the dead, insomuch that the figures of the four beasts which John saw in vision round about the throne, which represent the saints in the resurrection who are called the armies of heaven (Rev. 19: 14),— the figures of these four beasts and four and twenty elders are drawn from the encampments of the children of Israel as they pitched around the Tabernacle of Witness in the wilderness. Each of the four grand divisions of Israel's encampments had a standard to pitch by and to carry with them when they marched, four different standards, one for each division. These were the figures of a man, a lion, an ox, and flying eagle, and all of these figures have their own particular signification. Now the four beasts that John saw, and the four living creatures which Ezekiel saw, which represent the same things, are drawn from the four divisions of Israel's armies as they were encamped in the wilderness, consisting of the twelve tribes. And as the tribe of Levi was no part of the twelve tribes but separate from them, therefore if there were no other figures than the four beasts drawn from the four encampments of the twelve tribes of Israel in the wilderness, to represent the saints in the resurrection, then the tribe of Levi would be without representation there. But as God's works are perfect, this is provided for by other figures than the four beasts, as follows.

When the time came to build a Temple to succeed the Tabernacle of Witness, and when the ark of the covenant should no longer remain under curtains but be placed in a building exceeding magnifical, as David speaks of it, which, when completed, was indeed the admiration of all countries and a house of prayer for all nations, in those days David by divine direction divided the Levitical priesthood into twenty-four courses (I Chron. 24: 3-18) that they might wait upon the splendid Temple service in order, according to their courses; and from these twenty-four courses of the priestly tribe comes the figure of the four and twenty elders which John saw sitting round about the throne clothed in white raiment, with crowns of gold upon their heads, purporting that they sit on thrones as kings among the immortal to reign on the earth during the ages and generations that come after the judgment. And as the priestly tribe were teachers, even so we may anticipate that the twentyfour elders represent in the resurrection those who, in the days of their flesh, have been teachers likewise, such as apostles, and prophets, and wise men who have been faithful and turned many from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, and who have made their light to shine, and have maintained the truth of God in the earth, many of them at the peril and loss of their own lives for the truth's sake. These we are assured shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

FOURTH. THE SEVEN LAMPS OF FIRE (REV. 4:5)

"And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God." We have already spoken somewhat of these seven lamps of fire, called the seven spirits of God, showing that they represent the saints in the resurrection and that their employment is indicated by the fact that they are also presented as the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb, as it is said (Rev. 5:6), “I beheld and lo, in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the four beasts and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb

as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." This last passage identifies the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb as being the same thing as the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God.

These seven spirits of God, or seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb are sent forth into all the earth (that is, they are sent forth through all of Israel's earth, for it is of Israel that these things are spoken). Now we might inquire, For what purpose are the people who are symbolized by the seven lamps of fire, and the seven horns and the seven eyes of the Lamb, sent forth into all the earth? What are they sent to do, and what is the work in which they are to be engaged? We may say that in the visions of Zechariah the prophet we find some valuable information on this subject, for the manner of the Scriptures is, "Here a little, and there a little," and we must put these littles together to make a whole.

ZECHARIAH'S VISION OF THE FOUR CHARIOTS

Zechariah the prophet saw visions of the same things that were shown to John, but in a somewhat different form. In chapter 6 of his book he says, And I turned and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains of brass." It may be well first to inquire concerning these mountains, as to what they are, and what people they represent. These mountains represent kingdoms into which the kingdom of Israel is divided in the latter days when the brotherhood is broken between Israel and Judah, as this same prophet testifies (11:14) as we have shown elsewhere. They are mountains of brass, and they will be such when the Lord comes to judge his people. Therefore when Ezekiel saw in vision the throne of judgment, and one sitting thereon, and the cherubims of glory, and the wheels, he saw also contemporary therewith the rebellious house practicing all their abominations and saying, "The Lord hath forsaken the earth." It is at this point of time, when the prophet saw visions of the glory of God, that he fell upon his face and heard a voice of one that spake; and he said to the prophet, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this day, for they are impudent children and stiff-hearted."

The Lord spake of them also by Jeremiah and hardened his face against their brazen faces and said to him (Jer. 1: 17-18), "Thou therefore gird up thy loins and arise and speak unto them all that I command thee; be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them, for behold I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls. against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land." The Lord says again to them by this same prophet (3:3), "Thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed." Again the Lord speaks to them by the hand of Isaiah, saying, "I have declared the former things from the beginning, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them, I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I know that thou art obstinate. and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass. I have even from the

beginning declared it to thee before it came to pass. I showed it thee, lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them" (Isa. 48:3-5).

These testimonies show plainly that the two mountains of brass need not be sought for outside of the people of Israel. From between these two mountains of brass, in the day of the Lord, the prophet saw issuing forth four chariots saying, "In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth." Therefore we conclude that these four spirits of the heavens are the same as the seven spirits of the Revelation, although the numbers are different, though that matters not, as the perfect symbolical Scripture numbers, four, seven, twelve, twenty-four, and an hundred forty and four, and an hundred forty and four thousand are comprehensive of all the people to whom they refer; although some of them may comprehend millions, yet they are spoken of under these symbolical numbers. The seven spirits of the Revelation from standing before him who sits upon the throne, are said to be sent forth into all the earth, and the four spirits of the heavens which Zechariah saw in vision are also said to go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. Therefore the four spirits and the seven spirits refer to one and the same thing, that is, to the saints who are sent forth into all Israel's earth to execute the judgments written in the day of the Lord.

But the angel continues to Zechariah, saying, "The black horses which are therein, go forth into the north country, and the white go forth after them, and the grisled go forth unto the south country, and the bay went forth and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth, and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth, so they walked to and fro through the earth." We may now inquire what countries are referred to by the angel in this prophecy, through which the four spirits walk to and fro. We reply again, The north country is the land of Ephraim, the land of the ten tribes of Israel, the land which lay north from Jerusalem, the place where the Lord recorded his name. And the south is the land of Judah, which land lay south of Jerusalem and is spoken of as "the land of the south, and the plain" (Zech. 7:7). Concerning these lands and the cities of the south and the cities of the north, and the people who dwell therein in a day of prosperity in the latter days, the Lord speaks by the hand of the Prophet Ezekiel, saying, "Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field, and say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree, and every dry tree; the flaming fire shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned thereon, and all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched'" (Ezek. 20: 45-48). Again the prophet says, And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the

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holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, and say unto the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, Behold I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh, from the south to the north, that all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath, it shall not return any more (Ezek. 21: 3-5).

These references show conclusively where the north country and the south country are to be found, the countries through which the four spirits, or the seven spirits that stand before God in the judgment, are sent forth to walk to and fro, even as the angel said to them. "Get you hence; walk to and fro through the earth." So they walked to and fro through the earth.

But we may inquire, What do the four spirits of the heavens do, and what do they accomplish by walking to and fro through the earth? This is stated by the angel to Zechariah, as it is said in verse 8, "Then cried he unto me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country" (that is, in the land of Ephraim among the ten tribes). If these that go toward the north country have quieted the Lord's spirit there, then those that go toward the south country must have quieted his spirit there also. This expression "have quieted my spirit" requires special notice to be rightly understood. The Lord speaks thus by the hand of Ezekiel (5:11-13) saying, "Wherefore as I live, saith the Lord God, Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee, neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee, and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee, and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted."

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This is the manner, and this is the way that the four spirits of the heavens quiet the Lord's spirit in the north and south countries of the rebellious and stiff-hearted house of Israel, that is, by executing upon them these plagues and these judgments until this ungodly nation is destroyed (except the few that are spared). And the Lord says, " And they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them." And to emphasise these terrible judgments more fully, the Lord continues by the hand of this prophet, saying, Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by" (that is, such as Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, and others who will be horns upon the head of the beast in the hour of judgment). "So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger, and in fury, and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it, when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I shall send to destroy you, and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread. So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee, and

pestilence and blood shall pass through thee, and I will bring the sword upon thee; I the Lord have spoken it."

Again, the means by which the four spirits of the heavens will quiet the Lord's Spirit in these rebellious countries is shown in the sixteenth chapter of Ezekiel's book, where it is written, "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations." Then follows a description of her early history and the Lord's kindness to her, and her departure from him, until her work is branded the work of an imperious whorish woman. He then describes her wickedness and her punishment at the hands of her lovers, the ten horns, whom the four spirits of the heavens will bring against her on every side in the day of her calamity, saying (verses 38-42), "And I will judge thee as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy, and I will give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down. thine eminent place and shall throw down thy high places; they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords, and they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women (the nations); and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more." To these terrible judgments the Lord adds, saying, "So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry."

We will point out one more instance to show how the four spirits of the heavens (the saints), by the execution of the judgments, quiet the Lord's spirit in the north countries of the rebellious house of Israel. In the fifteenth chapter of the prophecy of Christ, the Book of the Revelation, it is written, "And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, Seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God." Therefore when these last plagues are poured out upon the idolaters of the north and south countries of the rebellious house, by the seven angels which are members of the body of Christ in the resurrection, then God's anger will be satisfied, and he will be no more angry, thus proving conclusively that the plagues set forth in the Book of the Revelation are the same as are spoken of in the Book of Ezekiel, although in the Revelation they are couched in mystical language, which by comparison becomes plain to him that understandeth and right to them that find knowledge.

FIFTH. THE SEA OF GLASS (REV. 4:6)

The sea of glass which is spread out before the throne is unoccupied at first when the judgment sits, because the people who will stand upon it are not yet manifested, but they will be developed from among the twelve tribes of Israel as the work of judgment progresses, as it is written by the Prophet Isaiah (26:9) saying, "When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness," that is, the remnant of Israel will, who are to be spared, as it is said (65: 8-9), "Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so will I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy