RED DRAGON - Dual Plan

When that camp of tents is first formed, it is prophetically pictured as a pregnant woman in a desert, persecuted by a great red dragon. The dragon does not care so much for the woman as he does for the child she is to bring forth. He wants to eat it as soon as it is born. Why? Because he, like King Herod, expects that the child will usurp the throne of his power and destroy his kingdom. That child-144,000 conquerors—finally stands on mount Zion. But where is the mountain? You can see it no longer. But you can easily understand that if it had not been for Zion—the great multitude which first started—that child—the sanctuary, or the 144,000—would never have reached its elevated position. What brought these 144,000 up so high? Mount Zion. But Zion is now in the past. No, the gates of death hide it from our view, that is all. But faith keeps this sealed company elevated above them. In other words, the great majority have been slain by the beast and its rider; but, they will soon be brought up again to fill their assigned places in and about the New Jerusalem.

XIII. THE TEN-HORNED BEAST

The race of Shem was subject to the same ferocious beasts, but they trusted in Jehovah—he was their wall of protection. They dwelt in tents and sojourned in the wilderness. They did not need a standing army, something that was necessary for the race that trusted in human arms. It is that army that the prophecy describes under the appellation, "The Great Red Dragon."

Now when the conquered people were moulded into a univer­sal empire, that great dragon, who with military arms had cleared the way for that great empire to arise, gave to the beast his seat —the fortified city of Rome, and with it great military power. The god of forces (Mauzzim) held both the temporal and eccle­siastical reins and became greater from year to year. When the empire was divided and the many kings came to rule, the militia and the war implements increased still faster. And to-day, how does it look? We see a fearful monster, a great red dragon, spread over the surface of the creation of God, daily devouring about ten millions of dollars, massed together by the toilers. It is that serpent, empowered with the most deadly weapons, that now rules the world and is recommended highly by the state and church. Their trust in God has been transferred to that blood­thirsty monster.

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

“Mauzzim” means fortresses

Mauzzim: The marginal note to the Authorized Version of (Daniel 11:38) "the god of forces," gives as the equivalent of the last word "Mauzzim, or gods protectors, or munitions." There can be little doubt that mauzzim is to be taken in its literal sense of "fortresses," just as in (Daniel 11:19,39) "the god of fortresses" being then the deity who presided over strongholds. The opinion of Gesenius is that "the god of fortresses" was Jupiter Capitolinus, for whom Antiochus built a temple at Antioch. Liv. xli. 20.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

MAUZZIM - Smith's Bible Dictionary

moz'-em, mots'-em (ma`uzzim, "places of strength," "fortress"):

Many conjectures as to the meaning of this word and its context (Daniel 11:38; compare Daniel 11:19,39) have been made. The Septuagint (uncertainly), Theodotion, and the Geneva Version render it as a proper name. Theodoret adopted Theodotion's reading and explained it as "Antichrist"! Grotius thought it a corruption of "Azizos, the Phoenician war-god, while Calvin saw in it the "god of wealth"! Perhaps the buzz of conjectures about the phrase is owing to the fact that in the first passage cited the word is preceded by 'Eloah, meaning God. The context of the passage seems clearly to make the words refer to Antiochus Epiphanes, and on this account some have thought that the god Mars--whose figure appears on a coin of Antiochus--is here referred to. All this is, however, little better than guesswork, and the Revised Version (British and American) translation, by setting the mind upon the general idea that the monarch referred to would trust in mere force, gives us, at any rate, the general sense, though it does not exclude the possibility of a reference to a particular deity. In Daniel 11:19 and 39, the word "Mauzzim" is simply translated "fortresses," and the idea conveyed is that the mental obsession of fortresses is equivalent to deifying them. A conjecture of Layard's (Nineveh, II, 456, note), is, at any rate, worth referring to.

In Rev. 17: 9, we find a testimony illustrating the case:

"And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth."

"The seven heads are seven mountains"—mountains or gov­ernments formed by the human law-makers to defend the creation of man. When the beastly organization is complete, it has seven such Nebo-mountains on its body. Since the formation of the beast, seven general head-powers will have been created and will have been in rule. 2520 years are set apart for the development of that unnatural creation, and at the end of that period all the seven mountains will have cropped out and will have ruled. If they cannot be seen without the prophetic telescope, they can be felt as a depressive seven-headed colossus. They hold the rich over the heads of the toilers, and crowd the toilers into hovels, into starva­tion and death. The working class, in order to live, is compelled to sustain these oppressive mountains, and the reward, in case they show signs of rolling the burden off their shoulders, is a deep sting from the red dragon.

The Two-Horned Beast - Dual Plan

Now, a brief comparison of the heavenly and the beastly procedures in forming spiritual organizations, may be to the point.

a. The heavenly procedure. First: the individuals, by free exercise of private judgment. are entirely separated from or crucified to the world, its institutions, its customs and its practices. Second: in and by the name Jesus the Anointed, they are adopted by the government of Heaven. Third: the heavenly Father dwells among them and by his name as the Father, he keeps them in the Word; by the Word he controls them, and leads them from glory to glory because of their freedom to exercise private judgment. The spirit of truth melts their hearts together, so that they become one—even as Christ, the Word, and the Father, are one.

b. The beastly procedure. First: the individuals are converted to a theoretic mould of doctrines and dogmas which is represented by the name of the sect; here the exercise of private judgment is kept within certain bounds. Second: within these bounds, the sect-name covers or shields them as religious beings, adopted by the civil government as children of an organization legally incorporated and constituting a part of the civil government. Third: as a church, the arms of the civil government protect them as long as they follow the customs and practices of the world, and in case of danger from outside parties, the red dragon stands ready to defend them with its fire-vomiting batteries. They in return, show their loyalty to their protector by humbly bending before the father-seat which represents the corporation and where the echo of the dragonic father-voice is heard. Thus, they are entirely mixed up with and are inseparable from the Babylonian institutions and power.

3. And he spake as the dragon.. This two-horned beast recommends the arm of force. At the conference at Nicea, 325 A. D., Emperor Constantine incorporated the Christian organization under the laws of the civil government. The Christians, in accepting the treaty, volunteered to assist the army in supporting the government. Right here that two-horned beast was brought into shape for carrying on its imitating work of moulding Christianity so as to make it correspond with' the institutions and practices of a God-forsaking world.

4. "And all the authority of the first beast he executes in his presence." (Emph. Diaglott.) As soon as that new creation was adopted by the government, it began to exercise civil power in the strength of the Roman laws, and in a few years it executed "all the authority of the first (the ten-horned) beast in its presence." The civil government gradually yielded to the influence of the "Christian" corporation, until all the civil and military authorities were centered in the papal chair. In other words, the Babylonian power, inherited and enlarged by the Caesars of the Roman throne, was passed over to the "Christian" bishop, whose position with respect to the government was as an adopted child and, consequently, as an heir to the same crown. The adopted child inherited the office and estate of its father.

The absurd claim made by the S. D. Adventists that the United States of America is that adopted child which executes the authority of heathen Rome in the presence of that power, is too ridiculous to be corroborated by anyone. Of course, it is ignorance with respect to both history and prophecy that gives such delusive doctrines the opportunity to capture thinking beings. When once captured, the sect deems it necessary to condemn their free exercise of private judgment for the purpose of keeping the captives from investigating.

How could the United States execute the civil authority of the Roman Monarchy in the presence of the last-mentioned power? It is just as impossible as it would be for some individual in America to execute the power of Constantine to-day in the presence of that emperor. It cannot be done. This claim, that the United States constitutes the two-horned beast, is absurd, also the argument that the above is true because this country has "risen up out of the earth" quietly. History shows that this nation has grown up quietly because of immigration from Europe and other countries; but on the other hand, it has had two terrible wars, which have shaken its very foundation.

5. "And causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed." Here we have a testimony confirming the fact that the two-horned beast is at work this side of the temporal fall of papacy also. It was the two-horned beast that created the papal head by uniting what it calls "Christian doctrines" with the civil government. The wound of that head consists of the lost temporal power. This lost civil power is divided between the monarchs of Europe. These monarchs, having been affected by the influence of Protestantism, allowed the old Roman throne to rest on its ecclesiastical foundation only. Now, when the working classes in every country threaten to overthrow the civil governments, the two-horned beast (the religious powers in every land) unites its strength with the governments in order to preserve Babylon from destruction. It is on account of the threatening labor movement that the leaders of the nations club together in order to form the league of nations. The object of that league is to crush the labor movement.

Mark! The two-horned beast is not confined to Catholicism alone, but works its way upward even among the Protestants; its mission always is to unite the human family with those things that are temporal and visible, and to combine man with the works of his hands for the purpose of worshipping Mauzzim and embracing the works of Baal.

The governments are strengthened by the support of the church, and in return they give more room for ecclesiastical influences. As they all (the governments and the churches) have one common enemy to oppose, they become united in that one thing: viz., to raise their might as one man against the terrible destroyer they see in the approaching revolution. We have shown before that the pope is seated on the centre-seat of Babylon; as soon as the labor movement shakes its foundations, he, in universal defense, becomes the main head. From him a strong influence will go forth to sustain the kingly powers.

"He causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast." This two-horned beastly organization appeals to the inhabitants of the earth to heal the wound inflicted by Protestantism on the papal head of the ten-horned beast. The Spirit of Truth which actuated the leaders of the Protestant movement, is finally depressed by the different Protestant churches, and then they naturally flow together and by the Catholic spirit, the spirit of the world, they are led so that they become united in their work of opposing the movement brought about by the Messiah. Because of the worldly position of the Protestants, the kings and presidents representing the Protestant nations unite again with the Catholic powers in order to sustain the power of the world. Therefore the beast, of which the angel says to John that it "was and is not," shall ascend out of the bottomless pit (the bosom of militarism), and the dwellers of the earth shall wonder at it. (Rev. 17: 8.)

With lying signs and wonders this beast will oppose the servants of God and carry on a deceptive work, in order to hinder the Messianic movement. Christ says he saw devils fall from heaven, and at the time the kingdom of heaven reveals itself in power with wondrous signs, the kingdom of darkness will display its lying wonders, in order to draw the people's attention away from the movement of Christ and from his kingdom.

The Salvation Army

In Rev. 16: 13-16, we find a prophecy that points to a religious movement, the aim of whose onward march is the gathering together of the crowned of the world for war. It is a movement that attains its highest development at the time the second coming of Christ is about to occur. The prophecy reads thus:

"And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three impure spirits, like frogs. For they are spirits of demons, working signs, which go forth to the kings of the whole habitable, to gather them together for the war of that great day of the omnipotent God. (Behold! I am coming as a thief; blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked, and they should see his shame.) And he gathered them together into that place, which is called in Hebrew, Armagedon." (Rev. 16: 13-16. Emph. Diaglott.)

This is a very important prophecy, which is seen by the Lord's own solemn warning inserted in it concerning his second advent. This shows that the movement is antichristian, whose aim is to lead the people astray regarding the true position with respect to the meeting of the true Messiah, and finally, whose aim is to lead the kings to war. This prophecy sheds light on this antichristian movement in showing what power produces it. There are three objects whose mouths create it. It comes to the scene of action through the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet.

The mouth, we understand, symbolizes the doctrine and the commanding force. The mouth is the organ of speech; an object coming out of it signifies an agent or a ministering (clerical) power, acting under the control of the mouth it proceeds from. Christ says about the Word of God, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4: 4.) By this we -understand that what proceeds from the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, consists of an imitation of that which has proceeded from the mouth of God. It is the religious doctrines of Baalism that lead the people astray from the prophetic truth revealed by God.

The mouth of the dragon. "Dragon" is the prophetic name applied to militarism. An agent coming out of the mouth of militarism develops and acts as a military organization and is under its command.

The mouth of the beast. The beast represents the worldly powers and institutions; a ministering power coming out of its mouth resembles, in its organization and actions, the power it proceeds from and is controlled by.

The mouth of the false prophet. That prophet is an imitation of the true prophets, and his prophecies or doctrines are in the interest of Antichrist, in opposition to the true Messiah and his kingdom. An organization that proceeds out of his mouth, controlled by his doctrines, acts as an instrumentality for him and promulgates his ideas and his kingdom.

XIX. THE HOLY WAR - Dual Plan

In the 12th chap. of Revelation, the great war proclaimed in Paradise is revealed by symbolic language which presents it in two special aspects: namely, as a war between the red dragon and a woman travailing in birth, and as a war between Michael with his angels and the same red dragon with his agents. The wars are one, but two acts develop from it—first a shadow, and then a reality. The prophetic symbols representing the first act, are described thus:

"And there appeared a great wonder (sign) in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cried, travailing In birth and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder (sign) in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and unto his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days."

The Declaration of War

1. "A woman clothed with the sun," etc. Who is she? It cannot refer to the class that surrounded and followed the person of Christ at his first advent for then the prophecy would have been fulfilled sixty years or more before it existed and, consequently, would not be prophecy, but history. But, as a reflecting shadow, it may be said that she was in sight at that time. The expression, "the moon under her feet," gives us an idea who she is. She is a woman who has already experienced a journey similar to the one in question; she made that ,journey in the night, guided by moonlight. She represents the twelve tribes of Israel. The moon, as a symbol, represents a light inferior to the sun whose light is reflected by the moon. The sun represents the Messiah in his work of glory. Thus we understand that the moon represents the foreshadowing or reflecting gospel-light which led the children of Israel on their journey from the bondage of Egypt to the promised land. Having passed on that journey through the wilderness, and having reached, in her prefigured movement, her destination, the woman has the light which then guided her under her feet as a past experience.

On her way out from the nations at the closing up of their allotted times, she is brought under a clearer and more glorious light, the very spiritual Son (sun) himself. In other words, since the tribes of Israel reached the promised land, the Sun of Righteousness (Christ), has arisen, and surrounded by twelve stars (apostles), it has shone on the world. But the twelve tribes are again brought into a state of bondage similar to their bondage in Egypt, but now under the nations from which they must be delivered. And now, when the scattered tribes, which constitute the working classes principally, are to be gathered and brought forth into the promises made to the fathers, the doctrines and examples of Christ, like the mighty sun, will pour their illuminating beams of light on their pathway. The relative position and doctrines of the apostles concerning the world and the hypocritical church, appear as a crown of twelve diadems on her head, in a similar manner as the twelve patriarchs ornamented the woman on her way from Egypt.

The woman who is to bring forth "the man child" is spoken of by nearly all the prophets. Micah says:

"Therefore will he give them up until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth." (Mic. 6: 3, 4.)

The Lord will "give the dispersed tribes up until the time that she, which travaileth, hath brought forth." That does not refer to Mary, by whom Jesus of Nazareth was born. Who does it refer to then? The answer is given in the context. In the 7th and 8th v. the same prophet says:

"And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver."

The woman, as before mentioned, represents the twelve tribes—which are now dispersed—at the time they become gathered as a nation. Like their forefathers in the Egyptian bondage, they begin to unite, and their interest, with respect to the future, leads them into one and the same cause. They gradually become filled with the hope that the future will restore them to power so that they can conquer their oppressors; they look for leaders who can step ahead and lead them to victory.

The same woman is referred to in the 54th chap. of Isaiah. There the Lord speaks to her as his own forsaken spouse and declares that her time shall come when she shall bring forth more children than the married wife, or the one represented as sitting on the beast. (Rev. 17.) He says:

"For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman, forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." (Is. 54: 3-8.)

2. "The man child." The prophetic child which the woman, or "the prophetess" (as she also is called) is to bring forth, is the seed that will finally conquer the world. It consists of the.144,000, which group the prophecy describes under different circumstances, throughout the Book of Revelation. In this movement they develop from the class represented by the woman, and because of their active service in the cause of God, they finally come forth as the 144,000, sealed with the seal of the living God. The Messianic power develops in them until they become priests and kings in the kingdom of the true Messiah.

The symbol represents Christ's assuming his kingly power as the Son of David. He becomes connected with the whole house of Jacob and takes out from it that specified number, who pass through the temple-development and become the most sanctified human beings that ever have existed in the mortal state. By means of the Lord's kingly or Messianic power they rush as conquerors against the fiercest opposition of the great dragon and successfully take possession of the kingdom of the world which then is to be trans­formed into the kingdom of God. All this is the holy war which was declared in Paradise. The serpent has pursued the woman and has killed her seed, but the remnant of her seed (Rev. 12: 17), the 144,000, he cannot overcome; he instead, will be overcome by them and will lose his hold on the earth—the earth that God made for his people and for the immortal kingdom.

An explanation of this warfare is also given in the 19th chap. of Rev, where it is represented by a "white horse" with its rider. The rider's name is "The Word of God"—it is Christ as the Word of God, enveloped by the house of Jacob. The result of that holy war is also stated. John says:

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (Rev. 19: 17-21.)

That will be the end of the glory of the nations: i. e., their military power which has constituted their most expensive, lustrous, grand and admirable institution. The false prophet (a collective name comprising all false teachers who have engaged in the promulgation of the serpentine gospel) will receive his true reward then.

The prophet Jeremiah 'refers to the same war-scene when he says:

"A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry: and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger." (Jer. 25: 31-38.)

"The Prince of Peace," spoken of by Isaiah, is the same kingly power who, clothed with the majesty of Heaven, will unfold his kingly might until swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

"Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever." (Is. 9: 7.) Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

3. "A great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns." This is a representation of the ten-horned beast in its complete development when it is clothed with its dragonic forces of arms. The seven heads or universal governments, that by the political movements have been formed over the great people, are like so many mountains upon which Babylon (Christianized heathenism) rests or sits. (Rev. 17: 9.) In viewing the coming work of the Messiah as a purifying process that will remove from the surface of the earth all manner of oppression, we understand that those big mountains, like the volcanoes Aetna and Vesuvius, will emit their life-destroying lava on the armies of the Lord which are sent forth to destroy Babylon.

When this wonderful development is viewed from its embryonic state, it becomes easier to comprehend the whole thing. The same sbene that these symbols represent appeared in Paradise, in miniature, at the time sin entered into the creation of God. The objects in Paradise that were to be subjected to a process of evolution, were the woman, the serpent and the tree of knowledge; from a small beginning they have developed into a greatness which the symbols of the Book of Revelation reveal.