THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST

The manner of the manufacture of the image in these times in Israel's future history, and their works, are minutely described in the prophets. For instance, the Prophet Isaiah foretold how the people of Israel would proceed to construct this image in the latter days, saying (41:6-7), "They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved." And again he saith (44), "They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh, he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god."

But saith the prophet, "They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, I have baked bread upon the coals thereof: I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

This full account of the shameful idolatry of the house of Israel in the latter days, with many others of like character in the prophets, shows how fully they will be given over to the worship of idols in those times, when they will even set up their graven images in the Temple, that is, as Daniel said, "They will take away the daily sacrifice and place (in the Temple) the abomination that maketh desolate." Thus it is that they blaspheme God's name which is recorded in this house and his Tabernacle, by placing this image in the Temple.

Jeremiah also shows that the rebellious house in that day are idolaters, from the kings of Israel and Judah upon their thrones down to the meanest of their subjects, for he speaks in a certain place, saying, "As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, saying to a stock, Thou art my father: and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us." Then the Lord will answer in reply, "But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise, if they can save in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah" (Jer. 2:26-28).

A Talking Image

"And he (the two-horned beast) had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the beast should be killed." It will be no great wonder in that day if they are able to make a talking image, when there is given to them power to even call down fire from heaven and to work miracles as Jannes and Jambres did, who withstood Moses, insomuch that Jesus said that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect.

THE NAME AND NUMBER OF THE BEAST (REV. 13:16-18)

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark 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 name of the beast signifies his doctrine and his idolatrous worship, and the number of his name signifies the number of those persons whom the great Assyrian, or the beast as he is here called, employs to minister before his idols and before himself, as he claims also to be a god and an object of worship, as also does the dragon king of Israel, the man of sin. Now this troop of uncircumcised Gentile priests in violation of God's law are admitted into the temple, and mingle with the priests of Israel, and partake with them of the wine that is poured out in their drink offerings, and they eat also with them of their meat offerings. Therefore the Lord speaks to these transgressors by his servant the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering to that number (666). Therefore saith the Lord, will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter" (Isa. 65: 11-12).

The Lord also speaking of this very time by the hand of Moses informs us that he will taunt them when they cry to him for help in the time of their calamity and says, " And he shall say, Where are thy gods, their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat of the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection " (Deut. 32: 37-38). But the Lord speaking by Ezekiel makes this mystery plain, and although we have already sketched these matters, yet their importance demands that we throw additional light upon them if possible. The

Lord here speaks to these two lewd women, Aholah and Aholibah, saying (23:40), “And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments, and satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil. And a voice of a multitude (666) being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought, Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands and beautiful crowns upon their heads."

With this strange situation placed before our minds, the Lord speaks of them as follows, saying, "Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them? Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot; so went they in unto Aholah and Aholibah, the lewd women." The relation of the Lord to the children of Israel in a spiritual sense is illustrated by the relations of husband and wife. The Lord had taken them to be his people, and he to be their God; therefore when they left him to serve other gods, their conduct towards him is like unto a faithless wife who leaves her lawful husband and joins herself to other men, and is therefore called an adulteress. Even so when the house of Israel and the house of Judah, called here by the names of Aholah and Aholibah, forsake the Lord in the latter days and set up gods of their own making in the Temple, and invite strangers with their gods also to enter with them into the Lord's house to eat and drink with them at the Lord's table, upon which the Lord says they have set mine incense and mine oil,— this is what the Lord characterizes as going in unto her as they go in unto an harlot.

Now the priests, the Levites, defile themselves in these times after the manner which is here described and will be degraded, after these evil times are passed away, in the new Temple service which will be celebrated for a thousand years in the new heavens and the new earth, but the sons of Zadoc will be honored in the new Temple and the service thereof, because they fell not away with the other priests. Therefore the Lord speaks thus, as it is written. in the forty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel saying (verses 5-16), "Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the laws. thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, in that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood; and they have broken my covenant, because of all your abominations. And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge (that troop) in my sanctuary for yourselves.

"Thus saith the Lord God, No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their

idols, they shall even bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity." This is the falling away spoken of by Paul. It is when in the latter days the house of Israel falls away again into the iniquities of their ancestors, that is, into their worst forms of idolatry that they practiced in ancient times. in their former history. "Therefore, saith the Lord, have I lifted up mine hand against them, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

"But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God. They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge." Moreover this distinction and preferment is made in dividing the land, and the choicest and most desirable lands near the new Temple will be given to the faithful sons of Zadok, as it is recorded in Ezekiel (48:11), "It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray." When the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel is set up in the Temple, these Levites minister before their idols for the people of Israel and cause them to fall away, because of which they will be dishonored, as stated in these Scriptures.

The Number of the Beast-666 (Rev. 13: 18)

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and three score and six." The beast is a man, and the puzzle that requires Scripture knowledge to understand lies not in knowing that his number is six hundred three score and six, for that is plainly stated, but the real mystery is to know what the 666 are. Are they priests, prophets, or common people? are they Jews or Gentiles? Were it not for the writings of Moses and the prophets to which the author of this book has commanded us to give heed, we should be in the dark on this subject and like unto the sectarian scribes whose lack of knowledge on this as well as upon many other things is best seen by what they themselves have written.

The key to unfold this mystery the Lord himself has furnished us in the word which he gave to Israel by the hand of his prophet, Isaiah. Speaking of the transgressors that he intends to destroy he says (Isa. 65:11), "But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering to that number (666). The people who prepare a table for that troop are priests, for the Lord speaks of them in this same chapter (65: 3) saying, that they sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon altars of brick. They are the priests, the

Levites, and those that are left of them after the judgment is past are degraded afterwards in the Temple service because they sent for, and brought uncircumcised Gentiles into the Temple to defile the Lord's house, and ministered before the idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity.

Therefore the number of the beast is 666 ministers, who minister for him before his idols, in his system of idolatry which he brings with him, and which the king of Israel is compelled to recognize and honor, even as the man clothed with linen spake to Daniel concerning the king (of Israel) who does according to his will, saying (11:38), "But in his estate he shall honour the god of forces; and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

Thus shall he

do in the most strong holds with strange god, whom he shall acknowledge." The king of Israel acknowledges and honors their gods and admits their troop of ministers 666 in number within the Temple, who mingle with the rebellious priests of Israel who entertain them there with meat offerings and drink offerings, which is in violation of God's covenant which is broken in that day. These things can only be learned by the aid of what the prophets of old have spoken.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY AND FOUR THOUSAND (REV. 14:1-5)

This is one of those Scripture numbers which indicates completeness and perfection, and is like many other numbers which the Lord employs in speaking of the works of his hands. Such as the number 4, as applied to the four beasts or the four living creatures, the four horns, the four carpenters, the four spirits of the heavens, the four winds, four corners of the earth, four angels, and such like. The number 7 also is one of the numbers indicating completeness, such as the seven churches, seven angels, seven horns, and seven eyes of the Lamb, which are also the seven spirits before the throne, which are the saints who are sent forth from standing before the God of the earth to walk to and fro through all the earth. Therefore the numbers 4 and 7 as here used represent multitudes of people.

So also does the number 12, as referring to the twelve thousand sealed out of the tribes of Israel. In the wilderness the number of men fit for war in each tribe was counted, but they were of unequal numbers. But in the Revelation the number sealed out of each tribe is placed at twelve thousand, making 144,000 in all, as constituting the army which follows the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Now that the sum of the sealed are to be understood, if I may say so, in round numbers to be 144,000, and not as being definitely and specifically understood as meaning an exact number, no more, and no less, is manifest from the fact that the dragon's tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven (the hundred, forty and four thousand) and did cast them to the earth. Also it is said of the Assyrian, who is spoken of in the eighth chapter of Daniel as the little horn which waxed exceeding great, that he waxed great, even to the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them." The Lord also says in another place, "O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt" (Isa. 10: 24). These Scriptures indicate that some of their number