them all, and I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob (the twelve tribes), and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains, and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there."

Again the Lord speaks by Jeremiah (5:10) saying, "Go ye up upon her walls and destroy, but make not a full end; take away her battlements for they are not the Lord's, for the house of Israel and the house of Judah (the two houses) have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. They have belied the Lord and said (concerning the day of the Lord), It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us, neither shall we see sword or famine." Concerning them that are left, the elect, the seed that is brought out of Jacob and Judah, it is said in the Revelation, the testimony of Jesus, that they were sealed out of all the tribes of Israel an hundred forty and four thousand. These stand with the Lamb on the Mount Zion. These having come through fire and through water, are not defiled with lewd women (Aholah and Aholibah), but are victorious over their abominations. These finally stand upon the sea of glass mingled with fire.

The sea of glass at first sight was like crystal, when unoccupied, but now when the hundred forty and four thousand stand upon it, it is as it were mingled with fire (Rev. 15:2). The clear crystal indicates the purity of the truth which they had received and constitutes the platform on which they stand, and being mingled with fire it indicates the fiery trials through which they came and by which their faith has been purified, as it is said (Rev. 15:2-3), "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them which had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on a 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, 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."

These people who sing this song are not immortal; they have neither been translated nor raised from the dead, but are men in the flesh and will be the guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and for supper they will consume Gog and all his multitude, and spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, and they will bury Gog and all his multitude, which will be to them for a renown.

SIXTH. THE FOUR BEASTS (REV. 4:6-8)

"In the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts, full of eyes before and behind. The first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle, and the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." The things which the four beasts and four and twenty elders represent in this vision, is clearly shown by the new song which they sing when the Lamb takes the book of judgment out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne, when it is said, " And they sing a new song, saying, Thou art

worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."

The four beasts and twenty-four elders, therefore, represent and comprehend the children of God, the saints of all ages, climes and countries, who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ from the creation of the world down to the time of the resurrection from the dead, which will transpire some time previous to the coming of the great God and Jesus Christ his son, to judge his people; because when they come for that purpose the saints come When Paul mentions examples of some of the distinguished men. of faith of ancient times, beginning with Abel, he says, "These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."

Thus the Scriptures when rightly divided interpret themselves, and they are so arranged by their Divine Author that there is always a key to the deep things and the more difficult symbols contained therein. That is, if we may speak after the manner of men, the latch-string hangs outside the door if we can but find it, by which we may open the door and find the secret of the witty inventions with which the Scriptures abound, for the Scripture hath said, "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence (or subtility) and find out knowledge of witty inventions (Prov. 8: 12).

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THE TERM BEASTS AS APPLIED TO SAINTS

Some writers appear to be amazed because the four grand divisions of the body of Christ in the heavens after the resurrection, are called "beasts," but when it is considered what the persons who are represented by these figures have suffered for the sake of the truth, in the days of their pilgrimage, when they were hunted like beasts through the earth and were also brought like sheep to the slaughter, and when it is remembered that the Lord Jesus is called a beast, both a lamb and a lion, no exception can be taken to the term, as applied in this book of symbols. If the spirit speaks thus of them, let it be so.

These four figures, or symbols, which represent the four divisions of the body of Christ in the resurrection, are gathered and drawn from the encampments of the twelve tribes in the wilderness, as they pitched round about the Tabernacle, on the north, east, south and west, and outside of the encampment of the Levites, who pitched near the Tabernacle. The tribes of Israel were organized into armies, marshalled and equipped, and marched with banners ready to contend in battle with the enemy. Therefore when they broke camp at the blast of the trumpet, and when two camps moved and the priests took up the ark of the covenant and wheeled into line, Moses said, “Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee, flee before thee" (Num. 10:35).

So will it be with the armies of the heavens that these armies of the earth in the wilderness represent; and as the armies of Israel were a military organization ready to go forth and contend in battle, so will the armies of the heavens (the saints) which they symbolize, be, in the resurrection, when it

will be said to the Lord Jesus Christ, as Moses said to the God of Israel in the wilderness, as it is spoken of Christ the Lord, in the sixty-eighth Psalm, 'Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee before him; as smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God." So will it be when the Lamb of God with his seven horns, the saints, rises up and moves against the children of wickedness, to destroy them from off the face of the earth by famine, by the pestilence, and by the sword. These elements of destruction will be in the possession of Christ and his brethren, and they will employ them against the rebellious house of Israel, and afterwards against the nations, even as the Lord God of Israel turned the sword of the enemy against themselves, as it is said of Gideon and his three hundred who went against the Midianites, as it is written (Judges 7:22), “And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host."

This is one of the three chief methods that the God of Israel employed to destroy the armies of Israel, and also which he employs among the armies of Israel and Judah when the Lord compels them to contend in deadly conflict among themselves, to chastise them for their wickedness, as it was done in Gibea. He who can cure men of insanity and madness by a word, can inflict insanity and madness upon an army, so that every man would consider his neighbor to be his enemy and fall upon him to destroy him. This would make a quick end of an army. This is one of the elements to be used for the destruction of Gog and all his multitude upon the mountains of Israel, as it is written of them, saying, "And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God; every man's sword shall be against his brother" (Ezek. 38:21).

THE FACES OF THE FOUR BEASTS

These were, according to Ezekiel and John, the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of a flying eagle. These faces represent certain characteristics that obtain in the members of the body of Christ made perfect.

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The Face of a Man

An immortal man in the resurrection is the image and glory of God. Paul says, The head of every man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God." And he adds again that Christ is the express image of the Father's person, and again he says, "Christ is the Lord from heaven," and to his brethren Paul also says, "As we have borne the image of the earthy (Adam the first) we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (Adam the second); for he says, He shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body," even as Christ, when he died and was buried, on the third day was raised from the dead immortal by the glory of his Father, and in the image of his Father, as it is written of him and for him in the seventeenth Psalm (verse 15), saying, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." The human face and form divine, which was made in the image of God, is a fitting symbol of the

members of the body of Christ in the resurrection when they appear with Christ in glory.

The Face of a Lion

The lion is the king of beasts and is a symbol of majesty, dignity, and power. The righteous will be raised in power, and with Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah at their head they will have power over the nations, including the two rebellious nations of Israel, the two mountains of brass, and will rule them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

The Face of an Ox

The ox is a beast of sacrifice and is led to the slaughter. Christ was similarly led forth, and slain for us. His brethren also from Abel down, in multitudes of instances, have bowed down to the slaughter and been made a sacrifice for the truth's sake; and as they have been partakers of Christ's sufferings, they will also be partakers of the glory which shall be revealed.

The Face of an Eagle

The eagle is a strong bird of prey, and powerful of flight. The Lord said to Job out of the whirlwind, "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place, from thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes beholdeth afar off. Her young ones suck up blood and where the slain are there she is." Moses said to the children of Israel concerning the day of their calamity, "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flyeth" (Deut. 28: 49); and Hosea says (8: 1), "Set the trumpet to thy mouth; he shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law." And when Christ and his brethren come to execute judgment upon the wicked, they are likened to the eagle that hasteth to the prey, even as Jesus himself said, For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be, for wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

THE WINGS OF THE FOUR BEASTS

"And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him." When Isaiah saw Christ's glory and spake of him, he said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims (or cherubims); each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly." The wings of a bird are a symbol of the Spirit, for as a bird flies through the open firmament of heaven from place to place by means of its wings, even so the sons of God, when made perfect, will fly, not with literal wings but by means of the power of the Spirit of God, as Daniel speaks of Gabriel, saying, "Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the be

ginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation."

The prophet says that with two wings the cherubims covered their faces, thus showing that the faces of immortal men are by the spirit concealed from human sight: with two they covered their feet, showing thereby that the way that they go is hidden from the eyes of the children of men so that they cannot follow them: with two they did fly, that is, by the power of the spirit they are able to mount up like eagles, and pass from place to place with the speed of lightning. They are able to move from one part of the universe to another by means of the same spirit by which the Father himself upholds and controls all things.

These things are in accordance with what Jesus taught, saying, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." This figure perfectly illustrates the power of immortal men; their voice may be heard speaking, yet no one among the children of men in the flesh can any more tell whence they came or whither they go than they can tell from whence the wind comes or whither it goes. So is every one that is born by resurrection, or translation.

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SEVENTH. THE BOOK, THE LAMB, AND THE SEALS (REV. 5)

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book writ ten within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals (Rev. 5:1). As to what was written in this book, the Prophet Ezekiel has given us a very clear intimation. He saw visions of the glory of God, and of the cherubims and their work, and after he saw these things he says (2:9-10), "And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me, and lo, a roll of a book was therein. And he spread it before me, and it was written within and without, and there was written therein lamentations and mourning and woe " (3: 1-9). "Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat what thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

"And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give. Then did I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, Go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them (and please note what the Lord now says). For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech, and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto me, for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads, as an adamant, harder than flint have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house."

Now these remarkable words of the Lord by the hand of Ezekiel are a key to the deep things of the Revelation, for they proceed from the author