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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHRISTIAN REALITIES
REVEALED IN THE PROPHETIC PICTURES OF THE APOCALYPSE
The Christian life is very
real, and God desires to help His children grasp its realities. Rightly
understood, the Apocalypse provides prophetic pictures which
enable the Christian to visualize the actualities of the
spiritual conflict. One writer has stated: "Could our spiritual
vision be quickened, we should see souls bowed under oppression and
burdened with grief. We should see angels flying quickly to the aid of
these tempted ones, forcing back the hosts of evil that encompass them,
and placing their feet on a firm foundation. The battles waging
between the two armies are as real as those fought by the armies of this
world, and on the issue of the spiritual conflict eternal
destinies depend." ("Prophets and Kings," p.176.)
The more the Christian
remembers that this conflict is constantly being waged, the more he
realizes what is transpiring around him and in connection with his own
salvation, the more alert, watchful and prepared will he be. Satan ever
seeks to make the realities appear unreal or far-removed. The unseen and
eternal become vague and shadowy. The urgency and the necessity for
watchfulness are dulled by a multitude of worldly things - things which
seem so very real, but after all are not the real things. Paul declared:
"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but
the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).
Christians have to fight
against the ever-present tendency to relegate spiritual realities to the
background and to permit the temporal things of this world to hide the
eternal, unseen things. To help the Christian fasten clear pictures upon
his mind and to draw from them strength and comfort, God caused the
prophets to employ arresting, colorful imagery in their prophetic
descriptions. Educationalists rightly stress the value of "visual
education." Because God has endowed the mind with the ability to
make pictures - to visualize what we read or hear - He has
so inspired the writing of His Holy Word that it forms a long gallery of
word pictures - "likenesses," "similitudes,"
"imagery."
The historical incidents
recorded in the Old Testament provide us with word pictures by
which God teaches us spiritual truths. In them we are to see things
world-wide in scope: corresponding likenesses in the spiritual realm,
which are "spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). The New
Testament, and particularly the Revelation, reveals the principle of
"spiritually" discerning "spiritual things"
in the historical narratives of the Old Testament. The natural eye does
not see these "spiritual things," and often interprets
literally that which should be "spiritually discerned."
(See 1 Cor. 2:6-16.)
In the Old Testament, seven
golden candlesticks provided the only light in the Jewish sanctuary; in
the first chapter of Revelation those seven candlesticks represent
the experience of the Christian church throughout the Christian era.
(Rev. 1:20.) Like its divine Author, the church is "the light of
the world" (Matt. 5:14; John 9:5). The picture provided of a
world in darkness only lit by the church should act as a stimulant to
provoke zeal in letting the light of the Saviour shine forth in all its
splendor. In a previous publication, the writer has shown that the
Revelation, throughout, employs the principle that the things of the Old
Testament provide imagery in depicting world-wide things in
connection with our Lord and His church - and their enemies.
The Revelation is rich in word
pictures, and sometimes errors are conceived and advocated by those
who interpret literally all the details of these graphic
descriptions, instead of symbolically as they should be
interpreted. We cite but a few examples.
The doctrines of eternal
torment and a red devil with a tail, etc., have their basis in taking
with rigid literality figures of speech and symbols. (See Rev. 12:3, 4;
Isa. 14:9-20:Ezek. 32:18-32; Luke 16:19-31, etc.)
The emblems of our Lord's
broken body and His shed blood- the bread and the wine used in the
Lord's Supper - are spiritual symbols By taking literally Christ's
statement: "This is My body . . . this is My blood," Roman
Catholics have been led into the error of transubstantiation.
Protestants repudiate the idolatry of the Mass by interpreting Christ's
statement symbolically, and not literally. Error is often
the literal interpretation of that which God intended to be
applied spiritually.
The four celestial beings of
Rev. 7:1-3 are not literally stationed in the four quarters of
the earth, for the purpose of checking and restraining literal
winds that blow from the four points of the compass. It is a symbolical
representation of the Lord's control, through His angelic ministers, of
world affairs so that they do not prevent the completion of His work on
earth.
"Ascending from the
east" (v. 2): a message comes from Christ as the sun comes forth with
increasing splendor until the meridian glory is reached. (See Rev.
18:1.) Thus light is to increase until the end. The prophetic picture
concerning the coming of the angel from the east, four angels holding
the four winds, and the sealing of the tribes of Israel, is not
to be taken literally, but as a symbolical representation of the
completion of the work of Christ on earth. A well-known writer has
stated:-
" 'The four corners of the
earth,' and the 'four winds of the earth, are evidently phrases which
are meant to convey the idea of the world-wide extent of the conditions
which the Revelator is describing. The seal of the living God, and the
white robes, and the twelve tribes are also symbols, for no one would
suppose that a literal seal was to be actually stamped upon the
foreheads of God's servants; nor that the saints literally washed their
robes in the blood of Christ, nor that the sealing work was confined to
the twelve literal tribes of Israel, of whom all means of identification
have been lost for many centuries. . . . Much of the real meaning of
such passages of Scripture as Rev. 7 is lost when an attempt is made to
deal with them literally. Beautiful truths are revealed in these
symbolic passages, once we can define the symbolism which is
used." ("The World's Finale," pp.69-72, by A. W.
Anderson.) (Emphasis mine.)
In order to enable His children
to grasp the grandeur of spiritual truths that will strengthen and
encourage, that will arrest attention and powerfully impress, God
inspired His prophets to paint prophetic pictures that will make what He
seeks to impart stand out as though literally happening before our
eyes. It would help readers of the Apocalypse to obtain a correct
understanding of the moral purpose of the Apocalypse if it were
remembered that the church is pictured as if it were Israel
dwelling in Canaan and re-living the experiences of ancient Israel. As
the Christian life is powerfully illustrated by the typical experiences
of literal Israel (1. Cor. 10:1-11, margin, etc.), so experiences
befalling the Christian church and described in the prophecies of the
Apocalypse are also depicted as if the church as Israel still dwells
in the Holy Land. Many commentators have drawn attention to this
fact A "Commentary on the New Testament," published by the
"Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge," says on its notes
dealing with the battle of Armageddon: "We must remember that
throughout this Book Canaan represents the locality of the church of
God. The quarter from which enemies gathered against the earthly
Canaan was the North. Then from the banks of the Euphrates came the
Assyrian . . . the Chaldean, the destroyer of Jerusalem. . . . We are
not to think here of any great battle to be fought on this actual spot
[Megiddo]. This were to forget what is ever to be borne in mind, that
throughout this Book, Jerusalem, Sion, the Holy Land and various
localities in it are symbols of the Christian church, its
sanctuary, or its enemies.... The battle is a figure, as
naturally employed, as the words by which we describe the prevalence of
good over evil, in which it is almost impossible not to use expressions
borrowed from the battlefield - struggle, defeat, triumph, victory, and
the like. The Visions of the Apocalypse are to the eye what metaphorical
words are to the ears - symbols, ideal, not real, pictures of
what is to come to pass."
Anciently Israel was referred
to as "a people near unto Him" (Ps. 148:14). The
sanctuary and, later, the temple, the dwelling place of God, was located
in the midst of Israel. Israel encamped about and near to the sanctuary,
while the gentile world was far-removed; a people "afar off."
This physical fact is employed by Paul to picture a
spiritual truth. Writing of believers now being the Israel of God and
those not "in Christ" as the "Gentiles," Paul says
to those who had previously been classified as "Gentiles":
"Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the
flesh. . . . That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel. . . . But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. . . . And came and preached peace to you which were afar off,
and to them that were nigh" (Ephes. 2:11-22). Thus Paul pictures
the church now made up of Jews and Gentiles as if it were Israel
living "near" to God in Jerusalem, while unbelievers
are pictured as "Gentiles" "afar off." Jesus, the
Revelator (see Rev. 22:16), represents the church as if it were
"with Him" "on the mount Sion" (Rev. 14:1). In
Rev. 11:1, 2 the church is pictured as if it were "the
temple" and "the holy city." In Rev. 14:20 the
destruction of the wicked is symbolized as grapes being trodden
in a wine-press "without the city." The city, of course (until
after the 1,000 years), referring here to the church of God. The 1,600
furlongs or 200 miles refers to the circuit of the Holy Oblation where,
in his symbolic vision of the church, Ezekiel pictures a mighty
temple and city on the "very high mountain" "in the land
of Israel." John applies this vision concerning the city, temple
and Holy Oblation in "the land of Israel" in a world- wide
sense.
In his "Notes on the Book
of Revelation," the Rev. A. Barnes says on the phrase "And the
winepress was trodden without the city": "The representation
was made as if it were outside of the city; that is, the city of
Jerusalem, for that is represented as the abode of the holy. . .
. The winepress was usually in the vineyard - not in a city - and this
is the representation here. As appearing to the eye of John, it was not
within the walls of any city, but standing without. And blood came out
of the winepress. The representation is, that there would be a
great destruction which would be well represented by the juice
flowing from a winepress. Even unto the horse-bridles. Deep - as blood
would be in a field of slaughter where it would come up to the very
bridles of the horses. The idea is, that there would be a great
slaughter. . . . The enemies of the church would be completely and
finally overthrown, and that the church, therefore, delivered from all
its enemies, would be triumphant."
These graphic portrayals were
designed to cheer the hearts of the faithful and to console them in
their trials and persecutions. Satan, seeking to divert the eyes of
saints from the assurance these verses contain for them that their foes
would be overthrown, causes erroneous ideas to be promulgated that these
verses have reference to a literal, military conflict in Palestine
outside of the city of Jerusalem; that the 200 miles refers to the
length of Palestine, etc.
As the enemies of God and of
His church are not literal bunches of grapes (see Rev. 14:17-20),
their gathering is not a literal gathering. God commands the
angels: "Gather the clusters of the vine of the earth [i.e.,
the world-wide vineyard] ... and the angel thrust in his sickle into the
earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without
the city." Those who are slaughtered in the destruction of
Armageddon are said to perish "without the city" - the
spiritual Zion, the spiritual Jerusalem. "For in mount Zion
and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance" (Joel 2:32). Thus
"deliverance" is assured those who, heeding the call of
Christ, "come out" of spiritual Babylon and enter into the
spiritual city of Jerusalem.
The church is represented as
being on Mount Zion "with" the Lord Jesus. (Rev. 14:1.)
By a spiritual union they are just as much "with Him"
(Rev. 17:14) as if they were there literally. When the kings of
the earth - the governments of earth - "make war with the
Lamb" His church is said to be "with Him." (See Rev.
17:12-14; 16:14-16; 19:19, 20.) Thus the gathering of the nations
to "make war against the Lamb" and His church is not a
literal gathering to Mount Zion in the literal city of Jerusalem, but a uniting
of the elements of Satan's kingdom into concerted action against the
Lord's church, just as if there were two armies involved: one in
Jerusalem, and the other gathered outside in "the valley of
Jehoshaphat" - the valley of "God's Judgment." The
gathering of the ripened grapes for the winepress outside the city of
Jerusalem and Mount Zion and the gathering of all nations and
people to fight against Christ and His church are both symbolic
representations of the same events. The world's harvest which is
mentioned in Rev. 14:14-20 is pictured as growing in "the
valley of Jehoshaphat." Compare Joel 3:13 with Matt. 13:38-40, also
Joel 3:13 with Rev. 14:14-20. By comparing Joel 3:2, 11, 12, with Matt.
25:31-33, we see that Jesus applies "the valley of
Jehoshaphat" and the gathering of all the nations into it, as the symbol
of the world-wide judgment of "all nations" at the time of
His second advent. The literal application of these verses as a
gathering of nations to war against each other hides the grandeur and
the solemnity of the symbolic imagery portraying a moving,
impressive picture representing the great Judgment day when all people -
the sheep and the goats - will be judged and eternally separated.
Attempts to apply literally
dramatic symbolical representations spoil the picture the
inspired word-artist has painted and create absurdities, which not only
hide the truth portrayed by the symbol, but which at times lead to
superstition and error. As an example we cite Rev. 17:14:"These
shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome
them.." One earnestly writing in defense of the teaching that
Armageddon pertains to nations in Palestine, after quoting Rev. 17:14,
says: "Now it seems that when Jesus comes as King of kings and Lord
of lords, the ten kingdoms will be in a position to oppose His
cause." Another verse which is quoted in support of the belief that
the nations are gathered by Satan to Palestine, and that at the second
coming of Christ these nations make war against the Lord, is Rev.
19:19:"I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their
armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the
horse, and against His army."
What consummate folly to
imagine an earthly army literally attacking the Almighty Son of
God and the hosts of heaven at the second advent! The second advent will
be the occasion of a greater display of Omnipotent power than is humanly
conceivable. The brightness of Christ's coming destroys the wicked. (2
Thess. 2:8, etc.) When the heavens open, as stated in Rev. 19:11,
instead of the beast and the armies of earth (Rev. 19:19, 20) literally
making war against the King of kings and His heavenly army, they flee in
terror from the glory of the Lord, calling upon the mountains to hide
them "from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb." (See Rev. 6:14-17.) It will be noted that in
these verses the Revelator, as in Rev. 19:11-19, describes the same
great day of the Lord, the same opening of the heavens, the same
"kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the
chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and
every free man." Therefore it is obvious that the gathering
together of "the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their
armies" "to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and
against His army" cannot possibly refer to a literal gathering
of nations to Megiddo to literally fight against the Lord at His
second advent, for "all men" - "every
bondman and every free man" - will not be literally
at Megiddo. Understood symbolically, we see that the unsaved of
the whole world are represented as if they all served as
divisions under the banner of Satan. The Revelator distinctly states
that in this great army which he symbolically describes as being
"gathered together" are "all men, both free and
bond, both small and great." (Rev. 19:17, 18.) When the Lord, at
His second advent, destroys "all" the unregenerate, though symbolically
portrayed as armies gathered together and slain together, yet literally
they are slain by the Lord in all the world. "The slain
of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even
unto the other end of the earth" (Jer. 25:33). Thus the
gathering together of "all the fowls that fly" to eat
the flesh of "all men" (Rev. 19:17, 18) could not be a
literal gathering together of the birds to the literal land of
Israel, for "all men" will be destroyed by the Lord
"from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the
earth." John obtains this imagery of the ignominy and the
completeness of the destruction of the enemies of God from the prophecy
concerning Gog and his army. (See Ezek. 39:4, 17-20.) This shows that
Ezekiel's prophecy (chaps. 38, 39) must be understood as a symbolical
presentation of the world-wide spiritual conflict, which ends in the
final destruction of those who serve under the banner of Satan. In Rev.
20:8, 9, we have the Lord's interpretation of the prophecy of Ezekiel
concerning the multitudes in the army of Gog - they are the multitudes
deceived by Satan: the enemies of our Lord.
In Ps. 45:3-7 the Lord's spiritual
conflict is presented symbolically. In Heb. 1:8, 9 these verses
are applied to our Lord. The same symbolic description is
employed in Rev. 19:11-14 to depict the Lord's return to complete His warfare
against evil by destroying those who just previously endeavored to
persecute and destroy the people of God. The Revelator's description of
Jesus coming with "the armies" of heaven to make "war"
against the beast and the armies of earth is obviously intended to be
understood symbolically. Will Jesus literally ride "a
white horse" down the skies? (Rev. 19:11.) The Revelator had
previously pictured Him at His second advent sitting on a cloud, with
a sickle in His hand. (See Rev. 14:14-16.) Will all the multiplied
millions of angels literally "ride upon white horses"?
(Rev. 19:14.) Will a literal "sharp sword" come
"out of His mouth"? (V. 15.) Our Lord's "sharp
sword" is His word. (See Heb. 4:12; Ephes. 6:17, etc.) Will He come
literally "clothed with a vesture dipped in blood"?
Will He then literally tread "the winepress"? (Rev.
19:13, 15.) Will an angel literally invite "all the fowls
that fly" to come "unto the supper of the great God" and
"eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh
of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them,
and the flesh of all men"? (Rev. 19:17, 18.) "The beast, and
the kings of the earth, and their armies" will not be literally
"gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse,
and against His army." (Rev. 19:19.) Our Lord Jesus, the Revelator
(Rev. 22:16), symbolically portrays the world-wide spiritual
conflict. Any attempt to literalize this symbolic presentation hides
the moral purpose which it was designed to portray.
A widely-read Christian writer,
stressing the necessity of observing the symbolic character of
the Apocalypse, says:-
"This book [Revelation]
demands close, prayerful study, lest it be interpreted according to the
ideas of men, and false construction be given to the sacred word of the
Lord, which in its symbols and figures means so much to us. . . .
In the Revelation the deep things of God are portrayed."
In accordance with the
principle enunciated, this same author has often symbolically
applied, in connection with the great controversy between Christ and
Satan, the same passages of Scripture which we have been considering.
Graphically depicting the conflict between the forces of good and evil,
in harmony with what we have shown is the correct interpretation of the
symbolic "war" passages presented in the Apocalypse, this
popular author says :-
"I saw two armies in
terrible conflict. One army was led by banners bearing the world's
insignia; the other was led by the blood-stained banner of Prince
Emmanuel . . . company I after company from the Lord's army
joined the foe, and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy
united with the commandment-keeping people of God. . . . The battle
raged. Victory alternated from side to side. . . . The Captain of our
salvation was ordering the battle, and sending support to His
soldiers. His power was mightily displayed. . . . He led them on
step by step, conquering and to conquer.
"At last the victory
was gained. The army following the banner with the inscription,
'The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus' (Rev. 14:12), was
gloriously triumphant. Now the church is militant. . . . But the
day is coming in which the battle will have been fought, the
victory won. But the church must and will fight against seen and
unseen foes. . . . Men have confederated to oppose the Lord of hosts.
These confederacies will continue until Christ shall . . . put on the
garments of vengeance." (Vol.8, pp.41, 42.)
Those who "come out"
of Babylon (Rev. 18:4) and are gathered to be "with"
Christ "on the mount Zion" have "the seal of God in their
foreheads." (See Rev. 7:1-4; 14:1.) Those who are gathered together
to "make war with the Lamb and they that are with Him"
(Rev. 17:14; 19:19) have "the mark of the beast" in their
foreheads or in their hands. (See Rev. 13:16, 17; 14:9-11; 19:20.) So
vital it is for those living in this great hour of destiny to clearly
understand the issues at stake, so important are the truths the Lord
presents in the Apocalypse, that He throws living, symbolic pictures on
the screen of prophecy to arrest and grip the attention. By interpreting
these pictures literally in reference to Palestine (they are
given in a Palestinian setting, for the church is represented as if
it were with Christ on mount Zion, etc.), Satan causes Christ's
important Apocalyptic messages to lose their meaning and their vitality. |
