THE LAST REFORMATION
The scene changes, and again we have the picture of God's chosen
people set in bright relief against the dark background of
Protestantism and the still darker shades of papal apostasy.
[Sidenote: The 144,000 on Mount Zion]
"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Sion, and with him an
hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in
their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many
waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of
harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song
before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no
man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand,
which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow
the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men,
being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth
was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of
God" (Rev. 14:1-5).
What a contrast with the beast powers described in the preceding
chapter of the Revelation! This redeemed company is on Mount Zion, not
hidden in the darkness of the wilderness. They are with the Lamb, not
wandering after the beast. Instead of being oppressed and overcome by
opposers, they are singing the joyful song of redemption and harping
with their harps; and instead of having the "mark of the beast," they
have their "_Father's name written in their foreheads_." The manner in
which this joyful, redeemed company is distinguished from the host
of beast-worshipers brought to light under the preceding symbols,
proclaims unmistakably the fact that we have here a description of
the true people of God who have obtained victory over the apostasy. In
other words, a distinct reformation is predicted.
This sublime scene is not a description of heaven, for the context
shows its direct contact with the forms of apostate Christianity with
which it is placed in contrast on earth. Certain leading figures in
the scene, as Christ the Lamb and a number of angels, are heavenly
beings; but their presence simply shows the divine character of the
work in contrast with those other religious powers, one of which came
up out of the sea and the other out of the earth. Besides, we have
already shown that whenever angels figure in the symbolic scene _on
earth_, they represent distinguished agencies among men, and the
message of good angels, being obviously from heaven, is therefore the
message of God. When different angels, bearing different messages,
appear in the same general symbolic scene, they represent not isolated
or independent movements, but different phases of the same work.
The Revelator introduces another phase of the religious movement under
consideration with these words: "And I saw another angel fly in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them
that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue,
and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to
him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (verses
6, 7).
In the message of the angel there are set forth a number of distinct
truths. Prominence is given to the call to worship the one true God.
This stands in contrast with the apostasy preceding; for under the
papacy its adherents "worshiped the dragon" and "they worshiped the
beast," while the second beast caused people to "worship the first
beast" and to "worship the image of the beast." The message of this
angel is universal and indicates a world-wide missionary effort in
which the true God and his holy worship alone will be exalted, and
that before the end of time, for the judgment is set forth as an
impending event for which men must speedily prepare.
But the description does not end here. An awful revelation, falling
like hail-stones or coals of fire upon the heads of the devotees of
modern churchianity, is proclaimed by divine authority: "And there
followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that
great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the
wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying
with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and
receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink
of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation" (verses 8-10).
Here we are brought face to face with some of the most solemn truths
contained in the Book of God. The very powers of apostate Christianity
just described under the symbols of two beasts are now represented
_by the angel_ as Babylon; for, be it observed, the divine message
is against those who worship the beast _and his image_. The image was
made by the second beast. Therefore Babylon includes both Romanism
and Protestantism--the whole realm of formal churchianity; and
beast-worship is here condemned in one of the most terrible
denunciations found in all the Word of God. All the evils inherent
in the false, unscriptural systems of so-called Christianity are here
summed up under the one word _Babylon_, of which we shall have more to
say later.
Two things prominently brought out in these symbols should be
remembered, however--first, that even during the reign of the beast
and his image, God had true people who were carefully distinguished in
the prophecy as those whose names were written in the book of life and
who would not "worship the image of the beast"; and second, that the
symbolic scene now being considered represents these saved individuals
as gathered out into one company with the Lamb on Mount Zion, before
the end of time. The illustration is that of the joyful Israelites
who made their return to Zion after the fall of literal Babylon, where
they were long held in captivity. This is the illustration and the
prophetic description; therefore we may rest assured that just as
truly as time revealed the rise of the papal and Protestant systems,
as set forth in the symbols of the Revelation, just so surely will
there come _before the end of time_ a revival of pure, apostolic
Christianity, a reformation in which the true people of God will take
their stand outside of all forms of the apostasy and carry the full
gospel of the Son of God to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue,
and people."
We have traced in prophetic symbolism the four epochs of the Christian
dispensation represented respectively by the star-crowned woman, the
leopard-beast, the two-horned beast, and the redeemed company gathered
together with the Lamb on Mount Zion. The papal period, represented
by the leopard-beast, continued for 1,260 years, its universal sway
terminating with the sixteenth century reformation. The length of the
Protestant reign following is not stated in this series.
[Sidenote: The two witnesses]
Let us now return to the description of the two witnesses given in
Revelation 11. We have already considered the first part of that
symbolic description pertaining to the 1,260 years during which the
holy city was to be trodden under foot and the two witnesses were
to prophesy in sackcloth; and we have shown that this description is
exactly parallel with the prophecy that set forth the period of the
papal supremacy. But the description continues, covering the era of
modern sects and leading up to the work of a final reformation.
After describing the 1,260-year prophecy of the two witnesses,
the narrative continues: "And when they shall have finished their
testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall
make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And
their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations
shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not
suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell
upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send
gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that
dwelt on the earth" (Rev. 11:7-10).
[Sidenote: The witnesses slain]
This intricate picture of symbolical imagery is placed chronologically
just after the 1,260-year reign of Romanism and hence it was to meet
its fulfilment during the Protestant era. It describes in the most
graphic and realistic manner the evil characteristics and tendencies
of the sect-system. I have already shown that in the primitive church
the two witnesses--the Word and the Spirit of God--were the real
vicars of Christ, giving both character and government to the
universal church of God on earth. We have also seen that with the rise
of human ecclesiasticism the reign of the Word and Spirit ended in
so far as the Church of Rome was concerned. The same is true also
of Protestantism. The establishment of man-made creeds and the
concentration and centralization of church power and governmental
authority in human hands--a church-rule patterned after the kingdoms
of this world--is a _rejection of the divine government of God_
just as the appointment of a king in the Old Testament times was a
rejection of God's plan of governing Israel. In this sense God's two
witnesses have been openly ignored and rejected in Protestantism as
well as in Romanism and the ancient churches of the East, and man-made
creeds and systems of government substituted in their stead. They are,
therefore, represented as slain, although of course a certain amount
of respect is still shown them in that they are not suffered to be
wholly put out of sight.
[Sidenote: The witnesses resurrected]
"And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered
into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon
them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying
unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud;
and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great
earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake
were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and
gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold,
the third woe cometh quickly" (verses 11-14).
The resurrection of the witnesses doubtless signifies a time of
reformation and implies its true character. If the death of the
witnesses was the result of ecclesiasticism and false teaching, their
resurrection must signify a final triumph over ecclesiasticism and the
restoration of primitive Christianity under the direct authority
and government of God. Even omitting all details in this complex
description, we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that if the general
description given in this chapter means anything, it means the
restoration of Christianity before the end of time to the condition in
which it existed before the apostasy.
[Sidenote: The time prophecy]
The time prophecy "three days and a half" is difficult to explain
except in the light of clearly ascertained historical facts. The term
"day" is of itself very indefinite, being used in the Scriptures
to designate periods of different length. In the description under
consideration it evidently can not signify the ordinary 24-hour day
nor yet the year-day; for it covers the Protestant period
following the 1,260-year reign of Romanism and preceding the Last
Reformation--the same period of time covered by the second beast of
Revelation 13.
The events of the Protestant period naturally divide it into shorter
epochs of about a century each in length. The historian D'Aubigne, who
wrote about 1835, noticed this distinction and referred to it in his
famous History of the Reformation. These are his words: "It has been
said that the three last centuries, the sixteenth, the seventeenth,
and the eighteenth may be conceived as an immense battle of _three
days_' duration. We willingly adopt this beautiful comparison ... the
first day was the battle of God, the second the battle of the priest,
the third the battle of Reason. What will be the fourth? In our
opinion the confused strife, the deadly contest of all these powers
together TO END IN THE VICTORY OF HIM TO WHOM TRIUMPH BELONGS."--Book
XI, Chap. 9.
"Three days and a half," or three hundred and fifty years, after the
formation of the first Protestant creed, in 1530, God began to reveal
special light and truth on his Word and to cause a great awakening,
which is gradually resulting in the rejection of human ecclesiastical
rule, the recognition of the primitive government of God, and the
restoration of all the pure truths of the Word of God.
Another point in the prophecy under consideration assists us in fixing
the chronology of the reformation predicted. The "great earthquake"
stands closely associated with the time of the resurrection and
exaltation of the witnesses. The principles of interpreting symbols
would lead us to identify this earthquake as a mighty political
convulsion destructive in its nature, and yet one that would be
overruled for the furtherance of Christ's kingdom--a convulsion that
would also terminate the destructive reign of the "second woe." I can
not here digress to give proofs, but there is no doubt that the
second woe of Revelation (see chap. 9:13-20) signifies the political
dominancy of the Ottoman Empire. This power, constituting the
political backbone of Mohammedanism, has indeed been a most serious
woe upon the inhabitants of the earth and an obstacle in the path of
true missionary progress. With these facts before us, we can clearly
see that the earthquake was the great European War and that we are now
living in the time when a special reformation is due.
[Sidenote: Another important series]
Another parallel series of prophecies covering the same ground and
terminating at the same point will bring the subject of the Last
Reformation to a grand climax. I have shown that the religious powers
described in Revelation 13 as two beasts were also termed Babylon. We
shall now give a more particular description of this antitype of
the Old Testament Babylon. The Euphratean city--Babylon--the
proud metropolis of the Chaldean monarchy, combined in itself the
corruptions and wickedness of the world and then filled up the measure
of its sins by destroying the temple in Jerusalem and leading into
captivity the chosen people of God. When John wrote, however, this
ancient city was no more. It had long since been destroyed, and it
has never been rebuilt to this day. Even the Arab refuses to pitch his
tent among its lonely, serpent-infested ruins. The city to which
the apostle alludes in these prophecies must therefore refer, not to
ancient Babylon, but to some other analogous power which was yet to
arise and of which the old Babylon was a type.
OUTLINE OF PARALLEL PROPHECIES SHOWING FOUR ECCLESIASTICAL EPOCHS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Apostolic | The Medieval Period | Era of Modern | The Last
Period | | Sects | Reformation
----------------+---------------------+----------------+-------------------
DRAGON | LEOPARD-BEAST | TWO-HORNED | FALL OF
Rev. 12:3, 4, | Rev. 13:1-10 | BEAST | BABYLON
7-17 | | Rev. 13:11-18 | Rev. 14:1-9
----------------+---------------------+----------------+-------------------
PURE WOMAN | WOMAN SECLUDED IN | | 144,000 ON MOUNT
Rev. 12 | THE WILDERNESS | | ZION
| Rev. 12:6 | | Rev. 14:1-6
----------------+---------------------+----------------+-------------------
TEMPLE AND | HOLY CITY TRODDEN | TWO WITNESSES | WITNESSES
TRUE WORSHIP | DOWN | SLAIN | RESURRECTED
Rev. 11:1 | Rev. 11:2 | Rev. 11:7-10 | Rev. 11:11-14
----------------+---------------------+----------------+-------------------
| GREAT BABYLON | HARLOT | GOD'S PEOPLE
| Rev. 17:1-6 | DAUGHTERS | CALLED OUT
| | Rev. 17:5 | Rev. 18:1-4
----------------+---------------------+----------------+-------------------
FOURTH | REIGN OF THE | | CHRIST'S KINGDOM
BEAST | "LITTLE HORN" | | TRIUMPHANT
Dan. 9:7, 23, | Dan. 7:8, 20-25 | | Dan. 7:26, 27;
24 | | | 2:34, 35
----------------+---------------------+----------------+-------------------
[Sidenote: Great Babylon]
A more particular description of the antitypical Babylon is given by
the Revelator in the seventeenth chapter, as follows: "And there came
one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me,
saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the
earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried
me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon
a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven
heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having
a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of
her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH. And I saw a woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and
with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration" (verses 1-6).
The careful student will immediately perceive that we have here
another representation of the same apostate powers already described
under other symbols. The leading figures--a woman and a beast--combine
symbols from human life and animal life, thus representing clearly the
union of civil and ecclesiastical power. The combination is exactly
the same in its essential characteristics as that presented by the
first beast of Revelation 13. And since it is the same seven-headed
and ten-horned beast, representing the same political power, we
conclude that the human characteristics exhibited in this connection
symbolize the same religious power--the Church of Rome. In the
present vision, however, the ecclesiastical phase is singled out
and particularly distinguished and described, thus placing special
emphasis on the papal church itself in contradistinction to the
temporal power of the empire. The political phase of Rome's history
has already been sufficiently described for our present purpose. We
shall, therefore, devote our attention to the ecclesiastical phase as
developed under this particular symbol of the woman.
The nature of the symbol itself fixes the interpretation. A woman
must of necessity symbolize a church, but we must determine by the
character of the woman whether or not the true church or a false
church is represented. The woman of the vision was splendidly attired
and evidently occupied a prominent place; for she is represented as
riding on the beast, the political empire, thus directing its course;
and she is also represented as sitting upon many waters, interpreted
as "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (verse 15),
denoting her wide influence over distant nations. She is not
simply represented as a prominent person, however, but _as a vile
character_. She is "a great whore," "with whom the kings of the
earth have committed fornication." It is clear that in Scripture
false, idolatrous worship is represented as _whoredom_ (see 1 Chron.
5: 25; Ezekiel 16 and 23). Hence a false church is represented.
[Sidenote: Mother and daughters]
There is only one church that can fulfil the description, and that
is the Church of Rome. Long has she delighted in calling herself the
"mother church," but centuries before she made this claim, the pen
of inspiration affixed to her indelibly the title of
"_mother_"--"MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
She bore upon her forehead this inscription, together with the title
"Mystery, Babylon the Great." Other false apostate churches there are,
but she heads the list and is the mother of them all. No wonder the
apostle marveled when he saw this professed church of Jesus Christ
defiled by the most abominable wickedness, in league with all the
evil powers of earth, and, above all, "drunken with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." That Rome from
the date she became firmly established in power has ever been a
constant persecutor of the saints, the pages of all history abundantly
attest. Even Rome's ecclesiastical writers and historians themselves
admit her use of force in destroying those whom she denominated
heretics.
Revelation 17 covers the same period chronologically and ends at
the same point of time as did chapter 13. Hence we should naturally
suppose that it would also describe in some manner the power
symbolized by the two-horned beast--Protestantism--as well as
duplicate the description of the ten-horned beast--Catholicism. That
the papacy is symbolized in chapter 17 by the corrupt whore sitting
on the ten-horned beast, is too plain to need any particular
demonstration. The other division of the apostasy is included under
the term "harlots," the daughters of the "mother" church. In our
interpretation of chapter 14 we showed that the angel clearly
applied the term Babylon to the worshipers of the second
beast--Protestantism--as well as to those of the first beast.
Therefore we must regard Babylon as a general term denoting the whole
city of religious confusion, the mother and her harlot daughters being
simply specific divisions.
[Sidenote: Testimony of commentators]
Many commentators, even Protestant commentators, have been frank
enough to admit the real application and force of these symbols of
Revelation as applying to both Catholicism and Protestantism. Auberlen
asserts that "'harlot' means, in the Old and New Testaments, the
apostate church of God."--Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation,
p. 278. Again, he says, "Not simply Rome, but Christendom as a whole,
even as Israel as a whole, has become a harlot. The true believers are
hidden and dispersed."--Ibid., p. 290. While it may not be exactly in
accordance with the Scriptures to speak of the true church of God as
being apostate, yet in a sense it is true, for a large part of those
who originally constituted the church of God actually did apostatize,
until a false church assumed almost universal sway and divers forms
of error prevailed, practically eclipsing, for a long period, the true
church of God on earth. Auberlen stated his conclusion in these words:
"Notwithstanding the universal character of the harlot, it remains
true that the Roman and Greek churches are in a more peculiar sense
the harlot than the Evangelical Protestant."--P. 294.
In the well-known Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, the Rev.
A.R. Fausset, writing on Rev. 17:2, says of the harlot: "It can not be
Pagan Rome but Papal Rome, if a particular seat of error be meant,
but I am inclined to think that the judgment (chap. 18:2) and the
spiritual fornication (chap. 18:3), though finding their culmination
in Rome, are not restricted to it, but comprise the whole apostate
church--Roman, Greek, and even Protestant, so far as it has been
seduced from its 'first love' to Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, and
given its affections to worldly pomps and idols."
William Kincaid, in Bible Doctrine, p. 249, says: "I think Christ
has a true church on earth, but its members are scattered among the
various denominations, and are more or less under the influence of
mystery Babylon and her daughters."
Alexander Campbell said: "The worshiping establishments now in
operation throughout Christendom, increased and cemented by their
respective voluminous confessions of faith, and their ecclesiastical
constitutions, are not churches of Jesus Christ, but the legitimate
daughters of that mother of harlots, the Church of Rome."
Lorenzo Dow says of the Romish Church: "If she be the mother, who are
the daughters? It must be the corrupt, national, established churches
that came out of her."--Dow's Life, p. 542.
Again, Hahn in Auberlen says: "The harlot is not Rome alone (though
she is preeminently so), but every church that has not Christ's mind
and spirit. False Christendom, divided into very many sects, is truly
Babylon, i.e., confusion."
The description of the two forms of the apostasy, Papal and
Protestant, given in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation, was
conveyed under the symbols of two beasts, differing in external
appearance, but in certain respects similar in character. Immediately
following that representation there is, as we have already shown, a
description of a distinct reformatory work set forth by the 144,000
with the Lamb on Mount Zion, the fall of Babylon, and the promulgation
of the everlasting gospel in all the world. The term "Babylon" as used
in that scripture is applied to both the worshipers of the beast and
the worshipers of the image of the beast (made by the second beast);
therefore it embraces both forms of the apostasy.
We have just seen that the description of Babylon, given in Revelation
17 under the symbols of a corrupt woman and her harlot daughters,
represent the papal church and the divisions of Protestantism. We
shall now proceed to show that the two lines of prophecy (chaps. 13
and 17) are parallel chronologically, for they both end at the same
time and in the same manner.
[Sidenote: The last reformation]
As the first of these two series of prophecy ended with the fall of
Babylon and the deliverance therefrom of a people who were with the
Lamb, not wandering after the beast, and who had "the Father's name
written in their foreheads," not the name or the mark of the beast,
so also the second series ends in the same manner. After describing
Babylon under its twofold form, mother and daughters, the Revelator
says: "After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven,
having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And
he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the
hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication
with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven,
saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (chap. 18:1-4).
A movement of mighty power is symbolized in these verses. The language
is based on the experience of the ancient Israelites in literal
Babylon, who, when the fall of the city occurred, obtained release
from their enforced captivity, and were permitted to return to their
own land. The real meaning in this case is clear: that apostate
Christianity has been a veritable Babylon in which the true people
of God have been held as in captivity, and that the time of their
deliverance would come, when they would, by divine authority, be
called out. Notice the parallelism in the two descriptions of the fall
of Babylon. In chapter 14 an angel declares "Babylon is fallen, is
fallen" (verse 8), and the next angel _with a loud voice_ warns that
those who "worship the beast and his _image_ ... shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God" (verses 9, 10); while in chapter 18 the
first angel cries "mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon
the great is fallen, is fallen" (verse 2), and "_another voice_ from
heaven" says, "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of
her sins, and that ye _receive not of her plagues_" (verse 4).
That this symbolic picture represents a wonderful religious
reformation is almost too clear to need proof, for it succeeded
chronologically, and is placed in direct contrast with, the apostasy;
hence there can be but one logical conclusion, namely, that neither
Catholicism nor Protestantism is the last work and that God has
authorized a work that shall gather his true people out of the entire
babel of sect confusion. And that this movement is to be effected
before the end of time is also clearly shown. In the following
chapter, after describing God's judgment on Babylon, and the call of
his people out of her, "a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise
our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and
great" (verse 5). God's servants are called upon to rejoice on
account of their deliverance. Those who are at heart image-makers and
beast-worshipers will oppose this truth, and when they witness the
departure of the faithful followers of the Lord, leaving to Babylon
nothing but the godless, graceless professors, they will "weep and
mourn over her" (chap. 18:16) and cry, "Alas, alas that great city"
(verse 16). But the voice of heaven calls on the saints for a song
of thanksgiving, saying, "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy
apostles and prophets" (verse 20). Yea, "praise our God, _all ye his
servants_, and ye that fear him, both small and great" (chap. 19:5).
Are we to expect such a response? Yes. It is true in the prophecy and
will therefore be true in fact before time ends. "And I heard as it
were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor
to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made
herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints" (chap. 19:6-8).
The scriptures just cited complete another line of symbolic truth.
The primitive church was represented as a pure woman, the bride (chap.
12:1). During the reign of the papacy a false, immoral woman reigned
over the kings of the earth, while the true woman, or church,
was hidden 'in the wilderness' (chap. 12: 6). Under the reign of
Protestantism her members were scattered in all parts of the city of
Babylon. But, thank God, they are to be called out of their scattered
condition, and as a company are represented in two forms--first, as a
redeemed host with the Lamb on Mount Zion, bearing the Father's name
only (chap. 14:1-5), and second, _as the bride of Christ_ preparing
herself for the soon coming of the Lord. This is proof positive that
the true church is to be brought out and placed on exhibition _before
the end of time_.
Others of the sacred writers describe this same prophetic movement.
Zechariah predicts it thus: "And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day
which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall
come to pass, that _at evening_ _time it shall be light_" (Zech. 14:6,
7). These verses stand a little clearer in the Septuagint Version:
"And it shall come to pass in that day [the papal day] that there
shall be _no light_: and there shall be for one day [the Protestant
day] _cold and frost_: and that day shall be known to the Lord; it
shall not be day or night [a mixture of light and darkness]: but
_towards evening it shall be light_."
We have seen that Daniel predicted the long reign of darkness and
apostasy in the Christian dispensation. Desiring to understand
the matter, he made inquiry, and although the same thoughts
are beautifully expressed in the Authorized Version, I shall,
nevertheless, quote from the Septuagint, which makes the thought
still clearer: "_When will be the end_ of the wonders which thou hast
mentioned? And I heard the man clothed in linen ... swear by Him that
lives forever, that it should be for a time of times and half a time:
when the dispersion is ended they shall know all these things" (Dan.
12:6, 7).
"A time, and times, and the dividing of time" is the same prophetic
period of 1,260 years, the reign of the papacy. This was to be
followed by a period of "dispersion," and such Protestantism has been,
for the people of God have been scattered in hundreds of bodies. But
this dispersion was to be "_ended_" some time, and then the people of
God would "know all these things." "And I heard, but I understood not:
and said I, O Lord, _what will be the end_ of these things? And he
said, Go, Daniel: for the words are closed and sealed up _to the time
of the end_" (verse 9). At the "time of the end" the dispersal of God's
saints was to cease. This predicts the evening-time reformation, and
the nature of its work is shown in the following verse: "Many must
be CHOSEN OUT, _and thoroughly whitened, and tried with fire, and
sanctified_" (verse 10).
The same spiritual movement is also predicted by Ezekiel. In chapter
34 he describes the people of God as sheep (see verse 31). These
sheep are represented as abused, oppressed, and scattered by false
shepherds. Their gathering in this Last Reformation is predicted in
verses 11 and 12: "For thus saith the Lord God; Behold I, even I, will
both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; _so
will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places
where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day_."
Reader, this is the work of reformation that God is now accomplishing
in the world. Babylon is spiritually fallen, and God is calling his
people out. In the well-known Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary,
Rev. A.R. Fausset, commenting on Rev. 18:4, has well said: "Even in
the Romish Church, God has a people; but they are in great danger;
their only safety is in coming out of her at once. So also in every
apostate or world-conforming church, there are some of God's visible
and true church, who, if they would be safe, _must come out_."
When literal Babylon was overthrown, the Jews escaped to their own
land. Likewise God's people in spiritual Babylon are commanded to come
out, and with songs of rejoicing they are to make their way to Mount
Zion, and then lend all their efforts to the one work of restoring
primitive truth, thus making Jerusalem "the joy of the whole earth."
Like the Jews of old, "the ransomed of the Lord _shall return_ and
COME TO ZION with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away"
(Isa. 35:10).
The Psalmist informs us that in Babylon the Jews hung their harps on
the willows and wept when they remembered Zion. When their captors
demanded of them the songs of Zion, they answered despairingly, "How
shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" (Psa. 137:1-4).
Zion's songs were _songs of deliverance_; hence the Jews could not
sing them in captivity. So also has it been in spiritual Babylon. But
when the ransomed of the Lord "return and come to Zion," "songs and
everlasting joy" break forth again.
The Revelator describes this glorious result after the period of the
apostasy in these words: "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled
with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and
over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name,
stand on the sea of glass, _having the harps of God_. And they _sing
the song of Moses_ [a song of deliverance] the servant of God, and
the song of the Lamb [a song of redemption]" (Rev. 15:2, 3). Those who
have returned from Babylon have heavenly harps and can sing the songs
of Zion. Praise God!
"From Babel confusion most gladly I fled,
And came to the heights of fair Zion instead;
I'm feasting this moment on heavenly bread;
I'll never go back, I'll never go back.
"The beast and his image, his mark, and his name,
My love or allegiance no longer can claim,
Though men may exalt them to honor and fame;
I'll never go back again."
The prophecies already cited make clear a mighty religious movement
before the end of time, a movement designed to triumph over the
apostasy. Since the apostasy was twofold in its nature, comprehending
a corruption of evangelical faith and the development of
ecclesiasticism, it is evident that the Last Reformation must both
restore primitive truth and eliminate ecclesiasticism, thus bringing
back to the world the original conception of the church as embracing
the whole divine family under the direct moral and spiritual dominion
of Christ. It is also evident from the prophecies that this is to be
accomplished by literally forsaking the systems of man-rule just
as ancient Israel was restored after the captivity by God's people
leaving Babylon and coming home to Zion.
Zion represents the church in its primitive, unified condition under
the government and law of Christ alone. Babylon represents a foreign
rule and another law. The two systems are fundamentally different.
This difference was true in the type and must therefore be true in
the antitype. In the old days of Israel's glory foreigners visited
Jerusalem, but their presence in the city of God did not make them
Israelites. And at one time the people of God were carried into
captivity in Babylon, but their presence in that foreign, heathen city
_did not make them Babylonians_.
This distinction is also clear in the antitypical relation. We do not
have to go to prophetic symbols to find in the New Testament clear
predictions of the rise of a false Christianity in opposition to the
true. They stand out in marked contrast in the prophecy. On the one
side there is a false religious system described as a beast power
reigning. On the other side is placed in contrast a company that have
gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his
mark, and they stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. The
mother of harlots appears, but in contrast therewith is seen a pure
woman, the bride of Christ. In contrast with Babylon we have Zion.
The sect system, wherein ecclesiasticism reigns and where the full
truth in all its purity can not be taught and practised, does not
represent the true church, but Babylon. The system is foreign. It
contains, however, many _who are not Babylonians_ but children of
the divine family--Israelites indeed. The awful judgments of God
pronounced against Babylon are directed against the false system
itself and the real beast-worshipers it contains, not against the
true people of God, who love their Lord and are willing to walk in the
light of his Word as fast as they are able to understand it. When
we consider that this sect system has been the means of deceiving
millions--millions who will come up in that last day and plead their
religious profession, only to hear the awful words, "Depart from me,
I never knew you"--when we consider, I say, these evil results, we can
not but repeat the words of the prophecy concerning the overthrow of
Babylon, "True and righteous are His judgments." The commandment of
God is, "_Come out of her_, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and THAT YE RECEIVE NOT OF HER PLAGUES."
The movement to ignore sect lines and bring the true people of God
into unity is not based upon a mere interpretation of prophecy,
however. The necessity of such a work is being felt by the true
people of God everywhere, even those who make no particular claims
to knowledge of prophetic interpretation. Knowledge that the
ecclesiastical systems of the present day do not represent the
real church outlined in the New Testament is all that is absolutely
necessary in order to stir the heart for reformatory action. Departure
from the truth of God carries with it responsibility on the part of
all those who become awakened to that departure--_responsibility to
return to the Bible standard_. A final reformation there must and
would be even if it had never been predicted by the prophets of old;
for Christ, the great ever-living head of the church, would at the
proper time pour out upon his servants the spirit of judgment
against all unscriptural systems and forms of worship and demand the
restoration of the pure church of the morning time of our era.
[Sidenote: The future prospect]
The work of God in the latter days is to be more extensive, however,
than simply calling God's people together from their scattered
condition in sect Babylon. There are indications in the prophecy
already cited that the "everlasting gospel" is to be carried to
the ends of the earth. The movement is to be world-wide. In our
consideration of parallel prophecies in Daniel, we saw that the
kingdom is represented in two phases--first as a _stone_, under which
symbol it broke down the kingdoms of heathen darkness; and then as
a _mountain_, when it _is to fill the whole earth_. And again, after
describing the 1,260-year reign of the papacy, Daniel said: "But the
judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume
and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom _under the whole heaven_, shall be given
to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, and _all dominions shall serve and obey_ HIM"
(Dan. 7: 26, 27).
There is abundant evidence to be seen by the careful observer that
there are now at work in the Christian world forces that are preparing
for great changes. Christian charity is refusing to be confined by
sectarian barriers. The Christian consciousness is becoming aroused to
the evils of sectarianism and sectarian systems as it has never been
aroused in any past age. There is a longing among spiritual
people everywhere to escape from the blighting effect of a divided
Christianity. Evangelism is becoming more and more detached from
organized denominations, and the denominational lines are being
ignored in a way that would have astonished the people of a
century ago. Numerous attempts are being made to unite the various
denominations on the mission fields and in the homeland. While many
of these efforts are mere blind groping for a way out of the fogs of
sectarianism, they show unmistakably that back of and underlying all
these efforts is a mighty force slowly but surely gathering power
that (so far as God's true people are concerned) shall in time rise
to break once for all the rigorous reign of human ecclesiasticism and
reestablish in power and glory the simple, primitive theocracy, where
Christ shall be exalted as the true and only ruler of his people.
Ecclesiasticism, however, dies hard. In fact, it is scarcely correct
to say that it will die at all. The churches of men are largely made
up of worldly-minded professors who know not the birth and life of
the Spirit. To such the church will never appear as anything different
from an institution organized and governed after the pattern of the
kingdoms of this world. According to the prophecy, God's true saints
will die to ecclesiasticism by forsaking the sect system, but the
rule of human churchly power will go right on until the end of time.
Furthermore, we may expect the contrast and the conflict between these
two forces to become more pronounced as the years go by. While the
Revelation represents the call of God's people out of Babylon as
the movement that again brings into prominence the "bride," the true
church (chap. 19:1-9), it also reveals the fact that there will be
another great movement in opposition to the truth.
"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of
the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth
of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole
world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty"
(chap. 16:13, 14). The nature and purpose of this gathering is
described in another place. "Satan ... shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of
the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and _compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city_: and fire came
down from God out of heaven, and devoured them" (chap. 20:7-9).
Let this be a solemn warning to all, that God's people may discern
between the false and the true. The movement that brings together
in one the real saints of the Lord is effected by the Spirit of
God, while "unclean spirits" operating in the apostate powers of
the ecclesiastical world will effect a totally different union. The
distinction is clear in the prophecy and must therefore become true in
fact.
The final reformation is on. "Final," I say, because it leaves nothing
to be restored as regards either doctrine, practise, or spirit.
It stands committed to the restoration of the whole truth and
the harmonious unity of all true Christians in one Christ-ruled,
Spirit-filled body. In short, it stands committed to the restoration
of apostolic Christianity in its entirety--its doctrines, its
ordinances, its personal regenerating and sanctifying experiences, its
spiritual life, its holiness, its power, its purity, its gifts of the
Spirit, its unity of believers, and its fruits. This reformation will
continue until it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth,
until "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of
the Most High."
Nor is this picture of events a mere dream of fanciful idealists; for
it is already true in part, and the "more sure word of prophecy" to
which we have appealed sustains our hope. The actual fulfilment of so
many predicted events assures us that there shall not fail one word
of all his good promises. Already multiplied thousands of the Lord's
redeemed people have discerned God's plan of effecting unity and have
completely ignored all the lines of sect and human ecclesiasticism,
recognizing as the church nothing else than the entire brotherhood in
Christ, and recognizing as ecclesiastical authority nothing else than
that moral and spiritual dominion of Christ by which alone he governed
his people in primitive times.
This reformation is the movement of God. It is not a humanly organized
movement depending for its success on the ability of men to persuade
people to leave other churches and join them. God himself is breaking
down the barriers that divide, and in response to his call the
redeemed are forsaking human sects and creeds, and their hearts are
flowing together. The center of this movement is not a particular
geographical location, nor is its nucleus a particular set of fallible
men: the center and nucleus of this world-wide movement is OUR LORD
JESUS CHRIST, and its operative force is the SPIRIT OF THE LIVING
GOD, which draws the faithful together in bonds of holy love and
fellowship. Multitudes already recognize no other bonds of union than
that moral and spiritual affinity which is the common heritage of
all the disciples of Jesus that know the blessed experience of the
heavenly birth. Multitudes more are beginning to see the light of this
glorious truth, and in due time Christ, the Light, will illuminate the
hearts of all the saved ones. All hail the day that lies just ahead!
"Back to the one foundation, from sects and creeds made free,
Come saints of every nation to blessed unity.
Once more the ancient glory shines as in days of old,
And tells the wondrous story--one God, one faith, one fold."