Show THE apocalypse during daring several days of pleasant intercourse with brother F F hintze in the holy land through part of which country we traveled together sharing the varied experiences of a journey aljourney in i a strange land many att an hour was pleasantly and profitably spent in ii studying the prophecies of holy writ while hile conversely conver conversing sly upon such themes the visions of john ohn on patmos were more than once devotionally con contemplated by us before we sepa separated 1 was was earnestly asked to give publicity to some of the fh thoughts expressed in our conversations a request with which I 1 now readily comply WHAT THE revelation IS the revelation or aya apocalypse is commonly known as johns ohn s but the vision it contains is loais his only in a secondary meaning it is really a revelation to jesus christ according to the first verse of the book it is a revelation which god gave to jesus christ in order to show the servants of christ what should soon come to pass and through an angel it was comma communicated to john who was permitted to publish it to the saints the title of the book might very properly be the revelation of christ rather than that of john it is a book profitable to study for in in ita own language blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand rev be vl 1 3 it certainly belongs to that more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that chineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise ia ha your hearts 2 peter i 1 19 being published especially for the instruction and enlightenment of the servants of christ there can be no truth in the assertion that the revelation is impossible to understand WHEN WRITTEN the revelation is generally sun supposed to have been written by jolin john during g his exile on patmos about the year 96 A D the early fathers ireneous Ireno Iren eus and Euse eusebius blus refer the book to the time of the emperor and the earliest traditions support the view that john during the time of this emperor was exiled to patmos many however give a much earlier date to the book supposing that the exile of john happened during the reign of the emperor nero 67 or 68 A D although this early date cannot be proved beyond doubt yet the probability is very strong in favor of it the very language of the book indicates an author who was not yet accustomed to the greek tongue the frequent r bent refer references en ces to the temple the altar and th the sacrifices strongly favor the sup supposition that it was written before the destruction of jerusalem consequently before THE FIRST PRINTED EDITION I 1 it t appears that afie powers of darkness have been very andio anxious us to corrupt this book particularly when the first edition was printed it was impossible to find a greek copy which was not more or less spurious or even incomplete thelast the last chapters were nowhere to be found and so BO the editor had to translate the lacking part from the latin by means of which a very poor text was obtained besides there is a notable peculiarity in the book the author when i seeing an object in a vision and describing it often disregards the grammatical gender and makes his adjective or participle agree not with the word but rather with the idea present in hla his mind at the time some of the early copy tat bets in transcribing the texts apparently parent ly thought it their duty to correct these apparent anomalies thereby producing a very spurious text at present however not less ban than i 93 manuscripts of this book L Y ure are known some of which are very ancient and by means of these scholars have been able to purify the text and give it to us on the whole as it was 0 originally I 1 binally writ written ten by john it must be admitted that in its original form ungrammatical though it be it cannot be surpassed in dignity and sublimity of composition DIVISION OF THE BOOK stated briefly the book is divided as follows part 1 I relating to the things which are at the time of the writing this part contains the seven letters to the seven churches recorded in chap 1 3 part 2 is the proper prophetical part of the book and relates to the things which shall be hereafter rev bev 1 19 this part contains the visions of 1 seven seals 2 seven trumpets 3 three enemies satan the beast and the false prophet warring yar ring against god 4 seven vials 5 the three enemies overthrown 6 the final triumph of christ and the new or heavenly jerusalem the whole has by the best commentators menta tors always been considered as one continuous chain of events although some are as is natural in all historical narratives logical with the central objects seals trumpets 2 vials satan the beast the false prophet other visions are interwoven as introductory and concluding scenes several of which relate to the church and the kingdom of god difficulties OF interpretation on all sides it is admitted that the revelation is a most difficult book to interpret its language is chie chiefly Y symbolical and when we open I 1 its pages we are met by a number of figure u re angels books beasts rive rivers cl cities illes mountains all this seems t to be as intelligible as a set of egyptian hieroglyphics indeed the prophetic language generally general lyls is glyph ical or more properly still it Is ia picture writing with the pictures spelled out in words instead of painted or engraved this creates the difficulties A knowledge of this fact may also furnish the right key to the interpretation for if it is found that the prophets invariably use the figures to represent the si millar liar events as they indeed do and if it be understood that prophetical figures sometimes are interpreted by the angels hy by the seers themselves or by the events fu fulfilling them then we know where re to look for a true and reliable interpretation clearly enough if we for instance in a prophetical book meet with the figure figur e of a beast and find that this in 0 dp Daniel niel means an empire or a woman and nd that this elsewhere means his father ia throne that a virgin should conceive all these were impenetrable mysteries as profound as any of those of the revelation to us it requires a aj prophetic spirit to comprehend them the gift of prophecy is one of the blessed gifts that has haa been again restored to the church of god through the everlasting gospel the prophetical ph phe et ical writings should therefore no longer be sealed books and they are not through diligent study of the prophetical language in general careful attention to the events recorded in history and with the help of the key revealed through joseph smith the apocalypse ought to be made quite as legible as any part of the word of god interpretations A few instances how the word of god is its own and best interpreter may here be given in revelations chap 4 we read that round about the throne of god were seen four beasts which continually glorified god together with the elders the first was like a lion the second like a calf the third like a man and the fourth like a flying eagle on comparing this vision with 4 moslah 2 where the camp of israel is described bed we find a striking resemblance and feel assured that hat the two the vision of john and the formation of the camp of israel had one pattern here in the wilderness we find round about the tabernacle to the east three tribes headed beaded by judah whose banner was a lion hon to the south three tribes headed by reuben whose banner ferrese represented eted a ow octif to th the e west three tribes headed by ephraim Ep braim whose banner represented a auman hanan rs face and to the north three tribes headed headd by dan whose banner had a flying further inquiry into the eagle Upon observed significance of this arrangement by moses in the wilder wilderness new and seen in the heavenly visions on patmos we are told doctrine slid and covenants section 77 8 they depre represent ent the glory of classes of beings order or in 8 in their destined of creation in the enjoyment sphere ere sp eterei in in of their eternal felicity the wilderness th the e four beasts or rather living creata Cre creatures atu represented the people le of god marching on to glory rn an fn the vision of john they represent glory already obtained how instructive the two put tog together etherl what the people of god shall become in eternity they must already commence to be here I 1 in n revel revelation aaion chapter 61 6 we read that there was a grea great t earthquake and stars stare were the sun moon affected and the heaven departed scroll while every mountain asa as a and island were removed out of their places now to apply abi this as has sometimes bee been n done lite literally and thereby understand a complete destruction of the universe is ia contrary to the language itself the stars fall to the earth xv tho the heaven departs 11 and yet the mountains mou n faai ns are only remo removed aed out bout of their place and after these things four ang angels Is stand on the earth and the events go on as before fore clearly by the figures employed something elsa elsis is represented and what is that in isaiah chapter aill 9 10 la we find a almost por for the same expressions the s tais stars of the heavens shall no i more let their light shine the aun shall be darkened at his rising and the moon shall not give her light therefore shall I 1 let iet the heavens shake and the earth shall be moved out of her place 11 this sublime figurative language is descriptive of the fall of the great babylonian empire verse 1 similarly hosea chapter x describes the fall of samaria they shall cry to the moun bains cover us and to the hills fall overuse over us the prophets abound in this mode of expression and it always signifies the fall of some great power gods judgment of some nation or nations it is therefore no more conjecture jece ture to say that the passage in revelation refers to the overthrow of the then existing roman empire by the concussion of the heavenly bodies is the idea conveyed that the events predicted could be effected only by god hence the time in which such events take place are always called the day of the lord or the coming of alie lord compare matthew 24 3 where the disciples speak of the destruction of jerusalem as the coming of the lord and the end of the era greek aion not world the two witnesses rev 11 are by way of revelation said to be two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before god all these expressions become clear when compared with other parts of scripture in zachariah charlah Za chap 8 3 we see joshua and Zeru babel represented as two olive trees dropping their oil into the candlestick setting forth how bow by the spirit of the lord resting upon those two prophets of god the temple should be completed without eternal help v 6 and 8 against ainah all opposition v 7 two me olive trees are therefore two prophets of god compare doctrine and covenants section but there are also two candlesticks which mean churches according to revelations 1 20 set ting forth therefore the twofold work of the last dispensation the gathering together into a church first the gentiles and then the jews these two churches then and these two to prophets stand before the lord 11 an expression which always means to serve the lord the expression is applied to the priest who officiated in the temple and euars thus saith the lord before whose face I 1 stand is well known two churches then and two prophets clothed with the holy priesthood is what the passage means thus all the principal symbols of the book can be traced and their meaning ascertained yet their right application is a work which no one can undertake without the aid of the divine spirit of prophecy and much minute inquiry lean dean woodhouse among others adopts the principle of interpretation of the apocalypse that its language and symbols with rare exceptions apply to the history and development of the church from the apostolic age e tu to the end of time it is argued I 1 that hat the bible as a whole refers generally to the people of god and only accidentally to the affairs of the world the revelation is thought to possess the same peculiarities this however is a great mistake in the book of daniel we find the history of the world in outline as it were and the history of the people of god as this people comes in contact with the world the apocalypse may be considered a continuation of the prophecies of daniel developing more fully many of the events briefly touched epou in daniel besides are not all the nations of the erth in the hands of god should not y depict it all as far as necessary to a r understanding of the te history of the church certainly and this is exactly what is d done rne in the apo apocalypse a historical EVENTS if we examine the second or pro phe part of the book that which sets forth the things that shall be rev the things which were yet future at the date of the writing we will find many events recorded with the ele arness of history the volume in the hand of god is opened by the lamb and as that awful record is unrolled we read of successive judgments upon the pagan roman empire until during the sixth seal its sun and its moon and stars are darkened and its earth trembles that is until the whole of its ancient religion to is completely elesely crushed by constantine the great reat chap 6 then follow chap 7 preparations for the preservation of the everlasting gospel that it should not be lost during the following long period of thick darkness but be ready at the time appointed by god to be sounded ul unto ito all 0 the earth compare doctrine and covenants sec 11 how bow instructive to contemplate that centuries ago when the church was on the eve of her departure those servants of god were sealed who in this dispensation should be ordained to bring as many as will come to the church of the first born doctrine and covenants sec in nature around us when the cold snow storms sweep over the fields we see how the rich verdure fades the flowers drop their heads and die and yet they live the life giving power is still extant and active and the first rays of the sun will call the life forth again in all its former glory and beauty the work of devastation in the cold autumn is only so to speak the first preparatory step to a newly awakened life in spring so here when the church of god was apparently patently ly about to leave the earth reparations preparations were already completed lor for her reappearance appearance re at the end of time in more mor than ethan her first glory after this the judgments are poured out upon the roman power now in name chretian Chri tian but really idolatrous as before the remarkable invasions of the goths goehs the vandals Vaud als the hun the saracens saracena Sara cens and the turks follow but the rest of men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship demons that is in I 1 dead saints and idols of gold and silver and of brass braes and stone and of wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries sor ceries nor of their fornication nor of their thefts rev bev 9 2021 20 21 anyone who will consider the christian world today will I 1 think find this statement of the prophet literally true no wars no calamities of any kind have been able to cleanse the christian world with rome at its head from their idolatry and abominable sins THE LITTLE BOOK particularly remarkable is the vision in which the restoration of the gospel through joseph smith is set forth this vision falls under the sixth trumpet that is while the turkish empire described 4 chapter 9 15 19 still holds its seat in europe thus giving an approximate date to this joyful event I 1 john saw a |