Revelation Chapter 16

We should like to take another look at the Sixth Plague this time as it is explained By Brother Shallieu in “The Keys of Revelation”

Verse 12: And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

As was stated in our opening on the plagues some brethren are of the belief that the Studies in the Scriptures series represent the seven plagues which were poured upon Babylon (Christendom), therefore we have included it here in this study. Brother Shallieu summaries this view here.

This sixth plague message is the sixth volume of the Studies in the Scriptures series, titled The New Creation and published in 1904.

Summary of Six Plagues

The first plague (The Divine Plan of the Ages) presents the kingdoms of this world in their true light from God’s perspective as beastly governments and as miry clay (Dan. 7:2–8; 2:43).

The second and third plagues viz., (The Time is at Hand, and Thy Kingdom Come) deal with the fulfillment of prophecy, indicating the historical misdeeds of Papacy in the past.

The fourth plague—its very title The Day of Vengeance, as well as its contents—is offensive to those who are not mourners in Zion (Isa. 61:3).

The fifth plague, The Atonement Between God and Man, exposes the very roots and strikes at the foundation of the false creeds and concepts of nominal churchianity.

The sixth plague is different from all the foregoing in that it is particularly slanted to benefit only those thoroughly dedicated to Christ and the instruction of God’s Word. Its contents depict the new creation’s spiritual call; their order and discipline; their law and baptism; and their marital, parental, and other sundry obligations. Only in the long term and in an indirect fashion does the sixth plague have damaging and telling effects upon the false concepts of an effete, decadent religious order.

Verse 13-16: 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. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Symbols Represent Principles, Not Individuals

All Christian people credit the Book of Revelation to the Lord Jesus Christ, as the apostle John does (Rev. 1:1). Therefore, humans are not responsible for the symbolism’s used in this book. There are so many ways of being misunderstood, even by good Christian people, that one naturally feels a delicacy about expressing certain views. It is here stated emphatically that nothing whatever is intended against godly Christians anywhere, at any time, whether in any church or out of any church.

The ensuing discussion involves principles and doctrines, NOT individuals. God commissions His people to discuss His Word, and that Word conveys a terrible arraignment of some of the great systems of the present time—systems long reverenced and esteemed that contain many who are godly in word and in deed. A clear distinction is to be made between such individuals and the systems in which they are found.

Agencies Mustering the Hosts

The scene of Verses 13 to 16, with its symbolism’s, resumes the prophetic narrative of Chapter 13, which pertained to four primary symbolism’s: the dragon, the beast, the two-horned beast, and the image of the beast.

But in Chapter 16 these four symbols are reduced to three—the union of the two-horned beast and the image of the beast being comprehended under a new symbolism: the false prophet. The dragon represents the purely civil power. Protestant interpreters (until recently) have long generally agreed that the “beast . . . like unto a leopard” (Rev. 13:2) represents the Papacy (also called the “man of sin”). But few indeed, it is feared, are ready to support the view here put forth that federated Protestantism is styled the “false prophet.”

Continued with next post.