and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry." Therefore it follows that when the Lord has gathered together against Jerusalem all these powerful nations, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and all those whom she has loved and all those whom she has hated, and when they by God's command execute judgment upon her to avenge the quarrel of his covenant, when they carry away one-third of her people into captivity and slay a third by the sword, and besiege the remaining third in their cities throughout their land wherein the Lord will send the famine and the pestilence until their high and fenced walls come down wherein they trusted, until their land is made desolate and empty of its inhabitants whereof it was full, then the Lord will be comforted and pacified toward them for all that they have done, as said also in verse 63. Then the seven last plagues will have been exhausted, wherein is filled up the wrath of God.

We have quoted some of these things as contained in the fifth and sixteenth chapters of Ezekiel's testimonies, to show their connection with the testimony of Jesus in the Revelation, and to show also that the seven last plagues comprehend and cover the destruction of Jerusalem and her people, that is, mystical Babylon and her people, as Jerusalem is called in the Revelation.

THE TEMPLE FILLED WITH SMOKE (REV. 15:8)

When the Tabernacle in the wilderness was set up and dedicated, it was filled with a cloud, and no man could enter the Tabernacle till the cloud of the glory of the Lord was removed; so also was it at the dedication of the Temple. This cloud also in the Revelation is called a smoke, when the things in the law symbolized by the cloud are manifest; for the Tabernacle and the Temple represent the true Temple which the Lord pitched, and not man, which is the body of Christ in the resurrection. Smoke is the symbol of God's wrath against the wicked, and it is this smoke that the Temple of God in heaven is filled with when the saints go forth to pour out the vials of God's wrath upon the rebellious house. And no man, it is said, was able to enter the Temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled; that is to say, while the saints are filled with the wrath of God and are engaged in executing judgment upon the wicked, no man will be made immortal and become a member of their body until after the work of judgment is finished. After that there will be a resurrection of those who have died in the time of trial by the hand of the enemy and the avenger, even as it is said (Rev. 20:4), “ And I saw thrones and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them, and I saw the souls (persons) of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." These enter the Temple after the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled and become a part thereof.

THE SEVEN ANGELS AND THE SEVEN VIALS (REV. 16)

"And I heard a great voice out of the Temple (out of the body of Christ) saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth."

THE FIRST ANGEL AND THE FIRST VIAL (REV. 16:1-2) "And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." The Lord threatened the children of Israel that if they would not fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God, he would make their plagues wonderful, among which is noted the botch of Egypt as Moses said (Deut. 28: 27), “The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed "; and again (verse 35), "The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thine head." These diseases will cleave to them till they die, and other great plagues of various kinds also will have to be endured, which come in rapid. succession till they are consumed and perish from off the earth, for in verse 60 it is added, "Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee."

One of the plagues of Egypt that the children of Israel were afraid of is thus spoken of (Exod. 9:8-11) saying, “And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven, in the sight of Pharaoh, and it shall become small dust, in all the land of Egypt." And Moses did as the Lord commanded, and the results followed, as was stated. Moreover it is said, " And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boil was upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians."

God is able to smite the wicked with mental and physical diseases, or he can heal them again. Jehoram king of Judah, who had Ahab's daughter to wife and walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, slew his brethren and was an idolater, and there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet recounting his wicked works and threatening him that among the many evils. which should overtake him for his wickedness, he should have great sickness by disease of his bowels, which should fall out by reason of his sickness day by day. This came to pass and did cleave to him till he died, and it was, written to his dishonor, saying, "And he departed without being desired" (II Chron. 21). And while the plagues under the seven vials are presented to view by much very figurative language, yet the punishments will be painfully real and literal.

THE SECOND ANGEL AND THE SECOND VIAL (REV. 16:3)

"And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea." The term sea is applied to the Gentile nations of the earth, especially when gathered together into great armies. It also applies in a similar manner to the armies of Israel which when gathered together are called a sea in figurative language; and the manner in which this sea becomes as the blood of a dead man is for the Lord to do with Israel's great army in that day as he did often in times past with the armies of the aliens when they came against the armies of Israel, that is, to smite them with blindness and madness, and turn every man's

sword against his brother. By such means a large portion of a numerous. and powerful army would rapidly melt away and disappear, and thus the sea become as the blood of a dead man. Therefore saith the prophet, "Through the wrath of the Lord is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire, no man shall spare his brother." And as it is also said in another place, "There shall be violence in the land, ruler against ruler, like as it was before the flood, when all flesh had corrupted the way of the Lord upon the earth, and the earth was filled with violence." The Lord hath well said, "The wicked are like the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt: there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”

Moses at the command of the Lord lifted up his rod and smote the waters in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood, and the fish that were in the river died. These fish that died in the river are a symbol of the souls that die in the sea under the second vial when the waters of the sea are turned to blood. In figurative language waters of rivers and seas represent people, and the fish in the seas, as well as fowls of the air, represent kings, judges of the earth, princes, priests, prophets, or in other words, "high ones on high," as they are sometimes called (Isa. 24:21). Now as we have seen already in the judgment, the Lord says he will deliver the people into the hand of their king, and also again he will deliver the rulers into the hand of an angry and infuriated people. Therefore saith the prophet of the people of Israel, "They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen" (Hos. 7:7). Hence the saying, "Every living soul died in the sea" when the angel poured out his vial upon its waters and they became blood. Again it is said of them, "Your own sword hath devoured your prophets like a destroying lion" (Jer. 2: 30).

THE THIRD ANGEL AND THE THIRD VIAL (Rev. 16:4-7)

"And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood, and I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments."

These are symbols by which the whole house of Israel is indicated. It is called "the fountain of Jacob" when spoken of as a whole, saying, "The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine," speaking of them in the day of their prosperity (Deut. 33:28). The house of Israel is composed of twelve tribes which proceeded from twelve patriarchs, each of which would constitute a fountain, and their posterity a river of water, making twelve rivers and fountains of waters; and as all the rivers run into the sea, so an army made up of soldiers drawn from the different tribes would form

the sea of Israel, and the tribes the rivers which constantly flow into the sea to replenish its waters. Therefore when the Lord for the wickedness of his people makes the sea of Israel as the blood of a dead man, it is done by turning every man's sword against his brother, and he turns the rivers of the house of Jacob into blood after the same manner, as it is written of them, saying, "No man shall spare his brother, . . . Manasseh against Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh, and they together shall be against Judah (Isa. 9:19-21). That would be the ten tribes against the two, as it was in the days of old when they met in deadly conflict and when they slew in one instance 500,000 mighty men in one day,- a battle which dwarfs all the great battles among the Gentile nations of the earth from ancient down to modern times. And what has been done in Israel in the past will be exceeded in the future in the judgment, for from a nation as numerous as the sand of the sea they will be reduced to a remnant, and the land and the cities of Israel will be left desolate and will be left empty of their inhabitants.

66 THE ANGEL OF THE WATERS "

The angel of the waters is that certain man that was clothed in linen, the voice of whose words was like the voice of a multitude because he is a representative of the glorified body of Christ in the resurrection. His being clothed in linen indicates that he is one of the sons of men who had been glorified before the days of the Prophet Daniel, for he appeared in glory to Daniel in one of the most overpowering visions recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures and revealed to Daniel what should befall his people in the latter days, as it is recorded in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth chapters of Daniel's book. Daniel speaks of him in this vision as "the man clothed in linen which was upon the waters of the river," but his name is secret. When the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters of the house of Jacob, when they became blood, then the angel of the waters justifies God, saying, "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shall be, because thou hast judged thus; for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy." Thus the testimony of the angel of the waters is a broad hint to the wise that these things relate not to what has transpired, or is to transpire in Gentile countries and cities, but instead refers to what is yet to be witnessed in Jerusalem and among the people of Israel, for it is upon Jerusalem that Jesus charges the shedding of the blood of the saints and the prophets, and it is upon Jerusalem and the people of Israel that the blood of saints and prophets will be avenged, and not on Rome, pagan or papal, for they who say such things are away from the truth, and far astray. Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee." If Jesus charged these things against Jerusalem and the rulers of Israel, who shall say that he was mistaken and that this should be charged against some other people or nation?

Wherefore inasmuch as the rivers and fountains of waters upon which the third vial was poured out are charged with having shed the blood of saints and prophets, therefore it follows that the rivers and fountains of waters in this prophecy are figures and terms by which the people of Israel are indi

cated. Moreover the Lord speaks of them in another place as waters, saying, "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah." These waters mean the people of Judah (Isa. 48:1).

This prophecy refers also to a time when they are rebellious in the latter days, whereof the Lord continues speaking of them, saying, "which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness; for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel. The Lord of hosts is his name." Then the Lord speaks of the prophecies and things that he had spoken of in times of old and which are then coming to pass, "lest they should say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them," because the Lord says, "I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck an iron sinew, and thy brow brass."

These transgressors are not only ready to attribute the works of God to their idols in that day, but they even attribute their own creation to the idols which they themselves had made, as it is written of them in another place, saying, "As a thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, saying to a stock, Thou art my father, and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth" (Jer. 2:26-27). For God has taken away their judgment and hardened their hearts, so that they are not able to say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" The Lord says of them in another place, "I am weary of repenting, therefore the end is come, and the Lord will pour out upon them all the vials of the fierceness of his wrath till they are destroyed, and until this shameful idolatrous element is exterminated from among his people by judgment."

THE ANGEL OUT OF THE ALTAR

The altar in this prophecy is Christ, therefore this angel is one out of the body of Christ who responds to, and acquiesces in, what is affirmed by the angel of the waters, saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments." He gives them blood to drink, for they are worthy. The Psalmist says (37: 10), "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be; but the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as are of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart" (verses 11-15). This is done by turning every man's sword against his own brother, which gives them their own blood to drink, figuratively speaking, for they are worthy.

THE FOURTH ANGEL AND THE FOURTH VIAL (REV. 16: 8-9) And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and