But all things being prepared, the quietude of the camp of Sinai is changed for “the noise of great waters.” The scene becomes tempestuous. When they stood inactive, they let down their wings. But judgment having been given to them, they extend their wings; and the noise thereof is the noise of a host marching against the foe. Habak- kuk saw this angelic multitudinous unity in full career. They would, of course, attack the peoples first who were nearest to their encampment. These are
“the tents of Cushan” and “the curtains of Midian,” which are afflicted and made to tremble. This Cushan is east of the Tigris and north of the Persian gulf; the Midianites are the Arabs of the desert, who are to “bow down before him” (Psa. 72:9).
But, it is written, “Yahweh rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the vanities of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it” (Isa. 19:1). In this invasion of Egypt then in the hands of Gog, the king of the north, who hath power over its gold, and silver, and precious things (Dan. 11:43) the troops of Sinai would have to march round the head of the gulf of Suez, or to pass over the sea, or through it. The last alternative seems to be the course to be adopted at some epoch of the enterprise; which will probably be on return from the conquest of Egypt, in the march to Zion. “I will bring again from the depths of the sea,” saith the Spirit in Psa. 68:22. And these words were written in Jerusalem, implying that they were coming Zionwards. In Psa. 66, after announcing the universal subjection of the nations, the reader is invited to the contemplation of the means by which the conquest is effected: “Come and see the doings of Elohim, terrible of deed towards the sons of men. He turned the sea to dry land; they passed through the river on foot: there did we rejoice in him.” And Isaiah says: “Yahweh shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river (Euphrates) and shall smite it into seven streams, and cause to go over in shoes . . . like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt” (ch. 11:15,16). And yet again in ch. 50:9, Isaiah, by the inspiration of the Spirit saith in relation to Israel’s future redemption, “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Yahweh; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not the same that cut in pieces Rahab (Egypt) and wounded the dragon? Art thou not the same that dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?” These were the awakenings of ancient days; and by the prophet’s petition, which was the word of the Spirit, the dividing of the sea and the river in a future exodus is indirectly foretold. “Therefore the redeemed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing unto Zion (not from Egypt to Sinai, as of old); and everlasting joy (simchath olahm, joy of the future age) shall be upon their head.”
The Rainbowed Angel being constituted of individuals who are all “like Jesus,” who descended to Sinai, and in the days of his flesh even, walked upon the sea; showing thereby that He, and therefore they, are untrammeled by the natural laws: it will be unnecessary and superfluous to divide the sea on their account. It is Israel according to the flesh, who are subject to the natural laws, that are to be “brought again from the depths of the sea;” beside showing his power, and gaining praise and fame in the earth in drying up, or destroying the Egyptian gulf; the passage of the sea by Israel in Egypt under the leadership of “the Prophet-like Moses,” is designed to serve for a national baptism into Christ by which “all their sins will be cast into the depths of the sea,” according to the testimony of Mic. 7:19. When they passed through the sea under Moses, “they were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:2); so when saved from their long captivity by Christ, they will be nationally baptized into him by a like marine investment; and thus be able, as “a people saved by Yahweh,” nationally to sing “the song of Moses the servant of the Deity, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous thy works Yahweh Elohim almighty; just and true thy ways, O king of the nations. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name? For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest” (Apoc. 15:3,4).
The testimony seems to indicate, that at the time of Yahweh’s riding upon the swift cloud into Egypt, there will have been collected there a considerable Jewish population, which will be grievously oppressed by the king of the north, or Russo-Assyrian Gog. This appears from Isa. 19:20, which says, “they shall cry unto Yahweh because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Saviour, even a great one, and he shall deliver them.” This saviour is Yahweh Elohim Tz’vaoth, He who shall be the mighty ones of hosts, the Rainbowed Angel, “and he shall deliver them.” This almighty organization having planted itself in Egypt, all the vanities or idols of Egypt, Greek, and Latin images of saints, and those who worship them, “Shall be moved at His presence.” And what then? “The heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.” But why? Because “Yahweh shall smite Egypt” to “recover the remnant of his people from Egypt” (Isa. 11:11). In this process, “Yahweh will beat off from the channel of the river (Euphrates) unto the stream of Egypt” (the Nile); and thereby subdue the whole south of the grant to Abraham “from sea to sea,” from the Mediterranean to the gulf of Persia.
When the south is thus freed from the domination of “the House of Esau” (Obad. 18-21), the healing of Egypt will commence. “Yahweh shall smite Egypt and heal it; and they shall return to Yahweh, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.” This healing will be curative of all the population, Gentile and Jewish, that survives the heart-melting judgments of the crisis. Egypt will no longer be proverbial for its darkness that may be felt: for in the day of the Rainbowed Angel, “shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear (allegiance) to Yahweh Tz’vaoth, (to ‘him who shall be hosts’): one shall be called, The City of Destruction. In that day there shall be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Yahweh. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Yahweh Tz’vaoth in the land of Egypt.” And this is the reason of the destruction which gives name to one of the five cities; “for they shall cry unto Yahweh because of the oppressors,” as they did in the days of Moses; “and he shall send them a Saviour, even a great one (the Rain- bowed Angel) and he shall deliver them. And Yahweh shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation: yea, they shall vow a vow to Yahweh, and perform it. . . and they shall return even to Yahweh; and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them (Isa. 19:18-22).
Egypt appears to occupy a very important position in the restoration of Israel by the Rainbowed Angel. Egypt, Cush and Seba are appointed for their ransom (Isa. 43:3) — the wilderness and deserts of the south into which they are to be brought for discipline, to fit them for settlement in the land of Israel (Ezek. 20:33-44). In reference to this crisis, the Spirit saith, “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise” (Isa. 43:18-21).
This is all part of the work of the Rainbowed Angel, in which “Adon (the Lord) adds his hand to redeem a second time the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea” (Isa. 11:11). This is an area of wide extent, stretching from the Nile to the east of the Tigris; and thence north to the Caspian; and then westward to the Mediterranean, in and beyond which are the islands. It is not to be supposed, that such a revolution in the south of Asia and north of Africa, developing a new power of extraordinary might, could progress without making a powerful impression upon France, Turkey, and Russia, which are so sensitive in regard to their supposed interests in Egypt, the Red Sea, and the east. It will throw them all into a state of terrible belligerency. So great a danger will confederate them for a great effort to scatter it. All Europe will be moved; and “rush forth as a whirlwind to scatter me;” saith the Spirit: “their rejoicing was as to devour the poor in ambush” (Hab. 3:14): “they will ascend and come like a storm, and like a cloud to cover the land, that is (or that portion of it which is) brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, who are dwelling safely in the midst of it (Ezek. 38:9,8,10,12): under the protection of the Rain- bowed Angel. The conquest of Egypt will, doubtless, operate powerfully upon England: for nothing can affect Egypt without greatly disturbing the policy of Britain, and deeply wounding her commerical interests. The Russo-Assyrian King of the north will have inflicted this injury upon England, previous to Yahweh riding into Egypt upon the swift rainbowed cloud. Hence, the invasion of Egypt, and the destruction of the power of the king of the north in Egypt, will, doubtless be rejoiced in by the British government; and may lead to an alliance between England, the modern Tyre, and the New Power, the common enemies of Gog and the Papacy, after the type of Hiram and Solomon, or of the Queen of Sheba, and the King of Israel. In this event, “her merchandise and her hire will be holiness to Yahweh: it shall not be treasured, nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing” (Isa. 23:18). And in Psa. 45, which Paul endorses as a testimony for Jesus and his followers, the Spirit testifies, that in the day when, “his right hand shall teach him terrible things,” “the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat his favor” (verse 12); and again, “the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: and the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts” (Psa. 72:10): and “surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them unto the Name of Yahweh thine Elohim, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee, O Zion” (Isa. 60:9).
These testimonies indicate a different relationship between the regenerators of Egypt, and the maritime power of the world, from that with the continental powers. These are fiercely hostile; while maritime Tyre, Tarshish, Sheba and Seba, are subservient to the angelic mission for the protection and regeneration of Israel. The riches of these countries, by some powerful influence in exercise at the time, are placed at the disposal of the saints, who become thereby complete masters of the sea. The present tendency of Britain to insulation is then perfected; and her destiny is identified with the New Power of the East. In this cooperation, she becomes “the land shadowing wide with wings, extending from beyond to rivers of Cush” — the Tigris and Euphrates; whose shadow shall be as the night in the midst of the noonday, for the hiding of the outcasts in the land of Moab (Isa. 18:1; 16:3-5). At this epoch, the land becomes prosperous — “a land of unwalled villages, whose inhabitants are at rest, and dwelling safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates. The desolate places of central Palestine are then inhabited, by a gathering out of the nations, which has become wealthy in cattle and goods” (Ezek. 38:8,11,12).
But this prosperity becomes an irresistible temptation to the king of the north to invade the land, and if possible to annex it to his dominion bordering upon it, by Hamath, Armenia, and Assyria. “He will ascend like a storm, like a cloud to cover the land;” for “tidings out of the east, and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall pitch the tents of his entrenched camp between the seas,” the Mediterranean and sea of Tiberias, which will extend “to the mountain of the glory of the holy” (Dan. 11:44,45). Thus all the nations of this northern confederacy are gathered by Yawheh against Jerusalem, after his descent to Sinai and before his own entrance into the city. He permits it to be taken, and rifled by the spoiler, and its inhabitants to be partly expelled and sent into exile (Zech. 14:2). Their hope would now seem to be lost, and themselves finally cut off from their parts (Ezek. 37:11). They had, doubtless, thought that the long expected rest had been established beyond the possibility of disturbance. They were at rest in the midst of the land; but the whole house of Israel was not there; and the nations were not yet acquainted with the omnipotence of “the Kings of the Sun’s risings.”
The land being covered with the northern hosts as with a cloud, the Russo-Assyrian Gog is the lord ascendant of the country, with none to dispute his authority, but “Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon,” south and east of the Dead Sea, and the river Arnon. In this region, his power is contested. “Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof,” protest against the invasion of the land, but without effect. Doubtless, he will feel too strong to be deterred from a grand solution of the Eastern Question in his own behalf. But “he shall be broken without hand:” the stone-power is near ready to fall upon him, and grind him to powder — the power of the kingdom embodied in the rainbow organization (Matt. 21:44; Dan. 2:45; 8:25). The northern Gog pays no respect to the young lions and merchants of Tarshish; but invades the country, and dominates it with an iron rule, as exemplified in the history of daemonial and idol worshipping Poland. The fate of this province of the papal empire was a punishment due to them as worshippers of the beast and his image; but the people “dwelling in the midst of the land,” in central Palestine, in peace and prosperity, belong to the Rainbowed Angel; and to invade and oppress them will not be tolerated: “for thus saith Yahweh Tz’vaoth, after the glory,” manifested in the land, “hath he sent me unto the nations who spoiled you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple
of his eye” (Zech. 2:8).
At this crisis, then, of extreme peril to the Jewish population of Palestine — of that “tenth” indicated in Isa. 6:13 — “the fury of Adonai Yahweh comes up into his face” — his eyes become as a flame of fire, and his countenance as the sun shining in his strength (Apoc. 1:14,16; 10:1). He comes out of Egypt, as it is written, “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos. 11:1). This was true of “Israel my son, my first born” (Exod. 4:22), in the days of Moses; of the child Jesus, prophetically named Israel in Isa. 49:3, the Beloved Son of the Eternal Father, in the days of his infancy (Matt. 2:15); and it is also true of Israel in Egypt, and of the Rainbowed Angelic Son of Man, the Yahweh Name, their King, in the day when Gog, in the latter-years manifestation of the Little Horn of the Goat, the King of fierce countenance, “shall stand up against the Prince of princes” (Dan. 8:25). The Son of the Eternal Father in these several manifestations of Sonship, is called out of Egypt.
But affliction attends the Son more or less in Egypt. Sojourn in Egypt is because of distress in Canaan; and how can Israel sing for joy of heart in a strange land, while the land of their inheritance is trampled under foot of the spoiler! Hence the testimony, “I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, and place shall not be found for them. And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves of the sea, and all the deeps of the river (the Euphrates) shall dry up; and the pride of Assyria (of Gog) shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away” (Zech. 10:10).
In leaving Egypt, then, the Rainbowed Angel leads Israel out as a trembling bird (Hos. 11:11). He does not lead them by the Isthmus of Suez, but after the example of Moses and the angel, his prototype, he leads them to the seashore. “Was thy wrath against the sea,” saith the Spirit, “that thou didst ride upon thine horses (Apoc. 19:11,14) thy chariots of salvation? Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. When I heard,” says the prophet as representative of his people in the flesh, “my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble” — that day so great that none is like it; even the time of Jacob’s trouble, out of which he shall be saved” (Jer. 30:7).
Having destroyed the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and brought Israel up again from its depths, the Rainbowed Angel leads them into the wilderness of Paran. Habakkuk sees him here in great power and indignation; for “before him goes the pestilence, and burning coals from his feet,” apocalyptically styled, “pillars of fire.”
“He beheld,” when he came from mount Paran, and “rose up from mount Seir unto them.” “Adonai Yahweh (He who shall be lord) shall blow the trumpet, and shall go forth with whirlwinds of the south” (Zech. 9:14). “He shall march through the land in indignation, and thresh the nations in anger” (Hab. 3:12). In this march, he arrives at Bozrah in Edom, where his presence confronts the forces of the Russo- Assyrian king; “and all the men that are upon the face of the land shake at his presence.” He causes them to turn their swords against one another. He smites every horse with terror and blindness, and his rider with madness (Zech. 12:4). He pleads against them with pestilence and with blood; and rains upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone (Ezek. 38:22).
This is the crisis which fairly inaugurates “the war of that great day of the all-powerful Deity” in the field of Armageddon (Apoc. 16:14,16); “the great winepress of the wrath of Deity” (eh. 14:19). Israel under the leadership of the Rainbowed Angel on the one side; and the Powers that be, upon the other, are the belligerents in this war. In the overthrow of the enemy at Bozrah, however, Israel after the flesh had no part. The breaking in pieces of the oppressor in Idumea, in this day of “Yahweh’s vengeance, and year of recompences for the controversy of Zion” (Isa. 34:8); is the glory of the Rainbowed Angel alone. “I have trodden the winepress alone,” saith the Spirit; “and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come” (Isa. 63:3). By this treading of the winepress, the Rainbowed Angel magnifies and sanctifies himself; and is known in the eyes of those many nations confederate with the king of the north, who come to know that he is Yahweh (Ezek. 38:23).
“Yahweh is known by the judgment he executeth” (Psa. 9:16). This New Power of Southern Asia is known to be theocratic, as was that of Joshua and his hosts by the Canaanites, when the walls of Jericho fell at the sounding of Israel’s trumpets the seventh and last time. The treading of the winepress in its initiation at Bozrah is accompanied with a great shaking in the land of Israel, by which mountains are overturned, and towers fall, and all walls are prostrated (Ezek. 38:20); for it is “the day of the great slaughter when the towers fall;” when “Yahweh causes his glorious voice to be heard, and shows the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempest, and hailstones; for through the voice of
Yahweh shall the Assyrian be beaten down, who smote with a rod” (Isa. 30:25,30).
But the Rainbowed Angel’s pedal pillars of fire may not halt long at Bozrah. Isaiah in vision saw him “coming from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah;’’ and describes him as “glorious in his apparel, and travelling in the greatness of his strength” (ch. 63:1). John’s rainbowed angel is symbolical of this traveller, who proclaims himself “mighty to save;” and powerful to tread down the peoples in his anger, and to make them drunk in his fury, and to bring down their strength to the earth — verse 6. The mutual slaughter of the enemy, the sword called for against him throughout all the mountains of Israel, and the pestilence, make his overthrow coextensive with the land. It reduces the invading hosts to only one sixth of their original force; as it is written, “I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee” (Ezek. 39:2,4). This wreck of the invading force falls back upon Assyria, to which the war is transferred from the Holy Land. A great and marvellous change comes over this country politically, socially, and physically. The peace so long and earnestly prayed for (Psa. 122, 125, 128), and promised (Psa. 72:3,7; 85:8,10; Isa. 9:6,7; 26:12; 32:17; 54:13; 66:12; Ezek. 34:25), is at length established; so that “from this day forward” (Ezek. 39:22) there will be no more war in the land of Israel for a thousand years; and the house of Israel will come to know that the Eternal Spirit is Yahweh their Elohim, manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ and his Brethren, symbolized by the Rainbowed Angel of the Rainbowed Throne.
There is reason to believe, that from the Idumaean Bozrah the Rainbowed Angel advances to the plains of Moab; and compassing the north end of the Dead Sea, crosses the Jordan into the plains of Jericho, according to the signification of the things represented in the passage of that river in the days of Joshua. According to Hosea. Israel is allured and brought into the wilderness (of Paran). From thence, Solomon sees them coming up from the wilderness leaning for support upon the beloved (Cant. 8:5); “coming out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke” — 3:6. “I will bring her into the wilderness,” saith the Spirit, “and I will give her vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she (Hephzibah and Beulah, with their inhabitants, the Messiah’s national bride — Isa. 62:4,5,12) shall sing there, as in the days of her youth (the days of Joshua), and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt” (Hos. 2:14,15). The Valley of Achor near Jericho, is “a door of hope;” when the Rainbowed Angel has led Israel to this encampment, it is only the earnest of the restoration of “the whole house of Israel.” He has overthrown the king of the north throughout the land. The country has been evacuated; but the national graves of Israel have not yet been opened. They had been gathered “one by one” into the wilderness of Egypt; yet multitudes continued in the Assyrian empire, ready to perish, especially, too, since the overthrow of the Assyrian upon the mountains of Israel (Isa. 27:12,13; 24:25). The van only of Israel’s hosts had entered the door under the rainbow-bander; but from the plains of Jericho they looked in hope, sure and certain, of “the restitution of all things which the Deity hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, ap aionos, ” from the beginning of the Mosaic dispensation (Acts 3:21).
From the Valley of Achor, the Rainbowed Angel advances westward. The redemption of Zion is unaccomplished until the Angel of the Covenant establishes Yahweh’s throne in Jerusalem; that as the Spirit has testified, “they may call Jerusalem the throne of Yahweh” (Jer. 3:17). His face is, therefore, Zion-ward, and he takes up his line of march in that direction, until he stands with “his pillars of fire” upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem upon the east. In the great shaking which threw down mountains, towers, and walls, the mount trembled at the presence of Deity in the land; and divided asunder in the midst, leaving a very great valley between the halves of the mountain removed to the north and south. The people will be panic-stricken, and flee as they fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. After this, the Pillars of Fire appear upon the mount, and in view of “the City of the Great King.”
But the remnant in the city know not that Yahweh Elohim Tz’vaoth has returned to the mountain, whence, in the time of Ezekiel (ch. 11:23) and in the days of the apostles (Acts 1:11) he had taken his departure. The prediction of Ezek. 43:2, is now fulfilled, that “the glory of the Elohim of Israel came from the way of the east; and his voice was like the noise of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory.” This was the Rainbowed Angel from the Valley of Achor, “the way of the east.” The common idea is, that the Lord Jesus is to make a perpendicular descent, and to touch the earth for the first time upon Mount Olivet. The text in Acts 1:11, is cited to prove it. B ut this says nothing about the place he should first descend to; but only that he should come again; and that he should come again “in like manner” as he departed. This was verified in his descent to Sinai; and, as we have seen, he arrived at the place of his depature, “travelling in his strength” “from the way of the east.”
But the gates of the city before him are closed. He had said to them in the days of his flesh, “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, ‘Blessed is he who cometh in the name of Yahweh’” (Matt. 23:39). That crisis has now arrived; and he sends his heralds of the rainbow to demand admission into the city for the king of glory. Approaching the gates, they exclaim, “Lift up, O gates, your heads; and be ye lifted up, ye doors of the future age (olahm), and the King of glory shall come in!” But not knowing who he is, they inquire from within the city. “Who is this King of glory?” to which his heralds reply, “Yahweh strong and mighty; Yahweh mighty from war: lift up, O gates, your heads, and lift up, O doors of the future age, and the King of the glory will come in!” But, the porters and sentinels still hesitate; and, as if to gain time for deliberation, or in expectation of further information, they repeat the inquiry, “Who is He this King of the glory?” They are then further informed, that “Yahweh Tz’vaoth He is the King of the glory,” so amply revealed in the prophets (Psa. 24:7-10).
This conference at the gates of Jerusalem will, doubtless, result in the opening wide the entrances to its interior. Then the strong and mighty one attended by his multitude will descend from Olivet, and enter the gates of Zion amidst the rejoicings of his retinue, crying, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of Yahweh; Hosanna in the highest!” Of course, all the city will be moved, and say, “Who is this?” This question will be answered in a solemn assembly of the notables of the city. One will then put the inquiry in the form, “What are these wounds in thy hands?” the reply to which will reveal the crucified Nazarene to his astounded inquisitors—“The wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zech. 13:6). Thus, after an absence of over eighteen hundred years, the King of the Jews proves his identity to his subjects, as he had before proved it to the apostle Thomas; and, after the representation in the case of Joseph (the type of the Shepherd and Stone of Israel — Gen. 49:24), he makes himself known to his brethren according to the flesh in his appearance before them the second time. Upon this a like result ensues: “They look upon him whom they pierced, and mourn because of him as one mourns for an only son .... In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon (Armageddon)” (Zech. 12:10). This national repentance results in the salvation of the tents of Judah, whose sin and uncleanness is covered and cleansed (verse 7; 13:1); and henceforth they rejoice in the Son of David as their king. Such is the development in relation to Judah of Apoc. 1:7: “Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, even they who pierced him; and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
The seven months ensuing “the great slaughter” will be occupied in burying the dead that the land may be cleansed (Ezek. 39:11-16). This, however, does not interrupt the prosecution of the war. The
Bethlehem-born Judge of Israel being duly installed upon the throne of his father David as king over the little mustard seed like kingdom of Judah (Matt. 13:31,32), invades the land of Assyria, and the land of Nimrod, and wastes them with the sword. Thus, he will not only deliver Judah from the Assyrian when he cometh into their land, and treadeth within her borders; but the Rainbowed Angel will also take away the dominion of the first three beasts of Daniel — ch. 7:12. But, though deprived of dominion, they will still exist as national organizations; for “their lives shall be prolonged for a season and a time,” or a thousand years. Their kingdoms will become the Rainbowed Angel’s, and they will be blessed in the new administration of their affairs. While Yahweh inherits Judah his portion in the Holy Land, and dwells in the midst of Zion, these nations are joined to him, and become his people (Zech. 2:10,12). The regeneration of Egypt, Israel, and Assyria becomes complete. His right hand is established in the rivers, and his left in the sea; and he is already higher than the kings of the earth (Psa. 89:25-27): and by his prowess he has changed the face of the east, having wrested those fair and luxuriant countries from the destroyer; and made the land that was desolate, the enchanting Paradise of God (Ezek. 36:35; Isa. 51:3). “In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, whom Yahweh T’zvaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance” (Isa. 19:23-25).
But the vindication, or avengement, of the Holy Land (Dan. 8:14 — we-nitzdaik kodesh) and the conquest and regeneration of Egypt and Assyria, do not consummate the work of the Rainbowed Angel; they only serve to “place his right foot upon the sea;” and to prepare him for setting “his left upon the earth.” He has conquered the lion, the bear, and leopard: he has taken away their dominion, and placed them under his own: but there still remains that “dreadful, and terrible, and exceedingly strong fourth beast,” which came up out of the same sea as the others. This is not simply to lose his dominion, and yet continue as a body politic to exist like the others “for a season and a time.” The contrary of this, would be the continuance of the European commonwealth as now constituted in church and state, but without human government, for a thousand years. This however, can never be. The decree of heaven has long been on record for its utter and total destruction. The decree is this: “Because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld till the beast was slain and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame” (Dan. 7:11). This is the grand catastrophy of the apocalypse — the slaying of the Latin Catholic Beast, and the destroying of its body politic by the Rainbowed Angel — by the Spirit manifested in the saints. His “pillars of fire” march through the countries of Europe with the destruction of a “burning flame;” the result of which is “judging among the nations, filling their countries with dead bodies, and the bruising of the Head over an extensive region” (Psa. 110:6).
This exposition, then, of “the mystery of the Deity as he hath declared the glad tidings to his servants the prophets,” defines the position of the Rainbowed Angel; and brings him up before us as a colossus prepared to bestride the world. By his right foot being placed upon the sea, it plants his left foot, of course, upon daemonial and idol worshipping Spain, brings before him all the countries of the Latin and Greek churches, as Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Britain and Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Prussia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Pope’s temporality, Turkey, and Greece. In this enumeration there are protestant countries; but they all belong to the Fourth Beast dominion, being ‘the Harlots and Abominations of the earth” which all acknowledge the Church of Rome as their common “mother” — “the Mother of all the Churches.”
Such is the commonwealth or body politic to be destroyed root and branch, by the saints when judgment is given to them, and they proceed to “prophesy before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (ch. 10:11). Then will the high praises of Ail (the Eternal Power — the Father) be in their mouths; and “a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their honorable ones with fetters of iron: to execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye Yah” (Psa. 149:6-9).