The Beast from the Bottomless Pit

The revealing angel told John that the beast he saw, which had been and then was not, should ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition. Rev. 17. 18. And in Rev. 11. 7 we read that the beast ascending out of the bottomless pit shall make war with the two witnesses of Jesus, conquer and kill them.

Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

Rev 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Rev 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

We said that Constantinople is the key to the bottomless pit, the military abyss that calls forth all the military hordes and their implements of war. When Italy declared war on Turkey in 1911 its aim was to conquer Constantinople. The Balkan war the follow ing year aimed the same. And then the Entente allies meant to conquer that city by their power at sea, but failed. Then by the way of Roumania they meant to attain their goal. The city of Constantinople is thus the main focus of the whole military parade. It is and has been the very key to the great slaughter that has been carried out since it became the seat of mixing the gospel of the Prince of peace with that of the heathen dogmas.

The mission of Ishmael.

If the nations understood that the God of Abraham has placed the ruling head of the descendants of Ishmael at the city of Con- stantinople, or the christian center, and why he has been placed there, they would be glad to let him alone. The prophecy about him we read in Genesis 16th and 17th chapters. And there it is stated what the angel told Hagar, the mother of Ishmael. He said:

"And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him: and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

There it is said that he should dwell in the presence of all his brethren and that every man's hand should be against him. As the head of a great nation he holds the place as a brother to the heads of the other nations, but they hate him because he is not Christian ized like they are. And that just he should occupy the Christian center and the by all the great nations in Europe desirable passage at the Bosporus between the great waters, that is objectionable above everything else. But he is there. And if it had not been for him, the work of Reformation had never found an open way. And he is there for a yet greater purpose.

When the children of Israel left Egypt, the judgment of God was carried out, according to His word to Abraham, on the Egypt ian country. He sent his angels who slew all the first born of men and beast throughout the land and by that act the children of Is rael became free to leave.

Now, as the plan of God is dual in all its developments, the question arises here: Was not the judgment that passed over Egypt a shadow of something similar in the movement of the children of Israel at the time they are gathered from the nations? It is the answer to this question we find in the Rev. 9. 14-19.

The Mohammedans numbering, as the Sultan has said, about 300 millions, when they are fully equipped with the modern im plements of war and their appointed time comes, they will revenge all the wrongs they have suffered from the nations. The connec tion of the Germans and Turks on the theater of war prepare the Mohammedans for the great event to occur as soon as the nations have become weakened by their in- and outside struggle.

At the time the nations fulfil the prophecy in Rev. 17. 12-14, when they all will unite with the beast ascending from the "bottomless pit" — the downfall of Constantinople — they will realize the consequences of the prophetic word. The shadow in Egypt shows that when the children of Israel were closing up about the slaugther ed lamb, the judgment of Egypt was carried out. Now, according to Rev. 17. 14, "the called, the chosen and faithful" will gather about the Lamb when the nations will make war against them. Those "called and faithful" represent the class which is subject to the worship of the image but refuses to do so. Like the lamb before the butcher, they become subjects to be killed.

During the struggle between the beast and the class that re fuses to acknowledge the authority of the image, the people in general becomes convinced that the power of the world is the Antichrist revealed in the Scripture. And finally even the kings, symbolized by the ten horns, step down among the common people and partake in its war against the antichristian power. "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be ful filled." Rev. 17.

When the Most Holy of the living temple is fully developed, then is the word of God relating to the covenant fulfilled, and then begins the wrath of God to go out from the temple and consume the ungodly. The Revelator says concerning the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which follows the sixth — that now sounds, and continues until the two witnesses of Jesus are killed — that there were great voices in heaven, saying: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his anointed (the rul ing class of the world to come) ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." And then he adds: "And the temple of God was opened in heaven (where the word made flesh is stationed), and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament (the word of power in the new covenant) ; and there were lightning, and voices, and thundering, and an earthquake, and great hail."

By the 16th chapter we see that these are certain means where by the ungodly, which then by their evil actions against the work of God have cut themselves off from his mercy, are punished. The last act of the living temple is thus to carry forth the wrath of the living God on the evil-doers.. John says that he saw no temple in the new Jerusalem, which proves that the temple is absorbed by the city.

The Altar and the Worshippers

John measured the temple with a reed that looked like a rod, a staff carried in the hand in walking; indicating movement. He was told to measure even the altar and the worshippers, but not the outside court. "It is given to the Gentiles," he was told. It is easy to see what meaning lies in those words when we understand how closely the churches made of dead material are connected with the living temple of God. The righteous within those churches belong to the living temple, And by the time the measuring rod is used, namely in the morning of the great day of God, they walk out and join the wise virgins on their way to meet the Bridegroom. The foolish ones remain in their enclosure until they find that their light is turned into darkness. Then it is too late to enter into the Most Holy, even as a worshipper there, because it has then fully developed and then the door is shut.

The altar symbolizes those that become subject to be killed, the judgment from the tribunals rests on them, and many of them are now and then killed. Hence the scene John saw when the fifth seal was opened, was a company of slain under the altar. The altar was still there, symbolized by those that were to be slain "for the word of God and for the testimony which they held." It is their con fession that makes them subject to be killed. At the resurrection they are clothed in the white robes which they in and by faith have prepared by their righteous acts.

The worshippers are also measured by the reed and symbolize the class that are joined to the temple-movement and according to Rev. 7. 9, consist of a great multitude of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. They come from the different races which are of the Gentiles, and, although they can not like the rest by their testimony defend the word and work of God, they still believe and acknowledge that the movement is brought about by the hand of God according to His word.

The revealing angel tells John from whence they come and says: "These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." In the past times they have been killed and now they put on the wedding garment.

We may not forget that John was by the Spirit brought down to the great day of God when he saw those wonderful things.

The great multitude of the different races and nations is not the bride, but belong to the bridal party and take part in the marriage feast. When they are called forth from their graves in the different parts of the world, instead of going as we now do when we are to meet at some central place, we go on railroad-trains and boats, etc, they are lifted in the air and thus meet each other and the Lord. A great and wonderful meeting!