religious metropolis of the world. There in its temple he seats himself as God, and there in the Holy Land he comes to his end as the greatest enemy of God the centuries have produced. Whatever other world-city or seat of secular imperial authority he may make his own, the religious capital will he the preeminent one.

Progression

THE DOOM OP BABYLON. Chapter. 18:1-24.

1 After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every Unclean and hateful bird. 3 For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness. 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: 5 for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6 Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double. 7 How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning. 8 Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her. 9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, 10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no, man buyeth their merchandise any more; 12 merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and i cattle, and sheep; and merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men. 14 And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and men shall find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning; 16 saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl! 17 for in one hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any whither, and mariners, and I as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off, 18 and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city? 19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made I rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. 20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgments on her. 21 And a, strong angel took up a stone as it were a great mill-stone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all. 22 And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and train peters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no; craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23 and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice j of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were the j princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.

In this Vision of Babylon’s fall a mighty angel announces and a voice from heaven summons the people of God to come out of her lest they receive of hip plagues. Her judgment is then described and the great lamentation over her of kings and merchants and all traffickers by land and sea. To this wail of worldings on earth is heard the response of a great multitude in heaven in Hallelujahs over her judgment. 18:1-19:3.

She was a persecuting power before the Beast became one. The martyrs who suffer under him are those of the great Tribulation; her martyrs are those of the Fifth Seal and who are told to wait for their complement of that Tribulation.

It is a popular belief and too sadly justified by her past history that to the Roman Catholic Church should be given the name “Babylon,” but the description of the false “Woman” of the Revelation demands a larger fulfilment than “Rome” has furnished. “Babylon” unites all religious systems which are seen as false to God near the close of this “present evil age.” The commercialism of “Babylon” does not indicate her city to be a mart of exchange of all manner of goods, but rather an emporium of supply receiving the products of all peoples and lands to meet the demand of her wanton luxuriousness.

On her destruction as a system, there is need of a reconstruction, both of the political and commercial relations of the kingdoms. The kings and merchants deplore her fall, even though they suffered through her arrogance and imperiousness. The wars (14:8) she instigated and finally her own destruction led to a disorder and anarchy which the strong hand of the Beast alone could suppress. The nations “were made to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” But all the Beast does is to 'aggrandise himself as the sole political, commercial and religious head of the race. Not only “Babylon” the “Woman” does lie destroy, but later when baffled in Jerusalem, he endeavours to destroy all that still represents the divine and supernatural on the earth, both Judaism and Christianity, all that once expressed the religious spirit of man in forms of the revealed will of God.

This is the great word concerning him, “There was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And all that dwelt on the earth shall worship him; every one whose name has not been writ ten in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation of the world.” And also, it is writ ten, “that no man should be able to buy or to sell save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.” 13:14.

In brief, the name “Babylon the Great” is to be interpreted in the light of the religious and imperial history of a far off past.

There are two and separable elements in the idea “Babylon”; first, a religious system or cult, and second, a culmination and embodiment at last of the religious spirit in a visible Head and his worship.

So in its historic manifestation there have been two stages: the first from the primal Babylon of the one race, language and speech, and its tower and city, to the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, ruler over “all the peoples, nations and languages” of the earth, and his city; and ’ the other from Nebuchadnezzar and his city to the close of “the times of the Gentiles” and their city. Gen. 11:1-9; Dan. 4:28-33.

At first appeared Babylon as a system, its organizing principle the unification of the race, its central idea the glory of humanity instead of the glory of God, and its rallying cry, “Let us build”; and then at last appears the self-deified man, the professed embodiment of the idea of humanity in its supreme greatness and glory; his representative city the symbol of the man-centered religious system whose head and god he has become; and like the first great imperial head of the “times of the Gentiles,” so he the last boasts “Is not this great Babylon that / have built?”

“Babylon” as a system corresponds to the first stage of the development of the Babel idea; to the second stage the Beast; the system gives way to an autocratic head. With his destruction, the times of Gentile sovereignty close and the new age of the Kingdom of the Messiah begins.

Episode

THE FOUR HALLELS. Ch. 19:1-10.

1 After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God:2 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. 8 And a second time they say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever. 4 And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. 5 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. 0 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 Al mighty, reigneth. 7 Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and Ms wife hath made herself ready. 8 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. 9 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 10 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: worshiping God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

As in the case of the other Episodes, this interlude is both retrospective and prospective. Two Halleluiahs look back over the judgment of the great Harlot? X other two point forward to the Throne and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb at the inauguration of the Kingdom. This worship of the great multitude and of the Elders and Living Beings is a scene of preparation for the great events to follow.

The sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty is fore announced; the Wife and Marriage of the Lamb are foreviewed as ready; once again, and for the last time m these Visions, the Kingdom is anticipated as twice before when the Seventh Trumpet sounded and when the Dragon was cast out.

It should be noted that the “wife of the Lamb” can be no other than “the Church,” though some would understand by the phrase, the new Israel of the Messianic age; but Israel from both a national and dispensational viewpoint, and by positive statements in the words of the prophets, is a wife set aside for a time, separated from Jehovah on account of her transgressions, and not a bride. The Church is a bride, who is to become a wife who is to make herself ready and for the marriage sup per, and who is collectively the saints arrayed in the fine linen of a spotless righteousness. Hosea 1-3- Is 54- 1-8 Rev. 19:7-9, 21:9.

Consummation

THE SIX FINAL DOOMS. Chapters. 19:11-20:15.

11 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. 12 And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon Ms head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. 13 And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with Blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. 15 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 winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. 10 And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. 17 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; 18 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. 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Mm that sat upon the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in Ms sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: 21 and the rest were killed with the sword of Mm that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and cast him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thou sand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for

1 the word of God, and such as worshipped not the; beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; over these the second death hath I no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there j was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. 15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

The picture of the fall of Babylon (Ch. 18 ) is followed by the description of the dooms of the Beast, the false prophet, the Kings, the Dragon, Gog and the Dead. The Vision is full of contrasts between the great Warrior and Judge who is seen coming out of the opened heaven and the unrighteous judges and kings of the earth who are embattled against him.

He is the Faithful and True One, the Word of God, the Maker of Peace, to whom belong all the diadems of earth, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The psalmist foresaw him as the Smiter of Nations, the coming Melchizedek priest-king of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth; and the prophet foretold him as the Mighty One who “glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength” would come and tread the peoples in the winepress of wrath in behalf of Israel and Jerusalem. The day of vengeance foretold from age to age has come, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion; the Glory of Jehovah has appeared and all nations learn that he alone is God. Ps. 2:1-12, 110; Is. 63:1-6, 34-35; 66:15-24.

The whole world, as implied in the standing of the angel in the sun, shall know of this conflict, all nations shall enter the peace to be made by this Prince of Peace, between nation and nation, between Israel and the nations, between heaven and earth, between God and man.

And when at last the gathering of the armies of heaven and earth is seen, the impotence of the warfare of kings and beasts against the Almighty who was and is and now has come, is intimated in the sublime, simple brevity of speech concerning the defeat and doom of the Beast and the false Prophet. 20:19-21.

After the Vision of the Investiture there were others anticipating the Coming of the King' in wrath to destroy the great usurper of his throne of the world; but now in a last Vision there is seen coming through the opened heaven the King of kings and Lord of lords on his way to tread the winepress of wrath on the armies of the nations. At the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet the resurrection and reward of the saints, the wrath on enemies and the establishment of the Kingdom are all proleptically ascribed with that coming; in the Vision of the Harvest he is seen on a white cloud directing the angel reapers; in the Vision of the overcomers standing triumphant by the glory-reddened, glassy sea, it is shown how they have been removed from earth before the judgments come and the vials of wrath are poured out upon the beast, and armies and cities of the world; but now in this latest Vision not only is the One faithful and true, the Word of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords seen coming out of heaven, but also the armies which were in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and pure are seen on white horses following him.

It is a symbolic picture of the event prophesied by Paul, “When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory”; “he shall come to be glorified in his saints... in that day.”

It is also written of them, “And they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful.” This is said of the saints in a previous Vision just before the Lamb makes war with the Beast and the kings of the earth, and overcomes them. Rev. 17:12-14.

In another Vision it is said, “The marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” 19:7, 8.

This is said just before the great Hallelujah is heard concerning the Kingdom of the Lord God Almighty, which follows the war with the Beasts and the kings.

The context of these two passages is thus the same. 19:5-6.

“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed' in fine linen bright and pure.”' 19:11-14.

These “armies” are not only angels but also the “saints” which, in the first quotation, are said to be “with him” and “are called and chosen and faithful.” And both the “wife” and the “armies” are “clothed in fine linen bright and pure.”

Also, in each instance, those “with him,” and the “wife” and the “armies” are brought to view just before the war begins with the "Beast” and his allied kings.

The inference is that the three are one and the same and accompany him that is called " The Lamb” in the first two passages and " The Word of God” in the third, and in the first and third, "King of kings and Lord of lords.” And that all three viewed as one are actual 1 participants in the war, is further shown by a more faithful rendering of the first text: "His Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.”

As to the passage in relation to the Thousand Years, "The Millennium” (Ch. 20:1-15), it may be noted, first of all, that the Beast and his false Prophet are cast alive into the " lake of fire”; that is, they enter at once into the final abode of the lost, into " the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” but into which Satan is not cast until the Thousand Years are finished. Meanwhile, he is bound and cast into a temporary compartment of the Abyss, the latter being another name for Hades. At last, these temporary abodes, Death and Hades, are themselves cast into the " lake of fire.” Matt. I 25:41; Lk. 8:31; 16:23; 23:43; Rom. 10:7; Rev. 20:1-14.

Secondly, the fulfilment of the Vision of the thrones and the judgment given comes before Harmagedon; the saints are raised before the Wrath Falls.

This is evident from the time assigned to the same judgment in the Vision of Daniel, and from the words heard in heaven at the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet. The first resurrection has taken place, but not martyrs only are on the thrones of judgment; those also who worshipped not the Beast are there, who alive with the risen dead together at the same time were translated into the presence of the Lord. Rev. 11:13-18.

The final deception of Satan, and revolt of the nations in the four comers of the earth, attest at least the in curable depravity of man as soon as divine influences are withdrawn and Satan is permitted again to deceive men. Rev. 20:7-10.

Thirdly, in a preceding passage it was said, “the rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished.” It is then the dead, the great and the small, who are seen standing before the great white Throne to be judged according to their works. It appears that the “first resurrection” has taken place a thousand years before, and consequently, also, the judgment of the saints, risen, living, rewarded, glorified, reigning.

[Note by Editor: It is evident that the author regarded the return of Christ as Premillennial. Yet it might be more accurate to say that he regarded it as preceding the Kingdom in which the Millennium was to issue. In his view the goal of all prophecy was not the Millennium, but the ultimate establishment upon earth of the perfected Kingdom of God. As to the Millennium, the “Notes” are seen to be very brief. His views differed from certain forms of popular premillennialism in that he did not see grounds for believing in an “any moment,” “secret rapture of the Church.” Rather, he saw this rapture to take place in a time of Tribulation but preceding the final judgments of God upon the “Beast,” the Man of Sin.

Nor did he agree with the view that this rapture is to be placed immediately after chapter three, and that from Chapter four to nineteen the visions relate only to the Jewish people. There were many references which he interpreted as belonging specifically to Israel, and to a body of converted Jews at the time of the Great Tribulation (a “remnant according to the election of grace”), but he held that John had in view also throughout the whole course of the Apocalypse the experiences of the Christian Church.

It is also true that he identified the events predicted by Daniel and by John, and that the “last half” of Daniel's “prophetic week” of years, was the period of time described in the Revelation as “a time times and half a time,” or as “forty and two months,” or “twelve hundred and sixty days.”

However, those who see no identity or analogy in the events predicted by Daniel and by John, will find in this Outline an analysis of the literary material and an indication of the dramatic movement which will be of service to the reader, no matter what particular theory of interpretation may be accepted.

As the author himself stated, his analysis was “an at tempt to group the contents of the Book according to what seem to be the lines of its structure.”]