Boast not thyself— Importance of Israel in prophecy - Kingdoms and empires of antiquity — Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation and vision — Decree of the watchers

Belshazzar.

One of the chief errors of modern commentators and of those who have attempted to interpret the great prophecies of both Old and New Testament Scriptures arises from the fact that they have not paid sufficient attention to Paul's advice to Gentiles, not to become wise in their own conceit. The Lord chose Israel, the seed of Abraham his friend, to be his people, his peculiar treasure above all the people of the earth and so, as the Psalmist said, "he showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his judgments they have not known them." And therefore the Lord said unto them by the hand of Amos (3:2), "You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you according to your iniquities." Now as the Lord's people showed a waywardness from the first, he said unto them by the hand of Moses his servant, in the song of witness (Deut. 32:21), "They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities." And now as an offset to all this, the Lord says, “And I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." Accordingly, when Christ came and the nation, all but a remnant, refused him, the rebellious were cut off and the Gentiles were grafted in instead, and the Gospel was sent to the Gentiles inviting them to become heirs to God's kingdom and glory, instead of his own people Israel.

The people of Israel who were blinded because of their unbelief were indeed very angry and jealous at this, as Paul himself testifies, for it is said that at Antioch, when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing that ye put it far from you and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo we turn to the Gentiles, for so hath the Lord commanded us saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth" (Acts 13:42-52). Again Paul says of the rebellious Jews, that they killed the Lord Jesus and their prophets, and they please not God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway, for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost (I Thess. 2: 14-16).

But human nature is very weak, and so when the Gentiles were grafted into the good olive tree, they were inclined to boast themselves against the natural branches that were cut off that they might be grafted in. This waywardness on the part of the Gentiles Paul rebukes, saying (Rom. 11:18), "Boast not thyself against the branches, but if thou boast thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt then say, The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well! because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed that he spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity, but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off."

But alas! the Gentiles have not continued in God's goodness, in the hope of Israel, and in the life and immortality which Christ brought to light by his death, burial and resurrection from the dead; but instead they have foisted into the faith the heathen doctrine of immortality; therefore their destiny. is to be cut off as the unbelieving Jews were. But the children of Israel are

to be grafted again into their own olive tree (Rom. 11:12-15), and therefore after the second exodus, when Israel is again planted in their own land under the law of Moses as aforetime, in their second manifestation under the law, then the Gentiles will be set aside where they were before. Therefore while their day lasts, the wise among them should give diligence, or they will be cut off from God's kingdom and glory.

But the highmindedness and conceit of the Gentiles is nowhere more apparent than in this modern theory of interpreting the prophecies. For instance, in their attempts to interpret the visions of Daniel and John the house of Israel is almost entirely lost sight of, and the great and pompous Gentile is about all that they see, and the house of Israel, which is in reality the great and central figure of the Old and New Testament prophecies, is overlooked and nearly lost sight of. It is the people of Israel who appear in the foreground, either as a faithful nation or as a rebellious people whom the nations. are brought against to punish.

We will now, therefore, point out briefly instances that will prove the truth of what we have herein affirmed, and afterward in the more full interpretation of these prophecies we will endeavor to prove beyond contradiction what we shall now forecast.

First. In the great image that was shown in vision to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, whose brightness was excellent, and the form thereof terrible, the parts of which were composed of gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay, -in all this the modern interpreter sees nothing but symbols of Gentile powers and people, whereas we shall show that the clay of the image represents the house of Israel, a good intimation of which the prophet gives in the special attention that he bestows upon that part of the image where the clay is found, over and above all other parts of the image. Again, when the stone falls upon the image and grinds it to powder, it is a very significant fact that the stone does not fall first upon the head, so as to pulverize the whole mass together, as we would naturally suppose that it should do, but, says Daniel, Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the

image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces." "Then," he adds, "was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became as the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them." This answers to what Paul says, judgment upon the Jew first, and after upon the Gentile.

Second. In Daniel's vision of the four beasts, the same mistake is made, for in the interpretation of the four beasts the heads and the horns, including the little horn, are understood to represent Gentile powers, whereas upon the little horn, though called little, the inspired interpreter bestows more particular attention than he does upon any other beast or horn. And why is this? We expect to be able to prove that it is because this little horn is an Israelitish character.

Third. In Daniel's vision recorded in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth chapters of this book, there are introduced three kings as the representatives of three classes of peoples and nations,— the king of the north, the king of the south, and the king that does according to his will. Now these three kings are again said to be kings of the Gentiles, which is a great error, for while this vision shows how the king of the north shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain, and there come to an end with none to help him, yet the august personage who appeared to Daniel and showed him these wonders of the latter days said as a preface to his revelation, "Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days" (10: 14). Again (verse 21) he says, "But I will show thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth," and the things noted in the Scripture are what will befall Israel in the latter days. And therefore while the angel incidentally shows Daniel what shall overtake the Gentiles in that day, the chief burden of his revelation is what shall befall Daniel's own people, "for evil," says Moses, "shall befall you in the latter days."

The king who shall do according to his will, and who shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and prosper until the indignation be accomplished (11:3639), this notable person is not a Gentile king, but on the contrary he is a profane and wicked prince of Israel, "whose day is come when iniquity shall have an end," while the king of the north is Gog, the Assyrian, and the king of the south is the king of Egypt.

Fourth. But when we come to the Book of Revelation, the mystification of the characters contained therein is more marked than elsewhere. This book is called the testimony of Jesus by the angel which showed these things to John; also he calls it a prophecy,- that is, it is the great prophecy of the prophet like unto Moses. In this book.there are four great and notable characters brought to view and described, and their work pointed out. First, the beast that rises up out of the sea, "having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." This beast, it is written, ascends out of the bottomless pit, and goes into perdition. Second, the woman that sits upon many waters, upon the scarlet colored beast. and upon seven mountains, and who is drunk with the blood of saints, and

with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and hath upon her forehead a name written, "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth," and is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Third, the great red dragon who was seen in heaven, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads, who is called that old serpent, the Devil, and Satan, who with his angels made war with Michael and his angels, but he was cast out of heaven and finally was chained and shut up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Fourth, the beast which rises up out of the earth, which had two horns like a lamb, and spake as a dragon. This beast"causeth the earth and them that dwell therein, to worship the first beast" (that rises out of the sea) and works miracles before him, and allows no man to "buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

Now all of these famous characters of the Book of the Revelation are construed by the writers and interpreters of these times to represent Gentile nations and kings, whereas there is but one of them which represents the Gentiles, while the other three represent the people of Israel as they will be manifested in the latter days.

The beast which rises out of the great sea of nations, having seven heads and ten horns, is indeed a great Gentile power and manifestation, and with his heads and horns comprises all the Gentile nations which are brought to view in this book, and they are spoken of as waters"; and "the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth," saith the angel, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.'

66

But the woman that sits upon the scarlet colored beast, who is drunk with the blood of the saints, who is called Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, which is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth,- this lewd woman of whom it is written, “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire," this woman is Jerusalem and her people, and not by any means Papal Rome and her people, as Protestant clergymen and interpreters, and others of like character say. The Pope of Rome and all his adherents throughout the world are comparatively of too little importance to attract a thousandth part of the attention that the inspired men of God in the Old and New Testament Scriptures have bestowed upon this woman,that is upon Jerusalem and her people, first as a faithful city, and afterwards as an harlot, even as the prophet Isaiah says, "How is the faithful city become an harlot? It was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers."

The great red dragon is a king upon whom God hath conferred extraordinary power for the purposes of chastisement. He is a wicked prince in whom is concentrated all the evil passions of our nature. He is heartless and has no pity; he is intensely covetous and greedy and gathers into his net what his eyes see; he is an extortioner and a treacherous dealer; he is a murderer and slays the righteous by wholesale, and power is given him over all the assembled nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples, and power is given him to continue three years and a half, and he opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his Tabernacle, and them that dwell in

heaven. This wonderful character is not what the modern interpreters who are under the veil spread over all nations say. He is not a Gentile, nor a Gentile power, but instead he is a great king in Israel and is pointed to by Samuel when the children of Israel said to him presumptuously and wilfully, “Nay; but we will have a king over us: that we may be like all the nations." And so the Lord said unto Samuel, "Hearken unto their voice, howbeit solemnly protest unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them."

This prophecy refers to the great red dragon of the latter days, as contained in the Book of the Revelation. This king is referred to by Daniel as "the little horn" in the seventh chapter, and as "the king that does according to his will," in the eleventh chapter of his book; and he is spoken of by Isaiah as "Lucifer, son of the morning"; by Ezekiel, under the figure of “the Prince of Tyrus"; and by Paul, as "the man of sin." These things we will show when we come more minutely to speak of this king and his doings. Again, "the two horned beast" is another manifestation in Israel. This beast rises not out of the sea of nations, but out of Israel's earth. He has two horns like a lamb to distinguish him from the Gentiles but he speaks like a dragon, as he is the same kind of a blasphemous power.

The angel said to Daniel, in interpreting the vision of the ram and he goat, "The ram which thou sawest, having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia." So in this vision which John saw, the beast which rises out of the earth with two horns like a lamb, are the kings of Israel and Judah, in cooperation to do honor to the Assyrian, or the beast, by recognizing his form of idolatry, and by making an image in his honor, and by honoring his idolatrous priests, admitting them into the Temple to eat of their sacrifices and to drink of the wine of their drink offerings, notwithstanding the Lord had said, "No stranger uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel." All these things we expect to be able fully to prove and establish by the law and the prophets, for if any man speak not according to that word, it is because there is no light in him.

When Jesus sent his prophecy to his servants, he says in the end of this revelation, "I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things that are written in this book."

Now if such is to be the case, and such is to be the punishment of those that add to, or take from the words of this prophecy, where will those appear who, by their spurious interpretations, nearly annihilate these great prophecies altogether by applying them to peoples and nations to whom they have no reference whatever, and who seek in their blindness to find a fulfillment of those wonderful prophecies in the doings of the nations in an age to which they do in no wise refer? No human history is of any use or value in the interpretation of the Book of the Revelation. Moses and the prophets alone furnish the only key to this book. The little book, written within and without, sealed