written in the Book of the Revelation by John at the command of the prophet like unto Moses, are one and the same series of judgments and to be executed upon the same people, is easily shown in the following manner.

Moses, when nearly completing the second law (or we might say, the second part of the law) called the Book of Deuteronomy, was commanded to write a song and teach it to the children of Israel, to be a witness against them in the latter days when they should forget God and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they would go to be among them. This remarkable song which is a synopsis of the curses contained in the second law, this song and the circumstances connected with the giving of it to Israel and the period in their history to which it applies, and the time when it was to be sung, namely, at the very time when the judgments written therein were in process of fulfillment, are clearly set forth in the preface and preliminaries to this song. These preliminaries and the song itself are written in the thirty-first and thirty-second chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy.

Now what are the facts? They are these: when the latter days of the house of Israel, which were so far away in the distant future when this song was given to the children of Israel, have at length arrived, then this song of witness will be sung when the judgments contained therein are in process of fulfillment. Accordingly, we find that when the plagues and judgments written in the Book of the Revelation are in process of being executed upon the people of Israel, who are brought to view under so many different names and symbols but who are in reality and in plain language the identical people to whom Moses gave this song, then it is that this song is sung, as it is written in the fifteenth chapter of the Revelation, “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints; who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest."

This quotation in Revelation is from the song of Moses, the servant of God. It is not a full quotation of all the song, but of some of the principal features of it, as it is said (Deut. 32: 3-4), "Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." And again in the concluding part of the song it is said, "If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me." And after these judgments are manifest, it is added, "Rejoice, O ye nations with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people," even as it is said in the Revelation, "All nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest."

Now who are the people that sing this song in the latter days? It is the hundred and forty and four thousand who have been redeemed out of all the tribes of the children of Israel. These have been purified, made white, and tried; they have obtained the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, and they stand on the

sea of glass, having the harps of God, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, before the seven last plagues are poured out upon the rebellious house which is symbolized by so many different figures and terms.

Therefore as the judgments written in the law, and the judgments written in the Book of the Revelation are the same, the next important question to settle is this, Who are the persons that God intends to employ to execute these judgments? David informs us that the persons who are to do this are the saints, that is, the righteous of former and past ages who have died in the faith and in the Lord, who have been raised from the dead, and as David says, are joyful in glory," that is, "having been sown in dishonour, they are now raised in glory." David continues saying, "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishment upon the people" (the people of Israel, for so is the meaning thereof, as may be seen by comparing what is said in the second Psalm, and interpreted in the fourth chapter of Acts), "to bind their kings with chains (the kings of Israel and Judah, as is done with the great red dragon, the king of Israel [Rev. 20: 1-2]) and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute upon them the judgments written, this honour have all his saints."

Paul also confirms what David says, in his second letter to the Corinthians saying, "Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?" Paul appeals to their knowledge of these things for he, being their instructor, had taught them so.

Therefore as the saints are to execute the judgments written in the law and in the Book of the Revelation, it follows that before these judgments are executed, the saints must be raised from the dead. It is surprising that students of the prophecies who have gone far enough in their investigations to see that the four beasts and four and twenty elders represent the body of Christ redeemed from among all nations, kindred, tongues and people raised from the dead to reign with Christ on the earth, and to execute the judgments written (Rev. 5:9-10), do not appear to discern their presence in the visions of John when the seals are opened, nor throughout this book, and especially when the seven vials which contain the seven last plagues are poured out, in which is filled up the wrath of God. For instance when the first seal is opened John says, I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts (one of the grand divisions of the body of Christ) saying, Come and see. . . . And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. . . . And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. . . . And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth beast say, Come and see." Thus the four grand divisions of the body of Christ, the saints, are all present when these seals are opened.

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Therefore if it be true, as the great body of theological writers affirm, that these seals of judgment have been opened in the past, commencing soon after the days of Christ and his apostles, and that the judgments have been executed that are set forth in this book as the seals are opened; then the resurrection is past already, for the testimony of Jesus shows that the saints of God are present when these things are done, and are participants in the execution

of the judgments that are proclaimed when the seals are opened, as David said they would be," This honour have all his saints" (Ps. 149: 5-9).

And again, without adducing all the proofs of this nature that are to be found in the prophecy of Christ, we will refer to one more, which will suffice. When the seven angels come out of the Temple having the seven last plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles, then John says that he saw one of the four beasts give unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. And John also says that he heard a great voice out of the Temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth." Thus one of the four beasts puts into the hands of the seven angels these seven vials which are full of the wrath of God, before they are poured out. Therefore the four beasts are present at the time that the vials are placed into the hands of the seven angels and during the time that these judgments are poured out and executed.

What further evidence need we adduce to show that the things set forth in the Book of the Revelation transpire subsequent to the resurrection of the body of Christ? But as to the length of time that will elapse between the time that Christ comes to gather together his saints, the living and dead, by translation and resurrection, and the time when he and his brethren after that come to execute the judgments written, we are not informed. But the coming of Christ to gather his saints, and the coming of Christ and his saints to execute the judgments written, are two entirely different events and removed one from the other.

The resurrection of those who, incorruptible, sleep in Jesus, and the translation of the righteous living from mortality to immortality, we are informed by Paul (which, he says, was not of himself, but by the word of the Lord) is done in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. This wonderful event, therefore, will be too sudden and instantaneous to be seen by the inhabitants of the earth who will be left behind. The examples given us by which we may be guided in studying this matter are the cases of Enoch, Elijah and Christ, and those who were raised from the dead after his resurrection. Paul says, "By faith Enoch was translated, and was not found," thus indicating that they sought for him, but found him not, for he had suddenly disappeared from among them.

Elijah also was translated suddenly, and went up in the twinkling of an eye by a whirlwind into heaven, and was seen by no one save Elisha, although others, the sons of the prophets, knew of it, and stood afar off to view it. Elisha, through the greatest persistency and determination, saw just a glimpse of it, when there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. When Christ arose from the dead, no mortal man witnessed the operation, nor were the saints seen who rose after Christ's resurrection until they went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

These lessons teach us the manner of the resurrection and translation of the righteous. Therefore when it is said in the Revelation, "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him," and when it is said by Jesus himself, "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all

the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power, and great glory," the coming of Christ as set forth in these instances, when he is seen, is not his coming spoken of by Paul, as written in his first letter to the Corinthians (15:51-55), and in his first letter to the Thessalonians (4: 13-17), when he is not seen except by his saints, who ascend to meet him in the air after the manner of Elijah who was not seen even by the fifty sons of the prophets who stood afar off gazing to witness this wonderful spectacle of which they had notice beforehand.

Christ was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven some forty-nine years before the first end of the Mosaic world, and whether the saints will be raised, and the righteous living changed some forty-nine years, more or less, before the second and last end of the Mosaic world, or not, we are not told; though it is certain that they will appear in glory before judgment will be executed upon the rebellious house of Israel and the nations, because when Christ comes for that purpose, his saints come with him, as Zechariah the prophet testifies saying, "And the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee" (Zech. 14:5). And again, Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of these (the ungodly) saying, "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

From these considerations it must be evident to any one who gives attention to these things that the second coming of Christ must be considered in a twofold sense; namely, that he comes first, to gather his saints together to meet him in the air, or heavens above, and to present them faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy. After that, as Paul says, "they will be ever with the Lord," or as Jesus himself said in his prayer to his Father, "Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world"; and as Jesus said to his apostles, "I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also."

Second, after that Christ comes with his Father, the Ancient of days, and with his saints, and with the holy angels, whose numbers are spoken of by Daniel and John as ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. This coming of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ and all their hosts to execute the judgments written was shown to Daniel in his first vision, as recorded in the seventh chapter of his book wherein the bold outlines of the judgments are sketched. Now in the one hundred and tenth Psalm it is written that the Father says to his Son, "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool." In obedience to this Scripture, when Christ's work was done and he died and rose again, and entered upon his glory and ascended, he sat down on the right hand of God, where he will abide until the time arrives in human history shown to Daniel in this vision, when the Father the Ancient of days comes with his Son to make his foes his footstool and when he brings with him the heavenly hosts, consisting

of the resurrected and glorified saints and the angels of his power, to be employed with Christ at their head in the mighty work of judgment and regeneration, but all under the Father's own personal direction, who is present at the time sitting upon his throne, as the great central source of power and authority in heaven above, and in the earth beneath.

THE SCENE OF JUDGMENT

The Lord says to his rebellious people, the house of Israel, by the hand of the prophet Ezekiel, "Ye have feared the sword, and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord God, And I will bring you out of the midst thereof (out of Jerusalem), and deliver you into the hand of strangers, and will execute judgments among you, ye shall fall by the sword. I will judge you in the border of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Therefore the house of Israel will be judged in their own land, in their own cities and in Jerusalem. For speaking of Jerusalem that has slain the prophets and who will in the latter days slaughter the righteous by wholesale to fill up the measure of her iniquity, the Lord speaking by the hand of Jeremiah, under the mystical name of Babylon says of her, "As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall (the saints), so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth (Jer. 51:49). The heathen also are to be judged in Israel's land, as saith the Lord by the mouth of the prophet Joel (3:9), saying, “ Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles, Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong; assemble yourselves and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about." The place of judgment for Israel and the nations, therefore, is within the borders of Israel's land, and the central point of judgment is at Jerusalem, the city of the great king and the place where the Lord recorded his name.

Therefore when the Ancient of days comes to judge his people and the nations, and when all his mighty hosts come with him, his throne will be set in the heavens above Jerusalem and the holy land, for it is said, "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens." And although the armies of the heavens in that day will be as numerous as the stars of the sky and as birds flying above Jerusalem, yet they will be invisible to the inhabitants of the earth below, for it is said by Jesus himself that except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That is, unless a man is himself immortal, he cannot of his own power see the immortal. But his eyes may be opened so that he may see the Son of God, angels, and immortal men of Adam's race; but the Father's face, no mortal man can behold, and live. None but the immortal can look upon the face of the Father.

Daniel saw in visions of the night the scenes of the judgment (Dan. 7:8-11). He saw four ferocious beasts representing the mighty nations of the earth in four grand divisions of armies, and the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly, and the king of Israel as one of the horns of this beast. And to show the idolatrous and rebellious condition of the house of Israel in