shows himself to be so. After all, his number is but "the number of a man."

IV

It is when we come to Revelation, chapters 17 and 19, that we perceive the doom of the "beast" and the "false prophet," together with the events immediately leading up to it.

The former is depicted as "scarlet coloured," and he has a woman seated upon him. This "woman" is subsequently interpreted to symbolize "that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth, and "over peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.'

The city is then identified by the name written on the woman's forehead as "Babylon the Great," meaning, as many believe, the same old Babylon (see chapter 10) on the plain of Shinar, revived at the end of this age as the localized seat of power, or throne, of the Antichrist. As she is sitting on the beast, it means that the Antichrist is supporting her in all that she holds of blasphemy and idolatry and intoxication "with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus."

The record goes on to show the transfer of the power and strength of the ten kings unto the "beast," "for God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled."

From one point of view, this is Satan's work; and yet God ruleth over all, and He "shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie"

(2 Thess. 2:11), and so surrender themselves to the Antichrist. These then make war with the Lamb, but are overcome. It is the battle of Armageddon that is here referred to, in which the beast is taken, and with him the false prophet, and "these both were cast alive into the lake of fire" (Rev. 19: 20).

The rest of the army which they led were ordinary men, and their dead bodies were eaten by the fowls of the air, for there was none to bury them. But these two, while also men, were nevertheless superhuman men. They came up out of the abyss and cannot now be slain as mortals (Bullinger); hence they are cast alive into the "lake of fire." And there are they still found alive at the close of the millennium (Rev. 20:10).

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON

1. Review the lessons thus far.

2. To what inquiry are we addressing ourselves in this lesson?

3. What Old Testament prophet is our first guide? 4. For what future event is he authority?

5. Have you read the chapters in Daniel to which the lesson refers?

6. Describe the wicked person therein predicted.

7. Identify his period and his "covenant."

8. What other Old Testament prophets allude to him, and in what way?

9. How does our Lord refer to him as recorded by John?

10. What title of him does this warrant?

11. What is he called in Matthew 24, and why?

12. Read carefully, and expound 2 Thessalonians 2. 13. Why do not these words fit the history of the Roman pontiff?

14. What is there in Protestantism to be feared, and why?

15. With what does the book of Revelation chiefly deal? 16. Trace this wicked person through the chapters of that book.

17. How does Revelation thus become identified with the book of Daniel in the history of this person? 18. Read carefully and expound Revelation 13:1-10. 19. Describe the second "beast" revealed in this chapter.

20. How are the two differentiated?

21. What is the office of the second beast and how will it be accomplished?

22. What, according to Bullinger, is the significance of 666?

23. What warning does this bring us against the demand for a "universal" religion?

24. What chapters in Revelation reveal the doom of the "beast" and the "false prophet"?

25. What city does the "scarlet-coloured woman

bolize?

" sym

26. What wicked prominence is reserved for that city? 27. What explains the action of the kings of the federated Roman Empire in giving over their power to the "beast"?

28. In what great battle will they be overcome?

29. What is the doom of the "beast" and the "false prophet "?

IX

WHY THE POPE IS NOT THE ANTICHRIST

I

S the articles forming the chapters of this

book appeared from time to time in the Christian Herald (see prefatory note), they naturally gave rise to questions, some of which were sent by the editors to the author for reply in their columns.

A few of them were not questions so much as expressions of dissent from some of the views presented. For example: that the Jewish nation would be rehabilitated in Palestine proved a surprise to some, and even intelligent and educated people were found capable of so reading the Bible on that subject as to make it teach the very opposite to the truth.

Another theme whose treatment brought unhappiness to some was that of the apostasy and the Antichrist. That Babylon means the papacy and that the man of sin is the Pope, is one of the beliefs of the Reformation period that is still held by not a few with more tenacity even than the doctrine of justification by faith itself.

There was good reason for the Reformers feeling keenly on that subject, and good excuse for their

misunderstanding the Scriptures concerning it; but history, to say nothing of Sacred Writ, has proved them to be wrong.

We know how erroneous is the teaching of Roman Catholicism and how soul-destroying it is. And we know also that the character and conduct of its hierarchy in many places closely resembles what the Bible teaches about Antichristianity and the Antichrist. But to closely resemble a thing is not the same as being the thing itself.

In the fulfillment of prophecy a part of the evidence is not enough. To reach a conclusion on that basis breeds all sorts of confusion. The prophecy must be fulfilled completely, if God's Word shall be honoured and our faith sustained. We do not hesitate to say that Roman Catholicism is a daughter of Babylon whose features resemble her mother's very closely, but still the daughter and the mother are not identical.

II

An exception is made here in order to discuss one of the letters received on this subject.

The correspondent refers to the Pope's assumption to be the "vicar of Christ," and says, "his assertion is Antichrist." Of course the correspondent does not mean just that, because it would negative his contention. The Antichrist, whoever he may be, is a person and not an "assertion" merely. But what the correspondent means is that such an assertion on the Pope's part is anti-Christian, with which we fully agree. Indeed, the whole system of Roman