[142] Revelation xvii. 9-10.
[143] Jeremiah li. 25.
[144] Revelation viii. 10, see also ix. 1; Isaiah xiv. 12-15.
[145] In regard to Elijah, see Malachi iv. 5-6. John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and of him our Lord said, "this is he who was to come."
Yet the events of judgment spoken of in Malachi did not take place when John the Baptist and Jesus came. The events spoken of prophetically in connection with His coming are divided into two groups, those of graciousness, finding fulfilment at the first coming, those of judgment followed by graciousness, at the second coming. So John the Baptist fulfils the Elijah part at the first of these two; in all probability Elijah himself at the second part, _i.e._, "before the great and _terrible_ day of Jehovah come."
In regard to Enoch, the pa.s.sage in Jude, verse 14, is of significance.
The language, "Enoch prophesied, ... the Lord _came_, etc.," is probably spoken in the sense, familiar in the Bible, of a future action seen as already done. Here Enoch is spoken of as prophesying or preaching, _not_ to the people before the Flood, but to a certain cla.s.s of men belonging to Jude"s generation, that is to the Church generation. The likeliest meaning of the words is that Enoch, the seventh and so on, _will_ prophesy, saying, "behold the Lord _cometh_," and so on to close of verse 15.
[146] Revelation xii. 1-6.
[147] Revelation xii. 7-17.
[148] Revelation xii.
[149] Revelation xiii.
[150] Chapter xiii. 9-10.
[151] Revelation xiv. 1-5.
[152] Revelation xiv. 6-20.
[153] Revelation xv.-xvi.
[154] Revelation xiv. 1-5.
[155] Revelation xi. 19.
[156] Psalm xi. 6; lx. 3; lxxv. 8; Job xxi. 20; Isaiah li. 17, 22, 23; Jeremiah xxv. 15-17; Ezekiel xxiii. 31-33; Habakkuk ii. 16; Zechariah xii. 2.
[157] Isaiah xi. 15-16.
[158] Revelation vi. 15-17.
[159] Revelation xi. 14.
[160] Chapters xvii. and xviii.
[161] Revelation xvii. 8-12.
[162] Revelation i. 4, 8; iv. 8.
[163] Revelation xi. 17; xvi. 5.
[164] Ezekiel x.x.xix. 17-20.
[165] Jeremiah i. 11-12.
VII.--THE CROWNED CHRIST REIGNING
(Revelation, Chapters xx: 4-xxii.)
"On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits."
"A garden is a lovesome thing, G.o.d wot!
Rose plot, Fringed pool, Ferned grot-- The veriest school Of peace; and yet the fool Contends that G.o.d is not-- Not G.o.d! in gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign; "Tis very sure G.o.d walks in mine."
Day Is Coming.
It"s a long lane that has no turning. Every valley leads up a hillside to a hilltop. Every storm ends in sunshine at the last. Every night runs out; the dawn _will_ break; the new day comes; the shadows flee before the new shining. The battle for right will end in victory, and in a decisive victory. There"ll be no draw here. Faith wins at last. It"s been a long night of fighting. Sometimes it seems endless.
The man in the thick of the fight, with moist brow, and clenched hand, and quick breath and throbbing heart, sometimes sobs out the prayer, "O Lord, how long before the night is over, and the dawn breaks?" And quietly through the smoke and din of the conflict a still, small voice says, "Steady, my child, steady; the day is surely coming, and with day victory; steady, steady a bit longer."
Now here in vision the fight is over, the victory won. And G.o.d"s visions always become realities. The vision is yet for the appointed time, and it panteth breathlessly toward the realization, and will not fail nor delay. Though it tarry, wait for it; it will certainly come on time; it will not be late.[166]
In the seventh view the kingdom follows immediately that decisive conflict and the putting of Satan out of the way for the time being. The redeemed ones at once begin their blessed service of fellowship with the King in reigning over the kingdom. Emphasis is placed on the fact that at this time there has been a resurrection of believers. And these resurrected ones join with those caught up without death in administering the kingdom. This kingdom is said to last for a thousand years, that length of time being named only here, and here six times.
There is much talk in our day about the kingdom. All Christendom has been repeating for nineteen centuries the pet.i.tion, "Thy kingdom come."
It will be of intense and practical interest to see just what the kingdom is, as pictured in the Bible. It is barely mentioned in this place in Revelation, to fit it into its place in the scheme of future events being outlined.
But it is the chief theme in these old prophetic pages, around which all others group. Immediate historical events furnish the setting, but there is a continual swinging to the coming future greatness. The yellow glory-light of the coming kingdom is never out of the prophetic sky.
Jeremiah is the one most absorbed in the boiling of the political pot of his own strenuous time, but even he, at times, lifts his head and gets such a glimpse of the coming kingdom as causes him to mix some rose tincture with the jet black ink he habitually uses.
The Kingdom Picture.
Let us look briefly at the kingdom picture of these older pages. Its capital is Jerusalem, which becomes the world capital. It will be the joy of the whole earth. Israel will be the first nation of the earth, to which all others will be tributary. But it will be not the Israel of these old pages, nor the Jew as he is known characteristically throughout history. Israel will be a new nation, made new in character by the power of the Holy Spirit. The winsome picture of the baptized crowds at Pentecost gives an inkling of the spirit that will sway the new nation.[167] They will be a nation of radiant faces and thrilled hearts.
The effect of this upon all other nations is marked. Through Israel"s regeneration and new leadership, every other nation is to know a new spirit life. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Israel is to be followed by an outpouring upon _all_ flesh. Pentecost is merely a beginning of what is to be universal. There will be a widespread voluntary coming to Israel for religious instruction. She becomes the world"s teacher until the knowledge of G.o.d covers the whole earth as the waters cover the sea. But all this will be purely a voluntary movement among the nations. There will be war no longer, but universal peace.
There"s one part of the picture specially comforting. That vast majority, _the poor_, will be specially guarded and cared for. There will be no hungry people, nor cold, nor poorly clad; no unemployed begging for a chance to earn a dry crust, and no workers fighting for a fair share of the fruit of their toil. But there are yet tenderer touches on the canvas. Broken hearts will be healed, prison doors unhung, broken family circles complete again.
A recent issue of The Sunday School Times tells a simple, touching incident of a mission hall in Korea. A Korean woman living in the country heard of the wonderful things happening there, and came to town to find out for herself, and get some help. But she didn"t know where the hall was, nor what name it was called. So she inquired on the streets for the place where they _cured the broken heart_. And at once she was directed to the mission hall. That sort of thing will become a blessed commonplace in the beginning of the kingdom time.
Then there are certain radical changes in _nature_. Splendid rivers of waters are to flow through or by Jerusalem, suggesting radical changes in the formation of the land there. That fortress city, on the hilltop, Jerusalem, becomes as the world"s metropolis, a mighty city, with rivers floating a world"s commerce. The light of sun and moon will be greatly intensified, so influencing the fertility of the earth. Before their healing light and heat, in the newly tempered atmosphere, all poisonous growths, the blight of drought, and suffering of untempered heat, will disappear.
And with this goes a change in the _animal_ creation. Hate will be gone.
And so beasts that are dreaded because of their ferocity and treachery and poisonous power will be wholly changed. There will be mutual cessation of cruelty to animals by man, and of danger to man by animals, for all hate and violence will be gone.