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Revelation's Seven Bowls of Wrath

Below is the 28th 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 Fifth Vision "THE SEVEN VIALS [BOWLS] , Chaps. xv. [15] xvi. [16] "Chap. xv. 1 [Rev. 15:1-8]--- ‘And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is completed the wrath of God,’ etc. [SEVEN ANGELS TO POUR BOWLS OF WRATH ON THE GUILTY LAND -- 1ST-CENTURY ISRAEL] "This vision opens, like the first [messages to the seven churches], second [the seven seals], and third [the seven trumpets], with a prologue or preamble. The scene is laid in heaven, where the Seer [John] beholds seven angels, charged with the infliction of seven plagues, which are called the last , as being the completion of the divine wrath upon the guilty nation [1st-century Israel]. The imagery in this introductory scene is conceived in a style of the lof...
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Revelation's Son of Man on the Cloud

Below is the 27th 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: "7. The Son of Man on the Cloud. "Chap. xiv. 14-20 [Rev. 14:14-20].--- ‘And I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sitting like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap: because the time to reap is come; because the harvest of the land is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle on the land; and the land was reaped . ... "We now come to the seventh and last of the [seven] mystic figures of which this fourth vision consists, and to the denou[e]ment , where we may expect to find the catastrophe of the whole. Nor are we disappointed; for nothing can be more distinctly marked than the catastrophe ...
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Revelation's Lamb of God on Mount Zion

Below is the 26th 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: "6. The Lamb on Mount Sion [Zion]. "Chap. xiv. 1-13 [Rev. 14:1-13]--- ‘And I saw, and behold, the Lamb stood on the mount Sion [Zion], and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written in their foreheads,’ etc. [144,000=HEBREW-CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF JUDEA/ISRAEL] " This portion of the vision scarcely needs an interpreter; it speaks for itself. There is a striking contrast between the wild beast that rules as vicegerent of the dragon and the Lamb that governs in His Father’s name. There can be no doubt that the hundred and forty and four thousand, having the name of Christ and the Father inscribed on their foreheads, are identical with the hundred and forty and four thousand out of all the tribes of the children of Israel, who have the s...
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Revelation's Second Beast: Governor of Judea

Below is the 25th 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: "5 . The Second Wild Beast. " Chap. xiii. 11-17 [Rev. 13:11-17] -- - ‘And I saw another wild beast coming up out of the earth (land [Greek: tes ges]); and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast in his presence, and causeth the land and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ...And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or on their forehead; and that no men might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name [six hundred and sixty-six].’ [RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN THE FIRST BEAST (NERO) AND THE SECOND BEAST THAT RISES FROM THE LAND] " If our conclusions respecting the identi...
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Number of the Beast (666)

Below is the 24th 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 of the Beast . [ Revelation 13:18 -- 'Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six' [ Greek: hexakosioi (six hundred) hexekonta (sixty) hex (six) ] . ] [CLUES: THE NUMBER IS THAT OF A MAN; THE NUMBER IS SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX] " We now come to the question which has exercised the ingenuity of critics and commentators almost since the day it was first propounded, and which even yet can hardly be said to be solved, viz. [that is] the name or number of the beast. Without wasting time on the various answers that have been given, it may suffice to make one or two preliminary remarks on the conditions of the problem. "1. It is evident that the writer conside...
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