against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them which work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit." Here is the difference, the kings, princes, and great captains among the nations are simply mortal men, and not gods like the God of Israel, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit like the "horses " of Israel.

The angels of God are spoken of as "horses of fire and chariots of fire." When Elisha's servant was afraid of the Syrians and said to Elisha, "Alas, my master, what shall we do?" the prophet answered him, “Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. . . . And Elisha prayed and said, Lord I pray thee open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha," that is, the mountain was full of angels round about Elisha (II Kings 6:17). Even so in the latter days will the land of Israel be full of horses of fire and chariots of fire, that is of the saints, who will then be as the angels, employed in the work of judgment, but the eyes of the children of men will need to be opened to see them.

Again, when Elijah was translated to heaven in the presence of Elisha (II Kings 2:11), it is said, “And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind, and Elisha saw it, and he cried and said, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof,'" Thus Elijah was translated by the spirit in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught away by the angels, and was seen no more.

Again it is said (II Kings 13: 14), "Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died, and Joash, the king of Israel, came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." Thus a prophet in whom was the spirit of inspiration to lead and guide Israel in the right way is likened to a chariot and horsemen. Moreover, it is written in the sixty-eighth Psalm (verse 17), "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels, the Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place." Also the Prophet Isaiah testifies saying (Isa. 66:15), “Behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." These chariots will consist of his saints, as well as of the angels of his power.

These instances will suffice to show that immortal men that are born of the Spirit, and that fly by means of the spirit, are symbolized by horses of fire, horsemen, and chariots of fire, who walk to and fro throughout the earth to do God's pleasure and to pour out the vials of his wrath upon the children of disobedience, and to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Therefore the horses that Zechariah saw in the chariots, and the horses that John saw go forth upon the opening of the first four seals, symbolize the Spirit, by which immortal men go forth under the command of the Lamb of God to do his bidding in the earth. The saints are the riders, and the colors of the horses indicate the manner of the judgment

that they go forth to execute in the north and south countries of the land of Israel, to quiet his spirit in those quarters; and as the Lord's spirit will not be quieted until the seven last plagues are inflicted (for it is said, “In them is filled up the wrath of God "), therefore it follows that the things that are written in the little book under these seals cover the whole range of the judgment, until the Lord is comforted and is no more angry.

As concerning the riders on horses of different colors that John saw go forth, we might say in this place that the four horses and their four riders that John saw, represent the same things that the four chariots and horses represent that Zechariah saw. The horses in each case symbolize the Spirit, and the four riders and the four chariots represent the four divisions of the body of Christ. Therefore the four riders upon horses of different colors that go forth to walk to and fro through the earth are not simply individual men, but each of them represents a multitude, as do the four beasts. Each of the four beasts symbolizes not four persons, but many, each one standing for one of the four divisions of the armies of heaven, and so does each of the four riders upon horses, as it is clearly seen by comparing together the different visions and the things contained in them. And therefore there is no ground for men to speculate upon, as to who the individual persons are who ride upon these horses, as some do who imagine that Christ may be the first rider upon the first horse, but then they are thrown into doubt as to the persons that ride the three remaining horses. Christ in the principal or first sense rides all of these horses, because it is his brethren that he sends forth by the power of the Spirit to execute under his command the judgments written. Therefore it is written of him in the forty-fifth Psalm, "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty, and in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness, and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee."

The use that Paul makes of the following passage proves that these words are spoken of Christ. He is therefore the chief rider, because he sends his loyal and faithful brethren to do the work for him. Even this Book of the Revelation he did not himself communicate to John, but sent his angel to do it for him, as it is said, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass, and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John." He did not show these things to John by these wonderful signs and similitudes himself, but he sent his angel to do it for him, and what a man does by his agent, he himself does. In the end of this wonderful book Jesus says again, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches"; and it is worthy of special attention that this angel was one of the prophets, as he himself said to John, "I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets."

Therefore we conclude that as this brother of John, and therefore this brother of Christ according to the flesh and according to the Spirit, is an angel, and so called by Jesus Christ himself, so will all of the brethren of Jesus Christ be in the resurrection, not equal to the angels, but angels in every sense of the

word. And as Jesus sent his angel to communicate this revelation to John, so will he send his angels, his brethren, to execute the judgments and to pour out the vials of wrath that are written in this book.

The seven angels that pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth are said to be clothed in pure and white linen, which signifies the righteousness of saints (Rev. 19: 8), and the angel that showed John these things is one of the seven, as John says (Rev. 21:9), "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me saying, Come up hither and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." In speaking of the things brought to view by the opening of the seals, we are free to admit that we enter upon the most difficult portions of the great prophecy of Christ to interpret, a prophecy which relates to the acts and doings of a people that are not yet born, and who will flourish in an era of human history which is as yet far away in the future, consequently profane history throws no light upon this subject. Prophetic history alone. must be consulted, after Paul's method of comparing Scripture with Scripture, to understand these mysteries. The gifts of the Spirit have long been withdrawn, so that there are now no inspired men to expound these things to us.

THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SEAL (REV. 6:1-2)

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer." As each of the seals are opened one of the four beasts says, "Come and see. But what is it that they ask John to come and see? Now as this saying is a quotation from the Psalms, we may there learn what is to be seen, for it is written (Ps. 66: 5), “Come and see the works of God, he is terrible in his doings toward the children of men"; and again (Ps. 46: 8), “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth." Therefore the things which John was called to see, and the things which we are asked to consider, are the desolations that will be manifested in the earth when the Lamb opens the seals and the saints are sent forth by the Spirit to execute the judgments written under the seals.

A FIERCE KING OF ISRAEL

From the Scriptures we learn that some of the righteous judgments to be visited upon the rebellious house will be done through the instrumentality of a fierce king and a cruel lord that will be raised up to punish them, and there fore it is said of this rider, "A crown was given him, and he had a bow," which betokens a warrior. A white horse is a symbol of victory and triumph, for it is said, "He went forth conquering and to conquer."

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Now the Scriptures speak expressly of a king that the Lord will raise up in Israel in the latter days, that he will clothe with such irresistible power and such excellent wisdom that he will astonish and terrify not only the people Israel, but also the nations. The affront that the children of Israel put upon their king in the days of Samuel, when they said to him, "Give us a king like unto the nations," when the Lord their God was their king,— this affront

has never been condoned nor redressed. And when Samuel felt bitterly aggrieved at this rebellious and insolent demand, the Lord said to him, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." Nevertheless the Lord said to Samuel, "Hearken unto their voice; howbeit, yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." This Samuel did, but in very mild language compared with that which is used in later times to describe more fully this wonderful character, both in plain language and by many remarkable symbols and similitudes. After the rebellious nature of this erring people became more marked before the Lord, referring to the latter days when this king shall make his appearance in Israel Samuel says to them, “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you, and the Lord will not hear you in that day."

The prophet Daniel also has spoken of this king under the symbol of the little horn which came up upon the head of the fourth beast among the ten horns, in his vision of the four beasts, of which we have already spoken quite at length. Daniel says, "I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man (greedy, covetous eyes), and a mouth speaking great things." And in the interpretation it was told Daniel (7:25) saying, "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time," that is three years and a half. It is by the hand of this king that the Lord will cut off the righteous in Israel's land from the south to the north, as he testifies by the hand of Ezekiel (21: 3-4).

Again the man clothed in linen who said to Daniel, "Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days," speaks of this king as a vile person in Israel, who shall come up peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries (Dan. 11:21-40), and afterwards in the same chapter it is said of him, "The king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation (upon the righteous) be accomplished, for that that is determined shall be done."

The Lord also speaks of his purpose by the hand of Zechariah concerning this king, saying, "I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord, but lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king, and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand, I will not deliver them."

Again, by the hand of Ezekiel, the Lord introduces to our attention this king in a highly figurative manner (28) under the similitude of the Prince of Tyrus. The prophet says, "The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the Prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God, Because thine heart is lifted up and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God (in the temple), in the midst of the seas (of nations), yet thou art a man and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.

Behold thou art wiser than Daniel, there is no secret that they can hide from thee; with thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and thou hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures; by thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God, behold therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations (Gog and all his multitude), and they shall draw their sword against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no god, in the hand of him that slayeth thee." And to show that this Prince of Tyrus is but a symbol of a circumcised Israelitish prince, the Lord says to him, "Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised, by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God."

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And in the lamentation which follows for, and upon this prince, some very remarkable and highly figurative language is used, saying (verses 13-15), Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord. Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold, the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."

These precious stones represent the saints in light who go forth at the bidding of their Lord and Master in the earth, as the horns and eyes of the Lamb to walk to and fro through the earth. They are the covering of ,this prince; they strengthen his hands so that he goes forth from a small beginning, until he rides conquering and to conquer, and is made strong by their help to execute the judgment marked out for him to do, and when that is done, he will fall by the hand of the stranger, the Assyrian. The Lord continues, saying to him, "Thou art the anointed cherub that cov ereth, and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire," that is among the immortal, who are represented in this Scripture as the different kinds of precious stones which reflect all the beautiful colors of the rainbow, and especially the color of fire, and hence are called stones of fire. Therefore when the sons of God in the resurrection are spiritually called stones of fire, as they walk to and fro among mortal men, unseen; so this king as he walks up and down upon the holy mountain of God, unconsciously walks up and down in the midst of the stones of fire who walk there, as well as through the north and south countries of Israel.

It is written of Cyrus the Persian, "Thus saith the Lord to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him. And I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden