measured; Judah's captivity will continue for a period of forty years, while that of the house of Israel will continue for 390 years, of which the Prophet Ezekiel gave a sign. He was required to lie first on one side forty days, and then on the other side 390 days, eating polluted or defiled bread, and lay siege to Jerusalem in miniature, each day to represent a year, and the Lord said to him, "Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them." These two periods have puzzled commentators and theological writers immensely, because they know nothing of the captivities to which they apply. These captivities commence at the judgment, and overlap the millennial reign of Christ, as we will show more fully when we speak of Ezekiel's prophecies.

RELATION OF BOOK OF REVELATIONS TO LAW AND PROPHECY In the law of Moses are laid deep, broad and wide, the foundations of the latter days of Israel, and the many things contained in the first and second parts of the law are afterwards amplified and enlarged upon by the prophets of Israel, and they open out like a full-blown flower in the great prophecy of Christ as set forth in the book of the Revelation. We will note some of these points and then proceed to consider the things of the second Exodus.

(1) THE FOUR SERIES OF JUDGMENTS

In the Book of the Revelation there are four series of judgments; namely, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven thunders, and the seven last plagues. The foundation for these is first exposed in the first part of the law, in the Book of Leviticus, where there are brought to view four series of judgments in each of which Israel is to be punished seven times more for her sins, as it is written, "Ye shall make no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it, for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary, I am the Lord. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments and do them, then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit; and your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword; and five of you shall chase a hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword; for I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new; and I will set my tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not abhor you: and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

"But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; and if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul shall abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant, I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies; they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you" (Lev. 24:1-17).

These preliminary evils which God threatens to bring upon his people Israel when they revolt, and when they will no longer hearken to the Lord, but when their soul begins to abhor his statutes and judgments,— these evils he first brings upon them to cause repentance, but when they rush on and a conspiracy is found among them, and they turn back to the iniquities of their ancestors, then the Lord inaugurates a systematic and regular series of evils which are to be visited upon the rebellious house until they are destroyed, which are stated as follows.

The First Series of Seven Plagues in the Law

"And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the field yield their fruits."

The Second Series of Seven Plagues

"And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number, and your highways shall be desolate."

The Third Series of Seven Plagues

"And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant, and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you, and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight, and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied."

The Fourth and Last Series of Seven Plagues

“And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury, and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. And I will destroy your high places and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my

soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries into desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odours. And I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you, and your land shall be desolate, and your' cities waste."

These four series of plagues are somewhat elementary, and therefore the plagues in each series of seven are stated in the gross, but in the Revelation they are amplified and each of the seven plagues is enumerated. For instance, in the first series of seven plagues, the seven seals, as each of the seals of judgment is opened, the judgments of that particular seal are proclaimed and executed; and as it is with the seven seals, so also is it with the seven trumpets of alarm against the rebellious house; so also with the seven last plagues, in which is filled up the wrath of God against his erring and idolatrous people; and as each vial of the seven is poured out, the particular plagues under that vial are specified. But in the law what transpires under each series of seven is thrown together without being so methodically arranged as it is in the prophecy of the great prophet like unto Moses.

(2) ISRAEL'S SIN

Now what is the peculiar sin of Israel, which they are so persistent in doing, and from which they are not turned, and of which they do not repent as these successive judgments of God are poured out upon them? It is the sin of idolatry, of which they are so often warned in other Scriptures, and particularly so in this twenty-sixth chapter of Leviticus; yet they are so enamored, and so mad upon their idols, that four successive series of desolating judgments and plagues do not produce repentance and reformation, insomuch that in the fourth and last series it is said, "And if ye will not, for all this, hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me, then I will walk contrary unto you in fury, and I will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat." This transpires under the seventh vial of the seven last plagues, as we will point out when we come to speak of the vials. And now observe what is said touching the idols of the house of Israel in that day, "And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you."

Jeremiah testifies of these evil times in the latter days, saying, "For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah, and according unto the number of the streets of Jerusalem, have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal." Therefore the land is full of idols, and Ezekiel also confirms the words of Moses, in the sixth chapter, saying, "Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills and to the rivers, and to the valleys, Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places, and your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before

your idols, and I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones round about your altars, and in all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, that your idols may be broken, and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your work may be abolished." Thus Ezekiel's testimony corresponds with that of Moses.

Again in the song of Moses, which is to witness against Israel in the latter days (Deut. 32: 15-17), it is testified saying, "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked; thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger; they sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers knew not."

These gods whom the nations worship, and whom the house of Israel worshipped in the past, and will worship and bow down to, in the future, are called devils throughout the Old and New Testament Scriptures, as it is said (Lev. 17:7), "They shall no more offer their sacrifices to devils"; again (Ps. 106: 36-37), "They served their idols which were a snare unto them, Yea they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils "; again (I Cor. 10:20), "But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils." Therefore it is testified in one of the series of plagues, the seven trumpets, after the king of the locusts by his legions has slain the third part of the rebellious house, under the sounding of the sixth trumpet (Rev. 9:20-21), "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of stone, of gold, and silver, and brass, and of wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk, neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

Therefore as these plagues that are grouped into four series of seven each in the law when poured out upon the rebellious house produce no repentance, so when the same plagues are set forth in the testimony of Jesus, the same features of no repentance obtain, for when the punishments under the first six trumpets are manifest, they still continue to worship devils, and idols of gold, silver, brass, iron, and stone and wood, neither do they repent of their murders, fornication, or thefts. So also, of the last of the four series of plagues, namely the seven vials, in which is filled up the wrath of God upon his rebellious people, they produce no repentance, and so when the fourth angel pours out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, instead of repenting, it is said, "They blasphemed the name of God, which had power over these plagues, and they repented not to give him glory." I mention these things to show to people of earnest and inquiring minds the relation between the plagues and curses of the law, and the plagues of the Book of the Revelation. The latter are couched in highly symbolical language which can only be interpreted by the aid of the prophets, and by narrowly scanning their words and taking particular notice of the figurative language that they employ.

(3) THE SPOT, MARK, OR SEAL

We will next call attention to another very important feature that will obtain in the latter days, which is brought to view first in the song of Moses, and afterwards in the testimony of Jesus. Moses says to the children of Israel, “For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days." Therefore he says in the song (Deut. 32:5), "They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children." Here are two spots brought to view; one is the spot of his children, the other is the spot of those who have corrupted themselves, and these spots differ, the one from the other, and it is said, "Their spot is not the spot of his children." They are both marked, but not with the same brand, nor sealed with the same seal.

The mark of God's children in the day that this song refers to is spoken of in the testimony of Jesus, as follows (Rev. 7:2-3), “And I saw an angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth, and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of. them which were sealed, and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." Again, in chapter 14 it is said, "And I looked and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his father's name written in their foreheads." This is the spot, and this is the mark of his children. It is the Father's name written in their foreheads, that is, in the intellect. They are not defiled with the lewd women, Aholah, and Aholabah. The spot of those that have corrupted themselves is known in the testimony of Jesus as the "mark of the beast," brought to view in the thirteenth chapter where the beast which comes up out of the earth with two horns like a lamb, and who makes an image to the beast, which rises up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, requires all the people of his kingdom to fall down and worship the image of the beast, or be killed; and he causeth all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark (spot) in their right hand, or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his

name.

The twelve tribes of Israel out of whom the 144,000 are sealed will, under pain of death, be compelled to recognize this form of idolatry, and buy and sell, and trade in the land on these conditions, and therefore they are marked in their foreheads when they join in this worship, and are so stamped in the intellect, or forehead, and as they pass their merchandise through their hands conditionally upon accepting this form of idolatry, their hands are thereby marked. We will speak of these things, and the number of the beast, in another place. This is sufficient for our present purpose to show the connection between the testimony of Moses and the testimony of Jesus.