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] [SEVEN CHURCHES: LITERAL, 1ST-CENTURY CONGREGATIONS] "Notwithstanding what has been said respecting the imagery and symbolism of the Apocalypse [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...
Below is the 31st 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. In this excerpt, Russell concludes his explanation of why Revelation's "Babylon" represents 1st-century Jerusalem, not Rome. [THE HARLOT CITY] [TRUE MEANING OF 'KINGS OF THE EARTH' APPLIES TO JERUSALEM] "11. Thus interpreted [i.e., that the 'kings of the earth' is equivalent to 'the ruling authorities in the land' of 1st-century Israel], the description of Babylon the great as ‘reigning over the rulers of the land’ becomes perfectly appropriate to Jerusalem. This appears from the language in which both the Scriptures [such as Lamentations 1:1] and other Hebrew writings speak of the authority and pre-eminence enjoyed by that city. ... [JERUSALEM'S APOSTASY EVIDENT IN ITS REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH] "12. It may possibly be felt to be a difficulty that the ...
Below is the 20th 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: " Episode of the Two Witnesses "CHAP. xi. 3-13 [Rev. 11:3-13].- ‘And I will give (power) unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ... [THE TWO WITNESSES: SCHOLARLY BEWILDERMENT OVER THEIR IDENTITY] "We now enter upon the investigation of one of the most difficult problems contained in Scripture , and one which has exercised, we may even say baffled, the research and ingenuity of critics and commentators up to the present hour. Who are the two witnesses? Are they mythical or historical persons? Are they symbols or actual realities? Do they represent principles or individuals? ...So complete is the bewilderment [among Bible interpreters], and so unsatisfactory the explanation, that many consider the problem ins...
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