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Revelation's Third Seal -- Famine

Below is the 12th of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from  The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell: " THE OPENING OF THE THIRD SEAL [BLACK HORSE: FAMINE] "Chap. vi. 5, 6. [Rev. 6:5-6]--- ‘And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.’ " This [third] symbol also is not difficult of interpretation. It signifies the deepening horrors of the [Jewish-Roman] war. Famine follows on the heels of war and slaughter. Food is now scarce in Judea, especially in the beleaguered cities, and most of all in Jerusalem, after its investment [siege] by [Roman military commander and f...
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Revelation's First and Second Seals -- Conquest and War

Below is the 11th of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from   The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell:  " OPENING OF THE FIRST SEAL [WHITE HORSE: CONQUEST]   "Chap. vi. 1, 2 [Rev. 6:1-2] --- ‘And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as (with) a voice of thunder, Come. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given to him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.’   " It will be seen that we regard this vision as emblematic of the Jewish[-Roman] war [that ultimately resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70], which was introductory to the great final event of the Parousia [Second Coming] .  Upon the opening of the first seal we behold the first act in the tragic drama. It is announced by one of the four mystic beings, represented as guarding the ...
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The Seven Seals: Symbols of Jerusalem's Fall in A.D. 70

Below is the 10th of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from  The   Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell:  "The Second Vision " THE SEVEN SEALS , CHAPS. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. 1. [Rev. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8:1] " Introduction to the vision , chaps. iv. v. [Rev. 4, 5] ... " Nothing can be more vivid and dramatic than the scenes which are successively exhibited as the Lamb opens the seals . The four cherubs that guard the throne, one after another announce the breaking of the first four seals, with a loud cry of ‘Come!’ And as each is opened the Seer [John] beholds a visionary figure pass across the field of view, emblematic of the contents of that portion of the scroll which is unrolled.  ...   " What, then, do these symbols represent? It needs only a glance to see their general nature and character. Everywhere it is WAR, and the concomitants of war,---blood, famine, and death, all leading up to a...
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Revelation's Messages to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor

Below is the ninth of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from  The   Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell: " The First Vision "THE MESSAGES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES. "[Rev.] Chap. i. 10-20; ii. iii [Rev. 1:10-20; 2, 3] "Notwithstanding what has been said respecting the imagery and symbolism of the Apocalypse [Book of Revelation],  it is not to be forgotten that underlying these symbols there is everywhere a substratum of fact and reality. We have only to read the messages to the seven churches to discover that we are in a region of actual fact and intense reality.  There is such individuality of character in the graphic delineations of the spiritual state of the several churches, that  we cannot doubt that they are accurate and truthful portraits of the Christian communities [in 1st-century Asia Minor] which they describe .  There is indeed   a strange commingling of figure [symbo...
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The Theme of the Book of Revelation (Revelation 1:7)

Below is the eighth of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from  The   Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell: " THE THEME OF THE APOCALYPSE [BOOK OF REVELATION] : "We have already endeavoured to show that the Apocalypse [Revelation] is essentially one with the prophecy on the Mount of Olives [as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21] that is to say, the subject of both is the same great catastrophe, viz. [that is] the Parousia [Second Coming], and the events accompanying it [historically manifested by the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70].  The Apocalypse announces its great theme in the opening sentence of the book, after the preface or prologue. That opening sentence is the seventh verse of the first chapter: ---  ‘Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and [even] they also which pierced him; and all the tribes of the land ["tribes of the land" i...
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The Number Seven in the Book of Revelation

Below is the seventh of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from   The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell: " THE NUMBER SEVEN IN THE APOCALYPSE [BOOK OF REVELATION]. "Every reader of the Apocalypse [Revelation] must be struck by the manner in which certain numerals are employed, not so much in an arithmetical sense as in a symbolical. The numbers three, four, seven,  ten, and twelve, the half of seven, and the square of twelve, are used in this significant manner.  Of all those mystic numbers, as they may be called, seven is the dominant one, which we find continually recurring from beginning to end of the book.  That it is invariably used in a symbolical, and never in a literal and arithmetical, sense we will not venture to assert, but that it is frequently, if not generally, so employed must be apparent to every thoughtful reader.  It was the number of dignity among the Jews, the symb...
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